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Post by J. T./Jessica on Feb 3, 2011 0:09:47 GMT -5
"No other race in the universe goes camping - celebrate your own uniqueness."
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"We're the boys from Camp Kookamonga, our mothers sent us here for to study nature's ways, we learned to make sparks by rubbing sticks together, but if we catch the girls then we'll set the woods ablaze," J.T. sang out off-tune as he almost bounced along.
"I'm scared," Yolanda said in a low voice, "J.T.'s almost... perky."
"Don't ever let him hear you say that, Yo," Jessica cautioned.
"He's singing, Jessica. He's singing and skipping and his mouth's doing that weird curving thing again," Yolanda countered.
"Yolanda!" Jessica said, exasperated, "It's not that odd for him to smile."
"It's creepy!"
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"Hey, there's only five tents, who packed them?"
"I did."
"You miscounted."
"Nope, me, Jessica, Daniel, Amanda, Yolanda, Billy, Zack and you."
"Exactly - eight of us, we should have eight tents."
"You're not this stupid, Gibb, quit acting like it; Me and Jessica, Daniel and Amanda, Yolanda and Billy, Zack, you."
"...Oh. Right. I forgot to look at it that way. After all, I thought this was a camping trip, not band camp."
"Do you want me to see if I can headslap you so hard that you'll skip across the lake like a stone, Gibb?"
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"What are you doing here, Jonathan?"
"Trying to get a break that doesn't involve my bones," the blonde male shot back, "I didn't expect you to show up and I definately didn't expect Dumb and Dumber to be here, either."
J.T. paused for a moment, "Which one's which?"
"Does it really matter, John?"
"Humor the crazy person," J.T. folded his arms across his chest.
"He's dumb, she's dumber. Now if you don't plan on shooting, stabbing or roasting me, I need to find a place to put my tent up."
"Just stick it up next to the new lovebirds'," J.T. muttered.
"Don't want me out of your sight?"
"That and if they try anything, we can use you as ablative armor," J.T. shot back.
"Nice to see some things never change, John, you're still a magnificent bastard."
"Of the highest caliber," J.T. drew himself up proudly.
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"Let's see," J.T. muttered, reaching into one of his bags as he summoned his weapon, "There's this, need these, put that there... jiggle it on there... tighten it up... 'Aha! The Cardinal's Sacred Snack Chamber'!"
Jessica stared as J.T. lifted the results of his work up and sighted down the barrel, "You put a scope on your Power Bolter?"
"Yep."
"Do I want to know what you've got planned?"
"Nope."
"Tell me anyway."
"Originally I was going to mount it on my bowgun and just some get target practice on a log or something while I sighted it in, but now?" J.T. smirked, "Submarine."
Jessica groaned and put a hand to her forehead, "I feel such a headache coming on..."
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"Disqualification! Automatic Forfeit! Unauthorized use of sexuality!"
"Sorry, Johnnie," Jessica smirked, cocking her hip and placing her hand on it, "But it doesn't work that way."
"How can I be expected to keep my eyes on the ball when my girlfriend is wearing cargo shorts and a halter-top swimsuit?"
"I'm loathe to admit it, but for once I agree with him," Daniel nodded, "Amanda, a swimsuit and my attention span are a dangerous combination.
"Don't look at me," Jon crossed his arms, "I say it won't do anything then I'm a liar, I say I'll be distracted and not only am I a pig but I also get shocked, soaked or scorched for staring at another guy's girlfriend, especially since she's my ex."
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Post by J. T./Jessica on Feb 3, 2011 0:10:42 GMT -5
"Of all the races in the three known galaxies, I trust Terrans the least," J.T. muttered.
"You don't trust anyone," Jessica reminded him.
"Which is my point exactly," He replied, adjusting his glasses, "If I don't trust anyone and I trust them the least, then obviously they're not trustworthy, are they?"
"Do I need to get you a sonic screwdriver?"
"Actually, yes, that would be quite nice, thank you. Hel-lo!"
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Post by J. T./Jessica on Feb 3, 2011 0:15:10 GMT -5
Daniel reached over and held his hand in front of J.T.'s shirt, "Why do they call me black? I'm not black. That's black, not me. I don't even like 'African-American'. I've never been to Africa, I'm an American of African descent."
"Hey, how do you think I feel?" J.T. chuckled, pushing the Blue Ranger's arm away, "I'm not 'white' and I'm not Russian."
Daniel blinked for a moment, "Russian?"
"Caucaus Mountains are in Russia. I'm a sixteenth Cherokee, an eighth French, an eighth German, a quarter Irish... and the rest in American-Melting Pot-Mutt... no Russian to the best of my knowledge."
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Post by J. T./Jessica on Feb 3, 2011 0:16:37 GMT -5
"What is that?"
"Well, after one too many late night 'Ghostbusters' marathons, I had an idea."
"We're doomed," Jessica shook her head, smiling.
