Double Date

Summary – A Valentine's Day date gets interrupted when Rita and Zedd want to take advantage of the holiday.

"Okay, does anyone want a nickname for their team? Bowling isn't fun if you don't have any nicknames for your team. I'm going to choose a nickname for our team!"

Adam Park and Billy Cranston exchanged amused glances as Adam's girlfriend, Zoey Montgomery, took control of the joystick on the control panel that took over the screen sitting over their bowling lane. Beside her, Billy's girlfriend, Avalon Mitchell, kicked her legs back and forth, her feet barely reaching the ground as she sat in the seat.

"I'm now thinking it wasn't such a good idea to let Zoey have so much soda at Five Guys," Adam remarked, crossing his arms. He watched as Zoey frantically shifted the joystick back and forth, pressing her thumb into the red dot on top to choose their codenames. "I thought the create-your-own-drink machine as a bad idea."

"I agree," Billy added with a laugh. "And it appears as though Ava hasn't seen an invention as such back in Australia or else she wouldn't have spent so much money creating so many different drink combinations." The blue ranger moved a hand to his stomach as he felt it rumbled. It hadn't been difficult for the orange ranger to use him as a test subject for the many soda creations she had made. When he tried to protest, saying he was fine with the water he had ordered, the orange ranger smirked at him and said it was payback for all of the times she had willingly sat and allowed him to run experiments on her or assisted him on whatever experiment eluded him.

"I thought the refills were free," Adam pointed out.

"They were." Billy smiled. "Until she had used so many of them the cashier said she had to pay for them." He and Adam laughed to themselves and the rangers went over to their girlfriends. "Is everything figured out?"

"Pretty much," Avalon replied. She motioned to the screen behind him before standing up, tightening the sleeves of his jacket around her waist. "As long as you're okay with Zoey nicknaming you The Big Brain, yeah?" She reached out and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, though, I'm still going to use Smurf as your nickname for you."

The corner of Billy's mouth turned upwards at the mention of the nickname his girlfriend had consistently called him shortly after meeting him for the first time. Then his smile faded as she continued with, "But I may change it to loser when I beat you."

"You do realize that bowling is a simple measure of geometry and physics, right?" Billy shot back, easily jumping in on the challenge of friendly competition. "Both of which I excel at."

Now Avalon smirked and crossed her arms. "Except for brute strength, hey?"

"Besides, it's bowling," Adam pointed out, hoping to quell the tension that was bound to disturb the romantic atmosphere that the Angel Grove bowling alley was trying to push forward. Much like the glow-in-the-dark bowling that was advertised ever night, the lights that were shown around at the moment were red, pink, and white. At the sitting area of each lane the seats covers were red and little confetti hearts were strewn across the seats and floor. "We're just supposed to be having fun."

"Nothing's more fun than winning, Adam," Zoey remarked. She bounced out of her seat and grabbed a purple bowling ball. She examined it for a moment, rapidly spinning it in her hands before determining it was the ball she wanted to use, and put it in the queue. Then she turned towards Adam and gently poked him in the stomach. "Unless you like losing."

"No one actually likes losing," Billy pointed out. "It's an adverse reaction that causes the body to—"

"Yeah, we got the point, Smurf," Avalon interrupted him. She walked over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Let's just play a while. It'll just be for fun." She thought for a moment, tapping her index fingers together. "But to make it more interesting the loser has to do the other's chores for a week."

Interested, Billy tilted his head to the side. "That would free up a lot of time for me to get some of my more time consuming projects out of the way," he mused. "Not to mention enjoying how much you dislike washing dishes." He held out his hand and shook it with Avalon. "I'll take that friendly wager."

"Ooh! I like the idea of that!" Zoey declared. She turned to her boyfriend and her eyes lit up. "Same stakes, er, well, how about one has to be the other's slave for a week."

Adam finally managed a smile. "The last time I made a bet like this, Rocky kept losing and he was doing things for me for at least a month. You sure you want to take the risk?"

"Not only do I want to take the risk, but I was the one that created the terms," Zoey reminded him. "So I have the advantage. And I'm going to kick your ass." She reached out her hand and shook his before pulling hard on his hand so that he took a few steps into her. Then she stood up on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss. "Okay, that's the last one, after this we are bitter enemies until we figure out who's the winner!"

