4. Day of the Living Teddy
Things had been rather quiet on the invasion front for the past few days. Was there reason to be suspicious? Perhaps just a little, but the Rangers couldn't help but be grateful for the extra free-time. Still, they were putting it to good use by going to Billy's lab to begin training Rocky, Adam, and Aisha in the ways of the Ranger. Believe it or not, it was a lot more difficult – and Zordon had only summarized what it would entail.
"These are your communicators," said Billy, handing them out to the three. "I apologize for not getting these to you earlier; I had to make some minor adjustments to modify the wavelength capacity for optimum tra-"
"No offense, Billy, but I'm not understanding a word you're saying," said Rocky, examining the communicator curiously. Tommy and Kimberly shot a wary look at Billy.
He held out his wrist to demonstrate. "This button allows you to communicate with the rest of us, with our voices coming through the speakers in the middle. Zordon also uses these devices to contact us in the event of an attack. And this button next to it will teleport you to the command center, and then back to your place of departure."
"You sure are savvy, Billy," said Aisha, eagerly clasping it onto her wrist. "Ooo, and they're fashionable. It'll go with everything!"
"Ohmigod I know!" Kimberly exclaimed, jutting out her own wrist. "I spend less money on jewelry now."
"Uh...maybe it's time to talk about combat," said Tommy, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "So, you guys already had experience in the suits once. Sure is different fighting in them, huh?"
"Not really; it feels pretty much the same," said Adam, looking thoughtful as he searched for the right words to explain himself. "I didn't even feel it when I morphed. I guess it's like...a second skin, almost?"
"Most of the time. Then you kick a Putty and it manages to hold your foot and take your boot off," said Kimberly, crossing her arms and pressing her lips into a firm line.
"They pulled your boot off?" Rocky asked, showing signs of life and enthusiasm for the first time that afternoon.
"Yeah! I didn't even know it could happen. I got it back, obviously." She smirked. "But I got grass stains all over my sock."
"Honey, it's only a sock," said Aisha, patting Kim's shoulder.
"That's what Trini said." She sighed.
"Um...anyways," said Tommy, forcing a smile and rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, the suits are protective and fit for fighting – and they're easy to get on, which is a plus – but there's always a chance they could be damaged.
"If Rita and Zedd haven't done it already, there's no way they can get us," said Rocky, looking proud
"I like the attitude, Rocko, but you never know."
"Our suits are connected to the Power Coins; as long as they're stable and kept secure in fights, no major damage can come to the suits. Or our powers, of course," said Billy.
"Hey, speaking of fighting, can we talk about the weapons? Zordon didn't say anything about those – actually, he didn't say much about a lotta things." Rocky's expression went from excitement to puzzlement in a matter of seconds.
"Most certainly. Seeing as we can't obtain them without morphing, we can examine the blueprints I drew up."
Rocky and Aisha stared at him, dumbfounded. "How much free time do you have on your hands, Billy?" said Aisha.
"You'll get used to his genius soon," said Kimberly, as Billy pulled five scrolls off a shelf on the desk behind them. He unrolled the three of them and laid them out on the workbench they were surrounding.
"Rocky, your Power Sword is the key to enable all the other weapons when assembling the Power Blaster. On its own, it can be used in swordplay and can deliver an energy slash when swung underhanded."
"Awesoooome," Rocky sing-songed, pumping his fist.
"Aisha, your Power Daggers can also deliver an energy slash when cross together. They have precision strike as well, but more often than not, have only been used to assemble the Blaster."
"You kidding? I'll abuse them."
"And Adam, this is your Power Axe. Not only is it aerodynamically sound for a clean slice, but it can be used as a cannon if you slide the blade back. It's also what makes the Power Blaster, well, a blaster."
Adam said nothing; he just smiled and traced the outline of the blueprint with his index finger.
"Uh...dude?" said Rocky, waving his hand in front of his buddy's face. "It's just a drawing; not a girl."
Adam jolted out of his trance. "Oh sorry; I was just admiring it."
"Ugh, you are so adorable," Kimberly cooed, squeezing his shoulders.
"The need to assemble the Power Blaster has yet to arise these days; usually Zedd grows his monster before we can do any lethal damage at ordinary size. However, we need to be prepared for every possibility. The weapons are more powerful than regular combat – palpably so – but we shouldn't use them against monsters unless it is absolutely necessary."
