Ch 25
"Hey, are you guys seeing this?" Kimberly asked as the Megaship's bridge grew bright around her. No one answered her or even acknowledged that she had said anything. And pretty soon, the others faded into darkness.
"Guys?" she tried again, straining her eyes in the dark to make out anything or anyone.
Finally, the light returned and Kimberly found herself standing outside. She was in Angel Grove, in front of Ernie's Juice Bar. Hadn't that been sold and replaced with something else? And how had she gotten there?
Kimberly looked down at her wrist, the Veo Prism shard still firmly embedded there. She took the scrunchie out of her hair and covered the emblem with it before walking inside.
Everything was the same.
The walls, the people, even Ernie was standing behind the counter. But it was weird. She knew most of these people and they looked… younger. Not by much, but they had backpacks on their shoulders and homework out on tables.
Kimberly walked past a table of kids whose heads were down in their books, peering over their shoulders at their paperwork. There had to be a date written or typed on something. Her eyes scanned the papers quickly, landing on a few in the center of the table that were dated 1997.
Kimberly had never actually felt the blood drain from her face before. Her heart pounded against her chest, and she felt like she needed to sit down. She found an empty seat at the bar and sat down.
"Kimberly!" Ernie exclaimed, offering her a hug from behind the counter. "How long have you been in town? How's gymnastics?"
Kimberly smiled. "Everything is good. I just got here, but I'm kind of planning to surprise the others later, so…" She put a finger to her lips.
Ernie gave her a wink. "You got it," he whispered. "But it won't be a surprise for much longer if you keep sitting here." He pointed over her shoulder.
Kimberly turned around and smiled. It was Tommy in his red gi and sparring with Jason Scott while the other rangers watched. Well, except Rocky. He was sitting off to the side by himself, for some reason.
But it was obvious, especially seeing Katherine standing there, that this was right around the time that Kimberly had gone to Florida for gymnastics. Around the time that she had met that other gymnast that had made her think that she was in love and that she couldn't be with Tommy. And she had written that stupid letter.
Things had eventually worked out after that, but this Tommy might not be too happy to see her. And Kat likely wouldn't be either.
Kimberly turned back around with a sigh. What were the rules of time travel again? Don't touch anything. Don't change anything. And how exactly did this work? Was 1997 Kimberly still in Florida? She certainly wasn't in that body –not with the Veo morpher in her wrist.
"Psst, incoming," Ernie whispered to Kimberly, stepping out from behind the counter to cover as much of her as he could with his body before Billy Cranston walked up and ordered his usual juice order. Kimberly ducked her head down and turned her body away from him, keeping her eyes glued to whatever was currently on her far right.
He could feel his eyes on her. Billy was pretty intuitive, so no surprise that he could feel that something was up.
"I'll bring your juice over in a minute, Billy," Ernie said. "Why don't you have a seat over there?"
Ernie must have pointed to a table off to the side because Billy didn't end up sitting at any of the empty seats beside her. Kimberly mouthed a thank you to Ernie just as Rocky came over and ordered a juice with extra beets, sitting down at the table with Billy.
Kimberly put her head in her hands. Why had she traveled back in time? Okay, maybe the Veo Prism shards were all in the same room, but who had used it? She hadn't, had she? And used it for what? There was nothing here that she wanted or needed.
So why was she here?
-0-0-0-0-0-
Strangely enough, even without opening his eyes, Andros was familiar enough with the Megaship's floor to know that he was lying down on it. It was cold and hard and had a faintly musty smell that, despite the ventilation systems in place, never went completely away. It always reminded Andros of the Power Vault, which had once held the Astromorphers of his friends and had been closed off for months.
Andros opened his eyes, finding himself on his back in the ship's engine room, an overturned clipboard to his right. He lay there a moment, just staring up at the ceiling and trying to put together what had just happened.
Had that all been a dream? Or had the Veo Prism simply sent him back before he could change anything else?
"Andros!"
Andros sat up before Zhane could get to him, hoping to relieve him of his panic. But Zhane's eyes were scanning him all over, looking for blood, bruises, and any other signs of injury.
"I'm okay," Andros reassured him, holding out a hand for Zhane to help him to his feet.
"What happened?"
Andros shook his head. "I don't know." And he realized suddenly that he really didn't know. With Ashley and even after the fight on Wateth, he had been on the bridge both times. Why was he suddenly on the engine room floor? "I don't remember."
That, of course, did nothing for Zhane's level of concern. "Well, you look a little pale. Let's get you checked out in the infirmary."
"No, I'm okay." Andros rubbed the back of his head. It was sore enough for him to buy that he'd passed out. But no blood. No signs of a concussion. Just a headache. "I had a pretty weird dream, though."
