Chapter 16-A series of very fortunate events

--

“Apparently it seems that we all must be suffering from a sense of déjà vu, because if I remember correctly you, along with the White Ranger here, and Felectro had returned here in exactly the same way the last time you fought the Rangers.” Mesogog said conversationally.

“Not so much so as last time.” Elsa replied.

“Oh? And why is that?”

“Well, those Rangers may have yet put another hurting on us, but it wasn’t exactly a one-sided fight, especially in the end.”

“And what about the civilian attack that you endured?” Mesogog asked.

Elsa said nothing, but she gritted her teeth and looked someplace else as she turned her head away somewhat.

Seeing as how she wasn’t going to answer, Mesogog decided to answer for her. “The fact that you were one-upped once again by a regular human being is nothing short of humorous but also embarrassing. Now the only reason why I didn’t yank you out of the fight myself is because at the very least you were able to strategically create a panic, and just when the Rangers pulled out the heavy artillery, you were able to get the upper hand. However, that doesn’t change the fact that in the end, you still ended up coming back here reeling, even if it wasn’t as much.” He paused for a moment. “But seeing as how you didn’t fare as badly, I’ll give you a small amount of leeway and allow you another chance to pull this off. But this time, raise the stakes a little more and bring back a hostage.”

No sooner did Mesogog finish his sentence did Elsa then look at her leader and smile an evil smile.

Well, lucky for us, I think I know now just who that hostage is going to be.

--

BEEP-BEEP!

“Here I go again on my own…”

Tommy’s left hand instinctively reached for the radio’s SNOOZE button on his bedside table as soon as he heard the alarm go off, but once he heard Whitesnake’s lyrics coming out of the small speaker, he decided not to turn it off and to let it play. By the time the song ended Tommy was finally able to get to the tiredness out of his eyes. He then switched his radio off and walked over to the bathroom to wash his face. Once he was done he then stepped out and stretched out his arms a bit as he tried to remember what happened last night.

Good grief, does having a bad memory include feeling like I have a semi-hangover? And I don’t even drink. He thought to himself as he ran his fingers through his mega-short hair. Then memories of last night slowly started to come back to him: After dropping Kat off Tommy had then tried to make his way back to the cyber café to help clean up the mess Elsa and co. had made, as well as try to explain to his students as to why he was being somewhat aloof yesterday. But once he got back he found that everything was pretty much cleaned up and there was a black garbage bag covering the hole in the window with the bags’ sides taped to the window to hold it there.

And waiting patiently by the parking lot was a flustered and semi-irritated Hayley. Once Tommy got to the parking lot he then walked up to her and asked her where were Conner and the others. Hayley just stood there for a couple of seconds looking at him as if he was crazy and asked him if he knew what time it was. Tommy then looked at his watch and saw that it was 8:15. That completely surprised Tommy for he didn’t think he would take that long in dropping Kat off. Hayley then told him that after she and the others had cleaned up they waited for him for a half-hour. After 45 min. had gone by they all realized Tommy had taken longer than they thought, so they decided to let him be for the night and go on ahead and have their own Thanksgiving at their respective families’ house, except for Trent who couldn’t really have one at his own place since his father was “busy with work”. Fortunately though Ethan stepped in and invited him over to his house so he wouldn’t have to worry about having Thanksgiving by himself. Trent gratefully accepted.

Despite the fact that he knew that his students were going to let him have it the next day Tommy decided to shrug it off for the moment and offered Hayley a ride back to her place. Hayley then gave him a look that meant that he wasn’t off the hook anytime soon and told him that he better spill the beans by tomorrow. Otherwise by the time she and the others were through with him, he’d be begging for mercy.

Well, luckily though it’s only 9:07, so that gives me at least two hours to have breakfast, wash up and maybe watch some TV before Hayley and co. get here. he thought as he then made his way over to the refrigerator. Once he opened it he then took out an egg tray, a half-gallon of orange juice, and a package of raisin bread. Then he went over to one of his lower cupboards and took out a pan. Then lastly he went to one of his kitchen closets and pulled out a Crisco spray.

Well, here goes. Let’s just hope I don’t burn everything like last time. Tommy thought as he then reached for the remote to his CD player. He then picked it up and turned the system on, and in no time at all Larry Greene’s “Through the fire” began blaring off the speakers.

