Father Duck

[Muse]

A mishap on an off-world mission leaves Sky to fend for himself and his incapacitated team. What’s a reluctant babysitter to do?Father Duck

Jack, Sky, Bridge, Z, and Sydney were crowded on a tiny shuttle craft. The shuttle was SPD’s fastest; any other space ship would have taken at least two days longer to travel from Earth to their destination. They’d been pursing the alien called Nino for months and he had finally been spotted on a small planet in the Jatex Galaxy. Now they hoped to be only an hour or so away from apprehending him. The strange thing was that Kat had handed each of them a bag before they left, saying, “Just in case; don’t open them unless you absolutely have to.”

“So what do you think is in these bags?” asked Jack, poking the one at his feet with the tip of his shoe.

“Don’t know, and I hope we never have to find out,” said Sky. “Kat said they were only for emergencies; I plan for this trip to go smoothly.”

Sydney agreed, “Yeah, I’ve just got to get back before the next season of American Idol starts.” The other rangers stared at her. “What?”

Z rolled her eyes. “Never mind, Syd. Just never mind.”

“Hey guys, I can see the planet! We should be there in thirty minutes, give or take,” Bridge announced.

Z turned up the volume on her mp3 player and leaned back. “Great. Wake me up when we get there.”
………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………
“Well, at least we found him!” Bridge said, always the optimistic one.

Miserably Sydney tried to wipe the dirt off of her back. “I’d say he found us,” she grumbled. They had landed barely an hour ago in one of the few large clearings on the thickly forested planet Silva and immediately began a sweep of the planet. After more than forty-five minutes of encountering nothing but small animals, Nino had jumped out of a tree and ambushed the rangers. His surprise attack had sent them to the ground.

Jack was already back on his feet. “Nino, you are under arrest for–”

“Destroying the Power Rangers!” Nino cackled. He fired at Jack with a small gun. Jack underestimated the weapon because of its size and did not move far enough out of the way. He yelled when the laser burned the side of his arm and, once again, found himself staring at the canopy of branches above. He blinked and the leaves were replaced with Z’s face.

She smirked and held out her hand, “Jack, how many times do I have to tell you: that is a terrible excuse to try and look up our skirts – especially when both Sydney and I are wearing pants.”

He groaned but accepted her hand anyway. “Not funny, Z. Now let’s morph and take down the real joker!”

Z grimaced, “Do the bad puns come with the red morpher or something?”
Jack ignored her comment and raised his morpher. “Ready?!”

The other rangers lined up behind him. “Ready! SPD emergency!” The blue and green ranger charged Nino with their deltamax strikers, closely followed by pink and yellow. Jack waited until his teammates were clear and fired his delta blasters at the criminal.

Nino staggered for a moment, his bulky grey body smoking. Then he straightened his spine and laughed, turning to face the rangers. “You are going to have to do better than that if you want to catch me, rangers!” he aimed his gun at the rangers again. “Let’s see what happens when I raise the setting!” His thumb pushed up at the same time as his index finger pulled back on the trigger. The rangers scattered, narrowly avoiding a blast that left a hole in the trunk of a thick, moss-covered tree.

“Hey Z!” shouted the pink ranger. “Why don’t we show this guy a little girl power?”

Yellow nodded, “It’s what I live for, princess.”

“Want a boost?” asked the green ranger at her shoulder.

Under her helmet, pink grinned and grabbed the red ranger’s arm. “Jack can help, too. We’d love a lift.”

The two boys knelt down and used their hands and knees to create a spring board. The red and green rangers propelled their teammates into the air, one right after the other, so pink was only seconds behind yellow. The girls hit Nino with a rapid series of attacks, eventually landing just behind him. The red, green, and blue rangers ran forward to take advantage of Nino’s concentration on his back. It was only the blue ranger who noticed that Nino was not trying to swat away the girls; he was taking something out of a bag hidden under his long brown trench coat.

“Guys, look out!” blue yelled, quickly backing away from the criminal. As soon as the words were out of his mouth Nino had tossed a grenade into the air. Just as quickly Nino grabbed a low-hanging branch and climbed up a tree, putting himself out of harm’s way. There was a deafening explosion that knocked all of the rangers backwards, leaving them demorphed.

Sky had managed to avoid the brunt of the explosion but the force knocked him against a tree several feet away. Once his head stopped spinning he stood up and tried to see through the thick smoke caused by the explosion. Sky ran to where his friends had been only seconds before, but found no one. He called desperately through the grey, “Guys! Are you okay? Bridge? Sydney? Z? Jack?” The only answer came from above his head.

“So one did get away! This will make things so much more fun! Good luck babysitting!” Nino cackled. Sky growled; he could not chase the alien’s shadow through the trees and help his friends at the same time. It was times like these he wished he had Z’s powers.

Sky decided his injured teammates were more important. He called for them again and finally received an answer. “I otay,” the pink ranger’s voice sounded far away.

“Where are you?!” Sky called. He felt a tug on his pant leg and looked down. A little girl with blonde curls and big blue eyes looked up from somewhere around his knees. She wore an adult’s ranger uniform that was quickly falling off of her little body. Sky recognized her not because of the uniform, but because of the eyes; eyes that had never aged. “S-Sydney?”

“Who else, silly-head? You bay sighter for all us?”

