Griffins, Cranes, and Time Lords: PG-13, Kimberly & Ten, One Shot
This is all 
spikess fault! She's just a giant enabler! Blame her!
Author: Jade
Story: Griffins, Cranes, and Time Lords
Disclaimer: I do no own Power Rangers, Doctor Who, or Glee. If I did, Kimberly wouldn't have left and Ten, Puck, and Mike would be shirtless a hell of a lot more!
Summary: Kimberly meets the Tenth Doctor. Chaos ensues. (Power Rangers/Doctor Who, with side of Glee!)
Rating: PG-13
Timelines: Post Last of the Time Lords, Zeo (sometime after the letter and Jason's return), PRE-Glee
Warning: Crackity crack, crack, crack! You've been warned.
Word Count: 7,680
A/N 1: This is all Spikess fault. Uh huh. Blame her.
Kimberly had been having an extremely bad day. Coach had been on her case because, surprise surprise, without the power coursing through her veins she was just another girl with the strength and stamina of a mundane. Having been a ranger, yes, gave her an edge but...it wasn't as big of an edge as she'd imagined it'd be.
So she was working ten times as hard as the other girls just to get to the same place they were. It was...discouraging to say the least.
And having to deal with the fact she'd broken up with Tommy and was feeling sorry for herself on that front really didn't help her mood.
Needing some breathing room, she'd gone out on the town for some well-deserved night-time shopping. It was one thing she absolutely loved about Florida, about Miami-the stores in the mall stayed open WAY later than in Angel Grove.
She'd been looking at at a sundress and wondering why she'd always been so enamored by them in California when the screaming started.
She was up and out of the store before she even knew what she was doing, the thief alarm blaring behind her because, in her haste, she'd forgotten to drop the dress. Luckily, the employees were too stunned at the spectacle they could just see in the food court to actually do anything about it.
There were giant beasts inside the mall. More to the point, there were a pair of giant griffins inside the mall. Kim only recognized the creatures because of Aisha' report on them for class; all of them had chosen their zord animals when Ms. Appleby had given them the mythological creature report in home-room (except Adam, who'd done his on the sphinx, the closest mythological creature to a lion he'd found). For being based on them, it could be surprisingly hard to connect what their zord animals were to what they were supposed to actually look like.
The griffins seemed content to raid the various food shops, more or less ignoring the screaming shoppers as they took off. Kim ducked into a nearby hallway, bringing her wrist up to her mouth before realizing...
She wasn't a ranger anymore. And her communicator was back in her dorm room, hidden in a treasure chest under her bed. The only thing she had on her was the pink flower sundress she had accidentally shop-lifted.
Well, crap.
“Shoppers, vendors, and employees, please vacate the premises immediately. I repeat, please vacate the premises immediately,” came a voice over the intercom. Kimberly rolled her eyes, having a great view of the now empty food court. The head of the mall really hadn't needed to do that-everyone sane had already taken off.
Then Kimberly heard the unmistakable sound of a child crying.
Looking back into the food court, she didn't have long to look before she found the five year old under a table closest to where Kim was hiding. The child was upset, obviously, and alone-her mother or father must have lost her in the rush to get out.
She groaned, knowing there was nothing she could do except the obvious, especially when the Griffins finally stopped eating long enough to hear the kid as well. Before they could so much as move towards her, Kim rushed out of her hiding space, sprinting forwards and going down as if she was sliding home at a baseball game. Not that Kim had ever actually played baseball outside of the mandatory PE classes in elementary school but that was beside the point.
Her aim was damn near perfect and she slid to a stop just next to the kid, who was so surprised at her appearance, she stopped crying.
“I got ya,” she whispered, grabbing the little girl and holding her tight. “Don't look behind you okay, just...don't look.”
“I can't find my papa and daddy and there are monsters in the mall!” Apparently the kid had decided that “don't look” didn't mean “don't scream.” Kim winced; God, the girl had a pair of lungs on her.
“I'm Kimberly, what's your name?” she asked hurriedly, watching the Griffins warily as they studied the unlikely duo hiding under the table.
“Rachel,” she sniffled. “Rachel Barbara Berry. My daddy's brought me to Florida to vacation-were supposed to go to Disney World once daddy finishes his business meeting here and we came to get him a swim suit because he forgot his and...”
Kim let the little girl prattle on, figuring it would keep her distracted to the fact the Griffins had apparently decided they were much more interesting than the food. Or maybe they wanted a more...alive...meal. She winced at the thought.
“DADDY!” Rachel suddenly shrieked, making Kimberly jump and hit her head on the underside of the table. “There's my daddy's!”
Kim craned to look a moment and, sure enough, there were two men, looking between Rachel and the Griffins with something like panic on their faces.
“Oooh, this is gonna hurt,” she mumbled, knowing what she had to do. “Rachel, honey, I need you to do me a HUGE favor, okay?” Kim said and Rachel looked up at her, completely trusting.
“What?”
“Can you be brave and strong?” she asked and Rachel nodded solemnly, having apparently realized the problem; she kept twitching as if she wanted to look back at the Griffins but was remembering Kimberly's warning not to. Smiling slightly, Kim impulsively leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “Okay, when I say go, I want you to run like hell towards your parents. Don't look back, don't stop running until you three are out of the mall, alright?”
“But what about you?” she asked in a tiny voice. Kim smiled, eyes flickering at the slowly approaching Griffins.
“I'll be fine, honey,” she assured the girl. “Don't you know? I'm a superhero.”
Rachel gave her a beautiful smile. “What's your superhero name?” she asked, so trusting. Kimberly spared a moment to hope that innocence never went away.
“The Crane,” she told her impulsively and really, what else could she say? Ignoring that, she slowly started scooting out, pulling Rachel with her and keeping her between her and the Griffins as best she could. In the process, she slipped off her shoes.
I'm going after a pair of rabid griffins with pink sneakers and a sundress, she thought, somewhat disgusted with herself. Oh, where's my Power Bow when I need it? Aisha's never going to let me hear the end of this.
“Alright, on the count of three. One, two...three!”
Rachel took off like a bat out of hell. Kim ignored the girl, keeping an eye on the griffins. When the one looked like it was about to follow the five year old, Kim threw one of her sneakers at it, hitting it square in in the beak. It snapped back to her and it suddenly looked pissed.
“Oh, that wasn't the best idea I've ever had,” she mumbled.
“RACHEL!” Kim spared a glance behind her and couldn't help but grin; Rachel had sailed straight past her dad's, not stopping as she ran in the direction of the mall entrance, leaving the two men to scramble after her.
“Good girl,” she murmured then turned back to the angry Griffins, both of whom were looking the direction the Berry's had run. She waved her arms erratically to get them to focus back on her, the crazy shopper with the shoes of pain. “Hey! Eyes front and center, you myths! I'm the one you want, okay, I'm much more tasty and...meat filled than some scrawny little girl!”
~~*~~
The Doctor had been walking around the mall, trying to determine just why the TARDIS had deemed 1998 as a good time to come to. Normally, the old girl went wherever the Doctor was needed, but a mall? What could possibly happen in a mall besides getting cheated out of your money?
He was in a little shop called Spencers, looking at all the key chains when he heard the screaming. Rushing outside, a small naughty nurse key-chain still in hand, he tried flagging down someone to tell him what was going on and ignoring the pimple-faced kid behind him trying to get the key-chain back.
“Giant monsters in the food court!” one sprinting shopper finally yelled, not actually stopping as he rushed towards the Sears down the way. The Spencers employee apparently decided the key-chain wasn't worth dying for and took off as well.
“Shoppers, vendors, and employees, please vacate the premises immediately. I repeat, please vacate the premises immediately,” was heard over the intercom and the Doctor couldn't help but grin-this was just what he needed to get his mind off the past several months, a good alien invasion.
Or at least, some sort of disturbance of monster-or-alien nature.
As he ran towards the food court, the Doctor wondered what he was about to be faced with. In the past month or so he'd dealt with one very stupid scientist, the Family of Blood, Weeping Angels, and finally, the Master returning and nearly destroying his favorite planet; after all that, he wasn't sure what he could possibly have to work with.
Coming up on the food court, he skidded to a stop at the scene playing out in front of him. Humans were notorious about running as far away as possible when the impossible happened-it was what made saving the world so easy and so hard at the same time. The mall was no exception, all the people having run away at the mere sight of the two beautiful creatures in there midst.
All but one, apparently. The doctor watched as the tiny brunette watched a tiny girl run away, two men chasing after her. She looked back at the Griffins and seeing their attention was on the running family, jumped to her feet and started waving around like a mad woman, a sundress in one hand and a pink shoe in the other (the shoes were hers, he suspected, eyes flickering to her sock encased feet).
“Hey! Eyes front and center, you myths!” she shouted and the Doctor suddenly realized that she was giving the family time to get away. He smiled, watching as she shook the shoe in the Griffins face, completely unconcerned with her own safety. “I'm the one you want, okay, I'm much more tasty and...meat filled than some scrawny little girl!”
They snapped their attention back to her and he could just see her gulp, eyes widening and her face paling as her words apparently registered. He couldn't help but chuckle. “Oh, why did I have to mention tasty and meat in the same sentence?” she groaned. “Now what?”
