Disclaimer: I don't own PR, I just wish I did.
"Dr. O., what's going on?" the black boy said, looking between Jason and Tommy with a bemused expression.
"Dude, we're so not Power Rangers, that is so bogus," the brunet said.
Tommy, on the other hand, didn't take his eyes off of Jason. "That didn't take you long."
"You expected that it would?" Jason returned.
"Well…kinda, yeah," Tommy said with a slight shrug. "I mean, no one ever really figured out who the original Rangers were, am I right?"
"I guess I'm smarter than your average bear, then," Jason said. "So, how much of what you told me is the actual truth?"
"All of it," Tommy said. "I just omitted a detail here or there."
"As they say, it's all in the details," Jason said.
"Um, is anyone going to clue me in on what's happening here?" the girl spoke up.
Tommy broke out of his trance and looked to his charges. "Oh. Right. Okay, well, um, Jase, this is Conner McKnight, Ethan James, and Kira Ford," he said, introducing the one in red, the one in blue, and the one in yellow, respectively. "And guys, this is Jason Scott, a friend of mine from high school."
Jason shifted his can from his right hand to his left so he could shake hands with each of the kids. They were all more or less gaping at him. "From the video…" the one named Ethan said slowly.
"Video?" Jason asked.
"Dude!" the Conner kid said, an expression of amazement crossing his face. "You're one of them! One of us, I mean. A Ranger."
Immediately, Jason smacked the back of Tommy's head. "Man, what was that for?" Tommy blurted, while the kids stared, uncertain whether they should laugh or do something.
"A video?" Jason said. "Does 'secret identity' mean nothing to you?"
"Oh, come on, Jase, it's been years. No one's going to care anymore. The Machine Empire, Rita, Zedd, Divatox…anyone who would remember us, they're all gone. It was my way of paying tribute. It's a legacy of power, after all, and someone had to call attention to it. Why not someone who actually knew the ins and outs of some of it? Wouldn't you rather have your life chronicled by someone who actually knew what the hell was going on?"
Jason hated to admit it, but the guy had a point. "So, where's base?" he asked. "You guys are going to show me the ropes, right?" He wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about all of this, so he decided to opt for curiosity.
"Conner, you want to do the honors?" Tommy asked. Conner reached over to the table, and pulled at the mouth of the model tyrannosaurus skeleton. A panel lifted out of the floor. Jason cocked an eyebrow, but dutifully descended, the other four on his heels. "When I was thinking about Zords in the basement, I was just kidding…" Jason murmured, taking in the creepy Batcave qualities of Tommy's secret basement lair. "You did this all yourself, bro?"
"Yep. Anton and I were partners on the Zords and the drones, and just about anything having to do with the eggs, and Hayley and I worked on the morphers together, but the design of Ops here was all me."
"What are you, the new Zordon?" Jason asked with a smirk.
"Something like that."
"So this is Ops, huh?" Jason said. "The Neo Command Center. Power Chamber Two: Electric Boogaloo. Where's the training area? Or did you make yourself a new Youth Center, too?"
"Actually, Hayley was the one responsible for a the second coming of the Youth Center," Tommy said. "She opened up her own place, Hayley's Cyberspace. Think a younger, prettier, female Ernie, and replace the stank of sweat with the hum of computers."
"Wait...so you don't actually have a training space?"
"Well…" Tommy hedged.
Jason gaped. "You, of all people?" He turned to the teens. "When we were your age, Tommy here participated in more karate tournaments than there were hairs on his head. And that's saying a lot," he added with a smirk, eyeing Tommy's new regulation haircut. "No one could match him move for move."
"'Cept you, bro," Tommy said.
"Likewise," Jason returned. "Can you kids even fight..?"
"I can't seem to get them to train," Tommy said. "They keep spouting some nonsense about having 'real lives.'"
"Yeah, when you get one, see how much you want to train," one of the boys called out.
"So what have you got here?" Jason asked as Tommy rolled his eyes at his students.
"Let me pull up a file, and I'll show you," Tommy said, sitting in front of the massive console and typing in a command. Jason couldn't hide his surprise--if anyone had been capable of this, Jason would have bet money that Billy would have been behind it.
Jason zipped through a program, taking in what Tommy had been working on. Three Rangers; red, blue, and yellow. Jason cast a look over his shoulder at the Conner kid, wondering he, the red one, was capable of following in Jason's footsteps. Not that Jason was egotistical about his Ranger past, but he knew how difficult it was, and doubted if the kid had the moral stamina for a task as big as leading the Power Rangers. At the moment, he was dribbling a small red soccer ball between his feet, while the Ethan kid tapped away at a computer screen, and the Kira girl quietly strummed on a guitar in the corner. The teenagers were intrigued by Jason's presence, but were also semi-bored at looking at the same Zords that they piloted regularly. Similarly, Jason was interested by the teen Rangers, but was more captivated by what was flashing across the screen.
