Vows meant something in the old days.
A pledge to defend, to honor, to preserve.
As Kimberly Hart gazed upon her reflection in the mirror, the breathtaking beauty of her wedding dress awoke memories of those vows, for this was the ultimate commitment. There would be no going back from it.
She paid for the dress, and, still wearing it, walked out of the worn down fashion store towards the rickety van parked outside of it. A slender, young man with a mullet and half-torn shirt and jeans was working feverishly on the engine, trying to get it running again.
"Hey, I'm wearing a bargain, let me know if we hit the jackpot" she said, twirling around in the dress excitedly. The man seemed disinterested.
"I'm sure you look fine" he said.
"Hey,
"Jason, look at me" she said.
"Why did you want to marry me Kim?" Jason replied.
"Let's not start that again, we're only hours away from eloping" Kimberly replied.
"Give me the answer and I'll give you the seal of approval on the 'I dos'" Jason said, persisting with the inquisition.
Kimberly stayed silent.
"It's my name is'nt it? Reminds you of him" he said
"That's not the reason" Kimberly replied.
"Don't bullshit me on this" Jason continued, finally turning around to greet Kimberly with raging eyes.
"Jason, you're just getting cold feet, that's it. You're a little hesitant, so was I, but I understand, ok? This is a big leap for the two of us and it's ok to feel like you want to come away from the edge..."
"I've gone just about over the edge for you, I've been an honest man, an honourable man, and you can't seem to indulge me with a little honesty of your own" he said.
The tension was intense, the nerves of both were shot, it had been a trying day, a day they had spent on the run from forces that had a tight stranglehold on thier world. They were prepared to take on whatever the planet threw at them, but for Kimberly Hart and Jason Newton of Pride Valley, Angel Grove was beckoning, and with it, everything associated with the past.
A past Kimberly would not be open to this particular Jason with.
About the wars with Rita and Zedd's clan, about the selfless hours spent saving the lives of complete strangers while tearing thier city and worlds apart clashing with collosal monsters with their fierce and merciless battle machines.
About the two other important men in their lives. One of whom was also called Jason.
The other was a ghost.
Yet the spectre of both were threatning to sever the ties Kimberly was trying to establish with the man who would be her future.
The weight on his shoulders was heavy, and she did not know how best to lift it.
"I'm going to listen to the radio and chill a bit" said Kimberly, electing to let him cool off rather than make any herculean effort to ease his pain.
What could she say to him? That he was RIGHT? That she loved him because she saw traits of the Jason she knew in him?
She got into the van and turned the radio on. A nice soulful tune played, but before it could permit Kimberly any comforting solitude, it was swifty cut off to make way for an emergency news bulletin.
"In light of ongoing tensions, immigration and uprisings along the perimeter of the Venjix barricade, General Francis Collins of the Silver Guardians announced today that the Silver Guardian programme is to be expanded beyond Silver Hill's limits. The programme will now be able to recruit citizens from neighbouring cities, including ones tied to the very heart of the Imperial Machine mainframe. People who inhabit even the most disenfranchised portions of their respective cities will also be allowed to enroll for a modest fee and Guardian approved accomedation and financial aid"
"Braver world" Kimberly said under her breath.
"Hey" said Jason as he got into the driver's seat.
"Calmer?" Kimberly asked.
"As calm as the waves were on the beach where I met you" said Jason, stroking her hand delicately and admiring the engagement ring he had given her.
Kimberly heard something that made her glance at the rear-view mirror. The van was surrounded by hooded men brandishing firearms.
"Machine shocktroopers" said Kimberly.
"What do we do?" said Jason.
"You'll do nothing, let me deal with this" instructed Kimberly.
"Kim, you need back-up" Jason said as Kimberly put something else in his hand.
"No, your job is to find back-up" Kimberly said, giving Jason an electronic wrist device and fastening it to his wrist.
"When I give you the signal, you push down on this, you hear me? No questions, it'll take you to where you need to be"
"Where's that?" said Jason.