“Oh, I don't know,” the Doctor said, walking over with a rather large grin on his face. “I daresay you've found yourself in a pinch, yes you did. I'm the Doctor, by the way, nothing else, just the Doctor. And these...are griffitoria manicature, or more commonly known as Griffins on Earth. Meat eaters and not very bright-they're typically controlled by a much stronger mind which, if you think about it, means we're in quite a bit of danger.” He grinned brightly at her.
She blinked at him for several seconds in complete lack of understanding before she gave herself a little shake. He silently applauded her ability to role with the punches, as Martha would have said. Then her eyes narrowed at him and he wondered what he'd managed to do wrong.
“Are you controlling them cause, seriously, if you are, I'm going to kick your ass!” she informed him hotly and his mouth dropped open in surprise. “I was trying to run AWAY from a bad day, not towards it!”
He went to answer her but was distracted by a low growling coming from nearby. Looking over, he suddenly realized while he and the foolishly brave young woman had been, ahem, talking, the griffins had gotten a bit too close for his comfort; last time he'd been this near one of these beautiful creatures he'd nearly had to regenerate.
“Oh, hello,” he greeted them. “Why don't we all just...relax a little. No need to uh, eat us. I doubt we'd taste very good.”
“Yeah, cause I'm really sure they're going to understand the crazy man in the funny suit,” the young woman muttered.
“It's worth a try,” he told her. “They're sentient beings and whoever is controlling them should understand us as well. And my suit is not funny-I think its rather dashing!”
“Sure,” she replied sarcastically. “So you're not controlling them?”
“Oh, no,” he said, making a face at the mere idea. “I would never try to control such beautiful creatures like these.” He looked approvingly over at the griffins, both of whom were watching the human and time lord hungrily. Something was holding them back, however, and the Doctor had a feeling it was their controller.
“I really don't think they're going to respond to flattery,” she told him seriously and he smiled.
“They haven't eaten us yet, have they?”
“Good point,” she admitted after a minute, watching the two griffins warily. “So, uh, any idea what they're doing here?”
“Besides scaring the local populace, I have no idea,” he said brightly. “Quite a bit of fun, that way, isn't it?”
“Great, I'm stuck in a mall, facing two griffins with a fashion-handicapped British guy and I'm the sane one!” she complained and he frowned, taking offense
“I'm not from Britain,” he couldn't help but point out. The griffins didn't appear to be attacking anytime soon so...
“Oh, so you got that accent on ebay?”
“No, I got it from home.”
“On Ebay?”
“Will you stop it with the Ebay?” he asked, now irritated. “I'm a Time Lord.”
“A time...pretentious much?” she demanded incredulous. He groaned-one of these days, he'd find a human who didn't immediately comment on the ego attached to his people's term for themselves.
“I travel through time and space, ergo, Time Lord,” he told her snappily. “And in case you didn't notice, the griffins are getting antsy.”
“Oh, I noticed, trust me, I'm not taking my eyes off the beasts who don't seem to realize they're supposed to be myths,” she told him and he smiled. “Why is it always me and the overgrown beasts and time travel anyway? Seriously, and I thought the ginormous rats were bad!”
He would have commented on that if it weren't for the fact the griffins chose that moment to start growling again and the human and time lord shad to focuse on them. They seemed to be preparing to hunt, which, he mentally told himself, was not a good sign.
Looking over at his companion, he could almost see the moment in which she decided to trust he wasn't controlling the creatures. “Can we run now, cause I've been an appetizer before and I really don't want to repeat the experience,” she asked very very quietly, as if the creatures wouldn't hear her if she did so.
Instead of answering, he grabbed her hand and took off running.
~~*~~
The griffins seemed to take them running as a sign and ran after them. They had a breif head-start but as the griffins got way too close, she finally threw the shoe at them, hitting one in the head and causing it to stumble to a stop. Her eyes widened at the shrieks and was a hairbreaths away from the second griffins jaws when the self-proclaimed time lord pointed something in his hand at the beast. A weird buzzing sound came from the device and the griffin stumbled to a stop, head shaking as if it was hearing something that was hurting it. Turning back to where they were running, she tried finding an exit.
“Elevator!” she shouted and the man turned and pointed his device at the doors, which opened with a hiss. Too late she realized the elevator wasn't actually on the second floor and she shrieked as they fell five feet, landing on top of it. Above them, she could just make out the griffins scrambling at the opening at the top.
“What is that thing?” she demanded when the Doctor pointed at the top of the elevator and a hatch sprung open.
“Sonic Screwdriver, never leave home without it,” he told her with a grin that said he was enjoying himself WAY too much. He motioned for her to go first and, after a quick look up at the griffins, she dropped into the elevator.
He followed her and shut the hatch just as one of the griffins landed on the roof. It creaked, groaned, and screamed and she grimaced as the doctor yanked her out of the elevator and onto the first floor of the mall. He pointed the screwdriver up and Kim could just make out the doors on the second floor close, effectively locking the griffin inside the elevator shaft.
“Okay, great, that's one down, one to go,” she said, hands on her knees as she got her breath back. “But question; what are we going to do with them once we subdue the other one?”
He paused and then looked at her funny. “Subdue?” he asked and she frowned at him.
“Yeah, subdue,” she said slowly. “What did you think I was going to say?”
“Most humans I've met wouldn't have said subdue,” he told and she watched a pleased smile fill his face. She stared at him and he outright grinned. “They would have said kill or destroy, not subdue.”
“You said they're being controlled, right?” she asked, mentally noting the whole human bit in the back of her head for a later time. “Its not their fault then; I'm not going to kill something because its being controlled by some idiot.”
“Oh, I like you,” he said, grinning. “What's your name again?”
“Kimberly,” she replied without thinking about it. “Kimberly Hart.”
“Kimberly Hart, really?” he asked, looking pleased. She frowned but he ignored it, grabbing her hand and giving it a shake. “Oh, wonderful honor to meet you, absolute honor!”
“Thanks...I think,” she said. “So...what do we do now cause I'm a little concerned we haven't seen the second griffin.”
“Oh, when you hit it with your shoe-nice aim by the way-you hit its cerebral cortex,” he said, not showing much concern. “It'll be disorientated for a good, oh, ten minutes?”
“And...how long has it been since I did that?”
“About...five?” he said, now looking sheepish.
“So we have about five minutes before the griffin wakes up and starts trying to eat us again, great,” she sighed. “Any plans?”
“Well, the elevator isn't going to work a second time,” he mused. “Any other place you could think of here?”
“None,” she answered. “Wait...what about the idiot controlling them? What happens if we get to him?”
“Oh, that'd be the tricky part,” he said. “The controller'll probably use the griffins to keep us away.”
“How far does he have to be from the griffins?”
“Less than a mile, why?” he asked, studying her intently. She frowned.
“The mall is a mile in length, two if you count the second floor!” she told him. “He could be anywhere inside here!”
“Where'd they first appear?”
“What?” she asked, slightly thrown.
“When all the screaming started, where were they?” he demanded and she suddenly got it.
“People would have noticed them before they reached...the food court, upstairs,” she told him. “They started attacking the Greek place, which is somewhat ironic now that I think about it.”
“So somewhere upstairs near the food court which, coincidentally is located at the very center of the mall, is the controller,” he said. “And the griffins' woken up.”
“What?”
“Run!”
Instincts that had been dormant since she left California suddenly flared to life and she ducked, only narrowly avoiding the griffins talons slicing off her head. She took off running, looking back occasionally to see the griffin flying after them. Thankfully, it kept having to dodge walkways, wires, and decorations and she'd never been more thankful for every mall's tendency to go gaudy during the holiday season.
“In here!” he shouted and she veered to the left, where the doctor was fiddling with the staff stairs doorway.
“That should be locked!” she shouted but then was proven wrong when it opened under the doctor's screwdriver. Slamming the door shut behind them, he pointed the device at the door and then pocketed it again. “What all does that thing do?” she demanded.
“Too much to say at the moment,” he told her seriously. “Come on, upstairs it is.”
“One of these days I'm going to run away from danger, not towards it!” she groaned.
“Done this before have you?” he asked, almost conversationally. She couldn't help but laugh.
“What face off against a pair of mythical creatures with a pretentious British guy calling himself the Doctor?” she asked and ignored his scowl. “No, can't say that I have.”
“But the running and the fighting?” he persisted and she shrugged.
“I'm from Angel Grove, Doc, this is nothing new,” she said. “Well, it is new just...not my type of old?”
The Doctor suddenly stopped in his tracks, turning to stare at her as she stumbled coming up the steps after him. “Angel Grove?” he demanded. “You're from Angel Grove?”
“Yeah, why?”
She watched as he pulled out a pair of black rimmed glasses, plopping them on and then peered at her as if she was some sort of fascinating bug. “Stop that, what are you doing?” she demanded when he started poking her shoulder.
“You're one of Zordon's beget!” he said suddenly and he grinned. She startled, mouth falling open. “I should have known-humans just aren't that stupid and self-sacrificing, as a rule.”
“You know Zordon?” she demanded, ignoring the insult to her and the rest of her race for the time being. He grinned at her, bouncing slightly in place as if he'd just been given a great gift.
