Chapter Ninety-one

Trick or Treat

Kimberly splashed water on her face for the thousandth time since the shouting of Tommy and Kira in the hallway had abated. She was beginning to look like a drowned rat, but she didn't care.

Surprisingly, she actually felt better now that she'd had a good cry. She hadn't cried over Tommy since she'd left Angel Grove after the incident with Divatox. She had known it was over between her and Tommy long before Jason had come to cajole her into returning to the city, but it had hurt, deeply, to see how completely she and Tommy were really through. He had moved on, gotten with Kat. Not that it was the only thing that had hurt her about that trip—everything seemed to be over. Billy was gone, Rocky was off the team, Aisha had vanished, Adam was dating Tanya, Tommy was with Kat—even the Command Center had changed. Added on top of the sickening sensations that came from being evil, from attacking Tommy and the other Rangers…

Kimberly shook her head and flung more water at her face. God, why had she bothered trying to talk to Tommy? Why hadn't they just left the past alone? Silence had worked well enough for almost eight years…

"Kim?"

Kimberly jumped. "Kira?" she called.

"It's me. Don't worry, I'm alone."

Kimberly opened the bathroom door and stepped out into the bedroom. "Hey. I didn't hear the door open…"

"I came in through the balcony," Kira explained, shifting awkwardly. "Kim… listen. About Dr. O…"

Kimberly sighed. "Not tonight, Kira. I can't take anymore tonight. I just want to go to sleep and forget today ever happened."

Kira frowned. "Why?"

"Uh…" Kimberly stared at her. Didn't she remember the sobbing and the screaming lunatic that was Kimberly's ex-boyfriend?

"Kim," Kira began, "I don't think hiding's going to accomplish anything."

"I'm not hiding. I'm… I'm resting. I don't want to accomplish anything; I just want to—"

"To what? Pretend Dr. O never upset you like that?" Kira demanded, looking outraged. "You mean to tell me you're just going to… to take that from him?"

Kimberly gaped at her. "Kira…"

"No! I don't want to hear it. You're a Ranger, Kim. You can't take that lying down! You can't just… just sob and go crawl into bed because Dr. O was mean to you! What happened to the Kimberly of last night, huh? What happened to the Kimberly who organized a full-on counterattack just because Dr. O stole her clothes? The Kimberly who's been wearing his shirt like it's a prisoner of war? The Kimberly who kicked me into a goat? Where is that Kimberly, huh?"

"Kira, I—"

"No, you listen to me, Kim. I've heard you say you still love him. I've heard you say you still want him. And I might not be Dr. O's closest confidant but I know him well enough to know he wants the same thing! So you two finally try to talk things out like the rational adults you are and he starts shouting at you and you run and hide? What are you doing?"

Kimberly swallowed. "You're right," she said numbly. "You're absolutely right. I didn't come all this way just to… to… no! I'm going to find him, and I'm going to make him listen to me! How dare he?"

"I think we should go see Trini," Kira suggested quickly. "She can help us come up with a plan."

"Good idea!" Kimberly's eyes blazed as she yanked her shirt off and reached for Tommy's, once more pulling it on as if it was battle armor. "I'll show that punk who he's dealing with! He tells me he wants to talk and then he won't even listen? I'll show him!" She slung her purse onto her shoulder. "Come on, Kira—let's go."

"Right behind you, Kim," Kira told her. The two of them marched out of the room, Kimberly determined to make everything better, Kira hoping she hadn't just made everything worse.

Zack had pondered the Eternal Question of Life—Butterfinger or Three Musketeers—for quite some time before deciding to get both, only to realize he'd left his wallet in his room. As he exited the sixth floor's vending area, he nearly crashed into Kira and Kimberly. "Whoa, what happened to you guys?" he asked, startled. Kimberly wasn't wearing any makeup, her hair was damp around her face and her shirt's buttons weren't in the right buttonholes. Kira was barefoot, her clothes badly twisted, her hair a wreck and her expression somewhere between terrified and determined.

"Tommy happened," Kimberly growled, stepping into the elevator. Zack failed to come up with a response before the doors closed behind them. Shaking his head, he went back to his room, unable to shake the feeling that something not-so-nifty was about to go down.

