Disclaimer: Nothing's changed.
Chapter 10 - Help Arrives
Bria walked downstairs after calling her father. Andros had been overjoyed to learn of Zordon...after Bria had convinced him she really talked to Zordon, that is.
Bria saw everyone hanging out in the large family room. Josh and Matt were playing pool, and Jess and Kalli were chatting by a window. Bria walked over to the two women and sat. "Where did you get all this stuff?" she asked Kalli, referring to the pool table in the room, Jacuzzi outside on the porch, and large TV, among other things.
"My uncle had it all," Kalli shrugged. "It was almost like he had intended to leave it to me from the very beginning. The basement has all these weird outlets everywhere, but it's empty except for some metal here and there. Oh, and there's some gym equipment."
"Odd. It does sound like he planned something. Did you tell them about Sphinxra?" Bria asked Jess, who nodded. "Good."
"Eight ball, corner pocket," Josh said. Bria watched as he leaned against the table slightly and lined up the shot, drawing back his arm and pausing to shake his blonde hair out of his eyes before striking with the cue, sending the eight ball home. He and Matt then proceeded to start a new game.
"Hey guys," Bria said, "do you think you could help a newcomer out?"
Josh grinned in her direction. "Sure. But don't expect us to let you win."
"Of course not. I've played before, I just need a little tutoring, that's all."
Matt grabbed a cue off a rack on the wall and tossed it to Bria. She grinned, catching it, and leaned against the edge of the table. "So, any tips?"
The rest of the day was spent learning and teaching pool. Soon Jess and Kalli joined in as well, and the five had a ball, no pun intended.
The next day was Saturday. Bria was, in her opinion, rudely woken by the doorbell. "Who in the world could be here now?" she grumbled, looking at the clock, which read 7 AM. Still muttering, she went downstairs clad in T-shirt and pajama pants and peaked out the window next to the door. When she pulled back the curtain and saw who it was, she shrieked, yanked open the door, and stared.
"No way."
"Ai yi yi! You look just like Andros!"
Bria nodded. She did look just like her father, only more feminine and with much longer hair. "I'm his daughter, Ambrianna. But everyone calls me Bria." Bria anxiously looked down the long driveway to make sure no one was watching. "You'd better come inside." The figure did, and Bria looked at him a moment. "Are you who I think you are?"
"I am Alpha 7," the little robot replied. "I came to help you."
"How do you know what my dad looks like? I though he knew Alpha 6."
"I have the memories of Alpha 5 and Alpha 6 in order to help you."
"Whoa," said a voice, "what is that?"
"This is Alpha 7, Matt," Bria stated.
"Alpha?" he gaped. "Like, Alpha Alpha?"
"Awesome," stated Josh, standing at the top of the stairs with the rest of the gang. It looked like everyone had woken at the doorbell and Bria's shriek. "Uh...what exactly is he doing here?"
"He came to help," Bria explained.
"Oh," Josh nodded knowingly. "Err...help with what?"
"Us, smart one," Kalli teased. "You didn't think we could do this without Alpha?"
Josh just grumbled, then muttered that he was going back to bed. They all hid grins as they listened to him stomp down the hallway.
Bria turned back to Alpha. "So...now what?"
"I believe I'll have all I need in the basement."
"OK...for what?"
"Oh, you'll see," the little robot chuckled. "But you have to stay out of the basement until I say you can come down."
"All right Alpha. The basement's all yours."
"Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" Alpha cried, hurrying into the basement.
Bria watched him go, smiling. Then she took off upstairs, telling Jess, Kalli, and Matt to let her sleep.
Amazingly the next two weeks were calm. There was no sign of Amenkotept or Sphinxra, and the Rangers barely saw Alpha. Bria considered it a gift from heaven, and was almost starting to wonder if being a Ranger was real. But this added time gave the Rangers the time they needed to settle down and get to business.
Alpha finally let the Rangers into the basement, and they couldn't believe their eyes.
"You did all this?!" Bria exclaimed.
Alpha nodded.
"I love you, Alpha," Bria smiled, hugging the little robot. "You are the best."
Alpha had transformed the basement into a kind of command center. There were many monitors and screens, tables, and things that looked to be generally useful. Alpha told the Rangers that he would be able to monitor the city and suburbs and let them know when Amenkotept attacked. Alpha had also gotten the gym equipment out of the way by making a small little area where all the equipment was located. The Rangers couldn't help but be impressed.
A couple of days later, Bria was on the back deck when Alpha got her.
"Ai yi yi! You better get to the plaza, and fast!"
"Why? What's wrong?" asked Bria, jumping to her feet.
