Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Fandom: Power Rangers Zeo/Turbo/Dino Thunder
Title: Seven Kisses: Chapter 1: Case of Nerves
Pairing: Kat x Tommy
Word Count: chapter: 8,915||story: 8,915
Genre: Romance, Adventure||Rated: PG-13
Challenge: 7snogs: Kat x Tommy: Double Night Challenge: prompt #1, anxiety
Notes: This takes place after Good as Gold but before the Turbo movie. Kat and Tommy have been dating for about a month.
Summary: Seven times Kat and Tommy kissed one another. Kiss #1: Kat and Tommy's visit to an exhibit about Australia gives Rita one very nasty idea.

Tommy tugged down the bottom of his shirt with one hand and ran one finger of his other around his collar. He didn't think there was a reason to be nervous, but he was anyway. This was only his fourth date with Kat in the last month. Nothing bad had happened on any of the other three.

Maybe that was the problem. After what happened at Ernie's luau, some part of him kept expecting the Machine Empire or Rita and Zedd to turn up at any date they had and start throwing Cogs or Tengas, and whatever latest monster they had at the two of them.

He leaned back in the seat of his truck and tried to calm down. Kat had probably seen him from her bedroom window already, but he still wanted to knock and say hi to her parents before they headed off.

Face it, Oliver. You're scared about her dumping you. It wasn't something he enjoyed thinking about, but it crossed his mind now and then. He supposed it wasn't that unusual. Every relationship had weak spots, right?

Well, sitting in his truck musing about them wasn't going to make those weak spots any stronger. Not when Kat was probably wondering what he was doing sitting out here anyway instead of coming up to the door.

He shoved himself out of the truck and headed up the graveled path, putting all of those annoying issues behind him for the moment. He had fun going out with Kat. He had no intentions of letting anything ruin it, especially himself.

As he'd done other times, he tapped on the white-painted door. Kat really must have been waiting for him, since the echo had barely died before the door swung open and she stood there.

"Hey, Kat." He smiled; as always, she seemed to give off a warm glow of life and light the moment that he looked at her. Blonde hair perfectly brushed out, warm blue eyes that softened the moment she looked at him, that smile that sent his heart thudding against his rib cage…

"Hi, Tommy." She glanced over her shoulder and he followed her gaze to see her parents standing at the end of the hallway behind her.

"Hello, Mr. Hillard, Mrs. Hillard," he politely nodded as he had on those other times he'd come to pick her up. "Hope you have a good evening."

"I'm sure we will." Kat smiled reassuringly as she stepped outside, Tommy moving back to give her more room. "I'll be home later."

Tommy headed back down the stairs and over to the truck, Kat right next to him.

"They like you, you know." Kat said as she moved around to the passenger side. "They told me at lunch."

He wasn't blushing. He was Tommy Oliver, Red Ranger, leader of the Power Rangers, he did not blush just because his girlfriend's parents liked him! It was just…the weather. The evening was warm, after all. It was May. It was expected.

"I like them too." Tommy hoped that she couldn't see him enough to even think he might be blushing – which he wasn't – as he got behind the wheel.

He glanced over at her before he fumbled for his keys, meeting those eyes of hers. He wanted to say something else, but words eluded him. He wasn't even sure of what it was he wanted to say in the first place.

Kat looked back at him, one eyebrow tilted up and her head to the side a fraction. He swallowed, shook his head a tiny fraction, and got his key into the ignition. Maybe if he drove he could shake off some of this annoyance and figure out what it was he wanted to say.

"Tommy, is something wrong?" Kat's hand brushed against his, and he caught his breath at the feel of her smooth skin.

"No." He shook his head, not actually sure if he were lying or not. He didn't think he was. It wasn't wrong. He just hadn't made up his mind on if it were right or not. "I think I'm just having an off night or something."

Kat frowned at that. "We don't have to go anywhere if you don't feel up to it."

"No, I want to go." Tommy refused to let his own insecurities ruin tonight. "That exhibit's not going to be there forever, is it?"

"Probably not, but if you're not up to it…"

He shook his head once again and reached out to take her hand in his for a few moments. "I am. Trust me, Kat." He found a smile on his lips and spared a quick moment from driving to look at her.

As much as he would've liked to, he couldn't hold her hand and smile at her forever. He had to return his attention to the road and getting them to the museum in one piece.

Though neither of them spoke again as the road unrolled by them, the silence wasn't an entirely awkward one. A sort of expectancy hung in the air, one that grew and grew until Tommy finally rolled into the museum driveway and found a place to park.

"Kat…" He turned to her, reaching for her hand again, wanting to feel her warmth so close to him. "I just…really like you. I like spending time with you." The words sounded so clunky and awkward to his ears but he kept on anyway. "I just…I worry."

Her hand folded warmly over his and she smiled at him, warming that little cold place inside of himself. "I understand."

He thought she did. Reassured, at least for the moment, he slipped out of the truck and turned to the museum itself. A large sign on the front lawn proclaimed to reveal all the hidden wonders, mysteries, and terrors of Australia, with emphasis on the myriad of ways that almost everything there could kill someone if they weren't careful and sometimes even if they were.

