Work Text:
#1: Animals
The look was hungry, almost predatory. Those were the only words he could think of to describe it. There had been subtle shifts in all of their personalities since they had gone to Pheados and connected with their Spirit Animals. Changes that seemed to reflect the nature of those animals. Rocky and Kim seemed to have become calmer, more focused. Aisha, on the other hand was a bit more aggressive in battle, as was Billy. Adam had become even more aware of the world around him. And what the Frog was aware of right now was the look his boyfriend was giving him from across the table . . . the Falcon had his chosen prey in his sights, and the Frog couldn’t have been happier.
#2: Atmosphere, #7: Fire, & #11: Laughter
Adam shouldn’t have been laughing. He knew it, but the look on Tommy’s soot-covered face was just too priceless. Tommy, for his part still seemed a bit shell-shocked.
“I just wanted to give you a romantic evening,” Tommy said in a sad, distant sounding voice. “A fancy dinner, soft music, candles. You know, atmospheric.”
Adam managed to get his giggles under control and pulled his boyfriend into a hug, “I know love. And I appreciate the effort. But in the future, no flambé.”
#10: Kissing in the rain
Tommy was not pouting. He was disappointed, but definitely not pouting. The day had been perfect; a picnic in the park to celebrate he and Adam’s first anniversary as a couple. Then that freak storm had rolled in and they barely made it under the gazebo before the rain really hit. Certain that Zedd was just trying to screw with him, Tommy had contacted Alpha who assured him the storm was completely natural. Now Tommy was standing under the gazebo not pouting, definitely not pouting, and watching his boyfriend do back flips in the rain.
Tommy cracked a smile for the first time in nearly an hour. Leave it to Kermit to be happily playing in the rain. Noticing the change in his lover’s mood, Adam skipped over to the gazebo and joined Tommy, dripping from head to toe. He leaned in towards Tommy, still half in the rain with an odd smirk on his face. Tommy backed up a step, “What?”
“Join me.”
“In the rain?”
“Yes.”
“But, I’ll get wet.”
“Yeah. So?” Tommy looked at his boyfriend as if he had grown a second head.
“I can make it worth your while,” Adam replied with a mischievous smirk. Tommy started to ask how but before he could even get the word out Adam lunged forward, grabbed Tommy and yanked him out into the rain. Tommy tried to jump back under the shelter of the gazebo, but Adam wrapped him in a firm hug and locked his lips onto Tommy’s. Under the force of the kiss, Tommy relaxed. He was soaked to the skin, the picnic was ruined, the most wonderful person he had ever known, the love of his life was kissing him. Today was perfect.
#22: Watermelon
“Oh my god! Tommy! I’m so sorry, it was an accident!” Adam stood anxiously over the prone form of his boyfriend.
Tommy groaned and his eyes slowly opened, “Love?” he asked in a pained voice. “What . . . what happened?”
“I tripped on the rug, and it went flying. Oh god, please be okay!”
Tommy reached up and picked one of the dripping, red chunks from his chest. He put it in his mouth and took a bite. “Mmm, good watermelon. You should try a piece of this.”
# 13: Loss
Rocky Desantos sighed heavily as he dropped into the couch in the living room of his best friend, Adam Park’s home. Aisha Campbell-Desantos entered the room from the kitchen and handed her husband a mug of coffee, “How is he?”
“Asleep. The exhaustion finally caught up with him. Has there been any word?” he asked, hopefully.
“No,” Aisha replied, her voice choked.
Rocky and Aisha had stopped by Adam’s house earlier that morning to help him get the place ready. After nearly six months away working on a post-Doctoral project with Anton Mercer at one of his offshore research facilities, Tommy would be coming home the next day and Adam wanted everything perfect for his love’s homecoming. However, despite Adam’s desire for perfection and Aisha’s attempts to keep them on task, having Rocky and Adam in the same place at the same time was almost always guaranteed to result in more horseplay than work.
Aisha was yelling that they were worse than Tommy and Jason, and receiving indignant responses from the two men when the phone rang. Aisha answered, “Hello, Oliver-Park residence.”
