Chapter3: Some Problems & Some Solutions
“Enough!” Kim
realizes if she doesn’t take charge now, then all hope of controlling the kids
is gone. They all stop moving at the
unusual sound of Kim’s stern scream.
Nine tiny, innocent looking faces turn to her in wonder.
“Zordon, how soon do you think you can figure out how to
turn them back?” Kim looks up at her
mentor with hope.
Zordon sighs. “IT
IS HARD TO SAY. WE DO KNOW IT IS NOT THE WORK OF KING MONDO, BECAUSE THIS WAS
CLEARLY A SPELL OF SOME SORT. HOWEVER UNTIL WE FIGURE OUT WHO IS TO BLAME WE
CANNOT FIND THE SOLUTION.”
Tommy looks scared.
“So Kim and I have to take care of nine toddlers, half of whom are
probably not even potty trained yet for God knows how long…”
As if to underline the severity of the situation, Billy
wails, “I wet. I wet. Kimmieeeeee… do so’thin’.”
Kim gives Tommy a pained smile. “Zordon… so any diapers around here?”
Zordon shakes his head in consternation. “ALPHA, CAN YOU GENERATE SOME?”
Alpha walks over to a console and taps his fingers along
the keypad. “Yes Zordon, that would be
possible.” He presses a red button and
package of generic diapers appears on top of the console.
Kim gestures at Tommy.
“He’s all yours.”
“Hey, you’re the girl, you should do this…” At Kim’s glare, Tommy stutters off and bends
down to gingerly pick up the crying Billy and lay him on a counter.
“First of all I don’t need to see Billy’s private parts.
Second of all I need to make the arrangements for as long as we have to
baby-sit.” She narrows her eyes as
Tommy slowly slides Billy’s jeans off to reveal his wet little white boxers.
“Zordon, can you scan all the Rangers’ houses to see
whose parents are away for an extended period of time?” Kim turns her attention to the matters at
hand.
“No need,” Tommy interjects, wrinkling his suffering
nose. “My parents are on a two-week
vacation in the Caribbean and you know my house is huge.”
Kim nods.
“Zordon, could you teleport my stuff to Tommy’s house so Mr. Cranston
doesn’t notice.”
“OF COURSE.”
Tommy manages to peel Billy’s sticky boxers off and is
rewarded with a spray in his face. He
backs away and sputters.
Kim giggles.
“Billy, sweetie, how much did you drink?”
“I sowee.” Billy
scrunches his face in preparation to cry.
Tommy wipes his face with his t-shirt and approaches
Billy quickly. “It’s ok… It’ll come
off… Don’t cry…”
Mollified, Billy giggles and waves his legs in the
air. “Fun…”
“Alright so housing is taken care off. What about… oh
no…” Kim exhales with horror. “Where
are we going to get the money to feed and dress nine toddlers…?”
“THAT ISN’T A PROBLEM, KIMBERLY,” Zordon speaks quietly,
“I HAVE A CREDIT CARD YOU CAN USE.” A
small plastic rectangle materializes in front of Kim. She grabs it and examines the name… Zander Ellar Inc.
“Zordon?” Kim
finds the idea of Zordon having a credit card peculiar, at best.
“A FEW YEARS AGO WE DECIDED IT WAS BEST TO TRANSFER SOME
FUNDS TO EARTH AS A PRECAUTION. WE CREATED A SHAM COMPANY AND OBTAINED CREDIT.
SINCE WE ALWAYS PAY OUR BILLS NO QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN RAISED.” Zordon almost blushes.
“I am afraid I have abused that privilege, so I am not
sure if that credit card still works…”
Alpha looks down in shame.
“ALPHA, HAVE YOU BEEN WATCHING THE SHOPPING NETWORK
AGAIN?” Zordon inquires, exasperated.
“YOU KNOW YOU CANNOT STOP BUYING THINGS FROM IT…” Alpha nods timidly.
Zordon sighs.
“WELL, TEST THE CREDIT CARD THEN.”
Alpha nods again, and reaches for the console, his metallic hands
glinting in the soft light of the room.
Tommy is struggling with Billy’s diaper, as Zack decides
to test the patience of his current guardians.
He sneaks to the display cases and slowly cracks open the case with the
Morphin Blue Ranger suit.
Kim turns, lightning quick, and grabs him by the scruff
of his shirt. “Just what do you think
you’re doing, hmm Zack?” He tries to
scramble away, but Kim’s delicate fingers grip him like a vise.
He then tries the innocent approach. “I wa’ jus’ playin’.”
Kim shakes her head.
“No. That is not a toy. Behave.”