It was pure nostalgia value as far as the Zords were concerned. Tyrannosaurus (red), Triceratops (blue--he wondered how Billy would feel about that in addition to Tommy's sudden technical status), and Pterodactyl…only in yellow. "You couldn't do Pink?" he asked.
"You honestly think I could handle seeing a pink dactyl flying over the city on a regular basis?" Tommy asked. He shrugged. "Besides, Hayley was big on the primary colors aspect of it. Kept muttering something about color theory and aesthetic value."
"You keep mentioning this Hayley…who the hell is she?" Jason asked.
"We met in graduate school. She's a tech genius, easily Billy's caliber, maybe more. She was the one who did the major wiring for the morphers and everything, but I know enough that I can do some quick repairs and modifications if it comes down to that. I've also taught her basic maintenance for Zords and the Raptor Cycles." Tommy leaned over Jason's shoulder and punched a button, taking Jason to a screen displaying the vehicles. Jason was impressed. "Anton had me create those," Tommy said with a minor note of pride. "Since I knew so much about engines."
"They look great."
"They ride great, too. Hey, let's head over to the Cyberspace and grab something to eat before the kids have to get home, huh?"
"Only if you're paying, Dr. O.," Conner said.
Tommy raised an eyebrow. "We'll see about that." They trouped outside, the teenagers clamoring into the Mustang, and Jason and Tommy getting in the black Jeep. Conner was the first on the road, and immediately sped off. "Kid drives fast," Jason remarked.
"Conner lives fast," Tommy said. "He plays soccer, and he's this speed demon on the field. I've been to a couple of his games since I started teaching…he's amazing. It's like Shaolin Soccer or something."
"I didn't think soccer was that big of a high school sport."
"Trust me, around here it is."
"And the other two? What do they do?"
"Ethan's this tech geek…he's got the brains that he could be of some serious use around Ops, but he'd much rather play video games. Hayley's is his home away from home, so when they first developed the team, he dragged Conner and Kira there, and now they hang out there regularly anyway. And Kira's a musician. Hayley offers her the stage Friday nights and some afternoons during the week. Kira's really good, and it's a great arrangement because Hayley won't get ticked if Kira misses a gig due to some 'extracurricular' activity."
"Musician, huh? What does she play?"
"Guitar. And she sings."
"She doesn't do gymnastics by any chance, does she?" Jason asked dryly, and Tommy barked out a harsh laugh.
"Give me some credit, would you? Look, the gems chose their owners, not me. If I'd chosen new Rangers…well, it wouldn't have been these three," he said. "But trust me, on the surface it seems like too many coincidences, but she's really nothing like Kim." It was the first time either of them had directly referenced the missing Miss Hart.
"So you wouldn't have chosen these three?" Jason pressed, feeling a bit guilty about bringing up which was probably a sore subject.
"God no. Ethan's ego is huge, Conner's ego is huger, Kira is highly anti-social, they snipe at each other constantly…but they're warming up to it," he said, his tone changing. "They work hard, and they take it seriously, and really now, so few people go into this line of work willingly, right?" The two men laughed at that. "But they're trying to make the best of it, and they're actually turning into good friends, I think. I'm proud of them, and I trust them."
Tommy pulled into a parking lot. "Hayley's is just down the street from here," he said as they hopped out of the car. Conner's Mustang was already here, the kid had probably broken the speed limit at least twice on his way here.
They strolled into the building. It was vaguely like the Youth Center in the sense that there was a bar, there were teenagers, and it was indoors. But there was definitely no evidence of any activity going on around here other than computer use. Computers for the public lined the walls, but there were also jacks if you wanted to bring your own. There were several signs posted announcing that if you spilled, Hayley would have you killed. Jason smirked at that one.
Conner, Ethan, and Kira were sitting around a table halfway between the stage and the bar. From their casual attitudes, Jason suspected that it was their 'usual' table, and he couldn't help but think back to his own usual table back at Ernie's. But you're not here to relive the past, bro, he reminded himself, grabbing a chair and joining the teenagers while Tommy went off, presumably to fetch Hayley.
"So, what do you hate most about it?" he asked them, not having to elaborate on what 'it' was. He knew that giving the kids the chance to complain about something to someone who completely understood would endear him to them. Not that he particularly cared one way or another what these kids thought of him, but he figured it would be a nice gesture to Tommy. Jason imagined that the kids didn't get to complain too much in the great Doctor Oliver's presence, because he would most likely strike them down. Tommy was the most serious Ranger that Jason had ever known.
