'TIL I COLLAPSE - PART EIGHT: DARK BLACK NIGHT (PG-13)
SEQUEL TO: ORDINARY WORLD
SUMMARY: Much like Trent, Tommy is suffering his own set of night terrors regarding a certain cyborg from the past. And what could they mean, if it feels so real?
DISCLAIMER: Power Rangers is not mine, just the property of creating this series out of the characters in the show.
A/N: I don't know, but looking back at all the episodes of DT, I've seen so many connections between Trent and Tommy. Now, it could just be me, but I've kept that in mind for some time. I won't say anymore than that, so you'll just have to see how far I will go with this as the series continues on. Thank you for your time and effort to read all this. Once I get going, sometimes, it's so hard to stop. It really is for me. But enjoy what you can. See you when I do. Later daze.
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"I don't know what to believe anymore. I really thought that after all that has happened, I wouldn't have to live with such huge scars for the mistakes I've done in my past. What if that last battle really could have ended another way? Where would we be now?" -Eclyptyk Neo
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It's the evening of Sunday, January 16th, 2005. And it's been a little more than a week since the battle that proved to be a great loss to the DT team. They had lost against their newest enemy, and it was hard to cope with the loss. None of them liked that, especially the teens. They failed to find out where Anton was, and it was clear their newest enemy did, in fact, kidnap him. But that was all they knew. They had no idea what plans Mindshatter had for Anton, but they didn't like it one bit.
Tommy, the veteran of many battles, hadn't liked it much either. Since that day, he hadn't gotten much sleep even if he tried. He just couldn't get those images out of his head. Of battling the cybots, hoping they would flee, but they just kept coming back. The damage hadn't done enough to send them on their way. And one attack was all it took against Dinoshade to reverse the attack on them, forcing them to de-morph.
He sat there in the underground lab, trying to pinpoint weaknesses against their newest problem. He ran diagonistics, tried to figure out if he could pinpoint the location of his friend, Anton Mercer, but nothing was found. He figured that Mindshatter truly had a line of defenses that the rangers couldn't penetrate, which was making the situation much harder than he would have liked.
He forced out a breath covering his face trying to push the feelings of being a failure back into the depths of his soul. He never liked feeling like a failure, and he definitely didn't want to show it in front of his team. Not the teens. They had seen so much, but still knew so little. They were still learning and asking more about his past, many of which he longed to forget. But as the days went by, and more answers were shut behind closed doors, the series of failures he had lived with began to haunt him all over again.
Another figure entered the room through the stairs, and Tommy knew who it was the moment she had taken that first step into the room. He sunk lower into the chair as she approached him laying a kiss on his head and wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Hey, Handsome," Kim whispered.
"Hey, Beautiful," he sighed as he pushed a few keys to turn off the research he had been doing.
"It's late," she said simply. "You should get some sleep."
"In case you haven't noticed much, baby, I haven't been getting much sleep in the last few days," he admitted.
"I have. And I'm worried about you," she said with deep concern. "Every now and then, you'd wake up in the middle of the night with sweat running down your face. Have you been having nightmares?"
Tommy dropped his head for a moment. He caught his breath as images of the last battle with Mesogog played in his mind. He had questioned what had really happened to Zeltrax. He wasn't completely sure what had happened with Mesogog either. He figured it was over, and they no longer had to deal with either of them. But for the past few nights, he had dreams—even nightmares—about Zeltrax, mostly. He felt like he was being watched by something beyond the shadows, and he couldn't do anything about it because he could never find out if it was there. The longer he stayed asleep to see the outcome of the dream, the more it felt like it was real. "I'm not so sure anymore, Kim. Do you remember a few months ago when Mesogog had the idea of attacking us in our dreams?"
"Yeah," she nodded slowly as she moved around to take a seat in his lap.
"And how it felt so real, we weren't sure if we really were dreaming or not?" he asked.
"Yeah, I remember," she said running a hand down his face as he looked away to catch his breath.
"Well, for the last few nights I've been having some dreams about Zeltrax. About him literally coming back to life and haunting us while we slept. He would make our lives miserable because he was always around every corner wanting to put an end to me. I've tried to sleep through some of them to find out what would happen in the end, but never could. But when I awoke, I could feel the pain running through me in places where he had struck me," he shook his head in dismay. "I don't know, Kim. It's so hard to sleep now because I almost feel like I'll never wake up from it."
