THE REASON - Part Sixty-Eight: United Forever
Summary: The team attends Jason and Kat's wedding. But something else is lurking in the dark when each of the ninja rangers are starting to feel a little weirder than usual.
Disclaimer: Power Rangers is not mine.
A/N: Okay, first off, this story is centered around Tommy and Kim, not the old crew. And I am also not the best person to go to about getting things right at a wedding or reception. I've seen some movies, but actually attending one and remembering it was way too long ago. So, if I screwed up, I apologize. And still trying to figure out how to write about Tommy and Kim's wedding. Anyways, enjoy. Peace.
"I never expected to see the day that my best friend would be marrying my ex. But best wishes to the both of you. Congratulations!" -Eclyptyk Neo
Days later.
Just hours ago, Jason and Kat had tied the knot and became the newlyweds of the team. It was a simple wedding. Small with close friends and family. And from both sides of it, it was obvious that each of them were feeling the tension. Both Tommy, the best man, and Tanya, the maid of honor had to keep both Jason and Kat straight about what was about to happen. It took the other rangers from the old crew to convince the two otherwise, that they were meant for each other, and that this step into marriage would be something more to unite them as lovers.
And when the two had exchanged vows and sealed their marriage life with a kiss, all tension was pushed away. The burden was lifted and all were relieved to have one happy couple united by the bonds of marriage.
With that now just memories, the next was being created at the reception hall. Again, nothing big or fancy. And all rangers present knew they'd be hoping to expect more from the legendary ranger's wedding. Each had exchanged a look with him, as he knew what they were all hoping for.
Many of the friends and family out of the ranger crowd were conversing amongst themselves, while the other rangers just seemed to be dispersed throughout the room conversing with other rangers.
The ones present. The entire old ranger crew–the originals, minus Billy. Then the Space Rangers, all six of them. Wes and Eric from the Time Force Team. And the Dino Thunder Rangers.
The newlyweds were making conversation with their own families, leaving the 'ranger brothers' to pick on their legendary leader. The 'ranger sisters' were on one end of the room, the guys on the other.
"You know this is gonna be you in a few months, T." Rocky laughed as a means of greeting.
"Yeah, you sure you ain't gonna bail this time?" Zack asked as he ruffled through his friend's hair.
Tommy swiped Zack's hand away, annoyed at how much the original black ranger liked to mess up his spiky hair. "Back off, guys. I thought this was Jason's day, not mine. You'll have your chance later."
"Aw, please. You and Kim are a far more bigger deal than Kat and Jase. And I'm not saying that, cuz Jase is our buddy, too and all, I'm only saying what is true. Anyone whose anyone knows that we've all been waiting for you to tie the knot." Zack concluded.
"Just giving you the heads up, Tommy." Adam shrugged. "I almost would have thought you'd come in the color red to tease Jason."
Tommy looked at his attire, noting it was a completely black suit from head to toe. He figured it was best to keep with the current color rather than try to make something out of four colors. And as he looked at his friends, they were all dressed in their primary color. Zack, Adam, and Carlos had a black suit which was similar to his own. Rocky had a black suit with a red dress shirt to match all other red rangers in the room: Conner, Wes, Eric, TJ and Andros. Trent had a white attire on. Ethan had it simple with a buttoned-up dress shirt covered by a jacket, but wasn't much for wearing a tie, at all. The girls were also in their own shade of ranger color, but more of an offset-pale color. But it still distinguished the color of their rank on the team they served.
"Take a pass on that. I'm sticking with black." Tommy shook his head.
"And your own wedding?" Rocky raised an eyebrow.
"Still in the stages of deciding." Tommy concluded.
"Meaning he will procrastinate." Adam sighed.
Tommy dropped his head again, hoping they'd lay off of him, but it was obvious he wasn't gonna get out of it when Andros, Eric, and Wes were making their way over to them.
"Well, well. If it isn't the legendary ranger himself?" Eric said as a means of greeting. "Ya know, I'm still up for that little Q-Rex/Dragonzord battle."
Tommy pushed open a smile, got to his feet and clasped his friend's hand in a ranger shake. "Well, if it isn't Mr. Cocky Quantum Ranger himself. I'm still game whenever you want to do this. How ya doin', Eric?"
Eric shrugged as he chuckled. "Same old. Same old. You don't seem to change one bit, do you? Dino Thunder Rangers?"
"That would be the four color-coordinated teens in the room, Eric. And yeah, I did create them." Tommy turned to the other two red rangers, Andros and Wes, greeting them with a firm handshake. "It's been awhile, guys. What's new?"
Wes shrugged. "Same as Eric, here. But what's this I hear about another wedding in the works with you being in the spotlight?"
"It's true." Tommy nodded.
"Finally touched things up with Kim." Rocky nodded.
The three red rangers exchanged a look with their counterpart then nodded, before turning back to the legendary ranger.
