Author's Note: I'm really trying to get Faith to update the MF oneshot, because I know how badly some of you want to read it (hell, I wanna read it!). In the meantime, you can all enjoy part 3/8 of Once A Ranger.
Tierra: First of all, glad to have you back. Now, to answer your question, no, JF will not be AU. Just because Lily is not in the Pai Zhuq at the moment, doesn't mean she's not taking classes there. Like I told another reviewer, I think it would be weird if she lived there 24/7, with no vacation time what-so-ever. I mean, she does have a family (it's HUGE), so if she was gone for years, then they would start to worry about her. Needless to say, to keep their worries to a minimum, she's going to have to return every once in a while so Ronny and everyone else can know she's not dead (even if they think she's at school, but even school lets kids go home for holidays and summer If she never came home, it would raise suspicion).
As for Kaylee, it's a one-sided hate. Tori and Blake got engaged not even a year after the Hanson parents died. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Kaylee's already stated that after Tori got engaged she "ditched" Kaylee to spend all her time with Blake. I don't know about you, but if my sibling did that shortly after both my parents died, I would resent my new in-law. It also works too, because Tori's the older sister, and she's supposed to be looking out for Kaylee, and caring for her. But she leaves Kaylee all the time for Blake, then goes around saying Kaylee's the most important part of her life. Not only does it send mix signals, but it leaves Kaylee doubting whether Tori's really with her or not. With Dustin, Kaylee and Dustin only just recently got engaged, four years or so after the death of the Hanson parents. It's plenty of time to move on, and unlike Kaylee, Tori knows her sister will never "ditch" her for someone else. You may consider it childish on Kaylee's behalf, or you may think Kaylee's better than Tori at showing her sister she's still wanted and loved, even if there's someone else in her life. Whichever way you look at it, I think Kaylee's excuse is justified.
I hope that answers any and all questions you and anyone else may have.
Enjoy the reading!
"So, why do you hate the Rangers who took over?" Lily asked. "I mean, if you don't have powers, you should be grateful they can help out."
"Yeah, grateful, sure," Kaylee frowned. "Try being grateful when the blue one is your sister, who ditches you for her husband all the time, and wants to kick your ass at everything you do."
"Sounds familiar," Lily laughed, looking over at Ronny. "Except replace husband with car, and wants with does."
"I think this is a bag-on-the-older-sister thing, so I'm going to go watch the Rangers," Ronny laughed, leaving the room.
"You don't get it, Lils," Kaylee frowned. "Tori's always been like this. She's always tried being better. She's always..."
"Looked out for you?" Lily asked.
"What? No!"
"Kaylee. I saw you guys losing against Thrax on TV... granted we lost the signal when you powered down, but it doesn't take a genius to know that you guys owe your lives to the retros."
"I don't care! She should trust me!"
"Okay," Lily sighed. "Don't believe me. But I know almost everything there is to know about you... except the Ranger thing. That's new."
"Believe me," Kaylee smiled. "You don't know the half of it."
"Look," Lily said. "I have an older sister too. And I know better than anyone what it's like to live in her shadow. My sister's her own trophy wife! She kicks ass at everything she does, and she's super protective of me. And it gets on my nerves."
"Lily, we're going to get along really well," Kaylee smiled.
"But even when I hate Ronny, I know she's just doing what's best for me. She's never done anything to hurt me... except moving out."
"Tori's the same," Kaylee laughed. "But replace moving out, with marrying Blake. God I hate him."
"Stole your sister?" Lily asked.
"Worse, he's alive."
"What happened?" Lily frowned.
"My parents died, leaving only me and Tori. He asks her out, and she's on cloud nine! I couldn't be any happier for her, until he proposed. Then she started spending all her time with him. Cancelling plans on me because she had to talk about wedding stuff. I didn't hang out with her very much, so it wasn't too bad... but now... I feel like I lost her. And her replacing me..."
"How about I distract Tori, and you punch Blake in the nose!" Lily joked, hoping to cheer Kaylee up.
"OH! I like that!" Kaylee smiled.
-----Operation-Overdrive-----
"What do you want, Thrax?" Dr. O asked, stepping up as leader of the newest team of Power Rangers.
"What every villain wants, Ranger!" Thrax smiled.
"You're not gonna win. We're here to make sure of it!" Tommy smiled. "Ready guys?"
"Ready," the Rangers smiled.
"Wait!" Thrax called, stepping aside for the newest ally to walk through. "Meet my new friend, Jordan."
"It's Morphin' Time!" Tommy and Adam called out, transforming into the white and black Rangers.
"Dino Thunder, Power up, HA!"
"SPD, Emergency!"
