A/N: ... I think I had too much fun with this theme…
A/N #2: Sorry about the wait on this; real life and work 55 hours a week took over. I hope you enjoy!
"…": characters talking to each other
'…': characters talking to themselves
(…): extra facts about something in the story
(Takes place during "Once a Ranger")
Theme 56: Triumph
Living Room, Hartford Mansion, April 5, 2008, 11:30 AM – San Angeles, CA, USA
The "Retro Rangers" and Overdrive Rangers were all currently partaking in a celebration of the defeat of Thrax and his "Alliance of Evil". As glasses of fruit punch, alcohol, water and various other beverages came together, wishes of "May the Power Protect You" and "May the Spirits Bless You Wherever You Shall Go" emerged from the friends' mouths, and conversation soon turned to an examination of the future.
"So, what's next for you guys?" Dax asked mouth full of chocolate chip cookie (Mack had successfully pleaded with Spencer to bake his famous cookies and the eleven Rangers all agreed that they were some of the best that had ever been made). Crumbs sprayed everywhere from his mouth and at a look from Kira Dax quickly swallowed his food and apologized.
Adam shrugged. "I'm heading home with Alpha 6 here to Stone Canyon to my dojo, "The Ape and Frog". My buddy Rocky DeSantos' has been running it for close to a month now, and I'm sure that he's itching for some off time with his wife."
"Any family?" Rose asked politely black eyes taking in the sight of eleven Rangers lounging around in the living room of the Hartford Mansion as if they all had been living there all their lives.
"I've got a wife, Tanya, and a son named Willis," Adam responded a grin lighting his features as he thought about his family, whom he'd called every night so he wouldn't worry about them while he was gone. "Willis is about three now."
"He sounds adorable," Ronny exclaimed placing her cookie down on a nearby plate (Will snatched it when the Yellow Ranger wasn't looking). "Do you have a picture?"
Adam held up a finger as he dug out his wallet and, flipping through it took out a much-creased photograph, which showed just how much he had looked at the photo when he was away from home. The little boy featured had short black hair, black eyes and a skin tone that was a few shades darker than Adam's. He was dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a dark green polo shirt, his toothy grin displayed for all to see. Holding him was a regal-looking woman in a blouse of goldenrod yellow, complete with a pair of black dress slacks. A grin lit up her face, making her eyes sparkle; her short brown hair was held in place with a pale yellow ribbon.
"He's absolutely adorable, Adam!" Tori exclaimed as she stole the photograph from Ronny to examine it, with Kira nudging Mack out of the way to look at it as well. Adam merely grinned.
"I'm heading back to Reefside University," Kira put in after giving Adam the photograph back, eyes looking around. "Thank god my professors bought the whole "Family Emergency" stint so that I could be here. Otherwise, I think that there's a good chance I could have been expelled."
"Sorry about that," Mack apologized hazel eyes glancing around sheepishly. The other Overdrive Rangers apologized as well. Kira waved off the apologies.
"It's not your fault, guys. Besides, if Dr. O had been called back to action then he'd have missed about a month of teaching itty-bitty teenagers science. He'd have been devastated." A smirk punctuated her last comment indicating that she barely believed her own words, hilarious that they were.
Adam chuckled. "I still can't believe that Tommy got a Ph.D. in paleontology."
"Why?" Xander asked head tilted sideways. "I think Dr. Oliver's a smart guy." His predecessor shook his head mirth dancing in his eyes.
"Science-teacher Tommy is vastly different from high-school Tommy," was all that Adam would say, promising that he'd tell the whole story at the next Power Rangers Reunion, which would be held in Stone Canyon around July 4th. Adam also promised that he'd get Tommy's girlfriend Kim Hart and best friend Jason Lee Scott to add their input to the story.
"How about the rest of you?" Will questioned an arm casually slung behind Ronny.
Xander shook his head, looking at the ceiling. "I'm headin' to Turtle Cove to get back to classes. Like Kira, I am infinitely glad that they bought my "Family Emergency" excuses." Looking back at the gathered Rangers he winked. "'Course, I'd be glad if some of you lovely ladies accompanied me back there."
Tori smacked him. "Xander! Don't you have a girlfriend?"
"Yeah, but V'd understand."
Tyzonn tilted his head in confusion. "V? You're girlfriend's name is the letter V?"
Xander blinked before shaking his head. "No, her name's Vida. Nickname's V." Tyzonn still looked confused and honestly, Xander didn't really want to explain it to the Mercurian; rather, he didn't know how to explain it without metaphorically ending up with his tongue in knots.
Kira raised an eyebrow at the Green Mystic Ranger. "You're telling me that Vida will understand if word gets back to her that you were flirting with other women?"
Xander backtracked. "What I mean is that we're not exclusive."
"So, if Vida's going out with some other guy, you'd not be jealous?" Bridge asked a piece of buttery toast in his hand.
