CHAPTER 4
Command Center
Outskirts of Angel Grove
Angel Grove, California
September 19, 1996
8:50 P.M.
"What's the story?" Tommy asked.
Zordon looked at Alpha-5 before letting out a heavy sigh. "THE STORY IS….AN UNFORTUNATE EXPERIENCE TO HAPPEN TO ANY MAN. YOU MIGHT WANT TO TAKE A SEAT BECAUSE THIS IS LONG."
The six rangers sat scattered across the floor, eagerly looking up at the mentor.
"IN MY YOUNGER DAYS, I BECAME ONE OF THE COUNCILMEN FOR A KING. HIS NAME WAS THIRAN LAFEN OXON. HE WAS A GREAT MAN, ALTHOUGH QUITE YOUNG WHEN HE BECAME RULER OF HIS PLANET. HIS MOTHER DIED OF AN ILLNESS TO THE HEART AFTER HIS FATHER WAS KILLED IN A HUNTING ACCIDENT. HE WAS PROBABLY AS OLD AS YOU ALL WHEN HE WAS CROWNED KING."
"THIRAN WAS A STRONG MAN, PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY, BUT HE WAS RATHER ARROGANT AT TIMES. THE MAIDENS ALL ACROSS THE LAND SWOONED OVER HIM, BUT THEIR WAS ONE GIRL THAT WOULD NOT BUDGE. HER NAME WAS NEMINA. SHE WAS A RATHER QUIET GIRL, BUT SHE DID HAVE A SHARP TONGUE WHEN NEEDED."
Zordon laughed. "I CANNOT IMAGINE HOW MANY TIMES SHE SHUT THE POOR BOY DOWN. SHE WASN'T IMPRESSED BUT HIS STATUS OF HIS GOOD LOOKS AND THAT'S WHAT DROVE HIM CRAZY. HE BEGGED HER MANY TIMES TO COURT HER BUT SHE WOULD ALWAYS REFUSE. HE SOMEHOW MANAGED TO WIN HER OVER, AND RIGHT AFTER HER 16TH BIRTHDAY, THEY WED IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE KINGDOM."
"How romantic." Aisha spoke softly to Kimberly with dreamy eyes.
Kimberly laughs at her hopelessly-romantic best friend.
Zordon smiles at first before his face turns into a frown. "AFTER MANY YEARS, IT ALL BEGAN TO FALL APART." He pauses before continuing, "THERE WAS A WOMAN NAMED ANYANDA WHO HAD BEEN IN LOVE WITH THE KING SINCE I COULD REMEMBER. SHE WAS DEVASTED WHEN THIRAN AND NEMINA MARRIED, AND EVEN MORE SO WHEN THEY HAD CHILDREN. ANYANDA WAS QUITE BRILLIANT WITH MAGIC, HER MOTHER TAUGHT HER EVERYTHING SHE KNEW. ANYANDA WAS A TROUBLED CHILD THOUGH, SHE WAS POWER-HUNGRY, MALICIOUS AND DEVIOUS. SHE EXPERIMENTED WITH DARK MAGIC AS WELL."
"KING THIRAN BANNED MAGIC THROUGHOUT THE KINGDOM BECAUSE THE ORACLE PHAOBUS SAID A DARK MAGIC WOULD RUIN THEM. THE KINGDOM WAS HEAVILY MONITORED TO MAKE SURE NO ONE WAS PRACTICING MAGIC, BUT ANYANDA WAS SMART. SHE FIGURED OUT A WAY TO CLOAK THE AURA AROUND HER AND HER HOUSE SO THAT NO ONE WOULD CATCH ON."
"SHE CREATED A POWER ON HER OWN THAT WAS MEANT FOR HER TO GAIN THE POWER TO HELP TAKE OVER THE KINGDOM."
"What happened?" Tommy asked.
"SHE WAS MAKING THE SPELL IN THE KINGDOM'S CEMETERY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT BECAUSE THE CONNECTION TO THE MAGIC REALM WAS AROUND THAT TIME. SHE MADE A DEAL WITH AN EVIL SPIRIT NAMED KANJA THAT THEY COULD TAKE OVER THE KINGDOM IN EXCHANGE FOR THIRAN TO FALL IN LOVE WITH HER."
"ANYANDA GAVE UP HER PHYSICALLY BODY TO KANJA SO THAT THEY COULD BOTH COMBINE THEIR SPIRITS TOGETHER. HOWEVER, KANJA TRICKED HER AND POSSESSED HER BODY FULLY, USING ANYANDA'S BODY AS A HOST BODY."
