Double Act

Chapter 17: A Full Team

Part I

A/N: Last time, the rangers fought off a monster that could copy everything. Thankfully for them, Trent turned good and helped them out. They're still a bit skeptical about Trent being good, but they've accepted it for now. With him on their side, the only worry they have is when the orange ranger will attack again. Kira and Hayley are the only ones how know that Kennedi is the orange ranger. Anyway, what'll happen now when attempts to free Kennedi from the evil gem's hold don't go as planned?

Important: So I know I haven't been updating as much as I should be or said I would, but unfortunately, I have work and college stuff to prepare for. Tomorrow is the last day I have before I become busy with college stuff. My classes start next week, and before that I have all "welcome to school" things I need to be on campus for. I am posting this chapter now because I plan to use tomorrow to continue writing for multiple series, this one included. Since I am starting college, I will not have a lot of time between classes and such to actually write, so any spare time I get between homework and work (since I will still be working on weekends), I will try to focus on writing/updating. Thank you for being patient.

Also, I apologize if these next few chapters are short.

Disclaimer: I only own things not originally in the show.

A week had passed since Trent turned good. The rangers had gotten used to him being around a bit more often, but they haven't had to fight off Mesogog's goons since. Tommy had asked them all about the orange ranger, asking if any of them, Trent included, knew anything in regards to her identity. Unfortunately for them, Trent knew as much as they did and that she didn't work for Mesogog like he did. Kira kept her mouth shut and lied about it, knowing it wasn't the right time to reveal the orange ranger's identity. Hayley didn't say anything either.

At the moment, Kennedi was away in Blue Bay Harbor for the morning, her team getting a final practice in before the big game. Kira had an early morning practice that was ending. Conner and Ethan sat at the counter in the Cyberspace Café as Trent stood behind it, cleaning some glasses. It was a weekend, but they usually didn't pick up business until later in the afternoon. Each of them had their own plans for the day.

"You're absolutely sure you know nothing?" Ethan pressed the white ranger for information.

"Ethan, if I knew something, I'd share it," Trent assured. "All I knew is that as soon as I made the deal with Mesogog, she started fighting me as well."

"Whatever man," Conner shrugged. "So I take it you two are spending the day here?"

"What else would we do?" Ethan pointed out. "Trent's working and I got games to play. What about you? I take it you're not sticking around?"

Kira walked in and joined the boys at the counter. "You better say you're coming to the game like you promised."

"I am," the red ranger nodded. "You ready for it?"

"Not even close," Kira sighed. "It's Ken's last game on Blue Bay's team, which means she's going to pull out everything she's got. At least it's in Reefside, so if something comes up I won't have to travel far."

"What are you guys talking about?" Trent jumped in, confused.

"Fall ball championship game," Kira answered. "Reefside versus Blue Bay Harbor. It's going to be a good game."

"Ever since Ken joined the Blue Bay team, all of the games they played against Reefside ended up going into extra innings," Conner explained. "I'm going to go watch."

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Since when are you into softball?" Conner answered with a shrug as Trent handed Kira a few bottles of water.

"Well, I gotta get back to the fields," she stated. "I'll see you guys later. If something comes up, I might not be able to answer. I'll have my communicator with me, but I can't wear it during the game."

"Why not?" Trent wondered.

"Safety hazard," Kira answered. "No jewelry with the exception of earrings, and even those have to be studs. See you guys later."

They all said goodbye and Ethan turned back to the red ranger. "Alright, what's up with you two?"

"Nothing," Conner replied.

"Dude, come on," Ethan pressed. "Ever since that Fossilador thing, you two have been acting almost like a couple. There's something going on."

"Even I can see that," Trent added. "You two seem closer than just friends but not quite a couple."

Before responding, Conner took a huge sip from the smoothie in front of him. "I've liked her since fifth grade, been in love with her since freshman year." Ethan and Trent were shocked by this revelation, partly because of what it was and partly because they thought it would take more prying to get the confession.

"And you haven't told her anything?" Ethan demanded. "Why?"

