New Year's Celebrations
by smittysgirl
part 2.1
"Zeltraaaax," Mesogog hissed, "where exactly is my son?"
The cyborg shrugged noncommittally, slumping against the side of the Genome Randomizer. The battle against the monster had been long and hard, and he had barely made it out with his neck intact. "The White Ranger cloaked himself upon being enspelled by the creature, my liege. I was otherwise disposed, and could not search for him."
"Sssooo where is he?" Mesogog replied. "Do not tell me I have to interrupt my celebrations."
"I'll go find him," Elsa volunteered. She shot a look at Zeltrax. The kind of look that said, 'you had to misplace his son, didn't you?'
Zeltrax grunted. He wasn't going to get even a moment's peace tonight. Not with that accursed woman constantly jockeying for his already tenuous place in the chain of command. "Permit me to assist Elsa, sir. Your festivities needn't be halted. We shall return in time for karaoke."
Twin tendrils of amber energy shot from the mutant's forehead, enveloping the heads of the generals and causing unspeakable pain. "You had better!"
Once the pain has ceased, the two of them made their way to the scanners. Zeltrax figured if Elsa could find the White Ranger, he could retrieve him. Of course, the White Ranger, if legend were to be believed, was probably handing out flowers somewhere... probably, given their luck, in civilian form. Or telling Dr. Oliver everything he knew about Mesogog's base.
"You had to lose him," Elsa hissed.
"I failed to see you joining us in battle, Elsa! You are simply fortunate my armor protected me from the brunt of the spell! As it is -" he lowered his voice another notch, suddenly aware of Mesogog's acute hearing, "as it is I feel a horribly charitable mood falling over me."
"Shut up and work the scanners before Lord Mesogog notices that my scanner hasn't picked him up yet."
Long moments passed as the generals hammered away at their consoles and brushed away the curious glances of mildly inebriated Tyrannodrones.
Before Zeltrax was given the chance to commit hata-kiri for the sheer inability to discover the whereabouts of the White Ranger, the scanner meekly complied with his last request on the location of the White Ranger's energy readings. It appeared that the White Ranger was attempting to use his Zord to help with the construction efforts on a bridge.
"Pfeh," he murmured as he attempted to capture Elsa's attention without also alerting Mesogog to the disturbance. "This is your obligation," he whispered hotly.
Elsa rolled her eyes, apparently not in the holiday spirit, and turned towards Mesogog. "Lord Mesogog, we've found him and we'll bring him back. Just a minute."
Zeltrax quivered, muttering something Elsa took to be "Rissafragga."
She took the nearest invisiportal and landed near to where the White Ranger was directing his Zord... and it looked more like the zord was pushing around cars like they were toys, instead of bridge-building.
"Oh, Elsa!" the White Ranger crowed. "You're just in time. Help me get this car out of the mud."
"What in the name of Dezu are you doing, whelp?!" she barked. "Your father is very worried about you, and it's our hides on the line when you act this way!"
"Tell him I'm busy," the White Ranger said. "I'll be back in time for midnight, I just want to help people. I've had to have a few drunk drivers carried home."
"Why are you helping people?" Zeltrax asked, his all too biological stomach quivering at the answer he sensed coming.
"It feels good," the White Ranger said. "See, using Zords to be helpful can be fun!"
"You take his arms, I'll take his feet," Zeltrax rumbled.
Elsa shot him a bitter glance, her voice softening to the tones she used for those student she was not allowed to kill in her human identity. "Trent, dear, we - appreciate your dabbling in good. We're ALL a little good-curious deep down. The trouble is that your father will eviscerate the lot of us if you don't come through this invisiportal in the next twenty seconds. Couldn't you tell your nice friends here on the bridge to hold up and wait for you to return? I'm sure their lives don't hang in the balance if they don't arrive prior to midnight."
"Oh, okay," the White Ranger said cheerfully. "Hey, everybody! Don't go anywhere! I'll be right back!"
Some of the drivers honked and waved.
"Okay, where's the invisiportal?" he asked in the same cheerful tone, turning back to Elsa.
"This way," she gestured, a warm smile never leaving her face. Zeltrax was chilled to the bone by the sudden shift in expression between how she regarded him and the way she had handled the boy.
