Chapter 113
The Ninja Encounter
Jason and Trini were just starting to head back to the others when Kimberly rushed by, Tommy in tow; Jason and Trini stopped to watch as she dragged him to the zord miniatures and began talking excitedly to the guy manning the booth. Within moments she was flinging her arms around Tommy and Tommy was putting Anton's credit card on the counter with a self-satisfied smirk.
"Look at those two," Jason commented happily. "I never thought I'd see the day."
"I planned and I planned and I planned," Trini said with a sigh, "but no matter how much I prayed I'd succeed, I still didn't think it would feel this good to see it happen."
They stood there watching Tommy and Kimberly for a moment, Kimberly squealing and beaming up at Tommy, Tommy looking like the luckiest guy on Earth. "High school all over again," Jason said proudly. "I could kill Skull for taking this away from us."
"Look on the bright side," Trini said. "At least now we'll appreciate it. Tommy's got Kimberly, I've got you, we've all got each other. All's right with the world." She grimaced. "They've got a long road, though. It's gonna take work, and time, and probably a hell of a lot more in the way of strategy."
"Don't forget the chaos," Jason said comfortably. "And at least now we know that if they ever break up again all we need is to throw them in the Secret Chamber and follow it up with some duct tape."
Trini frowned. "I can't believe Mr. Greenlee broke my chainsaw."
"Yeah, but now we can be offended that he broke it instead of explaining why we really needed it," Jason pointed out.
Trini was about to respond when they heard an unfamiliar voice shout "KIRA!" They turned to see a boy with dark hair go rushing by, waving at the Dino Rangers. "Who's that?" Jason asked.
"No idea," Trini said. "If he's a Ranger he's probably Blue, he was wearing jeans—"
"Check it out," Jason said, nodding. A group was following after the dark-haired boy, but they weren't exactly properly color-coordinated, as far as Jason and Trini could see, and the numbers were wrong—four boys and three girls. "Any ideas?"
Trini shrugged and the two headed back towards the group, where the newcomers were enthusiastically greeting the Dino Rangers and Hayley. "Are you guys here to meet the original Rangers, too?" the first boy was asking Kira as Jason and Trini approached.
The Dino Rangers stared blankly at him. "Yeah… about that…" Ethan said hesitantly.
"Hey guys," Tommy called, coming over to the group with Kimberly and Justin. "Look who I found."
"Justin!" Kat exclaimed happily.
"Kat!" Justin ran over to her for a hug. Those who knew him called out a greeting, which Justin returned with a wave.
Justin and Kat were about to engage in a steady stream of long-time-no-see chatter when Tommy jerked his head towards the entrance, which was now being flooded with people, and said, "So, I was thinking—maybe we should head back into the forest for a bit. Talk a little more freely. We won't stand out as much."
The others agreed and ducked into the forest, praying that no one saw twenty-five people plunging into the trees and thought it suspicious, but no one appeared to be making a fuss. Zack took point and led them all to a clearing off the trail, far enough from the field to be discreet.
"So! Who's your friends, guys?" one of the newcomers asked the Dino Rangers.
"Oh, sorry—thought the introductions were over by the time me and Kim showed up," Tommy said, turning to the older Rangers. "Guys, this is Shane Clarke, Tori Hanson, Dustin Brooks, Hunter Bradley, his brother Blake, Cam Watanabe, and his cousins, Marah and Kapri." He turned back to the Ninja Storm crew. "Guys, my friends here are the first twelve Power Rangers. I think you know I was the first Green Ranger and the first White Ranger, and Red Zeo and the first Red Turbo—"
"You guys are the original Rangers?" Dustin interrupted, his eyes wide.
Jason stepped forward and offered his hand to Dustin. "I'm Jason Scott. Original Red Ranger, also the Gold Zeo Ranger."
Dustin reached eagerly for Jason's hand, but Shane and Hunter both leaped in front of Dustin, knocked shoulders, glared at each other, and started shoving against one another with all their strength; Shane won, leaving Hunter to sprawl on the ground at Conner's feet. Conner helped him up, completely understanding how Hunter and Shane felt. Shane seized Jason's hand and jerked it up and down.
