Amends
Chapter 6- Worlds Collide
A.N: I'll try and avoid retelling the story in this chap, but this is where the danger is, as there is quite a lot to cover from the Legacy of Power episode so if I skim over what we all already know and make the chapter a bit choppy I beg your forgiveness. It comes from messing with what's already there I guess, after this and next chapter we should be outta the woods as I'll probably be doing more of my own thing! This chapter may be long so that we don't hold up the transition into the real original story after these couple chapters. Any material you recognise in here is from the Dino Thunder episode Legacy of Power which belongs to the good people at Disney, I own nothing there! Disclaimer out of the way, let's get down to it.
*
"Okay, are we ready to freak out yet?" Kira said sarcastically, but they all knew she was trying to mask her anxiety. They hadn't heard from Dr. O at all last night, and when they had gone round to his house, his car wasn't in the drive and when they had located the spare key they discovered that he obviously hadn't been home.
"Alright, I admit it's time to start worrying now, the house is empty, there's no note, no car, no Dr. O." Conner relented.
"Well what are we gonna do? We have no way of finding him." Kira queried with a frown.
"Well, there may be one way to see what the good doctor's been up to, and maybe a way to locate him." Ethan suggested, plonking himself down in front of the computer and beginning to type furiously.
"And how might that be?" Conner frowned over Ethan's shoulder, trying to make sense of what the computer whiz was inputting.
"Aha. Got it, I'm in."
"In…where?" Kira raised a brow as Dr. Oliver appeared on the screen in front of them.
"I'm Tommy Oliver. If you're not me, then something is seriously wrong. This video diary is a confidential record, only to be viewed in case of an emergency." The three exchanged glances and Kira started,
"Are you sure we should be watching this?"
"Shhh!" Conner and Ethan cut her off as Tommy continued.
"What you're about to view is a history of my life-"
"Yawn, more 'fascinating facts' on fantastic fossils" Conner rolled his eyes.
"-my history… as a Power Ranger."
"Okay, unyawn!" Conner amended, wide eyed.
"My story begins in Angel Grove, when five teenagers with attitude were recruited to fight the evil space sorceress Rita Repulsa. They harnessed the Power of the dinosaur to become Earth's first Power Rangers." The three watched in wonder as video clips of the very first Power team played before their eyes.
"Hey wait!" Kira reached out and pressed the button that Ethan had pushed to play the video, which succeeded in pausing it.
"Hey, what'd you do that for?" Ethan protested.
"I recognise that girl… at least, I think I do." Kira frowned, pointing to the screen which showed a picture of a caramel haired, brown eyed girl in pink.
"She's cute." Conner commented offhandedly. Kira whacked him in the arm. "I'm serious, I know her face."
"How do you know one of the first Power Rangers?" Ethan raised a brow.
"Who cares, you coulda just seen a look alike on the street someplace. Where does Dr. O come into all this?" Conner waved his hand dismissively and tapped the play button again.
Kira glared but was just as eager to see the rest of the tape so pushed the thought aside.
"Under the guidance of intergalactic being Zordon, Trini, Zack, Kimberly, Billy and Jason bravely defended Earth, which forced Rita to create her own Ranger." Tommy's voice narrated over the footage of the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers' first battles.
"Hey there he is, with the cute girl, go Dr. O!" Ethan noted.
"Kimberly." Kira corrected him, after the footage showed Kimberly and Tommy's first meeting and introduction.
"Her evil magic was too strong. I couldn't fight it. She commanded me to destroy the Power Rangers, and I almost succeeded." The Dino Rangers watched as the Green Ranger took on the other five single handed.
"Wow, badass. Never knew he had it in him, taking on five other Rangers at once!" Conner commented.
"He was the bad guy at this point Conner." Kira pointed out.
"Yeah but it obviously didn't last." Conner waved his hand.
"But my friends never gave up on me. They helped me destroy the Sword of Darkness, and I was freed from Rita's evil spell." Tommy's voice continued, and the video showed him shaking Jason's hand and the six Rangers fighting together.
"And that's when I joined the team, but not for long. I soon discovered the Green Ranger powers were only temporary." Tommy then reappeared in a new White guise.
"Guess who's back."
Ethan paused the video again. "I'm so buggin' I can't even deal."
"I know, our teacher is the oldest living Power Ranger!" Conner shook his head.
