Disclaimer: Saban/BVE own Power Rangers, not me. This is a sequel to “When She Was Bad,” so read that first. It takes place shortly before the Rangers’ graduation, and this continuity seriously screws up Power Rangers Turbo, so no flames if you object to that. By the way, for those confused about how I mapped out the road trip, my take on the location of Angel Grove is that it’s a Pacific coastal city off California Highway 101, just northwest of Los Angeles. Look at a road atlas of southern California and you’ll see what I mean.

Highway to Hell
Part I: One Last Memory
by MegaSilver

Tommy shoved his duffel bag into the overhead bin. “Just thirty more minutes,” he said excitedly.

Katherine gave him an evil-eye glance from the seat behind his. “You didn’t forget anything, did you?”

“Let’s see… toiletries bag that you girls helped me pack, socks, pants, shirts, thongs… I think I’m all set.”

Jason grinned up at Tommy. “Underwear?”

“Shut up!” said Tommy, playfully smacking Jason as he sat down next to his best friend.

In just four short weeks, the senior prom, finals, and last-minute senior fundraisers were over, and the Angel Grove High School class of 1997 was just moments away from reaping high school’s final reward: the senior trip to New Orleans. Everyone on the bus was giddy, upbeat and ready for the week of their lives.

Katherine looked around. “Where’s Kimberly?” she wondered out loud.

“There she is!” Skull pointed to the front of the bus from the seat behind Katherine. “Oh, be still my heart…”

Skull’s attraction was hardly unjustified. Kimberly ascended the final step into the cabin, sleeker and sexier than she’d ever been—a year spent solidly training in gymnastics had done wonders to her already very decent body. And yet, despite her stunning appearance, she looked anything but eager to embark on this trip she’d been raving about since the beginning of ninth grade. She made her way slowly down the aisle in search of a seat.

“Hey, Kim, this one’s free,” said Katherine as Kimberly walked by.

Kimberly stopped, and apprehensively sat down beside her friend. “Tanya’s not coming?”

“Oh, she’s here,” said Katherine, motioning to the seat a few rows back. “She insisted on spending a little quality time with Adam, so Rocky had to ride in the other bus with Jennifer.”

“I’ll bet he’s really upset about that,” Kimberly commented as she pulled out a compact mirror to touch up her lip gloss.

“So… I haven’t talked to you in a while. How have you been?”

Kimberly replaced her mirror. “You mean you actually wanted to talk to me?”

“Well, yeah… I mean, we’re friends, and with everything that’s happened, I wondered if you were handling the transition okay.” Katherine paused. “At least… I think we’re friends. Aren’t we?”

Kimberly sank lower into her seat as the bus departed. “I didn’t know if I could ever face you again. I would’ve felt like such a jerk talking to you—like, how would I dare approach you pretending that everything’s okay when I know and you know it’s not?”

“I see.” Katherine was quiet for a moment. “You know, I don’t blame you for anything that’s happened. None of it was your fault.”

“Not directly. But I would fully understand if you hated me. I mean, if you thought, ‘I hate Kimberly; she stole my boyfriend, my powers, and she couldn’t get to the center in time to save my friend.’”

“You did what you could,” said Katherine. “I do have to admit, it’s not easy talking to you right now. Of course, I know that I can’t put any of the blame on you; after all, I’d more or less have to wish you out of existence to really change anything.” She pulled out a stick of gum. “I gave you your powers back because I knew they might help you. And Tommy’s yours, not mine. I gave him up because I realized that.”

Kimberly rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m not too sure about Tommy. I haven’t gotten to talk to him, much, either. I mean, we did have a nice long talk after, well… you know, and I think we got things patched up—or at least he said we did, but we haven’t done anything to build it back up since then.”

“Probably not either of your faults,” Katherine pointed out. “I mean, with his stock car racing and all. I’m surprised he doesn’t fall asleep driving his TurboZord.”

“I think he might have the other day, actually,” said Kimberly.

“Are you serious? I have to know about this! Tell me!”

By now, a big grin had appeared on Kimberly’s face. She leaned in close to Katherine and brought her voice down. “Okay. Remember how Divatox sent down that big cyborg thing this week and it terrorized the city? Well, we had our Zords on the outskirts of town, and we were docking them together to get ready to fight it. We had everyone’s vehicle in except Tommy’s, and he was flying towards the hole, just like, totally wheeling it out. So I get on my communicator and I’m like, ‘Tommy? You want to slow it down a bit?’ No reply. Three seconds later, he crashes into docked position, the force of the impact thrusts the entire mass forward about five hundred feet, and we all get whiplash. When we’re in the cockpit, Jason says, “A little rough on the approach, huh, bro?’ And Tommy’s all, ‘I didn’t notice anything but a little jolt.’ So Tanya says, ‘Yeah. You were asleep!’”

When Kimberly was done telling the story, she and Katherine were in stitches and Jason and Tommy were leaning over the seat in front of them. “So, what about us?” asked Tommy, having only heard the last two lines.

Kimberly blew her nose. “Oh, I was just telling Kat how you fell asleep at the wheel the other day and just about killed us all.”

“I did NOT fall asleep at the wheel!” protested Tommy.

“Sure you didn’t,” Jason moaned.

“Okay, I might have been nodding a little—”

“Same thing.”

“It is NOT!”

Suddenly, a light flicked on in Katherine’s head. “Hey, Tommy, can we switch seats?”

“Hmm? Switch seats?”

“Yeah. I—want to talk to Jason. If you guys don’t mind, I mean.”

Tommy shrugged. “I’m cool with that,” he said, getting up from his seat.

Katherine winked at Kimberly as she rose and Tommy sat in the seat next to Kimberly.

“Hey, beautiful,” Tommy smiled at Kimberly.

“Hey,” Kimberly smiled back. “I’m sorry we haven’t really talked in a while.”

“It’s not your fault,” said Tommy. “It’s this dumb stock car thing that keeps taking up all my free time.”

“‘Dumb’? I thought you liked it.”

Tommy lost his smile. “I think I’ve been mixing up my priorities, though. Especially these last two weeks.” He sighed and reclined his seat a little. “So how are you doing?”

“Better.” Kimberly briefly glanced out the window as the bus turned onto Highway 101, then turned back to Tommy. “I… don’t know what to say.”

“Neither do I.” Tommy touched Kimberly’s nose. “I’m just so happy to be here with you right now.”

Kimberly felt Tommy slip her hand into his. “Me, too.” She pressed her lips together. “I only wish I could make everything up to—”

“Shh.” Tommy put a finger to her lips. “I forgave you for that over a month ago. It's not something that should affect us. Besides...” Tommy drew her into his arms. “If you want to make it up to me, just be mine.”

Kimberly smiled. “Finally, something I want to do.”

***

As the bus rolled along Interstate 10 late at night, Tommy hugged a sleeping Kimberly to him as he rested his head on a pillow against the window, a blanket draped over them both. Just as he was dozing off himself, the bus exited the highway to refuel. But right in the middle of the exit ramp, a swirling purple vortex opened up, and before the driver could stop, the bus crossed through it. The sudden jolt from the vortex’s energy shook the bus; anyone who hadn’t been awake now was. Screams, panic, and chaos quickly ensued.

“What the hell?” exclaimed Tommy.

“Oh my gosh, what’s happening to us?” gasped Kimberly.