She looked down at the apparatus on her wrist with dread. "This can't be happening, no way. No way! What am I talking about, this can't be happening? I don't even know what's happening." Kimberly was hysterical, and she knew it. A part of her was excited and curious to find out where exactly she would teleport to if she used the communicator, but another, much larger part was terrified. She had been out of the Ranger game for years, and to suddenly be brought back into it was almost more than she could handle. She wanted to cry, but thought it would be too absurd for a woman her age to be sitting in the corner of her bathroom, legs embraced in her arms, crying hysterically.
"This is Tommy's brother we're talking about here," she thought. "He's not gonna let you teleport to your death. What have you got to lose?"
"What the hell," she said to herself and pressed the teleport button. In a flash of white she was whisked away to parts unknown. She had almost forgotten what it felt like to teleport. Something was different this time. For the first millisecond she couldn't figure out what it was, but in the next she realized this teleportation felt different because she wasn't a Ranger anymore. Ranger teleportation always made her feel energized, ready for anything. Non-Ranger teleportation, which she had only experienced a couple of times, was not nearly as invigorating; in fact, it was slightly draining.
When she was whole again she was astounded by what she saw. She was in the Command Center. No, not the Command Center, she corrected herself, a Command Center. This one was more modern looking (which she thought was strange since Zordon's technology was much more advanced than Earth's) and was square, not round. Also missing were the Viewing Globe and Zordon's energy tube.
Kimberly was alone and slightly confused. She had followed David's instructions exactly, but he was nowhere to be seen. Where was he?
No sooner had her brain processed this query when he appeared in a flash of blue flame directly behind her. Kimberly spun around, slightly annoyed at being startled, but was struck speechless when she observed the sight before her.
"You're a . . . a . . ." she stammered
"A Power Ranger," he finished as he removed the shiny blue helmet from his head.
"But there haven't been Power Rangers in more than five years!" Kimberly exclaimed, her tone bordering on hysteria.
"Actually, I've been the Blue Ranger for almost two years," he said with a smug smile.
"David . . . This is unreal. Why are you a Power Ranger? There hasn't been a need for Rangers since S.P.D. defeated Gruum."
"I'll be happy to answer that question later, but first I have a confession to make." Before he spoke again, though, he pulled out a chair and offered it to Kimberly. She sat down and he followed suit. "Listen," he began, but the word faded into nothingness as he tried to decide on a better way to reveal his secret. "God this is really hard to say," he exclaimed, frustrated. Again his mind focused inward, trying to think of something to say, and as it did so he began unconsciously biting the inside of his lower lip.
"Oh my god," Kimberly whispered into her hand, her face a mixture of pure amazement and utter horror. "Tommy!"
"Yeah it's me," he said while simultaneously lowering his head and settling farther into his chair. Kimberly could read his body language like a book, and instantly realized he felt guilty for keeping this secret from her, but also relieved that she finally knew.
"Oh my god," she repeated. "It's really you?"
"Yeah it's really me. How did you figure it out anyway?"
"You were biting the inside of your lip. You're the only person I've ever met who does that. You still do it even after all these years." She said, her voice gradually growing softer and slower as the last few words escaped her mouth.
"Old habits die hard, I guess," he said with a smile.
"Clearly," Kimberly said while motioning toward the blue helmet lying in Tommy's lap.
"Oh right, I guess you're kind of wondering about the whole Power Ranger thing, huh?"
Kimberly could only nod; she was clearly still in shock from learning that her long time ex-boyfriend was still alive.
"You asked me why I am a Power Ranger. Well, there are two reasons why. The first reason is because of a man named Jonathan Ares."
"The billionaire?"
"Yes. I don't know how and I don't know why, but for some reason he was snooping around the mountains here in California. He claimed he was out looking for one of his downed weather balloons, but Kim, he found the remains of the Power Chamber.
"Oh my god!" She exclaimed for the third time in as many minutes.
"Yeah, it was in all the papers. He claimed it was the ruins of an alien temple or something. As soon as I heard about it I went up there to investigate. Ares was there, personally overseeing an excavation crew digging out the old computer mainframes and wrecked Zords. I wasn't too concerned at first; everything was pretty heavily damaged. But then he found something else, something that had been buried and forgotten for over thirty years; the Zeo Crystal. He found it himself, as if he had been drawn to it. The goddamned Zeo Crystal." He sighed, the regret evident in his eyes. "I snuck in the site later that night," he continued. "I was hoping I could sabotage the excavation process, but everything was gone. The computers, the Zords, the Zeo Crystal, all gone. That bastard moved everything so fast! But there was one thing he missed, probably because he didn't think it was important. It was the base of Zordon's energy tube. I was sitting there for hours just starring at it when somehow, I don't know how, Zordon appeared."