"Not the oldest, just the best," Came a familiar voice from behind them.
The three turned round in confusion and their jaws dropped in surprise.
"Hayley?!"
*
After trying her best to rid herself of her worries about Tommy the night before by going out to a movie and having a drink or twelve in the hotel's bar, Kim had awoken with a headache and more worried about her ex than ever, as her cell and the room's phone were both lacking in messages.
"I'll try his house one more time, it's a Saturday morning and he's a palaeontologist, where's the guy gonna be?"
Kim pressed the redial on her phone, and waited, tapping her nails on her knee impatiently as she heard the now familiar answer phone message on Tommy's machine.
She hung up without leaving a message and bit her lip in indecision.
"Okay, I said I'd give him the benefit of the doubt 'til today, now I'm worried. I'm going over there, better safe than sorry. Aaand I'm talking to myself, nice work Kim, make people think you're a basket case on top of it all." She shook her head and rooted in her closet for something comfortable to wear. She settled on black jeans and a dark blue sweater. She swept her hair back off her face with a pink hairclip and grabbed her coat and purse.
*Great, get to go back through the forest from hell with the creepy little lizard folks hiding in it. Tommy sure doesn't make life easy.* She asked for a new map of the area at reception and wisely left the bottle of water in her room this time around.
*Boy if you're just a late sleeper or having a long shower Tommy Oliver, I am going to kill you.*
*
After the video footage showing the Ninja Storm team had played the three newest Rangers glanced at each other wide eyed.
"Whoah, Ninjas are real, I knew it!" Ethan grinned.
"Hey, my brother taught me a few moves he picked up at the ninja academy, check this out!" Conner proceeded to let out some kung-fu chops and high-kicks and in doing so whacked his foot right into the computer system, causing a shower of sparks to fly and all the monitors to be reduced to static once more.
"Oh please tell me that did not just happen!" Kira put her hand to her head.
"I'm afraid it did, and we may have just lost our last hope of finding Tommy." Hayley said gravely.
"Nice going meathead." Ethan pushed Conner in the shoulder and the four lapsed into silence trying to think of a solution.
"I've got it!" Kira announced.
"What were you getting?" Ethan questioned confusedly.
"I know where I know Kimberly from!" Kira smiled and gave a bounce.
"Well?" Conner questioned.
"She was the girl in the jeep, the one the Tyrannodrones were after before we jumped in and fought them off."
"You're sure it wasn't somebody else, you heard Dr. O's tape, she left the Power Rangers and Angel Grove for some reason, and I'm betting Reefside wasn't even a blip on the radar back then." Conner argued.
"She left for Florida." Hayley supplied. "She was a very talented gymnast, and a Coach in charge of the gymnastics team for the Pan Global Games recruited her. As I understand it she had her doubts about going, but her Ranger team talked her into it, and that's when Katherine joined."
"Y'know, I'm not even gonna bother pretending to be surprised that you know all that." Conner sighed.
"And Kira isn't mistaken, Kimberly is in town." The redhead added, still typing away at the keyboard.
Kira looked smugly at Conner who mouthed 'whatever' and rolled his eyes.
"Wow, that is so sweet, we have two ex-Rangers right on our doorstep!" Ethan said, smacking his hands together.
"One ex-Ranger, we don't know where Dr. O is and now thanks to the Mensa candidate here we have no way of finding him." Kira reminded them.
"Well, maybe we can use her to help, she and Dr. O used to be tight right?" Ethan suggested, still psyched at the thought of meeting another former Ranger.
"I think they were closer than that, somehow." Kira said glancing at Hayley for confirmation who offered nothing and continued typing on the keyboard furiously.
"He wishes, no way Dr. O coulda got a hotty like that, did you see his hair!" Conner laughed and shook his head. "But I guess that look is probably your type huh Kira, the shy rocker boy."
"Dr. O was never a rocker!" Ethan laughed.
"Y'know what I mean."
"Eww, guys, that is our teacher!" Kira said, "I don't think of him like that." At Ethan and Conner's firm stares she shrugged.
"…I guess he's alright… for an old guy." She relented finally. This got a chuckle out of Hayley.
"Anyway! I'm serious guys, didn't you see the way they checked each other out in those first videos? They were into each other." Kira said insistently.
"Eh, didn't really notice." Ethan shrugged.
