Author Note: This is just a collection of short Power Ranger related Christmas stories. They are in no particular order and range from MMPR to PRLG. Merry Christmas everybody!
The Christmas Collection
By Matt
Never Forget
He sat in his room and occasionally glanced down at the comic book he held in his hands. He pulled the duvet up closer round him, for the night was bitterly cold, and even inside he could feel it. It had always been like this, he had always been alone on that day, on Christmas Eve, so why did this year seem so different. He thought back to the numerous years he had been there, in the shelter. It made him so sad when he realised he no longer even remembered the few Christmas' he had actually had at home... when his parents werealive. The last one there had been was when he was three. That was six years ago now, and when you're only nine, six years can be a very long time!
He almost dreaded the morning. The people at the shelter did the best they could, they had all the decorations, the food, even a few presents, but it wasn't the same. There was something missing, something he couldn't quite think of right now. As he sat there, thinking about it, he didn't even notice himself falling off into a quiet slumber. Beforehe knew it, he was in a deep, peaceful sleep. That was when the dream began.
It was nearing the end of Spring, and he was happier than he could remember being forquite some time. They had all gone out for a trip to the Park, almost every single person from the shelter was there. It was already getting quite warm, and the Spring blossom was just finishing. As the wind blew across the area, it swept through the trees, picking up the pink and white petals. The whole group was showered with them in one particularly strong gust. He ran along, just managing to stay out of the reach of his best friend, but not for long. He caught up and they both tumbled to the ground, laughing.
"Gotcha!" Justin grinned down at his slightly younger best friend.
"I'll get you for that!" the boy replied with a grin as they both got up.
"Yeah, I'd like to see you try, little guy." Justin taunted him. He knew he hated being called that. The boy said nothing in return, just started chasing after Justin.
"Justin, Mark, come on, don't go too far!" One of the staff called out to them.
"Yeah!" they both shouted back, then looked at each other again. Mark just gave Justin a threatening look and the chase started over.
Mark slowly opened his eyes and sat up in his bed, back in the cold room, rather than the sunny park. He hadn't wanted to fall asleep, but he was glad that he did. He now knew exactly what was missing. At the beginning of the year, he had been basically on his own. Sure, he had all the other kids in the shelter as friends, but nobody he could call a best friend, all the others had paired off.
Then Justin had arrived and the two of them hit it off right from day one. It was because of this close friendship that they had been given a private room together, not like a lot of the others who shared dormitory type rooms with maybe five or six others.
They had become so close, not even leaving each other for more than a few hours, and even then, missing each other greatly. Then Justin had met the older kids, and he started being around a bit less. He was still there, but maybe one or two days a week he would be out with them. After one of Justin's friends got hurt, he seemed to stop being around all together, even staying over with one or the other of his friends most nights. It was almost as if he was living a whole other life.
He hadn't really noticed just how much he missed him.... until right then. He put his hands together and closed his eyes, bowing his head slightly. "I don't know if anyone is up there, or if there's a real Santa or anything, but I just want one thing for Christmas. Just this one thing and I don't care if I don't get anything else. All I want is... is my best friend back!" A couple of tears trickled down his face as he sat up and looked over at the empty bed across the room. He lay down in his bed, turned off the lamp, and once again drifted off to sleep.
* *
Morning soon came, as much as he resented it. He was suprised he hadn't been woken a lot earlier by some of the younger kids running about excitedly. It sometimes happened on the best of days, but on Christmas day it was almost gospel. Instead, he was awoken by the Sun peaking over the window ledge and bathing him in the soft morning light. He didn't move for a moment, just taking a few seconds to open his eyes and wake up properly.
The way he was facing, he could see Justin's bed, the door and one of the windows. As he awakened, he looked over at the other bed hopefully, wishing to see his older friend laying there. He was used to seeing it like that, Justin still asleep when he awoke. Justin may have been one of the most lively and energetic people around, but getting him out of bed was nigh impossible. But alas, the bed was empty.
"I miss you Justin!" he whispered, yet another tear leaking from his eye, but then he felt something. Something sat down behind him on the bed. Instantly, he rolled over and looked up. He almost screamed with happiness as he found himself looking straight up into Justin's eyes. "JUSTIN!"
"I miss you too!" the older of the two friends whispered back.
"You remembered!" Mark said happily, sitting up and throwing his arms around his best friend.
