And then, she was transformed. The world melted away, and all that was left was Kimberly and a beautifully unique world that held her up, floating like a goddess in a sea of pink. Lightning bolts coursed through the air, causing the hair on Kimberly's arms to rise in anticipation.
"Pink Ranger Power!" she heard herself yell, as her suit formed around her, bodice first, then outer shell. Memories, it was all coming back to her: fighting techniques, strength, kept dormant for so long, bubbling to the surface, popping with excitement. Another flash: the helmet appeared securely on her head. The transformation was complete.
She looked around, her vision sharpened by the helmet. Her friends were, once again, by her side, along with six newly morphed apprentices.
"I can't believe it!" Trini said, removing her helmet. "We're really back! It really worked!"
"You're surprised?" Zach said, the smile evident in his voice.
"You all look fantastic!" Kat said, walking up next to Jason. "It's like nothing's changed."
Only everything has, Kimberly thought, a somber interruption to her otherwise euphoric. Were they all prepared to go back?
Jason gave Kat a side grin and turned towards Billy, who had removed his helmet as well. "We're going to need to get to Tokyo pretty damn quick. Any suggestions?"
Billy smiled in return and pulled out a small keypad from the side of his glove. "I think these new Zords should be more than sufficient."
A thunderous roar rang out, and they all flew to the doorway, hairs rising with the vision soaring across the desert.
"They're beautiful," Darcy managed to gasp out. "Are they really ours?"
"That is so much better than Father's BMW," gasped Dorian.
"You are the only human being I know that would name drop right now!" Kira whispered incredulously under her breath.
"No time for bickering!" Jason said, his voice assuming the same qualities it had when he had led the pack as a tenth grader. "We've got a city to save!"
"Let's do it!" Trini roared joyously, tossing her long hair back in a wild laugh. "Man, this feels great!"
Kimberly held her breath as her Zord approached, a gorgeous pink bird, twisting and turning. Smiling at a nervous Darcy, she quickly replaced her helmet and grabbed Darcy's hand.
"Get ready," she said. "For the ride of your life."
And, taking a deep breath, she jumped, and soared towards the clouds, feeling the force carry her to her rightful position in the cockpit.
"This is insane!" Darcy called, sitting next to her, surrounded by all types of controls and monitors. "I know how to work all of them. How is it possible I know all of this?"
"The powers work in mysterious ways," Kimberly said, flipping on the switch to bring her Zord into travel mode. "I might suggest buckling your seat belt, however. We have a rather speedy journey ahead of us."
Darcy dutifully snapped her seatbelt into place as Jason's voice rang over the intercom. "I think everyone knows what to do!" he said, rather gruffly. "Program the coordinates in." Then, in an uncharacteristically immature tone, he added: "Last one to Tokyo is a rotton egg!"
"Very nice, Jason." Zach's voice came back now, just as youthful. "Explain to me how it is you keep girlfriends with that astounding level of maturity?"
Kimberly promptly hit her intercom button. "He doesn't."
"Hey!"
Zach's reply was instantaneous. "Kat doesn't seem to mind."
"Hey!" Jason's voice was significantly angrier. "Leave it alone. You're the one who wants to bang Trin—"
"You are all unbelievable!" Trini's voice was quick to cut in, and Kimberly laughed in spite of herself. No, this was different than before, but by God, it was a lot better. "We have to get to Tokyo. We have to get to Tokyo now. Program your coordinates before I hijack your Zord and do it for you. And Jason, if you make a stupid comment about me jumping into a certain someone's Zord, my Bear Zord is going to rip your Lion Zord to pieces. Got it?"
"Understood. Programming coordinates now."
"Excellent!"
Kimberly laughed and shut off the intercom, punching buttons rapidly. "Prepare for full speed." She replied automatically, noting rather casually that Darcy began pressing buttons as rapidly as she was. "And hang on," she added. "Because this is the fun part."
