Chapter 9: A Night of Dejection & Declaration

It has been the longest week for Tommy and the other Rangers following the attack of Zedd and the Dark Judges and Kimberly's abduction. It was needless to say that the absence of Kimberly in the house left the others with the feeling of dejection knowing how much she meant to the team, especially to Tommy. To them, Kimberly was the heart of the team and her presence and kindness reflected upon them. Her abduction caused the morale and mood of the house to drastically shift. Jason in particular was worried about Tommy's frame of mind without her presence around. His best friend haven't slept much or eat unless he or one of the others forced him to.

The mood was somber and everyone continued with their efforts to locate Kimberly while the potentials took it upon themselves to contribute. The young potential Rangers understood how much the loss of one of their own could affect them as the reality slowly started sinking in. Jason recalled one morning when one of the potentials mentioned the possible torture his little sister maybe enduring after Tommy overheard Kenji, Aidan and Penny talking. The minor slip up comment was too much for Tommy to handle as he walked out of the house feeling more depressed than ever. The others look on as Jason went to follow Tommy and knew exactly where to find his best friend, at "the spot" by the lake where Tommy and Kim first kissed.

"You know for the past week you've been coming out here every morning," Jason said as he clasped Tommy's shoulder.

"It's the only place where I feel close to her, yet I got no clue where she is," Tommy replied in a sad tone. "I don't want to think about the possibility that she'll suffer the same fate like Justin and Tanya. Not her, God don't let that be her."

"She won't and we understand where you're coming from bro," he added, "Everyone can understand your pain because the loss of Kim also effects us too. This isn't your pain alone Tommy remember? Share the burden, divide the grief."

"I don't know where she is Jason but I could feel her and she's suffering. I have this connection to her and I could feel everything she is feeling and it's a choking me on the inside to feel her pain. The last thing I don't want to feel the woman I love suffering. I couldn't stop Zedd from kidnapping her, what makes you think we have what it takes to stop them from taking the life of another Potential?"

"What you need is to be strong and keep fighting because everyone is counting on you: us, the potentials and especially Kim. She maybe the heart of the team but you also are heart of the team as well. If you keep blaming yourself for what happened to Kim then what next? Those bastards will exploit it and strike us when we're vulnerable. We need you because you have the strength to lead us and take on whatever is thrown our way. The last thing I don't want is my best friend, the guy who always has a plan to suddenly give up because you're not a quitter. Tommy Oliver doesn't quit or back down, you fight and look evil in the face." Jason explained hoping to boost Tommy's spirits.

"You're right Kim is counting on us and there is no way we're going to leave her to the mercy of Lokar," Tommy said with determination. "We can't quit on her, and we can't quit on them."

"I promise you bro you're not going to lose her a second time around even if I have to stake my life on that."

"I can't lose her again Jason because I'm nothing without her," Tommy replied, "But I love her too much not to give up on her."

"Then use that determination and will to fight for Kim because it's your greatest strength your love for Kimberly."

"But where do we start then?" Tommy asked as Jason clasped his shoulder. He turned to smile at his best friend and led him back to the house. "Tommy there is a reason why your friends are always there for you through thick and thin."

(The Lair)

Kimberly felt disorientated and groggy after another day of torture and agony. She knew she was somewhere in a cavern underground and it didn't surprise her that there were various caves and tunnels beneath Angel Grove. She finds herself being dragged face up along the dirt ground to a special room. The cuts on her arms, legs and stomach slowly started healing but left scars on her body. Everything ached so much and notice all the bruises on the side of the abdomen. Kim feeling dizzy and lightheaded looks around the room and sees a couple of Dark Judges carrying torches and the figure drops her legs and stares at Kimberly. Lokar comes into the room as Kim continues to glare daggers at the entity.

"Go on then give it a kick," Lokar hissed at the weird looking creature, "She always liked that kicking everything around. You must of had fun with Zedd and Rita didn't you? Kick a dolly when it's down, that was your style." Lokar kneels to watch what Kimberly dubbed as the Uber Putty kick her in the ribs very hard. Kimberly grunts and moans in extreme pain as she rolls her. She glares angrily at the Uber Putty as it hisses at Kimberly.

"You'll get yours Lokar, you and your stupid Evil League chumps," Kim moans angrily, "Do you think your little insurance policy will stop my friends from kicking your ass?"

"Now that's the little spirited firecracker I want to see, the one still clinging onto hope that in the dark her white knight will rescue his precious pink princess," Lokar mocked standing up and walking towards the Uber Putty. "All those bedtime stories they tell you when you are a child fabricates the wholesome happy endings. You see parents sugarcoat the stories to feed off the delusion the world is butterflies and rainbows." He continues to walk circles talking wickedly to the Uber Putty. "This guy here, he's what makes a real bedtime story. He is the reason why children are afraid of the dark and fear the terror of night. Our boy here needs some excitement and don't worry pal you'll have yours when night comes. Little boys and girls should know that monsters do exist but soon they'll find out just how real they are. For now pal I'll let you have fun with the firecracker."

The Uber Putty walks back towards Kimberly kicking her again in the stomach as she screams out in pain.

