Chapter 1: A Reunion & a Secret Danger.
Saturday
July 29, 1995
11:49 AM
Command Center
The silver panels of the Command Center glint in the artificial lighting. The old Ranger suits stand in their display cases, a silent testament to human bravery and selflessness. The monster alarm is momentarily silent. Zordon’s tube emits its usual silvery blue light and the great being himself seems content. His eternal companion toils away at the system database.
“ALPHA” Zordon calls, “HAS BILLY FINISHED THE REPAIRS ON THE BEAR ZORD YET?”
Before Alpha has a chance to respond, a stream of odd colored pink enters the Command Center. It hits the floor and condenses into a petite figure with shoulder length, dark caramel hair. The girl timidly smiles up at Zordon.
“KIMBERLY, IS EVERYTHING ALL RIGHT?” Zordon’s usually calm voice betrays a tremor of worry, “WHY AREN’T YOU IN FLORIDA, TRAINING?” The girl he always saw as a daughter seems paler and thinner than the last time he saw her.
She glances down, then turns her brown-eyed gaze back on Zordon. “Can you please call everyone? There’s a strong possibility that something is very, very wrong and I have to fix it.”
Zordon nods at Alpha who immediately engages the communication link.
~*~
11:52 AM
Command Center
“RANGERS I NEED YOU IN THE COMMAND CENTER,” Zordon’s voice booms through the communicators to the groaning Ranger team.
Tommy stands up from his usual seat in the Juice Bar and drags Aisha, Kat, Rocky, Adam and Billy out into a hidden corner.
“We’ll be right there Zordon.”
~*~
11:54 AM
Command Center
As Kimberly stands next to a console, restlessly chewing on a strand of hair, six familiar streams of light enter the Command Center. A brilliant blue hits and reveals a perplexed Billy. The shining yellow condenses into Aisha who, upon seeing Kim, immediately sprints over for a bear hug. As Kim is gasping from the sudden loss of air, the solemn black turns into Adam, who smiles a bit awkwardly. Next is the exuberant red, Rocky, Rocko, Rock-man, who jumps into the bear hug, enveloping both girls and squeezing yet more air out of Kim.
Billy finally blinks out of his stupor and goes over to join in with a soft cry of Kim’s name.
The strangely glimmering pink leaves Kat in its wake who, not really knowing what to do, can’t stand still. She clasps her hands together tightly and comes out with “Hi Kim.”
The blinding white is last and, as it simmers down to uncover Tommy’s tall lanky frame, the three squishing Kim step back to allow her a proper greeting with the man they still can’t believe she left.
Tommy lifts his soft brown eyes to look at his ex and, unable to withstand her shy glance, drops them back to the ground. “Hello Kimberly.”
Alpha’s faint ay-ay-ay’s, which have sounded all throughout the seeming eternal moments, grow a bit louder.
Zordon shushes him, “EVERYONE I BELIEVE KIMBERLY HAS SOMETHING TO SAY.”
“So you’re not just here because you missed us?” the words escape Rocky’s mouth. Kim’s expression turns sad and she drops her head, at which Aisha punches Rocky in the shoulder, hard.
“Owww,” the great Red Ranger wails.
“Shut up Rocko, you deserved it,” the Yellow Ranger calmly replies.
“Enough you two,” Adam looks at his friends calmly, “Let Kim get a word in.”
Kim slowly moves her gaze around the Center. Zordon nods. Alpha tilts his metallic head. Aisha and Rocky give Kim two identically bright smiles. Billy and Adam give her similarly serious looks. Kat frowns slightly, sways a bit and has to quickly lean on a wall. Tommy meets her gaze then quickly looks away.
“First of all, I want to say I am really, really sorry and it is all my fault,” Kim begins. Tommy quickly glances up in surprise, but just as quickly looks back to the floor. The deceptively delicate girl bites her lip then speaks again, “Kat?”
At the sound of her name the tall blonde stands a little more stiffly, “Yes?”
“Have you felt at all odd anytime lately?” Kim asks hesitantly.
“I am fine,” replies Kat firmly.
“I don’t think you are,” Kim gains more confidence, “I think you’ve been feeling dizzy, weak and off balance.” As if to punctuate Kim’s point, Kat sways again, and grabs for the closest person, that being Adam, who quickly catches her. “Zordon, I think you should run a deep energy scan on Kat,” the brunette insists, “or… she may die.” A deep silence falls as Kat gasps indignantly.
“KIMBERLY I SEE NO REAL REASON TO DO A SCAN ON KAT BUT I ALSO SEE NO REASON TO DISBELIEVE YOU,” Zordon replies, apparently still thinking it over.
Kat scowls at Zordon. “I am not having any scans done on me. I don’t need one and frankly I don’t understand her motives.”
Adam, having to bear more and more of Kat’s weight, speaks up, “I agree with Kat. I don’t really understand Kim’s motives.” Kim looks up at Adam with tears beginning to shimmer in her eyes.
“Adam,” Billy’s quiet voice sounds stern, “I don’t know what’s going on but Kim is my friend and she has saved my life and everyone else’s more than once. I think we…”
“Billy, please let me finish,” Adam interrupts Billy, possibly for the first time in his life, “Anyway, despite what I may or may not understand…” Adam stops and looks at Tommy, who is slouching against a wall, then continues, “I agree with Kim. There’s obviously something wrong with Kat and currently I am inclined to want to kick myself for not noticing it sooner.” Billy nods then looks around at his friends.
