Sorry it took so long everyone. The new semester has started and I will once again be bogged down with fun homework, yuck! But, I promise I will do my best to update at least once a week, hopefully more. I gather most of you enjoyed the last chapter, I did too. This next one answers a lot of questions for you guys and the one after it will explain even more. So read, review, and enjoy.
"Zeddy! What are you doing!" yelled the piercing voice, which belonged to none other than Rita Repulsa.
"Don't yell at me woman!" snapped back Lord Zedd as he thrusted his staff forward ejecting a bright bolt of lightning towards Earth.
"Why are you bringing back our deliciously evil Pink Ranger? She was just about to kick some serious butt!" yelled Rita again, paying no attention to her husbands demand.
"No," replied Zedd trying to control his anger, "she was just about to engage in a battle in which she would lose."
"Pardon my interruption my lord," cut in Goldar as he bowed to his master, "but Rita's right. That goody two shoes Katherine was just about to be out of our hair forever, and something tells me Kimberly would have destroyed anything that got in her way. Even the other Rangers."
"The other Rangers!" yelled Lord Zedd. "Oh how I despise them. They're going to ruin my plan. But I still have one or two tricks up my sleeve."
"And does one of them include retreating?" questioned Rita sarcastically.
"Silence, the both of you!" demanded Lord Zedd. "Kimberly is much too emotional to win a battle against the most gallant warriors there ever were. She has too many ties to them to beat them."
"What do you mean my dear husband," asked Rita with a clueless stare on her face, "I thought Kimberly's emotions were precisely the reason why you chose her to be your evil Ranger."
"Well it was originally," huffed Zedd as he plopped down on his marble throne. "But that was when all we had to worry about was Tommy. It was perfect! But those annoying little power pests had to jump in and save the day as always!" his entire body began to glow red. "Now we have to worry about the other five just when we got rid of the other four."
"You think Kimmy's not up to it?" asked Rita.
"Of course she's not, were you here a minute ago? Did you happen to notice that she was just about to surrender my precious power coin to those imbeciles!" he once again exploded into a fit of rage.
"Oh calm down Zedd and tell me what you plan to do next," said Rita who was by now very disappointed in her husband.
"Don't worry my dear," returned Lord Zedd sinisterly. "Pink Ranger or no Pink Ranger the Power Rangers will be destroyed if it's the last thing I do."
Everyone quietly entered the secret back door of the command center that also happened to be Tommy's basement. The door closed behind the warriors as they took a deep breath and took in the site. Jason, Zack, Billy, and Aisha couldn't believe what they saw. Machines, gadgets, computers, monitors, and even a metal shop off in the corner. It nearly brought tears to their eyes when they finally realized how much Tommy Oliver had actually devoted to saving the world. Most importantly they realized how much he had given up.
Soon they noticed the young woman with long, curly, burgundy hair sitting at the main computer. She swiveled around in her chair the moment she heard the back door open. She gave the group a solemn look and then quickly rose from her seat and began to pull a cot out of what looked to be a supply closet. But there were some pretty serious tools in there, and Billy eagerly took notice.
"Let's power down guys," said Jason emotionless.
Soon the four Rangers standing and the one Ranger resting in Tommy's arms returned to their civilian state. No one spoke as Aisha helped Haley set up five cots dispersed throughout the room and the four men made several trips to Tommy's jeep to retrieve the four kids.
When everyone appeared to be resting comfortably and Haley and Billy were working rapidly to check everyone's vitals Tommy finally broke the silence.
"Are they going to be okay?" he asked unsure of whether or not he wanted to hear the answer.
"Well," said Haley standing over Trent, "Conner and Ethan were only knocked unconscious. Their power left their bodies as a defense mechanism so that they couldn't be drained or harmed. I need to go get the other first aid kit from upstairs, there are some smelling salts in it. They should do the trick."
Tommy exhaled in relief, "What about Kira?"
He was truly concerned about the petite Yellow Ranger. Seeing her down hurt him the most because he always felt like she came before the others. It wasn't because she was a girl, it was mostly because she often times reminded him of Kimberly, even though the two girls were nothing alike.
Haley looked at Billy, pleading with him with her eyes to explain this one to Tommy. She knew exactly how much the pretty blonde girl meant to Tommy and she didn't want to have to be the one to break the news.
"Well," said Billy nodding to Haley in acceptance, "from what I can gather Kira wasn't morphed when she took the hit," he paused to gather himself. "I'm sorry Tommy but it's pretty bad." He could see the tears welling up in his friend's eyes. Tommy tried his best to fight them off.
Billy continued, "I realize that there's not really any visible damage to her other than cuts and bruises, but the blow was very powerful. Right now she is unconscious and she seems to be resting comfortably. But I can't guarantee that she's going to wake up."
