Chapter 20- Chaos

After observing, wide-eyed and silent, the chaos that erupted in Mesogog's lab on the video screens, the two adults and three teens abandoned their posts in Tommy's basement and rushed outside the lab to see the Black Ranger collapse next to Kimberly's prone form.

Jason uttered a string of colourful expletives under his breath, his cheeks still wet with the tears he had shed while watching Kimberly's torment, and crashed to his knees beside them both, torn over who to look to first. Kim's skin was pale and her rose tinted lips had cooled to a far lighter pallor, tinged with blue.

He checked for a pulse and frantically began trying to resuscitate the Pink Ranger, unwilling to give up on her.

"We need to call an ambulance!" Kira said shakily but urgently.

"And tell them what? She just had her energy sucked away by a crazed mutant dinosaur because she's a Power Ranger?!" Ethan exclaimed tightly obviously still in shock.

Hayley shook her head. "Kira's right, we're not equipped to deal with her here, if we want to save her, it might be the only way." She ran inside to grab the phone and check on Billy.

With a gasp Tommy suddenly awoke, beginning to cough violently and groan as if he was the one revived from the brink of death. The Black Ranger uniform suddenly exploded from his body and the four Rangers surrounding him saw his pale countenance and dazed expression, as if he didn't know where he was. Then Tommy's eyes settled on Kim and he pushed himself to his knees and moved to her, his hand on her cold cheek. His eyes shot up to Jason's and the first Red Ranger shook his head brokenly. Tommy looked back down to Kim with tears in his eyes and shook his head in bitter and hysterical denial.

"No…No! Kim don't leave me, not now…Kimberly please…I love you, Beautiful! I love you!" He told her with a hoarse voice, as if the exclamation would revive her. He leant down to her and kissed her frozen lips with all the desperation of a drowning man reaching for a lifeline. If this was the fairytale romance they had believed in, he knew her eyes would open miraculously at his touch, like Sleeping Beauty, like the time he had been revealed as the White Ranger and she had fainted, awakened when he held her. But this was not a fairytale, and Kimberly did not stir, her heart did not begin to beat again and the colour did not return to her faded cheeks. Tommy began to shake, his whole body convulsing, wracked with sobs of grief as he buried his face into her neck, his hot forehead pressing against her icy skin.

Jason stood as if a statue, too many emotions coursing through him for him to even move. Denial, anger, sorrow, hurt, betrayal, helplessness, fear, confusion, inadequacy, guilt, such pain he had never known for his 'little sister', the one he had shared everything with ever since they were in kindergarten together.

The three newest Rangers looked on helpless and horrified, not knowing what they could do for their mentor or the woman he loved. It seemed as if time had frozen and they were trapped in some pocket of space watching the sorrow before them but unable to act. Then they heard the squalling of ambulance sirens cut through the still morning air as the emergency vehicle pulled up to the side of the house and the three paramedics came round to the back of the house. Hayley had thankfully closed the back entrance to the underground lab and as the most composed of them was hollowly describing some fabricated explanation. The ambulance crew nodded and one of them rushed to retrieve the portable defibrillator and began to attempt restarting Kimberly's heart.

Kira closed her eyes and squeezed her hands tight into fists making a silent plea. If there is any power for good left in the universe, don't let Kimberly die today…please

"We've got a pulse." The paramedic's voice cut through the tense silence and Kira opened her eyes in disbelief, not even noticed the little half-moon marks her nails had etched into the skin of her palms.

"Right, let's get her to the hospital, we need to keep her under observation, run some tests, check there's no brain damage." The second paramedic said slowly to Hayley as she seemed to be the most composed of them all.

"Can he go with her?" Hayley pointed to Tommy who was now standing by Kim's side as she was loaded on to the stretcher, looking lost.

The paramedics glanced to him and nodded. "Sure," the female of the three said looking sympathetically at Tommy and pushing him gently forward to follow the stretcher.

"We'll follow along." Hayley said, pointing to Jason, and the emergency crew nodded and lifted Kim into the ambulance, Tommy moving to sit beside her with the female paramedic as the doors were closed and the vehicle pulled away, siren blazing.

"You three should go home now." Hayley turned to the teens seeing their shaken expressions. "You need sleep, I think it'll be a good idea to skip school today, do you want me to call your parents?"

Conner shook himself into leadership mode first. "Don't worry about it Hayley, we'll be able to convince them."

