Author's Note: Just so you don't think I'm pulling this out of thin air…. I took many trips between the southern California coast and Phoenix, Arizona when I was growing up—there are two routes: the Northern and Southern, both take about eight hours and aside from the occasional tourist stop are pretty much the same. (I love those tourist stops, they made the trip bearable, but young as I was I don't remember which route has what and they all sort of bled together. Please don't be offended by my flippant tone if you live there.)
Enough really long author's note. Enjoy the story!
Oliver Family ReunionBy JDPhoenix
Chapter 8: The Great Race
"This is bad," Tommy said for the hundredth time. He was hunched over the steering wheel and putting all of his racecar training to use.
Abbey gripped her seat. "Tommy, I know it's bad, everyone knows it's bad. Now will you please stop scaring the other drivers!"
They had gone onto the side of the road to pass a minivan filled with little kids coming home after their first trip to Disneyland. Abbey's car was currently at a sixty-degree angle, the right wheels at the bottom of the small incline off the road and the left wheels barely touching the pavement. Tommy turned the wheel violently to the left and they were suddenly in front of the Disney van. Abbey breathed a sigh of relief when she looked back to see the van still moving steadily.
The drive through the Arizona desert was like a cartoon walk cycle. There were two lanes going both ways and the divider was a ten-foot wide stretch of dirt. Beyond the asphalt's edge was yellow desert that seemed to go on forever. Occasionally a town would pop up. Thankfully, they were few and far between, or a cop would probably have pulled them over by now.
Abbey was about to chastise Tommy again when her cell rang. "What?" she cried.
"Abbey?" It was a very freaked out sounding Madison.
"What, Maddie?"
Tommy's eyes widened.
"She is not pregnant!" Abbey hissed, putting a hand over the receiver.
"There are a lot of people here looking for your brother."
"Which one?" Abbey sighed.
"Tommy."
"Oh. What do they look like?"
"Well, they're all women and most of them are wearing pink or yellow and one's wearing blue and one's wearing some weird princess dress and one's pregnant and—"
"Madison," Abbey said slowly, "one of the older ones should have long black hair and be wearing yellow. Give her the phone."
As Madison walked the phone over to Trini, Abbey could hear Chip ask, "Is that Cassie Chan? And Ashley Hammond?" This was the worst day ever.
"Abbey?" Trini's voice came over the phone, all business.
"What's up, Trini?"
"What's Trini doing there?" Tommy asked.
"Have you seen Kim?" Trini asked.
"No, we're looking for Nick. Aren't you supposed to be running a baby shower?"
"This is the baby shower," Trini explained. "Why are you looking for Nick?"
"He won't answer his cell and he's going to tell our parents that he's a Ranger."
"Nicky's a Ranger?" Tanya squealed—apparently she had been listening in—and several of the other women began asking questions.
"Yes," Trini said, her voice dark. Abbey could hear Tanya scampering away and was glad this wasn't a videophone. "And he's going to tell your parents?" Trini asked, suddenly grasping the gravity of the situation.
"Yes."
"Where is he?"
"He and his biological parents—also Rangers—spent last night with Josh, but he didn't know what Nick was going to do so he let them leave. Assuming Nick's going straight to Phoenix he has a choice after Charterville between the Northern and Southern routes. We're on the Southern, Josh and Jo have taken the Northern."
"We're on our way."
"I don't know how much you can help—"
Taylor's voice cut her off. "It's my baby shower and I say we're coming! It's not a party without a high speed chase involving airspace clearance over at least two states!"
"She has a point," Aisha said in the background.
"Fine," Abbey sighed, glad for the help though not so sure she would be when all was said and done. "But remember, we don't want our parents to know."
Whoever was holding the phone at that moment hung-up.
"The women are coming, aren't they?" Tommy asked. He really was very astute when he wasn't in a drunken, sorrow-induced stupor. He usually reserved his drinking for Valentine's Day, which was how he had managed to get his bachelors in only three years.
"Yes," Abbey said stiffly.
"This cannot end well."
The phone rang again.
Trini spoke before Abbey had a chance to. "Does that mean the other newbies are in Briarwood?"
"Vida and Madison. V has pink hair and Maddie's the one who called me."
"Great, thanks!" Trini hung up before Abbey could say anything else.
"They're bringing the new girls too?" Tommy asked calmly.
"Yes," Abbey said.
"Wonderful."
Tommy veered to the left. There was just enough room between the two cars in the left lane for their car to fit in and Abbey bit back a scream. Tommy veered back to the right in front of the very slow car they had been behind.
The phone rang again.
"What, Trini?" Abbey snapped.
"Trini?" Kimberly's voice came over the phone. "Why do you think I'm Trini?"
Abbey breathed a sigh of relief. "She's been calling a lot lately. Where have you been? Everyone's worried sick about you."
"Mexico, don't ask. Rocky's driving me back up because he doesn't think I can make it on my own and we just saw a car that looked a whole lot like yours doing some really crazy things."
"Are you in Arizona?"
"Yeah."
"That's us. Tommy's driving. We're trying to catch Nick to stop him from telling our parents that he's a Ranger."
