Disclaimer: Characters are not mine!
Chapter 4
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Kimberly leaned forward to apply eyeliner to her pale face. She was beginning to like her fair features. Before, she had only been used to bronze coloring considering she was reared in California and lived in Florida. Her skin had constantly been under the sun. Her current appearance gave her a mysterious quality. And as she applied more make up, she looked almost dangerous.
Her skin tone was not the only thing she had noticed altering. Her hair, once completely straight had begun to curl, and not the normal wave of weight as hair grew…spiral curls. Not that she was complaining. It was a nice change. Recently, she had chopped her own hair off with scissors, and surprisingly she did an impressive job. She "poofed" her shoulder length locks.
Despite her pleasure at the new look, the changes almost scared her. Her demeanor was much more cruel and sarcastic than ever before. She had been a snot in high school, but that went with the valley girl territory. Now, she was relentless when it came to behavior.
Divatox had been annoying as ever. She grinded at Kimberly's nerves the moment her mouth opened- no, scratch that- when she entered the same room.
Ere her kidnapping, all Kimberly knew was goodness and wholesomeness. Now, she couldn't even remember what true goodness was. She had been surrounded by evil for so long, it would have been impossible to keep a hold of the happiness she had cherished before.
Pain. She could remember that. Feel that. Pain was the result of beatings and combats. She could not escape pain. Everyday she suffered more and more. Divatox's commands were forever burdening her shoulders. She didn't even know why she followed them. She still refused to work for her. Nevertheless, for some reason, she went along with Hygelac's training sessions and made sure she was keyed in with the current news. The Pirate Queen seemed to trust her more now that she had been "her guest" (as she so called the former superhero) for four months.
Kimberly still hadn't quite shaken that feeling that her soul was being taken over, especially with these rapid changes taking place. Yet, she knew no one was possessing her.
She sat on her downy bed and leafed through the book of spells. Lately, she had been reading it everyday. It had become almost an addiction. She felt so connected to the manuscript and needed to learn and memorize every detail of the magical words. So far, with other resources from her library, she had managed to translate and say some of the spells. Although, nothing had happened except a few sparks. Not that she expected anything; she was no sorceress…yet.
Then again, she had developed more powers over the last month as well. She didn't know quite what was happening, but she could feel the power building inside of her.
The former pink ranger decided a few weeks after finding the book that if there was anyway she could take the upper hand and rebel, it was to gain as much power as she possibly could. So, she saved her energy when she wasn't training or studying.
Hygelac began training her a few days after that- Divatox's orders. He was the best, and Kimberly needed to advance beyond the best if she were to battle with Princess of Evil in the future. Surprisingly, she had done remarkably well. She had beaten Hygelac a few times, by chance of course, but she had done it. Her confidence was rising each day she trained.
Lac, as she would call to him now, was hard to read. He was never discouraging or malicious towards her. In a way, they had become friends- or as close as friends could be in these situations.
"Kimberly!"
Kimberly's face shot to the door. Hygelac had barged into her door and was panting from lack of breath. Her eyes narrowed. "What is it, Lac?"
"Come now!" He grabbed her thin, yet muscular bicep, and pulled her out the door. She yanked her arm away from him and frowned.
"What's the rush?" Her hand clasped the arm that Hygelac had been gripping. There was a red mark forming from the force he had used. Sometimes he did not know his own strength.
"The fortress is under attack!" He grunted. "We have to defend it."
Kimberly's jaw dropped a bit. Under attack? Isn't this place hidden? Then, she realized she had no idea where their location was. The thought to ask had never crossed her mind for some reason.
"Who is attacking?" She demanded, continuing their brisk walk down a large hallway.
"They seem to be a group of Quantrons and other soldiers." Hygelac informed the shorter girl.
"Quantrons? Aren't those Astronema's men- I mean, robots?" She asked, confused. She sped up her pace to keep up with the much larger half monster, half man. "Why would another she attack Divatox?"
Hygelac shrugged. "She could have heard about Divatox's plans to overthrow her. Then again, it was never too much of a secret that Divatox was unhappy about Astronema's status with the Dark Specter."
"That still doesn't give her a valid reason to attack. She would have to have some proof that Divatox would overthrow Dark Specter himself, and Divatox is definitely not gutsy enough to do that." Kimberly reminded him. They arrived at their destination just before the front doors of the castle.
"I know." Hygelac straightened up and puffed out his chest. "But that is not the current issue we should be discussing."
Kimberly rolled her eyes. Hygelac was so formal and so much like a regular man: multitasking was impossible for him.
"All right, let's kick some Quantron butt." Kimberly stated, hoisting the laser gun in front of her face. Hygelac kicked the doors open and the scene unveiled. Before her, Kimberly saw a mass of robotic creatures attacking Piranhatrons everywhere outside of the gates. A few had found their way onto the grounds and were making their way to the castle.
Immediately, she and oversized companion charged out the door and commenced firing. Kimberly swelled with pride as she shot her first man– er robot – down. A Quantron noticed its cohort fall and rushed at her from her right. She detected his movement and swiftly kicked him back. As it stumbled, she shot it in between its mechanical eyes.
She surveyed her surroundings and saw that a large amount of Quantrons were penetrating the front gate. Breaking into a run, Kimberly shot lasers until she reached Hygelac. With his power, he was preventing the gates from opening completely. She used her martial arts on whoever tried to pass through the gate. A few Piranhatrons caught on to what she was doing and helped thwart the mechanized soldiers.
