Katherine sat in her room, staring
morosely at the wall. Since the deaths
had been so close together, Adam and Tanya's funerals were being held together.
They were starting in half an hour. Tommy was supposed to pick her up in
fifteen minutes. Katherine was still in her nightgown and robe. Her black
dress hung on its hanger from the top of her closet door.
"Katherine?" her mother's soft voice asked. "Kat, honey,
are you all right?"
"I'm fine, mother," Katherine replied softly through the knot
in her throat. As if that was the needed stimulus, Katherine rose and began
to dress.
After the funeral, Tommy, Katherine, Rocky and Aisha heard their communicators
tone. Tommy waited for everyone to finish groaning before answering. "Zordon,
tell me there's not another monster attacking," Tommy said.
"There is not another monster. I am merely contacting you to let you
know that the new Green Turbo Ranger has arrived," the weary being's
voice replied.
"Hi, guys," a familiar voice added.
Tommy, Jason, and Zack all sat around a table at the youth center. "It's
good to see you again, Zack," Tommy said.
"Yeah, man, it's good to be back. I just wish the circumstances were
different," Zack sighed. "Y'know, one of the things I missed
the most was Ernie's strawberry smoothies," he said taking a large
drink from his glass.
"It's weird, the three of us sitting here," Jason observed. "I
almost expect Kimberly and Trini to walk through that door."
"Yeah, it is weird. I keep thinking that Billy's going to run in here
with some new gadget or gizmo to show us," Tommy agreed.
"Maybe that's what Zedd's after," Jason said. The other two looked
at him in surprise. "Think about it. Justin, Tanya, and Adam were
all later members of the team. We-- Kimberly, Trini, Billy, Zack, and me--we
were the original members of the Power Team. His main grudge is against
us."
"And Tommy," Zack added. "Remember how many times he was
targeted when he was green?"
"I remember," Tommy rubbed the back of his neck. "Once,
when he captured me, I asked why he hated me so much. His answer? The Green
Ranger represented Rita's failure--her biggest failure. Then, when I was
White, he didn't like me because it was like a representation of Zordon
winning. When we received the Zeo powers, it was like he hated me on principle."
The three young men sat in silence for a while, reflecting on their lives
and their careers as superheroes. Jason broke the silence. "We were
lucky to have each other as friends."
"Jase's right. I know that if I didn't have you guys around then,
I would've gone bleeding nuts."
Tommy smiled at his two friends. "Yeah, it was great knowing I had
friends like you around. Without someone to talk to in the rough spots
of my powers, I know I would've snapped."
Jason extended his hand to the center of the table. "Friends?"
he asked.
The others covered Jason's hand with their own. "Forever." Tommy
said.
On the moon, Lord Zedd watched this exchange. "How disgusting!"
he exclaimed. To distract himself, he flipped once again through the book
of monsters. "Rita!" he called out. "Rita, where are you?"
Rita, at the moment, was in the room she shared with Zedd. Her long white
hair was out of its usual cones and hung below her knees. Instead of her
witches robes, she wore a long red and black caftan. "What do you
want now?" she screeched, then rubbed her raw throat.
"I have an idea for the next attack!"
"Can you wait?"
"No!" Lord Zedd roared.
"Fine," Rita muttered. She left the room, hair flowing out behind
her. "What's your idea?" she grumbled.
Lord Zedd looked at Rita. "You look somehow different," he said.
"I think I like it."
"What's your idea?" she asked again, thinking to herself Men!
"Oh! Yes, well, erm..." Lord Zedd thought furiously. "Ah,
yes, my plan! So far, we haven't targeted any specific Power Ranger in
our attacks, we've just sent down a monster and hoped for the best."
"Go on."
"Well, take a look at this one!" Lord Zedd held up the book for
Rita to see.
"A metal mouse." Rita was not impressed. "So?"
"So, this monster will be specifically sent to attack and destroy
one particular Ranger. One we both have reason to dislike."
Rita figured it out immediately! "Our pretty little Kat!" she
exclaimed.
"By Jove, she's figured it out!" Lord Zedd cackled. "This
Mousetrap monster will catch us a Kat! I've sent the plans to King Mondo
already and it should be done by morning!"
Katherine sat in the juice bar with Aisha, trying to be friendly and
lend support. It was hard for Katherine. She and Aisha had never been close.
Deep down, Katherine knew that Aisha was Kimberly's friend and only tried
to be nice to Katherine for Kimberly's sake. I wonder if she still blames
me for Kimberly leaving the team, Katherine wondered.
Aisha stared at the girl who had taken her best friend's place. She knew
Katherine was only trying to be nice, but it was hard for her to forget
everything Katherine had done to Kimberly. Coming back to Angel Grove and
finding out that Katherine and Tommy were a couple made it even harder.
