Chapter 04
Tommy closed his locker door and took a deep breath as he turned to see Kimberly at her locker. He shook his hands out, wiping them on the sides of his pants before he made his way over to her. Kimberly looked up as he was walking over and smiled, running a hand through her hair, being careful not to dislodge the pink flower that was resting by her ear.
"Hey Tommy, what's up?" She asked him before stretching up to give him a kiss on the cheek.
"Oh, well, not much," Tommy returned her smile. "Just…" he trailed off, licking his lips. "Listen, I don't want you to think that I don't care about you." He started. Kimberly gave him a confused look, tilting her head to the side. "But…doing cute, creative things…I'm just not good at it. And I know that you're probably expecting a really public way of me asking you but…" he pulled out his hand that was behind his back, revealing a bouquet of roses.
"Tommy!" Kimberly's eyes lit up as she took the bouquet. "They're so beautiful." She hugged them to her chest and sniffed them, smiling at the pleasant scent that wafted out of them. "Thanks so much."
"So, will you go to the homecoming dance with me?" Tommy asked with sheepish smile.
"Of course," Kimberly looked over her shoulder before giving him a kiss.
"Settle down, kids, some might be uncomfortable with that sort of thing," Zack teased as he walked over. He clapped Tommy on the shoulder. "I told you that the flowers would work, man." He winked at the two of them. "Never underestimate the work of flowers."
"That's because you use them to try to distract your mother when you get a bad grade," Jason commented as he, Billy, and Trini walked over as well. He turned to Kimberly. "What are you doing today? Do you want to help me and the guys with a class that I'm teaching today? It's bigger than any of the other ones I've had and it'll be easier to have a lot of help so different aspects, like balance, can be worked on in smaller groups."
"Oh, I can't," Kimberly said with a apologetic smile.
"Kimberly and I are going to the mall to put our homecoming dresses on reserve," Trini replied.
"What'd I tell ya, man?" Zack shook his head as Tommy laughed. "They always have to know their dresses two weeks ahead of time."
"Actually, the idea has some merit," Billy spoke up. He held his books at his side. "The intelligible idea of utilizing one's time to its full potential will not only set you up for attainment in the future, but it's a useful clout to have."
"What he said," Trini agreed. "It's better if we get it done now. That way we'll have more time to plan spirit week and the events and stuff leading up to homecoming. Plus, there's the decorating and the budget that we have to go over as well."
"So," Kimberly linked her arm through Trini's. "We need to get going now or we're going to fall way behind schedule." Her smile widened. "And when I say schedule, I mean my shopping plan, because there has to be enough time to buy shoes…more than one pair if there's a sale!"
"I saw the cutest dress here the other day," Kimberly said as she and Trini walked through the mall, over to a store that had many bright colored dresses in front windows. "They have so many great choices, too. It was hard to choose just one."
"I'll bet," Trini agreed as they walked into the store. "You and dresses…you always have such a hard time just picking one."
"It's not my fault that they're, like, so cute and perfect," Kimberly giggled. She headed straight for the dresses at the back of the store. Those were the ones that were more formal, the ones towards the front of the store held what you would normally wear on a Saturday afternoon or for a walk in the park. "Look!" Kimberly beamed and pulled out a pink dress with a black rose in the corner. "Isn't it amazing?" She asked her best friend.
"It's perfect for you," Trini agreed. "Go try it on," she urged.
"Ok," Kimberly held the dress against her chest before she hurried into the dressing room and it tried it on. To her delight, it fit her perfectly. Once she left the dressing room, she then walked over to the accessories and found a pair of black high heels, a white bracelet, and a white head band with a pink rose on it.
"Ok, now we need to find something for you," Kimberly said as she turned to Trini. "You're gonna totally die when you see what I have in mind."
"I'm sure it's great, Kim," Trini agreed.
They walked back over to the other dresses and found a yellow dress with a big black belt for Trini to try on, Trini walked into the dressing room and tried it on, and it also fit her perfectly. They then found the perfect accessories for her dress as well, a pair of black high heels and a black rose chain necklace with a diamond in the middle
"That's so awesome, Trini!" Kimberly cried when she saw the necklace that her friend had picked out. "Seriously, I think it's the best necklace that I've ever seen. It reminds me of the necklace that I'm going to wear. It's my favorite; I got it from my mother." She nodded earnestly. "The pearl one, you know? It's so rad."
