Hi all. Kim and Kira have much in common… but where do you draw the line when it comes to accepting help? And now, to the story…

Legends and Heroes

By Jeannine Trevizo

-x-

Chapter 16: Are you Happy Now?

With the latest monster defeated, the team did their usual post-bad guy debrief and cheer fest. Ethan and Conner talked with Jason about their continued proficiency with their ranger powers while Tommy and Hayley discussed more possible solutions to his uniform problem.

This left Kim an opportunity to mention to Kira something that she hoped would be good news for the aspiring singer.

“Kira, do you have a minute?” Kim asked as she moved to the elbow of the yellow ranger.

“Sure. What’s up?”

“My agent called me about a former client of mine… they’re looking for undiscovered local talent and James, my agent remembered me speaking about you, and well… I wanted to ask you before suggesting they contact you.”

Kira’s eyes widened.

“You… you’re asking me if it’s okay that you want to refer me to a record label?” Kira said in an astonished tone.

“It’s a record producer actually. I worked with them once, but they supposedly have a good track record with new stars. I didn’t want to do anything without asking you first.”

“No, I… that’s really great. Please… I’d love a chance to get my music heard.”

“Okay. I’ll call James back and let him know you’re interested.”

With that, Kim gave Kira a friendly pat on the shoulder and went to find Tommy, leaving Kira dazed and anxious at the prospect of really starting her music career… professionally.

-x-

Days later, Kira rushed to the Cyberspace, excited beyond anything. Coming out the front door, she ran into Trent, and couldn’t help but try and stop him to tell her news.

“Trent, you’re not gonna believe this. You’re gonna freak.”

“I’m already freaking. We’re out of soy milk and Hayley’s off today,” he replied in a frazzled fashion as he spun from Kira’s grasp. “I gotta hit the store.”

“Wait, I have to tell you something.”

“Sorry…”

With that he rushed off, leaving Kira standing there, feeling defeated. Still, there were a lot of other people to tell…

She just had to find them.

-x-

“All right, you ready Conner?” asked Hayley from the main console chair in the command center.

“Yep, ready,” said the Red Ranger as he looked at the Shield of Triumph laid on the table before him.

“Try the controls.”

“Okay.”

With that, Conner touched the two control globes with either hand as Hayley started the connection with the shield to her computer program.

“Initializing simulation,” she announced, as she started the program.

As soon as she did, feedback power ran through the shield, into the table’s controls and ran backwards into Conner, the power streaking red lighting through his body and making his hair stand on end.

“Hayley, can we stop, please?”

Hayley turned and gasped, seeing the results of the experiment and hurriedly turned the system off.

Once the system was off, the distinctive sound of the communicator came though the command center as one of the team tried to call in.

“Hey Conner, are you there? It’s Kira.”

“Hey Kira,” replied Hayley over the command center’s communication system. “He’s a little… fried right now. Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just wanted to tell him…”

“Can we call you back? We’re working on the control program for the new assault vehicle.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Kira responded without much enthusiasm. “What about Ethan? Is he around?”

“Can you tell her, unless she’s getting attacked by something green and scaly, send me an e-mail,” replied Ethan from his position in the back of the command center, eyes glued to his laptop.

“Did you hear that?”

“Yeah, I heard.”

“And Ethan’s right. Unless it’s an emergency, we should keep the communication frequency clear,” Hayley reminded.

“Okay, I’m sorry. I’ll talk to you guys later.”

As Kira disconnected, Hayley turned to where Ethan was obviously up to something.

“What are you doing over there that’s so important anyway?”

“Searching the web for my soul mate.”

“Dude, if you needed help with girls, you just needed to ask,” commented Conner with a smug grin.

“Kira aside, I’m looking for something a little deeper that you’re used to bro,” Ethan fired back, and smothered a laugh at Conner’s finger-in-a-light-socket hairdo. “And by the way, nice look.”

“What? What’s he talking about?”

“You look fine,” Hayley said with some difficulty, and then quickly turned away from Conner. “Now let’s try that again?”

-x-

“So, you figure that Hayley’s feeling guilty about not coming up with a fix for your uniform problem yet that she told you to get out of the command center for the day?” Kim asked as she and Tommy drove to the beach, the jeep speeding along the ocean road as they contemplated a whole day without responsibilities.

