6. Beginnings, Ends, and Then There's Melvin
The rest of the school day went by without hindrance. Schuyler spent lunch in the library doing homework – as always – and while Ms. Appleby's English class dragged on due to her inability to teach anything above second-grade grammar, it was easy. She couldn't help but notice that a whopping nine seats had been vacated; three that had belonged to the delegates (who had left for Switzerland that day), but there was no excuse for the other six. Despite having been in the class for awhile now, she couldn't put her finger on who they belonged to. Then again, she barely ever rose her head from her desk, and only looked at Ms. Appleby when she was called. Oh, what an introverted life she led; the funny part being that she could change it any time she wanted.
When the final bell rang, Schuyler couldn't help but feel nervous. She was due to work at the Juice Bar now, a place teeming with other kids, sweat, and...fitness. Not to mention that she was unfamiliar with the place; the Monday night party had been the first time she ever went.
"God, what was I thinking..." she said, opening her locker with her head. "I'm gonna have to clean up peoples' garbage and ask them what they want, and they're gonna demand stuff from me, and I'm gonna crack under the pressure and trip and drop their order and...gee, Sky, get a hold of yourself." She slapped herself lightly, retrieved her Chemistry notes, and slammed the door shut. "Think of Gramps's Gran Torino...two-thousand bucks and it's yours, aw yeah." She took a deep breath and stood. "I can do this...I can do this."
She went outside and unlocked her bike from the rack, smoothing out her Ghostbusters t-shirt and tugging on her jean jacket. "I can and will do this." She chanted this as she got on and rode away. She resigned to doing so only in her head as she reached the Youth Center, due to her voice growing so loud that people began to stare. However, when she entered the building and saw it already bustling with kids, any confidence she had mustered disappeared.
"...I can't do this." She spun around to leave, only to be nearly trampled down by the girl's volleyball team. "This place is dangerous!"
By chance, Ernie crossed her path holding a tray full of sandwiches. "Hey Schuyler! Ready to get started?"
Crap on a stick. "...Yeah."
"Great; go ahead and wait behind the bar; I'll be with ya in a second." He took the sandwiches over to a group of boys sparring on the mats as Schuyler walked begrudgingly to the bar. The kids who were sitting there looked up at her briefly, then went back to their business.
"Alright then," said Ernie, hopping up the steps. "I'm gonna start you out making the smoothies today, if that's cool." Schuyler just nodded. "Put this on." He handed her a white apron. "So, we got a couple of menu-item smoothies, the ingredients of which are on this paper here." He reached under the counter and pulled out a laminated list of all the drinks and their ingredients. "Most of the time, customers go for the Smooth-Your-Own Smoothie-" he chuckled "-so you'll just have to go from scratch."
He stepped back and motioned to the racks under the counter. "All your non-refrigerated items and spices are down here; people don't normally ask for 'em, but sometimes these just add a nice, extra flavor to both the drinks and the food." He took her into the back room – a sort-of makeshift kitchen – and opened the large fridge. "All of your fruits, veggies, dairy, meats, sweets, the works. Each box is labeled with what's inside to make it easier and faster to get 'em."
He took her back to the counter. "The blender is pretty new – it even has a 'smoothie' setting, so just use that. When its ready, pour it into a cup – they're under here." He took a bright green plastic cup out from underneath. "If there aren't any out, they're usually by the sink; either in need of washing or drying. Last thing; customers usually come up to order smoothies, but occasionally orders will come from the tables; I'll write 'em down for ya then. Aaand that's about it. Got it all?"
Schuyler just stood there, her mouth slightly open and her expression blank. "Uh, yeah; got it all." She tapped her head with her index finger.
"Great; then go for it!" He gave her a thumbs up. "I'll be checking up on you from time to time."
"Yep yep." He walked over to a nearby table, and she whimpered. "Why couldn't he have put me on dishwashing duty..." She huffed and put on the apron, only to have it be too small for her and unable to tie in the back. Greeeat.
Her first customer came all too fast for her liking; one of the girls on the volleyball team, and a bodybuilder at that. She made Schuyler feel all the more self-conscious about herself and her apron. "I'll have an orange muscle shake, please," she asked in a gruff voice.
"Muscle shake...right." Schuyler pulled out the laminated sheet and searched for the ingredients. When she found them, she smiled apologetically at the girl. "Uh, gimmie a couple minutes; it's the first time I'm doing this." The girl merely shrugged, and Schuyler retreated into the back room. She opened the fridge and gathered what she needed into her arms. "Two peeled oranges, muscle milk, half a passionfruit, and...yeah," she recited, making sure she had everything. She scurried back out, threw the fruit in the blender, poured in a cup of milk, put on the cover, and turned it on. She ducked behind the counter, half-expecting the machine to explode, but when the heterogeneous mixture turned into an orange slush, she stood and looked at the blender in awe.