“Of course I know Zordon, good chap, saved my life once; one of these days I'll repay the favor and get him out of that bloody tube he got himself stuck in,” he rattled. “Which are you then? Wait, no, pink, you have to be pink, I always liked the pinks, good hearts. Ha, hearts, Hart, nice little connection don't you think?”
“Are you drunk?”
He frowned at her. “Why would think I was drunk?” he demanded.
“Oh, so you just babble like that all the time then?” she asked and he grinned sheepishly, reminding her strongly of a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“Well...”
She resisted the urge to smile but from his expression, he wasn't fooled. “When did you know Zordon?” she asked, not able to let that go.
“Oh, years ago,” he said, smiling faintly. “Met him on Phaedos, pretty planet. Was trying to find my companion, she managed to get herself sucked through a time/space hole, still don't know how. Zordon and Dulcea took care of her when she got through, bit roughed up. Like I said, good man.”
“Yeah he is,” she smiled faintly. “Do you think you can really get him out of the time warp?”
“I'm a Time Lord,” he reminded her and she resisted the urge to role her eyes; she'd never stop thinking that title was pretentious. “Once I figure out how he got himself inside it, I should be able to get him out. Possibly. About eighty percent chance, anyway. Why aren't you in Angel Grove?”
“I--” she was cut off by clawing coming from down below and the unmistakable sound of the door being pulled off its hinges. They looked at each other. “Run?”
“Run!” he agreed and they took off again up the stairs.
“So, how do we break the connection?” she panted out, trying to peer over his shoulder as he got to the door to the second floor of the mall. She silently cursed his height; the man was way too friggin tall!
“If he doesn't do it himself, I'm not sure,” he admitted after a moment. “Depends on who it is and what they want.”
“I doubt its anything good,” she muttered. He looked over his shoulder at her, eyebrows high on his head and she shrugged. “He let loose two griffins in a packed food court. No good came come of that, no matter his reasons.”
“You may have a point but I'll be giving him the benefit of the doubt for now,” he said, turning back to the door. “Alright, I don't see the griffin.”
Slowly the two inched out the door. Before they'd gotten very far, Kim had a horrible feeling and pushed the Doctor down and away, lurching herself to the side and thus narrowly avoiding the griffin, which had been perched above them.
“Well, that could have been bad,” the Doctor said and Kim would have glared at the understatement but was too busy trying to figure out a way to get to him without becoming griffin kibble.
“Kimberly, just...go!” he ordered her. “I'll try and lead him away, give you time to get away!”
“Yeah right!” she said, shaking her head. “You know nothing about me if you think I'm going to just leave you here to become griffin food! Besides, you still have to fix Zordon and I'm not letting you get out of that promise, mister self absorbed time lord!”
“I never promised to fix him!”
“You promised to get him out of the water cooler!” she shouted back, inching away from the griffin, who's head kept looking between them as if watching a tennis match. Which, she supposed, he was; a tennis match of words. “I want to hug him!”
“Eighty percent!” he squawked “I said there is an eighty percent chance I could do it!”
“Exactly and you won't get to find out if you are as good as you say you are if you are being digested!”
“I won't be digested!”
“You will if you get eaten!”
“ENOUGH!”
Kim, who'd been gingerly trying to stand up without attracting attention from the beast, almost fell back down at the bellow. It came across the way from a man in dark robes. He looked humanoid but was clearly not human; his skin was blue, his eyes were red, and he had spikes coming out his neck.
“You two bicker more than my second wife and her first husband!” the controller shouted. “Honestly, can you two get along for five minutes?!”
“You're griffins trying to eat us!” Kim yelled. “I think we have a right to be a little stressed!”
“Yes, well, he is very hungry,” the man said. “But I've heard Time Lord is horrible for indigestation so...go for the girl.”
“NO!” the Doctor shouted and Kim shrieked as the griffin turned towards her.
“Oh no you don't!” Kim shouted, hand flashing out and popping it on the nose. It stopped, startled and she put her hands on her hips. “Bad kitty!”
“Bad kitty?” the Doctor demanded, outraged. “It tries attacking you and you say bad kitty?!”
The griffin just stared at her and in his eyes, she could see the anger and loathing...the pleading. It didn't want this. Unfortunately for her, the controller wasn't as slow to hesitate and with another command, she found herself scrambling backwards like a crab as the griffin stalked forward. Catching sight of something above, she suddenly got an idea.
“Two minute head start,” she pleaded quietly, hoping like hell the beast could fight the pull long enough to get her plan in action. Absurdly, the griffin bobbed its head slightly and she scrambled to her feet and took off running.
The mall was by the ocean and that theme ran throughout the entire building. Hanging above the second floor, therefore, was a net. It wasn't the most humane way to contain the animal and she hated doing it, but above the net was a beam, about the width of a balance beam. It seemed solid and there was a small ladder leading up to it. She just had to hope she could get onto the beam and lure the griffin, even willingly, into the net. Once the griffin was safely entangled in the net, the Doctor could handle the controller.
She hoped.
~~*~~
The Doctor watched in dismay as Kimberly managed to get to the beam at the top of the malls roof. Even knowing she was a gymnast-one of the best in the twenty-first century, in fact-it didn't stop him from fearing for her as the griffin, which had been surprisingly patient in letting her get up their, lifted from the ground.
“No!” the controller yelled. “No, not the net!”
And just as the griffin plunged into the net just below her, the Doctor realized what had happened. The griffin had known Kimberly's plan, had seen what she wanted, and...it was the only way to keep the griffin's controller from finishing the job and killing them both.
“Looks like the griffin is not as in your control as you thought,” he said, stepping towards the other alien.
“No it wasn't supposed to go this way!” the man yelled, his face turning purple.
“And how was it supposed to go?” he asked, arms crossed and a glare on his face. “What earthly reason could you possibly have to let loose two griffins in an unknowing human mall?”
“I just wanted them all gone!” he shouted. “I wanted...”
“You wanted what?” he asked, voice low and threatening.
“The Jewel of Corinth,” he whispered, eyes gleaming. The Doctor felt his own eyes widen and his hearts speed up. “Can't you feel it, Time Lord, humming in one of the stores?”
“The Jewel of Corinth was lost centuries ago,” he said woodenly because he could feel it, now that the controller (a Vespian, his mind whispered) had pointed it out. The Jewel was a mind control device, worn around the neck or head. It allowed complete control of any being, psychically weak or not. The jewel could allow a trained controller like the Vespian to take in entire galaxies, to rule them unquestioned. That was why the Time Lords had made it lost in the first place-so it would never tempt again.
“It will be mine, Time Lord, it will!” he shouted and the Doctor, expecting him to try and attack him, was therefore shocked and dismayed when the Vespian shot a electrical bolt at Kimberly on the beam. She screamed as it hit her and she fell.
“NO!” he shouted again. This couldn't be happening, he couldn't lose another companion, couldn't lose one of Zordon's beget, not when she had so much still left to do, when she...had shape-shifted into a bird? “What?”
The bird (a crane, his mind whispered, and an ungodly pink one at that) soared around the ceiling for a few minutes and he could practically feel the woman's confusion.
Are you alright? He sent out, hoping her tiny avian brain could process his mental query. He almost staggered back at the wave of astonishment, confusion, and irritation that came off the tiny bird.
What did he do to me?! she demanded. He glanced at the controller, who was following the birds progress with utter confusion.
I don't think he had anything to do with this, he told her. You've never done this before?
No! she shouted. I mean, I've seen Dulcea change into her animal spirit but I've never done it myself!
Your animal spirit is a crane? he asked.
Yeah, she agreed. And...hey, where does he think he's going?!
The Doctor turned back to the controller who was moving away slowly, suddenly looking worried. Befoe the Doctor could move forward to restrain him, Kimberly had dived down and started pecking at the poor Vespian, squawking when he hit her tail.
Alright, Kimberly, I think he's got the message, he's not going anywhere, he told her, amused despite himself and he watched as she backed off, moving away and finally settling on his shoulder. Her talons dug into his skin but didn't break the skin. Comfortable?
Very, she chirped and if he wasn't mistaken, she was smirking. Rolling his eyes, he turned to the controller.
“The Jewel will be leaving with me,” he told him firmly.
“And what will you do with it Time Lord?” the Vespian sneered. “I will find it on any planet you hide it on.”
All this is about a stupid jewel? Kimberly screeched and he winced.
Mind control jewel, he corrected. Very powerful, very dangerous in the wrong hands. And his would certainly be the wrong hands.
Can you destroy it?
It's very powerful, he said again. Nothing I do could break it.
What about throwing it in a sun? she asked after a second. Would that destroy it?
Unlikely, he answered but he smiled. Clever girl. But the sun would effectively keep anyone from actually getting it again. Good thinking.
It happens.
“I'll be throwing it into the center of a sun,” he told the Vespian who's eyes widened in shock. “You want it that badly, you can go in after it and face the consequences.”
You think he's that stupid? she asked and he shrugged.
Possibly, he answered back. Now be quiet, I need to figure out what to do with him.
I know what I'd like to do with him, she muttered but otherwise remained silent. He nodded and went about the task of rounding the Vespian up and blocking his control of the griffins. Just as he finished breaking the hold, a small group of UNIT soldiers appeared inside the mall, guns pointing at him and the controller. He leaned over the railing to look at them.
