Once a ranger always a ranger

Chapter 8 Learning the rules about being rangers

We headed for the command center. We were all talking at the same time when Zordon congratulated us on our victory, getting our attention. "Congratulations on a job well done. Now that you have become power rangers, you must follow three basic rules or lose the protection of the power. First, never use your power for personal gain. Second, never escalate a battle unless Rita forces you. And finally, keep your identity a secret. No one may know that you are a power ranger." Zordon said. "Wait a second." Zack said. "Yes Zack, what is it?" Zordon said. "I'm not sure we're all up to this. I mean, we were pretty lucky this time." Zack said. "Luck had nothing to do with it. You guys have come together to form a fine group of superheroes." Zordon said. "No way. Really?" Kimberly asked. "You've been through an extraordinary experience together. You need each other now, and the world needs you." Zordon said. "Yeah, alright, I'm in." Jason said. "Me too." Zack said. "You can count on me." Trini said. "Affirmative." Billy said. "Count me in." John said. "Count me it too." Kaitlyn said. "Hold on you guys. I'm not sure we're ready for this. I mean sure, the outfits are cool and everything, but this is a job for teenagers, not eleven year olds." I said. "We're only two years away from that. I'm in." Tommy said. "I don't know you guys. I mean the outfits are cool and everything, but I have to agree with Ariel on this. My hair gets all tangled up inside the helmet. I don't think I can do it." Kimberly said. "Oh no, Kimberly." Trini said. "Kimberly, no." Alpha said. "Not." Kimberly said. "You got us." Kaitlyn said with a laugh. "Alright Ariel, Kimberly is in, it's up to you to keep this team together." John said. "Well, if you guys are down with it then I guess I'm in too." I said. "Let's do it." Jason said. We all stood in a circle and put one hand in the center of the circle. We all raised our hands as we said power rangers. The next day at school I was at my locker talking with Kimberly before homeroom. "So, we're still hanging out at the youth center after school today?" I asked. "Yeah." Kimberly said. "Cool." I said. Then I noticed Tommy walking towards us. "Here comes Tommy." I said. "Hey guys." Tommy said when he got over to us. "Hey." I said. "Guys, I have something to tell you. Something came up at home so, I won't be coming to the youth center after school with you guys today." Tommy said. "That's fine Tommy. Don't worry about it." I said. "Yeah, we'll still have a great time, even if you're not there." Kimberly said. "Thanks for understanding guys." Tommy said. "No problem." I said. After school Kimberly and I headed to the youth center with everyone else, well, everyone minus Tommy. I was hanging out with everyone who was around Jason. "Alright Jason, show us how it's done." I said. Jason started to climb up the rope. "You got this Jason." Kaitlyn said. "Come on Jason, you can do it." Kimberly said. Just then John came over to us. "Jason, be careful. If you slip you can really hurt yourself." John said. "Back off John! You're gonna make him nervous!" Zack said. "Hey, you don't talk to my boyfriend like that!" I said. "Sorry." Zack said. "Nervous? I never get nervous when I climb." Jason said. "Maybe you should be." John said. "I can't climb as well as him. I even tried once in gym class and I couldn't get one foot off the ground. It's so hard." I said. "Hey, don't get discouraged that easily." Kaitlyn said. "Yeah, you'll get there someday." Kimberly said. "I hope you're right." I said. I have gym class with Kaitlyn and Kimberly. "Well, I'm going to be over there. At least it's down to earth." John said. "You should give it a try." I said. "No, no, no way. You'd never catch me climbing anything that high." John said as he walked away. "Looks like someone has acrpohpbia." Kimberly said. "What?" I asked. "Acrophobia is the fear of heights." Kimberly said. "Oh. Okay." I said. Then Billy walked up to us. "Hey guys, I got some exciting news that I want to talk to you about. I made a significant breakthrough regarding the..." before Billy could finish Jason gave him a heads up but they both ended up swinging on the rope and they both fell off. Everyone laughed. "That was good." Zack said. "You guys should try out for the circus." I said. Then Bulk and Skull walked up to us. "The circus don't take dweeb clowns." Bulk said. "Why don't you two just back off?" I asked. "Well, looks like this city girl is in a bad mood today. Is this what you do in your spare time, hang out with dweebs like them?" Bulk asked. "Yeah, and you look like one yourself." Skull said. I just ran out and John came after me. I started to walk away from the youth center with John still coming after me. "Hey Ariel, wait up! Where are you going?" John asked. "Back home. Where else?" I said. "Look, don't let them get to you. They're just bullies. Besides, when I was the new kid, I was getting picked on by them." John said as he grabbed my arm, stopping me in my tracks. "Yeah, until I came." I said. "Still, you should not let it get to you. Nobody likes bullies." John said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I said. "Come on, we can stand up to them together, as a team." John said. "Okay." I said. Then we walked back into the youth center. We walked back over to the others. "Why don't you guys just crawl back to the ooze you came from?" Kimberly said. "Oh, that's funny. Especially coming from a friend of the monkey man here." Bulk said. "Yeah, at least I can make it all the way to the top." Jason said. "You saying that Bulk can't do it?" Skull asked. Jason didn't say anything in response. "Yeah, that's what you're saying alright." Skull said. "Step aside." Bulk said. Skull stepped aside. "Let me show you how it's done." Bulk said. He walked over to the rope. "Are you sure you know how to work this thing?" Kimberly asked. "Well, what do you think I am? Stupid?" Bulk asked. "Well, you know what they say, if the rope fits, climb it." Zack said. Bulk tried to climb it but slid down. He tried it again and he slid down again, but this time he pulled the whole rope down and part of the ceiling fell on his head. Kimberly knelt down next to them. "Oh yeah Bulk, you really showed us this time, didn't you?" Kimberly said. Then Bulk and Skull left. Billy started to tell us what the breakthrough was that he wanted to talk about. "I finally completed a narrow beam transmission module that will allow wave function over an extended interval. Well, aren't you guys excited?" Billy said. "Well, I will be as soon as I figure out what you just said." Zack said. "He's created a communication device using microwaves." Trini said. "Yep, now we have connection to Zordon and Alpha in the command center." Billy said. He all gave us a communicator. He even gave me an extra one to give to Tommy the next time I see him. "This is so cool." I said. "They respond to tactile pressure followed by auditory stimulus." Billy said. "So what you're saying is that we just touch and talk, like this." Trini said. We all tried it and we all got teleported to the command center. "Hmm. The neutrino power grid must have cross-molecularized." Billy said before he tried it and got teleported to the command center. Back at the command center Alpha noticed that we were teleporting to the command center. "Uh-oh, incoming." Alpha said. "It appears my communicators malfunctioned." Billy said. "Welcome homeboys, homegirls, what brings you to the hood?" Alpha said. "Too much TV." Zack said.