"Did I not screw up?" She turned it off, took off the lid, and poured the liquid into a cup. "Here you go." She gave it to the girl and wrung her hands together as she took a sip.
"Hm; not bad for a first-timer," said the girl, looking satisfied. "Less milk next time, though." She handed Schuyler three dollars – two to pay for the drink, one as a tip.
She put the money in the cashbox and held the remaining dollar to her chest as the girl smiled and walked away. "Thank you!" She twirled in place. "Five minutes into working and I've already earned my first dollar."
The other girl sitting at the bar looked up from her book and clicked her tongue, pulling on her gaudy pearl necklace. "Can I have a glass of orange juice?" Her voice was high pitched and breathy, grating on Schuyler's ear drums. Still, she forced a smile and went to the fridge to get out the glass pitcher of freshly-squeezed (or so it was labeled) juice. She went back to the front, and as she poured the juice, she couldn't help but feel confident. If she failed to mess up her first attempt – as she tended to do in every endeavor she pursued – there was no way she could do so now; especially in just pouring juice.
She proved to be wrong when the group of kids from earlier tat day in the hallway entered the establishment, looking a little melancholy. When her eyes landed on the boy in black, her peripheral vision grew hazy and she became fixated on him. So fixated that she neglected to stop pouring, causing the cup to overflow and liquid to spill everywhere.
"Eeew! What the hell are you doing?" The girl shrieked, jumping away as the juice spilled onto her stool. She hesitantly picked up her book, as it was drenched and dripping.
Schuyler herself had recoiled at the noise, and stared in horror at the mess she made. "I-I'm sorry!" She squeaked, looking around for a rag. "It's my first day and-"
"You think I care?" She stomped her booted foot and shrieked again. "Ugh, you ruined my satin skirt! And my school book; you're gonna pay for both of them!" With a dirty look, she stormed out.
"Stupid stupid stupid..." Schuyler grabbed some flimsy napkins and tried to wipe up some of the juice, but only succeeded in causing more of it to spill on the floor. "This is what happens when I get confident, and when I see people." She continued to mutter to herself as she searched in the back room for a rag or at least some towels, but there were none to be found; not even by the dishwasher.
"Yay; I'm gonna get fired!" She put on a fake grin and pumped her fist. "Gee, today has just been one big stick full of crap." She shuffled back out, resigned to her fate. Only to find that the six kids were wiping up all the juice for her with paper towels from the bathrooms. "What in the...what are you doing?" She yelped in disbelief. "You don't have to clean up my mess!"
"We saw what happened and thought you could use some help," the girl in pink said, grinning. "So many accidents happen around here that Ernie always puts the cleaning stuff in the wrong place.
Schuyler blinked, attempting to process their kindness through her brain. Help...me? "Oh. I um...I...thank you. That's really nice of you." She smiled a little, then realized something. "Oh; you three-" she pointed to the girl and the boys dressed in white and blue, "-are in my English class; the kids who always answer everything." She smacked her forehead for not being able to realize such an obvious detail before.
They shared knowing looks. "I guess so," said the boy in white, whose hair was longer than all of the girls'. "And you're...Schuyler. You moved here a little while ago, right?"
She grew bashful. "The girl who never opens her mouth." She shrugged. "Considering how much I've seen of Angel Grove and its people, yeah, it's been a little while. ...Feels almost longer, though, for some reason."
"Gosh, I know what you mean," said the girl in yellow. She motioned to the boys in red and black. "We only moved here a couple days ago, but it's felt like forever."
So that's why I've never seen him before – but I barely leave the house, so how would I have known? "Then I shouldn't be talking." She chuckled as she glanced at her "beau" again. "But I still don't know a lot of people; my own fault."
"Some people adjust differently. I swear I pulled out the welcoming committee for you, though..." The girl in pink tapped her chin.
You did. I was just terrified of your perkiness, so I ran for the hills. "Eh, it doesn't matter; it's in the past."
"That it is," said the boy in white. "We come here everyday, so if you'll be working, we can talk and hang out. In class and school, too."
"...Really?" She looked positively enthralled. "I...wow; thanks!"
The boy in red rose his brow. "It's not a big deal; what, do people normally avoid you?" Schuyler looked down at the floor. "...Oops. Sorry."
