Chapter Two

The Interview

It had been a mad dash to the library, with co-workers giving strange glances to the women, thinking they were mad. Well, they were almost mad, but not enough to be hospitalized as legally insane.

Hika had won, which meant Julie was stuck with buying lunch for both of them, but Julie had been out of practice for a while when it came to running. Her breathing had been heavy. The heat had been unbearable; when running it had become impossible.

Both women had decided to go to the Juice Bar, a new discovery for Julie but an old one for Hika.

Sitting in one corner, the two of them were going through their findings. That had been two hours ago.

"I give up," Julie said, as she placed an article on the Rangers aside.

Hika looked at her disapprovingly. "You can't back out now."

"Who said I'm giving up?" Julie said in her English accent.

"What would you ladies like to order?" a voice greeted them. They looked up to see a girl no more than eighteen years old.

"Um…" Hika said. "More coke for now thanks," passing the girl two empty glasses. 

"Sure."

"Back to work," Hike mumbled in agreement.

~*~

Another hour passed. They were disturbed by the noises coming from the new crowd entering the Juice Bar. 

"Alright, we kicked butt!" one male cheered.

"In your dreams, buddy!" Another one, in white, slapped the shoulder of the teen who had spoken.

"Aw, man..." he groaned in disappointment. "Hey Ernie, can we have a few shakes coming our way?"

"They're on their way, Rocko."

"All right!" A black male said before hitting his famous groove.

Hika and Julie watched the group settle at one of the tables. This was an interesting development. Hika nudged her partner.

"What?" Julie asked, baffled.

"Let's talk to them."

"Why?"

"Multicolored group," Hika hissed. That should have given her enough of a hint.

"So?" She hunched her shoulder casually.

Hika signed deeply. Sometimes it was easy for her to forget that Julie had just moved to Angel Grove and was still getting used to American ways. Getting up, Hika approached the group.  

"Hi."

An Asian man in black whistled loudly. "What a babe!" he said.

By then Julie had joined them. "Where are your manners, young man?" She slapped at him.

"At home in the underwear drawer," he supplied dreamily.

"What can we do for you?" a women in pink asked, her hair was light brown.

 Julie spoke up, her English accent slight. "We've been given the opportunity to do a little digging into the heroes of Angel Grove. And we were wondering if you'd be able to help us."

The group exchanged concerned looks among themselves.

"How about the basics?" a blond supplied in her Australian accent quickly.

 "Do so then…please?" Julie said as she took out a pad of paper and a pen in red, her favorite color.

As one of them was about to speak Ernie came to the rescue.

"I might able to assist you with it," he said as he led the ladies near the counter. Before he could begin Ernie found himself tongue tied. "Miss…." Behind him the group sighed in relief.

"Mrs. Tyma, I'm Hika Tyma and this is my partner, Julie Anderson."

"Well, Mrs. Tyma …to start off.  There were at first just five Rangers. Red, Blue, Black, Pink and Yellow; they appeared whenever the city was under attack by monsters. After the Rangers first appeared and hit the news, most people thought they were humans, but it seemed that they might have been aliens."

"Any proof of them being aliens?" Julie asked.

"No, but there were two teens here, Bulk and Skull. Those two devoted themselves to finding out who the Rangers were. They did everything you could think of except actually ask them." Ernie chuckled at a memory. "Like the time they came in here declaring that they could find the Rangers by matching the imprints of their feet. They made a cement template to match people's feet to. It was a riot."

Hika could only laugh. Julie smirked.

"Do you remember anything about the Rangers, personality-wise?" asked Hika.

Ernie thought before answering. "Yeah, they were distinct. You know, each Ranger had a certain flare about them."

"Such as…" prompted Julie.

"The Red Ranger was obviously the leader, or at least as long as there was only the five of them. When the sixth Ranger came along they split the task. But he was always precise in his actions. He was commanding, yet not overbearing."

"And the others?" Hika asked; she was getting curious. This was a jackpot.

"Well, the Black Ranger seemed to like to have fun, you could tell in how he fought, the Pink Ranger was very feminine, the lady of the group. The Blue Ranger seemed to be the thinker; he was always observing the others and coming to the rescue in a technical situation. The Yellow Ranger was, well…that one was complex. I guess. She was aggressive in her fighting but reserved, she thought things out but seemed to act on instinct."

"Vastly different personalities…" Julie mused as she jotted down what she heard, "How exactly did you come to these conclusions?"

"I was saved by them a few times, spoke to them now and then, plus watched any and all news coverage of them."

"I see…thanks." Julie put her pen and pad away.

"I'm glad I could help, but if you two really want some information, talk to the kids at that table." Ernie pointed to the group of nine they were speaking to earlier. "They have been coming here since they were in high school. A close bunch that may be able to tell you more than I know."

