Fish in Troubled Water

by Stefan Petrucha

  He was about to summon the Power Lance again, thinking he could use it to force the confused creature toward the tanks, when he noticed something unusual on Goo Fish Junior’s slimy, gold-scaled body. There were two big wires sticking out near his mouth—the wires from Billy’s experiment!

  Finster’s weapon enlarged my communication equipment and made it part of that monstrous body, Billy thought. But the wires are disconnected. If I can get close enough to reconnect them, maybe it’ll be easier for us to communicate.

  The Blue Ranger’s chance came sooner than he expected. In no time, Goo Fish Junior’s mighty tail was flashing toward him again. This time, Billy saw it coming soon enough to leap up before it could hit him. Somersaulting in midair, he landed on the creature’s back.

  If Goo Fish Junior was scared before, having someone clinging to his back terrified him. He tried to pull Billy off, but neither his flashing tail nor his stubby arms could reach far enough to get him. Still, he bucked and twisted like a mechanical bull. All the while, the Blue Ranger tried to reach the wires near his mouth and reconnect them.

  The gooey stuff on Goo Fish Junior’s body also made it much harder to hang on. Billy had to use both arms and legs just to keep from falling off. Whenever he let go to reach for the wires, even with one hand, he started to slip off.

  While the fearful Goo Fish Junior kept trying to throw him, Billy squirmed closer to the wires. At last, he held both of the wires in the fingers of one hand. But all the movement made him start to slide away! At the last second, right before he tumbled to the floor, he managed to twist the wires together.

  The wires gave off a little spark and a puff of smoke, but that didn’t seem to hurt the big fish. He still looked more confused than anything else.

  Now the question remained—had it worked? There was only one way to find out.

  “Goo Fish Junior,” Billy said.

  The creature turned to the Blue Ranger. But is it because of the noise, or because he recognized his name? Billy thought. He’s not attacking, so that’s a good sign.

  Billy said the fish’s name again. “Goo Fish Junior, can you understand me?”

  Being fish-shaped, the creature’s neck couldn’t nod up and down, but he bobbed his whole body, as if he understood.

  Billy’s experiment was a success!

  But, changed by the alien technology, it did more than let Goo Fish Junior understand simple words. It also let the large goldfish talk back.

  And the first thing he said to his owner was, “Feed me!”

  Billy was a little taken aback. “Yes, Goo Fish Junior,” he said. “I am the one who has been feeding you. Do you recognize me?”

  “Yes,” the big fish answered.

  Thank goodness we’re alone, otherwise someone might figure out my identity! Billy thought.

  Goo Fish Junior wobbled and sounded sad. “Why do you not feed me more?” he asked.

  “Because it’s bad for you,” Billy said. Talking this way made him feel strange, like he was a parent trying to tell a child not to have too much candy.

  Goo Fish Junior kept wobbling. Now that he understood what Billy was saying, he didn’t like what he was hearing.

  “Bad?” he said. “But I’m always hungry! How can what my body wants be bad for me?”

  Billy wasn’t sure how to explain it in an easy way, but he tried. “Well,” he said, “your body is made so it can live in lakes and ponds, and there isn’t always food around. So to make sure you eat when there is food, it tells you to eat whenever you can. But here, there’s so much food, it can make you sick!”

  The fish’s wobbling slowed. After a moment, it bobbed up and down again. “I think I understand,” he said. “Then that means you have been taking care of me?”

  Great, Billy thought. Now we’re getting somewhere. Maybe I can just ask him to get in one of the tanks.

  He smiled at Goo Fish Junior. “Yes, that’s true! I’ve been taking care of you. I want you to be healthy.”

  At that moment, the door of the supply cabinet swung open. A groggy Finster stepped out. When he saw the giant goldfish and the Power Ranger standing side by side, he stopped short.

  “Wait,” he said. “What’s going on here? Why isn’t my monster destroying you?”

  Goo Fish Junior wobbled. “Who is that? Why does he want me to hurt you?”

