It was another long day at the cafe, and Chase thought his shift would never end. He and Riley were on the floor as waiters, and every time they walked passed one another or brushed shoulders, he thought of what his sister told him. And while he normally would follow his gut instinct and pull out the moves, he found himself skirting around Riley. Not even so much as giving him a hello. Which was making the shift for both of them as awkward as hell.
The only reprieve Chase had was when Riley left for his thirty minute lunch break. His heart returned to its normal tempo and the tongue tied nervousness had passed.
"Chase?" Shelby waved a hand in front of his face as he zoned out in the direction Riley left. "Chase?" She asked again.
"Huh? Yah?" Chased blinked a few times and the daze he was in had vanished completely. "Two Bronto Burgers, one with Fossil Fries and one with a Sabretooth Side Salad."
Shelby sighed and grabbed Chase's notebook out of his hand. "Honestly Chase, if you are going to slack off at least do it at the grill."
"Hey, I actually have been working today." Chase protested.
"You and I obviously have different definitions of working." She said flipping through the notebook only to see three orders written in the last three hours. "I know I am going to regret this, but switch with Tyler at the grill."
Grill? Yes, the grill. When Riley comes back from his break, they won't nearly be in as close proximity to one another, so things should go back to normal. He snatched his notebook from Shelby's hands before heading back to the grill with a wide grin.
"Hey mate." Chase said as he watched Tyler form burger patties during his down time. But he noticed the puck like shapes were not nearly as uniform as when Riley made them. "We're switching duties?"
Tyler nearly dropped the ball of meat in his hands. "Really?" He stammered. "You and me?" He asked confusedly. "You at the grill and me serving."
"Yep." Chase said eagerly.
Tyler dropped the ground beef back into the bowl and washed his hands. "I'll be right back."
Chase shrugged his shoulders, washed his hands, and picked up where Tyler left off in making the burger patties.
"Chase at the grill?" Tyler questioned as he rounded in on Shelby.
"What?" She questioned after picking her tip off the table. "He's acting weird today." Tyler rose an eyebrow to that statement. "Well, weirder than usual." She put the dirty dishes into her black tub so they could be cleaned. "He has not flirted with a single girl since we opened." She grabbed the towel that was hanging off her shoulder and sprayed some cleaner before scrubbing the table down. "And he keeps avoiding Riley for some reason. He almost dropped a tray on table eight when their shoulders touched."
"But Chase, at the grill?" Tyler reiterated.
"What's the worse he could do?"
After thirty minutes, those words finally came back to bite Shelby in the ass. She and Tyler could tolerate Chase focusing more on his phone than flipping the burgers he was grilling, but the fact he nearly burnt down the museum, that would be means of firing for any normal person.
The reason as to why such events unfolded was definitely not one of Chase's finer moments. While to most it looked like he had left his station to flirt with a cute girl, and he wouldn't deny that he picked her for that very reason; the true reason he jumped ship was because of Riley.
He was so distracted by the game he was playing on his phone that he never noticed Riley coming in, and then standing behind him, so he could wash the dishes. Chase's ignorant bliss came to an end when Riley asked if he had seen the sanitizer bottle, since it wasn't next to the soap as it was supposed to be.
The lamest pickup line, in the history of pick up lines, popped up in Chase's head, and let's just say it had something to do with Riley "cleaning" him, and he started to panic. His sister poisoned him with this idea of he and Riley possibly dating. So, the only thing he could think of doing was running to the closest distraction. And an attractive person could offer that, so, he popped up to the closest one.
He needed to go back three weeks ago when Riley was just the new ranger on the block. When he wasn't even a blip on his radar. And the first step to doing that was following his blinded flirtatious ways.
The only downside to his plan was that he left burgers cooking on the grill, which resulted in not only a fire, but a lecture from Kendall and the rest of the team. He thought the torture would never end, that was until Moena came him.
His face light up. He forgot she moved out here two months ago to be closer to her family. But it wasn't just Moena herself that moved to the states, but her entire shop as well. Chase was becoming giddy. It was as if a gift had been placed before him. Moena was the solution. Helping her would provide an ideal distraction from all his ridiculous ideas about Riley.
Riley couldn't believe it. Chase not only got out of a lecture, but was now in charge of guarding a shop by himself. That was trouble waiting to happen. But it was too late. Chase and Moena were gone. He could always go to the shop and surprise Chase. After all two Rangers are better than one. Wouldn't it make more sense to have more Rangers acting as guards? Then again, if it was him and Chase, there might as well only be one Ranger guarding it.