Suddenly, Kimberly's stomach lurched back, and she let out a yelp of joy. The adrenalin was kicking in, better than any roller coaster she had ever been on. The beautiful, gently sloping landscape of the desert disappeared, and in its place was indecipherable shapes and sizes, zooming past them as they orbited the globe at an insanely high speed.
"Woohoo!" She heard Darcy yell from the back, and she allowed herself one more smile before touching down on Tokyo.
"You ready for your first major battle?" Kimberly casually tossed the question over her shoulder, back at a serenely calm Darcy.
"Better now than never!" she said, masking all fear in her voice.
"That's my girl. Time to disembark!" and with the quick touch of a button, she was in the middle of downtown Tokyo, shoulder to shoulder with the other Rangers, facing the inherent ugliness that was Ghidor.
"You've finally bothered to ssssshow up?" he hissed at them, rubbing his hands together maniacally. "How I've longed to meet you all. Thissss should be very interessssting."
"Has anyone ever told you that you take an insanely long time to talk?" Jason shouted at him, his hand close to the saber that was at his belt.
"Then I shall ssssstop talking!" And with a flick of his hand, a small army of Wrathians appeared behind him.
"Divide and conquer," she heard Tommy whisper, behind her. "Everyone make sure to watch out for the younger Rangers. These guys are strong, but they're not impossible to beat."
Kimberly was immediately reassured by Tommy's presence, remembering back a mere week and a half ago, when they were forced to take on the Wrathians together. They had won, then, without their powers and without being able to work together. Things would be different then.
The Wrathians approached quickly, steadily walking. The fight had begun.
Acting on pure instinct, Kimberly threw herself forward, closely followed by Tommy, building up speed with back handsprings then delivering a powerful kick straight to the stomach of one of the heftier looking Wrathians. He stumbled backwards, then, in a rather dizzy attempt to regain his ground, through a lazy punch her way. She easily blocked it, then punched him in the stomach.
"Heads up!" Tommy called behind her, and she ducked, as Tommy sent a Wrathian flying over her head. This action resulted in much success, grounding two other Wrathians and causing another to disappear into thin air.
"Nicely done," Kimberly said, drop kicking a Wrathian who was quickly approaching Tommy.
She could hear the grin in his voice. "What can I say. I'm a little bit of a badass."
Laughing, she returned to the fight.
"Which one, Massssster?" hissed a rather small Wrathian, directly to the left of Ghidor.
He let his beady eyes wander over the crowd, rather unpleasantly noting his henchmen were not sufficiently holding their ground. Finally, he extended a long, scaly claw.
"That one," he breathed. "That isssss the one we need. Visit her dreamssssss. She will heed the call."
And with that, Ghidor turned and disappeared.
"I kicked so much ass!" Dorian exclaimed, for what had to be the millionth time.
"You and everyone else." Conner said lazily. "Although did you see my creative use of the street sign—"
"Creative? You mean lucky."
"Just because I saved you, Kira, doesn't mean you need to get all upset."
"Saved me? I distinctly remembered it the other—"
"Weren't the Zords cool, though?" Darcy interjected.
Kimberly gave a small smile, half listening from the doorway of the kitchen, where she was trying to avoid partaking in a completely different discussion.
"It's been quiet for a couple of days. Just because we won one battle doesn't mean we are out of the danger zone." Jason was seated next to Kat at the table, an inexplicable stressed look on his face.
"I think we need to take a couple of days off. Just, hang out here." Trini said, casting a nervous glance in Kimberly's direction. "I mean, give it a couple of days to blow over. Ghidor can't plan anything too—"
"So you expect us to just sit here?" Kimberly interjected, rage mounting. She had tried to stay out of it, tried to play by their rules. "I'm sorry, you're holding us prisoner in your parent's home! I'm getting stir crazy."
"Just one more day—please, Kim. That's all I'm asking. Just let three days pass."
"Why? So Ghidor can have another day to plot, to build up an army? We need to go after him now."
Trini shot a desperate look to Zach, who gave her a dark look in return.
"Look, Kimberly!" Jason snapped. "I know you can handle one more day here. That's all we're asking. We just want to lay low, see how Ghidor reacts."
