Here's the next chapter!
A few weeks passed since Adam took Tommy to Savannah. Since then Tommy took Kim to the watch the musical Rent, but still had not managed to pop the question that all of their friends have been waiting anxiously for. Zack, Billy, and Hayley were also in town visiting.
"You ready, Kim?" Aisha asked, sitting at the kitchen table. She shook her head at the sight of her husband shoveling down cereal.
"Almost," she called from the hallway. Kim looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. Her hair was just not agreeing with her today. She and the rest of her friends were meeting up at Trini and Jason's house, a few blocks away. Kim bent over and gathered all her hair in one hand, pulling it into a tight ponytail that made her face tighten. She shrugged at herself in the mirror. "That's just gonna have to work," she thought. "What's all this today about, anyway?" she asked, walking into the kitchen and making a face at Rocky.
"Adam said he wanted to have a scavenger hunt like in high school," Aisha answered. "And Trini jumped on the idea since she wasn't there for the high school one."
Kim shrugged her shoulders. "I guess." She and Aisha laughed as Rocky slurped his milk. "Are you ready, Rock?"
He nodded and set his bowl in the sink. He grabbed his keys and the three of them headed to Jason and Trini's house.
A few minutes later, Aisha, Rocky, and Kim arrived at Jason and Trini's house. They rang the doorbell and hugged Trini when she answered the door.
"Come on in, guys, everyone else is here." She gestured toward the living room where everyone was either sitting on the couch or on the floor. She closed the door and followed Rocky into the living room. "Okay, now that everyone is finally here--"
Aisha and Kim pointed to Rocky. "His fault," they said in unison.
Rocky made a face. "Her fault," he argued, pointing to Kim. "Her and the hair."
"Hey," Kim playfully slapped Rocky's arm. "Stop messing with the hair."
"I think it looks great," Tommy said, grinning at her.
"Well, you would," Rocky replied, rolling his eyes.
"If you're all finished!" Trini yelled. She looked around at the suddenly silent room and smiled. "Thank you. Now, as I was saying earlier, now that everyone is finally here, we can finally divide up into teams and start." She looked around and gestured around the room. "There are eleven of us, but since I put everything together, I won't be playing. Instead, I'll be at the finish line. I've already divided up the teams while we were waiting for you guys."
Kim, Aisha, and Rocky all mouthed "sorry" to Trini.
"Team One will be Kim, Aisha, Rocky, Amy, Zack, and Hayley. And Team Two is Jason, Adam, Billy, and Tommy."
Adam made a face. "It's uneven."
"Yeah, so?" Rocky said, sticking his tongue out. He grinned and slapped hands with Zack.
"Jason's heard the clues before, so it's even footing. He heard me when I was trying to come up with everything."
"Is there a time limit on this?" Hayley asked.
Trini looked at her watch. "I wanted to start promptly at 11, but since we didn't, I guess we'll leave the house promptly at noon."
"We don't get to eat first?" asked Zack.
Everyone looked at him in surprise. He was never one to complain about food.
"Find your own lunch," Trini said. "If it interferes, oh well."
Kim, Aisha, Amy, and Hayley looked at each other. "Can we divide our team more? Girls versus guys."
"No! No dividing teams. The teams you have are the ones that you're stuck with. Now, I'll assign you all team leaders. Kim, I know how much you love scavenger hunts, so..."
"Yes!" She clapped her hands excitedly. She looked at her team. "We're so gonna win."
"And..." Trini waved a hand to the other team. "Billy, I guess."
"Thanks for the enthusiasm," he replied dryly.
Trini glared at him. "Okay, so if all goes well, we should be meeting at the finish line around five...no, six, since we had the late start." She looked at her watch and was silent for a few seconds while everyone looked around.
"Were we given the same clues?" Amy asked. "As them?" She gestured to the other team.
Trini thought for a bit and briefly glanced at Tommy. "Some of the clues are different. I'll judge everything when...or if you get to the finish line. The first team to reach the finish line by six...six-fifteen at the latest...with the correct scavenged items is the winner."
"What if we're missing just one thing?" asked Zack.
"Then you lose."
"What if both teams are missing just one thing?" asked Rocky.
"Then the team who gets there first wins."
"What if both teams get there at the same time and both teams are missing just one thing?" asked Zack.
"Then you both lose."
"That's not fair," said Rocky.
"Then you guys play ro-sham-po!" Trini sighed. "Are you guys ready?" Everyone nodded. "Finally. Here you go." Trini picked up two envelopes and handed one to Kim and another to Billy. "Team leaders." She looked at her watch. "On your mark...get set...go."