“I'm the Doctor, where's your commanding officer?” he called out. “I have a Vespian that needs to be dealt with and two griffins that need to be returned to their home planet. I'll be doing that last bit myself, but the Vespian I gladly turn over to you-he was controlling them.”
“Doctor!” a man said, a general by the looks of him. He went into a salute. “An honor sir.”
Oh my God, you have military backing?! Kimberly yelped in his head. Who the hell would give you military backing? You're crazy!
“Shush!” he said.
“Sir?”the general asked uncertainly. The Doctor rolled his eyes.
“Not you, the bird,” he said. He looked back at the crane on his shoulder, ignoring the looks of the soldiers slowly making their way up and to him. “Speaking of which, can you change back?”
I...don't know, she said, finally concerned. I don't even know how I changed into this form.
“Think human,” he advised. “If that doesn't work, I'll take you to Phaedos. Might do that anyway to figure out just how you changed in the first place.”
Oooh, I haven't seen Dulcea in forever, she said, and he grinned at the longing he could hear in her mental voice. But that doesn't mean your not getting out of seeing Zordon and proving you know him.
“Yes, yes, you've made that abundantly clear,” he rolled his eyes. “I told you before though, eighty percent.”
Eighty percent is still better than zero, she told him simply and he smiled again.
“Good point,” he agreed. “Alright, lets get this all sorted. And, uh, perhaps one of you could hand me one of those blankets you lot have?”
“We were told there were two griffins?” the general asked as Kimberly flew up and then settled on the ground. The Doctor accepted one of the blankets and turned to the general. “I only see the one.”
“The other is in the elevator shaft,” he said, pointing. “They're both docile, now. He's not controlling them.”
Tell them to be nice or I'll poke at them, she told him. He dutifully repeated her orders, acting as though they were his, and the general nodded, striding away to make certain the two creatures were treated gently.
He turned to the crane and watched as a soft glow cascaded over her body before she transformed back into her human form. Nodding that his suspicions about her clothing had been right, he held up the blanket. Snatching it, she hastily wrapped it around her naked body.
“Anyone got any clothes?” she asked, obviously embarrassed. “I seem to have, er, misplaced mine.”
“Go get some from one of the shops,” the general called, looking bemused at the pair of them. “UNIT will cover the charges.”
“Thank you,” she told him, cheeks turning pink as she practically sprinted towards one of the nearby stores.
By the time she came back out dressed in a pair of jeans, black boots, a pink blouse, and a soft leather jacket that went down to her knees, they'd gotten the griffins ready for transport and the Vespian was gone, having been taken into custody by the UNIT officers. The Doctor had also gone into the jewelry store and taken the Jewel of Corinth, explaining the surprised general that the gaudy looking necklace was what it had all been about.
“...dangerous and shall be kept in my possession until I can get to an abandoned sun,” he was saying when Kimberly join them. He eyed her warily. “Alright there?”
“Yes, thank you for the clothes,” she said, looking from him to the general. The Doctor watched, amused, as the general smiled at her.
“Its quite alright, Miss,” he said. “Any companion of the Doctors is welcome to anything UNIT can get them in an emergency...within reason, of course.”
“Oh I'm not-”
“Yes you are,” he broke in before she could herself in trouble. “New companion, of course, but, yes, we'll be going to Phaedoes once I get the griffins both settled. Speaking of which, I need to get the Griffins back home.”
“Aisha and Trini,” Kimberly supplied and he and the general both looked at her. She frowned. “What? I have to call them something!”
“Aisha and Trini?” he asked, frowning. She shrugged.
“Yellows of the same cut,” she said simply and he nodded-he recalled two yellow rangers having used the powers of the mythical version of griffins and suddenly understood her reasoning.
“Hmmmm,” he said. “As I said before, we need to get Aisha and Trini-which one's which?”
“Aisha is the one in the elevator shaft and Trini was in the net,” she answered promptly. “Just, if you ever meet the two of them, don't ever tell them that part.”
He laughed and nodded.
“General, pleasure to meet you,” he said as two soldiers led the griffins over. “Aisha, Trini, ready to go home?”
"MEOW!"
~~*~~
EPILOGUE
Two weeks to Kimberly's linear time, she finally found herself in the Power Chamber, the Doctor at her side. Aisha and Trini had refused to return to their planet and had made themselves at home in the TARDIS, Kim had had an interesting talk with Dulcea, and the TARDIS had seen fit to refuse to return to Kimberly's own time, never taking them more than a hundred years close to the twenty-first century.
Kimberly personally thought the TARDIS had been trying to prove how awesome she was since Kimberly's only comment when realizing it was bigger on the inside had been an unimpressed, “Huh.”
“KIMBERLY!” Katherine shouted, rushing over to her when she'd stepped out of the police box ship. They'd landed in a corner of the Power Chamber and the five men-when had Jason moved back to California?--were eyeing the box warily and the man following her out of it even moreso. “Where have you been? I tried calling you and Coach Schmidt said you'd quit!”
“I did?” Kim asked, wide-eyed. She looked up at the Doctor who was looking surprised as well. “Why would I do that?”
“You mean you didn't?” Adam asked, frowning. Kim shrugged.
“Not yet at least,” she said and then smiled. “Time Travel, gotta love it.”
“You didn't say that when I took you to Greece,” the Doctor frowned. She stopped and glared up at him.
“You took me to ancient Greece after we got nearly eaten by two mind-controlled griffins!” she shouted. “Yeah, I was a little ticked!”
Zordon's chuckles filled the air and she and the Doctor both looked up at him, finding him laughing slightly.
“Doctor, you've changed since I last saw you,” he said amused. “In appearance, most of all, it seems.”
“I'm on ten,” he explained and Kim frowned, wondering what that meant.
“Ah,” Zordon said and it apparently made sense to him. “And how have you been old friend? Still getting into trouble?”
“And pulling me along with him!” Kim chirped with a smile. The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her. “What?”
“I was not the one facing off against two griffins with nothing but a sundress and a shoe,” he told her pointedly and out of the corner of her eye, she could see Rocky, Adam,Billy, and Jason all staring at her in shock. Tommy, standing next to Jason, was alarmingly expressionless. “You got yourself into that mess all on your own.”
Unfortunately, there was nothing she could really say to dispute that. She pouted as Zordon began chuckling again.
“I always knew you two would get along,” he said, eyes bright with mirth. “Though I am concerned about you leaving gymnastics Kimberly.”
“You and me both,” she muttered, wondering what was strong enough to pull her away from her dream. She shook her head. “That's not why we're here though. He promised to take a look at you.”
“Kimberly, remember what I said...”
“Yeah, yeah, eighty percent, I know, I heard you the first two dozen times,” she said and pointed. “Check!”
Ignoring his grumble, the Doctor nevertheless went over to the warp tube. “Kimberly, who is he?” Billy asked, frowning. “And what is he doing?”
“Checking to see if he can help Zordon get out of the tube,” she said and all seven of the rangers and tech support sucked in deep breaths. “And he's The Doctor. A Time Lord. And yes, I know how pretentious that sounds, I've been telling him that since we met.”
“Figures the pink princess finds a lord,” Jason teased lightly and Kim and the Doctor both choked.
“Ew!” she squealed. “That's just...ew!”
“Hey!” the Doctor yelped. “Stop it with the ewing! I'm a great catch!”
“But it's gro-ss!” she complained. “You're funny looking and like a nine year old on a perpetual sugar high and you like running into danger way too much!”
“Funny looking!”
“Just... no,” she said, ignoring the Time Lords sputtering and Zordon's renewed chuckles. “No.”
“Methink she doth protest too much,” Jason said lowly but stopped at saying anything more at the glare she sent his way. “Shutting up now, Pinky.”
“Good idea, Rex,” she said and then turned to the Time Lord. “Well?”
“Twenty,” he said, shaking his head. Kim felt her stomach drop and tears spring to her eyes. The Doctor looked up at Zordon. “I'm sorry, old friend, there's nothing I can do that wouldn't kill you.”
“I understand and I hold no grudge against you, Doctor,” Zordon replied. “I suspected it would be so.”
Kim sniffled. “I really hoped...”
“I know,” the Doctor sighed. “I truly am sorry-if I could free Zordon without harming him, I would.”
“It's okay,” Tommy said, speaking up for the first time. “We love him just the way he is.”
Kim looked up at her mentor, ignoring the slight barb; she knew it was for her. “I'm going to get a hug from you eventually,” she told the Eltarian seriously. “Somehow.”
“You already have,” he said, smiling down at her.
“Huh?”
“Doctor?” Zordon said. “Do you remember what I told you the first time you met me?”
“You said that I chose...oh,” the Doctor's eyes widened. “Oh. Oh yes! I can do that.”
“Do what?” Kim demanded. “Zordon, Doc, what are you two talking about?”
“Come on, Kimberly, Eltar awaits!” the Doctor said, jumping to her feet and grabbing her hand, dragging her towards the TARDIS.
“What are you talking about? Doctor!” she shouted as they went inside the TARDIS, leaving behind one very confused ranger team. “What are you doing? I swear, you get crazier every time we stop somewhere new! AISHA! Get down from there!”
