Chapter 1: A New Role To Play
By: Pink-Green-White-4ever
Last Revised: July 4, 2007
Summary: Over a
millennium ago one brave soul sacrificed her life to protect something of
incredible cosmic power from a ruthless alien race bent on conquering the
universe. Hidden and protected for hundreds of years by chosen guardians, the
artifacts are now being hunted by the forces of good and evil. But the lines
have blurred and no one's sure of anyone’s true intentions anymore. Dark times are
ahead.
Rating: M, though may go higher
Ship: you’ll see
Disclaimer: I don’t own PR, nor do I own the legend of the Imperial Regalia of Japan.
Dedication: To Shawn, the big brother I should have gotten and my mentor in throwing myself into something new and completely out of my element. You have no idea how much your encouragement means, because I never would have tried this without you.
Author’s Note 1: As posted on Wikipedia:
The Imperial Regalia of
Due to the legendary status of these
items, their locations are not confirmed, but it is commonly thought that the
sword is located at Atsuta Shrine in Nagoya, the mirror is located in the Grand
Shrine of Ise in Mie
prefecture, and the jewel is located at Kokyo (the
Imperial Palace) in Tokyo. One or more of these may not be the originals. The Yata no kagami is also said to be
in the Kashikodokoro,
one of the
Since 690, the presentation
of these items to the Emperor by the priests at the shrine are a central
part of the imperial enthronement ceremony. This ceremony is not public, and
these items are by tradition only seen by the emperor and certain priests.
Because of this, no known photographs or drawings exist.
According to legend, these artifacts were
brought by Ninigi-no-Mikoto, legendary ancestor of
the Japanese imperial line, when his grandmother, the Sun Goddess Amaterasu, sent him to pacify
According to legend, when Amaterasu hid in a cave from her brother Susanoo, thus plunging the world in darkness, the goddess Ama-no-Uzume hung the mirror and jewels outside the cave
and lured her out of the cave, at which point she saw her own reflection and
was startled enough that the gods could pull her out of the cave. Susanoo later presented in apology to Amaterasu
the sword, Kusanagi, which he had obtained from the
body of an eight-headed serpent, Orochi.
During the Northern and Southern dynasties
period in the 14th century, the possession by the Southern Dynasty of the
imperial regalia has led modern chroniclers to define that as the legitimate
dynasty for purposes of reign names and genealogy.
Author’s Note 2: Lots of credit goes to Shawn for some of these amazing ideas. So give him lots of love!
--
June 2007
A thin hand tipped in rounded, unpolished nails flexed
against the window of the apartment in downtown
Shaking her head, she turned from the window and moved back into the depths of her unusually large apartment to begin packing for the long journey back to the shrine.
--
“Konnichi-wa, Shiro Hayabusa,” a young Japanese man in his early twenties greeted the American who was only a few years older than him at the baggage claim.
“Konnichi-wa, Motoki-san,” the man returned the greeting, bowing formally to his guide, who returned the bow. The American was tall, with dark brown hair that was spiked, a body that was lean but muscular, and his eyes were a dark brown that women loved to drown in.
The younger man smiled, the gesture looking almost freakishly evil. The American narrowed his gaze on his guide. “Welcome to Japan. Did you have a pleasant trip?”
The white man nodded. “As pleasant as one could have with being stuck in cramped quarters for ten hours.” The younger man nodded. “I want to drop my bags off and then get started finding the objects.”
“Of course. Follow me.”
When the pair got outside, a van was waiting for them. Quietly, they got the bags into the back before the driver headed for the hotel where their group was staying. “Please, Shiro Hayabusa, tell me how I should introduce you to our sponsors.”
“My name is Dr. Thomas Oliver, PhD. I was born in
“Is it true you lived in Angel Grove, home of the Original Power Rangers?” the young man asked, genuinely curious.
Tommy nodded.
“Yes. I earned my doctorate in
Paleontology approximately four years ago, and yes, I’ve worked for Mercer
Industries, before you ask. Now,
however, I have no ties with them, or their founder, Anton Mercer.” ‘Other than my monthly phone calls to
“And you were a teacher as well?”
