Hey guys, this one's a bit shorter, but I've got awesome news. I just finished the initial write of chapter 12 and it is 19 pages long. This is before the edits. It is already the longest chapter. And I can't wait for you all to read it. Anyway, I do hope you enjoy this one.
Real quick KLR, if you read this and you haven't checked your PMs, you might want to do that. *winks*.
Oh, and I don't remember if I've said this before, aside from spelling errors - Tyler speaks almost as well as a grown up, his difficulty is mainly with the letter "r", while Katie has absolutely no trouble with "r" but remember, she is just about two and a half, so sometimes what she says won't always make sense.
Happy reading.
"Jason returned and assumed the power of the gold ranger," the narration on the video continued as Tommy whirled back around to watch, his mouth hanging open in a dumbfounded expression. He was trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he would one day be the Red Ranger, which told him that as reluctant as he may have been to do it, he'd become leader. And hadn't Rocky called him that earlier? While Jason would become gold. How did anyone become a gold colored ranger?
"That's just," Tommy stated, not successfully finding words to describe what he was watching as the Gold Ranger flipped through the air in front of fiery explosions.
"Awesome? Amazing? Unbelievable?" Jason supplied for him, getting laughs from the other three Zeo team members present. "Bro, I had a freaking pyramid!" Jason stated, complete bravado in his voice, which caused everyone to burst out laughing, mainly because Tommy's face reflected pure and total disbelief.
"After High School graduation," Tommy's adult narrator voice resumed, "We were ready for face the world." The word's brought Tommy's attention off of Jason and back onto the video diary. He blinked a few times, having difficulty wrapping his mind around an event that seemed so normal, yet far off. He still had years before that. And with every strange thing that was apparently going to happen in his life, he was rather taken by surprise that he would accomplish something as normal as graduating high school. But then again, if he really thought about it, it seemed his friends were capable of achieving normal things such as getting married and producing children (not that he really wanted to think about that). "But not before going on one last adventure as rangers. It was time to shift into a higher gear."
"Shift into Turbo," the teenage Tommy on the video stated from within the cockpit of what appeared to be a zord. Tommy frowned for a moment in confusion as the scene changed to show that the rangers were now inside vehicles, capable of amazing speeds. His eyes shot open.
"Ok," Tommy stated, pointing at the screen, "now that's cool." Trying to keep up with the ever changing team around him, Tommy counted off himself, the teenagers he recognized as Adam and Tanya, as well as Kat, who was Kim's replacement on the team. Rocky, Jason, and Billy were missing. "Where's?" he began.
"Gold Ranger powers were temporary, just like your green ones," Jason told him gently, and Tommy nodded his understanding.
"And, um, Billy kind of goes to another planet," Adam told Tommy, waiting for the teenage boy's expression to show that his brain had exploded. Surprisingly, Tommy blinked rapidly a few times, before sighing and shaking his head. Apparently he was learning to resign himself to strangeness. In his mind, Tommy was realizing that while some of his friends would go on to lead normal lives that included grown up things like jobs, spouses, and children, not all of them would follow that pattern. "It's kind of why he's not here yet. Takes longer to get Earth than just a car ride."
"And you'll see about Rocky," Tanya told him, realizing he was trying desperately to follow the time line.
"The old rangers were gone forever," the narration continued, and Tommy frowned, turning back to the screen. "But the Turbo Rangers were born. A space pirate named Divatox launched an attack on Earth." Tommy watched the ever common in his life explosions, as well as the rangers new morph. "We were given the powers of Turbo and took her head on. With a little help."
The scene shifted to show a small boy, younger than he was at the current moment. Tommy blinked. "Guys," the boys stated, excitement on his face. "I'm the new blue ranger."
"Ok," Tanya laughed, drawing out the word. "Maybe you won't. Your future self really started cutting corners on the explanation thing, didn't he?" she stated, raising an eyebrow, and looking over at the teenagers who shrugged.
"We've always kind of wondered who the kid was and where Rocky went," Ethan stated, "but we didn't think it was exactly something to press. Figured Dr. O or you guys would tell us if we ever needed to know." He paused the video, and pulled his knees up to his chest.
"Do we have to tell them?" Rocky whinned, running his hand over his face, embarrassment clearly in his expression. "I thought we agreed there were things we all didn't want to talk about."
Trent laughed. "You could live with being regressed into a child multiple times, but not talking about why you left the team? That's pitiful," he told the older former ranger, a sly grin on his features. Rocky glared at him and muttered something about disrespectful rookies.
"Oh come on," Kira laughed. "It can't be that bad; after all, Trini, Zack and Jason went to a peace conference, Kim went off to the Pan Globals, Aisha went to Africa, and Billy left for Aquitar. What cool thing did you get to do?" Rocky had grimaced as she'd listed off each of the rangers departures except his own. He gave Aisha a pleading look, while Adam collapsed into hysterics behind him, wiping tears from his eyes.
"You want me to tell them?" Aisha asked Rocky, who sighed and nodded, casting a glare over his shoulder at the ranger who possessed the spirit of the frog, who was now rolling around on the love seat.
"If it must be told," he replied, dropping his shoulders and his gaze back down to the floor.
