Disclaimer: Don't own the Power Rangers. Anybody you never heard of before
is probably mine, but it doesn't matter because there's no money involved
anyway.
Note: this is completely AU. Zordon never died. The originals are all in their early to mid-twenties. You'll recognize the other stuff I changed. Here's a little fun before things hit the fan.
Legacy, part 9
"Jason, what the hell is happening to you?" Tommy's eyes were round with astonishment as he watched his friend's physique expand right before the Red Turbo Ranger's astounded gaze. Clothes that had nearly hung off Jason's frame only moments before now were stretched to the limit, and his pants were at least three inches too short.
"I – I – Mr. C! Look at me!" Jason's voice rang out joyfully.
Peter Cranston grinned. "I see, Jase, I see. Can you access Paladin, do you think?"
"Maybe – I don't know. How?"
"Okay, fine," interrupted Tommy. "I'll just go with the flow until someone clues me in, shall I?"
Jason laughed. "I'm sorry, man. It's a long story." Jason and Peter took turns filling the handsome martial artist in.
"Holy cow, what a time you've been having," Tommy breathed when they were through. "Sisters from other planets, saving the cosmos, returning from the brink of death…you know, if we hadn't been through so many weird things together with the Rangers I'd think you were nuts. One thing, though, bro; there's something I need you to do for me when you're back to full strength."
"Anything."
"Remind me to kick your sorry ass for keeping your condition from me. What were you thinking?"
Jason winced guiltily. "I know, I'm sorry. Billy already flew off the handle at me, if it makes you feel any better."
Tommy ran a hand over the back of his neck. "Not really, but I guess it will have to do." He looked at his friend thoughtfully. "So now what are you going to do?"
A loud growl from Jason's midsection answered that question. "Lunch, I hope. Maybe we should call the others for a picnic or something. I've got a lot to tell them."
Alpha bustled in self-importantly. "P'tyr Krann, I have replicated Billy's clothes to accommodate his larger frame, but he is not in his quarters, and I—ai-yi-yi!" The little robot caught sight of Jason. "Now I'll have to replicate a new set for you, too. Tommy, tell me now if you're going to grow suddenly."
"Wasn't planning on it," Tommy chuckled.
"If you'll go replicate those clothes for me now, Alpha, by the time you're done I'll have taken a shower and found Billy," said Jason, avoiding looking at Billy's father. "I think I know where he is."
**************
While Jason showered, Tommy went hunting for Zordon, finding him with Alpha in the main chamber. "Can I ask you guys something?"
"Of course, Tommy. What is troubling you?" came the familiar bass response.
He leaned a hip against a console and folded his arms. "This world, Xerya, is in some trouble, right?"
"Deep trouble, Tommy. And I fear So'Vran's evil will begin to spread like a pestilence if he finds a way to penetrate the dimensional barrier. Guardian, Sentinel, and Paladin may be the last, best hope for all of us."
Tommy was in a brown study, frowning absently. Suddenly his countenance lightened, as though he'd come to a conclusion, or made a decision. "Zordon," he said, reaching into his pocket for his morpher, "I need you to make a call."
***************
"Want a drink?" Tommy asked over his shoulder as he leaned into the cooler. He sat with Jason on the shore of Angel Grove Lake, waiting for their friends to join them for an impromptu picnic lunch.
"Sure," the brawny, dark-haired man said, his gaze locked on some distant point. "Whatever you got." He grabbed the lobbed can of soda out of the air and flipped it open, drinking absently.
"I wonder where everybody is." Tommy lay back on the blanket he'd spread under their usual tree, propping himself up on his elbows and crossing his feet. The day was gorgeous, bright and hot and cloudless; the lake was calm, with hardly a ripple breaking its glassy surface. He sighed with a smile. "They don't know what they're missing."
Jason took a final swallow and wiped his mouth on his arm. "They'll be here in a little while. I wanted to talk to you first, just us." He looked unaccountably nervous, and Tommy grew suspicious.
