Up To Speed

Synopsis: Yvona, an old friend of Herman's from a planet far away, contact him the Picture Phone.   Zordon suggests teleporting to her to Earth so she can be informed of what has happened since her time away in space amongst the PopSugurian people, or as they are known in their language, ‘Poppies’.  

Chapter 1—Good to See You Again

Herman Norman Reubens, known professionally in his former TV years as Pee-Wee Herman, was reading a book when the Picture Phone beeped and warbled in the far corner. Groaning slightly, he got up from Chairry.

"Hold on, I'll get it!", he said.

He walked to the booth and sat down. "Hello?", he asked.

"Hello, Herman, it is Yvona.", an alien female said. Herman beamed a big smile.

‘Well, you certainly look...different.’, Herman replied, noticing her shiny form fitting but rather feminine spacesuit with bows sequinned on either side of the helmet.   The gravity was controlled so her hair wasn’t standing up on end from the lack of it. She had so much to tell him but there was no possible way that she could cover it in one sitting over Picture Phone’s feed.  

‘What if I triangulated your signal from Planet Popsugar and beamed you here ?’, Zordon asked.   

‘Of course, that’s brilliant, as usual, Zordon.’, Yvona stated and waited for Zordon to make the necessary calculations.  It only took a millisecond. In a eyelash’s thickness, she was transported to Earth and greeted her old friend with a hug that she had been longing to give him for years.

Chapter 2--Catching Up

Everyone had been called to welcome Yvona back once she had materialized to Earth.  At first it was a little disorienting, due to the fact that everything about Earth was so different from PopSugar.    

'This is amazing ! This device is what you use for telecommunication.', Yvona asked, referring to the Picture Phone.

'Yes, Yvona, and there are thousands like it. There's even a similar system back in Ranger HQ.', Herman responded.   She quickly was introduced to the many robots in the main foyer and led to the grand hall where everyone would eat their meals during the day, that is, if they had any time after thumping villains or getting whomped by them in return.  Either way, they would win the fight and replenish themselves in the stunning and homey modern day kitchen with all the amenities.

Yvona’s stomach began to growl.  

‘Feeling peckish are you ?’, Kat inquired.    Yvona blushed lightly. The next moment was priceless.  She met her doppelganger. Yvonne thought she was looking in a mirror, but clearly this woman was alien.   She had the tell-tale antennae, with heart shaped nubs at the top for sending and receiving messages to her people.   

‘An honest to goodness alien.  I want to know everything about you.’, Billy mooned over her.   Yvona wasn’t used to all the attention but she enjoyed being around these humans more than anything in the world..  After all, PopSugar wasn’t advanced enough to have teleportation devices but they were working on it. It was a world more based on living symbiotically and existing off sugary substances to survive.   

The Rangers had never seen anyone, let alone a real alien, consume so many sugary products, but now they knew why.   Princess Yvona told them the tale of how she and Herman met when she visited Earth the first time. She was only just recalling it now.  She happened to be a little airheaded when it came to details like that but at least the memory had returned.

Chapter 3--Princess Yvona

She had crash landed on Earth on a trip elsewhere in the galaxy.   She wasn’t too far from the Playhouse and Herman found her on his scooter ride home from work.   He felt concerned for her and decided to help her in any way he could. She hadn’t become a Princess of her planet just yet but she had a regal way about her, that much was absolutely certain.    

She held herself in a stately posture, erect, pristine and dignified.  She also had a trace of mischief in her smile. He knew they would become fast friends and he would teach her everything about Earth that he could.  

Yvonne wasn’t in the Playhouse that day, so in this moment of time, she was meeting her twin.  

‘How did you become Princess of PopSugar ?’, she asked, feeling, pardon the pun, starstruck by Princess Yvona and her uncanny fashion sense.  This woman could wear anything and make it look good. She was certain if there were a Vogue magazine for the Poppies, she would be on the front cover.  'After Zyzzy's first imprisonment in the crystal, as he was heading back. I too knew he couldn't be truly trusted.', Yvona admitted.

'Incredible !', Herman exclaimed.

'Yes. I have been on the throne for some time now.', she said.   She had wondered whatever happened to Zyzzy and was shocked that he had been dealt with.  

‘We did what we could, believe me.’, Rocky said, with some sadness in his voice.

‘Zyzzy couldn’t be reasoned with, no matter how hard I tried.  He began as a good friend but he wanted the throne for himself.  He would’ve relished the power and prestige that it granted him.’, Yvona stated, with a hint of sorrow in her tone.  She mourned his loss for a moment because she felt that even though he was sinister, he did deserve a little time and recognition, but beyond that, she shed no tears over a former foe.  

Yvona explained what it was like to be a Princess and her duties each day of the week.   One would think she had no time for diversion but she busied herself with all sorts of hobbies.   She adored sports that were similar to tennis, basketball, hockey and soccer back on PopSugar. Other sports didn’t really interest her too much.  She was into reading, cooking and building. She enjoyed helping the less fortunate, but on PopSugar, poverty really wasn’t that much of an issue. It only occured with those that seriously couldn’t work due to illness.   Illness wasn’t common either, but she was developing a cure for that in her spare time; being a brilliant scientist just for kicks.

‘You can really do everything.’, Kim said, completely stricken by wonder, awe and amazement.  

‘Yes, and I hope to spread that message to other girls who might take the throne after me.   One day I will retire as regent but presently, the job was extremely rewarding.’, she said, merrily.    Her smile warmed everyone’s hearts in the room but she knew her visit would be short-lived.

Chapter 4--Keeping Connections

Of course, Herman had the most connectivity with the Princess but the others wished to have the same.   Zordon smiled.

‘If you ever want to patch a communique through me, just use this crystal here to tune into my frequency.’, he said.   The blue agate stone flowed through the plasma of his form and into her hands. She thanked him, bowing her head in deference, showing respect for the wizard responsible for defeating Zyzzy.   She knew it was the Rangers who helped as well and how unbelievable the battle had been.

‘I Wish I could’ve seen that come to pass.  The way you describe it, it’s like I am experiencing it first hand.’, she thrilled.   She didn’t want to leave, especially after sampling Earth’s delicacies.

‘I’ll be taking some of these snack foods with me to reverse engineer their ingredients.  I think I can mass produce them on PopSugar.’, she said with a brilliant smile. She hugged all of her friends goodbye, especially her doppleganger.    Yvonne was pleased that the other version of herself was so polite, kind, magnanimous and intelligent.

Zordon reassured her that it would be easier for them to communicate from now on.

‘You won’t have to take a special trip just to see us.’, he mentioned.

‘But you are more than welcome to visit whenever you wish.  You’re a breath of fresh air.’, Aisha said, clapping her hand upon Yvona’s shoulder.   Yvona clasped Aisha’s hand and squeezed it, getting a bit emotional. Before she could become overwhelmed with her emotions, she said her goodbyes once again and Zordon zapped her back to her planet.

Epilogue

Once safely on terra firma back home, Yvona hailed the Rangers letting them know her experiment had been successful.   She could visit whenever she wanted whether physically or via crystalline vision, maintained by her third eye.

Without missing a beat, she went right back to her regal duties and then settled down for the evening, dreaming about what fantastic adventures she would enjoy the next day and the upcoming days ahead.  

The End