Prologue

Myagi and Kakana were running through a forest one day. It was a place that the brother and sister often visited to escape the pressures of everyday life. Under normal circumstances, Myagi and Kakana loved running. In fact, they were two of the fastest runners that ever lived. But now, Myagi and Kakana weren't running for the love of running; they were running for the love of their lives. Myagi and Kakana were the keepers of a sacred power known to everyone as the Stone of Benghait. Myagi and Kakana had found the Stone of Benghait one day while they were running in the woods, the same woods they were in now. Then, they hadn't known just how valuable their find had been. Myagi and Kakana had returned to their village and had shown their father the black stone that reflected all light it came into contact with. Their father had taken one look at the stone, then had taken Myagi and Kakana to the town historian, who had records of everything in books in his hut. When the historian had seen the stone, he had known without even looking at any reference material what it was..

"That is the scared Stone of Benghait," he had said.

"I thought so," Myagi's father had answered.

"What's the Stone of Benghait?" Myagi had asked,since he and his sister had not yet learned the ancient legend that his people had passed down for generations.

"The Stone of Benghait is the most powerful force known to us," the historian had begun.

"Its powers can only be used for good, and they will defeat any evil within quite a broad range."

"But there's no evil around here, so it's no good," Myagi had said, disappointed.

"That's not true," the historian had said. Kakana and Myagi's father had glared at the historian, who ignored it and continued.

"There is evil. Close to the village in fact." Myagi and Kakana had looked back up at the historian's wrinkled, old face with sparks in his eyes.

"There is?" Kakana had asked, growing more and more excited. The historian had nodded. "Yes, and it is coming our way," he had said. "The only way to defeat them is by using The Stone."

"We're going to have to find someone who can handle the responsibilities," his father had broken in.

"But father, we can handle the responsibilities," Myagi had protested. His father had looked doubtful, and rightfully so. Myagi and Kakana were only seventeen years old, barely adults by his culture's standards.

"I am afraid that there is no time to find two other more worthy recipients of The Stone's powers, though I doubt we could find such people," the historian had said.

"Your son is brave, noble and true. He has the heart of a warrior, and the training." Which was true; Myagi had been taking Mokora lessons since he had been 5 years old, and he now held a blue shana.

"Kakana is agile, strong and fearless. These qualities will serve her well."

"All right," his father had consented after a moment.

"But only until we can find someone older, more experienced."

"Thank you," the historian had said, bowing. Then he turned to Myagi and Kakana.

"Myagi, Kakana, you must both find a strip of cloth long enough to go around your heads several times. Hurry!" Confused, Myagi and Kakana had turned and run back to their appropriate huts where they knew they had what the historian had asked. Rummaging through a box, Myagi found a long strip of blue cloth; his blue shana, the last level before the illustrious amber shana level. He emerged from his hut at the same time as Kakana. She too had her blue shana in her hand. Quickly, they ran back to the historian's hut with their shanas in hand. They arrived at the hut in record time, barely breathing hard. The historian, who had held the stone while Myagi and Kakana were gone, told the two siblings to go out back and wait for him there with their father. The three did, while the historian stayed in the hut for few minutes.

When he came out, he was dressed in a long, dark purple robe that went over a pair of black, loose-fitting pants with a matching jacket; the dress of a master in the art of Mokora. Also, the ceremonial dress when presenting the Stone of Benghait to new recipients though the garments hadn't been used for such a ceremony in many years. Myagi and Kakana were standing casually, if somewhat nervously, on the grass, but when they saw the historian emerge in the ceremonial garbs, they immediately brought their feet together, and bowed low at the waist. Their father echoed their movements. The historian brought the two siblings forward, and they stood upright. Their shanas were taken from them by the historian, who laid them over his arm. He had brought with him from the hut a tray covered by a square piece of black cloth with a bright yellow lightening bolt in the middle, and four quarter-moons stitched on the corners in the same bright yellow thread. Everyone recognized this as their national flag, something that carried great honour, respect and tradition. The historian walked over and stood in front of Myagi and Kakana. He motioned for the both of them to place their hands on either side of the stone, which was shaped like a circle. However, when both Myagi and Kakana had placed their hands on the Stone, it broke into two parts. There were identical in shape; both were now half-circles. The historian took Myagi's shana from across his arm, placed Myagi's half of the stone against Myagi's forehead, then proceeded to hold it in place with the shana. The historian did the same to Kakana. The historian passed his hand over Myagi and Kakana's eyes, and they closed but the two remained upright. The historian started chanting in their native language, and he and the father also closed their eyes. When the historian was done, he and the father opened their eyes and beheld a breathtaking sight. Myagi and Kakana's foreheads were glowing with a black energy that showed even through the thick cloth of the shanas. Suddenly, the shanas went limp and hung from Myagi and Kakana's necks. Nobody moved as the siblings were engulfed in a black energy similar to the one that had been seen on their foreheads a moment ago. Myagi and Kakana arched their backs and spread their arms wide as they were filled with a power that they had never imagined could possibly exist.

"Will they be alright?" their father had asked anxiously.

"They will," the historian had replied simply, neither one taking his eyes from the siblings, who were now dressed in loose black pants and the matching jacket that looked almost identical to their Mokora clothing. The only differences were that the suit was now more form-fitting. Also the two wore black gloves with gold trim, gloves that were made of a material totally unknown to them. They each had a golden belt around their waist, along with a holster and a laser-pistol. On their feet, they wore boots made of the same protective material as their gloves, with the same gold trim. On their heads and covering their faces, they wore cloth masks that were impossible to tear or rip by any conventional means. The only thing that differentiated Myagi from Kakana was the shape of their bodies, their powers, and their weapons, the latter of which had yet to be revealed to them.

"This is incredible," Kakana had breathed, holding her hands out in front of her. She removed her mask and held it in her hands, examining it. It had slits for the eyes so she could see, and the material didn't restrict her vision it in the slightest.

"I agree," Myagi had said, nodding his agreement as he flexed his hands.

"You now both have possession of the power of the Stone of Benghait. Use it well, and only for good or it shall be lost forever," the historian had said, approaching the two.

"Now, you must go and use your powers to defeat The Evil that is threatening to take over our village."

"We will go and defeat The Evil, then return victorious," Myagi had promised, crossing his arms over his chest and bowing low at the waist, the traditional symbol of respect towards one's elders. Now, as he and Kakana ran through the forest, Myagi wished that he could have kept his promise.

"What are we going to do, Myagi?" Kakana asked as she ran alongside her brother.

"We must stop running and fight instead of behaving like cowards," Myagi answered. "We were given this power to defend our people, not abandon them."

"You're right," Kakana agreed. "Let's do it."

With that, they both turned to face the hoard of evil creatures that had been chasing them. Kakana let out a small cry and, after brandishing her sword, started running at the evil creatures. She slashed off one's head as it ran towards her, intending to meet her halfway. The body did, and the head came rolling soon after, leaving a trail of dark red blood behind it. Kakana and another minion clashed swords , and then they were surrounded by the others. Myagi, who had always preferred hand-to-hand combat, didn't bother bringing out his weapon as he got a running start, then leapt into the air and flew towards the evil creatures, doing a deadly side kick. The one he had been aiming for fell to the ground with a dull thud while Myagi rebounded, then landed gracefully on his feet a few feet away with his back to the creatures. That proved to be his mistake, for he was grabbed from behind and held fast, unable to move, barely able to breathe.

"Kakana!" he shouted, then immediately regretted it for his cry caused his sister to hesitate. She was promptly captured, and the two were dragged to the evil headquarters.

"Myagi, we can't let the Stone fall into their hands," Kakana shouted.

"You're right, Kakana," Myagi agreed. "We've got to send it someplace where it'll be safe until we can retrieve it."

"There's a planet that supports life it in the next galaxy," Kakana said..

"We could send it there until we're free."

"Good idea. Let's do it," Myagi said. He and Kakana closed their eyes, and concentrated as hard as they could considering they were being dragged against their will to what was probably going to be their doom. Their foreheads started to glow with an eerie black energy that made the evil creatures drop the siblings and back away.

"What's happening?" one of them asked. None of the others responded as the energy reached intolerable proportions to anybody's eyes, and the minions were forced to look away. When they looked back, they looked first to the ground where Myagi and Kakana were laying, motionless but breathing steadily. Then they looked towards the sky.

"Up there!" another one called, pointing. The others followed his gaze, and saw two small, black bubbles floating up into the atmosphere, then disappear. "What do we do with them now?" the first one asked, nudging Kakana with her toe.

"I guess we take them back to the boss," a third one answered. The first one shrugged her shoulders, then bent down and lifted Myagi over her shoulder while the second one did the same for Kakana. Then the convoy kept going to headquarters. The bubbles, which contained the Stones of Benghait, floated harmlessly through space, past many different stars until they came upon the next galaxy. There, they sailed to the third planet from the main gas giant on the solar system. They floated down into the atmosphere, down over a city, then fell to rest upon a balcony on a building that overlooked a small park. There they laid at rest until...

Chapter One The Discovery

Rocky DeSantos awoke to the sound of his sister rummaging around it in the kitchen it in the apartment they shared. Rocky rolled over and looked at the clock. 11:45, it read. Man, I must have been exhausted, Rocky thought to himself as he swung his legs over the side of his bed and yawned. He had a shower, got dressed and went to join his sister.

"Hey there, Mr. Van Winkle," Kris teased as Rocky came into the kitchen where she was sitting, eating a plate of scrambled eggs with ketchup and reading a book at the same time.

"Mornin' Kris," he replied, moving over to the fridge. He took out the container of orange juice and closed the fridge, then poured himself a glass and replaced the juice.

"Kind of a light breakfast," Kris observed. "Are you feeling OK?"

"I'm fine, I'm just warming up," Rocky joked, emptying the glass it in one gulp. Kris chuckled.

"I can see." She paused to chew and swallow another mouthful of eggs.

"Hey, we were supposed to meet the others at the Beach Club today, right?"

"Yep," Rocky replied, stealing some of Kris's eggs. "And exactly what time are we supposed to meet the others at the Beach Club?" Kris asked, checking the watch she always wore on her left wrist with a slightly worried expression on her face.

"I don't know, why?" Rocky asked.

"Um, it wouldn't have been noon, would it?" Kris said hesitantly.

"That sounds about right."

"Then we're going to be so late."

"What are you talking about? We've got plenty of time," Rocky scoffed. Kris held her watch up to where Rocky could see it, and his eyes widened.

"Oh boy! We're going to be late! We'd better get moving!" he exclaimed, jumping up from his chair with Kris mimicking the movement.

"I'm not even changed yet!" she cried, sprinting into her bedroom; Rocky did the same. Less than five minutes later, they both emerged, and broke almost into a dead run for the doorway. Rocky opened the door, and started down the hall while Kris locked the door then started after him. They managed to catch the elevator and then, when it reached the parking garage, the siblings sprinted for Kris's car, which was parked close to the exit/entrance. Kris unlocked the car, jumped into the drivers' seat and started the engine while Rocky climbed it in, did up his seat belt and held on while Kris fairly screeched out of the garage.

"It's a wonder you got your licence," Rocky teased as Kris practically careened around a corner it in the road.

"It's a wonder you managed to get anywhere on time," Kris retorted good-naturedly. Rocky groaned.

"'Nuf said, I think," he said with a grin. Kris drove down to the Beach Club it in record time, then she and Rocky jumped out, locked the car and sprinted all the way to where their friends were waiting for them.

"Hi guys," Kris said as she and Rocky skidded to a halt it in the sand, then plopped down on some chairs.

"We thought you guys weren't coming," Kat Hillard commented.

"Blame the time-keeper over there," Rocky said, gesturing at Kris with one of Tanya's French fries. Kris scowled at him.

"Oh sure, Mister I-Got-Up-At-Eleven-Forty-Five," she retorted.

"Hey guys? Maybe we should move to a less touchy subject, such as volleyball?" Tanya Sloan suggested suddenly.

"Good idea," Jason Scott agreed. The seven moved out onto the sand, and since Tommy Oliver had conveniently brought a volleyball with him for just such an emergency, they had no problem getting a game organized. With Adam Park, Kat and Kris on one team, and Rocky, Jason and Tanya on the other team and Tommy Oliver as a spare/ref, they quickly got going.

"Come on, do your worst!" Kris shouted over to Rocky, who was serving.

"Heads up!" he replied. With that, he tossed the ball up and smacked it as hard as he could towards Kris. Kris, who had been ready for it, bent her knees a little more and bumped the ball straight up into the air, then dove out of the way so that Kat could volley it, and Adam ended up spiking it across the court. Rocky dove for it, but missed and fell into the sand while Jason tried to get the ball, but couldn't get a start it in the sand, fell, and the ball landed softly it in the sand next to Rocky's head with a quiet thud. Kris laughed and high-fived Adam and Kat, then went over to her brother and knelt beside him.

"Want some help?" she offered, grinning and extending her hand. Rocky reached for her hand, but pulled her to the sand next to him instead. Kris landed on his back with her upper torso, then rolled off him; both of them were laughing. Kris flung sand onto Rocky's back, then moved away as he picked up a handful of sand and tossed it at her lightly.

"Man, this is definitely the life," Tommy said, watching Kris and Rocky help each other up from the sand, for real this time.

"I'll say," Adam agreed. "Things have been quiet for the last week, weather's great..."

"Don't say it," Tanya cautioned, interrupting him. Both guys turned to her, confused.

"Say what?" Tommy asked.

"Weren't you going to say, "what could go wrong"?" Tanya questioned.

"No," Adam replied.

"Good. I don't want to jinx this luck," Tanya said with a small sigh. The others laughed at her as Rocky and Kris came over to them, covered it in sand. They started brushing themselves off, and succeeded in throwing sand at the others it in the process.

"You know, I think they should both get cleaned up," Tommy said, glancing at the ocean with a mischievious twinkle it in his brown eyes. Rocky and Kris looked at him, then started backing up.

"You're right. It would be a shame if Kris's car got all sandy," Tanya agreed.

"Come on guys, we're sorry," Kris said, holding her hands out it in front of her. Tommy, Jason, Adam, Tanya and Kat advanced on them, grinning.

"Guys!" Rocky called, still going backwards.

"Run for it!" Kris cried, taking off. However, she only made it a few feet when she was grabbed from behind by Kat and Jason while Rocky was grabbed by Tommy, Tanya and Adam.

"Come on guys, let's toss 'em in!" Kat called to the others as she and Jason started pulling Kris towards the surf. Kris tried to dig her bare heels into the sand, but she only succeeded it in skinning them. Rocky tried to do the same, but came up with the same results. The two were dragged until they were ankle-deep it in salt water.

"Hey now!" Kris cried. "Lemme go!"

"Grab their feet!" Tommy hollered, his grin widening as he reached down and brought Rocky's feet up from under him while Kat did the same to Kris..

"I'll make it worth your while to put me down," Kris said, desperately trying to get Kat and Jason to let her go before she hit the salt water.

"On the count of three," Adam said, standing aside.

"One...two...three!" At the count of three, Kris and Rocky were released and thrown into the waves. They came up, coughing and sputtering, Kris with her hair plastered all over her neck, face and back. She and Rocky found ground, and saw their friends laughing at them from the seemingly-safe beach.

"Shall we?" Kris asked, gesturing with her head towards the others. Rocky took it in the evil glint it in her green eyes, and returned her grin with one of his own.

"Let's," he agreed. The two took off at as much of a run as they could accomplish. Tommy and the others had seen them coming, but hadn't thought that the siblings would be coming to get revenge. They found that out too late.

"Uh oh!" Adam cried, starting up the beach, but Rocky was too fast and grabbed his best friend, then dragged him out into the water and dunked him briefly, then headed up after the others. Kris had latched herself onto Tanya, and was dragging the slightly taller but more slender girl towards the surf. Tommy came over and gave Tanya a playful push that sent both Tanya and Kris crashing into the rolling waves. The girls surfaced, but the only person the water had made an impact on had been Tanya since Kris had already been dunked and was still soaking wet.

"I think we need to teach him a lesson," Tanya commented, glaring at Tommy, who was still relatively dry. Wordlessly, Kris followed Tanya up onto the beach and after Tommy, who looked like a deer caught it in the headlights of a mack truck. Tanya and Kris grabbed each of Tommy's arms, then hauled him over to the water where he was promptly dunked.

"Nice job, partner," Kris said, shaking hands with Tanya. Then they split up and went after Jason and Kat, the only two who were still dry. Rocky grabbed Jason as he ran by, and Tommy helped Rocky drag the reluctant Jason to the waves where he met his fate bravely. Adam and Tanya went after Kat while Kris stepped back and reflected on the events that had just happened. Sure is nice to have friends, she thought, wringing out her hair. Friends and my long-lost brother. Somebody upstairs sure must like me.

Eventually, all seven teens got out of the water and dried off by continuing their game of volleyball. They all tried not to have to dive for the ball since they were still damp, and the sand would stick, but Rocky just couldn't help it and he went after a low one. Kris winced as she saw sand spray up everywhere, and knew that her brother was going to be coated with the stuff for a while to come.

"All right, Rocky!" she shouted from the sidelines, having given up her spot to Tommy, as Rocky hit the ball high enough for Adam to hit it over and score a point. She ran over to Rocky once he had picked himself up and high-fived him, for he had just helped to win the game.

"Traitor," Adam joked.

"Sore winner," Kris joked back.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry," Rocky commented. "And I also know that I'm not rich enough to spend more money on take-out."

"You mean...you're going to...dare I say it? Cook?!" Kris asked dramatically.

"Alas, poor stomach, I knew you well." That sent the others virtually into hysterics, and Kris bowed.

"And I never took an acting lesson it in my life, either."

"No, she's always been like this," Rocky added.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"As it was intended."

"Sure. Anyway, he does have a point. It is getting kind of late," Kris continued.

"And it's been a while since breakfast."

"Yeah, you're right. We'll see you guys tomorrow at school, OK?" Tommy said.

"Yeah sure," Rocky replied. He and Kris said their goodbyes, then walked off towards the parking lot.

"You're not getting into my car like that," Kris said when Rocky reached for the door handle.

"I can't walk home," Rocky protested.

"Well..." Kris pretended to think it over.

"OK, but try not to move until we get home, OK?"

"The way you drive, it'd be hard not to," Rocky retorted with a smile.

"I'm reconsidering driving you," Kris warned good-naturedly, a smile appearing on her face. Rocky proceeded to shut up and got into the car, as did Kris. Then she started the ignition and drove towards their apartment complex. There, they headed up to their apartment, and received strange looks from the other residents because of their appearance. Rocky was covered it in sand from head to toe and his clothes were still slightly damp; it was much the same for Kris, except she was relatively clean with her brownish-blonde hair sticking out every which way it pleased. It in their apartment, Kris made a beeline for the shower. She washed the sand and salt out of her hair and from every nook and cranny of her body, then stepped out and got dressed it in a pair of clean blue jeans and a white tank top.

"It's all yours," she called, going into the living room. Rocky moved off of the balcony and went to shower. Suddenly, the phone rang and Kris moved over to the table beside the couch to pick it up.

"Hello," she said.

"Hi, Kris? It's Tanya," came the reply.

"Hi Tanya," Kris said.

"Um, are we still on for later?" Tanya asked.

"Oh gosh, I completely forgot!" Kris exclaimed.

"If you're busy, we can do this another time."

"No, I really should start to catch up, or I'll always be behind," Kris answered. She thought for a minute.

"Tanya? Do you think you and the others could come by around four? That'll give Rocky enough time to get out of the shower. I think." Tanya laughed on the other end.

"Sure Kris. See you at four." Kris replaced the phone and turned around to survey the apartment. She sighed as she looked at the trail of sand he left behind. She got a broom out of the closet and started sweeping the sand towards the balcony. Good thing we don't have a carpet, she thought as she brushed the sand outside. On the balcony, Kris sent the sand over the edge after making sure that there was no one underneath. She was sweeping up the rest of the balcony when she noticed two small, round, black globes it in one corner of the balcony. She put down the broom and knelt down beside the globes. "Weird," she murmured to herself, examining the globes optically.

"Kris?" she heard Rocky call.

"Out here," she called back to her brother, not taking her eyes from the globes. Rocky came out onto the balcony, clean and dressed it in blue jeans a dark blue T-shirt.

"Hey, what are those?" he asked, kneeling down beside Kris.

"I don't know," she answered. "I found them out here when I was sweeping the sand off the balcony."

"I wonder what they are," Rocky said as he reached for one. The second he touched it, his eyes rolled into his head and he fell, unconscious, on the balcony.

"Rocky?" Kris asked, alarmed, trying to tear her brother's hand from the globe. Kris, in trying to free Rocky from the globe, accidentally hit the other globe with her left hand. Darkness was the next thing she knew.

Chapter Two The Examination

Tanya, Kat, Adam, Tommy and Jason were standing outside Kris and Rocky's apartment. Kris had asked them to help her catch up with some of the things she had missed during the first term of school when she had been looking for her brother. Tanya raised her hand and knocked three times on the door. The five waited for an answer, but none came. Tanya tried again, but got the same response.

"I wonder where they are," Kat said softly.

"Are you sure you gave them the right time? Rocky might still be in the shower or something," Adam commented from the back of the group.

"I could have sworn I told Kris we'd come by at around four when I talked to her earlier," Tanya said.

"Do you think something could have happened to them?" Kat wondered. The possibility had been at the back of everyone's minds, but no one had dared to bring it out into the open. Tommy moved forward and rapped loudly on the door, but there was no answer from within. Adam moved up to the door now and, after making sure that there was no one else it in the corridor, removed the two bottom screws from the 2 on the apartment door. A small, golden key fell into his palm. Adam slipped it into the lock, unlocked the door then replaced the key and the screws.. He turned the doorknob and the door opened without any resistance. A clean, tidy apartment greeted the five of them as they entered and closed the door behind them.

"Rocky?" Adam called hesitantly as the others moved about it in the small apartment.

"Hey guys, over here!" Tommy called as he hurried out onto the balcony. The others came quickly at him call.

"What happened to them?" Tanya asked as she knelt down beside Kris's still figure. Jason took Kris's wrist and felt for a pulse. It was a great relief to him to find one.

"They're alive," he reported, doing the same to Rocky.

"We'd better get them to the hospital," Tommy said. Kat stopped him just before he tried to move Rocky.

"Wait, we shouldn't move them until we know what happened," she said. Tommy retracted his arm.

"You're right."

"I'll go call and ambulance," Tanya said, getting up and hurrying into the living room and over to the phone.

"They're so still," Kat whispered, looking down at the brother and sister who lay, side-by-side, unconscious.

"What could have happened? We were talking with them only a few hours ago," Adam said quietly, almost as if he was afraid of disturbing Kris and Rocky.

"Whatever it was, we'll figure it out," Tommy vowed. Tanya came back onto the balcony then.

"They're sending an ambulance over right away. They'll need someone to be waiting to show them the way up," she told them.

"Any volunteers?"

"I'll go down," Tommy offered.

"Same here," Kat added. They got up and left the apartment without another word to anyone. That left Tanya, Adam and Jason to stay with the unconscious bodies of Kris and Rocky. They heard sirens it in the distance a few minutes later that became louder as the ambulance approached. Though no one said anything aloud, they were all praying for their friends' health and safety. Adam looked over the railing on the balcony as the ambulance pulled into the circular driveway and shut off its sirens. Then he moved back over to Rocky's side. Hang it in there, he thought, looking down at his friend's face. Downstairs, Kat and Tommy held the door open while four paramedics rushed inside with two stretchers between them, then followed the medics inside and into an elevator. Tommy pushed the button for the twelfth floor. The elevator carried them upwards.

"What exactly are we dealing with here?" one of the medics asked.

"We don't really know," Kat admitted.

"We found our friends on their balcony, unconscious," Tommy provided.

"Any signs of a struggle? Any marks on them?"

"We didn't really look for anything like that," Tommy replied. The elevator doors opened and Kat and Tommy let the medics go first, then followed them to Rocky and Kris's apartment. Outside of 1221, Tommy opened the door, then held it open so the paramedics could take the stretchers through to the balcony. Adam, Jason and Tanya cleared the way so the medics could do their job. Quickly, they got to work, checking for a pulse, checking blood pressure and so forth. One of them placed a stiff board beneath Rocky while another medic almost rolled Rocky onto it. Then the two men lifted Rocky and placed him gently onto the stretcher. A male and a female medic did the same for Kris. Then the brother and sister were hurried out of the apartment with their friends behind them. Since there were multiple victims, none of the teens were allowed to ride it in the ambulance, so they all piled into Tommy's jeep. Tommy followed the ambulance the whole way to the hospital, not letting it out of his sight. The ambulance stopped outside of the emergency entrance. Tommy parked his jeep, then he and the others got out and ran into the hospital.

"Where did they go?" Kat asked as she and the others scanned the area.

"I thought they were brought it in here," Adam said. Tanya walked over to the mouth of the corridor.

"There they are!" she called as she started to jog down the hallway to where Rocky and Kris's beds had been left. The others followed her, but were quickly stopped by a nurse it in a white coat.

"Excuse me, but we have to see our friends," Kat said, trying to get past the nurse.

"I'm sorry, but you're not allowed down here," the nurse replied.

"What's going to happen to them?" Jason asked.

"You're friends of the two teenagers that just came it in?" the nurse asked. Everybody nodded.

"Don't worry. Doctor Travers and Doctor Bartlett are with them now. They're taking your friends down to X-ray to see if there's any internal damage. You have nothing to worry about. Doctor Travers and Doctor Bartlett are two of our best doctors. Your friends are it in good hands." With that, the nurse walked away to tend to her other duties. The five teens also walked away and sank down into some chairs it in the waiting room.

"I hope it's nothing serious," Kat said suddenly.

"Just think positively," Tommy advised. "They'll be OK." I hope, he added silently. The teens waited for several hours before a pair of doctors, one male and one female, came down the corridor that they had tried to go down before. Tommy got up from his seat beside Kat and went over to them.

"Excuse me, Doctor Travers?" he asked hesitantly. The male doctor looked over at him.

"Yes?"

"Were you two the ones who were treating our friends?"

"Oh, you mean the two that came it in here earlier today unconscious?" Doctor Bartlett said.

"Yes, that's them. How are they?" Tommy asked. Doctor Bartlett and Doctor Travers walked over to where the other four teens were sitting with Tommy behind them.

"Well?" Adam asked anxiously, wringing his hands together.

"Your friends, I'm happy to report, are going to make a complete recovery," Doctor Bartlett announced. Everybody grinned and smiled and there were sighs of relief from the teens who hadn't consciously been holding their breath.

"What was wrong with them?" Jason asked. The doctors exchanged glances.

"We ran some tests, did X-rays, but we could find nothing physically wrong with either of them," Doctor Travers admitted.

"How is that possible? There had to be something that indicated what had happened," Tanya argued.

