The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers

"A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight"

Part IV

by: Quintin J. Scott

The party kicked into high gear. Thrumming loudly into the air, the music was lively and upbeat, heating up the already hot atmosphere. Ernie dished out his chilled fruit shakes to the throngs of teenagers that came to the Angel Grove Beach Party.

Billy danced with some girl from his math class while Rocky and Adam laughed at him. Although you couldn't really call it "dancing" - the gyrations that Billy was doing - he and his date seemed to be enjoying themselves. Tommy and Kimberly were standing at the snack bar, talking with friends from school and sampling several of the snacks. Standing quietly against a wall, Sean crossed his arms, head bowed in thought. The music didn't reach him. The sounds of the laughing people didn't reach him. His state of deep thought kept them out.

Aisha touched his arm, pulling him from his thoughts. He looked up and smiled at her, softly. She returned the smile.  "Dance with me?" she asked, quietly, squeezing his arm gently.

He shook his head. Sean didn't normally deny Aisha. He hardly could. "I don't feel much like dancing, love. Is it okay if I pass this one time?"

Although she was going to protest, she could see that he was in a serious mood. Any other girl would be perturbed at her boyfriend, but this was Sean Morissette. He had a right to be in a serious mood, particularly when his old girlfriend tried to make him kill someone.
She smiled again, stood on her tiptoes - the very ends of them, placed a kiss to his lips and walked towards the snack table.

When Aisha arrived at the table, Tommy and Kimberly were stuffing their faces with celery stalks filled with some sort of white confection. Kimberly noticed Aisha's rather somber expression. She stopped eating long enough to ask, "What's wrong, Aisha?"

"Oh, it's just Sean," she said, looking back over her shoulder. "This has really got him upset."

Tommy nodded as Kimberly spoke again. "I mean, what the White Dragon did to him and then tried to do to Tommy? I'd be upset, too."

"No, Kim," Aisha paused, looking over at him once more. "It's something else. Sean gets quiet sometimes. I mean we all know that. What I don't get is how much he's brooding over it? It's almost as if I feel he's going to do something about it and we won't like it too much."

Before her words had a chance to settle in the air, Sean looked up at her. She smiled back and he was about to return it when his head jerked to the side. Aisha followed his eyes.
"Something's wrong," she said, her own eyes scanning the multitude of people at the party. "Come on."

The three walked over to Sean who was still looking over the crowd.

"What's wrong?" Aisha asked.

"She's here," was his reply.

"Where?" Tommy placed his cup down.

"Somewhere. I can't pinpoint her. Too many chis blocking my probes."

"Either that," Kimberly said, looking, too, "Or she's developed her mental prowess a bit more over the time she's been gone."

Sean cast his ebon orbs on Kim. "You might be right. If she was able to affect me from such a distance, she might be able to shift my probes elsewhere or throw up some sort of chi 'static'. Whatever the case, she's here. I can feel her presence."

"We'll keep our eyes peeled, Sean," Tommy said. "Better tell Billy and the others."

Kim nodded her head, walking alongside Tommy away from Sean and Aisha. Aisha looked into the eyes of her boyfriend, the concentration evident there as he sought to find his nemesis.
Mulling over the things that had happened the past day, Aisha didn't really know what to think. Her boyfriend was locked in a battle with his old girlfriend, someone who, according to Sean, had all the makings of being a better fighter than him, which, to Aisha, was something that she didn't think he would admit.

Frankly, she feared for his life. She feared what would happen to her if something were to happen to him.

And what scared her the most: she didn't know.

"I'm going to head outside," Sean finally spoke. "Check out a few things there."

"I'm coming with," Aisha said.

"No," he replied, shaking his head. "No, I can't and won't put you in danger, Aisha."

"It's not your choice to make, Sean."

He walked over and kissed her softly on the forehead, his chi reaching out to tap her nerve center. Aisha faltered in her step a bit before collapsing in his arms. Smiling, sadly, he placed her in the nearest chair.  "Unfortunately, my love, I must make it for you," he said, kissing her forehead again and headed for the nearest exit.

