Chapter 111

Orchestral Maneuvers in the Park

"Ooh, programs!" Ethan exclaimed, stopping as they passed a table manned by a tired-looking woman in a purple T-shirt that said "STAFF." "Anybody else want one?"

"Sure, considering we are the programs," Jason muttered to him. Raising his voice, he added, "We should probably get some, yeah." He picked up one of the booklets and leafed through it. On the cover was a picture of the White, Red, Yellow, Blue, Pink and Black Rangers, along with the caption "Power Rangers Day 2004." Inside was information on the Power Rangers, Angel Grove in general and the event itself, along with several blank pages for autographs, more photos, special thanks to the event's organizers and sponsors, and a schedule.

"Can we have a few extra?" Trini asked the woman sitting at the table. "Our friends are going to be meeting us here later."

"Oh, sure," she said, forcing a note of cheerfulness into her otherwise-weary tone. "The mayor printed up fifteen thousand of these things."

They stared at her. "Fifteen thousand?" Billy repeated, his voice cracking in horror.

"Oh, I'm sure we'll only get about half that here. Ten thousand, tops."

"Ten thousand people?" Ethan repeated as they wandered away with a handful of extra programs. "Am I glad I wasn't an original Ranger. Talk about pressure."

"Thanks, Ethan," Tommy said dryly, grimacing. Unlike the others, he hadn't done a Power Rangers Day before—at least, not as a Ranger.

"Let's see here… 'Arrival Time, 12:00 P.M.,'" Jason read aloud. "Good—now we know when to show up. Followed immediately by opening speeches by the mayor… and all six Rangers."

"'The Rangers Tell All, 1:00 P.M.,'" Billy read nervously.

"Um…" Tommy coughed. "Did anyone ever actually bother… writing a speech?"

"Oops," Kimberly said, wincing. The others all stopped walking, looking worriedly at each other.

"Well… we've still got four hours," Trini pointed out.

"Four hours? To write a speech? A speech like this? Oh, god, are we allowed to use note cards?" Zack demanded.

"Breathe, buddy, you'll be fine," Jason assured him, though he looked worried himself.

"What am I gonna say? I'm not good at writing speeches from me, let alone speeches from the other me!" Zack wailed.

"SHH! Come on. We'll figure it out," Trini said soothingly.

"Yeah—we're Power Rangers," Kimberly said. "These people love us."

"Hey—Jason! Tommy! Guys!"

Everyone turned to see Tanya coming towards them, accompanied by Adam, Aisha… and the Red Mighty Morphin Power Ranger.

"Rocky?" Jason demanded, horrified.

Rocky grinned. He was dressed up as the Red Ranger—but not in the replica suit he possessed. His suit was made of a thin polyester material, a little baggy in the legs but stretched tightly over the torso, covering what the others assumed was some sort of fake muscle suit. His boots were plain hiking boots starched white with what looked like liberal doses of shoe polish, and his gloves were plain white dress gloves with white poster board rolled around the cuffs so that they extended up to his elbows, where red diamonds had been added with marker. Only the helmet he carried, tucked under one arm, seemed to be of decent quality.

"I tried to talk him out of it," Adam said with an exasperated sigh.

"What… what… how?" Jason moaned. "Why?"

"Oh, someone take a picture of the look on Jason's face for me," Rocky said, cracking up.

"Nice costume," Trini commented, struggling to keep the amusement from her expression for Jason's sake—none of the others were bothering.

"I know, right? It didn't have gloves or boots and it just came with a mask, not a helmet, but thankfully I had one lying around," Rocky said, lifting up the helmet—which, on closer inspection, was the only part of his costume that had been part of his real replica suit. "I've taken pictures with three or four people and one little kid even started shouting, 'Look, Mommy, it's him!'"

Any of the others who had been able to contain their mirth promptly gave up. Jason glared at Rocky, but even he was clearly fighting the urge to smile. "Don't you think that's a little suspicious?" Jason asked dryly.

"Are you kidding? Everyone knows the real Red Ranger would never come here in costume," Rocky joked. "That's just nuts! Besides, what's he need a costume for? He has a morpher."

Jason finally chuckled. "I don't know whether to smack you upside the head or tell you I wish I'd thought of it."

"I did both," Adam said. He gestured broadly at the grounds. "This is crazy, isn't it?"

"I'll say," Jason said. "We were just panicking about how we've got to give speeches and answer questions. None of us are really prepared."

