"Yesterday we left off with an explosion from your mentors," Fred said as Madeline nodded that that was indeed the case. They had not had any huge battles yet in their account, but the fact was that they were going to be talking about that next. The things that had happened in the weeks following that explosion changed them forever, but they had never really talked about it. They had seen no reason to bring up those sorts of memories.
"Yeah, Kim and Tommy definitely went through more than any parent ever should have to," Maddox said as the others nodded. It had not been a pleasant experience knowing that the two of them were at odds with each other, but now that they knew the reason, they certainly were not too happy about some of the stuff that they knew happened in the next few weeks.
"The day that Kimberly was captured was a day that I'll never forget," Madeline began as they looked over at her. Many of them had that day etched in their memories, but they had all hoped that it would get better in time, but it hadn't. It still haunted them in their dreams as the first experience as to what Halindon was capable of and that was when they knew exactly how much trouble they were in.
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"Oh, yuck!" Madeline yelled as shaking her head and jumping up and down as Maddox rolled on the floor with laughter. "What the hell did you think that was? Uh, that was gross!""You're not joking," Maddox said as he was draining glass after glass of water. "Remind me that I never want to eat your cooking again."
"It's something new! Don't blame me that it doesn't taste good! I made it like the recipe said and obviously the people who made the recipe didn't try it!" Madeline exclaimed as their communicators crackled to life and she looked down at it. The last few weeks had been quite dramatic with Kimberly and Tommy at each other's throats, although no one else knew why they were mad at each other and they were not willing to tell them about it either.
"Madeline, Maddox," Sam said as their communicators crackled to life and Madeline grabbed her own to answer back.
"Yeah, what's going on Sam?" Madeline asked as Maddox looked over at her and started putting away everything that he could find. They had learned that these calls usually meant that they were going to have to teleport away somewhere in a matter of seconds and they both liked to leave their homes in some sibilance of order.
"We need you to come in, we have a little problem," Sam said as they exchanged a glance and then Maddox grabbed her hand and they teleported away.
"What's our little problem?" Madeline asked as she looked around and saw Tommy sitting in the corner cradling Chris, but otherwise not paying much attention to them. They, however, did notice the six inch long cut that trailed down his forearm, but did not think too much of it. Tommy always seemed to get injuries that no one could really explain and none of them were brave enough to ask him about it.
"Halindon decided that he wants to fuck with me some more," Tommy said as Madeline looked over at him and then did a quick look around the room and noticed that Kimberly was not anywhere in sight. They all knew that the two of them weren't getting along, but she could not see a reason that Kim would not be here, considering that something huge was going on.
"Where's Kim?" Maddox asked as Madeline just shook her head as Sam nodded that what she was thinking was true.
"No…he couldn't have…how did he get in here?" Madeline blurted out as Tommy just shook his head as he passed Chris off to Trini and he immediately started crying, which caused Tommy to take him back.
"He didn't get in here," Tommy said as they all looked over at him and he looked down at the floor. After their fight he had not had the heart to force her into staying at the Command Center, he had let them both go back home and now he was paying for that decision. "It was our home, so I don't think you have to do much imagining…"
"Tommy…what do we have to do?" Madeline asked as he looked at the ground and let out a very long sigh. He had never really had to explain to someone how to rescue another ranger. He had always just done what his gut told him was right, but this was not one of those situations. If he tried that now, he was sure that he would get one of the rangers, hurt, if not killed. "It can't possibly be that bad, have you seen the monsters that we have been going up against lately?"
"Yeah, but Halindon's monsters are nothing compared to him," Tommy said as she looked up at him, slightly confused. Why was he talking like Halindon was nearly invincible? Was there something that he knew that they didn't about this creature? "I don't know if you are prepared to go in and do what has to be done."
"Well, you don't have much of a choice if we are prepared, unless you are suggesting that you go and get her," Madeline said as Tommy looked around at the others who were giving him a stern gaze. They all knew that that was exactly what he wanted to do, but they could not longer risk him. Kim would want to know that Chris would still have his father, even if she was no longer there.
"It's not that I don't want to go in and get her, they won't let me go and get her. The problem is, we only have enough power to send one of you in and although I'd love to delegate this task to you, Madeline, you just don't have the strength to face Halindon," Tommy said as Madeline's mouth dropped open and he held up his hands to stop her from saying anything. He did not need to face any protesting or bickering over the decision that he had already come to, he just needed them to do what he was asking. "It's not personal, but I don't want to have to send someone in to get you as well, he's one hell of a fighter."
"So who is going in?" Maddox asked as Tommy looked over at him and he began shaking his head in denial. He was not sure that he wanted this task sitting on his shoulders. If he couldn't get her out, he doubted that he would ever be able to face Tommy again. "I don't think…I don't know if I can have that riding on me."
"I don't really have a choice, Madeline has to be here to hold down the fort and you're the best fighter that I have," Tommy said as Maddox looked at Madeline and she just shook her head.
