Chapter Five: New Meets Old
Connor motioned to Ethan that he was going outside before he dashed off at the other's confused nod. Having heard what little of Kim's message he could hear inside the building, he knew that anything he found or didn't find was going to be bad. He was glad he'd at least managed to make out that. Once outside, he saw nothing. Confused, he looked around and didn't even see a little semblance of a fight. Three thoughts crossed his mind: He'd heard the message wrong, maybe she meant they were attacked at the house, or they were ambushed. He continued to look around, but as his first assessment had already told him, she wasn't there. Neither Kim nor Dr. Oliver was around and that worried him. He headed back into the cafe and leaned over to Ethan. "We've got trouble. I'm going to go check the house. When she's done, grab Kira and meet me there, alright?" Connor whispered. Ethan shrugged, not really knowing what was going on other than it probably wasn't a good idea to let Connor run into trouble on his own.
"She'll be on break in a minute," Ethan whispered back. "We'll all go."
"Right. Uh... we need an excuse in case we don't come back..." Connor mentioned. They were keeping their voice low and occasionally glanced up and smiled supportively at Kira before they went back to whispering. While trying to look innocent and inconspicuous over it, they were making her a little nervous, though she solved the problem by ignoring them for the moment.
"Family emergency. That'll work, right?" Ethan suggested. Connor nodded. "Still, I'm voting that we sit down this weekend and come up with a list we can use."
"Right. I'll be outside, trying to contact Kim and Dr. O," Connor informed him before he gave another smile to Kira, which she didn't return, and rushed outside. He made sure no one was around and lifted the communicator to his mouth. "Kim? Kim, are you there? Kim? Dr. O? Come on, answer. Dr. O?"
There was no response which caused Connor's hope to plummet. He had guessed it wouldn't work, but he felt he needed to try anyway. He thought about just going without the other two anyway, but Kim's words of "You're only as good as your team" popped into his head and he went back to just waiting. Fortunately, Ethan and Kira were outside shortly afterward and looked at Connor.
"What's going on?" Kira asked, obviously annoyed, and Ethan looked at Connor intently. The Red Ranger motioned to his communicator.
"I got pieces of a message that Kim tried to send me which said they were under attack outside. I could barely hear her because it wasn't exactly quiet, but I got out some important information like they were in trouble. I didn't find them here and I can't reach them. I've been trying," he answered. "Look, whatever trouble they're in, they can't get out of it."
"Connor thinks we should check the house," Ethan added and Kira nodded.
"Let's go," she agreed and they piled into Connor's car. Once there, they were unfortunately not surprised to see that Dr. Oliver's black jeep was missing meaning their mentors probably weren't inside. Still, they all got out and headed into the house, which Tommy still left unlocked, and headed down to the basement to look around. A snap, hiss, and odd growling sound, caused Connor to jump back, falling into the others and knocking them over. The red attacker lunged at them but stopped when he saw who it was and Red's tail waved back and forth, in a friendly motion, a bit before he chirped something to the other raptors and they all laid back down. Kira shoved Connor off of her so that she could get off Ethan. "Jeez, Connor! It's just the Raptor Riders!"
"He just shocked me, okay? You try having a red blur heading for your throat" Connor snapped, trying to pick up what was left of his dignity. "Well, they're not here."
"Did we expect them to be?" Kira snapped back. Ethan ignored them and headed over to the computer, starting to look at the computer and figure out what to do.
"This usually has a camera, right? Maybe we can get it to work," Ethan suggested, wanting to do something. He began to look it over, trying to find out how to move the camera, which didn't take too long, and how to rewind the data, which was taking a while longer. Kira and Connor continued to try to reach their mentors through their communicators since they were able to do little else, though they had no more luck than before. They did stop when Ethan yelped and raced over.
"Are you okay?" Kira asked, checking on Ethan, but Connor gently tapped on her arm, pointing to the screen. Looking back at them was a Caucasian man about the same age as Dr. Oliver and Kimberly with sandy blond hair and blue unusual clothes. Kira didn't know too much about certain fashions, but she did know that she'd never seen anything like them before and she wasn't sure that they made clothes like that. She didn't know it, but Ethan had one upped her. He could tell that the material wasn't even made on earth. The man raised an eyebrow when he saw them, though they just stared at him, not knowing what to say. After a moment, the man seemed to have decided that it really wasn't his business and proceeded to discuss why he was calling.
"Salutations, are Kimberly Hart or Thomas Oliver in residence?" He asked calmly. They just shook their heads as he looked at all of them in turn. "May I inquire as to when they will return?"
"Uh, we don't know," Kira answered, not wanting to tell him that they were missing. They didn't know if this man was on their side or against them and while they weren't exactly sure where their mentors were, causing more trouble by telling a potential threat that they were gone could end up hurting Kim and Tommy as well as the three of them.
"Then Jason was accurate. The situation is critical," the man said. They just stared at him for a minute until Kira spoke up while Connor was pondering over the name Jason. He knew he'd heard that name and recently, but he wasn't sure where.
"Uh, we're busy. But when we see them, we'll have them call you," she said with a shrug, pretending like they were just out on errands. The man looked ready to interrupt when Connor's mind finally caught where he'd heard the name before.
"If Tommy and a man named Jason try to convince you to go on any sort of 'Red Only' Mission..." Kim's voice reminded him. His eyes widened and he immediately looked at the screen.
