A/N - Sorry for such a delay between chapters. Work has been CRAZY! But I am happy to post this as an apology. It's based off the Turbo Movie but not perfectly. If I get anything too wrong, please let me know! As always, thank you for the reviews and please keep them coming! You guys are the best!
Kimberly – The Past
"You sure about this?" I asked, leaning back in the passenger seat of Jason's truck. He scoffed, rolling his eyes before adjusting his sunglasses.
"For the millionth time since I've picked you up from the airport, yes. I told you. Everyone is going to love seeing you! Especially for such a good cause. This tournament means a lot to the orphanage and I think seeing a familiar face in the crowd will help the guys get more pumped up."
"Everyone?" I questioned, glancing out the window. I could see the Pacific Ocean to my right, the sun beginning to rise over its surface.
"Once you and Tommy talk, everything will be fine. He's with Kat now. He's got no reason to hold anything against you for breaking up. Besides, you're full grown adults. I'm sure the two of you can get passed this."
"I hope so. Tommy and I were so close before everything happened. I know we might not be on that same level, but I would hate to have him hate me." Sighing, I glanced back over at Jason. "Think it'll be weird for Kat?"
"Nah. She knows that it's over between the two of you. And if it is, she can get over herself." He smirked, shrugging his shoulder.
"You always were quite the gentleman." I said flatly. He let out a laugh that caused me to smile. It felt weird heading back to Angel Grove. It had been so long since I had been back. When Jason called me up at my dorm, telling me he had an extra ticket for some team competition in Angel Grove, I was hesitant. He insisted that I fly home, surprising everyone with my arrival. It took some convincing, but I agreed. It had been enough time since I had seen them. He reassured me like he was now that Tommy was passed that. Granted, it irked me that he was with Katherine now. Didn't take him very long to fill that slot. It made me wonder if he had filled it before it was empty. That didn't matter though. He was happy, and I was on my way to my first time at the Olympics. Practice starts in a couple weeks and Schmidt told me to go enjoy myself for the week. I couldn't pass up on the offer.
"Did you tell Trini you were coming back home?" He asked, trying his best to be nonchalant about it.
"I did. She couldn't take time off from school though. She did say to tell everyone 'hello.' Of course, if you just called and told her how much you love her, you would know this." I teased. Shaking his head, he adjusted his hands on the steering wheel.
"I'm not in love with her. I just like her. A lot." He replied.
"Right. Right."
"You're one to talk…" He trailed off. I glared at him, crossing my arms over my chest. "Oh what? I thought we were playing dirty here."
"I'm not in love with anyone." I stated.
"Sure, you aren't. I mean, it's not like you are hiding inner feelings for a guy you've been afraid to contact over the last two years. That would be a ridiculous idea."
"Jason, it's not like that." I tried to reason. "We had our time together. That's it."
"So, you have no feelings for Tommy anymore? None. None at all." He asked. I didn't answer, unsure if I could bring myself to lie to my best friend. He gave me a side glance and knew he could tell from the expression on my face. "You could just tell him, you know." He offered. I let out a chuckle, shaking my head.
"That's never gonna happen." I replied. He took the exit for Angel Grove, moving with the flow of traffic.
"Why not? You never know. He might still feel the same way about you."
"Does he?" I questioned, feeling that Jason might have more information than he was letting on before.
"I don't know. It's not exactly something I can just ask him. But, he asks me about you all the time. There might be something there. Who knows with Tommy. One way to find out would be to ask him."
"Nope. No way. It would be wrong of me to tell him after all this time. Especially now that he's with Kat. What kind of person does that?"
"An honest one."
"I'll tell Tommy right after you tell Trini how you feel about her. Deal?" I looked over at him. Turning his head so he could see me, he thought for a moment before nodding.
"Deal." He said, holding his hand out for us to shake. We shook for a moment as he rolled into Angel Grove.
"So, what do you have planned before the tournament?"
"I was thinking we could go scuba diving. I've got some gear my buddy is letting me borrow. Figured it might be something to keep us preoccupied while everyone else is getting ready for the tournament."
"Sounds good to me."
"We have to get this hatch open." Jason stated, examining the round metal door in front of us. I raised my eyebrow, giving him a look of confusion.
"But that would let all the water in." I replied. "I love water as much as the next girl, but I think that our deaths would defeat the purpose of trying to escape."
"If we get this open, we can swim up to the surface before this crazy bitch sacrifices us to whatever the hell she has planned." Looking around, he searched for something under the water. It pooled at our ankles, my feet aching from the cold water.
"We don't know how far down we are though. And we'd have to make it to the surface with one breath?" He nodded, giving me a serious look. "Oh, boy."
"What other options do we've got?" Bending down, he found a metal rod and began to jimmy it between the door and the wall. I grabbed at the lug nuts, hoping to twist them off in my hand. I knew we shouldn't have gone scuba diving this morning. I had almost told Jason that it was a bad idea when I woke up. He was excited though. It was something he was looking forward to. Besides, it wasn't his fault that the sea pirate Divatox was lurking nearby. We just happened to show up on her radar. I wasn't sure what her deal was as Jason wasn't familiar with her either. What we had overheard was that she was travelling to somewhere called Muranthias, so she could marry someone. She was planning on using us as a wedding present. It made my skin crawl and laugh want to escape my lips at the same time. How was it that I'm back in town for 12 hours and I'm captured by someone evil? Did I have damsel in distress tattooed on me somewhere?
"Fuck!" Jason exclaimed, the bar slipping from his fingers. When he did, the door gave slightly, and water began to pour in from under the door. He shook his hand, blood coming from his finger he must have hit.