It's almost as if Kimberly never existed, Aisha thought. Kat's
taken her powers, her place in the community, even Kim's boyfriend!
"Aisha," Katherine said. "This isn't working. I know
you don't like me, but we have to work together. We're part of a team."
"Yeah, I know," Aisha sighed. Time to put away personal differences
and work for the good of the team, she thought sullenly. "Peace?"
"Peace," Katherine replied gratefully. "Listen, Aisha, I
have to go..."
"Go. I'll be fine. Rocky and I are getting together to help Adam's
parents sort through his stuff. For someone so organized at school, he
was one heck of a packrat," Aisha smiled sadly.
Katherine left Aisha to her thoughts, saying hello to Rocky as she passed
him in the hallway. Katherine's thoughts had been darker of late, as well.
Having your best friend brutally killed in front of you tends to do that
to a person. Katherine walked slowly back to her house and climbed the
stairs to her room. The black dress from yesterday's funeral was lying
in a crumpled heap on the floor. She knew she should pick it up, hang it
up before her mother saw, but instead, she kicked it into a corner before
flumping down on her bed. On her nightstand was a picture taken at a school
dance. In the picture was her and Tommy, and Adam and Tanya. We all
looked so happy then, she thought sadly. If only we had known that
Adam and Tanya only had a few short months before all of this. Her
mind screamed back at her, Even if you had known, what would you have
done? What could you have done?
Rocky and Aisha sat in Adam's room. It felt weird, surrounded by Adam's
things. His parents had packed up his clothing and stored it in the attic
until they saw his cousins again. His martial arts trophies were being
put in a special display case they had ordered months ago as a surprise
for him. The rest of his things: pictures, little keepsakes, notes and
whatnot, were left for Rocky and Aisha to sort through.
Rocky picked up the Angel Grove High Class of '9X graduation tassel. "Man,
that was a rough ceremony," he told Aisha. "Divatox sent a monster
right in the middle of the whole thing."
"Whatever happened to her, anyways? Why isn't she in league with Lord
Zedd and King Mondo in this whole thing?"
"I dunno. She just kinda disappeared after a while. Maybe she found
some other being of evil to marry." Rocky put down the tassel. "For
that whole time, I never really knew what was going on with the Rangers.
I'd injured my back and Justin took my place. I just came back to the team
a little before you did." Rocky picked up an intricately folded piece
of paper. "Hey, Aisha, does this look familiar to you?" he asked
with a little grin.
"That's a note I wrote him! I think I used that folding style in,
oh, seventh grade! Adam really is a packrat!" She winced when
she realized what she said. "I mean, he was a packrat. Sorry, Rocky."
"It's okay. I almost called him last night, until I realized why I
wanted to talk to him." Rocky grimaced. "I wanted to talk about
his death." Rocky distracted both of them by opening the note. "Hey
Adam!" he read. "Let's try out our new rollerblades after school,
okay? I can't wait to put them on! Aisha."
Aisha snorted. "I can't believe he kept something that inane. How
many of those are there?"
Rocky looked around. "A lot. Looks like he kept just about every note
he ever got."
"Rocky, I have an idea," Aisha said. She whispered the idea to
Rocky, who nodded his head in agreement.
A few hours later, Rocky and Aisha were at the
cemetery. It hurt to
see the fresh grave with Adam's name inscribed on the tombstone. "Are
you ready?" she asked.
Rocky nodded. "Let's do it." Aisha turned on the portable tape
player she had brought with her. Pop music from the eighties blasted from
the speakers. Rocky took the collection of notes they had brought with
them and attached them around Adam's tombstone. Most of the notes were
frivolous ones about roller-skating, martial arts practice, teachers, and
assignments.
Aisha went next, arranging tissue paper flowers around the edges of the
grave, pushing the metal stems into the soft soil. In between the flowers,
she set the figurines from his collection of Red Rose Tea figurines.
Rocky scattered confetti and wildflower seeds over the soil of the grave,
then placed two full cans of Mountain Dew by the tombstone, one on each
side. In front of the tombstone, he placed a pint of triple chocolate fudge
chunk ice cream. Aisha placed a small plate of her cookies on either side
of the ice cream.
"Our own private Day of the Dead," Aisha murmured. "Adam,
rest peacefully." She blew a kiss to the grave, and as she and Rocky
walked away, they could swear they heard Adam's laugh rising with the wind.
Zordon gazed upon the power chamber from the inside of his column. It
had a strange effect to it, blurred yet clear. He could see Alpha 5 running
to and fro, scanning to see where the next monster had landed.
