Disclaimer: If you really think that I own anything other than the idea, than you give me too much credit. Really. WAY too much.
Author's Note: I realized that the parts of this seem to be taking forever, but I can't help it. Don't forget to REVIEW!
-
It was the middle of the day in Angel Grove Park. Dozen's of kids ranging in age from eight to seventeen were swarming Bulk and Skull, who had set up a booth with a large banner that read, 'FREE OOZE'.
Some of the kids stretched the ooze, other molded it, and other threw it at each other. It was an ooze free-for-all.
Ivan was dressed up as magician from some kids worst nightmare. None seemed to care, however. "Boys and girls, girls and boys, gather round and feast you eyes. This ain't sludge and this ain't gunk... this is the one and only Ivan's Ooze! Yesireebob. It's ooey, gooey and even kind of chewy. But best of all, it's FREE!"
Bulk and Skull ran the booth. One of the banners screamed 'OOZE RULES' and even more kids crowed around.
Bulk handed one out. "Here you go! No pushing!" He yelled at one of them.
"There's enough for everybody!" Skull added.
Fred approached them through the crowd. "So where's this guy come from?"
Bulk and Skull exchanged apprehensive looks.
"Uh... that's classified, top secret, confidential, undercover information." Skull informed him.
"If we told you– we'd have to kill you." Bulk added and handed Fred a container, who just looks at it.
Skull examined the kids and sees some kid hurl some ooze at him. "Incoming!" He exclaims. Skull ducked, causing Bulk to get splattered in the face. Bulk glared at Skull, wiped off some gloop, and flicked it at Skull.
Ivan rolled his eyes. "Come one, come all – it's an OOZE FREE FOR ALL!" He smiled, revealing a glistening silver tooth.
-
Five teenagers and two adults were seated on rocks by a lakeside, all of them drinking from clay mugs. Dulcea handed Rocky the last bowl.
Aisha stared into at hers with a grim expression. "Is this..." She examined it more closely. "Food?"
"They're called squirbs." Dulcea let them know. She watched as the other adult lifted out the eel-like creature and watched it squirm between her fingers. The other adult was a mystery wrapped in an enigma. What had they called her? Kim, was it? She seemed to know her. But they had never met.
Kim dropped it back into the bowl. "Mine seems to be a little undercooked."
Dulcea picked up a white bowl and pinched out a few brown flakes, sprinkling them over her squirbs. "Add a few dried weevils and you'll never know the difference."
The others looked on as Billy held one of the squirbs over his mouth and dropped it in. He chewed it a few times, then let out a burp. Billy blushed. "...Not bad."
"Listen, we appreciate your hospitality, but we really don't have time for this." Tommy said.
Dulcea looked at Tommy. "I know, but there is one thing that I must know." She turned to Kim. "You know of me. How is that?"
Kim placed her bowl on the ground and sighed. "It's very simple. I'm from the future."
"The future? Really?" Dulcea leaned forward, intrigued.
"Yes." Kim answered. "When I come from, we meet when we came in search of the Great Power. We found , we got it , we came home and destroyed Ivan Ooze."
Dulcea nodded. "It is said that to those who possess the Power... all things are possible."
"Where did it originate?" Billy asked curiously.
Dulcea took a deep breath. "In another time, another dimension. It was brought here long ago by the "Nathadians", a people who are now all but extinct." She glanced around, noticing that even Kim looked interested. This was something that she obviously did not know. "They built an impenetrable stone Monolith to store the power and keep it from their enemies." Dulcea paused. "For thousands of years, beings from all over the Universe have tried to obtain it... ALL have perished." She sat back, her words hanging heavily in the air.
Aisha cut the silence. "So how can we get to it?"
"The only way to obtain the power is to achieve the highest state of being..." Dulcea was cut off by Tommy.
"And how do we do that?"
Dulcea glared at him. "By learning the ancient art of Ninjetti. It is the Genesis of what you on earth have come to know as the Ninja. It is the perfect union of mind, body and spirit."
Rocky frowned, crossing his arms. "Look, Zordon doesn't have much longer to live. And for all we know, Angel Grove could already be under attack. We don't have TIME for this!" He practically yelled the last part.
As Rocky was talking, an ant-eater looking thing had walked up behind Kim. It's snout was know working it's way over Kimberly's shoulder. Unfortunately, she hadn't noticed.
"You don't understand. If you do not have the Ninjetti, the power will destroy you." She paused momentarily, taking a deep breath. "To reach the Monolith we must traverse the Neola jungle. We will train today, and set out on foot tomorrow."
