Chapter One: Hope in Toe Shoes

    "Guys, I'm not going to last much longer.  You saw the last battle; I can barely call the DragonZord, and I can almost feel the power leaving me," Tommy said as the six friends stood at their lockers after lunch.
    "Don't say that! Your powers will come back, just like they did before," Kimberly told him, rubbing his arm.
    "You heard Zordon, Kim. This was just a temporary thing."  Tommy closed his eyes, not wanting his friends to see his pain.
    As they focused on Tommy's predicament, a short, slim girl in pink tights, a black leotard, and a short, filmy white skirt rounded the corner at a run, pink leather ballet slippers sliding on the freshly-waxed hall floor. With a squeal, she lost her footing, sliding three feet across the floor, slamming into Billy from behind, sending his armload of texts and binders flying through the hallway, along with her battered duffel bag.
    "Oh! I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, helping him scoop up his books and scattered papers. "Could you tell me where the auditorium is? I am so late for rehearsal, and I just got totally turned around in my directions."
    "Sure, it's just down the hall to the left," Billy answered, pointing to the correct corridor. Her aqua eyes met his green ones as she placed a stack of papers atop the pile and offered him a shy smile.
    "Thank you so much." She handed him the last book, gave him a swift handshake, grabbed the strap on her bag and ran towards the auditorium, her auburn ponytail flying out behind her as she swung the bag back over her shoulder.
    "Hey! That reminds me," Trini said, startling Billy back to attention.  The half-dreamy look faded off his face as she continued, "Aren't we supposed to help chaperone the children's program this afternoon?"
    "That's right! We'll meet here after last period, okay?" Jason replied. The bell rang and the Rangers split up, agreeing to meet later.

    After the last bell, the friends headed towards the auditorium and the directors of the program. "Does anyone know what this thing is, anyway?" Zack asked.
    "I think it's a local ballet or dance academy, doing excerpts from Swan Lake. They perform special programs for young and disabled children," Trini explained.
    "Between dances, the story is told in voice and in sign language. It's totally cool," Kimberly enthused.  "Tommy, maybe this will help take your mind off Lord Zedd for a while." Arriving at the auditorium, the adults greeted the teens, splitting the children into  small groups and giving the teens their assignments.  Billy found himself in charge of a group of ten seated near the front of the auditorium, right in front of the stage.
    The curtain lifted, the lights went down, and Billy forgot to breathe. Standing center stage, posed as carefully as a mannequin, all grace, curves, and strength, was the girl who had run into him earlier. She was exquisite in her silver and white swan costume, her long auburn ponytail now captured in a tight bun atop her head, hidden underneath an elaborate feather headpiece. He couldn't take his eyes off her lithe form the entire performance, watching the emotions she poured into the dance, the energy, the seemingly-effortless way she handled the complicated choreography. 
    When the curtain had fallen and the children returned to their teachers, he and his friends regrouped. "Did you see her?" Billy asked, trying to find a discarded program.
    "Which her? There were ten 'hers' in the company," Jason said, his brown eyes crinkling.
    "The lead!  The White Swan! The one who ran into me this morning." Just then, the familiar chirping of their communicators toned.  The lighthearted mood vanished as they found a secluded spot to answer the call.
   Jason opened communications.  "Jason here.  What's up, Zordon?"
    "Rangers, you must come to the command center immediately. We may have found the solution to Tommy's power loss," Zordon's voice echoed tinnily in the small alcove.
    "We read you, Zordon," Jason replied. With hope starting to rise, the six transported to the command center.

    "What is it, Zordon?" 
    "What did you find?"
    "Do you really think you can save Tommy's powers?" Kim asked, grasping Tommy's hand as questions filled the air.
    "Observe the viewing globe."  Quieting, they turned towards the luminescent sphere and watched as the cloudy surface revealed a slim, auburn-haired girl moving around the backstage clutter of Angel Grove High's auditorium. "Do you see the girl?"
    "Yeah, she ran into Billy this morning. She's some sort of dancer or something. How's she going to help Tommy, pirouette his powers back?" Kimberly asked.
    "On Eltare, there were those who had the ability to increase other's powers. They are known as power multipliers. This girl is such a multiplier."
    "Why didn't you know about her before?" Trini asked.  "She's our age, I think.  If she's been here for seventeen years, you must have known about her."
    "In order for her powers to be used, she must have direct contact with another person. When she collided with Billy, alarms were triggered here.  Investigating, Alpha discovered that Billy's Blue powers had increased noticeably."
    "So what you're saying is, if I touch her, I'll get my powers back?" Tommy asked.
    "I am afraid not, Tommy.  Your powers are too low for casual contact to increase them much. If I am correct, she does not know about her abilities. She must be brought to the command center."
