Power Rangers
“Going Psycho”
It was a hot June afternoon in Angel Grove. The sun was beating down and two figures were making the most of it as they laid out on the beach. Public schools were just days from letting out for the summer and it was one of the last peaceful afternoons anyone would have at the beaches for a good three months.
“So when do you want to go home?”, Kimberly Heart asked without opening her eyes or even turning to look at her tanning partner
Carri Hillard shifted on her beach towel before answering. “You mean home, home?”
“Mmm-hmm.”, Kim replied. They had been in Angel Grove for the last three days. The first day they were home they went to Ernie’s and ran into Emily, and ended up having an afternoon out. Yesterday they spent some time with Kat at the mall which was fun. Today they went tanning and had invited Kat to come, but she had already made plans with her boyfriend. They were debating on when to make the trek back to their apartment in LA. In another few days Tommy and Rocky were planning on coming back and spending a few days in the city, but Kim wasn’t sure she wanted to wait that long to go home.
“We could go tomorrow night.”, Carri suggested. She had plans with Rocky that night and the following afternoon, and she knew Kim had plans as well.
“That would be nice.”, Kim commented. Although she loved Angel Grove, and she knew Carri did as well, she missed the freedoms that came with living alone. Staying with Carri’s Aunt and Uncle meant they had others to answer to. Not that they enforced rules, it was just different. Plus Billy still lived in the apartment, and now that Trini teleported home all the time for official business he had no reason to go anywhere. She felt bad about leaving him there by himself for long periods of time.
Suddenly Carri shrieked. Before Kim could even see what the commotion was, she got doused with water and shrieked as well. Both girls sat up and started spitting out salt water and wiping it from their eyes until the two culprits came into focus.
“Good you’re awake.”, Tommy said with a smile. Kim looked at him and rolled her eyes and he laughed.
“Lucky for you it was just us and not, say, Goldar.”, Rocky joked. They were amused by how easy it was to sneak up on the two female rangers.
It was Carri’s turn to roll her eyes. “Please like he could sneak up on anybody.”
The boys laughed knowing she was right. “Seriously though, Jason and Emily are down that way, they wanted everyone to play volleyball.”, Tommy said as he extended his hand to his girlfriend
Kim took it and let him pull her up. “Sure that sounds like fun.”, she said as Carri stood as well
The two girls let the boys lead them down the beach. Finally the net came into view, followed by the two figures standing by it with their arms wrapped around each other. “Hey guys!”, Carri called as they got closer
They said hello as Jason turned to look, noticing Kim and Carri’s hair dripping wet. He grinned at Tommy and Rocky. “Did you do it?”
“Yeah.”, Rocky replied with a grin. They had seen the girls tanning earlier and they thought what better way to wake them than a little water to the face.
Jason started laughing as he looked at Kim and Carri. “You are so dead.”, Kim said with a smile on her face
“Shall we split up and do this?”, Tommy asked
“How about girls against boys?”, Emily suggested. She had tried to convince them that it wouldn’t be funny to throw water on her friends, but of course they thought otherwise. Now would be as good of a time as any for the women to band together for a little payback. Nothing hurts guys more than losing to women at sports.
“Are you sure you want to do that?”, Jason asked as he grinned and looked at his girlfriend
She smiled at him. “You’re going to be so sorry you messed with the girls.”
The boys raised eyebrows and exchanged looks. “I’m going to hate when we embarrass them.”, Rocky said smiling in the girls general direction
“It’s on now.”, Carri said pointing at Rocky and jogging over to the other side of the net. The other two girls quickly joined her and the boys moved over toward their side.
Tommy snatched the ball and walked to the back corner. “We’ve got first serve.”, he said with a smile
“It doesn’t matter to us we’ll get it soon enough.”, Kim replied as the ball came sailing over the net. Kim jumped for it and kept it off the ground while Emily hit it back to the boys. Jason ran to spike it back to his girlfriend, who threw her hands up more in defense than anything. As Emily hit the ball and it popped up in the air, Carri spiked it right back landing it perfectly between Tommy and Rocky.
“See. Our serve.”, Kim said with a smile as she gave Carri and Emily high fives. Kim stepped to the back and launched the ball back over the net. The boys stood ready as the game continued.
Later that night Rocky and Carri sat on the couch in Carri’s aunt and uncle’s home. “I still say it was a tie.”, Rocky said referencing the volleyball game from earlier
“And I still say we won.”, Carri replied. There had been a lot of argument coming over scoring and points and everything else, most of it coming from the boys who were at a refusal to loose. But regardless of what the official outcome was, they all had a good time. And the girls were chalking it up as a victory.
Rocky had thought about their evening. He had taken her to dinner and a movie, followed by a moonlit walk by Angel Grove Lake. He walked her home afterwards. Everything had been absolutely fabulous. “I had a good time tonight.”, he said. It was one of the first dates that had gone off flawlessly in a long time. Usually evil was to thank for that.
“Me too.”, Carri said as she looked up at him and caught his eyes, smiling as she did. “I’m glad Rita could find it in her heart to leave us be.”, she added as if reading his thoughts.
“Two whole days without her. It’s been kind of nice.”, Rocky commented
“Yeah. Maybe we can get through tomorrow afternoon too.”, Carri said wishfully. “Is TJ coming?”
Rocky nodded. “Yeah in theory. He said it would be good to have fun. He’s had a lot on his mind lately.” A lot of the former Angel Grove High baseball players were getting together the following afternoon to scrimmage. Carri promised to play, although it had been almost two years since she’d thrown a ball.
“Yeah it sucks. They’ve been overwhelmed by a lot lately.”, Carri replied. Some of the information that had come from the Astro Rangers had blown her mind. Ecliptor was some sort of new, advanced, better Ecliptor. They were fighting a force known as the Psycho Rangers, who had imitated the real rangers and appeared on television. The most mind boggling of it all was that Astronema, princess of evil, was really Andros’s long lost sister Karone. She had tried to escape and been captured and implanted by Dark Specter so she would continue to do his bidding.
Rocky put his arm around Carri and she curled up next to him. The house was eerily quiet considering Carri’s aunt and uncle were upstairs in their room and Kat had been shuffling around the house for the last little bit. As if to ease their minds they heard a door open and Kat came walking down the stairs.
“Sorry.”, she apologized. “Just pretend I’m not here.”
“You’re fine.”, Carri assured her. “We were just chatting.”
“About anything exciting?”, Kat asked as she smiled at her cousin
Carri shook her head no. “Just stuff.”