"Is Australia really that dangerous?" Tommy wondered as Kat came around to join him. He'd been there, but not only had they not spent that much time there thanks to Rita and Zedd's marriage, but the school trip had been very carefully controlled so they didn't get into any trouble whatsoever, much less seeing anything that would've been dangerous.

Kat shrugged. "I didn't think it was." A hint of a smile tilted her lips upward. "But I grew up there, so I might not be the best person to ask."

He couldn't help but laugh at that, then headed up the steps with Kat. He'd been looking forward to checking this exhibit out for weeks now, and doing it with her just made it even better.

There were a few other people strolling through the corridors, pointing and staring at the various pictures, statues, and plaques of information about all the different kinds of wildlife one could find in the faraway land. So far as Tommy could tell, they were all ordinary people, not a hidden Cog, Tenga, or Putty among them. Checking out one's surroundings for potential attackers was just part of what it meant to be a Power Ranger.

"I usually think about koalas or kangaroos when I think about Australia," he admitted as they walked past a display of rare trees indigenous only to that part of the world. He wasn't entirely certain that he believed a eucalyptus tree could explode, but he'd seen stranger things going on. "You know, things that aren't dangerous."

Kat laughed and shook her head. "Koalas are dangerous if they hug you. And you really don't want a kangaroo to kick you."

Tommy gave her a long look. "Is there anything in Australia that isn't dangerous?"

She didn't answer right away, thinking the question over. "I think breathing is still safe. Or it was when I moved, anyway."

"No wonder you're such a great Ranger." Tommy rested one hand on her shoulder for a few seconds. "You're used to things trying to kill you."

"Something like that." A light flush crept up her cheeks and she ducked her head.

They moved onward, Kat pointing out some of the places pictured that she knew from her childhood. Tommy paid strict attention; he'd enjoyed their vacation there, but there was a special thrill to hearing about it from someone who saw all of this as a normal part of her life.

The later it grew, the better he liked it; they hadn't had a monster attack in almost two days, and none of their opponents attacked after sunset. He'd never really wondered as to why. They needed to sleep too, he guessed. But the closer it came to the end of the day, the easier he relaxed and didn't worry about his communicator going off. Which meant they could both really enjoy their date.

"Zedd!" Rita snapped her husband's name out as she stomped the butt of her staff on the dusty floor of the lunar palace. "I want a new monster!"

Zedd barely looked up from where he sat on his throne reading the latest update on the doings of evil beings throughout the universe. He wanted to see if their return to power and defeat of the Machine Empire had been written up yet. So far, he hadn't seen anything about it. Lousy reporters.

Dark Spectre's up to something. The so-called Monarch of all evil didn't impress Zedd very much. Or at least Zedd wanted to think he didn't. It wasn't impossible that Dark Spectre could squash him out of existence with little more than a wave of one finger. For centuries there had been an unstated understanding between his empire and Dark Spectre's, which amounted to 'you leave us alone and we'll leave you alone'.

This would work out better if I could just get rid of those Rangers. If he did that, then his reputation would be fully restored and Dark Spectre could go back to lurking in other parts of the universe and leave him be.

"Zedd!" Rita squawked again, this time kicking him in the leg. "Did you hear me? I said I wanted a monster!"

Zedd glared up at her; he hated losing his place when he was reading. "So make one! It's not like you haven't done it before! Plenty of times! Why are you bothering me about it? Can't you see I'm doing something?"

"Well, if that's going to be your attitude about it, maybe I will!" Rita flounced off in a huff of pointy clothes and annoyance. Zedd turned his attention back to the updates. Some days he really wondered why he loved her at all. He could've done better with Divatox.

No, Divatox's nephew was even more annoying than Rito was. And he hadn't thought that was possible.

Rita stomped a few feet away and stared up at the Earth. She'd watched Kat and Tommy going on their dates ever since the two had started. How can those two be so blasted happy? It ate at her to think that despite everything she'd done, they still found time to have fun and go out with each other. Something had to be done, and since Zedd didn't want to do it, she would have to take care of it herself.

It would probably work better with her doing it anyway. Zedd didn't understand how much it infuriated her to see them like this. Sure, he got upset at the Rangers being happy, but seeing Kat and Tommy, her two personal pawns who'd turned on her, being thoroughly happy together made her want to blow something up. Preferably the Earth, or at least Angel Grove.

If she couldn't do that, she could at least ruin their date.

It only took a moment for her to stalk over to her Repulascope and focus it back on the two Rangers. This time, however, instead of just staring and muttering dire threats that she knew she'd never get around to pulling off, she watched where they were and what they were doing. Somewhere around there would be the inspiration for the monster that she wanted. It would be so much better than getting Finster to make something.

Where were they, anyway? She hadn't paid enough attention before, only enough to realize they were on yet another date. She'd wanted to send something to break it up every time, but something always got in the way, from trying to find the palace again to setting up things once they got there.

Now that they'd done all of that, it was time to get back to business: making life miserable for the Power Rangers before actually destroying them once and for all.

A museum. That's what it is. That made her chances of finding something to wreck their evening with even better. She hated starting a battle so late in the evening, but since she'd spent most of the day trying to clean up all the dust that settled during the months they'd spent with her father, she hadn't had a chance to do anything until now. And saving it until the next day wouldn't be any fun. Kat and Tommy would have already finished their date.