    "But if she comes here, she'll know who we are!" Jason protested.
    "That chance must be taken, Jason. She may prove to be a powerful ally. If she is like the multipliers on Eltare, then she will easily support the White Tigerzord, solving both the problem of Tommy's continual power loss and the problem of the unclaimed morpher and zord.  But first, the girl must be brought to the command center."
    "I'll do it," Billy volunteered.

    Billy materialized outside of the auditorium. "I hope she's still here." A crumpled program from the performance was on the floor. He picked it up, wryly wondering why he couldn't find one earlier, and scanned the cast list for her name. "Christina Collins. Now, I just have to find her." He stopped another dancer leaving the auditorium and asked where he could find her.
    "Chris? She's probably in the dressing rooms, unless she's on stage. She always practices for at least an hour after a performance, hoping to correct something," the girl replied. Billy thanked her and decided to check the stage first. 
    As the girl had suggested, Christina was on stage, still in costume, but without the elaborate headdress.  Even without the stage lighting, the sequins and crystals on her costume glittered brilliantly as she pirouetted across the hardwood, her body a blur of speed as she executed the difficult maneuvers.
    Billy waited, breathless, until she was still, then spoke. "Christina Collins?"
    Christina started, catching her balance, then whipped around, eyes searching the shadows.  "Who's there?"  Her eyes landed on Billy as he strode down the aisle towards the stage.  "Oh, it's you."  Her eyes lit up as she recognized him.  "Why were you watching me just now?  Did I forget something this morning?"  She grabbed a towel and leapt gracefully off the stage.
    "I need to talk to you. Will you come with me?"
    "I guess....  Let me change into street shoes and I'll be right there." Christina carefully untied the satin ribbons of her white toe shoes and flexed her feet carefully, rubbing the small cramps and cricks from her toes before sliding them into a pair of worn canvas sneakers. "What do you need to talk to me about?"
    "Have you heard of the Power Rangers?"
    "Who hasn't?"
    "They need your help. We need your help."
    "Wait, what?  What do you mean, 'we'?"  Christina's eyes narrowed.  "What kind of a joke is this?"
    "It's no joke.  Hold onto my arm and I'll show you." Christina gripped Billy's arm and he transported them to the command center.
    "What is this place?" Christina whispered, looking around, eyes wide.
    Zordon's voice echoed through the chamber.  "This is the command center for the Power Rangers."
    Christina whipped around, eyes widening even more as she looked up at the large dimensional tube. "Who - What - are you?"
    "I am Zordon, Christina Collins."
    "This is too weird. What is going on?" 
     Jason and the others stepped from the shadows.  "Christina, we're the Power Rangers. We need your help. Tommy, the Green Ranger, is losing his powers. Zordon thinks that you can help."
    "Me?  But...How can I help?"
    "You have the ability to multiply others' powers. By touching them, you increase their abilities," Zordon told the bewildered girl. "I believe you may have other powers as well."
    "What are you talking about?"
    "By direct contact with other people, you increase their natural powers."
    "That might explain why my brother thought it was good luck to hug me before his Little League games, but you still haven't told me exactly why you need me."
    "I have already mentioned that the Green Ranger's powers are being depleted by Lord Zedd. If you wish to help, you must multiply his remaining powers, so he is able to fight at full strength."
    "What are these 'powers' you keep talking about?"
    "The Rangers call their powers from the Morphin Grid.  Under normal circumstances, they need no assistance calling on their powers.  But Tommy's link with the Green energy was severed, leaving him with just a small remnant of his former powers.  For a time, we were able to sustain his Green Powers with artificial boosts, and for nearly a year, he held the White energies.  But his body rejected them.  It did, however, restore his Green energies for nearly three months.  But his reserves are nearly drained.  We need you to multiply his remaining Green energies, so he may continue to be the Green Ranger."
    Christina looked at the faces surrounding her, at Tommy's brown eyes, touched with the light of hope, and Kimberly's hazel ones, still holding an edge of pain from the last time she lost Tommy.  Christina sighed.  "I guess I have no real choice. Sure, I'll help you." 
    Trini sighed with relief; Jason grinned at Tommy, who was being hugged by Kimberly while Zack thumped his shoulder.  Billy was the only one watching Christina's subdued response.  "Christina, you're going to have to be in direct contact with Tommy for a while. The best way to do it would be to link wrists like this." Billy demonstrated, gently wrapping his fingers around her forearm below the elbow. "You won't mind, will you?"
    She looked up at Billy, her aqua eyes softening a little as her fingers curled on his arm in response.  "No, it's for a good purpose."  She reluctantly let go of Billy's arm as Tommy stepped forward. Tommy and Christina linked arms, five pairs of eyes watching them. The surrealism of the situation, holding onto a girl he barely knew while his girlfriend and best friends watched, was starting to make Tommy uneasy, when he felt a strange sensation pass through him, a little shiver, then a ripple, extending outward through his body. 
