Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers. (Bet that's the first time y'heard that!) I do lay claim to Maggie, Ben, and Grandfather Park. I would also like to express my fondness for twinkies. Twinkies: A little yellow
 cake with 68% air. :) Not to mention those who wrote me all those responses about my first fic, it got me extremely  motivated on this one. Thanks guys. Also, in this timeline, only Kimberly left Angel Grove after the Turbo movie, Jason stayed, as did Rocky. This takes place in the 'standard' world of the Power Rangers. Oh yeah, if you haven't read "Mixed Feelings," then you're screwed. :)
New Surroundings
by Spartacus
 

    Those who marvelled at the home, awed at the garden. Squinting through a pair of glasses, a frail hand carefully trimmed a banzai plant. The thin eyes then shifted focus. His ears did not detect a thing. Perhaps that is how he knew someone was there.

    "Hello, Adam," the old asian man acknowledged. A young man with chin-length black hair stepped onto the garden patio, his green canvas hi-tops pressing on the stone a little more assertively.

    "Hello, Grandfather." he returned. "Are you busy?"

    The old man shook a bony finger in the air. "I am never too busy for my grandson. Sit down." he ordered, patting the two-foot high stone wall. "Tell me your troubles. Is there dissention in your team?"

    Adam shook his head. He was actually glad that he came clean about being a Power Ranger to parts of his family. At the moment, only his mother and father, frequent travelling businessmen, were unaware of his secret. "No, we had a problem, but we kinda fixed it, I guess."

    "Ahh, the Tommy ordeal," Grandfather chuckled.

    "An unusual solution, but as long as it worked out for them both. Well then, if it is not the team?"

    "It's Maggie." Adam admitted.

    "Hmph. If you think sisters are difficult, wait until you have children. But that is not for some time now, is it?" Adam didn't answer, concerning Grandfather. "Is it?"

    "No! God no!" Grandfather sighed relief. "Tanya and I aren't anywhere near that part of a relationship." Adam realized he was now discussing his lovelife with his Grandfather. "The real problem is Maggie. She's a little— upset with me."

    "How so?"

    "Well, she's upset that I haven't recommended her for the team. She was mad that I didn't ask her to be the Gold Ranger, even though it was deadly for humans. Then it was because I didn't ask her to be the new Blue Ranger. I mean, I wasn't thrilled with Justin at first, but it's actually working out. It's getting on my nerves, and she won't listen to me."

    "Adam—" Grandfather began. "In order to solve this problem, it must be seen from both sides. Maggie was attending a private school in Stone Canyon, therefore no one on the team even knows you have a twin sister. I realize that you are trying to protect her, but have you even attempted to
introduce her to your friends since she has returned home? Have you even told any of your friends about her?" Adam's head sank lower into his shoulders. "I do not believe she chooses to be a Ranger, but I think she wishes to fit in much like you do. Since she has been in Angel Grove,
she has not made the tight group of friends that you have. And she attributes that, effectively, to you being a Power Ranger."

    "So she doesn't want to be a Ranger, just someone's friend?"

    "Sounds right to me."

    As Adam watched his Grandfather return to the banzai, the subject of conversation entered onto the garden. Maggie shared many of her brother's features, but her hair was nearly twice as long. She had the same effect on men that her brother had on women. "Adam," she scanned her eyes over the
many plants searching for her twin. "Tanya's here." She suddenly found the head of her brother float over the top of the bushes and run past her.

    "Men," she sputtered, walking to her grandfather. "Grandfather, can I talk to you about Adam?" Walking onto the large foyer, Adam found Tanya staringaround the house, admiring the paintings on the wall. She then did a double-take as she noticed the signature.

    "—you did these?" she asked her boyfriend. "I always thought you were a writer, you never told me you could paint." As if on cue, Adam blushed. Apparently the sudden rush of blood to his face was also a hidden talent. "These are incredible!"

    "Is it?!?" Grandfather could be heard shouting through the home.

    "NO! NO!" Maggie followed.

    Adam groaned. He was simply glad his Grndfather didn't have a heart problem. "So— um, what brings you by?"

    "I think I left my pager here yesterday. I was so busy worrying about the science test that I forgot
to take it with me."

    "Lemme check the lost and found." Adam said, leading Tanya into the kitchen.

