Along the way, though, Billy realized his rescuer couldn’t be one of his fellow Power Rangers. Jason, Zack, Trini, or Kimberly would definitely have said something by now.
Could it be Ira, Alani, or one of the other students? Or the scientists? he wondered. I hope they’re not putting themselves in danger.
Despite his bruises, the Blue Ranger’s enhanced suit helped him recover quickly. While he still hurt from the crash, in no time he was able to open his eyes and finally see who had saved him.
It was quite a surprise.
“Finster?” Billy gasped. “You?”
The inventor was hovering right over him! Hard as it was to believe, Rita Repulsa’s trusted minion had actually dragged him to safety. The Blue Ranger instinctively tried to back-crawl to get away, but his bruises kept him from moving much. Finster frowned and gave the Blue Ranger some space.
They were in the ruins of the main building. The electricity was out, making it dark and cool, but they were sheltered by what was left of the walls and the ceiling. The dog-faced alien must have pulled Billy there all the way from the beach.
No wonder he didn’t say anything, the Blue Ranger thought.
Even now, Finster didn’t look like he knew what he should say. He waddled around the wreckage in silence, then started to pace. He rubbed his hands together nervously, glancing over at the shocked Blue Ranger now and then, and shook his head.
He seemed just as surprised as Billy by what he’d done.
Finally, Finster said, “Yes, yes! I know! But I think if you look at the situation logically, most people would realize that given the situation, it was the only thing I could do.” He stopped pacing and looked up at the sky beyond the broken roof, worried. “Not Rita, though, she wouldn’t realize that at all. But she’s not most people, is she? Oh no! If she ever finds out . . .”
A confused Billy forced himself into a half-sitting position. “What are you talking about? Why would you save my life?”
Finster clenched his fists. “You’re asking the wrong question!” he said. “It’s not about saving your life! If it was, you’d still be out there! Seeing a Power Ranger destroyed would be my second favorite thing ever. The problem is that my number one favorite thing is saving my life! After being almost stepped on by my own monster three times, it dawned on me that you and I have something . . . I’m not sure how to say this, it’s very difficult, as you can imagine, but here goes . . .” Finster took a deep breath before finishing his sentence. “We have something in common.”
Billy stiffened and again tried to crawl away. “Us? You and me?” he said. “Something in common?”
Finster nodded. “Terrible, isn’t it? But that goldfish is completely out of control! And as long as it’s stomping around following its own orders, Rita has magically blocked me from teleporting back to the Moon Palace!”
The Blue Ranger frowned. “I’m not going to help you get Goo Fish Junior under your control!” he said firmly.
Finster shivered and growled. “I didn’t think you would! But I also assume you’d rather he didn’t demolish this island and everyone on it. So I’m guessing you would want to help turn him back into a normal goldfish. Wouldn’t you? Am I wrong? Please tell me I’m not wrong.”
Billy looked through the huge holes in the wall. Outside, on the beach, he could see Goo Fish Junior tearing out the tall palm trees and hurling them every which way.
As he threw tree after tree, the enormous goldfish shouted, “I hate this tree! And this one! And especially this tree!”
Once the palm trees that were in reach of his giant hands were gone, Goo Fish Junior began doing the same thing with pieces of the concrete seawall, picking them up and hurling them. The childish tantrum seemed like it could go on for hours—or at least as long as anything on the island remained standing.
And that included the bunker where the students and scientists were hiding!
I have no idea how soon the other Power Rangers will get here, Billy thought. By then, it could be too late. I have to protect the island somehow.
Billy looked back at Finster and sighed. “You’re right,” he said. “I have to stop him no matter what.”
Finster shook his head. “Not just you,” he said. “We have to stop him. So, you admit that just in this one, teeny-tiny situation, we have a common goal?”
The Blue Ranger thought about it. “I suppose we do. If we declare a truce, we could work together to stop him.”
Finster nodded. “It would be completely temporary, of course. I, for one, will pretend it never happened,” he said.