"Nope." Conner shook his head.
"Ugh, guys are so dense."
"Great, here we go!" Hayley exclaimed as the video screens whirred to life.
"Yes! We are so lucky you're a genius." Ethan smiled.
"Even we geniuses need a little help sometimes, that jolt must have done something to the wiring, cause I'm getting something!"
"With the return of Mesogog, it became necessary to invoke the power of the Dino Gems. Should anything happen to me, these 3 are charged with protecting the planet...You're in good hands." Tommy's narrative came back on and Ethan, Conner and Kira found themselves staring at pictures of themselves.
"Wow." Kira breathed.
"He really trusts us." Conner added.
"He does." Hayley affirmed.
"We've gotta save him, we owe it to him." Ethan nodded, staring wide eyed at the screen, the weight of the responsibility but also the legacy that came before them heavy in their minds.
"The world owes him." Kira said softly, and they all agreed with that.
Just then their thoughts were interrupted by a crash from upstairs.
"What the hell?" Conner frowned.
"Dr. O?" Ethan suggested hopefully. "After all, you got out of Mesogog's hidey-hole." He reminded Kira.
"More likely Mesogog's goons." Kira frowned darkly.
"Let's check it out." Conner said decisively.
*
Having navigated the 'forest from hell' with relative ease in the daylight with a new map, Kim had arrived at Tommy's house quite speedily considering her last attempt she had decided. She noted a red car pulled up in front of the house, but not a trace of the former Ranger's black jeep.
Kim shrugged deciding it was worth a shot and hopped out of the car. She tried the door and found it open, so proceeded in tentatively, though she couldn't help feeling like a burglar when Tommy apparently wasn't in.
"Hello?" She called hesitantly, heading into what she remembered as the living room. She was so busy looking around for Tommy and feeling awkward she didn't notice the small side table she bashed into on the way through, knocking a wooden lamp onto the floor with a crash and a smash as the bulb shattered.
"Oh God!" She cursed, and bent down to pick the lamp, thankfully still intact if a little chipped, though the bulb was beyond repair.
Next thing she knew she saw three blurs of colour and three pissed looking teenagers stood in a row behind her, standing in a battle ready stance.
"Who the hell are you and what are you doing in Dr. O's house?" Conner demanded as Kim turned.
The three stood for a moment silenced as if they'd seen a ghost.
"…Y'know, I'm getting that reaction a lot around here. Don't know if I should take it as a compliment." Kim said with a raised brow, looking decidedly uncomfortable. The colours of clothing they wore did not escape her either.
"Down boys, it's Kimberly." The girl in yellow murmured after a second.
"You sure it's not some trick, maybe Mesogog's taken to imitation." The taller guy in red suggested, not lowering his fists.
"The sincerest form of flattery I hear. Hey, while you talk about me as if I'm not here, as you all seem to know who I am, mind telling me who you are? And would you mind pointing those things somewhere else sparky?" She told Conner nodding to his hands. Kira pushed them down with a chiding look. Then she looked back to Kim with a smile.
"I'm Kira, and this is Conner and Ethan."
"We're the newest Power Rangers!" Ethan said with a grin and Conner rolled his eyes.
"There goes our element of secrecy geekazoid."
"Well I thought maybe it would make more sense to tell the former Power Ranger who we were so she could help us, rather than threatening to pummel her to a pulp." Ethan snapped back.
"As if you could." Kira said derisively, regarding Kim with a mixture of fascination and awe.
"Okay, hold up guys, that is a lot of information all at once there!" Kim put a hand to her head and sat back onto the couch, instantly regretting it as she remembered its quicksand-like qualities from before. She pulled herself up with some effort to sit comfortably and tried to get her head around everything.
*So it looks like Tommy does know about the new Rangers. He and Jase were holding out on me!* She thought wryly.
"So…You all know who I am, and that I'm a former Ranger, and you're all the new guys…and Tommy would be…where, and what does he have to do with you?"
"He's our science teacher." Conner said with a helpful smile.
"I think she meant the more Rangery part, genius." Ethan rolled his eyes.
"Oh, h-he's like our mentor dude. Kinda the brains of the operation. Or at least he kinda is…Hayley's kinda more the brains…he's just…well, he tells us what to do and stuff." Conner said at last arriving at a decision about Tommy's role, feeling a tad intimidated at the scrutiny of one of the first Power Rangers, she had the intensity of gaze that Dr. O had when he was in teacher mode. The other two shook their heads at Conner's limited vocabulary.
