Chapter 18:
previously on Stolen crane:
"No problem, now let's get some sleep, I will show you the guest room," Clark said.
Both Kim and Tommy nod and follow him.
The room was painted in a soft yellow with a large bed in the middle of the room. A nightstand at each side of the bed and a closet off to the left. In the room a painting of a little sailboat upon a lake, above the bed.
Kim says, "it's lovely, and thank you again."
"We are glad to help," says Clark.
Both Tommy and Kim say good night.
As she is exhausted and walks over to the bed and as soon and she gets under the covers she glows pink for a second as she powers down leaving her completely bereft of clothes.
Tommy quickly follows suit in her actions and they are both quickly out like a light.
On with the story…
The next morning before Kim and Tommy woke up, Jason and Trini came over in their rented car and brought all of Tommy and Kim's stuff over.
"Thank you for letting them stay here." Trini smiled at Clark.
"It's no problem at all. we rarely ever get to have house guests because of who I am so this is kind of nice," says Clark with a smile.
"We should get going, Trini. We have a busy day today." Jason placed his hand on his wife's shoulder.
"Yeah, we have to pick up the others from the airport," Trini responded with a smile.
So they left Clark's house. Not long after Tommy came downstairs. Wearing a robe he found in the closet of his room, "good morning, Clark."
"Good morning, Tommy. Did you sleep well?" Clark asked while pouring Tommy a coffee, "How do you want your coffee?"
"Yeah, I did, thank you. Black and with three sugars, please. I was worn out." Tommy said.
"I can imagine that," Clark said.
This made Tommy smile. "Kim is still asleep. There is something I would really love to talk about with you if you don't mind."
"Sure Tommy, oh, and your friends dropped your stuff off. They said they had to get your other friends." Clark said.
"I am going to get dressed and then we can talk, maybe you can help me with something," Tommy said.
"Of course, but first you can take some things up to Kimberly," Clark responded friendly.
Tommy nodded in response.
After doing so, Tommy came back down 20 minutes later.
"So what did you want to talk about Tommy?" Clark asks the moment he saw Tommy again.
"Well, you may have noticed that I wasn't quite myself yesterday, at least during the fight at the ball." Tommy started carefully.
How was he going to tell a superhero that he had a dark side which he lost control over from time to time?
Clark seemed to be able to tell that Tommy was struggling and said, "why not start at the beginning."
Tommy nods and says, "It started with how I became a ranger. It wasn't in such a benevolent manner as the others. The villain they were facing abducted me off the streets of Angel Grove and put me under a strong evil spell and made me a dark ranger. After Jason freed me there was still a fragment of that spell that clung to me as a scar does to the body, an echo of what once was. We started to call him Dragon over time, he fused with my dark side. ever since then, I am struggling with keeping him under control. Thankfully he only breaks loose when Kim is threatened. Somewhere along the way, he fell for Kim even harder than I did. So both times last night when she was threatened he slipped out. The question is if you could help me with some advice about how to keep him under control. I mean you have massive strength and awesome powers. How do you control them?."
Clark is silent for a moment then says, "It took a great deal of time and concentration. I have been training this since I was a child. I mean at the age of 13 I was bench pressing cars. I have one question for you first. Did you ever forgive yourself?"
Tommy nods, "I've only been dealing with him since freshman year of high school, which being quite a while ago isn't that long compared to you."
"The first thing you need to do is accept that you have a dark side. Everyone has one, even me. I am not as innocent as you think." Clark responded, "did you ever forgive yourself for any of this? if you can forgive yourself, that the first step to embracing it, and that will give you better control."
"I thought I had, most of the time I can keep control. It's just when it comes to Kim that I can't. The last time he was completely in control I nearly killed them all and destroyed half the city, but I know it wasn't really me just the spell that was on me, making me that way. It's gone now, for the most part, and it's my choices that make me who I am. Her still being able to fall in love with me even after everything I did then, proved I was worthy of it. I've been as much a force for good as I was dark while under another's control. If not more so. I know all the rangers that came after see me as a legend. I just don't want to be a danger if something happened to her" Tommy sighed.
That is a very important step, you are lucky that you have friends like that. They support you no matter what happens. I want you to know that you can talk to me about anything. I won't judge you." Clark said, "I didn't have support outside my parents nobody knew I was bench pressing cars at the age of 13 or that I could fly at the age of 18
I had to accept myself for being different without knowing why I was the way I was
Not until last year."
"Was it finding someone to love who would love you back that got you over the hump?" Tommy asks.
"Lois gives me the strength to keep ongoing. She has my back in everything I do, even at that time when red kryptonite made me lose control over my powers. I nearly burned the house down with my eyes. Lois never feared me though or was never disgusted by the fact that I am an alien." Clark said. This shocked Tommy.