Even though he was trying to focus on what he was doing, part of Tommy’s mind couldn’t help but go back to Katherine. Especially with the talk they had while on the way to Wal-Mart and back. Even though nine years had gone by, Tommy couldn’t help but feel…comfortable around her once again. So…at ease. So much so that he could say anything while he was with her and she would just listen in intently and understand pretty quickly without really having to think about it too much. And that wasn’t even talking about how she looked in her black sleeveless t-shirt and jeans, which somehow seemed to accentuate her curves even more so…

Jeez Laweez Tommy, is your mind even on this planet anymore? Good grief, you’re supposed to be cooking breakfast for yourself, and instead you’re trying to picture Katherine in a bikini! Tommy, do yourself a favor and save those dreams for private time, not now!

Then all of a sudden Tommy began to smell something burning as he was scrambling his eggs. He then stopped what he was doing and looked where his toaster was and saw smoke coming from the slots.

Shit! Tommy thought as he made his way to the toaster and tried to pull the switch up in hopes of salvaging his toast somewhat. Unfortunately, as he expected, the two slices were charred black.

Great. Now I wonder if “shaving” some of the burnt parts off is even gonna salvage them at all.

He then went back to cooking his eggs, which fortunately, didn’t burn, and then he went and picked up his toast, along with some Parkay butter and a butter knife. For a brief moment he considered “shaving” the burnt slices a little bit with the knife.

Oh, fuck it. he thought to himself. Besides, the burnt toast tastes better with the butter on it anyway.

--

“Well, on a check of the weather, its sunny and 69 degrees here on your Saturday morning here at Reefside, with no chance of rain but do expect some clouds to shade things up a bit as the holiday season draws ever so near…”

Katherine woke up to the sound of the radio just as the DJ was getting finished with his weather report. She then blinked her eyes several times more and finally got the tiredness out of them as she got up and stretched. She then switched the radio off and walked over to her terrace. As she opened the sliding door she then took a look outside. So far, it looked pretty much like what the DJ said, it was nice and sunny out, but this time the temperature was quite chilly, and even though Kat had long pants on, the weather still chilled her to the bone somewhat so she quickly went back inside and closed the sliding door behind her.

Well, at least today it’s feeling more like November. Kat thought to herself. Hopefully it’ll stay that way for a while. Even though she loved the warm weather, Katherine didn’t have much of a problem with the cold. After all, winter wasn’t winter unless it was at least a little nippy.

Wondering if there was class today Kat then walked over to where her gym bag was and opened it up in hopes of looking for the schedule that Linda had given her along with the directions to Hayley’s Cyberspace. In no time at all she found it and looked at the days and times Cosmos gave its classes. It turned out the dance school gave its classes only on the weekdays and on the weekends it had off, unless it was for special occasions and such.

Well, looks like I have off today. Kat thought as she then put the schedule back in her bag and wondered what she could do for the day. Then she saw the small piece of notepad paper with Tommy’s address that was on her night table.

“If you need anything, or if you…need someone to talk to, just call. Or if you want to…stop by my place, don’t be a stranger.”

As Katherine looked at the paper a warm smile began to cross her face. Then as she continued to look at the sheet of paper she then felt something fall out of her hand and it the floor with a small thud. Curious, she looked at where the object fell and saw a cell phone lying on the floor.

Hmm. What’s this doing here? she thought as she took a closer look at it. Wait a minute, this isn’t mine. Kat then looked at where the table by the terrace was and saw her own cell phone lying there along with her purse.

Ok, that’s strange. Kat thought. What would Tommy’s cell phone be doing here? I don’t remember passing out on him once we got here last night…did I?

As Kat sat down on the bed she then began to retrace her steps trying to remember what happened last night. Then she remembered Tommy pulling out a small scrap piece of paper so he could give her his home address and home number.

He must have accidentally pulled out his cell phone while he was writing the address without even knowing it and handed it and the paper to me.

As she was thinking this Kat then began to look back and forth at the cell phone and at the paper with Tommy’s home address. As she did, an idea started to come to her and a warm smile once again crossed her face. In no time at all Katherine then got up and went to her suite’s bathroom to wash up, with her mind now having a sense of what she could do today, or at least…have someone with whom to spend the day with.

--

“Dr. O!”

