The Rangers had another respite, and are taking it to go visit an uncle of Jason’s in Hawaii. Once they arrived, they rented a car and are presently driving towards the motel Jason’s uncle owns.

“I can’t believe this,” Kim said, “I’m actually in Hawaii. Why haven’t you ever told us about your uncle here, Jason?”

“I’ve got a good reason,” Jason said, “I haven’t even seen Uncle Alan since I was a little kid. Him and dad had a falling out when I was about six. Even though they haven’t spoken to each other since, dad’s always told me to be proud of having the middle name Alan, after my uncle, and I am.”

“This is so cool,” Kim said, “What do you think, Tommy?”

“I just wish you hadn’t brought so much stuff with you,” Tommy teased, “What’d you do, bring everything you own?” Kim stuck her tongue out at him. “Oh, real mature, Kim.”

“This trip is going to be great,” Billy said, “But we’ve got to worry about what Rita will do while we’re gone.”

“Don’t worry, sweetie,” Trini said, “Zordon said that she has to recharge her staff every once in a while, and that it takes a while. We’re only going to be in Hawaii a few weeks. Besides, with these new communicators you and I made, Zordon can call us at any time if he needs us.”

“I wonder if we’ll meet Hawaii’s resident hero, Superboy, while we’re there,” Zack said, “That would be awesome. It would be better if he could meet the Power Rangers.”

“You know what Zordon said, Zack,” Jason said, “Besides, we’re probably not going to see him.”

“It would be cool, though,” Kim interjected, “You’ve got to admit that.”

“All right,” Jason said, “Yeah, I do admit that it would be awesome. But him meeting the Power Rangers... Zordon said that we shouldn’t use our power, unless absolutely necessary, remember?”

“Hey, you never know,” Tommy said, “Anything is possible.”

“I’d say,” Billy said, “That we have about as much a chance of seeing Superboy than Zack has of seeing his favorite, the Flash.”

“Hey, Angel Grove is near Keystone,” Zack protested, “And we didn’t count on meeting Batman a while back, now did we?”

“You’ve got admit that he’s got a point,” Kim said.

“And we’ll even be in the same town Superboy’s supposed to have his ‘headquarters’ in,” Zack pointed out.

“You’ve made your point, Zack,” Trini said, “No use in rubbing it in.”

“Right,” Zack said, “Sorry, guys.” They chattered the rest of the way to the hotel. There, Jason’s uncle was out waiting on them. He was the only one there. He had leis and everything.

“Jason?” Alan said.

“Hi, uncle Alan,” Jason said, giving the man a hug. “It’s been a while.”

“That’s an understatement, my boy,” Alan said, “And what have I told you? Call me Alan. I know I’m your uncle, but it sounds too formal. Though I haven’t seen you in about eleven years, I’ve enjoyed your letters immensely. Let me guess. This vision of loveliness is Kim...” He gestured to Kim, who blushed furiously and nodded. “Tommy...” Tommy nodded. “Trini, another vision of loveliness.” Trini blushed and nodded. “Billy...” Billy nodded. “And... Zack? Do you remember me?”

“I’m sorry to say, sir, but I don’t,” Zack said.

“That’s okay,” Alan said, “When I lived in Angel Grove, you and Jason were just learning to walk. I knew your parents, though. Tell them I said hi, will you? And call me Alan. That goes for all of you.”

“Of course I’ll tell my parents that, sir, er Alan,” Zack said.

“He’s Jason’s uncle all right,” Kim kidded. Everyone laughed.

Jason took a look around the parking lot. “Where are the other guests? The other employees?”

“There are no other guests or employees,” Alan said, “Well, enough about that. Let’s get you all settled in.”

Jason stopped him. “Uncle, what’s wrong?”

“I’ll explain at dinner,” Alan said. Jason reluctantly nodded and the gang grabbed their stuff out of the car. Alan led them to a hallway with six rooms.