"Wait, you know Jason?" Connor asked and at the man's nod, the teenager nodded. He might not be the brains, but he had an idea how to figure out if this guy was on the level. "What was his favorite color?"
The man chuckled as he figured out what the boy was after. "Red."
"So you know that he was..." Connor started and the man nodded once.
"Affirmative. A Power Ranger. First Red," he answered and he seemed to calm down as well, as if figuring out what was going on. "I assume that you are Connor, Ethan, and Kira?"
"How does he know who we are?" Kira whispered urgently. Ethan shrugged, though his face betrayed the worry that he shared with her. Connor, on the other hand, looked much calmer.
"He knows Jason, the first red Ranger. And he knows that Jason was a Power Ranger. We can trust him," Connor whispered excitedly.
"Are you sure?" Ethan asked, less confident than the soccer player.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Connor answered. He turned back to the man on the screen, needing one more question answered. "Who are you?"
"Oh!" the man exclaimed, realizing he hadn't told them. He messed with his clothes a bit as if to look a little more dignified. "William Cranston. The original blue Ranger. Jason acquainted me with the particulars over deficient communication with Kimberly and Tommy when his communicator began to operate in a peculiar manner and he inquired as to if it was possible for me to contact the laboratory. It is necessary at this time that I inform him his instincts were functioning correctly, even if it is unfortunate. Thank you."
"Wait!" Ethan called out as the Billy went to hang up. The former blue Ranger fortunately stopped. "You're the first blue?"
"Affirmative. When this is this grievance is concluded, I will contact you and we shall have a discourse on the subject. Is that acceptable?" Billy asked, trying to be polite, but knowing he needed to call Jason at the same time. Ethan just nodded.
"Excellent. Farewell."
The face went black and the three teenagers were in the room, alone, once more. They stayed there for a minute before Kira moved. "They're not just going to come back," she said. The other two looked up at her, a little confused. "Kim and Dr. O, I mean."
Connor nodded. "So, we're going to save them."
"Us?" Ethan asked. "We've been Power Rangers for about a week! What do we know?"
"What they taught us," Connor answered. "They trust us."
"So, how come you're so confident now?" Kira asked. Connor shrugged.
"Kim," he answered. "She said I reminded her of a different red Ranger. That was so cool that I guess it helped me out."
"There was another one like you? And we're all still alive?" Kira asked sardonically. Ethan quickly put a hand on each of their shoulders, bringing them back to the matter at hand.
"Not now. We still have to save them. You guys can argue later. Let's see…" Ethan muttered as he began to look over the computer, continuing to try to rewind the data. "There must be a way to do this somehow."
"The button on the left," a voice said from the doorway. All three teens jumped and turned around to face it.
"Hayley?!"
Kimberly kicked and even bit the Tyrannodrones holding her while Tommy struggled against them, but none of them let the duo go. She hated to admit it, but she was getting worried over the whole thing. It wasn't like she hadn't been captured before, far from, nor was it that she didn't doubt Connor, Ethan, and Kira would win, but she was no longer a Power Ranger as she had been during more of her kidnappings and the teens were still new unlike when Tommy and the Zeo Rangers rescues Jason and her. They didn't have much experience in this field. Worse, both Tommy and she were taken which meant that they were down both their mentors who might have been able to help them with this problem. She could only hope that both Jason and Connor had gotten their respective messages and understood enough to do something because otherwise, Tommy and she were going to die a probable painful and horrible death. These thoughts caused her to fight back harder as they were dragged down the hall.
Unfortunately, they reached the destination before either adult could escape. If she had been a normal woman, she might have screamed or fainted when she saw Mesagog and if she was younger, she might have given an indication of disgust, but she was experienced enough to keep her tongue silent right this moment. So far, Tommy had done the same. Whether or not they still had powers, the two were still former rangers who had years of training and experience which might help keep them alive for now. "The prisoners, Milord."
"Finally. Tie him to the life extractor. Tie her to the back wall," Mesagog instructed. Even as they were tied down, they continued struggling. Neither called out to the other, not wanting to give away how close they had been nor even were now. If they could feign a business relationship, it actually might cause them less pain in the future than if they gave away being Rangers at the same time or worse that they had actually been in love. Mesagog would surely try to use information like that to his advantage. She'd been unable to hear the first part of the conversation too clearly due to her own struggles, but she'd caught a few words about a crystal, Tommy, and needing his help to open it. She had the feeling that Mesagog needed one of their two's help and wasn't too picky on who handed it over.
"Sorry, can't help you there. I'm just a high school science teacher," Tommy informed him. Kim tried not to laugh at that, absurd as of a comment as it was since Mesagog had existed before he started teaching. She wasn't shocked, nor was Tommy, when Mesagog didn't buy it. Still, her eyes went wide and her struggles were renewed when she heard the term "life extractor" come out of the mutant's mouth in reference to Tommy. Some phrases just don't need explanations for someone to get the gist.
Red was hissing and chirping in a very unpleasant way toward Hayley. His tail moved around like a whip and he chirped into the air a specific way causing Blue and Yellow to join him. All three cyborg raptors looked ready to pounce as they had before they figured out exactly who was coming down the stairs and backed off when they had realized that it was the Rangers. The problem this time was that Hayley hadn't been introduced so she wasn't safe to be in here according to the raptors. Quickly pulling themselves out of their shock before the raptors could strike, all three rangers quickly raced over to their specific color and calmed it down, insisting Hayley was a friend. Blue and Yellow calmed down quickly enough and after a moment, Red finally joined them. Hayley came down into the lab slowly, making sure that the raptors had given up. After a minute, she seemed satisfied and looked at the three teens. "Do you three want to tell me exactly what is going on?"