Rocky tapped his chin, looking confused once again. "Don't you think that if you used the weapons, you could get rid of the monsters before they grow?"
Everyone was silent for a moment. "Huh; that would be more efficient," Billy mused.
"You guys," said Tommy, beginning one of his motivational and highly cliched speeches. "We shouldn't have to resort to our weapons so fast. We each have the power to take down the monsters in ourselves and our skills. Don't rely so heavily on technology; it's just a perk. After all, why did Zordon choose us in the first place?"
A sense of overwhelming confidence and motivation filled Rocky – and it would forever be unknown as to why. "You're right, Tommy! I'm being so silly!"
"Now that we've drifted away from the topic of weapons, it would be a most appropriate time to go to the park to practice our battle techniques," Billy interjected, looking a little weary after the comment on technology – seeing as technology turned out to be the force that destroyed their foes in the end – but he thought it best not to comment.
They made the short walk to the park, discussing their extra-circulars on the way. Something suddenly struck Kimberly, and she paused. "Wait – did you guys ever work out where you're staying?"
The three in question exchanged hesitant looks. "Well...staying, yes. A family friend lives on the edge of town; she's letting us stay there until we figure stuff out. If we ever," Adam answered. His expression was discontented.
"Your parents are cool with that? What are they gonna do?" Tommy questioned.
Aisha let out a loud sigh. "It took all of us – and a couple of letters from our teachers – to convince them that the transfer was a good idea. They're still not on board with the fact that it was an 'immediate' transfer. But my parents are making an effort to move here permanently, which is great."
"My parents are just kinda confused about the whole thing," said Rocky. "I mean, they're all for it, but they still haven't gotten passed the 'why'. I think they'll move out here too once they find a good house and stuff."
"And my parents...well, that's a story for another time," Adam added, now looking purely uncomfortable. Rocky and Aisha adopted similar looks, and the rest of the team vowed to stay away from that subject for awhile, even though they were awfully intrigued.
"Well, if you're ever in need of somewhere else to stay, our homes are always open, right guys?" said Kimberly. The others smiled warmly and nodded, met with a jumble of thank yous and 'oh, I could never' and mostly notably 'only if you have enough bread and bologna'. When they reached their destination – a lush, flat area underneath a big oak tree – Tommy stood in front of the group and began to show off. ...Oh, excuse me; I mean demonstrate his particular martial arts technique.
"Alright; everyone go one by one and demonstrate how they fight. Then we can maybe work on some kind of strategy where we pair off based on how similar our fighting styles are, so we can fight more effectively and pack a more powerful punch. Sound good?" The others didn't really know just how effective this plan would be, but it sounded smart and legitimate, so they agreed to go along with it. However, in the middle of Aisha's demonstration, their communicators went off.
"Looks like it's already time to be put to the test." Tommy was the one to answer the call – as always. "What is it, Zordon?"
"Rangers!" Alpha's voice came over the speaker even louder than usual. "You must teleport to Angel Beach immediately! There's an emergency!"
"Shouldn't we teleport to the Command Center first?"
"I'm afraid there's no time. The Power Eggs washed up on the lake, and Zedd has sent his Putties down to retrieve it! If Rita promised chaos with them, imagine what Zedd will do!"
"Don't worry, Alpha; we'll keep them safe." Tommy cut off the transmission and looked knowingly at the rest of the gang. "Alright, Rangers. It's morphin time!"
Not a minute later, they were on the sand in full uniform. A group of about ten Putties surrounded the familiar chest. That's all they were doing; just standing around it (some dancing) and staring as if it was the most interesting thing they had ever seen (which it probably was). How considerate of them not to try to take the chest to the moon before the Rangers had a chance to stop them.
With a roaring battle cry, the team charged into the fray. After that, it was a flurry of colors, chops, and roundhouse kicks. The fight didn't have the opportunity to go any further, for two Putties who had slyly escaped the attack carried off the chest and were teleported back to the moon. The Rangers didn't notice until they destroyed the remaining Putties.
"They stole the chest!" Rocky yelled. "Now what?"
"We'll get the chest back," said Tommy, perhaps a little too confident. "They need a child to open the chest anyway."
Tommy had forgotten how easy it had been for Rita to obtain he child, because as he said this, Zedd was already surveying Angel Grove for the most innocent child he could find.