It took Sky a moment to decipher her childish grammar. He took a deep breath, “A babysitter for all of who?”

Sydney pointed behind her. A slightly older boy with dark skin and dreads gave Sky a smirk, and on the ground behind them were two infants. Each wore a familiar SPD uniform. Sky paled, “Oh shi…” he glanced back at the children and rethought his word choice. “Oh sugar honey ice tea. This is not happening.” He pulled out his morpher and called SPD Earth. “This is B-squad blue requesting assistance,” he tried to sound calm.

“What’s the problem?”

Sky was eternally relieved to hear Kat’s voice on the other end, instead of some cadet with duty in the Command Center. “Kat, we have a major problem!” he yelled into the morpher. “You are not going to believe this, but there was an explosion and Jack, Sydney, Z, and Bridge are…well, they’re…um, kind of…”

“Children?” Kat interrupted. “Yes, I was hoping Nino had not been able to retrieve his time grenades, but apparently my hopes were in vain. That is a problem.”

“Kat, what do I do?! I can’t fly the shuttle by myself, and I can’t go after Nino without my team! Could you send back-up?” asked Sky.

Kat’s reply was hesitant. “I’m sorry, Sky, but it will be at least three days before reinforcements can reach you. Until then, you are going to have to take care of your teammates.”

“NO WAY! Kat, I hate kids and kids hate me. I don’t even know how to hold a baby, and Bridge and Z are definitely not old enough to walk. If it weren’t for their uniforms, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between those two!”

“Sky, Z is a girl and Bridge is a boy. There is a pretty obvious difference.”

“But they’re my teammates and that would be disrespectful!” Sky protested.

Sky could almost hear Kat roll her eyes. “I’m going to assume you don’t know how to change a diaper then. Look, Sky, this is an emergency situation. If one of them had a deep, possibly infected wound on their thigh would you hesitate to take off their pants?”

“But-but-bu-bu-b-b…”

“Relax, they will forgive you. I know this will not be your easiest mission, but I’ll send you my personal number so that you can call me any time. The duffel bags I sent with you are filled with baby supplies, just for this purpose. I believe yours also has a parenting guide book,” Kat explained.

Sky sighed, “How do I get them back to the shuttle?”

“Who can walk?”

“Jack and Sydney.”

“Tell them that you’ll show them a secret hideout if they follow you. Carry Z and Bridge,” she said.

“Um, how?”

“It’s very simple. Make sure you support their heads with your elbows and carefully carry one in each arm, like – like you would carry a woman out of a burning building if you wanted to look heroic.”

Sky bit his lip, looking down at his team. “I’ll try, Kat, but I can’t promise they’ll make it back without brain damage…oh good God, why is it always me?!” He hung up.
………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………
As soon as she’d closed the line with Sky, Kat threw back her head and laughed. Other cadets stared at her, but the corners of Cruger’s mouth twitched into a smile. “Time grenade?” Kat could only nod in answer. “Who managed to escape?”

This time, Kat managed to gasp out, “Sky!” Cruger joined her laughter, allowing the cadets to see their usually strict commander in a moment of light-heartedness.

[Storm Warrior2]

I thought this was a Howard the Duck fic.

Fuck.

[LttleDvl]

Bwhaahaha!

That's funny as hell! Poor Sky having to baby-sit his kiddie teammates.

“Sky, Z is a girl and Bridge is a boy. There is a pretty obvious difference.”

*snickers* Poor, poor Sky.

I believe yours also has a parenting guide book,”

Just how did Kat know that Sky would end up being the babysitter I wonder?

[Muse]

Thanks! Kat technically did not know Sky was going to be the babysitter, but she did know he was terrible with kids and she knew Nino could have managed to get the time grenades. She just prepared for the worst.;)

Ch. 2
It had been a very long walk back to the rangers’ landing site, at least for Sky. Jack and Sydney constantly complained about how tired they were and wanted him carry them, despite the fact that he had two babies in his arms. The infants were a lot heavier than Sky had expected, especially after the first five miles. Normally, B-squad could cover about ten miles in an hour. As children, they had retraced the same ten miles in two and a half hours – and that was without including breaks.

Sky had received a slight reprieve when they reached the ship, since Jack and Sydney spent several minutes in silent awe of the vehicle. Then Sky found another problem: he could not open the door while carrying Bridge and Z. With a groan of frustration, he looked around for anything that might help. There was nothing; nothing but trees, dirt, and four useless children. Schuyler Tate was alone on a foreign planet with four dependents and a dangerous criminal.

Sky shook his head; now was not a good time to panic. His father would have found a way to open the door by now. Sky sighed; there was nothing to do but put one of the infants down. Sky very slowly and carefully moved into a squat. Then he tried to gently place Z on the ground. As soon as the back of her head touched the dirt, she began to scream. Sky panicked, thinking he had done something wrong. He put Bridge on the ground next to her, thankful when the baby green ranger did not join Z’s shrieks. Sky checked her for any signs of blood or bruising, but Z seemed to be without the smallest of scratches.

“Why won’t it shut up?!” asked Jack, yelling to be heard over the baby.

Sky looked back at Jack, realizing that the toddler probably knew more about babies than he did. “I don’t know!” he replied.

“Maybe it bo-ken,” shrugged Sydney.