Kat paused for a moment then went and took a seat in the recliner. She missed talking to everybody and she thought it would be nice to sit down here and have a conversation. “Mind if I join?”, she asked
Carri shrugged. “Be my guest.”
Rocky leaned down and kissed Carri on the forehead. It was just past midnight, and he knew the two cousins hadn’t had much time to talk to each other in a while. For those reasons he decided to call it a night. “I think I’m heading home.”
“Don’t let me run you out.”, Kat said concerned that her presence had sent him away
“No it’s not you. It’s late and I’m tired.”, Rocky assured her as he smiled at her. He sat up and turned, giving his girlfriend a kiss. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yup.”, she replied grinning at him. Rocky snuck one more kiss before saying goodbye and walking out the door.
“Should we lock it?”, Kat asked gesturing to the door
“Besides the fact that I don’t want to get up, Kim’s not home yet.”, Carri informed her
“Oh?”, Kat asked. The door to the guest room was shut, and Kat had just assumed that she had slipped in and went upstairs without her knowing. “Is she with Tommy?”, Kat asked what she felt like was probably a stupid question. Carri nodded. “What do you think they’re doing so late?”
“Misbehaving.”, Carri said with a laugh
Kat blushed. She shouldn’t have asked her cousin that question. And even though he was her ex-boyfriend, it was still weird to think about him with Kim again. Sometimes she missed him. He was her first true love, and that’s something that takes a while to forget. Especially since she had spent years chasing Tommy and until recently thought her happiest moments in life were with him. “So I take it you and Rocky are doing well?”, Kat questioned veering away from the topic of Kim and Tommy
“Yeah. It’s going really well, actually.”, Carri said. A smile slowly came across her face as she thought about her and Rocky’s relationship. “We’re coming up on three years.”
“Three?”, Kat questioned in amazement. “Has it really been that long?”
“Kinda hard to believe isn’t it?”, Carri asked. So much had changed in that span of three years. They had started off as simply Zeo Rangers, five strong. Once upon a time the team was her, Adam, Rocky, Kat and Tommy. She started out dating Rocky, with Kat her best friend in the entire world. She got to know Tommy and Adam, but it took time.
Throughout the next three years they gained Ninjetti powers, lost Zeo powers, and gained Ninja Zeo powers. They gained and lost members. This was Jason’s second run on the team since Carri’s been a ranger, the first time was as an additional ranger and the second time was as Adam’s replacement. Kim took over for Kat, and of course they gained an entire new team in the Astro Rangers. Now the five rangers, herself, Rocky, Kim, Tommy and Jason, were so close they were like a family. Her and Rocky were in a serious relationship, and although she and Kat were still friends the woman she was closest to had become Kim.
“Time flies.”, Kat commented. She too was thinking of how everything had changed in the last three years. She certainly wasn’t where she thought she would be. She thought she’d still be a ranger, be in college with Carri, and be intimate with Tommy. Although different isn’t bad, as she loved Chris, enjoyed her college, and was thrilled with all the free time she had once she gave up her powers. “So are you going to stay home much longer?”, Kat asked her referring to Angel Grove
Carri frowned. Although Kat’s family’s house was the place where she lived for a year, the place she called home, it never really was home to her. Home had been her parents place in New York, and home now was her apartment in LA. “We’re going back to LA tomorrow night.”, Carri said
Kat picked up on the tone in her cousin’s voice. She knew she loved her apartment and probably would never leave if she could. “You’re having fun in LA aren’t you?”, Kat asked
“It’s a blast.”, Carri replied with a smile. Although Angel Grove was where she grew up, and it was the town she loved, living in New York for three years had brought out the big city girl in her. Being in LA gave her the exciting big city rush, and living in an apartment off campus gave her the small town Angel Grove feel. Add in the beach nearby and life was perfect.
“Doesn’t it feel weird sharing a place with two boys who aren’t your boyfriend?”, Kat asked. She had always wondered about that. Sharing an apartment to her seems kind of intimate, a bonding experience. To do that with two boys, no matter how good of friends they were, just seemed kind of strange.
“Not really. Billy’s not there as much. And even when he is I’ve never thought of him in that way. And living with Jason is like living with Josh. Except Jason can be annoying... well... I suppose Josh can too.”, she said as she smiled. She laughed to herself as she thought about the instances that Jason had been annoying. Most of it had been brought on by her and Kim’s pestering. But it was all in good fun. Their apartment was a rare instance of four people of opposite sexes living together and getting along really well, without any flirting or advances.
Carri thought for a moment. “So how’s Chris doing?”, she asked. She was done getting strange vibes from Kat about her life, now it was time to change topics. Not that she particularly cared about Chris, but she knew that subject would make Kat forget about the previous ones.
“He’s doing great.”, Kat replied as she beamed. She still wasn’t sure how Carri felt about Chris, but to have her ask about him made Kat feel better. “He’s back in Bakersfield with his parents now but we’re going to meet up again in a few days. I hate that he’s going to be gone so long.”
Carri nodded in agreement, although she didn’t really agree with the point. A few days was nothing. During the summers she would spend a few days in LA while Rocky spent them in Angel Grove and she wouldn’t think much of it. She spent a few days in space, and although the argument could be made that she was a bit preoccupied at the time, she didn’t find it to be long at all. But the point wasn’t something worth arguing with Kat over, as she knew she would just hurt her cousin’s feelings over something stupid.
“We’ve had so much going on lately.”, Kat said continuing on about Chris. “He’s really getting involved with some of my weekend dance classes doing props for recitals and that sort of thing.”, she started as she continued to glow about her boyfriend
Carri smiled and nodded as Kat droned on and on about their relationship, wishing that she had never opened that can of worms to begin with. As Carri thought she couldn’t take it anymore, the door opened and a petite brunette walked through, boyfriend in tow. “Kim!”, Carri greeted eyes lighting up
Kim pushed back a laugh as Kat turned to see her. “Hey girls how’s it going?”
“Good.”, Kat said as she smiled first at Kim then toward Tommy
Tommy turned toward Kim. “Well it is pretty late. I should take off.”, he said as he leaned in and kissed his girlfriend. He thought about staying, but he felt uncomfortable with Kat there. He had seen her and worked with her as rangers after they had broken up, but that was about it. Socially he hadn’t spent more time with her than what he was forced to. When she was part of the team he had seen her at social gatherings, but had tried not to talk to her too much.
