Always a Frog, Never a Prince
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His groin was killing him, his ribs ached, and his face felt like it was on fire from the barrage of slaps it had taken.
But Rocky Desantos was in high spirits, and as far as he was concerned, it had all been worth it. Not only had he managed to weather Trini's onslaught and keep his mouth shut about Adam, but the outcome of it all had been quite surprising.
Trini thumped him in the ribs, but by now all her energy had been sapped from her body preventing any actual harm being inflicted on the red ranger. So she just lay next to him on the couch, covered in his tartan blanket, panting, her hair in disarray and her face flushed a deep red.
"Christ," Rocky was as equally as knackered, "now I never expected that to happen."
She stayed quiet for a moment, taking the time to process what had just happened in her mind, "Oh god," she eventually cried, burying her head in her hands.
"Oh don't cry," Rocky soothed, stroking her shoulder, "I know what's wrong and you don't have to worry about it. You are well worth me."
Trini's head shot from her hands, an angry fire burning in her eyes, "Well worth you!" she yelled, Rocky's face paled and he started to think that maybe those weren't the best words. "As far as I'm concerned, Rocky, this is one of the biggest mistakes that I've ever made," she swung her legs off of the couch and started gathering up her clothes.
"If I had a nickel," Rocky muttered, sitting upright he watched as Trini yanked on her underwear before bending over to retrieve the rest of her clothes, "Now that's a sight I like to see."
The yellow ranger snapped upright and whirled around to face him, "If you tell anyone about this," she threatened, pointing a finger at him, "I'll kill you," for a scary moment Rocky actually believed her.
"Why?" he asked quizzically, "I'm sure you'd be the envy of most girls on campus if they knew that you'd been with grade A, prime meat like myself."
"OHHH," Trini let out a frustrated cry and headed for the bathroom, clothes in hand.
"Besides," Rocky called after her, "It's not like you didn't enjoy it now," all he got was the slam of the bathroom door as a response. He winced touching his cut lip, "But maybe next time, could you stop hitting me, once we start I mean."
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Adam felt like he was stuck in between the proverbial rock and hard place.
Neither women had said anything, Kat was staring at Kimberly expectantly, her arms folded firmly across her chest, one eyebrow slightly cocked. As if she expected Kimberly to say something. While Kimberly, just stared back at her, Adam couldn't see the angel's face and so didn't really know whether or not she was afraid, or angry. Meanwhile, Tommy had noticed Kimberly's change in color and couldn't seem to help himself from staring at her dress, a slightly hurt look on his face. While Adam, Adam just sat there, hoping that there was someway out of this that would please everyone.
"Well," Kat finally began, she saw that Kimberly obviously had nothing to say to her, "I just thought that Tommy and I would come over and wish you good luck in Florida," she encircled an arm around her fiancées waist and offered the former pink ranger a false smile, "What is it now? Two days?"
"Yeah," Kimberly responded confidently, she turned to Tommy, "Thanks for the invitation to the wedding Tommy, I appreciate it."
"No problem," Tommy replied, finally managing to tear his eyes away from her dress, "We hope that you can make it."
"But…if you can't, we'll understand," Kat quickly added after her boyfriend.
Kimberly definitely didn't seem fazed by the pink rangers coldness towards her, "Oh don't worry," she responded, "I'll be there. Wouldn't miss it for the world."
Kat took a moment to look a little shocked, she then proceeded to study her counterparts face, obviously trying to figure out what was going on, "Okay," she said, her eyes still not betraying anything.
"Oh," Adam snapped his fingers, "and don't forget, you're coming back for Christmas too right," Kimberly looked over to Adam who smiled.
"Yeah, of course," she could tell even though Kats face was calm and collected, that inside she was shaking with rage, "So don't worry Kat, I'll be seeing you and Tommy before the wedding. Isn't that great."
"Fantastic," through gritted teeth the pink ranger suddenly smiled, "That's a nice color on you Kimberly," she felt Tommy flinch and suddenly felt sick.