Kim carefully wipes her eyes. “Thank you Adam.” Aisha half smiles at her.
“Don’t thank me.” Adam shakes his head while Kat slowly pulls away from him, regaining some measure of balance. “I am doing this for Kat.” Aisha’s half-smile dies quickly, a frown forming in its place.
Rocky raises his eyebrows. “Kay… well… I say the scan is a good idea so let’s do it.”
“I second that,” surprisingly the sentiment leaves Tommy’s mouth, a shock even to him.
“Hey, now wait just a minute.” Kat stands a bit more steadily, yet still gripping onto Adam. “It’s my body. I should get a say in what happens and I say no!”
“Kat, please.” Tears once again fill Kim’s eyes.
“Kat, it may be prudent to do this…” Billy softly comments.
“No I refuse!”
“KATHERINE,” Zordon finally speaks up, “IT SEEMS TO ME THAT YOUR TEAMMATES ARE RIGHT. ALPHA PLEASE TAKE KATHERINE TO THE MED ROOM AND PERFORM THE SCAN.” Alpha turns to Kat. Unable to refuse Zordon, she follows him through the door. As soon as the door slides shut with a quiet whoosh, the team turns to Kim.
“What is this all about?” Rocky asks tentatively.
“I… I’ll tell you guys everything once Kat comes back.” Not inclined to say more, Kim settles on the floor next to the display with her old Morphin Ranger uniform.
The rest of the Rangers follow suit. Aisha settles next to Kim, wrapping her friend in a hug. Tommy sits where he stood. Billy and Adam position themselves next to the consoles, whispering to each other. Rocky climbs atop a counter and begins to sing a badly off-key rendition of ‘I Will Survive’. It is going to be a long day.
~*~
1:22 PM
Command Center
Zordon surveys his children as the minutes tick by. Tommy is leaning back with his eyes closed. He almost looks like he is meditating, but the frown marring his face makes a lie out of that assumption. Rocky is still singing, or at least hollering in a song-like manner. He has switched to ‘My Heart Will Go On’, and even Zordon winces a little. Kim has her head on Aisha’s shoulder, whispering something in her ear. Aisha looks solemn. Billy and Adam have spread several charts on the floor and are contentedly poring over them.
~*~
1:53 PM
Command Center
The minutes keep ticking.
Aisha now whispers in Kim’s ear, still hugging her closely. Billy and Adam seem to have made at least
three new discoveries. Tommy still
hasn’t moved. Rocky has finished ‘My
Heart Will Go On’, and several other selections, and is now moving on to ‘Wannabe’ by the Spice Girls.
At this horrendous
sound Tommy flashes open his eyes.
“Rocky! Stop!” The sounds falter
and fade away. Tommy’s eyes shut
quickly and he once again looks dead to the world. Faint sighs of relief are heard all over the room.
“Humph.” Rocky scrunches up his face. “I don’t feel appreciated!”
“You’re not.” Adam winks at him.
~*~
3:06 PM
Command Center
Over two hours have passed
since Kat went in for the scan and even Zordon is a little worried. Rocky has his Walkman on, chewing on a ham
sandwich filled with every ingredient known to man and then some. Adam is scribbling some notes for his
critique of Hemingway essay in his notebook.
Billy is going over plans for improving the Bear Zord. Kim is doing handstands; landing forward, up
into a handstand, then landing back, again up into a handstand and repeating
the process. Aisha is engrossed in her
anthropology book. Tommy has not moved
since yelling at Rocky, and that could not be called moving either.
Finally, the door slides open slowly and Kat walks out leaning heavily on Alpha. She is very pale, as if every drop of blood has suddenly left her face. She is also trembling lightly. Rocky jumps off the counter, pulling down his headphones and placing his sandwich onto the wrapper. Billy puts away the plans, getting up. They walk briskly to Kat and help her down onto the floor. She sits next to Adam, leaning back on the console. Kim lands forward and takes a step closer to Kat, then stops hesitantly. Rocky settles back on the counter and continues attacking his food. Aisha slips her book back into her backpack. Adam closes his notebook and lays it next to himself, looking over Kat worriedly. Tommy opens his eyes.
“ALPHA WHAT DID YOU FIND?” Zordon is the first to find the words.
“Ay-ay-ay Zordon.” Alpha shakes his head. “It took us this long just to do the scan and the computers are still running through the data.”
“Let me look,” mutters Billy turning to the appropriate screen, “Hmm.” Everyone holds their breath as his hands fly over the controls.
“Well?” Aisha speaks up, unable to hold it in any longer.
“Well it seems that the processing period will be 38 hours and 14 minutes,” Billy answers her, “but the results will be somewhat inconclusive and we will need to run more scans.” Kat groans at the thought.
“Well now that we know no more than we did two hours ago, how about telling us what all this was about?” Adam looks up at Kim who manages to look tiny even while towering over his sitting form.
“I’d like to know,” Tommy seconds the request, still not moving. His gaze burns into Kim.
“Umm, ok, but you might want to get comfy,” Kim says, “it’s a very long story.” She walks over to where Aisha is sitting and sits back down next to her, tucking her feet under herself. Tommy’s eyes follow Kim. Billy sits back down next to Kat. Rocky packs away his Walkman. Kat shifts around a bit. Aisha puts an arm around Kim, sensing the girl needs her support. Adam folds his legs into a lotus position. Alpha and Zordon focus their superior senses, curious just like the humans around them.
“Well it’s about the Pink Crane Power…”