A/N: I keep trying to make Justin sound like my old history prof. Hope you're not too bored when he gets in his little lecture.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Disney except some DVDs and action figures, sorry.
Justin stood quietly in the entry way, knowing that he would have to do a lot of explaining, fast. "Ok," he said, "listen to me, then attack. I really am Justin, and I do have a robot twin. Zordon created them a long time ago. I was over here on the Coast visiting Tommy and heard about the trouble from him. I contacted Christian, or tried to, and got his voice mail about being here. I came down, tracked him and disarmed him because he's annoying as hell when he gets it in his mind that I need a vacation. I don't fight for the Star Master, nor am I under a spell." He spread his hands slightly, "I just want to help, because TJ and Carlos were my teammates, and I owe it to them. I'm sorry if Christian said or did anything that offended any of you, but for all that he feigns the emotions of a human, he lacks the true emotional input of humans." Realizing that the door was just behind him, he started to back up, carefully.
"So your robot double showed up here because he thought you need a vacation?" Asked the green clad man who had been sitting beside Christian.
"Pretty much," Justin shrugged. "He's good at what he does, but he's annoying the rest of the time."
"I can understand that," he said, "I'm Cam Watanabe, Green Samurai." The man walked over, "I have a cybernetic double, CyberCam. He can be a headache too."
"Do you use a full holographic display or AI style, computer screen only?" Justin asked.
"Full holographic," Cam replied. "He's useful when I don't want to do anything but work, or when I want to socialize and don't want to stop what I'm doing; although those who know us both can tell us apart by our attitudes."
Justin nodded, "Yeah, Christian and I are the same. He has his uses, but they are limited." He paused, "I'd love to get a look at the programs you use." Looking at Cam, he saw someone who actually knew about modern computers, unlike Billy, who was undeniably a genus, but had spent a great many years off planet and didn't understand common Earth technology now. "Tommy was saying you did all the programming for the Ninja Storm team?"
"Yes," Cam said, "I did, and I handle all technological problems at the campus still."
"What kind of set up do you have?" Justin asked, eagerly.
"Can we talk computers later?" Carter interrupted, "We have missing teammates to find."
"Did it ever occur to you that the computer may be useful to our search?" Justin asked, "I'm asking in part because I really don't want to spend two hours in the car to contact Mirinoi and Eltare to track down the Astro Rangers. If Cam's got the capability to get to the comm. link on the other side of Jupiter then it'll save a lot of driving time. Besides, if this is more of that Star Master interference, then I want a live up-link with the Moon-Computers and Eltare and my laptops don't have that power. If we were in Colorado, well, beggars can't be choosers."
"You know the Star Master?" Cole said.
"I know of it," Justin corrected. "Mind if I sit down, please? I'll tell you what I know." He sniffed, "Is something burning?"
"The waffles!" Cried a young man at the other end of the entryway; he vanished into the door behind him with a speed similar to Conner when chocolate was mentioned.
"Come in here," Said one of the red-clad men. He gestured into the room away from Christian. "I'm Shane Clark; the waffle-guy is Dustin, my roommate. I was the Red Wind Ranger, and he was Yellow."
Justin smiled, "Thanks. I'm familiar, if not known to, all the others."
Carter grinned, "Angela still hasn't recovered from your visit, I think."
Justin shrugged, "Like I said, they were using hydraulics in the wrong place. Bigger wasn't the key, it was placement."
"Well, in the interest of catching you up," Wes said, "these are the Wild Force Rangers, Cole, Taylor, Max, Danny and Merric. Merric's partner is Zen Aku."
"I'm Hunter," added the last of the red clad men. "Crimson Thunder; my brother, Blake, is the Navy Thunder Ranger, but he's not here."
Justin nodded, "He's with Marah and Kapri on the Eagle."
"You know where he is?" Hunter asked.
