Chapter Thirteen
Eyelids heavy, Kirstin tried to stay awake. She couldn't sleep, wouldn't sleep. Who knows what horrors would be unleashed upon her as she slept? There was no way she was going to chance finding out.
There was a noise outside of her cell, something hit the floor with a thud. Startled, she turned from the wall where she had been sitting and tried to see in the gloom beyond her cell. Footsteps approached.
"Who…who's there?" She called, trying to sound brave.
"It's me Kirstin." Jasmine's face appeared between the bars of the cell.
"Jazzy," the young girl cried, flinging herself towards her sister. "How did you-"
"Shh," Jazz put a finger to her lips, "we're here to get you out."
"Who's we?" A blonde girl stepped forward. Kirstin's eyes widened in recognition. "You're Tori." She breathed in wonder. The blonde smiled at her.
"It's nice to meet you Kirstin," she said. Too astounded, Kirstin couldn't speak.
"If the pleasantries are over, can we please get my sister out of here?" Jazz said, clearly agitated.
"Oh yeah," Tori snapped back to situation at hand, "just press that button right there." She said to Jasmine, pointing to something on the other woman's wrist.
"Okay," Jasmine nodded her head then looked at Kirstin, "step back."
Quickly, Kirstin stepped back towards the wall, watching her sister as she placed something up against the lock to the cell. There was a clicking noise, and the door swung open. With a wide grin, Kirstin ran forward through the open door and embraced her sister.
"I knew you'd save me." She said, wrapped in her sister's arms. Jasmine gripped her arm, pulling her away gently.
"We have to go," Jasmine said, glancing around, "this was too easy."
An evil laugh split through the gloom.
"You are smarter than I gave you credit for." Lothor stepped forward, kelzacs surrounding him.
Jazz stepped into a fighting position, pushing her sister behind her and Tori, who was also ready for a fight.
"Get us outta here Jazz," Tori said, glancing from Lothor to Jasmine. Jazz nodded quickly and looked back at Kirstin.
"Grab a hold of me," she commanded her sister. Kirstin quickly grabbed onto the back of Jasmine's shirt. Tori stepped closer to her side, placing a hand on Jasmine's arm as the young woman pressed the teleport button. Nothing happened.
"It's not working." Jasmine looked at Tori, panicked.
"What?" Tori was just as panicked. Lothor laughed evilly.
"Get them." He commanded the kelzacs. Quickly, Jasmine stripped the teleporter
From her wrist and tossed it to Tori, who caught it easily.
"Get it working," she commanded, "I'll hold them off." She reached up one hand and gripped her medallion. Closing her eyes tightly, she lifted her other hand and called upon the fire that resided deep inside her.
A giant fireball flew through the hall, sending kelzacs flying to the ground.
"You little…Zurgane, get them." Lothor was seething, anger rolling off him in a thick wave. The general stepped forward, advancing on the three girls with sword drawn.
"Got it!" Tori cried. Jasmine's eyes snapped open. She grabbed a hold of Tori's arm. There was a blinding light, which left stars dancing in Jasmine's eyes. Lothor's howl of rage resounded in her ears, rattling her eardrums. The world spun around her, making Jazz dizzy. She closed her eyes, concentrating on keeping what little food she had eaten that day down. Finally, it all stopped.
Firm earth settled beneath Jasmine's feet and the world stood still. Slowly, she opened her eyes, staring at the barren landscape around her. The three girls stood in the middle of a valley that was surrounded by a series of large cliffs. Everywhere Jasmine looked she saw dirt, nothing but dirt.
"Tori," she said slowly, fighting for control of her emotions, "where are we?"
"I…I don't know." Tori looked down at the transporter, confused. "I have no clue what went wrong. Cam said this was programmed to take us to Lothor's ship and then back to Ninja Ops.
"Something must have happened when it jammed." Kirstin said from behind Jasmine. The two older girls turned as one to look at her.
"Obviously something happened," Jasmine said testily, "but what?" Kirstin shrugged.
"How am I supposed to know, you're supposed to be the genius." She replied. Jazz rolled her eyes. Little sisters.
"It's okay," Tori said, sensing trouble, "I'll just call Cam and see if he can't get a lock on where we are. The guys will just come out and pick us up, it's gonna be fine." Tori grew silent as she tried to contact Ops.
"Cam…Cam can you hear me?" There was a crackling sound.
"Tori….you….right? Where…you?" Cam's voice could barely be heard.
"There's some kind of interference." Tori shook her head, "It's got to be these cliffs." She looked around, at the cliffs that towered above them. "I can't pick up a clear signal."
"We'll have to climb them." Jasmine said.