"Oh ape man," Adam choked out through his laughter. "It so must be told."
"You weren't laughing when it happened," Tanya told her fiancé with a slight grin on her face.
"That's because back then I was actually worried," Adam told her. "Now, when Kira put it in that type of perspective, it's hysterical," as his hysterics started to die away slightly. He was still laughing.
"Someone want to fill us in?" Trent raised an eyebrow and Tommy nodded enthusiastically.
"Adam, Tommy, and Rocky were training for a benefit match," Aisha explained, having heard the story numerous times. "Rocky accidentally landed on his back and got badly injured. Zordon had to pass his powers onto Justin as the rangers needed someone badly. Rocky decided to let Justin keep them and started his and Adam's dojo."
"Seriously?" Connor stated, raising his eyebrow at Rocky. "A back injury? During practice? Not even in the actual match?"
"It's all healed now, and I can kick you're as-butt," Rocky quickly amended, remembering that Tyler, though half asleep on his mother's lap, was still present in the room. Connor smirked in response and shook his head.
"Dude," Connor laughed, "That sucks," he added, over Adam's laugher.
"Frog boy," Rocky called, rolling his eyes. "You done?"
"Nope," Adam replied, though his laughter did turn to snickers and Rocky shook his head.
"So this Justin kid," Ethan said, pointing back at the screen. "He's only slightly older than we are then?"
"Never thought about that," Tanya stated, quizzically. "He was about twelve or so when he became a ranger, so he's in his very early twenties now." She and Adam had just spoken to him a few months before.
"Yeah," Adam confirmed. "He just graduated college. Only took him four years because he quadruple majored," he added in.
"What?" Ethan stated, frowning, his mouth hanging open. "Four majors? How is that possible?"
"When Justin joined the team, he also started high school," Adam explained, with a shrug of his shoulders. Justin being in high school had made it a bit easier to forget he wasn't just some little kid tagging along with the rangers all the time. It made him feel a little more like one of the team. "The kid's a genius."
"So why don't we contact him and see if he could help us fix Dr. O?" Trent asked, getting enthusiastic nods from the other individuals on his team, including Tommy. "After all, it's going to take a genius to fix this."
"Can't," Adam went on, with a sigh. He shook his head. "He's backpacking through Europe at the moment, celebrating his graduation. There's no way to reach him." Of course that would be their luck. Haley refusing contact; Billy out of possible contact; and Justin conveniently out of reach as well. The morphing grid must really have hated them.
"Well," Ethan stated, "there went that idea. And I can't say I'm not disappointed. I would have loved to meet him."
"You'll get the chance," Tanya told him with a smile and nod. "He's invited to the wedding," she added in and the teenagers nodded, although Tommy just looked slightly overwhelmed.
"So why exactly did we need a fifth ranger so badly?" Tommy asked, looking from the boy on the screen to the adults around him. He couldn't process a child becoming a ranger. It was too dangerous. How would they be able to go into battles and not worry about the boy? At present, he wasn't much older than the child on the screen, and even he was worried.
"Oh," Kim laughed lightly. "Little snafu," she added, pinching her fingers together, and Adam started laughing again. She wore a nervous smile on her face.
"Little?" Tanya stated, rolling her eyes, although she was grinning. She remembered that day and neither snafu nor little were words she would have used to describe their first battle as Turbo Rangers. If she thought about it hard enough, she could still feel the bruises she'd obtained through her ranger suit.
"Ok, big snafu?" Kim conceded, sighing when she noticed the perpetual frown on Tommy's face. "Divatox kidnapped Jason and I to give to this creature called Maligore as a wedding present. It sort of turned us evil for a bit."
"Sort of?" Tanya questioned again, shaking her head and slapping her forehead.
"Yeah well, we were slightly demonic," Jason confirmed. "Sorry for almost killing you," Jason told Tommy, a bit of laughter in his voice. Everyone else around him broke out into laughter. Years later, the entire thing was funny. So strange space pirate had fed them to an ancient evil entity and turned them evil. What was with space women and their obsession with marrying hideously ugly creatures in an attempt to gain power? And why were the Power Rangers always the damn wedding present?
"Please explain why you all find this so funny," Tommy stated simply, his mouth gaping open at the entire group surrounding him. He definitely didn't get it. In the excitement, he'd risen up on his knees, now he sank back so that his bottom rested on his heels, his hands dangling limply at his sides as he tried to piece together everything he was being told. Rangers switching out, new enemies to fight, friends being kidnapped and turned evil. How was any of that cause for amusement?
"Bro," Jason stated with a sigh. "It's simple. We lived to talk about it."
"If we didn't laugh," Zack continued shaking his head, "we'd probably all be so depressed right now."
"Laughing at it is how you cope," Connor put in. "You've got to laugh or you go crazy."
"The boy can be taught," Rocky stated, with a grin on his face at his younger counterpart. Connor gave him a grin in response and nodded once.
"At least on some topics," Connor conceded. "When I want to," he added in, laughing at himself.
"You're all insane," Tommy stated simply, shaking his head, a bewildered expression on his face.