"You didn't really think I'd forget you, did you?" Justin asked, but from the way his young friend just held onto him tightly and cries with happiness, he knew exactly what he was thinking.
"I promise I'll never forget you, Mark!" Justin said, unsuccessfully attempting to hold back a few tears of his own. "Happy Christmas!
All I Want For Christmas....
Kimberly sat in the Youth Center, watching all the activity. Everyone was so excited about Christmas this year, but for some reason, this year she wasn't. She had gone through everything she normally did - buying presents, writing endless Christmas Cards, putting up the decorations, but none of it had quite got her Christmas spirit going. It was really bugging her, because she loved Christmas, she thought it was the most wonderful time of the year. So there had to be something pretty wrong to make her like that.
Maybe it was the worry of being a Power Ranger. What if Rita attacks on Christmas day? What if she's stuck with all her family and can't get away to help the others? What if Rita tries to ruin her whole celebration? All of these things were worrying to her, but they were not the main thing that worried her. She soon knew what it was... or rather who it was. He walked in the door and headed straight for the practice mats. He wore green pants and a green tank top - it was none other than her very own fatal attraction, Tommy Oliver, otherwise known as the Green Ranger.
"He looks SO hot!" she said quietly to herself. "Now I wouldn't mind having him wrapped up under my tree this year!" She sat watching him work out and started dreaming about him. What it would be like to go out with him, to be his girlfriend, to be close to him. It was all she wanted. Everything else seemed to pale in comparison to her desire. She continued her daydreaming and didn't even notice what was going on behind her.
"She's got it pretty bad!" Zack grinned.
"Tell me about it. He's all she talks about now." Trini agreed.
"I must concur. There definitely seems to be some kind of attraction between the two."Billy added.
"It's just a shame neither of them have the guts to make the first move." Jason commented.
Trini smiled, the kind of smile the others had learned years ago to be wary of. "What?" Zack asked.
"Come with me." she ordered, heading out of the Youth Center. "I've got an idea!" The four of them walked out. Well technically, three of them were pulled out, but Trini wasn't going to let anything get in her way.
* *
The last few days before Christmas slipped by almost un-noticed. Thankfully, Rita had attacked only once. Things were still pretty much the same. Kimberly staring longily at Tommy and wishing the day away, while Tommy just took sneaky glances at her when she thought she wasn't looking. They had all gathered at Jason's house for a small Christmas Eve celebration, and eventually, as the night drew on they fell to sleep. Kim's dream was somewhat unusual, for it was not particularly like a normal dream. Instead, she just seemed to appear in the dreamworld, waiting for something to happen.
She lay there, in her dream, just waking up. She was a bit dizzy for a moment, and unsure of what was going on. She suddenly found herself standing up, the bed gone, and dressed in a stunning Pink Ballgown. The area flashed brightly and as the illumination died down,she was stood in a grand hall, couples dressed in suits and gowns spinning around the dance floor to the most heavenly music imaginable. She looked around, hoping to find herdate, but she just couldn't remember who she had come with.
She was starting to get a bit upset, but that soon changed as someone tapped her on the shoulder. Spinning around, Kimberly found herself looking up into the stunning eyes of none other than Tommy Oliver. He was dressed in a very smart looking tuxedo. "May I have this dance?" he asked.
The two of them walked out onto the dance floor and everyone cleared out to the egdes. A different song, a slightly more up tempo song, started playing. They started dancing to the song, the whole crowd watching in awe as the most perfect couple there pulled off the most perfect dance of the night. As soon as the song finished, a slower tune came on in its place. The dance area filled up again and they danced slowly together,Tommy holding his date closely.
As the evening drew to a close, they headed outside. They left the building and were suddenly in a wondrous place, a park filled with large trees and row after row of extravagantly colored flowers. It was all lit by the full moon, for the night sky was perfectly cloudless, millions of tiny stars twinkling around the glowing orb. The two young teens turned to each other, both noticing how beautiful the other looked, bathed in the dim, pale light.
"I love you, Kimberly Hart!" Tommy smiled down at her.
"I love you too, Thomas Oliver!" she replied, finding herself once again engrossed in his amazing eyes. He leant down to her, their eyes locked almost constantly, and he kissed her.
As suddenly as it had started, the dream was over, but instead of finding themselves backon the sofa where they had originally fallen asleep, they were in the middle of the room. Also, they were now dressed in the ball gown and suit that they had beendressed in during the dream. They looked at each other in astonishment.