"Are you crazy?" Kirstin cried, "That's suicide. How are we supposed to climb those without equipment or anything?"
"Kirstin, calm down," Jasmine gripped her sister's shoulders and shook her slightly. "It's going to be okay. We can do this. Just remember all those times we went rock climbing with Aunt Mandy. You were a natural at it, remember? It's not any different this time."
"Yes it is Jazz," Kirstin cried, "it is totally different. This is free climbing, I've only done rock-wall climbing."
"Tori and I will help you." Jasmine assured her, ducking down to look her sister in the eye, "we won't let anything happen to you. I promise."
Kirstin's chin trembled slightly as she nodded her head.
"Where are they man, they should have been back by now." Blake shook his head as he paced the floor. "Do you think something happened? What if Lothor got 'em."
"They have the teleporter, they'll be fine." Cam said, not at all believing his words. Jasmine and Tori should have been back a long time ago. It was now an hour since they had left.
He sat at the computer terminal and typed in a few keys.
"What are you doing?" Dustin asked, coming over and leaning over Cam's shoulder to watch.
"I'm going to see if I can get a lock on Tori's morpher." Cam said, glancing up at the yellow Ranger. He pressed a few keys. Nothing.
"That's strange." he muttered as he pressed yet more keys.
"What's strange, dude tell me that they are alright." Blake was in full freak-out mode. His pacing was frenzied and his hands continually rubbed through his already mussed hair.
"If, if they ran into trouble, Jazz and Tori can more than take care of themselves." Cam said, trying to reassure himself more than Blake. "Tori's got her morpher and Jazz has her medallion, they can handle themselves."
"You keep saying that bro," Shane said, "but that doesn't make us feel any better."
"Well I'm sorry okay." Cam cried, frustrated, "I'm doing the best I can to locate them. There's only so much I can do."
He placed his head in his hands and drew in a deep breath. This was not the time to jump on his friends. He needed to calm down, focus, and find the girls.
"Dude, we're sorry." Hunter apologized, even though he hadn't said anything.
"It's not your fault." Cam shook his head and refocused his attention on the computer. "It's nobody's fault but mine. I should have done a test run on the transporter. I should have known that it wasn't ready to handle more than two people."
"Stop beating yourself up bro." Shane placed a hand on the Samurai's shoulder. "Let's just focus. We'll go out and see if we can't find them, you keep trying to locate Tori's signal. We'll find them."
"I sure hope so." Cam said quietly as the four other Rangers ran out of Ninja Ops. Cam sighed and closed his eyes.
"Where are you Jazz?" He whispered, "Where could you be?"
"That's it Kirstin." Jasmine called up encouragements to her sister as the three continued to climb. Tori led the climb, followed by Kirstin, and Jazz brought up the rear. They climbed carefully, making sure not to hit loose rock or dirt. Occasionally though, someone's foot would hit a clod of dirt, losing their footing for a second before righting themselves and continuing on.
It was slow going, but, finally, they were nearly to the top.
Jasmine reached up, wrapping her hand around a secure rock before pulling herself up. Sweat fell off her in streams. It rolled down her back, causing her shirt to stick uncomfortably. Falling into her eyes it would blind her momentarily, then, she would have to wipe her eyes with her arm, which only caused the burning in her eyes to increase as dirt joined the sweat.
"I'm up." Tori called. Jasmine grimaced and pulled herself up another step. Her arms screamed with protest and her legs were quickly growing to jelly. There was basically nothing left in her, her strength was almost nonexistent.
"I'm up." Kirstin cried, her voice filled with weariness. Bracing herself, Jasmine made the final move. A hand gripped her arm and pulled her up. She collapsed on top of soft grass. The scent of the earth filled her nose as she breathed in deeply.
"We made it." She said, voice hoarse.
"Just barely." Jasmine started at the voice.
"Oh no." She muttered, too weak to really say much more. "Please be kidding me." She turned over onto her back and stared up right into Lothor's face.
A sudden beep caught Cam's attention. He turned from his work on finding Tori's morpher to another screen, the one that detected an alien's presence. He brought up the image on the screen. Lothor was there, an evil gleam in his eye and a triumphant sneer on his face. Zurgan flanked the evil ninja, as well as Chubo, Marah, Kapri, and an army of kelzacs. They stood around three figures, three very familiar figures.
"I've got 'em you guys." Cam said hurriedly into his com unit.
"Where?" Blake's voice replied.
"They're at Devil's Domain." Cam said, "And Lothor's with them."
"We'll be right there." Blake said.
"See ya guys in a few." Cam stood quickly and morphed.
