Regrets
Ice had come out of her room because of
the noise in time to see Niki running down the hall. She walked into the
throne room and saw Cerina facing the wall. Ice: "What's going on here?"
Cerina: "Don't start with me!" Ice: "Don't you raise your voice to me.
I won't turn and run." She grabbed her shoulder and turned her around.
Ice: "You scared her to death." Cerina: "Well maybe that's what she needs."
Ice: "My God, she took a morpher. Its not that big a deal. She did it to
help you." Cerina: "Sure, it was the morpher today. But it may not stop
there." Ice: "She was only doing what she thought was right." Cerina: "I
don't care. I told her not to do it and she did it anyway." She looked
at the dents in the table. Ice: "What are you really mad about? Her disobeying
you or stealing the morpher?" Cerina: "She shouldn't have done either one."
Ice: "If she had just ran after you, would you have been so upset?" She
didn't answer. Ice: "See. Its that one thing that set you off and believe
me its not worth what you just did." Cerina: "She's turning out like Nadira."
Ice: "And there it is. You're not really mad at her, you're just taking
it out on her." Ice: "Don't stand there and tell me who I'm mad at. Just
mind your own business." Ice: "The way you treated her, you could loose
her forever. I don't want to see that happen." Cerina: "How was I supposed
to react? She goes and does the one thing I never wanted her to do." Ice:
"I know that. But you shouldn't have blown up at her. Its Nadira your mad
at. Like you said, this kinda behavior comes from her. Don't upset Niki
because of that." Cerina: "So what, just let her off and go yell into the
air? Nadira's dead!" Ice: "I don't know what to tell you there. But you
shouldn't have done that to her." Cerina: "I didn't know how to handle
it." Ice: "I know. I'm only telling you so you can fix this. Before its
to late."
* * *
-
The next morning, Cerina was sitting on
the edge of a chair thinking about the night before. She looked up when
she heard a knock on the door. Cerina: "Yeah?" Kari opened the door and
came in, closing it quickly. She clapped her hands and let out a happy
laugh. Kari: "It worked! It actually worked!" Cerina: "I'm almost afraid
to ask." Kari: "I said I'd take care of Rick and I did. He wouldn't know
the truth now if it bit him in the a*s!" Cerina: "What did you do?" Kari:
"Well last night at dinner I kept pushing him about having a baby. We had
our usual fight, but I finally got him to agree to it." Cerina: "So..."
Kari: "So we have our romantic time... until we started fighting again.
At that point, we retired to the bedroom and..." Cerina: "So he thinks
the baby is his because of last night." Kari: "Exactly! And best of all,
he never has to know the truth. What he doesn't know won't hurt him." Cerina:
"I can't count the number of times I've said that." Kari: "But its true.
There's no way he can find out. Its flawless." Cerina: "But how? I mean,
if you did that, what's to stop you from having another?" She pulled a
bottle of birth control pills from her pocket and threw them to Cerina.
She caught them and slowly read the label. Cerina: "Isn't that dangerous?
If you're already pregnant, you probably shouldn't be taking these." Kari:
"The bottle didn't say anything about it." She shrugged. Kari: "Too late
now anyway." Cerina: "I guess now you'll just relax, huh? Stop worrying
about all this." Kari: "Yeah. I can't wait to start names and toys and..."
Her eyes lit up suddenly. Kari: "Oh you should have seen the outfit in
this catalog I picked up! It was so cute! I just have to get it!" Cerina
smiled at her. Cerina: "Motherhood certainly agrees with you." Kari: "I
know. I'm so happy I can't believe it!" Cerina: "Try not to over do it.
You're going to need that energy." Kari: "Yeah yeah yeah." After a few
minutes, Kari settled down. She sat on the bed and looked around. Kari:
"Where's Niki?" Cerina sighed. Cerina: "I haven't seen her today." Kari:
"All day?" Cerina: "No. I don't think I will either. I really blew it last
night." Kari: "What happened?"
Shelona: "Caster, launch another attack.
