Disclaimer: All things Power Rangers continue to belong to Disney and any original characters belong to me.
Author's Notes: This is the sequel to Viva Las Vegas. It picks up right where the other story left off.
This story is currently composed of five short chapters, originally written for fanfiction.net. This is the first part of the story, "Fighting For Phaedos". For sneak peaks at the next chapters before they're posted on the website, check out "Return To Action" at http://www.fanfiction.net/~kj.

Power Rangers
"Return To Action"
Part One: Fighting For Phaedos

Chapter 1
A Call From Phaedos

Kim and Tommy stood in his command center. Tommy was staring at her, waiting for her to say to answer the message. She couldn’t believe that Dulcea was contacting her there. Thinking about it she could believe it, it was just kind of unexpected.

"Do you want me to put her through?" Tommy asked still waiting for his fiance to respond

"Yeah, of course, put her through." Kim said stepping in front of the small communications panel Tommy had set up

She watched as the black screen dissolved and Dulcea’s face came through. She stood in warrior stance with Phaedos as her backdrop, holding the tiny communications orb in her hands. "Kimberly." she spoke as she saw the image of the former ranger

"Dulcea." Kim greeted nodding at the master warrior in front of her. "What’s going on?"

"Cerlina has returned." Dulcea spoke quickly. She watched as Kim stiffened then she continued. "She’s trying to get to the temple. I need you to return immediately."

It didn’t seem fair. Kim’s life was perfect and now this. But she wasn’t going to ignore the life that had been chosen for her. She owed Dulcea, not to mention she had unfinished business with Cerlina. "I’ll be there soon." she promised

Dulcea simply nodded as she ended the transmission. As the screen faded back to black, Tommy turned toward the woman he thought he knew. "Kim?" he questioned. She turned toward him and her brown eyes softened from the concerned look she had while speaking with Dulcea. "What’s going on?"

Kim sighed. There was a lot to tell Tommy. There was a lot she hadn’t told him before, mainly because she was told not to tell anyone. The risk of other’s knowing who she is was too great. She wanted to live her life peacefully on Earth unless she was needed. And now she was needed.

"I’m sorry Tommy." she apologized. "But Dulcea needs me."

"That part I kind of understood." Tommy said reaching out and grabbing her hands with his and pulling her close. "I don’t understand why Dulcea needs you." he said emphasizing the you

Kim pulled away from Tommy’s grasp and turned her back on him for a moment, letting out a long sigh. She was afraid that he wouldn’t understand, afraid that she wasn’t meant to have love in this lifetime.

She closed her eyes and turned back to Tommy, opening them once more. "What I haven’t told you, what I haven’t been able to tell you, is that I spent five years of my life training with Dulcea on Phaedos."

Tommy was stunned by her words. "That’s impossible. You were on Earth. I know for a fact that you were here, you’ve been in the public eye."

"Noone here knows. Dulcea brought me to Phaedos for five years and I returned to Earth two hours after I left. It was the dead of the night, I wasn’t gone long enough for anyone to miss me." she explained

"Why would Dulcea pick you?" Tommy questioned. Not that Kim wasn’t a good ranger, it just didn’t seem to make sense to him, why the master warrior of Phaedos would want the former pink ranger.

"I’m not the same Kim you dated. I’ve changed. My time on Muiranthias in Maligore’s pit changed me." Kim spoke. At the time she didn’t realize that her time spent in the pit would alter her life so much. Lerigot had purged her of all evil from her time in the pit but he couldn’t undo the changes to her DNA.

Noone knew about it, not even Jason. As far as she could tell he hadn’t felt the burden of the effects on his DNA. Only Kim was the chosen one, the one meant for great things in this universe.

"What are you talking about? Lerigot reversed the effects of Maligore’s pit." Tommy was quick to point out. At least he thought he did. Even Zordon and Alpha confirmed that they were back to normal.

"Not all of them. He couldn’t undo the changes to my DNA. Zordon knew, but he couldn’t say anything to anyone. When the time came I was to learn of my destiny and go through my training. I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone because it was important that noone knew who I was until the time was right." Kim tried to explain to Tommy hoping he’d understand

Tommy was surprised and hurt among other things. He wished that he had heard of this before now, that she would have said something. He let out a long sigh before he asked the next question. "What is your destiny?"