"What's up, Jase?" Tommy's hazel eyes narrowed, watching his friend.
Jason sighed. "Okay, let me just ask you something real quick, okay? But I need you to be honest with me."
"Okay."
Jason fidgeted with the fringe of the blanket, refusing to look at his friend. "Does it bother you that – well, that I'm not originally from around here?"
There was a long pause, during which a number of possible responses ticked through Tommy's mind. A part of him couldn't believe Jason had just asked him that, as though it mattered whether he was human, or Xeryan, or a tree frog. On the other hand, if their positions were reversed, Tommy'd probably be worried about the same thing.
And Jase had been through an awful lot recently. It occurred to Tommy that maybe his friend was feeling a little neglected, wondering whether their friendship was still what it had been before the whole losing-the-Gold- powers fiasco. He decided to answer that question instead. "Geez, Jase," said Tommy softly, chuckling. He began to shake his can of soda vigorously. "First you don't tell me you're in trouble, and now you think I care where you were born?" Jason eyed the soda can warily. "There's only one answer to that, Scott."
"Tommy…"
"You better run, bro."
Jason raised his hands in surrender. "I'm sorry, it was a stupid question, okay?" Tommy got to his feet. "Tom, these are the only clothes I have that fit—"
Tommy just grinned. "Then you better run fast." With that he cracked the seal of the soda, aiming it at Jason, who took a blast of cold, sticky cola right in the face with a yelp.
"Oh…" he growled, shaking his head like a dog coming in from the rain, "now YOU better run, pal." With a whoop he jumped to his feet and took off after Tommy.
Tommy ran toward a picnic table, leaping lightly over it and turning to face his pursuer. "You may have the bulk and the muscles, Jase, but I've got the speed," he taunted laughingly. "And ALL the style," he added, twisting just out of Jason's reach as the taller man followed him.
Jason just laughed. It had been months since he'd been able to horse around like this; and even then it had never felt this good. He laughed again, putting on a burst of speed, feinting left then leaping right when Tommy fell for his bluff. He tackled his friend around the middle and they rolled together in a tangle of limbs, both gasping with laughter, until Jason got to his feet and stopped the mock-battle with the simple expedient of lifting Tommy off the ground and into the air, giving him no leverage. With a satisfied chuckle, Jason headed toward the dock, holding his wriggling quarry securely.
"It's a great day for a picnic," Tanya Park swung the basket of food jauntily with a grin at her husband. Adam Park smiled back at his wife, hefting the big cooler up a notch.
"Yep, this is a great idea. Plus I'm glad that Jason's feeling well enough these days to think of this kind of thing. That trip with Billy must have done some good. Look, there's Rocky," he waved at his friend who was approaching from another direction.
"Hey, you two. Where are we meeting the others?" Rocky said somewhat breathlessly as he jogged up to them.
"Over by the lake," Tanya supplied. "Thanks, Rock," she added as he took the heavy hamper from her and gave her his rolled blanket to carry instead. "I can hear Tommy shouting, but I don't see –wait a sec. Is that –?" She shaded her eyes with her hand to get a better look. "Is that Jason? He looks – he looks –" she stuttered, then turned to her husband, who was staring at the pair on the dock.
"Holy crap," said Rocky as they got closer. He dropped the picnic basket and began to run. "Jason! Jase! Madre de Dios, is that you?" Adam and Tanya glanced at each other, then ran after him.
"Rocky!" hollered Tommy, still struggling in midair. "Gimme a hand here!"
Rocky came to a halt on the smooth wood of the dock as a grinning Jason suspended his friend over the water. The lanky Latino eyed the scene. Jason's head and shoulders were dripping with cola, and he was, frankly, huge. "Uh, I don't think so, Tom. You're on your own."
"Hey, Rocko," said Jason with a grin. "Hi, guys," he added to the Parks. "Say goodbye, Tommy."
