Double Act
Chapter 29: Isn't it Lava-ly?
A/N: Here's the next chapter. Last time, the rangers finished their team up with the SPD rangers and their memories were erased. Kennedi remembers having a vivid dream about seeing her dad in the spirit world, but doesn't remember that it really happened. Hunter and Kennedi are still together and he isn't going to leave her just because she's pregnant. No one but Tommy remembers the team up, but he won't be mentioning it around the others. What'll happen now?
Sorry for not updating for a while, but my projects this semester are being a bitch and I keep stressing over them too much. I am still writing when I get the chance, but I still don't have a lot of time to do some uploading. I technically should be touching up a few drawings right now, but I realized it's probably time for an update. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I only own things not originally in the show.
A new week, a new day. The rangers found themselves in school, waiting for the day to get out. None of them wanted to be in school with nice weather outside. Kira, Conner, Ethan, Trent, and Kennedi sat in the science classroom at one table, listening to Tommy give a boring lecture yet again. He had only been back teaching for almost two weeks by this point, and things were becoming as normal as they could be for the moment.
"So," the black ranger lectured. "When sulfuric acid is launched into the stratosphere by a volcanic explosion, it can alter the entire planet's climate temporarily. Hope you guys got all that. All right, before we go, a couple of announcements. Our very own Ethan James is going to be competing at the Detonation Man video game competition."
Kennedi patted him on the shoulder as the class applauded, most of them knowing he held the champion title from last year.
"At Hayley's Cyberspace this weekend," Tommy finished. "So I hope you can all come down and watch. Oh, also, I want to let you guys know we're having a sub tomorrow, someone who really knows a lot about volcanoes. I think you're gonna find what he has to say very interesting." The bell rang. "Great. You guys can go."
That afternoon, the rangers found themselves spread out amongst the café. Trent was working, as they expected. Conner was sitting on the couches on his computer, doing something the others had no idea about. Tommy had told them the substitute wasn't going to be Anton Mercer and that he was going to spend the day searching for Zeltrax. Kennedi, who was sitting next to Conner, tried to ignore his yells as he repeatedly pressed the same buttons on the keyboard.
"Yes!" he cheered, startling the girl. "My highest score ever! Ten million, two hundred fifty thousand!"
"Good job," Ethan stood and joined them. "Did you put your initials down for high score?" Conner read the list. "Oh, my bad. I already have all the high scores."
"Very funny," Conner rolled his eyes. "And I wouldn't be so cocky if I was you. There's this new guy called…Nahte…who's cracked your top ten."
"Look again, genius," Kennedi smirked. "Nahte is Ethan spelled backwards."
"I was bored," Ethan confirmed with a shrug.
Kira decided to join them. "Good going, Conner. You actually got Ethan to practice for the tournament."
"No," Conner corrected. "I just got him up the game so that he could bag on me."
"Look, guys, I appreciate the concern," Ethan sighed. "But I own this game. Why stress?"
The following day, the rangers were once again in the café. Trent was working as the tournament began and the other three sat at the counter, watching. Their substitute teacher was very enthusiastic about everything he discussed on volcanoes, and Ethan seemed to be the only one really into the lesson. According to him, their classroom was set on top of an active volcano from a million years ago. It was a little hard to believe.
"Oh hey guys," Devin bumped into them. "How's it going?"
"Good," Conner answered. "So uh, you're covering the contest? It should be a pretty big story." Then he realized something. "Where is Cassidy?"
"I don't know," Devin shrugged. "Haven't seen her." He left them alone, going off to do his own thing.
"That's weird," Conner frowned. "Devin and no Cassidy?"
Kira shrugged, her attention captured by one of the players. "Hey, that girl's pretty good. Nineteen million."
"Still nowhere near Ethan though," Kennedi pointed out. "Shouldn't he be here, anyway?"
"Well, technically," Trent spoke up. "As last year's champion, he doesn't need to get here until the final round. But he should be here to check out his competition."
"He has been acting kind of weird lately," Conner added. "Even for Ethan."
"Well, he is very good at video games," Kira reminded him. "There's nothing wrong with being confident."
Kennedi turned toward the door, something catching her attention. "Unless, of course, you wear a t-shirt that says 'I'm Detonation Man.'"
"Yeah, but he would never do that," Conner shook his head. Kira pointed to the door, spotting Ethan wearing that exact shirt. People began to swarm him, asking for autographs. Then the crowd ran to the counter. "I guess, in the realm of cyber geeks, Ethan reigns supreme."
"I can't watch this," Kira chuckled, getting up and leaving.
"Right behind ya," Conner agreed.
Kennedi smirked, watching them go. "Have fun on your date!" Kira flipped her off as the two rangers left.
After being called to the dino lab, all the dino rangers were facing Tommy. Kira and Conner told them about their run in with the white and orange ranger clones and Zeltrax. The only ranger not present was Trent, since Hayley needed his help with the overcrowded café because of the tournament. Something about the fight the two rangers were in didn't seem right.
"He just vanished?" Tommy frowned as the red and yellow rangers finished explaining what happened.
"Yeah," Kira nodded. "Not that that's a bad thing."
"His fight with you in Battlizer mode must've taken a lot out of him," Tommy concluded, looking at Conner. "He needs Mesogog to keep him alive."
"And Mesogog needs us to defeat him," Kennedi realized.
Tommy nodded as Ethan spoke up. "Now that we know that, what's next?" Naturally, the alarms went off, bringing up an image of the newest monster.
