Chapter 21

Frogs and Talking Robots

Angel Grove

Things were taking a while in the dojo, as they always did when Adam Park closed up for the day. But Adam was always meticulous about making sure everything was in its proper place when closing time came around. Especially a certain something that talked…

"Aye-yi-yi, Adam! Long day, wasn't it?"

"Sure was, Alpha."

Alpha 6, former assistant to the Turbo, Space, and Galaxy Rangers, had gotten Sensei Park an iced tea. "Thank goodness the day's over, though," Alpha continued. "Hiding in the back really bores me out."

"Sorry, Alpha," Adam said, shaking his head. "But Earth's not even used to aliens yet. Imagine how they'd feel if they saw a talking robot walking down Main Street."

"Hey! I resent that! That was my predecessor, not me. And he was only found by one kid in the park."

"Yeah? What about that party he was at that Jason told me about?"

"That was Halloween! Everyone thought he was in a costume! He told me everything!"

"Ugh. OK, ya got that one. I guess ya lucked out."

"I've stayed true to the cause, AP."

Adam looked down with a smile. "You sure have." He then pulled over his gym bag, opened it and pulled out his Mastodon Power Morpher. "No need to worry about this thing not working anymore…"

"Nope," Alpha agreed. "Thanks to the Sentinel Knight, you're back on reserve duty."

"Mm-hmm. But there's one thing I'm wondering…" Adam said with a faraway look in his eye. "Why was I chosen as the leader? Why not Tommy or Jason?"

"Maybe they weren't available, or maybe they turned it down."

"No way either one would pass up an opportunity like that."

"I think it's because you had never lead before, and you were supposed to have a chance."

"But why would I get the chance at such a crucial time? It just doesn't make sense…"

Alpha let the matter run through his circuits for a few more seconds. Then he said, "Maybe there was something that only you could bring to the table that the Sentinel Knight knew would be beneficial to the retro team."

"Like what?"

"Your point of view, your understanding of martial arts, maybe it's the Kung-Fu mentality that sets you apart from the rest. Hard work and skill can get you far in life, you know that well. People don't always get lucky enough to work with good friends for the good part of their lives."

"You got a point, Alpha."

"So anyway, if you want to get things together for your reunion, you'd better get home. Or do you want to watch "The Bride of Hackensack" for the thousandth time?"

"ALPHA! You know that movie gave me nightmares!"

"I don't see why… I thought it was pretty corny myself."

"Ask your predecessor. See ya later."

Adam left the dojo, bowing at all four corners, and locked up, leaving Alpha to deal with powering down everything, including himself. Adam stepped over to his green and black sedan and opened the passenger's side door, dumping his gym bag on the seat. He kept the morpher in hand, however, just as a reminder of the good times. Then, he flicked his wrists, right then left, to materialize his Zeonizers. Adam did not complete either morphing sequence, though. Adam then wondered what would happen if a Ranger tried to morph into multiple forms at once. He dismissed it as impossible; he wasn't Billy, but his best guess would be that a Ranger trying to morph into multiple Ranger forms at once would overload the Universal Morphing Grid, destroying said Grid…and said Ranger.

Adam flicked his wrists, left then right, and the Zeonizers dissipated. His Power Morpher he went to stuff in his bag, but something in his mind lingered. His instincts told him something was amiss. But what? Adam's instincts told him to check the dojo, and there he found Alpha…bouncing off the walls like a child on a sugar high.

"Alpha! ALPHA! Hang in there, buddy!" Adam reset Alpha's systems (luckily, Billy had taught him how to do that much, at least), and in a few seconds Alpha was calm.

"Rebooting…All systems: Normal. Whew… that was close. Thanks, Adam. I might have fried my circuits if you hadn't reset me."

"What happened, Alpha?"

"I don't know…something gave me a major shock to the system."

"Did you catch what it was?"

"Negative."

"Are you sure?"

"It felt familiar, but I couldn't figure out what it was."

"It's alright. I don't think it was an accident, though."

"Gee, ya think?"

"Something's not right. We may have to abandon the dojo for the time being."

"But where do we go?"

"We'll find somewhere. Maybe Reefside."

"You know someone there?"

"A friend of Tommy's."

"Think they can help us out?"

"She's in the loop. She's trustworthy."

"I hope so."

"Come on. Get in the trunk."

"The trunk? Why?"

"Remember what I said about talking robots? That's why."

"Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi."