Chapter 109

The Potion Notion

There was no logical explanation for this, and Trent knew it the moment he opened the bathroom door and found Kira on the other side. He hadn't been able to find any hair gel, or a blow dryer, so his hair was damp and unstyled. He and Alyssa now reeked of lilacs. Kira would have heard the bathroom door lock click, and Alyssa was holding a mostly-empty bottle of vodka, and both he and Alyssa probably looked guilty beyond belief.

Trent closed his eyes and hung his head. There was no getting out of this, and he knew it. There was no way to explain what he had been doing in a locked bathroom with a girl and a bottle of alcohol that required a shower. Maybe, if Alyssa wasn't so good-looking, if she wasn't a fellow White Ranger like Trent, maybe he would have had a shot. But chances were Kira was going to dump him.

He wasn't going to let that happen, of course. He was going to fight for her. There would be flowers, every yellow flower he could find, and there would be candy, and expensive gifts, and maybe mixed tapes. Kira would like mixed tapes; she was a musician, after all. There would be mushy cards and love notes, weepy answering machines messages, and a million other sappy, debasing, desperate attempts to regain Kira's affections. Conner and Ethan would back him up, especially after Conner's determined announcement that nothing would ruin the team, and Hayley and Dr. O would most likely have some sage advice. There was no point in trying to explain now—now she would scream, and cry, and probably hit (he really wasn't looking forward to the hitting, but the crying and screaming weren't going to be much better), and nothing he could say would keep her from being furious with him. He'd wait until she calmed down and stopped throwing things, and then the begging would begin.

"Trent called you his sunrise."

Trent's eyes snapped open at Alyssa's words. He wasn't sure what to do with regards to Alyssa at all. Trent had never cheated before, and he'd certainly never accidentally presented proof of cheating before, so he was a little murky on the other woman's involvement in these situations. Breakups he knew about, and angry girlfriends in general, but this was definitely a new one.

Kira frowned at Alyssa, looking confused—more confused than angry, Trent thought, but the copious amounts of vodka he'd ingested made it a little hard to remember what Trent knew of Kira's facial expressions. Alyssa, in a nervous but soothing tone, continued. "You're Kira, right? Trent told me about you. How much he cares about you. I'm Alyssa Enrile, White Wild Force Ranger."

Alyssa fell silent, seemingly waiting for Kira's move. Trent glanced back and forth between them with wide eyes, his head protesting the constant movement. He wondered if Alyssa could take Kira. Probably; she'd been a Ranger longer and her dad was a dojo owner, if he remembered correctly. Was Kira the type to attack in this situation? He wasn't sure. He'd seen her chase Conner down a few times, sure, but everyone did that.

He had to think, come up with some way to get things calm so he could explain himself. Unfortunately he was beyond unprepared for this; the moment he'd seen Kira he'd abandoned any hope of getting her to listen to him and started planning the next few months of winning back her trust. He hadn't even considered the idea that he could maybe talk his way out of this. Alyssa had been right about how good she was with people. Hopefully she would have some idea of where to go from here…

After a lengthy pause, Kira opened her mouth to reply and Trent braced himself, mentally and physically, for the worst. "Kira Ford," Kira told Alyssa calmly. "Trent, your dad's looking for you."

Trent gaped at her, unable to believe that this was really happening. "Uh… you're… you're not mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"You looked mad when I opened the door."

"That was because Conner told me you were showering with Alyssa," Kira replied in exasperation. There was a swatting sound.

"Ow!" Conner complained. Conner slunk into view; he had apparently been lurking on the other side of the doorjamb, out of sight. "I thought he was showering with Alyssa."

Kira rolled her eyes. "Look—he's wet, she's not. They weren't in there together. It didn't occur to you that he was just getting drunk with her and took a shower so his dad wouldn't know he'd been drinking?"

"Uh, no. Why would that occur to me?" Conner demanded. "I didn't know Trent drinks. Since when does Trent drink? Alone in locked bathrooms with good-looking girls who aren't his girlfriend?"

"He isn't twenty-one and Dr. O and Hayley are here," Kira pointed out. "He and Alyssa locked themselves in so they wouldn't get caught. Duh."

"Oh, I'm so glad you aren't mad," Alyssa said in relief. "Trent and I were just talking, but when Conner told us Trent's dad was here we panicked. I know it probably looks a little strange—"

"Please. I'm in a band, and we're all under twenty-one," Kira scoffed. "I'm not much of a drinker myself, but my drummer's been arrested three times for one form of intoxication or another, and that's not counting his juvenile record." Kira shook her head. "I should have known this was just Conner being Conner. Do you need some gum or something?"

Trent stared at her, trying to shake off the love poems he'd been preparing about how he was nothing without her. "Alyssa found me a toothbrush," he muttered.

"Nice move," Kira said approvingly. Alyssa thanked her and Kira beckoned to Trent. "Come on. Put your arm around me, so Dr. Mercer won't notice if you stumble. How much alcohol have you had, anyway?"

"Too much," Trent admitted. "I haven't had much to drink recently, either; tolerance isn't what it used to be."

"I don't even want to know what it used to be," Kira muttered as Trent slipped his arm around her shoulders.

"You are the perfect girl, you know that?" Trent told her, relief washing over him.

"Yeah, but it's nice to be told."

Ethan came skidding around the corner. "Guys! Guys, I just—whoa. Not the scene I was expecting." Ethan stared at Trent and Kira, then behind them to a sheepish Conner, then at Trent's wet hair. "Huh. He really does look like he was showering."

"He was trying out Adam and Tanya's hot tub," Kira said. "That's what we're telling Dr. Mercer, anyway."

"False alarm," Conner told Ethan with a sigh. "Sorry, guys."

Kira shrugged. "We're used to it. Let's get down there before they get suspicious. Dr. O and Dr. Mercer are probably wondering where Trent is."

"Um, I kind of accidentally told them Trent was showering with Alyssa," Ethan said apologetically. "Principal Randall, too."

"Oh, great," Trent groaned.

"You told Dr. O and Dr. Mercer that Trent was showering with Alyssa and Principal Randall?" Conner repeated in confusion. "Principal Randall wasn't in the shower with them; she's downstairs."

"Shut up, Conner," Ethan growled. To Kira and Trent, he added, "At least I mentioned it was Conner who told me. That should help."

"This oughtta be some interesting music to face," Kira said, sighing.

"Um, do you mind if I don't face it?" Alyssa asked. "I mean, I'll come along if you want me to, but I'm really drunk and I'm not up for seeing Tommy and I don't know how much good I can really do if I—"

"It's cool," Trent said. "Come downstairs, though, would you? I'm done drinking for the day but we should definitely hang more. I want you to meet Kira, too—like I said, I think you'll like her."

Alyssa nodded and fell into step behind them. "I don't have to come, either, do I?" Conner asked hopefully.

"Conner, you can't tell someone's girlfriend that they're showering in a bathroom with another girl and not be there when he has to explain… I don't know, whatever just happened… to his father," Ethan said sternly.

Conner glared at him. "That is so not a rule."

"It is now," Kira said darkly. To Trent, she added, "Don't worry—I'm sure it'll go fine."

"You're drunk," Anton accused Trent.

Trent's jaw dropped. He'd been so careful. He'd kept his arm around Kira, he hadn't gotten close enough for his father to have a chance of smelling vodka beneath the lilacs, he'd been careful to enunciate every word properly and he'd perfectly executed a lie about finding Adam and Tanya's hot tub. What now?

Trent opened his mouth to do the only thing he could do—deny it with as much wounded dignity as he could muster—when Ethan, who had gotten the full story on the way from the bathroom, blurted out, "Whoa, how could you tell?"

"Ethan," Kira hissed, throwing an elbow at him.

"Ooh… sorry," Ethan said, wincing.

Trent sighed, knowing there was nothing left to do but come clean. "How mad are you?" he asked his father.

Anton shook his head. "You're a good kid, Trent. I guess one night of debauchery won't kill you. I'll save the 'evils of alcohol' speech for when we get home." He jerked his head at the patio doors. "Go. Have fun. Lay off the booze."

