King Mondo had not sent down a monster in a several days. The only problem from space was the occasional band of cogs. A mild annoyance at best. The biggest news in the high school was the fact that the Scott house was over run with mice, left over from one of Jason, Billy, and Tommy's science experients. The Scott's had to have to their house fumagated. Jason was staying with Tommy Oliver and his family until it was safe to re enter the Scott house.
"'Night, Jase." Tommy called out from his bed. He had a pair of red silk boxers on with little white mice on them and nothing else. His long hair framed his tanned face.
"Sleep tight, bro." Jason answered. He wore an old pair of Tommy's jogging pants that were too tight in the waist and too longing the leg. The Gold Ranger was forced to borrow Tommy's clothing until his could be cleaned of the animal droppings that coated all of the Scott house.
"Sure. Just don't snore and I'll get some sleep!" Tommy responded. Jason tossed a pillow at Tommy.
"Sha right! I don't snore!" Jason protested.
"Do to! And, I have the tape to prove it!" Tommy showed his friend the micro cassette.
"It's faked!" Jason protested. "You faked...AGH!" The Gold Zeo Ranger wailed as Tommy slammed a pillow into his face. Jason pushed away from Tommy, cradling his injured cheek.
"Jase, are you OK?" Tommy grabbed his friend's shoulder. "What's wrong?"
"My face hurts!" Jason moaned. His right cheek was swollen.
"Lemme see that." Tommy leaned forward. He gagged as he caught a wiff of Jason's halitosis. "Oh, gods, bro!" Tommy backed off. He ran into his private bathroom and returned with a bottle of peridex. "Here!" He shoved it into Jason's hands.
"What's this?" Jason asked.
"Just some stuff left over from when I had my wisdom teeth out." Tommy answered. "Now go and rinse!" He ordered.
Jason sighed and then trotted off into the bathroom. Tommy heard a gurgle then a scream as the medicated mouthwash hit the abcessed tooth. Jason stormed out of the bathroom and glared at Tommy. "Not funny, bro."
"Who said anything about funny!" Tommy protested. "Do you want me to tell mom to get you an appointment with the dentist tomorrow?"
"NO!" Jason dove into bed, covering his head with the comforter.
"C'mon, Jase. That's nothing to play with!" Tommy pleaded.
"No! Go to bed!" Jason grumbled.
Tommy sighed and slipped into his own bed. He turned off the lamp, then snuggled under the covers.
[THE NEXT DAY, JUICE BAR]
Jason groaned as the right side of his face throbbed with pain. He couldn't eat breakfast that morning and he was starved.
"This really sucks." He moaned to himself. The Gold Zeo Ranger watched as his friends worked out. He hurt too much to fight. Ernie smiled at the pale boy.
"Are you OK, Jason?" He asked.
"I guess so." Jason sighed. He started to rest his cheek against his hand, then cried out with the pain. Ernie looked at it.
"Hmmm Looks like you need to go to the dentist's, Jase." Ernie commented. "That tooth looks abcessed."
"Man, I hate dentists!" Jason moaned.
Ernie shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know anyone who does like 'em, Jason, but they do a lot of good." Jason scowled the best he could.
Just then, the phone behind the desk rang. The beefy man left Jason to answer it. Jason brooded into the shiny napkin holder. His reflected image showed a puffy cheek, watery eyes, and a pasty face. Ernie emerged from the back room, where his office was, and shouted:
"Hey, Tommy!"
Tommy locked Adam into a complex head lock, then looked up. "Yeah?" He called back.
"Yer ma is on da phone." Ernie shouted, his New York accent more pronounced.
"Cool." Tommy gave Adam a toss and trotted over to join Ernie. Tommy picked up the phone. "Hey, ma." He said.
"Hello to you too, son." Dr. Alexandra Oliver laughed. "Did you forget your dentist appointment today?"
"No, ma, I didn't." Tommy said. "I was just about to get ready." Tommy paused. "Um, ma, I'm gonna have Jase come with me. He's got like an abcessed tooth or something."
"OK, son." Dr. Oliver said. "I love you, kiddo."
"Love ya too, ma." Tommy said, then hung up. He strolled out of the office and hurried over to his friend. "Hey, Jase, let's go."
"Why?" Jason looked up.
"We are both going to the dentist." Tommy said in a no nonsense voice. Jason meekly followed his friend out to the car.
[Doctor Goodman's Office]
Tommy reclined in the chair as the dentist cleaned his teeth and examined them.