“I hope not,” Sky admitted, checking again for blood.

Jack started to jump up and down, “Make it stop!” he whined.

Jack’s movement startled Bridge, and he, too, began to cry. “Uh-oh,” Sydney backed away from the group. “I di’int do it!”

“That’s it, this qualifies as an emergency.” Sky pulled out his morpher and hit the recently upgraded speed dial one – Dr. Katherine Manx.

“Hello Sky,” her voice was a choir of angels compared to what Sky was currently listening to.

“Kat,” he breathed, “I don’t know what to do. I think I broke the baby!”

Kat laughed, “I highly doubt that, Sky. I am sure you were very careful with your teammates. Now tell me exactly what happened.”

“We finally got back to the ship but I needed to put Z down to open the door but as soon as a put her down on the ground – and I swear I was careful and I watched her head – she started crying so I put Bridge down and he was fine at first but then Jack started jumping and I think it scared Bridge and now he’s crying but none of them seem hurt and I can’t make them stop!” Sky explained.

Kat replied almost immediately. “Some babies just like to be held. Have you tried to pick Z up again?”

“Um…no…”

Kat chuckled, “Well try that; I promise not to hang up yet.”

Sky nodded and clipped his morpher to his belt. Again, he knelt next to the infants and lifted Z into his arms. Her tears quickly subsided. “Oh boy, this is going to be a huge problem. I can’t carry you forever!” He freed one hand and unclipped the morpher. “Kat? You were right about Z.”

“Good; that should work for Bridge, too, if he just needs a little soothing. But open the door before you pick him up again. Now, when you get inside I want you to go through the bags. You will have to deal with some crying babies for a while, but I know you can handle them. Somewhere in there is a collapsible cradle that rocks itself; it should be big enough for Z and Bridge, plus it has a mobile. If you put them in that, it should keep them happy for a while. I know there are dolls in Sydney’s bag and toy cars in Jack’s. Those should also give you a little time to catch up on everything. But never, ever leave them alone for too long!”

“Thanks, Kat.”

“Oh, and you will want to change them once you get inside,” Kat added. “There are instructions on how to change a diaper in the book in your bag, but I can only wish you luck with Jack and Sydney. Children tend to squirm.”

“Great, I’ll call you if I have more questions,” said Sky.

“I’m sure you will!” Kat laughed. “Good-bye, Sky.”

“Bye.” Sky hung up and re-clipped his morpher. With the same hand, he punched in the ship’s access code and the door slid open. “Jack, Sydney, go inside,” he ordered. Sky went back and picked up Bridge, who refused to stop crying until Sky tried rocking his arms a little and humming. For what was certainly not the last time, Sky prayed none of his teammates would remember this.
………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………
It had taken Sky over an hour to find everything Kat was talking about, get up the courage to re-dress his friends, put Bridge’s diaper on incorrectly, put a second diaper on Bridge incorrectly, get it right on the third try, dress Bridge in a green shirt and pants with little dinosaurs on them, unsuccessfully put a diaper on Z while trying to look the other direction, actually put the diaper on her, and put her in a yellow dress with daisies all over it. Another hour later Sky had managed to put together the cradle, dress Sydney in pink, force Jack into a red pair of pants (he gave up on the shirt) and get all of his friends settled enough to entertain themselves. Barely half an hour later, Sky was on page ten of a huge book on parenting and Jack was bored. Sky went back through the red ranger’s bag, found some sort of hand-held game, and gave it to Jack.

Ten minutes later Sky gave up on the book. Z and Bridge were crying, their diapers were clean, and Kat’s first trick was not working. Sydney complained that her tummy was making noise, prompting Sky to call Kat about food.

“Hello again, Sky,” Kat greeted. “What seems to be the problem?”

“They’re hungry,” he explained.

“Oh! Well, let’s see…I know I put applesauce, juice boxes, and microwavable macaroni and cheese in Jack’s bag. Just make a box of the macaroni for Sydney and Jack. Bridge and Z get milk. There should be formula in their bags somewhere along with some bottles. Now you need to heat the milk, but put a drop on your wrist to make sure it is not too hot,” she said. “Anything else?”

“Yeah. When are those reinforcements supposed to arrive?” Sky begged.

Kat chuckled, “You are doing just fine. Call me if there’s any more trouble.”

Sky sighed, “Alright. Bye Kat.”

“Goodbye, Sky.” She hung up, leaving Sky alone with four hungry children and terrible memories of his mother’s failed attempts to teach him to cook.
………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………
After a burnt meal of macaroni and cheese, Sydney had forced Sky and Jack to ‘play house’ with her. Sydney had been the ‘mommy,’ Jack had been the ‘daddy,’ and Sky had been the ‘baby’ who left every few minutes to take care of the real infants. In his search through the bags Sky had mercifully come across several movies and a portable DVD player. Even Jack was quiet when Sky sat the toddlers down to watch Shrek. Sky took that time to play peek-a-boo with Z and Bridge, change them into new diapers and the pajamas Kat provided, and put them to sleep with several off-key lullabies.

He returned to find the movie over and an arguing Jack and Sydney. Sky separated them into ‘time out’ comers, like his parents had done when he was a child, and eventually got them ready for bed. That involved much running around, the realization that Sydney was not potty-trained, three bedtime stories, and the provision of a flashlight-turned-nightlight.

