Chapter Twelve-Spending Time Together
"I hate waiting," Conner commented as he dribbled his red and black soccer ball on his knees.
"And that's why you're the one with the speed," Ethan said looking up from his hand held game.
"That's right, better speed than a heavy armor that weighs me down," the Red Ranger said back catching his ball with his hands.
Kira rolled her eyes.
"They always do this," she told the Mighty Morphin Rangers.
"Really?" Kimberly said.
"Yes," Kira said.
"They do this every day?" Aisha asked.
"Yup," the other Yellow Ranger confirmed.
"Well, having chameleon powers is way better," Trent chimed in.
Kira groaned and rolled her eyes even more dramatically than before.
"I hate it when he starts too," the Yellow Ptera Ranger complained.
Kimberly and Aisha giggled.
"So, do you like any of the members of your team?" Kimberly asked.
"Yes, Trent," Kira answered confidently. "We pterodactyls gotta still with our brooding, once evil, White Rangers, don't we?"
Kimberly and Aisha could not help but laugh.
"Yeah," the Pink Ranger said.
Dr. Oliver leaned back in seat watching the group of teens. He turned to Kim.
"I forgot how girly you used to be," he said and was rewarded a swift hit to his arm.
"Hey, I was 16," she said in her defense. "And all of us girls behaved that way."
"Still sickening," Jason added and was hit in the arm as well. "Hey, Billy help us out here."
Will and Billy both turned to look at the former Red Ranger. Will smiled while Billy looked confused.
"I believe you are on your own," the elder blond said. "I have no desire to receive the same punishment as the two of you."
Everyone, except for Dr. Oliver and Jason, laughed.
"I'm hungry," Rocky announced as his stomach growled loudly.
"Me too," the younger Tommy stated.
"Okay," Dr. O said. "What does everyone want to eat?"
"How about pizza?" Ethan suggested and everyone agreed.
It took 45 minutes for the pizzas to arrive and all of the Rangers and adults separated into smaller groups and talked while they enjoyed their greasy supper.
Jason was off in a corner by himself. He quickly ate his first slice of pizza before calling his wife.
"Hello," the former Zeo Ranger I answered her cell.
"Hi, kitten," Jason greeted.
"Oh, hello sweetie," Kat said and the former Gold Zeo Ranger could tell that she was smiling. "How is everything going? Is Tommy being hospitable? And how is Kimberly?"
"Everything's fine," Jason answered. "Tommy's doing his best to not annoy me too much and Kimberly is great. She's teaching at Reefside High."
"That's great," Kat said smiling.
"Billy's here too," the former Red Ranger announced. "He has a thing for Hayley."
"Billy interested in another girl, that is not surprising," Kat said. "He always had a date."
"Billy does do well with the ladies. How is everything going with you and Tanya?"
"Lovely," Kat answered. "We spend our time talking and shopping."
"Shopping," Jason groaned.
"Oh relax love," the former Pink Ranger soothed. "It's not as bad as you think."
"I'll let the bank statements and credit card bill will speak for themselves," he said.
"Quiet you," Kat chuckled on her end.
Jason returned the chuckle before clearing his throat.
"Kat, there is something else I need to tell you," he said seriously.
"Oh," his wife gasped her voice laced with concern. "Is it bad?"
"Nothing that hasn't been handled before," Jason tried to calm her.
"Okay, what is it?" Kat asked.
"Tommy, Kimberly, Billy, Rocky, Aisha, and Adam from 1996 are here in the present," Jason revealed.
An audible gasp could be heard on the other end.
"What are you going to do?" his wife asked.
"We don't know what to do," Jason said honestly.
Meanwhile, Dr. Oliver and Kim sat at Dr. O's research table.
"This is unbelievable," the woman said. "How many times is this going to happen to us?"
"Hopefully, this will be the last time," Dr. O answered.
They took a bite out of their slices of pizza. Kim wiped her mouth with her napkin.
"Yeah," she agreed. She shifted in her seat.
"What are we going to do?" she asked.
"There's nothing we can do," Dr. Oliver said. "We don't even know how they got here."
"I know," Kim said. "I'm just worried. We don't know what will happen if they stay here for a long period of time. Them being here could change this future."