"About?"
"The day we fought Darkonda, Tsukon, and Mirit –last year."
Zhane nodded. "What about it?"
"We retreated. I begged you to retreat and you did." Andros smiled to himself sadly. "And everyone was mad at me, but it didn't matter because they were alive."
"So, what was the weird part?"
"Our friends didn't die." He looked up in time to see the confusion in Zhane's eyes morph into concern. He looked like he wanted to shove him in a straitjacket. "Wait… we retreated, didn't we?"
"Of course we did. Andros, are you sure you're feeling okay?"
Andros leaned down to pick up the clipboard, turning it over and tapping a few buttons for the current date and time. It was the same day that Darkonda, Tsukon, and Mirit had attacked the hospital on Earth. Over a year after the attack on Wateth and the slaughter of his friends. He hadn't been dreaming. The Veo Prism had really sent him back to that moment, and he had changed the future –well, changed the present. And this wasthat present.
Andros' legs gave out and he just barely caught himself on one of the engine panels.
"You're not okay," Zhane said, pulling him out of the room and to the Megalift. "Come on."
Andros looked around the ship as they walked. They passed the bridge, where Tylan and Zeke were working.
Tylan turned when he caught a glimpse of them walking by. "Everything okay?" he asked.
"Andros hit his head," Zhane called. "Something's going on with him, a concussion maybe. I want to give him a once over with a scanner."
Zeke and Tylan came tearing around a corner to meet them, getting on the Megalift before the doors closed.
Zeke felt Andros' forehead and stared into his eyes. "Pupils look equal. What was he doing?"
Wordlessly, Andros pulled him and Tylan into a hug, holding onto them for a long time.
"Acting sort of strange," Zhane answered, exchanging a glance with Zeke. "From what I can tell, he had a dream about that fight a year ago and we died or… didn't die. I don't know. Either way, he's sort of shaken up about it."
"I see," Zeke replied as Andros pulled back from him with tears in his eyes. He gave his shoulder a pat. "You okay, buddy?"
The Megalift had stopped. They had been down the hall from the infirmary for at least two minutes. But Andros didn't need anyone playing doctor or scans or bandaging. He was shell-shocked for certain, but mostly just happy. His friends were alive and in front of him because he had used the Veo Prism and had saved everyone. He had saved everyone.
And he couldn't help it. He hugged them again. "I missed you guys."
Zeke chuckled awkwardly. "I'm pretty sure I saw you an hour ago, but okay. Come on, let's get you to –"
"No," Andros said. "I'm fine, guys. Really. I, uh… where's Arcadia? And Camilla?"
"Cami's on the Simudeck," Zhane answered. "You're supposed to join her in an hour, but I'll tell her you can't make it."
"I'm fine."
Zhane shook his head. "No, you keep saying you're fine, but you're not acting fine. You either slipped and hit your head or you passed out and hit your head. Either way, you hit your head and I'm guessing you hit pretty hard based on the way you're acting. The scan will take less than a minute. We're ten feet away."
"I've got one." Tylan came running from down the hall with an Amscanner in his hand, pointing it at Andros and moving it over his body and hovering at his head. "Believe it or not, he's actually fine. No concussion. Just a bump on the head, so –"
"And all that needs is a little ice and some rest," Andros finished. He was drawing attention to himself, which would lead to more questions and scans and eventually him admitting what had happened with the Veo Prism. No point in burdening his friends with that. "I can do that. I'll go lie down for a while before I head to the Simudeck if that'll make you stop worrying. Promise."
Zhane scanned Andros with his eyes one last time before giving the others a nod. "Do that. I'll check up on you later."
Andros nodded and got back on the Megalift, his friends sneaking glances at him on their way to the sleeping quarters. Andros sighed and pretended not to notice. "Is Arcadia anywhere around?"
"Your room, last I checked. Get some rest," Zhane called to him as the door closed.
Andros smiled to himself. He had done it. He had fixed a terrible mistake in the past and was currently in the present without any major consequences. He wasn't yo-yoing between being an adult and a child, and he hadn't created a post-apocalyptic wasteland. And his friends were alive. He didn't have any memories of this Andros, but maybe they would come in time.
Of course, things weren't all sunshine and roses. Having his friends alive meant that the morphers weren't available for T.J., Carlos, Ashley, and Cassie. What had happened to them? The odds of the Megaship being on the same course as it had been in the old timeline were slim. Had they run into them at all? Did they ever find a new set of powers?
Andros' steps slowed when he reached his bedroom door.
Ashley.
No Ashley.
But that means that he hadn't mistreated her. There had been no coma. No physical therapy or muscle accelerators.
With any hope, Ashley was somewhere on Earth and happy. Maybe she was even seeing someone.