"I have until prom," Conner stated. "Her sister and I have a deal going on. If I don't ask Kira out by prom, then Kennedi has full rights to do whatever it takes to get us together."

"But you guys never even seemed close until we started this ranger thing," Ethan realized.

"We grew up together," the red ranger shrugged. "I mean, as we got older we kind of drifted apart and went off into our own cliques, but we still tried to hang out and stuff."

"So what's stopping you from asking her out now?" Trent wondered.

Over at the softball fields, the team from Blue Bay Harbor was just arriving. Kennedi had returned earlier to help her sister and the Reefside team set up the field, as it was part of the field's rules. When the rest of her team arrived, she moved off to do a little more practicing with them. Kira did the same with her team as their coaches, who happened to be old friends, talked. As the crowd began arriving, the teams went into doing stretches before practicing some more.

Conner arrived not too long before the game was set to start. According to Kira, her mother would be saving a seat for him in the bleachers behind home plate. The red ranger made his way over there and quickly found his friend's mother, sitting with Trini, another man, and a boy a little older than him. He noted they were talking to an African American woman who held a small child on her lap. Conner recognized Trini from when she and Kim had been trying to help Hayley free Jason and Tommy from the amber rock.

Kira's mother spotted him and waved him over. He greeted her and took a seat at the end of the row, next to the boy he hadn't known. Kira's mother made brief introductions to the rest of the group, saying the unknown woman was the wife of Kennedi's coach and an old friend of Jason and Trini's, the man beside her being her fiancé, and the boy next to him being the twins' future stepbrother. They didn't have much time for talking as the game quickly began, the Reefside team taking the field.

"So, you're an old friend of the girls?" Casey asked him as they watched. As usual, Kira was pitching.

"Known them since we were five," Conner nodded.

"You got any interest in playing ball?" the boy questioned. From what he heard from the girls, this seemed to be the guy one of them liked.

"I actually play soccer," Conner answered. "I don't mind watching the games though." The crowd cheered as the first batter was struck out. "It does make it tough to cheer for one of them, with them being on opposing teams right now."

Casey agreed. "It is a bit confusing. I guess that's why we're sitting in the middle section." Conner nodded once more before focusing on the game.

In the dino lab, Tommy and Hayley were working on searching for the orange ranger. So far, they were having no luck. As they had no identity, they couldn't figure out where she was at the moment. Hayley already knew the identity, but she promised Kira to keep it secret until the time was right. However, if they could monitor the orange ranger's movements, they could possibly have better control over the situation and figure out who she was.

"Alright," Tommy spoke, looking at one of the screens. "So ruling out the dino lab, the others are somewhere between the ball fields and the café." The screen showed four different colored dots in various parts of town. "How can we get a hold on the orange gem?"

"I can run a scan for any abnormalities of power in the area," Hayley suggested. She began typing away on the keyboard. "See if there's anything unusual that picks up on the screens." It took a few minutes, but they finally got results.

"This doesn't look good," Tommy stated, seeing where the now orange dot was. Hayley immediately began pulling up images of the fields. "And with that crowd there, it makes it difficult for narrowing down who the ranger is."

"But Conner and Kira are also there," Hayley realized. "If I remember correctly, Kira's playing so she doesn't have her communicator on. Something about safety rules and jewelry. But Conner's there and he could warn her to watch for suspicious characters."

Tommy nodded his agreement. "Let's get this done quickly."

It was the bottom of the fifth inning and Blue Bay was up by one. Conner and Casey seemed to be getting along well enough and they mostly ignored the adults next to them. At the moment, Reefside was batting and getting ready to start. Conner heard a familiar beep, and apparently Casey heard it as well. Taking out his phone and pretending to check for a message, he excused himself. He walked over to the concession stand and hid behind it near the restrooms. Just to make it less suspicious if anyone walked by, he put his phone to his ear before answering the communicator.

"What's up?" he spoke into it.

"Conner, keep an eye out for anyone suspicious," Tommy's voice floated through. "We've managed to trace the orange dino gem's signal. You and Kira are pretty close to it."

