Hey everyone! I'm not gonna get into why I've been absent with updating lately (it's explained in the two stories I posted/updated yesterday). But other than that, hope you all enjoy the new chapter!
Saban owns the Power Rangers. YAY!
"It's like one giant rainbow down there."
As Sunday night grew closer, more and more former Ranger teams began to show up and settle down in Angel Grove for the festivities. Today, the Wild Force and Ninja Storm Rangers arrived, and the day before, the Dino Rangers had shown up as well. Almost every team (including Time Force and Lost Galaxy) had arrived, with the only exceptions being the Alien Rangers and the brand new Jungle Fury team, of which nobody but Tommy knew much about (Tommy always seemed to be in the know about every new team.)
Jason Lee Scott watched from his room as everyone partied and had a good time down below in his backyard. It was Saturday night, and they had all just come back from the festival/convention (whatever one wanted to call it), and they were pleasantly surprised for the second day in a row (it had started last night). The entire thing was set up as a tribute to Power Ranger history, with each and every single team getting their own wing at the convention center, and across the street at Angel Grove Park, there was all sorts of stuff there that celebrated the Power Rangers. And hanging in the background of it all was the massive stage erected that would serve as the place that the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers would emerge one last time and give a speech to all their loyal fans.
That was for tomorrow; tonight was all about having fun. Jason continued to watch as everyone smiled, laughed, told war stories…it was a nice thing to see. Andros had quite a few of the younger Rangers huddled around him as he regaled them with the story of how he saved the universe by regretfully shattering Zordon's energy tube. TJ, Wes, Eric and Carter were playing poker with each other; Trini and Katherine were talking to a bunch of the younger girls, probably giving out shopping tips. Everywhere Jason looked, good times were all around. He was glad he had thought of having this big party yesterday; he thoroughly enjoyed watching everyone have a great time.
A few seconds later, his thoughts were disrupted when he heard his doorbell ring. Standing up and exiting his room, walking down the steps, he opened his front door and saw five people wearing different colored uniforms, standing there in awe as the door swung open. Jason raised an eyebrow at the five kids, wondering if they were lost or were new neighbors of his. He quickly realized they were neither.
"Oh my god…it's really him!", the one in red exclaimed loudly, looking like he was ready to be restrained.
"Dude, will you calm down? You're making us look bad!", the young girl in yellow said, slapping the boy in red on the back.
"But we're standing in the presence of a god!", he practically screamed while Jason stood back and watched this all unfold with an amused look.
"Dude, listen to yourself…you sound like a five year old", the boy in blue said rather sarcastically, rolling his eyes, while the one in white stepped forward and calmed them down without ever saying a word. The young man in violet moved ahead and introduced himself.
"Hello there, Mr. Scott. My name is Robert James, but everyone calls me R.J. I'm the Violet Wolf Ranger, and I'm the master of the Jungle Fury Rangers. This", he said, turning slightly to motion to the boy in red, "is Casey Rhodes, the Red Tiger Ranger, and one of your biggest fans."
"It is an absolute honor to meet you, Mr. Scott", the boy said excitedly, stepping forward and extending his hand. Jason cracked a smile as he shook Casey's hand.
"This is Theo Martin, the Blue Jaguar Ranger", R.J. continued, the boy in blue waving and smiling politely. "This is Lily Chilman, the Yellow Cheetah Ranger", he said, the young girl shaking Jason's hand and silently thanking him for being so kind towards them. "And finally, we have Dom Hargan, the White Rhino Ranger."
Jason looked at the kids up and down before shaking his head. "Forgive me if I sound rude here, but how did you all find out about this get together?"
R.J. looked back at his Rangers, who were staring at their feet. He cleared his throat, but none of them looked up to meet his eyes. He sighed before facing Jason again, giving his explanation.
"I received a message the other day at the pizzeria I own, Jungle Karma Pizza. It was from someone who only referred to himself as Dr. O, and he said that he knew a thing or two about Power Rangers, and thus, he invited us here to meet the other teams."
Jason shook his head again in disbelief, chuckling and muttering something to himself under his breath. "Dr. O, huh? Let me ask you all something…have any of you heard of Tommy Oliver?"
Never before did Jason see five faces go so quickly from intrigue to wide eyed shock. They quietly spoke to each other in hushed tones, so that Jason wouldn't hear them. "I thought so. I'm sure you've all heard the stories about him. He's the one that sent you the message to come here. So come on in, introduce yourselves, and have a good time."