  Rather than explain the entire history of Zordon, Rita Repulsa, and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Billy said simply, “He wants to hurt me because he’s the bad guy.”

  “You took care of me. Now I’ll take care of you,” Goo Fish Junior said. “By hurting the bad guy!”

  “No!” the Blue Ranger said. “I don’t want to hurt him; I just want him captured!”

  But it was too late. The creature turned its tail toward Finster.

  Finster’s eyes went wide. “Wait,” he said. “I’m the bad guy? Oh, that’s right. I am!”

  The tail swished. To avoid it, Finster hit the ground. The lower tip of the big fin barely touched his back.

  “In that case,” the alien inventor said, “I’d better get out of here!”

  Low on the ground, Finster crawled between Goo Fish Junior’s short legs, stood up, and bolted into the hallway. Billy chased after him, but this time, Finster didn’t waste any time trying to hide.

  He activated his teleporter.

  Just before he vanished, Finster said to himself, “I only hope Rita is still napping!”

  Chapter 13

  With a dazzling flash of magic, Finster reappeared back at the Moon Palace, smack dab in the middle of his workshop. While he was at the Marine Island Research Center, he’d heard a constant bubbling sound, as the water in the big tanks was filtered to keep it clean. The halls of the Moon Palace were filled with a much more dreadful noise. It sounded like a foul wind pushing its way through a dark, desolate cave.

  Realizing what it was, Finster relaxed.

  “Rita’s snoring,” he said. “That means she’s still asleep! Thank goodness! Now I can still go back to the research center and use my Enhancifier on an even bigger sea creature—and she’ll be none the wiser. First, I need a way to get past that dratted Blue Ranger and his new fishy friend.”

  He puttered around, adjusting the dials on his faithful Monster-Matic this way and that. As he worked, he remembered how easily the Blue Ranger had figured out how Finster had assembled Electricus.

  “A pity that particular Ranger must be destroyed,” he thought. “He was one of the few beings I’ve met who actually seems to appreciate all the effort that goes into my work. Ah, well.”

  Knowing that the evil queen could wake up at any time, Finster stopped his adjustments. This was not the time to improvise; it was a time for action. Quickly, he filled the Monster-Matic with his special clay. Next he inserted the big steam-pressured molds that he used to mass-produce his simplest, but most handy monsters, the Putty Patrollers.

  Once everything was in place, he fired up the machine. It hissed and groaned loudly.

  Loud enough to wake the queen!

  “Destroy! Crush! Mrrbgglll!” she said.

  The sound of Rita Repulsa’s voice, coming from all the way on the other side of the Moon Palace, nearly made Finster faint.

  “Sh!” he said, slapping the Monster-Matic. It shouldn’t have worked, but it did. The machine quieted down.

  Rita, who’d apparently been talking in her sleep, went back to her snoring.

  The machine was humming along now. In a few moments, it began pumping out fully cooked Putty Patrollers. One at a time, the monster foot soldiers were ejected from the exit tube at the Monster-Matic’s far end.

  Finster usually cheered whenever he produced a new monster, but under the circumstances, he had to stay silent. Every now and then, he heard Rita cackling, as if she’d dreamed something funny.

  Rather
than risk waking her by making too many monsters, Finster turned off the Monster-Matic. Then he activated his teleporter, taking his new Putty Patrol, and the Enhancifier, back to the research center.

  Chapter 14

  Meanwhile, back on Earth, the Blue Ranger had coaxed the man-size Goo Fish Junior out into the hall and was trying to get him to move toward the tanks.

  “I can’t put you in just any tank, Goo Fish Junior,” Billy explained. “Goldfish need freshwater to be healthy, and a lot of the tanks here have salt water, like in the ocean. You can’t breathe salt water.”

  He wasn’t sure the creature understood completely, but Goo Fish Junior nodded in that funny way, bobbing his body up and down.

  Having checked the research center logs on the computer in his now-messy lab, Billy discovered one tank that would be perfect. A twenty-foot-long freshwater beluga sturgeon had been released from it just yesterday, leaving it uninhabited. Empty now, except for the water, it would be perfect for a big goldfish. Unfortunately, that tank was also the farthest away, and getting Goo Fish Junior to move, even slowly, wasn’t an easy task.