(Angel Grove Gallery)

Meanwhile, Jason and the others thought it would be a good idea to ease off on training the potentials for the day. They decided to show them around Angel Grove and introduce them to some of the historical landmarks and took them on a trip to the art gallery. The potentials thought it was a nice gesture for the veteran Rangers to give them a break due to the recent circumstances.

Convincing Tommy to come out and take his mind off of things proved to be a challenge. His friends were worried about the lack of sleep and eating he's been doing since Kimberly's abduction. They needed this day of relaxation as a means to prevent anything drastic or risk Tommy overworking himself. The trip to the gallery proved to be intriguing and interesting when the group unintentionally found themselves venturing into the basement on a recent discovery.

"Are you sure it's safe for us to be down here?" Kenji asked.

"Look I overheard one of the employees talking about finding some weird seal type thing down in the basement," Jason replied, "Besides my mother is one of the curators here. She showed me a picture of it and then I noticed it from somewhere."

"One of the manuscripts from Hartford," Tommy replied looking at the picture Jason showed him.

"I'm guessing this was just more than a casual trip wasn't it?" Rosaline asked.

"This is Angel Grove something weird always happens here," Kat added.

"Was it normal for weird things to happen?" Desmond asked, "Sometimes I like to relish in the fact I lived in San Antonio."

"Trust me you guys ain't seen nothing yet," Tommy said as they ventured on until they spotted the seal. "Okay well maybe except that."

"Wow no wonder why you guys were keen on taking us to the gallery today," Penny and Leanne smirked.

"It looks strange," Aidan commented, "What is it?"

"From the looks of it I think it's some kind of seal," Jason said investigating it, "Some of the employees were saying that strange things were occurring lately in the gallery. I don't know what but something is definitely going on."

"Look at this," Tommy added taking a closer look at the seal. He then notices the wheel like construct. "There's blood on this. Lot's of blood. I guess is Lokar and his goon squad was here. I'm betting a ritual happened here and I'm sure that this seal must have been activated. My gut is telling me that is why Zedd took Kim. Lokar needed her for this."

"Guys I think we shouldn't be here," Kat said with a voice of concern, "I can't describe the vibe coming from that but it's something primal and evil based. I for one don't want to know what is below that seal and I don't think we should leave it out in the open like this."

"Kat has a point even staring at that thing it reeks of evil," Tommy replied handing the potentials shovels, "We can't leave it exposed like this."

(The Boarding House)

A little whlie later, Tommy, Kat and Jason returned to the house with the potentials after covering up the seal. Billy and Trini worked on researching information about the seal and looked up information on the Seal of Talel and what lies beneath it. The group came across some information in regards to an ancient creation of Putties called the Turok Patrollers. Seeing and hearing the details based on the research made each of their stomachs turn. While they were learning about this indestructionable form of putties their conversation was interrupted when they heard some noise upstairs.

"I thought she was in the common room," Desmond panicked, "Kenji and Rosaline was checking the bedrooms and outside the house again."

"What was she thinking?" Aidan sighed in frustration, "She always said face your fears but now it's open season for her!"

"Anyone care to explain what's going on?" Tommy asked suspiciously looking at the three potential Rangers.

"It's Leanne, she split," Penny replied remorseful, "About half an hour ago. I think she was heading towards downtown Angel Grove. We're sorry Tommy."

"Tell Jason and the others what happened I'm going to search downtown for Leanne," Tommy ordered as he teleported out of the house, "She couldn't gone far."

(Downtown Angel Grove)

Tommy teleports to the Downtown Angel Grove near an industrial manufacturing complex. It is late in the night when he walks by a dumpster and spots Leanne's body lying still on the ground. He checks for a pulse and is visibly upset when he can't find one. Moments later, he wasn't sure if he was dreaming he he thought he heard the caw of a crane in his head. The mental caws of the crane continue to fill his mind as he starts feeling Kim's presence.

"I know I could feel you nearby Kim where are you?" He thought to himself. "Please Beautiful if you're near give me a sign."

As he tries desperately to tap into his Ninjetti Animal Spirit hoping to find Kimberly, he almost gets a connection until it's severed when something strikes Tommy from behind. Tommy crawls away towards the dumpster and spots his attacker: The Turok Patroller. It looked like the putties he faced in the past except this one had a primal and savage feature and personality to it. It was wearing some of sort of whither clothing and had two rubies on each side of his shoulder. He gets up to fight it, but the Turok Patroller proves to be a fierce and agile adversary dodging every kick and punch he throws. He sidesteps quickly to morph.

"IT'S MORPHIN TIME!" he yells morphing, "WHITE RANGER POWER!"

The Turok Patroller quickly moves towards Tommy viciously punching and kicking him in the stomach. Seconds later his helmet comes off as Tommy falls face first on the ground. It picks him up and starts punching him in the face and proceeds to choke him. Tommy manages to escape his clutches by spitting blood in his face and quickly puts his helmet back on, limping away to retreat to the nearby factory. However, the Turok Patroller pursues him as he attempts to attack it with his sword but the Patroller quickly swipes it out of Tommy's hand and viciously backhands him so hard he sends him flying twenty five feet across the room.

