Disclaimer: The usual stuff. Most, if not all, of the characters in this story are mine and are the rightful properties of Saban/Toei Entertainment. Blah, blah, blah, -blah-blah-blah…
“Okay girlfriend…” she thought to herself. “This is it…” she took a deep breath as the announcer miraculously spoke her exact thoughts.
“And now it’s all up to the dismount…” the announcer voice echoed over the crowded auditorium. “And… she’s nailed it! Kimberly Hart has won the individual all-around gold! And the crowd is calling out her name!”
“Kimberly… Kimberly… Kimberly!” Sifting through cheers of an imaginary crowd, the sound of Coach Gunther Schmidt’s voice brought Kimberly Hart back to reality just in time to see a heavy chunk of masonry falling towards her head. Still half-asleep in her daydream, but alert and nimble, Kimberly continued her dismount of a double back-handspring with a full twisting somersault with a single back pike. She landed just as the chunk of ceiling broke to pieces on the balance beam she had been practicing on. Surprisingly, she raised her hands over head as if she were still in a competition.
“Do you mind telling me just the heck did you think you were doing?” Schmidt demanded.
“Practicing.” Kimberly said nonchalantly. She walked over to the one clean spot of the gym that was clear of debris. It was where she had laid her towel and water bottle.
“I’m still expecting an answer Kim!” reiterated Schmidt, his tone of voice becoming stronger.
“I thought I just gave you one.” She said between gulps of water.
“What is with you lately? You know that the gym is off limits to anyone since the damage from the invasion left it this way.”
Kim didn’t answer and started towards the locker rooms.
“Kimberly if there’s something wrong, I really want you to tell me about it. All these unnecessary-!"
“Yeah, yeah, and it’s also the reason why we don’t have anymore students here!” Kim snapped.
“You don’t think this is hurting me too? That we can’t reopen the camp until next summer?” Schmidt erupted. “Even then, I don’t most of them will come back after being traumatized by those… alien things!”
“Coach…” Kim spoke quietly.
“I’m not finished!” Schmidt roared. “What on earth possessed you to take on those things by yourself? Did you think you were Power Ranger or something?”
“Coach, I…”
“You not only put yourself in danger but the lives of those boys and girls.”
Kim whipped her head around to face Coach Schmidt, but when she looked at his eyes, she saw how hurt he was… Kim no longer saw her coach but the man whom had trained her to win the silver medal in Pan Global Olympics and cheered for her as if his own daughter had won.
That was it or at least part of it… She had failed. She failed as an athlete; failed as a Ranger; and she had failed as a protector of the gym and her students.
“Kimberly… what is it, wrong?” asked Schmidt.
Kimberly turned around with furious speed and took a breath for harsh words to throw at her Coach; and that was when she saw his eyes. Coach Schmidt eyes showed so much concern. For the first time, Kimberly saw him not as her coach but she saw a man who looked at her as if she were his own troubled child. The words suddenly lodged in her throat and the pain it caused started to form tears in her eyes.
“Kimberly…” Schmidt started.
“Mr. Schmidt…” she spoke as quickly as she could before her emotions got the best of her. “I… I’m sorry. I feel like I let you down… and the kids too.
“Kimberly…” Schmidt started.
“… And now… I think I’ve may have failed again.” She choked. Kimberly was unable to hold back the tears any longer and she ran to the locker room before Coach Schmidt could react.
“Kimberly…” Schmidt muttered, finally understanding what had been bothering her since the invasion. He had no idea her silver medal from the Pan Global Olympic had something to do with it. He thought it was because of her unfortunate relationship with Mark. Personally, and secretly, Schmidt was ecstatic to see Kimberly break up with the gambling jerk. Schmidt always thought he was just after her family’s money anyway.