"JAS—" Tommy began, ending in splutters as he hit the lake.
Tanya greeted her old friend with a hug. "What happened to you, Jason?"
"Tommy squirted me with a soda."
She gave an exasperated snort, watching her husband haul the dripping prankster from the water. "You know what I mean. You look, um, different."
He chuckled. "Yeah, though you ought to see Bill. We'll fill everyone in at the same time, okay?"
Tommy turned a glare on Rocky, who tried to look innocent and failed. "Nice to know who your friends are in a pinch, Rock."
"Hey, dude, you brought it on yourself." The Blue Turbo Ranger spread his hands in a 'who, me?' gesture.
"Oh, you're right, I'm being thoughtless. C'mere, buddy," and Tommy wrapped a laughing, protesting Rocky in a soaking wet bear hug. Adam cracked up and the two looked at him, nodded to each other, grabbed the surprised man and leapt into the lake, carrying him with them. Tanya shrieked with laughter as Jason shrugged and jumped in after them, initiating a water fight that lasted until Kat arrived bearing an armful of towels.
"How did you know?" asked Tanya as she watched the guys drying themselves off.
"We're at the lake, T. Somebody always gets thrown in," Kat chuckled. Jason tugged off his wet shirt and immediately everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at him in amazement. He reddened and draped the towel over his shoulders, his countenance brightening considerably as he caught sight of the couple approaching them. Five other pairs of eyes swiveled to watch; four pairs widened in surprise as they recognized one of the newcomers.
"Hi, guys," Billy said, blushing at his friends' scrutiny. "Tai brought you some dry clothes, Jase. I figured somebody would get thrown in."
"Hey, thanks, My-tai," said her brother as she handed him the small case she carried with a smile that matched his own. Five heads looked from one sibling to the other and back. Taia looked down at the ground shyly. "Guys," said Jason, slipping an arm around her shoulders, "I want you to meet my sister, Taia. Which is only the beginning of what we have to tell you."
Note: this is completely AU. Zordon never died. The originals are all in their early to mid-twenties. You'll recognize the other stuff I changed. Here's a little fun before things hit the fan.
Legacy, part 9
"Jason, what the hell is happening to you?" Tommy's eyes were round with astonishment as he watched his friend's physique expand right before the Red Turbo Ranger's astounded gaze. Clothes that had nearly hung off Jason's frame only moments before now were stretched to the limit, and his pants were at least three inches too short.
"I – I – Mr. C! Look at me!" Jason's voice rang out joyfully.
Peter Cranston grinned. "I see, Jase, I see. Can you access Paladin, do you think?"
"Maybe – I don't know. How?"
"Okay, fine," interrupted Tommy. "I'll just go with the flow until someone clues me in, shall I?"
Jason laughed. "I'm sorry, man. It's a long story." Jason and Peter took turns filling the handsome martial artist in.
"Holy cow, what a time you've been having," Tommy breathed when they were through. "Sisters from other planets, saving the cosmos, returning from the brink of death…you know, if we hadn't been through so many weird things together with the Rangers I'd think you were nuts. One thing, though, bro; there's something I need you to do for me when you're back to full strength."
"Anything."
"Remind me to kick your sorry ass for keeping your condition from me. What were you thinking?"
Jason winced guiltily. "I know, I'm sorry. Billy already flew off the handle at me, if it makes you feel any better."
Tommy ran a hand over the back of his neck. "Not really, but I guess it will have to do." He looked at his friend thoughtfully. "So now what are you going to do?"
A loud growl from Jason's midsection answered that question. "Lunch, I hope. Maybe we should call the others for a picnic or something. I've got a lot to tell them."
Alpha bustled in self-importantly. "P'tyr Krann, I have replicated Billy's clothes to accommodate his larger frame, but he is not in his quarters, and I—ai-yi-yi!" The little robot caught sight of Jason. "Now I'll have to replicate a new set for you, too. Tommy, tell me now if you're going to grow suddenly."
