Time to Face the Big Wide World

Posted on Tue Jun 24th, 2025 @ 12:37pm by Damien McGinnis & Kilena Keithron
Edited on on Tue Jun 24th, 2025 @ 12:38pm

1,492 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Graduation Day
Location: Green Room, Angel Grove Stadium
Timeline: 0845 Hours April 18th, 2051

Damien stood in the green room for the cadets prior to their graduation ceremony on his own. He was facing the mirror, uncomfortably shifting in his grey and black dress uniform, the collar noticeably undone. He hated this thing. Always felt like he was going to a funeral.

He reached into his pocket, pulling out a few flash cards. Every graduating class had one of the Cadet Commanders give the commencement address, and since his name was pulled from the hat, he was expected to give a speech. He couldn't help but wonder if him being the one drawn was some kind of joke.

“Hello everyone, thank you for being here for the graduation of the current class of GPF cadets.” Hey began reading to his reflection, trying to sound authoritative “For those who don't know, I'm Damien McGinnis, the Cadet Commander for Delta Squad. I guess they couldn't convince Alpha, Bravo or Charlie to be the monkey on stage so you got stuck with me.”

He paused, a pause that felt totally stupid to him without an audience. He rolled his eyes slightly before continuing to read.

“Being a Cadet Commander is one of the positions most cadets would kill for, but honestly I kind of stumbled ass backwards into it.” He said, pausing as he wondered out loud to himself “Am I allowed to say that up there?”

Kilena looked up from looking through a data file and shook her head as she came into the room and sat down awkwardly on the couch closest to him.

“Not if you want me to stand up there with you and not just skip this thing like I want to.” She had a bad feeling about all of it but no one was prepared to listen to her. She had desperately tried to bribe Valdana but the woman had point blank refused to get involved, deciding to stay on the megaship with Melody. Even her husband had been little to no support telling her they all had to go through this ritual.

“Well maybe if your husband had helped me write this thing like I pleaded with him to in about a dozen emails, I'd have a better joke.” Damien replied “I even tried bribing him with kicking you off the team. It was an empty promise but I thought offering to pull his beloved out of the field might work.”

Kilena rolled her eyes wishing her hair was down to toss her hair in her usual defensive posture when Fraser was mentioned.

“Because you’d last less than a week and you don’t have the authority to do it solo and I am pretty sure that medical and the president would declare you less stable than me.” She teased him as she looked at him properly and stood up, adjusting his collar. “You are thinking too hard about this. It happens every year and they are always cringey and ….” She paused, trying to think of the human word for it. “… embarrassing, so you will be fine unless you get lucky.”

“Lucky is kind of my thing.” Damien rolled his eyes with a small grin “Writing is not. Great reader, not writer. Also, I'm totally stable. I just happen to have a magic crystal that lets me turn into a red spandex clad super hero and gives me magic luck powers. Maybe I should take up blackjack…”

“I am pretty sure you are banned from every casino in the known universe. Though if you really want to test it, I am sure I can find you somewhere.” Kilena assured, smiling back. They were best friends, even if it was a little cloudy from experiences in the other timeline.

“I mean, it sounds like fun.” Damien said, laughing as he added “Not all of us have folks with credits for years.”

“You can’t keep throwing that in my face. Especially as that was another timeline.” She said not at all bitter or feeling resentment, it was water under the bridge in more ways than one.

“Ahh yes. The big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff.” Damien remarked “Speaking of, any more episodes?”

Kilena’s smirk faded away as she looked at the man wondering if she could lie. “One.” Kilena said darkly as she looked away. It was not something she was proud of but she had dealt with it by herself.

“You know you should probably say something to people about these things.” He noted “We're your friends, we want to help you, but we can only do that if you let us.”

“You have all had stuff on.” Kilena said quietly not at all sure why she had not told them other than she did not want people to worry. “… and as you can see I am fine. And it was weeks ago. Things have settled down.” She could barely remember the other timeline now if she was honest just snippets every now and then.

“If you're sure.” He said with a slight grimace “Now, do me a favour?”

“I am not your responsibility,” She said kindly but firmly as she nodded that she could do him a favour. “Yes?” She wondered what he could need right then and there.

“My collar. You mind giving me a hand doing it up?” He pointed at it sheepishly “Apparently my super luck powers are counteracted by my super uncoordinatedness. Either that or I've bulked up and it just doesn't fit right anymore. Either way, I keep ending up just poking myself in the throat and it kinda hurts.”

Kilena rolled her eyes and stepped up to him and quietly undid the buttons and fiddled for a moment before she did them back up properly. She smiled and shook her head as she dusted off his shoulders. It was in that moment, smiling at him, that her eyes turned the erry white they had done several times since Kilena had guided them to the Zords. “You better grab that weapon, red ranger,” She said in that faraway voice that seemed to come from somewhere in the future.

“Weapon?” Damien questioned “Kilena, what are you seeing?”

At hearing her name Kilena blinked at the man and frowned. “Sorry I must have zoned off.” She laughed not realising that she had done the vision quest again. They had no idea what to call it but it seemed to fit the vibe of what happened to Kilena sometimes.

“You said I'd better grab a weapon.” Damien said, his brow furrowing “I'd be lying if I said I didn't worry about what that says about the upcoming festivities.”

Kilena blushed and took several steps back and coughed awkwardly. “I must have triggered a vision.” She said softly. “Sometimes I do not have control over it.” She reminded him. “We still do not know what I meant about the purple dragon and that was weeks ago.”

“Fair point.” Damien said, pausing “Can I ask you a question?”

“Not stopped you before.” She answered going to the mirror and patting down her own clothes to look presentable.

“If you knew something that could impact people but it could be good or bad, would you tell them?” He asked “Or would you think it's better to avoid what could be a very bad outcome?”

“I do not know. That had never happened yet.” The woman admitted with a small shrug. ”Why?” She wondered looking back to him.

“Just something from a book I was reading.” He replied after a pause “Guy is switching between timelines and sees similarities, notices consistencies between timelines and can't decide whether to tell the people around him what was happening. Found it an interesting moral question.”

“You read?” She laughed before she sobered up and nodded thinking about what he said properly. “But to answer your question I would after everything we went through with time and events changing on us.”

“Good to know.” He nodded, pausing before adding “It's not that hard to believe I read right? Like I told you back in the library on KO-35, Lord of the Rings was my favourite book as a kid.”

“I only very vaguely remember that timeline now.” Kilena said softly. “It’s like a dream that I sometimes remember so apologies for teasing.” She admitted with a smile as she wished they had Valdana with them but she had been assigned to watch for trouble from the megaship.

“I'm figuring it out.” Damien admitted “I've still got some residual after effects from that explosion on the planet where I first ended up in the chamber. Means my head's a little shaken.”

“I am ready to face the universe and graduate. You?” She wondered as she stepped back and headed for the door.

“You mean go out there and face an enemy who will stop at nothing to destroy us and has the means to do it?” Damien asked and smirked “Sounds like fun.”

 

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