"All these children are so filled with good and purity; it makes me sick!" Zedd snarled. "Once I crack these eggs, that won't be a problem anymore." He finally came upon the park, and his visor locked onto a pudgy little boy bashing his weathered teddy bear against the grass. "Ah, what a delightful little delinquent. Yes; he's perfect! And I know just how to get him to come to help me..."
Georgie was the boy in question, and as he abused his toy, Schuyler sat only inches away, pulling grass out of the ground.
"I'll never come up with a story." She grumbled. "I've never come up with one idea of my own for the Temp; they always tell me what to write. Don't they know about the First Amendment – freedom of press and all that jazz? Writers should write what they want." She sprawled out on the ground. "If writers could think of anything. ...Say, little bro, I could interview you. 'Fluff Abuse: How I Took My Pre-Childhood Rage Out on My Plush Toys'."
Georgie looked at her curiously. "The grass smells funny." He cackled.
"That it does, George. That it does. Maybe I could write one on grass. Teenagers like grass in this town, right?" She sighed. "God, to quote Melvin – where's that whopper story? Where's the idea that'll just...I dunno, hit me like lightning?"
As if the day was not already ironic enough for all of Angel Grove, a suspicious bolt of lightning hit Georgie's teddy, and within seconds, it grew to person-size. Not to mention, it grew little fingers and toes, seams and stitches all over, and glowing red-eyes. Schuyler was in absolute shock.
"...I don't even...what?" she breathed out, jumping to her feet and holding Georgie to her. "You're...you're like...Frankenteddy."
"A der der der!" the...thing chuckled, having a voice that sounded like a cross between Barney and a robot. Which made him absolutely unnerving. "It's Tremor Teddy, actually! But you're a good guesser! You get a gold star!" He held out his arm, and through a torn seam, a gigantic golden star sticker came flying out at Schuyler. She ran like a maniac trying to get away from it, until it caught up to her and bound her to a tree.
"Oh, you are kidding me," she rasped as she tried to pry the thing off her, but it was surprisingly sticky and solid for a sticker. "Georgie, run! Go get help! Go look for the ice cream man, just do something away from here!" Unfortunately, Georgie just stood there, looking up at the monster in awe. "Georgie, don't go near him!" Schuyler yelled, already out of breath from her effort to free herself. "I swear, Teddy Whatever, if you harm one hair on his head, I will tear you apart. With my teeth."
"Oh, big sister; you're so silly! Come on, special friend! We're going to go have some fun with Master Zedd!" said the Tremor Teddy, holding out his 'hand', and the seam of his mouth twisting into an off-kilter smile.
"My teddy! Let's go have fun!" Georgie said with all the enthusiasm his little body could muster. He took his hand and began to stroll off with him, with Schuyler yelling his name and trying her best to resist cursing out the monster. Suddenly, a horde of colors appeared in her peripheral vision, and she nearly lost it.
"Not so fast, you overgrown sack of fluff!" the White Ranger declared, as he and the rest of the Rangers did some ridiculous poses.
Georgie gasped. "The Power Rangers!" He managed to sound even more excited than before.
"Have you come to play with us too?" asked the Tremor Teddy, his voice now transitioning to that of a robotic clown. "I brought along some extra special friends for you!" A horde of Putties appeared behind him, and immediately engaged in a fight with the Rangers. Schuyler had to admit that seeing an actual comic book-esque fight in the flesh was awesome. Even if it was the Rangers, and she was still confined to a tree. Speaking of which...
"Uh, help?" She flailed her arms around. "I'm being stuck to this tree by way of a giant super-glue sticker! ...Wow, that sounds insane."
"Hold on, I'll get you out!" called the Pink Ranger, reducing the Putty she was fighting to clay and running to her aid. She swiftly took her Blade Blaster out of her holster and pointed it at the sticker. "Hold still; I'll have to cut the edges off."
"Um...o-okay." Schuyler squeaked, but she managed to stay still as the blaster worked its magic. She scrutinized the suit. "Doesn't the skirt make it hard to kick stuff?"
"Nope!" The sticker fell to the ground. "There you go!" She ran off just as fast as she had come.
