Authors Note: I apologize for the long wait for this chapter. However, I hope you find it worth the wait. Please reliew, letting me know what you guys think.
Power Rangers Ninjetti
Episode III
Chapter Two
"Answers and Riddles"
Jason rolled his shoulders backward as he stretched his back to its full length, his eyes stiffening into a pensive stare into nowhere particular within the vacant Chamber of Command. Shadows cast by Zedd's slowly revolving fan crawled along the opposite wall, foot and a half high floor fog, and Zedd's dais and throne with Jason's immobile shadow at their center. Yet this held only a scrape of Jason's attention.
The feeling of accomplishment and triumph he had been relishing in after raping Trini had been quickly wiped away by his encounter with Kimberly. He glanced at the floor, replaying in his mind what had occurred when he had shot Kimberly with his second barrage of fireballs.
That shouldn't have happened, he thought to himself, at least not so soon. Weird… and to think…it happened with her? He uttered a low chuckle, cracking half a smile. But then again it's not surprising. She was always strong spirited. But what was she doing there? How did she know I was in that room?
Jason's smile melted back into the concrete now molding his face. Faint anxiety pumped within his heart, spewing out blood quicker. He had no doubt that Sean was thinking about those same questions. For that reason, it was imperative that Jason determine those answers as fast as possible. Perhaps he could use them to his advantage.
Meanwhile accompanied by her minions on the balcony, Rita, who had just turned to say something to Lord Zedd, caught Jason out of the corner of her eye.
"Ahh!" she announced triumphantly, bowing to her master, "Our brave and powerful Monarch has returned!" Finster, Goldar, Scorpina, Squatt and Baboo turned around. Spotting Jason they bowed.
Jason lifted his head and looked at her, immediately submerging his pondering underneath a mask of relaxed and polite incredulity.
Rita did not register Jason's previous expression.
"Rita, is that all you can say?" Zedd chided at her as he bowed as well
She shot him a dirty look. However, Zedd ignored her.
Raising his left hand, he conjured an alloy goblet of smoking potion from white energy coursing through his tubes. No sooner had he finished, he charged his staff with white lighting and seven bolts coursed from the Z on top of it to each of his companions' right hands, providing the same drink for all of them. "A toast, everyone!" Zedd announced, laughter bellowing behind his words. "To the Supreme Monarch of Evil for devastating one of the power rangers to the point of self-revulsion! JASON LEE SCOTT!" he finished, chorused by his minions.
The hair along the back of Jason's neck sprung erect with distant pleasure. He had done it! Jason had launched a campaign against a team of power rangers (his old friends at that), and had succeeded! A faint echo of his previous joy surged through his spine up into his brain, spilling drops of endorphins into his bloodstream.
However, even though he had succeeded with his task, he had not fully won. He would only succeed completely once Trini was in his gasp. That time would come soon. All he needed was patience. In the meantime, he could discover Kimberly's mystery.
Rita took another swig from her goblet, her eyes sweeping the rest of her companions. Goldar and Scorpina were still waving their swords in the air towards Jason, shouting cheers of celebration. Squatt, Baboo, and Finster were clapping as well as they could while each holding a goblet.
Rita snorted, torn between annoyance and glee. She could not deny that it was indeed a rarity for Evil to ensure such an enormous victory over Good. Not only that, but they had never seen a ranger team in this state of devastation. For that, Rita was willing to keep from retorting to Zedd's slight on her. But she would not forget it. Mustering her composure, she raised her glass to Jason again.
"I'm glad you succeeded, my Lord," she said, injecting as much genuine sincerity into each word as was possible without betraying her aggression.
Jason lifted the goblet to his nose and sniffed it. He cocked a smile. It was one of his favorites: an ancient concoction from a planet two star systems away. Unfortunately, this was not the time to celebrate even though the desire to do so tugged at his gut. Instead, he lowered the goblet and lifted his free hand in a motion to silence his minions.
"Thank you for the honor, but we have a problem," he said, his tone cutting through his minions' mirth. He crossed his arms.
His minions gawked at him in silence for several seconds.
"I don't understand, my Lord," Finster began, once he had judged that Rita and Zedd were not going to speak. "You achieved an enormous victory."