"Why is that?" Hika asked, glancing over at the customers.

"They've been saved by, rescued, and even worked with the Rangers at times. Go over and talk to them. What could you lose?"

"Our dignity," mumbled Julie. Hika shot her a glare. "What?" Hika gave her a look that said, 'try me'. "We go over there and we get laughed at. Highly impossible."

"Highly impossible," she retorted. "Come on, like those kids are going to laugh at us. We're known city-wide for our writing. Plus any person would jump at the chance to be known for their inside information about the Power Rangers. Trust me."

Julie weighed the argument in her mind; Hika had lived in Angel Grove all her life and did know more about the Power Rangers. "Fine, let's go."

~*~

Clearing her throat to make their presence known to the teens, Hika introduced herself and Julie to them. "Hi, my name is Hika Tyma and this is my partner Julie Anderson. We're reporters for the Angel Grove Examiner and we were wondering if you wouldn't mind if we talked to you about the Power Rangers."

A stocky young man with sandy hair spoke up, "What do you want to know?"

"Anything you think we would want to hear," Hika said. The man grinned at her.

"Such as…" An Asian female in yellow asked, calmly.

In her head Hika could hear the words: She was aggressive in her fighting but reserved, she thought things out but seemed to act on instinct.

"Couldn't be," she mumbled to herself. "Could it?"

"Your favorite Ranger?" Julie supplied.

The sandy haired man spoke again. "My favorite is the Red Ranger. He's so tough and strong. Plus he is built, you know what I mean?"

A blond girl sitting next to a well defined young man rolled her eyes at Rocky's comment.  "You must be speaking of the original Red Ranger because that definitely doesn't describe the current one. He's so frail looking."  Rocky glared at the girl.

"How can you say the original Ranger, there is no difference."

"Well…if you look closely, one looks bigger then the other," the same blond in a black shirt said it again.

Hika turned to the female speaker. "So who is your favorite?"

"That's easy, the original Red Ranger. He was a hunk. I mean I've never seen anyone so strong and yet so gentle. I remember one time when the Rangers rescued a bunch of kids. The Red one was so kind to them; he was just a hero to them."  Hika noticed the boy sitting to the girl's right had a faint blush on his cheeks.

"I see…does anyone else have a favorite?" Julie raised her eyebrow at the blushing young man. He didn't see the hint but Hika did. "What about you?"

The strong handsome face turned to the reporters as he cleared his throat. "Umm well…"

Hika froze, that voice was familiar to her ears but she couldn't place it. "I don't really have a favorite, but I do have respect for each Ranger."

"Is that all the Rangers, or just the male ones?" Julie said, her patience was wearing thin. These teens had yet to give them anything to work with besides the classic fan idolism. If she could she would kill the Asian in yellow first.

"No, the women on the team helped a lot. Some of the battles couldn't be won without them. Like one time there was a monster that looked like a frog and it ate all the Rangers except the pink one. It was all up to her to save Angel Grove and her teammates. She was really brave and precise in her attacks."

The Asian boy who had been reading a textbook glanced up. "Also, they added a flare to the group. No one but the girls could make spandex look like they did." The rest of the boys chimed in, agreeing.

"You really think those girls were hot, Jason?" the blond girl asked.

The young man who had spoken of respect for all the Rangers appeared tongue-tied. "Em…they were uh….yeah they…"

He never got to finish his answer, for his girl -- as Hika and Julie had figured she was -- poured a nearly full glass of coke onto his head. "Well then, you may as well date one of them if they are so hot." She then stormed off towards the bar. Jason quickly followed her.

There was a moment of awkward silence which was broken by the only African-American boy. "Ah, young love," he sighed. "What would the world be like without it?"

The cocky blond boy answered, "It'd be peaceful." The silent perky brunette with doe eyes kicked the boy in the shin. "Ow! Kim, what was that for?"

Before she replied the boy with the long hair seated beside her started to chuckle. She silenced him with a glare. As the three argued about the love life of their friends and how it affected the world, the reporters turned their attention to the two still silent people; a young man with glasses and an Asian woman.

"In your opinion what makes the Power Rangers so powerful?" asked Hika.

"That is an excruciatingly simple question, what makes the Power Rangers powerful is their unique access to their ingenious assault vehicles, the Zords."

Julie's mind snapped back to the words of the young man. He had a name for the machines the Rangers fought in when the monsters grew to unimaginable proportions. "How did you come by their name?"

The bickering trio were silenced, the love struck pair turned back to face the table they had vacated, and the man in glasses looked to the Asian as if for guidance. "Well…"

~*~

To be continued….

Ah well… just R&R. Hate it like it TELL!!!!!!!