Chapter 26 is written and I'm working on 27. This is for those of you who are like me and not a huge football fan. Here's something to do.
"Adam, maybe you'd better call it quits for the day," Rocky's voice reached her from a few feet away. Kira looked up from where she was trying to "help" a few students get the hang of the simple kata they were learning. Kira actually knew this one. It was one of the first that Dr. Oliver had taught her and the other dino thunder rangers, but she'd never taught it before, and she was royally screwing up, like everything else she had done during the lesson. Kira just nodded, looking up at the clock on the wall and realizing it was nearly five o'clock, the time the lesson would end. She gave the confused students a small smile, and walked over to the table where Connor and Trent were sitting, frowning at her.
"Dude, you alright?" Connor asked her. She was really getting tired of that question. She'd raced to the youth center as soon as the teacher had released her from detention, only to find more than half of the group of rangers was missing, including Adam. In the chaos, she'd forgotten all about the shopping plan she'd had with Aisha and Kim. She'd been desperately hoping they could tell everyone and end the madness. Unfortunately, without him there, that wasn't going to happen, not that she hadn't tried. The moment she'd seen Trent she'd tried to tell him the truth, only to find that the words wouldn't come out. Only when she'd resolved to wait until the entire group was united did she find she was able to speak again. In response to Connor's question, she just nodded, taking a sip of the bottle of water she had at the table, letting herself watch Tommy and Rocky finish teaching the class. Once they'd dismissed the students, both walked toward the table, grabbing a small towel each, and wiping their faces. Rocky opened his mouth to say something to Kira.
"Don't even ask," Kira silenced him, knowing what question was. She was irritated and angry, and unfortunately, she really had to pee. She'd been holding it since lunch with the hope of finally getting back to normal as soon as school had let out. However, now she gave up, leaving the four teenage boys behind her as she took off towards the rest rooms, only because it gave her an excuse not to be asked if she was alright again. She paused outside them, panicking for a moment over which to use. "Damn it," she muttered, before pushing open the men's room door and entering. Only one person occupied the room, and he was washing his hands. Kira avoided all eye contact, staring down at her feet and coming to a stop in front of the urinals. Seeing them put the whole damn day into perspective, and Kira stood there fighting the urge to just break down and cry.
"Uh, Adam?" Tommy's voice behind her caused her to jump in alarm. She hadn't heard him enter the room. Kira snapped out of it, and tried to ignore the fact that the younger version of her science teacher stepped up to a urinal about three down from the one she was standing in front of, staring.
"Fuck," Kira whispered, too quiet for even Tommy to hear. She desperately tried to ignore what Tommy was doing, as well as the fact that her body was currently not giving her say in the matter of following suit. She turned her head away from Tommy, and as fast as she dared, untied the string on the karate pants she was wearing. Changing earlier hadn't been that bad, as she'd just gone into the locker room, and she hadn't had to remove Adam's boxers. This on the other hand was a whole new experience. She shut her eyes tight, and tried not to think about what she was actually touching, praying she was aiming correctly, as she heard Tommy finish and start washing his hands. The sound of running water was easier to concentrate on.
By the time she finished, Tommy had left the bathroom. Kira washed her hands, scrubbing hard at the skin on her palms, muttering "Ew, ew, ew, ew" over and over to herself as she did. When she got back to the work out area she realized the four guys weren't sitting at the table. She scanned until she found them in the corner near the lockers. She walked over, and Trent handed her Adam's book bag. She frowned, looking confused.
"Emergency," Tommy told her, indicating his communicator. Kira nodded, as she stepped into the alcove with them, partially hidden by a few plastic plants. Tommy and Rocky each placed their hands on Connor and Trent's shoulders, before using their other hand to press a button on their communicators. They teleported out in colored streaks of light. Kira blinked, realizing they'd left her behind.
"Oh shit," she stated, looking down at the communicator on her wrist. "I hope this is the right button," she muttered, pressing one of the controls. She felt the strange sensation of teleporting and then stumbled a bit when she landed in the Command Center.
