Chapter Eighty-three

Teamwork

"Well, now what?" Conner asked wearily. They'd narrowly escaped the zoo without getting caught, but most unfortunately they'd failed to sneak Farky back into the monkey habitat. Now they were hiding out at Club Bulkmeier, sitting in a storage shed and trying to plot out their next move.

"Now we might have to rethink the whole zoo option," Bulk said thoughtfully, absently petting Farky's orange-streaked head.

Conner cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Sorry about the whole thing with the giraffe. I just… panicked."

"Hey, that could have happened to anyone, kid," Bulk told him. "Believe me. I can tell you stories."

"Yeah, and that was a great idea, slipping the orangutans things to throw at the guards for a distraction," Skull said.

"Thanks, guys," Conner said gratefully. He frowned. "You don't think dolphins eat penguins, do you?"

"Not zoo dolphins," Bulk replied. "At least, I don't think they do."

"Oh. Good to know." Conner sighed. "Any ideas?"

"I think we better drop you off at the mall," Bulk said. "It's getting late. The mall closes soon."

Conner was affronted. "I can't back out on you guys now! I'm the whole reason we couldn't sneak Farky back in! If that gorilla hadn't captured Ms. Syrian Hamster—"

"Whew, I thought she was a goner for sure," Bulk said. "Good move on that one, Skull."

"Anytime," Skull replied cheerfully.

"My point is," Conner said firmly, "I'm a part of this now. I can't leave you guys to hang."

"Well, what can we do? We can't sneak Farky back in, apparently," Skull said sadly.

"I'll have to take him back with me," Bulk sighed. "Connie's gonna be pissed."

Conner frowned thoughtfully. Think, Conner, think, he urged himself. You were the leader of the Dino Thunder Power Rangers. You can plan. You've had plenty of plans. Like that time with the Copy Otter. No, not like that time with the Copy Otter… um…

Conner racked his brains. The trouble had started when the guard had seen that the monkey in Bulk's coveralls was orange. He had known that Farky was a stolen chimpanzee because the orange paint made him stand out. But if Farky looked like a normal chimp…

"I've got it!" Conner exclaimed. "How we can get Farky back to the zoo, and keep you guys from getting caught for monkey theft!"

"How?" Bulk and Skull demanded in unison.

"Simple. We'll just take off the orange paint. Then we'll go back to the zoo, sneak into one of the employee hallways behind the monkey cages, and drop him off. That way, they'll think Farky just escaped, and you can say that you were taking your own chimpanzee that you, I don't know, rescued from the park or something, to visit his friends and to try to see if your poor, lonely, came-out-of-nowhere chimp might like to go live at the zoo with the other chimps! And that when you saw that you couldn't just drop him off at the zoo, you… I don't know… set him free or something or snuck him into another zoo…"

"That's a great idea!" Bulk breathed, clapping Conner on the back so hard he nearly fell from his perch on a narrow shelf.

"Yeah, a great idea!" Skull echoed. "But, wait… how are we going to get this paint off him? It's kinda stuck-on, now…"

"Well…" Conner said slowly, glancing around the storage shed. There were plenty of things in the shed that might be useful, but their previous attempts to cleanse Farky had failed miserably.

Then, as if divine light had illuminated it to draw Conner's attention, his eyes fastened on a canister of paint. It had been used previously… and a trickle of brown was dripping down the side.

Conner beamed. "Don't worry, guys," he said proudly. "I've got a plan."

Adam and Rocky ducked instinctively as they walked beneath the helicopter's whirring blades. Despite the fact that neither of them were tall enough to lose a body part if they stood up straight, they were both a little too used to dodging dangerous objects.

"Finally," Adam said, waving goodbye to his pilot and leading the way to the Mercedes. "It's already eight thirty."

"Eh, the night is young," Rocky said, feeling a pang of guilt. It was in fact his fault that they hadn't returned earlier; he hadn't been able to tear himself away from the teashop, for reasons neither he nor Adam wanted to examine.

"I know," Adam said, sighing as he hit the remote on his keychain. "I just… I feel like we're on borrowed time, you know? Billy's back, Tommy and Kimberly are momentarily on speaking terms, and who knows how long we'll all be together?"
"I know. But at the same time, it's like… I don't even feel like I should be glued to them. It's too much like old times, you know? The moment Billy comes back and those two start flirting it's like nothing's changed. I keep thinking—"

"That they'll be there tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that," Adam finished. "Yeah. It's weird, like we all just picked up where we left off. But we really should be spending more time with them. Billy has to go home soon, and Tommy and Kimberly's little truce might not last, and after all we barely know the new kids."