"Shane Clarke. Red Wind Ninja Ranger. Leader of the Power Rangers. The Ninja Storm Power Rangers, anyway. Wow. What an honor. It's so great to meet you. I've always wanted to meet you. It was why I joined the academy in the first place. Is it true you once defeated—?"
"It's my turn!" Hunter yelled, knocking Shane bodily away, practically ripping Jason's fingers off in the process. "Hi. I'm Hunter. Bradley. Hunter Bradley. Crimson Ranger. Crimson Thunder Ninja Ranger."
"Crimson?" Jason repeated, frowning slightly as Hunter grabbed his hand to shake.
"Yeah, you know, it's a shade of Red. Practically Red. Mostly Red. I'm a big fan. Is it true what they say about you being the best fighter out of all the Red Rangers ever?"
"Of course," Jason replied promptly, fighting the urge to smirk.
"Hey!" Tommy, Rocky and Conner complained.
"That is so cool!" Hunter exclaimed, letting out a gasp that sounded halfway to a squeal.
Shane picked himself up and gave Hunter a pointed look. "Dude…"
Hunter paused and looked at Shane; as one, they turned to Jason, worried that Jason might think ill of their display of hero worship. They both stepped back, Hunter releasing Jason's fingers, and drew themselves up proudly, trying and failing to appear nonchalant.
"Honor to meet you, sir," Shane said.
"Yes, sir," Hunter added.
"There's no need for the 'sir' stuff," Jason said, trying desperately not to laugh. "You can call me Jason."
Shane and Hunter looked at each other. "We can call him Jason!" they hissed in unison, grinning like teenage girls who'd just been winked at by one of the Backstreet Boys. Then Hunter and Shane simultaneously winced and cleared their throats, turning back to Jason with barely-concealed elation. "Thanks," they muttered helplessly. Jason put his fist to his mouth and bit down on a finger to keep from laughing.
"Can I call you Jason too?" Dustin asked hopefully.
"Uh, sure," Jason said, struggling to conceal his mirth. "…It is my name."
"WHOO!" Dustin exclaimed, pumping both fists in the air.
"Does that mean we can all call him Jason?" Blake asked dryly.
"Yes. I am perfectly fine with being called Jason," he confirmed, trying to keep the exasperation from his tone. "Anyway, this is Rocky, he's the second Red Ranger—" Hunter and Shane promptly turned awestruck gazes upon Rocky, who managed to grin without snickering— "and the Blue Zeo Ranger. This is Adam, second Black Ranger, Green Zeo Ranger and first Green Turbo, and Kat Hill—"
"Katherine Mary Hillard of Earth!" Kapri shrieked. Both she and Marah looked wide-eyed at Kat, to Kat's complete surprise. Kat hadn't been expecting any hero worship—she knew there hadn't been a Pink Ranger since Jen, whom Kat had already met, and generally there was more camaraderie than adoration aimed at her anyway, as she hadn't been the first Pink Ranger. Yet there was no mistaking the enthralled expressions on Marah and Kapri's faces as they bounced over to Kat.
"Oh, wow! I've dreamed of meeting you since I was a little girl!" Marah gushed.
"You… you have?" Kat asked hesitantly.
"Sure! Auntie Divatox told us all about you," Marah exclaimed. Before Kat could process the shock of "Auntie" Divatox telling stories about her, Marah continued with, "Is it true that you singlehandedly defeated the Pink Ranger and seduced the White Ranger into your bed?"
Kimberly burst into giggles, but Tommy was absolutely mortified. Several of the older Rangers started laughing, but Ninja Storm and Dino Thunder mostly just stared.
"You're related to Divatox?" Justin asked, torn between horror and amusement.
"Uh-huh! She's our father's sister," Marah replied.
"She always expected great things of us, what with her DNA and Uncle Lothor's connections," Kapri told him proudly before turning back to Kat. "She told us all about you, the great Kat Hillard who infiltrated the Power Ranger team. There were rumors that you had really been turned good, but anyone who knew Rita Repulsa insisted that it was all an act to get access to Zordon's inner circle. Is it true you're really good?" Kat nodded vaguely, rather overwhelmed.
"Oh, cool! Today so would have been awkward if you weren't," Marah said.
"Yes," Kat said faintly. "That would have been terribly awkward."
"We're good now, too," Marah went on. "We go to the Wind Ninja Academy and everything, although Cousin Cam keeps trying to get us to transfer to the Thunder Academy. Anyway, you are so our idol. I wanted to be just like you when I grew up. Kapri did, too."
"We even did a skit about you at alien band camp," Kapri added. "We won an award for it!"
"Kapri made me play the Pink Ranger," Marah grumbled.
Kapri rolled her eyes. "Marah, I told you I don't know how many times, you had to play the Pink Ranger because she had brown hair." Marah muttered something about Kapri's roots while Kapri turned back to Kat. "You were like… an inspiration to us! Marah totally stole her idea to seduce Dustin from you, and I had my hair pink for years."
"Well, um… thank you," Kat said helplessly. "I… appreciate the… well, the sentiment…"
"That explains why Karone talks about you a lot!" Justin exclaimed. With the exception of Tommy and Kat herself, Justin was the only one of Zordon's Rangers present who had yet to start laughing maniacally. "You're an evil villain's urban legend!"
"Thank you, Justin, for… making it sound so glamorous," Kat murmured. She looked askance at Tommy, hoping that as a fellow Ranger who had once been bewitched into doing Rita's bidding he might have some advice for her, but one glance at his expression made the urge to burst into giggles an almost overpowering thing. Kat turned back to Marah and Kapri fully aware of the humor in the situation and gave them a genuine smile. "Well, you simply must show me the skit you put together sometime, and I want to hear all about this Wind Ninja Academy. I was a Ninja Ranger myself, but I used Kimberly's powers—I never found my own power animal. Is it true your talents are elemental?"
Marah and Kapri both began talking at once, each trying to impress Kat. Tommy continued to stare at them, unable to help wondering how Kat's story had gotten so exaggerated… and what bizarre tales the evil villains were telling about him. He looked mournfully at Hayley, silently asking her to make sense of the madness. Hayley did him the service of not laughing, but it was obvious that it was quite a struggle. Tommy's eyes narrowed at her, finding this less than helpful, and a strangled sound escaped from Hayley's throat. He sighed and Hayley hurriedly turned away from him to compose herself.
Hayley decided that the only help she was capable of giving Tommy at the moment was doing him the service of not making things worse by laughing at him, so instead she turned to the Ninja Rangers. "Cam," Hayley called, beckoning to him, "I want you to meet Billy Cranston, the Blue Mighty Morphin Power Ranger."
Cam's eyebrows rose; he'd heard all about Billy from Hayley, whom he spoke with on a regular basis. "Hayley told me you were the smartest Ranger ever."
Billy struggled to control his amusement at Marah and Kapri so that he could straighten up and shake Cam's hand. "I wouldn't go that far," Billy said, embarrassed.
As Cam, Tori and Blake converged on Billy, Dustin looked eagerly around at the others. "So! Spill. Which of you is the first Yellow?"
Trini stepped forward. "That'd be me. Trini Scott." She held out her hand to him, only to find Dustin glomped to her like a long-lost twin. Startled, she hugged him back. "It's, um, good to meet you."
"Dustin Brooks," Dustin said as he pulled back, his hands still on Trini's shoulders. "This is sick! The first person to ever wear my color! How cool is that? Wow! Do you still have your powers? I don't. Not my Ranger powers, anyway. I still have my Ninja powers. I can control earth, wanna see?"
"Um… maybe later," Trini told him, struggling to follow his rapid-fire questions and exclamations. "I—"
"Your last name is Scott? Are you and Jason related? You don't look related, but neither do Hunter and Blake—are you adopted?"
"Jason's my husband," Trini replied.