Oh what I wouldn't give for her to look at me that way just once!
"Oh, okay," the White Ranger said. "As long as I'm not gone too long." He walked to the invisiportal and was sucked in.
Elsa shook her head sadly, following after the Ranger before he could change his mind. Zeltrax, his mind and heart heavy, followed dutifully.
The portal had deposited them in the main room. Mesogog just gave a slight nod before returning to his drink. It was as if he hadn't noticed their disappearance at all... and maybe not even Trent's. Elsa could only hope. She steered the too-cheerful White Ranger back to the spiked punch.
"Now do try and enjoy yourself, dear?" she smiled. "The spirit of the holiday is, after all, about togetherness."
"Okay," Trent said, serving himself. "Thanks, Elsa! Just don't remind me to go back!"
He said it in a loud enough voice that even Mesogog could hear, but the lizard seemed to ignore his son. Maybe he wouldn't remember the entire evening at all. Maybe they could get Trent off the spell before he did something like defect to the other side.
Then again, maybe she could lease him out and people could die from the saccharine sweetness.
The chittering of Tyrannodrones alerted the generals to a large device being lugged to the southwestern corner of the chamber - a corner already wired with a cheap lighting grid. Subsequent drones carried a microphone stand, and Elsa flinched as she realized it was the karaoke Mesogog had earlier mentioned/threatened.
"Ah, karaoke," Mesogog confirmed. "Elsa, would you like to do the honors?"
"Um... maybe Zeltrax," Elsa hedged, dodging behind the other general.
Though it was impossible to tell, she could swear the armored cyborg was grinning as he cast a glance over his shoulder. "Perhaps we could both honor you with a song, my lord?"
"Excellent," Mesogog purred. "A duet is just what we need to strengthen the bonds within our ranks."
Trent raised his cup in salute. "Yay!" he said briefly.
Elsa got dragged up onto the stage, where Zeltrax was busy setting up the song.
She grabbed him by the shoulders, her gaze burning into his visor. "I swear," she spat, "if you do anything to embarrass me I WILL kill you, and it will NOT be out of desire for your job."
"I promise not to embarrass you," Zeltrax said. "Is this song satisfactory?"
She shrugged noncommittally at the artist name, having never heard of the selection before. "Neither of us are humans."
"Then we shall sing it," Zeltrax said, picking up a mike and handing it to Elsa. Elsa accepted the microphone, and let the other general start.
"You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar
When I met you
I picked you out, I shook you up, and turned you around
Turned you into someone new
Now five years later on you've got the world at your feet
Success has been so easy for you
But don't forget it's me who put you where you are now
And I can put you back down too...
Don't - don't you want me?
You know I can't believe it when I hear that you won't see me
Don't - don't you want me?
You know I don't believe you when you say that you don't need me
It's much too late to find
You think you've changed your mind
You'd better change it back or we will both be sorry
Don't you want me baby? Don't you want me - OOHHHHH!
Don't you want me baby? Don't you want me - OOHHHHH!"
Elsa struggled through her parts of the lyrics, wishing she'd gotten rip-roaring drunk. As they got to the end of the performance, she noticed the White Ranger had, again, disappeared.
Zeltrax, clearly having enjoyed more than a few cocktails in the interim, was getting deeply into his part of the end chorus. Elsa, realizing this could go on for hours if not stopped now, grabbed the cyborg and pulled him to her in an awkward, if not enthusiastic on his part, kiss.
"TRENT HAS RUN OFF," she whispered hotly into his ear. "We have to leave NOW."
"Do we have to?" Zeltrax whined.
Elsa grabbed the other general. "Yes." She smiled at Mesogog. "Excuse me, Lord Mesogog, but we have to take care of something. Quickly."
The mutant clapped unsuccessfully, his hands badly out of rhythm with one another. "I alwaysss suspected something between you two. Go, go. Young love is always best when it is fresssh."
"Thank you, Lord Mesogog," Elsa said, and hauled Zeltrax towards an invisiportal. Hopefully the one that Trent had used. Presumably to get back to the traffic. Of course, for all she knew, he'd gone to the Yellow Ranger's house for a little nookie.
To be continued