Chapter 110

Doomsday

Kimberly watched as Hayley sorted methodically through Tommy's clothing. Hayley had muttered something about him having bad habits and had started organizing all his belongings. Something about the way Hayley moved, with purpose and certainty and no regard for what Tommy might think of her actions, led Kimberly to believe that this was a common thing for Hayley. Once again, Kimberly found herself wondering about the nature of Hayley and Tommy's relationship; while she'd heard enough testimony to believe it was strictly platonic, it definitely seemed unusual. Hayley was obviously close to Tommy, probably what a psychologist would call "unhealthily" close, and she was in on the secret, which had to put a unique twist on things.

"Do you do this a lot?" Kimberly asked.

Hayley froze for a moment over the drawer of clothes she was refolding. Zack and Kira were over in Ethan and Trent's room at the moment; Kimberly assumed Hayley would have been more comfortable if Kimberly had gone with them, but Kimberly had to admit she was fascinated by Hayley and wanted to get to know her better. In the aftermath of Skull's confession and yesterday's conversation with Hayley in the Jeep, Kimberly felt a strong sense of curiosity and gratitude towards Hayley, and Kimberly figured if she really was going to be in Tommy's life from now on, Hayley would be a part of it.

"Yes," Hayley said after a long pause. "Picking out his clothes is difficult for him, what with the color blend. Some days he feels more one color than the others, and some days he has to have them all evenly represented."

Kimberly frowned, finding it an odd chore to require a friend's help, in spite of Tommy's color issues. "How'd you wind up helping him with that? Was it while you were dating?"

"Before that, actually," Hayley muttered, continuing her organization of Tommy's belongings. "We lived together as roommates first. Tommy's terrible at laundry. It was easier to do it myself than to let him dye all our clothing or shrink things. I still can't figure out what he did to my college sweater."

Kimberly smiled. "He relies on you a lot."

"I rely on him a lot," Hayley said. "He does a lot of the grunt work when it comes to fixing things. I enjoy experimenting and solving things, but Tommy lifts the heavy stuff and does general maintenance and he's always there for me."

Kimberly absorbed this. "Still… it seems like you do more for him. Keep him organized, remind him of things, help him fight the evil monsters that are attacking…"

Hayley sighed and tossed socks into Tommy's suitcase with a little more force than necessary. "He keeps life interesting."

Kimberly snorted. "I bet."

"The thing about me, Kim," Hayley explained, "is that my role in life is helping others. That's why I left the technology business and opened a café where I could help people learn about computers and listen to their problems. I'm a bartender and tech support all in one; that's how I met Ethan, long before the Dino Rangers began—he was there on opening day. Anyway, I'm in the zone when I'm helping Tommy. I'm a crisis girl; I thrive on making sense of the chaos. When things go wrong, I fix them. That's what I do and that's where I'm happiest. Tommy has a lot of crazy things happening to or caused by him, but more than that… he needs me. Oh, he could survive without me, I'm sure, but I like that he lets himself depend on me. I need someone to need me or I'm the useless one. That's what I get from Tommy—a purpose. Whether it's evil dinosaur-based monsters attacking the city or Tommy getting his foot stuck in the kitchen sink drain."

"…He got his foot stuck in the kitchen sink drain?"

"Twice. Once in college, once while he was invisible. That was an interesting problem."

Kimberly chuckled. "Mind giving me some details?"

"Kim…" Hayley sighed and turned to face her; Kimberly suddenly realized that this was the first time since the Jeep that Hayley had looked her in the eye. "I'm not ready for this."

"Not ready for what?" Kimberly's eyes narrowed, upset that Hayley was blowing her off. "What, are you still rebounding? Did you recently break up with another of Tommy's ex-girlfriends?"

Hayley smiled faintly. "It's nothing personal. It's just that…" She sighed again. "Look, Kimberly, no offense, but I don't know you."