Dr. Oliver nodded. He wiped his mouth and hands on his napkin. He placed his hand on the former Pink Ranger's shoulder.
"It will be okay, Kimberly," he tried to comfort her. "We're going to do everything we can to send them back."
Kim nodded and smiled back at him.
Across the room, Hayley and Will were seated on a green blanket near the main computer. They were giggling while they ate. The two geniuses were relaxed. They had decided to not to worry about the time travel issue until after their dinner.
"Biggest fear?" Hayley asked.
"Fish," the former Blue Ranger answered simply.
"Really," Hayley questioned. "You went to an all water planet."
"I know," Will chuckled. "Wasn't exactly my brightest idea and Aquatar is only about 87% water."
"Still that's a lot of water with a lot of fish," Hayley said with shock.
Will nodded. "What about you? What is your biggest fear?"
"The dark," Hayley admitted. "Ever since I was little I can't stand it."
Will stared at her in shock.
"That's interesting," he said.
"Why?" Hayley asked.
"I never thought you would be afraid of the dark."
"Thanks to my older cousins talking me into going under my house and then sealing me there for 20 minutes."
"I hope they got into trouble for that."
"They did. They didn't talk to me for three months after that."
Trent and Kira were sitting on the back stairs in the lair. Unlike Will and Hayley, they were worried about what was happening around them.
"This isn't right," the Yellow Ranger said.
"No it's not," the White Ranger said.
"Why can't we just access our animal spirits like last time?" Kira asked.
"Probably because we're not sure how they got here," Trent answered.
Kira frowned.
"I don't like this, what if they remember everything? What if this changes everything?" she asked.
"If it does, maybe we can send them back in time to change everything back," her boyfriend said.
"I can only hope so," Kira said.
Kimberly and Tommy sat close to the front entrance of the Dino Thunder headquarters. Kimberly was taking small bites out of her pizza while Tommy finished his quietly.
"What's on your mind, Beautiful?" the White Ranger asked.
The Pink Ranger wiped her hands and placed her plate onto the floor beside her.
"Everything," the Pink Ranger asked. "This is all too much. Time traveling to the future. It's just too much."
Tommy nodded his understanding. He wiped his hands on his napkin before embracing his girlfriend, pulling her close.
"It will be okay," he said unaware of his elder self comforting the elder Kimberly. "We'll get through this. We always do."
Kimberly wrapped her arms around her boyfriend.
"I know," she said fighting back her tears. "I'm just scared that's all."
"Me too," Tommy said kissing the Pink Rangers temple. "But everything will be okay. Just keep thinking that."
Kimberly nodded before placing her head onto his shoulder.
Adam, Rocky, and Aisha were seated near a far wall closer to Jason. They did not hear his conversation with his wife.
"This is all unnerving," Aisha said. "What's happening I mean. It's not like it hasn't happened before. It's just shocking."
"It's not like it's are biggest time jump," Rocky said.
"No, but it's the first time we traveled in our own timeline," the Yellow Ranger said.
Adam nodded.
"This is different and we don't have Alpha or Zordon here to help solve our problem," Adam said.
Aisha sighed heavily.
"I bet Billy and that woman Hayley can figure out how to send us home," Rocky said with vindication. "They've obviously seem to know what they were doing."
"Besides," Adam added. "Both Billys have been through this before. So, they probably have some idea what to do."
Rocky scooted over to the Yellow Rangers left side.
"Yeah, at least they're not totally blind," he said.
Adam scooted over to the girl's right side. He smiled down at her reassuringly.
Aisha looked from the Black Ranger to the Red Ranger. Seeing their hopeful smiles she couldn't help but to smile in return.
Billy, Ethan, and Conner ate in silence. They were near Will and Hayley. They were unsure of what to say.
"I don't want to talk about time travel or Mesogog," Conner stated.
The two Blue Rangers looked up at him.
"It's too complicated right now," the Red Ranger said. "We don't know what's really going on. So, we wait and while we wait, I say we try to make the best of the situation."
Ethan and Billy nodded their agreement.
"So, what do we talk about?" Ethan asked.
Conner frowned and Billy was about to make a suggestion when, suddenly, alarm went off.
END OF CH. 12