Tommy had just sat down by the main computer and was just starting his scan of the city for any of Mesogog’s flunkies when he heard Conner’s voice boom from upstairs.

Oh, great. He thought to himself.

“Dr. O! You in here?”

Tommy then sighed in self-defeat and slumped into his chair.

Well, may as well tell them the full skinny. He thought. Can’t beat around the bush now. Although…who’s to say I have to tell them it was Kat?

“Quit yelling, Conner. I’m down here.” Tommy answered back.

It didn’t even take 10 seconds for Hayley, Conner and his friends to get from their teacher’s living room to his underground lab. Once they heard his voice, they turned on the secret passageway and made their way downstairs. Once they got to the main area of the lab, pretty much everyone let loose with his/her accusation barrage.

“Where the hell were you last night?”

“What took you so long?”

“Doc, were you somehow…busy with someone while I was trying to get a hold of you?”

“Did you really leave to get fruitcake, or were you lookin’ for somethin’ with a more sweeter flavor?”

“Tommy, you owe us an explanation, now.”

Naturally of course, all of this was being said at once.

“Whoa, whoa! Everyone calm down!” Tommy said.

“Calm down? Okay, let me tell you somethin’, doc.” Conner said in an exaggerated calmness. “We’ll calm down the minute you tell us why A) It took you so long in getting a fruitcake while we were playing ‘Pin the tail on the Tyrannodrone’, 2) Why after Elsa and co. took off, you bailed out on us to give a girl a ride, and D) why did it take you even LONGER to get back?”

Tommy sighed. Sheesh. Why do I feel like I’m being interrogated by Lieutenant Sipowicz here?

“Well?” Everyone asked.

“Okay! All right! Yes, I admit, it was a woman.”

“Ah-ah! See? I told you.” Ethan said to his friends.

“Look, I unexpectedly ran into her while I was heading out of the cyber café.”

“She was heading to the cyber café? What was she doing there?” Hayley asked.

“Well, from what I know, she had just moved here recently and had just started her job yesterday.” Tommy replied. “My guess is that one of her co-workers told her about the Thanksgiving party that was going on there and, well…that’s when I ran into her.”

“Well, judging by the look on your face doc, it seems to me like you and her had a good time.” Conner said.

Tommy gave his student a warning look. “It wasn’t anything like that, Conner.”

Conner didn’t buy it. “Okay, fine. Call it what you want doc, but that still doesn’t answer Question 2.”

“Uh, it’s B, Conner.” Ethan said.

“B, 2, whatever. It’s still a secondary question as far as I’m concerned.” Conner said as he then looked at his teacher again for his answer.

“After Elsa and the others took off, I stayed behind so I could find her and make sure she was safe.” Tommy continued. “Luckily though, she was, so I offered her a ride back to her hotel suite, and she said yes.”

Hayley nodded. “And what about your delay in getting back?”

Tommy just shrugged. “Look, all I can tell you is, I didn’t think me taking her was going to take that long, otherwise I would’ve told you guys not to wait up for me.”

Conner then raised his eyebrows. “Dr. O, are you sure there was nothing else that went down?”

“Well, if you call waking her up once we got there and dropping her off at the front of the hotel anything, then yeah.” Tommy answered sarcastically.

Conner then shook his head in reluctant defeat. “Okay, all right, fine. I’ll bite, but that still doesn’t let you off the hook yet, Dr. Oliver.”

“Oh?” Tommy then crossed his arms and gave his student a challenging glare. “And why’s that?” he asked.

“Because you only gave us concrete answers, doc.” Ethan supplied. “Now we need more in-depth answers.”

“In-depth?”

“Yeah, as in more…okay, how should I put this delicately-intimate answers.” Conner said. “For example-what does she look like?”

Tommy then shook his head in a way that was part-amusement, part-annoyance. “Are you guys really that curious to know who she is?”

Trent just shrugged. As far as he was concerned, his teacher’s explanation was good enough for him, and Kira also seemed to have heard enough to let Dr. Oliver off the hook, but Hayley knew there was more than what Tommy was telling them. Ethan on the other hand felt like Trent and Kira did, but his curiosity was getting the best of him, and he, like Conner, was more than curious to know as to who his teacher’s mystery girl may be. And of course Conner, being Conner, wasn’t about to let it go just yet.

