Alpha Goes to Dreamland

Synopsis:  Alpha has been working too hard for the Rangers and finds himself feeling incredibly tired.   Not knowing whom to turn to, he asks Somnibot’s help to finally lure him into the best night’s sleep he has ever partaken.

Chapter 1—Small Errors, Big Problems

            Alpha 5 was always diligent when it came to facts, figures, minutia, and making certain that everything was inventoried for the Rangers whenever Zordon called them.   He had been in battle himself, but not recently.   Unfortunately, all of this activity was keeping him busy all the day long, so much so that he was becoming enervated during the day.  

            Alpha hadn’t shown any signs of being sleep deprived until he came in to HQ rather drowsily.   He was making little mistakes; nothing truly noticeable by the Rangers or Zordon, but sadly, he didn’t realize that these errors would have big repercussions in the Rangers’ battles later on.    Billy seemed to sense something wrong with Alpha and brought him aside to chat with him. 

            ‘You seem to have a little glitch today, Alpha.  Everything alright ?’, he questioned.   The other Rangers, though they cared about his well-being, hadn’t noticed that the diligent, stalwart android had been slumping the whole day but jarring himself awake and snapping to attention. 

Alpha had been working himself far too hard recently, and yes, he had gotten plenty of praises for his organization skill and attention to detail.   Also, his strategy in battle had proven to be flawless and impenetrable.   He was quite tough when it came to fighting and had proven himself on more than one occasion.   Yet, recently, the android could barely keep his attention on one subject for too long.   However, he couldn’t sleep, no matter how hard he tried.  He was just too wired and loyal to serving and fighting by the Rangers that sleep eluded him. 

            ‘I can’t seem to sleep at all at night.  I don’t know what it is, Billy.  I can’t make any logical sense out of it.’, the Prince finally confessed.   Billy had a feeling that was the root cause.  He knew of one robot that could help in a situation like this.   Before things would become worse with Alpha’s abilities, he called the Rangers’ aside to speak with them on this matter. 

            ‘Rangers, Alpha 5 has issues catching any Z’s at night.   I think we should instate the help of Somnibot.’, Billy began. 

            ‘Somnibot’s a foe.  How can we trust her to cooperate with us ?’, Zack fired back, clearly thinking the plan was bonkers at best. 

            ‘Even if she does cooperate, how are we going to lure her out and get her back to HQ without Rita and her goons finding out ?’, Trini asked.   It was an excellent inquiry, and none of them knew how to answer at first, but all of them together would find a solution to this problem.  The health of their best friend and protector was at steak. 

Chapter 2—A Most Unlikely Source of Help

            Meanwhile, back at the Machine Moon Base, King Mondo and his family were fast asleep.

"King Mondo, Prince Sprocket, Princess Circuitrina, Quee Machina! Oh no!", Gasket bemoaned.

"They're fast asleep!", Orbus stated.

"Your Majesty, please wake up. I have good news for you.", Klank said, gently waking his ruler.

"You know not to disturb my sleep, but I'm awake now, so what is it?", the king asked.

His wife and children, following suit, awoke.

"Somnibot is ready to go down to Earth. Rita and Zedd has added extra fuel for the Quadra fighter.", Orbus stated.

"Great! Somnibot's lullabies will allow Alpha 5 to get a good night's sleep tonight! Klank, will you come here?", Mondo asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty?", Klank responded.

"Somnibot must go down to Earth immediately. We must begin before the Rangers can figure out what's happening to him.", the king stated.

"Sounds good to me.", Somnibot stated with a yawn.

            Somnibot was sent without making so much as a peep into Ranger HQ that even Zordon wasn’t alarmed by her stealth.   Alpha was wandering about in a sort of daze, checking to make certain everything was accounted for and saw Somnibot.  

            ‘What are you doing here ?   If you’re thinking of lulling me to sleep so Rita can place me under one of her enchantments…’, he began.   Honestly, however, he didn’t even want to begin thinking about defending the Rangers’ morphers and Zordon.   He was more than prepared for combat but loathed confrontations.   He was an android who would much rather use diplomacy than brute force.  