"I really do like it," Trini agreed. She looked over the dress before looking back at the necklace that was in her hands. "We should go and pay for this stuff before someone else tries to get them." The two went back to the dressing rooms and changed into their clothes before taking their dresses and accessories over to the cash registers.
Once they paid for their dresses, Kimberly and Trini took their bags and started to slowly walk through the mall, looking around at the other stores to see if there was anything else that they wanted to get. Kimberly gazed at a pair of wedge heels that was being displayed in a window with a longing stare. But she was trying to keep herself from buying too much
"C'mon Kim," Trini lightly tugged her arm. "It's not going to help if you if you're staring at them like that."
"But they're so cute!" Kimberly protested.
"Kim, you think all shoes are cute," Trini reminded her with a laugh. "That's why your closet is filled to the brim with them."
"I can't help it," Kimberly leaned heavily into Trini's side, pouting. "I just love them all." She and Trini laughed, lightly pushing each other. Kimberly twirled into Trini's path and then turned to her best friend with a sly smile. "Do you have a date to the dance yet?"
"Not yet," Trini replied, shaking her head. "I've been too busy to even think about it." She shrugged, moving her hands behind her back, twisting her bag back and forth.
"Good," Kimberly clasped her hands together. "Because I know someone perfect that you should go out with." She wiggled her eyebrows before laughing, lightly pushing Trini's arm. "You should go with Billy; the two of you would have a great time together!"
"I don't know, Kim," Trini shrugged again. "Dances aren't really Billy's thing-"
"So?" Kimberly interrupted. "You guys would have a blast together!" She stopped walking and tilted her head to the side. "I mean, you like him don't you?"
"It's not that Kim, it's just…" Trini shook her head. "Never mind, forget about it." Kimberly pouted and looked like she was going to push the issue even further, but Trini looked to the side, taking her eyes away from her friend. "Hey, look, it's Avalon." She pointed.
Kimberly turned around and the two watched as Avalon walked over to the large fountain and sat down on the edge, crossing her legs at the knee, her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket. She bounced her foot up and down, the heel of her boot barely grazing the floor. It looked like she was waiting for someone.
"Let's go over and say 'hi'," Kimberly said and started over before Trini could say anything. "Hey Avalon," Kimberly greeted her cheerfully. "What brings you here?"
Avalon lifted her brown eyes to Kimberly. "I'm taking in the whole mall experience," She said with a sarcastic edge to her accented voice. "They don't have places like this back in Oz." She commented. She shook her head. Her hair, which was pulled back in a orange scrunchie, bobbed with her movements. She then crossed her legs the other way. "I'm just waiting for some friends of mine."
"Oh right, you said that you've been living in Angel Grove for a couple of years now," Trini nodded. She smiled warmly. "How do you like the place?"
"I like it fine," Avalon shrugged. "There just seem to be a lot of monster attacks and earth quakes around here."
"Oh yeah," Kimberly tried to keep a straight face. "It's so weird, isn't it? It's like something out of a monster movie."
"You just have to be careful around here," Trini added. "Keep your eyes open and stay as safe as possible."
Avalon nodded at the advice, but didn't respond. She then looked at the bags that were in their hands. "I'm guessing you just got your dresses for the dance next month?" She asked and then tilted her head to the side as they nodded. "I didn't know that people still went to those things."
"You're not going?" Trini asked, her eyebrows rising. "It's homecoming, everyone goes to the homecoming dance."
"Dances aren't my thing," Avalon said simply. "I never really got the point of dressing up to go to a dance. Besides, there's always some sort of aggro drama that pops up somewhere." Her eyes shifted behind the two girls as she stood up. She nodded over at Chase, Skye and Summer as they moved to her side, all wearing black leather jackets as well. Avalon paused for a moment before turning back to Kimberly and Trini. "This is Chase, Skye, and Summer." She then turned her friends who were studying the Pink and Yellow Ranger closely. "Guys, this is Kimberly and Trini."
"T'sup?" Skye asked with a light bob of his head. He looked down at their bags and s smile slowly spread across their faces. "Looks like you've got a lot of shopping done."
"Deb," Summer added with a smile. "That's my kind of store. Cute dresses and everything."
"I know," Kimberly agreed. "We just got our homecoming dresses. The dance is next month."
"Lucky you can afford it," Summer's smile waned for a moment. "The stuff is kind of expensive."