"It's about time." they said in unison.
Tommy took a step back, shocked at the emphases they put on it. "Man, is everyone gonna get on my ass about it?"
"Yes, man. We got every right to." Zack said as he wrapped an arm around his friend. "I mean, it took you how long to do this?"
"Don't start with me." Tommy shrugged Zack's arms off his shoulder. "I..."
"You were just chicken to do it any sooner." Eric concluded. "Tell us something we don't know."
"Are you guys gonna leave me as the scapegoat and the center of all these disses?" Tommy sighed.
"That seems just about right." Andros nodded.
"Hey, what's up my fellow crime-fighters." TJ called out as he broke through the group to become the center of attention.
Ethan, Conner, Trent and Carlos were not too far from his tail.
"Man, do I love this guy?" Ethan commented as he jumped into the array of 'ranger brothers'.
"Well, aren't we one big happy ranger family?" Conner commented. "Mind giving up some intros Dr. O?"
"Dr. O?" Eric raised an eyebrow looking at the legendary ranger. "Oh right, forgot that you were hoping to get rid of your ranger deal to become a teacher. And look where it got you."
"Shut up, Eric." Tommy said behind clenched teeth. For as far as he could tell, he was always behind every diss that came his way. Each regarded one aspect of his life, and Eric was the worse next to Jason to bring it up. "Conner. Ethan. Trent. This is Eric and Wes of the Time Force team. And Andros of the Space Ranger team."
"And you know, I earn that title as best ranger." Andros said as he took the teens' hands in turn.
"Don't go there, Andros." Tommy protested.
"Uh-uh. Oh hell no. What about me? Remember, I replaced you 'cause you were too old as Dimetria put it." TJ said.
"Dimetria never said that." Tommy shook his head.
"Hey, I changed the outcome of the future." Wes said.
The red ranger predecessors, minus Rocky, moved away from the group as they began to file out what they left behind.
"And here we go." Adam groaned, dropping his head, looking over at the teens. "Guys, have fun trying to make conversation with them now. And Conner, don't try to get into it, 'cuz it'll only get worse."
"Meaning?" Conner asked.
"They are duking out who was the better red ranger." Zack sighed.
"Lucky for me, I don't necessarily need to get into the scheme of things considering I was never apart of 'Operation: Forever Red.'" Rocky breathed a sigh of relief.
Conner let out a breath, breaking through the argument, stopping them short of saying anything else. They all turned to look at him with curiosity. He tried his hand at giving a great speech for the legacy left behind. Briefly, his predecessors thought about it, but TJ continued to bring up the concept that he had replaced the legendary ranger. And Conner was at a loss. He moved away finding a place among those left out. They congratulated him for trying, but figured they'd start their own conversation.
----
Time passed.
And it was time for Tommy to give that much needed speech about his best friend and his wife. He walked over to the mic with glass in hand, each in the room turning to him. He looked back at the couple sitting behind him each holding a smile on their face.
The room fell silent as Tommy cleared his throat and tapped the mic to hear a slight feedback escape from it.
He looked about the room briefly, suddenly feeling a sense of dizziness fall over him. And it wasn't due to the champagne. He shook it away as he raised his glass slightly. "Okay. I guess, I'm here to give the best man speech. And I know a lot of us here were hoping to see me hitch it first, but I must apologize. There will be a rain check on that for a few months."
The room filled with slight chuckles and laughter as he paused.
"But, that is not the point. The point here, is to congratulate the newlyweds, Jason and Kat." he turned slightly to look at them. He looked onto the side table where his fiancee sat with a warm smile across her face, and couldn't help but push a smile open. He looked back at the crowd. "Ya know, I got a chance to get to know these two people for some time. Jason was like a brother to me in every way except blood. To Kat, though we used to be a thing, don't let it ever crush our friendship. You were both there for me as friends. And when I look at them, I see happiness. I see compassion in what I share with my soon-to-be-wife. I only wish you guys the best and nothing less. Take care of each other and the family you have yet to raise. There will always be a unique power inside you that will guide you back into each other's arms if you ever feel loss. It's with my privilege, honor, and status to be the first to grant you guys many more years together in happiness. Congratulations, Jason and Katherine."
Each person raised their glass and the couple raised their glasses and tipped them before sharing a warm kiss.
Tommy slowly found his way back to his seat, as he collapsed into it with an exhausted heap. Something was wrong as another sense of dizziness fell over him again.
Jason tapped his best man on the shoulder, leaning over to whisper into his ear. "I'm surprised, Tommy, you come up with that on the spot? Kim told me you didn't have a speech set."
"Yeah, I did. Why? Did it sound like crap?" Tommy said.
"No. I'm impressed. You weren't exactly much for the big speeches. It was good." Jason couldn't help but smile.
"Well, I expect to see something that matches that standard if not better at mine."
