-Prior to the Fox Ranger's Debut-
Sunlight streamed through the open veranda door; warm air carried the scent of blossoming flowers. It had taken the better part of two years but the gardens decorating the courtyard below blazed with brilliant reds, pinks, yellows, blues, and oranges. The cobblestone pathways meandering amongst the greenery were clean and smooth, well-tended without the previous cracks and weeds.
When Drakkon ruled, that was the only thing that seemed to grow: thorny, twisted, and foul-smelling weeds. Unless you counted things like resentment, misery, despair, and death. Oh and the tyrant's God-sized ego.
Kimberly gazed down at the people tending the plants, bringing some sort of life back to this hellish landscape. It was far from perfect but better than it had been. Outside the palace was still a lot of barren dirt patches and dusty streets, abandon buildings, and eerie silence. The landscape was beginning to swallow up the manmade trappings of civilization.
It would be decades before any real sort of progress would be made outside the stone walls of Drakkon's former home.
"Never thought we'd smell roses again. Not in a place that feels like its stuck at thirteen o'clock," a voice spoke up behind her.
Kim's lips curled in a soft smile at the dark-haired man standing behind her. He grinned in return, the familiar snap of his gum echoing in the room as he moved to stand at her side.
"Me either," the Slayer responded, nodding at the brilliant red flowers climbing delicately skyward along the trellised wall. "That's the spot, right there. I'm still working with Zack and Trini to design something special for him."
Skull placed a hand on Kim's shoulder, knowing the subject would also pain her.
"He'd be honored you're doing this for him," he whispered. "After everything that happened, he deserves this."
Kimberly blinked her tears back determinedly as she gave a bitter laugh.
"I'll be damned before I let Jason be hidden away any longer. Drakkon locked him away from the world, banished him from existence."
She shook her head, short dark hair brushing her cheeks.
"Thinking about him will always hurt, Skull, but I can't let my selfishness be the reason he is forgotten forever. I want something grand and beautiful to honor him and his legacy. He saved us all more times than I can count, sometimes putting himself between Rita's goons and the rest of the team."
Kimberly swallowed, her tears starting to swell in her long lashes.
"I never told him the times I saw the blood dripping on the floor of the Command Center when he'd hurry us off back home, staying behind for some reason or other. He'd stand so still, head held high even when he was hurting."
Skull's hand moved across her shoulders to pull her into a tight hug.
"Sounds like the Jason I knew," he murmured against the top of her head. "I can't say I was surprised when I found out he was the Red Ranger after it was all too late. Even Bulk agreed that Jason was a hero through and through."
Kim leaned into the friendly embrace, her head on Skull's shoulder.
"I still feel so guilty," she admitted so softly that her companion almost missed it.
Looking down, he put a finger under her chin and guided her face up to look in her eyes.
"Guilty? Why? Because of you is the only reason the rest of us have a snowball's chance in hell of some type of normalcy," he soothed.
Kimberly extricated herself from Skull's arms and turned slowly to hide her shamed expression.
"Guilty because I didn't recognize my oldest, dearest friend sooner. Because I was no better than the rest of Drakkon's jackals when it came to corralling Red. I didn't treat him like a human being at a minimum. All the times I saw him kneeling beside Drakkon's throne or shadowing that asshole around the palace; I should have put two and two together."
Walking up behind the shaking woman, Skull tried his best to comfort her, knowing no amount of words would ever ease her bruised heart.
"Why would you have, Kim? Drakkon made a spectacle about killing Jason. He had his blood covered helmet for crying out loud! Not to mention, you were also under a spell."
Kimberly sniffed, not swayed by Skull's explanation.
"Red didn't even look like Jason once that dick was done with him, Kim," he continued to press. "By the time I worked my way into the Red Sentries, he was already Drakkon's pet and being paraded around the palace. Or taken to other planets to fight. No way would I have looked at him and said that was Jason Scott."
"I appreciate you trying, Skull, but I'll carry this with me always. At least, he isn't trapped anymore, living like an animal," she sighed, turning back to smile sadly at him, tears still sliding beside her mouth.
Skull nodded sadly.
"Hey," he added, with a signature snap of his gum. "At least he put an end to that psychotic piece of shit."
