Chapter 7: Red Raptorball

Kira put her hands on her hips and faced the two men outside of the house with a piercing stare. Both Ethan and Conner looked over her shoulder and shrugged, showing there was little they could do against their annoyed friend. "So, you got the day off and you came here?" Kira asked, quickly deciding she needed to be more polite. "Not that we're not happy to see you, but why did you come here?"

Conner and Ethan snickered at her response as they ushered the guests into their mentors' house. Kim was working, Tommy was teaching, and they'd had the day off. All three of them had found out that some classes only went two days a week and they'd all grabbed those classes to get Friday completely off. Unfortunately, Kim, Tommy, and Hayley had decided that that gave them the perfect opportunity for them to take over watch duty, putting each of the Dino Thunder Rangers' turns one right after the other. Still, free food and hanging out there was something they'd probably end up doing anyway, so it wasn't so bad. Besides, the raptors made it far more amusing.

It also meant that they were in charge of the house, which all three of them liked the idea of and that meant that they had no qualms about letting the two men in the house. Instead of shutting the door like Kim might have done, once again less because she disliked them, and more out of a fear of doom to come. Conner, on the other hand, shrugged and gave them an apologetic smile, motioning toward Kira. "I don't think she's quite forgiven you guys for helping Doctor O and Jason last summer."

The elder of the two men gave the younger one, who looked embarrassed, a look. "I told you it was a bad idea."

"Well, Cole agreed to it," the other muttered. The older one gave him a new piercing look. "I know, bad example. Seriously, though. We're not here to help them escape, they didn't call us, and we're not in trouble."

"Only Reds have to make that pledge," Ethan whispered to Conner, who elbowed him in order to quiet him down. Just because he was right didn't mean Conner wanted to hear it. It was still his color after all even if he tended to abandon it at the first sign of any Red Mission.

"Right, so why are you here?" Conner asked, joining his girlfriend's question before anything else derogatory toward him came out of his teammates' mouths. Not wanting a long answer, he quickly changed his question. "Wait, Eric, why are you guys here?"

"Raptorball," was all the Quantum Ranger answered with. All three younger Rangers blinked a few times. Conner had wanted a quick answer, but that was ridiculous.

"Raptorball?" Ethan asked and Eric's look passed on to the former Blue Ranger who quickly added so that Eric's piercing look didn't kill him. "I mean, what about Raptorball?"

"We want to play it," Wes explained. "We've heard about it, but we haven't had a chance to try it out. Tommy and Jason were bragging about it."

"Oh sure," Conner said in annoyance. "We come up with the idea, have to rely on Zack to push the idea through, and now they're off bragging. That's fair."

"So, where do we play?" Eric asked, ignoring Conner's outburst. The younger Ranger might have taken offense to it if he hadn't already known that the elder Ranger treated everyone the same way. Jason had assured him that it was possible to get along with the stoic Ranger, but time had a lot to do with it as well as winning respect. Still, this was Doctor O's house and at least one of the raptors wasn't theirs.

"See, there's a problem," Conner said as the other two stood behind him to back him up. "Blue, Yellow, and Red are ours. Not that it even matters about Red because he's not a friendly raptor to too many people, but still. We're able to say 'Hey, yeah, if they'll let you on their backs, go for it.' But Black is Doctor O's. So, until he gets home, we can't say if you can or not."

"When will he be back?" Wes asked and Conner glanced at the clock before shrugging.

"It depends on if he got detention this week or not."

For the first time in his short teaching career, Tommy wished he would have had detention. He was still two seconds away from running to Elsa and begging her to let his switch weeks with whoever had it. Anything would have been better that to get home with Jason on his heels. "You have to go home sometime or she'll come here."

"Aww, don't tell me you're afraid of my wife," Jason teased and Tommy shook his head before shivering.

"She's pregnant and already insane at times. I'd rather face Scorpina, alone, handcuffed, than your wife furious right now," Tommy answered. "And if you had any sense, you'd feel the same way."

"I have sense," Jason brought up, which caused his friend to roll his eyes. "That's why I'm here."

"Hey Doctor O. Hey Jason," Ethan, Kira, and Conner chorused without looking up from their various activities. None of them seemed inclined to tell their mentor that he had visitors. Nor were any of them paying any attention to the monitors.

"Guys, when I said watch for trouble, I meant watch for trouble," Tommy scolded. Conner shrugged.

"Ethan says the alarm will go off," he answered.

"And?" Tommy asked waiting for the rest of the explanation.

