Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Dino Charge. This story is fan-made.
Shelby couldn't believe her opportunity as she walked into work that morning. The exhibit for the treasures of Zandar was being presented to the public and Kendall had asked her to lead the tours. It had nothing to do with dinosaurs, which frustrated Shelby a little, but Kendall had given her books to study the night before so Shelby could brush up on her knowledge. This was her chance to show Kendall she would work hard at anything she was given and that she could be trusted with more than just waiting tables and saving the world.
Though, the latter was a fairly huge responsibility, but that was beside the point.
The museum was packed as people waited in the lobby for the exhibits to open officially. There was a lot of muttering about the Treasures of Zandar, distracting Shelby somewhat from her attempt to rehearse her tour speech in her head. She had to make sure she got all the facts straight. She needed everything to go right today. If she successfully led this tour, Kendall had already promised to give her more chances to work the museum floor and hinted that, maybe, she would take Shelby on a future dig unrelated to Ranger duties.
Shelby passed the crowd of people and made her way to the exhibit. Right away, she noticed the Rangers standing around a display case that housed the gold Energem. She frowned deeply, joining the group.
"It's out in the open?"
"Circumstances aren't ideal," Kendall nodded her head, checking her clipboard with a sigh. "But the museum did promise the Stone of Zandar would be available and I haven't found the time to forge a double."
"And the yellow energem is too yellow," Tyler said.
"But, this is an energem," Shelby said. "We can't just have it here, can we?"
"I'm afraid so," Kendall sighed. "The Stone of Zandar is the reason for the turnout today. If I disappoint, the museum's going to get some bad publicity. With a Dino Lab to run, employees to pay and a caveman to feed, I need people to keep showing up."
"I am good hunter," Koda reminded Kendall, but she shook her head.
"You are, but even if I let you get your own food, the money I spend on you is the least of my worries. The energem needs to be on display, if just for today."
"After that, we'll keep the energem in the base, where it belongs," Chase said. "We've just got to get through today."
"I'll need you five to keep a close eye on the energem," Kendall stated. "Nothing should happen as long as it stays behind this glass, but this is a precious artifact and there are a ton of people outside. At least one of them is going to get some ideas."
Kendall then turned to Shelby, looking the pink Ranger directly in the eyes. "You especially need to be aware of what's going on around the energem at all times."
"Me?"
"You'll be leading the tours. You'll be in this room all day. Nothing's going to happen without you being there. The boys will be in an out, working the cafe and assisting in the other exhibits. Shelby, I'm counting on you."
Shelby looked to the energem a little nervously. This was a much bigger job than she had anticipated when Kendall offered her the position, but she couldn't turn it down now. Not only would she be disappointing her teammates, but she would be proving to Kendall that she didn't have what it took to work in the field.
"I'll watch it," she promised. Kendall gave her a little nod and faint smile. As she turned to Tyler to ask him to start letting guests into the museum, she heard a commotion from the front lobby. Frowning deeply, she led the way over and saw a well-dressed man pushing his way through the crowd. When an employee tried to stop him getting into the museum without a ticket, he scoffed and walked past him. The employee tried to follow him, but men dressed like secret service agents grabbed the employee.
"Whoa, what's going on here?" Kendall asked, stepping in front of the man while Tyler and Chase went to help out their co-worker. The man leading the charge looked to Kendall, then rolled his eyes.
"If I'm going to speak to anyone, it'll be the owner of this... dump."
Kendall crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the man, "You're speaking to her."
The man looked her up and down once, then scoffed.
"Sure," he snapped his fingers, at which the men who followed him in started grabbing artifacts from the Treasures of Zandar.
"Excuse me," Kendall frowned, following the man, ripping away the gold energem when he picked it out of the case. "What do you think you're doing?"
"You can't just take this stuff," Riley added. "These treasures belong to the royal family!"
The man looked to Riley, raising an eyebrow. Riley looked back, then noticed the way the man was dressed and the guards around him. "Oh."
"Starting to get the picture, are we?" the man scoffed. "I am Prince Phillip III of Zandar. The real prince, unlike those imposters this museum paraded around the other day."
Tyler looked away, trying to avoid eye contact with the prince. He had known his plan would be risky when he made it, but Zandar was such a small country and it was so far away, he doubted news of the Prince's visit would ever reach the real royal family. It seemed he was mistaken.
"Damn internet," he muttered. The Prince turned to him, eyeing him and Shelby specifically.
"Hold on. That was the two of you, was it not?"
Tyler didn't know what to say and looked to his teammates for help. No one could come up with a good excuse. It wasn't like they could mention to the Prince that his precious stone was an energem.
"Well," the Prince said, shaking his head. "It's a wonder anyone could mistake you for a prince."
"We no mean disrespect," Koda stated, catching the attention of the prince, who seemed completely disgusted by the blue Ranger's dishevelled look. His hair, as usual, was a mess and he was walking around the museum barefoot, having not yet found a reason to put on shoes.
"What do you know about respect?" he asked. "Look at you, filthy, you're shoeless. Were you born in a cave?"
Koda shook his head. "Born on mammoth hunt. Mother not have time to make it back to cave."
Kendall sighed, slapping her hand to her forehead. Most found Koda endearing when they met him, and fortunately were more than willing to believe his caveman demeanour was just a joke or a charming feature for the museum. However, the Prince seemed to take offense. He dismissed Koda, brushing past him with utter disgust before snatching the energem from Kendall's hand. "The courage of a knight has made this stone a legend. None of you peasants are worthy!"
By now, the man's guards had collected up the rest of the treasures. The Prince, with the energem in hand, led the way out of the museum, with the Rangers following quickly behind him. Koda growled, ready to do whatever it took to get the energem back, but Kendall grabbed his arm. She and the Rangers watched as the Prince climbed into his limo and began to drive off.
"Alright, this isn't my fault," Shelby said, turning to Kendall.
"We're not just going to let them take off with the energem, are we?" Riley asked. Kendall shrugged her shoulders. She wasn't sure what she would do now, but knew the museum couldn't handle any fuss. It was bad enough an entire exhibit had been ripped away from her while a lobby full of guests were waiting.