"I was trained to be a master warrior. I am supposed to use my powers, my training, to be a guardian of the universe, to keep the balance between good and evil. It was too risky to tell anyone until they thought I was ready to be called into action. People’s lives would be at stake if my secret was revealed. I hope you can forgive me for not telling you." Kim said briefly making eye contact with him before shifting her glance toward the ground

Tommy snorted. "This coming from the woman making jokes about us being geriatric rangers." he spoke the first thing that came to his mind

"I haven’t aged since I completed my training. I have a greater purpose to accomplish, a meaning in life. I don’t know when I will complete my path, serve my purpose, but once I do I’ll age the last fifty years of my life and pass away just like I would’ve had I not been made a master warrior and a guardian." Kim explained

"Not just like you would. I thought we would have kids and grow old together and watch our grandkids grow up, now you’re saying that’s not going to happen." Tommy said feeling as though his dreams of the future were being shattered

"I’m frozen at age twenty-eight. I can still do everything a twenty-eight year old woman can, like have kids. I just won’t be able to grow old with you. I’m sorry Tommy. I still love you and want to be with you if you’ll let me." Kim said tears forming in her eyes

As a ranger Tommy knew that if both Zordon and Dulcea said something was to be kept from everyone you loved, then you had to keep it a secret like it or not. He understood that part, but it was still a lot to take in. The woman he wanted to marry wouldn’t grow old with him. Instead she would be doing double duty as one of the guardians of the universe, one of the people picked out by the powers that be to devote their time in life to keeping the universe balanced. They would spend their whole lives fighting the good fight.

Part of him was jealous. He thought he was being trained for great things. He’d love to have an opportunity such as Kim’s. Although he wasn’t completely sure his own tenure with the rangers was finished and he was anxious to see what destiny still had in store for him.

He sighed as he spoke to Kim. "So this thing with Cerlina, what is that?"

"Cerlina was there when I was training with Dulcea." Kim started her explanation before taking a deep breath. "She was supposed to be training to be a master warrior as well. Dulcea spent more time with me, as I had far more important duties than just being a master warrior that Cerlina wasn’t aware of. She hated the fact that the girl she thought off as nothing more than a snotty Earthling had become Dulcea’s right hand."

Tommy nodded and Kim continued. "She spent two and a half years there with us and the anger built up. Finally she exploded and went after me. We fought, I won, and she took off after that swearing her revenge on us. From what I’ve heard she turned evil and continued her training. It’s been years and noone has heard from her until now."

"So you have to go to Phaedos to stop Cerlina from attacking and taking over the temple?" Tommy questioned as the pieces of the puzzle were starting to fall together

"Yes I have to get up there quickly and help." Kim replied

Tommy stood and looked at Kim sternly. "I want to go with you. I’ve got a lot of ranger experience, I can help."

"Tommy this is my fight you don’t need to go." Kim said giving him somewhat of a smile

"You’re going to be my wife. And as my wife your fight is my fight." Tommy assured her

Tommy’s words were enough to make Kim feel like everything was going to be alright. He still loved her and wanted to marry her. He wanted to stand by her side during her battles. Although this was Kim’s fight, Tommy may prove helpful as he is a master ranger. "Ok." Kim said simply smiling at him and holding out her hands. "Are you ready to go?"

Tommy nodded and took her hands in his. "Hang on tight." she said. The duo glowed in a soft purple light and then they were gone.

Chapter 2
Preparations For Battle

As the purple light around the duo faded, Tommy looked around to see that they were on Phaedos. "How did you do that?" he questioned confused on how they had arrived so quickly

"It was a power given to me. It’s hard to be a guardian of the universe if you need a spaceship to get around it." Kim said flashing him a quick smile

Tommy raised an eyebrow. "Any other powers I should know about?"

"You’ll find out in due time." she promised

For a brief second Kim’s words reminded Tommy of Zordon. He couldn’t believe that they had been together for the last few months and there was this whole other side of Kim that he hadn’t seen before, that he hadn’t been allowed to see before. It amazed and excited him and made him realize that they had more in common than he thought they did. All these years he just assumed that the ranger in Kim was retired, yet here she was as if nothing had changed since high school.

"Kimberly." Dulcea spoke, getting the duo to turn around and face her. "And Tommy." she greeted nodding in his direction. "It’s good to see you again. I only wish it was under better circumstances." She shouldn’t have been surprised to see Tommy with Kimberly here today. Tommy was still strong throughout the ranger community and she had always sensed that Kimberly still had feelings for him. It only made sense that Zordon’s two greatest warriors were here together.

Tommy nodded back toward Dulcea. "It’s good to see you again too." And considering that the first time they met was under dire circumstances, he wasn’t surprised to find that this time was no different.

"Unfortunately we have no time for pleasantries. Cerlina’s here and moving quickly toward the temple." Dulcea said quickly switching topics to the task at hand

"Has she been here?" Kim questioned gesturing to the ancient ruins of the Ninjetti Temple that they were standing on.

"No she has yet to move into any place where I can fight her. I have only sensed her presence. She has gone straight through the jungle and is seeking the great power. You must find her before she can get there and gain access to it." Dulcea told Kimberly, looking at her young apprentice. Kim looked back at her with a determination in her eyes that made the warrior convinced that she was up for the task ahead.

"If she gets to the power..." Kim said her voice trailing off. She glanced over at Dulcea knowing that there was no need to finish the sentence.

Tommy glanced from one warrior to the other. He didn’t know the specifics of what would happen if Cerlina reached the great power, but he wasn’t stupid. Someone evil gaining access to something like that would mean total destruction.

