Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, unfortunately, Disney and Saban have that honour. I don't own Bulk or Skull either, Saban has that honour, although I personally find them absolutely hilarious.
Note: These "Adventures" are purely additional content for my Power Rangers: Worlds, Times and Distances Apart novel. They don't stand alone, unfortunately, so if you haven't read my main novel, you won't have a clue about what is happening in this novel at all. Additional "Adventures" tales may present themselves later on when events that appear later on in my novel which involve Bulk and Skull have aspects which need to be expanded upon separately but, until then, I consider The Adventures of Bulk and Skull to be complete so I won't be updating it any further besides the usual reviews of content!
This Adventure is set in the time from the beginning of the novel up to the middle of Chapter 10: Waves.
Lauraac2110
The Adventures of Bulk and Skull
Part of the Power Rangers: Worlds, Times and Distances Apart Universe
A Power Rangers Fanfiction
by Lauraac2110
Part 1: Journey to Corinth
Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, late morning
They laboured away. Like the hundreds of other people there, they were shifting the rocks from the labour camp so that the Grinders could harvest the valuable deposits of metal. Both Bulk and Skull had changed a great deal since the Venjix invasion. Bulk wasn't so bulky any more and Skull had gotten slightly more muscular because of the hard work that they had been forced to do in the labour camp.
"Bulk, do you remember Bulkmeiers? Now that was the life! Unlimited access to food and drink, easy work, peace..." Skull asked as they continued to work. He shifted a sizeable rock to one side as he talked before he looked to Bulk for an answer.
Bulk, after a few minutes of silence, quickly hit Skull over the head. He had a slight tear in his eye and it was clear to Skull that any talk of the good times, where they used to goof off to their hearts content, upset him. "Shut up Skull! I don't want to remember the good times. They're long gone. As I think about them more and more, I become more and more angry about how bad things are now so don't talk to me about them," Bulk growled as he shifted another rock and put it down beside Skull's rock. The time that they had spent in the labour camp over the past two years had also revealed Bulk's slightly more sensitive side but Skull remained as stupid and as insensitive as he had ever been.
"Do you know, just this once, I wish that something interesting would happen like it always used to in Angel Grove in the old days when there were..." Skull began. Bulk hit him again.
"Remember, don't say those two words, Skull, otherwise we'll end up in a lot of trouble just like the last time you accidentally let their title slip from your tongue," Bulk warned as he shifted yet another rock to one side. At that moment, there was a flash of green light nearby and, from within the light, a knight in black armour appeared. Bulk and Skull may not have recognised the knight but it was Zeltrax. He was back and better than ever before.
Within minutes, Zeltrax began his destruction. Bulk and Skull dove behind nearby barrels in terror and watched as Zeltrax attacked anything which moved. People fled in all directions as the Grinders, which had instantly attacked Zeltrax when he appeared, were quickly decimated by his powerful attacks.
His destruction seemed to go on forever until, quite by chance, he spotted someone whom he recognised. The woman, who Bulk and Skull didn't know to be Hayley, was attempting to flee from him but Zeltrax caught her quite quickly.
"Ah, Hayley, it has been a long time indeed," Zeltrax hissed as she struggled in his grip.
"I never expected to see you again, Zeltrax," Hayley replied as she tried to break free.
"Fate has been kind to me as I've been given a second chance to fulfil my goal. This time, I'll destroy him and there's nothing you nor anyone else can do to stop me," he hissed in reply.
"Tommy is still alive as far as I know. When he finds out about this, Zeltrax, he'll come after you to rescue me," Hayley threatened.
Zeltrax smiled. "I'd have it no other way, Hayley. You'll be instrumental in my plot to get my revenge on your friend, Tommy Oliver."
"He'll never let you get away with this," Hayley exclaimed as she tried to break free again.
"We'll see," Zeltrax replied indifferently. At that moment, he vanished with her in a flash of green light.
Bulk and Skull, from behind the barrels, looked at each other for a long moment.
"Did he say Tommy Oliver?" Skull asked.
"I think that he did," Bulk replied. "But did he mean the Tommy Oliver?"
"I think that he did," Skull replied. "What do we do now?"