"Amen to that!" said a new voice from the direction of the hall.
Zack leaned into the room and gave a quick smile.
"You've got to stop beating yourself up, Kim. Jason would be so pissed if he could see you like this," he added.
The Ranger Slayer wiped her cheeks and swallowed back her pain.
"You know I'm right," Zack continued, coming into the room. "I can see his expression now, even crossing his arms."
He demonstrated Jason's signature irritated pose when he wanted to have a word with you.
Kimberly managed to give a small laugh at the memory.
"I heard you got that look all the time, Zack," Skull grinned.
The former Black Ranger shrugged.
"He seemed to think I was too reckless. Coming from him that was bullshit and I told him so often," Zack answered.
The trio stood silent a moment, each lost in distant, happier times.
As they stood there, the sky gradually began to dark; it was so slow it was almost imperceptible. The cold, upsweep of wind through Kim's hair was caught her attention. Her gaze turned back towards the open balcony; the sun now shrouded by dark grey clouds that continued to darken. Drops of rain misted the group with the next gust.
"Hey," Skull frowned. "Who turned out the lights?"
Kimberly slowly approached the veranda and stepped out into light drizzle. Below in the courtyard, people began to pack up their tools and scurry to shelter.
"I don't like this," she murmured, not knowing fully why.
The other two approached, staring out into darkening fury. The rain thudded harder now, a crack of lightning arced across the sky, and thundered rumbled. Zack and Skull stopped in the arch of the doorway while Kim continued to peer into the torrent, the drops of water pelting her small frame under the open air.
"Something isn't right," she muttered to herself.
A deep, otherworldly howl shook them to the core, cutting right their souls it seemed. Skull's jaw dropped open in stunned amazement.
"Was that a dog?" he asked, turning towards Zack.
Zack shook his head, puzzled.
"What kind of dog could do that?" he replied as he lifted a brow.
Kimberly continued staring through the sheets of rain; her eyes widened at a lumbering shape slowly taking form amidst the flower beds.
"I'm guessing one like that," she yelled over her shoulder, pointing over the balustrade.
Both men darted to the railing to see where she was looking. The strange swirling shape was dog-like and growing more solid by the second. It was massive in size and girth, eyes glowing an eerie blue, and white sharp teeth glinting in the crack of lightning. The thick grey fur sprouted in twisted mats around its muscular shoulders.
"Ummm, that's new," Skull quipped in nervousness.
Zack grabbed Kim's arm, yelling over the torrent.
"We've got to…." He started to advise when a booming roar drowned him out.
Skull suddenly grabbed the Ranger Slayer's arm and yanked her back into the open room. Zack followed, jumping and flipping into the air as a sharp crack shook the floor.
It was just in time too.
The large beast landed heavily on the terrace, causing most of it to collapse; stone tiles and chunks of balustrade crashed to the ground below. The canine snarled menacingly at the trio, thick foam dripping in white frothy bubbles from its muzzle. Around its neck rested a thick leather collar with strange writing etched across the front.
"Run!" Zack screamed, shoving the stunned Ranger Slayer through the door into the hall as the creature pursued, howling wildly.
Its claws clattered along the stone, the muscular legs thundering over the floor, causing large cracks. Kimberly could feel the hot breath on her back, coming ever closer as it picked up speed.
"This way," she ordered, darting down a side corridor to the former throne room.
Unable to stop in time, the beast darted past the opening as the trio raced towards the large wooden door. It roared in anger before slamming into a wall, shaking the dust of crunched stone from its coat. Regaining its footing, the large hound sniffed at the air with its scarred black nose.
Picking up the faint scent of its prey, the thick head turned one way then the other. As tasty as those fragile humans smelled, its true prey's aroma was drifting from a different direction. Growling, it bounded off heading towards the main hall.
In the throne room, Kimberly, Skull, and Zack braced themselves for the creature to burst through the wooden doors. Bow at the ready, the Ranger Slayer's heart raced, and she prepared for a vicious battle. The former Black Ranger stood at the ready beside her with a sharp machete pulled over his head. Skull flanked her other side with his bladed staff.
But the hound didn't arrive.