"Does she have any Cryobots with her?" Kim asked trying to fully comprehend what she was up against. Cryobots were the army that Cerlina had picked up on the way. They were deadly and difficult to disable, but not impossible to defeat. However Kim would much prefer that they hadn’t made the journey as it would be easier to fight just Cerlina.

"I haven’t sensed any." Dulcea said glancing down at Kim. "But that doesn’t mean there are not any on the way."

Kim nodded, she was well aware of the fact that Cerlina could be waiting to ambush her or Dulcea with waves of the Cryobots. "I’ll be careful." she assured her. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. She was trying to use her abilities to sense Cerlina like Dulcea did. That would make tracking her much easier.

Before Kim had a chance to really get going she was interrupted. "So where are we going?" Tommy asked

"We are not going anywhere. Noone knows Cerlina better than me. I can track her quickly and take her out before she gets to the power." Kim said. This was her responsibility. Cerlina was a powerful warrior, and one who was hell bent on revenge against Kim. She didn’t want Tommy to come out with her, to risk his life against her for a battle that wasn’t his to begin with.

"I’m going to help you." Tommy said crossing his arms and glaring at her, using the tone that would make any one of his rangers straighten up and take note

However Kim was not one his rangers and would not be intimidated by him. She was amused by him trying and surprised that he thought he could get away with using that tone on her. "Stay here."

"How exactly is that helping?" he questioned raising an eyebrow and glaring at her

"Because Cerlina still has Cryobots out there and it’s quite possible that they will come here for Dulcea. She won’t be able to stop them if they get past her and go out in the jungle after me. She’ll need your help." Kim said. That was partially the truth. If Cerlina wanted to, she could send her Cryobots right to Kim and surpass Dulcea completely. And Dulcea didn’t need Tommy’s help, but if enough of them attacked she would definitely want it. And Tommy would be the only one who could chase them if they rushed past the ruins and toward the power.

"What about you?" Tommy asked not letting up on the look he was giving her

"I’ll be fine." she assured him. "And if I get into trouble I’ll just teleport myself out." That was, of course, the last possible solution. Kim was not about to run from a fight with Cerlina and not about to back down, especially if it meant giving her access to the power.

"Fine." Tommy agreed. As much as he didn’t like the idea he thought it was probably best for him to stay and help Dulcea if needed. Besides Kim had abilities and training, and all he had to protect him was some martial arts skills and a powerless Dino Gem. "Just promise me you’ll be careful. I still want to have someone to marry when this is all said and done."

"I promise." Kim said as she walked over toward him and lightly put her hand on his cheek, leaning into him and giving her a kiss. Tommy grabbed her and pulled her close, kissing her harder before letting her go.

Kim smiled at him as she walked back to the edge of the ruins, closing her eyes and trying to concentrate on Cerlina again. Kim was a novice at this particular skill, only having a little practice in her time training with Dulcea. Dulcea could immediately sense any intrusions on Phaedos. Kim had to concentrate hard on her subject, and even then it took time. Finally her eyes flew open. "I got her." Kim said and with determination she headed toward the path which led down the side of the ruins.

"Good luck." Dulcea called to her as she headed down to the path

Tommy walked up and stood beside Dulcea as Kim’s head was disappearing from view. He crossed his arms and waited until Kim was out of earshot before he spoke. "And may the power protect you." he added, hoping that she would win her battle and come back to him in one piece

Chapter 3
Enemies Attack

As Kim left Tommy quickly found himself pacing around the ruins of the Ninjetti Temple. It was hard for him to let his fiancé go fight this foe without him going with her to help. Now here he was feeling useless and pacing around worried for her safety. Of course he didn’t even know if it was necessary to worry. He didn’t know what kind of powers, what kind of abilities she possessed.

"Is everything alright Tommy?" Dulcea questioned as she watched the former leader of the power rangers walk back and forth

Tommy stopped pacing and regarded her for a moment. "There’s a lot going on. A lot to take in. And I’m worried about Kim."

Dulcea nodded, expecting that to be his answer. "You do not have to worry about Kimberly. She is a strong warrior. I have no doubts that she will be able to successfully fight off Cerlina."

"What if these Cryobots attack? What is she going to do then? I should’ve gone with her, I should be there to help her." He knew Kim gave him her reasons for him not to go, but he should’ve never listened. He would still be able to help if she got into trouble.

"If Kimberly gets overwhelmed I am certain she will call for our help." Dulcea assured him. Kim had the ability to telepathically call to Dulcea if she needed to. It was something she was still learning how to do and she didn’t have the ability to do it across vast distances yet, but when she was on Phaedos she was pretty good at it.

"Yeah." Tommy agreed although he wasn’t exactly sure how she was going to do that. "If she needs me I’ll find a way to help her."

Dulcea nodded. She knew it must be hard for a ranger of Tommy Oliver’s status to sit on the sidelines and watch while someone he loves goes off to fight the great battle without him. It must be even harder with her having powers and abilities and him having nothing. He had great things still left for him as a ranger and his being here with Kim may have been what he needed to get things started.

