CHAPTER 4: "Knight and Dog Maneuvers in the Park"



The sirens soon blared inside the Command Center. Was it that three Rangers were suddenly missing? Was it that there were two strange civilians in the park that shouldn't be there? Was it another monster? All of the above?

Alpha: "Aiy yi yi! Zordon! A whole bunch of strangers suddenly appeared in the park! Why do some of them look like giant green mosquitoes??? Jason, Zack, and Trini are nowhere to be found! And LlamaDog is at large!"

Zordon: "Patience, Alpha! I will have Billy look into it. For now, we must study these other-dimensionals and learn what we can from them."

Meanwhile, things weren't going so well on the Moon Palace for Rita and her minions...

Rita: "What the-!? Finster!!! LlamaDog has to be the stupidest monster you've made yet! At least make him some weapons, and make it snappy!"

Finster: "Yes, my queen!"

Goldar: "Eh, wha? Who the Ford-truck are these newcomers?"

Rita: "The hockeystick if I know! Go down there, and find out, you moronic monkey! And report back when you know something!!!"

The Gwirdon Treaders sent to Angel Grove decided not to attack civilians until they had some idea of where they were. They were pretty sure the Percolation Wave was why. Yet, it seemed foolish for them to attack Vollkonir and Kayla in a park they were not familiar with. Instead, they scattered. This was not Bozeman!



Vinny and Kayla weren't entirely happy with where they wound up either.

Vinny: "My father warned me of the Percolation Wave. Though, I didn't think the Gwirdons would actually find a way to make us into Temps with it!"

Kayla: "Yeah. We'd...better keep a low profile. If this isn't our world, any thing we do might draw unwanted attention!"

Vinny (teasing): "So much for that poker game then."

Kayla (blushing): "Just find a romantic beach around here, buddy, and we won't even need the cards!"

Vinny: "We might regret being that desperate, darling."

Kayla: "Yeah, I know. It's just...getting where we want to go...it's not easy for me to be patient. Especially since..."

Vinny: "Since John Robuck robbed you of feeling special, right?"

Kayla: "Er...yeah. Swap good memory for bad, right? I realize it won't bring Lucy back.†"

Vinny: "I don't think that's the most healthy thought pattern.†† Can you have some faith?"

Kayla: "I'll try. Settle for second for now?"

Vinny: "Sure. I consider that a reasonable compromise. Though...we should probably wait until we have some privacy."

Kayla: "I appreciate you going ring shopping. Yeah...Vanessa couldn't keep quiet. I'll give you time to figure out when to propose."

Vinny: "I was hoping for next week; provided work, school, and...the bugs cooperate. Even I can't wait for us to be together forever! But...I want to do things properly. We owe it to all that is! It only matters what He Who formed us destined us to be; not who else did what to us."

Kayla (remorseful): "Sorry for asking you to compromise. But look at it this way: the reward will be that much sweeter!"

Vinny: "We're on an adventure together, Kayla. It already is sweeter!"

Kayla (smiling): "Now, don't go giving me diabetes here!"

The two of them quickly stopped to give each other a kiss. The park seemed mostly empty, and they figured nobody would mind them much if they were in fact caught.

Vinny: So...where are we supposed to be, you figure? Because I'm pretty sure this is not Bozeman!"

Kayla: "I dunno. Looks like a suburb of LA to me."

Vinny: "You've been to LA?"

Kayla: "Once. When I was young. My mom took me on a trip to Hollywood the summer vacation after the Treaders messed up my entire life. The judge at my juvie hearing was a jackass. He said all I was ever destined to be was a menace. My mom wanted to cheer me up, because she could see I was still hurt by those words."

Vinny: "I would've threatened him with Selshon for that!"

Kayla: "Totally not the right circumstantial response. So, while I don't like saying this..."

Vinny: "It...was for the best I was still in that infernal stuffed toy at the time?"

Kayla: "Well, I didn't wanna say it like that..."

Vinny: "It's okay. I deserved it."

Kayla: "Well...maybe something, but, not that!"

