AN: Mild language contained within. This was originally intended to be an amusing one-shot, and then I suddenly got into it as a multi-chapter thing. Hope you enjoy.
It was shaping up to be one of those days. Conner hated "those days." The second his alarm went off, it was like a timer had gone off, ending his good mood and sinking him deep into crankiness. It was too early to get up; he had been up late last night finishing his homework. He'd been late doing his homework because he'd had to go out and save the stupid world from that idiot Mesogog.
So now he was up early, with a pulsating headache threatening to ruin a day that hadn't even started yet. He crawled out of bed, pressing the heel of his hand to his temple. He stumbled into the bathroom and gazed at himself in the mirror--he was suffering from a case of incredible bed head, and red-scratched eyes. He looked like hell. He looked like he'd been through hell, more accurately, and he felt it, too. Conner stripped out of his boxers and tripped climbing into the shower, slamming his shoulder painfully into the side of the shower. "That's gonna leave a mark," he groaned, and turned on the water. It was screaming cold, then it boiled his flesh, then it fell into a steady drum on his skin. He relaxed in the stream a moment, then squirted a dollop of shampoo into his hand and began to massage his scalp.
His bracelet flashed.
"You're kidding me..." he groaned, and though it was waterproof, he moved to the side of the shower so as to avoid water running onto it, and answered the call. "Conner."
"We've got trouble," Dr. Oliver said.
Suds were dripping onto his shoulders and sliding down his chest and back. "How can we have trouble? Doesn't Mesogog usually take a week or so to recuperate?"
"It's not him, it's the White Ranger."
"Not Trent again," Conner said with a heavy sigh. He was sick and tired of their ex-friend kicking their butts constantly. Sure, they were able to get an advantage when they went into Super Dino Mode, but it was probably only a matter of time before Trent developed his own super mode and then he was going to trounce them for certain.
"He got an early start, and he's going on a bit of a rampage," Dr. O. said.
Suddenly the floor rumbled beneath Conner, and he nearly slid on the soapy puddle pooling beneath his feet. "What was that?" he asked himself, sticking his head underneath the water in an attempt to remove the last of the shampoo before shutting off the water and jumping out of the shower. He threw a towel haphazardly around his waist and darted back into his room to peer out the window. The bright California sunshine was gleaming over his street, until a shadow blocked the rays. "Holy shit," Conner blurted, then quickly contacted the main line. "Dr. O., he's on his way here."
"What?"
"He's on my street! He's brought out the big guns, and he's about to make my parents' mortgage worth squat. Actually, he's about to make my living room squat. He's like a big, mechanic Godzilla with an agenda."
"I'm sending out Brachio and the auxiliary Zords, I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Oh, yeah, that's a wise move," Conner said as the com went dead between red and black. "Offer him some more Zords. He's getting quite the collection."
Outside, the Dragozord and whatever attachments Trent had siphoned from the team that day were on a collision course for Conner's home. It was time to go to work. "Oh, I'm more than ready," he muttered to himself, as his bracelet changed into his morpher. "Dino Thunder, power up!"
Morphed, he ran outside, thanking every higher power he could think of that his mom had left early this morning. Fewer questions to answer. He saw Dr. Oliver's Zord coming over the horizon, and releasing Conner's own Zord. Conner got into the cockpit. "Hope you're having a pleasant morning, Conner," the White Ranger sneered.
"What are you doing here?" Conner spat.
"I thought maybe you could use some help renovating your kitchen. And when I'm done here, I'm going to perform the same service for Kira and Ethan, and then Dr. Oliver. My little gift to the Power Rangers. My little...how shall we say...community service. Rangers are all about giving back to the community, aren't you?" Conner could hear the smirk that was concealed by his opponent's helmet.
"You don't have to do this," Conner said, although he no longer believed that anything he said to the White Ranger would ever get through. Especially not after they'd discovered who the White Ranger really was, especially now that Trent was finally allowing the evil flow freely through him, without a care. Mostly, Conner was just stalling for time until Kira and Ethan got here.
The Pterazord came screeching into view, the Tricerazord galumphing along the ground, trumpeting right behind Kira. "The cavalry's here, Con," Ethan announced grandly.
"Good, because I didn't ask for a contractor," Conner said. The three Zords came together, and immediately Kira launched a Ptera-rang at the White Ranger. He took the hit, but retaliated with the Dimetrozord, and the fight went on for awhile. Conner was privately asking an exhausted Kira and Ethan how much longer this would go on before Trent laughed. "I guess I'm through with you today," he said. "Have to get to class, after all."
"Is he serious?" Ethan said. But the White Ranger was already packing up his Zords and going home, moderately damaged. When he finally disappeared from sight, the Rangers ejected themselves and stood on the street in front of Conner's house. "That was..." Conner started.
"Just plain weird," Kira offered.
"Yeah, something like that."
As the Zords were returned to the Brachiozord, and that went lumbering back to its holding bay, the three teenage Rangers ducked inside Conner's house to de-morph. Conner was worried that too many people had seen the fight, and had seen the Rangers run into the McKnight house, but there was nothing he could do about it. If his neighbors were smart, they would have gotten their butts out of the way the second they saw the Dragozord coming. That was what most people in Reefside did.
In Conner's living room, he issued the command to power down. Ethan immediately started laughing. Confused, Conner looked to Kira, whose face was burning red, and she quickly looked away. "What's..." he started, then realized that his wet hair was still plastered to his head, and he was standing in the middle of his living room wearing nothing but a red towel. "Um...I was in the shower...Dr. O. messaged me...next thing I knew, Trent was..." Neither of them were listening. Kira was carefully examining the pattern of the living room wallpaper, and Ethan was doubled over, laughing. "I'm gonna go finish getting ready for school," Conner said, running upstairs. Yep, definitely one of those days.