At nine o’clock, Sky was finally able to fall onto his own cot. He could not have been asleep for more than ten minutes when he felt a tug on his sleeve and half-opened his eyes in the blinding light of a flashlight. Once his sight returned, he could see that Sydney stood in front of him, young blue eyes fearful in the dark. “What is it?”

“I had a bad dweam, ca’I stay wit you?” she whispered.

Sky groaned. She was going to kill him later, but he rolled over anyway and let the child climb under his blanket. “Go to sleep,” he ordered. Sydney shut her eyes and, to his surprise, her breathing quickly steadied into true slumber. Sky let his body relax until another tug on his other sleeve woke him up. This time, Sky saw Jack outlined by the open door. “Yeah?”

“I have to go potty!” Jack announced with his legs crossed in the obvious attempt at bladder control.

Sky sighed and carefully got up, trying not to wake Sydney. He led Jack to the shuttle’s bathroom and waited outside the door. A minute later Sky heard a flush and the door opened. Jack looked very guilty, so Sky forced himself to ask, “What now?”

“Um…I missed,” the toddler admitted.

Sky bit back a frustrated groan. “It’s alright, can you find your way back alone?” Jack nodded. “Okay, you go back and I‘ll clean up. Just don’t wake anyone else up.” Eager to be excused, Jack scampered back through the shuttle.

Sky had barely gotten the cleaning supplies out of the closet when he heard a baby’s wailing and Jack yelling at it to be quiet. Groaning, Sky began to bang his head against the wall next to the closet. It did not help his headache, but it helped him control his temper.

[LttleDvl]

LOL!

This is worse than any kind of toture Gruumm could have ever come up with!

Thanks for the laughs!

[LttleDvl]

Hey, technical question for you:

B-squad could cover about three miles in an hour,

That seems like a long time for 3 miles. Especially for a highly trained squad of cadets...

[Muse]

Heh, good catch. I'll fix that. But, in the meantime, here's the next chapter full of mayhem!

Ch. 3
The next morning Sky was trying to quiet a crying Z while the pink and red rangers ate oatmeal for breakfast and Bridge continued to sleep. His morpher beeped. Sky shifted Z’s weight to one arm and answered it with a growl, “Yes?”

“Thank goodness I got a hold of you!” Kat exclaimed. “You haven’t tried to change Bridge’s diaper yet, have you?”

“Unfortunately, yes I have.”

“Oh dear, and did you use the baby powder in the bag?”

“Yes, I thought you said…”

Kat interrupted, “Sorry, Sky. I completely forgot to tell you and I only thought of it when I was looking through some of their old files this morning: Bridge is allergic to baby powder. It gives him a terrible rash, that’s why I put that baby ointment in his bag.”

Sky groaned, “Hang on, I’ll, erm, check him…” Sky grudgingly stood up and went to the make-shift cradle where the infant ranger slept. He lifted the edge of Bridge’s diaper and peered under the rim. The skin was blotchy, red, and raw. Fighting the urge to swear profusely, Sky picked up his morpher again and whispered. “Yup. He’s allergic.”

“Oh no, the poor thing. Well, all you can do is rub that ointment on him and stop using the powder. It should go away after a few days,” Kat explained.

“A few days?!” Sky hissed. “I am hoping to be back on Earth by then with a fully-grown team! How am I going to tell Bridge he has diaper rash?”

Kat couldn’t hide a slight chuckle, “Technically it isn’t diaper rash; it is an allergic reaction. The adult Bridge will be fine. It’s the baby that is going to whine about it. Sorry again, Sky. Let me see what other information I can find on your teammates at this age…ah, that’s not good news.”

Sky was ready to cry himself. “What?”

“Z had, er, has colic. Doctors still are not sure what causes it, but it means that she cries a whole lot more than other babies. She probably won’t sleep at night, either. Oh, I’m sorry, Sky, but I have to get to the lab now. Boom is in the door and he’s making the emergency symbol, so I assume something toxic just exploded. Good luck!”

The call ended. Sky kicked the wall in frustration, making Z scream louder, which woke Bridge who also cried, which caught the attention of Jack and Sydney who stuffed their fingers in their ears and complained loudly about the noise. Sky looked up to the heavens, “Why me?” He turned around to check on the others, just in time to watch Jack’s body fall through the floor. “Oh cra…oh shi…oh for the love of pizza! Jack, get back up here!”

There was a knock at the door. Sky slipped the morpher back into his belt, put Z in the cradle with Bridge, and ran to open the door. Jack stood on the door step, grinning sheepishly. “Get in here! You are on time out, mister!”

“But I didn’t do it!”

Sky put a strong hand on Jack’s shoulder and guided him to a seat facing two walls. “Oh yes you did. Don’t lie to me, Landors, or you will spend the rest of your life in time out!” Jack started to cry. “I am not falling for it! You cannot gain my sympathy! Now sit here and be quiet until I tell you to get up!”

“You’re a mean baby-sitter!” cried Jack.

“Yeah, well I hate kids and I never wanted to be a baby-sitter!” Sky yelled, finally losing his cool.

Behind him Sydney joined the tears. Sky threw up his hands. “That’s it! I am going to find Nino and make him change you back before I kill you all myself!”
………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………Sky spent until noon searching for Nino without success. Still, the outing had not been a complete loss. By the time he was too tired to search further, there were only a few miles of the little planet he had not covered; Nino would not be able to hide for much longer.

