AN: So I had the pleasure of meeting David Yost (Billy the blue ranger) and Walter Jones (Zack the black ranger) at AwesomeCon 2014. "Zack" even let me play with the actual morpher from the show. They were both really nice and got me thinking about how much MMPR influenced my childhood and who I grew up to be. And then this little story popped out. :P This isn't taking place after a specific episode only know that Tommy is a good guy.
And since they are supposed to be teens in high school I am keeping them that age. About 17 since they are juniors in high school. I am aware that on the show the actors were much too old to still be in highschool.
Please give me some reviews.
It was a beautiful day in Angel Grove. The sky was a blazing bright blue, yet the air had the slights chill of early fall. Kimberly and Tommy were on their way to the juice bar & youth center. Even though it was a Sunday they knew the Juice bar would be crowded. Ever since they had become rangers a year ago people didn't really wander around like the used to. Tommy sighed, giving Kimberly's hand a slight squeeze, he knew it was often on everyone's mind. When the next monster would show up, destroying homes, property and often lives, but no one ever wanted to talk about it. Tommy often felt himself just on the edge of depression but then Kimberly would squeeze his hand back and smile at him, her eyes sparkling with happiness.
It always steeled his resolve to protect others and to be a ranger. No matter what the cost.
"Hey guys!" Kimberly called cheerfully as they entered the youth center. She moved a few feet away from Tommy. He watched her join Trini, Zack and Billy at their table.
"Great timing," Zack smiled, "We just ordered some fries and smoothies."
"I order you strawberry." Trini said as Kimberly sat down next to her. Kimberly gave her a quick hug. "My favorite, thanks."
Tommy felt a strong hand on his shoulder. "Hey bro, you okay?" It was Jason.
"Yeah, it's just sometimes…." Tommy let his words die in the air, his gaze going towards the group at the table chatting happily. Jason looked at him for a moment before nodding. Out of all the rangers they both understood the burden of leadership and the worries and responsibilities that came with it. Jason had lost more nights of sleep worrying then he cared to admit.
"Are you guys planning on standing there all day?" Trini called to the duo.
Billy nodded, adding "It would be fortuitous if you joined us."
"Zack's going to eat all the fries." Kimberly warned, earning herself a playful tickle poke from said boy that made her giggle.
As Tommy and Jason joined them, laughing and chatting the afternoon away he couldn't help but feel that this was how things were meant to be.
Of course nothing lasts forever; there fun afternoon was interrupted not by a monster but by the two resident bullies of Angel Grove.
"Attention nerds and dorks! I've got an announcement to make." Bulk shouted from the juice bar steps. Zack rolled his eyes. "This should be good", he thought. Bulk was not known for making important announcements.
"My kid cousin is coming to live here and I don't want any of you losers making her feel bad. Remember if you mess with her you mess with me." Bulk threatened.
"Yeah mess with him." Skull added.
"Oh great just what we need." Billy whispered to the table.
"What did you say four eyes?" Bulk snapped, approaching the table, raising a fist. Billy mumbled looking away. Jason and Tommy were on their feet in an instant, Zack half raised from his seat, ready to protect their friend.
Trini intervened. "So is your cousin here yet?"
"What do you mean? She right here." Bulk gestured to the empty space next to him before actually looking at the space. Mumbling some curses under his breath he stormed back out in to the hallway and dragged in a young lady. The rangers looked at each other, the girl before them was not what any of them had imagined. She wasn't exactly the "kid" cousin they had been imagining. She was a bit short for her age and thin but she looked about 15, only 2 years younger than the rangers, she wore a teal blue dress, her hair was long, straight and dark brown. Her face was blushing crimson and she refused to take her eyes of the floor. Her embarrassment was so strong you could almost taste it in the air.
"This is my kid cousin Sarah, she starting high school next week and I don't want any of you making her feel bad. Or I'll make you feel worse." Bulk growled.
"Yeah, make you feel worse!" Skull added laughing moronically. With that they turned to go, Sarah pulled away from her cousin and practically sprinted out of the youth center.