    "Your family has a lost and found?" Adam opened one of the lower cabinets.

    "Actually it's just a bucket that Ben puts random stuff in. Someday I'll have to tell him something about that." Adam pulled out a large blue bucket loaded with miscellaneous items. The first thing he found was his old black-band communicator. "Maybe I'll tell him tonight." Adam quipped, shuffling through the bucket. "Ahh!" he displayed a pager made of clear yellow plastic. "Eesh— thirteen pages!" he exclaimed, tossing it to the young woman. "Let see," Tanya began scrolling through the pages. "Adam, Adam, Adam, Kat, Adam, Adam, Bill—" "Bill?!"

    Adam leaped to his feet. "Who's Bill?!" Tanya flashed him a smile that
made him feel like jell-o. She kissed him on the cheek. "Gotcha." She then finished running through the pages. "Geez Adam, you called me so many times I'm surprised you didn't find this sooner!" Tanya watched a six-year old version of Adam stumble into the kitchen. "Speak of the devil," she
said, crouching down to the floor. "Hi Ben, how's it going." The boy greeted her
with a hug. "Awww—"

    "Actually," Adam noted, "Ben gives everyone hugs. Except Rocky—" Adam sent himself staring into the air.

    "Why doesn't he hug Rocky?" Tanya simply giggled. "Well, I hate to run— but Kat and I have
plans."

    "Eww—" Adam shuddered, "Girl stuff."

    "Eww." Ben emulated Adam's movement.

    Tanya gave Adam a parting peck on the cheek. "I'll see ya tomorrow." she said, darting out the door. "Bye." Adam fumbled the black communicator in his hand when he returned to the garden. He stumbled directly into Maggie's path, dropping the communicator at her feet. "What's this?" she said,
picking up the band. "You never told me you kept your old communicator. Another secret your sister couldn't handle?" Just when Adam was ready to lose it all, he remembered the words of his Grandfather.

    "Tell ya what," he coughed. "Why don't you come down to the youth center with me. I'll
introduce you to some of my friends." Maggie's eyes went wide.

    "You mean it?" Adam nodded. "This isn't some cruel joke?" Adam shook his head.

    "Okay, let's go."

    Jason's eyes drifted from Tommy to the doorway of the youth center. "Hey, who's the new girl?" he asked to whoever could answer. A small rush of words flashed by his ear.

    "She's my twin sister." Adam hissed, as Jason spun around startled. "Geez—" Jason panted, "Didn't see you there, Adam. Come to think of it, I didn't know you had a sister." He quickly turned
to Tommy. "Is it now Ranger law to have a twin?" The team leader shrugged.

    "Well," Adam explained. "That's sort of Maggie's doing. She always said she wanted to be her own person, rather than being known as my twin. In fact I haven't had much contact with her for the longest time."

    Justin came running into the center, almost clipping the shyly approaching Maggie.  "Guys! Guess what?" 

    "You have a twin?" Jason asked skeptically. Justin  paused and shrugged it off. "No, I got an 'A' on my history test."

    "Good  job, Justin. Guess the study session paid off, 'eh?" Tommy examined the  test the young boy was flaunting.

    Finally, Maggie worked up the courage to  approach the table. Adam broke the feeling of awkwardness. "Guys, this  is  my sister Maggie. Maggie, this is Tommy, Jason, Rocky, and Justin."

    "Nice to meet you." she waved.

    "Have a seat," Jason invited. "So how come we haven't seen you before  today? I mean, Tommy's brother was living in the desert for almost  twenty  years. Somehow you don't strike me as a nomad."

    "I'm not." Maggie smiled.

    "I was attending a private school in Stone Canyon. I chose to stay there rather than move in the middle of a semester. I finally got enough credits to graduate. Unfortunately, my graduation was the same day as Adam's. Plus I only moved here a few days ago."

"So what do you like to do for fun?"  Rocky probed. He was still shocked that he new Adam for a year before  the two moved to Angel Grove, yet his friend never told him about having a
twin  sister.

    "Y'know, the usual stuff. I mean, I don't beat up space aliens or anything." Her mysterious grin sent the Rangers spinning.

"Oh, yeah—"  Adam  confessed. "She knows." Tommy turned to his second-in-command.

    "You told  her?"