The pale light from the Solar Gem started to intensify as Goldar and the recovered Rito approached the beach party.

"Whoa!" Rito commented, shaking his head to clear some of the cobwebs. "Edd's really got to take some anger management classes!"

"Maybe if you learn to keep your piehole shut, you wouldn't get into so much trouble," the gold monkey observed, still following the orb's pull. He moved to the west somewhat, the energy starting to pulsate. "You must be a glutton for punishment."

"Eh!" The walking skeleton spoke. "I take umbrage at that remark!"

Goldar looked up, a combination confused/amazed look (as best he could) on his face as he looked back at Rio and his choice of words.  "Umbrage?"

"Uh huh," he chuckled. "Rita got me this 'word-of-the-day' toilet paper. It's great! I'm learning new words AND it's cushiony soft!"

Shaking his head, Goldar turned back around, making his way near the building, the air alive with the awful music.  He stopped, as he got closer to the building, though. There, standing with her arms crossed, an Asian woman, hair cut into a short bob, watched them. The Solar Gem started to pulse wildly now.

"She must be the one," Goldar reasoned. He growled and raised his sword. "In the name of Lord Zedd, I command you to take this gem and with its power, destroy the Power Rangers."
She didn't move, just stared at them both, arms still crossed.

"Did you not hear me, pitiful human!" Goldar said. "You will take this gem and destroy the Power Rangers with it or face the wrath of Zedd!"

Nothing. She made no movement, eyes of dark brown piercing through the space between them.

"And people call me dumb!" Rito observed.

The woman perked up, suddenly.

"Ah," Goldar said in triumph. "Glad you came to your senses..."

He didn't finish because she turned from them both and looked towards one particular direction. There was a smile on her face and, somewhere deep within him, Goldar didn't like the look of it.

Sean came around the corner, looking very determined in his walk. Immediately Rito drew his bone blade.

"It's that stinking human, Sean!" Rito sneered. "I'm gonna get him!"

"No," the woman spoke up, cutting off the two. "He is mine!"

Sean stopped in his tracks, seeing both Goldar and Rito AND Keiko. This wasn't good. This couldn't be good.

As he placed his hands in a fighting stance, his thumb hit the "alarm" button on his gold communicator.

"What's going on here?" Sean asked, careful of how he phrased everything in the presence of Keiko.

"Hello, Sean," Keiko smiled. "How good to see you again...after all these years."

"Hello, Keiko," Sean returned, no smile given. "Sorry. I can't say that it's good to see you, seeing as how you tried to turn my friend against me."

She continued to smile, moving away from Goldar and Rito and towards him. "Why, Sean? No kiss for your old girlfriend?"

"Take one more step and I'll drop you with the Leopard's Bite, Keiko," the man replied, still watching her, but making no move.

The dark eyebrows of Keiko went up. "Willing to use the Bite on me? {That's no way to treat an old friend.}*"
* - translated from the Japanese

"'Friend' means something completely different to you. Why don't you just leave Angel Grove? Leave me in peace. Let go of this anger for me."

"{Let it go?}" She chuckled before her voice turned deadly serious. "{It is what gets me up in the morning. It is what drives me - my fuel. The anger, the hatred, and my dishonor...you brought those upon me and I mean to see my revenge fulfilled.}"

"Your dishonor was your fault, entirely, Keiko. The manipulation of someone's chi for your own means is just...wrong." He raised an eyebrow, faltering a bit there at the end of that sentence. Wasn't that what he just did to Aisha? How hypocritical.  "You wanted me to kill that man. I refused to."

"{You wanted me, Sean,}" Keiko retorted, a small look of hurt on her face. "{I was your world. I was everything you ever wanted in a woman. You told me that you would do anything for me. Anything, Sean. Was it all a lie?}"

"Don't try to turn this around, Keiko. You brought this upon yourself. You must deal with it."
"And you, my dear, will pay for it!" Keiko growled, striking a fighting pose and then rushing towards Sean. Sean did the same, taking off for her, too.

