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 quick note to an anonymous review:

geno: Funny you should mention Divatox and her expressing remorse for her actions. Divatox will appear through the countdown in this story then reappear near the end of the second story and will play a major factor. And yes, the damage Lady Flammia has caused...you'll see it in this story.

A/N 3: Sorry folks, I've been wanting to get this updated for quite some time. This was originally intended to be a Thursday night update but it's been raining and storming cats and dogs here in Houston. Only now are we finally getting a break and only now am I able to fire up the laptop to finish this update. Oh and I hope everyone of my fans Stateside has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend...please remember what this weekend is really about.

A/N 4: Usual disclaimer. Power Rangers doesn't belong to me.

Chapter 4 – It's About Who You Know

May 2010

Eltarian Capital City

Eltar

As a disclaimer, the real Kimberly Hart, the Kimberly Hart that still believed in the side of goodness and the Kimberly Hart that would rather be with her beloved Tommy at this point, didn't at all hate the Rangers of Earth. Nor did she hate Katherine, who to her knowledge had finally found love with someone she had known for years.

Unfortunately for the small part of Kimberly Hart that still remained, Divatox hadn't been kidding when she said that the Great Flame of Destruction would burn through Kimberly's soul, exploit every one of her jealousies and past family problems, and turn that part of her that was an immature little girl who had lost her direction into a destructive, demonic monster.

And it had happened almost overnight.

She still remembered the day that the first seeds of the evil army that her twisted, demonically possessed body had been planted. When she'd first met an old enemy (thanks to Divatox), the small part of her that was still thought the half-scorpion female warrior who had taken her possessed body under her wing repulsive.

She didn't necessarily think that way anymore, as even her good side had found some common ground with her former arch-rival, but it had still been a terrible thing for the entire universe because of the connections that would follow.

As the story was told, the connection that was built went like this...

Flashback

Mar. 16, 1997

Divatox's Subcraft, just inside Earth's atmosphere

"Captain, There's something you should see!" Rygog said as he and Porto came rushing in just as Divatox was finishing her eyeliner.

"What is it, you two goofs? Can't you see that I'm busy?" Divatox screamed at her two henchmen.

"This cannot wait, Captain!" Rygog said. "That human that was never turned back by that idiot Lerigot has been picked up by our scanners!"

"Rygog is correct, Divatox," Porto, the "big marshmallow" as Divatox called him, said.

Divatox's scowl turned into a smile. She'd wondered what happened to that girl...Kimberly what's her name.

"Captain, the one thing I notice is that she lacks direction, a purpose. She's at a beach near what the humans call Stone Canyon in California, but she doesn't know anything about being evil and now she realizes that!" Rygog said. "She needs a connection, a direction if you will to tap into her potential."

Divatox scratched her chin for a few moments and said, "Let me see that."

She grabbed her periscope and stared at the pint-sized, petite human girl who had, apparently, been one of Zordon's team. Now, she'd do anything to destroy them Divatox sensed, but she had to admit, Rygog had a point.

"For the first time in a while I agree with you, Rygog," Divatox said. "Unfortunately, I don't know how much I can help her. But I do know of someone who can."

"It's time to make a call to an old friend..." Divatox said cryptically as she reached for the phone.

Stone Canyon Beach

Same Time

"This is STUPID!" the former first Pink Ranger of Earth groused to herself.

She had gained all this power, forgoing the feelings for everyone that she once thought cared for her, but in the sense it had come at a price...a heavy price.

To start with, she knew nothing about being a bad girl. Sure, she'd thrown her share of fits over the years, especially at her mother who had always tried to get Kimberly under her thumb.

That said, she knew nothing of how to destroy people. She didn't have the centuries of experience that her former foes like Rita, Zedd, Goldar, Rito, Scorpina, et al. had and she didn't have the cunning, cruel mind of Master Vile.

She also didn't have any connections who could help her, didn't have a mentor who could help her grow and walk down this path of darkness. Little did she know...

