Alright, here is the next chapter, the one I know a lot of you have been waiting for. I won't hold you up any longer. enjoy. Oh yeah, and thanks for the reviews.
As soon as Dr. Oliver set foot in his house he headed strait for the bedroom. He had so many things to sort out in his head on the car ride home that he decided it was irrational to think about them in the presence of his students. No, this was something he had to figure out on his own.
"You guys can go ahead and hang out in here or downstairs its up to you," he said over his shoulder as he slowly took one step at a time up the stairs. "I'm beat. I just need to take a quick nap and a few aspirins, and I promise we'll sit down and figure everything out, but please don't leave, it's not safe."
The four teenagers looked at each other completely puzzled.
"Is he for real?" asked the Yellow Ranger. "We just got our butts seriously whipped by a pink psychopath that wouldn't rest until we were paralyzed, and he wants to take a nap! There's something seriously wrong." Said Kira as she took a seat on the couch.
"I'm afraid to say it," said Conner as he headed towards the kitchen, "but I think your right. Did anyone else notice how weird Dr. O was acting on the drive home?"
"Your tellin' me," added in Ethan as he plopped down on the recliner. "It was like he was in complete denial that the whole thing ever happened."
"Yeah," said Trent, taking a seat next to Kira, "He didn't even want to hear what happened after he was knocked out."
"I couldn't believe the way he snapped at Kira when she told him that the pink witch told her that, that Lord Zedd or whoever was back and that she was there to destroy Dr. O for him," said Conner as he opened the refrigerator door.
"And forget when she told him that the nasty pink thing said something about being the beginning and the end of the Power Rangers," added Ethan.
"Never mind that," said Trent. "What about when Connor told him about how she told Haley not to cry over Dr. O because it wasn't worth it. It was like she knew him or something."
"Something's definitely up," muffled Conner as he shoved a giant scoop of cookie dough ice cream in his mouth directly from the container.
"Just help yourself," said Kira sarcastically.
"What?" said Conner in between bites. "He said we weren't allowed to leave and I'm hungry. You can't hold four teenagers prisoner in your nerdy little science house and expect that they're not going to get restless and then hungry."
"Oh yeah?" said Trent. "The only problem is that you seem to have skipped right over the restless part and went strait for the hungry part."
"And," chimed in Ethan, "he's not holding us prisoner, he's just being cautious. You know I wish you would just once take something seriously." He was becoming impatient with the Red Ranger.
"I am taking this seriously," argued Conner in his own defense, hurt by his good friend's accusations. "I'm sorry okay. I'm going to regret saying this, but I'm really worried this time guys. It's not just because of that twisted Pink Ranger though. It's mostly because of Dr. O. It's like he's somebody else."
"Yeah, somebody without a backbone," added Kira remembering how he cowered in the back seat with his eyes closed humming some ridiculous tune quietly to himself to block out the others' conversation.
"I agree," said Ethan, "what kind of a leader stares death right in the face and the only thing he can do is sit there and say, 'No, no, no,' over and over again, while the rest of us come this close to needing a change of pants?"
"Well, all we can do now is wait," said Trent rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sure we'll have all the answers once he comes back down."
Upstairs, as Tommy entered his room he quickly closed the door behind him and then went straight for the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.
"I don't know what you're so worried about Oliver," he said to himself out loud. "This is all just a dream that you'll wake up from soon. It just has to be."
He chose a bottle of aspirin from the medicine cabinet and opened it. He quickly popped four pills into his mouth knowing full well that it was much more than he needed to get rid of his headache. But, it just was not enough to make all of his pain go away.
Next, he returned the bottle to it's designated shelf and closed the mirror cabinet door. Starring at himself he knew it was time to sort everything out. But how could it possibly be?
The second he heard the Pink Ranger's forceful "Hiyah," he recognized her. And when he turned around and saw her shape, the way she moved, and the way she made herself seem seven feet tall when she was only five-three, he knew. But, it just would not register; he would not let it.
He was so ashamed of the way he handled things. He froze like a weakling, and was in so much denial that he went as far to say "No, no, no" over and over again like a stuttering fool. He was useless. He even let down his guard, and paid for it royally.
Dr. Oliver did not want to believe that she was capable of such horrible things. But, maybe she was. Or maybe it was not even her. Maybe his eyes, his memory, and his mind were just playing tricks on him.
But, what about everything that happened after he was knocked out? What about Lord Zedd? Honestly it did not surprise him one bit when Kira told him of the return of Lord Zedd, for he had seen the stylized 'Z' on the Pink Ranger's chest. That only added to his initial confusion.
But, what about how she said she was the beginning and the end of the Power Rangers? He supposed that could have meant lots of things. But, only one meaning came to mind.
Worst of all was when the Pink Ranger told Haley he was not worth crying over. There were only three women on this Earth that could have justifiably made that statement, and two of those women did not even come close to meeting the evil Pink Ranger's description.
He did not want to face the facts, but it all matched up. The evil Pink Ranger was not just some soulless monster like he'd faced so many times before. No, she was a real person, and not just any person. He hated to admit it, or even think it, but the simple fact of the matter was that the Pink Ranger had to be Kimberly Hart. His Kimberly Hart.
But, he had to consider the situation in every aspect and he had to be rational about it. If there was anything he learned from his years in uniform it was that anything was possible. This could be good news but most likely it was bad.
It was entirely possible that the evil Pink Ranger that had defeated him and his team was in fact a regular monster. Zedd and Rita could have just concocted her in hopes of playing with his head. If that was the case then they were good, real good.
But, it was also entirely possible that they decided to skip the imposter and go right for the real thing. In which case Zedd and Rita were not just real good, they were great. And if this was so, then Kimberly had to have been put under some sort of spell. She would never intentionally hurt him on her own. In fact if anyone had any right to be sour it was him.
One thing was for sure though, even if there was just a slight possibility that Kimberly was under all of that hardware and hate then there was no way that he could hurt her, even in defense. He had to find out for sure. But, how? She did not seem too eager to reveal her identity in the first attack and the sooner he knew for sure the better.
If it was Kimberly then maybe he could find her and reason with her before her next attack. But, that was just a naive and stupid idea. Tommy had been under so many spells in the past that he knew there was no such thing as rationalizing with her. But, maybe he could at least find out if it really was her in the Pink Ranger costume if he found her in person.
He knew what he had to do. So he turned around and walked towards the phone sitting on his nightstand. He picked up the receiver and dialed the familiar phone number that had been tattooed in his brain for several years now.
"Hey, it's me. How've you been?" he spoke into the phone.
What did you guys think? Let me know. I'd also like to hear some of your predictions regarding what you think Tommy's going to do next. Just curious.