The following morning, the Rangers were out in the training yard, going through their paces. Mike and Emily had been allowed to train with each other at a reduced pace to recover from the exertion of having to battle without the back-up of the others, but the rest were going at it harder than ever. Having been out of their bodies for almost a whole day, they wanted to make sure they had gotten all their faculties back to normal, and were back to form.
Mentor Ji was on the sidelines, keeping an eye on all of them, interjecting wherever he felt he was needed. Kevin was in one corner, working on his archery, while Mia was doing some kata with her Sky Fan. He was happy with the work they had done so far, and was confident that if the time came, they would be ready for action.
Mike was in another corner, teaching Emily some of his unarmed combat techniques. He had to remind them once when it started to look a little too much like flirting to get their minds on the task at hand, but on the whole, he was appreciative of the fact they had both used a lot of symbol power, and needed some time to recover from that, but after their gentle warning, they were able to get the balance between gentle exercise and serious work just right.
He smiled as he saw Emily catch one of Mike's kicks and take him down into a perfect knee bar submission just like he had been teaching her. His youngest Rangers had troubled him the most over their time in the house, but after the previous day, he couldn't remember being more proud of them. They had grown into young adults, and he was sure that in time, they would enjoy a good marriage.
Finally, he turned his attention to Jayden and Antonio, who were working on their blade work. It was more than just their relationship, Jayden genuinely liked working with Antonio because of his differing style. He had always encouraged the others to mix it up, working with other weapons, sometimes even with weapons they would virtually never use. It served a dual purpose. Having been caught without powers before, he knew that it would always be good to know that they could handle the situation they didn't have access to swords. It also prepared them for the fact that not every opponent was considerate enough to only attack with katana and fight in exactly the same style they were taught.
With his wooden tanto, Antonio was on the offensive, keeping Jayden guessing with his unorthodox style. It was exactly the reason he liked working with Antonio, even when they were working with alternate weapons and switching opponents, none of them was as unpredictable as Antonio. He fought very much how he lived, no one knew what to expect from him, which meant at times he could pull off some genuine moments of real brilliance that no one else would have thought of. Were it not for him, they would never have unlocked the secrets of the Black Box. The Claw Zord would still not be operational, and the battles with the Nighlock may well already have been over.
Jayden managed to catch him though as he pulled off a jumping spin, driving a straight kick into his chest and sending him to the mat. One of the few drawbacks with Antonio's unorthodox ways and random style was that occasionally he made moves that were somewhat less than brilliant. His manoeuvre was designed to distract and intimidate, creating the opening to attack, but to someone as skilled as Jayden, with proper timing, it opened him up to an attack. Jayden flicked away his tanto, before kneeling on Antonio's chest, holding his bokken to his throat.
"Alright, I think that should be enough for now." Mentor Ji told them. "I'll be working on a few things in my study. Wash up and be back for afternoon training at three PM."
Mike, Emily, Mia and Kevin made their way towards their rooms to get cleaned up as Jayden helped Antonio back to his feet. He smiled as he got back up.
"You had me going there for a while." Jayden complimented him.
"Thanks." Antonio replied as he took a towel from the bench and started to wipe himself down.
"So, after we get washed up, where are you taking the cart?" Jayden asked him. Antonio just looked at him.
"Uh...I'm not going out today." Antonio told him. Jayden just looked up at the bright, clear blue sky and back to Antonio.
"Are you sure?" He asked. "It's a beautiful day. I'd have thought it would be perfect to get..."
"I...um...I don't have any stock." Antonio told him. "Mentor Ji didn't get my cart back in time. I had to throw out the fish I had at the market."
"Oh." Jayden replied. "Well, I guess you can finally get round to teaching me how to fish..."
"I don't really feel like it." Antonio told him. He could see that Jayden was somewhat surprised by this. "You do remember what happened last time right? My shoulders still hurt from Ji's punishment drills!"
"I just would have thought..."
