Part II, Chapter Eight

Jason hadn't heard so much murmuring in the halls of Angel Grove High since him and the others had returned to school after Tommy's death. Today however, as he walked to third period, there wasn't a single teenager who didn't stare at him.

He was a wreck, and he knew it.

The ranger couldn't remember the last he'd had more than three hours of sleep in one night, or ate more than a few crackers for a meal. The days were blurring together and the more they went on, the less he saw point in bothering with either eating or sleeping; especially the latter.

Jason shuddered to himself as he entered Mrs. Appleby's classroom, remembering the nightmares he persisted to have about what happened the day Tommy died. They always seemed so real. Every time, he found himself waking up screaming his friend's name. Nothing he did could erase how vivid they were becoming. If it meant not sleeping to find some peace, so be it. Jason walked into the classroom, letting his backpack drop on the floor next to his usual desks.

Before he sat down, however, he caught the sight of Billy sitting across from him.

"Hey," he said, "what are you reading?"

Billy looked up with surprise, his glasses falling down to the brink of his nose. "Oh, this?" The book he held in his hands closed as he turned it over to the back. "It-it's just something my mother's sister provided me with. It's a novel by Kubler Ross entitled On Death and Dying. They uphold that it will assist me through this occasion of grieving."

Jason nodded slowly, not fully understanding what his friend had said, but catching the important cliff notes needed.

"That's cool," he mumbled, taking his seat as he dug through his backpack to gather his notebooks.

As he did, a handful of more students came walking through the door, Trini and Kimberly being two of them. The sound of their voices caught Jason's attention, and he looked up to find Kim holding Trini close, whispering something only she could hear.

As they walked closer to him, Jason could catch words that made him assume Kimberly was trying to reassure her after what had happened last night. The Pink Ranger walked past him, and gently he grabbed her arm to keep her from going any further.

"Kim." He waited until Trini was across the room, having sat down at her own desk. "How is she doing?"

Kim sighed, "Better. She still swears by what she saw though. I've never seen her stand by something so strongly before."

Jason looked over at Trini, seeing her struggle to get her books together from lack of sleep. He couldn't believe that she had really seen Turbanshell, but he surely didn't want to believe that grief was being this hard for her.

"Yeah…hopefully she'll get over it," Jason said, pulling his last book out of his backpack.

He bluntly overlooked Kim's scuff to his response, but couldn't ignore her as she took a seat at the desk next to him.

"Jase, I'm sorry, okay?" Jason looked over at her, surprised. "It's just…this is stupid, I'm tired of you not talking to me."

His eyes returned to his notebooks, "Kim, you can't apologize just because you want to talk with me." He didn't even bother looking up as Kim let out another scuff. In his mind he was counting to ten, doing all he could to keep his fire at bay.

His anger at her hadn't changed since their fight, and he couldn't find it in him to look at her without seeing a selfish, overemotional drama queen. A part of him knew it wasn't truly her, but he couldn't help it; it was as if his emotions were becoming all he was.

Kim threw her books down, "It's more than that, Jason!"

He looked up, his blank eyes staring blandly into hers. She caved and sighed, running her hand through the back of her hair.

She was blunt. "You're being a jerk, Jason."

His reaction was no surprise to her. His teeth clenched, and she was afraid he was about to crack his molars. Immediately he gathered his books, ready to stand up when she grabbed his arm and pulled him down.

She barely took note of the fact she was able to force down and into a chair a guy who did martial arts.

"You're shutting us all out and you won't get over this….stupid angry phase. We're all dealing with this, why can't we just deal with it together?" Kim had begged.

Jason jerked away her grip, the part of his mind he knew wasn't true currently going in overdrive. "Because I have a bit more to deal with, Kim."

As a handful of more students came bursting into the room, Kimberly leaned further over her desk, and unaware to Jason, firmly placed her hand down on his desk.

"Then why don't you tell us whatever you're holding back?"

Jason's mind had become his worst enemy, and he finally couldn't tell which Kim he was seeing. The lack of sleep was getting the better of him, and whether she was being sincere or furious was something he couldn't figure out.

Not being in the mood to put up with anyone, Jason leaned closer to her, and for a second, each could feel the other's breath down their neck. "Why don't you leave me the hell alone?"

It was then that the school bell rang, shrilling in the students' ears. Neither Jason nor Kimberly blinked however, as they started into each other's eyes.

Mrs. Appleby came walking in the room, closing the door behind her. "Okay students, settle down! Find your seats, please."

Kimberly finally pulled back, shaking her head with disgust.

"You're unbelievable."

As she stood up and gathered her books, Jason muttered his response, "Same to you."

As the class started, a desk remained empty. Not even Jason took in fact that the desk in front of him had belonged to Tommy.

Unbelievable.

Lord Zedd stood up from the ground he sat on, his body blazing red heat in anger. He was nearing his breaking point.

It had been four moon falls ago that he practically gave up his dignity accepting help from the forbidden sorcerer, and not a second went by that he didn't suffer from the decision. He ate, sat, and slept with his own slaves; nothing more degrading than living his nights with Goldar and Squat.