When he started fishing in his smock, Billy tensed, expecting a trick. He only relaxed when Finster held up the broken Enhancifier.
The Blue Ranger stared at it. “With some repairs and alterations, your device can be used in reverse, turning Goo Fish Junior back to normal!”
“I could repair the Enhancifier myself if I could get back to my workshop, but as I just explained, I’m stuck here,” Finster said. He lowered his head in shame. “You, unfortunately, know the Earth equipment better than I do.”
“I never thought I’d say this, but I guess we’re agreed,” the Blue Ranger said. He put out his hand.
Finster turned up his nose and said, “No reason to be ridiculous about it!”
A whiny voice shouted at them from above. “You gotta do something!” the voice pleaded.
The Blue Ranger looked up. It was Skull. He was still standing on the small bit of the building’s roof where Goo Fish Junior had placed him.
“That monster wants to keep me as a pet!” Skull cried. “I don’t think I’d last long in a goldfish bowl! I mean, how would I even breathe?”
Skull was so loud that both the Blue Ranger and Finster worried about the same thing. They started waving at Skull to be quiet.
“Lower your voice!” Billy said.
“Not so loud!” said Finster.
“What?” Skull shouted. “Why not?”
Unfortunately, Skull soon realized why they were worried. He was up so high, his voice carried all the way to the beach. His shouting had attracted Goo Fish Junior’s attention!
“My pet!” the giant cried out happily. “I almost forgot about you!”
“Oh no,” Skull whimpered.
The Blue Ranger fought his pain and tried to climb up to save Skull. He was fast, but not as fast as the monster. In just a few pounding steps, the huge creature traveled the distance from the beach to the building.
In a flash, Goo Fish Junior once again snatched up Skull.
Skull whined, “Aw! Couldn’t you have forgotten about me for just a little longer?”
The goldfish lifted him near his eye and seemed to smile. “When I was little,” he said, “you called me Little Bulky. Now that you’re little, I’m going to call you Little Skully! Come with me, Little Skully!”
Goo Fish Junior stomped off with his prize. When he nearly stepped on the bunker, the Blue Ranger gasped.
A few yards in the other direction and they would have been crushed! he thought.
Billy climbed back down and looked at Finster. The idea of working with one of Rita’s minions seemed crazy, but he didn’t see any other choice.
“Before we start, we have to make some rules,” the Blue Ranger said. “I’m not going to leave you with a weapon as dangerous as the Enhancifier!”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Finster said. Then he crossed his arms. “But I’m certainly not going to leave you with such a magnificent weapon, either! Or any weapon for that matter. So what do we do?”
Billy thought about it. “I’ve got it,” he said. “I can install some circuits in it, so that once it’s used on Goo Fish Junior, it will self-destruct. That way, no one gets to keep it. Agreed?”
Finster pouted. “But the circuits are from a world that no longer exists! My Enhancifier would be gone forever
!” he said.
The ground shook as Goo Fish Junior stomped nearby. A few more pieces of the building fell. Finster squealed and ducked.
“All right! All right! I agree!” Finster said.
“Good,” Billy answered. “Then let’s get to work before the whole island is destroyed.”
Chapter 22
From way up in Goo Fish Junior’s fist, Skull had a great view of the whole island, but he didn’t like it very much. He kept trying to pull himself free from the slimy grasp, but it was no use.
“What would you like to see me destroy next, Little Skully?” Goo Fish Junior asked.
“Me?” Skull said. Then he realized there was no one else up there the giant fish could be talking to. For that matter, there wasn’t anyone else he’d call “Little Skully.”
Skull swallowed hard. “Ulp! Oh . . . nothing, really,” he said. “I’m fine. Maybe . . . maybe you could put me down, and I promise I’ll come back later?”
Goo Fish Junior tilted his body left and right as if shaking his head no. It made Skull dizzy.
“I’m sorry, Little Skully,” the giant goldfish said. “But everyone says so many different things, it’s hard for me to know when they’re lying. Even talking about it makes me mad! I’m so angry, I feel like I have to destroy something with my big feet!”
