A/N: This is it, the sequel to The Crippled Crane, Please Enjoy and tell me what you think.
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Chapter one: The Falcon and the Crane
Jason entered the living room with a sigh as he deposited his book bag on the chair next to him. He was starting to wonder if Kim and Tommy, who had opted to take their finals early and had already got their diplomas, had had the right idea.
Just then, Jake, his ten-year-old brother came running into the room, "Oh good, I'm glad you're here. Kim locked herself in her room after the mail came and won't let anyone in."
Jason frowned, "Not even Tommy?" He asked he knew that if Tommy couldn't comfort her then it was bad.
Jake shrugged, "He's working, he doesn't know."
That statement caused Jason to panic even more, if Tommy didn't know then Kim was blocking him, and Tommy and Kim didn't block each other out very often. As he rushed over to his younger sister's bedroom, a thought entered his mind, would Jake know if Tommy knew about it or not. Half of the time he wasn't aware of the stuff Tommy was aware of. Maybe whatever was wrong was something that Tommy didn't need to be there in person to take care of, or perhaps Tommy was aware that he was almost home and could take care of it himself.
As he knocked on the door to the bedroom he called out, "Are you going to let me in, or do I need to kick the door in?"
The door squeaked open and Jason saw that his sister's eyes were swollen and red from crying, "What happened?" He demanded entering the room. Only to freeze, her closet and dresser were both wide open, several knickknacks were on her bed waiting to be wrapped and boxed up. There was also a bag that was filled with old clothes that either didn't fit properly or were no longer in fashion.
Kim smiled, "It's amazing how much stuff I've gotten in the four months I've lived here."
Jason nodded, "Jake said you were upset, what happened?"
"Mom and Dad being themselves," Kim looked at Jason full-on, "They sent the wedding invitations back unopened."
Jason wanted to ask permission to teleport to Paris and Seattle at that moment. Kimberly Hart might have only been his next door neighbor but she was the closest thing to a sister that he ever had, and he loved her accordingly, "Does Tommy know?"
Kim nodded, "Oh, yes, I'm going out to meet him, he didn't think it was a good idea to teleport when he was driving a car going over two hundred miles per hour."
Jason laughed, "So have you decided on who your Maid of Honor is going to be?"
Kim laughed, "You will be pleased to know that I chose Trini to be my maid of honor, just no going scuba diving to celebrate." The last part was a reminder of how, after they had gotten engaged, they had gotten captured while scuba diving.
Jason rolled his eyes and playfully swatted at her, "You better get going, or you'll be running on Tommy Time."
…
John Oliver, Tommy's Oliver's uncle and the owner of the stock car garage were Tommy was currently working at. His one colleague gasped, "He's only been working for you for a week?" he asked, "He drives like a professional, not a rookie."
A soft musical voice spoke up behind them, "When Tommy wants to do something he does it well."
John smiled as he made room for his future niece in law, "This is Tommy's fiancée, Kimberly Hart."
If John didn't know better, he would have sworn that Tommy knew that Kim had arrived at the track for at that moment he started to apply the brakes and slow the car to a stop. John almost felt envious as Tommy climbed out of the car, took off the helmet, and kissed Kim. John had been married twice but neither of the marriages had lasted long.
He could tell from the way the two lovebirds whispered that they had a deep connection, deeper than he ever saw on the race track. He just hoped that life on the road wouldn't ruin that.
…
In town, Jason hurried to where the others were setting up for the outdoor graduation ceremony. "Sorry I'm late, Kim…" Jason began only for Aisha to interrupt him.
"Kim needed her big brother, Jason we know, we actually checked to make sure you didn't get sidetracked on the way home."
Rocky laughed, "You forget, we're connected to Kim through our ninjetti powers, she told us that you were going to be late."
Jason patted Rocky on the back, he had, for the most part, healed from a back injury that he received almost a month ago, but Rocky was still taking it easy as the doctors had told him another back injury could end up paralyzing him.
"Hi everybody," a young voice spoke up as Justin entered the area, followed closely by Billy who had been teaching Justin how the communication equipment worked.
"Hey," Tanya said, "How did your testing go, ready to start school in August."
Justin laughed, "I'm just glad that Dad said that I can wait until next school year to go to school."
Everyone sobered, remembering that the reason Justin and his father had moved to Angel Grove was to have a fresh start after the death of Justin's mother, a hard thing to have to deal with at the tender age of twelve.