Tommy gave him a look that spoke volumes. “And will be again when this is over. I’m only here to help recover the artifacts, and then I’m back to my life.”
The young man eyed him carefully, unsure how to take the dark promise he heard in Tommy’s voice. “The Baron said you were also a martial arts master. Is that true?”
“I’ve studied since I was very young, well over twenty years now. If I haven’t mastered some of it by now, then there’s no hope for me.”
“Good. You’ll need that training, I can promise you.”
“I can hold my own, don’t worry. I may look like a book worm, but looks can be deceiving.”
“Yes they can be.”
Tommy curtly nodded and sat back against his seat. He’d dreamed about coming to
--
2 Days Later
Atsuta Shrine
She left her belongings with two priests who’d welcomed her at the gates, knowing they’d be taken directly to her room. She quietly walked the halls of the shrine, looking for the man who’d summoned her. She found him in the main prayer room cleaning the altar and the surrounding area. “Mana-zuru,” he murmured when she entered.
“Master.”
“Come, young one, I have a letter for you to read, and I have the tools you’ll need on your mission,” he spoke softly, moving from the room to the hallway and then into the deep recesses of the shrine.
She silently followed him, knowing she needed to gather her thoughts. The walk helped her, as it had many times before with her old master, who she was here to honor. She wanted to ask what the priest meant by mission, but she bit her lip. If there was anything she’d learned from the adventures of her youth, it was that everything you needed to know was revealed in time, you just had to be patient.
When they arrived at his rooms, she waited patiently outside until he came back out, carrying a lacquered box and a letter that was sealed with candle wax and marked with the old master’s seal. “Take these to your room, read the letter, and in the morning, I wish to speak with you about your decision.”
She was surprised when he handed the letter and the box to her, bowed, and then disappeared back into his room, shutting the door. Shaking her head, she turned and slowly moved from the hallway to the other side of the shrine where her room was. It wasn’t until she got to her room that she realized she hadn’t seen a single priest in the hallways.
Sighing, she moved into her room, shut the door, and looked at the box and the letter with a sense of dread pooling in her stomach and tightening her chest.
--
The Next Morning
The Imperial Hotel
Tommy woke from his sleep and was immediately on alert. Every fiber in his body vibrated like it hadn’t in years. The last time he’d felt like this had been…he cut the thought off and sighed. He didn’t want to think about HER. He hadn’t since she’d dropped off the face of the Earth a second time after Trini’s death.
He pushed up from the bed and made his way to the bathroom, taking his time to shower and shave. When he was done, he emerged and dressed in khaki pants and a black polo. Quietly, he put some coffee on to brew while he pulled out his laptop and began to connect to the internet, so he could check in with Hayley and Jason, to update them on what he knew. He was just finishing up his mini report when the coffee maker beeped.
Shaking his head, he took his cup of coffee out onto the balcony of his room. Just as he was about to take a sip, the cup slipped from his hand and he felt his insides tighten, a shrill cry sounding in his head. ‘Why now?’ he thought, recognizing the cry as one he hadn’t heard since 1995, when Rita and Zedd had started taking the power of the Pink Ranger – it was the cry of the Crane. He felt and heard it in a way he’d only ever be able to connect with one person.
“Kimberly…”
--
Atsuta Shrine
She felt like a dump truck had run over her, several times. She was sore from head to toe, her head pounded, and her heart felt like it was breaking all over again. While some of it was due to her rapid travel the night before, as well as some being due to the loss of her teacher, the rest of it had to do with the loud, vocal cry she heard in her head and felt in her heart. ‘The Falcon?’ she thought, confusion washing through her. She hadn’t felt Tommy in so long; it was almost painful to feel him now. ‘Why now?’
Pushing herself up from her bed, which was a traditional tatami mat, and headed for her bathroom. She wasn’t use to sleeping on the floor, especially since her apartment had a feathered bed, and she knew it would take at least ten good minutes in the shower to work out the kinks.
Once she was out of the shower, she carefully dressed in the
robes that she’d laid out the night before.