    "This is really strange. It's almost like when Zordon would transfer energy, but different," Tommy said, frowning a little.  "I can't describe it, really, but I feel...stronger." Suddenly, the alarm sounded, startling everyone as Christina dropped Tommy's arm.
    "Great timing, as always! Now what does Zedd have planned?" Jason asked. They looked in the viewing globe and saw one of Lord Zedd's creatures rampaging in the park.
    "That is the Phantasm, a creature from a realm of darkness. He immobilizes people by appearing as their worst fear, and then feeds off their fear. Be careful, Rangers; he is not one of Zedd's usual creatures."
    "We can take him. It's morphin time!" Jason called. The five - Jason, Billy, Kimberly, Zack and Trini - morphed into the Power Rangers, and went to battle the Phantasm.
    "I wish I could have gone," Tommy muttered.  He took Christina's arm back in his hand.
    "Your powers are not yet sufficient to go into battle. Christina's abilities are working, but there is still some time before you will be at full strength," Zordon explained.
    "Zordon, I have some questions about what you told me today. Is this a permanent thing, this power multiplication? All I have to do is bring him up to full, and he'll stay that way?" Christina asked.
    "I believe that this is only a semi-permanent effect. His powers will last at full much longer when you multiply them than when I recharge them; they will still decrease, but not as fast as they did before you multiplied them. "
    "So every time they get low, I get brought here to replace them?"
    "No.  Lord Zedd is rallying for another battle. We will be needing a new Ranger. You will be that Ranger."
    "You mean, I'm going to be a Power Ranger? I've never fought a day in my life!"
    "You are a dancer."
    "What does that have to do with anything?"
    "I saw you dance at the children's program today. You were awesome! Not all of us are martial artists. In fact, Jason, Trini and I are the only martial artists. Kim's a gymnast, Zack does what he calls hip-hop kido, and Billy's mainly a scientist. With your flair for ballet, and the extra power you get by morphing, you'd be a terrific Ranger," Tommy told her, squeezing her elbow for emphasis.
    "You really think so?"
    "Yeah! You'd give those putties something to think twice about. Your agility would really confuse them."
    "Christina, do you accept the offer of the White Ranger?" Zordon asked.
    "I guess so," she replied.
    "Good."
    Suddenly, Jason's voice came over the comm. "Zordon, we need help. How's Tommy doing?"
    "His energies are nearly at full.  I shall send him right away. If you still need help fighting Phantasm, I shall send the new White Ranger, Christina."
    "Thanks, Zordon. Red Ranger out." Christina let go of Tommy's arm and watched in awe Tommy morphed into action.
    "Zordon, what will I be expected to do as a Power Ranger?" Christina asked after a few moments of watching the battle on the Viewing Globe.
    "You will have the power of a Zord, the White Tigerzord. When the Power Rangers are fighting a monster, Lord Zedd can cause it to grow. Then, the Rangers must call upon their Zords, which combine to create the Mega ThunderZord. Your Zord is as powerful as the DragonZord. The Tigerzord and the DragonZord can combine with the Mega ThunderZord to form the Ultra Tigerzord if the creature is too powerful for the three separately. I have already told you that you are the White Ranger. Accept this: Saba, the Tigersaber. He will counsel you further as to your duties." The saber appeared in her hands.
    Jason's voice broke in again. "Zordon, we need more help. Both the DragonZord and Mega ThunderZord are trying, but Phantasm is too powerful. We need the White Ranger."
    "She shall be there shortly," Zordon replied.
    "Hurry! I don't know how much longer we can last!" Jason signed off.
    Zordon gave Christina her power morpher. "To morph into the White Ranger, hold the morpher in front of you and call on your Zord. You will be transported to the battle scene. Saba will instruct you further. Take caution, and go in haste."
    Christina grasped the badge, and called, "Tigerzord!" She found herself on the top of a cliff, overlooking the battle scene.
    Phantasm spotted her. "Another toy for me to play with!" he exclaimed gleefully. "What is your worst nightmare? I shall make it come true!" He pointed to her, and a stream of light headed for her.
    "No!" she cried, and instinctively threw her hands up to block the light. The stream bounced off her hands and exploded a nearby boulder.
    "How? I shall crush you, puny one!" Another blast of light headed towards her, which she also deflected.
    "No! I'm not going to let you take over my mind!" White Ranger shouted. A pure white energy bolt left from her fingertips, destroying Phantasm's bolt. "Now, for you!" she cried, and shot another blast that hit Phantasm dead on.
    "Beaten at my own game!" Phantasm screamed, and disappeared in a ball of fire and smoke.