"Jab! Block! Right hook!" Tommy yelled. Kenzi swung at him hard and he sidestepped. "Always be prepared for the unexpected." He said.
Kenzi groaned and rolled her eyes. "Dad, can we be done already? We've been at this for hours!"
Tommy looked at his fourteen year old daughter; she looked so much like her mother, caramel hair, blue eyes, tan skin. "No. Not until you get the maneuvers down." He said sternly.
"But dad-"
He cut her off. "I said no!" He stepped off of the mat. "Show me your gymnastics routine." Tommy said.
Kenzi brushed her caramel brown hair out of her face. "Fine." She muttered. Kenzi took a few steps back and off of the mat. Taking a deep breath, she ran forward, extending her body into the position to do a flip. Her body twisted in air and she landed the flip on her feet. "Good?" She asked.
"You could be sharper with your arm movements." Tommy commented.
"I don't even understand why you have me train. It's not like you'll ever let me put myself in any danger to use these moves. Everyone in the entire family has been a power ranger and I'll never be one." Kenzi said.
"Mackenzi!" He said angrily. "You know I just want you to be able to protect yourself."
"You don't think that I can protect myself?" Kenzi asked incredulously.
He snorted. "I know you can't."
"Then let's spar." Kenzi said angrily to her dad. He smirked and took up his position on the mat.
"Begin." He said simply. Kenzi grinned and ran at him, swiping her foot under his feet. Tommy jumped in the air and her foot missed his legs. "You're going to have to do better than that." He taunted.
Kenzi frowned and dodged a flying fist that was coming towards her face. She swung her leg upwards and he caught it in one hand. Kenzi growled under her breath and used her other leg to slam it into him, forcing him to let go of her leg. She did a backbend and a flip backwards to get some distance. "See, I can handle myself just fine dad!"
Tommy jumped and did a kick towards her chest and she blocked his foot with her arms. He used his strength and momentum to knock her over. "See Kenzi? You can't handle yourself."
Kenzi looked at the ground. "Fine." She said, clearly upset.
"Go get cleaned up. We've got the Reunion in a few hours." Tommy said, extending his hand to his teenage daughter.
"No thanks." She said, irritated by him. She got to her feet and he breathed a sigh of anger. "Do I have to go?" Kenzi asked.
"Of course you have to go! This is an annual thing that you can't just skip out on!" Tommy said.
"Whatever you say dad." She said, marching into the house quickly.
Kenzi groaned in annoyance as her step-mom, Kimberly, tried to fix her hair. "Kim, it's fine in a ponytail. I don't need help, okay?"
"Don't you want to look nice for the reunion?" Kim asked her.
Kenzi shrugged. "I don't get what the big deal is. It's the same thing every year. Dad always reminisces with everybody about the good old days, Uncle Cole always gets hyper, someone always gets into a sparring match, and somehow Uncle Zach ends up drunk."
Kim bit down on her lip in annoyance. "Kenzi!"
"It's true!" Kenzi protested. Before Kim could respond, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" Kenzi called, anxious to get away from her immediate family. She ran towards the door and opened it to find her Uncle Jason, Aunt Katherine and William (their son) behind it. "Hey guys, come on in. You know where to go." Kenzi said with a grin.
Jason grinned back at her. "Hey Kenzi!" He said, giving her a bear hug. Kenzi rolled her eyes but had a smile on her face.
"Hi Uncle Jason, Aunt Kat, Will." Kenzi greeted as she shut the door.
"Jase!" Her dad yelled from across the room. Jason got an excited grin on his face and the two ran towards each other. Katherine, meanwhile, found Kimberly and embraced her.
"Hey Kenz." Will said with a grin. Kenzi grinned back at him and grabbed his hand. Their dad's weren't actually brothers, but rather best friends. This was Kenzi's best friend as luck would have it.
"Come on," Kenzi said, pulling him towards the backyard. "Before the adults make us say hi to everybody else."
Will chuckled at his best friends' antics and followed her outside. "It's been forever."
"Oh don't I know it. How's football?" Kenzi asked as she sat down in a chair.
