Relatively Blue

Prologue: Loud Silence

A.N.: This chapter takes place right after "Day of the Dumpster" and has references to "High Five". The rest of the story happens during the events of Power Rangers Zeo, one day after the events of "Shooting Star".

Moon Palace

I should have thought of this sooner, back before I trapped Zordon!

That was Rita Repulsa's first thought as she paced in the walkway between Finster's workshop and the balcony. Ever since her humiliating defeat against the Power Rangers just days after she was freed from her dumpster prison, she had been scheming to come up with a way to get revenge as well as to make sure that there wouldn't be any new nasty surprises. Within a day, she came up with one.

"Just what are you planning-" Goldar started to ask.

"Shut up! I'll tell you when I'm good and ready to," she snapped, then shouted, "Finster! Is the first monster ready yet?"

"Actually, my queen, I just finished," the short monster-maker replied as he stepped out of his alcove. "As you ordered, it can become invisible-"

"Don't give me that long-winded jabber, you oaf! Will it do everything I wanted?" she snapped at him.

"Y-Yes it will," was the reply.

Squatt asked, "Uh, what kind of monster are they talkin' about this time?"

"No idea, Finster and Rita have been very close-mouthed about the monster itself," Baboo reluctantly answered, not liking that he had to admit it in front of the shorter blockhead.

"Good! Finster, put the monster through the machine! Squatt, Baboo, Goldar! You three leave the area! Now!"

All three underlings looked confused, then shrugged and left for another part of the castle.

"What's goin' on? She doesn't want us in there for this creature?" Squatt asked.

"I heard that this one's part of the long-term phase of her latest plan," Goldar answered, "I have to admit, it's a hideous thing to do, even for her!"

"Which makes it perfect!"

The shorter monster waited for the armored monkey and the mechanical genius to walk farther up before he quickly ran back the way he came.

I've gotta see this secret monster of hers!

As Squatt reached one of the walls, he could hear the familiar "poof" sound that came when one of the monsters was out of the baking machine and ready for battle.

"Yes? What are your orders, Empress Rita?" he could hear a voice that sounded like a cross between hissing and slight whispering.

"Turn yourself invisible, then go Angel Grove, on Earth. From there...do your worst!"

"Just what I like to hear, my mistress!"

"Remember, stay invisible! Even when you pick up your 'harvest', that old fool Zordon won't be able to detect you while you do, we made sure of that!"

"But of course!"

Squatt blinked as he peeked his head around the corner, and as he did so, he bumped one of the nearby carts with his heel.

"Who's there!" he heard.

Whuh-oh!

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Goldar and Baboo heard the sharp question, then a couple of moments later, they heard the sound of someone coming up behind them. The two turned around and saw Rita glaring at them fiercely and holding Squatt by the collar.

"You buffoon! Didn't Rita tell us to leave the area? That means not to go back!" Baboo then said, "I'm very sorry, my queen. I'll be sure to punish him for this!"

"Don't bother," she growled, "I'll punish him myself!" before letting go and shoving the eavesdropper towards the other two rather harshly. "Now...Baboo, start making the time warp device, and keep that idiot away from me until I decide just what to do with him!"

"But of course!" It'll take the better part of a week before it's finished. I just hope Squatt doesn't get in the way in the meantime!

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Angel Grove, Earth

Angel Grove Park

It was close to lunchtime when everything began.

Three of the classes from Angel Grove Elementary school were in the park, having their yearly picnic/field trip. Two of the teachers, a woman and a man, were busy cooking hamburgers and hot dogs on the nearby grills while watching the children on the playground area that was enclosed with wood and sand. The other was instructing the three student teachers.

"Catherine and Michael," she ordered, "You two watch the kids while Anne helps me set up the plates and silverware. If any trouble starts up, you call me at once. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Good, now get going!"

Catherine went over to one of the groups that were playing hide and seek near a small grove of trees. As she guessed, one of the children, a girl with neck-length light brown hair was crouching behind a tree, counting upwards. A tail from the green ribbon flapped in the breeze.

"Being the seeker again, Clara?" she asked with a wry smile.

The child turned and frowned. "Not Clara! I told you, it's Clairie!"

She laughed at the serious look on the little girl's face and amended, "Okay, okay. Where'd you get a nickname like that, anyway?"

"My big brother calls me that, an' I like it!" She giggled at that.

"You sure love your brother, don't you?"

"Yep!"

"So how come you have to be the seeker? Aren't you usually one of the hiders?"

Clairie pouted and answered, "I hide too good, so they said I can't play with 'em anymore unless I'm seekin'. It's just not fair!"

Catherine chuckled and said, "Lots in life isn't fair. Now you better go find your friends. Lunch will be ready soon."

"Ok, Mrs. Hart! Bye!" She straightened up, smoothed out her green dress and ran off.

Catherine shook her head and walked over to the children that were playing on the swings. Beside them, a little girl was on the lower chinning bars, trying to push herself onto the top.

"Maxine, what do you think you're doing?" she called out, concerned, as the child sat on top.

"I'm gonna be a jim-nist!" she called out.

"A what?" she asked, confused.

"A jim-nist! Watch!" The child then stood and started to walk when Catherine quickly grabbed Maxine and set her down on the ground.

"How about you show me down here?"

"Aww, ok. You're no fun, though." She then stretched and did a somersault, then a backflip.

The female student teacher's face brightened as she realized what the child was saying. "Ohh, a gymnast!"

"Uh-huh!"

