Power Rangers Fan Fiction ❯ Bitter ❯ Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 

 

Mid-June, 2006

 

Tommy Oliver was smacked in the face with humid heat the moment he stepped through the sliding doors of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Second later, he was smacked in the back of the head as one of his friends - he wasn't sure who, as they'd come up a bit too quickly - launched herself at him screaming, “TOMMY!” at the top of her lungs.

 

`Ah, Trini.'

 

Grinning wildly, Tommy swung his friend decked in yellow in a circle before setting her on her feet, only to be swamped by other six smiling friends.

 

“Bro, we've been waiting forever on you! What'd you do, have to fight off some monster intent on taking over the plane?” Jason joked. Wearing red and black, Trini's husband was as close to Tommy's brother as he could get without being blood-related; actually, he was closer than David, Tommy's real brother.

 

He shook his head. “Engine troubles, man. Ended up waiting an extra hour in Houston. All I could think was how much I missed teleporting everywhere... or my falcon zord.”

 

“Wouldn't that fall under using powers for personal gain?” Adam asked with a bit of a smile. His wife - pop artist Tanya Sloan - grinned beside him before stepping up for her hug from Tommy.

 

“Probably,” Tommy granted over her shoulder, “But honestly, Adam, I wouldn't have given a damn at that point.”

 

Another friend in red, smiling a greeting and clutching his blue bag tightly, bounced on the balls of his feet - closest to the road, Rocky's eyes kept following the taxis driving by. “So, uh, yeah, great to see you and all, but are we gonna get something to eat?”

 

The dark woman standing next to him shook her head. “Boy, you reds eat more than anybody I've ever met.” Jason, Tommy and Rocky glared good-naturedly at her.

 

“This is it, right? Nobody else coming today?” Zack asked. The dark man - one of Tommy's oldest friends - pushed a hand over his freshly-buzzed hair while also eyeing the passing taxis. “Rocky's not the only one waiting on some grub. Damn Tommy, we almost left you behind!”

 

Ignoring his friend, Tommy did a quick head-count. “Kat won't be coming in until next week.” Looking around to make sure nobody would overhear, he added, “Haley's waiting for Billy to teleport in from Aquitar. They should be in tomorrow.”

 

“Let's go then!” Zack watched as an airport worker waved over three cars after his own head-count. Tommy handed the condo's address to each of the drivers, and then slipped in the backseat of one with Zack and a couple bags - catching up with his friend after a couple years of near-isolation in Reefside.

 

 

OoO**OoO**OoO

 

 

Pushing open the door, Tommy dropped his bags and came to a screeching halt, only to be slammed into from behind his friends.

 

“What's the hold up?” Zack demanded. “Are we going in or not?”

 

Tommy stared around in awe. The place was huge! Almost unconsciously he moved to the side, only for his friends to react nearly the same way. Rocky let out a low whistle. “You said your friend Anton owns this place?”

 

Tommy nodded. “Yeah. He said, and I quote, `Have fun. Stay as long as you want. Your friends too, you've been working too hard.'” He wasn't quite sure what Anton could have meant by working too hard - he was a high school science teacher, for God's sake - but even three years later, Anton was really apologetic after the whole “Mesogog” transformation incident; he felt terrible about interrupting Tommy's mostly-Ranger-free existence by turning into the “big bad” of Reefside.

 

For his part, Tommy felt bad for accepting, but some offers from a billionaire were just too hard to turn down. Tommy had jumped at the suggestion he and his friends spend a few weeks at the beach-side condo Anton owned in Miami. Beautiful weather, most of the trip financed by a billionaire friend and the chance to see friends from all over the country?

 

Who could turn that down?

 

“Whoa - check out the view!” Aisha gasped, standing at the sliding door to the balcony. The Atlantic Ocean stretched out as far as the eye could see. She stepped out and peered down, giggling. “Aaand,” she called out, “Tanya, come check it out! Plenty of eye-candy!”

 

Rocky, walking back into the living room after checking out the kitchen, shook his head with a chuckle. “You're newly married,” he reminded her. “I'm all the eye candy you need!”

 

“What happened to the `look but don't touch' rule?” Aisha shot back with a grin.

 

A muffled shout of, “I call this room!” let the group know Tanya and Adam had found one of the bedrooms overlooking the ocean. That started a scramble down the hallway to battle it out for the remaining rooms with a beautiful view; as the person who'd secured the place, Tommy won out with Aisha and Rocky taking the third.

 

Jason, Trini and Zack pouted as they moved into the rooms on the opposite side of the hallway, Jason going so far as to shoving Rocky off-balance during his victory dance.

 

Still laughing, Rocky threw an arm around his wife and stared at Tommy. “So, we're here, we're all settled in; I'm still hungry! Let's go find us something to eat!”