This time target their capitol. Commander Kynwan and the rest of the government
will be trying to stop us. If we take them out now, all hope will be lost
for them." He nodded. An army of shiny, silver robots came walking into
the room. Shelona: "You have your orders. Now get out." He turned and left.
Shelona: "Well Cerina, you think you know me so well. You're about to see
just how much I've really changed."
Rick came up behind Ice in the Velossa
Fighter Bay. Rick: "Why ya out here alone?" She looked back at him, then
returned her eyes to the gigantic fighter in front of her. Ice: "Just thinking."
Rick: "You've been doing a lot of that lately." Ice: "I know. Last night
I didn't even sleep. I laid there thinking about this woman I used to know.
She was my enemy... or at least she thought she was. And for the last few
days, her memory's been filling my every thought." Rick: "What's the big
deal?" Ice: "I'm not sure. She's gone. I can't think of a single reason
why all this would just start coming back to me. Why now? After all this
time. Sixteen years I think." Rick: "It doesn't make sense. Is she the
one you said you lost on a cliff?" Ice: "Yeah. I didn't remember telling
you." Rick: "You did." Ice: "Sorry. I guess I've been talking about the
past more than I realized." Rick: "Did you see something that reminded
you of her? Maybe that could be why this is coming up." She thought for
a minute. Ice: "Not that I can think of. Its just out of the blue." Rick:
"Staring at the jet fighter isn't helping, I'll bet." Ice: "Not really,
no. But I couldn't help it. I was walking around and came across this place."
Rick: "Try to put her behind you again. What happened to her wasn't you
fault." Ice: "I know. I was just thinking maybe if I tried harder... I
could have saved her." Rick: "She wouldn't let you. It was suicide. If
you had managed to save her that day, she only would have found a way to
carry it out later." She turned away from the fighter to face him. Rick:
"She's at peace now."
Cerina: "I went to face my sister
and she followed me." Kari: "Your sister?" Cerina: "Yeah. Ice didn't tell
you? Shelona is actually my older sister Tracy." Kari: "But how?" Cerina:
"Its a long story. But somehow she's not the girl I used to know." Kari:
"So why did you yell at Niki? If all she did was follow you..." Cerina
didn't let her finish. Cerina: "She took your morpher!" Kari: "Oh." Cerina:
"When I found out, I couldn't believe it. So I just went off. I didn't
really know what else to do." Kari: "Everybody gets into it once and a
while." Cerina: "This is different. I've never yelled at her that way before.
I wouldn't even let her talk." She stopped for a second. Cerina: "I did
this because I'm worried about her. I can't stand by and watch her turn
into Nadira." Kari: "So she's who you're mad at." Cerina: "Yeah. She messes
up and I yell at Niki for it. What kind of parent does that? Nadira taught
her to steal. She showed her things I never wanted her exposed to." Kari:
"You're not a bad parent for this. You just didn't know what to do. Nadira's
gone. There wasn't anything else you could have done." Cerina: "That's
what I told myself... and Ice, right after it happened. But its not an
excuse for that. I scared her. And that's something I never wanted to do.
She trusts me. But now, I don't know. I could have ruined the only good
relationship I've ever had." Kari: "I don't think so. But you need to talk
to her. If you let this go too long, she'll think you don't care. And that's
not something you can undo easily." Cerina: "I'm gonna go find her in a
few minutes. But the morpher. I don't know how I'm going to get her to
give it back. She's wanted this for so long, and now... I almost can't
stand to take it away from her." Kari didn't say anything. Cerina: "She
was so happy after the battle. It had to be the thrill of a lifetime for
her. And now I'm going to come and rip that away." Kari: "You don't have
to. You could always let her have it."
A few minutes later, Ice climbed into
the cockpit of one of the fighters to see the inside. Rick: "So me and
Kari are having a baby in a few weeks." Ice: "Really? You're going to be
parents now." Rick: "I told her it was bad timing at first, but she just
kept on and kept on. Finally I just said screw it. I let her go ahead with
it." She rolled her eyes. Ice: "Oh please. You're as excited as she is.