Kim felt something tickle under her chin. She shook it off, wiping under her chin. It tickled again. She finally glanced down, catching sight of the ant-eater. Kim's eyes widened and let out a ear-piercing shriek, falling off of her seat.
This caught the attention of everyone else. The ant-eater like thing jumped up and down, yammering and gesticulating. "HNUGLHLU PHUNGLUMP BUGHLSMRPH GBUJIPHN HUPHLGMPNORU!"
Dulcea placed her hand on her hips. "Snoggle, you watch your language!"
Snoggle just pranced over to Aisha and refilled her tea-cup.
"Are you alright?" Dulcea looked over at Kim.
Kim nodded and tried to catch her breath. She really didn't need that on top of the energy that was currently draining out of her. "Fine." She managed to pull her self back up on her perch. "Just peachy."
Snoggle was still sitting beside Aisha. "Slnughyu buglhugrmrph?"
"Excuse me?" Aisha questioned it.
"Slnughyu buglhugrmrph?"
Aisha looked to Dulcea for a translation.
Dulcea grinned. "He wants to know if you'd like a cube of sugar in your tea."
"Ah... sure." Aisha replied.
There was a phoot as Snoggle blew a cube of sugar out of his snout and it splashed into Aisha's tea.
Aisha just stared at the cube for a moment. "Ah... thanks."
-
There was an ooze container sitting on the kitchen table of the Kelman's house.
Mr. Kelman looked it over curiously. He picked it up, opened it and took a sniff before sticking his fingers inside. A look of disgust covered his face.
Suddenly, a crackling electrical current ran over his entire body. His face went completely blank and his eyes glowed purple momentarily.
He turned and strode purposefully out the door.
-
Dulcea's garden was beautiful in the evenings glow. There were plants of all colors, shapes, and sizes. Dulcea and the teenage rangers were gathered around a bird-bath stand with flames leaping out of it. Kim stood back behind Dulcea, having been asked too. Dulcea said that she would talk to her separately.
Dulcea looked at the four rangers and gave a small smile. "In the language of the Nathadians, 'Nin' stands for 'man', 'jetti' stands for 'animal'. Ninjetti- man and animal, together as one." She paused a beat. "Now, put your hands inside the flame."
"Yeah, right." Aisha muttered.
"It will not harm you." Dulcea stated, having heard the mutter.
The kids hesitated a moment, then placed the hands inside the flame.
Aisha made a horrific expression, causing the other jump. She grinned and blushed. "Just kidding."
They removed their hands, which was filled with sand.
"Wow, sand." Came from Adam.
"Now tell me... what do you see?"
Aisha studied the sand for moment. It swirled for a moment before taking the shape of a bear. "I see... a bear." Her voice was bedazzled.
"Aisha, you are the bear, stalwart and bold."
"Stylin'!" She called.
Dulcea turned to Rocky, who was studying his.
"I see... an Ape."
There came a nod from Dulcea. "Rocky, you are the Mighty Ape."
Billy was squinting his eyes trying to make the shape out. "I see... a fox."
"Close. Billy, you are the Wolf, cunning and swift."
Adam didn't look to happy about his, but didn't say anything. "That's gotta be a frog."
"Adam, you are the frog, quick as lightening."
He looked slightly happier about that.
Tommy recognized the shape. Not the creature, the shape. "It's... an eagle?" He guessed.
Dulcea shook her head. "Look closer."
"... A falcon?" He tried again.
"Tommy, you are the Falcon, Winged Lord of the Sky."
Rocky regarded Dulcea with true admiration. "How do you know so much about the Ninjetti?"
Pride covered Dulcea's face as she stood tall. "I... am the sole living decedent of the "Nathadians"." She stopped and looked at Kim, was watching this all with interest. "Now prepare yourselves for the most intense physical and mental training known to man and animal.
-
Fred Kelman entered the living room, searching for his father. "Dad...?" He heaved a frustrated sigh check elsewhere. A look of concern covered his face as he found his father nowhere to be found. He exited the house to find several kids exiting their houses. Joining them in the middle of the road, recognizing the forlorn look on their faces.
One of them address the rest of the crowd. "You seen my parents?"
"I can't find my dad either." Fred added.
Another kid shook his head. "What's going on!"
Suddenly, they turned as they see a wild kid wearing grunge clothes run by howling like a banshee. A container of ooze was being held in one hand and a baseball bat in the other. He smashed an couple of trash cans with his bat. "Ooze, ooze, ooze rules!" The kid bashed in a mailbox the ran off.