“Do you have to?” Skull asked. “It really shakes me up!”
“Yes, yes, I do!” Goo Fish Junior said. He looked around and saw the bunker. “I know! I’ll stomp on that!”
As the great fish took a giant step, Skull covered his eyes.
Goo Fish Junior pulled his leg up. He was about to use his tremendous foot to kick in the bunker door, but before he could, he heard a loud rumbling. The rumbling soon got so heavy, it made everything shake.
“Earthquake!” Skull shouted.
“What’s an earthquake?” Goo Fish Junior asked.
Skull was too afraid to answer, so the monster turned his wide body toward the sound to see what it was for himself. He was very surprised to see another giant rising from the wreckage of the research center!
Goo Fish Junior’s big, wide eyes got even bigger and wider when he recognized the blue-and-white uniform the new giant was wearing.
“That looks just like the human who told me that eating too much was bad for me!” the goldfish said.
Skull’s eyes got wider, too. “That is one big Power Ranger!” he said.
Goo Fish Junior harrumphed. “He’s not that big,” he said.
It was true. Even though the Blue Ranger was giant, he wasn’t nearly as tall as Goo Fish Junior. At the same time, the Blue Ranger was still at least four times bigger than any other human that the monster had seen.
As for the giant Billy, he felt like he had at least some idea what the world looked like to the gargantuan monsters he often fought with the Power Rangers.
From up here, it all seems . . . a little smaller, he thought.
When the Blue Ranger and Finster had finished their work on the Enhancifier, they’d realized that its rays would be too small and narrow to completely cover something as big as Goo Fish Junior. To make sure it would work, they’d strapped it on Billy’s wrist, and then he’d turned it on himself!
Now that the Blue Ranger and the Enhancifier had been enlarged, he was sure the beam would be big enough.
But there was another problem. Finster didn’t want a big Power Ranger wandering around all the time, and Billy didn’t particularly want to stay giant—so the effect was only temporary. Billy had to finish their plan before he shrank back down.
But if he fired the Enhancifier while Goo Fish Junior was holding Skull, the bully would also be hit by the ray. Skull would get so tiny, they might never find him again! The Blue Ranger didn’t particularly like Skull, but he didn’t want to see him shrink to the size of an ant, either.
Goo Fish Junior likes Little Skully, Billy thought. Maybe I can talk him into putting him down.
The Blue Ranger took a few steps closer. He moved slowly so that he didn’t seem like too much of a threat. “We never took you out of your bowl and held you like that, Goo Fish Junior,” he said. “You should put Little Skully down. Otherwise you might hurt him.”
Goo Fish Junior narrowed his big eyes. “No! I remember how you took the food out of my bowl that Little Skully put in, so I couldn’t eat it! Now you want him, too, but you can’t have him! He’s my pet!”
“Please give me to him! Please?” Skull begged.
But the great fish only wrapped his other hand around Skull, to hold him tighter.
“Oomph!” Skull said.
He remembers everything, Billy thought. If I’m going to get him to do anything, I have to stop thinking like a human and start thinking like a fish that’s always hungry.
The Blue Ranger looked around. Thanks to the better view his height gave him, he could see very far. Inside the main building, near the tanks, he saw the stacked barrels of fish food kept handy for their marine “guests.”
The small krill that they feed the large dolphin aren’t the same as the freeze-dried flakes Goo Fish Junior is used to, Billy thought. But opportunistic feeders go for anything that seems edible. If his appetite has gotten anywhere as big as he is, they just might work.
“You want food, Goo Fish Junior?” the Blue Ranger called. “I’ll get you some food!”
Billy walked over and bent down. When he was normal size, the barrels had seemed pretty big. Now he easily picked one up and pried off the top.
He shook out some of the krill on the ground between himself and Goo Fish Junior.
“Here you go!” he said.
Seeing and smelling the food, the huge fish got very excited. “Food! Food!” he shouted.