Around her, she could see that the Piranhatrons were not really that worthless of warriors. The amount of Quantrons were diminishing and for some reason there were no forces coming from the sky to help them out. Kimberly guessed that Astronema did not want to destroy Divatox, just scare her into backing off.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a hard punch in the jaw. She tumbled to the ground and rubbed her face. Holy cow. Those hands are hard. She hopped up and knit her brows in concentration. She felt an urge to crush the robot in front of her. She reached forward, but to her surprise, the Quantron was sparking. It jerked around and crumpled to the ground. She froze. The Quantron's armor was compressing! She concentrated on it blowing up. Without delay the machine blew apart. She stared in awe as the parts fell about the ground.
Something large noise sounded behind her. It sounded like an explosion had gone off. She shook her head to focus on the battle around her. A Quantron ran up beside her. It elevated the large staff to strike her, but she put her hand up. It instantly flew backwards across the battlefield.
Kimberly gaped at her hand, examining the details. Telekinisis? She used her mind to destroy the rest of the Quantrons who tried to break through the gate.
She assessed the fight. Only three Quantrons remained. A Piranhatron pointed his gun at them and prepared to shoot, when Kimberly cried, "Wait! Keep them alive. We may need them for questioning."
Hygelac looked at her. He was the general here. Kimberly's face pleaded with him to trust her. He mumbled something that seemed to be an agreement. He began walking when the Quantrons were bounded.
"Where is Divatox?" Kimberly asked realizing that her "boss" was not at the scene.
"She is in her throne room. We will take the Quantrons to her." He replied.
Kimberly scowled. It was just like her to not show up to her own battles. The petite girl's nose scrunched up. She had just saved Divatox's end. Uck.
As they arrived at the throne room, Divatox greeted them with a large grin. "I knew you would come out on top!" She stopped when she saw the three prisoners. "What are they doing here?"
"I thought you might want to know why you were being attacked." Kimberly reported.
"Oh, right then. That's a great idea!" The diva turned around and plopped down on the high seat.
"Now, tell me, Quantrons. Why are you here?" She queried in a sophisticated tone. She blew on her nails, which Kimberly snorted at. Her hands were covered with gloves.
Divatox glared at her, but waited for an answer from her nemesis's footmen. "Well?"
The three looked at her mulishly. Finally, one gave in. In a computerized voice, it informed the group, "Our Princess saw that you needed help. She read a great source of power around here and thought you might be in trouble."
Divatox looked at her general, puzzled. "What kind of power?"
"Ranger power, miss. It was faded, but our Princess thought it better to protect you, since she is in command over the destruction of the Power Rangers." It finished.
Another added, "And Our Princess detected another kind of power as well, an ancient and strong power. She felt it was for the better evil that she check it out."
The self-proclaimed queen scowled. "Just like her. Well, she was wrong. We have no Power Rangers here. And definitely nothing powerful enough for me to be afraid of." Her gaze fell on Kimberly and a smirk appeared on her face. Kimberly's insides burned with rage. She obviously did not know about her new powers.
"We are sorry, miss." The Quantron bowed his head.
"You better be." Divatox replied snobbishly. She sighed and waved them off. "Go back to space. Astronema will want to hear from you. Hygelac, you can escort them to their ships."
Hygelac nodded. Kimberly just glowered. Slowly, she stalked behind Hygelac and the Quantrons.
Divatox blocked Kimberly from moving forward on the mat that some minion was placing on the ground. "Hold on, Kimberly!"
Kimberly looked her in the eye. "Yes?"
"I'm getting tired of waiting. Astronema cannot defeat the Power Rangers before me! I won't have it!"
"If she gets the job done, then why does it matter? You couldn't do it anyway." Kimberly stared at the pouting diva.
"For the glory! My credibility. And she just makes me so…so… flustered!" Divatox threw her arms down, her hands balled up in fists. "I was the one who destroyed the Power Chamber! And what do I get? Demoted!"
Kimberly raised her eyebrows. With disbelief she uttered, "You destroyed the Power Chamber? How did you manage that?"
But the Pirate Queen had not heard her since she had turned her back. She was too busy rambling and throwing her arms around to hear her subordinate.
She took a moment to think. Hearing that the Power Chamber had been destroyed did not sadden her surprisingly. For some reason, Kimberly did not care. A more important issue occupied her mind. She exited the room and headed back to her room. Anger bubbled inside of her at what Divatox had announced earlier.
How dare she call me nothing. I'll show her that I'm someone to fear and respect.
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Mmmk! I wrote that while procrastinating homework. Is anything confusing? Hopefully it's all right!
On to reviews!
Ghostwriter- Wow, I'm glad you're reading this! I love your stories! Thanks about Kat. I never really paid attention to her because I was too upset about Kimberly leaving, but I knew a few basic things about her from a few episodes and the movies. I'm glad that I didn't butcher her!
Funky In Fishnet- I wanted there to be more than her perspective, and I'm glad you like that too. :) Right now, it will focus more on Kimberly's POV to develop the story, but other ranger's POVs will be incorporated in later chapters. Btw, I like your username.
Daisyz- Good! I was hoping it wasn't too cheesy. I really wanted to add it. Hah :)
Thanks for the reviews!!