"Oh, I can help you there," Tanya said brightly. "I've got the spontaneous speech thing down pat. Had to, after my first Grammy Award."

"I remember that," Kira said. "You were funny. You said—" Kira frowned for a moment, thinking. "'This is what happens when you procrastinate. You wind up giving a speech in front of hundreds of people while on live TV.'"

"You really are a fan!" Tanya said, grinning at her. "I can't even remember that word for word."

"Oh, I'm a huge fan," Kira assured her. "And I watch the Grammy Awards every year."

Tanya slung an arm around Kira's shoulder; Kira struggled not to look as star struck as she felt. "Well! If you're all done laughing at Rocky, let's duck off into the trees and get you guys ready to do this. I need to stay out of the majority of the crowd anyway. I already got mobbed in the parking lot; I used Rocky as a decoy."

"Thanks for that," Rocky said, giving her a playful shove. "They charged me so fast I almost ninja-streaked."

The Rangers turned and, joking and laughing, headed for the relative safety of the trees, never realizing that one of them was missing.

"A dancer, eh?" Conner grinned. His day was getting better and better. Hot, athletic, and flexible. Ooh.

"Yes."

"Have you always wanted to be a dancer?"

"Actually, I always wanted to be a diver."

"Really?" Conner winced. "…As in swimming and diving?" Kat nodded. Drat. "Water's… nice."

"Not much of a swimmer?"

"Well… I like going to the beach and everything… but I can't swim." Conner decided to go for the vulnerable approach, hoping she'd find it sweet instead of weak. "I'm kind of… well, I'm a little scared of the water. I get too far from land and I panic."

"I used to be scared of the water too," Kat told him. "I had a diving accident during the Pan Global trials and it was a long time before I got over my fear. I'm sure you can overcome your fear, too."

Conner smiled, figuring it was too early to say something about her teaching him to swim sometime, but he thought things were going pretty well. She hadn't looked down on him for being afraid of the water, and her confession meant she liked him enough to open up to him. "So what do you do for fun?" he asked.

"Well, I like surfing and skiing—"

"Wow, you're just all kinds of adventurous, aren't you?"

Kat blushed. She was his for the taking.

"Wait!"

Tommy flung out his arms, halting Jason on one side of him and Billy on the other and nearly causing an epic pileup.

"Jeez, Dr. O! You could give us just a little more warning, you know," Ethan admonished as he dove to the left to avoid being squished between Hayley and Billy. "What's up? Sensing a disturbance in the Force?"

Tommy turned around to look at them all, not bothering to answer. His eyes widened. "Where's Conner?"

"Oh, not again!" Kira groaned.

"Whoa, he really did sense a disturbance in the Force," Ethan said in awe. "He was at the front of the group. He wouldn't know Conner wasn't behind us."

"Everyone split up," Jason called immediately. "Aisha, Tanya, Trini and Hayley, you head that way. Billy, Zack, Ethan, go that way. Tommy, Kim, Kira, Trent, over there. Adam, me and Rocky will go this way. No one panic."

"What's going on?" Aisha demanded as Trini grabbed her arm and hauled her off in the direction Jason had pointed out.

"Does he do this a lot?" Adam asked as he followed Jason.

"I've only known the kid for a week, so I couldn't tell you, but the last time he did it, it sure as hell wasn't fun," Jason replied tersely.

Thankfully, the crowd wasn't very large yet, but there were still plenty of people around to confuse things. Jason, Rocky and Adam kept their eyes peeled for bits of red… but unfortunately, this was Power Rangers Day; red glinted on decorations, posters, action figures, and all sorts of ready-to-autograph memorabilia, and plenty of people were wearing red in honor of Jason and Rocky, be it from normal clothing or imitation Rangers costumes and other outfits related to Power Rangers. Jason couldn't help but feel a tad uneasy at the turnout; thoughts of going crazy in Angel Grove High and firing his Blade Blaster at the roof swam through his mind, so much so that he walked right past Conner without realizing it at first and had to double back once it hit him.

Conner was currently chatting to a blond woman who had her back to Jason, Rocky and Adam; she was laughing at something he was saying as Jason changed direction and stomped over to him.

"Conner! Don't do that! After that bit at the mall on Thursday—" Jason chided.

The blond woman jumped at his tone and turned to look at him. "Jason?"

"Kat?" Jason breathed.

"KAT!" Rocky shouted, flinging his arms around her.