"Where's Adam?" she heard Aisha's voice say just as she materialized. She gazed around the Command Center and sighed in relief. One because she'd ended up where she needed to go. And two because all ten of the other rangers were present. Immediately, the ever present buzzing in her head when she thought about her present situation stopped. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off her chest. But now, after everything that had happened over the course of the day, she wasn't sure she wanted anyone to know. She was going to have nightmares about it for weeks.
"Sorry," Kira replied, as the four she'd been with moments before looked over at her worried. "Tripped. Pressed the button a moment after you," she added, seeing herself roll her eyes. She glared at Adam. It was partially his fault for leaving with Kim and Aisha. Had he been there, they may have been able to persuade everyone to go back to the Command Center earlier.
Rangers! There has been a disturbance in the park Zordon stated, now that all of them were present. Billy nodded.
"I've been scanning Angel Grove for the last hour, and finally found this," Billy stated, indicating the viewing globe. The ten others shifted to look at it. Inside the viewing globe was the monster Kira had seen that morning with Adam. It was running around the park terrorizing people, sending flashes of light at anyone it pleased. Everyone except Kira and Adam stepped closer to get a better look. The other two didn't need to see. They knew what the disturbance was. The looked at each other and blushed.
"What is that thing?" Kimberly asked.
"What's it doing?" Connor followed.
He is called Mind Changer. Another of Lord Zedd and Rita's creations. He has been spreading chaos all day throughout Angel Grove park by switching the minds of anyone whom he hits with his beam of light.
"Switching minds?" Aisha asked, frowning. "You mean he's able to transfer the mind from one person and put it in another?"
Precisely Yellow Ranger.
"In the park?" Tommy asked, looking over at Adam and Kira who stood toward the back of the group. His face had gone pale. Everyone except Dr. Oliver and Ethan were now staring at Adam and Kira, who dropped their gazes to their feet, their faces showing brighter red than Rocky and Connor's suits.
"All day?" Rocky added. The two word question was fully loaded. Both Kira and Adam knew exactly what Tommy and Rocky were asking them. They both sighed and nodded slowly, still not looking up from the ground. The only bright side was that they at least didn't have to voice their confession out loud.
"Oh my gosh," Kimberly and Aisha muttered at the same time as Connor, Rocky, and Billy, all said "Well, that explains a lot." Trent and Tommy both just looked pale.
Alpha, please begin a scan of Kira and Adam Zordon commanded, recognizing what the rangers were all hinting out without speaking the truth.
"Right away Zordon," the little robot replied. He immediately approached the two named rangers and began running a scanner over their bodies.
"Oh god!" Tommy muttered, running his hand over his face. Dr. Oliver looked at his younger self confused. "Please tell me what I think is happening isn't happening," Tommy stated, not really directing his plea at anyone.
"We can't," Kira's body stated, while Adam's just shrugged his shoulders.
"What am I missing?" Dr. Oliver asked, looking from Kira and Adam, and then the rest of the group who had teleported in. While he did feel something had been off all day, he hadn't had direct contact with the two rangers in question, and therefore was not putting the monster together with the weirdness of the day.
"I went to the bathroom in front of you!" Tommy shouted at Adam's body, both of their faces blushing a deep red.
"You went to the bathroom?" Kira's body suddenly whirled to face Adam, horror on her face. Alpha finished the scan and ignoring the rangers, went to input the information into the computer.
"What did you expect me to do, hold it?" Adam's body snapped back.
"Yes!" was the response.
"Don't yell at her," Kimberly suddenly stated, clearly knowing what was going on. She walked over and wrapped her arms protectively around Adam's shoulders, glaring at Kira and her boyfriend. Dr. Oliver and Ethan blinked at Kim's use of the feminine pronoun when she was clearly speaking about Adam. "You showered," she told Kira.
"You did what?" Adam's body yelled, throwing Kimberly's arms off its shoulders, causing Kira's body to flinch and look away. Adam's face contorted.
"You saw my girlfriend naked?" Trent added, his face going red, not with embarrassment but with anger!
"I didn't look!" Kira's body defended. Dr. Oliver and Ethan were desperately trying to follow what was happening.