"He's a Blue. It'll go off," Conner answered. Before his mentor could get anymore words in which they weren't going to like or assigned them to training until they were fifty, he quickly changed the subject. "Hey, Doctor O? How do you feel about a rousing game of Raptorball?"

"We're playing Raptorball?" Conner turned and grinned as Seth asked the question, followed downstairs by his teammates. The younger man took turns looking both excited and a little frightened. Conner nodded.

"Well, you and I are," he answered. "Since I missed out on Red bonding…"

"You had a note! You ditched!" Tommy exclaimed. "It's not like I forgot you! I chased you down and you handed me a note, written by your mentor and my fiancé, excusing you from fighting."

"And who was enjoying Kim's cookies while you were getting chewed out and Jason was getting pummeled? Oh, that's right. Me. Which reminds me, Rocky says you can't have the next Red Mission until I'm 21. He wants me to come with next time," Conner stated calmly, folding his arms and looking a bit smug. Tommy glared at him.

"It's not like I plan for these things, Conner. They just sort of happen," Tommy growled. Jason snickered and Tommy turned on him. "I hope your kid is just like him."

Conner and his two teammates both cracked up at that as Jason pretended to be worried for one minute before shrugging it off. "At least I know he'll be somewhere safe where his mother can't strangle him."

"What if it's a girl?" Kira asked and Jason shrugged.

"Then she'll probably be like her mom and I've got nothing to worry about," he answered. "So, where did this need to play Raptorball come from?"

"Doctor O, don't be mad," Conner started and Tommy groaned.

"This isn't going to end well," he muttered and turned to Seth. "Have I already told you to do the opposite of Conner when he's like this?"

"Yep," Seth answered.

"Good. Continue, Conner," Tommy said, ignoring the look the teen in question gave him.

"Anyway, we let some people into your house. Two actually and they wanted to play," he said quickly. "They're outside with the raptors. Well, with Blue and Yellow anyway."

Tommy and Jason both shrugged at each other, knowing that Conner wouldn't be stupid enough to let an actual threat in the house, and headed out followed by the seven younger Rangers. Both of them blinked a couple of times as they watched Eric and Wes practicing on the two raptors. Tommy glanced at Jason who glanced back at Eric and Wes. Both of them grinned and turned to the Time Force Rangers. "You two ready for some competition or do you think you need to keep practicing?" Jason asked.

"About time you showed up," Eric said gruffly. "So, you ready?"

"Seth and I play the winner!" Conner called out. "You guys can go first."

"Umm…" Seth said half-way quietly. "Who's going to ride Red?"

The raptor lifted his head and looked over, not seeming pleased by the question. He glanced at Conner who looked at the others. "Let me talk to him," he said and headed over. "Red, we're having a sort of a contest and we need all of you to do it. As long as he's respectful about it, do you think you could let Jason on your back? Please?"

He petted the side of the raptor affectionately as Red thought about it. On one hand, he didn't like anyone who wasn't Conner or Kim riding him. It was the way he was. On the other, he did enjoy Raptorball as much as the Rangers did and the first red human wouldn't be foolish enough to try it outside of the game. After a minute, the raptor bobbed his head once and bumped Conner with his head. "Okay, Jason. Come here."

Jason did as he was told and looked at Red. "Just for the game, okay, Red?" He asked and the raptor bobbed again before standing still so that Jason could get on his back. "Thanks."

Tommy quickly climbed aboard Black so that Red wouldn't get annoyed by being the only one on their side with a rider and Ethan stood in the middle. "As a non-representative of either side and a different color, I call being referee," he said.

Eric looked a little suspicious at that. "Aren't you Tommy's student?"

"Trust me. That will only make it better for you," Ethan assured him and Wes laughed at that while Tommy glared at the boy. Ethan ignored it and threw the ball into the air before ducking to the side lines.

Black leapt higher than the others and Tommy was able to grab the wall and successfully go over Wes and Blue at the same time. Jason and Red hurried after while Eric and Yellow had closed the gap. Tommy threw it back to Jason, before he could get hurt by the moving rule while Jason urged Red to make a distance rather than height jump. The other raptor did so and landed close to the basket. Jason went for the shot and Eric took it from them in a rather good catch.

