Time Force Archives
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Monday – Thursday
Closed on Fridays
Alex stared at the sign, taking in every letter before sighing in frustration. "This is not good," he muttered to the officers crowded around him.
Trip put his hand over his eyebrows and peered through the heavily tinted glass into the main portion of the building. He squinted hard as he scanned the deserted entrance, a slight grin tugging at the corners of his lips. "Of course it is! It means we get to keep the rules for the weekend." As he caught a sideways glare from Alex he hastily amended, "I-I mean protect, we get to protect the book."
Katie nodded her agreement. "Yeah, and I suggest we start protecting it right away." She jerked her thumb towards the sky with a meaningful look on her face.
The sky was rapidly darkening as black storm clouds moved to cover the bustling metropolis.
Alex's face paled considerable as he watched the first drops of rain splatter to the concrete beneath his feet. "Let's go!" He ran across the street, back to the bus station, and barely made to the safety of the entrance when he heard a monstrous crack of thunder and the sky let loose a torrent of freezing rain. His companions stumbled through the doors that he held open, cursing and talking as one.
"The book! Did it get wet?"
"We're dead if it did!"
"That thing is ancient, it'll be destroyed!"
Trip shook his head and pulled the book out from under his jacket. "No, it's ok!" He held it up triumphantly as his grin got wider than ever. "So I guess this means we get to read more?"
"Is that all you think about," mumbled Jen.
Alex shook his head as he noticed a group of civilians that had gathered and were staring in their direction. "Not here. Let's go back to Jen's apartment."
Jen sighed and followed her teammates back into the bus, but no one spoke until they were sitting around her kitchen table half and hour later.
"Do you think we'll get in trouble for this," she asked Alex as he sipped on a cup of coffee.
He frowned, "do ducks fly?"
"Was that another joke," she asked, giving him a playful shove and causing some of the hot liquid to spill over the side of his cup.
"Maybe," he hissed in pain, hastily grabbing a napkin to wipe up the steaming hot liquid from his pants. After his leg stopped burning he turned his attention back to Jen. "Let's just put it this way. That book was supposed to there yesterday. Now it won't get there until Monday. That's four days that it'll be missing. You know, as well as I, how Time Force is gonna feel about that."
Jen shook her head and absently rubbed Alex's leg where she had spilt the coffee. "Well, no use worrying about it now."
"That's what I'm saying," said Trip's overly cheerful voice from the couch. "Now, let's get down to business!"
321. If you ever want to understand your computer again...do NOT and I repeat do NOT let a genius ranger get a hold of it...(trust me...its not fun when you call technical support and they can't help you.)
322. Do NOT abuse your special powers! (Tommy was gleefully pulling pranks on visiting friends by using his power of invisibility. Unfortunately, said friends did not find it funny and Tommy spent three hours trying to figure out how to unglue his face from the floor after his friends pulled their own prank.)
323. Girls, if you wanna bring the guys down a peg or two, just take them shopping! It never fails for guys to see girls fawning over clothes and giggling. It'll make them think twice before pissing any of you off again.
324. The paintball war ends, NOW! (It's not funny anymore. Conner and the Ninja rangers were actually ARRESTED after their midnight, citywide, paintball war got out of control. Tommy was not pleased with his red ranger…)
325. Stop saying your last name first; who do you think you are? James Bond? Nowhere near as smooth. (Ahem, Lucas)
326. Saturday morning cartoons are not training, and therefore, they should not be played on the viewing globe, Dr. Oliver's computer, Cam's computer, or frankly anywhere considered part of a top secret base.
327. Things that are now banned for any ranger: BELLS.
328. Trees aren't cars so stop joyriding! (Chip, Xander)
329. If you invent a flying car, don't crash it into your Command Center. (Billy!!)
330. If an evil princess switches bodies with a certain yellow ranger (coughAshleycough) take notice of her behavior! If she's rude and not perky, chances are she's not your friend! (Ashley's still slightly annoyed that her friends didn't notice the change...)
331. The Jedi Drinking song is henceforth banned from all of your iPods! (Not only is it annoying to your peers and teachers but it doesn't even make sense! If you must, use it as a torture device against the enemy!)
