The Dark Side of the Moon

There Goes the Brides

"I'm going to take a guess by the long faces and say a plan failed?"

Rune gasped and looked up, a smile breaking out on her face as she spotted the familiar brunette standing in the middle of the Shiba living room. "Kali!" she exclaimed, rushing over, and engulfing the older woman in a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm in town for a wedding," said Kali, releasing Rune and looking around at the others. "I heard on the grapevine though that you're having trouble with someone stealing brides."

"Yeah. How did you hear that?" Kevin asked.

Kali smiled at him. It was natural for first time encountees to be suspicious of the Mystic Realm, even first-time defenders, and she had grown accustomed to them in her job as both a Ranger and guardian. "I'm the Hellhound," she said, simply. "I know all."

"Doubtful," snorted Kevin.

"Kev!" Rune snapped.

Kali smiled and placed a hand on Rune's shoulder. "It's okay, Kid, he's allowed to be suspicious and untrusting," she said, reassuringly. "It's actually a nice change. People automatically are helpful and trusting when they hear the term 'Hellhound,' and it's times like that when they can be taken advantage of."

"Not that you would do that, though," said Rune.

"I wouldn't, sure, but others might," said Kali. She looked back at Kevin. "What can I do to prove that I'm trustworthy?"

Kevin shrugged. "Prove you're the Hellhound, maybe?" he suggested.

Kali pursed her lips. "How about I show you something that is linked to, not only my heritage, but yours, too?" she asked. "That way, it proves I am who I say I am, considering not everyone has access to this information, but it also means I don't drain myself by shifting forms."

Mike's eyes widened. "Whoa, wait a minute, you're saying you can shift from human to Hellhound?" he asked.

Kali nodded.

"OMG! THAT IS SO COOL!" Mike squealed, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Kali laughed at him. "What do you say?" she added, turning her attention back to Kevin.

Kevin shrugged and turned to Jayden.

"Sure. What do you need us to do?" Jayden asked.

"Just sit down," said Kali. The team did as she asked, watching as she removed her Mystic Morpher from her pocket and pointed it at the laptop she had with her. The disc space opened, and a silver CD appeared in the tray.

Once the tray was closed, the laptop spurred to life, showing several different motifs on the screen.

"Are they -?" Mia started.

"Different Ranger tags, yeah," said Kali, nodding. "I asked Doctor Thomas Oliver to put together a little History CD of past Rangers. Your parent are on here, I believe, or at least their team is; the CD runs until my last team, Jungle Fury in Ocean Bluff, and soon, when your term as Rangers ends, you'll also be added."

"So you add it at the end of every season?" Emily asked.

Kali nodded. "Here. It's quite a long film, but I'll jump to the teams that can confirm I am who I claim to be." She leaned forward, clicked a few buttons, and skipped ahead. Her time in at the Ninja Academy with Cam Watanabe was paying off finally.

"Hold on just a second. I-I never agreed to be a part of this."

"I-I don't know what happened back there, and while some of your story from Root core made sense to me, but... this is just too much, and I'm not even sure if I'm ready for it."