There he sat, shivering with the arms of death around him, while the black veil hung down. -Nathaniel Hawthorne

Why she was standing where she was at that moment was beyond her…and with a single red rose. She looked up at the overcast sky and sighed. Maybe she wanted to prove her eyes wrong. The old Angel Grove newspapers were wrong; they had received the wrong information or the wrong person.

But seeing this forced her to believe that it was true. Everything she had read was true, from the day that Andros' Power Rangers had saved the universe to this current day, almost half a decade later.

She had kept records of everything, disappearing from Earth but not completely. Yet, somehow, over the years, this significant piece of information seemed to have slipped passed her. She had been skimming through old newspapers, published five years before and before she had begun taking records of Angel Grove and her friends, and stumbled across one that had her face smack dab in the middle of the front page.

It was a pretty little thing. She scoffed at the quote etched into the gray stone that marked her existence on earth. However, she could not grasp why it was ever made. Had they all given up on her so easily? Did they really view her as that weak? Six years may have passed since any of her friends had seen her, but could that not be because she could not stand them any longer? Did her life really revolve around theirs so strongly that they would come to these conclusions automatically?

She had talked to her mother, but no one knew that. She had talked to Jason, but he was too dense to realize it was his long lost best friend. He probably still believed her to be this mysterious girl, Krosa who moved to Antarctica. Antarctica. If he had any true knowledge, he would realize that that would be a difficult place to inhabit for a long period of time.

The only one who had truly recognized her in her new appearance, however ironic it would seem, was Skull. Then again, he was a person full of surprises, so he had proved numerous times in high school.

All these unanswered questions left her with two feelings: sadness that she was officially no longer a part of the people she had cared so much about, and anger that they would think her so weak. She would have never given up on them; she would have never believed it to be true, not in these circumstances, not when she had witnessed and been a part of so many abductions in her short life.

They had never even found a body.

Oh well. She thought to herself with a shrug. That just gives me more incentive to do what I have to do.

She fingered the thorns against the stem of the rose until one of them pricked through the skin. She gazed at the blood trickling from the sliver. Blood really was a fascinating sight. With no emotion on her face, she dropped the rose on the grass and turned her back on the symbol of her life before Divatox had ripped it from her grasp.

Kimberly Ann Hart
Who Truly was the Heart of Us All
1978-1998

Catch ya on the flip side

Six years before…

"This is Slim Fast, your awesome DJ, and I have some awesome news for all of California to hear! Astronema was just defeated by the Power Rangers! Earlier this morning, our foe was terrorizing the city, in want of the Power Rangers…who, by the way, revealed themselves and will be interviewed tomorrow morning on Sunny Mornings."

He grinned as he listened to one of the most popular stations in Angel Grove, 102.4 the Blaze. He had fixed his Aquitar radio to intercept the frequencies from California in order to keep a more current update when the other rangers were unable to contact him.

Somehow, even with all the good news coming from the radio stations, something left Billy feeling slightly less complete. He frowned and placed his forehead between his fingers as he continued to concentrate on a formula for a new tracking system. Or at least, attempt to concentrate.

Then again, he knew it had to just be paranoia. Ever since Kimberly's disappearance, he had made it his mission and responsibility to find her and bring her back. Yet, no matter what he tried, he could not find her. For the first time in his life, he had not even come close to solving this equation. What were the reasons for her disappearance? If this was a kidnapping, this was no normal kidnapping. No one had been threatened…no ransom. Zilch.

If it was Kim's wish to withdraw from the public light, the situation would be easier to comprehend, but she had not informed him of any plan to do so, or any indication that she was feeling isolated. She had no reason to just…vanish into thin air.

The soft swoosh of the sliding door brought him out of his reverie, and he swiveled around to meet the intruder. Fai stood before the exhausted former blue ranger with a tense expression adorning his dark features. Immediately, the exhaustion fled the genius as he sprung out of the chair. "What is it, Fai?"

"I…have some news concerning your friend." He said quietly.

"Yes?" Billy urged for him to continue. He noticed that tension, able to split a concrete block in half, seemed to fill the room. His hands began to twitch as Fai hesitated, trying to find the right words. The silence made the normally tranquil Billy extremely anxious.

"Maybe, you should see this for yourself." Fai finally let out and turned on his heel. Billy grabbed his papers and followed the retreating ranger quickly, jogging a bit to catch up.

"What is the meaning of this? Why can you not just tell me?"

"It will be better if I am not the one to deliver this news."

Billy placed a hand on the young man's shoulder as they entered the command room. "Is she dead?"

