Power Rangers Zeo
“An Angel No More”
Kimberly Heart curled up closely to Tommy Oliver as they watched the sun set. She felt a rush of cold air come across her from over the ocean. It was nice though. This had been an unusually hot April day. Tommy wrapped both arms around her. “It’s not as beautiful as you are.”
She smiled. “You’re just saying that.”
“Of course not.”, he said as he leaned in and gave her a kiss
Kim put a hand behind herself and brushed against the basket Tommy had brought. She grinned as she readjusted herself and put her head in Tommy’s shoulder. It had been a wonderfully romantic evening. Tommy had surprised her. He pulled her right out of her apartment that night and brought her here. He cooked her dinner. Brought her flowers. She had almost forgotten how he could be so spontaneously romantic.
Tommy ran his fingers through her hair. It had been a little over a month since they had gotten back together. And it had by far been the best month of his life. He never thought he would have any of these opportunities again. He had thought she had been lost to him forever. Until the trip to Florida. She made it clear she still had feelings for him. His heart that had once been broken had finally felt like it was starting to mend. Even all that happened between himself and Kat that year couldn’t fix what had happened with Kim.
The sun finally disappeared over the horizon. Nighttime was starting to settle in. Tommy reached down and brushed a stray hair out of Kim’s face. “I’ve been thinking,” he started
“Tommy it’s never a good sign when you’ve been thinking.”, Kim teased
Tommy smiled. “This is good. I promise.”
“Then tell me Tommy, what is it you’ve been thinking about.”
“I’ve been thinking maybe we should get away for a weekend.”
“I don’t know Tommy. I mean finals are just around the corner.”
“After that.”
She looked up at him. “Tommy you know I’d love to, but we can’t. What if they need us? What if they need you?”
“Well... I mean I know that is more important than anything. But that’s what these are for.”, he said as he pointed to his communicator. “Besides, they’re all wanting to get away too. Maybe if we can take a small vacation, and it works out, the others will take time off that they’ve been longing for.”, he said trying to convince her that it was a good idea
“Define works out?”
“I mean that I don’t spend every waking moment teleporting home because of a threat. Yeah there might be something that they need all five of us to handle. But it’s not like Zedd’s going to send down a pig monster or something else stupid and they’re not going to know what to do. They’re all experienced, and they’re all worthy. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be rangers in the first place.”
“I guess you’re right. But the Tommy Oliver I know can’t leave home without worrying about it.”
“Well maybe if you can keep me distracted I won’t have any time left to worry.”
Kim grinned. “I think I could handle that.”
“So does that mean you’d be interested?”
“Of course I would. It would be nice to experience another town that isn’t LA or Angel Grove.”
“Then I’ll look into it.”, he said as he looked down into her eyes. “And I promise we will have a fabulous time and that I won’t worry about them unless they need me.”
“It’s a deal.”, Kim said as she leaned up and kissed him. As Kim broke apart a sudden gust of cold wind caused her to shiver.
“Looks like the temperature is getting ready to drop. Why don’t we go back to my dorm.”, Tommy suggested
“It’s so cramped in there. Why don’t we go to my place?”, asked Kim
“One of the boys is likely to be there. I know for a fact Rocky’s going to be gone for a while. Then we can get some more quality alone time.”
Kim smiled. She enjoyed quality alone time with Tommy. “Let’s go.”, she said as she hopped up. She quickly helped Tommy clean up their mess from dinner and the two took off.
Miles away from the beaches of Los Angeles, a man rubbed his hands together and smiled. “It’s almost ready.”, he said turning toward his companion
The bleach blonde man in the wheelchair rolled up to him. “Yes but we are missing one thing.”
Angelus sighed. “Don’t you think I haven’t thought of that.”
“Our people could take weeks, even months searching for it.”, Spike pointed out
Drucilla smiled as she put a hand on Spike’s head. “Don’t be such a pessimist darling.”
“No, Dru, Spike’s right. It could take months for them to find it.”, Angelus said
Spike smiled. “So what are you going to do about it?”, he asked. He hoped that Angelus would never find what he was looking for. If he did, well, it wouldn’t be long before he was ready to destroy the world.
“Actually we know someone who might have the key to finding it.”, Angelus said
“Who might that be?”, asked Spike
“Lord Zedd.”, Angelus replied
“Bloody hell.”, Spike sighed as he put a hand to his forehead. “What makes you think he’ll help you? After all, last time we saw each other we were busy telling each other to go to hell.”
“Spike, how soon you forget. You and Zedd may not get along. But he and I, well that’s a different story.”
“Even if he does talk to you, why would he give you what you need?”
“Simple. I’ll give him a ranger. In exchange for the information. What he does with the ranger... well that’s totally up to him.”
“And how do you suppose you’ll do that? They’ve got more sense than to let you in.”
Angelus laughed. “You’ve forgotten. Angel was friends with some of the rangers. That was his weak spot you know. Making friends with heros.”
“You don’t think the slayer has told her friends about you?”
“Knowing Buffy, she was to worried about everything and too embarrassed about what happened to give an old friend a heads up.”
“So which one are you going to capture?”, asked Drucilla
“I have an idea.”, Angelus smiled as he walked off to get the car. It was time for him to make a trip to Los Angeles.
Katherine Hillard sighed as she walked across the lawn. She thought she would have a fabulous day when she found out her last class was cancelled. But, thanks to her art history professor, she was wrong. Not that she didn’t like the class. She enjoyed looking at art. But she didn’t think she enjoyed it enough to write a five page paper on one piece in two days. Not to mention, as soon as she walked out of the building the rain started pouring and she had forgotten her umbrella.
“Something wrong?”, Chris Black asked as he caught up to her
“Wrong? Not really wrong. Just a crappy day. That’s all.”
“Wanna talk about it over lunch?”
“Sure.”, she said piping up. Food with her favorite person might do her some good.
They walked into the school cafeteria together. They took a few minutes to discuss which line they wanted to get into. After they choose, they ordered and paid, walking back out into the seating area. They scanned for an empty table, but couldn’t find one. Kat smiled when she noticed a place they could sit. “Mind if we join you?”, she asked two brunettes
“Not at all.”, Carri Hillard said smiling at her cousin
Mollie Monroe quickly hopped to the other side of the table so Chris and Kat could sit next to each other.
