Disclaimer:  I don't own Power Rangers.  Someone else does.  I don't know who because it keeps changing.  Please don't get offended if I insult your favorite character.  Some pairings are easy to write a story for while others are really tough.  So please realize that some of my stories will be better than others.  Hi to all my fellow AFPR's including my fellow female Psychos :).  And I really appreciate the reviews :).

This is story number 42.  Enjoy. 

Eric and Zhane

By

Eileen (Psycho Tangerine)

     Eric whistled happily to himself as he walked around on his afternoon beat.  Life was finally going great.  He finally had power, respect, power, friends, power, money, power, a nice house, power, a new car…oh and power.  Well, actually not enough power yet.  Eric paused as he mentally reviewed his plans to snatch full power from the Collins.  He would first convince Wes to step into the 'time machine' he'd construct from the parts salvaged from the remains of Frax and Doomtron.  The Red Time Force Ranger had been mooning so badly over his 'lost love' that Eric decided he'd just send him to the moon on the rocket ship he planned on building.  The fact that he had absolutely no idea how to build anything didn't deter him from his fantasies.

     Once Wes was out of the picture, Eric planned to worm his way into Mr. Collin's good graces.  Eventually, he'd get the old coot to sign over Wes' inheritance to him.  Of course, he'd probably have to threaten to stomp on him with the Quantasaurus Rex.  But it wasn't as if his Zord was doing anything other than gathering dust anyway.

     Eric continued to plot as he rounded the corner of a building.  Unexpectedly, he tripped over a huddled form.  "What the…?"

     The form unwrapped itself and groaned.  "Just five more minutes, Andros.  We've been searching for your dumb sister all night as it is…" Then he opened his eyes and recalled where he was.  "Oh!" Zhane jumped up at the sight of the uniformed Silver Guardian.  "Hello, Officer.  I was just…uh…inspecting this alley for cockroaches."

     "Loitering, huh?"  Eric tapped his quantum blaster eagerly on his hand.  With the Silver Guardians being so effective in controlling crime in Silver Hills, Eric was getting desperate for any kind of action.  "Well, I suggest you just get yourself straightened out or I'll have to go 'quantum' on your ass!"

     Zhane didn't run away as Eric had expected.  Instead he nodded at Eric's wrist.  "That's the famous quantum morpher," he said nonchalantly.  "You're Eric Meyers, the infamous Quantum Ranger, aren't you?"

      Eric beamed.  He loved it when the public recognized him.  It went with the whole power trip thing.  "Well, well, well, so I guess you'll be wanting my autograph now.  Well, it's gonna cost you fifty bucks."

     "Nah, what would I need that for?"

     Eric blinked.  "But, aren't you impressed?  I mean I am one of the rarest of all people.  I am a Power Ranger."

     Zhane yawned. "So what?"

     With that, Eric stepped back.  "Quantum Ranger Power!" he called.  With a flash, he reappeared in his red and black Ranger suit.  "Now are you impressed?"

     Zhane blinked.  "Red and black.  Big deal.  Now Silver, there's a color.  Hey, why aren't the Silver Guardian uniforms silver?"

     Eric snorted.  "Because we don't want to look like we're wrapped in tinfoil."  Then he held the Quantum Controller up to his face.  "Q-Rex!  Arise!"  He grinned with pride as the gigantic Dinosaur Zord appeared.  "See?  I control this humongous piece of machinery.  Aren't I the greatest?"

     "Actually, I thought Tommy's DragonZord was more impressive," replied Zhane with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

     "No it's…wait a second!  Wait just a damned second!" Eric quickly demorphed and sent Q-Rex back to it's resting place.  "How did you know that the Ranger with the DragonZord is named Tommy?"

     Zhane looked around to see if anyone else was listening in.  Then he leaned in close to Eric.  "I was the Silver Space Ranger."

     Eric looked skeptically at the disheveled young man.  "Yeah, right.  You were probably spying on us during our mission against Serpentera and those Beetleborg rejects."

     Zhane looked indignant.  "Well, I'd prove it, but unlike you, I actually try to follow the basic Power Ranger rules set out by Zordon.

     "Who?"

     "Zordon?  The wise mage who gathered together the original Power Rangers of Earth?"

     Eric looked blankly at him.

     Zhane stared incredulously at him.  "You know, the being who unselfishly sacrificed his life by having Andros destroy his warp tube in order to destroy all the evil in the universe."

      Eric snorted.  "Well, he certainly didn't do that great a job.  He missed Scorpius, Trakeena, Deviot, Vypra, Diabolico, Ransik, Gluto, Nadira, Master Org, Toxica, Jindrax, Lothor, Zurgane…."

     "Ok, ok, so I'm not perfect!" came a disembodied voice.   "But keep it up and I'll rip that morpher from you.  Not like you deserve it anyway."

     "Z…Z…Zordon?" asked a shaking Zhane.

     But Eric was too indignant to be frightened by the voice.  "Hey, I'm just about the best Ranger ever.  What do you mean I don't deserve it?"

     "Oh where should I begin?  Stealing the quantum morpher?  Trying to kill your Red Ranger?  Or how about the fact that you just morphed in order to show off your powers?"

