" COUNTDOWN TO FOREVER "
01. CHAPTER ONE
Katherine Hillard smiled brightly at the cloudless sky. The streets of Sydney were rather calm and tranquil this morning, perfect for a nice stroll around the great Australian city. She had left England, where she was attending one of the most prestigious dance academies, to visit her family in Australia. Her aunt, Loretta, lived here in Sydney and her brother, Tobias, lived in Melbourne. She was to spend two weeks here in Sydney, before flying to Melbourne to pester her older brother.
"Kathy!"
The tall blonde whirled around to face her aunt, who was emerging from a quaint little coffee shop.
"Here you are, my dear," Loretta said as she handed Katherine a styrofoam cup full of steaming hot coffee.
"Thanks, Aunt Lori," Katherine said with a smile.
Her aunt had always been her favorite family member and when she was a child, she had often wished she was Loretta's daughter instead of her own mother's. When her parents made the move to California, she was furious and homesick for Australia. Her aunt had offered to let her come live with her, and her parents had agreed to allow it.
Of course, that was before Rita's spell had been placed upon her and she'd been bestowed with the powers of the Pink Ranger. Nothing had mattered to her while she'd been a pawn for Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd's forces outside of her missions, and she'd had a duty to protect the world from those who had used her as a Power Ranger. Then, she'd gone to England... Still, Australia would always be home to her.
She shoved her free hand into her pocket and ran her fingers along the side of one of her zeonizers. It was a bit foolish to still carry them around, as the Zeo Crystals had been weakened and access to the Morphing Grid was limited, but they were more of a security blanket than a weapon to her now. Besides, Cassie and the other rangers had everything under control.
Or so she thought.
Without warning, a mass of people came tearing down the street in a fury of fear and desperation. Her hand instantly clutched her zeonizer, following her aunt's frightened gaze to the sky, were a swarm of Velocifighters were nearly blocking out the sun. Hundreds of the silver-suited Quantrons thundered behind the crowd, brandishing their bat'leth-like weapons in the air.
Loretta tugged on Katherine's arm, urging her niece to run away with her from this madness, but Katherine remained frozen. Before now, the forces of evil had only ever attacked Angel Grove or other areas around California within close proximity. She had always assumed it was because of Zordon being based there, but still, it meant that the rest of the world didn't really have to worry about an attack.
Yet now, Sydney was clearly being targeted. Why? Was it because of her presence, because she had been one of the Rangers who'd stopped them time and time again from overthrowing Angel Grove? She couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible for this, along with the need to do something to stop it.
Her mind made up, Katherine pried her arm from the elder woman's grasp. "Go on ahead, Aunt Lori. I'll be right behind you," she lied. "I'm going to make sure everyone's out of this vicinity."
Her aunt hesitated for a moment, before giving her niece a quick hug and running off in the opposite direction. Katherine wasn't sure why she hadn't pressed on about her niece making a run for it, but didn't question it. Whatever the reason, Loretta was allowing her to do what she needed to.
Ducking into one of the empty shops, Katherine took out her zeonizers and strapped them to her wrists. She hadn't morphed in years, especially not with these powers. The last time she had used her zeonizers was when she'd been falling from that cliff in Africa, and her morph had been short-circuited by the impact of the rushing waters below.
Whatever the risks, it was worth a try.
Katherine threw her hands up into the air.
"It's Morphin' Time!"
Astronema smiled in satisfaction of her progress with the invasion of Earth. The Rangers were desperately trying to fight of her forces in Angel Grove, though they were quickly failing at that endeavour. Aquitar's Rangers were slowly being defeated by the forces of Divatox, the legendary Gold Ranger was no match for the massive Machine Empire, while the Blue Senturion and Phantom Ranger struggled against being taken down by Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa.
Everything was going according to plan. Her plan.
"My princess!" Ecliptor suddenly exclaimed. "A Ranger has appeared in Australia!"
The Princess of Evil turned sharply towards her minion, angrily making her way towards him. "What!? Which of those despicable Rangers is it? They're supposed to remain in Angel Grove where they can be targeted as a whole! Them splitting up is not part of my plan, Ecliptor!"
"They are still in Angel Grove," he replied calmly, unfazed by her fury.
She was growing impatient. "If they are still in Angel Grove, then why is there one in Australia!?"
Ecliptor pushed a button on a nearby console that activated the viewing screen. Sydney appeared on the screen and Astronema couldn't help but grin at the sight of her Quantrons pushing it's citizens into chaos. However, her smile vanished once a pink-suited warrior stepped forward and sent a Quantron flying into the side of a building.
"It's the Pink Zeo Ranger," stated Ecliptor.
Astronema slammed her fist down hard upon the console, sending a shower of sparks across the room and causing the screen to go blank.
"No!" She cried. "The former Rangers must not get in my way!"
In a sudden swing of moods, Astronema calmed and righted herself, tapping a gloved finger against her chin and grinning with a devilish confidence. "They won't be able to help the Rangers. None of them."
Her eyes flickered to where Zordon was being kept.