"Uh, Goldar, what do we do?"

"I don't know. She is the one that the Solar Gem must bond to. We will wait to see how this unfolds."

They didn't get a chance to as the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers showed up behind them.

"Goldar! Rito!" The White Ranger called out. "What are you two doing here!"

"You'll find out soon enough, meddlesome Rangers!" Goldar growled.

"OmegaPutties!" Rito cried.

At the command, the beach was occupied by a dozen or so Omegas.

"Attack!" Goldar commanded and the army rushed them.

"Rangers, divide and conquer!" Tommy ordered.

"Right!" The Rangers responded.

Sean flipped in the air, bringing a stiff leg down. Keiko avoided it, gracefully, spinning to deliver a backfist to Sean's kidney. Following it up with another punch to his other kidney, she ran up the back of his legs and delivered a hammer blow to his shoulders. Sean turned around, an elbow rammed into her face, followed through with a few chops. She blocked them and returned, which he blocked.

Their physical prowess was almost equal. Sean had the reach and strength advantage, but his muscle mass made him slower than the lithe, agile form of Keiko. Knowing this, Keiko pressed her advantage, ducking beneath some of his blows and nerve paralyzing his left leg. The man tossed a flat palm to her solar plexus, pushing her away from him with a little bit of chi energy behind it. She skidded back a few feet, enough for him to un-paralyze his leg and get back into a fighting stance.

No way I can keep fighting her on a purely physical level, Sean said to himself. Time to unlock the true power of kiba no hooku and the Twelve Disciplines.

Keiko rushed forward again, leaping into the air to deliver a jump kick. Sean took a step back, held his hands parallel to one another, clutched next to his body. As she came down, he tossed his hands out, palms down, tossing a chi force bolt at her. It cut her out of the air, knocking her down to the ground. Keiko coughed, kipped to her feet and smiled.

"Well, well!" She said. "You wish to go that route? Then we'll go that route."

Keiko thrust her hands out, a wave of chi crashing into Sean's chest, flinging him into the air. He rolled with the landing, getting to his feet and answering with another chi force bolt. Dodging it, Keiko tossed a "shuriken" at him. If he hadn't ducked in time, the chi weapon would have taken off his head instead of shredding part of his shirt.

Wasting no movement, Keiko's aggressive nature took over again, leaping towards Sean and delivering a bicycle kick to his chest, following it with a straight kick to his head. Flipping backwards, the man, brought his feet up to kick her in the chin, knocking her away. Keiko responded by running to the wall, leaping, bouncing off of it and a hook kick later, brought Sean to the ground.

Sean tossed out his hand, a wave of life energy washing over Keiko, pushing her into the wall. Another toss of his hand and he pinned her limbs to the wall with chi bindings. Keiko struggled against them, trying to free herself.

Sean shook his head, clearing the stars from his vision. Standing up, the man looked over at Keiko. He could feel the binds starting to give way.

In that moment, he looked into her eyes. The intense hatred for him and the desire for revenge consumed Keiko Le. There was no way that any sort of negotiation was going to calm the situation down. When the binds gave way, she would be after him again. And she would keep coming until one of them was dead.

He could not let that happen. It would endanger both him and his friends. And those he cared about was paramount to his own survival.

He would not let it happen.

Standing up, he almost walked over to her when he was hit from behind by a blast from the sword of Goldar. Sean collapsed to the ground, the back of his shirt completely burned off and his dark skin starting to swell from the intense heat. He struggled to get back to his feet, looking over at the approaching aliens.

"We might not need to use the gem after all," Goldar smiled. "I could destroy you now. In fact, I will destroy you!"

Sean slowly backed away on his knees, trying to get back up. "You always were a coward, Monkey Boy. Only you would be low enough to attack someone from behind."

"You're right," Goldar said.

He tried to keep Goldar and Rito in sight while also keeping his hold on the chi binders. Backing up against the wall, he winced, his swollen back being cut by the coarse stone.