And all for what? A little trick on the eyes of the yellow Ranger?

"I've risked my entire standing with the United Alliance of Evil bringing you back into existence, Wizard, just so you can dilly-dally time for actions so -"

Lord Zedd froze as quickly as his outburst came. The Wizard, cloaked in his purple veil and standing outside the palace's viewing window, held his palm out towards him.

The single motion was enough for Zedd not to move another centimeter.

"I will do…what I do best…when the time is right." He turned his head around, his lips barely cracking a grin. "Not all of us rush time as quickly as you do, Zedd. We have different methods…other than send to Earth a giant mutant turtle to destroy the strongest heroes of the world."

Zedd growled, and the red heat began to illuminate the dark palace. "Let me remind you that turtle killed one of those Rangers. Now if you're here to just waste my food and persist in being a pain in my -"

The red light quickly became replaced with a purple radiance, and before Zedd could process the change, the vacant white and yellow eyes were staring face-to-face at him.

"I am doing more than you and that nuisance of a woman Rita Repulsa ever succeeded in your time combined."

His breath burnt on Zedd's bare muscles, and if it were possible, his once blazing body began to chill over in a bitter frost.

Zedd gulped, waiting for an attack that never came.

Instead, the Wizard stepped back, letting his grip on his staff go loose. "You just have to be…patient, Zedd."

And with that, he began to walk back to his viewing place, content in watching over the earth's petty and oblivious subsistence.

Zedd, however, wasn't too keen on his choice in actions. He risked all he had in the evil alliance, every second panicking over the higher powers finding out of what he had done. And he wasn't going to let it all be so some arrogant sorcerer could get a fine view of Earth.

"Patient?" Zedd echoed. "You didn't seem to be so patient 20 years ago."

He knew he had pushed a button the moment orange and purple lighting began to dim the room, and Zedd could almost see the Wizard's shoulders tensing up.

It didn't stop him though. He walked up to the Wizard, meeting him at the viewing window with disdain.

"In fact, patience is the last choice of words anyone would use for your actions back then."

"We are all aware of -"

"But let me remind you of it. 20 years ago, Wizard, you were second in command with the United Alliance of Evil. But it wasn't good enough for you, was it?"

The lighting died down completely in the room, things almost becoming pitch dark for the two

The Wizard stood still, and Lord Zedd approached him more.

"No, you just had to be at the top. You're never good with where you are, you arrogant son of a demon; ruining with everyone, going as far as messing with Dark Spector's own son. YOU put the Alliance of Evil back at square one by screwing with his head!"

The Wizard of Despair no longer held any light to him, the cloak over his body hiding even his face, lowered to the very brink of his neck. "Just played a few tricks, Zedd."

Lord Zedd scoffed. "You were banished before even told that Dark Spector's son surrendered himself to the Order of Meledon. If he didn't snap out of it when he did and destroyed himself before Zordon got any information out of him, then the Alliance of Evil would be more than screwed at square one. They wouldn't even exist anymore.

"So patience, is it? Patience for something as simple as getting rid of 5 Rangers, when you had every command of the Alliance so twisted up they killed themselves, just so you could take what they had?"

His head so lowered, Lord Zedd had no idea that the Wizard's yellow eyes rolled over black. He simply scoffed, turning his back to the sorcerer.

"Then fine. I'll just go back to things my own wa-"

Zedd didn't even get another millisecond to breathe. Before he knew it, he was on his back, face in the ground and the Wizard's staff inches from digging into his spine. As he struggled to breathe, he realized time was once again used against him.

"Say another damn word, Zedd, and I'll do to you what I did to who they now call the Phantom Ranger."

The Wizard bent down, his staff still jabbing into Zedd's metal spine. His dry and cracked lips met his ears, and the air from his mouth once again felt like acid to his muscles.

"I'll have messed you up so badly you won't even have the strength to create yourself a new body to keep you alive."

And the pain left as quick as it came. The stabbing pressure against him was lifted, and Lord Zedd was left lying on the floor, abandoned feet away from the Wizard stood.

He lifted his head, his heavy breathing all that was heard in the room. It was as if the Wizard hadn't even moved from his spot.

Yet, he could hear his voice as if his lips were still up against his ear.

"We do things my way, Zedd."

In the past week and a half, Kimberly hadn't had a lot of time to herself to think about Tommy's death. That evening though, she sat on a swing in the middle of Angel Grove park staring vacantly out into the empty field.

She couldn't fully understand why she had been avoiding doing this. In reality, she was literately given time from teachers and parents to cope with things; to overcome the pain of what had happened and move on. But she always went out of her way to do the exact opposite and never bring the matter to mind. She was always pushing it to the very back, never to reflect on.

It made her nauseous to think about. It was such a strange feeling, one that she had never felt before. One second she'd want to cry, the other she'd want to scream, sometimes spew her lunch during the above. It was rather obvious as to why she wanted to try and avoid deliberating as much as possible.

