A/N: Hello readers! So, I've finally updated this story! Sorry for the delay, but ya know, I've been busy lately. Hope you like this chapter :)
hewhoreaps: Yeah, she's doing well, a lot better than daydream Ethan. Thanks :)
Emolichic1: Yep, everyone loves picking on Ethan. I do too XD
Jeremy Shane: Thanks as usual. :P
brankel1: Thanks, and btw, what does your username mean? XD
Spidey2: Thank you. My baby bro likes your username. ;)
JVFM: Thanks for understanding.
KJ: Yeah, Ethan was shocked and don't worry, Trent/Kira will last right till the end in this. XD
andyg2525: Okay, thanks.
Trent, Kira and Kim were running all over the place, taking multiple orders at once. Initially, it was Trent's shift, but after seeing how busy it got, Kira just had to help. Soon enough, Kim followed suit.
Trent stopped himself from colliding into Ethan, who was blocking his way.
"Trent, I gotta go home soon. You gonna be able to scrounge a few minutes for our government project?" the blue ranger questioned.
"I'm really sorry Ethan," Trent apologised, all exhausted. "We just got slammed all of a sudden."
"Okay," Ethan replied, slapping his friend on the back as Trent walked around him to get to a table.
"Waiter! Order! Hello!" Cassidy yelled for the millionth time, clicking her fingers with authority.
Ethan, as always, seemed to find this funny. "Go on, do what you gotta do," he teased Trent, chuckling. "I'll find something to keep me busy until you get a break."
Kim heard this, and raised her eyebrow. She knew that meant trouble.
"Waiter! Hello!" Cassidy repeated, getting more and more impatient.
"Yeah Cass, look, I don't think they like the whole clicky thing. Well you see, my brother, he's a waiter and-" Devin was rudely cut off by the very girl he worshipped.
"Save it for you memoirs, Devin. Every time my decaf latte sits at the bar it loses foam and I hate it when they lose foam!" the wannabe journalist complained.
Trent came by with her order and set it on the table. "Here you go one hot decaf latte."
"Oh thanks," Cassidy faked sweetness in her voice. "Ya know... doing this government action project has left me totally parched."
"That's nice," Trent commented, not really listening and giving Cassidy a smile before turning around to leave.
"Yo Trent," Devin started, stopping the worn out waiter in his tracks. "Hate to be a drag but..." He gestured something with his hands whilst whistling.
"Oh, your smoothie!" Trent remembered. "Sorry Dev, I'll be right back."
"Thanks Trent," Devin said sincerely. Trent walked off to get a smoothie while Cassidy muttered an ungrateful 'whatever.'
She pressed a key on her laptop and received a shriek. Cassidy freaked out and Kim just watched.
"Did you hear that?" Cassidy enquired, gasping.
"Yeah, it's pretty hard not to..." Devin answered. She tapped a key again and it did the same thing.
Hayley rolled her eyes but before she could scold Ethan, Kim beat her there. The yellow ranger fought back the urge to laugh and put on a dead serious face. She glared at Ethan, who was giggling.
"Having fun, Ethan?" she implored. For a second, Ethan looked like a deer caught in headlights. But then he grinned.
"Uhh... Yeah, I am," he admitted shamelessly. "Okay, I'm stopping!" he lied, after Kim fixed him with a glare.
Kim left to get an order from another table, Ethan resumed his childish antics. Cassidy slammed her laptop shut and Devin laughed nervously, holding onto his spoon for dear life. Ethan thought he was gonna get away with it, until Hayley showed up.
Meanwhile, Anton Mercer threw the doors open and entered the cybercafé gracefully, as if he owned the place.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" Trent inquired, wiping his hands on a hand towel.
"I thought I'd give you a ride home. You ready?" he questioned, checking the time on his watch.
"I don't think I can leave right now; I'm in the middle of work," the teen reasoned.
"Look son, I don't mean this to sound... elitist but don't you think a managerial position would suit you better? I mean come on all this running around, slinging milkshakes, it doesn't really scream... Mercer," Anton said, fixing his tie. Trent just smiled in amusement.
"Dad I like working here. And besides, I'm in high school; this is what kids do!"
"Right, well, it's not what I did," Anton replied, making Trent smile. "Anyway, let me think about it. Maybe we can uh, come up with a compromise we can both live with," he finished, scanning the room.
"Dad, I'm fine," Trent reassured his father.
"I'll see you at home," Anton concluded, winking.
"Okay, see ya at home," the teenager agreed, before turning around to get back to work. He found Devin behind the counter, stuffing the blender with milkshake ingredients.
"Uh Dev?" he said questioningly.
"Hey Trent, I thought I'd make my own," Devin explained. "Is that okay?"
"Why not?" Trent agreed, walking off. Unfortunately, Devin turned the blender on without putting the lid on and ended up covered in not-so-ready milkshake.
