One such person heard that call. Rolling over in bed to look at the clock -It was only six thirty-five. - She went back to sleep, but the bird's call was relentless. Finally defeated, she rolled out of bed. As she got up, she struck her big toe on the nightstand. She cursed beneath her breath already beginning to hate the day.
Until she looked around.
This wasn't her room.
It was richly decorated with a large mahogany dresser and matching chest-of-drawers and chiffarobe. Draped over a door to a large walk-in closet was a black robe, trimmed with gold. She noticed the rhinoceros statuette on the dresser and realized where she was. Besides, only one person would have a large decorative rug of a lion on his wall. And the picture on the nightstand concurred with her thoughts.
She opened the door and was greeted with the wafting aroma of pancakes and warm apples. My favorite, she thought.
She raced down the stairs noticing the same decorative rug from the bedroom on the living room wall. As she rounded the corner, she ran into a brick wall.
A tall brick wall with a black shirt and a gold chain.
"Well, good morning, love," his deep baritone echoed.
"Good morning to you, too," she said as she kissed him softly. As she pulled away, she looked at him and smiled. "You must really love me."
"Of course, I do."
"You must to kiss me with my breath kickin' the way it is this morning," she laughed.
He laughed slightly before leading her into the dining room. A black marble table with gold trim, decorated with black plates and gold silverware. Four high backed brass chairs with black cushions were under the table.
"Tell me what you think."
"It's beautiful!" she gasped. "When did you get this?"
"About a month ago," he explained. "Father and mother decided to help me out with it. I almost blew my back out lugging that thing in here."
She ran her hand over it. "Marble?"
"Indeed."
"How much did this cost?"
He eyed her slyly. "Enough." She wrinkled her nose at him and laughed.
"Well, I'd better go and get washed up," she said. "Wouldn't want to offend anybody else."
He glanced at his watch. "Yeah, they should be here in a few minutes. Bathroom is up the stairs and to the right. Breakfast will be ready shortly."
She kissed him again and hurried off up the stairs. He went, first, into the kitchen to check on the Canadian bacon that was frying and the pancakes that were still warming. The apples, simmering in their own syrup, bubbled quietly in the pan. Too much really, and he turned the heat down to low.
After thoroughly checking the food, he went into the living room and folded up the ebon comforter he had used last night when he slept on the couch so that she could have the bed. Picking up the pillow in his free hand, he placed both in the stairwell closet. Having taken care of his sleeping arrangements, he went back into the kitchen.
"Morning, Sean," Kimberly chirped in her usual valley-girl voice.
"How's it going this morning, man?" Tommy asked.
"Come on in," Sean said, gesturing them in. "It's going well. Aisha's getting ready upstairs. Breakfast is almost done."
"Smells great," the White Ranger said, inhaling deeply.
"Wait until you taste it," Sean replied with a tinge of pride.
Tommy wore an identical outfit to Sean's with the exception of being all white: jeans, T-shirt, sneakers, and a white gold chain that Kimberly gave him. Kimberly bounced in with blue jeans and a pink shirt so loud that it caused Sean to blink once or twice.
Sean gestured to the couch. "Sit. Can I get you something to drink while we wait?"
"Uh, how about some of that blended juice you make?" Kimberly asked.
"Yeah, I'll take some," Tommy said.
"Two coming up," the Gold Ranger returned before turning in to the kitchen and setting to work again.
"Wow!" Kimberly gasped as she looked at his trophies on his mantle over a black brick fireplace. Tommy's eyes caught his mahogany trophy case that stood off to the side of the fireplace.
"He's got trophies from everywhere," Tommy noted as he read some of the inscriptions from Japan, China, Korea, and other far lands. He looked at a katana of reddish coloring with a dragon's head for a handle and read, "Heavenly Dragon of the Most High Order of Universal Wisdom and Truth. Must be from the Twelve Disciplines of the Dragon."
"You know, I don't really know what are the 'Twelve Disciplines of the Dragon,'" Kimberly noted still looking at some of the trophies.
