A/N Power Ranger Zeo Settings and Characters all belong to Haim Saban and Toei Company and the Fox. Any original characters and this story are copyright © 2011-2018 to Hopelessromanticgurl, all rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.
Thank you mae-E for being my beta!
In the Command Center, everyone was talking, searching frantically trying to find Kim. Out of nowhere, Tommy let out a blood curling scream. He grabbed his head and dropped to his knees. "Kimberly!"
"It can't be Kimberly. There was no sound of a crying crane." Rocky said.
"They've been practicing. Maybe they've learned how to control it better so only Tommy hears it." Jason said. He knelt down by Tommy and put a hand on his shoulder. "Listen to her man, don't fight it. Listen to her."
Tommy inhaled and exhaled a deep breath. He closed his eyes and focused on Kim.
Suddenly he could see prison bars and outside of those bars was a man he had only seen inside Kim's head. Only he looked…different. He was transforming right before his eyes. He looked behind him and saw Kim stood in the corner terrified, he couldn't blame her. He knew the sight of her coach terrified her enough but even he was a little freaked out seeing this man changed before his eyes.
He gasped when a wad of skin, it looked like what used to be this man's face was tossed at Kim's face.
Before any more could happen it all suddenly went black, like when a tv's power is shut off due to a storm, there was no warning or anything. It just all went black. He couldn't see or hear anything through their connection.
"Kimberly? Kimberly!"
He looked around frantically. "Kimberly! Kimberly!"
Tommy opened his eyes and looked around. He was back in the Command Center.
"What did you see?" Jason asked.
Tommy didn't answer. He stood up and went over to Alpha. "We've got to hurry. Kim is in real danger."
"Tommy, what's going on?" Jason asked.
"Can we track her power coin or something?" Tommy asked again.
"She no longer has the power coin. We can try and track her communicator, but it will take some time." Zordon said.
"Tommy!" Jason growled. "What is going on with my sister!"
"We don't have time! That monster is going to break her, and this time she won't ever recover!" Tommy growled.
"Tommy, we're going to find her. But you have to know Machine Empire won't kill her. He'll lose his leverage if he does that. He needs Kim." Jason said.
"He's not the one I'm worried about." Tommy sighed.
"Then who is? Tommy, what did you see?"
"It was Kim's Coach. He's been working with them. He's…he's not real."
"What?"
"Never mind! Just forget I said anything, we've got to find Kim and fast."
"Tommy, I understand you're upset. But if you're going to help Kim you must calm down." Zordon spoke.
"She's muted me, Zordon. I can't help her anyway!"
"No. She would not do that. She needs you right now. If your connection was broken, she must have passed out, due to fear I'm assuming. You can still reach her Tommy; your connection is strong enough now that you can reach her without touching her or even being in the same room with her. Trust yourself and trust your falcon. You can do this Tommy; you've had the proper training. Find Kimberly and bring her back. You're the only one who can."
Tommy inhaled and exhaled a deep breath. He sat down on the floor and closed his eyes. He did as Zordon said.
"This isn't working," Tommy growled. "It's still all blackness."
"Keep going. Look deeper!" Zordon instructed. "Push past the darkness and finds her. You know Kimberly's mind well enough. Find it, and you'll find her."
Tommy tried with every ounce of strength he had, but it was still blackness. "Zordon!" He growled getting frustrated. "This isn't working! It's wasting time."
"You're not trying," Zordon said. "Something is stopping you."
"You don't want to find her," Jason said suddenly. "You're scared."
"Excuse me?" Tommy growled. His eyes snapped open, and he looked at Jason. "I want to find her more than anything!"
"You're also terrified of what you're going to see when you do find her! That fear is holding you back." Jason said.
"I'm not scared, Jason," Tommy said.
"Yes, you are," Jason said. "You're scared you're going to be too late. You're scared your stimulation will come true, and you're going to be too late to save her, and she'll be dead when you find her."
"Shut up," Tommy growled, and his eyes flashed green.
"Jason back down," Zordon said.
"No. He's angry because he knows I'm right. He's terrified of finding out that the blank connection means she's dead. That's what's stopping him."
Tommy didn't speak knowing he was right.
"She's a ranger, Tommy. She's stronger than she thinks she is. She's not going down that easily. You know Kimberly better than any of us. If her fear caused her to pass out, she'd go somewhere she feels safe, and some place she knows won't cause her harm. You're the only one who can find her now. So stop being scared of the past and go save your girl."