Fred gave the group a startled look. "That guy was the student body President."
-
Both Kim and Dulcea (with Snoogle at her side) stood beside a pond with a narrow bamboo log spanning it and a waterfall churning in the background.
Dulcea was examining Kimberly closely. "Curious..."
"What?" Kim asked, wearily watching the other woman circle her.
She stopped in front of Kim, a curious look still on her face. "You energy. It seems to draining out of you."
Kim blinked, caught. She nodded. "It's keeping Zordon alive." The curious look on Dulcea's face deepened. "The power source that keeps him alive is connected to my DNA."
That seemed to appease Dulcea for the moment. "Alright, then." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a necklace. It was a clear crystal that was connected to a leather string. "Take this." She handed it to Kim. "It will keep you at maximum strength while you are on Phaedos." Dulcea pulled it back slightly when Kim reached for it. "Let me warn you, though. As soon as you return to Earth you will, with in minutes, be completely drained of energy and fall unconcious." She held out the necklace once again.
Kim hesitated before taking it. "I'll have to take those odds." She tied the necklace around her neck and watched as the crystal suddenly swirled with color, before settling on pink. Energy filled her and she started slightly at the sudden feeling.
"Now I need you to observe what I do and copy it. Only then will the power be accepted." Dulcea stepped on the log, Kimberly and Snoggle watched with interest. Well, the interest was really coming from Kim. Snoggle just looked bored. "The crane maintains it's agility through the perfect harmony of mind, body and spirit." She leapt into the air, did a round-house kick, and landed perfectly on the narrow span.
"Nice!" Kim called.
Dulcea reached the end of the log, flipped through the air and landed flawlessly on the ground.
Kimberly looked at the log and heaved a sigh. Climbing onto the bamboo, she started to walk across balancing precariously on her hands. She got about a quarter of a way across before she lost her balance and fell into the shallow pond. Kim looked at Dulcea, who was trying not to laugh. "I'm getting to old for this."
It was Snoggle who laughed, making a loud honking sound.
Pulling herself to her feet, Kim shoot him a look. "Let's see you do it."
"Ghun Phung Gnouphl." Was Snoggle's indignant reply. He marched to the pole, only to be held back by Dulcea.
Dulcea frowned at him. "Snoggle, we don't have time for you to show off." She took one look at the wet, slightly mud covered, Kimberly and tried to hold back a snicker.
Kim glared at her.
-
Dulcea and Rocky were standing at the bottom of a twenty foot pole with an exotic oriental carving.
"The ape is strong, but more important it is flexible and free." Dulcea scrambled up the pole like a spider. In less than ten seconds she reached the top.
Rocky just shook his head in disbelief. "Who is this lady?" He watched as she slid down the pole and landed next to him. Taking hold of the pole, he focused for a moment. "Here goes nothing!" He got about fifteen feet in the air, loses his grip, and plummeted and slammed to the ground. "Ouch."
-
Billy and Dulcea circled one another, fighting with the spinning whistling sticks. Dulcea was blindfolded, Billy wasn't.
"The wolf relies on it's enhanced senses to guide it... He can hear what we cannot hear, he can smell what we cannot smell."
Billy took swing after swing, which Dulcea easily defected. Then Dulcea took numerous swings, thwacking Billy repeatedly and finally knocking him into the water.
"Great. I'm wet again."
-
Dulcea, Adam and Snoggle stood in an area filled with flying insects.
"The frog remains still and silent while it assesses its target... then strikes out in the blink of an eye." There was a trilling sound as Dulcea watched some kind of insect dart around her. With a thwap the trilling sound was gone. Dulcea held out her hand and let the bug go free.
Adam shook his head in disbelief. He waited a moment, before hearing a tat-tat-tat sound and a insect zipped around him. Lashing out numerous times, his missed the insect completely.
Thwump! With lightening speed, Snoogle vacuumed the fly into his snout. There was a crunching sound that indicated that Snoggle was chewing it.
Under muttered under his breath, "Show off."
-
Aisha watched as Dulcea went into a bear stance.
"The bear is sturdy as a towering tree. Nothing can uproot it." Snoggle charged at Dulcea and slammed into her. She remained as rooted as a tree. Snoggle, meanwhile, suffered some serious bodily damage.
"Girl, you've got to be kidding me." Aisha gapped. Not something she could say she had seen before.
Snoggle recovered and faced Aisha, who shrugged and entered the bear stance. He charged and slammed into her.
It sent her flying.