"You're all being ridiculous!" Kimberly snapped. She turned to Tommy in appeal. "You can't agree with them—"
Tommy was sending furtive looks towards Jason, a rather confused expression on his face. "You know something." He said suspiciously, looking towards Jason. "What aren't you telling us?"
"Stop the damn suspicion, already!" Jason roared, slamming his fists down on the table, causing Kat to jump. "I'm just telling you what I want—"
"Stop it!" Kimberly hissed, rubbing her temples. "I'm not dealing with this right now. I have a huge headache. I'm going to sleep. Good night!" She brushed past Tommy, who was still glaring at Jason.
"Don't give me a reason not to trust you," He said finally, turning from the doorway and leaving a room full of guilty expressions.
"I hope and pray that's not the case." Trini whispered.
"Three days," whispered Jason ominously. "We've already held her two. We're almost there. We can't give up now."
They were hurting. All of them. Her friends, her family. All of them were dying, hurting, dying. Oh my God, wouldn't someone help us? Where are the Rangers?
Their cries, she would never forget their cries. All the places she loved, the people she once knew. They were hurting. Ghidor was attacking Angel Grove, he was attacking it now.
No, stay put. Stay put, stay exactly where you—I'll come to you. I'll come to the Beach. Oh, all the children…just don't hurt them!
No! Don't scream! I'll help you, I'll help you, I'll—
And in a flash, she was awake.
They need my help. She thought, frantic with worry. She was the only one that could help them—that she was sure of. The others would stop her from going, and that would not do.
She climbed out of bed and dressed hastily, taking extra caution to make sure her morpher was securely in place. She crept stealthily, determined not to wake anyone.
They're calling me.Kimberly thought, her head pounding. They need my help!
The door to Trini's spare bedroom creaked slightly, and she hurried down the hall, her heart seizing in her chest when she made rather rough contact with a shadowy figure.
"Kimberly?" the voice gasped, equally as shaken.
"Tommy? What are you doing up?"
"I heard you screaming, I was going to check on you. Are you okay?"
"Never mind. Just go back to sleep, there's something I need to do!" on impulse, she secured her morpher. Tommy noticed this as well.
"Where do you think you're going?" he hissed, anger in his voice. Trini wants us to stay—"
"People need my help, Tommy! I can hear them, they're hurting. I have to go!"
"You can't just leave!" Tommy said, somewhat exasperated. "What about the others? They need to know where you're going."
"Let them sleep!" Kimberly said quickly. "I need to do this, and they'll never let me get out of the house. They'll stop me, you know they will. I have to go!"
"You're out of your mind!" His voice was not gentle. "I'm not going to let you go by yourself. You'll get yourself killed. We have to wake up the others!"
"Tommy, I'm going. You can't stop me. He's close to coming back. I can feel it! I know I can stop it. I know I can do it!"
Tommy looked at her, and for an instant, nothing had changed. They were sixteen again, and she had that irresistible, stubborn look on her face. He had no doubt, then, that she was going to win the fight. He, of course, was going to follow her. He would have followed her to the ends of the earth, if she would have let him.
"Fine." He whispered. "We don't have to tell the others. But I'm going with you—and no, you can't change my mind."
She sighed impatiently. "Fine! We're leaving now!"
He scarcely had time to find his shoes before she pulled him out the door.
"They were around here somewhere!" Kimberly was busy scanning the shoreline, ignoring the memories of the last time she and Tommy had walked along the shore. The moon was shining over the water, creating a beautiful mirage. They had often walked down here together, made out in the shack not too far away. She wouldn't get home until hours after her curfew.
It had been glorious.
"Just because you had a dream doesn't mean that it is necessarily coming true," Tommy reminded her as gently as he could, shaking her from her reverie. She knew instinctively that he didn't feel right being out in the open night like this, exposed.
"I promise you, they're here!" her voice was strained. "I saw them. I know, I did."
"Kim, calm down. It might just be a dream—"
Kimberly stopped dead in her tracks. "You just called me Kim." She said, her current plight of hysteria temporarily disbanded. "You haven't called me Kim in years!"
