Pawns
Chapter Three: The Seed
Sunday, February 16th
The past two days had been a nightmare for Tommy. His first love dumped him without warning. Then, his best friends tried to distract him by dragging him on vacation, but he just had to meet an attractive, spirited young woman, who reminded him far too much of Kimberly for comfort. Still, he had been interested in at least becoming friends with Heather Thompson, but the Machine Empire was unusually persistent, forcing Tommy and his friends to cut the ski vacation short. He had to leave Heather without a decent explanation, and he could tell she was annoyed. Katherine decided to set up a romantic dinner for the two of them that evening at the Juice Bar, and things had been going quite nicely. At least, until the Machine Empire struck again, forcing Tommy to leave yet again.
When he came back, Heather was gone.
Wow… two rejections in less than a week. That's got to be some kind of record, he reflected numbly, wiping the smudges off a glass of sparkling apple cider. Slow music filled the silence, making him feel even more alone. For the second time in half a week, Tommy was left behind by a woman he cared about. How should a person deal with that?
"I'm sorry," Katherine murmured, leaning her elbows against the elegant dinner table, "I wanted everything to be perfect."
"Just forget it Kat," Tommy sighed, "What you did was incredible! I'm just really lucky to have a friend like you."
"I just thought it would help take your mind off things if you had someone in your life."
Tommy remained silent. Was that really true? Was that even fair to the "someone" in question?
"It's just going to take some time."
Kat nodded as a new song played softly on the radio. She closed her eyes, a dreamy grin crossing her face. "Oh, I love this song," she commented.
Tommy looked up at Katherine's blissful expression. For a moment, it was almost as if he were seeing her for the first time.
She had always been pretty, but this evening, her hair gently curled and pulled back from her face, and a simple but flattering rose pink dress, she was simply lovely.
Kat was also a true friend. She really cared for him; she proved it by all the effort she put into helping him heal.
"Hey," he said, the first genuine smile crossing his face in days, "what would you say if I asked you to dance?"
Kat blinked up at Tommy in surprise. She saw him smile, and she couldn't help but smile back. "I'd say... promise not to step on my feet, and you've got a deal."
"You got it," he said, standing up and taking her hand. He led her away from the table, and they slowly swayed to the music, foreheads touching.
oooOOOooo
The past two days had been a nightmare for Kimberly. After trying to convince herself for hours that the whole "Kat-thing" was only a misunderstanding, she finally managed to fall asleep. But even as she slept, she wasn't at peace. In her dreams, she pictured Tommy hand in hand with Kat, standing on the large stone by the lake in Angel Grove Park. He leaned over to kiss her… on the very same spot where they had shared their first kiss.
She woke up just before their lips touched. Shivering, she screamed to herself that she was simply overreacting… Kat and Tommy were only friends. It's not like she didn't go on picnics with Billy from time to time, or hang out with Jason and his family. It hadn't meant anything, and Tommy never seemed uncomfortable with her attachment to all the other male Rangers. She certainly had no right to freak out if Tommy spent a little time with a fellow Ranger.
But then she recalled something else… a scene not from her imagination, but from her memory.
…staring at Tommy through the Viewing Globe as he sailed through the magical void in a black convertible, a gorgeous blonde pressed tightly at his side…
Kim's mouth went dry. "Zordon? Who's that girl…?"
She'd never brought that up. At the time, she was too worried about Tommy's safety to question how he wound up in the driver's seat of some blonde bombshell's Mustang. And by the time he was out of danger, she was too relieved to care.
But what was that about?
And why did Kat steal her Power Coin when she was under Rita's spell? Was it her plan from the beginning to be rid of… the competition?
"Dammit!" she hissed, clutching her head, "I trust him! I do!"
"…your boyfriend is a hot, popular guy, whose girlfriend is three thousand miles away. You may talk to him twice a week, but who do you think he's with the rest of the time?"
Kat. He's with Kat.
She couldn't shake the conclusion. She couldn't think of another explanation. The seed of doubt had been planted, and she would be hard-pressed to dig it out before it really took root.
There was nothing she could do to stave off the gnawing suspicions, blended with nauseating guilt over the simple fact that she didn't trust the man she loved.
She endured the weekend in a daze, trying her best to hide her concerns from her teammates. But her landings were off-balance, her flips were clumsy, and her limbs moved out of sync.
By Sunday evening, she sat on her bed in anxious anticipation. During the torturous hours in which she contemplated how to approach the situation, she decided she didn't want to call too early, and thereby appear too anxious to talk to Tommy. She would be calm and unruffled as she casually asked Tommy what he'd been up to over the weekend.
