Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for a few characters that I created. They belong to Saban and Disney, but not me. I'm just… borrowing them
Chapter 1: A New Year
"Remind me, Kim. Why was I happy that they stayed in Reefside?" Tommy Oliver demanded as he opened the fridge to get a sandwich only to realize that they were out of sliced meat again. He closed the fridge in annoyance and moved away toward the couch where his fiancé was relaxing and he knew from years of experience that she was very amused. Kimberly Hart sat up and looked over the side so that he could see her and verify that she was indeed entertained.
"Because you love them?" She offered and Tommy gave her a look. "You do, you're just mad that they took your turkey again."
"You let them take my turkey again," Tommy said and she looked a little guilty at the accusation. "Kim!"
"They were over studying and they had class. I couldn't just let them starve!" Kim protested as she got up from her perch and began to clean off the coffee table. Fortunately, they'd taught the teens to clean up after themselves, but there were still magazines, Dinosaur bones, and smoothie recipes on the table. The last was for Hayley who had asked Kim for help in finding new drinks for the café. "Besides, you remember college. There was never anything good to eat with that dorm food and their parents moved out of town after the attacks stopped."
"They were the smart ones," Tommy muttered. "We were stupid enough to stick around."
"You're just grumpy because you have detention detail again this week," Kim said scolding. Her fiancé sighed and rolled his eyes. "Speaking of which, Tommy, please don't encourage these kids to break and enter, okay?"
"I did not encourage Conner, Ethan, or Kira to break and enter! I encouraged them to find a rock! And now, thanks to those stupid gems, I have to remind them that they need to be careful with their powers so that they don't get caught," Tommy started and Kim picked up her soda off the table to have a sip, knowing she was in for another rant. The caffeine made it easier. "And before you start telling me how smart they are, let me remind you that these are the same three teens who came up with the 'brilliant' get Doctor O and Kimberly together plan."
"Be fair, Tommy. Trini and Jason helped," she reminded him. "I think you're grumpy because you're not a Ranger anymore."
"Would you stop saying I'm grumpy?" He snapped. She glanced back up at him.
"Then stop being grumpy," she answered. Before he could retort, the door swung open and laughter came in to. Tommy groaned, but Kim just laughed at his annoyance as the three teenagers walked into the house, talking about their various day, professors, and the evils of homework. Tommy glared at them.
"Haven't you three ever heard of knocking?" He snapped. They all looked a little surprised at that and Conner turned to Kim.
"He's grumpy?" He asked and she nodded.
"I gave you guys his turkey and now he's grumpy. Plus, he has detention detail," she answered. All three shivered at that and Ethan leaned into Kim. Before he said anything, she just nodded. "Yes, I told him not to give them excuses to break into our house."
"Cool," Ethan answered. "Because while we got to be Rangers because of it, I wouldn't want you guys to have to deal with the 'a raptor ate my son' lawsuit. Plus, that would give us away. I don't know anyone else who owns raptors."
"Hey Kim, sorry to change the subject, but we were talking about it and we were wondering. If I was attacked and couldn't fight my way out of it, since there wouldn't be anyone else around, could I use my power?" Kira asked. Kim shrugged.
"I don't see why not. And whatever comes out of Tommy's mouth next, unless it's agreeing, just ignore that too," Kim said. Tommy gave her a look and then looked sternly at Kira.
"Don't overuse it, but I'd rather we all get caught than have something like that happen to you," he answered seriously. Kira smiled at him and nodded. He sighed and turned to the other two who were making aww noises behind him. "And for some reason, I'd also hate for anything to happen to the two of you."
"Ah, Doctor O. You'd miss us if we weren't here," Ethan said happily. Tommy rolled his eyes.
"How would I know? You're never gone… Conner! That's dinner!" Tommy called out as the other teen had gotten into the fridge and grabbed a carrot stick. Conner looked at it and then back at his former teacher.
"Dude, you need better eating habits. A carrot? For dinner?" He asked and Tommy threw his hands up.
"It was going with the roast!" He answered. "That's it! In the jeep! All of you. That goes for you two Miss 'I couldn't let them starve.' If you're going to eat me out of house and home, then you're going to help shop for it!"
"I don't suppose saying we have to study is going to get us out of this?" Conner tried and Tommy glared. Conner winced. "Didn't think so. Okay, okay, we're going."
Tommy made sure all of them were out before he followed, locking the door behind him. There were two things he had learned from before: lock your doors and don't convince detention students to do anything. The last thing he needed was more of them.