At that moment, Bulk dared to look over the barrels to see what was happening. The entire labour camp was in general confusion. Even though Zeltrax was now gone, Grinders were now firing at everyone in their sight.
"We're not staying here," Bulk decided as he grabbed Skull by the arm and hauled him to his feet as he stood up. "Come on."
"But..." Skull began as Bulk dragged him away as they fled from the labour camp. Behind them, as they fled in the completely opposite direction, were Trent and Anton. They were both carrying Kira between them as she had been hit by the Grinders only moments before when she had thrown herself in front of Trent to protect him from a blast that he wouldn't have escaped from alive otherwise.
As Bulk and Skull fled, half a dozen of the Grinders followed them in hot pursuit. When Skull spotted them, he instantly alerted Bulk.
"Grinders are hot on our tails!" Skull exclaimed. Bulk sped up at that moment.
"We need to lose them! Keep an eye out for anywhere that we can hide in, Skull!" Bulk exclaimed as they continued to run onwards. It wasn't long, though, before Bulk and Skull were cornered by the Grinders with nowhere to escape to because the Grinders had encircled them and were rapidly closing in on the pair of them.
"It looks like this is the end, Bulk. It was nice knowing you," Skull said over-dramatically as he hugged Bulk.
Bulk quickly shoved Skull off of him. "Get off me, Skull," he growled.
At that moment, the Grinders fired and, with frightened exclamations, both Bulk and Skull fell to the ground to avoid being struck by the shots.
What happened next was just sheer luck. The shots continued past where they had been standing only moments before and struck the Grinder directly opposite from the one which had fired the shot originally. Within seconds, each of the Grinders short-circuited as they collapsed to the sand one by one.
Both Bulk and Skull, who had their hands over their heads, only dared to look up when they realised that they weren't dead. Everything had gone quiet and they slowly gazed at the destroyed Grinders around them in a state of shock.
However, Bulk was the first to snap out of his shock when he realised that, now that the Grinders around them were gone, they could escape because no one would know where they had fled to. He quickly slapped Skull to snap him out of his shock.
"They've been destroyed. We better get out of here!" he exclaimed. Skull nodded and, together, they fled into the desert away from the labour camp.
Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, late afternoon, several hours later
"It's roasting out here and I'm tired. Can't we stop to get some rest, Bulk?" Skull complained as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead. Bulk did the same.
"I may be tired, and I may be roasting too, but we've got to keep going, Skull. At least until we find somewhere shady, that is," Bulk replied.
At that moment, they both spotted the prisoner truck, which was heavily guarded by Grinders, that would offer them the perfect spot to get some much needed rest in the shade. Skull looked to Bulk.
"There's our shade, Bulk," Skull said as he pointed. "But how are we going to get to it?"
"I've got a plan. Just follow my lead," Bulk assured after taking a moment to think about a plan to get under the truck and into the shade. Slowly, they circled the Grinders, whilst remaining at a safe distance so that the Grinders wouldn't spot them and then, inch by inch, they crawled under the truck.
The much needed shade was a welcome relief for both of them from the harsh blistering sunlight that they had endured for the last couple of hours to get this far. Both Bulk and Skull kept quiet in order to avoid being detected by the Grinders but it was clear by the expression on their faces that they were enjoying the significantly cooler temperature.
However, they didn't get to enjoy it for very long as shots from the sky above took out two of the Grinders guarding the truck. Then, there was a loud explosion. Bulk and Skull could only watch, open-mouthed, as Billy landed in the sand in front of them and took out the remaining Grinders using the martial arts skills which Bulk and Skull recognised to be the techniques of Tommy and Jason.
They had never expected to see Billy again. Last they had heard of him, he had gone somewhere far away to start up a new life but that had been years ago. Now, he was there before him, with the skills of a master of martial arts, and had just taken out the Grinders with ease.
They were, however, even more open-mouthed when they saw Cestria, his beautiful wife, and they couldn't quite believe that they weren't seeing things. If they hadn't ever expected to see Billy again, they had certainly never expected to see Billy with such a beautiful wife. Both Bulk and Skull couldn't help but stare at her so anything that was said between Billy, Cestria and those who accompanied them was quickly lost to Bulk and Skull until Billy mentioned the prisoner truck.