"Cool! You married a Gold Ranger? And a Red? The first-ever Red Ranger? Wow. Awesome. Two of the first-ever Rangers married. He was the first-ever leader, too, wasn't he? Hey, Trini, is it true you had a saber-toothed tiger as your first zord? And I heard you had a griffin, too. Mine was a lion. How come your uniform doesn't have a skirt? The Pink Ranger had a skirt, right? Tori didn't like her skirt. Wow, it must have been so cool to be handpicked to be a Ranger without training in an academy or anything. Not that I don't love the academy—I'm a sensei now, in charge of all the Earth Ninja students—but it must have been cool to end up a Ranger without having to get the rest of your school sucked into space first. Are we gonna get to see you guys morph? I'd kill to see you guys morph. This is so sick!"
"Let me introduce you to the others," Trini said the moment Dustin paused for breath. "This is Aisha Campbell, the second Yellow Mighty Morphin Ranger, and Tanya Sloan, the Yellow Zeo Ranger and the first Yellow Turbo Ranger."
Dustin flung himself at his other two predecessors for hugs; Aisha seemed a little nonplussed, but Tanya was used to embracing overenthusiastic fans. Dustin was thoroughly impressed with all three of them; while Trini was the first to wear Yellow, Aisha was a fellow Ninja and Tanya was a famous singer. He began firing questions at them, hugging them whenever they said anything especially cool, like when Aisha said her power animal was the bear, marking her as not only a Yellow Ninja but an Earth Ninja.
After a good twenty minutes, Marah called him over to play the White Ranger in the skit she and Kapri were reenacting for Kat and Kimberly (who had introduced herself as "Kat's arch nemesis, the Pink Ranger Kimberly" and nearly had to fight Marah and Kapri before Kat managed to assure them that Kimberly was her friend now). Tanya smiled at Dustin as he left. "Whew! That boy's got some energy," she commented to Aisha and Trini.
"I couldn't follow half of what he was saying, but he's a real sweetheart," Aisha agreed.
Trini glanced around. By now the rest of the group had spread out. Blake and Tori were chatting up Rocky, as they couldn't understand a word of Cam, Hayley and Billy's conversation, and Hunter and Shane were listening enviously while Conner told them all about getting to spend a week hanging around Jason, even staying in Jason's house. Tommy was looking extremely put out as he watched the severely rewritten version of Kat's arrival in Angel Grove, as told by Marah, Kapri and Dustin. Ethan and Justin were discussing video games, while Adam and Zack had started up a game of hacky sack that Kira and Trent were watching while reclining together against a tree.
"Where'd Jason go?" Trini wondered aloud.
"He went to go pick up Wild Force and show them where we are," Adam called. "They called a few minutes ago." Adam caught the hacky sack ball and sighed. "It's not as much fun with two people. Want to spar?"
"Okay," Zack said with a shrug, and lunged at Adam.
Jason returned shortly, along with Cole, Max, Danny, Taylor, Alyssa, Anton and Elsa. "Dad!" Trent called, standing up. "I thought you were gonna call when you got here."
"I was, but I ran into Cole in the parking lot and he told me he was on his way to meet up with the rest of you," Anton explained. "Ah! The Ninja Rangers. I've got something to discuss with you."
"We're almost done—you can have Dustin, but Marah and I still need to do the epic fight scene," Kapri called, sitting up from where she had been curled on the grass with a now-shirtless Dustin. "We don't really need him for the part where she catches us together; he sleeps through it."
Tommy snorted. "Of course he does."
"Hey, Dr. Mercer, Ms. Randall," Blake said as he, Shane, Tori, Dustin, Hunter and Cam converged on Anton and Elsa, the Wild Force Rangers going to greet the others. "Glad to hear you reformed."
"Thank you," Anton told him. "I wanted to apologize—"
"Eh, we've all been evil at some point," Dustin said as he shook the leaves, grass and other forest debris from his hair and pulled his shirt back on. "Except Cam, but he has a robotic twin that likes to tie him up and impersonate him." Cam rolled his eyes.
"Apology accepted," Shane said hastily, seeing the startled look on Anton and Elsa's faces. "No hard feelings."
"Thanks," Elsa said.
"And thank you for the greeting card, Dustin," Anton added. "I was going to send a reply, but I didn't think it would reach you before Power Rangers Day—but I do have a gift I'd like to give you. All of you."