“Well doc, considering the fact that you blew us off in favor of being with this girl (whoever she is) I think the least you can do is give us some details about her.” Conner supplied.

“Conner, you do realize that-“

DING-DONG!

Once the doorbell sounded, everyone then turned their heads and looked up.

“Okay, I thought Hayley was already here.”

Hayley then cleared her throat and looked at Conner.

“Oh, sorry.” Conner said apologetically.

“Are you expecting someone, Dr. O?” Trent asked.

“No, not that I know of.” Tommy answered as he got up and headed for the stairs.

“Whoa, hang on a second, Dr. O.” Conner said as he held up his hand in front of his teacher.

“Conner, what are you doing?” Tommy asked firmly.

“Dr. O, I really hate to say this, but maybe…could you just maybe wait there for a second or two?”

“But what about-?”

“Leave that to us.” Conner replied as he then gestured to his friends to emphasize them as well. “In the mean time try to stay there and try not to get away to have a rendezvous with that girl, whoever she is.”

“Conner,” Tommy growled.

“Dr. O, come on. It’s just us. Besides, it’s probably the mailman or something.” Conner said. “But seriously, could you try not to take off on us? Please?”

Tommy then looked at Hayley for help, but she just shrugged her shoulders which caused Tommy to just put his face in his hands in utter disbelief.

I can’t believe this. I’m incarcerated in my own house, and by my own students!

“We’ll be back. Hopefully it shouldn’t take long.” Conner said. “Come on guys.”

And with that, the foursome made their way up the stairs.

“Uh, Conner, don’t you think that was a little cold?” Ethan asked.

“Ethan, Dr. O may be our teacher/mentor, but he was playing kissy-face with some girl while we were getting our asses whooped.” Conner replied. “Now I can’t say that I blame him, but we needed his help at the time. So the way I see it, it seems fitting enough.”

Ethan sighed. “Okay, whatever you say, man.” 10,000-word essay project, here we come.

--

Okay, now this is really strange. If Tommy’s jeep is right over there, then that means he has to be home. But then…why doesn’t he answer?

It hadn’t exactly been easy for Katherine to find her way to Tommy’s house. After she washed up, changed clothes, and headed to IHOP to have breakfast, she then wondered how she was going to be able to get to Tommy’s house. She didn’t want to have to pay for a taxi cab to take her all the way to Valencia Road so she decided to ask at the front desk if there were any buses that had routes that passed that road. The receptionist told her that there was in fact a bus that went by the area and in fact that same one actually stopped by here as well.

“The thing is, the bus stops right where Valencia Road starts, so you’ll be walking a great deal once you get off. But since there aren’t that many houses in that area, you shouldn’t have much trouble finding the house you’re looking for. Plus the road’s quite short, so I’d say it’d be no different than a 20-30 min. walk.”

What the receptionist said was as good as gold, for once Kat got off she did have to walk a great deal to get to Tommy’s house. Fortunately though, the mailboxes by the houses had the address numbers on them, which made looking for Tommy’s house a bit easier.

When Katherine finally got to the end of the road she saw nothing ahead of her but a lot of woods. Then when she walked onto the main road she saw what looked like a makeshift driveway leading deeper into a clearing up ahead. In addition, there was also a mailbox right next to the driveway with the numbers 1992 on it.

Smiling to herself, Kat then got on the driveway and made her way to the clearing.

Once she got to the end of the driveway Kat then saw what she had spent the past 18 minutes looking for.

It was actually pretty nice, with a gray and white color pattern adorning the house’s outside and a small porch out front with Tommy’s jeep parked nearby. The area in front of the house was spacious enough to have a couple of cars, but from what Katherine could tell, it seemed that the backyard had even more space.

Well, at least he doesn’t have to worry too much about anyone interrupting his solitude. Although…why so far out in the woods?

Still pondering this, Kat had then made her way up to the front door and after fidgeting nervously to herself she then rang the doorbell.

Now here she was waiting nervously for Tommy to open the door and so far there was no answer. Puzzled, Katherine rang the bell again.

DING-DONG!

Still no answer.

Katherine then looked to where Tommy’s jeep was and saw something next it. Curious, she then took a closer look and saw a red Mustang parked next to Tommy’s jeep.

Okay, now that’s something I failed to notice firsthand. She thought. But who else could be here?