Just then Alpha contacted them, confusing them as it almost seemed as if he was laughing.
…
Zordon watched as the Teens arrived at the Power Chamber. Oh, how he was going to miss them. During his time serving as their mentor, he had started to consider them as his own kids. He knew that just like all of his kids needed to spread their own wings and leave the nest, he too needed to move on to the next phase of his life.
But to leave his children who were laughing as Alpha brought out a cake that he had baked himself. To leave Kim, who was always so full of life and Jason so protective of those in his care. Zack who was as serious as he was fun loving. Billy who he watched blossom from the geeky teenager to a confident young man. Trini beautiful and graceful who would stop at nothing to help a friend. Rocky, strong, courageous, and friendly. Adam, confident and determined. Aisha soft and caring. Tanya who was willing to help no matter what. And then there was Tommy, who proved that nothing, no matter what, would stop him from doing what was right.
"Zordon, are you okay?" Kim asked, staring up at their mentor.
Yes, he would miss them but this was a time for them to celebrate being together, not to say goodbye just yet, "Yes, Kimberly, I am fine, I was just reflecting on how much you have all grown and changed since I had Alpha choose five teenagers to fight Rita Repulsa all those years ago."
"Yeah Man," Zack agreed, "Can Y'all believe that that happened over four years ago now."
Jason checked his watch before announcing, "If those of us walking across the stage don't leave now we're going to be late."
Soon it was just Justin, who was asking Alpha questions about the teleportation system, Billy, who was helping Alpha answer the questions, and Tommy and Kim, who were waiting for the others so that they could go to the graduation together.
Just then the alarm went off as the sounds of chimps screaming in alarm could be heard coming from the Viewing Globe, "What's going on?" Justin asked as Billy, Tommy, and Kim turned to face the globe.
"Elgar has planted a detonator at the Energy Plant in Angel Grove and has turned Bulk and Skull into monkeys."
Kim groaned, why did it always have to be Bulk and Skull, hadn't they rescued them from Divatox a month ago?
…
Tommy never liked splitting up, it was a strategy that left them vulnerable, but Adam, Kat, and Tanya weren't available at the time and Bulk and Skull had run off. So he did the only option available at the moment, he and Kim would head off to find Bulk and Skull and hopefully head off Elgar while Billy took Justin on an on-the-job-training experience.
He let out a sigh of relief as they spotted Bulk and Skull up ahead only to groan a second later as Bulk and Skull spotted them and left as fast as they could go.
"No, no, no, no!" Kim called out, "Wait, we're here to help you."
Bulk and Skull didn't listen leaving as quickly as they could.
As Bulk and Skull left, Tommy and Kim were preparing to chase after them when a voice behind them asked, "Going somewhere Rangers?"
They whirled around so fast that if you blink you wouldn't have been able to see what happened. Both crouched into fighting positions, years of experience turning into an instinctive reaction. However, Elgar quickly threw some sort of smoke bomb at them, causing them to cough and blink.
Kim watched in alarm as Tommy started to change before her and knew from the tingling she was feeling that Tommy was watching the same thing.
Soon the smoke cleared and a white falcon and a pink crane stood where Tommy and Kim had been standing. As sudden as the smoke had appeared, a light surrounded them and before Elgar's eyes, Tommy and Kim turned back into humans.
"You do realize that we are immune to all but the strongest spells," Tommy asked before watching Elgar leave the energy plant.
…
Five minutes later Tommy was in the Power Chamber as Alpha did a scan on him and Kim to make sure there weren't any problems with the spell that Elgar tried to catch on them.
"From what I can tell," Zordon was saying, "the spell has given you the ability to change from your human form to your spirit animal form."
Tommy grinned, "That is so amazing, we can check out a battle without the enemies realizing it was us."
We can also sneak into the fairgrounds and into outdoor concerts without being caught. Tommy sent silently to Kim.
Kim shook her head, I think that falls under the using our powers for personal gain, "It would have have been better if we were given time traveling powers, then we would be on time for graduation."
Tommy swore, "Graduation started ten minutes ago," with that he and Kim teleported out to hurry to the graduation.
…
A/N: Here it is the first chapter of The Struggling Falcon. I've been looking forward to writing this ever since I decided to write a sequel to The Crippled Crane halfway through it, and then when I finished the outline back in chapter eighteen I got excited about this one. So, please review and tell me what you think.