"We couldn't find anything," Doctor Bartlett disagreed.

"Can we see them?" Tommy asked.

"I think that would be acceptable," Doctor Travers said.

"But not for long. They need their rest."

"Thank you," Kat said as she and the others filed down the hall to Rocky and Kris's room. Inside, it was brightly lit. The only sound was that of the heart monitors that were steadily beeping. Rocky was it in the bed closest to the door; Kris closest to the sole window. Neither of them appeared to be awake. Adam moved over to Rocky's bed and gently placed a hand on the blanket, as if afraid to touch Rocky for fear of hurting him. At the subtle movement, Rocky groaned and stirred.

"Rocky?" Adam asked.

"My head," Rocky muttered groggily, opening his eyes.

"Adam?"

"Yeah, it's me," Adam said, grinning with relief.

"The others are here too."

"How are you feeling, Rocky?" Kat asked, coming to stand beside Adam.

"I'll tell you once the native stops using my head as a drum," came the moaned reply. Just then, Kris let out a grunt from the other bed.

"What am I, meat loaf?" she complained groggily. The comment brought smiles to everyone's face, especially Rocky's.

"How goes, sis?" he asked, canting his head to one side to look at her.

"Ask me when my skull isn't the main instrument it in the 1812 Overture," she replied, grimacing as the light hit her sensitive eyes.

"And you?"

"'Bout the same."

"What happened to you guys? When we found you, you were out cold," Jason said.

"How did you find us?" Kris asked.

"We were coming over to help you catch up, remember?" Tanya supplied gently.

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten," Kris replied.

"Well, I guess Math can wait."

"How'd you guys get it in? The door was locked," Rocky commented from the other bed.

"Number Two has the loose screw," Adam said, reciting the mnemonic phrase he and Rocky had come up with when Rocky had first bought his apartment..

"Good memory," Rocky said.

"I'd forgotten the thing was still there."

"So, what happened?" Kat prodded.

"Well, you all remember how sandy Rocky was when we left, right?" Kris asked. The others nodded.

"When we got home, Rocky went for a shower and I got stuck with cleaning the beach out of the living room. I was sweeping the sand off the balcony when I noticed these two round, black globes it in a corner. I put the broom down and knelt beside them.. When Rocky came out of the shower, he came to kneel beside me and he touched one of the globes."

"I don't know what those things were but man, did they pack a wallop!" Rocky exclaimed.

"That's one way of putting it. When Rocky touched a globe, it zapped him and knocked him out. I tried to make him let go of the globe, but it wouldn't budge. I guess when I was trying to free Rocky, I must have hit the other globe with my foot or something because the next thing I can remember is waking up here," Kris finished.

"But when we were on your balcony, we didn't see anything like the globes you described," Jason said, frowning.

"Maybe they fell?" Kris suggested.

"It's possible," Tommy said. Just then, Rocky yawned.

"Maybe we should go," Tanya said reluctantly. "You guys need your rest."

"OK," Kris said just as reluctantly.

"Come back soon now, ya hear?" The others smiled.

"We'll be back soon," Adam promised. He and the others left the room and closed the door behind them.

"We're lucky they found us," Kris commented to her brother, but she got no response for he was already asleep. Come to think of it, I'm kinda bushed myself, she thought. Maybe just a short nap...

When Kris awoke, she felt perfectly fine. She got out of bed and wandered out the door. She came face-to-face with a clearing that was obviously it in a heavily wooded area, or a jungle. However, she felt no surprise. Kris wandered away from the "hospital" and let her feet take her to a hut that was directly beside hers. Without even bothering to knock on the door, she went inside and found Rocky, sitting up it in a bed. "Hi," she said cheerily, moving over to him.

"How do you feel?"

"Great, thanks. And you?" he replied.

"Never better," Kris answered truthfully.

"Come on, I'll bet dad's waiting to see us." Kris and Rocky left the small hut and made their way without any hesitation towards another hut, this one larger than the first two, and went inside, again without knocking.

"Father?" Kris called. A tall man looked up from his place at the desk he was sitting at, obviously writing something.

"My children, you're home," he said, getting up and moving quickly over to hug the siblings. Then he stood back and examined the two.

"What happened? You're not yourselves."

"We can explain," Rocky said

"What...what happened to you two? Everybody thought you had been killed by The Evil," their father commented.

"We were captured, but we managed to send our powers to a planet called Earth," Kris explained.

"Our powers were discovered by the two humans whose bodies we are now inside," Rocky continued.

"These humans are not like the rest of their race. They possess a great power and are a part of a team that fights evil. On Earth, their team and its members are known as the Zeo Power Rangers.."

"Zeo Power Rangers?" their father said, confused.

"Yes. This human is not one of them, but is the sister of one of the Zeo Rangers," Kris said.

"Though she has no extra powers, this human is bright, a quick-thinker and agile."

"And this human whose form now stands before you is a Zeo Ranger. He is not incredibly intelligent, but his loyalties lay with his friends, and he would do anything to protect them and his sister," Rocky added.

"What about your bodies? Are they lost forever?" their father asked, worried. Rocky and Kris exchanged glances.

"We do not know quite yet, but I do not believe so," Kris said finally.

"Kakana, that's wonderful news!" their father exclaimed.

"How do we get you back into your bodies?"

"I believe we must first retrieve our bodies from The Evil. Then everything will happen naturally," Rocky answered.

"But getting through The Evil's defense forces will not be easy. So, Kakana and I will bring back some help."

"Who will you bring?" their father asked.

"We will bring the Zeo Rangers." Kris sat bolt upright it in bed with a gasp. Beside her and at the exact same instant, Rocky did the same. They looked at each other across the hospital room.

"You too?" Kris asked. Rocky nodded.

"That was one weird dream. What do you think it means?" he asked. Kris replayed the dream it in her mind.

"Rocky, if it means what I think it means, then we're not alone," she whispered.

"Kris, what are you taking about?" Rocky demanded, a little more harshly than he would have liked. Kris didn't even flinch.

"Remember those globes on the balcony?" she asked. Rocky nodded.

"They must have held Kakana and Myagi's powers. When we touched them, we were probably infused with those powers."

"Which means...?" Rocky prodded.

"Which means that we've got to go help Myagi and Kakana's father get their bodies back from The Evil, or Kakana's consciousness will be stuck it in my body forever..."

"And Myagi's will be in mine," Rocky finished. The two stared at each other.

"We've got to tell Zordon and the others about this right away." Rocky raised his arm up to his face and pressed a button.

"Tommy here."

"Tommy, Kris and I need you and the others to get back to the hospital pronto. We've got something big happening over here," Rocky reported.

"Rocky, is everything alright?" Tommy asked, sounding worried.

"Oh, Kris and I are fine. But there's a couple of other people who won't be soon." With that, Rocky cut the communications link, then settled it in to wait. It didn't take long. A few minutes later, the other teens had reassembled it in the hospital room.

"What's going on?" Jason asked.

"You guys, we have a bit of a problem," Rocky said. Quickly, he and Kris described their vision to the others.

"You all may think it was a dream, but that's because it didn't happen to you," Kris finished.

"Rocky and I feel that this may actually be true; that we were infused with a power from another planet and that someone on that planet needs our help."

"Why are you putting so much faith into a dream?" Tanya asked, skeptical..

"Because I can feel something at the back of my brain, like a caged animal waiting to be let loose. I can feel something...somebody in here with me," Kris replied, tapping the side of her head with a finger.

"Let's say for a minuter that all of what you've told us is true. Even so, how are we going to get to this mysterious planet without knowing where it is?" Tommy said.

"We know where it is," Rocky said firmly.

"We could give you the coordinates if you gave us access to a star chart." Rocky's brow creased at his words. That wasn't his regular speech pattern. It's gotta be influencing me more than I thought, he decided. He wondered if Kris felt the same.

"I'll bet Zordon, Alpha and Billy have everything that Kris and Rocky need to find the planet," Adam said, snapping his fingers as the idea came to him. The others nodded.

"Let's go," Rocky said, getting off of the bed. Kris did the same, although a bit more slowly than Rocky.

"Are you OK?" Jason asked, being the closest one to her. Kris looked up and over at him, blushed then nodded her head.

"I'll be alright," she replied.

"I guess my body's just not used to having so much power in it."

"Don't worry, you get used to it after a while," Jason told her. Kris moved over to where Rocky was standing and gripped her brother's arm while he and the other five lifted their wrists and teleported to the Power Chamber.

Chapter Three The Galaxy And Beyond

In the Power Chamber, Kris let go of Rocky's arm and put a small amount of distance between her and her brother, but not much.

"Greetings rangers, and Kris," Zordon thundered.

"What is wrong?" Rocky and Kris proceeded to explain about their experience with the mysterious globes, their dream, then waited while Zordon, Alpha and Billy processed the information using their various techniques.

"This is indeed a serious situation," Zordon said finally.

"Billy, can you call up some star charts? Maybe Kakana and I will be able to spot our planet," Rocky said. He noticed the others looking at him strangely. Everyone, that is, except Kris.

"What?"

"You just called Kris 'Kakana'," Adam pointed out.

"And you said 'our planet,'" Tanya added, looking at him with worry on her dark face. Rocky looked from his friends to Kris, who shrugged.

"I guess our "guests" are stronger than we thought," was all she said. Billy, in the meantime, had gone over to a computer console with a monitor beside it and had called up the most recent star charts he could find it in the area that Rocky and Kris had asked. He called them all over and they crowded around the monitor with Rocky and Kris in the front row. They looked at it for a long time, longer than was comfortable. Suddenly, Kris pointed to a small speck with her index finger.

"There?" she asked. Rocky nodded.

"There," he confirmed. Kris then turned to face Zordon.

"We've located the planet, Zordon," she reported. It's a fair distance from Earth, but I think we can make it."

"I believe that we have enough power to teleport you all there, but getting you back immediately might be a problem," Zordon said.

"Knowing The Evil like we do, we won't be back for a while," Rocky interjected pessimistically. Kris told him so.

"Come on, Kakana. You know how difficult it was the first time we used our powers," he told her.

"I know, Myagi," Kris replied, somewhat indignantly. "But we've got more experience now. Besides, you have your experience as a Power Ranger to draw strength from. We've got to believe in ourselves." Kris turned to face the others.

"We all do." The other five teens were getting slightly thrown off by the alter egos that were using Kris and Rocky's bodies to communicate, but they managed to recover.

"Before we leave, we should know what we're going to be facing," Tommy suggested.

"Good idea," Kris said.

"Well, we've got a long weekend coming up in two days. We can leave then. Nobody will miss us."

"Until then, we will tell you all you will need to know about The Evil," Rocky added. He shook his head slightly.

"And if this Myagi person has any idea what he's talking about, it isn't looking too good for us." That was Rocky, pure and undiluted.

"So, what sayest thou all?" Kris quipped.

"Shall we rendezvous at our apartment tomorrow after school?" There were nods all around the Power Chamber. Kris turned slightly.

"Billy, you should come too. After all, you're going to be holding down the fort, as it were, while we're all gone.. You'll need to know what's happening."

"I'll be there," Billy promised.

"Hey man, don't you live here?" Rocky joked, grinning. Billy smiled back.

"No, it only seems that way sometimes," he replied. With that, Kris gripped her brother's arm once again and he teleported the two of them back to their apartment.

"I hope they'll be OK on their own tonight," Kat said.

"They'll be alright," Adam assured her, although he felt no more certain than Kat sounded.

Later that evening, Rocky and Kris were sitting in their apartment, thinking about their home planet.

"Having doubts?" Kris asked, noting her brother's solemn face. Rocky looked up at her.

"You could say that," he replied.

"I'm worried that we won't be able to get our bodies back. And if we don't get our bodies back, we're going to be stuck in these ones forever."

"I know what you mean," Kris agreed.

"We'd have to make a choice; whether to stay on our planet or come back here and not see our family again."

"I think we should discuss this tomorrow," Rocky said, yawning.

"You're right," Kris agreed. She and her brother went to their own rooms, then quickly fell asleep.

The next day, Kris and Rocky awoke, got dressed, ate something then promptly went to school to meet with the others. To their surprise, they were almost the first students to arrive at the school.

"First time I've ever been early," Rocky quipped, driving a chuckle from Kris. They waited around until more people started coming to the school. The next person to arrive was Tanya. She parked her two-door sedan in the student parking lot next to Kris's, then got out and went to her locker to get her books for first period. Kris and Rocky came walking down the hall towards her, deep in conversation. Tanya shut her locker and turned to face them.

"Hi guys," she said cheerfully. Kris and Rocky looked startled, but recovered quickly.

"Hi Tanya," Rocky said, Kris echoing him shortly thereafter. They hung around Tanya's locker until the others started arriving, one by one. They all converged near Tanya's locker.

"You guys are all coming to our apartment after school, right?" Kris said as the bell rang. They started walking to their first period class; English.

"Yeah," Tommy replied.

"There's a lot we need to know."

"I just hope we'll be able to prepare you all enough," Kris said.

"Aw, don't worry," Tommy told her. "You'll tell us everything you think we need to know."

"You're probably right," Kris admitted.

"I'm just naturally skeptical." The seven walked into class, sat down and faced forward as their teacher, Mrs. Appleby, began her lesson.

Kris pulled out her notebook and pretended to copy what Mrs. Appleby was writing on the board about their novel study book, but instead she was sketching a flag. One she had never seen before, but she instinctively knew what it looked like. It was like her hand had a mind of its own as it flew across the paper, putting in a few light lines here and there. Once she was finished the sketch, Kris took out a black pen and went over her pencil lines, then erased them. Taking out her pencil crayons while Mrs. Appleby had her back turned, Kris selected a bright yellow and a black, then started colouring in her flag. When she was finished, she put her pencil crayons away and held the notebook at arm's length. That was too weird, she thought.

"Kristine?" came Mrs. Appleby's voice through Kris's thoughts. Kris quickly dropped the notebook, picked up a pen and looked straight ahead.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I asked you if you'd read the first chapter of your book yet." Fortunately, Kris loved reading, and she was halfway through the book already.

"Yes, Mrs. Appleby," she replied.

"Would you care to give us a quick summary?"

"Sure." Kris launched into a five minute résumé of what had happened in the first chapter. Mrs. Appleby looked slightly taken aback.

"Very good," was all she said before she turned back to the chalkboard. Kris looked down and emitted a small, silent sigh of relief. Where's my notebook? she wondered, slightly frantic. She looked around and saw that Rocky had taken it from her desk and was staring at the flag she had spontaneously drawn. As if he could feel her gaze, Rocky looked over at her, his eyes a bit wider than normal. He looked at her in bewilderment, and yet at the same time with recognition in his eyes. Kris simply shrugged her shoulders and mouthed the words, Beats me. Rocky shrugged back and placed her notebook silently on Kris's desk, then they both payed attention to what Mrs. Appleby was saying for the rest of the class.

The entire day, Kris and Rocky got in trouble from their teachers for not paying attention, but none of what the teachers said fazed either sibling. They were both too preoccupied with their own thoughts, questions and worries of what was to come in the none-too-distant future.

After what seemed like an eternity, the end of the school day finally arrived. The seven teens all went to their respective lockers, got their things, then met up in the parking lot. They'd all drive their own cars to Kris and Rocky's apartment complex instead of sharing one vehicle. At the apartment lobby, Tommy, Jason, Adam, Rocky, Tanya., Kat, Kris and Billy all rode in one elevator car up to the apartment, then Rocky unlocked the door and admitted everyone inside. Kris closed the door behind them all since she was the last one inside.

Once everyone had settled in, Rocky and Kris looked at one another across the room. Wordlessly, they came to an agreement.

"I guess we had better start from the beginning," Kris said without any preamble.

"Though, to be truthful, neither of us is quite sure where the beginning is, but we'll take a stab at it."

"OK," Kat murmured. "There exists a planet in a galaxy not far from ours that has the ability to support life. The inhabitants are very similar to humans, except with different customs. They look exactly like us in every aspect. Heck, they even speak English." Kris paused a second to chuckle.

"Anyway, on this planet, a long time ago, there was a war between the inhabitants and what they call The Evil. I don't know too many details except that the inhabitants finally won out because of a power that helped them, then disappeared," Kris began.

"What kind of power?" Jason asked. Kris looked at Rocky for help.

"We don't know," Rocky admitted for his sister.

"Anyway, the inhabitants thought that they had gotten rid of The Evil, but apparently The Evil was laying low and waiting for a time when the inhabitants were vulnerable again. I guess that time came because the power was rediscovered by two warriors who had no idea of their destiny. The Evil captured the warriors for their power, but the warriors wouldn't give it up to The Evil. Instead, they sent it away, along with some of their memories, to Earth," Kris finished.

"I'll bet that's what those globes you told us about were," Tanya commented.

"You're probably right," Kris told her.

"So what do we do once we get to this planet?" Adam asked.

"I think we have to make contact with a certain inhabitant, tell him what has happened, then find the two warriors that were captured by The Evil," Kris said slowly.

"I think we'll have enough power to get you all to the planet," Billy said, speaking for the first time.

"But getting you back will be kind of sketchy. Don't worry, I'll figure something out." Tommy put a hand on Billy's shoulder.

"We know you will," he said reassuringly. Billy smiled a little at the comment.

"We should get going as soon as we can. I don't know how long the warriors will be able to survive without their powers to protect them," Rocky commented, standing up.

"You can go anytime," Billy said.

"Are you all ready?" Kris asked, addressing everybody in the room. Tommy, Jason and Tanya nodded immediately, never hesitating. Adam and Kat sat there for a second before also nodding their heads. Kris and Rocky smiled at each other.

"Let's go," Rocky said. They all teleported to the Power Chamber to inform Zordon and Alpha of their decision, and so that Billy could do a long-range teleportation to the planet.

Chapter Four The Exodus

Upon their arrival in the Power Chamber, the seven teens found Zordon and Alpha, busy working on diverting power to the teleportation system. Billy immediately set to work helping them.

"Zordon, we need to leave as soon as possible," Rocky said, walking forward with Kris beside him.

"Alpha, do we have enough power to send the rangers and Kris to the planet?" Zordon asked, his voice echoing throughout the chamber.

"Yes, Zordon. We can teleport anytime," Alpha replied.

"Let's morph and get moving," Tanya said, beginning to extend her wrists..

"No!" Kris cried, though rather unsure why.

"No. We should all go in human form."

"Kris is right," Tommy agreed. "We don't want to alarm them." He turned to face Billy.

"Get us there and back in one piece, man."

"I'll do my best," Billy promised with a small yet sad smile, as though he was saying a final farewell. I sure hope that's not the case, Tanya thought to herself, careful not to betray her thoughts or emotions to the others who stood close to her.

"Everybody ready?" Tommy asked, facing the others now. Everyone present nodded. Then they all got into a straight line, facing Billy, Alpha and Zordon. The three regarded the teens with mixed emotions between them; fear and hope being the most common.

"We're ready," Rocky said. Billy turned, almost reluctantly, to a console and entered a few commands.

"Teleporting...now." After hitting the final button, Billy turned quickly just in time to see his good friends disappear in columns of red, yellow, green, blue, white, pink and golden light.

"Good luck," he whispered as the same time Alpha said, "Good luck, Rangers."

Kris and the others stayed conscious during the teleportation process, although Kris was unaware of it at the time.

"This is going to be...interesting," she commented to herself, not even realizing that she had been talking aloud.

"Nervous?" Tanya asked her, her voice coming through loud and clear. Kris, had she had a physical form at that moment, would have jumped.

"You mean, we can talk to each other?" she asked, the surprise evident in her voice for all to hear.

"Yeah," came Tommy's simple reply. All of a sudden, the seven of them were standing in the midst of a warm, humid jungle. They looked around anxiously. Only Kris and Rocky seemed comfortable in their surroundings. They were also the only ones who didn't have to take off any extra layers of clothing since they had subconsciously known what kind of climate to expect.

"I thought we were teleporting into the village," Kat said, somewhat confused.

"I guess the targeting scanners were a little off," Adam said, somewhat sheepishly since he had helped Billy set the coordinates.

"It's not far from here, I don't think," Kris said, turning full circle. She started to do another turn, but stopped partway, raised her hand and pointed with a single finger straight ahead.

"There." Without another word, Kris and Rocky started off in the direction Kris had pointed to with the others close behind them, not wanting to lose them in the dense foliage. The closer they got to the village, the faster Kris and Rocky moved until they were running full-tilt. The others had to scramble over roots, through bushes and under low-hanging vines and branches while Kris and Rocky had no problem with their navigation. They moved with single-minded determination through the trees, never talking or looking around to examine their surrounding environment. Suddenly, they stopped dead. The others behind them were able to slow down and stop since the siblings had had enough of a lead on them. Without a word of explanation, Rocky picked up a fair-sized stone and threw it a couple of meters up ahead. Where it landed, a wall of needle-sharp spikes shot straight up into the air. The others were taken aback.

"How did you know?" Adam asked, coming up behind the siblings, who looked at one another.

"Instinct," Kris replied after a split second of hesitation.

"So how are we going to get over those?" Tanya demanded softly, gesturing at the spike-wall vaguely with one arm. The wall had retracted into the ground, but the threat and ominous presence remained to haunt the teens. Kris and Rocky looked around for a moment. It's not the trees, Kris and Rocky knew that for sure. Hang on a minute... Kris thought. She picked up another stone and cautiously approached the area where the spikes would pop up again if they detected any movement.

"Kris, what are you doing?" Kat asked her. Kris didn't bother to reply; she knew what she was doing. At least I hope I know what I'm doing, Kris thought wryly. She stopped a few feet away from where the spikes were hidden by a carpet of moss, grass, leaves and other jungle debris, then crouched down with the stone still in her right hand. Taking a deep breath and saying a quick prayer to whoever might be listening upstairs, Kris dropped the stone on the exact spot where the spikes, that had sickle-shaped extensions on in case any enemy thought that they could get between the spikes, would pop up from the ground. Sure enough, as soon as motion was detected over the spikes, they shot towards the sky, taking the stone with them. The stone dropped to the ground, intact. Exactly the result Kris had been hoping for. She jumped up and ran back over to the others, grinning.

"I think I just found our way over the obstacle," she said, a trifle proudly.

"How?" Tanya asked.

"If we can pinpoint six more spots where the spikes and their sickle-shaped extensions will pop up, we'll be able to ride those extensions when the spikes go up. Then, all we have to do is climb from spike to spike and jump down on the other side," Kris explained.

"But aren't the extensions extremely sharp?" Jason asked.

"Not as bad as the tops of the spikes," Rocky said, jumping in.

"And if we can find something to cover our feet further, we'll be perfectly safe.." Kris had wandered off and was examining the ground intently.

"If we can find enough of these vines," she called back. "We can tie them around the arches of our feet to protect them. We'll need to do our hands, too."

"What are we waiting for?" Adam asked. He and the others set to work, finding and tying the vines to their hands and feet. When everyone was equipped, they approached the spike-wall once more. Kris threw her rock at the wall, then pointed out the places where the extensions came from. She and Rocky got everyone into position, then waited as the spikes retracted.

"Now remember; don't fight the upward motion, or you'll get sliced in half. Also, don't wait for the spikes to reach their peak before starting to climb over. If you do, you won't make it over in time," Kris said. Tanya shuddered inwardly. Kris brought her hands up and placed them in a ready position, awaiting the spike to appear.

"Everybody ready?" There were six shouts back to her.

"OK. On my mark, the spikes will go up. Be ready. One! Two! Three!" On the last number, Kris briefly waved her hand over a spike-covering, then waited. She and the others grabbed the spikes as they shot upwards. They put their feet on the extensions. "Ok everybody, move it!" Kris didn't wait for the spikes to stop moving as she did a small leap from one spike to the middle row, then onto the last row, then jumped and landed on the ground. Rocky was right behind her, and landed at the same time as Kris. Tanya and Kat came next. "Come on!" Kris shouted. Tommy and Jason, and finally Adam who barely made it off the fast-retracting spikes.

"One down, two to go," Rocky said, somewhat wryly as he, Kris and the others started moving away from the spikes.

"Two to go?" Adam asked.

"Oh yeah. That was only one of the tests. The village is encircled by three obstacles that are meant to keep all those who are unworthy out of the village," Kris explained, never stopping.

"So where's the next one?" Tommy asked as he walked ahead of the others with Rocky beside him. Rocky said nothing, but was on alert for anything that might trigger a memory, or a trap. Suddenly, he froze in place, even reeled backwards slightly.

"Tommy, look out!" he shouted, lunging at Tommy from the side. Both teens fell to the ground. Kat, Kris and the other two hurried over and helped the two up.

"Rocky, what's gotten into you?" Tanya asked.

"Nothing. It's what Tommy would have gotten into," Rocky replied, nudging some grass and leaves with his toe. They fell away, revealing a dark, deep pit that was three meters wide and ten fold that in length.

"Woah, thanks man," Tommy said, looking down into the pit.

"This is one of the easier ones," Kris commented, moving over to a fallen tree. Rocky joined her, but the two weren't quite strong enough to move it themselves. Seeing their difficulty, Jason and Tommy moved over to help them, and together, the four of them managed to lift the fallen tree a foot off the ground, carried it over to the pit and laid it down gently. Then they proceeded to push one end out over the pit. It just reached the other side.

"That doesn't look very sturdy," Kat commented, her brow creasing.

"Only one way to find out," Kris said, stepping up onto the dead tree. She started walking very slowly across, watching where she was putting her feet. Just don't look down, she told herself. You won't fall, you've got perfect balance. But don't get cocky. Kris was almost across when she felt the tree begin to shift. She let out a small cry as she almost lost her balance and tumbled head first into the deep pit.

"Kris!" Rocky shouted. Kris steadied herself, and glanced backwards cautiously.

"Somebody has to stand on that end of the log!" she called back. "I need counter-balance."

"Don't worry, we're on it. Just be careful," Rocky called to his sister..

"Don't need to tell me twice," Kris said, although she was talking partly to herself as she turned back around and started moving once more. Just a few more feet... Kris leapt off the tree and onto solid ground. She said a small prayer of thanks, then turned around and waved the others over.

"OK, come on!" Kris called. Rocky got off the end of the tree and allowed Jason to get up. He looked a bit nervous as he started, but he said nothing to betray his feelings as he walked slowly across. By the time Jason reached Kris's side of the pit, sweat was dripping down the sides of his face. He stepped down onto the solid ground in relief. Kris smiled at him.

"Not that hard, eh?" she asked. Jason didn't reply. Tanya was the next one to come across. Kris went up onto her end of the tree and waited for Tanya to come across. Kris helped Tanya the last few feet to the ground.

"Thanks," Tanya said. Tommy was next, followed closely by Kat, who came right after him. Rocky had stayed behind, wanting to get the others across before he came. He stepped up onto the fallen tree without any hesitation whatsoever. He was three quarters of the way across when suddenly, he slipped on a patch of moss the others had somehow managed to avoid. He let out a shout as he fell.

