DISCLAIMER: Insert standard disclaimer here, regarding Saban, Disney, and everyone else whom I am not ripping off.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks again to all of you for your continued readership. I'm glad to see you're enjoying the story, and hopefully I'll be able to meet your expectations. On with the plot!
Chapter IV
Kimberly closed the door gently behind her, slumping back against it as tears threatened to engulf her once more. Jason, who had been leaning against the wall adjacent to the door solemnly, walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her in a protective embrace, letting her cry softly into his shirt. It pained him to see her like this. In all the years that he had known her, he had always considered her to be his little sister, and he had done his best to protect her from harm, both physical and emotional. In fact, while leaving the rangers to go to the Peace Conference had been difficult to come to grips with, it was his subconscious need to protect Kimberly that almost made him change his mind. He would have stayed behind while Zack and Trini went if Kimberly herself hadn't talked him into going. He remembered feeling secure in the knowledge that Tommy would be there to take care of her while he was gone. Unfortunately, when he returned to Angel Grove, some two and a half years later, things weren't as he'd left them. Kimberly had left, to train for the Pan Global Games in Florida, giving her power coin to Katherine in the process. He had tried to talk to Tommy about it, a few times, but he would always have this sad look in his eyes in the split second it took to put on a superficial smile and change the subject. The only clue Jason got to what had happened was an off-hand remark about a letter that Kim had sent, and none of the other rangers or Billy felt it was their place to tell him.
They walked back to the crowded waiting room, located a little ways down the hallway. The area was sparsely furnished, with a scattering of chairs and a few small end-tables upon which rested the occasional issue of "Reader's Digest" or "Cosmopolitan". Most of the people seated sat huddled together, talking in hushed voices, though there were the occasional few who sat by themselves, immersed in their own thoughts. He led her to the far corner, where a black man in his mid-twenties was sitting, rubbing his neck, apparently in an effort to release some tension. The man was clad in a pair of black semi-dress pants, black dress shoes and a black suit jacket overtop a purple dress shirt. His recently shaved head had a thin layer of sweat on its surface, which reflected some of the light emanating from the bulbs overhead. When he saw Jason and Kimberly approaching him, he nearly jumped out of his seat.
"How is he?" he asked. He waved to a pair of chairs beside where he was sitting, motioning for them to sit down. They lowered themselves into their respective chairs, and Kimberly retrieved a tissue from her purse to wipe the dried tears from her eyes.
"He seems to be recovering from the wound…" she whispered, doing her best to keep her composure.
"He didn't let her stay for that long," Jason commented softly. Zack sighed and shrugged his shoulders slightly.
"I have a feeling that we're going to find out why this happened soon," he said, in a half-joking, half-ominous tone of voice. Kimberly smiled, and Jason chuckled audibly, which broke the tension between the three of them.
"Where'd the others go?" Kimberly asked.
"Rocky and Adam took the girls to get a bite to eat while we took over the vigil," Zack replied, referring to Kat and Tanya. "As for Billy…"
"You haven't heard anything from Aquitar?" Jason asked. Zack shook his head.
"Nadda. Besides, I don't have the equipment to even hope to set up interstellar communications with Aquitar."
"We could try checking Billy's old garage. It's possible that his parents didn't throw out any of his stuff," Kimberly commented.
"Good point, Kim. As soon as we can get Tommy out of here, we should get over there and check things out."
"We have to see him! It's urgent!" Kimberly, Jason and Zack's heads turned in unison to the nursing station located at the far end of the hallway.
"I'm afraid visiting hours ended half an hour ago. You'll just have to wait until tomorrow like everyone else." The teenager seemed about to shoot back a retort, but the girl in yellow to his left lay a restraining hand on his shoulder, and he seemed to bite his tongue. He stalked off towards the waiting area, where the three former Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers were sitting, followed closely behind by the girl and a young black man clad in blue.
"I can't believe they won't let us see him," the teenager in blue said grumpily. The girl shrugged.
"You can't really blame them, Ethan. They have regulations to follow, and it is past visiting hours." The teenager in red crossed his arms.
"None of this is making any sense. First he has that attack in the classroom, then Hayley starts freaking out, and now he's lying in a hospital bed. There's something going down, guys, and I'll bet you anything that Mesogog is behind it." Ethan scratched his jaw thoughtfully.
"That's a definite possibility, Conner. Mesogog knows that he's the one who's been helping us fight him, and it would make sense to try and take him out of the picture. What do you think, Kira?" He turned his head to look at her, noticing the worry playing lightly on her features.
"What does it matter who did it?" Conner seemed about to speak, opening his mouth, but closed his mouth soundlessly and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, as Ethan did the same.
"It'll be alright, Kira. If it takes all of our powers, we'll track down whoever did this and make them pay," Conner said with conviction, as the three of them sat down in a corner of the waiting room, avoiding making eye contact with the group seated in the corner opposite them.
"There's something strange about those kids, Jase," Zack said suddenly.
"What makes you think that?"
"There are a couple of things. They were talking about fighting some guy named Mesogog. Plus, have you noticed the way they walk? It seems to me like they've seen some action, and the action I'm talking about isn't sports related." Jason's eyebrows rose.
"Do you think they're rangers?"
"I don't know, but it's possible. Three new rangers popped up in Reefside—"
"Reefside?" Kimberly interrupted with a question.
"Yeah, it's a city about the size of Angel Grove, a couple of hours away," Zack continued. Jason shook his head in amazement.
"This is starting to make a little sense," Jason said. Kimberly and Zack both looked at him.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"Reefside is the city that Tommy told me he'd moved to, and I wouldn't be surprised if he'd been involved in the creation of these new rangers." Conner's ears perked up at hearing Tommy's name, and he got up and walked over to Jason.