To know that he was gone forever…it seemed impossible to come to terms with. She could say the words repeatedly in her head and she still couldn't grasp the fact. She was never going to see him, his smile, or hear his voice and his laugh again. He was never going to save her from danger, be there when she was shaken up after battle…

She was never going to feel or taste his lips when they kissed, or his strong arms wrap around her in an embrace that made her feel like she was worth something in this world.

Kim felt herself fold her arms tightly around her body, as if to encompass that missing feeling she held. No one could ever equal up to the way he made her feel, not even herself.

She never even got a chance to say goodbye.

The last time they saw each other was in class. Then everything came crashing down; he was teleported into another dimension, they were trying to break the force field around the Command Center, and before she knew it, Zordon was telling them his body was at the beach.

Just like all the other times, the tears came at random. Kim's eyes burned with the pain of sorrow as she remembered that day so clearly, as if it were being played in front of her. She and Trini screamed for help. It was senseless; the beach was deserted with no one around for miles. But seeing Tommy lying in Jason's arms…they ran and they screamed for anyone.

She could still almost feel her throat hoarse from that day.

"K-Kim-Kimberly?"

The voice from behind came as a surprise, and Kimberly jumped slightly in the swing as she quickly dried her tears with the sleeve of her pink jacket.

"Billy, hi!" Next to her, Billy awkwardly came walking up, his footsteps hesitating in actually coming near the girl as she dried her cheeks.

She cleared her throat, trying to push back the burning lump formed inside. "Uhm, what are you doing here?" Kim asked quietly.

Billy held up the book in his hand, smiling ineptly. "I came to peruse my reading. I constantly take pleasure in dusk when I do my research."

Kim's mouth gaped open, and one eyebrow darted up. "What?"

Billy chuckled, taking a seat on the swing next to the Pink Ranger. "I came to read."

Understanding now, Kim let out an 'ah' with acknowledgement to the book he had sitting in his lap.

She frowned though, feeling the tension between them getting thicker the more unsaid words flew by.

Billy looked up, "A-are you believing to be alright?" he stumbled slightly, feeling nervous after hearing his friend sniff with tears. "I, uh, I observed you expressing your sadness and-"

Kim stopped him, "Billy, it's okay." She looked up with a forced smile. "You don't have to say anything."

Billy nodded uncomfortably, bowing his head back down to the ground as his feet fidgeted with the sand below them.

Kimberly continuing to sniff, though, made his stomach uneasy, and suddenly he began to rowdily flip through his book.

"Y-you know, Elisabeth Ross discourses about how the response of a tragic occurrence indicates the true standpoint we had for a particular thing or person, a-and how a valid coping mechanism will, uh, will craft an easier pinpoint of emotions."

Billy smiled slightly, holding the book towards her as if he wanted her to read the passage he had found.

However, Kim looked up at him, her expression completely blank as she blinked frantically at what he had told her. For a solid minute, the only sound around them was the chirping of birds, and Billy's breathing intensifying as his anxiety increased.

"…I'm sorry Billy, I didn't understand a thing you just said."

He nodded, a bit disheartened at the fact he was being no assistance.

Lately, Zack and Trini had been doing all the comforting to the appointed gender. He could tell things were getting sullen, though, as Zack could only handle so much and Trini was suddenly broken down by last night's incident.

He wasn't good with girls, so crying girls only added onto the tension.

"I, um…I miss him too." Billy's voice was low, and his eyes were glued to the ground. But Kimberly had looked up at him, his discomfort gleaming so deeply it almost made her smile knowing he was truly trying to console her.

She nodded her head, "Yeah…we all do." Kim almost felt pointless saying such a lack of words, but she couldn't muster up the strength to go any more profound.

Billy, however, was the opposite. He slammed his book shut and frantically shook his head with a mess of emotions.

"It's just…it's so problematical to contemplate what happened, Kim! It's the actuality that I know every figure and aspect to what happened to him and how he…how he died."

Kim was shocked to hear his voice crack up, and she immediately moved closer to his swing with her head tilted. "What are you saying, Billy?"

He sighed, his shoulders dropping heavily. "I looked over the outcome of his power loss when Alpha and I examined his powercoin. I read over the…the pain he felt, Kim."

He pushed back his tears, looking over at Kim who sat with wide eyes and her mouth gapped open. "Do you know how excruciating it was for him? To know that…to know how he must have felt…"

What Billy did next came as a complete surprise to Kimberly. Jumping up from the swing set, he took his book and slammed it into the sand with a shout that echoed the empty park.

"This book is vain! I can't study how to overcome what happened because no one's ever had to go through what we are!" He yelled through the park, frustrated at only himself and the emotions he couldn't understand.

Before Billy could comprehend it, Kim had wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a hug as she cried gently.

He didn't resist. He held her tight, afraid that she might leave him as well. His cheeks began to smother themselves with wet tears and his glasses went crooked on his face, but he held her firmly as she cried against his shoulder

"It's not reasonable! Tommy a-accepted me as a person. He didn't judge me!" Billy choked through his tears, "Why did it have to be him?"

To be continued