"Did I hear my name?" Hayley came into the room and her eyes fell on Kim.
"Oh, it's you, I wondered when you'd get here." This comment made Kim feel as if she were being marked down for being late, which she didn't really like.
"And you. You pop up all over the place huh?" Kim said regarding Hayley with slight reserve after the welcome.
"I could say the same about you." Hayley responded. The three teens watched this exchange with confusion.
"So, you two, know each other?" Ethan looked between them.
"We met yesterday at Cyberspace. Tommy apparently made plans to meet with her once it was shut, so he was going to lock up for me. But as he was a no-show, we ran into each other." Hayley explained, and Kim once again felt as if she were very much out of the loop. She frowned deeply again.
"Sorry, this is a lot to digest. New Rangers, and if I heard right, Hayley helps you guys out too… and you all know-"
"Pretty much everything." Kira smiled, "Who all the Ranger teams were and what they did for the world. Dr. O left a video diary explaining everything in case something happened to him."
"Everything?" Kim said weakly.
"Well, not everything." Hayley corrected.
"Wait, what everything don't we know?" Conner demanded.
Kim looked to Hayley who pressed her lips shut and nodded. Kim smiled slightly at this and gave a small inclination with her head too. The three Dino Rangers looked between them again in confusion.
"Hey, care to share?" Ethan said in a whining tone.
"No." Kim and Hayley both said.
"What's happened to Tommy?" Kim asked Hayley as she stood from the couch.
"Nothing good. We're dealing with a mutant called Mesogog, not a nice guy if you know what I mean."
"Let me guess, hell bent on world domination, prepared to crush anything that stands in his way, has an affinity for sending down strange ugly monsters who he then inflates to the size of buildings…is that something like it?"
"Pretty much." Kira nodded.
"He wants to return the world to its prehistoric roots, and I'm not talking about the cultivation of new trees and plants for conservation efforts." Hayley supplied. "He wants to wipe out humanity and take the world back to the state it was when dinosaurs ruled."
"Guess he's not much of a people person." Kim said darkly.
"Understatement." Conner nodded.
"So apparently when Tommy was on the way to the Cyberspace, he got kidnapped by some of Mesogog's henchmen, and we suspect he was taken back to Mesogog's island fortress." Hayley filled her in.
"Oh God, Tommy." Kim murmured, worry in her eyes.
"I just came up to tell you guys, I got a lock on an invisiportal that should lead to Tommy's location." The MIT grad turned to the three Dino Rangers.
"So how do we get there?" Ethan queried.
"I've got just the things, follow me."
The three followed Hayley back down the stairs and Kim stood in the lounge a moment feeling like part of the furniture.
"Oh, and you can come too if you like Kimberly." Hayley's voice floated back up to her offhandedly. This irritated Kim no end. Hayley wasn't being openly hostile to her, but it was the little things that Kim picked up that gave her the sense of tension between them. Kim was determined to call her out on it when the Rangers weren't in earshot, she didn't like unfriendliness for no reason, masked or not.
When she got down into the underground lab, Kim didn't have time to be awe-struck by the impressive surroundings as the Rangers were gazing at something else exciting.
"These are your new Raptor Cycles. They should have to you to the portal coordinates in approximately 92.75 seconds." Hayley supplied.
"Whoah,"
"Awesome!"
"They're amazing!" The three Rangers gaped.
"So, which one's mine?" Conner asked.
At Ethan and Kira's looks Conner rolled his eyes. "I'm kidding."
"Dude you were so not kidding." Ethan shook his head.
Kim smiled at the teasing that went on between the three new inheritants of the Power. It reminded her of the way her own team had been when they had first become Rangers, although she got the feeling these three had not been friends before their own adventure had started. They didn't look quite as comfortable with each other as her own team had, but she, Jason, Zack, Trini and Billy had all known each other since childhood and these three probably hadn't even acknowledged each other's existences three weeks ago. Still, there was no hatred or animosity there, only a friendly rivalry between the two boys at least. Or perhaps more accurately, Ethan and Kira against Conner. She however admitted the newest Red Ranger did seem to leave himself open for these ribs somewhat.
