**
When Christine stepped off the airplane, she was met with brilliant sunshine. Looking up to the perfect blue sky scattered with sparse white clouds, she pushed her sun-streaked brown hair from her muddy green eyes and thought, ~I'm all for the bright outdoors, but this place brings it to a whole new level~ Stepping from the stairs down onto the tarmac, the rush of wind from the plane's waiting engines ruffled her long ponytail and the pantlegs of her jeans. Pointedly refusing the clamoring of the passengers behind her, Christine set off towards the airport buildings.
Once inside the air-conditioned shade of the indoors, Christine looked around the crowd milling about for the tall form of her brother. He said he'd be picking her up. She was struck with an infuriating thought. If he'd forgotten her...
" Christine! "
Alterted by her name, Christine looked up and caught sight of a waving hand calling to her attention. Attatched to that waving arm was her brother. She couldn't help but notice that his other arm was around yet another girlfriend. Sighing in exasperation, Christine made her way through the crowd towards him.
" Tommy! " she greeted when she was close enough to do so without raising her voice. She hefted her shoulder bag and stopped when she reached him and his girlfriend. Looking her brother over she furrowed her brow. " When did you start wearing white, I thought all you ever wore was green. "
Tommy gave a nervous chuckle and changed the subject. " Christine, this is my girlfriend, Kimberly. "
Annoyed by the brush off, Christine said mildly, " Oh yeah, Kimberly. Hi. "
Tommy licked his lips nervously. He knew he should have grabbed his green coat or something, nothing got past Christine. But what was he supposed to say, that he'd changed because he had gotten new superpowers?
As Kimberly would say, 'as if.'
" So, " said Tommy lightly, " shall we go? Did you have any lugguge to pick up? The rest of the gang is waiting for us at the Juice Bar. "
Juice Bar? She was sick of this town already. " Nope, " she hefted her bag again, " this was all I had. "
Kimberly stared in awe. " You only brought that? "
" What else was I supposed to bring? " Christine growled.
Kimberly looked at Tommy. Tommy looked at Kimberly. Figured, he hadn't told her a single thing. Of course, she was an embarassment to her goody-good little brother.
Sniffing with contempt, Christine followed Tommy and Kimberly out.
From her base on the moon, Rita Repulsa watched through her telescope as Tommy, Kimberly, and Christine left the airport. She grinned maniacally as a plan began to formulate. Adjusting her telescope, she zoomed in on Christine and that grin became a laugh.
Standing straight, Rita screeched, " Finster! Goldar! I have a-- "
" Headache? " Finster antisipated. He bustled in and displayed a bottle, " My queen, I just got ahold of this, it's medicine especially for headaches! It's perfect for you! "
Rita kicked the globe at him. " I don't have a headache, you boob! I have a plan! A plan! "
Goldar arrived just in time to hear that and commenced brown-nosing. " Tell me your plan, oh great one, and I will enforce it to destroy the Power Rangers once and for all! "
Rita adjusted her skirts and stated, " Tommy's little sister has come for a visit, I want to use her against the White Ranger. Finster, you create a monster to distract the Power Rangers while Goldar takes down some Putties and captures the girl, got it?! "
" Got it, " answered the other two.
" Good. "
Christine was just entering the Angel Grove Juice Bar with Tommy and Kimberly when suddenly Tommy's watch went off with a musical tune. Christine looked at it, and wondered where it actually told the time.
Tommy blanched.
" Uh, Christine, " he said hesitantly, his eyes signalling something to four kids at the bar, " listen, you just stay here and, and, we gotta go take care of something I forgot. K? C ya! " He turned and ran out, Kimberly and the four kids following him.
Christine gave a disgusted snort. What could her brother have to do
that was possibly that important?
Approaching the bar, Christine sat down on a stool with a huff and
idly picked up one of the drinks left by Tommy's friends. She sniffed at
the flourescent liquid and shrugged. They left it, it was hers.
Turning slightly, Christine discovered a television was set up near
the ceiling and contented herself to watch.
It was the news. Typical. But for once, the news was kind of interesting.
It showed a huge monster tearing up buildings like cardboard and generally
making a mess of things. Then a huge robot came along and they began to
fight. Christine finished off her pilfered drink and disregarded the news.
No way that was true. Must be an entertainment report about a new movie
or something.
Now bored, she decided waiting for Tommy was a waste of her time, and got up to leave. She had more important things to do than wait around for someone to amuse her. Too bad she couldn't list any of those important things.
Outside, Christine had just stepped into the bright sunshine, when around her appeared little gray men with rocks for faces (and apparantly brains) and a giant gold-plated monkey. Christine stopped short and looked around her. Crossing her arms, she relaxed her stance and inquired,
" What's your problem? "
" Sister to Tommy, you are coming with us! " Goldar proclaimed.
What was this? Some lame attempt at a welcoming party? Was this what had been so 'important'? No, there were too many of these gray things, and none of them the proper build to match Tommy's friends. Christine scowled. What had Tommy gotten her into?
Before she could change her stance, one of the gray things moved towards her to attack, and Christine found herself knocked to the ground. She skid a short ways and glared up at her attacker murderously. When it moved in again she lifted herself off the ground in a near-perfect backflip and dropped into fighting stance.
Having a little brother who was obsessed with the martial arts had worked to her benefit some.
Another gray thing joined the first, but made an even shorter attempt at attacking her before she caught it in the skull with a back spun roundhouse kick. Elbowing the one on her left she took two running steps and jump kicked two others down. They fell away from her easily, maybe too easily, but Christine paid this no attention until she ran into Goldar.
Literally.
One gold armored monkey paw clamped onto her shoulder, and then Christine, Goldar, and the putties disappeared without a trace.