"How romantic," Adam said with a roll of his eyes.

The game started out with Adam, Zoey, and Billy all fairing very well, each managing to get the spares that they tried with Adam and Zoey getting a strike every now and then. Avalon, on the other hand, grew more and more frustrated as she continued to get gutter balls and knocking over a few pins every now and then causing her to start to let out a flurry of curses as well as throwing her bowling ball harder and harder each throw more haphazard than the last. At one point the ball was thrown so hard that it bounced out of the gutter and rolled into someone else's lane. Zoey, Adam, and Billy laughed as she not so sheepishly went to retrieve it.

"I don't get what's wrong," Avalon complained as she sat back in her seat and crossed her arms. She looked at Billy out of the corner of her eye as he continued to smile. "It's not funny, Smurf. I get that you have the whole geometry and physics thing, yeah? But I don't remember bowling to be this bloody hard!" She motioned towards the lane as Adam went to take his turn one more with Zoey watching him carefully. "Or the bowling balls being this heavy," she added as an afterthought.

Billy suddenly snapped his fingers. "When was the last time you went bowling?" He asked.

"I don't know." Avalon shrugged. "I reckon before I moved here, yeah?"

"Was it lawn bowling?"

"I think so."

"That explains it then. Lawn bowling, while certainly a very popular outdoor sport in areas such as Australia and England, it's different than the bowling we have here," he explained. "So it's no wonder you're not used to it." He smiled at her. "Though I can tell its killing you that you're certainly going to be doing my chores for a week."

"Shut up, Smurf," Avalon snapped, her pout deepening.

"Okay, okay, but at least let me show you how to bowl properly." He paused, cheeks flushing. "If you'd like my assistance, that is." Avalon smiled and nodded. Billy smiled and nodded back. Rubbing his hands on the palms of his jeans and walked over to the rack that held bowling balls and looked them over. He picked up an orange bowling ball and looked over the number that was on it, and then shifted to another orange bowling ball. Seeing it was the correct one, he brought it back over to his girlfriend. "Here, this one should be lighter."

Avalon took the ball and looked at it suspiciously before taking Billy's outstretched hand and the two walked over to their lane. Billy moved behind the orange ranger and put his hands on her shoulders to steady her in front of the bowling pins. "Okay, so you want to center yourself in the direction you want the ball to go. Then you bring your arm up to check the positions of your fingers within the holes—"

Billy was cut off as Zoey burst out into hysterical laughter, which was mostly due to Billy's unfortunate choice of words, as well as the extra amount of sugar she had consumed that night. Though by then the other three rangers hoped that having left Five Guys at least an hour before she would've burned out some of her excess energy.

"That was your fault you know," Avalon commented, tilting her head back to look up at him, her hair falling away from her freckled cheeks.

"I'm aware," Billy replied. "Anyway, you bring your arm back." He slid his hand down to her wrist and pulled her arm backwards. "And then throw the ball forward, following through with your swing, but make sure that you at least—"Billy let out a cry of surprise when the weight of the arching ball spun the two of them around until they faced the lane again. "Let go of the ball."

"Sorry." Avalon did as she was told and managed to knock down seven of the pins. "Oh! I did it!" She cried, eyes lighting up in excitement. "I bloody did it!" She reached out and put her arm around Billy's waist, giving him a tight hug. "Thanks, Smurf."

"You're very welcome, Ava," Billy replied. "And I'm sure all of the other patrons are happy to know that no more bowling balls are going to be flying into their lane."

"Ha ha." Avalon rolled her eyes before turning to her boyfriend and stood on her tiptoes. Billy got the hint and leaned down, giving her a kiss. Avalon moved her hands to his cheeks and held him still as she kissed him again.

Zoey leaned back and forth in her seat, waving her hands over her head. "Hey! C'mon guys, less kissing, more playing!" Adam chuckled to her right and she turned to look at him. "What's so funny?" She asked.

"Nothing." Adam shrugged. "I just think you should let them have their fun. Just like we're supposed to be having." He picked up a handful of confetti and threw it above Zoey's head, causing little hearts to flutter down around her. "Wee!"

