Here on after ch 3
……………..
After talking a bit more, Tommy finally convinced his three long time pals to stay for the remainder of their trip, not wanting them to waste any money on hotels.
It was currently 1:15 and they boys were hungry so Tommy decided to take them out to lunch.
After getting ready himself and grabbing his keys from downstairs Tommy shouted up the stairs for his daughter who was in her room.
"Kira!" he called and waited for an answer which never came. "Kira c'mon we're going to lunch!" he called again and began listening for any signs of music. He knew that if she was listening to music it was pointless.
"Hey Tommy I didn't know you had a cat" Zack said picking up snowball who was rubbing up on Tommy's leg most likely begging for food.
"Yah it's Kira's, I hate cats" he said.
"I love cats but Angela won't let me get one"
"Whipped!" Jason "coughed" out and the other's laughed.
"I am not whipped, she happens to be allergic." He said.
Tommy chuckled before calling up the stairs again. "Kira!" he said but still got no reply.
He sighed, beginning to hike up the stairs to get her. "I have no idea what this girl is doing" he mumbled.
After reaching her room, Tommy knocked on the door. "Kira, c'mon on let's go" he said but still got no answer.
Becoming frustrated now, Tommy swung open the door about to ask her what it took for her to answer him until she found her peacefully asleep in her bed.
Tommy sighed, smiling and looking down at her. "Poor thing, probably exercised to hard" he thought sitting on the edge of her bed and gently shaking her.
"Kira, c'mon it's time to get lunch." He said and she only groaned swatting his arm away.
Tommy only groaned, he was hungry and he knew it took forever for her to wake up.
Sitting her up some, he slipped on her sandals that were laying by the edge of the bed and picked her up in his arms making his way downstairs.
Jason, Billy and Zack who were waiting at the bottom looked at him in curiosity.
"Is she ok?" Jason asked.
"Yep, she's just sleeping, c'mon" he said leading them out to his recently bought Nissan Armada.
"Whew, you really do clean up from that paleontology don't you?" Zack said.
"Actually, my mom got it for me. When she found out she was a grandmother she went crazy and bought me a car. She said, I would need it to be sort of like a soccer…..er…..dad." he said as Billy opened the door for him allowing him to place Kira in. "Thanks Billy"
"But you only have one kid" Zack said.
"And she's a teenager" Jason added.
"I tried to tell her that, but she wouldn't hear any of it." He said as the others climbed in.
Climbing in the drivers seat himself, Tommy shut the door, turning on the engine.
"Man Tommy, a DVD player too? How much money do your parents have?" Zack asked looking at the DVD player in the back seat.
"A lot apparently since me and Tammie left" he replied pulling out of the driveway.
"Ok remind me again why you live on the outskirts of reef side." Jason asked.
"Because if I am ever attacked at my house I can't see my self explaining to my neighbors "hey no worries, I'm a 6th degree black belt and a power ranger, just continue about you business" he said and they laughed.
"Alright, point taken man but it's still like in the freaking country. It makes it harder to contact you"
"Sorry guys. And sorry I haven't called in awhile I've just been so…….."
"Busy?" Zack asked.
"Ya"
"It's alright Tommy. I could only presume that it would be an emotional rollercoaster for you as well. I mean with you adopting Kira and all." Billy said.
"It sort of is I guess, as if I'm not lost enough with women already." He said glancing in the review mirror at the still sleeping Kira.
"Does she know you're a ranger?" Zack asked.
"Yah, she's one of um'" he said.
"Whoa!" Jason said.
"Yellow?" Billy asked taking a glance at her yellow halter and white pants with yellow blotches on them.
"Yep"
"Man, she never escapes you huh? She lives with you, fights crime with you……." Jason listed.
"Goes to the same school and is in my first period class." He finished.
"That poor child" Zack said.
"Am I really that bad to be around guys?"
The three men laughed. "No Tommy, we were only joking." Billy said.
"Ya whatever so um, what do you guys feel like eating?" he asked.
"Pizza/Mexican/Tacos" they answered at once before exchanging looks.
"Mexican/Tacos/Pizza" they said again and Tommy laughed.
"Never mind, I've got the perfect place" he said
………………..
In no more than 35 minutes they reached one of the best places in Reef Side, California, Haley's Cyberspace café. Tommy decided to take them there to meet his good friend Haley and possibly his students if they were around.
"Haley's Cyberspace?" Zack asked.
"Ya, I want you to meet someone" he said parking the car.
"Cool with me, I'm just hungry" he replied.
Tommy sighed shutting off the engine. "Is Kira awake?" he asked.
"Nope, still knocked out, you sure you didn't knock her over the head with a vodka bottle or something?" Jason asked and Tommy chuckled opening the door on her side of the vehicle.
"No, she's just a hard sleeper" he said gently shaking her.
Instead of rolling over like she normally does, Kira actually woke this time with a sigh and a yawn, looking around to see where she was.
"We're at Haley's" he answered her unspoken question. "C'mon, we're going to get lunch."
Kira only gave off a little groan before getting out the car and quickly smoothing her hair out. "I'm not hungry" she said shutting the car door.
"I don't know how that's possible when you didn't finish breakfast." He said.
"Yes I did" she said yawning once more.
"That's why snowball walked off with cream cheese on his whiskers?"
"Maybe he snuck into the fridge" she said and Tommy gave her an "I don't think so" kind of glare.
By then, they reached the entrance of the restaurant and walked in with the place pretty much empty. Actually it only contained, Tommy's protégés and Haley herself.