"That's what I'm trying to change," Kimberly pointed out.

"I know, but… what I mean is… to me, you were always the bitch who dumped Tommy and left him with a slew of relationship issues. I have all this… this misplaced anger towards you, on Tommy's behalf. I didn't know who you were, and I still don't. I just don't think it's a good idea for us to bond until… until I can compartmentalize, you know? Learn to see you as 'Kimberly, the girl who used to date Tommy before a freak accident' instead of 'Kimberly, the girl who broke Tommy's heart.' Right now I just… I look at you, and I see the source of a major headache for me and a major heartache for him. I don't see you. Give me some time, okay? Let me reprogram myself."

Kimberly thought this over, then nodded. "I guess I can see that. We're all going to have to do that. God, poor Skull." She put her hands over her face. "That boy can't stay out of trouble for a minute. You know he stole an experimental ship from NASADA to go after Bulk when Bulk and Professor Phenomenus accidentally took off on Terra Venture without him? I heard about it on the news. I don't know how he got out of that one; they had his face on the security footage and everything."

"Tommy's told me stories, but I only met them a few times before now," Hayley said. "I used to think Tommy was making it up. I figured any two people that crazy had to be exaggerated."

"Bulk and Skull need no exaggerations." Kimberly sighed. "Look, I get that you have this story of my history with Tommy that needs some drastic rewrites. But… sooner or later, you're going to have to get over it." She sat up straight, looking Hayley determinedly in the eye. "I'm going to be in Tommy's life now. I don't know what's going to happen, with me or him or us or whatever, but I'm not going anywhere. Tommy's back in my life. Girlfriend or not, we were friends and we were teammates and I deserve to reclaim that, if nothing else. Me and Tommy both do."

Hayley shrugged. "I know you do. I'm not going to stop you. I want what's best for Tommy; I think you're aware of that. I just need to figure out where to put you." Hayley smiled. "Look, Kimberly, I want you to remember something about me, okay?"

"What's that?"

"I'm not one of you."

Kimberly stared at her. "Huh?"

"I'm not one of you."

"You mean… you're not a Ranger?" Kimberly asked, confused.

"I mean I'm not a whack job!" Hayley exclaimed. Seeing Kimberly's affronted expression, she hastily calmed down and added, "Kimberly… you guys are from a different world than I am. Forget Rangers, forget powers, forget anything else—you have destinies. Big important crazy destinies and I don't. You're the ones the powers that be are interested in, not me. I'm useful, I'm helpful, I'm there for Tommy and anyone who needs me. But this isn't my story. This isn't my universe. I've just been sucked into it by some goofball who needed some help figuring out the ropes of college. I'm not built for your antics, yours or Tommy's or Conner's or anyone else's. I've never been kidnapped or shot or visited another planet or had a vision quest! I need time and space to process things because I don't live in a world where weird is commonplace and normal is simple. Normal is hard, Kim. It's hard for me, anyway. If my best friend finds out that the girl who dumped him didn't actually dump him but rather thought he dumped her because some lunatic they used to know was taking a self-help course, I'm gonna need a minute to handle that. I don't change gears the way you people do. I haven't had nearly enough practice."

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

Hayley grimaced. "I wish I could say something comforting, or at least tactful, but in a word? Yes. You are that weird and you always have been. Before Zordon recruited you, before Rita kidnapped Tommy, before any of that ever occurred. That's why it happened to you, Kimberly—it didn't make you that way." She shook her head ruefully. "When I first met Ethan, I thought there was something different about him. I thought, 'Here's an unusual kid,' but I couldn't think how he was unusual. He was smarter than most, nicer than most, had a good sense of humor and a thirst for life and a cheerful disposition, but none of that was really strange; you can find those qualities in a lot of people. Yet he kept… well… reminding me of Tommy." Kimberly burst into giggles.

"Who reminded you of Tommy?" Tommy asked, pushing open the hotel room door.

