Betrayed. Betrayed by those whom she had believed she could trust. Betrayed by the people who had been her friends. Betrayed by the one who she thought had loved her!
There was at least one consoling thought, she reflected. She was now searching for the one person left that she hoped could help her. Arsenal, the Lone Warrior.
"Where is she?" he asked, patching into NEBULA's satellite network.
"She was last seen heading East in her Zord," the redhead replied. "By my estimate, she should be over the Mississippi River by now. Boy, that Zord can really move."
"Sometimes I worry about you, Fran," Arsenal grunted. "A Pinto could do better, in reverse." He studied the readouts. "Got it. She's over Kansas."
"So let's send her a twister, and take her to the Yellow Brick Road."
Arsenal turned to study his companion. "You ARE jealous," he told her. "Don't tell me you think she's a threat to our relationship."
"I never said that," she huffed. "After all, you're the one who kissed her."
"Let's just drop it, Fran," he groaned. "Send her a homing signal to bring her here." Glaring at Arsenal, she silently complied.
It's gonna be another one of those days, he thought. Still, the Plan is proceding without a hitch. So far.
"Hey," Jason asked, "What's the crisis? And where's Kimberly?"
"She's the crisis," Tommy stated, fighting to keep his voice level. "Zordon claims she's been brainwashed. She attacked the Citadel without reason."
"That's not like her," Zack commented. "Lord Zed must've done something to her."
"Not even close," Rocky said. "We cleaned Zed's clock for good last week."
"The only thing I can figure," Billy started to explain, "has to do with the Jihaddi known as the Lone War -"
"Billy," Tommy warned threateningly.
"Wait a minute," Jason asked. "Tommy, are you hiding anything from us?"
"Only his jealousy," Aisha piped in. "He's been acting a lot differently since we first met Arsenal."
"Wait a minute," Zack asked. "Who's this 'Arsenal'?"
"Arsenal the Lone Warrior is a member of the Jihad Against Barney Dinosaur," Alpha explained. "Until he showed up, things were going as usual. And then he led the Rangers to take down Lord Zed."
"And?" Trini asked in anticipation.
"After that, everything has gone downhill. Kimberly and Tommy have fought almost constantly. Ai-yi-YI! She even used me to smash her Power Coin!"
"Kimberly smashed her Coin?" Zack asked, dumbfounded.
"That is correct," Zordon intoned ominously. "She must be found and stopped, before she can do any real damage."
"If I know her," Trini commented, "she'll be at Ernie's, having a Pink Marguerita."
"We already looked there," Billy stated. "She was nowhere to be found. Also, her Zord is missing."
"Then she can be anywhere," Jason said, thinking.
"And I know where she's headed," Tommy growled. "She's on her way to find that Lone Wimp, Asinine!"
"We don't know that," Adam told Tommy.
"You're forgetting their kiss," Tommy grumbled.
"Kiss?" Jason and Zack looked at each other, then back to Tommy. "She kissed him?" they asked in unison.
"He kissed her," Tommy stated, flatly. "She returned it."
"So what's the plan?" Zack asked.
"There's really nothing we can do," Jason said, "until she decides to make her presence known."
"I hate waiting," Tommy growled. "You need me, I'll be at Ernie's, working out." He disappeared in a beam of white light.
"What Putty crawled up his pants?" Zack asked no one in particular. "He's almost acting like the old, evil Green Ranger."
"I see." Arsenal appeared to think for a while. "I believe -" He was interrupted by Fran's signal over the intercom.
"Arse, there's been a minor change in plans. Zordon's reactivated the originals."
"Jason, Trini, and Zack are back?" Kimberly asked. Arsenal nodded. "How did you - ?"
"Remember when I visited the Citadel?" Kimberly nodded. "I took that time to plant a bug inside Alpha. Nobody knows it's there. I've been keeping an eye on you Rangers since then."
"So you know every move we make," she muttered. "Why, then, do I feel as if you're the only one I can trust. If the others have listened to Zordon, they won't listen to reason."
"I just have to know something," he told her. "If it comes down to it, can you fight them?"
Kimberly looked him straight in the eye. "I don't know."
"Lord Barney, please," Zordon rumbled, "Trini will be properly disciplined for this infraction. But as to your request for an update on the rouge Ranger, we have nothing more to report."
"Nothing?" Lord Barney asked, not believing himself. "Surely you have a lead?"
"Well, she has been suspected of defecting to the Jihad," Zordon mused.
"The Jihad!?" This angered Lord Barney. "Zordon, do I have to send a team of Loved Ones to Angel Grove?"