"Magical source, Mystic Force!"
When all Rangers were in uniform, they noticed Tori was not.
"Tori?" Kira and Kelly asked, turning to their friend. She saw she was staring at Jordan in fear as her lower lip trembled.
-----Operation-Overdrive-----
Kaylee and Lily were walking down the stairs, when they heard all the boys groan. They walked into the room and saw Eric hitting the top of the TV.
"Stupid thing always breaks when the Rangers are in civilian uniform!" he whined. "We got two seconds of the news, and then it's gone!"
"Oh well," Rose laughed.
Suddenly, the phone rang. One of the Chilman boys picked it up and answered.
"Yellow... whoa... slow down dude, can't understand you with... Kaylee Hanson? Dude how... okay I'll pass the phone... and I'll stop calling you dude."
Deryk passed the phone over to Kaylee, looking a little defeated as he did.
"It's some English dude for ya," he said.
"Spencer!" Kaylee smiled as she answered the phone. "She can handle it... Jordan? You're kidding? I'll be right there."
Kaylee tossed the phone back to Deryk and grabbed whatever stuff she had brought inside.
"Where are you going?" Mack asked, following her to the door.
"Family emergency," Kaylee answered him. "Do NOT follow."
-----Operation-Overdrive-----
"Okay, Tori, its Ninja Storm, Ranger form," Bridge instructed, while Kira watched him, shaking her head. The other Rangers were already fighting Thrax and his alliance, but they weren't doing very well. "C'mon, Ninja Storm, Ranger Form."
Bridge grabbed Tori's hands and tried moving them, but Tori pulled away.
"Kira, she's broken!" Bridge stated, defeated. "Fix her!"
"I don't know how!" Kira frowned. "I don't even know why she's broken!"
Kira walked up to her friend and grabbed her arms, shaking her slightly.
"Tori, what's wrong? You can tell me!"
"No... no one can know!" Tori yelled. She screamed and ducked as Adam was thrown in her direction.
"Guys, forget about it for now," Adam told them as he tried getting up. "We need help!"
Bridge didn't want to leave, but knew he had to if he wanted to help his team. He patted the blue Ranger on the shoulder and ran off into the battle. Kira tried helping as well, but Tori grabbed onto her shirt.
"Don't leave me," she begged.
"Tori, unless you tell me what's wrong I have to go!" Kira explained softly. Tori turned away from her, forcing Kira to run into the battle.
"Looks like it's just you and me, Victoria," Jordan smirked as he approached the defenceless blue Ranger.
"Leave me alone, Jordan," Tori panicked, backing away slowly.
"Now why would I do that?" Jordan laughed. He reached out and grabbed her wrists in his hands, pulling her closer to him. "We have history."
"Get away from me!" Tori begged desperately, pulling herself away.
"Make me."
"I thought I once told you to fuck off?" Kaylee frowned, jumping in front of her sister and standing protectively in front of her, stopping Jordan from coming any closer.
"It's a family reunion!" Jordan smiled.
"What are you doing here? With them?" Kaylee asked, pointing to Thrax and his allies.
"You know bad guys. They always have a way of bringing out your worst fears," Jordan smirked. "I got a call from Thrax this morning and he told me I could see Tori again."
"I'll kill you this time," Kaylee threatened. "I honestly will, if you don't leave my sister alone."
"You're just a runt, what the hell are you going to do?" Jordan asked.
"Well, seeing as you already know Tori's little secret, I guess this won't hurt," Kaylee smiled. She reached over to Tori's wrist and pulled off her morpher.
"Kaylee, what are you doing?" Kelly asked as she avoided a kick to the face.
"NINJA STORM! I HOPE THIS WORKS FORM!" Kaylee called, using her sister's morpher to transform. Fortunately for her, it worked perfectly fine as Kaylee turned into the Blue Wind Ranger.
"Whoa..." Jordan frowned. "That can't happen! She's not a blue Ranger! It's not supposed to work like that! THRAX!"
"Coward calling for backup?" Kaylee teased menacingly, pulling out her sword. She could feel Tori's Ranger suit using a lot more of her powers, because it wasn't meant for her, but right now, Tori's safety was all that mattered.
"How can you call upon another Ranger's power?" Jordan asked, stumbling away.
"I am the awesomest Ranger to ever walk this earth!" Kaylee smirked. "SHUT UP THE REST OF YOU!" she called to the retros who were all giving her looks.
"We'll be back," Jordan frowned, turning around and running away. Kaylee ran ahead of him, stopping him.
"I said I was going to kill you," Kaylee said. "I plan on going through with that if you ever come near my sister again."