In half a step, he was close enough to lean over and suck all the krill into his mouth.
“Mmm!” he said.
“Is the food good?” the Blue Ranger asked.
“It is! It is! Give me more!” the big fish said.
Billy grabbed more barrels. He held as many as he could and ripped another open. This time, he poured the krill out bit by bit, backing up as he did.
If I make a trail leading him away from the bunker, at least everyone there will be safe, Billy thought.
Goo Fish Junior followed along happily. Over and over, he dipped down, ate, and then rose back up to see where the next bit of krill was. All the up and down made Skull feel as if he were on a roller coaster.
“Yeow! I’m too short to go on this ride!” he called.
He was uncomfortable, but not hurt—and Billy’s trick was working! Soon they’d left the bunker and the buildings of the research center behind, reaching the part of the island that had been left to nature.
Now if Goo Fish Junior has another tantrum, the only thing he can stomp is palm trees, Billy thought. The next step is to rescue Skull.
Shortly they reached a big clearing in the palm-tree forest, near the base of the island’s only mountain. Goo Fish Junior, having gobbled up the last of the trail, stood up and looked eagerly at Billy, waiting for more food. Skull, meanwhile, looked green, as if he was about to barf from the crazy ride.
“Give me more!” the fish said.
But Billy had only three barrels left. He knew what he had to do now, but he wanted to think it through one more time before he made his move. He didn’t want to make a mistake that might hurt Skull.
Even the short wait was enough to make the monster-fish angry. To prove he meant business, Goo Fish Junior stomped his foot so hard, the ground shook. A few boulders rolled down the side of the mountain.
“Okay! Okay!” the Blue Ranger said.
This time, rather than make another trail, Billy ripped open all three of the remaining barrels and poured the krill into one big pile.
I feel a little bad about overfeeding him, the Blue Rang
er thought. Then again, I have no idea how much food it would take to overfeed a giant goldfish!
When Goo Fisher Junior bent over and began sucking in the krill like a big vacuum cleaner, Billy sprang into action. He raced and jumped up onto the busy monster. After an acrobatic flip, he landed on the creature’s shoulder.
The Blue Ranger was big, but the goldfish was still a giant in comparison. Billy felt like a squirrel crawling on a human as he ran along the arm toward the big hand that held Skull.
Goo Fish Junior saw and felt the Blue Ranger, but his hunger was so strong, he was torn between finishing his food and fighting back. That gave Billy the extra time he needed to reach his hand and pry apart the giant fingers.
“Ow!” the big fish shouted. “That hurts!”
The only thing more important than food to the goldfish was stopping the pain—so Goo Fish Junior stood up fast. He was so fast that both Billy and Skull were thrown into the air!
Billy wasn’t a trained gymnast like the Pink Ranger, Kimberly, but he’d picked up a thing or two. With the help of his enhanced speed and strength, he was able to flip in midair, grab Skull, and land on his feet.
The normal-size Skull was like a toddler in the big Blue Ranger’s arms. They looked at each other for a moment, surprised. Billy quickly set him down.
“Get out of here!” the Blue Ranger said.
“No kidding!” Skull said. He ran off.
With Skull safe, all the Blue Ranger had to do was use the modified Enhancifier on Goo Fish Junior. But the fish wasn’t quite done being a monster yet.
“You took my pet!” Goo Fish Junior screamed.
Using his enormous tail, he swatted the side of the mountain, causing an avalanche!
Some of the boulders coming down at the Blue Ranger were even bigger than he was! He ducked and rolled, avoiding the biggest rocks, and managed to get back to his feet.
But then Goo Fish Junior spun again, swinging his powerful tail right at the Blue Ranger. Just as that big tail came at him, Billy fired the Enhancifier. Its rays bathed the whole monster in a greenish glow.
It worked! Goo Fish Junior immediately began to get smaller. His shrinking tail missed the Ranger by inches! Once he was nearly normal size, he could no longer breathe in the air.
Fish in Troubled Water Page 8