"A gift? You shouldn't have," Tori said.
"It's just a little something I found lying around Mesogog's lab," Anton told her. He reached into his bag and pulled out a large gift-wrapped cylindrical object. He presented it to Dustin, who took it and tore the paper off, revealing a glass canister filled with liquid tinged faintly purple. Inside the liquid was—
"Oh, cool," Dustin said. "It's a Lothor doll."
"No," Anton said as Elsa struggled not to laugh, "it's really, really not."
"Oh," Shane said. The Ninja Storm Rangers peered down at the canister in confusion for a moment until Shane finally looked back up at Anton. "Then what is it?"
"That," Anton announced, "is Lothor."
"What?" Dustin stared up at him blankly, and then his eyes widened in realization. "Oh, my god!"
"This is actually Lothor?" Tori demanded. Anton nodded.
"Sweet," Hunter said, looking at Lothor with a feral grin. "I can't wait to play with him."
"We wondered what happened to him," Cam said, glowering down the canister. "How'd you get him in the jar?"
"It was a talent of Mesogog's," Elsa explained. "He could channel his psionic blasts to shrink a target."
"Can he breathe in there?" Shane asked.
Anton nodded. "He's fully aware—he can see, hear, and think. He's just… in suspended animation, I guess you could say. He'll remain alive in that solution indefinitely, long beyond his normal lifespan, but the liquid prevents movement of any kind and blocks his mystical abilities—it's worked on all sorts of monsters so I presume it'll do just fine for a rogue ninja. I wasn't sure what to do with him, and the lab was falling apart—was even infiltrated by some poor kids who used to work at the China Express on Hanover Street—so I figured he'd be safest with a Ranger team."
"The jar is sealed, and it needs to stay that way," Elsa added. "Once out of the solution, he'll be able to move and access whatever superhuman abilities he has, and his own powers might be able to return him to normal size. Mesogog isn't around anymore to shrink him again; Anton can't access Mesogog's power."
"Sensei Kanoi will know what to do with him," Shane said.
"Shouldn't we toss him back in the Abyss of Evil?" Blake asked.
"He already got out of there once," Hunter pointed out.
"Can't we just shake him a lot?" Dustin begged.
"He's not a snow globe, Dustin," Tori chided. She gave Lothor a contemplative look. "Although… I think we could come up with a few ways to… entertain him."
"No," Cam said, snatching the jar from Dustin. "We aren't confining him to the Abyss, and we aren't going to torture him." All of the Ninja Rangers looked disappointed, but Cam held Lothor up to eye level and smiled darkly at his uncle. "We… are going to give him to Marah and Kapri."
The other Ninja Rangers gaped at him. "Dude, that is cold," Dustin said, sounding impressed.
"Yeah," Hunter agreed. "I wish I'd thought of it."
"Let's wait til we get back to Ninja Ops, though," Cam said. "I want to put a few modifications on it to make sure the glass doesn't crack before we hand it over, and the last thing we need is those two dropping him in the park."
"I trust you'll be careful with him, then?" Elsa asked; she wasn't entirely sure she approved of Anton's idea to give Lothor to the Ninja Rangers.
"Don't worry," Hunter told her. "We have no intention of letting him out."
"And even if he does get out, it's not like we haven't beaten him before," Shane said.
"We totally kicked his butt even without our Ranger powers," Dustin added. He tapped on the glass. "Hi, Lothor! Did you miss us?"
A chorus of evil chuckles went through the Ninja Rangers. "I'm glad you like him," Anton said.
"'Like' is a strong word," Tori quipped, "but he does make an excellent gift."
"Dude, thank you," Dustin added. He looked pleadingly at Cam. "Can't I shake him just a little?"
Cam attempted to glare at him, but the expression flickered with reluctant amusement. Shane grinned, sensing Cam's weakness. "Come on," he cajoled. "A few rounds of Lothor hot potato couldn't hurt."
"I'm in!" exclaimed Kira, hurrying over to then with Trent. The Ninja Storm Rangers looked at her, startled. "What? This guy is the reason you three kept knocking me and Conner and Ethan on our butts."
