Oliver Family Reunion
By JDPhoenix
Chapter 3: The Europe Incident
Kim slowly opened her eyes. Dana was kneeling over her, taking her pulse.
"Thank goodness you're all right," Alyssa sighed and Kim saw her standing a few feet away along with Tori, Kelsey, Ashley, and Cassie.
"We thought someone had attacked you through the phone," Kelsey added. Dana shot her a look. "What?" Kelsey asked. "It could happen."
"I'm fine," Kim said, feeling the back of her head for a bruise, "really."
"What happened?" Cassie asked.
"You looked like a ghost had called," Ashley said. The other girls all kneeled around Kim, who Dana would only allow to sit up so far.
Kim sighed. "Where's my phone?" she asked. She wanted a bit more proof before she told the others. Tori handed over the fallen cell phone. Kim flipped it open, silently praying. She wasn't sure what she was praying for when she saw the Reefside area code.
"Just like that," Ashley said quietly. Kim looked up at her sharply then smiled. Her face had paled a bit.
"It was Tommy."
"Oliver?" Tori blurted.
Kim nodded. "He said he loved me, that he always had, and that we were meant to be together. Then he proposed. I think that's when I fainted."
"Call him back!" Cassie cried.
"No! Make him wait!" Kelsey said. "It's what he gets for springing it on you."
"Oh," Ashley squealed, "it'll be the most beautiful wedding."
"Everything Pink," Dana said.
"And Green," Cassie added.
"And White," Kendrix put in.
"And Red," Tori said.
"And Black!" they chorused and erupted into giggles.
"Guys!" Kim cried, shocked at her friends' behavior. "Aren't we forgetting something?" The Rangers all looked at each other in confusion then back to Kim. None of them knew what she was talking about.
"I haven't even decided if I'd marry him yet. And anyway," she added, climbing to her feet and putting her hands on her hips to look as intimidating as possible, "who says I'd marry a guy who I haven't spoken to in years and who just out of the blue proposes?"
"You're kidding," Tori said, "right?"
"You've been pining for Tommy for years," Kelsey said.
Kim let out a small valley-girl cry of insult.
"Don't deny it, Kim," Dana said gently. "Everyone knows you have."
Kim resigned herself to the fact that Ranger girls were way too intuitive, especially about each other. "But to agree to marry him so suddenly?"
"It would be so romantic," Alyssa said, starry eyed.
"Oh hush," Kim snapped. "Where are Karone and the others? We need that supplies if we're going to finish decorating before we go to bed."
"Hey!" Josh called, coming out of his house, his arms wide open to greet his cousin. Nick returned the hug.
"Josh, it's great to see you."
"You too, cuz."
"What? No hug for me?" a voice asked from the doorway.
"Josephine!" Nick cried, wrapping his cousin-in-law up in a big hug.
"Nicholas," she said when he let her go. "Who are your friends?" She eyed the couple warily; they were a bit old to be friends of Nick's.
"Um," Nick said uncertainly. "These are my biological parents."
"What?" Josh cried. "That's great! Welcome to the family!" He hugged Udonna and gave Leanbow a firm handshake.
"Why, thank you," Udonna said, smiling happily. She would never admit it, but she had been a bit worried about how Bowen's other family would take them. "It is nice to meet you both, Josh. Josephine," she nodded to the woman.
"You can call me Jo," she said. "Nick only calls me Josephine to get on my nerves."
Udonna nodded, happy just to be surrounded by these people.
"Come in," Josh said. "Jo's already made dinner."
Abbey had snuck into the next room, realizing that she couldn't stop laughing at the website she was on. Bulk and Skull had uploaded all their old Ranger sighting records onto the internet in blog form and added more everyday. People actually donated money and information to the pair. Abbey scanned through old entries, laughing at how close or how far off the pair was sometimes.
She squealed. "They have the Europe incident!"
Rocky and Adam had done things backwards. Most people took a year off and traveled around the world after high school. But being Power Rangers had been enough excitement and the boys had been eager to attend school like regular teens. Now that college was over they were itching for an adventure and decided to take the token world tour. Sure, they'd seen alien planets and hidden magical fortresses in their time as Rangers, but they still hadn't seen all the things that normal people talked about seeing.
They were currently in Athens, drinking coffee, and basking in the glory of the Acropolis—and the two girls they had picked up on the train from Paris.
"So, you boys say you have never left the United States?" Mimi asked.
Adam looked at Rocky and the two boys quickly shook their heads.
"No," Rocky said, "not really."
"California must be amazing," Margot sighed. "All those movie stars."
"And Power Rangers," Adam added, bending down to blow on his coffee.
"Oh yes," Mimi said, frowning slightly.
"Did you know any?" Mimi asked.
"Power Rangers?" Rocky sputtered. Adam spit out his coffee.
"Movie stars."
"Oh, well," Rocky said, taking a moment to think and clean up Adam's mess, "our friend Zack is a professional stunt double."