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Side notes:
† Lucy is Kayla's deceased daughter, who was killed by accident by CPS agents back when they came for Lucy when Kayla was homeless and living in a park. Kayla retaliated by punching one and breaking his nose. This is why she went to prison for a year and two months. John Robuck is Lucy's father, who assaulted Kayla by jumping out of the bushes and overpowering her when she was a homeless teen. He later fell to his death off a building. Kayla rests in the knowledge that he went to Hell, and justice was served - even if he never got to go to jail for what he did to her. She kept the child, in spite the hardship this presented to her. She was homeless because the Gwirdons used their connections to ensure her juvie records never got sealed; and no one would hire her with a criminal record. (Illegal to skip school in Texas, where she lived at the time. The judge didn't care that she was abducted.) Also, her father was MIA from the War in Iraq, and her mother died of cancer. She was arrested while trying to prevent CPS from abducting Lucy, after a bad friend sold her out to CPS in retaliation because Kayla refused to smuggle drugs for the friend.

†† Kayla's reasoning is the same as Candi's in Ciem: Inferno . In that story, Candi's reasoning leads to her and Danny hooking up in the middle of a terrorist attack. They realize too late what's happening outside, and Candi winds up getting mistaken for one of the terrorists. It takes most of the rest of the story for Miriam to get her out of jail. Vinny is more right than he knows about warning Kayla that her justification for trying to seduce him is twisted. Both Kayla and Candi were sexual assault victims at some point in their respective lives, and both now want their new boyfriends to "cure" them of their trauma by giving them a positive experience to replace the negative one. Vinny points out to Kayla that this is irrational and ignorant thinking. Danny played along with Candi when she made the same argument, since he wasn't as smart as Vinny - and was younger and in a bigger hurry to prove himself.



Vinny and Kayla's peaceful walk through the strange park didn't last long.

LlamaDog: "Ha ha ha ha ha!!! What's this? New Rangers in town? You don't seem scared to see me! Putties! Get the girl!"



Kayla: "Okay, seriously, what are you? That's gotta be the dumbest costume I've ever-"

Before the two knew it, LlamaDog began firing plasma beams from his fingertips for them to dodge!

Kayla: "Right! It had to be lasers from the fingertips!"

Vinny: "Okay, so he's as dangerous as he looks stupid."

LlamaDog: "You'll pay for that remark! Both of you!"

Kayla: "You take on this creep, Vinny! I'll handle the clay cannon fodder!"

Vinny: "Will do. Golden Lion, Cortascius Defend!"

Vinny found his mogrification...a bit less potent than usual. He'd heard that the Percolation Wave often had power users use substitute power sources. Could it be that he was using an inferior substitute to the Tapestry to mogrify? And what were the side effects? Only one way to find out!



Rita: "Finsteeerrrrrrrr!!!! What was the meaning of that???"

Finster: "I...I have no idea, my queen!"

Rita: "What is Cortascius anyway? And how did that knight defeat LlamaDog in only one kick? He's now beating the snot out of Goldar! And it's only a matter of time before the Rangers get here! Even the girl with no powers is beating up the Putties just fine! I want answers!!!"

Baboo: "Sheesh, Squatt! I don't like the sound of this new visitor! He packs a mean one!"

Squatt: "Oooohh!!! I wish I could get an armor upgrade like that! I might actually get taken seriously for once!"

Finster: "If it pleases you, your majesty, I have the Super LlamaDog on standby, just in case of a moment like-"

Rita: "Send it then!"

Finster: "Right away!"

Rita: "And Squatt!!!"

Squatt: "Yes?"

Rita: "Don't ever get cake on my main dress again! I feel naked in this substitute! That dry cleaner is taking forever too!"



After slicing off one of Goldar's shoulder pads and forcing him to retreat, Volkonir found himself up against Super LlamaDog - who proved a lot harder to push around than the original! Some colorful heroes showed up to help him, after helping get Kayla away from the Super Putties that wouldn't go down as easily.

Vinny: "You guys must be local. Kayla and I are a little lost here."

Tommy: "We'll take it from here."

Vinny: "Watch yourself. This new guy isn't the same paper tiger as the previous one!"

Kim: "LlamaDog was a paper tiger? Maybe you should lend a hand here a bit longer?"

Billy: "Agreed. We still have no idea what happened to Jason, Zack, or Trini."

Tommy: "Oh man! I hate this! Fine! But we should see if Alpha can get Kayla out of here."

Kayla: "Where to?"

Billy: "Alpha. Can you lock on to Kayla and get her out of here? She's not from this dimension. But she appears to be on our side."

Alpha: "Aiy yi yi! Absolutely, Billy! But I have to activate the safety cage until we know for sure!"

Zordon: "That will not take long to ascertain."

SuperLlamaDog: "Don't keep me waiting, Rangers! Nor that new Knight friend of yours, whoever he is!"