The teens had taken to cheering for their own raptor rather than any Ranger team while the quartet just cheered on everyone. So, Kira and Ethan were cheering on one side and Conner on the other. The raptors, enjoying the attention, tended to do things to make themselves look better in the eyes of their human. The trio laughed at the antics, especially Black who wanted to look just as good and nearly threw Tommy off his back at one point trying to do so. That said, those riding the raptors weren't doing much better as they shoved off but trying to shoot baskets from further away and doing outrageous dunks.

"Do they realize they're acting like teenagers?" Kira asked and both boys shrugged. "I didn't think so either."

The game ended an hour later, though all four were still thrilled. The raptors didn't even look tired as they raced around, which caused the trio to realize that they probably just wanted a break when they had 'needed' to lie down. It made them laugh. The score was 30 to 26 in Tommy and Jason's favor. All of them were laughing and joking by the end of it and Conner stood up next to Seth. "Come on, Newbie, our turn," he said. Seth didn't look insulted by the nickname anymore, since it was more affectionate than cruel.

Both of them took a raptor: Conner on Red and Seth on Blue. Jason shrugged and took Yellow. They stood ready and this time, Eric and Wes were the referees, though they'd have to ask Ethan and Kira for specific rules if they weren't sure. Still, it was about as fair as they were going to manage to get considering that those two were the only excess members not to have a teammate on the court. Tommy looked at the two younger and eager Rangers. "You do remember that I trained you, right?"

Conner grinned, ignoring the panicked look on his partner's face. "You do remember I came up with the idea and co-created this game, right? Besides, Red doesn't nearly throw me off his back every two seconds."

Jason shrugged. "He's got you there, Tommy."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's play," Tommy grumbled. While Red had done well with Jason, Conner was his partner and they had come to know the others strengths and weaknesses. The raptor was able to shine as they played, doing things that Conner knew he was capable of, but that Jason hadn't even thought to try. It was a rather exciting game.

At one point, Conner took the ball, threw it to Seth, had Red leap onto the back of the basket, caught the throw and tossed it in the air. Red reached out and smacked it down with his tail into the basket. The referees, including Kira and Ethan, had to actually sit and talk about whether or not it was legal for a raptor to hit the ball. It was deemed a safe basket when Ethan reminded Wes and Eric that it would be nearly impossible to not let the raptors touch the ball at all. Thus, new rules were born that raptors could touch and pass the ball with their tails, but could not hold it in their mouth. Everyone seemed happy with that.

At another point, Jason threw the ball to Tommy who had to have Black leap off one of the baskets in order to catch it. He flew over Seth and landed close to the other basket, throwing it in quickly before Conner caught up. The points tallied up, one right after the other. By the end of it, the score was 46 to 43 in Conner and Seth's favor. The two younger Rangers yelled with delight and their teammates squealed, hollered, or cheered along with their friends. Tommy and Jason both looked beaten, but familiar arms wrapped around them before they could get too upset.

"It was a good game, Handsome," Kim whispered in his ear.

"You were close," Trini agreed, resting her chin on Jason's shoulder. "Very close."

"When did you two get here?" Tommy asked and glanced over at Trini. "I told him to go home."

"I know," Trini assured him, still just holding her husband. She'd get angry later if she thought it was worth it. Getting beaten by the youngest Reds seemed punishment enough in her mind, though. Kim looked at Tommy.

"In the middle of the first game," she answered. "We thought we'd wait. Eric and Wes saw us."

Tommy turned on the other two Reds who shrugged it off. Eric looked a little smug, while Wes turned back to congratulate his youngest incarnations not really thinking it was that big of a deal. Jason laughed and shrugged. "We had fun, right?"

Before Tommy could answer, he was interrupted. "Then I hope he's willing to have more fun."

"T.J.?" Tommy asked, surprised to see the other. His surprise increased when he saw who was with the Turbo Ranger. "Andros? What are you two doing here? How did you know?"

Both men motioned over to a smirking Hayley who shrugged. "I thought everyone else might want to watch too. Then the girls and I had a thought. All of you are constantly going off on missions with each other that are only Red…"

"Twice, Hayley. Twice," Tommy reminded her, but Hayley ignored him.

"That we wanted a real Red challenge," she finished. "So, once I set it up…"

"We're not too late, are we?" Rocky asked, leading the way. Cole, Carter, and Leo were on his tail. "We asked Aurico if he wanted to come, but he said no thanks. He's just going to watch. Is everyone here?"

Conner looked them over and shook his head, noticing that while everyone Tommy and Jason had worked with were there, there were still two missing. "Not yet."

"Sorry we're late!" Another voice called out. "It took us a few minutes to talk Tori into letting us borrow the van."