Trent's face lit up, scarcely able to believe it. "I will. I promise. Thanks," he said, hurrying off as fast as possible, Conner and Kira and Ethan on his heels.

Anton turned to Tommy, who had been nonchalantly trying to sidle off into the darkness beyond what lights were still working on the patio. "Well, Tommy. I left my son in your care, and so far he's ordered pornography, helped destroy the Angel Grove Mall, gotten drunk, taken a shower with a girl who wasn't his girlfriend while under attack from extraterrestrial robots, and who knows what else that I've yet to discover. Anything you'd like to say in your defense?"

Tommy grimaced. "Uh… at least he's still alive?"

Anton chuckled at Tommy's discomfort, reminded strongly of years ago when Tommy was still his grad student, always getting into scrapes of one sort or another. "So far," he said. "The night is young."

Tommy groaned. "Don't remind me."

Anton stopped outside the door to the study, where Tanya sat making phone calls. Elsa was now chatting up a storm with Karone; apparently Elsa had considered Astronema something of an inspiration while evil and Karone had been curious to meet another reformed evil villainess. Tommy had been monopolized by a strange fellow called Trip who said he looked forward to working with Anton before begging for a sparring match with the original Green Ranger. The Dino Rangers had vanished into the recesses of the mansion, and Anton figured it might be best to let them go and hope they stayed out of trouble. He hadn't seen Hayley at all, during the alien attack or afterwards. So he had decided to seek out Tanya and ask her a few things about her parents.

Tanya smiled at him over the desk and waved him in, holding up a finger. He nodded in acknowledgment and waited while she spoke into the receiver, apparently leaving a voicemail.

"Hey, Julius, it's me, Tanya Sloan. Gonna have to completely redo the landscaping again. You won't believe what happened to it this time! Was hoping you could come by Monday and give me an estimate—call me on the cell when you get a chance, okay? Thanks. Bye!" Tanya hung up. "What can I do for you, Dr. Mercer?"

"I just wanted to introduce myself," Anton said, "though apparently someone's beat me to it."

"Nobody had to. We all knew about you; Tommy kept us updated on his experiments with you and we were pretty worried when you went missing. Then when the island sank… well, that's water under the ocean now. Anyway, I'm Tanya Sloan." She held out a hand, which he shook.

"Andrew Hartford informs me that you're Gabe and Ada Sloan's girl?"

"That's right—do you know them?"

Anton nodded. "I used to. Our interests overlapped on occasion, as they did with Andrew. I don't believe they know I resurfaced."

"I'm sure they'll be glad to hear about it," Tanya said. "I had no idea you were friends."

"I had no idea their daughter was a famous singer, let alone the Yellow Zeo Ranger," Anton replied. "Are they aware that you're…?"

"Oh, they know. Mine are some of the only Ranger parents who do know, though I hear Billy's dad figured it out and a couple of family members here and there know—Zack's cousin, Conner's brother. I rescued Mom and Dad when they vanished looking for the lost tiki of Auric; I had to tell them something to explain how I did that, and Zordon gave me permission to let them in on the secret. Zordon was our mentor," she added, seeing Anton's confusion at the name.

"Disappearing is apparently a habit in our field," Anton said with a smile. "I was hoping you could put me in touch with them. Now that Mesogog is gone, I see no reason not to look up my old friends—though I'm betting it'll be fairly awkward."

Tanya nodded and reached for a pad of stationary and a pen. "Here, I'll give you their number," she said. "My advice? Go ahead and tell them about the evil villain thing. They're pretty understanding, and they know about me being the Yellow Ranger and Tommy being the Red, so it's not like they can't keep a secret. They've met quite a few Power Rangers and I've had to have Lightspeed bail them out of a jam more than once; me and Adam have had to rescue them ourselves on occasion. I don't think they'll be mad at you or anything; they know what it's like to have something weird come up."

Anton smiled. "Thank you. Now if I could just figure out what I'm going to say to Andrew Hartford."

Tanya made a face. "That poor dear. I can't explain half the stuff I've accidentally done to him. This ain't the first time something like space pirates has happened. But, then, all's well that ends with defeating an army of evil robots, right?"

Anton chuckled. "I suppose. Oh—are the Ninja Storm Rangers here, by the way?"