"Summer, lay off," Avalon warned her friend. She looked at Kimberly and Trini out of the corner of her eye for a moment before looking at her again. "All you ever do is talk about money, sheila, it gets old fast." Summer merely shrugged.
"Pinkie," Chase turned towards Avalon, completely ignoring Trini and Kimberly.
Pinkie? Trini's eyebrows knitted together.
"Didn't you say that you had to get your sister today?" Chase continued.
"She's working on a science project with her group at school," Avalon replied, looking back at Chase, returning his challenging stare. "What's it to ya?" She shook her head. "Ignore him," she was now speaking to Kimberly and Trini. "He thinks that he's some sort of a God or something." She twirled her finger by her head, causing the two girls to laugh. "I have to go," she tilted her head towards her friends. "I've got plans."
"We'll see you in school," Kimberly agreed. As Avalon turned away, her eyes moved towards the belt that she was wearing. She let out a light gasp when she caught a glimpse of Avalon's morpher. Kimberly grabbed onto Trini's arm and pulled her to the side, sitting on the edge of the fountain, knowing that the rushing water of the attraction would mask their voices. "Trini, I think Avalon has a morpher."
"What?" Trini's eyes widened. "Are you sure, Kim?"
"No," Kimberly admitted. "But when she was turning away, I caught a glimpse of her belt buckle, and it looked exactly like a morpher."
"But why would Zordon give her the powers and not tell us?" Trini asked. "If it really was a morpher." She added. Trini thought for a moment and then snapped her fingers. "The communicator!" She cried. Kimberly made a face. "Remember? Zordon wanted him to make another communicator, what if it's for Avalon?"
"Then why wouldn't Zordon and Alpha tell us?" Kimberly asked. "The last time this happened, Tommy was given the powers of the White Ranger and it was being kept a secret so Rita wouldn't try to use her powers of darkness against him as he was first getting his powers." She raised a finger to his chin. "It must be something important if they haven't said anything."
"We won't know unless we ask," Trini pointed out. She looked down as their communicators sounded. "Speak of the devil." She lifted her communicator up to her mouth. "What's gong on, Zordon?"
"You and Kimberly need to get to the command center right away," Zordon replied.
"Got it," Trini said.
"Let's go." Kimberly nodded.
She and Kimberly got up and hurried over to the bathrooms, ducking inside. They checked the stalls to be sure that they were alone before they transported to the command center.
"Good, you're here," Jason said once Kimberly and Trini appeared at his side. He gestured to the viewing globe. "Check it out."
Kimberly and Trini looked over at the viewing globe. They gasped when they saw Rita's latest monster, what looked like a giant fish attacking a nearby playground. What made it worse was that was where Bailey and her group had been working on their project. When the girls spotted the monster, they tried to get away. But Bailey tripped and fell and the monster converged on her.
"We have to help her," Zack said, watching the screen intently.
Trini turned around o face Zordon. "Does this have to do with Avalon?" She asked him. At Tommy's, Jason's, Zack's, and Billy's confused glances, she quickly explained what happened at the mall. "Zordon, we can't risk Bailey getting hurt."
"Wait a minute." Jason held up his hands. He looked hard at Trini. "Are you saying that Avalon is one of us?"
"We don't know," Kimberly shook her head. "I thought I saw a morpher on her when we were at the mall, but I couldn't be sure."
Jason thought for a moment and then nodded. "Whether it's true or not, I'm not going to allow a innocent person to get hurt." He turned to Tommy and he nodded back. "It's morphin' time!"
"Tiger Zord!"
"Mastodon!"
"Pterodactyl!"
"Triceratops!"
"Saber Tooth Tiger!"
"Tyrannosaurus!"
The Rangers transported to the park where the fish monster had grabbed onto Bailey and was trying to hold her still. Bailey was putting up a formidable fight, rocking back and forth as she tried to break free. She fell to her knees, still struggling to get away, screaming the whole time.
"Let's do it, guys!" Tommy said, forming his hand into a fist.
"Bailey!" The rangers turned to see Avalon running through the playground towards her sister. Her hair had fallen out of the ponytail and was flying behind her as she ran. "Bailey! Let my sister go you bludger!" Once she got close enough Avalon gave a flying kick to the monster's head, knocking him to the side, releasing his grip on Bailey.
Bailey fell to the ground with a grunt. "Av!" She called towards her older sister.
"Get out of here," Avalon called. Bailey leapt to her feet and ran away as she fast as she could. Avalon turned back to the monster, her hands moving into fists by her face. "What are you anyway?"
