MMPR 1- “Day of the Dumpster”
“Hey, Kim! Wait up!” I cried as I slammed my locker shut and ran towards my best friend. It was lunchtime at Angel Grove High and I hated standing in line by myself.
“Hey
“So did you get all the notes in Appleby’s class?” I asked.
Kim laughed, “Yes. Did you fall asleep again?”
“Dozed, yeah.”
“Thought you were supposed to be an A-student.”
“Eh, only when the cameras were rolling. Here that’s not an issue.”
Let me introduce myself. My name is Michelle Morris. I’m 13
and a freshman at
Yeah, that’s the other thing about me…up until about a month ago I was the star of the most popular teen show ever, ‘Palisades High’. I’m also a chart topping singer and my record is still on the charts, in spite of my being forced to live a ‘low-key’ life. I was on top of the world, complete with a rock star boyfriend. I was living the high life. It was this ‘high life’ that caused my mother to pull the plug on my LA existence and bring me to my step-father’s hometown. She thought that pulling me out of the spotlight would ‘mellow’ me out and make me be a normal teenager. I’m still furious with her for the whole thing, but I’ve come to accept the fact that I’m stuck in Angel Grove…at least until I’m 18, so I’m trying to make the best of it. Besides, I do have some great friends here now and I’m on the cheer squad. I guess it’s really not THAT bad, all in all.
Anyway, Kim and I finally made it through the cafeteria line and went to our normal table. Our friend Jason was already there. Jason Lee Scott is one of the most down to Earth people I’ve ever met. He’s nice to everyone he meets, extremely honorable, and completely unlike anyone I’ve ever known. He’s also pretty easy on the eyes…but I have my little eye on another one of my friends. We’ll get to him later.
“Hey guys.” Jason said as we sat down.
“Hey Jase.” Kim said.
“Are you guys coming to the Juice Bar after school?”
I nodded, “I am. Cheer practice was cancelled so I’m free.”
“Yeah, I’ll be there too. I need to practice my beam routine.” Kim added. She was an amazing gymnast.
“Great. I’ll be teaching a martial arts class.
“I took karate back when I was like 5 but I didn’t stick with it that long. And since then…no…not really. I’ve had bodyguards for protection since I was like 10.” I said.
“You’re not in
“No one here really bothers me…unless you count Bulk and Skull, and they’re harmless. Now that my newness has worn off I’m pretty much just like anyone else.” I said with a sigh. I didn’t like being ‘normal’.
“You’re fearless aren’t you?”
I laughed, “Pretty much. After the life I’ve lived and things I’ve seen, nothing fazes me anymore.”
“Someday that’s gonna bite you.”
“Hopefully.” I smirked as our friends Zack and Trini joined us.
Zack Taylor is a pretty cool guy. He’s an amazing dancer and extremely sweet. I have a lot of fun hanging out with him. He’s even worked with me on some chorography to some of my music before. Trini Kwan is another one of my friends. She and I have little to nothing in common and honestly, if we didn’t have the same group of friends I doubt we’d socialize…but I’m glad we do. In spite of our differences I like Trini. She’s very quiet and introspective…in other words my polar opposite, but that’s kinda why I like her so much. It’s nice to have a ying to my yang, so to speak.
“Hey guys.” Zack said.
“Yo.” I replied as I took a bite of my pizza.
“You guys coming to the Juice Bar after school?” Jason asked.
“I’ll be there.” Zack said.
Trini nodded, “Me too.”
“Any of you know where Billy is?” I asked, in reference to our missing friend.
“Yeah, he’s in the science lab working on his science fair project. Since he’s taking Jason’s martial art’s class after school he doesn’t have any other time to really devote to it.” Trini said.
I nodded with a sigh.
Billy Cranston had to be the most unique person I’d ever met. He was unlike me in every way…but something about him just drew me in. He was known at school as a complete nerd…and I guess in truth he really is a nerd…that didn’t matter to me though. It also didn’t matter to me that I had trouble understanding a work of his science-babble, that he was scared of his own shadow, or that he was more at home in a lab than a nightclub. What mattered to me is that he was sweet, kind, caring, and most importantly, extremely hot. Ok, maybe not ‘hot’ by my typical standards. Certainly not ‘hot’ in the way my ex-boyfriend Jon was ‘hot’…Billy…you kinda had to look under the glasses and science-babble to see the hot…but I saw the potential of what he could be…and I wanted to be the one to bring it out for the rest of the world to see. Unfortunately Billy didn’t look at me that way. I think he may be one of the only guys I’ve ever met that didn’t look at me that way. It was ok though…it just made me want him more.
