Chapter 10

Fall Formal

It was getting closer to the Fall Formal dance, and still none of the Rangers had dates, except for Bryn, who was going with Mitchell from her Chemistry class. It was getting close to registration, and close to when they would need their dates.

Karina had decided to finally go, but had to find a date, and a babysitter for Il Sung. Vega had decided to finally ask Tess at school, as did Josh about Maralynn.

"Karina, if you want, my mom offered to watch Il Sung." Bryn told Karina at school the next day.

"Really?" Karina asked quickly.

"Yeah, and I also possibly figured out a date for you too, if you want." Bryn added.

"Who?" asked Karina.

"My brother Jeremy. He's a good guy, and is in the Air National Guard." Bryn replied.

"Um, OK I guess." Karina said.

Bryn patted her on the shoulder. "No need to be shy. I'll kick his ass if he's rotten to you." she said, laughing. Karina laughed along with her. The two then went off, discussing plans for the dance.

Josh went up to Maralynn at lunch later that day. "Um, hey Maralynn." he stammered.

Maralynn looked up from her lunch. "Hey Josh, what's up?" she asked.

"Um, well. I have something I want to ask you." he started.

"Ok, spit it out." she said laughing.

"You want to go to the Fall Formal with me?" he asked.

Maralynn looked shocked for a moment, and Josh thought she was going to say no. She then smiled, and nodded. "Yes. I'd love to go with you." she said.

Josh felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders. "You really will?" he asked, just to be certain.

"Yes, of course I will." she said. She then got up and gave him a hug. "I wouldn't lie to you."

"Alright, what time do you want me at your house." he asked.

"The dance is at 7, so how about 6?" she asked.

"Works for me." he said.

Listening to this conversation was Bulk Jr. "So she's going with that dumbass? I guess I'll have to kick his ass." Bulk Jr. said evilly.

Vega walked up to Tess's locker and mentally prepared himself to ask her. "Hey Tess." he said meekly.

Tess looked up at him with the same "leave me alone" expression she always wore. "What?" she asked.

"Well, I was wondering if you would like to be my date to the Fall Formal?" he asked.

Tess gave the same expression, and he thought for sure she was going to say no, and berate him for thinking such a thing. The all of a sudden, her face lit up and she smiled. "Sure if you want." she said.

"Really?" he asked, shocked to even see her smile. He honestly couldn't figure out how to tell the others about this.

"Yeah. Be at my house by 6:30 to pick me up if you want." she said, still smiling. Then her face went back to her normal expression. "Do NOT be late." she said in her normal tone, and walked away. Despite her now could exterior, she was happy on the inside, and felt like her old self when her dad was around.

Josh went to the Youth Center and saw that Karina and Bryn were there. He walked up to them and pulled out a chair and sat. "Hello ladies." he said.

Karina and Bryn both laughed. "Since when did you start referring to us as ladies?" Karina asked him in a teasing tone.

Josh gave a sigh. "Fine, what's up bros?" he asked in a joking tone. The girls playfully pushed him and ruffled his hair. "So Maralynn said yes.' he said happily.

"Awesome!" Karina exclaimed.

"Nice job Bryn said giving Josh a high five.

"Yep. So who are you two going with?" he asked the two.

"I'm going with Mitchell Taylor from Chemistry class." said Bryn.

"And I'm going with Bryn's brother Jeremy." Karina added.

"Nice. Wonder how Vega managed with asking Tess." Josh asked out loud.

It was at that precise moment Vega ran into the Juice Bar area, and spotted his friends. "Tess said yes!" he yelled out loud. He ran up to the bar and ordered 4 smoothies, and then ran at sat next to the others. "She said yes!" he said happily.

"We heard the first time bro." Josh said, clapping him on the back.

Vega looked like he was on Cloud 9. "Man I hope this goes good." he said.

Thrax sat in the Moon Palace watching all this unfold. He made a gagging noise. "So the Power Rangers are worried about a dance, and not me? Hmm, this could be interesting." he said to himself. He powered up his Z Staff, and summoned a winged monster. "King Sphinx, it is good to see you again." Thrax said to King Sphinx.