Lothor pulled Jasmine to her feet. She slumped forward, barely able to stand. Mustering up her strength, Jasmine forced her legs to stop shaking. She would not appear weak in front of Lothor if it was the last thing she did. Tori struggled to her feet as well, followed slowly by Kirstin.
Good, Jasmine thought, we're all in this together.
"It was very nice of you all to weaken yourselves before I killed you." Lothor sneered. Jasmine glared at him.
"Are you really so despicable that you would beat up girls?" She asked sarcastically. Lothor appeared thoughtful for a second, tapping his chin with one finger.
"Yes." He grinned evilly. "Get them." He commanded the kelzacs.
"Not again." Tori muttered from beside Jasmine. The two looked at each other, nodding.
"Thunder storm, ninja form. Ha!" Tori cried, morphing into the blue Wind Ranger.
Jasmine gripped her medallion tightly in her hand. She focused all her energy on the kelzacs that were quickly approaching. The familiar fire spread through her body, accumulating in her fingers.
"Ha!" She cried, sending a stream of white hot fire at the kelzacs. They disappeared as soon the flames hit them.
"Whoa." Kirstin's awed voice sounded behind Jasmine. She paid no attention to her sister, focusing instead on defeating the heavy stream of kelzacs that continued to rush at her.
Not far from Jasmine, Tori was locked in combat with Zurgane. The alien general slashed at her with his sword. Tori easily blocked his sword with her own saber, pushing his blade up and away from her. Two kelzacs came up behind the blue Ranger, grabbing her arms before Tori could do anything. Zurgane advanced on her, slashing her right across the chest. Sparks flew, and smoke wafted up into the clear blue sky. The blue Ranger fell backwards, dangerously close to the edge of the cliff.
Jasmine tried to reach her friend, but Kapri blocked her way.
"Going somewhere?" The dimwitted girl asked. Jasmine didn't grace her with a reply. Instead, she sent a stream of fire at the girl's hair. Kapri screamed, jumping out of the way.
"You creep!" She cried, looking down at the singed edge of one of her braids. "You're going to pay for that." She launched herself at Jasmine.
Jazz gripped Kapri's arm just as Kapri was about to punch her and used the girl's momentum against her. Lothor's niece went flying over Jasmine's head and landed on hard on her back.
Quickly, Jasmine raced towards Tori. Zurgane had her balancing just on the edge of the cliff now. The Wind Ranger was fighting hard to stay on the cliff, but she was quickly being bested. Zurgane laughed as Tori's foot slipped. Tori's arms flailed for a second as she regained her footing. Her heels hung off the overhang, and she was ready to fall at any moment. Jasmine fought through a batch of kelzacs, trying desperately to reach her friend before she fell to her death.
"Jazzy!" Kirstin's cry caught Jasmine's attention. She turned. A kelzac held her tightly, keeping one of Kirstin's arms twisted painfully behind her back.
"Jazz!" Tori cried as her foot slipped once more. Jasmine was torn, where did she go, who did she help? If only her grandmother had never given her that stupid medallion, she wouldn't be in this mess.
Seeing her predicament, Lothor advanced.
"What are you going to do now Jasmine?" He asked, "Both your sister and your friend are in trouble, what do you do? Either way one of them is going to die." His evil laugh was cut off by a howl of pain. Five figures leaped into the fight. One going for Tori, one for Kirstin, two to fight kelzacs, and one in front of Jasmine, putting a shield between her and Lothor.
"You alright Jazz?" Cam asked, looking at her over his shoulder.
"I'm fine now." She smiled. He nodded quickly and turned his attention back on Lothor.
"This is over Lothor," he said, pointing his saber at the evil ninja's chest, "leave now or suffer the consequences."
"Oh I'm so scared." Lothor mocked.
"You should be freak." Kirstin said, stepping next to Jasmine as Shane stood beside Cam. "The Power Rangers are going to kick your butt." Jasmine smiled down at her sister, ruffling the girl's hair fondly. Kirstin smiled back at her big sister. Tori and Blake joined them, followed by Dustin and Hunter.
The kelzacs were finished, none were left standing. Marah and Kapri took their rightful place beside their uncle, along with Chubo and Zurgane.
"You're outnumbered Lothor." Jasmine said, stepping into the line of Rangers. The space ninja's eyes narrowed as he took in the Rangers and Jasmine, all ready to fight should they need to.
"This isn't over Rangers." He seethed before he and his minions disappeared.
Back in Ninja Ops, the Rangers, Jasmine, and Kirstin celebrated their day's victory over Lothor. It had been a small victory, but a victory nonetheless.