Then he thought that it might have had something to do with the way she tried to fight off the soldiers from the invasions. ‘Chromites’ he believes they were called in the newspaper. He had never seen Kimberly with so much energy. She fought like a, like a, well… like a Power Ranger from her hometown of Angel Grove. The only thing that stopped her was when one of the Chromites grabbed Kimberly favorite student, ten year old Tommy, by the scruff of his neck. Kimberly knew exactly what would happen if she did not surrender. The Chromites were on her in an instant.
Schmidt suddenly shuddered as he remembered Kimberly was being kicked and punched by an alarming number of enemies. Schmidt was helpless as well as long as they held Tommy. Fortunately, Kimberly’s torture did not last long. The Chromites dragged her barely conscious body to a far corner of the Gym and unceremoniously flung her to the wall and Tommy was throw into Schmidt’s arms, shaken and angry but other wise fine.
A Quantron wearing what looked like suped-up radio equipment ran into the room and addressed another mechanical looking creature, as ‘General Havoc, that was apparently the leader. General Havoc sat in a director’s chair, listening to the gymnastic floor exercise music CDs.
Moments later, a strangely dressed, but otherwise, beautiful Asian woman strode in after the Quantron. She looked human except for the golden scaled costume she wore; was it a costume? There was something unearthly about this woman. Havoc spotted the mysterious woman before the Quantron could deliver its message.
“Silence worm! You’re in the presence of a lady.” Havoc hissed at the Quantron. He then bowed and motioned to kiss her hand. “Ah, the lovely Scorpina. Madam… I’d offer you a seat but, er, there seem to be none left.” Havoc looked about across the debris-strewn room.
“Hmmm. At last… someone who show respect.” She replied with an alluring smile. “I’ve been reduced to nothing but transportation for this…” Scorpina eyed the Quantron with disgust. “Walking bucket of flesh and bolts.”
“So sorry to hear that Lord Zedd wanted nothing to do with you my dear. However, I think I have need of you.”
“Oh, really? What did you have in mind?”
“Do you see those humans over there?” he motioned with his hand and at the same time reached for a cup of tea brought to him by one of his Chromite Soldiers.
Scorpina’s eyes narrowed and her face grimaced in disgust as she looked at the huddled, frightened mass. “Yes.”
“I was hoping that you would destroy them for me. I would but children…” Havoc paused to sip his tea. “Quite ungentlemanly and all that. Would you-?”
“Gladly.” Scorpina responded immediately. In a flash, her bladed boomerang, her Scorpina Sting, was in her hand. She slowly strode over to the humans as a cat would a defenseless chick. Her eyes glowed blood red to frighten them. She loved it when her victims showed fear.
The Quantron seemed anxious, and with good reason: The Power Rangers had revealed themselves, and were leading a revolt against Astronoma, but it knew how General Havoc would react if interrupted.
The Chromites guarding the humans parted a path for Scorpina. All watched, figuring the humans were too weak and frightened, they would just lie down and die until the last moment when Scorpina destroyed the first of them. All they would have to do was keep them from scattering too far away.
Apparently, Kimberly’s fighting spirit became contagious as the four students and two young assistant coaches, like Kimberly, charged the distracted Chromites. Only momentary caught off guard, four of the Chromites went down without much trouble but others quickly retreated a safe distance and fired laser into the huddled attackers and their fallen allies.
Schmidt shuddered again as he remembered the flying bodies. Fifteen-year-old Audrey, one of the assistant coaches, was blown ten feet in the air and into the foam pit by the concussion blast. The others had gotten clear but were still shaken up by the blast. Scorpina then shouted a command that still chilled Schmidt’s blood.
“Destroy them all!” she spat the command with an inhuman hatred.
The words echoed in her mind and Kimberly quickly turned on the shower, not even waiting for the water to warm up, hoping that the noise would drown out the voice, bring unwanted visions in her mind.
“Run!” Schmidt had shouted to the students. They scattered before he could finish the word. Then the blast and screams drowned out whatever else he may have been screaming.