“You didn’t have to move.”, Chris said
“That’s alright.”, Mollie replied. Of course, she felt like she did. She certainly didn’t want to sit next to him. It was still kind of awkward.
“Well look who I found.”, Rocky DeSantos said dropping a tray down at the end of the table and pulling up a chair. “What happened to, we don’t like eating in the cafeteria because the food sucks?”
The girls giggled. “It’s called rain.”, Carri explained
Mollie pointed to her head. “It messes with the hair.”
“Whatever.”, Rocky said with a smile. “Besides, you still have to walk home.”
“Don’t forget that once home, I can fix said hair. And get out of my wet clothes.”
Rocky grinned. “Need help?”
“Men.”, Mollie said smiling
Kat and Carri laughed. Rocky and Chris smiled. “So how has everyone’s day been?”, Rocky asked
“Crappy.”, Kat said
“Boring.”, replied Mollie and Carri echoed
“Well speak for yourselves girls. I had a great day.”, Chris said
Kat rolled her eyes. “We can’t all take intro to golf.”
“Why yes, yes you can.”, Chris replied
“Ha something else for me to excel at.”, Carri said sarcastically. “When they start an intro to baseball class, sign me up.”
“How about intro to the hot naked guys on the beach class. That one I can ace.”, Mollie said
“Here here.”, Carri agreed. Kat smiled.
“Hey!”, Rocky exclaimed
“You can have your hot fully clothed women in the library class.”, Carri replied. Mollie burst out laughing.
Rocky raised an eyebrow. “Oh I see how it is.”
His girlfriend smiled as she reached under the table and squeezed the top of his leg. He reached under and put a hand on top of hers. They smiled at each other, then turned back to the rest of their table. The group continued conversation for about forty-five minutes before Rocky noticed the time. “I hate to cut this short, but I have to get to class.”
“Ok. See you later?”, Carri asked
“Absolutely.”, Rocky replied as he leaned down and gave her a kiss. The others said goodbye as he picked his tray up, put the chair back, and took off.
Mollie and Carri glanced out the window. The rain had slowed down quite a bit. “This may be our only chance. We might have to make a run for it.”
“That’s a long run...”, Carri said
Kat smiled at her. “You should have stayed in your dorm.”
“Hell hasn’t frozen over yet.”, she replied with a smile
Mollie and Carri stood up. “We’ll see you guys later.”, they replied. Then they threw their trash away, stepped outside the cafeteria doors, and took off running in separate directions.
“I guess that leaves us.”, Chris said
“I guess it does.”, Kat replied
“Wanna get out of here?”, he asked
“Sounds like a plan.”, she said. And with that, the two left the cafeteria and headed out.
Carri ran into her apartment and shut the door behind her. She went into the bathroom and looked into the mirror. She was trying to fix her hair when she heard a knock at the door. She went to answer it. She was surprised to see who it was. “Angel.”, she said looking at him
She opened the door and stood back. He looked at the doorway, waiting for an invitation. “Oh, of course, come in.”, she said
He smiled. He was right, of course. They had no idea what happened.
“What’s going on?”, she asked
“It’s Buffy. She needs your help.”, Angelus lied
“Why didn’t she call? She did last time and...”
Angelus cut her of. “She couldn’t. She’s in a lot of trouble. You need to come now.”
Carri stood there looking at him. “I don’t understand what kind of trouble.”
He sighed. He was tired of thinking of things to say. And if she wasn’t going to make this easy, he would make it hard. “Actually I’m the trouble.”
“What?”
Angelus vamped out as he grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against the wall. “You see, I’m trying to destroy the world. And I can’t do that without acquiring a few things first. And one of those things, well we are just having trouble finding. The only way to find it quickly is to get information. The only one with information is Lord Zedd. So I figured, the best way to get him to help me is to offer a ranger sacrifice.”
“But Angel, I don’t understand.”, she said each word getting harder to speak
“Angel is dead.”, he said gripping her tighter. “Angel was a weakling. He had a soul. Search all you want but you won’t find one of those inside of Angelus.”
Carri started to panic. With each passing second breathing was getting more difficult. She thought quickly. Maybe she could teleport herself out. Of course, he would still be with her. But that might be alright. There would be no wall behind her. And Billy and Alpha could help. She took her right hand and reached for her communicator.
“I don’t think so.”, Angelus said. With his vampire strength he grabbed her hand, and while crushing the bones he twisted her wrist hard enough to snap it, leaving the hand deformed.
She cried out in pain. Angelus dropped her to the floor. He was getting ready to take her with him. She had one last shot. She saw something on the floor beside the couch. It was an old lava lamp that they were playing with. They were trying to get it to work. Once they gave up, they sat it down on the floor and forgot about it. Carri wasn’t sturdy with her left hand, but she knew she would have to learn quickly as she couldn’t move her right. She picked it up rather awkwardly, and slammed it over Angelus’s head. He winced and took a few steps back. Carri tried to get away, but she didn’t get far before Angelus threw her across the apartment. She banged her head on the back of the bar at the kitchen counter.
Carri could feel the dizziness start to take over. She had hit her head hard. She knew if she blacked out now all hope was lost. She used the bar to pull herself up with one hand. Peering over the kitchen counter, she saw the knife block. She grabbed the sharpest knife she saw, and waved it at him.
Angelus laughed. “What are you going to do with that? You can’t kill me.”
She smiled at him. “No. But I can cause you enough pain to give myself a chance to escape.”
Angelus thought about that for a moment. He was wondering how he was going to approach her, but he quit worrying about it when his demon senses kicked in. He smiled and turned to the door. He didn’t give Kim much time to get through it before he slammed her head against the wall, rendering her unconscious. He threw her communicator to the floor and picked up her lifeless body. “She’ll do.”, he said as he left
“Kim!”, Carri yelled. She took a step to go after her, but that was all the movement her head could handle as she collapsed to the floor.
Rocky walked up the stairs of Carri’s apartment building after class. He was going to meet up with her and Kim, then whenever Tommy got through with his class they were all going to go out. He had gotten let out of class a little early that day, and he was hoping to catch Carri alone for a bit.