-
Standing on a towering rock rising out of a dark lake was Dulcea and Tommy.
"The falcon never struggled with the air, but rather becomes on with it." Dulcea leaped off the rock, soared fifty feet through the air, and landed on another protruding rock. "Join with the forces of nature!" She called back.
Tommy shook himself out of his shocked revere and began to psych himself off. "You can do this. You can do this. You can do this..." He spread his arms out, leapt...
And dropped like a rock, exploding into the black water.
Dulcea shook her head. "This could take some time."
-
Zordon pulled himself from unconsciousness to find Alpha fussing over him. "... Alpha, I am deeply concerned about the Rangers..."
Alpha 5 shook his head, concerned. "It was too dangerous, I should not have let them go. There is no way to tell wether they are okay or not."
"... We must try to communicate with them."
Alpha looked over the decimated Command Center. "Perhaps if I could locate a vertical-deflector then I could assemble a holographic-comlink."
Zordon shuttered in pain and closed his eyes.
Alpha watched over his mentor, shaking his head in anguish. "Ay, yi, yi, yi, yi."
-
Dulcea leaded the science teacher and teens through a circular opening in one wall, all of them looking completely wiped out. Once she reached the ornate doorway, she face the rangers. "Each of you must reach deep within and draw upon your natural instincts... Only then will you know the way of the Ninjetti." She let out a tired sigh. "Rest for a few hours. We will continue at daybreak." She headed back through the door.
"So where are we supposed to sleep?" Tommy asked her disappearing form.
Snoggle pointed to the campfire. "Buhph nghujr." He pushed Aisha toward it making a 'Na na na na na' sound through his snout. Then he hurried inside and slammed the door.
"That guy's cruisin' for a bruisn'." Aisha comment, getting positive groans from the others.
They approached the dying fire, most of them limping. Adam, Tommy, and Aisha dropped to the ground like flies. Rocky sort of fell over sideways. Both Billy and Kim sat down a little more carefully.
"I can hardly walk..." Billy trailed off, laying himself on the ground.
Aisha agreed. "I've never been this sore in my life."
A few groaned. They stared into the orange coals for a long moment, disillusioned.
Billy looked at Kim, who was leaning back against a log with her eyes closed. "Can we really pulled this off?" He asked her.
She opened her eyes. "I honestly have no idea. I can't remember doing any of this." Kim closed her eyes again.
"You didn't do any of this?" Adam replied, feeling gypped.
Kim shrugged, no having enough energy to do anything else.
Adam shook his head. "Maybe if we had more time."
Tommy sighed. "...I wonder... We've been relying on out Morphin Powers for so long... maybe we've forgotten how to rely on ourselves." There was a somber silence in reply. "We should get some rest."
They all settled in for the night.
-
There was a purple haze of smoke that had settled on the inner city construction site. Swarms of zombified parents walked through the vapors.
Ivan stepped forward, followed by Goldar. "Ladies and gentlemen, Simon says... stop!"
All parents stopped.
"Simon say... stand on one foot." They did as Ivan said. He seemed to be taking some sort operverse glee in all of it. "Simon says..."
He was cut off by Goldar. "Quack like a duck!" They started quacking.
Ivan gave Goldar an icy glare, who mumbled that it just slipped out. He turned back to the parents. "Shut up!" They kept quacking.
Goldar whispered to him. "You didn't say 'Simon say'."
"Simon says shut up!" Ivan replied irritated. They did as he said. "Now, as soon as I give the word I want all of you to start digging. Do I make myself perfectly-." The zombie parents had already started going to work. Ivan shook his head in exasperation. "This is the last time I use parents for anything!"
-
A night wind whistled through the trees, causing the branches to shiver. The sleeping rangers shifted unconsciously in union.
After a moment, there was movement in the bushes. Suddenly, amazingly, a wolf emerged, mane glistening in the moonlight. He surveyed the sleeping clan, moving straight toward Billy. Inches away, he watched Billy stir slightly with an intense gaze.
The embers were casting an orange glow on Kimberly's sleeping face and a shadow moved over her. A crane landed softly beside and gave her a curious look.
There was a flurry of flapping wings as a falcon swooped down and landed on a rock directly above Tommy. The bird fixed on Tommy with its piercing eyes.
A grunting sound was heard as a ape settled down beside Rocky.
Hopping through the air, a frog landed inches away from Adam. It sat there for a moment, it's throat throbbing.
A tree shook and a deep growl emerged from it. Aisha fidgeted in her sleep as an enormous bear shadow fell over her.