"Rocky!" Kris shouted in terror. Fortunately, Rocky had managed to grab onto a branch that was attached to the tree, but the branch wouldn't hold his weight for long. Kris started to go to him, but Tommy pulled her back.

"Don't, you'll both go over," he warned her.

"I can't leave him there to fall to his death," Kris argued. Without waiting for a response, Kris grabbed a length of vine that was both long and hardy and walked over until she was just above the branch that Rocky was dangling precariously from. She straddled the tree and threw one end of the vine down to her brother. It fell right beside his left hand.

"Grab on!"

"I can't, I'll pull you over," Rocky argued, not touching the vine.

"You won't," Kris said firmly. "Remember, I went through the same training that you did. I'm at the same level as you are, so I can certainly pull you up from there." Which was true, Rocky reflected. His sister and himself were in the same level in Mokora, so she would have the same abilities as he. Reluctantly, Rocky grabbed onto the vine with one hand, transferring half of his weight to see if Kris could handle it. Neither of them remembered that Kris wasn't in Kakana's body, so she wouldn't really have the same level of training as Kakana's body. Up on the tree, Kris jerked slightly, but held her balance as she felt her brother begin to let go of the tree.

"I'll start to pull you up," she called down to him. Rocky said nothing, so Kris started pulling with all of her strength. Slowly but surely, Rocky started to approach the tree from beneath. He helped Kris as much as he could, and eventually he was on top of the tree on his stomach, still gripping the vine, as was Kris. Kris grinned at him in relief, and he grinned back.

"Nice job," he told her, righting himself.

"Thanks," she replied. "Now let's get moving." Together, the two of them stood up carefully and, avoiding any further patches of moss, crossed to the other side where the others were waiting for them. When they hit the ground, they were surrounded by their friends, who had been worried sick.

"Kris, that was incredible," Adam told her. Kris shrugged.

"I would have done the same for anybody," she replied simply.

"But how did you manage to lift Rocky? He's heavier than you are, certainly," Kat commented.

"It's not really weight that matters, it's inner strength. I just drew on the power I needed to save my brother," Kris explained. She realized that the alternate identity was slipping into the pilot's chair, and she quickly shook her head, but the presence remained.

"One more obstacle and we'll be at the village," Rocky reminded them all..

"There's a mixed blessing," Kris commented. Without anything further, they all started towards the village and the final obstacle. But now, they allowed Kris and Rocky to lead and nobody even considered going faster than a walking pace.

"Can you tell us anything about the final obstacle?" Adam asked walking beside his best friend.

"I don't really know what it is, or where," Rocky admitted.

"But I think I'll know it when I get near it."

"We've been through the spikes and pit, so what's left?" Kris muttered to herself, trying to figure out the next challenge that would be set before them. It was at the edge of her mind, but it was like trying to remember a dream after waking up; the harder you tried to remember, the further away you pushed it.

"The spikes, the pit, and..." She broke off in frustration at herself. I've got to remember! she thought, annoyed. They were both pressure sensitive, but I know that the last one isn't the same. She snapped her fingers. Everybody turned to look at her.

"What is it?" Kat asked, sounding concerned.

"I just remembered what the last challenge was," Kris said, smiling triumphantly.

"The path of silence."

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that," Rocky said. "It starts just up ahead. You can't make a sound, or these stone arches that go over the path will collapse in on you."

"OK everybody, not a word from here," Tommy ordered softly. Kris went first, then came Tommy, Jason, Tanya, Kat, Adam and finally Rocky bringing up the rear. Everything went well at first. The seven of them managed to avoid stepping on any stray branches that littered the path, as well as talking. They barely even dared to breathe as they went through the stone arches. Kris felt someone tap her shoulder, and she turned silently. Jason was behind her now, mouthing the words, How much further? Kris glanced up ahead, thought she saw the beginning of a village, and mouthed back, A mile. Jason nodded, and relayed the information back along the band. As they neared the end of the path, Kris came very close to letting out a sigh of relief, but she restrained herself just in time and glanced back sheepishly to see if anyone had noticed her small slip. Fortunately, no one had. Thanks for small miracles, Kris thought to herself. She walked ahead until she was absolutely sure that they were clear of the final challenge, then turned to face the others. Is it safe? Rocky asked her silently. Kris nodded. I think so, but I'll check. Kris picked up a branch and snapped it across her knee. The crack echoed throughout the silent jungle, but none of the arches caved in.

"OK everyone, we're safe," Rocky announced, smiling. There were audible sighs of relief as everyone exhaled the half-held breaths they had been holding for the past twenty minutes or so.

"Now, on to the village," Kris proclaimed.

"It isn't far from here." They started walking again. Now, there was a spring in everyone's step that had disappeared because they all knew that they were close to attaining their goal. At least, that's what they thought.

Chapter Five The Emergence

"Nervous?" Rocky asked Kris as they walked side-by-side along the well-worn path that led to the heart of the village. Kris, who had been lost in her own thoughts, jumped slightly at the sound of his voice.

"Yeah, I am, kind of," she admitted. "But aren't you? I mean, we don't know how we're going to be received by everyone when we get back."

"That's true, but if we explain what happened to them, I'm sure they'll understand. Besides, we won't be stuck in these bodies for long," Rocky assured his sister. They both did double takes at Rocky's words.

"I just said 'these bodies', didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did," Kris said quietly, nodding.

"To tell the truth, I was thinking the same thing. I guess Myagi and Kakana are growing stronger the closer to their village we get."

"I hope we'll be able to find Myagi and Kakana's bodies. I don't want them to be with us forever. Not that I would mind," Rocky added quickly, basically for his own benefit, "but it wouldn't be fair to them, or our selves."

"You have a point," Kris agreed. "We've got to find their bodies, no matter what the cost." They walked in silence for a few minutes, once again lost in thought.

"Is that the village?" Adam asked, snapping the siblings from their reverie.

"Um, yeah, you're right," Rocky said, recovering faster than Kris. The two put on more speed, as if the village was somehow drawing them towards it like a black hole drew debris and anything that crossed its path in space. Rocky and Kris broke into a dead run. The others had to push themselves to the limit to keep them in sight. When Kris and Rocky stopped, it was in a clearing that had fair-sized huts made out of grass, leaves, branches, mud and other jungle materials outlining it. There was a large, stone-outlined pit in the centre of the clearing that was obviously a place of gathering for the villagers. Kris and Rocky stood, rooted to the spot for several minutes, smiling and breathing normally, even after their run. The others came into the clearing a minute later, breathing laboriously. Adam and Tanya bent over at the waist and put their hands on their knees until they were breathing normally again.

"Is this the village?" Kat asked, looking around.

"Yes," Kris replied, her voice sounding distant.

"This is our village; Fujikara." An older man was sitting in his hut, reading, when all of a sudden he felt something in the clearing. He couldn't describe it, but he knew that he had to go to it. He put down his book, not bothering to mark his place in the volume, moved to his door and flung it wide open. He looked around, then spotted the source of the vibes he was getting. His mouth dropped open. He didn't recognize the physical bodies of the visitors, but he knew deep in his soul that he knew two of the seven. He started towards them, at a walk at first, then he broke into a jog. Kris and Rocky's eyes had narrowed as they felt something coming from one of the huts. They looked at a hut at the same instant as its door flew open and a man emerged. The man looked around, spotted the seven and started running towards them.

"Myagi, is that...?" Kris broke off, unable to believe it. Rocky could only nod. That was enough. He and Kris took off across the clearing, meeting the older man halfway with their friends right behind them every step of the way.

"Father?" Rocky asked hesitantly as he, Kris and the man stood a few paces apart. Tommy and the others let the trio have their space for the moment. "You don't look like my children, but you feel like them..." the man said, narrowing his eyes.

"Myagi? Kakana?"

"Father, it's us," Kris said, smiling happily.

"I know we have different bodies, but it's us in spirit."

"I knew you'd come back to me one day," said their father as he embraced his children, who hugged him back tightly. A tear slipped from Kris's eye as she felt her self become more at peace the more time she spent in the clearing. The man released them, and stepped back to look at them. "Such beautiful adults you have both become."

"But father, these aren't our bodies," Kris reminded him gently.

"I know," their father replied, "but I meant your sprits. What happened to your bodies?"

"It's a long story. Maybe we should go to your hut?" Kris suggested. Their father nodded. They moved off with the others behind them.

"Who are they?" their father demanded, noticing the others for the first time.

"These are the friends of the people whose bodies we are in now," Kris explained. "They helped us come back to rescue our bodies, and their friends." The eight of them moved into the small hut. There weren't enough seats for everyone, so Adam sat on the floor alongside Tanya. Tommy and Jason stood, allowing Kris, Rocky, their "father" and Kat to sit down on chairs and the bed. Then Kris and Rocky proceeded to explain everything that had happened from the point of them fleeing and sending their powers to Earth to their journey through the jungle that surrounded the village and the obstacles they had been forced to face to prove their worth.

"This is an incredible story," their father told them once they had finished.

"Mister..." Tommy faltered. "Lumo."

"Mr. Lumo, we need to find the bodies of your son and daughter as soon as possible. We don't know how long their...spirits...can survive outside of them."

"Good point. You should leave in the morning," Mr. Lumo said. Kris was about to protest, but her father held up his hand.

"No, I won't hear it.. You may be grown up now, Kakana, but you still need food and rest for those bodies, I assume?" Kris nodded reluctantly.

"Then it's settled; you will all stay here tonight and start out in the morning once you've had a good sleep and have some food in your stomachs."

"You guys can sleep in my hut, if you want," Rocky offered to Jason, Tommy and Adam. "There isn't a lot of room, and there's only one bed, but I think we can figure something out."

"Sounds good," Tommy said for all of them.

"I guess that leaves you with me," Kris said, looking at Tanya and Kat. "Like Rocky, I've only got one bed, but there's some extra bedding, I think."

"We'll make do with what you have," Tanya said, smiling. The seven of them split up and went to their appropriate huts.

That night, after darkness had fallen, everybody from the village gathered around the fire pit. Already, a huge fire blazed in the pit, lighting up the surrounding area and throwing warmth on everyone who sat around it. They roasted an animal that was native to the planet, and was extremely common throughout the world. There was also some fresh vegetables and fruit, and water. It was an extremely healthy meal, and also very appetizing. The seven from Earth ate as much as their stomachs would tolerate, which meant having seconds and thirds of basically everything.

"I haven't eaten like that since..." Rocky said, breaking off, trying to think of a particular moment.

"Since yesterday?" Kris teased. Rocky gave her a mock-glare, and she laughed. Mr. Lumo stood up suddenly and called for everyone's attention. When he had it, he took a deep breath before speaking.

"As you all know, a few weeks ago Myagi and Kakana, my son and daughter, disappeared after receiving the power of The Stone of Benghait and going off to fight The Evil," he began. "When they did not come back, we had all assumed the worst; that they had been captured and the power was taken over by The Evil. But we were wrong. Myagi and Kakana apparently managed to send the power to a planet called Earth in the next galaxy. The Evil has their bodies, but not their souls. The souls and the Power of Benghait lies within the bodies of the two who stumbled upon the powers on Earth. They have traveled, along with their friends, to our planet to help us reclaim the bodies of Myagi and Kakana and help us defeat The Evil once and for all. I will now present to you, Rocky DeSantos and his sister, Kris DeSantos. They are the two who carry the souls of Myagi and Kakana within them." Mr. Lumo gestured to Rocky and Kris, who stood reluctantly. There were murmurs around the circle of people seated around the fire pit as they looked at Kris and Rocky skeptically.

"And their friends; Tommy Oliver, Jason Lee Scott, Adam Park, Tanya Sloan and Kat Hillard." As their names were spoken, the five remaining teens stood up and moved to stand beside Rocky and Kris.

"I know we don't look like Kakana and Myagi, and I know that our friends are not from this planet, but we will fight to protect all of you from The Evil," Kris said, raising her voice and silencing the people. They looked up at her expectantly. Kris realized that they were waiting for more, so she improvised.

"Myagi and Kakana are within us. Their thoughts, feelings, skills, all lie within us. The only thing different is now there's two people thinking for one body."

"But that won't be for long," Rocky jumped in. "We will all fight to get Myagi and Kakana's bodies back and restore them to normal. We want to have Myagi and Kakana back as much as you do."

"They might all look like normal teenagers, but they possess a great power that was given to them by Zordon," Kris added. That got everybody's attention.

"You know Zordon?" a man asked. Tommy nodded slowly, cautiously.

"We are saved!" Cheers rose up from the crowd of people.

"Show them," Kris whispered to Rocky, who relayed it to Tommy. Their leader nodded.

"It's morphin time!" he shouted.

"Zeo Ranger One, Pink!"

"Zeo Ranger Two, Yellow!"

"Zeo Ranger Three, Blue!"

"Zeo Ranger Four, Green!"

"Zeo Ranger Five, Red!"

"Gold Ranger Power!" Kris stood back as the six teens transformed before the eyes of the villagers.

"Why didn't you change?" a young girl asked of Kris. Kris looked down and found herself staring into the eyes of a girl, no more than 15 by this planet's standards. She had straight blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Because I'm not one of them," Kris replied without a trace of bitterness of jealousy.

"They're the Power Rangers Zeo, I'm just a normal human."

"Don't you wish you were a Power Ranger?" the girl asked.

"Sometimes, but they've had much more experience at this sort of thing than me, so I'll let them take care of it," Kris answered, smiling. The girl smiled back. "You know, you look kind of familiar. Do I know you?"

"You, or Kakana, was in my Mokora class and we obviously got the same schooling," the girl replied.

"I'm Dicere."

"Well, right now I'm Kris, but Kakana's mind is inside of me," Kris said.. Just then, Kris was called by the others.

"I've got to. I'll see you later maybe. At Mokora probably. Bye, Dicere."

"Bye, Kakana," Dicere replied. Kris moved over to her friends, brother and father.

"We should get some sleep. We want to leave as soon as dawn comes," Rocky said quietly. They all agreed, then went to their huts. That night, they all slept lightly, but the rest was welcome after their exhausting day. Sleep well everyone, Kris thought silently. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.

Chapter Six The Departure

In the morning, Kris and the girls in her hut woke up at about the same time after a light but much needed sleep.

"Morning," Kris said to Kat and Tanya.

"Mornin'," came Kat's reply from the floor on the left side on Kris's bed. Kat and Tanya had insisted on sleeping on the floor even after Kris had offered to give up her bed for one of them. They had refused, camping out on the floor that consisted of soft, dark green grass. The three girls got dressed, then went outside to wash up using the main water source, the well off to one side of the clearing. Kris brought a large canteen-type of container with her to fill up with fresh water for their journey that they would be starting on shortly. A few minutes later, Rocky and the others from his hut came outside and wandered over to the well.

"You guys sleep OK?" Kris asked, hauling up a bucket full of water from the bottom of the well.

"Not bad. How about you girls?" Adam replied. There were nods all around, though Kat and Tanya's weren't as sincere as Kris's since Kris was partially accustomed to sleeping in the middle of a jungle. When Kris had raised the bucket up to ground level, she first filled the canteen, then let everyone else splash water on their faces, through their hair, and even at each other, though it wasn't a full-fledged water fight. After everyone was done, Kris gently lowered the bucket back down into the well for the usage of the other villagers, who were starting to come out of their huts right now.

"You guys go ahead to my father's hut to eat breakfast. I'll catch up in a minute," Kris said, spying two people she had been meaning to talk to since her arrival the night before. Rocky followed Kris's gaze, saw who she meant and nodded. Then he took the others to a familiar hut; Mr. Lumo's. Kris waited until they had gone inside before she jogged over to the people.

"Rahshi! Lashai!" she called, waving and smiling. The two stopped walking and turned to see who was calling their names. They looked at Kris's suspiciously as she came to a halt in front of them.

"Don't look at me that way, please. I know that this isn't Kakana's body, but her spirit is inside of me, and she really misses you both."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" the girl demanded, hands on her hips.

"Oh, come on Lashai, why would I want to trick my friends, my own father?" Kris demanded, smiling.

"You could be from The Evil," Lashai pointed out.

"OK, I'll prove it to you," Kris said. "Lashai Weno. You're the same age as me, 17. You take Mokora, are at red shana, but you were going to take the test for the blue shana a few days ago. You're an only child, you're parents were taken by The Evil last year and you've lived on your own ever since. You hate eating Noweka, but you love anything sweet. Happy yet?" Lashai looked taken aback.

"Kakana, it is you," she murmured. Kris turned to Rahshi.

"Need me to convince you, too?" she asked, grinning. Rahshi shook his head silently, never saying a word.

"I...are you really going off to fight The Evil for Kakana...yours and Myagi's bodies?" Lashai asked quietly, looking at Kris with her hazel eyes.. Her brown hair that curled at the ends was braided at the front, and the braids merged into one at the back of her head, then fell down her back. The rest of her hair fell free, flowing along her shoulders and back.

"Yeah, but with the help of my new friends, we'll be able to defeat them without any problem," Kris assured her best friend.

"I hope you're right," Lashai said doubtfully.

"Life is so dull without you around." Kris smiled warmly.

"Thanks. Now, do you think I could talk to Rahshi alone?" she asked, hoping she wouldn't insult her, or rather Kakana's, friend.

"Yeah sure. I...I guess I'll see you when you get back," Lashai said. Then she walked off, leaving Kris alone with Rahshi.

"Kakana...this is so confusing," he confessed.

"I know, Rahshi. But it'll all be over soon, and we'll be married. I'll get my body back, I promise," Kris said.

"But what'll happen to your, Kakana's, mind if you get hurt, or worse?" Rahshi asked.

"I don't know," Kris confessed.

"But don't think about that now. Think about how happy we'll both be when all of this is over."

"Hey Kris, hurry up! We need to leave soon and you haven't eaten yet!" Rocky called to her from across the clearing. Kris raised her hand without looking away from Rahshi. He had black eyes and dark, straight brown hair that just brushed the tips of his ears.

"I've got to go," Kris said, stating the obvious.

"Hurry back, and be careful," Rahshi said to her. For a moment, they said nothing. Then, slowly, they moved closer together, kissed briefly, then broke apart, going their separate ways. Kris was close to tears, but she held herself back as she walked to her father's hut. Inside, she found the others eating the fruit and bread that had been placed on a table. Kris picked up a couple of slices of bread, some fruit and ate quickly, not really tasting anything she put into her mouth.

"Are you OK, Kris?" Tanya asked, noticing Kris's somber expression.

"We can't fail on this one," Kris said softly. "There's too many people that I'd be leaving behind. I can't let them, or my father down."

"You won't," Tanya assured her.

"I saw you with that guy. Is he your boyfriend?"

"We're to be married."

"I see." Tanya was momentarily speechless, not expecting someone that was a year younger than her to be engaged.

"Well, you've got all of us to help you, and we never give up." Kris smiled slightly.

"Thanks. Zordon picked the right people for the job," she said. She finished her food, went for seconds, and polished that off, having regained her appetite.

"You will need to take some food with you. You don't know how long you'll be away," Mr. Lumo said, breaking the silence.

"I've prepared some loaves of bread, cheeses, some smoked, dried meat, dried fruits and nuts for you all to take with you."

"Thank you, father," Rocky said formally. There's that alter ego again, he thought.

Mr. Lumo, with Jason's help, brought out a large tray covered with everything that Mr. Lumo had described. On the floor next to Mr. Lumo's desk, there were seven sacks that looked like they were made from a strong fibre. Mr. Lumo handed one to each teen, then told them to fill up the sacks with the food. The seven teens quickly complied. Once that was finished, they all received canteens, with the exception of Kris since she already had hers. They went to the well, filled up the canteens to the brim and put them in the sacks on top of the food. Back in Mr. Lumo's hut, they were each given a length of strong rope, some knives and other useful items that were for defense, as well as cutting through the dense underbrush of the surrounding jungle they would be forced to go through. Among other things, tents, blankets and first-aid kits were also given around to every other person. Rocky and Kris said an emotional goodbye to their father, promising to return with Myagi and Kakana's bodies, then left the village. Everyone who lived there was standing outside and gave them a farewell nobody would soon forget as Kris, Rocky, Tommy, Jason, Adam, Tanya and Kat started through the jungle that would lead to The Evil's headquarters where the bodies in question were being held.

For the first few hours, the going was easy. There wasn't much foliage since the local children were often allowed to play in the nearby woods under supervision of their parents, relatives or older siblings.

"It won't stay like this long," Rocky commented to his sister. They were walking side-by-side along a small path. Behind them, Tommy was walking alongside Kat while Jason, Tanya and Adam brought up the rear.

"I know, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Kris told him. Rocky was carrying a sharp knife to cut the vines that got in their way, as well as having it in case they were attacked by they-could-only-guess-what. They took a break at around noon to eat a bit of the dried fruit, a piece of cheese each, a couple of pieces of the smoked meat and a drink or two of water before getting on their way once more.

When night fell and it began to grow dark, Kris and Rocky had to make a decision on where to camp. Fortunately, they found a small, flat clearing that would easily accommodate the three tents the group had brought with them. There were even trees close enough together to string the tents on. It's amazing that this could occur naturally, Kris found herself thinking. Then she kicked herself for looking a gift tree in the mouth. They announced their plan to the others, who readily agreed that it was time for a rest. None of them were used to hiking like this. The three tents were set up close to each other. Stones were found while Jason and Kat dug out a pit for a camp fire. The stones were placed around the pit so there would be a minimal chance of starting a forest fire. The group shed their sacks in a pile then sat around the fire, eating a bigger meal than they had for lunch, and talking. When they all started to look tired and limp, it was decided that they should probably get some sleep.

"Do you think we should keep a lookout party?" Adam asked as they all stood up.

"It might be a good idea. We're still pretty far from The Evil's headquarters, but they might have soldiers out patrolling," Rocky said.

"Who wants first watch?"

"I'll take it, though I'd prefer not to be alone," Kris admitted. She was a night owl, and could go for a time without sleep, although you didn't want to be near her afterwards.

"I'll stay too," Jason volunteered. The others nodded sleepily.

"OK, that's good. Adam and I will take one tent. I guess Tanya and Kat can take another. Tommy, you've got the third," Rocky said.

"What about the second shift?" Tanya asked, pausing mid-stride.

"I'll go," Adam and Tommy volunteered at the same time. They looked at each other, grinned and looked at Rocky for confirmation. Rocky nodded.

"OK, this works," he said.

"Kat and I will take the last watch."

"What about Tanya?" Kris asked.

"I'll take first watch tomorrow night," Tanya said.

"That works," Kris said, satisfied. They all separated and went either into their tents or sat around the fire that still burned brightly, lighting up the surrounding area, much like the one in the village although on a smaller scale. Everything fell silent as the five teens got comfortable in their tents and fell asleep under the careful guard of Jason and Kris. Those two were sitting as close to the fire, and each other, as they could get for it had grown colder as the night wore on.

"Do you really think we'll be able to rescue Myagi and Kakana's bodies?" Kris asked suddenly, staring straight into the fire. Jason was startled.. He had been lost in his own thoughts.

"We'll do everything we can to get them back," he promised. Kris looked up at him across the fire.

"But that's no guarantee," she told him.

"But then, I can't blame you for that. You don't really know what we're going to be up against here. To be honest, neither do I. All I know is that we're really going to be tested. The price of failure is too high to even contemplate."

"So don't tell yourself we're going to fail. If my friends and I have anything to say about it, we'll get the bodies back and then we'll get to go back home before we're even missed," Jason said softly.

"I hope you're right," Kris replied. They pair stayed in silence until they mutually decided that it was time to go wake up Adam and Tommy. Jason saw to that while Kris said goodnight to him and went into the tent that had been previously occupied by Tommy. Nothing eventful happened during Tommy and Adam's watch, for which they were both grateful. They kept the fire going by constantly feeding it dry twigs, branches and grass. Occasionally, they drank a bit of water or took a handful of dried fruit, but mostly they stayed seated around the fire in silence. For third watch, Rocky, Kat and Tanya had to be roused from their slumber. For Rocky and Kat, it was time for their watch. Tanya had to wake up because she needed to give up her tent and go over to Kris's because there was only room for one person in Jason's tent, and Tommy already had dibs on it. Since neither Adam, Tanya or Kris would feel comfortable about sleeping in the same tent, Tanya was moved to Kris's tent and Adam got what was formerly Tanya's tent all to himself. In the morning, Adam, Tommy, Jason, Kris and Tanya all awoke to the sound of birds chirping and the wind rustling the trees gently. They oriented themselves after a moment's hesitation and thoughts of,

"Where am I?" ran through their heads. Then they all emerged at pretty much the same time out into the clearing. The fire had long since gone out. The sun now lit the clearing, and it felt warm on their backs. Rocky had fallen asleep during his watch, and Kat hadn't had the heart to wake him. When Kris saw this, she grinned evilly. The others noticed and backed away discreetly as Kris advanced on the sleeping form of her brother. When she was beside him, she clapped her hands loudly. He jumped, waking with a start.

"Sorry, but I know how much of a sound sleeper you are," Kris said apologetically at Rocky's glare.

"Next time, just give me a bit of a shake, ok?" he replied, getting up and dusting himself off. He and the others ate a hearty breakfast, then packed up the tents and started on their way again. That day was warmer than the previous one. Fortunately, they had all been smart enough to layer their clothing during the night, so they at least had layers to take off. Lunch came and went quickly. When darkness fell that night, the teens had made good time.

"I think we did at least 13 miles," Rocky said, impressed with his own stamina as he and the others broke camp again. This time, there was no clearing so no fire could be built, but nobody really minded; they were all too tired to do anything except sleep. Tanya and Kris took first watch. Tommy and Jason volunteered for second while Kat and Rocky took the last one, allowing Adam the luxury of sleeping the entire night undisturbed. The days seemed to meld together. The only difference between them was the night watches. Mentally, Kris had estimated a week before reaching The Evil's headquarters. The third night, Adam and Jason took first watch, Kris and Tommy took second while Tanya and Rocky took third. The fourth night it was Kat and Kris, Jason and Rocky and Adam and Tommy.. They managed to rotate enough times so that everyone got to sleep through the entire night at least once. How convenient, Kris thought wryly when she realised this. On the seventh night, the night before they would reach the headquarters of The Evil where the bodies in question were being held, Kris was allowed to sleep through the entire night since she looked extremely sleep-deprived and tired all the time. She thanked them all profusely before going into a tent by herself and collapsing for the next 12 hours.

Chapter Seven The Beginning Of The End

In the morning, Kris woke after the others feeling fully refreshed and revitalized. She exited her tent and found all of the other tents already packed up and the fire pit covered with leaves, tree branches and green grass.

"Morning," Tanya said cheerily, waving at Kris as she stood up and stretched.

"Good morning. Are we ready to move out?" Kris asked, feeling her spine crack pleasantly.

"Yep. As soon as your tent is packed up, we're moving," Rocky reported, handing a sack of food to Kris. Kris, who was starving, dug out some of the fruit, the smoked meat, a piece of cheese (not her favourite) and broke off a large chunk of bread. She closed the pack back up and slung it over her back.

"How are we doing on our provisions?" she asked.

"Pretty well, considering how long we've been out here," Tommy replied.

"We've still got more than half of what we started out with."

"We should probably have a big breakfast and a big meal at lunch or just before we hit The Evil's headquarters," Kris said.

"We don't want to be drained just after we've gotten inside enemy lines."

"It's a good idea," Rocky said, coming up behind his sister. He called the others over, and together they managed to empty out one of the large sacks. Everything was distributed evenly and they all ate in a pensive silence, thinking about the battle that was sure to come. After breakfast, the teens packed up the tents and the empty sack into more sacks, then started on their way once more. Everything was quiet, if you didn't count the animals and birds that rustled through the trees, just out of sight. Rocky and Kris, who were at the front of the group, both carried knives and ropes in case they met up with any minions from The Evil prematurely. Fortunately, they didn't. Suddenly, Kris tensed up and stopped dead in her tracks. Tanya almost ran into her from behind. Kris crouched low and didn't move a muscle.

"Kris, what's wrong?" Tanya asked.

"Listen," Kris said in a whisper barely audible to those around her. They all did, but it seemed in vain.

"I don't hear anything," Kat said.

"I do," Rocky said, mimicking Kris's position.

"Everybody get ready. They're up ahead." The others didn't have to ask to whom Rocky was referring; they knew. They tensed as well, although none of them heard what Kris and Rocky apparently did. They started forwards again, though at a much slower pace and now they were being careful not to step on any stray branches or twigs that might give away their position. Up ahead, there was a thick clump of bushes. Beyond those, there was a clearing that Kris and Rocky knew well, though they weren't quite sure why exactly that was. As they approached, the siblings dropped their packs on the ground silently and hid them under some leaves and branches; the others did the same with their own packs and the tents. By the time they were finished, Rocky and Kris had already crept up and were crouched behind the bushes, peering through into the clearing beyond.. Tommy, Jason, Adam, Tanya and Kat knelt beside their friends and peered through the buses with them.

They knew what they were looking at without having to ask, although they were quite different from what the teens had expected. "They" were people, obvious natives to the planet. The people were all of the same race, that much was obvious. There were males and females; obviously The Evil had no problems sending anybody they needed into battle.. The males all had hair cut close to their scalps and were dressed in black and dark green form-fitting suits that allowed them to blend in with their surroundings in the jungle. They were assorted hair colours; black, brown, blondes although fewer of those than any since blonde hair stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the greens and earth tones of the jungle. The females also had hair of the same colours, and theirs was allowed to be long, but it was braided or held back in some other manner. They wore the same form-fitting suits as their male counterparts. Both sexes looked equally threatening. They were doing what looked like training exercises on each other using swords, ropes, knives and some were locked in hand-to-hand combat with one another. They were good; even the Rangers knew that it would be a challenge defeating these enemies. Rocky silently held up his hand and counted down from five without ever saying a word. When he had folded all of his fingers into a fist, Kris leapt up from her hiding place at the exact same instant as Rocky and the others, belatedly.

Then the seven of them charged into the fray, taking as many of The Evil down initially as they could. Behind the bushes, Tommy had counted about twenty of the enemy in the clearing, and he didn't know if there was anybody else hiding the in surrounding jungle foliage. He didn't have time to find out as he and the others were attacked in short order. These enemies weren't like the cogs, was the first conclusion they all drew after several seconds in battle. These guys played for keeps. They used swords that sliced through the air with ease, ropes and their bare hands to try to destroy the seven teens with a ferocity none of them except Kris and Rocky were used to, and even their experience was extremely limited in their current state.

"I know how much you all despise it, and I do too, but don't be afraid to draw blood," Kris called over the sounds of fighting. With that, she drew her knife and she and her enemy circled one another, oblivious to what was happening around them. Her enemy, a female with long black hair and narrow black eyes, drew her own sword and lunged at Kris. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as the others stopped fighting to watch; their enemies doing the same to see what kind of force they would be up against. Kris and her opponent stood face-to-face two meters apart, each brandishing a sharp knife. Come on, come and get me, Kris thought, not taking her eye off her opponent for a second. Eventually, her opponent got tired of waiting and lunged at Kris, slashing the air with her sword. Fortunately, that was all she ended up slashing since Kris rolled out of the way and came up behind her foe. Kris took the enemy's disorientation to full advantage, and swung the knife down as hard as she could. The expression on her opponent's face was one nobody would ever forget. Eyes and mouth wide open, the head fell to the ground and was joined shortly thereafter by the body. Her opponent never felt a thing.

"Kris, you didn't have to do that!" Tanya exclaimed, horrified as a pool of blood collected around the body and the severed neck.

"Yes I did, Tanya. Get used to it because this is the only way to get rid of these guys," Kris said firmly, her voice as hard as stone. But then, that was Kakana speaking. Inside, Kris's own self was screaming for the killing to stop.

"It can't be the only way," Adam said, shaking his head.

"The only other way would be to take their power stones," Rocky said, going to stand beside his sister. Kris was shaking like a leaf, unable to believe what her body, what she had just done to another living creature!

"Power stones?" Tommy asked, oblivious to Kris's anguish. Rocky moved over to the corpse, nudged it until it laid on its back with his toe and indicated a shiny stone that gleamed in the sunlight.

"That stone is the source of their life force. If you take it out of their bodies, you destroy them. It's just as painless, and just as quick," he explained.

"Then let's go. We don't have much time left," Jason said. The others nodded and went back into battle, this time with a sense of purpose. All of them except Kris, who was left alone to stand in the middle of the clearing.

"I can't do this," she whispered to herself. "I can't kill them. I can't...it's wrong...I can't..." She kept mumbling the same things over and over to herself, standing stock still, unaware that soon the hunter was about to become the prey. One of The Evil's minions, a male this time, was silently sneaking up behind Kris, having realized that she was in shock. Kris never noticed a thing. She kept staring down at her feet, and she noticed that her black shoes had a drop of blood on them. This is insane! her mind screamed. The enemy was almost upon Kris. Brandishing a sword that glinted in the light from the planet's sun, he raised it above his head and grinned at the thought of delivering the final blow to this young warrior who had killed one of his kind. Rocky, who had been busy dealing with two of The Evil's loyal subjects, hadn't really had the time to take in the situations of the others.

"These'll look good in my rock garden," Rocky said, ripping the stones from their places on the bodies of their hosts. The stones were embedded just below the collarbone on every single soldier from The Evil. The stones drew their power from the energy waves that flew through the air, emanating from The Evil's headquarters. Nothing was able to block the waves, so The Evil's soldiers lived on until their stone was pulled from them. When that happened, their hands flew up to the now-empty circle below their necks, their let out a small scream and collapsed to the ground, lifeless. That was exactly what the two Rocky had been fighting did now. The entire process of death took less than three seconds. Now, Rocky stood, still in a defensive pose, and looked around the clearing. He saw that Tommy, Jason and Tanya were holding their own while Adam and Kat were busy beating down four soldiers together. Where's Kris? Rocky asked himself, looking around. He saw her standing exactly where he had left her in the middle of the clearing, but she wasn't alone. Kris was standing, head bent down, staring at the grass and her lips were moving but no sound reached Rocky's ears. Standing behind her was a soldier, sword raised to lop Kris's head off her shoulders. It was apparent that Kris hadn't noticed the enemy behind her, for she did nothing even as the sword was raised.

"Kris!" Rocky shouted even as he took off towards her as fast as his legs would carry him. Kris didn't react at all; she just stood there. The soldier was also unaware of Rocky's approach.

"Kris, move it!" No response, not even a blink. Rocky was almost to Kris. If he could only reach her in time... As the soldier brought the sword down, Rocky threw himself at Kris, effectively knocking her out of the way of the gleaming metal as it sliced downwards. The only resistance it met was the flesh of Rocky's upper arm. Rocky cried out in pain, bringing Tanya and Jason to his side immediately. Kris laid under her brother's body, now aware of her surroundings but afraid to move her brother; she didn't want to injure him further. Rocky clutched his right arm in pain, squeezing his eyes shut and trying not too moan loudly. Tanya quickly ripped off a strip from her yellow shirt and tied it around Rocky's wound, but it was quickly soaked with blood. Tanya wrapped her hands around the wound and squeezed hard, effectively stopping the bleeding but putting Rocky in even more pain.

"Is he going to be OK?" Jason asked, somewhat anxiously, kneeling helplessly beside his friend's side. Kris inched out from under Rocky's body and knelt beside his upper torso, laying his head in her lap.

"Rocky, can you hear me?" she asked, worry evident in her tone. Rocky opened his eyes and looked up into his sister's eyes.

"That'd be one heck of a pizza cutter," he joked weakly. Kris grinned in relief.

"Just take it easy. You'll be patched up in no time," she assured him.

"What about you? Are you OK?" Rocky asked, concern etching into his brow.

"Thanks to you, only a few bruises. You should have been on the football team," Kris told him, smiling. Rocky returned the smile, then grimaced as Tanya squeezed his arm harder. Tanya told Jason to go grab the empty pack. Jason got up and sprinted from the clearing, returning moments later with the pack. Tanya proceeded to rip it to shreds using Kris's knife and then tied in in layers around Rocky's wounded arm. The first few layers were saturated with blood in no time, but eventually the bleeding stopped coming through the thick cloth. Tanya let go of Rocky's arm and wiped her bloody hands on the grass while Jason and Kris helped Rocky sit up. By then, the others had finished off the enemies and were rushing over to where Rocky was sitting, looking rather haggard but otherwise alright.

"What happened?" Kat asked. Kris proceeded to explain as briefly as she could what had occurred.

"You OK, man?" Adam asked, crouching beside his friend.

"I'll be fine," Rocky assured him, and the others.

"We should get moving. It'll be dark soon and we've still got a lot of ground to cover."

"We can't move you now. You've lost a lot of blood," Tanya argued, and the look that appeared on her face discouraged the others from saying anything more.

"We could camp out here tonight, but we'll have to be on the alert in case The Evil decides to send any more soldiers after us," Kris said slowly..

"But we might not have much time," Rocky protested.

"Forget it. I won't lose my brother to stubbornness," Kris said firmly. Her tone told everyone not to mess with her.

"Now, we'll set up the tents just inside the tree line. That way, if anyone comes through the clearing they won't see us right away." The others moved off to retrieve their packs and started setting up the tents and a small fire pit. Kris stayed with Rocky while the others worked, but nobody really minded; both siblings had been through a lot during the past couple of weeks, they both deserved a small break. Once the "camp" had been set up, darkness was already beginning to fall. A small fire was built, and Kat concocted a soup made from the water from a canteen, some of the dried meat, the dried vegetables from one pack and some bread and cheese for the side.

"That smells really good," Tommy commented, coming to sit beside Kat, who was stirring the pot using a stick she had found and stripped of its bark. Kat smiled at him.

"Thanks," she replied. The others had also smelled the food and had converged on the small pot that contained the food. Seven portions were dished out, although Rocky's was larger than that of the others since he had to regain his strength. Kris helped him get into a leaning position against a tree, then sat back with him and the two ate, separated from the others who were sitting around the fire in silence.

"We're sure to hit the base tomorrow," Kris said, talking half to herself.

"I think we're all ready," Rocky commented.

"I sure hope so. Do you think the others will be OK? They haven't had the same experience as us," Kris said, frowning.

"They'll be OK. Remember, we all fought Rita, Zedd, Mondo, Master Vile and Ivan Ooze. I think they can handle The Evil," Rocky reminded her.

"I sure hope you're right," Kris murmured, staring down into her soup bowl.

Chapter Eight Operation: Infiltrate

That night, Rocky was allowed to sleep through the night because of his injury. Kris dragged one of the tents so that is was right next to the one Rocky was sleeping in, and when she wasn't asleep but on watch duty, she positioned herself almost directly in front of her brother's tent. She knew why she felt so protective; Kris felt that what had happened to her brother had been her fault. She had been blaming herself silently all night. If only I had been paying attention! was her most used guilt trip. Deep inside, she knew that it wasn't really her fault, but she couldn't help the way she felt. Kris also knew that it was pointless to stand guard against something that had already happened, but throughout the night she stood in front of Rocky's tent, alert and ready for anything.. By morning, that anything had never come, fortunately. Kris had been on second shift, so she had gotten some more sleep. When she awoke, the others had once again already packed everything up and were ready to go after eating. "I should have left a wake-up call," Kris joked, going to sit beside Rocky at the clearing's edge.

"How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good, considering I almost became an amputee," Rocky replied, dead-serious. Kris had to chuckle at his dead-pan expression.

"I'm glad you're OK," she said, sobering up.

"We'd better get going soon. I'm not sure how long the...our bodies can last," Rocky said, correcting himself. He stood up and brushed himself off, Kris doing likewise. The others, since they had already packed everything up, finished eating quickly then the seven teens started off once more towards The Evil's headquarters. A few hours into the journey, they stopped at a fresh stream to wash and refill their canteens. The stream was crystal-clear and only about half a meter deep. They took off their shoes and socks, rolled up their pants and waded into the stream, finding it not too cold, but not too warm either. After washing off what they could using what was left of the empty sack, they dried off as best they could, put their shoes and socks back on and kept on walking, feeling refreshed.

"I'm glad we found that stream, I'd hate to think what would have happened if we'd run out of water," Kris remarked. She was walking once again at the head of the group with her brother by her side and the others behind them. They were walking hurriedly along a path, being cautious but not overly so. Rocky only nodded, not wanting to draw attraction to him and the others unnecessarily. It was around two o'clock by the time that they neared the enemy base. They stood in a tight circle around a sandy patch of ground while Rocky and Kris talked quietly to one another, formulating a plan of attack.

"OK, here's what we have to do," Kris began, coming over to the sandy patch and kneeling down beside it. The others took their cue from her and tossed their packs on the ground silently.

"The entire base is surrounded by a wall almost five meters high, and there are patrols that walk around every minute of the day. The only other way in is the four doors, one on each side of the fort. They're heavily guarded by armed troops, but they're our best bet of getting inside."

"We'll need a decoy, someone to bring the guards away from the door and close to the woods where they won't be seen," Rocky broke in. The seven teens looked at one another, none of them wanting to be a sitting duck.

"We'll draw straws. The person who gets the shortest straw gets to be our guinea pig," Kris said, breaking up a branch into six roughly equal pieces and one short piece. She put them behind her back in both hands, rolled her palms together to mix the twigs up, then brought them around and held them in front of her, arm extended. Six hands reached in and took six of the twigs simultaneously, leaving one for Kris. When all seven of them held out their twigs to determine who the unlucky one was, there was a slight groan from Tommy, who had tried (and failed) to conceal his reaction to his misfortune. Kat put a hand on his shoulder sympathetically..

"Well, I guess that settles that," Tommy said grimly, gripping his twig so tightly they all heard a snap of it breaking in his hand.

"Tommy, you'll run out of the woods, screaming, about having seen us approaching fast. The guards are sure to come and retain you for questioning. Before they manage to get a grip on you, run back to the woods. We'll be waiting, and we'll ambush the guards before they can cry for help," Kris instructed. Tommy nodded silently, mentally preparing himself for what he had to do.

"The rest of you, hide amongst the trees; in them if you can get there. Be ready because we won't have any time to mess around.. Once the guards realize what's happened, they'll want to send out an alarm. We have to stop them from doing that." Everybody nodded, realizing just then exactly what they had gotten themselves into.

"Let's go," Rocky said quietly. He and the others left their packs at that spot, memorizing the place for future reference. They took with them only what food and the canteens they could conceal safely. Everything else, including most of the rope, knives and other defense utensils, was left behind and hidden under bushes and grass. Kris and Tanya managed to get up into the lowest branches of two nearby trees after standing on Rocky's and Jason's shoulders for extra height. Then, Rocky, Jason, Kat and Adam all took up positions under bushes, behind thick trees and Rocky even managed to get himself wrapped around a tree branch, after a little jumping and grabbing had taken place.

Tommy looked around to make sure that his friends were ready. Then, after saying a small prayer to whoever might be listening, he took a deep breath and burst out of the trees.

"Hey! Over here!" he shouted as loudly as he could. The guards standing at the door turned to look at him. The ones on the wall did the same. Too late to back out now, Tommy thought.

"Who are you?" one of the male guards at the door called.

"I...I saw them! They're heading this way!" Tommy shouted, neatly dodging the question.

"Who are you talking about?" the same guard demanded.

"I don't know who they are, but they're coming to destroy the base!" Tommy replied. Then he started running. The guards, three females and three males, followed him. He ran into the woods with the soldiers on his tail, hoping that his friends would be ready for him. From where she was crouched on the tree branch, when a flash of red darted through the jungle Kris knew immediately that it was Tommy. The guards weren't far behind him.

"Where'd he go?" one of the females asked, looking around. She and the others came to a halt and looked around in wonderment. That was when the teens attacked. Kris jumped down onto a male guard, and they both went crashing to the ground. Tanya managed to down onto another male guard. The two soldiers were tied together after having their coats removed using the rope Tanya had brought for just such an emergency. Kat and Adam managed to get a female guard, Rocky dropped onto a female guard and Tommy brought down the last male. Kris, Tanya and Kat ganged up on the last female, bringing her to a halt before she could warn her comrades at the base.

"That was the easy part," Kris said as she buttoned up the navy coat over her white T-shirt. She and the others all took cover behind different bushes and trees as they changed from their pants to the pants that completed the outfit that the guards wore.

"Kris is right. Now we have to get inside," Rocky agreed once they had converged once more.

"We'll have to take their masks as well." The soldiers all wore masks that covered the majority of their faces save their mouths, eyes and nose. The mask slid over the head and rested there. It held their hair in place and stayed immobile until it was taken off by the wearer, or an attacker.

"But there's six of them and seven of us," Kat pointed out.

"How are we going to sneak the last person inside?" Everyone thought for a moment.

"We'll go in dressed as the guards and say that we captured Tommy. They'll probably take him to where the bodies of Myagi and Kakana are being held," Kris said thoughtfully.

"Then, we'll find the dungeon and free everyone at once."

"It's a good idea. Are you up to it?" Rocky asked, looking at Tommy, who nodded. After making sure that the pants, masks and coats were in place, the seven teens started towards the fort with Tommy between them. At the door, they were stopped by the guards along the wall.

"Who goes there?" one of them demanded.

"We captured the guy who was bothering us earlier," Kris called back, hoping her response would be believable. Apparently, it was since the door opened. They were greeted by four guards, who took Tommy from the teens and started hauling him towards the dungeon, at least in theory that's where they were taking them. Tommy had to restrain himself from looking backwards at his friends. His friend had to restrain themselves from following the guards and Tommy.

"Good luck," Kat murmured, too softly for anyone else to have heard. Suddenly, they were confronted by six more guards of mixed genders. Uh-oh, Kris thought uneasily.

"You guys had better go get some rest. You've been pulling double duty all week," one of the females said, looking at Adam through her mask. Adam gulped and was glad that the mask hid his face, for he was turning redder by the second.

"You're right. See you later," Kris said smoothly, covering for the lack of communication that had settled over the group. As she and the others were leaving, one of the replacement guards caught her arm and drew her close to him. Kris resisted the urge to gasp out loud, and instead prayed that she was only being mistaken for someone else.

"I'll see you after my shift," he said in a low voice, his deep brown eyes boring into Kris's.

"Um, yeah. Uh, where are we meeting again?" she asked, finding her voice.

"Behind the weapons shack, like we always do," the guard replied, smiling. Kris smiled back, though her grin was prompted by nervousness.

"Right, how could I have forgotten?" she said. Before he could answer,

"I'll see you then." Then she hurried after the others, who were almost to the main building inside the fortress walls.

"What was that all about?" Rocky asked Kris once she had caught up with them.

"Case of mistaken identity," Kris replied.

"Know where the weapons shack is?"

"Yeah, why?" Rocky asked.

"I'm supposed to meet that guard there later, once the shift rotates," Kris answered.

"Are you sure that's safe?" Adam broke in.

"I'll be fine, especially considering I don't plan on making it to that meeting," Kris told him with a small smile. It was enough to silence the group, but that was probably a good thing as they walked into the main building. It was lined with long, wooden tables and benches. There were guards eating at the tables, laughing and talking.

"All right! We picked the best building to start at," Rocky said softly, moving over to what was apparently the servery line. They all picked up trays at the entrance, then moved along slowly until they reached the place where their trays were filled with food. Exiting the servery, they all found a table at the back of the room where they could talk in relative privacy.

"What is this stuff?" Adam asked, prodding a lump of white stuff with his fork cautiously.

"This planet's equivalent of mashed potatoes, if memory serves me right," Kris replied, digging in without hesitation. It was enough to convince the others that the food was edible, if not even appetizing. Fortunately, none of the other guards had removed their masks when sitting down to eat, so the six teens didn't appear to be too conspicuous. Once they were finished eating, they returned their trays to the stack that was ever-growing in the corner of the room along with several other guards, then left the dining hall without saying anything to anyone else or each other.

"I wonder where our...cabins are?" Tanya asked, looking around casually. Night was beginning to fall over the camp.

"I don't know, but we'd better figure it out before nightfall. I don't want to be wandering around here in the dark alone," Kris said. She wasn't afraid of the dark itself, just what it could hide.

They wandered around until finally deciding to split up and reconvened at the dining hall in the morning at 9 o'clock. The girls followed the female guards while the guys followed the males to what they all hoped was sleeping accommodations. They were right. On opposite sides of the fort, there were long buildings that had the ability to house every single soldier of each sex inside. Inside, there were bunk beds that stood three bunks high and there were three rows, one in the middle and two on the sides with room to walk and move in between. There had to be at least ten sets of bunks in each row, and this was just in the one bunker. There were three more identical to the one in which Kat, Tanya and Kris stood at that moment. The three girls stood just inside the doorway, taking everything in. At the foot of each of the bunks, there was a wooden ladder that allowed the women to get to the uppermost bunks without having to jump, or climb over their comrades whenever they wanted to get up or down. Suddenly, they were jostled from behind by a woman who had apparently just returned from the shower house.

"It might not be such a bad idea if we showered," Kris whispered. "I could use it." The others agreed, and went off in search of the shower house, hoping it wouldn't be too hard to find. Fortunately, it wasn't. There were several women coming back from the shower house, still damp and they had their hair up in towels that matched the ones wrapped around their slender-yet-muscular bodies. The only peculiar thing about this whole scene, besides the fact that the women apparently didn't care that the male guards could come by at any moment, was the fact that they were all still wearing their masks.

"When in Rome," Tanya muttered as the three friends walked into the shower house, which consisted of about a hundred stalls with faucets at the top that sprayed hot and cold water down on the occupants. Soap and towels were thankfully supplied in many different places, so all Kris, Tanya and Kat had to do was find an empty stall, shower, then grab a towel and dry off. The entire process didn't take long since the girls didn't want to arouse suspicion by any means. They went in and out of the shower house in less than 10 minutes, a record for all of them. Then they returned to the cabins to sleep. The three girls managed to grab three bunks that were all on the second level together, hoping that no one would contest their claim. No one did.. Apparently, there were no set sleeping arrangements. Kat was about to take off her mask when Kris stopped her after noticing that no one else had theirs off either. She told Kat and Tanya as much in hushed tones, and Kat nodded. Then they all bade each other goodnight and fell into a much-needed, if light, slumber. Over on the male side of the fort, the guys had gone through pretty much the same routine, showering and claiming their own bunks. Their cabins were set up identical to those of the female guards'. Adam and Jason fell into a deep sleep almost immediately, but Rocky lay awake for half an hour or so, thinking and worrying about his sister. Sisters, he reminded himself, cracking a smile in the darkness. I sure hope that Tommy's all right.

Chapter Nine Lost And Found

After his "capture", Tommy had been taken down to a subterranean level in a small building made of stone. He had been thrown into a cell and chained to the wall with his arms above his head, and his ankles locked as well. There was a small window with bars across it both vertically and horizontally to prevent anyone from escaping. There had been no light except for that of the moon, which was admittedly meager, so Tommy had no chance to survey his surroundings for a means of escape, or for danger. Normally, Tommy would have had adrenaline coursing through his veins that would have kept him awake all night long, but now he was asleep, being dead tired after their long journey and the sleep deprivation it had brought on for all of them. In the morning, he awoke to find his arms numb to the shoulder. He couldn't feel the shackles around his wrists, but he knew that they were there, along with those on his ankles, but those he could still feel. I wonder if the others are OK? he thought to himself, testing the chains that bound him to the brick wall. They were as solid now as they had been when Tommy had first tried that the night before. Now that there was light illuminating his temporary home, Tommy had the chance to look around and see what his surroundings consisted of. He was startled to find two bodies in the cell with him, one on his left and one on his right, both chained to the wall as he was.

"Myagi," he said loudly. "Kakana." Nothing. The bodies didn't so much as stir as Tommy's voice echoed throughout the chamber. They're probably just unconscious, he told himself as he looked at them wearily. Then, his mind switched tracks. I sure hope that the others get here soon. If these are the two that we're looking for, then we may have run out of time.

That same morning, Jason, Adam and Rocky got up out of their bunks feeling much more refreshed then they had expected after sleeping in an enemy base. They jumped and climbed down from the second and third-level bunks they had managed to sleep in without being contested, then went to the dining hall to meet the girls, who were already there. Kat, Tanya and Kris were leaning against the wall casually, but when they saw the guys then went over to them, trying not to appear hurried.

"We're going to need to do some exploring today," Adam said quietly as they entered the dining hall and moved over to the servery line like they had done the night before.

"He's right. We have to find Tommy," Kat agreed softly, picking up a tray. The six teens got their food, then managed to snag the same table as they had eaten at last night.

"So how are we going to find Tommy? None of us knows the layout of the camp," Kat said quietly as they ate.

"We'll have to split up into teams of two each. We'll cover more ground that way," Kris said thoughtfully.

"Good idea. I'll go with Adam and check out the North side of the camp. Jason, you go with Kat and check out the South. Kris and Tanya, that leaves you two to search the West side, and we'll all converge on the East side when we're through," Rocky decided. They finished eating, returned their trays, then went outside and split up to look for their friend.