"Great!" He said, perking up. "Coach says by the time I'm in High School, I could be the Quarterback!"
"That's great!" Kenzi congratulated him.
"What about you?" He asked. "How's gymnastics?"
Kenzi's smile slipped off of her face. "They're okay. As usual, nothing's good enough for dad. Ever. He's been training me a lot harder than usual. I don't know what his problem is." She said.
Will thought for a moment. "He probably just wants you to be your best or something. You know how our parents are."
Kenzi sighed. "Don't I? We have a lot to live up to."
"Understatement of the year. My mom's a doctor, my dad is a successful owner of a dojo business, your dad's a Paleontologist, your mom's an Olympic gymnastic gold medalist and a news reporter. Not to mention the other side of things." Will said.
"I know! I mean they've all been rangers but they're all….too overprotective. How are we even supposed to live up to their expectations if they don't let us?" Kenzi asked. "I mean my dad changed my curfew to 8! 8!" She said angrily. "I'm not even allowed to go over to friends' houses. It's getting ridiculous."
"Woah….not even my dad's that crazy overprotective." Will said, glancing over at their parents, who were greeting more family.
"Mackenzi!" Andros said happily. Kenzi turned and smiled faintly at her Uncle. He hurried over with Ashley, his wife, to greet their favorite niece.
Kenzi was enveloped in a hug, something that she did not return. Her dad had already berated her earlier for not being more social. Anything to piss him off was worth doing, at least, in her opinion. "Hi." She said simply. Ashley's eyes narrowed.
"Kenz-" She was cut off.
"Oh look at that, I've got to go." Kenzi said, hurrying away before her favorite aunt could say anything.
Kimberly hurried over to Ashley. "Could you try talking to her? She's been more distant than usual."
Ashley nodded with a smile. "I'll try." She said with a nod, bobbing her blonde hair up and down.
Kenzi was nowhere to be found. Ashley finally spotted the brunette teenager sitting on the roof. She smiled at her hiding place. Ashley climbed up the side of the white house and silently sat down next to Kenzi. "Hiding isn't a way to get rid of your problems." She said.
The teenager sighed. "Aunt Ashley….I'm just….I don't know. I'm struggling. I don't understand why he's so protective of me. Ever since mom died….nothing's been the same." Kenzi said quietly, watching more people arrive at their house.
Ashley put a hand on Kenzi's shoulder. "You probably don't remember this….but when you were little….maybe 3 or so…..you were kidnapped. One of the creatures in space thought that you would be a good gift to Astronema."
"Why doesn't-"
"He talk about it? It tore him up; him and your mom. They did everything they could to get you back. In the end, it wasn't enough. It was the Space Rangers that saved you."
"You and Uncle Andros?" Kenzi questioned.
Ashley nodded. "Yeah….when we brought you back, your dad was so upset yet so relieved that you were okay. The point is….he never wants to lose you. Not like he lost your mom." Ashley explained.
"I guess I understand that. But….Aunt Ashley….haven't you ever wanted to be something….more? Something new. Your own person? I can't do that. I do the sports that they tell me to do, I listen to what they want me to listen to, everything I do is what they want me to do. I can't choose my own talents or hobbies. And I don't want that." Kenzi explained to her.
Ashley gave her a side hug. "Hang in there, things will get better."
"How do you know?" Kenzi asked.
Ashley laughed. "One time, my grandma tried to get me a husband. I told her that I was dating Carlos to get her off my back. The point is, not everything in life is going to be your choice. It's how you react to the choices of others that makes you who you are."
Kenzi grinned. "Thanks Ashley. You're the best!"
"Oh I know!" Ashley said with a smirk.
After watching various Red Rangers, including Jason, Cole, Andros, Leo, Rocky, Wes, Carter and others, spar with her dad, Kenzi was getting annoyed. She wished that someone would just knock him off of his pedestal. He had too much of an ego for her liking.
Tommy was boasting to the original team about how he beat everyone. "Can I spar you?" Kenzi asked, approaching him.
