In the quiet darkness of the desert night, a bright light appeared. A second later the light was gone as quickly as it arrived. If anyone had seen the light the would have assumed they had imagined it due to its short appearance.
The only proof of anything occurring in that location would be the existence of the two figures that were most certainly not there previously.
The once empty desert was now playing host for the two humans that arrived in the light. A man and a young girl respectively. The man, dressed in a dark green leather military outfit, was on his knees. His face adorned with a cross-shaped scar had his dull emerald green eyes widened in shock. The deep bitter sadness that could easily be seen in the green orbs were further emphasized by the two streams of tears running down cheeks.
The young girl could be seen lying on her back a few feet from the man. Her eyes closed, asleep and oblivious to all the happenings around her.
In the dark desert night, the only sounds heard were the occasional drop of water that left the man's chin and landed on his lap and the soft rhythmic breathing of the child.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to the man he closed his eyes. He slowly took in a deep breath and exhaled. He repeated this act several times before slowly straightening his posture. His right hand began to make its way up his back before grabbing a circular metal attached to the center of his back. The moment he separated the device from his back, light from the device on his left wrist began to flicker to life before turning off once more.
When he opened his eyes the emerald glow had returned like reigniting the fire in his soul. Simultaneously he crushed the circular device in his right hand. Looking down he grabbed the belt buckle that had fallen to the floor. Waving it over his left hand it immediately disappeared as if it had never been there.
He stood up and made his way to the small girl. After kneeling down at her side he placed his left hand on her cheek and said, "Theta, scan her vitals."
The light from the mechanism on his left wrist once again lit up. This time, however, a female voice soon responded, "All vitals are fully functional. Kira should wake up from the effects of the grid surge in less than 24 hours."
A sigh escaped his lips and a soft smile formed, "Well it's nice to hear a bit of good news in all the darkness. Don't worry kiddo, things are going to get better from here on out, I promise." The scarred man then proceeded to bend over and kiss the sleeping child's forehead. He then sat down to finally take a small rest after all the craziness that he had been through.
"I have begun scanning this planet's databases for more information on our current status. It seems everything has worked out well. We are currently on Earth year 2004, August 7 10:24 PM. While I am gathering more data is there anything specific that you want me to find?" The female voice from the mechanism stated in the silence.
Lifting up his left arm and holding it parallel to his chest the man replied, "Yeah actually, show me a list with pictures of the current vehicles Earth provides."
Barely a second passed before two screens made of light appeared before his face both of which contained the list that he asked for. "The list on the left are vehicles best known for being used in our current terrain. The right list is a list of other vehicles, both are in an order that I believe fit your preferences to the best of my knowledge."
"As always, your the best Theta."
"Obviously", came the reply from the small device.
With an eye roll and scoff the man retorted, "But honestly it's your modesty that really astounds me." He began scrolling through the list and after only a quick look stated, "Yeah as expected I will take the first model on both lists as well as the second on the second. Add them to Storm Chaser. Hmm, let's name these leisure series 1, 2 and 3. Also, make sure you register these under my name. Ah right, and get me and Kira into the systems and an identity card."
Theta sighed, "I swear sometimes it like you think I don't have a brain."
"Well I mean technically you don't", the man replied with a laugh.
Silence was the only response he received. Which only made him chuckle a bit more.
Upon sobering up the man looked at his surroundings a bit before looking up at the stars. "It all seems so calm", he whispered to himself.
Half an hour later Theta's voice broke the silence once more, "Storm Chaser is fully equipped with the new vehicle schematics and ready for operation. We are currently at the location of the Power Rangers destroyed Power Chamber just outside of Angel Grove, California. That puts us approximately 300 miles from the previously chosen destination. Between me and Storm Chaser we should make the trip in about 3 hours as we aren't in too much of a rush."
"Okay, sounds like a plan,'' he replied as he got up and walked a few feet away from the girl. He then proceeded to wave his left hand in front of him while saying, "Come on out Storm Chaser: Leasure 1 Mode."
