Where am I? The petite girl thought as she ambled down the dark hallway, using the wall as a guide. All she could remember was falling into a deep sleep. She had woken up in a bare room with some type of metal attachment above her eyebrow.
Her first thought: she had been kidnapped…yet again. She seemed to have had a habit of doing that in her younger years, but she had thought that she had left that past behind. She certainly hadn't been sitting on her ass for three years. No, I haven't. She chuckled bitterly. This girl had tired of men finding the need to rescue her. It hadn't been that way when she first became a ranger. Yet somehow, she had fallen into a stereotype of damsel in distress, and she had never gotten out of that rut.
Sometimes she wondered if that was the majority of the reason why she left. She knew that she had a dream; she had to fulfill that dream, but had there been more? Was it the need to prove to herself that she was still the independent girl she thought she had been before?
If she hadn't been able to protect herself before, she definitely could now. The first task on her agenda five years before was to sign up for a martial arts class. Taking a martial arts class would be the closest she could get to home. She had recently given up her powers, but she wasn't willing to feel completely powerless. Not when it had been such a big part of three years of her life. Besides, you were never really adequate for the role anyway. What did you do to benefit the team? Everyone else did their share and more.
She stopped abruptly when she saw a ray of light five feet in front of her. In the light, she could see an object on the wall. She jogged to the wall. A mirror. She tucked a strand of her dark, messy hair behind her ear. She looked at her reflection closely. She saw, not a frail little girl like she would have seen years before, but an independent and able woman.
The only place she really had great friends other than Angel Grove (and Switzerland) was in the dojo. She had quickly been befriended by a group of teenagers like herself: Nori, Alan, Jess, and Ben. She had found herself returning to the dojo as often as her gymnastics training would allow. Tae Kwon Do, Shotokan, Jujitsu…everything they threw at her, she mastered. With them, she hadn't felt helpless. She had learned that power did not only come from physical abilities, but also from mental abilities. The mind was the powerhouse. Her mind was capable of making her body weak; her mind was capable of destroying her life as well as others.
Staring back at her was a woman who had experienced more than any normal twenty year old would experience in their lifetime. Three years ago, she would have seen a bubbly naïve child. Now what she saw was composed and wise. She had a sound mind and that made her body a machine. This was power. She was power.
She brought her hand up to the metal fixation just above her eyebrow. It was cold to her touch. It reminded her of that Star Trek show. That Seven of Nine girl. What was this supposed to do? Was it a homing or brainwashing device? She felt normal, so it couldn't be the latter… unless this was some freaky kidnapper who was messing with her mind. She couldn't even remember being kidnapped. She would have thought her ninja training would have woken her up to something that drastic.
She tore her gaze away from the mirror and continued her walk. Whoever had disrupted her life was going to pay. And why was this kidnapper not like all the others? She would have thought she'd have been attacked by a group of putties or some new creatures. She hadn't even been tied up.
"When will this hallway end?" She muttered under her breath. Her current situation was really starting to annoy her. Maybe this is all a dream. I'll wake up on my hammock back home in Miami, Florida.
She brought her wrist to her mouth. "Billy, can you hear me?"
Nothing. Just a slight crackle filled the air. "Billy??"
Damn. Something must really be up.
Oh well. He would still know something was wrong if she didn't contact him anyway. They had gotten into the habit of sending messages back and forth since he had the genius idea of restoring the communicators. Instead of watches, however, Billy had converted them into bracelets that would not be as ornate. Hers had a pink jewel in the center. The system was also completely different. In some ways, the bracelets were like cell phones. If one person didn't have their communicator on, the ranger trying to make contact could forward a message.
Another thought struck her. Maybe Billy's bracelet broke, or his computer system is down. Or maybe they were having a power outage. It happened in her neighborhood all the time.
"Trini? Is this getting through?" She paused. Nothing. She tried Jason. Still nothing. Zach didn't answer either. In blind hope, she tried one last time.
"Billy? I don't know why this isn't working, but something's wrong. I think I've been kidnapped. I don't know by whom, and I don't know why, and I sure as hell don't know where I am. I hope you get this…"
The only time communications had never worked was when the team had been trapped in the old warehouse thing. That had been ages ago, when Rita and Zedd married.
Her attention was diverted when she heard a noise behind her. Immediately, her body stiffened. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck rise. Slowly, she turned around ready to combat.
Her eyes widened. "Oh my God."
A monster almost twice her height and double her weight backhanded her. Caught off guard, she fell to the ground. She gazed up at it, and decided it was definitely the evil twin of the hulk. The thing growled at her, and before she could collect herself, it kicked her in the ribcage. She cried out in pain. That definitely broke something.