"Told you that already," Zack laughed in response, not denying that fact. He was pretty sure they would all fail a traditional test for sanity, even the calm ones among them, like Trini or Billy. Tommy rolled his eyes at him.
"Just watch the video," Ethan told him with a laugh. Tommy sighed, and nodded, turning his back on the clearly deranged adults, as Ethan hit play. The video showed himself and Kat driving in a pickup truck that was attacked by fishlike creatures on motorbikes. A scene shift and an explosion, followed by Kat's voice screaming 'Tommy look out' and he saw himself face down, unconscious on the ground.
Two new faces appeared. A darked skinned teenage boy and a long haired girl of Asian descent. "I can't just stay here and do nothing," the teenage boy told his female companion before he ran towards the creatures.
The scene shifted again to show the teenagers fighting, as the narrator listed off the names of the teenagers. "TJ, Cassie." Another scene showed a blonde teenage girl ushering children to safety at the request of the Yellow Turbo Ranger. "Ashley." The final scene showed The Green Turbo Ranger asking a hispanic teenage boy for assistance. "And Carlos proved that they had what it takes."
"You've been asked to select an outstanding individual who will take over as your successor," a new female, alien voice stated. Tommy assumed it was coming from the floating torso and head of a woman clad in white. Part of him really wanted to ask where Zordon was, but another part of him was done with surprises and done with bad news, so he set his mouth in a grim line and continued to watch, blinking. Why had Kat's face showed more than normal concern for a friend? Why had the female alien said successor? Why did he need a successor? "We welcome them now, into the Power Ranger family."
"I wouldn't be standing here today, TJ, if it wasn't for your courage and strength," he watched himself say. "I choose you to lead the team as the new Red Ranger."
Ethan hit pause on the video and looked over at Tommy, who was staring at the screen in surprise. "You ok?"
"We just gave up our powers?" he squeaked out. "Just like that? After everything we'd been through?"
"I'll admit," Adam told him, standing up and walking over to Tommy. He squatted down and placed on hand on the teenagers shoulder. "I remember feeling exactly the way your face looks right now. Surprised, angry, disappointed, confused," he explained. "But looking back," he added, looking over at Rocky, Aisha, and Tanya. His eyes rested on Tanya and he gave her a small smile. "We deserved the reward of having a somewhat normal life. There's things we've all been able to do that wouldn't have been possible if we'd stayed rangers," he explained, his eyes falling on Tyler. He thought of Katie and Luke, asleep in the spare room. He was getting married in two months. He could have a family, too, if he wanted one. All because he had let Carlos take his powers. He hadn't wanted to admit it back then, but he was tired. Tired of the constant attacks, of feeling responsible for the entire planet, of worrying about what would happen to the world if he made a mistake or if he failed. Sure he hadn't been able to completely leave the power – once a ranger, and all that – but he and all the others had been able to relax a bit more than they normally would.
"And the power's not completely gone for all of us," Rocky stated with a slight snicker, getting various looks that promised bodily harm would befall him from several of the other rangers. He smirked and shrugged. Tommy had a right to know.
"What do you mean?" Tommy said, frowning. He had just watched himself hand off his powers to a teenager named TJ. How could he still have powers? How could any of them? Even the other teenagers had confirmed that their powers were gone now as well.
"The Zeo powers were never destroyed," Rocky stated, and Aisha hit him, as hard as she could, which actually caused her husband to wince and rub the spot on his chest where she had struck. He mouthed the word 'Ow', and Aisha just rolled her eyes at him. "What'd you do that for?"
"Don't tell him that," she scolded. "He'll want to use them." Tommy's eyes went wide as he realized that the video had told him he was also Zeo ranger. She was right. He didn't like feeling powerless. If there was a way to resume the power, he would take it. The regressed ranger opened his mouth to ask how he could morph.
"Probably not a good idea," Adam warned, cutting him off. "Your body isn't old enough for them yet. They might not be stable. I don't think it's advisable for you to test whether you can morph with them or not." He sighed, realizing he'd sort of just made Tommy's own point from four months ago when he and Rocky had, not knowing if they were stable, used the Zeo powers. In that moment, he understood Tommy's fear and concern, as he was pretty sure he felt the same feelings at the thought of the teenager attempting to morph into Zeo Ranger five, physically a few years too young.
"Shrunken Tommy we can handle," Kim stated with a nod. "I don't want to know what the morphing grid might do to you if you piss it off," she added in, and Tommy's face turned to disappointment. "Don't pout," she told him with a giggle. Embarrassed, Tommy turned his head away from her and blushed slightly.
"So what happens next?" Tommy asked. "I mean, now I get how all of you are part of my life, but what about them?" he asked, pointing at Trent, Connor, Ethan, and Kira. "Are you next?"
"Hardly," Kira laughed. "Between you passing off your Turbo powers, there was the Space team and Lost Galaxy Rangers."
"Lightspeed Rescue," Trent added in.
"Time Force," Ethan stated. "Speaking of Time Force, didn't Dr. O promise to have Wes explain some of the stuff about time travel to us?" he asked his former teammates who nodded. "Remind me to ask him about that when we get him back to normal."
"Wes?" Tommy frowned. How did he know someone named Wes?
