Somewhere in the forest surrounding Amber Beach, a couple of miles from the museum, the Rangers had set up for training, and had already begun. They had already been out there long enough to get warmed up, and had split off to focus on different aspects of their training. Tyler and Koda were working on conditioning. Tyler, they generally always spent most of his time doing crazy gymnastics of some description as part of his workout regime. He had told them that he'd been shown some tricks by some circus performers once, and had also taken to parkour, finding that it led to him having a good, overall strength, conditioning and exceptional balance, all things that had been incredibly handy and saved his life numerous times while he was searching all those caves his father had explored, looking for clues about his disappearance. Koda was always acrobatic, but as of late, for some reason he'd started to do a lot more of it. They knew that his new hobby of wrestling involved a lot of gymnastics, so mostly they just assumed it was something to do with that.
Riley and Ivan, rather predictably, had gotten to work on their sword work. Ivan had lived in a time long before the first gun was seen in battle, and much preferred the sword anyway. Riley, it was more down to his daydreaming of sword play growing up. Unusually for a kid who grew up in a farming community, he'd never really had a taste for guns. He trained with his blaster, knowing it was his weakest area, but in battle he generally always defaulted to his sword anyway, rarely relying on it. It was a testament to the resilience of youth that he was actually up and keeping pace with Ivan given his condition earlier that morning.
Shelby was working on some heavy bags to the music from her stereo. She was focusing mostly on working multiple opponents at the same time. The one thing that they had all noticed about pretty much every battle was that they were rarely ever one-on-one. Sledge seemed to be a big believer in strength in numbers.
Kendall, however, was on her cell phone while Chase got ready for his "special training". She had been developing a new weapon for the team, and he was the one that was chosen to be the test pilot for it.
"Matt, how many times can I say I'm sorry?" She asked as she had a pained expression on her face. She knew all about keeping secrets, she'd kept one of the biggest secrets in the world for close to a year already. She knew that since Riley was alright, albeit feeling a little delicate following the feast the previous night. It was likely his mom and Matt would never find out. Indeed, she was confident that if Mrs Griffin, who still believed that Riley was there on a mere scholarship programme had gotten drunk while under Kendall's care he'd be back in Millport before the day was out. However, she didn't feel right about keeping it from Matt. "I'm telling you, he's fine! He's fencing with Ivan right now!"
She just sighed as she listened to his reply.
"Believe me, I sincerely doubt he's planning anything like that again in a hurry." She told him with authority. "You know I'd never have let him go if I knew..."
Matt was saying something else, something that obviously caught Kendall. She felt guilty about the whole thing, not just because Matt trusted her to look after Riley, but also because she was the one that assured him it would be fine when Chip and Daggeron invited them to a duel. She had no idea the real nature of the tourney, if she had, she'd never have allowed him to go.
"I promise, nothing like that will ever happen again." Kendall told him. "Thanks for not telling your mom. I love you."
She hung up shortly after that. Shelby came over to her.
"You OK?" She asked.
"Well, I still have a boyfriend...for the time being at least." Kendall responded dejectedly. "I couldn't keep it from him, you understand right?"
"There's such a thing as too much honesty in a relationship." Shelby told her. "Something tells me Riley wasn't going to tell them about this and...that's about the only way they'd ever have known."
"I almost blew it with him for nothing didn't I?" Kendall asked. Shelby just smiled.
"I don't think you need to worry Ms Morgan." Shelby assured her. "We all saw you together, it's clear he's crazy about you."
As Shelby went back to her workout, Kendall put her phone away. She still felt guilty about what happened, and telling Matt had made THAT feel a little better. She still wasn't sure she hadn't risked her relationship with the older Griffin brother in the process, regardless of Shelby's assurance.
"Hey, Ms Morgan, I'm ready when you are!" Chase called out, having finished warming up. Kendall started to make his way over to him. He was morphed, and had his Dino Blaster at the ready. As she arrived, he wasn't looking at her, he was looking a little way down at something that was completely out of place here...a cinderblock wall! Kendall had already had it built out here when she was nearing the completion of her new weapon.
"So, what exactly do you want me to do?" He asked her. "I'm guessing it has something to do with that."
"Correct, I want you to fly through it." Kendall told him. Chase just started laughing.
"I'm sorry, I thought I heard you say you wanted me to fly through it." He responded, looking at her. While Kendall wasn't made of stone, and had been known to make jokes, she wasn't exactly big on them. The look on her face was deadly serious. Jake could see she wasn't joking. "Wait, I thought you said you wanted me to be a test-pilot, not a crash test dummy!"
"Let me introduce you to the Dino Armour X Jaws are designed to penetrate thick armour, and defensive obstacles." Kendall told him, completely ignoring his remark. She would never agree to let the Rangers test one of her weapons unless she was confident it would work.
"Jaws...like teeth?" Chase asked her. "So, not only do you want me to try and fly through a wall...you want me to do it HEAD FIRST?"