Which meant she needed to hurry and find something before they did just that.

Rita turned the scope this way and that, trying to find something that really appealed to her destructive instincts. You'd think with everything that's ready to blow up everything else at a moment's notice in that place, this wouldn't be so hard! She'd learned a little about Australia when she'd searched the world for someone to be her spy, and ended up finding Katherine. That was part of why she'd chosen the girl in the first place. Someone from that kind of a place had to be tough and strong enough to survive, and that was what Rita wanted.

In some ways it wasn't really finding something that appealed to her. It was making up her mind on which one she should use that was the difficult part. Everything in Australia had something about it that she liked. Exploding trees, deadly jellyfish, spiders, snakes, crocodiles, even snails! She had to love a country that produced a deadly snail.

If they weren't so slow, I'd use that. But she had no intentions of creating a monster that the Rangers could outrun if they tried a slow walk. Something else would have to do.

If only there was one create that could contain all of the distilled danger that she enjoyed seeing so much. She started to put it together in her head. A kangaroo's powerful legs, a koala's claws, a platypus's venom…

That was it! Rita's eyes widened in joy as the idea hit her full force. If there wasn't one creature that had everything she wanted, she'd just take all of their best parts and make one of her very own!

"This is perfect!" She swirled around in a happy circle. She couldn't imagine anything being more perfect than this, not unless all the Power Rangers conveniently dropped dead at the same moment. Since they weren't going to be that co operative, she would just have to take care of them herself. And this new monster would see that it happened!

It would take a while to decide what she wanted from all of her available choices. So, just to make sure Kat and Tommy didn't sneakily finish their date while she was designing her new monster, she snapped her fingers hard.

"Tengas! Go down to that museum and keep Kat and Tommy from going anywhere until I say otherwise!" She ordered the group of feathered idiots that answered her call. They needed to upgrade to something better, something that would be able to outstrip the Rangers' Zeo powers, but until such a something better came along, the Tengas would just have to do. At least they were useful for keeping the Rangers occupied.

The bird warriors vanished in a heartbeat and she looked back at the museum, wanting to make sure the fight was on before she got down to picking her parts.

"Tasmanian devils can really run that fast?" Tommy looked at the small plaque of information set against the exhibit wall. Almost eight miles an hour was pretty impressive, especially for something that small.

"I've never tried to outrun one." Kat shrugged. "Honestly, I've never even seen one."

She started to move on to the next exhibit, when a flutter of black feathers rained down only a few feet away. "And I wish I wasn't seeing these right now!" She declared, falling back into a fighting stance.

"Tengas!" Tommy shook his head, bringing his fists up. "I knew this was too good to last."

Both of them launched into the fight as quickly as they could, ducking the blows of feathered fists and slamming their own fists and feet into the Tengas as hard as they could.

"We need to get them outside!" Kat shouted, ducking a pair of Tengas that tried to team up on her. "Before someone in here gets hurt!" Or before they ruined the exhibit. Most places in Angel Grove had monster insurance of some kind, but both Rangers preferred making it unnecessary.

"Where's a door out of here?" Tommy grabbed one Tenga by the wrist and slammed it into another as hard as he could, grinning as both of them stumbled backwards. His grin fell off his face as they crashed into the very Tasmanian devil display he'd been looking at before they'd interrupted, breaking through the glass and sending the skeleton and stuffed devil scattering. "And the sooner the better!"

Kat slammed one foot into a Tenga's stomach and pushed it away with all of her strength, looking around. There had to be a door around there somewhere, one that wouldn't lead to more people. The few others there for the exhibit had scattered almost as soon as the Tengas showed up, showing the usual intelligence that those of Angel Grove had developed over the last few years. When otherworldly monsters showed up, get out of the way and let those who knew what they were doing handle the problem.

Sometimes she wondered how they kept their identities secret when they were the ones who fought whatever foot soldiers ended up being sent down, and they didn't always have time to morph when it happened.

That was a matter for another day, though. She squawked in surprise as another Tenga tackled her from behind, and the one she'd been trying to shove into the nearest wall wriggled out of her grip and seized her by the arms.

Kat had never questioned her right to use the Spirit of the Crane in the old Ninja days. Kim had given it to her and she'd never had any issues with it. But at this moment, with all of these bird creatures around her, a sharp feline snarl echoed deep from her throat and she slammed both of the Tengas together with every scrap of strength she could dredge up, following it with a quick double kick that put them both down on the floor.

Only a moment later she caught sight of something else, something she'd been too distracted by the fight to notice. "Tommy!" She shouted, waving to catch his attention. The second he looked toward her, she pointed toward the far wall. "There's a door over there!" Hidden quite neatly behind a potted plant, she suspected that it only lead to a storage room or maybe some other hallway. What it likely wouldn't lead to was somewhere with artifacts and displays and people who could get hurt.

Tommy didn't waste a breath; he hurried over to her and the door even as the Tengas started to get back up and circle around them again. "Hey, beakfaces!" He waved at them, wanting to make certain none of them stayed behind. "We're going this way! Catch us if you can!"