"Conner got in touch with his brother who goes to one of the ninja academies, and he said the Ninja Storm team had some sort of accident with a holographic robot—I guess robot problems are going around—and they're still on the road. They'll be in Angel Grove tomorrow, though."

"Good. Well, I'd best check on Trent and then go have a talk with Andrew Hartford." Anton stood up.

"Okay. I've still got a few more calls to make; I think my waterslide might still be under warranty, but if not my insurance company should cover it. Aliens apparently count under the home invasion clause."

Anton wished her luck and left, heading back towards the living room, where the bulk of the partying was taking place now that sixty percent of the patio had been destroyed. He was just passing the dining room when a girl in pink stepped into his path. "Dr. Anton Mercer," she said.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I'm Jennifer Scotts," she said, "Pink Ranger and leader of Time Force."

She didn't extend her hand for Anton to shake, and he didn't offer his, knowing that etiquette dictated a woman should offer her hand first. "Time Force?" he repeated, racking his brains for what little he knew of the Time Force Rangers. "Weren't they led by a Red Ranger named Wes?"

She nodded. "They were. Wes is in charge of the Silver Guardians now, and we've been back in the future. We've returned indefinitely now, with a different Red Ranger, Marcus, active in Wes's place, and I've been named lead." She hesitated. "I'm sorry. This is awkward."

"How so?" Anton asked politely. He appreciated her introduction, but he couldn't think why she was being so formal about it. Tommy had introduced him to a number of people before being waylaid by Trip and most of them had just smiled and shaken Anton's hand or waved.

"I had a speech prepared," she said, "but I'm having trouble remembering all of it. I don't know why I expected this party to be a little more… well, serious, but they left a lot of things out. They didn't even mention the alien attack."

"They? The future, you mean?" Anton asked, his interest piqued. Why would she have a speech prepared for him, and what did she know of the future?

"Yes. They gave me a list of basic details, most of which I committed to memory, but I figured my encounter with you and the others I'm here to meet would be a tad more official. I can't even find Marcus, and seeing Wes… well, that's not the point. I've come to recruit you, Dr. Mercer, for a mission of the utmost importance. It's your destiny."

Anton stared at her, stunned. "I'm sorry?" What were they serving at this party, anyway?

"Time Force is an organization that keeps the peace in Millennium City, roughly a thousand years in the future," Jen explained. "It's my job to found that organization—or rather, its predecessor. According to history, you're deeply involved in the project."

Anton continued his incredulous staring for a moment. "I'm… you're saying I'm going to create Time Force?"

Jen nodded, seeming pleased that he'd caught on. "Yes. You're one of the people we were sent here to recruit."

Anton couldn't quite wrap his brain around this. He had already lived a rather eventful life; it was daunting to realize that his destiny wasn't even close to finished. Starting an organization that would outlast him by a thousand years…

"You're sure about this?" he asked faintly.

She nodded. "Positive. It's our history. Our destiny. Well, that always gets a little confusing. In the year 3003, I was told that it was my team's destiny to return to 2004 and recruit a team to found the Earth chapter of what will later be known as Space Patrol Delta. Eventually, in 2578, I believe, time travel technology will be perfected and regulated, leading to the conversion of S.P.D. to Time Force. I wanted to introduce myself as quickly as possible and lay the groundwork for our working relationship—you are instrumental to the team."

"I am?" Anton asked, unable to believe he could be further startled at this point.

"Yes. You're a leading scientist, and your advancements as Mesogog can now be transferred to our side. There are a great many things to discuss, but we've got time to discuss them. I just wanted to touch base with you and some of the others while I'm here."

"Who are the others?" he asked. "This team you're recruiting."

"Your wife, Elizabeth Randall—"

"Wife?" Anton demanded, his shock increasing tenfold; if this kept up he was going to die of heart failure before he got to work on anything she was talking about.

"Sorry," Jen said, cringing apologetically. "It's a little hard to keep the timeline straight."

"Yes," Anton said in a strangled voice. "I suppose it would be. Well, that's… encouraging."