"Time for red," Trent told him, although Tommy frowned. That didn't help. How did he know the red time force ranger? He wanted to ask more, but the teenagers kept going.
"There was Wildforce after that," Connor continued.
"And Ninja Storm," Kira stated. "They're the ones in Blue Bay Harbor," she added to Trini, who nodded once in understanding.
"Wow," Tommy stated, taking in the number of teams she'd just mentioned. "There's that many rangers?"
"At about six a piece, you're looking at thirty six more rangers between when you gave up your powers and when we became rangers," Trent stated. Even the older rangers looked surprised at that answer. While many of them were aware of all of the other ranger teams, they'd never actually taken the opportunity to could how many individuals were actually connected to the morphing grid.
"There are fifty two power rangers," Adam stated, blinking his eyes rapidly as his brain did the math. "Fifty two. That's half way to one hundred."
"Way to state the obvious," Rocky laughed at him, but his expression clearly showed the same awe that Adam's did. He shook his head, trying not to picture the massive amount of individuals. Thirteen of them in one room was crazy enough.
"Fifty four if you count the phantom ranger and the blue centurion," Tanya added in, getting looks from the others. She shook her head and shrugged.
"So who's our sixth?" Tommy asked, frowning. His question was directed at Connor since the teenager had informed him of the fact that he was the leader.
"Didn't have one," Connor laughed. "Didn't need one," he added in. There was an immense amount of pride in his voice.
"I'd say there were a few instances where six would not have been unwelcome," Kira laughed, shaking her head at Connor. "And we did team up with Ninja storm once," she continued. "But nope, just the five of us."
"Although, Rocky, Tanya, and Adam helped us out a few months ago," Trent told him. "So for a little, we did have a team of eight. It just wasn't permanent."
"Yeah," Rocky stated. "Let's not do that again. My muscles were sore for weeks afterwards."
"That's called getting old, dude," Connor laughed at him, and Rocky gave him a mock glare.
"Anyway to fast forward thought all those teams, Ethan?" Trini asked him. "I don't think that's necessary for Tommy to watch."
"Agreed," Kim stated, knowing what would happen to Zordon during the space rangers' tenure. Ethan nodded, and hit the fast forward on the remote. He hit play again, only when he saw the adult version of his mentor appear back on the screen.
"With the return of Mesogog, it became necessary to invoke the power of the dino gems. Should anything happen to me," the adult version of Tommy stated, as the scene shifted to show Ethan, Connor, and Kira each holding their dino gem, and their morphing sequence beneath them. "These three are in charge of protecting the planet. You're in good hands." As he finished speaking, the screen went black.
"That's it?" Tommy asked. "Where's Trent?"
"You never got around to adding onto it," Kira told him. "You made the last entry before Trent and even you, joined our team." She actually sounded a bit disappointed. They'd just watched a really awesome history, detailing the start of their legacy, and she felt that they were left holding the short stick.
"Maybe when we get you back to normal, we'll convince you to add to it," Kim stated, with a smile, though her comment wasn't just directed at Tommy. Kira gave the woman a slight smile, realizing Kim had caught on to her feelings. It was moments like those when she'd wished she'd had another female ranger around during their tenure. As far as she knew, there was only one other individual who got her her completely, and that was Tori, ninja storm's blue ranger.
"I'd still like to know where he got all that footage," Zack laughed, shaking his head. "It's a bit creepy." He wasn't entirely sure he liked the fact that there was video of him in morph, or in the command center, or anywhere else in general. If that disk fell into the wrong hands, they were screwed.
"I'm sure Haley helped him," Trent laughed. "And," he added, seeing the worried look on Zack's face, "like everything else Haley has ever worked on, there's a fail safe."
"That disk will only play in particular players," Ethan explained. "If I'd, let's say, tried to put it in a portable DVD player, the player and the disk would combust. Don't ask me how, that's a Haley question."
"And the digital version can only be accessed by computers tied to the morphing grid," Kira went on. "Trust us, we in no way want anyone to know our identities either," she stated, laughing and shaking her head. She wasn't a huge fan of Cassidy and Devin being in on it either.
"Gottcha," Tanya nodded, standing up and stretching. Adam pulled himself out of the squat he was in and stretched as well.
"So," Aisha stated to Tommy. "Any other questions?"
"Anything at all?" Trini added in, shifting Tyler's weight slightly. The boy was dozing, his eyes shut, and his mouth slightly open. Apparently he was slightly overwhelmed by all the people in the room.
Tommy stared at both of them for a few moments, his mouth slightly open. Seriously? Did they seriously just ask him if he had questions? Because that was the understatement of the century. Of course he had questions. How exactly did he loose the green ranger powers? Why did Jason have his power coin? Where was the dragonzord? How old would he be when he became the white ranger? Or when he became the red ranger? Why would Jason, Trini, and Zack choose to go to a peace conference? What were the Pan Globals that Kira mentioned? Why were they so important that Kim had to leave? What made Aisha stay in Africa? Where in the universe was Aquitar and why did Billy go? Why did he stay? How on earth could Zordon let a little kid become a ranger? How did they let Jason and Kim get kidnapped? Where was Zordon? Where was Alpha? How did Jason end up married to Trini with a child? Who exactly was Katherine, because he was positive she wasn't just another ranger? And how the hell did he somehow go from just wanting to be near Kimberly to sharing a home and even a bed with her?