Sky had also re-gained his temper and realized that he had been acting no older than his de-aged teammates. They needed his help now more than ever; they were depending on him and so far he had failed them miserably. He swore to do better; from then on, he was going to be the perfect baby-sitter. He would read stories, play dolls, feed them properly, change diapers (or training pants in Sydney’s case), and do whatever else it took to keep his teammates safe and happy.

With a fresh resolve, Sky opened the door to the shuttle. His jaw dropped. Everything in sight was a ruined mess. All of the equipment was sparking and broken, the walls were covered in dents, and any papers had been ripped up and thrown around the room. Worst of all, there was not a child in sight. “JACK LANDORS!” Sky hollered, resolve flying out the window. “Get out here right now!”

To his complete shock, a child slammed into him from behind and another phased up through the floor. Sydney was sobbing into the backs of Sky’s knees with her arms wrapped tightly around his legs. In front of him Jack looked terrified. “M-mr. Sky!” he stuttered. “There was a m-m-m-monster! We th-thought he was y-y-you so we opened the door but it w-wasn’t you and we are s-s-so sorry ‘cause he made a-a mess but he did t-take that annoying n-n-noisy thing that cries a lot and the other th-thing.”

Sky paled, “A monster did this?”

“Uh-huh!” Sydney nodded against Sky’s knees.

“And he took the babies?”

“Uh-huh!” she repeated the movement. “He woulda got us, too, but I hide in da doors and Jack fell trew da floor.”

“Oh no,” Sky whispered. He pulled out his morpher to call Kat, but all he received in response was static. “Dang it! Nino must have put up a disrupter so the signal won’t go through!”

“What does that mean?” asked Jack.

“It means we’re on our own, kid. I am going to have to save Bridge and Z alone – but what do I do with the two of you?!” Sky groaned.

Sydney finally released Sky’s knees and ran around to where he could see her. “We help! We help!”

Sky shook his head, “I don’t think so. Nino is dangerous and I do not want to see you get hurt.”

“Why would you want to save the babies? All they do is cry and smell bad!” Jack exclaimed.

“Because those babies are our friends,” Sky replied. He racked his brain for a plan, but there were none he could execute successfully on his own. He sighed, realizing that there was only one solution. Sky bent down so that he could look both children in the eye. “Do you two want to be real heroes?”

“Yeah!” they shouted.

“All right, then I am going to need your help to save Z and Bridge. But you have to do exactly what I tell you, understand?”

“Yes mistwer Sky!” answered Sydney.

Jack crossed his arms, but agreed, “Oh fine.”

“Do you promise?” asked Sky. He held out his right hand, a long-ago memory returning of promising his father never to put a frog in his parents’ bed again. “Pinky swear?” Jack and Sydney held out their pinkies, shaking Sky’s one at a time. “Now let’s show that ugly monster just what happens when he messes with SPD!”

“But now I have to go potty!” Jack complained.

Sky ran his hand over his face. “This could be a little more complicated than I thought.”

[DarkStarShadow]

...The premise is great, but everything seems to be incredibly...well-planned. Like Kat was expecting everyone but Sky to be de-aged. Unless there's an explanation for that, I'm gonna just say this story is so-so at best.

It's funny, there's no doubt about that. Kat seems like too much of a mother hen to me, though. She's a science catlady; she doesn't seem like the kind of person who would know so much about human children.

Sky also seems too timid about all this; I mean, I don't doubt that he'd be not in his game taking care of four young children, and would feel completely out of it and be bumbling about, but he seems almost like a cartoon character in his overwhelming inadequacy.

But like I said, it's a very good premise. ^__^ It just needs a little bit of work.

[Muse]

Thanks for the comment, DarkStarShadow. This story was never meant to be more than a comedy, something light to do in between work on tales of a more sinister nature:D . My explanations will probably go no further than 'well isn't that lucky?', but in a way that's perfect for power rangers. They usually win due to sheer luck or the unexplained power of the morphing grid.

I'll probably wrap this up within the next chapter - which should be finished sometime next week since the computer with all my stuff on it is several states away at the moment.

[Muse]

Well, obviously it took a little longer than I anticipated. This is the last chapter, although I'm not incredibly pleased with it on a whole. But, it has served its purpose and I hope it at least made you chuckle.

Ch. 4

Sky stood with his back against a tree, trying to be as silent as possible. Although Nino’s disrupter had caused his watch to stop, Sky guessed it was around eight at night. It had taken hours to walk Jack and Sydney back to the place where he had turned around earlier, but it was barely two minutes more before they heard a crying baby above them. In the branches of a tree a few feet in front of them was a strange little house, obviously Nino’s hideout.

Jack and Sydney were behaving surprisingly well, but that may have been because they were so tired. Sydney was already curled up among the roots of their hiding place and Jack’s eyes drooped. Sky knew they could not waste any time, but he had to admit that he was exhausted himself. For just a moment, he let his guard down and allowed his eyes to close.

A baby’s scream instantly woke him. He stared up at the tree house, ready to spring into action. Another sound made him pause to listen. “Shut up, little brat! You rangers are more annoying as children than you are as adults! Stop crying! Why won’t you stop crying? You aren’t hungry, you aren’t dirty, what do you want!?”