"Rocky! Oh, it's so good to see you! Where have you been? Adam!"

"Hey, you!" Adam hugged her as well, though without as much swinging and lifting as Rocky. "About time you got here!"

"I know! Between the flight out of Maui and traffic on the way from San Diego, I'm surprised I got here at all!"

"You guys know each other?" Conner asked, confused.

"These are my friends I was telling you about," Kat explained. "Guys, this is Conner. He's—"

"We know who he is," Rocky interrupted. "How do you know him, Kat?"

"He's been keeping me company while I looked for you guys," Kat replied. "Conner here is quite the charmer." Jason started to say something, but just then Adam burst out laughing. "What?" Kat asked.

Adam shook his head, laughing too hard to speak. Rocky shrugged. "He's had a rough week. What with Zack setting Adam's butt on fire and us having to spring Zack and Kira out of prison and the aliens last night…"

Kat stared at him. "I guess I've got some stories to catch up on."

"You have no idea," Jason told her, shaking his head.

"Don't you get it?" Adam choked out through his laughter. "Conner… Conner was… oh, wait til I tell T-T-T—hahaha!"

Rocky, Jason and Kat looked questioningly at Conner. Conner shrugged, having no idea what was going on. Then realization hit Jason—Conner hadn't known who Kat was. Kat thought Conner was "quite the charmer."

In other words, less than twenty-four hours after Tommy and Kimberly began their journey down the path to reconciliation, Tommy's ex-girlfriend was flirting with Tommy's protégé.

Jason died laughing right then and there; it happened so suddenly that Rocky jumped and edged away from him.

"Dude," Conner said, looking nervously at Rocky, as if he might suddenly go crazy too, "what's going on?"

"No idea," Rocky said, stepping further away from Jason and Adam, who were now doubled over and gasping out random phrases that they both seemed to understand but were unintelligible to the others. Rocky sighed and pulled out his cell phone, dialing Tommy. "Zack? It's Rocky. Jason, Adam and I found Conner. No, he's fine. He was with Kat, actually. Yeah, our Kat. We're on the west side of the entrance, by the trees. Call the others for me? Thanks."

Kat shook her head at Jason and Adam, who were still laughing, and turned to Rocky. "So, how do you guys know Conner?"

Rocky glanced around for eavesdroppers, but there weren't many around; Kat and Conner had retired to the shade of the trees where they'd be able to see the flood of people from the entrance, but they had a good fifty feet of open space between them and the archway the staff had set up, and the closest vendors' stalls were unused. "You know Tommy's new team?" Rocky asked. Kat nodded. "Conner's the Red one. Tommy brought them along."

Kat's face lit up as she turned to Conner. "Oh, wow, you're a Red Ranger? I knew there was something special about you!" Adam and Jason's laughter increased. "I'm Kat Hillard, the second Pink Power Ranger!"

"Awesome," Conner breathed, downright thrilled at this turn of events. She didn't have to be some faceless girl he chatted up for a weekend—she was a Ranger. They could keep in touch and he wouldn't have to hide anything from her and he'd probably be seeing her at other Ranger shindigs and they'd get to spend the entire day together. He beamed at her. "I should have guessed you were a Ranger. You're too cool not to be a Ranger."

"What a small world!" Kat gushed.

"It all makes sense now," Conner continued. "You're athletic, adventurous—they told me there was a Ranger named Kat, but it's such a common name… I probably should have guessed when you said you had a friend named Rocky…"

Kat shook her head. "I knew your name was Conner, too—they mentioned the Dino Rangers' names, I just… this is so strange. It's almost like fate, don't you think?"

"Definitely," Conner agreed. Adam collapsed on the ground by the nearest vendors' booth, Jason sinking down next to him.

"Seriously," Rocky complained, glaring at them. "What is so funny?"

Adam pointed at Kat. Jason pointed at Conner. "T-T-T-Tommy," Adam choked out.

Conner rolled his eyes, deciding to ignore them as he turned back to Kat. "So, I guess you and me will be hanging out today, then," he said casually. "What with our mutual friends and all."

"Of course," she said, grinning her head off. "You'll have to tell me about your team, I want to know everything—"

"You'll have to tell me about fighting with Dr. O, too," Conner said. He gestured at Rocky, Adam and Jason. "These guys have some killer stories."

"Dr. O?" she asked blankly. "Oh! Dr. Oliver. Right. Sure! We'll have something to do during the ceremony."