"Yes, I did," Jason said, his tone unchanged. "It was… exhilarating." A drop of mirth slipped through his voice as he said the final word and he held onto it, savoring it as if it was piece of tender marinated steak.
"Then forgive me, my Lord, I fail to understand—"
"You saw what happened when I attacked Kimberly?" Jason cut across Finster, his mirth eviscerated.
"I'd love to see her when she takes off her helmet!" Rita squealed with laughter. She had always been jealous of Kimberly's aspirations, which had driven her to end Kimberly's gymnastics career all those years ago.
"When I shot at her again, Rita!" Jason cut across her in an icy tone.
Rita froze with her face stretched in midlaugh, making her look like a stupefied clown. "Oh!" she finally said, barely moving her lips.
Both she and Lord Zedd had witnessed the attack, along with Jason's change in posture after Kimberly had crashed onto the floor.
Lord Zedd stepped forward. "What do you mean, my Lord?" he asked.
"The force from those fireballs should have de-morphed her," Jason said focusing on Zedd. "Something protected her. Did any of you see what it was?"
"No, my Lord," Zedd replied, shaking his head. "I thought I saw a flash in front of her, but if I had it was for barely an instant."
"I see," Jason said. "I thought I saw something similar," he mused softly to himself, turning his gaze back to the floor.
Thirty long seconds hung in the air. Jason's minions craned their ears and eyes, wanting to snatch at the slightest word when Jason spoke. Only Zedd remained at ease.
"Jason?" Rita asked in a meek voice, unsure of how to read Jason's mood.
A pint of irritation sizzled beneath Zedd's skin at the sound of her voice. Will you ever learn when to be quiet! he snarled in his thoughts, poking her in the ribs with his elbow.
Rita stumbled a foot sideways, rubbing her left side. Resentment boiled within her stomach, churning with the desire to retort to Zedd. Yet as before, she restrained herself even though she knew why Zedd had dug into her ribs like that.
Shortly after Jason had "restored" Rita and Zedd to their evil forms, he had become curious about Zedd's softer attitude, since it was different from when Jason had met Zedd in the Other World, Zedd's personal dimension, during Jason's time as a ranger. After isolating Tommy from the rest of the team and then successfully drained the remainder of the Green Ranger's powers from him by trapping them in a green crystal, Lord Zedd had brought the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers to the Other World to gloat about his victory. Back then, Lord Zedd had been ruthless and cold, an entity that lived up to his reputation of viciousness. Yet the Lord Zedd that Jason had "revived" was a sappier, jollier, and diminished shell of his former glory. Suspicious of these changes in attitude—and baffled that Zedd had even considered marrying Rita mere months after he had banished her from the castle and from his sight—, Jason interrogated and telepathically probed Finster for the reasons behind this, which had proved more of a challenge then Jason had initially surmised. Strained by his loyalties to Rita, Lord Zedd, and Jason, the Little Mutant Dog, as Rita was fond of calling Finster, was surprisingly resilient to Jason's probing and was hesitant to answer any of Jason's questions. However, Jason gathered enough to guess that Rita had used some form of deception. In the end, Finster finally divulged that Rita had poisoned Lord Zedd with a love potion Finster had supplied her so that she could regain her authority.
Upon learning that, Jason commanded Finster to inject Lord Zedd with an antidote, so that Zedd would be as ruthless as possible. Quaking in terror, Finster complied. To Rita's immense dissatisfaction and horror, when Zedd had discovered that his character had been weakened by Rita as a ploy for her to gain power again, Zedd almost killed her. Yet surprisingly Jason intervened, telling Zedd that they needed each other and that he wanted both of them in his empire. He summed up his order with an ultimatum stating that they could either do that or he would kill them. Seething with rage at the concept, both of them agreed to Jason's conditions.
It was those facts that forced Rita to check herself in the present. She owed her restoration to Jason. Plus, it was only by Jason's favor that she had not been imprisoned, murdered, or thrown out of the castle again. Thus, she was not tempted to get on Jason's bad side. I liked you better when you were jollier, she thought, referring back to when Zedd was under the influence of Finster's love potion. At least you weren't so abusive, she added, locking her glare with steel to the side of Zedd's face.