            ‘Why would I want to do that ?  I sensed a fellow android in need of assistance.   You have been suffering insomnia as of late, am I correct ?’, Somnibot deduced.   Alpha 5 yawned and shook his head back and forth to keep himself focused.   It was maddening but he could barely keep himself functional.   Reluctantly, he allowed Somnibot to sing him to sleep and tuck him into a recuperation chamber while she quietly slipped away.   What he didn’t know was that Somnibot had put him into such a deep sleep that it would take all of the Rangers going into delta sleep themselves just to wake him.    Meanwhile, half of the Rangers would have to battle Rita, Zedd and their forces as they planned to overtake Angel Grove and then later; the entire WORLD ! 

Chapter 3—Trying to Wake Alpha

             Zack and the others couldn’t seem to rouse Alpha. Kat, Tanya, Aisha, and the others couldn't do so either. ‘No, he’s fast asleep. No matter what I do, he’s out cold.’, Kimberly said, with great concern. Tommy thought that maybe Somnibot had bypassed their security. Luckily surveillance cameras had been working and caught the little robot singing their friend to sleep with a beautiful lullaby that she wrote herself.

‘I have a suggestion. It’s highly theoretical, but we need to split up into teams. I’ll lead the expedition into Alpha’s reverie. Tommy, you and the others be sure to be ready for any attacks that might be coming from the outside. Something tells me that Rita and Zedd are planning something truly diabolical.’, Billy mentioned. Nine times out of ten he had been correct but his new invention, the Morpheus, hadn’t exactly been tested, yet. It was a dire situation and they had no other recourse. Billy’s inventions were foolproof more often than not, and now more than ever, the Rangers had to take a leap of faith.

            The Morpheus was a headset (and rather lightweight due to the nanotech that it sported) that linked Billy, Kimberly, Jason, Zack and Trini together once they entered a dream state.  Billy turned on the headset and began a countdown from 10.   Soon, he and his friends were all asleep, quickly entering into a shared reverie. 

            ‘What are you all doing here ?  Shouldn’t you be back at home, asleep in bed ?  Tomorrow’s a school day !’, Alpha 5 reproved in a paternalistic, yet endearing tone.   It was the sort of lecture they all expected to hear from their closest friend, but it was he that they were worried the most about.   He had been enjoying the most glorious dream about being back home amongst friends, family and especially the one android he cared most about.   Now he was simply in a field, amongst nature; birds singing, bees buzzing and flowers dancing about in the breeze.   A lazy monarch butterfly landed on Alpha’s chromium head and flitted off, mirthfully. 

‘We’ve got bigger problems than a school day tomorrow.’, Jason began.   They all told them about how Somnibot had been part of a bigger ruse and they all needed to band together more now than ever.   The other Rangers by themselves would be no match for the next monster Rita and Zedd had set forth but it was only the beginning of the Ranger’s troubles.  

Chapter 4—Fighting The Darkness

  Aisha, Tanya, Tommy and the others rushed outside to face a new menace that Zedd and Rita had cooked up together called ‘The Darkness’.   Darkness fed on fear and could elicit the deepest phobias anyone had, even a monster’s.   This is why other monsters held such a respect for him, but deep inside, he feared being abandoned, lost, alone and forgotten.   No one else knew this but Darkness himself and he hoped that beating the Rangers would give him an elite status with Rita and Zedd.   It was all he ever desired.   There were ominous vortices around him and terrifying shadows.   The Rangers had dealt with fear mongers before and Darkness was nothing new, but they had to admit that in their small band they wouldn’t be able to fend off this adversary very well.  

            ‘How close are the others to waking Alpha 5 ?’, Aisha asked, looking back at HQ longingly and hopefully. 

            ‘How am I supposed to know that ?  They’re in the realm of the subconscious.  I doubt any of us are familiar with it whatsoever !’, Tommy grumbled, lightly.   It was more out of frustration than it was with the situation at hand.  Darkness was a whopping behemoth with a war-hammer bigger than any of the Rangers had ever witnessed.   It was granite with a diamond lodged in its middle, glistening with hints of quartz all around it.   It was indeed, a fiercesome weapon, meant to intimidate.   He laughed, manically, causing everything around them to rumble and shake. 