A whimper sounded from behind his door, followed by a loud cry. A baby's cry.
"DECA," Andros called gently. "Do I have a son or a daughter?"
"You have a daughter that you call Dani."
Andros smiled and walked into his bedroom, finding Arcadia sitting on his bed and rocking a baby girl no older than four or five months old.
"You're back already?" Arcadia asked.
Andros nodded. His throat was too clenched to speak, and he knew he might fall to pieces the second he said a word to her. Instead, he motioned for the baby. Arcadia placed Dani into his arms and Andros began rocking her and shushing her to no effect. Then, Arcadia handed him a bottle that Dani was too riled up to accept at the moment.
Andros sat down on the edge of his desk and repositioned his daughter until her head was over his chest and he began to hum. It took a few moments for him to realize that it was a tune that Ashley had been listening to during her physical therapy –"True Colors". The first time he'd heard it, he'd thought it a little slow, but Ashley had called it relaxing. She said it made her think of him.
Who did it make her think of now?
The song was working. Dani was quieting down and was finally calm enough to accept the bottle. When Andros slowly settled her back down into his arms to feed her, she looked into his eyes and Andros could do nothing else except smile at her.
After a while, Arcadia rested her chin on his shoulder and quietly rocked with them.
"Glad you're here," Arcadia whispered.
"Me too," Andros returned softly.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Ducking the others had been easy. Everyone was preoccupied with Jason, who had apparently very recently returned to Angel Grove. Even Tommy was distracted, and Kimberly wanted so badly to talk to him and explain what was happening to her. But this was the past, and changing the past had consequences. She didn't want to end up toppling any dominos that might change or possibly destroy someone's life.
It wasn't long before she heard a chirp that could only be their communicators, and the rangers moved in a group towards an empty area. Had to be Zordon.
The same Zordon who would be kidnapped by Dark Specter a couple of years from now.
If Zordon knew, he might be able to prevent it from happening.
Kimberly could warn him. Is that why she was here? Was she supposed to stop Zordon from being kidnapped?
But what would that do?
Would she be able to go back to her timeline or any timeline at all without changing something? Was there a time limit?
What were the rules?
There was no other reason that she could think of for bringing her back to this specific day. She hadn't had anything to do with this day. And nothing out of the ordinary had happened on this particular day, as far as she knew. No rangers had gotten seriously injured. No one had died.
At any rate, she hadn't been sent to sit at the juice bar all day. It was too bad that she didn't have a communicator anymore. She'd give anything to be able to teleport.
She watched Jason struggle to get away from Bulk and Skull, who seemed to be taking his fingerprints for something. And she just barely saw it, but it had to be fate. Jason's communicator fell off and into Skull's bag. She could easily find a way to snake her hand into the bag and take it. As soon as Jason left, Kimberly made her move.
"Hey, guys." She walked up to them with a smile.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't another blast from the past," Skull said, folding his arms. "What do you want?"
"You're not here about the Burbling Burble Baby Food baby, are you? Because we're already on the case," Bulk said, lifting and waving the leather bag.
Kimberly shook her head. "Nope, just here to say hi."
Skull scoffed. "That's funny. I don't remember you saying goodbye."
Kimberly glanced from Skull's clearly hurt expression to Bulk, who looked a little sad himself. She really hadn't given them a proper goodbye, and here she was, using them like pawns. And she hadn't seen the two again since. She had been so busy with other things.
"I'm sorry, you guys. It's just that everything happened so fast and I left for Florida pretty much right away. But you two deserved a proper goodbye."
Skull raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"
"Of course," Kimberly replied. "I can't say I don't miss you two."
"Yeah?" Skull ventured again, a smile spreading across his face.
"Yeah. And I don't know if I'll see you again before I leave town, so…" She opened her arms.
Bulk and Skull exchanged a suspicious glance, but both stepped forward and let Kimberly hug them. After a moment, they hugged her back. She didn't make a move for the bag. It didn't feel right to go about it that way. She took a step back and offered a smile to the beaming duo.
"Hey, guys. I'm pretty sure I saw Jason's, um, bracelet fall into your bag. And I know he's going to flip once he realizes it's gone. I can take it to him, if you don't mind me grabbing it?"
Bulk reached into the bag and dug the communicator out from the bottom of the bag, handing it to Kimberly with a sheepish smile. "By all means," he said.
"Thanks." Kimberly slipped the communicator into her pocket and gave them a grateful smile. They nodded and Kimberly turned to leave.
"Hey, Kimberly?" Skull called after her.
She stopped and turned around, raising her eyebrows.
"We miss you too," he said, Bulk nodding in agreement.
Kimberly grinned, giving them a wave before walking out the door.