Right around the same time, almost as if on cue, Tommy and his friends returned to the Juice Bar and approached the bar. Tommy looked around, concerned and asked, " Hey, where'd Christine go? "
Ernie looked at him cluelessly. " That girl? "
" Yeah, " Tommy affirmed, " my sister. "
" Oh, that was your sister! " Ernie exclaimed, " She left just a few seconds ago, you didn't meet her coming out? "
Now Tommy looked really worried. " No, we didn't. "
Christine found herself standing on a balcony overlooking... Earth? She wrenched herself out of Goldar's grip and ran to the railing. With her hands grasped around the railing she leaned over and looked down upon the surface of the moon.
" What the-- " she murmured, trailing off before she said anything offensive. [kee hee]
" Yes, you're on the moon, little girl. My base, to be exact, " announced a high pitched voice. Christine turned to face the owner and found herself presented with none other than Rita Repulsa.
The intergalactic sorceress stood tall and proud, wearing a strange two horned headress and a dress that looked like it had always been Out of fashion. Her face was done up with too much makeup, and her presence made Christine feel queasy.
" I am Rita Repulsa. And, Sister to Tommy, you are my prisoner. "
" A truer name was never given, " quipped Christine in the face of danger. How did this woman know her brother she wondered, " I'm not just 'Sister to Tommy' you know. I have a name. "
Rita sniffed contemptuously. " Such insolence. Your name means nothing to me, you're only a hostage. "
Christine glared, " Perhaps you might like to know my name when you are begging for my mercy. "
Well. Now Rita was insulted. She knocked her staff against the ground and the stone at the top emitted an energy burst that knocked Christine against the railing. When Christine was sufficiently knocked out, Rita turned resolutely to her henchman and ordered,
" Take that insolent little teenager to the Dark Dimension, then go to Earth and tell Tommy that if by chance he wants her back, he and the other Rangers will have to surrender. "
[Now that I think about it, Lord Zedd was around when Tommy was the White Ranger. Hmm...]
Rita turned again and regarded Goldar severely, " and make sure you do it before Zedd returns, got that? "
[There we go!]
Tommy and the others left the juice bar, deep in thought. Kimberly held his hand comfortingly. The other four offered suggestions.
" Could she have gone home? " inquired Trini in her soft-spoken voice.
Tommy shook his head in the negative. " I brought her straight here from the airport. "
" What about her lugguge? " Jason asked.
" She didn't have any! " answered Kimberly.
Zach pointed across the street. " Maybe she went to Angel Grove Park! "
" I believe it is worth investigating, " concurred Billy.
" Maybe... " Tommy trailed off and headed for the park. Christine... I didn't bring you here so you could run off again...
When Christine awoke, she was lying on a cold floor, surrounded by a cold white mist. Sitting up, she discovered herself to be in a small room, enclosed on all sides with windows looking out onto a starscape. Standing she also found herself alone, and ignoring her bag on the floor, set out to examine the windows. Curious, she reached out to touch one and found her hand zapped promptly by energy.
Hmmph, someone really wanted to keep her in here. Too bad for them.
Christine reached out and grabbed one of the gold bars set across the windows, and, ignoring the energy field, began to pull at the bar. Suddenly her skin crawled and she gasped, before the energy field sent her flying back across the room.
Christine hit a pedestal hard and rubbed at her head. " Owww... "
Using the pedestal to steady herself, Christine got to her feet and her curiousity turned to a new mystery. Sitting alone on the pedestal was a half-melted green candle. Christine rubbed at her goose-flesh arms and decided to put the candle to good use. Retrieving her bag, she withdrew a book of matches and lit the candle...
... and a thin well of green energy formed around the candle and her.
Billy and Trini stood beside a swing set and looked about themselves. Trini cupped her hands to her mouth and called, " Christine! " to which Billy added a chorus of, " Christine Oliver! "
[How I remember Tommy's last name is beyond me entirely]
Across the park, Jason hollered the name as well, as did Zach, Tommy, and Kimberly at their own vantage points.
Then Tommy's communicator blipped the familiar tune.
" Yeah, Zordon? "
" Tommy, come to the Command Centre immediately, " boomed Zordon's deep voice over the speakers.
" Right, " Tommy agreed, and teleported immediately with the others as ordered. Arriving in the Command Centre, Tommy inquired, " What is it Zordon, " as if he didn't know...
" Tommy, I'm afraid your sister has been captured by Rita. Goldar and some putties attacked her while you were fighting the monster in downtown Angel Grove. "
" I should have known! "
" Don't blame yourself. There was nothing you could have done, the other rangers needed you to be there. Alpha and I beleive that Rita is keeping her in the Dark Dimension. "
Tommy clenched a fist. " Christine doesn't even know I'm a Power Ranger. What if they tell her? "
" Then there's nothing we can do about that, " Alpha 5 shook his head as mournfully as the little robot could muster. He offered Tommy his teddy bear helpfully.
Jason placed a comforting hand on Tommy's shoulder. " We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, man. "
Goldar appeared in the Dark Dimension and was truly frightened by the sight which was presented to him.
" What are you doing?! " he demanded of the prisoner.
Christine turned from the candle and regarded him with eyes that flickered a vibrant green. " Taking what is mine, " she responded and lifted the candle from the pedestal. It glowed with a bright green light and reformed into the Sword of Darkness. The light that had formed the sword then covered Christine and she 'morphed' into the Green Ranger. Brandishing the sword she inquired, " Have you got a problem with that? "
To Be Continued...
**
[Next! Is Christine truly evil Green Ranger incarnate? Some legacy Tommy's family's got, neh? Be here next time for when the new Green Ranger takes on our heroes and does a mighty fine job of messing with their lives. See ya!]
[Written by a sad little writer with no life and too much time formed of procrastination who goes by the pen name Inseiko, 2000]