A/N:
Hello everyone! I wanted to apologize for going on a hiatus for so long, I've been tied up with a LOT of drama in my life. I got back from Navy bootcamp a couple of months ago and have been trying to get my bearings back as a civilian again (i.e getting a job, etc.) so I haven't had really any time or motivation to write anything. I started a Supernatural fic as well on AO3 but that has sort of been put on hold because again, inspiration and motivation haven't been my best friend's lately. But alas, I am back once more, and would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to leave me a comment and favorited my story! It means so much to me that someone is actually enjoying my work! I do hope you still plan on staying with me on this story as I promise you from here on out I will do my best to keep things going! In the mean time, I hope you enjoy the long anticipated Chapter 13, as well as the sort of new writing style I am trying out in this chapter. (You will see what I mean when you read, I think...)
-Power Rangers and it's character's belong to Haim Saban. Hayden Oliver, however is my own character, as well as her sister (whom I promise will make an appearance again soon lol).
****MOON PALACE: TOMMY'S POV****
" To the destruction of those pesky power-brats, and the domination of Earth!" Rita, Goldar, and Finster were all gathered around a small table while I stood off to the side and watched. How in the hell can they even THINK of celebrating when my Sister is stuck in a colma down the hall!? Rita held up a bronze colored bottle full of some alien substance that would be considered a Wine to us humans, and began to fill the fine set of wine glasses arranged in front of each occupant around the table. When she got to the fourth glass and turned to face me, she stopped, and a look of concern creased her brow.
Sensing that she knew what was causing me my troubles, I stared around the room, desperatley trying not to make eye contact with her. Stop sweating, you're making it even more obvious. As if I had said that out loud, Rita cocked her head to the side, and stood up from her throne.
" Why, my dear child, what in this universe is causing you so much grief?" To my dismay, Goldar, although obviously incoherent, stood up as well, and walked over to stand by me. " I think I know what's bothering him...why...eh...it's that cute little green lizard slumbering down the hall. Guess she can't handle herself as well as we can in battle, eh, Tommy?" He grasped my shoulder, and shoved his half empty wine glass into my chest, a whif of his foul breath breezing passed my nose, nearly causing me to gag.
" Said the guy currently not handling his liquor too well, my god you smell like a walking wine cellar." I moved away from Goldar, and walked over to stand by Rita's throne. " My Empress, I apologize for my spoiling of the 'celebration', but I am just not in the right mind for an event such as this, especially with what's happening with Hayden." To my surprise, Rita reached out and began to massage the underside of my chin with her index finger. I closed my eyes, and sighed, leaning into the loving gesture, and suddenly feeling an odd sense of relief, as if it were a mother comfirting her own son.
" I-I need to know why...?" I stared down towards the ground, and tried to avoid making eye contact. I knew questioning her authority was wrong, but somehow this felt like the right thing to do. " I almost had the rangers, WE almost had them, and you...stopped me. You, stopped me when I was about to be rid of them for good, and not to mention Hayden is now in a colma for god knows what reason. Somehow, I have this eery feeling that it's all because of you, my Empress."
To my surprise, Rita didn't even flinch, or growl in anger." My young prince, look into my eyes, and listen to me very closely." She lifted her hand under my chin until I came into eye contact with her, and suddenly everything began to feel as if the room were spinning. " Everything is going to be just fine, your sister, the invasion, every-oh...oh my...why this cannot be..." Suddenly the euphoric, trippy feeling began to fade away, and Rita stood up.
"My Empress, what's wrong? I-is everything...alright?" I watched as Rita slowly walked over to the balcony to stand by her telescope, and moved to stand next to her. " Are the Rangers making another move?" The eery silent treatment from her was really starting to worry me, and I had this dreadful feeling that she knew something I didn't.
Goldar and Finster began to clean the large dining table behind the throne, and I moved to step in and help, until I felt 5 long fingernails grasp my forearm. " No, my boy, let them handle the mess. There is something else for you to take care of, and I don't think it's going to settle in well when she tells you."
'When she tells me? When WHO tells me WHAT? Forgetting that Rita could read my thoughts, I stared at her, dumbfounded by her cryptic warning, and yanked my arm away. " I don't understand, my Queen-" " You must get down to your earth home before little miss Pinky discovers you aren't there."
I squinted my eyes, making sure she knew of my confusion and slight feeling of irritance growing inside me. " So what if she finds me not home in the middle of the night, it's not like she's my mother or anything." Now I have this really bad feeling that Rita knows something that I don't, and apparently it's extremely important. Rita gave me an irritated look, so taking that as the sign language for ' stop arguing before I blast you into a black hole for being so incompetent', I bowed respectively, and headed down the winding corridor towards my room to grab my communicator, and morpher. If Hayden wakes up while I'm gone, I'll need to know immediatley.