Ethan looked surprised at her question. "Don't you already know?"
"All I know is Jason called me and let me know that something was wrong and Billy couldn't find Kim or Tommy, but his old communicator was acting up. Considering I built the new communicators, as well as the button that set the old communicator off, I was able to tell that Kim was in trouble and probably Tommy too considering they were supposed to be together," she answered.
"We don't know too much more than that," Connor told her. "I got that they were ambushed though."
"Alright. Assuming he doesn't get pulled over, Jason will be here within the hour, I'd say. Probably sooner," she muttered as she sat down and began to work with Ethan at the computer. "So, he'll be able to help."
"Exactly how do you know all of this?" Kira asked, curious but less suspicious than she had been at Mr. Cranston.
"Are you a former Power Ranger too?" Connor added, sounding hopeful. Worried as he was, the idea of meeting former Rangers was exciting to him and he wanted to meet as many as possible.
"Nope," she answered. "I've been helping Tommy and Kim prepare everything since grad school. I put two and two together on who they were and they asked for my help. Who do you think built the lab? Kim managed to blow up a computer in high school and Tommy's first three tries on the morphers melted, fell apart, and short circuited. They're good at the things they do, but technology ain't one of them."
She pressed a couple more buttons and they had the answer they wanted on what had happened. The replay showed the fight as well as Kim's pleas into the communicator. Ethan leaned in to see what she was doing while the other two flanked him trying to watch and listen. They quickly put together a plan of finding an invisaportal since that was how Mesagog had gotten Kim and Tommy as well as how he had gotten Kira when they first got their powers. Hayley insisted she could find one and started to search the city for one while the teenagers waited impatiently. Their wait was interrupted when the raptors went off again. Hayley laughed. "I'm starting to see why Kim thought it would be a good idea to have them in the lab."
"Well, I don't. Would someone call them off?" A gruff male voice called out. At Hayley's nod, the three teens quickly calmed down the raptors, again, and allowed for the two new people to come down into the supposedly hidden lab.
Easily the same age as their science teacher, a man and a woman entered through the door, both wearing worried expressions on their faces, though the man still looked a little annoyed in the direction of the raptor riders. The woman, an Asian American, headed over to where Hayley was and the two women embraced. "Do you know where they are yet, Hayley?"
"Not yet. I'm working on it, Trini. Hi Jason." The Caucasian man nodded a greeting in return, his attention had gone from the raptors to being focused solely upon the three teenagers in front of him: the keys to getting his old friends back. Jason tended to be critical when looking over new Rangers, far more than Tommy's usual flippant attitude over the entire thing. Often until they passed a sort of Ranger test, he considered them to be rookies and until they passed it, that's what they would remain. He hadn't met a Ranger who hadn't passed, however, and he didn't expect now to be any different. After all, Rangers weren't just chosen for no reason at all. It took a certain something to make a Ranger.
"I'm Jason Lee Scott and this is Trini Kwan," he said, introducing himself. He looked at them and pointed to them, correctly, in turn as he said their names figuring he'd get the pleasantries out of the way as soon as possible. "Kira Ford, Yellow Ranger; Connor McKnight, Red Ranger; Ethan James, Blue Ranger. I was Red and Trini was Yellow."
"Wow." Connor's one word seemed to sum up the situation for all three of them. Trini offered them a smile as she joined Jason, leaning him to him as the teens tried to figure out what to say. "So, uh, why are you guys here?"
"Hayley is good at what she does, but she wasn't a Ranger. With Kim and Tommy missing, we're going to be your temporary mentors," Jason informed them and while all three were worried, Connor actually winced. This man seemed so much more strict than their own mentors and they barely knew him. "So, why don't you show me everything you've learned already."
The three looked at each other and back at the first Red Ranger as he looked at them and stood ready. Somehow, they had the feeling that they were going to want Hayley to find a portal even sooner only this time for their own safety or at least the remaining shreds of their dignity.
Both Tommy and Kim were exhausted from fighting against their bonds and Kim could definitely say that is had been a very bad day. She was also tired of keeping quiet and she could tell that Tommy was even more tired of it considering he was getting most of the mutant's company. Mesagog was still working on Tommy, which meant that she was only in interrogation instead of life in peril on the list of villain's priorities in torture. "I do not care who gives me the answer, but one of you will," Mesagog hissed. Kim's attention turned to him and she had the feeling that Tommy's did as well. "If you don't, then you will suffer."
Kim looked up at him. "Well, at least the rest of my day will seem better then," she said pleasantly. She heard Tommy chuckle over the comment and she gave their dinosaur captor a smirk.
"I've got to agree," Tommy added. "Besides, we've been through worse."
"Oh yeah," Kim agreed. "Much worse. In fact, tell you what. We'll wait here while you guys go think of more clever responses and newer fear tactics."
Mesagog shoved the table with the rock in Tommy's direction, letting it land at his feet. He didn't seem outwardly annoyed with them other than that gesture which was much creepier than Goldar's temper tantrums or taunts. She hated to admit it, but she was actually missing that monkey. Still, Kim had complete confidence in her former leader and current partner not to truly give in, so she instead took comfort in the fact that they were getting under the creature's skin. She knew that Tommy did too when she heard him keep talking to her. "You okay, Kim?"