Kat yanked the door open, realizing only as she did that if it were locked they didn't have anywhere else to try to run to. Going outside likely enough wouldn't work, not since that was where the other patrons had probably ended up. This was the best that they could do.

Behind the door led a long corridor. Kat couldn't tell where it went from there, other than 'away'. She didn't hesitate to rush down it, though, keeping an eye turned behind her to make certain the Tengas didn't lose them, or worse, catch up to them when they didn't have enough room to fight in.

"Wonder what Rita and Zedd are up to this time?" Tommy kept his own attention on the Tengas as they raced through the corridor. At least they didn't have to morph to deal with them, not like with Cogs. They could handle this without the others, at least for now.

"Trouble, like always. What else?" Kat could feel the wry smile hovering on her lips. That was all Rita and Zedd ever did. She wondered if they'd ever pick up a real hobby, like stamp collecting.

"Up there!" Tommy gestured past her and she looked to see a door half-open. No light came from whatever was on the other side, but they didn't slow down. One of the lead Tengas was far too close anyway, his claws snatching at the back of Tommy's shirt. I just got this out of the dryer today! If it gets torn…

That was all he had a chance to think before they were at the door, blowing through it as if they knew what to expect on the other side.

What lay on the other side was a wide room with several unopened boxes in it, and a few people wandering around opening them or unpacking one or two that had already been opened. Tommy didn't waste a second.

"We've got trouble coming after us. Where's the quickest way to somewhere without any people around?"

The workers stared at the two of them without an answer, right up until the first Tengas broke into the room behind them. One of the workers pointed toward a large door with the crowbar still in his hand. "That way. Good luck."

"Thanks." Neither Tommy nor Kat wasted another word but headed toward the indicated door, Tengas hot on their heels.

"Think we should call for backup?" Kat asked just as they slammed through the door, which led out into a loading bay, lit by several bright lights. Just as they'd hoped, there wasn't anyone else there but the two of them and the Tengas.

"I think we've got this."

Tommy had barely finished speaking before the Tengas leaped out after them, and the Red and Pink Rangers launched themselves back into the battle. For all of his brave words, Tommy admitted only to himself that he hoped they could end this before they really did need to call the others.

Rita looked over everything she'd noted from the museum exhibits. Picking out just the right parts for her new monster had taken a little time, but now she had the ones that she wanted.

"The kicking strength of a kangaroo, the claws of a koala, a platypus's venom, and a Tasmanian devil's speed!" With all of these put together onto a powerful monster body, there was no way the Rangers could defeat it!

She didn't bother calling for Finster's help with this. His monsters were all failures anyway. She'd created monsters without him before and she could definitely do it again. Creating monsters was just like riding a bicycle: you never really forgot.

Rita lifted up her staff and pointed it toward Earth, focusing her attention on the museum and the exhibits there. She'd ordered the Tengas not to cause too much damage, mostly because that would confuse the Rangers and because she knew she'd need the parts available there to weave into her new monster.

"Arise, Australian Abomination!" Lightning crackled forth from the tip of Rita's staff and blasted to Earth, separating into four bolts to hit four different exhibits. Energy from each of those gathered together, circling up and down, and finally fading away, leaving the monster behind. "Abomination, go and attack the Power Rangers! Make certain you finish them off quickly, too!"

"As you wish!" Australian Abomination glowed, gathering itself up into a stream of dark energy that hovered for a heartbeat or two before it slammed out of the museum. Rita drew herself up with pride.

In just a few minutes, it would be two Rangers down, and all the rest to go. Why hadn't she thought of this sooner?

Kat breathed in a quick lungful of air, just as the last of the Tengas fell backward into the larger group. The feathered fiends exchanged several quick looks, then all of them vanished without another word.

"I don't like this." Tommy shook his head, coming over to her. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Kat rubbed her arms; she'd be covered with bruises before morning. Luckily she had a lot of experience in explaining them to her parents. "You think Rita and Zedd are up to more than just this?"

"They've got to be. It doesn't make any sense otherwise."

She had to agree. Neither of them underestimated what Rita could do, much less Zedd. "Let's talk to Zordon."

"Rangers!" Neither of them had the chance to raise their communicators before an energy blast sent them both flying. Kat rolled up to her feet and stared in the direction it came from.

"What in the…"

It stood nearly seven feet tall, with muscles on top of muscles and covered in thick black fur, but with tiny eyes, huge legs with even huger feet, and claws that gleamed with a thick horrid orange coating that Kat didn't want to get any closer to than absolutely necessary.

"Who are you?" Tommy asked, also drawing himself to his feet. He didn't need to ask what; this was one of Rita and Zedd's monsters. They just needed to know what it was, so they could figure out how to beat it.

"I am Australian Abomination! And I am going to be the one who destroys all of the Power Rangers!" With no more than that, it launched itself toward them with far greater speed than almost any monster they'd seen before. Kat and Tommy just barely rolled out of the way in time, each to one side so it would have to choose which way to attack.

"You say that like we haven't heard it before. You're going to end up on the trash heap, just like all the rest of Rita and Zedd's monsters." Tommy declared, moving to one side and trying to keep the creature's attention on him.