Jason Scott finished the class and headed away from his students to get some water. They had headed out the door, pretty calmly considering, and he felt luckier than Tommy who constantly had teens running out on him the first change they had. He sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair as he finished his drink before looking up to see Zack Taylor coming toward him. He quickly clasped the other's arm and pulled him into a hug. "What are you doing here?"
"Trini invited me over for dinner. Then she sent me to make sure it was fine with you," Zack answered. He leaned in so that only Jason could hear him. "We're celebrating."
"She finished them?" Jason asked and Zack nodded. "Finally. I was so worried we'd have another catastrophe."
"You're not the only one," Zack answered. "I made her go back through everything to make sure she didn't screw up. And like I keep telling you both, Conner and the others could stall things until we got it done. We even got mimicked suits made up for them in case they needed to fake it."
"It's not the same, Zack. Yes, we're lucky we have them, but we need actual Rangers if the time comes. Besides, they'd probably be out the door before we handed them anything," he whispered back. "What about the new zords?"
"They're fine, they're ready, they're hidden," Zack answered, rolling his eyes. "You know, I know I wasn't here for it, but were Kim and Tommy this annoying when they were getting everything ready?"
"They had more time," Jason answered. Zack shrugged.
"Oh yeah, there was one more thing. She said she called you earlier and left a voice mail, but you never got back to her," Zack mentioned. Jason sighed, but nodded and noticed Zack's worried face.
"What's wrong?' He asked. "She's okay, right?"
"Yes, but she's… uh… sort of upset," Zack answered. Jason's worried look turned dark. "Now, I only found out because I was there and she wasn't quiet over it and it sort of messed things up and she's happy but she's not and…"
"Your babbling, Zack," Jason sighed. The other man shrugged and handed Jason the phone with the most serious look he could get on his face.
"You need to call her," he said. Jason took the phone from his friend and dialed the number in to call his wife. He patiently waited for through the rings, though Trini caught it on the third one. She often did.
"Jason?" Trini asked. Zack wasn't kidding, she sounded upset, worried, yet happy. It was a weird mix.
"Hey Sweetheart. What's wrong?" Jason asked and there was silence on the line for a moment.
"Promise me you won't be angry," she demanded. Her request surprised him as Jason wasn't a violent person by nature. There really was no need for her to ask him that, but he answered anyway.
"I promise I won't be mad," he agreed.
"I'm pregnant."
Jason's face lit up. "That's wonderful, Honey! I couldn't be happier! Why did you think I'd be…" His voice faded as he realized what she had. The news of a new baby was wonderful news and they had hoped to be parents eventually, but with the creation of the new morphers and if there was any trouble, they were out of the game. All of the work that had been put into it and they had to forfeit their turn as mentors.
"Jason? Are you there?" She asked and he took a breath, pushing any bad feelings aside for his wife's sake. Besides, it was wonderful news no matter how they looked at it.
"Yeah, I'm here," he assured her. "There will be more chances. Besides, we're going to have a baby!"
Trini's entire demeanor seemed to match her husband's as they switched from distraught to ecstatic and Zack wasn't much better, including offering to get them whatever they needed for the nursery, up to and including building them a nursery.
That said, Zack was also the only other one whose mind had turned to the others affected by this. Neither he nor Billy were as capable due to restrictions on their lifestyles. Billy had a daughter and Zack's work often took preference. While they had agreed to be mentors so long ago, both of them were far better as secondary mentors which the group knew. They'd accepted that after the Dino Thunder era the year before. That meant that the two who had thought they were getting a break as secondary mentors were going to have to step up to the plate again. The only consolation prize was that they had the Dino Thunder Rangers as backup and assistants this time.
His heart went out to his friends, but his mind mostly stayed focused on the fact that he was going to be an uncle again and this time, he was going to get to spoil the kid from the start.
"And what did we learn from this excursion?" Kim asked Tommy as he entered his house holding his face in his hands. The other three were happily bringing in the groceries.
"Are you talking to us, Kim? 'Cause, I learned that eating Doctor O's turkey means I get free Cocoa Puffs," Conner answered as he and the other two helped put the groceries away. Tommy was just shaking his head.
"Why me?" He asked and Kim pat his back. "Is this payback for being the Green Ranger?"
"I don't think so," Kim answered. "Second shelf, Ethan. That goes on the second shelf. Thank you! I just think you're stressed out a bit and now you don't have anything to take your frustrations out on. Conner, that goes on the bottom shelf in the fridge. Maybe you should call Jason and you two can go out in the woods together."