Tommy was, more than anything, bored. He could barely move, he couldn't feel his arms and so far, the people on either side of him hadn't moved a muscle. Tommy was beginning to doubt if they ever would again, but he didn't let himself dwell on such matters. Instead, he concentrated on thinking about positive things, like getting out of the cell for example. He had tried repeatedly to break the chains that bound his arms, and when the strength and feeling had left his arms he tried to break free from the chains on his ankles, but he was unsuccessful in both attempts. And all he had received for his efforts was small cuts around his wrists and his ankles that bled enough to stain his clothing, but not enough to make him pass out from lack of blood, although that possibility was at the back of Tommy's mind. So now, he was simply standing there, looking around and flexing what muscles he could in order to keep them from stiffening up on him entirely. I'm going to be feeling all of this when I get back home, he thought. The mere mental mention of his home back in Angel Grove was enough to sidetrack his mind. He thought of his parents and his brother, who were probably quite worried by now. They had all been gone for twelve days to date, and it would take them at least 8 days to get back to the village. Probably more since they would have two extra people with them. At least, they hoped they would have two extra people with them on the way back; Myagi and Kakana with their minds back in their own bodies.

Suddenly, the door to his cell opened and a female guard walked in carrying a large tray that had plates of food and bowls of water on it. She moved over to Tommy and offered him the water. Normally, Tommy would have flat out refused, but he was so thirsty that temptation overcame him. He opened his mouth anxiously as the cool liquid was poured into his mouth.. He swallowed gratefully, enjoying the feel of the water as it slid down his throat. The water was a bit warm, but it was still the best thing that he had ever tasted. Next. the guard offered him some food that was already cut into bite-sized pieces. They sure treat their prisoners well here, Tommy thought as he ate what was offered to him. Once he was done and the guard had put everything back onto the tray, which she had set on the ground, Tommy called to her. She turned expectantly without saying anything.

"What about them? What's wrong with them?" he asked.

"They were brought in about a month ago. I think their names are Mahgi and Lakani, or something like that," the guard replied.

"Myagi and Kakana?" Tommy prompted. The guard looked at him.

"That's right. How did you know?" she demanded, staring at him with her intense blue eyes. Tommy swallowed apprehensively.

"Um, I'm from a neighbouring village, and I've heard of them," he explained quickly. The guard seemed to accept that for a moment, and turned to leave, but she stopped in mid-stride.

"Wait a minute. You're not from around here," she said, taking in his clothing and long hair.

"Who are you? Where did you come from?" It can't hurt to tell her who I am, Tommy decided.

"My name's Tommy. What's yours?"

"I'm Leelah," the guard replied, smiling shyly.

"How did you manage to get stuck here?"

"Just bad luck I guess," Tommy replied vaguely, sensing that Leelah was warming up to him. Maybe I can get some information from her, he thought to himself.

"Have they regained consciousness since they were brought here?" Leelah shook her head, making her long brown hair dance across her back.

"I haven't seem them awake yet. To be honest, I'm kind of worried about them," she replied. It was at that point that Tommy realized that Leelah exhibited a kind of caring that none of the others guards around the camp had. She truly seemed to care about the welfare of Myagi, and Kakana, and probably Tommy himself, though Tommy wasn't quite positive about his assessment.

"I should probably go. If I'm in here too long, the other guards will get suspicious. I'll try to find out as much as I can about your friends," Leelah said, stepping towards the door once again. At first, Tommy thought that she meant his Earth friends, but then he remembered Myagi and Kakana on either side of him, and simply nodded instead. Then Leelah left, closing the cell door tightly behind her. Tommy was once again alone with a silent Myagi and Kakana for company.

"I don't think Tommy's here," Kris said, looking around the West side of the camp.

"But we saw him being brought in here," Tanya argued, squinting in the bright sunlight.

"I mean I don't think he's right here. He's probably being held at another area of the camp," Kris elaborated.

"Oh," Tanya replied.

"I think you're right. We haven't found a trace of him, or a building that looks even remotely like a jail."

"I hope the others are having better luck," Kris said. Over on the North side of the camp, Rocky and Adam were just about done searching and were ready to head over to the East side.

"We should look around one more time," Adam advised, glancing around as casually as he could manage. He wasn't quite sure exactly what he was looking for. He supposed he was looking for someplace that had bars on the windows, or heavy guards around the front entrance, something like that. So far, nothing of the sort had been found.

"Maybe you're right. I don't want to leave him behind because we were careless," Rocky agreed. The two friends moved along a pathway beside several other guards, who were moving along in both directions, talking with one another or just moving silently, lost in thought but apparently heading towards a destination. Kat and Jason were walking along a path that had been made in the grass from the constant traffic of heavy boots and lots of people over a period of who-knows-how-long. They had been drawing blanks at all of the buildings they had wanted to look in. They had found an armory, a meeting hall and another shower bank, but no jail of dungeon of any size, shape or form.

"We should head over to the East side soon," Kat said as they walked.

"You're right. The others are probably already there," Jason agreed. They turned down the next path they came to and headed for the East side of the compound. They all arrived at the same point on the East side of the compound and relatively the same time, moving at about the same speed. "Did you find him?" Kat asked once they were all within talking distance of one another. The others waited as a female warrior clad entirely in a black form-fitting suit walked past them, carrying a tray of plates and canteens.

"No, not a trace," Kris replied.

"Did any of you have any better luck?" Rocky and Adam shook their heads in unison.

"Nothing. It's like he disappeared," Adam reported. Though it wasn't audible or intentional, there was a collective, if quiet, groan of disappointment from the entire group.

"We can't let ourselves get discouraged," Tanya said suddenly.

"I mean, we haven't even checked out the entire camp yet."

"Tanya's right. Maybe we'll find Tommy here," Rocky agreed. The others simply nodded and then spread out along the East side of the compound to search for their leader and friend.

Chapter Ten The Liberation

Tommy was looking out the window, idly wondering if his friends were anywhere nearby, or if they were even searching for him. Suddenly, he noticed several pairs of feet standing close to the window that was the sole source of light for his, Myagi and Kakana's cell. His heart skipped a beat as he realized to whom those feet belonged.

"Guys! Down here!" he called. The feet didn't move anywhere, but stayed in place. "Guys! I found them!"

Nothing. Great, he thought. The six were in the middle of standing around, talking about where to search when the heard somebody call faintly.

"Did you hear that?" Kris asked. The others looked at her, and the call resumed once more.

"That sounds like Tommy," Kat said quietly. They started looking around casually, hoping no one else had heard their friend call out to them.

"I think he's in the building behind you," Rocky whispered in Kris's ear.. Kris bent down to tie her shoelace and looked over at the wall at ground level. There was a window with bars going across it just above the grassy ground. She stood upright and told the others.

"That has to be the jail," she said.

"But how are we going to get in there?" asked Adam. There was a silence as the problem was contemplated by all.

"We could pretend that we're going in there to question Tommy," Kris said slowly, the idea only just forming in her mind.

"Then we'll spring him.."

"But what about the guards? There are sure to be at least two guarding the door to the cell," Jason pointed out.

"That's where the rest of you come in. Rocky and I will go in to get Tommy. The rest of you will come in when we give the signal and take out the guards. Then we can masquerade as the guards and say that we're taking Tommy out for a walk, so to speak," Kris answered. Everybody nodded in agreement. Kris and Rocky started to go inside the building while the others moved away in separate directions. They managed to get down to the level where the door to Tommy's cell was located. When the guards at the door saw them, however, the guards raised their knives.

"Who are you?" one of them demanded.

"We're here to interrogate the prisoner," Kris replied firmly.

"He was already questioned yesterday," the guard countered.

"Yeah, well he wasn't very cooperative then. We're here to knock some sense into him," Kris said, trying her best to sound menacing. At that point, it wasn't hard.

"OK, go ahead," the guard said, moving reluctantly out of the way. The other guard opened the cell door and admitted Kris and Rocky, then shut the door behind them. It closed with a clang that echoed for a short time throughout the cell. Tommy raised his head a she heard voices outside his cell. The next thing he knew, the door had opened and two familiar figures were walking into his cell. The door closed behind them, and they walked over to him. Not entirely sure that the two were who Tommy thought they were, he said nothing. However, when they stood in front of him, they removed their masks. Tommy instantly recognized Kris and Rocky as his saviors.

"What took you guys so long?" he joked.

"Oh, you're welcome," Kris replied. Though her tone was sarcastic, she was grinning from ear to ear as she released Tommy from the ties that bound him.

"How did you guys get past the guards?" Tommy asked.

"Let's just say that we're the ones asking the questions around here," Kris joked. After Tommy's arms had been released and had rested at his side for a second, a stinging sensation overtook them, making him rub his arms briskly.

"Are you OK?" Rocky asked.

"I'll be fine," Tommy replied confidently. Just then, the door to the cell opened again and a female guard walked in. She stopped in surprise as she took in Kris, Rocky and the now-free Tommy.

"What's going on?" she asked nervously, poising her back foot so that she could make a fast exit if the need arose.

"Leelah, it's OK," Tommy assured her.

"These are some of my friends."

"You know her?" Rocky asked. He and Kris had dropped down into defensive poses at Leelah's first appearance.

"Yeah. It's OK, she's nice," Tommy replied, making Rocky and Kris stand up straighter again and relax, although not entirely.

"Tommy, what's happening?" Leelah asked.

"Leelah, my friends and I are taking Myagi and Kakana back to their village," Tommy explained.

"But I can't let you! If I let you go and Naro, our king, finds out, I'll be executed," Leelah protested. The others were shocked at the violence that was committed for such a simple and forgivable act in this compound.

"Leelah, come with us," Kris said before she had thought it through. Too late to go back on it now, she thought wryly.

"Where?" Leelah asked.

"Back to the village. Leelah, we can take you someplace where you'll be able to live however you want to. Back home, we all fight against violence and evil," Tommy said. Kris refrained from pointing out that she didn't fight against violence and evil as the others did.

"That sounds wonderful," Leelah admitted.

"But no. I can't go."

"Why not?" Tommy pressed.

"Because...because this is where I grew up. And if I get caught, I'll be killed," Leelah replied.

"We won't let you get caught," Rocky said firmly, stepping in.

"Look, if this isn't what you want to be a part of, then maybe you should leave to find something you want to be a part of."

"But-"

"There's no buts, Leelah," Tommy said gently, making up for Rocky's harshness.

"If you want to come with us and fight for good instead of evil, then you're welcome to come. Otherwise, we'll have to take you with us involuntarily. We can't allow ourselves to be caught. The lives of Myagi and Kakana depend on it." Leelah was silent as she thought about it.

"OK, I'll come with you, but I'll need to gather up my things," she said finally.

"It won't take long."

"Good. Now, where are our reinforcements?" Kris said, looking around. Suddenly, there was a pair of thuds that sounded like two bodies hitting the ground.

"Somebody call for a rescue?" came Tanya's cheerful voice as she unlocked the cell door and swung it wide open. She and the others started to walk in. When Tanya, who was in front, saw Leelah, she stopped dead in her tracks, causing the others to bump into her back and she stumbled forwards. Adam caught her arm and helped her steady herself. She smiled at him in thanks.

"Guys, it's OK," Tommy said before the others could say anything. "This is Leelah. Leelah, this is Jason, Adam, Tanya and Kat. They're the rest of my friends who'll help you out of here."

"She's coming with us?" Kat asked.

"She's not like the others," Kris insisted.

"She doesn't want to fight for evil anymore." The others accepted this, although they were doubtful at first. Rocky and Kris released the bodies of Myagi and Kakana from the wall. Jason and Rocky draped the bodies of Myagi and Kakana over their backs, respectively, then they all started for the door. Leelah insisted on going first with Jason and Rocky next, then Kris and Tommy, and finally Kat and Tanya. Outside, they were given strange stares as they emerged with two limp bodies and a prisoner, but no one contested them.

They walked to a small building that was lined with lockers. Each locker was about half a meter by half a meter, and a meter deep. On each locker, the name of a soldier was engraved into the wood. They were set up alphabetically. The ten people, all of them somewhere in their teens, wandered along the narrow passageways between each shelf of lockers until they reached one marked, "Leelah Tyro." Leelah opened it and reached inside, pulling out a sheath and a long sword, and whip and sketched of her family that she had drawn along with blank pieces of paper and pencils. On one of the blank pages, she quickly wrote a note to her family, saying that she had left The Evil empire for a better place, and not to come looking for her. She signed it, "Love, Lee", then stuck in in her locker, which had no lock on it. Apparently, there was some honour among the soldiers of The Evil when it came to personal possessions. Then she turned to the others.

"Let's get going. The shift change will be happening now, and we'll be able to get outside if we lie a little," she said. She closed the locker, picked up her things and put them into a pouch that she had retrieved from her locker, then slung the pouch over her neck, put an arm through it and led the way out of the large building. Outside, there were many guards walking to and from their posts. They had almost made it to the door when Kris was grabbed by the arm and pulled aside. She gasped and kicked her attacker in the stomach.

"Hey, what was that for?" he demanded. It was then that Kris realized that it was the guard she had been supposed to meet.

"What happened to you last night? I thought we had a date."

"We did, and I'm so sorry, but I got stuck in training exercises all night," Kris replied quickly, glancing back at her friends.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go catch up. We've got prisoners to interrogate."

"OK, but meet me tonight, same place," the guard said before walking away.

"Yeah right," Kris muttered, running to catch up with her friends. At the doorway, they managed to get through without being questioned by anyone. They probably think that we're going to execute them, Kris thought, referring to Myagi, Kakana and Tommy. Tommy was the only one of them all who stood out like a sore thumb, though, because of his red shirt and blue jeans. The others had been forced to keep their own shoes. Outside the compound, they all kept walking until they were safely hidden by the dense foliage of the jungle before breaking into a dead run. They heard shouts behind them as the guards on the wall saw them making a break for it. The next thing they knew, knives were being thrown at them, and since there were soldiers close enough, they were cracking their whips, trying to find purchase.

"We'll have to hide them somewhere and fight," Jason muttered to Rocky, who was running alongside him, indicating Myagi. Rocky, who had Kakana on his back, nodded. They dove behind some bushes, hid the bodies then crawled away from the cache and jumped up into the fray. Tommy, Adam, Kat, Kris, Tanya and Leelah had already begun to engage The Evil's minions. There were twice as many soldiers as there were conscious teenagers, but they weren't worried. Leelah, Rocky and Kris all had experience fighting the soldiers, more so than the others. However, Rocky's arm was still wounded, Tommy still hadn't regained the full use of his arms and Kris was asthmatic, so it was hard for her to fight for an extended period of time without having to take a breather or two. That left Jason, Adam, Tanya and Kat as those who weren't on the "disabled list," so to speak. The soldiers began to attack. Three of them went after Leelah, knowing that she had had the same training as them and would be the hardest to take out. Tommy got stuck with three also, as did Adam and Jason. That left two each for Rocky, Kris, Kat and Tanya. Kris, Kat and Tanya were each able to dispose of their attackers since they had underestimated the three women. Rocky thought that he would have no difficulty disposing of his attackers, but he underestimated them. One of them pulled out a whip and cracked it across Rocky's injured arm. The wound split open and started to bleed again, bringing great pain to Rocky, who grimaced and clutched his arm in agony. Suddenly, a knife flew through the air past the noses of his attackers and embedded itself in the tree, its handle wavering. Rocky followed its path back to his sister, who stood there with another knife ready to be launched. Rocky took the distraction to the soldiers as the opportunity to run, take their power stones from them and back away as they vanished into thin air, along with their stones. Rocky still gripped his arm, but said nothing to his sister. Then they both went to help their friends. Tommy was having some difficulty with his three attackers because his arms were responding, although sluggishly. He had disposed of one of the attackers by grabbing his power stone, but the other two managed to grab each of his arms while a fourth, who had broken off its attack on Adam, started to punch Tommy in the stomach. Kat did a flying side kick and knocked the one that was punching Tommy off its feet and grabbed the black power stone before she could react, then went after the other two. Tommy took one out while Kat took care of the other one.

"Thanks," he said simply.

"Anytime. Now let's finish off the rest of these clowns," Kat replied. They two grinned at one another and went off to help their friends.

Jason had managed to down two of the three attackers that had come after him, and was circling with another attacker, this one female. Suddenly, Kris sneaked up behind the female soldier, reached around and grabbed the power stone. The guard never had time to react. She disappeared into a puff of dust, then the dust vanished as well. Kris watched as the power stone evaporated into thin air, then checked to make sure Jason was OK. He was, so they both nodded at one another, then broke off in separate directions. Rocky went to help Adam, seeing that his friend had been surrounded. Rocky got a running start and charged through the soldiers, shoulder first, football-style.

"Nice entrance," Adam joked as the three fell to the ground. The two friends collected the power stones, then wiped their hands on their respective pants and the stones themselves disappeared in much the same manner as the bodies did. That left Leelah, who was having the most trouble because they had all been taught the same skills. Whenever she punched, they blocked and returned the punch, which she blocked. In other words, they were at a stalemate. From out of nowhere, a whip landed a blow on the arm of one of the guards, yanking her off her feet. The next blow from the same whip dislodged the power stone. Both were turned to atoms. Leelah and the last two guards turned to see Tommy, Jason, Rocky, Adam, Kat, Tanya and Kris standing there with whips, knives and ropes in their hands, looking rather intimidating. Realizing that the rest of their mini-army was gone, the two guards made a quick retreat.

"We'd better get out of here before they send more guards," Tommy said. The others nodded. Jason and Rocky went to pick up Myagi and Kakana's bodies, then they all started running as fast as they could towards the clearing where they had left their packs hidden.

Chapter Eleven On The Road Again

Once the teens agreed that they had a sufficient amount of distance between them and the compound, they stopped running and went at a more leisurely pace. A few minutes into their walk, they actually stopped to rest. Myagi and Kakana were laid down gently on the ground as the teens all rested for a few minutes in the blessedly peaceful jungle. Kris was sitting beside her brother on a log.

"I'm glad we managed to get through that without having to kill too many people," she said.

"By the way, nice going. I love the way you just barreled into those soldiers."

"Thanks," Rocky said. "It was nothing really."

"Oh come on," Kris kidded, nudging her brother with her shoulder.

"You know, you should be on the football team." She was about to say more when she felt something wet seeping through her "borrowed" jacket. She touched it cautiously and her fingers turned red. Kris gasped and looked at her brother.

"Rocky, your arm! You're hurt again."

"It's nothing, really," Rocky insisted as Kris tore the arm of his jacket away to reveal his wound, which was now much deeper and uglier than it had been initially. It was very red from the whip, as well.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Kris demanded as she tied the torn sleeve around the wound. It became saturated quickly, so she tore off her own sleeve and tied it over the first sleeve.

"There, that should do it."

"Thanks, sis," Rocky said. "Ever think about becoming a nurse?" The question was rhetorical; Kris couldn't stand the sight of internal organs. Heck, she could barely stand watching somebody get their ears pierced. She had two holes in either ear, mind you, but she hadn't had to watch that get done.

"We should get going. We have to get back to our packs and tents before nightfall," Tommy broke in, standing up abruptly. The others followed suit. Jason picked up Myagi's body, and Adam took Kakana's since nobody would allow Rocky to tax his arm further. Rocky rolled his eyes at their over-protectiveness, but was secretly glad because his arm really hurt. The walked for another hour before reaching the clearing. Leelah walked at the back, keeping an eye out for enemy forces. Fortunately, none came after them. They retrieved their packs in short order after locating the hiding place around the sandy patch. Then they found the clearing a few miles ahead and quickly set up the tents and a fire pit. Leelah and Kris made up a soup from some of the dried vegetable and meat while the others set up the tents around the fire pit.

"Come and get it!" Kris called, grinning. There was a veritable stampede as everyone sat around the fire pit with their own small dishes and spoons while Leelah spooned out the soup to everyone. Then they sat down to eat. There was a big batch of soup, but it was all gone by the time that they were finished.

"Good meal, Leelah," Rocky said, setting down his dish after having his third helping of the soup. Leelah smiled.

"I'm glad you like it. I was one of the assistant chefs at the compound, so you had to be good. Otherwise, you were dinner," she replied That provoked a laugh from everyone.

"How are we going to do night watch tonight?" Tanya asked, sobering up first.

It was decided that Rocky and Adam would take first watch, Kris and Jason would be second and Tommy and Kat would be third. Since there were only three tents and eight people (plus two bodies), there would have to be three people in one of the tents. During first watch, Myagi and Kakana's bodies were placed in a tent along with Kris. In the second tent slept Tanya, Leelah and Kat. It was cramped, but not overly so. In the last tent slept Jason and Tommy. During second watch, Myagi and Kakana's bodies stayed in the same tent but Rocky replaced Kris. In the second tent, things stayed the same and in the third time, Adam replaced Jason. During third watch, the first tent stayed the same as second watch. In the second tent, Leelah, Kris and Tanya slept there and the third tent stayed the same as the second watch. In the morning, Tommy and Kat reported that nothing interesting had happened, and no trace of any soldiers had been noticed.

"Good thing. I don't think I'm in any shape to fight," Rocky muttered as he packed up his tent, trying to use his right arm sparingly. Kris noticed this and came over to him, having heard his last comment.

"You're not in any shape to carry your pack, never mind fight," she told him firmly, swatting him away from the tent he was packing up and taking over his duties.

"Kris, you're over-reacting," he told her. "I can do this fine on my own."

"Oh you can, can you? I'd like to see you try," she said, standing back and crossing her arms across her chest. Determined to show her up, Rocky moved back over and started to fold up the tent again. He needed to use his right arm, though, since he was right-handed. When he tried to pick up one corner of the admittedly light fabric that the tent was made up off, white-hot pain shot up and down his right arm, making him let out a small cry and squeeze his eyes shut, gripping his arm. The makeshift bandages were soaked with dry, brown blood. Kris knelt beside her brother, who was on one knee, and ripped off her other sleeve, tying it around the wound after removing the other stained pieces of cloth.

"Rocky, I'm sorry," she murmured as she tied the bandage. "I shouldn't have let you try that."

"It's not your fault I'm stubborn," Rocky said through gritted teeth. Kris grinned weakly. By now, the others had surrounded them in concern.

"I'm OK." Rocky got to his feet. Kris removed her jacket, revealing her white tank top underneath, and tied it around Rocky's neck and arm, forming a sling.

"That'll remind you not to use your arm," she said, flashing him a smile.. Rocky returned it readily.

"It should," he agreed. They all finished packing, then they finished off the food in one of the three remaining packs, then continued on their way towards Fujikara. They stopped at around noon by the planet's time to eat something in order to keep their strength up. Then they continued on, not wanting to waste a second for the lives of Myagi and Kakana probably depended on their speed.

"I'm exhausted," Kris said quietly to her brother. The two of them were walking at the back of the group; Tommy and Jason were leading them all.

"We're going too fast."

"I know, but we cannot afford to spare any time. Remember, our lives depend on it," Rocky reminded her. He sounded strangely like his alter ego then, and it triggered something in Kris's mind.

"I realize that, but this body does not have the same capabilities as mine does," she reminded him, referring to Kris's body but speaking as Kakana.

"I'm afraid to push it any further than this."

"Then don't. We don't want to lose you, either of you. Not after everything that we've been through already to save ourselves," Rocky said. Kris looked at him, and through Kris's green eyes Rocky could almost see Kakana looking back out at him, or rather at Myagi. There was a sudden connection between then that neither had experienced before, and suddenly both knew that everything was going to turn out alright for both of their consciousness. That night, the sleeping arrangements were different since different people had to take watch.

"It's only fair that those who didn't take watch last night should do so tonight," Kris had pointed out, stifling a yawn. So, first watch belonged to Tanya and Leelah, who got to wake up Adam and Kris for second watch. They in turn had the pleasure of waking Rocky and Jason. Nothing eventful happened during the night. But then, it's not like anybody was complaining about it, either. As a matter of fact, they were glad to have the rest since several of them were either recuperating or carrying two bodies the entire way. Rocky's arm would take a long time to heal.

"You know, you might need to get stitches when we get back to Earth," Kris said to her brother as they walked side-by-side the next morning. Rocky shook his head vehemently.

"Forget it. I'm not getting stitches," he said firmly.

"I've never liked hospitals, and I'm not about to start going just to get some little cut stitched up."

"Why do you hate hospitals so much?" Kris asked quietly.

"I hate them because of what they represent. I know that they help a lot of people get better and everything, but I also know that a lot of people die there. And to me, after the fire and when nobody knew where you were, you died there," he added softly.

"I had no idea," Kris said. "I'm sorry. I won't bring it up again."

"It's not your fault," Rocky insisted. "How could you have known? I've never told anyone before."

"In that case, neither will I," Kris promised. Rocky smiled down at her gratefully.

"Thanks," he replied.

Then they kept on walking in silence.

Nobody spoke until it was time to stop for lunch, and even then they were all silent. This is weird, Kris thought as she chewed on a piece of dried fruit. They're never this quiet. It has to be the presence of the bodies. She grinned to herself. Yeah, that would do it for just about any group. After lunch, they all packed up their things and started back towards the village. Kris was still having trouble keeping up, and therefore she often lagged behind with the others having to wait to catch up to her. The last time it happened, Kris was thoroughly aggravated, and the others were as well, although they tried not to show it.

"Look, we're losing a lot of time this way. Why don't you all just keep going, and I'll catch up to you when you guys find a campsite and settle in?" she suggested.

"We won't leave you behind, Kris," Rocky said firmly.

"I hate to say this, but Kris is right. We're losing a lot of ground," Tommy said gently. Rocky whirled on him angrily.

"Are you nuts? Maybe we should leave you here!" he exclaimed. Tommy took a step backwards and held up his hands in a non-threatening gesture while Kris moved to stand beside her brother and put a hand on his uninjured arm.

"Rocky, take it easy," she said.

"I said it first anyhow."

"I'm sorry," Rocky said with a sigh. "I guess I've been just a little over-protective since you came back."

"You don't have to apologize," Tanya told him. "You have a good reason."

"Look, I'm not having trouble keeping up, but we should have someone to watch your backs. I'll stay behind with Kris," Leelah volunteered suddenly. Everybody turned to look at her.

"Thanks, Leelah," Kris said. Leelah simply smiled in reply.

"We'll see you guys up ahead, I guess," Tommy said, getting back on topic.

"OK. See you later," Kris said with a smile. Then Tommy, Jason with Myagi, Adam with Kakana, Tanya and Kat started off with Kris and Leelah in the back of the throng. For the first little while, Rocky kept glancing back over his shoulder in concern, but as they continued their trek Kris and Leelah were lost behind hills, foliage and trees.

"I don't remember the going being this rough when we were coming here," Adam said as he had to push his way past some bushes without letting go of Kakana's body.

"That's because we were all on an adrenaline rush," Kat replied, ducking a low-hanging branch.

"Do you think that Kris and Leelah are OK?" Rocky asked, glancing back over his shoulder.

"Maybe I should go see if they're alright." He stopped and started to turn around, but Adam used his one free hand to grab his friend by his good shoulder and stop him.