Still, everything about this scenario seemed unbelievable. Seeing the future just isn't possible. Fortune tellers are just scammers trying to make a few bucks. This was probably just some crazed dream, by an equally crazed lady. But there was still something Riley couldn't shake. Moena reached for Chase's Energem. She knew in a basic sense what it was and that's why she asked Chase for help. Something was going on here, and Riley wanted to get to the bottom of it.
Thankfully, they finished their closing duties just as quickly as they would have if Chase was there, and they were able to go home for the evening. Koda went down to the base, Kendall drove home, and Tyler drove Shelby home as well. Tyler offered Riley a ride, but he declined. Despite the humidity, it was still nice outside and he didn't mind the walk from the museum to his apartment.
Only ten minutes into his walk home, and Riley's stomach started growling. He checked his watch and it was a quarter till six. He wondered if Chase had packed any food before heading off to Moena's shop. He opened a text on his phone but found himself hesitating to click Chase's name as the recipient.
Instead he opened up Chrome and searched for the address of the shop. It was out of the way, but it's not like he had any plans. Ok. He would go check on Chase. Just be sure he wasn't goofing off and to see if he needed dinner. He did owe Chase for buying him that smoothie, so he could pick him up something so they would be even.
He put his phone in his duffle bag and instead of taking a right at the light, he went straight for eight more blocks before turning left. His stomach growled louder and each time he passed a burger place or a pizza joint the rumblings only got worse. He pulled his phone out to see how far he had left. He still had ten minutes to go. His stomach gave another loud, demanding rumble for food, and he knew he wouldn't last much longer. As he passed a small restaurant, whose sign said Imperial Dragon, the tempting aroma caused his stomach to roar. While Riley tried to limit eating out to once a week, he couldn't deny his stomach what it wanted most. Besides, earlier he did think about paying back Chase for the smoothie, so some cheap Americanized Chinese food should be a good enough exchange. Riley ordered enough veggie fried rice, crispy seaweed, potstickers, and wan ton soup to feed Koda, and his stomach rumbled as if it wanted to beat the Caveman's records in eating. But he forced it to wait another few minutes as he continued the walk to Moena's shop.
The light post by the shop was dented and the broken glass next to it made Riley believe that it was no longer in service. And despite it being so early in the evening, and many people getting off of work, few cars drove by him. The dark windows looked like they could use a good cleaning, but Riley doubted that would make the shop look any more inviting. The door was protected by an iron screen door, and a closed sign was slid between the bars. He hoped that the storefront she had in New Zealand was more welcoming compared to this one, because he didn't understand how she could have stayed in business so long.
Riley held the bags of steaming Chinese food in one hand, and rose the other to knock on the metal door. But once again he found himself hesitating. What was he doing? Surprising Chase with dinner. It was a stupid idea. He and Chase were teammates and they barely qualified as friends. Sure, they made and effort, but it always resulted in awkward silences, like when Kendall forced them to spend time together, or unexpected emotional turmoil.
He gripped the bags tighter and dropped his hand. He wasn't Chase's babysitter. Besides, there was nothing to worry about. Chase was probably blasting his music while playing some game on his phone. And once he get's bored with that, he will fall asleep and wake up and the shop will be just as Moena left it. Leaving was the logical thing to do.
Riley wanted to punch himself. He should have checked on Chase. He should have helped him. But no. He talked himself out of leaving. How was it possible that his rational reasoning had failed him? Seeing the future just isn't possible. And yet. After this. Maybe it wasn't as far-fetched as he thought. Chase let the monster escape and now, he was slowly falling under its control. This predicament they are in is partially his fault too. And he would do everything in his power to fix it.
So, here they were, in Moena's shop trying to learn what was stolen from her. But he was only half paying attention. He was too distracted. No matter how hard to tried to concentrate, his focus only cleared when Chase's name was mentioned and when Moena told a story on how he received his Energem.
And then when he thought it couldn't get any worse it did. That was the norm though? Wasn't it? When you thought you did something bad, something worse was always to come. Tyler brought the news that he didn't want to hear? Chase was missing and Spellbinder had returned. Two things that defiantly qualified as worse. And to think, he could have stopped it all before it escalated to this. Riley continued to mentally beat himself up over this as he and the team headed towards the door.
"Wait!" Moena shouted as he grabbed the handle. "Riley. I must speak with you."
Riley looked to his teammates who were just as confused as he did. He then looked back at Moena whose pained expression seemed to worsen. "Go ahead guys. I'll meet up with you in a bit."
"Come on. Let's hurry." Tyler said as he, Shelby, and Koda ran out of the door.
"Moena?" Riley asked as he approached the fortune teller. Beads of sweat were forming on her forehead and her hands were beginning to shake. "Is everything alright? Is Chase alright?"