Dulcea turned her attention back toward the former ranger’s dilemma. "We will have to wait and see." She said, not keen on the idea of him rushing off into battle no matter how good he was. She watched as Tommy started pacing again with a huff and she smiled.

They continued to wait on the ruins for word from Kimberly. As Dulcea watched Tommy, she suddenly got a strange sensation. There was a disruption above Phaedos. She couldn’t yet tell exactly what it was, but it wasn’t strong. There was a possibility that Tommy would be needed in battle and she had to figure out a way to make him useful.

It would be possible to restore his Ninjetti powers, although she didn’t think that would be the best course of action as without training one couldn’t access their full potential. On top of that Tommy’s DNA had bonded with his Dino Gem and there was no telling how it had been altered or how it would react with the Ninjetti powers. Thinking about the Dino Gem got her thinking about a second possible solution.

"Tommy do you still carry your Dino Gem with you?" Dulcea questioned

Tommy stopped and looked at her curiously. He didn’t know why that mattered. The strange thing was that he did carry it with him. He didn’t know why, as far as powers went it was still as useless as it was the day they drained the gems to destroy Mesogog. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the black gem for Dulcea to see. "Yes. Why?"

"May I?" she questioned as she walked over toward him and extended her hand out. Tommy nodded as he dropped the gem into her open hand. Dulcea looked it over, hoping that her idea would work. It was only a theory after all.

Attached to her side was a small pouch. She reached into it and grabbed some of the dust it held, dust that in itself was full of great power. She sprinkled some of that onto the gem and watched as it started to shine with life again. "This should be enough for you to morph." Dulcea said returning the gem to Tommy

Tommy looked at it curiously before glancing over at her. "You restored it’s power? I thought that was impossible."

"It’s only temporary. It’s good for one morph but there’s no guarantee how long that will last. But it is the only thing I can do for you in case Kimberly needs help." Dulcea said smiling at him

"Thank you." Tommy replied. Her giving his gem powers, even temporary ones, was enough for him to feel better about the situation at hand. If Kim needed him he would be right there standing strong at her side to take on the enemy.

Kim walked through the forest trying to quickly make her way to Cerlina. She’d already had to stop twice as issues from home clouded her head and interrupted her connection to Cerlina. In order to keep tracking her, she had to clear her mind and refocus. She knew that she was getting closer as she finally started to really feel her presence.

She headed into a more open area and stopped. Cerlina was there, she had no doubt. She heard someone hit the ground several feet behind her and she turned just as she started speaking.

"Aw Kimmie, a reunion. What an unexpected surprise." Cerlina said as she stood there and smiled wickedly

Kim looked at the woman she once trained with. She had changed over the years, her time in the evil realm hardening her features and giving her a sense of dark authority. Her once blonde hair was now jet black and her eyes a deep red. The red eyes were a concern for Kim as she knew where they came from. They were a mark of anyone who had been trained by Zarkan, known through out for his superior skills and his ruthlessness in battle. The evil beings he trained were strong skilled fighters and hard to defeat. Some of them had gone on to conquer planets and galaxies with seemingly no effort, bringing with them destruction and chaos. She feared what Cerlina would do with Zarkan’s training and the great power, and she knew she had to stop her now.

She watched as Cerlina put her hands to her hips, one hand on each of the twin sai that were attached to the belt on her black leather pants waiting for battle. Kim glanced from her sai to her pants and the revealing black leather top that matched before she replied. "You should’ve known I’d be here to greet you. You know I’m not going to let you just walk up to the temple and take it’s power."

Cerlina cocked her head and smiled. "No I suppose that would’ve been too easy." she said pausing for a moment. "Besides I should’ve known that Dulcea would’ve called her pet to come out here and do her dirty work for her."

"Dulcea called me because she knows how much I’ve been dying to kick your ass again." Kim said emphasizing the again. She probably shouldn’t have although she wanted to remind her that she was not a force that could easily be disposed of, especially not by Cerlina.

"That was a long time ago." Cerlina said with a smile. "Since then I’ve been trained in ways you’ll never understand, while all you’ve had was this pathetic deal with Dulcea."

"Pathetic? I don’t recall it being pathetic when you were begging Dulcea to let you spend more time with her training." Kim was quick to remind her

"That was before. That was when I thought Dulcea was the great being, the master, the one that held all the answers. It wasn’t hard to find out I was mistaken." Cerlina said as she grabbed the sai and removed them from their holders. "Enough talk, I have a power to get to. Why don’t we find out who truly is the greatest warrior."

"Sounds like fun." Kim replied as she pulled her hands in front of her. "Ninjetti, crane!" she cried out as her body embraced the full power of the Ninjetti. Cerlina looked on as she became covered in her Ninjetti robes. They were the same as the ones she wore before with the exception of two huge differences. As a master warrior her robes were no longer pink but a deep red. And as a master of the Ninjetti there were designs in gold that weren’t there before.

