Double Act

Chapter 26: Passion of Conner

A/N: So last time, Tommy returned to normal after being stuck in a coma. He unlocked his super dino mode and helped the five teens defeat the new Terrorsaurus. Kennedi is still pestering Conner about asking her sister out, and he keeps telling her that he has a plan in mind. The teens briefly lost their powers in the fight only to get them back shortly after Tommy stopped by to help them. Now, they have time to do other stuff. What'll happen now?

Also, I would just like to say that I am sorry for not updating more over the winter break, and chances are I will not be able to update a whole lot until the summer (my classes end on May 6 and then I have a few finals that will be over by May 13). Anyway, I hope to be able to update more often, but school just started back up for me and my classes are unfortunately more intense this semester (writing, pre-calculus, art history, and architectural studio), and so the only chances I'll really have to update this semester if I do are Tuesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. I'm not guaranteeing I will update then, but those would be the days I do update when I do. On top of that, I apologize for not updating sooner as I had become preoccupied with writing/finishing the next story in my Shattered Glass series.

Anyway, on with the chapter.

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

A brand new week found the boys entering the school building. Tommy had returned to work, his students welcoming him back and happy that Trent's dad was no longer their teacher. Of course, only the rangers knew the exact reason for his absence, and he had made up some lie as to why he was out for so long. It took a lot of careful work and planning to make sure it was believable. Now, as the three boys entered the building, they stood near their lockers, Conner looking down the hallway to where Kira and Kennedi were talking with their bandmates.

"Okay, dude, just ask her out already," Ethan rolled his eyes, seeing where their friend was looking. "If you don't, I'm going to start nagging you like Ken is."

"I'll help, too," Trent added. "Besides, the rest of us can't stand watching you two remain oblivious to each other."

"Seriously guys, lay off," Conner huffed. "I have everything planned out."

"Oh boy," Ethan groaned. "Please tell me it doesn't involve something stupid."

"It's Conner," Trent joked. "Of course it's going to have a bit of stupidity."

Conner glared at them. "Thanks guys. I can just feel the love."

"Hey, you're the one who won't admit his feelings to the girl he's crushing on," Trent shrugged. "That is to say if she accepts it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Conner frowned.

"Well, we all know Ken's thoughts on it," Ethan added. "But what about Kira's? Give yourself a little reality check, just once."

"What happened to you guys supporting me?" Conner wondered.

The white ranger agreed. "He's got a point, Siegfried. Though if Ken's pushing so hard for it, it's possible she knows how Kira feels about it."

"I hate you both," Conner muttered, turning his gaze elsewhere as the two girls approached them.

"Hey guys," they greeted, smiling.

"You two are plotting something," Conner accused, knowing the look on their faces. Trent and Ethan shared a look, wondering how the red ranger figured that one out. "I want no part of it."

"You're already part of it," Kira stated.

"You also kind of don't have a choice," Kennedi added.

Trent decided to help out as they began heading toward their class. "So what are you talking about?"

"Mom's wedding," Kira answered. "It's this weekend and Conner here has no choice but to go."

"Which I don't understand why," Conner mumbled.

"Yes you do," Kennedi smirked. "And we will drag you there if we have to. Eric's already agreed to go."

"Eric doesn't know what he's talking about half the time," Conner pointed out.

Ethan and Trent watched the argument go on between the three.

After school, the five teens found themselves supporting one of their friends at her "Save the Tree" rally. Tons of students were there, knowing it was a good cause. Well, most of them just wanted to defy Randall as no one really liked her. At the moment, Krista was talking to some other people to get the rally going. Devin was being roped to the tree, really getting into the cause. The construction workers that were there were waiting for their orders.

"Remind me again why we're doing this if we don't even care about the tree?" Ethan wondered as the five stood around.

"It's a good cause and we promised Krista we'd help out," Kira reminded him.

"And there's also something odd about the tree," Kennedi cast a glance toward it. "I'm not sure what it is, but there's something weird about it."

"Weird how?" Trent looked toward her.

"Well, I know trees naturally live a long time," Kennedi bit her lip. "But there's something about this one that just feels…off."

"Ninja senses telling you this?" Conner asked. Kennedi nodded.

Randall stormed over, megaphone in hands. "Get those men working! I have the permits!"

One of the men hopped into the machine that would knock the tree down. The rangers were standing a bit in the way, but they didn't seem to hear the guy asking them to move. Frustrated, he hopped out, accidentally hitting the lever that caused it to move forward a bit. Without them being aware, it began rolling toward the tree. It stopped abruptly. A noise caught their attention as the metal crate at the top of it came downward, fast. Conner, seeing that Kira was in the way, used his powers to move her. The two tumbled into the grass on the side as Kennedi pulled the other boys back a bit.

"She's going to kill me for this later," Kennedi smirked, taking out a camera to photograph the red and yellow rangers, who were starting to get to their feet.

"He can deny it all he wants, but we know the truth," Trent chuckled. "You really are evil, aren't you?"

"I know," Kennedi smirked.