Vinny: "You've evidently not heard of Selshon beams! Time you got acquainted!"



The fighting soon commenced. After about an hour of trading blows, it became obvious to Super LlamaDog that he needed something more if he were to continue holding off his four attackers. Especially that Cortascian Knight! What was he made of, that the Rangers weren't? And that sword actually hurt, while the Rangers' weapons mostly just tickled!

Rita: "Ugh! Grow, Super LlamaDog, GROOOOOOOWWWW!!!"

Super LlamaDog: "Ahhhh!!! Ha ha ha haaaaa!!! Practice safe lunch, Rangers! Always use a condiment!!! You better get your Megazord to ketchup to me, cause I'm gonna relish your defeat!"

Vinny: "Are their puns always this bad? And I thought my enemies and their sadistic blurbs were disturbing!"

Kim: "I don't know if you've ever fought anything like this."

Vinny: "Nonsense! Raccglow looked this stupid! And Strumpule was a giant dragon. But...Gwirmalesh's monsters never get that big!"

Billy: "Alpha! We're gonna need overrides on the Mastodon and Saber Toothed Tiger to form the MegaDragonZord!"

Vinny: "While I'm here, I'll see if I can get Selshon to interlock with your Tapestry! It'd give your arsenal a boost, to say the least! Make myself useful around here!"

Tommy: "It's worth a shot! Alpha? Is that doable?"

Alpha: "I'm trying!"

Vinny: "Too bad we don't have Grinodos here. We could sure use a Master Weaver right about now!"



The Moon Palace had no idea what to expect when a sudden bright yellow light appeared and then vanished.

Slaisionnach: "Wh...where am I? I kill Red Pajama Man, and now I here?"

Rita: "What? WHO ARE YOU!?!?!?"

Slaisionnach: "Pardon intrusion. The Percolation Wave. I not sure you hear of it. It send me and countrymen to where I know not. I called Slaisionnach! For have love to slash throats of my enemies!"

Rita: "Slaisionnach? Hmm...I like the sound of that name very much! Red pajamas? You killed Jason???"

Slaisionnach: "Red Pajama Man? Easy! Spectral Hare Samurai? Tougher than I give credit. I gladly would slash throat of knight, Prince Volkonir! Pestilence to my king, Gwirmalesh! But knight has also gone to where I know not! And he take his whore with him!"

Rita: "Volkonir? Knight? You mean, the one that just destroyed my LlamaDog in only one kick???"

Slaisionnach: "Is very annoying, yes! I be glad to wreak havoc on Earth of your dimension for you, and kill other Pajama Men! I only ask you help me slash throat of knight, and his whore! And help me get home to my king after!"

Rita: "Well! If Super LlamaDog fails, I might have a job for you! Goldar!"

Goldar: "Err....yes, my queen?"

Rita: "See to it that...Slaisionnach...is made comfortable! He might just allow us to defeat those Rangers once and for all!"

Goldar (slightly jealous): "Durr....come with me!"

Slaisionnach felt that his only ticket to success now lay with appeasing his hosts. Though, he would much prefer to return to his home dimension and help Gwirmalesh seize control. But this pocket dimension seemed interesting. And if he got to kill Volkonir, all the better!



Back at the Command Center, their guest was being scanned for any evidence that this could be a trick. So far, nothing.

Alpha: "Scanners indicate nothing unusual, except that she's not from this dimension. Traces of an energy wave believed to have brought her here."

Kayla: "The Percolation Wave. I'm a Temp. I don't know how long I have before I get to go home automatically though."

Alpha: "You seem pretty okay with being in a safety cage."

Kayla: "It's a very long story. But to summarize: I've always fought for what I believed was right. Well, I've had my doubts, and some recent compromises. But...I still pretty much stay the course. Even when dirty politicians in my world disagreed, I stood by my convictions. This...is not the first time I've been in a cage. And if my enemies have their way, it won't be the last."

Zordon: "I believe she is safe to let out, provided she doesn't touch any controls."

Kayla: "Thank you for your faith in me."

Zordon: "You showed incredible bravery today. And for someone who is not a Ranger, you showed incredible fortitude against Rita's minions."

Kayla: "I may not have a mogriffer at the moment, but I'm a Cortascian Knight at heart! I have to believe that us Knights are not so different from your...Rangers, it was?"

Zordon: "Indeed. The sooner we can return you home, the better. I fear that if you and my missing Rangers switched places, they are in more trouble than they know."

