Chapter Text
Zoey turned off the engine of her Jeep after pulling up to Tommy's house.
"Why are there so many cars?" Raina asked, leaning forward.
Looking over, they saw a familiar black Jeep, a red truck, and a black SUV. They saw three more SUVs; one in dark blue, one in royal blue and one in black.
"Okay. Tommy's Jeep, Jason's truck, and Adam's SUV. The dark blue SUV belongs to Rocky and Aisha. It's new. They agreed on that shade because they didn't want to get it confused with Billy and Kat's royal blue one beside it. I think the other black SUV belongs to Trini and Richie. It's got a yellow interior." Jenna nodded, pointing to each vehicle.
"What is it with Rangers and color coding everything?" Andy asked as they got out.
"I'm not sure. Tommy and Billy came up with a pretty logical theory." Zoey said as they gather at the front of her Jeep, "When someone morphs for the first time, it's like they're connecting to that color. You're always going to be attracted to that color. And if you change colors, you still wear your previous color, it's just minimal compared to your current color." She looked over at them, "Does that make sense?"
"Completely. Justin's here by the way. I see Storm Blaster's headlights in the woods." Jenna pointed behind the house.
"Cool. We didn't get to see that the last time," Raina grinned, "You think he'll let us near it?"
"Probably. He usually let's Storm Blaster decide."
"Why did they want the four of us here?" Andy asked, crossing his arms, "I thought we were meeting up in Angel Grove."
"That was the original plan," Zoey motioned them forward, "but the parents were asking too many questions that couldn't be answered."
"What kind of questions?"
"Why are you having a get together? It's not Power Ranger week. What's the special occasion? Why won't you tell us anything?" Walking up to the porch, they grinned when they saw Tommy and Jason standing there. Waiting.
"And that's just from our moms," Jason hugged his sister, "your moms made it worse."
"You try hiding things from a Korean mother," Andy complained, walking into the house.
"It is not easy man, let me tell you." Adam finished, greeting his brother.
"I think Hispanic moms are worse." Raina hugged her brother coming out of the kitchen, "Mija, mi Corazon!" They laughed as Rocky nodded his head in agreement.
"So, what's this special occasion?" Andy asked, looked at all the Rangers gathered.
"Are you kidding?" Jason asked, "You guys just defeated Lothor and all of his Generals. I say that calls for a celebration."
"Okay, but why didn't you invite the others?" Raina crossed her arms.
"They couldn't come," Zoey raised her hand, "I had already asked them and Sensei. Shane, Dustin and Tori started their classes this week, as did Hunter and Cam, and Blake had to head to the Factory Blue headquarters to get started on his promotions." She raised her other hand to forestall any questions, "I did, however, invite them to Ranger Week. They're going to come down that Thursday and enjoy the carnival and the parade with us. They will be staying at the Cabin with me and Jenna."
"Hey! If that's the case, we're staying there too." Raina poked her in the arm.
"If you would let me finish," The Fire Ninja glared, "You would have heard me say that the new cabins should be ready by then and provide plenty of space for all of us Ninja Rangers."
"Oh. Well, that's okay then."
"Hold up," Zack said, walking in from the back, "You're gonna have eight teenagers staying at your cabin? Unsupervised?"
Tommy sighed, "Ten. There's ten Ninja Rangers. And it's just for one night. I'll be there for the second night."
"Ten Rangers? On one team?" Richie asked standing next to Mark, Kim's husband, "That's insane. There's never been that many before, has there?"
"No." Jenna sat on one of the couches next to Zoey, "We're special."
"Special Ed," Andy muttered, wincing when Raina kicked him in the shin.
Ignoring them, Zoey looked at the room of her brother's friends. Past Rangers. Legends in their world, "You have the three core Rangers from the Wind Ninja Academy. The Red Ranger, Shane. Power of Air. The Yellow Ranger, Dustin. Power of Earth. And the Blue Ranger, Tori. Power of Water." Seeing some of the confused looks, she held up her hand, "Let me finish. You have the two Ninjas from the Thunder Academy, Hunter and Blake Bradley."
