A Snake in the Grove

The Rangers were visiting Aisha's house one afternoon. Tommy, Jenny, Adam, Rocky, and Billy were in the living room, while Kat was in Aisha's room with her. "I wonder what Aisha has to show us," said Rocky.

"I don't know," said Adam. "All she said was that she wanted to show us her new pet."

"Yeah," agreed Tommy, "but why would she need Katherine to help her with it?"

Jenny then said, "Hey, I like surprises!"

Aisha and Kat came up from behind the others. The Yellow Ranger said, "Here he is, guys!"

The others looked toward the two girls and leaped back in fear, except Billy. The Blue Ranger said, "Wow. That's one big python." For some reason the others couldn't understand, the young science geek actually seemed fascinated by a snake so long that it took both the Yellow and Pink Rangers to carry it.

"Aren't pythons poisonous?" asked Rocky with a hint of fear.

"Don't worry," reassured Aisha. "The fangs have been taken out. That way, if he does bite someone, he won't get the venom in your blood."

"I'm scared either way," said Jenny as she hid behind her older brother.

"I thought you liked surprises," Tommy teased.

"Not when they're big, slimy snakes!" retorted the young Green Ranger.

Kat and Aisha laughed before putting it into a tote-box. "We're not going to take that thing with us, are we?" asked Adam.

"Of course we are, frog boy," teased Aisha. For the past few weeks, Rocky had noticed how they seemed to be looking at each other, and he was keeping his fingers crossed that it meant what he thought it did. He and the others, as scared as they were of the snake, laughed at Aisha's comment.

Meanwhile, at the moon palace, Rita and Zedd were looking on. "Oh, this makes me so sick," griped Rita. "Seeing those Power-punks laugh and have a good time just makes me want to puke."

"I agree," replied Zedd. "But four of the seven Rangers seem to be afraid of that snake. Perhaps we can use that against them." His staff glowed red at the thought of that.

The teens (counting Jenny even though she was twelve) were in the park for a little picnic. They had been at the Youth Center previously. Aisha wanted to show her snake to Ernie. She knew that he liked snakes. They had gotten subs from the Youth Center as well as fries and drinks. Rocky had gotten two foot-long subs, two batches of fries, and two drinks.

As Rocky was eating, Jenny said, "When Tommy said you had a big appetite, he wasn't lying."

"You got that right," the Red Ranger remarked before taking another bite of his second sub.

"Boy, we have got to cut down on your food," said Aisha as she tried to stifle a giggle.

But before any more could be said, a flock of Tengas appeared. "Leave it to these guys to ruin a good meal," complained Rocky. Tommy took his position up front and made the call.

"Ninja Ranger Power now!"

Once all seven Rangers ninja-morphed, they started battling the Tengas. The fight went on for several minutes, the Rangers slowly straying away from their picnic spot. Lord Zedd noticed this from the moon palace. "Now is the time. Arise, Serpentor! Arise!" He sent energy from his staff, transforming Aisha's snake into Serpentor, a snake monster with arms and legs.

The Tengas, knowing that their part of Zedd's plan was finished began to retreat. "Gotta fly!" said one Tenga as he and his friends flew away.

"Why'd they cut and run like that?" asked Kat.

"Me!" proclaimed an evil voice.

The Ninja Rangers turned to see the snake monster standing before them. Aisha's jaw dropped underneath her mask. "You're my snake!" she exclaimed in disbelief.

"Not anymore," said the new monster. "I am Sssserpentor!"

"Well you're soon going to be Deadpentor," declared the White Ninja. "It's Morphin time!"

"WHITE RANGER POWER!"

"BLACK RANGER POWER!"

"PINK RANGER POWER!"

"BLUE RANGER POWER!"

"YELLOW RANGER POWER!"

"RED RANGER POWER!"

"GREEN RANGER POWER!"