"Poor kid." Jason said as he watched the trio leave.
"Never thought I would feel bad for anyone related to Bulk." Zack added.
"She's going to have a hard time making friends after that, half the school must be here today and you know how these things spread." Kimberly said softly. The others nodded in agreement.
A few weeks pasted and the rangers soon found themselves back in the routine of school. Summer break had been nice while it lasted but the routine of school was comforting in a way. Billy was in science class, not paying much attention. It was his last class of the day. He already had read his text book during the summer break and had a very complete knowledge of the limited amount of science they would be learning this year. He doodled in his notebook, sketches of things he wanted to invent and create someday while Mrs. Watkins droned on and on. Suddenly the sounds around him changed; there was the classroom door opening and a shuffling of feet. Billy heard the collective unhappy sigh of his class and looked up. When he noticed the freshman class standing there, he immediately knew what was up. Same thing happened when he was a freshman. The Junior/Freshman joint science fair project. It had been created to help the new students get more acquired with not only the subject of science but with the school and their peers. Mrs. Watkins began calling out names and asking for volunteers, even though each student knew they would get saddled with a freshman. Billy overheard the conversation of two nearby students.
"Check out the next to last one on the right. She's cute." One guy said.
"Dude, don't even think about it. That's Bulk's cousin." His friend answered.
"No way! Her? She looks nothing like him." The other boy's mouth was wide in disbelief.
"Yeah I heard she had to move in with Bulk and his mom after her parents abandoned her or died or something." his friend spoked again.
"I'm not messing with Bulk's family, no matter how cute she is." He replied before instantly volunteering for the next student.
Billy watched as it was her turn, "Sarah Jones, any volunteers?" Mrs. Watkins asked. The room grew strangely very quiet. "Anyone?" She asked again. Billy watched Sarah's hopeful gaze drop to the floor with silent realization. "No one?" Mrs. Watkins asked again.
"Mrs. Watkins, I still need a partner." The words left his mouth before Billy even knew it. Speaking up like that was so unlike him.
Mrs. Watkins smiled at him, "Good, Sarah you will be with Billy." She said giving the girl a nudge to take a seat next to Billy.
As she sat down, Billy saw the tears pricking in the corners of her eyes. Kimberly had been right, being Bulk's cousin was an instant judgment and sentencing among the student body. He wondered if she had made any friends in her three weeks here.
"Here." He said offering her from his pocket, his clean handkerchief.
"Thank you." She mumbled softly, quickly wiping at her eyes before handing the handkerchief back. Now that she didn't have to hide her tears from the others she looked up and smiled shyly at him. "Really thank you."
"Alright now that you all have partners we are going to be making a model of the solar system for this science fair. You can make it out of any materials you like but it needs to be distance and size accurate. You are graded on accuracy, creativity and how well you work as a team. Go ahead and get started."
"I don't know how into science you are," Billy stated as they began to pull out text books, papers and pencils, "So I don't mind doing most of the work."
"Actually I had some ideas?" Sarah offered, handing her note pad to Billy. Billy went through a few pages of different drawings of the planets and ways to orient them as a science project. "These are phenomenal!"
Sarah smiled brightly, "And I was thinking I could use some wire and low current to make them spin?" Billy glanced at her and felt something resonate deep inside him. It lasted only a moment but it had been odd, like he almost had the urge to morph.
The class ended and Billy and Sarah were still working on their project. They had both lost track of time as they chatted happily, getting to know each other while working hard on their project. It was almost 5:30pm when Billy's watched beeped.
"What was that?" Sarah asked looking up from where she had been coloring the planet Venus.
"Just my watch," Billy gestured to the gold item around his wrist. "It's getting pretty late."
Sarah finally took note of the time. "Oh my gosh! Aunt Mary is going to have a fit. I was supposed to be home by 4!" Rushing, she grabbed her papers and books. "I'll see you tomorrow, right Billy?" Her voice had a hopeful twinge to it.
"Of course." He replied with a smile, "We still have a lot of work to do." With that Sarah ran out the door and down the hall, when he was sure it was safe he answered his communicator. "Billy here."