"I do more than just fish!" Antonio said a little too harshly. He saw the look on Jayden's face, and realised he had to do something to ease the situation. He smiled at him. "Besides, if I'm not working, we could always go and do something fun together. I heard there was something going on at the comic book store."
"Sure." Jayden replied. "Let's get washed up and changed, then we'll head into town."
Jayden was a few paces behind Antonio as they made their way into the Shiba House. Something just didn't seem right. While Antonio did have a point that he didn't ALWAYS have to be out fishing or working, he had never seemed so dead-set against going before. He then remembered that Antonio had been turned into a fish, and could remember seeing him faint as he saw the cat eating that fish when he returned to his own body. He just shrugged and decided to let it go. He supposed it was only reasonable that he might want to lay off the fish for a little while, and it wasn't like taking a couple of days off would hurt.
Over at the school, Spike arrived, finding Mal, Jimmy and Vicky waiting by his locker. He saw Jimmy and Mal looking a lot more cheerful than they had been the last time he had seen them, but then since everyone was back in their own bodies safe and sound, he wasn't really too surprised. He came over to them, putting his bag down on the floor.
"It was a pretty wild day yesterday huh?" He asked them. They all just nodded.
"I'm just glad it's over." Vicky responded. "Just when I think this town can't get any weirder, something like that happens!"
"I know what you mean." Mal agreed. "My mom always says if we had the money, she'd move."
"I thought you lived in a good neighbourhood." Spike commented.
"Yeah, but the property prices suck at the moment!" Mal told him. "Who wants to live in a town where half the homes get stomped on every other week?"
Spike was about to answer, but realised that he had a point. One problem faced by any town a Ranger team showed up in was that for a while, the property prices nosedived. His own dad had told him how his parents had only afforded to buy their house because they bought it during Rita's reign. A lot of people were stuck in the city, being unable to afford to move as many would like to do. While the Rangers kept the property damage to a minimum, and saved the world, the sad fact was that many buildings were destroyed during their battles.
Just then, Melanie came by with some of the other cheerleaders. She brushed past him, stroking his shoulders. Mal and Jimmy lit up to see this, but Vicky just groaned and turned away, heading into the bathroom. She really didn't need to see that.
"Spike, I had a really great time last night." She told him.
"I did too." He replied. "Sorry I arrived so late."
"It's alright." She giggled. "After that monster attack, I'm glad you made it at all."
She looked to her friends, who were waving her to follow them, heading to class. She just looked back to Spike and smiled.
"You know, there's a really great musical on at the weekend." She told him. "The Lion King came into town. Would you like to take me?"
As she started to stroke his jacket, he started to stammer.
"Uh...uh...uh..." He stammered, before looking to Jimmy and Mal. "Sure, why not?"
"Great." She told him. "I know a great place we can go before hand. You can pick me up at six...unless you get turned into a newspaper again."
He turned a little pink as she said this. He had eventually told her on the date exactly what had happened to him. She leaned in and kissed his cheek, before walking away to join her friends. Spike had a really goofy grin on his face as he turned to Jimmy and Mal.
"Dude, that was awesome!" Jimmy screamed. "Seriously, two dates in a row with the hottest girl in your year?"
"Possibly the hottest girl in the school!" Mal added. "I guess I need to get myself on YouTube."
"Yeah, it's great." Spike told them. "I just don't know how I'm going to pay for it."
"The allowance thing again?" Jimmy asked him. He just nodded.
"She's great, but that date last night wiped out what Uncle Bulk gave me." He told them. "She wanted Italian and took me to L'Oliva Verda."
"Wow, no wonder you're broke." Mal replied with a low whistle. "My parents took me there once. There were no prices on the menus they gave to mom and me."
"That's not a good sign." Jimmy agreed with a pained expression.
"Dad looked like he was going to pass out when the bill arrived." Mal completed his story. "So what are you going to do?"
"I guess I could find a job." Spike said with a shrug. "Or I could find some odd jobs."
"Well, given what's waiting at the end, it'll be worth it." Jimmy told him as they heard the bell and started to walk to class.