"Are you alright to drive, or do you want us to drop you off?" Jason said, his voice croaky, but seeming to be recovering from the shock.

"I'll be okay, you get to the hospital, Dr. O will need you." Conner nodded.

"Kira, Ethan, are you alright?" The two looked up and nodded weakly at the red-head.

"Will you call us when you hear anything about Kim?" Kira asked quietly.

"Of course, as soon as we get some news." Hayley nodded and the three began to trail silently back into the house to grab their bags and go to Conner's car.

"I'm going to make you some tea and then we'll go… for the shock." Hayley told the Red Ranger as they headed inside also.

"I'm fine." Jason insisted, not very convincingly.

"Still, it'll make me feel better." Hayley smiled, deciding to defer her pushiness in favour of keeping Jason's manly ego in tact.

"Jason! Finally!" As they walked through the lab the voice caught Jason's attention and he turned, seeing a pale Billy still on the video screen. "What has happened, you all left and wouldn't answer me in here or on Tommy's telephone."

Jason went to sit back at the control console and looked apologetically at his old friend.

"Sorry Billy man, did you catch sight of what happened in the lab?"

"Regrettably I was unconscious for a moment, but I did observe Tommy attack Mesogog and release Kimberly."

"Tommy got Kim back here, but he collapsed straight after. Her…her heart stopped." Jason said somewhat shakily, reigning his emotions in. "We got an ambulance here, they got it going again, they've taken her to the hospital. Tommy's with her."

Billy knew it must be hard for Jason to be sitting there and not with Kimberly, but obviously the former leader had decided Tommy needed it more. He nodded, an unspoken prompt for Jason to continue.

"Hayley and I are going down there in a second, we sent the Rangers home. God Billy, she died…for a minute there, we lost her…" Jason shook his head, the image of a lifeless Kimberly on the ground would not soon leave him.

"When Trini arrives home this evening we will endeavour to accelerate our arrival in Reefside, we shall acquire the first flight from Washington at once."

"Alright man, I'll keep you posted about Kim's condition, can you call Zack and Aisha for me, they won't allow cell-phones inside the hospital, and I don't think I'll have time to go through it."

"Of course Jason. I'll speak with you shortly."

The video-link terminated and he downed the tea that Hayley then handed him in one gulp. "Let's go." He said determinedly and grabbed his leather jacket from the back of one of the chairs, hastening out of the door with a concerned Hayley on his heels.

Her fingers were warm and slender laced between his. But her eyes were still closed and the number of machines and monitors she was hooked up to was frightening.

Looks like we're back here again Beautiful, same story, different circumstances.

The events of the past couple of hours were coming back to him in pieces, but he could not understand them or grasp the enormity of the situation, all he could comprehend right now was that Kimberly Hart was lying unconscious in a hospital bed on a heart monitor, that no-one would tell him anything- perhaps they considered him too unstable to absorb the information, which was probably a fair assumption- and that Tommy felt like he was slowly dying.

Whoever said ignorance was bliss was definitely on to something. Two days ago he was in denial about his feelings for Kim, quite happy to go on pretending his interest in her was purely in a friendship capacity, now all the feelings he had been repressing had flooded back and hit him with the force of a tidal-wave and he had no idea what to do with them. He hated feeling helpless and confused more than anything else in the world, and seeing Kim locked inside herself, unable to respond to him, unable to feel his kisses or hear his words of comfort was worse than any torture he had ever or could ever endure.

He had no idea what had happened in Mesogog's island fortress. One minute he was slamming against a cell door then collapsing from pain, next minute he was melting metal and hurling cyborgs and villains as if they were balls of paper. He had guessed it was something to do with the Ninja powers, he had heard the noble call of the Falcon echoing in his mind as he hadn't for years. But more than that, he had heard the mournful howl of the Wolf, the powerful scream of the Ape, the desolated roar of the Bear, a doleful keening which he supposed was the cry of the Frog, but worst of all, the stricken wailing of the Crane, a suffering death knell that still echoed in his ears. The spirit animals of the former Ninja team had called out in pain, unable to aid their spirit sister, but responding to the hurt they felt in the only way they could. Perhaps the pure, untainted ferocity that was unleashed through him had been the amalgamation of the Ninja powers as one, trying to save one of their own.