"Blake was the Navy Ranger and Hunter was the Crimson Ranger." Jenna boasted.
"And for everyone who doesn't know, Hunter and Jenna are going out," Andy smirked at the glare the Ice Ninja was giving him, "What? It's the truth."
"Moving on. Also from the Wind Academy is Cam. No affiliation to an element, but he's a heck of a Green Samurai Ranger." Zoey said, looking between her brother and Adam, "He's also the tech genius behind Ninja Ops. He built and repaired the Zords and morphers, built all of the upgrades and tracking software, and was pretty much our go to guy for everything."
"So, he was basically Billy, in green." Kat nodded, looking at her husband, who blushed.
"Then you have those two," Zoey point to Raina and Andy, bickering on the floor, "Who came from the Lightning Academy. Raina was white and Andy black."
"I like that we had another female White Ranger." Kim crossed over to hand her sleeping daughter over to her husband, "That makes, what, only three White Rangers?"
"Four, if you count Delphine from Aquitar." Tommy said from his chair, "It's also the first team to be led by a girl. Followed by Jen." He grinned, "Eric really hates when we bring it up, thinks girls shouldn't lead. But you know how Taylor feels about that, as she led before Cole got there. So, we make a point of bringing it up every time they're in the same room together. Makes my day more interesting."
The girls rolled their eyes as the guys started laughing. Continuing, Zoey held up her hand, "So, three Wind Rangers, two Thunder Rangers, two Lightning Rangers, and one Samurai Ranger. That's eight. Then there's Jenna, the Purple Ice Ranger from the Winter Academy and me. I was the Pink Fire Ranger from the Flame Academy."
"My head hurts." Zack muttered.
"Your head always hurts." Angela called out as she walked in from the kitchen, "Rocky? The timer just went off. And the steaks are ready for the grill. So, whoever started it…" She trailed off, looking around the room.
"That would be me." Tommy got up, "I'll get it going, then I have some work to do downstairs. You guys can monitor it while I'm down there. Just don't let Zack near it."
"One time!" The original Blake Ranger protested, "When will you let me live that down?"
"When it stops being funny."
1-2-3-4-5
Everyone was in the backyard, eating at the picnic tables, when a flash of caused everyone to jump out of their seats. All of the former Rangers got in front the children and non-Rangers to protect them.
"Stand down!" Andros, the Red Space Ranger held up a hand in defense.
Everyone relaxed, glaring at the whole Space team.
"Really, Andros?" Jason rubbed a hand down Emily's back, trying to calm her down. She had turned to shield the twins, and was still trembling, "Come on, man. Our families are here."
"My heart," Kim was fanning herself, "it's beating really fast." Mark was rubbing her shoulders. "I haven't felt like that since Muranthias."
"We're so sorry," T.J. apologized, trying to ward off the glares, "We were invited."
"Invited, yes," Zoey said, calmly stepping forward, "not given permission to scare the crap out of us. What were you thinking. It's only been a few days since Lothor and his goons were destroyed. We're still on high alert."
"Not to mention the civilians and children in the yard." Justin walked over, glaring at his former team, "A little heads up would have gone a long way, you know. We do still have communicators. And D.E.C.A. has access to them. It's pretty easy to route from the Power Chamber. A simple courtesy, guys." He walked away to help with kids.
"It's pretty sad when the youngest Ranger ever is more responsible than you guys. And you defeated Dark Specter." Jenna glared, walking over. "Next time you're invited to a gathering like that, knowing that there will be civilians and kids there, I will freeze your asses." She held up the icicle in her hand. She grinned at the scared looks on the Space Rangers faces.
