I sat at the kitchen table savoring every last bite of my Lucky Charms just like I had been savoring every bite of everything I'd been eating for the past week and a half. That had been how long it had been since Billy had removed the seed from my arm and had reversed the Cacti Trap effects on me.
The only lasting effects were some minor scarring on my arms and legs from where the thorns had come out of my skin and what would be two small ones on my arm. Billy had managed to locate the seed and remove it only using a small camera and some little tube with a grabby thing at the end. I was grateful for that because they wouldn't be noticeable in my formal gown when I got to wear it in a few weeks. The Formal had been pushed back after a water main had broken under the gym. I would be able to go to the dance and look just like a normal girl.
At the thought of the word normal the milk in my mouth went sour. I pushed my bowl away and looked down at the tan line around my wrist. My Communicator was hidden in a box in the back of my closet, wrapped in an ugly Christmas sweater my Aunt Bertha had given me 2 Christmases ago so I couldn't hear the beeps.
Thought I was happy with my choice of Amanda as my replacement it was still hard to handle the fact I wasn't a Ranger anymore. I could go for hours now without seeing my brother, my boyfriend or my friends. They were off fighting to save the world and I was left watching afternoon talk shows while I did my homework or sparring with a punching bag at the Youth Center. It was like the isolation I'd been subjected to when I'd first moved to Angel Grove all over again.
Billy had offered countless times to let me work at the Command Center with him and Ann but unlike them I wasn't good at technology and computers. I would be more than useless at the Command Center.
Sighing I decided that I'd go see there was anything worth while on Netflix. The others had ducked out during 6th to fight some monster while I had driven Ethan's truck home. With my homework finished and Dad still at the University I was stuck at home.
After I hooked up my laptop I flipped through the movies and TV shows before curling up to watch Beetleborgs with Zordy.
Halfway through the first season Dad came through the door, the smell of China Castle wafting towards my nose.
"Your brother and the others out?" he asked sitting the tray of Chinese down on the coffee table.
"Yeah." I nodded and grabbed an Egg Roll from the box.
"Are you okay?" Dad asked.
"Dad…why does everyone keep asking me that? I. Am. Fine!" I replied.
"Izzy you don't sound fine." Dad replied.
"Why wouldn't I be fine Dad?! Just because I'm sitting here day after day alone, watching the same damn stupid ass talk shows and working out at the Youth Center all alone doesn't mean that I'm not okay! Just because my friends are all off saving the world and my only company is a dog that was named after a giant machine that I can't even control anymore doesn't mean that I'm not okay!" I yelled and threw the egg roll across the room.
"I know how you feel honey." Dad said.
"Yeah? Really? How would you know Mr. Super Ranger?" I spat.
He sighed, "There was a time when I wasn't a Ranger and my friends all were. After I loss my Green Ranger powers I felt totally alone. I went up to the cabin and got some time to myself to think. Maybe that's what you need." Dad said.
"You think?" I asked.
"Yeah. Look…I know that you've been out a lot the past few months and all but you've caught up on everything. How about a trip? Not to the cabin but how about someplace else?" he asked.
"Like…?" I asked.
"How about time to go visit you Uncle Dustin?" he smirked.
"Really?!" I asked.
"Yeah. I mean it's been forever since you saw him. He was kinda disappointed when you didn't come out last summer like you'd planned." he replied.
"You didn't tell him about me being a Ranger did you?!" I asked looking at him.
"No. Don't worry. I just said that you decided to go to Karate camp instead. But anyhow I'd better go make the phone call. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to have you come down for a few days." Dad said and headed to make the call.
My Uncle Dustin was my Mom's younger brother and my favorite Uncle hands down. Dad had a brother named David who was great and all but he was no Uncle Dustin. He laughed easy and we always had fun. Without a moment's hesitation I grabbed a carton of Lo-Mein and headed up to my room to pack, excited for the first time since I'd started turning into a Cacti Trap.
Ethan's POV
I watched as the monster in front of us fell and erupted in a cloud of smoke and sparks. Another monster taken down.
"That was a great job guys." I said as we powered down and sent our Zords back to where they belonged.
"It was. I don't know if we've ever taken a monster down that fast." Jakob replied.
"I think I may have pulled something in my neck though." Amanda said as we walked back towards the Youth Center.
"Are you okay?" Nathan asked looking at Amanda.
"I'm fine Nate. Jesus…I'm a big girl." she sighed.
Amanda was our newest addition. She was a gymnast like me and also had taken ballet and some Karate. All of those together were just the right mixture to make up for her lack of advanced Martial Arts training like most everyone else had. However she wasn't Izzy.
Don't get me wrong though. Amanda was great and all but she wasn't Izzy. And to make things worse Nathan was always overly worried about her which led to fights like the one I could feel coming on.
"I'm just worried okay Amanda? You're my sister." Nathan replied.
"Well did Ethan worry like this about Izzy?" she shot back.
"Yeah he did! Didn't you Eth?" Nathan asked me.
"Whoa…I'm not in this. This is between you two." I replied holding my hands up in surrender.
"C'mon Ethan, just answer the damn question." Amanda replied.
"Watch your mouth." Nathan said.
Amanda stuck her tongue out at him and flipped him off.
"Okay at the risk of getting hit by one or both of you I'm going to say no. I didn't worry about Izzy like Nathan worries about you." I said.
"Ah-ha!" Amanda said pointing at Nathan who glared at me.
"But I did worry about her." I added.
"AH-HA!" Nathan threw back at Amanda.