Stop trying to hide it." He didn't respond right away. Rick: "Its not something
I wanted before, but the more she talked about it, the more she changed
my mind. I guess now I am pretty into it." Ice: "And you should be. Its
your first kid. Enjoy this. You only get this chance once." Rick: "I haven't
seen her yet this morning. I wonder what she's up to." She climbed back
down out of the fighter and returned to his side. Ice: "Whatever it is,
you should be with her. These are your last weeks of rest, my friend. After
this, you won't have a chance to talk. And romance will be a distant memory."
Rick: "I thought you said I should be happy." Ice: "Oh you should. But
you should also know what you're getting into. When that baby cries in
the middle of the night, who do you think will be getting up with it?"
Rick: "Kari." Ice: "Wrong answer. She will be tired after bring a whole
new life into the world. And you, as the kind, caring man you da*n well
better be, have to get up and take some of the work off her." Rick: "But
I have to go into battle. I can't drop everything for this." Ice: "You
have to. At least for a while." Rick: "I won't have the strength to fight
all day and take care of a baby all night." Ice: "You don't have a choice.
Its a done deal. Unless you wanna cut and run like Kelly did." Rick: "You
know I'd never do that. She keeps saying how that was the biggest mistake
of her life." Ice: "That's good. You'll be fine when she recovers. It'll
be more of an equal thing then." He started to think. Ice after a minute:
"What?" Rick: "I was thinking about that time. It should be fun. Like bonding
time." Ice: "Yes! Now you've got it! You may be tired and by the end you
just may think you've died, but don't dread it. They're only young for
a short time." Rick: "I'm only going to tell you this once. Stop trying
to scare me with these little warnings." Ice: "If this scares you, wait
till you see the delivery. Talk about scary look'n." He sighed. Rick: "Can
we get back to silver lining part of this, please?" Ice: "Yeah. I was just
making sure you were prepared. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't
warn you about those nights. The baby crying, Kari barking orders, me laughing
at you the entire time. It'll be rough."
Cerina: "Are you serious? I can't
do that! She could get hurt and you know it!" Kari: "Of course you're worried,
but it might be our only choice. Someone has to take my place." Cerina:
"It can't be her. Not at this age. She's... she's just too young." Kari:
"I wouldn't have said anything if there was another way. But there isn't.
I'm not even sure how long I'm going to be out. We can't just leave it
to the five of you that whole time." Cerina: "And you think she'll be able
to help? She's six!" Kari: "You're scared. But you need to give her more
credit. She's tough. You raised her that way." Cerina rested her head in
her hands. Cerina: "I don't think I can handle that. If Tracy is really
as empty as she seems, she'll kill her." Kari: "The suit can increase her
power. She took on Caster with no problem." Cerina: "I'm being over protective.
But I can't bring myself to let her have it. Then if something happened,
it would be my fault for letting her do it." Kari: "You'd be better off
to give in." Cerina: "Why?" Kari: "She already has it. Now if you tell
her to give it back, she's going to run. And if that happens, nobody can
protect her. Let her be a part of the team and at least you'd be there
if she needed you." Cerina didn't speak for a long time. Kari: "She's just
like you. Remember that." Finally she stood up. Cerina: "I guess I don't
have a choice." Kari: "It'll be okay. And as for the stealing, I don't
think she'd have done that for nothing." Cerina: "I guess. It sickens me
that she'd even think of that though." Kari: "Try to forget it. You can't
be mad at her for something Nadira's responsible for." She opened the door.
Cerina: "Try not to take to long with this. I don't want to put her in
danger any more than I have to." Kari: "There's no way I can rush this,
even if I wanted to. And after I have it, I'm not taking the powers back
right away. Its takes time to recover and I'd also like some time to just
be a mother." She sighed. Cerina: "I know. I've been there."
Rick: "Hey, I'm not the only one that
kid's going to wake up. You're on the same ship I am." Ice: "Yeah, I might
wake up. But unlike you, I don't have to get up. You're the one going around
this place at all hours rocking it back and forth, feeding it, singing
to get it back to sleep." He held up his hand quickly to stop her. Rick:
"Singing? You want me to kill it now?" She laughed. Ice: "I've heard of
that working sometimes. As long as its soothing." Rick: "I don't sing.