"Nick knows Tommy's a Ranger?" Kim yelled.
"Nick knows?" Rocky echoed in the background.
"No," Abbey said, "Nick is a Ranger."
"Seriously?" Kim asked. "Nick's a Ranger?"
"Now Nick's a Ranger too?" Rocky asked. "What is it with that family?"
"Yes," Abbey said. "Nick's a Ranger and he's about to tell Mom and Dad."
"Whoa!" Tommy said.
"What?"
"This little pink beetle just did a U-ey in the middle of the freeway. It's coming up behind us."
"Kim?" Abbey asked. "Do you have a pink beetle?"
"Yeah."
"That's Kim?" Tommy yelled. Rocky pulled even with Tommy and waved. Tommy waved weakly back.
"Speaker phone," Abbey heard Rocky order. She and Kim obligingly switched their phones to speaker mode and set them between the seats.
"What about the Northern route?" Rocky asked, dropping back behind Tommy to get around a semi.
"Josh has it covered," Tommy ground out.
"Pull over," Abbey begged.
"Why?" Rocky asked.
"Not you—Tommy. Come on, you have to talk to Kim and you can't do it at these speeds."
"I was a racecar driver," Tommy said firmly.
"You were an amateur racecar driver and you quit."
"I piloted zords."
"Not the same. Now please, you've had a very stressful few days and I'd rather not die a fiery death."
"You won't drive as fast as I will."
"Why does he have to talk to Kim?" Rocky cut in.
When neither Kim nor Tommy spoke up Abbey said, "Because Tommy proposed yesterday."
"To Kim?" Rocky yelled, almost swerving into a Cadillac with two very frightened senior citizens inside.
"Yes."
"I was drunk," Tommy whispered, passing a Hummer.
"I knew it!" Kim yelled.
"But-" Rocky began. They were so close. He had proposed. "But if she said 'yes,' would you go back on it?" he asked quietly.
Tommy was silent. He just kept passing every vehicle they came upon. "No," he said finally. "I meant every word I said."
No one said a word.
"And Kim," Rocky pressed, "would you have said 'yes'?"
Kim swallowed. She could see Tommy shooting her sidelong glances from the other car. "Yes," she said quietly.
The Arizona desert was filled with the sound of two men whooping for joy and two women laughing happily.
"Why isn't she picking up?" Trini asked.
She was currently taking the Northern route to Phoenix along with all female Rangers through the Galaxy Team. The girls had decided to turn the chase into a competition and had—in true Ranger spirit—kidnapped Vida and Madison. With Shayla joining in and Kimberly still missing it was an easy split: nine to a team.
The only problem? Abbey was not answering her phone.
Trini pulled up her contact list as Tanya crested a hill. Just because they were taking the Northern route didn't mean they were using the road.
The dune buggy had been Tanya's final project in auto shop—a class she'd taken because everything else was full. She had made some last minute alterations to it after gaining the Turbo powers just before graduation and still tinkered with it every so often. It was almost as fast as her old Dune Star.
"Hello?" a very serious-sounding Jo asked.
"Jo? It's Trini, first Yellow."
"Oh, hey. What's up?"
"Have you found Nick?"
"You know about that? No, we're stuck in traffic. Honestly, I'm this close to pulling my mountain bike off the roof and beetle blasting."
"Don't bother, we'll stop him."
"'We'?" Jo asked, suddenly very afraid.
Trini quickly explained about the baby shower, Kim's disappearance, kidnapping the newbies, and the race to stop Nick.
"Wow," Jo marveled. "Now I remember why I avoid you people."
Trini laughed, taking it as a compliment. "We're putting on quite a show. Ashley, Cassie, Kendrix, and Maya are using those weird board things and flying above us. Tanya, Kat, Aisha, Karone, and I are all in this supped up dune buggy of Tanya's. I can't imagine what the others are doing."
"Oh my God," Kim breathed, looking through Abbey's car to the far side of the highway.
"What?" Tommy and Rocky asked, turning. Running through the desert and keeping pace with the two cars was a giant white tiger.
Abbey rolled down her window and stuck her head out, looking up. A giant yellow eagle was soaring overhead. A motorcyclist came up alongside the car and smacked Abbey in the head.
"Don't you know that's dangerous?" the rider laughed.
"Tori?" Kim yelled.
"And Kira." Tommy's old student appeared between the two cars on her own motorcycle.
Tommy rolled down the window. "Where did you get that?"
"They're the same ones we used when we were Rangers, we just took the armor off to be less conspicuous."
"Yeah, this is inconspicuous," Tommy grumbled.
"Don't worry," Tori said, "I put mud over your license plates."
"What is going on?" Rocky asked.
His phone rang in answer. It was Kelsey, who explained everything as quickly as she could.
"Well that's all well and good," Rocky said. "But do we have any idea how we're going to stop Nick?"
Everyone looked at each other. This was bad.
AN: Will they stop Nick? Will this insane two-state chase cost them their identities anyway? Will Taylor have a boy or a girl? Will Tommy and Rocky get tickets? Will that Hidiac ever escape from Mistress Auldley? Find the answers to some of these questions in The Final Chapter!
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