He cracked open the door to their unit and looked around. The first thing he saw was a communicator on the floor. He picked it up, and he started to get a little concerned. As he opened the door a little wider he saw a lava lamp sitting in the floor. As he walked in the door and turned to his right, that’s when he saw her. He ran to her side and put an arm around her back, lifting her head off the ground. He brushed a few stray strands of hair off her face. “Carri? Carri can you hear me?”
She moved ever so slightly. She could hear his voice. She smiled as she started to open her eyes. She was starting to make him out. She wanted to sit up, so she took her right hand and placed it on his knee, and started to push. Suddenly, she was snapped back into reality as her eyes flung open and she screamed in pain.
“What’s wrong?”, Rocky asked as she pulled her right arm to her chest and put her left arm protectively around it, with the knife still in hand. Rocky gently took the knife away from her and set it on the floor. He pried the left arm away, but he didn’t need to as just a glance of the right told the story. He took her arm and placed the deformed looking hand on top of his. “What happened? Who did this to you?”
Carri paused before answering. She was trying to slow her breathing down after that shock she just went through with her hand. “Angel... Angelus...”
“I don’t understand.”, Rocky said
“Buffy’s Angel... he’s... he’s evil. And he took Kim.”, She paused for a moment as her eyes grew wide. “He took Kim. That’s all my fault. He came for me and I stood up to him and then I couldn’t chase after him and...”
“Shhh.”, Rocky hushed her as he puled her in close and gave her a hug. “Come on let’s get to the Power Chamber. We’ll have Billy take a look at that hand and we’ll figure out how we’re going to rescue Kim.”
Carri nodded. Rocky helped her to her feet. Then he hit a button on his communicator and they both disappeared.
Billy Cranston was standing by one of the control panels looking at some data when a blue and yellow streak started to materialize before him. “What’s up guys?”, Billy asked as they appeared. One look at the duo was all it took to realize that this was far from a social visit.
“Can you fix it?”, Rocky asked holding out her arm and showing Billy what had happened
Billy walked over there. He gasped. He knew it was bad. He thought he had a medical device that he brought back from Aquitar that could put most of the bones back in place. He sighed. “I don’t think I can heal it completely. Not right away. But I can get most of the bones back where they were. But you need to know, it’s going to hurt. A lot.”
“Well it can’t get much worse than it is now.”, Carri replied. She couldn’t even bare the pain of twitching a finger at the moment.
“Here.”, Billy walked her over and made her have a seat by one of the medical beds. “I’ll be right back.”
Billy took off. Zordon looked at his teens. “What happened rangers?”
“Angelus came. I thought he was Angel. I let him in. Turns out he was Angel minus the soul. He told me he had come to LA to kidnap a ranger to offer to Zedd in exchange for information. I tried to get away from him. I thought I had a chance, when Kim came in. He took her and left me there.”
“We need to get in contact with Buffy and find out what is going on before we can create a plan of action.”, Zordon said
“I can do that. Rocky, can you get my phone for me?”, she asked
Rocky nodded and teleported out. He got to her apartment and searched threw her backpack until he found it. A few moments later he returned. Billy and Alpha were standing by Carri and her arm was in some sort of machine. He could see the look of pain on her face as they slowly started to work on it. Rocky went over and put the phone in her left hand. “Has anyone told the others?”, he asked
Carri shook her head no. She looked down at her phone for the time. It was only three-fifteen. Rocky’s class must have ended early. “The boys will be out in five minutes. Wait until then. It’s not like we can do anything about it just yet. You can let Kat know though.”
Rocky nodded as he went to alert her. Carri flipped through her contact list. She was getting ready to call Buffy’s house when it occurred to her that Buffy was probably not at home. She dialed 411.
“City and State please.”, an automated voice said
“Sunnydale, California.”, she answered biting her tongue so she wouldn’t scream out in pain
“What listing?”
“Sunnydale High School.” A few seconds later another automated message came up and read her the number, then it automatically connected.
“Sunnydale High how can I help you?”, asked a voice
“I need to speak to the librarian.”, she replied
“Hold please.”
There was some background noise and then silence before the rings kicked in. Then an accented English voice picked up. “Hello?”
“Giles?”, she questioned
“Yes. And who might I be speaking to?”, Rupert Giles asked
“This is Carri. Carri Hillard.”
“Yes, yes of course. What can I help you with?”
“I need to get a hold of Buffy. Is she there?”
“Hold on a second.”, Giles said putting a hand over the receiver. She could hear a muffled voice telling Buffy that she was on the phone.
As the muffled sound started to clear, Billy did something with her hand that hurt worse than anything he had been doing before and she yelled.
“What’s going on? Are you ok?”, Buffy Summers asked as she picked up the phone and heard her friend screaming
“Oh I’m fine. I’m just sitting here with Billy. He’s trying to put some of the crushed bones in my hand back into place so it’s not as deformed looking. That was a nice little present from your exboyfriend.”
Buffy was stunned. She didn’t know what to say. “Carri I’m...”
“Sorry?”, she snapped. “Your boyfriend went all evil on you and you didn’t even bother to give me a heads up so I let him into my home. And he attacked me. And kidnaped my friend.”
“I never thought... he had no reason to come there.”, Buffy said. She could feel tears forming in her eyes. He had caused her and her friends in Sunnydale enough pain without him having to spread it to LA.
Carri could sense the sadness in her friends voice. “Apparently Zedd has some information he needed. And he wanted a ranger sacrifice. He came after me, but he got Kim instead.”
“I will make this right.”, Buffy promised. “Can you teleport Willow there?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Willow can do a reverse invite spell in your home. That way he can’t come in again without being invited. And if he came there, that means he drove. Which means he probably brought your friend here. I have an idea where. I’ll find her I promise.”
“Do you need any help?”, Carri asked
“I’ll let you know.”, Buffy replied. “Just give me a few minutes to talk to Willow then you can teleport her.”
“Alright.”, Carri agreed. The girls hung up as Carri shrieked again. A few moments later, Billy took her hand out and laid it aside.
“Don’t move that hand. I’ll be right back.”, Billy said
Carri nodded. She looked over and saw Rocky and Kat standing there. “Rocky filled me in on everything. What are we going to do?”
