THE RANGERS' WILD RIDES

AUTHOR'S NOTE/DISCLAIMER

My take on "Follow That Cab" and I will admit this is inspired by the Turbo episode "The Wheel Of Fate" and The Love Bug which belongs to Disney. Power Rangers belongs to Haim Saban and Nickelodeon.

Inside Ernie's Gym and Juice Bar, Justin and Adam were sparring while Rocky and Chris were on a couple of exercise bikes and Aisha and Trini were lifting weights. On the other side of the establishment, Tyler was working furiously on the punching bag, kicking and punching it. Presently, Katherine came in carrying Gabriel. .

"Hey, Kat," Ernie greeted as she came up.

"Hi, Ernie," Katherine acknowledged. "Listen, I'm really sorry for bringing Gabriel in like this, but I didn't want to leave him at home," she continued, petting his head. Gabriel yipped and licked her face.

"Don't worry about it, Kat. I don't mind," Ernie assured her, coming around to stand in front of her.

"Gabriel, this is Ernie. Say 'Hi'," Katherine introduced.

"Hello, Gabriel," Ernie greeted, petting him. Gabriel woofed and licked him. The man chuckled. Seeing the newcomer, Tyler stopped his routine and came up.

"Hey, Ernie. Lemonade please," he requested. Then, "Oh, hi, Kat," he greeted as if he hadn't seen her. Katherine gave a polite smile. Gabriel gave a low growl at Tyler, and then turned his head away when the boy tried to pet him. Ernie gave Tyler his glass of lemonade and dejected, the boy walked off. Seeing this, Aisha and Trini laughed.

"Smart dog," Aisha said and Trini nodded in agreement. At Ernie's Outside Café, Kimberly finished her drink as she read her newspaper and Richie came out.

"Hey, do you want a refill?" he asked.

"No thanks. Are the others still inside?" she queried,.

"Yeah, except for Zack and Angela. They went off to a movie," he answered. "You know, I haven't seen Jason or Tommy all day," he continued.

"Oh, well, Tommy's meeting me here in a few minutes and Jason went with his dad to buy a car since he has this morning off," she told him. Richie nodded.

"So, what's with the newspaper?" he wondered.

"Oh, Mr. Kwan said he saw something that would interest me, but I haven't seen anything yet," Kimberly answered.

"Huh," Richie said. "Well, whatever it is, I hope it's something good," he continued.

"Me too," she answered. Then, Richie left and Kimberly flipped the paper over as Tommy came up. He was almost in his seat when Kimberly let out a scream.

"Glad to know I have that effect on you," Tommy said with some confusion.

"No, you don't. I-I mean, you do, but-aaaah! This is incredible," Kimberly said as Tommy sat down.

"Well, share already," Tommy encouraged.

"World famous gymnast coach Gunthar Schmidt is arriving in Angel Grove later today," Kimberly read and then showed Tommy the headlines. Oh! Even though I no longer want to go to the Pan Globals, it would be so cool to meet him, she thought excitedly.

"You know, I've heard that he's trained a lot of girls for the Olympics," Tommy said.

"Yeah," Kimberly said fondly, smiling.

"You thinking about trying out?" Tommy questioned. She laughed and shook her head.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I have the Rangers to think about," she said. "I know what my priorities are," she continued.

"Kim, Zordon wouldn't want you to pass up something like this. You should at least see if you have a shot," he encouraged.

"You're sweet, but the truth is, it just doesn't hold the same appeal that it used to," she admitted.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I know. It sounds crazy, right?" While this was going on, Lt. Stone had met with Bulk and Skull.

"Gentleman, I'd like to thank you for volunteering for this assignment on your day off," the senior officer stated.

"Our pleasure, Sir. We'd like to nail this car thief," Bulk said.

"Keep your eye out for anyone suspicious," Lt. Stone warned and then left. The two walked up and down. Presently, they noticed a man with a crowbar working on a light pink Toyota Corolla.

"Hey! That guy's trying to steal Kimberly's car!" Skull exclaimed. The two ran up to him.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Bulk asked, grabbing him. He turned the man around and began putting his hands together behind his back. "You're under arrest. You have the right to remain-" The man broke free, whirled around, and pushed Bulk back, causing him to stumble and Skull tried to get grab the man, only to have to hurriedly put a hand in front of his face for protection. The man then got into the car and sped off. Having heard the commotion, Tommy and Kimberly ran up to them.

"Are you guys okay? What happened?" Tommy asked.

"My car! It's gone!" Kimberly gasped in horror at the same time.

"Sorry, Kimberly. We tried to stop him," Skull apologized.

"It's okay. This isn't your fault," Kimberly said as Bulk stood in front of the road and held out a hand, forcing a cabbie to stop in the middle of the road.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" the cabbie asked.

"Sorry, Sir, but we need to commandeer your cab to catch a car thief," Bulk apologized.

"Hey, hop on in," the cabbie said and Bulk and Skull did so.

"We're coming with you," Kimberly stated, pulling Tommy into the cab with her. Bulk and Skull opened their mouths to argue with her, but changed their minds at her determined and angry visage.

"He went that way," Bulk said, pointing and the cabbie sped off.