****DOWN ON EARTH, OLIVER RESIDENCE: TOMMY'S POV****
Just as the vertigo feeling of teleportation began to wear off, I could already here someone knocking obnoxiously on my bedroom window. Damn, Rita couldn't have given me a better heads up? Okay, think Tommy, think! Need to look like you just woke up, now let's see. I took off my shirt and pants, throwing them across the floor. To make sure Kim didn't know I was awake, I tried to make my way into the bathroom, but somehow ended up almost breaking my toe against the door frame.
" SON OF A -" Oh shit, she probably knows you're awake by now, way to go pinhead. "Tommy, Tommy are you awake? Please open up, I need to talk to you, it's an emergency!" Okay, now sound like you just woke up, and are really out of it! Come on, Tommy, pull it together!
" Uh, what, who-" Nailed it. " Tommy, it's Kimberly, please open up!" She continued to knock obnoxiously. God damn, if she knocks any harder she could break out the window. " OH, uh hang on Kim I'm coming, I'm coming!" I casually walked over to the window, scruffled my hair for an added "tired" look, yanked the long coord hanging by my bed, and was greeted by a short brunette in a pink top and long pajama pants.
I unlocked the latch on the bottom of the window, and pushed it up. Before I got the chance to say a proper greeting, she practically leaped through the opening into my bedroom, and immediatley closed the window behind her. " Uh, well hello to you, too. What the hell is so important and secretive that you couldn't just use the front door, and I'm pretty sure curfue for people our age was like 5 hours ago." Trying to keep up the tired act, I sported a fake yawn, and walked over to the other side of the bed, trying to find my basketball shorts.
Kimberly reached over my nightstand, and turned the lamp on before I could even get the chance to get dressed. " Jesus Christ, Kim atleast let me get my pants on! What the hell is the matter?"
The longer I stared at her, the more I began to notice that some of her features had changed. Although not as visible as a punch wound, her eyes were surrounded by black circles, almost as if she forgot to wash off her makeup before she went to bed. Her skin color was a light, pale color, as if she were a walking corpse. Okay that may have been putting it mildy, but seriously what the hell is wrong with her? " Oh my god, Kim, you look-"
Before I could get the last word out, Kimberly began to cry, and nearly knocked me over as she wrapped her arms around my waste. Without even a second thought, I returned her embrace, and began running my fingers thrue her hair. " Hey hey hey, Kim, shhhh it's alright, I'm here."
I waited for a few seconds to give her a chance to calm down before unwrapping her from my embrace. " Now, sit down and tell me what the hell has got you so stressed out in the middle of the night." I sat her down in front of me, and began to massage the side of her arm as she stared down towards the floor. She seemed so hesitant to make eye contact with me, and I was dying to know why. I wiped away the tears that lingered on her cheeks, and smiled, trying to give her the incentive to tell me what was wrong.
Thankfully, after what felt like a silence that would never end, she finally looked up at me, and sighed. " Tommy, no one else can know. It would kill Jason, and my Mother would kill me. Promise me that...you won't...leave me. I-is your sister here?" Hoping to give her some encouragement, I held her hand, and began to massage the inside of her palm.
" Kimberly, please, just tell me. Whatever it is, I swear I won't...I would never leave you." Woah, calling her by her full name now, eh? Someone is stepping up his game it seems. Oh , shut the hell up brain.
" Tommy, I'm pr-" before she could get the last word out, there was a knock at my bedroom door, causing us both to jump, and Kim quickly hid herself behind my bed. What the hell, I thought my Dad was out of town? Who the hell could be here?
To my disbelief, Hayden opened the door, and smirked. " Hey, who the hell are you talking to at this hour, bro? You do realize that school is going to be starting up soon, and our sleeping schedules are going to be totally out of wack."
" Ha...Hayden how in the-" Hayden placed her index finger over her lips, and knodded towards the bed. " Hey uh Kimberly, you know if you're going to try and hide you shouldn't have your foot sticking out towards the end of the bed." Damnet, how in the hell did you know she was there? Nevermind that, how in the hell are you out of the colma so quickly? Hayden smirked, and crossed her arms.
She rolled her eyes, and pointed to her head. Uhm hello, not like we're connected to eachother or anything. I swear when it comes to raging hormones, boys cannot control their heads.