            ‘Look, none of us have time for this today.  We can either give in to cowardice, which I am certain makes this hulk stronger, or we can fight.’, Kat said, rousingly.   She was right, and astute about the monster’s abilities.   He was only the warm up opponent.   A worse foe was to come.   

            Although the other Rangers fashioned a BetaZord with their combined mechs, and strangely enough, it was perfectly equipped to do battle with Darkness.   They used Darkness’ attacks against him, knowing that whatever they saw due to Darkness’ enchantments was occurring all in their heads.   It would be enough to subdue him, but they still needed the help of their other members to obliterate Darkness.   None of the Rangers knew how long they’d be able to fight, but they had to keep Darkness busy for the time being.  

Chapter 5—The Cavalry Awakens

            Eventually, Billy and the gang were able to arouse Alpha from a deep delta sleep.   It had been enough to recharge his batteries and he was now at full capacity.   He wanted to talk to Kat later about the dream he had experienced and how pleasant and fulfilling it had been.   It felt so real and he had so many questions, especially how his friends had been able to enter his subconscious state without any repercussions.  

            ‘All in good time, Alpha.  We have bigger fish to fry.’, Kimberly mentioned as he and the others ran outside of HQ to see BetaZord giving a massive monster the beat down it never suspected.  

            Elsewhere on the Moon,

            ‘It’s time for Granitite to be released !   Darkness may be doing a fine enough job on his own, but he needs backup !’, Rita said.   Zedd agreed.   Together, they whipped up a powerful potion to create a monster more bellicose and gargantuan than Darkness had been.  The Rangers wouldn’t be outnumbered, but they would be outmatched physically, or so Zedd and Rita had been deceived of, being overconfident in their superior sinister abilities. 

            With a thunderous boom, Granitite made an impressive entrance. 

            ‘Coming to help ?  You couldn’t have been more timely !’, Darkness snidely grinned, optimism in his timbre.  

            ‘Yeah, I'm here, Dark. Let's crush these bugs !', Granitite said.

Meanwhile, Somnibot teleported herself into Ranger HQ and was a bit upset that her sleeping spell had been broken so soon.

'Awwww, man! Alpha wasn't supposed to wake up yet, not now !', she groaned in disappointment.

Before she could teleport out of HQ to capture Alpha, Zordon focused his powers on Somnibot and trapped her in a force field.

"What? What's going on ? I can't move !”, she shrieked.  

            ‘If you’re thinking of lulling Alpha and the others back into slumber, you’re sadly mistaken.’, Zordon glowered.   She could try the same enchantment on him but it was unlikely that it would work.   She hung her head, sadly and lightly kicked at the ground.  Nothing she did was going to make this situation any better.  

            ‘Always two minutes too late.’, she thought to herself in self-deprecation.   She looked at the view screen in near horror.  Darkness and Granitite were getting their hindquarters handed over to them in rapid succession.   It was as if all of them were being tried by crucible. 

            ‘My mistress and master aren’t going to allow me back into their good graces after this debacle.   I’ve made a mess of everything.’, Somnibot said, plaintively.  If she had any lacrimal glands, she would’ve been sobbing.   Since she hadn’t received any communiques from her makers it was more than likely they had lost faith in her and she was now deemed a ‘failure’.  The whole thought struck her as painful, uncomfortable and frightening. 

            ‘Have you ever thought your fighting the battle from the wrong side ?’, Zordon asked, curiously.   Somnibot sulked but came out of her funk.   She had a feeling that perhaps she had been supporting the wrong team all along, and who knows, she might even have a better position with the Rangers.    It was all too much for her to take in currently, but her preliminary response was more than mere words could say. 

            ‘Yes, please teach me.   I want to learn, especially about your planet.’, she said, with hints of curiosity and hope.   Zordon couldn’t help but allow a grin to grace his usual stoic, static countenance.  

            ‘We’ll be glad to do just that.  Just promise me one thing.’, Zordon began, making an ultimatum for the pink night-capped android.