"Billy the others are in need of your assistance in the park." Zordon's voice answered.
"I'm on my way." Billy said before teleporting.
******************* The next day****************************
The rangers were chatting at their lockers; the last bell had just rung, dismissing them for the day and the halls were emptying out quickly. It wasn't odd for the rangers to be some of the last students out of the school.
"Oh I am so glad this day is over." Kimberly sighed, brushing her hair.
"At least you pasted the calculus test." Jason said with a frown, looking at his D minus.
"Billy's good with calculus, maybe he could help?" Tommy offered.
"Where is Billy?" Trini asked looking around. "This is the second day in a row he hasn't been here."
"Didn't you hear? He's science fair project partners with Bulk's cousin, Sandra." Zack said.
"Sarah." Kimberly corrected. "and they really seem to be hitting it off. He thinks there something special about her."
"How do you know? Did he say something?" Jason asked.
Kimberly shrugged, "Billy and I have been neighbors and friends since we were like 7 years old, I can read him like book. A super smart science book but still like a book."
"Hey you dweebs! Where's your four eyed friend?" Bulk shouted, shoving his way into the group. As he did, he pushed Trini off balance, her shoulder hitting the locker and Skull tripped Kimberly, but Jason caught her, keeping her from falling to the ground.
"We don't know and even if we did, we wouldn't tell you." Zack growled. He hated seeing any of his friends, especially the girls, roughly handled.
"What do you want with Billy anyway?" Tommy asked while checking on Trini's shoulder.
"Your little nerd friend kept my cousin out way later then she should have been last night. She had to walk home alone in the dark. Anything could have happened to her, especially in this town, so I'm holding him responsible."
Kimberly narrowed her eyes. "Oh yeah? More than likely you were supposed to look after her and didn't and you got in trouble for it."
Bulk took a step towards her and instantly Tommy was between them his hands already forming into fists to defend Kimberly. Thinking better of it Bulk stepped back.
Just then laughter and chattering began to fill the hall and turning a corner Billy and Sarah stepped into the scene.
"I just need to put these cleaned beakers away and we can go back to the project." Billy smiled carrying a tray of fragile glass. Sarah was walking next to him.
"I remembered what you said yesterday and I had some ideas about the coloring for Pluto, due to the highly speculated mineral content…" Sarah was saying when…
"YOU!" Bulk screamed pushing past the others. Billy's eyes went wide, Bulk was charging at him, at them! Billy only had a split second to make a decision. He could defend himself or he could defend Sarah or if he was fast enough maybe both. Dropping one hand from the tray he pushed Sarah as hard as he could, sending her to the other side of the hall and into the side of the lockers. She crumpled to the floor from the shock of the collision, the wind having been knocked out of her. There was that strange pulse again but Billy couldn't think about it right now. He had mentally calculated and pushed her out of the way of the glass beakers that shattered all around him now as they fell from the tray. This did not slow Bulk but gave Billy a moment to grab the bottom of the tray and hold it in front of him like a shield. He blocked Bulk's first punch with it, dodged the second and by the third his friends were at his side.
"You okay?" Trini asked gently helping the girl up. Sarah held her head with one hand trying to focus.
"Yeah, just a little…dizzy." She said to the Chinese girl holding her arm. This must be Billy's friend Trini, she thought.
"This is all your fault nerd! She could have been hurt." Bulk growled. He was no longer throwing punches but he was growling at Billy who was being protected by his friends.
"Wha…what?" Billy asked. Sarah hadn't been in danger at any point when she was with him. He was the blue ranger after all, but what was Bulk talking about?
"It's not Billy's fault, you can't be bothered to watch your cousin." Kimberly frowned, arms still ready for a fight.
"You losers know as well as I do Angel Grove isn't safe for a kid to walk home alone in the dark. Plus she shouldn't be hanging out with geekoids anyway." Bulk made a nasty face a Billy.
Billy felt a pange of guilt. It would have been almost dark when Sarah left the school yesterday. Had she gotten in trouble because of him?