A small speck seemed to separate itself from the device on the man's wrist and began to grow in size. Barely a moment later a dark green Jeep Wrangler appeared in front of the man.
"Hey buddy, been a while," the man said and received a short series of beeps in return that made him chuckle and reply, "I missed you to buddy."
He then returned to the small girl and picked her up. As he approached the Jeep the back door opened up on its own and the man laid her down in the back seat. As he pulled away a soft white glow began to wrap around the girl.
The man smiled, "Thanks Storm, I know I can always count on you to keep Kira safe."
After closing the back door the vehicle beeped again and then opened up the driver's seat door. The man got in and the door closed for him. He looked back at the girl once more before saying, "Right, well the universe isn't going to save itself, huh buddy?" With a beep, the Jeep started its drive through the desert.
After another minute of silence the man stated, "Hey Theta, can you play some music?"
Her response was a sigh which was followed closely by the sound of the music he wished for.
THWACK. THWACK.
"Huff, Huff."
THWACK. THWACK. THWACK.
"AHHH!"
THUMP.
"Ugh."
Clap clap clap.
"Nicely done guys. Your getting really good. If Mesogog was still around he would be dreading having to take you guys on now," said a man with a black shirt, short spiky brown hair, brown eyes, and a goatee.
"Yeah, I can't say it feels that way right now Dr. O," a slightly ruffled brunette with a red shirt said from his position on the floor. Standing over him was a girl with a yellow shirt, dirty blonde hair and a clearly smug smile held her hand out to help him up.
Behind the black-shirted man were two other young men laughing. The African American man with a blue shirt was bent over laughing so hard tears were close to coming out. The other young man was of obvious Hispanic descent and had a white shirt.
The man in white forced out in between his laughter, "You're only saying that because you got your ass handed to you by Kira, Conner."
After getting helped up Conner glared at the man in white and said, "Oh, if you think you can do any better then, by all means, give it a go Trent."
"Ah," Trent's eyes immediately widened in surprise and a bit of fear at the idea.
Kira's face brightened at those words, "Yeah c' mon Trent it's been a while since we all have sparred with each other and I can use the practice."
"Umm, no that's fine I'm still tired from my spar with Ethan," Trent brought his hands up as he started back peddling.
"Oh what's wrong Trent, scared she won't go easy on you now that you two broke up," Conner replied.
Kira glared at Conner and said, "Hmph, keep talking and you and I will go another round."
"Alright guys that's enough, calm down," the man in black intervened. "Unlike you guys, Kira has spent most of her summer coming over here training to try and master her pterodactyl style. So it is to be expected that her skills are slightly above all of yours. Though it looks like you haven't exactly been slacking off yourself Conner. The fact you could keep up with Kira as well as you did is proof enough."
With a small laugh Conner said, "Thanks Dr. O, I would train when I had the time when I was at summer soccer training for UCLA."
"And how many times must I tell you all, I am not your teacher anymore. Call me Tommy," Tommy remarked with an eye roll.
With a chuckle at that Ethan spoke up, "Man, I can't believe this is it. Tomorrow we all leave for college. How are you going to make it without us here all the time, Tommy." After making a weird face Ethan added, "Man that's weird to say."
"You get used to it," Kira said having spent most of her summer getting used to it when she would come over to train. If she felt like the other rangers were like her little brothers who she had to constantly keep an eye on to keep out of trouble, then Tommy was her responsible, overprotective big brother.
While her fellow rangers had their hands full this summer getting ready for college, Kira had not had to do any summer preparation besides the normal pack up her stuff. As such she spent most of her summer playing music at Hayley's Cyberspace or spending time and training with her mentor and big brother figure. Of course, she also spent time going to the beach with Tori from the Ninja Storm team.
She like her fellow rangers got a full ride to college for her specific interests. Tomorrow she would leave with her parents to go on a road trip across the US. She would be going to the University of Miami's Frost School of Music.