Zoey giggled and brushed the confetti out of her hair. "I'm having fun," she promised. "I'm with you, I always have fun when I'm with you." With that, she leaned in and gave them a kiss.

Up on the Lunar Palace, Rita's tongue stuck as far out of her mouth as she could make it go as she looked through the Ritascope. Every single one of the rangers was taking advantage of the holiday and spending it with each other. "Ooh, Tommy and Kimberly are enjoying their day at the lake! Yawn!" She shifted her telescope over to the side. "And Rocky and Aisha sure seem cozy at the movies! Oh and look at the double date! Billy, Adam, Avalon, and Zoey sure seem to be having fun. And then there's Bailey and Fred. It's making me sick!" She shoved her telescope away from her and stormed across the floor of the Lunar Palace. "Zeddy!"

Zedd, who was sitting on his throne, metal skeleton cheek in his hand, let out a low groan. He had been watching his wife watch the power rangers for the past hour and it didn't seem he was going to be getting any peace anytime soon. "Yes, my dear?" He growled.

"Why do the rangers have to have a great Valentine's Day?" She demanded. "The most romantic day of the year. It makes me want to puke!"

"And what do you expect me to do?" Zedd replied.

"I expect you to destroy the rangers. If not at least destroy their day!" She turned her attention back to the balcony that looked over the Earth. I mean, at least mess it up a little. Some people deserve a little bit of romance today, right?"

So that was it, Zedd reasoned. Rita was upset she wasn't getting anything for Valentine's Day. She didn't care so much about the rangers' destruction rather than making them as miserable as she was. There was some merit in that, but no one had ever said that Rita was patient. Nevertheless, Zedd deserved to have a little bit of fun that day and nothing was more fun than watching the rangers have their plans messed up every now and then.

"Let's see what we can do," Zedd declared. He stood up from his throne, rubbing his chin. Arriving at the balcony next to Rita an annoyed growl escaped his lips when she pointedly took a few steps away from him. "Let's see…we'll send Wave Rider down to Tommy and Kimberly! The Cinemonster down to Rocky and Aisha! And let's do the King Pin for the bowling rangers! See how they deal with that!"

"And the putties," Rita added.

Zedd held out his Z-Scepter and sent the monsters down to Earth. "And the putties…"

A sudden and loud shriek burst through the air and Adam, Zoey, Billy, and Avalon broke apart from their entanglements to find putties racing through the bowling alley, creating havoc as they went. Behind them there was a large monster whose body was made up of bowling balls and arms and legs made up of bowling pins.

"Let's see how long it takes for you all to strike out!" King Pin cried, waving his arms in the air.

"You're messing with the wrong people, pinhead," Adam declared, getting to his feet. Zoey rolled her eyes at his choice of one-liner.

"Yeah, don't you lot ever take a break?" Avalon added, clenching her hands into fists. "Must be pretty boring constantly doing Rita's and Zedd's bidding and losing."

"We'll see about that," King Pen declared. "Let's rock and bowl!" He waved his arms in a windmill and pins started to fly towards the rangers. They dove out of the way, rolling across the ground as they did so.

"Let's get rid of the putties first," Billy declared. "Then go after King Pin."

"Right!" Zoey agreed. She jumped over the back of the seat she was crouching behind and leapt towards the putties that crowded around her. When she landed on her feet she threw two handfuls of confetti into their faces, causing them to wave their arms, trying to clear their field of vision. Zoey took the opportunity to elbow a Z-putty in the chest, causing it to break apart and implode, then twist around and strike another in the chest with the heel of her foot. She dove to the floor, sliding between the legs of another and kicked it in the back, sending him forward onto the floor. She flipped to her feet, over the back of the fallen putty and caught the one that was charging at her with her fist, punching it in the chest, knocking it apart.

Avalon grabbed a nearby bowling ball and raced took two steps towards the putties that came near her. She placed the bowling ball on the ground and flipped over it. Using her upwards momentum, she snapped her upper body forward and flung the ball directly into the chest of a Z-Putty. It fell backwards as it broke apart, causing the putties behind it to fall down as well. Avalon jumped atop of them and punched each one in the chest, causing them to break apart. All of a sudden her arm was wrenched backwards and she was kicked in the chest, sending her off her feet and onto the ground. Looking up, Avalon found two putties heading her way and she swung her leg out, knocking one of the z-putties to the floor and leapt up, blocking the hands of the other z-putty. Moving the z-putty's arms down, Avalon lifted her boot-covered foot and kicked it in the chest, causing it to break apart. She then spun around and kicked the other in the chest, defeating that one as well.