His relationship with Kat was a mistake and he knew that now. He thought he loved her when he was with her but there was always that part of him that loved Kim, and Kat knew that. She held on tightly though, and didn’t want to let him go. Then she betrayed him and he was crushed, he had never seen that coming, not from her. Since then he just didn’t have the urge to talk with or be friendly with her. Fortunately Kim came back into his life and everything had gotten significantly better.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”, Kim said with a smile pulling Tommy back into the present
“Tomorrow it is.”, Tommy said as he left, saying goodbye to Carri and Kat
Kim sat down on the couch next to Carri after her boyfriend left. “So, what are we dishing on?”
“We were discussing Chris.”, Kat said with a smile
“Oh.”, Kim replied shooting Carri a look. The yellow ranger smiled at her.
Kat missed their exchange and continued talking. Eventually the conversation switched, and the girls stayed up until the early hours of the morning chatting before everyone went to bed.
Carri was the last person to rise the following morning. She took a shower and got dressed before emerging out into the world of the living and realizing she was the only one in the house. Her aunt and uncle were at work, and Kat and Kim were nowhere to be found.
Upon checking her watch she realized she still had a few hours before she was to meet Rocky, so she took off and headed into town to run a few errands. She spent a while trying to get some things done, and eventually she was finished and started walking through town.
“Carri!”, a voice called out from behind her
Carri turned to see who was calling for her without stopping her stride. She waved at Kat just as she bumped into someone. Turning she saw that she bumped into a girl who was wearing a leather jacket with a yellow top underneath, who stood with a boy matching in red. “Sorry.”, she apologized as she couldn’t help but think what kind of morons wore their leather jackets in eighty degree weather.
“How dare you.”, the girl replied
“It was an accident.”, Carri snapped her defenses rising
“If you would look where you’re going.”, the girl snapped back getting in her face
The boy grabbed her arm. “We don’t have time for this now we have more important things to do.”
“This will only take a second.”, the girl said not taking her eyes off of Carri
Carri glared at her. “And what do you think you’re going to do?”
The girl shoved Carri to the ground hard. “Stay out of my way.”, she hissed as she turned to take off
Kat ran over and pulled Carri up. “Are you alright?”
Carri nodded as she walked over in the direction that the girl went. Kat grabbed her arm to stop her. “Don’t Carri it’s not worth it.”, Kat said. She certainly didn’t want to see her cousin get into an all out fight.
It was too late as Carri was not about to let someone push her around like that. She ripped her arm from Kat’s grasp and stormed to the girl, grabbing her arm and spinning her around. “Who do you think you are pushing me down like that?”, she growled
“You don’t want to mess with me.”, the girl said looking Carri in the eye
Carri put on a hard smile. “Funny because I was going to say the same to you.”
The girl took a swing at Carri, who was more prepared this time and ducked before hitting her. The girl stumbled back. “That’s it I’m not playing anymore.”, she said ignoring the protest of the guy beside her. Within seconds she transformed into Psycho Yellow. “Afraid of me now?”, she asked
“Oh. Shit.”, Carri said looking her over. Picking a fight with a Psycho was definitely not on the day’s agenda.
Psycho Yellow attacked and Carri ducked and rolled out of the way. People ran screaming in all different directions as Psycho Yellow approached Carri. Carri kicked Psycho Yellow and took off, watching as Kat ushered everyone to safety. After a few minutes of trying to avoid the Psycho Ranger, Kat came back and gave her the thumbs up.
“Now it’s my turn to party. It’s morphin time!”, she yelled as the suit of the Yellow Ninja Zeo Ranger took her over
“So you’re one of those other rangers.”, Psycho Yellow said the displeasure clear in her voice
“Yep. And I’m about to kick your ass.”, Carri said with a smile. “Power daggers!”, she cried wasting no time clicking them together and hitting Psycho Yellow straight on
Psycho Yellow fell back and the guy, who Carri now assumed was Psycho Red, went to her aid. Psycho Yellow stood and shook Psycho Red away. “This isn’t over ranger. We will destroy your entire team.”, she promised as she and Psycho Red took off
“Just great.”, Carri said with a sigh as she teleported to the Command Chamber
Billy saw his morphed friend come in. “What’s going on?”, he asked
She powered down and made a face. “You may want to get the others up here.”, she said. Billy raised an eyebrow but Carri chose not to elaborate just yet.
A few seconds later the other four rangers stood in the Command Chamber. “What’s going on?”, Tommy asked
Billy gestured to the yellow ranger. She smiled nervously before speaking. “You see, I kinda picked a fight with Psycho Yellow and now she and her friends kinda want to kill us.”, she explained emphasis on the kinda’s
“How do you kinda pick a fight with Psycho Yellow?”, Tommy asked agitated that the Psycho’s were now going to be after their team
“She was human, rude to me, and I got back in her face.”, Carri explained
Jason sighed. “You can’t just fight back against everyone. You never know who the crazies are.”
“What do you want me to do? Excuse me, before I kick your ass, are you evil by chance?”, Carri said crossing her arms and making a face
“Well it would help.”, Jason said shooting her a look back. Truthfully if she was human it wasn’t really Carri’s fault as they didn’t even know that the Psycho Rangers had a human form.
“It will be alright, right? I mean we can certainly handle the Psycho’s.”, Rocky said trying to be optimistic
“Have you talked to the Astro Rangers lately?”, Kim questioned. The Psycho Rangers were driving them crazy and they had yet to figure out how to defeat them.
“Look, guys” Tommy started, pausing until all eyes were on him, “noone knows how to defeat them, so we’re just going to have to see what they have in mind and go from there”, he said. Not that this was his favorite course of action, the wait and see game, but really it was the only course of action at the moment.
“Tommy’s right.”, Billy chimed in. “I’ll get with Andros and see what he knows, in the meantime you guys just hang tight.”
The others agreed and everyone left to get on with the rest of their day, while waiting for what the Psychos would bring them.
Carri stuck with her plans for the afternoon. She went home and dug out her old gym bag, throwing some things she would need in. She quickly pulled her hair up and changed into a tank top and a pair of gym shorts, while throwing on flip-flops for the moment. Grabbing everything she needed, Carri headed out and drove toward the field.
She parked her car and climbed out. Looking around she was quick to realize that she was the first player there. Gathering her things she went onto the field and into the dugout, setting her bag on the bench and pulling out socks and her cleats.
“I’ll be damned.” a voice said as his cleats scraped against the concrete of the dugout. “Who’d have thought Carri would be the first one here?”