Fai stopped and gazed at Billy's communicator that was hooked to a machine. Billy had programmed his communicator to sound off an alarm if something were to happen to Kimberly's. It was silent.

However, something was amiss in the room he had become so accustomed to. He had memorized every detail from major to minor; he had tried to convince himself that it was for precautions incase of any break in…but he knew that he was only being his "anal self" as Kimberly would have called him back in the day.

Every communicator had a gem in the middle that was essentially the power source, but the gem was only a part of a larger crystal that Billy had been able to break in half for each bracelet. He had placed all the different colored gems in a circular frame each fitting into a separate pocket, and after Kimberly's disappearance he moved the frame to a pedestal in the middle of the command center.

However, there was a slight set back. Even if he were notified that something had happened to Kimberly, he still would not be able to locate her. This was why Billy had dedicated all his spare time to working on the tracking system.

He focused his attention on the frame in the middle of the room and almost dropped the very organized papers he had been clutching.

The light from the pink crystal was gone.

He immediately ran to the pedestal and touched the crystal. What should be warm and glowing was now just a plain lifeless rock. Even the once vibrant pink was dulled with grayish tint.

The little hope he had crumbled when his communicator sounded off the unwanted alarm. The room filled with a bright blue light, which he figured was from his gem, but he could not tear his eyes away from the pink crystal in his callused hands. He did not want to cry in front of Fai, but all pride fled as the first tears began to fall from his tired blue eyes.

My poor Kimberly. He thought to himself as the tears accelerated. The sound of a throat clearing startled him out of his trance, and he quickly wiped the tears from his cheeks.

"I have to…" Billy began but failed to finish. Fai nodded and exited the room to give him privacy. The blonde intellect remained where he stood, frozen before the pedestal. His body seemed to have a mind of its own. The arm that continued to wipe away the tears as they fell was the only part of his body that he could control.

He needed to contact the others. He needed Kat. She was the only one who had been able to drop everything to help him, for at least one day. A fresh set of tears began falling as he remembered her report to him.

"Billy, it's me, Kat. It's a no go. She's not here." The thick Australian accent rang through his bracelet. Immediately, Billy's heart collapsed in his rib cage. It took him a moment to respond. He feared his voice would crack with emotion.

"…Thanks anyway, Kat." Was all that came out. He winced at his hoarseness, and immediately grabbed the bottle of water next to his bed.

"Billy…do you want me to teleport there?" She asked softly.

"No…it's all right." He occupied his fingers by twisting the cap of the bottle back and forth.

"Billy." She stated shortly. "I know from experience that people should not be alone during these times."

"What times, Kat?" Billy snapped. "She has to be somewhere."

"That's it. I'm coming." Kat replied. "Teleport me. Now."

Billy sighed in defeat and slowly made his way to the command room. He really didn't think this was necessary. Any other time he would have loved for Kat to pay him a special visit, but right now he just wanted to be alone to think everything through. He supposed it could be that he was in shock, but he couldn't help that he had strong faith in his small brunette friend.

He pressed the buttons that would teleport Kat, sighing as they located her and teleported her. Why hadn't that worked on Kimberly? What force was keeping him from finding her? Who could be that cruel?

He laughed to himself instantly on that one. He could name a few monsters that would gladly torture him, let alone any other person with emotions.

"Billy…" He jumped as Kat spoke to him. He really needed to get his nerves checked out. Either that or sleep more.

Billy turned around, and upon seeing her, some of his burden seemed to be lifted. "Hey, Kat."

She smiled a sad smile and opened her arms. Instinctively, he stepped into them and wrapped his own around her waste. His body relaxed as she said the words, "It will all be okay."

He really needed to hear those words now, needed to be in her arms at that moment.

After realizing he had full control over his body, he grabbed his communicator and fastened the snap. His wrist found its way to his mouth in a familiar fashion, but before he could say anything, he heard a very familiar voice ring through.

"Billy, it's Jason. What the hell was that?"

Billy jumped slightly, startled. He shook his head and wondered why he was so easily startled lately. He had made sure that he got the proper measure of sleep each night.

"What was what, Jase?" He asked, fatigued from the tears.

"That bright red light. Was this some side effect of the communicators? Is it, like, a three year warranty? Do we need to have it renewed?"

"Woah, slow down." Billy insisted. "No, the communicator is in perfect condition. Mine did the same, only blue."

"So what's the deal?" His friend had never been this impatient before; Billy wondered where he had been when his communicator had gone off.