"I know I shouldn't say anything about this." She rambled cryptically. "It's one thing to use my visions to stop a monster." Her eyes finally met Riley's and they were so wide she was borderline crazed. "But you and Chase. Your future. How can I not say anything?"
Riley was still confused. From the sounds of it. The vision about Spellbinder was not the only one she had. But he and Chase? What could possibly happen to them? Seeing the future. It couldn't be real. And if Riley had asked himself twenty-four hours ago if he believed in people seeing the future he would think he was crazed. But all this. With Chase and Spellbinder. How could he not somewhat believe it now? "Moena, what did you see?" He asked seriously.
"You and Chase must tread carefully. Indecision. Hesitation. Denial. They could rip the team apart. But following your heart. Succumbing to your desires. They could result in their victory."
Riley was shocked. Her visions were good enough to know about their battle with Fury and Sledge. If she knew them, what else has she seen? "Moena-"
"You and Chase must find balance or all will be lost."
"Balance?" Riley questioned. "Lost? Just tell me everything that you saw. None of this makes any sense."
"You don't have much time." She still rambled on. "You must stop them. Stop them before they change Chase-"
"You're the one keeping me from doing that." Riley interrupted.
"Chase follows his heart and you your intellect. The moment you allow yourselves to think otherwise will begin the downfall. You must stop yourselves before that happens."
Riley didn't know what to do. Moena was obviously bothered by whatever she saw, but he didn't know how to get a straight answer out of her. Besides, if he stayed here any longer then the team could get into serious trouble. They needed him.
"Moena, I need to go. The team needs me. Chase needs me." He said that last part more quietly. "We can talk about this once you have calmed down." She nodded her head in agreement and Riley ran out of the store. He pulled out his Dino Com to see where the team was. He saw the blinking red light and pushed himself. Ran harder than he ever has before. His team needed him. But most of all, Chase needed him. And in all honesty, that was the only motivation he needed.
The monster was defeated and the day was saved. Chase appeared to be back to his normal self, but Riley found his nerves getting the better of him. This was the first time they got close to losing a ranger. The stakes. What this war with Sledge and Fury could cost them. It was real now. Their lives are on the line and Chase could have lost his forever. And yet, here he was. Cool, laidback Chase just laughing off his near death puppet experience as nothing.
Moena entered the cafe and just for a moment Riley's eyes met hers. He could still see the crazed fear in them. The same look when she told him that he and Chase were in danger. This puzzled Riley. They stopped Spellbinder. Chase is as normal as he will ever be. Everything was hypothetically all hunky-dory now. And yet, everything about Moena in that short glance said otherwise. She blinked a few times and her eyes appeared normal as she looked in Chase's direction. Chase threw his towel down, hopped over the bar, and headed in her direction. Riley watched as the two interact, but he couldn't hear a word they were saying. But seeing as how normal Moena looked, he could assume it wasn't what she told him earlier. As the two hugged, Riley headed in Chase's direction, but his mind was reeling around this new puzzle.
Indecision.
The first word Moena said. He and Chase could not be indecisive. But he had no clue what they were being indecisive about.
Hesitation.
That word goes hand in hand with indecision. So the two want to be decisive, but are hesitant to do so.
Denial.
If these three words are a chain reaction of sorts, and what Moena speaks is true. Then they need to make a decision about something, but are refusing to and instead of confronting it, they are denying it.
And all of this. Those three decisions could rip the team apart. So the choice that they need to make, but aren't, will affect more than just them.
But then there was another side of the coin. Following their hearts. Making a decision. No longer hesitating and denying. Succumbing. But succumbing to what? That was a whole different question in itself. But from the sounds of it. Their decisive choice will keep the team united, but result in them being defeated. But defeated by who? Fury? Sledge? Some other villain they had yet to encounter?
All this was becoming exhausting. He needed to focus on one task. One tangible task. Not some mumbo jumbo that had no scientific evidence to back it up. But the other Rangers. Meeting Dr. Oliver. That was real. That was something he could collect data on, analyze, and have a sound hypothesis. It was something that could help the team and in turn the world, unlike the ramblings spouted to him earlier.
Riley's mind was made up. He would do as he always does. Follow his mind, not his heart. That was his decision. Set in stone. And yet, even though he just made it, he could feel the cracks wanting to form.
A/N: Hello all, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter. Just so you know, this may be the last chapter I post in awhile. I finaly got a job with my degree...and I'm kinda sorta in Alaska now and posting this from my hotel room. I don't know how long I'll be MIA for, but I'll post the next chapter ASAP. Thanks again and until next time!