The Jungle Fury Rangers, still in a state of disbelief, slowly shuffled past Jason and into his house. Their disbelief was soon turned into admiration and googly eyes as they stared at the memorabilia on the walls. Jason watched on as the newest group of Rangers walked through the house, finally getting to the outside, where they were met by a throng of other Rangers.
Right as Jason was about to walk out back, he saw Tommy coming up from the basement out of the corner of his eye, and promptly turned around to face him. "So, you decided to invite the newest team of Power Rangers without telling me, huh?"
"I didn't think it'd be that much of a problem, bro…why, did they do something?"
"No, they haven't done anything yet. But it would have been nice of you to tell me ahead of time instead of opening my door to a group of soapy faced rookies who don't know what they got themselves into, bro."
Tommy rolled his eyes and shook his head for a moment, giving Jason a look that said, 'Not this talk again', before placing his hand on Jason's shoulder and leading him back into the living room. They stopped and stared at each other before Tommy spoke first.
"Did we know what we were getting ourselves into when we became Rangers?"
"This isn't about us, bro", Jason replied sternly, arms crossed, steely glare on his face.
"Did you know what you were doing when you became the first Red Ranger?"
"No, I didn't. But I adjusted quickly, and look what happened. Did you know what you were doing when you became a Ranger?"
"I was under an evil spell at first. I didn't even want to be one."
"But you became one when the spell was broken. You became the best ever, Tommy."
"Don't start that shit with me. The real issue here is, yes, I invited them. Maybe they don't fully know what they've gotten themselves into yet, but they're willing to learn and they're another group in a long line of heroes. Not everybody gets to be a Power Ranger, Jase. The five of them, they were chosen for a reason. I see a lot of every single team in them. And they're just kids who are looking to meet those who preceded them, and they wanna have a good time."
Jason gave Tommy a look of mild irritation. There were already thirteen teams worth of Rangers here at his house, and he was already catching crap from his neighbors because of the massive amount partying and the excessive noise. Adding a bunch of kids to that wouldn't help matters.
But Jason looked over Tommy and saw the Jungle Furies mixing in with the crowd, and sighed. He realized he was being stern and gruff again, but he had to be sometimes; he was the first friggin' Red Ranger. People were intimidated by him and his legend.
But he was also smart and wise enough to realize that he needed to let his hair down, so to speak, and stop acting so intimidating towards the newer teams. There was a line between being universally respected and universally feared. He felt he did a good job toeing both lines, but in the end, the respect won out over being feared. So all he did was shake his head and sigh.
"There any other surprises that I should know about?"
"You gonna get mad and take your Blade Blaster to my head if I show my kids around your basement?"
Jason rolled his eyes as he folded his arms across his chest. He didn't really like anyone downstairs in his basement; it was where he kept all the memorabilia from his Ranger days, along with his own little gym. But this was Tommy and his Dino Rangers, so what could possibly go wrong?
"Mr. Scott, is it alright if I touch your replica Power Sword?"
He spoke too soon.
Trailing Tommy and his Dino Rangers down the steps into his basement, he kept a careful eye on Conner McKnight, the Red Ranger of the group, who also happened to be the clumsiest and most thick-headed. As they reached the bottom step, Jason watched as the Conner, Kira, Trent and Ethan all walked around while Tommy wandered off into the corner and started looking through some old newspaper clippings.
"Why are you looking at that old stuff, bro?"
"To remind myself why I'm doing this all over again tomorrow night", Tommy responded curtly. "I mean…it's been a while."
Jason's brows shot up, and he couldn't help the small grin that quickly spread across his lips. "Don't tell me…you're nervous about this, aren't you?"
Tommy quickly shot Jason a death glare, one that the former Gold Ranger easily looked past. "The immortal Tommy Oliver, the greatest Power Ranger of all time…nervous to morph one last time? Say it ain't so!"
"Shut up, Jase. It's been four years since I gave it up again, that time for good. I've lived a somewhat normal life for four years, man!"
"And by somewhat normal, do you mean 'somewhat normal', or do you mean you've kept tabs on every single team of Rangers, past and present while pretending to live a 'somewhat normal' life?", Jason answered sarcastically. Tommy looked up briefly from the clippings and rolled his eyes, before diverting his eyes back to them.
"Bro, you shouldn't be so nervous. It's a one time thing. All you're doing is morphing and saying farewell, basically. Yeah…that's basically what this whole thing is for you six…a farewell party."
"It's a lot more than that, bro", Tommy said, his eyes not leaving a particular article about the Green Ranger and the destruction he had caused. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure, what's up?", Jason murmured as he too began to flip through the old clippings.