"It is often difficult for newcomers to assimilate into a new community, especially secondary school," said the boy in blue. "Unless one had a readily friendly countenance, the average time it takes to make relations ranges around five months." When met with confused looks from everyone, he sighed. "It's hard making friends when you're new."
Schuyler scrunched her shoulders together and gave them a smile. "Well, it'd sure be swell if you'd be my friends. But I gotta know your names first."
They went from left to right as they each introduced themselves. The boy in white was Tommy, who had to stop himself from introducing the rest of the group; he was clearly the leader. The girl in pink was Kimberly, who finished her greeting with a little wave. The boy in blue was Billy, who smiled slightly and bowed his head to her; his mannerisms and speech made him seem more machine than man. The girl in yellow was Aisha, who ended hers with a wink and a sly smile. The boy in red was Rocky, who also nodded but complimented her shirt. He started to quote the most sexual line from the movie, but stopped and whined when Aisha pinched his arm to make him shut up. And last but not least, the boy in black was Adam, who gave her the most charming, shy smile that her knees nearly buckled. She couldn't help but giggle, until suspicious looks from Aisha and Kimberly brought her back to reality.
"Nice to meet you guys. You all have, um...fine names. Yeah, that's a good adjective." They all chuckled, and she beamed. Oh gosh, I made them laugh! No one ever laughs at my jokes! These are good people. "So, I don't suppose you came here to get smoothies?"
"We did, but making new friends is better than smoothies and day." To her surprise, Adam was the one that spoke; he seemed to be the most quiet of the bunch. She smiled dumbly at what he said. You are literally perfect, how do you even exist?
"Well...uh..." She struggled to regain her train of thought. "Oh yeah; I'll go ahead and tell Ernie what happened, so he can make you guys something. Hopefully he'll reassign me to a job that I can't turn upside down."
"Make sure it's out here so we can hang out while you work, though!" said Kimberly. "It'd suck if you chose to be a dishwasher or something."
Well there goes any hope for me not screwing up. "Okay, I will. I'll be back." She stepped out from behind the bar and had to resist the urge to skip to the exercise machines where Ernie currently was. She couldn't believe that the last chunk of time just happened; she made friends. Nice pretty people wanted to be her friends. The world was loony.
"Reeves!" someone called, and as she reached the mats, she was nearly tackled by a wild Lilly.
"Lilly, what the hell?" She gave her a harsh look. "This is not a jungle, you are not a cheetah, and I am not an antelope. I'd have more fat than meat anyway." She sighed. "And stop gripping my shoulders; your nails are gonna make me bleed!"
"Oh; my apologies." There wasn't even a hint of sarcasm in her voice as she stepped back and kept looking at Schuyler with wide eyes and a crazy smile.
"...Is this a personality that you're trying out? Because you have yet to belittle my abilities and that's kinda freaking me out."
The look disappeared from her face, and she put her hands on her hips and huffed. "I'm not Melvin; I only get pissy at you when you do stupid things." She was her old self for only a second more, then she went back to looking insane. "But now...now you've done something that's possibly amazing."
Schuyler blinked. "...Nah, not me."
"Schuyler, I kid you not." She slapped her hands together. "In my seventh period, a couple kids behind me always ask what's going into the new issue a few days or so before publication. Usually they're like 'alright, that's cool' or whatever, and leave it at that. But today...oh man. They were saying that to the advice section, media, style, even the interview with the delegates. And then when I mentioned Melvin's article on bear attacks, they were like 'what the hell, why are you even putting that in?"
"Wait. He actually wrote an article on that?" Schuyler burst into laughter, until another look at Lilly's expression shut her right up.
"Not the point! Anyways, then I mentioned your live coverage of the Ranger fight, and they were 'holy shit, really?', since like you said, all the news does is just announce their victories. And then other people were like 'ohmigod, did you say Power Rangers?', and now the entire class is itching to pick up copies." She thrashed her arms about in excitement. "If their reactions are any indication, pretty much everyone in school is gonna wanna read the Temporibus"
"I...I don't even know what to say." Schuyler couldn't stop from grinning and put her hands to her cheeks. It amazed her how the day had gone from being so awful to being one of the best days of her life. "My article did that?"
"Apparently! And while it's totally not fair and I'm jealous, anything that helps the Temp gets my full support." She gave her a small salute. "So here's the deal; if the paper does as well as we're speculating it will, we want you to write a recurring editorial."
"...What are you saying?"
"You're going to have to report on every fight you come across."