"I think we're all getting together tonight after the show," Rocky said. "Adam said a bunch of us were talking about the beach. We can't mix with the public-ID guys while we're here, so…"

"That would be lovely," Kat said. She winked at Conner. "Maybe I can give you that swimming lesson."

Conner tried not to look as gleeful as he felt. "Sure," he said. "I can't promise I won't be terrified, but you must be a great swimmer if you were in the Pan Global trials; I'm impressed."

Kat was just about to respond when Kira shouted "Conner!" and, to his complete dismay, came running up to him and seized his arm. Then she thrust a box into his face and exclaimed, "Look what Trent bought me!"

Conner's jaw dropped. It was a box of seven twelve-inch Barbie-style dolls, one each of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, complete with helmets and a spare change of street clothes next to each one. "Awesome," he breathed. Remembering himself, he tried unsuccessfully to disentangle himself from Kira's grip. "Uh, Kira… this is Kat. The second Pink Ranger. Kira's, um, the Yellow on my team," he added for Kat's benefit, praying Kat didn't read anything into Kira's display.

"Hi," Kira called obliviously. She flipped the box over. "On the back, you can see what they look like without the helmets!" Conner gaped down at the picture. The colors were all wrong, but the dolls looked suspiciously like Jason, Trini, Billy, Kimberly, Zack and Tommy, with a redheaded man in the Green Ranger's stead.

"Hey, guys," Trent called, coming over to them.

"This is Trent!" Conner told Kat desperately. "He's Kira's boyfriend. And the White Ranger. Trent, this is Kat."

Kat extended her hand to Trent. "Kat Hillard. I was the second Pink Mighty Morphin Ranger, the Pink Zeo Ranger, and the first Pink Turbo Ranger."

"Trent Fernandez," Trent replied, shaking her hand. "Just White Dino."

"He's also the best boyfriend on Earth," Kira sighed happily. She bounced over to Rocky. "Look what Trent bought me!"

"Oh, weird," Rocky said, his eyebrows raising as he took the box from her. He flipped it over and laughed. "Wow. The others will get a kick out of this. Huh—the Green one looks just like Robert Patrick from Terminator 2."

Kira peered down at the Green Ranger's picture for a closer look. "I thought he looked familiar."

"Where's Dr. O and Kim?" Conner asked, glad Kira had finally released him.

"We lost Dr. O when Kim stopped to look at action figures, and Kim's right over there," Trent said, pointing at a vendor's booth. "They're selling miniatures of the zords and she's trying to figure out if she wants to buy the Crane, the Pterodactyl or the Firebird."

"She's limiting herself to one?" Rocky asked in surprise.

"No—she's gonna buy them all, but she's getting the other two shipped to her house," Trent explained. "She just can't figure out which one she wants to carry around and show off." He jerked his head at Jason and Adam. "What's wrong with them?"

"General madness," Rocky replied.

Conner turned to Kat, intending to keep her interest, but just then she spotted Billy, Zack and Ethan approaching. "Billy!" Kat shrieked, rushing off to greet them. Conner watched, feeling a tad frustrated as she hugged Billy and Zack, shook hands with Ethan, and then started chatting animatedly with Billy, just far enough away to be out of earshot.

"So Kat's here," Zack said brightly as he and Ethan came over to Conner and the others. "That should be interesting, what with Tommy and Kim and all."

"How so?" Conner asked.

"Oh, she's the Kat?" Ethan asked.

Zack started to explain, but just then Kira shoved her box of Ranger dolls into Ethan's face. "Ethan, look!"

"Oh, sweet!" Ethan exclaimed, seizing it and holding it up for a closer look. "It's amazing! The detail's so accurate! I want one! Where did you get it? How much was… oh my god, will you look at this price tag? How the hell could you afford this?"

"Trent," Kira said proudly. "Isn't he the best?"

Ethan glared at him for a moment over the top of the box, then gave him a cheesy smile. "Hey, Trent," he said, with a bad attempt at a come-hither look.

Trent laughed. "Sorry, Ethan. I'm taken."

"Well, let me know if you and Kira ever break up," Ethan joked with a sigh. "Check it out, Zack."

Zack's eyes widened as he saw the dolls and he took the box from Ethan, flipping it over to see the pictures on the back. "What the… I'm the Blue Ranger?"