"Thank you, I thought I'd try it for a change. No point in not taking risks, besides I've only had good things said about me tonight so who knows? It might become more of a permanent edition to my wardrobe," she smiled and hopped down off of Adam. "Anyways, it's been fun and I hate to leave you all. But I'm gonna go dance," she walked towards the couple but Kat refused to budge, "Excuse me," Kimberly flashed her award winning smile. Grudgingly the pink ranger moved and Kimberly was back off onto the dance floor.
"See you guys later," Adam turned himself back to the bar signaling that he also had nothing to say to them.
Once the two had moved off the barman reappeared, "Now that, was intense. What is it with the blonde? She looked like she was about to rip someone's head off?"
"Trust me," Adam muttered while taking another pull from his beer, "You don't wanna know."
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An hour had passed since the 'conversation' between Kimberly and Kat. But no matter how much the pink ranger wanted to let the situation lie, and just continue having a fun night out with her fiancée, she just couldn't seem to. This was hers and Tommy's future at stake, why couldn't Kimberly see that? She'd do it for her.
"Hey, you alright?" Tommy asked; he was obviously concerned.
"I'm fine baby, but thanks for asking," she stroked the side of his face lovingly seeing that handsome smile cross his lips once again.
The two danced and stared into each other's eyes until the song ended. At that point Tommy separated himself from her and explained that he needed to use the bathroom, excusing himself with a gentle peck on the lips he headed for the bathroom which was located on the other end of the dance floor giving Kat enough time to do what she had planned.
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Adam polished off the beer with a satisfied, "Ahh," and placed it onto the counter, he noticed Kimberly coming towards him and smiled when she arrived, "Hi."
"Hi," she scowled playfully at him, "You're not seriously thinking about letting me dance alone all night are you?"
Adam suddenly became very nervous, "Uh, I'm not really good with rhythm."
The pink ranger laughed softly, "Come on Adam, you can't possibly be any worse than some of the other people in here," she noticed a group of young boys swinging their arms around like gorillas to the thumping music.
Adam glanced over at the group she was staring at and frowned, "Okay I'm not that bad, but still…"
"Come on," she coaxed gently, slipping her hand into his, "I'm not gonna hurt you."
"Don't cranes eat frogs?" he asked, allowing himself to be led onto the dance floor.
Kimberly glanced back at him, "Only if they piss us off," Adam laughed. Unfortunately as soon as they reached their desired destination and became stationary the song ended and a new one came on, a love song, Kimberly frowned at the look on Adam's face, "What's wrong?"
"Umm…" he couldn't seem to be able to make anything out tonight.
Noticing how shy he was Kimberly smiled, "Aww Adam, are you scared of dancing with me?" she placed her hands around his neck, he still acted unsure, "Don't be shy Adam. I'm not going to knee you in the groin for putting your hands on my hips."
He smiled, realizing how stupid he was being he placed both hands on her hips and the two of them started to sway in tune to the music.
"See, not so hard is it."
"No," Adam's heart was beating like a rock n roll drummer, and if it beat just a little harder he was sure Kimberly would be able to hear it. After a couple of moment's silence Adam motioned back to the bar again, "That was pretty intense huh?"
Kimberly, whose eyes were closed as she concentrated on the music, smiled, "I know. For a second there I was sure Kat was going to slap me," she opened her eyes, "Thanks for helping me out, you didn't have to get involved."
"Yes, I did."
The two remained silent, staring into one another's eyes for the rest of the song, Adam, caught up in the beauty of Kimberly, and Kimberly caught up in the kindness of Adam. Eventually though the song ended and begrudgingly Adam pulled away, "Thank you," Kimberly stated softly.
"For what?" the black ranger asked gently.
"Everything."
Adam was about to say that it was his pleasure when a familiar voice cut in before he could, "If I didn't know you two better then I'd swear you were dating."
Kimberly turned around to face Kat who stood staring a hole at the pink ranger, "Listen Kat, I'm really not in the mood for round 2, okay? So…let's just keep out of each other's way from now on."
"I wish I could, but I need to talk to you," she glanced past Kimberly's shoulder at Adam, "Alone."
"Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of Adam. He knows," Kat looked a little surprised, "In fact, Adam's the one you should thank as he was the one who talked me into staying."
"O…k," the rage Kat had felt was back, she noticed Adam staring at her, "It was none of your business Adam," she almost hissed.