Over on the other side of them, Conner was helping Kira get to her feet. The crate had hit the ground just after they did, not touching them at all. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks," she accepted the hand. Tommy came over to talk to Randall. "But next time, try not to use your powers in public."

Before she could continue, Randall dismissed them all.

"I'm going to kill you," Kira growled, chasing her sister around the Cyberspace Café. The guys sat on the sofas, slightly amused and slightly curious. Kennedi had not stopped teasing the two rangers about what had happened on their way over there. Conner had no issues with it, but Kira had snapped not long after they entered the building.

Before they could do much, however, Devin came running in, out of breath and in search of Cassidy. "Where are the power rangers?" he demanded. This paused the chase as the five teens listened in. "I have to find the power rangers!"

"Hello," Cassidy called. "Haven't you been paying attention?"

"Yeah but this time it's serious," Devin insisted. "I was attacked, by that freak Zeltrax. He's looking for the rangers. But wait, it gets worse."

"How could it get worse?" Cassidy scoffed.

"Well he stole the tree," Devin replied, the two walking out.

The boys walked over to the girls, but Kennedi spoke first. "You guys head to the lab. I'm going to check out the site. I knew there was something off about that tree!"

"Zeltrax is back?" Trent shook his head, not believing what they were being told. Most of the rangers were in the dino lab, figuring out what was going on. "How is that even possible?" Right now, they were discussing what Devin had revealed in the café, praying it wasn't true.

"And what does he want with a tree?" Kira added.

"It's not just a tree," Hayley stated. Hayley put up an image on the screen of the fountain. "The tree was growing over a life force spring."

"You're talking about a fountain of youth?" Ethan raised an eyebrow.

"Those are real?" Conner followed.

Tommy nodded. "This one is. It's what kept the tree alive for so long. The sap has been nourished for years by the spring's waters has amazing powers of its own."

"That's probably what Ken was sensing," Kira realized.

"And it must be what Zeltrax is after," Ethan concluded.

"I'd be willing to bet he's not the only one," Tommy pointed out.

Kennedi made it back to the school in record time. Naturally, she used her powers to help get her there a bit faster than she probably should've gotten there, but she needed to see if Zeltrax was lurking about. She was morphed in case she did run into him. However, she saw Krista walking toward the hole in the ground, where the tree had been. From her vantage point in a nearby tree, Kennedi could see a grey colored liquid bubbling inside.

"I can't believe it's gone," Krista muttered.

"Gone," Zeltrax appeared. Kennedi got ready to make her move. "But not forgotten." She noticed he had a slightly altered appearance as Krista turned to face him.

"Haven't you done enough damage?" she asked, backing up slowly.

"I'm just getting started," Zeltrax shoved her out of the way. Seeing he was heading for the fountain, Kennedi used her powers to put up a shield over it. "What the…"

"Heads up!" the orange ranger called, springing into action. She knocked Zeltrax away from the fountain as she came crashing in. She saw Krista starting to stand. "Stay back."

"A power ranger," the brunette gasped in awe.

Zeltrax snarled at her. "Meddling fool!"

He drew his staff, prompting Kennedi to draw her daggers. The two charged each other, fighting. Krista stood back and watched, not wanting to move. Kennedi managed to avoid being hit, getting a few of her own on the cyborg. Mad, he struck her down with a powerful enough blow that sent her to the ground. Unfortunately for her, she landed right in the pit where the tree was. The water from the fountain splashed around her. She heard Krista screaming as she stood and her morph fell. Before she could do anything, Zeltrax vanished, Krista in tow.

With a sigh, she brought her communicator to her mouth. "Uh, guys, we got an issue."

"What's going on now?" Conner asked.

"Zeltrax has Krista."

The fight had been rather long. While four of the rangers headed to find Krista and beat up Zeltrax, Kennedi found herself crawling out of the pit. Trent showed up to help her, finding she was covered in the water. Once they were set, they joined the others in the fight. They were just in time to see Conner use his newfound battlizer for the first time. As usual, they won the fight for the day. They managed to rescue Krista, who thankfully, hadn't seen Kennedi lose her morph. Now, the six rangers were hiking toward the tree planting ceremony the following morning.

"The only downfall in all this is that Zeltrax wiped out the eternity spring," Trent sighed. "Well, whatever wasn't absorbed by Ken, anyway."

"You think I wanted to fall into that thing?" Kennedi raised an eyebrow. "That was really slimy and gross. It was disgusting."

"Yet when you do your occasional motocross run with the guys, you have no complaints about being covered in mud," Kira smirked. "And that fountain could have done a lot of good for a lot of people."

"Yeah," Tommy agreed. "But like anything good, too much of it can be bad."

"I wonder what's going to happen to Zeltrax," Conner wondered. "Please tell me we're finally through with his ugly mug."

Tommy shook his head. "Unfortunately, I doubt it. I'm sure Mesogog will be looking for him just as hard as we are."

A/N: A bit shorter than my normal chapters, but I don't really like this episode. Up next is another chapter.