The Rangers stayed at the museum until late into the night, taking stock of the insane couple of days that they'd had. In less than a week, they'd found, and lost, seemingly the perfect employee to help free up some of their time at the museum for more of their Ranger duties, been the victim of some extremely debilitating and baffling curses, and faced numerous fraught battles. They'd faced numerous threats in the couple of months since they'd taken up the Energems, but to call this adventure unique would have to be an understatement.
Kendall came into the lab, wearing a pair of jeans and a purple T-shirt, bearing the name of a band none of them had ever heard of. Chase had returned with some clothes at her request. They all looked at her, a little surprised to see her dressed so informally. She was carrying a large tray of food. She'd found and prepared as much fruit and vegetables from the restaurant as she could find. Riley by now had not eaten in two full days, and so now that he could eat again, he was making up for missed time...with gusto! She had figured if he was going to stuff himself, he may as well do so without filling up on junk.
"Ms Morgan, I'm digging the new look." Tyler complimented her. Kendall just looked to him with a little smile and just shrugged.
"You don't think I wear suits all the time do you?" She asked him.
"Actually, we were starting to wonder." Chase admitted. "I couldn't believe it when I found a pair of jeans in your wardrobe."
"I don't get much of a chance to wear casual clothing these days." She admitted. It definitely was different, seeing them while not wearing the business clothing she normally did in her job at the museum, though it was definitely preferable to be wearing something...and it was DEFINITELY better than what she was wearing only a couple of hours previously. "I guess I spend most of my time working these days."
"I have to ask, who exactly are...?" Tyler started to ask, noting the logo.
"They're just some garage band." She interrupted him quickly. "They played a few gigs in and around my university."
"I've never heard of them." Chase admitted.
"Yeah...you won't have. Like I said, it was just some part-time band at my uni." She rushed out, looking to Riley. "Riley, don't eat so much you make yourself sick. You've not eaten in a couple of days; eating again will be a shock to your system. You don't want to make yourself ill."
"I'm just glad everything's back to normal." Chase said as he lay back against one of the walls, absent-mindedly spinning the wheels of his skateboard with his fingers. He looked to the guys, having been thinking a lot about the way he had been acting the last couple of days, and seeing the way they reacted to it. "I...I...don't really sound like that do I?"
They all just fell silent for a moment. They knew he didn't mean any harm by his behaviour. He was a shameless flirt, but he always knew when to back off. It wasn't as though he would ever press the matter once someone made it clear they weren't interested. Usually girls would kind of humour him, but the guys...the fact none of them were that way inclined meant the shock factor alone got a bit more of a reaction from them than Chase was used to.
"Well..." Kendall started to say, trying to think how to phrase it delicately. She'd been in the position pretty early on where she had to put an end to his constant lines. She was still a little blunt and direct with people, but she had been a lot more forceful then. Her time with the others had eased her up a little, and she really didn't want to hurt him.
"You can come on a little strong." Shelby answered, moving to his side. She placed a hand softly on his arm. She looked to him. "It's...not as flattering as you think. Sometimes it's more than a little bit of a turn off."
"I'll say." Tyler chuckled. He saw the way Chase was looking at him. "Sorry man, but she has a point."
"If you want me to be honest, it just...it all feels a little forced." Shelby told him, trying to think best how to explain. She didn't really want to harm any of her friends any more than they had already been harmed by all of this. She was the one that convinced them to let Christie into the museum, she still felt responsible for what happened. "It kind of feels like you're a caricature, not a real person, which is a shame because the person I know you are is actually a pretty great guy. Maybe if you'd let more people see more of that guy, they might get to like him."
"That's pretty good advice." Kendall complimented her, looking back to Chase. "You might want to think about it."
"I guess I can try pulling it back a little." He answered. "Thanks for putting up with me guys."
"Wow, I guess some good might come out of all this after all." Tyler answered hearing this. "It almost makes me wonder what all those other wishes were."
"Well I know that Chase wished I would lighten up." Riley replied, glaring at him. "Way to be specific."
"How can I help it if I didn't know we had a very literal genie granting our wishes?" Chase answered.
"You don't have to tell me what you wished." Kendall told the others. "I never thought I'd be happy to be five foot one again, but as long as I'm not struggling to reach the coffee machine, I'll be fine."
Tyler could see Shelby shifting a little uncomfortably. He knew she had spent longer around Christie than the others; it seemed likely that a lot of the unintended wishes were hers. It still made him curious about one thing though. He had been affected by a wish that had made him believe she was a clone. What could anyone have wished for that would make him think that?
"Shoot, it's getting late." Shelby stated, noticing the time. "Mom's going to freak if I get home too late."
"Well, we still have the wedding to prepare for, and we're all kind of beat. I think it'd be prudent to have the museum close for tomorrow." Kendall told them. "That should give us time to rest up and set everything up."
"I am all for that plan." Chase answered, getting up. "So I guess now we all get to go home for some well-earned rest."
"I'll see Shelby home." Tyler announced. Shelby just looked to him, shaking her head.
"Tyler, that's alright, it really isn't..."
"Please, I insist." Tyler told her, looking to her a little nervously. "You've had a few tough fights recently and...at least one of those was against me. I wouldn't feel right..."
