Oh, man. Another one-shot? I seriously think I have to get a multi-chapter up here sometime. I don't know when, but I will. Anyways, this fic goes out to moonlite-n-roses, who inspired me with her very humorous fic, "Good Morning, Dr. Oliver." You gotta love putting this man on caffeine.
Tommy may be a bit OOC. Sorry about this for future reference.
I don't own Power Rangers, and I don't own the idea to the war on alarm clocks. Those belong to moonlite-n-roses and Saban respectively.
Don't Take My Caffeine Away
If there's one thing that the students of Dr. Thomas Oliver learned in their science class, they can honestly say that you should never take away Dr. O's chance at any caffeine. I mean, never. One incident proved this theory correct after Trent Fernandez burst into his class late one morning.
...7:31 AM, Reefside High School...
Trent hated being late. He hated it a lot. As he sprinted to class with his drawing book in one hand and an Amp energy drink in the other, he had the sinking feeling he was going to get detention. The hallways were empty, and his footsteps seemed even louder than usual. 'Nice work, Trent,' he thought bitterly, stopping at the door and trying to take deep breaths. 'You stay up trying to do your essay for your teacher and fellow ranger, and you end up being late. Way to make an entrance on Friday morning.'
Knowing he'd look stupid standing outside the door and placing his drawing book under his arm, he sighed and opened the door.
The whole room was silent as the White Ranger made his way inside, smiling sheepishly. Tommy turned around from the board and flashed him an amused glare. "Trent. Would you be so kind as to share with the class why you were... late... today?"
It sounded as if something large was moving in the classroom. The class turned to their teacher. Kira, or the Yellow Ranger, nudged Conner and nodded towards the Black Ranger up front. "Is Dr. O okay? He looks as if he's in some sort of... daze."
The Red Ranger frowned and cocked his head, slowly nodding his own head in agreement. "It's almost like when Trent walked into the room, the world kind of stopped for him." He followed the teacher's gaze and raised an eyebrow. "Looks as if he's eyeing Trent's morning dosage of Amp. But why would that be? He already had some coffee this morning."
Now this was true. Indeed, the science teacher had brought in a good size mug of the caffeinated beverage that morning, and he had finished it within the fifteen minutes he had gotten inside his classroom. Still not feeling the effects of the drug in his system, he had attempted to try and get a Mountain Dew from the teacher's lounge, despite the rules of 'no carbonated drinks before school.' One of the teachers had caught him, and he had only made it out in time before he was questioned for breaking school rules.
He hadn't gotten in trouble. But he still didn't have very much caffeine in his system.
The amount of caffeine in his cup before was a lot- around three cups of coffee. And no one could fathom how a man his age had managed to drink the mug that large within a span of fifteen minutes. Heck, when Randall heard about the rumor, she had to go and see for herself. She did- and was completely thrown off balance by how much the man had managed to take down after being in the building for so little time.
"Um, Dr. O?"
Trent's concerned voice snapped him out of his gaze, and he looked at the teenager with a slightly... lustful look? The White Ranger froze as he heard his teacher's voice speak. "Trent, do you mind following me outside into the hall for a moment? I'd like to talk about you being late this morning."
Kira shot Ethan, her other best friend, a worried glance. He shrugged. "He'll be fine."
"I hope so," she muttered back as she watched her teammate drop his things and walk outside with the Amp in his hand.
Tommy crossed his arms as Trent shut the door softly, eyeing the energy drink with a gleam of triumph. "Do you mind if I ask you where you got that?"
The student looked at him with a start. This was a completely unexpected way to start off a conversation about him being late to class. Judging by the way Tommy was staring at his hand, he figured he had better be honest. "Um, well... I got it out of my fridge at my house this morning, Dr. O. Sometimes I bring one to school if I had a long night and couldn't sleep. That paper you gave us really took a lot out of me, and I needed a..."
"I didn't want to hear about the paper," he interrupted. "I was just curious where you got the liquid caffeine."
"If you don't mind me asking, Dr. O, what exactly does my Amp have to do with me being late? And haven't you had enough caffeine as it is?"
Tommy chuckled. "Hardly. I think I need a bit more."
Trent didn't like the track this conversation was going. "Are you asking me to...?"
"Dr. Oliver! Mr. Fernandez!"
Both the Rangers cringed at the sound of the harsh calling of Principal Randall. They turned around and saw the woman striding over purposefully, a smug expression on her face. "May I ask why on earth you have Mr. Fernandez out here during class?" Her gaze turned to his energy drink. "And why is that in your hand? You do realize that all energy drinks are forbidden to be seen on the outside until nine AM, correct?"
That had to be a new rule put into effect just three minutes ago. Trent shook his head. "N-no, ma'am. I had just..."
"Then you won't mind if I take it," she interrupted smoothly, reaching out her fingers and slipping the Amp out of his hand. "Now that that's settled, would you please be so kind as to go back inside and continue your lesson, all the while giving Mr. Fernandez here his rightful punishment for being late?"