Despite Jason's pardon, Zedd had not forgiven Rita of her crime since then. He had tried to divorce Rita but she had counter argued by saying that they would be a stronger force if they stayed united. Jason told them that he did not care if they were married or not, but told Zedd he could not banish or vanquish Rita. And in the back of her mind, Rita thanked Jason deeply for that.
"Continue surveying them," Jason commanded in a more confident voice.
Rita snapped her attention back to Jason and the present. Victory over Trini… strange event with Kimberly, she recited to herself.
"Alert me if anything else happens." Without waiting for a reply, Jason turned and left for his private chamber. He needed to be alone, and did not want Zedd to pick up that he was unnerved. Still, even though Jason had anticipated this development in the rangers, he had not expected it to manifest so quickly within them. First Tommy, now Kimberly, he sighed. I wonder how long it will take for the others' to develop. He smiled. This is going to interesting… maybe even fun.
Darkness and shadows nestled along the walls of Kimberly's living room, held back only by the light of a single lamp on its lowest setting sitting on an end table beside one of the two loveseats framing a coffee table in the middle of the room.
Lying underneath the lamp's light, a now unmorphed Kimberly clutched an ice bag to the right side of her head, while resting the left side of her head on her loveseat's armrest. Though initially the ice had soothed her wound, she no longer felt a difference between it and the drum rally banging within her cranial capillaries. Facing the opposite loveseat (both of them ran perpendicular to the double door wide, smooth cornered doorway leading to the hallway), Kimberly's eyes hung open only because she had not yet descended into sleep. Faint glimmers of indistinguishable colors and vague shapes matted her vision, but she did not care. Numbness had frozen her emotions while shock grappled her cognitive thoughts, locking them into a fractured, hyper-sped loop of the past twenty minutes since she had woken up.
But nothing blared louder or projected sharper in her memory than the past two minutes. Trini's screeching wail reported and echoed within Kimberly's mind, stitched with a collage of her ravaged and raped body writhing with Jason standing before her. White noise of Billy's confirmation that Jason had raped Trini sprinkled the savage requiem within Kimberly's mind.
Tear droplets swarmed together behind Kimberly's lower eyelids. I should have been there sooner, she protested from far away. Beneath the mass of numbness, regret and remorse now stirred in the depths of her core, pulling at her stomach. I could have helped more.
But what else could I have done? her conscious amended wisely. Part of the fog around her mind cleared as she began thinking. Jason had overpowered her with only two attacks: first with those fire balls, and then her head wound. Jason really did that! she thought, cold realization coiling around her lungs.
The shroud of defeat wafted inches from her skin. Breezes of shame blew from it, darkening Kimberly's regret. Kimberly wanted to veil her face in shame.
I failed, Kimberly thought.
In less than twenty seconds, she had gone from the aggressor to being at Jason's mercy. (Who am I kidding?! she snapped, shaking out of her shame. Jason had the upper hand and I knew it!) What else could she have done? Had she been in there any longer she could have been murdered. Kimberly had been more courageous than she had been in her life by facing Jason tonight, but in the end, she was not enough. She—who had loved being a power ranger so much that it rivaled her gymnastics passion to the point she had once decided to put her career on hold to stay a ranger.
Jason… what happened to you? Kimberly asked. Her cheekbones clenched as the truth swallowed her: Jason was a monster now.
"Kim?" Adam whispered. "Kim?"
"Hmm?" she asked, blinking as she surfaced back to the present.
Adam was crouched in front of her, silently beseeching with his compassionate and serene face like a dog would to his or her owner. "Yeah?" she added in a sigh, too drowsy to force a polite smile at her friend.
"Are you okay?" Adam asked, concern lurking behind his eyes.
"Yeah," she sighed. "I just can't get what happened out off my mind."
"I bet," Adam responded. Reaching out, he patted her arm. "Try to get some rest. We're looking out for you."
"We've got your back," Rocky supplied from behind her. Perched on the back edge of the armrest, he laid a hand on Kimberly's left shoulder. "We won't let anything else happen tonight," Rocky added.
Venting a sigh, Kimberly shut her eyes but did not fall asleep. Anxiety lurked beyond her senses' detection. That and she did not know if she had a concussion.