"Hey, Doctor O? Did you know you've got messages?" Kira asked, holding up his cell-phone. Tommy looked at Kim.
"That would probably be a good idea," he agreed and then turned toward Kira. "Thanks, Kira."
"No problem, Doctor O," she answered happily as she got back to work. Tommy picked up the phone and went to replay the message.
"Tommy, it's Jason. Look, I've, uh, got some news for you… Trini, you do it."
"Oh no. I left my message on Kim's cell-phone. You need to tell Tommy."
"Zack?"
"Are you kidding? I'm not doing it! Ask Billy."
"Negative. You are on your own, Jason."
"Tommy, Bro, you're not going to be happy… Neen?"
"Okay! Uncle Tommy? Aunt Trini's gonna have a baby so if there's trouble, you will be the mentor, okay? Love you! Bye! See? That was not hard."
"You faced Goldar, on your own, nearly to the death, but you couldn't tell Tommy?"
"Hey, it took me fifteen minutes to get you to call Kim…"
The message ended there and Tommy blinked at his phone. "Kim? Check your messages," he said robotically. "Trini called."
"Umm… Okay," his fiancé answered and left the room. The three younger former Rangers looked at their teacher a little worried.
"Hey, Doctor O? Are you okay?" Kira asked carefully. "He doesn't look so good."
Conner nodded. "Is everything okay? Everyone's still alive, right?" Tommy just nodded as a scream came from the other room. All four glanced up in the direction as Kim came racing back out, more than a little excited.
"Trini's pregnant!" She cheered. The three younger Rangers leapt up and down with her.
"Can we baby-sit?" Asked Kira.
"When are they going to have it?" Asked Ethan.
"Dude, as soon as that kid can crawl, I'm teaching them how to play soccer," Conner finished. "Hey Doctor O! You're going to be an uncle!"
"I know," he said quietly. Kim looked at him strangely.
"Tommy, what's wrong?" She asked and he pointed at the teenagers.
"If something goes wrong, we have to mentor more of them!" He answered. All three looked a little insulted, but Kim motioned to brush it off. She wrapped her arms around him. "And Jason couldn't even tell me! None of the guys would tell me."
"Then who did?" Kim asked and Tommy looked at her.
"Neen," he answered. Kim couldn't help him. She just started laughing. Conner, Ethan, and Kira were trying to hold in their snickers, but they were soon joining in. Fortunately, Tommy joined in shortly afterward. After all, they might have driven him nuts, but they were his family and Ethan was right. He would miss them if they were gone.
"I can't believe you guys made Neen do it!" Trini exclaimed. "She's six. You're in your late twenties. You have less courage than a child!"
Neen had mimicked Trini's stance as the three other mentors looked a little embarrassed. She'd waited a night so that she could talk to Kim, which had given the men of the house a night's reprieve from this lecture. They'd been trying to convince her that she got the easy job of telling Kim and both Billy and Zack had tried to abandon Jason to the 'he's the father' clause, but Trini was having none of it. The former yellow Ranger held her head and sighed. She headed toward one of the other rooms and came out with four morphers, each of them a different color: red, blue, green, and yellow. She handed them to the three boys and then pulled out a disk, handing it to Billy.
"These are the new morphers. You're going to hand deliver them to Kim and Tommy," she told them. "The disk has the rest of the information on weaponry and the new zords that they'll need. And guys? When I say you're going to deliver it to them, I mean both of them. Please, don't forget that Kim and I still do talk and I'll know if you don't. I'll watch Neen. Now get going!"
Jason waited until she was out of earshot before he turned to the other two. "This is going to be a long nine months."
Benjamin Striker ran a hand through his short brownish-blonde hair as he worked. The young botanist had been trying to get this to work for over three months now and he wasn't about to show it to Anton Mercer until he had it right. His hazel eyes went back over everything again, making sure he'd done this right and he finally accepted that he had gone over it perfectly. It was now just dependant on Mother Nature to give it the strength to grow or to leave it dead in the dirt.
"Hi Ben!" Ben nearly fell over at the voice, shocked that anyone else was there. He turned around to see Tara Snow behind him smiling. The young woman's long brown hair bounced against her back as she moved in place. She glanced over at what he was doing and then back at him. "So, plants, huh?"
"What else would I be up to, Tara?" He asked, a little exasperated. "I don't want to be rude, but why are you here?"
"Umm… oh yeah! You missed science again," she answered helpfully and then frowned. "You know, Ben, you really should stop doing that before you get detention."
Ben winced, glancing at his watch on the table. She was right. It was fifteen minutes after the end of class. "Ah jeez. Did he notice?"