"We know there's Power-reactive materials in existance - the special vein of gold that the Power Coins are forged out of, for instance... and it occurred to me that if I could find a viscosious material that could hold a charge of grid energy... I could create my own PDS."
"And what the hell is a 'PDS'."
"Plasm Distribution System," J.T. answered.
"Slime Blower," Daniel corrected.
"Yes," J.T. sighed, "If you want to be collequeil, a slime blower."
"And just what are we going to do with... a slime blower?"
"Um... cover Marius and The Bitch in slime?"
"Good idea. How many of those do you have ready?"
"How many do you think?"
Considering how many Ghostbusters there were, Daniel had an idea, "Four?"
"Four."
"I'm going along with this," Jessica sighed, "But I don't want to hear any plots to sacrifice them to Gozer or Vigo."
"She did say 'hear,' right?"
"That she did, Danny me boy."
"So as long as she doesn't hear, it's okay, right?"
"In theory, yes... but the hard part would be finding an agreeable Gozerian Pantheon member or Eastern European warlord trapped in a painting."
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Post by J. T./Jessica on Feb 3, 2011 0:17:23 GMT -5
"It looks like... a maid..." Yellow frowned.
Red and Black looked at the monster for a moment before their heads snapped around to face each other.
"Spaceball One has now become..." Red trailed off.
"Bum-bum bum-bum bum-bum-bum!" Black drumrolled.
"MegaMaid," Red finished.
"Just great," Yellow complained, "Now we're going to have to listen to the sci-fi brothers joke about capturing the stunt doubles and using the Schwartz for the entire fight."
"My hair! He shot my hair! Son of a bitch..." Green added as she materialized and loaded her Phoenix Bow.
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Post by J. T./Jessica on Feb 3, 2011 0:19:24 GMT -5
"What is it with our color?"
"What do you mean?"
"Green turned Black," Zack said pointing first at Tommy, then at Adam, "Black turned Green."
"And Black in fragrante delecto with Green!" J.T. chirped as he caught on, "Funny, ain't it?"
"Yeah... funny... that's just the word I was looking for."
"I'm not going to say anything," Tommy said, "I'm not going to say anything because I know he'll find a way to use it against me."
"What do you know? He can learn," Adam joked, recieving a high-five from J.T.
"I liked you better before you started hanging around with them, Adam," Tommy crossed his arms.
"Hey, I already got on Rock's case for his part in the stupidity," Adam replied, "They're just saving me the work of trying to get it through your head long enough to keep that swiss cheese memory of yours from forgetting it."
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Post by J. T./Jessica on Feb 3, 2011 0:21:20 GMT -5
"This reminds me... Wes', are you still visiting the sperm bank?"
"Every other week," Mike rolled his eyes.
"I need the money, guys," Wesson complained, "I'm a cop because I love it, not because it pays well."
"Yeah, but you know the odds of dozens of 'small calibur rounds' running around because of your donations?"
"I'm sure they're not that high," Wesson dismissed, ignoring the pun on his name.
"Whatever you say, Wes'," J.T. shook his head.
"That's why I prefer direct deposit," Amanda added, batting her eyes at Daniel, causing him to blush.
"This is most definately Red Light behavior!" The lecturer sputtered.
"Red Light make Blue Movie," J.T. quipped.
Through his blush, Daniel saw fit to inform him, "You... scare me."
"If he scares you," Jessica told him, "Think what he does to people he doesn't like."
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Post by J. T./Jessica on Feb 3, 2011 0:22:19 GMT -5
"Something's missing."
"I know I'm going to regret this, but what do you mean?"
"Think about it - the Uncanny X-Men, Astonishing X-Men, Amazing Spider-Man, Spectacular Spider-Man, Incredible Hulk, Mighty Avengers, Unstoppable Juggernaut... Ever-Lovin' Blue-eyed Thing... We're just the 'Literati Rangers' or 'Power Rangers Literati'."
"I knew I'd regret it..."
"Seriously, why not the 'Indominable Literati Rangers' or the 'Unrelenting Literati Rangers', something like that?"
"Because one, you're an idiot; two, the lawsuits would be horrendous; three, it sounds stupid; and four, did I already mention you're an idiot?"
"'Awe-Inspiring Literati Rangers'?" J.T. shook his head, "For crying out loud, Stan, you had to use all the really good superlatives already, didn't you?"
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Post by J. T./Jessica on Feb 3, 2011 0:22:45 GMT -5
"I used to have sanity," Zack pondered, "I wonder what happened to it?"
"Somebody catch that lobster!"
"Right, I moved here."
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Post by J. T./Jessica on Feb 3, 2011 0:25:17 GMT -5
"You know, I grew up with a father that had managed to convince himself he was a political mover-and-shaker, the next kingmaker who couldn't understand why his son wouldn't want to follow in the footsteps of stuffy 'dinners', long boring speeches and political doubletalk.... and I still think half the people here are a bunch of pretentious snobs."