Rocky and Adam's gazes intersected instantly. Even now, Adam saw through Rocky's brave mask, aware of the toil that knotted the base of Rocky's tongue. Adam lifted his eyebrows, asking in gesture if Rocky was alright for now, knowing that Rocky would understand.
Rocky nodded and then spun his head toward the farthest window. "I guess we can't call for an ambulance, huh, Billy?" he half-joked.
A smile blossomed from Adam's gladness at hearing Rocky say something light hearted again, relief spreading throughout his body. For the moment, he forgot his worry. There you go, Rocky, Adam though.
However, Adam did not forget his wits. Knowing Rocky as he did, Adam was not at all surprised to hear the serious undertones—nay, a plea—in his partner's voice. Adam followed Rocky's gaze, laying eyes on their sentinel.
Billy stood in front of the window in full ranger attire, holding his helmet at his waist. Not looking back at Rocky, he cracked a smile. "I wish we could," he said. He glanced at Rocky, Kimberly, and then to Adam, silently expressing his sympathy before returning his gaze to overlooking Kimberly's front lawn.
His eyes glanced down at the flowerbed beneath the window. Due to the limited light, Billy could not identify what flowers occupied it. He then shot his gaze at the house directly across the street unworried about his current attire. At this hour, hardly anyone would be up so he was not worried about exposure. Besides, all of the lights in that house, like the others flanking its sides, were off.
Not at all interested, nor even thinking of what flowers Kimberly had populated around her house or the state of the neighborhood, Rocky snarled, tossing his head from side to side with restless agitation grinding against his stomach's inner wall. "But we can't!" Rocky spat, tightening his hands into fists.
He knew that was untrue. They could easily either call an ambulance to the house or drive Kimberly and Trini there, and the doctors and nurses would have helped them out gladly. However, bound as they were to Zordon's rules by their honor, police involvement would be unwise as it would infringe upon them. Since Trini and Kimberly were victims of assault, the hospital would probably contact the police. Even trying to persuade the hospital officials to not involve the police could be suspicious.
Billy sank his head, and uttered a sigh. He turned to his friend, remorse pulling the outer corners of his eyelids. Of all the times for a reunion, why couldn't I have come in happier times? he asked himself. Billy of course knew the answer but was not at liberty to inform the others. Mustering himself, he crossed over to Rocky's side. He clasped Rocky's shoulder, squeezing it a bit.
Rocky paused and then gazed into Billy's face. Even though it had been a little over eight years since Rocky had seen Billy face to face, he found himself staring into a face that he did not know. Purpose and perseverance had etched Billy's face into a stone of certainty. Rocky blinked. When he had been a ranger on Earth, Billy had been a fairly good Martial Artist, which had made enormous strides in terms of Billy's personal development. However, the personal development Billy had made between then and now was literally awesome. Rocky felt that he was almost looking at a different person, and as a result almost gaped.
When Billy spoke, he spoke from his heart, soul, body, sacred animal, and mind. "We're going to get through this," Billy said simply.
And Rocky believed him. That was all he needed to hear.
Adam watched the pair in masked awe. Way to go, Billy! he cheered silently, allowing a smile to brighten his face.
Kimberly betrayed her gloom with a smile at Billy's words. Though subdued by her condition, she reminded herself that she had gotten though her last head injury. She chortled slightly. It had been one of the most difficult times of her life.
Due to exhaustion from an intense daily workout/practice schedule in order to prepare for the Pan Global tryouts and constant attacks from Rita and Lord Zedd's forces, Kimberly had lost her balance while attempting a basic back flip on the balance beam, and fallen on her head. After a couple of days in the hospital she physically recovered. Nevertheless, she had resigned gymnastics because she was anxious of another accident occurring. It had taken a courageous demonstration from Katherine, Kimberly's ranger successor, diving off a high dive into a swimming pool to show Kimberly that she could face her fear. Having been in a similar accident, Katherine understood where Kimberly was coming from and also what the consequences would be because she had had the same anxiety and had made the same resigning choice. Plucking up her courage, Kimberly attended the tryouts, and succeeded, qualifying for the Pan Global Games. Even now, Kimberly still had great admiration for Katherine for inspiring her as she had.
Yeah, but that was then and this was now, Kimberly thought. During that time, she had been dealing only with her life. Now she was fighting for the life of her friend.