“Hey I’m always on time. It’s just those early mornings that tripped me up.”, she said as she looked up and saw Mark Matthews, the first baseman from her senior team, standing there staring at her. She got up and gave an old friend a hug.
“So I hear Rocky dragged you out here this summer. What, were you too good for us last summer?”, he joked
She snorted. “Let’s not talk about last summer. It was... complicated.”, she explained not wanting to get into a discussion about Kat and their fight and why she stayed away from Angel Grove
“Hey Mark.”, Jake Littrell said from behind as he pushed his way into the dugout to put his stuff down. Jake had been the third baseman on the team the same year that Carri played. He almost didn’t notice his other former teammate standing there as he entered. When he looked up, he caught a glimpse of her and smiled. He had the biggest crush on her senior year, but she had always been taken so he had to admire her from afar. She didn’t come play last summer, and it had been almost two years since he’d seen her, but now here she was as beautiful as ever. “Carri, hey.”, he greeted
“Hey Jake how are you?”, Carri asked as Mark scooted by and threw his stuff down
“Doing good.”, he replied as he walked over to her, before awkwardly giving her a hug. He looked over at the other two players. “Maybe we should start warming up before everybody gets here?”, he suggested. It would be fun to get to throw balls with her again.
“Yeah that sounds good. It’s been a while since I’ve played.”, Carri confessed
Another head popped into the dugout. He smiled over at Mark and Jake before making a face toward Carri. “Hey I thought this was a boys only club.”, he said
“TJ this is Carri. She was the star pitcher our senior year.”, Jake said thinking he was helping with introductions
Carri and TJ eyed each other for a moment. Carri was thrilled that he was getting a chance to come down here and play, since the Astro Rangers had been so busy of late. Of course Carri probably helped by diverting the Psycho’s attention for the time being. A few seconds later Carri smiled. “You’re just afraid you’re about to be struck out by a girl.”
“Like I’d let that happen.”, TJ said with a smile as he gave his fellow ranger a hug. It had been a while since they’d seen each other. Most of their trips to the surface had been business related, with no time to socialize with anyone.
“How’s everybody?”, Carri asked referencing the other rangers
“Good.”, TJ replied
Carri grinned. “And Ashley and Andros?”, she asked. The duo had finally gotten together and had been dating since right after Zhane and Carri had been turned evil. Every time Carri and Kim tried to talk to her about it she had gotten giddy. Although they didn’t get much from her, they could tell she was absolutely enthralled by him and it was great to see that they had gotten together.
“I’m not going to feed you and Kim information.”, TJ replied with a laugh. “But they are doing very well.”
“I take it you two know each other?”, Mark questioned after watching their interactions
Carri nodded. “We met through a friend.”, she said simply as she picked up her glove. “We ready to warm up?
The others nodded and followed her out into the field as they made a square and started throwing the ball around.
About a half an hour later they were into a game. They had exactly eighteen players that showed up. A few of them were slightly older than Carri, and she had never met them. There were others that graduated the same year as her, such as Rocky, their center fielder Craig Jones and their left fielder Mike Avery. There were those who had played with her and graduated with TJ, and a few that she vaguely knew from the JV squad. The rest of the players were comprised of people who were still in high school, and people Carri didn’t know.
The teams had been split up as fair as possible with all the different position players. There had been two pitchers on Carri’s team, the other one being a young hot head who thought he was amazing. Her former teammates had made it clear that they wanted her on the mound, and she happily obliged. The other kid headed off to the outfield. Her team included Mark, Jake and TJ, as well as Chase, her catcher from high school and a former teammate of TJ’s.
They were now in the bottom of the first inning as Carri wound up to pitch to Craig, watching as he popped up a ball that TJ easily caught at shortstop. Craig yelled a few choice words as he headed back to the dugout. “Not as much fun being on that side is it?”, Carri asked
She could hear Craig laugh as he sat down. He was always the one making fun of the “poor saps” who had to suffer Carri’s wrath during a game.
“Don’t take it easy on him.”, Mark called from first as Rocky walked up to the plate and smiled at her
“Please.”, she said with a laugh. Striking him out would be the highlight of her day.
The first ball went across the plate, and Rocky sliced it foul. The next pitch was on the outside and Rocky laid off of it. The third pitch resulted in another foul ball, putting Carri way ahead in the count. Chase grinned at her and signaled for a fastball. Most pitchers in this position would try to get the batter to chase a bad pitch, but Carri liked to take the opposition down hard and fast. She slung one down hard and watched as Rocky swung and missed.
Rocky stared her down and she laughed as she turned and bowed toward some of her friends. He turned to walk off and smiled. If you had told him five years ago he would have been struck out by a girl he’d have been rather embarrassed. But this wasn’t just any girl, this was a girl who two years ago was labeled an all-star, and one of the best high school baseball players in the state. Plus it was a girl he loved, and he could let her off easy for striking him out.
As he headed into the dugout he heard her yell. Spinning around he saw her on the ground between Jake and TJ, who were both rushing to her side. Rocky flew out of the dugout as they helped her up, and he turned to see what was going on.
Unfortunately for them, it appeared as though the Psycho Rangers had picked now to start in with their revenge. “Are you ok?”, Jake asked as he pulled her to her feet
“I’m fine.”, she said not taking her eyes off the Psychos
“Who wants to play a different kind of game?”, Psycho Yellow taunted as she looked directly at Carri
Jake tugged her arm. “We should go.”, he said feeling the need to protect her
She shook him off as TJ glanced at her. “No he’s right.”, TJ said concerned for the other team of rangers. It was bad enough that the Astros had to fight them. The Ninja Zeo’s were busy enough and since the Psychos didn’t know who they were, they would leave them alone. Now wasn’t a good time to change that dynamic.
“Don’t leave now.”, Psycho Blue threatened as he took a look at TJ. The Psychos had come out because Psycho Yellow was looking for the Yellow Ninja Zeo Ranger. The Blue Astro Ranger was going to be a nice bonus.
Several of the players started to run for their lives. There was a mad dash as the Psycho’s started firing toward the baseball players. They had no use for them there, they wanted this battle to be between themselves and the rangers.
As the commotion started, TJ grabbed Carri and pulled her aside. “You don’t want them to know you’re rangers.”, he whispered
She smiled and shrugged. “Too late.”, she said as he gave her a look. “Long story.”, she added
“Is everyone ok?”, Kim’s voice came through as she was hunting down the rest of the people on the field.