"In a minute." Tommy said, waving her off.
"No dad. Now." Kenzi said seriously.
The other rangers looked at each other in surprise at her tone. They knew she had been acting up, but this was ridiculous. "Fine." Tommy said simply, stepping onto the mat.
Kenzi's extended family watched in interest. "Don't go easy on me dad. I'm going to prove to you that I'm not a kid anymore."
"Okay then." He said, knowing how this would end up. It would be a good lesson for her to learn.
Jason stepped in between them. "Ready, set…..GO!" He said and stepped off of the mat.
Kenzi darkly looked at her father. She felt so full of anger. It was like nothing she had ever felt before. She ran at her dad quickly, twisting under one of his jabs. Quickly, it became evident to everyone watching that this wasn't a regular, light hearted spar. Kenzi sweeped her foot towards his stomach, landing a hit.
Her dad was caught off guard and he got up in anger. He was not about to be beat by a 14 year old. He spun his fist towards her arms, and she blocked it. He kicked her side and she fell to the ground.
Kenzi growled angrily. She got to her feet and did a backbend to avoid one of his punches. She extended her foot upwards and it hit his wrist. Tommy yelled out in pain and the others were on edge. She bent back up and slammed her foot into his stomach.
He caught her foot and twisted it backwards, making her turn the other way. Kenzi elbowed him in the chest and he let go of her foot. Both were breathing heavily as they circled the mat, exchanging jabs, hits, blocks and kicks.
Tommy dodged a hit from his daughter and sent her flying to the ground. "You lose." He said, out of breath. He turned and his team started cheering for him. Suddenly, a look of alarm crossed Kim's face and Tommy turned to see his daughter slam into him, jabbing at his weak points. He fell to the ground and she kicked his stomach. Jabbing at someone's weak points was an illegal move in karate and most martial arts. He had taught her to never go after someone like that. Disappointment filled his eyes.
Shouts and protests were heard from the others. Quickly, the fight turned into Kenzi letting all of her anger out. Suddenly, she was dragged away from her dad. Her Uncle Jason had an iron grip on her waist as he pulled her away from Tommy. She scratched and clawed at his hands. "Let me go!"
A cold and stern look from her Uncle made her go silent and stopped all resistance. Kimberly was helping Tommy to his feet. Tommy glared over at his daughter.
"Congratulations." He said coldly. "You've done it. You've proved yourself. And what you've proved, is that you're immature. You're not ready to be taught, and might not ever be ready. What you did is disgraceful and I'm ashamed of you. You wanted to be a Ranger? You escalated the fight, proving that you're not worthy. You're not an adult or even a teenager. You're a child, cheating to win a game. What you did, your mother never would have done. I didn't raise you like that!" He said angrily.
"No you're right." Kenzi said back, just as coldly. "You didn't raise me. Not the way a real dad would. You didn't teach me anything. You didn't teach me to ride a bike. You didn't teach me to write, to read, to draw, to do anything. The only thing you've taught me is to be bitter and to train. And for what? Something that I'll never be able to live up to. Something that I never want to do. I'm not you. And I am not my mother. I don't want to be like you. I'd rather have anyone else as my dad!" Kenzi said angrily.
Everything was silent for a long moment. A single slap was heard throughout the yard. Kenzi held her cheek, tears in her eyes. "You can't stay here anymore Mackenzi." Tommy said.
Her Uncle Adam leaned over to Tommy and whispered something in his ear. Tommy nodded with a grim smile. "As of tomorrow, you're going to be staying with your Uncle Adam for the summer. In Blue Bay Harbor. And if you don't have your act changed by the time the summer's over, I'll keep sending you to different places. Understood?" Tommy asked her.
Kenzi nodded numbly. "Yes sir." She spat coldly at him, before hurrying into the house. Kimberly went to follow her, but Ashley stopped her.
"She needs time. Trust me." Ashley said quietly.
"I'm glad she's going." Tommy said to Kimberly later that night.
"No you're not….not at all. And someday, you're going to understand how harsh you are on her." Kimberly said quietly.