"You don't think that Zeltrax is still alive, do you?" she asked.
Tommy could only shrug as he shuddered with the fear of seeing the cyborg come back to haunt them. "I really hope not. It's bad enough dealing with a guy who looks like a porcupine, his evil henchman that resembles a dinosaur in a robotic suit, and searching out where they have Anton hidden."
Kim brought his face up to meet hers and laid a kiss on his lips. He felt some of the burden fall off his shoulders as the kiss was deepened. When she had broke it, he could only hold her closer as they spoke no words. He ran a caring hand across her lower abdomen, laying a gentle kiss on it.
"I'm also scare for you, Kim," Tommy spoke quietly as he looked up into his wife's eyes, but his hands remained on her lower abs.
Kim found her hands on top of her husband's, knowing what he meant by it. "I can't just sit here and let you take such punishment from this guy."
"It was one battle, and one battle I didn't want to put you into. You shouldn't have been out there with us. What if it gotten worse?" he asked with a shudder.
The thought was clear in both of their mind's if not evident in their body language. Tommy remembered he had forced Kim into a hiding place during their battle with the cybots and Dinoshade. She didn't want to, as much as the limited power she really had as a Ranger. She protested. He made it clear in his voice and the way he stood, even in suit, that he didn't want to put her life into jeopardy. He didn't want to risk knowing it could trigger a miscarriage both of them may not be able to handle. But since there had been no attack in the past week, the tension left him.
Tommy looked down at his dino gem, recalling the day he had been forced to break the bond of the pink dino gem to ensure Kim would ever wake up again. Now, the gem, broken into five, resided in the other DT Rangers. But, its power could never be harnessed completely since it had been broken. "That gem could have been yours. It should have been yours. But I just want you to be cautious, Kim. I don't think I could live with the fact we lost our child to a miscarriage."
Kim sat there silent gripping her husband's hands tighter as they kept them glued to her stomach. She knew he was right, and as stubborn as she could be for wanting to help where ever she could, she had to respect his request. "I'm not crippled, Tommy. I can still kick some butt."
Tommy shook his head. "And you probably could. But it is a risk I think we should really look into before another battle goes down."
Time passed slowly as Kim got to her feet. She pulled Tommy along with her as their bodies melted into one as they moved toward the stairs.
"Why don't I cheer you up, Handsome? It looks like you can really use a pick me up," Kim said as he shut the trap door in the study.
Tommy looked at her with a raised eyebrow as she pulled him into a mind-numbing kiss. He felt his muscle tighten and loosen under her control. He broke the kiss gently catching his breath. "Is that really a good idea?"
"Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean we have to avoid making love to each other," she protested.
Tommy managed a sly smile as he kissed her, sweeping her off her feet and out of the room up to their bedroom.
Hours passed.
After a nice love-making session, Tommy had retired to bed quickly. Kim had watched him sleep, still holding concern for the fears he held in the back of his mind.
Tommy found himself tossing and turning in bed again as another nightmare played in his mind. Sweat ran down his face as he groaned quietly trying to force it away.
Kim sat up and looked over at him, running a hand down his face.
"Tommy, wake up."
But he didn't hear her as he continued to toss and turn trying to push the images of his dream away.
In Tommy's mind. It had been a long hard day at school yet again, and he was just glad to be home. After bringing down another monster, it gave the team another boost of happiness in getting a victory. Kim had been there to greet him as he walked into their bedroom in a little pink outfit she had teased him with during their high school years.
He didn't have to oppose her offer as he jumped in bed beside her and pulled her into a mind-numbing kiss. They had fiddled and flirted around under the covers for some time. It was a perfect evening for the two to get lost in each other's bodies.
But that's where the calm relaxation evening seemed to end. Kim was laying kisses on her husband's chest as his breath came out in short gasps. But as he opened his eyes, the glowing yellow eyes of a certain cyborg loomed over them. He forced out a frightened breath as he grabbed his wife and rolled off the bed to avoid a deadly swing from their intruder.
The bed was cut in two. Kim pulled the blanket around her, letting out a scream as the cyborg charged at Tommy. He rolled away, morphed and came charging back at Zeltrax.
Time passed slowly as the battle raged. The two had fought in the room, sending bolts of energy to singe the room in a deadly mass. Kim stayed hidden in the corner watching helplessly. She didn't know what to do.