Hunter and Shane stood there, the final two, ready to go. Conner nodded. "Now we're all here. So, I take it Seth and I are defending our title?"

Rocky grinned. "You got it, Conner. This is a Red only thing I can get into. So, what are the teams?"

Jason shrugged. "Andros and T.J. are a given. Leo and Carter would probably be a good one since they've worked with each other twice. So, that leaves Cole, Rocky, and I'm not sure what your names are."

"Shane," the ninja answered. "Red Wind Ranger. This is Hunter, Crimson Thunder Ranger."

"The Ninja Rangers," Tommy agreed. "I take it you two would like to be a team?"

They both nodded and Jason looked at Rocky. "That leaves you with Cole. Are you two fine with that?"

Cole was nodding up a storm and Rocky shrugged. "Don't see why not. Now let's play!"

Using holograms, Hayley set up the rest of the area so that their teammates could watch and look like they were there. To make it easier, they were split into two sides, though they made sure that those from a split team, such as Leo and Carter, had both teams cheering on the same side. She also made sure that Time Force and Wild Force were on the same side for Eric and Taylor.

As before, there were spectacular games. Almost everyone had heard about the game and read up on the rules before they came. The newest rule was explained, though it was mostly so that the raptors couldn't try anything. There were baskets made, cheers radiating through the stands and the games were knocked down to a 30 minute time period for the sake of the raptors, who didn't seem to slow down.

Red was an extremely good sport as he allowed the red Rangers on his back and played a good game. Conner and Kim both soothed him afterward, telling him how good he was about it while the other Reds helped whichever red Ranger who had been riding him up. Red was nice enough to let them ride him for the game. If they weren't off his back before the score was called, he threw them off. Literally. It was going very well up until Rocky and Cole's turn happened.

Leo and Carter hadn't had the best of luck during their games. They weren't bad at all, but they weren't quite as good as some of the companions. Not that they'd minded, but for the last game, they seemed determined to beat Rocky and Cole. Leo and Carter quickly chose their raptors first: Yellow and Black, which left Rocky and Cole with Red and Blue. Unfortunately, considering that Rocky had been both of those colors, Cole didn't think he'd mind taking Blue. He was right, except for the fact that Rocky had been around Red longer and the lead raptor was starting to lose his patience. Besides, it just made sense that he took Red if he'd been around the fussy raptor more often.

"Cole, take Blue. I know Red. It'll be better this way," Rocky insisted, but Cole would have none of it.

"I can handle him. I'll just talk to him. He'll work with me," Cole answered and Rocky shook his head.

"No he won't. Red's the alpha. He only likes two people: Kim and Conner. The first is like his alpha and the second is his partner. He doesn't necessarily like me, but I know how to not piss him off. I don't think you know what you're getting into," Rocky pushed. He knew had it been Jason or Tommy, they would have already told Cole no, but Rocky wasn't his friends. He was more passive than they were and wanted to give Cole a change to understand on his own. Conner had already come over, willing to help his older friend.

"Rocky's right, Cole. I think Red doesn't mind him as much as other Reds," Conner said, rubbing the raptor's side. The dinosaur nudged his partner gently, not paying a lot of a attention to what was going on. "And I've seen what happens if he doesn't like someone. Seth still won't go near him."

"The others have been riding him," Cole argued. Conner shrugged.

"Barely. He threw them off his back!" he reminded him, knowing this wasn't going to end well and wondering, for the umpteenth time, why Reds were so stubborn. He glanced at Kim for help, but she put her hands up, not about to get involved in this. Conner nearly sighed at that, having forgotten his mentor's view of learning from experience. They'd keep Red from killing him. Finally Conner shrugged. "You know what? Your funeral. Just take Blue, Rocky. She likes you anyway."

Rocky shrugged and got on Blue, who was trying to nudge him anyway into riding her, while Leo and Carter got on the other two. They waited as Cole looked at Red. "I'm Cole and you are?"

Bored with talk. Red chirped, going back to ignoring the Ranger in front of him. Cole was trying to tell him about what he'd done as a Ranger, but Red ignored him, barely letting the talkative Ranger on his back. Obviously the young man wasn't getting that he didn't want to be partners, he wanted him off his back as quickly as possible and the best way to achieve that was by playing the game. It wasn't until Cole compared him with Red Lion that the raptor did anything.

Conner winced. "Please tell me that he didn't just say that," he asked, looking at Tommy. His mentor held the same look.