He looked at her gently. "Yeah. I guess I haven't."
She stared at him, smiling gently. "I've missed it." She replied honestly.
He looked down at her. "Me too."
Their moment was quickly interrupted. "As touching of a moment asssss thisss issss, I musssst interrupt."
"I knew you'd show up sooner or later!" Kimberly snapped, the fierceness returning to her voice. "You didn't think I'd let you hurt innocent people, would I?"
"You sssspeak too sssssoon." Ghidor spread his lips back to reveal small, pointed teeth. "Your lives are at stake." And with that, he stepped aside, revealing upwards of twenty Wrathians, each dressed in spiked armor.
Kimberly recoiled in horror. "That's not good!"
"No. No that's not good at all."
An overwhelming melancholy filled Kimberly's brown eyes. She looked at him for a second, then whispered: "I'm so sorry, Tommy."
Tommy's mind was elsewhere. "There has to be at least twenty of them," he muttered to himself. "We barely got out alive with three. But at least, this time, we can morph."
Kimberly gulped, and nodded, her eyes distant but decisive.
"Wait," she said, as Tommy stepped forward, jetting her arm out to catch his, feeling the surge of electricity that went along with being close to him
Tommy looked at her, curious, his eyes searching.
"In case we don't get out of this alive," Kimberly muttered softly, turning towards Tommy with a hard expression on her face. "There's something you need to know."
His throat tightened, and he looked at her, studying her face. "What?" he barely managed.
She kept her gaze steadily ahead. "I never stopped loving you." Her voice was strong. "Always have. Always will. I just really need you to know that." With that, she stepped forward towards her impending doom, while Tommy was left shell shocked in her wake, his jaw agape.
Did that just happen? He was having extreme difficulty processing that fact. It can't be true. We couldn't have wasted so much time.
His mind snapped back to reality as the Wrathians came closer and closer to them, circling them.
"It's morphing time!" Kimberly called, before he had the opportunity to utter another syllable. He grasped for his morpher, his hands shaking, looking for a voice to yell the command he so desperately longed to say.
She loves me? He thought as the change overtook him. She tells me now?
He was morphed now, standing before an army. Kimberly, wasting no time, had already lunged forward. Tommy, know thoroughly distracted, was seized with a new emotion. Adrenalin gripped his body and mind, held him hostage, his anger providing him a nice respite from the conference of mixed emotions that was taking place inside his heart.
Oh, he was going to kick some ass. Then he and Kimberly were going to have it out. That was for damn sure.
"There's too many of them!" Kimberly cried from somewhere in front of him. "The armor—ow!"
A moment of protectiveness seized Tommy, and he used his saber to floor the culpable Wrathian, pulling her up while managing to knock out an oncoming Wrathian. He pulled his hand back to release another tight punch, but was quickly knocked to the ground by another Wrathian.
"Stop it!" Kimberly was being held securely by two Wrathians now, squirming in attempts to get free.
"I've had enough of your gamessss," Ghidor hissed, pulling back his arms and realeasing a large ball of energy. The wind exited Tommy's lungs with a hiss, and he felt his powers diminish, until he was laying in front of Ghidor, completely unmorphed. Kimberly, who had been dealt the worst of the blow, was also unmorphed and barely awake.
"Bring her to me—" Ghidor hissed, raising his arms to the sky. "Sssso we can completely the ceremony." Kimberly weakly fumbled upon hearing those words, and Tommy shook with violence.
Over my dead body, he vowed, lurching forward. His attempt at rescue was thwarted; a Wrathian behind him grabbed him and held him, the knife-like armor cutting into his back.
"Tommy!" Kimberly cried weakly, tears in her eyes. "Leave him alone—"
"Ssssssssh, little girl," Ghidor hissed, running his clawed finger down the side of her face gently. "I do not wisssssh to hurt you."
"Stop it," she whispered, her head lurching forward, as if it was too heavy to be supported by her neck.