"Ethan did," Hayley replied.

"Oh, yeah," Tommy said vaguely. "I remember you telling me about him before he became a Dino Ranger. We could never figure out why he reminded you of me, though, right?"

"Nope," Hayley said dryly. Kimberly's giggles increased in volume.

Tommy looked at Kimberly curiously, then decided not to ask. "I need a shower," Tommy told Hayley. "Jason just called; he's on his way with Trini and Billy. You look tired; are you okay?"

"I'm hanging in there," she said wearily.

Something about her tone sent Kimberly into hysterics. Tommy cast Kimberly a suspicious look, then turned back to Hayley. "Do I want to know what you did to Kimberly?"

"Nothing important," Hayley said.

Tommy shrugged. "Okay. Hey—why am I remembering something involving you, Ryan and a lizard?" Kimberly began choking on her laughter.

"Don't worry about it," Hayley told him. "Ryan and I forgave you."

Tommy frowned, then shrugged. "Whatever. Hey, see if you can find where I put my earrings for me?" Hayley nodded. "Thanks."

Tommy disappeared into the bathroom and Hayley looked at Kimberly, who was clutching her stomach as she fought to regain control of herself. "And there you have it," Hayley said. "Now that I've coordinated his wardrobe I just have to wait until he's clean so I can force him into a replica of his own superhero costume and take him to the park so he can sign autographs without revealing his identity. And the boy doesn't even blink about how weird that is."

"I'm sure you'll get used to it," Kimberly consoled her.

"I don't want to get used to it," Hayley retorted darkly. "I want to keep blinking about how weird it is, thank you very much. The moment you're used to it, the weirdness has won."

Kimberly grinned. "I think I'll just go see how the others are doing." Hayley nodded and returned to sorting Tommy's stuff. Kimberly stood up and headed for the door, then paused and turned back to ask, "Hayley? Do you ever regret it?"

"Regret what, specifically?" Hayley asked.

"Tommy. Being a part of Tommy's world. I know that can't be easy for you. It wasn't easy for me, and I'm… 'built for it,' to use your words."

Hayley gave her a faint smile. "On the bad days, the really weird and stressful ones, sometimes I think to myself, 'What am I doing here?' But in the end, no. I don't regret it. I wouldn't give him up for the world, insanity and all. I might be normal, but… I think Tommy needs a little normal. And I need to be needed."

Kimberly nodded and turned to go, but Hayley called, "Do you ever regret it? Your history with Tommy?"

"Never," Kimberly replied, and left without looking back.

At eight fifteen, Jason, Trini, Billy and Conner found everyone in Ethan and Trent's room, Zack and Kimberly telling Ethan, Trent and Kira about the day Zordon had recruited them. "We have a problem," Jason announced the minute Billy closed the door behind him.

"Does it have anything to do with why Conner's wearing Billy's helmet?" Kimberly asked.

"Huh?" Jason shook his head. "That's just cuz he's banned and we didn't want any trouble from the hotel staff."

"Isn't that kind of conspicuous?" Trent asked.

"Actually no," Jason replied. "We saw all sorts of costumes and stuff on the way here. That's when we got the idea to put it on him; we were just gonna leave him in the car."

"It's mostly Ranger suits, but I also saw Wonder Woman, Batman, a crowd of Sailor Scouts and what I think might have been a bunch of people from Street Fighter," Conner added. "And we almost pulled over to kick a monster's butt before we realized it was fake."

"Lord Zedd, no less," Trini said dryly. "It was an excellent representation."

"Who in their right minds…?" Kimberly wondered, then shook her head. "Never mind. Tell us what the problem is."

"Basically," Jason said, "we just realized that the last time we did this, we were all able to morph. Now you and Tommy and Billy have to change into the suits. How exactly are we going to get you guys into them in the middle of the park?"

An uneasy silence settled over the group. "They have public bathrooms," Zack suggested.