"Kimberly's a friend, and she saw fit to tell me. So that made it my business," there was no venom or malice in Adam's voice. Kimberly was actually amazed at how calm he sounded.
Kat smiled, "Friend. Yeah right. But you wish she was so much more than that don't you Adam," the black ranger didn't respond, "You know, I pity you. She's got you so wrapped around her little finger that you can't even think straight. She's playing you for a fool."
"Oh I'm thinking just fine," he approached the pink ranger, "But if I were you, then I'd be more worried about your fiancée," Kat looked confused, "You didn't see him over at the bar did you Kat, staring at Kimberly like she was the only woman on earth," he smiled, "Think about your own problems from now on, and stay out of mine."
"She's my problem," she nodded her head at Kimberly.
"Oh god," Kimberly ran her hands through her hair, "Get over it Kat. I don't want Tommy okay, and if he wants me then that's not my fault. Me going away isn't going to solve it."
"And you staying, is just going to make it worse," the pink ranger snapped.
"Hey," Kat turned to see Tommy standing there, a smile on his face, blissfully unawares of the encounter taking place, "What's going on?"
"Tell him Kat," Kimberly urged, "Tell him how you asked me to leave Angel Grove and stay away for good," there was silence, "See, you're pathetic. You're so afraid about what'll happen if you find out, so afraid that he'll leave you all alone and come crying to me."
Slap
Both Adam and Tommy looked astonished as Kats open palm crashed against Kimberly's face. Being a ranger Kimberly just smiled, she'd taken a lot worse over the years. "You alright?" Adam asked placing a hand on her arm, she looked over to him and nodded.
"Kat, calm down," Tommy soothed his bride to be and turned back to Adam, "I think it's better if the two of you leave."
"What?" Kimberly cried, very offended by the suggestion, "No, we're not going anywhere."
Tommy took a moment to seem surprised, Kimberly looked out of control, angry even, "What is wrong with you, I'm trying to stop a scene here. So please…leave," he grabbed her by the arm and attempted to lead her towards the exit.
"Let go of me," Kimberly hissed, trying to squirm her arm free.
"Hey," Adam grabbed Tommy's arm, "Leave her alone."
"She's out of control."
"Yeah? Well maybe she's got a right to be out of control Tommy," he glanced back at Kat who was watching the whole thing unfold, "Maybe you should ask your witch of a girlfriend what she told Kimberly to do."
Tommy released Kimberly and pointed to Adam, "Hey, don't call her that," he poked him in the chest, "Or you'll end up regretting it."
Adam batted his hand away, "Don't threaten me Tommy. If I'm not mistaken, you're the reason this whole thing started. If you'd just stayed away from Kimberly like I said then none of this, *none* of it would be going on right now."
"You're trying to pin this on me? I was just trying to be a friend to Kimberly, she's the one that flew off the handle and caused those two cuts on your head Adam," he pointed to the butterfly stitches, "And I really feel sorry for you bro. Going after Kimberly when you know that you have no chance."
Adam glared at Tommy, "And you do? And if you remember carefully, these," he motioned to the cuts on his head, "Were your doing."
"I don't want Kimberly anymore, I'm happy with Kat, and I suggest that you apologize to Kat right now. It's in your best interest," the black ranger stared at Tommy who stared right back at him, sparks flew from their eyes but neither made a move, neither budged an inch.
"No, she deserved it," Adam stated, "Do you intend to do something about it, or are you just full of shit?"
"Come on Adam," Kimberly, who seemed a lot more controlled and back to her normal self again, tugged on his shirt sleeve, "Let's go. It's not worth it," she glanced at Tommy, "They're, not worth it."
Adam didn't budge, he stood rooted to the spot, very uncharacteristically of him as well. Usually Adam stayed away from violence outside of the power rangers, he'd seen and known what people, who let violence rule their lives, turned out like.
"I suggest you listen to the lady Adam."
"You know, I'm starting to get pretty sick of you bossing me around…Tommy!"
Kimberly was starting to dislike the situation, Adam was a skilled martial artist, but nobody on the rangers could match Tommy, even Adam knew that.
