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Hey, when you're done reading this and after you review (please!), go check out anything by Dagmar Buse, ScarletDeva or Rach. Seriously great writers.



Legacy, part 21

"Hi, Kim."

She turned awkwardly under the burden of the heavy trashcan she was emptying, squinting at the man who had spoken to her. Something in the timbre of his voice was familiar, but she was sure she hadn't seen him before. Or had she? He was tall, big though not fat, with close-cropped light brown hair and blue-gray eyes. His expression was diffident, though pleasant; he chuckled a little as she studied him, trying to place him.

"You're making me flash back to high school, staring at me so suspiciously."

The penny dropped. "Bulk?" Kim grinned involuntarily. "Wow. I didn't recognize you. You look great."

He smiled, a little self-consciously. "Thanks. Hey, can we talk?"

"Uh, sure." She put the can down and glanced through the window of the sports complex behind her; Trini's training class with the Turbo recruits was still in full swing. Best not to interrupt there. The center courtyard was empty, though; she led him to a cement bench. "What's on your mind?"

Bulk looked around at the spacious courtyard, flanked on three sides by the sports complex. "This place is great; Tommy really did well for himself. My kids really love coming here."

"Boy, I feel out of the loop. I didn't even know you were married."

He blushed, laughing. "Oh, no, I – they're not mine, not like that. I mentor a group of at-risk teens; Tom lets us use the facilities at no cost, which is really great of him." Kim looked at him more carefully. This sure wasn't the Bulk she'd gone to school with, though she tried to find a nicer way to put it. He laughed again, shaking his head. "I know what you're thinking. You wouldn't be the first, either."

Kim smiled. "So how's Skull? You guys keep in touch?"

"Skull is – " Bulk took a breath. "He's fine, thank God." At her confused look, he tried to explain. "I guess you didn't hear. Skull got sick a couple years after we graduated. Leukemia. He's been in remission for a while now. Got married a few months ago, actually."

"God, I had no idea. I'm glad he's okay."

He blew out a breath. "Me too. It's amazing how something like that rearranges your priorities."

She smiled sadly. "I know what you mean."

"Made me think about stuff." Bulk rubbed a hand over his short hair. "He made me promise to get myself healthy, so I joined a gym, ate better. More than that, though, it made me look at myself, at the blustering, posturing pseudo-badass I thought I was. I realized that if there's noise coming out, there's not much going in. Which is probably why I never did unmask the Power Rangers." He shot her a glance, his expression unreadable. "A good thing, too. Would have messed up their lives considerably, and likely made their job impossible."

Kim looked at him warily. "Probably," was all she said.

Bulk sighed. "Listen, I better just cut to the chase. I'm the investigating detective on the missing persons case of Thomas Oliver, Kim. I need to ask you a couple of things. Off the record."

She eyed him nervously. "I didn't realize you were with the police. I don't think there's much I can tell you; I haven't seen Tommy in years."

He looked over her shoulder through the big picture window, to where the Turbo recruits were taking a break. "I want to help, Kim. I know whatever you're doing is probably pretty important, and I won't hinder you in any way, but there are some things I have to know. I don't want to screw things up for you."

"Bulk, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah, you do…" he smiled, to soften his words. "…Pink Ranger."

She thought about denying it, then shrugged. "Not for a long time."

"I know." Bulk nodded. "I also know you quit your job in Florida and sold your condo, so you're planning on staying, at least for a while." He sighed. "I meant what I said, Kim. I don't want to mess things up by sticking my nose in where it might screw you guys. I just want to ask you a couple things, okay? Off the record, I swear."

"Ask, then. But I'm not promising anything." Kim folded her arms across her chest and waited.

There was a pause. "This disappearance… should I even bother to look for him?"

Kim struggled. Could she trust him? Should she? Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of Justin, the new Blue Turbo Ranger, waving happily to Bulk, who returned the wave with a grin. This really wasn't the old Bulk; he would never have responded with anything more than a derisive "Dork!" And what the hell was she worrying about, anyway? What they were up against was bigger than the integrity of their secret identities. Her decision made, Kim shook her head, doe eyes filling with tears. "No."

He bowed his head. "Ah, no. I'm sorry, Kim." He patted her shoulder awkwardly. "I was afraid you were going to say that. There – there isn't a body, is there?" She shook her head wordlessly. "And there's not going to be one, right?" She nodded, still unable to voice a reply. "So the missing persons thing is just the first step?"

Kim cleared her throat. "Yeah. His folks know the truth; in seven years they'll petition to have him declared legally dead. Nobody's really in a hurry with this, you know?"

Bulk sighed and nodded. "I wish there was something I could say, Kim."

"Thanks." She gave him a watery smile, getting up from the bench. "Listen, I need a tissue; why don't you come in and say hi to Trini and Rocky?"

He hesitated, then nodded. "Okay. I'd like that."

The group was huddled around the television in the lounge when Bulk and Kim entered.

"… experts at NASA are theorizing that these newest images from the Hubble telescope show what appears to be a heretofore unknown planetary body, with what appears to be three lunar satellites in orbit around it. The planet is orbiting DKS-4051, a star that, until now, was thought to have no solar system. As yet there are no theories as to how this planet has escaped detection up to now." The anchor's eyes widened in apparent reaction to something happening off camera. "This just in: some kind of stealth aircraft has just materialized over the California coast. The public is asked not to panic. I repeat: do not pan—" Trini flicked the set off, her dark eyes narrowing.