At Trini's count, Kim and Billy ripped open their envelopes and quickly read through what was written on the card. Trini looked at Tommy and the two of them raised their eyebrows. Adam caught their glance and slyly smiled. Jason saw them and elbowed Adam, making a face.
"Who's car are we taking?" asked Kim.
Rocky shook his keys. "We could fit everyone."
The six people on Kim's team ran for the door. The five people left behind watched them run out of the house without a word. They were silent until they heard the front door slam and didn't say a word until they heard Rocky's car start up and back out of the driveway, to head down the street.
"Do you think they suspected anything?" Tommy asked, taking a seat.
"No," said Jason. "Nothing."
"Well, let's go," said Adam. "Help you get everything set up."
Tommy, Jason, Adam, Billy, and Trini all walked out of the house.
"Read it again, Kim," Rocky said from the driver's seat.
"It says...'in time of grave public crisis, one must have the courage...to face a million and one opponents' It's a quote from Gichen Funakoshi...whoever that is," she answered.
Rocky furrowed his brow. He repeated the words to himself. "I know it," he said, slapping his hand against the wheel. "It's at the dojo, it's the quote hanging above the mirror. Jason's favorite quote."
"On to the dojo, then," Aisha said.
Rocky stepped on the gas and hurried to the dojo. He pulled into the parking lot without stepping on the brake, causing everyone in the car to swerve toward the left. "Sorry guys. But let's hurry. Can't let them win."
Everyone piled out of the car and hurried to the door. Rocky pulled out his keys and opened the door. "Hey Alpha," he said holding the door open for everyone to walk in. "Have Jason or Tommy or any of the others came by?"
"I was told to not say," he answered.
Rocky shot a worried look at his teammates and looked around. His eyes lit up when he saw the envelope on the framed quote above the mirrored wall. It had a number 2 on the outside. He ran over and pulled it down. "If they were here, they probably didn't get the same clue."
"Come on, open it!" Kim said, excitedly. Hayley and Amy exchanged a smile over Kim's reaction.
"Okay, it says..." Rocky opened the envelope dramatically. " 'In the office you will find...green and red stuck in rewind.' What the heck?"
Kim and Aisha looked at each other, repeating the words.
"Office?" Hayley said. She gestured to the back of the dojo where Jason and Rocky's offices were. "Something green and red stuck in the past back there?"
Rocky pointed to Hayley with wide eyes. "You are a genius!" He ran to Jason's office and unlocked it. "Jason has a photo of the tournament when he and Tommy had a draw."
Zack furrowed his brow. "You mean the one when Tommy first moved to Angel Grove?"
"That's the one."
"How come I never noticed it before?" asked Kim.
Rocky shrugged as the six of them crowded into Jason's office, cramping the large room.
"Here it is," waved Amy. She was holding a frame of Jason and Tommy after they had drawn at the tournament. She laughed. "What's up with Tommy's hair? And Jason looks exactly the same."
"Is there a clue?" asked Zack.
"Oh...yeah." Amy looked on the back and found another envelope there. She took it off and opened it. "Trini marked this clue as 'easy'." She looked at the others. "Jeez, I didn't realize that the clues had levels of difficulty with it." Everyone laughed. "Well...it says, 'A robot to depend has always helped to defend.' It also says that we only need a picture. "
"Alpha," Kim, Aisha, Zack, and Rocky said together. The four of them tried to run out of the office at the same time and ended up bumping into each other.
Kim raised her hand. "Team leader." She ran out first with everyone else closely following. "Alpha! Alpha, you're a robot we always depended on and you always helped us to defend Angel Grove."
"I'll take the picture," volunteered Amy. "Everyone gather around Alpha." Kim, Aisha, Zack, Rocky, and Hayley squeezed in around Alpha and gave a big smile. Amy took the picture and Alpha held out an envelope with a number 4 on it.
Hayley reached for it and opened it. " 'White is what I like to be, Easter is how I came to see, a trumpet is how I am to flee'. Any ideas, guys?"
Everyone shook their heads. "Difficulty level: extra hard," said Aisha.
"You guys just want to drive around and see if we could pick anything up?" asked Rocky.
"Yeah," agreed Zack. "We'll see you later, Alpha." Everyone said their goodbyes and walked out to the car.
"Perfect," Jason said. "Alpha said they just left the dojo."
"I think I need to get batteries," Adam said, playing the keys on his keyboard. He looked at it.
"I'll come with you," Tommy said. "I need to pick up a few things myself."
"Any ideas, anybody?" asked Rocky. Nobody said a word. "All right, me neither."