“Aisha?” came the gruff response. The former Yellow Ranger immediately recognized the voice.
“Jason? Hon, Tommy’s not due back until . . .”
She was cut off by Jason responding, “I know. Is Adam there?”
Aisha finally caught the tone in Jason’s voice, “Jase, what’s wrong?”
The original Red Ranger sighed deeply, “I got a call from William Mitchell a few hours ago. He . . . Lightspeed detected . . . there was some kind of explosion at Mercer’s island research facility. There’s . . . there’s no sign of Tommy.”
Aisha dropped the phone just as Adam and Rocky walked up, “’Sha, who’s on the . . . whoa!” Aisha looked at Adam, tears beginning to form in her eyes. “’Sha? Mama-bear, what’s wrong?”
“Adam, I’m so sorry . . .”
#8: Friendship
“Wild day,” Jason Scott commented as he traced a finger along one of the black insets in his new gold communicator.
“Yeah,” responded Tommy Oliver from his spot on the grass next to his best friend.
Jason turned to Tommy with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, “Well, haven’t we become the stunning conversationalist while I was away.”
“Not my fault you’ve gotten used to listening to long winded, diplomatic bullshit,” Tommy returned with a smirk of his own.
Jason playfully slugged Tommy in the shoulder and leaned back. He was silent for a few moments, “It’s good to be back.” Jason was quiet again, and then added, “I’ve been worried about you.”
Tommy looked at his friend, “Me? Why?”
“Well, you were pretty torn up after . . .” Jason trailed off, not wanting to mention Kim directly.
“Yeah, I was. But, I’m over that. Actually, I’m with someone else now.”
Jason sat upright, “Really? Who? Why didn’t you tell me? I bet it’s Kat.”
Tommy chuckled, but nervously, “Yes, really. But it’s not Kat . . . and, um” Tommy swallowed hard, “that’s why I didn’t tell you.”
Jason sensed there was something serious going on in his best friend’s head, “Tom whatever, whoever it is, you can tell me. We’re friends right?”
“Friends, yeah. That’s why I haven’t told you . . . I’m not sure we’ll be friends afterward.”
Suddenly where Tommy was going with this hit him like a ton of bricks. Jason had heard stories involving this kind of conversation, and the bad things that could happen from several people he had met at the peace conference. He decided to spare his best friend, his brother in all but blood, and he was now certain nothing would ever change that, any more discomfort. Placing a hand on Tommy’s shoulder he said, “Tommy, the only way who you’re seeing now would freak me out is if you told me it was Bulk, or Skull. Or worse, both.”
Tommy just stared at Jason for a second, as if not certain he had heard him right. He finally asked, “So, we’re okay? Even if I’m with a guy?”
Jason shook him, “Yes dummy. You’re more than my best friend, you’re my brother. I love you regardless. Now however, as you brother I retain all right to thoroughly disapprove of and threaten the life of this new boyfriend of yours.”
Relief flooded through Tommy’s body and showed in his eyes, “Thanks Jase.”
“No problem. Now, are you gonna tell me who it is or do I have to beat it out of you?”
Tommy gave Jason their usual “I’d like to see you try” look at the beating comment, but then he finally relented and said, “It’s Adam.”
Jason sat back. “Adam? Really? Okay. He’s a good guy. So, I won’t have to threaten him. Plus, Rocky would try to hurt me if I did, and he’s sneaky.” Jason was quiet again for a moment, but then added with a mischievous smirk, “But wow. I mean, after that whole Scorpina thing I knew the Adam had bad luck, but to end up with you . . .”
By the time what Jason had said had truly registered in Tommy’s mind, the other boy was off and running, laughing. “You are a dead man Scott!!!” Tommy yelled as he jumped up to give chase.
#3: Children
Adam Park was sitting in the kitchen on a lovely Saturday morning, enjoying a cup of coffee and reading the paper when there was the muffled sound of a crash, immediately followed by yelling voices audible even through the soundproofing between the main house and the subterranean Dinolair. It became louder for a moment, only to be muffled again as the trap door opened and then quickly closed.