No longer did she wear the chihaya, as she had when she’d first come to the
temple. Now she wore a traditional
kimono in a soft pink. It was decorated
with beautiful white cranes and cherry blossoms. Once her kimono was on, she carefully slipped
on her sandals and made her way out of the room, her destination the main room
of the shrine where the Priests would be gathered in prayer.
“Master Tama,” she softly spoke as she bowed deeply to him. He bowed back.
“Have you read the scroll?”
“Yes, but I don’t understand,” she spoke, her elegant voice not once
showing her American accent.
“Then come. I shall explain.”
His sentences were short, but the command in them was not to be argued
with. As the pair left the room, the
Priest was silent. “As you know, Master
Ito came from a long line of priests who resided here, protecting an ancient
treasure, meant to be seen only by the Emperor.
Each time an Emperor is crowned, the guardian priest presented the
Emperor with the treasure.”
“There are three treasures, known as the Imperial Regalia. I thought it was a myth,” she started. She should know; she had majored in antiques
and ancient treasures at the University.
“And to the public, they shall remain a myth,” he told her, his words
causing her to nod. “But to those of us
who have been entrusted to guard them with our lives, Master Ito’s death was a
stark reminder that there are forces outside of our very world that seek the
Regalia, to use them for evil purposes.”
“What does this have to do with me?
I hung up my superhero spandex a long time ago,” she reminded him.
“There is a legend that dates back to the first time the treasures were presented to the Emperor,” he spoke softly as they passed a group of visitors to the shrine. “The legend states that a time will come, when the foretold guardians - the Mana-zuru, the Shiro Hayabusa, and the Ookami - will come here and claim the treasures.”
Her eyes widened as she stopped and stared at him. “Mana-zuru ….my…”
“Yes. The first
Japanese guardian of the treasures was told to separate them, so they did not
fall into the wrong hands. However, I
know only of one of the treasures, the others are hidden elsewhere. Their true whereabouts are known only to those
who guard them, though there is much speculation as to where they reside. I do know that all of them are somewhere in
Shaking her head, the auburn haired woman looked off into the
distance. “I still don’t understand what
this all has to do with me.”
“You are a foretold guardian,
Mana-zuru. You will join with the Shiro
Hayabusa and the Ookami to find the treasures, to protect them. There are forces coming to our world, if they
are not already here, to retrieve the treasures and use them for domination of
all beings. They must be protected at
all costs.”
“I’m not a guardian, let alone worthy of protecting something so
precious,” she all but hissed at him.
“I’m sure Master Ito…”
“Told me of the courage you fought with, against forces that sought to
destroy this world and countless others.
He told me of the sacrifices, both physical and spiritual, that you made
in the fight against that which sought to destroy us. I agree with what Master Ito once told me, I
can think of no other I would entrust this duty to.”
She glared at him in contempt.
She had spent ten years trying to find the peace of mind that her life
was once again where it should be; ten years of struggling with the demons of
her past, ten years of building a life for herself separate from the one she
once lived. Master Tama was asking for
more than she could possibly give him; she had nothing of what she’d once been
in her, and she no longer sought the thrill of the danger and adventures she’d
had in her youth.
“No.”
“I will give you one week to think this over, and then I will expect
you to start looking for the treasures.”
“No.” She stood firm by her
decision. She would not go back to that
kind of life, not now, not after everything she’s been through.
“One week, Mana-zuru.”
--
2 Days Later
Kokyo Higashi Gyoen (The
He was in the foulest mood he could ever remember being in, and that said something, considering he’d been evil once, and that was pretty much foul moods twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty two weeks a year….thank God he hadn’t been evil longer than a few days. Shaking his head, Tommy turned his attention back to his guide. They were on their way to meet with the Baron, the man behind the Zephyr foundation, the man who had sought him out to help with this insane search for three magical treasures.
“Shiro Hayabusa?”
“Yes?”
“We have arrived.”
Tommy was amazed to find himself staring at the entrance to
the
“Neutral ground,” Motoki told him. “Besides, the treasures are closely linked with the Imperial family.”
Oh the irony, Tommy thought wryly, making sure he nodded a
response. The two of them got out of the
van and headed toward the entrance to the
When they got to the Japanese Style garden, Motoki bowed to Tommy before turning and leaving. The former Power Ranger looked startled until he realized he was in the presence of the Baron. “Dr. Oliver.”