“First, Alpha, I need you to get a lock on Willow Rosenberg. She’s in the Sunnydale High library. Give her a minute, then teleport her here.”, Carri said. Alpha nodded in agreement as he walked over to the console. “And for Kim... Buffy thinks she can find her. She’s going to call us and let us know if we can help.”
Billy came back out with some sort of brace and put Carri’s hand in it. Her fingers were exposed, but she couldn’t move them or her wrist. “That should help. You’re going to have to wear that for a day or two. By then it should be almost healed. And the swelling and bruising should have gone away. But I don’t want you to morph. Not unless it’s an absolute emergency.”
“Why not?”, Carri asked. “Won’t moprhing finish healing it?”
“Your wrist, yes. I put it back like it was supposed to be. I’m concerned about the bones in your hand. The main ones are back together. But there are so many fragments.... morphing does a quick fix. A broken bone, it can snap back together and heal. But if it tries to heal your hand too quickly, well it’s possible that it will get it right. But it’s also possible that it will happen so quickly that the bone fragments will get misplaced, and that will do some serious damage to that hand. The only way to fix it will be to shatter the bones again.”
“But what if they need me?”, she asked
“I”ll alert Trey, and take care of your zord. And the ranger healing will still speed up the process greatly, just not to the point where it’s not done properly. I’d be surprised if it wasn’t healed within the next two days.”
She nodded. She didn’t want to sit anything out though. She owed someone some revenge. Rocky looked at her. He felt so bad, but there was nothing he could do. He looked down at his watch. “I’m going to let the guys know.”, he said
Rocky walked off as a flash of white light entered the Power Chamber. “That was nifty.”, Willow Rosenberg said with a smile as she appeared with her bag of goodies in hand. She looked around. Xander had told her that they really were spandex wearing heros, but she didn’t completely believe him until now.
A few seconds later Tommy teleported in. Rocky was still trying to get a hold of Jason. Tommy looked around, trying to take everything in. “What the hell is going on here?”, he said mainly referencing Willow
Carri slid off of the stool she was siting on and walked over to Tommy. She frowned. She still felt responsible. There should have been something she could’ve done. “It’s my fault.”, she said placing her right hand on her chest.
Tommy looked at the brace curiously. “What’s your fault?”
“I...”, she sighed as she saw the flash of green light out of the corner of her eye. “Angel...”
“Angelus.”, Willow piped up from behind. “I mean, that’s what he goes by without a soul.”
“Angelus came to the apartment. He was looking for a ranger sacrifice. He attacked me... he must have thought since I was friends with Buffy he could get me easier because I would trust him. He would have, he should have taken me with him, but somehow I got away. We got into a stand off. I was trying to figure out what to do. That’s when Kim came home. He knocked her out and he took her instead. I tried to go after them, but the knock on the head he gave me wouldn’t let me go anywhere but the floor.”
Tommy’s eyes were wide with disbelief. “Where did he take her? What is he going to do with her?”
“I... I’m not sure. Buffy thinks she might know. I’m so sorry Tommy. This is my fault I should have been able to do something to stop him. I should have let him take me. I...”
“It’s not your fault.”, Tommy said putting a hand on his friends shoulder
“He’s right.”, added Jason. “Don’t worry, we’ll get Kim back.”, he said more for Tommy than anybody
Tommy wasn’t planning on anything less. Angelus picked the wrong girl to mess with. He would save her, then after that he was planning on ripping that vampire apart limb from limb.
Rocky came over and put an arm around Carri. “Maybe we should take Willow to your apartment and let her do that spell.”
Carri nodded. She turned to Willow. “Are you ready?”
“Yup. I’ll keep him out for you.”, she said. The three of them teleported off.
“So what do we do now Zordon?”, asked Tommy
“We must wait for Buffy to call back.”, Zordon replied
“Wait? Who knows what he’s doing to Kim. We can’t wait.”, Tommy said
“Tommy, Rocky said that Angelus was going to trade Kim to Zedd for a secret. He probably took her back to Sunnydale. Which means he would still have to contact Zedd. And he’s not going to hurt her. She won’t do any good to him that way.”, Kat said trying to console Tommy
“She’s no good to him dead. I’m sure he has no problem with hurt.”, Tommy snapped
Kat sighed. There was going to be no reasoning with Tommy until he had Kim back and had torn apart the evil that did this.
Angelus dumped Kim’s body in the floor in a back room. He double checked to make sure the chains were still holding her hands apart. It had taken him forever to make it back to Sunnydale. Sometimes those vampire safe windows weren’t the best for driving. Drucilla and Spike came in to have a look.
“Is she even a real ranger?”, Spike asked
“She’s one of those ninjetti rangers. But I’ve been told that she once was involved with one of the rangers. And she’s their close friend. Not to mention, she used to be a full fledged ranger. So trust me, she’ll do.”, Angelus explained
“She’s starting to move.”, Drucilla said as she watched her start to wake up
“Would you like to keep an eye on our guest?”, Angelus asked
Drucilla smilled. “It would be my pleasure.” An evil look crossed her face as she walked over and stood in front of Kim.
Angel walked out of the room with Spike on his heels. “So what are you going to do now?”, asked Spike as he wheeled fast to keep up
“Wait for Zedd to come talk to me.”, Angelus replied
“What makes you think he’s just going to come talk to you?”
“Simple. Because he spies on those power rangers all the time. If he doesn’t know by now, he’ll know soon enough that I have one of them. Then we’ll...” Angelus was unable to finish his sentence as he was engulfed in a flash of light. Once the light went away and he adjusted his eyes, he realized he was looking out a window at Earth, from the moon.
“Welcome.”, Lord Zedd said
Angelus spun around and saw him sitting on his throne. “Pretty nice place you’ve got here.”
“I’d like to think so.”, Zedd replied
“Not that we don’t like your company or anything, but we’d really like for you to tell us why you have one of the rangers and then get out.”, Rita said
“Straight to business. My kind of people.”, Angelus said smiling. “I took your ranger to get your attention. I need information.”
“And what makes you think I will give it to you?”, asked Zedd
“Because I have one of those rangers wrapped up all nice for you and she’s all yours.”, Angelus explained
“And what happens if we say no?”