"Can I play?" Zack asked, coming over. "It's too bad nobody ever trapped Rita and Zedd in a snow globe."
Before Anton knew what was happening, every last Ranger in the clearing was shouting, laughing, running and jumping, tossing Lothor through the air with nothing short of glee. Anton frowned and looked at Elsa, who looked as uncomfortable as he felt. "Do you think…?" he began.
"They want to do this to us?" Elsa finished. Anton nodded and Elsa shrugged. "We're reformed. Things are different now."
Anton started to agree with her, but was struck by a sudden, horrifying thought. "Do you ever want to do that to me?"
Elsa smiled. "No. Now, if your alter ego was trapped in a jar somewhere…" Elsa trailed off, looking less disturbed and more worried as she watched the jar. "We did say that jar was breakable, right?"
Anton sighed. "Well, if it breaks, there will be plenty of people around to handle Lothor. I can't imagine a better place to release Lothor than in the midst of several dozen Power Rangers." He laughed in a manner that was just slightly malicious. "I wouldn't mind seeing the look on his face when he escaped and found himself surrounded by more Power Rangers than he'd ever imagined having to fight."
Elsa stared at him. "You want to join in, don't you?" she demanded.
Anton grinned at her, completely unrepentant. "Would it be terrible of me to admit that I think I was a much better evil villain than Lothor?"
She continued staring for a moment, then laughed. "Not so terrible." She jerked her head at Marah and Kapri, who were apparently fairly clumsy for ninjas-in-training. "Look at his generals. I could have destroyed them both in a matter of moments, even in Lothor's heyday."
"We were terrific villains, you and I."
"That we were." Elsa slipped her arm through Anton's and nudged him with her elbow. "Think these goody-goodies will let us play with them?"
Anton watched Lothor's canister fly through the air, following its movements carefully. As Adam sent it sailing towards Blake, Anton leaped forward and snatched the jar in mid-flight. He smirked at Elsa and tossed to her. "Why ask nicely?" he joked.
She let out a vaguely evil chuckle and ignored Marah and Kapri, both of whom were eagerly shouting that they were open, instead launching Lothor's canister across the clearing towards Trent. Then she and Anton gleefully joined the Rangers in the first-ever game of Lothor Hot Potato.
All thoughts of Power Rangers Day were forgotten in favor of Lothor Hot Potato. No one wanted to stop playing; even those without a personal grudge against Lothor found the act of batting around a miniaturized evil villain extremely therapeutic. It wasn't until a deafening roar sounded from the direction of the meadow that anyone remembered Power Rangers Day. The group paused, trying to figure out if the crowd was screaming in excitement or terror. Jason caught the canister, tucked it under his arm and checked his watch—they now had only a half hour until the six Mighty Morphin Power Rangers were supposed to make their entrance.
"Someone go check that out," Jason called, jerking his head at the meadow.
"I will," Hunter offered, vanished in a blur of crimson. Jason stared at the spot where Hunter had once been, then shook it off and prepared to point out that the originals had to stop procrastinating when Hunter reappeared. "There are other Power Rangers here," Hunter reported. "Public identity ones. I can't see much, cuz the crowd's swarming them, but they've got a black SUV."
"That'll be Wes and Eric," Taylor said. "We decided to arrive separately, since their identities aren't secret anymore. They should have a few of the higher-ranking Silver Guardians with them, too."
"Is anyone else here yet?" Tanya asked.
Hunter shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I haven't met any other teams besides you guys. I wouldn't have known those guys were Power Rangers if the crowd wasn't shouting at them to morph."
"I'm gonna go look," Jason said.
"I'll come too," Zack said. "Wouldn't hurt to scope out the others' entrance. You know we gotta top the others."
"How are we going to make our entrance?" Kimberly asked.
"I hadn't thought about it," Jason admitted. "This week's been so hectic that none of us did any actual planning."
"Wish we could morph," Kimberly complained. "Or teleport."
"Last Power Rangers Day's entrance was the best," Zack said. "The whole town being shifted into another dimension and then being shifted back and saluting us as their heroes."
"Maybe for you," Tommy said dryly. "I was in that dimension."