The former Ranger leader steeled himself as the man simply known as the Baron joined him in a walk around the gardens. The man was tall, thin, but Tommy sensed an underlying power in him that, had he been a normal person, would have scared him. The Baron pulled off the distinguished gentleman role easily, but there was something in those black eyes that reminded Tommy of another person, in another time and place, one he’d tried desperately to bury. “I didn’t except to see you here,” Tommy told him.
The Baron smiled; it wasn’t a gentle smile either, it was one laced with wickedness. Having spent so many years in Zordon’s presence, Tommy felt that the Baron and the Zephyr Foundation had little, if any, of Earth’s best interest at heart, and that was one of many reasons Tommy had agreed to this insanity. “I’m sure you didn’t, but someone of some authority was needed to oversee our interests.” When Tommy raised an eyebrow the man laughed. “Not that we don’t believe you are incapable of handling the situation, but you understand where I’m coming from.”
Unfortunately, Tommy could. How many times had he handled different things, thinking no one else was more capable of it than himself? “What’s the plan? I assume you have a list of things that need to get done?”
“First thing on our agenda is proving the treasures are where they’ve been said to be,” the Baron spoke, his cane tapping the rocks on the path they walked along.
“I don’t understand,” Tommy started. “I don’t even know what the treasures are.”
The Baron smiled. “Dr. Oliver, the treasures are also known as the Imperial Regalia of Japan; a sword, a jewel, and a mirror. They are said to have untold power when combined together, however, most scholars believe they are but myth, since no picture or sketch exists of them, nor has anyone but the Emperor or the priests at the three temples where they are supposedly hid, seen them.”
“You’re looking for three mythological items?” Tommy asked in disbelief.
“I have proof that they are real,” the Baron told him. “The proof is as concrete as the information I showed you when you were…deciding…..on joining us.”
The former Ranger leader narrowed his gaze at the Baron. “I see. Where do we start?”
“I have scrolls being delivered to your hotel room; make sure no one but you get to see what they contain. Motoki-san will know how to reach me when you’re ready to begin searching.”
--
Kimberly’s Apartment
The first thing she noticed when she got to her apartment door was that it was open a fraction of an inch. Her eyes narrowed as she set her bags down by the door and took a deep breath. Her building was generally a crime free place, and considering what she’d just learned, she had the sneaking suspicion that someone, or something, had broken into her apartment. Good thing she hadn’t brought anything home from the shrine. Her body was on full alert as she pushed open the door and flipped on the lights. Teeth gritted, she began to roam her completely trashed apartment. Vases were shattered on the floor, lamps were tossed against walls, her couch was over-turned and her kitchen table had shattered through the sliding glass door to the balcony.
The kitchen didn’t look much better than the living room. Dishes were pulled from cupboards and strew on the floor in pieces while the contents of her refrigerator, which was open, were spilling out, having spoiled while she was gone. Sighing, she headed for the bedroom, silently thanking her foresight in keeping most of her childhood mementos in storage. Her bedroom looked worse than the rest of her apartment. The bed had had a knife taken to it, while her nightstand was in splintered pieces across the room. Her clothes lay everywhere, many having been slashed with a knife or simply ripped apart.
“What a fucking mess,” she muttered, crossing her bedroom to the bathroom. Her heart stopped when she saw the message on the bathroom mirror, one that looked like dried blood.
We are watching.
“Like I care,” she growled, reaching out for a wash clothe to wipe the crap off her mirror. Once the bathroom was seemingly back in order, she wandered back out into the living room and then to the hallway to grab her bags. Once they were hauled in, she kicked the door shut with her foot and noticed that her answering machine was hanging off the back of the couch, the little red light blinking to let her know she had a message.