Jason shook his head. "That place is going to be packed. Throwing on a real Power Rangers costume in a public restroom could get a little dicey."

"Just go in costume," Conner suggested. "Boots, gloves, the works. Plenty of people are doing it; no one would notice you."

"There's something to be said for hiding in plain sight," Kira said.

"Way too risky," Jason argued. "First of all, I doubt they have suits of this quality."

"They're not even made out of fabrics commonly found in this solar system," Billy agreed.

"Not to mention it probably isn't good to connect us with our actual colors," Tommy added.

"Who would notice with you, Dr. O?" Conner pointed out. Tommy rolled his eyes.

"You could go Clark Kent style," Trent said. "A lot of superheroes wear their costumes under their clothes."

There was no immediate argument for this. "Huh," Jason said thoughtfully. "That could work."

"We could take a bag along for the gloves and helmets," Trini mused.

"Belts and boots and Tommy's shield, too," Zack said. "Might need a full-on duffel bag. Probably don't want to be carrying that around all day til it's time for the Rangers to show up."

"We could leave it in the trunk of someone's car," Kira suggested.

"No," Tommy said firmly. "That's all we need, someone breaking in to the car and finding our helmets."

"Is carjacking that big a deal in Angel Grove?" Trent asked skeptically.

"No, but chaos is," Tommy retorted. "It would be just our luck for Angel Grove's one carjacker to take off with our stuff or expose us or, I don't know, claim he's the White Ranger."

"Backpacks," Ethan suggested. "I've got one; Trent does too. Don't know if we could find a pink one, but we can probably find one for Kimberly somewhere. Not that they need to be color-coded or anything, I just… you could each fit your helmet, gloves and boots in there, and keep it on you all day."

"Then you'd have somewhere to store your clothes when it came time to appear in the suits," Hayley said. "We can hold your clothes for you once you're in 'morph,' so you won't have to find a place to stash them."

"The same people should probably carry the bags all day," Jason said. "Just in case anyone is watching. We don't want someone to notice that a guy carrying a book bag is now missing and someone else has the same bag."

"Would anyone really care?" Kira asked.

"Situation like this? Everyone's going to be wondering who the Rangers are and where they've been," Jason said. "It's better to be more careful than less, anyway. By the way, do not, under any circumstances, brush up against a public-identity Ranger. We stay separate. The Lightspeed team, Time Force, the Space Rangers, even Lost Galaxy. Keep your distance from anyone who was ever a Ranger and didn't have a secret identity. Ninja Storm, Wild Force, that's fine, but otherwise you only talk to Mighty Morphin and Zeo, understand?" The Dino Rangers nodded. "Good. Okay. Let's get these suits on; Rocky, Adam, Aisha and Tanya are supposed to meet us at the park in less than an hour."

Conner stayed behind with Ethan and Trent in their room, intent on telling them all about the wacky things people were doing for Power Rangers Day and discussing what might happen at the park, while the others went over to Tommy and Zack's room. Kimberly, having retrieved key pieces of her luggage from her car before leaving Los Angeles, took her own suit into the bathroom with Kira and Trini, while Tommy and Billy changed in the main room.

Kimberly was pleasantly surprised to realize that the suit wasn't difficult to get on. She had never tried it on before; it was her most prized outfit, which given her shopping habits was saying something, and she hadn't wanted to damage it. It was actually three pieces, not one—the white, high-necked part that extended down to her waist, like a sleeveless turtleneck; the shirt and skirt, which were one single piece, and the pants. It was snug, but not uncomfortably so, and once she had it on it seemed to contour to her body. She pulled on the belt, boots and gloves, just to make sure they fit, and the suit was complete.

"Wow," she said, staring at her reflection in the mirror.

"Yeah," Trini said, smiling. "The resemblance is exact."