"I wish I could, Conner. You warned him," he reminded the boy. "Just… make sure Red doesn't kill him. Better yet, Kim, make sure Red doesn't kill him."

"I'll try," his fiancé answered. "But…"

"I know."

Red's body crouched and he leapt in the air, moving his body so that Cole fell off into the dirt. Zord?! You think I'm like a Zord?! Nobody has to help me fight!

"Maybe not, but he was willing to use teamwork," Cole told him. Red paused doing anything as the Ranger climbed back on.

That's it. He chirped, loudly and angrily so that everyone could hear him. Blue, Black and Yellow headed over to him, waiting to see what was going on. It didn't take them long to figure it out. Blue was the first to respond.

Red… Blue tried. Little more than a hatchling.

He said the Zord was better. He thinks he can control me! Red answered. Blue nudged him gently, the way only she could.

I don't think he meant it that way. She assured him and Red puffed himself up, looking at Cole.

I've put up with a lot today, but this human is nothing like mine. Red snapped. His Conner wasn't stupid enough to compare him to a Zord. His Conner was smart enough to figure out what he wanted without being able to understand his chirps all the time. His Conner had worked hard to get Red to agree that they were partners and, like Red, backed down to the Alpha, Kim. At least the other Red humans had been quiet.

So, what now? Yellow asked dragging Red out of his thoughts, knowing full well that Cole could hear everything they said and deciding to cut into Red's rant before they wasted the rest of the day. Red paused for a minute and Blue was certainly he was going to attack Cole which they weren't supposed to let him do. All of them looked at each other, trying not to look too worried about trying to stop the larger and head raptor until Red finally answered, sounding a little calmer. At least, calm enough where he wasn't going to go into a murderous rage.

You go. I stay. Have fun. Red answered and stood perfectly still. Black leapt in the air.

Alright! Let's go, let's go, let's go! He chirped. The twins followed, though they looked a little more apprehensive about it, as Red looked at Cole.

Tell them I'm not playing. Red instructed Cole. Cole tried to protest, but the red raptor wouldn't move. Cole had to admit what Red had said. The other Rangers tried to figure out what to do next with Hayley coming up with the only decent idea as she turned to Rocky.

"We can try to sort this out," she offered. "What if you two switch?"

Kim and Conner shook their heads. "Red won't go for that. He might go with Rocky on his back, but he'll order the other raptor to sit on the sidelines," Kim explained. "I'm not sure how to fix this."

Rocky shrugged. "I'll play alone. Blue and I might not win, but we'll put up a fight, won't we, Girl? She'll still play, won't she, Cole?"

Cole looked at Blue who looked at Red who bobbed his head. I can still play with red-blue human. Her tone changed for a moment as she looked directly at Cole sounding scolding. Hatchling needs to lean manners or Hatchling doesn't play.

Cole looked upset, but he nodded. "She'll play."

It was a massacre. While Blue wasn't a bad raptor, Yellow knew all of her tricks and Black's ability to jump higher worked in their favor. Rocky tried to do it and they even fudged the rules so that he could toss it to himself as long as if was possible for the others to get it, but without two raptors, especially Red, Rocky didn't stand a chance. They came in last place, with Conner and Seth as the continued champions, though everyone agreed that he played extremely well for doing it on his own. Blue was nudging him herself, trying to make sure he wasn't upset to which Rocky was grinning and telling her how well she did. Once it was over, Red threw off Cole once again and headed over to the other raptors. He made sure they were alright and headed over to Kim and Conner, looking eager for attention.

Both of them looked scolding, though Conner let Kim handle it. "Red! That wasn't very nice."

Red chirped solemnly at her and tried to look apologetic, though it wasn't working very well. He was proud of himself for it. He hadn't attacked him, tried to bit him, or even thrown him that hard. Yet, they were still displeased. Conner pointed to Rocky. "You didn't just make Cole lose. You made Rocky lose too."

Red did feel a little bad about that. He didn't mind the hungry human. In fact, compared to all of the other red Rangers, he was the one to remind Red the most of his partner. He chirped over toward Rocky who turned around to look at him as he petted Blue to assure her he was fine. Red chirped again and let it go into a more sorrowful tone. "Hey, Red. Are you okay?"

"He's sorry," Conner explained. "He feels bad for making you lose."

Rocky shrugged. "It happens. Besides, Blue and I did pretty well for it being two on one."

Red bobbed his head, quickly nudged Rocky with his head and turned back to Conner and Kim. Both of them looked a little impressed. "Wow, Rocky, he nudged you."

