Chase was in the pizza place, waiting on his order. It wasn't often they had one customer order five full-sized pies just minutes after they opened for lunch, and so his order was taking a while. This left Chase with a little time on his hands...something that was rarely a good thing for someone so easily distracted. He was whiling away his time, checking out his board. He felt that the cornering wasn't as smooth as he was used to. It was a custom board he had built from scratch with the best parts available, so it still functioned more than admirably by the standards of most...of course that was like saying driving a Skoda was the same as driving an Audi A8!
"Hey, that's a pretty cool board." The girl behind the counter stated. He could hear from her a very distinctive accent, one that was all too familiar to him. She had long, brown hair that was tied back, as he would expect from someone working with food all day. She was shorter than him by a good margin, and very slight in build. She was an attractive girl, so stunning even the hideous green t-shirt, red ball cap and zebra-print pants she was forced to wear as a uniform didn't detract from it in the slightest.
"Thanks." He answered. "It's a custom design; I built it from scratch myself."
"Yeah, it's the only way right?" She asked. "I mean, store-bought boards are good for beginners, but if you want to get serious, you need something that responds..."
"To every move." Chase finished her thought with a bright, goofy smile. "You board?"
"Only like all the time." She told him. "I've hit a few half-pipes in my time, but the streets are the best course am I right? I probably skate more than I walk."
"You use your board to get around? Chase asked. "Do you have it here?"
"You show me yours and I'll show you mine." She said with a little smirk. Chase picked up his board, handing it across the counter. The girl took a good look at it, inspecting it.
"Nice work, this must have cost you a bomb." She said with a low whistle. "Though...I'd have expected a kiwi if I'm honest...what the heck is this thing on your board?"
"It's a Parasaurolophus." Chase replied. She looked a little curious about this. "I work at the museum. I'm on a dig team. This fella's kind of a favourite of mine."
"Well, a promise is a promise." She said, handing him back his board. She went into the back, coming back with her own board. It was a narrow board, which ended in an almost arrow-like point, not quite as rounded as most boards. The grip surface on the top was zebra-patterned. As she handed it to Chase, he inspected the parts carefully, spinning the wheels, which ran incredibly smoothly. On the underside was the unmistakable pattern, a green stencil pattern in the shape of Australia.
"Nice, I'll bet this board really glides." Chase complimented her. "I..."
"Listen; let me paint you a picture." She told him. "How about you and me take in a movie some time?"
"Um...sure." Chase replied, getting out his cell phone. "I'll just give you..."
The young girl touched her phone to his, and it bleeped. She smiled.
"Now we have each other's information." She told him. "It's an app I have."
"Well...I guess then we can arrange something some time soon." Chase suggested. "I'm Chase by the way, Chase Randall."
"Marion, Alice Marion." She introduced herself, shaking his hand. "Named for..."
"Alice Marion Ellen Bale, the artist." He surmised. A guy came in from the back, putting the pizzas on the counter.
"OK, that's one Meat Delight, one Ocean Fruits Supreme, One Hawaiian, one Thrilla Gorilla and one Margheritta for Randall." The chef declared. Chase wasn't really paying attention though; he was still concentrating on Alice.
"So...I guess I'll just...um...I'll call you later to arrange something alright?" He asked.
"Maybe I'll call you first." She suggested as Chase backed into the wall right next to the door, almost dropping his pizzas. He just smiled, recovering, hoping she didn't notice this dorky moment and hopped on his board, rolling away. Alice just grinned brightly, just as the chef walked in, shaking his head.
"Alice, can you pay attention to what you're doing instead of hitting on any hot guy that comes in?" He asked her, looking put out.
"I was paying attention, Clive!" She protested.
"Really?" He asked. "So you're aware he just rolled out of here without paying?"
Alice just gulped as she realised that it had happened.
"Uh...take it from my wages?" She suggested. The chef just shook his head.
"I'll bet the Ocean Bluff branch never had these problems." He muttered, heading back into the kitchen.
Chase was only just on his way back when his Dino Comm went off.
"Everyone, guys, come to the lab right away!" Riley rushed out. "I've figured it out!"
Chase struggled to get his Dino Comm out, while balancing the pizzas with one hand, and still riding his board.
"You...you have?" Tyler asked.
"Come down right away!" Riley reiterated, before signing off.
"I'll be right there." Chase told them. He weaved effortlessly through the crowd, grinding down a rail down a flight of stairs, all while holding the pizzas, at no time putting them in any danger of falling, or even tipping them to the side causing the toppings to slide. "Wow, who would have thought something like marbles would make someone concentrate?"
