Chapter 2: What Just Happened?
Tommy once again pulls his shiny red car into the parking
lot, Kim having pointed out a handy spot, and they lazily walk back to the
picnic spot. They were only gone for
twenty minutes or so, but they return to an almost empty picnic table and a
total lack of punch. The gang is lying
around on blankets.
“You guys really suck.”
Kim pouts. “You left nothing to
eat or drink.” The automatic finger of
blame points at Rocky who attempts to look innocent.
“Rocko, get off you pointy tail and stop hiding the damn
horns.” Tommy grins.
“Yeah, sweetie, that fake halo doesn’t hide shit,” Kim
adds. She flicks back her dark caramel
hair and plops down onto the bench.
Tommy lies back on the grass.
The sun spreads its light over them, warming them into a sort of
reverie. Jason pulls out a blade of
grass and tickles Aisha’s shoulder. She
shrieks and smacks his chest. Kat
giggles. Not to be left out, Rocky gets
his own bit of grass and attacks Kat’s exposed lower back.
“Oh that’s it!” Kat growls and jumps on him, attacking
his ticklish spots. He flips her over
and jumps up, dashing toward the lake.
She follows quickly.
Rocky suddenly stops, turns and trips Kat straight into
the water.
“You lout.” She
grabs a hold of him and he tumbles in after her.
“Water fight,” exclaims Zack and grabs Tanya’s hand,
catapulting her after him. Jason grins
and, apparently designating Aisha as his victim of the day, throws her over his
shoulder.
“Well I won’t be victimized,” cries out Trini and strides
gracefully to the water.
Kim gets an evil glint in her eye and pounces on the
dozing Billy, “Wakey, wakey.” Before he
knows what’s happening, she has him in the water. Adam and Tommy eye each other warily.
“Race ya?” Adam offers.
Tommy nods cautiously.
A moment later all eleven are soaked through.
Kim flips Tommy over Adam, pushing both further in. Trini eyes Jason and shoves him
forcefully. He flails before falling on
top of Kat. They both go under. Suddenly and very annoyingly, the Rangers’
favorite melody sounds.
“Dang it all.”
Tanya sounds pissed. “Does Mondo
have any idea how disgusting spandex feels when you wear it over wet skin?”
“What is it, Zordon?” Adam braves a response.
“RANGERS, MONDO HAS ATTACKED AGAIN. THERE IS A MONSTER IN
THE WAREHOUSE DISTRICT. HURRY.”
Kim smiles and waves her hand. “Oh go on.”
The six Zeo Rangers sneak over to a patch of heavy
foliage.
“All right, let’s do it!”
“ZEO RANGER ONE!”
“ZEO RANGER TWO!”
“ZEO RANGER THREE!”
“ZEO RANGER FOUR!”
“ZEO RANGER FIVE!”
“GOLD RANGER POWER!”
The defenders of the planet teleport out in a stream of
bright colors.
~*~
The inactive Rangers continue to splash in the water, but
their fun is interlaced with a heavy concern for their friends. Kim crawls out of the water and drops onto
the grass, closing her eyes, ‘God why did I ever leave this place…’
Trini notices the frown flash across Kim’s face and
sprays water right on top of her.
Kim cries out in shock, “Ooooh, I’m gonna get you!”
“Well at least you won’t brood,” Trini retorts and spins
out of her grasp. Kimberly lunges at
her and misses narrowly, finding herself diving into the water. Zack bursts out laughing, and abruptly cuts
off as his legs get pulled out from under him.
“Hah!” Kim
emerges, looking satisfied. Aisha
creeps up from behind and topples her.
Billy watches calmly before rotating and catching Trini’s hand to send
her flying towards Aisha. Both end up underwater.
~*~
“You are evil! Evil incarnate I say!” Kim shouts, running
after Billy. He had sneaked up on her
and dumped an armful of grass on her head.
She gives chase all across the meadow when suddenly small golden sparks
envelope him and she finds herself looking at a tiny blond boy in toddler sized
blue jeans and a little blue stripped shirt.
She stumbles in her confusion and looks back at the others. Aisha is now barely two feet tall, in loose
yellow shorts and a crème tank top.
Trini is a little taller, in her white skort and yellow v-neck
shirt. Zack is Aisha’s height, looking
cool in his black shorts and gray t-shirt.
Kim sinks to the ground in shock.
Zack frowns.
“Kimmie, why you so tall?” Kim’s
mouth gapes open as her suddenly midget-like friends come to stand around her.
Aisha sniffles.
“Kim, I’ma hungwee.”
“Hold on sweetie,” Kim automatically slips into a
comforting tone, hugging the little girl.
Billy approaches her cautiously. “Kim, are you kay?”
She smiles at him, remembering how insecure Billy was as
a child. “I’m fine.” Out of ideas, she triggers her
communicator. “Zordon, it’s Kim.”
“YES, KIMBERLY. WHAT IS IT?”
“Well, everyone but me is suddenly… oh about three years
old.”
Zordon is silent for a moment. “I AM AFRAID WE ARE CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING THE SAME DILEMMA.”
Kim groans. “Tell
me someone other than me is still normal.”
“YES KIMBERLY. TOMMY IS ALSO STILL THE APPROPRIATE
AGE.” Kimberly pictures Tommy
surrounded by five toddlers and realizes she has to be the sensible one.
“Zordon, please teleport me and the munchkins to the
Command Center,” she commands.
“OF COURSE KIMBERLY.”
She herds the confused children to the same spot the Rangers used and
they teleport in a bright ray of light.
~*~
They appear in the Command Center. A tiny Rocky is climbing on top of a console
as the frazzled Tommy tries to pull him down.
Kat attached herself to Tommy’s pant leg, her pigtails swinging. Adam is wandering around the various pieces
of equipment. Jason is jumping up and
down. Tanya is chasing around Tommy’s
legs, startling Kat into loud wails every time she passes her.
“Help!” Tommy mouths at Kim, looking helpless. Kim dissolves into laughter, but, as her own
troupe of hellions joins the insanity, she pales slowly.