"Well, you know that they say being bound to a wall is certainly a new experience. Can't have enough of those! How about you?" She asked, just enjoying hearing his voice.
"Well, at least this life extractor will make sure that I don't have to worry about getting old. That's a plus," he answered in a joyful tone. She could feel it fade just from being around him so long, even though he kept up the mask.
Mesagog looked at Tommy with new interest. "I wonder if you would be more willing to help if she was tied there."
Tommy shrugged. "Probably not," he answered, surprised that his answer was truthful. Before, when they were Rangers, they'd handed over morphers and other objects to save each other, but he was willing to sacrifice her if it meant saving the world now. The feeling was new and not all together pleasant, but he had the feeling Kim felt the same way. She certainly wasn't swearing at him at this point, so she couldn't have been that upset.
"Before you ask me, Lizard Breath, I'll sacrifice him too," he heard her snap in agreement. He nodded to himself and realized that part of it was knowing that there was a willingness from each of them to die for the cause. They'd accepted a fate like this a long time ago and they realized that sometimes you had to be a martyr. He also had the feeling that Jason, Trini, Zack, and Billy would feel the same way if they were in his shoes.
Mesagog, understandably, looked surprised by this having expected a different answer. "Very well," he finally said. "Elsa, bring the woman here. We shall test their words."
Tommy's heart beat a little quicker as he heard Kim protest and fight against the woman. To his amusement, he also heard Elsa yell in pain meaning that Kim wasn't going down without a fight. Without being able to see what was going on clearly, he wasn't able to see what was going on, but at the very least, Kimberly was stalling for time and that was all they had right now.
The teenagers were sitting down by this point, having some new bumps and bruises, though they'd managed to give Jason some as well. While he had mostly sparred with them, he hadn't gone easy on them. He hadn't tried to hurt them, but when they messed up, they'd felt it. Now, they were just resting and waiting for news. Jason wanted to make sure they were able to fight, not tire them out.
Hayley was working closely with the computer while Trini was handing them some water and fruit with a smile on her face before she sat down next to Jason across from them. The former red Ranger looked pleased enough and was carefully drinking some water and eating some fruit as well. He looked at the teenagers. "You all did fine," he told them, causing them to smile a bit, as they ate. When the first leader gave you a compliment, it really meant something.
"Got it!" Hayley called out before anyone else could say anything. They all raced to their feet and ran over to the screen to see where the portal was. The three new Rangers started to head toward the exit, ready to go when Hayley called out, "You'll need to reach 536 miles per hour on entry or you'll never get past the security wall and probably will get ripped to pieces."
They stopped and looked at her incredulously while Jason chuckled and Trini tried not to laugh. After dealing with Zordon for so many years, they'd learned to deal with after the fact information. "You probably should have mentioned that first," Trini whispered and Hayley just shrugged.
"I will next time. Never fear, I have something for just such an occasion," she stated and opened the hidden door to reveal the Raptor Cycles. "These are the Raptor Cycles. They can get you to the portal coordinates in 92.75 seconds."
Trini looked them over and nodded. "So, these are what Kim and you got into trouble for trying out?"
Jason laughed when Hayley nodded. "He called me, you know," he mentioned. "Started ranting about how the two of you were driving around town on untested vehicles that could have blown up without even letting him know. It took me fifteen minutes to calm him down."
Hayley snickered as Trini laughed and the latter looked at the teens. "As I recall, you have to use the gems in order to access the hyperdrive and that will get you through the portal, right?" She asked Hayley.
"Right. That will take you to the island fortress and then the rest is up to you guys," she finished.
"Island fortress? Like, surrounded by water?" Connor asked, his expression changing minorly.
"That's how islands usually are, Connor," Hayley answered a bit annoyed. Ethan, however, immediately started laughing.
"You can't swim!" He exclaimed and Connor tried to collect his dignity.
"I didn't say that!" He snapped.
"But it's true," Ethan pushed, smirking. "You can't."
"The portal will take you directly to the island," Hayley informed them before it became a full-out argument. "You'll never have to get wet."
Connor nodded and looked at Jason and Trini. "Are you guys coming?"
The two former rangers felt their smiles fade and they looked at each other before sighing. "We can't," Trini explained. "We're former Rangers and while Kim and Tommy have been around at times to help you out in small ways, we're just the mentors. We'd never make it through the portal alive."
"Even if we could, we probably wouldn't," Jason added. "Consider this to be a test over whether or not you have what it takes to be Rangers."
Connor looked the former Ranger straight in the eyes, remembering Kim's word to him: "I believe in all of you and I think you'll make fine Power Rangers". He pulled himself to his full height.
"I already know we have what it takes and when we save them, I'll ask her to tell you that to your face. We don't need a stupid test and we don't need to prove it to you!" he snapped and nodded to the other two to join him. Ethan and Kira had stayed quiet and happily followed Connor to get out of the room after that display. They jumped on the Raptor Cycles and raced out the door, Connor angrily leading the way.
"What was that all about?" Hayley asked incredulously, looking at Jason. She was rather surprised by his attitude considering that Jason was one of the sweetest people she knew. Jason smiled. Trini glanced at him, knowing her friend better than Hayley and sighed.
"That was mean, Jason," she informed him.
