Kimberly's detailed information being in Anton Mercers office didn't sit right with her, whatever excuse he may have for having it. She had been a reporter long enough to understand how everything worked— hell, she had done her share of research to know the technique. He was gathering his sources, trying to find any spot of weakness that can get himself closer to his target.. her. People like Anton Mercer were used to getting what they wanted, and if someone stood in their way.. well, they knew how to make them disappear. Luckily for her, she knew to keep an eye out for it.
Kira and Kimberly had decided to split up after their adventure in Anton's office. The yellow ranger left in search for her human body, while Kimberly attempted to find Tommy and Conner, and hope that they weren't in too much trouble. Finding them came easy, but getting close enough without the vulture that was Principal Randall was difficult.
Even through the murmurs of the elite roaming the exhibits, Randall still found time to think. She had a second mission to complete. Keeping appearances was a necessity, but keeping the rangers from the Triassic Amber was primary. The discomfort of the rangers was only her sick way of having fun.
When Kimberly spotted Tommy and Conner off in the distance, she made her way to them. She could feel the heat from Randall's eyes burning a hole in the back of her head. The former ranger couldn't see her, but she knew she was around watching her.
"Anything?" Conner asked, seeing Kimberly approaching them.
Kimberly made a quick glance over her shoulder before shaking her head, "Maybe the others have had better luck."
Tommy nodded, however, he noted a sudden change in demeanor in Kimberly. Small noises were startling her more than they should. The last time she had been this paranoid was when he picked her up from her hotel room after it was destroyed.
"Are you okay?"
She gave him a feigned smile, "Of course."
He knew her better than that and no amount of teeth shown could make him believe her. But what was it that she was hiding?
"Ms. Hart," Randall came up behind her, startling the former gymnast. The tension between the two women grew, making the men a little uneasy. "I thought I had made it clear that this fundraiser was for our elite members."
Kimberlys tongue rolled in her mouth, feeling the tick in her jaw quicken.
"You should be happy to have someone with Kimberly's experience here, Ms. Randall," Tommy interjected, trying to ease the tension between the two women. "She's assisted some powerful people."
Tommy shot Kimberly a wink and received a small smile as a reward.
"And I should care..?" Randall threw back coldly. "Your credentials don't matter here. We have really high standards in Reefside."
Everything that came out of that woman was pure venom. It was a stab to a wound that was getting cut deeper and deeper. Forget Elsa, she wanted Principal Randall in a steel cage. If only she could conjure up some residual powers from Maligore. Was it possible to loathe someone that much? Yes.
Kimberly had many words that she wanted to say and she learned a long time ago to never keep quiet, but for Tommy's sake, she sucked it up. Right now wasn't the time to make a scene, but she was sure she would have a few words with her before the night was over. Her anger was bubbling below the surface and it wouldn't be long before she burst.
Part of Elsa's mission was to plant the seed that would lead to the unraveling of Tommy's relationship with Kimberly. Okay, it was a side mission that she wanted to do for her own amusement, but it was a mission. One that she would die trying to accomplish. There was a reason why she was still standing along Mesogog's side and she hadn't suffered the same fate as the Tyrannodrones. Whether Mesogog liked it or not, Elsa was a strong and powerful ally in and out of the battlefield. She would complete her missions, whatever the cost. She had failed before, but she wouldn't surrender until she was splattered on the front line.
"I'm sorry," Randall's mouth watered with poison as she forced herself to utter those words. "Thank you for being here Ms. Hart. As a show of my appreciation, why don't you and Dr. Oliver go on and enjoy yourselves. Grab a drink at our open bar and join the other members on the dance floor."
Her mouth was pooling with disgust. The taste of being nice burned her tongue a lot more than she thought it would. God, this was her own personal hell.
"I'll be sure to babysit the little rugrat," Randall added, motioning over to Tommy who was still stewing inside Conner's teenage body.
All Kimberly knew was that Principal Randall wanted her gone. She had only known the beast for a few days and she could already piece together how she worked. Her motive was unknown, but her technique wasn't as unique as Randall thought it was. Kimberly would follow along, only because she had to know what her intentions were.
The vivacious brunette nodded before shooting Tommy an apologetic gaze. This was going to be uncomfortable for him, but he had to take one for the team. This opportunity left Kim and Conner open to finding the Triassic Amber, something they wouldn't have been able to do if they were still chained to Randall's side.
Conner's night had been going well, but he couldn't hide the growing discomfort between the foursome. Where the hell were the rest of the rangers? He didn't do well without them by his side. They were usually around to keep him from saying something stupid, which he normally did when things got uncomfortable. He just wanted a reason to get out of there.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Conner asked Kimberly, leading her away from Principal Randall and Tommy.