"Yeah. He noticed. If it makes you feel better, I was late!" She said helpfully, her bouncy demeanor coming back. "I got scolded."
"I'm sorry," Ben said, but Tara shrugged.
"He's a nice teacher," she answered. "Maybe you should talk to him. You know, let him know that you lose track of time. Hey, is it going to be a flower this time?"
"No, Tara," he told her, but couldn't help from smiling. He didn't have a lot of friends, in fact he really only had Tara, and while he knew she could be annoying sometimes, she still managed to brighten his day. "So, why were you late this time?"
"Well, first I forgot my binder. Then I forgot my book," she answered. "Oh yeah and then Principal Randall dropped some stuff in the hall and I kinda felt bad for her, so I had to help."
"So, two forgets and a good deed? Sounds like you," he told her as he finished up. Her green eyes sparkled with delight at her friend's comment as she obviously took it as a full compliment.
"I know. I can't help it," she answered. "I see someone in trouble and I have to help."
"It's a good thing, Tara. You just need to learn when to take care of yourself too." He dusted himself off. "So, you really think I should talk to him, huh?"
"Yeah, he's not that bad," Tara said with an amused look. "He's not going to eat you."
"He might yell at me though," Ben answered. Tara threw her arm around his shoulders and smiled.
"I know you're shy, Ben, but sometimes you've got to speak up. I'll come with you," she offered. "We don't have anymore classes today anyway."
"Thanks, Tara," he told her honestly. "I just hope that Doctor Oliver is as understanding as you."
"So, you know what's wrong with it?" Jera Law pulled herself out from the hood looking more than annoyed. The African-American young woman made an annoyed noise and wiped her hands off with the rag he'd provided her.
"Yeah, you're not taking good care of it. When was the last time you got the oil changed or flushed the transmission fluid? For the love of God, it's a mess in there. No wonder it's stalling," she answered. She reached up to make sure that all of her hair was still tied back before glancing back at her classmate. "I think I can get it running for you, but take it to a mechanic."
"You are a mechanic," her classmate answered and she frowned.
"Then start paying me," she snapped. "Alright… Try it again."
It took a few tries, but shortly after the car started up again. The boy quickly thanked her and was rushing off. Jera rolled her eyes and shook her head as she muttered to herself. "I bet he doesn't even take it to a mechanic. He'll just expect me to fix it tomorrow."
"Here's an idea. Don't." Jera turned her attention to the voice and smiled a bit at the other came toward her. Seth Turner had his arms folded and was leaning on one of the nearby cars with an amused smile on his face. Jera sighed.
"Seth, do I have a sign on me anywhere that says I'm willing to do work for free?" She asked. "Because that's the third time this week!"
"Not that I can see," he assured her. "I don't see why you don't mess up some of those cars. Half of the people in them treat you like crap the rest of the time."
"Because unlike you, I don't have a vengeance streak," she answered. "And I might have messed with the alternator."
"Jera, you rock," he told her as she grinned back.
"I am the best," she answered. "I don't think anyone knows their way around a car better than I do."
"And so modest," Seth teased, clasping his hands behind his red mop of hair to stretch. She rolled her eyes.
"Better that than you. You're constantly moping around. It's annoying," Jera scolded. "Seriously, you're great at writing. Just because your dad was psycho with the sports, doesn't mean you need to be."
"I'm so glad we had this pep talk," he said sardonically. "Remember when you asked me why you can't get a date? I think I figured it out."
"You're such an ass," she answered. "You got homework?"
"Yep," he answered.
"You need help with it?"
"Yep."
"Cool. Come on."
Tommy held his head. The news that his friends had called him over, or gotten Neen to say as it were, was still swimming in his head. Conner, Ethan, and Kira had all promised to help with whatever he needed when the time came and his instincts, as well as Kim's were telling him that it would be soon. Worse, teenagers didn't seem to change and those who did show up, seemed distracted for most of the class. He was really starting to wish that he'd chosen one of the middle classes instead of the senior class to teach.
Elsa was doing her best to help by making sure his workload wasn't overly horrible, but she was still the principal and a firm believer that everyone needed to do their part and that included him. He was pretty sure once he told her about this she'd let him off the hook more if he had Rangers, but other than that it was just a bad week. He set another paper aside wondering how some people could be so clueless when he heard the door open. He inwardly groaned as he recognized Tara from before. His lecture had been as quick as he could manage it, but he was never sure if he got through to her.