"I noticed," Rocky answered, petting the raptor. "I'm honored."

If Red would have been human, he would have grinned at that. Yes, he might only want Kim and Conner on his back, but as far as humans went, at least this one was intelligent about it. Perhaps the next time they had a contest, he'd offer to let this one on him. Just for the game, of course.

"So, why didn't Cam, Hunter, and Blake come?" Conner asked, trying to remember names the best that he could. Hayley's holographic communicator had been left on and separated to allow some of the younger members to talk to one another. Yet, the other three members had decided against coming to which Conner especially was disheartened. Tori answered before either boy could open their mouth.

"Blake is on tour. He's practicing. Hunter had to get back since his sensei is a little more strict than ours. Cam is working on something or another and is taking our time distracted by you to get some more done. And no offense, Conner, but he had to deal with your brother. You're identical," Tori reminded him. Conner winced at that. He hadn't been lying when he had told the others before when they asked who the smarter was. He was also the one with better manners.

"Got it," he answered and turned his attention to their other two guests. "I take it Cole is still sulking?"

Danny nodded. "Taylor said we should come anyway though because he was stupid enough to do it. I didn't want to make her angrier."

"Why did he say something like that?" Kira asked. "I thought he was supposed to be good with hearts and stuff."

"Well…" Danny started, but he was cut off by Max.

"He is. Usually. I guess that he just messed up. It happens to everyone, right?" He asked and the others nodded. Seth shivered.

"He got lucky. I was nearly torn apart," he said quietly. All of them looked over at Seth for that. "Conner and Kim stopped him."

Conner shrugged. "He's not known for his patience," he answered. "Sorry, Guys."

Both Wild Force Rangers shrugged, not sure what else to say, none of them were sure really. It had been Ethan, Kira, and Conner's idea to do this. They'd seen the friendships between the other teams and it hadn't taken them long to figure out that especially the Ninja Storm, Dino Thunder, and Planetary Rangers were just a different generation than their older counterparts. They'd figured that out at the impromptu reunion from when Kim and Conner had been trapped. After that, along with the technology, they'd called for a holographic get together for the younger Rangers and had invited Danny and Max along since they were truly able to fit into either category, especially Danny. Max was probably their generation considering he was younger,but Danny spent so much time with him that he's immediately agreed to follow his younger friend. All of their planning had led to them all sitting there to talk. The only problem was, none of them were sure of what to talk about.

"You know," Ethan finally said, finding a subject that he hoped would work. "We know that we all got our powers, but to be honest, I'm not sure how you guys did."

"A princess," Max answered, shrugging. "We were all called, we showed up, we got powers. One at a time. Right, Danny? Right. So, yeah. That's ours. What about you guys?"

Shane, Tori, and Dustin all looked at little embarrassed, but Dustin shrugged it off quicker. "Well, we were late to class again and this dude, Lother, attacked our school, right? So, we went underground and our mentor who was a guinea pig gave us the morphers. It was all prophesized and stuff, but, dude, I seriously thought he only did it because we were the only ones left."

"He did," Tori said. "It just happened to go along with the prophesy. That's what Cam thinks anyway."

"What about you?" Shane asked, quickly changing the subject. Never mind the fact that they'd been looked at strangely when the guinea pig was mentions, but just being the last choice was an embarrassment. Still, when he looked at Dino Thunder, he had the feeling that theirs was worse just by the way they were acting. The three looked at each other, not wanting to tell.

"It was your game," Conner muttered to Ethan who shrugged.

"Maybe. But you're our fearless leader. So, fearlessly lead," Ethan teased, doing everything possible to get out of it. Kira nodded in agreement, though she did kiss his cheek. Conner sighed, knowing someone had to admit it.

"Fine. We all had detention. Kira was playing music, Ethan used a computer to soak everyone with a sprinkler, and I sort of ditched class to play soccer. Our science teacher, who of course had to be the longest serving Ranger, was put in charge of said detention. He said if we found something prehistoric, we were off the hook for the week. So, we sort of broke into the lair, not knowing it was his and by accident since we sort of fell in a big hole and we took the gems, rushing out before the owner got there. Then we found out they gave us superpowers," Conner said, not sure what else to add. Even he knew just from how it sounded that they hadn't exactly done the right thing even if it ended well but they'd known that anyway. They had just really, really wanted out of detention. At the other Rangers looks, he looked a bit indignant. "What? And getting them handed over by a rodent is any better?"