"Someone needed to do it and I was the best choice. They needed to believe that they could do this," he said calmly.
Hayley looked between them and laughed when she figured out what he'd done. There was truly two ways the teens could have handled Jason and Trini being there: worrying over whether or not they were as good as the older rangers, or showing that they were just as good. With Jason's slight taunt, he'd pushed them into the latter category. She was sure that he'd probably apologize to the three or try to make it up to them in some way so that he wasn't permanently labeled the bad guy. All the Rangers and Hayley knew that Jason would have rather been like a relaxed uncle than a stern jackass, but someone had needed to push them. Hayley patted the former red Ranger on the back. "I don't want to be you when Kim gets home."
Jason winced a bit. "Neither do I."
Kim picked herself up off the floor again, though her lip was bleeding and she was pretty sure that Elsa had managed to bruise a couple of her ribs. She was definitely bleeding from cuts and aching from bruises, but nothing seemed like it was going to kill her yet and this stalling by fending off Elsa was the best chance they had to make it through this, or at least helping Tommy make it through this. She was getting older and she didn't have any sort of supernatural protection anymore so she didn't know exactly how much of a beating she could take before it killed her. At this point, she was just hoping that the teens wouldn't be coming for a couple of corpses instead of their mentors. Unlike her companion, she had no doubt that they were coming while she had the feeling that Tommy was hoping that they'd stay away until they were more prepared. Then again, he didn't know that Jason had been called so she definitely had the advantage there.
Elsa kicked her backwards in what would have been the stomach, but the former pink Ranger's leg took the blow and she fell to the ground in pain. Elsa walked straight over and yanked her up by the hair and threw her across the room before Mesagog spoke up. "Enough, Elsa," he said. "Detain her."
Elsa headed over and dragged the tired, struggling woman back with her and stood with her beside Mesagog. Kim smiled a bit at Tommy who tried to smile back at her. "Well, Tommy, this has been a lovely vacation, but next time, I get to lay on the slab and you can take the beating."
"Deal, Beautiful," he jokingly promised, barely even noticing the older nickname for her. Both adults had been through too much right now to notice such things.
"Your attempts at levity are as feeble as your attempts at self-sacrifice," Mesagog told them. "If you will not do it for yourselves or each other, perhaps you will for your precious students."
Tommy's struggles were fully renewed and Kim ignored her injuries as she tried to break away from Elsa. Worry was plainly shown on both their faces at this point as they tried to break away and adrenaline poured back through their bodies to help quell the pain so that they could escape. When their own lives were in danger, they hadn't felt as nervous since they knew that it could happen, but their students were another story. They didn't quite realize that sometimes the good guys don't make and they didn't know that sacrifice was a possible solution. Besides, as the adults, they were supposed to protect the children. Mesagog looked at Elsa. "Elsa, the three teenagers, bring them to me. Give Ms. Hart to Zeltrax and go."
"Yes, Milord," she said and did as he commanded. Kim was biting and kicking again, but it seemed to have little reaction on the creature holding her who seemed to ignore the woman's attempts. Tommy, on the other hand, was struggling with a new conviction as he tried to escape when there was noise hitting the room. Neither adult needed to hear what was going on since they already knew. The Dino Thunder Rangers were on their way… straight into a trap.
The lab was quiet as the three adults waited patiently. They could see the teens, but it was more difficult to hear what was going on so they really only had a slight idea of what was going on. Blue and Yellow played tug-a-war with a piece of metal, occasionally dropping it to snap at each other, while Red was standing perfectly still, staring at the door the trio had exited out of. He'd noticed that they tended to enter through that door when they exited out of it. His tail didn't even move. Jason and Trini were flanking Hayley who was trying to help the three do what they needed to do. Finally, the battle was over and the trio raced through the portal. "Alright, Hayley. We're in."
The three quietly cheered and Hayley nodded, even though the Rangers couldn't see it. "I'll reset the timer for the return. You have five minutes."
They didn't protest, but instead ran to do it. Hayley turned to the other two. "If I gave any more time than that, the cycles might not be ready to go when they are," she explained. The other two nodded. Then, they went back to playing the waiting game. Only time would release the outcome.
"They'll be fine, Kim," Tommy half-heartedly promised. While he was still tied down, she was now connected to the wall once again as the room had been cleared out. Only they were left inside. Kim didn't answer as she didn't want to get her hopes completely up and her mind was scrambling to create a plan if the trio were caught. There were so many that she wasn't sure if the original six would have an easy time handling the problem. Plus, they had Kim and Tommy to think about and that was always a distraction. Thus, when the door reopened, both adults felt a wave of fear crash over their bodies before being quelled by relief at seeing the three race in instead of being dragged. The three quickly untied the three of them and did as Tommy commanded by hitting the button to shut the doors. He began to reconfigure the invisaportal while Kim concentrated on the three teens.
"Are you three alright?" She asked, worried and checking them over. They all quickly said they were, a little embarrassed, and Connor even scoffed.
"No offense, but I think we should be asking you that," he mentioned, pointing to her lip.
"I'm fine, we're both fine," she promised and Tommy just shook his head as he worked.
"I should have known you'd try to rescue us," he said and Kim shot him a look that he didn't have to see to feel.
"He means thank you. Now let's go," she said, but the door opened. Kim and Tommy both got out of the way as the Rangers morphed and fought. As soon as they were able, Kim pointed them in the direction of the portal. "Let's go!"