"Like that makes it any better," Adam's body muttered, throwing his hands up in the air.
"Well, now I know why you freaked out when I kissed you," Trent stated simply.
"You kissed him," Adam's body whined. The teenager looked hurt. Trent shrugged and gave him an apologetic look.
"I thought he was you," Trent replied, although he was still very weirded out by the situation.
"Ok, before this goes on any longer, can someone please fill those of us who haven't been present all day in on what the hell is going on?" Dr. Oliver suddenly shouting, getting their attention. Everyone looked over at him.
Billy took a deep breath and nodded. "Adam and Kira met up in the park this morning before school. Apparently Mind Changer got them."
"You're telling us that that," Ethan stated, pointing at Adam, "is Kira? And that that," his finger shifted to Kira, "Is Adam."
"Affirmative," Billy replied. Adam and Kira both nodded.
"So you two have been in each other's bodies all day?" Dr. Oliver asked them, his face showing that he almost didn't believe it. Both teenagers nodded again, clearly intimidated by him. "When Kira called me Dr. Oliver, that was Adam?" he asked, trying to get it all straight. Again, nods, although this time just from the real Adam.
"So it was Kira who turned down Sarah for the date this morning," Rocky muttered. Adam's eyes flashed as he looked over at Kira.
"Sorry," she muttered. Adam sighed and nodded. He'd showered in her body. He had officially done worse. He could forgive her the loss of a date.
"Why didn't you guys tell anyone?" Dr. Oliver asked. The two teenagers in question shrugged.
"We were going to right after it happened, Dr. O," Kira stated, slumping her shoulders.
"So why didn't you?" Tommy asked them.
"We, um," Adam hesitated, and looked at Kira, who shrugged in response. "We changed our minds."
"You what?" Tommy, Rocky, and Connor shouted at them. The three looked at their teammates, not believing what they had just heard.
"Of all the stupid excuses," Dr. Oliver stated, glaring at both of them. "What were you thinking?"
Do not be angry with them Zordon interrupted. Everyone, including Adam and Kira looked up at the Eltarian. Data from the scanners indicates that Adam and Kira had every intention of alerting us to the situation. It appears that Mind Changer can do more than switch individuals' minds. He can change their thoughts. Mind Changer made it so that when Adam and Kira tried to inform us of their present situation, they were unable to. And therefore, he was able to spend the day, spreading chaos and destruction.
The rangers all nodded, and Kimberly walked up to Kira, placing her hand on her shoulder. "It's going to be alright," she told her. "We've been through this before. I know exactly how you're feeling."
"You do?" Kira asked, looking up from her feet. Since they'd arrived in the Command Center and the truth had come out, she'd been wearing a perpetual blush. Kimberly nodded.
"Kim and I switched bodies back when we first became rangers," Billy explained kindly, when even Adam looked up at Kim's words looking for some type of comfort. Apparently, both teenagers felt quite traumatized. "It was quite a catastrophe."
"How come I never heard about this?" Tommy asked, giving Kimberly and Billy each a grin. Kimberly smiled back sweetly.
"Trust me, it's not a day I like reliving," she told him. "Billy, do you still have the device? Could we use it to switch them back?"
"Unfortunately not," Billy stated. "Even if I did, I don't think it'll work. The device caused our switch. One of the monster's spells caused theirs."
The only way to reverse the spell is to destroy Mind Changer's mirror. Doing so will correct the minds of all of his victims.
"Zordon, other than the mind switch, are Adam and Kira alright?" Aisha asked.
"Scans indicate both rangers are perfectly fine. All vital reports check out," Alpha told them.
"We're just mentally scarred for life," Kira muttered. Adam nodded agreement.
The eleven rangers looked from them back to the viewing globe, observing the scene in the park. Mind Changer was spreading chaos, sending beam after beam at unsuspecting individuals. Everywhere, a calm evening was giving way to panic.
"Alright you guys," Tommy stated, nodding. "Let's show this thing he can't mess with the Power Rangers and get away with it."
"Right," his team responded, including Adam, although Kira's voice mingling with the group was weird.
"Dr. O," Connor stated, turning to the older version of Tommy. "Zedd and Rita already know about Ethan."