Angelus smiled. “My boys will eventually find what they’re looking for, although not nearly as soon as I would like. As for the girl, well, Dru’s been dying for a taste of ranger blood. And either way I still had a pretty good day.”
Zedd and Rita thought for a moment. “Well you know, Tommy and Kimberly are back together. He would do anything for her.”
“Yes... yes he would. And the rest of the team would follow. And if they don’t do what we want, we could make her evil and have the pink ninjetti on our side.”, Zedd agreed with his wife. “Fine, we’ll do it.”
“Just tell me what I need to know and I would be happy to take your monkey down and hand over the girl.”, Angelus told him
Zedd nodded and Angelus proceeded to ask him for information.
Buffy walked down the street and approached a building. She glared at the door. She knew there would be vampires in there, but she wasn’t sure how many. She didn’t think it housed as many as usual. Angelus had sent them out searching for something. It didn’t matter though. She was the slayer after all.
With inhuman strength, Buffy burst the doors down, immediately frying the unlucky vampires who were standing in front of it. She flew through the few vampires that were standing near the front. Some more ran after her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Spike wheel off somewhere. She quickly took out some more and ran after him.
Her chase put her in front of another door. She knocked that door down and saw a girl who must have been Carri’s friend, along with Goldar, Spike, Drucilla and Angelus.
“Buffy, how many times do I have to tell you we’re through. I know you still want me, hell you’re so in love you couldn’t even tell your other friends about the breakup.”, Angelus said
Buffy smiled as she twirled the stake in her hand. “This isn’t a social call.”
“Always right down to business.”, Angelus said as he rushed her
Not wasting time, Buffy rushed him, kicked him quickly, then jumped over him and ran toward Kim.
Kim looked at her as Goldar pulled her to her feet. She sensed that this may be her only chance for escape. She kneed Goldar, causing him to let go. Then she kicked him backwards. She saw Buffy approach, and then she saw someone else run at her from the side. “Look out!”, Kim called
Buffy saw Drucilla try and attack her, she kicked her in the stomach and she went flying across the room.
“Hey!”, Spike exclaimed
“What are you going to do about it cripple?”, Buffy asked
“It’s not him you have to worry about, it’s me.”, Angelus said as he attacked her from behind
Buffy went flying and landed at Goldar’s feet. She kicked Goldar back as she stood up. Angelus came after her, but she took him and pushed him past her, slamming him into Goldar. The two stumbled. Buffy grabbed Kim’s arm and started to lead the two of them out. Angelus leaped in front of them and blocked the doorway, then he attacked the slayer. Goldar quickly jumped into the fight and went after Kim. Kim tried to kick him back, but he swept her legs out from under her. He leaned down to grab her. Buffy tried to get over to her but Angelus blocked her path.
“Deals done. You can’t save her now.”, he said as he punched Buffy
“Watch me.”, she said as she tried to push past him. Angelus threw her out of the way. As Buffy stood up, she saw Kim loose the battle with Goldar and get teleported off. She looked around her and saw Angelus come after her. She took one quick look around the room to find a way out. Buffy quickly climbed up a stack of crates, and saw Angelus start to follow. Wasting no time, she broke a painted over window, letting sunlight in. Angelus stopped short and looked at her. He gave her a smile and blew her a kiss as she jumped out the window.
“You and that slayer.”, Spike said as he wheeled up next to him
“But it’s so much fun.”, Angelus replied. He smiled as he walked away to apply the valuable information that Zedd and given him.
Rocky, Willow and Carri teleported back to the Power Chamber. “You won’t have to worry about Angelus trying to slip into your apartment in the middle of the night and eat you.”, Willow said
Jason smiled. “That’s certainly good to know.”
“Have you heard anything from Buffy yet?”, Tommy asked. Carri shook her head no.
“Don’t worry. She grabbed some stakes and took off as soon as she got done talking to me.”, Willow said
Tommy made a face. “She went after Angelus alone?”
“She is the slayer you know.”, Willow said glaring at him
“Don’t forget Tommy we have seen her in action, we know what she’s capable of.”, Kat pointed out
“Yeah but...”, Tommy let his voice trailed off
“But he doesn’t want Buffy to have all the glory in destroying Angelus.”, Rocky finished. He looked over at Tommy, who kind of smiled at him. Tommy knew he was right.
“I don’t think she’s going to destroy him.”, Willow said
“What?”, snapped Tommy
“Well for one he’s super strong as you may have noticed already.”, Willow paused and glanced at Carri. “Two, it’s, well.... it’s complicated.”
“I thought he loved her. I don’t understand how this could have happened.”, Carri said
“They did love each other. That’s how it happened. But the gypsy curse... they wanted him to be miserable. If he were to experience one moment of pure happiness, well his soul would be removed and he would be Angelus again.”, Willow explained
“One moment of pure happiness? But what...”, Carri paused as it dawned on her. “Ooooh.” The boys couldn’t help but smile.
“That’s a lot to ask a man to give up in exchange for a soul.”, Rocky joked. The rangers chuckled. That certainly dissolved some of the tension in the room. They almost thought they could relax for a moment when the phone rang.
Carri went to answer her phone, but Tommy beat her to it. He glanced at the caller id. No name, but it was definitely a California number. “Hello?”, he said
“Who is this?”, asked Buffy
“Tommy. Where’s Kim?”
“Goldar took her.”
“What?”, Tommy asked getting angrier by the minute. “What happened?”
“I went to rescue her. We were on our way out... Angelus and Goldar wouldn’t let us leave.”
“Why didn’t you call us? We could have helped.”
“I wasn’t sure where they were. I was following hunches. I am the slayer you know. Besides, there wasn’t much more you could have done.”
“Where did he take her?”
“I don’t know.”
Tommy slammed the phone down on the table out of frustration. Carri picked it up to talk to Buffy. Tommy looked around at the others. “Goldar has Kim.”
“Zedd is not going to just sit on this. He’ll tell us what he wants, then we can figure out how to rescue her.”, Jason said
Tommy knew he was right, but that didn’t make him feel any better about things. Carri hung her phone up and looked over at Willow. “Buffy said someone named Oz is waiting for you?”
