Chapter 4 – A Few Revelations

Zhane led the three Rangers and their foe down the leg of the table they had woken up on. They had insisted on going back to try and find the rest of their friends but could find no one. Zedd had even tried yelling Rita's name as loudly as he could but she didn't pop up and start yelling back at him so she wasn't nearby. They followed Zhane on with the promise that they would come back and check for them in a few hours.

The floor, the carpet, was soft and plush, and therefore hard to walk on. But just as they had adjusted to the change in their body's flexibility, they adjusted so that they could keep up with Zhane who ran easily across it. Well, most of them anyway.

Lord Zedd tramped through it as if trying to force it out of his way. Very much in keeping with his philosophy on life. Any obstacle in his way, anyone that tried to stand against him, must be shoved aside and destroyed. This new Ranger, the silver one. He scowled, watching the figures in front of him. He had spoken to him with scorn, showing none of the grudging respect that even the other Rangers did. The silver one was now in his way. Threatening him, challenging him. In front of his mortal enemies now less! He could hear the fear he'd built up in the Rangers slowly disappearing the longer this insult went unpunished. This he could not allow. For him to conquer, to destroy the Rangers, they had to fear him. The mere mention of his name should send them fleeing for cover.

"Keep up Eddy," the silver one called back to him. Mockingly.

Zedd heard the Pink one giggle and his spine straightened in fury. Oh this silver one, so callous and dismissive of him. He would pay dearly. But he could do the math in his head. While he might be able to take the silver one on by himself, when he wasn't taken by surprise, he had no doubt that the Pink, Green and Red Rangers would stand with the silver one against him. Their truce was only to discover what had happened to them and would break very easily. He had no desire to die while this small. So he set his rage on simmer and forced his legs to move faster, staying silent lest he give away his craving to attack the smart mouthed silver one too early and spoil the coming surprise.

"We're here."

Zhane finally stopped next to the bed. A dark blue dust ruffle, eight times as tall than they were now, hid what was beneath the bed. A dresser sat next to the bed, between the bed and the door.

"Before we go on," Kimberly said, feeling reluctant to trust this strange man who was dressed like a Power Ranger. "I want to know, really, what's under there because if something jumps out and scares me, I'll blast you so far, your identical ancestors will wince."

Tommy nodded, "Me too. We're not moving until we know there's not a monster under there."

"Or that it's not a trap," Jason added.

"Or that every goody two shoes is in a line waiting to destroy me," Zedd said with a frown.

Zhane shrugged, "Trust me Eddy, you're the least of our worries right now." He smirked at the Rangers, "But you three…well…you'll feel right at home. You have nothing to worry about. No one beyond this ruffle wants to hurt you." He paused and rethought that, "Well almost no one."

"Zhane!"

Zhane looked past them, a true and full smile lighting up his face, "Andros!" He pushed roughly past the Rangers, "Andros!"

The Rangers turned and saw Trini, Billy, Zack and Rita accompanying by a tall man they assumed to be Andros.

Zhane ran up, happily clasping arms with Andros, "I see you found the other three."

Andros nodded, "We had a bit of a misunderstanding but I was able to convince them to accompany me here." He looked up at the three Rangers that had come with Zhane, "And these are the last of them?"

Zhane shrugged, "As far as we know they are."

The original Rangers met each other in the middle, keeping their distance from the now whispering Zhane and Andros.

"What happened," Jason asked Zack. "What kind of 'misunderstanding' did you have?"

"He attacked us," Trini answered. "We were exploring that spaceship parked on top of the pile of books. It was dark in there, none of us could see and he just attacked."

Jason leaned in close, the rest of his team following suit, "The real question is, can we trust them?"

"They seem to be Rangers too," Billy noted, "Their suits are simple variations of our own. In fact, taking in the similarities between their suits, I would say they are from the same Ranger team. Unless all other Rangers have uniforms like that."

"Zhane says he's a Space Ranger," Kimberly added. "Whoever they are."

"Did Zordon or Alpha ever mention another Ranger team," Tommy asked.

"Not to me," Billy answered, having been the one who spent the most time in Command Center and thus was the one Zordon and Alpha communicated with the most.

"I have not heard of them either."

The team jumped. They hadn't noticed Lord Zedd or Rita join their huddle. Lord Zedd grunted and repeated his statement.

"We're trying to have a private conversation," Trini said. "Please go away."

Rita shook her head, "We have a truce with you, not them. Besides it's the enemy you know and I don't know them." She scowled at them, "I don't like them." She noticed the Rangers looking at her strangely, "Oh, I don't like you either but I hate them more."

Zedd agreed, "They do not treat me with the proper respect! The silver one openly mocked me!"

"We do that all the time," Zack pointed out. It was standard battle procedure to catcall the opponent and Zedd had faced them many times. He generally snarked right back at them when he wasn't just calling them foolish Rangers.

"Yes but when you do it, I can still see the way your hands shake in fear, how you hesitate to attack me directly. You properly fear me, they do not."

Tommy was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable, it almost seemed like his team and his enemies were bonding. He had to stop it. "Ok, bottom line, should we trust them?"

"No," Lord Zedd and Rita said simultaneously.

"Yes," Kimberly, Jason and Zack said together.

Trini glanced at Billy, "I don't like Andros, he never did apologize for attacking us."