"We can use this truck to get us to Corinth. I'll drive," Billy said.
"No, I'll drive, dear," Cestria cut in as she gently carried Kira into the back of the prisoner truck and put her down on one of the benches. The bottom of the truck grew closer to both Bulk and Skull at that moment. "You've got some explaining to do, husband."
At that moment, Bulk looked up and noticed the strong underside of the truck. He looked to Skull and pointed upwards.
"But we can't..." Skull hissed.
"We've got to do it, Skull. We can't stay here in the desert," Bulk replied with a whisper.
Skull grumbled for a moment before he nodded in agreement. Then, they both climbed up into the underside of the truck and clung tightly to the coolest component, the water cooler, as Cestria started it up. As the truck set off, silence prevailed in the back. Bulk and Skull didn't know what was going on in there but they guessed that it had to be something awkward as none of those in the back said anything for several moments.
Finally, Billy spoke. "You wanted to know how I know Dr Oliver, Trent. I think, however, that you've already got some idea of what I'm about to tell you. This whole tale begins many years ago, in a place called Angel Grove... We first met him at a Martial Arts tournament because my friends and I were there to cheer on our friend, and Red Ranger, Jason Lee Scott. His opponent in the final was a very young handsome man, your mentor, Dr Tommy Oliver. Little did we realise at that moment that he would enter our lives in a way no one could have guessed. However, the story that you want to hear, I think, begins slightly before that fateful day. It started off like any other day for me and for my four friends, Jason, Kimberly, Zack and Trini, but we had no idea that day would change our lives forever as that was the day that I became a Power Ranger with my friends," he said. "We were unfortunately..."
Bulk and Skull looked at each other as they continued to listen to Billy's tale. They were stunned completely by the revelation that Billy was a Power Ranger and their mouths were agape.
"That wimp! That wimp was a Ranger?" they whispered in unison to voice their disbelief.
"Who would have thought it?" Skull added. Bulk hit him over the head.
"Shh," he hissed. "I want to hear the rest of the tale."
And with that, neither Bulk nor Skull said anything else as they listened intently to Billy's tale as he told the full tale of the Power Rangers from beginning to end. He added in all he knew about each Power Ranger and omitted most of the details about Cestria and the Alien Rangers as he went. After a few minutes, both Bulk and Skull were so engrossed in his tale that they weren't paying attention to anything else around them.
Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, early evening, several hours later
Bulk and Skull had been completely engrossed in Billy's tale which had only just finished moments before. Neither of them, though, noticed the approaching rock until it was too late. As the truck drove over the rock, both Bulk and Skull were knocked unconscious as they hit their heads off the metal above them. Fortunately, their clothing had snagged on some of the jagged edges of the pipes under the truck so that they couldn't fall out onto the sand as the truck continued onwards towards Corinth City.
Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, early evening, several minutes later
They returned to conscious several minutes later when the prisoner truck skidded to a halt. They groaned softly as they fell to the sand because the force of the truck coming to a halt had somehow torn their their clothing free. They watched as Trent leapt out of the back of the truck and called out Billy's name. Cestria soon followed suit.
"I wonder what happened?" Skull whispered aloud.
Bulk hissed at him. "Shh," he replied. They listened as Billy replied to them and moved away the sand to reveal the opening to a cave. Kira cried out at that moment.
"She's getting worse. We'll need to find help soon as she won't last much longer," Anton warned.
"I've found something which you might want to see. Bring her down here," Billy called after he had ventured deeper into the cave. Trent collected Kira from his father and they followed Cestria into the cave. Bulk and Skull watched them go before they looked at each other.
"Now what, Bulk?" Skull asked.
"We wait, Skull," Bulk replied simply. "We wait for them to come back."
Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, after midnight, several hours later
Bulk and Skull had fallen asleep whilst they had been waiting for them to return to the truck. It was now after midnight and, when they woke, they hesitantly crawled out from under the prisoner truck.
"Well, Bulk, we've waited ages for them. Now what?" Skull demanded.
