Xylem, Squelcher of Joy

Synopsis: Continuing where Screen Slaves left off. The Rangers and team thought summer would be fun filled and fancy free but sadly, it isn’t anymore. One by one, all the ideas, concepts and simple enjoyments found at convenience stores, Cracker Barrels and so on start simply disappearing with the snap of a slender finger. ‘Let’s see them try to invent new things to do without their little toys, or their gadgetry !’, the evil overlord muses sardonically, nearly able to taste victory.

‘Some people like to watch the world burn.’--Joker, Batman, The Dark Knight

‘Come to the dark side. We have cookies.’--Anonymous, Meme on the Internet, message on various items such as T-shirts and mugs

Chapter 1—Awaken, Villainous Sleeper

Xylem hovered over the dark abyss of Lacrimal Galaxy, looking for more despair, discord, malaise and depression to cause. It was his sole existence to sap joy, entertainment and energy from technology to fuel his desire to rule the Universe with an iron fist. Thus far, many Universes had fallen prey to his gloomy pallor. Like the famed ‘Ghostly Rider’ of the Apocalypse, he had no fans and everyone hated him. Truth being, he lived for hatred and grew all the more powerful because of it.

Xylem had no other purpose in the Galaxy but to usurp everyone’s enjoyment. It gave him amusement. It was the only thing that gave him the purest exhilaration or happiness. Pain gave him life.

From his throne, only illuminated by the passing supernovae in the Lacrimal Galaxy, he looked into another realm on Earth. There there was a villain named Nergal and his wife, Eris. They hadn’t caused any trouble for years, but he knew that they would be extremely instrumental in bringing Earth down. It was to be the jewel in his proverbial crown.

Teleporting quickly, he appeared to Nergal in a mass of tentacles, darkness and a disembodied voice. Nergal wasn’t the type to be intimidated or scared but Xylem had him shaking in terror.

‘I require your services. This puny planet of yours, why are people so happy ?’, he began. Nergal started to tell him the tale of exactly what made most humans so darned joyful all the time.

‘I can help you eradicate many of those little playthings that keep them occupied.’, Eris suggested.

‘Ooh, I like her.’, Xylem stated, resting a slimy tentacle on her shoulder. Nergal batted it away with a tentacle of his own.

‘I may find you terrifying but don’t lay another sucker on my wife or I will blast a tentacle off !’, he threatened.

‘Gutsy. I like your moxy, kid. Something tells me this is the beginning of a beautifully devastating friendship.’, he said, as the three of them started to plot their eventual erasure of all happiness and technology in the world.

Chapter 2—Disappearances Worldwide

The beginnings of technology vanishing were so minuscule at first that no one really took credence of them. It started with tiny elements going ‘missing’ but then people started to become a bit panicky and twitchy once cell phones went away. The world was very connected to their devices, even the Rangers. It had become Defcon 4, but luckily, Zordon, the voice of reason briefed them on the source of the disappearance of technology.

    'It is all Xylem's doing.'
    'Who's that, Zordon ?', Helen asked.
    'And how can we stop him ?', Chuck E. added. 

‘He comes from a dismal Quadrant known as the Lacrimal Galaxy. Granted, yes, it is light years from here, but given his insurmountable dark power, he is able to travel the Universe at speeds exceeding anything known in the physical realm.’, Zordon replied, unusually calm. He knew that he was in a precarious place, being an old soul ‘confined’ but not trapped by technology but it seemed that Xylem was going after items that brought joy, happiness, laughter and diversion into the owner’s lives.

There was a scream from one of the quarters. One of the Rangers' kids, Kim and Tommy's daughter Katie, couldn’t believe what just happened.   Her beloved Heelies had just vanished, poof, GONE !   Into thin air, as if they never existed.  Things only became worse from there.   Another child, Zack and Angela's son Zachary Taylor Jr. (or "ZJ" for ease of recall) was playing with a Switch when it disappeared.   Yet another, Billy and Cestria's daughter Aquaria, was playing with a jump rope and was shocked and appalled when the rope poofed out of existence.   One by one, basketballs, baseball bats, shuttlecocks, ping pong sets, fooseball tables, arcade cabinets, air hockey tables, skee-ball machines, darts, moon shoes, roller skates, pogo sticks and even bicycles were all vanishing.
    ‘This is the lowest of the low !   How am I supposed to enjoy summer when I can’t even READ about octopi !’, one of the kids complained.   He wanted to be a marine biologist someday and he was well on his way, but his whole collection had been stolen from him.  Needless to say, he was a bit miffed.
    ‘Xylem needs to be stopped, now.’, Jason said, saying aloud what everyone else was thinking.  Since the last battle, they had gotten enough sleep and were well prepared for anything that Xylem could toss their way, whatever it was. 