No matter what." Ice: "All right, I'll stop messing with you now. I think
I've gave you enough of a scare for one day." Karone came running through
the door. Karone: "Shelona's attacking again!" The two rangers ran up to
the control room where the others waited. Ransik: "So where's Cerina?"
Kari looked around. Kari: "She'll be here. Just wait." Kelly: "For what?
Her nails no dry yet?" Kari: "I'm not going to listen to this now. So just
shut the he*l up." Kelly gave her a dirty look. Ransik leaned down to whisper
in her ear. Ransik: "Remember, be nice. It will pay off later."
Cerina found Niki hiding in the room
where Ecliptor and Astronema were reprogramed in 1998. Cerina: "Hey..."
Niki crawled under the operating table when she saw Cerina. Cerina: "Can
we talk?" She didn't answer. Cerina kneeled down beside the table. Cerina:
"I'm sorry about last night. I over reacted." She still didn't say anything.
Cerina: "I didn't want to scare you. I just didn't know what I was supposed
to do. Stealing was never something I believed in. And when I found out
you did it... I lost it. I'm really sorry." Niki held onto the morpher
tightly. Cerina: "You can keep it, you know. I'm not going to take it."
Niki: "Really?" Cerina: "Kari talked me into it a minute ago." She began
to crawl out from under the table. They stood up. Cerina: "You have to
give it back once she has the baby though." Niki: "I know." Cerina: "Now
we need to go. Tracy's launched another attack."
Kynwan stood looking out a huge office
window. His face was tight with anger. He remembered evacuating the planet
due to Astronema's attacks before. A man stood behind him in a business
suit. Kynwan: "We lost this world once. I'm not going to allow another
heartless bi*ch to take it from me. Our people have suffered too much already."
Man: "I agree sir, but how do we stop her? She's beyond our reach." Kynwan:
"We need to send a group of soldiers up..." He stopped. Kynwan: "No." His
eyes locked on a jet that was coming straight for them. He wanted to run
from the window, but he couldn't. Something held him there. He prayed that
somehow he could get out of the way, but his entire body seemed to shut
down with fear. The man behind him saw the jet and jumped at him. He attempted
to push the commander away, but just as he made contact, the jet came crashing
through the window. Bricks came tumbling down around them. Kynwan lay on
the ground staring over at the busted wall and groaned. Things started
to become a blur. The falling debris became less and less visible until
the room was covered in black. And the moment the commander departed the
world, the giant building came crashing down.
The rangers, now morphed, arrived
just in time to see it fall. They stood helpless as a huge cloud of dust
came of from the ruble. Karone ran up beside them. She had tears in her
eyes. She didn't speak at first. Only stared in horror at the fallen building.
Karone: "That was our capitol. The first building established here." They
looked up to see Shelona standing on a flying disk. It was only big enough
for her to stand in one place and seemed to go where she willed it to,
without controls. Karone: "How could you do this? That building was a part
of our history!" She looked down without sympathy. Shelona: "Don't be so
dramatic. Soon your whole world will cease to exist. This was only the
beginning." Cerina: "Why Tracy? Why do you insist on putting people through
this much pain? There's no sense in it!" Shelona: "These people are worthless.
They aren't fit to breath." Karone: "Enough! You think you're so tough,
come down here and face me! You think you can push people around and take
whatever you want, well I've had it! I'm right here Shelona! Come and get
me!" A small smile spread across her face. She fired a shot from the blaster
the hung around her waste. The blast sent Karone flying backwards. She
was unconscious. Without another word, she disappeared from the sky. Ransik
ran over to help Karone. Seeing that she wasn't going to recover quickly,
he picked her up and walked back to the others. Cerina was starring up
into the sky where her sister had been. Cerina: "What happened to you?"
* * *
That night, Ransik
stood by Karone's bedside. When she woke up, he was looking down at her.