Shaking her head, she moved over and hit the play
button. “Ms. Hart, this is the Zephyr
Foundation. We’d like to speak to you
about possibly procuring your expertise in finding a set of rare artifacts for
our collection. If you are interested,
please meet our representative in the
Kimberly’s eyes almost burned a whole through her answering
machine. ‘First Master Tama, now this; what
the hell is so interesting about these stupid pieces?’ she thought
angrily. Realizing that she wasn’t going
to get anything done, she grabbed her purse and headed out, dinner sounding
extremely good at that point, but her curiosity was also getting the better of
her. After all, it was two o’clock
Sunday, she had an hour to get to the
--
Kokyo Higashi Gyoen (The
The
She had fifteen minutes to find her contact, but as she walked through the gates, she felt a rush of things – apprehension that she didn’t know who her contact was, anger that once again someone was all but forcing her to do something she didn’t want to do, and the last was….a tightening in her stomach, one that she’d gotten only once before, a long time ago. Shaking her head, she pushed through the slightly crowded path, brushing against several other patrons of the park.
“Excuse me miss,” a gentleman said as he brushed against her. For a second, Kimberly’s mind thought it was playing tricks on her. She could have sworn she knew that voice, or had, once upon a time. By the time her head whipped around to look at the man, he was lost in the crowd.
“There’s no way in hell it could be….no one but Jason, Zack and Sha know where I’m at,” she muttered, turning back toward the gardens.
--
Tommy wasn’t even paying attention as he moved from the gardens through the path that led into them. He just wanted to get away from the Baron so he could think. He saw Motoki waiting for him near the sidewalk, and he set his sights on getting to him. His mind was a jumble of things that he didn’t even see the petite woman he almost crashed into. “Excuse me miss,” he murmured, brushing against her before picking up his pace toward his guide.
It wasn’t until he was almost to Motoki that he felt his body still tingling. He abruptly stopped and swung around, looking for the woman he’d brushed against, but not seeing her in the sea of people. “I could have sworn….” he muttered.
“Shiro Hayabusa?” Motoki called. “Are you alright?”
Shaking his head, Tommy made a mental note to email Jason,
just in case. “Yeah, I’m fine. Look, we need to go to the library; I need to
read everything I can get my hands on that’s published here in
“Of course. We’ll get dinner and then head over. The library is open until ten o’clock.”
--
The second she was inside the gardens, Kim felt like her skin was crawling. It wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling; it was the same type of feeling she use to get whenever one of Zedd’s plans had been meant for her. Paranoid now, on top of pissed off about the situation at hand, she found a bench not far from the entrance to sit on. One end was free while the other was occupied by a tall gentleman in a gray suit, who sat reading a newspaper. Sighing she approached him. “May I sit here?” she softly asked, gesturing to the empty space.
“Of course, my dear,” he told her in a crisp voice. He wasn’t Japanese, of that she was sure, but she couldn’t tell if were British or American just from his looks and the simple response she’d gotten. “Is everything alright? You seem upset.”
“I’m fine, thank you,” she told him, settling down on the bench and taking a deep breath. He went back to reading his paper while she scanned the now sparsely populated entrance. As minutes ticked by, she got more and more irate that whoever had wanted to meet with her hadn’t approached her.
“Excuse me miss, but I can’t help but see that you look rather frazzled,” the nice man said again, folding his paper in his lap. “Are you sure everything’s alright?”
Kim tried to smile. “I was supposed to meet someone here, but apparently they’re not coming.”
“I see. Anyone who would keep someone as beautiful as you waiting is no gentleman,” he told her easily.
The brunette blushed and tried to smile, but she suddenly got the feeling that she was still being watched. “I guess I’ve been stood up,” she muttered. “Thank you for your kindness,” she told the man, bowing to him before she turned to walk away.
“You know, Mana-zuru, you shouldn’t be in such a hurry to judge your surroundings,” he off-handedly told her, watching her over his paper as she stood ramrod straight and her body started shaking.
Carefully turning, she raised an eyebrow at him. “Excuse me?”
“Don’t look so surprised, Ms. Hart. I know who you are, Pink Crane, and I know of your life before coming to this place. Why do you think I chose you to help me find what I’m looking for?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she responded, trying to deny what she saw in those eyes. He KNEW. No one had ever known, at least anyone that hadn’t been one of them at some point. “I’m an antiques dealer; I don’t know what you’re getting at.”