"We were, too," Aisha said, gesturing at Rocky and Adam. "That was before we met you guys."
"Definitely not a fun day," Adam said.
"Hey, I'm not saying it was a good thing," Zack insisted. "I'm just saying as entrances go, that one was pretty cool."
Jason led the way back towards the meadow, everyone following him. They came out of the trees as one enormous group; it might have looked suspicious, if anyone was paying the slightest attention to them, but none of the townspeople seemed to care about much besides Wes and Eric, who were still standing next to their SUV, unable to leave the parking lot for the mob. Eric looked rather disgruntled, but Wes was cheerfully greeting people and signing all manner of objects shoved in his direction. Four men in Silver Guardians uniforms were attempting to push the crowd back and failing miserably.
"Wow," Kimberly said, shaking her head. "This is gonna be crazy."
"I totally want to run up and beg them to autograph something for me," Rocky joked. "Hey, someone take a picture of me and Jason!"
"I can't believe you showed up in costume," Jason said, shaking his head but obediently posing with Rocky while several of the others snapped pictures.
"Hey, I couldn't let you hog all the glory," Rocky teased. "I'm definitely getting a picture with you in morph, too." He put on a high, breathy voice. "I've always wanted to meet the original Red Ranger!" Jason smacked him lightly upside the head.
"You know what?" Tommy said, eyeing the crowd with unease. "I'm thinking once we get ready to make our entrance, the rest of you should split up. Mingle with people a bit, try to blend in with the tourists… someone keep an eye on Conner."
"I will," Rocky offered.
"I don't think so," Tommy growled. "No more making out with axe-murderers."
"Dude," Conner hissed indignantly, "you're killing my game here. Isn't it bad enough Marah and Kapri won't leave her alone?"
"I don't mind hanging out with him," Kat called from the back of the group, where Marah was clinging to one arm and Kapri was clinging to the other. Kimberly, whom Marah and Kapri had yet to refer to by name, was now hanging out with Aisha.
Conner's annoyed expression transformed into a wolfish grin. "Never mind," he muttered.
"But we want to hang out with you all day," Kapri whined to Kat.
"Actually, that's not a good idea," Jason said, for which Kat shot him a grateful look; she was beginning to like the two girls, but having them glued to her was already making Kat claustrophobic. Jason, who knew all too well about hero worship, grinned at Kat before continuing. "This place is packed elbow-to-elbow with people, so we need to keep the suspicious behavior to a minimum. You two hanging all over her might turn some heads. We need to be on high alert here—no talking about anything someone might overhear and link to our identities. Spread out, stay in small groups—try to keep it under five, four tops." Marah and Kapri made noises of protest and hugged Kat tighter, as if trying to make up for the time they'd lose. "By the way," Jason added, "we're planning to hit the beach later tonight, anyone in on the secret is welcome to come—we meet at the Youth Center at ten. Just make a right out of the park and it's straight down Main Street; it's not hard to find."
The crowd began to roar again; Lightspeed Rescue had just shown up in the Rescue Rover. They had a reserved parking spot next to Wes and Eric's SUV, but the crowd surged towards the Rover and prevented it from getting even close.
"That's gonna get dangerous," Jason commented. "All those people running around in the parking lot…"
"Look!" Danny exclaimed, pointing up in the sky. Flashes of color were swooping down towards the parking lot—the Space Rangers had arrived on their Galaxy Gliders. The group ducked low over the crowd, under the entrance arch in single file, and into the park itself; most of the crowd was quick to follow them, abandoning Wes, Eric, the Silver Guardians and the Lightspeed Rangers in the parking lot. The Space Rangers flew over to the stage, circling it in a spiral that went higher and higher, the crowd staring up at them in awe and screaming their approval. Then the Rangers leveled out, and in perfect unison leaped down onto the stage, struck a pose, and demorphed to thunderous applause.
"Showoffs," Zack complained good-naturedly.
Jason's eyes narrowed. "Oh, it is on now," he growled.
"We have got to top that," Kimberly exclaimed.
Jason grinned. "Don't worry," he said. "We are going to make Power Rangers Day a day to remember."
