A/N: Part I of my new series, entitled Project Phoenix. As a disclaimer, this series is inspired by Kctimes2's The Adoption (one of the best stories I've ever read here) which is going to become more evident later. It will be a Tommy/Kim/Jayden series eventually.
A/N 2: In the meantime, this part of Project Phoenix is what I think should have happened with Kim at the Turbo movie and afterward. This Kimberly was never brought back by Lerigot thanks to some decisions she made and now she is a cruel, violent, vicious conqueror. The beginning of Lady Flammia starts here. A couple of notes to the anonymous guest reviewers:
geno: Yes, this story is going to touch a lot on karma/fate. Those are going to be two overlying themes of this story, that 1. what goes around comes around and 2. sometimes fate and fixed events can't be helped.
guest: Tommy will be in this chapter, although what happens here is going to be very sad. You won't see much of Tommy in this story after this chapter...this particular story is very Kim-centric.
A/N 3: Usual disclaimer. Power Rangers doesn't belong to me.
Chapter 3 – Hart Turned Black
May 2010
Eltarian Capital City
Eltar
"It shall be done my Lady," Scorpina said as she headed off for her mission to take over KO-35.
Deep inside the recesses of her body, what was left of Kimberly Ann Hart just sighed in defeat. She didn't like saying those words any more than if she'd said them in 1995, but she really could do nothing but just sit back and take it, like she'd done for the last 10 to 15 years.
What was important to know was that all the demon residing in her had been able to access thus far, for 13 years straight, was the side of her that made bad decisions and had been an immature, naive little girl. Granted, that girl was powerful enough to destroy worlds and potentially take over the cosmos, but it could have been so much worse had Dulcea (or at least her spirit) not intervened when Kimberly was preparing to fight to win her freedom.
She'd thought back to the time when the final phase of her life spiraling out of control had come to fruition. She'd thought she'd left hell back in Miami when Jason had come to see her and take her home. How wrong she had been.
Flashback
First week of March, 1997
Miami International Airport
Miami, FL
"Good afternoon, travelers, this is the pre-boarding call for flight 3448 from Miami to Los Angeles, California. We are now inviting those passengers with small children, and any passengers requiring special assistance, to begin boarding at this time."
"I guess this is it," Kim said as she and Jason stood up. "Finally, I'm getting out of this place. Thank goodness."
The tragedy with Alex and his funeral had happened approximately one week ago, which continued to tug at Kimberly's heart. It was really unfair that he had been caught in what, no doubt in her mind, was a desperate attempt to kill off the one thing that still kept Kimberly sane through everything.
She had to admit though, the plan had worked. She was leaving, having realized that some dreams weren't meant to come true. Gymnastics would go on with or without her.
Maybe she could go home and eventually patch things up with the guys. It was pretty clear the team wasn't the same without her. She could also guess they probably all hated her for what she did, and that she deserved every bit of it.
She found it a little odd that only once she left the team did entities like Master Vile and now the Machine Empire set their sights on Earth.
As Kimberly and Jason settled into their side-by-side seats on the plane (that was very sparsely populated if anything), Kimberly leaned over quietly to Jason and softly said, "So how would you compare the Machines to Zedd and Rita?"
"As bad if not worse than them," Jason said, which made her cringe. "Do I like that Tommy never got in contact with you over the last year, no but he never really had time. The Machines have been attacking far more frequently than Zedd and Rita and they are far more massive than Rita and Zedd's army. They're just as cruel too."
"Plus, I hope you were paying special attention to the announcement of small children boarding the plane," Jason said. "Shouldn't that remind you of someone?"
Kimberly stopped short and gulped fearfully.
Jayden.
Her sweet baby child, Jayden, who right now would be a year and a half old or thereabouts. Jayden David Oliver, the sweetest and most beautiful baby she'd ever met.
There was no way the Machines, Rita, Zedd, Vile, anyone could know about him. Not now, not ever.