As Kimberly contemplated this, Sean wobbled into the room, supported on either side by both Tommy and Zack. Dressed in one of Jake's full length cobalt bath robes, the now showered Green Ninjetti Ranger sat himself down into the corner between the wall opposite Kimberly and the doorway, ignoring the rest of the chairs and footstools in the room. Adam, Billy, and Rocky turned their gaze at the newcomers.
Meeting Tommy's eye, Zack nodded and withdrew out of the room to the hall closet.
Kimberly's gaze, however, drifted to the upper exact center of the wall in front of her. There hung a brass framed painted portrait of her father and stepfather standing on either side of her mother with Aisha, Jake, and Kimberly in front of them on a lower level as if the group were on invisible risers. Hung underneath the portrait was a row of 8"x10" framed photographs of Jake and her, and their friends at their wedding reception. All of the photographs and pictures were dear to Kimberly, each for various reasons.
However, it was the portrait of her immediate and step family she stared at. It was the most important item to Kimberly in her house because it was a symbol of her family's (both biological, step, and friendly) love for her, and also of the strength of that love. Made from separate photographs of the five of them, Pierre had given it to Kimberly as his wedding present to her.
Unfortunately, the artworks' 2-D quality reminded Kimberly that her family was on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean in Paris. She could not ask them for assurance. And they could not comfort her. She darted her eyes to her wedding photograph, zooming in on Jake as tears leaked from underneath her eyes.
"You miss them, Kimberly," Sean simply spoke, admiring the portrait. Half of his face was shrouded in shadow.
All eyes turned to him.
"What?" Kimberly asked.
"Your family," Sean clarified as if they were having tea, yet the exhaustion rang clear through his speech. He faced her, feeling the weight of his head triple as he did so. Yet he held her with his eyes nevertheless with certainty and compassion as their iron foundation.
Kimberly tilted her head in a gape. "Yes, I do," Kimberly answered.
Billy narrowed his eyes upon Sean. He did not need to be a telepath to recognize that his friend was in a terrible state. And that knowledge worried him. Why didn't you tell me this earlier, Sean? Billy thought to himself, shielding his thoughts.
"Sean, you look terrible," Billy said, crossing towards Sean. "You should get some sleep."
"I agree," said Tommy.
Sean did not look at the other rangers; already knowing who had spoken. Yet he smiled. Instead, Sean held Billy in his eyes.
"Thank you for your concern, but I will sleep when all of you have heard what you are yearning to know," Sean said simply.
Just then, Zack marched in, carrying some first aid supplies. Without pausing, he nodded to Tommy as he passed him crossing to Kimberly. Adam stood and moved to Rocky's side, allowing Zack room to kneel in front of Kimberly.
"Hey, Kim," Zack said, soaking a cotton ball with peroxide. "Let me see your head," Zack added. He sat the peroxide bottle down, nudged Kimberly's head to the left so that the wound was illuminated by the lamp.
Wincing sharply, Kimberly withdrew the ice bag. Zack stiffened his recoil.
Three deep gashes scraped into her cranium a centimeter above her temple met his survey. Insignificant scratches and abrasions populated the area while half dried blood streamed out of two of the gashes down past her ear.
Zack did not sigh. He did not flinch, nor look away. Instead, he began dabbing the wound with the cotton ball.
Kimberly winced and gasped, jerking her head into the backrest of the couch.
"I'm sorry, Kim, but I gotta do this," Zack whispered. Sighing, she slid her head forward. Zack glanced up before addressing her gashes again. "What's everyone so silent about?" he asked aloud.
"Sean says he has something to tell us," Tommy responded in an indistinguishable voice. "I'd like to hear it."
Zack pulled out a bandage and a sheet of cloth. "So would I," Zack replied, his voice neutral as he squeezed some Neosporin onto the bandage. "You never said how you ended up like that, Sean." he added, glancing at Sean as he wrapped the bandage around Kimberly's head.
"I was watching over Trini," Sean answered, "All night."
Kimberly's eyes flared open. Seized by fury, she clutched the armrest and pushed herself up to a crouching position, plowing through the throbbing of her head. Zack and Rocky jerked back in surprise while Adam moved toward her, placing a cushioning hand on her shoulder. Kimberly shrugged it off.