Then, all at once, the six animals vanished into thin air like spirits of the night.
-
Ivan and Goldar patrolled the parents who were busy digging.
"Let's pick it up here!" Ivan called to the group. "I've got a schedule to keep. In twenty four hours the ooze is gonna hit the fan!"
Goldar suddenly pointed to the coming flock in the sky. "Hey, boss!"
The Tengu dropped to the ground, squealing.
"What kind of landing was that! These clowns are a menace to the sky." Mordant glared at the birds.
Ivan stopped just short of rolling his eyes. "How did you fare?"
Mordant waved him off. "Oh, it couldn't have gone better. The Power Rangers didn't know what hit them." Behind him one of the Tengu squawked and made grand gestures.
"So they've been destroyed." Ivan concluded.
"Basically." Mordant answered as the Tengu squawked behind him.
Ivan gave him a suspicious look. "What do you mean 'basically'?"
"Well," Mordant started. "We were about to finish them off... when this huge monster came out of nowhere!" At Ivan's look he retracted. "Okay, maybe he wasn't so huge. But you should've seen the size of his sticks!"
A pensive look came over Ivan. "Did these sticks make a whistling sound"
Mordant nodded, confused. "How'd you know?"
"Dulcea!" Ivan paused as he clinched his hands together. "That miserable, manipulating loathsome she-devil of a witch!" To help make the point he spit on the ground. "How could you let them get away! If Dulcea leads them to the Great Power, everything will be ruined! They must ne obliterated!"
Mordant glared at one of the Tengu when it screeched again. "What're you talking about! It wasn't my fault! You're the featherbrains that let them get away!"
Ivan looked up to the sky, enraged. "I call upon the Powers of Darkness to enrich the evil of my creatures by tenfold!" Lightening ripped from the sky and zapped the Tengu, causing them to glow radiantly. "And now the coup de grace, to lead my tribe to victorious battle!" He shot a blot of energy and created a crimson creature that's eyes glowed red.
Mordant shook his head in wonder. "Where does he come up with this stuff?"
The crimson creature spread her wings and gave a most horrendous screech imaginable.
"Queen Tengu, lead your warriors to Phaedos, feast yourselves upon the power rangers and bring me Dulcea!" Ivan commanded.
Once again, the Tengu took to the sky like giant bats.
-
The morning sun bathed Dulcea's compound in a shimmering golden light. Dulcea watched as the sleeping rangers were bathed in the glow. "So. It has begun..."
Snoogle's snout worked it's way toward Kimberly, making snorting sounds. What he did not expect was for Kim to bolt awake and slam his snout with her fist. She yelped like a child as he gripped the protrusion and jumped up and down. "Bughu phungl murhpugnu!"
That snapped all the rangers into springing awake. As the got out from under their blankets they were shocked to discover that they are all wearing Ninjetti costumes with animal symbols on their chests.
"How the heck!" Tommy cried.
Rocky poked at the ape on his chest. "What's going on!"
Kim pulled the face mask back and wiped the dirt from the outfit.
Dulcea approached them. "You have been visited by the animal spirits... they have given you their blessing."
Kim just pulled herself to her feet as the four teen rangers continued to admire their symbols in silent wonder.
-
Later Aisha was standing on a rock, her whole body flowing in a martial art exercise.
-
Billy and Dulcea continued to fight with the whistling sticks. Billy was starting to get the hang of it. He hit Dulcea a few times, then she clobbered him.
-
Kimberly balanced along the bamboo log again. She did a flip and landed it, however one foot slipped off and she struggled to maintain her balance.
-
Tommy looked down at the water on the protruding rock again. Spreading his arms like a falcon and soared through the air. He got about ten feet then dropped into the water.
-
Rocky climbed up the oriental pole, making it about fifteen feet before he slipped.
He only fell about five feet.
-
Adam stood amidst overhanging trees and went into his frog animal stance, his entire being focused on his actions.
-
Billy stood off alone practicing with the whistling sticks. The weapons were a blur in his hands.
-
Kimberly balanced along the log and executed a flip, landing it perfectly. She turned to Dulcea and threw her arms up triumphantly. "I forgot how much I loved to do this."
Dulcea gave her a look of approval.
-
Adam stood on the lakeshore, concentrating on a buzzing insect. He struck out at it, but just missed it.
-
Aisha continued her moves, no realizing that Dulcea was watching with a quiet smile on her face.
-
Dulcea smiled at Snoggle from her place watching them perfect their the actions. "They are almost ready."
Snoggle made a rude sounding noise.
"Snoggle!"