She stood there for a moment, ruminating on Lilly's words. "Ahaha...ha. Tell me you're kidding." Lilly kept her seriousness. "I got lucky in that I was only pinned to a tree. Who knows what could happen if I go into the fray like that again just to get a story! ...Unless you want me to get badly injured or killed, and this friendliness is just a ruse."
Lilly rolled her eyes and smoothed down her black slacks. "Don't get involved in the fight; obviously. Watch from a safe distance away – behind a dumpster, on a hill, something – and record your thoughts on a tape recorder. If you write, you'll miss things. It's that easy."
"But how am I supposed to report on 'em if I don't know where they'll be?"
"Like I said; only report on the ones that you find. If you go seeking them out, you'll waist time and you set yourself up for a monster to find you first." She put her hand on her shoulder. "I think you can handle it, Reeves."
"Yeah, well I don't." She shrugged her hand off.
"Too bad; it's your new job. Unless you'd rather just be off the paper altogether."
Oh, screw you. She bit her lip, trying to figure out the right thing to do. After a few seconds, she groaned and put her arms down. "Fine, I'll do my best. But if I end up in the hospital, you're bringing me gifts. Lots of them."
Lilly clapped, and took her face in her hands. "You're saving the paper, Reeves. Remember that!" With that, she flounced away.
"Welp, what an eventful day this has been." Schuyler sat down on the mat and propped her head up on her hand. "New bruises, new pressure, new friends, and a new job." She chuckled. "Looks like it's time to write my will."
Up in Zedd's palace on the moon, new things were happening as well; but they were hardly the same as that of a suburban teenager's. All the occupants of the palace were in the throne room; Zedd sitting on his throne, and his subordinates off against the wall. Situated on a cylinder-shaped mound in the center of the room was the chest containing the Power Eggs.
"Now," said Zedd, anticipation abundant in his voice. He opened his hand to reveal Zack's damaged badged. "I call back Sheriff Reflector!" He flung the badge in the direction of the balcony as lightning stuck the staff once more and deflected onto the badge. The monster reappeared once again.
"What in tarnation...oh, masterful Mister Zedd!" He shuffled to the throne and tipped his hat. "What can I do you for?"
He emitted a low growl. "You collected the essence of the children that I requested?"
"I sure did!" He patted his body, and a greyscale image of two little boys appeared in the glint of it. "Them little hush puppies didn't stand a chance."
"Excellent; one monster who has yet to fail me." He flexed his fingers, then swiftly balled his hand into a fist. "Now, open the chest."
"You got it, buckaroo!" He stepped right in front of the chest, but stumbled when Zedd pounded his staff on the floor and glowed red.
"Don't you dare call me that ever again!" He roared. "If I didn't need you for the eggs, I would dispose of you!"
"Lord Zedd is only to be addressed as your superior!" Goldar added, only to make his master grow even more red.
"Don't think you're not above being disposed of!" He rubbed his brain. "Get on with it, Sheriff!"
"It's a good thing we don't call him anything!" Baboo said to Squatt, and they chuckled as quietly as they could. Finster just muttered things like 'oh dear', 'good heavens', and 'Empress would never treat us so shamefully' to himself and shook his head.
The Sheriff's hands retracted into his sleeves, and came back out as skin-colored six shooters. "Time for a showdown." The triggers pulled themselves, and orange beams of energy shot out at the chest. It took a good minute, but the magic lock was finally broken, and the top blew open violently. "...These are some mighty unimpressive eggs, Mister."
Zedd marched to the box and shoved the monster aside. "You have no idea of the power that these eggs posses!" His hands hovered over them, as if he couldn't believe that he finally had them in his grasp. "I'll have the power over two universes...Zordon and the Power Rangers have no chance of surviving." He laughed harder than he ever had as he rose his staff as high into the air as he could, and began an unintelligible incantation as bolts of lightning emerged from all over the room.
"Gee; do you think he's scrambling them or cooking them over-easy?" said Squatt, trying to avoid being struck.
All of the bolts came together to form one large, blindingly bright beam, which struck the eggs and reduced the shells to mere pieces. The lightning disappeared and revealed...nothing.
"What is this? A trick?" Zedd ruffled through the shards of the shell, and pounded his fist down on the box. He rose his staff once again – intent on destroying it – until he noticed a flame flickering in the middle on the box. It grew and grew as the seconds passed, until it grew large enough to nearly sear his visor off. Suddenly, sparks flew up from it and made scorch marks on the ceiling. It reduced the shell to ashes, but managed to leave the chest unharmed. When the fire grew as large Zedd himself, the chest fell from the mound, and the flames spread like liquid on the floor. Strangely, they stopped when they formed a peculiar shape. In a flash of red, the flames materialized into a...human being, laying face-down. A man with shoulder-length blond hair with silver streaks, wearing a dark blue cloak with silver sparkles.
