Double Act

Chapter 36: Test of Trust

A/N: Last time, the rangers fought off a monster from Ethan's card game, something they didn't like doing. Trent's big secret was revealed, and everyone is now mad at him and confused as to why he would keep it a secret. Now, originally, I wasn't going to write in this chapter since it's mostly flashbacks, but I figured I'll write it anyway. It's probably going to be shorter than other chapters, though. Anyway, what'll happen now with the issue of trust looming over them?

Sorry for not updating in a while. This is the first chance I've had since the last update. As I said in the last update, I will only be posting/updating stories I have completely written out. I know this puts a lot of waiting in between updates, but even when I'm not updating, I am writing. So once this story is completed (in about 3 more updates), there probably won't be another story from me for a while. Updates on other stories maybe, but probably nothing new unless I've finished writing it out.

Again, I want to thank readers for their patience as my updates are slower than what they used to be. I can't guarantee when the next updates/new story will be posted or anything like that, but please know that even if it seems like I've abandoned stories (some in other series I will admit to having abandoned, either because I plan on rewriting them or have writer's block for them or just not having written anything for them in a while), I haven't.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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

After the fiasco of finding out Anton Mercer was Mesogog, the rangers were sent home for the night by Tommy. Thanks to the new discovery, Trent wasn't the only one they were probably going to have trust issues with. After all, Kennedi was an evil ranger as well, so this sparked some new suspicions. Kira knew her sister had no idea, but still questioned her anyway, just to make sure. Conner had his doubts but was willing to believe his childhood friend. Ethan, however, was willing to let his doubts consume him on the matter. Tommy seemed like he wanted to, but knew that if he doubted what Kennedi said, Jason would probably hunt him down. Trent knew that Kennedi had no idea about it as well.

The following morning found five of the six rangers in the dino lab, Trent being the only one not there. Of course, with the secret being revealed, they weren't exactly ready to trust him yet. Kennedi was a different story as half of them trusted her while half of them were confused. Kennedi sat calmly in one of the computer chairs. Tommy was standing near the entrance with the other three rangers. Kennedi appeared to be deep in thought about something.

"I always knew Mercer wasn't exactly PTA material," Ethan commented first, getting the conversation started. "But Mesogog? That's whack."

"I'll tell you what's whack," Conner huffed. "Trent not telling us!"

"Look, I'm as mad about this as you guys are," Kira shrugged. "But don't you think we still owe Trent a chance to explain? I mean, maybe there's a really good reason he didn't tell us."

"Well I hope there is," Tommy sighed. "Because if not, then I have no choice but to ask Trent to surrender his morpher and give up being a power ranger." He left the room, letting the teens be.

Conner noticed that Kira's face fell a bit. "Don't tell me you feel bad for Trent."

"Yeah," Ethan agreed. "I mean, you want someone you can't trust running around with those powers?"

"She just hates for it to end this way for Trent," Kennedi piped up, now spinning around lazily in the chair.

"What are you doing?" Ethan frowned at her.

"She's thinking," Kira rolled her eyes. "Whenever there's something she can't quite figure out, you can't get her to stop moving. It's a bad habit of hers, really. But she is right. I mean, if it were me and I had to give back my powers, I don't know if I could handle it."

"Oh now that's ironic," Conner smirked. "I remember when you didn't want it to begin at all."

"Yeah right," Kira scoffed. Her mind became plagued with memories, but she kept up with the conversation. "And haven't you ever compared yourself to Eric?"

"Yeah, so?" Conner answered.

Kennedi spoke up once more, still spinning in the chair. "She was comparing herself to me when you guys found the gems. She had an idea of where possessing those gems was going to lead as soon as she unleashed her first Ptera scream."

"Huh?" Ethan looked between the girls, only becoming more confused by the moment.

"Once more, she's right," the yellow ranger agreed. "Since I knew Ken was a ninja ranger, I was thinking that I could try and pass the gem off to her and let her handle this where she already had some experience."

"But then we got kidnapped by Mesogog and she realized that even if she didn't want to be a ranger, she was connected to it," Kennedi finished up. "She wanted to be a ranger, but had doubts because she compared herself to me and the fact that I had the experience."

"And I admit, at first, I wasn't so into it," Kira added. "But everything's different now. I've changed."

"Being a ranger changes all of us," Kennedi concluded. She turned to Conner. "Look at you, McKnight. You're in no way the same dumb jock that you were when you guys started."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Conner turned to her, noticing she was now walking around the room.

"Are you still upholding your end of our deal?" the dirty blonde retorted. Conner shot her a glare while Kira frowned and Ethan snickered a bit.

"If he doesn't know what you've mean, I do," the blue ranger commented. "You have come a long way, bro." Conner suddenly became lost in thought, not bothering to continue the conversation.

When he snapped out of it, he looked to the boy. "What about you, gamer dude? You're not exactly Mr. Cyber Geek anymore." Ethan let a grin come to his face as he swam through his memories.

"Did you figure out whatever you're thinking about yet?" Kira looked to her twin, seeing as she was now leaning against a wall.

"Not quite," Kennedi shook her head.

"What exactly are you trying to figure out?" the soccer start wondered.