Chapter 3—I Don’t Think You’re Miserable Enough

    Xylem was one of those villains who liked to make a grand entrance.  Unlike some villains who employed the use of a theme song or accompaniment Xylem needed no additional ‘mood enhancers’.   He was forceful, dark, ominous, evil and dangerous.    His toothy grin nearly engulfed his whole face, looking even creepier than Korotsusensei on Assassination Classroom.  
    ‘Are we having fun yet ? Or better question yet, are we not having fun yet ?’, the bony spectre questioned.   He revealed his ragged looking face and body, totally emaciated and ancient.   This rogue had been existing off hatred for eons and now he had come here to refuel and regain the youth that had been his millennia ago.

Even the Toy Story toys, including Forky, Knifey, Ducky and Bunny, Duke Caboom and Giggle McDimples had been sucked into Xylem’s massive toy bag.

‘Get us out of here !’, Forky yelled.

‘Are those toys actually living ?’, ZJ questioned.

‘I believe they are. That’s really messin’ with my head though, son.’, Zack said, still racking his brain over ‘existence’ when it came to inanimate objects in their everyday world. Of course, he was careful with everything he owned. All of the Rangers were. There were people, or evil energy overlords like Xylem who weren’t. It was obvious he was going to drain all of these poor toys and devices of the creativity, love and joy that had made them and revert them to their inanimate state.

‘Every feeling of hatred, misery, distaste, contempt...these all fuel me and make me stronger and younger. Keep it up !’, Xylem said.

‘No. We mustn’t give him what he wants.’, Kat said.

‘I have just the thing then.’, Somnibot said. She, Pepper, Paprika, Yvonne and anyone else who had a stunning singing voice began to hum at first.

‘This isn’t Up With People. I’m not going to become suddenly swayed just because you sang some stupid song together. We’re not in a Broadway play !’, Xylem spat. He continued to take items away but the more he took, the closer the families and friends came together.

‘You can take our things, but they are just that, THINGS !’, Kim stated. Aisha agreed.

‘The only nouns of importance are us !’, Aqua pointed out, astutely. Billy couldn’t have been happier of how observant his young daughter was.

Chapter 4—Kindness Wins

Xylem was growing far too annoyed with the lack of fright, dread and outright fear these Warriors possessed. They acted as if nothing was wrong and like they didn’t really need objects to be sane and happy. All they needed was each other and their imaginations. The thought was enough to make him want to wretch. He grew more and more weak. Enraged, he lashed out, beginning to attack erratically. The others held their ground, not retaliating. His hits were extremely light and took little to no damage. The hero’s hum became a full song, filling the arena.

‘Stop ! STOP SINGING ! I can’t handle it ! The purity of it burns my heart...’, Zylem hollered. He was in immense pain. The unconditional love he felt from the song was literally eating away at him, heart and soul. Rays started to break through his cloak and he yelled a blood-curdling howl as he began to turn into soot and ash.

    'It's working ! Keep singing!' , Snyde trumpeted, overjoyed that he could warble on with the best of them and not tire. Little by little the flames consumed him until there was nothing left. The bag that had contained all of the technology and toys the kids had owned returned to their original owners, but then something unbelievable occurred.

Chapter 5—This Is Weird, But I Like It !

‘Is that maniac gone now ?’, Woody questioned, enjoying his new found freedom.

‘Did that toy just speak ?”, Delta questioned.

‘You aren’t supposed to be moving when humans are alert...’, Paprika Rubens said, remembering the basic plot devices of Toy Story 1-4. The 4^th broke the ‘theory’ but she wondered why they were able to walk, talk and have sentience. It didn’t much matter, but it seemed that the toys were on their side now.

‘This is weird, but I like it !’, ZJ said, checking out Buzz and noticing his reaction to the pre-adolescent boy.

‘Does this mean that you are going to be helping us ?’, Aqua asked.

‘We could always use the allies.’, Ravena, Synde’s daughter added.

‘We can always lend a hand when needed. We’re just sorry we couldn’t be more useful.’, Bo lamented.

‘Hey, we were in the hands of a psychopath !’, Mrs. Potato-Head recalled. She hugged her husband Potato-Head close and the lot of them started to walk away, but not until Tommy gave them a communicator to reach them.

‘Strength in numbers, like Paprika said.’, Tommy stated, astutely. The toys gave their farewell and vanished into another realm entirely. It had been a portal that was inadvertently opened and spat them out in Angel Grove. The Rangers had an odd feeling they’d be seeing their friends once more, but for the time being, they had gone back to their own Universe.

Epilogue

The encounters the group had experienced had been nothing short of unusual. It was hard to put a pin or describe anything that had happened since it was almost cartoonish and surreal. The friends and bots knew what had transpired.

‘I have no idea what any of this means, honestly. We have to go with the flow.’, Adam said, optimistically.

‘You’re right. I remember when we first became friends with the bots, we were dubious !’, Aisha recalled. It took time to make certain the AI could be trusted, but they turned out to be more than mighty to the Rangers. The family only multiplied and became ever more powerful. With the fight having come to an end, everyone yawned, stretched and hit the hay for the evening.

To Be Continued…