Jen cleared her throat. "Elizabeth Randall is one. Hayley Tate is two—I believe you're well-acquainted with her?" Anton nodded, dazed. "Three is Ethan James, whom you've met of course. Danny Delgado from Wild Force is four; he's a plant specialist, meant to function as your assistant. I hear you do a lot of work in botany."

"Yes, it's a specialty of mine," Anton agreed. "That was what led me to paleontology—extinct plant life."

"There are three from Ninja Storm—"

"Ninja Rangers?" Anton asked, perking up.

"Only one of them. Cameron Watanabe, the Green Samurai Ranger. He's their technical advisor and will be a great asset to us. His cousins Marah and Kapri will be joining the team also—they were raised among evil villains and have traveled throughout the universe, giving them a wealth of useful information. Then there's Andros from the Space Rangers, and Dr. Manx, an alien and a brilliant scientist. The other five come from my team—Marcus Barstow, Lucas Kendall, Trip Regis, Katie Walker, and myself."

"Ah," Anton said. He shook his head. "I'm sorry. It's a bit much to take in."

"I understand." She held out a slip of paper to him. "Here. This is Wes's number; we're moving out to Silver Hills to set up shop, temporarily of course. I imagine we'll be moving to your laboratory soon."

"My… what?"

"Your laboratory? History says most of the early experiments are conducted there."

"I don't have a laboratory," Anton said blankly. "I mean, I do, but it's been destroyed. It hasn't been rebuilt yet. We have months of work to do, Elsa and I."

"We'll help you," Jen said. "As will the Silver Guardians. Eventually, once we get things going, we'll merge our work with the Silver Guardian task force and begin the Space Patrol Delta Ranger training program in Silver Hills, which of course is going to become New Tech City in 2015, but that's getting ahead of myself."

"Is there anything left behind yourself?" he asked.

She laughed. "Plenty. They were right—you do have a sense of humor. Well, I still have to touch base with a few of the others—will you excuse me?" Anton nodded. "We'll be in touch, of course." With that, Jen vanished into the dining room, leaving Anton to stare into space, dumbfounded.

The chiming of a grandfather clock went off eventually, making him jump. It was now half past midnight—he was supposed to be at Andrew's house in ten minutes, and he still had to pick his way across the lawn full of demolished robots. Reflecting on his encounter with Jen could wait; now he had to figure out what he was going to tell his old friend about his disappearance.

"What you drinking?" Jason asked Tommy, coming over to where Tommy was relaxing after his sparring match with Trip on what remained of the patio wall.

"Water," Tommy replied. "Should probably head back to Angel Grove soon."

Jason made a noncommittal noise. "First couple hours of the party, I thought, 'This is great. Forget all the drama back home, hang out at Tanya's place.'" He shook his head. "Then the aliens attacked."

Tommy snorted. "Yeah. Figures as much. I haven't had powers for three whole weeks; guess the universe couldn't resist throwing a battle at me."

"You've had other battles recently," Jason commented nonchalantly.

Tommy groaned. "This is our heart-to-heart talk about Kim, isn't it."

Jason laughed. "Yep." Jason sat down beside him. "Look, man, I'll keep it brief. Don't let her get away again."

Tommy waited, but Jason didn't continue. "'Don't let her get away again,' that's it?"

Jason shrugged. "Need I say more?"

"You did sit down," Tommy pointed out indignantly. "That implied it was something longer. You could have loomed over me threateningly if that's all you were gonna say. How about some, I don't know, words of wisdom or something? Advice on how to keep her or…?"

"Nah," Jason said. "I'll let you flail through that one on your own. It'll give me far more opportunities to laugh at you that way."

Tommy glared at him. "Shouldn't you be having sex with Trini or something?"

"Already did," Jason replied with a grin. "So. The Kim thing. Don't screw up. I'm gonna go get plastered; Zack's driving back."

"Make sure you remind Zack of that," Tommy said. Jason grunted in acknowledgment and went back inside, leaving Tommy alone on the patio.

Tommy sighed and stared absently out at the robots littering the lawn. He was going to need a plan, and soon. He couldn't just leave things with Kimberly to chance, not when chance had slipped him a letter destroying their relationship.