While he did that, Kat backed off, checked to make sure no one was around to interrupt her, and hit the button on her communicator. "Zordon, this is Kat, come in! Tommy and I ran into trouble at the museum."

"We are monitoring the situation, Katherine." Zordon's comforting voice came back quickly. "Alpha has not yet identified all of the abilities of this Australian Abomination. You and Tommy had best be careful. I am sending the other Rangers to your location."

"Thanks!" She didn't dare spend any more time than that talking. She did take a quick look at the creature, and frowned. Something about it seemed a little too familiar, given where she came from and where they'd just been.

Wait… A passing gust of wind brought a rank odor to her nose and she shuddered. She'd never smelled it before, but it only added to the list slowly building in her mind. The claws, the legs and feet, the speed, all of it could mean only one thing, and it wasn't something she wanted to happen.

"Tommy, be careful! If I'm right, it's got poison on those claws." Kat began to circle the creature, keeping as far back as Tommy was but not getting too close to him. Their best chance until the other got there would be to keep too far apart for it to attack them both.

"You know something about this thing, Kat?"

"It looks like someone put it together from a lot of different animals from Australia." Kat backpedaled as fast as she could to avoid a swipe from those claws. "And we've got a lot of poisonous animals in Australia."

The familiar swoosh heralded the arrival of the other three Rangers, all of whom took up stances in a semi-circle around Australian Abomination. Kat wished Trey were there; they could've used his help quite a bit right then. But they would work with what they had.

"Zordon and Alpha are still working on figuring out what this thing can do. We need to keep it pinned down until they do." Adam told them.

"And I think the best way we can do that is to morph!" Tommy decided. "It's morphin' time!"

One flash of multi-colored light later and five morphed Zeo Rangers now circled the monster, which only laughed at them all.

"You think this is going to help you? Once I get you with my poison, there won't be anything any of you can do except scream like a baby!"

Unfortunately, that didn't help Kat pin down exactly what kind of poison it might be. And no matter what kind it is, I bet Zedd and Rita made it even worse.

"Rangers!" Alpha's voice came over the communicators before they could close with the monster. "Return to the Power Chamber at once; we've figured out what the monster is made out of!"

Whatever it was, it had to be horrendous for Zordon to pull them out of the battle. The group started to back up, only for Australian Abomination to charge toward them.

"You're not getting away that easily, Rangers!"

In two quick bounds, it cleared the distance between them. Heavily clawed paws struck at Rocky and Adam, both of whom dodged out of the way just barely in the nick of time. Australian Abomination whirled, almost too fast for any of them to see, and charged now at Tommy. The Red Ranger started to move back, and he might well have escaped like the others, if the heel of his boot hadn't come down on a stray rock, sending him skittering backwards.

Rita's monster shot forward even faster, claws slicing into Tommy's suit, sparks flying as the Red Ranger flew backwards, slamming against the museum wall hard enough to dent it.

"Zeo Power Disc!" Kat didn't bother thinking about it; she simply summoned her weapon and threw it, striking the monster upside of the head. Tanya rushed over there as well, slamming her Clubs into the monster's side, then leaping away to clear the path for Rocky and Adam to strike, Axes and Hatchets sending the monster rolling away.

Kat dropped down next to Tommy, who had one hand pressed against his shoulder. It was hard to see against the red of his uniform, but she thought she saw blood, and she definitely saw thick orange traces that could only have come from the monster's venomous claws.

"Let's get him out of here." The last thing Kat saw as they all teleported out was Australian Abomination, laughing hysterically as it righted itself and marching away toward the more populated areas of the city.

"How bad is it, Alpha?" Kat winced at the gash on Tommy's shoulder. He'd demorphed almost as soon as they'd landed in the Power Chamber, and her fears about the blood were confirmed the moment that he did.

The robot continued to clean the injury, even as Tommy winced just from the light pressure of the cotton swab. "I can't be certain just yet, Katherine. The computer is analyzing the poison now." Kat turned to face Zordon, gloved hands clenched together. "It's going to attack more people. We have to stop it." As much as she wanted to stay and watch over Tommy, she knew her duty as a Power Ranger. And if they couldn't help Tommy, then they certainly couldn't help anyone else the monster attacked.

"We will, Katherine." Zordon reassured her before he turned his attention on the team as a whole. "Our scans so far indicate that the Australian Abomination is created from a melding of kangaroo, koala, Tasmanian devil, and platypus, taking some of the most powerful qualities from each of those."

Kat put it together faster than the others. "Tasmanian devils are fast. That's why it moved the way that it did." They were probably lucky it hadn't tried to attack them both at the same time. It might well have been able to do it. "Koalas have sharp claws, we saw those. Kangaroos…better not let it kick you."

"What can a platypus do, though?" Rocky wondered. "Aren't they those things with the duck bills and fur?"

"They also have venom." Kat told him, a sudden iciness forming in the pit of her stomach. "It's not fatal to a human, but it could paralyze someone if there's enough of it." She started to turn toward Tommy, when Zordon spoke again.

"Australian Abomination's venom is perhaps a hundred times more powerful than that of an ordinary platypus." Zordon said what she didn't want to hear.

