Chapter 22: Good Day Gone Bad Part I

Kimberly was sitting in Ninja Ops looking over some readings when the Rangers came in. "Man I'm worked," Dustin commented.

"No lie. Ten mile run, four fight simulations, and an obstacle course," Blake agreed.

"Don't forget two hours of hard meditation," Hunter put it.

Kimberly turned and looked at them. "You poor babies," she fake mourned. Kylie was giggling by her mother. Kimberly for once noticed that Shane was tired.

"Dude, getting tired. Training finally getting to ya?" Dustin asked.

"I'm not getting a lot of sleep. Keep having this weird dream," Shane replied.

"You should pay attention to that. Sensei says dreams can say a lot about yourself," Tori informed.

Kimberly nodded. "Speaking of dad, where is he?" He asked. Kimberly smiled and sat back.

"Sensei has gone on a meditation retreat to recharge his inner ninja. In his absence you guys enjoy a well-deserve day off," she informed.

The Rangers cheered and Kimberly smiled at them. However, she saw that Tori looked a bit disappointed. "Hey Tor what's the matter? Come on don't tell me you can't deal with a day off," Blake commented.

"No, a day off is great, especially tomorrow. I just thought that Sensei would be around for you know…" she trailed off.

"What?" Hunter asked.

Kimberly stood up and picked Kylie up. "Are we stupid! Cuz tomorrow, it is your birthday," Shane announce in a sing-song voice.

"Oh that's right!" Kimberly put in.

"How about a beach party?" Dustin asked.

Everyone agreed. "What do you say, Tor?" Blake asked.

"Alright, sure. Sounds great to me," Tori replied.

"Meet at the beach first thing tomorrow," Hunter informed.

"Hey, we finally going to meet that girlfriend of yours?" Dustin asked.

Hunter shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. She's been busy training for a competition," Hunter replied.

"Come on, bro, you've got to bring her with you," Blake insisted.

"I'll talk to Rose and see what she thinks," Hunter answered.

Blake nodded and then Kimberly smiled at Kylie. "I think we both deserve to have some fun. Cam make sure to put Cyber Cam online," she instructed.

"Got it," Cam answered.

Kimberly then left with Kylie.

The next day, Kimberly and Kylie were already at the beach with Blake and Hunter when Tori, Cam, and Dustin arrived. With Hunter was Rose, apparently when Hunter told Rose about the party she was thrilled to actually meet the rest of the Ranger team and their mentor face to face. "Has anybody seen Shane?" Tori asked.

"Yeah let's get this show on the road," Blake put in.

"Well we can't leave without him, he's bringing the cake," Dustin informed.

"Hey guys," Shane called.

He came up fully clothed and he was holding the cake. "Hey, that doesn't look like beach wear bro," Hunter commented.

"Uh…yeah…about that…" Shane trailed off.

"Don't tell me you're bailing," Tori insisted.

Kimberly sent Kylie over with Hunter and walked over to Tori and Shane. She placed a hand on Tori's shoulder. "Okay, look. I had that same dream again last night. I think it's trying to tell me something," Shane informed.

"Like how to ruin a friend's birthday?" Tori asked.

"It's just that I have a weird sense that something isn't right. I have to go check out the woods," Shane replied.

"Shane I'm the first person to say duty before pleasure, but I left Cyber Cam online at Ninja Ops. If anything weird shows up he'll let us know," Cam informed.

"Yeah, come on, Shane don't leave," Kimberly agreed.

"I'll catch up okay? I promise," Shane told Tori.

Shane then ran off. Kimberly walked over to Kylie who was talking with Rose. "Mommy, I like Rose, can she stay?" Kylie asked. Rose laughed slightly and Hunter wrapped his arm around Rose's waist.

"Maybe she will," Hunter replied.

Rose smiled and she looked at Kim. "Looks like you two finally meet. Mom, this is Rose Dulcina. Rose, this is my mom, Kimberly Hart," he informed. Rose shook Kimberly's hand.

"It's nice to finally meet you. Hunter's told me all about you," she commented.

"Probably all lies," Kimberly stated as she winked at her son.

Hunter rolled his eyes as he went to take off his shirt. "You guys, did we do the right thing? I mean, maybe we should've gone with Shane," Tori commented.