“Jason, you can take bungalow one,” he said, “Zack, bungalow two. Billy, bungalow three. Trini, bungalow four. Tommy, bungalow five. Kimberly, bungalow six. After a while, I’ll come get you all for dinner. Oh, and the rooms are adjoined. One and two go into each other, three and four do, and so do five and six.”

“Thanks, Alan.” Alan left, and the six went into their rooms.

A few hours later, Alan came back and they went downstairs to the dining room to eat.

“I’m afraid that I had to order pizza,” Alan said, “With the budget so low, I can’t afford anything more. I won’t even be able to handle stuff like that pretty soon.”

“That’s it,” Jason said, “What’s going on?”

“A hotel nearby has been slowly but surely taking away my customers,” Alan said, “They’ve been trying to buy me out for about a year now. Soon, they won’t have to try as hard. My reserves are wearing thin and the bank is going to foreclose in a few weeks.”

“Why didn’t you tell us about this?” Jason asked, “Or dad? He would’ve helped you, even after whatever fight you two had. You know that.”

“I didn’t want to worry you,” Alan said, “For the present time, I just wanted the six of you to enjoy yourselves. I know you, Jason. You’d spend your entire vacation trying to help me save the motel. And about your father, I didn’t want to involve him.”

“Well, we’re going to help now,” Tommy said suddenly, “We can try to be your staff.”

“I can’t let you do that,” Alan said, “I don’t want you all to be spending your vacation worrying about my problems.”

“Besides, we need customers to keep the hotel running.” A new voice appearing almost out of nowhere made the Rangers jump.

“Guys, this is my lawyer, Derek,” Alan said. Derek shook everyone’s hand. “What have you got for us, Derek?”

“The accounts you have are almost dry,” Derek said, “I’m afraid that the bank will foreclose before your young friends leave.”

Billy seemed lost in thought. “Who owns the bank?” he asked suddenly.

“Bruce Wayne Industries,” Derek said. The Ranger perked at that.

“Alan is it all right if I call back to Angel Grove?” Jason asked, “You know, to check up with my parents, see if they’re all right and stuff.”

“No problem,” Alan said, “As long as you don’t stay on long.”

“I’ll try my best not to, but you know my mom,” Jason said. They all ate dinner and went to their rooms. Once there, Jason places a call back to Angel Grove. He actually called the Youth Center.

“Hi, Ernie,” Jason said.

“Hey, Jason,” Ernie said cheerfully, “How’s your vacation?”

“It’s great so far,” Jason said, “Look, I need you to contact that friend of yours, Bruce Wayne, for me. A bank his business owns here in Hawaii is trying to close down my uncle’s hotel.”

“I’ll call him right away,” Ernie said.

“Thanks Ernie,” Jason said, “Well, this call’s costing a fortune, so I’d better go. Bye, Ernie.”

“Later, Jase,” Ernie said. They hung up.

Tommy was just about the first person unpacked and started into Kim’s room, to see if he could help. “Hey, Kim,” he said, “I...” His words trailed off.

“Tommy,” Kim shrieked. She didn’t have a thing on. Tommy, with a red face, went back to his room.

“I can’t believe this,” he said, “I should have knocked, I know.”

About ten minutes later, a knock sounded on the adjoining door. “Come on in,” Tommy said, rather sheepishly. Kim came in. To his relief, she was fully clothed.

“Tommy, I want to talk about what happened a few minutes ago,” she said.

“Well, I don’t,” Tommy said.

“Well, too bad,” Kim said, “Look, I’m not really embarrassed that you saw me without any clothes on. I’m not ashamed of my body. I’m actually kind of glad you did, especially on accident. Knowing you, you never would’ve done that on your own.”

“Yeah well, I’m embarrassed about it,” Tommy said, “I am so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Kim said, “I don’t want this to ruin what’s between us.”

“Neither do I,” Tommy said softly. He leaned forward and gave Kim a passionate kiss. She returned it. Without thinking, the young couple started moving towards the bed. Tommy looked Kim’s eyes. “Should we?”