"And they messed with Kira," Trent added in, both looking at him with questioning looks.
"I was not going to suggest you sit this one out," Dr. Oliver replied grinning. "Our showing up in battle can't do any more damage than this," he indicated Kira and Adam, "has already done." Connor and Trent grinned, high fiving. Ethan and Kira were grinning as well. Dr. Oliver turned to Tommy, and held out his hand to shake. "Eleven rangers are better than six, you agree?"
"Completely," Tommy stated, nodding and taking his older selves out stretched hand. He then turned to his team. "You ready?" They all nodded. Tommy looked at Connor who nodded as well. Both team leaders shouted their respective groups morphing calls at the same time.
"It's Morphin time!"
"Dino Thunder, Power Up!"
The Command Center was full of shouts, and suddenly the Command Center was filled with nine morphed rangers and two unmorphed ones.
"Um… you guys are going to have to morph according to your body, not your mind," Billy told them, laughing when they all realized that Kira and Adam had both called out and hadn't morphed. Both teenagers blushed and looked at each other, unsure of exactly what to do.
"Uh… how do I?" Adam asked Kira. She gave him a smile.
"Flick your left wrist," she instructed him. Adam did so and the silver bracelet with the yellow gem transformed into a morpher. Kira took his wrist and held it up. "Call out 'Dino Thunder, Power Up' and press this button," she told him. Adam nodded, and stepped back away from her before doing what she told him. A moment later, he felt an unfamiliar power radiated from his body. He peered down at himself from behind the familiar tint of a ranger helmet.
"I have a skirt," he groaned, causing everyone to laugh at him. He sighed and looked over at his own body. "Alright, Kira, your turn," he stated, stepping over to her. He handed over the morpher that he'd grabbed when his actual team had started to morph. Kira took it and looked up at Adam.
"Now what?"
"Hold it behind your back, then swing it out like this," he told her, demonstrating the movement of his arms. Kira practiced once, getting a nod from Adam when she did it right. "Since the morph is done, you're going to have call out 'It's morphin time', then 'Black Ranger Power'. Got it?"
"Yep," Kira replied with a grin. Adam stepped away from her again, and watched her go through the morph. It was slightly unsettling watching it happen. He'd seen the others morph before, but he'd never seen the black ranger suit appear.
"Ay yi yi yi yi," Alpha's voice grabbed the attention of all eleven rangers. "Mind Changer is leaving the park."
Rangers! You must go now and stop Mind Changer before he can do anymore damage.
"Right," all eleven stated, and a moment later they teleported out of the Command Center.
The six angel grove rangers (which included Kira at the moment) landed behind the monster, each taking a fighting stance as they landed. "Hey reflection face, where do you think you're going?" Tommy shouted out to the thing. It whirled around to face them.
"Rangers!" It laughed. "Did you get my present today?"
"Oh we got it alright," Rocky told it. "It wasn't very amusing." Adam was his best friend, and now that he thought about everything that had happened, he was quite pissed off.
"Yeah, switch them back," Kimberly shouted.
"I don't think I will," the creature replied, with a giggle in its voice. It bounced around happily and seemed to be studying the sun.
"Don't let its beam hit you," Kira told the rest of the group, just as sunlight hit the mirror and bounced off, aiming toward the rangers. The group split in half and rolled out of the way to safety.
"Leave them alone," came a shout from the other side of Mind Changer. The alien creature whirled back around to face five more rangers. Three of them stood in the center with Thundermax Sabers drawn and in blaster mode. Connor looked to Ethan and Adam on either side of him, and gave them a nod. "Now!"
The three dino thunder rangers fired their weapons directly at Mind Changer who stumbled backwards, away from the blast that had resulted in a series of sparks and a lot of smoke. However, aside from the stumble, when the smoke cleared, the creature was still standing, and there wasn't even a scratch on him.
"It didn't even touch him," Ethan growled, as Dr. Oliver and Trent stepped up beside the other three. The angel grove rangers ran from the other side of the creature to join them. "It doesn't make any sense."
"He's stronger than he looks," Tommy replied.
