Phew! Explaining everything is quite a job. I'm sorry this took so long, but I don't much like writing the explanations. But they're so important that there's no way around it. So, here's a few more pieces to the puzzle, I should have it all wrapped up in the next chapter and things should start to progress from there. You guys have been so good to me with your reviews, I can't thank you enough. So, here's my present to you.
"Well," said the concerned masculine voice, "how is she?"
"I'm afraid only time will tell, Tommy," replied Billy removing the device from Katherine's head and consulting with Haley on her diagnosis.
"Yeah," continued Haley, "Katherine was morphed when the beam struck her but it was exceptionally powerful. It was almost as if Kimberly had somehow concentrated all of her energy into one gigantic force and aimed it strait at Katherine."
Tommy shuddered. He should have been able to prevent this. He knew how Kimberly felt about Katherine, all the hidden hostility. He should have sent Katherine away the second she appeared. What was he thinking? That was the problem, he wasn't thinking, he was too busy trying to get Kimberly back to care about anything else. He really had been messing up as the leader lately, but why? He then realized the answer was pretty obvious, Kimberly Hart. If there was ever one thing that could consume his mind no matter what, it was she. Zedd knew this and that is why his plan had been working so well. But, on the positive side Kimberly had cracked more than once. She wasn't completely evil, but the evil was feeding off of all of her weaknesses, just as she had fed off of his.
"So we just wait it out then?" questioned Aisha, breaking Tommy away from his thoughts.
"That's about all we can do," replied Haley as she headed for the stairs, "I'm going to go get that other first aid kit, I'll be right back," she called behind her as she exited the room.
"So what's next?" asked Zack as he took a seat in the big black chair in front of the monitors and control panels.
Aisha followed, taking a seat on the steps below him. She propped her chin in her left hand and studied the fingernails on her right hand. She was definitely due for a manicure, maybe this time she'd get them polished pink. She swallowed harshly at the idea. How could she be thinking of her nails at a time like this? The only other person in this entire world that wouldn't think her a brat for doing so was Kim. Poor Kim.
"Well," began Tommy in response to Zack's question, dragging Aisha back to reality, "I suppose the first thing you can do is tell me how the hell it is that you're all here."
The four adults chuckled at their former leader; the look on Tommy's face had been indescribable when they appeared back at the battle site. He literally looked as if he had just seen a ghost, and in many ways he had.
"Jas," began Billy, "I suppose you should begin."
Jason nodded as he tried to decipher the best way to explain the events of the last few days without pissing off Tommy. Tommy never refused help but he also rarely asked for it. Jason also wanted to lighten the mood. He realized circumstances were dire but the last thing everyone needed was more negativity.
"It all started Saturday evening when you called me," Jason said taking a seat next to Aisha. "There was something about you that just didn't seem right and I knew it had absolutely nothing to do with Kimberly's box."
"What was your first clue?" asked Tommy eagerly. He knew he had been terribly unconvincing on the phone yet he couldn't help but want to know where he slipped up.
Jason rolled his eye, " come on bro!" he said with exaggeration, "uh, gee, uh duh, I just found some old things of Kim's, can I have her address?" His impersonation of Tommy was quite insulting but Tommy had to admit it was fair.
"Come on man," continued Jason, "you haven't even mentioned Kim in years and then one day out of the blue you want her address? I don't think so."
"Okay fine, you got me," admitted Tommy. "But there's one problem with your story."
"What's that?" questioned Jason, amused.
"You're not that smart," chuckled Tommy as he pulled up a chair, set it down in front of the others, and planted himself in it backwards.
"Very funny bro," said Jason, somewhat humiliated by the chuckles of his friends around him. "But seriously," he continued, "I was pretty suspicious of you so I decided to do a little research, which might I add would have made Billy very proud."
Billy nodded in approval as he recovered from the previous laughing spell that had taken over the room.
"Do continue," said Tommy as he gestured the statement with his hand. "You do have me intrigued."