Willow grinned. “Yeah. That’s my boyfriend.”
“Thank you for your help.”, Carri said
“Anytime.”, Willow replied as she was teleported out
“Now what?”, asked Tommy
Rocky looked at his friend. “We wait for Zedd.”
Goldar teleported in with Kim. He kicked her in the back of her knees to make her kneel down before Zedd. Zedd got off of his throne and walked over to her. “Perfect.”, he said
“So what should we do with her?”, Rita asked
“Can we kill her sis? Please?”, begged Rito
“No. At least not yet. The rangers won’t give us anything if she’s dead.”, Rita said
“My lord, we could ask for the other rangers powers in return for her life.”, Goldar suggested
Zedd thought about that for a moment. “No. They may just try and trick us. I know. What if we tell them that one ranger can bring everyone’s power crystals. Then we’ll tell them that once we validate the crystals, they can have Kim back. Of course, we’ll just kill both rangers.”
Rita’s eyes lit up. “I have a better idea. Let’s not kill them. Let’s alter their power crystals and use the two rangers to start our very own team of dark rangers.”
“Brilliant!”, Zedd said. “Now all we have to do is talk to the rangers.”
Zedd set his throne room up. He had Goldar hold onto Kim so he could talk. Then he contacted the Power Chamber. As they answered their communication, he saw the five rangers standing there. “Hello rangers.”
“What do you want?”, asked Tommy
“It’s more like what do you want.”, Zedd said as he grabbed Kim by the hair and yanked her head up
“Don’t you hurt her!”, Tommy yelled
“You’re in no position to be making demands.”, Zedd pointed out
Tommy was getting ready to yell something else when Jason stepped in. “Let her go Zedd. It’s us you want.”
“How right you are.”, Zedd said. “I’ll let her go. On one condition. You bring me your zeo crystals. Just one of you. Once I see that the crystals are real, she’s free to go. Try and trick me rangers, and her blood will be on your hands. You have one hour.”
“Tommy don’t....”
Zedd cut Kim off by ending the transmission. “Get her out of my sights.”, he said. Goldar led her to one of their containment cells.
“We can’t give him our powers.”, Kat pointed out
“Is there anyway to produce fake crystals that are good enough for him to think they are real?”, Jason asked
“I suppose it’s possible...”, Billy started to say
“I don’t think that will work.”, Rocky pointed out
Jason frowned. He knew he was right. “It may be our only chance though.”
Tommy looked at the others. He had been silent since the transmission ended. But he knew what he had to do. What he was going to do. “I’m going to rescue her.”
“What?”, Kat asked stunned
“You guys are right. He won’t be fooled by fake crystals. And we can’t give him our powers. So I am going to rescue her.”, Tommy explained himself. “They won’t be able to sense a ninjetti on the compound, as long as I stay hidden. If Billy teleports me outside of their force field, I can slip in, get Kim, and get out.”
“Tommy that’s insane. He’ll kill you if he finds you and we won’t be able to protect you.”, Kat said. They may not have been in love anymore, but that didn’t mean she still didn’t care a lot about him.
“Kim’s life is on the line. I have to do it.”, Tommy said
Kat wanted to say something. She wanted to talk him out of it. She was angry because nobody else was trying.
Rocky looked at Carri, then he looked over at Tommy. “I would do it.”, he said. “If Zedd had Carri, I would go to try and rescue her in a heartbeat.”
Tommy smiled at him. “Thanks man.”, he said gracious for the support.
Sighing, Jason looked over at his friend. He never worried about Emily in that sense, but he knew he would go to extreme measures to rescue her if her life was in danger. “We’ll try and think of something while you’re gone. Remember you only have an hour and then he’s expecting our zeo crystals.”
“Good luck Tommy.”, Carri said smiling at him. Even she had to agree with what he was doing.
“Be safe Tommy.”, Kat told him. She still wasn’t convinced that this was a good idea.
Tommy looked at his friends. “I’ll be back soon with Kim.”, he told them confidently. “Ninjetti, falcon!”
The white ninjetti stood before them. He nodded at Billy, then Billy teleported him to the moon.
Kat sighed. “So what are we going to do if....”, she let her voice trial off. She didn’t want to think about what might follow the if.
“Billy do you think you can make those fake crystals? I mean, if we take them to him, we still have our ninjetti powers to protect us. And Kim is a ninjetti too.”, Jason pointed out
“I can try. I might be able to make almost exact duplicates of the four crystals. Tommy’s is going to be a little harder since he is on the moon.”, Billy told him
“I must remind you rangers that this is going to be very dangerous.”, Zordon said
Billy nodded in agreement with their mentor as he looked around the room. “There’s no guarantee this will work. We have to hope Tommy succeeds. If he doesn’t... if he gets caught Zedd may kill them both. If we’re lucky enough and he doesn’t, someone still has to deliver the power crystals.”
“I’ll go.”, Carri volunteered. She saw Rocky go to say something but she continued talking. “If you think about it, it makes sense. We’re all still ninjetti’s, so I have that on my side. And really, if something were to happen to me... well if I rescue Kim at least you’ll have someone experienced to take my place.”
Rocky looked sternly at her. He cared so much about her that he would protest anything she did that would put her life in danger. But she usually knew what she was doing, and he would never stop her. Except this time. This was just plain stupid. “You’re crippled. You can’t morph. And a whole hell of a lot of good your ninjetti powers are going to do you with one hand. You won’t be able to rescue Kim if it comes down to that. Then we’ll loose both of you.”
Carri started to respond, but Kat stepped in before the conversation went much farther. “You’re right.”, she said. Both parties stopped to stare at her. “Both of you. We are still ninjetti’s. And if someone can rescue Kim, and that costs them their own lives, well Kim would be the best choice to replace a ranger since Billy can’t accept zeo powers.” Kat paused and turned to her cousin. “Carri I know you feel responsible for Kim being in this situation. And I know you feel like you need to get some sort of revenge. But Rocky’s right, you’re crippled. And for you to do this would be suicide. That’s why... I’ll go.”
“Are you sure?”, Jason asked looking at her.