"Now, Sean Morissette," Goldar said, holding his sword up and charging it with energy. "You will die."

At that moment, Keiko broke free. She screamed "no" and rushed towards the monsters. Crashing into Goldar just as the energy from his sword released, it hit the wall next Sean as he rolled out of the way.

Rito grabbed Keiko by the throat, lifting her into the air. "Now, now! That's no way to treat your soon-to-be best buddies."

"Sean Morissette is mine to kill!" Keiko grunted. "Let me go!"

"Foolish human!" Goldar roared. He took the Solar Gem and held it before her to see. "We have a common enemy!"

"He is mine to kill and mine alone!"

"And you shall have your chance to kill him!" Goldar shoved the Solar Gem closer to her. The light from the orb seemed to reach out for her, enveloping her with energy. Keiko struggled against Rito's grasp but couldn't break it. Slowly, she stops moving, feeling the energy flow through her body. It was a wonderful feeling, the most power that she'd ever felt in a long time.

You are quite powerful, Keiko Le, she heard a voice in her mind.

Who? Keiko replied.

I am a friend. I am the spirit of Solara, the greatest warrior from the planet Redis Major.

What's going on?

With my power and your form, we will become unbeatable. You and I have a lot in common.

Like?

Revenge. You seek revenge on Sean Morissette. I seek revenge on Zordon and his agents of justice: the Power Rangers. However, there is another commonality that we share.

Which is?

I will let you discover that on your own. We must act quickly. Time grows short and my presence here will alert Zordon. Will you accept the power?

...

Will you?

Yes...Yes, I will accept the power.

"Yes...Yes, I will accept the power," she repeated out loud. Rito slowly lowered her to the ground, letting her go.  The energy surrounded her again, empowering her with the might of the Solar Gem of Redis Major.  She teleported away.

With the last of the OmegaPutties destroyed, the Rangers turned towards Goldar and Rito who stood back to back, watching as Sean moved forward, approaching them.

"What did you do to her?" Sean demanded.

"You'll find out soon enough, pathetic Rangers!" Goldar growled.

They both laughed and disappeared - Goldar in a flurry of energy and Rito with his body disappearing first followed by his head.

"Damn!" Sean hit his hand in frustration. Something wasn't right and he could feel it.

"Power Rangers, power down!" Tommy commanded. They touched their morphers, the uniforms melting off of them. Aisha rushed over to Sean...

...And hauled off and slapped him. So forceful was the blow that his head turned to the side.

"Aisha!" Kimberly gasped.

"How dare you!" Aisha seethed. "How dare you do that to me!"

He slowly turned his head back to look at her, opening his eyes to peer at her. She was near tears; trembling before him, her anger was so great.

"Aisha, I wanted to keep you safe," Sean replied, blinking slowly. "Keiko has only gotten stronger over the years. You don't have the training to block her like I do."

"So you knock me out?"

"You wouldn't have stayed, no matter how hard I tried to stop you."

"How do you know?"

"Because," Sean replied, moving closer, peering down at her. "I know you. Even if you had agreed to stay behind, you would've come anyway. You care for me just that much. You would put yourself in danger just for me and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened to you."

"You would have done the same for me, Sean!"

"Yes...I would have..." He said, taking her hand and lifting it to his mouth as he kissed her fingers. "I'm sorry, Aisha. Forgive me?"

Aisha blinked, not really knowing how to respond. She was so livid that she was ready to hit him again. But something about his tone...his voice...and his eyes... She tried to scream at him, but her mouth just dropped open and, instead of saying anything, she kissed him, her hands going around his body. He was in the process of returning it when he let in a sharp breath, the pain from his back shooting through him.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Aisha apologized, taking care not to touch his back but helping him to his feet.

"It's all right, love," Sean said, smiling. "We have to find out what Zedd's up to and why does it involve the White Dragon. Come on."

-= Back | Part I | Part II | Part III | Part V =-