Anyway, we finished our lunch and headed back to classes for the second half of the day. When the last bell rang I went to my locker to grab my homework. While I was there my brother Zachary (not Zack Taylor, Zachary Morris) walked up. Zachary was my co-star on ‘PH’ and had been forced to take a break from his career when Mom moved us here. Fortunately for Zachary he just had a couple of credits left before he graduated. We both had been forced to take classes above our proper grade level when we were on ‘PH’ so instead of being in 8th and 11th grade like most of our same age peers, we were in 9th and 12th.
“You need a ride home?” he asked.
I rolled my eyes, “Nope.”
“Ok, where are you going?”
“Juice Bar with friends…IE, not you.”
“You don’t have to be a brat.”
“Just leave me alone.” I glared as I slammed my locker and walked away. I was still mad at my whole family for trying to ruin my career.
I went into the Juice Bar. My friends were already there. Jason was sparring with Zack, Kim was working on her gymnastics, Trini was doing some yoga or something, and I decided to sit down and work on a song. I’d brought my guitar with me so I could try to work on some songs for my third album…not that it would be recorded anytime soon if my mom had anything to say about it. Anyway, I sat down and started playing a melody and softly singing along:
“Oh, you probably
won't remember me
It's probably ancient history
I'm one of the chosen few
Who went ahead and fell for you
I'm out of vogue, I'm out of touch
I fell too fast, I feel too much
I thought that you might have
Some advice to give
On how to be
Insensitive”
I was pulled from my thoughts by Billy walking in:
“Hey fellas!” Billy said as he entered the Juice Bar, in full karate gear.
“Yo Billy, what’s up?” Zack asked.
“Well, I think I’m mentally and physically prepared for my first karate class.” Billy said.
I smiled and walked over to Trini and Kim.
“Nice dismount.” I said. Kim had just dismounted from the beam.
“Thanks.” Kim replied.
“Oh no, look who’s here.” Trini said as two of our classmates walked in.
“Bulk and Skull.” Kim said.
I sighed, “Not again.”
They walked over to us.
“So girls, what about that double date we talked about?” Bulk asked.
“Yeah, what about it?” Skull echoed.
“Sorry guys.” Trini said.
“Not if you were the last losers on the planet.” I scoffed.
“What’s the matter? We’re not good enough for you?” Bulk asked.
“Actually…” I started but Trini stopped me.
“Leave us alone Bulk.” Trini said.
“Oh yeah? Make me.” Bulk said.
“Yeah. Make me…him…make him.” Skull echoed as Zack walked up behind us.
“Hey, you heard what she said.” Zack said.
“Oh, what do ya know, the dancer wants to be a fighter.” Bulk said.
“It’s ok Zack. We can handle these too.” Kim said.
“Oh really? Let’s show them some karate moves Skull.”
The two guys ran at us. We stepped out of the way at the last second causing them to fall forward onto the mats.
“You guys should definitely join Jason’s karate class.” Kim said.
I rolled my eyes, “Doubt it would help these wannabes.”
“I’m gonna go change, be back.” Kim said as she ran to the locker room. While we waited Trini and I found a table. We sat down and waited for Kim to join us. When she did the three of us watched Jason’s class. Billy was struggling to keep up but it was so totally cute. That is until Bulk and Skull crashed the class…but Jason put them in their place pretty quickly. After the class was over the three guys joined us at our table.
“Billy, I’m telling you, for your first lesson you did really well.” Jason said.
“I did?” Billy asked.
“Yeah, we were watching.” Kim said.
I smiled, “Yeah, you were like so totally awesome!”
“I don’t know if I’ve got what it takes.” Billy said.
“It’s all a state of mind Billy, you don’t need to be strong for martial arts.” Trini said.
“Yeah man, it’s all up here.” Zack said pointing to his head.
“Hey guys.” Ernie said as he walked over with our order.
“Hey Ernie.” We all said.
“Who ordered the spinach juice?” he asked as the ground started to shake, “Oh no, it’s an earthquake, everybody stay calm!” he dropped the tray and ran.