It was one of the reasons that she and Trent had decided to break up as he was going to UCLA with Conner, although he was going for art while Conner was obviously going for soccer. After breaking up at the beginning of summer they quickly realized that much hasn't changed. It quickly occurred to them that although the craziness of Ranger life brought them together they never had an interest in being intimate with one another. Thus there friendship hadn't suffered in the slightest with their breakup.
Of course, the immediate awkward phase after the breakup was severely lessened by the fact that Trent had spent most of the summer traveling with his father and working on his art portfolio.
Ethan, on the other hand, had gotten into The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This meant that he spent his summer freaking out that he was unprepared. Stating that he had gotten so behind the times due to his Ranger days. Of course, the fact that he had been working with advanced technology like the Zords never occurred to him. As such you could always find him at Hayley's doing everything he could to 'catch up', including pestering Hayley about everything she knew, much to her annoyance.
"Hmph, I might actually be able to enjoy some peace and quiet now," Tommy stated with a smirk.
"Knowing you that is highly unlikely," came the reply of a new voice from behind the group.
As they turned they were greeted with the sight of a redhead wearing a blue blouse. "Now we can finally get this going away party started since Hayley is here," Kira said with a smile. "I was afraid you wouldn't make it."
"Oh, it's always a hassle to close down the cyberspace early. No one ever wants to leave," Hayley replied with a shrug.
"Hey what do mean it is highly unlikely. Don't think I didn't catch that remark," Tommy indignantly complained which led the others to all break out into laughter.
A few hours later they were saying their final goodbyes.
"Ok guys this isn't goodbye forever I will see you all in winter break or summer at the latest," Tommy said.
"Says the man who looks about to cry," Conner smirked. A glare from everyone quickly shut him up. "Sorry," he squeaked.
"As I was saying, take good care of yourselves, work hard and try to stay out of trouble," another glare at Conner who put his hands up in surrender. "Also I'm not saying that you have to train every day but try to keep in shape. Once a Ranger, Always a Ranger and you never know when or if you will ever be called Back into Action."
The rangers all nodded their heads seriously. They then all exchanged hugs and goodbyes as everyone began to leave Tommy's home and the headquarters of the Dino Thunder Power Rangers with bittersweet with thoughts full of their last year and their futures.
Kira however lagged behind.
Upon seeing her Tommy asked, "What's up?"
With a frown, Kira stated, "How am I supposed to get better in my martial arts style without you helping me?"
"You're forgetting the most important thing," Tommy said with a smirk. Seeing her confused face he continued, "I have taught you the basics of the pterodactyl martial arts style as well as several other styles that I believe suit you. While you are a little lacking in the flexibility and the more aerial aspects of those styles that seem to work for you, they aren't things that I am very skilled in teaching you. But the most important factor is in turning those styles into a style that truly works for you. That is something only you can do."
Kira looked down with a small frown as she began to process the information just given to her.
Tommy smiled and placed his hand on her shoulder, when she looked up at him he stated, "Don't worry I believe in you and I know you will figure it out in time. For now, go home and get some rest you have a long drive tomorrow and I would hate for you to fall asleep while driving."
She smiled back and replied, "Thanks Tommy," before giving him a hug and heading out.
With Hayley and the last of his Rangers gone he decided it was time to call it a night. When he finally got upstairs to his room he noticed his phone on his nightstand. "Oh crap, I completely forgot my phone up here today. Oh well doubt anything happened," he said as picked up his phone.
As it lit up he noticed several missed calls and a few texts. "Ah shit, I'm screwed," he stated as he noticed that the calls were from Jason and Trini along with texts about calling him back.
He quickly unlocked his phone and pressed the call button for Jason's number. After a few rings, he was greeted by a tired voice, "Only you Tommy. Do you not realize that it is already 10:00 PM?"
Tommy awkwardly chuckled, "Sorry, I just saw your calls and texts."
