A/N: Usual disclaimers apply.
The Real Ninja Storm
By
James P.
Chapter 2: High School Reunion – Pt. 1
"So, there's money on the counter for food, and they need to finish what little homework they have before they can watch TV…" Katherine was explaining to her kids' babysitter, Gigi.
"Don't worry! I know the drill," Gigi said. "But what is the emergency?"
"Just an old friend needs to see me," Katherine said. In truth, she had no idea who it was that summoned her via her old communicator. Zordon was gone, and the old rangers just used the telephone now. The only thing she could think of was that if it was one of her former teammates, they were in trouble. She had tried using it to communicate, but all that she heard was static. So she decided to try to teleport, and see where it took her. Hence calling Gigi.
"Is it that old boyfriend of yours? What was his name? Tommy?" Gigi asked. Katherine paused at this. She hadn't seen Tommy in over five years, and even then it was brief. Billy and Trini had gotten married, and even though she didn't know Trini well, Billy had invited Katherine to the wedding. It was good seeing Kim, Rocky, Adam, and Jason again. Tanya was unable to attend, and as far as anyone knew, Aisha was still in Africa. Tommy had shown up late, missing a flight, and she had tried to avoid him. He had caught her while she was trying to leave, and pulled her aside to talk to her. It didn't go well, with Katherine just not wanting anything to do with him. The thought had ran through her mind when the familiar beeping was heard that maybe he was in trouble. She had heard through the grapevine that he was mentoring a new group of rangers, and had become one himself, so maybe that's what was going on. She knew that if he was in trouble, and it had to do with the forces of evil, that she would of course help. Once a ranger, always a ranger. But that would be all in the name of good, not in the name of friendship.
"Um, no, it's not. It's an old girlfriend. She's just going through some bad stuff, and she needs a shoulder for a few hours," Katherine made up. Gigi smiled, but wasn't totally convinced. Katherine kissed her kids goodbye, and went out the front door. She got in her car, and drove two blocks to an abandoned lot. Looking around, she saw no one watching her, so she raised her wrist up, pressed the teleportation button, and hoped she wasn't getting in over her head.
^v^v^v
Rocky and Kimberly paid Ernie, and ran out the front door to a busy street. They, like Katherine, hadn't heard the beeping in a long time, and knew it had to be some sort of emergency, which they weren't used to anymore. Rocky had actually been disappointed when Tommy and Jason hadn't called on him to help the Wild Force rangers deal with the remnants o f the Machine Empire. He knew Jason had the Mighty Morphin' ranger covered, and Tommy was obviously the Zeo Red ranger. But he had hoped they would've at least asked him to use his ninja powers to help them. He always became sad when he thought about how he had to give up his position in the Power Rangers to that brat Justin.
Kimberly, on the other hand, had willfully given up her powers to her friend Katherine so she could further her career in gymnastics. An injury had forced her to give that up, and now she worked as a teacher for Angel Grove High. Tommy had asked her to help with mentoring the Dino Thunder team, but she had declined, wanting to try to lead a normal life.
Rocky and Kimberly had always stayed in touch since she had left Angel Grove all those years ago. And he was the first person that he had told he was gay to. She had supported him through his coming out process, and when his parents shunned him, Kimberly was there for Rocky to cry to. Somehow, they had become best friends through the year, even sharing an apartment together at one point. They of course had stayed in touch with the other rangers, but they had also formed a bond that was unbreakable at this point.
The ex-blue and ex-pink rangers found a secluded area around the corner, and tried to use their communicators, but all they heard was static.
"It can't be Zordon," Rocky said.
"Yeah, and no one has seen Alpha since he left with Zordon, so it can't be him," Kim said.
"Who else has access to our comm. channels?"
"Only members of our team, so it could be any of the original rangers, Tommy, Kat, Aisha, Adam, Justin, Tanya, or even the Turbo rangers."
"Well how are we supposed to know where to go?"
Kim thought about it for a moment. "Billy rigged these things to teleport us automatically to who needs help, or who started the communication. That way, in case we couldn't find coordinates at the command center, we could just teleport to that person."
"So, we need to teleport?"
"I guess," Kim said. "God, it has been a while…"
Rocky looked hesitant. "We could ignore it you know."
Kim grimaced. "We could. I mean, if I wanted back into all of this, I would've helped Tommy out with the Dino Thunder rangers. But…"
"But, it could be one of our friends in trouble," Rocky continued. Kim nodded her head in agreement. The two friends took a look at their communicators, sighed, and pressed the familiar button that would take them to their unknown destination.
^v^v^v
"Class dismissed," Jason Scott said to his karate class. He had ended the class early for a change. The kids were happy, but were concerned. Their teacher never ended class early, and usually kept them later than what they were supposed to be. But Jason had other things on his mind.
Jason had always regretted giving up his powers to go to the peace conference with Trini and Zack. Sure, it was a great opportunity, but he felt like he had a purpose when he was the leader of the Power Rangers. When Tommy had asked him to return to the team as the Gold Zeo Ranger, he hadn't even hesitated. But his new power was short-lived.
Jason had gone on with his life, dating Emily, and starting his own business in Seattle, but had always felt like he wasn't living the life he wanted. When Tommy had contacted him about helping out the other red rangers, Jason had hesitated. He didn't want to get his hopes up again that he would be able to return to being a Power Ranger. But eventually, after talking with Trini and Billy, Jason showed up to help the other red rangers defeat the machine empire. Jason felt great, donning his original red uniform. But the euphoria of it all was temporary, as he then went back to his day-to-day life.
Now, five years later, Jason was divorced from Emily, and spent all his time concentrating on his students. He barely spoke with his old friends, save for Trini and Billy. He was depressed, and felt like he wasn't worth anything anymore. When he had heard the beeping, he tried to ignore it, but it was too much, and he had to find out what was going on. Once his students had left, Jason pressed the familiar button, and disappeared in a wave of red.
^v^v^v
Adam Park stared at his communicator. Besides Tommy, Adam had been the former ranger to help out the current teams the most. He always felt honored being asked to help, as his self-esteem had always been lower than the rest of the rangers, and he always felt like an outsider.
Like Kimberly, Jason, Rocky, and Tommy, Adam had become a teacher as well, teaching English to students at Reefside High. It didn't pay a lot, but Adam didn't need a lot. He had also become the soccer coach for the school, and had led the team to two state championships.
But since he had become a teacher, he thought his hero days were behind him. Tommy was the one that couldn't give up the fight, where as Adam was happy to lead a normal life. He would always feel like a hero because of all the work he had done as a ranger, but he was in a new phase of his life. He was a different person. But it looked like someone needed him again.
"I don't know if I want to do this," Adam thought to himself as he stared at the communicator. But he took a deep breath, turned to his boyfriend, and smiled.
"Ready?" he said.
"Ready," Tommy said, and pressing the teleport button on their communicators, they disappeared in streams of black and white energy respectively.
^v^v^v