"Well, I have a theory that it was the gem that caused the lights to flash. I also have a guess that I will be getting a few more calls from other rangers in the near future." Billy sighed again. Sighing seemed to have become a natural part of his speech lately. "All the gems are interconnected; I believe this is because each of the crystals used were originally fused together…before I found it, that is. The glowing, I believe, was caused because one of the gems was either completely destroyed or dislodged from the communicator."

"Kimberly?" Jason asked softly, his voice in a higher register than before.

"Possibly." Billy's eyes dropped. He was still clutching the pink crystal in his fist. "Yes. I am one hundred percent sure that Kimberly's communicator has been destroyed."

"How do you know it's Kimberly's communicator?" Jason demanded. "What do you know, Billy?"

His eyes filled with tears. "I…I can't tell you like this. We have to arrange an emergency ranger meeting. Jason, can you contact Tommy, Trini, Zack, and Aisha? I'll get everyone else."

There was a long pause, but finally he heard the common crackling sound. "Yeah, all right. When and where?"

Billy looked at one of the clock on the wall that stated Earth time in Angel Grove. "Tell them that I will teleport them all to the Youth Center at 10:30 pm Angel Grove time tonight. I need to get a hold of Kat, Jase. I'll talk to you later."

Billy wasted no time for a reply before he continued to the dancer, "Hey, Kat…"

He stopped there, in case she was somewhere very public. She usually took her communicator off during any of her dances. There would be no way she could immediately take off in the middle of a performance.

Thankfully, her reply came quickly. "Yes, Billy?"

"We're all going to meet tonight at 10:30 at the Youth Center. Don't worry about your location. I'll teleport you."

"Billy, is this about the pink light?" She asked. "I hope this has nothing to do with Kimberly."

"I wish it weren't." Billy revealed to himself. "I really do."

He brought his lips to the bracelet to reply to her comment. "I can't tell you why yet. Not like this."

"Billy, I wish I could talk more, but I am in the bathroom. The light went off during a practice meeting, and I had to run out of the theatre quickly to figure out what was happening. I really need to get back." She said gently. "I'm really sorry, but we'll talk tonight right?"

Billy nodded, then flushed when he remembered she could not see him. "That's all right, Kat. I love you."

"Love you too."

He hated that he was the barer of bad news, and that there was no other reason why he was calling this ranger reunion. It seemed that the only times they ever all got together was when something horrible had occurred. Well, almost all of them. But the one missing was the subject of this meeting now.

He wouldn't even be able to strategically plan this. He couldn't invent a machine that would bring her back to life. No matter how hard he tried to deny it, the logistics in his mind kicked in. This was his limit. These feelings and thoughts reminded him of the Island of Illusions. He had thought he had failed then because he could not explain why everything was happening, and why he could solve the problem as to why they were fading into nonentity.

This was going to be the hardest night of his life- explaining to each his best friends that their heart had stopped beating. The crane had flown to the heavens.

God, he could think of so many cheesy aphorisms, but he couldn't find the appropriate words. Nothing could justify why Kimberly, so young and thriving, was the first to die out of all of them.

This was no illusion now. No words of confidence could make her live again.

2004 ...present

"Power down." Conner crossed his arms in front and brought them down as the others followed his lead.

"Why would Zeltrax and Elsa just leave like that?" Tommy questioned. "Hey, guys, I'm going to check something out at the base. Maybe Mesogog is up to something."

The three teens nodded and watched as their mentor walked away from the battle scene. Kira continued to stare until a blue flash caught her eye. She turned towards the blue light and squinted. There seemed to be somebody inside of the mist.

"Who is that?" Kira wondered incredulously.

The three male rangers turned around and found themselves gazing at a woman striding towards them, but the fact that she was coming towards them did not have their full attention. She wore a corset material, silver halter with black leather rimmed around the edges. The top seemed to only have enough material to cover her breasts considering her torso was completely naked until her low-rise black plants began. As she got closer, her top revealed to be made up of white sparkling jewels.

"I don't know, but she is hott!" Conner blurted out staring at the overexposed stomach, a little dazed. Kira smacked him in the back of the head. "Ow!"

"For once, I agree with Conner." Ethan concurred. The trio looked at Trent who shrugged.

"She's only wearing a bra!" Kira blurted out. She stared incredulously at the three guys who were paying no attention to her. "Ugh, guys are such pigs!"

"Do you think we should be worried?" Ethan added after a moments thought. The woman was still walking towards them, the reason being, the rangers did not know.

"I dunno." Kira and Trent automatically found their arms in front of them in a defensive stance.