"Kim, I was so scared that the Machines were going to find out about Jayden and come after him, their technology is beyond anything you could dream of," Jason said in a low voice. "Gasket brainwashed Tommy's mind not long ago; I'm surprised they didn't find out about him when they wiped his mind. Bottom line, if you hadn't broken up with Tommy, I would have suggested Tommy do it first."
Kim shivered when she thought about that day when Tommy had been brainwashed into thinking he worked for the Machine Empire. Though she and Tommy weren't together anymore, she could feel the hurt Tommy's animal spirit was in.
Unfortunately she couldn't do anything to help. Zordon had thought about calling her back to free Tommy but believed it unwise...because no one could know about Jayden until the time came. Fortunately the Rangers had been lucky that day and had freed Tommy, but she knew that at some point, they wouldn't get as lucky as they got.
March 14, 1997
Angel Grove, CA
It had been a week or two since Kimberly had returned to the LA area and things had finally begun to settle down now that she and Jason were into a routine once again. Jason agreed that it probably wouldn't be a good idea for Kim to go back into Angel Grove right away, so he allowed Kimberly to stay in his apartment in LA.
They didn't sleep together, but Kimberly felt exceptionally secure by his side. Besides, Jason had another specific pink on his mind, which Kim was also unaware of...
That was, even though that Pink was now dating Tommy. Jason had filled Kim in about Tommy's relationship with Katherine which was still ongoing. As much as Kim wanted to be disappointed, she really couldn't be.
To her, it was her fault she couldn't be there for Tommy. She'd allowed for that possibility once she'd left for Florida and sent that letter. No, Tommy hadn't been home to answer her phone calls but he'd had school and the Machine Empire to deal with. Not to mention, Jason had told Kim about Tommy's biological brother, David, who Tommy had just recently become close with again.
In the end, she was happy for Tommy that he was continuing to carry on, although it couldn't have been easy. Inwardly, she thanked Katherine for being there for Tommy when she couldn't be. Although, a significant part of her wished it was still she by Tommy's side.
Kim also helped at times with a part-time receptionist position at the police department where Jason was at, so that helped put a little more money in her pocket. Her work was early in the morning, but Kim was used to getting up early in the morning for gymnastics, so it wasn't a problem at all.
It was a Friday by that time, and Jason had a rare day off. He'd graduated a semester early, and thanks in part to connections he developed in Angel Grove and in Geneva, he was quickly accepted to the police force. He had proven to be an asset right off the bat, but his superiors had seen fit to give him a day off.
It also happened to be the Friday before the Rangers still in school were to be on spring break, and very soon, Kimberly and Jason had every intention of surprising the gang.
Part of the reason Kim had come home was to try to patch things up with the old gang and to meet Tanya, and also possibly help out with the Little Angel's Haven problem.
Kim had spent some time volunteering at that shelter before she left Angel Grove, and now the shelter was in danger. Part of the reason she came back was to lend moral support to the three man Ranger team who was competing for the prize money.
She in particular remembered young Justin Stewart, an 11 year old boy who had lost his mom, barely saw his dad, and if the shelter was gone, Justin would have nowhere to go. His mind was exceptionally sharp, but he had been in bad shape before Kim left for Pan-Globals, and he appeared to be even worse now. Whatever she could do for Justin, she was going to try.
Kim felt sorry for the boy, as she could relate to his situation. It was in no small part due to her mom's stance on having a baby at her age and abortion (not to mention her mother absolutely abhorred Tommy) that she'd had to give up Jayden, so she understood in some way the situation Justin was in. The parents of the family were someone the child was supposed to trust without question. Instead, Justin had no one to turn to, just like she had.
However, that was the furthest thing from her mind. Today, she and Jason were going scuba diving. She'd always enjoyed the water, as she and Tommy had spent many memorable days on the beach.
Little did they know that when they hit the water, their lives would be turned upside down...and Kimberly's would take a turn for the absolute worst.
Kimberly heard Jason call that he was ready, and so both headed for the beach.
Two hours later...
She wondered why, when she'd been through so much with the catcalls and insults and everything else, hadn't she done this earlier.
She loved the water, but she'd hardly, if ever, done the scuba diving thing. But she found it relaxing...it was a way to calm the nerves. There was nothing but the underwater and whatever was it it, her, and Jason.