Later, Trent exited the cybercafé after work, accompanied by Dr McKnight, who had offered him a lift home.
"Thanks for the ride, Doctor M. My dad would've freaked if I got home late again," Trent said gratefully, as they walked towards the black jeep.
"Hey, speaking of your dad, there's something I've been wondering: all those years working with your father, he never mentioned he had a son," Michael stated.
"He didn't - have one that is. He and my real parents were worked on a dig together a few years ago. There was a cave in; my parents never got out," Trent explained.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Michael replied, as he stopped to get in the driver seat.
"He's been great though- he's taken me in, given me everything, you know; a home, a life. Not a lot of people would've done that," Trent concluded, getting in the jeep.
"Yeah," Michael agreed, as he started the engine.
A few minutes later, Michael spotted something sprinting towards the Jeep.
"What?" he wondered aloud, horrified. "Look Trent, you see that?" The teenager turned around pronto.
"A big, gold guy running like 50 miles an hour behind us?!" he exclaimed in disbelief. Michael slammed on the brakes and the strange being slammed into the back of the Jeep before falling onto its back. Hopping out of the Jeep, Michael and Trent quickly approached the golden humanoid.
"Wow, what is that thing?" Trent asked.
"My insurance company will never buy this," Michael remarked. Suddenly, the being stood up causing Michael and Trent to back away in unison.
"Which one of you is Doctor McKnight?" it inquired. Trent anxiously looked at his teacher.
"That'd be me," Michael answered.
"Then prepare for your demise!" the being cried arrogantly, smashing his fist against his hand. All of a sudden, he ran towards the pair, prepared to attack.
Michael pushed Trent out of the way and fought off the blows, but was eventually thrown off. Taking cover behind the Jeep, he called for backup with his black Dino Gem bracelet.
"You will be destroyed!" the gold creature roared, standing above Michael.
"No!" Trent yelled, leaping over the jeep and tackling it to the ground. He ran over and helped Michael up.
"No Trent, stay back!" Michael beseeched.
"I can help!" the teen replied stubbornly, jumping into a fight with the villain.
Unfortunately, after a while, he was defeated. Both Trent and Michael slumped against the jeep, trying to recover. Just before the golden guy tried to hit Trent, he met with a blast dealt by the rangers, who arrived on their Raptor cycles.
"Are you okay?" Conner asked his father.
"Yeah," Michael responded casually, acting as if he didn't know the red ranger, so Trent wouldn't suspect anything. Red, Blue and Yellow ran past him, instantly attacking the enemy.
However, Kira stopped next to Trent, completely forgetting about her secret. "Trent! Are you alright?" she queried in concern.
"Huh?" Trent grunted, looking up to face the purple ranger. "Hey, how do you know my name?" he asked in confusion. He didn't know why but her voice sounded familiar.
Meanwhile, Zeltrax appeared right in front of the monster without warning.
"Oh great, I knew you'd show up!" Kim spat, pointing her finger accusingly at Zeltrax.
"You stole my line!" Conner whined.
"And I thought I was immature," Ethan commented.
"Shut up C-" Kim started but paused as her eyes darted in Trent's direction. "Be quiet... Red, Blue!"
For once, Zeltrax completely ignored the rangers and turned his head towards the other monster.
"You, come back with me at once!" he ordered in a gruff voice. Conner found this oddly similar to how his dad sometimes spoke to him. He soon found out why.
"But father, my mission is not yet complete!" the gold thing protested in vain, for his 'father' wasn't listening.
"Now! Do as you're told!"
"Yes, father." Zeltrax and his 'son' left via an invisiportal, leaving everyone shell shocked.
"Father? Did he just call him father?" Ethan asked in terror.
"I think so," Kim concurred.
"Oh, I bet Elsa's the mother!" Kira blurted out, cracking the others up. Michael was tempted to laugh too but coughed instead.
"Oh yeah, c'mon guys, let's go... and save the day again!" Kira yelled, catching onto Michael's hint.
"My line again... I'm the leader!" Conner interjected.
"No one cares," Ethan replied. Kim snickered with her fellow teammates, much to Conner's chagrin, before remembering where they were.
"Drive safely!" she chirped awkwardly, making her way to her raptor cycle. The others followed, groaning as they listened to one of Conner's Martin Luther King speeches.
"Well, that was weird," Michael said, as normally as he could. Trent nodded in agreement.
"Ugh, I don't believe this!" Hayley complained, slamming a letter down onto the counter. She was currently in the cybercafé with Michael, Kim and Ethan.
"Junk mail?" Michael enquired empathetically.
"I wish! Check this out!" she told him, giving him the letter.
"What's it say?" Kim questioned.
"It's from City Hall. It seems as of tomorrow, I have a new landlord," Hayley explained.
"And not just any landlord: Anton Mercer," Michael stated, reading the letter.
"He's going to rebuild the whole cafe. He's going to replace me," Hayley grumbled.