"Yeah." They slid into Adam's car and he started the engine. "So, do you want to call them, or should I?" Rocky asked.

"I will. You'll try to gloss over the tea obsession," Adam teased.

"Hey, that wasBilly's fault! He's the one who drugged us all."

"Uh-huh. Sure, Rocky." Adam got out his cell phone and dialed Tommy. "It's busy," he said, frowning. "Must be having a three-way call or accessing his voicemail or something."

"Here's hoping it's that simple," Rocky muttered.

Adam shrugged and started driving out of the airport, putting the phone on speaker and setting it in its dashboard holder. "I guess we'll try the others," he said, and hit the speed dial for Jason.

Jason answered on the third ring, an urgent tone in his voice. "Adam? Where are you?"

"Um… why?" Adam asked suspiciously.

"It's Conner. He left the mall and he got lost and apparently he's trying to help Bulk and Skull sneak an orange chimpanzee into the zoo or something."

"He's… what?" Adam asked blankly.

"He's trying to sneak an orange chimpanzee into the zoo. At least, he was. Zack and Billy say every monkey in the place has been released or traumatized and there's no sign of Bulk, Skull or Conner, so we're still looking for them. Nobody's home at Bulk and Skull's place—although, hey, did you know Bulk has a girlfriend? She was actually pretty hot. And—"

"Jason, buddy, I'm still stuck back on the orange chimp," Rocky interrupted faintly.

"Oh, yeah. We're not sure what's going on. It answers to 'Farky,' apparently, and we've been listening to Bulk and Skull's voicemails, but they were pretty old and none of them are answering their phones anymore, so mostly we've just been running into half-demolished buildings full of shaky employees who are trying to repress memories of three crazy guys and an orange chimp. Tommy's having a cow. Are you guys back in town yet? Do you think you can help look for them?"

Adam looked at Rocky.

Rocky looked at Adam.

As one, they turned to face forward; they'd come to a T-shaped intersection at the end of the airport. A sign directly across from them said "Angel Grove 3" with an arrow pointing left, and "Stone Canyon 15" with an arrow pointing right.

"That's what we were calling to tell you, Jase," Adam said slowly. "See, there's a problem with the flight plan. By the time I dragged Rocky out of the teashop it was way past the original departure time and so now we're having a few issues. Might be a few hours before we can get back. I'm going to give it another hour to get it resolved, and if they can't I'll just drive out there."

Jason swore. "All right. Well, we gotta get back to hunting these three down; we're about to reconvene at the hotel and search for them there. Call us when you get here, right?"

"Will do, Jase. Bye."

Jason ended the call. Adam breathed an only slightly guilty sigh of relief.

"So," Rocky said. "Wanna hit the movies?"

"Movies sound good," Adam agreed, turning right and heading determinedly for the relative safety of Stone Canyon.

"Are you sure about this, Conner?"

"I'm sure," Conner said firmly. For some reason, Bulk and Skull were reluctant to proceed. As if his plan was strange or something.

"I'd feel a lot better if we were doing this at Bulkmeier's," Bulk said stubbornly.

"Guys, I told you. After that thing at the zoo, they might be looking for you. And this is the only other place we have access too at the moment; we don't want to go to a public one or anything."

"All right," Bulk said reluctantly.

"Here's hoping we don't regret this," said Skull.

Conner hitched the length of rope a little higher up his shoulder and hefted the can of brown paint. "Don't worry, guys. Just act natural."

"Okay," Jarel said slowly. "Say that one more time?"

Steven sighed. This was the third time Jarel had asked him to repeat their latest assignment. "Three guys washing orange paint off a monkey in the pool at the Angel Grove Inn."

"Uh-huh." Jarel stared blankly out the windshield. Steven was driving. Jarel had left the car to go grab some coffee, and when he'd come back Steven had started trying to explain their next call. Somehow, it just wouldn't process.