Sarah struggled to her feet, Trini by her side. "Stop it! Billy is my friend. Please stop it."
That drew Bulk's attention. Stomping over he grabbed her wrist tightly. "We're leaving now."
Sarah winced and pulled back, "No. I know my way home and I know what time I should be back by, you can't force me to go with you. I'm not a child!"
Bulk narrowed his eyes, he didn't like not having control. "Yes you are and yes I can. It's for your own good." He said making another grab for her as if to carry her. Zack was there suddenly between them. He smacked Bulk's hand away. "You heard her, she doesn't want to go with you."
"You better be home on time today. Unless you want the monsters to get you, just like they got your folks." The moment Bulk said it he regretted it as tears began to drip from his cousin's eyes. Well nothing he could do now, he would apologies to her later tonight at home but for now. "Later losers." He called over his shoulder as he walked away Skull at his heels.
Sarah wiped at her eyes before kneeling down to clean up the glass with her bare hands. "I'm really sorry about that. Are you okay Billy?"
He nodded, kneeling on the floor next to her, mindful of the broken glass everywhere, "I'm functioning in normal parameters, but I'm more worried about you."
Jason spoke up, "Agreed, Bulk, he's not rough with you like that at home, is he?" Jason asked as he saw the faintest of bruises starting to show on her wrist.
Sarah shook her head no but kept picking up the glass. She was upset, embarassed and she didn't want to look at them.
"Hey stop, you'll cut yourself." Zack said taking her hands into his. Seeing her tears he gave her a warm goofy smile. "It's okay. We don't blame you or anything."
"Sometimes I don't think it's every going to be okay ever again." She whispered.
"Do you mean what Bulk said, about the monsters and your parents?" Trini asked softly.
Sarah sighed, "My parents were killed by failing debris during a monster fight a few months ago. That's why I'm now living with my Aunt Mary and cousin Bulk."
The rangers exchanged glances; they knew there had been causalities in their fights with Rita's monsters but then never met someone whose life had been so altered by their actions.
"So you must like, hate the rangers then?" Kimberly asked, trying to keep the worry out of her voice.
"No, not at all, if it hadn't been for them a lot more people would have been hurt. I understand that. The rangers are heroes. I just….I miss my mom and dad." She sniffed loudly fighting back tears.
"You know the project can wait. Perhaps it would be more advantageous to get ice cream." Billy offered, as he handed her his handkerchief.
"Ice cream sounds great." Jason said and the rest of the group agreed.
"I do like ice cream." Sarah said, seeming to perk up a little.
Ernie made them a giant sundae to share and while they ate they got to know each other. The other rangers were a bit surprised at how much Sarah already knew about them. Billy had been surprisingly chatty with her. At around 3:40pm Sarah said her goodbyes. She didn't want to be late again.
After she left, Jason motioned for the other to huddle close at the table. "So did anyone else feel something weird in the hallway?"
"You felt it too?" Billy asked, wide eyed.
Jason nodded. "Anyone else?" Everyone at the table nodded.
"It didn't hurt but it was like, the sound a bell makes, the vibrations after hitting it. Not the actual sound." Kimberly added.
"And I had the urge to morph." Zack said with a frown.
"Me too." Trini said.
"It felt like…" Tommy started but then shook his head. "No it couldn't be."
"What are you thinking?" Jason asked.
Tommy shook his head. "It almost felt like the first time I morphed, I remember my power coin making a noise, like a pulse or feeling or something."
"Yeah I remember that too." Kimberly nodded. "but she would have to have a power coin."
"But that's not possible. We have the only power coins." Trini sighed.
"Maybe it wasn't or isn't a power coin. Maybe it's a crystal. Like the ones our coins use to control out Zords." Billy said. The other looked at him so he continued. "Crystals or at least some specific crystals resonate at certain frequencies."
Zack looked at Trini. "They make noise." She explained.
"Let's talk to Zordon, maybe he has some answers." Jason suggested. The others agreed and once it was safe to do so they teleported to the command center.