Tommy inhaled and exhaled a deep breath. He nodded. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on what Jason said. The one place Kimberly would go when she was upset or scared…
Suddenly the blackness started to fade, and he could see a small lake, trees, and a few rocks.
"Come on, Beautiful, I'm right here. Let me in, please." He muttered.
The room changed completely, and he was at the lake in Angel Grove Park. Kimberly was sitting on the rock looking out into the water.
"Kimberly!" He cried out.
He ran over to her and swept her off her feet and swung her around in circles. Giggles left her mouth instantly, and it made him smile.
"I'm so glad you're ok." He said as he set her down on his feet.
"How did you find me? I passed out." Kimberly said.
"I'll always find you," Tommy said and kissed her passionately. "You've got to wake up now."
"No," Kimberly whispered. "I'll stay here until you save me."
"No, we need you to tell us where you are and how to save you. We have no idea where you are." Tommy said.
"No, you'll find me. You just said so. I can't go back. Not to…him…" Kimberly gulped as her stomach churned. "No."
"I know it's terrifying, but you're strong enough to face him."
"No, no, I'm not."
"I know you are."
"Tommy, this goes ways beyond just my…him. This whole thing…it's a setup. They've been planning this from the beginning."
"That only means we have to fight back just as hard to ruin their plans. We're going to make them pay, Kim. I promise. We're going to make them all pay!"
Kimberly nodded.
"That's only going to happen if we all work together. I need your help though. I need you to wake up and try to find out where you are."
Kimberly inhaled and exhaled a deep breath. "Ok, let's do this,"
They shared one last kiss, and both opened their eyes.
Kimberly opened her eyes and looked around. Her Coach was gone, and the other men were passed out against the wall. She stood up from the floor and continued to look around. She was a little shocked to see Tommy.
"How are you still here?" She asked.
"I'm not going to leave you in here alone." He said. He carefully kicked the face away and out of sight so it could no longer be used to torture Kim. "I'm going to see if I can find a way to get you out of here or at least find out where you are."
Kimberly watched as Tommy walked over to the bars and walked through them. He looked to the left and then to his right. Both ways were just long dark hallways.
"Try the right," Kimberly said. "When they brought me in I came from that direction."
Tommy nodded. He went to move but quickly found he couldn't. "I can't move."
Kimberly sighed. "You're in my head. You can only see what I see."
Tommy sighed and went back into the cell. "We have to find another way."
Before any more could be said they heard yelling from down the hall.
"Let me go! After all, I did for you, and this is the thanks I get! I swear when I get out of here you're all going to pay! You wouldn't even have the crane if it wasn't for me!"
The robot that used to be her Coach walked over dragging Kat along with him.
Kimberly gasped and jumped back.
"It's ok; I'm right here," Tommy said.
The cell door opened and Kat was thrown inside. Her Coach slammed the cell door and locked it. "I'll see what the master wants to do with you."
He walked away, and Kimberly let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in.
"Great! They don't even give me my own cell. They trapped me in here with you." Kat said as she looked at Kim.
"Can't she see you?" Kimberly asked Tommy.
"I guess not. Otherwise, she'd be acting nice." Tommy answered.
"See who? Never mind. I don't care. You're a crazy druggie anyway." Kat shook her head. "Just be quiet, so I can figure out a way to get free from here. Now that you're trapped in here I can finally get what I want."
Kimberly self-consciences pulled at her sleeves. The scars had faded to almost nothing, but Kimberly knew they were there.
Tommy wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into him. "Don't listen to her. You know I love you. You're not a druggie. No matter what happens next I will never love her."
Kimberly nodded. She looked to Kat. "You're only wasting your time. Tommy will never love you, no matter what you do to me."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that, Kimberly."
"I'm not going to bother to argue with you, Kat. I'm done fighting."
"Good. So you're finally giving up."
"Only in your dreams."
"I'm going to head out, Beautiful. I promise I'm going to find you and I'm going to get you out of here." Tommy said.
Kimberly inhaled and exhaled a deep breath. "Ok. I love you."
"You love me? Wow, you must really be under a lot of drugs." Kat laughed.
"I love you too. Don't let Kat get to you. Just remember she's under the spell."
Kimberly nodded. Tommy kissed her head once more. She closed her eyes and inhaled and exhaled a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, Tommy was gone.
Tommy opened his eyes and looked around. He stood up and looked to Zordon. "She's ok, for now anyway. I saw Kat too. They must have grabbed her shortly after she left here."