We all stood up to try to make our way to the nearest doorway.
“Something tells me this is no earthquake.” Billy said.
“What else would it be?” I asked as we continued to make our way out of the Juice Bar. It seemed to be lightning up, but something else was happening.
“Oh my gosh, what’s happening?” Kim cried.
“This is too weird.” Trini said.
“It feels like we’re being lifted!” I cried.
“Hold on!” Jason cried.
And in that moment it was like a rush of movement. It was like I was moving at warp speed but not moving at all…like I was out of my own body. The whole experience couldn’t have lasted more than 3 seconds but it was the oddest 3 seconds of my life…up until that point anyway. When it was over we weren’t in the Juice Bar anymore…we were…somewhere else.
The room we landed in was big and looked very sci-fi.
“Isn’t exactly the mall is it?” Kim asked.
“Not even close.” I replied.
“This place is magnificent.” Billy said.
“You would think so.”
“I don’t get it. How did we end up here?” Jason asked.
“I just wanna know where ‘here’ is.” Trini said.
“Well, maybe the answer is in these controls.” Billy said.
“No, don’t touch that!” this robot thing said as he came…well…fell into the room.
“Whoa, a fully multi functional automaton. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Billy said in awe.
“Welcome humans.” This booming voice said.
We turned to see who it was and all we saw was a giant green head in a tube.
“So who are you?” Jason asked.
“What are you?” Kim added.
“I am Zordon, an inter-dimensional being caught in a time warp.” The head said.
“And my name is Alpha 5.” The robot said.
“Excuse me but like can somebody come back to Earth and pick me up because I’m totally confused.” Kim said.
“Me too…I thought I’d seen it all…but I’ve never seen this.” I agreed.
“It’s quite simple my dear. This planet is under attack and I’ve brought you here to save it.” Zordon said.
“Oh yeah right.” Zack said.
“Ah, a non-believer. Look behind you at the viewing globe. Your doubts will be answered in the images you see.” Zordon started as we looked into the globe thing, “This is Rita Repulsa and inter-galactic sorceress that is bent on controlling the universe. With her henchmen and putty patrollers she plans to conquer Earth.”
“What does all of this have to do with us?” Trini asked.
“You’ve been chosen to form an elite team to battle Rita. Each of you will be given access to extraordinary powers drawn from the ancient creatures you all dinosaurs.” Zordon said.
“Dinosaurs?” Kim asked as these weird belt buckles appears to us.
“Behold, the keys to your power.” Zordon said.
“Whoa, what are these?” Zack asked.
“Those are your power morphers. When in danger raise them to the sky, calling the name of your dinosaur and you will morph into a formidable fighting force know to all as the Power Rangers.”
“Morph?” Kim asked.
“Metamorphosis!” Billy exclaimed.
“That means to change.” Trini said.
“As Power Rangers you have access to a universe of power and will command a fleet of fighting machines called Zords.” Zordon continued.
“I don’t get it.”
“Jason, bold and powerful, you shall command the Tyrannosaurus Dinozord. Zachary, you’re clever and brave. You shall command the Mastodon Dinozord. Kimberly, graceful and smart, the Pterodactyl Dinozord will be yours. Billy, patient and wise you shall command the powerful Triceratops Dinozord. Trini, fearless and agile, the Saber-toothed Tiger Dinozord will be under your command. Michelle, confident and commanding, although you don’t yet have a Zord to command you will draw power from the Brontosaurus. Observe the viewing globe. Just as the six of you work together so do your Zords. When you need help you need only to turn to the power of the Dinozords which will come together to form the mighty Megazord.” Zordon finished.
“Power Morphers? Megazords? Uh-uh. This is just too weird for me. I tell ya what, it’s been real but I gotta go.” Zack said.
“Yeah, see ya.” Kim echoed.
“Don’t call us and we won’t call you.” I followed.
“Y’all coming?” Zack asked the other 3, “Jason?”
“Yeah?” Jason asked.
“Let’s go man.”
“Yeah.”
“Very well then, let the power protect you.” Zordon said as we left.
We walked out of the strange building to find that we were in a desert in the middle of nowhere.
“Great. He could have sent us back into town.” Kim said.
“No kidding. How rude!” I said as we started walking.