"You!" she spat, glaring at Sean with knives of contempt. Sean held her gaze with patience, too wise and tired to argue. Kimberly neglected this act. "You were outside her room all night and you did nothing!? How could
you have let this happen? I thought you were here to help us! But instead, you allowed my best friend to get raped! Please tell me you have an explanation for that!" She ended in a snarl.
Zack flipped his gaze back and forth between Kimberly and Sean.
Sean took in all of Kimberly's words and splashed them upon a river stone with compassion.
"Had I interfered, Trini would have been in a worse condition," Sean replied, his calmness quelling most of the tension in the air. "Say whatever you wish to me, regardless, Kimberly, and I will tell you if I myself have not thought of it these past eight years."
Kimberly blinked at this. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"All of you, minus Billy, know so little of what that woman has endured," Sean continued in a heavier voice that reflected his nostalgia, looking at them in turn. "However, I will not elaborate on that at this time."
"I think you owe us the truth!" Kimberly retorted.
"Trini deserves to know it before you do," Sean responded.
Kimberly snorted, averting her eyes to the ceiling away from Sean.
"You're loyalty to Trini is admirable," Sean said, keeping his cool. "But I will not sit here entertaining your curiosity at the cost of our team."
Tommy narrowed his gaze on Sean, sharpening his hearing.
"I do not have the energy to do so," Sean continued. "I am fighting for my life." He added, raising his left arm in front of his face. Relaxing his focus, the green energy streaks surfaced from under his skin, slithering along his forearm and hand. Just as before, half of their cores were silver while the other half were yellow. "And I am also fighting to maintain the ranger powers of Trini, Zack, and myself."
Everyone else in the room gawked at what they saw. Kimberly's tightened face relaxed. Only she, out of everyone else in the room could understand fully the significance of what Sean was experiencing. Yet something Sean had just said made her brain twitch in confusion.
"You said you were fighting for Zack and Trini's ranger powers also," Billy asked, keeping his tone neutral. "How is that possible?"
"Because neither of them earned the right to bear the Great Power," Sean explained. "In my haste to arm you against Jason's forces, I neglected that fact." These words hit the others like a battering ram. Even Zack understood somewhat. "It is my fault that I am suffering. You have done nothing wrong. I am sorry."
"Does this mean that I won't be able to morph?" Zack asked.
"You can morph," Sean answered. "But the source of your powers comes from my life force. If this power struggle is not resolved, then I will die and both yours and Trini's ranger powers will disappear. However, that cannot be solved now. Now, I wish to arm you with information."
None of the others spoke. Kimberly had thought her energy loss episode when Katherine (who had been under one of Rita's spells at the time) had stolen her power coin had been terrible, but she had never considered what Sean was describing to them. One question blazed in some form or fashion within the others' minds. How could one individual power two other power rangers in addition to himself? Sympathy and a sense of helplessness reverberated from them.
Sean, Billy thought, unsure if Sean could hear him, I'm sorry you had to endure this alone.
"What will you tell us?" Adam asked in a soft voice, determined to move the conversation forward and to honor Sean's requests. Sean had done nothing to cause Adam to distrust him. As a result, Adam was determined to help him out.
Rocky silently agreed with Adam's question. He was getting tired of the constant apprehension. He felt as though he was playing a role in a mid to late 1990s horror thriller. Those guys could make a movie series with the stuff we've dealt with in the past 12 hours, he mused seriously. Jokes were a distant commodity only represented by a faint, nauseating echo. However, some of Adam's patience had rubbed off on him in the years they had become closer. Sean will reveal what he feels is important when he feels it is the right time, he told himself. Thinking back, he recalled that Zordon had been similar in terms of information with them. He's not being rude; he's just trying to work with the time he has available.
Sean stared at Adam with an iron gaze. After a handful of seconds, he spoke from his heart. "That what Trini went through tonight was inevitable," he said.
Two heartbeats passed, and then Zack scoffed.
"You have got to be joking!" he spat, appalled.
"You're saying that Trini was meant to be raped by Jason?" Tommy asked out of curiosity, hostility gone from his voice. He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, yet the rest of his face remained slack.