"RWAOR!"
x-posted from DW
spikess fault! She's just a giant enabler! Blame her!
Author: Jade
Story: Griffins, Cranes, and Time Lords
Disclaimer: I do no own Power Rangers, Doctor Who, or Glee. If I did, Kimberly wouldn't have left and Ten, Puck, and Mike would be shirtless a hell of a lot more!
Summary: Kimberly meets the Tenth Doctor. Chaos ensues. (Power Rangers/Doctor Who, with side of Glee!)
Rating: PG-13
Timelines: Post Last of the Time Lords, Zeo (sometime after the letter and Jason's return), PRE-Glee
Warning: Crackity crack, crack, crack! You've been warned.
Word Count: 7,680
A/N 1: This is all Spikess fault. Uh huh. Blame her.
Kimberly had been having an extremely bad day. Coach had been on her case because, surprise surprise, without the power coursing through her veins she was just another girl with the strength and stamina of a mundane. Having been a ranger, yes, gave her an edge but...it wasn't as big of an edge as she'd imagined it'd be.
So she was working ten times as hard as the other girls just to get to the same place they were. It was...discouraging to say the least.
And having to deal with the fact she'd broken up with Tommy and was feeling sorry for herself on that front really didn't help her mood.
Needing some breathing room, she'd gone out on the town for some well-deserved night-time shopping. It was one thing she absolutely loved about Florida, about Miami-the stores in the mall stayed open WAY later than in Angel Grove.
She'd been looking at at a sundress and wondering why she'd always been so enamored by them in California when the screaming started.
She was up and out of the store before she even knew what she was doing, the thief alarm blaring behind her because, in her haste, she'd forgotten to drop the dress. Luckily, the employees were too stunned at the spectacle they could just see in the food court to actually do anything about it.
There were giant beasts inside the mall. More to the point, there were a pair of giant griffins inside the mall. Kim only recognized the creatures because of Aisha' report on them for class; all of them had chosen their zord animals when Ms. Appleby had given them the mythological creature report in home-room (except Adam, who'd done his on the sphinx, the closest mythological creature to a lion he'd found). For being based on them, it could be surprisingly hard to connect what their zord animals were to what they were supposed to actually look like.
The griffins seemed content to raid the various food shops, more or less ignoring the screaming shoppers as they took off. Kim ducked into a nearby hallway, bringing her wrist up to her mouth before realizing...
She wasn't a ranger anymore. And her communicator was back in her dorm room, hidden in a treasure chest under her bed. The only thing she had on her was the pink flower sundress she had accidentally shop-lifted.
Well, crap.
“Shoppers, vendors, and employees, please vacate the premises immediately. I repeat, please vacate the premises immediately,” came a voice over the intercom. Kimberly rolled her eyes, having a great view of the now empty food court. The head of the mall really hadn't needed to do that-everyone sane had already taken off.
Then Kimberly heard the unmistakable sound of a child crying.
Looking back into the food court, she didn't have long to look before she found the five year old under a table closest to where Kim was hiding. The child was upset, obviously, and alone-her mother or father must have lost her in the rush to get out.
She groaned, knowing there was nothing she could do except the obvious, especially when the Griffins finally stopped eating long enough to hear the kid as well. Before they could so much as move towards her, Kim rushed out of her hiding space, sprinting forwards and going down as if she was sliding home at a baseball game. Not that Kim had ever actually played baseball outside of the mandatory PE classes in elementary school but that was beside the point.
Her aim was damn near perfect and she slid to a stop just next to the kid, who was so surprised at her appearance, she stopped crying.
“I got ya,” she whispered, grabbing the little girl and holding her tight. “Don't look behind you okay, just...don't look.”
“I can't find my papa and daddy and there are monsters in the mall!” Apparently the kid had decided that “don't look” didn't mean “don't scream.” Kim winced; God, the girl had a pair of lungs on her.
“I'm Kimberly, what's your name?” she asked hurriedly, watching the Griffins warily as they studied the unlikely duo hiding under the table.
“Rachel,” she sniffled. “Rachel Barbara Berry. My daddy's brought me to Florida to vacation-were supposed to go to Disney World once daddy finishes his business meeting here and we came to get him a swim suit because he forgot his and...”
Kim let the little girl prattle on, figuring it would keep her distracted to the fact the Griffins had apparently decided they were much more interesting than the food. Or maybe they wanted a more...alive...meal. She winced at the thought.
“DADDY!” Rachel suddenly shrieked, making Kimberly jump and hit her head on the underside of the table. “There's my daddy's!”
Kim craned to look a moment and, sure enough, there were two men, looking between Rachel and the Griffins with something like panic on their faces.
“Oooh, this is gonna hurt,” she mumbled, knowing what she had to do. “Rachel, honey, I need you to do me a HUGE favor, okay?” Kim said and Rachel looked up at her, completely trusting.
“What?”
“Can you be brave and strong?” she asked and Rachel nodded solemnly, having apparently realized the problem; she kept twitching as if she wanted to look back at the Griffins but was remembering Kimberly's warning not to. Smiling slightly, Kim impulsively leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “Okay, when I say go, I want you to run like hell towards your parents. Don't look back, don't stop running until you three are out of the mall, alright?”
“But what about you?” she asked in a tiny voice. Kim smiled, eyes flickering at the slowly approaching Griffins.
“I'll be fine, honey,” she assured the girl. “Don't you know? I'm a superhero.”
Rachel gave her a beautiful smile. “What's your superhero name?” she asked, so trusting. Kimberly spared a moment to hope that innocence never went away.
“The Crane,” she told her impulsively and really, what else could she say? Ignoring that, she slowly started scooting out, pulling Rachel with her and keeping her between her and the Griffins as best she could. In the process, she slipped off her shoes.
I'm going after a pair of rabid griffins with pink sneakers and a sundress, she thought, somewhat disgusted with herself. Oh, where's my Power Bow when I need it? Aisha's never going to let me hear the end of this.
“Alright, on the count of three. One, two...three!”
Rachel took off like a bat out of hell. Kim ignored the girl, keeping an eye on the griffins. When the one looked like it was about to follow the five year old, Kim threw one of her sneakers at it, hitting it square in in the beak. It snapped back to her and it suddenly looked pissed.
“Oh, that wasn't the best idea I've ever had,” she mumbled.
“RACHEL!” Kim spared a glance behind her and couldn't help but grin; Rachel had sailed straight past her dad's, not stopping as she ran in the direction of the mall entrance, leaving the two men to scramble after her.
“Good girl,” she murmured then turned back to the angry Griffins, both of whom were looking the direction the Berry's had run. She waved her arms erratically to get them to focus back on her, the crazy shopper with the shoes of pain. “Hey! Eyes front and center, you myths! I'm the one you want, okay, I'm much more tasty and...meat filled than some scrawny little girl!”
~~*~~
The Doctor had been walking around the mall, trying to determine just why the TARDIS had deemed 1998 as a good time to come to. Normally, the old girl went wherever the Doctor was needed, but a mall? What could possibly happen in a mall besides getting cheated out of your money?
He was in a little shop called Spencers, looking at all the key chains when he heard the screaming. Rushing outside, a small naughty nurse key-chain still in hand, he tried flagging down someone to tell him what was going on and ignoring the pimple-faced kid behind him trying to get the key-chain back.
“Giant monsters in the food court!” one sprinting shopper finally yelled, not actually stopping as he rushed towards the Sears down the way. The Spencers employee apparently decided the key-chain wasn't worth dying for and took off as well.
“Shoppers, vendors, and employees, please vacate the premises immediately. I repeat, please vacate the premises immediately,” was heard over the intercom and the Doctor couldn't help but grin-this was just what he needed to get his mind off the past several months, a good alien invasion.
Or at least, some sort of disturbance of monster-or-alien nature.
As he ran towards the food court, the Doctor wondered what he was about to be faced with. In the past month or so he'd dealt with one very stupid scientist, the Family of Blood, Weeping Angels, and finally, the Master returning and nearly destroying his favorite planet; after all that, he wasn't sure what he could possibly have to work with.
Coming up on the food court, he skidded to a stop at the scene playing out in front of him. Humans were notorious about running as far away as possible when the impossible happened-it was what made saving the world so easy and so hard at the same time. The mall was no exception, all the people having run away at the mere sight of the two beautiful creatures in there midst.
All but one, apparently. The doctor watched as the tiny brunette watched a tiny girl run away, two men chasing after her. She looked back at the Griffins and seeing their attention was on the running family, jumped to her feet and started waving around like a mad woman, a sundress in one hand and a pink shoe in the other (the shoes were hers, he suspected, eyes flickering to her sock encased feet).
“Hey! Eyes front and center, you myths!” she shouted and the Doctor suddenly realized that she was giving the family time to get away. He smiled, watching as she shook the shoe in the Griffins face, completely unconcerned with her own safety. “I'm the one you want, okay, I'm much more tasty and...meat filled than some scrawny little girl!”
They snapped their attention back to her and he could just see her gulp, eyes widening and her face paling as her words apparently registered. He couldn't help but chuckle. “Oh, why did I have to mention tasty and meat in the same sentence?” she groaned. “Now what?”