"Where did it go?" Skull whispered nervously towards Kimberly.
Straining her ears intently, the Ranger Slayer could pick up the growling and snarling beast in another part of the palace. It was slamming into closed doors, plowing into stone walls, destroying everything in its path as it sought….. something.
"I think it's in the main hall," she answered.
Skull frowned.
"Why? There's nothing there. It's been closed off since…" he trailed off, glancing at Kim's tense back.
"Since Jason died," the Ranger Slayer finished.
The day that she discovered her big brother was gone, Kimberly had decreed that this particular hall and its associated rooms would be sealed off. This included the room that Red had been held in as well as the outer observation area and Drakkon's disgusting trophy room. The thought of ever setting eyes on the place her Jason had lived in for so long made her stomach roll with nausea.
As Drakkon's Slayer, she also knew that somewhere in that Godforsaken trophy room, the asshole had kept the Red Tyranno helmet and Jason's Power Sword. He boasted proudly to her of his collection and how it still retained his fallen enemy's dried blood. It seemed like ever entering that wing would be disturbing a grave.
"Did he have any other coins or weapons or something else that it could be looking for?" Zack asked.
Kimberly shook her head as she lowered her bow.
"No, that room was nothing but broken weapons and other items he kept as souvenirs from his victims. I can't think of anything in there that would be of any use to anyone."
Now, she approached the heavy wooden doors, still listening keenly to the beast's destruction in the abandoned corridor.
"We may not know what it's after, but it isn't leaving here with anything Drakkon may have hidden away back there. There's no telling what that bastard managed to tuck up his sleeve," she growled.
Shoving through the double doors, she dashed towards the sound of the canine's angry growls and snarls, Zack and Skull hot on her heels. Her boots pounded and echoed down the silent hall as she approached the one room she hoped never to enter again. It was mostly dark with minimal power routed into this section of the palace. Small lights still glowed along the walls; they flickered sporadically.
Ranger Slayer gritted her teeth in torment as she entered the outer viewing vestibule that surrounded Red's former quarters. The glass separating the rooms was dusty and streaked with unknown debris. In her mind's eye, Kimberly could still see Red standing forlornly at the window, one hand rhythmically tapping. Other times, she would watch from this same spot as he threw himself around the enclosure like a dervish, cursing and swearing as he raged out of control.
Now a different animal stood in the center of the room, head lowered, and teeth bared. The beast seemed more enraged than when it arrived; discovering that the scent was an old one, it was seething at the wasted time and energy it expended in transporting here.
Vulpes parva abiit, it howled.
The fox had been long gone from this place; it snarled in frustration. A large clawed paw swiped viciously at the wall of glass separating the fox's den and the outer room. The pane caved in with a large crash, jagged sharp pieces glittering across the stones. Now, it roared at the three challengers in defiance.
However, the confrontation had been for naught. The Slayer's arrows merely pissed the large canine off as they landed in his shaggy mane. Zack and Skull didn't fare any better with sword or machete. The monster tossed them aside like ragdolls.
Eventually, the brawl spilled into the courtyard, through the muddy grass and rain. The hound angrily ran rampant destroying whatever crossed its path in vindictive spite. Lightning split the sky, arcing through the atmosphere before sparking flames in a decorative stand of tall flowering trees.
Screams pierced the air with the beast galloping all over, flinging water from its soaked fur. Kimberly, Zack, and Skull tried valiantly to corral the animal into a confined area away from the people ducking in shelter from the rain. Zack took a hit from the canine's heavy tail, knocking the wind from him.
Feeling small hands on him, his wide eyes looked up into Trini's face as she bravely dashed from her shelter to his side. He gasped wordlessly for a moment while he struggled to catch his breath. Both Ranger Slayer and Skull bounded between the monster and their friends.
The hound snorted at them, lip raised in disgust.
Miserabilis creaturae, it spat as another voice draped the canine mind like lace.
Redi, it commanded.
Giving one last ear-splitting howl, the animal's form began to swirl and fade into nothingness. As it did so, the violent weather lessened, the sky becoming brighter and the rain slowing to a fine mist.
"Well, that was fun and all," Skull panted, "but I'm still more of a cat person."