"Revenge is mine," Zeltrax growled as he shoved the Black DT Ranger into the wall. "I will destroy you once and for all, Tommy."
"Smitty, stop," Tommy groaned as he tried to push his staff forward. Zeltrax's sword had locked with his staff, but he couldn't seem to push it away.
Zeltrax pulled back and swung his sword forward. Tommy dove to the ground and sent a wind strike attack toward the cyborg, sending him into the far wall. He let out a tired breath as he got to his feet and dove toward the cyborg.
But due to the severe damage in the room, the floor was becoming more unstable to fight on. Zeltrax turned to see the Black DT Ranger come his way. He launched an electrical attack that sent Tommy to his knees in pain.
"Tommy!" Kim cried as she watched him hit the ground.
Tommy hit the ground hard, forcing him to demorph. Zeltrax sneered with happiness as he stepped over him to the other occupant in the room. Kim slowly moved toward the door in a nervous panic.
"Smitty, stop. You don't want to do this," Kim pleaded.
"You're next," Zeltrax growled.
"Not so fast, Zeltrax," a voice spoke from behind him.
Zeltrax turned around to see the Black DT Ranger was back on his feet. His eyes in a fury of green and red like no one could describe. He was mad. Extremely mad that set the room into a darkness that seemed to shield the legendary ranger and cyborg inside. Tommy pulled up his morpher and morphed back into his black ranger suit. But this time, the shield that had once been with the pink dino gem, covered his chest.
"This ends right now, Smitty," Tommy said in a low voice that could scare the toughest of guys.
Zeltrax huffed as he charged toward the Black DT Ranger. The Black DT Ranger moved away from the attack, using the power of his own staff to send the cyborg to his knees. The impact on the ground shook it and creaked. And for a moment, Tommy had looked up to meet the frighten look of his wife on the other side of the room.
"No," Kim breathed as she took a step forward.
Zeltrax growled as he launched another electrical attack toward the Black DT Ranger. He took it in like energy to fuel him up as he turned to face him. Each step he took toward the cyborg, the floor began to give in and sink. Until it snapped, sending the two to the level below. The energy surge had traveled down to the main level of the house causing the floor to give in as they hit it and the two had dropped down to the underground lab.
Debris and smoke filled the room as Kim raced to the edge to see where they had gone. She shook her head in fear as the smoke cleared slowly.
The two figures laid on the floor of the underground lab, motionless.
"Nooo," Kim cried out.
And back in reality, Tommy heard the echoing cry run through his mind as his eyes flashed open and he sat up catching his breath. He cried out in a panic as he shook his head.
Kim looked at him in a worry as he sunk into her lap. It was clear she had been watching him the entire time as he slept through that nightmare. "You okay, baby?" she asked gently.
He let out a breath as he looked around the room. "I saw him again, Kim. And this time it felt more real than ever."
"Shhh. It's okay, Tommy. It was only a dream," Kim said quietly as she laid a kiss on his head.
Tommy looked down at the bracelet around his wrist. He watched the gem glow in its usual gold-black way. And he watched the other colors inside merge into an array of colors—green, white, red, pink and purple—mixing with the original color of the gem. He closed his eyes and pushed all the mixed emotions into the depths of his soul. He didn't need to deal with them right now, or at all if he could, but it was so hard to push them away. The images of seeing Zeltrax ran through his mind like a broken record. He couldn't get rid of them. He sunk into Kim's embrace as he shuddered in fear. "I'm scared, Beautiful."
"I'm here, Tommy," Kim said quietly as she ran her hands caringly through his hair. "It'll be okay."
He wanted to believe her. He needed to believe her, but it was so hard to when he could feel the rage surge up inside of him. He let out a breath as he tried to push it away. He wasn't sure how long he could last if he didn't find any answers soon.
He had to find answers and soon, for the sake of keeping the rest of the team safe. He didn't want to live with making a mistake he would regret in the end, and he felt like he was going to if he didn't find the answers he needed to about these nightmares regarding Zeltrax.
to be continued...
A/N: Now, as of now, it seems that Trent and Tommy are suffering from a line of dreams that feel more real than they need to be. But will this mean anything in the end? It could. It might. You're just gonna have see where this would end, right? See you when I do in the next chapter. I'm trying to work overtime to get this thing caught up, and it's easier said than done. So, I am sorry if I haven't posted in awhile, but I really am trying. Give me a break. I will get better, hopefully. Later dayz. May the Powers Always Protect You!