“We’ve got to get out of here.”, Jake yelled from the side as he stood with two other players
“This way.”, Kim said as the pink ranger led them off.
The dirt the Psycho’s had kicked up was starting to settle, and TJ and Carri saw the scene more clearly. Tommy and Jason were standing in front of the Psycho’s, while Rocky was standing by the dugout making sure everyone got away. Kim had just finished making sure that the rest of the players had gotten off of the field and were putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the fight at hand.
Kim went and stood by Tommy and Jason, then Rocky, Carri and TJ went to stand beside the morphed ranges. “Good you’re all here for the fight.”
“If it’s a fight you want, it’s a fight you’ve got.”, Rocky said as he brought his hands out. “It’s morphin time!”
“Let’s rocket!”, TJ yelled not about to let his friends fight the Psycho’s alone
Everyone split up and fought their color Psycho, with Rocky against Psycho Blue, and Tommy facing Psycho Red. The Psycho Rangers were tougher than they had been expecting, and they were finding the fight difficult. The rest of the Astro team eventually teleported in to join them, each splitting up to take on their respective Psycho.
“I get to take you both out at the same time.”, Psycho Yellow said as she ran to attack
“I wouldn’t count on it.”, Ashley replied as she jumped at the Psycho Ranger
Psycho Yellow shot bolts of energy at the two yellow rangers, knocking them both back off of their feet. She fired some sort of weapon at them trying not to allow them to get up as she advanced toward them. Ashley and Carri tried to pull themselves up but the weight of her blasts was too much and they couldn’t get off the ground.
As Psycho Yellow approached two red streaks came flying over the female rangers heads, weapons in hand. Rocky and Andros attacked the Psycho Ranger, which caused her to ease up on the girls allowing them to get back to their feet.
“Alright I’m not playing anymore.”, Carri growled glancing at Psycho Yellow who stood in front of both red rangers. “Power daggers!”, she yelled clicking them together and attacking
Ashley watched as her friend started to attack, fighting back with a vengeance. As long as Ashley had known her, Carri was a very nice person, but she was not someone who you wanted to cross. She remembered the gym class they took together her junior year. They had become friends, and Ashley quickly learned that Carri was almost in the same position junior year that Ashley had been in. They were both captains of their cheerleading teams, and both came from well off families.
Both had been popular as juniors. Carri had still been popular as a senior at Angel Grove High, but it was nothing like the previous years in her old high school when she was a cheerleader. As a captain, Ashley experienced the same things Carri went through the previous year. There were women who admired her and wanted to be friends with her, women who wanted to be her, and women who absolutely despised her. The men were a different issue entirely. Besides the ones that were her true friends, most of them only hung around her in hopes of bragging to their friends that they screwed the captain of the cheerleading squad.
That dynamic was similar to the setup in the gym class. The class was made up mostly of men. There were two or three guys that Carri knew that were friendly with Ashley and vice versa. The rest of the men ogled from afar but tended to stay away. Unlike Carri’s experiences in New York, thanks to the guys Carri knew the others knew that she was taken and they strayed away from hassling her and Ashley both for fear of having to answer to Rocky, or him and his friends, who were all well known from their participation in the high school karate tournaments. Not that Rocky ever beat up guys who looked twice at his girlfriend, but they thought it best to stay away just the same.
The girls in the class were an entirely different matter. There were ten total in their gym class that year. Ashley befriended Carri during class because they were similar and got along well. There were four girls in the class that were rather shy, and wanted to be like Ashley and be friends with her and Carri. They would both let the other girls into their conversations when they felt brave enough to join. The other four girls in their class had a poor reputation throughout school and hated both Carri and Ashley, as without even knowing them they deemed them the “snobby, stuck up, prissy bitches”. There was a ringleader who always went after them, doing everything from yelling at them to try and “accidentally” smack them with equipment. Ashley was upset by the comments and gestures, but aside from a few dirty looks and snide comments of her own, decided not to go after her. Carri on the other hand would stand toe to toe with what was supposed to be one of the toughest girls in school. It never amounted to anything because the teacher never let it.
Two months into the year Carri was sick of hearing from her, and even more upset that she hadn’t been able to do anything about it. That was until they started their unit on baseball. They would split up into teams and play games, and on the first day Ashley and Carri ended up on the same team, along with Chase, Carri’s team’s catcher. Chase had suggested Carri pitch, and their teacher thought it was a good idea. It was still a few months before baseball season, and he didn’t know she was actually talented and would provide serious competition. He assumed she would just lob balls over the plate and they could have a fun game.
The ringleader was the first one to bat. She droned on and on about how the prissy bitch was pitching and how this was going to be the farthest ball she ever hit in her life. Carri’s blood boiled as she gripped the baseball so tight her knuckles turned white. Chase couldn’t believe this girl’s attitude, so he signaled for a fastball inside. Carri smacked her in the thigh with a ball that most high school players wouldn’t have been able to catch up to. Her excuse was sorry, that it slipped, and that it happens sometimes. Although the following spring she hit a grand total of zero batters.
Even though Ashley would have never done it, she said she was amazed that Carri stood up to her. Not only amazed but thankful, as for the rest of the school year that girl and her friends left them both alone, aside from a few nasty comments that were supposed to be behind their backs. That was when Ashley realized that Carri was a strong woman, and not someone you’d want to mess with. That was a side of her she saw constantly on the battlefield, and a side she was seeing now. Carri’s anger toward Psycho Yellow showed through as she used her daggers to leap up into the air and hit her in the chest, knocking the Psycho ranger back.
Ashley’s thoughts of the last few seconds were pushed back as Andros put a hand on her shoulder. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah. You guys can get back to your Psychos. We’ll handle this.”, she assured him. “Star slinger!”, she called as she jumped into the action right behind Carri
Meanwhile the other rangers were faring about the same with their Psychos. Kim and Cassie were exchanging blows with Psycho Pink, who was stronger than both of them but didn’t fare well against their weapons. Kim’s attack had become fire and roll, getting off the arrows then moving out of the way before Psycho Pink’s electrifying blasts could hit her. She couldn’t help but chuckle to herself as she thought about how many evil pink rangers she had fought in her lifetime.
Of course most of them had been nothing but cheap imitations of her fighting skills and her powers, such as Shadow Pink had been a few months back. Zedd and Rita had a history of thinking that evil rangers were the key, even if they were only copies. They had stooped as low as to turn puddies into rangers before. None of them had panned out, in fact most only stuck around for a matter of hours. These new evil rangers from Astronema were a different story entirely. They were stronger, faster and smarter than any previous attempt had ever been.
