"Alright! Just need to add a few finishing touches here and there, and all shall be revealed!"
In the break room of the Beach Citywalk Fries stand, the well-known, well, hardly-known local conspiracy theorist Ronaldo Fryman was sitting at his laptop computer. This time, however, he wasn't writing about anything related to the Crystal Gems.
"I'm not sure I get what you're writing about," said Ronaldo's younger brother Peedee. "How is this different from anything else you've done?"
"You see, Peedee..." said Ronaldo. "I take a lot of pride in knowing what to look for in the right places. I had to comb through digital newspapers, the Internet Archive, and all that." As he skimmed the document on his laptop, he spotted a few spelling errors and rushed to correct them. "I was also able to score an interview with one of the producers... and one of the network managers!" Ronaldo chuckled heartily. "Can you imagine that? When I publish this..." He saved the document and copy-pasted the contents to his blog. "The fandom will surely be surprised!"
"I see that… this show really means a lot to you," said Peedee.
"Absolutely!"
Ronaldo clicked the publish button, and the blog post was now available to the public. It was a surprisingly detailed article on the history of the infamous low-budget TV series "Mega Science Squadron". Shot on location in Beach City in the early 1980s, the program was canceled after one season, although as of the mid-2010s, it'd started to gain a small cult following. A sucker for tokusatsu and anything resembling it, Ronaldo found himself genuinely invested in the show and watched the whole thing over the span of two days. He was almost transfixed by the quality of the episode scripts, the special effects, the characters, and the types of villains they faced. It was all so ridiculous, but yet all so fascinating.
"So… How do you like it?" Ronaldo figured Peedee might be (somewhat) appreciative of the effort he put into the article, not because his brother was into that sort of thing (Ronaldo knew all too well what his brother's interests were,) but because he was right there. Who else was Ronaldo going to show his article to anyway? Something like this was just begging to be shown off to somebody, anybody, at this very moment. Ronaldo got out of his seat and let Peedee use the computer. His brother scrolled through the article, stopping to look at its images. "I can't say I've ever heard of this," said Peedee. "Is this like a cult thing?"
"Well, yeah," said Ronaldo. "It's amassed quite a fandom over the past few years. It was created by the late science-fiction writer John Argon, who's probably best known for that terrible American remake of the first Lonely Blade movie."
"Oh, right… You were freaking out in the theater all night."
"I couldn't help myself!" said Ronaldo. "The Kansas film industry defiled one of my all-time favorite samurai film franchises! Mr. Argon should've known than to get involved in that nonsense. He wasn't cut out for it!"
"Uh, Ronaldo, sorry to disappoint you, but I have to go back out in a few minutes."
Ronaldo stopped and tried to regain his composure. "Is that right? Oh, man. Time goes by fast." He briefly removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes before putting them back on, switching the subject. "You know Peedee, this article took me two straight weeks to write. And that doesn't even take into account how long I spent getting everything together."
Peedee nodded. He knew his older brother often went up and beyond with those research projects of his, but not quite like this. Being that the article was twenty thousand words in length, Peedee wondered just how Ronaldo was able to devote all that space in his brain to his obsession, when he couldn't even get his college admittance essay done.
"You know, this show honestly kinda reminds me of Power Rangers," said Peedee.
"Close, but they're not quite the same," said Ronaldo. "The Mega Science Squadron works for the U.S. military. They're kept on call to investigate serious environmental issues. They're only out and about battling these weird monsters because this strange chemical has been released into the air, attracting a race of intelligent, yet cannibalistic aliens who hold the secret to ridding the country of this awful stench. Are you following me, Peedee?"
"Yeah..."
"And it so happens that the chemical comes with some serious side-effects that affect the population. So you wind up with giant space tarantulas. Deadly, sentient jewels with looks that could literally kill. Pistol-packing half-human, half-ogres suffering from malnutrition and radiation poisoning! That kind of thing."
Peedee was made somewhat nervous by Ronaldo's demeanor. "Hey, stop it! You're kind of scaring me..."
Not to be distracted, Ronaldo kept going. "And so the government sends out a team of men and women ready to tackle anything." Ronaldo leaned over the computer and scrolled up, reading the show description he had written. "Armed with the latest in laser technology, the Mega Science Squadron will make sure that anyone who endangers the Earth will live to regret it."
"I suppose they will. This sounds very complicated. You said you talked to some people involved in the show?"
"It took me a bit of effort to reach them, but I had to know how this show got made. It's not everyday you see a bunch of people in uniforms fighting monsters on primetime TV. You know it got canceled because it was too expensive? The toys were selling quite well, but-"
While Ronaldo continued to yammer about the production of the series he held so dear to his heart, Peedee got off the chair and went to check the counter area. A small line had formed outside as he and Ronaldo had been talking. Their father, Mr. Fryman, was standing behind the window serving French fries to the customers. Peedee asked if he was finished with his shift yet, but Mr. Fryman told him to wait as he finished serving the family of four on line. Peedee went back into the breakroom, where he found Ronaldo frenetically scanning the article for mistakes.
"Oh, there you are!" said Ronaldo. "I have to make sure this article is perfect-"
"Sorry, Ronaldo, I have to go. My shift's starting soon."
"Well, hold on a second." Ronaldo paused, wondering what to do next. "I'll show you some clips later." He closed the laptop and put it away in one of the cabinets, then sighed as he got out the cleaning equipment. "I got to get back to cleaning anyway. You know how it is."
"Yeah... To be fair it looked kind of interesting," said Peedee. "I wasn't able to read the whole thing, but if it's chaotic as you say it is, then I'm all for it."
Ronaldo looked rather pleased. "Oh, that's great! I'm trying to branch out into a broader range of topics on my blog."
"I'll read it later. These guys looked kinda cool."
"Well, you couldn't get far back in the eighties without a certain degree of radicalness around you," said Ronaldo. "I've always wondered what it might've been like."
"I'm surprised they didn't manage to fit a giant robot in there somewhere."
"Oh, but there is! The villain of the two-part series finale was a rogue all-seeing eye mecha named Galantus. Built to protect the Garden of Hope from intruders, he was reprogrammed by the Borontons to burn it down, jeopardizing the natural environment in the process."
Suddenly, Mr. Fryman entered the breakroom. "Peedee, it's time," he said.
"Alright, then," said Peedee as he walked out. Before leaving, he turned to his brother. "Thanks for telling me about that show, Ronaldo."
"No problem! I'll be here! Or… wherever place needs cleaning around here, that is."