It's always possible the Rangers had to go on a mission to another planet, and Tommy made up the excuse of going skiing for his family, she stubbornly considered, feebly clinging to some shred of faith that Tommy would never miss her birthday intentionally. It happened before, when the Power Rangers went to Edenoi. It can happen again.
The moment the clock flashed ten, shaking fingers punched the phone number. She held her breath as it rang.
oooOOOooo
Lillian Oliver was busy washing the dishes after dinner. Tonight there had only been three at the table, as her oldest son had spent the evening with a young lady. Lillian had been so relieved Tommy was dating again, she hugged him tightly right before he left, and wished him the best of luck.
She recalled that past Wednesday with a shudder. Tommy had come home hours earlier than usual, looking like death warmed over. Lillian demanded to know what had happened, but Tommy couldn't bring himself to speak. He only looked at his mother, brown eyes sunken in misery, as he handed her a crumpled sheet of paper and woodenly climbed the stairs to his bedroom.
Lillian read the letter, and flew from shock to outrage in record time. Kimberly seemed to be such a sweet, considerate girl. And judging by the smile that lit up Tommy's face whenever she called, or the care he took in selecting a present for her, it was clear he'd go to great lengths to see her happy.
Truth be told, Lillian was never quite comfortable with just how smitten her son had become. To Tommy, the petite athlete was the sun, moon, and stars, and Lillian had dreaded the day her sensitive son would be given a harsh dose of reality. Just how long did high school romances last, anyway?
After getting to know Kimberly, Lillian let her fears rest. Despite the stereotype of the beautiful, flirtatious cheerleader with thoughts that ran about as deep as a Petri dish, Kimberly seemed sincere in her affection for Tommy. In fact, it almost seemed that Kimberly loved Tommy as much as Tommy loved her; if "love" was the proper word to describe the doting, playful attachment they displayed. Lillian was somewhat relieved that her son's heart was safe with the spirited young woman.
But she was wrong. Not only did Kimberly have the nerve to fall in love with another guy without breathing a word to Tommy about it earlier, she callously wrote him a letter! No, Kim couldn't be bothered to actually talk to the young man whose heart she ripped out with a blunt knife… she didn't even bother with a decent explanation! The fickle girl just scribbled a half-hearted letter, and to add insult to injury, mailed it to the Youth Center so all their mutual friends could witness his humiliation!
Lillian had tried to draw her son out, but he had locked himself in his bedroom. He didn't come out that night, nor the next morning for school. She was unspeakably grateful when Kat and Billy came by Thursday afternoon, asking her permission to take him on a trip to clear his mind. When he had come back Sunday afternoon, he was in better spirits than when he left Friday morning, but she could tell he was still absolutely crushed.
The wounds the selfish little airhead left in her son's heart could take years to heal.
Lillian heard the telephone ring, turned off the faucet, and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"
"Hi, Lil!" chirped a familiar voice, "How's it going?"
Lillian immediately bit on her tongue. Rather than give in to her first instinct and verbally flay the girl, Tommy's mother composed herself before she answered. "Sorry, Kimberly," she said coldly, "but Tommy is out."
"Oh," Kim's voice was clearly nervous. "Um, do you know when he'll be back?"
"No I don't. He went to dinner this evening."
"Uh… if you don't mind me asking, who did he go with?"
"I don't think it's any of your business, but Katherine invited him. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a mess to clean up."
With that, Lillian hung up the phone. As soon as she reached for the sponge, she heard footsteps in the hallway.
"Hey, Mom," Tommy greeted, locking the door behind him. He had his suit jacket flung over his shoulder, and a wan smile on his face.
"Hi, Honey," she said, embracing him tightly. She wasn't usually this affectionate with an eighteen year-old son, but at a time like this, he needed all the love she could offer. "So, how did it go?"
"Not as expected," he admitted, "but not bad. Who was that on the phone?"
"No one dear."
oooOOOooo
Kimberly was in hysterics when Renee arrived that evening. She couldn't even bring herself to sit up. She lay curled around a pillow, dry sobs shaking her body as her tears had run dry.
Renee didn't need to ask what happened.
"I'm so sorry," she choked, her own eyes stinging as she sat down beside her friend. Kim sat up, hugging Renee desperately.
Kim's broken words were barely coherent, but Renee picked up enough.
Dinner. Kat. And this time, it was Tommy's mother who relayed the message. So there was no way to attribute the news to a child's error.
"He doesn't love me," Kim murmured feebly, once she recovered the ability to speak in full sentences. "Even his mother hates me now! I should've known… how could I have possibly expected him to love me with Kat around? She's so tall, so blue-eyed, so blonde… I'm just…"
She sighed mournfully.