Kat then turned back to the door and looked at the doorknob. Out of the corner of her eye she could have sworn that she saw movement coming from the window. She then looked in the window and saw pretty much nothing except for the blinds swaying somewhat in the gentle breeze. Deciding to take a chance Kat then turned the doorknob wondering if there was anyone actually inside the house. Much to her surprise the door opened with a light creak.

Okay, now this is starting to get a little creepy. Kat thought to herself. “Tommy? Are you here?” she called out as she closed the door.

Once she was inside Kat then had the chance to scope the place out a bit. It wasn’t anything excessive, just a simple house with some furniture and the usual necessities for the kitchen and living room and such. Plus there were some occasional dinosaur models and fossils decorating the place.

As Kat looked around she then turned her head and noticed a small collection of pictures adorning part of a wall by the kitchen. Curious once again she then walked closer and saw that all the pictures had Tommy in them and some other people. None of whom Kat recognized, but when she saw that Tommy was dressed in what looked like field gear and digging in the ground in some pictures and then with him standing next to some dug-up fossil in others, she then realized that the pictures were of him and some other paleontologists at a dig some years ago.

Wow. she thought as a small smile began to break across the corners of her mouth.

But even though the pictures were pretty amazing, what really caught her eye was the large picture hanging above. It was a picture of her, Tommy, Tanya, Rocky and Adam with their diplomas in their hand. Even though Tommy wasn’t able to make it to the graduation ceremony, he was however able to throw a small party of his own at his house that night where he, Katherine, Rocky, Tanya, and Adam got the chance to hang out and talk (not to mention do some Tommy/Kat snuggling). Just before they went home Tommy then snapped one group picture of them with an automatic camera his mom had and promised he would send them copies for each of them to have, and he did.

Though she had her own picture stashed somewhere in her luggage Kat couldn’t help but sigh to herself as she looked at the photo wistfully. How time flies…

“Okay, I don’t mean to be rude, but who are you and what exactly are you doing here in Dr. O’s house?”

As soon as she heard the voice Kat then turned around and saw four teenagers standing in front of her and in defensive poses.

Okay, now I’m really starting to wonder if I even have the right house. Kat thought. Then she remembered the boy’s voice from last night as he called out Tommy’s nickname, asking him where he was going last night. Because it had been somewhat dark, Kat didn’t really get a chance to recognize him that much or his friends as they wondered about their teacher. Then she remembered Tommy telling her about his four “special” students.

I guess these must be the four students Tommy told me about last night. “Who are you guys?” she asked, still not completely sure.

As soon as she turned her head around to face them Conner, Ethan, Kira, and Trent then lowered their fists and calmed down a bit. Although the guys seemed to calm down a little more than Kira did.

“Actually, that’s more of a question we should be asking you.” Kira said matter-of-factly. Hmmm. She…looks familiar…

“Okay look, how about if you just tell us what you’re doing here, because usually the only people who come in through the door and start walking around like they own the place is usually either Dr. O, us, or someone who looks like he/she might wanna sack the place.” Conner said gently.

“Conner,” everyone (minus Kat) said.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, bad joke.”

Luckily though, Kat didn’t take offense. “Well, I can assure you I wasn’t going to steal anything.” she said. “I really just came by because I wanted to give Tommy his cell phone back. He accidentally left it with me when he dropped me off at my hotel last night.”

Conner’s eyebrows then rose up slyly. “Wait a minute, so you were the mystery girl that our teacher was hangin’ out with all afternoon yesterday?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say all afternoon, but somewhat. Wait, how did you know that?”

“Oh, um…well…uhhh…I mean…”

All of a sudden Conner really felt like shrinking into his clothes and disappearing, for Kat was giving him a look that seemed all too similar to Dr. Oliver’s glare. Kira, Ethan, and Trent saw the glare as well and tried their best not to laugh, namely Kira. After all, it wasn’t everyday that a woman could actually stare Conner down and make him feel very small; both literally and figuratively.

As Kira then looked from Conner’s incoherent babble to the tall blonde woman a look of recognition then began to cross her face. Wait a minute…that face…and especially that accent…okay, now I know I’ve seen her from somewhere. Kira thought. “I think what he’s trying to say now is that he’s terribly sorry for acting like Colin Ferrell and also that there may have been a little bit of a misunderstanding. Am I right, Conner?”