Tommy shut his mouth slowly, and shook his head no. Everything he'd just learned was overwhelming enough. Both women laughed at him slightly.
"Are you sure?" Aisha asked him, and Tommy sighed.
"I'm sure," he replied, with a nod. "I don't really think there's anything else I need to know," he stated, stressing the word 'need'. Truthfully, he just didn't know how much more he could take.
"Ok then," Trini stated, despite knowing he was lying. She didn't want to push him. He'd ask them if and when he was ready. And hopefully, they'd get him back to normal before hand. She stood up, balancing Tyler against herself, even though her movement caused him to stir slightly.
"Mommy?" the boy stated, as she handed him off to Jason, who gave her a questioning look, even as he began rocking him slightly, hoping to put the boy back to sleep. Tyler yawned.
Trini chose not to answer the boy, knowing if she did, Jason wouldn't succeed in getting him to fall back to sleep. As much as he might not have wanted a nap, the last two days had been a bit overstimulating, and she hoped he'd continue to sleep. "Well, I'd like to have a look at the machine that did this. I doubt I can do much to fix it, but maybe I can have some notes on it ready for when Billy gets here," she stated.
"I'll come too and try and help," Adam put it, standing up and stretching.
"Sure," Ethan stated. He'd walked over to the television set and was removing the disk that contained the video diary. Haley was already going to kill them for Tommy's accident; he didn't think she'd like to come home to find the confidential record of ranger history missing from its proper location. "I'll show you both where it is," he added. "Kim, any plans for the rest of the day?"
"Nope," she stated. "We were just going to hang out here for the rest of the day since everyone is probably tired from driving, and eat dinner. Tomorrow is the beach."
"Sounds good to me," Jason stated, as the sound of crying echoed from the baby monitor on the end table nearest Rocky and Aisha. The sound caused Tyler to begin to blink his eyes, and Jason sighed. He wasn't going back to dream land any time soon.
"I got them," Rocky stated, kissing Aisha lightly and jumping to his feet, as she nodded her appreciation.
"I'll get started prepping dinner," Kim stated, pushing herself out of the arm chair and moving toward the kitchen.
"Good idea," Zack laughed, "I'll come help," he added in, his stomach growling slightly.
"How about you stay here and help Jason and Rocky keep the kids busy and Aisha and I can help Kim?" Tanya suggested, giving the original black ranger an appraising look. Zack chuckled in response and nodded, taking Tyler from Jason. It was apparent the toddler was not going to drift back off to sleep now that he'd been roused slightly. Jason happily relinquished the child to his favorite uncle.
"I'll help too," Kira stated, leaning down and kissing Trent lightly on the cheek, before following Kim, Aisha, and Tanya into the kitchen as Rocky came back in the room carrying Luke in one arm, and holding Katie's hand with the other. As soon as he released her, she ran right to Connor and tackled him to the floor. Tyler frowned for a moment, before wiggling out of Zack's hold. He approached Connor, who was now on laying on his back on the floor, Katie draped across his abdomen. He paused for a moment, before suddenly throwing himself over the teenage former red ranger, who grunted at the impact.
"No fair," Connor laughed. "Two on one," he stated, causing both toddlers to start giggling. He turned his head to look at Tommy. "Little help here?" he asked the younger teenager, who wore a quizzical look. When he didn't move, Connor raised his eyebrow.
"Oh… yeah," Tommy stated, slightly uncertain. He shifted over and pulled Katie, who giggled hysterically, off Connor, and laid her down on the floor and then began to tickle her. Connor laughed, and rolled himself to sitting, grabbing Tyler, and imprisoning him on the floor the same way Tommy had Katie. Tyler shrieked with laughter.
"No faiw! You'we biggew," Tyler stated, through laughter. "Help!" he laughed.
"Hewp," Katie copied, giggling.
"I'll save you," Trent laughed, pushing himself off the floor and mock pulling Connor and Tommy off the hysterical children, who leapt to their feet and suddenly tackled Trent to the floor. "You betrayed me!" he laughed, pretending to be dragged to the floor.
"Alright you five," Trini laughed, seeing how Rocky, Jason, and Zack weren't making any moves to interrupt the horse playing, but were rather watching it with amusement, mainly because Tommy had opted to let his guard down around the toddlers. "Why don't you take this outside?" she suggested, giving Jason a pointed look, as she turned to follow Ethan and Adam down the stairs to the basement. Jason nodded and waved her off.
"I'll make sure they do," he told her, and Trini nodded, turning her back and descending the stairs into the dino thunder team's lab.
"Good to see Tommy let his guard down," Adam stated, when Trini reached the bottom of the stairs behind him. Trini nodded and sighed once.
"Connor's been picking on him all day, but at the same time, he has been helping him relax a little," she stated, hearing Ethan snicker. The dark skinned teenager was near the computers, filing the disk away in a metal box that had a dinosaur footprint on it and a complicated looking pad lock.