She took one good look at Conner and saw Tommy. All of him. Those were his eyes that she was seeing, his voice that she remembered, his touch that she melted over. She couldn't hide from him.
"No," She confided just shy of a whisper, "but I don't want to talk about it right now."
Conner nodded, he could understand that. The one thing that he couldnt, however, was the reaction his body had towards the former ranger. It was like his body had a mind of its own. His heart raced just a little when he got closer to Kimberly. Sure he found her attractive, but he just loved women in general. He wasn't going to compete against his teacher in an unfair war.
Kimberly followed Conner as he made his way to the open bar and snatched the free drinks from his hands.
"Not on my watch," she chuckled at a pouting Conner.
He was finally old enough to drink and he wasn't allowed? What a rip off!
"Come on," She told him, dragging him to the dance floor. She instinctively wrapped around his neck, pulling the teen down to her, "You look behind me and I'll try to look behind you."
"look for what, exactly?" He was lost as soon as she touched him.
"The amber," She whispered in his ears as he put his hands on her waist. oh, right!
There was a mission. He had completely forgotten about it.
Kimberly allowed herself to close her eyes for just one moment, as she pretended that she was actually in the arms of Tommy and not someone that looked exactly like him.
His scent, his warmth, his heartbeat… everything was Tommy. She felt the tears prick at her eyelids as she realized they could very well fail. This could be it. He might never come back home. The Tommy Oliver that she remembered could be lost, and she would have to live the rest of her life wondering what if.
Conner was unsure of what to do as he heard Kimberly's sniffles on his shoulder. He couldn't make it better. He didn't know how. Aside from Kira, he had never been close to another girl before. He'd date, but that didn't mean that he knew anything more about them. If he was honest with himself, he was pretty selfish and self absorbed when it came to dating. He couldn't stop talking about himself and his accomplishments. It isn't always about that. Maybe Kimberly is teaching him something after all… even if she didn't know it.
His gaze trailed off into the distance at Tommy who had his eyes pinned on the couple. The pain and regret painted on his face.
Tommy couldn't look away, didn't even want to blink as he feared missing just a moment.
"I see a lot of myself in her," Randall spoke in Tommy's direction, her eyes trained on the image of Kimberly with the black ranger.
"What do mean?" Tommy turned to her.
"Oh, you know, the typical. Beautiful.. successful… she's got the total package." Randall smirked, watching the red ranger from the corner of her eye.
Tommy nearly sprained his eyes from rolling them. Sure. He wasn't entirely sure why he was even listening to this.
She released a light smirk, "But you see, you can't trust women like her."
"Wouldn't the same go for you?" Tommy returned.
Her lips pulled back into a wider grin at his comment. She'd kill him for that.. eventually.
"Conner, women like her will do anything to get what they want. They use people.. anyone," She made sure to note. Tommy's thick swallow wasn't lost. A victory. She continued, "She used me to get to Cassidy, she used the guard to get inside this gala, and I have it on good authority that she used a couple of schmuks to get information on her exclusive stories," Randall inched herself forward. Tommy could feel the warmth of her breath on his ear as she whispered, "Why do you think she's so successful?"
Tommy remained silent, hypnotized by the image of Kimberly and himself on the dance floor.
"I wouldn't doubt it if she's using Dr. Oliver," Randall added, breaking Tommy from his trance.
She didn't. She wouldn't.
He turned to her, "What makes you say that?"
"Do you think she just invited him back to her hotel room to talk?"
His brows furrowed, searching her eyes for answers.
"How do you know about that?"
She let out a light chuckle, "There's nothing that goes around in my city that I don't know about." Randall made a move to leave but paused, "Keep that in mind."
Her tone wasn't like before. In fact, this was borderline threatening.
His eyes met hers, catching a glimmer of familiarity. Who did she remind him of?
Kimberly caught Tommy's fallen expression off in the distance. Randall had said something to him, that she knew for certain. Whatever it was had gutted him as he watched her with parted lips.
She felt her body tremble at the thought of what she said and she disentangled herself from Conner and made a jog towards Principal Randall.
"Principal Randall!" Kimberly called out to her, but the pixie-haired brunette continued walking, her heels clicking on the stone floor.
"Principal Randall!" Kimberly tried again, a little louder this time.
She heard Randall sigh before turning on her heels, "Ms. Hart, must I remind you that I am a very busy woman?"