“If you want to,” Kim said, “Do you think we’re ready to take our relationship up a notch?” To answer her, Tommy gave her another passionate kiss. They fell back onto the bed.

“Oh, Billy,” Trini said, “This is so awesome.”

“Yes, it is,” Billy said, “Very adequate living accommodations.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Trini said. She looked at Billy. “What’s wrong? You usually don’t use the big words unless you’re nervous.” ‘She pegged me,’ Billy thought.

“Must be the trip,” Billy said, “You know, jet lag.”

Trini sighed. “Whatever you say, sweetie,” she said. She gave him a kiss and stepped into her room. “I’m going to change into a bathing suit, and then I’m going to hit the beach. You want to join me?”

“No thanks,” Billy said, “I sunburn extra easily, remember?”

“Yeah,” Trini said, with a touch of sadness. “Well, maybe after the sun goes down?”

“Sure,” Billy said. ‘If only I could tell you, Trini,’ he thought, ‘I’m barely keeping my hands off of you as it is. If I tell you, I’m afraid that I might not be able to soon after.”

The air in the room was heavy with smell of sweat and a few other things. Tommy was lying on the bed, with Kim on top of him, asleep. He was gently running his fingers through her soft, silk like hair.

Kim woke up a few minutes later. “Oh man,” she said, “That felt great.”

“Kim, I have to ask you something kind of important,” Tommy said, “This is really personal, but...”

“Yeah, I’m on the pill,” Kim said.

“That’s not it,” Tommy said, shaking his head. “Was this your first time?”

“Of course,” Kim said, “Was it yours?” Tommy shifted uncomfortably underneath her. “It wasn’t yours?” Tommy seemed to not want to answer her. “Talk to me, Tommy. I promise that I won’t get mad or anything.”

“My first time was long before I came here,” Tommy said, “I’d rather not talk about it, though.”

“All right, I won’t press the issue,” Kim said. ‘After all,’ she thought, ‘I don’t want to chase you away, now that we have a good thing going.”

“We’d better get dressed,” Tommy said, “There’s still plenty of things to do before nightfall.”

“Right,” Kim said. She slipped out from underneath the blankets.

Kim slipped on some clothes. Tommy got out of bed and did the same.

“I hope that this doesn’t change anything between us,” Tommy said truthfully.

“I’m sure it won’t, not for the worst, at least,” Kim said, “Though, after this trip, we really won’t be able to do this, you know.”

“Yeah, I know,” Tommy said, “Why don’t we call an end to that part of our relationship, for now at least?”

“How about starting tomorrow?” Kim asked, “I’ve always wanted to make love during the sun setting.”

“Anything milady wants,” Tommy said, kissing Kim’s hand. “I’ll sure enough grant your wish.”

Kim giggled. “Oh, stop that,” she said playfully, “Come on, before the others figure out what’s keeping us.” All of a sudden, their communicators go off. Tommy picks his up and straps it back on his wrist.

“What’s up, Alpha?”

“Rita has apparently sent a new monster down to the beach there,” Alpha said, “You must stop it.”

“We’re on it,” Kim answered for Tommy.

“It’s morphin’ time. Dragonzord.”

“Pterodactyl.” They morphed and teleported to the beach. Trini was fighting a tall monster. The others teleported in a few seconds later, and they set upon the monster. Even with Zack’s superspeed, they were no match for the monster.

“Man,” Tommy said, “What is this thing?” All of a sudden, a weird streak appeared and hit the monster, knocking it pretty far back.

“Here you are, Moltanus. You sure saved me the trouble of searching all over Hawaii for your ugly butt.” The Rangers looked up, and were amazed to find a pretty familiar teenager with a Superman like symbol on his chest.

“Superboy,” Zack said, “Wow.”

“Don’t just stand there,” Superboy said, “You’re those Lantern Rangers, right?” The Rangers nodded. “Let’s find a way to destroy it.”

“Did you say Moltanus?” Billy inquired.

