Phew I just barely made my promise deadline with you guys. I hadn't expected to be so tired when I got home from my trip last night. This would have been up sooner tonight, but I had to go and get my reading glasses tonight. Anyway, the chapter is finally here, so I hope you guys enjoy it. New contest at the end.
Chapter 15 Rolling into Danger
As Kimberly closed the door and turned around, a feeling of loneliness overtook her. For over a year now she'd been used to living with girls her age, and rarely ever feeling lonely. Even though Sarah and Lacie loved the nightlife, Kimberly always knew they'd come back home. Now however, there was no one to wait for, no one to come home to. It was saddening, but this had been what Kimberly wanted. At least she was lonely in Angel Grove. That had to count for something.
Kimberly looked around her living room. It wasn't completely fixed up yet; it really needed some photos and knick knacks to make it more homey. Right now it just looked the way it had when she moved in. Most of the furniture had been supplied, as had the kitchen equipment. Any electronic equipment Kimberly had had to provide herself. Kimberly wheeled over to the coffee table where a cardboard box sat. Inside was a bunch of photographs she had meant to decorate the apartment with. She began pulling out the frame photos one by one and glancing them over before setting them out on the table.
Nimble fingers ran over the glass frames as memories surfaced. There was a picture of the original team taken in the park. It was before Tommy joined the team. Arms were linked together and smiles plastered the teenage faces. Then there was another picture of Jason and Tommy sparring at the Juice Bar and behind it was one of Trini and Kimberly when they were ten. She found one of Zack trying to teach Billy some simple hip hop moves, which Billy didn't have the athletic grace to truly do. There was another group photo of the gang before Kimberly had left for Pan Globals training. She giggled when she picked up a photo of Rocky making faces behind the cheerful Aisha. The next few pictures were of Kimberly in various gymnastic meets. The most recent one was of her with Coach Schmidt and the rest of the team training for Pan Globals. The future looked so bright, so promising back then. Each girl had dreams of gymnastic fame in her eyes. The energy simply vibrated from that simple photograph.
The pictures in the bottom of the box were of she and Tommy together, or simply just of Tommy. She found one taken of the two swimming at the lake. One was of a stolen kiss between the two. Another was taken during a dinner date. The final one was of Tommy instructing a class of youngsters in karate. Kimberly remembered the day that photo had been taken. That was the day the "Potty Incident" had occurred.
Tommy had been instructing six year olds in basic moves. He was using one young boy with glasses as his partner to demonstrate. The boy was particularly close to Tommy, when a warm feeling hit Tommy's leg. When Tommy backed away, he had noticed the tell-tale yellow stain on his white pants. The boy had a similar spot on his karate gi. Tommy had been so embarrassed that day; Kimberly would have wagered that he was just as embarrassed as the little boy. Fortunately the picture had been snapped before the "Potty Incident".
Kimberly arranged all of these photographs on a table by the window overlooking the courtyard. It made things look a little better in the living room. She made her way to another table and began setting out various animal knick knacks—little dogs and cats and one of a little turtle that she couldn't resist buying at a flea market one time. She felt better about her homey living room, but her eyes glanced back to those photographs. How time had flown since then. Everyone was changing, including herself. Then again, she was certain that being wheelchair bound counted as already changed. It was too bad that some of the gang had already been split. When Zack had returned from the peace conference, his family had moved to Chicago to be closer to family. Kimberly remembered Trini telling her Jason had returned home and resumed his role as a Ranger, this time as the Gold Ranger. It was only temporary though. Trini herself was away at college and rarely came home.
As for the new gang, Kimberly knew she was keeping herself from going to visit them. She wanted to. However, she knew that what she had done to Tommy was known by them too, and since Kimberly had not kept contact with any of them after her accident, they probably didn't think too highly of her, if they even still thought of her at all. Tommy probably hated her most of all, and he had every reason to do so too. Kimberly had sent the common "Dear John" letter to him and he probably knew something was wrong with it. He must not have thought too much was wrong though, since he never called to question her reason or find out the real reason why.
A sigh came from within as Kimberly realized that she couldn't simply keep this from everyone any longer. It wouldn't stay her secret much longer now that she was home anyway. She had to tell her friends, no matter how much they hated her. They deserved to know after all of this time. No matter how much they or Tommy hated her, she had to tell them. She had to clear her conscience of this secret before it enveloped her.
Despite having made the decision to tell everyone, Kimberly was still cautious. Any reactions she received could vary from acceptance and sympathy, to hate and anger. She knew she was playing with fire, and when you did that, you had to watch out or you'd get burned. She knew she deserved whatever they said to her face, but she also hoped they would understand everything she'd been through, the pain she'd dealt with. Trini had been the first one to witness it, and she was very accepting. Then again, Trini had been her best friend since they were in elementary school; those bonds aren't easily broken.
However, the reaction she wanted to see most was Tommy's. She wanted to have him yell at her, call her out for breaking up with him in the manner she had. Tommy hadn't deserved that letter. He was so much better than something as default as a letter. She should have told him. She should have kept in contact. She should have done a lot of things, but she hadn't. At least she had made the right decision in calling Trini. That was the only thing she'd done right. If she hadn't, there would have no one there for her. She would have been all alone, and it would have been all her fault.
Shrugging off the doubt that was overcoming her, Kimberly went to her room to grab her purse. She made sure she had enough cash to pay for any purchases. As a last minute thought she grabbed a white baseball cap and tucked her hair into it. That way, she wouldn't be as recognizable to her friends. She double-checked the apartment before wheeling herself into the hallway and locking the door behind her. She had a bad feeling about what was to come, but she knew it had to be done. It was now or never, and it took Kimberly every bit of courage she had to continue rolling toward the elevator.
Rita watched Kimberly leave her apartment. This was the moment she'd been waiting for. After all that time spent wondering if Kimberly would ever return home and if her plan had been all for nothing was finally coming to light. Her plan was going to work and it was going into action very soon. She had thought that Kimberly would never leave Florida, but she had and things were perfect. "Finster! Finster! Come quickly!" she yelled.
Finster rushed to Rita's balcony. As far as he could tell, there was excitement in her voice; she hadn't been this excited since she had first come up with the plan to get rid of Tommy. Unless…. Finster was out of breath by the time he arrived at Rita's side. "What is it, my queen?"
"She's back Finster. She's back and she's leaving the apartment as we speak. It is time."
"You are certain you want to execute the plan now?"
"She's going to see all her "friends". If we don't do something now, everything up until now will have been pointless. It must be done now or never. If her friends forgive her, as I suspect they will, then we won't have the element of surprise on her."
"I shall prepare the Tenga warriors then."
"Good. I only want one sent down with the new weaponry. I believe one will suffice unless we need to send down back up. However, since no one knows Kimberly is back, the Rangers will take longer to respond to a distress call."
Finster realized she had forgotten about the scrambler he was to have created. He would have rather not spoken up about it, but he knew that if something went wrong, she'd blame him and then remember the scrambler. It'd create one heck of a mess that he'd rather just avoid. "I believe you've forgotten about the radio scrambler."
"Huh? Oh yes that's right. The Rangers won't be able to respond because we'll be blocking the transmission. Thank you Finster. Maybe for once I won't chew your head off."
"That is much appreciated," bowed Finster. He handed over the scrambling device. "Anything else you require?"
"How am I supposed to work this thing?" growled Rita.
"Well, you see, it's already set for the Command Center so all you have to do is push that red button there," answered Finster as he pointed to a button in the center of the device.
Rita turned to face her Repulsa Scope again, keeping an eye out for Kimberly leaving the apartment. She didn't want to attack her right away because that would draw more attention than necessary. She'd wait until Kimberly was in the middle of the street or away from too many pedestrians. The Tenga warriors were not to be messed with, even by lowly earth beings.
As Rita glimpsed back to Kimberly's apartment building, she watched the teen make her way down the path and to the main street. She could tell that Kimberly was heading to her old hangout and knew that if Kimberly made it there, it'd be too late for everything. Her friends would know she had returned and would keep a close eye on her. And if Tommy got involved… Rita didn't think of any more ways her plan could fail. "Finster, prepare the Tenga warriors for their mission. Only one of them is to be armed with a pair of the Tenga Talcons though."
Finster bowed. "As you command!" He scurried away to his lab and began to finish the final preparations.
Kimberly was nervous about what she'd find at the Youth Center. She wasn't even sure her friends would be there at that moment and she was already panicking. She took a deep breath. You can do this, Kimberly. It's not a big deal right? Oh who am I kidding? Of course it's a big deal. I cut them all out of my lives only to return like this. I'm going to do it and I'm going to survive, no matter what I find there or who speaks to me.