Standing away from the group, Jasmine watched with a smile as her sister interacted with the Power Rangers. An arm snaked around her waist. She looked at Cam, her smile growing wider as she leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"You two aren't that different." Cam said, shaking his head as he watched Kirstin.
"No," Jazz agreed, "no we're not." She looked up at Cam. "You know what, we never got to test that chemistry theory of ours."
A silly grin split Cam's face as they slowly inched towards each other. A thrill went through Jasmine's spine as she felt Cam's breath on her lips. She closed her eyes in anticipation.
A shrill beep split the air. Jasmine groaned, pulling away from Cam.
"Not again." she muttered. The samurai chuckled and kissed her on the cheek.
"What's happening Cam?" Hunter asked as the group gathered around the computer terminal. Cam sat in front of the screen, pressing a button to bring up the city's surveillance.
"I don't know," he replied as he searched the screen. "I don't see anything."
"Wait," Kirstin pointed to the upper left corner, "what's that?"
"The portal," Dustin cried, "it's still open."
"That's great!" Kirstin exclaimed, "That means we can go home Jazz."
"Yeah," Jasmine replied, not at all sharing her sister's excitement, "yeah, it does."
Standing in the park, Jasmine looked up at the swirling sphere that was her way home. She didn't want to go though, she wanted to stay right where she was with the Power Rangers, with Cam.
"I guess this is good-bye then." Tori said, coming to stand next to Jasmine.
"I guess so," Jazz replied, not looking at the blonde. She couldn't bear to look at any of them, too afraid that she would break out into tears if she did.
"You ready Jazz?" Kirstin asked, coming to join her sister and Tori. The other Rangers following behind her. Cam stood next to Jasmine, his hand reaching over to encompass hers.
Too overcome by emotions, Jasmine simply nodded.
"We're gonna miss you girl." Dustin said, wrapping Jasmine in a tight hug.
"It's been fun." Hunter said, hugging her once Dustin was done.
"We won't forget you." Shane promised.
"So don't you forget us." Blake looked at her sharply, making a small laugh bubble up in Jasmine.
"I won't," she promised, wrapping Blake in a tight hug.
"I'm going to miss having another girl around." Tori said, her voice tight from holding back tears. The two girls hugged. Pulling away, Jasmine turned to face Cam. Up until then she had been able to hold back the tears that were pricking at the back of her eyes, but, looking at him, it was so hard to control herself.
"I'm sorry we never got to finish our date." Cam said, his own eyes slightly watery. Jasmine bit her lip as she nodded her head.
"I am too." She said. She pulled him to her and hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go. "I'm going to miss you most." She whispered. Cam kissed the corner of her mouth lightly.
"I'm going to miss you too." He whispered.
"Oh how sweet." Lothor's mocking voice floated through the air. All eight turned to look at him.
"What do you want Lothor?" Hunter asked as the Rangers moved into fighting position.
"Oh I just hate good-byes so much I thought I'd keep them from happening." Lothor said. He lifted a hand, sending bolts of energy into the middle of the portal.
There was a loud roar and the ground shook beneath Jasmine's feet. She looked back at the portal. It was closing! Strong winds began to whip over the earth, and lightening split through the sky followed by bone jarring thunder.
"Jazz, we have to go now." Kirstin yelled to be heard over the thunder. Jasmine looked to Cam, panicked.
"Go," he shouted, "we'll hold him off."
"Kelzacs, get them." Lothor screamed, "Don't let her get away."
"Jazz come on." Kirstin tugged at her sister's hand, but Jasmine remained where she was, her eyes locked with Cam's.
"You go first, Kirstin." She ordered the younger girl, "I'll be right behind you."
"You promise?" Jasmine looked at her sister. There were tears in the younger girl's eyes as she looked at Jazz.
"I promise." Jasmine reassured her. Kirstin nodded and ran towards the portal. As she reached it, she jumped, allowing the kinetic energy to suck her through to the other side.
Certain that her sister was safely through, Jasmine turned back to Cam. The other Rangers were busy fighting off the kelzacs, but Cam remained by her side, his hand still wrapped tightly around her own.
"I don't want to go." Jazz cried, tears streaming down her face.
"You have to Jazz," Cam shouted, "you don't belong in this world."
"I belong wherever you are." She cried, "I love you Cam." His lips captured hers in a passionate kiss, one that sent shivers all the way down to her toes. Pulling away, he released her hand and pushed her towards the portal.
"Go!" He shouted, "Go before it's too late." With one last look, Jasmine ran through the portal just as it was closing.
Don't you just hate sad endings? Well, have no fear there is still an epilogue to come. Yippee!
