Chapter 13: Why
Kimberly healed just fine and she was right back on the team once she was totally healed from the explosion. The not so good side, Eric refused to give up the Quantum Morpher nor did he join the team. Kimberly was getting frustrated with Eric about getting in the way of their job. They had a mission to capture Ransik and Eric just refused to listen to anything that Kimberly said to him. To this point, Kimberly was getting a little ticked off.
One day, Kimberly was working in her yard when she felt a pair of hands cover her eyes. "Surprise," a familiar voice announced. Kimberly gasped and turned around. Standing behind her was the one and only Billy Cranston.
"BILLY!" She shouted.
Billy chuckled as he hugged Kimberly when she hugged him. "How are you doing?" He asked.
"I'm doing great. How did you find me?" She asked.
"I used some of Aquitar's systems," he replied.
"And why aren't you on Aquitar?"
Billy sighed as he lowered his head before looking back at her. "Well…I guess it's because I missed home," he replied. Kimberly smiled as she hugged him again. However, she had no idea that Lucas had stopped by and he saw jealousy hit him when he saw Kimberly hugging another guy. Lucas turned and walked off without saying anything.
"Come on, Kim, tell me everything that's happened so far," he insisted.
"There's not much to tell. I'm mentoring the Time Force team. Hunter and Blake went off to karate school a couple of months ago. There's a Quantum Ranger that refuses to join our team…" she started.
"Wait, where did the two boys come from? I know you adopted Hannah, but who are Hunter and Blake?" He asked.
Kimberly laughed as she happily started to explain everything. However, just as things were going well for the two friends, Kimberly's new communicator went off. "What's up guys?" She asked.
"Eric's in trouble, he's been kidnapped," Jen informed.
"I'm on my way," Kimberly answered.
She looked up to see Billy standing up too. "What are you doing?" She asked.
"I've missed out on some things, but I'm going with you," he replied.
Kimberly nodded before following Billy out of the house and went to save Eric from Ransik.
When they got their, the Rangers were already fighting cyclobots and what's worse, Eric's new zord, the Q-Rex was being controlled by the enemy. "Ready for another fight?" She asked.
"I'll be a bit rusty, but I think I can do it," he replied.
Kimberly laughed as she back flipped into the fight and started fighting the cyclobots in front of her. "These are different from the putties," Billy commented.
"You have no idea," Kimberly answered.
Billy then grabbed Kimberly's arm as the Q-Rex aimed blasts at them. "What the heck was that?" He asked.
"The Q-Rex, I'll explain all that later," she replied.
Kimberly looked over at the Q-Rex's new target and watched as Eric jumped over the edge, but Conwing got his arm. "ERIC!" She shouted. Billy watched as Kimberly went in after him.
"KIM!" Billy shouted.
Lucas felt more jealousy go through him as Billy left the bridge to go after Kimberly and Eric. "LUCAS!" Jen shouted. Lucas ducked from the cyclobot and kept fighting even though he was really jealous of the man that was hanging around his girlfriend.
Kimberly looked up when Billy came to the side of the river and she was dragging Eric out of the water. "Here, let me help," Billy insisted.
"Thanks," she answered.
Billy helped her get Eric out of the river and she started to look at the injury on his arm. "So, this the Quantum Ranger?" He asked.
"Yeah…but he won't listen to us," she replied.
Just then, Eric woke up as Kimberly was taking care of the injury on his arm. "Was wondering when you'd wake up," she commented. Eric pulled his arm away and stood up. "What is your problem, Eric? Is there a reason why you refuse to help us? Why you just keep listening to Mr. Collins?" She demanded.
"I know who you are and I know who your friends are. So, why should I join a team that only seem to be after one thing?" He asked.
Kimberly's heart stopped at his words. "That's right, your friends are from the future. You…Mr. Collins favors your talents and he would have either you or Wes to be the leader of the Silver Guardians because of your previous job to mentor the Lightspeed team," he explained. Kimberly bit her lip when he concluded about her friends.
"They are from the future, but Eric, you can't tell Mr. Collins about this. It'll ruin everything," she informed.
Billy placed a hand on her shoulder and Kimberly kept looking at the man. "You say you're only after the leadership of the Silver Guardians. You got that and you got the Quantum Morpher. You have everything you want, don't you, Eric? Except, here's something I've been trying to figure out for awhile now. If you only think about yourself getting all the glory, then why did you rescue me when you first became the Quantum Ranger?" She asked. Eric was quiet when she asked that question. "What made you come back for me? The doctor told me of my condition and if I was lying in that warehouse any longer they couldn't save me. What made you save me?" She asked. Eric just looked at her while holding his arm. "Was it to get more glory? Was it to show to me that you can fight?" She asked.
"No," he replied.
"Then why?" She asked.
Eric turned and looked at her. "That's none of your concern," he replied. Kimberly let out a frustrated sigh and looked at Billy.
"We better head back," she insisted.
"Right," Billy agreed.
Eric watched them go and Kimberly's words rang in his head.
Eric was successful on getting his morpher back, but now he had to stop the Q-Rex from destroying the city. "Billy," Kimberly called. Billy looked up as Kimberly ran towards the city.
"Right behind you, Kimberly," he answered.
They ended up in the city and more cyclobots surrounded them. "What a reunion," Kimberly mumbled as she fought the cyclobots. Eric then arrived to fight the cyclobots and to stop the Q-Rex from destroying the city. Kimberly then watched as he summoned some armor. "Whoa! We never got that when we were Rangers," Billy commented. Kimberly laughed and watched as Eric defeated the gang of cyclobots and defeated Conwing.
That evening, Kimberly and Billy were walking by a neighborhood when they saw Eric looking at the damage from Conwing. Then a little girl came forward with a cage with two birds. Eric seemed relieved and the little girl was talking to him. Kimberly smiled to see that Eric was actually…nice.
When Kimberly and Billy arrived at the park, the two girls were there. They were over at their friends' houses, but Kimberly had them meet her in the park. "Do you think she'll recognize me?" Billy asked.
"She knows who you are, Billy. I made sure to tell her about all my friends from Angel Grove," she replied.
Billy smiled and then his eyes widened when Kylie got off the swings and ran over to him. "UNCLE BILLY! UNCLE BILLY!" She shouted. Billy laughed as he hugged her and spun her around. Once again, Lucas was watching them with jealousy shown on his face. "Uncle Billy, can you stay?" She asked. Billy sighed as he looked at his "niece" and shook his head.
"I can't, I have somewhere to go," he replied.
"Must you go? You just got here," Kimberly insisted.
Billy placed Kylie on the ground and smiled at Kimberly. "I came to visit you and to see how you were you holding up. I can see that with your job and with great friends like this, you're doing just fine," he answered. Kimberly sighed as she hugged him. Billy hugged her back and kissed the side of her head. "I love you, Kimberly Ann Hart," he told her. Kimberly smiled as she hugged her "brother" back.
"I love you too, Billy Lee Cranston," she answered.
Billy then pulled back and kissed her cheek as he left. Kimberly wrapped her arms around herself and let out a heavy sigh as Billy Cranston once again left her life. "Do you really love that guy?" Lucas asked. Kimberly turned and looked at him.
"Yeah, he's a great guy," she replied.
"That's…That's great," he mumbled.
Kimberly then realized what Lucas meant. "Lucas…Billy's my best friend from when I was a Power Ranger. Back in Angel Grove. He's been like my brother," she explained. Lucas then felt really stupid and Kimberly laughed at him. "Come on, Mr. Kendall," she laughed. Lucas held onto her hand and they watched as Kylie and Hannah played together before heading home.