"Of course you did. I mean that was about 12 hours ago but I guess I should have expected nothing less," came an almost too casual response over the phone.
Tommy then heard the obviously annoyed voice of Trini in the background, "I swear if that is Tommy tell him I am going to kick his ass for being an idiot...again."
Hearing that immediately caused Tommy to blanch. "Yeah sorry, again I was busy saying bye to the kids they leave tomorrow you know."
Jason sighed, "Well had you answered your phone when I called you could have shared some good news."
"Oh, what good news is that?"
"Ranger Reunion," said Jason nonchalantly.
"What seriously!"
"Yep," Jason replied. "It's going to be this winter. Trini and I have been working on the plans all summer."
"Wow, that sounds amazing. The kids are going to love this, I will tell them as soon as I finish this phone call."
Chuckling Jason added, "Ok I will send you all the details. You better not forget and miss it or Trini might really kill you."
"Of course. I wouldn't miss it for the world. I feel like it's been forever since I have seen the others," Tommy excitedly exclaimed. "If you don't mind me asking what brought this on?"
"Jay actually."
"Huh?" a dumbfounded Tommy replied smartly. "Wait did you guys tell little Jason about your Ranger day's?"
"Yeah, although he is only 5 he is very mature. He may have gotten my brains and looks but he definitely has Trini's demeanor," Jason said proudly. "So we decided to tell him and even showed him some old pictures of the gang morphed without helmets. He thought it was the coolest thing ever and then asked to meet some of the others, so we planned this reunion. Of course, he easily promised not to tell anyone."
Trini snorted in the background, "Yeah, after he blackmailed you into training him to be the next greatest Power Ranger."
Jason coughed a few times while Tommy laughed, "That's my godson. Maybe I will show him a few things. I would hate his future Ranger prospects to be hurt because he was trained by a rusty retired ranger."
"Rusty or not I can still kick your ass whenever you want," Jason challenged.
Tommy scoffed, "You haven't been able to kick my ass since the day I received the Green Ranger power."
"Ok boys enough, I would like to go back to sleep sometime this year and that won't happen if you two keep bickering. So say goodbye and hang up. We will see you soon Tommy."
With a chuckle and a 'Yes Mom' from both, Jason and Tommy said their goodbyes and hung up.
After hanging up Tommy received the invitation with all the information as promised. He then sent it out to the newest Ranger team including Hayley. With that, he chose to go to sleep himself and figured that he would read the others replies in the morning rather than stay up to wait for them.
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
Tommy shot up out of bed and into a fighting stance ready for whatever had woken him from his sleep.
Looking around he saw nothing in his room and began to be confused as to why he suddenly woke up, "Must have been a dream."
As he made his way back into bed he heard it again.
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
This time being more cognizant he realized that it was the sound of someone knocking on his door. With that knowledge, he began to put on some pants before making his way downstairs.
As he neared the door the person on the other side knocked once again.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," he grumbled. Figuring it was one of the Rangers who had left something he stated as he opened the door, "What you guys forget this ti…"
His question was never completed as the person on the other side was not who he had thought it was at all.
Standing in front of him on his porch was a man who was his hight. His muscular frame could be easily seen in his military-style outfit. The man's most identifying features were the cross-shaped scar that adorned his face and the green eyes that almost seemed to glow in the night.
Although sure he had never seen this man before Tommy couldn't help but feel he was somehow familiar to him. The two men just stared at each for a moment before Tommy confusedly asked, "Can I help you with something?"
With a cough that seemed to help compose the man on Tommy's porch he smirked awkwardly and stated, "This might be a bit much to take in but my name is Joshua Jason Oliver and I am your son from the future."
Of all the things he had been expecting to come from the mouth of this mysterious young soldier like man, this was nowhere near close. As such he did the only thing his mind was capable of at this moment and continued to stare at this young man in shock.
With a soft chuckle, the man scratched the back of his head and said, "Hey Dad."