"Hey! That's our sensei!" Dustin argued back.

"We've been told to look up to you guys and you stole the gems?" Seth demanded, his eyes wide. So that was why Doctor Oliver often told him not to follow Conner's way of doing things to the letter.

"We never said we were always good little Rangers. We didn't think it was such a big deal until we got the super powers. And, not that this will make it better, we also broke into Doctor O's house and refound the lab when we lost Kira. We were looking for Doctor O to help us get her back. We went back and we took responsibility for everything. Dammit, we were good Rangers!" Conner answered, arms folded across his chest. Kira and Ethan backed him up, knowing how testy their leader got over his team. Each of them had a hand on one of his shoulders.

"You do realize that teams after you are going to look up to you guys, right?" Shane asked and Conner nodded.

"We've been told. We've also figured out that what future teams don't know, doesn't affect us," he said carefully before using an example. "Look at how you guys treat Jason. And Doctor O. And Trini. And Kim. And Billy. And Zack. It's like hero worship."

"And you don't?" Tori asked, sounding a little suspicious. Ethan shook his head.

"Not very much anymore. We still look up to them, admire them, and like for them to spend time with us, but there's not hero worship anymore," he answered.

"Why?" Jera asked. Kira answered that.

"We're family. Somewhere along the line, Doctor O and Kim became second parents to us. Jason and Trini are like an aunt and uncle who are cool, but know when to chew you out. Same with Billy and Zack, though Billy is much more stern about things. Zack's like the cool uncle who teaches you what you want when your parents' backs are turned. They're just people," she answered.

"Zack's awesome. Just thought I'd throw that in," Conner quickly added. "Without Zack, there would be no Raptorball and we wouldn't be having this conversation. And you were worried."

As he said it, he glanced at Kira who rolled her eyes. "Of course I was worried. How often do you and Ethan come up with a plan that works?"

"And once again, I say we were told to look up to you guys because…?" Seth asked. Conner's expression became serious and hard. The others looked a little surprised at that other than Kira and Ethan who didn't seem phased.

"Because we did a lot of shit in our time as Rangers. And we stayed even after we lost our Ranger powers. We had powers, so we stayed because none of them do," Conner said. They all paused a moment as they took the realization in. Dustin was the first to answer.

"Dude. He's right. Other than Danny and Max, sorry dudes, no one has powers but us. Well, Wes and Eric can morph, and so can the others every so often, but no one else has natural powers," Dustin said. Conner nodded.

"Exactly. Super speed, super strength and hard skin, Pterascream, two of us have the powers of air, or wind, earth, and water. And one even has fire. So, you guys teach at the academy and we teach new Rangers. With great power comes great responsibility," Conner said wisely. Dustin grinned.

"Dude," he agreed. "So, is there a Spiderman?"

"What?" Tori demanded and Dustin shrugged.

"I told you guys that there were Power Rangers and you told me I'd read too many comics. But they were real. So, is Spiderman real?" Dustin asked excitedly and Ethan's eyes lit up.

"It's possible," he answered, taking that in. "We'd have to go to New York to see."

Conner quickly cut in. "Guys, Trent is in New York. I'm sure he'd tell us if he'd noticed Spiderman swinging around."

As both of their excitement died, Conner started to feel bad. He quickly ran through his mind and thought clearly for a minute, not willing to let Ethan down. "But that doesn't mean all superheroes aren't. We're not everywhere."

Dustin and Ethan went back to discussing that while the others shook their head. Kira gently smacked her boyfriend. "Conner, we have to live with him."

"Yep," Conner said. "But I'd rather he was a happy Ethan than a depressed one. Besides, we'll distract him with video games."

"Good plan," Kira agreed, already thinking of which ones to put in front of him.

"You guys do this often, huh?" Max asked. The rest of the Dino Thunder and Wind Rangers nodded. "Wow."

"It's not so bad," Conner said with a shrug. "At least he doesn't wake me up anymore to try to explain what his big idea is. That annoyed me. I don't understand what he says when I'm awake and he'd trying to explain quantum physics when I'm half-asleep."

"He woke you up?" Tori asked and Conner nodded.

"All the time. We're roommates," he answered and sighed as he smiled a bit. "And he's my best friend."

"I understand that," Seth said with Tara nodding. "It's like listening to Jera talk about cars and engines or Ben talk about plants. We might not always know what they're talking about, sorry guys, but it's part of the whole friend thing."