Adam flipped behind the snack counter and grabbed a handful of frozen hamburger patties. He flung them at the z-putties like Frisbees, hitting a few in the chest, breaking them apart, the others hitting them in the face and legs, knocking them back. He then grabbed onto the nozzle from the soda machine and sprayed a few more in the face. "Here, you look a little hungry." He grabbed a Z-putty by the head and forced it into the popcorn container then swung his free arm underneath the putty and struck it in the chest. Once it broke apart he turned around and jumped backwards as a putty swung towards him. Adam leapt backwards out of the way and turned around to find another putty coming his way. "Oh come on!" He cried. The two putties leapt towards Adam and he ducked, causing them to crash chest first into each other and fall to the ground before breaking apart. Adam then flipped over the snack counter once more, did a butterfly kick, and struck a strong punch into the chest of another putty.

Billy ducked out of the way as a putty's fist came flying his way. Then two putties grabbed onto his arms, trying to hold him still. A third, fourth, and fifth putty appeared in front of him and took turns trying to attack him. Billy lifted his foot as hard and swift as he could, striking a putty between the legs. Then he kicked her in the chest as hard s he could, sending it flying down the bowling lane and into a set of pins. "Strike one!" He cried. The blue ranger took a step back then forward, swinging his arms down, slamming the putties down with him. He flipped over the putties and did a spinning roundhouse kick to the face of another one, the force sending it down the lane the first putty went. "Strike two!" Billy turned back to the three other putties and calculated what to do for a moment. Then he smirked, realizing they were standing a row and grabbed a bowling ball. He swung his arm forward in the perfect stance and the ball hit the first putty in the chest. Like a set of dominoes they back into each other, hitting each one in the chest, and they flew back down the lane as well, breaking apart as they all came to a stop. "Strike three!" He dusted off his hands before joining his friends in front of King Pin.

"Well, that might've been easy, but let's see how you deal with me," King Pin declared.

"That's a challenge I'd like to take," Avalon declared, cracking her knuckles. "It's morphin' time!"

"Triceratops!"

"Mastodon!"

"Stegosaurus!"

"Iguanodon!"

"Power Rangers!" Billy, Adam, Avalon, and Zoey all cried once they morphed into the black, blue, orange, and purple rangers. They launched forward and started to attack King Pin. The bowling pins that made up his arms and legs were made of stronger material they originally thought. One blast from the monster knocked them back out of the way, while another ranger shot forward to take the place of the fist one.

"Haha! Why don't you try this on for size!" King Pin lowered his head and the bowling balls that made up its body glowed. Then the bowling balls shot out and struck the rangers in the chest with so much force that Avalon flipped backwards on the ground, Zoey was bowled over and over in a series of reverse somersaults, Billy was knocked forward onto his face, and Adam was shot into the back wall of the bowling alley.

"Adam!" Zoey cried.

"What was fun! Let's do it again!" This time it spun its arms once more, striking them repeatedly with bowling pins.

"Alright, I'm getting tired of this!" Avalon declared.

"Let's stick it to him!" Zoey agreed.

"We're not giving up that easily!" Adam said.

"Not without a fight," Billy agreed. "Power Lance!" His power weapon appeared in his hands and he slashed to the side, catching a bowling pin that whizzed by, slicing it in half. He spun the other way and did the same with those that flew the other way, then lurched forward, racing towards King Pin."

"Power Axe," Adam called.

"Power Nunchucks!" Zoey called.

"Power Staff!" Avalon called.

With their power weapons in hand, Adam, Zoey, and Avalon leapt into the fray, encircling King Pin and made quick work of the bowling pins that were sent their way as King Pin spun in a circle, taking the chance to attack each ranger. Then he sent bowling balls their way and they knocked them back into him with precision strikes of their weapons. Then a well placed hit by Avalon's power stuff sent him flying backwards to the ground.

"Wait!" King Pin cried, struggling to get to his feet. "You have to give ma chance to make a spare!"

