Getting Connected

Synopsis:  Pepper and ASIMO want to have children not long after their wedding.   A MMPR/Sailor Moon crossover.   The Negaverse hones in on Angel Grove as their next target, thinking it will be an easy target for energy.    Queen Beryl sends out her latest monster to begin draining power from unsuspecting victims as she induces them into a sublime slumber.   

Dedicated to Barbara Goodson and Wendy Lyon.  

Chapter 1--My Circuits Feel Warm  

It hadn’t been long after their exquisite wedding that ASIMO and Pepper had discussed want of having children.   They could see very plainly that Omnibot was looking rather expectant.    In spite of her condition she still sparred with the Rangers and kept her skills sharp in case of attack from Rita, Zedd and their cronies.   

‘I wonder what it's like.’, Pepper said, holding ASIMO’s hand gently.    Both of them had begun feeling a tingling sensation between them.   Sparks seemed to fly through their very beings.   

‘I have often been curious about copulation myself.’, ASIMO concurred.   They were settling down in a joint recuperation chamber to download each other’s data when suddenly the alarm in HQ sounded.

‘Nuts and bolts.’, ASIMO thought to himself, a bit downtrodden.  Both their circuits had gotten a bit warm over their close exchange and they had to calm down considerably to listen to Zordon’s report.  

Chapter 2--Unlike Anything I’ve Ever Encountered

Zordon was puzzled.  The Rangers hadn’t seen him this flummoxed by anything before but he couldn’t make heads or tails of what was going on in Angel Grove.   It was a villain he was unfamiliarized with from a Universe he didn’t even know existed.    All this information was enough to make his brain implode but he did his best to explain what was happening.  

   'Rangers, I have absolutely no idea who this monster could be. None of our databanks have any information on her whatsoever.', he stated in a completely flummoxed tone.

   'We can't even figure out where this monster originates from ! Ai yi yi yi yi yi yi !', Alpha continued, equally flummoxed and slightly irritated.

‘We can’t just stand idly by and watch whatever this creature is drain every last citizen of energy though.’, Jason said with conviction.   

‘I do not know how to fight her.  You’ll be going in completely blind !’, Zordon warned.  

‘We know, Zordon.’, Aisha retorted in an uneasy tone.  

‘Can’t we go as well ?   We’ve recently been programmed in martial arts.   We may be of use !’, ASIMO offered.   

‘Well it certainly can’t hurt us.’, Zack quipped, optimistically.   

‘Oh, be careful Rangers.’, Alpha 5 reminded them.   

Quickly transforming the group started their barrage against the unusual mechanical monster.    Omnibot recognized the android’s attack.  

‘She’s using a dream mist !    Don’t breathe it in !’, she said, diverting the attack with newly built in fans, courtesy of Billy’s ingenuity.    

‘This upgrade really does the trick !’, she thanked Billy.  

‘I’d say I’m quite a fan of it !’, Beta quipped.   Before any of the Rangers could groan at that awful but mighty clever pun, Dolly’s true nature began to be revealed.  

She had been beautiful to look at before but now she was becoming more twisted and sinister.   Like Samara in the popular Ringu series, she was contorted, gnarled and ominous.   Her once kind, doll-like pupils looked inflamed with rage.   

‘Now that’s just creepy.’, Delta stated, shivering in spite of herself, surprised at the fact that she even understood the notion of fear.

Before they knew it, there were lovely girls in kaleidoscopic sailor uniforms who had come to help them.    

‘Who are you ?’, Kim asked, instantly taking a liking to Sailor Jupiter’s uniform and style.    

‘We’re the Sailor Scouts.   We came as soon as we knew Dream Dolly was here draining energy for the Negaverse we couldn’t come any faster.’, Sailor Mars explained.   There was no time for them to exchange pleasantries since Dolly was getting more and more aggravated.

Chapter 3--Working Together

The unified collaboration of Sailor Moon and Omnibot reduced Dream Dolly to nothing more than moon dust, as unlike the Machine Princess the doll was pure evil. ‘Woah, mom ! That was unbelievable !’, Pasithea complimented. Somnibot’s scepter had returned to its original portable form. ‘Yeah, mom ! Way to kick butt and take names !’, Morpheus added. Meanwhile….

   ‘Agggggghhh ! How could this be ? We had them cornered. Omnibot was laying waste to them all ! It was a foolproof scheme !’, Beryl screamed in frustration a la Rita Repulsa.

   ‘I have an even more insidious monster you could try and she’s along the same lines of Dream Dolly. Her name is Nemiru. She may look sweet and angelic, but she is really a wolf in sheep’s clothing.’, Nefrite said, a sinister grin on his devilishly handsome face. He snapped his fingers, and there she was, an adorable nurse with all the purest intent in the world.