"Well, good because this will only take a minute," Kimberly was steaming inside.
Randall raised her brows, looking at Kimberly from the top rim of her glasses, "and that is?"
"what did you say to.. him?" She stopped herself before revealing too much.
Randall shrugged, a smile growing on her lips, "nothing but the truth about you."
"you don't know me," Kimberly scowled.
Randall rolled her eyes, removing her glasses and placing one the tip to her lips, "Let me see: Originally from Angel Grove, residing in Miami, failed to compete in the Pan Global games, currently employed with the Miami Daily Times, have an association with Tommy Oliver, and have been for some strange reason following me and Anton Mercer around, or am I missing something? "
"That's nothing that isn't common knowledge," She spat back, causing Randall to smirk.
"I have you all figured out," Randall paced in a circle around the young journalist, eyeing her every feature.
What did Kimberly have that she didn't?
Kimberly lifted a brow, "Oh, do you?"
"Of course, you're jealous."
Kimberly stared at her blankly, "Of what?"
"Of my personal relationship with Dr. Oliver."
"Oh, please," Kimberly scoffed, rolling her eyes, "I'm not interested in whatever you think you have with Tommy. I don't feed into delusions."
"Delusions?" Randall let out a hearty laugh, "You're clearly threatened by me."
"No, I'm not, and I'm certainly not looking into fighting with you over any guy." Especially when its a battle she's already won. "What I do want to fight with you about is your vendetta against me."
Randall stared at her for a moment, deciding to kill her that very second and make a scene or to be patient like she had been ordered to. Her nostrils flared, coming to the decision to not go behind Mesogog's orders.
Principal Randall looked down at her watch, telling Kimberly she no longer cared to have this conversation, "Looks like your time is up. Don't you have a paper to write?"
The tension between the two women progressed as Randall began to walk away, leaving Kimberly fuming just that much more. If there was anything that pissed her off more was someone walking away from her in the middle of a conversation. This wasn't over by a long shot.
Kimberly chased after her, grabbing her from the forearm to turn her around.
"You don't get to walk away from me…" When Randall turned, Kimberly finally saw it. The missing piece in the puzzle that was Reefside. She shook her head at her stupidity. How was she just realizing it now?
It was her. It had always been her. The woman that tried to kill her just a few days ago, the woman that held a blade to her throat, threatening her very life.
"I don't know why it took me this long to figure it out." Kimberly said, staring at the black pools Randall called eyes, "It's not like your cover was any good."
"What are you insinuating, Ms. Hart?" Randall hissed, her lips twisting menacingly.
"I know your dirty little secret," Kimberly told her as she let go of her arm.
"If I were you, I'd really rethink about what you're about to accuse me of," Randall's jaw ticked, "I have connections everywhere, Ms. Hart. I say the word and your career is over."
Kimberly shook her head, "You don't scare me.. Elsa."
The name ricocheted off the wall.
Kimberly couldn't even react before a flicker caught the corner of her eye. She turned to find the honey colored rock, illuminated by the glowing beams falling from the ceiling.
The amber.
Elsa pulled her face into wide smile, feeling a tinge of freedom letting her identity be known. Her clothes tore into scraps in a flash, revealing the black leather clothes that had materialize on her curved body. The leather clung to her like a second skin, giving her the fluidity she loved during battle. It was good to be back.
A series of gasps and screams were heard throughout the museum, the residents startled by the transformation that just happened before them.
Tommy, who had been watching from the distance with the rest of the rangers, lunged forward, trying with all of his might to get to a startled Kimberly. She knew but the transformation wasn't any less wild.
It didn't take long before Elsa let out a vicious growl and raised her hands up into the heavens, conjuring an invisiportal in the sky.
An army of Tyrannodrones landed in the Mercer Museum, outnumbering the rangers and all of the guests inside.
"We have to get the amber," Kimberly told Tommy, pointing towards the silent rock off to the side.
The unmorphed ranger nodded, "Grab it and then go to Hayley! That's the only place you'll be safe!"
Kimberly didn't have time to argue or even think. She had to do what she was told and pray that the rangers made it out safe. They never got to know their new powers, it was now or never. She turned back to the rangers with just enough time to see them stand in position.
"Dino Thunder, Power Up!"
Author note: Hey guys! I finally got a new chapter out! I've been working on this for a bit! I guess a lot of things have been getting revealed recently.. I wonder what else they could discover. Let me know what you guys thought of this in a review or PM! It always makes my day! I also have a couple of new stories that I'm working on! I have a lot more free time right now, so I'm hoping that updates will pick up again. See you guys next time!