"They'll be fine," Adam assured Rocky gently. "If anybody can take care of themselves, it's Kris and Leelah." Rocky had to concede that point to Adam since he did have a point, but he still couldn't completely overcome the feeling of anxiety that hung over him like a black storm cloud.

Intermission

Down on Earth, the parents of Tommy Oliver, Jason Lee Scott, Adam Park, Rocky and Kris DeSantos, Tanya Sloan and Kat Hillard were gathered in Mr. Henry Caplan's office regarding their sons and daughters, who hadn't been in school for ten days. Mr. Caplan was becoming concerned; these were his best students. None of them had ever missed classes like this before without good reason. But Mr. Caplan wasn't the only worried person in the room. None of the parents had seen their teens for an entire two weeks. None of them had packed any of their things up, everything was just as they had left it the Friday before they all disappeared.

"When was the last time you all saw your children?" Mr. Caplan asked.

"Friday morning. Kat went to school like she always did, but she never returned," Mrs. Hillard said, her voice trembling. She gripped her husband's hand for support. There were nods all around the room at the comment. "That was when I saw Tommy last as well," Mr. Oliver agreed. "We need to do something!" Mr. Park declared.

"I agree," Mrs. DeSantos said.

"We should call the police and tell them about this."

"Before we get the police involved, we should go look for them ourselves," argued Mrs. Sloan reasonably.

"But where should we look?" asked Mr. Scott.

"Tommy's uncle owns a cabin in a remote area of Angel Grove," Mrs. Oliver offered. "We'll go check there."

"I'll go check Rocky's apartment. He was sharing it with Kristina before they disappeared," Mrs. DeSantos said.

"I'll go with you," Mrs. Park said. Rocky and Adam had been best friends for so long that the boys were almost like brothers to one another.

"I'll ask around at the dojo where Tommy, Jason and Rocky work out," Mr. Scott said.

"And I'll go ask Adam's kung fu instructor if he's seen any sign of Adam," Mr. Park said.

"The rest of you should go home in case they come back," Mr. Caplan advised. The adults stood up, shook hands and offered one another words of support, then left in search of their children. The next day, although it was a Saturday, they had all agreed to meet back at Mr. Caplan's office with the results of their search. And unfortunately, everyone had negative results.

"We can't put off calling the police any longer," Mr. Hillard said. This time, no one disagreed with him. Mr. Caplan lifted the receiver, dialed and was connected with the Angel Grove Police Station. He explained everything, and was told that there was a pair off officers on their way to the school. Mr. Caplan thanked the operator, then replaced the received and informed the worried parents that the police were coming to interview them. When the police arrived, they immediately set to work asking questions to the parents about the last known whereabouts of their children and so on.

"Have any of your children ever had a problem with drugs or alcohol?" one officer asked, pen poised over her notebook.

"Never!" Mrs. Park said. There were nods to echo the sentiment.

"Have any of them ever tried to run away before?" the officer asked while her partner sat back and watched. There was more shaking of heads.

"Did any of you notice strange behavior in the week or so before they disappeared?" the other officer asked suddenly.

"No, I didn't," Mr. Scott said. Everybody else either shrugged, or said and did nothing.

"Has anything happened in their lives, or yours, that could have affected them? A divorce, for example? Or anything along those lines?" the male officer asked. The parents looked at one another with blank stares on their faces.

"I guess all we can do is set up a search," the woman said to her partner, closing her notebook and putting in her pocket. Turning to the parents, she said,

"We're going to need pictures of your children. As recent as you can get." All of the parents pulled out their wallets and handed a picture to the officer. The teens would have been embarrassed to know that their parents still carried their pictures in their wallets, and the parents would have been embarrassed to admit it to them. They handed them to the officer, who accepted them and put them inside his notebook.

"Thank you. This will be extremely helpful," he said. There was nothing more to say, so the parents got up and left without another word. The police went next and left in their cruiser, headed back towards the station where they would create posters to hang around the city and distribute throughout Angel Grove. That left Mr. Caplan alone in his office. What the devil happened to those kids? he wondered. Where could they have gone? It's not like them to do anything like this. He didn't let his mind even consider the answers to his own questions.

Chapter Twelve The Return

That night, Tommy and the others broke camp and then waited for Kris and Leelah. Rocky almost wore a rut in the ground because of his constant pacing. He wouldn't even eat, which Adam deemed serious. He had tried to coax Rocky into at least having some of the leftover soup from last night, but Rocky had flat-out refused. Adam sighed and gave up, choosing to sit by the fire and absorb its warmth. Suddenly, a pair of black-clad figures emerged from the bushes silently, startling the group. They all stood up, placing themselves in front of the bodies of Myagi and Kakana. Rocky and Jason had unsheathed their knives and were pointing them with dead-eye aim at the figures, who were obviously startled and stood stock-still, raising their hands over their heads.

"Step over to the fire," Tommy ordered, brandishing a whip. He gestured with the butt of it towards the open flames that crackled and illuminated the dark opening between trees trunks. The two figures moved reluctantly over to stand beside the flame.

"Is this how you always treat your guests?" came a familiar voice from one of the figures as they both moved across the opening.

"And I thought that we were brought up to be paranoid," said the other figure in a dry tone. Immediately thereafter, the knives were sheathed and the whip was reattached to a belt as they recognized the owners of the voices.

"You guys scared us half to death!" Kat exclaimed, going over to stand with Kris and Leelah.

"We scared you guys? You weren't the ones who were greeted with knives and whips when coming into supposedly friendly territory!" Kris retorted, grinning though her tone was harsh.

"Sorry about that," Tommy said apologetically.

"Don't be sorry. I'm glad that you're alert enough to react the way you did," Kris replied. She and Leelah settled in, then were offered some of the food from one of the remaining packs.

"We're going to have to cut back on our meals," Tanya commented, doing an inventory of the remaining five packs.

"We don't have a lot of anything left, except the bread and cheese."

"We can fill up our canteens at the stream. We're sure to hit it tomorrow," Kris tossed in.

"That'll help, but we need more food," Tanya told her.

"I think I can help there," Leelah said.

"There are some berry bushes in this area. The fruit's good enough for us to eat. They're actually pretty good, too."

"I think I remember those bushes," Rocky said. "The berries are about the size of your thumbnail, round, they're so red they're almost purple and they're incredibly sweet, right?"

"Yep, those are them," Leelah agreed, smiling.

"Then let's go find them!" Kris said, standing up enthusiastically. Everybody grinned at her, then mimicked her movements. They all moved off into the bushes and started looking. They were in teams in two or three; Leelah, Tommy and Kat were one group, Kris and Jason were a second group, leaving Rocky, Tanya and Adam as a third. Suddenly, there was a small yelp from somewhere amongst the bushes that brought panic into everyone's hearts.

"Kris!" Rocky shouted, going towards where the yelp, and coincidentally Kris was. The sound of laughter drifted towards everyone's ears. However, this did not alleviate Rocky's fears. He kept crashing trough the bushes until he found his sister, standing beside a berry bush, holding her right hand. Wedged in her index finger of her right hand was a dull object that didn't reflect the moonlight at all. Underneath the object, a thin trail of liquid glistened in the moonlight, reflecting the rays from the planet's natural satellite. "Kris! What happened? Are you alright?" Rocky asked, rushing up to his sister's side. Kris looked up and over at him, confused.

"Of course I'm alright. Why?" she asked.

"I heard you scream, and I didn't know what to think," Rocky explained. Kris's left hand flew up to her mouth.

"Oh gosh! Rocky, I'm sorry! I had forgotten that these bushes had thorns, and I got one lodged in my finger," she told him, grimacing and holding up her hand as evidence. Rocky relaxed visibly, and turned away as Kris yanked at the thorn until it popped free of her hand. She threw it to the ground as more blood trickled from the wound.

"Oh that's just lovely," she muttered, staring at the cut in her finger. Rocky ripped a piece of the jacket from his makeshift sling and handed to it Kris, who wrapped it around the cut to guard against infection. Rocky went back to his berry bush, while Kris did the same. Together, the entire group collected more berries than the eight of them could ever hope to eat before reaching the village, but that was a good thing since it would still take them at least seven days to reach the village.

"Well, at least we know we won't go hungry," Adam joked as they all sat around the fire that was still burning brightly thanks to the kindling Jason had thought to bring back from the search.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm beat," Kris said around a yawn. Everybody turned to stare at her.

"Kris, it's only eight o'clock," Kat pointed out.

"You're telling me that this whole thing hasn't been physically and emotionally draining for all of you, too?" Kris retorted. There was a collective silence.

"Kris, one. Rangers and Leelah, zero," came Rocky's voice through the darkness. That provoked a chuckle from everyone.

"I'll take that as a yes," Kris said, grinning. Just then she yawned again, which made everyone except the two who were on watch, Rocky and herself, turn in. That night, nothing happened. In the morning, it was business as usual. Everybody ate a light breakfast, packed up and headed off towards the village. From then on, the days seemed to meld together since everything stayed bascially the same. The only thing that changed was the scenery. Jason kept carrying Myagi while Adam kept carrying Kakana, and Kris and Leelah lagged behind the rest of the group. Finally, on the twentieth day of their long, hard rescue mission, Kris suddenly felt everything begin to become familiar once more. She ran up to her brother, who was leading them.

"Can you feel it?" she asked.

"It's not just me?" Rocky replied. There was an identical twinkle in their eyes. Rocky turned around without stopping to call to the others,

"Come on everybody! We're almost back home!" There was a collective cheer from everybody. The packs were light; almost empty in fact. However, the bodies of Myagi and Kakana weren't getting any lighter, and Rocky's arm still hadn't healed. Though she kept her thoughts to herself, Kris was beginning to become worried that Rocky might have picked up an infection in the jungle, and that was what was preventing Rocky's wound from sealing completely. I sure hope that's not the case, she thought to herself with a small frown. We don't know anything about the medical care on this planet. For all we know, it's as crude as the Middle Ages. The thought made her shudder, even in the hot, humid jungle atmosphere.

"Are you OK?" Jason's voice from behind her startled her. Kris turned and saw Jason walking behind her, looking concerned.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just some things on my mind," Kris replied.

"But that must be better than having a body on your back."

"It's not the greatest feeling," Jason admitted.

"Do you want me to take him? I'm sure I could," Kris offered.

"No, it's OK," Jason assured her, shifting Myagi's weight around to a more comfortable position.

"We're almost to the village anyhow."

"If you say so," Kris answered with a shrug. They walked for a little while longer without saying anything. It was mostly due to anticipation and relief at finally having neared the village once more.

"How much further?" Kris asked her brother, falling into step beside him.. She was filled with a sense of excitement and felt as though she would break into a run sometime soon.

"It can't be that far," Rocky replied, keeping his eyes straight ahead. They said nothing more. The brother and sister felt drawn towards the village by some unseeable force that had wrapped them in its grip, and wouldn't let them go until they had arrived at their destination.

"What's with them?" Kat asked, hurrying to keep up with Rocky and Kris. She and Tommy were walking side by side, and all the others were having trouble keeping the siblings in sight, they were moving so quickly.

"I don't know," Tommy told her honestly. Rocky and Kris had broken into a jog, though their conscious mind had not played any part in the action. Instead it seemed as though the only thing that existed was them, the village and the drive to get there. The jungle, the other teens, the packs on their backs, everything else seemed to disappear. Suddenly, the forest thinned out, and then the tree line receded as Rocky and Kris burst out into the clearing where the village was located. The others weren't far behind them. There were shouts and exclamations as the inhabitants noticed that they had returned, then came running out of their huts to greet the exhausted teens. Mr. Lumo was the first to approach them.

"Father! We succeeded!" Kris called, loudly and gleefully. "I can see," Mr. Lumo said, smiling.

"Quickly now, bring them inside." He led the way to a hut on the far side of the clearing was. There, the bodies of Myagi and Kakana were laid down gently on a pair of beds made from grass and the local equivalent of canvas. Blankets were draped over them, and the blinds were drawn as four young women came from the shadows and began to tend to the bodies. The teens and Mr. Lumo left the hut, and closed the door gently behind them. Suddenly, there were more shouts, although these were anything but friendly. They all whirled to find that several young men and women, obviously trained in Mokora, had surrounded Leelah and were apparently trying to attack and subdue her.

"Wait!" Rocky cried, running towards them with Kris and the others in tow. Mr. Lumo went with them, although he was skeptical of the actions of his daughter and son.

"Myagi, what are you doing?" he cried.

"Father, she's not evil," Rocky protested as his father grabbed his arm and held him still.

"Have you been brainwashed by The Evil?" Mr. Lumo demanded. "She is one of them."

"No father, she isn't," Kris argued softly. "She was born one of them, yes. But that doesn't mean that her heart was always in it. She is good.." That made Mr. Lumo stop and stare at Leelah, who was still surrounded although the attackers were less sure of themselves after hearing Kris's explanation. Mr. Lumo released Rocky then.

"Mr. Lumo, it's true," Tommy said, stepping forwards.

"We brought Leelah with us. She helped me escape from The Evil, and even destroyed some of her own people."

"They are my people by birthright only," Leelah tossed in, walking cautiously to stand with the teens.

"I have never truly felt that I belonged with them. Their beliefs never took to me well."

"I am sorry that you were treated in this manner," Mr. Lumo said, dismissing the warriors with a wave of his hand. Apparently, the youth of this planet, or at least this village, knew when their elder's were right because they dispersed immediately, murmuring apologies to Leelah as they left.

"It's not your fault I look this way," Leelah said. She and the others were taken to a large hut that resembled a cabin more than a hut. Inside, they found long tables with benches on either side of the wooden tables. It was apparently a dining hall for the entire village, and it could probably double as a meeting hall when the weather was bad. Mr. Lumo went off, but returned a few minutes later with several assistants. All were carrying trays filled with food, beverages, plates and utensils that were placed in front of the deprived teens, who dug in eagerly without having to be told. During the meal, the only reasons for the conversation was things like,

"Please pass the-" and the name of the food or required article was at the end. Then there was a "Thanks", and silence once more. The clanking of the metal cutlery against the dishes filled the dining hall, and made it seem fuller than it actually was. Afterwards, there was only a hint of darkness against the blue sky. Mr. Lumo took the teens into his hut, where the historian was waiting for them, eager to hear and chronicle their experiences on their journey.

"Tell me everything," the historian said, holding a wooden pen and a tablet of paper. Rocky took a deep breath and proceeded to tell the historian everything that had happened in great detail, with corrections and additions from Kris and the others until the historian had filled an uncountable number of pages with information. At the end of their tale, the teens sat back, unsure of what was going to happen next. The historian stood up, thanked the teens profusely for the information and for returning successfully, then left the hut. Rocky was watching him go when he noticed someone he had been thinking about since his arrival on the planet.

"I'm going to go out for a walk," he said vaguely, getting up and leaving. The others either figured that he wanted to be alone, or thought that he was going to his hut to sleep. Which it actually was Rocky didn't know. His concentration was focused solely on the person in front of him.

"Lashai!" he called softly, not wanting to disturb the still silence that had fallen over the village and twilight. Lashai turned at the call of her name, and waited for Rocky to catch up to her.

"Hi," he said softly..

"Hi," she replied, equally as quiet.

"Lashai, what's wrong?" Rocky asked upon seeing Lashai's unsmiling face.

"It's nothing, really," Lashai tried to tell him, but Rocky wasn't buying it.

"Lashai, you know you can tell me anything," he told her as they stood in the centre of the clearing, oblivious to anything that was happening around them.

"I know," she said quietly, starting to move towards the edge of the clearing that seemed vaguely familiar to Rocky, though he didn't really know why at the moment.

"Are you going to tell me what's bothering you?" Rocky asked once they were clear of ears that were unworthy of hearing their private conversation. Lashai turned to face him, and Rocky was stunned to find tears in her brown eyes, though they hadn't yet spilled onto her face.

"I don't know who you are right know," she said to him. Though she tried to keep her voice firm, it was obvious that Lashai was on the verge of cracking.

"I know that Myagi's consciousness is in your body, but you're not Myagi. It's hard, not knowing whether I'm talking to Rocky or...or to the one to whom I'm engaged." Rocky lowered himself onto a log, then helped Lashai sit down beside him..

"Lashai, I know that this whole thing has been hard on you, but it will all be over soon, I promise." Rocky paused and took one of Lashai's hands in his own.

"That's kind of what I came out here to talk to you about."

"What do you mean?" Lashai asked.

"Lashai, I need to know how you'd feel if...if we weren't able to rejoin Myagi's consciousness with his body. I need to know if you'd want me to stay here, or leave and go back to Earth," Rocky replied. Lashai was stunned.

"What are you saying? Is Myagi, the Myagi I knew, dead?" she asked, barely able to get the words out.

"No, not at all," Rocky assured her quickly.

"I'm just asking you what you would want in case it happened. Would you want me to stay, even though I'm not Myagi but I have his mind in mine?"

"I don't care whose body your mind is in. You're still the one I fell in love with, and no matter what you look like I know that you're heart will always be beating with mine," Lashai told him, blushing in time with Rocky at her own words. They were both suddenly glad that darkness was beginning to fall. Rocky exhaled loudly.

"I'm glad to hear you say that," he confessed.

"To be honest, I don't think I could have lived without you at my side."

"You'll never have to," Lashai assured him. Rocky smiled down at her and pulled her close to him.

"I know," he said. Over in her father's hut, Kris was watching her brother and best friend as they sat and talked, uncaring as to who was watching them, with a smile on her face.

"Are you alright?" Kat asked, coming to stand beside Kris at the window. Kris was startled from her own thoughts, and leaned on the open window ledge.

"I have a feeling that, no matter what happens, everything will be fine for everyone," she replied. Kris watched the others in the middle of her father's hut, talking about their experience and recounting every detail of their fights. As she glanced over her shoulder, she saw Rocky and Lashai sharing a kiss that wasn't meant for anyone else's eyes, so she shut the curtains and went to join the others.

Chapter Thirteen Personality Quandary

That night, quarters were cramped since there was an extra person that came back from the journey to The Evil's base. So, Kris, Tanya, Kat and Leelah all got to sleep in one hut while Tommy, Adam, Jason and Rocky were crammed into another. Despite the relatively small size of the huts, and despite the fact that they were only designed for one person, and having four inside one of them seemed cramped, there was enough room for everybody to be able to stretch out on the floor or on the bed and not bump into anyone else. Once more, Kris had offered to give up her bed, but once more Tanya, Kat and now Leelah refused to let her. Instead, they took extra bedding donated from neighbours and used it as cover against the cool, jungle night air. The same was happening in Rocky's hut. Rocky had been forced to take the bed, Jason was on the floor to the right of the bed, Adam to the left and Tommy was situated a few feet away from the door, under a window. At night, the windows on the huts were closed tightly with wooden shutters that would not allow anything larger than a dust molecule inside. This helped to keep insects and other, larger predators, from invading the huts while the occupants slept. It was an uneasy sleep for Kris. She was too busy worrying about what would happen if they were unable to transfer Kakana's consciousness from her body. I feel a strong tie to this planet, but if push came to shove would I really stay behind? she wondered to herself as she lay on her back with her hands folded under her head. My parents, my friends, my school, they're all back on Earth. But there are so many people here who care about me, too. How would Lashai feel if I left her, never to return? And Rahshi, what would he do? And my father? Kris groaned softly into the darkness. I've got so much on both planets, how am I ever going to decide?

"Kris?" said a soft voice from the darkness. Kris sat bolt upright, startled.

"Who's there?" she demanded quietly so as not to wake the others. The voice sounded familiar, but through her disorientation Kris couldn't place it.

"It's Rocky," came the reply.

"Rocky?" Kris said. She quickly got out of bed, threw on a pair of jeans and a shirt, then opened the door and went outside to find her brother, standing in the moonlight outside the hut.

"What are you doing here?"

"I...I couldn't sleep," he said, somewhat sheepish. They started to walk away. Kris closed the door to the hut behind her, then caught up with her brother.

"Me either," Kris admitted.

"I'm worried. What will happen if we can't transfer Myagi and Kakana's minds from our bodies?"

"I don't know. I was going over the options, but there doesn't seem to be many," Rocky told her.

"I know what you mean," Kris said.

"Even though they aren't really our people, we already have so many ties to this planet. We couldn't just leave here with the minds of two of their people in our heads, could we?" The question brought a silence over the siblings as they wandered without a destination.

"I know that we have families on both worlds, and it would be unfair to one no matter which planet we stay on," Rocky said slowly.

"So we're stuck in the middle," Kris concluded. Then she grinned faintly.

"Maybe we can let mom and the others get visiting rights to come see us here."

"You'd stay here instead of on Earth?" Rocky asked, surprised.

"I didn't say that," Kris protested.

"And if push does come to shove, I'd probably go back to Earth. Wouldn't you?"

"Probably," was all Rocky said in response. They walked for a little while longer before they both felt that they would finally be able to sleep. Rocky walked Kris to her hut, then went to his own. Both siblings got into their beds without disturbing the others and fell into a much-needed and welcome slumber.

In the morning, Kris and Rocky didn't tell the others of their insomnia and midnight walk. Instead, they kept silent as the others dug into the huge breakfast that they were brought by the thankful people of Fujikara.

"How are Myagi and Kakana doing?" Tommy asked as a young girl dressed solely in white walked by. Her face was grim as she responded.

"They haven't regained consciousness yet," she told him.

"But I'm sure they will soon."

"I see," Tommy replied softly. The entire table in the dining hall had heard the news, and a silence fell over them as they continued to eat, although their appetites had suddenly disappeared. After she had eaten all her stomach would take, Kris got up without an explanation and left the dining hall. Tanya started to go after her, but Rocky stopped the dark-skinned teen.

"Don't. I think she wants to be alone," he said. Tanya glanced at Kris's back as it shrank in size, then sat back down on the bench. Outside, Kris wandered along the edge of the clearing, although she really had no idea where she was headed. She heard voices and shouts, and was drawn to them. The voices and shouts grew louder as she approached. They sounded vaguely familiar, although whether they were familiar to Kris or Kakana, Kris couldn't tell just then. However, as she came upon the source of the voices, it was clear that it was a familiar sound to Kakana. There was a bunch of people, from about 5 years of age to 25, standing around in black uniforms, cinched at the waist with belts of various colours. In front of them all stood three tall people, two women and one man, dressed in the same black uniforms with amber-coloured belts around their waists. They were talking their students, but Kris couldn't quite make out the words, so she decided to go in closer. As she moved forwards, memories that weren't hers started making appearances in her head. Kris saw Kakana and Myagi going through movements that looked both vicious and graceful at the same time. Aside from seeing these things, Kris also heard voices that sounded like a foreign language, although it was nothing she had ever heard before. She stood off to one side and watched as the class teachers dismissed their students, who walked off talking quietly to themselves. Kris made no move to approach the teachers as they too walked away, presumably to their own huts. Instead, Kris went to Kakana's hut as though drawn by some unknown force. Inside, she moved over to a chest and opened the lid. In the chest there was a uniform identical to those worn by the students and teachers Kris had just seen. Sitting on top of the uniform was a belt that was an indescribable blue. It stood out brightly against the black material, yet it wasn't an extremely bright colour. I'd say cobalt, Kris thought. She lifted the belt and uniform from the chest, closing the wooden lid and placing the uniform on top. Without any serious conscious thought, Kris started to take off her own clothing, substituting it for the uniform. When she was done, she tied the blue belt around her waist.

Rocky had left the dining hall not long after Kris, although he couldn't find her anywhere. He heard voices, and decided to go check them out. He came upon on a small area where three adults, two female and one male, were standing in black uniforms with amber belts around their waists. There were a bunch of people who were apparently students, dressed in the same black uniforms, although their belt colours varied. Rocky guessed that this was the planet's equivalent of a martial arts style. Once the students had been dismissed, Rocky had started walking again. This time, he arrived at Myagi's hut without really knowing how or why. He went inside and walked over to a wooden chest, and opened it. Inside he found a familiar black uniform and a blue belt sitting on top. Then he proceeded to put the uniform on, tying it at the waist with the blue belt. Why does this seem so familiar? he wondered It must be one of Myagi's memories. Rocky went outside, and found Kris coming towards his hut, dressed in the same manner as he. Wordlessly, they went outside the clearing the village occupied, found a small clearing and began to go through some simple warmups, letting their memories, or rather imposed memories, guide them. They did several moves, growing more difficult as they progressed. Afterwards, both were covered with a sheen of sweat from a workout unlike any other.

"I don't think I've ever moved like that before," Kris said breathlessly as she wiped her brow on her sleeve.

"Me either," Rocky admitted.

"I wonder if I'll remember all of that once we get back to Earth."

"If we get back to Earth," Kris reminded him.

"We will get back," Rocky assured her.

"I promise you that. Hvae I ever broken a promise to you before?"

"No," Kris said.

"But this is so different than anything else we've ever encountered."

"I know, but you shouldn't worry," Rocky told her.

"We've got people looking out for us on both planets." Kris sighed.

"If you say so."

"I do," Rocky said, making them both smile a little.

"Listen, I'm going to go have a shower, if I can find a shower anyway. But if you want to talk, come by my hut whenever, OK?" Kris smiled wider and nodded.

"I will. But I think I'll be OK. Right now, I'm going for a walk. I think I need to be alone for a while."

"OK, but don't go too far away from the village," Rocky warned.

"You worry too much," Kris chided.

"When I didn't worry, I lost you," Rocky said seriously.

"I'm not taking that chance again."

"You want to tie my wrist to a tree or something so you can track me?" Kris asked sarcastically. Seeing her brother's downcast expression, Kris repented immediately.

"Rocky, I'm sorry. I know how hard the fire was on you. But that was then. This is now. I'll be OK."

"I know," Rocky said with a knowing smile. There, the brother and sister split up to go in different directions.

"And tell me if you can find a shower, ok?!" Kris shouted after him. Rocky grinned at her and waved, which Kris took as an affirmative response. Kris wandered along the outskirts of the village, not really headed anywhere but letting her thoughts run rampant through her head. This is all so weird, she thought. First, I get taken over by some evil being from another planet. Then I find out my brother is a Zeo Ranger. Then Rocky and I get taken over by two minds from another planet that need us to rescue their bodies. So we go to the planet, rescue their bodies, bring them back to the village and now I'm wandering around the in woods of a jungle in a foreign martial arts uniform that isn't even mine at a level that I haven't achieved, bascially talking to myself! Kris sighed and let out a small giggle. Maybe I'm going crazy.

"Kris, is that you?" came a voice that startled Kris badly.

"Who's there?" she demanded nervously, knowing full well that if anybody decided to test her abilities as a blue belt in whatever martial arts this was, she would be in serious trouble.

"It's me, Rahshi," he replied, coming out into the open.

"Oh. Hi," Kris said simply.

"Am I bothering you? If I am, I'll go," Rahshi said, turning to leave.

"No, wait!" Kris called before she knew what she was doing. Rahshi stopped in midstride.