"No, Lord Barney," Zordon answered. "I'm sure the Rangers will be able to take care of the renegade Pink Ranger. As for any Jihaddi she brings with her, I'm sure they'll fall against the Rangers' superior skills."
"That's for sure," Arsenal stated. "You sure you won't reconsider?"
"No," she replied. "This is something I have to do. One way or another, it ends." She "morphed" into her Pink Ranger outfit. She immediately took the helmet off. "I won't be needing this. You sure you want me to use that Excalibur you have set aside for me?"
"Yes," he replied, handing her the armor to the Excalibur. "If what you told me is accurate, you'll need the extra firepower to take out the other Zords."
"But what if I fall under Zordon's spell again?"
"That's what self-destruct sequences are for," he told her. "But I wouldn't worry about that." He strapped on his own armor, and helped Kimberly into hers. "Fran, is the teleportal to Angel Grove operating?"
"Affirmative, Arse," came the flat reply.
"Fine." He lowered the faceplate as he mounted his Excalibur. "Let's do it." He roared off through the teleportal. Moments later, Kimberly followed.
"Why yes, Kimberly," he said into the phone, "Tommy's right here. Yes, I'll put him on." He handed the phone to Tommy.
"Yes, Kimmy?" Tommy asked.
"Hello, Tommy," her voice came through, sounding dejected and embarassed. "I, uh, I'm sorry about what happened. Could we, uh, maybe get together sometime soon to, maybe, uh..."
Tommy's response was almost shouted into the reciever.
"After the way you...! I ought to...! I...I...oh, sure."
"Great! Could you meet me in the park in, say, five minutes?"
"Sure," Tommy grumbled. Maybe he was wrong about Kim's loyalties, after all. Besides, he reasoned, these little spats were almost certain to occur between them every so often. And with that bit of assurance, he headed for the park. The other Rangers followed him.
"Hey, Bulk, what are they up to?" Skull asked, pointing at the departing Rangers.
"I don't know," Bulk admitted. "Let's follow them, and find out."
Although her face betrayed no emotion, Kimberly fought an internal struggle: with her friendships with the Rangers on one hand, and the brainwashing Zordon had put them through on the other.
"Kimmy!" Trini called out. "What's going on, girl? Why'd you do what you did?"
"When we took down Zed," Kimberly explained, her words a little rushed, "Rita captured me and placed me under a spell. Then she placed me back only a few seconds after I'd disappeared. Luckily, I've been able to break the spell."
"What's she talking about?" Skull asked Bulk.
"Quiet!" Bulk replied, hitting Skull. "Could it be, they know who the Power Rangers are?"
Arsenal had also hidden in the trees. He smiled when he heard Kimberly's "explanation". He took aim at the back of Adam's head. An insistent beeping in his communicator grabbed his attention.
"Arsenal. Yes, Neon, the fight's about to begin. Move into position." He smiled as he closed the com-link. Neon Wizard, a fellow Jihaddi, had insisted on taking out Zordon when the fight was over. Neon was poised to teleport himself right into the heart of the Citadel.
"So, Kimmy, are you going to come back to the Command Center with us so Zordon can look you over?" Tommy asked.
"Yes," she replied. "Just let me change into my outfit." She "morphed" into the combined Pink Ranger outfit/Excalibur armor and mounted the Excalibur, which she had stashed in some tall grass on the lake's shore. She leapt into the air, mechamorphosing her violet and black Shadowcat model Excalibur into its Armor mode.
"I knew it!" Tommy yelled. "She's not a Ranger, anymore. She a stinking Jihaddi!"
"Thank you," she replied, taking aim at him with the Excalibur's rocket launcher.
"It's morphing time!" Jason yelled, thrusting his Morpher out in front of him.
"MASTODON!" called Zack and Adam.
"TRICERATOPS!" Billy called.
"SABERTOOTH TIGER!" Trini and Aisha yelled.
"TYRANNOSAUR!" Jason and Rocky yelled.
"DRAGONZORD!" Tommy called out. Seconds later, he realized his mistake, as he was dressed in the uniform of the Green Ranger, and powerless.
"I don't believe it," Bulk muttered, climbing up a tree to get a better look. "It's the wimps. They're the Power Rangers!" With this, he lost his balance, falling to the ground. Luckily for him, Tommy broke his fall.
"Get off of me, chubby!" Tommy growled, tossing Bulk into a tree.
"Well, this is interesting," Arsenal stated as he stepped forward in his more powerful blue and black Azrael model Excalibur, ion blades extended. "How's it feel to be powerless, Tommy?"
Seeing that he had no real options, Tommy poised for combat, then ran away as fast as he could.