"Earth, Wind, Fire, Water...um, Paper, Bamboo, and Lightning, Ivory, Gold...um, Steel, Death, and Ultimate," a voice behind them answered. They turned to see Aisha fastening her watch. Her outfit was yellow jeans with a black shirt and yellow boots. She pulled her hair up in a canary bow, splaying the braids down her back.
"Ask and ye shall receive," Tommy commented. "Good morning."
"Morning," Aisha returned, eyes twinkling.
Kimberly, still bubbly with excitement, grabbed Aisha by the hands. "A camping trip in the mountains! This is so morphinomenal!"
"Can't wait to get up there and see some of the wildlife!" Aisha returned. "I hear that three different endangered species of birds live there!"
"It was nice of Sean's parents to let us use their cabin for the weekend."
"Chris and Marie are too cool!"
Sean returned to the room with three glasses of his blended juice, which they all drank eagerly. Tommy grilled Sean on the reasons behind the Twelve Disciplines.
"Well, each of the disciplines represent a different power or ability of that discipline," Sean explained. "Usually, one chooses one discipline and goes from there. Each discipline is progressively harder than the last one. Some have very few members. The smaller the number of disciples for a discipline, the more difficult that discipline is. Once they master it, they can go on to others, but usually one is enough. Not me, of course."
"Of course," Tommy agreed.
"Ivory is strong, yes, but brittle. Their top maneuver is the 'Ivory Strike of Ultimate Perfection." Bamboo is strong but flexible. Their maneuver is 'Bamboo Kick of Fear.'"
"So, you have mastered...?" Kimberly coaxed.
"All of them," Sean answered. "I didn't want to be a Death Dragon, but I was never one to do a job halfway. I finished all disciplines in about...oh...eight months? My masters were amazed at how fast I caught on."
"Man, you are probably the most accomplished martial artist I've ever known," Tommy commented.
"Why, thank you, Tommy," Sean said, smiling.
"All right," Aisha cut in. "Is breakfast ready?"
As if on cue, the timer went off in the kitchen.
"It is now," the man returned, again smiling before getting up and walking into the kitchen. "Let's get to it. We've got a long drive ahead of us."
"I must redeem myself, Scorpina," Goldar growled. "That miserable human made a fool of me! I must destroy him or lose favor with Lord Zedd forever!"
"As must I, Goldar," Scorpina hissed at him. "My failure to stop Sean at the outset has forced me to live in fear - to sneak about like some common mote. We must develop a plan."
"The humans are going to go on a camping trip. They will be isolated from the rest of the Rangers. We could attack them then."
"Yes, but they would most assuredly defeat us. The Gold Ranger with that blasted hammer of his would tip the scales in their favor."
"We must get it from him?"
Scorpina scratched her chin. "Yes, but we must also distract him. Hmm..."
"May I be of some assistance?" a mechanical voice from behind rang out. Mistress MonsterMaker, already active and scanning the Morphin' Grid, had eavesdropped on their conversation.
"We need a monster, MonsterMaker," Goldar said.
"No...two monsters," Scorpina interrupted.
"Better yet, how about three? One for each of the other Rangers? MonsterMaker, Command: Open."
MonsterMaker quietly grinded away at their request. Several seconds later, the throne of Lord Zedd split open to reveal a crystal globe atop a black pole. Another heartbeat and a beam of light lanced out, taking the form of a monster draped in purple and silver with a stylized Roman numeral on its chest. In its hands, it held a long staff with three interconnecting circles on the top and end of it.
"Name: Trinitus. Height: 6'6". Weight: 300 lbs. Powers: Ability to split into three separate, yet identical, units. Can launch concussion bolts of force and various other abilities."
Goldar and Scorpina nodded approvingly.
"Command," Goldar said, "create."
A sudden flash of energy encased the holographic image of Trinitus. When it subsided, the monster stepped forth and bowed before the two others.
"I am ready to do thy bidding," Trinitus said in a voice of crushing glass in triplicate.
"Excellent!" Scorpina exclaimed, turning back to the Tele-scorp. "Now we will crush the most powerful member of the Power Rangers!"
"In the name of Lord Zedd!" Goldar bellowed beside her. In a bright flurry of energy, all three disappeared from the throne room.