Back at the Dino Lab, Kendall and the others arrived back in the lab, finding Riley standing by a bench in the centre. He had his logic puzzle out in front of him.
"OK Riley, you said you had something?" Kendall asked him.
"It's a working theory, but I think its pretty sound." Riley told them. "Whether you're playing Chess, Black Jack or Poker, you don't just play the board or the cards. As big a part of the game is playing the players."
"Uh...OK...good thought." Tyler said, looking confused. "So...that means...?"
"We need to figure out who the players are, or more accurately, what they want." Riley answered.
"We know they..."
"Fury knows where the Ptera Zord is, but will he tell Sledge?" Shelby asked.
Tyler and Koda just looked to Shelby, waiting for a response.
"Sledge doesn't care about the Pterazord, unless it leads him to the Gold Energem." Kendall reminded her. "All Sledge cares about is the Energems."
They switched their gaze to Kendall, who had made an excellent point, but didn't really ease their confusion any.
"But Fury betrayed Poisandra, so Sledge can't trust him anymore." Shelby chipped in. "Poisandra is his fiancée..."
They switched back to Shelby as she said this. Koda just scratched his head, while Tyler furrowed his brows.
"And a complete Bridezilla if memory serves." Kendall added. "All SHE cares about is marrying Sledge..."
Switching back to Kendall, Koda's mouth was hanging open, while Tyler had taken to stroking his temples. They were talking so rapidly, while not really leading him to understand what was going on; he was starting to get a headache.
"Which Sledge won't do until he gets the Energems!" Shelby reminded her. "So it's in HER best interests to do anything that speeds up the search, which is why she stole the E-Tracer..."
"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa!" Tyler interrupted, ending the game of verbal tennis the girls seemed to be playing. Koda looked like he understood the situation about as much as if someone was trying to teach him how to build a nuclear reactor. "I am so confused."
"My head hurt." Koda added.
"What's our next step?" Tyler asked.
"Maybe...we eat!" Koda answered. It was bad enough he was confused without being hungry into the bargain. He wasn't sure he'd understand what was happening any more on a full stomach, but at least he wouldn't be hungry!
"Chase is on his way." Kendall reminded him. "And since he took his board, we know he won't get distracted. He shouldn't be long. In the meantime, let's hear your theory Riley."
"We now know the players." He told them. He held up three marbles in turn. "Sledge, Poisandra and Fury."
The others just looked to him as he approached his logic puzzle.
"They each have their own motivations, the Energems, love, and power." He explained. "And in doing so, they each take their own paths."
He put the marbles into three separate tubes at the top of the puzzle. They watched the marbles beginning to roll down their individual paths, each triggering different mechanisms.
"But...what is the one thing all of them need first?" Riley asked.
"The Energems." Shelby responded. Riley held up a finger.
"Or, more accurately, a way of GETTING the Energems." He told them. "Like a very powerful weapon."
"Like...the Pterazord." Tyler surmised. "But we already established it's useless without a way to recharge it. They have maybe one battle in it if they're lucky."
"Which brings us to the one common thing they all need." Riley concluded as the marbles all came out of the bottom, all into the same dish. "Three paths, all with the same end, they all need a way to power up the Ptera Charger."
"Which means they need to find this place right?" Shelby asked. "We're the only ones with the technology they need."
"But are we though?" Riley asked.
"No lab is researching the kind of technology they would need." Kendall told him. "Even if one started today, it would take years..."
"What if a lab HAD been researching that kind of thing, one that had a lot less moral scruples about how they attained advances than most." Riley suggested. "How about one that was shut down by the government?"
"Now I'm completely lost." Tyler sighed.
"Riley, what you're talking about is an urban myth." Kendall sighed. "You can't seriously think...It never existed."
"Wait, you know what he's talking about?" Shelby asked.
"A few years back, there were rumours of a weapon's design programme that was called Alphabet Soup." Kendall told them. "If you believe the internet conspiracy theories, children with extraordinarily high IQ's were being kidnapped and forced to work on weapon's technology. The idea was they had the intelligence to do so, but that without the restrictions of an adult mindset, their imagination could attain goals much faster than adult scientists."
"That's sick!" Shelby shrieked. "Why would anyone do that? How COULD anyone do that to...to kids?"
"Weapon's manufacture is a very profitable business. A lot of people's morals get pretty flexible when profit is involved." Kendall answered. "Whoever comes up with the next earth-changing weapon, the next A-bomb, if they were from a private corporation and able to file patent rights...it'd be worth billions. But there's no evidence, it never existed!"
