All right; another request from general zargon- Dr. Pepper, Conner being mopey & Tommy cheering him up.
It takes place about a month and a half after the end of DT or June 2005.
Disclaimer: I can barely claim even the plot bunny here…
Conner was not happy. And the old Conner would have been happy: he'd safely graduated from high school, had no major responsibilities, was going to work at a soccer summer camp before going to college in the fall, and had no serious girlfriend. But underneath these esoterically happy events was some serious unhappiness: he wouldn't get to hang out with Dr. O., Kira, Ethan, and Trent on a daily basis anymore; was no longer a Power Ranger; and he and Krista had barely gotten together when she had dumped him.
She was heading off to the Amazon to save the rainforest and didn't think a long-distance relationship would work out. Conner had tried to argue in favor of it, but she had just insisted that most high school relationships just didn't work out and he hadn't heard from her since.
So now Conner was moping in Dr. O.'s kitchen, drinking a Dr. Pepper. Ethan and Angela were having some game marathon while Kira and Trent were probably at the Cybercafé. Dr. O. was who knows where.
If Conner had to be honest with himself, it wasn't just any single factor that had him down. It was a combination of all three and a feeling of rootlessness. Soccer just wasn't a big enough goal anymore for him. True, he still loved it as much as ever, but he had loved being a Power Ranger even more.
Conner exhaled heavily. Maybe he'd go visit his twin Eric in Blue Bay Harbor before having to start work. Maybe that would make him feel better.
Finishing off his Dr. Pepper, Conner got up to get a second one. On the fridge was an old Polaroid photo of the original six Power Rangers. Conner looked at a freshman Dr. O. as he unscrewed the soda bottle's lid, which always weirded him out. He looked so happy. Resting his head against the cool fridge, Conner let out a few sniffles. He felt way, way older than eighteen.
"Hey, Conner."
Hastily Conner straightened himself, wiping at his eyes. His face turned as red as his Ranger suit, embarrassed to have been caught out by Dr. O. "Hey."
"Not enjoying the loss of your powers either?" he sighed, walking over to the fridge. "Yeah… this is the fourth time I've lost my powers. It doesn't get easier. At all."
"That sucks. But wasn't the Black Dino Holder your fifth morpher?"
"Eh, I just upgraded from the Red Zeo Ranger to the Red Turbo Ranger so that doesn't count. So yeah. But…" Dr. O. got a bottle of Dr. Pepper for himself, thinking. "But I guess the first time was the toughest, because I was convinced at the time I wouldn't morph ever again. After that, there was always a chance that maybe I could get a new morpher, you know?"
"Yeah… but nowadays people just get one morpher. So my time has ended."
"Yeah, I'm getting too old to be saving the world," Dr. O. sighed, gulping down some soda. "Though other people ought to get the chance to be Power Rangers… we can't hog the privilege."
"You're one to talk."
Dr. O. laughed and shook his head. "True. I heard Krista left for the Amazon… you two going to stay in touch at least?"
"Nah."
"Ouch… at least Kim and I made the long-distance thing work for a while before she dumped me. Admittedly a contributing factor was me failing not to develop a crush on Kat… ai ai ai, as Alpha would say."
Conner raised his eyebrows. "Uh-huh."
"I guess if we had gone with five core morphers instead of three, you might not be in this mess. I'd have been in on helping you guys from the start and there'd been another girl for Kira to hang out with. Though I guess we still would have had a lot of trouble thanks to the evil White Ranger."
"Uh-huh. Yeah, you and Kat did start that Red and Pink thing, huh?"
"Yes," Dr. O. smiled fondly. Conner shook his head. "You still have Kat, Ethan has Angela, and Kira and Trent have finally gotten together. And Hayley… well, I have no clue about her but she's more than happy to be single. I guess it's my arrogance again, but don't I get a girl as the Red Ranger?"
Dr. O. thought it over as Conner drank some more Dr. Pepper. "Well, maybe, yeah. But justice doesn't always mean we receive equality or fairness. At least when it comes to us Power Rangers anyway."
Conner thought it over. "So justice isn't always fair because life isn't fair or just by its nature?"
"Sort of," Dr. O. raised his soda bottle to him. "After you've been a Power Ranger, you have to make your own path. Oddly enough, that's our destiny- to do our own thing."
Conner nodded, drinking his Dr. Pepper. "Right. Thanks, Dr. O."
"Hey, I'm you guys' mentor. I need to try to live up to Zordon," Dr. O. replied quietly with a shrug. "His death was the epitome of unfair justice… dying to save the universe. It was the right thing to do, maybe even the only way, but that doesn't make it any more fair. So yeah, justice and fairness don't always get along nicely when you're a Power Ranger."
"Right." Conner finished off his Dr. Pepper, feeling much better. He had thought his adventures and mission had ended, but now it was clear to him what must have been clear to his teammates- that there were still lots of adventures to go on. Besides, he hadn't met any of the teams before Ninja Storm. Those meetings alone would be unbelievably chaotic and amazing.