"Wait, slow down, Rock," Aisha said, looking out the window. Rocky stopped the car at a red light. She pointed to a floral shop right out the window. "Could it be a flower? Like a white Easter lily that is shaped like a trumpet?"
"YES!" Kim exclaimed. "Pull over Rocky and let's get a bouquet of those lilies."
"Wait," said Hayley. "Are you sure this is the right one? There must be a million of florists here and...we do need another clue."
"I would just think that it's the right one because it's the closest to our houses," said Aisha. "I don't really see Trini venturing too far. Besides, we could always just ask."
"Okay," agreed Hayley. "Then let's go."
Kim clapped her hands excitedly as Rocky pulled into the parking lot. She hurried out of the car as soon as Rocky unlocked the doors and ran into the shop. Aisha followed her closely, grabbing an Easter lily from where it was gathered outside the store.
"My friends and I are playing a scavenger hunt and we think the Easter lilies are one of the clues," Kim was saying as the rest of her friends followed her and Aisha into the store. Aisha laid the single Easter lily on the counter.
"You came to the right place," the cashier said, grinning. "Except I was told to make sure you grabbed a bouquet." Hayley promptly walked toward where the rest of the bouquets of the Easter lilies were and grabbed a bouquet. She brought it to the cash wrap, where the cashier put it in a vase full of water and handed it back to Hayley. "The flowers and the vase have already been paid for. And I believe this is also yours." The cashier handed an envelope to Kim.
She waved it and said a quick thanks before the six of them walked back out of the florist shop and into the car. She opened the envelope and read the clue out loud. " 'The Power was gone, but never forgotten. A source of light, in happiness, in sadness, and those times in between. A dark place, where dragons rule'." Kim made a face before looking up at the rest of her friends. "Huh, that one's a little hard, too, isn't it?"
Zack shook his head. "I don't know guys. How about we think more about this over lunch or something?"
"Yeah," agreed Rocky. "I'm starving."
"Of course you are," replied Aisha. "But I'm kind of hungry, myself."
"Yeah, okay," said Amy. "Where to? Fast food? Sit-down place?"
"Let's do a sit-down place," said Hayley. "I don't really feel like fast food, right now."
"Chili's?" asked Rocky. He looked around at his friends. Nobody said anything. "All right! I guess Chili's, it is!" Everyone shrugged and went along with it. "Woohoo!" Rocky sped off, causing his passengers to jerk backwards in their seats. "Seat belts, everyone!"
"Where's your head, Tommy?" Adam asked.
Tommy shrugged. "I don't know. Counting down the minutes, I guess. Excited. Anxious. I don't know."
Adam rolled his eyes. "Let's go pick up some lunch for everyone, too."
"Yeah, okay. You remembered your batteries, right?"
"Yeah, I did. It's all taken care of. Don't worry, Tommy."
Tommy raised his eyebrows.
A couple of hours later, Kim shook the envelope above the table. "Don't forget guys, we still have work to do. Can't let Billy and the others get ahead of us." She opened the envelope and read it again.
"I have no idea," Amy said, taking a bite of her chocolate molten cake.
"Me neither," replied Rocky and Zack.
Aisha shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. Hayley furrowed her brow and bit her lip. "Well," she said, "how about we break it down into different parts." She held out her hand for the envelope. Kim handed it over and Hayley set it down on the table, where she huddled over it and thought for a long time while everyone else spoke amongst themselves and ate their desserts. Hayley thought for a long time and took a long sip of her water. She cleared her throat and waited for everyone to quiet down. "Okay, the first part: 'The Power was gone'. That's obvious." She gestured around at Kim, Aisha, Zack, and Rocky.
"So it's something that was ours after we've lost the Power?" Zack said, confused.
"Like our Coins?" asked Aisha.
"Maybe," said Hayley. "Maybe not. But the second part of that first sentence: 'but never forgotten'. Again, obvious. The second sentence: 'A source of light'."
"A flashlight," said Amy.
Hayley pulled out a pen and started writing down what they were saying.
"A light bulb," said Rocky.
"Maybe it's not so literal," said Kim. "A source of light. The Bible or something, maybe?" Nobody said anything. "Okay, or maybe not."
"Well, let's just look at the second part of that second: 'in happiness, in sadness, and in those times in between'."
Rocky shrugged. "No idea."
"Okay, the last sentence: 'a dark place, where dragons rule'."
"Dragons rule? Happiness, sadness, and times in between?" said Zack out loud. He bit his lip. "A source of light...Hayles, what's that last part again?" Hayley repeated her last statement. "Happiness...sadness...times in between...a source of light." Everyone was silent, thinking hard about the clue. He clapped his hands together. "I got it! A source of light...a candle! It's used in times of happiness...birthdays and stuff. Sadness...funerals. Times in between...people use candles for much more than just birthdays and funerals. Dark place where dragons rule. Tommy's green candle in the dark dimension."