Adam looked up as his lover Tommy Oliver, AKA Dr. O, AKA the Black Brachio Dino Thunder Ranger stormed through the kitchen holding a handkerchief over his left eye, on his way most likely to the bathroom and the first aid kit. Tommy stopped suddenly, turned to Adam, and with murder in his eyes and a voice dripping with venom said, “We are NEVER having kids!”
# 4: Commitment
(Follows Prompt 8: Friendship)
Jason Scott, former Red Morphing Ranger and current Gold Zeo Ranger sat on the grass next to Rocky Desantos, his successor as Red Ranger and current Blue Zeo 3 in the Rangers’ usual spot in Angel Grove Park. After the whole Sword of Damocles situation Jason had decided to spend some time getting to know Rocky. They had spent a companionable day together, mostly sharing their mutual love of martial arts and really, really bad Kung-Fu movies . . . something none of their other friends, not even Tommy and Adam, were willing to sit through. Now they were watching the sunset before joining the rest of the Rangers for an evening movie.
Suddenly Jason broke the silence, “So, your best friend and my best friend.”
Rocky looked at Jason’s profile for a moment and then realized that Tommy must have told Jason about him and Adam, and so he responded neutrally, “Yep.”
“They seem to be a good match.”
“Yep.” Rocky responded again, this time with a relieved tone. They were quiet for a moment, and then Rocky picked up with, “Of course, if Tommy ever hurts Adam I’ll have to kill him.”
Jason glanced at Rocky out of the corner of his eye and responded, “Same goes for Adam if he hurts Tommy.”
“And then we’ll have to kill each other,” Rocky said, now looking at Jason again.
Jason returned the look, “That would be awkward, wouldn’t it?”
“Yep. So we’ll just have to make sure that those two don’t screw this up.”
“Right,” Jason agreed, shaking hands with Rocky.
With their hands still clasped Rocky asked, “Wait, did we just commit to making sure Tommy and Adam don’t screw up their relationship?”
“Yeah, we did,” Jason replied with a wry grin.
“We are so doomed.”
“Yep.”
#6: Family
Tommy sat back in the deck chair under the shade of his home’s back porch and sighed contentedly as he watched the activities in his yard. The post-Mesagog-thrashing party slash Zordon’s Rangers reunion hadn’t been his idea, but Adam’s and at first, he had been against it. However, as he watched he couldn’t help but be glad he did it.
Billy, Justin, Haley, and Ethan were sitting at the picnic table talking animatedly, most likely discussing something highly technical that would go over everyone else’s head. Kat and Conner wandered over to the table and shoved plates of food into Billy and Ethan’s hands with a command of “eat” and a kiss on the head, both knowing their respective partners would be too distracted by the conversation to think of something like food. They also forced food on Justin and Haley; Kat still having a bit of a tendency to mother Justin and Conner knowing that Haley could be just as bad as Ethan sometimes.
Tommy had to admit, Conner and Ethan were the last people he thought would end up together . . . but then again, the same could be said of him and Adam. Adam, Haley, Trent, and Kira all claimed they saw it coming, with Haley and Adam proclaiming that Tommy had the worst gaydar on the planet. But they were good for each other; Ethan grounded Conner, and Conner got Ethan to come out of his shell more. Kat and Billy, on the other hand could be seen coming from orbit. Billy had been the first to discover that the ballerina was also a closet grease monkey the first time she volunteered to help him work on the Zeo Zords. Many late nights spent in the Zord bay had cemented their relationship. Tommy and Kat’s own friendship had really gelled for much the same reason. Yes, their shared evil pasts gave them something in common, but they really became friends while Tommy was racing and giving Kat the chance to get her hands on racecar engines.
Tommy’s eyes wandered to the grill; where Anton, Jason, and Rocky were all engaged in some kind of, no doubt, very manly debate over proper grilling techniques while Elsa, Trini, and Aisha did all the actual grilling and, if the frequent giggles were any indication, kept up running commentary on their partners’ behavior. Those three pairings also made total sense. Elsa had been the mysterious woman Anton would sometimes mention while he and Tommy were working together, and he admitted his feelings towards her were likely why Mesagog had kidnapped and brainwashed her. Tommy knew Rocky and Aisha would end up together the first time he met them . . . just by the way he looked at her when he thought she wasn’t looking. The same applied to Jason and Trini. Tommy had lost count of the number of conversations between him and Jason after he first joined the team where the other man would zone out to watch Trini.