"I though I wanted to be alone, but I was wrong. I could actually use some company right now."

"Did you go to a class?" Rahshi asked, indicating her uniform.

"Um, not exactly. I'm not the most athletically-inclined person you'll ever meet," Kris admitted.

"You don't need to be athletic to be good at Mokora," Rahshi told her.

"I know, but the truth is, I don't like doing these kinds of things," Kris said.

"How come? I bet you'd be good at it," Rahshi said.

"To be honest, I'm afraid of making a fool out of myself in front of strange people," Kris told him.

"I don't even like to talk in front of a class of my friends."

"That's all normal," Rahshi said. For some reason, Kris had been expecting a different answer.

"Is Kakana good at Mokora?" Kris asked without thinking.

"Yes, she was," Rahshi said, his voice becoming distant. I'm doing really well today, Kris thought, mentally smacking herself upside the head.

"Rahshi, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"It's not your fault," Rahshi broke in smoothly.

"Kakana will be restored back to normal soon, and you'll be able to get rid of her mind."

"It's not like it's an inconvenience," Kris pointed out.

"Actually, it's kind of interesting. Having more than one outlook on things."

"I can only imagine," Rahshi told her.

"Do you know how long until we can begin the transfer?"

"Nobody really knows. Myagi and Kakana won't regain consciousness until their minds are returned to them, obviously. But they still have wounds from their...stay, with The Evil at their headquarters. We need them at full strength before we can even think about transferring their minds back to their bodies."

"It's that dangerous?"

"The process itself isn't, but the energy required is incredible. At least, that's what I was told. You have to understand, this hasn't happened to anybody before in our history." The comment drew a silence over them both as they walked through the jungle. I just get all the breaks, don't I? Kris thought to herself. Anybody want to trade lives? I'm perfectly willing. But with the way my luck has been going, I'd probably get stuck in a body worse than this. Well, at least I know that won't happen.

"It just figures that this would happen to me, too," Kris mumbled to herself, not really realizing that she was speaking out loud.

"What are you talking about?" Rahshi asked her. Kris looked over at him, realizing that she was trapped now.

"It just isn't fair," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Why did this happen to me, and not one of my friends? Or somebody rom another town or something. Why me?"

"Maybe, when Myagi and Kakana sent their powers to your planet, they had sensed your strength," Rahshi suggested. Kris let a small laugh escape her lips. "I'm sorry, but I can't believe that they would sense me all that distance away. I'm nothing special. Just an ordinary teenager. At least, that's what I want to be. An ordinary teenager with an ordinary life.. I didn't ask for any of this to happen. Sure, I wanted to explore the galaxy, but not like this!" she said.

"But-" Rahshi started to say, but Kris wasn't done yet.

"So here I am, stuck on some alien planet with a meager chance of getting back to the place I grew up in, and even if I do get back I might be stuck with somebody's mind in my head for the rest of my life! You have malicious people on your world, you know that? I mean, why would they send their power to another planet when they could simply have transferred it to another person in your village?"

"The Evil could have found the power in our village, or could have intercepted it," Rahshi said reasonably, which angered Kris further. She knew that she didn't mean what she was saying, but she couldn't stop herself now. She needed to vent everything that was pent up inside, and the nearest target was unfortunately Rahshi.

"Then how come they didn't intercept it between here and Earth? Why?!" Kris demanded, her voice rising. Rahshi sat down on a fallen log and pulled Kris down beside him.

"Kris, you're over-reacting," he told her gently, placing a hand on one of hers.

"Myagi and Kakana were only trying to do what was best at the time. They couldn't have known the repercussions of their actions. All they knew was that if The Evil got a hold of their powers, they would become invincible. They couldn't allow that to happen since it would mean the destruction of everyone here. So they had to send their powers to Earth. They knew that the people who received them would find a way back here, and you did. It was a good thing that you and your brother were the ones who got the power. Others would have abused it, or ignored it. But you both came looking for answers, and to see if you could help." Kris couldn't argue with that. She, Rocky and the others had come looking for answers, and they had come to see if they could help.. Kris's anger fell away from her rapidly as she listened to Rahshi's smooth, even voice.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly once he had finished.

"I shouldn't have blown up at you like that, but all of this, in combination with sleep deprivation, has left me really drained and confused."

"It's not your fault, Kris," Rahshi assured her.

"It's not anybody's fault, really. All that matters is that you came to help people, and you have."

"I just feel so guilty now," Kris confessed. "So selfish. I wasn't thinking about anybody else back there. I bet you'll be glad to have the real Kakana back so you can get rid of me, huh?"

"It doesn't matter whose body her mind is in. I know that Kakana is with you always, and I know that she speaks her mind through you, so she's always with me." Kris paused.

"We should probably get back to the village." She and Rahshi stood up together.

"You're right," he agreed.

"They should be almost ready to start the transfer." As they started to walk back towards the village, Rahshi timidly took Kris's left hand in his right one. Kris glanced at him from the corner of her eye, startled at the gesture, but said nothing as they walked into the clearing and towards the hut where the bodies of Myagi and Kakana were lying, waiting for their minds to be returned to them to make them whole once more.

Chapter Fourteen The Restoration

As Kris and Rahshi neared Mr. Lumo's hut, they saw him, Rocky and the others running towards the hut where the bodies of Myagi and Kakana were, resting and recuperating. "What's going on?" Kris demanded as she and Rahshi caught up with Rocky.

"We think that Myagi and Kakana's condition is worsening," Rocky replied..

"Will we be able to execute the transfer?" Kris asked, fear and panic running through her.

"It all depends on if they can be stabilized," Rocky told her grimly. Kris didn't voice any of the thoughts that came into her head at that point, but her emotions were clear on her face. I don't know what gods watch over this planet, she thought, but if you're listening, please let Myagi and Kakana get through this alright. None of us can afford to lose them, not after everything we've gone through to keep them safe.. Kris only hoped that her prayers would be answered in short order. Mr. Lumo, Kris and Rocky were the first ones through the door to the infirmary, and were greeted by nurses in a frenzy to keep their two patients alive.

"I'm sorry, but you can't be in here now," one of the older nurses said firmly, ushering them all back towards the door.

"But that's my son and daughter!" Mr. Lumo protested. "I'm sorry, but your presence will only make things more difficult," the nurse told them. She had backed them out the door, and now shut it tightly.

"That went well," Kris remarked dryly, trying to conceal her worry and fear behind her humourous nature. It didn't go over too well with the others, who ignored her.

"Come on, come sit down," Rahshi said, taking Kris's arm gently. Kris pulled her arm away.

"I'm OK," she told him. Rahshi said nothing, but knew that the shock would settle in shortly so he stood by her side, waiting the inevitable.

"I can't believe they won't let us in!" Kris fumed quietly so as not to disturb the others.

"We have a right to be there. Those are bascially our bodies laying in there! How dare they kick us out?!"

"You would probably just have been in the way in there," Rahshi told her..

"Instead they kick us out like we're urchins off the streets instead of the people who have the minds of those two people in our heads! And they tell us that we can't be in there? What if they're like this because they need to be close to us now? What if they die in there because that nurse was too stupid to realize that we should have been in there?" By now, Kris's anger had dissolved into full-fledged worry and fear. Her voice trembled as she trailed off, leaving the question up in the air. Rahshi retook her arm and steered Kris around the side of the hut where they could be alone, at least for now. Kris had tears in her eyes as she sat down next to Kakana's betrothed.

"You don't need to worry, Kris," Rahshi assured her.

"They're doing everything they can to save them. They'll be OK, you'll see."

"I..." Kris trailed off, her voice cracking and the emotional barricade she had built up around her tears burst. The wet, salty liquid fell down her face and dripped onto the grass as she let all her emotions finally run rampant in her head.

"It's OK," Rahshi said soothingly, putting an arm around Kris's shoulders. Kris continued to sob and shudder as all her worries and fears came to the surface in a flood of emotion. Much more time elapsed than either Kris or Rahshi realized as they sat together against the hut. Suddenly, everything was silent. Kris noticed it first.

"Something's gone wrong," she whispered. She and Rahshi went to rejoin the others, who were standing around with one of the nurses.

"...We don't have much time. We have to rejoin them now, or risk losing Myagi and Kakana forever," the nurse was saying.

"Whatever it is we have to do, we'll do it," Rocky said, speaking for himself as well as his sister. The nurse nodded.

"Good. We'll need the historian to execute the ceremony," she said. Mr.. Lumo took off at a run without a word. The nurse went back inside while Tommy, Kat, Jason, Rocky, Lashai, Adam, Tanya, Leelah, Kris and Rahshi stood around in silence, waiting for Mr. Lumo and the historian to return.. It didn't take long. They both came at a run for the infirmary with the historian carrying a text book that was fairly think, and presumably fairly heavy as well.

"We must do this as quickly as possible," the historian said, rushing into the infirmary with Mr. Lumo, then the others, close behind him. Rocky and Kris stood beside Myagi and Kakana's beds, respectively, and held the hands of the unconscious siblings, who were propped up against some pillows. The historian placed his book on a nearby table, then closed his eyes and began to chant. Everybody else in the room followed suit, although slightly uncertain of what to expect. Then the historian began to chant in a low tone, in the native language of the planet. Suddenly, Kris and Rocky weren't in the infirmary anymore. They were standing in a dark void.

"Where are we?" Kris asked nervously, moving to stand beside her brother..

"I don't know," Rocky said honestly, looking around. Kris gasped as she saw two people standing several feet away from them. Rocky tensed, whirled and brought his hands up in a defensive gesture, setting himself in front of Kris without really realizing it.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"I am Myagi, and this is my sister, Kakana," the male said, stepping forwards. At the sound of the names, Rocky relaxed visibly and let his arms fall to his sides.

"I'm Rocky, and this is my sister, Kris," he said, gesturing at Kris with his arm. Kris stepped forwards now and stood beside her brother instead of behind him. The two sets of siblings looked at one another for a moment, and it was then that Kris and Rocky realized that Myagi and Kakana looked kind of like them. Myagi was fairly tall with brown hair cropped close to his scalp, not unusual for the males on this planet, and hazel eyes. Kakana had long, straight dark blonde, almost brown hair. She had pulled half of it up and had braided it. The rest of it fell down her back in waves of gold and bronze. Her eyes were green, though they could have easily been mistaken for hazel on some days. This is too weird, Kris thought as an invisible shudder ran down her spine.

"Do you know where we are?" she asked Myagi and Kakana.

"I'm not quite sure," Kakana replied.

"But I think that this is some kind of trance."

"That makes sense," Kris said.

"The historian probably induced this. This more than likely isn't even real."

"Why are we here?" Rocky asked, not really understanding any of what was happening to him at the moment.

"If this is what I...we think it is, then we're probably supposed to have Myagi and Kakana's minds separated from ours and put back into their bodies," Kris told him.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Rocky wondered.

"There's nothing here.." Kris was at a loss for words.

"The simplest and most obvious answer is usually the right one," Myagi said finally.

"That being...?" Kris prodded impatiently.

"Maybe all we have to do is touch," Myagi said, not at all bothered by Kris's lack of patience.

"The physical contact might be enough to execute the transfer in this realm," Kakana added. Rocky and Kris looked at one another, then gave an identical shrug.

"It can't hurt," Kris said, moving towards Kakana while Rocky advanced towards Myagi. Without really knowing exactly what they were doing or if it would work, the two girls took each other's hands at the same time that the two guys took each other's hands. The result was almost instantaneous. The four were engulfed in a white glow that, had anybody else been looking at them, would have been positively blinding. The four had closed their eyes as soon as they had connected with one another, becoming unconscious. Out in the real world, the historian, Mr. Lumo, Leelah, Lashai, Rahshi, Tommy, Jason, Adam, Tanya and Kat had opened their eyes once the historian had finished chanting. They saw that Kris and Rocky had closed their eyes, but were still standing upright, their backs straight, clasping Myagi and Kakana's hands, respectively. What was even more shocking was that the bodies of Myagi and Kakana were clasping Rocky and Kris's hands back!

"What's going on?" Adam asked as he and the others watched the four intently.

"Only they know for sure," the historian said. "We can only guess."

"Are they going to be OK?" Kat wondered. Now, the historian remained silent, which didn't prove to lift the spirits and hopes of the teens, or Mr. Lumo. Is this working? Kris wondered mentally as she and the others were surrounded by the white light. What's happening? Kakana asked herself, unable to voice the thoughts. Please let this work, Rocky prayed. I can't afford to lose Kris, not again. I wonder if we're going to pull through? Myagi thought bluntly. He kept it to himself, though he didn't really have a choice in that matter. Suddenly, the world that the four of them had known for only a short time faded from existence, and they no longer had control over their own thoughts or movements. Kris and Rocky had been placed into cots next to Kakana and Myagi's beds after they had collapsed. Though the foursome were all unconscious, Kakana would not let go of Kris's right hand while Myagi wouldn't release Rocky's left hand. So, the five teens from Earth, the two from the village, the teen from The Evil's headquarters, Mr. Lumo and the historian had dragged two cots from another part of the infirmary to where Jason, Adam and Tommy were supporting Kris and Rocky as gently as they could. Then Jason laid Kris on one of the cots while Adam and Tommy lowered Rocky onto the other. In the meantime, Mr. Lumo, Rahshi and Lashai had been getting pillows and blankets for the two and now returned, making Rocky and Kris as comfortable as possible. The historian simply stood back with Kat and Tanya, watching without saying anything. All the while, Myagi had not been separated from Rocky and Kakana had not been separated from Kris. Now, before the eyes of the ten people gathered around the four cots, Kris and Rocky's free hands drifted up from the cots, searching for something. Their hands brushed and started to drift apart, but when the touch registered in each of their minds, their hands flew back and gripped each other in an iron grip. Then their arms fell limply in the space between the cots. Now, all four were connected in a strange kind of chain. "I wonder what brought that on?" Tanya murmured, not taking her eyes from the four teens in front of her. Nobody answered her, but then Tanya hadn't really expected a response.

Several hours later, the ten relatives, and close friends were sitting or laying around the infirmary or just outside the door, waiting for Kris, Rocky, Kakana and Rocky to awaken. It was getting late in the day, and the sun was already beginning to set, but not one of them had even thought about food, or sleep as they waited, vigilant. Mr. Lumo, Adam and Jason were sitting beside Kakana, Rocky and in front of Kris, respectively while the others waited outside, sitting in the soft grass without saying anything to one another. The historian was also inside in a corner of the infirmary. Suddenly, Kakana moaned, Kris's right leg twitched, Rocky's eyelids fluttered and the fingers on Myagi's free left hand tensed, then relaxed, all simultaneously. Adam jumped, Mr. Lumo let out a small cry of relief and Jason remained silent until he recovered from the shock.

"Guys, they're awake!" he called out to the others. Seconds later, Tommy, Leelah, Lashai, Rahshi, Tommy, Tanya and Kat came rushing into the infirmary to stand alongside their friends and Mr. Lumo. "Kakana, can you hear me?" Mr. Lumo asked, his quiet voice betraying his anxiety.

"Father?" Kakana said with a soft moan. A smile split Mr. Lumo's face.

"Kakana, you've been brought back to me," he said, gripping his daughter's hand as if it were a lifeline. Kakana's eyes opened slowly.

"Father," she said again, though this time it was a statement, not a question. Mr. Lumo hugged his daughter tightly, then moved over to Myagi's side. Myagi was just opening his eyes, and his father's face was the first thing he saw.

"Father, is it really you?" he asked. Mr. Lumo could only nod as he was too chocked up to get any words out. Instead, he hugged his son as tightly as he had his daughter.

"Rocky, Rocky wake up," Adam said quietly so as not to disturb the reunion that was happened by the other bed.

"Huh?" came the reply, followed by a sharp groan as Rocky tried to lift his head.

"Did we do it? Are they OK?"

"Myagi and Kakana are awake and fine," Adam assured him. Rocky smiled faintly to himself and started to relax again, but then he almost sat bolt upright.

"Where's Kris?" he demanded through the pounding headache that followed the abrupt movement.

"I'm right here, you don't need to shout," Kris replied archly. Rocky looked down at his right hand and found it tightly gripping Kris's left one. He let out an audible sigh of relief and laid back down, albeit more gently than he had gotten up.

"All of you, listen to me," the historian said. Kakana, Kris, Rocky and Myagi turned to look at the historian, who was standing at the foot of Kris's cot.

"I need all of you to tell me who you are." The four exchanged confused glances for a brief moment.

"I am Myagi Lumo, son of Yanso Lumo and Solah Quan," Myagi said.

"I am Kakana Lumo, daughter of Yanso Lumo and Solah Quan," Kakana said. "I'm Rocky DeSantos, son of my parents back on Earth," Rocky said.

"I'm Kristina DeSantos, but call me Kristina and you're endangering your life," Kris said with a small grin.

"I'm Rocky's sister, meaning we've got the same biological parents." Apparently this satisfied the historian because he smiled, nodded and said nothing more. Then, the others moved in and swarmed the two exhausted teenagers, asking about a hundred questions, most of which consisted of, "Are you OK?"

"We're fine, really! Just a little tired," Kris said, laughing at the inquiry.

"Tired? Try exhausted!" Rocky corrected.

"Oh excuse me!" Kris retorted with a grin.

"I didn't know we were telepathic. You know how I feel now, huh?"

"Yes, The Great Rock-o knows all, sees all," Rocky said in a low voice, closing his eyes and pretending to meditate. That provoked a laugh from the others.

"Seriously, are you feeling all right?" Jason asked Kris quietly as the others started a conversation with Rocky. Kris, who had been basking in he happiness from her friends, started and turned to face Jason.

"Yeah, I'm alright," she answered.

"Wiped, but alright. But don't worry. I think everything's going to be OK from now on." Chapter Fifteen The Awakening Rocky, Kris, Myagi and Kakana had been awake for almost an hour when a pair of nurses chased the others out of the infirmary, claiming that the four needed their rest. The ten friends and relatives left, though promising to return as soon as they could. Kris chuckled as their friends were fairly pushed out of the infirmary and the door closed behind them. She laid back down against the pillows and stared up at the ceiling.

"Is everything OK, Kris?" Rocky asked her quietly. Myagi and Kakana were both asleep, and he didn't want to disturb them.

"I'm fine," Kris assured her brother. "I'm just glad that everything turned out alright for everyone."

"So am I," Rocky agreed.

"I just can't help wondering what would have happened if we'd failed?" Kris continued. "Where would we have stayed?"

"Kris, you've got to stop thinking like that. You'll only make yourself feel worse. It didn't happen, so you shouldn't worry about it anymore," Rocky told her. Kris smiled to herself.

"I guess you're right," she conceded. "And quite frankly, I'm glad we're going home soon. It's a great planet, but I wouldn't want to live here.." She and Rocky both chuckled, then fell into their own dreamless sleep..

"This has been an incredible few weeks," Jason said as he and the others walked towards the huge fire pit where some people had already started to gather and begin to build up the fire.

"I can't believe it's been a few weeks!" exclaimed Kat.

"We've been gone for so long. Our parents must be so worried about us."

"How are we going to tell them where we've been?" Adam asked. That brought the conversation to a halt.

"We'd better make sure that, whatever one of us tells them, we all tell them. If they get together to talk about any of this and discover that we gave different answers..." Tommy said, trailing off.

"We'll have to make sure we get our story straight, then," Tanya agreed. They made it to the fire pit, then sat down around it together while they watched the kindling slowly start to burn up, which lit the rest of the wood up. Soon a full-fledged bonfire was going. They all ate something, then left to go back and visit Rocky and the others in the infirmary. There, they found the others with trays in their laps, full of food.

"I see you're being treated well," Adam joked. Rocky looked up and grinned at his friend. Kris waved a fork in their direction.

"Come on in, join the party," Rocky said, gesturing for them to have a seat around the cots. They friends sat either on chairs or on the floor with the exception of Lashai, Rahshi, Adam and Jason; then sat on the edge of Myagi's, Kakana's, Rocky's and Kris's cots, respectively.

"How are you guys feeling?" Tanya asked.

"Pretty good," Rocky replied.

"They're all being so nice," Kris added. "The hospitals in California could learn from these people."

"There's an understatement!" Rocky declared with a grin. Everyone from Earth laughed. In the meantime, the natives from the planet were talking quietly amongst themselves.

"When do you think we'll be heading home?" Kris asked.

"Now that we're done what we came here to do, I guess we can go home whenever we want," Adam replied. "You won't leave before our coupling, will you?" Kakana broke in.

"We want you all to be there since none of this could have happened without your help," Myagi added. The others looked at one another in surprise.

"Of course we'll be there," Kris said.

"We wouldn't miss it." But even as she spoke Kris said the dubious look on Leelah's face.

"Leelah, what's wrong?" Leelah looked startled.

"I'm just not sure that the others would want me there," she explained. "Because of where I'm from."

"It doesn't matter how they feel. It'll be our day, and if we want you there then the others will just have to accept that," Kakana said firmly.

"Besides, they'll probably want to thank you. After all, you helped Tommy and his friends escape with our bodies," Myagi pointed out. Leelah smiled.

"I suppose," she admitted.

"And thanks." Kakana and Myagi smiled back in response.

"So when's the big day?" Tanya asked.

"As soon as we're well again," Myagi replied promptly.

"The nurses said we should be able to leave by tomorrow afternoon. We're thinking about the following day," Kakana added.

"Is that enough time to prepare?" Kat asked before she could stop herself.

"It's more than enough," Kakana told her.

"The coupling isn't very elaborate," Rahshi said.

"That's right," Lashai agreed. "The historian says a few words, joins us under the sun of our planet, then we get to attend a huge feast prepared by the village chefs on our behalf."

"Sounds impressive," Tanya said.

"I suppose it is. It may not have that much fanfare involved, but it's tradition," Kakana said with a shrug. It was then that several nurses came and shooed the teens from the hut, telling them that their friends needed their rest if they were to recuperate anytime soon. Everyone got up, promising to return in the morning.

"Not too early! We all know what Rocky's sleeping patterns are like," Kris called after her friends, causing everybody to laugh. Jason was the last one to get up, and the last one to leave. Kris noticed this, but said nothing as she watched him leave. He glanced back in the doorway, and caught Kris's eye. Both turned slightly red, and looked away. When Kris looked up again, Jason had gone with the others. Kakana had noticed the exchange between the two, although she was the only one who did. If Rocky and Myagi had noticed, they said nothing.

"You like him, don't you?" Kakana said in a low voice to Kris. Kris jumped slightly, not realizing that she had been staring at the door for several moments. She turned to face Kakana.

"Is it that obvious?" she asked with a sheepish smile on her face. Kakana nodded.

"Yep. And unless I miss my guess, I'd say that he's rather fond of you, too," she said with a grin spreading across her face. Kris looked from Kakana to the door, then back at Kakana. Her smile had widened considerably.

"Me and Jason, huh? Nah, couldn't happen," she said.

"Why not?" Kakana asked.

"He's just my friend," Kris explained. "And I wouldn't want to ruin it."

"If you say so," Kakana said. "But I still think it's a possibility." With that, Kakana laid down in her bed to sleep.

Kris did the same, noticing that her brother and Myagi had already fallen asleep. But Kris was restless. She didn't want to sleep, not just yet anyway. Could Jason really be interested in me? she wondered as she laid on her back in her cot. No way. What would he see in me? He's probably looking for someone who's more active in the martial arts or something. But still....if someone from another planet thinks that he's interested in me, maybe I've just been blind this whole time. I don't know. I'll worry about in the morning. With that, Kris rolled onto her left side and fell asleep not soon after the thought rolled through her head.

That night, the huts seemed empty without Kris and Rocky's presence in them.

"It's so weird not having her around," Tanya said as she laid on the floor in her makeshift bed.

"I know what you mean," Kat agreed.

"It's so...quiet." Leelah's soft laughter floated from the darkness.

"I'm sure she'd be flattered to hear that," she said, and you could hear the grin in her voice. This caused the other two girls to laugh as well..

"I won't tell if you won't," Tanya said.

"Me either," Kat agreed.

"I think we should all go to sleep before we get ourselves into more trouble," Leelah advised.

"You're right. 'Night everyone," Tanya said.

"'Night Tanya, 'night Leelah," Kat said.

"Goodnight Tanya, Kat," said Leelah. Then a silence fell over the three young women as sleep overcame them.

"Does anybody else notice how quiet it is without Rocky around?" Adam asked as he laid on the floor next to Rocky's, or rather Myagi's, cot.

"It is sort of quiet, isn't it?" Tommy said thoughtfully.

"Nothing wrong with quiet," Jason grumbled from the other side of Myagi's cot. It was apparent that he had been near sleep when Adam had first spoken out.

"Sorry, Jason," Adam said apologetically.

"Just don't let it happen again," came Jason's good-natured voice. There was a rustle as he rolled onto his other side and looked out the window.. Outside, he could see the stars that hung over the planet. They looked similar to those over Earth, but there were some differences. Billy had once pointed out several of the constellations to Jason, and some of it had even stuck. However, try as he might, Jason couldn't find any of them now. Oh well, he thought, closing his eyes. I'm not an astronomer. Jason let his mind wander for a while before settling on another topic. In his mind he saw Kris's face pop up from out of nowhere. I wonder how she's doing? Jason thought. She seemed all right. I'm glad that they're all going to recover soon. He lapsed for a second. I wonder why she was watching me earlier? Not that I minded, but still... A thought struck Jason at that moment. Could she be interested in me? Jason mentally hesitated for a moment. No, it's a long shot. She's probably looking for someone a little less active; someone who isn't a Power Ranger, who has to run off at inconveniant times. Jason mentally cursed his powers, even though deep down he was truly grateful he had been chosen to protect the Earth. With that, Jason closed his eyes, and sleep overcame him not soon after.

The next morning, everyone slept in late. That is, the teens from Earth, those from this planet, slept late. The rest of Fujikara went on about their normal routine. Of all twelve teens, Kris and Rocky were among the last ones to awaken. Kris woke up to the sound of the voices of her friends. She opened her eyes and looked over at the window where they were all standing, talking quietly. Myagi and Kakana were with them. Kris rubbed the sleep from her eyes, yawned then wandered over to the window.

"This a private discussion, or can any exhausted heroine join in?" she asked with a small smile.

"Hey Kris, how are you feeling?" Tanya asked.

"Not bad, considering everything I've been through in the past few weeks," Kris replied. She shook her head and grinned ruefully.

"I can't believe how long we've been away."

"I know. It's so unreal sometimes," Kat agreed.

"At least we'll be going home tomorrow," Adam piped in. There were nods around the group.

"Have we figured out what we're going to tell our parents?" asked Kris.

"They'll want to know where we've been all this time, and I don't think they'd believe us if we told them the truth." There was a silence as everybody took some serious time out to think.

"We could tell them that we had to go see a friend in another town because it was an emergency," Tommy offered.