"Listening to Kira's music," added Conner. "It's not something I would have done as much if she wasn't my girlfriend. I'd still go and listen, but I probably wouldn't make sure to leave that time completely free like I do now."

"Going to Conner's soccer games," Kira added, kissing her boyfriend's cheek.

"Driving the boys everywhere," Tori added which made all of them look a little sheepish.

"Trying to learn how to surf," Shane mentioned, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Trying to follow Tara's thoughts," Ben teased, getting a huge grin from his best friend.

"Dealing with Seth's self-esteem," Jera added.

"Putting up with being ditched by Danny for Kendall. Often," Max said. They all looked at the normally quiet man who finally finished it.

"Letting Max say what I'm thinking," he said, though with no malice.

They were all quiet for a minute before Conner looked at Tori. "I might be willing to learn how to surf. You know, when I'm not busy trying to save the world."

Shane smiled at Kira. "Maybe we could try to work on a song together. A duet?"

Kira smiled back. "I'd like that. It might be something that you could skateboard to."

Danny looked at Ben. "You like plants?"

"Yeah," Ben answered. The two of them quietly discussed their work, agreeing to keep in touch.

Tori glanced over at Jera. "If you wouldn't mind, I could use some help with the van sometime."

"I'd be happy to," the other girl agreed.

Max and Tara were already talking about this, that, and everything, neither taking over the conversation, but it didn't slow down either. Max was able to keep up with her remarkably well. Seth looked around and smiled at bit at all of the interaction, though he wasn't sure how he fit in.

"Hey! Seth!" Ethan called out. He glanced over as the Dino Thunder Blue called him over. He shrugged to himself and headed over. "So, we were thinking. You're a writer and we're not, so how about helping us with an online comic idea."

"I thought you guys were talking about superheroes?" He asked and the two shrugged.

"We fell off track," Ethan answered, sounding as if it were obvious they were going to eventually. "Neither of us can draw very well, but we have ideas. We just need someone to write them."

Dustin nodded wildly. "We have lots of ideas, Dude."

"Yeah. I'll write them," Seth agreed, eager to be part of the group. Besides, it could be fun. "What about drawing them though?"

Ethan shrugged. "Leave that to me. I know a guy."

Kira rested her head back on Conner's shoulder. "I have to admit. This was a great idea."

Conner looked at her, pretending to look smug. "You had any doubt?"

Author's Note: Apologies on how long this took. On the plus side, I did finish NaNoWriMo in time, in fact ahead of schedule, so there's that. Still, I do feel bad about making you guys wait.

I wanted a break from the whole drama thing, so here it is. Plus, there's Raptorball. I like Raptorball! Which, I must apologize for the part with Cole to anyone who likes the character. I'll be blunt: I didn't. I could handle the rest of the show, I liked Taylor, Danny, and Max and I was okay with the others, but I just didn't like Cole. Now, I try not to let that fall in when I'm writing a character, but my mind went to Red and I realized that he wasn't going to like Cole either and I could see Cole getting frustrated about that. Especially since it would be thought that Red could have a heart. So, I went with it. There are other Red Rangers I could see him getting the same way with: Eric, Tommy, Hunter… but none of them tried.

On the plus side of it, by using Cole I was able to write what the raptors were thinking. Yay! Okay, maybe just yay for me but still. I enjoyed it. Definitely wouldn't want to do it all of the time, but every once in a while is fun.

The little part at the end will be for future chapters as well. Also, I'm writing a one-shot for Christmas that will be out later this month and Trent will make an appearance during it just so everyone knows. I'm hoping it will be good especially since I love Christmas and have been looking forward to finishing it.

And because I tried, several times, to get the rankings for everyone in the story and failed, here they are: 1) Conner and Seth, 2) Tommy and Jason, 3) Eric and Wes, 4) Shane and Hunter, 6) Andros and T.J. 5) Carter and Leo, 6) Rocky and Cole. This was not based on which characters I liked more, but Conner did create the game and with Red, was more than likely to win. Tommy and Jason have played it the most after the other two. Eric and Wes were practicing earlier that day so they would have been used to how riding was at that point. Shane and Hunter were next simply because of age. I've noticed that, usually, it's easier for a younger generation to pick up something. Andros and T.J. and Carter and Leo, well, I flipped a coin. I did. Seriously. And Rocky and Cole came in last.

Thank you for the reviews and I'm sorry again for taking so long! I appreciate the readership, I really do. I've just found this time of the year to be difficult in keeping up my writing and putting it up. I shall endeavor to do a better job of it.