     "Big deal.  If that's true, why didn't you just take my powers away?"  Eric crossed his arms and smirked in satisfaction at this.

      Suddenly, the disembodied voice began to sob.  "I caaaaannnnnn'ttttt.  I don't have my powers anymore.  I'm just a ghost.  No, actually I'm just a ghost head.  I didn't even get my body back in this afterlife.  It's not faaaaiirrrrrrr!!!!!!!!"

     Eric and Zhane quietly snuck out of the alley as the sobs began to bloom into a full-blown temper tantrum. 

     "That was your great and powerful Zordon?"  Eric began to laugh uncontrollably.

     "Well, I never said he was completely sane."  Zhane looked thoughtful.  "But, if he really doesn't have any power left…" he pulled back his sleeve to reveal his own morpher.

     "Cool!  Where'd you get that one?  Toy R Us?  Kaybees?"

     Zhane just ignored Eric's taunting.  "Let's Rocket!"  With that, he punched in his code sequence and morphed into the Silver Space Ranger.

     "Whoa!"  Eric stared at him.  "I can't believe it."

     "Well, believe it, jerk.  I really am the Silver Ranger." Zhane began to make exaggerated poses just to show off more.

     "No, I can't believe how ugly your costume is.  Tinfoil would be an improvement."

     "Why you…" but as Zhane began to aim his Super Silverizer at Eric, his costume began to waver and then disappear.  "Oh, damn it.  I forgot about that."

      "Forgot about what?"  asked Eric in confusion.  "What happened to your powers?"

     Zhane looked at him solemnly.  "That's the reason Tommy sent me here.  To warn you about the so-called curse of the sixth Ranger."

     "Tommy Oliver sent you here?  He told you to fall asleep in the alley like some homeless bum?  Why?  Did you guys plan on me tripping over your lazy loser body?"

     "That cheap bum only gave me enough money for bus fare to get here.  And these idiotic hotels here refused to accept my Kerovian money."

     "No duh," commented Eric.  "Why should they?  In case you haven't noticed, this isn't KO 35."

     Zhane sighed.  "I know, but I just can't seem to find a job here.  Everywhere I apply they laugh at me.  I even tried to get a job at the local carwash down the block from here.  But I had no luck.  They even shoved this application back into my face and call me insane."  Zhane pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket and waved it in Eric's face.  "What's a guy got to do to get a lousy job on your planet?"

     "Let me see that," said Eric as he grabbed the application from Zhane's hand.  He perused it quickly.  "You put your address down as 'KO 35, four and a half light years past Pluto.'  Oh, and you put your job experience down as 'space traveler, super hero, and interplanetary pizza delivery boy.'  Well, no wonder you can't get a job.  You're an idiot."

     Zhane looked blankly at Eric.  "What do you mean?  I did so deliver pizza for a while after my stint as a Ranger.  You know, those Eltarians are the worst tippers ever."

     Eric sighed.  "Never mind."  He began to walk away.  But then he stopped and whirled around to face Zhane again.  "Curse?  What curse?"

     "Oh yeah, I almost forgot," said Zhane.  "Well it seems that there is a curse on 'sixth Rangers.'  It seems we always end up losing our powers at some point."   

     "What do you mean?" asked Eric skeptically.

      "Well, Tommy lost his Green Ranger Powers.  Jason lost his Gold Ranger Powers.  Mike lost his Magna Defender Powers, Ryan lost his Titanium Ranger Powers, Merrick lost his Wolf Ranger Powers, Cam lost his Samurai Storm Powers…"

     "And I'm suppose that all of these power losses have a similar point of origin?" queried Eric.

     "Well, actually there's no connection among those situations," admitted Zhane.  "Tommy's powers were affected by Zedd and Rita.  The Gold Ranger Powers were incompatible with human physiology.  The Magna Defender's power was destroy by the crushing edges of a hole in space.  Cam lost his powers during that final battle against Lothor.  And Merrick just gave his powers back like an idiot."

     "What about that Titanium guy?"

      "Oh, I forget about that one.  Ryan lost his powers in a poker game.  Last I heard, the Titanium Ranger now has six arms and breathes fire," recalled Zhane.  "And my Powers have started to become unstable again.  I've taken to standing in lightning storms once a month just to recharge my morpher.  But, well, sometimes I miscalculate and the bolt hits me rather than my morpher.  And that hurts like a son of a bitch."

     "I guess that explains your stupidity," commented Eric.  "Well, anyway, since there really isn't a curse, I'm in no danger of losing my Quantum Powers, so if you'll excuse me…Quantum Power!"  With that Eric morphed back into the Quantum Ranger.  He then began to dance around and chant.  "I've got powers and you don't.  I've got powers and you don't.  I've got powers and you don't.  I've got powers and you don't.   I've got powers and you don't.  I've got powers and you don't.  I've got powers and you don't.   I've got…HEY!"  Eric suddenly demorphed.  "Quantum Power!"  Nothing happened.

      "Guess what?" called the disembodied voice from the alley.  "God felt so sorry for me he decided to allow me to take the 'power' away from any Ranger I desired.  Now what do you say to that, wiseguy?"

     "My powers!"  cried Eric.  "Nooooo!!!!!"

     Zhane tiptoed away as Eric's cries turned into a screaming tantrum.