"Oh, like a Power Ranger is going to kill someone. I bet you couldn't eve-AH!" Jordan sunk to his knees as Kaylee slashed her sword across his chest, causing him to bleed.
"I will kill you," Kaylee threatened, getting down on her knees to look Jordan in the eye. "Do you understand? No one threatens Tori, and gets away with it."
Jordan shook his head, but Kaylee put her sword under his chin as she pointed to Kira.
"You see her," she asked. "Kira's would say the same thing about me. The only difference between us is that I am so much more protective of Tori then Kira could ever be of me."
Kaylee pulled her sword up, cutting the bottom of Jordan's chin as she did.
"Now get your abusive, cheating ass out of here before I change my mind and kill you now!" Kaylee yelled, putting her sword away and pulling Jordan to his feet.
"Power down," Kaylee called, powering out of her uniform. She felt drained as she handed her morpher back to Tori and smiled weakly. "You okay?"
Tori nodded, accepting the morpher, but she wasn't sure where she stood with Kaylee.
"Are we...?"
"No," Kaylee frowned. "I just couldn't let that bastard hurt you again."
"Kaylee," Tori called after her sister as Kaylee walked the other way. "Kaylee! Kaylee! I'm sorry!"
Kaylee stopped in her path as she turned around to face her sister, who was now backed up by the others.
"Kaylee, I would never do anything to hurt you! I didn't take this job to replace you," Tori whispered. "I took it to protect you."
"Tori, you know that's Bullzwop."
"Kayl, you've been looking out for me for as long as I can remember," Tori smiled. "With Jordan when we were teenagers, and now, and every boyfriend in between. Can't I make it up to you in some way?"
"I've been protecting you?" Kaylee frowned. "Really? When? Why don't I remember this? I know the Jordan thing, cause I practically stalked you two, but... oh, Blake. Yeah, he's a butt head, you should divorce before you have kids and it gets messy."
"Kayl, when Blake and Hunter left town, when we were first Rangers, you talked me through it every night! When mom and dad died, you gave me the chance to say goodbye, you stalked me and Jordan when you thought he was hurting me, and wanted to kill him when you found out you were right. You paid for my hair dye when I went brunette to hide from him; you got me contacts to change my eye colour, and those glasses to make it look like hazel was my natural eye colour. And today, even though you were pissed off at me, you still come and save me. Kaylee, you do it every day."
"Okay, well, as a reward, you and Blake get a divorce!" Kaylee smiled hopefully.
"Sorry kiddo," Tori smirked. "I love Blake, he's going nowhere."
"Can I kick him, then?" Kaylee asked.
"No!"
"Hit?"
"Kaylee..."
"Sucker punch! He won't know what hit him!"
"Kaylee Ann!"
"Fine, I call him dumb as a post and you pay me twenty bucks," Kaylee offered.
"Ten and you can call him a cheap bastard," Tori smirked.
"DEAL!"
"Okay, now that this is all said and done, can we all be a team again?" Kelly asked.
"Um, yeah, not really," Kaylee frowned. "I may no longer be mad at you three, but um, the rest of my team is."
"Great, here we go again," Dr. O sighed.
"Now why are they mad?"
"You replaced them," Kaylee smiled. "I know it's not obvious, but I would be pretty pissed off too if someone tried to replace me."
Kaylee smirked as she looked at each other the Rangers, showing them the sarcasm in her voice.
"No, really?" Bridge said sarcastically. "I hadn't noticed. You were only telling us to fuck off and running away all the time."
"That means I love you," Kaylee smiled, pulling a puppy dog face.
"Half the time, it does," Kira sighed. "Believe me."
"Fuck you," Kaylee frowned.
"Love you too, Kayl," Kira smiled.
-----Operation-Overdrive-----
Kaylee was finally home in the base, but her Overdrive team was still out in the country somewhere, or maybe they fled the country. Basically, Kaylee had no idea where they were, but they weren't with her.
She laid out a map on the table in the base and put a picture of everyone on her team on top of it.
"Okay, this is what I was thinking," she explained. "We each have a colour, right?"
"We do?" Xander frowned, looking down at his shirt. "Is that why I always wear green?"
"Okay, you boys, stop with the sarcasm, or I'll make you deal with Ronny," Kaylee threatened.
Xander and Bridge looked at each other before shutting up. Kaylee smiled proudly.
"Good, Dr. O, Adam, you guys are White and Black respectively," Kaylee started. "That means you can talk to Tyzonn and Will, the Mercury and the Black Ranger on my team. Dr.O, you just have to remind Tyzonn that he's a rescuer, powers or not, his job is to save people. Adam, Will's an international spy, and loves adventure. You're going to ask him how to save Alpha."