"We take a look in that cave to see if they're still there," Bulk replied as he set off down into the cave. Although he was quite hesitant to follow, Skull soon walked close behind him as they made their way down the tunnel. When they both reached the entrance to the Dino Thunder Command Centre, Bulk and Skull stopped instantly. Hesitantly, Bulk peered around the corner to find that the place was empty. The computer, though, was still on standby.
"Well?" Skull asked.
"They've gone," Bulk replied. "Come on."
They entered the Command Centre and, within seconds, they noticed the sound of running water.
"Is that..." Bulk began. He couldn't finish though because Skull ran through into the side cavern and cut him short.
"Water!" Skull exclaimed as Bulk came through. Within moments, they were both down on their knees and they both drank as much as they could from the water source because they were both feeling rather thirsty now. Once they had drank their fill, they sat back for a moment to relax so that they could consider what they would do now.
"So what now, Bulk?" Skull asked.
"I don't know, Skull," Bulk replied as he paused to consider what they were going to do for a moment. "We've got to continue on to Corinth City, I guess."
"But..." Skull began.
"We haven't got a choice, Skull. We can't stay here," Bulk replied. "Besides, you heard Billy when he said that Tommy will be in Corinth. He won't know anything about what happened to his friend, Hayley, so we've got to get to Corinth so that we can warn him about what happened to her before it's too late."
"But..." Skull began again in protest. Bulk cut him short.
"We owe him, Skull, for funding Bulkmeiers using his stock car winnings. Telling him about Hayley would pay him back for everything that he's done for us," he replied.
Skull considered it for a moment. "Yeah, you're right, Skull. We do owe him," he conceded. "But how are we going to get there, though? We don't know the way to Corinth."
Bulk thought about it for a moment. "Perhaps that computer might."
He got up from where they sat by the river and went back through to the Command Centre. Then, he began fiddling with the keyboard until a map of the United States of America appeared on-screen. It was by sheer luck that this had happened as Bulk had unwittingly hit the map key whilst he had fiddled randomly with the keyboard. Experimentally, Bulk typed in "Corinth" and many of the dots on the map, which marked out important locations, vanished to leave a glowing green dot by the coast which was labelled Corinth City.
Seconds later, this map was printed out from a dusty printer which lay unused in the corner. Bulk collected it as Skull came through carrying a canister full of water.
"What's that?" Skull asked pointing to the piece of paper in his hand.
"A map to Corinth. What's that?" Bulk asked pointed to the canister.
"Water for the trip," Skull replied. "I guessed that we would be leaving here so I thought that I would get some water to bring with us."
"Of course we're leaving here. We've got to warn Tommy about Hayley," Bulk replied. Skull nodded.
"Can I drive?" Skull asked.
"No," Bulk replied. "I'll drive. That way we won't get lost."
Bulk and Skull made their way back to the prisoner truck and got into the cab. Then, Bulk sat the map upon the dashboard and started up the engine. After a few minutes, he released the handbrake and they drove off towards Corinth.
Somewhere in the Desert, USA, far from Corinth City, early morning, several hours later
"Are we there yet?" Skull asked for the hundredth time since they had set off as he yawned. They were almost halfway towards Corinth now but the journey so far had been rather boring because all they could see in every direction was sand, sand and more sand.
"No," Bulk replied. He was starting to get slightly irritated but he sensibly kept his mouth shut.
Skull was silent for a few moments before he asked the question again. "Are we there yet, Bulk?"
"Skull! We're not going to be there for a while yet," Bulk snapped. "I'm trying to concentrate so could you please just stop asking me that question until we get there."
Skull fell quiet again for another few moments before he made a fatal mistake.
"Are we there yet?" he asked again.
"Skull!" Bulk exclaimed angrily as he turned to him. Skull cringed.
"All right, I'm sorry," he apologised. "I won't ask again."
With that, Skull fell silent as Bulk continued to drive towards Corinth. It was going to be a long journey.
Outside Corinth City, Outside the Brachiozord Command Centre, early afternoon, many, many hours later again
When the massive Brachiozord Command Centre and the domed city of Corinth finally came into view, Bulk thought it was a mirage for a moment. They had thought they had seen Corinth City twice before over the long journey but, after they had rubbed their eyes, those mirages had turned out to be fake. This one, however, did not.