"Don't worry, I already got that covered." Jason winked.
Minutes passed.
Jason and Kat had shared a dance on the floor, opening the floor for dancing to all others interested.
Tommy sunk lower into his seat. He seriously wasn't feeling good, and hoped that he hadn't made it too obvious. But didn't. Kim laid a hand on his lap, turning his head toward her. She looked so elegant in her dress, and Tommy couldn't wait to see her in an even more radiant dress on their wedding day.
She looked at him with great concern laying a gentle kiss on his lips. "Hey, Handsome, you okay?"
"I'm fine. Just a little dizzy." he said simply.
Kim looked out at the dance floor, seeing the couple stand out among those that joined in dance around them. "Regrets?"
"Nope." Tommy shook his head.
"Ya know that's gonna be us in a few months." Kim stated.
"And you do know that it'll come up quickly, right?" Tommy said.
"Meaning you can't procrastinate on some of this stuff." she instructed.
Tommy nodded, but all of a sudden the conversation wasn't registering. That last statement didn't sound all too clear to him. "I know."
"As permission from the best man, may I take his fiancee out on the dance floor to share one dance?" A voice said, charmingly as a hand extended out for the petite woman in pink.
The couple looked up to see Conner standing there. Conner exchanged a look with his teacher with a wink, knowing exactly what he was doing to leave the teacher to time alone. Tommy nodded as Kim took Conner's hand and was pulled gently from the chair. Tommy was relieved to have some time alone, but it wasn't long when Adam tapped him on the shoulder and directed him out of the room.
Tommy followed Adam out of the room, seeing Rocky leaning up against the wall, rubbing his head.
"What's up?" Tommy looked at his friend in black with concern.
"Well, I don't know." Adam admitted, shrugging. "He just looks a little paler than usual. How are you doing? I noticed you don't look too hot yourself."
Tommy shook his head as another wave of dizziness swept through him. Adam grabbed his arm, stabling him as they walked over to Rocky.
"No." Tommy sighed. "I don't know. It just started to happen a few minutes ago. I thought it was nothing, just lack of water."
"It's more than that. I mean, I feel it too." Rocky finally looked up. "What do you think it is?"
Adam shrugged, but as he did. He, too, felt the wave of dizziness sweep over him. Tommy and Rocky caught him before his knees hit the ground. But it was clear that all three of them were feeling the effects of something. They just didn't know what. Then Tommy hit the ground and his eyes fell shut. He watched an array of color dance in his head. Six colors that he could distinguished belonging to one team: red, teal, yellow, crimson, navy and green.
Tommy let out a painful breath as he opened his eyes. "The Ninja Storm Rangers."
"Huh?" Adam and Rocky pulled him back to his feet.
"But how? Their powers were destroyed." Rocky protested.
"Something is wrong. There is an imbalance. Something." Tommy breathed, unsure how to describe what he saw.
They stopped short as they heard footsteps from up the hall. They saw Aisha and Kim coming their way. Kim was clinging to Aisha more as a support than the other way.
"Kim." Tommy breathed as he felt his knees weaken again.
Rocky moved toward the women, taking Kim in hand as the five ninja rangers met in the center of the hall. "What's going on?"
Tommy let out a breath as Kim collapsed into his arms as he found the strength to get back on his feet. "I don't know. How are you doing, Aisha?"
"I'm okay. But Kim doesn't look so good." Aisha said quietly as she laid against Adam for support.
Tommy looked at the small petite woman in his arms, and didn't have to disagree. She looked a little pale as Tommy pushed a strand of hair out of her face, laying a kiss on his forehead. She opened her eyes to look up at him, as a sense of fear swept through them. "It'll be okay. We'll figure this out."
"Tommy, I'm scared." she whispered.
Tommy wrapped his arms around her as he looked toward his other ninja counterparts. "My only conclusion for this is that the Ninja Storm Rangers are involved somehow. We'd better figure this out soon, or it could get worse. And this is something we can't tell the others."
"Including us?" a voice called out.
The team turned around to see the dino thunder rangers standing there all anxiety to find out if they could help in any way. Tommy sighed, knowing he'd have to tell them what he knew about the situation.
"What's up, Dr. O?" Ethan asked as he moved toward the ninja team.
"Yeah, is every thing alright?" Trent asked.
"I really hope so. But I can't guarantee it, guys." Tommy concluded.
"A dark cloud is looming." Adam said slowly as if he could see the future unfold before his eyes. "I feel it. The changes in the air. And whatever it is, Mesogog won't be too far behind."
"What kind of change?" Kira asked.
"I don't know, Kira." Tommy shook his head. "That's something we still need to figure out."
To be continued....
A/N: Oh, isn't that sweet? No, the stuff before the issue at hand. But like I said, I'm not the best person to come to about that topic. I don't even know what to say about getting this far. It's gonna get wrapped up soon. See ya next chapter.