"Hi Doctor Oliver!" She said happily. "Sorry to bother you, but Ben… Ben?" She turned around to look for someone, but seeing that she was the only one there, she sighed and reached out the door, dragging in a young man. "Ben needs to talk to you."
"Hello," Ben said, looking incredibly uncomfortable. Tara gave him a bit of a nudge and the boy continued. "I'm sorry I missed class."
Tommy ran through his class and remembered calling the name and having no one answer. He sighed, but couldn't help but to be a little impressed. Usually, they didn't just show back up. He pushed back his annoyance and put forth the understanding teacher. "Why were absent?"
"I, uh, lost track of time." The poor teenager looked completely mortified by the whole thing and he messed a bit with his hands. "I was working in the green house and I guess I didn't hear the alarm. Again. I'm really sorry."
"Does Principal Randall know?" Tommy asked and the boy shook his head. "Okay, look. Don't miss it again and we'll pretend this time didn't happen, okay? Tara, can you get him caught up?"
"Sure!" She said happily. "Come on, Ben! See, I told you he was nice. You worry too much…"
Tommy sighed and shook his head. He knew that they were good kids, but they were really starting to give him a headache. He reached to pick things up, when a voice interrupted him. "You know, you really shouldn't do that."
Tommy groaned and turned around. "Hello, Elsa."
The principal had kept her hair down since she'd gotten her job back and her arms were folded, but she looked a little amused. "Contrary to your belief, there are other teachers in the school. Just because you don't give them detention, doesn't mean they're not. You still have to do it."
"So, how come you're letting me get away with this one?" He asked and Elsa laughed a bit as she sat on his desk.
"Tara helped me with some papers early. I figured you giving her and her friend a break wasn't that bad," Elsa answered. "By the way, before you think about it, I'd like to remind you that Conner and the others can track you down. So don't try to go invisible this time to get out of it."
"One time and I'm labeled for life," he muttered. "Elsa, we need to talk."
She immediately changed her demeanor and looked serious. "What's wrong?"
"Well, both Kim and I have been getting bad feelings about something and just as importantly, Trini's pregnant," he told her.
"That's bad and really good. So, what's really wrong?" She asked again.
"With Trini pregnant, that puts the head mentorship back on Kim and my shoulders. The teens have offered to help, but Trini told Kim that she's sending her the morphers and the information for it all," he explained. She just nodded.
"So, if that happens, you'll need the Ranger privileges again," she said. He nodded.
"Hopefully to a smaller degree, but anything that you could do for the newer ones would be great," he said. She nodded.
"I'll see what I can do."
"Trini's right. It's just Tommy. We have nothing to worry about," Jason said. All three were still sitting in the car outside of the house. They knew that their pink former teammate knew they were there and was letting them handle it, but none of them wanted to get out of the car. "We just need to go and do this so we can go home."
"We should have brought the kid," Zack muttered and Billy shot him a look.
"My daughter is not a shield," he snapped.
"Guys!" Jason exclaimed. "We can do this. I can take Tommy anyway."
"So why are you with us in the car?" Zack asked and Billy looked interested as well. Jason looked a little worried.
"Because I'm still in my right mind and I'm worried Tommy's going to snap," he answered. "Not a helping pep talk."
"Nope," Zack agreed. "You know, if we didn't know she'd rat us out…"
"We can't just give to Kim, Zack. Now come on. We need to do this," Jason said getting out of the car. The other two reluctantly followed as Jason knocked on the door. It opened and he was pulled into a hug by his surprisingly strong surrogate sister.
"Congratulations!" Kim squealed. "Oh, I'm so excited for you! I hope it's a boy 'cause I already have niece and a nephew was be great. Well, come inside you guys!"
Jason nodded and followed, returning the hug before he did so. The other two shrugged and followed, shutting the door behind them. The living room's furniture had been moved to the sides as it was clear that she'd been working on gymnastics before they arrived. She stretched as she headed into the room and looked back at them. Jason looked around. "So, uh, where's Tommy?"
"He'll be home any minute," she answered. "So, can I see them?"
"We're, uh, supposed to give them to both of you," Jason explained apologetically. "It's part of our 'don't use Neen to do your own work' punishment and I don't want to anger my pregnant wife anymore than I have."
Kim nodded. "You're welcome to help yourself to anything in the pantries and fridge. The teens had to help shop, so we've got a lot of junk food now."
"They're still dropping by, huh?" Jason asked and Kim smiled.
"Yep. Just as much as they used to. They study, they train, they just visit… I'm starting to think we see them more than when they were Rangers," she joked and then her smile faded. "So, are you guys feeling it too?"