Cerlina looked on as Kim transformed into a Ninjetti. "Nice trick but it won’t be enough to stop me."

Kim held her hands up high in the air and her Ninjetti staff fell into them. She had learned to use it’s power quite effectively and it would be able to do some serious damage against Cerlina. "I wasn’t finished yet." she replied as she took the staff and stood in a defensive stance

"Now you’re really ready for me to hand you your defeat." Cerlina said not threatened at all by the staff as she grabbed her sai and twirled them in her hands before running to attack Kim

It didn’t take long for Tommy to resume pacing again. This time he was doing it while clutching his Dino Gem, waiting for the moment Dulcea would say he was needed and he could rush back into action. It felt good to have the ability to run out and help Kim when the time was right.

Dulcea had given up on watching him pace and was now concentrating on other things. She searched for Cerlina’s presence. After a few moments she realized she and Kimberly were near one another. She hoped that it would go well for Kimberly but she would know soon enough. Satisfied with that she went on to try and figure out what the disturbance she felt earlier was. She was having a difficult time getting a grasp on it. It was still around and it was still near Phaedos only she couldn’t quite pinpoint it.

Suddenly it shifted. Whatever it was it was on the beaches of Phaedos and it was coming in the dozens. There was only one thing it could be and that was not good. "Tommy I need your help." she said as she marched up to him

"What is it? Is it Kim?" he questioned a wave of worry flooding him

"She is fine for the moment. Someone is attacking and I need you to come with me." she told him as she turned and walked off

It took Tommy a moment to register what she was saying to him. As much as he wanted to stay and wait for word from Kim he knew he had to help Dulcea. He followed her down the side of the ruins and through the rocks. For a brief second he felt a wave of deja vu, flashing back to his first trip to the planet.

That didn’t last long as the view of the beaches emerged and they saw the surrounding rocks crawling with the enemy. "Are those the Cryobots?" Tommy questioned

"Yes." Dulcea said gripping her staff and getting ready for battle

"Then let’s give them a warm welcome." Tommy replied as he turned to Dulcea who nodded at him. "Dino thunder, power up!" Tommy quickly transformed into the black ranger and he and Dulcea ran down as the battle began.

Chapter 4
The Battle For Phaedos

Tommy’s heart was racing as the adrenaline coursed through him while he made contact with the first of many Cryobots. It had been a long time since he’d been an active ranger and despite the circumstances he was enjoying every minute of it. The ranger in him would never die and was ecstatic to have been resurrected. He found himself wishing that he would be able to sustain the power of a morph more than one time and he hoped that the one time would be enough to do what needed to be done to save Phaedos.

The black ranger was ripped out of his thoughts as several of the Cryobots attacked him from behind, pulling him unexpectedly to the ground. It took every ounce of strength within him to wiggle out from underneath them and quickly move out of their way. They had been much more powerful than he had given them credit for and he quickly realized he couldn’t treat them as putties or piranhatrons or anything else he’d fought over the years. They were a battle unit not to be taken lightly and he would have to quickly change his strategy.

For a brief second he glanced over at Dulcea and found himself surprised that even the master warrior was having difficulty fighting the Cryobots. They were a tough foe and they were at a refusal to go down. Kim had been right to leave him behind to help Dulcea, although had Dulcea not charged his crystal he wasn’t sure how much good he would’ve been to her.

He started to get swarmed with Cryobots once again, but this time instead of fighting head on he ducked and dodged their attacks, letting them get accidental blows in on each other. In their moment of confusion he launched his own attack, knocking them temporarily down and out. They weren’t destroyed when he knocked them down, they were only forced to pause before attacking again.

Tommy quickly realized that this was going to take more than a little hand to hand combat. He needed to get a step ahead of the game and quickly. Without hesitation he called on his Brachio Staff and as it fell into his hands he dove back into the battle.

Kim braced herself and stood strong as Cerlina raced toward her, leaping in the air with her sai ready to attack. At the last possible second Kim caught her sai in her staff, causing her to stop short of an all out attack. The two women stared each other down for a moment until Kim slung her staff around, causing Cerlina to step back. In the brief moment she was off balance Kim hit her with the glowing orb at the end of her staff, giving her quite a shock as she flew back.

"Are you ready to give up yet?" Kim asked glaring at her as she slowly worked her way toward her

"Never." Cerlina hissed. It would take much more than that for Cerlina to give into Kim. She took a brief second to collect herself before jumping up and lunging at Kim, who was surprisingly quite close.

Cerlina changed her attack as she was fighting furiously with her sai. Kim kept up with the blows until the other woman surprised her, getting a sai past her staff and hitting Kim with it. Kim grabbed the injury and stumbled backwards as it was Cerlina’s turn to gloat. "Now who’s going to be giving up Kimmie?" Cerlina stared at her, satisfied that she was going to win. She was going to enjoy this. She planned on torturing her slowly, watching the life force drain out of her as she got her revenge.