They were supposed to have gotten off at four, but they'd been asked to pull some overtime; most of A.G.P.D. had been pulling double shifts all week and things weren't going so well in the city. Plenty of people were pulling random petty crimes, trying to flush the Power Rangers out of hiding, thanks to one of them showing up to stop a purse snatcher and then appearing again at the Angel Grove Inn yesterday to chase down some guy who'd jumped a couple of bellhops. Their morning had started out with a bogus call from a group of hung over girls who insisted their ninja stripper had jumped off their balcony in the middle of the night; they'd written it off as a direct result of too many margaritas. Then the mall had called them in to try and find some kid who'd somehow managed to vandalize the Power Rangers fountain, set loose an ungodly amount of rodents at the pet store, and damage a security gate at a Spencer's; they'd spent a while reviewing the tapes and prowling the mall with no result. Then a chimpanzee had been stolen from the Angel Grove Zoo, but the crooks had been long gone by the time Steven and Jarel got there. Just as they were heading to grab some dinner, the chimpanzee thieves had returned to the zoo, apparently trying to ditch the chimp, and nearly destroyed the place; Jarel had gotten kicked by an antagonized giraffe and he was pretty sure a gorilla had given him the finger. And now… now someone was washing a monkey in a hotel pool.

"Is it just me, or is it getting weirder?" Jarel asked faintly.

Steven shrugged. "Hope they let us go before midnight."

Jarel shook his head. Even more disconcerting than all the bizarre occurrences was the fact that, for all his ranting yesterday, Steven was taking everything without complaint. He was doing his job and completely unperturbed by things like violent giraffes and escaped hamsters and ninjas who moonlighted as strippers. The more freaked out Jarel got, the calmer Steven became, as if he'd never complained in the first place.

Jarel sighed. He had long since learned that the best way to handle a problem with Steven was to be blunt; Steven didn't talk much about what was bothering him unless prodded a bit and once he started talking he generally felt better and started fixing things. "All right, that's it," Jarel said. "What's up with you?"

"What do you mean?" Steven asked.

"You're all… all… calm. You were freaking out yesterday about how hellish and Twilight Zone this place was, and now we're here, and you're acting like it's no big deal. You haven't even said 'I told you so.'"

Steven smiled sardonically. "That's how it works here, Jarel."

"How what works here?" Jared asked desperately.

"The weirdness."

Jarel shook his head, frustrated. "All I know about the weirdness so far is that you were right. Giraffes are one of the most docile creatures on the planet. That plaque at the zoo said so. And who teaches rude hand gestures to a gorilla? How can one kid cause so much chaos in a mall and not get caught? Who really steals a chimpanzee and accidentally puts penguins in the dolphin tank along the way?"

"People from Angel Grove."

"Why?" Jarel demanded.

"There is no why."

"Dude, stop with the cryptic wise man crap and throw me a line here. How can you be so… so…?"

"Unaffected?" Steven supplied.

"Yes!"

"It's easy," Steven said with a shrug. "Once you've got the practice. That's the thing. It's not easy at first. But pretty soon it's just second nature. Once the weirdness starts, there's only one thing you can do."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Hope it doesn't affect you."

Jarel frowned. "In case you haven't noticed, man, it is affecting me. I got kicked by a giraffe."

Steven chuckled. "Yeah. Wonder if the zoo would give us a copy of that security tape."

Jarel stared at him incredulously, offended. "You think this is funny?"

"A little. Mostly I try not to think about it. See, Jarel, you've been doing this for one day. I did it my whole life. Got worse when the Rangers showed up, as if they unbalanced something on some universal chaos scale, but it was always there, really. As if the weirdness needed an excuse to present itself. You want to make it through it, you just have to pay attention to the signs that it's time to duck and try not to attempt to reason with the madness."

"That's how you deal with it?"

"Better. That's how I avoid it, man. Look," Steven said thoughtfully, "what was your first clue that our day was going to suck?"

"Well, you tried to warn me yesterday—"

"That wasn't a clue. That was a dire warning that you chose to ignore and later looked back upon and wondered why you didn't listen. What was your first clue?"

Jarel's frown deepened as he thought it over. "Well, our first call being a bunch of drunken girls talking about manic depressive ninja gigolos was a good start…"

"Ah, I see. You caught it too late."

"Excuse me?"

"My first clue? We start talking about Angel Grove and we happen upon six people digging holes in a park, three of them wearing ski masks, all of them thinking running would be a good plan. Not only do we fail to catch them or find anything in the holes they dug, but a guy from my high school football team purposefully knocks me into a creek and then tags along on the foot pursuit."

"Wait—purposefully?" Jarel asked, confused.

"Thought it over later. The way he was standing when I hit him? Wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't an accident. We were on the football team together, remember? He braced for impact and moved into my path. Pretty sure he saw me coming."

"Why the hell didn't you say anything?"