"The overwhelming feeling of something bad's going to happen?" Zack asked. "Oh yeah."
"I think it's making Tommy worse," she told them. "I'm even feeling a little snappy, but he's already moody. And whatever is causing it is staying pretty well-hidden from us."
"It'll show up. They always do," a voice came from the doorway and all of the former Rangers turned to look as Tommy walked in the room. "So, I hear that you have something for us. Unless, of course, you're going to have a six-year-old do that for you too."
All three had the grace to look sheepish at that. "Sorry, Bro," Jason said and pulled out the morphers, handing them over. "Billy has the rest of the information on the disk."
Tommy looked at them and nodded, showing them to Kim who took a couple of them to look at. "They're beautiful," she said. There were four of them, each small enough to conceal, but like the Dino Thunder Morphers, they were to be worn around the wrist. They each had an element on them: fire, wind, water, and earth. They were in three colors: red, yellow, blue, and green and in the middle of the element, there was a round hole, about the size to hold a small marble. It went all the way down until there was only a bit of metal separating each side. They glanced up at Jason who shrugged a bit and motioned for Billy to explain. Billy glanced at Zack who nodded and pulled a wrapped cloth out of his coat pocket. He carefully unwrapped it and there were four small spheres inside, each the color of the morphers.
"These are the powers I was able to find," he explained. Kim looked at them.
"So, you found these on Aquitar?" She asked and he shook his head.
"Only this one," he said, holding up the blue gem. "I had to visit various planets, diplomatically convince them to help me, and had to go on a slight quest for them. They're from Aquitar, Mirinoi, Kalderon, and Aeris."
"So, do we get to choose this time?" Tommy asked. At Billy's confusion, Tommy sighed. "Rangers. Do we get to choose them this time or is it the Power's choice?"
"It is always the Power's choice, but you should have some say in it," Billy answered. "The Power will let you know if they are worthy."
"Have you guys told Hayley yet?" Jason asked. "I know Trini told her about the baby, but…"
"She offered her help after she made sure we knew," Kim answered.
"And Elsa just gave me the leeway I'll need if something happens. And with the kids' present to us, we won't have to worry about having to explain everything to them. We'll just go on a field trip to Angel Grove."
"You know what the best part of all this is?" Kim asked. "None of us had to jump off of an exploding island to get this far."
Tommy rolled his eyes, though even he was smiling at her statement. "For which I assure you both Anton and I are grateful."
"I don't think the colors work that way," Conner said, relaxing the wall his bed was connected to. Kira sat between them in the beanbag they'd bought for her to be comfortable in while she visited the boys' dorm. Ethan sat across from Conner on his own bed, laptop on his bed so that he could type and talk. He looked over at them to see that Kira was agreeing with the red Ranger on this one and tried to continue the argument.
"Seriously, if two Blues had a kid, then the kid should be blue, right? It makes sense. But, if a Yellow and a Blue had a kid, then the kid would be Green and if a Red and a Yellow had a kid, then the kid would be Orange," Ethan explained and Conner just looked at him.
"And what if a Pink and Red had a kid? What would they be then?" He asked, temporarily stumping Ethan.
"Magenta," Kira answered. "But that's not the point. The point is, it doesn't work that way. Most colors seem to be based more on personality traits and sometimes, there is no rhyme or reason. Besides, what about Jason or Doctor O? Or others who have had multiple colors?"
Ethan opened him mouth, but felt stumped at that and closed it. "Okay, fair enough. Still, I'm willing to bet Neen is a blue."
Kira laughed. "I'm willing to bet Billy will be doing everything in his power to make sure we never find out." Both boys laughed with her after that. "So, seriously, how are you guys feeling about Kim and Tommy being the head mentors again."
"Fine."
"Great."
"Couldn't be better." Both boys continued to try to give happy answers until Kira's look forced them down. Conner was the first to answer.
"Jealous. I know that they gave us the 'just because there's a new baby, doesn't mean we love you any less' speech, but I don't want to share Kim with anyone but you guys and you guys are more teamed up with Hayley and Doctor O," he explained. Ethan nodded.
"I know how you feel. I mean, Hayley and I got close during that time which was a major reason why I took the job at the café when Trent left for college," Ethan continued. They looked at Kira who nodded as well.
"I'm glad I'm not the only one. I've been feeling so selfish over the whole thing, but part of it doesn't seem fair. Doctor O is freaking out so we've been trying to help him by offering help and everything, but we haven't been able to talk to them about it. And even if we did, how could we make them understand? They stepped down. We were forced down," Kira finished. Conner looked at both of them seriously.