"Is it wrong and or weird that I'd rather morph into him again?", he asked, pointing to a rare photograph of the Green Ranger standing on top of the Dragonzord, the Dragon Dagger in hand.
Jason stared at the photo for a moment, taking in the memories that flooded his head. They had a lot of good times when Tommy was green. Granted, there was also the small part where he tried killing them all, but other than that episode, there was no reason for Tommy to ever feel ashamed of what he did when he was the Green Ranger.
But of course, that's how everyone but Tommy felt about it. Even after all these years, Jason knew that his best friend couldn't let what he did go, couldn't forgive himself for his actions, actions he had no control over. No matter what good he did later on in his life as a Ranger, Tommy still could never live it down.
"Now don't take this the wrong way bro…but why the hell would you want to morph into the Green Ranger one more time?", Jason asked matter-of-factly. Tommy still didn't look up as he heard Jason's response, but he closed his eyes and clenched his fist. He hated talking about his time in green, and desperately wished he could forget it all, but he brought it up, so he had to deal with it.
"You know why, Jase. Don't make me answer that question."
"Tommy, you're the one that brought up the Green Ranger in the first place. I see the look in your eyes bro, and if you think for one second you're gonna bring that up and then try to avoid every question, you're nuts. So let me ask you again…why do you want to morph into the Green Ranger one more time?"
"To apologize to everyone who suffered through or heard of my acts of horror when I was wearing that costume…and to forgive myself."
"Even after all these years…you still can't forgive yourself, can you?"
Tommy looked away from the clippings and turned to face the wall. Jason noticed his fists clenching, and subtly prepared himself should Tommy have a bit of an outburst. But he saw his best friends' shoulders slump. By now, the Dino Rangers had left and were back outside, leaving the two men alone.
"I can never forgive myself for what I did when I wore that awful suit…never. I still feel dirty…"
"Bro, that was fifteen years ago…we were kids. You were under Rita's control; you couldn't help what you did. We're men now, though. Billy, Trini, Zack…they've all moved on from it. I'll admit, it took me a while to get over it, but I did. Kim…she's moved on too. It's all on you, man."
Jason walked over to Tommy and placed a hand on his shoulder. He led him over to some chairs nearby and they sat down, Tommy's head in his hands while Jason turned around and began rummaging for something.
"You also gotta remember bro", Jason said as he continued searching for whatever it was he was searching for, "You did a lot of good when you were the Green Ranger. Saved our asses more times than I can remember. So don't try and say you didn't do any good as the Green Ranger, because you know you did. Ah ha!"
Jason's arms swung back over, and right as Tommy looked up, he saw two shot glasses and two rather large bottles of Jack Daniels and Jameson. Immediately, he knew where this was going.
"Bro, don't you think we should go back outside? Everyone's probably wondering where we are."
"They'll be fine…and besides, when was the last time we did anything like this?"
Jason began to open the bottles while Tommy had an anxious look on his face, Jason pouring two shots of Jack into the glasses. He passed his best friend a glass and held his own up in the air in a toast.
"Come on, Tommy. You gotta stop worrying about what you did in the past and embrace the present, which is tomorrow…and right now."
Reluctantly, Tommy picked up his shot glass and toasted his best friend, and the two proceeded to down them with ease.
"You remember that time when I visited you in Switzerland and we ended up wrecking Trini's room?", Tommy slurred, a huge smile on his lips as he swayed back and forth in his chair. Jason cocked his head back and let out a monstrous roar of laughter as they both knocked back shots of Jack.
"Dude she was soooo angry at us for that…I dunno how we survived her rage", Jason murmured as he slumped down in his chair. His smile was quickly gone though, when he saw the look of sadness on Tommy's face. "What's the matter bro? Why so sad all of a sudden?"
"I just…I just miss her man…", he said, his head now down in his hands. And though he clearly wasn't sober, Jason knew who Tommy was talking about. "I wish I had chased after her when I got that goddamn piece of paper…"
"It's alright, bro…you'll get her back. Just talk…talk to her tomorrow before you do your thing and morph again…she'll listen…"
"I never stopped loving her, Jase…I know it looked like I got over her, but I never did…she was my world…"
Jason patted his best friend on the shoulder while Tommy kept his head in his hands, still thinking about the past.
"She still loves you too, bro…she really does…"
Lost in all of this was the fact that the two men were being watched from the top of the steps. The woman smiled as a tear trickled down her cheek. Wiping it away with the back of her hand, she quietly turned around and walked back upstairs, where the party was still going on. Fixing her hair, Kimberly smiled as she whispered to herself.
"I never stopped loving you too, Tommy…"