"I sat down at my computer," continued Jason, seriously, "and I did a search for Reefside's news and came up with the local newspapers site where a fresh article sat just waiting for me to read." Jason looked very proud of his accomplishment. "So I read the article and as it turned out that very afternoon there had been a terrible attack on the local teen hotspot, our dear friend Haley's business venture. Of course only a few eye witnesses were questioned and even Haley herself."
"What did they say," asked Aisha eager to find out. She never actually got the whole story when she agreed to take on the mission, just a brief overview.
"Well," said Jason browsing the faces around him, "I believe the phrase used was a pink she-devil with a giant Z across her chest, flew through the window like a bat out of hell. Now, it's been a few years, but I'm sure that you all, like myself, can't even read a word with that tainted letter z in it without cringing."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"So up to this point," said Jason, " I had reached a few conclusions." He paused for dramatic affect. "One, our good friend Lord Zedd had returned from the dead or should I say the good, and was once again attempting to take over the world. Two," he raised his pointer and middle finger in exaggeration, "Zedd had somehow managed to create his own evil ranger. And three, she was pink, which left the door pretty wide open. But, considering Tommy's new found interest in Kimberly's current address, it was pretty obvious who our Pink Ranger was."
"What if you had been wrong?" questioned Tommy, feeling at little foolish at this point that Jason was able to conclude that the Pink Ranger was Kimberly without even having seen her in person. And, it took him two days to reach the same conclusion.
"Well," answered Jason smugly, "I checked my facts." He then pointed at Billy opening the floor for the great genius.
"That's true," confirmed Billy, "Jason used his communicator to contact me."
"But how?" questioned Tommy. He always thought they were inoperable, especially when it came to contacting someone on another planet. "Where'd the frequency come from?"
"My station, back in Aquatar is pretty advanced Tommy," explained Billy. "It's so advanced that I am able to pick up even the tiniest signal from Earth, and it just so happens that when I created the frequency for our communicators I coded them with a special formula, which generates a signal totally different from any other. Luckily Jason thought to attempt communication and I picked up on his signal. It was incredibly faint but with a few minor adjustments I was able to receive Jason's transmission."
"When I finally got through, I explained everything I knew to Billy," said Jason picking up where his friend left off. "He sounded a little skeptical because we all know that Lord Zedd is supposed to be as happy as butterfly, and Kimberly would be the last candidate for destruction."
"So," continued Billy, "I tapped into the morphing grid and ran a search for anything unusual, and boy did I find something very unusual."
"What?" asked Zack, he too knew little of the whole story but wasn't quite as in the dark as Aisha.
"Well," answered Billy, "I found what looked to be a power source generated from a power coin, more interesting though I found that power to be composed of Zed's energy, pink energy, and most importantly pterodactyl energy."
"And Kimberly's the only Ranger besides Kira to ever be infused with that energy," finished Tommy. He had to admit this was all very impressive, and a much simpler way to find out the identity of the Pink Ranger than his had been.
"Precisely, Tommy," responded Billy.
"Okay," cut in Aisha, "so you find out that Kimberly's the Evil Pink Ranger and Tommy's a little worried, but how did you know that the Dino Thunder Rangers couldn't take care of the problem? Tommy didn't even ask for help."
"Well," answered Billy, "the power signal I found in the morphing grid was stronger than any power originating from a coin had ever been. In fact it was even bigger than the power generated by all five dino gems combined."
Tommy gasped in amazement, he knew a little something about the intensity of the dino gems and the idea of a power being stronger than them was almost unimaginable. Had he known this, he definitely would have asked for help.
"Knowing this," cut in Jason eager to continue the story, "Billy and I realized that it was going to take a hell of a lot more to rescue Kimberly from this power source than the dino rangers. So, the Aquitians sent Billy home in their most advanced space craft while in the meantime I, with the help of Delphine and Cestro, attempted to compile a team of basically anyone I could get a hold of."