Rocky shook his head a little. "So how do you fix the ordinary stuff?"

Kat closed her eyes and drew a quiet breath. "You can't. There's no known antidote for platypus venom. People have reported feeling the effects for months afterward. And if this is even worse…"

"Hey, Alpha…" Tommy spoke up for the first time since they'd returned to the Power Chamber. "Got any aspirin or something? That monster really got me bad." He tried to rub at his shoulder, which had already begun to swell worrisomely.

"That won't do any good." Kat murmured, remembering times she'd heard about people who were injured by a platypus. It didn't happen often, but it did happen. "Not even morphine can help it."

Alpha shuffled over to one of the storage lockers. "I'll see what I can find, Tommy." Kat could see his head tilted in a way that meant he was looking at her, and didn't argue about it. If they did have something that could help, she wanted Tommy to have it.

Worried looks flew fast all around the four injured Rangers. "So how do we stop it?" Adam wondered. "There's got to be a way."

Kat turned to the Viewing Globe, watching as the monster sent people fleeing from it. So far, no one else had been hit by the claws, but she suspected that was more to do with the fact the creature probably wanted to save the venom for them. That didn't stop it from sending people running screaming and blowing up any buildings that it wanted to as it stomped through the streets.

They needed to get rid of the claws. That was what held the Abomination's venom. "Let's see if we can get those claws taken care of first. Once they're out of the way, we can try the Zeo Blaster." Kat suggested.

"And if that doesn't work, I bet the Zeo Cannon would." Tanya added in.

Adam and Rocky both nodded; after all this time, they had a pretty good idea of what would work on the monsters and what wouldn't.

No one asked how they would use the Zeo Cannon or the Zeo Blaster without Tommy. All of them hoped they wouldn't have to find out.

Tommy started to push himself to his feet. "Everyone ready? Then back-"

"Hold it." Kat interrupted before he could finish, pointing him back down. "You're not going anywhere just yet. You're still hurt."

He stared at her as she gestured to the wound on his shoulder. She could see him trying not to wince as he shifted back a fraction, then shook her head firmly.

"You're not in any condition to fight, and unless Alpha can find a treatment for it…" Kat broke off, not wanting to say what she feared the most. "You need to stay here for now."

"She's right, man," Rocky put in, giving Tommy's injury a worried look. "That thing got you pretty good."

Tommy winced again, raising one hand to brush across his shoulder for a moment before he pulled away from it. "Yeah, I think you're right. Maybe I should sit this one out for now." He breathed deeply, lines of pain appearing when he didn't make an effort to stop them. "Give it a good one for me?"

Kat managed something that sort of resembled a smile, though not a very pleased one. "You got it."

Rita could not stop laughing. "This is perfect! We finally took down Tommy!" One of her favorite dreams had finally happened! She should definitely should've created a monster from down under before!

Now all she needed to do was wait for the Rangers to come back and watch as her monster destroyed them all in one fell swoop. She didn't care that platypus venom wasn't fatal. It didn't need to be. The more she thought about it, the more Rita liked that it wasn't. One good hit and the Rangers would all be just like Tommy, paralyzed and in agonizing pain, unable to do anything but watch while her fantastic new monster shredded everything in sight!

"What are you up to now?"

She whirled to see Zedd standing beside her, apparently having finished reading the news, and looking fairly annoyed that she was so happy and he had nothing to do with it.

"I did just what you said, Zeddy! I made my own monster and it's already injured Tommy! There's nothing the Rangers can do to help him, either! He's out of the picture, for good!"

"I've heard that one before." Zedd muttered, tilting his head to take a look at Earth himself. "And I'll believe they're defeated when I see it with my own eyes."

"Well, then, you'd better be ready to look, because before today's over with, they are going to be defeated!" Rita didn't want to hear any of Zedd's defeatist talk today. She considered taking him out of the picture herself once she'd taken over Earth. She wouldn't need him anymore then.

Granted, she'd miss waking up to that familiar grill every morning, but maybe…

She'd decide on that once all of the Rangers were finished and nothing was left of Zordon's Power Chamber or Command Center or whatever name it was going by this week but smoking rubble.

Tommy closed his eyes as the rest of the Rangers teleported out of the Power Chamber. He wished he could go with them, but with every passing moment, it was harder and harder for him to move his shoulder. Sharp spikes of pain radiating downward from where the creature's claws had torn into his shoulder. The wound itself didn't look too bad; if it weren't for how much it hurt, he would've just slapped a dressing on it and gone right back to the fight. But if he were honest with himself, he didn't think that he could stand up for more than a few moments, much less actually do anything against the monster.

"Tommy?"

He cracked one eye open to see Alpha in front of him, holding one of those strange devices used whenever they were injured. It didn't happen often enough for him to know what to call that one, but he hoped it would help. "Yeah, Alpha?"

"I'm going to run some tests on you and see if the computers can come up with an antidote for the venom." The robot hesitated before continuing. "It might hurt. I can't be sure."

Tommy set his jaw. "It can't hurt worse than it already does." Even as he said that, he knew he was wrong. The more time that passed, the worse his shoulder and arm hurt, and the more the pain crept all through him. Just sitting there, moving the little bit he needed to in order to talk, made him hurt even worse.