  Strong as the monster-fish was, he wasn’t used to being out in the open air, making him very skittish. Billy did his best to keep him calm. But there was only so much he could do.

  Suddenly, loud screams came from down the hall: Ahhhh!

  A quick glance told the Blue Ranger it was only Bulk and Skull. They were still being chased by the students. But the noise made Goo Fish Junior panic and run in the opposite direction.

  “No, wait!” Billy said.

  He headed after Goo Fish Junior to calm him down. Trying his best to be soothing, Billy patted the nervous creature on his slimy head. Seeing how afraid the creature was made Billy think about his old fears and realize how far he’d come.

  At least this time I’m not afraid of fish, he thought.

  Feeling sympathetic, he tried to imagine what all this was like for Goo Fish Junior.

  “I guess things don’t sound that loud when you’re underwater, huh?” Billy said.

  Goo Fish Junior quivered sadly. “No, they do not!” he answered.

  Billy pointed at the distant, water-filled tanks. “That’s why I want to get you back underwater, over there, so you’ll be safe and sound.”

  At the same time, he was thinking, And so that people will be safe from that tail of yours!

  At this rate, it would take hours to get Goo Fish Junior there, and that was time Billy could use to figure out how to change him back.

  “I’ve got an idea, big guy,” he said.

  Billy knew that goldfish ears were inside their bodies, rather than outside, but they worked much the same way as any ear. He walked to Goo Fish Junior’s side and, using his hands, covered the spots along his head where his inner ears were.

  “How about if I do this while we walk?” Billy asked. “Is that better?”

  Goo Fish Junior bobbed up and down. “Yes, it is! Stay there!”

  Billy grinned. “Okay,” he said. “But you have to promise not to hit me with your tail.”

  “Promise?” the fish answered. After a few steps, he asked, “What’s promise?”

  Before Billy could explain, there was a big flash of blinding light. Finster and his new Putty Patrol teleported in just a few yards in front of them!

  Exasperated, the evil minion shook his head and said, “Did you have to be standing right here?”

  “It’s the bad guy!” the goldfish howled.

  Frightened again, Goo Fish Junior spun, accidentally swatting the Blue Ranger.

  “Uhn!” Billy said as he hit the wall.

  Finster waved the Putty Patrol forward. “Destroy them!” he commanded. “And if you can’t manage that, at least delay them!”

  Billy was back on his feet and ready for action in less than a second. He expected Goo Fish Junior to run, but he didn’t. He was fighting back!

  The Blue Ranger was tired of being smacked by that big fish tail. At the same time, he enjoyed seeing it swat the Putty Patrollers. As Goo Fish Junior swung his tail, the Putties flew into the air two at a time. But there were too many for a frightened goldfish to handle, even if he was pretty big. Goo Fish Junior needed help, and who better to help than a Power Ranger?

  “Power Lance!” Billy cried.

  In an instant, it was in his hands.

  As Billy twirled the Power Lance and Goo Fish Junior swung his tail, they made a steady path through the middle of the Putty Patrol.

  As the battle continued, a running Bulk and Skull briefly appeared down the hall. Once they saw what was going on, they shrieked and skidded to a stop, nearly hitting each other.

  Then they ran back the way they had come.

  Focused on the fight, Billy was pleased he and Goo Fish Junior were winning, but he also remembered the last fight. Finster had used the Putty Patrol as a distraction to get away.

  As he battled, he kept his eye on the inventor. This time, Rita’s evil henchman didn’t run away to hide. Instead, he made his way far down among the tanks. The Blue Ranger knew what Finster was up to: He was planning to make another monster! But there wasn’t much Billy could do about it, as long as he was surrounded by Putty Patrollers. He couldn’t very well leave Goo Fish Junior to fight on his own.

  Before he could figure out what to do, the students who had been chasing Bulk and Skull stopped at the entrance of the room. Unlike the bullies, when they saw the fight, they didn’t run.