"Wasn't planning on it," Tommy chuckled.
"If you'll go replicate those clothes for me now, Alpha, by the time you're done I'll have taken a shower and found Billy," said Jason, avoiding looking at Billy's father. "I think I know where he is."
**************
While Jason showered, Tommy went hunting for Zordon, finding him with Alpha in the main chamber. "Can I ask you guys something?"
"Of course, Tommy. What is troubling you?" came the familiar bass response.
He leaned a hip against a console and folded his arms. "This world, Xerya, is in some trouble, right?"
"Deep trouble, Tommy. And I fear So'Vran's evil will begin to spread like a pestilence if he finds a way to penetrate the dimensional barrier. Guardian, Sentinel, and Paladin may be the last, best hope for all of us."
Tommy was in a brown study, frowning absently. Suddenly his countenance lightened, as though he'd come to a conclusion, or made a decision. "Zordon," he said, reaching into his pocket for his morpher, "I need you to make a call."
***************
"Want a drink?" Tommy asked over his shoulder as he leaned into the cooler. He sat with Jason on the shore of Angel Grove Lake, waiting for their friends to join them for an impromptu picnic lunch.
"Sure," the brawny, dark-haired man said, his gaze locked on some distant point. "Whatever you got." He grabbed the lobbed can of soda out of the air and flipped it open, drinking absently.
"I wonder where everybody is." Tommy lay back on the blanket he'd spread under their usual tree, propping himself up on his elbows and crossing his feet. The day was gorgeous, bright and hot and cloudless; the lake was calm, with hardly a ripple breaking its glassy surface. He sighed with a smile. "They don't know what they're missing."
Jason took a final swallow and wiped his mouth on his arm. "They'll be here in a little while. I wanted to talk to you first, just us." He looked unaccountably nervous, and Tommy grew suspicious.
"What's up, Jase?" Tommy's hazel eyes narrowed, watching his friend.
Jason sighed. "Okay, let me just ask you something real quick, okay? But I need you to be honest with me."
"Okay."
Jason fidgeted with the fringe of the blanket, refusing to look at his friend. "Does it bother you that – well, that I'm not originally from around here?"
There was a long pause, during which a number of possible responses ticked through Tommy's mind. A part of him couldn't believe Jason had just asked him that, as though it mattered whether he was human, or Xeryan, or a tree frog. On the other hand, if their positions were reversed, Tommy'd probably be worried about the same thing.
And Jase had been through an awful lot recently. It occurred to Tommy that maybe his friend was feeling a little neglected, wondering whether their friendship was still what it had been before the whole losing-the-Gold- powers fiasco. He decided to answer that question instead. "Geez, Jase," said Tommy softly, chuckling. He began to shake his can of soda vigorously. "First you don't tell me you're in trouble, and now you think I care where you were born?" Jason eyed the soda can warily. "There's only one answer to that, Scott."
"Tommy…"
"You better run, bro."
Jason raised his hands in surrender. "I'm sorry, it was a stupid question, okay?" Tommy got to his feet. "Tom, these are the only clothes I have that fit—"
Tommy just grinned. "Then you better run fast." With that he cracked the seal of the soda, aiming it at Jason, who took a blast of cold, sticky cola right in the face with a yelp.
"Oh…" he growled, shaking his head like a dog coming in from the rain, "now YOU better run, pal." With a whoop he jumped to his feet and took off after Tommy.
Tommy ran toward a picnic table, leaping lightly over it and turning to face his pursuer. "You may have the bulk and the muscles, Jase, but I've got the speed," he taunted laughingly. "And ALL the style," he added, twisting just out of Jason's reach as the taller man followed him.