Bulk turned to Skull to shake him awake. "Wake up, Skull! We're here!" he exclaimed as he shook him. Skull murmured something before Bulk slapped him.
"Ah!" Skull exclaimed.
"We're here!" Bulk exclaimed happily.
Skull, because he had forgotten where they were at that moment, shot up to his feet and broke the handbrake as he did so. At the same time, the engine overheated and the front of the car burst into flames. As both of them looked up in fright, they saw that the prisoner truck was now rapidly approaching one of the Brachiozord's legs. Both of them squealed in panic before, after a few moments, Bulk had a sensible idea. He pushed Skull out one door, as he leapt out of the other, just before the prisoner truck collided with the Brachiozord. Seconds later, it exploded.
The Brachiozord used its inbuilt fire extinguishing system to hose down the flaming wreckage of the prisoner truck as Alpha 5 approached to see whether anyone had survived.
For a moment, Bulk and Skull lay quite still on the sand so it was easy to see why Alpha had mistakenly believed that they were dead. Then, they groaned.
"What happened?" Skull asked.
"Welcome to Corinth City, Bulk and Skull," Alpha greeted. "You've had a lucky escape there."
Both Bulk and Skull got a fright when they saw Alpha standing before them as they got to their feet.
"Who... Who are you? How do you know of us?" they stammered.
"I'm Alpha 5, loyal servant to Zordon of Eltar, and I know of you because, once long ago, the Power Rangers did," Alpha replied.
The mention of the words "Power Rangers" made Bulk and Skull realise that this robot before them would know where Tommy was.
"Then you'll know where Tommy Oliver is?" Skull asked.
"Yes, why?" Alpha asked.
"Please. You've got to take us to him. You see..." Bulk began.
Outside Corinth City, Brachiozord Command Centre, mid-afternoon
As Alpha entered the main Command Centre, with Bulk and Skull following him close behind, they looked around in awe. The complexity of the machinery around them amazed them both. They were so amazed that they failed to notice that Billy's wife, Cestria, was working at the console for a few moments until she turned to see what had happened. Zordon, who turned his head to see what the commotion was, shook his head as he recognised them both almost instantaneously.
"Well, well, well... Bulk and Skull. I never expected to see both of you again," Zordon said. "Fate has been kind to both of you indeed."
"I'm sorry, Zordon, but I had to bring them in here after I heard their tale for myself. The contents of their tale concerned me so much that I felt that you had to hear about what has happened to them over the last day or two," Alpha replied.
"You know of us both?" Bulk asked in surprise.
"Who can forget both of you? I, like my Power Rangers, used to often find your antics amusing," Zordon smiled as he gestured to them. "Please, I wish to hear your tale."
Both Bulk and Skull quickly told Zordon everything about how they arrived in Corinth. At the very end, Zordon was rather grim as he stood up to go to Cestria's side.
"Fetch Tommy, Cestria. He must be told of this news at once," Zordon commanded.
"He's definitely here?" Bulk and Skull said in unison. Cestria nodded.
"At once, Zordon," she replied instantly before she quickly hurried away to the Infirmary to fetch him. Bulk and Skull looked at each other hesitantly for a moment as they waited for Tommy to appear. They were rather uncomfortable in their current company and the prolonged silence showed it.
As soon as Tommy entered the Command Centre, his expression lit up and he smiled as he saw Bulk and Skull waiting for him. Billy, however, groaned as the distant memory of their persecution of him during his high school years came back to the forefront of his mind.
"Tommy," Bulk greeted. Tommy embraced the pair of them fondly.
"Bulk, Skull, it's really nice to see you guys again," he replied. "After everything that had happened over the past two years, I never expected to see both of you ever again."
"The feeling is mutual, Tommy. The word across the labour camps was that you were dead," Bulk replied.
"Yeah," Skull added in agreement before both of them turned their attention to Billy.
"We never expected to find out that you were a Power Ranger, Billy, but it's nice to see you too," Bulk smiled.