In the sudden silence, screams could be heard, coming from the street.

As one the group raced outside, skidding to a halt at the sight of absolute pandemonium. A large, gleaming, black shape hovered a few feet above the ground, from which troops of black-clad soldiers embarked, weapons at the ready. People ran through the streets, terror-stricken, as the soldiers leveled their weapons at each person they encountered, hesitating briefly, then moving on. Trini and Rocky dodged back into the courtyard, Trini's wrist communicator already at her mouth. The five recruits looked a little unorganized, but put up a brave front of resistance as they scattered through the crowd trying to protect the innocent, get them out of the way.

Kim's lips thinned thoughtfully as she hustled a frightened group of Little League kids and their coach inside the sports center. The soldiers weren't accosting just anyone; they seemed to be interested in women only. Looking for someone, she thought, as one of them shook his head and threw the woman whose arm he'd grasped to the street. Bulk shouldered his way forward. Kim grabbed a bat from the nerveless hands of a frightened child and hollered through the door to the coach, "Call 911; get him some backup," before running after her one-time high school nemesis.

Bulk pulled his gun and aimed it at the presumed squadron leader, shouting instructions to halt.

The squadron leader turned his attention to the detective, his expression unreadable behind the helmet. "Threat," he barked to his troops. "Neutralize."

Bulk shot into the line of soldiers that advanced on him, emptying his clip to no avail as the bullets bounced off the armor they wore. He snarled as the first soldier reached him, grasping the gun and tearing it from Bulk's hand, then backhanding the unarmed man across the face. Bulk fell back, his mouth bloodied.

Kim bared her teeth. "Leave him alone!" she shouted, running full-bore into the fray and swinging the bat at the back of the soldier's head with purpose, connecting hard. Another soldier jerked his weapon toward her, but Kim whirled, bat at the ready. She swung low with a growl and the soldier went down as his knee blew out with a sickening crack. She lashed out with a hard kick to another armored solar plexus, rewarded with an 'oof' as he staggered backward, and a quick shove of the end of the bat upwards caused the head of a fourth to snap back.

Not much good, though. She was quickly surrounded. Kim cursed inwardly, swinging her bat in a wide arc. She could hear her name shouted over the screams of the crowd and the sounds of fighting. Raising her voice, she answered it. "Get 'em out of here, Bulk!"

The crush of soldiers pressed closer, waiting for something. The leader came through, speaking loudly. "Quarry established. Obtain."

A flash of red caught Kim's eye. Trini's voice rang out; even filtered by her helmet Kim could hear the rage. "Get away from her!" Surrounded as she was by black soldiers, Kim could see that they in turn were surrounded by a multicolored collection of Rangers, old and new.

The leader spoke quickly. "Obtain quarry. Divert and neutralize threats. We will withdraw upon completion of mission."

With that the outer circle of soldiers turned to face the Rangers, running forward, weapons outstretched. Kim could see the Rangers produce weapons of their own to engage them, then her attention was grabbed harshly as something hit the back of her head, causing her to see stars. She stumbled forward as a pair of soldiers she hadn't seen grasped her firmly between them, forcing her to her knees, disposing of the bat. "Quarry obtained," one of them said, and to her horror Kim felt the tendrils of Eltaran teleportation begin to envelop her. "Trini!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, struggling wildly. Through the sparkling teleportation beam she could see her friend lunge forward, hurtling over the heads of the soldiers with a bellow of rage, grabbing for Kim and howling in frustration as her flexing hands passed through her friend's feet. Bulk started forward, his mouth forming what was surely a shout of angry frustration. The familiar buzzing began in her ears as the scene faded from view, and Kim found herself in a gray steel room, the sense of motion in the pit of her stomach unmistakable as the spacecraft lurched and sped her away from everything she loved.

*************

They watched in astonished disgust as Kim and her black-clad captors disappeared, even the injured. The spaceship lifted and sped into the sky like black lightning.

The Red Zeo Ranger snarled in barely contained fury. "Come on," she said to the other nine, touching her wrist; as the beam enveloped her Bulk leapt forward and grasped her around the waist.

"Oh, GREAT," the Red Ranger shouted as they touched down in the Command Center. "This is all I need. What the hell are you after?"

Bulk backed away, hands up. "Take it easy, Trini. I just want to help."

She froze at the sound of her name, struggling for composure. "You want to help, Bulk? Fine. I'll take all I can get." She spun on her heel and faced Zordon. "How the hell did those guys get Eltaran technology? You're the only ones who can teleport like that."

"I would presume the same source from which they obtained the necessary information to destroy the Eltaran barrier," Zordon replied, evidently deciding to let the issue of Bulk's unorthodox appearance rest for now. "P'Tyr Krann is fully versed in our technology. It is the only way they could have reached Earth so soon, though what their object is in taking Kim I do not yet know."

Trini absorbed that, then reached up and unlatched her helmet, throwing it across the room, where it clattered loudly against the wall. Eyes flashing, she turned to the others. "Now it's personal," she growled. "We leave today."