Here is the newest chapter! I got really inspired tonight and wrote a lot. I suppose it's because darkness/angst is one of my better subjects... anyway two of my contest winners from the previous chapters have not gotten back in touch with me and I really need to be able to send you your icons! Anyway, enjoy this chapter and read my notes at the end!

Chapter 18 A Broken, Battered Toy

Rita cackled evilly as the Tengas returned in triumph. They had tossed aside Kimberly's wheelchair, finding it to be too much baggage for them to carry. Now they carried the girl, one Tenga to each arm. Kimberly's feet dragged the ground, her head hanging low. She had passed out on the transport back. A few drops of blood dripped from her arms in the areas not already dried. "For once you Tengas didn't screw up the first time around. Take her down to one of daddy's holding cells and leave her there. I'll deal with her soon enough."

The Tengas cackled in agreement before dragging Kimberly off down the hallway. Rita turned when she felt someone's presence nearby. "Come out Zedd. I know you're there in the doorway." A smirk appeared on Rita's face. So her husband had come to see her handy work. "I take it you saw the girl," prompted Rita.

"Of course I saw her. You couldn't have missed her!" retorted Zedd.

"And?"

"And what?"

"What do you think of my plan now?"

"You still haven't finished it."

"I've finished part two though. Both it and part one were successes. You'd thought I'd fail with part one." Rita could argue with him as long as she wanted. She knew it was getting on his nerves. He'd never been able to get this close to succeeding. He stuck with the monsters. Rita realized the monsters weren't going to work. Her monsters would never beat the Power Rangers, but a Ranger breakdown would.

"What are you trying to say?" asked Zedd, tapping his foot impatiently.

"I'm saying I've done what you couldn't." Rita smirked again.

"Bah, I'm in retirement."

Rita raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Did you just decide that two minutes ago?"

"NO!" roared Zedd. "It's time we left the destroying of the universe to the younger generation. You should step down too."

"Hardly! You just can't take the fact that I've done something right! That I'm on my way to truly destroying the Rangers once and for all!"

"I don't have to put up with your attitude!"

"Oh I'm sorry, Mr. Retired Alien. Am I being too loud for you?"

Zedd growled loudly, his body turning a glowering red. Without saying another word, he turned and walked back out the doorway, stomping down the hallway. This pleased Rita. Zedd was not used to such tactics, especially since he had not thought of the idea in the first place. Men scoffed Rita.

Finster walked into the room. "I've just heard that the Tengas have returned successfully. I take it you are very pleased?"

"Finster, those new Tengas were the perfect idea. They actually did something quickly for once."

"And the weapon?"

Rita grinned. "Did you see what it did to her skin? Simply divine! I don't see why you didn't create something like it for the old Tengas!"

"Well the idea never really came to me then. Plus, every time I tried to modify Rito's Tengas, he'd force me away, even after I told him I could improve the warriors."

"Count on my brother to be the idiot… oy."

"At any rate, the Tengas never were modified while we were still on the moon palace. Now however, I can modify them all I want. Rito no longer cares."

"Hmm… I'll have to keep that in mind… For now, place two Tenga warriors outside of Kimberly's cell."

"Already anticipated and done. The girl has waken, but has not said anything."

"Good. I will pay a small visit to her shortly. Do you think Zordon knows?"

"About our kidnapping?"

"Yes."

"I do believe he does. After the signal scrambler was turned off, he could retrieve video footage previously blocked by the signals. I dare say he is already preparing his Rangers to invade."

Rita contemplated this. "Ahh who cares? Let him send his little Rangers to do his dirty work. We must prepare for when they arrive and give them a good old Rita Repulsa welcome."

"What do you have in mind my queen?" asked Finster.

"We must make Pinky welcome first… then we will prepare for the Rangers based on her reactions."

"Oh?"

"Gather a few tubes Finster…Let's take a sample of her DNA and see just what we can do with it. I think I have an idea in mind for it and you had better be able to make it work."

"Just give me the details, and I will make sure it does," responded Finster as he scurried off to gather his supplies.

Rita cackled to herself. Even if the Rangers were to succeed, she was going to have her fun before that ever happened. No more skirting around, not risking death. This time, it was whatever she wanted. No rules to play by. She wasn't going to be nice anymore. Look where it'd gotten her- she was a boomerang alien, back living with her father of all people at her age. Rita was disgusted and taking care of the Rangers had given her a reprieve from the normally dull life she lived. For the first time in a long time she felt powerful and in charge. Rita wasn't going to let that feeling disappear so easily.

Finster returned with a brown pouch at his waist. "I've everything we need for testing," he called.

"Perfect. Now lead me to her cell and we'll get right down to business," replied Rita as she grabbed her staff. It really wasn't necessary, but it was part of the outfit and it made her more evil.

"Of course." Finster lead her in the direction of the dungeons, taking her down twisting, turning, and crumbling flights of stairs to the cell holding area. The dungeon area was rarely used by her father anymore and was pretty much for looks, but it came in handy during times like these. As far as Rita knew, there was nothing in any of the cells but the decaying remains of alien skeletons. Cleanup was not a term her father was familiar with. He simply left whatever was in the cell for the next prisoner.

Kimberly was being held in one of the center cells. Rita glanced upon the girl who was curled up in the corner, tears silently falling down her face. Her was a broken human in front of her, and Rita knew that in normal circumstances there would have been confidence brimming from the girl, but not now, not after Rita's mental and physical torture, neither of which Kimberly knew was her doing. Here was a fine example of an occupied cell. Not only was Kimberly an occupant, but she shared her cell with the remains of a dinosaur-creature, it's armor still attached to it's body by a few frayed threads. A rusted sword was thrust through the rib cage, a supposed suicide attempt to escape the madness that was Master Vile. The way the body was contorted, one could tell the attempt had caused a slow death.