"You alright?" I called, pulling at the bolts. He nodded, slamming the rod against the door.
"Yeah. Keep going. We can get this off." He jammed the rod into the top of the door and put all his weight on it to wedge it in there. I looked around for something else that I could use to do the same thing. I came up short, deciding to keep working at the nuts. The door whined as it opened more, three of the bolts popping off along it. Water rushed in faster and I noticed the room began to fill at a fast pace. "See? I told you." Jason said, smiling smugly.
"All I see if the water getting high faster." I replied, rolling my eyes at him.
"So ungrateful. Geesh. I'll keep doing this. You work on getting Bulk and Skull out of their cell." He shot over his shoulder, inserting the bar in the crack again. Nodding, I walked over to the other door in the room. Bulk and Skull looked at me confused from the window above it. Their white hair still threw me off some but not as much as the German they were speaking. I wasn't sure what happened to them, but I was hoping whatever it was ended up being reversible. There was a wheel on the door and it turned in my hands.
"It opens when you turn the wheel. Should I let them out now?" I called.
"Not yet. I don't want them to panic while we are trying to do this. Come help me-SHIT!" He exclaimed as the force of the water rushing in pushed the door open just enough to allow huge amounts of water to gush in. He shoved his body against it, trying to seal it up again but the current was to strong.
"Jason!" I exclaimed, running over to help him. I pushed my entire body against it but it barely budged. The water was steadily raising now. I could feel it lapping up my thighs. "What are we going to do?"
"We gotta get it off so we can get out before the room fills up." He called over the water. Grabbing the lip of the door, he anchored his feet against the wall and pulled. IT creaked and moved some but not enough to let us through.
"Hurry, Jason!" I said, a slight panic setting in.
"I'm trying!" He called back. I did the same as him, gripping the metal and pushing with my legs. It dug into my hands and I could feel it move slightly. Jason repeated his actions and it moved more but then stopped. "Damn it. We're gonna have to wait until the pressure is the same on both sides."
"Wouldn't that mean the water would have to cover the door?" I asked, eyeing the distance between the top of the door and the ceiling. It wasn't much, a foot or so. He nodded, frowning.
"If we can get the rest of the bolts off, we can get it off faster."
"Where's the pipe?" I asked. He looked around. He must have dropped it in his scurry to hold the door closed.
"Good idea!" Holding the door, he turned and dove into the water. There was a splash and he disappeared for a moment. He resurfaced, holding the pipe in hand. Wading through the now waist high water, he started pounding at the nuts again. The noise echoed off the walls around us, vibrating in my ears. Behind us, Bulk and Skull chattered away in German. "Will you two shut up?!" Jason yelled over the sound of rushing water. He broke off two bolts, leaving three. There were two on my side and one on the very bottom. I grabbed the top one and twisted, it breaking off with little effort. The door shoved forward, almost sending me flying as it hung on by the two remaining bolts.
"Hand me the pipe!" I yelled, the water now roaring. He handed it to me as the level grew to almost my neck. "I don't like how high this water is!"
"We can do this." He answered back. Nodding, I smashed the bolt with the pipe. It clanked but made no movement. Gripping the pipe tightly, I swung again. Half of the nut broke, leaving it hanging on by slight threads. I mustered up all the strength I had and smashed it again. With a loud clatter, it broke.
"I got it!" I yelled triumphantly.
"Grabbed the door and push it towards you." He called. Nodding, we both grabbed onto the metal slab and shoved it as hard we could to the right. It twisted, moving like it was on a hinge. "Little bit more!" Jason strained. Letting out a yell, I forced the plate more. Finally, it moved enough to let us through. The water was nearing the ceiling now.
"We gotta get out of here." I said, floating in the water.
"Let's get Bulk and Skull then we can get out." Jason dove under the water and I followed after him. It was dark under the water, flashes of some kind of light illuminating the room now and then. Jason reached the handle before me, giving it a turn. The water held it in place. He motioned me to help and I grabbed it as well. Together, we opened the door and Bulk and Skull swam out. The four of us broke the surface again, gasping for breath.
"Jase, the water." I said, trying to stay afloat.
"Alright. Everyone needs to take a deep breath." He said, locking eyes with me. Bulk and Skull seemed to understand, pacing their breathing. Opening my mouth, I took a couple of deep breaths before one very large one. The four of us dove under the water and towards the opening. Jase helped Bulk and Skull through, the two of them disappearing up the tunnel. Jase motioned me to follow. I could already feel the burn in my lungs. I kicked my feet, following the two before me. Suddenly, my body jerked. I tried again but something was holding me back. Frantically, I searched to see what was doing this. My eyes landed on my shirt that was snagged on the bottom bolt. Jason appeared next to me, trying his best to pull me free. My lungs were burning more now as I tugged along with him. The fabric tore, and I lunged forward. I kicked and swam like hell, heading towards the end of the tunnel.
I could see light, telling me I was nearing the ocean. The air was vanishing from my lungs. I'm not going to make it. I knew it. I knew there was no way I would be able to make it to the surface alive this way. Flashing of my life came to mind as I swam. I saw my family, my childhood with my parents. Going to school with Trini, Jason, Zach and Billy. Going to high school and meeting Aisha, Rocky and Adam. Becoming a Power Ranger. Tommy. Tommy flashed through my mind like a slide show. When we first met, our first kiss. Our entire relationship. I kicked harder, clawing at the tunnel. I made it into the open water, the surface above me. Tommy. I would never see him again. This would be how I died. They might never find my body. He's never going to know how much I love him.
No, I thought. I can't die like this. The edges of my vision began to darken as I blacked out.