Kim's curiosity rose as she saw a shark-shaped object rapidly approaching them. She'd never seen anything like it before or since.
She pointed to Jason, and he gazed at it with the same amount of curiosity. They were so fixated on the vessel that they didn't see the danger until it was too late. Suddenly, they were both grabbed by their air tanks. Kimberly and Jason both tried to elbow themselves free, but the creatures who had grabbed them had a strong grip and weren't about to let go as they felt themselves being dragged towards the ship.
End Flashback
She then remembered when she was in the bilge of Divatox the Pirate Queen's ship. Dark, dank, water up to her knees and trapped like a rat. Only to find out she was some sort of sacrifice for some flame guy she didn't know about at the time...
Unfortunately she was going to become very familiar with this monster's power extremely soon...
Flashback
March 14, 1997
Divatox's Ship, The Bilge
"Set a course for the Nemesis Triangle! Full speed!" Kim could hear Divatox order.
What she was about to hear next made her shiver in fright.
"Captain, there's something you should be aware of!" a deep voice boomed. Kimberly could only assume it was once of Divatox's captains speaking.
"What is it, Rygog, make it snappy!" Kim could hear Divatox say.
"I think we may have hit the jackpot with one of our two captives!" the one known as Rygog said excitedly. "I've been doing some scans on these two. Take a look!"
"Let me see that!" Divatox said. Kim could only wonder what Divatox was looking at. It couldn't be good...and she couldn't be more right.
"Oh my," Kim could hear Divatox breathe. "Rygog, good work. Both are two of Zordon's former Power Pukes, but one of our two captives is the Crane holder of the Great Power...I didn't even know that still existed!"
"That wretched witch Dulcea doesn't know how to die...No matter. The Great Power is the ultimate and Maligore will love to feast on it," Divatox said. "Once Maligore's fire burns through this little girl's soul and gains access to The Great Power, evil shall reign forever!"
Kim sighed deeply.
"This is so lame," she told Jason. "We come back, I'm starting to settle into a life again, we can surprise all the gang and possibly help Justin and the shelter and the next thing you know we're snack food for someone with the munchies!"
"Munchies?" Bulk said, grinning at Kim, but both Kim and Jason ignored him.
"Yeah and did you hear about what she thinks he can do with your powers?" Jason said.
"There's no way he can possibly touch the Great Power," Kim whispered. "No way."
"The way that lady is talking I'd be careful. This doesn't feel right to me. I wouldn't underestimate this guy's power. You've got to be careful. Think of HIM," Jason emphasized that last word. Kim knew who he was referring to. "I don't know a whole lot about the Great Power you guys had except from what you and Zordon have told me but if this Maligore could take it, I'd be real careful."
Kim only knew too well who Jason was referring to.
'Come on Tommy,' she pleaded silently to no one in particular. 'One more time, for old time's sake.'
Little did she know that thanks to the wizard Lerigot and a message that Divatox would send to the current group of Rangers, Tommy was making plans for a rescue mission. There was still some hope left, if but a flicker...If he could save her one more time, perhaps they could at least patch things up...
End Flashback
Kim then remembered the next several hours after that, it had all been a blur to her. She'd fought to escape Divatox's ship with Jason's help (even though he'd ended up stuck on the ship still), only to find herself on a beach on Murianthias where the natives had captured her and Divatox had been able to get her back in her grasp once again. Just when she thought she'd been out of the woods...
She'd then been taken to Maligore's temple, where she and Jason had been tied up above a massive circular pit of fire. She remembered it well because these had been the last few moments of who she really had been; dear, sweet Kimberly was about to become the biggest monster the universe had seen in many a year...
The Rangers had tried, but...
Flashback
Maligore's Temple
Island of Murianthias
Mar. 14, 1997
"Maligore, great flame of destruction, it is I, Divatox, your one and only true soulmate. This moment has been long in coming, and now, I bring you two perfect specimens to seal our matrimonial pact!" Divatox exclaims as she is about to give the command to lower Kim and Jason into the lava pit below where they were tied up. "Awake and feed upon their purity. Come forth, and let evil twist their souls. Join forces with me!"