"What she means is," Zoey stepped up, "welcome to our little gathering. Help yourselves to some food. And rejoice in the fact that another freaky evil has been taken down." She stepped back, looking at the yard, "Now, everybody calm down. It's done. It's over. Anymore problems, you answer to me. Got it?" She held up her own hand, gather light in it. Seeing the understanding in everyone's face, she extinguished the light and walked inside.
"That's my girl." Tommy grinned and followed his sister in the house.
1-2-3-4-5
Down in Tommy's lab, Zoey was looking at the gems on display on a pedestal in the middle of the room. So like the ones that bonded with her and Jenna.
"Now, you wouldn't come down here unless you had a very good reason." She looked over as her brother walked down the stairs. "What's going on?"
"Um, Jenna's the only one who knows that I have this." She grabbed a bag in a chair and pulled out a small wooden box, "The Academy Senseis gave it to me. They said it's been at the Lightning Academy since before it's inception." She opened to reveal the green gem.
"What?" He walked over and took the box, "How?"
"I don't know. Neither do they. They said Ninjor had it first. That he was protecting it," She paused, looking at it, "then gave it to the Academy when it was first built. Sensei Watanabe told them about the gems that you had found and approached Ninjor for permission to give it to you. He was hesitant at first, until he heard your name, then he was all for it."
He walked over to his computers and placed the gem in a machine on the side. After typing in a few keys, they waited for the machine to complete it's scan. They sat in a companionable silence for about five minutes when it finished. Reading the results, Tommy looked up at his sister.
"It's real. Same exact signature as the other ones."
"Good. Now you can put it with others and continue your research." She smiled before standing up to stretch, "I like how everything turned out down here. Almost doesn't look the same. You guys really went into overdrive last time we were here."
"Yeah, we did. Made some changes while we were at it." He smirked as he pointed to the symbol on the computer screen, "What do you think of that?"
"It's simple, but powerful. I like it." She smiled, "I want ice cream." He shook his head, following his sister back up.
1-2-3-4-5
"Okay. Before everyone leaves, can we talk about Power Ranger Week?" Zoey and Jenna stood in the middle of the yard, getting everyone's attention.
"What about it?" Jason sat next to Emily under a tree. All the kids were inside watching a movie in the den.
"Since the entire Ninja team will be there, we thought we'd enter the team Endurance Competition." Jenna started.
"What would you think about having the Dojo or the Youth Center sponsor us?" Zoey asked, staring at Jason and Emily.
Tommy looked around at everyone, then turned back to the girls, "I think it's a great idea. Especially since it'll be the last year for most of you to enter."
"Really wish they could stay the whole week." Raina grumbled, eating pie, "What with work, teaching and competitions, it's gonna be harder to get away now than when we were Rangers." She started mumbling in Spanish.
"Hey!" Rocky looked over in shock, "I may not know my Spanish like I should, growing up with our mother and all, but I know you shouldn't be saying things like that."
"Don't bother Rocky. She just grumpy." Andy snagged a cookie off a table, "It took her and Dustin forever to get their act together, and now she has to go back to Angel Grove." He continued, not seeing the girls waving him off, "She'll perk up closer to Ranger Week."
Rocky stood up and faced his sister, "Wait. What? Um, ah… "
"Wow. I can't remember the last time he was rendered speechless like this." Aisha looked around at her friends, "Why aren't we recording this?"
"We are, actually." Hayley came out of the back door, "I have cameras everywhere." Seeing the looks being sent her way, she shrugged, "What? I know Tommy has an unfortunate habit of getting caught by the bad guys. I don't play around." She looked at Aisha, "I'll send you a copy of the video." She sat down beside Tommy and took the lemonade he offered.
"Okay. Rocky, calm yourself." Zoey motioned for him to sit down, "So she has a boyfriend. It's no big deal. You will meet him at Ranger Week. We know him. He's a good guy. And a fellow Ranger."
"Yeah, Rocko. I've met him. He's good. Now, sit down." When Rocky stayed standing, just staring at his sister, Tommy got up and towed him over to his wife, "Aisha, get control of this, please. We don't need him going catatonic on us." He sat back down and looked over at his sister, "Please. Continue."