But the black ranger didn't move, and eventually Tommy tried to move him. Whether it was show of leadership or a show of anger Tommy, grabbed Adam by the free sleeve of his shirt and attempted to move him inside. Adam grabbed the arm and twisted, Tommy immediately recoiled, the black ranger stared neutrally at him.
Tommy flexed his arm, this time he moved in and grabbed Adam by both arms. There was a struggle as both men jockied for position, each trying to unbalance the other.
Eventually, Kimberly got fed up and tried to dislodge the two, "Stop it, both of you. You're acting like children," however as she tried to yank Adam and Tommy apart, in an attempt to get in between the warring rangers, she managed to dislodge Adams left arm. It had been the arm that was trying to hold Tommy's right in place.
The white rangers arm sprang out and smacked the former pink ranger straight in the face. Grunted Kimberly fell back to the floor in front of a group of astonished clubbers, who by now were interested in the spat going on. And although everyone could swear that it was an accident, the look on Tommy's face was enough to confirm that. But the look on Adam's face was one of anger, "Son of a…"
Wham
The right hook caught Tommy clean on the jaw sending the surprised leader of the rangers stumbling backwards. Everyone immediately started cheering, "Fight!" and gathered in a tight circle to prevent any bouncers from getting through. Tommy felt his jaw and just saw Adam's second punch in time to duck out of the way.
"Hold on," he held up his hands in a sign of defeat.
"Fuck you," Adam spat coming after him with a combo of lefts and rights that Tommy managed to avoid, however on the last one Adam faked a left that Tommy went to duck and instead scored with another right hook to the side of the head.
It was then Tommy decided:
Enough was enough.
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Kimberly was dazed and slightly discombobulated, her nose ached from where the arm hit her, but there was no blood. She could hear the cheering people chanting the word, "Fight," and glanced up to see both black and white ranger going at it tooth and nail. Tommy's nose was already bloody and Adam's lip already cut.
"Ow," pushing herself up she tried to steady her body but was still feeling woozy, leaning on a nearby for support she noticed an equally shocked Kat watching the fight, seemingly unsure of what to do.
Adam felt the bone jarring pain of a Tommy Oliver right hand and fell back against a table, groaning he felt Tommy grab his shirt by the front and attempt to drag him up. Swinging round Adams fist connected with Tommy's shoulder off balancing the ranger who stumbled backwards and fell to the floor.
Usually that would've satisfied the black ranger, but when Tommy had stumbled backwards and fell, he'd still had a secure grip on Adams shirt. There was a sound of tearing material and the silk shirt was ripped for the black rangers torso and fell with Tommy to the floor.
Almost immediately the fight chants ceased, instead everyone stared dumbfounded at Adams scarred torso, looks of shock and disdain were on everyone's face. Murmurs of "Oh my god" followed with "Look at his chest" and the worst one "He must belong to one of those satanic cults, the ones that mutilate themselves" drifted throughout the crowd.
Even Tommy and Kat stared at him, shock and confusion on their faces, "Oh my god, Adam," the sound of her voice was enough. A thousand knives feeling like they've been plunged through his heart, he glanced over at Kimberly who stared at his chest. Her voice wasn't nasty or teasing, just…pitiful. That was the worst one, "Your body," she whispered.
Adam stared at her, unable to process anything inside of his head, no words, no actions, nothing. Eventually his legs started to work and before he knew it the black ranger was wading through the clubbers and found himself out on the street.
The rain poured onto his body, a thousand emotions immediately rising to the surface, the most noticeable one being pain, followed by anger, and followed once again, by pain.
To Be Continued
By Boulder
Authors Notes
This chapters pretty long but I wanted to get quite a few things in. I must say I was deliberating for some time over the start of the fic, but eventually decided not to do things all about the club as it limits the surroundings and may get a bit boring. I'd also like to apologize for the fight scene, I'm not very good at writing things like that and never have been. I also know that none of the rangers would act like that in the series and so tried to integrate it and tried to make it as believable as I could.
Anyways, if you liked the chapter please review. And don't worry, there'd definitely more to come. I'd also like to thank cobalt blue for the Frog/Crane prey thing.
Regards,
Boulder
P.S. I should get the next chapter up in a week or so as my sister is being very generous with her computer that's why I'd like to dedicate this chapter to her.