"Getting called out of practice," Conner said immediately.
"Missing a lot of school with no viable explanation, and having to try and talk my way out of it with Madame Psycho," Ethan said.
"He means Principal Randall," Kira explained. "She's a little…unhinged."
"Try psychotic," Conner said.
Jason smiled. Before he could ask anything else, Tommy appeared with a pretty redhead. "You must be Jason," she said with a smile. Jason stood up and accepted her outstretched hand, shaking it firmly.
"Hayley," he said. "I've heard…surprisingly little about you."
"Well, that turns the tables, doesn't it," she said. "Because I know lots about you."
"Hayley knows everything about everybody," Ethan contributed.
Hayley's eyes never left his. "But I make Tommy's former circles a priority," she said.
"Should I be flattered or scared?" he asked with the slightest smile.
"That's your call," she returned. "You thirsty? Hungry?"
"A little of both."
"I've got you covered," she said, heading off. Tommy pulled a chair up to the table, and moments later, Hayley returned with a tray of drinks. "Here you go," she said, handing each of them a drink without even having to guess whose was whose. "And lastly, a strawberry-banana smoothie, and a muffin for the former superstar."
Jason rolled his eyes at her, but she only smiled and ducked back behind the bar. "She's interesting," he remarked.
The quintet chatted until closing. Since Hayley knew them, she didn't kick them out as early as she did everyone else. Jason decided that he liked the kids, they almost reminded him of his friends when he was their age. They were really nothing like his friends, but they had a camaraderie between them that he missed. It was hard to have quality banter when you communicated with people through email, and though he called some of his old friends occasionally, it just wasn't the same without a big group. The last time there had been a group, it had been situated around disaster. And since no one had wanted to bond under such circumstances, the funeral served only to drive a wedge further between them, it would seem.
That night in his hotel room, Jason debated calling someone and telling them where he was. Kim, most of all, would like to know how Tommy was doing. Tommy had distanced himself from the group after he'd handed over his powers. Jason had always thought that it was because Tommy didn't want a reminder of his past, but when the guy was raising a new team of Rangers, Jason didn't know what to believe any more.
But finally he reached for the TV remote and not the phone. If Tommy was looking to make contact with anyone, he'd do it himself. It wasn't Jason's business, nor his responsibility.
Over his next few days in Reefside, Jason spent as much time with Hayley and the Rangers as he did with Tommy. Tommy of course had to teach classes during the day, so Jason spent his first day touring Reefside solo, his second day touring with Hayley, and his third day offering his assistance at the Cyberspace. Nights, Jason went over to Tommy's house and the two would reminisce about glory days gone by, or Jason would fill Tommy in on the whereabouts of his former friends. They breached the subjects of Kimberly and Katherine tentatively, and not without Tommy first downing a beer or two, as if fortifying himself. But he seemed truly at ease, and harbored no resentments to anyone. The kids had the tendency to float in and out of the house in the afternoons, and fortunately for everyone, there were no attacks on Reefside during Jason's duration there. Apparently this Mesogog character operated with a lot less regularity than Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd ever had.
The morning Jason was set to leave, Tommy took off his first two classes to drive Jason to the airport. "Thanks for coming out here, Jase, I appreciate it."
"Nah, man, I had fun," Jason said dismissively. "It was good seeing you again, bro."
"You too." Tommy pulled into the airport parking lot and killed the engine, but he didn't get out of the car. Jason paused with his hand on the door handle, sensing that Tommy had something he wanted to say.
"I want to ask you a favor, bro," Tommy said, almost tentatively.
"Yeah, sure, what's up?" Jason said.
"If something…if something were to happen to me, I was hoping you could look after the kids for me. I know that's a lot to ask, but I think you'd be a great influence on them."
"Not that anything's ever going to come to that," Jason said.
"No, of course not," Tommy said, with an elaborate show of confidence.
"Sure, man," Jason said. "You can count on me, bro."
"Thanks, bro. It means a lot," Tommy said, and the two men smiled at each other, leaned across the seat divider, and gave each other a hug. "Tell Emily I said hi," Tommy said. "If she even remembers me."
"You're hard to forget, Oliver," Jason said. "I'll tell her."
They parted ways then, and Jason was occupied with waiting in lines, checking his bags, and all of the usual pre-flight hoopla. As the plane took off, Jason found himself staring out the window, and saw vaguely on the other side of the city, three Zords coming together against a disgusting-looking creature. While anyone else who saw seemed scared or excited or confused, Jason only smiled.