"No," Sean answered. "Merely that it was only a matter of time before she remembered what Jason was… and also discovered what he had become."
Billy nodded at the words Sean had used. However, none of the others saw him do this.
"Remember?" Rocky pondered. "She knew this… and then somehow forgot?"
Sean nodded, his body wailing for sleep now but he ignored it. "To an extent, you are correct: that is almost what happened."
"You aren't making much sense," Zack interjected.
"I am making perfect sense," Sean countered. "However, I don't think it would be wise to tell you everything before Trini remembers her past."
"Don't we have a right to know?" Adam asked.
Tommy darted his eyes among his teammates, determined to stay neutral and objective. This day has been the craziest day of my life, he reflected. One thing's for sure: one bad move and we're dead. He shifted his gaze upon Sean. I don't know what exactly is going on, Sean, but it looks like you're playing with a very hot fire that could be your pyre.
Indeed, it could be, Tommy, Sean answered, not looking at him. But better mine than yours.
Tommy lifted his eyebrows. He had not heard someone else's voice in his head since Rita had controlled his mind.
"Indeed, you do," Sean answered Adam, heaving a sigh. "But I think it would be best that Trini learns this before you do."
"Why?" Rocky asked.
"It is important for her to discover this one her own," Sean said.
At this time, Billy stepped forward. "Would you please tell us what you can of what happened tonight?" Billy interjected.
"Yes," Sean said, glad for the subject deviation. "Trini was beyond my help before Jason had teleported into the room. He had already forged a deep rooted telepathic link with her mind, connecting himself to her autonomic functions. Had I tried severing it, Jason would have ripped Trini's mind apart."
Thirteen seconds ticked before the effect of those words had soaked into the rangers' minds and bodies. Absentmindedly, Kimberly picked up the ice bag and applied it to her head.
"In my current state," Sean concluded, "there was nothing I could do to help her without damaging her further."
Adam regarded Sean. "If you weren't fatigued, could you have done something?" he asked humbly.
Sean drew back his head and shut his eyes, replaying the events in his mind. He juxtaposed them with scenarios of him being fully cognitive and energized, and then compared and contrasted the hypothetical and factual data. However, regardless of the simulations, his answer had not changed from when he had probed Jason's mind.
Just as Rocky was about to ask Sean if he was going answer, Sean lowered his head and pulled his eyelids apart, staring at all of them with stony eyes.
The other's mouths had dried upon waiting.
He sighed. "Yes," Sean said at last. As the others were half way blowing out sighs of relief, Sean continued, "However, I would not have." All eyes sharpened on him. Billy watched the rest of his friends, ready to step in as mediator. "As I had said earlier, it was inevitable that Trini remembered and learned who and what Jason is and used to be. Tonight was a prime example of Jason's nature, but not all of it. She has more trials ahead of her that she must endure; some of them alone."
Rocky, Adam, and Zack gawked at Sean, their outrage inscribed in paragraphs upon their faces.
Billy closed his eyes in meditation. Although Billy was sad and outraged by what had happened to Trini, he respected Sean's decision. However, he did not relish the psychological agony his friends were experiencing. Curious as to how Tommy was reacting, he jerked his head toward Tommy and opened his eyes.
Tommy's expression was torn between bafflement and uncertainty. Patience and anger crackled underneath his skin from his chest to the top of his throat, sparking flames of annoyance that could distantly be seen behind his eyes.
Yet despite this inner conflict, Tommy refused to tighten his face. Regardless of how annoyed he was, Tommy wanted to hear more. Too much has happened already, he reminded himself. Wait. Wait.
"I am not hearing this," Kimberly said, sinking back onto the loveseat, and turning her head away from Sean. All eyes flew to her. "I don't know what's worse: Jason or you!" She spun her head around, trying to glare at Sean, but only crinkling her face into a grimace. In the rapidity of her movement, blood stormed into her head. Suddenly, dizziness overpowered her. Her neck buckled, unable to support the added weight in her head and her eyes faltered into a fog. She fell back onto the armrest, slamming her head on the ice bag. The mix of a groan and a moan spewed from her mouth.
Zack and Rocky immediately drove his hands to cushion Kimberly's head. "Hey, be careful," Rocky added with a grin, snatching the ice bag with one of his hands, and offering it back to her.