"How may I be of service to you my lord?" King Sphinx asked.

"I am going to create an army of four monsters, with you and Goldar in charge, to make a total of six monsters. On the night of the Fall Formal in Angel Grove, I want you six to go down and separately attack each Ranger." Thrax informed him.

"Which Ranger do you wish me to battle?" King Sphinx asked.

"The Red Ranger. Goldar will be fighting the White Ranger, and the other monsters will be fighting the other four Rangers." Thrax replied.

"It will be done Master." King Sphinx said bowing.

"This should bring on the end of the Power Rangers!" Thrax yelled triumphantly.

Bulk Jr. was driving home angry. He could not believe that Maralynn picked that idiot Josh as a date over him. What did Josh have in him that he didn't? It didn't add up. He drove past an old abandoned building and looked at it. A plan started forming.

He then made it home to see his Uncle Skull sitting in his chair at the kitchen table, and his Aunt Kimberley. "Um, what's going on?" Bulk Jr. asked.

"You tell me Farcus. What is this I heard from Officer Lee-Scott that because a girl didn't agree to go to the dance with you, you grabbed her, and called her a stupid bitch?" Uncle Skull asked angrily.

"How did you find out?" Bulk Jr. asked.

"Officer Lee-Scott is a dear friend of mine, and your Uncle Skull works on the police force with him." Aunt Kimberley said.

"Anyways, the point is that you made a huge mistake doing that. I forbid you to go to the dance. If you're going treat others like that when you don't get your way, you have no business socializing with them." Uncle Skull said.

"You can't stop me!" Bulk Jr. yelled.

"I most certainly can. Do you realize whose house you're living in? I am your legal Guardian. I have the ability to stop you. It was the agreement that was made when we took custody of you." Uncle Skull said calmly.

"There is no way I am going to let some half pint Cop stop me from going!" Bulk Jr. roared.

"Farcus, listen. I know that you don't know it now, but some girl isn't worth all this trouble." Aunt Kim put in.

"You shut your mouth!" Bulk Jr. screamed at Aunt Kim.

"Enough! Farcus you are grounded. If you sneak out of the house and go to the dance, I'm calling the Angel Grove Police Department to do a city wide search, and if I have to, I will bring you in myself." Uncle Skull said with a finality. Bulk Jr. glared at his aunt and uncle and stormed away.

"You think he will listen?" Aunt Kim asked Uncle Skull.

"If he is anything like his father, no. I saw how Bulk acted in high school. I wasn't proud of how I acted, but he took it farther. I think there is something wrong with him, and sadly his son." Uncle Skull said sadly.

It was then the day of the Fall Formal, around 5 pm. All six Rangers were getting ready. Finally at 5:45 PM Josh left his house, and headed over to Maralynn's. At the same time, Vega left to go to Tess's house.

Josh gasped at the size of Maralynn's house, or mansion. There had to have been 3 stories to that house, and a long driveway. He drove up and got out of his car, and proceeded to the front door, and knocked. A minute later, an older lady opened the door. "Hello, I am Maria." she said kindly.

"Hello, I'm Josh Hender. I'm Maralynn's date for the dance." Josh replied.

"Oh yes. Maralynn is upstairs getting ready. Come in Mr. Hender." Maria said, motioning him to follow her. Josh followed her into the house, and into the living room area. She motioned for Josh to have a seat, and then called up the stairs to let Maralynn know that Josh was there.

Just then, Mr. Brooks walked into the living room, spotted Josh, and went over and shook his hand. "Hello, I'm Wayne Brooks." he said, shaking Josh's hand.

"Hello sir, I'm Josh." Josh replied.

"Nice to meet you Josh. Maralynn has been looking forward to this ever since you asked her." Mr. Brooks told Josh. Josh felt like butterflies go through his stomach. She had been excited about going to the dance with him?

His thoughts were broken when he heard a voice. "Hey Josh." called Maralynn.