Rita noticed that Kimberly did not seem to know of anyone outside her cell. Pointing her staff she said, "I do believe you owe me an acknowledgement of sorts, Pinky," as sparks flew onto Kimberly's body, causing her to scream out in pain.

"Leave… me… alone," she gasped.

"I don't think you should be the one giving me commands. I believe you're the prisoner, not me."

"What do you want… with me?" asked Kimberly as she rubbed her arms. It suddenly felt cold in the cell.

"You're my new toy, Kimmy. So far, you've been so much fun to play with, and you don't even realize it."

Kimberly didn't understand what Rita meant. She'd only been attacked this evening.. if it still was evening. "Toy?" she choked.

"Oh yes. I've been having fun with you since last summer. You could have been a lovely gymnast, probably gone to the Olympics, but I interfered."

Kimberly's eyes went wide. She couldn't mean… she couldn't have done… did she? Had it really been Rita who had destroyed everything she had dreamed of, everything she had worked so hard to achieve?

Rita watched the emotions cross Kimberly's face, receiving the exact reaction she had hoped for. "Yes, it was all me! A marvelous plan, and you fell for it! You stayed late, and a Putty put a tonic in your drink. And those dreams? All me. I caused you to break off with Tommy. It was all perfect. You cut yourself off all thanks to me. I couldn't have asked for a better toy!" Rita laughed evilly, the laughter echoing throughout the dungeons.

Kimberly was silent, completely silent. There was so much information to take in, so much pain returning that she thought she'd ridden herself of, but this conversation brought it all back in one giant wave. It overtook her body and she couldn't react, couldn't speak.

"Aww what's the matter? Didn't think I was capable of such a thing? Just like your friends have changed, so have I. I'm not so nice anymore and I don't want to play nice. If I had been this way years ago, you and I wouldn't be here having this conversation." Rita motioned to Finster to hand over the keys to Kimberly's cell, to which Finster gave willingly. Rita placed the correct key in the lock and smiled when she head a loud "click". She slipped into the cell with the former pink Ranger and shut the door behind her. She wanted a closer look at the girl she had worked so hard to get ahold of. She nudged Kimberly with her foot. When the girl didn't move, she nudged her harder, eliciting a groan from Kimberly. "Roll over you. I want to see your injuries." Kimberly didn't comply. She was in too much pain to even move. Rita became frustrated and used her staff to pry the girl onto her back and hold her in that position.

"The… Rangers… will get… you…" muttered Kimberly.

"Oh I'm sure they will, but whether or not you'll be alive to see it is the question." Rita was pleased with the Tenga injuries Kimberly had received. "You are my toy, and if I kill you off before they arrive, so be it. It's not as if you are in any position to stop me!" She jabbed Kimberly in the stomach and grinned when Kimberly doubled over in pain.

"Please…. Stop…" begged Kimberly.

Rita kicked Kimberly. "I said, you don't tell me what to do! You are my toy, my prisoner! I do what I damn well please with you!"

Finster winced as her voice rose higher and higher in pitch. It was enough to get anyone to cooperate for a simple moment. One just simply wanted it to stop. Finster then remembered the supplies he had carried down in his pouch. "My queen, would you like for me to gather the samples now?"

"Huh? Oh yes, test away. Make sure you get a DNA sample. I have plans for that." Rita had been so busy enjoying her fun that she had forgotten that Finster was even standing outside. She knew she could have more fun with Pinky later if she so desired.

"As you wish," answered Finster as he stepped into the cell. He rummaged through his bag before pulling out a needle that was attached to a small bottle. He knelt by Kimberly's curled up body. He did feel a little sorry for the girl, but his loyalty to his queen was more powerful. Finster was gentle when sticking Kimberly with the needle, but was surprised when the girl didn't even flinch. He glanced at her face, and noticed that she had passed out from the pain. Finster carefully placed the now full bottle back in his pouch.

Rita watched Finster run a series of tests and write notes on a piece of paper. Whatever he was studying about, she could careless. However, she knew she had to tolerate what Finster wanted, especially since he had helped with her plan and gave her whatever she needed. She tapped her foot impatiently, finally realizing that he had finished. "Well that settles that," he said as he brushed off his hands. "I believe I have everything I need from her."

"Good because I was quite bored of waiting on you," retorted Rita.

"All of my notes will help you out," he promised. "They are meant to be used in conjunction with the DNA sample."

The two stepped out of the cell, not caring about Kimberly's current state. Finster locked the door behind them. As the footsteps retreated, Kimberly released a breath long held. She hurt, so much. The pain was all she could think about. Every inch of her body was on fire. She cried. She cried for the pain that was coming from her wounds. She cried for her friends. She cried for Tommy. She cried for the way she had isolated herself. She finally cried herself to sleep.

I mentioned a boomerang alien. The term we use is boomerang kid, meaning a child who leaves home, but returns later to live with his or her parents. Sociology term.

Reminder: Send me any wallpaper ideas to my email. Ideas will be put in a poll for mailing list readers to vote on. The top wallpaper will be made and given to everyone. Rules in chapter 17 at the end. I've already gotten a few good ideas.

In one of the reviews I received, one of you mentioned Tommy's willingness to rescue Kimberly in Turbo, but not in my fic. Turbo and Zeo are farther apart and Tommy has more time to get over Kimberly in Turbo. Plus, he is a teenager with all of those angst ridden emotions. Even our favorite green/white/red/black Ranger has his dark moments too!

Next time on Windmill into the Fall: Jason finds Tommy and forces him to have a one on one chat. Will Jason be able to convince Tommy that saving Kimberly is not only his duty as a Ranger, but also what he really desires?