Laura
Thank you
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His groin was killing him, his ribs ached, and his face felt like it was on fire from the barrage of slaps it had taken.
But Rocky Desantos was in high spirits, and as far as he was concerned, it had all been worth it. Not only had he managed to weather Trini's onslaught and keep his mouth shut about Adam, but the outcome of it all had been quite surprising.
Trini thumped him in the ribs, but by now all her energy had been sapped from her body preventing any actual harm being inflicted on the red ranger. So she just lay next to him on the couch, covered in his tartan blanket, panting, her hair in disarray and her face flushed a deep red.
"Christ," Rocky was as equally as knackered, "now I never expected that to happen."
She stayed quiet for a moment, taking the time to process what had just happened in her mind, "Oh god," she eventually cried, burying her head in her hands.
"Oh don't cry," Rocky soothed, stroking her shoulder, "I know what's wrong and you don't have to worry about it. You are well worth me."
Trini's head shot from her hands, an angry fire burning in her eyes, "Well worth you!" she yelled, Rocky's face paled and he started to think that maybe those weren't the best words. "As far as I'm concerned, Rocky, this is one of the biggest mistakes that I've ever made," she swung her legs off of the couch and started gathering up her clothes.
"If I had a nickel," Rocky muttered, sitting upright he watched as Trini yanked on her underwear before bending over to retrieve the rest of her clothes, "Now that's a sight I like to see."
The yellow ranger snapped upright and whirled around to face him, "If you tell anyone about this," she threatened, pointing a finger at him, "I'll kill you," for a scary moment Rocky actually believed her.
"Why?" he asked quizzically, "I'm sure you'd be the envy of most girls on campus if they knew that you'd been with grade A, prime meat like myself."
"OHHH," Trini let out a frustrated cry and headed for the bathroom, clothes in hand.
"Besides," Rocky called after her, "It's not like you didn't enjoy it now," all he got was the slam of the bathroom door as a response. He winced touching his cut lip, "But maybe next time, could you stop hitting me, once we start I mean."
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Adam felt like he was stuck in between the proverbial rock and hard place.
Neither women had said anything, Kat was staring at Kimberly expectantly, her arms folded firmly across her chest, one eyebrow slightly cocked. As if she expected Kimberly to say something. While Kimberly, just stared back at her, Adam couldn't see the angel's face and so didn't really know whether or not she was afraid, or angry. Meanwhile, Tommy had noticed Kimberly's change in color and couldn't seem to help himself from staring at her dress, a slightly hurt look on his face. While Adam, Adam just sat there, hoping that there was someway out of this that would please everyone.
"Well," Kat finally began, she saw that Kimberly obviously had nothing to say to her, "I just thought that Tommy and I would come over and wish you good luck in Florida," she encircled an arm around her fiancées waist and offered the former pink ranger a false smile, "What is it now? Two days?"
"Yeah," Kimberly responded confidently, she turned to Tommy, "Thanks for the invitation to the wedding Tommy, I appreciate it."
"No problem," Tommy replied, finally managing to tear his eyes away from her dress, "We hope that you can make it."
"But…if you can't, we'll understand," Kat quickly added after her boyfriend.
Kimberly definitely didn't seem fazed by the pink rangers coldness towards her, "Oh don't worry," she responded, "I'll be there. Wouldn't miss it for the world."
Kat took a moment to look a little shocked, she then proceeded to study her counterparts face, obviously trying to figure out what was going on, "Okay," she said, her eyes still not betraying anything.
"Oh," Adam snapped his fingers, "and don't forget, you're coming back for Christmas too right," Kimberly looked over to Adam who smiled.
"Yeah, of course," she could tell even though Kats face was calm and collected, that inside she was shaking with rage, "So don't worry Kat, I'll be seeing you and Tommy before the wedding. Isn't that great."
"Fantastic," through gritted teeth the pink ranger suddenly smiled, "That's a nice color on you Kimberly," she felt Tommy flinch and suddenly felt sick.
"Thank you, I thought I'd try it for a change. No point in not taking risks, besides I've only had good things said about me tonight so who knows? It might become more of a permanent edition to my wardrobe," she smiled and hopped down off of Adam. "Anyways, it's been fun and I hate to leave you all. But I'm gonna go dance," she walked towards the couple but Kat refused to budge, "Excuse me," Kimberly flashed her award winning smile. Grudgingly the pink ranger moved and Kimberly was back off onto the dance floor.