Kimberly turned on more showerhead; she need more noise to drown out the screams, the explosions, the Chromites… General Havoc… he had two Chromites drag her to him and then Scorpina pulled Kimberly’s head up by the hair and said:
“Watch! See what you have done!” Scorpina sneered. “This is all your doing human!”
The words echoed and became trapped in Kimberly’s mind and the visions burned deep in her memory as she watched the destruction of the gym as it fell around the scattered, terrified, screaming faculty and students.
Kimberly had run out of showerheads and still the sounds and visions would not stop.
Kimberly!
“No…” she said to herself, both in memory and verbally. “Please not him…”
“Kimberly!” Tommy little voice reached her over all the mayhem. He was running full speed to her rescue.
Havoc drew a sword from his hip holster, aimed at the ceiling and fired an arc of energy, bringing down a rain of debris on little Tommy. Kimberly almost screamed but Scorpina slapped her metallic covered hand over her mouth, digging her claws into Kimberly’s flesh… slowly.
“No… I don’t even want you to scream.” Scorpina leaned forward and whispered sadistically in Kimberly’s ear. “I want to remember that you were so helpless, you couldn’t even do something as simple as scream in defiance.” Scorpina’s grip suddenly, slowly began to tighten.
“My jaw-!” Kimberly thought. “She’s going to crush it!”
Suddenly, Scorpina was flying away from Kimberly; the metallic hand scraped the flesh of Kimberly’s mouth as it clawed to get a grip. Kimberly looked up and saw Tommy kick and punch the two Chromites holding Kimberly’s arms. She dropped to the floor, still too stunned from her previous assault.
She looked up at Tommy and he smiled back as he extended at hand to help her up.
“Kimberly?” he asked concerned. Then…
“Kimberly? Kimberly!” Audrey voice brought her back. “Are you all right?”
Kimberly looked up and saw Audrey extending her left hand to help her up from the shower room floor.
Kimberly stared at her for a moment almost catatonic; she reached for Audrey’s hand with her left hand causing Audrey to have to change her grip. This brought Kimberly attention to Audrey’s bandaged right arm, a result of the injury from the blast.
Audrey followed Kimberly’s gaze. “Don’t worry about it… Doctor says that I’ll be fine in a couple of weeks.” She forced out a laugh knowing that she may not have full use of her hand ever again.
“I’m so-!” Kimberly started to apologize tearfully.
“Shh! You don’t have to do anything except-!”
“No! I’m so sorry! None of this wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t tried to play hero.”
“Kim, no… It’s not your fault. To tell you the truth, I wanted to do what I did when those Toxic Revenger Rejects first stormed the place. You just beat me to it.”
Kimberly kept silent, staggered over to the towel rack and wrapped around her body.
“I guess growing up in Angel Grove must’ve put some of that Power Ranger heroism in you. Hell, I know I was like that when my family and I were passing through Angel Grove on vacation and we saw the Power Rangers in action… Girl, lemme tell ya, I was changed for life. I wanted to be the Pink Ranger so bad!
If only she knew how bad her words made Kimberly felt. Kimberly let Audrey continue.
“When all the other girls kept saying that they would be the next Pink Ranger, I decided I would be…”
Audrey stood her legs shoulder-with apart, place her hands on her hips (injured arm as best she could), stuck out her chest…
“The PURPLE RANGER!” she bellowed and her voice echoed in the locker room adding a perfect touch to her heroic outcry.
Kimberly stared at her blankly. But the longer she stared at Audrey standing that way in her purple jogging suit the more she remembered herself as the Pink Ranger and how the Zack and Jason made fun of her pose for the camera. For a moment, Audrey almost looked like Aisha. Distracted, a snicker escaped her lips. She brought her hands to her lips but the echo in the room didn’t help.
“Huh?” Audrey noticed. “Thhhhhhhhheeeee PURPLE RANGER!” she cried even louder this time.
Kimberly couldn’t help it. She laughed, not because it was funny, but because it felt so good and she had forgotten… something… something that could wait…