332. Do NOT touch a female ranger's belongings (seriously, Z nearly castrated Sky when he borrowed one of her CDs without her permission).
333. STOP taking words and perverting them! (Kim and Tommy could not look at each other without laughing whenever the word croissant was mentioned in their presence.)
334. Don't let Ethan say outrageous things... he will jinx you! (Falling down "sink holes", out of the sky or space ships flying over the school is NOT normal!)
335. When your green ranger starts complaining about 'dream fighting', and how it's so exhausting, don't mock him. Start looking for the giant robots that are going to show up.
336. When you're turned into kids and then turned back into adults it's not cool to see another male holding your other hand along with your girlfriend... (Tommy gave Adam a 'wtf' expression.)
337. Ok, it was funny the first time, but stop calling Tommy the Technicolor Ranger (Seriously people, his eyes are doing that glowing-green thingy and his hands are twitching and we all know what THAT means...)
338. Even if you're old enough to drink alcohol, that doesn't mean you SHOULD! (The rangers from Angel Grove still laugh at Justin when they see him and the poor guy, for the life of him, can't remember why they're laughing. Maybe it had something to do with a girl...)
339. When teleported to a Command Center, no matter how smart you are... DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING! You might blow up the world or something! (Do you really want to do the bad guys' work for them?!)
340. Only the good die young is not our motto… (So far only two rangers have died, but they've both come back, so DON'T jinx us!)
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Tommy pulled the pillow down over his head and tried vainly to drown out the sound of Conner's bell. After fifteen minutes with no answer he would have thought his red ranger would have gotten the hint. However, there was no such luck and Tommy had recently come to the conclusion that his student was about as dense as the bell be was ringing.
With a small growl he flung the pillow at the door and turned over. Enough was enough! He stood and trudged down the stairs, not bothering to stop and grab a shirt on his way out the door. He hopped over the last two or three steps and strode over to where his red ranger lay, a huge expectant grin on his face and the bell laying casually by his side.
"Dr. O," he began.
Tommy silenced him with an icy glare, a glare that would have put his evil green ranger glares to shame. In complete silence he reached down and picked up the bell. He turned it this way and that, studying its intricate design in the light from the TV.
"Nice," he muttered.
Conner's grin widened. "Yeah, now I need…"
He trailed off as Tommy once again trained his eyes on him. Conner shifted uncomfortably as a few moments of tense silence passed between the pair.
"Dr. O," he started again, "I was just wondering if you could…maybe…get me a glass of water, please."
Tommy calmly set the bell back onto the table and walked into the kitchen. He returned moments later, his arms once more laden with boxes and bags. He spilled the crackers, Doritos, cookies and various other snacks that he thought would pacify Conner for a while onto the couch. He set down the glass of water and three small boxes of orange juice on the coffee table.
"Thank you," said Conner, having somewhere found his manners.
Tommy didn't speak. Instead he reached over and grabbed the bell again. "I'm going back up stairs and I am taking this with me," he said. His voice even but the hostility that burned just below the surface leaked into it. "If you need anything else, please, hesitate to call me!"
Conner nodded, understanding the subtle yet implied threat in his teacher's words. He knew that this battle wasn't over yet, Tommy was planning something for him, something nasty, and Conner knew that he wasn't going to enjoy it.
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Tommy threw himself face first across the bed, the bell still in his hand. Conner McKnight, the thorn in his side, had finally gotten on his last nerve. A thousand horrible thoughts flew though his mind, things that he could do to Conner…but then the phone rang, and Tommy realized that he had given no thought to what horrible things he was going to do to the victim on the other end; after all, all of this was his fault.
"Jason," he said coldly.
"Hey bro, how are things going?"
The amusement in the former ranger's voice was enough to make Tommy snap. It was the last proverbial straw, the one that finally broke the camel's back. Conner and Jason were going to pay, and when he was finished with them, they were both going to wish they had never been born.
I'm so sorry for the lack of updating! Things have been kinda hectic lately, but the next chapter won't take so long! Thanks for all of the suggestions; they are great. Keep 'em up. And for those of you who think this unfair to poor Tommy, don't worry, he WILL get his revenge...eventually. But for now, you know you want to press that little button and make my day better!