He'd propped his door open with the stopper, but when he got to the room the door was wide open. "Tommy?" he called hopefully.

He heard a yelp from within—and it didn't sound like Tommy. He rushed into the room. Ethan and Trent were standing by the dresser, Trent holding his car keys.

"I can explain!" Ethan exclaimed wildly.

Zack raised his eyebrows. "Guys, I'm not Tommy. I'm not going to lecture you or threaten bodily harm. What's going on? What are you doing with my keys?"

Trent exhaled sharply. "It's like this, Zack… we… have a plan."

"For?" Zack inquired.

"For… for… well, I know this is gonna sound crazy…"

"Very few things sound crazy anymore," Zack said wryly.

Ethan cleared his throat. "You see… we're trying to get Dr. O and Kim back together," he explained in a rush. "We've already got them both in the same place—Jason and Trini's house—but the problem is we're stuck here. You're the only person we know with a car who hasn't left, and we've got to get there—"

"Because right now, Conner's the only one handling it," Trent finished. "So we need to hurry."

"Ah. I see. This plan… what exactly is it?"

Trent and Ethan exchanged glances. "Um… well…" Ethan began.

"Is there any chance it could work?" Zack asked.

"Some," Trent said carefully. "It's not foolproof—but it's the best we've got. And we have to do something…"

Zack nodded. "I'll drive." He held out his hand for the keys and scooped his wallet off the dresser, then shoved his feet into the first pair of sneakers he could find. "A crazy plan is better than nothing."

"Thanks, Zack," Trent said.

"No problem. But if I ever catch you trying to steal my car again, I'll kick your ass," he replied cheerfully, and led the way to the elevator.

Lin sighed as she lifted the vent screen from the sink. Apparently management had somehow gotten wind of a surprise health inspection scheduled for tomorrow, and she was one of the three employees asked to stay late and prepare. Brad was scrubbing the baseboards and Wang was at the other sink, trying to get a ceiling tile back to its original shade of white.

"I still can't figure out how dirty baseboards are unhealthy," Brad grumbled, tossing his dirty rag into the sink and pulling another from his apron. "It's not like we make chicken teriyaki on them."

"I can't remember the last time we cooked on the ceiling, myself," Wang said dryly.

"Speaking of, someone hold the ladder for me," Lin said. "I'm finally done with the stupid vents."

Brad straightened up and seized hold of the ladder. She made her way up to the top of the ladder and carefully replaced the vent in the slots of the ceiling. She grabbed another ceiling tile for Wang, passed it down to him, and was just about to climb back down when a flash of green light went off roughly two feet to her left and suddenly two teenagers appeared from out of nowhere, dropping from the sky.

Wang shouted in alarm and flung his ceiling tile at the two falling teenagers; it shattered against the girl. Lin yelped, startled, and nearly fell off the ladder; swearing in Chinese, Brad hurried around to her side of the ladder and yanked her down before she could slip again. The three of them fell back against the sink; Wang picked up another ceiling tile and held it at the ready.

For a long moment, no one spoke. Lin, Brad and Wang stared down at the boy and girl who lay huddled on the floor roughly three feet apart. Both of them were dirty and disheveled—and armed. The boy was clutching a morning star in one hand; the girl had a sword strapped to her waist.

The boy on the floor was the first to break the silence. "Cassidy?" he whispered.

"I'm okay, Devin. Where are we?"

The two slowly stood up and turned around, facing Lin, Brad and Wang. Devin's expression turned panicked when he saw them. "Oh, tell me we're not in China," he whimpered.

"Uh, no," Brad said. "You're in the kitchen of the China Express."

Cassidy and Devin stared at him blankly. Then Cassidy looked at Devin. "Why would Mesogog have an invisiportal leading to the China Express?" Cassidy demanded.

Devin shrugged. "Maybe he likes Chinese food," Devin suggested.

"Mesogog? The Mesogog?" Wang asked. "The evil villain the Power Rangers fought?"

"Yeah, him," Cassidy said in a bored tone.

"Why would Mesogog put ninjas in our ceiling?" Lin asked, confused.

"We're not ninjas," Cassidy said, as though it should be obvious. As though sword-bearing teenagers fell out of the sky into the China Express every day. "We're just lost."

