Chapter 25- Reunion
"Got any threes?"
"Go fish. Got any fives?"
"Go fish."
"You know something Adam?"
"What Rocko?"
"I don't actually have any goddamn idea how to play this game."
"Oh thank god, I thought I was the only one."
The former Zeo Rangers were unsuccessfully attempting to play cards around the work table, and being as there were only two of them, neither of which having any money or any idea how to play the game, it appeared to be a rather fruitless endeavour. Hayley had departed to run the Cyber Café and Jason had gone upstairs to do the requisite pizza order leaving the onetime Black and Red Rangers to watch Kimberly and the systems.
"Well at least we managed to get Tommy into bed." Adam remarked after a pause.
"Yeah, and here was me thinking we'd have to use those horse tranquilizers I stole from 'Sha that one time." Rocky threw his cards down and yawned loudly. They heard another crash at the stairs and turned, hoping it wasn't Tommy and another invisibility prank, they were becoming slightly paranoid.
"Jason?"
"Flattering, but no." Conner bounded down the stairs two at a time, a slice of pizza in hand. "I met the pizza guy in the drive. It's good stuff." He mumbled, his mouth full of melted cheese and tomato puree.
"Take it you couldn't sleep either?" Rocky asked and at Conner's questioning look jerked his thumb back to point to a silent Kira scribbling away on a sheet of paper and Ethan in deep concentration, making no sound apart from the click of fingers on the keyboard of his laptop and the occasional exclamation of glee, both settled in the shadowy corner on the sofa near Kimberly.
"You guys are all the same." Adam smiled as Conner jumped over the back of the sofa and squished himself in between his team-mates, looking over both of their shoulders to see what they were doing. Kira glared and snatched the paper away from his gaze, whereas Ethan didn't seem to care.
"It's not done yet." Kira hissed at him, at Conner took that to mean it was another display of her lyrical genius she was trying to perfect.
He shrugged and took another bite of his greasy Italian foodstuff, dropping a generous dollop of sauce onto his lap. "Shoot." He muttered, scooping the offending splodge from his lap with a finger and shovelling it into his mouth. Kira regarded him with unveiled disgust and Conner's eyebrows raised. "What?"
Kira shook her head and sighed. "Forget it."
"So you guys couldn't sleep either?" The Red Ranger frowned.
"Obviously." Ethan tutted, but his tone softened at Conner's glare. "Nah, I just tossed and turned but I still felt too wired."
Kira nodded, "I dropped off for a while but just kept on having nightmares about Zeltrax flattening Reefside, and Kimberly while I was asleep. After that it was kinda hard to get a restful couple hours. How about you?"
"I don't know, I feel exhausted but I can't sleep. I think it's like when you get so overtired that you're too tired to sleep, you know?"
The other two nodded, for once understanding where Conner was coming from. "Anyway, at least this way we'll be up and prepared for whatever happens." The soccer player reasoned.
Jason took this opportunity to clatter down the stairs with three boxes of pizza and put them on the work table on top of the abandoned cards.
"I knew you guys didn't have any idea how to play that game." Jason smirked and opened up the boxes.
"I just talked to Trini and Billy, they're waiting at the airport for Zack, his flight's getting in an hour and a half after theirs then they're gonna get a ride up here together. Rocky did you say you'd talked to Aisha on the way up?"
"Yeah, she said she was negotiating a flight on a lighter aircraft over to Nairobi, but if she managed it she still wouldn't get into Reefside until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. She didn't know what flights were available so she'd have to take whatever she could get."
"Well we'll work around that for now, and start planning our next actions when the other three get here." Jason said, slipping back into leadership mode. "But if Elsa makes a reappearance you've got to let Tommy handle it okay you three?" He addressed the teens.
"How come?" Ethan raised a brow.
"Elsa stole Tommy's Brachio-Staff in the hospital, and he couldn't risk getting it back and leaving Kim vulnerable. Tommy doesn't want any of you to be on the receiving end of one of those attacks if she's figured out how to use it, so wants to handle her himself."
"But what if Zeltrax shows too? He's a total Dr. O hog." Conner reminded them.
"Guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Tommy emerged from the stairwell wearing black sweatpants and a grey sweater.
Ethan grabbed the microphone attached to his laptop and pulled it to his mouth, adopting his best Discovery Channel commentator voice.
"Observe the lesser spotted Thomas Oliver, his day-time coat shed, in favour of a softer more informal camouflage …perfect for blending in with the other inhabitants of his varied habitat. Watch now as he stalks his prey…" He was cut off as Kira smacked him round the head.
"Quit it Steve Irwin." She chided and Tommy laughed before he took a bite of pizza.
"Yeah I guess you guys haven't seen me in my casual gear. Sometimes even we PhD qualified scientists need an off day." He smirked and Jason shook his head.
"He used to live in workout pants and muscle shirts, don't let him fool you."
"And here I always pictured you leaving the womb in full suit and tie." Conner snickered.
"And I thought you were supposed to be sleeping?" Jason frowned at the palaeontologist.