"Tommy, Zordon's been dead for years," Kim said.
"Not really, Kim. Zordon's link to this world was destroyed, true, but technically he had been alive all those years, trapped in that dimension Rita sent him to. When I saw him that night, though, it was like seeing a ghost. He told me he was dying, and was using the last of his strength to appear to me."
"Did he say anything else?"
"Oh yeah, a bunch of things. He told me about Ares; how he is probably the closest thing mankind can come to evil. With the Zeo Crystal in his possession he would be all but unstoppable. He told me to be careful, that the computer mainframes might still be operational. Those things held all the secrets of the Power Rangers, from the very beginning all the way through the second Turbo team. That scared me more than anything. If the contents of those computers were made public, our secret identities would be shot."
"But that didn't happen."
"No, I guess not." Tommy said sadly. "Anyway, in order to fight any potential threat Ares might become, Zordon gave me the power of the Blue Soulfire Power Ranger. The power contains the remainder of Zordon's life essence. He sacrificed what was left of himself to protect us all."
"I don't think anyone has ever sacrificed as much as Zordon did," Kim said glumly. "It's actually quite sad."
"Yes, but it still feels as though Zordon is with me," Tommy said. I can't explain it, but every time I morph I feel as if he's still there, guiding me."
"So you've been fighting Ares in secret all this time?"
"Well, I've fought some of his lackeys; I haven't actually confronted him yet," Tommy explained.
"Why not?" Kimberly asked. "I figured you would want to get it all over with as soon as possible."
"Kim, I've already unloaded so much on you, I don't know if you'll be able to take this."
"Tommy, you can tell me. I'm not a weak little girl anymore," Kimberly said, slightly annoyed.
"Kim, Ares did eventually uncover all our identities. He tracked everyone down and murdered them one at a time. I tried to stop him, but he has always stayed one step ahead of me. I always arrived a moment too late."
"You mean . . . everyone?" Kimberly asked, horrified.
"Everyone. Except you and me. I managed to stay alive by taking on my brother's identity. I don't know how you managed; I thought you were dead. You can imagine how surprised I was when you called."
"I've been moving around a lot these past few years. He probably couldn't get a solid lead on me. Oh my god Tommy, this is awful. I hadn't spoken to any of the others in years. I was hoping to catch up with them, but now . . . I guess that's not gonna happen." Despite her earlier claim, Kimberly succumbed to her childish weakness, and her tears. "Why Tommy? Why did he kill everyone?"
"I guess he figured we were the only ones who could stop him. He eliminated his enemies before they even knew he existed."
"But what does he want, I mean, now that everyone's dead?"
"What do all the bad guys want Kim?" Tommy said with a half hearted smile. He wants the world."
The silence between them at this point was almost tangible. It hurt Kimberly to learn about the fate of her friends and former teammates, but it almost hurt Tommy more to have to tell her. They stared at each other for a few long minutes, neither knowing what to say. Ultimately it was Kimberly who broke the silence. "Tommy, earlier you said there were two reasons you became a Power Ranger again. The first one was Jonathon Ares. What's the second?"
Tommy thought this over for a minute, unsure how to broach this subject. Finally he said, "Do you believe in fate, Kim?"
"I guess I do, yeah."
"Well I never did. I don't know if I do now, either. But Zordon told me something at the ruins of the Power Chamber that really got me thinking. He had a theory; he called it the Rules of Color Progression. Essentially, it involves taking on new Ranger powers, and more specifically, switching colors. If a Ranger is going to switch colors, he is limited in his choice of what color to become. Green must become black, red must become blue, and vice versa. Zordon told me that if a Ranger breaks this rule, he must atone for his mistake. I broke the rule twice. I went from green to white to red. The green-black rule was broken first, so I eventually became the Black Ranger. I then broke the red-blue rule when I switched from white to red, so now, here I am, the Blue Ranger."
"Tommy, that's ridiculous," Kimberly began, but found she could say no more.
"That's what I thought at first too. But the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. Think about it; Adam and Carlos were both green and black Rangers, and TJ and Rocky were both red and blue."
"But what about Jason?" Kimberly asked. "He broke this 'rule' too, when he went from red to gold."
"Not really. He went from red to nothing to gold. The rule didn't apply to him because his original powers were purged completely from his body, transferred willingly instead of being destroyed. When he became the Gold Ranger it was like a fresh start for him."
"Tommy, you-- you're just rationalizing this crazy theory of yours. There is no way—."
"Just think about it, Kim. It all fits. Why else have I been so many Ranger colors?"
"Tommy, you were always the best—"
"I don't believe that for a second. This had to happen, Kim. I had to become a Power Ranger again. I don't know if that's destiny or fate, but there's no way around it. It had to be."