"How'd you get lost in our ceiling?" Brad demanded.

Devin and Cassidy looked up at the ceiling, which was missing the majority of its tiles. Then they looked back at Lin, Brad and Wang.

"So, are we in the China Express on Elm Street or the one on Hanover?" Devin asked.

"Um, Hanover," Wang replied. "But how did—?"

"Oh, good. My house isn't all that far from here," Devin said cheerfully. "Come on, Cassidy."

Cassidy brushed the plaster dust from the ceiling tile off her sweater and followed him towards the rear door. "Is it illegal to walk around with a sword?" she asked.

"I don't think so. I mean, there are concealed weapons laws, but we're not concealing them, so…"

"Good, because I am so not giving this sword back. Dr. Mercer definitely owes me one for this."

The door banged shut behind them. Lin, Brad and Wang looked at each other. Then, as one, they peered cautiously up into the ceiling.

"That really just happened, right?" Lin asked.

"I think so," Brad said. "Didn't Huang say something about a redheaded chick and a guy in a business suit appearing out of thin air earlier?"

"You think there's anyone else up there?" Wang asked eagerly, peering intently up at the missing tiles.

Brad and Lin looked at each other nervously. "What's say we just stick all the tiles back in and call it a night?" Brad asked. "I don't really need overtime all that badly."

"Oh, come on," Wang complained. He scooted the ladder over a bit, so that it was under a gap in the ceiling instead of the vent. He climbed up… straight into a flash of green light.

Wang screamed and suddenly he was being sucked into a ball of green energy, disappearing bit by bit. "WANG!" Brad bellowed, rushing forward and grabbing his ankle. He yanked with all his might, but he couldn't even slow Wang down. Lin flung her arms around Brad's waist and heaved, but it was no use. Brad and Lin were sucked into the portal after Wang, and the invisiportal vanished behind them.

Conner sighed and flopped down on the couch. This was getting to be more trouble than it was worth. Trini had been pretty suspicious when he'd told her that Tommy had told Conner that he was tired and going back to the hotel to get some sleep. Thankfully she hadn't glanced out the front windows to see if Tommy's Jeep was still parked haphazardly on the front lawn before Jason had pulled her back into the bedroom. Tommy was now safely locked in the Secret Chamber, thanks to Billy, but Billy was starting to ask questions and Tommy was starting to shout. Conner knew he'd be lucky if Kira, Ethan and Trent got Kimberly to the house before Trini managed to extricate herself from Jason and figure out what the screaming was about…

Oh, well. At least Ethan and Trent had beeped him to say that Kimberly was on her way, and he'd managed to find another pair of handcuffs; Trini's stash of the Spencer's merchandise was still in the living room. Billy was now drying his hair in the bathroom and Conner was left alone to wait and ingest some caffeine—he was pretty sure it was going to be a long night.

He was only halfway through his cup of tea when bright lights washed over him, tinged golden by the pale yellow curtains in the family room. Conner winced and got to his feet, setting his cup down on the end table. He headed for the window and peered out at the yard; Kimberly's Mustang was now parked on the front lawn next to Tommy's Jeep. She turned the car off and killed the headlights, then leaped out of the car and marched towards the door without bothering to shut the door. Kira jumped out of the passenger's seat, slamming her door behind her. "Kim, wait!" she shouted as Kimberly marched through the still-broken front door.

"Dude, you can use the driveway, you know," Conner said, but Kimberly appeared not to hear him as she stomped down the hallway and grasped the newly-replaced knob on Jason and Trini's bedroom door. It refused to turn.

"What happened to the door? Is Dr. O here?" Kira hissed at Conner.

"Uh… maybe," Conner said shiftily.

Kira's eyes narrowed suspiciously, but before she could ask him anything Kimberly decided that the knob deserved to be punished for its actions. With one swift kick, the doorframe splintered.

There was once again a thud, a crash and an "OW!" from within.

"What the hell?"

"Damn it, Tommy, that was my only spare doorknob—Kim?"

"Trini, I need to talk to you."

"Kim, honey, are you okay?" Trini asked worriedly.

"No. No, I'm not okay."

"Where are Trent and Ethan?" Conner whispered urgently to Kira.