Kat nodded in response. “Just get the crystals ready. Hopefully, Tommy will rescue Kim first.” Kat turned and walked over to one of the control panels.
The other rangers stood there silently for a moment before they went to join Billy to see if he could use any help.
The White Falcon Ninjetti stood outside the force field to the Lunar Palace. He had been teleported in near the back, somewhere that Rita and Zedd couldn’t see him from the throne room. He slipped into the force field. He was now, officially, unprotected. He was unable to use his zeo powers or teleport.
But that didn’t matter. He planned on being sneaky. He planned on getting Kim and getting out of there before anything bad could happen. There weren’t any guards on the side of the palace, so he quickly made his way over and hugged the stone. He slipped around the side and toward the back of the palace. There was a back door. There were no guards there either.
Tommy didn’t know what to think. He would never accuse Zedd of being so cocky to think that nobody would break into his place. He walked over to the back door and stuck his ear to it. He could hear a faint squawking. He stayed at the door until the noise finally faded out of the picture. Being as quiet as he could, he cracked the door open and slipped in.
He found himself in a hallway, with a few torches lighting it. He knew from being the green ranger that this was the back of Rita’s dungeon like basement. He also knew from those days that Rita rarely took anybody down here, except for torture. If she came across a prisoner, she would keep them on one of the upper levels, in one of her holding cells. That was where he had to assume Kim was.
Tommy snuck over to a stairwell. He saw some tengas coming down the hall, and he quickly moved up the stairs. He continued to sneak around the hallways of the palace, trying to get to Kim.
“I’m so excited, we finally get to get rid of those stupid rangers. Then maybe Ed will let me go down and have some fun.”, Tommy heard Rito say as he and Goldar started to round the corner. Tommy quickly ducked into a side room.
“I just hope all goes according to plan.”, Goldar said as the walked down the hallway.
“What could go wrong?”, asked Rito
From where Tommy was standing, he could see the duo walk past him. He quickly peeked out to see if the coast was clear. Once he was sure that Rito and Goldar were gone, he continued to work his way up.
It took Tommy a lot longer than expected to get to the holding cells. He didn’t think he had much more than fifteen or twenty minutes to get her out. As soon as he stepped into the section with the cells, he looked around. Each cell had a panel beside it. If the panel was glowing green, it was free. If it was red, it was occupied. He only saw one red panel.
He quickly ran over to the cell in question. “Hey beautiful.”, he said to the figure on the floor
Kim perked up at the sound of his voice. “Tommy?”, she questioned although she knew the answer
“I’ve come to get you out of here.”, he said hitting a button on the outside of the cell, and allowing the force field in front of it to drop
“My knight in shining armor.”, she said as she ran and threw her arms around him. Goldar had freed her arms before he put her in the cell. She wouldn’t have been able to teleport, she didn’t have zeo powers, and they weren’t too concerned with her becoming a ninjetti.
“Are you ok?”, he asked
“I’m fine.”, she told him. “I’m just glad you came to rescue me. I was so scared that someone would have tried to hand over your powers. Zedd was going to use them to make us evil.”
“Well you don’t have to worry about that now.”, Tommy promised
She smiled and nodded. Tommy looked at her. “Are you ready?”
“Almost.”, she said as she stepped away from him. “Ninjetti, crane!”
Tommy smiled as the Pink Crane Ninjetti stood before him. He took her hand and led her through the palace.
The four rangers stood in the Power Chamber nervously. Their time had elapsed. And there was no sign of Tommy or Kim. Billy had created the fake crystals, but nobody was convinced that they were going to work.
Zedd wasted no time trying to reach them to make the exchange. “Are you ready?”
“Where’s Kim? We have to see that she’s alright.”, Jason said
Zedd did not move to reveal her. He had sent Goldar for her, and Goldar hadn’t returned. Zedd glared at the four rangers. “Where’s Tommy?”
Nobody was quite sure what to say. Carri was the first to think of something. “You kidnaped the love of his life. Even the leader of the power rangers is entitled to a breakdown.”
Zedd laughed. This was certainly going better than expected. “Once Goldar returns with Kimberly, I will let you see her. Then I am teleporting one of you with the crystals. Which one might that be?”
“I’m going.”, Kat said as she held in her hands a box which contained the fake crystals.
Rita smiled from the back. Her first hope was that Tommy would come make the exchange and then she could have him be an evil ranger again. But Kat coming, well that was almost just as good.
Goldar ran into the throne room. “Lord Zedd....”
“I see you’ve brought...”, Zedd stopped as he turned toward him. He was getting ready to reveal Kim to the rangers but she wasn’t there. “Where is she?”, he hissed
“I don’t know.”, Goldar said
“Well search this palace until you find her!”, Zedd yelled. Suddenly it occurred to him that Tommy wasn’t there and Kim was missing. They had to still be here or the rangers wouldn’t even pretend to entertain the idea anymore. He ended the transmission and went to help look for the ranger.
As the screen went dark, the four rangers looked at each other. “We have to find them before he does.”, Jason pointed out
“I can’t scan the interior of the palace.”, Billy said. “The force field they have up is too powerful.”
“What if you pull up images of the exterior. Maybe they have made it out by now.”, Rocky suggested
“That I can do.”, Billy said as he worked quickly to pull up the images they wanted. A few seconds later, the screen was split into four corners, one corner each showing a live feed from one side of the Lunar Palace.
“There they are!”, Kat exclaimed pointed towards the back entrance
They had over two hundred yards to sprint when dozens of tengas appeared before them, with Rito and Goldar coming from behind.
“They’ll never make it.”, Kat worried
“We have to go help them.”, Jason said.
“Right.”, Rocky agreed. “It’s morphin time!”
“ZEO RANGER I, PINK!”
“ZEO RANGER III, BLUE!”
“ZEO RANGER IV, GREEN!”
Carri sighed as she watched her three friends teleport off without her. “Do you think they can help them?”
“I sure hope so.”, Billy said. “They’re the only chance we’ve got.”
Kim and Tommy stood there as the tengas were closing in on them. They had no where to run. They wouldn’t run back into the palace, it was too risky. Besides even if they wanted to Rito and Goldar were blocking their path. And they didn’t know if they could make it outside of the perimeter, there were too many tengas.