Kayla: "No doubt about that! Law enforcement is pretty tough where I live! And even if they can avoid legal trouble simply for being there, Gwirmalesh's monsters are a bit more ruthless than whatever that thing was Vinny and I faced earlier! And without me and Vinny, Masato has to do everything himself! Which isn't fair. He needs to be protecting Japan. Protecting Montana is Vinny's job!"

Zordon: "We clearly have a huge dilemma on our hands. Be patient, Kayla, while Alpha and I work on contacting across the multiverse."



Much to Vinny's surprise, Selshon worked beautifully interfacing with the Dragonzord! The vehicle suddenly transformed without warning, and became the Golden Lionized Dragonzord Warrior Mode! With Super LlamaDog defeated in an explosion that had to be sent airborne to avoid destroying the entire city, Vinny and his new Ranger allies returned to the Command Center.

Kayla: "Vinny!"

The two embraced, as they often had before. Meanwhile, the other Rangers set to work on trying to take the readings off of Kayla and try to use them to find a way to make contact with the EccentriaVerse.

Billy: "I have a hunch that if there is even a remote way to send an e-mail across the Percolation so that Hanom can receive it, then he can follow that same trail to e-mail us back. It's a very long shot. We can let him know that Vinny and Kayla are with us, and he can give us feedback on the other Rangers."

Tommy: "It's worth a shot, Billy - if getting a POP3 server in that world to interact with our own is even possible."

Alpha: "Rangers! Gasp! Why did I not think to ask that? Vinny, do you have e-mail in your world?"

Vinny: "Of course!"

Alpha: "Quick! What year are you from in that world?"

Vinny: "The year 2016. Why?"

Alpha: "Aiy yi yi!!! This world is still in 1993!"

Billy: "Well, that could be a problem. Who's Hanom's dial-up ISP?"

Kayla: "Uh...."

Vinny: "Dial-up? You guys don't have Ethernet?"

Billy: "This...could be a problem."

Kayla: "I guess we'll just have to pray that this disruption in the Percolation Wave is enough to send MODM our way."

Tommy: "MODM???"

Vinny: "Hanom's met him before. Self-proclaimed Master of Offworld Dark Matter. Reality warper that is constantly in a state of flux between dimensions. Originates from the Dromedeverse. But if he can find a way into this world, he may be able to communicate back and forth between here and EccentriaVerse."

Tommy: "Or send our friends home early?"

Vinny: "Possibly. But...that could destabilize the Percolation Wave further! They could...wind up in a really silly cartoon world if that happened!"

Kim: "O....kay then!"

Zordon: "We'll need to provide lodging for Vinny and Kayla here in the mean time. We cannot risk any Eccentrians falling into Rita's hands."

Little did they know that on the Moon Palace, Slaisionnach was biding his own time until he could draw out Volkonir.



Meanwhile, night had befallen in Bozeman in the EccentriaVerse. As Jason lay in the hospital bed, a nurse filled in Carlos and Masato on the details.

Nurse Alina: "This one is lucky to be alive! I've never studied a venom like this one before, but someone should catch that snake!"

Carlos: "I...don't think it was a snake."

Alina: "Whatever it was, he's sleeping very peacefully."

Masato (on phone): "Hanom!"

Hanom: "Yes?"

Masato: "He's going to make it. But we still know very little about him, apart from the...uh...clown suit."

Hanom: "Clown suit?"

Masato: "He was wearing something that looks an awful lot like something used to entertain children in my country. I cannot make sense of it. But...it came and went just like...a certain knight in these parts!"

Hanom: "Make sure no further harm comes to the Percolated guy. He may be our ticket to getting Vinny and Kayla back!"

Masato: "Will do. We'd better hurry. I'm due back in Tokyo in under a week. And if the Gwirdons hold me up there with their continued mischief, Vinny will be all you have left!"

Hanom: "I very much appreciate you filling in. And I wish you could be a more permanent solution, but I realize things here are what they are. I promised Vinny I'd try to find Silnya's statue, and a way to free her. If we succeed, Vinny might not need your help anymore."

Masato: "I am sure I will still be needed. Just...a little less often. One lonely prince...against a multiverse now? Poor strategy."

Hanom: "I agree. I'm after the black and yellow ones. Word on the news has it, they too are in trouble - of a different kind. Vanessa and I are gonna see if we can get them out of it. Over and out."