Kimberly accepted it, sprouting only a weak smile, but did not apply it to her wound.
"Would Jason be as kind to you as I have been?" Sean asked.
Kimberly lifted her gaze back on Sean, her eyes sagging in confusion.
Sean reached out a hand to Billy, while maintaining eye contact with Kimberly. Grasping his friend's forearm, Billy pulled Sean to his feet.
"Thank you, Billy," Sean said, wobbling slightly as he clasped Billy's shoulder for support. The bones in his legs were hollow, while his calf muscles felt like pudding. Regardless, Sean maintained his penetrating stare with Kimberly. "Would he do this?"
Sean stretched out his left arm, with his palm open to the ceiling. He tilted his wrist downward; angling his palm toward Kimberly's wound. Suddenly, a golden—almost white— light shined from deep within his core. Though small, it cancelled out the lamp's glow. The melodic call of the phoenix reverberated from Sean, and then its emblem poured out of Sean's palm into Kimberly's wound, connecting them with a beam of golden light. Several tiny indigo glowing white orbs spewed from Sean's beam, swirling around and above Kimberly, basking her in warm light. The maimed side of her head shined with Sean's light. And she relaxed into it.
Zack scurried out of the way immediately in amazement. However, the others remained where they were. The image of Zordon lying dead in a circular bed of collapsed crystals leapt through Tommy, Billy, Rocky, and Adam's minds. And then the image changed to the moving memory of them using the Great Power to resurrect Zordon and repair Ivan Ooze's damage to the Command Center. Although initially petrified with surprise and shock, the former Ninjetti rangers soon nodded, comprehension dawning on them at what Sean was doing. Zack, having only heard that event described to him by the others, gawked with his mouth hanging open, unable to recognize what was going on.
Soon the swirling orbs fused into four rings above Kimberly. Sean's golden inner light diminished as his beam and energy rings receded into Kimberly.
Zack's eyebrows shot upward in awe. "Kim—what ju—?" he jabbered, pointing a shaking finger at the right side of her head.
Kimberly did not answer. Instead she reached for the bandage, and pulled it off.
The others crowded back around her, exuberance and amazement beaming through their faces upon her. "Kim, you're head!" Zack almost shouted.
Trembling slightly, Kimberly lifted her hand, and touched the side of her head. She gasped. The gashes and abrasions were gone; replaced by healthy skin and hair! Kimberly gasped and smiled, her eyes dancing amongst her friends.
"How did—?" Zack stammered, tossing his head back and forth from Kimberly to Sean.
"The Great Power," Billy answered.
Kimberly sat up, and staring at Sean. "Thank you," Kimberly said from her heart, gazing at Sean with open eyes and newer understanding.
"I cannot heal Trini's damage as easily as I just healed yours, Kimberly," Sean replied, relaxing his stare into a gaze, yet still maintaining eye contact with her. "However, what is important is to remember that Trini is not alone in this."
Kimberly studied Sean's face. After a moment, she nodded.
Sean lifted his gaze to encompass the others. "I believe that Zordon would have been proud of all of you tonight," Sean said. "Baffled as you were by what had happened, you rushed to defend your friend."
Billy nodded in agreement. "In this time of crisis, let's show Jason, Zedd, and Rita what kind of a team we are." Keeping one arm around Sean's waist, Billy extended the other forward, palm up. A dull, metallic 5x12" box materialized from rising blue energy from his hand.
"What's in there?" Zack asked.
Billy looked at him. "Your new communicators," he said, the box opening at his silent command. Inside it were six more communicators generally identical to Billy and Sean's. "Each one has eight buttons circling the face so that we can call people directly without saying each other's name," Billy explained. "The owner's sacred animal emblem is carved unto the faces' underside."
The others stared at the communicators, neither gaping nor sneering. What Sean had said was true. They were power rangers, and had risen up to do what was right. One by one, they walked over and collected their individual communicators, and fastened them around their wrists.
Even though they still wanted to know more, they realized and agreed that the answers were not relevant now. Satisfaction coursed through their veins at the thought of demonstrating to Lord Zedd, Rita Repulsa, and Jason Lee Scott that their team spirit was not shattered. Trini may be incapacitated, but they would stand by her side and protect her until she was better again.