"Okay," Maddox said as he grabbed his wrist to teleport, but Tommy caught him only moments before he tried to act.
"I'm trusting you a lot here, Maddox. The two of us may not be getting along all that great, but she is the mother of my son and my wife, you have to get her out of there," Tommy said as Maddox nodded and then teleported away as Tommy attempted to pass Chris to Aisha and he actually went without any tears being shed.
"Tommy, are you…" Madeline began as Jason grabbed her arm and shook his head. There was no use in asking Tommy if he was all right, they all knew that he was not right now and there was no use making any of this more obvious.
"Shit," Sam swore as he looked down at the screen and just shook his head. The vinons were destroying the town and it seemed that Halindon had already sent a monster as a further preventative measure. He wanted to make sure that they would not have any rangers to spare to come get Kimberly, but it was too late for that.
"I got it, Sam," Madeline said as she sent out the call for Garrett and BethAnn and she just hoped that the both of them were able to find a place to take this message.
"Yes, Madame," Garrett said as he answered and Madeline watched as the vinons ran after a civilian.
"Get your ass out of class and teleport; you'll be carried to the battle. And where the hell is BethAnn?" Madeline asked as Sam was passing her a surge booster that the three older rangers had been given permission to use. BethAnn and Garrett had about the same level of powers, but it had been agreed that they needed some help, to be able to maintain what was set up for them to do.
"She's with me, so hold your horses. We'll be there as soon as we can," Garrett said as Madeline nodded and then teleported herself out.
"He's just doing this to mess with you, Tommy," Jason said as Tommy sat down behind the console to watch the battle.
"I know and he's doing a damn good job of it. I just hope that Maddox…" Tommy trailed off as Jason placed his hand on Tommy's shoulder and he just shook his head. "I can't lose her Jason."
"I know," Jason said as he allowed himself to focus on the battle and he just hoped that everything was going all right in the battle that they were unable to see.
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"You really think that I am a good person to capture?" Kimberly asked as she looked over at Halindon, ignoring that pain that she felt from her still healing abdomen. She knew that Tommy was going to be here as soon as he could, she just had to try to keep herself alive that long.
"No, you are not a good person, you are the best…Tommy Oliver is nothing without you. I take you away and he ceases to exist," Halindon said as Kim glared over at him and suddenly a glimmer of red light appeared in the room. She then knew that something was definitely wrong, Tommy's streak was no longer red, so what the hell was going on here? Why hadn't they sent Tommy? "Tommy, perhaps?"
"Kim…" Maddox began as she violently shook her head and he looked up just in time to duck and that was the only thing that seemed to save him from taking that blow. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Be a big boy and fight me," Halindon joked, cruelly, as Maddox ducked to avoid another blow and Kim began working her way out of her restraints. It was obvious to her that Halindon did not want to truly hurt her; he wanted to hurt Tommy when he came for her, but it seemed that Jason and the others had been able to talk him out of it and she didn't know how they managed it.
"His left side is weak," Kim instructed as Halindon dared a glance back at her and paid for it when Maddox threw the full weight of his body into Halindon sending him into the nearest wall.
"Are you okay?" Maddox asked as he ran over to Kim and she barely nodded. She had sustained a few wounds, but otherwise she was perfectly fine, from what she could tell.
"Watch out," Kim murmured as Maddox wheeled around and was thrown to the floor by Halindon and Kim looked up at him in shock as he pulled out his sword and made a sweep for her, but Maddox had managed to recover fast enough to throw him off balance and prevent him from killing Kimberly. The tip of the sword, however, grazed her side and sprayed blood around the room. "Use your weapons, Maddox."
"Kim…" Maddox murmured as she just shook her head and Maddox continued to fight Halindon, knowing that he had to deal him a heavy blow soon, so that he could get Kimberly back to the Command Center. However, Maddox was thrown to the floor by Halindon and in the process he was knocked unconscious.
"Looks like it is just you and me Kimberly," Halindon said as he wielded his sword in his arm again. "I wished to do this in front of Tommy, but I guess sending you back to him dead is just as good."
"No…" Kimberly muttered as she felt the oddest sensation surge through her veins and within moments knew what was happening as she was engulfed by a pink ray of light and Halindon stared at her as she transformed into the pink ranger right before his eyes.
"You think that little stunt will protect you?" Halindon asked as Kimberly managed to pull herself out of her bonds and stood up to face the man, although she felt the full extent of her injury and the fact that she was still not supposed to do much more than jog.
"Well, it's never failed me in the past," Kim said as she kicked Halindon's feet out from under him and then grabbed Maddox and teleported away, only to land in the Command Center unconscious as well.