"At the hotel. Why?" Conner swore and began creeping down the hallway towards Kimberly. "Conner, what are you doing?" Kira hissed. "I wouldn't get to close to her right now, if I was you—"

"What's wrong, Kimberly?" Trini asked.

Kimberly exhaled sharply. "I need to talk to you," she repeated.

"NO!" Jason shouted. "No, no, no! The Yellow moments are over! They're over! This is Jason time, not Yellow time!"

Kimberly's face suddenly crumpled. She let out a whimpering sound and Trini was at her side in an instant, once more wrapped in the red sheet. She put her arms around Kimberly in a manner that suggested Trini was well-acquainted with how to keep that whimper from becoming a sob.

"Oh, jeez," Jason said softly. "I'm sorry, Kim. I just…"

"Tommy and I had a fight," Kimberly whispered.

"We noticed," Trini said wryly. "It's okay. He wants to work it out, Kim. He told me so."

Kimberly's expression transformed into a glare and she drew herself up sharply. "Where is he?"

Kira sighed. "She's been doing this since we left the hotel," Kira confided to Conner. "Anger, wild planning, tears, repeat."

"He went back to the hotel," Trini said, her tone soothing.

Kimberly frowned. "Then why is his car on the lawn?"

Trini looked sharply at Conner, who swallowed nervously and fought the urge to run as Trini's eyes narrowed at him. Conner firmly reminded himself that he was a soccer prodigy who never let an opening pass him by and recovered quickly from her disconcerting gaze. "He came back. He's down in the basement with Billy; he said something about an evil plan—"

"I'll show him evil," Kimberly growled.

"Kimberly—" Trini began.

"No, you stay here. He wants me to face him? I'll face him. And I'll give him a couple bruises while I'm at it!" With that, she stalked down the hall past Kira and Conner to the basement door.

Jason appeared in the doorway, wrapped in a sheet of his own. "Well, that's settled then." He took Trini's arm. "Come on. Hurry, before someone else decides that we don't lock our doors for a reason."

"Honey, I should wait here until Kimberly gets back," Trini told him. "And I should really fix the doors—"

"Why? So Kim and Tommy can break them down again? Besides, you said it yourself—we only have one spare doorknob. Come on!"

With that, Jason pulled Trini back inside the bedroom and tried to shut the broken door; there were a few thuds as he tried to force the door into submission and then a scraping sound as he dragged something behind it to keep it closed.

"Whew," Conner breathed. He turned to Kira. "Okay. You stay here. I'll be—"

"Whoa, what happened to the door?"

Conner and Kira looked up. Zack was on the porch, poking at the cracked frame of the front door. Ethan and Trent were behind him, both looking worried.

"You brought Zack?" Conner asked.

"Had to. We needed a ride," Ethan explained, moving past Zack into the hall.

"They said you had a plan," Zack said.

"What plan?" Kira demanded. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Conner said hastily, remembering her reluctance to get involved with the Spencer's scheme. "You just watch Jason and Trini's room and let us know if they come out. We'll be in the basement."

"Uh-uh," Kira said, moving to block the door. "I'm not going anywhere until I get a full explanation. Kimberly has been beyond upset ever since her little chat with Dr. O and I risked upsetting her further to get her here. I trusted you guys, so you can trust me. I'm either in or I'm out, and I'm already half-in."

Zack frowned disapprovingly at Ethan and Trent. "You failed to mention that this was the sort of plan a Yellow wouldn't approve of."

"Conner!" Billy called from the basement. "Kimberly wishes to speak with the, ah, prisoner…"

"Prisoner?" Kira repeated incredulously.

Zack grinned. "Prisoner, eh? Sounds like this could get interesting."

Kira groaned. "Haven't we had enough of interesting?"

"Don't worry, Kira," Trent said soothingly. "I approved the plan. Me and Ethan and Conner came up with it together."

Kira gave him a suspicious look. "Why doesn't that make me feel better?"

"Look, guys, wait here, okay? I have to go take care of something in the basement real quick," Conner said. "I'll be right back, and I'll explain everything, okay?" Without waiting for a response, Conner darted around Kira and dashed down the staircase.