"So you're the new rangers." The woman stopped and crossed her arms in a haughty attitude. She scanned the four of them.

"How do you know that?" Kira demanded since the boys seemed to be somewhere else at the moment. The woman focused on her, giving Kira chills down her spine. Who was this woman?

"I know all." The woman stated shortly, rolling her eyes. "As corny as that may seem… And the fact that you powered down in broad daylight helped."

The teenagers reddened with embarrassment, each making mental notes to be more careful from then on. "What do you want?" Conner finally spoke.

"I am here on business. I heard an old friend of mine is in Reefside. Nothing that concerns you…yet. The fact that I ran into you is just…mere coincidence and a great pleasure to see who I will be destroying later when I am done with them." Red flashed in the woman's eyes as she emphasized the last word.

Them? Kira asked herself. "Who are "them"?"

"That's none of your concern." She paused and peered at them again. "Only four…where is the fifth? There is another. Black."

Kira brought her chin up and was about to reply when Trent beat her to it, "That's none of your concern either, ma'am."

The woman laughed. "I like you. You'll be fun to mêlée, mon cherie. Oh, and call me Krosa: ma'am makes me sound so ancient."

The woman turned on her combat boot heel and strutted away until she disappeared in the blue mist she had appeared in.

"I knew it was too good to be true." Ethan's shoulders drooped.

"Ah man. She just had to be evil." Conner added. Kira shot them both a look and stalked off quickly to the ranger's base. She had to tell their teacher about this newcomer as soon as possible.

"Kira, are you forgetting that you have a gig in about…" Ethan checked his watch. "Twenty minutes."

Kira's eyes widened and all thoughts of the strange woman fled from her mind. "Shoot! The band is gonna kill me!"

I should let it go
I'm not supposed to feel this way
Somehow, it seems impossible
to continue the play

I cant continue acting,
to let these feelings grow
Let it out
Don't bottle this up, I know

Slowly dying
Its killing me inside
I am trying
Still, I hide

I know what I must do
I'm telling you the truth
Soon, I'm going to scream.

I feel, like crying
to let the flood of emotions escape
I'm slowly dyin
it's killing me inside
I'm still trying
I will no longer hide.

Kira strummed the last chord on her acoustic and opened her eyes to her audience. She grinned as they applauded, and her friends in the back made cat calls. The blonde tucked a strand of wavy hair behind her ear and set her guitar on the stand.

Conner, Ethan, and Dr. Oliver each approached her as she hopped off the stage.

"That is an amazing song!" Conner planted a friendly kiss on her cheek. She stepped back from the gesture sheepishly.

"Thanks, but you've heard I before!" Kira protested, laughing at the airhead.

"I know that, but every time you play it, I love it even more." He told her and glanced at Ethan who nodded in affirmation.

"When you become a famous rock star, will you get me a hott rocker lady friend?" Ethan joked throwing an arm over her shoulder and squeezing her tight.

"You did great, Kira." Their teacher complimented, pulling her away from the blue ranger and into a hug.

"Gosh, what's with all the compliments?" Kira blushed; then thoughts of the mysterious woman came to mind. "Oh, hey, Dr. O, we have something to tell you."

"Aw, how cute." Inserted a sarcastic voice from behind them. The four froze and turned towards the position of the voice's owner. Much to their delight, they saw the striking dark haired woman from before. She continued on before anyone could reply, "I knew you were into musicians and blondes, but, honestly, the young ones?"

Kira and her teacher jumped apart instantly. "What, oh, ew!"

The black ranger threw her an offended look. She blushed again. "Sorry, you're just…you, Dr. O." She shuddered at the thought of anything more than platonic between them.

"Who are you?" He asked, stepping in front of the teenagers subconsciously.

She took a step forward so their noses were almost touching. "It doesn't matter who I am; just what I'm going to do to you."

"And what might the reason for this be?" He questioned boldly.

With a dismissive wave and a push to the side, she said, "That's not really what I'm here for. I just wanted a smoothie."

"You won't be getting one if you're going to be rude to fellow customers." Hailey suddenly appeared to their aid and glared.

"Who are you?" The woman scowled with displeasure. She rested a hand on her spandex-clad hip.

"I happen to be the owner of Cyberspace, and we do have certain dress codes. I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Hailey crossed her arms in a defensive stance.

Then Trent's voice rang out through their bracelets. "You guys, I am in serious trouble!"

Conner and Ethan, who were behind their science teacher and Kira, decided they were hidden enough to reply. "We're on our way."

Conner placed a hand on Dr. Oliver's shoulder. "Hey, I really need those notes from today's class now."