The monster attempted another kick, but this time she was ready. She grabbed what should be his ankle and twisted. It flipped sideways and let out a loud roar. She hastily jumped up as the monster regained its footing. He snarled.
"What, no taunting? This is unusual." Kimberly joked. She should have kept quiet. With an inhuman amount of strength, he slammed her against the wall. She felt the air leaving her body, then the need to breathe. She couldn't. The monster took this time shove her head into the wall. She hit something sharp and felt her skin tear on her right temple. Struggling to stay conscious, she lamely slapped the monster's chest. Her efforts failed, as it swung her now limp body over his shoulder. Then her world stopped.
Her eyes fluttered. She winced at the bright light above her. For a moment, she thought she had gone blind. Then she remembered that everything would be dark, darker than that hallway, if that were the case. She felt something thick flowing down the side of her face. She was in an orange-lit room that strangely reminded her of a dungeon. As she stood up, she became dizzy and everything blurred. Finally, everything seemed to come into focus as she looked around. She froze as she saw a familiar face grinning deviously at her.
"Hello, Kimberly."
"Divatox." Kimberly's eyebrows narrowed. "What do you want from me?"
Divatox cackled. "Not from you, darling. You."
The former pink ranger rolled her eyes. "Okay, let me rephrase. Why do you want me?"
"I need help to restore my place as ruler of the Earth. That stupid Astronema has taken my place along with the Dark Specter. The only beings strong enough to beat Astronema or any other nemesis are the Power Rangers."
"First of all, you never were the "ruler of the Earth" as you just said you were. Second of all, I am nowhere near as strong as the other rangers were and some still are. Why choose me?" Kimberly questioned. She had been chosen to be the bride of an enemy but not a partner.
"You, dear Crane, have improved far beyond any other ranger. I see you've been training hard since I saw you last. You have spunk, strength, wisdom, charisma, passion, and not to mention great style. That is definitely lacking in this business. You'll make a great associate."
"Hold up. Who said I agreed to this? Did you think I'd just hand myself over. Give up everything I stand for just because you want me to? I don't think so." Kimberly folded her arms.
"Of course not. That is another reason why I picked you. Your stubbornness will be great when you are on my side."
"And exactly how were you going cross me over? Lower me into a volcanic pit again?" Kimberly stated with satire.
"How unoriginal, dear. I never repeat myself." Divatox waved her hand airily.
"You captured me before."
"Yes, but this time it was on purpose."
"You mean you didn't mean to last time?" Kimberly almost laughed. She must have the worst luck in the world then.
"Worked out better for me anyway. Great leverage. Now anyway. Back to turning you to the dark side." Divatox flipped her long dark hair over her shoulder and began pacing across the small room. "I'm sure you've already noticed the metal contraption on your face." She looked at Kimberly who nodded. "Yes, well that is a device I invented myself. When I press this button," She paused and held up a remote control. "Jolts of electricity will pass through your body. After a few hours, you'll be begging for me to stop."
"That's it? You're going to torture me into consenting." Kimberly said flatly.
"Oh, Kimberly, you do realize that it will leave your mind weak. You're body will be weak. You won't be nourished. None of your ranger friends will know where to find you. You can't contact them, and they can't contact you. For all you know, they might not even bother to search for you. In fact, they might not even realize you're gone. It's not like you kept in constant contact with them anyway."
She was wrong there, but Kimberly wouldn't inform her. She and Billy talked constantly. She frowned. But he was on an entirely different planet. An emergency could occur occupying his time, and as a result, he could forget about her. Depending on how long the emergency lasted, she could be evil by the time he realized something was wrong.
The others, she doubted would notice anything wrong since she talked to them less. Trini, Jason, and Zach were constantly traveling Europe when they weren't in Geneva. She never really talked to Tommy anymore. Not that she didn't want to; he seemed to not want her in his life anymore, which was to be expected with the way she broke up with him. She had no idea what Rocky was up to, and Adam was busy in the public life. Aisha was currently busy finishing veterinarian school, and Kimberly hadn't wanted to interfere with her studies.
No, they would not know until it was too late.
Kimberly shook her head. No, she couldn't doubt them. Her friends would always be there for her. But the seed of unsettlement had already been sowed, and it would continue to grow. She could feel the comfort and love in her heart leak out, leaving her empty inside.
Divatox saw that her job was done for now. She turned her back and walked leisurely out of the room, sealing the door behind her.
Kimberly stared at her enemy's retreating back, tears filling her eyes. This was the twilight zone. She seemed detached from the world. She couldn't hear any noise, just her intense thoughts running through her mind. She took a step back as the lights dimmed. She continued to back up until she hit a wall. The pain in her ribs increased and she gasped for air. She felt her legs giving out from underneath her. She sank down to the floor and let the tears plummet down her cheeks.