"Not enough to go on. Don't have enough evidence on anyone to do any real damage, and whatever his reasons for knocking me into the creek, he wasn't part of the digging crew. Wrong height, build, clothes. Wasn't sweaty, so he hadn't been doing anything too strenuous."

"Maybe he knew who it was, though!" Jarel said angrily.

"Doubtful. I know the guy, like I said, and he's not much for getting into trouble with the law. Besides, there's nothing to go on. I can't even prove he meant to knock me into the creek. I'm not even sure if he did. And if he did, it probably had nothing to do with the digging guys. He could've just seen that it was me and thought throwing me in would be funny—reminding me of the football team or something—and then when I was pissed off about landing in the creek, played it off like an accident." Steven rolled his eyes. "You don't really think I'd fail to follow up on a lead, do you?" Jarel shook his head and gave him an apologetic look. "But that's not the point. Point is we start talking about the weirdness of Angel Grove and things promptly get weird. Guys in ski masks asking dog walkers for the time and people digging holes and a guy I haven't seen in years popping up out of the blue to throw me in a creek. That, my friend, is a sign."

"A sign," Jarel repeated dubiously. "I'm still not sure—"

"Sign number two," Steven continued, cutting him off. "We show up at the station this morning and everybody's really glad to see reinforcements."

"How is that weird? If every day's like this one, I'd be calling in the Feds for an event like Power Rangers Day. Hell, I'd've had the National Guard up in here."

Steven ignored him. "Sign number three, there's a suicidal ninja in the Angel Grove Inn."

"So?" Jarel demanded, exasperated.

"So that's the same hotel the Black Ranger visited yesterday. The original Black Ranger, who, by the way, eventually became the Black Ninja Ranger."

Jarel stared at him. "But… but… those girls said his ninja costume was white."

"Yeah, they did. How many people do you know who own ninja costumes in white? Why not black or gray or purple or something a little more commonly found on the rack at Halloween USA?"

"I'm… not sure I'm following. Are you… are you suggesting the ninja guy wasn't a product of margaritas?"

"Truth be told, Jarel, I'm not sure. But I'll tell you this—a white ninja in a hotel a Power Ranger was spotted in? Could be a bad costume. Could be a bunch of girls who can't hold their liquor. Could also be a Power Ranger."

"But… but… surely they would have recognized him, right?"
"Maybe. Maybe not. After all this time, a lot of people forget little details like that; Ninja Rangers were only around a few months. It's just suspicious. I doubt we'll ever figure it out. If it is a Power Ranger, I know we won't figure it out; they're too good for that. But, for argument's sake, let's say that those girls were telling the truth. A ninja came into their room, danced for three minutes, dashed out onto the balcony, and vanished. If that did happen, he either magically disappeared or jumped but didn't injure himself badly enough on the sixty-foot drop to be unable to walk away. Only people who can manage to do one or the other? Power Rangers."

"Okay, yeah, but… why would a Power Ranger be masquerading as a stripper?"

"Wouldn't be the weirdest thing to happen in this town. Although that question is exactly why I'm telling you this little theory and not writing it in the report." He chuckled. "The mayor would have us assassinated if a story like that got out." He actually laughed. Jarel found this unsettling; Steven wasn't the sort to laugh at bizarre events.

Jarel rubbed a hand over his face wearily. "I'm getting pretty sick of this town. And… I think I lost the point of the conversation."

Steven snickered. "The point? Chaos will bitch-slap you if you don't watch out for the signs. You have to know it's coming."

"And if you do know it's coming?"

"Well, then, at least you're expecting it."

Jarel digested this. "Is that really any better?"

"Way better. A slap is way better than a bitch-slap."

"How's that?"

"Knowing that it's coming makes it easier to brace yourself."

Jarel blinked. "Huh. That actually kind of makes sense."

Steven nodded. "Think of all those hotel workers and customers who were just minding their own business poolside when suddenly an orange chimpanzee landed in the shallow end and three guys poured in some bubble bath."

"There's going to be bubble bath?"

Steven shrugged. "I have no idea. My point is, I'd hate to run up in that hotel with no clue that I was about to find three guys scrubbing down a chimpanzee." He smiled. "At least we get to brace for impact."

"He's not answering the communicator, either," Tommy said grimly as Jason's truck screeched to a halt in a parking space in front of the Angel Grove Inn.

"Great," Jason muttered, yanking his keys from the ignition. Just as he was about to pop the door handle, Zack's Escalade skidded into the parking space next to him. Tommy's Jeep, driven by Trini, pulled up on Tommy's side.