"Their powers won't sustain their morphs for very long. Zeo Pink will fall and when she does, I'll be there to finish her off personally. These ex-power geeks will not get in the way of my plans for Earth's - and the galaxy's - destruction."
"Whew!"
Kimberly Hart dabbed at her forehead with a towel after having made yet another run of the track outside the gym. She'd been hard at work training hard for her next competition, but for the moment, it was time for a break. She lounged in one of the over-stuffed chairs before the television, watching as Sylvester chased poor little Tweety around in a classic episode of Looney Toons.
The yellow bird was just about to escape the cat's clutches when the local news station broke in. Curious and a bit miffed at the disappearance of the cartoon, Kimberly leaned forward in her chair, brown eyes locked upon the image of a stricken anchorwoman on the screen.
"The world is under attack!" The woman cried. "The Power Rangers are fighting desperate to free Angel Grove from the invaders while the rest of the world is crying out for help. Hundreds of casualties have been reported from across the globe, along with a devastating bombing in St. Petersburg. The world is begging for the Rangers' help, but it's beginning to look as if not even the Power Rangers can save us this time."
Kimberly gripped the arms of her chair, mouth slightly ajar in shock. Never, had any of the villains gone after an area other than Angel Grove. She had always known they would tire of that region, but had never expected it to actually happen. This is it, she thought, telling herself that she would trade all her gold medals and trophies for the ability to morph again.
Never again did she want to feel as helpless as she had when Divatox had captured her and Jason to feed to that disgusting lava monster, Maligore.
The anchorwoman rambled on about the casualties and how people were being held hostage in Denmark, when suddenly she paused, glanced over at someone shouting to her off camera. A tiny smile appeared on her features as she turned back to the camera.
"It has just been brought to my attention that a Ranger has appeared amongst the chaos in Sydney, Australia. A Pink Ranger, who hasn't been seen in over three years..."
Australia? Pink Ranger?
Kimberly's eyes widened in realization.
Kat! Her mind screamed.
It was Katherine! But, hadn't Kat passed her powers on to someone else, just as Kimberly herself had given her powers up to her years before? How had she morphed? Was there really enough power left in the Morphing Grid to sustain her?
"...Rangers are popping up everywhere!" The anchorwoman shouted excitedly, catching Kimberly's attention once again. "Two Yellow Rangers in Africa, a Green Ranger in Korea, a Blue Ranger in New York...it's simply amazing! Power Rangers that haven't been seen in years are answering the pleas of the people and are making a stand in this time of crisis! The Earth might be saved, yet!"
Some of the other former Rangers had morphed, too. She didn't know how they were able to, but they had. Glancing over to where her purse sat on the other side of the room, she wondered if she could, too.
Moving out of the chair, Kimberly went to her purse and dug out her morpher, blackened and broken from that fateful battle so long ago. The power coin was cracked and no longer held the lustrous shine it used to. She could barely see the engraving of the pterodactyl upon it.
"Can I still do this?" She asked aloud, thankful that the room she was in was empty.
One way to find out, her mind answered.
Glancing left, then right, Kimberly gripped the battered morpher in both hands. Here goes nothing...
"It's Morphin' Time!"
Even within the dark fortress of Astronema, Zordon felt it - the moment Katherine morphed, he felt it. Somewhere, hidden deep within the ruins that was once the Power Chamber, the Pink Zeo Sub-Crystal sprang to life. The Yellow and Green Zeo Sub-Crystals also surged in response to Tanya and Adam morphing. He soon felt the Morphing Grid straining and tugging at his mind as Aisha, Justin, and Kimberly moprhed as well.
Such a thing brought a smile to his hovering features in this time of despair. The Rangers - his Rangers - even though it wasn't guaranteed that they would be able to sustain their morphed forms, were fighting for Earth. Former Rangers...no, they are Rangers. And would forever always be.
This struggle wasn't gong to be an easy one, but he was confident that they would manage and find a way out of it somehow. They'd succeed. He might not survive this, and wasn't expecting to. He knew his fate. But, all be damned if he was going to let anything happen to these innocent humans who risked their lives for free, battling these horrendous forces.
Reaching out towards the Morphing Grid with his mind, he latched onto it tightly, lending what power he could to strengthen it. Hopefully, it would give the Rangers some more time.
Time to win.
"...may the power protect you..."
TO BE CONTINUED...
"Power Rangers" is © Saban, Toei, MMPR Productions, Disney, etc.
A/N: I began this fic YEARS ago, after having seen the final episode of "Power Rangers in Space," and found myself highly disappointed in a lack of mention or appearance where former Rangers were concerned. Especially with the debated issue over what happened to the Zeo powers and the speculations that they were still in existence. Even Justin, who'd made an appearance previously in the series, did not don a blue suit or as much as throw a non-suited punch during the conquering of the i world /i . It just didn't make sense in my mind. So now, after five years of starting this fic, I am revising and continuing it, with the hopes of making "Countdown to Destruction" make a lot more sense.
04.16.2003, edited/revised 06.15.2007