In the bathroom though, Vicky was in a cubicle, still fuming over her friends' insistence on going on and on about Melanie and Spike. She knew they had gone on a date, she knew they found her attractive, did they really have to keep going on about it?
She sat on the cistern, clenching her teeth together as she thought about it. Melanie was everything she wasn't. She was popular, she was pretty...it was no shock to her that the guys seemed to lose all sense when she showed an interest in one of them. The way they descended into mindless idiots when she came by...
"At least they'll be on her level." She muttered bitterly. She heard the door open, and a couple of girls entering the bathroom, laughing and joking. Under the cubicle, she could see coloured socks, and knew they were cheerleaders. She could recognise the voices too. Just like the guys, she had seen her share of bullying, but in some ways, girls were worse. She had spent a fair amount of time in the toilet cubicles crying her eyes out over the names they called her and the stories they spread. She pulled up her feet onto the seat so they couldn't see someone was in the cubicle. They didn't seem to be paying too much attention though.
"I can't believe it; you seriously went out with him?" One of the cheerleaders piped up. "I mean, I know since the fight he's all 'King of YouTube' and everything, but seriously?"
Vicky paused as she heard this. They were talking about Spike? One of them was obviously Melanie.
"Yeah, I did." She replied. "I had a really good time too."
"How good a time?" One of the others asked her. Vicky mimed puking in the cubicle. She found it hard enough to hear the boys talking, the last thing she needed was to hear the gory details.
"He didn't get to second base." She assured them. "I let him take my jacket, but that was about it."
"So...that's a great time?" One of the others asked. "You pick the dorkiest kid you can find, and don't even let him touch you and that's a great time? What did you do, stare at how pasty and dorky he looked?"
"I had a great time." She assured them with a little giggle. "Oh, by the way, that new picture you wanted to see? It's great, but even better in the premier showing."
"Wait, what?" One of them asked. "You mean...?"
"Yeah, he got me into the exclusive showing." She told them. "After dinner at L'Oliva Verda of course. You can't go somewhere like that on an empty stomach."
"Jeez, no wonder you had a good time." One of them laughed. "He looks like he dresses from a thrift store. How the heck did he afford that?"
"I guess I'm just worth it." Melanie told them as they all chatted among themselves. "Perhaps you ladies have heard of Google?"
She saw the feet all gather around, and presumed they were gathering around Melanie to hear what she had to see.
"Skullovitch isn't exactly a common surname." Melanie explained. "When I heard him talk about his 'Uncle Bulk', I checked it out. He lives with Farquis Bulkmeyer."
"Bulkmeyer?" One of them asked. "And his name is..."
"Skullovitch." Melanie reiterated. "As in the old owners of Bulkmeyer's? Check it out, when they sold it, they made a packet! Eugene Skullovitch is still in business. He's worth a freaking fortune!"
Vicky almost slipped off the toilet seat hearing this. She didn't like Melanie, or her friends, but now she was hearing this, she was really starting to hate them.
"He's taking me to The Lion King this weekend." Melanie told them proudly. "After that little display in the hall, I'm sure he wants more."
"And is he going to get it?" One of her friends asked. Melanie just laughed out loud.
"What do you think?" Melanie asked her. "Once I make a big splash at the end of term dance in a couple of months, all on his ticket of course, I have a feeling I may be giving Jeremy a little call."
With that, they all filed out of the bathroom, leaving Vicky alone in the cubicle. She slipped down, sitting on the seat, her mouth hanging open in horror. She couldn't believe what she had heard. She hated the thought of Spike going out with one of the girls that had made her life miserable, and now having heard what she had, she was completely sick to her stomach. Melanie only wanted Spike for what she could get from him. She hadn't even looked at him until he had become 'King of YouTube', and even then had only deigned to approach him once she knew about Spike's family.
She got up and headed for class with her mind racing. She had no idea what to do, Spike was her friend, and she knew he was going to be hurt once he heard about this. The problem was, would he believe her if she told him?
Fin