"And," Adam added, "didn't we train that Dean Edwards guy?"
"Really?" the girls chorused eagerly.
"Oh yeah," Rocky smiled at the memory. "His agent said he had to have some actual Kung Fu skills and sent him to Angel Grove to learn."
Adam laughed. "He thought it would look good that his client had learned to fight in the hometown of the Power Rangers."
"Is he as good a fighter as he looks like in the movies?" Margot asked.
"Oh no," Rocky said, joining Adam in laughter. "Jason said he was the worst student ever to set foot in his dojo."
"He was horrible," Adam laughed.
Margot and Mimi sighed, each resting her chin in her right hand.
Adam elbowed Rocky, who was still laughing. "Um," Adam said as Rocky tried to control himself, "why don't we go see some of the statues?"
"Yeah," Rocky muttered as they left the café, "just what I wanted to see in Europe: naked men."
Kat sighed, looking around the room at the girls who were fighting over shower times.
Kat had gone all over the world as a child and had loved London more than any other city, even Angel Grove. When she and Tommy had split after gaining the Turbo powers, she had stayed in Angel Grove just long enough to graduate, then moved to London to study dance. She had joined a prestigious company right out of college, looking forward to settling down in the city. But then the company had gone on tour and she was stuck schlepping all over Europe with a dozen other twenty-something girls, all of whom wanted first dibs on the shower.
She stood, gaining the attention of all the other girls. She had beaten up a mugger in Rome and now they all showed her a bit more respect than she was comfortable with.
"I'll shower in the middle of the night," she announced.
"What do you mean—?" Tracy, the list maker of the group began, but stopped midway in fear.
"I don't mind waking up at three A.M. to shower. I'll still be in peak condition for the performance." With that, she left the room.
She wasn't lying, she reminded herself as she walked down the streets of Athens. Her time as a Ranger had been so hectic that she'd gotten used to showering in the wee hours of the morning and still managing to go to school the next day and practice her ballet in the afternoon and fight evil in the evening and make it home to study and eat dinner with her family. At least here she didn't have to study or make an appearance at dinner. Or fight evil, she added. That was the best one to be rid of.
She pulled her jacket tighter around her shoulders. It had been nice to be part of something, but thoughts of her Rangering days inevitably led to thoughts of the two people she wanted to forget.
She had been blinded by Tommy. It wasn't his fault; he hadn't tried to. It was just that he was so… so. He was Tommy Oliver for Heaven's sake! Who wouldn't want him? And he had been so eager to move on and forget Kim that she had convinced herself that he really could. Divatox had proven her wrong. Tommy had taken one look at that image of Kimberly and gone right back to the person he was when Kat had met him: Kim's knight in shining armor. He had thought of nothing else but saving Kim the entire mission and when the dust had finally settled and they'd had a chance to talk they had used her as an excuse not to talk about what was obviously going on between them. Kat kicked a tin can. She had broken up with Tommy that night and he hadn't fought her on it. She didn't blame them either. Kim had her reasons for writing the letter and Tommy hadn't known any better. She was okay, she had moved on. She had a boyfriend who loved her and appreciated her for who she was and not the color she wore.
She sighed again, looking at the sky. Had it really only been three years since that day? Three years since she had felt power and warmth and love enter her for a moment? Three years since she had fallen to the floor in the middle of practice in tears because she knew he was gone? Normal people saw a strange light envelope their surroundings for a moment; Rangers felt their mentor die. Kat would still catch herself wanting to tell Zordon something. She wanted to introduce him to her new beau, ask his opinion. Kim said she did the same thing. Zordon had been a father to them all, and it was only natural for them to forget that someone who had been so important to them was gone.
Kat pulled out her phone. She really wanted to call Kim. It had been over a week since she had talked to any other Rangers and it felt like too long. Everyone else in her life was too normal. No one knew what it was like to feel that weight. No one knew what it was like to wake up holding back a scream because you didn't want to wake up your roommates and then have to make up some lie.
Kat was coming up on a park and felt her ears perk up at the sound of a scream. Those sounds were just so normal to her, especially in a park, that she hadn't noticed them at first. Someone was in trouble.
"Say 'cheese'!" Mimi called.
Rocky and Adam were standing on either side of a discus thrower, striking manly poses. They laughed when the shutter clicked and Mimi said it was okay to move.
"How about this one?" Margot asked, running ahead to a statue of a man with his hands on his hips, his chin held defiantly high. Like all the other statues, he was stark naked except for the laurel leaves in his hair.
"I wonder what he competed in?" Mimi asked.
"It doesn't say," Adam said.
Rocky shrugged and put linked his arm with the statue's. Adam did the same. Mimi held the camera at the ready. Margot gasped. Mimi dropped the camera. Rocky and Adam slowly turned to look at the statue. It was glaring down at them.
"What are the odds he's one of those guys who pretends to be statues?" Rocky asked.