“Oh, I don't know,” the Doctor said, walking over with a rather large grin on his face. “I daresay you've found yourself in a pinch, yes you did. I'm the Doctor, by the way, nothing else, just the Doctor. And these...are griffitoria manicature, or more commonly known as Griffins on Earth. Meat eaters and not very bright-they're typically controlled by a much stronger mind which, if you think about it, means we're in quite a bit of danger.” He grinned brightly at her.
She blinked at him for several seconds in complete lack of understanding before she gave herself a little shake. He silently applauded her ability to role with the punches, as Martha would have said. Then her eyes narrowed at him and he wondered what he'd managed to do wrong.
“Are you controlling them cause, seriously, if you are, I'm going to kick your ass!” she informed him hotly and his mouth dropped open in surprise. “I was trying to run AWAY from a bad day, not towards it!”
He went to answer her but was distracted by a low growling coming from nearby. Looking over, he suddenly realized while he and the foolishly brave young woman had been, ahem, talking, the griffins had gotten a bit too close for his comfort; last time he'd been this near one of these beautiful creatures he'd nearly had to regenerate.
“Oh, hello,” he greeted them. “Why don't we all just...relax a little. No need to uh, eat us. I doubt we'd taste very good.”
“Yeah, cause I'm really sure they're going to understand the crazy man in the funny suit,” the young woman muttered.
“It's worth a try,” he told her. “They're sentient beings and whoever is controlling them should understand us as well. And my suit is not funny-I think its rather dashing!”
“Sure,” she replied sarcastically. “So you're not controlling them?”
“Oh, no,” he said, making a face at the mere idea. “I would never try to control such beautiful creatures like these.” He looked approvingly over at the griffins, both of whom were watching the human and time lord hungrily. Something was holding them back, however, and the Doctor had a feeling it was their controller.
“I really don't think they're going to respond to flattery,” she told him seriously and he smiled.
“They haven't eaten us yet, have they?”
“Good point,” she admitted after a minute, watching the two griffins warily. “So, uh, any idea what they're doing here?”
“Besides scaring the local populace, I have no idea,” he said brightly. “Quite a bit of fun, that way, isn't it?”
“Great, I'm stuck in a mall, facing two griffins with a fashion-handicapped British guy and I'm the sane one!” she complained and he frowned, taking offense
“I'm not from Britain,” he couldn't help but point out. The griffins didn't appear to be attacking anytime soon so...
“Oh, so you got that accent on ebay?”
“No, I got it from home.”
“On Ebay?”
“Will you stop it with the Ebay?” he asked, now irritated. “I'm a Time Lord.”
“A time...pretentious much?” she demanded incredulous. He groaned-one of these days, he'd find a human who didn't immediately comment on the ego attached to his people's term for themselves.
“I travel through time and space, ergo, Time Lord,” he told her snappily. “And in case you didn't notice, the griffins are getting antsy.”
“Oh, I noticed, trust me, I'm not taking my eyes off the beasts who don't seem to realize they're supposed to be myths,” she told him and he smiled. “Why is it always me and the overgrown beasts and time travel anyway? Seriously, and I thought the ginormous rats were bad!”
He would have commented on that if it weren't for the fact the griffins chose that moment to start growling again and the human and time lord shad to focuse on them. They seemed to be preparing to hunt, which, he mentally told himself, was not a good sign.
Looking over at his companion, he could almost see the moment in which she decided to trust he wasn't controlling the creatures. “Can we run now, cause I've been an appetizer before and I really don't want to repeat the experience,” she asked very very quietly, as if the creatures wouldn't hear her if she did so.
Instead of answering, he grabbed her hand and took off running.
~~*~~
The griffins seemed to take them running as a sign and ran after them. They had a breif head-start but as the griffins got way too close, she finally threw the shoe at them, hitting one in the head and causing it to stumble to a stop. Her eyes widened at the shrieks and was a hairbreaths away from the second griffins jaws when the self-proclaimed time lord pointed something in his hand at the beast. A weird buzzing sound came from the device and the griffin stumbled to a stop, head shaking as if it was hearing something that was hurting it. Turning back to where they were running, she tried finding an exit.
“Elevator!” she shouted and the man turned and pointed his device at the doors, which opened with a hiss. Too late she realized the elevator wasn't actually on the second floor and she shrieked as they fell five feet, landing on top of it. Above them, she could just make out the griffins scrambling at the opening at the top.
“What is that thing?” she demanded when the Doctor pointed at the top of the elevator and a hatch sprung open.
“Sonic Screwdriver, never leave home without it,” he told her with a grin that said he was enjoying himself WAY too much. He motioned for her to go first and, after a quick look up at the griffins, she dropped into the elevator.
He followed her and shut the hatch just as one of the griffins landed on the roof. It creaked, groaned, and screamed and she grimaced as the doctor yanked her out of the elevator and onto the first floor of the mall. He pointed the screwdriver up and Kim could just make out the doors on the second floor close, effectively locking the griffin inside the elevator shaft.
“Okay, great, that's one down, one to go,” she said, hands on her knees as she got her breath back. “But question; what are we going to do with them once we subdue the other one?”
He paused and then looked at her funny. “Subdue?” he asked and she frowned at him.
“Yeah, subdue,” she said slowly. “What did you think I was going to say?”
“Most humans I've met wouldn't have said subdue,” he told and she watched a pleased smile fill his face. She stared at him and he outright grinned. “They would have said kill or destroy, not subdue.”
“You said they're being controlled, right?” she asked, mentally noting the whole human bit in the back of her head for a later time. “Its not their fault then; I'm not going to kill something because its being controlled by some idiot.”
“Oh, I like you,” he said, grinning. “What's your name again?”
“Kimberly,” she replied without thinking about it. “Kimberly Hart.”
“Kimberly Hart, really?” he asked, looking pleased. She frowned but he ignored it, grabbing her hand and giving it a shake. “Oh, wonderful honor to meet you, absolute honor!”
“Thanks...I think,” she said. “So...what do we do now cause I'm a little concerned we haven't seen the second griffin.”
“Oh, when you hit it with your shoe-nice aim by the way-you hit its cerebral cortex,” he said, not showing much concern. “It'll be disorientated for a good, oh, ten minutes?”
“And...how long has it been since I did that?”
“About...five?” he said, now looking sheepish.
“So we have about five minutes before the griffin wakes up and starts trying to eat us again, great,” she sighed. “Any plans?”
“Well, the elevator isn't going to work a second time,” he mused. “Any other place you could think of here?”
“None,” she answered. “Wait...what about the idiot controlling them? What happens if we get to him?”
“Oh, that'd be the tricky part,” he said. “The controller'll probably use the griffins to keep us away.”
“How far does he have to be from the griffins?”
“Less than a mile, why?” he asked, studying her intently. She frowned.
“The mall is a mile in length, two if you count the second floor!” she told him. “He could be anywhere inside here!”
“Where'd they first appear?”
“What?” she asked, slightly thrown.
“When all the screaming started, where were they?” he demanded and she suddenly got it.
“People would have noticed them before they reached...the food court, upstairs,” she told him. “They started attacking the Greek place, which is somewhat ironic now that I think about it.”
“So somewhere upstairs near the food court which, coincidentally is located at the very center of the mall, is the controller,” he said. “And the griffins' woken up.”
“What?”
“Run!”
Instincts that had been dormant since she left California suddenly flared to life and she ducked, only narrowly avoiding the griffins talons slicing off her head. She took off running, looking back occasionally to see the griffin flying after them. Thankfully, it kept having to dodge walkways, wires, and decorations and she'd never been more thankful for every mall's tendency to go gaudy during the holiday season.
“In here!” he shouted and she veered to the left, where the doctor was fiddling with the staff stairs doorway.
“That should be locked!” she shouted but then was proven wrong when it opened under the doctor's screwdriver. Slamming the door shut behind them, he pointed the device at the door and then pocketed it again. “What all does that thing do?” she demanded.
“Too much to say at the moment,” he told her seriously. “Come on, upstairs it is.”
“One of these days I'm going to run away from danger, not towards it!” she groaned.
“Done this before have you?” he asked, almost conversationally. She couldn't help but laugh.
“What face off against a pair of mythical creatures with a pretentious British guy calling himself the Doctor?” she asked and ignored his scowl. “No, can't say that I have.”
“But the running and the fighting?” he persisted and she shrugged.
“I'm from Angel Grove, Doc, this is nothing new,” she said. “Well, it is new just...not my type of old?”
The Doctor suddenly stopped in his tracks, turning to stare at her as she stumbled coming up the steps after him. “Angel Grove?” he demanded. “You're from Angel Grove?”
“Yeah, why?”
She watched as he pulled out a pair of black rimmed glasses, plopping them on and then peered at her as if she was some sort of fascinating bug. “Stop that, what are you doing?” she demanded when he started poking her shoulder.
“You're one of Zordon's beget!” he said suddenly and he grinned. She startled, mouth falling open. “I should have known-humans just aren't that stupid and self-sacrificing, as a rule.”
“You know Zordon?” she demanded, ignoring the insult to her and the rest of her race for the time being. He grinned at her, bouncing slightly in place as if he'd just been given a great gift.