"The Red one looks kind of like Billy," Rocky pointed out. "I wonder if T.J. had anything to do with it, what with him being in charge of Ranger merchandise and all."

"You can totally swap their outfits," Kira said. "I'll fix it when I get home. Kim nearly had a heart attack when she saw that they all looked just like them with mismatched colors. That's the only set like it that they sell, too."

"Did they have any that looked like me?" Rocky asked.

"Probably. They sell all these dolls that look different, Asians and Hispanics and blonds and brunettes and everything, but I wasn't really paying much attention. I just thought this one was cool. Isn't Trent the greatest?"

"What's wrong with you guys?" Ethan asked Jason and Adam.

Jason shook his head. "Later," he said, clutching his stomach as he fought to recover. "If I explain now, I'll just start laughing again.

Kat and Billy came walking up, arm in arm, both grinning. "It's so good to have you home," Kat was saying. "I haven't seen you since Jason's wedding and we barely got to talk, what with that Corcus guy trying to seek vengeance on the bartender—"

Billy chuckled. "I had to sit on him in the handicapped parking spot," he recalled fondly. "Delphine and I both, though she thought he should be allowed to duel with those who insulted him."

"He didn't insult Corcus!" Jason complained. "He just asked Corcus what he wanted to drink."

"I'm aware of that, but 'What's your poison' was a poor choice of words. They're an aquatic species, Jason. Alcohol is dehydrating. Even small quantities of alcohol could kill them. He thought it was a death threat."

"Yeah, well, try explaining that to my mother," Jason retorted. "All of the Aquitians terrified her."

"At least they didn't salute like Lightspeed," Billy said defensively.

Jason started to respond, but just then Kimberly came walking over. "Okay, we have got to figure out a way to keep me away from the merchandise," she said. "I've already maxed two of my credit cards and I've only done the west side of the park." She started to reach into a shopping bag, at which point she caught sight of Kat. "Oh. Kat. Hi."

"Kim," Kat replied, stepping uncertainly away from Billy. "I… wow. It's been ages."

"Yeah. Um…" Kimberly floundered for a moment, then smiled. "I like your shirt."

Kat looked down at her shirt; it was pink and sleeveless with a high neck and looked exactly like Kimberly's, minus the long sleeves that were hiding Kimberly's suit. She let out an amused snort. "Gotta love pink."

"Definitely." Kimberly giggled, but then her expression grew nervous. "Hey… you wanna take a walk?"

Kat's eyebrows rose. "Um, okay," she said uncertainly. "See you guys soon," Kat told the others. She looked at Conner. "Don't go anywhere?"

Conner drew his finger across his heart in an X-shape. "Wouldn't dream of it." Adam and Jason burst into giggles again.

Kimberly and Kat walked off together, heading for the parking lot. Ethan frowned at Conner. "Were you just… was that… were you flirting with Kat?" he demanded.

"Yeah, til Kimberly stole her," Conner said with a sigh. "What was up with that? They looked kind of awkward."

"Oh, that's Kat?" Kira asked, her eyes widening in realization.

"Conner… I don't know how to tell you this," Trent said apologetically, "but… you were hitting on Dr. O's ex-girlfriend."

Conner blinked, startled by this information. Then he whistled. "Wow. Dr. O's got taste. I know he's an old guy and everything, but he chased some serious skirt back in the day."

"Conner!" Kira complained.

"What? They're over. They are over, right? Otherwise I locked him in a closet for nothing."

"Yeah, they're over," Rocky assured him. "Everyone's just a little freaked out what with, you know, the fact that he's trying to get Kim back and Kat's his ex and I don't think Kim and Kat have spoken since that time Kim and Jason came into town when they got kidnapped by Divatox but I'm a little hazy on the details because, you know, my back injury but… huh. Yeah, this is gonna get weird. Especially since no one's really sure if Kat's over Tommy."

"She is," Conner announced with certainty. "At least, I hope she is, cuz I got her house and her cell phone number. She even taught me how to dial Australia. You have to punch in a code when you're calling another country…" He frowned. "Well, I might've missed some of that, but still. She was way into me. I could tell."

Kira, Ethan and Trent exchanged looks.

"Hey! She was!" Conner insisted indignantly.

Zack stared at him. "Conner… are you seriously scamming on Kat? Tommy's ex-girlfriend Kat?"

Conner shrugged. "Yeah, so?"

Rocky's face lit up. "Oh, I get it now!" he exclaimed, and promptly burst out laughing.