    "I don't keep anything from my family. Don't worry, my parents  don't know, only her and my grandfather." With everyone else caught up in the conversation, Justin was the only Ranger to hear Alpha page him.

    Sneaking  off into the empty men's room, he quietly answered. "Go ahead, Alpha."

    [Yo, we got a problem.]

    "I didn't think this was a social call. What's up?" There was a metallic 'urk', but no reply. "Alpha?" Justin began to panic. "Alpha are you there?"  With a worried heart, Justin swiftly returned to the table. "Guys!" he  said  in a little over a whisper. "Guys, we gotta go!"

    "What's wrong, Justin?"  Tommy asked. He had not known the young boy personally, but he had
memories  of him. Justin was never one to lose his cool over something small in scale. "Calm down, it's okay. What's the situation?"

    Justin took a deep  breath. "Alpha, he told me there was a problem, and that was it. I got cut off. I tried my communicator, nothing."

    "I'm sure it was just a malfunction Justin."
 
    "I don't think so. I think there's a serious problem." Seeing Justin's worry was not going to be easily subdued, Tommy created a solution.

    "I'll tell you what, let's go to the Chamber. We'll see what's  up. Okay?" Justin nodded and the two seperated from the group.

"Geez,"  Rocky sputtered. "I've never seen Justin so upset."

    "He's probably still not adjusted to the life of a superhero. It takes time. I know it took me a while." Jason said.

    "Oh my God," Tommy choked. He and Justin were at a loss for words. The Power Chamber was in ruins. The tops of the control panels had been ripped viciously from their housing, dangling from their stands by a few burnt and frayed wires. The tube where Demitria once lived was now a pile of glass around a large open column.

    "Tommy," Justin gasped, "Look!" A shakey finger pointed to a pile of gold and red rubble. Alpha 6 was dismembered and thrown into a heap on the floor like the neighborhood trash. "What
happened here?" the Blue Ranger asked.

    "The zords," Tommy realized. "Without them the Turbo Keys are useless!" Tommy ran to a large metal door, and pried it open with his own ten fingers. At first the traditional smoke was
released from the opening, but upon further expection, "Fire!" Tommy let the doors
slam shut. Slumping against the door, feeling it's icey sting, he had no worries about the fire burning through the holding bay.

    "What do you mean, the keys are useless?" Justin quietly asked. Tommy returned his
attention to the boy. "Oh. It was a problem with the Turbo Power. Tanya, Adam, Kat, and— me, I guess, still had the Zeo Powers at the time, trying to change the properties of the crystal would've been dangerous to all of us. The Turbo Power was actually drawn from the zords, and channeled into the keys. When we inserted the keys into the accelerator bracelettes, we took the form of the
zords, but a costume form. "That's why we could drive the zords un-morphed, they were the power. The other zords were derived from other powers."

    Suddenly, Tommy regained his ability to stand. He moved Justin aside with understandable force, and began digging through the debris. "C'mon, Zordon! Come through for us!" Tommy stopped as he hit a manhole-style covering on the floor of the Power Chamber. It was decorated with a stylized 'Z'. Lights began to circulate around the manhole. "IDENTIFICATION!" it demanded. Tommy coughed up a reaction. "Tommy Oliver!" He was pleased as the hatch spun open and revealed itself as a pedistol. It rose off the ground to three feet, where the Zeo Crystal materialized over it. "OH, Thank you Zordon!" he praised, quickly snatching the crystal. WIth that motion, the Chamber's power source was gone, and all life left the room. "Let's get going, Justin."

    "Where are we going?"

    "You're staying with Adam tonight. I have to make a stop somewhere else."

    "So where's Tommy now?" Adam asked the boy. Justin shrugged a response. The remaining current and former Rangers had assembled in Adam's home to discuss what Justin had found. "This is bad. Everything's gone?"

    "Now it is. Tommy found the Zeo Crystal and said he had to stop somewhere."
"How'd he find the Zeo Crystal?" Kat asked. "He's never even used it!"

    "Unless he has _our_ Tommy's memories!" Adam assumed. "

    The purple flash!" Justin  added. "Both Tommy's shook hands and the last thing we saw in the dark dimension was the purple flash! They must've seen inside each other's
head! That's why the other Tommy's in our world now! They both wanted to stay where they were! And in order to live in each world, they probably absorbed each other's memories!"