“I wouldn’t put it past her. Of course, she might have just wanted the alone time with Jase…”

“That is if he was even around to spend time with. You know he had to run back to Angel Grove to see a customer about some cost over runs. You’re just being bad because he’s been teasing you about us.”

“He could get back early,” Tommy argued without a lot of passion.

“Sure…”

“Still, here we are, off to have a nice picnic and we’re talking about everyone else but us… not a good start.”

“I didn’t realize this was a no-friend zone,” Kim remarked with a slight frown.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that… just, well, ever since Jason got back, we haven’t really had as much time alone, so I was hoping that we could, I don’t know…”

“Focus on us some?”

“Exactly,” agreed Tommy. “So, how about we just concentrate on you, me and the very nice bottle of wine I picked out and not on work, rangers and everything else?”

“You got a deal handsome,” replied Kim as she reached in her purse and turned her cell phone off, allowing her to focus on the man she loved driving the jeep along the coast to their destination.

-x-

Having given up telling anyone about her meeting, Kira arrived at Tones records and walked into the loft-style offices of the record producer that Kim had given her name to and had invited her to come and meet with them.

But the place seemed empty.

“Hello? Anybody here? Hello?”

“You must be Kira. Welcome to my home. Walk with me,” said a slightly tanned man with sun streaked surfer and sunglasses.

“Wait. You live here?” Kira asked as she tried to keep up with the man in front of hers quick stride.

“My ideas do. This is my creative home. This is where I make my stars, Kira.” He moved her to one of the modern art chairs and nearly sat her down, circling her as he continued to talk. “Stars like you.”

“Great. So… what do I do?”

“Just follow my lead. If you can promise me your loyalty, your trust, I can promise you your dreams. Does that sound fair?”

“Yeah, I guess it does.”

“Great. Then let’s start,” he said with a sly grin and hurriedly moved from where he’d perched behind her chair to stand before her, picking her up by her hands and moving her with him. “On the way to wardrobe we can talk about Kira Ford. Who she’s gonna be, what she is going to represent. This is gonna be great. Come on.”

With that, Kira found herself following the producer into the unknown.

-x-

The following day, Kira made her way to the command center, and was both happy and fearful to find everyone there; Tommy and Hayley were working on something at the console while Jason and Kim were discussing something and Ethan and Conner were focused on their own tasks.

“Great, you’re all here,” she said as she came down the stairs.

“Kira, where have you been? Ethan asked, moving from his computer station.

“Yeah. I was worried. You should check in every once in a while,” Conner said with a light tone as he moved to kiss her lightly on her cheek, but eased back hesitantly as he felt the vibes radiating off her that told him she wasn’t in the mood.

“I tried… never mind. Look, I need your opinion on something and I need you all to be honest. Hayley, can you play this?”

“Sure,” Hayley replied, taking the CD case that Kira thrust at her and dropped it into the computer’s tray.

“Kira… is this what I think…” Kim began, before the sound of techno music stopped her in her tracks.

Everyone stared in rapt fascination as the punked out Kira Ford sang against a space backdrop with flying tea kettles and swirls. Kim sighed and looked at Tommy, shaking her head as she realized just what insanity the record producer she’d given Kira’s name to had created.

“All right, tell me the truth,” Kira said after the song was part way finished.

“Well… um…” Ethan stuttered.

“It’s…” Hayley began, and then stopped.

“What? Is someone gonna tell me what they really think?”

“I will,” Conner said, looking to Kira, his frown evident.

“Conner!” everyone started, hoping that they could keep the Red Ranger’s ever present capability to say the wrong thing in check.

“Look, Kira…” Kim began, and Kira cut her off.

“No, let him talk,” she said forcefully.

“I just think… it’s not you,” Conner said, and several people let out sighs of relief that the mostly tactless Conner had been tactful this time.

“I knew it. What was I thinking?” Kira moaned, as she shook her head in bewilderment.

Before anyone could offer up any comments, the alarm began to beep, alerting them to an impending attack.

“Never thought I’d be glad to hear that sound,” Ethan said under his breath, only to get a jab in the ribs from Jason.