He looked back over to Kim, and-as his left hand's fingers were still entwined with hers- used his right hand to reach over and brush the caramel coloured hair from her face affectionately. Billy's earlier words echoed in his mind unbidden and he swallowed a lump in his throat as he stroked her forehead gently.

"Either she would be completely destroyed, unable to live without the spirit of the Crane, because so much of her is a part of it, and vice versa. Or, perhaps a worse outcome, she would survive, but would be nothing but a hollow shell, devoid of emotion or heart. She probably wouldn't even register her surroundings let alone anything else, she'd be like a vegetable…"

He refused to believe that all that was left of the beautiful spirited woman he loved was an empty vessel, unable to feel or love, he would not accept that. He was thinking of hunting down Billy and killing him for even suggesting such conclusions. It was at times like these he missed Zordon most, their Eltarian mentor had always had a suggestion or solution to solve their problems, he was there the last time Kim lay unconscious in front of him in a hospital bed, and had reassured the team that their Pink Ranger would recover. Who was there to reassure him now?

"Bro?" He turned his head and saw Jason peering through a crack in the door. Tommy managed a brief smile for his best friend and Jason came and took a seat quietly on the other side of Kim's bed, staring at the Pink Ranger guardedly. Tommy knew Jason was the sort of man born to be a leader, strong and unfaltering, hating to show a weaker or softer side, never allowing himself to cry because he thought he had to be strong for the sake of others. But he had cried today, and Tommy was proud of him for it, though he wouldn't bring it up for fear of making Jason embarrassed about it. Tommy was glad the strongest man he knew would cry for his oldest friend, that he would allow a moment of weakness for Kim, because otherwise the ordeal would probably have eaten him alive.

"Hey man." He said softly in reply. "They won't tell me anything." There was frustration there, but a part of him was glad. He didn't want any doctors telling him it was hopeless, that Kim might never wake up, or worse might wake but never recognise him, never see anything or understand anyone through her cinnamon sweet eyes.

"Hayley's gone to talk to the doctor." Jason said quietly, and Tommy briefly wondered what it was about hospitals that made people get so hushed and speak in whispers. He felt like yelling 'It's not as if she can hear us, let's shout and scream, 'cause Kim sure as hell can't!'. He wanted to cry, but he knew if he started again he would never stop. It was as if he were spent, there weren't enough tears to cry in this universe if Kim would never wake up and look at him with the eyes he fell into every time he looked into them.

"The kids?" Tommy asked, concerned about how much stress the last day had placed on his students.

"Hayley sent them home, I figure they'll all stay at Conner's. I told Billy to call Aisha and Zack, and he and Trini are catching the first flight out when she gets back."

Tommy nodded. "I hope he has the sense to call Rocky and Adam too. If I'm right we'll need them before this all plays out."

Jason frowned and he leaned forward slightly. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm not quite sure myself yet, but I think we're going to need support from the other Ninja powers, if we're gonna help Kim. And she can't stay here you know."

Jason nodded. "I know man, but I don't see how we can get her discharged, I mean her heart stopped, they tend to take that seriously."

"If Mesogog wanted to come and try to finish her off, she'd be an easy target here as well as the other patients. They wouldn't stand a chance, we can't take that risk. I won't take that risk."

Jason nodded seriously, his mind working overtime. "We'll see what the doctors said to Hayley and then we'll figure out how to deal with it."

"Honey, I'm home!" Trini Kwan smiled and put her suitcase down in the hall. Billy would be so surprised to find her home early, they had given up on the area her group had been working on at the dig site and would move on to new ground next month after some planning. For now she was looking forward to some much needed rest and relaxation at home.

"If your mistress is here now would be a good time to hide her in a cupboard as I'm coming in!" She laughed as she shut the door and hung her keys on the hook before peering into the kitchen, wondering why her partner hadn't come running to greet her or even responded to her call.

"Billy?" Old Ranger habits die hard and she wondered if something bad had happened while she was away. She opened the door to Billy's office, thinking he would be there if not in his lab.

The computer system was on but Billy was not there, though the still swinging chair evidenced that he had been. She heard strange coughing sounds coming from the bathroom and rushed in to find her boyfriend curled over the toilet bowl and retching violently.

"Oh my goodness, Billy are you alright?" She crouched next to him and put a hand on his back soothingly as he regained his senses. The scientist wiped his mouth and looked up at her, a small smile gracing his features at her presence.

"Affirmative, I seem to have recovered, for now at least." He allowed her to help him to his feet and ran a hand through his hair, sighing.