As if reading Kim’s mind, Psycho Pink proved her intelligence by maneuvering around so that Kim and Cassie’s weapons hit each other. Both girls fell to the ground and Psycho Pink did not waste the opportunity. She attacked Kim first, saving the Astro Ranger for last. Cassie pulled out her blaster as she slowly climbed to her feet, firing on Psycho Pink and getting her to lay off of Kim long enough for Kim to stand back up.
Jason and Carlos were the only ones who noticed the action going on between Psycho Pink and the two pink rangers, and that was only because they were close enough to it. Psycho Black was a strong opponent, and it was taking all of his energy to take him on. He had no idea how the others faced the Psycho’s on a regular basis. He hadn’t struggled so hard with evil rangers since Tommy was green.
The thought occurred to him how long ago that was as he fired on Psycho Black with his axe. He would have to worry about that later, as now was not the time to get distracted. Not that he could with Psycho Black attacking the two black rangers at full force. Jason was suddenly shoved into one of the Psycho Rangers blasts, and as he turned Rocky laid where Jason once stood.
The red ranger apologized quickly before heading back to Psycho Blue. They were having a difficult time with him but they were able to hold him off pretty well. Rocky got a few shots in with his lance, but that was about it for offence. It didn’t help that he had left TJ with Psycho Blue for a few seconds to go help Carri. Psycho Blue had taken advantage, and Rocky felt poorly for that.
That was why when he came back he fought furiously to try and throw Psycho Blue back, or at least take his attention away from TJ for a while. TJ quickly proved why he was a good choice for a ranger, as he didn’t back off while Rocky charged. Instead he attacked full force, figuring a two on one fight was much better than one on one.
TJ hadn’t been the only one momentarily left alone with a Psycho Ranger as Tommy had gotten some one on one time in with Psycho Red. The Psycho’s were tougher opponents than anything he’d ever faced. He and Andros fought hard but it didn’t seem like he was getting anywhere. He took a few seconds to do a sweep of the battlefield, trying to see how the others were doing.
In the brief look he got he realized something about this dynamic had to change and fast. Although each Psycho was facing two rangers, the rangers weren’t going to be able to keep up with them much longer. They were too powerful and would eventually overtake them. Tommy turned toward Andros. “Let’s try something a bit different.”, he suggested as he stepped back from the crowd
Andros got in another quick hit to Psycho Red before doing the same. “Hey Psychos!”, Tommy called gaining their attention and pausing the action. The rangers fell back with their leaders and the Psycho’s regrouped as well.
“Well it is much easier to destroy you all at once.”, Psycho Red said as he looked them over
“Not on my watch.”, Tommy replied as they quickly formed the Power Blaster. The Astro Rangers followed suite, and both teams quickly fired. As the Psycho’s started to stand Tommy called for the Zeo Power Cannon, and they fired once more.
“What is going on down there?”, Astronema hissed as she finally caught wind of what the Psycho Rangers were doing. “Their orders were to attack the Astro Rangers, not the Ninja Zeo Rangers.”
“It appears as though they engaged the Ninja Zeo Rangers in battle.”, Ecliptor explained. Why they would go off and do something stupid like that he had no idea.
Astronema watched as they fired various cannons on the Psycho Rangers. At this rate they were going to get destroyed. She couldn’t have that, not now. They had yet to drain enough of Dark Specter’s powers. “Call them back. Now.”, she ordered
Ecliptor ran off and left Astronema to her thoughts. She couldn’t believe that they had gone against her wishes. The Astro Rangers were going to keep the Psycho’s busy long enough to allow them to drain more power. She knew the Ninja Zeo’s would leave the Psycho’s alone, much like they had left all of Astronema’s monsters alone.
A few seconds later, Ecliptor came marching back into the main room, Psycho’s in tow. Astronema walked down the line glaring at each and every one of them. She was not the least bit happy. “What was that all about?”, she snapped
“We were fighting the Ninja Zeo Rangers. The Astro’s interfered. We would have destroyed them”
“From what I was watching they were about to destroy you.”, she said interrupting Psycho Red’s attempt to make excuses. “What happened to the orders I sent you down there with?”, she asked glaring at the team’s leader
“The Yellow Ninja Zeo Ranger interrupted us.”, Psycho Yellow answered. “We were trying to destroy her and her friends.”
“From now on you only engage the Astro Rangers in battle.”, she ordered. “If the Ninja Zeo’s show up, you are to leave the battle is that understood?”
The Psycho’s nodded and Astronema ordered them to get out of her sights. As long as the Psycho’s stayed away from the Ninja Zeo’s, they should leave them alone. She would have to make sure that the Ninja Zeo’s were distracted. She was pretty sure she could trust Rita, Zedd and Divatox to take care of that. Having the two teams of rangers team up again to face the Psycho’s was way to risky. Regardless of how strong they were, ten or eleven against five was not good odds. And with Dark Specter’s powers being drained with every battle the Psycho Rangers got in, now was not the time to gamble.
Ten rangers stood on an empty baseball field as the Psycho Rangers just disappeared. They all took that as their cue to teleport up to the Command Chamber. “I suppose we’ll count that as a victory.”, Billy said as they arrived
“That was strange.”, Andros pointed out. Although the Psycho Rangers weren’t fairing well, and they may have just took off before they could destroy them. What was nagging him though was the fact that Psycho Red looked like he was coming to attack again.
“So explain to me how the Psycho’s knew who you were and why they wanted you dead?”, TJ asked turning toward Carri
She gave him and awkward smile as the rest of her team turned to glare at her. “You see, it’s kinda my fault,” she paused as Jason cleared his throat, “ok all my fault. I got into it with Psycho Yellow and she swore revenge.”
Rocky came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning his head on her shoulder. “Any chance they’ll call it even and leave us alone?”
“Honestly I don’t know.”, Andros replied. “But unless they attack you, we’ll keep monitoring them and keep fighting them. You’ve got enough evil of your own to deal with without worrying about ours.”, Andros said referencing Rita, Zedd and Divatox
“You don’t have to tell us twice.”, Tommy replied with a smile. “But if you ever need our help with the Psycho’s, don’t hesitate to ask.”
Andros nodded at him as Cassie replied. “Don’t worry we won’t.”, she said with a smile
“I think we have a field to get back to.”, Rocky said still leaning on his girlfriend
She nodded in response. “They should be heading back that way any minute. Is the dugout clear?”, she asked looking over at Billy. Billy quickly scanned and nodded in reply. “Maybe we should be teleported there. Pretend we couldn’t get out and were cowering from the monsters.”