"Well, if it'll make you feel better, I guess that would be alright." Shelby answered, feeling a little sheepish. She had no doubt that Tyler felt badly about hurting her, but she also knew that under the spell, seeing her looking exactly like him...his reasons for doing so were pretty understandable. She felt guilty about putting him in that position. "Come on, mom's going to worry if I stay out much longer."
"Then I guess it's just us for the ride home." Chase told the others. "Is there anything you want us to do before we go?" Chase asked Koda. The caveman just looked at him.
"Not wish for anything." He replied.
Up on Sledge's prison ship, Wrench was just finishing up putting Curio back together. Poisandra came into the room, just as he was reattaching his right hand.
"Oh Wrench, you fixed him! You amazing wonderful creature!" She gushed, bouncing with excitement. "Oh my precious Curio, I'm so pleased to see you back. I was so worried when I saw what that horrible meanie Fury did to you!"
"I'm just glad to be back in one piece." Curio replied as she came across, petting him gently.
"It really was nothing." Wrench told her. "After working on all of Sledge's tech for all these years, putting him back together was child's play."
"Well I'm just glad you could." Poisandra answered, starting to look around all the devices and jars lining his workshop. "Who would have thought all these random things could bring back my precious...?"
"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Wrench rushed out as she reached for a glowing jar, snatching it off the work bench and cradling it to him protectively.
"What?" She asked. "What is that? Is it dangerous?"
"EXTREMELY!" Wrench answered as he placed it carefully in a case.
"Oooh, what is it?" Poisandra asked him.
"It's something I've been working on for a while." He told her.
"Is it something to use against the Rangers?" She asked excitedly. He just nodded.
"Once it's finished it will be." He told her. She just took Curio and started to lead him out of the room.
"Well, when it's finished, let me know." She told him. "Come on Curio; let's find someone to play with."
Back on Earth, Tyler and Shelby were walking to her place, largely in silence. Neither of them really knew what to say about what had happened. Tyler had a lot of questions, a lot to talk about, but he couldn't find a way to begin. He saw the way that Shelby was wrapping her arms around herself.
"Are you cold?" He asked. "Would you like my jacket?"
"I'm fine, really." She told him. The truth was, she just felt really strange being around him. She knew how she felt about him, the way her guts twisted up any time he was near her. They rounded a corner, into another street.
"So, I'm guessing the way you reacted what happened to Kendall was your wish?" He asked.
"Please, this is embarrassing enough." She told him.
"I'm just wondering...what exactly did you wish?" He asked her. "I promise I won't say anything to Kendall."
"I was feeling down because she'd turned me down for another dig." Shelby told him. "I was feeling underappreciated and...I wished she wouldn't look down on me so much."
"You wished she wouldn't look down on you?" Tyler asked. "Well...I guess I can get what Christie was going for with that."
He could see that Shelby still felt badly about what happened, and couldn't bring himself to push it any further. He took a deep breath.
"Look, I'm really sorry about what I did." Tyler told her. "You know, for attacking you like I did."
"It's alright, I understand." Shelby said, trying to brush it off. "I mean, if I did look just like you..."
"I know, I just feel really badly about it. It's the reason I wanted to walk you home, to make sure you were OK." He told her, turning to face her. "I'd never really want to hurt you, you know that right?"
"It's fine Tyler; it really wasn't your fault." Shelby answered. "It was mine. I was the one that convinced you all to let Christie work for the museum. I should have realised it was all too good to be true."
"Hey, you were just trying to help." Tyler assured her. "Not to mention, she was actually a pretty good help. You know...when she wasn't trying to destroy the city with rogue wishes that is."
"Do you want to know what the crazy part is? I actually really liked her." Shelby told him. "We got along really well; I thought she was a friend. Some judge of character I am."
"You should never feel ashamed about reaching out to people. We all saw how you two were. She'd have been lucky to have a friend like you." Tyler told her. "It's her loss."
"The worst part is, given some of the stuff she said; I still kind of feel badly for her." Shelby admitted. "She can't really have faked all of that stuff could she? I kind of wonder...if she hadn't gotten sick of hearing everyone's selfish wishes...would she have been more like the Christie I was friends with?"
"I suppose that's probably the best way to think about it." Tyler told her. "I don't believe anyone starts out bad."
"So are you saying one time Sledge was a good guy?" She asked him. Tyler just chuckled.
"Well...maybe he's the exception that breaks the rule." He conceded. Shelby just looked to him with a smile.
"I'm just up here." She told him. "I think I can make it from here."
As she turned to leave, Tyler called her back. She was dreading this. Turning to him, she could see the look on his face.
"Shelby, can I ask one thing?" He asked her. She knew what was coming next; it was the question she was fearing he'd ask. "Do you mind if I ask what you wished for that made me see you as a clone?"
"Tyler, can you please not ask me that?" She replied. She already felt badly enough about what happened without having to admit that it happened because she wished he would see her how she saw him. It had happened because she couldn't bring herself to tell him what she meant to him. She still couldn't, afraid that if she did, she would no longer be able to hide. She would have to face his reaction; she would have to live with it if he told her he didn't like her in return, or worse, if he laughed at her. "Please?"
Tyler could see it was important to her, and instead just nodded. He watched as Shelby headed up the drive into her house, satisfying himself she had gotten home safely, before turning and heading for his apartment. He stopped as he got a text message. Opening it, he saw it was from Riley. He just smiled as he saw that it was a request that he stop by the all-night chemist for some stomach ache tablets.