"Great," Dr. Oliver added in, and all the others knew he was rolling his eyes, sarcasm dripping in his voice.
"We can take him though; he can't beat all of us," Tommy stated. For Connor's team it was very odd to hear such positive remarks from whom they knew to be their teachers past. But for Rocky's friends, the sarcastic older Tommy was one disconcerted them. It was extremely hard to believe that both individuals were in actuality the same person.
"I'm out numbered!" The creature interrupted the rangers' communication with one another. It spread its arms wide, and in a flash was surrounded by tengas. "Now it's a fair fight."
"How are twenty five tengas and one demented mirror a fair fight against eleven rangers?" Aisha asked, as the group of eleven instantly broke apart, each taking on a few of the nearest evil minions.
"It's called bad guy math," Trent replied from a few feet away from her as he delivered a punch straight into the beak of a waiting tenga.
"Never heard of it," Billy laughed in response as he back flipped over a tenga's head.
"Multiply by two and carry the one," Kira replied, finding herself surrounded by a group of tengas. "Damn it, I miss my ptera scream," she muttered, instead using a sweeping kick low to the ground to bring down a few of the bird like creatures.
"Come get me you big bird wanna bes," Connor taunted a group of tengas. Three of them rushed at him – one from each side and one in front of him. Connor dashed out of the way at the last moment, allowing all three to collide with one another. He laughed as he watched them go down, before running to Kimberly's side where two tengas had her arms trapped. "Need some help?"
"The thought did cross my mind," she told him. Connor punched the nearest tenga in the face. It freed Kim's arm which she used to deliver her own punch to the remaining tenga. "Thanks," she told Connor with a nod.
"No problem," the dino thunder red ranger replied back. He looked over his shoulder watching Ethan take blow after blow from the tengas. Each time they struck him, they danced around shaking their wings in pain. "How you holding up Ethan?"
Ethan shrugged. "Stupid things are doing all the work for me," he called back. He kicked one tenga in the chest, sending it colliding with two more behind it in a domino effect.
Connor nodded, seeing that his teammate was doing fine on his own, and dashed off to lend Aisha some assistance who was also being surrounded by tengas. On the opposite side, Adam and Kira found themselves together, both using kicks and punches to fend off the tengas who were closing in a circle around them. "This is bad," Adam stated, positioning himself out of habit in front of the female ranger, despite the fact that Kira occupying his body meant she was currently taller than him. Kira rolled her eyes slightly. She never let Connor, Ethan, or Trent protect her that way, although she did find it a little sweet that all four of the angel grove guys often instinctively protected Kim and Aisha.
"You're going to need to use my ptera scream," Kira told him.
"What?"
"Concentrate on your vocal chords and scream, directly at them," she added, pointing at the birds. They'd backed her and Adam up against a rock wall, cutting off any escape.
"Alright, here goes," Adam stated. Adam opened his mouth and screamed as loud as he could, the blast knocking back the tengas who'd cornered them. "Yes!" Adam cheered. "That was awesome! Kira?" he asked, realizing the girl was staggering a bit, clutching her head. "Kira, you alright?" he asked, steadying her with his hands on her shoulders.
Kira nodded in response. "Never had to cover my ears before," she stated, allowing Adam to help steady her. "Didn't realized how loud that is," she added, with a bit of laughter to her statement. Adam snorted a laugh in response.
While Connor, Trent, Ethan, Kira, Adam, Aisha, Billy, and Kim had all been taking on the tengas, Dr. Oliver, Tommy, and Rocky had turned their attention towards Mind Changer. The three rangers circled him, all three with personal weapons drawn. Tommy held Saba, Rocky the power sword, and Dr. Oliver clutched his brachio staff.
"Give it up now Mind Changer, you'll never win against all of us," Tommy told the creature, who looked from the white to the black to the red ranger surrounding him.
"Didn't your masters ever tell you not to mess with the Power Rangers," Rocky stated. Dr. Oliver didn't join in on the monster bashing.