"No," Justin shook his head. "The last we heard from Andros and Zhane was that they were going to Onyx, and they hadn't heard from them yet. Then the Megaship stopped transmitting about a week ago, Tommy and I were talking about contacting Aquitar about a shuttle or teleportation, but then you guys called. Tommy's not eager to get involved, but if we need him, he will. I mean, he's got to deal with the whole withdrawal thing again. I mean, getting the Power back for a few days and losing it left you tired and achy, like you had a cold, right?" Shane and Hunter nodded, "Well, Tommy's been in and out of the Power since he was fourteen. He's sensitive to it on a level no one else is. He's leaving for a month's vacation in a week, as soon as he's got the contractor engaged on repairing his basement, and he'll sleep most of it. His body is not adjusted to being unPowered, and the energy he used to destroy Mesogog has put him on an energy low equivalent to his first loss of Power. Thing is, he's not a teenager anymore, and his body is starting to cash in on all the damage he took back then. He needs to rest, and let the Power levels grow again. I don't think he could even summon the Zeo 5 powers right now. I mean, I'm sensitive because I've held the Power for years; it was there before puberty, but not like Tommy's Power. Tommy is a Green-White-Red-Black Power Point, and we're not sure he's done yet. I'm just a Blue-Green mesh, and I've never been Powered as a Green, so even I can't say, exactly, what he's experiencing. Especially with the way that nearly every Power he's used has been stripped from him. There's nobody in the universe like Tommy, so we don't know what he's going through physically, beyond what our sensors can detect. Except this," Justin's face was amused, "be careful about visiting, announced or unannounced. The Dino Gem left a DNA imprint on him. He can still turn invisible, and he's not afraid to use it."
Chad glanced at the others, "As in, he's a prankster?"
"Tommy and Trent, the White Dino Thunder with the power of a Chameleon, are involved in a prank war." Justin said, "The last time things in Reefside were that interesting was during Tommy's stint as the 'invisible' Ranger."
"Invisible?" Danny repeated.
"Remember, this is Tommy," Justin said, "He kind of got trapped in amber while Trent was evil. Then he couldn't demorph, until they found this slime, but it turned him invisible. They broke that spell, but damaged the Gem in the process. Tommy was sent into a coma, and then woke up and the Gem was fixed. Nobody knows what happened but him, and Tommy won't talk about it."
"What is it with him?" Carter asked, "I mean, Jason said he was trouble prone."
"This is Tommy," Justin repeated, "he's a walking bad luck charm, between his memory, his sense of time and his primary Power as a Green Ranger, you were expecting him to be normal?"
"What are you saying about Green?" Cam asked.
"Yeah, what's wrong with Green?" Joel demanded.
Justin smiled tightly, "Greens are strong Rangers, solid fighters and good at Famous Last Stands. Thing is, when they aren't in desperate fights to the death, the Power affects them differently than most. Reds are passionate leaders; that passion comes into play with every aspect of their life. Blues are intelligent, they may not be genius level, but they can be counted on to handle any thing that comes at them. Yellows are Healers; they are the most skilled at building the bridges between teammates. Pink Rangers are the Heart, although they aren't as necessary as Yellows, having a Pink Ranger on a team gives it a distinct impression. Blacks are, well, a lot of things, I haven't exactly studied a Black Ranger because I haven't fought with one, but based on Adam and Tommy, I'd say that they're assassins, spies, and things of that nature." He noted Danny's slightly indignant, yet thoughtful look. "Greens attract trouble, because the Power resounds in them like a beacon, proclaiming their strength of character, depth of soul and fighting abilities." He paused, "Sorry, I spent a year on Eltare after high school. They have a Ranger Academy and I was permitted to attend some lectures. It's rather fascinating to see how the colors interact and react to each other. Now then," he settled on an overstuffed chair, "The Star Master, well, I don't know much, but I can promise you, what I know is not good."
People began to settle in the room and Justin took a brief moment to study it. It was a room made for conversation, with some comfortable couches and chairs settled around a low, round table, and coffee tables were placed between some of the chairs. "Before we get started," Dustin said, appearing in the door, "Can I borrow Shane and Hunter for a sec? Breakfast will be up in a minute."
Hunter and Shane stood from their place on a couch and picked their way across the room and into the kitchen after Dustin. "What are you going to do with Christian?" Cam asked.
Justin shrugged, "Leave him turned off, for now. I'll go over his programming again later. He's sentient, but there are limits on his actions, programming that acts as morals. It's hard to work them right, and still give him freedom of choice. He's like a child, and I'm trying to instill good morals and habits. I just do it differently than a parent would."
"All right," Dustin said, he came into the room carrying a large tray, "Let's eat, and then we can talk about this Star Master dude. I made enough, Justin; you can have some if you're hungry."
"Thank you, Dustin," Justin said, "I think I just might."