   ‘Now children, it’s best you rest to keep your strength up.’, she said. Her lullaby instantly put children and adults at ease, but she would attack in their dreams, feeding off their reveries. ‘Ah, I love it. Send her down to Angel Grove immediately. We’ll have our victory yet.’, Queen Beryl said, rubbing her hands together greedily.

Chapter 5--A Substitute School Nurse

   Ms. Noel Vanna had come to the high school in order to help for the original school nurse, Mrs. Barbara Featherweight. Mrs. Featherweight had been sick with the flu and was in the process of healing. It wasn’t like Barb to become ill but it seemed that quite a few staff members had come down with the terrible bug, and she had fallen prey to it.

   ‘I don’t know about you, but Noel seems a bit too kind.’, Adam whispered to Tommy. Tommy nodded. ‘I know, I don’t like the vibe I’m getting from her either.’, he said. One of their friends, Malorie, seemed to be coming down with something and decided to go to the nurse’s station. ‘There you are, sweet pea. Just lie down, relax. Nurse Vanna will make it all better.’, she said. Mal lay down and started to rest but Noel started to feed from her energy. Kim happened to be walking by back to class from a trip to the restroom and she had to cover her mouth to resist screaming. She power walked in the hallway and quickly told her friends what she had seen. ‘No time to waste then. We have to Morph, and fast.’, Jason suggested. ‘We’ll need to lure her, though.’, Aisha added. ‘We’ll call our bots into battle. It’ll be good experience for them.’, Billy stated, obviously.

   Billy hailed HQ and before ASIMO and Pepper could try ‘connecting’, they were interrupted. ‘What now ?’, Pepper though, slightly annoyed. ASIMO was getting frustrated, but he knew an alert wouldn’t have gone out unless it was important. ‘We’ve got a problem at Angel Grove High. Come quick, and don’t forget your weapons !’, Billy added.

Chapter 6--The Negaverse Attacks Again

Zordon could now give the Rangers specs thanks to Alpha being able to connect to alternate libraries with Delta 4’s help. Libraries had data that could extend infinitely over different dimensions and the Negaverse wasn’t immune to having their database probed by Delta and Zordon. They had gotten through their firewall and scurried away before any sentries caught on to their ‘snooping’. It was enough information to keep them all informed as to why Angel Grove had been targeted. Dream Dolly had been the first attacker, and now a new enemy had made herself known. The Rangers were pretty certain it was the substitute nurse and after what Kim had seen, that theory was confirmed. Mal walked away in a zombie-like stupor after being sapped. She spent the rest of the day sleeping at her desk but had a tape recorder on standby if such an ‘emergency’ had arisen.

   ‘So, now what do we do ?’, Pepper questioned. Omnibot had been the only robot that had been targeted by the Negaverse so far but neither Zordon nor Delta knew of the reasoning behind that. ‘It doesn’t make sense why Someone would be singled out like that. Perhaps it was because they had similar abilities and Dolly simply wanted to best her ? I don’t know. The battle was almost decidedly in her favor until she joined Sailor Moon. This new villainous face, I have no idea what she will be capable of.’, Zordon said, gravely.

   They weren’t in the dark as much as before, but there were still too many questions lingering. ‘Aw, poor Rangers. I can imagine all of you are so tired from fighting that you could just collapse. Let Nurse Vanna take care of you…’, the substitute nurse said as she transformed and began to sing her lullaby. ‘Don’t listen...No ! Cover your ears !’, Pasithea yelled, but it was already too late. The Rangers had fallen asleep. The only warriors left standing were the robots and it would take more than a simple lullaby to send them off to dreamland.

Chapter 6--We Have to Follow Her !

‘You’re no threat to me ! I’m invincible in dreamland !’, Nemiru cackled as she shrunk herself and entered Kim’s ear. ‘Come on mom, sing ! We’ve got to follow her !’, Morpheus chimed, yanking his mother’s arm impatiently. Somni took a deep inhale and exhaled meditatively.

   She began vocalizing in an attempt to open a portal into the Dream Dimension.

The portal was vast, shimmering and a bit ominous in its scope and size but Omnibot followed her, quickly tailed by Beta, Morpheus and Pasithea.  

The Ranger’s dream realms had not changed.   The scenarios may have, but they were blissfully unaware that Nemiru had contact to the nexus of their energy.  

‘Being the heart of the team, I’ll just strike you down first.   The others are soon to topple like dominoes.’, Nemiru mused aloud, heading down a brightly decorated corridor, bedecked in pink paper chains, plastic flamingos that searched for krill in small ponds and metallic foam origami cranes that flew above her head in V formation.    

‘Ugh, this is even too much pink for my liking.’, she spat in distaste.  She was about to take her cresent scepter and smash the heart nexus when Omnibot called her out.  

‘Don’t even think about it, Nemiru !’, she said, taking a defensive stance.  