Adam poked the statue's arm. It was very solid. "Slim."
"Great. Run!" he called to the girls just as the statue threw him and Adam across the pathway.
The girls ran away, screaming.
"You'd think they'd never seen a monster before," Adam grumbled, picking himself up. He smirked, realizing what he had said and threw Rocky a look.
"See," Rocky sighed, "we need California girls, they can handle the weird." He shot a look around, saw no one except the monster and reached into his pocket. "Zeo Ranger Three, Blue!"
Adam reached into his own pocket. "Zeo Ranger Four, Green!" he called. "It's good to be back," he said, flexing his hands to get used to the gloves again.
"Why didn't you go Turbo?" Rocky asked, sending a punch at the statue.
"Carlos has the Turbo Powers."
"But Jason and I can both—. You know what? Never mind. Just come and help me."
Adam jumped into the fray, giving the monster a hurricane kick. "What do you want?" he asked it.
"I am Hector," it said in Greek. Rocky silently thanked Billy for long ago explaining that the Power allowed him to understand any language spoken on his home planet. "I was imprisoned for using magic to cheat in the Olympic games. Now I will have revenge on the Greeks for taking my prize from me!"
"Uh, no," Rocky said. "See, we're Power Rangers. It's our job to defend the world from evil."
"Then you will be the first to perish," Hector grinned. He rushed at them and took one of them in each arm. Running on he hurled them into two nearby, lifeless statues. He laughed, lifting his fists to strike the Rangers when a blast hit him in the back, sending him to his knees.
Rocky and Adam jumped to their feet to see Zeo Ranger One training her blaster on the monster.
"Kat!" they both cried.
"Guys!" she yelled. The three embraced, glad to see each other again.
"What are you doing in Athens?" Rocky asked.
"My company is touring here."
"Really?" Adam asked. "We have to go see it," he said, giving Rocky a good-natured shove in the shoulder.
"Of course we'll go! Anything for a friend!"
The three turned at a roar from where they'd left Hector. He was flexing his muscles and baring his chest to the Heavens.
"Oh no," Kat said.
"I remember that," Adam said.
"Man," Rocky added as they watched Hector grow to an enormous size. "How long do you think it'll take the zords to get here?"
"That's assuming they even respond to our call," Kat said, crossing her arms. "We'll have to beat him on our own."
"Seriously?" Adam asked. "Three Rangers against a giant monster?"
"Wait," Rocky said seriously, "did you hear that sound when I hit it? It's hollow. If we can break it…."
"Okay," Kat said, "let's try concentrating our blasters on one spot."
"His left eye," Adam said. The other two shot him strange looks. "What? It's small enough that it'll be hard to confuse it with some other part of him."
"His left or our left?" Rocky asked.
"His," Adam sighed.
"Guys!" Kat snapped. "There is a giant, naked man walking around Athens. Can we please deal with this before it becomes global news?"
"Oh, it's already global news," Rocky said as they ran towards the city.
"The news cameras just haven't shown up yet," Adam finished.
Turbo speed and a better knowledge of the modern landscape got them ahead of Hector very fast. Adam made a detour to save a bus full of nuns from being stepped on—a fact that he would never be able to live down—but eventually they made it to one of the hotels. One quick jump got them to the roof.
"Our left?" Rocky yelled, breathless from the run as they aimed.
"His!" Adam cried.
They fired. Hector reeled back in pain, clutching his eye.
"Dang," Rocky said, "he's still alive."
"Not for long," Kat said and before either of the men could stop her she leapt off the roof, into the air and punched Hector in his wounded eye. He shattered, blanketing the city in a small layer of dust for the next week.
The next day the newspaper ran a story with the image of the Pink Zeo Ranger punching a large naked man in the eye. That picture quickly became the most famous Ranger image of all time for several reasons: no one had ever seen a Ranger defeat a giant monster without the use of a zord, the Rangers rarely left California—let alone the U.S., it was really a spectacular piece of photographic art, and—perhaps most infuriating—it was an image of a Pink Ranger attacking a naked man. Needless to say, the Pink Zeo Ranger was not happy.
Kat's roommates couldn't stop talking about it until two weeks later when they were in Budapest and Kat randomly punched a black man on the street. He had said nothing, and all he had done was smile at her and open his mouth as if he was going to say something. She told them his name was Zack, he was a friend, and she didn't want to hear what he had to say because it would probably have been annoying anyway. Zack showed up at the show that night with a pink rose, which he gave her as an apology. She told him that her only consolation in the whole matter was knowing that Rocky and Adam had lost the girls they were attempting to woo.
Abbey sat back and sighed. She had heard the story a hundred times – it was told almost every time a group of Rangers got together (as long as Kat wasn't there). And while Bulk and Skull's version left out the funnier parts, it was nice to look at the image and laugh, especially when Kat wasn't around to hit her.
AN: Remember to review! They make me happy!