Their teacher nodded in understanding; he'd have to take care of this strange woman's issue later. With one last glance at the petite brunette's face, he followed his fellow teammates out the door.

"That, was by far, one of the hardest monsters ever." The yellow ranger panted. The red ranger agreed by placing his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

"You've got that right, Kira." The blue ranger confirmed.

"Dr. O, you never talk about your past experiences. What was your worst monster ever?" Conner asked standing up straight.

The black ranger hung his head. "Well…that's really difficult to say off the top of my head. I've been doing this for so long…I'll think about it."

"Hey, Dr. Oliver, it's not over yet." The white ranger pointed as more Tyranodrones appeared from a green vortex.

Each of the rangers groaned as Elsa and Zeltrax advanced quickly. Then, they seemed to be pulled backwards and thrown into the air. By the look on their faces and the screams escaping their lips, this was not planned.

"What lame excuses for evil villains don't you think?" A familiar voice came from beside them suddenly. The rangers jumped into their fighting standpoints. "That is why I never bothered with sidekicks. If you want to get something done, the best way is to do it yourself."

She paused and slowly tore her attention away from the airborne duo to her new rivals.

"Dr. O, what should we do?" Blue ranger asked attentively.

"Ethan, shush!" Yellow ranger slapped at him promptly.

"Tommy? You're the new black ranger?" Her eye's widened in dismay. "You?"

"How did you know…?" He stiffened.

"Aw, I'm hurt. I'm surprised you don't recognize me." The woman glared. "It's weird. How no one recognized us, even though we never bothered to make up secret names. We always wear the same color. We always have that stupid bracelet on our wrists. I noticed the last two in Cyberspace: predominately black clothing and a bracelet with a large black gem that your students just so happened to be wearing. Did you think I didn't notice a strange voice coming out of thin air, calling for reinforcements? I can't believe you're back in the suit." She paced and continued her notion, throwing him a side-glance, "You know, a few years ago, I would have fainted at the sight of seeing you as a new ranger… In fact, I'm pretty sure I did."

The younger rangers looked up at him confused. Tommy shook his head. He wasn't quite sure of what was going on himself.

She stopped pacing and faced him. "I knew you weren't very smart, but I never thought you'd be so dense, my white tiger in shining armor."

There was only one person who would ever be allowed to call him that.

"Kimberly?" Tommy lurched forward, but was held back by his students. He powered down; the action then followed by his students.

"Correct! You win a brand new car!" She mocked a game show host. She looked around. "Where's the Kitty Kat, dear Tommy? I thought you would be shackin' it up with her by now?"

"Leave her out of this, Kim." Tommy lowered at his warning.

"What, have you failed to get into her pants? I'm surprised, Tommy. Then again, you never really did it for me either." Kimberly smirked at his shocked features. "Oh relax. I don't want anything to do with her. I always did like her. Wonder why she gave up the power."

"The need for saving you, a friend, was much greater than having power. Don't you remember that?" Tommy inquired. Hope filled his eyes when she bit her lip.

"Hmm…" She looked down at her boots. When she looked up, she had a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Personally, I think that was her biggest mistake. Oh well, no one's perfect. Ops, it's getting a bit late for your youngins, don't you think? I best be on my way."

Tommy reached for her arm, but the blue mist swallowed her before he could clasp her. This was all too weird- too fast. Kimberly was back, but she was evil. He had to get to the bottom of this. What happened to her? Was it an evil spell?

He shook his head and began walking to his jeep. He felt a tug on the sleeve of his arm and stopped.

"Wait, Dr. O, you know her?" Conner questioned, puzzled.

Tommy held his hand up to silence the current red ranger. He didn't think he could answer any questions at the moment. "I'm going to go. I have some things to research."

He left the four confused teenagers standing in the streets and found his way to his jeep. After buckling his seatbelt he leaned back against the seat and breathed in a deep breath to clear his head, maybe let some thoughts escape. Unfortunately, the only thing that wanted to escape were tears that he had been holding in for so long.

He had thought she was dead. Now he knew she was alive; but then again, the Kimberly he knew wasn't. He rested his forehead on the steering wheel as he started the car and slightly relaxed as the rumbling sound surrounded him.

If the format is screwed up, it's not my fault! I have been trying to upload this chapter for three days...spent about half an hour yesterday trying to reformat every time I uploaded, but it wouldn't work.

I'm super sorry, but I cannot write personals right now! I have absolutely no time, but I really wanted to get this up this week! Hope you like it!

Thank you for the reviews, please leave more!