"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Kim. "But where are we going to get a green candle?"
"Trini would probably want to get one that looks exactly like Tommy's..."
"So, it's scouring every candle shop or place that sells candles near here?" Aisha said, the beginnings of a scowl on her face.
"Well..." said Hayley, "maybe we could narrow it down a bit more. Let's start with all the actual candle shops and then let's head into the places that prominently sell candles." Kim, Aisha, and Amy helped her list down a number of candle shops around the area. "Okay, and let's start at the nearest one." She pushed her chair back and grinned. "There, now that wasn't too hard, was it?"
Aisha rolled her eyes as she and the others followed suit after Hayley.
Thirty minutes later, Kim and the others walked out of a candle store triumphantly holding a long green candle and an envelope. "Here, Zack, why don't you do the honors since you figured it out?"
"Thanks," Zack said, taking the envelope from Kim. He waited until all of them were in the car before he opened it. "So, what do we have so far?" He looked in the rearview mirror from his seat next to Rocky.
"That photo of Jase and Tommy from the karate tournament," said Kim.
"Picture with Alpha," said Aisha, counting down her fingers. "Bouquet of lilies."
"Green candle!" called out Amy.
Zack nodded from the front. He pulled out the sheet of paper from the envelope and read it out loud. " 'Down on the road, we never know, what life may hold in store. A trip to the small screen, we never imagined. Zedd tried to win, but memories never die. The winds of change have rearranged our lives more than ever before.' " He grinned at Kim.
"That's my song!" she exclaimed. "From the show."
"Which means," started Rocky. "It has something to do with the show."
"All right, Captain Obvious," said Amy, laughing. "But I think maybe it's really just the song Trini wants us to focus on...she put in more of the lyrics to the song."
"But she included that blip about the small screen," said Aisha.
"Maybe to steer us in the direction of the television show," replied Hayley. "I think you're on to something, Amy. Kimberly, when you and Zack first put together that song, where were you? Or what were you guys doing?"
Kim and Zack looked at each other and frowned. "I remember it was after Tommy lost his powers or something."
"Oh yeah," Zack said, nodding. He raised his hand and pointed to Kim. "Guitardo, remember?"
Kim furrowed her brow, nodding slowly. "I think so."
"Zedd stole your guitar to make a monster."
"Oh yeah!" Kim exclaimed, finally remembering. "We were in the Youth Center and it was storming."
"Yeah, we had a picnic there since it was raining."
"You guys were so weird," said Rocky. "Why did you guys have a picnic in the Youth Center? Did you guys bring your own food and stuff?"
"Yeah," replied Kim. "Why's that weird?"
"Cuz it was the Youth Center," Rocky said, matter-of-factly. "Ernie had food there." He started laughing. "Did you guys spread out a picnic blanket and sit on the floor, too?" Amy, Hayley, and Aisha started laughing also.
Zack and Kim looked at each other. "We didn't spread out a picnic blanket," answered Zack, defensively. He laughed too. "So, back to the clue, something to do with Kim's song. Or the show. Or maybe even both."
"Hey, that's a good idea," said Aisha. "Maybe it's both. Do you still have like a recording of the song, Kim?"
"Yeah, it's at home."
"Great," said Aisha. "So we could check it and see if that's what it is. And if it's not...we'll keep on looking."
"Hey, Kim..." said Rocky. He looked at her in the rearview mirror briefly. "You still have the same guitar from when we were in high school, right?"
"Yeah," Kim answered, excitedly. "Maybe that's it?!"
"Yeah. On to your house, then."
"Everything looks great," Trini said, grinning. "You guys did a fantastic job."
"Thanks," Jason said, wiping sweat off his brow. "Where do you think the others are?"
Everyone shrugged. "Who knows."
"Do you think she'll say yes?" Tommy asked, taking a seat.
Everyone stared at him in disbelief.
"Uh, yeah," answered Adam.
"Took you long enough to ask," Jason added, teasingly.
Adam shot him a glance and grinned.
"Okay," replied Tommy. "Just making sure. Thanks again for helping out guys."
"Aha!" Rocky said, finding an envelope taped to Kim's guitar with a number 7 on it. "This is the next number right?"
Kim checked the last envelope that held their previous clue. "Yeah, it's 7."
Rocky pulled open the envelope and read the clue. "The first half of number six has been solved. Bring this and the next because good music always lives."