The trouble was he had no idea how to prepare for this. He'd come up with a few plans before, of course, but they almost always involved strangling a faceless male gymnast. His most recent plans had been a little less focused on the guy from Kimberly's letter, but they had also been built around the idea that Kimberly had dumped him. Skull had really thrown a wrench in things, as usual. What now?

Nothing, replied the internal voice that sounded suspiciously like Hayley. Now we have fun. We ignore Kimberly and we party. Before the NEXT alien attack.

Tommy glanced down at his cup of water. "Aw, screw it," he said, tossing its contents out onto the ground—or rather, onto the exposed wiring of a mostly-demolished robot. Tommy ignored the sizzling pop of current and the handful of sparks the robot emitted, turning to go back inside. He'd make one of the Dino Rangers drive home or something, provided they were all still alive and sober; right now he was taking a break.

"Dr. O. Hey, Dr. O, wake up."

Tommy opened his eyes and found himself curled up in the passenger side of his Jeep, Zack's Ninja Turtles blanket thrown over him. Trent was sitting in the driver's seat, smiling encouragingly at him. "How do you feel?" Trent asked.

Tommy wasn't sure how to answer that question. He felt fine—wide-awake and free of any hangover side effects, which he presumed had something to do with yesterday's dose of Aquitian water, but the last thing he remembered was elbowing his way into a circle of Yellows for tequila shots. Tommy reached up to rub the sleep from his eyes. "Okay, I guess. Where am I?"

"In the parking lot of the hotel. Most of the lot was full, so we're pretty far from the door."

"How'd I get here?"

"The long version, or the short version?" Trent asked.

Tommy groaned. "There's a long version?"

"After the conga line—"

"Conga line?"

"Kira says you're paying for her therapy bills."

"Oh, god." Tommy sighed. "After the conga line?" he prompted.

"You professed your love to Jen. We think you thought she was Kimberly."

"Oh, no. Did someone explain that to her?"

"She was making out with Wes at the time. I don't think she really noticed you."

Tommy pinched the bridge of his nose, searching desperately through his memory banks. Most of what he could recall from the previous day revolved around Skull and Kimberly, not the party. He could remember the hang glider crash, the aliens attacking… Anton catching Trent getting drunk in the shower with Alyssa… something about Tommy being mad at Ryan involving Hayley and a lizard… not much else. "How bad is this story?"

"Let's just say it ended when we found you playing strip poker with Kelsey. You were down to your jeans and one sock." Tommy groaned again; Trent's mouth twitched but he managed to keep most of the amusement from his voice. "Conner wanted to wait and see if you got her bra off, but the Blue Ranger from Lightspeed came in and said the world was about to be short one original Ranger. Or something. I don't know, it happened kind of fast. You told him he had kind eyes and passed out. If it's any consolation, you had a straight flush and you so would have won the next hand."

Tommy let his head thunk back against the headrest and squeezed his eyes shut. "Remind me to call Chad later."

"Oh, he's not mad at you anymore. We told him you thought every brunette girl was Kimberly and he calmed down, said he was overreacting and took over your hand. That's how we know what cards you had." Trent cleared his throat. "Anyway, Hayley got you dressed while Conner and I found Ethan."

"Yeah?" Tommy asked wearily, his eyes still closed. "What was Ethan up to?"

"Apparently every time Carter gets wasted he hides somewhere and occasionally kidnaps people, did you know that?"

"Found out at Jason and Trini's wedding. He had two of Trini's cousins and Jason's dad under the buffet table. Convinced them they were hiding from enemy soldiers or monsters or something. If you ever get married, don't make it open bar if you plan on inviting Rangers."

"I'll keep that in mind. Anyway, Ethan was in a closet with him and Carlos. Good thing Max and Danny had put their coats in there or we might never have found Ethan."

"Probably not. Took an Aquitian Ranger getting in a fight with the bartender for us to find him at the wedding. Did Kira come out unscathed?"

"You mean other than the hang glider crash? You remember that, right?"

"Yeah, vaguely. How'd she do after that?"

"She was more or less fine."

"How about you? I ought to kick your ass for drinking."