Tommy, Adam, and Rocky tried to triple-team Serpentor, but the snake fought them off with ease. Kat and Aisha grabbed his arms, but he threw them off as well. Jenny landed a kick from behind him, followed by a kick from the front from Billy. But Serpentor recovered quickly and knocked both of them aside. Tommy tried to charge him, but was knocked back with a super-kick. The rest of them, except Jenny, tried to attack him at once, but that was futile too. Jenny leapt toward Serpentor, but he threw claw-like fangs from his fingers, knocking her out of the air, and sending her crashing next to her recovering brother.

Having just gotten up, Tommy went to his sister and asked, "Jenny! You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine," she responded, trying to catch her breath. She then said, "If we get out of this alive, I swear I am never getting within ten feet of another snake as long as I live."

The other Rangers approached their two fallen teammates. "Are you okay?" asked Kat.

"We'll feel better once we've destroyed this snake," snarled the White Ranger.

"Well in that cassse," hissed Serpentor, "I'll make sure you feel worssse!" He then spit several shots of venom from his mouth, hitting each Ranger square in the chest. They flew back at least three feet before falling. "Face it, Rangersss!" said the snake. "You're powerlessss against me!"

Seeing the predicament the Rangers were in, Rita said, "Look, Zeddykins! Serpentor has the Rangers on the ropes!"

"What say we finish them off, shall we?" proposed her husband.

"Let's," said his wife in acceptance.

They then crossed their staffs and said, "Make our monster grow!"

Lightning flashed across the sky, struck Earth, and made Serpentor grow into a giant. Seeing this, Adam asked, "Why do they always do that?"

"No time to answer that now, Adam," said Tommy. The seven Rangers stood in a line and made the declaration.

"We need Ninjazord Power now!"

The Ninjazords appeared from their hiding places. Once the Rangers boarded, the main five formed the Ninja Megazord. From the cockpit, they cried, "Ninja Megazord, power up!"

Serpentor said, "Impressssive. Too bad I have to dessstroy it!" He then fired more venom from his mouth, striking the Ninja Megazord. As it stumbled the Jaguar tried to pounce on it from behind. The pounce was successful, but Serpentor quickly threw the Jaguar off. Just as it stood up, he fired more claw-like fangs from his fingers. They struck the Jaguar and it fell down.

But before Serpentor could do or say anything else, Tommy called out, "Hey, snake-face!" The snake monster looked up and noticed the Falconzord firing all of its cannons. The barrage of blasts caused him fall. He slowly got up, feeling woozy. "Finish him off, guys!" commanded Tommy. "Now!"

"Right!" said the Rangers from the Ninja Megazord cockpit.

Billy then suggested, "Hey, Jenny, let's try out that cannon of yours!"

"Alright!" said the Green Ranger enthusiastically. Her zord was in pretty bad shape and so was she from the falls, but she was eager to see what this weapon of hers could do. "Jaguar Ninjazord, cannon mode!" The jaguar transformed into cannon mode, with the legs as handles and the mouth as the barrel. The Ninja Megazord grabbed it by the handles and Jenny took her place in the Ninja Megazord cockpit, in the spot where Tommy would usually stand.

The six Rangers called out, "Ninja Megazord Sonic Cannon!" Energy began to materialize in the barrel of the cannon.

Serpentor was almost to his feet.

The cannon was now at full power. "Sorry to do this to you," said Aisha under her breath.

"Fire!" yelled the Rangers in unison. The Sonic Cannon fired, letting out the roar of the Jaguar as it did so.

Serpentor was finally starting to get his bearings when he saw a sonic energy blast coming towards him. Before he could react, the blast hit him. He moaned in agony as he fell to the ground and exploded. Once he did, he changed back into Aisha's pet snake. The Ninja Megazord stood triumphantly, Sonic Cannon in hand. The Rangers had won once again.

Back at the moon palace, Zedd slammed his fist on the rail of the balcony as he screamed, "I don't BELIEVE this! Another perfectly good monster destroyed! And another perfectly good plan ruined!"

"Oh, I've got such a headache," moaned Rita.

Back on Earth, the Rangers, demorphed, approached Aisha's restored snake. All except Jenny, because of her vow. "Maybe we should go home now," suggested Aisha. "I don't want him becoming an enemy again." The Rangers laughed and got ready to head for home.