Aisha held up a CD. "Got that. Clue 7.5, Kim's recording of the show's theme song." She pulled the envelope from the cover. " 'Borders are not just fictional lines between lands. It is a place to lose yourself, to explore different worlds, to live in a fairy tale. Or amongst grumpy, magical elves.' " She looked up and shrugged. "I don't know."
"Well...maybe she's talking about Borders, the book store," said Amy. " 'Not just fictional lines between lands'."
"Yeah," agreed Zack. "A place to lose yourself, live in a fairy tale."
"I think that line's highly significant," said Hayley. "A fairy tale. Grumpy, magical elves."
"So we're looking for a fairy tale story about grumpy, magical elves?"
"Let's hit the road, then," said Rocky, carefully picking up Kim's guitar from its stand and handing it to her.
Kim placed it gently in its case and swiftly picked it up while Aisha held on to the recording. "I wonder what Trini wants with all of this stuff."
"Probably to see if our minds work the way her crazy one does," answered Aisha.
Fifteen minutes later, the six of them stood in front of the exit doors of the nearest Borders.
"Where do we look first?" asked Rocky.
"Fairy tales are mostly children's stories, so we could look there," said Amy.
"Or science fiction, fantasy stories," added Aisha.
"Or the old classics," said Hayley. "You know, Grimm's fairy tales and stuff."
Kim nodded. "Let's split up and search the different sections. Amy, Zack, you two head over to the children's section. Rock, Aisha, the fantasy section. Hayley and I will head for the classics. If we find anything, just look around or give each other a call." They split up and headed to different sections of the bookstore.
"Can I help you find anything?" a sales associate asked. She was standing behind a computer at the information desk, which was located in the center of the store.
Kim and Hayley looked at each other. "Um, I'm not sure," said Kim. "We're actually playing a little scavenger hunt game and we're looking for the classics."
The sales associate smiled. "You've come to the right place. The classics are that way." She pointed down an aisle.
"Great, thanks!" Kim and Hayley grinned at each other before heading down the aisle.
"Not seeing anything," Aisha said, looking from cover to cover and reading the summaries on the backs of the books.
"Me neither," agreed Rocky. "Let's keep on looking, though."
Twenty minutes later, Kim heard a loud whoop from the back of the store.
"Did you hear that?" she asked Hayley.
"Yeah. It kinda sounded like..."
The two of them saw Zack and Amy running down the middle of store and hurried to meet up with them.
"Found something!" exclaimed Zack. "A fairy tale book about a grumpy, magical elf: Grumble, the Magic Elf. How great is that, huh?"
"Are you sure?" asked Hayley. "We don't want to get the wrong one."
"You guys found it?" asked Rocky and Aisha.
"Found something," replied Zack. He held up the book.
"Grumble, the Magic Elf," Rocky and Aisha said in unison. The two of them and Kim looked at each other with wide eyes.
"Yeah, this is the right one," said Kim. She walked a couple steps to the information desk. "Hi, excuse me," she said to the same sales associate who asked her for help earlier. "I think we found the book that we were looking for." She held out her hand to Zack who handed it over. Kim showed it to the sales associate, who smiled.
"That's the right book," she said, handing them an envelope. "Here you go. And good luck!"
"Thank you!" Kim exclaimed, running her finger through the flap of the envelope. She held it up. "Who wants to read?" She looked around at her friends. "Here you go, Hayles."
Hayley took the envelope and opened it as she and the others walked out of the store. " 'Black, white, red, blue, yellow. The invisible among the fast, strong, and loud.' That's easy. Tommy's black Dino Gem. Do you know where he keeps it?"
Kim nodded. "At his and Adam's place."
A few minutes later, Kim unlocked the door to Tommy and Adam's place and headed inside. Rocky and Aisha immediately headed for the stairs toward the basement, followed by Kim, Zack, Hayley, and Amy. Rocky inputted a series of combinations in an alarm system, which immediately opened at the correct input.
"Tommy likes to keep these things sacred," he said, holding the thick, heavy, door open for everyone.
"It's right over here," Kim said, picking it up from its place on a shelf.
Amy picked up the envelope next to it. " 'Nicely done and near the end. Now go to the place where trees grow green, where the water is calm, and where the wind is silent. For here, you will find what you have been waiting for'. Any ideas?"
"Near the lake at the park," said Aisha. "We always talk about how is so nice and quiet over there. It's pretty private, too."
"Got everything?" said Rocky, still standing at the door to the giant safe.
"Yeah," Kim said. "Let's go to the park."
There's that chapter. Sorry it took me a bit to get it out. Hope you enjoyed it and please review!