He stood up, folding his paper and tucking it under his arm in the process before he strode the short distance to her and stopped. “You don’t think I don’t know that Master Ito trained you on the Eltarian Wizard’s request? I do. I know about that, and I know all about your extra curricular activities as a teenager. I know about the high tech vehicles, the plots and schemes to take over Earth, I even know about the pink spandex you wore on a nearly daily basis for three years, until it was all taken away from you.”
Kimberly almost laughed in his face. This man was standing here, wanting her to do something for him, and he was threatening her with the knowledge of her past. He really had no clue about her, or the woman she’d become. “If you think threatening me, about my life as a teenager, is going to get me to work for you, you obviously don’t know me as well as you thought.” Her voice was barely a whisper, but it came off hard with an underlying anger. “Who in their right mind would believe you? After all, I was just a valley girl. I wasn’t the type of person people thought of when they thought of that. And you have no proof.”
“I have proof, I have tangible proof, and if you don’t agree
to help me find what I’m looking for, I can’t be held responsible if that
information, and the information of everyone who served with you, fell into the
hands of the
It was one thing if it had just been her, but she had no idea if he was telling the truth about the others, and despite their years of separation, there was nothing she wouldn’t do to protect her friends. They had lives, some of them very important, very public lives, and she wasn’t about to let this crack pot take that away. They deserved peace and quiet.
The Baron watched her for a moment before he spoke again. “I’m not a cruel man, Ms. Hart, and I am sincerely not threatening you because I wish to harm you. I am simply in need of your assistance.”
“And let me guess, you won’t take no for an answer?” The sarcasm dripped from her voice. “Others have used that line with me before, and it didn’t work.” She strolled away from him before turning back, a wild look in her eyes. “What is it with you people not understanding that that part of my life is dead and gone? It died the day I left my home and family behind. I can’t go back to that, but more, I refuse to live that life again. I’m not a hero; I never claimed to be one. I’ll be of no use to you in whatever it is you think you so obviously need my help with.”
He didn’t speak; he just continued to watch her pace in front of him. “I swear, you’d think we put up with enough saving the damn world on a daily basis that even psychos like you would back off and leave us be even if you figured out who we were,” she ranted.
“Ms. Hart, I’m in need of your expertise,” he told her, interrupting her triad so that she stopped mid step and looked at him with questioning and somewhat intrigued gaze. “And I’m not above applying pressure to get it.”
“Oh really?” Kim balked at that.
The Baron merely raised his hand, watching calmly as Kimberly noticed approximately twenty or so people suddenly appear out of no where and turn to him. They were all dressed in plain clothes and were of differing ethnic backgrounds, and she hadn’t even known they were there. The man gave a nod and Kimberly saw each of them produce a weapon of some sort from a hidden place in their clothing. It astonished Kimberly that she hadn’t known they were there, but then, she’d felt like she’d been watched since she stepped into the gardens.
“I’m searching for, shall we say, three artifacts of great power that have been considered myth until very recently.”
“The Imperial Regalia?” she asked, arms folded across her chest and her hip cocked to the side as she stared at him. He tried to look surprised but she saw through it. “Oh please, you obviously know I knew about them, don’t act stupid.”
“You’re right. You are an intelligent woman, and a talented antiques broker. Yes, I’m searching for the Imperial Regalia. I believe they are ancient artifacts hidden here many centuries ago that may be of great use in a conflict that’s brewing on the horizon.”
Kim let a sarcastic ‘I can’t believe you’re still pursuing me about this’ smile slide into place on her face. “What part of, I want no part of this, do you not understand? Find someone else.”
“Ms. Hart, please, hear me out. I believe a war is coming, one that could rock the very foundation of your planet,” he told her, watching her eyebrow lift in question and her brown eyes darken. “I have studied every aspect of you are – your training, your past, the way you run your business, everything. I truly believe you are one of two people who can help me find these artifacts, to help me stop the destruction of Earth. Besides that, I know how much you care for your family and friends.”