"What?" Conner frowned, casting a glance toward the fields where the first batter was trying to get a hit. "Can you narrow it down more?"

"There's too many people there to narrow it down," Tommy answered. "Just keep an eye out and be careful. Pass the knowledge on to Kira."

"Will do," Conner agreed. He put his phone away and dropped his wrist. Looking around, he made his way over toward where Kira was sitting on the bench in the dugout. As he got closer, he heard Jason telling her she was on deck. Kira moved and grabbed her bat before standing in a small caged area and beginning to swing.

Kira saw Conner coming up to the fence from the corner of her eyes. "What are you doing?" she hissed quietly. "You should be sitting in the stands."

"I just got a call from Dr. O," Conner replied, keeping his voice low. He didn't need the cheering teammates of hers to overhear them. "He and Hayley found out the orange ranger is someone at the fields right now."

"And you thought now would be a good time to tell me?" Kira shot him a quick glare. "It's the middle of the championship! I have to focus on this!"

"Just passing on the warning to watch for anyone suspicious," Conner huffed. "They can't pinpoint who it is exactly, so they want us to watch for anyone suspicious."

"Sorry," Kira sighed. "It's just a little nerve-wracking. It's one-nothing and the game's already half over. We need to at least tie the game. If I spot anyone strange, I'll let you know."

Conner nodded and headed back to the stands as Kira took her spot at the plate.

By the time the bottom of the ninth rolled around and finished, the score was tied one-one. That signaled the start of extra innings, and a couple more were played until Reefside finally pulled ahead by one run. The crowd went wild as their hometown won the game, and many people began to leave afterward. Both teams were going to the Cyberspace café to celebrate the win and a well played game, since the coaches were friends and wanted to hang out. Kira and Kennedi were staying behind so they could talk and clean up the field, as they volunteered to do so. Conner decided to have a quick conversation with Hayley and Dr. Oliver about the orange ranger from the safety of his car, denying an invite to the café with Kira's family.

As he sat in the parking lot, Kira and Kennedi were riding around on the golf cart they took from the shed. They zoomed around the field picking up trash and the bases and making the fields look untouched. Kira sat in the driver's seat as they headed for the infield. "You just had to show off, didn't you?" Kennedi smirked beside her.

"Come on," Kira scoffed. "As if you didn't show off by scoring the only home run of the game."

"Yeah, but you brought in the winning run," Kennedi argued. "So, onto other things. Did you bring the stone with you?"

"It's in my pocket," Kira nodded. "I'll give it to you once we finish with the field." She slammed on the brakes as an invisaportal opened in front of them, spitting out Elsa with a horde of tyranodrones. "Or after we finish off these freaks."

"Hand over the orange ranger and you won't be hurt," Elsa ordered.

Smirking, the two girls flipped out of the cart and stood ready to fight. "Fat chance."

With that, the girls dove into the fray of foot soldiers. Elsa stood on the sidelines, waiting for her turn. So far, this was following her plan accordingly. As expected, the two girls let out a ptera scream, confirming her suspicions about the orange ranger. Ever since Mesogog kidnapped Kennedi and Trent, she knew Kira wasn't the actual orange and yellow ranger. Unfortunately for her, Conner, despite hiding in his car, heard the scream, which was louder than normal.

The fight continued until Elsa saw her opening. Using a couple swift moves, she managed to knock both girls out when they weren't paying attention. Both slumped to the ground and Elsa had the tyranodrones grab Kennedi. They vanished into another invisaportal, leaving Kira alone and unconscious in the center of the field.

Conner reached the field a little too late to see Elsa vanishing with one of his friends. However, he did see Kira. He knew it was the yellow ranger because she was in the Reefside uniform and not the Blue Bay one. His mind had yet to process the fact Kennedi wasn't on the field as his only focus was on making sure Kira was okay. After realizing she wasn't waking up and figuring this had to be ranger related, he scooped her up gently in his arms and made a call.

"Dr. O, we've got a problem."

A/N: Here's the end of this chapter. What'll happen next?