"Well, it's not like there's too much up there to damage." Tyler chuckled as he, Koda, Riley and Ivan stopped their workout, coming to watch.
"What if this doesn't work?" Chase asked her. "Then I'm just flying head first into a concrete wall!"
"There's a first aid kit in the jeep." Tyler joked, getting a chuckle from the others. Kendall broke this up with her signature death-glare that always managed to silence them.
"You're really not helping guys!" She said, before returning her attention to Chase. "Look, it IS a prototype, I've only developed it for one Energem so far. It works with Black Energem power."
"So, you only developed it for one Energem, and you chose me as the one you want to see get his skull smashed in like an egg if it doesn't work?" Chase asked. "I thought we were past the stage you didn't like me."
"Chase...I wouldn't let you...let ANY of you try out any of my weapons unless I believed wholeheartedly that it works." Kendall assured him, handing the Dino Charger to him. "If I had an Energem, I'd have built it for mine and tested it on myself, the same goes for any of my tech. I'd never ask you to do anything unless I felt confident enough that I'd do it myself if I could."
"Alright then, I'll give it a shot." Chase said, still somewhat reluctantly as he prepared it. "Dino Armour, X Charger, READY!"
He placed it into his Dino Morpher, activating it. He was bathed in a glow for a moment, before he found himself wearing armour a lot like his Dino Steel Armour, but it was orange in colour, and formed down both arms instead of only one. He saw jaw-like weapons attatched to the backs of each of his hands. He was thankful for this at least, when he heard the term "jaws", he was almost worried they'd be on his helmet and he'd literally have to hit the wall head first! He supposed at least if anything went wrong, he'd have his arms to brace him to some degree. He couldn't deny feeling the power coursing through him. It wasn't as powerful as Dino Drive Mode, but that was only safe to even activate in the Megazords. Still, it was as far above Dino Steel as Dino Steel was above his Ranger suit alone!
"I feel...incredible power! You guys should try this!" He stated.
"We'll wait to see if we're scraping you off yonder wall first." Ivan teased him. Kendall gave them all another death-glare for that crack. Chase on the other hand felt emboldened by the power running through him. He stared straight at the marker placed on the wall and braced himself. Breaking into a run, he launched himself at it.
"Spiral ATTACK!" He called out, corkscrewing through the air impossibly fast, energy glowing around him as he did. He felt a slight jolt, and only the sound of shattering concrete let him know it was the wall, which he punched through with ease! Unfortunately, he had very little awareness of anything else around him...or anyone!
"Hey!" Shelby called out as he flew past, narrowly missing her. On his return journey, he shredded one of her heavy bags, before coming to a stop by the wall, which now had a large hole in it. The four other male Dino Charge Rangers were staring in awe as Chase admired his handiwork.
"WOW! SWEET!" He exclaimed excitedly. "It works great Kendall!"
As he looked down the range, he could see the look she was giving him. It wasn't the death-glare, but it wasn't far from it. He realised his mistake, in his excitement he'd overstepped the boundary.
"I mean, Ms Morgan!" He corrected himself.
"Uh...hello?" He heard someone beside him say. He turned around to see Shelby standing by her shredded heavy bag.
"Sorry Shelby." Chase said in a kind of off-hand way. He wasn't really overly concerned, it was only a heavy bag, and he was still too excited about the power of his new weapon. Shelby could sense the insincerity of his apology and did not take to it kindly at all.
"I was standing RIGHT HERE!" She told him. "It could have been ME you hit!"
"Shelby, you're fine, it's just a bag..."
"You owe me a new bag." Shelby responded matter-of-factly. However, she could see that Chase had already stopped listening. He was distracted by something else. He walked past her, approaching her stereo.
"CHASE!"
"Hey, that's the N-Zed Boys!" He commented.
"The N-Zed Boys?" Riley asked. "Who are they?"
"They're some lame-arse boy band from New Zealand." He informed them. "They were big on the local tweener crowd back home when I left. They're trying to break into the US market now with their..."
He then noticed something else. Attached to the stereo was Shelby's phone, and the N-Zed Boys' logo was on it...along with the play icon. He looked to Shelby.
"Oh, you are not one of those crazy fans are you?" He asked her, a wicked grin crossing his face. "The ones with the N-Zed Boys t-shirt? Who learn all their lame lyrics and dance moves off by heart?"
"I'm not THAT crazy." She muttered under her breath, beginning to turn a little pink. He then got a thought.
"You weren't planning on going to their concert tonight were you?" He asked her. "THAT'S why you were late this morning! You were trying to get tickets weren't you?"
"It's the first time they've ever toured outside New Zealand!" She protested. Chase just started laughing, before launching into a highly exaggerated dance routine and spouting the lyrics in a mocking way. Shelby, having had enough just shut off the music and snatched up her stereo and her bag, storming away. Chase just shrugged his shoulders, before getting to work helping the others clear up the training area.