Master Tama’s words came back to her. ‘There are forces coming to our world, if they are not already here, to
retrieve the treasures and use them for domination of all beings. They must be protected at all costs.’ Kimberly shivered as she remembered the way he’d
spoken them to her; she hated to admit it, but it had reminded her of Zordon on
the rare occasions he’d delivered a foreboding message to them. Something inside of her, both her heart and
the pit of her stomach, told her maybe she needed to take this seriously, not
only for Earth but for the sake of her friends, their families, and her
own. While the Rangers had experience in
matters such as this, their families were merely innocents, and they had no
knowledge of what had happened then, or what was happening now. There also had to be something real behind the
myth about these artifacts, especially if there was an ancient prophecy about
them….if there was one thing she’d learned as a Power Ranger, it was that
Prophecies had a nasty way of coming true, whether you wanted them to or not. Better to be prepared for it, facing it head
on, then to let it blind side her.
“For the sake of the moment, say I agree to help you with this,” she
told him, her eyes narrowing in on his face.
“First, who the hell are you, and two, what the hell is this foundation
and what exactly is this mission going to entail?”
The Baron smiled a smile that said he knew she was agreeing to it, even
if at the moment it was only hypothetical.
His first thought was she was as gullible as Dr. Oliver, his second
thought was a momentary twinge at the fact that such a rare beauty would die
before this was all over. “My name is
Baron Zephyr, and the foundation derives its name from me. You could say we’ve taken it upon ourselves
to make sure that Earth’s best interests are looked after. As to the mission, you will be in charge of
the team; I will simply put together whomever you decide upon from my group of
specially trained agents. I have,
however, one person already searching. I
would like him to work with you. He has
many of the same credentials, if you will, as you do. We have exactly two weeks to find out where
the artifacts are and to retrieve them.”
“Two weeks? You’re giving me two
weeks to verify three ancient, powerful, supposedly mythological artifacts are
real, let alone in
“I’m afraid that’s all we can spare.
War is very nearly upon us, we need those artifacts.”
Kim glared at him then sighed.
“I have to go somewhere, to check on a lead if you will. We can start in four days.”
“Of course. I’ll be in contact,” he told her before he
turned and strode away, leaving Kimberly staring at his back while a feeling of
terror seemed to ball in her stomach.
“Four days, I sure hope Master Tama knows what the hell he’s doing,”
she muttered before she started forward, her destination home.
--
Kimberly’s Apartment
There had been a time in her life when she’d been able to
sleep through the familiar earthquakes that rocked
Her eyes went to where the light from the balcony usually shone under her door and counted at least two people standing before her door. She took several deep breaths, focused herself on the task at hand, and as she threw the door open, her body and mind instinctively going into battle mode, she felt someone’s arms lock around her neck, a knife pressing to her neck. Quickly, she scanned the room and came up with a count of at least eight, with the possibility of more hiding elsewhere in the apartment.
“You know, people are really starting to piss me off,” Kim remarked to no one in particular. She took a moment to observe them even as the one holding her pressed the knife closer to her throat. They were dressed in all black and even in the darkness of her apartment she could tell they weren’t anywhere near close to being human. Arms, legs and necks seemed too elongated to be human, as did the fingers that held the knife at her throat. They stood probably close to six foot or better, and while were thin and lean, Kim could make out the muscles beneath, which reminded her of Adam, Billy and Tommy from their days as Rangers.
What’s more, they had glowing red eyes. The outfits were also a dead give away. What little Kim caught in between flashes of light were tight, not quite spandex suits that looked very close to something a Ninja might wear. Some of them had weapons strapped to their backs – a crossbow, swords, etc – and some of them had those weapons drawn. Kimberly silently acknowledged that it wouldn’t make her feel the least bit guilty if she had to kill any of these things, because it was seriously looking like she just might have to.
They didn’t speak English, but even after a few seconds, Kim had picked what she supposed was the leader out of the group. He was the one standing furthest from her, just sort of nodding his head now and again as the others moved. “Boys, as much fun as it is being all touchy feely with you, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
The group jumped back as Kim brought her foot up fast and clean, managing to pull herself down out of the thing’s grasp even as her toes impacted with its face. As it fell, Kim managed to roll to her feet and came up swinging, her fist smashing into the face of one that rushed her. With an ease born of practice, Kim launched herself over her couch and out of reach of them.