"Like a parasite?" Adam questioned.
Zordon nodded his head. "EXACTLY. KANJA WAS ABLE TO DISGUISE HERSELF IN THE FORM OF A JADE DIAMOND. QUEEN NEMINA WOULD SOMETIMES VISIT THE CEMETERY AT NIGHT TO TALK TO HER PARENTS. NEMINA FOUND THE STONE AND WAS INTRIGUED BY IT ALL THE TIME. SHE WOULD WEAR THAT STONE EVERYDAY, BECAME CRAZY OVER IT. WHEN THIRAN TRIED TO TAKE IT AWAY FROM HER, SHE LASHED OUT. WHAT HAPPENED WAS WHEN THEY BOTH TOUCHED IT, THE INFLUENCE OF KANJA'S POWER GOT ONTO THEM. THEY BECAME DANGEROUS. FIRST, THEY WERE VERY LUSTFUL. THEN, THEY BECAME SAVAGES, BLOODTHIRSTY AND DEMENTED. THEIR OWN CHILDREN HAD TO BE TAKEN AWAY FROM THEM BECAUSE THE COUPLE JUST WENT INSANE."
"THIRAN AND NEMINA WOULD AT FIRST BECOME UPSET AT THE SMALLEST THINGS, BUT THEN WHEN THIRAN TRIED TO STEAL THE DIAMOND AWAY FROM NEMINA, IT LET OUT AN ESSENCE THAT SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE KINGDOM. WE ALL WENT INSANE AND A WAR BROKE OUT. NO ONE COULD REALLY REMEMBER WHAT WE DID IN THE SPAN OF THOSE FIVE YEARS, BUT WHEN WE ALL AWOKE FROM THE SPELL, QUEEN NEMINA AND MANY OTHERS HAD PERISHED."
The six rangers looked to one another, shocked.
"Why would Kanja let something like that happen?" Kimberly asked.
"THE SAME REASON THAT ZEDD LETS PEOPLE DIE. PEOPLE LIKE HIM AND KANJA ONLY CARE FOR THEMSELVES IN THE END, AND THEY WILL LET NOTHING GET IN THEIR WAY. I PERSONALLY BELIEVE THAT ANJA ENJOYED WATCHING THE SUFFERINGS OF OTHERS."
"So," Tommy sighed before continuing, "when do we start the search for the next key?"
"WE HAVE ALREADY STARTED THE SEARCH FOR THE MAXIN KEY. WHEN WE HAVE LOCATED A SPECIFIC REGION, WE WILL SEND YOU OUT TO FIND IT AS SOON AS YOU ALL ARE AVAILABLE." Alpha-5 answered the rangers.
"FOR NOW, WE SHOULD ALL GET SOME WELL-DESERVED REST. UNTIL TOMORROW RANGERS." Zordon gave them a grim smile before going into hibernation.
The Command Center was still as the team mulled over what they just heard.
Kimberly shook her head. "That's just insane. As if we need another bomb dropped on us right now."
"Can you imagine what would happen if Rita and Zedd got a hold of that power? He'd blow us up just for giggles." Rocky exclaimed.
"Alright guys, let's try not think about that right now. Let's just call it a day and head off to bed." Tommy said. "We still got school tomorrow."
The rest of the rangers nodded in agreement and said goodbyes before teleporting to their homes.
Tommy's House
Angel Grove, California
September 20, 1996
5:47 A.M.
Tommy is standing, holding Kimberly in his arms while she is sleeping. He looks at his surroundings and sees Billy. Billy smiles and waves. Tommy raises his hand to return the gesture but notices that his hand is dripping blood.
"What the hell?" Tommy asks confused before looking down at his girlfriend. Kimberly's chest is sliced open with blood heavily pouring out of her. Out of shock, he drops her body onto the ground and slowly backs away while looking back up at Billy.
Billy stares at the white rangers with a terrified expression before blood starts to drip out of his mouth and ears.
Tommy's feet move faster but he accidentally trips over an object and falls. When Tommy goes to look at what he fell over, he sees that it's Adam.
Adam turns to look at the white ranger with an ashen expression before blood starts coming out of his eyes and nose.
The white ranger gets up and tries to run away but his feet feel like they're dragging. He looks down and see Aisha and Rocky's dead bodies clutching his legs in a death grip.