"Report," Jason called as they all scrambled out and began jogging towards the hotel's front doors.

"Zoo's in shambles, but they're long gone," Zack said.

"Searched the park's perimeter, nothing," Kimberly said.

"Trail went cold downtown; I think it's safe to assume they doubled back," Billy said.

"They picked up a bunch of odd supplies at Bulkmeier resort," Trini said. "Garden hose, soap, brown paint, towels."

"Bulk and Skull's houses were clear," Jason finished.

"And just for fun," Tommy added, "Bulk's having a baby with a rather good-looking girl."

Kimberly, Trini and Zack burst out laughing; even Billy chuckled. Their procession had to come to a halt; the three of them couldn't continue running while laughing so hard. "That's a good one, Tommy," Kimberly choked out.

"If only it were a joke," Jason said with a sigh. The amusement began to slowly fade into incredulity.

"Her name's Connie," Tommy explained. "Met him on the Junior Police Patrol—"

"He joined that junior year, right?" Billy asked, frowning.

Tommy nodded. "Him and Skull. Anyway, she said she was fourteen weeks along."

Zack, Kimberly, Billy and Trini gaped, while Kira, Ethan and Trent looked from one to the other, slightly confused.

"Is she… is he… are they married?" Kimberly hissed.

Jason shook his head. "She referred to him as her boyfriend, not 'fiancé' or 'husband,' but we think they're living together. She said he called to say he wouldn't be home for dinner, and she answered his front door in her bathrobe, so…"

"Bulk's having sex," Zack said, sounding mystified. "On a somewhat regular basis."

A shudder went through the six older Rangers. "Thanks, Zack—we'd been repressing that logical conclusion since she opened the front door," Tommy said dryly.

"And in approximately five and a half months, a creature with half of Bulk's chromosomes will presumably become a member of society," Billy mused. "I find this highly disturbing."

"Um, speaking of disturbing," Kira called, "can we get back to Conner?"

"Oh, yeah. Him," Jason said.

They started jogging towards the entrance again. "Do you think I can blame Bulk having a baby on Conner?" Tommy wondered.

"Those two events are not logically entwined," Billy said.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't have found out if it weren't for Conner," Tommy pointed out.

"Ignorance is bliss," Jason agreed.

"So thanks for sharing," Trini said sourly.

"Sorry."

"Has anyone heard from Rocky or Adam?" Kimberly asked.

"Said they were still stuck in L.A., something about a flight plan," Jason said.

"Probably just didn't want to deal with hunting down Bulk, Skull, Conner and a monkey," Tommy muttered.

"Anyway," Jason said, "let's split up when we get in there. Zack, you take the girl at the front desk."

"Aw, but it's day shift! It's probably that crazy chick who keeps hitting on me."

"That's why you're talking to her. Kira, you scope out the restaurant, gift shops, and meeting rooms; Trent, Billy, you take the pool. Tommy and I will check out our floor; Trini, Ethan, take the elevator to the top and work your way down. Kimberly, go with Trini and Ethan, then head down the stairwell. If anyone finds him, send out a signal on the communicators."

They barreled through the front doors and glanced about the lobby. There was no sign of Conner. They moved as one unit across the lobby, Zack branching off halfway to head for the desk, which was currently unmanned. Everyone stopped at the elevators to wait, save Kira, Billy and Trent; Kira headed for the restaurant and Billy and Trent jogged for the pool.

Zack hit the bell on the front desk, tapping his foot impatiently even as he pasted a charming smile on his face. Kira paused to let an elderly couple exit the restaurant, holding the door for them and preparing to dart inside the moment they passed. An elevator door cracked open, but Jason held the others back at the last second, noticing that Billy and Trent hadn't entered the pool; they were standing stock-still and staring through the glass.

"Guys?" Billy called in a strangle tone.

"Billy?" Jason called back cautiously.

"I…" Billy began, then shook his head and tried again. "I… well, the good news is, I think we found them."

There was a long pause as the others let Billy's words sink in. "The good news." As in, "bad news soon to follow."

Suddenly the seven were rushing for the glass doors that led to the pool. Several of them had meant to go around Billy and Trent and straight out into the pool area, but none of them made it. As soon as they saw the scene through the glass, there was nothing left to do but stare in numb silence. And stare. And stare some more.

Ethan was the first to speak; when he did, his words came out as a dry croak. "Oh, god," he whimpered. "I really am going to hell."