Laughing, she joined him and Hayley on the grass, "Not much more to discuss. I thought we could each do the solo comps, but still run as a team." Zoey looked at her friends, "What do you three think?"
"I like it," Andy mumbled around another cookie, "I'm in."
"Me too." Jenna said, raising her hand.
"I'm game." Raina bounded over, "More time with Dustin." She grinned at her brother.
"Don't antagonize him." Zoey shoved her, "You have to be nice to the older brother who wants to go all Mighty Morphin on the poor guy." Everyone laughed as Tommy, Jason and Rocky threw chips at their sisters, "Hey. Don't hate. You know it's true."
Raina smirked, ready for retaliation, "Hey, Kat."
"Yes."
"You found out that your Animal Spirit was an actual cat, right?"
"Like Master Mao." Jenna grinned.
"Yes. What about it?" The blonde asked, looking at them curiously.
"Well, it's just that Andy there," She pointed to her partner, "said that cats were stuck up and snobbish. And asked us not to tell you that. Afraid you might take it... personally."
"Really?" Kat glared at the male in question, who was frozen in fear, "Well, Andy, I'd love to hear more. Tell me, please. What is your perspective on the subject? Am I like my Spirit Animal? Am I struck up and snobbish?"
Looking panicked, the young Ninja jumped up and ran into the house.
"Ah, the Pink Ranger curse strikes again." Jason shook his head as everyone laughed.
"What curse?" Mark asked, still new to the things they say.
"It's not really a curse. The guys call it one." Trini said, leaning on her husband.
"Take the phrase 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'. Change the woman to Pink Ranger, and you have the curse." Zack nodded from experience.
"You didn't say it right, Zack," Tommy smirked, "It's 'Hell hath no fury like a pissed off Pink Ranger.' Trust me. I know."
Zoey smiled, "I figured out how much that was true, just this last year. Boy did I let lose."
"Did you ever." Jenna looked at her, "Tori told me how you were when the Bradley's first showed up. Scared the crap out of Shane on the way to the cavern."
"I was not joking. I was ready to go full fury on those two idiots. If anything had happened to Sensei, they would have learned real quick how pissed off I could truly get."
"Not to mention all the taunting you did to Hunter once you two realized who each other was." Jenna shoved her, "Wish I could have heard it."
"Oh. I have it on tape." Seeing the looks she was receiving, she raised her hands up, "What? I started carrying a recording device everywhere I went. Becoming a Ranger, with the past knowledge I had of you guys, I wanted everything on record. Now, I can go back and reminisce about the fun times."
She got up to get some pie, ignoring the looks everyone was sending her.
1-2-3-4-5
Later that night, after everyone left, those who stayed settled down in their rooms for the night. Jenna was sitting on the air mattress in Zoey's room when her friend came in the room with Kit.
"I bet she'll be happy when you're home all the time now."
"Yeah, me too." She sat down on the edge of her bed, "To be honest, I think she's going to miss Sensei. She got so used to him as a walking-talking guinea pig, when she saw him in his human form, she got spooked and took off."
Laughing, Jenna reached up and stroked the blonde fox, "It'll take some time, but I'm sure she'll get used to it."
"It's weird, you know," Zoey said later, as they were laying down, "In my head, I know it's over. But it doesn't feel over."
"I know what you mean." Jenna agreed, "Something is off. Like, we're not finished." She leaned up to look at her friend, "But Lothor's gone, right? So, why are we feeling this way?"
"I don't know. Maybe it's just an instinct. Maybe there's something calling us." She looked down, contemplating. Thinking.
"Maybe the Morphing Gods aren't done with us yet." Jenna muttered.
Staring at the ceiling, Zoey thought about their gems and what that could mean for them in the future. More than that, what it could mean for them as Power Rangers.
Sequel, Power Ranger Week: Part 1… :)