"See you guys later," Adam turned himself back to the bar signaling that he also had nothing to say to them.
Once the two had moved off the barman reappeared, "Now that, was intense. What is it with the blonde? She looked like she was about to rip someone's head off?"
"Trust me," Adam muttered while taking another pull from his beer, "You don't wanna know."
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An hour had passed since the 'conversation' between Kimberly and Kat. But no matter how much the pink ranger wanted to let the situation lie, and just continue having a fun night out with her fiancée, she just couldn't seem to. This was hers and Tommy's future at stake, why couldn't Kimberly see that? She'd do it for her.
"Hey, you alright?" Tommy asked; he was obviously concerned.
"I'm fine baby, but thanks for asking," she stroked the side of his face lovingly seeing that handsome smile cross his lips once again.
The two danced and stared into each other's eyes until the song ended. At that point Tommy separated himself from her and explained that he needed to use the bathroom, excusing himself with a gentle peck on the lips he headed for the bathroom which was located on the other end of the dance floor giving Kat enough time to do what she had planned.
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Adam polished off the beer with a satisfied, "Ahh," and placed it onto the counter, he noticed Kimberly coming towards him and smiled when she arrived, "Hi."
"Hi," she scowled playfully at him, "You're not seriously thinking about letting me dance alone all night are you?"
Adam suddenly became very nervous, "Uh, I'm not really good with rhythm."
The pink ranger laughed softly, "Come on Adam, you can't possibly be any worse than some of the other people in here," she noticed a group of young boys swinging their arms around like gorillas to the thumping music.
Adam glanced over at the group she was staring at and frowned, "Okay I'm not that bad, but still…"
"Come on," she coaxed gently, slipping her hand into his, "I'm not gonna hurt you."
"Don't cranes eat frogs?" he asked, allowing himself to be led onto the dance floor.
Kimberly glanced back at him, "Only if they piss us off," Adam laughed. Unfortunately as soon as they reached their desired destination and became stationary the song ended and a new one came on, a love song, Kimberly frowned at the look on Adam's face, "What's wrong?"
"Umm…" he couldn't seem to be able to make anything out tonight.
Noticing how shy he was Kimberly smiled, "Aww Adam, are you scared of dancing with me?" she placed her hands around his neck, he still acted unsure, "Don't be shy Adam. I'm not going to knee you in the groin for putting your hands on my hips."
He smiled, realizing how stupid he was being he placed both hands on her hips and the two of them started to sway in tune to the music.
"See, not so hard is it."
"No," Adam's heart was beating like a rock n roll drummer, and if it beat just a little harder he was sure Kimberly would be able to hear it. After a couple of moment's silence Adam motioned back to the bar again, "That was pretty intense huh?"
Kimberly, whose eyes were closed as she concentrated on the music, smiled, "I know. For a second there I was sure Kat was going to slap me," she opened her eyes, "Thanks for helping me out, you didn't have to get involved."
"Yes, I did."
The two remained silent, staring into one another's eyes for the rest of the song, Adam, caught up in the beauty of Kimberly, and Kimberly caught up in the kindness of Adam. Eventually though the song ended and begrudgingly Adam pulled away, "Thank you," Kimberly stated softly.
"For what?" the black ranger asked gently.
"Everything."
Adam was about to say that it was his pleasure when a familiar voice cut in before he could, "If I didn't know you two better then I'd swear you were dating."
Kimberly turned around to face Kat who stood staring a hole at the pink ranger, "Listen Kat, I'm really not in the mood for round 2, okay? So…let's just keep out of each other's way from now on."
"I wish I could, but I need to talk to you," she glanced past Kimberly's shoulder at Adam, "Alone."
"Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of Adam. He knows," Kat looked a little surprised, "In fact, Adam's the one you should thank as he was the one who talked me into staying."
"O…k," the rage Kat had felt was back, she noticed Adam staring at her, "It was none of your business Adam," she almost hissed.