"There's something at the plaza! Hurry!"
"All right, all right, I'm going!" Bria hurriedly flamed to the plaza, the others meeting her there. Everything seemed normal.
"Alpha," said Kalli into her watch, "are you sure you set up that equipment right?"
Just then there was a huge crash and an ugly laugh. The Rangers whirled, finding themselves looking at a mummy-type thing.
"Ugh," said Josh, "this guy needs a major makeover."
"And coming from a guy, that's saying a lot," Jess added.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Josh shot. "Guys can care how they look."
"I didn't mean--"
Jess was cut off by the odd creature, which spoke in a grinding voice. "Get out of my way, humans."
"Guys, shush and do what he says." She dragged them around a corner, silencing their protests. "We don't want the whole world knowing we're Rangers, do we?" She peaked around the corner. "All clear. Let's go."
They all morphed, calling out their respective powers, and soon wore their outfits. Jess and Kalli had skirts, but the rest did not. There were all identical, save for the belts; in addition to Jess and Bria's belts, which had a lightning bolt and a flame, Matt had a leaf on his, Josh had a water drop, and Kalli had a heart.
"Nice," Matt said, looking down at himself.
"You can admire it later. C'mon," said Jess.
The five attacked the mummy-creature, and soon it was disposed of; no more than a pile of ashes, thanks to Bria's fire.
"OK, that was kinda random," stated Josh. They all nodded.
"So, how'd everybody do?" Bria asked. They all grinned behind their visors.
"Pretty good," replied Jess.
"Well that wasn't so hard," stated Matt. "Maybe we can pull this off."
Sphinxra paced her chambers. How could those puny, stupid little Rangers have defeated her mummy? They had never seen battle before, and so Sphinxra thought her mummy would more than handle them; she had worked on it for ages. And yet it seemed as if with little effort it had all gone to pieces...literally. Amenkotept would not be pleased.
Those annoying Rangers were supposed to be a temporary problem...she had thought they might have taken her warning; she had even given them a few weeks to clear out. But no, they had stayed, and defeated one of her favorite monsters. She had a feeling her other monsters wouldn't do much better. Maybe if they had some help....
Sphinxra grinned. Her lover would do quite nicely...even if he wasn't, in truth, her lover...yet. Sphinxra smiled a seductive grin. She could be very convincing.
Knowing that time was short and that she might as well wipe out the Rangers sooner than later, she decided to go to her last resort...well, not last, but pretty close. He was everything the Rangers were, but better...evil. Black.
Collapsing on a divan, Sphinxra thought of ways to make him hers...if only he wasn't so stiff! But oh well, he'd do well for this purpose, and she was sure she could find a way to change his mind about the other.
But until he decided to fight them, she needed something to distract the Rangers. Her eyes roamed over to her seeing plate, a relatively flat platter carved like an Egyptian eye motif that held water, which when still would show her what was going on down on Earth. As her eyes flitted away, they caught a small earthenware jar. She paused. She had no time to prepare a spell, but those Rangers were so pesky...
She grinned. No time like the present.
Sphinxra rose and walked over to the jar. One blood-red nailed hand grabbed a few pinches of black dust, and she held it in her closed fist. Walking over to her seeing plate, she whispered a few words and sprinkled the dust over the water. It turned an angry red, and she laughed. Let's see how well those Rangers do with a mummy ten times larger.
The Rangers were just turning away when a huge red cloud settled itself above the mummy-monster's ashes. They turned and stared as the mummy-monster grew...and grew...and grew.
"Oh great. I knew that was too easy. Now what?" complained Matt.
"This is not good," Kalli whispered. "Can anyone attack it?"
Bria shook her head. "I don't think of our powers are strong enough to encircle the whole monster..."
The giant laughed, and moved to step on the Rangers.
Suddenly Bria heard a loud snarling and roaring, and the noise rumbled through her chest. A blur flew by, launching itself on the mummy, who shrieked and fell. The two rolled around, fighting, and other blurs followed, helping as well. A mere three minutes later, the mummy turned into a cloud of vapor and drifted away.
The blur was a blur no longer, now moving slowly enough for Bria to discern what it was. She stared.
It was a leopard.
It walked up to her, shrinking in size until it was only slightly larger than Bria, its coat a reddish color that caught the sun. It bent its head and touched its forehead to Bria's visor, purring.
"Hey, girl," she whispered, rubbing its head. "Thank you."
You are welcome, Red Ranger.
So this was her Zord companion. She looked at the others, who were also greeting Zords; Josh a dolphin, Matt a buffalo, Kalli a peacock, and Jess a zebra. Bria couldn't contain her grin.