"Yeah," Skull agreed. "It's nice to see you, Billy."
"Wait, I never told you guys about Billy," Tommy interrupted. He was puzzled by the fact that they knew that Billy was a Power Ranger as well.
"It's a long story," Bulk assured. "You see we were prisoners of those robotic... What do you call them?"
"Grinders," Billy supplied.
"Grinders for the best part of the past two years. We were in the same labour camp as your friends, Kira, Trent and Anton..." Bulk continued.
"Wait, how do you know about them being my friends?" Tommy interrupted.
"He's getting to that bit," Skull assured.
"Anyway," Bulk continued again, "We were in that camp when that monster... What was his name?"
"Zeltrax," Billy supplied.
"Right, Zeltrax was his name. Anyway, he appeared out of nowhere yesterday, right in the middle of the labour camp, and quickly started trashing it for fun. Then, he spotted someone he recognised, a woman, Hayley was her name, and abducted her because of the fact that she was also one of your friends, or so Zeltrax said anyway, and he knew that taking her would mean that you would go after him as soon as you found out. Then, he vanished into thin air leaving the camp in general anarchy," Bulk continued. "As for us, we fled the camp and ended up hiding under a prisoner truck which you, Billy, stole from the Grinders. Once you were done with it, we borrowed it so that we could make our way towards Corinth using a map we found. And, that really is all you need to know about our story."
Tommy grew distant, angry and troubled after they had finished their tale. He quickly turned away from them in an attempt to hide his feelings from Zordon. Both Bulk and Skull were slightly surprised by Tommy's disturbing behaviour as they had never seen him act this way before. Zordon, however, saw right through Tommy's attempt to mask his dangerous emotions.
"Tommy, thoughts of anger and vengeance must be put aside regardless of how evil Zeltrax may be," Zordon warned.
"I know," Tommy replied as he took a deep breath to try to calm himself down. "I don't want to fight Zeltrax, regardless of how angry he makes me sometimes, but I know that I won't have a choice because he still seeks revenge against me. And I know that he'll be merciless to all who stand in his way whilst he pursues me. Hayley's in a great deal of danger in his hands, Zordon, just because he's so ruthless so I'll have to get her back from him as quickly as possible before he hides her away somewhere where I can't find her. It just doesn't help that Goldenrod is out there searching for his father as well because there will be nowhere that I can hide to escape from their wrath if the two of them get together again."
He paused for a long moment. "The only thing which I just haven't worked out is how I'm going to rescue her, yet. Hayley hasn't got a lot of time but I won't be leaving until Kimberly wakes up."
Alpha shrugged. "We can work out the details later on, Tommy. By the way, the diagnostic checks found some slight structural damage to the Brachiozord but I repaired the damage as soon as the diagnostic checks brought it to my attention."
"Thanks, Alpha," Tommy said. "Bulk, Skull, I promise you that I'll find some sort of reward for both of you for your information. Without you guys risking your lives to warn me, I wouldn't know about Zeltrax capturing Hayley right now. Billy, would you please show them to a room somewhere so that they can get cleaned up? I need to get back to Kimberly."
Billy nodded. "I will, Tommy. Bulk, Skull, come with me as I know just the place for both of you."
"I'll see you later, guys," Tommy assured as he left to return to the infirmary.
Bulk, Skull and Billy left soon after as they headed down a different corridor from Tommy.
"Why didn't you let me know that you guys were under the truck?" Billy asked as they walked.
Bulk and Skull shrugged. "To be honest, we wanted to hear your full story. You wouldn't have said any of that stuff if we had been present, Billy, and you know it."
Billy sighed. "You guys are right. I wouldn't have said anything. It's not that I don't trust you, Bulk, Skull... It's just that those who've been blessed with the Power have learnt quickly that you don't ever disclose your secret to anyone who isn't a Power Ranger or an extremely close friend. I'm sorry."
"No, it's all right. We understand," Bulk replied.
"We do?" Skull said puzzled. Bulk elbowed him to be quiet.
"Tommy explained it to us once. It was one of Zordon's fundamental rules. Keep the secret," Bulk continued. "We're fine with that."
"We are?" Skull said puzzled. Bulk elbowed him harder and Skull fell silent. Billy smiled.
"Thanks, guys," he said as he turned the corner into a different corridor. "Your room is just around here."
They followed him up the corridor until, finally, they stopped outside their room. Billy opened the door and Bulk and Skull barged past him into the room.
As Bulk and Skull entered, they instantly saw that Tommy had gotten the design of their room exactly right for their tastes. The walls were purple. The furniture was contemporary and a silvery colour. There was a black carpet and there were a number of arcade games sitting at one side of the room for them to use when they got bored. They had two bathrooms and a deluxe fridge which, to Bulk's disappointment, was unfortunately devoid of content. Skull threw open the wardrobe to find, to his great pleasure, clothing to his tastes which looked likely to fit him perfectly.
Billy stood by the door with a smile as he allowed them both to look around and settle in for a moment. When they turned to him, he could tell by the expressions on their faces that they really liked their room because they were grinning madly.
"I'm glad that you both like it, guys, but I can't stay here with you both. Both of you need to get cleaned up and I need to go to Kimberly's bedside. I'll come back for you at dinner to take you up to our dining and planning room," Billy said.
They shrugged. "It's all right, Billy, we understand that your close friends come first. If Kimberly wakes, say hi to her from us," Bulk assured.
"Yeah," Skull agreed. "And tell her that we'll come visit her soon."
Billy nodded. "I'll tell her, guys. Enjoy your room."
He left them then. This gave Bulk and Skull a chance to enjoy the delights of luxury which they had missed over the last two years so desperately. The first thing on their agenda, was the luxury that they had so desperately missed the most, a bath. Both of them rushed towards the bathroom door and were both trapped in the doorway.
"Get out of the way, Bulk," Skull exclaimed as he tried to wriggle through. Bulk growled.
"Just move," Bulk replied as he pushed Skull through the door and entered behind him. Then, he closed the door behind them both as they prepared for their bath.
Outside Corinth City, Brachiozord Command Centre, Ranger Planning Room, mid-evening, some time later
"Well guys, here it is. Welcome to the Ranger Planning Room," Billy said as he led Bulk and Skull in. "You've got to sit over there in the grey chairs."
Bulk and Skull, who had cleaned up in the time since then, nodded. "Thanks, Billy, for everything. Like we said earlier, tell Kimberly that we'll visit her soon."
Billy smiled. "I will guys."
He left them at that moment and Bulk and Skull took a seat in the grey chairs. Once all the other Rangers and associated non-Rangers were seated, Cestria brought through the soup. When she gave bowls to Bulk and Skull, they hesitantly took a sip before their expressions lit up.
"This is good!" Bulk exclaimed as he and Skull simultaneously began to devour the soup. As soon as they finished their first bowl, they asked for another and, after they had finished that, yet another bowl. Ignoring the disgust of Tenaya 15, they continued devouring the bowls of soup as they happily ate their fill.
Outside Corinth City, Brachiozord Command Centre, Ranger Planning Room, late evening, an hour or so later
After their eleventh bowl each, Bulk and Skull had certainly had enough. Everyone else had long left the Command Centre but Cestria had remained behind to see to their needs.
"Are you both sure that you don't want another?" Cestria asked with a smile.
"We're quite sure," Bulk replied as he burped. Skull nodded in agreement.
"Our compliments to you, Cestria. You're an excellent chef," he replied as they both managed to get to their feet. Then, they sighed as they left the Ranger Planning Room and made their way back to their rooms. When they arrived, they suddenly found themselves rather sleepy and fell onto the beds as they fell asleep.
Outside Corinth City, Brachiozord Command Centre, the next day, early in the morning, whilst Bulk and Skull were still asleep
Colonel Truman was on-screen. Zordon had left the Command Centre because they had agreed that it was best not to let Truman see him yet. Hence, Tommy was alone. They had both agreed that Truman would get that surprise later on if he accepted Tommy's offer of visiting the Brachiozord whilst he was gone. In exchange, Tommy wanted the Corinth Defence Force to treat Bulk and Skull as VIPs.