Very few people were on the streets that evening. Kimberly noticed that those who saw her in advance kindly stepped aside for her. No one called out to her, only smiles. She couldn't tell if they were fake or not. At the first street corner, she saw a boy scout, probably around nine years old. He appeared to be Asian in origin. Kimberly's guess was that he was helping those in need across the street. He saw her and his little face lit up. He pushed the button for the cross walk and ambled over to her wheelchair. "Can I help you across the street ma'am?"
Kimberly wasn't going to turn him down. He wanted to do something nice for her. "Sure you can," she answered, smiling.
"Great. My name's Yuki. Do you just need to go across?"
"Yep."
Yuki took control of her wheelchair and waited for the crossing signal. He made sure to keep an eye out for any cars not obeying the signal. When they had safely crossed the street he said, "As a Webelos scout, it has been my honor to help you."
"It was very kind of you, Yuki. You have a nice evening," replied Kimberly.
Yuki saluted her before taking up a position at the street corner. She watched as a man dressed in a Webelos master uniform walked over to him and the two exchanged conversation. Kimberly figured he was telling his leader about what he'd just done. She smiled. Some people were so kind. Kimberly began making her way toward the Youth Center again.
"Finster! Are the Tengas ready for dispatch?" yelled Rita.
"As ready as ever my queen. Shall I send them on their mission?" answered Finster.
"Then send them now. She's in perfect position for attack. Have them return here as quickly as possible," responded Rita as she pushed the button on the scrambler. "The signal to Zordon is scrambled so off with them!"
Kimberly wasn't sure what to expect the evening to turn out like. Whatever she had concocted in her fantasies was nothing like what happened next. It was the farthest thing from her mind. Of course, she wasn't on alert like she used to be. Then again, she also wasn't a Power Ranger anymore. In retrospect, she could say that she figured she had been forgotten, a speck of the past that was no longer a true threat to her enemies without any kind of Ranger power to enhance her abilities.
Glancing at one of the displays in a nearby clothing store, Kimberly noticed a flash of light reflect off of the window pane. She turned around, thinking it was from a passing vehicle or a flashlight of some kind. Instead she gasped in horror, her voice wanting to scream, but no words escaping from her lips. She brought her arms up as a form of protection, but knew that without her legs for mobility, her attempt at a counter attack was pointless.
There, dancing around in front of her, were a group of Tenga warriors. She had thought they were gone once Rita and Zedd had left the Moon Palace, but apparently not. Kimberly noticed something different about them, but couldn't place her finger on it. One of them wore a pair of gloves, but that was it. Come on Kimberly… you've got to put up a fight. Even if you are in a wheelchair, you can't let them get you that easily. This seemed to bring forth a burst of courage and Kimberly found her voice. "Get away birdbrains! Leave me alone!"
However, Kimberly's yelling was futile. This time the Tengas seemed more focused on the task at hand and wasted little time in making their point. The Tengas danced around Kimberly, reaching out and grabbing at her. Kimberly felt their feathered hands touch her all over her body. She focused on the gloved Tenga; long claws had extended from the gloves and now the Tenga was looming menacingly over Kimberly. Kimberly threw her hands up to stop him, but he simply slashed at her arms instead, creating small gashes that spilled crimson blood on pale skin.
Kimberly's screams could be heard up and down the block, but no one dared to help her. They had all run away at the first sight of the strange bird creatures. As much as they had wanted to help, they could do nothing. Kimberly shrank back as one of the Tengas grabbed the back of her chair; he'd found that pushing her could make for amusing fun. He shoved her toward another Tenga; the gloved Tenga made passes at her as she passed by. He succeeded in adding a few more gashes to her arms, and one to her face. Finally satisfied, one Tenga gathered a running start with the back of Kimberly's wheelchair and flung her forward. Kimberly closed her eyes and screamed before being swallowed by a purple mist with the Tengas.
Well there you have it. Kimberly's now in Rita's hands for better or for worse. And for the new contest: The Rangers will go on a rescue mission, but the question is how many and who? Begin guessing. The closest will receive a yet unknown prize. Annoucement will be made in a future chapter.
Next time on Windmill into the Fall: Zordon knows that there was a brief disturbance in Angel Grove involving a citizen, but due to a signal scrambling, he is clueless. Alpha works frantically to get the Power Chamber back online so the source can be traced, but will it work? And what's in store for Kimberly now? Find out next chapter on Windmill into the Fall!