"Did you just dream..." Kimberly started.
"Yeah! I did!" Tommy replied, knowing what she would say.
"So you..." she started again.
"And so do you!" Tommy smiled back at her. They pulled together and kissed once again,only this time, it was all real!
* *
The other four Rangers and Alpha stood around the Viewing Globe. Tommy and Kimberly both woke up and spoke for a moment, then they kissed. They all turned back to Zordon.
"Thanks Zordon. You don't know how much that meant to them!" Trini grinned.
"Rangers, you know I am always willing to help wherever I can." Zordon smiled. "Now go home, it will be Christmas soon!"
They all agreed and teleported back to Jason's house. When they got there, the two lovers were sat on the sofa together, arms around each other.
"I see you got our present then!" Zack laughed.
"You did this?" Kim asked as they stood up.
"Yeah, we hope we did the right thing." Jason commented.
"Oh yeah, you can count on that!" Tommy replied.
"Everybody, look at the time!" Trini called out, interrupting them. They looked round at the clock on Jason's wall. It said three minutes past midnight - it was Christmas Day.
"Whadda you say guys?" Jason said, putting his hand in the middle. The others all laughed and put their hands in. They ducked down, then jumped up, releasing their hands and shouting, "Happy Christmas!"
Christmas Spirit
The five Zeo Rangers and Jason, the Gold Ranger fought their way through the army of Cogs, and this time, it really was an army. There must have been at least two hundred of the things. Each of them was using their Power Weapon to fight their way through, and for now they were succeeding. They continued the fight, turning the endless machines into little more then scrap metal.
"These guys just aren't giving up today!" Tommy complained.
"I know, and it's really starting to bug me! I've got Christmas food to eat!" Rocky complained, punching a Cog in the stomach.
"Hey, come on guys, let's just finish them!" Tanya insisted.
"I've just got a really bad feeling about this." Adam commented. "Mondo never sends down a force this size unless he's up to something really bad!"
"I think Adam's right! Normally it's just a dozen or two, not acouple of hundred. He must be trying to keep us away from his real plan!" Kat agreed, kicking away a couple of the mechanoids.
"But what can we do?" Jason asked."We're all stuck here. If we leave these guys alone, who knows what trouble they're gonna cause!"
"Okay guys, let's just finish this is soon as possible, then find out what Mondo's up to!" Tommy suggested."Zeo Cannon?"
They all nodded and the five Zeo Rangers stood together. "ZeoCannon!" The massive weapon appeared, and after loading the power cells into it, they fired. The wide blast obliterated several dozen of the foot soldiers.It didn't destroy all of them, but it certainly reduced their numbers.
Just a few more minutes, and a rather helpful Gold Rush from Jason, later and they had cleared out the rest of them. "Okay, let's get back to the Power Chamber and see if Zordon can tell us what Mondo's up to!" Tommy suggested.
"Right!" they all agreed, and teleported away from the machine graveyard.
* *
As six flashes of energy appeared in the Power Chamber, Alpha Five immediately rushed over to them. "Ay-yi-yi Rangers, Mondo has a small army of monsters ready to fight. They're around an area outside of Angel Grove."
"Zordon, have you got any idea what he's doing?" Tommy asked.
"No, I'm afraid I do not. The whole area is heavily shielded from our scanners. Over the last few weeks, Mondo has been hauling a lot of equipment into the area, but it did not appear to be anything of any serious risk. Now it would appear he is constructing something in there! Even though we are not sure at this time exactly what it is, I believe it is safe to assume it is not anything good! Zordon commented.
"Okay, we're on our way!" Tommy said as they all morphed back into action.
* *
"Okay, you creeps had better let us through.We destroyed you all once!" Tommy called out as the Rangers came face to face with a varied array of monsters.
"Actually, we destroyed some of you twice." Rocky grinned.
"Yeah, well three's our lucky number." Silo replied.
"We'll see about that." Jason called back, and the fight began. Each Ranger faced off against a couple of the monsters,using Power Weapons, Zeo Blades, Zeo Pistols and anything else they could think of to stop them, but each time they managed to cause any serious damage, it simply repaired itself.
"This is impossible!" Kat called out.
"Every time we do anything, it just repairs! How can we stop them?" Tanya asked.