Kimberly nodded, but that wasn't what she'd meant. Unlike Jason, Trini and Zack, Kimberly didn't have the power to change into her original suit at will; this was the first time she'd been clothed as the original Pink Ranger since she'd handed over her Power Coin. For a moment, she almost felt like crying—and she might have, if a thunderous crash hadn't sounded from the bedroom.

The three girls bolted out of the bathroom and discovered that the crash had been Billy, toppling over in an attempt to get the pants of his suit on. Apparently both he and Tommy were having a harder time of it; Hayley was trying to force the top half of Tommy's suit over his head, and Billy had only managed to get the white undershirt on; his pants were giving him trouble.

"Perhaps one leg at a time is not a viable option," Billy said dryly. Jason snorted and offered him a hand up.

Tommy's face finally appeared through the collar of his suit and his eyes widened at the sight of Kimberly. "Wow," he said.

She smiled sheepishly. "I know, right?"

"Arms up," Hayley ordered Tommy. He looked away from Kimberly, his face a tad red.

"Are you okay, Billy?" Trini asked as Billy sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I'm fine," he assured her. "Earth's gravity complicates my balance a little, that's all." He bent down and began tugging the legs of his suit up, this time in tandem with each other. "I hope these fit."

"Once you get it on, it's like the suit stretches and molds itself to you," Kimberly told him. "Don't worry about ripping it; it's pretty strong too. I didn't have any trouble."

"You wear leotards every day," Tommy pointed out. "I had a hell of a time getting my pants on. You're right, though—it does seem to fit when it shouldn't."

Kimberly nodded and started to say something, but she suddenly realized Tommy was averting his gaze from her. A wave of panic gripped her; the last thing she needed after the week she'd had was to see Tommy decked out as the White Mighty Morphin Power Ranger.

"Um… I need my suitcase," Kimberly said, embarrassed to hear her voice wavering a bit. "I have no idea what I'm going to wear over this thing. I didn't bring a lot of winter clothes, it being June and all."

Kimberly grabbed the three cases she'd salvaged from her car and hurried back into the bathroom, Kira and Trini both noticing something was up and following her. Kimberly pushed the door shut behind them, embarrassed to hear Zack teasing Tommy about acting like Kimberly's prom date when he'd seen her in her suit.

"You okay?" Trini whispered.

"Oh, god, this is going to be hard," Kimberly moaned quietly. "I just found out he really didn't dump me and now we have to walk down memory lane in the suits? Trini, I don't know if I can do this."

"You're going to have to," Trini told her firmly. "It's too late to back out of Power Rangers Day now. Just relax. Worry about Tommy later."

"I can't relax!" Kimberly wailed as loud as she dared. "We've got to get me out of here! Quick, Trini, tell everyone I'm dead!"

Trini stared at her. "Three years as a superhero making excuses for strange behavior, and that's all you've got? Tell them that you're dead?"

Kimberly chose to disregard that comment. "Oh, my god! What made me think I could do this before I found out that Skull accidentally dumped me? He's… he's… Tommy's…"

"He's in love with you," Kira said. Both Trini and Kimberly stared at her, wondering where that had come from and why it was something Kira felt necessary to say. Kira just shrugged. "What? He is. He's in love with you, you're in love with him, you both found out that you didn't actually mean to break up, what is the problem? Are you afraid you're going to try to make out with him with your helmets on?"

Kimberly giggled, the imagery too amusing to be quashed by her panic. "Well, no, but…"

"So what's the problem?" Kira repeated. "Kim, you have a thing for Dr. O. As much as that weirds me out, own up to it already. Get over whatever the hell happened between you two and ask the guy out. We've always said the man needs a date."

Trini snorted. Kimberly gaped at Kira for a moment, then turned to look askance at Trini. "She does have a point, Kim," Trini said. "I know it's awkward, but… you've got to move on now. Look past your history and start thinking about your future."