Conner said nothing, but when he saw Kira’s death glare he seceded and nodded. “Yeah, that’s…that was pretty much it.” He then turned his face and faced Katherine. “Sorry.”

Kat smiled. “It’s okay, apology accepted.” She said earnestly. “Besides, I suppose I can’t really blame you for being a little hostile.”

Ethan just shrugged. “Well, that’s the thing about our friend here, Miss…”

“Hillard.”

“…Miss Hillard. You see he’s the kind of guy who usually has a tendency to shoot his mouth first and ask questions later, so-wait a second, what did you say your name was?

“Hillard. Katherine Hillard.”

For a couple of seconds no one moved, except for the teens’ eyes as they bulged wide open. For a moment neither of them could really believe that the woman standing in front of them was the same woman in the photo that Conner had found while they were sorting through their teacher’s paraphernalia. Then they remembered the little love note that had been written on the back of the photo in addition to seeing a blonde woman becoming the second Pink Ranger in Tommy’s video journal, and lastly the last name of the “mystery woman” Krista had mentioned last night.

“She just started teaching at Cosmos today, and according to her, she just arrived in Reefside quite recently.”

Conner, Ethan, and Trent were pretty much shocked even more so than Kira was, and Conner really felt like an asshole for saying what he said to Kat. However, on the other hand he was also very exhilarated to get the chance to meet one of his teacher’s old friends (one of whom he was willing to bet Dr. Oliver still thought about) and against his own grain he couldn’t help but scope Katherine out head to toe, and while he didn’t know it, Ethan and even Trent couldn’t help but do the same.

“Okay, now I really feel stupid.” Ethan said.

“Try me,” Conner added.

“Okay, I think I’m a little confused.” Kat said.

“Don’t worry about it, Miss Hillard.” Kira said. “Just give them a couple of moments.”

Kat smiled and nodded. “Oh yeah, by the way, you looked like you recognized me a little bit.” She pointed out.

“Well, let’s just say that through some roundabout ways we have heard of you somewhat.” Kira said. “In fact, come to think of it, I don’t think any of us had a chance to introduce ourselves.” She realized. “My name’s Kira.” She said as she offered her hand. “And this is Trent, Ethan, and our little babbler here is Conner.”

“Yeah, I think I already know his name.” Kat joked as she shook hands with the foursome.

“You do? Really?” Conner asked, amazed and perplexed. “‘Cause I don’t remember ever meeting you up until-“

“She meant it in the sense that she already heard us say your name while you were busy talkin’ gibberish to yourself.” Ethan supplied.

“Oh, well…I knew that. I was just testing you guys.” Conner said.

Conner’s friends just rolled their eyes and laughed lightly.

“Well, I’m glad to meet you guys.” Kat said. “As I said before, my name’s Katherine Hillard, but you can also call me Kat if you like.”

“Y’ know, your accent’s a little…British-like. You wouldn’t happen to be from the UK by any chance, would you?” Conner asked as he heard Katherine’s accent.

“No. Actually I’m from Surrey Hill, Australia.” Kat replied.

She’s from the land down under? Dang, now I’m really curious to know how Dr. O met her. Conner thought to himself.

“Hayley, please. Don’t try to stop me.” Tommy said as he came walking up the stairs from the Dino Ruins to his family room. “Guys, where are you?”

“We’re over here in the living room, Dr. O.” Trent called out.

“Well, what’s going on? What’s taking you guys so-“

Tommy didn’t even get the chance to finish his sentence, for he was already at the living room before he could finish, and while he was expecting his four protégés to be there loafing about, what he didn’t expect was to see Katherine standing there with them. And once he got to the living room she was the first person he saw and once he locked eyes with her, he could not bring himself to finish his sentence.

“-long.” Or, at least for the next couple of seconds.

“Hi,” he said to Kat.

Kat just smiled a bright smile. “Hi, Tommy.” She said, already going into a staring trance.

“What are you doing all the way over here?”

“Well, while I was enjoying my day off (along with the November weather this morning) I had found this.” And with that Kat reached into her pocket and pulled out Tommy’s cell phone. “I was pretty sure you were going to wonder what happened to it so I decided to come over. I had thought of calling you first, but I figured it’d be better if I came and gave it to you myself.” She said as she handed the cell phone back to Tommy.