“That should keep them from suspecting anything.”, TJ agreed
“Then let’s get down there.”, Rocky replied as the trio teleported off
One by one the other rangers started heading off to go back to what they were doing before the Psycho’s interrupted. Carlos was playing soccer with Matt and a bunch of his friends. Tommy and Kim had been out together, as had Ashley and Andros. Jason was getting ready to go to his sister’s softball game when he got paged, and Cassie was with her family. Billy watched as the remaining rangers went back down toward Earth, then resumed the work he was doing in the Command Chamber.
Tommy and Kim arrived back at the beach, maneuvering out to the spot where they left their towels. They both sat down and Tommy checked the cooler for cold waters before taking one and passing one to his girlfriend. “It’s fun to spend time out here alone.”, Tommy commented smiling at her
Kim laughed. “I don’t know, you won’t tan with me.”, she said teasing him
“Isn’t it more fun to play out there?”, he asked gesturing to the ocean
“Yeah but when I’m out there my tan gets all uneven and,” she paused as she caught the face Tommy was making before she burst out laughing. “I was joking.”, she assured him. “It is fun to go play in the ocean sometimes. Except of course when we get interrupted by the forces of evil.”
Tommy sighed. They had barely been in the water five minutes the last time when their communicators went off. It got frustrating, every time they started to have fun evil would interrupt. The attacks were getting more frequent and more severe lately, and that worried him. He was afraid Zordon didn’t have much time left, and that meant they and the world didn’t have much time left. He knew Andros was doing everything in his power to find Zordon before Dark Specter used him to destroy the power.
“What are you thinking about?”, Kim asked snapping Tommy out of his daze
“Huh?” he started before he absorbed what she was asking. “Oh nothing.”
Kim smiled at him, although she knew that nothing rarely meant nothing. Usually when he told her nothing it was one of two things. Either he was thinking about her, or he was thinking about the fate of the universe. Their recent battle with the Psycho Rangers had her leaning toward the latter.
The more she thought about it the more she thought about how badly she wanted to be able to get his mind off of the situation at hand. She knew it was hard for him, after all he was the team’s leader and he had been involved longer than anyone else. Usually when his instincts told him to worry they were right. But now was not the time to worry, and she was going to prove that to him. “You want to go for a swim?”, Kim asked as she looked out at the ocean water
“I’d love to.”, Tommy replied. He stood up and held his hand out to Kim, helping her up. Then the duo walked hand in hand out to the water, enjoying a nice afternoon at the beach.
Jason got back to the game in time to watch most of it. Her team had easily won their first round playoff game. His parents were upset that he was nowhere to be found for the first few innings, but at least he had shown up to support his sister. Because of school he had only been able to catch two of her weekend games. His sister had been kind of disappointed, but was thrilled that he would be there when it mattered.
As the game ended and the players started filtering out into the stands, Jason went over and gave his little sister a hug. “Good game Julie.”, he congratulated, although from what he had seen of her play she didn’t do much. She played left center, and the left fielder and right center caught all her balls. And from the games he saw, her batting average was close to Carri’s ERA, which was one of the lowest in the state. But good or not, she absolutely loved playing, and it was good for her to be out here.
“Thanks Jase.”, she said absolutely beaming. She gave each of her parents a hug, then turned to gesture to some of the other girls. “Missy’s mom is taking everyone to get dinner and ice cream. Can I go mom? Please?”, she asked
The Scott’s looked from one to the other and smiled and nodded. “Of course sweetheart. Have fun.”, Mr. Scott said as he handed his daughter some money and watched her run off
Jason was amused by his little sister. He was almost certain that the reason she loved softball was because of the social aspect. As she took off he turned and told his parents he was going out and would be home later, before heading off.
The black ranger climbed in his SUV and headed toward Ernie’s beach club. His girlfriend was working that day and he was dying to go see her. It didn’t take long to get there, and he parked his car and headed down to the beach, sitting at a table waiting to get her attention.
A few minutes later Emily noticed him. “Hey Jase.”, she greeted as she walked over and gave him a kiss. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you of course.”, he replied with a smile. “What time do you get off?”
“In a few minutes. But Jennifer’s coming by around seven and we’re going out tonight.”, she said referencing her roommate
“That gives you some time to spend with me.”, Jason pointed out
She smiled at him. “Well what do you propose we do?”
“Why don’t we get some food and take it down the beach? We can have dinner, then when Jennifer gets here you can take off with her.”, he suggested
“That would be fun.”, she replied. “You’ll have to give me a few minutes to get changed first.”
“I think I can do that.”, he said smiling as he reached up and put her hand in his
She squeezed his hand before smiling at him. “Let me take care of my last customers. Then I’ll get ready and we’ll go.”
Jason took her hand and pulled her in, giving her a kiss. “Sounds like a plan.”, he said as he watched her walk off
Chase, Mike, Mark, Craig and Jake all joined the three rangers for dinner after they finally finished their baseball game. Thanks to the interruption, it had taken all afternoon and had ended in Carri’s team winning.
“We will have to get together and do this again.”, Jake said as their evening was winding down. It was so much fun to play with his old teammates, especially Carri, even though she was still taken.
Craig smiled. “Yeah but we’re not letting her pitch.”, he said gesturing toward Carri
She looked over at him and laughed. “Maybe next time you should just be on the winning team.”
“I got dibs.”, he said quickly as he laughed as well
“No if anyone has dibs it’s me. It was embarrassing enough to be struck out by my girlfriend once.”, Rocky joked as he put his arm around her and gave her a quick squeeze
“Well,” she started just as TJ’s communicator went off. She frowned at him as he came up with his excuse.
“Looks like that’s the end of the night for me guys.”, TJ said with a smile. “I promised my mom I’d come by and see her, and that’s probably her calling flipping out.”, he said with a slight roll of the eyes. “I’ll see you guys next time.”, he said as they tried to play baseball at least every week, if not every other
“Bye TJ.”, Carri said as she waved goodbye to the blue ranger. “Good luck. With your mom.”, she said quickly adding the last part in.
“I’ll try not to let her drive me too crazy.”, he replied as he said goodbye to everyone
Carri and Rocky watched him walk out the door, and were the only ones to see the faint blue streak go across the night sky as TJ left. “So how about those Dodgers?”, Mark asked as the conversation silenced
Carri rolled her eyes. “And that’s my cue to leave.”