As Hayley explained how they would get to Meso-thingy's island fortress and it emerged that Conner couldn't swim- which garnered more teasing from Ethan- Kim only semi-paid attention remaining lost in memories. She remembered her own team's modes of transportation in the Battle Bikes and the later Shark Cycles. She was broken out of her reverie by the Red Ranger's question.
"Hey Kimberly, wanna hitch a ride, I'm sure Dr. O would be pleased to see you!" Conner asked suggestively.
Kira closed her eyes in exasperation.
"Excuse him, he was born without a brain, doctors say it's a miracle he even survived this long." She apologised. Kim laughed and shook her head.
"As much as I appreciate the sentiment, I'm gonna have to sit this one out, not a Ranger anymore remember? I'd only get in the way. Just bring Tommy back safely?" She asked.
"No problem." Conner said confidently.
"Don't go anywhere, we'll want to fully, properly interrogate you as soon as we get back with the good Doctor!" Ethan grinned.
"Sounds like fun." Kim giggled. The three waved and jumped onto their bikes.
"Dino Thunder, Power Up!" The three called, and morphed as they hurtled towards the portal on their new bikes.
Kim blinked as they raced through a glowing green vortex and disappeared from sight. Then she turned back to Hayley who was regarding her critically.
"You act as if you care for him." She said bluntly.
"Wait- what?!" Kim frowned deeply and put her hands on her hips.
"You know what I mean." Hayley said, arms crossed, not giving anything away.
"I do care about him, not that it is any of your business." Kim said sharply.
"Hah," Was Hayley's only response as she turned back towards the consoles to keep a check on the Rangers' progress.
"Hey! Look, Hayley, I don't know why you have this problem with me, but rather than continuing with your 'well disguised' swipes at me, how about you just tell me what it is that I've done to piss you off." Kim demanded coming to stand a few feet behind the consoles and stare angrily at the back of Hayley's fiery head.
Hayley swivelled back round and regarded Kim icily.
"I'm sure you're a very nice person, or whatever, Kimberly. I just don't want to see Tommy get hurt by you…again!"
"Hey, you didn't see it the first time!" Kim snapped back, rather lamely she realised after she'd said it. After a pause she sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
"And I don't want to see him get hurt either. I just want him to hear the truth from me no-one else, and give him a chance to deal with it. I'm not looking to jump into bed with him or ruin the nice little setup he's got here. I'm just looking for some closure."
Hayley continued to stare at her fixedly but after a moment she nodded, though she still didn't smile.
"You really messed him up. And I had to deal with the fallout when we met in college. His relationship with Kat fell apart, and although he never said it, it was clear to see he still blamed you for that."
"Hey I never told the two of them to get together!" Kim said defensively. *Though I might as well have done, I handed him to her on a silver platter, after all, didn't I break up with him because I thought he would be better off with her if he wasn't already? And I was just protecting my own ass.* She looked guilty at this and Hayley gave a small smile.
"It wasn't your fault the relationship failed, but however inadvertently, you did affect them, especially him. He wasn't looking to replace you in the beginning, he was looking for you. Is it so hard to believe that when he saw that pink costume it was easy for him to imagine you there, you'd been an integral part of his life for almost three years, then you disappeared and severed all contact…and then you came back with Jason and yadda yadda. Can you say trainwreck?"
"I didn't mean for that to happen. I never wanted to hurt him. I still loved him deeply, there were just…some things that, well, it…it wasn't working. He knew that as well as I did."
"Hey, it's none of my business." Hayley held her hands up. "I just want to see him done right by, he deserves a little happiness."
Kim nodded sadly. "Yes, he does."
*
Wooo that was long, but I decided to have the little Hayley/Kim catfight before we got into the real action in the next couple chapters. I know I keep promising all this action and the actual story, but those of you who write know what it's like, you just have to let the story take you where it wants to go. I know you're all anticipating the Tommy/Kim dreaded talk so I'll see if I can stick that in for you next chapter, but gee that might make it even longer than this one! We'll see how it goes, unless Mesogog throws a spanner into the works bwahaha *evil cackle*
There are no real responses needed to the reviews this chapter, but thank you so much to everyone who is reading and even bigger thanks and virtual cookies to all who review, it really means a lot to me and helps me keep writing!
Anyways, thanks for reading! Hope to see you next chapter for 'The Talk'!