“Of course I know Zordon, good chap, saved my life once; one of these days I'll repay the favor and get him out of that bloody tube he got himself stuck in,” he rattled. “Which are you then? Wait, no, pink, you have to be pink, I always liked the pinks, good hearts. Ha, hearts, Hart, nice little connection don't you think?”
“Are you drunk?”
He frowned at her. “Why would think I was drunk?” he demanded.
“Oh, so you just babble like that all the time then?” she asked and he grinned sheepishly, reminding her strongly of a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“Well...”
She resisted the urge to smile but from his expression, he wasn't fooled. “When did you know Zordon?” she asked, not able to let that go.
“Oh, years ago,” he said, smiling faintly. “Met him on Phaedos, pretty planet. Was trying to find my companion, she managed to get herself sucked through a time/space hole, still don't know how. Zordon and Dulcea took care of her when she got through, bit roughed up. Like I said, good man.”
“Yeah he is,” she smiled faintly. “Do you think you can really get him out of the time warp?”
“I'm a Time Lord,” he reminded her and she resisted the urge to role her eyes; she'd never stop thinking that title was pretentious. “Once I figure out how he got himself inside it, I should be able to get him out. Possibly. About eighty percent chance, anyway. Why aren't you in Angel Grove?”
“I--” she was cut off by clawing coming from down below and the unmistakable sound of the door being pulled off its hinges. They looked at each other. “Run?”
“Run!” he agreed and they took off again up the stairs.
“So, how do we break the connection?” she panted out, trying to peer over his shoulder as he got to the door to the second floor of the mall. She silently cursed his height; the man was way too friggin tall!
“If he doesn't do it himself, I'm not sure,” he admitted after a moment. “Depends on who it is and what they want.”
“I doubt its anything good,” she muttered. He looked over his shoulder at her, eyebrows high on his head and she shrugged. “He let loose two griffins in a packed food court. No good came come of that, no matter his reasons.”
“You may have a point but I'll be giving him the benefit of the doubt for now,” he said, turning back to the door. “Alright, I don't see the griffin.”
Slowly the two inched out the door. Before they'd gotten very far, Kim had a horrible feeling and pushed the Doctor down and away, lurching herself to the side and thus narrowly avoiding the griffin, which had been perched above them.
“Well, that could have been bad,” the Doctor said and Kim would have glared at the understatement but was too busy trying to figure out a way to get to him without becoming griffin kibble.
“Kimberly, just...go!” he ordered her. “I'll try and lead him away, give you time to get away!”
“Yeah right!” she said, shaking her head. “You know nothing about me if you think I'm going to just leave you here to become griffin food! Besides, you still have to fix Zordon and I'm not letting you get out of that promise, mister self absorbed time lord!”
“I never promised to fix him!”
“You promised to get him out of the water cooler!” she shouted back, inching away from the griffin, who's head kept looking between them as if watching a tennis match. Which, she supposed, he was; a tennis match of words. “I want to hug him!”
“Eighty percent!” he squawked “I said there is an eighty percent chance I could do it!”
“Exactly and you won't get to find out if you are as good as you say you are if you are being digested!”
“I won't be digested!”
“You will if you get eaten!”
“ENOUGH!”
Kim, who'd been gingerly trying to stand up without attracting attention from the beast, almost fell back down at the bellow. It came across the way from a man in dark robes. He looked humanoid but was clearly not human; his skin was blue, his eyes were red, and he had spikes coming out his neck.
“You two bicker more than my second wife and her first husband!” the controller shouted. “Honestly, can you two get along for five minutes?!”
“You're griffins trying to eat us!” Kim yelled. “I think we have a right to be a little stressed!”
“Yes, well, he is very hungry,” the man said. “But I've heard Time Lord is horrible for indigestation so...go for the girl.”
“NO!” the Doctor shouted and Kim shrieked as the griffin turned towards her.
“Oh no you don't!” Kim shouted, hand flashing out and popping it on the nose. It stopped, startled and she put her hands on her hips. “Bad kitty!”
“Bad kitty?” the Doctor demanded, outraged. “It tries attacking you and you say bad kitty?!”
The griffin just stared at her and in his eyes, she could see the anger and loathing...the pleading. It didn't want this. Unfortunately for her, the controller wasn't as slow to hesitate and with another command, she found herself scrambling backwards like a crab as the griffin stalked forward. Catching sight of something above, she suddenly got an idea.
“Two minute head start,” she pleaded quietly, hoping like hell the beast could fight the pull long enough to get her plan in action. Absurdly, the griffin bobbed its head slightly and she scrambled to her feet and took off running.
The mall was by the ocean and that theme ran throughout the entire building. Hanging above the second floor, therefore, was a net. It wasn't the most humane way to contain the animal and she hated doing it, but above the net was a beam, about the width of a balance beam. It seemed solid and there was a small ladder leading up to it. She just had to hope she could get onto the beam and lure the griffin, even willingly, into the net. Once the griffin was safely entangled in the net, the Doctor could handle the controller.
She hoped.
~~*~~
The Doctor watched in dismay as Kimberly managed to get to the beam at the top of the malls roof. Even knowing she was a gymnast-one of the best in the twenty-first century, in fact-it didn't stop him from fearing for her as the griffin, which had been surprisingly patient in letting her get up their, lifted from the ground.
“No!” the controller yelled. “No, not the net!”
And just as the griffin plunged into the net just below her, the Doctor realized what had happened. The griffin had known Kimberly's plan, had seen what she wanted, and...it was the only way to keep the griffin's controller from finishing the job and killing them both.
“Looks like the griffin is not as in your control as you thought,” he said, stepping towards the other alien.
“No it wasn't supposed to go this way!” the man yelled, his face turning purple.
“And how was it supposed to go?” he asked, arms crossed and a glare on his face. “What earthly reason could you possibly have to let loose two griffins in an unknowing human mall?”
“I just wanted them all gone!” he shouted. “I wanted...”
“You wanted what?” he asked, voice low and threatening.
“The Jewel of Corinth,” he whispered, eyes gleaming. The Doctor felt his own eyes widen and his hearts speed up. “Can't you feel it, Time Lord, humming in one of the stores?”
“The Jewel of Corinth was lost centuries ago,” he said woodenly because he could feel it, now that the controller (a Vespian, his mind whispered) had pointed it out. The Jewel was a mind control device, worn around the neck or head. It allowed complete control of any being, psychically weak or not. The jewel could allow a trained controller like the Vespian to take in entire galaxies, to rule them unquestioned. That was why the Time Lords had made it lost in the first place-so it would never tempt again.
“It will be mine, Time Lord, it will!” he shouted and the Doctor, expecting him to try and attack him, was therefore shocked and dismayed when the Vespian shot a electrical bolt at Kimberly on the beam. She screamed as it hit her and she fell.
“NO!” he shouted again. This couldn't be happening, he couldn't lose another companion, couldn't lose one of Zordon's beget, not when she had so much still left to do, when she...had shape-shifted into a bird? “What?”
The bird (a crane, his mind whispered, and an ungodly pink one at that) soared around the ceiling for a few minutes and he could practically feel the woman's confusion.
Are you alright? He sent out, hoping her tiny avian brain could process his mental query. He almost staggered back at the wave of astonishment, confusion, and irritation that came off the tiny bird.
What did he do to me?! she demanded. He glanced at the controller, who was following the birds progress with utter confusion.
I don't think he had anything to do with this, he told her. You've never done this before?
No! she shouted. I mean, I've seen Dulcea change into her animal spirit but I've never done it myself!
Your animal spirit is a crane? he asked.
Yeah, she agreed. And...hey, where does he think he's going?!
The Doctor turned back to the controller who was moving away slowly, suddenly looking worried. Befoe the Doctor could move forward to restrain him, Kimberly had dived down and started pecking at the poor Vespian, squawking when he hit her tail.
Alright, Kimberly, I think he's got the message, he's not going anywhere, he told her, amused despite himself and he watched as she backed off, moving away and finally settling on his shoulder. Her talons dug into his skin but didn't break the skin. Comfortable?
Very, she chirped and if he wasn't mistaken, she was smirking. Rolling his eyes, he turned to the controller.
“The Jewel will be leaving with me,” he told him firmly.
“And what will you do with it Time Lord?” the Vespian sneered. “I will find it on any planet you hide it on.”
All this is about a stupid jewel? Kimberly screeched and he winced.
Mind control jewel, he corrected. Very powerful, very dangerous in the wrong hands. And his would certainly be the wrong hands.
Can you destroy it?
It's very powerful, he said again. Nothing I do could break it.
What about throwing it in a sun? she asked after a second. Would that destroy it?
Unlikely, he answered but he smiled. Clever girl. But the sun would effectively keep anyone from actually getting it again. Good thinking.
It happens.
“I'll be throwing it into the center of a sun,” he told the Vespian who's eyes widened in shock. “You want it that badly, you can go in after it and face the consequences.”
You think he's that stupid? she asked and he shrugged.
Possibly, he answered back. Now be quiet, I need to figure out what to do with him.
I know what I'd like to do with him, she muttered but otherwise remained silent. He nodded and went about the task of rounding the Vespian up and blocking his control of the griffins. Just as he finished breaking the hold, a small group of UNIT soldiers appeared inside the mall, guns pointing at him and the controller. He leaned over the railing to look at them.