"Look, right now, they don't need any more stress from us. So, for now, we keep this conversation between us, okay?" Conner said in his best leadership voice. The other two nodded. "Okay. Kira, want to go get some coffee?"
"Of course!" She answered. "We'll catch you later Ethan, okay?"
"No problem, guys. I want to check this out anyway," he said motioning to the computer. "If it's alright, I'll catch up with you in an hour?"
Both of them nodded and headed out the door as Ethan focused on the computer. He pressed the right buttons to try to get it to focus again as he worked the program Hayley had given him as a graduation present. Of course, it was more of a present for Rangering than for college, but it was still a sort of graduation. After all, at the same time they'd graduated from high school, they'd graduated from being Rangers as well and moved on to assisting mentoring.
He was getting some sort of reading, but whatever reading it was, it was more advanced than Hayley's system which was why he was having to tweak it just to keep up with where the energy was instead of being able to even see what it was. After a few more minutes, he still wasn't sure what it was but he was sure of where it was. He grabbed his laptop and then his cell-phone as he ran out the door. He knew he'd given them an hour for some time alone, but this was much bigger than that.
He grabbed his key and raced out the door after his friends, hoping that the energy was good and guessing it wasn't. He raced out and sighed when he realized that Conner had taken the car. It was understandable since it was his car. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell-phone, calling them. "Hello?"
"Kira? Look, I know what I said, but I need you and Conner to come pick me up, okay? We might have a problem," Ethan told her.
"What kind of problem? An important problem or you realized we have a test tomorrow problem?"
Ethan looked around and saw the other students around campus. Taking that into consideration, he tried to figure out a way to put it. "Dino problem."
"Got it. We'll be there soon. You know where to wait?"
"Yeah. See you in a few," he assured her, hanging up. Soon after, they were driving up and Conner slowed to a stop long enough for Ethan to climb in before taking off again.
"So, what's the problem?" Conner asked, keeping his eyes on the road. Ethan sighed.
"I picked up an energy reading," he answered, opening the computer back up. "I'm not sure if it's good or bad, but it is around."
"Could it be the new source of power?" Kira asked. "You know, for the future Rangers?"
"Nope," Ethan answered. "Hayley and I took that into consideration so they're marked in a different color. Anything that had to do with the gems, like where our Zords were, are also marked."
Kira patted her friend's shoulder as the other looked a little upset after saying it. Ethan, most of all, still ached from the decision to abandon the Zords. Ethan smiled at her and turned back to the computer. Conner was the one to bring them out of it. "So, you know where it is?"
"Yeah," Ethan answered. "Took me forever, but I've got it marked. Why?"
"We're going to check it out. You've got a map there, left or right?" Conner asked as he drove. Ethan quickly accepted his friend's lead.
"Right," he answered. Conner nodded.
"Okay. Kira, call Doctor O or Kim and let them know what's going on. I don't want them to kill us when we get back," Conner muttered. Kira glanced at her boyfriend.
"What if they want us to wait for them?" She asked. Conner's mouth twitched up into a smile.
"Then pretend you're getting bad reception and no one answer your communicators," he answered with a shrug. "We're already on our way and whether they like it or not, we have at least some sort of power to protect us."
Kira shrugged. "Okay, but when they try to ring our necks, we're blaming you."
"Okay, fine. Just do it, okay?" Conner asked.
"Left here!" Ethan called out and Conner didn't bother to slow down as he took the turn. Kira felt Ethan knock into the middle part and kept herself from losing her cell phone from the maneuver.
"How far away is it, Ethan?" Conner asked and Ethan did some quick calculations.
"About 15 miles," he answered. "We're just doing recon, right? We're not going to try anything stupid?"
"Nope," Conner answered. "Just see what it is and leave. That's all we're doing."
"Good," Ethan answered and turned to Kira. "What'd they say?"
Kira paused for a minute. "Can they still make us train?"
Ethan shrugged. "I don't think so. I mean, our parents can't ground us and Doctor O can't give us detention."
"Good. Because otherwise, I think we'd be in training until we were thirty," she answered. "They weren't too happy when I pulled the fake static."
"Didn't expect them to be," Conner answered. All of them ignored their communicators like Conner suggested. The way he was driving reminded both of his companions of how their former teacher drove, which wasn't making them extremely comfortable. Conner's mind seemed focused and when Ethan told him to turn right, all he said was "Hold on" before whipping the car the right way. None of them were really sure why they hadn't gotten pulled over yet, but yet with that slight reprieve in mind, they wondered if that meant this was going to go well or poorly.