Karone: "What are you doing here?" Ransik: "I've been here since we came
back from the battle. I had to make sure you were all right." Karone: "I'm
fine. But thanks." Ransik: "I wish we could have stopped her." Karone:
"Me too. That building stood for hundreds of years. And in a matter of
seconds, she destroys it. She has to be stopped before anymore lives are
lost." Ransik: "How many do you think died today?" Karone: "Its hard to
say." Ransik: "We should have saved them. I promised you I would help and.."
Karone: "Don't blame yourself. We all got there to late. And there wasn't
a lot we could have done anyway." Ransik: "Our job is to protect people
and we just stood there today and watched an entire government die." Karone:
"I feel terrible. These people shouldn't have to go through something like
this again. Our world has seen enough pain. I took everything they had
before. And now, when everything is finally peaceful, it starts all over."
Ransik: "You can't blame yourself either. Neither one of us could help
this. I couldn't live up to my promise and you couldn't stop what happened
back then. Dark Spector controlled you. It wasn't you." Karone: "I was
as bad as he was. I could have thought for myself. I could have fought
back. But instead, I was his mindless slave. I obeyed his every command,
no matter who it hurt." He put his hand on her shoulder. Ransik: "Stop.
We're both being to hard on ourselves. We need to focus on getting rid
of Shelona. Not beating ourselves up."
Kari sat at
a big table with a book in front of her. Kelly came up to her. Kelly: "Mind
if I sit?" Kari: "Whatever." After a few seconds, she glanced over at the
book. Kelly: "Baby cloths, huh? Do you know what its going to be yet?"
She shook her head. Kari: "No. I want it to be a surprise." Kelly: "But
how are you going to pick out cloths if you don't know weather its a boy
or a girl?" Kari: "I'll just buy a little of everything." She laughed.
Kelly: "That'll work." They were silent for a moment. Kelly: "Do you...
wanna go shopping tomorrow?" Kari didn't know what to say at first. Kari:
"Us?" Kelly: "I know we've had our differences, but I was hoping we could
get past that. Just because Cerina and I don't get along doesn't mean we
can't try to fix things between us." Kari: "That's true." Kelly: "So?"
Kari: "Sure, why not?" Kelly: "I saw this cute little outfit the other
day you might want to get. He*l, I almost took it myself." Kari: "We should
probably think about furniture too. Time's just slipping away too quickly."
Kelly thought for a moment. Kelly: "Wait, do you think Rick might be hurt
by this? Since he is the father and all." Kari: "I doubt it. He doesn't
seem like the shopping type." Kelly: "I don't wanna come between you two."
Kari: "Oh you're not." She flipped through the book a little further. Kari:
"I kinda need somebody with experience. Me and him would be walking around
blind in there." Kelly: "I didn't get a lot of experience with Nadira,
as you know. But I'll help any way I can."
Cerina in her
room. She was curled up in a chair next to a small window. Cerina: "Hey
Lucas. Its me." Lucas: "How are you?" Cerina: "Better now. But things aren't
great. I need a plan. Some way to get rid of Ransik and Kelly." Lucas:
"Why? You already took care of Nadira and she was the real problem." Cerina:
"Yeah, but now its like she haunting me from the grave. Her influence on
Niki is still there and this thing with Kari's morpher showed me that."
Lucas: "So why go after those two? I know you hate them, but all of a sudden
try to take them out." Cerina: "I have to do something. And with Nadira
gone, the next people in line to blame are the two of them." Lucas: "Don't
do anything you're going to regret." Cerina: "I'm not going to just sit
here. I feel so helpless." Lucas: "You need to learn to forget these things."
Cerina: "What's your problem? I come to you for support and you give me
this sh*t. If I wanted a lecture I could have went to Ice." Lucas: "I'm
trying to help you. You never think things through and one of these times
you're going to screw up." Cerina: "So just forget in of this happened?