"You fight the monster," Tommy turned to the four. "I'll stay here and monitor the Zeltrax situation."
"Dino Thunder, Power Up!"
"What a Lavaly day!" the monster stated as four morphed rangers ran onto the scene. Clouds appeared in the sky, making it darker. Conner, Kira, Ethan, and Kennedi had just arrived after this change was made.
"Hey, thunder head!" Conner called out. "Don't want to rain on your parade, but…"
"Then don't!" the monster interrupted. He shot a beam into the clouds he created, causing something to grow and it didn't go unnoticed with the rangers. "You're making me blow my top!" Kennedi suddenly realized what was going on as soon as she heard an eruption.
"Volcano!" she shouted, sounding a bit excited about it, but mainly concerned for the people in the city. Fire was her element, and volcanoes caused a fire ninja's power to rise when it erupted. The ground shook as it erupted, and a few rocks came flaming down. The two next to it erupted as well, causing Kennedi to feel a surge of power flow through her as the heat reached her. While her three teammates ran around, trying to avoid the rocks coming down, Kennedi stood there, absorbing the heat and flames.
"What is this stuff?" Ethan shouted. All three were knocked down, leaving only the orange ranger standing.
The monster grinned. "That was easier than I thought! This will be the end of the power rangers and this world!" he bounced around, waiting for the rangers to make a move. "Ah, it's good to let off some steam."
"We're in trouble," Conner huffed.
"Red hot trouble," Ethan agreed.
"Any ideas, Ken?" Kira asked, looking to her fellow female ranger. "How do we stop him? This is your element, after all."
"You don't," the monster answered her. "Nothing can stop me now!"
Kennedi, however, smirked behind her helmet as she felt her suit light on fire, not burning anything. "How about fighting fire with fire?" Using the flames on her suit, she encased herself in a giant fireball and ninja streaked toward the monster, running around and into him, the fire injuring him. She stopped in front of her teammates, the fire ball disappearing but not the flames.
"Hey, no fair!" the monster whined. "Four against one!" he summoned a horde of Triptoids to charge the rangers as they appeared. Conner called upon his staff as Ethan used his shield, Kira used her Ptera grips, and Kennedi drew her daggers. The three primary colored rangers took on the Triptoids, leaving Kennedi to fight off the monster. "Is that all you puny rangers have?"
"You wanna fight?" she cracked her knuckles, ready to take him on. "I'll give you a fight! Super Dino Mode!" her suit transformed, never losing the flames.
"Fight?" the monster raised an eyebrow. "What's the point?" As he jumped and flew by her, striking her, her ranger suit fell flat. "Huh?"
Kennedi smirked as she lifted her foot. "Gotta love ninja tricks!" she brought her foot down on top of the monster, momentarily squishing it. She shrunk back to normal height as the monster stood back up. While he was distracted, she threw a few fire balls at him. "Power down." She lost super dino mode, flames remaining. Conner, Kira, and Ethan came up over to her. "Come on. Let's finish this!"
"Triassic power!" Conner called as he pulled out the shield, Ethan and Kira lending him the power he needed to complete it. The red ranger's suit transformed and he immediately switched into Battlizer mode.
With the battle done for the day, the rangers found themselves back in the café to watch the competition. Ethan was ready to face his opponent in the final, unaware of who exactly it was. Thanks to a couple earthquakes caused by the random volcanoes, they had to postpone the event until later in the day, meaning Ethan didn't have to forfeit. Now, Trent stood up on the stage, where final round of the competition would take place.
"It's the final," Trent announced from up on stage as he gathered the crowd's attention. "And here he is…your returning champion, Ethan James!" the crowd went wild with cheering as they parted the way for Ethan to reach the stage. The blue ranger took a seat at one of the computers set up.
"Who's Ethan playing in the final?" Kira looked over to the other rangers.
"Just wait," Kennedi smirked.
"And your challenger," Trent continued. "With the high score of the day so far…Devin DelValle!" To say Ethan and the rangers who didn't know were shocked would be an understatement. Ethan grinned as the boy made his way to the stage. As soon as Devin sat and got situated, the competition began, both boys playing the game.
After a while, Ethan stopped. "Yes! Twenty one million four hundred thousand points! I won!" he stood up, nearly knocking the chair over. The crowd cheered, most not realizing Devin was still going.
"Not so fast Ethan," Trent patted the boy on the shoulder. "Devin's still playing."
"Twenty one million points and counting," Kennedi read on the scoreboard.
"Twenty one two hundred," Tommy went on, reading it as it went up. Ethan began to look nervous as he realized Devin could very likely win this thing.
"Twenty one five hundred," Kennedi recited. Devin's game ended, now that he had won.
Trent grinned. "That's it. Devin wins! Game over!" the entire crowd cheered, supporting the boy. Ethan walked off stage and down to his friends, moping.
"How could he win?" he wondered. "How could I lose?"
"No practice," Conner shrugged.
"Swelled head," Kira listed.
"But I am Detonation Man," Ethan whined.
"You are now," Tommy patted him on the shoulder as the crowd moved closer to the stage.
Before anyone else could utter a word, a yell from the back of the café could be heard. "A video game?" a frizzy haired, horribly dressed Cassidy Cornell got attention drawn to her. Devin smiled sheepishly. "You ruined my life for a video game? This is unacceptable! I have needs Devin! Needs! Do you understand that?"
Kennedi shared a look with her sister before both began giggling at the sight of the blonde reporter
A/N: So I didn't really like writing this chapter. What'll happen next? Also apologize that most of this is from my other story I included this in.