Noon found Mayor Anderson standing nervously by the stage, wringing his hands and glancing about like a hyperactive squirrel. He hadn't been in contact with the Rangers since they had come to his office last week, and they hadn't stayed long enough to finalize a lot of important details. He had no idea how the Rangers were going to show up—if they would teleport in, if they would soar overhead like the Space Rangers, if they would pull in on a charter bus—and come to think of it, he wasn't even sure they would know when to make their entrance.
As such, Mayor Anderson had waylaid T.J. Johnson the moment the Space Rangers had arrived, and T.J. had told him not to worry, that the original Rangers were ready and waiting and would appear onstage promptly at twelve. Anderson had asked how they would appear and T.J.'s only response had been to mutter something about not spoiling the surprise. Anderson prided himself on his power of perception, and he didn't miss the nervousness in T.J.'s chuckle or the glances exchanged by Carlos Vallerte and Cassie Chan.
So Anderson had ordered the technicians to turn on the smoke machines and release the confetti and balloons once the Rangers arrived and fretted until his watch read precisely twelve o'clock. Then he nodded at the sound guy, and music began blaring out of the loudspeakers set up above the stage. Anderson figured that if the Rangers didn't show he could just keep replaying it and cut it off when and if they did show, though it was a one-minute piece written especially for the event, with simplistic lyrics and lots of guitar riffs, and would probably get annoyingly repetitive fast.
A slight tremor went through the ground, as if the Earth itself was growling. Several people yelped and several California-natives groaned. Mayor Anderson felt like sobbing. An earthquake? Really? Now? At least it was a faint tremor—
Lightning suddenly erupted across the stage, making the technicians back away in alarm. Bolts of energy danced across the platform, coming from no apparent source and completely missing all of the electronic equipment. Then the lightning vanished and a gentle wind began to spiral around the edge of the empty stage, increasing in intensity until the chairs and podiums began to rock. Soon it was a miniature tornado, contained entirely around the stage, twisting higher and higher—until the six Mighty Morphin Power Rangers fell from above and landed safely on the torrents of wind. The crowd roared with excitement as the Red, Yellow, Blue, Pink, Black and White Rangers began striking poses, showing off the moves that had once kept Rita and Zedd's worst monsters at bay; the Red, Yellow and Black Rangers even removed their Blade Blasters from their holsters and fired a few blasts up into the air.
The Rangers sank slowly on the magic torrents of wind, lowering the Rangers gently down towards the stage; when they were still several yards up, they all flipped one at a time out of the wind to land safely on the platform, each putting a different twist on the move. The wind died, and lightning crackled across the stage one more time. The earth trembled again, slightly harder this time, and in spite of the fact that the sky was a crystal-clear blue a booming thunderclap sounded. The technicians belatedly rushed forward and Ranger-colored smoke and confetti exploded over the stage just as the music concluded with a final guitar riff.
The people screamed ecstatically, pressing as close to the stage as the event security would allow, awestruck by the Rangers' arrival. Relieved, Mayor Anderson waited for the smoke to clear a bit, then rushed for the stairs up onto the stage.
End Notes: Fair warning, we're getting low on usable episode titles to name our chapters. We may have to expand to other seasons of Power Rangers, or else just start calling stuff things like "An Oyster Stew" for no reason.
Anyway, we'd like to point out a few things about OLaB and canon. We intend to use everything up through Operation Overdrive as canon, with the exception of the S.P.D. episode "Wormhole," because it wasn't aired as part of the original lineup (it was available at first only on DVDs) and is so full of plot holes we'd never blend OLaB around it. Also things like "The Hidden Episode" from Dino Thunder, which wasn't actually an episode but a preview of S.P.D., and a few other specials. We're not sure if we'll include anything from Jungle Fury just yet, or the upcoming season of Power Rangers, but R.P.M. is out, because it doesn't generally fit with Power Rangers continuity.
As a reminder, please let us know if you have any ideas whatsoever for Power Rangers Day or the fic in general. I can't promise we'll use them, but if we do we'll credit you, and coming up with this stuff on our own isn't easy. I still have no idea where I got the chainsaw thing.