Kim watched as Cerlina sauntered her way toward her. She waited until she was close enough and stood, twirling her staff briefly before slamming it on the ground with force. The magic in her staff shook the ground beneath Cerlina’s feet, causing it to briefly open. Cerlina lost her balance and fell in the crack.

Picking the staff up, Kim watched the ground close up again relieved that it was all over. Much to her surprise someone attacked her from behind. Rolling to the ground she pushed her enemy off of her and quickly realized it was Cerlina.

"How did you?" she questioned more stunned than anything

"I told you I was powerful." Cerlina replied as she stood and prepared to fight. Her eyes glowed red and without warning, a circle of fire surrounded the two women.

"You think a little bit of fire scares me?" Kim questioned. She took her staff and spun it around in her hands, using it to make a ring of fire that she pushed in Cerlina’s direction.

The other woman dodged the flames and laughed. "That’s not enough to stop me." She hissed as she attacked Kim.

Both women were fighting against each other, not using any of the power at their disposal as each woman wanted to beat the other in a fair fight. Both felt like they had something to prove, that their methods of training were better and that they were better. Cerlina kicked Kim in the chest and Kim tumbled back, ending a bit too close to the fire for her liking. As Cerlina charged at her Kim ducked out of the way and the other woman stopped short of being flame broiled herself.

Cerlina faced the fire briefly before turning to see Kimberly at the other side of her ring. Her eyes momentarily cast into the sky. The sun was getting ready to set on Phaedos and that wasn’t good. Out of every millennium there was one day where the planets aligned perfectly. One day where the powers on Phaedos were weakened, and the great power would be susceptible to someone as evil as herself. Once the sun set the would no longer be in perfect alignment and she would be damned if she would wait another thousand years to try again.

She suspected Dulcea knew very well about the planets and the chances of someone evil attacking that day. She also suspected that Dulcea would think that she would be the one to attack, after all she was the one who swore her revenge on all of it. Which is why it shouldn’t have surprised her that Dulcea sensed her presence so quickly, or that she’d had Kimberly arrive so quickly.

No matter what, here Kimberly was now distracting her from the great power. If she didn’t get to it soon, it would be nearly impossible to corrupt it for her own good. She had to get there before the sun set and she couldn’t waste any more time fighting Kimberly. Once she had the great power running through her veins she could destroy Dulcea’s little pet without breaking a sweat.

Cerlina knew what she had to do. She also knew that Kimberly wouldn’t allow her to do it. Fortunately in all of her training she learned a neat little power, the power of invisibility. It wasn’t much good if you were going to be the strong assertive evil leader, but for sneaking around and surprising the enemy it was perfect. Summoning the power from within, Cerlina vanished from sight and leapt over the fire, running straight for the temple.

Kim stood ready to attack as Cerlina just disappeared. "Damnit." she cursed under her breath. She couldn’t afford for her to take off like that. She had no idea how she did it, however she assumed it was a trick Zarkan taught her.

It wouldn’t take an idiot to make an assumption about where she was heading. Of course one of the things she learned from Dulcea was that one wrong assumption could destroy the universe. And for that Kim took a deep breath and tried to concentrate on her yet again. It seemed harder this time but she found her and tried to keep her mind clear so could follow her and stop her before anything bad happened.

Thanks to the use of Tommy’s Brachio Staff, Cryobots were disappearing at fast rates. Hand to hand combat combined with the power of his staff was enough for him to help Dulcea take care of these creeps. They were still tough, he’d give them that, but they were able to destroy them in the end.

After a long, hard fought battle the rocky beaches of Phaedos were finally clear of any sign of the Cryobots. "I’m glad that’s over with." Tommy said absentmindedly

"Yes they were tough opponents." Dulcea replied. She was glad that Tommy had been with her as she wasn’t certain she would’ve been able to take them all out on their own. Had they gotten past the ruins they would have most certainly given Kimberly trouble.

"So what do we do now?" Tommy questioned. He refused to power down. He wouldn’t risk Kim needing him and him having wasted his one power up. He was going to hang onto this morph until the power ripped itself from his body. The chilling thought of the power slowly leaving him useless brought back painful memories of a time long ago, a time when he never knew how long he’d be able to sustain a morph while his friends needed him.

"We will return to the ruins and wait for news from Kimberly." Dulcea replied as she led the way. Tommy followed her and was surprised when she suddenly stopped. Dulcea gasped as an unsettling feeling washed over her.

"What’s wrong?" Tommy asked quickly stepping in front of the master warrior

"Cerlina’s reached the power." she said gravely glancing up at the ranger in front of her

"Is Kim ok?" Tommy asked as his concern for her life overwhelmed him

"I do not know." Dulcea replied. It wasn’t a good answer to give but it was the only one she had. She had received no communications from Kim to let her know anything, although she couldn’t help but be a little worried herself that Cerlina had managed to reach the great power.