"Well, Tommy, the last time I saw teeth as strong as these, the owner's name was Trigger." Goodman laughed. Tommy and Jason groaned at the joke.
"I'lsh take dat afs a compriment." Tommy said around the hands in his mouth.
The doctor looked at the Xrays he took of Tommy's mouth and made a few notes on his chart. Jason noticed that Tommy had no cavities filled or any bridge work. The doctor handed Tommy a new, green tooth brush.
"Well, another prefect visit." The dentist grinned. "One more and you'll get a T-Shirt." Jason looked at the dentist in confusion. The dentist laughed. "I like to reward my patients. So, if you have ten perfect visits, that is no cavities or plague or decay, in a row, you get a T- Shirt. Twenty visits and you get a book of gift certificates good at the movies, amusement parks, Ernie's, and other places. Thirty and you get money."
Jason's eyes widened in surprise. "Cool." He said. Tommy got off the chair and Jason timidly climbed on. Tommy sat by his friend while the dentist looked at the Xrays that were taken of Jason's mouth.
"Son, you've got pretty good teeth, no cavities or decay. However your wisdom teeth are severely impacted and have become infected." Dr. Goodman said. "They have to come out. All four because the other two are about to become bad."
"Bummer." Jason murmured.
"Well, I have an opening tomorrow morning at ten, since it's Sunday and there are few patients then."
"Ok." Jason sighed and slid off the chair. Then, the boy followed his friend glumly out of the office.
[Sky Base]
King Mondo stared down at the two Rangers as they drove home. An evil idea hatched in his metal mind.
"Klank, get me Dr. Edd." The Machine King ordered.
"Yes, sire, are ye ill?" Klank asked.
"No, I am going to send Dr. Edd down to Earth to attack the pesky Gold Ranger while he is helpless tomorrow at the dentist's office and get rid of him for good!" Mondo laughed.
[That night, the Oliver house]
Tommy and Jason sat up in their beds after the Olivers had gone to bed.
"Jase, can I ask you a question?" Tommy scratched the fat belly of his rabbit, Butterball, who was sleeping on his bed.
"Shoot."
"Why are you afraid of dentists so much?"
Jason started, then paused to think. "I don't know. I never liked them. And..." Jason's voice trailed off. "It's like, I don't know. I feel like I'm totally helpless when I'm in there. Mom and Dad never went with me when I was little and I just started hating dentists. I don't even go now,except for today."
"So, the only reason you were calm today was because I was there?" Tommy asked. His mother was a Psychologist and Tommy had picked up a lot of her mannerisms and knowledge.
"Yeah." Jason laid down.
Tommy stood up. "Um, excuse me, bro. I just remembered something I forgot to take care of." Tommy left the room. He slipped down stairs and quickly dialed the number for the Scotts' hotel room.
"Hello, Samuel Scott speaking."
"Mr. Scott, it's me, Tommy Oliver." Tommy said.
"Hello, Tommy. How is Jason?"
"Nervous about tomorrow. Um, I think it would help him a lot if you and Mrs. Scott came to be with him during the surgery." Tommy suggested.
"Jason is a big boy..." Mr. Scott started to say, but Tommy cut him off.
"Jason is your son and he's terrified of dentists because he feels abandoned and helpless because you wouldn't go with him that first time or talk to him about it!" Tommy snapped.
"You are so like your mother." Mr. Scott laughed. "Especially when you feel that someone is being wronged. Alright. My wife and I will be there. What time?"
"Ten in the morning. Meet Jason and I here, at my house." Tommy said, then hung up. Sighing, Tommy ran up stairs and went to bed.
[The Next Morning, Dr. Goodman's Office]
Jason laid back in the chair as the dentist hooked up an IV filled with valium and saline. His parents, and Tommy, sat by his side. They had made it clear to Jason that because of health reasons, they couldn't be with him when the surgery started, but they would be right out side, in the waiting room.
"Just count backwards, Jason." Dr. Goodman suggested. "And, relax."
"Think of Emily naked." Tommy chimed in. Jason grinned goofily while the adults stared at Tommy. Tommy looked sheepish. "I always think of Kimberly naked when I want to forget something unpleasent..."
"What ever..." Mr. Scott said quietly.
Jason's eyes fluttered shut and the Scotts and Tommy left the room. Dr. Goodman checked his tools one last time, then started on the surgery. He never saw the monster teleport in or the blow that knocked him out.