"He's been pretty on edge then, I take it?" Adam asked her, and Trini nodded again. "I suppose this is really strange for him," he confirmed, with a nod of his own. "The sooner we get him back to normal, the better it'll be."
"That'll be easier said than done," Ethan told him, walking back over to both of them. "Dr. O said the device wasn't even finished yet, so I'm not even sure where we should start," he added in.
"Where is it?" Trini asked. Ethan sighed and nodded towards the corner of the lab. He and Trent had moved it while they were cleaning, figuring Kim wanted every square inch of the house organized, including the lab. The only place they hadn't touched was Tommy's desk; that was a job for an entire summer unto itself.
"Here," Ethan stated, leading Trini and Adam over to it.
"What the hell is that?" Adam laughed, sizing the machine up. "This looks like something my mother would have used when she went to get her hair done. It looks ridiculous."
"Don't tell Haley that," Ethan laughed. "I don't think she'd let you live," he added, crossing his own arms over his chest. He hadn't even wanted to attempt to fix the device, terrified that if he did something wrong, Tommy would be stuck as a teenager and forced to grow up all over again. Kimberly would kill him.
"This Haley person sounds pretty scary," Trini remarked, raising an eyebrow at the former black and blue rangers currently in the space with her.
"No scarier than you, Aisha, or Tanya," Adam chuckled. "Seriously, if not for Kira," he added in, "I'd have pegged her for Dino Thunder's yellow ranger," he finished. Trini smirked, and rolled her eyes. Seriously, she and the others had always agreed that the men tended to exaggerate the ferocity that was a yellow ranger. She shook her head and began walking around the strange device, examining it with her eyes.
"Kira is pretty intimidating herself when she wants to be," Ethan added in with a chuckle. He watched Trini for a few moments. "It's safe to touch," he stated, "I think. We unplugged it, so there's no power supply."
"That's good to know," Adam stated, indicating that he and Trini were both weary of going near the device. After all, it hadn't exactly had positive results on Tommy. It was not something they were eager to experience. "Regressing twice was enough for me, thank you very much."
"Never tried it," Trini laughed, stepping closer to the machine and running her hands over it, frowning. "Don't think I would enjoy it much," she added.
"Neither have I," Ethan laughed. "Watching Connor, Kira, and Trent go through it looked traumatic," he added in. "So what do you think?" he asked the two older former rangers. He was leaning back against one of the support columns in the lab, his ankles crossed, and his arms over his chest.
Adam and Trini paused in their examination and made eye contact with each other, each giving the other a slight smile. Although they'd never worked side by side before, each knew that the other had often helped Billy when he needed an extra mind, set of hands, or eyes in the command center, or his garage. "I'm not really sure; it looks complicated," Adam stated, shaking his head.
"I know we've been through all his already, but since we're together, three brains are better than one. Why don't you tell us what you know about how it was supposed to work?" Trini asked, turning her back on the machine and looking at Ethan. "Do you have something to write with?" she added in.
Ethan nodded, and walked over to Tommy's desk, finding a blank legal pad and a pen that he hoped had ink, before returning to Trini and Adam. He handed the pad and pen to the former yellow ranger, who tested the pen on the paper as he began to speak. "Dr. O said that it was supposed to translate the ideas of the person sitting in the chair into images on the monitor so anyone watching could watch the memories of the initial individual."
"Why couldn't he just be content with telling stories?" Adam stated. "Any idea how he got Haley to go along with this foolishness?" Normal people exchanged stories. Normal people longed for quiet laughter with friends. Normal people did not memory extraction devices for a reunion. Why couldn't Tommy just pretend to be one of the normal people for two weeks? That's all he asked.
Ethan smirked. "Haley likes building things. And she likes a challenge. I've got no doubt that if it had been finished, it would have worked." In reality, he didn't think it would have taken Tommy long to persuade her. All he would have had to do was doubt her abilities, and Haley would have been all over making a device that could translate memories to pictures.
"Probably didn't help that it got hit with a soccer ball," Trini stated, recording what Ethan explained.
"Connor can kick that thing pretty hard," Adam confirmed, with a nod, wincing at the memory of being out on the soccer field with him. He wasn't sure if that day was etched into his mind because of his colossal failure on the field, or because it was the first time in over half a decade since he'd morphed. Either way, it wasn't something he was going to be forgetting any time soon.
"So, again, tell us what happened when it got hit?" Trini asked, kneeling down to examine one of the control panels on the side of the chair. There was a metal door that appeared to open on some type of hinge. A wire stuck out of it near the arm rest.
"It started to shake," Ethan stated, frowning and watching as Trini pried the metal door open. "There was sparks, and a lot of smoke. Dr. O had the dome over his head, and the smoke kind of obscured everything so we didn't actually see the change."
"How'd you stop it?" Adam asked him, examining the wires near the monitor. They weren't fully connected to the chair, but he could tell where they would eventually lead.
"Unplugged it," Ethan chuckled, getting a grin from Adam in response. "It's not really like we could think of anything else to do," he added in. "Seriously I thought it was going to cook Dr. O." A cartoonish image of Tommy charred as if he'd been barbequed popped into Ethan's head, and he couldn't help but chuckle. Although, in reality, he supposed burnt flesh would have been horrifying, rather than amusing.