She came up standing next to the wall where she’d hung her antique sword rack. Silently thanking a higher power, Kim quickly snatched her favorite sword, a katana, off of the rack and spun her body around, the sharp blade slicing through the body behind her. She watched in startled fascination as the body of her attacker simply fell to the floor in a shower of gray dust. “Eww…gross.”
The sudden movement in her peripheral vision caused her to snap her head up. The goons were heading for her and Kim realized she had little room to maneuver. Instinctively, she swiped out with her sword, catching the closest one at the neck and beheading it before it too hit the floor in a pile of gray dust.
The storm outside began to rage as loud and as bright as the fight inside was intense and tiring. Kim only had the flashes of lightening to use to see where her attackers were, so she had to heavily rely on her other senses, and what little power she had left over from her days as the Pink Ranger. She amazed even herself as she managed to launch herself into the air, tumble between the blades of two of the six that were left, with a sword in her hand. She popped back up and swung the sword with an uncanny sense of grace and finesse she hadn’t been aware she’d be able to maintain in the middle of a fight to the death.
One more of her attackers exploded in a cloud of dust while her blade clashed with the other one who’d been right there swinging at her. It was at that point that Kim’s eyes hit upon the balcony door, which she’d taped plastic garbage bags over before going to bed. The plastic had ripped off during the beginnings of the storm, leaving a gaping hole. An absurd idea sprang into her mind even as she parried the strikes of her opponent’s blade. A shiver along her skin caused her to turn her head slightly, so that her eyes locked onto the figure holding up a crossbow aimed at her. “Shit!” she muttered, using as much of her upper body strength as she could to force the blade that was trying to hack at her up and away from her before she dropped down and gave a quick, clean leg sweep. With her opponent down, she didn’t think she just ran towards the door.
She rammed right into the balcony rail, her gaze flicking back toward the crossbow and the five figures still coming at her. Her head swiveled quickly around as she looked down at the ten story drop off her balcony. The group inside was nearly halfway across the room, though the leader looked as though he’d ordered them to maintain their distance. Looking back, she decided she’d rather take her chances with jumping off the balcony than trying to fight five more of the weird things that were in her apartment. Training and being a former Ranger aside, even she knew when she was out numbered and slowly losing strength. It wasn’t like she hadn’t taken a few hits back there, because she had. As it was, her arms were throbbing from wielding the sword, even though she was more than proficient with it.
A tiny gasp escaped her as she felt something inside of her chest almost explode, warmth seeping into her that she hadn’t felt in years. In her mind, she felt the urging of something that had lain dormant for far too long, and in her ears she heard the call of someone she was intimately familiar with. “Well, if I’m going to die, it’s going to be on my own terms,” she muttered as she surged back into the open doorway, gripped her sword, and then rushed toward the balcony’s railing, launching herself into the air as if she were going to perform a tumbling pass from one of her old floor routines, her body gliding over the rail as she plummeted head first toward the ground.
The free fall caused her a moment of pure satisfaction until the terror set in and she realized she was falling ten stories to the ground. Closing her eyes, she waited for the inevitable, until, on a whim, she opened them again and found herself glowing the lightest of pinks. In a moment reminiscent of her days in spandex, she found herself righting her body and landing, quite literally, on her feet, sword still in hand. Shaking her head, she mumbled, “Don’t question it, Kim, you may not like the answer,” as she stood up and looked to her balcony where the five warriors stood watching her.
She stood there for a good minute, letting the rain sluice down over her, soaking her to the bone. There would be no going back to her apartment, at least not until this was all over with. As if sensing they were going to follow her, she turned and fled down a dark alley way, her bare feet slapping against the pavement as she ran, her destination unknown.
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Japanese to English Word Meanings:
Mana-zuru - True Crane
Shiro Hayabusa - White Falcon
Ookami – Wolf
Tatami mat – traditional mat used in Japanese bedrooms
Chihaya - consists of a dark red hakama, pleated pants, a white kimono shirt with very long and wide sleeves, and tabi socks. White or red ribbons often adorn the hair.
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Next chapter: Another trip to a shrine, a well placed phone call, some insight to someone’s background with the Zephyr Foundation, and probably another good fight.