“We have to try.”, Kim told him
Tommy agreed. “We’ve come too far to give up now.”, he said as the two ninjetti’s took a fighting stance.
Before they got a chance to get into the flight, several of the tengas were taken out by a stream of multicolored light. Standing behind them was three zeo rangers, zeo cannon in hand.
“Nice of you to join us.”, Tommy said
“We wouldn’t leave you on your own.”, Jason replied. Jason and Rocky ran over to battle Goldar and Rito, while the two ninjetti’s helped Kat fight the tengas.
“There’s still too many of them!”, Kim said
“Don’t give up!”, Tommy yelled back
As they were fighting, another ranger entered the battle. “It’s time for a gold rush!”, Trey yelled as he took out a chunk of the birds.
The battle between good and evil outside the Lunar Palace continued for a while. Rocky and Jason seemed to be holding Goldar and Rito off for the most part. And Tommy, Kim, Kat and Trey were managing the Tengas. Eventually both sides regrouped. The rangers stared down the tengas and Rito and Goldar.
“I have an idea.”, Trey said as the rangers turned to him. “You guys hit them with the zeo cannon. As they are starting to regroup, I will run through with a gold rush. If you guys push through behind me, and hopefully we can get out and teleport.”
“It’s worth a shot.”, Jason said
“We need the zeo cannon now!”, Rocky yelled. The cannon appeared in the hands of the three morphed zeo rangers. They fired their weapon. As they fired they sent their weapon away, and watched as the bad guys scattered.
As most of them hit the ground, Trey ran through with a gold rush, scattering the ones still standing. The other rangers where right on his heels. They ran through the tengas. They saw them start to get up. But they had dazed them enough that they weren’t as quick as Zedd would have wanted them to be. The rangers reached the edge of the force field. As they walked through it, they all teleported off.
Zedd was fuming as Goldar and Rito walked in. “How could you let them get away!”
“Well, uh, you see...”
“Silence! I do not want to hear your miserable excuses!”, Zedd yelled cutting Rito off
“Aww, Zeddie, now what?”, Rita whined
Zedd stormed over to his throne and sat down. “We will find a way to destroy those rangers. That, Rita, I promise you.”
Carri smiled as the five rangers teleported back and powered down. “Kim!”, she exclaimed as she went to give her friend a hug. She was thrilled that she was alright.
Kim returned the hug. She smiled at her friend. “I have a suggestion.”
“What’s that?”, Carri asked
“Next time you invite your friends evil exboyfriends over, put a note on the door or something. I don’t think I want to get in the middle of that anymore.”
Carri laughed. “I think that’s the last of any evil exboyfriends that we’ll be seeing around here. Unless of course Tommy gets pissy and decides he wants to destroy the world.”
“I don’t know. Watch out.”, Tommy said smiling
“Speaking of world destruction, let’s not forget that the reason Kim was kidnaped was so that Angelus could find something that would help him destroy the world.”, Jason reminded them
“Do you think he got the information he needed?”, asked Kat
“He never would have given me up if he didn’t.”, Kim replied
“So what do we do now?”, asked Rocky
“Nothing.”, Carri replied frowning. “I’m afraid this is something that Buffy is going to have to take care of.”
Rocky looked at her. “Do you think she can handle it? I mean with the whole Angel/Angelus sex thing.”
“I hope so. She is still the slayer.”, Carri said
Jason nodded. “And the fate of the world depends on it.”
Tommy looked down at his girlfriend. “So, Kim, how are you feeling?”
“I feel fine. I mean, they didn’t really hurt me.”, she said
“Are you guys still up for going out?”, he asked glancing over at Rocky and Carri.
Rocky glanced at Carri for approval. She smiled at him. “Absolutely. Just because my afternoon got ruined, doesn’t mean my night has to.”
“You guys want to get out of here?”, Rocky asked
“Sure.”, Kim said. She was getting ready to teleport out when she noticed something was missing. “Oh, has anybody seen my communicator?”
Rocky took it out of his pocket and handed it back to her. She smiled as she put it on. “Now let’s get out of here.”, Kim said. The four teleported home.
“I guess I’d better get going too. I have to work on an assignment that’s due tomorrow.”, Jason asked
“I have to go too. I promised Chris that I would go out with him and some of his friends.”, Kat said. She looked at Billy. “What about you?”
Billy frowned. “Well, I...”
“You’re coming back to the apartment, where you’re going to share a pizza with me and then when I finish my work we’ll go catch a movie.”, Jason said to his friend
“Sounds good.”, Billy said smiling. Since Trini left, he hadn’t gone out as much. “Just give me five minutes.”
“Will do.”, Jason said as he teleported out
“I”ll see you later.”, Kat said as she followed
Billy stood in the Power Chamber for a moment enjoying the silence. Then he grabbed Alpha to quickly finish up what they were doing before this whole fiasco started.
Angelus laughed as he walked inside with something in his hands that had been covered in cloths.
“What’s so funny?”, Spike asked
“Zedd let the ranger escape.”, Angelus replied
Spike smiled. He never thought too highly of him. And he never found him to be competent. “How did you find that out?”
“I have my resources.”, Angelus said sitting the object down on a table
Spike wheeled over to the table. “Is that it?”
“With Zedd’s little piece of advice, it was easy to find. At least one of us got what we wanted.”
Drucilla clapped as she walked over to them. “I can hardly contain my excitement. How much longer now?”
“We’re almost ready.”, Angelus said. “Then Zedd’s rangers won’t matter anymore because they’ll be destroyed along with the rest of this miserable planet.”
“What about the slayer?”, Spike asked
“She’ll be destroyed too.”, Angelus replied
Spike rolled his eyes. “I mean, she’s going to try to stop you.”
“Oh I’m sure she’ll try. But she loves Angel. And do you really think she’ll have the guts to kill me?”
“If the fate of the world depends on it.”, Spike pointed out
Angelus laughed. “You overestimate her. I will take Buffy out, and then, no one will be left to stop me.” Angelus looked as Spike seemed annoyed and Dru’s eyes sparkled with glee. Well it didn’t matter what either of them thought. He was going to bring down the end of the world. And nobody, no ranger and especially not Buffy, was going to stop him.