"You know, I have a daughter that's a gymnast, too."

Maxine's eyes widened with surprise. "Really? Wow, that's cool!"

"How about one of these days, after school, we'll go to the Youth Center so you can see her?"

"Wow! O-kay!"

"Mrs. Hart!" she heard from the grove of trees. She turned and saw Clairie and five other children, all looking glum. The little girl waved and said with a smile, "I found 'em all, easy-peasy!"

That was when they heard a loud boom. Immediately after that there was a blast of wind that knocked Catherine and Maxine off their feet. As soon as the teacher got back on her feet, she helped the hopeful gymnast up.

"Are you hurt?"

"Nuh-uh," was the answer.

"Good."

Catherine then looked about and saw the small hide-and-seek group, all lying on the ground.

This isn't good.

"Maxine, listen to me closely. You go get the teacher and bring her here. Say it's an emergency. Is that clear?"

"Yeah," she replied and ran off.

The teacher ran to them quickly as one of them slowly got up, dusting off her green dress.

"Clairie, are you okay?"

The child's mouth moved, but no sound came out at all.

"Clairie?"

The only sound made was a gasp. She then put a hand to her throat and tried again.

"Clairie, this isn't funny! Talk to me!"

The little girl became more frustrated as she tried to answer, to no avail. She bent down and drew with her fingers before she started checking the other kids. Catherine bent down to read the words.

I can't talk. It's all gone.

Her eyes widened as she realized that the child was not joking around. Fighting down panic, she quickly joined Clairie in checking the students. Most had already regained consciousness and were standing up with their help, though one of them, a brown-haired boy, simply lay still, with his eyes wide open. A quick check showed that he was still breathing.

The student teacher looked up to give the little girl instructions when she saw Maxine running towards them, along with the female teacher.

"I brought Mrs. Woods, Mrs. Hart-" The child started to explain.

"Are they okay?"

"No, I don't think so," Catherine replied, "Clara can't speak, and one of them is in bad shape. I don't know about the others."

"I see. Maxine, go find Mr. Calvert and bring him here. As for you, Mrs. Hart, help me get these children onto the bus, then go back to the others. They're to eat as planned, and then go home immediately. I'll take these to the hospital."

"Right!"

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It was a couple of hours later when Mrs. Woods, still at the hospital, went to one of the phones and dialed the number of the first of the students that had been brought in. Predictably, there was a prompt answer.

"Hello?"

"Yes, ma'am? This is Angela Woods, Clara's teacher. I'm calling from Angel Grove General Hospital."

"The hospital? Did something happen to Clairie?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so. There was some kind of explosion in the park today around noon. Your daughter and five others were found knocked out immediately afterwards."

"Oh, my goodness. How are they?"

"Well..." She took a deep breath, then noticed that one of the doctors was walking her way from the examining room.

"Is that one of the parents you're talking to?"

"Yes, Clara Marie's mother. Her family calls her Clairie."

He gestured with his hand to hand the phone to him.

"Ma'am, this is Dr. Carson. Clairie, for the most part is in good condition."

"What do you mean for the most part?" Mrs. Woods could hear.

"I mean, ma'am, that she and three others are completely unable to speak. Other than that, they're fine. In fact, I need you to come here so that we can see about releasing Clairie."

"Oh, no...I'll be there right away. Her father's at work often lately, and I know her older brother's going to be very upset. He just dotes on her. I better pick him up from school and bring him with me, too. She just turned 7 last weekend..." There was a pause as a calming breath was taken, then she continued, "I'm sorry. We'll be there very soon. Good-bye."

After the phone was hung up and the doctor turned back to her, the teacher asked, "You mentioned only four of them. What happened to the other two?"

"Honestly? One of the boys went into a catatonic state a few minutes ago, and the other one died shortly after arriving."

This information floored the teacher and she faintly heard the names of the student that had died and the other one.

Four are mute, maybe for the rest of their lives, one's catatonic and the other one's dead... Just what happened to these children? We all heard the loud boom, but there was no real explosion, she thought, even as the doctor left. Even as she waited for the girl's mother, she couldn't think of any explanation that would satisfy the families that she knew would come, much less demand answers as to how this had happened.

Surely enough, within half an hour, both the mother, a dark brown haired woman wearing a brown dress, and a young man wearing a blue outfit and suspenders, walked very quickly into the hospital. The woman was expressionless, but the young man was pale, with a stricken expression on his face. His hands shook as he pushed up his glasses and ran them through hair that could easily be either golden blonde or very light brown.

"Please," he said, his voice soft but pained, "Can you take me to my sister? I want to see Clairie!"

The doctor looked hesitantly to the mother, who merely nodded and said, "Go ahead." He then went with the young man over to one of the examining rooms.

Even though she would see many upset people as the other three mute children were picked up, as well as when the parents of the one that had died, the look on the face of Clairie's brother and his voice would continue to haunt Mrs. Woods.

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As the days passed, the children in the incident grew progressively worse. They never spoke again, three of them became more tired every day until they became catatonic, while the one that was already in that state died within a week.

By the end of the year, all but one of the children had died. The remaining one had gone through testing to find out why she had survived, but to no avail. The tests had ended when her parents ordered them to end. By that time, doctors and researchers had put out an announcement that the incident was caused by the children being caught up in an explosion and as a result, they had contracted disease that had never been discovered before then. At the same time, they announced that the name of the disease was named after its only survivor.

The illness was named Cranston Syndrome.