Tommy’s attention was then pulled to the blanket under the trees at the back end of the yard by the sound of two guitars. Kira and Kimberly had begun to pick out a tune and Tanya was humming along. Tommy knew it was only a moment or two before Kim and Kira would find a mutual tune and Tanya would launch into full song. Trent, as usual had pulled out his sketchbook and was drawing the three women. Next to him was Zack, whose foot and head were already bobbing to the growing rhythm. Apparently, Zack and Tanya were now an item, having run into each other in LA. They had started to meet for lunches to connect to someone else with whom they could discuss “color-related” issues and memories and things had grown from there. Kira and Trent were still going strong. Kim, on the other hand was single and apparently loving it. She had turned her Pan-Globals and Olympic wins into lucrative endorsements, the money from which she used to build a sports apparel company.
As Tanya started singing, Adam sat down next to Tommy and handed him a plate of food. They ate in silence for a few moments listening to Tanya, Kim, and Kira and then Adam looked at Tommy and said, “Penny for your thoughts love.” Tommy turned, leaned over and gave Adam a quick kiss, and replied, “Nothing much hon, just enjoying our family.”
#5: Dream, #9: Hallways, & #21: Warmth
(Based on the PRZ episode: It Came From Angel Grove)
This time as he wandered through the hallways of the black and white version of Angel Grove High, Adam Park knew he was dreaming. This time he also knew exactly where he was going. A left here, a right down the main hallway, then through the door to Mrs. Applebee’s classroom and he found himself in a horror movie version of the Youth Center.
Unlike the last time, when the room had been filled with vampires and ghouls, it was empty save for a lone figure up by the bar. Tommicula watched Adam cross the room with intense eyes, and a small, fanged smile playing at his lips. Adam walked up the steps to the bar level, his eyes locked with the eyes of the vampire version of Tommy Oliver. Now the vampire moved, crossing to join Adam.
“I knew you would return to me,” Tommicula spoke in the bad Transylvanian accent Adam remembered from his first dream.
“Yes.” Adam breathed.
“To my embrace,” Tommicula continued, pulling Adam into his arms, his words warm against Adam’s neck.
“Yes,” Adam groaned as lips and tongue ghosted across his neck, then the sharp sting as the fangs punctured his skin. “Yessssssssssssssss,” Adam hissed.
Adam awoke to nearly the identical sensation. The teeth weren’t as sharp and were just grazing his skin rather than biting, but the breath and lips were just as warm and felt the same. “Mmmmmm, Tommy,” Adam breathed.
“Morning love,” Tommy mumbled around a mouthful of Adam’s shoulder. Tommy wrapped his strong arms further around Adam and pulled him closer as he continued to kiss along smaller man’s shoulders. Adam sighed contentedly and snuggled deeper into the warmth of his love’s embrace.
Who needs dreams, Adam thought, reality is so much better.
#12: Losing Control & #19: Safety
Tommy shifted, pressed the accelerator and shot past the leader. Make that former leader. He was now in the lead and free to run with only a lap and a half left. Tommy couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. Once he won this race his Uncle John would be able to realize his dream and take Oliver Racing pro, with Tommy as his lead driver.
Tommy held the lead, made the turn and entered the final straightaway, and that’s when it happened. The front driver-side tire blew out with such force that the car was sent careening towards the wall. Tommy tried to regain control, but there was no time, he was about to slam into the wall at over 200 miles per hour . . .
Dr. Thomas “Tommy” Oliver, Reefside High science teacher and Black Dino Thunder Ranger sat bolt upright, dripping sweat as he awoke from the nightmare. The same damn nightmare he had any time something really freaked him out . . . the day that ended his racing career. He hadn’t even been really hurt. Yes, some bruises and a mild concussion, but the car’s safety features had done exactly what they were designed to do. However, he had never been able to get behind the wheel of a racecar again.