Xander shook his head in the negative, showcasing that he'd be fine with the concept. Inwardly, though, he was incensed at the idea that Vida would prefer some other guy over him, Xander the Great. It was just not done!
Adam shook his head as he took a drink from his water. He'd volunteered to give rides to the two women (meaning that he couldn't drink any alcoholic beverages as intoxicated Rangers and moving vehicles didn't mix) whereas Xander was going to use a Teleportation Spell to get back to Turtle Cove and, maybe, help Bridge repair his one-person Time Ship so he could head back to the future. On that note...
"Bridge, feel free to say no to this question," Adam began chancing a glance at the Red SPD Ranger. "Is there any rule out there forbidding you to reveal any parts of the future to us?"
Bridge blinked having not anticipated this question. Sure, Z and Syd had both warned him about blurting out their futures to their parents (it'd been discovered that Z had been kidnapped from the hospital upon her birth by an old rival of her father for the affections of her mother; her reunion with Black Wild Force Ranger Daniel Delgado had been heart-wrenching. Bridge knew this because he'd been the one to arrange it), with Sky asking him not to do anything that would come back to bite him in the ass. He'd promised... but really, what would the harm be?
"Well, I guess I can tell you guys some things," Bridge began slowly putting his toast down onto the plate, the last of a rather large stack that Spencer had graciously made for him. "But, I mean, I hope that what I tell you doesn't screw up the future because then Z, Syd and Sky'd have my ass strung high on a pole for all to see. I guess it's the equivalent to the Medieval European Kings placing the heads of their enemies on a pike in front of the palace for all to see and as a warning to other enemies not to do anything else." He looked up and saw ten concerned and confused looks. Chuckling sheepishly, Bridge shrugged. Secretly, though, he was worried that he'd blurt something out that would necessitate him having to erase his new friends' memories. Kruger had insisted that he bring a smaller version of the device used to erase memories with him to preserve the timeline and he really, really, really hoped that he wouldn't have to use it.
"Do you usually vomit words?" Will asked, amused. Ronny elbowed him hard for his comment, causing the normally confident Black Ranger to falter a flash of pain moving across his face in the process.
Bridge ignored the jab and took a deep breath, wondering just what he could reveal...then he got it. "Alright, here it goes." He turned to the Overdrive Rangers. "First, just so you guys know, you do win the battle and save the Corona Aurora." The Overdrive Rangers' grins could have lit a dark stadium as they exchanged high-fives and congratulations.
Next, Bridge turned to Adam. "Your dojo becomes world-famous for producing champion upon champion, all of whom win major martial arts tournaments. Later, you combine your gym with the "Red Dragon Dojo" and "Flying Crane Gymnastics" for an all-encompassing gymnasium-dojo style setup." Adam shrugged a smile lingering on his face.
"Rocky and I were planning to do that sometime in the future, anyway, and can I assume that Kim builds "Flying Crane Gymnastics"?" After a moment's hesitation, Bridge nodded causing Adam's grin to widen. "Great. Always knew that Kim could teach."
"How about me?" Tori asked blue eyes serious. When Bridge told her that she'd become the world-famous surfer she'd always wanted to be, eventually taking on the most dangerous wave in existence somewhere in Hawaii her grin was infectious. This led Xander to enquire about the possibility of surf lessons and the laughs and chuckles that met his statement. Apparently, Xander had already tried to learn to surf a few years ago from a friend of Tori's, Dill, in Blue Bay Harbor. Needless to say, Xander hadn't fared well.
At Kira's prompting stare, Bridge confessed that her singing was going to take off and she was going to completely re-forge her friendship with Kylie Stiles. The Yellow Pterodactyl grinned and began planning what she'd say to Kylie to convince her to do another song with her for the next album.
'So far so good,' Bridge thought stuffing a piece of his toast into his mouth to calm his nerves. 'Nothing I've said so far is too revealing; really, most of them were en route to this anyway.'
"What about me, Bridge?" Xander asked his fellow Green (well, actually, he was now Red and had been Blue, but Bridge had confessed quietly that no matter what color he was, he always felt the most comfortable in Green).
Bridge hesitated, wondering what he could say. He knew that he couldn't tell Xander about how he and Trent's designs had been the original versions of SPD uniforms when Kruger first brought the organization to New Tech City, and he certainly couldn't tell him that he'd be one of the Original SPD Rangers. So, hmm, what to say?
"Well," Bridge began slowly eyes flitting back and forth from Xander to the rest of the Rangers. "You finish your time at Turtle Cove University and earn a Master's Degree in Studio Arts."
Xander leaned forward, frowning. "That's it?! That's all I do with my life?!" He leaned forward even more, unknowingly invading Bridge's personal space, causing the Red Ranger to sweat. "C'mon Bridge, there has to be something else that I do with my life!"