            ‘Yes, what is it ?  Anything, I’ll do it.’, Somnibot promised. 

            ‘No shenanigans.   If you use your spell, use it for good only.’, Zordon said.   Somnibot thought about what the wise interdimensional being was asking of her, and in essence all she wanted to do was help those who had problems going to sleep at night.  Perhaps being involved with the benevolent side wasn’t so hard as she initially thought.   All she had to do was try and see if she fit in with the Rangers.   Given time, she felt she’d earn their trust, their friendship and become quite a major asset for the team.  

Chapter 5—Crushing Defeat, Flawless Victory  

            One by one, the Rangers used their combined strength to deal the final crushing blow to both Granitite and Darkness.    They both fell to the earth, detonating and scattering into trillions of untraceable pieces.   Back on the moon, the villains were all bemoaning their latest defeat and concocting a better scheme for the next time they battled the Rangers.   Surely they would find a way to defeat them, but with Somnibot out of the picture, their options were beginning to thin out considerably. 

            Once the Rangers had reverted to their original selves, Alpha had come with them back from the battle field.  He hadn’t fought like that in eons but he wasn’t showing any sign of aging.   All of them were giving him praises and recognizing his immense skill.   He had given the MegaZord a bit of an extra boost, which made the victory all that much easier and sweeter. 

            ‘It was strange there for a moment though.  My reverie was so realistic !’, Alpha 5 began, until he noticed Somnibot was in HQ.   He immediately took the defensive position until he heard Somnibot’s plea and vow that she would never try anything sneaky or underhanded.   She had learned her lesson and knew she was her own mistress.   Besides, it gave her a chance to be close to her crush, Alpha 5, and perhaps, just perhaps, she mused, that she could get a little bit closer to him and confess her true feelings for the adorable android.   It might be that the two were just fabricated for the sole intention of being together.  

Epilogue

             The next day at Ernie’s Gym and Juice Bar after a long, drawn out day of finals was immensely needed. Each of the Rangers ordered their signature smoothies and Bulk and Skull were relaxing, savoring some thick milkshakes of their own varieties with their mentor from the detective agency Jerome "Jerry" Stone. Those two were now bosom buddies with the Rangers and their secret was safe with them. They might even someday become honorary Rangers. After all, the dynamic duo had more than once proven themselves but had never the chance to fight on the battlefield with their friends. Maybe that day would come someday ? It was anyone’s guess. While the Rangers were enjoying a fantastic break, Alpha 5 polished the consoles and wiped down the view screen with Windex. He tidied up HQ until it was sparkling. He bumped into Somnibot while whistling a happy tune. Initially he wanted to talk to Kat about his reverie but what better companion to ask than a fellow bot, he thought.

"Hey, Somni, I wanted to talk to you. It's about the dream I had when you sang me to sleep. Even though it was your sleeping spell, I thank you for it with all of my electronic heart.", Alpha said, giving his new friend a warm hug.

"Oh, sure, what about it ?", Somni asked with a warm smile.

"It was very beautiful, and your lullaby was great but--", Alpha began, but the Viewing Screen began to turn on. On the screen was the Gadgetry Family, and they were wanting to talk to their creation and thank her.

            ‘It wasn’t real.  It was mere wish fulfillment.’, Alpha lamented.   Somni put her arm around Alpha and hugged him.  

            ‘It doesn’t have to be.  I mean, you’ve got a friend right here on Earth.  You can talk to me whenever you like, and I will completely understand you.’, Somnibot chirped cheerily.   Alpha knew she was right but also felt a whirring and clicking in his gears that he had never experienced before.   Maybe this is what Earthlings knew as love ?  He didn’t really know; his circuits were all mixed up, but it wasn’t something that he would have to meet on alone.  

            ‘You’re right.   I think we should all head to bed for now.  I’m getting pretty tuckered out.’, Alpha said.  He wouldn’t mind having another deep sleep and Somni would be getting her dream rest as well that night.    With a lovely tune, Somni lifted up her voice and the two of them fell asleep in a recuperation pod, one not far from the other.   Strangely enough, the two bots were holding hands but neither one of them could have been more content. 

The End