"Never," Ghidor whispered again, raising his hands to the sky, suddenly screaming in an unknown language.
Get to Kimberly. Tommy's mind was no longer capable of producing fight strategies. Kill Ghidor. Get to Kimberly. Kill Ghidor.
"Before you, oh Great One, is the Vesssssel, the very one you have requessssted. Arissse, oh Great One. Fulfill the prophecy we have worked so hard to fulfill!"
A large, black cloud eclipsed the gorgeous moon, leaving them shrouded in blackness. From the sky, a large, red mist was descending.
"Come, Great One! Fulfill your dessssiresss. Let ussss take back your legacccy!"
The red mist descended slowly around Kimberly's head. Tommy watched with bated breath as it encircled her head, gently swirling up her nostrils. He tried to cry out with every breath in his body, but no words would come.
"Yesssss!" Ghidor cried happily. "Yessss! Breathe in! Breathe in!!"
Tommy looked at her, helpless, shaking. She loved him. She actually loved him. And now, knowing that, he was going to watch her die.
Not going to happen. He thought, his eyes narrowing and his muscles instinctively flexing. Never going to happen.
And with a roar, he ran forward at full tilt, knocking Kimberly out of the unsuspecting arms of the Wrathian. Adrenalin coursed through his body, as he hastily scooped up Kimberly and ran towards the water, diving in to the now surging surf.
I can swim faster than they can. Even with Kimberly being incapacitated.
He secured his hand around her waist, and swam like his life depended on it, noting rather victoriously that the Wrathians were not following. Next to him, Kimberly was violently coughing, movement returning to her tiny body.
"Hang in there," he said through gritted teeth.
"Masssster, they are essscaping!" the Wrathian snarled, watching as the Chosen One escaped.
"Let them go." Ghidor was calm. "At sunrisssse, the change will be complete. We will chase them no more."
Tommy made it to the beach, Kimberly regaining enough strength to pull her self ashore.
"Jesus, what was that?" she hissed, turning over and regaining a steady breathing pattern. Tommy struggled to find breath, struggled to quell the rage that was building up once again, brought on by the adrenalin. He was sick of having her just to lose her.
"How dare you!" he bellowed, catching her off guard.
"Excuse me?" she hissed, pulling herself up. "Do you have a problem?"
"What were you thinking?" he roared at her, shaking her as hard as he could without hurting her. "You tell me you love me than you try and get yourself killed? Jesus, Kimberly!"
"What did you expect me to do!" she roared back, shaking from the cold of the water. "I've had to live with that fact for seven years. Seven fucking years, Tommy! If I thought I could stop I would have married fucking Ian, and had a bunch of fucking babies. But no! Everywhere I go, everything I do, you're always there and I'm sick of it!"
"You were the one who ended it." Tommy was oblivious to the cold, now. The fear of losing her again, the bitterness at having been kept from her all these years melded together into a self righteous anger that blazed through him. "You were the one who found someone else, who told me you didn't love me anymore. Life hasn't been good for me since you left Kimberly. You left and you moved on, and you made it perfectly clear I wasn't a part of that!"
"I was sixteen!" she screamed, her voice straining. "Six-fucking-teen. In a matter of two weeks I was dying, losing my powers, losing my dreams, losing everything else I thought I would have forever—"
"Like me?" his eyes were scalding. "Oh wait, never mind, clearly I wasn't a part of this 'forever' you were talking about—"
"How long do you think you would have lasted, Tommy?" her jaw was clenched. "How long! After that night, everything changed!" her voice cracked now, her eyes strained. "You know it changed. We were different, and it was dangerous. You really think you could have gone from that kind of passion to being a fucking pen pal? Kat wanted you from the moment she set eyes on you. It was just a matter of—"
"Do not make me into the bad guy, Kimberly. I would have waited—"
"Oh, you'd like to think that, wouldn't you? Let's face it, Tommy. I saw your eyes after you thought I was going to die. I knew what you were capable of. It was too much pressure—"
"So I loved you too much? Was that it?"