Tommy nodded. The woman turned on her heel and stalked back to her office. The mentor gave Trent an evil look. "Now look at what you've done. I've got to get it from her office..."
Trent opened his mouth to protest, but Tommy had already opened the door to enter the classroom with a frustrated look on his face. He had a terrible feeling that something was going to happen when Tommy would get the Amp back.
He knew he'd try to get it back. Tommy was determined... really, really determined.
"Am I going crazy, or when Dr. O was teaching class today, his mood went totally downhill after the talk with Trent?" Kira questioned, sitting down at lunch.
Conner shook his head. "I dunno. All I know is that he totally got ticked at me for getting the question on the quiz wrong."
She gave him a sour look. "That's because it was on Tyrannosaurus Rex. You really should have known that one. I don't blame him for ripping into you."
"All other things aside," Ethan cut in quickly, glancing between the two as if watching a tennis match, "we've got to figure out his secret. How does he drink so much coffee and caffeine and still not make it to the afternoon all perky and energized?"
The soccer player snickered. "That's easy. He's getting older."
Kira smacked his leg with her notebook.
Trent walked over and set his stuff down dejectedly, pulling out his drawing book. Ethan blinked in surprise. "Hey, Trent. You okay?"
"No, I'm not. Because I had to expose the Amp to the sunlight, I got myself and Dr. O in trouble with Randall today," he snapped back. "And now I have to spend an hour of detention with him while trying to figure out how to get my drink back that I didn't even get to have this morning!"
Conner raised an eyebrow. "Dude. It's an energy drink."
"And Dr. O is getting back anyways. He said it himself under his breath," Kira added.
Trent paled. "Does he seriously need anymore caffeine?"
"Apparently," she replied, rolling her eyes.
The girl had no idea how right she was...
This was way too easy. It was right there on the desk, sitting in broad daylight and collecting dust. The can gleamed, seemingly taunting the invisible teacher for him to make a move and grab it while no one was looking. 'I shouldn't be doing this,' he thought, shaking his head. 'I tell the others not to use their powers for anything but good, but this... man, I have a headache, and this is for a good cause. It's to make me feel better.'
He re-materialized in the office, reaching out for the Amp, his heart pounding. 'Jeez. This is too easy...'
"What do you think you're doing?!"
Tommy groaned. Of all the times to sneak up behind people... he turned around, dreading the smug face of the principal...
And instead, he found himself face-to-face with Elsa. He blinked. "What are you doing in here?!"
The villainess chuckled darkly. "I asked you the same thing. Trying to take things out of the principal's office? That's a bad, bad crime, Tommy."
"Nobody asked you," he growled. "I don't have time for this."
Elsa examined her nails. "I can make some time."
Out of nowhere, Tyrannodrones appeared in front of the Amp, growling and gesturing towards the Black Ranger, who stood rigid on the spot. They were in his way... in his way to the caffeine. The source to stop his headache- they were blocking it and snarling in his direction. His eyes narrowed to slits. "Move, you stupid drones."
They roared in response.
"Oh, you asked for it." Tommy put his hand up to his chest, the Dino Morpher appearing on his wrist. "I told you to move, and you didn't listen to the teacher. Now you gotta pay the consequences!"
Elsa chuckled. "All this over a stupid energy drink? My god, that's depressing."
"Dino Thunder, power up!"
The flash of light blinded the woman momentarily, and the Black Ranger stood in place of the science teacher. He grinned fiercely behind his helmet. "I told you to move, and you didn't. Time to get my headache cure."
She blinked. Headache cure?
Before she even knew what had happened, Tommy had dispatched all of the creatures and had walked over to the desk, grabbing the can of Amp. Elsa shrugged in exasperation. "You are overreacting!"
He smirked. "That may be true... but at least my students will have a better day with me now that I've got what I came for. Power down!" The teacher stood in his place and opened the Amp, taking a swig. Immediately, a rush of relief overcame him and he narrowed his eyes at Elsa. "Don't make me take you out while I have a splitting headache."
She growled and disappeared into the inviso-portal. Tommy smiled, drinking it even faster than ever.
His work was finally done.
"You got it?!" Kira questioned excitedly.
Tommy shrugged, shaking his head. "A lesson here the four of you- never get between a grown man and his caffeine." He glanced at the clock on the wall and at the depressed Trent at the table. "Feel free to go, Trent."
His eyes lit up, his lips unfurling into a grin. "Really?"
"I shouldn't have gotten that mad with you over the Amp this morning," he replied, sticking his things into his bag. "I'm just, eh..." He laughed sheepishly. "I'm addicted to caffeine. No joke."
The four teenagers gave their teacher a stunned stare. "Addicted?" Ethan choked out.
"Kind of. I need caffeine once every day, otherwise I get severe mood swings."
"Really?" Conner asked sarcastically as the five walked out of the room together. "I never noticed."
Hoo boy. That was totally... weird. I dunno. I felt as if he was kind of OOC. Don't bash me about it, but just tell me if you want. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!