Zack, Ethan, Trent and Kira looked at each other as they waited for Conner's return. From below, there was a yelp, a crash, a "Hey!" from Kimberly, a "CONNER!" from Tommy and an "Uh-oh," from Billy. Then came a moment of ugly silence, followed by a burst of hysterical shouting.

"Does anyone else have a sinking feeling?" Kira asked.

Zack, Ethan and Trent stared at her. Then, in perfect unison, they each raised a hand in agreement.

It went more perfectly than Conner could ever have dreamed. Kimberly was so busy shouting at Dr. O through the Secret Chamber door that she didn't notice Conner sneaking up behind her until the cuffs were on her wrists. He had Billy hold her down while he unlocked the Chamber door. Dr. O tried to charge out and Billy flung Kimberly at him, knocking them both back inside and giving Conner ample time to slam the door and lock it once more. Conner turned to face Billy, who was staring at the door with a look of horrified realization.

"Uh-oh," Billy said.

"What uh-oh?" Conner asked.

"I just realized what the plan was," Billy choked out, voice barely above a whisper. "I… this isn't good."

"Don't crap out on me now, Billy! This is the smoothest I've ever executed a plan!"

"Conner," Billy said desperately, "please do not inform me that your strategy encompasses physically restraining Tommy and Kimberly in close quarters for an indefinite period of time."

Conner stared at him. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Billy breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good."

"No, seriously—I don't know what you're talking about. Could you run that by me again?"

Silence reigned for a good long while. Then Billy shrieked, "TRINI!" so loudly that Conner jumped.

"Dude, chill! Just get Ethan to translate for you!"

"No!" Billy wailed. "I need Trini! How could I let you talk me into this? You evil Reds with your psychotic plans! You're always saying things like, 'Don't worry, Billy, I'm sure no one saw us' and 'How was I supposed to know what hypoallergenic meant?' and how could I let this happen? I'm supposed to be the smart one! You Reds just spout off some order or another and the rest of us follow because you have some sort of hypnotic power behind every command and I'm weak! Weak, weak, weak! I'm weak because I'mBlue!"

"Billy, calm down!" Conner said desperately, grabbing his arm as Billy started to head for the stairs. He couldn't let Trini and Jason get involved!

"No! I need Trini! I need my shield! All those years of beating the bullies back for me and interpreting my words and now she'll save me from you!" Billy attempted to break Conner's grip; Conner clung to him tightly.

"Why does everyone always need Trini when they're upset?" Conner dug his heels into the floor and leaned back. Billy was a lot stronger than he looked. "Billy, you're not thinking clearly. You're hysterical!"

"Of course I'm hysterical! This is a perfect time to get hysterical!" With that, Billy jerked his arm upward while simultaneously bracing one foot against Conner's stomach and shoving. Conner tumbled to the floor in a heap, releasing Billy, who raced towards the stairs.

Panicking, Conner pulled out all the stops. "What do you think Trini will do to you when you tell her what you've done?"

It was the exact same reason Conner didn't want Jason and Trini to know what role Conner had played until the plan was over, and the thought of Trini's wrath and Jason's disapproval were even more terrifying to Billy. He stopped dead and turned to look at Conner in horror.

Conner stood up, slowly, using that tone of voice Dr. O often used when convincing Kira not to kill Conner. "Come on, Billy. You honestly don't think this is my entire plan, do you? I'm a Red, dude. I'm a leader. I've got it covered. Now just give me some time, okay? Everything will reveal itself in due time. It's all under control."

Billy sighed, then stepped away from the stairs and went to set down on a bench against the wall. "Why are things so much more normal on Aquitar?" he moaned. "You'd think an alien planet would have more chaos, but no…"

Conner patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, dude; I got this covered." With that, Conner charged back up the stairs. Zack, Ethan, Kira and Trent looked up at him expectantly. "Everyone in the basement; Billy will explain," he told them. They went, and Conner glanced around for inspiration. All that was left was to hide the key. Then his plan would be complete. It wouldn't matter if Jason and Trini got involved—because once the key was safely hidden, only Conner could open that door.

Conner wasn't opening that door until Kimberly and Dr. O were a couple again. And they'd be so grateful to Conner that they'd probably name their firstborn after him.

Everything was going according to plan.