Over in the small town of Millport, a long way from Amber Beach, Margaret, the Personal Aide of Prince Phillipe III of Zandar came into the barn on the farm they were renting, finding him in there training hard. Ever since he had seen the Rangers in action, he had become obsessed with becoming a Ranger. Since seeing not only their bravery and power, but also the return of one of the greatest heroes of his homeland, Sir Ivan, he had become convinced that if he could become a Ranger, then when the day came he inherited the Principality of Zandar, he would become a worthy ruler!
He had gone to great lengths in his preparations. Instead of returning to Zandar, he had instead remained in the US, getting as far off the grid as he could to ensure he had no trappings or luxury to distract from his quest. He worked day and night to improve himself, all while his excavations teams located a skeleton housing an Energem. It was being sent to the states, but it seemed that even the official seal of Zandar didn't speed up the process of getting remains through customs. Margaret found him climbing a rope to the top of the barn, using only his arms!
"Ah, Margaret! What news do you bring this fine day?" He asked, lowering himself down to the ground. She just handed him a letter.
"It's in America now at least." She informed him. "Now it just has to clear THEIR customs."
"Thanks to my father's isolationist policy it seems the name of the Prince of Zandar means little in expediating such processes." He sighed as he picked up a bottle of water. "I swear, if this was a delivery from the Prince of Wales, they'd never hold it up with all this red tape, and that man is a complete pillock."
"You only met him at that ceremony at Sandringham ONCE." Margaret reminded him.
"Believe me, once was more than enough." Phillipe replied. Margaret noticed the bruises across his torso and arms. It wasn't unusual to see him with bruises these days, these were a lot more recent...and there were a LOT of them.
"I see your new trainer is working you hard." She commented.
"I have to admit, Matt has surprised me." Phillipe responded. Not long after his arrival in Millport, he had a run-in with some local hooligans. He had defeated them, but wasn't satisfied they had learned their lesson and he was beating them far beyond what was necessary. By sheer chance, when he was looking for somewhere off the grid to prepare, he had ended up in Millport, the home of Matt Griffin, known in the area as 'Granite' Matt Griffin. He was a bare-knuckle boxing champion, and something of a local legend. He had handed Phillipe an embarrassing defeat and a much-needed lesson in humility. Since then, Phillipe had been training with Matt whenever his chores on the farm would allow. "For a man with no formal training, his instincts are formidable."
"He's beating the shit out of you is what you mean." Margaret replied.
"Yes, but each defeat is less decisive and I'm getting in more good shots each time." Phillipe assured her. "You know what they say, no pain no gain."
"Idiots say that." She muttered as Phillipe gathered up his t-shirt.
"Come, once I've had a shower, I'll cook you lunch." He told her. Margaret just raised her brow.
"Cook?" She asked. "Since when do you cook?"
"Matt taught me a recipe for rabbit that sounds delightful." He told her.
"And when exactly did you have time to go shopping for rabbit?" She asked him. He just smiled.
"The thing is, he showed me how to hunt those too." He assured her as he left. "I'll see you at the house."
With that, she just shook her head. She had grown up with Phillipe. Her mother was in his serving staff. They had played together as kids. She could see that things about Phillipe were changing, but she couldn't quite believe how much. While he had always trained and taken active part in the military, he had also grown up in the palace, and had very little he had to do himself. She could never have imagined him doing...well...anything as menial as cooking.
She shivered as a cold wind blew through the barn door, bringing her back to attention. She headed out of the barn, finding the air to be thick, and a slight, misty rain in the air. She covered up as much as she could and ran for the house.
Back in Amber Beach, Kendall, Tyler, Riley, Koda and Ivan arrived back at the museum. Chase had stopped off, saying he had some personal errands to run before his late shift. Tyler and Ivan were shivering as they got in, while Riley, Kendall and Shelby weren't so bothered.
"Man, the wind's getting up all of a sudden." Tyler commented. "It's pretty cold out there."
"Maybe if you'd brought jackets you wouldn't have been cold." Riley suggested as they headed back for the cafe. Shelby hung back for a moment with Kendall. She couldn't help feeling badly about the end of training.
"Ms Morgan?" She said a little hesitantly. "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to be late."
"Well, I suppose I was the one who brought up the lecture and just presumed that was what you were looking up." Kendall told her.
"I really do want to go to that." Shelby told her. "It's just...I didn't want to admit that I was late because I was looking up tickets to see a boy band, and when you gave me an out I just...kind of took it. I'm sorry."
"Shelby, one of the things I admire is your dedication to your studies." Kendall told her. "But, I suppose I have a life outside of work too. Just...try not to make a habit of it alright?"
"I won't Ms. Morgan." Shelby assured her. "Thanks for understanding."
"When Chase gets back, you just go." Kendall told her. "Maybe you can get those tickets if you hurry."
"Thanks Ms Morgan!" Shelby responded. "You're the best!"