Tommy sighed and got up as quietly as he could and went into the bathroom, not wanting to disturb his lover sleeping soundly on the other side of the bed. In the bathroom Tommy got a glass of water and got his breathing and heart rate slowed back down. He used to wonder why it was that race and not his experiences as a Ranger that haunted his dreams, until he finally realized what the difference was. As a Ranger Tommy always believed, as Zordon had always told them, that the Power would protect him. Therefore, no matter how bad things got he always had that belief in the back of his mind. But in that racecar, it was just him. No powers, no advanced Zord technology, no teleporter to bail him out if things got bad. As crazy as it may have sounded, he always felt safer as a Ranger in a Zord battle than he ever did in that car.
Tommy returned to bed and lay down. Just as he got comfortable, an arm draped over his chest and the other person in the bed snuggled in close. “It was that dream again,” Adam stated more than asked.
“Yeah,” Tommy replied tiredly.
Adam responded by pulling Tommy tightly into his embrace and kissing him on the cheek. Tommy relaxed into his love’s arms and drifted off to sleep, feeling safer than he did even in a Zord.
#15: Peace
Tommy just stood in the doorway watching them, luxuriating in the sense of peace that radiated out from the scene in front of him. They needed a moment like this after the last few days. It seemed like they really hadn’t had a moment to themselves. Which honestly, they hadn’t. Between Tommy’s parents plus David and Sam, and Adam’s parents, along with every Ranger Tommy and Adam had ever served with . . . and because of that Red Ranger mission for Tommy that was a lot of Rangers, and their significant others, plus Haley, Anton and Elsa, the small Oliver-Park residence had been crammed with people. Finally, however, they were all gone and Tommy could just enjoy the peace of watching Adam rock their infant son.
#14: Obsessive
“Mwahahaha!!! Soon, soon you will be mine! All mine!!!” Tommy Oliver cackled evilly and rubbed his hands together. His eyes glittered with manic glee.
The sleek silver device Tommy was hovering over finally finished its work and Tommy poured the steaming elixir into a large vessel. He picked it up gently, reverently as he purred, “Perfection. Ecstasy. Mine.”
Adam Park leaned against the doorframe, “You’re obsessed, you know that?”
“Mock me if you will, but I have what I desire!” Tommy replied melodramatically.
Adam just sighed, “One of these days I really need to hurt Billy for introducing you to coffee.”
#16: Photograph & #20: Thrill
“Conner, I really don’t like this,” Ethan James, Blue Tricera Dino Thunder Ranger whispered as his boyfriend Conner McKnight, the Red Tyrano Ranger lead him by the hand through the darkened Dinolair.
“Oh, come on . . . it’ll be a thrill,” Conner replied with a mischievous, and slightly lusty, smirk.
“Which part is the thrill? Making out in the Dinolair while Dr. O and Mr. Park are home, or watching our lives flash before our eyes when Dr. O finds us and kills us?”
“Dr. O won’t kill us. And why do you keep calling him Mr. Park? Adam’s told you to call him by his first name like a doz . . . Ow!” Conner stopped talking as his foot bumped into a box sitting in the middle of the floor, knocking it over and spilling its contents.
“Conner!” Ethan hissed as he dropped to pick up the scattered items while Conner jumped around holding his foot. Ethan looked back up at his boyfriend with an indulgent smirk, “The box is cardboard Conner.”
Conner stopped hopping; running his hand through his hair like he did anytime someone caught him being goofy, “Oh. So, um, what was in the box?”
“Pictures.”
“That’s great. So, let’s shove them back in the box and go back to what we were doing,” Conner commented. When he didn’t get an immediate response he looked down at Ethan. The other boy was sitting on the floor staring at a picture in his hands. Conner knelt down behind him. “Ethan? Sweetie? What are you looking at?”