 

Chuckling, the group marched out the door, double-checking that they had keys before finally heading for the elevator. Already inside was a tall man with long russet hair pulled back into a ponytail. Probably in his mid-20s, he didn't seem surprised to see the large collection of people and merely scooted against the wall to make room.

 

Once everybody was inside, the man winked an emerald eye at Aisha before motioning to the wall of buttons. “Going down, I presume?”

 

Tanya nodded. “You know it. Down and out!”

 

As they descended, Jason found it strange the way sparkling emerald eyes sized up each member of the crowd, lips kicking into an amused grin as he got to Tommy, lingering on his hair with a raised eyebrow.

 

“You from around here, man?” Zack questioned. “We're looking for a place to get some grub.”

 

Mr. Green-Eyes grinned. “Yup, moved here several years ago, got plenty of places to suggest.” He glanced around at the group again as the elevator let out a ding and came to a stop. “I'm Shippou, by the way.”

 

“Zack. You said… Chip-Oh?”

 

“Shippou,” he corrected with a bit of a snicker. Noting Zack's confusion, he added, “It's Japanese.”

 

“Oh. You don't look Japanese. Like, at all.”

 

Shippou shrugged, “My family's a bit different than your average Japanese one.” Trini was staring at him suspiciously - something about Shippou felt… other-worldly.

 

The rest of them made their introductions in between their own conversations, a bit nonplussed at the way Shippou's smile grew as each spoke up in turn. When Tommy introduced himself last, Shippou resembled the cat that ate the canary; they shared some looks before finally shrugging it off.

 

Being a ranger tended to make them all a bit more sensitive than most situations called for, after all.

 

“So, food?” Rocky repeated for what felt like the hundredth time.

 

“I'm on my way for some, myself. There's a great pizza place just up the road. Nothing fancy but damned delicious food… if you don't mind dodging crazy Miami drivers and a bit of a walk,” he finished with a bit of challenge in his voice.

 

Rocky's eyes narrowed. “You're on,” he shot back. “Nothing will stand between me and an extra-large pizza… mmm, with everything on it, extra cheese…” he trailed off, a dreamy smile on his face.

 

Shippou just shook his head and took the lead, crossing the road without a care in the world and sticking his tongue out at one of the honking drivers, much to the group's amusement. “You don't look like the type that downs food. Too athletic,” Shippou mentioned.

 

“Rocky here could probably eat the rest of us under the table,” Adam said dryly. Shippou just shook his head, leading the group down the road and musing at the turn the day had taken.

 

 

OoO**OoO**OoO

 

 

Kimberly leaned back in her seat, cursing her luck - or lack thereof - not for the first time. All she'd wanted was a drink and dinner with two of her only friends.

 

Instead, she'd had to warn them away to avoid suspicion; her “night off” had turned into an opportunity to spy on their most hated enemy.

 

`Beggars can't be choosers,' she chided herself. `This is primo info and Lord Stick-Up-His-Ass would send his little toad to bitch if he knew you blew off getting some intel for a beer.' Once again she entertained thoughts of batting the green creature away with the gigantic stick he carried around everywhere like some sort of prized possession.

 

Then again, knowing its vaunted history, he probably slept with it at night. After all, it was a gift from his Lord.

 

Feeling the pull of a shard from her left, Kimberly let her head incline gently, looking at her target through caramel hair. He stopped at nearly the same moment, ice-colored eyes darting around the room and taking discreet but deep breaths. She anxiously checked the ofuda plastered on the table - thanks to her monk friend's handy-dandy teaching skills, her scent should be completely blocked.

 

If only she could hide her appearance so easily…

 

“Hear anything?” Her mark got to business quickly.

 

“Nothing.” She didn't recognize the gravelly voice but it sounded less-than-human… a demon, she guessed, a lower one with less ability to blend in. No wonder they were in the back of the shady bar.

 

A low growl rattled the divider between the booths. “Then what have you been doing with your time? I don't pay you to sit around.”

 

“There are people,” the rasping voice answered. “They have power… some stronger than others.”

 

Kimberly perked up. They'd had a dry spell with shards lately - with most in either their or their enemy's hands, the few remaining pieces of a shattered powerful jewel were harder to come by. Hell, she'd had to travel to Egypt for the last one…

 

Fucking mummies, too easily revived by people with dark intentions.

 

“They wouldn't be shards,” her target threatened, “or you would have already gotten them for me.”

 

“Refill?” Kimberly started, chagrined that she'd been so lost in listening that a mere waitress had been able to sneak up on her. Forcing a smile, she waved away the waitress, unwilling to lose the thread of conversation.

 

Unfortunately, she'd missed half the response.

 

“-ain't like that. It's different.” Mr. Raspy obviously lacked adjectives, she noted dryly.

 

“Describe it.” She wasn't the only one who'd noticed.