“Either something escaped from the air show or we’re in trouble,” Conner remarked.

“Zeltrax,” Tommy observed, and watched as the vehicle split apart, one piece staying in the sky and the other landing on the ground, looking like a wheeled centipede. “Conner, you guys handle it. I’m gonna try to help Hayley get our new weapon powered up.”

“Okay. Ready?”

“Ready.”

“DinoThunder, power up! Ha!”

“White Ranger, power up!”

“Purple Ranger, power up!”

Once they were transformed into their uniforms, the five rangers hurried to call their zords and rushed into the battlefield, leaving Tommy and Hayley to hurriedly try and get their new weapon working.

-x-

After getting Conner the Triceramax Megazord, Tommy had left the rest of the team to try and stop Zeltrax. Once the main threat of the centipede machine had been defeted, Conner had made his way back to where Jason had been prepared to protect the powered down Kim, Kira and Ethan after transferring their powers to the Shield of Triumph.

As Conner raced to their sides, he watched as Kim stared silent into the sky, Jason’s eyes darting from her, back up again and then to him.

“Where’s Dr. Oliver?” Conner asked as he joined them.

Ethan and Kira looked at one another and frowned.

“You wanna tell him?” Ethan asked Kira.

Before she could, Conner thought to follow Kim and Jason’s gazed and focused in on Zeltrax’s ship.

“He’s still up there?” Conner questioned in a hushed voice.

“He’ll be back,” Jason replied confidently as he moved closer to Kim’s side.

Then there was a sudden explosion, and the ship carrying Zeltrax and Tommy began to burn from two different areas.

“Whoa!” Kira cried out.

Huh?” Ethan exclaimed.

The fires and explosions continued, and Kim gasped, her hands coming to her mouth as she watched in horror, waiting for the moment she knew was going to come when Tommy would leap from the flaming wreck to join them. Jason wrapped his arm around her shoulder in support as he counted the seconds before escape would be…

Before anyone knew what had happened, the ship blew up into hundreds of pieces, the flaming wreckage falling from the sky.

“No!” screamed Kira, Ethan and Conner as Kim began to go limp in Jason’s grasp.

“No, he can’t be gone,” Kira cried out.

“It’s all right everyone,” called out Tommy’s voice as he walked through the falling wreckage, his right hand holding his upper left arm. “I made it out.”

Everyone turned and before the teens could even move, Kim had broken away from Jason and caught Tommy around the waist hard, hugging him to her in relief. He released his arm and hugged her back.

“I’m okay Beautiful,” he whispered to her as the others converged on the couple.

“Dr. O.”

“You’re okay!”

“But what about Zeltrax?” questioned Ethan, remembering that there were two people on the ship.

“Zeltraz is gone,” Tommy said, looking to Jason and Kim, knowing that even through his visor, his words would ring with them.

“You did what you had to do bro,” Jason reminded his friend as he grasped Tommy’s hand, and the two shared a moment.

“Let’s get you home,” Kim finally said, moving her arm around Tommy’s waist and leading him to the command center, with the other rangers following behind.

-x-

“You’re not upset that I didn’t end up taking the record deal, are you?” Kira asked Kim as she picked up her guitar case in preparation for leaving the command center to join the others on the lot outside the city’s industrial area where they’d thrown together a set for another stab at Kira’s video.

“Of course not! You need to do what’s best for you. And based on that video… that certainly wasn’t it,” Kim replied as she helped pick up a set of amps that Kira had been using at the command center and they’d need at the old warehouse.

“Thanks. It means a lot to me that you wanted to help…”

“And if I can in the future I will. But I think that you need to make your own way for now. And don’t let anyone change who you are.”

Kira nodded and turned to where Conner was waiting. Everyone had pulled some strings and gotten Kira the video shoot that she really deserved. Now… she was off to start her career.

The way she wanted to.

-End-

Okay… just an FYI… I’ve been plugging out chapters every week for a couple of months now, so I’m letting everyone know I may not post next week… just to give me a chance to recharge the creative batteries. Still, I might post… anyway, check for a post, but if there isn’t one by Saturday afternoon, you can bet that I’m taking a week off. J.