Right as Kim's body...and heart were about to sink into the lava with Jason, a voice ripped through the air. A distinctly familiar voice.
"Hey! Did we miss the party?"
Kim breathed a sigh of relief. He really did care, after all...Perhaps there was hope yet...
"Who invited you?" Divatox snarled, though she really didn't need to ask. Divatox grunted in frustration; no matter hell or high water, Tommy would still risk life and limb to save Kim. Divatox well knew the Falcon could ruin everything.
"We did," Kim responded, though Tommy really didn't need an invitation. He could come rescue Kim whenever he damn well pleased. She quickly glanced over all the Rangers and felt something vastly different about the person in the Blue Turbo suit. It certainly wasn't Rocky under that suit...she would have felt the Ape spirit right away. She guessed the Yellow Ranger must be Tanya, Adam's girlfriend and America's latest singing sweetheart.
"Rangers, this is Divatox. Divatox, this is your worst nightmare," Kim quipped.
"Figures that a holder of the Great Power would say that. You don't know when to quit do you, but I will make you quit," Divatox said, and Kim's body tensed up. "Lower them into the volcano!"
A fierce battle ensued, but despite Tommy and his Rangers' best efforts, Rygog was able to lower both Kim and Jason into the pit. As Kim was lowered into the pit, her last thought as sweet, cuddly Kim for many years was,
'Thank you Tommy for trying to rescue me. Please keep safe, for me. I love you and always will. Take care of Jayden if he ever comes back.'
"It's too late Rangers," Divatox cackled. "Even now they are becoming spawns of evil!"
End Flashback
The small part of the old Kimberly that remained then remembered the few moments she was in the pit. It was the most painful thing she'd ever gone through.
She'd managed to keep the fact that she had a child and had adopted that child under wraps...somehow. But it took all her willpower to just do that.
She'd had nothing left to fight the fires of evil that penetrated her body. Maligore's fire had taken advantage of everything she'd gone through and had gone about twisting it into a raging inferno of hatred.
Her parents fighting all the time as a youth, the insults and catcalls she'd endured in Florida. The cutthroat world of women's gymnastics, Tommy not answering her phone calls, the Letter, getting together with Alex and then him being shot in a movie theater, it all came together. She was now akin to a ship without a rudder, and was thus easy prey for Maligore's evil.
When she reappeared from the pit, it was still Kimberly but she was no longer in control of her body...and wouldn't be for a long time.
She remembered when her body broke those restraints like it was nothing at all, and searched out the Rangers like a predator stalking its prey.
Her mind wanted to scream not to attack them, but she was so lost at this point in her life that it didn't matter. Her Maligore controlled body wanted the Rangers to pay for everything that had happened to her, and her body was only too happy to oblige when Divatox gave the attack command...
"Maligore's children," Divatox said, "Destroy those who threaten the phase of unity!"
She had to stand by and watch hopelessly as her controlled body first pushed Tommy, her dear, sweet Falcon out of the way. Her spirits lowered even further as her body easily disposed of Adam and Tanya, and the hate that Maligore had infused in her body went up several levels as Kat and Tommy tried to restrain her. That had been a bad idea in the state Kim was in...the real Kim didn't hate Kat, but Maligore had twisted her soul enough to where Kat was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
And when she found herself uttering, "Evil is as evil does," and grabbed Kat and pulled her down, that's when she figured out her soul was in more trouble than she could ever imagine. It was punctuated when Kim found herself saying, "Oh and sweetie, Pink is out," as her body kicked Kat away.
Then there was Lerigot. Poor, sweet Lerigot who she felt so sorry for. Lerigot had done his best but...
Flashback
March 14, 1997
Maligore's Temple
Murianthias
All the Rangers had been disposed of...well, almost all of them. Tommy was in deep trouble too, as he was hanging above the pit by a thread with the Maligore-controlled Jason pummeling him.