Kimberly slowly crept out from behind my bed, and smiled sheepishly. " Hey, Hayden...uhm...sorry this must be...extremely awkward." To my surprise, Hayden started laughing, and shook her head. " Actually this is really amusing, because my brother looks like you were about to tell him that you used a puppy as a soccer ball. Oh did I mention that when we were younger, our parents ended up kicking our dog into the street, and I meant that on literal terms."
Kimberly gave her an awkward stare, and clasped her hands together nervously. " Okay, well I can see that I've...overstayed my welcome. So...I'm just gonna...go." She got up from the floor and walked over to where Hayden was standing at the door. Hayden moved to block her exit, and smirked at her.
" Woah woah woah, what's your hurry? It's not like your parents are expecting you home when they're out of town as well, and I'm sure whatever your were about to tell my brother is...extremely important." The way she had glanced down towards Kim's mid-section with such a devious look made my spine tingle, as if I were Peter Parker sensing danger was near by.
Kimberly gave her a confused look, and turned to face me, silently asking for an explanation. " Hayden, come on let her go. This is none of your business, anyway."
" Family is my business, Brother. Whatever it is that concerns you, concerns me as well, as you know. We're always supposed to have each other's backs."
Kimberly turned around to face me, a look of confusion spread across her eyes. " Tommy, what's going on? Is everything alright between you two?" Hayden began to chuckle under her breathe, and shook her head. I could feel my emotions starting to boil, and if I didn't get them under control soon, Kimberly would find out our identities for sure by the time my outburst would be over.
" I cannot believe...that she is actually trying to change the subject. How typical of a girl hiding a big secret. What's next are you going to try and make me look like the bad guy here?" She scoffed, rolling her eyes mockingly.
Kimberly seemed taken back by Hayden's comment, and the look that crossed her face was making the butterflies in my stomach go haywire. She knows something that I don't, and obviously whatever it is spells trouble for the both of us. If her goal was to make me feel and look like a clueless idiot then she's obviously pushing the right buttons, because ding-ding Hayden-1, Tommy-0. " What are you even doing up, anyway? I thought you were...'sick'."
Hayden shrugged. "Eh, I heal fast. I mean it was just a headache, after all. Nothing to worry yourself over, Mom."
I'm not in the mood for any petty games, Hayden. There's something you aren't telling me, I know it!
-What our Empress and I are planning is none of your concern, Brother!
Since WHEN?
"SINCE YOU NEARLY SCREWED UP EVERYTHING BECAUSE OF YOUR INABILITY TO CONTROL YOUR ANGER, THAT'S WHEN!" Hayden growled irritably, and jerked her head towards Kimberly as her eyes flashed green. The petite brunette moaned sleepily, and suddenly fell to the floor at the foot of my bed.
"Kim!" I felt my heart drop as I moved to kneel beside her, hoping to still feel a pulse as I gently placed my fingers to her neck. Thump...ThumpThump...Thump...Thank god she's okay. I glared up towards Hayden, and moved to tower over her.
I was about to let her have it until she shoved her hand against my chest, and moved to stand by my bedroom window.
"Oh of course, only worry about HER, as long as she's safe it doesn't matter what happens to everyone else!" She raised her voice mockingly as she pointed a finger down at Kim. "Just as long as poor innocent little Kimmy the pink ranger is still kicking. Blood be damned, your own life be damned, as long as she's still fucking breathing, nothing else matters! Oh, my own brother doesn't care about his sister being punished and put through hell just to make sure that if push comes to shove, I have to do something that I'm pretty certain no sibling should EVER have to be forced to do!"
Well crap, that escalated quickly.
The air began to thicken as everything Hayden had just said echoed in my ears. I chuckled under my breathe, and ran a hand through my hair as I sat down on the edge of my bed. I closed my eyes, trying to process everything, as I'm pretty sure whatever Rita was 'forcing her to do' wasn't anything good at all judging by the amount of guilt written all over my Sister's face.
"Sister, what is going on with you? What is she doing to you that's got you wound up so tightly in her leash? And I swear if you try and tell me that there's nothing I will go ask Rita myself, and trust me when I say I will get an answer from one of you no matter the easy way or the hard way."
Hayden shook her head, and I could see tears reflecting in her eyes as she turned to look towards the window.
" I-If anything...were to happen that would ruin her plans, say you..." She paused for a moment to take a deep breath before continuing. " Say you were to start showing signs of any rebellion, such as your anger getting the better of you and going against her orders, that sort of thing, brother or not, she-she told me I would have to kill you."
Alright scratch what I said before, shit just hit the fucking fan harder than Bob Marley hitting a joint.