Tommy tries to pry their hands off but a sudden weight falls on his shoulder and he collapses to the ground. He tries to push the offending object off but it grabs his hand. He turns and see that it is Kimberly, her face a zombie-like stare as she hold his hand.
Kimberly faces then scrunches up in pain and a blood-curdling scream comes from her. "TOMMY HELP MEE!"
"Kim, I'm here!" His words of assurance go on deaf ears as she keeps on screaming. Suddenly, her screams stop and she just stares at him.
"Kim?" Tommy reaches to cup her cheek.
Kimberly's eyes roll back as blood gushes from her eyes and mouth. The acoustic beginning of Matchbox Twenty's song "3AM" starts blaring in the background.
Tommy wakes up with a start, breathing heavily with his hand over his sweaty chest. He looks over at his alarm clock, the cause for the song, and turns it off. He closes his eyes as he tries to regulate his heart rate and runs a hand through his long, dark brown hair. It was now beginning to reach the tops of his shoulder blades, a little too long for his liking.
"C'mon man, get a grip. It was just a dream." He spoke to himself. The teen picked himself out of bed and made his way to the bathroom across the hall. Looking at himself in the mirror, he saw the dark circles under his eyes and the bit of scruff on his chin. He deeply sighed and closed his eyes.
He hadn't had night terrors since he was 12 and they were never that graphic. The story that Zordon told them must have affected him more than he thought. He ran his hand over his face before taking off his sweatpants and going in the shower.
A knock on the door startled the teen. "Tommy?"
"Yeah Mom?"
"Are you okay in there? You've been in the shower for a while." Mrs. Oliver sounded worried behind the door.
Tommy answered. "I'm fine Mom, just lost track of time."
"Alright, well hurry and get ready, you didn't forget that you have to take Kimberly to school did you?"
"No I didn't. I'll be done soon."
After drying off, Tommy walked into his room and put on a white t-shirt, dark denim straight leg jeans, and a pair of black vans. His hair was still damp as he put it up in a ponytail. He grabbed his necklace with an arrowhead and falcon pendants that Kimberly made for him and black JanSport backpack and made his way downstairs to where his mom was finishing making breakfast.
"Morning honey." Dana Oliver sounded chipper as she placed the hot bacon on her son's plate.
"Hey Ma."
"You okay hon? You look awfully tired." Dana grabbed her son's chin, examining his face.
Tommy waved off her hand before tucking into his food. "I'm fine Ma."
Dana glared her eyes at her son and Tommy, feeling her steely gaze, quickly answered. "Mom, trust me, I'm fine."
"Alright. Well hurry up and eat, you have to leave soon." Dana walked to the sink and began to clean the dishes.
Tommy glanced over that the clock and saw that it was 7:15 A.M. "Shit!" He stuffed as much food as he could into his mouth before getting up.
"What did you just say?" Dana turned around in shock.
Tommy gulped his food down. "I said I love you Mom." He ran over to her a gave to a kiss on the cheek. "See you later!" He sped out the door before his mother could scold him for his language.
7:19 A.M.
"Bye Mom!" Kimberly yelled as she ran out of the house with flat tan sandals in hand. She made her way into Tommy's white Jeep Wrangler. "You're late hon." She said after giving him a kiss.
"I know I know." Tommy muttered as he backed out of her driveway and sped off towards school.
Kimberly looked over at her boyfriend. Tommy was normally quiet but she could sense that something was bothering him. "What's wrong?"
Tommy kept his answer short. "Nothing."
"You sure?"
"I'm fine babe."
Kimberly raised an eyebrow before turning to the passenger window. "If you say so."
They got to school around 7:30 and Tommy pulled into his parking spot and shut off the engine. The couple sat in the car in silence before Kimberly turned to her boyfriend. "Do you wanna talk about it?"
Tommy shook his head.
Kimberly reached and gently massaged his neck. "I'm here when you're ready, okay?"
Tommy answered by grabbing her hand and kissing it, squeezing it tightly before letting go.
Kimberly watched Tommy get out of the car before putting on her shoes and getting out as well. She straightened out her high-waist Levi cut offs and black high-neck crop top before grabbing her backpack. Tommy waited for her to finish and when she closed the door, he grabbed her hand and the couple walked into the school.
A/N: Here's Chapter 4. Slowly but steadily we will progress further into the story, I promise. Let me know what you think!