"Hiya!" Adam, Zoey, Avalon, and Billy all lurched towards King Pin and leapt into the air, bringing their power weapons down against King Pin. The monster screamed in pain as his body took in the attacks and blew apart.

"Power down!" Zoey declared and the rangers demorphed back to their civilian clothes. She looked around the now empty bowling alley and grimaced at the mess. "Looks like it's going to take a while before this place opens again." She sat down in an empty seat.

"We should tell Alpha and Zordon what happened," Avalon suggested.

"Good idea," Adam agreed. "Maybe the others had a surprise appearance, too."

Billy nodded and brought his communicator to his mouth. "Zordon, Alpha, come in."

"We read you, Billy," Alpha replied.

"We're at the bowling alley and we just got attacked by a swam of putties and a monster named King Pin," Billy said. "It seems like Rita and Zedd specifically targeted us this time."

"We know," Zordon said. "There were monsters sent down to face off against Tommy and Kimberly, Rocky, and Aisha, and Bailey and Fred."

"Is everyone okay?" Avalon asked, mostly in concern for her little sister.

"The rangers have defeated their monsters as well," Alpha reported. "It doesn't look like they were trying to do anything other than ruin your Valentine's Day, rangers. Rita and Zedd haven't sent down any other monsters. They haven't sent any of these to grow, either."

"Alpha is right," Zorodn agreed. "Our sensors don't indicate any other attacks for tonight."

"Okay, Zordon, keep us posted," Adam said.

"Looks like we shouldn't be expecting any more excitement tonight," Zoey said. She yawned loudly and stretched her arms over her head, her chin drooping down to her chest, body slumping as well.

"Zoey," Billy said in concern.

"Is she okay?" Avalon asked, leaning over her, examining her friend's face.

"Yeah," Adam replied. He pushed Zoey's hair off her forehead to get a good look at her eyes. "I think she's finally crashed. Not only did that battle take a lot out of her—"

"—But it seems her sugar intake has fallen as well," Billy concluded, to which Adam nodded. "It was bound to happen at some point." He laughed lightly as Adam gently lifted Zoey up into his arms then shifted her to his back, giving her a piggy back ride. "She just needs some rest."

"Looks like she'll need a lot of it," Adam agreed. "Sorry to cut the festivities short, but I think I should take her home."

"It wasn't you, Addo, it was the monster," Avalon remarked. "I reckon those boofheads up on the Lunar Palace are having a bad Valentine's Day and want to take it out on us." She shook her head. "Can't blame them, who'd want to be with someone that yells all the time?"

"It's a mystery I don't think will ever be solved," Billy remarked. He reached out and took Avalon's hand in his. "We should get going too. Bye guys, Happy Valentine's Day."

"Happy Valentine's Day," Adam agreed. "We'll see you later."

With that, the couples went their separate ways. Adam walked over ot his car and was settling Zoey into the passenger seat when he heard her mutter something, eyes still closed. "What?" He asked.

"Best Valentine's Day ever," she muttered.

Adam laughed, kissed her on the forehead, and got into the driver's seat to drive her home.

Rita pouted as she looked through the telescope. Not even some monster attacks were able to lighten her mood a little. Then she felt a tap on her shoulder and she turned to glare at her husband. "What?" She snapped. Zedd pointed in front of her and Rita watched as a meteor slowly drifted by the Lunar Palace. "So?"

Holding up his z-scepter, Zedd shot a red lightning blast at the meteor. There was a bright flash of light and Rita turned away, shielding her eyes. When the light faded she turned back to find the meteor was now in the shape of a heart with the words 'I Love You, Rita' etched in the front.

"Happy Valentine's Day, dear," Zedd said to her, wrapping an arm around Rita's waist.

Rita let out a happy shriek, throwing her arms around Zedd's neck. "Oh Zeddy, it's so wonderful!" She cried.

And as Rita went on and on about how she thought Zedd had forgotten to give her a present, or the day in general, Zedd tilted his head to the side mumbling, "You're giving me a headache."

THE END

A/N: GenkiPlus and I were talking about this on Twitter so I decided to do a one-shot about it. GenkiPlus owns Zoey Montgomery and I own Avalon and Bailey you guys liked it.

~Avalon