"I would have destroyed you!" tears were spilling down Kimberly's cheeks. "Don't you understand? We were in over our heads, and it was just a matter of time before the water got too high. It was too much for me to handle, Tommy. Too fucking much. And if I realized how miserable my life was going to be, or how much you were going to hate me, or how much I was going to miss you, I would have chose differently. I was a fool, Tommy. A fucking fool! But that's it. I made my choice, and I'll live with it, and I'll die with it. I just needed you to know that."
"Why?" his voice had dropped now, his face inches away from hers. "Why?" he hissed. "So I could watch you die knowing how much time we've wasted? So I could hate you all the more for fucking up my life as much as you've fucked up yours? Why, Kimberly? You tell me you left me because life got complicated? Because life got darker and we had to face some heavy shit? Because you knew that I was willing to kill for you, to die for you? Did you think you were somehow going to protect me from myself?"
"I did a hell of a job, didn't I?" The sarcasm in her voice was so thick, every syllable threatened to choke her. "Look at you now. The great Tommy Oliver. You're a slave to training and your job—"
"I had a plan!" his throat was getting tighter and tighter. "A plan that revolved around you. Then you left. I sought other options. I could be married, too. Kat loved me enough to pretend she was the only one. I could have children, too. But that wouldn't make you go away."
Tears gently streamed from Kimberly's eyes, lost on her drenched skin. "What can?" she asked gently, her breath catching as she tried to prevent herself from falling to the ground in sobs. "Tell me what you want me to do, Tommy. Tell me what would make you happy. I can't change the past…God knows I would if I could. Just tell me what you want from me, tell me how I can stop you from hating me. We keep doing this dance, and it just keeps pulling us back in—The way you look at me, it just, it breaks me into pieces all over again. I'm tired of being miserable, tired of loving you and knowing nothing will ever come of it. What do you want me to do?"
Tommy stared at her, his heart threatening to lurch out of his chest.
"Tell me how to stop loving you," he whispered, his throat tightening. "Tell me how to make this go away. I've fucking tried for seven years and nothings changed."
"What?" Kimberly gasped, tears freezing in shock. "That's impossible—"
"I've tried everything!" he grabbed her now. "I've dated other people, I've tried to pretend everything's okay. But it's not." He looked in her eyes, and felt a churning within his soul. "And without you, it never will be."
With that, he brought his lips down on hers. She responded instantly, her lips crushed against his, her mind fading away and her soul taking over, relief offered in the form of a lost sob that died in her throat as Tommy pulled her closer.
His fingers found a patch of uncovered skin on her lower back, and his fingers grazed it, experiencing a euphoric tingle of pleasure surge up his spine. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself as close to him as she possibly could.
How did I ever live without this? How did I ever walk away?
She deepend the kiss, euphoric at his hands through her hair, his lips on her neck. She had missed him, spent so long wanting him. And now, now they would have it.
His lips returned to hers, as he gripped the fabric of her shirt, bunched in his fist. He pulled back, searching her eyes for the last yes he needed her to give.
Satisfied by her nonverbal reply, his lips returned back to hers, every cell in her body finding the correlating cell in his and heating up. They would never be apart. Never.
She awoke with a start, his arms still intertwined with hers.
He looks so peaceful. She thought wistfully, slowly smoothing his hair and fighting back the tears. I shouldn't wake him. Not for this.
A sudden white hot flash of pain surged through her, and she stifled a groan.
Not now! She thought with horror. Not after we just found each other. Another flash of pain was her answer, and she doubled over, slipping out of his arms and onto the splintering wooden floor of the shack they had somehow found in the midst of all the heat and passion.
Shaking, she reached for her clothes, biting her lip as another flash of pain s urged through her.
Why must it have to be like this? She thought bitterly. Why do I always have to be fate's bitch? Why couldn't my life be different, be peaceful? Why must I be torn from the man I love?
Another flash of blinding pain, and her vision faltered.
I won't wake him. I won't end our night like this. I can't!
