Double Act

Chapter 22: A Ranger Exclusive

A/N: Last time, the rangers were doing okay now that they had no evil ranger to face. At least, that's what they believed. When they had their first fight of the day, they saw a clone of the white ranger, something Kennedi feared. Tommy had Kennedi and Trent help him get the shield for Conner, and now the red ranger has a power boost. Conner knows what happened to Kennedi while she was held captive, and Kira told him that her mother knows the girls are rangers. What'll happen now?

Also, because I didn't feel like writing it in, I skipped the episode "A Star is Torn."

Okay, so, a couple of things. I'm almost done with my semester at school, but then I'll be preparing for a trip to Nashville (school related trip), so from 12/28-1/2/15, I more than likely won't be positing anything. Writing, yes, just not posting anything. This trip is basically me going to a conference with almost thirty kids from my school in my major, and they have a lot of stuff going on that keeps us occupied the entire time we're there. Anyway, for now, enjoy this chapter and have a Happy Thanksgiving (if you celebrate it)!

This chapter may be short.

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

A couple weeks had gone by with only one more monster attack in between. The rangers were settling into their life when it came to fighting off the enemy. All of them were glad they didn't have to face two evil rangers and only had the clones to fight. Trent, Ethan, and Tommy were still the only rangers who didn't know what had happened to Kennedi in Mesogog's lair. Hayley had told the girls to let her know when they found out, that way she could modify the suit.

The previous week, Kira and Kennedi had been offered a chance to record a demo at the local recording studio. Unfortunately for them, the studio wanted them to change what they were all about. Ethan had attempted to try online dating, only to wind up being told that his match was Cassidy Cornell. The rangers were highly amused by this, not expecting it. The girls also got to film a music video for one of their songs, courtesy of Trent and Devin.

Now, the teens were getting ready to leave the dino lab after having a meeting with Tommy. They had just come from a battle, one where they were pressed for time. It was a rather intense fight, but thankfully, the rangers managed to get the job done. Kennedi had met up with them back at the lab, Trent nowhere in sight.

"Hey listen," Kira spoke, getting their attention as they reached the stairs. "You guys want to come down to the Cyber Café and watch us try out a new song?"

"Sorry," Conner denied. "Soccer practice."

"When don't you have soccer practice?" Kennedi quipped.

"I can't either," Ethan added.

"Why not?" the girls asked, scaring him a bit.

"I have to go somewhere," he answered quickly. "With my mom. A dentist appointment."

"Ethan, it's fine," Kira assured him. "Don't worry about it."

"Right," Ethan breathed. "See you later." He bolted up the stairs, causing the other three to share a look.

Conner turned to the girls. "I take it you're going to attempt to follow him and figure out what's going on?"

They simply smirked.

After walking around town and spotting Ethan hanging with Cassidy, the girls decided to question the blue ranger. As soon as they reached the café, Kennedi received a phone call that she had to take. Kira continued inside and quickly found Ethan over by the computers. She approached him, gaining his attention. She wasn't at all surprised to see Ethan's look of surprise when she told him what the girls saw.

"Me and Cassidy?" he raised an eyebrow. "That's insane."

"Is it?" Kira questioned. "We saw you guys. There was hand touching. Look, we're not gonna tell anyone. It's just…"

"Come here," Ethan dragged her to a corner of the room, where no one would hear them. "We're not going out. We're just hanging out. Spending time together."

"Ethan," Kira spoke slowly. "This is Cassidy Cornell. She's like, president of the Geek Haters of America club. I'm not saying you're a geek or anything."

"Cassidy has another side," Ethan insisted. "And if you took five seconds to get to know her, then maybe you'd find that out."

"You're serious?" Kira looked at him, knowing he was right.

"Kira, she's just insecure," Ethan shrugged. "She'd never make the first move, but if you do, you guys could become friends. You work at a TV station, she wants to be a reporter. You guys have stuff in common. Just do it for me, please."

"Alright, I'll try," Kira vowed.

Ethan grinned as they did their secret handshake. He left after that, passing by Cassidy as she entered the room. Kira watched the blonde place her order before taking a seat at a table in a far corner. With a sigh, Kira walked over to join her, hoping she could talk to the girl. While she had every intention of following through on the deal she made with Ethan, she had other business with the blonde, something she figured the blonde would be able to help with.

Cassidy frowned as Kira sat across from her. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"Yes, actually," Kira confessed, surprising Cassidy. The blonde had expected a different answer. "You help me, and I'll help you try to get a job at the TV studio."

"What exactly do you need help with?" Cassidy sat up straighter. Kira looked a bit uneasy, and the blonde could tell. "Is it something serious?"

"When your brother left for the army, how did you cope with it?" the singer asked, once more startling the other girl. They had once been close when they were younger, but they had drifted apart over the years, especially once Kylee Styles became famous. "I mean, how did people help you cope with it?"

"Being with friends and family helped me deal with it," Cassidy shrugged. "Honestly, the only difficult thing to cope with is knowing that he could die any minute, and that I never know when the last time I see him is going to be. But I'm comfortable with it. What brought this on? And why talk to me about it?"

Kira sighed. "Ken's boyfriend, who she's deeply in love with, is set to go overseas a few days after prom. She doesn't know yet, and he's going to tell her soon. I just want to know how to help her get through it."

"Well does he plan on making it long distance or does he plan to split up with her so she doesn't have to go through it?"

"He plans on doing this," Kira pulled up a message on her phone. "Which is something else I need your help with."

Cassidy's eyes widened as she read the message.