"You three go. Kim and I need to grab something first," Tommy called out. They started to protest, but Kim pointed at the portal with a no nonsense look on her face. They quickly obeyed. She grabbed the crystal and tossed it to Tommy.
"It better be damned important," she snapped. He smiled at her.
"It is," he answered and they jumped through the portal, catching up with the other three. Tommy looked at them. "Go! We're right behind you."
The cycles screeched a bit in protest as they were shoved back through the portal. Tommy motioned and Kim went through next, landing undignified on the other side. She wasn't used to traveling by invisaportals yet and she was tired and aching on top of it. Elsa was a lot stronger than she looked. Tommy landed next to her with a better landing. The five, back together, were interrupted as the portal opened a fourth time and Kim groaned. She picked herself back up and stood beside Tommy.
Yet, when Zeltrax shot his staff at them, she did the sensible thing and jumped to the ground so that the power would go over her. Tommy, instead, used the crystal as a shield. Within seconds, the crystal had exploded and Kim, pained or not, was back on her feet. "Tommy!" She screeched.
"Doctor Oliver!" Ethan called out and Connor stood there stunned. One of their mentors, who they had just finished rescuing, who cared about them, had just exploded.
"No!" Kira added, falling to her knees. "This can't be happening!"
"Such negativity," Elsa sneered. "Don't you know in our world, anything is possible?"
"Even the destruction of the great Doctor Tommy Oliver," Zeltrax added. Kim was furious and she didn't even feel pain anymore, only uncontrolled fury.
"I'll destroy you!" She growled, running toward Zeltrax, but she was stopped before she'd gone to far. She looked to her side, ready to snap at whichever teenager had grabbed her, but she saw nothing. Within a few seconds, fury turned to shock as Tommy reappeared. He looked straight at Zeltrax.
"You're lucky. She's a little wildcat when she gets like this. Would have torn you limb from limb," he said confidently. The other three were on their feet, congratulating Tommy while Kim was doing her best not to faint. She never fainted when she wasn't around him, but somehow he managed to push that button whenever he came near here. Or, possibly, it was because he always managed to shock her. Still, she didn't have the luxury of giving into it this time.
"He called you great. You're going to be hell to live with now. That's reason enough to kill him," she joked.
"I just think he missed me," Tommy answered and held out the stone. No one needed to ask what it did since Tommy's disappearing act already showed them. Kim's smile faded a bit, but Tommy's increased as he looked at the villains in front of them.
"That gem belongs to my master!" Elsa yelled.
"There's two things you need to know about dino gems. One, you don't choose them, they choose you," he called out.
"And the other?" Elsa asked and Kim looked at Tommy as his wrist communicator became a morpher. She closed her eyes for a second, pained, before reopening them.
"They go real well with dino morphers.
Dino Thunder! Power Up!" Tommy finished. All four of them stood in front of Kim and began to fight. Kim quickly found a safe place to hide while she watched, not to mention dealt with her feelings over the matter. She had come to three conclusions so far.
First, was that there was a fourth gem which had made Tommy a Power Ranger. While annoyed that he was a Ranger again instead of just a mentor like herself, it didn't upset her that much. Things like this happened, after all. The final two conclusions did hurt her however. The second conclusion was that Tommy had known about the gem and hadn't told her and the third was that Hayley knew about it. While Hayley obviously knew, Kim didn't feel as betrayed with her because she had the feeling that Tommy made her promise not to tell and since she had been Tommy's friend first, it was natural that she had more loyalty toward him. Tommy, on the other hand, hadn't told her about this at all and it couldn't have slipped his mind, faulty as it often was. She didn't know why he hadn't told her, but he hadn't and since they were partners that hurt a lot.
She stayed hidden and out of the way as the Rangers called out the Zords and finished the battle. The other four powered down, congratulating each other and coming back toward Kim. Tommy's smile faded when he saw her face, but he knew better than to bring it up in front of the students if he wanted her keep her promise of not yelling at him in front of them. Kim forced back her hurt feelings and pretended like everything was alright, quickly congratulating them and pushing to head back to the house. Besides for just wanting to get back, she was still in a lot of pain and wanted to sit down.
"Kim's right. We should get back and show the others. Kira, why don't you take Dr. O on your cycle. I'll take Kim," Connor suggested, having noticed that their female mentor had been a little upset. Maybe she'd talk about it. Ethan snickered.
"Isn't she a little old for you?" He teased.
"Dude, cool it," Connor's response came with a bit more of a command. "Tease me later, okay?"
Sensing that something was seriously wrong, the other two quickly agreed and they headed home. Connor was wracking his brain to try to figure out what was wrong, but he had figured out that Dr. O was to blame since she didn't look that upset until he morphed. He was a little disappointed that she didn't say anything since he wanted to help her like she helped him, but he had also seen the pain she was in and figured that maybe it had to do with that. The teen led the way back into the lab and parked the bike, letting Kim off before he demorphed and followed her off. Red nearly tackled them both, stopped when Connor order him to.
The other residents were following the raptor's example and racing over to the five of them. Trini's face had moved from complete worry to complete relief and was heading into excitement while Jason was more relaxed at seeing that his old friends and near siblings were alright. He also did a quick count to make sure that all three teens had made it back before physically preparing himself so that the tiny woman wouldn't knock him over. It was always embarrassing when she did that. Hayley was grabbing a first aid kit and patiently waited.