"You know, you never cease to surprise me," a voice said. A very familiar voice. "When we first met in 1993, I didn't think pure, sweet Kimberly Hart would shed her purity and become this."

"Who's there?" an irritated Kimberly snapped. "State your business!"

"Oh, Pinkie, you should know who I am," the voice said, distinctly female. "We were huge rivals for about a year."

A sly grin formed on evil Kimberly's face as she turned around and came face to face with an old rival.

"Well, if it isn't dear old Scorpina again," the evil, twisted soul of Kimberly said. "Been a while, how you hanging?"

"I'm doing as well as I can be; I guess I should be asking you the same thing," Scorpina said. "Never thought I'd see the day when the Pink Ranger suddenly wants to destroy her ex and everyone that stands with him and Zordon."

"First of all, like I told my successor, Pink is out. Don't ever use the name of that color around me again," the evil soul of Kimberly said as her eyes flashed red. A slight smile formed on Scorpina's face as she saw this. "The old Kimberly is gone and Zordon's band of misfits and everyone who made me feel like trash have no one to blame but themselves."

For the first time since they'd met, Scorpina looked at Kimberly and felt a wave of sympathy for the young Earthling. As if she'd been down the same path Kimberly was heading.

"Tell me everything...talk to me," Scorpina said. "There's no one here for miles."

And for the next hour or so, the two former rivals talked it out; what was going on with their lives and Kimberly specifically touched on her family life and her obnoxious mother who'd wanted to whisk her away to Paris during the heart of the war with Rita and Zedd. Then she talked about her time in Florida, the catcalls, the refusal of the Rangers and Tommy to answer phone calls, meeting up with Alex, almost realizing her dream only to have it shatter into a million pieces when her second boyfriend was shot and killed.

"I'm an idiot and a weakling..." the evil, twisted version of Kimberly sobbed as her former rival held her close. "Female villains don't cry but I've been through so much crap..."

"That's a load of bull and you know it; we have feelings too. We're trained not to show them but we do," Scorpina said fiercely. "A lot of times we become this way because the people who are supposed to love us try to tear us down. I'm originally from Edenoi..."

"The home of the Masked Rider and Alpha?" Kimberly said.

"Yes, the very same. Part of the reason that I never came back and attacked after you acquired the Ninja powers is you went to help my home planet; I never forgot that and gained a measure of respect for all of you," Scorpina said. "Nevertheless, my family thought I was a disgrace and they sold me down the river to Dark Specter, who turned me into this...thing..."

As they hugged it out and cried, in a sense, the two former rivals felt free. In a way, the small part of Kimberly that remained pure and fiercely held on to her Crane powers (and her secret), cried with them and felt a sense of freedom as well.

"What a shame..." Scorpina said softly. "You were going to win championships, gold medals. I knew you were. Rita knew it, Zedd knew it, we all did. I'm evil for sure but I have my limits. What happened to you is nothing short of a travesty."

And the pure part of Kimberly that still lurked never agreed more with the scorpion female than at that moment.

Maybe the pure part of Kimberly still hated Scorpina with a passion, but at least she could understand why she was this monster.

"You want to destroy them, make them suffer just like we all do," Scorpina said as if to get the talk down to a more businesslike approach. The informal part was over.

"Yes and I have no idea how to do it," the dark, twisted part of Kimberly said. "This is STUPID, all this power and I don't know what to do."

"I see your potential, but you need direction. Let me give you a first piece of advice; one of the few things evil and good agree on is that in any business networks are important. It's not so much what you know, though that's important. It's who you know," Scorpina said. "You need guidance and a mentor, which is why Divatox sent me here."

"Ah Divatox," the evil, twisted Kimberly said. "That drag queen is smarter than I gave her credit for."

"If you really want to know what being evil is all about, I can train you. Better yet, Dark Specter and his court can train you," Scorpina said. "Dark Specter, the Grand Monarch of all evil."

"Would he take me in? I'm just a rookie you know," the dark, twisted part of Kimberly said as she frowned.