Alpha shuffled closer, a dark green beam emitting from the device that he held. Tommy tensed himself, and flinched as he did, since that sent another wave of pain all through him. Alpha waved it all over the affected area, murmuring something Tommy guessed was meant to soothe him. He didn't feel very soothed, though.

The others need me. I can't stay here waiting. He knew that right down to his bones. His bones had another story to tell, as did his flesh, both involving the fact that he couldn't even stand up without wanting to fall down and stay that way.

He took a few deeper breaths in the hopes that would help him fight back the agony twisting through him. It did nothing. He'd learned a lot of techniques to ignore pain while training in karate, and tried as many as he could think of right now. Not one of them did anything. The pain just grew worse and worse, a huge horrible knot that glowed brilliant scarlet and shimmering sick yellow in his shoulder and moved down to his arm and chest, a slow reaching line of black and red that set every inch it touched aflame.

Tommy let his head sag back against the computer banks behind him. He wanted Alpha to find something to fix this, and soon. Every breath he took hurt now. Not in the kind of way that would make him fear for his life, but worse: it made him fear for everyone he couldn't help, because he couldn't move from this spot.

This was all Rita's fault. And somehow, someday, he'd find a way to get her back for it.

"Hold it right there!" Kat drew her Zeo Blaster in the same breath that she and the others landed in front of Australian Abomination. She refused to even call this monster by its name. It made a mockery out of her home, and she wanted to destroy it for that alone, not to mention what it had done to Tommy.

"Well, well, what's this?" The creature eyed them all, waving one clawed hand. "You seem to be one Ranger short! Something wrong with your big strong leader?"

Kat never quite figured out how she stopped herself from just slamming one fist into the monster's fanged mouth. Instead, she aimed her blaster at it. "You're not going to get anyone else with that poison of yours."

"Try and stop me!"

Kat knew how fast Tasmanian Devils could move. She still couldn't move quite fast enough to avoid Australian Abomination as it crashed into her, knocking her backwards and sending her Zeo Blaster skittering out of reach.

She was back on her feet in a heartbeat, however, and took a jump back to avoid the swipe of those filthy claws. Having one of them out of commission was bad enough. She didn't want there to be two.

"What's the matter, Pink Ranger? Scared of me?"

"No, you've just got a really bad manicure and I don't want it anywhere near me." She could see the other Rangers had their own problems, kicking and punching the dozen Tengas that appeared out of nowhere. She was going to have to handle this on her own, at least until they could get rid of the birdbrains.

Again it slammed into her, sending her spiraling back until she could get her feet under her again. "Pay attention when I'm pounding you, Ranger!"

"Why should I?" Kat taunted, moving back to where she hoped her Zeo Blaster was. She didn't dare make looking for it too obvious. She had to pull this off carefully, if she could pull it off at all.

"Because I said so, that's why!"

This time, Kat knew to watch out for the creature's charge, and she dodged out of the way, rolling toward the fallen blaster she spied out of the corner of her eye. The monster whirled around, growling, and raised sharp, deadly claws.

"You got away that time, but I'm gonna send you to the hospital right next to your boyfriend!"

Kat grabbed her blaster and came up on one knee, pointing it toward the Australian Abomination. "Sorry, that's not the kind of date we like going on."

She didn't wait another second, but started firing, aiming directly at the creature's claws. She hadn't used the Power Bow as often as Kimberly had, but the Power gave her enough hand-eye co-ordination to know where she wanted those shots to go and put them there. Back the monster stumbled, farther with each shot, and she enjoyed seeing those claws start to spark and shatter under the onslaught.

Then more lasers began to join the blasting, and the other three Rangers stood beside her, the Tengas gone. Their aim was as good as hers, and in moments, Australian Abomination fell backward, groaning as it waved its paws about.

"You…you broke my claws!"

"And that's not all we're going to break!" Rocky declared, taking a step forward. "Ready, guys?"

"Ready!" The call came from three other throats as they prepared to call the Zeo Blaster and finish the monster off for good. None of them were surprised when lightning ripped down from the skies, striking the creature directly, and it rose up once again, this time, well over fifty feet tall. Thankfully, the claws remained gone.

Kat held back a brief sigh. "Looks like it's time for the Zords." She'd expected this. After all this time, they all had.

"Can we do this without Tommy?" Tanya wondered. Adam set a hand on her shoulder.

"We're going to have to." They hadn't heard anything from Alpha, Tommy, or Zordon in the few minutes the fight had taken, and none of them expected to until afterward.

Kat threw up one hand toward the sky. "We need Zeo Zord power, now!" And with the command spoken, they could see their Zords already surging toward them. Only the Phoenix failed to join them.

Once settled into their Zords, the Rangers turned all of their firepower onto Australian Abomination, sending it stumbling backward. That didn't work for long, however, as it recovered itself and lunged toward them with all possible speed. There wasn't enough room or time for them to move out of the way, and the Rangers found themselves and their Zords scattered.

"We need to form the Zeo MegaZord!" Kat declared, trying to get her sights on the monster again. With as fast as it was moving, that was all but impossible right now. "Alpha, can you read us? Can you pilot the Phoenix Zeo Zord remotely?"