[In the Waiting Room]
Tommy shifted in his seat, then placed the Time magazine from 1969 down on the table. "Excuse me." He said to the Scotts and went off in search of a bathroom. As he passed a broom closet, he heard a groan.
"What the?" Tommy opened the door and gasped. Inside, coated with his own blood was Dr. Goodman! "Good God!" Tommy swore. He checked the doctor's pulse, then clicked on his communicator. "Zordon, we have a serious problem here. I need Billy and the Rangers at the dentist's now!"
-I AM SIGNALLING THEM NOW. Zordon said.
Tommy did not bother to properly sign off. He ran to the operating room and kicked the door in. A monster, in the guise of a human, was holding a sharp drill over Jason's defenseless chest, about the plunge it in.
"NO!" Tommy launched himself at the evil doctor, tackling him.
:You'll pay for that, Red Ranger!: The doctor snarled.
The doctor raised the drill and aimed for Tommy's face. Tommy jerked his head to the side and the drill scored a long bloody line down his cheek, from the cornor of his mouth to his right ear.
"Shit!" Tommy swore. He gripped the other end of the drill, close to the whirling bit, with both hands and pushed it way from his face. The evil doctor used his knees to pummel Tommy in the groin and the stomach. The doctor laughed at the pain that showed on Tommy's face.
The room filled with streaks of White, Green, Yellow, Blue, and Pink Light. White gloved hands pulled the evil Dr. Edd off Tommy and teleported out of the room in flashes of Green, Yellow, Blue and Pink.
"Billy?" Tommy croaked out.
The former Blue Ranger was dressed in sterile garb and was finishing the surgery on Jason's mouth. He quickly removed the infected teeth and repaired the damage. Then, the genious member of the Power Team packed the areas with guaze, treated with special antibotics from Aquitar. Then, Billy turned to his leader and friend.
"Where is Dr. Goodman?" Bily asked as he treated Tommy's injuries.
"In the closet." Tommy pointed.
Together, the two boys pulled Goodman into the room and Billy applied special treatment for the massive concussion. Then, they both teleported out as the doctor started to come around.
"Billy," Tommy asked. "Do you think that he'll remember anything that happened?"
"No." Billy smiled. "I made sure to implant the memories that nothing happened and he successfully preformed the surgery on Jason."
"Good. Jason shouldn't know anything either." Tommy said.
"Because of his phobia?"
"Yeppers." Tommy grinned wrily. "I guess I'd better join the others. IT'S MORPHIN' TIME!"
"ZEO RANGER V: RED!"
Tommy Morphed and joined the battle in Angel Grove park.
"You OK?" Kat asked.
"Fine. Now, let's take this toothy trouble out!"
The Rangers took their positions behind Tommy.
"ZEO POWER CANNON!"
"PINK POWER CELL, POWER UP!"
"YELLOW POWER CELL, POWER UP!"
"BLUE POWER CELL, POWER UP!"
"GREEN POWER CELL, POWER UP!"
"RED POWER CELL, POWER UP!"
"FIRE!"
Multi-colored fire shot out of the cannon and disintegrated the evil dentist.
"Good job, guys!" Tommy clapped his hands. "Let's go back to the dentist's and check on Jason!"
The Rangers unMorphed and teleported back to the office, out of sight of the people in the office. Then, Tommy and the Rangers entered together and sat with the Scotts.
"Well, Tommy, I was beginning to think that you had fallen in!" Mr. Scott joked. He absentmindly stroked the package in his lap.
"I got turned around." Tommy admitted. "Um, what is that?" He pointed to the package.
"Jason's PJs. They are back from the cleaner's, along with the rest of the clothes."
Just then, Dr. Goodman came out with a groggy, not fully awake Jason. "You can take him home. Put lots of ice on it and give him these." The doctor handed Mr. Scott prescriptions for anti-botics and painkillers. "He needs to come back in ten days so I can take the stitches out."
"I know the drill, Dr. Goodman." Tommy laughed. "I was in the same boat a month ago."
The Scotts drove over to the Oliver house so Jason could get the rest he needed.
"So, how long will he be out of it?" Mr. Scott asked while they all sat down to dinner.
"A day or so." Mr. Oliver answered. "Tommy was funny when he was dopey."
"DAD!" Tommy yelled.
"Timothy, dear, you'll emotionally scar Thomas if you tell about him walking out of the house naked right after the surgery." Dr. Oliver said.
"MO-THER!" Tommy screamed and ran upstairs.