    "Okay, but where would he go with the Zeo Crystal? The only one who knew as much about it as Zordon was Billy?" All of the Rangers lit up except for Justin.

    "Who's Billy?"

    "Tanya, you and Jason check out Billy's lab." Adam commanded. "Kat, I want you and Rocky to hit the Power Chamber. Salvage anything you can. Justin and I will go to the shelter to get his laptop. As of now, no one is to split up. Everything is to be done in teams of two." Rocky raised his hand
shlyly.
 
    "Everything?"
 
    "No," Adam chuckled, even in the darkest hour. "Not everything." Each team took their assignments and left the house, leaving Justin to wonder. "Who's Billy?"

    "What's to salvage?" Rocky asked, kicking away at a chunk of miscellaneous debris. "If Tommy already has the Zeo Crystal, what else of value is here?"

    "Do you remember which terminal was the communications system?" Kat asked.

    Rocky nodded. "Yeah, number three. Why?"

    "Because if we want to use the comunicators, we'll need to reassemble the system." Kat stumbled over to the location of terminal three, surprised to find most of the circutry intact. "Lookslikes everything's here. Just where to set it up? This complex is useless now. At least we had the Chamber to fall back on last time."

    "Didn't Tommy say there was an upper level? A living area for the team?" Kat pondered the thought. "But the primary stairway was in the Command Center. And that's long gone. Let's get this stuff to Adam's house. We'll work on relocating it later."

    "Is all this stuff gonna fit in your Tracker?"

    "I'm not taking the whole console, Rocky, just the circuit boards. So we should have room forthis and more. So what's left?"

    "Hey Kat!" Rocky called from a back room. "C'mere! Quick!" Jason easily lifted the garage door of the Cranston home, but not without making his fair share of noise. Before Tanya could even tell him to keep it quiet, Jason spoke. "Don't worry, Mister Cranston isn't home, his car
isn't in the driveway."

    "Seems like he's always working."

    "Not always, just since Billy left. He doesn't have much here, anymore. He does allow us full access to Billy's lab, though."

    "Must be tought on him," Tanya said, entering the garage-lab ofthe former Blue Ranger. "I knew
it," she exclaimed. "Tommy, what're you doing here?" The young man in question was sitting at Billy's computer.

    "Looking for information. If Billy the scientist is anything like Billy the leader, than he would've left some of his notes where we could find them." Jason smacked his forehead. "I
can't believe I forgot about it!"

    "Forgot about what?" Tommy querried.

    "Back when you— the other you— ah screw it. Back when Zordon created the White Ranger, Billy took a CD from the Command Center containing all of it's schematics. It should still be around here."

    "Where's the Zeo Crystal," Tanya asked. Tommy patted a bookbag next to his chair.

    "It's safe, don't worry. I wasn't about to lose it now." Suddenly, Tommy's eyes lit up. "Yes! I found it!"

    "It can't be!" Kat gasped. "I saw them destroyed!"

    "So did I, but look closer." Kat leaned in for a closer look at the Power Coins hidden in a back room. "These aren't the same coins. First of all, count 'em off."

    "Five."
 

    "Not only that, each coin used to have a glitter to it, matching it's  color. These don't have it."

    "So what does that mean?"

    "My oh-so-uneducated opinion?"

    "What else is there?" the Pink Ranger quipped.

    "Good point. I don't think they're active. You wouldn't recognize 'em, but these are the Thunderzords. A dragon, a lion, a griffen, a unicorn, and a firebird. These were never coins. The only Thunderzord coin was the White Tiger, which Tommy used. Just before time went all wonky."

    "Wonky?"

    "Techincal term."

    "I see." Kat surpressed a giggle.

    Once the group reconvined at the Park Home, Rocky and Kat shocked their friends by dumping the coins on the coffee table. Tanya and Justin didn't seem amazed, rather confused. "Where'd you find these?" Jason asked skeptically.

    "One of Zordon's hidden labs." Rocky answered. "I think they were left there for us to find." "That would explain this," Tommy displayed one of Billy's floppy disks.

    "It has a map and blueprints of a remote base called the Thunder Outpost. It's not anywhere near here though, and it seems that's where your Thunderzords are. I think once we find the
outpost, we'll find a way to use the coins."