"Sooner or later? You gotta stop freaking out," Kira said. "I get the whole panic-in-the-face-of-a-guy-you-like thing—I did the same thing with Trent. At first. But you and Dr. O have danced around each other enough. Even before you two found out about that weird guy and the letters and everything, I was waiting for one of you to ask the other out. Kim, just…" She sighed. "I say this as a friend, Kimberly—knock off the hysterics already."

Kimberly took a deep, steadying breath and let it out slowly. "You're right. I can do this. I can." She squared her shoulders and tossed her head back. "Now. Help me figure out what to do with my hair so it'll fit under the helmet."

It took some careful planning to disguise the suits. Kimberly didn't often wear baggy pants, and as such her skirt had to be concealed by tucking it up under her shirt, pressing it flat and tying it into place with the rope from Zack's suitcase. Billy's clothing was at Jason and Trini's house and he was forced to borrow a long-sleeved red T-shirt from Tommy; Tommy had been planning to wear the shirt himself, but Hayley said it clashed with the only pants he had clean and insisted that a large group of color-coordinated people was going to be conspicuous enough without Tommy looking like a fashion disaster as well. Tommy could find no suitable way to wear his shield and none of the backpacks they had on-hand were big enough to hold it; eventually he was reduced to putting it in a duffel bag of Zack's much to his disappointment (it smelled rather… unusual), which Trent offered to carry. Finally, however, they were adequately disguised and headed for the park.

Traffic was already getting rough, though it wasn't quite nine in the morning. As Angel Grove natives, however, the Rangers had the advantage over the baffled tourists peering at street signs; they kept off the main roads and wove through the streets to the park, parking in a lesser-known lot near the hiking trails and bike paths.

"The internet says they're holding the activities in the big field by the main parking lot," Trini said as they climbed out of the cars. "We should get going; we've got about five minutes before we're supposed to meet the others."

It wasn't far to walk, especially not when the older Rangers knew every path in the park. They entered from the back of the field, which had been transformed from a long expanse of grassy meadow into something resembling a county fair. Booths had been erected all over the place, selling food or memorabilia. A stage was set up in the center of the field, with six empty chairs arranged on either side of a podium; its base had been painted with a mural of the Power Rangers. Streamers and balloons ranged between the vendor's stalls. Everything was brightly colored, from the decorations to the people; any worries the Rangers might have had about their color-coordinated outfits standing out were alleviated by the fact that nearly everyone was wearing a Ranger color. The crowd wasn't too thick yet, and the Rangers wandered through it, looking for Rocky, Adam, Aisha and Tanya, occasionally waving at someone they knew.

Conner lagged behind once they entered the field, looking around with interest. He had expected only the Mighty Morphin Rangers to be honored here, but other teams were represented, too. Action figures, posters, replica helmets and weapons and other types of Power Rangers swag were being offered by vendors, and some of the people in costume were dressed as teams that had debuted long after the original one; he was shocked to see someone in a Triassic Ranger suit getting his picture taken with two girls in Reefside Tech T-shirts.

He was just about to call out to the others to see if they'd mind letting him go get his picture taken with the Triassic Ranger when he saw the girl. The tall, blond, leggy, gorgeous girl. No, not girl—woman. She had to be a few years older than Conner was, but definitely not creepy-old. Maybe a year or two on the wrong side of college-aged. Not old enough to matter. After all, Carmen Electra was thirty-two, and she was way hot.

Conner scanned the surrounding area for anyone who might be with the girl, but she appeared to be alone; she was, however, glancing around as if looking for someone, so he had to act fast. He gave himself a moment to compose himself, tried to find something to check his appearance but failed to see anything reflective enough, and then pasted a half-smile on his face (never overdo it, that was key) and walked over to her.

"Hi," he said as charmingly as possible, holding out his hand. "I'm Conner."

She shook his hand, looking a bit confused at his approach. That was important, knocking her off-guard. Less chance that she'd respond with "Beat it, creep," if she was too startled to realize he was hitting on her before she got to thinking highly of him.