"This is it," Ethan said. "Right up there."
Conner nodded. "Alright. We'll leave the car here and go check it out. If it's bad, we run. If it's good, we see why they're here. Kira, if they're fast, blast them."
"Count on it," Kira assured him. They headed toward it and only saw a wreck. There was metal everywhere as well as fire. It was clear that it had crashed into the ground. Conner and Ethan headed into it while Kira stood watch, making sure that nothing would sneak up on them. Conner looked around while Ethan hacked into the onboard computer which, with the alien design, was not an easy task.
He slipped a specialized disk in to copy all of them information, so caught up in his work that he jumped when Conner touched his shoulder. The former jock smiled at him a bit. "Jumpy?"
"Yeah," Ethan answered in an annoyed tone. "Very. You find the crew?"
"What's left of them," Conner answered, smile completely gone as he was starting to turn pale. "And then I lost my lunch."
"That bad?" Ethan asked and Conner shivered.
"Whatever killed them… it was brutal, dude," Conner answered. "It was big and I think it ate some of them. So, was whatever did it on the ship when it went down?"
"I don't know. I didn't bother watching the records, I just downloaded it," the young genius answered. "There, done."
"Guys! Get out of there!" Kira screeched. Conner and Ethan glanced at each other, but raced out to where she was. Conner looked around, but didn't see anything. She pointed back at the crashed ship. "Something big and ugly just went back in there."
"What sort of ugly?" Conner asked, but Kira didn't have to answer. The creature crawled out. It was black and seemed to be a mix between a spider and a humanoid. It had eight appendages, but four were off the ground and had hands. Its face was similar in shape to a humans, with only two eyes, but other than that, it was spider-like. It glanced at them and blinked before making a horrible noise and racing at them. Kira opened her mouth to scream, but Ethan clapped a hand over her mouth.
"Don't," he whispered. They waited a moment and the creature seemed a bit confused, pausing a few feet in front of them. Ethan handed Kira off to Conner and hardened his skin. He took a deep breath and slammed his fist into the creatures head, breaking the skull. It went down and stayed down. Ethan looked over at Conner who nodded.
"Let's go," the former red Ranger agreed. "Before any of its buddies show up."
They raced to the car and threw themselves inside. Conner turned on the car and floored it out of there. Kira turned and smacked Ethan. "Why did you stop me?"
"Kira, your scream leaves vibrations. Spiders don't have ears. They hunt off of vibrations," he told her. "You would have made us more appealing."
Conner gripped the wheel harder and shook a bit. Both of his teammates quickly turned their attention to him. He didn't looked back at them, but he did acknowledge them. "Call Kim and Doctor O. We're in a lot of trouble."
"How much should I tell them?" Kira asked and Conner took a breath before answering again which led to even more worry from his teammates.
"I saw what that thing did to the aliens," he answered. "And it didn't have a lot of brains. Which means there might be something bigger and badder behind it."
"You think it was like the Tyrannodrones?" Kira asked incredulously. At his nod, she dialed up the phone. If Conner was right, they were in a lot more trouble than they thought.
Author's note: Here it is, the first chapter of the sequel. While there are new Rangers, this story will be more on the mentors' side of it. Therefore, similar to the first story, there will be action, but not too many fight the giant monster scenes. There will be continued relationships between Kira and Conner, Hayley and Billy, and Kim and Tommy.
Various things will be brought up: Dealing with near death, capture anxiety, guilt, semantics of what makes one evil, and other things. I'm doing my best to keep it rated Teen, but if I screw up, please let me know so that I can change the problem to keep the rating.
Finally, before I get onto the reviews, about the creatures seen. First of all, if anyone is arachnophobic and I accidentally give you nightmares from this story, I'm sorry and know that you are in good company. Well, assuming you consider my company to be good anyway. I tried to change the look around to something that didn't haunt my sleep for several hours. It didn't work. I'm sure you can see the irony of someone with a phobia of spiders writing about man (or alien) eating giant human/spider mixes. My friend finds it funny.
So, I hope you guys enjoy this story as much as you did the previous one and thank you for all of the reviews for the last story and the final chapter of it. It meant the world to me. The one shots got pushed back when I realized that November was National Novel Writing Month and I have to try to get four chapters ahead or have less updates for you guys during that month. If I get far enough head this month, then I'll go back and finish the one shots. Otherwise, I'll probably have them out in December. Sorry guys!