"She knows about Alpha?" Adam asked.
"She can speak normally?" Tommy frowned.
"I have many talents," Kaylee smirked. "Anyways, Adam, ask Will if he can get past any security that might be holding Alpha. That should get Will on our side."
"What about us?" Kelly asked.
"Kelly, you and Rose are pink, so I'm going to have you deal with her." Kaylee explained. "Rose is, like, mega smart, so tell her we'll need help activating Alpha. Whether it's true or not, I'll deal with later."
"Alright, lie to Rose," Kelly smiled. "I got it."
"Bridge, I'm setting you and Mack up. He's pretty easy; just remind him that being a Power Ranger is full of adventure. Tell him something like 'You never know what the bad guy is going to do next. Waiting for him to make his next move is half the fun', or something like that. I dunno, I guess if you start to ramble something'll come out."
Bridge smiled as he saluted the green Ranger.
"Kira, you're going to handle Ronny. She's pretty easy too, if you know how to talk to her."
"I don't know how to talk to her," Kira frowned.
"Then you, my friend, are screwed," Kaylee laughed. "Talk to her about the Zords. She's the driver for the SHARC, and personally, everyone else is afraid to drive that thing. I mean, it's huge. Tell her we need our driver and mechanic back, and everything should be fine."
"Alright," Kira answered nervously. Suddenly, there was a foul smell that disturbed the Rangers.
"Dear GOD! What the hell is that?" Dr. O asked, holding his nose as he looked to the door, where Karly walked in with a pair of socks in her mouth.
"OH!" Kaylee frowned. "Bad kitty! No playing with Ronny's socks! They smell like feet!"
Karly looked up and Kaylee, and Dr. O could have sworn the cat gave the Green Ranger a "DUH" look.
"Wait a minute!" Kaylee smiled, grabbing the socks from her cat and tossing them to Kira. "Give Ronny her socks back! That should earn you bonus points!"
"Can I wash them first?" Kira asked, holding the socks with her fingers and away from her body as she held her nose. Even if they had just been washed recently, Ronny had somehow managed to get them back to their regular odour in just a few short days. Needless to say, Spencer washing them had little effect, if none at all.
"Normally I would say HALLELUJA!" Kaylee smiled. "But we need them and their foul odour to win Ronny over. Good luck my friend, and don't die."
"So I guess that means Tor gets to take Dax, and you and I can chill on the couch, with nobody ho-"
Kaylee stole the socks from Kira and stuffed them in Xander's mouth.
"You know Kira, maybe you should leave the socks here," Kaylee smiled, admiring her work. "I mean, it would just motivate Ronny to come back, and meanwhile I have a Xander repellent."
Xander tried to argue, but couldn't with his mouth full.
"Unfortunately for you Xander, I think Tori's been through enough," Kaylee smiled. "I'm sending you after Dax. Teach him how to flirt with women or something, in exchange for him coming back... or rather, teach him how not to flirt with women by doing what you do. That makes so much more sense."
"So, you and Tori are going to stay home?" Bridge asked.
"MUME!" Xander smiled. "Dat's ifs mo much wetter pen vhat tide vad in minb!"
"What?" Kaylee asked, pulling the sock out from Xander's mouth.
"That is so much better than with I had i-"
"Eww incest," Kaylee frowned, putting the sock back in his mouth. "You, shoo."
Defeated, Xander lowered his head as he walked for the door.
"Fine, but I'm not bringing these socks with me!" he called. He dropped the socks on the floor, and instantly Karly was crawling inside them.
'Kayl, I got you one sick cat," Tori frowned.
"Yeah, she does that," Kaylee said, looking down at the little kitten, playing with Ronny's socks. "She just loves those socks. I don't think she has a sense of smell, because believe me... my whole room smells like feet sometimes."
"Okay, I'm not bunking with you tonight," Kira frowned.
"Then you get the couch," Kaylee smiled. "You guys can all go after your assigned Rangers tomorrow."
"But you just sent Xander off..."
"Yeah, he can go today," Kaylee frowned. "I love him to death, really. I mean, I choose him to replace me as Mystic Green, but... he's a little, not there, up here."
Kaylee pointed to her head and smiled.
"Alright, good night, sleep tight; don't let the angry Overdrive Ranger bite!" Kaylee sang as she bounced off to bed.
"Did she say, Overdrive Ranger? As in just one? As in her?" Bridge asked.
"I would sleep with one eye open, Bridgey," Tori smiled. "One eye open."
"I still can't believe it!" Dr. O frowned, following the others as he walked upstairs to Tyzonn's room. "She can speak like a human?"
Tori nodded slowly.
"She calls it gibberish."