"Do you really think the government would want the public to think something like that could happen right under their noses?" Riley asked her. He pulled up a web site. "Around the time the rumours started, a private corporation known as the Macca group suddenly went out of business with no real explanation. It was one of the five largest corporations in the developed world with profit margins in the high nine figures per year, then one day they suddenly stopped trading. Every office shut down, and all their work and assets just...disappeared. Does anyone want to take a guess what one of their biggest areas was?"
"Weapon's development?" Shelby asked.
"And the prize goes to the girl in pink!" He complimented her. "If anyone would have had the technology to do this, if anyone was looking into research like that...don't you think they would?"
"There's just one problem, this is all still just a theory." Kendall told him. "Not to mention that with the Macca group gone, it's not like..."
"But we DO have somewhere to start looking." Riley told them, pulling up an image. They all saw the warehouse on the screen.
"Hey, I know that place; I walk past it on my way to work." Shelby told them. "But it's been empty for years!"
"Yes, it has." Riley agreed. "According to the land registry, the last known owners of the building were..."
"The Macca Group?" Koda asked. "They work here?"
"One of their labs did." Riley concluded. "I say it's worth a look."
"But if their gear was seized..."
"Tyler, it was a weapon's manufacturer that was creating weapons no one knows how to operate." Riley reminded him. "It'd be like asking someone to disarm nukes with a sledgehammer. Maybe the reason the building's still standing and not a mall or an apartment block is because they can't risk bringing it down. Maybe there's something there they can't risk trying to disarm."
"I have to say, it's a long-shot but...the logic actually works." Kendall agreed, heading to her command station. "You go and check it out, I'll keep track from here for any alien signatures. Good work Riley!"
Back at the lab, Puzzler was looking out of the window at the courtyard down below. They had sealed the lab, trying to lie low while they got the process underway. Fury was pacing as he waited for Wrench to complete his work in the other room. He hated hiding, he was a creature of direct action, but he knew patience was paramount at this time. Until they charged the Ptera Charger, the Ptera Zord would be a glorified, fifty storey paperweight. There was some power still left in it, but hardly enough to launch an assault. He couldn't wait to see the Rangers' expression when he showed up and destroyed them in their very own Zord. He was so close, he could taste it. He just needed a little more time.
"What are they doing?" Puzzler shrieked in an animated manner. Fury snapped around on his monster, who looked like he was going out of his mind with frustrations. "You could have had him! You were three moves from certain victory!"
"What are you doing?" Fury asked.
"Can you see what they're doing to my game?" Puzzler asked him. "They...they may as well be playing blindfolded!"
"YOUR game?" Fury asked.
"NO! You left your queen wide open!" Puzzler screamed. Fury just grabbed him roughly.
"They are children playing a pointless game that has no bearing on what we're doing here!" Fury roared. "Once we're done, you can destroy them for all I care, but until then, we have more IMPORTANT matters! I'm recharging the Ptera Charger, in the meantime, you keep a lookout and make sure those Rangers don't interrupt us!"
"Don't worry, if they come in here, they'll never defeat me!" Puzzler declared proudly. "No one outsmarts the Puzzler!"
"Fury, I think we're all set in here!" Wrench called through. Fury just glared at Puzzler, warning him with a barely audible growl to keep his mind on the task at hand as he made his way through to the other room. There, Wrench was putting the finishing touches to his device. "You were right about one thing; the tech left behind here is incredible! If those idiots in their government understood any of it, this place would have been stripped bare years ago!"
"Fortunately for us they didn't." Fury responded. "You set it up as I asked?"
"It's ready for power extraction." Wrench told him, hooking up the Ptera Charger to the device. "Now all we need is the power source."
"You don't have to look far." Fury responded, climbing into a chair hooked up to the device. "I'm the power source."
"YOU?" Wrench asked. "I thought...I thought maybe we were going to use one of the Rangers...or maybe a monster or..."
"I'm the power source!" Fury reiterated. "Set it up!"
"But...you could be destroyed!" Wrench protested.
"And you care why?" Fury asked. "Let me worry about that, just do as I ask!"
"Alright, if you insist." Wrench answered, plugging a couple of wires directly into Fury's flesh. "I have to warn you, it will hurt..."
"Just get on with it!" Fury demanded. Wrench just shook his head.
"Alright." He sighed, throwing the switch to turn on the power. "Just don't say I didn't warn you."