Schuyler was frozen in shock once more. "A Power Ranger saved me...and talked to me!" Her moment of being starstruck didn't last long – thankfully – and she cleared her throat and stretched her limbs to appear nonchalant. She ran toward the commotion intent on helping, but upon realizing she would just be restrained again, she watched. Poor Georgie was being traded around from Putty to Putty, and the Pink, Yellow, and Black Rangers fought of as many as they could while trying to get to him. The Tremor Teddy was being kicked and shoved around by the White, Red, and Blue Rangers, but from the looks of it, they weren't doing much damage.
"He's absorbing all our hits!" she heard the Blue Ranger yell.
"I don't know why you kids are trying to hurt me; I love you all very much!" said the Teddy, as he scooped the three of them into a bone-crushing bear hug. They wheezed and squirmed and called for help, and Schuyler couldn't help but let out a 'hrmph'. She bet the city government hadn't prepared them for this kind of foe.
"Hold on guys!" the Black Ranger yelled. He pulled an object that appeared to be some kind of high-tech axe out of thin air, and leaped at the monster. He sliced it right down the middle of its back, and as it began to split in two, white fleece spilled out. Okay, she thought. That was badass.
"Awe, you split my heart in two." The Teddy whimpered, still – somehow – living. "You all should feel how I feel!" Large clumps of fleece flew at the four male Rangers, and wrapped around their necks and began to suffocate them. The monster sure was resourceful when it came to clamping things. Still, once all the Putties were gone, the girls sliced through the wool with the blade portion of their Blasters with ease and grace. Many questions arised at how fluff was so impossible to get off, but Schuyler had been pinned down with a sticker, so she couldn't really talk.
"Winter hibernation's come early, bear! Rangers, assemble the Power Blaster!" said the White Ranger, as the other five pulled weapons out of thin air as well.
"Power Axe!" said the Black Ranger, re-purposing his axe as a cannon and throwing it up into the air. Where it stayed – somehow.
"Power Bow!" said the Pink Ranger, throwing her bow on top of the axe.
"Power Daggers!" said the Yellow Ranger, throwing her knives underneath the bow – also taking on some blaster qualities.
"Power Lance!" said the Blue Ranger. Schuyler spent more time trying to figure how his weapon was called a lance when it looked nothing like what she thought a lance was to notice where it went on this contraption.
"Power Sword!" said the Red Ranger, jumping up into the air and smacking down his weapon on top of the others. All in all, it was a pretty awesome device. He brought it back down to the ground, and before the abomination even got a chance to offer some parting words, he was shot down by an intense power beam. Just like that, he was gone; no explosion of fleece or anything.
"Yayayay!" Georgie clapped and jumped around, totally oblivious to the fact that he could have been kidnapped. Schuyler ran to him and squeezed him.
"Oh man...you are never getting another teddy bear again. Ever. I'll never be able to look at another teddy again, jeez..." she rasped out, ruffling his hair. "Are you okay?"
"The Power Rangers saved us!" said Georgie, clapping again. Schuyler looked up, only to see that they were all standing over her.
"Yeah...they did." She stood up and cleared her throat. "Um...th-thank you. We were gonners."
"Our pleasure," said the White Ranger, as he leaned down and patted Georgie on the head. "You be careful with your toys, little man."
"Okay, Mr. Ranger." He began to pull grass out of the ground, laughing while he did so. Schuyler smiled ever so slightly.
"Hey, who made your-"
They teleported away in multicolored energy beams. "-weapons." She stood there for a moment, staring at the space they had vacated. God, she really didn't want to support them, but after they had saved her – especially her little brother – she couldn't hate them. Their costumes may have been too flashy for superheroes, but they could really fight – not to mention their weapons. "Looks like I'm gonna end up like everyone else; smitten." She snorted at the thought. "I guess some people who witness these fights do remain undamaged enough to talk about it." She laughed, and sat down next to Georgie once again. Her thoughts began to travel towards Skittles – what with all this exposure to colors – until an idea suddenly planted itself in her mind. "Oh...my god...oh my god. I'm gonna come through after all!" She shot up. "Georgie, we're going home."
"But grass!" He looked devastated, and as bad as she felt for shooting down his dreams after what he had just been through, she couldn't risk the idea leaving her head so quick.
"You can pull up grass in the backyard, but I have to get to my computer. I think I have a story idea that's gonna save me and the paper! ...Okay, maybe just me; as long as Melvin's on the paper, we're toast. Still; home!"
A/N: Finally getting to the action! It's amazing what one's brain comes up with at one in the morning. As always, please R & R, folks!