The thing about reporting in Angel Grove was that there wasn't much to it. Nothing really happened in this city. The biggest news was which of Angel Grove's many martial artists would win the city championships. (Hint: It was usually Jason Lee Scott. Sometimes Jimmy wondered why he even bothered attending the matches.) Even covering the crime beat didn't give him much do to, since the Angel Grove police force spent most of their time getting stray animals out of trees.
Which was why Jimmy Jameson, ace reporter, was almost glad there was an earthquake that day. It was news. He got to call all sorts of scientists and ask them questions about earthquakes, and then go out and interview citizens about how they had reacted. It was actual reporting, not just the hum drum monotony that most reporting in Angel Grove was. It was exciting.
He was glad, of course, that there were no serious injuries. Angel Grove didn't get nearly as many earthquakes as some parts of California, but most of the buildings were earthquake proof anyway. It was one of the reasons why Angel Grove was one of the best places to live, if you could handle the small town feel. It wasn't quite up Jimmy's alley, and he'd been seriously thinking about applying at the Hasper City Chronicle.
But that was before he found himself in downtown Angel Grove, watching as a giant winged monkey stormed down the streets, brandishing his sword as he towered over the skyscrapers.
That wasn't something Jimmy Jameson had ever expected to see. He was a reporter, a real reporter. Not one of those ridiculous talking heads. He was a real reporter, he only reported the truth. But this. This was incredible. This was something that would win him a Pulitzer.
Well, fine, so what he was actually doing at the exact moment that the monkey appeared was interviewing people for the local news, which might have technically made him a talking head.
"Are you getting that?" he shouted at his cameraman, Rick Carr.
"What is it?" Rick asked, as he started shooting. The ground was shaking as the monster tore down the street.
"I have no idea," Jimmy said honestly. "A monster."
"But they aren't real!"
The monster took that minute to prove exactly how real he was by bringing his sword down on one of the buildings, which crumpled almost as if it was made of cardboard.
"I'd say it's real enough!" Jimmy yelled as he dodged the glass that was falling to the ground. With one blow the monster had already done more damage to the city than the earthquake had done.
"Boss, the station wants us on the air," Rick said urgently, and Jimmy nodded. He waited for Rick's signal, and then began.
"This is Jimmy Jameson, reporting live from downtown Angel Grove for WAGT. What you are about to see might alarm you, but this is not a hoax or a prank. This is actually happening in our fair city."
He continued narrating, the words coming swiftly, as Rick's camera panned over the carnage being caused by the giant monster.
The ground began to rumble, and Jimmy looked out.
"Oh dear God," he whispered, "not another one." He took a deep breath, and then continued to talk. This was his responsibility. It didn't matter how much he wanted to run and hide.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, his voice shaking slightly. This was the news, and he would report on it. "It appears that a second monster has appeared. This is some sort of giant robot. I don't know where it came from, or how either of these got here, but... they're fighting each other! The monkey just knocked the robot into a building - I can't tell from here which one it is, but I think that whole section of the city was already evacuated. Wait, the robot is getting up. And it has a sword! The robot's eyes are glowing, and it's raising the sword and... did that monkey just vanish?" He blinked rapidly, not sure if he was seeing things. Giant monkeys couldn't just vanish without a trace. Well, maybe they could. It was a 40 foot tall giant monkey, he supposed that it could vanish if it wanted to.
"It appears that the robot has defeated the monkey," he said, aware of both how ridiculous that sounded, and that the city was depending on him to update them on what was going on. He wanted to laugh, just based on how ridiculous everything was. He'd just watched a giant robot fight a giant monkey monster. He should be laughing. He should be crying.
He kept talking instead. Just reporting the news, getting through it all.
"There appear to be people coming out of the robot. There are five of them, in some sort of color coded... is that spandex? I guess we wait now to find out if these are our heroes, or if these are more invaders. I'm going to try and talk to them now."
He gestured for Rick to follow him, and approached the destruction. The monster had done a lot of damage to the downtown area. There were two buildings destroyed. He had no idea how Angel Grove was going to rebuild from this.
"Excuse me!" he shouted as he ran up to them. This was probably not the smartest idea he'd ever had, but somehow he'd managed to get to the color coded beings before even the police had. He guessed they were clearing up debris or trying to figure out what they were actually supposed to be doing in an emergency.
He finally reached the one in blue, and stuck a microphone in front of his helmet.
"This is Jimmy Jameson from WAGT, who are you guys, and what are you doing here?"
The blue one didn't answer, he just took a step back, and glanced over at the one in red. Jimmy guessed that maybe the red one was the leader, or maybe the one in blue didn't speak English. He walked a few steps over and held out the microphone again.
"We're the Power Rangers," the one in Red said, and the other four formed up behind him. "We're here to help protect Angel Grove."
"Power Rangers?" Jimmy repeated. That was a stupid name.
"Yes," the Red one answered, not offering any more information. Jimmy didn't press - he could ask about the names later, but for now he had a million other things to ask about.
"Who was that monkey thing?"
"His name is Goldar," the yellow one, the Yellow Ranger answered, and Jimmy blinked, as he realized that she was female. "He works for Rita Repulsa, a witch who is trying to invade Earth."
"So she's some sort of space witch?" Jimmy asked.
"You could say that," the Yellow Ranger said.
"What is that robot thing you were fighting in?" Robot thing wasn't the most precise language, and Jimmy kicked himself for it almost as soon as the words left his mouth.
Surprisingly, it was the Blue Ranger who answered. "Those are our Zords," he said. "They are biomechanical robotic vehicles based off our individual dinosaurs. They combine to form the Megazord."
"And the weapon you were using?"
"Our Power Sword."
"Right," Jimmy said. He saw another car pulling up. Lois Brant, late again. There was no way he was going to let her get a better story than he did. "Okay, next question. Who are you guys?"
"We like, told you," the Pink Ranger said. "We're the Power Rangers!"
"Superheroes," the Black Ranger added.
"We'll talk to you next time," the Red Ranger said. "For now, we have to go." The five superheroes put their hands on the symbols on their belts, and vanished into a streak of multicolored lights, flashing across the sky.
"You heard it here first, folks," Jimmy said. "The Power Rangers, protectors of our city. We don't know who they are, or where they've come from, but apparently they are all that stands between us and Rita Repulsa's evil forces."