"What because he had a nightmare?" Hunter asked.

"I don't know, maybe she's right. He did seem pretty tweaked," Dustin answered.

"Oh come on guys, we're here now. It's a party right?" Blake asked.

Hunter grinned as he looked at everyone. "Last one in the water is a little girl," Hunter informed. Everyone, but Rose got quiet for a second when Tori glared at him.

"Uh-oh!" Dustin laughed.

"You're in a lot of trouble now," Kylie giggled.

"You are so gonna pay for that," Tori informed.

They watched as the Crimson Ranger took off running with the Blue Ranger behind him. Kimberly watched with a smile, but then when Tori tackled Hunter to the ground she suddenly felt something coming from Hunter, something familiar. "He's still in love with her!" Her mind told her. Kimberly rubbed her forehead. Blake walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Mom, you okay?" He asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine," she replied.

After awhile, everyone was having fun, but Kimberly walked over and pulled Hunter away from the team. "Whoa! Mom, what's going on?" He asked. Kimberly crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh boy…what did I do?" He asked.

"Hunter, you have Rose, she's a nice girl, but why do you still have feelings for Tori?" She asked.

Hunter rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, mom!" Hunter groaned.

"Uh-uh. You're not doing that to me. Why?" She asked.

Hunter sighed. "I don't know mom. It's like how you were still in love with Tommy while you were dating Lucas," he answered. He then turned and went back to the party. Kimberly sighed and then a pain went through her head. However, it was bad…very, very bad. Like how it was when she was a prisoner on Lothor's ship. Something was wrong…very wrong. Blake looked over at Kimberly to see her on her knees.

"Mom!" He gasped.

They looked up to see Kimberly on her knees. "What's going on?" Rose asked. Hunter shook his head.

"My mom's got a gift, Rose. The gift of empathy. She must feel anger somewhere, a good amount of it," he replied.

Kylie was by her mother and was holding her hand. "I have to go to Ninja Ops," she informed.

"I'm going with you, I just got a call from Cyber Cam, something's going on," Cam put in.

"We'll go with you," Hunter stated.

"No stay. There's nothing we can do until we know what we're dealing with," Cam answered.

They nodded and Cam helped Kimberly up. Kimberly looked at Tori. "I'm sorry," she apologized. Tori shook her head and watched as Kimberly picked Kylie up and they went back to Ninja Ops.

Hunter walked over to Tori once they were gone. "Well, still a party," he commented. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah," she answered.

"What's going on with this empathy gift your mom has?" Rose asked.

Hunter rubbed the back of his neck. "Seven years ago, mom was attacked in Miami, somehow with all the blows to her head it brought out one of the gifts that we keep hidden in the back of our mind. However, for some reason, the curse ruins it," Hunter explained.

"The curse?" Rose asked.

"The emotion of anger, whenever mom feels that emotion, it like takes her energy away, we almost lost her a couple of times," Blake replied.

Dustin was listening, but he was watching Rose at the same time. "Wow…Hunter's lucky, she's like totally drop dead gorgeous," he pondered.

(Ninja Ops)

Kimberly sighed as she looked at the screen. "Still can't access them?" She asked.

"No," Cam replied.

She rubbed her forehead. "Okay, contact them and tell Dustin and Tori that they're going to have to be on their own with this," she informed. Cam nodded as he contacted the Rangers. "And teleport Rose here," she added.

"Right," Cam answered.

Rose appeared at Ninja Ops. "How can they fight that thing without their zords?" Rose asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, this has happened many times before. They're able to fight Zurgane," Kimberly assured her.

Just then, Hunter and Blake came back. "Hunter!" She gasped. Hunter embraced Rose when she ran over to him. "I'm so happy you're okay," she murmured.

"We're not out of the woods yet," he informed.

He looked at Cam. "Cam, anything on the zords?" He asked.

"We can't access the portal," Cam replied.

Hunter sighed. "I hope Shane's okay," Kimberly commented. Blake wrapped an arm around his mother's shoulders.

"I have that same feeling, Miss Hart," Tori put in.

Kimberly nodded and let out a sigh.

To Be Continued…