The answer she got wasn't the one that any of them expected. "He won't need to, Kat." From out of the sun came the Phoenix Zeo Zord, diving with a warrior's screech and talons outstretched. Energy bolts came from those claws, knocking the monster back enough to give them space. "Sorry I'm late, guys. Mind if I join the party?"

"Tommy!" Kat sat up in her seat, eyes wide and heart pounding with excitement for a moment before she frowned. "What are you doing out here, you're still hurt!"

"Not as much as I was. Alpha found a way to neutralize the venom. Come on, let's do this!"

Kat refused to admit just how happy she was to hear his voice, not when there was a fight to finish. In moments they were all in the MegaZord cockpit together.

"Let's do this, Rangers!" Tommy declared, sounding as healthy as he ever had.

"It's not going to be that easy, Rangers!" Australian Abomination leaped forward, huge feet slamming into the combined robot and sending it stumbling against a skyscraper. It followed up with a couple of hard punches, which would've done much more damage to a human than they did to the MegaZord.

Kat had had about enough of this. "Let me handle this, guys. Zeo Ranger I Battle Helmet!" Her battle helmet descended onto the MegaZord, latching tightly into place, and she fired, sending several powerful blasts of energy against Australian Abomination. The monster stumbled back, taken off guard, and now it was the Rangers' fight completely.

As quick as Australian Abomination was, the Zeo MegaZord proved just a fraction quicker, slamming a huge fist into it before it could recover itself, knocking it backwards and off its feet completely.

"Time to end this!" All five of them agreed, and Tommy took his place at the front, summoning his Battle Helmet. The Zeo MegaZord Sabre appeared in their hand a moment later. Energy ran up and down the blade for a few moments before they slashed through the monster just as it was beginning to get back on its feet. In the typical shower of lights and explosions, Australian Abomination exploded, leaving behind nothing more than bad memories.

"No! This can't be happening!" Rita stomped her foot and her staff repeatedly. How could it have happened again? They were so close! She was so close!

Zedd laughed, shaking his grilled face. "I could've told you this would happen."

"This is all your fault, Zedd!" Rita wasn't above shoving the blame onto someone else. Especially Zedd. "If you'd helped instead of reading the newspaper, they wouldn't have won again!"

The Emperor of Evil gave her a look that might've quelled her ten thousand years earlier. But years of marriage had evaporated her fear of him and she flounced away, determined that the next time she made a monster, it would be one that would destroy the Power Rangers once and for all.

"Good to see you're all right," Rocky said, reaching to pat Tommy on the formerly injured shoulder. The Red Ranger pulled away before he could, though.

"Careful, it's not all the way back in shape yet," Tommy said with a rueful grin. "Alpha got rid of the poison and stopped most of the pain, but it's still going to take a while before it's completely fixed."

Kat turned toward Alpha at that. "How did you do it? No one's ever been able to cure platypus venom before."

"It's because of what Rita did to the monster to make it more powerful. That made the venom easier to get rid of, since she had to change it. If she'd left it the way that it was, I don't know if I could've done anything at all. But making it worse meant I could use a remedy from my home planet. Edenoi has a few poisonous creatures of its own, you know." Alpha bobbed his head some, in what they knew was a blush. "I only wish it could work on the regular version of the venom."

"Don't worry about it, Alpha." Kat smiled at that. "We can manage."

Tommy reached over to brush his fingers against her hand. "You know, it's getting a little late. Want to finish our date?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Kat entwined her fingers with his, and with a quick nod to the others, the two of them teleported out.

By the time the two of them parked once more outside of the Hillard house, the sun was long since set, and stars twinkled dimly in the skies above. A pale silver glow to the east, only visible if one looked at just the right place, heralded the arrival of the moon. Neither Kat nor Tommy bothered looking, though. The moon meant Rita and Zedd and they'd both had enough of those two for one day.

"Well, I had fun." Kat said, not yet opening her door. Her lips twitched. "Except for the monster and you getting hurt, that is."

"Yeah, I didn't like that part either. But other than that…" All in all, it was really just another day for the Power Rangers.

Tommy turned so he could look her directly in the face, a thousand words rushing up to his throat and yet none of them passed his lips. Their hands were once again entwined, having done so almost as soon as he'd stopped the truck.

He moved a little closer to her, and she to him, their eyes never leaving one another. Slowly, carefully, gently, as if a single wrong move might shatter everything and neither knew what that wrong move might be, their lips brushed softly together, hesitantly at first, then with a little more passion, more certainty.

It was the first time in the month they'd dated that they'd kissed one another. Both leaned even closer, Kat's free hand reaching upward to move through Tommy's hair, and his doing the same with her own.

Neither specifically wanted to stop, but Kat did move away at last, her gaze going over to the house. She doubted her parents were actually watching, but she didn't want any problems.

"I should go in." Kat murmured, one hand still buried in his hair. Reluctantly she pulled her fingers out, moving her head so he could do the same. He seemed every bit as loathe to do it as she was, and they still looked at each other. Something had changed, just a little, but she knew it was a good change.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked at last, and she nodded without a bit of hesitation. She looked forward to seeing him as often as possible.

The End