"Well, uh," Bridge was very nervous now. Xander was unknowingly causing him pain as the close proximity that the magic-wielder was in with his powers caused them to act up, the emotions and auras of all the people in the room viewable to him at once. Training during his time as a cadet had revealed that a lack of distance with magic-wielders had the potential to destabilize Bridge's control over his powers, meaning pain and massive headaches for the SPD Ranger.
"Xander, back off," Mack said slowly reaching out to tug the Green Mystic Ranger away from Bridge. Xander ducked though and asked Bridge again to tell him something else that happened in his life.
"You marry Vida, and then have a few kids. This is then followed by your becoming an Instructor at SPD and help found a new generation of Rangers!" Bridge blurted out breathing a sigh of relief as Xander's eyes widened. He abruptly sat back in his seat, a stunned expression on his face. After a few minutes when Xander didn't say anything, Bridge cautiously asked, "Xander? Are you okay?"
Tori snapped her fingers in front of Xander's eyes before proclaiming in mock seriousness, "You broke him, Bridge."
"Come on, Xander. It can't be all that bad," Dax commented reaching for another cookie. "From what I've heard, it's a win on your part. Vida's kind of hot." Dax suddenly leapt backwards over the couch to avoid a tackle from Xander, whose eyes were burning bright green.
"Calm down! I was just repeating something you said!" Dax protested dodging another flying tackle from the Green Mystic. As the rest of the Rangers scrambled to either get Dax out of range from Xander's attacks or get the Green Ranger under control, Adam was shocked to realize that he had heard about burning green eyes before.
'Shit, it's just like Jason was saying when he talked about Tommy's days as the Evil Green Ranger or when Kim was threatened. It's like Xander's possessed!' With that thought, Adam leapt into action, waiting until his successor flew past him to make his move. With one extended arm, Adam grabbed the back of Xander's tee shirt and tackled him to the ground, one arm pinning the Green Mystic by the neck, the other twisting an arm behind his back.
"Calm yourself, Xander," Adam commanded and as the Green Mystic struggled he added, "Now, Dax was just commenting on something he heard you say earlier. He is not a rival for Vida's affections. Right?" He glanced at Dax, who nodded feverishly in agreement eyes wide. "See? Dax knows that Vida's yours, and you know that too. Calm down." After a few minutes, Xander stopped struggling and as the Overdrive Rangers, Kira and Tori watched, fascinated, his bright green eyes faded to their usual chocolate brown.
"There. Calm now, right?" Upon getting a nod, Adam gradually helped his successor up from the ground, holding onto his arm until he was one hundred percent sure that the Green Mystic wasn't going to attempt to tackle Dax now that the Blue Overdrive's guard was down. Apparently, Eric had pulled that trick on Wes when one of their fellow Silver Guardians had remarked that the Quantum Ranger's fiancée Taylor Earhardt was smoking hot; the poor man hadn't been released from the hospital for five weeks due to the amount of injuries he'd sustained.
Xander took a deep breath, wondering just what in Infershia he'd been thinking. He shook his head, trying to free it from the cloud of irrational anger that it'd been under just a few short minutes before. Glancing around, he noted the shocked looks he was getting and berated himself for losing his cool and, therefore, his temper.
"Sorry guys. I don't know what came over me."
"You were jealous," Adam remarked letting go of Xander's arm. "Tommy went through it as well. In fact, all of us male Rangers go through it at one time or another, depending on the situation. For Tommy, his eyes glowed green, like yours, but first it was because he was evil; then, it became the signal that Kim was in danger and he had to rescue her."
Xander semi-consciously listened to Adam's words, knowing that they were true. Looking at Dax, he quickly apologized before turning to Bridge, intending to ask the Red SPD Ranger to repeat his prediction of the future when he was hit by a white beam. Shocked, the rest of the Rangers turned to the source only to be hit by the beam as well.
After a moment, Bridge smiled sadly as he reentered the living room, having just finished wiping Andrew Hartford and Spencer's memories of his being part of the "Retro Rangers". He went to leave the mansion but, thinking better of it, grabbed some cookies to bring to Z in New Tech City. Walking towards his Time Ship (the one he'd originally came in was totaled beyond repair; he always carried a spare) he climbed inside and chanced one more glance at the mansion.
"Sorry, guys. I hated having to do that, but Kruger'd have me hung up in chains if I'd not done it." As he pressed a few buttons and toggled a few switches, inputting the sequence and logarithms that would allow him safe passage home to his own time and New Tech City, he added, "Don't worry, Xander. You'll triumph in your life; all of you will. You just have to be patient and, in your case," he paused, smiling, "General Bly, learn to work together with Vida to create the basics of the magical division at SPD." With these words, the Time Ship's thrusters came online and with a belch of smoke and fire, the small silver craft lifted itself into the air and charged into a small, manmade wormhole that would allow Bridge to safely return to his time and home in New Tech City.