"Gee dad I didn't know I was being monitored." Tommy retorted sardonically. "I got a couple of hours. I'm restless, I've got too much on my mind to sleep. Stop worrying!" He added seriously and Jason crossed his arms unamused.
"Billy, Trini and Zack are on their way, should be here soon." Adam informed the newest Black Ranger who nodded and crossed to Kimberly. He leant down to check the level on the fluid bag attached to Kim's IV line- that had been a problem getting out of the hospital and into the car invisibly- but all seemed to be in order. The last thing they wanted was Kim to get dehydrated while she was unconscious. He brushed his fingers lightly over her forehead and could've sworn he saw her lips twitch into a ghost of a smile- though that had to have been his imagination.
"We're gonna get you back soon Beautiful, it's almost time, I promise."
"The Zackman has arrived! God T-boy you'd be easier to find if you lived at the north pole!" The former and current Black Rangers embraced warmly and exchanged greetings before Zack bounded over to Jason, Adam and Rocky trying to catch up with all of them before he turned his attention to the teens. When he got to the newbies he took the time to look each of them over and nod his approval.
"Ah, you must be the jock of the team- Conner right? Nice to meet you man, you look like you've got a little Jason in you." He shook the Red Ranger's hand and squeezed his shoulder, casting a thumbs up at Jason before moving on to clasp Ethan's.
"Hey brother, I'm guessing by process of elimination that you're Ethan." He grinned and Ethan shook his hand back enthusiastically. "So you're the resident genius huh? Hey Billy you've got to impart your words of wisdom to this one! It's such a rip, I can't be all wise and impress my colour-coded descendant, Tommy's all knowledgeable already, unfair isn't it?" The inventor of hip-hop-kido smiled at Ethan before jiving to Kira and kissing her hand.
"Enchanté miss-Kira, I've heard some good things about you girl. You're a singer?"
"That's right," Kira nodded, blushing slightly at the attention.
"Well I'm gonna have to show you some of my funky dance moves to go along with your jammin' sounds, if you're interested?"
"Sure, that'd be great!" Kira nodded with a smile, excited with all of the former Rangers' interest in them.
"Excellent, well this one's the one you really want to meet, c'mon over Trini! You can now meet the original and best Yellow Ranger." Zack waved Trini over once she'd finished talking to Tommy and Jason.
"Trini, this is Kira, the Yellow Pterodactyl Ranger, isn't that Morphinomenal?"
Trini held out a graceful hand and shook Kira's firmly gifting her with a dazzling smile. "It is a pleasure to meet you at last Kira, Tommy has said wonderful things about you in his emails."
Kira was somewhat lost for words, Trini seemed so effortlessly classy and elegant without being cold, and she almost seemed to float. "Wow, it's such an honour to meet you, Kimberly has told me all about you, you sound so awesome."
Trini smiled modestly. "A Ranger is only as good as the team around them, my friends have helped me become who I am today, I'm sure with time you will become just as skilled as the rest of us, after all, Tommy has had a lot more practise than anyone else over the years." She smirked as she glanced at the teacher who looked mock-indignant.
"It's good to see you guys again." Adam said shaking hands with Zack and Rocky was enthusiastically talking to Billy, before pushing him over to the three newest Rangers also.
"It's good to meet you three in person at last." Billy addressed them. "You certainly look like worthy Rangers to me."
"Dr. Cranston, I downloaded your thesis on the more efficient usage of rapid encoding facilitating faster bit-rate transfer, it was astounding!" Ethan grinned, leaping forward and shaking Billy's hand.
"You understood that?" Billy asked in surprise.
"It's only like the backbone of my hypothesis in my graphics design course!" Ethan all-but squealed in glee.
"Ethan, you and I will have to talk." Billy smiled at finding another kindred spirit while Hayley was absent.
"Uh oh, revenge of the nerds." Conner muttered and Zack and Jason tried to cover their smiles, understanding very well the confusion of having super-intelligent team-mates.
Tommy and Trini meanwhile had strayed back to Kimberly's side, as Trini knelt by her best friend and stroked her hair sadly.
"Oh Kimberly, I had prayed it wasn't true." The pretty Asian girl looked up at the long-time leader of many Ranger incarnations. "Tell me we have a plan to reverse this Tommy."
"That's what we need to discuss." He cast a lingering look at Kimberly then touched Trini lightly on the shoulder and motioned to the large worktable Adam and Rocky had been playing at. The ten gathered around the table grabbing stools and chairs from around the large basement as they did, and Tommy looked seriously around each sombre face.
"Alright, let's get down to business. At the moment, Mesogog has the upper hand. He has the spirit of the Crane and only he knows what he will do with it, and whether or not his usage of it is having a detrimental effect on Kimberly. His henchman Elsa also has my weapon, my Brachio-Staff, and they at this point have enough power at their disposal to level Reefside to the ground. What we have to do is come up with a plan to get the power back. As of now, I have two ideas, we'll need everyone's help to pull them off, and there is no guarantee that either of them will work. But it's a risk we've got to take, for Kimberly." He looked each and every Ranger in the eye, challenging them, before he stretched his hand out to the middle of the table. Jason firmly put out his hand and covered Tommy's, Trini quickly following suit, followed by Billy, Zack, Adam, Rocky, Kira, Conner and Ethan. All of them acted quickly without hesitation or reservation. Kimberly was one of their own in some way and they could not bear to see her the way she was at the moment, a shell of her former self.