“But how did you get-“

“The door was unlocked, so it wasn’t too hard to get in. But as soon as I was inside I ended up almost getting ambushed by your four students here.” Kat said conversationally as she gestured to the four teens who just shrugged.

“It was an accident!” Conner said defensively.

Tommy just shook his head at his student’s defensiveness. “Wow…y’ know I didn’t even realize I had given it to you by accident.” Tommy said as he looked back to his phone and checked it. “Score one for my faulty memory.” He said to himself as he pocketed his phone. Once he did he then looked at Katherine. “Thanks a lot, Kat.” He said earnestly.

Kat smiled again. “You’re welcome.” she replied.

Now Conner, Ethan, Kira, and Trent were watching the exchange between the two and between Conner and Ethan, they were trying very hard not to get a goofy smile on their faces. Trent was also trying to keep himself from smiling in a crazy way, but luckily for him it wasn’t so hard for him to restrain himself. Kira was also watching the exchange and in spite of herself a goofy grin began to spread across the corners of her mouth.

Now Conner was just on the verge of saying something when Hayley came walking in.

“Okay, now can somebody tell me just what the hell is going on here?” Hayley asked.

Everyone then turned their heads and looked at where the voice was coming from.

“Well, we’re already up to speed here on this end,” Ethan said. “But I think it’ll be better if Dr. O takes it from here.”

Thank you very much, Ethan. Tommy thought sarcastically as he sighed and shook his head a little bit. “Hayley, this is Katherine, the girl that I had run into last night. Katherine, this is my old college friend/lab partner Hayley.”

Kat then stepped forward. “Nice to meet you.”

Hayley then smiled as she shook Kat’s hand. “Same here.” she said. Out of all people for my friend to run into…I mean, what are the odds? Katherine? Here? In Reefside? Who would have thought? And for once this is actually one piece of information that I didn’t know about. Hayley thought. Tommy’s gotta be (or at least in his head anyway) turning to mush right now.

Conner then slapped his thighs gently. “Well Dr. O, on second thought, forget about my question; no details required.”

“What details?” Kat asked curiously.

“Well, let’s just say that yesterday while everyone was having fun down at the cyber café, three posers who weren’t even on the guest list showed up and started to party their own way. Now with the help of some improvisational friends-“ he then gestured to Trent. “-and good collaborative teamwork, we were able to slip past undetected and got to the back room safely. However, once we got there we tried to contact our good ole’ doc here, but for some reason (and I have no idea why) Dr. O chose to put his communicator on silent mode at the time we needed to get a hold of him.” Conner then paused for a moment. “These things don’t come with a vibration mode, do they Hayley?”

Now Tommy had been making subtle gestures telling Conner to just can it but Conner, though he saw his teacher’s gestures, kept at it.

Kat on the other hand, was feeling as if though the puzzle she had formed in her mind since encountering the Power Rangers (namely the Black one) was finally coming together. And once she heard Conner say ‘communicator’ a light bulb went off in her head. Then came other memories of the Black Ranger saving her from Elsa’s attack…to how the Black Ranger fought…to how he spoke, even though the helmet naturally muffled his voice somewhat. Then there was also the strange sound Kat had heard while she and Tommy were on their way back to the cyber café. Lastly, Kat then looked at the color of clothing everyone (minus Hayley) had on.

No way… Now even though Kat had her suspicions about Tommy, part of her still was in a little bit of disbelief. And seeing the colors on his students’ clothes was only justifying her suspicions. However, there was only one way to really know for sure…

“Tommy,” she said.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t mean for this to sound weird, but do you think maybe you could show me your wrist?”

Tommy then pulled back the sleeve on his denim shirt and showed Kat his right wrist.

“No, the left one.”

Uh-oh. Tommy then began to stammer a bit. “Um…any reason why?”

“Uh, Dr. O? I think you may as well just show her.” Kira said. “I think she already knows.”

Sighing defeatedly Tommy then rolled up his left sleeve and showed Kat his left wrist, revealing a silver bracelet with a black gem embedded in it.

As soon as Kat saw the bracelet she then turned and looked where the four teens were and saw them holding up their left wrists, revealing their own bracelets with their respective color gems.

I knew it. she thought.

“So…the Rangers that I saw last night outside the cyber café…and during that monster attack in the park the day before…it was you guys, wasn’t it?”

The teens nodded.

“Pretty much.” Ethan said.