"The Savage Sardine and I have direct orders from Rita to get rid of you!" The fish monster turned around and whipped Avalon with its tail, knocking her over. Avalon got back to her feet and charged the Savage Sardine, knocking him to the ground. She punched the Savage Sardine in the face a couple of times before he managed to knock her off of him again. The fish monster then used its webbed hands to slash Avalon's cheek before it swung its tail again, giving her a nasty blow to the head.
"You can do whatever you want to me," Avalon said as she got to her feet, a fire blazing in her dark eyes. "But when you touch my sister, that's when you cross the line." She kicked the Savage Sardine between the legs before backing up, giving herself some space. She looked down at her belt. "Number one rule in street fighting," she said to herself. "Use whatever you have around you to your advantage." Avalon quickly took her morpher off of her belt and raised it up to the sky. "Stegosaurus!"
To the Rangers' amazement, Avalon transformed into the orange ranger.
"Hiya!"
Avalon, now the orange ranger, surged forward and attacked the Savage Sardine with her new power. Avalon couldn't help but smile grimly to herself when she found that she was stronger than before, due to the new powers that she had acquired. It was probably the only thing that she could find that was good about having to be a ranger. Maybe if I could turn into a ranger when our group gets challenged, they wouldn't mess with us anymore.
Avalon continued to attack the Savage Sardine before she held her hand out to the sky. "Stegorang!" She called. Her boomerang with spikes, much like a stegosaurus, appeared in her hand. She ducked as the Savage Sardine turned towards her, trying to hit her with its tail, and then jumped high into the air. "Let's see if you can handle this!" She threw the boomerang and as it flew around the Savage Sardine, it did enough damage to cause him to fall to the ground as Avalon caught her boomerang again.
Avalon's eyes widened when there was a crackling of blue electricity and the savage sardine grew in size, towering over her, like Godzilla.
"This bloke really means business," she muttered to herself.
"Avalon now is the time to call upon the power of your stegosaurus zord!" Zordon's voice filled Avalon's helmet. "It's the only way that you can defeat the Savage Sardine."
"Got it," Avalon threw a hand into the air. "Stegosaurus!" She called. Avalon whipped around as there was a loud roaring sound behind her and found that her orange stegosaurus zord grunted and lowered its head. Avalon grinned. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" She jumped high into the air and entered the cockpit of her zord. "Let's see what this baby can do!"
"Don't think that you can defeat me!" The Savage Sardine cried. He attacked her zord; managing t hit her with his webbed hands along with a combination attack of a lashing with its tail.
"No you don't," Avalon muttered under her breath, her frustration quickly rising. She grabbed onto the controls of her zord and maneuvered it around so that the tail of the stegosaurus to hit the savage sardine. When the Savage Sardine hit the ground and tried to get back to its feet. Avalon tugged on the controls once more. This caused her zord to form itself into a ball, the spies along its back forming a protective shell around her. She twisted a knob and her zord started to harness energy as it started to rotate, much like a tire that was being revved on a car. "Fire!"
Like it was shot out of a canon, her zord rocketed forward and crashed into the savage sardine, easily defeating the monster.
Avalon let out a weary sigh once she got back to the apartment. She was wiped out from the battle earlier that day. She didn't think it was that bad, but once the power was gone, when she powered down from being a ranger, it was like all of her energy had been taken away from her. When the battle was over, she had sat down on a bench at the playground for a while and just thought about everything that had happened. Things definitely could have gone worse if Zordon and Alpha hadn't alerted her to the fact that her sister was in trouble. She probably wouldn't have fought the monster if it wasn't for her sister, if she was completely honest with herself. She was going out to do another hit on a different house, after being absolutely sure that no one was going to be back for a while. Chase was pissed when she had to leave.
So when the fight was over and she was done thinking, she had gone back to the house to see what was left. All she managed to get was a few measly pair of earrings, and they were the really expensive ones so she knew she was going to be limited on what she got from it. Avalon had then caught up with Chase, Summer, and Skye and they all went to the Pawn shop to get the money from it. She managed to get away with almost four hundred dollars, but it wasn't anywhere near close to what she had gotten from the last hit. Chase didn't say anything about it, but she knew that he was questioning her loyalty to them.
All of it was just making her even more paranoid than she was before.
"Av!"