"I have a lot to fill you in on."

"What has happened, and why were you vomiting?"

"It is all a result of the same problem I fear. We're taking the first flight to Reefside."

"Reefside, why?"

Billy frowned, and clasped Trini's hand tightly as he relayed the news gravely.

"…It's Kimberly…"

Mesogog staggered to his feet with a feral growl. The Black Ranger had certainly displayed his power, the laboratory was practically decimated, the evil overlord had even been unconscious for a few minutes, and that fool Mercer had almost succeeded in taking hold over his mind again. Almost.

"Zeltrax, Elsa!" He snapped, moving back into the main chamber from where he had been thrown at the end of the hallway.

The two cyborgs sprang to attention, at least Zeltrax did anyway, accompanied by the crunching and tinkling of more glass as the eager henchman raised himself from the ground somewhat laboriously. Elsa staggered to stand beside him, clutching her head and trying to straighten out her hair, she looked a little singed around the edges-indeed parts of her leather attire seemed to be smoking where the Black Ranger had touched her.

"My lord." Zeltrax bowed and Elsa followed suit.

Mesogog fought the urge to roll his eyes and instead snapped. "Get this mess cleared up, months of experiments ruined…by your metal hide!" He glared at Zeltrax and the destroyed vials and beakers that littered the ground around him.

"I am sorry Master, it was Oliver he repelled our attacks without effort!" Zeltrax explained, not eager for another form of Mesogog's mind energy discipline.

"I had noticed!" Mesogog snarled, moving to the life force extractor- the metal table of which was now melted and warped- and lifted the leather bindings that had formerly restrained the Pink Ranger. All that remained were mere stumps of the lengthy straps, charred at the ends and the rest of which seemingly disintegrated from existence. Mesogog wondered at this, what energy had the Black Ranger harnessed? An immeasurable and pure force that could seemingly be restrained by no material, the normally mild mannered Dr Oliver had been positively pulsating with energy, a white hot glow engulfing him as he tore through all obstacles in front of him. Yes, that was intriguing, he could not guess if it had something to do with the Pink Ranger's powers or powers of Oliver's own, but it had been unparalleled by anything the mutant genius had seen. Still, there was no need to be greedy.

"However, we still have something…that the Rangers do not." He smirked in satisfaction, pulling out a container from the back of the life-force extractor which was mercifully still intact, and held it up- illuminating the room. From inside it, a glowing pink light radiated blindingly, pure and thrumming with potent potential.

A potential Mesogog fully intended to utilize.

I have a wee bit of spare time this week so I'll do some review responses!

C2- Lol, I don't know if I should be glad your phone scared you while reading, afterall scaring you witless inadvertantly wasn't a game plan, but I'm glad you were engrossed in and enjoyed the chapter, means I'm doing something right! I have been trying to draw some parallels between this later Kim/Tommy relationship and their earlier MMPR days, and I'm glad you're picking up on those. Don't worry about the story being wrapped up so soon, I think probably another 10 chapters max. should do it, which will still take a while! Thanks for the continued support, I always look forward to your reviews!

Pink-Green-White-4ever- Wow, you've re-read it several times?! I'm really touched you'd invest extra time in the story, that really makes this worthwhile, especially that it is emotionally resonant, I do love the Buffy quote too, it did seem to fit their relationship personally I agree! But thanks again for reading and re-reading, your comments are greatly appriciated!

Mouse9- I hope your arms haven't got too tired, hanging around waiting! I can't resist the cliffies, but I haven't left you with too many lately so I really had to stick one in there! This chapter was slightly better for your arms I think, I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reviewing.

JTrevizo- Well its not always easy to review so don't sweat that, I do always appriciate your reviews though! I'm glad everyone responded so well to the Ninjetti idea, it was brewing since the beginning but it did come together slightly better than I'd envisioned it originally. It's certainly not the last we've seen of the Ninjetti powers or Rangers, so I hope you like what I pull out next also. Thanks for the review!

And the new readers/reviewers IsabellaPaige and Etcetera Kit- Thank you very much for investing time and effort into the story, reading it from the beginning is probably quite a daunting task and it is greatly appriciated, I hope I continue to entertain you and look forward to your opinions on further chapters. Thanks!

As always a big thank you and virtual cookies and milk to everyone who takes the time to read and review, it helps me to keep going, hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you at the next!

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