‘What are you gonna do about it, shrimp ?’, Nemuru asked, shoving Somnibot’s face down to the ground.    Somnibot, however, wouldn’t budge.   

‘I didn’t want it to come to this, but you left me no choice.’, Somni said.   The two of them began to square off and Somnibot blocked her entrance to the nexus at every turn.   

‘Now you’re really ticking me off !   Time to wrap this up !’, Nemeru said, wrapping her in bandages from a first aid kid she conjured out of thin air.   She used ace bandages to entrap Somni.    Blades instantaneously poked through her arms and legs, releasing her.   

‘You just don’t know when to quit do you ?   Since you’re making me sick, how about some medicine ?’, Nemuru growled, transforming her scepter into a giant hypodermic needle.    It was then Somnibot transformed, as did her children and Beta as well.  

‘I’m so scared.  What are you going to do, blind me ?’, she mocked.   One by one they retaliated until Nemuru could no longer fight back.   Somnibot might have been just a smidge harsh on her, but the Power Ranger’s nexus of friendship was about to be severed and she wasn’t about to allow that to happen.    

Chapter 6--Somnibot’s Newest Ability

Showing mercy, Somni helped Nemuru up, feeling bad that she had hurt her so severely.  

‘I didn’t want to harm you, but you gave me no recourse.’, she lamented.  

‘You’re tougher than you look, robot.’, she winced.   She wasn’t about to be beaten by a family of sleepers though.   Somnibot felt an awakening inside her, unlike anything she had ever felt before.   

‘Obliviate.’, she said, her voice solemn.    

‘Don’t look at mom, you guys !’, Pasitea warned, seeming to know what this meant.    She blocked the attack and kept her father and brother safe while shielding herself.    The attack was enough to spread into the Negaverse.  

‘Do you remember what we were doing, Nefrite ?’, she questioned, undoubtedly bewildered.  

‘No, but I’m feeling a bit peckish.  I’ll be back with some decadent snacks, my Queen.   We can’t be going hungry now, can we ?’, Nefrite responded, bowing politely and teleporting out of the Queen’s eerie throne room.   

Back in Angel Grove…

Somnibot felt like weeping over the destruction of Nemuru, but she didn’t.   

‘You did what you had to do, and all without the Sailor Scouts !’, Beta quipped.  Somnibot felt a ton of pride and straightened her posture into a more elegant, composed one.    

‘Come on, we’d better wake everyone up and head back to Headquarters.’, Morpheus said.   The portal that brought them there reappeared and they ended where they had begun.   

Chapter 8--Alone At Last

The Rangers were in a celebratory mood.   ASIMO and Pepper were a little saddened they didn’t get to use their enhancements in the battle against Nemuru but had gone out of their way to compliment Somnibot.  

‘That ability was very impressive.  When did you learn you had it ?’, Pepper inquired.   

‘I’m not sure.  It wasn’t anything I knew I had during my upgrade.   I suppose it is an innate talent I am just learning about.’, Somnibot said, explaining the best way she knew how.

‘I think it rocks !’, Morpheus said, totally awed by his mother’s remarkable new talent.   The Rangers began to depart for the evening and say their goodbyes.   It wasn’t known whether they would be fighting the Negaverse again or not, but even if they did, they would all be ready.  Perhaps they would even encounter the Sailor Scouts once more.   

Pepper and ASIMO found themselves in their recuperation chamber without the distraction of any klaxons.   They began to embrace and relish the electricity flowing between them.   One by one, they used their ports to download information and experience love as well as lovemaking for the first time.   It was exactly as they had hoped it would be, but as AI they experienced this on a deeper, even more sacred level than a lot of humans have.    

Epilogue

Pepper was feeling a little different.  She couldn’t quite understand why but she felt like giggling at everything.   Her appearance was brighter, shinier than usual.   She received a check up from Billy and he couldn’t help but smile.

‘I don’t know how it’s possible, but you’re pregnant.’, he said.   When the other Rangers heard they were giddy and curious.  

‘How do robots have sex anyways ?’, Adam queried.   

‘It’s really not all that complicated !’, ASIMO began, being somewhat of a braggart.   

‘We can handle it.’, Rocky said.   ASIMO gave them all the gory details.  

‘That’s it ?’, Kim retorted, rather unphased.   

‘Sounds magnificent.’, Aisha said, with a hint of romance to her tone.  

‘Gross.’, Rocky fired back, sticking his tongue out.    The whole group laughed until their sides hurt but congratulated the two.   Robots had a gestational period similar to their human companions and for the time being Pepper could go about doing things normally but taking it easy once she was in her 3rd trimester.   She could already sense her physiology changing to accommodate more than one life form inside her but she wanted ASIMO to be surprised by their bundles of joy when they did arrive.    All she could do was be radiant in the praise and gifts coming from her best friends as well as the tender affection she received from her beloved husband and lover.  

The End