Nino’s voice seemed like an echo of Sky’s own, floating across time. For the first time since Nino’s grenade had gone off, Sky thought the baby Z might not have been so horrible after all. In fact, her cries formed the beginnings of a plan in Sky’s mind.

He knelt by Sydney and shook her gently, his movement catching at least a part of Jack’s attention. “Hey, wake up,” he whispered. “I have an idea, but I need your help. Do either of you know what a diversion is?”

………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………

It was such a simple plan, but there was so much that could go wrong; far too many variables that Sky could not account for. He had problems trusting his teammates as adults. How was he supposed to have any hope in them if they were children?

With a sigh and a silent prayer, Sky motioned for Jack to step out of his hiding space and begin phase one of the plan. Jack smirked and picked up a pile of small stones. He threw one at the window of the tree house. Without a screen or glass, the stone flew into the house where it harmlessly hit the floor. “Hey!” Jack shouted, tossing another stone. “Hey mister!” A third stone smacked Nino in the back of his head, finally gaining his attention.

Nino leaned out the window, scowling, “You insolent little…oh, you’re one of them. Why how delightful! Come to rescue your friends?”

“I don’ know what you’re talkin’ about, mister. I wanna play in the tree house! I’m bored!!” shouted Jack.

Sky nodded to the blonde toddler next to him. Sydney ran out next to Jack; her small form trembled, but she was trying her best to be brave. “Oooh. I – I wanna play in da twee-house too!” she stuttered over her line. Sky hoped Nino would attribute the flaw to her relapsed education.

Nino grinned, “Well, well, well, what do we have here? Two naughty little children who ran away from the big bad baby sitter?”

Jack crossed his arms, “We didn’t run away, he kicked us out!”

“Yeah!” Sydney agreed, her curls bouncing as she nodded vigorously. “He said ‘I be’er off witot you bats. Don’ ‘cpet me to be you mommy!”

Nino rubbed his hands together eagerly, “Oh, he’ll regret that soon enough. My dear, sweet children, won’t you come up and play? I have so many toys and dolls…”

“DOLLS?!” shouted Sydney, momentarily forgetting her fear. “I wanna pay tea party!” she announced. Jack groaned.

“Oh, we will have a tea party to die for. Of course, right after we play with my race cars,” said Nino.

Jack’s eyes widened. “Race cars?”

“By the box full, and I even have a crash course for you to test drive,” explained Nino.

The children looked at one another, shot a slight glance back at Sky, and ran for the tree. Laughing, Nino lowered a long wooden ladder and allowed the children to climb up. From his hiding place, Sky nodded his approval. If they stayed focused, he would be able to contain Nino and single-handedly rescue all four of his teammates. It was the ‘if’ he had a problem with.

………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………

Keeping all of his SPD stealth training in mind, Sky climbed the tree housing Nino and his captured teammates. He could hear a baby crying, but little else over the noise, so he was not entirely sure what the situation above him was like. He could picture little Jack and Sydney being forced to stand with their backs flat against the wall, terrified. He wondered why the second baby was not crying.

“No,” Sky whispered, “the handbook says that a ranger should never let his/her/other’s mind stray from accomplishing the task ahead. I have to keep focused. You never know when something unexpected could…”

A teacup narrowly missed Sky’s head, flying on to meet a tree and litter the dirt. He could her Nino screaming even over the baby, “I am not your play-thing, child! There is no ‘tea,’ there are no biscuits, there is no sugar! All of these cups are empty, and you will not trick me into believing otherwise!”

Sky reached the underside of the trapdoor and pressed his ear against it. The voices were fuzzy, but audible. “Mrs. Nina, come back! You not finish tea!”

“MRS.?! I am a male!” Nino roared.

“Sheesh, mister,” said Jack. “It’s just pretend. Can we play race cars now?”

“NO! You little monsters, it’s no wonder that blue ranger kicked you out! How does the human race re-populate if their offspring are so horrid?!” groaned Nino.

“Oooh, I know! The stork!” Sydney exclaimed. Sky bit his lip and held tighter to the branches, afraid he would laugh and fall.

“Do you mean to say that humans are the descendents of birds?” asked Nino.

“What’s a dezintent?” Jack replied.

“UGH!” Frightened by Nino’s rage, the first baby shrieked and a second joined in her tears. Feet stomped above Sky’s head. “I have had it with this noise! It’s not like that ranger is going to come to save you anyway; I don’t know a creature in the universe who would! Time to die, little brats!”

Sky used one hand to pulled out a blaster, forcing the trap-door open with his head while he using his free hand to pull himself up into the tree house. “I think not.”

Nino was standing over a basket crowded with two infants; Sky could see their little red faces reflected in the knife held above their throats. Jack and Sydney were huddled in one corner of the table behind him, forgetting the empty cups in front of them.

Nino refocused his knife, “Blue ranger!”

“Surprised? We were hoping you would be,” he grinned. A glance told Sky that Nino’s weapons were out of the alien’s reach, save for the knife in his hands. Sky fired at the metal, making it hot enough to force Nino to drop it. “It’s judgment day!” He held his morpher aloft, preparing to scan the criminal.