"Trini? Jason?" Kim exclaimed and enveloped both of them into a hug. Tommy joined their side and gave his own welcomes to the other former Rangers and they began to talk about what had happened. Ethan and Kira were laughing and watching, but Connor stood there, arms folded, behind Kim. Jason sighed when he saw the boy and he had to admit that maybe he'd gone a bit too hard on him. Kim looked to see where her friend was looking and saw how angry her student was. "Connor? What's wrong?"
"Tell him we're worth it. Tell him you believe in us," he stated. His expression was stern and angry, but Kim was practiced enough to see that obviously something had happened to make him worried about it. She looked at her old friend and not in the previously welcoming manner.
"What did you say to him?" She demanded, before turning to Connor to do some damage control. "Of course you're all wonderful Rangers and we believe in you. Now, Jason, what did you tell him?"
Jason muttered what he'd said and Tommy groaned. "We leave you alone with them for a day and you're already destroying their self-confidence?"
"I wasn't trying to destroy their self-confidence, I was trying to build it," he protested. "Make them less worried about screwing up. Besides, I wanted to be the Uncle Ranger, not Mister Disciplinarian. You're the one who forced me into that role by getting caught!"
"So, you're blaming the whole thing on me. Kim got caught too," Tommy argued.
"Kim wasn't a Ranger as long or a leader. No, it was your fault… Ow! Kim!" Jason said, interrupted when the former pink Ranger smacked him upside the head. Trini laughed.
"You deserved that, Jason," she said, her voice gentle, but there was still a tone of reprimand there. "Besides, now you can be to the how you wanted to be in the first place."
Jason nodded and Kim turned to Hayley who put her hands up. "Tommy made me promise," were the first words out of her mouth to everyone but Kim and Tommy's confusion. Kim gave her a bit of a smile.
"I know. Why don't you take Trini, Jason, Kira, Ethan, and Connor to the café and Tommy and I will meet you there. We need to talk about some stuff quickly since everything has changed," she said pleasantly. Hayley nodded, not wanting to be there, and started ushering them out. Connor wouldn't budge.
"No," he said. "I'm not leaving."
Red was next to him, not sure what was going on but that it was important, and Connor's hand was on the cyborg's side since most of the others wouldn't chance getting attacked by Red. Kim recognized the determination and stubbornness in the boy's eyes and motioned for Hayley to go. Kim would try to persuade him. "Connor," she started but he cut her off.
"Are you going to leave?" He asked and she looked surprised.
"What?" Both adults asked and Connor looked completely serious.
"I figured it out, why you're upset. I might not be as smart as Ethan or as observant as Kira, but I still figured it out. He morphed and you were shocked. You shouldn't have been shocked since you guys work together. So, I though maybe it was because he became a Ranger and that would make sense for being annoyed or angry, but not upset. You were surprised by the morpher, not his becoming a Ranger which means that Dr. O didn't tell you about the gem and he knew about it," Connor said casually. Both looked a little surprised over his revelation, true as it was, and Connor used that time to finish. "You said earlier that you felt like you weren't helping much and that you were in the way or something like that. So, you were thinking about leaving, but after we talked, you weren't. Things changed. So, now are you going to?"
Kim recovered slightly quicker than Tommy and shook her head. "No, I'm not going to leave," she promised. "You need a regular mentor too, not just one that's going to be fighting beside you. Besides, what kind of a role model would I be if I left after convincing you to stay?"
"A crappy one," Connor answered, though he seemed to be less worried about it. A small smile was creeping up through his stubborn features.
"Tommy and I need to talk now, alone, about… Oh screw it. I promised not to yell at him in front of you guys, so I need you to go to the café, alright?" She said, ignoring Tommy's glare.
"Yeah, okay. Let him have it," Connor answered, in a much better mood. He raced out the door pretty quickly to Kim's amusement. They hadn't known each other that long, but she was feeling sort of bonded to the kid. Perhaps it was everything they had in common. They both were from the more popular groups, they both had a good heart, they both had a goal to do something with a sport, and that heart to heart hadn't hurt anything either. It made sense. Kira was more like Tommy in some ways, aloof, happy enough alone, stubborn, and their personalities just worked well together. Ethan was so much like Hayley in wasn't really funny. They might be able to teach him to fight better, but like Billy before him, he'd be able to help in the computer area as well. It never hurt to have two geniuses working on something instead of just one. It was bound to happen and was actually beneficial for all parties, sort of like the difference between just having classes and the addition of a tutor. That said, she needed to chew out a certain tutor who had decided to revert back to the student.
"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked, trying to keep her voice level. "We're partners, Tommy. Why didn't you tell me?"
He sighed, not sure how to answer this and definitely not wanting to. After a few seconds, he decided on the truth. "I didn't want you to know."
"Oh. Is that it?" She said, now even more hurt.
"Well, we'd just found the signature, so I had Hayley make me a morpher just in case. You and I both mentioned that three Rangers aren't a lot, right, so it would have been handy to have another. I just didn't want you to get your hopes up." His face was completely sincere and he did look ashamed, which was helping in the forgiveness category.
"So, you didn't tell me because you didn't want me to get let down?" She asked and at his nod, she groaned. "Tommy, we're partners. I'm not one of the kids, I'm an adult and you need to tell me these things, dammit!"
"I'm sorry," he told her, sounding as sincere as he could. "You're right. I should have told you."