"I have to go stop Cerlina, help Kim." Tommy said quickly as he turned to run ahead

"Tommy wait!" Dulcea called out after him. The black ranger briefly stopped and looked back at her. "You mustn’t do this. There is no guarantee that your morph will last long enough for you to fight. If you lose your powers before this is over, Cerlina will kill you."

"I’m willing to take that risk." Tommy replied, the determination in his voice indicating that it wasn’t open for debate. He took of with a fury toward the ruins in order to make his way toward the temple. He wasn’t going to let Cerlina get the power and more importantly he wasn’t going to let his fiancee die.

Chapter 5
Protecting The Great Power

Kim’s instincts were correct as she ran out into the clearing in front of the temple to find Cerlina already there. She awakened the guardians of the temple and was now fighting the stone creatures. Although years ago it took six rangers to defeat them, Cerlina stood here with enough power to potentially be able to defeat them alone, giving her access to the power hidden within. That was something Kim couldn’t, Kim wouldn’t let happen.

She ran at Cerlina, flying past the guardians and straight for the warrior, hitting her from behind with her staff and sending her flying. "You will not touch that power." Kim growled

"Kimmie you’re too late, I’m almost there." Cerlina replied gesturing toward the two guardians she’d already made short work of.

She snarled at the woman from beneath her ninjetti robes. "The way I see it you’re not there yet." she pointed out, rolling out of the way of one of the oncoming guardians and standing in front of Cerlina in fighting stance

"That will change quickly." Cerlina said rushing at her. She was hoping that she could distract her easily and continue taking on the warriors as time was not on her side.

As the two women locked in combat once again, a figure emerged from the forest. The black ranger stood there, looking over both women. He had to admit to being more than a little surprised. There Kim stood and she seemed fine, in fact she was more than fine. She was the crane Ninjetti again, only she was red. His Kim was a red.

The powers she had were beyond that of a normal ninjetti’s abilities but she was handling them gracefully. He watched in awe as she used all the powers at her disposal to fight fiercely. He couldn’t believe it. Here she was, his Kim, as a warrior. He knew she was a good ranger but this... Tommy let his thoughts trail off as he shook his head and tried to ground himself back in reality.

The guardians were trying to attack Kim and Cerlina. They had no allegiances to Kim or Dulcea, only to the power. And if the power was going to stay out of the hands of Cerlina the guardians would have to stay intact. Mind made up, he decided to leave the other woman to Kim for the moment and fight the guardians enough to distract, but not destroy them. Calling for his staff once more, he quickly headed out onto the battlefield.

Cerlina grunted as a black power ranger entered the mix. Although he seemed not to be going after her, but after the guardians. That may prove useful as once they were destroyed she could have the power and there wasn’t anything Kim could do about it. And if he stood in her way, well how hard could it be to kill a power ranger. With brute strength Cerlina lunged at Kim trying to end the battle quickly.

Kim hit the ground and rolled away before Cerlina could get near her, barely catching a glimpse of Tommy as she did. He was fighting the guardians for reasons Kim didn’t understand. After all if they were destroyed the power would be open to Cerlina. But he would know that, he’d have to remember that. Besides she didn’t have time to worry about it as Cerlina lunged at her once more.

The two were evenly matched as they both issued blows against the other and used their powers to try and defeat the other. Kim called for everything she could think of to help launch a huge blow to her enemy. Cerlina flew back and hit the ground, laying still for a moment. That was when Kim saw it. "Tommy watch out!"

Tommy heard her calls and knew what her concerns were. He could feel his powers fading in and out, knew they wouldn’t last much longer. Dulcea’s gift had all but run its course and he would have to make the most of it before it did. He was standing in front of one of the guardians and he continued to try and issue blows as one minute the power coursed through his veins and the next it didn’t.

Suddenly Kim’s world started to move in slow motion. A sense of deja vu washed over her as she watched Tommy’s powers fade before her eyes in the middle of the battle. She didn’t notice as Cerlina stood up and took this as her distraction, going to attack the other guardian. Her focus was only on Tommy as she rushed toward him. Before she could get there his powers faded for the last time, leaving him helpless as the guardian crushed his mid-section with a blow hard enough to send him flying.

Immediately Kim stopped and switched directions, running to the side of the man she loved most in the world. "Tommy are you ok?" she asked as she lifted his head in her arms

"I’ll... I’ll be fine." Tommy replied choking on the words as he spoke them. He was in a lot of pain and working hard to try and get his breath back to something normal as the guardian had crushed him. He would be alright, he’d just have to stay out of the battle which is what he didn’t want to do. "Go stop Cerlina." he said as he looked into Kim’s eyes

Kim quickly went to put her arms around him and pull him up. "Not until we get you to safety." She wasn’t thinking logically, she knew that, but he was too important to her to let him die.

"Kim," Tommy started to argue with her but she hushed him. She pushed a little ways into the forest and found a safe place for Tommy to rest before running back off into battle.

Tommy closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths as she took off. It was hard to watch her leave to rush off into battle without him. Every ounce of him wanted to jump up and join her, to protect her. But he couldn’t, his body wouldn’t let him and he’d only be a liability to her. With a sigh he resolved himself to waiting, praying that soon she’d be back with good news.