Is that what you want me to do?" Lucas: "I'm not saying that. It would
be the safer thing to do, yes. But I don't expect that to happen." Cerina:
"I realize you're looking out for me, but how can this go wrong? They're
nothing to me." Lucas: "You need them!" Cerina: "Excuse me?" Lucas: "To
beat Vulca and Shelona. If you get rid of them now, you'll have no chance."
She didn't respond. Lucas: "See. I'm right." Cerina: "That is why I put
up with them this long." Lucas: "You don't want to throw it away now. It
took you to long to get where you are, in terms of the war." Cerina: "But
I don't know if I can do this. I can't even look them in the face. Their
daughter is tearing my world apart and I can't ignore that." She sighed.
Cerina: "It was so much easier when I had you. You were always there for
me and somehow... got to to control this part of myself. But now I'm stuck
here a million miles away and I don't know what to do." Lucas: "Just hang
in there. After this Shelona mess is over, we'll be together again." Cerina:
"We don't have any idea how long that'll be! I can't put up with them every
day without you here." Lucas: "You're going to have to. You can't just
come running back home." Cerina: "Why not?"
Karone: "I wish
my brother was around. He would be a big help to us now." Ransik: "The
Space Ranger?" Karone: "Yeah. But I can't call him." Ransik: "Why ever
not?" Karone: "He has his whole life in order now. He's married and has
a job. I can't pull him away like that. And Ashley either. They are happy
and I can't ruin that." Ransik: "Not even if it means loosing your planet?"
Karone: "We have to find another way. Andros has served his time in battle.
He doesn't need to come back in now." Ransik: "What about you? And your
happiness?" Karone: "I can't worry about that now." Ransik: "I wish I could
have been like you. You're always putting others ahead of yourself." Karone:
"You are. Think about it. We're both out here doing this. And lord knows
we're too old for this kinda stuff." Ransik: "You're telling me." Karone:
"He*l, this isn't even your fight." Ransik was surprised. Karone: "There's
more good in you than you realize." Karone climbed out of bed. Ransik:
"Are you sure you're ready to move around?" Karone: "Its was just a laser
blast. I'm okay." He nodded. She smiled at him as she headed for the door.
Karone: "Thanks for caring."
Kari: "So how'd
Niki do in the battle today?" Kelly: "We didn't fight. By the time we got
there, the capitol was destroyed." She took out a pack of cigarettes from
her purse. Kelly: "That Karone girl really took it hard. She was yelling
at Shelona to face her. I think she almost lost it out there." Kari: "I
can understand that. She loves her planet. That's what got me started with
Vulca. I wanted Stregna to be a peace as she does KO-35. But that can never
happen with people like that around." Kelly: "How do you do it?" Kari:
"Do what?" Kelly: "Care so much about something that you'd risk everything."
She lit the cigarette. Kelly: "I just couldn't do it." Kari: "I don't know.
Its just a part of me I guess." Kelly: "I admire that. I could never give
myself to a cause the way you do. I can't stick to something like that."
She noticed the cloud of smoke around her. Kelly: "Accept these things."
Kari: "Ever tried to quit?" Kelly: "Nope. I never had what it took. I know
I could stick to that either. I only disappoint myself by going back to
the same old habit." She began to think back. Kelly: "I never should have
started in the first place." Kari: "Why would you? Its so gross! No offense."
Kelly: "We had nothing growing up. Me and my family lived in this little
one room shack. My parents worked as hard as they could, but nothing ever
helped. We still barely got by. I guess smoking was a way to forget about
that. I needed a crutch and by God I found one. Been stuck on these things
since I was ten." Kari: "That's horrible." Kelly: "Yeah well, I guess things
turned out okay." Kari: "You're not poor anymore though. You could stop
now." Kelly: "I'm 40 years old, Kari. I can't change now." Kari: "Yes you
can." Kelly: "You've never been into drugs, have ya?" Kari: "Well... no."
Kelly: "Then you don't know. I can't live without these now. Not after
30 years." Kari: "But you're killing yourself. You know that right?" She
sighed. Kelly: "Of course I do. Don't you think I wanna stop? I don't want
to rely on something like this till the day I die. But I have no choice!"