"Do you know Doctor O?"
"Who?" Jason asked, not bothering to look in Conner's direction.
"Doctor Oliver." Three pairs of eyes, belonging to former power rangers, turned to stare at Conner, a collective gasp of surprise caught in their throats.
"Doctor?" Kimberly asked, her voice thick with both surprise and amusement. Jason chuckled as Ethan and Kira walked over to join Conner.
"I always thought Tommy would end up becoming a race car driver. After karate, it was always his passion." Ethan's eyebrows rose.
"Race cars? Our Doctor O? I don't think so." Zack smirked.
"It's true. We didn't believe it at first either, but he really was serious about it. I'm not sure what happened to him to change his mind about racing as a career." Kira crossed her arms across her chest.
"Who exactly are you guys?"
"We were pow—" Jason began, but Kimberly clapped her hand over his mouth.
"We're old friends of Tommy's. We went to high school together," she answered, as Jason's muffled voice tried to come through Kimberly's mouth.
A crash responded to their discussion, just around the corner. The six of them reacted immediately, lining up in a row and dropping into fighting stances. They heard loud footsteps echoing off of the floor, coming at a steady pace, as the figure who caused the disturbance came closer and closer. It seemed to take an eternity for the form to come down the corridor. The six stood waiting as the form began to round the corner…and disappeared. They all whipped their heads in all directions, confusion setting in quickly. Before anyone could react, Conner, Ethan, Kira, Zack and Jason had all been thrown out of the way, crashing against the walls on either side of the waiting room. As they struggled to their feet, Kimberly felt a long, sharp blade pressed to her jugular, drawing a tiny pinprick of blood that trickled along her skin. The other five seemed about to rush forward, but the figure drew Kimberly closer to his chest.
"Ah-ah-ah, don't do anything stupid now. I can easily cut her throat before you can get close enough to save her. All I need you to do is listen to what my master has to say." Jason's fists clenched, and he said nothing as his jaw tightened, exposing the veins popping out in stark contrast to the rest of his neck. The Dino Thunder teens exchanged a glance.
"Ready, guys?" Conner asked. Ethan and Kira nodded in unison. They each quickly rotated their left wrists, in a manner similar to the way both the Zeo and Turbo Rangers called their morphers, and their morphers appeared where there gem bracelets had been mere seconds earlier. They began to go through the motions for their morphing sequence, but were stopped by the figure's words.
"What did I just say?" he asked, all hints of amusement gone from his voice. He pushed the blade tighter against Kimberly's throat, drawing a grimace from her mouth.
"Listen to him. There's too many people around, anyway," Zack said, his words informing the teens that they knew of the teens' secret. Conner swallowed hard, and moved his hand away from his morpher, as the others followed suit. They were completely at the figure's mercy.
- PRG -
My eyes snapped open as I heard a crash coming from outside. I cursed under my breath. I hadn't thought that Draeph would send someone for me so soon. I wasn't prepared, but I would have to face whatever had come for me. I threw the blanket to the side, revealing the white hospital gown the nurses had obviously dressed me in after the operation. I swung my legs over the side of the bed, and lowered myself to the floor, grunting in pain as my feet touched the cold linoleum. I moved slowly to a chair sitting at the foot of the bed, where my clothes were stacked, and threw off the gown, leaving me clad in only my boxers. I pulled on my socks and pants as quickly as I could, and retrieved my shoes. I threw on my shirt, not bothering to button it up, and swung open the door, lurching out into the hallway, my right hand clutching the side of my chest.
"What did I just say?" I heard a dark figure mutter seriously, as it pressed a blade to the neck of someone clad in pink…it was Kimberly. My left fist clenched tightly, and I staggered forward as quickly as I could, feeling the wound in my abdomen beginning to tear as I moved. I tightened my lips and whistled loudly, drawing attention to myself. The figure turned to face me, keeping the knife at Kimberly's throat. Kimberly's face bore an expression of fear as she looked at me.
"Hey asshole, it's me you want. Let her go," I demanded as strongly as I could. The figure smirked.
"What's to stop me from slitting her throat right here and now?" I could feel the old rage building inside of me. I cracked my neck from side to side, embracing the feeling. I didn't like who I became when I succumbed to the rage, but right now, I needed all the strength I could get. I moved my right hand away from my abdomen, feeling blood on my palm. I looked down to see the bandage soaked through with blood. I glared at the figure darkly, wanting nothing more than to beat the living hell out of this mercenary who threatened the life of the woman I love…loved.
"If you do that," I said, boring holes in his body with my icy stare, "then I will snap your neck with my bare hands." The tone of voice I was using was one I hadn't used since my early days as a ranger, as Rita Repulsa's evil Green Ranger. I sounded completely soulless, to the point where I was beginning to scare myself. My body was completely rigid, and I could feel the blood trickling down my abdomen to form a puddle on the rim of my pants. My blood was pounding in my veins as adrenaline surged through me. I felt invigorated, but not in a good way. I felt strong. Strong enough to kill.
In my peripheral vision, I saw the others staring at me with uncertainty in their eyes. I stared at Conner for a moment, and he returned my gaze. I shifted my eyes quickly from him, to the figure, and back again. I saw a brief wave of confusion come over him, but I didn't have the time to give him the message again. I just hoped that he would realize what I had just asked him to do in time. The figure cackled in glee.
"You think that a puny human can kill the great Nirril? I would truly enjoy seeing you die making the attempt." Nirril smirked evilly, and I knew immediately what he was going to do. I ran full out for him, the searing pain in my side becoming an inconsequential thought compared to what was about to happen. I can't lose her! Not again! I heard myself screaming out as Nirril moved to bring the knife across Kimberly's throat.