“Wait!” Nino exclaimed. “You want your friends back? Just take them! As long as I never have to deal with a human child again…I never knew how devious my plans were! Simply by turning a few important adult humans into children, I could rule Earth! But…I’m reformed, you don’t need t arrest me.”

“Where’s the remedy, pal? I am not particularly interested in playing tea party for the rest of my life, either.”

“I will never tell you! The rangers are incapacitated! I will be worshipped like a god!” Nino shouted.

Sky shook his head, “Worshipped in jail? Well, if that’s your choice I’ll just have to ransack the place myself for it. Of course, I may find a few more incriminating pieces of evidence.”

“Uh…just a moment! I think I may have remembered something. If you would just let me go so I could get it for you…”

“I don’t think so,” Sky growled. “Where is it? I am losing my patience.”

Nino sighed in defeat, “My belt. There’s a green vile in the left-most pocket; have them drink a drop each and it’ll turn them back to normal. I always had it with me in case I somehow got caught in the blast.”

Sky raised an eyebrow, “And how would that help if you turned into a child and could not remember what the green vile did?”

Nino opened his mouth, but could not think of a response. “You make a good point, ranger, but my people are much smarter than your vile offspring!”

Sky shook his head. “Jack, Sydney, are you okay?” he called over his shoulder.

“Uh-huh,” Sydney’s voice was shaky.

“Can we go home now?” asked Jack.

“In a minute, Jack. First, I need you to get that vile – er, bottle Nino was talking about. It’s in the belt hanging over on that wall, look in the pocket all the way at the left end,” said Sky.

Jack sidled over to the wall and took Nino’s belt off its hook. “Other left, kid! That one’ll get us all killed!” yelled Nino as Jack started to open the furthest right pocket. Jack stuck out his tongue, but moved his hand. He pulled out a small, stopped vile filled with green liquid.

“Is that it?” Sky asked Nino.

“Yeah, that’s the one. Can I go now?”

“To prison? Sure. But if that vile doesn’t work, I promise that you will be sitting in jail for a very, very long time. Are we clear?” Sky growled, pushing his scanner a little closer. Without Nino’s notice, he had manually input the charges and pushed the button to begin scanning. Already a red X was flashing on the screen.

Nino cowered, finally noticing that there was a small red X blinking on the outside of the morpher. He knew what that meant, and this time he had no way to escape. “But I swear it’s the right stuff! I mean…this was all a joke! Wasn’t that funny, seeing your friends as children? I was never really going to kill them…heh…heh…don’t you get it, blue ranger?”

“Jack always said that you were the real joker,” Sky answered, pulling a containment gun out of his belt and loading it with a card. “Unfortunately, as Jack also likes to point out, I never had much of a sense of humor. Fire!” There was a flash of bright light. When it faded, a small card stood in Nino’s place. “Mission accomplished…or at least the original mission.” Sky picked up the card and turned back towards Jack, leaving Bridge and Z alone for the moment. His ears had finally gotten used to the crying infants; the noise let him know that they were still alive.

Jack was staring at the liquid inside, making a face. “This looks like yucky medicine!” he complained.

Sky felt a small pair of arms wrap around his leg. Unsure of how to act like a comforting parent, he awkwardly patted the blonde head. “Mistwer Sky, you hero!” she announced.

Sky smiled, “Hero, huh? Now there’s something I would never expect Sydney Drew to call me.” He gently pried her arms apart. She stepped back, big blue eyes staring up at him in awe. Sky turned his attention back to his oldest charge. “Jack, give me the bottle.”

Jack relinquished his hold without a second thought, believing the vile to be filled with vegetable-flavored medicine. There was a pop as Sky pulled out the stopper. He knelt, level with Jack, and held out the vile. “I need you to drink just a tiny bit of this. I may not know how it tastes, but it will turn you into a big boy again.”

“Why would I want to be a grown up?” Jack grimaced.

“Because…um…because as a grown up you get to drive a real race car!” Sky announced.

Jack eyed the vile with suspicion. “Really?”

“I pinky-swear,” he replied, forcing the vile into Jack’s hands. “But it will only work if you drink a little bit.”

Jack sniffed the open bottle and experimentally pressed it to his lips. After several deep breaths and false starts, he allowed a drop of the liquid to hit his tongue. The child made a face. “Ugh, that tastes terrible!” shouted a voice too deep for the body. But as Sky watched, the body grew and changed back into the Jack he knew and despised. With a groan, Sky realized Jack’s clothes had not grown with him. The red ranger looked like one of the teenage girls who walked around in a shirt that displayed most of their torsos and shorts that could have passed as underwear. On Jack, the style was even less appealing.

For a moment, Jack looked around the room, confused. His eyes finally landed on the fully-grown Sky. “Where are we?” He lifted the vile in his hand and studied it with a look of disgust that his younger self could easily match. “What’s this? Where are the others?”

Sky sighed, “It’s a long story. I never thought I’d say this, but it sure is good to have you back, Jack.”

“What do you m – what am I wearing?! Is this some kind of joke?” asked Jack.

“That depends who you ask,” Sky explained, taking the vile from Jack and putting the stopper back in it. “For now, help me get these kids back to the shuttle. I’ll explain on the way.”

“Kids?” The red ranger scanned the room again, finally registering the noise and the pink-clad toddler who stared at him. “Hey, that girl looks an awful lot like…” Jack scrutinized the child’s face.