"Good. Now this isn't going to be easy, but here's the plan."
Kimberly felt a lot…safer than she had done earlier. She couldn't discern why, but something had changed for the better, and she had constantly heard Tommy's presence with her which made her feel better though it still pained her to be unable to acknowledge him.
Then, not only had she heard voices of loved ones she had discerned earlier, she also recognised Trini's, Billy's and Zack's join the melee.
Oh my gosh, Tommy wasn't lying when he said everyone was coming to help me… Kim was touched, she knew how dependable and loyal her friends and team-mates were, but to drop whatever they were doing in their lives to come to her aid, to be there for her even if there was nothing they could do, it only reinforced her thoughts of how blessed she was, even in such a situation.
She just hoped and prayed she would have the chance to thank them all personally, before Mesogog managed to put her out of action permanently.
Elsa's brow arched up as she examined the system monitor, and Mesogog seemed to sense her hesitation as he was beside her in a second hissing threateningly into her ear.
"What… isss it?"
"I'm getting multiple energy readings at several different locations my lord, readings indicative of more than one Power Ranger."
"Well…there are four of them…five, including that tiresome…Red Ranger."
"There are more than five my lord." Elsa said quietly.
"Then send down…a monster…and you and Zeltrax, may accompany sssome Tyrannodrones."
"Of course master..." Elsa said with a discreet roll of her eyes. She had thought that stealing Oliver's pitiful Staff would afford her some special treatment from the master, but obviously she was mistaken. He had been quite impressed with the feat, but had told her he would be more impressed when she blew the good doctor apart with it. And who was she to disagree with the master?
"…It will be my pleasure."
That's that. A weak chapter, but I was somewhat confined by a problem I'm about to face you with. Next chapter will be longer, deeper and more action packed I promise you so please accept sincere apologies for this one.
Now, here we have a slight dilemma, well not we, me I suppose, but you, the esteemed reader can help me solve it, if you would. As I value your opinion greatly, this will somewhat affect the way the story goes, as I have somewhat shot myself in the foot here, so your continued attention would be greatly valued at this point:-
Because I included Jason having his Red Ranger powers, taking into account Forever Red, this would also imply that Tommy has his Zeo Powers, but of course would not need to use them or be inclined to because he had put his Ranger past behind him when he became a teacher until he received the Black DT powers. If this is the case, it would make sense that Rocky and Adam would have their Zeo powers also, and it would mean that Billy, Trini and Zack should also have their Morphin Powers back. Now it could be that only the Red Rangers got their powers back in previous 'unseen adventures' for the sake of Forever Red, or alternatively- as some people I have spoken to see it- when Zordon's energy tube was smashed in Countdown to Destruction his pure wave of goodness destroyed the Alliance of Evil- all the baddies and their minions thus far- but as he knew evil would never be completely destroyed his wave somehow reactivated all the lost Powers up to that point (we're talking Morphin, Ninjetti, Zeo, Turbo) so that earth would never be vulnerable.
To some degree this would explain why before in Power Rangers in Space when Carlos lost faith in his abilities and Adam returned for an episode ('Always a Chance') to help - using his damaged Power Morpher and Coin to morph into the Black Ranger- the experience nearly killed him, whereas in FR Jason could use his Power Morpher and Coin with no detrimental effect to himself. I do not mind giving the Rangers back their powers although this would cast into doubt why Kimberly could not morph back into the Pink Pterodactyl MMPR in the first place. If push came to shove, another option is that we assume the Red Ranger's powers were restored sometime before Forever Red for whatever reason (don't you just love the ambiguity of a kids' show?!) and the Ninjetti/Ninja Rangers (i.e. Billy, Rocky, Adam and Aisha) can all have their powers back (for the same reason Kim can) leaving only Zack and Trini powerless. Or we can just say none of 'em have their powers back except Jason! That would perhaps simplify things also some of the pickier peeps would then gripe that that wasn't fair/realistic whatever, so I thought I'd give you all the choice and the chance to throw in your 2 cents. I perhaps should have taken this all into account before bringing all the Rangers back but at the time- and because I regard FR as canon- I didn't pay any mind to the fact Jase would still have his powers. Whatever you decide is fine with me, as I have my idea of where I want to go in the fic, and have it all planned out, but at the end of the day this Power issue will not change anything in the story apart from a part of the next chapter. If you can live with the ambiguity and the mistakes and the not really knowing why powers are/aren't back, then so can I, but I thought I would give you the choice, find out your preference and give you a chance to influence a teeny part of the story. Isn't interaction fun? So, powers, no powers, who powers, why powers, it's all up to you!
Anyhoo, my apologies for the long diatribe there, I think it was somewhat necessary! Thank you very much for reading this chapter, and thank you even more if you help me out with my little dilemma . I'll see you next chapter.
Catch you on the flipside!