"They didn't tell me there would be this many to play with," The Mind Changer replied with a sadistic laugh. It slashed at them with its long arms. All three rangers immediately leapt towards it, striking the mirror in the center as hard as they could with each of their weapons while dodging its blows and kicks. More sparks; more smoke; but just as with the dino thunder rangers' Thundermax sabers, they couldn't even dent the creature.
"You all think you're so smart. All of one mind to defeat me," Mind Changer called out, realizing that with Adam's scream, the last of the tengas had been destroyed. The rest of the rangers regrouped behind Dr. Oliver, Tommy, and Rocky, fanning out to either side, with Tommy and Dr. Oliver acting as the point of the triangle.
"It's called working together," Tommy retorted. "Something your masters don't seem to understand."
"But what if you changed your mind?" Mind Changer taunted. "What if you didn't want to work together."
"Guys," Adam shouted. "Don't let him hit you with the light," he added, realizing what the creature was getting at. Mind Changer laughed, directing the suns' beam directly at the rangers. All eleven leapt into the air to avoid the light. Several rolled to safety, while several others were struck by the beam.
"Is everyone alright?" Connor shouted, as the smoke around them began to clear. He had jumped to the right of the monster to avoid the blast. He took a quick inventory of the group. To his right, in a crouched position that followed a roll was Ethan. Adam was in a similar position on his left. On the other side of the monster Connor saw Dr. Oliver helping Kira to her feet, while Billy pushed himself to a standing position as well. In the center, however, in front of the monster, Tommy, Rocky, Kimberly, Trent, and Aisha were struggling to their feet on the ground, groaning slightly.
The six unharmed rangers ran to them. Connor leaned down to help Rocky up, only for the other red ranger to yank his arm away. Connor could sense the angry glare he was receiving from inside the ranger helmet. "Get off of me, will you," Rocky growled.
"Leave us alone," Trent hissed at Kira, pulling away from her.
"What are we doing here?" Tommy asked, anger clear in his voice.
"Good question," Kimberly added in, once all eleven were standing. The five who'd been hit by the blast stood in a circle, backs to one another, surrounded by the six who hadn't been struck.
"Power down," Tommy shouted, and he, Rocky, Kim, Aisha, and Trent all demorphed, glaring at the six rangers around them. They then turned their glares on each other.
"This is stupid," Aisha stated, glaring at Kim in disgust. "I don't want to work with you," she stated.
"Couldn't agree more," Kimberly stated. "I'm out of here."
"Me too," Rocky agreed, as the two of them pushed their way through the circle of still morphed rangers who were too stunned by what was happening to stop them. The other three unmorphed rangers followed them. All five tossed insults back and forth between them as they walked away.
"What just happened?" Ethan asked, turning to watch the rangers walk away. Behind him, he could still hear the Mind Changer creature laughing in triumph.
"Mind Changer made it so they don't want to work together anymore," Dr. Oliver replied, he too was staring after the rangers, his eyes locked on himself.
"This is bad," Connor muttered.
"You think?" Adam asked him.
"There's only one way to fix this," Billy said, turning his attention away from his friends and back to the monster. "We have to destroy that thing," he was pointing directly at the mirror.
"Let me try," Dr. Oliver stated, pulling his brachio staff out in front of him, as he stepped slightly closer to the monster. The others instinctively stepped back. "Brachio Staff! Energy Orb! Now!" he shouted, sweeping the black weapon around in complete circle. The circle filled with a bright white light around Dr. Oliver, who then directed the staff in a pointing motion in front of him. The circle became spherical and glowed orange, blasting forward and striking Mind Changer head on. The creature didn't have time to dodge as the orb engulfed him, electricity sparking, and then exploded.
"No freaking way," Connor stated slowly, stepping up beside Dr. Oliver. Inside his helmet, his mouth was hanging wide open. "There is no way that thing survived that," he added, not believing what he was seeing. Mind Changer staggered back to his feet, as Kira, Adam, Ethan, and Billy joined the red and black dino thunder rangers in front of it, staring in shock. In front of them they could heard the creature laughing, while behind them, all they heard were the angry shouts of the arguing rangers.
So this chapter was one big long scene. Hope you enjoyed.
Reviews are always welcome,
Fateless