Conner looked over Ethan’s shoulder at the picture in his hand. The picture was taken in some kind of park on a sunny day. A young Asian man in black was sitting on a picnic table bench between the legs of another young man who was sitting on the tabletop. The second youth was dressed in white sweatpants and a white tank top. He had long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and he had his arms wrapped around the other youth. Both were smiling at the camera. There was a warmth in their eyes and tenderness in the embrace that implied the two young men were very much in love. After staring at the picture for nearly a full minute, Conner realized who he was looking at. “That’s Dr. O and Adam! Like, forever ago.”
“Yeah, when they were our age,” Ethan replied, his voice quiet. “When they were the White and Black Rangers.”
Noticing the tone in Ethan’s voice, Conner asked, “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I was just thinking,” Ethan replied.
“About what?”
“About how you and I are a lot like Dr. O and Mr. Pa . . . Adam.”
“Huh?” Conner was confused at the comparison.
“I mean, Dr. O had only dated girls, like you, and Adam really hadn’t dated much at all, like me, before they figured out how they felt about each other, like us. And just like us, they probably never would have gotten to know each other if it hadn’t been for being Rangers. And so I was just thinking about how being a Ranger hasn’t just given me a life of adventure and saving the world better than any video game,” Ethan now turned to look at Conner, “but you too.”
Conner’s smile went from ear to ear as he pulled his boyfriend into a tight embrace and kissed him.
Adam closed the trap door quietly and looked up at Tommy, a smile on his face and a wistful look in his eyes. Tommy sighed and surrendered, “Fine, five minutes and then we make enough noise to scare them out of there and we pretend we didn’t catch them.”
“Good,” Adam replied as he stood and rewarded his love with a kiss.
#17: Public Dining
Gabriella's was the fanciest, most expensive restaurant in Reefside. It also provided the most privacy for individual groups of diners, so it was the perfect place for Anton and Elsa to hold their "real" engagement dinner. In a week there would be the large-scale gala for the press and the public; which like most things Anton did these days would double as a charity fundraiser. However, for tonight the happy couple wanted to celebrate with their family and friends. Therefore, the quiet dinner with Tommy and Adam, Kira and Trent, Ethan and Conner, and Haley.
At least it had been a quiet dinner until Elsa, returning to the table after a trip to the ladies’ room, had heard two of the wait staff making homophobic comments about Tommy and Adam and Conner and Ethan. From their vantage point at the table the rest of the group watched the fireworks as Elsa tore into the servers and the manager who came up to try to calm her.
"Wow," Kira commented, "I wonder what set her off?"
"Had to be something bad, Elsa's usually so even tempered," Adam observed.
Conner winced, "Definitely had to be major, she using her 'evil Elsa' glare on them."
"Whoa, the manager just turned white!" Ethan announced, impressed.
"Which probably means she dropped my name," Anton said with a chuckle. "She'd only do that if she really wanted to scare them."
Elsa, apparently satisfied with the manager's response, concluded her berating of the man and returned to the table. The manager shot a glare at the two servers and followed Elsa at a respectful distance. When Elsa returned but didn't sit, Anton asked, "Darling, is everything okay?"
"It's is now," Elsa answered, a bit of venom still obvious in her voice. She turned to Haley, "The Cybercafé is open late tonight, right?" When the red head nodded, Elsa added, "Good, because I am in desperate need of a triple chocolate raspberry smoothie right now."
The manager, still pale as a ghost, now approached the table, "Dr. Mercer, please allow me to apologize for any offense to your guests by the staff. As an apology, you meals tonight are on the house. Would you care for dessert?"
Before anyone at the table could respond, Elsa held up her hand, "No, we will be leaving."
Once everyone was out in Anton's limo; except for Ethan and Conner, who were in the former Red Ranger's car, Elsa finally explained what happened. Tommy and Adam merely sighed while Kira, Haley, and Anton all turned bright red and shouted "WHAT!?"
Tommy now spoke up, "Everyone calm down. Elsa handled it. Thank you," he added to her. "Any revenge you three are thinking up," the three in question began to protest until Tommy held up his hand, "Stop, I know all of you, and what you're capable of doing for the sake of your friends. But as I was saying, any revenge is unnecessary. I'm sure their business will suffer more than enough for offending the fiancé of Anton Mercer."