He looked up and his jaw dropped. Maralynn was wearing a knee length pink dress with silver earrings, a somewhat large necklace, and bracelets. She also wore her mothers ring on her left finger still. He felt underdressed, as he was wearing a red shirt, red and black tie, and black dress pants.

"Hey." he said as soon as she came down the stairs. She smiled at him.

Mr. Brooks got up and gave his daughter a quick kiss. "I've got to go hun. Be safe. Mr. Hender, I trust you will treat my daughter right?" he said to Josh.

"Yes sir, I would never disrespect a woman." Josh said.

"Good man. Have fun you two." Mr. Brooks said. The two left the house, and drove off to the dance.

Vega showed up at Tess's house at the same time Josh showed up at Maralynn's house. Vega had on a white shirt with a black tie, and black pants. He knocked on the door, and after a few minutes Tess's mom opened the door. "Hello." she said.

"Hello ma'am, I'm Vega Kaine, Tess's date." Vega said very politely.

"Come in, I'm Brooke. Tess should be down soon." Brooke said to Vega.

As soon as she said that, Vega looked up the stairs and he nearly passed out. The Tess standing on the stairs was not the normal Tess. She was not gothy looking, but had very little make-up on, and instead of black clothing, (or now a little Yellow), but a long yellow dress with a black necklace, and earrings.

"Hey Vega." she said casually when she walked up to him.

"You look beautiful." Vega blurted out. Tess blushed.

"Thank you." she replied.

The two then left in Vega's family Punch Bug, which Vega grumbled about the whole ride to the dance.

Karina and Bryn had finished getting ready at Bryn's house. Karina was wearing a powder blue dress, and Bryn was wearing a black dress. Karina had come early so that they could get ready. Il Sung was also there, playing Go Fish with Bryn's mom. Karina had been in total shock when she had found out what Bryn's mom's job in the Marines was; a Drill Instructor. She had been scared silly, but after a few minutes, realized that Mrs. Gates was a very nice lady.

"Bryn, are you sure your brother doesn't mind going to a high school dance?" Karina asked.

"I'm sure. He liked the idea of it." Bryn replied.

Soon enough there was a knock on the door; Mitchell Taylor had arrived. Jeremy reached the door first, in his Air National Guard dress uniform, and opened it.

"May I help you?" Jeremy asked.

"Hi, I'm Bryn's date for the Fall Formal, Mitchell Taylor." Mitchell said, holding out his hand. He looked and talked in every way like his father, Zack Taylor.

"Come in." Jeremy said politely. "Bryn, your date is here!" he called.

Bryn walked out of her room, and over to Mitchell. "Hey Mitch." she said.

"Hey." Mitchell replied.

By this time, Karina had come out, and walked over to Jeremy. Jeremy smiled at Karina, and Karina thought her legs were going to give out on her.

"Have fun kids. Jeremy, watch out for your sister. I want her home by 0100 hours." Mrs. Gates called. Mitchell looked confused at what was just said.

Bryn laughed. "It means 1 AM." she said.

"Oh." was Mitchell's reply.

The four then left the house, and headed to the dance.

Meanwhile Thrax had decided on the four monsters that would go down to Earth. He powered up his Z Staff, and brought Goatan, Twin Man, Mantis, and, and the Spit Flower to life.

"Alright, you know who you are attacking. King Sphinx, Red Ranger. Goldar; White Ranger. Goatan; Black Ranger. Twin Man; Blue Ranger. Mantis; Yellow Ranger, and Spit Flower; Pink Ranger. Now is the time. Go down!" Thrax commanded to his army.

Alright, so somewhat of a boring chapter, but most parts of 2-4 parters are boring the first chapter.

To those of you who know the game, the Legend of Zelda the Ocarina of Time, I'm planning on doing a Power Rangers/ Zelda crossover fanfiction, but I can't decide whether it can be Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Next Generation (Tess would love the Shadow Temple) or Power Rangers Samurai (Imagine Emily trying to be a Gerudo.)

Next Time in MMPR:NG, the Rangers try and enjoy their dance, until the Monster Army attacks. Will the Rangers defeat their foes? And what is Bulk Jr.'s plan with Maralynn?

Find out next time on MMPR:NG