Billy shrugged, "I say we go with them but be very, very cautious. They seem to know what's going on but they are talking about us in such a way that I feel like I am merely an object to them."

"Oh but you are so much more than that Mighty Morphin Blue," a strange voice said, making the huddled teens and villains jump again.

They looked up to see a short woman with cropped black hair in a white lab coat. She crossed her arms, a small frown on her face, "You are the original Power Rangers. We've been waiting for you for a long time. My name is Dr. K and it's about time you six showed up."

The six Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, two villains, two Space Rangers and one non-Ranger or villain, ducked under the dust ruffle. They were surprised to find what amounted to a city. Multi colored Christmas lights lit the space while people in various colored Ranger uniforms, including a few who were wearing clothes of different styles, strolled in and out of buildings made of everything from styrofoam cups to cereal boxes to honest-to-god gingerbread. The carpet floor had been pulled up in places to reveal the wooden floor, making an easy walkway between the buildings. The walkway they were on could be called the main road as the majority of buildings are built off of it and it seemed to best maintained.

The other people noticed the six new Rangers accompanied by two Space Rangers, they did a double take. When they took in the design on the new Rangers suits, they stopped in their tracks and stared.

People began to mutter, throwing excited glances and words at the new arrivals.

"It's them."

"The ORIGINAL Power Rangers!"

"Finally."

"I can't wait to meet them!"

"I wonder what this means?"

"Maybe we can go home now!"

As the team followed Dr. K down the main path, the people in suits began to cluster together behind them. Distinct teams appeared as those with the same design grouped together and talked eagerly.

Kimberly kept glancing behind them, noticing the rarity of Pink suits. "Are they all Rangers," she whispered to Tommy. "I can't believe Zordon wouldn't tell us if this many Rangers existed. I don't know Tommy, I don't like this."

He put his arm around her and squeezed her shoulders, "Don't worry, as long as our team is together, we can face anything."

Trini squeezed her hand on the other side. Billy took Trini's other hand without saying a word while Zack took his and Jason took Zack's. The six Rangers walked hand in hand until Dr. K stopped in front of a cereal box that had been stood up and had doors and windows cut out of it. It was located well beyond the rest of the city, in the back and out of the way.

At the sight of them holding hands, looking like something out of a cheesy TV show, she shook her head and she gestured at the box, "This is our Command Center for the time being. I realize that it's just a cereal box but it's better than the old coffee cup we started in."

"Dr. K!" A yellow suited Ranger, sans the helmet, with some kind of foot print on the front of the suit ran up, panting. Brown hair in a tight ponytail, eyes bright with concern, she gasped for breath, "Dr. K, it's Dr. O! He's having some kind of seizure!"

Dr. K glanced at the original Rangers then turned back to the girl, "Don't worry Dino Thunder…Kira… I was afraid this would happen. Make sure he can't hurt himself or anybody else and leave him be. He should get better in a few minutes."

Kira growled, "We have to be able to do something better than that! He's hurting!"

Dr. K didn't answer, instead she just pointed a thumb at Tommy.

Kira followed her finger and gasped, "Oh my god!" She stared at him in shock, "That's…that's…." Then she squealed in excitement, "I have to tell the others!" She ran off without another word.

Dr. K sighed, hand pressed against her forehead, "Well, that kind of ruined the surprise."

Andros stepped forward. "Do you want me to take them in while you take care of this," he asked pointing to the crowd still forming behind them.

"I can take care of that," Zhane said with a grin.

Dr. K shrugged, "Just tell them we'll announce something in a few minutes. Don't start any fights please."

"When do I do that," Zhane asked innocently.

Andros rolled his eyes, "Oh please Zhane, since you lost your helmet, you've been very unpredictable."

"I could say the same thing about your Spiral Saber! You are no fun anymore without it!"

Dr. K stepped in, standing directly between them, fixing them with a very stern glare, "Gentlemen! This is neither the time nor place! Control your tempers!" She noticed how the original Rangers were standing back, confused. "We've said enough. It would be safer for them to get the whole story at one time."

Andros shrugged and walked away. He was soon surrounded by Rangers whose suits had the same boxed design as his.

Zhane apologized then walked over to the crowd that closed around him, impatient for news.

Dr. K shook her head then started walking towards the building again, "Follow me. Everything will be explained inside."

Rita and Zedd, feeling the most nervous of the group, being surrounded by so many Rangers who no doubt wanted to kick them in various painful places, decided to roughly remind the Rangers of their truce.

"Don't let the kill us," Rita pleaded, "I'm too young to die!"

"Don't worry Rita," Jason said seriously, "if they start attacking anyone, we'll fight back with everything we've got."

They nodded at each other then followed Dr. K, feet hitting the ground at exactly the same time. Even Rita and Zedd found themselves in sync with the Rangers and they hated it every step of the way.

*AN*

A small glimpse of Ranger City, Ranger Town, Rangeropolis, The Settlement of Many Bright Colors. More to follow on that.

How many times can one seriously say things like 'it's just a cereal box but it's better than the old coffee cup we started in'? Boy writing this is fun:).

Also, don't you hate it when the plot velociraptors start chasing you at 3 in the morning? I do because they can open the dang doors! There's no escape! Ahhhhhh!

Read and Review, if you would be so kind. :-)!