"A rookie that has great potential, I see it already. You could be the greatest of the evil some day. Most of us in the United Alliance of Evil agree," Scorpina said. "You are also Maligore's last child, and Dark Specter is Maligore's brother. That makes him technically your uncle. There is no one who knows more about being bad than your uncle Dark Specter."

"And I'll be with you every step of the way as well," the scorpion female said. "If you really think about it, we have a lot in common."

"We have a deal," the dark, twisted version of Kimberly said. "Don't call me Kimberly anymore either. That's who I USED to be. I want to go by a new name."

"You should probably name yourself something to do with fire," Scorpina said. "Flames or something like that."

"That's it! Flames! The Latin word for fire is Flammia," Kimberly said. "Lady Flammia. That's my new name."

End Flashback

For a while after that, things weren't so bad after she came aboard the Dark Fortress, home to the Alliance. Her evil half had been welcomed with open arms by her uncle, since her evil half was Maligore's last child.

Well, that was, except for the fact that her evil half was excelling in networking with various forms of evil throughout the universe. You see, even though he was happy that he had his niece aboard to train in the ways of evil, he had a pretty good inclination that his ending was coming at some point.

Therefore, from day one he had taught Flammia how to not just use her raw destructive powers, but to network and be able to earn alliances with some of the most foul creatures in the universe from all walks of evil; the thugs from M-51, unknown generals of the Machine Empire, Mama D and many others.

When Flammia wasn't networking, she helped with administrative and accounting matters on the ship because after all, somebody needed to take care of the Alliance's money.

His thought was, if he couldn't survive, or if the Alliance couldn't survive then maybe one day Lady Flammia could be evil's greatest hope to finally conquering Earth.

On her first trip to the Onyx Tavern, where almost no rookie villain survived, she'd taken on the baddest of the bad and had beaten a feared princess and her husband for a powerful weapon.

That was one of the few moments in the last decade or so that the good part of Kimberly reveled in; Archerina thought she was the best female archer in all the galaxy and Kimberly's bad (and by extension her good) half had beaten her at her own game, in a cutthroat environs proving her and Gasket to be nothing but hot air. She'd also beat out the feared space ninja, Lothor, which had really put her in good standing.

Flashback

Onyx Tavern

January 1998

With the rise of Dark Specter and his capture of Zordon, the planet Onyx and in particular the Onyx Tavern was as hot a spot as ever...even more hot than usual.

This was the place where the scummiest of the scum went to make deals. To either hire bounty hunters at a price, acquire weapons, or acquire money by playing card games and the like.

The Rangers of Earth had forgot about Mondo's son and his wife, and had thought Gasket was out of their hair, but they had just retreated. They were on their own though because they weren't inclined to be in any alliance with King Mondo, and since King Mondo was allied with Dark Specter now, well...

On this particular day, Gasket and Archerina had decided to make a pit stop here. They were trying to conquer a far away planet, and both were looking for anything they could get their hands on.

That's when Archerina spied something that was being bid on outside the tavern which caught her fancy.

"Wow, look at that archer's bow, dear," Archerina said, giggling as she did so. "I've needed a weapons upgrade for a while."

"It looks expensive, but we've got plenty of Zenematars to spare, darling," Gasket said.

"Going once for thirty...going twice for thirty..." the dealer said. He was an ugly specimen, one of those "thugs" from the M-51 galaxy who specialized in evil dealings. He looked like a cross between an ugly salamander and a snake.

"Fifty Zenematars your evilness," Gasket said.

"The plot thickens I see," the dealer said.

"No way am I giving up. 60!" the other bidder said. "My niece Marah could use that!"

"Seventy five," Archerina countered. "We can keep going all day if you want, Lothor."

"All day?" a new voice cut in. "You mean, ALL day?"

That said, a small, petite figure flipped in front of the dealer, Lothor, and Gasket and Archerina. Everyone looked around in wonder...they'd never seen someone like this on Onyx. Was she from Earth?

"We could let money decide this because thanks to Uncle Dark Specter, I've got more than enough Zenematars to match whatever bid you come up with," Lady Flammia said. "Or we could actually see who earns it because believe me, I can shoot a bow and arrow better than you," she said, pointing at Lothor...