"I never thought of it that way. I guess when you love someone the rest doesn't matter. It never mattered to Kim either, she even confronted me while I was evil and told me she knew who I was. She stood her ground even as Dragon threatened her. Aliens don't phase us. We spent years being mentored by an alien, who was just a floating head in a tube, using the alien power source he gave us to use." Tommy said letting him know he wasn't disgusted by the fact that Clark was from another planet, "she was willing to fight through my guilt and my self-loathing and tendencies to curl in on me and be a loner. she just cut through all the negative stuff I felt and dragged out the best of me. We are lucky to have such strong incredible women in our lives."
"That we are, Tommy." Clark smiled
"Will you two be able to have kids?" Tommy asks
"We have no idea. We need to run some tests for that," says Clark.
"If you need help figuring out a way, our friend Billy is currently on another planet with another race of people; they were also rangers once. They might be able to help find a way to make that work. They are all geniuses just like Billy, so he fits right in there." says Tommy
"It would help a lot if he is up to it," says Clark.
"He's coming to the wedding but we don't know when he's going to get here. Traveling between worlds is a little tricky," says Tommy.
"Now for my next question: do you feel him rising?" asks Clark.
"No, not now. He is dormant for now." Tommy answered.
"What about yesterday? Do you feel the switch?" asks Clark
"Not really, I just felt this flood of rage, that's how it normally goes. You know how people say they see red when they lose it, well I see green. So when I saw those men trying to grab her or when the one with that blade grabbed her and held it to her throat, then there was a trickle of blood. I just snapped, and the next thing I know she was there trying to bring me back out. says, Tommy
"Did I hurt anyone too badly? I saw that Kim looked worried." Tommy asked next.
He was always worried about the consequences, every time Dragon took over his body.
"Also when she got the flowers and the jewelry there was such a powerful rush of jealousy, and then anger. It was normal at first but the longer I burned over it, the more it turned into more than that. It was then when I started to feel it but by the time I did, it was too late. He already pushed me out of the way for control. What I mean by that is if being in control is sitting in a chair that is in a spotlight while the rest of the stage is in shadow. Well, he had pulled me out of that chair before I realized what was happening. The warnings for others are the green eyes. Sometimes I can feel it and push him back. We have this weird relationship that way, but I only truly ever lose it when it comes to Kim. That are the few times that we agree." Said Tommy.
"Can I talk to my birth wife about this? They are on Krypton. She rules there in my place with her partner Ching. They are more advanced in technology than we are. Maybe she can find a way so you can see him coming before losing it." Clark asks Tommy.
"Excuse me? Wife? How does that work?" Tommy asked Shocked.
"Yeah, that was my reaction too a few months ago. Clearly, I was promised to Zara but I was already engaged to Lois. I helped them fight the enemy here on earth, someone who was after the throne. I should be seated there, but we decided that I would stay on earth with Lois and she would rule with Ching." and she would rule with Ching." Clark explains before continuing, " They had a ceremony and I was married to her before I knew it. It Doesn't count on earth luckily. Strange habits of my people although I always felt more human than Kryptonian."
"Wow! that is really wild, Lois is incredible to be cool with all this. could be that growing up here you became more human being around us." Tommy said, "That would be great if I could at least control him a little more or at least have a little more warning. I know that the falcon helps keep him in check, but when it comes to Kim we are all in agreement so that when he takes advantage, there's no resistance in those times. It's rare but there have been maybe two or three times when I had dreams where I talked to him like I'm talking to you now. When that happens it's like talking to another me. It's the strangest thing I swear."
"Maybe if we can get or create a bracelet of some sort giving a signal before the green eyes then maybe your other friends could help you control him, but I will do nothing without your permission," says Clark.
Tommy nods, "That would help but he only listens to a few people. Kim, Jason, maybe Billy but anything would help."
"I was only roughly 3 months old when I landed on earth, so I don't know that much about what they could do to help, but maybe my people could figure something out," Clark responds.
"So I'm guessing your parents literally found you didn't they?" asked Tommy.
"Yes, in a spacecraft in a field near their house, that is where I landed," Clark answered.
Tommy nods, "There have been times where he comes in handy, but it would be great to have more warning signs. I just don't want to do anything to damage or dampen my connection to the falcon and by extent the crane."
"You know what, when dinner is over this evening we both will talk to Zara. I have a device to contact them. I don't want to ruin your connection either." Clark suggests
"I just want to be able to give a signal that will help you if your friends, like Jason or Kim aren't around, you can have some warning and try to stop him, or try to find inner peace before it's too late," says Clark.
"Thank you, it's one of the odd things about having been a ranger, it tends to complicate things." Says Tommy.
TBC