"Especially when I drop the topic of this incident into casual conversation at the big party next week," Elsa added with a wicked grin.
Anton looked at Elsa with a loving grin, "You're evil."
Elsa responded with a wink, "What, you thought Mesagog was responsible for that?"
#18: Rock
"Bro, we should so not be down here, your Dads' will kill us if they catch us," Aiden Scott said nervously to his best friend as they descended the steps into the secret Dinolair. The son of the original Red and Yellow Power Rangers, Aiden had inherited his mother's looks and brilliance and his father's build and, despite his protests, his father's love of adventure as well . . . hence his willingness to follow his best friend into the forbidden parts of his house.
"No they won't. I come down here all the time," Kyle Oliver-Park responded confidently. Being adopted he didn't look like either of his fathers, although everyone said he looked like his uncle Billy with his sandy brown hair and green eyes. In personality he was a little too much like Tommy for his relatives’ comfort at times, but fortunately he had picked up Adam's perceptiveness.
"Yes, but that's usually with one of your Dads or Aunt Haley," Claudia DeSantos countered. The daughter of the second Rangers on Earth to wear Red and Yellow, she was an even split between her parents physically, but took after her mother in personality. Which often made her the voice of reason, or the one to just smack some sense into the boys, of the trio.
It was not surprising to any of the former Rangers, given the relationships between Tommy and Jason, and Adam with Rocky and Aisha, that the kids were close. They were only a few weeks apart, age wise. And despite the Oliver-Parks living in Reefside and the Scotts and DeSantoses living in Angel Grove the children were practically raised together. Many a summer was spent with the trio living for a week at a time with each family.
They had been thirteen when their parents sat them down and explained why they had all these aunts and uncles who weren't actually related to them, and why each of the adults had wardrobes dominated by one or two colors . . . or four in Tommy's case. They had been thrilled, although a bit disbelieving, to find out their family was made up of ex-Power Rangers. However, their first trip into the Dinolair had proven everything. But ever since that day the trio had been plotting to be able to explore the underground base without the adults looking over their shoulders.
Now fifteen and spending the week at the Oliver-Park home they finally had their chance. They had been deemed "old enough" to be left alone while Tommy and Adam ran into town to help Haley with something at the café. Once the three set foot on the floor of the lair all nervousness and thought of being caught vanished as they looked around the accumulated Ranger memorabilia. They split up and began looking around, careful not to touch too much lest they leave evidence of their invasion.
After a few minutes, Aiden called out, "Hey Kyle, what's this rock?" Kyle and Claudia wandered over to Aiden to find he was holding a chunk of light colored stone. One surface was unnaturally smooth and appeared to have part of a carving in it.
"Oh, that," Kyle responded on seeing it. "That's a piece of the Command Center." When the other two teens looked at him, Kyle continued, "According to my Dad, he went there a few years after Divatox destroyed it and brought that back with him. He said it was a way of keeping a piece of Zordon with him."
Aiden and Claudia nodded. They had heard numerous stories about Zordon in the last two years, always told with a reverence reserved for a deceased loved one. The three teens stood there for many minutes, staring at the chunk of the Power Rangers legacy. Without even realizing what they were doing, Kyle and Claudia began to reach out to the piece, feeling drawn to it. So intent were they on the fragment they never heard Tommy and Adam come down the stairs.
Just as Tommy and Adam reached the floor and were about to begin yelling, Claudia and Kyle touched the shard. There was a blinding flash and the three kids were thrown back. Tommy and Adam shielded their eyes. Tommy yelled, "Kids, are you alright!"
"Yeah Dad, we're . . . great?" Kyle responded.
Tommy and Adam uncovered their eyes. The three teens were rising to their feet, each glowing with a corona of energy. Kyle Red, Aiden Blue, and Claudia Yellow.
Adam grabbed his husband's shoulder, "Tommy?"
Before Tommy could speak, the glows faded and a voice that was booming, but quiet as a whisper, filled the room, "MY GRANDCHILDREN, RECEIVE MY GIFT."