"Or you," she said pointing at Archerina.

"Why you little impudent..." Lothor started, until he felt his mask searing with heat and threatening to melt...Flammia had grabbed his mask and channeled the heat she possessed, something Scorpina and Dark Specter had practiced with her day after day.

Lothor gasped in surprise. It couldn't be, but then again, there was no question in his mind...

She possessed the Flame of Destruction. There weren't many things that scared Lothor but the fire of the Flame was one of them. Lothor hated fire...it was a wonder why amongst all the Ninja academies on Earth there had never been a school of fire. If there had been, Lothor's evil side may have died a long time ago.

"I'm...I'm backing out of the bidding. These two can feel free to go at it. Next time, sir," Lothor said as Flammia immediately released him and he scurried away.

"Down to just you and me now," Archerina goaded the young rookie. "You don't have the guts to defeat me at my game."

"Oh but I think I can and I will," Flammia said. "Just hand me a bow and arrow, dealer, and I'll show this cupid how it's really done."

By now, a lot of villains had come out of the establishment to see the show, particularly the deceased villains the Morphin teams had faced because they were intimately familiar with Archerina's opponent albeit in her good form.

Archerina was a very good bow and arrow specialist as her name implied but as the match went on and Flammia matched her shot after shot Archerina was getting frustrated.

Finally, the frustration boiled over. Thinking about how perfect her shot had to be for her to keep pace, Archerina missed the mark by a mile, causing her arrow to hit one of the patrons, causing the game to immediately end.

"I believe we have a winner!" the dealer said as most of the patrons cheered mainly out of respect for who Kimberly had been (though they'd been defeated long ago by her and her Ranger teammates) and the love for who she was now. Most were also just as glad Archerina had lost as she'd acted like she owned the place.

She was then swarmed with love and affection...something she hadn't expected, and something that she hadn't felt since her days with Alex. She was able to keep the crowds back enough to give the dealer his 75 Zenematars and then take her prize.

"When we went head to head in your Ranger days, I never imagined you'd become this. I couldn't be more happy that this weapon is in good hands because if I know you, you'll take care of it," Bloom of Doom said. Bloom of Doom had been in the bar playing cards, but when she'd heard the commotion she'd been one of the patrons to come out.

"That weapon is one of the most prized weapons in the galaxy because it's a custom weapon...it can be changed to fit the strengths of its owner. Good luck attaining your revenge against those you have been wronged by."

"They'll get theirs some day," Flammia vowed as she strapped the weapon to her back and Scorpina stepped forward from the swarm of patrons to embrace her friend...some would say, now, her best friend.

"Not today, not tomorrow, but some day, Scorpina," Flammia vowed.

End Flashback

From there on, she'd earned a lot of friends. Most were happy that someone had scared Lothor away (something that was rarely done) and that the hot aired Machine Princess had been shown up in front of a large crowd. As Dark Specter's apprentice, she'd also been invited by most of the Alliance members to tag along on their quests to rule the entire universe and get a feel for how they did business.

Ecliptor, Astronema's top warrior, had also taken a particular liking to Flammia and throughout her time on the Dark Fortress he had helped her improve even more significantly in the ways of hand to hand combat. He liked that she was evil, but she stayed within a specific code of honor unlike Darkonda, who would stoop to the lowest of lows.

Eventually, she rose up in the ranks far enough to where she filled in sometimes if one of her uncle's generals was off doing something important and he needed another body. As she became more successful in his army, she was regaining much of the confidence she had lost during those trying months in Florida.

Then came that day in 1998. The day that the United Alliance of Evil tried to conquer the universe.

A day that, if she had stayed on the Dark Fortress, she would have eventually been free from Maligore's hold. Maybe she'd be home then, possibly watching Jayden grown into a man in a nearby town.

Unfortunately for Kimberly Ann Hart in 1998, things didn't exactly go how she wanted them to.

Review box is at the bottom. Please review/follow/favorite if you wouldn't mind. Thanks.