As Tommy rested Kim took one final glance in his direction before shifting her concentration back to Cerlina. To her horror she’d defeated another guardian and was doing a number on the last one. Kim rushed over and tackled her to the ground before jumping up and standing close enough to the guardian to try and protect it from her.

"Just one more to go." Cerlina reminded her as she stood. "And he’ll succumb to me quite easily." Of course it would be better if Kim wasn’t there as now she had to go back to working around Kim to get to it.

"You still have to get through me first." Kim reminded her as she ran to attack

Cerlina fought for a second before throwing Kim off of her. Briefly she glanced up at the sky. She had mere minutes before this opportunity would pass and Kim would be able to defeat her. Once the sun set even if she defeated the final guardian the great power would fight her efforts to use it and control it. She had to distract Kim again. Briefly she glanced over to the forest. She had a fondness for that ranger she’d hidden over there. Perhaps she could use that to her advantage.

Her eyes glowed red as she called to all the power she could muster from within. Suddenly a flame started at her feet and rushed straight in the direction that Kim had left the other ranger. Satisfied she turned back toward the guardian.

"No!" Kim yelled standing up and running at Cerlina. She slammed the other woman out of the way, having only seconds to stop the flame before it reached the forest. Quickly she held up her staff in an attempt to call forth all the power it held, powers she’d never accessed before but knew they were there. Sparks flew from the end of the staff as electricity started to flow from it, creating a force field around them all and temporarily stopping the fire from moving.

Cerlina would not stand for this at all. She ran toward Kim, taking her sai and slashing them at her. Before she had a chance to attack Kim turned her staff toward Cerlina, hitting her with all the energy flowing through it. Cerlina fell back and hit the electric wall, slipping to the floor unconscious. With her not able to control the fire it put itself out and Kim brought the staff down to her side, cutting off its energy flow and the force field that surrounded them.

With Cerlina still out on the ground, Kim let out a sigh of relief. She looked around at all the wonders of Phaedos as the last glimmer of sunlight faded and she found herself being engulfed by the twilight. It was a beautiful moment, almost serene if not for the fact that Cerlina was slowly regaining consciousness.

Kim held her staff cautiously and pointed it toward her as the other woman struggled to pull herself to her feet. Cerlina adjusted her eyes and looked around. She was too late. She balled her fist and turned toward Kim. Her energy was drained and she didn’t need to fight now, but she wouldn’t forget this. "You’ll pay for this Kimmie." she glared at her for a moment thinking about how she’d take away everything near and dear to her, saving her for last. With a huff she teleported herself off, leaving Kim standing by herself on Phaedos.

Once Cerlina was gone Kim powered down and glanced around. The only indication of the battle that just occurred was the one guardian who was now turned toward her. He wouldn’t fight her if she backed away from him, and the power would eventually turn him back to stone along with three new guardians who would stand lifeless at the temple until someone else tried to access its power. Satisfied that things were back to normal, she turned and ran toward her fiance. "Tommy?" she called out as she headed into the forest

Upon hearing his name Tommy opened his eyes. "Kim?" he replied as she burst into his view. "Did we win?"

"Yeah." she said softly smiling at him. "We won."

"Now what?" Tommy asked as he allowed Kim to let him stand

"Let’s say goodbye to Dulcea and go home." she replied as she got him to his feet. Putting her arms around him she teleported them both back to the ruins where Dulcea was waiting.

"You did good Kimberly." Dulcea said once they materialized in front of her. She was impressed at how well Kimberly did in battle. She had no doubt that the woman standing in front of her would fulfil her destiny as a guardian of the universe.

"Thank you." Kim replied. She appreciated hearing from Dulcea about a job well done. Dulcea was her mentor and she looked up to her.

Dulcea nodded toward her. "Thank you both for helping protect Phaedos and the great power. Without you the universe would be in great danger."

"Always glad to help." Tommy replied giving her a smile

"We need to get back to our home." Kim said as Dulcea nodded in understanding. "Goodbye Dulcea."

"Until next time." Dulcea replied as Kim and Tommy teleported out

Seconds later they found themselves back in Tommy’s command chamber where Kim planned on helping getting him healed then going back to their normal lives. But as usual in the lives of the rangers, things didn’t go as planned.

The moment they arrived Tommy’s equipment was going crazy. "What’s going on?" Kim asked as she helped him to his seat

Tommy scooted up to the computer and scanned around. When he found the disturbance his jaw clinched and he turned back toward Kim. "We have a problem."

Kim frowned as she didn’t like the tone in his voice. "What’s the problem?"

"It’s Cerlina." Tommy said simply. After their adventure on Phaedos he never wanted to see her again but it was too late for that. Kim looked at him curiously and he continued. "She’s on the moon. Setting up in the remnants of the Lunar Palace."

Kim crossed her arms over her chest. This would not be good.