"We don't!" Tommy commented. "Everyone follow me!" The Red Rangerran past the monsters, the others close behind. Dodging around the mechanical creatures, they headed for the shielded area. They made it inside and ran up a large hill. As they neared the top, they looked down into the gully. There were even more monsters down there, gathered around a massive trapdoor, easily three hundred feet across. Mondo, Machina and Sprocket were stood with them.
"Stop right there!" Tommy shouted down to them.
"Monsters, stop them, we just need a little more time." Mondo ordered.
"Let's stop them before they finish....whatever it is they're doing!" Rocky called out. They charged down the hill towards Mondo's protectors. As the two sides clashed, sparks flew everywhere and battle cries echoed through the valley. Once again, any damage they did simply healed up, leaving no sign of the attacks at all. The Rangers began to notice something, the monsters seemed to be holding back, as if they were waiting for something. It was almost as if they were just trying to contain and slow the Rangers, rather than really attack them.
"What are you up to, Mondo?" Tommy snapped.
"You will find out soon enough, Rangers!" Mondo replied.
"Sire, it is ready!" Klank called out as he emerged from an underground doorway.
"Very well, activate it." Mondo shouted. The trapdoor started opening, soon open all the way. As the Rangers looked on, a massive creation, hundreds of feet tall, emerged, for now hidden under a massive cover.
"What is it?" Kat asked.
"I don't know, but I think we're going to need the Zords." Tommy said.
"Super Zeo Zords, power up!" they called out.
"Pyramidas, online!" Jason commanded. The six colossal vehicles appeared and stood around the creation.
"Rangers, I just have one thing to say!" Mondo called out.
"Make it quick." Jason snapped.
"I just wanted to say..." Mondo started, as the cover fell from his hidden weapon. It fell to the ground, revealing a giant Christmas tree. "Merry Christmas Rangers!"
All the Rangers could do was stare in shock as a banner emerged, saying, 'Merry Christmas to the Power Rangers and all of Angel Grove!'
"Whadda you know! Even the machines feel the Christmas spirit." Adam grinned.
They all teleported down to the ground and faced the Royal machines. The rest of the monsters gathered round. Loud music started playing and the whole thing soon developed into a full blown party. "Merry Christmas, Machine Empire! Merry Christmas!" Tommy smiled.
The Greatest Present Of All
"So what are you getting everyone for Christmas?" Mike asked his little brother.
"I don't know. There isn't much I can get really. I don't have any money!" Leo commented.
"I mean, you, Kendrix, Kai, and Damon all have the money from your jobs to pay for presents."
"Well Maya doesn't have any money either!" Mike replied.
"I know, but she's creative.She's making things for everyone. I'm no good at that sort of thing.What am I meant to do?" Leo sighed.
"Don't worry about it, you'll think of something!" Mike commented, getting up from his seat. "Now I've got to get to work. See ya later."
"Bye." Leo said quietly, sitting back in his seat as Mike walked out."What can I get them all?"
* *
Leo continued on over the next couple of days, thinking endlessly what to get for his friends.The tree in the guys' apartment was soon surrounded by presents from all of the others to each other, but there were still none from Leo, and it was starting to get him down. It was Christmas Eve and he still hadn't got a single thing. He sat looking at the tree, at everything underneath it. Suddenly, his communicator sounded. "What is it, Alpha?" he asked instantly.
"There's a monster attacking the City Dome, the others are already there but they need your help." Alpha said through the communicator.
"Okay, I'm on it!" Leo replied, standing up. "GO GALACTIC!"
* *
The monster continued fighting, despite the combined attempts of four Galaxy Rangers and the Magna Defender. It was some kind of giant bug, a cross between a cricket and a cockroach, doubtlessly Deviot's doing. Leo ran over to the others and checked on them. "You okay everyone?" he asked as they staggered back up to their feet.
"Yeah, never better!" Damon joked.
"Okay guys, let's do it!" Leo commented.
"Lights of Orion Power Up!" they called out together. The Lights formed into new equipment across their bodies and changed the appearance of the Quasar Sabers."Power Up mode, now!" they called out.
Together, they charged at the monster and converted into a blast of pure energy. They sped along and cut through the monster with ease. It collapsed to the ground and exploded. The Rangers re-formed and the Lights powered down."Thanks Leo, we couldn't have down it without you!" Kendrix smiled.