"Ay yi yi yi yi!" the little robot's familiar voice squealed
as it ran surface scan after surface scan. "Zordon, this one is going
to be trouble!!!"
"Why is that?"
"This monster is somehow different from the other three. The energy
signature has a different pattern to it."
"That could just be from its different design, Alpha," Zordon
told the worried robot. Please, let it just be a difference in its design,
he thought to himself. "Call the Rangers."
"Yes, Zordon." Alpha called the five teens who wearily transported
in.
"Where's the monster?" Rocky asked sullenly.
Zordon looked at the teens as Alpha filled them in on the details. My
poor Rangers, he thought. They have suffered so much. Their strong
spirits are weakening. "Rangers," he spoke aloud. The teens
looked at him, so much pain and sorrow reflected in their eyes. Zordon
found himself speechless. "May....may the power protect you,"
he finally choked out.
As the teens morphed and transported out, Zack could have sworn he saw
tears in Zordon's eyes.
"Man! This is one tough rodent!" Tommy exclaimed as a blast
from the Thunder Cannon rocketed back at the group.
"No shit," Rocky muttered. Mousetrap advanced on the teens, fangs
bared and claws held at the ready.
"Guys, what are we going to do?" Aisha asked as they formed a
huddle.
"I'm going after it," Katherine said. She felt a strange compulsion
to go closer to the monster. Katherine left the safety of the group and
walked towards Mousetrap.
"Yesss, closer, closer, little Kat," the monster whispered invitingly.
"Come closer, little Kat."
"Kat!" Tommy screamed. he ran to her, tried to hold her back,
but she kept walking, shaking off Tommy's restraining arms.
As she neared the monster, it whispered, "Come to me, Kat. Come closer,
closer, little Kat." Katherine felt another odd compulsion come over
her. She reached down and unmorphed. She continued walking towards Mousetrap,
unprotected by her Ranger suit.
"Kat! No!" Tommy screamed. He tried to tackle Kat, hold her to
the ground, but she just threw him off and kept walking towards Mousetrap.
When she was five feet away, Mousetrap sprung, catching Katherine in its
grip. The iron fangs tore into her flesh, rending it. The spell she was
caught in broke and she screamed in agony. "Tommy!" she screamed.
"Tommy! Somebody! Help me!"
Tommy rushed at Mousetrap, hacking at the metal rodent with his Lightning
Sword. "Let her go!" he screamed, his voice becoming raw with
emotion. "Let her go!"
Rocky leveled his Hand Blasters at Mousetrap and let off a few rounds.
The monster was scorched, but continued tearing at Katherine. Zack tried
a blast from the Thunder Cannon, but again, just a few scorch marks.
Aisha looked at her Star Charges. She then looked at Mousetrap. Katherine
was bleeding from the shoulder, abdomen, chest, back and legs. She hesitated
for a few moments before rushing at Mousetrap. She jammed the Star Charges
against the creature's back and set them on full stun.
It was enough. Mousetrap dropped Katherine and turned on Aisha. "Now,
guys!" she yelled. Zack, Rocky, and Tommy all fired blasts at Mousetrap.
With a final screech, Mousetrap disintegrated.
Tommy demorphed and ran to where Katherine had landed. The fall had cut
open her scalp, so her fine blond hair was now matted with dark, sticky
blood. Her shoulder had been torn open clean to the bone, with similar
gashes on her thighs. Her abdomen had been ripped into, the tender, unprotected
flesh offering little resistance.
"Kat," Tommy moaned, cradling her head on his lap.
"It's okay, Tommy. It doesn't hurt anymore," she whispered. "Please,
don't forget me."
"I'll never forget you, Kat," he replied, placing a tender kiss--their
last--on her lips.
"Good...bye," she whispered as her eyes closed.
Aisha stood watching. She really did care about Tommy, she thought.
Maybe....maybe I was a little rough in my judgment of her. Aisha
felt a strange ache in her chest.
In his room that night, Tommy was crying. His pillow held the evidence
of several hours worth of tears. A small knock sounded on his door.
"Who is it?" he whispered, his voice too raw for anything louder.
The door opened slowly. A petite figure was silhouetted against the light
from the hallway. "It's me, Tommy," the familiar voice said.
"Can I come in?"
"Kim," Tommy said. He stood up, shakily, and went to his door.
"Kim." She was enfolded into a tight bear hug.
"It's okay, Tommy," Kimberly said, her voice choked with tears.
She could feel Tommy's tears falling onto her head. "I didn't think
you should be alone right now."
"You shouldn't have come back."
"I had to. Even if I wasn't coming back as a Ranger, I had to come
back for you."
"I'm glad," he whispered, his voice even more ragged than before.
He squeezed her even tighter. "I'm glad."
Dying
Ember
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