  “It’s the Blue Power Ranger, and he needs help!” Ira said.

  “But what can we do?” Alani asked.

  “Well,” Randal said. “We’re still carrying all the tricks we were going to use on Bulk and Skull before Billy talked us out of it. How about we use those on these monsters?”

  Everyone nodded in agreement. Before the Blue Ranger could stop them, the brave students entered the fray. Soon the air was filled with the terrific stench of stink bombs and the bright, confusing light of flash firecrackers. Randal took the biggest chance, by sneaking up closer and pouring some slippery oil on the floor right at the foot soldiers’ feet.

  The Putty Patrollers slipped and slid into Goo Fish Junior’s waiting tail. Swat after swat, they were sent into a pool of the sticky goo that had stuck Bulk and Skull to their chairs.

  The tide of the battle was clearly turning. The Blue Ranger was still worried about the students, but seeing how they handled themselves, he also saw his chance to stop Finster.

  If Finster makes another monster with that new weapon, things will get a lot more dangerous for everyone! he thought. So he started moving.

  But when Goo Fish Junior saw Billy leaving, he followed the Blue Ranger out.

  “Cover my ears! Cover my ears!” he called out.

  “In a minute, Goo Fish Junior! Right now I have to stop that bad guy!” Billy said.

  Ahead, Finster was standing right next to the tank that held the Portuguese man-of-war.

  “Imagine what will happen once I use the Enhancifier on you!” Finster said as he aimed his device.

  Billy did imagine just that. With a shape like a giant jellyfish and tentacles over fifty meters long that could deliver a fatal sting, the creature was already as dangerous and frightening as most monsters. Goo Fish Junior was trouble enough, but a huge Portuguese man-of-war would be a disaster.

  I have to do something, and fast! he thought.

  Keeping his Power Lance in one hand, the Blue Ranger drew his blaster. The two weapons could be combined into one, but rather than take the time, he fired a single shot from the blaster and hit the Enhancifier.

  A startled Finster leaped as the box in his hands glowed hot and shattered. When he realized what had happened, the furious inventor licked a burnt finger and stamped his feet.

  “Oh . . . drat!” he said. He turned to the Blue Ranger. “Now look what you’
ve done!”

  Not taking any chances, Billy raced up and lowered the tip of the Power Lance at Finster.

  “Ready to give up?” he asked.

  “Humph,” Finster said indignantly. “You liked what I did with Electricus. What do you think of this?”

  None of the tools in Finster’s smock looked like weapons, but the one he pulled out had a button on the handle, which he squeezed.

  “It taps into the entire power supply of this research center!” he explained.

  The bolt that shot from the device hit Billy square in the chest. His body didn’t go flying; he just collapsed where he was. He wasn’t unconscious, but he couldn’t move or speak!

  His mind still working, Billy tried to figure out what had happened to him. The human nervous system works with a form of electricity. That shock must have made all my muscles seize. I’m paralyzed!

  Seeing the Blue Ranger frozen on the floor, Goo Fish Junior shivered in anger.

  “You’re the bad guy! The bad guy!” he shouted at Finster.

  Finster looked at Goo Fish Junior. Another blast from my power tool would paralyze this big fish, too, he thought. But with my poor Enhancifier destroyed, Goo Fish Junior is now the only way to show Rita Repulsa that my invention ever worked in the first place! The only problem is: How do I get it to act like a monster, not a hero?

  Finster tried to manage a smile. “Did the Blue Ranger tell you that?” he asked. “Well, you shouldn’t believe everything you hear. The truth is, I’m the one who made you so big and strong.”

  Goo Fish Junior stood still and blinked. “You did?” he asked.

  “Yes! You and I should have a little talk,” Finster replied.

  Though he couldn’t move, Billy heard everything. No! he thought. Don’t listen to him!

  But even though Goo Fish Junior now understood human language, he couldn’t read Billy’s mind. There was nothing the Blue Ranger could do other than watch as Goo Fish Junior tilted his fish body at a slight angle, in a way that made him look curious.