“Guys, we shouldn’t have left. I mean, he chose us to save the world. I say we do it.” Jason said.
“You really think we can?” Trini asked.
“Hey guys, you don’t even know what you’re talking about. I mean we were talking to a giant floating head.” Zack said.
“Yeah. Besides, I’m a popstar, not Supergirl.” I said as we kept walking. Out of nowhere we were suddenly attacked by this blast.
“Everyone down!” Jason cried as these clay guys showed up.
“What was that?” Trini asked.
“Look out!” Zack cried.
Kim screamed which made me scream. We were both grabbed by the clay men.
“Let go of me!” Kim cried.
“Do you have any idea who I am?!” I screamed.
“I don’t think they care.”
“We have to fight them.” Trini said.
“Ugh, how?” I cried as I watched Kim kick at the clay guys. I nodded and followed her lead. I punched and kicked at the clay guys with little success. They ended up throwing us into a pile.
“This say is too weird.” Kim said.
“What do we do now?” Trini asked.
“Zordon said these Power Morphers would give us power. Let’s do it.” Jason said.
“Guess we don’t have a choice.”
“Mastodon!” Zack called.
“Petradactyl!” Kim called.
“Triceratops!” Billy called.
“Saber-toothed Tiger!” Trini called.
“Bronotosaurus!” I called.
“Tyrannosaurus!” Jason called.
And just when I thought it couldn’t get any weirder, it did. The…morph was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. It was like I was filled with this charge…this power…it was all consuming and…I felt so…powerful. Seconds later the teleport thing happened again.
“We’re teleporting again.” Billy said.
“Where are we going?” Kim asked.
“We’re gonna save the world!” Jason cried.
This time we ended up in Angel Grove, facing off with this flying monkey and more clay guys. This time we fought. It was like the power made fighting instinctual. I moved in ways I didn’t even know I knew how to move. We were actually winning…I think. Suddenly the monkey man grew to a giant monkey man…like…he was 40 stories tall or something. I’d never seen anything like it!
“Look at him, that dude’s huge!” Jason cried.
“It’s like, King Kong.” I said.
“Back off fang face!” Jason cried.
“The good guys are here!” Zack echoed.
“Get off our planet!” Billy said.
“Cause we’re the Power Rangers!” Trini cried.
“And we’re not backing down!” Kim cried.
“And we will win!” I cried.
“Dinozord power!” Jason called.
These really big robots showed up and we were pulled into them. I didn’t have one so I ended up co-piloting with Kim. As with the fighting we just knew how to pilot the Zords. It was so weird. We formed the Megazord and fought the monkey man. I kept an eye on the power levels of the Megazord, which held fairly steady considering we’d never battled in it before. Don’t ask me how I knew to monitor our levels or how I knew how to keep the power steady, but I suddenly knew how to do that too. We managed to fight the monkey man to the point of his retreat. We actually won the battle!
After the battle we returned to the place with Zordon.
“Congratulations on a job well done. Now that you’ve become Power Rangers you must follow 3 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 secret. No one may know you are a Power Ranger.” Zordon said.
“Wait a second.” Zack said.
“Yes Zachary, what is it?” Zordon asked.
“I’m not sure we’re all up to this. I mean, we were pretty lucky this time.”
“Luck had nothing to do with it. The six of you have come together to form as fine a group of superheroes as there has ever been.”
“No way, really?” Kim asked.
“You’ve been through an extraordinary experience together.
You need each other now and the world need you.”
“Yeah, alright, I’m in!” Jason said.
“Yeah me too.” Zack agreed.
“You can count on me.” Trini echoed.
“Affirmative.” Billy said.
“I don’t know you guys, I mean the outfits are cool and everything but my hair gets all tangled up inside the helmets. I don’t think I can do it” Kim said.
“Oh no, Kimberly.” Trini said.
“NOT!” Kim cried.
Everyone laughed except me.
“Ha ha, but seriously, I’m not sure I’m up for it. I mean, I’m a superstar. The most famous 13 year old in the world! How am I supposed to keep a secret identity?” I asked.
“
“Absolutely. Come on
I sighed, “OK, fine. I’m in…I’m in.”
“OK, let’s do this.” Jason said as he motioned for us to put our hands in a circle. We did so.
“POWER RANGERS!” we cried.
And I knew from that moment that my life would never be the same.