She bit her lip as the world descended into fog, casting one more glance at Tommy's sleeping form. She loved him, more than she could ever love anyone. She would love him until the day she died. She wished she could tell him that. She wished she could go back, to be his wife, to live the life she had only wanted to live with him. That was over now. It was always going to be over.
She saw his sleeping form, and with a tear, looked over the face, so peaceful now. She hadn't seen him that peaceful since the last time they had been together, the ends of his mouth curled up into a small smile.
God, she loved him so much. The fog that was surrounding her wouldn't change that. It couldn't.
With a final tear, she closed her eyes, and prayed for the day she would return to him.
Tommy awoke when morning penetrated the small window of their safe house. Memories from the night before flooded back to him with a venerating sigh of relief. She was his—had always been. The time they had wasted was of no consequence. They would start over now, together.
He rolled over, reaching for her, cold overtaking him at having her so far away. She would never be away from him again. He would make sure of that.
"Mmmm," he muttered contently, extending his arm.
Nothing.
The coldness grew. Eyes opened, blinded temporarily by the sunlight pouring forth from a small crack in the shack.
Dread overtook him. He was alone.
She wouldn't have just left. Something has to be wrong. He rose quickly, dressing at full speed, throwing open the door to stare out at the deserted beach. She was really, truly gone.
Maybe she went back to Trini's, to let them know she's okay. Tommy thought, disbelieving the words as they flashed through his mind. Not bothering to find his shoes, he raced down the beach, desperation coursing through his blood.
Stumbling down the beach, his heart stopped at seeing a small object half buried in the sand. Crawling over, he recoiled.
Her morpher. Kimberly had dropped her morpher.
Please, no. Tommy thought desperately, as he ran towards Trini's house.
He threw open the door, to find all of his friends sitting anxiously around the living room. Upon his entrance, they all jumped out of their seats.
"She's not here?" Tommy said, huffing. "Kimberly? Is she here?"
Trini paled. "You mean she's not with you?" she whispered, sitting down abruptly, turning towards Zach. "Oh no—this can't—do you know what this means? Oh my God…Oh my God! Tommy…where's Kimberly?"
"She—" Tommy did not know what to say. "She had a vision, and she went down to the beach. She ran into Ghidor, and we got into trouble. We hid for a little while, then we got separated—"
Jason's jaw was tight. "You let her go?"
Tommy did not like his tone. "I didn't let her go anywhere. She just…disappeared."
Trini stared at Tommy helplessly, tears spilling out of her eyes. "Tell me Ghidor didn't call forth the master. Please, tell me!"
Dread filled Tommy. "But she was fine! I saw her after, she was completely fine. I knocked her over, I helped her escape—"
Trini fell to the floor, burying her hands in her head. Zach reached down and stroked her hair.
"What aren't you telling me?" Tommy snapped, fear completely disabling all higher functions. He was panicking and they wouldn't let him stop. "What's happening? What did Ghidor do to Kim?"
Billy had his head in his hands as well. "There was a different part of the prophecy, one that pertained to Kimberly being possessed by the Original Evil. It is safe to deduct that that prophecy has been fulfilled." He paused, looking towards Tommy with sad eyes. "The direness of the prophecy gives us significant reason to be concerned."
Tommy could not breathe. The walls were closing in. "Dire" and "Kimberly" should never be associated. Never.
"Tell me how to fight it." He said, his voice tense. "Tell me what I need to do to kill it. Tell me how I can hurt this thing."
"I'm afraid it's not that simple, Tommy." Kat's voice was placating, but it did nothing but to irritate Tommy further.
"You knew about this?" Tommy snapped. "You all knew. And you couldn't tell me?" He turned towards Billy, who looked like he expected Tommy to hit him. "Kimberly left her morpher. Why would she leave her morpher?"
"I'm afraid she wouldn't need it anymore," Trini whispered, raising her head.
Tommy looked around the room in horror, needing to sit down.
"You see," Zach said, his tone mournful. "We weren't completely forth coming when we told you about the Heir of Lythmore."
Sitting down sharply, Tommy forced himself to breathe.