"We could also tell them we were abducted by aliens," Kris said. The comment brought chuckles from the group that was standing at the window.

"Seriously, though. We could say that we..." Tanya trailed off, unable to really think of anything.

"Hang on a minute," said Kris suddenly. Everyone turned to look at her, but she hardly noticed. "We could say that we were kidnaped, but managed to escape. Our folks'll take us to the police right after. If we give the coppers a totally bogus description, they'll never find anyone guilty, and we'll be scot-free."

"It's not a bad idea," Tommy said with a touch of admiration in his voice.

"And if the coppers do pick anyone up, we can always tell them that the person they picked up wasn't the one who kidnapped us. Eventually, they'll call off the search and consider the case unresolved," Adam added.

"That sounds like a plan," Tanya said, smiling, a gesture that was echoed on the faces of the others.

"Mornin'," Rocky said, coming over to stand with the group. "What's going on?"

"We just figured out how to explain our disappearance off the face of the Earth," Tommy told him.

"Literally!" Kris exclaimed. Quickly, she filled her brother in on the newly-concocted plan. By the time she was finished, Rocky was grinning.

"Let me guess; Kris came up with that one, right?" he asked. Kris nodded, smiling.

"Guilty, as charged," she admitted.

"The trick will be telling it with a straight face," Rocky joked. Just then, Myagi and Kakana came wandering out of the infirmary, looking fully refreshed and in good health, all things considered. They were greeted warmly by the teens from Earth, and the natives of the planet.

"Are you looking forward to today?" Tanya asked Kakana.

"Very much so," Kakana replied. "We've all been looking forward to this day for a long time now."

"And we'd like to thank you again for helping to make this day possible," added Myagi from behind his sister.

"You don't need to thank us," Tommy said.

"It's in our nature," Jason agreed.

"So when does the ceremony get underway?" Kat asked, changing the subject slightly.

"At exactly noon, when the sun is directly overhead, ready to bless us," Kakana replied. Kris, who had never been exactly religious (although she wore the gold and sapphire cross she had been given when she had been confirmed at the age of eleven), was taken slightly aback at Kakana's words. Different culture, different beliefs, Kris reminded herself, reaching up to toy with the necklace that wasn't there. She had taken it off just before they had come to Fujikara, not wanting to lose it on some alien planet.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready?" Adam wondered. "It's getting close to noon. You've only got about an hour or so to prepare."

"It should be plenty of time," Myagi assured him, but Kakana was frowning.

"Plenty of time for you, maybe," she argued. "But I still have several things to do."

"Like what?" Myagi challenged.

"Wash up, wash my hair, get dressed, that sort of thing," Kakana replied.. "Don't tell me you're not going to wash up for this occasion."

"Of course I am," Myagi told his sister bluntly. "I was just going to wait until a later time."

"Like five minutes before the ceremony?" Kakana retorted.

"There's nothing wrong with procrastinating a little!" Myagi informed her. The siblings glared at each other, then shook their heads and laughed at their minor argument.

"I'll see you later," Kakana said, heading off towards the well.

Kris, Tanya, Kat, Leelah and Lashai went with her while the guys stayed behind and watched them go.

At the well, Kakana lifted a bucket full of water from the depths of the well, then took a strip of cloth from a rack beside the well and dipped in the cool water. She proceeded to wash her entire body using only the strip of cloth. To wash her hair, Kakana leaned backwards over the bucket full of water and lowered her head until her entire mane of dark blonde hair was submerged. She used a type of soapy concoction, rinsed her hair and discarded the dirty water. Then Lashai repeated the same steps. After both teens were washed and clean, they went to Kakana's hut to get dressed. Both put on long, flowing azure gowns that brushed the ground as they walked. Kris stood behind Kakana, who was sitting at her desk, and carefully drew all of Kakana's hair into an elegant French braid. Then she stood behind Lashai and did the same thing. Tanya and Kat had collected wild flowers to place in the girls' hair. The two girls took one look in the long mirror in Kakana's hit and smiled.

"You both look absolutely stunning," Kris said, smiling also.

"Thanks for everything you've done for all of us," Kakana said.

"It couldn't have been easy, risking everything for perfect strangers."

"You weren't really strangers, at least not to Rocky and me," Kris said. "You did have your consciousness in my head for a time."

"That's true," Kakana conceeded. Kris checked her watch at that point.

"It's almost noon!" she cried.

"We'd better get going. We don't want to be late," Lashai said. She and Kakana went out the door in barefoot with the other teens right behind them, on their way to the happiest moments of their lives.

Chapter Sixteen Rejoined

In the centre of the clearing, people were already beginning to gather to witness the joining of Myagi to Lashai and Kakana to Rahshi. An aisle had been outlined in delicate white and light pink blossoms, about seven metres long. The gathered witnesses were standing inside the boundaries created by the blossoms on the ground. It was obvious that this sort of thing didn't happen much, but when it did it was something to be remembered. Myagi, Rahshi, Tommy, Jason, Adam and Rocky arrived before Kris and the others did. Myagi and Rahshi were dressed in deep blue suits that were loose on their bodies. They were also barefoot, as were the guests. As a matter of fact, the only ones who wore shoes were the teens from Earth.

"Nervous?" Adam asked Rahshi.

"Not nervous, excited," Rahshi corrected with a grin. "And maybe just a tad nervous."

Adam wasn't quite sure how to reply, so he said nothing at all, leaving a silence between them that was far from uncomfortable. Suddenly, the murmuring of the gathered crowd vanished as everybody turned to watch as the girls approached with Kakana and Lashai in the lead, the others behind them. Kakana and Lashai met up with Rahshi and Myagi, respectively, at the head of the aisle. They linked arms and began a slow walk down the aisle as the teens from Earth and the ones from the planet that weren't being joined mingled with their male friends. At the foot of the aisle, the historian stood with a weathered old book in his hands. As the two couples approached him, the historian opened up his book and began to chant in a foreign language. Probably the native language, Tommy thought. When Myagi, Lashai, Kakana and Rahshi were standing before him, the historian started to say a ceremonial address that none of the group from Earth actually understood, but they got the gist of it. Half an hour later, the historian finally finished talking, though his voice had made the time seem to fly by. Unlike certain teachers I know, Kris thought wryly, resisting the urge to smile. The two couples said a few words to one another, then embraced one another and came back down the aisle, grinning widely.

"That's it?" Kris whispered to her brother. "I was expecting something a little more elaborate."

"So was I, but who are we to question their traditions?" Rocky whispered back. Kris only shrugged and led the way over to the foursome to congratulate them.

"I'm so happy for you guys," she said once she was withing a reasonable distance. They all turned to face their approaching friends.

"Thank you," Kakana said, her face flushed as were those of the others that had been involved in the ceremony.

"You all look incredible together," Kat added, taking in the two couples who stood side by side. The four of them looked at one another, and their smiled widened, although Kris hadn't thought that physically possible. Suddenly, a thought occurred to Kris that brought her spirits crashing back down to the planet's surface, though she tried not to let it show. Apparently, she had failed for Jason turned to her and asked her what was wrong.

"I was just thinking that we have to leave here soon," Kris explained. "I mean, I love Earth and would never consider leaving it, but this planet is so nice."

"I know what you mean," Jason told her.

"But we need to go back as soon as we can. Our parents are probably worried sick about us." Kris had to conceed that point to him, and said nothing more on the subject. But the thoughts hadn't occured only to her, she soon found out.

About an hour after the end of the ceremony, all the teens were sitting around in a shady part of the jungle just outside the village. The four that had taken part in the ceremony were now dressed in their regular clothes.

"I can't believe that we have to leave you all," Kat said, somewhat sadly.

"We'll all really miss you," Kakana said, her hand twined with Rahshi's.

"Maybe we'll be able to bring you four to Earth someday," Kris said, attempting to brighten everybody's mood, if only a little. It seemed to work, for smiles appeared faintly on the faces of all those present at the little meeting.

"When are you all leaving?" Lashai asked. "

Probably sometime this evening," Tommy said for all of them, making the hard decision on the spot. They hadn't been able to decide when the best time to leave would be, so Tommy had figured that as soon as possible would be best, for all of them.

"That doesn't leave you much time here," Myagi said. "You must stay for at least one more meal with us."

"Well, none of us actually ate today, so I'm sure that we could all appreciate something about now," Kris admitted with a rueful grin.

"Then let's go," Myagi said, standing up in time with Lashai. The others followed suit, and soon found themselves in the dining hall with a large amount of food sitting on platters in front of them. None of them hesitated to help themselves; they dug in hungrily, heaping tons of food onto their own plates and devouring it practically in the blink of an eye. It was almost an hour and a half later when all of them were finally full.

"That was delicious," Kris said, nibbling on a piece of fruit that was reminiscent of a strawberry, only purple.

"I'm going to miss the cuisine on this planet." There were murmurs of agreement from everyone present.

"Have you decided if you're going to come back to Earth with us?" Tanya asked Leelah.

"I'm not really sure if I should," Leelah replied. "It was hard enough leaving the camp. I'm not sure I could stand to leave the entire planet behind."

"You wouldn't have to leave forever," Kris pointed out. "You could come with us when we leave, and if you don't like Earth then we can have you returned here easily."

"You can do that?" Leelah asked, slightly amazed.

"I'm pretty sure we can," Adam broke in.

"Well, I appreciate the offer, but I've already accepted a position here to work as an assistant chef," Leelah said reluctantly. "Cooking is my passion, and now I can perfect my skills."

"Too bad; you would have loved Angel Grove," Kris said, smiling.

"It sounds beautiful," Leelah admitted. "But I think I'd be better off staying on my home planet."

"Are you sure you have to leave? You weren't here very long, and we'd love to have you stay longer," Kakana said two hours later as she, Rahshi, Myagi, Lashai and Leelah stood facing the teens from Earth.

"We have to go home," Tommy said. "I'm sorry."

"Our parents are probably worried sick about us," Adam added. "We didn't tell them we were coming here."

"How come?" Lashai asked.

"See, they don't know that we're the Power Rangers. We aren't allowed to tell them," Rocky explained.

"Oh," was all Lashai said in response.

"I'm sure that one day, our two planets we'll be in constant contact," Kris said. "Though that may not happen for some time to come."

"I know we'll all welcome the day that that happens," Rahshi said.

"And in the meantime, we'll always remember your visit to our planet, and treasure it."

"Speaking of which, what is the name of this planet anyhow?" Kris asked suddenly.

"Our planet is called Fujikara," Kakana replied. Kris nodded. Finally I can stop calling it 'The Planet', she thought with a grin she managed to conceal from all the others. Then, Tommy signaled with a hand that they should all get into position. They stood in a sort of arrow. Tommy and Jason stood at the very front with Adam and Rocky on Tommy's right and on Jason's left, respectively. Tanya was to the left of Adam, and Kat to her left. Kris stood to Rocky's right. Tommy lifted his communicator to his mouth and pressed a button. "Alpha, do you read me?" he asked. Everybody present held their breath collectively as they waited for a response.

"Tommy, I'm so glad to hear from you!" came the high-pitched reply. Breaths were let out and smiled appeared at the sound of the android's voice..

"Alpha, we're ready to come home," Tommy told the little mechanical being.

"We're teleporting you back...now," Alpha said. Just before the teleportation energy surrounded and whisked her away, Kris took one final look around the clearing. Goodbye, she thought, surprised that she felt a bit sad to be leaving. But her sadness was overwhelmed by her joy to be returning back home where everything was tame and familiar.

"I'm going to miss them," Kakana said as she watched the eight teens be engulfed in brights columns of multicoloured energy.

"We all are," Myagi told her. "But we'll never forget them, or what they did for all of us."

"They brought us all back together again," Lashai said. "Something nobody from our planet would attempt."

"They must be great warriors on their planet," Myagi said, with admiration clear in his voice. The columns of light had faded away by now. All that remained was a few multicoloured sparkles that hung in the air, reflecting and throwing the sunlight in different directions. Kakana stepped forward and waved a hand through the sparkled cloud, grabbing a fistful of the sparkles. As a souvenir, she thought with a small smile, admiring the brilliant specks in her hand. The others crowded around her and did the same, all the while being careful not to block the sunlight from reaching the sparkles. Then the quintuplet left the clearing and walked towards the fire pit, where some of the villagers were already beginning to collect kindling and wood for tonight's bonfire.

"Where are the others? I though that they were going to join us for one more meal," Mr. Lumo said, meeting the teens halfway to the fire pit.

"They said that they couldn't stay any longer," Lashai replied. "They said that they had to go home; that their parents were probably worried sick about them," Kakana added. Mr. Lumo nodded.

"I can understand that," he admitted. "I'm glad that they were able to help us."

"So are we, father," Myagi said.

"So are we."

Epilogue

The teens arrived in the Power Chamber what seemed like a minute or two after Alpha had told them that he was initiating the teleportation process.

"Welcome back," Zordon said.

"I'm glad you guys are back," Billy said, stepping forwards to greet his friends.

"You had us pretty worried for a while. You've been gone for so long."

"Well, we weren't sure a few times either about whether we were going to make it back," Tommy admitted.

"I am glad that you have succeeded in your mission," Zordon broke in.

"So are we," Kris piped up. They got into position to teleport. Billy found them a secluded spot to teleport into to, and they vanished in streaks of multicoloured light. Billy teleported to his own home shortly thereafter, for he knew that once Tommy and the others reached Jason's house, he would be telephoned and called over to Jason's house to be reunited with his friends.

"Is anybody else nervous, or is it just me?" Kris asked as the group of eight walked along the path in the park after having left their teleportation site.

"No, I'm nervous too," Tanya admitted.

"I wonder how our parents will react?" Kat wondered.

"They'll probably over-react," Kris said, only half in jest.

"We have nothing to worry about as long as we keep out story straight and don't let anything slip about where we've been for the past three weeks," Tommy said, although his comment sounded like it was borderline on becoming an order.

"Even if we do let something slip, our parents will probably think we're delusional or something," Rocky retorted.

"But we have to be careful just the same," Jason countered. Rocky said nothing more, for he knew that Tommy and Jason were right. As they approached Jason's house, the butterflies in Kris's stomach became more and more restless. It's gonna be all right, Kris told herself. All I have to do if I mess something up is tell them that I don't really remember what happened, that I was too scared and emotional to really take in my surroundings. Kris grinned. That should work out just fine. A block away from Jason's house, Kris began to feel her doubt rising again, but she shoved it back down with thoughts of school, the adventures she had just had and the friends she had experienced those adventures with.. Standing in front of Jason's house, Kris could deny it no longer. I'm scared, she thought .

"Are you OK?" Jason asked as the others went ahead of them towards the porch.

"I'm really nervous," Kris admitted. "Aren't you?"

"Yeah, but it'll be OK once everybody calms down," Jason assured her.

"And don't worry about a thing. Let the others talk if you don't think you can do it."

"Thanks Jason," Kris said, meaning it. "And if you need anything, I'm here." I can't believe I just said that! Kris screamed mentally. Jason smiled down at her, for he was several inches taller than Kris.

"Thanks," was all he replied. They met up with their friends, who were already assembled on the porch.

"Should we knock or just go in?" Kris wondered aloud.

"Well, it is my house," Jason said. "I guess we can just go on in." With that, he turned the knob and pushed the door open. At first, it seemed like there was nobody home, for nobody came to see who was at the door, and no one called out to their either.

"Mom?" Jason called finally after the silence had dragged on for several seconds. "Dad?" There was a sound of rushed movements upstairs.

"Jason? Jason, is that you?" came a masculine voice from somewhere beyond the sights of the group.

"It's me, dad!" Jason replied. "I'm home." Two sets of feet came pounding down the steps at that moment. A woman appeared, and a man was right behind her. They both engulfed Jason in hugs, much to Jason's embarrassment.

"Where have you been? We were all so worried about you!" Mrs. Scott said.

"We've had the police out looking for you since the first week that you all disappeared," Mr. Scott added.

"It's a long story," Tommy said. "Maybe we'd better go sit down."

"Yes, good idea," Mrs. Scott said. Her face was flushed with excitement and happiness, and she seemed extremely flustered. Her brown eyes were alight with energy, and her brown hair swung about her shoulders as she hurried into the living room of the Scott household with the teens behind her and her husband bringing up the rear. As soon as she was in the living room, she picked up the phone and began to dial.

"Hello, Sergeant Lark?" she said. "My son and his friends have come back. They're with me now at the house. You can call off the search." A pause.

"Yes, I'll expect them. Thank you." Mrs. Scott hung up, and dialed another number.

"John? Tommy's back. He's at our house right now. I already called the police, they're sending some officers out to question the kids. I'll call the rest of the parents." John Oliver said something, then Mrs. Scott hung up. Now she addressed her husband.

"Eric, would you call up Rocky and Adam's parents on the other line? I'll call the others." Eric Scott nodded and jogged upstairs to the bedroom he and his wife shared.

"Hello, Alice? Adam's come back," he said. "He's at my house now along with the others. They seem to be OK. Hurry over." With that, he hung up and dialed another number.

"Hi, Sara? Rocky and Kris are back. You'd better get over here before the police do so you can talk to them." With that he hung up, and went downstairs to rejoin his wife, son and his son's friends in the living room. Mrs. Scott was just replacing the receiver as her husband came into the room.

Nearly ten minutes later, all of the parents of all of the teens had arrived at the Scott household. There were lots of tears flowing and words of joy being exchanged as the parents were reunited with their children after just over three weeks of worry and fear. When everybody had calmed down, they all went into the living room, which was even more cramped now. The teens allowed their parents to stand as they stood or leaned against various items of furniture in front of their parents.

"So where have you all been for the past three weeks?" Mrs. Denise Sloan asked, unable to contain her question any longer. The teens all exchanged glances.

"It's a long story," Kris warned them. The parents simply looked even more eager to know what had happened. Kris glanced at the others.

"Go ahead, Rocky."

"Me? Oh no, I'm not the story-teller around here," Rocky said, holding his hands up in front of him as if he was trying to ward something off.

"Let Jason do it, it's his house." Jason looked at them all hesitantly, and shook his head slightly.

"Tommy?" Kris prompted. Tommy nodded once, his expression somewhat resigned. His look to his friends easily conveyed what he was thinking. I'm going to get you guys for this one! he thought.

"Well?" Mrs. Park said, somewhat impatiently. Adam reddened in embarrasement at his mother's impatience.

"See, we were all walking to the Juice Bar through the park on Friday," Tommy began. "We were halfway there when suddenly about six men and women jumped out in front of us. They were all holding guns, though they were hidden inside their jackets. They were dressed all in black and wore hats to mask their faces."

"Ski masks would have been just a tad obvious," Kris commented quietly to JRocky ason, who were standing beside her, with a small smile.

"They told us to go with them, and naturally none of us wanted to oppose them since they were armed," Tanya continued.

"They led us to a black van, and told us to get in the back. We did. Inside the van, the windows were all painted black so we couldn't see out. The back and front of the ban were separated by a thick sheet of opaque plexi-glass. They shut the back of the van up and locked it from the outside, then they all piled into the front and started driving."

"We're not really sure where they took us since we couldn't see out any windows. It took us about four hours to arrive at our destination," Kat said, picking up where Tanya had left off.

"It was obvious that we were I some kind of warehouse. It was immense, and very dark. We couldn't see very well, or for a great distance."

"Our kidnappers led us to a small room and shoved us all inside. The room was made out of concrete bricks, had no windows and only one door. There was an air vent, but it was too small for any of us to squeeze through and escape. There were three or four cots, some blankets and some pillows. It was apparent that they were going to keep us there for a while."

"We weren't really sure why they were keeping us there," Kris said. "They told us that they were going to hold us for ransom."

"But none of us ever received a ransom note," Mr. David Park said, glancing around at the other assembled parents. Kris and the others pretended to be surprised. Kris shrugged.

"Anyway, they told us that they wouldn't hurt us as long as we cooperated with them. And until we figured out our plan of escape, that's exactly what we did.

"See, we figured that we outnumbered them. And since most of us have a lot of karate training and such, we realized that we could overpower a couple of them the next time they brought us some food, which they did regularly. Apparently they didn't want us to starve to death." Kris stopped there to allow someone else to speak.

"It took longer than we expected to be able to execute our plan," Adam said, jumping in when a silence began to fall.

"Whenever they came, they almost always came in pairs or in threes, and usually at least one of them was armed. We never even hinted that we were planning to escape. I guess they began to think that we had reseigned ourselves to staying in the small room for a long time, because one day when they came with our lunches, four of them came. However, none of them were visibly armed. We figured that this was a good time to escape. When our captors put out trays down, Tommy and Jason jumped two of them, bringing them to the ground. Rocky and I took down the other two who were close to the doorway. They tried to run, but didn't exactly make it. "Once they had been subdued, we all left the room cautiously. None of us had taken the time to search the kidnappers we had downed, mainly because we were too intent on getting out of our prison."

"By now, it had been almost two weeks that we had been in that same room," Rocky added. "We were all bored, homesick and ready to run at a moment's notice. So when our time came, we all sprinted out of the room so fast we didn't think to check it there were any guards outside the room, or hanging around the warehouse. As we were running, the last two guards jumped out from behind some crates. They were holding huge knives in their hands, and both of them had guns strapped to their waists. We managed to stop in time to avoid running straight into them, but one of them slashed at us with her knife and grazed my arm." Rocky gestured to his right arm as proof.

"They ordered us to go back to our room. By now, the other guards were back on their feet and were coming towards us. Two of them were carrying knives identical to the goons in front of us."

"None of us wanted to go back into that room, so we did the only thing we could have done; we took the ones in front of us by surprise," Jason said when Rocky had stopped talking.

"It was easy to get rid of the kidnappers in front of us, and the ones behind us were too far back to really do anything. As soon as the ones in front of us fell, we bolted. We all ran as fast as we could, not knowing where we were going, yet not really caring either. We heard them shouting after us and running behind us, but we never looked back; we just kept on going.

"We ran until night fell. When it was pitch black, we stopped to look around. We were standing alongside a road, but we didn't know which one or where it led. We all decided that it didn't really matter. If we followed it, it would take us into a town; which one, we didn't care. As long as we could reach civilization once again, we'd be out of the woods."

"We started walking. We walked for a long time. It seemed like hours, and it probably was," Kris said.

"Night came and went, and still we hadn't seen anything that suggested any evidence of a town or village. None of us could believe that it where we had been held was so far from everything. We wondered if we had gone the wrong way, if we should have followed the road in the other direction, but by then it was too late to turn around. Our captors would surely be looking for us, and to turn around then would be exactly like walking into a trap. So we kept on moving. Everytime we heard a car approaching, we hid. In ditches, in wooded areas, whatever was around. Like Rocky said, none of us wanted to go back to our concrete prison."

"It had taken us four hours to arrive at the warehouse by van, so none of us really expected to get to a town anytime soon," Tanya said, "but we couldn't believe that we hadn't seen anything that even suggested that we lived in the '90's. No electrical wires, no phone poles, nothing. Just fields and trees and the road that we were following. "

"One time when we were walking along the road, we heard a van coming. Instantly, we all ran to hide behind trees. Fortunately, we were walking alongside a forest at the time, so we had no trouble conealing ourselves. However, we heard the van drive by slowly, then stop."

"I looked out from behind a tree and saw that I had accidentally dropped my hair claw. It had been hanging on my shirt, and I guess when I ran for cover it had fallen without me noticing it," Kat explained. "Six men and women stepped out from the van and started looking around carefully. One of them picked up my hair claw, examined it and looked directly at the woods where we were all hiding. Then we knew that they were looking for us. They searched for a long time, but we had all managed to get up into the branches of the trees and hid in the leaves."

"It's a good thing those trees hadn't been tended to in a long time, or we might have been caught," Kris interjected. "We had to wait for a couple of hours before the men and women that had captured us earlier finally left. They drove away slowly, probably expecting us to come out of hiding as soon as we heard the engine start up," Rocky continued.

"We waited until we couldn't hear the engire anymore before we showed ourselves. Then we kept on walking.

"A few hours later, the same van drove by, as slowly as it had before. Apparently they were still looking for us. We hid in a ditch beside the road, hoping that they hadn't seen us and that they wouldn't get out and look for us again. If they had, they would have caught us for sure since the ditch wasn't very deep. Once they had driven away, we got out of the ditch and kep walking."

"It was starting to get dark again, so we knew we had to hurry. We also knew we were getting close to a town. The kidnappers wouldn't have turned back if they hadn't reached the city limits. We kept going, but we were all exhausted. When we couldn't take it anymore, we found a heavily wooded area and fell asleep." Adam had taken up the story once more.

"When we awoke, we found that we were in a hospital. We had been found by the county patrol. They were looking for some escaped criminals, and found us instead. They told us that they couldn't wake us up, and took us to hospital because they thought we had been drugged or something."

"In the hospital, we had all been admitted into different rooms in Intensive Care." Tommy was speaking now.

"Two of us per room. We woke up and found police officers waiting to question us. The nurses said it was OK to ask a few questions as long as they didn't press us too hard. We told them everything. They thanked us and went out to hunt for the warehouse that had been our prison for so long."

"As soon as we were taken off the critical list, we were allowed to go home. We told the nurses that we had no one to drive us home and that we lived in Angel Grove. The nurses looked shocked, and told us that we weren't anywhere near Angel Grove. When we asked them where we were, they told us that we were on the opposite side of Monterey Bay. We couldn't believe that we were so far from Angel Grove, but we believed what they told us. They had two squad car drive us back here," Jason finished. The parents took a moment to absorb all of what their children had told them.

"But we didn't hear any cars in the driveway," Mr. Scott said. The teens looked at one another, stumped.

"The officers only drove us to the outskirts of Angel Grove," Kris said quickly, saying the first thint that came to mind.

"Since the town is so small we didn't mind the walk." At that moment, a squad car from the Angel Grove police Department parked on the street as close to the Scott household as possible, considering how many other cars were there at the time. Mrs. Scott let them inside the house, and the officers asked the teens what had happened. The teens gave them ths story once more as the officers scribbled notes on their notepads every few sentances.

A few hours later, the police had wrung every possible detail out of the teens as possible. What the officers didn't know was that everything the teens had told them was a lie. But nobody had a guilty conscience. They knew that their parents wouldn't believe the truth even if they swore up down and sideways that that's what had happened. The officers told the teens and their parents that they would put out an alert for the kidnappers, but there was nothing more they could do since they were out of their area on this case. Kris breathed a silent sigh of relief at that. At least they won't be able to verify what we've told them, she thought. The officers left not soon after.

"I'm really glad we were able to help Myagi and Kakana," Kris said, loudly enough so that the others could hear her.

"So are we all," Tommy said. He extended his hand towards the middle of the group. The others followed suit, although Kris was a bit hesitant at first. They were all smiling at one another, their expressions conveying their relief, fatigue and contentment.

"Here's to being home."