"Wow empty in here huh?" Zack said.
"No actually it's Sunday" came the reply of Haley coming from behind the counter. "Hey Kira, hey Tommy, are these your friends?" she asked with a smile.
"Ya these are my friends from High school, Zack, Billy and Jason, guys this is one of my best friends, Haley Viktor." Tommy introduced.
"Hi" All three boys said at once.
"And what about us Dr. O? What are we chop liver?" Conner asked and Trent and Ethan who were playing cards laughed.
Tommy only rolled his eyes. "Guys this are my protégés I was telling you about, Conner, Ethan and Trent"
"Dr. Oliver! You're not supposed to tell anyone that………..whoa! You're the first red ranger aren't you!" Conner asked noticing Jason and zooming over to him at the speed of light.
"So much for not telling" Ethan said and this time Trent laughed.
"Ya….uh, how did you do that?" Jason asked wondering just how in the world the boy reached him in two seconds flat.
"Wow! This is soo cool! I'm the red ranger now! Awesome! I bet you we have so much in common." He said.
"Uh, no you don't" Tommy said and Trent and Ethan burst out laughing this time.
"Very funny Dr. O, and how come you didn't tell us your friends were coming, I would have prepared some questions to ask them sheesh" he said and the trio of boys chuckled.
"Here guys take a seat, is there anything I can get you?" Haley asked.
"Do you make burgers and fries?" Zack asked.
"Sure do, make um like no other." She said.
"Great, I'll take one of those."
"Same here" Jason said.
"Ma as well please." Billy added.
"Great, and you Tommy?"
"Um…..anything I guess, I just need some food in my stomach" he said.
"Ok, and how about you Kira?"
"Nothing to report" she said with her head down on the table still a little sleepy from her nap.
"Kira, you hardly had breakfast this morning, eat something" Tommy said.
"Don't want anything" she replied.
"You ok Kira?" Haley asked.
"Yes, I'm not hungry though" she said.
"Ya, she's on a diet" Conner said which caused Kira to snap up and toss a ketchup bottle at his head.
"Ow!"
"Shut-up Conner!" she said.
"No need to get violent" he said rubbing his head.
"Kira you don't need…."
"I'm not, Conner's making stuff up again, I'm just not hungry." She said.
"I was just joking Dr. O, she's not on a diet." He reaffirmed rubbing his head then checking his hand for blood.
"Ok, I'll just come back later then." Haley said scurrying off into the kitchen.
"You need help Haley?" Trent called.
"No it's alright." She said.
Trent shrugged before turning to face his teacher and his friends.
"So let me guess, you were the passed blue ranger, and you were the passed black ranger?" he asked noticing their dress code.
"You got it meng" Zack said imitating "Scarface."
"Affirmative" Billy said.
"Wow, hey do you guys have any embarrassing stories on Dr. O?" Ethan asked.
The boys chuckled. "Oh, we've got plenty" Jason said.
"Which will not be revealed thank you very much." He said glaring at both groups of friends.
"Oh c'mon Dr. O, it's only good fun" Conner said.
"And will it be the same fun when I tell them about that bunny costume incident Conner?" he asked as Conner shut-up and Ethan and Trent burst out laughing.
"Did we miss something?" Jason asked.
"To make………to make a long story short, Conner was dressed in a bunny costume hanging from the school flag pole!" Trent said and they only laughed harder at the memory.
"Not funny! And it wasn't my fault!" he whined and Ethan and Trent continued their laughter only harder. "Thanks a lot Dr. O!" he whined again and Tommy kept chuckling at the memory.
"Your welcome Conner" he said.
That's when Haley came out of the kitchen with 5 drinks, one for each of them.
"Here guys go, I hope you like coke." She said sitting them down on the table.
"Coke's fine, thanks" Jason said
"My favorite soda" Zack said.
"Superb"
"Thanks Hail" Tommy said.
"Here you go sweetie, you thirsty instead?" she asked setting the drink in front of Kira who still had her head down.
"Sure, thanks Haley" came a muffled reply.
Haley gave her a reassuring rub on the back sensing something was wrong with her before heading back to the kitchen.
"Kira are you alright?" Tommy asked also getting the "something is wrong" vibe.
"Yes, I'm still sleepy" came another muffled reply.
"You sure?"
"Yes" she said bringing her head up this time staring at the bubbles forming in her coke.
He gave her this one more unsure look before moving on.
"Hey is it?" Jason asked grabbing the red rangers attention.
"That's me!" he said.
"How'd you do that?"
"Do what?"
"That thing you did earlier, you moved in like 2 seconds flat."
"Oh that? That comes along with my gem powers, it's a perk I guess, I don't know exactly how I do it, I just run." He explained with the shrug of his shoulders.
"Do you all have an extra power that comes along with the gem?" Zack said.
"It's not really an extra power, we can just do it without morphing. Conner has super speed, Kira has a sound wave shock, I have tricera-shields, Dr. O can go invisible and Trent can camouflage." Ethan explained.
"Phenomenal" Billy said.
"You mean all these years Zordon's been cheating us? We never got any perked powers" Jason said playfully crossing his arms and the others laughed.
"I guess it's a matter of a new generation Jason. I mean back in the 1990's the technology………."
"Whoa!" Zack said in an outburst interrupting his computer genius friend and gazing at the doorway.
"Bro what are you……." Tommy asked turning around to face the doorway to see what his friend was staring at but his gaze was caught with the most beautiful woman he ever laid eyes on.
………………
Review