Avalon got the wind knocked out of her as she was practically body-slammed against the door by her little sister. She looked down to see Bailey's arms wrapped tightly around her waist and was being squeezed tight. Avalon was about to tease her, calling her a baby about the way that she was acting, but then she got a good look at her sister's face. She had been crying; her eyes were completely bloodshot, she had dried tears on her face, and she was shaking. Avalon could feel Bailey shaking through her jacket.
"Bay, it's ok," Avalon said, wrapping her arms around her little sister and hugging her back. "Things are going to be ok." She titled Bailey's head back and wiped away her tears. "I promised that things were going to be ok with mum and dad's situation and I was right, right?" Bailey sucked in a gulp of air and nodded, her lower lip trembling. "And things are going to be ok now; I'm not going to let anything happen to you."
Bailey nodded, but continued to hold onto her sister. Avalon waited until she was calm enough, before she bent down and hoisted Bailey onto her back, piggy-backing her into the living room and dropping her onto the couch. "You know you really have a knack for getting in trouble," she remarked, before flopping down onto the couch next to her sister.
"And you have a knack for getting me out of it," Bailey replied. She wiped at her face. "How did you know where I was, anyway?"
Avalon closed her eyes, thinking about what she could possibly say to explain it. She knew that it would be hard to lie to Bailey, because Bailey would be able to figure it out really quickly. She had figured out that Avalon was in a gang faster than anyone else could even notice that her grades were starting to slip. It shocked her at first, but then it made sense, considering the fact that Bailey, without a doubt, had the smarts in the family. She could read Avalon like a book. It was only a matter of time until she noticed the bruises from the fights that she got in, and all of the money that she seemed to suddenly start getting (though she would hide it from her parents). It often made Avalon wonder if she was a bad sister, doing what she was doing. Lying to basically everyone they knew, taking care of Bailey herself, committing crimes day after day just to be sure that their heads stayed above water.
She knew it was wrong. She was even feeling guilty more times than not, because of what she was doing. But she was doing it for a selfless reason; to keep her sister from having to worry and that was the only thought that got her through the day. She couldn't risk anyone else finding out about what was going on. That's why she didn't have any friends, that's why she wouldn't have anyone over, that's why she wouldn't let anyone get close to her or her sister; even though it would probably be better if Bailey did have someone her own age to turn to. But she couldn't take that risk. She could risk them getting screwed over again and again. She promised herself that it was going to stop and it stopped. She wasn't going to allow their situation to go back to the way it was before. If she continued o be careful, then they could live well until Bailey was old enough to move out.
People were too scared to talk.
So she was safe for the time being.
So how was she going to explain all of it to a girl that, while she was smart, was still a little girl?
"Av?"
"Hmm?" Avalon opened her eyes to see Bailey still staring at her.
"Boofhead." Bailey gave a small smile. "I asked how you knew that I was in trouble."
"I always know when you're in trouble," Avalon said shortly. She desperately wanted to change the subject. "You're my sister; it's my business to know."
"But you were at the mall with your friends," Bailey insisted as only a ten year old girl could do. "Like, across the city. How did you know to come help me?"
Avalon stared hard at her sister and Bailey stared right back at her. Part of her was annoyed at that point, since she knew that the only way that Bailey learned not to back down from anything was from her. Sucks being the oldest sometimes, especially when they mimic you so much. Avalon decided not to answer the question, getting up from the couch and moving over to the kitchen. She was going to start dinner, anything, just to get that question away from her.
"You're a power ranger aren't you?" Avalon stopped in her tracks and turned around to look at Bailey. There was no point in denying it; she could tell just from the look on her sister's face that she knew it was the truth. Avalon's mouth gaped open, not sure what to say. "It wasn't that hard to figure out," Bailey said. She gave a half smile. "The fact that you have the same sort of belt buckle that the rangers do solidified it for me. I had my suspicions before then."
Avalon let out a sigh, running a hand over her forehead. She didn't even want to say the words out loud. That would make things too real for her, especially after what happened that day.
"Thanks Av," Bailey continued.
Avalon playfully scowled at her sister. "Just go take a bath."
"Fine."
Bailey left the living room and disappeared into the bathroom. When she heard the water turn on, Avalon went over to the counter to check the mail. Her scowl deepened when she noticed how many bills were in there. Definitely more than what she had made that day. That just meant that she had to be a bit more creative to get money for them. Avalon tossed the bills aside before getting out pots and pans.
I'm going to make sure that Bailey stays with me if it's the last thing that I ever do.