"Good, I am very proud of you, Tommy. I know that wasn't easy. Were you able to find out where Kimberly is being held?" Zordon asked.
"No. All I know is she is being kept in a cell that looks like it's in some kind of basement or something. There are dark hallways to the left and right."
"That's better than nothing. You said Kat was there. It is possible to get a lock on her zeo crystal and locate them both. However, if she no longer has the crystal on her, it will be harder. But it will be a start."
"We have to try everything. Zordon. Kimberly can only handle so much. Having her Coach so close to her is really going to mess with her physically and mentally."
"Alpha, start scanning for the pink zeo crystal, with any luck we will have Kim home by nightfall."
Kimberly looked to Kat and then went to lay down on the little bed in the corner of the cell.
"Thanks a lot, Kim. Now I'm trapped in here too." Kat groaned.
"I'm not about to play the blame game, Kat. But you're the one who has been working with them, so really it's your own fault that you're trapped in here." Kim didn't even look at her.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Kat laughed.
Kim inhaled and exhaled a deep breath. Kat was under a spell. She had to remember that….even though remembering that didn't help the fear at all.
It was silent after that. Neither Kat or Kim spoke a single word to each other for at least an hour.
They both jumped when they heard a loud sound and then seconds later King Mondo, and his crew were standing outside their cell. Kim's Coach was next to them.
"Having fun, ladies?" King Mondo laughed.
"You wish! What gives? I helped you get the real Crane, and now you're treating me like a slave. I was promised a reward, and I want it!" Kat growled.
"Oh don't worry my dear Kitty Kat, you will get your reward soon enough." King Mondo said. Then he looked at Kim. "As for you my dear Crane, you best prepare yourself. We are going to make sure that your Falcon never comes for you. In fact, we're going to break that connection once and for all."
"Good luck! The connection between the Falcon and Crane is unbreakable. Better villains than you have tried and failed." Kimberly bit back.
"Oh, you mean your dear Rita and Zedd? Yes, I know all about them. They left quite a few files behind, and I was able to get ahold of them. That's when I started to plan this whole thing. It's all been part of my master plan."
"Kidnapping me isn't much of a master plan. I've been taken by Rita and Zedd tons of times. I've always been able to get away. The Rangers have always come for me."
"I'm not just talking about kidnapping you, Crane. I'm talking about all of it. From the second that horrid Coach offered you a spot to train with him in Florida. Then him leaving shortly after so my excellent sidekick could become your Coach. It's all been planned. Those injections were never supposed to help you. The goal was to make you weak and powerless, so when the final task came to be, you wouldn't fight back."
"The final task…" Kimberly gasped. "You…you told him to do that to me?"
"Yes, I did. I knew it was the final way to break you completely. Then once you broke, you'd break The Falcon as well."
"The letters!" Kimberly gasped. "Did you write them?"
"Of course I did. The was the first step. It got you to question your relationship with The Falcon, that way after the final task was completed you wouldn't want to go back to him and the Falcon and Crane would break up forever, and your precious Falcon would fall, and the other Rangers would follow. Then I could finally take over the world."
"You…you planned it all." Kimberly gasped. "Everything that has happened to me has been a set up to destroy the Rangers?"
"Yes, it was, and you all played along so well. Now that you're here we're going to finish what we started, and we're going to make sure the connection between the Falcon and Crane is destroyed forever."
"That will never happen," Kimberly answered.
"We are still going to try. Now I will leave you and your Coach to talk. I'm sure you have a lot to catch up on. As for you pink ranger, come with me, and I will give you, your reward."
"No!" Kimberly screamed as Kat walked out of the cell and her Coach walked in. "No!"
King Mondo and his crew left with Kat without another word.
"Stay away from me." Kimberly got into a fighting stance. She was terrified, but she had to try and fight him away. If he was going to finish his final task, he'd have to fight for it.
Back inside the Command Center, Tommy was working with Alpha to try and find Kimberly. Suddenly a loud Crane cry filled the room and Tommy grabbed his head dropping to his knees.
"Kimberly! Hang on!" Tommy cried out. "Alpha hurry!"
And then Tommy felt an all too familiar pinch in his arm. "No! Kimberly!"
It only lasted a minute, and Tommy became worried. He stood up and went back over to Alpha. "Either Kim passed out again, or she muted me, or the danger went away. But it won't last for long! We've got to find her, and we've got to find her now!"
"We are doing everything we can, Tommy. Please. You've got to calm down. We will find her." Zordon said.
"I know we will. It's the kind of shape Kim is going to be in when we do." Tommy sighed.