Jason just laughed. It had been months since he'd been able to horse around like this; and even then it had never felt this good. He laughed again, putting on a burst of speed, feinting left then leaping right when Tommy fell for his bluff. He tackled his friend around the middle and they rolled together in a tangle of limbs, both gasping with laughter, until Jason got to his feet and stopped the mock-battle with the simple expedient of lifting Tommy off the ground and into the air, giving him no leverage. With a satisfied chuckle, Jason headed toward the dock, holding his wriggling quarry securely.
"It's a great day for a picnic," Tanya Park swung the basket of food jauntily with a grin at her husband. Adam Park smiled back at his wife, hefting the big cooler up a notch.
"Yep, this is a great idea. Plus I'm glad that Jason's feeling well enough these days to think of this kind of thing. That trip with Billy must have done some good. Look, there's Rocky," he waved at his friend who was approaching from another direction.
"Hey, you two. Where are we meeting the others?" Rocky said somewhat breathlessly as he jogged up to them.
"Over by the lake," Tanya supplied. "Thanks, Rock," she added as he took the heavy hamper from her and gave her his rolled blanket to carry instead. "I can hear Tommy shouting, but I don't see –wait a sec. Is that –?" She shaded her eyes with her hand to get a better look. "Is that Jason? He looks – he looks –" she stuttered, then turned to her husband, who was staring at the pair on the dock.
"Holy crap," said Rocky as they got closer. He dropped the picnic basket and began to run. "Jason! Jase! Madre de Dios, is that you?" Adam and Tanya glanced at each other, then ran after him.
"Rocky!" hollered Tommy, still struggling in midair. "Gimme a hand here!"
Rocky came to a halt on the smooth wood of the dock as a grinning Jason suspended his friend over the water. The lanky Latino eyed the scene. Jason's head and shoulders were dripping with cola, and he was, frankly, huge. "Uh, I don't think so, Tom. You're on your own."
"Hey, Rocko," said Jason with a grin. "Hi, guys," he added to the Parks. "Say goodbye, Tommy."
"JAS—" Tommy began, ending in splutters as he hit the lake.
Tanya greeted her old friend with a hug. "What happened to you, Jason?"
"Tommy squirted me with a soda."
She gave an exasperated snort, watching her husband haul the dripping prankster from the water. "You know what I mean. You look, um, different."
He chuckled. "Yeah, though you ought to see Bill. We'll fill everyone in at the same time, okay?"
Tommy turned a glare on Rocky, who tried to look innocent and failed. "Nice to know who your friends are in a pinch, Rock."
"Hey, dude, you brought it on yourself." The Blue Turbo Ranger spread his hands in a 'who, me?' gesture.
"Oh, you're right, I'm being thoughtless. C'mere, buddy," and Tommy wrapped a laughing, protesting Rocky in a soaking wet bear hug. Adam cracked up and the two looked at him, nodded to each other, grabbed the surprised man and leapt into the lake, carrying him with them. Tanya shrieked with laughter as Jason shrugged and jumped in after them, initiating a water fight that lasted until Kat arrived bearing an armful of towels.
"How did you know?" asked Tanya as she watched the guys drying themselves off.
"We're at the lake, T. Somebody always gets thrown in," Kat chuckled. Jason tugged off his wet shirt and immediately everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at him in amazement. He reddened and draped the towel over his shoulders, his countenance brightening considerably as he caught sight of the couple approaching them. Five other pairs of eyes swiveled to watch; four pairs widened in surprise as they recognized one of the newcomers.
"Hi, guys," Billy said, blushing at his friends' scrutiny. "Tai brought you some dry clothes, Jase. I figured somebody would get thrown in."
"Hey, thanks, My-tai," said her brother as she handed him the small case she carried with a smile that matched his own. Five heads looked from one sibling to the other and back. Taia looked down at the ground shyly. "Guys," said Jason, slipping an arm around her shoulders, "I want you to meet my sister, Taia. Which is only the beginning of what we have to tell you."