"With who?" Ethan queried. Hayley's eyes immediately darted at someone behind them. The other three turned to see Trent.
"So you've heard?" said teen queried.
"So what's the deal man? One rough day at the office so your rich daddy buys it for you?" Ethan remarked, jumping to conclusions.
"Don't be so quick to judge, Ethan. You know Trent, he wouldn't do that," Kim stood up for the boy in white.
"Thanks, Miss Hart."
"It's Kim."
"Kim," Trent corrected himself.
"Look, I have a friend at City Hall. Maybe she can check out the deal and see if you dad missed anything," Michael suggested.
"I've known my dad long enough to know he doesn't make mistakes," Trent assured.
"I've known your dad long enough to know he does," Michael countered. "C'mon Kim, Ethan, let's go."
"Wait, I'm coming with you," Trent said. "This is happening because of me. I'll do whatever it takes to fix this." Hayley's face brightened up with respect for her employee.
"City Hall, here we come," Ethan chirped sarcastically.
About half an hour later, Kim, Michael, Ethan and Trent were standing outside city hall. Michael had arranged things so that his friend - Councilwoman Sanchez – was waiting for them outside.
However, they only got to exchange a few words due to Zeltrax and his son a.k.a Goldenrod appearing on the steps leading to the building.
"Trent, take Councilwoman Sanchez where it's safe!" Michael ordered. Trent was already halfway there when Cassidy and Devin ran after them, calling to the councilwoman. The amateur teens got blasted by Zeltrax and Goldenrod.
"I HATE POLITICS!" Cassidy screeched in mid-air.
Trent took the councilwoman behind the building and sat her down. "Thank you so much. If there's ever anything I can do for you…" she started.
"Actually, I'd like to talk to you about Hayley's Cyberspace. My father, Anton Mercer, is making a terrible mistake." Trent responded.
Meanwhile, Michael, Ethan and Kimberly fought Zeltrax and Goldenrod in front of the building.
"Your son's gotten stronger!" Kim yelled at Zeltrax.
"They grow up so fast, don't they?" the black creature observed.
"My thoughts exactly," Michael agreed, gesturing towards his own son, who had just arrived with Kira.
"I heard you guys were here to fight City Hall," Conner pondered aloud.
"They must've meant fight in front of it," Kira reasoned. "Hey Zelly, where's the wife?"
"Mother? Where?!" Goldenrod shouted, scanning the area for Elsa.
"Clearly he's a mummy's boy!" Ethan added, as his two female teammates high-fived.
"Enough!" Michael put the nonsense to an end. "Let's ranger up!"
The rangers morphed and continued the battle as Zeltrax summoned some Tyrannodrones. As usual, Michael and Zeltrax engaged in a duel, the evildoer once again seeking revenge. Michael still didn't know why his opponent was so obsessed with him, but fought him nevertheless.
"Hey Zeltrax, you sending your son to finish what you couldn't?" Michael taunted.
"I'll take care of you myself!" Zeltrax claimed, pushing Dr M aside. "Goldenrod, attack the city!"
"Yes father!" Goldenrod responded. He threw the other McKnight off before growing to a massive size. Now as large as a skyscraper, Goldenrod began a trail of destruction.
"That's our cue, let's do it Brachio!" Michael summoned his zord.
The Brachiozord appeared, releasing the other zords. The Thundersaurus Megazord was formed, and the Rangers began to fight Goldenrod unsuccessfully. As Kira didn't have a megazord, she used her zord - the pteranozord – to attack Goldrenrod's legs from behind. Seeing his team were in trouble, Michael gathered enough power to effortlessly defeat Zeltrax. Like always, the defeated villain futilely demanded a rematch from the black ranger.
Thing were looking grim for the rangers, so Dr M stepped in with his Brachio staff and unleashed wind, earthquake and fire blasts of immense power that destroyed Goldenrod.
"You were the only family I ever knew," Zeltrax spoke to his dead son, falling on his knees. "I will have my revenge upon you, Doctor Michael McKnight!"
Councilwoman Sanchez got Anton Mercer to leave Hayley's cyberspace almost as soon as he entered.
"Yeah, we did it baby!" Ethan exclaimed, hovering outside the entrance. He saw Trent staring at his father walking away. "C'mon in man!"
"Yeah," Trent agreed, not taking his eyes off his dad. He looked like he saw a ghost.
"Both of you boys come in here," Kim said, grabbing Trent's arm and Ethan's ear and dragging them inside.
"Why do you take his arm but my EAR?" Ethan moaned. Kim rolled her eyes, wondering why her two little friends – Ethan and Conner – liked to whine so much.
On the other hand, Trent was thinking how the hell he arrived from his house all the way to the cybercafé entrance through a... portal. And why there was such a thing in his father's office in the first place.
A/N: This chappie was slightly longer than the previous :) Anywhoo, hope you liked it, especially you AS :)