He knew they would find Kimberly. But he was really worried that once they found her, she wasn't going to be the same Kimberly she had once been.
Kimberly sat curled up in a ball on the bed clutching her arm, where her Coach had just injected her again. She had tried to fight him off, but her human body was no match against his robotic body.
"Don't worry, Kimmie, this time it will be different. These injections will do what the other injections should have done." Her Coach said. "These injections will weaken you until you're powerless to stop us. Then the real fun will begin."
"I will not be powerless; I will fight with every last ounce of strength I have." Kimberly bit back.
"Oh, I know you will. But just remember, Kimmie, the weaker you get, and the more you wear yourself out so does your precious Tommy. The weaker he gets, the less of a chance you have that he'll be able to find you."
"You're lying! Tommy will always find me!" Kimberly growled. She was used to his mind games by now. She knew they were all lies.
"Maybe he will, but that doesn't mean you'll get out of here. Did you ever think about how tired Tommy must get from having to save you all the time? Do you even think he's tired of you always making him feel weak and powerless everytime you get even a little spooked? My dear, dear, Kimmie, did you ever think that maybe Tommy is happy you're gone?"
Kimberly glared. "Your mind games won't work on me. I will never believe a word that comes out of your mouth."
"You're right." Her Coach said. "They never have. That just means we will have to do this the hard way."
With that he turned around and left the cell, leaving Kimberly alone.
Kimberly looked down at her arm where a fresh, small, hole was forming. She bowed her head feeling ashamed. "I'm so sorry, Tommy. Please forgive me."
In the Command Center, Tommy was working with Alpha again when he suddenly felt ashamed, embarrassed even. He heard Kimberly's voice in his head. "I'm so sorry, Tommy. Please forgive me."
He sighed softly. He closed his eyes and focused on his Falcon. "It's ok, Beautiful, whatever happened is not your fault. There is nothing to forgive. I love you."
He opened his eyes and continued to work at finding Kim. She was already starting to break. He knew it was only a matter of time before she was completely broken.
Zordon had been wrong. Nightfall had come and gone, and there still was no sign of Kimberly.
With every passing second, Tommy was more and more frustrated.
The next morning Kimberly rolled over on her bed. She had barely slept the night before. She was too terrified of what would happen to her if she did.
A part of her was worried because Kat had never returned either. But the other part of her was happy to be left alone.
She spoke too soon when King Mondo joined her and stood outside her cell. "Good Morning Crane, sleep well?"
Kimberly didn't bother to answer him. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
"You must be hungry. I have brought you some food." He said again.
Kimberly turned her back to him. She would rather starve than eat whatever poison they were going to feed her.
"Fine, starve. It will only make you weaker and make it easier for us." King Mondo dropped the tray of food and walked away.
She sighed softly.
It wasn't long after that that King Mondo returned. This time he walked into the cell.
"Wake up little Crane. It's time to play a little game."
Kimberly ignored him again. She wasn't sleeping, but maybe if they thought she was they would leave her alone…or maybe it was just wishful thinking.
"Fine, don't speak to me. That will make this easier. This is the game we're going to play. I am going to show you flashes of things that either have or have not happened to you in your life. You have to tell me which one's are real and which are fake. If you get them right, we will leave you alone, if you get them wrong…well, you'll see."
Again Kimberly didn't speak. She was done speaking to these monsters. She jumped when she felt a large hand on her head. Suddenly she felt like she was transported into another world.
She found herself in her childhood home. She was sitting on the couch in the living room her mom and Dad were in front of her.
"Now Kimberly, your father and I have something we need to talk to you about." Her father started.
"Your father and I feel that it's best for this family if we split up for a while." Her mother told her.
"Me too?" Kimberly asked. She was five years old again.
"No, just your father and I. You will stay with me most of the time. During the summer you will go and stay with your dad." Her mother explained to her again.
"Daddy isn't living here anymore?" Kimberly asked.
"No. I'm going to be moving away."
Tears filled Kimberly's eyes. "No! Daddy! Stay! I'll be a good girl I promise."
"I can't stay. Your mother is driving me nuts! To be honest so are you! You're a whiney brat." Her father said.
Kimberly started to cry.
Seconds later she was back in her bed, inside the cell. King Mondo was standing over her. She quickly sat up and glared at him. "Stop it! You're twisting everything around. My father never said those words to me!"
"So is what you saw real or fake?"
"Both! My parents sat me down when I was five and told me they were getting a divorce, but my father never said those harsh words to me."