"Kimberly's a friend, and she saw fit to tell me. So that made it my business," there was no venom or malice in Adam's voice. Kimberly was actually amazed at how calm he sounded.
Kat smiled, "Friend. Yeah right. But you wish she was so much more than that don't you Adam," the black ranger didn't respond, "You know, I pity you. She's got you so wrapped around her little finger that you can't even think straight. She's playing you for a fool."
"Oh I'm thinking just fine," he approached the pink ranger, "But if I were you, then I'd be more worried about your fiancée," Kat looked confused, "You didn't see him over at the bar did you Kat, staring at Kimberly like she was the only woman on earth," he smiled, "Think about your own problems from now on, and stay out of mine."
"She's my problem," she nodded her head at Kimberly.
"Oh god," Kimberly ran her hands through her hair, "Get over it Kat. I don't want Tommy okay, and if he wants me then that's not my fault. Me going away isn't going to solve it."
"And you staying, is just going to make it worse," the pink ranger snapped.
"Hey," Kat turned to see Tommy standing there, a smile on his face, blissfully unawares of the encounter taking place, "What's going on?"
"Tell him Kat," Kimberly urged, "Tell him how you asked me to leave Angel Grove and stay away for good," there was silence, "See, you're pathetic. You're so afraid about what'll happen if you find out, so afraid that he'll leave you all alone and come crying to me."
Slap
Both Adam and Tommy looked astonished as Kats open palm crashed against Kimberly's face. Being a ranger Kimberly just smiled, she'd taken a lot worse over the years. "You alright?" Adam asked placing a hand on her arm, she looked over to him and nodded.
"Kat, calm down," Tommy soothed his bride to be and turned back to Adam, "I think it's better if the two of you leave."
"What?" Kimberly cried, very offended by the suggestion, "No, we're not going anywhere."
Tommy took a moment to seem surprised, Kimberly looked out of control, angry even, "What is wrong with you, I'm trying to stop a scene here. So please…leave," he grabbed her by the arm and attempted to lead her towards the exit.
"Let go of me," Kimberly hissed, trying to squirm her arm free.
"Hey," Adam grabbed Tommy's arm, "Leave her alone."
"She's out of control."
"Yeah? Well maybe she's got a right to be out of control Tommy," he glanced back at Kat who was watching the whole thing unfold, "Maybe you should ask your witch of a girlfriend what she told Kimberly to do."
Tommy released Kimberly and pointed to Adam, "Hey, don't call her that," he poked him in the chest, "Or you'll end up regretting it."
Adam batted his hand away, "Don't threaten me Tommy. If I'm not mistaken, you're the reason this whole thing started. If you'd just stayed away from Kimberly like I said then none of this, *none* of it would be going on right now."
"You're trying to pin this on me? I was just trying to be a friend to Kimberly, she's the one that flew off the handle and caused those two cuts on your head Adam," he pointed to the butterfly stitches, "And I really feel sorry for you bro. Going after Kimberly when you know that you have no chance."
Adam glared at Tommy, "And you do? And if you remember carefully, these," he motioned to the cuts on his head, "Were your doing."
"I don't want Kimberly anymore, I'm happy with Kat, and I suggest that you apologize to Kat right now. It's in your best interest," the black ranger stared at Tommy who stared right back at him, sparks flew from their eyes but neither made a move, neither budged an inch.
"No, she deserved it," Adam stated, "Do you intend to do something about it, or are you just full of shit?"
"Come on Adam," Kimberly, who seemed a lot more controlled and back to her normal self again, tugged on his shirt sleeve, "Let's go. It's not worth it," she glanced at Tommy, "They're, not worth it."
Adam didn't budge, he stood rooted to the spot, very uncharacteristically of him as well. Usually Adam stayed away from violence outside of the power rangers, he'd seen and known what people, who let violence rule their lives, turned out like.
"I suggest you listen to the lady Adam."
"You know, I'm starting to get pretty sick of you bossing me around…Tommy!"
Kimberly was starting to dislike the situation, Adam was a skilled martial artist, but nobody on the rangers could match Tommy, even Adam knew that.