A single tear fell from Tommy's eye as he walked over to the small girl and knelt down next to her. He grabbed her hand hoping she would respond. But, when she didn't he nearly lost it. Luckily Haley stepped in with perfect timing as usual.
"But, Trent's going to be okay," she said reassuringly.
It worked because it got Tommy's attention and he released the girl's hand down gently beside her and walked over to Trent.
"But, Kimberly stabbed him," he said with question in his voice.
"That may be true," began Haley, "but he was morphed, which means his body was at maximum strength. He was protected and the power had time to heal his body before it left him."
Once again Tommy exhaled in relief.
"So the powers weren't damaged?" he asked Haley with hope in his eyes.
"Nope," replied the woman as she handed some strange device to Billy who ran it over Conner's dino gem.
"They're as good as new," confirmed Billy with a smile.
The other four Rangers who had remained silent, as they were sympathetic to Tommy's previous situation also erupted into smiles and cheers.
"I guess things aren't as bad as they seem," said Aisha as she walked up to Tommy and gave him a reassuring hug.
"But they're still bad," replied Jason who was always the voice of reason.
"Jas is right guys," continued Zack, "that poor little girl is having to struggle for her life," he gestured towards Kira, "and we haven't even examined Katherine yet."
Katherine had been lying on the cot in the middle of the room; she remained in the same position Tommy had set her down in. Now as the six adults turned their gazes towards the delicate blond woman the horrible memory of her fall filled their minds.
Once Katherine removed her helmet and spoke back in the clearing Kimberly transformed into an entirely different person. She immediately pulled her power coin away from Tommy and returned it to its rightful place, inside her morpher on her belt.
Everyone was taken aback by this gesture and at first no one quite understood what was going on. That is everyone but Tommy who knew exactly what was going through Kimberly's head. He immediately tried to stop her from hurting Kat by grabbing her arm.
"Kim it's not going to happen like this," he said sternly looking down on her.
She quickly jumped up attempting to break his grip, but he rose with her and so did the other four Rangers. They weren't going to let her hurt the Pink Ranger either. Soon Jason grabbed a hold of her other arm and Billy reached for her weapon in the holster on her belt. She began to struggle fiercely.
"Be careful guys," said Tommy, "she's not exactly human right now."
He remembered how she had somehow managed to heat up her body and forced him to let her go back in his bedroom the night before. She now began to glow red in an attempt to repeat the same trick. But Tommy was wise to it.
"Zack, get over her and take her arm," he ordered.
He might not be able to resist the heat, but the other Rangers wouldn't be phased by it because they had the power to protect them. Zack did as he was told and switched places with Tommy. Kimberly began to kick and scream fiercely but Jason and Zack managed to tangle their legs in hers, preventing her from having any sort of defense. Once they had her under control the red glow began to leave her.
"Stop, stop!" she screamed, "you're hurting me Jason."
Jason really did want to let her go, but he knew he couldn't.
"I'm sorry Kim this is how it has to be."
"No," said Kimberly weakly, "it doesn't." Everyone looked confused.
"What I mean is," she continued, "it's gone. The evil's gone, I felt it leave," she struggled to catch her breath.
Everyone starred at her questionably, but Tommy knew better.
"She's bluffing guys!" he yelled as he signaled for them to tighten their grips, and they did.
Meanwhile Aisha had rushed to Katherine's side prepared to protect her even if it meant fighting her own best friend.
"Are you okay Kat?" she asked quickly as she fastened her helmet back on her head.
"Yeah, just a little startled," replied Katherine, not taking her eyes off of Kimberly for a second.
"Well we better get out of here. For some reason you don't appear to be Kimberly's favorite person right now. Seeing you only upsets her more." Aisha began to lead Katherine out of the clearing.
"Right," said Katherine following behind the Yellow Ranger.
"NO!" came a loud scream behind them, "Don't you dare try to escape me Katherine. You have to pay!"
Kimberly's yell was so loud and so fierce, fueled by the Pink Power, she shook the ground. The guys continued to struggle to keep their grip on her but they didn't know how much longer they could last.
"Run!" yelled Tommy after Katherine as he reached for Kimberly's morpher. He was going to take that filthy coin this time no matter what it took.
Kimberly felt Tommy groping at her belt yet she wasn't at all concerned with him. It was Katherine she was after and if these pathetic men thought they could stop her then they had another thing coming. Katherine had almost reached the end of the clearing and was about to enter the trees when she was suddenly stopped. No one actually saw it coming, especially not Katherine. But, Kimberly had somehow managed to shoot the tall Pink Ranger down with a pink beam, which escaped from the pupils of her eyes. As the Ranger's watched one of their own hit the ground wounded, Kimberly Hart was snatched away from them by Lord Zedd's bolt.