"And that's where I come in," stated Zack proudly, eager to tell his portion of the story.
"Hold on," said Tommy raising his hand in defiance, "why go through so much trouble? Why didn't you just send the Alien Rangers to help us out?"
"Are you crazy?" asked Billy, "Zedd would have sensed their approach before they even reached Earth and by then he could have prepared and equipped Kimberly for the fight. Plus, Kimberly never knew the Aquitian Rangers; there wouldn't have been any chance of persuading her to surrender peacefully. It would have been her or them."
"That's true," agreed Tommy. He was surprised at how all of this stuff had never even entered his mind. Why did he always insist on taking on every problem alone?
"Um, excuse me," interrupted Zack, "I believe it's my turn."
"Go for it bro," said Jason with a slight chuckle at his friend's excitement.
"So check it," began Zack, "There I was just chillin' in my hotel room in New York City, totally exhausted from my busy day working, when all of a sudden I hear it," he paused. "You know what I'm talking about that familiar chime. At first I thought I had fallen asleep and I dreamt the noise, but I heard it again. Finally I tore through my suitcase, which luckily was the same one I had taken to the Peace Conference. I couldn't believe my communicator was still in it. I had ripped my house apart looking for that thing a few years back. Luckily I had it with me or else Jason would have never been able to track me down."
"Uh, ever heard of a phone?" asked Aisha sarcastically.
"That's cute girl," said Zack as he winked at the African American woman, "but, I live out of hotel rooms these days, my job requires it. And I had just recently changed my cell number because it was just cheaper to get one with a New York area code since I'm there so often."
"Oh," said Aisha sheepishly apologizing with her eyes.
"Don't sweat it," replied Zack with his typical charm.
"Back to the story please," interrupted Tommy annoyed by the flirting session that was taking place in his basement.
"Oh, sorry bro," said Zack blushing, "So anyway I answered the communicator and Jas gave me a quick overview of the situation. Needless to say I was on the next flight to California, because you know I always got your back Tommy."
Tommy nodded in appreciation.
"Okay, Okay," said Aisha primping her hair "now my turn. It just so happened that I was visiting Katherine in Australia when Jason sent out the call. I was there for a international veterinarian's meeting addressing the problem of dehydration, amongst a certain species of-"
Everyone but Billy appeared clueless and somewhat disinterested.
"Anyway, that's not important," continued Aisha realizing that she had lost them all at Australia, "Kat and I were in the midst of the beginning of a day long shopping spree when we heard it. I know it sounds silly but ever since I relocated to Africa I keep my communicator with me everywhere I go. I suppose a part of me just feels like I never finished my shift as a ranger ya' know?"
Everyone nodded in agreement and Billy put his arm around her. None of them blamed her for leaving the team. She had other duties; other's to help in a different way, just like Jason, Zack, and Trini.
"The communicator was in my purse, I was so shocked to hear it go off, we both were. When I answered it Jason filled me in on the situation. It wasn't until after he had told everything that Katherine made her presence known."
It was somewhat obvious that Katherine wasn't exactly the best candidate for this mission. Eventually, everyone had pieced together the fact that Katherine had in fact had feelings for Tommy, even when he was with Kimberly. Tommy had known it too, but no one really ever knew if Kimberly had realized it. Kim was the type of person that always focused on the good in people, never the bad. But when Kimberly had returned to Angel Grove for spring break, senior year, Jason picked up on Kimberly's dislike for the pretty blonde Australian. She never said anything to Jason to suggest her hostility, but he noticed the glare on Kimberly's face whenever Katherine was near by.
"I tried to talk Kat out of coming, honest I did," began Aisha regretfully. "But she insisted on it. I think she still feels bad about all those horrible things she did to Kim while she was under Rita's spell. I couldn't stop her. So, we boarded the next plain to America."
Everyone gave Aisha a 'we don't blame you look,' as the room went silent. But, the silence was broken by another voice, Haley who had just returned from the kitchen.
"So where did the power's come from?"