Author’s Note: I am taking a
break from Pink Shade of Fear. I promise the break will be short but this story
will so be worth it. Oh and thanks to GmnRed 39 for some stuff. She knows what.
Btw I will have a lot of stories starting with reunions because they’re such a
handy plot devise… but this is the only funny one planned.
Disclaimer: Hail Saban, Lord of
PR.
Timeline: Sometime in Zeo.
Chapter 1: Can’t You Ever be on Time?
Tommy’s dark hair is fanned out on his pink pillow. It was a prank gift from Jason on April
Fool’s Day last year and, for some reason, became a regular part of his
life. The clock shows 12:37PM. Tommy rolls over, his right arm flinging
out.
The shrill sound of the telephone pierces the
silence. He sits up with a jerk, his
hair falling all over his face. With an
automatic motion, he brushes it away and reaches for the phone sleepily.
Zack’s voice explodes in his ear. “Tommy man, this is becoming ridiculous.
Kim, Trini, Aisha and me have been waiting for you for forty minutes.”
“Shit.” Tommy
glances at his clock. “I’ll be there
ASAP.”
“Aight,” Zack replies skeptically. “But Billy has probably teleported in
already.”
Tommy groans.
“Look, let me just throw on some clothes.”
“Sure, but remember… Kimberly is here,” and with that
Tommy is left to deal with his departure.
The big Ranger reunion has been in the plans for the past
month. Even Billy agreed to come from
Aquitar for a week. Six Rangers were
already on hand. Trini and Zack grabbed
the vacation opportunity with enthusiasm.
Kim had to beg her coach to let her go and, of course, prevailed. Aisha had trouble getting a plane ticket so
the others chipped in. Everyone was
coming and this is the day Tommy choses to be late, yet again.
Kim’s wrath does not sound appealing so Tommy jumps out
of bed, managing to land on something hard and sharp.
“Oww,” he wails, attempting to see if he’s bleeding and
hopping in the general direction of the bathroom at the same time. A cursory shower and he pulls on a pair of
red jeans and a red muscle shirt over his damp body. He slams the door in his hurry, hoping the lock catches, and
jumps into his Pontiac Aztec, which is as red as everything else in his
life. He tears down the highway, not minding
the speed limit, or any driving laws at all.
Ten minutes later, Tommy pulls into the airport parking
lot. Four agile-looking figures
recognize the car and break into a full-fledged run.
Aisha reaches the car first, grabbing the door handle on
the passenger side. “Shotgun.” Tommy hesitates for a moment then pulls the
switch, opening the door locks.
Kim slides into the backseat, smacking the back of his
head as she settles in gracefully.
“Ooh, you make me so mad. We all made sure to take the planes that reach
Angel Grove exactly at 12 just so you could be late.”
Trini climbs in and throws her arm around Kimberly. “Relax, you can beat him up when we get to
the park.” Aisha fastens her seat belt
and winks at Kim in the mirror. Tommy
cowers in the driver’s seat and Zack claps a hand on his shoulder, grinning at
the display.
Finally, the gang settles in and Tommy presses on the
accelerator.
Zack is still grinning as he notices the beautiful red
shine of the car. “So how’d you manage
to change the color? Ma, I got a scratch on the door, so I thought I'd just go
ahead and paint the whole thing red?”
Tommy frowns.
“Hey, don’t knock it. You’re not the one who had to change his wardrobe
three times. Do you know how hard it is to find a good shade of red to paint
your room? I wound up with it looking like the inside of a fire engine the
first time.” Kim’s laughter peals out
from the back.
Trini raises an eyebrow.
“Well at least you get the good colors. Us girls are always either pink
or yellow. Well for your information, I always wanted to be the Black Ranger.”
Zack reaches across Kimberly to pinch Trini. “Stay away from my color.”
“Hah! I always wanted Red.” Aisha takes Trini’s side.
Tommy glares at her.
Kim giggles.
“Well believe it or not, I’m so sick of Pink I could puke. I used to
wish for Blue or Silver or something.”
“Blue?!?!”
“What’s wrong with Blue?” Kim shrugs. Tommy’s hands
slip and the car swerves. The screams
erupt instantly.
“Watch it cowboy, I need to be in one piece to win the
PanGlobals.” Kim balls her hands into
tiny, yet lethal fists. Tommy winces at
incurring Kim’s wrath yet again.
Thankfully, the park is just a turn away.
Suddenly, Tommy looks confused. “Wait! Didn’t you guys have luggage?”
The four non-active Rangers exchange amused looks. “Who wants to explain it to Mr. My-Brain-is-Swiss-Cheese-so-I-Forgot-Everyone-Sent-Their-Luggage-Ahead?”
“All I have left is: Duh!” Kim shakes her head.
The parking lot is almost full and all of the car’s
occupants have to stay on the lookout for a spot. Aisha sees one and Tommy turns into it smoothly. Zack jumps out before Tommy kills the
engine.
“Last one to the guys is a rotten Putty,” Trini shouts
and sprints off. Tommy locks the car in
a hurry and tries to catch up, his powerful leg muscles pumping quickly. He
overtakes Aisha, but Trini, Zack, and Kim are still ahead. The picnic table comes into view and Trini
adds a burst of speed. Tommy works
himself harder. Zack laughs and keeps
running. Trini is still in the lead
when Kim catches a branch and vaults forward, landing onto the bench. Aisha manages to pass Tommy, as he stands in
amazement.
Zack tugs Kim and throws her over his shoulder. “Hah!”
She giggles and reaches down to tickle him. He jumps and they tumble into the grass. Jason runs over to see what the commotion is
about. Seeing Zack and Kim rolling on
the grass, he motions the other Rangers over.
Kat, Tanya, Adam, Billy, and Rocky jog over and the group sweeps into a
massive hug, which ends up on top of Kim and Zack, eleven teenagers crawling on
the grass like toddlers.
Greetings over, Adam disentangles himself and pulls Tanya
up. Rocky jumps up, finds two hands and
pulls, uncovering Trini and Tommy. The
boys exchange a look and reach back in, finding Jason and Aisha. Billy grasps Tanya’s hand. Kat reaches for Jason’s strong arm. Zack and Kim appear squished, and refuse to
get up.
“You guys are beasts,” Kim comments, looking up into nine
amused faces.
“Yeah, what was up with using us as your personal
mattresses?” Zack huffs. Jason shakes
his head and lifts Zack in one smooth tug.
Tommy figures this would be a good moment to get back on Kim’s good side
and carefully helps her up.
Tanya smiles and gestures to the table. “Well, the food and punch is over there and
the volleyball game is about to start.”
There are sandwiches and chips and fruit and lots and lots of other
food, insurance against Rocky’s appetite.
Rocky, Jason, Tanya, Kat and Billy head over to finish setting up the
net.
Kim is hyper, jumping up and down, when she suddenly
stops. “Damn, Tommy, will you drive me
to Billy’s for a second?”
Tommy tugs on his ponytail and nods. “Guys, we’ll be back in five.” Rocky snickers. The two turn and walk toward the parking lot.
“So what did you forget?” Tommy speaks quietly.
“My vitamins,” Kim replies, “Coach said I better take
them or else. Something about me being too thin.”
Aisha, Zack and Trini each grab a sandwich and decide to
help the others. The table is deserted.
A slim golden form slips next to it, moving
silently. It uncaps a small vial and
twists the top off the fruit punch bin, dropping some of the liquid from the
vial into it.