 

Hemming and hawing, her enemy's informant wasn't forthcoming with the information, and she ran her thumb down the flat of the blade at her waist. `Never escalate a battle,' she reminded herself, hearing her first real mentor's sonorous voice echo from the past. Didn't mean she couldn't daydream of beating the information out of him…

 

“Colorful,” the informant rasped finally. “They're human but their auras aren't. They're all one color instead of most humans, ya' know?”

 

Kimberly blinked. `No way. Can't be. I'd've heard if there were rangers down here.'

 

“Look into it,” the wolf demon - her mark, her enemy, her freakin' freedom, damn it - ordered. “If you fail me, I'll have your hide for new shoes.”

 

“Yes, Kouga.”

 

 

OoO**OoO**OoO

 

 

“Damn, this is awesome.” Rocky gazed around at the park. “I thought Miami only had palm trees.”

 

Jason gave his friend a confused look. “What, like, nothing else? They've got the Everglades down here, bro. Why wouldn't they have other kinds of trees?”

 

Rocky shrugged, kicking at a rock. Tommy grinned. “You're just lucky Haley and Billy aren't here. They'd lecture you for hours on the `flora and fauna of the rich environment,'” he said, taking on the lecturing tone he often used with his students.

 

Rocky broke the ensuing silence. “No, really, it is nice. It's like home, but not. I'm not waiting on important phone calls or teaching or dealing with angry parents. I love the dojo and all but it's good to get away.”

 

Jason nodded, understanding. “Trini really needed to relax; she can't wait to see Billy again and to make tech-talk with him and Haley.”

 

Tommy agreed with both, “It's nice to get in a good vacation once in a while.”

 

“Says the science teacher who has summers off anyway,” Jason shot back dryly.

 

“Hey, bro,” Tommy responded, “I'm not the one who's gonna have to pry the girls from the beach later.” After a beat, he added, “Or Zack from his `beach babes.'”

 

Rocky opened his mouth - no doubt to make a sarcastic comment - when sounds of a scuffle from their left caught their attention. Instincts honed through saving the world in several different fashions found them creeping slowly on the area, using trees and bushes for cover. Jason wished for his gun - after years of detective work, he felt naked without it. `At least I still have my morpher,' he consoled himself.

 

A vicious roar cut through the unnatural silence that had fallen on the park and they began running. Active rangers or not, they could never not check out what could be a dangerous situation for innocent civilians stumbling on the scene. Duty to the people and the honor to see that through by any means possible was deeply engrained in their psyches.

 

A female shouted, gunshots rang through the air, and the three put on a burst of speed; from dead ahead they heard a garbled yell and light suddenly shone, sparkling brightly as it shot through the trees, leaving a swath of destruction in its wake.

 

Another feminine shout was abruptly cut off. Halting at the next angry roar, Tommy, Jason and Rocky were about to activate their morphers when they each lifted their eyes to a silver-grey blur, interspersed with pink and brown, flying straight at them. The person-turned-projectile slammed into the trio, knocking through them like a bowling ball through pins. Tumbling to the ground, he or she finally skidded to a sloppy halt on his or her back.

 

The woman - it had to be a woman, judging by the size and build - let out a low, muffled groan. She lifted her arm and stared at the gash in the left arm of her grey body-suit before letting loose a string of curses and rolling, attempting to regain her equilibrium after the obviously unexpected flight.

 

Tommy was the first back on his feet; he'd only been clipped by the woman. He took the four or five long steps to her and knelt down, “Are you-”

 

He choked as he laid eyes on the heart-shaped face - a silver mask wrapping around the lower half of her face did nothing to hide her beauty… or the fact that he swore he knew her. `There's no way…' Those eyes…

 

Doe brown eyes stared up at Tommy from above the mask. The eyes widened, blinked a few times, re-focused on the handsome face gazing down at her.

 

The two stared at each other in disbelief - time suspended as they each questioned their sanity. There was no way. Ten years had passed without a word between them. There was no way.

 

No. Way.

 

Jason and Rocky had managed to push themselves up by that time; Rocky was panting, having taken the brunt of the hit and having had the wind knocked out of him. They glanced between the two stuck in limbo and the trees, behind which a battle still clearly raged. Sharing a look, they stumbled over to where their friend sat hunched over the woman, wondering what had entranced him.

 

Rocky skidded to a stop, gaping.

 

Jason stared. He knew those eyes. “Kimberly?”

 

 

 

Disclaimers:

Anything from Power Rangers (and their affiliates) belongs to Saban and Disney. I don't have permission to use and abuse them as I plan on doing. I don't get any money for this, either.

 

That being said, I don't own InuYasha and Company either. The “real” InuYasha belongs to the genius of Rumiko Takahashi (and Viz and all those other companies involved).