“Yep,” Superboy said, “It’s living volcanic rock.”

“Then destroying it’s easy,” Billy said. He opened a link to the Command Center. “Zordon, can you get a lock on Moltanus?”

“Yes,” Zordon said, “Why?”

“Teleport it out to sea then,” Billy said, “That should destroy it.”

“Doing so now,” Zordon said. Moltanus disappeared. Not too far from shore, they see it’s body hitting the water. Steam rises from there, marking its destruction. Everybody cheers.

“Now,” Superboy said, “Do you mind telling me who you really are?”

“Zordon?”

“Any hero of Earth can be trusted,” Zordon said, “It’s your decision.”

“In that case,” Tommy said, “Power down.” Their armor disappeared. He held out his hand to Superboy. “Hi, I’m Tommy Jordan. Nice to meet you, Superboy.”

“You too, Tommy,” Superboy said, shaking Tommy’s hand.

“Kim Ferris,” Kim said, shaking Superboy’s hand next.

“Wow,” was all Superboy could say. Tommy glared at him.

“Zack Troi,” Zack said, shaking Superboy’s hand.

“It’s a pleasure, Zack,” Superboy said.

“Billy Cranston,” Billy said, shaking Superboy’s hand.

“Nice to meet you, Billy.”

“Trini Sur,” Trini said, shaking Superboy’s hand. She gained another “wow” and Superboy got another glare, this time from Billy.

“Jason Scott,” Jason said, shaking Superboy’s hand.

“I owe you guys one,” Superboy said, “Like I said before, I would have taken me forever to track down Moltanus. In that time, he could have destroyed a lot of important stuff.”

“In that case,” Jason said, “How about a little favor?” He went on to explain things to Superboy.

“I’ll help any way I can,” Superboy said, “Well, I’ve got to go. JLA meeting to get to, you know. I’ll try to swing by the motel some time, and we can hash out the fine details of the arrangement, okay?”

“Thanks,” Jason said.

“Aloha,” Superboy said, and then, he was off. The Rangers painstakingly (they were still sore from the battle after all) made their way back to the motel. Once there, they found a slightly familiar looking man talking to Alan Scott.

“Hi, Mr. Wayne,” Kim said, waving to the older man. “Oops, I mean Bruce.”

“Hi, kids,” Bruce said, “Jason, your uncle and I have come to an agreement. I’ll back my bank off for a while here. But the motel’s funds are still drying up. I can only hold off on the foreclosure for two, maybe three weeks. And that’s at most.”

“Well, I’ve got some help for the motel myself,” Jason said, “We ran into Superboy and somehow talked him into helping out. I was thinking that he could be a spokesperson for the motel, and we should get a lot of customers.”

“You’re pulling my leg?” Alan said.

“Nope,” Jason said, “You’ll see. He said that he’d come by the motel sometime and then you’ll see. He couldn’t right away. JLA meeting.”

With that, Bruce seemed to rock a little bit, as if reeling from a blow. “I’ve got to go,” he said, “I’ll come back by later, Alan.”

“All right,” Alan said, “Later, Bruce.”

“Bye Bruce,” the gang said. He left, and the gang started chattering.

“Hi, honey,” Superboy said, “I’m home.” That gained him laughter from all around. He introduced himself to Alan. “All right, what do you want me to do?”

“We need you to become the official spokesperson for the motel,” Jason said, “We need to save this place.”

“All right, I’ll do it,” Superboy said. Alan led him into his office to iron out the details.

“Come on, guys,” Kim said, “Let’s go catch our first Hawaiian sunset.” She winked at Tommy.

About an hour later, everyone but Kim and Tommy were at the main beach. Billy and Trini were snuggled up together.

“I wonder where Kim and Tommy are?” Jason said. The others just shook their heads.

At an old, never used part of the beach, the two young aforementioned lovers were enjoying their fondest wish, making love by the light of the sunset.

The End... for now

To be continued in...
Hawaiian Nightmare