“I can’t help that you cheer for the wrong team.”, Mark teased. Carri used to wear her Astros caps during practice, and Rocky wasn’t the only one giving her hell about it. They were all amused as most of them grew up in Angel Grove, and a lot of them were Dodgers fans.
“I don’t cheer for the wrong team. I cheer for the winning team.”, she pointed out with a amused look on her face. The Astros had done much better than the Dodgers the previous season and she loved to remind everyone of that.
“Babe that was low.”, Rocky said with a smile
“Maybe but it was the truth.”, she replied with a grin as she leaned in to give him a kiss
“Hey none of that here.”, Chase joked
Rocky laughed. “It’s alright.”, he said looking down at his watch. “Besides, I was getting ready to leave anyway. I promised my brother I’d hang out with him tonight.”
“I really should be going too.”, Carri said as she and Rocky both stood up. “We’ll see you guys later.”, she said as they both said their goodbyes and exited
“So where are you off to?”, Rocky asked walking her to her car
“I don’t know.”, she replied. She smiled at him and gave him a kiss. They each said goodnight then both headed off.
Jason remained sitting on the beach after his girlfriend left. He didn’t know why, but he enjoyed the calming effects of the ocean. Especially after a day like today, when he spent a chunk of his afternoon fighting Psycho Rangers.
He had a lot on his mind, as he was sure most of the other rangers did. There was so much going on. He had normal college aged issues that he thought about everyday, such as his classes and his girlfriend and his friends. But there was also so much in his mind that had nothing to do with normal. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, listening to the water as some of those thoughts rushed through.
When he opened them, he caught a glimpse of a figure moving toward him. It took him a second to realize who it was. “Hey!”, he called out
She looked startled at first, then a second later she realized who was yelling at her. “Hey.”, Carri called back as she walked over and flopped down beside him
“What are you doing here? I thought you and Kim were going home tonight?”, he questioned
“We were.”, she replied. “But my thing with the ball players ran late, and Kim’s still out with Tommy, so we’re going back in the morning.”
“And you decided on a late night stroll down the beach?”, he questioned
She shrugged. “Yeah it helps me think. Besides it was either come down here for a walk or go home and listen to Kat drone on and on about Chris. I would almost rather spend my evening with Psycho Yellow then go through another night about the wonderful world of Chris.”
Jason couldn’t help but laugh. He had heard all of Carri’s rantings and ravings about Chris. About how as much as she loved Tommy and Kim together, she couldn’t believe that her cousin had broken up with him for that. From the moment she laid eyes on Chris, she thought he was a looser. Mollie always said that he was a fifteen year old stuck in a twenty year old’s body, and that was one of the reasons why they broke up. According to Carri, he has no interest in picking a major, no interest in getting a job, and would probably be quite happy with Kat making the income and him sitting on his ass for the rest of his life. Of course the very thought of Kat wanting to spend the rest of her life with Chris makes Carri sick, but she keeps her mouth shut around her cousin and prays that he’s just a phase.
“Don’t wish for Psycho Yellow because God only knows if she’s through with you.”, Jason pointed out
She sighed. “Yeah. I know. I can’t believe I did that.”
“What?”
“Pick a fight with a Psycho.”, she replied
“Well, it wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known.”
She made a face. “One day my temper is going to really get me in trouble.”
“One day?”, he repeated
She scowled at him then laughed. “I mean serious trouble.”, she said once she’d calmed down. “Like the wrong person’s going to push my buttons and when I push back I’m gonna get shot or something.”
“So Psycho Yellow didn’t count as you could die serious?”, he questioned
“Nah. All the Astro’s are still standing so I figured I’d be alright.” She looked over at him before changing subjects. “So what are you doing out here?”
Jason was taken back for a moment about the sudden switch in topics. He thought for a second before answering. “I was out here with Emily. You didn’t miss her by much.”
“How’s she doing?”, Carri asked. She had been so busy she hadn’t seen her that much as of late.
“Good. She’s working all the time. She’s talking about going to community college now.”, he replied
Carri nodded. “That would be awesome for her.”
The two sat there and watched the waves as a silence came between them. Jason’s thoughts drifted back to one of the conversations he had with his girlfriend that night. He wasn’t going to say anything, but the more he dwelled on it the more he wanted to talk to Carri about it. “I told Emily about the Psycho Rangers.”, he said breaking the silence as Carri turned toward him. “I don’t know if I should have, it all just makes her worry. But I hate keeping it from her.”, he paused again as he stared out over the ocean. “She asked if I was ever going to stop being a ranger.”
Carri found herself a bit surprised by Emily’s question. “Are you?”, she asked curious as to what his response was
“The more I think about it, the more I think about how if the calling was there, I’d be a ranger my entire life.”, he replied
“Yes I’m sure the Lord Zedd’s of the future will be amused by the geriatric ranger.”, she said getting a laugh out of him. “I do know what you mean. Sure we gripe about the interruptions and the daily fights, but when it comes down to it nothing in this world compares with being a ranger. With the sense that you’re fighting on the right side of this huge intergalactic struggle between good and evil.”
Jason thought about her words for a moment and smiled. “I should have known that you’d be the one to agree with me.”, he said as she smiled back at him. “It’s just... I mean God knows I love her more than anything, and I know she loves me, but my being a ranger seems to hurt us. I’m always running off and fighting and she’s never been one of us so no matter what I tell her she’ll never know what it’s like.”
“You know what I think?”, Carri asked as Jason turned toward her. “I think that between us and the Astro’s, one day we will finally defeat Dark Specter and his forces. I think we’ll be able to retire, as Ninjetti’s of course. We’ll still have power, and still be a part of the whole good versus evil struggle. But we won’t be active, and Emily will be satisfied and you’ll get your happily ever after.”
Jason smiled at her. “Since when did you get to be so wise?”
She laughed. “Well every girl is entitled to her moments. I just have fewer than most.”
Jason laughed at her comment, as the thought occurred to him that the best thing he got from being a ranger wasn’t really his ranger powers, it was his ranger family. Without the others in his life, he had no idea where he’d be right now, and he was thankful for them everyday. He watched as Carri laid down on the beach to admire the stars, and he laid down beside her. He couldn’t help but think about how his life was just where he wanted it to be. There were a lot of people to thank for that, his friends, his family, Zordon, but most importantly Emily. And Carri was right, one day his calling would be over, and he would get to spend every moment with Emily. He smiled as he looked up at the night sky and thought about what the future would bring.
The End