But the black ranger didn't move, and eventually Tommy tried to move him. Whether it was show of leadership or a show of anger Tommy, grabbed Adam by the free sleeve of his shirt and attempted to move him inside. Adam grabbed the arm and twisted, Tommy immediately recoiled, the black ranger stared neutrally at him.
Tommy flexed his arm, this time he moved in and grabbed Adam by both arms. There was a struggle as both men jockied for position, each trying to unbalance the other.
Eventually, Kimberly got fed up and tried to dislodge the two, "Stop it, both of you. You're acting like children," however as she tried to yank Adam and Tommy apart, in an attempt to get in between the warring rangers, she managed to dislodge Adams left arm. It had been the arm that was trying to hold Tommy's right in place.
The white rangers arm sprang out and smacked the former pink ranger straight in the face. Grunted Kimberly fell back to the floor in front of a group of astonished clubbers, who by now were interested in the spat going on. And although everyone could swear that it was an accident, the look on Tommy's face was enough to confirm that. But the look on Adam's face was one of anger, "Son of a…"
Wham
The right hook caught Tommy clean on the jaw sending the surprised leader of the rangers stumbling backwards. Everyone immediately started cheering, "Fight!" and gathered in a tight circle to prevent any bouncers from getting through. Tommy felt his jaw and just saw Adam's second punch in time to duck out of the way.
"Hold on," he held up his hands in a sign of defeat.
"Fuck you," Adam spat coming after him with a combo of lefts and rights that Tommy managed to avoid, however on the last one Adam faked a left that Tommy went to duck and instead scored with another right hook to the side of the head.
It was then Tommy decided:
Enough was enough.
---------------------------------------
Kimberly was dazed and slightly discombobulated, her nose ached from where the arm hit her, but there was no blood. She could hear the cheering people chanting the word, "Fight," and glanced up to see both black and white ranger going at it tooth and nail. Tommy's nose was already bloody and Adam's lip already cut.
"Ow," pushing herself up she tried to steady her body but was still feeling woozy, leaning on a nearby for support she noticed an equally shocked Kat watching the fight, seemingly unsure of what to do.
Adam felt the bone jarring pain of a Tommy Oliver right hand and fell back against a table, groaning he felt Tommy grab his shirt by the front and attempt to drag him up. Swinging round Adams fist connected with Tommy's shoulder off balancing the ranger who stumbled backwards and fell to the floor.
Usually that would've satisfied the black ranger, but when Tommy had stumbled backwards and fell, he'd still had a secure grip on Adams shirt. There was a sound of tearing material and the silk shirt was ripped for the black rangers torso and fell with Tommy to the floor.
Almost immediately the fight chants ceased, instead everyone stared dumbfounded at Adams scarred torso, looks of shock and disdain were on everyone's face. Murmurs of "Oh my god" followed with "Look at his chest" and the worst one "He must belong to one of those satanic cults, the ones that mutilate themselves" drifted throughout the crowd.
Even Tommy and Kat stared at him, shock and confusion on their faces, "Oh my god, Adam," the sound of her voice was enough. A thousand knives feeling like they've been plunged through his heart, he glanced over at Kimberly who stared at his chest. Her voice wasn't nasty or teasing, just…pitiful. That was the worst one, "Your body," she whispered.
Adam stared at her, unable to process anything inside of his head, no words, no actions, nothing. Eventually his legs started to work and before he knew it the black ranger was wading through the clubbers and found himself out on the street.
The rain poured onto his body, a thousand emotions immediately rising to the surface, the most noticeable one being pain, followed by anger, and followed once again, by pain.
To Be Continued
By Boulder
Authors Notes
This chapters pretty long but I wanted to get quite a few things in. I must say I was deliberating for some time over the start of the fic, but eventually decided not to do things all about the club as it limits the surroundings and may get a bit boring. I'd also like to apologize for the fight scene, I'm not very good at writing things like that and never have been. I also know that none of the rangers would act like that in the series and so tried to integrate it and tried to make it as believable as I could.
Anyways, if you liked the chapter please review. And don't worry, there'd definitely more to come. I'd also like to thank cobalt blue for the Frog/Crane prey thing.
Regards,
Boulder
P.S. I should get the next chapter up in a week or so as my sister is being very generous with her computer that's why I'd like to dedicate this chapter to her.
Laura
Thank you