FADED RED
Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers in any way, shape or form.
It was a beautiful, yet very busy afternoon at Jungle Karma Pizza. The restaurant was abuzz with dozens of children. Nearby tables were filled with birthday presents all wrapped in different, colorful paper. A large banner was strung against the back wall. The name on the banner read 'Bruce'. The five rangers and Fran rushed to server the little tikes pizza. All the children at the table seemed to be around eleven and twelve. The only ones older than that was, Bruce the birthday boy's mom, and older brother, who seemed to be around fifteen.
Bruce had very dark blonde hair, it was almost brown, big round brown eyes, and cute chubby cheeks. All the children sat at the table he was, but him being the birthday boy, he got to sit up front. All the children seemed to really like Bruce, and Bruce didn't hate all of the attention he was getting.
Fran rushed to pick up all the dirty plates and cups she could. Her tray was piled so high that it nearly toppled over.
"Casey, we need two more extra cheese pizzas for the kids!" Fran shouted into the kitchen, still struggling to not drop her tray.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Casey yelled. He didn't like to be rushed. He busted through the kitchen doors carrying a large cheese pizza in each hand. He almost tripped over Theo who was crouched down on the floor cleaning a sauce spill.
"Watch it Casey!" Theo scolded as he continued to wipe up the spill with an orange rag. Casey looked down at Theo, he was amazed that he didn't trip and make the mess even bigger.
"Sorry." Casey groaned. He placed the two pizzas on the table and made his way back to the kitchen. When he entered the doors, there he saw Dominic, RJ and Lily all rushing to make pizza after pizza.
"Keep those pizzas coming, those kids won't let up." Casey said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He saw the rangers adding toppings to the pizzas at high speeds. He thought he should help, no matter how tired he was. Lily giggled when she saw how tired everyone was from dealing with the kids.
"Man, who knew that kids could eat so much. You'd think they would be full by now." Lily huffed. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she was getting tired too.
RJ was the only one who seemed to have his energy.
"Like the saying says, "Kids will be kids…" RJ said, motioning his hands, sending flour flying off of his hands.
"Well, this storm will hopefully calm down soon. I think I'm getting blisters from messing with all of these toppings." Dominic said looking his fingers over. The other three let out a soft chuckle as they continued their work. Their laughter was ended when they heard a scream and a crash come from the dining room. The four of them dashed out of the kitchen to see what had happened. When they busted through the doors, they saw Fran lying face down in a pool of sauce. Fran hadn't seen Theo cleaning the sauce, due to the fact that her tray blocked her vision. Theo lay on the floor as well, his shirt doused with pizza sauce. Casey, Lily, RJ and Dominic rushed to help the pair up.
"Are you guys okay?" RJ asked, reluctant to really touch them. He didn't want sauce all over his JKP uniform.
"Fine." Fran said shakily, standing up from all the broken dishes. "But I need a long shower." She added picking at her clothes.
"Maybe you should go get cleaned up." Lily suggested. Fran nodded in agreement, and headed trough the kitchen doors.
"How about you, Theo? Are you alright?" Dominic asked. Theo stood up and slid a little from the sauce, but he didn't fall.
"Just dandy." Theo said as he sloshed towards the kitchen doors to clean up as well. "I'm going to go and…wipe myself off on some dough." Theo joked, the others chuckled. Casey patted his shoulder as he made his exit.
"Better clean this up." Casey said, kneeling down to pick up the shattered pieces of plates and glasses. Dominic, Lily and RJ helped.
As the four cleaned, their attention shifted to the birthday boy. They heard the song 'Happy Birthday' being sang by the children. They were all off key, which made it adorable all the same. Then the boy's mother approached the boy with a large, white iced cake. An '11' shaped candle burned at the top of it, and next to it was a Red Power Ranger cake figurine. When Casey saw this, he stopped picking up shards of plates for a moment and smiled to himself. Then Lily looked to see why Casey looked so happy. Then she saw the cake. She could tell Casey was flattered, which made her smile too. Dominic and RJ noticed the cake as well.
"Looks like someone has a fascination with the Red Ranger." RJ smiled. Casey glared at RJ as if to quiet him. The rangers stood as for all the glass was picked up, they threw it in a nearby recycling bin.
"I think it's sweet. It means he looks up to you." Lily said. Casey starred at the cake and felt happy.
"Looks up to me, huh? No one's ever done that with me before." Casey said. He was the least qualified of all the rangers at the beginning, he never thought that any kids would look up to him.
The mother placed the brightly lit cake in front of the boy. The boy beamed with happiness, he loved cake and the Red Ranger. The four rangers watched as the boy closed his eyes and made a wish. They boy then blew out the candles with all his might. Afterwards, all the party goers and even the rangers, clapped for him. As the boy's mother cut and served the cake, Casey decided he wanted to go and talk to his fan. RJ, Lily and Dominic made their way back to the kitchen.
"I'm a fascinating ranger too, right?" Dominic asked in jealousy. Lily didn't answer, she just pushed him playfully through the doors.
Casey sat beside the birthday boy in a nearby wooden chair. The boy looked at the caking, dying to tear into it, but his mother had told him to wait until everyone was served.
"So…" Casey began as he eyed the banner to confirm the boy's name. "…Bruce, I see there that you like the red Power Ranger." Casey said grinning. The boy's face lit up ever more than it did when he got his cake slice.
"Yeah! He's totally my favorite Power Ranger! He has the coolest moves like-" The boy said as he imitated a kung-fu like call and began making punching motions. Casey chuckled.
"You seemed to have mastered those moves, nice. I'm Casey." Casey said, holding out a hand.
"Hi, Casey! Well, I'm Bruce!" Bruce laughed shaking Casey's hand and pointing at his banner with the other.
"I hope one day I can be the Red Power Ranger." Bruce exclaimed.
"Well, if you try and train hard enough, I'm sure you'll get there one day." Casey said. "I even know some fight moves, and if I can learn them, you can too."
"Wow! Do you think you could teach me what you know? Then I'd be sure to fight like a Red Ranger!" Bruce said happily. Casey chuckled once more, he admired the boy's eagerness.
"Sure, I have to work all day today, but I'm off tomorrow. I'll teach you then." Casey said. "Is that good with you?" he asked.
"YES!" Bruce shouted. The frequency of his voice was so loud, that all the children went silent and starred at him. Bruce had a tendency to shout when he was excited. "Ha, ha. Sorry." Bruce said with en embarrassed laugh, while rubbing the back of his neck shamefully. Casey laughed once more.
"Great, how's four o' clock? Meet me in the park and you'll be a fighting master in no time." Casey said patting the boy's shoulder and standing up to leave.
"I'll be there, tomorrow at four!" Bruce said with a thumbs up. Casey nodded and smiled as he made his way back to the kitchen. He opened the doors, then paused before he entered.
"Hey, Bruce?" He asked.
"Yeah, Casey?" Bruce responded with a chipper voice.
"What'd you wish for?" Casey asked in curiosity.
"I can't tell you that! If I do, it won't come true, and I really want this wish to come true!" Bruce said happily. Casey stood there for a moment and smiled.
"I hope it does too." Casey said the smile plastered on his face, then went through the doors.