"Just do it next time. And Tommy, a Power Ranger? Again?" She asked.
"It wasn't my fault! It just bonded. I had every intention of the two of us finding a nice teen to take it. I swear," he promised, putting his hands up in surrender.
"So, how are we going to work this now?" She asked, dropping the subject. Tommy took it as that meant she was in the first stages of forgiving him. Still, he didn't quite know what she meant.
"What do you mean?" He asked. She looked annoyed with the question.
"You, Tommy, are supposed to just be a mentor. That means standing back and letting the next generation fight these battles. I know, it was an accident, but you're still in the fight now and that's what worries me. If you were Zack or Billy, I probably wouldn't be as worried, but…" She began, but Tommy cut her off.
"And what do you mean by that?" He challenged her.
"Face it, Tommy, you have a bad habit of needing to be in control. Point in case with not telling me about the gems. Jason would too, so you're not alone, but that doesn't mean that if I leave you unchecked on this, our red Ranger will eventually be second in command. It's their turn, not ours," she answered.
"I am not…"
"Yes, Tommy, you are that bad. I'm not asking you to stay out of the fighting, but I am asking you to work with me to make sure you don't take over," she asked. Tommy's slightly angered expression faded and he nodded. After a moment, they shook hands over it and Tommy pulled her into a fierce, yet as gentle as possible hug. The subject soon changed.
"You had me worried there, Beautiful," he whispered to her. "I could hear you, but I could also hear that Elsa was wiping the floor with you."
"I'm okay. Hayley cleaned me up a bit and I don't think anything is broken," she answered back. "And I got Elsa a few times too. Besides, you gave me quite a scare too, being tied down in front of something that had life and extractor in the title."
They stayed there for a moment, just holding each other, before Kim finally broke away. Tommy followed in suit, the moment over and reached around to help her up the stairs. Red hissed a bit at Tommy, not surprising considering how angry Kim had been a moment ago. "Kim, what is it with you and the color red lately?"
"What do you mean?" She asked innocently, which told Tommy she knew exactly what he was talking about. Red wasn't exactly quiet.
"First Red and now Connor," Tommy answered.
"Well, I beat Red, so I think it's because of that. Red, stop!" She ordered and the raptor immediately backed down, heading back into the lab, but keeping an eye on the leaving couple. "And Connor and I bonded. We helped each other and I guess it just stuck. I have the feeling that you'll get that way with Kira and Hayley already is with Ethan."
"Why Kira?" He asked and Kim laughed.
"Because she's like you," came the answer. "Now come on, they'll think I killed you."
"Tommy, Bro, are you ever planning to retire?" Jason asked a little while later. Trini and Kim giggled. "I retired, Trini retired. Even Kim retired. She doesn't have a gem."
"I'm hoping this will be my last stint in uniform," Tommy said with a laugh. "Then again, I also hoped to stop at red."
Jason snickered and shook his head. The teens were smiling, but paying attention to watch was going on. They were thrilled that they were getting help from Tommy, but they weren't sure what it meant for the team. With the café emptying out, Connor asked the question that all three teens had. "So, now what?"
All five adults, Hayley included, looked over their way. Tommy raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
Connor looked uncomfortable, but he had to know. "Am I still the leader?" He asked. Tommy winced as he realized that Kim wasn't the only one having to deal with his impromptu bonding of the black gem.
"Yes, Connor. You're still the leader," Tommy answered. He didn't have to ask, he knew that if the gem had gone to someone their own age, Connor wouldn't have asked or worried about it. He felt a sense of guilt trickling up and promised himself to pay attention if Kim accused him of taking over.
Kim nodded. "All this means, is that Tommy is going to be fighting beside you and if he thinks you need advice, he'll give it. For instance, by telling you of a weak spot or giving you an idea based on experience you don't have. Just as I do from the lab. We realize that Tommy might not notice that he's in a leader role at times and I'll try to make sure he doesn't take over, but this isn't our time. It's your time. We're just around to help."
Tommy nodded in agreement and took what Kim said earlier to heart. He knew she was right and while mentoring them in a group had its merits, adding in a personal touch was also important. They might as well make it official. "The three of you are different with various strengths and weaknesses. That's fine, but we think it might be beneficial for you guys to have two sets of training: group and individual that way we can work with you separately and as a team."
Jason and Trini both looked surprised about this while Hayley's look betrayed that she saw it coming. This had never been done before, but they hadn't had the resources to do it before either. With times changing, methods needed to change as well. Kim and Tommy glanced over at their old friends who gave quick nods of approval before they turned back to the team.
"So, who gets who?" Connor asked. Ethan shrugged.
"My guess? I'll get Hayley, you'll get Dr. O, and Kira will get Kim," the genius said, but his confident expression changed when Kim shook her head.
"Close, Ethan, but Tommy is going to work with Kira and I'm going to work with Connor," she told them. "We'll see if I can't help him lose some of that cocky attitude."
"Gee, thanks," Connor said sarcastically, though he was smiling. Kira smiled too. It wasn't that she didn't like Kim, but whether they realized it or not, they had had different pulls to their various mentors and other than being a girl, Kira wasn't quite sure what the two women had in common besides, it might make it easy for her to go to Kim with problems.
The rest of the day was spent drinking smoothies and relaxing. They felt like they'd earned it.
Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews! I'm not really sure what to say about this chapter, so I'll just probably leave it at that. Thanks again for reviewing!