Tommy notices the Turok Patroller running towards him as he spots his sword across from him he quickly retrieves it. He notices a pulley hoisting a pile of metal beams as he uses his sword on the controller sending the beams crashing onto the Turok Patroller. However, he is shock beyond belief when it rises from the rumble, unscratched and unharmed. It leaps out from the rubble and sprints after him as Tommy helplessly tries to retreat but it's too late. Once the Turok Patroller catches up to him and gains the momentum giving him a combination of deadly kicks and punches.

Even with his helmet protecting him he could feel the aches and pains in his body when it grabs Tommy and throws him through a concrete wall. The Turok Patroller disappears after the wall crumbles down on him and the roof caves in on top of him.

Feeling a tremendous amount of pain Tommy gives into the blackness before passing out with one thought. "I'm so sorry for letting you down Kimberly."

Sometime later in the blackness Tommy could vaguely hear someone call out to him. After the others teleported to the factory they notice rumble as Jason and Rocky quickly made their way to it. The two of them lift off the part of the metal roof that collapsed on Tommy. Aisha stares in pure shock after the two of them clear the metal roof away for it to reveal Tommy's demorphed beaten body lying still on the ground in the rubble, his face covered with blood.

"Oh God, almighty bro," Jason replied shocked checking on his best friend's condition.

"We should get him back to the house," Rocky sighed, "Adam already found Leanne's body. Tommy need some serious medical attention."

(The Boarding House)

It was a little after midnight when Jason, Rocky and Aisha returned to the house with a battered Tommy. The news of Leanne's death sent shockwaves to the potentials after Adam revealed what happened to her. Once everyone in the house saw the state of Tommy's condition the majority of them were left speechless. Tommy was lying in his bedroom curled up in a feral position feeling the utter angst of dejection and defeat. The Turok Patroller left him a bloody and bruised mess for his friends to see him and hearing them discuss about the events of the evening in the hallway begin to sink into him. All Tommy could do at the moment was stare straight ahead shedding a few tears for facing utter defeat the second time and failure towards Kimberly.

"What the hell was that?" he heard Jason in the hallway talking to the others.

"Whatever it was it did a number on Tommy," Rocky sighed, "Not only that but it killed Leanne."

"Billy and Zack are burying the body out in the cemetery," Trini added staring at Tommy lying in bed, "So what do we tell these kids? We did a pretty piss poor job arming them?" The team took the conversation down to the living room. The potential Rangers were quietly sitting on the couch mourning the loss of Leanne while Jason leaned against the wall next to Kat and the others either sat or stood in the room pondering.

"I think we peg their fear level at maximum once they find out one of their own is dead," Adam sighed looking at the teens and placed a hand on Aidan's shoulder, "It is the reality that will scare them."

"Then there is matter of finding Kim. Lokar, Rita and Zedd are holding her in some dark place somewhere in the city," Jason added.

"Where do we start? I can't find one of my best friends with a standard locator spell," Kat sighed leaning against the wall, "Some witch I am."

"The last thing we need is a lack of morale because it gives a bad aftertaste," a voice sternly replied. Everyone looked up to find Tommy walking into the room solemnly. Despite the limp and battered and bruise face everyone is shock to find him walking around, unseeingly aware he was listening to them.

"Hey bro are you sure you're okay to be walking about after what happened with the Turok Patroller?" Jason asked concern.

"I know what that Turok Patroller did to me and I will say that it did a number on me," Tommy replied in a solemn voice, "Right now we don't know how to fight it or beat it. We are dealing with the root of all of it, Lokar the Source of Evil. There is no point running away and we can't simply pretend it's not there but it lurks and stalks us in the shadows."

"Tommy you look tired you sure rest..." Adam suggested until Tommy cut him off in a resolution voice.

"I am beyond tired. I am beyond scared. We faced evil in the past and we're back in the place where our fates and destinies were changed." He continues in a near sobbing voice full of dejection. "It's a feeling and burden that chokes me and us on the inside out. Sometimes the weight of the world swallows you on the inside that you end up at the breaking point." They notice something in Tommy's eyes as his voice starts to harden up with determination and renewed valour. "Look we're not ready and the potentials aren't ready as well, but we got a mission on our hands. I'm not going to wait around for them to end world. It's not a battle they want it's war. Well...I say if they want a war we'll give it to them because we just assembled an army. We just declared war. Their out for blood whether it be ours or the potentials."

No one didn't have the heart to try to interrupt Tommy as he continued on as they took notice in a change in his voice. "They want us to show fear and they will strike at us where we are vulnerable. But we're not afraid because instead of running we're going to seek those fears out and confront them. We will look them dead in the eye until Zedd, Rita or Lokar will show themselves and I will personally destroy them and rip their dark hearts out. If anyone wants to run then do it now because the fate of everything we stand and fight for is in our hands. I will guarantee you this the next time we'll be prepared and I promise the first thing we do is get Kim back. There is no chance in hell we're giving up on her. She is one of us, the heart of the team and I'll be damned if they rip it out from us. There is only one thing more powerful on this Earth than evil...and that's us. Any questions?"