Once Kat then turned her head towards Tommy it didn’t take a genius for her to realize that Tommy was the same Black Ranger that had saved her from Elsa and from Felectro.

Kat then looked at the teens again and then at Tommy, her gaze lingering more at him than at anyone else. So he is back in black! She thought. And here I was almost thinking that it was just my mind giving me crazy thoughts.

“Well…what can I say? Except…thank you guys.” She said as she smiled.

Now Tommy was doing everything he could to keep himself from smiling widely, but he failed miserably. “You’re welcome, Kat.” He replied sincerely.

“Well y’ know, I think I can speak for at least two of us here when I say that between me and a certain doc, rescuing beautiful women happens to be our specialty.” Conner supplied.

Tommy then shot his student a warning look, to which Conner quickly mouthed, “What?”

Kat laughed and then turned to Hayley, who had been pretty quiet during the entire time but was watching the whole thing with a smile on her face. “Oh yeah, I didn’t even ask, you aren’t a Power Ranger too, are you?”

“Oh no, not me.” Hayley said chuckling.

“She’s actually more of our own personal technical wizard.” Tommy said. “I’m almost tempted to say Zordon & Alpha, because there’s almost nothing she can’t create, or fix for that matter. Plus she was the one who built the morphers; all I did was just help out with the gems.”

“And that’s a fact, jack.” Hayley said which caused everyone to laugh.

“So your Ranger powers come from those gems?” Kat asked.

“Yeah.” Tommy said.

“How were you able to do that?” Kat asked curiously.

“Well, it’s…kind of a long story.” Tommy replied.

“That’s alright, I have some time.”

“Actually, you know what? Why don’t we all head down to the Dino Ruins downstairs? That way Dr. O can tell you the whole story, and we’ll fill in anything missing.” Conner suggested.

“Downstairs?” Katherine questioned. “I thought the house was only one-story.”

“Oh, it is, Miss Hillard.” Ethan said. “But somehow after Dr. Oliver bought the property he was able to create an underground cave (that we like to call the Dino Ruins) that’s right under this house.”

Kat then looked at Tommy with a surprise smile. “Really?”

Tommy shrugged. “Really, really.”

“Well then, come on, I want to see it.”

As Tommy looked right into Kat’s gorgeous blue eyes he could have sworn her eyes were doing the pouting. Finally after one second he caved in.

“Alright, come on. Follow me.”

As Tommy, Kat, Hayley and Kira then made their way to the hidden stairway Kira then turned around and saw Conner, Ethan, and Trent looking as though they were just staring off into empty space. However in reality they were just looking in the direction Katherine went.

Now Kira kind of expected Conner and Ethan to just turn to mush almost; that was to be expected, but Trent as well?

“Hello!” she hollered out. “Is anyone in there?”

Trent quickly snapped himself out of it a lot quicker, but Ethan and Conner took a little more effort.

“Y’ know, I swear; one woman walks in and you guys-namely the two of you-“ she then gestured to Conner and Ethan. “-turn to mush as if Keira Knightley or Kylie Minogue just came in and walked by.”

“And man, would I love to meet those ladies.” Ethan remarked.

“You and me both, dude. You and me both.” Conner said.

Trent then looked at Kira and he couldn’t help but feel as if though he had been caught drawing topless women. “Okay, okay, I confess; guilty as charged.”

Kira then looked at him, smiled, and gently punched him in the arm. “It’s okay, I forgive you.”

“Dude, don’t be shameful about it,” Conner said. “Or at least not too much. You’re a guy; it’s human nature.”

Kira was about to say something but Conner stopped her. “And before you say anything Kira let me tell you something, okay? Between the three of us guys here-” Well, actually two single guys anyway… “-we know Katherine’s way out of our league, all right? We’re not that stupid, or at least I’m not.” And it was true. Plus Conner was already getting a sense that Trent and Kira were starting to feel for each other; after all, he saw proof of that when he saw them dancing together just the other night so he knew that Kira just didn’t want Trent to end up turning into anther Conner. “But…just because she’s out of our league doesn’t mean she’s out of Dr. O’s.” he concluded.

“Hey guys! You coming?”

“Hang on, Dr. O. We’ll be right there.” Ethan called back as he, Conner, Trent and Kira then made their way to the hidden stairway to the Dino Ruins.

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