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"Oof," Madeline grunted as she landed on the ground and rolled over to avoid being stepped on before pushing herself to her feet. "What I wouldn't do to have some more back up…"
"Get that thought out of your head, Maddox is back here knocked out," Jason's voice boomed in her helmet as she seemed to jerk out of the strange reality of the moment and then launched herself into the battle even more. She knew that if what Jason said was true that all of them were going to have to kick ass just to get out of here and be able to fight another day.
"What the hell?" BethAnn asked as she had begun to kick a vinon, but it disappeared along with the monster.
"I have the feeling that this is not going to be pretty," Sam said as they were teleported back to the Command Center and saw Kim and Maddox both on gurneys, while Billy sewed up a slash in Kimberly's side.
"She was lucky, Tommy," Billy said as Tommy barely nodded as he cradled Chris in his arms. He was actually more worried about the fact that she had involuntarily morphed and what that was now doing to her body. "The fact that her powers morphed her is what saved her."
"That scares me. You know that isn't supposed to happen," Tommy said as Billy finished and then took a step away so that Tommy could pull his chair over and sit down.
"Maddox," Madeline murmured as she rushed over to his side and the veteran rangers looked over at her with a sympathetic gaze, but then looked away. They were sure that he was going to wake up in the next few minutes. Kim, on the other hand, they had no clue about. They knew that she had not lost that much blood, but they also knew that her powers must have thrown her for a loop.
"What happened?" Maddox asked as he woke up and Madeline let out a sigh of relief, while Tommy looked up and managed a smile. He was happy that Maddox was all right, but he could not find it in himself to be exactly ecstatic until Kim woke up as well.
"It seems that you met your match," Madeline said with a smile as Maddox suddenly remembered that he had not assured that Kimberly had gotten back her and jerked up and looked around, only to find her lying next to him.
"I guess that you are going to send us home, right?" Sam asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and Sam nodded that he understood. They didn't need anyone else here if they could help it.
"But I'm going to keep Maddox here for a little while, I want to make sure that nothing else is wrong," Billy said as Maddox nodded and Billy nodded for him to follow him into another chamber. They all knew that Tommy just wanted to be with Kimberly.
"I'll take Chris to your parent's Tommy," Trini said as she gently lifted this sleeping baby from his father's arms and Tommy barely nodded. "She'll wake up sooner or later Tommy, don't worry about her."
"You know that I will, Trini," Tommy said as Trini nodded, but like all the others, she just wanted to try to make things better on him. They all knew that Tommy was killing himself for allowing their fight to go on this long and know that she could have died with them still fighting.
"Just try not to, please," Trini said as she left and then others soon followed her head as Tommy rested his head on Kim's stomach and gently brushed her hair away from her face.
"What have I done this time?" Tommy murmured as he heard the doors scrape closed and he continued to caress her cheek, in hope that she would respond to his touch, but she didn't move a single muscle. "I should have never fought with you this long. We should have…you know that I love you…I never meant to hurt you like this…"
"Tommy…" Kimberly whispered as she looked down at her stomach and found him lying there, staring up at her. "What happened?"
"Kim…" Tommy murmured as he sat up and pulled her into a bone crushing hug. "I'm so sorry…I never thought that…"
"It's all right Tommy, I am just as much at fault as you are for all of this," Kim said as she rested against him, feeling very stiff and rather tired. "What happened to me?"
"It seems that Halindon was able to slash you. Other than the fact that your powers morphed you, nothing else happened," Tommy said as Kim just stared at him.
"How in the world…" Kim trailed off as Tommy shrugged, he was not sure how in the world she had managed it, but her powers had decided to come and protect her when she needed it the most.
"None of us are sure about that, but we'll do some tests to figure out why it happened later," Tommy said as he leaned back enough to where he could kiss her and she immediately turned up her face towards his.
"I'm so sorry…" Kim whispered as she closed her eyes and rested against him.
"So am I," Tommy whispered in return as he faintly heard a door being pulled closed and just shook his head. He had not thought that the others would be this desperate to see if they two of them would make amends, but he knew that it had to be rough on all of them to see the two of them at each other's throats. The two of them were the power couple of the power rangers and it definitely made the others doubt if they would make it while the two of them fought. They had always managed to do that whenever something went wrong in their relationship.
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"So they did get back to normal?" Fred asked as Madeline nodded her head yes.
"But we learned that day that Halindon was not going to be a breeze to fight. It took a veteran ranger calling on her former powers to get Maddox and herself out of there alive. None of us are that skilled, even if we wish that we are. We couldn't do that now, even if we tried and believe me there have been times when we have all wished that we were able to do just that," Sam said as the others nodded in agreement and Fred just nodded as he turned off the recorder and they then stood to exit the room. They were only a week into these sessions and he was sure that there were going to be many more weeks to come and he wondered if the government would eventually give up on the fact that they wanted to prosecute the rangers and just allow them to live. That seemed to be something that they were not able to do since they were teenagers and now it was time to let them have that, but he didn't have a choice about any of this, he had to do all of it.