"It'll be okay," soothed Renee.
"How could he do this to me?" she demanded in a gasp. "Why couldn't he be honest with me? It would've hurt… but not like this! Why did I have to find out like this?!"
Kimberly buried her face in her pillow, and Renee sat in silence beside her, gently patting the broken girl's hair.
oooOOOooo
A cold, triumphant smirk pulled the hidden lips behind Lord Zedd's steel mask. He stepped closer to the smokescreen he had generated, a chill of anticipation in his metal spine at the sight of his future bride shrieking in betrayed anger.
"Soon, your pain will end, my Queen," he rumbled, his voice oddly gentle.
Once he felt he'd witnessed her despair enough, electricity webbed across the magical cloud, changing the view. The Red Ranger appeared, a shell of the man he was less than a week ago, sitting on the corner of his bed as he reread the letter from his beloved. Or at least, the letter he thought was from his beloved.
Never has a plan come together so smoothly. They are pawns in my hands, acting as I guide them.
After hours of deliberation, in which he discarded plots including clones, evil spells, and holograms, he stumbled upon pure brilliance: a forgery. A cold letter, written in Kimberly's flowing script, delivered through the local postal system. No concerns about Zordon tracing his dark magicks, or a clone acting out of character. The perfect wedge to splinter their long-distance relationship, and crack the Red Ranger's self-esteem and letting him collapse in upon himself.
It was all the more satisfying to see Kimberly suspect him so easily. Zedd had still been considering how to bring her to despise her lover, when her own deep-seated fears came to light at the very thought of her beguiling successor spending any undue time with the Red Ranger.
How convenient that Kimberly was so ready to believe the worst. Rita's pet Kitty-Kat has actually proven herself a worthwhile project. Astonishing how she performed her best work without the spell…
A chilling cackle erupted as he once again switched the screen, and peered into the privacy of Kimberly's room. Cuddled her pillow, she stared at the wall with a haunted gaze that had lost its fire.
Temporarily, at least.
"Weak and broken, only to rise again," he assured her image. "You will rise, my Empress… a phoenix of fire and vengeance. In Serpentera, it will only take me a few days to reach Earth…"
"And why, exactly, are you going to Earth?" came the demanding screech that grated on Zedd's nerves like nothing else. Zedd scowled at his wife, who stood in the archway of their chambers.
"I owe you no explanation, witch," he growled.
Rita startled at her husband's venomous tone. He hadn't spoken to her like that since she bewitched him with Finster's love spell… uh oh…
She swallowed her nerves, doing her best to quell her growing panic. "Excuse me?!" she howled, "Just what is that supposed to mean?!"
Rita's façade crumbled as her husband approached her, the energy flowing over his skin casting a horrifying scarlet light. "I cannot explain why I married you," he told her, his voice the deadliest of calm, "but I've returned to my senses. I will not suffer your contagious ineptitude an instant longer. You'd best pray to all the gods of the universe that our paths never cross again."
He then leaned closer to her, lifting her chin with his sharp finger. "If you do happen to stumble into my presence, do not delude yourself… I will annihilate you without hesitation. I will not risk succumbing to whatever insanity made me your lapdog this past year."
With that Zedd left the room. When his ominous presence finally faded, Rita was able to breathe again.
oooOOOooo
Lord Zedd boarded Serpentera without any of the pomp or circumstance associated with the departure of an allied emperor. The colossal reptilian Zord easily dwarfed any Ultra-Megazord the Power Rangers had managed to put together, making it a masterpiece of ancient design.
If only it was more fuel-efficient.
Upon reaching the bridge he activated the engines, and plotted a course towards Earth.
"Now that my baggage of a wife has been jettisoned, my next task is to eliminate all who lay claim to my empire. Serpentera will eliminate those blasted Machines once and for all!"
Through the corner of his eye, Zedd noticed a flashing red light. He rose to his feet, and warily checked the console.
His visor flashed a blinding crimson, completely engulfing the "Low Fuel" gauge.
"There isn't enough power for me to reach Earth and attack the Machines!" he shouted, trembling with rage.
He was so close…!
But, all was not lost just yet.
"If I fly at a slower speed, I will conserve sufficient power. But it will take months to reach Earth if I do not tax the engines to their limit…"
He tapped his armrest. "I suppose it matters little. What are a few months to a being that has lived for over ten-thousand years?"
His confident smirk returning, the despot reprogrammed navigation. A new estimate flashed for his acknowledgement.
"Ninety-eight days," he noted, leaning back into his chair, "Plenty of time for me to decide how to annihilate that mechanical abomination of an empire!"
To Be Continued…