"All those years of fighting monsters and aliens and the great Tommy Oliver gets done in by a chair," Adam laughed, shaking his head. "You know, I could see the irony in something like that happening."
"I can too," Trini laughed. "I've been spending too much time with Jason and Zack," she added, although she didn't look away from the panel she was examining. She wrote down some notes as she went on the pad at her feet. "Adam," she called. "What do you think of this?" She was pointing to the wires sticking out of the top of the panel. Adam frowned at them, clearly thinking.
"You guys need any help?" Ethan asked, raising his eyebrow. Trini shook her head in response.
"I think we're good Ethan," Adam told him. "Tell the others we'll be up soon?"
"You got it," was the teenager's reply. He pushed himself away from the support column and climbed the stairs back into the main part of the house, leaving Adam and Trini to work alone in the basement.
"Wire's frayed," Trini remarked when Ethan was gone. "And there's some major charring in here," she added. Adam frowned and walked over to look at what she'd found. He squatted down beside her, and Trini pointed to the wires. "This one was sticking out the top, touching the arm rest."
"Wanna bet that was touching Tommy when the thing went off?" Adam asked her, shaking his head.
"More than likely," Trini replied, with a sigh. "You find anything near the monitor or the dome?"
"No," Adam told her simply. "The monitor's not even fully connected yet."
"Well," Trini stated, recording a few more notes, "I think it's safe to say that however it happened, it started in this panel. It's majorly damaged," she added, and Adam nodded before standing up. "It's beyond my capabilities."
"The notes will help Billy," Adam assured her. He offered a hand down to the original yellow ranger to help her to her feet. Trini took his hand and stood up, grabbing the pad and pen with her free hand and dropped them in the seat of the chair, as Adam led the way over to a nearby leather sofa.
"Think he'll be able to figure it out?" Trini asked Adam, who nodded. She trusted and loved Billy, but she hadn't seen him in years. She hadn't dealt in ranger chaos in years. The idea that they might not be able to get Tommy back to normal terrified her, but she hadn't wanted to show her worry in front of Tommy and Kim.
"Of course," he stated. "This is Billy we're talking about. I trust him with my life," he added in. "Actually, I did that recently." He looked up and saw the questioning look on Trini's face. He sighed and shook his head once, as if not really wanting to remember what happen. "I let Billy use me as a guinea pig for restoring Trent, Kira, Tommy, and Kim to the correct frame of mind after Mesogog turned them evil."
"You willingly went evil?" Trini asked him, placing her hand on his shoulder. Haven't dealt with Tommy during the aftermath of being the evil green ranger, she knew the pain and regret that those events often caused. Adam nodded.
"Said and did some pretty horrible things," Adam confirmed. "But I only did it because I knew Billy would find a way to cure it. He'll find a way to fix this. He has to. For Kim."
"They were apart too long, weren't they?" Trini nodded. It wasn't so much a question as a statement. "We had a girl's trip last year," she told Adam. "She wasn't miserable, but I could tell something was missing." They'd seen each other several times over the years since Trini had left for the peace conference, and Trini could only remember one trip where Kimberly had seemed whole – right after she'd given her power coin to Kat. She'd visited Trini before heading to Florida.
"Nearly a decade is a long time apart," Adam confirmed. "You know," he added in. "I'm pretty sure their break up was partially responsible for Tommy pulling away from everyone else," he replied.
"You think?" Trini laughed, rolling her eyes. "That's a given. Let me guess," she added. "He played it off that he was protecting all of us from this?" she asked, gesturing to the lab that served as Dino Thunder's command. Adam smirked and nodded in response. "He is such a fool," Trini stated, placing the palm of her hand on her head and shaking it. "The others buy it?" Of course Trini knew that Tommy had pulled away to protect himself from hurt. She wouldn't tell Jason that though; she was pretty sure Jason would definitely beat the shit out of him, and he might not wait until Tommy was back to normal to do it.
"Pretty sure everyone but Billy believed him," Adam stated. "And actually, I think Kim knows the truth. I think he told her when he went back in time." He remembered she'd seemed a bit sulky for a few days after she and Dr. Oliver at the time had had their conversation out on the porch that resulted in said adult avoiding them all and making a larger mess of thins.
"He never could lie to her," Trini confirmed with an understanding nod. "You all forgave him pretty easily, huh?"
"It was kind of hard not to when we had memories of his visit to the past. We could tell he was really torn up, even if, at the time, we really didn't know why. He sincerely regretted walking out of our lives," Adam assured her. "Yours too," he added in.
"Kim told Jason, Zack, and I this morning that Tommy had meant to reach out," Trini started, with a shrug of her shoulders. She wasn't so sure she believed that. She hated that their once tight group of six was so frayed. She and Jason's relationship had changed, and Zack was as close to Jason as ever, but with Billy being on another planet, and Kim living so far away, and Tommy not talking to anyone, things were far from how they'd once been.