“I'm the Doctor, where's your commanding officer?” he called out. “I have a Vespian that needs to be dealt with and two griffins that need to be returned to their home planet. I'll be doing that last bit myself, but the Vespian I gladly turn over to you-he was controlling them.”
“Doctor!” a man said, a general by the looks of him. He went into a salute. “An honor sir.”
Oh my God, you have military backing?! Kimberly yelped in his head. Who the hell would give you military backing? You're crazy!
“Shush!” he said.
“Sir?”the general asked uncertainly. The Doctor rolled his eyes.
“Not you, the bird,” he said. He looked back at the crane on his shoulder, ignoring the looks of the soldiers slowly making their way up and to him. “Speaking of which, can you change back?”
I...don't know, she said, finally concerned. I don't even know how I changed into this form.
“Think human,” he advised. “If that doesn't work, I'll take you to Phaedos. Might do that anyway to figure out just how you changed in the first place.”
Oooh, I haven't seen Dulcea in forever, she said, and he grinned at the longing he could hear in her mental voice. But that doesn't mean your not getting out of seeing Zordon and proving you know him.
“Yes, yes, you've made that abundantly clear,” he rolled his eyes. “I told you before though, eighty percent.”
Eighty percent is still better than zero, she told him simply and he smiled again.
“Good point,” he agreed. “Alright, lets get this all sorted. And, uh, perhaps one of you could hand me one of those blankets you lot have?”
“We were told there were two griffins?” the general asked as Kimberly flew up and then settled on the ground. The Doctor accepted one of the blankets and turned to the general. “I only see the one.”
“The other is in the elevator shaft,” he said, pointing. “They're both docile, now. He's not controlling them.”
Tell them to be nice or I'll poke at them, she told him. He dutifully repeated her orders, acting as though they were his, and the general nodded, striding away to make certain the two creatures were treated gently.
He turned to the crane and watched as a soft glow cascaded over her body before she transformed back into her human form. Nodding that his suspicions about her clothing had been right, he held up the blanket. Snatching it, she hastily wrapped it around her naked body.
“Anyone got any clothes?” she asked, obviously embarrassed. “I seem to have, er, misplaced mine.”
“Go get some from one of the shops,” the general called, looking bemused at the pair of them. “UNIT will cover the charges.”
“Thank you,” she told him, cheeks turning pink as she practically sprinted towards one of the nearby stores.
By the time she came back out dressed in a pair of jeans, black boots, a pink blouse, and a soft leather jacket that went down to her knees, they'd gotten the griffins ready for transport and the Vespian was gone, having been taken into custody by the UNIT officers. The Doctor had also gone into the jewelry store and taken the Jewel of Corinth, explaining the surprised general that the gaudy looking necklace was what it had all been about.
“...dangerous and shall be kept in my possession until I can get to an abandoned sun,” he was saying when Kimberly join them. He eyed her warily. “Alright there?”
“Yes, thank you for the clothes,” she said, looking from him to the general. The Doctor watched, amused, as the general smiled at her.
“Its quite alright, Miss,” he said. “Any companion of the Doctors is welcome to anything UNIT can get them in an emergency...within reason, of course.”
“Oh I'm not-”
“Yes you are,” he broke in before she could herself in trouble. “New companion, of course, but, yes, we'll be going to Phaedoes once I get the griffins both settled. Speaking of which, I need to get the Griffins back home.”
“Aisha and Trini,” Kimberly supplied and he and the general both looked at her. She frowned. “What? I have to call them something!”
“Aisha and Trini?” he asked, frowning. She shrugged.
“Yellows of the same cut,” she said simply and he nodded-he recalled two yellow rangers having used the powers of the mythical version of griffins and suddenly understood her reasoning.
“Hmmmm,” he said. “As I said before, we need to get Aisha and Trini-which one's which?”
“Aisha is the one in the elevator shaft and Trini was in the net,” she answered promptly. “Just, if you ever meet the two of them, don't ever tell them that part.”
He laughed and nodded.
“General, pleasure to meet you,” he said as two soldiers led the griffins over. “Aisha, Trini, ready to go home?”
"MEOW!"
~~*~~
EPILOGUE
Two weeks to Kimberly's linear time, she finally found herself in the Power Chamber, the Doctor at her side. Aisha and Trini had refused to return to their planet and had made themselves at home in the TARDIS, Kim had had an interesting talk with Dulcea, and the TARDIS had seen fit to refuse to return to Kimberly's own time, never taking them more than a hundred years close to the twenty-first century.
Kimberly personally thought the TARDIS had been trying to prove how awesome she was since Kimberly's only comment when realizing it was bigger on the inside had been an unimpressed, “Huh.”
“KIMBERLY!” Katherine shouted, rushing over to her when she'd stepped out of the police box ship. They'd landed in a corner of the Power Chamber and the five men-when had Jason moved back to California?--were eyeing the box warily and the man following her out of it even moreso. “Where have you been? I tried calling you and Coach Schmidt said you'd quit!”
“I did?” Kim asked, wide-eyed. She looked up at the Doctor who was looking surprised as well. “Why would I do that?”
“You mean you didn't?” Adam asked, frowning. Kim shrugged.
“Not yet at least,” she said and then smiled. “Time Travel, gotta love it.”
“You didn't say that when I took you to Greece,” the Doctor frowned. She stopped and glared up at him.
“You took me to ancient Greece after we got nearly eaten by two mind-controlled griffins!” she shouted. “Yeah, I was a little ticked!”
Zordon's chuckles filled the air and she and the Doctor both looked up at him, finding him laughing slightly.
“Doctor, you've changed since I last saw you,” he said amused. “In appearance, most of all, it seems.”
“I'm on ten,” he explained and Kim frowned, wondering what that meant.
“Ah,” Zordon said and it apparently made sense to him. “And how have you been old friend? Still getting into trouble?”
“And pulling me along with him!” Kim chirped with a smile. The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her. “What?”
“I was not the one facing off against two griffins with nothing but a sundress and a shoe,” he told her pointedly and out of the corner of her eye, she could see Rocky, Adam,Billy, and Jason all staring at her in shock. Tommy, standing next to Jason, was alarmingly expressionless. “You got yourself into that mess all on your own.”
Unfortunately, there was nothing she could really say to dispute that. She pouted as Zordon began chuckling again.
“I always knew you two would get along,” he said, eyes bright with mirth. “Though I am concerned about you leaving gymnastics Kimberly.”
“You and me both,” she muttered, wondering what was strong enough to pull her away from her dream. She shook her head. “That's not why we're here though. He promised to take a look at you.”
“Kimberly, remember what I said...”
“Yeah, yeah, eighty percent, I know, I heard you the first two dozen times,” she said and pointed. “Check!”
Ignoring his grumble, the Doctor nevertheless went over to the warp tube. “Kimberly, who is he?” Billy asked, frowning. “And what is he doing?”
“Checking to see if he can help Zordon get out of the tube,” she said and all seven of the rangers and tech support sucked in deep breaths. “And he's The Doctor. A Time Lord. And yes, I know how pretentious that sounds, I've been telling him that since we met.”
“Figures the pink princess finds a lord,” Jason teased lightly and Kim and the Doctor both choked.
“Ew!” she squealed. “That's just...ew!”
“Hey!” the Doctor yelped. “Stop it with the ewing! I'm a great catch!”
“But it's gro-ss!” she complained. “You're funny looking and like a nine year old on a perpetual sugar high and you like running into danger way too much!”
“Funny looking!”
“Just... no,” she said, ignoring the Time Lords sputtering and Zordon's renewed chuckles. “No.”
“Methink she doth protest too much,” Jason said lowly but stopped at saying anything more at the glare she sent his way. “Shutting up now, Pinky.”
“Good idea, Rex,” she said and then turned to the Time Lord. “Well?”
“Twenty,” he said, shaking his head. Kim felt her stomach drop and tears spring to her eyes. The Doctor looked up at Zordon. “I'm sorry, old friend, there's nothing I can do that wouldn't kill you.”
“I understand and I hold no grudge against you, Doctor,” Zordon replied. “I suspected it would be so.”
Kim sniffled. “I really hoped...”
“I know,” the Doctor sighed. “I truly am sorry-if I could free Zordon without harming him, I would.”
“It's okay,” Tommy said, speaking up for the first time. “We love him just the way he is.”
Kim looked up at her mentor, ignoring the slight barb; she knew it was for her. “I'm going to get a hug from you eventually,” she told the Eltarian seriously. “Somehow.”
“You already have,” he said, smiling down at her.
“Huh?”
“Doctor?” Zordon said. “Do you remember what I told you the first time you met me?”
“You said that I chose...oh,” the Doctor's eyes widened. “Oh. Oh yes! I can do that.”
“Do what?” Kim demanded. “Zordon, Doc, what are you two talking about?”
“Come on, Kimberly, Eltar awaits!” the Doctor said, jumping to her feet and grabbing her hand, dragging her towards the TARDIS.
“What are you talking about? Doctor!” she shouted as they went inside the TARDIS, leaving behind one very confused ranger team. “What are you doing? I swear, you get crazier every time we stop somewhere new! AISHA! Get down from there!”
"RWAOR!"
x-posted from DW