"Wrong answer!" King Mondo growled.
Seconds later she felt a burning pain in her arms.
She screamed and yanked her arm away. When she looked, she saw her Coach holding a single hot coal in his hand. When did he get here?
"Shall we try another one?"
"No!" Kimberly growled. "Stay out of my head!"
"But I'm having so much fun."
King Mondo replaced his hand on her head, and again she felt like she was teleported to another world.
She was back in the Command Center. She was lying on the medical bed with Tommy at her side.
"Are you with Katherine?"
Tommy looked confused. "With her how?"
"In love?"
"Yes, I love Kat. She's the most beautiful in the world." Then he gasped. "You saw me kiss her?"
Kimberly nodded.
"I wasn't going to push her away. You shouldn't have even been there. You were supposed to be with your boyfriend in Florida."
Now Kimberly looked confused. "New boyfriend?"
"Yeah, the one you broke up with me for in your letter?"
Kimberly looked even more confused. "Letter? Tommy, I never wrote you a letter."
"But I got a letter from you saying you've met someone else and you saw me as a brother."
Kimberly shook her head. "I got a letter from you; it said you were with Kat and didn't love me anymore. It was harsh and cold and mean, and it didn't sound like you. I was coming back to make sure you were ok and not under a spell or something."
"My letter was the truth. I am with Kat now. We are happy together, and we never wanted you to come back and ruin our lives." Tommy said. "Just because you failed at your relationship with this other guy doesn't mean you get to come crawling back to me. I won't take you back. Not now not ever. My heart belongs to Kat. It always will."
Kimberly blinked, and she was back in her cell. "No!" she screamed. "That's not what happened at all! Tommy loves me! Not Kat! Neither of us wrote those letters!"
"Wrong!"
Kimberly screamed again as another coal was pressed to her arm. "Stop it!"
She knew that was fake. So why would they say it was wrong. It was right. The memory they showed her was a fake memory they created…wasn't it?
"How about we try another one. This one will be completely taken from your mind." King Mondo said.
He placed his hand on her head
This time she was back in the Gym in Florida. She was fighting with her Coach just as he pinned her down. Only this time…there was no phone call to stop him from his actions.
Kimberly screamed, and she jumped back away from them when she realized she was back in her cell.
"Stop it! That wasn't real! He never got that far! There was a phone call! I know it!" She screamed.
"Are you sure?" King Mondo asked. "How can you be sure you remember it right? Maybe you just don't want to admit it happens because you know the Falcon will never love you once he finds out the truth."
"No! I'm sure! It never happened!" Kimberly screamed. Then she felt a burning pain on her arm again. She screamed again. "Stop it!"
"It happened, Kimmie. Like it or not it happened." Her coach laughed. "It was amazing!"
"No! It didn't happen, you're lying!" she bit back.
"You're just in denial. You know if you accept the truth little Tommy won't love you anymore." Her Coach told her.
"No!" Kimberly screamed. She honestly didn't know what to believe at that moment. She knew it was possible for the brain to withhold memories to protect someone but that's not what was happening was it? There was a phone call to stop her Coach…wasn't there?
"Let's leave her be." King Mondo said. "We need to go prepare for the next game."
Coach and King Mondo left the cell leaving Kimberly feeling confused.
"Kim, you ok?"
Kimberly jumped when she heard Tommy's voice. She looked around but didn't see him. "Tommy?"
"Who else would it be?" She heard him laugh.
"Where are you?"
"What are you talking about, I'm in the command center."
"How can I hear you right now?"
There was a long silent pause, and Kimberly wondered if she was going crazy.
"Please tell me you're kidding, Kim." She heard Tommy said.
Kimberly shook her head, clearing away all her thoughts of her Coach and what he had said to her. She chuckled. "Yes, of course, I'm kidding. I was just trying to lighten the mood a little."
But she wasn't kidding and deep down they both knew it.
"I was feeling these burning pains in my arm. I wanted to be sure you were ok." Tommy said.
"Yeah. I'm fine. They can't hurt me." Kimberly said.
"Keep staying strong, Beautiful. I love you."
"I love you too."
Once Tommy was gone she curled herself into a ball. Her Coach had to be lying to her. It was just some kind of mind game. He used to do it all the time back at the Gym. Only this time he had King Mondo to help mess with her memory. It was lies, all of it…it had to be.
A/N What do you think? Leave me your thoughts in a review. Those who review with an account will get a sneak peek at the next chapter so please review!
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