"And the other half I know are," Mack agreed, pasting a fake smile on his face as he raised his glass and nodded at a bypasser, "They don't care about Hartford Industries or the Aurora Foundation, they just want to be able to tell their fellow social-climbers that they attended a party at Andrew Hartford's mansion, 'he's rich and his son's a Power Ranger, you know'."
"Oh, I know," J.T. popped an hors'd'ourve in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully, "What I don't know is how Andrew can stand it."
"Try swallowing," Mack chided easily, "And he's had a lot of practice."
"If I ever get that comfortable with this lot, shoot me," J.T. muttered, swallowing.
"You do not have to interact with them," Spencer added sotto voce, ghosting up behind the duo, "'Hey, Jeeves', indeed!"
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Post by J. T./Jessica on Feb 3, 2011 0:26:05 GMT -5
"He's up to something," Justin commented, not needing to say who - there was only one 'he' that was ever followed up with 'is up to something' at Highway 2.
"Do we want to ask?"
"I'm not sure.... He just walked by with a duster jacket and a multi-colored scarf..."
"...I'll go check for phone booths."
"Personally, I always thought Daniel would be first to snap and start thinking he was a Time Lord."
"As long as they don't start calling R.E.D. 'K-9', everything should be fine."
"Thanks for jinxing it."
"Somebody bring me a Sonic Screwdriver and a bag of Jelly Babies!" Daniel's voice echoed from the back rooms of the store.
"Oh, Lord," Justin moaned, "They're both gone."
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Post by J. T./Jessica on Feb 3, 2011 0:27:41 GMT -5
"Every time we come to California, we end up being the Clampetts," Justin grumbled.
"Well it's not like the other teams can come east to Scenic every time," J.T. countered.
"You were arrested in a bar-fight, shut up, Magnus."
"In my defense," the Black Ranger stated, "So was Daniel and so was Amanda, in fact, who the fight was over."
"You threw the first punch."
"And the last one, too," J.T. gave a proud smirk, "Besides, if I didn't hit him then one of the others would have."
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Post by J. T./Jessica on Feb 3, 2011 0:29:12 GMT -5
"I never thought I'd say this, J.T., but for once you're the lesser evil."
J.T. frowned, "I must crush this usurper..."
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"He's probably the only person in the world who considers saving it to be a calling and plotting to take it over to be a hobby."
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Post by J. T./Jessica on Feb 3, 2011 0:30:35 GMT -5
"Everythng's black and white with you, isn't it?"
"Hardly. Everything's grey, situational... What might be right for one person at one time might be wrong for them at another time or for someone else at the same time... You can't arbitrarily point at something and declare 'this is wrong, this is right', because that's your personal beliefs... Even the worst tragedies in history were doing the right thing in the opinions on the people who commited them. Everything's grey," he repeated, 'We're grey. We decide that 'this is bad' or 'this is good' and work against it based on our own beliefs, setting ourselves above the law and the general populace and thinking that we have that right because an ancient energy says so."
J.T. frowned and looked away, "If there's ever a day with an absolute right and absolute wrong... like the man said, that day's gonna have a body count... what?"
"It's just... you don't really seem the type to be so open-minded."
"I take that as a compliment," J.T. said with a slight frown, "That I can still take people by surprise. Do you see this book?"
He picked up a hard-covered book off one of the tables, "Sherlock Holmes. Written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle... Doctor Doyle, actually. The attention to details that Holmes lived by was the same attention to details that Doyle had trained into him in medical school. In one of Holmes' adventures, he makes an observation that I took to heart - 'if you make a conclusion before you possess all the facts then invariably you twist the facts to fit your conclusion rather than adapting your conclusion to fit the facts'."
The book dropped to the table with an echoing thud, "It's been years, almost literally lifetimes since I first read those words, dreams changed, hearts were broken and reforged, family and friends... work... and they still hold as true to me now as they did then."
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Post by J. T./Jessica on Feb 3, 2011 0:31:29 GMT -5
In place of his usual spot on the roof of Highway 2, that evening J.T. stood on one of the cliffs on the side of Seven Points Mountain, looking out over the city he protected as he repeatedly tossed and caught a rock in his hand.
"What's that line from Babylon 5? 'The avalanche has begun, it is too late for the pebbles to vote'? Mars, Starr, Rita and Zedd, now Malleus... I get the feeling that despite all we've been through over the last year, our fight's only just begun. Then again, who was it that said 'every day is a new battle, every victory only a milestone in the ongoing war'? I don't know... hell, I don't know what I know anymore...
But I got a feeling this war just took a real bad turn. I've checked Tobin's Spirit Guide, the Revised Etheary Catalog, the Monarchia Daemonum, the Xenotome, the Giordana Manuscripts... Every book on the supernatural and paranormal I could find... I even had Billy get me a copy of the Galaxy Book translations, just in case... And I still can't find anything on this 'Malleus Maleficarum', this 'Hammer of Witches' that's appearantly been pulling the strings since the beginning...
And when I can't find information, I start to worry..."
With a sigh, J.T. drew back his arm and pitched the rock out towards the city.
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