    "Speaking of which," Adam began. "Five coins. Who gets them? There's seven of us."

"I'll pass," Rocky offered. "I can't risk breaking my back again. It sucked."

    "The best bet is to use the current team." Jason said. "You guys are doing pretty well together, so
why ruin a good thing?"

    "Can you pilot a Thunderzord, Tommy?" Tanya logically asked.

"I suppose. I had no trouble with the Dinozords. A few glances at the control panels should retrieve Tom—- umm, 'his', memories." Without warning, a supposed wave of dizziness washed over Tommy.

    "Are you okay, bro?" Jason questioned.

    Tommy nodded. "I just— I just need some air." With those words, Tommy stepped out onto the garden. Finding it empty, he attempted to cure himself. "What is it?" he asked himself.

    "No, it's not. Listen, I can't do this right now, I'll contact you later." Tommy spun around to find
Justin staring at him.

    "W—Who are you?" Justin asked coldly. "You were talking to someone! Who?"

    "Calm down, Justin."

    "Tell me who you were talking too!"

    "I can't!" Tommy snapped. "Not now. It's too dangerous." Seeing Justin's icey stare, Tommy knelt down to the boy's level. "Please. You can't tell anyone about this. I'll tell you as soon as I can, but that's not until we reach the Thunder Chamber." The else-world Ranger then returned to the
living room. "By then, it might be too late."

    Justin furiously punched the speedbag in the youth center before Rocky approached him. He waited until the youngest Ranger was done with his practice before speaking.

    "What's wrong, Justin?" he asked bluntly.
 

    "Nothing. I just needed to get some aggression out. I'm okay now." He turned his level to a whisper. "Rocky, are you sure you don't want the Thunder Powers? I mean you can have mine.."

    "Keep 'em." Rocky smiled.

    "Jason and I looked over that disk. It takes two people to run the Outpost."

    "But we don't even know where it is!"

    "Actually, yes we do. Tommy and Adam went looking for it early this morning." "Sooner the better. We can't go much longer without powers." Neither of the two noticed the small golden periscope sticking out from a glass of water.

    "Unbelievable!" Divatox laughed. "The Rangers are powerless!" Her mirth was soon dismissed. "ARGH! I don't believe it! This can't be happening!" Rygog
was confused.

    "Umm, Divatox, wasn't your mission to destory the Power Rangers?"

    "YES! It was _my_ mission! Whoever did this is in serious trouble!"

    "I umm—" Porto waddled closer. "I guess you won't need my newest monster?" Enraged, Divatox punched the face port of the chubby villan. Porto gasped for air as he passed out on the ground, leaving the other two side-kicks in shock.

    "Oh my God!" Elgar cried. "You killed Porto!"

    "You bastard!" Rygog followed.

    "I don't see anything," Adam spoke into his headset. He and Tommy had created quite a distance between themselves, wandering the desert of Angel Grove. It was commonly referred to as the "Bad Lands," due to the fact it was where many of the monster attacks began. Justin suggested it might be
the result of an electro-magnetic pulse. Rocky suggested it might be the result of a really good taco joint.

    "How about you?"

    [Just a big gold coin on the ground with six animals on it.] "—- And you couldn't tell me
this
before?"

    [It wasn't annoying before,] Tommy cracked.

    _Geez,_ Adam thought. _All the Tommies in infinite realities and we get the joker._ "Okay,
I'll be there in a sec." Adam flipped open the top of his rebuilt communicator. Without an Alpha Unit to control where the Rangers teleported, they needed to be modified. Since the central terminal was also sitting in Adam's bedroom, the communicators had now become strict teleporters. He pushed
down on one of the many colored buttons, when the bracelette spoke.

    [Destination] it said coldly. "Red," Adam simply replied. Seconds later, he found himself by Tommy's side. "What're you doing?" he asked, as Tommy began pulling at the coin. He got his answer once the coin was removed from the ground, revealing a dark accessway. "We should see what's down there."

    "Sure," Tommy said promptly. "I'll go first." The former Red Turbo leapt into the air and darted down the small tube. He landed with a distinctive thump and a groan.

    "Are you okay?" Adam called.

    "I landed on my keys!"

To Be Continued....