Properly chastised, Zack waddles over to Jason and hides behind
him. The kids are quiet, so as not to
risk Kim’s wrath. It is a lot scarier
now that they are less than half her height.
Tommy finally manages to tape down the diaper and proceeds to pull on
Billy’s jeans.
A beep sounds and Alpha looks up. “Our credit line is functioning.”
Kim glances briefly at the small piece of plastic in her
hand and sighs. “So that’s housing and
money… what else?”
“Mondo,” Tommy replies, setting Billy down on the floor.
“TOMMY, YOU ARE CORRECT. A SINGLE FUNCTIONING RANGER WILL
NOT BE ENOUGH TO KEEP HIS FORCES AT BAY,” Zordon agrees, mulling something
over.
“All right, all right.”
Kimberly waves her left hand decisively. “I’ll borrow one of the Zeonizers and fill in.”
“I’m sure Kat won’t mind if you take hers,” Tommy offers.
Kim lifts her eyebrows and her eyes glint with a
mischievous amusement. “Na-ah… I think
not.” Tommy looks at her in confusion.
She shakes her head.
“Tsk, tsk. You weren’t listening earlier. I’m sick of Pink.”
Zordon has a faint glimmer of where she is going with
this. “IT IS YOUR CHOICE
KIMBERLY.” Tommy shrugs, also leaving
the decision-making up to her.
“Well… if I’m going to take up the slack of five Rangers,
then I should take the strongest Power available…” Kim trails off,
grinning. Zordon smiles. “I want the Gold Ranger Power,” she finishes
triumphantly. Zordon internalizes his
mirth at the idea that Tommy will be out-Powered by his tiny
ex-girlfriend. Tommy groans. The kids, having no idea of what’s going on,
giggle nonetheless at Tommy’s frustration.
“Umm how do we get the Staff?” Kimberly just wants to get it over with and establish some sort
of order. Tommy frowns and heads over
to Jason, who stares at him intently, then breaks into a huge smile.
“Jase, do you know what a Ranger is?” Tommy asks him,
squatting down to his level.
“Supa-hewo… coo’,” Jason replies.
“Do you know who the Gold Ranger is?” Kim bends down,
steadying herself with a hand on Tommy’s shoulder.
“Na-ah.” The
little boy shakes his head emphatically.
Kim looks up at Zordon with a pained expression. The Zeonizers as well as the Staff are kept
in sub-space pockets and Jason would have to call on the Staff to pass it to
Kim. Yet, it is painfully obvious that
he has no knowledge of any of this. The
odds are that the Staff will not even recognize him as its master.
Zordon quickly scans through the thousands of years of
his memory. “THERE MAY BE A WAY…” Kim bites her lip, waiting for him to
finish. “A LONG TIME AGO, A RANGER
BETRAYED HIS TEAM. HE FELT SLIGHTED FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER. IT WAS TOO
DANGEROUS TO EVEN CONSIDER LETTING HIM KEEP HIS POWER SO THE COUNCIL AGREED ON
A COURSE OF ACTION,” Zordon reminisces.
“WE GAVE THE TEAM LEADER THE ABILITY TO CALL UP ANY OF THE MORPHERS
UNDER HER COMMAND.”
Tommy fixates on one single word. “Their leader was a girl?!?”
Kim flashes him a hard look. “What are you trying to say?”
Sensing the inherent danger in continuing that train of though, Tommy
wisely shuts up.
“TECHNICALLY, TOMMY, YOU ARE THE GOLD RANGER’S LEADER AS
WELL, SO IT MAY BE POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO CALL UP THE STAFF,” Zordon continues.
“I’ll try… How do I do it?” Tommy shrugs.
“HOLD OUT YOUR HANDS AND SAY ‘I, THE LEADER OF THE
RANGERS, HEREBY RECALL THE POWER OF THE GOLD RANGER AND REQUEST HIS MORPHER’,”
Zordon instructs. Tommy winces at the
corniness of the statement, but reaches out his hands and repeats the
phrase. Jason flashes gold and the
Staff materializes in Tommy’s hands with an explosion of black sparks.
Tommy grins and turns to Kimberly, holding her new toy
out to her. “Here you are,
milady.” She smiles and lifts it up
gingerly, as Tommy attempts a royal bow.
Aisha giggles, covering her mouth with her tiny hands.
Kim holds up the Staff, a gold glow emanating from it
into her body, and shouts, “GOLD RANGER POWER!” The glow disperses and Kim stands clothed in the black and gold
uniform of her new Power. She stares at
Tommy, hiding a self-satisfied smirk behind the helmet. The Gold Ranger has arrived… and she is
ready to kick ass.