'Into the fire...into the fire...into the fire...do it,' Kim chanted when suddenly a beam from Lerigot (with Yara's help) enveloped Kimberly and a brief fight in her mind began. But just as quickly, it died.
Kimberly's body was too consumed with the evil she had been infused with thanks to recent events, and Lerigot's magic wasn't quite as strong as it would have been thanks to him being weaker than normal.
"Nice try, you little shrimp," she vividly had told Lerigot, "but I like this. This is fun!"
She brushed off the good like it was nothing at all, in fact, it only seemed to make her eyes glow a deeper shade.
Her corrupted face formed a scowl when she saw Lerigot try his act on Jason, and it actually worked as Jason was freed from the mind control, and the two helped each other out of trouble.
As her body weighed its options, the good part of Kimberly that was dwindling but still there was preparing herself to fight for her freedom, when suddenly someone intervened.
'Kim stop. Stop! Don't fight him!' a voice rang in the small part of Kimberly that wasn't possessed. She felt as though she was trapped inside a cage and wanted to break free of the evil, until she heard who was speaking to her telepathically.
'Dulcea, what's going on?' the non-corrupted part of Kim had said. 'I want to be free! To go home with Tommy!'
'It is no use, my Crane. You must surrender. We cannot take any chances,' Dulcea insisted.
'But...' Kim had started.
'No buts, my Crane,' Dulcea told her sternly. 'It is too late now. Maligore's hold is too strong and you are like a ship without a rudder. If Tommy was still with you you might be able to be freed, but alas. You are in no shape to take his evil on right now. He holds all the cards.'
'So what if he wins? If I lose I go down fighting. That's what Rangers do,' Kim shot back.
Dulcea smiled. Even now, the Crane didn't want to go without a whimper.
'If only I could say there wasn't much risk involved. If you go against him right now and lose not only does your soul die but Maligore claims a part of the Great Power. Not only that if he wins he will be privy to information about HIM.'
That was enough to shut Kimberly up.
'I feel the same way you do but there is no other way. Surrender is the only option at this point. Some day you may regain your soul back but for now this must happen. It is a fixed event. This is no one's fault but fate itself.'
'If you say so,' Kim sighed as Dulcea gave her a sad smile.
'Let Maligore have his victory for now. Know that your service has always been greatly appreciated, my Crane. May the Power protect you.'
That lull had given Kimberly's body time to think also and as she weighed her options, she decided she wasn't ready to take on the Rangers all at once although the blue boy would be fun to play with. She figured it was best to regroup and plan for a return some day against Zordon's legacy and hope she would crush it to pieces then.
Eventually, the Rangers would battle Maligore and win, and then the place erupted causing everyone to evacuate. To Lady Flammia, as she was known, that wouldn't matter. One day, she would return, and when she did, hell would come with her. Let the Rangers enjoy their victory today, because at one point their luck was going to run out.
Elsewhere, to almost no one's notice back in California, a small child cried uncontrollably and began to glow a deep shade of crimson as he continued to cry hysterically, which sent the older sister and parents to try to calm him down.
End Flashback
As Kimberly recalled that horrible day when her soul had been irrevocably corrupted, she could barely stand to look at herself now.
She was clothed in a black body suit, ideal for fighting, with a floor-length flaming cape that gave her the capability of flight. Her helmet was made of a flaming red and yellow firebird, which covered all but a little of her hair which, once brown, had turned a deep shade of jet black. That wasn't an outfit which she would have picked before her body told her otherwise.
Her life had only gotten worse from the day of her corruption, as the evil and hate for Zordon and his team grew stronger, thanks to connections that Divatox had...
Not long after the fight with Maligore, which the Rangers had won, Divatox had sensed the evil inside of her. Thus, she arranged a meeting between the new Kimberly and an old rival of hers, which would turn out to be the beginning of the army that was currently ravaging the universe...
A/N 4: Coming up in the next chapter, Kimberly and Divatox meet again, and Divatox arranges a meeting between the new Kimberly and her old rival Scorpina. In that chapter, Scorpina (and Dark Specter too) takes the new Kim under her wing and the first seeds of Kimberly's army are born...
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