"You'll be with friends, you'll be safe, trust me" Kimberly continued, and swiftly exited the van before Jason Newton could say anything else.
Kimberly stormed towards the lead Machine Shocktrooper with thunderous purpose, visible ire on her face.
"Who sent for you?" she said.
The Shocktrooper remained silent, then fell back as two people familiar to Kimberly made their prescense felt.
One carried a sizeable weight of his own. A physical weight to see the least, another was a lanky and thin man with a gnarly laugh. Kimberly reacted with mild surprise and outright disgust.
"Bulk and Skull" she said, "I did'nt think you had it in you to sell us out"
"Told you we'd find out they really were" said Francis Bulkmyer to his friend Eugene Skullovitch. Two high school dropouts turned deadbeat detectives, occasional allies to Kimberly and her friends in their other lives, but their roots were in antagonizing their civilian identities.
"Is this why you were always ducking me on dates?" taunted Skull as Kimberly clenched her fist in anger.
"You never stood a chance my numb Skull, she had two soldiers to choose from, she let a ghost fade and now she's latched onto anyone bearing her other intended's name"
"You keep that mouth shut" ordered Kimberly.
Skull laughed, and turned to the Shocktrooper.
"Her boyfriend is in the van" he said.
"You leave him alone" said Kimberly, glancing over to the van and giving Jason a nod.
Jason took that as the signal and pressed down on the device attached to his wrist. A swilr of hot electrical white energy enveloped him as his corporeal body dissapted and became a blistering streak of light that shot upwards into the sky and hurtled across the heavens.
"Target the energy streak with your destabalizers and open fire" the chief Shocktrooper instructed. His
Kimberly threw off her shoes and nailed the chief Shocktroper with a swift kick to the chest, she then somersalted and grabbed another trooper's head with both feet and twisted it off, she grabbed the head and threw it into another Shocktrooper, leaving it shaken.
Bulk and Skull took cover as the battle escalated, stumblin on one of the fallen Shocktrooper's discarded rifles.
Kimberly found battling the troopers in her dress most discomforting, she tore a portion of the bottom off to give her legs more liberated space, and nailed two more soldiers looming over her with furious flying fists that caught them in the rear of the jaw.
The fight, however, easily tired her. It had been so long since she and Jason had gone on the run, fleeing the city to elope at the nearest legalized chapel at the heart of Stone Canyon.
More was on her mind than the battle cries of old.
She had thought those habits had finally swayed, given in to something new.
How wrong she was.
How very wrong.
And the thought of that was enough to slow her down, wear her down to the point she was left vulnerable just long enough to be clubbed in the back of the head by the butt of an assault rifle.
"What do you know Bulk? I finally nabbed her" Skull said, cackling.
"Bring her in, inform the Skybase that her finace is with The Order" Bulk instructed.
And as Kimberly Hart slipped into unconsciousness, one word danced across her lips, and the darnedest part of it all, was that she wasn't sure who she was calling it out to.
Her head or her heart.
"Jason" she whispered.
Meantime, Jason Newton found himself surrounded by people he did not sense were on the friendly side, no matter what Kimberly had said.
He did not understand what had happened to him, all he knew was he was on the outskirts of where he'd departed from, and he wasn't alone.
Standing over him was a small group of misfits, each looking worse for wear, each with an unknown grudge etched on their faces channeling their emotions.
The leader of this unit was a lean korean man brandishing a battle axe, an eyepatch across his right eye.
"That was some sight...we thought you were somebody altogether different, but I've never seen the likesw of you in all the days I streaked through the sky like that" the man spoke, offering his hand to pick Jason up.
"My name's Adam" he said.
"My, my name's Jason...I..." Jason began, only to be be cut off as Adam stared long and hard at the item he was clutching in his hand.
"Where did you get this?" he asked.
Jason stared at it, he hadn't really focused on what put in that hand of his as everything had happened so quickly.
It was a coin, pink energy encircled it.
Jason Newton, fiance of Kimberly Hart, felt more like a complete stranger.