“Actually, I’d say she looks exactly like a younger Sydney,” said Sky. “Although there’s only one way to tell the difference between Baby Green and Baby Yellow back there. From the smell, I’d say we’ll have to find out soon enough.”

“Wait – than that means she was…and I was…and you…” Jack stammered through the revelation.

Sky smirked, “You know, I think I might enjoy re-telling this adventure. Now, if you would, grab a baby and start down the later. Sydney, you follow Mr. Jack, and I’ll take the other baby last. We need to go back to the shuttle so we can re-dress them. I don’t think Bridge or Z will be very happy to find themselves wearing diapers.”

“Diapers?!” Jack shouted.

………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………


“So you seriously managed to take care of four kids? I mean, I can almost grasp the fact that you captured Nino alone, but you as a babysitter and no dead kids? It’s a miracle!” sneered Jack. He was busy trying to fit baby Bridge back into his uniform.

“Hey, if you are going to make fun of me then I may just have to tell the others about all the trouble you caused,” Sky replied as he helped Sydney into her uniform. Z was already complaining about being left in her crib while wearing a uniform many sizes too big.

Jack zipped up the uniform. “Alright, alright. I have to give you credit, thought; getting one kid dressed was not easy.”

“You were the worst,” Sky replied, pulling the vile from his pocket. He pulled out the stopper it and handed it to Sydney. “Drink a tiny bit of this. It’s a magic potion that will turn you into a pink princess!”

“A pink pri – ow!” Sky jabbed his elbow into Jack’s ribs. Sydney eagerly took the bottle and drank. Only a little passed her tongue before she noticed the taste and tore the vile away from her mouth.

“Eww!” the adult Sydney’s voice complained. The toddler grew into a teenager, and the teenager grew into an eighteen-year-old Sydney. Like Jack, she took a moment to look around the room. “How did I get back here?”

“Believe it or not, Sky saved our lives,” Jack admitted.

Sydney stared at Sky. “You did? What happened?”

“I’ll explain as soon as Bridge and Z are back to normal. Could you give me that vile?” answered Sky.

Bewildered, Syd handed off the bottle she did not realize she had been holding. “Bridge and Z? What happened to them?”

“They’re…” Sky was interrupted when Jack took a step back, knocked into a cradle, and woke Z and Bridge who both began to cry.

Sydney’s eyes went wide. “Babies? Oh, did you save babies too? I love babies!” She leaned over the cradle, gasped, and stepped back. “Sky? Jack? Why are they wearing SPD uniforms?”

Sky shook his head, “Jack, could you pick up Z? I’ll pour some of this in her mouth.”

“Oh no…” Sydney whispered. She promptly sat on the ground to stave off a wave of dizziness.

Jack lifted a screaming yellow-clad baby from the cradle. “At least her mouth is open!” he shouted over the noise.

Sky rolled his eyes. “I hope she doesn’t choke – but either way, it’ll be a lot quieter.”

“Sky!” Jack growled, pulling the infant protectively against his chest.

“I’m kidding, hold her still!”

Jack complied. Sky carefully tipped the vile so that just a drop of the green liquid fell into Z’s mouth. The baby’s face scrunched up and she let out one last cry that sounded more like an adult’s sob – then again, Sky could not be sure because he had never seen or heard the adult Z cry. Her body grew to fit the uniform. Jack groaned under the sudden added weight. “Man, if she knew how much weight she just gained…”

Z’s eyes fluttered open. “Jack?”

He smiled, “I’ve got you, Z.”

She blinked again and looked around. “Did I get knocked out? The last thing I remember is Sky yelling something along the lines of ‘look out!’ Where is Bridge? What’s that noise?”

“Personally, I like your theory better. Let’s go with ‘you got knocked out,’” said Jack.

“Afraid to admit your appreciation more than once, Jack?” Sky smirked. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you what happened, Z.”

Jack gently put Z on her feet. She wobbled for a moment. “Whoa, it feels like I haven’t walked in days!”

“You could say that,” said Sky.

Z glanced at her roommate. “Are you okay, Syd? You look a little pale.”

The pink ranger looked up, “This is not possible.”

Z raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“We’ll talk after we fix Bridge,” Sky interrupted. “I don’t want to tell the story more times than I have to. Jack, get –”

Jack grabbed the half-empty vile from Sky’s hands. “Oh no, you’re holding him this time. He is going to get a lot heavier.”

Too tired to protest, Sky lifted the crying baby Bridge from his cradle. “Holy…” Z sat down next to Sydney. Jack repeated Sky’s movements, slowly tilting the vile so that just a drop fell between Bridge’s lips. The baby stopped crying, appearing to enjoy the taste.

“He would like it,” Sky chuckled. Like his teammates, the baby turned into a child, from child into teen, and from teen into a young adult. Sky sucked in a breath, narrowly avoiding dropping the larger body.

Bridge’s eyes landed instantly on Sky. “Mommy!” he exclaimed. Sky immediately let Bridge fall to the floor.

Bridge blinked and rubbed the back of his head. “Ouch. That must have been some fight. How long have I been out? And why does my butt itch so much?”

Sky groaned, “It’s a long story; I’ll tell you while we wait for the rescue team to get here. Nino damaged the ship. Um, about the rash, Bridge…”