Lucas: "What
do you mean why not? Those people need you." Cerina: "But what if Tracy's
right? What if I'm doing all this for nothing?" Lucas: "You're listening
to her now?" Cerina: "I don't agree with what she's doing, but she could
be right about that. This girl is Ransik's friend anyway. Why the he*l
should I lift a finger to help her?" Lucas: "Karone is, but the rest of
that planet needs help too. You can't turn your back on them because of
Ransik." Cerina: "Will it even matter? I go out there and try to get my
sister to think about what she's done. But I'm no saint. I have no room
to preach to anyone." Lucas: "You're better than her. Don't kid yourself
like this." Cerina: "We aren't even doing any good. We tried our hardest
today and we still couldn't stop her. Maybe I should listen to her and
leave." Lucas: "Forget about her. She's crazy. You need to stay there and
help them. Then when that all done with, we can be together again." Cerina:
"I miss you so much." Lucas: "I know. But you have to keep fighting. Show
Niki you're not like Ransik. Make sure she sees the kind of person you
really are. The woman I fell in love with." Cerina: "How do you do this?
Some how you always manage to knock some sense into me." Lucas: "I know
who you are underneath the lies and the vicious plans. I know you can beat
Ransik another way. By doing what you know is right and making sure Niki
wants to grow up to be like you." Cerina: "If you were here right now,
I'd never let you go. You always know the right thing to say."
Kelly: "If you
want to stop so bad, do it. Don't make up these excuses." Kelly: "I know
you're trying to help me, but you have no idea what you're talking about."
Kari: "You don't..." Kelly: "Please, just back off." Kari: "All right.
But I wish you'd listen to me." Kelly: "I should. But its probably never
going to happen." They were silent for a minute. Kari looked at the diamond
necklace Kelly was wearing. Kari: "So how did you get into crime?" Kelly:
"When I was fifteen, I started hanging out with these kids that were broke
too. We started small, like most kids do. We took drugs and small amounts
of money. Then it turned into cars, robbing banks..." She twirled the necklace
around her fingers. Kelly: "..jewelry. I had found a way out. I gave myself
the life I had always wanted." Kari: "And your parents?" Kelly: "They didn't
know I was doing it for a long time. Then one night I got caught and tried
to call them from jail. They came down to the station, but they never got
me out. My mom stood back away from the bars crying and Dad... he just
stared at me for the longest time. He never said anything at all. Finally,
he turned and walked away. He never said another word to me." Kari: "Never?"
Kelly: "I never went home after that. I knew I had broke their hearts and
their trust. I couldn't go home. They worked their whole lives to give
us as much as they could, but that wasn't good enough for me. I had to
go out on my own." Kari had a sad expression on her face. Kelly: "I made
them feel like they weren't good enough." Kari: "How could you live on
your own at that age?" Kelly: "I stayed with guys I knew. Usually a different
one every night. That's what my life was like until I met Ransik. And I
went and messed that up too." Kari: "I.." Kelly: "Thought I was evil didn't
ya?" Kari: "I'm sorry about that. I had no idea." Kelly: "Its okay. I didn't
give you much of a chance either. And I should have." Kari: "I'm gonna
talk to Cerina. I might be able to show her you're not really a bad person."
Kelly: "You don't need to do that. She's made up her mind and that's fine.
There's not getting through to her." Kari: "But she's wrong!" Kelly: "I'm
glad you see that, but she never will. She only sees what she wants to
see."
Cerina talked
a little longer, then decided to let him go. Cerina: "I'll talk to ya later."
They exchanged 'I love you's' and she hung up the phone. Cerina: "He really
thinks I'm just going to forget about this. Like I'm going to sit back
and let that trailer trash bunch of mutants corrupt my daughter. Well I'm
sorry Luke, I can't do that. Ransik and Kelly will pay for their daughter's
actions. I don't know how, but no matter what, I'm going to make da*n sure
they pay." She stood and looked out the window, her mind raced trying to
come up with her next move against them. Cerina: "You'll be sorry you ever
met me, Ransik."