"Dino Thunder had some major complications," Adam stated. "Their lab and their powers were destroyed. I know how that feels. You saw the Command Center explode on that video." Trini nodded once. "But we had the Zeo crystal. It wasn't over for us." The day the Command Center exploded ranked as one of the worse days of his life. Despite the positive outcome, he remembered the feeling of his heart sinking as he felt his powers were gone forever.
"But it was for them," Trini agreed. She'd chosen to leave the power. Jason and Zack had as well. And Kimberly, and Billy, and even Tommy had when the time was right. Although from Adam's words earlier, maybe that decision hadn't been entirely their own. Still, when it was a choice, it didn't hurt so much. The current teenagers had had their powers ripped away from them.
"Seems that way. It's been a few months and they haven't gotten them back," Adam confirmed. "Tommy was ok," he stated, "but the kids," he continued, shaking his head. "Tommy said they went to prom that night, but the next day, once it really hit them," he added, sighing and shaking his head. He couldn't really find the words for the depression that Tommy and Kim had described. Tommy had to assure him that they were handling it to convince him and Rocky that they didn't need to drive out there to help the teens through it. "I couldn't even get Kira to answer her phone for a week."
"You have a pretty close bond with her?" Trini asked, slightly surprised. She gave Adam a gentle smile. Adam who nodded and shrugged, although he blushed slightly at the thought that he might be slightly overprotective of the young woman.
"After what we went through," he chuckled slightly, "it was hard not to. She's like a little sister," Adam confirmed.
"Tommy did a good job mentoring the four of them," Trini stated. "Conner's a little strange, but you can tell he's a good leader."
"Most reds are a little touched in the head," Adam laughed. "You should know," he added.
"Oh," Trini laughed. "I do," she added in. "But they're also not very forgiving."
"Jason's pissed off at Tommy still?" Adam asked, sensing Trini's meaning. She clasped her hands together and nodded. "He has a right to be," Adam assured her. "You're angry with him too," he stated.
"I'm not," Trini started to protest, but Adam shook his head.
"I can see it in your eyes," he informed her, throwing his arm over her shoulders.
"No wonder Billy worked with you a lot," Trini grinned. "You see things," she added.
"Not like you," he reminded her. "I could never replace your skills on the team," he assured her. "But you have a right to be mad at Tommy too. Just not this version."
"Yeah," she stated. "I'm sure when we get him back to normal, we'll be able to clear the air," she added. "Right now, he needs us to be his friends."
"Exactly," Adam stated. "Because Connor, Rocky, Zack, and I really aren't doing him any favors in that area," he laughed, recognizing that he was having a bit too much fun teasing the poor kid. He wondered if, when everything was fixed, if Tommy would remember anything. If he did, Adam knew they were all in for a world of hurt. Especially Connor, since the boy would have a harder time defending himself.
"It's not hard to be his friend now," she stated, laughing a bit. "He really is that unsure fifteen year old with a major crush on Kimberly. So when does Billy get here?"
"Friday," Adam told her with a grin. "And it's a permanent move."
"Seriously?" Trini said, her face breaking out into a huge grin. "His email last month said he was planning on relocating, but I didn't know it was this soon."
"Tommy and Haley helped him with the necessary, um, paperwork," Adam laughed as the two of them stood up and stretched.
"You mean fabricated paper work, don't you?" she laughed and Adam shrugged. "I doubt Billy's happy about breaking laws."
"That's why Haley did it," Adam chuckled, nodding his agreement with the former yellow ranger. "Well, since there's nothing we can do about the stupid device, I guess we'd better head back upstairs."
"But it's so peaceful down here," Trini whined slightly. Adam laughed at her, shaking his head as the two of them reluctantly headed back up the stairs into the main portion of the house.
Ok, so that's the end of the enlightenment of Tommy arc. I know this wasn't the talk you were all hoping for, but this fic is about more than just our Falcon and Crane. I love examining the relationships between each of the rangers, so in this chapter you got a bit of insight into Adam's relationship with Kira, as well as his and Trini's relationship. Both individuals were Billy's right hand, though they never served together, so I felt it was important to show their interaction. For those of you who are worried about the Adam/Kira thing - don't be. 1) I'm not big on age gap. 2) Adam belongs with Tanya. 3) Tanya likes Kira and is not jealous of her in any way. 4) Adam feels like a big brother to Kira, end of story. And yes - I am planning a story set post Once A Ranger within this universe. Just not exactly sure how its going to go yet.
Also, the plot bunny pretty much shut down Justin showing up in this fic. The main reason - he can't show up and fix things before Billy gets there otherwise the plot gets ruined. So I had to send Justin on a back packing trip through Europe. All hope of his showing up isn't lost, but at this point, it is highly unlikely. However, again, I have a few future fics for this universe planned - one being Adam and Tanya's wedding, so Justin will show there. Still not sure about Kat yet. We'll see what type of carrots my plot bunnies want to eat for this fic.
Finally, as always cause I'm super excited about it - Plug for The Order. We now know a little about 4 characters (if you follow a bunch of facebook pages like I do) - Varus, Kane, Jack, and Dax. I am totally team Kane (clearly) and I definitely think he's a flipflopper, so I'm all for order AND chaos. How about you guys?
Thanks for helping me hit 100 reviews early. And Thanks in advance for any other reviews you might send.
Fateless