The next day, Kira and Cassidy were at the TV station. Kennedi decided to hang out with the boys, which meant they were at the Cyber Café as usual. She had to wonder if they hung out anywhere outside of the café and their houses. Trent was working behind the counter since the place wasn't too crowded. He found himself being amused at the argument Kennedi and Conner seemed to be having. Ethan was thinking the same thing.

"You're running out of time, McKnight," Kennedi warned, a smirk on her face.

"I've got plenty of time," Conner corrected. "Prom is still months away, you know."

"It may be months away, but every girl has started shopping for dresses," Kennedi pointed out. "And you don't want someone else to ask her out before you do."

"This takes time," Conner argued. "If I don't do it right, then I'll end up chasing her out of my life forever."

Kennedi narrowed her eyes at him. "Conner, you've had three years to suck it up and ask her out! You two better be together by Prom, and if any of my attempts to get you two together afterwards fail, then I'll encourage her to look for someone else."

"You wouldn't dare," Conner glared at her.

"I think we both know the answer, McKnight," Kennedi smirked once more, knowing she won the argument.

"And yet you two say you don't love each other," Ethan shook his head, cutting in.

"I love him like a brother," Kennedi shrugged. "I can't imagine him being anything more than that. Besides, I am very much in love with my boyfriend."

"You have a boyfriend?" Trent raised an eyebrow.

Kennedi nodded. "I don't get too see him that often because he's in training for the army. I believe he's going to be going overseas soon."

"When's his next visit?" Conner wondered.

"End of next month, I believe," the orange ranger bit her lip. "After that, I don't know when the next one will be."

Before someone could add something else, their morphers went off.

After a confusing fight against a monster that "looked contagious," as Ethan had put it, the rangers found themselves back in the dino lab. The monster had just vanished before they even really got to fight, so they were a bit confused. Tommy called them to the lab, knowing they needed to get a lock on the monster before it did more damage. Hayley was already there, walking in front of the rangers as she explained a few things.

"I've downloaded the information from the TV station," she stated. "It's some kind of virus. Mesogog is using it to reroute the satellite system and send their beam to Jupiter."

"This is serious," Tommy added. "We have to get in there and shut that thing down."

"Conner," Hayley continued. "I've adjusted your Triassic powers so Ethan and Kira can give you the energy you need and still stay morphed."

"At least there's some good news," Kira muttered. The monitors began beeping.

"What now?" Tommy huffed.

"Oh man," Ethan groaned. "Not them again."

Trent shrugged. "At least you know it's not me this time."

"You guys better get over there," Tommy ordered. "Conner and Kennedi, you deal with the white and orange rangers. Kira, Ethan, and Trent, you check inside, look for the control room. Good luck."

With that, the five were on their way.

The rangers arrived on the scene via their vehicles. It was empty when they arrived, but they knew it wouldn't last long. Kira, Ethan, and Trent headed inside the building, looking for t he control room. Conner and Kennedi remained outside, searching for the evil white and orange rangers. It was still a bit confusing, especially when they were brought up in conversation. They hadn't seen anything yet, but Kennedi knew their foes were hiding somewhere.

"All right," Conner called out. "Where are you?"

"We're right here, red ranger," White stepped out of hiding, his partner soon following. "And you're right where I want you!"He began to streak toward them. Seeing this, Kennedi drew her weapon and streaked around as well. Unfortunately, Conner was unable to see exactly where they were. Kennedi landed a hit on the enemy and sent him stumbling back. "You've finally got some fight in you."

"You're a disgusting asshole," Kennedi hissed at him. Conner got back on his feet and faced the two rangers. "We know what your boss is up to. Tell us how to stop it, now. Or this will get ugly."

"The only one it's going to get ugly for is you," Orange smirked. "For getting in our way. And when this is over, my master will return the Earth to its natural state – barren, empty, free of human life."

"I wasn't going to bust this out yet," Conner huffed. "But you're really ticking me off."

"Super dino mode!" the two cried, their suits transforming accordingly.

Once more, the fighting began. As expected, the white ranger and orange were very skilled opponents. They managed to get quite a few hits on them, and Kennedi was debating if she should pull out her ninja tricks or not. The villains already knew she was a ninja, so it wouldn't be like she was exposing her powers to them. All throughout the fight, the two tried to get their foes to tell them how to stop the beam. Kira and Ethan came to their aid, allowing Conner to use the Triassic shield.

Then the fight was on.

As usual, the rangers managed to stop the threat of the day. After a brief meeting in the dino lab, the teens had gone to the studio to watch Cassidy's news report live. Kira had managed to get her a job at the studio, as promised. The monster had reappeared, but they managed to take it down. Little did they know that Cassidy's report was about them. Well, that was until Kira's boss asked them to review the footage Devin had taped first.

"You know," Conner spoke up. "I still don't get why you went to all that trouble for Cassidy, but whatever."

"Hey," Ethan cut in. "Can't someone do something nice without having a reason?"

"Three, two…" the cameraman counted down, causing them all to turn toward the set. Cassidy was standing on her mark, waiting to begin. As soon as the cameras started rolling, she began speaking.

"It's rare in this day and age to find true heroes," she announced. "Those individuals whose sacrifice and dedication remind of us everything that's good and right with the world. We have heroes like that living in our very own city. The Power Rangers. Those multicolored protectors of everything that we hold dear have once again proven that we are in the best hands. This is Cassidy Cornell reporting."

"And we're clear!"

The teens grinned and were about to leave, but Cassidy stopped them. "Kira, wait." She walked over to them. "I just wanted to say I really appreciate what you did for me." Then she walked away.

"Since when are you and Cassidy back on friendly terms?" Kennedi frowned at her sister.

Kira simply shrugged.

A/N: What's gonna happen next?