"You are the supposed 'universes' contained inside the Power Eggs?" Zedd was beside himself with anger and even utter puzzlement. "Who are you?"
The man weakly rose to his feet. He had sharp but attractive features, and twinkling ice blue eyes. His skin was deathly pale. "I...I don't know." He looked around the room in wonder. "Where am I?"
"I am Lord Zedd, Emperor of Evil, and this is my palace." His tone was all threatening.
The man stared at him for a moment, then bowed to him and clasped his hands together above his head. "You freed me from my prison; I am indentured to be your eternal servant."
Zedd was sold. "Servants are always welcome." He chuckled, then pounded his staff on the ground. "The quest for the Power Eggs has proven futile; I've been exhausted. Everyone, to bed!" Everyone promptly left, save for the man and the sheriff, who was dawdling by the balcony.
"...Making monsters out of every day objects; even a badge?" The man chuckled low, his tone going from meek and confused to theatrical. "Oh, Lord Zedd, how far you've fallen since last I saw you." He smiled crookedly. "What a waste of space. A pity, too; someone should put the poor dear out of his brainless misery." He snapped his fingers, and a few sparks flew at the Sheriff. When they touched him, they set him on fire, and within only a minute, he was reduced to a melted glob of goo. With another chuckle, he left the throne room, his cloak jutting out like the night sky's reflection in the water.
A day in the life of Melvin Glauss wasn't an exciting one. He got up, ate corn flakes and blueberries for breakfast, took the bus to school, was harassed on the bus, went through the school day like the misunderstood genius he was, took the bus home, was harassed once more, came home, did homework, and spent the rest of the night mapping out his plans for the Temporibus or what ever scientific endeavor he was currently pursuing. Believe it or not, he was perfectly content with the life he led. But on this particular Wednesday, he learned something valuable; the day things go differently than planned, interesting things happened.
So, there was a chance to save the Temporibus yet. He had to admit, he wasn't loving the idea that it hadn't been his efforts to change reader interest, but as long as the paper stayed afloat he wouldn't complain too much. After all, it was his baby; probably the only thing he felt he could rightfully claim possession over (though in the opinion of everyone who worked under him, that was hardly the case). After receiving the news from an overly-hyper Lilly (which he didn't mind, because she was so blinded by excitement that she touched him), he went home with a smile on his face, and actually managed to tune out the taunts of his designated bullies. Yes, today was a very good day indeed.
After finishing his homework, he resisted the urges to begin planning the next issue. He decided to be spontaneous and spend his free time re-reading Atlas Shrugged. Always a fun read. He was already on chapter two by the time dusk fell; his conscience couldn't help but bug him about how he was wasting valuable time. "Life calls for being spontaneous sometimes," he said aloud. "One never knows what will happen!"
As if on cue, the sound of something landing in the ground came from just outside his window. There was some sort of electrical surge, and suddenly, the tiny bush shaped like a pacifier that grew outside his room grew larger than his house, and cast a shadow over him. "What the devil?" He got up and pressed his oily face against the glass, only to be met with a sight that he wasn't sure to perceive as real or just an illusion. He scrambled to lift the frame – the task being trying on his scrawny muscles – and when he did, he dove through and rolled out onto the grass. He approached the extra-terrestrial object with the utmost caution, and only reached out a finger to see if it was able to be touched. When he felt the sensation of hard, cold metal, he grabbed it with both hands.
"I can't believe it...Rita Repulsa's staff. What power this must posses if it can do that." He motioned to the giant bush. He looked in both directions and pulled the staff out of the ground. "I gotta hide it." He went back to his window and carefully slid the staff in first, then followed after it. He looked around for a good place to store it; the biggest place was his closet, and he made a home for it behind his pants. He slammed the door closed, and let out a long breath. "I can't ever use it; must only admire." As such, he promptly went back in the closet, intent on examining it's every ridge and contour.
From outside, his father let out a loud groan. "Melvin, have you been conducting experiments on the plants again?"
A/N: And there you have it! The last chapter to set up the storyline. From here on out, I'll be writing my chapters in accordance with the episodes, until the point where the AU will really begin and things go crazy! But that's a long time coming, so enjoy the relative normalcy - for now. Pleeease R & R, folks!