I sighed and rolled my eyes, "What do you guys think about heading to my house?" I asked.
"That sounds great! I still need to ask her about going dress shopping this weekend." Tasha added.
"Yeah and Billy's still at the Command Center." Jakob replied.
"And you always have good food at your house and I'm starving." Ryan said patting his stomach.
"You're always hungry bro." Chris laughed.
"Well I have homework. If I don't pass this biology test Dad won't let me cheer at the away game this weekend." Amanda said.
"Need a ride home?" Nathan asked.
"Thanks but no big bro. I'll just teleport home. Isn't teleporting awesome?!" she smiled and with a wave was gone.
"Dude you gotta chill on your sister." Jakob said as we headed to Nathan's car.
"I just worry. It's a big brother thing. You know what I mean dude. You've got a kid sister." Nathan replied as he opened the doors.
"Still dude." I sighed.
We drove to my house and headed inside. When we got there we found Dad watching an MMA fight on TV and eating Chinese.
"Hey Dad." I said leaning over the back of the couch.
"Glad I thought to get extra." Dad smirked as Ryan grabbed one of the cartons and a pair of chopsticks.
"So where's Izzy?" Tasha asked.
"And what's smeared all over the wall? Spring roll?" Jakob asked frowning at a smear on the wall.
"Egg roll. Izzy threw it. And speaking of her she's upstairs in her room packing." Dad said.
"Packing? To go where?" Chris asked.
"She's going to go visit her Uncle in Ocean Bay for a few days. She needs to get out of Angel Grove for a while and I thought it would be a good idea." he replied.
"I'm going to go see if she needs any help." Tasha said.
"Same here." Nathan said and stood up.
The two of them headed for the stairs and I followed.
"Wait for us!" Ryan yelled and he, Chris and Jakob came with the both of us upstairs, cartons and chopsticks in hand.
When we got upstairs and found Izzy sorting through her closet. A suitcase sat open on her bed, half full of clothes already.
"Hey Iz what's up?" Jakob asked leaning against the wall.
"Oh! Hey guys." she said with a huge smile.
"So Dad says that you're going to Ocean Bay to visit your Uncle?" I asked looking at her.
"Yeah. My mom's younger brother Dustin. I haven't seen him in like 2 years. I usually go visit him every summer but seeing as I was busy with certain activities last summer I didn't get to see him." Izzy replied and pulled a blue and a green tank top out of her closet before tossing it into her closet.
"Besides…I need to get away from Angel Grove and everything." she sighed.
"Why?" Ryan asked.
Izzy stopped and took a deep breath before looking at her dresser, "I just need to get away. I need to think and clear my head. I mean this is hard you know? Seeing all of you still Rangers and not being one. I feel kinda left out. It's hard adjusting to everything." she said.
"Oh Izzy! We didn't mean to make you feel left out!" Tasha said and walked over and hugged her.
"Thanks Tash but I gotta do this. I have to get away. For my own sanity." she replied.
"What sanity?" Chris asked and Izzy flipped him off with a laugh before continuing to pack.
"Whoa…never thought I'd see this." Ryan said and I turned around to see him sorting through Izzy's suitcase.
"Dude! Stay out of my sister's underwear!" I replied.
"There's no underwear in here. What I'm talking about is that there's no pink in here." Ryan replied.
I walked over and sure enough, among the piles of tank tops, jeans, shorts and sneakers there was no trace of Izzy's signature color.
"That was on purpose." Izzy replied.
"Really?" I asked and she nodded.
"Yeah. It's one less thing to make me think about all of this." She said.
"Well we're going to miss you Iz." Ryan said.
"And we're sorry if we've made you feel left out. You'll always be a part of the team." Nathan replied.
Izzy smiled and looked at all of us, "I know, I know…once a Ranger always a Ranger. And you don't need to be sorry. It's not your fault. It's just something I'm going through. Hopefully when I come back I'll be me again but a little improved."
"So when do you leave?" Jakob asked.
"Tomorrow morning. I'll be gone two weeks. Dad's going to tell the school that my Grandma died so that I can get time off. Which isn't really a lie since both my Grandma's are dead. The only difference is my Dad's mom died when I was like 7 and my Mom's mom died before I was born." I replied.
"Need help packing?" Tasha asked.
"Actually I was wondering if I could raid your closet? Like I said I'm not taking pink stuff with me and I've gotten pretty much all of my non pink clothes packed." Izzy said with a laugh.
Tasha rolled her eyes with a smirk, "Come on…lets see what we can find." she said and the two of them headed out of the room.
"I can't believe that Izzy was having such a problem with all of this." Nathan said.
"I know. I thought she'd talk to one of us." Ryan replied.
"She didn't want to make us feel guilty. I do feel bad though." I sighed.
"Same bro." Jakob said.
"Well we'll just have to try harder to include her when she gets back." I replied.
"Agreed." Nathan nodded.
I couldn't believe that Izzy was having so much trouble with this. I just hoped that she would find whatever she was looking for in Ocean Bay.
So this may not be the last update for the night! I have a Mocha Extreme Coffee from Krispy Kreame and nothing to do until midnight when Bleach comes on! Anyhow until then I have a question for all of my wonderful readers! I want to know who your FAVORITE Rangers of seasons past are! They can be from any season including original MMPR! I am working up a little something for a future chapter and I need ideas of who you would like to see! So comment or PM me your favorites! Thankies!
(second chapter posted on a sugar high with the addition of caffeine! I think i may have a problem O.O)