"... It isn't a big request, Colonel. Both of them have provided me with rather important information and they risked their lives to do so. They deserve to be rewarded for it, don't you think?" Tommy replied.
"But..." Colonel Truman began as Tommy quickly interrupted him.
"Besides, I could quite easily take the entire Brachiozord away to search for Hayley so I'm being rather nice by leaving it, and a majority of the Power Rangers within, behind to protect Corinth," he said with a smile.
Colonel Truman sighed as he gave in. "I'll get my best officers to treat them like VIPs, Dr Oliver. I'll bring them with me when I visit the Brachiozord later. Tell your mentor that I'm looking forward to meeting him in person soon."
"I'll tell him. Zordon of Eltar is looking forward to meeting you too, Colonel. When I get back, you'll hear the full tale of what happened," Tommy promised as he shut down the communication link.
Outside Corinth City, Brachiozord Command Centre, Bulk and Skull's base, late morning
Feeling completely relaxed, Bulk and Skull awoke to find that they had overslept. They got out of bed, had another bath and changed into fresh clothing. They then put their dirty clothing into the laundry chute and looked at each other.
"What are we going to do with ourselves, today, Bulk?" Skull finally asked.
"We're going to visit, Kimberly, Skull," Bulk replied. "Come on."
With that, Bulk and Skull left their room and headed down the corridors in search of the Infirmary.
Outside Corinth City, Brachiozord Command Centre, Infirmary, late morning
As Bulk and Skull entered the Infirmary, Kimberly looked up from her breakfast as she just finished it. She still looked rather pale but, otherwise, she looked all right. She smiled at them.
"Bulk, Skull, I've been waiting for you to visit," she smiled. "What took you so long?"
"Sorry, Kimberly, but we overslept this morning," Skull apologised.
She smiled as they approached her bed and embraced her fondly.
"That's all right. I'm just glad that you came," she replied. "Tommy told me that you had quite an adventure."
"Oh yes," Bulk replied. "We began..."
Outside Corinth City, Brachiozord Command Centre, Infirmary, late afternoon, some time later
"Wow, guys, you must have had a difficult journey," Kimberly smiled. "I'm glad that you're back, guys. I've missed your antics over the years."
Both Bulk and Skull smiled as they blushed a little. "We've missed you too, Kimberly."
Before either of them could say anything else, the communication system across the Brachiozord burst into life.
"Bulk and Skull, please report to the Command Centre," Zordon called. Bulk and Skull looked at each other.
"I wonder what Zordon wants us for," Bulk mused. Kimberly smiled.
"Don't keep him waiting, guys. It won't be anything bad," she reassured them. Skull was slightly reassured by this.
"Yeah! Come on Bulk," Skull said. "Bye, Kimberly. Get well soon."
Bulk nodded and they left the Infirmary as IRMA smiled.
"It was so nice of them to visit you, Kimberly," she said.
"I know, IRMA. I wonder what Zordon wants them for," Kimberly replied.
Outside Corinth City, Brachiozord Command Centre, late afternoon
As Bulk and Skull entered the Command Centre, Zordon was nowhere in sight. Instead, two security officers were waiting for them.
"Are you Sir Bulk and Sir Skull?" one of the security officers asked. Bulk and Skull looked at each other before they nodded in reply. "You've got to come with us."
With that, Bulk and Skull were escorted out of the Brachiozord Command Centre by the two security officers from the Corinth Defence Force.
Corinth City, Corinth Lakeside, some time later
Bulk and Skull lay in the deck chairs on the artificial beach and relaxed. They were dressed in bright holiday clothing, they were drinking cold fruit smoothies and they were surrounded by an entire team from the Corinth Defence Force which had been assigned to protect them.
Their reward for telling Tommy about Hayley was the unlimited service of the Corinth Defence Force and anything that they wanted for free. As long as their demands were within reason, of course. So, now, they were soaking up the sun on the artificial beach by the lake and they were enjoying every minute of it.
As Bulk took a sip from his smoothie, he smiled. "Do you know, Skull, this is the life."
"Yeah," Skull agreed as he relaxed in his deck chair and pulled his sunglasses over his eyes. "This is the life."