"Yeah, sure!" Leo replied, half-heartedly before powering down and walking off.
"What's wrong with him?" Kai asked.
"Christmas blues!" Mike said."He doesn't have any money to buy us Christmas presents and it's really getting him down."
"Oh, poor Leo. He must hate that." Maya commented.
"I know. He loves Christmas. He always used to spend so much on everyone, he just loved giving." Mike explained.
"And now he can't." Kendrix sighed. "I think we should do something guys."
"Yeah, but what!" Damon asked.
* *
The next morning, Leo was awoken by noises from the next room. He climbed out of bed and headed through. The other five were there, opening presents and laughing. He walked slowly over behind them, and eventually, they noticed Leo.
"I was wondering when you were going to get up!" Mike said to him.
"Yeah, we've got some stuff here for you." Kendrix said, handing him a gift."And there's plenty more under the tree."
"But, before you open them, we just want to say thanks for all the stuff you got us, it's great!" Maya smiled.
"What stuff?" Leo asked, confused.
"Come on, don't play dumb.You made out you couldn't get usanything, then you go and get all this stuff. You got more for all of us than we did for you!" Mike said.
"Yeah, no problem." Leo said, sitting down to open something.
* *
The day drew on, the celebrations running almost non-stop. Not long after all the presents had been opened, Mike came up to Leo and said. "Hey, all that stuff you got for the guys. I don't know where you got it from, but the stuff you didn't recognise was kinda from me! I didn't want you being depressed about it, so I bought some presents and did them from you, but if I'd known you had all that other stuff I wouldn't have gone and done it, but anyway, Happy Christmas little brother."
Leo didn't know what to say, but at least that explained where someof the stuff had come from. Throughout the day, he got similar confessions from all of the others. They had all had the same idea, they all bought some presents and gave them to the others with Leo's name on them. He didn't tell any of the others they had all done it, that would have just ruined the whole atmosphere of it all and made their gestures seem worthless.
Towards the end of the day, just as they finished their Christmas dinner, Leo stood up and drew their attention. "Guys, I just want to say a few words. First of all I want to say thank you for all the presents you gave me, and thank you for the other stuff you did! You know who I'm talking to, so I just want to say thank you to you. But none of that is important right now. You've all given me a much greater present, one you may not even be aware of. You've given me the greatest group of friends I could ever have hoped for, and you've given me the gift of friendship, the best present I could get!"
With a cheer from all the others, the party continued, all of them thinking about Leo's words and realising it was true to them all. They were all a part of each other, and they were together, after all that is what Christmas was all about.
Christmas Memories
He sat alone, looking up at the sky.It was not the sky he had grown up beneath, it was an alien world. An alien world that was now his home. Back on Earth, it would be nearing the end of Christmas Day, of course, a holiday not celebrated on any otherworld. He didn't even think the Aquitians knew of the holiday's existence, for not one off them had even mentioned it to Billy.
He thought back to his days on his world of birth. He had madefriends with Kimberly, Trini, Jason and Zack when they were only children. Ever since that time, they had all celebrated Christmas together every year. Even after three of them had left, and then the last of them too.They had always come to visit Angel Grove at Christmas, and failing that, had always sent a Christmas present and card and phoned on the day.
Now he was the one who had left.the others had promised to stay in contact. Really, they had to call him, for although Aquitian technology was greatly advanced, their communication systems were very weak. Their signal had trouble reaching Earth, but if someone on Earth contacted them, they could maintain the signal. The others had kept in contact at first, just for two or three months, but then they had faded away and now nobody called any more.
He smiled as he thought about their quiet Christmas' at home, and their not so quiet Christmas' as Rangers, all of them extremely fond memories to him. He had kept his portable communications device with him all day, wishing for a call from Earth, from anyone on Earth. But so far, nobody called. His watch beeped. He wasn't quite sure why he had kept it, Aquitian times were very different to those on Earth, so all it was good for was telling him what date and time it would be back on Earth.
Right now, it flashed 12:00 - Christmas was over. "Billy, are you alright?" Cestria asked, walking up behind him.
"Oh, hiya honey." Billy said, looking around at her. He stood up and slipped his arms around her. "I'm fine, I guess I wasjust...leaving the past behind!" he said as they walked off towards the entrance to their underwater home."Merry Christmas guys, I promise I won't ever forget what we had!" he said quietly to himself.