"A couple things," Kennedi shrugged. "Mainly how we didn't piece something like this together sooner, and possible reasons why Trent might have kept this secret."

Ethan seemed to be back in reality as he turned to her. "How do we know you had no idea about it?"

"I've only been in Mesogog's lab three times," Kennedi stated. "One was before any of us knew who the hell he was, once when he mistook me for Kira not long after Trent and I found our dino gems, and after the softball championship, and that last time I didn't even see Mesogog, just Elsa, Zeltrax, and Trent's clone."

"You saw his clone before we did?" Ethan went wide eyed. "Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"Because I had things to take care of that week," Kennedi answered. "And before I moved here, any time I wasn't in Mesogog's lab after getting the gem, I was with at least one of my fellow ninjas."

Conner frowned at her. "So the ninjas knew you were the evil orange ranger before we did?"

"Kind of hard for them not to know when I kept disappearing on them," Kennedi pointed out. "And they were trying to help me keep it in control, which was why I wasn't around as often as Trent was."

"But she never worked for Mesogog," Kira added. "So she wouldn't have been in his lab or known about Mercer. Trent started working for Mesogog because a monster shot him with something. Ken never faced that monster."

"Okay, now I'm confused," Ethan muttered.

"You learn not to question them if they're backing each other up," Conner patted the blue ranger's shoulder. "But anyway, let's not forget that our teacher is a power ranger legend."

"Our uncle would argue otherwise," the girls said in unison, freaking the guys out a bit.

"But we owe him a lot," Kira continued.

Conner looked at them. "Are you guys almost forgetting who ended it for good?"

"If that's a jab at me, I will hurt you," Kennedi glared at the red ranger. Conner held his hands up in surrender, but Kennedi kept her glare on him.

"So do you have any theories as to why this was kept secret?" Ethan asked. Then he frowned, confused as he noticed she was now laying in a hammock made of fire.

"It's possible that he found out accidentally," Kennedi shrugged. "And that Anton made him promise not to tell anyone. Anton probably wanted to try and handle it on his own, and I don't doubt that Trent tried to convince him otherwise."

"Interesting theory, but let's get back to what Conner was saying? They were under the gem's spell," Kira reminded him. "It's different now."

"Yeah," the red ranger rolled his eyes. "Now he forgets to tell us Mesogog is his dad. Glad he's changed."

Trent stormed in at that moment, Tommy following him. "I made a promise!" Everyone but Kennedi stood and met him in the middle.

"What about your promise to us?" Conner questioned.

"I never let my feelings get in the way of my ranger duties," Trent argued.

"That may be true, Trent," Tommy cut in. "But you put us in a difficult position. Conner may be right. I just don't know how we can ever trust you again."

"Tell me what I can do to make this right," Trent pleaded as the others moved to find seats. Kennedi was still in her fire hammock, waiting for a chance to jump in. "I make no excuses for the harm I've caused, but you know, things haven't been easy for me." He then recounted a few things he went through over the year, even stuff from before he got the dino gem. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Mesogog. My father thought he could handle this on his own, and so did I. I know now I was wrong."

"Anton Mercer was my friend," Tommy sighed. "I understand your loyalty. The question now is, do they?"

Conner turned to Kennedi. "How is it that the majority of your weird theories turn out to be right?"

"It's a gift," Kennedi smirked. Tommy noticed the hammock.

"Is that made of fire?" he demanded, concerned.

"It'll vanish as soon as I stand up," she confirmed. "But getting back on topic?"

Trent decided to continue pleading his case. "Being a ranger is the best thing that's ever happened to me. I don't want to lose that, trust me."

"Yeah, I've heard that one before," Conner huffed.

"So let me prove it," Trent insisted.

Naturally, the alarms went off and a monster appeared on screen.

"Here's your chance," Tommy offered.

"What?" Conner looked appalled. "You're not seriously going to trust him?"

"Look at that thing, McKnight," Kennedi stood, the hammock vanishing just as she said it would. "We're gonna need whatever help we can get."

As usual, the rangers had managed to take down the monster. Trent was assisting them, and he proved to be a good asset to them. He ended up saving Conner from a possibly fatal blow, which started up questions in the red ranger's mind. The other rangers' doubts were beginning to fade away as they watched Trent's display of loyalty to them. Working together, they managed to finish off the monster and still have a decent part of the day left.

"Dude, you rock," Kira commented.

"Bro, you were awesome out there," Ethan agreed.

"Thanks for the help out there, Trent," Tommy thanked. "It's always a lot easier when the whole team worked together."

"Thanks, Dr. O," Trent nodded. "Like I said, I'm in this for good. That is, if you'll have me."

"Well, I vote yes," Kennedi spoke. Kira nodded her agreement.

Ethan grinned. "Me too."

"Conner?" Tommy turned to the red ranger.

"Just one question," he looked at Trent. "Are you sure you wanna do this? I mean, there's a very real chance you'll have to face Mesogog one day."

"If Mesogog wins, then my father's lost forever," Trent stated. "Mesogog has to be defeated, no matter what."

A/N: So this ends here. As I said, it was going to be a bit short. What'll happen next time?