"Katherine," she replied. She had an accent. A very sexy accent. A foreign accent. British, maybe, but Conner knew better than to guess after that incident with the Latvian. She gave him a tentative smile, as if waiting to see how the situation would play out. Good; if she hadn't shooed him away yet, he had a shot.

Conner dialed up the smile just a smidge. "You have a very beautiful voice."

"Why thank you," she said, embarrassed but smiling. Score.

Conner went for the full-on grin. "You're welcome, Katherine." Katherine—commit that name to memory, he told himself sternly.

"Oh, please, call me Kat," she said, slightly flustered now.

"I love your accent, Kat," he continued, struggling not to end up doing a victory dance. Nickname usage was always a plus. "Where's it from?"

"Australia."

"Really? I've never been there before—is it nice?"

"It's a lovely place," she confirmed.

Crap. "Do you live there now?" he asked, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

"Mm-hmm. I'm only here for a few days."

Conner's smile slipped a bit, but he forced it back; a few days was long enough. "Long way to come, just for Power Rangers Day."

"Oh… well… I lived here in Angel Grove when the Power Rangers were still fighting Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd and the Machine Empire and Divatox. I left after high school, though. I only came back because I thought I might get to see some of my old friends." She swallowed, looking a little anxious, and smoothed her skirt. "How about you? Do you live here?"

"Oh, no, I'm from Reefside," Conner said. "My friend's dad offered to send me and some buddies on a graduation trip, and Trent's always had a bit of a fascination with Power Rangers."

"They're great," she said emphatically.

"Oh, yeah. I… can't wait to meet them." The irony in that statement made him fight not to chuckle. "The Red one is especially awesome. Uh, so I hear."

"I like the Red one a lot, too," she said, and he got the feeling she, too, was seeing some sort of irony in something, though he couldn't think what it could be in regards to. "At least, I did." She glanced around the park again, taking her eyes off Conner for the first time.

"Looking for your friends?" Conner asked, determined to keep her interest.

"Yes. I haven't been able to get in touch with them since I got off the plane—they must already be here. I hope I find them. I couldn't get a hotel room to save my life. All my luggage is still in the rental car; I just got in an hour ago. I'm sure Rocky will be willing to let me stay with him, though." Her eyes widened a bit and she looked back up at Conner. "Rocky's an old friend," she explained quickly, with just enough emphasis on the word "friend" to make it clear that Rocky was nothing but a friend. "My cell phone got run over and I forgot my c—my satellite phone in Australia and I didn't think to bring my address book, so I couldn't get in touch with my friends once I got here and I looked a few of them up in a phonebook at a pay phone but no one answered so I figured they must already be here and…" She trailed off and sighed. "I'm sorry for rambling. I'm just a little nervous about seeing some of my friends again and I'd really like to know I've got a place to sleep tonight."

"I don't mind," Conner assured her, "and don't worry—if you can't find them, the Angel Grove Inn has a spare room or two. That's where I was staying."

"Was? You've already checked out?"

Conner struggled with himself for a moment before deciding that everyone loved a rebel, though he tried to look a little sheepish, going for somewhere between "bad to the bone" and "heart of gold." "I was banned, actually," he confided. "Kicked out."

"What on earth for?"

"Um, it's a long story. There was a pool and some orange paint involved. Also a monkey."

"A monkey?" she prompted curiously.

"Well, let's just say hotels don't take kindly to people who help their friends scrub a painted chimpanzee in the shallow end."

She laughed. "You're very amusing."

"Thanks," Conner said. It suddenly occurred to him to see what his group was currently up to, and he glanced around only to realize that they'd all wandered off without him. Perfect. "You know, I seem to have misplaced my friends at the moment, so if you'd like some company, we could look for our friends together…"

She beamed. "I'd like that."

Conner grinned back. Power Rangers Day was off to an excellent start.