"Sorry about that. Rough week, you know?" Trent said sheepishly. Tommy snorted and nodded, figuring Trent's record was clean enough to earn a little forgiveness. "Anyway, yeah, I sobered up. I, uh, kind of punched out Lucas, but we—"

"What? Why?"

"He was hitting on Kira," Trent grumbled. "Even though I saw him come out of a bathroom with Cassie while I was helping Dana look for Carter."

"Lucas is like that, but he's harmless. Do I need to keep you two separated tomorrow?"

"Nah. He told me it's my future to marry Kira. We're cool now."

Tommy's eyes flew open as he realized what the Time Force Rangers might know about him and Kimberly. "Really."

"Yeah. I mean, there's a good chance he was just trying to make nice, cuz it almost wound up a huge brawl with me and Conner and Kira and against Lucas and Katie and Trip—"

"Wonder who would have won that fight," Tommy muttered in spite of himself.

"—but all the same it was nice of him to say it. Kira's a little freaked out, and Katie told him he shouldn't have said that about us, and then Lucas said she was the one telling Ethan she's his descendant, but in the end there was a round of apologies and Lucas and I did a little friendly sparring out in the yard; he says I've got a great right cross but my uppercut needs work. He's one to talk, with a roundhouse like that," Trent added good-naturedly.

"Uh-huh." Tommy sighed. "Do I even want to ask about Conner?"

"Hey, Conner's the one who stopped Kira from doing Jell-O shots. Once he realized what Jell-O shots were." Trent gave Tommy an apologetic look. "She might have been on number four by that point, but Kira says we can't prove anything and she's got a point. Plus, you know, it was right after Lucas told her it was her destiny to marry me; I don't know about you, but I can't blame her."

Tommy rolled his eyes. "Where are the others now?"

"Jason and Trini took Conner and Billy back to their place; they're coming back here soon to drive over to the park with us. Hayley, Zack, Kimberly, Kira and Ethan are upstairs; they're all getting ready. We figured we'd let you sleep a while, because you drank Aquitian water, but Jason fell asleep on the couch for a minute back at Tanya's and he's fine, and Billy says he thinks morphing may have destroyed the water's effects, or maybe you've all built up a tolerance. Anyway, that's why I was nominated to wake you up—I got ready first because I'm the only one who drank and didn't morph, so I'm not supposed to sleep. The others already grabbed a couple hours. You've been asleep since about four, maybe."

"What time is it now?"

"Almost eight in the morning. Rocky, Adam, Aisha and Tanya are meeting us at the park at nine. Well, we think Rocky's coming, anyway; he never came back from Carmen's house. Better hurry—you should have the shower free in your and Zack's room; the others already had theirs. And Hayley's organizing your stuff for you, so that should speed things up."

Tommy breathed a sigh of relief. He had forgotten Hayley was here. Hayley, his rock, his other half, his go-to girl for all his problems. With any luck, she'd make things go a lot more smoothly… though if he was being honest with himself, he knew nothing was going to go smoothly anytime soon. He let out another sigh, this one more weary than relieved.

Trent grinned, as if guessing his thoughts. "Better get a move on, Dr. O," he said, popping the Jeep's door handle. "It's Power Rangers Day."

End Notes: By the way, we make no guarantees as to the parentage of the S.P.D. Rangers. You have your list of those involved in the experiment, but rest assured we'll be throwing curveballs. Big, fast, painful curveballs that nail you in the parts of the head unprotected by your batting helmet.

We had intended to drag the party out into a pit of thoroughly psychotic chaos, but the story sometimes refuses to let its authors decide the details. I can't really complain, though—call me crazy, but I think we've waited long enough for Power Rangers Day.

Gathered a few hints for you guys:

1) Kimberly regarded Hayley thoughtfully for a moment. "Are we really that weird?"

2) "All those years as a superhero making excuses for strange behavior, and that's all you've got? Tell them that you're dead?"

3) "Oh, thank god you're here," Jason groaned as Trini, Aisha, Tanya and Hayley came walking up. "Tommy's gonna be here any minute, and someone sensible has to break the news to him."

4) The other Ninja Rangers gaped at him. "Dude, that is cold," Dustin said, sounding impressed.