On the Warrior Dome Ship, Cosmo was sitting in the corner of the Executive Lounge, ordering himself a drink from the bar. While his numbers had been really good from the Speedwing episode, the Galactic Ninjas were creating their own headaches. In his career, he was used to handling the eccentricities and outrageous demands of his talent. Some were simple enough, others were a little more of a balancing act. Having more than one raging psychopath on the ship that demanded the very best chambers, or that their name receive the top billing on the show and threatening everything from walking out to the complete obliteration of the ship if they didn't get their way, thing were a little more sensitive. However, the Galactic Ninjas and their eccentricities were causing him a whole new world of headaches.

"Martini, made with Xyberian vodka and three olives." Venoma grumbled as she sat down. "And a glass of ice please!"

The barman left the glass of ice, which she plunged her hand into, while he went to get her drink. Cosmo just sighed.

"Hard going?" He asked.

"Tendonitis is no laughing matter." She grumbled. "It really hurts!"

"I imagine it would after you've been playing the same game of Rock, Paper Scissors for three straight days." He muttered as he downed his drink. The barman refilled it, but he grabbed his hand. "Just leave the bottle."

"Well, at least its over for now." She declared. "I still can't believe I lost."

"You…wait…you lost?" Cosmo asked, his attention picking up. "You lost? Which means someone won? SOMEONE WON?"

"Yes, Rygore will face the Rangers next." She told him. "When he took a break he came up with a new strategy and now…now you get to watch him stomping around the Rangers' home city."

"By new strategy you mean picking rock when the three of you have been picking scissors all the rest of the time." Cosmo replied sarcastically. "Wait, break? What break? I thought this was your break!"

"We took a break before the last round. Even we Galactic Ninjas!" She struck a pose, knocking her drink from the barman's hand, where hit shattered against the wall. The barman just dutifully started mixing her another. "Require a break every now and then. Three days is a long time."

"You don't say." Cosmo answered wearily, having been waiting for them to make their choice for the last three days. "Alright, so Rygore, he's the one that's known for his strategy."

"Well, yes, Rygore is one of the strongest and most powerful monsters in the galaxy, but his mastery of strategy and surprise attacks leaves his enemies confounded, confused." She responded. "Often by the time they know what he's doing he's already destroyed them."

"That sounds absolutely perfect!" Cosmo cheerfully chirped as he started to become a lot more enthusiastic about the prospect. "With a strategic master like Rygore, the Rangers won't know what hit them!"

"I wouldn't be surprised, they'll never be able to guess what he's about to do." Venoma said as she received her drink and downed it in one go. "I mean, most of the time even he doesn't know what he's going to do."

As she left, Cosmo just furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Um…what?" Cosmo asked. "Would you mind running that one past me again?"

Mrs Finch headed into the Teacher's Lounge in an all-too-rare break between classes to take a break. While she was primarily the Maths teacher at Summer Cove High, the monster attacks had led to a rather chaotic and less than ideal staffing situation at the school. Between the number of teachers who opted for early retirement, transferred seeking a new start and those who didn't even try to come up with another explanation and simply said "Screw this I'm out of here!" before running for their lives the school had run at a shortage now ever since the first attacks. Needless to say it was difficult to get replacements, even the most idealistic young teachers fresh from college eager to throw themselves into the fire valued their lives enough to think twice before going to a Ranger city during an active war and so most of the school was being run between the few teachers who stayed and a few part-time teachers with other professions outside the school. She could hardly remember the last time she wasn't pulling double or triple duty so when the time came that she could avail herself of the staff room's coffee machine, she was only too happy to get to put her feet up.

The pot already had some coffee in it, but it looked fresh enough to not warrant making another. After pouring her cup, she headed to the fridge, looking for some milk. She had to do a double-take when she saw that the fridge was full of frankfurters, marshmallows, burgers and other assorted items that normally had no earthly business being there. Normally the fridge was the home to staff lunches. Sandwiches, pastas, salads, perhaps the odd sushi tray but never anything like this. That was all except for one time of year.

"There's still some milk in the salad crisper." Levi told her as he came in with a couple of bags. "Sorry, it was the only place there was room to put it."

"So, the annual camping trip." She commented. "I thought they were talking about cancelling it."

"There was talk of that, but considering everything a lot of people are of the view are the kids any safer in their homes than in the woods right now?" Levi responded. Mrs Finch just shrugged. To be fair, it was a fair point. Most of the monsters tore through buildings as easily as they did shrubbery so when it was weighed up, really there wasn't much point in denying the kids one of the more enjoyable school outings.

"That's a fair point." She stated. "I guess you drew the short straw then."

"Are you kidding, I volunteered, I love camping!" Levi responded with a bit of a nostalgic look on his face. "My dad, the General, he liked taking me and Tom out into the woods or the plains every now and then. He used to take it really seriously. Said it got him in touch with his roots."

"In touch with his roots?" She asked him. Levi just chuckled.

"He was an old-school Texan. He took the cowboy thing really seriously! The clothes weren't just a fashion statement for The General." Levi said to her, thinking back about it. "Of course, the camping we did was nothing like this."

"Let me guess, you slept under the stars around a campfire?" She teased him.

"No, but our trips were less frankfurters and marshmallows and more fishing poles and rifles." Levi said, causing her to blink a little. "Like I said, he took it really seriously. We ate what we could forage, catch or shoot."

"Considering the fact the school would barely let some of our kids use safety scissors I don't think that pitch would go well with the PTA." She chuckled as she poured Levi some coffee.

"It's kind of nice, but yeah…I think the kids would prefer camping this way." Levi said, putting some buns into the cupboards. "So I take it this isn't your scene?"

"Camping was great when I was a Girl Guide, but now…now I'd kind of like a quaint little B&B." She told him. "There is one up in the woods I used to go to that I loved. It's just down by the lake. I love it there, I think I've spent almost every Birthday there."

"If you love it, why haven't you been lately?" Levi asked her. "Don't…don't tell me it got flattened in one of the monster battles."

"Actually…"

"Oh man, I know a lot of stuff gets messed up, I sometimes can't keep track of what's been hit and…"

"No, it's not that." She told him. "I um…I haven't been there since before the divorce."

"Oh." Levi said, feeling a little bit awkward. He was well aware her name was 'Mrs Finch' for a reason. She had made no secret about her previous marriage, or the rather less than stellar circumstances that led to its end. She'd never gotten around to changing her name back. "Gee…now I almost wish we had flattened it."

Mrs Finch handed him his coffee, but hit him playfully as she did. Levi just thought about it for a little bit.

"You know, if you love it so much there, maybe you shouldn't let the fact your ex took you there prevent you from going back." He suggested. "No reason he should get that in the divorce right?"

"I don't know. It's just…I don't know if I'd like going by myself." She replied. "It was kind of an 'us' place for us."

"Well…how about if you're not alone?" Levi asked. She just arched an eyebrow.

"Mr Weston, what are you proposing?" She asked him.

"Maybe two friends, heading out there, a quiet weekend." He suggested. "I trust the food is good."

"Well, you don't have to catch it or shoot it yourself." She told him. "But last time I was there I really liked their menu."

"Then how about you check your diary and find a weekend that works for you?" Levi asked her.

"Aren't you kind of…you know…needed here?" She asked him. "In your other job?"

"The one benefit of those suits is you can move pretty quickly when you need to." Levi assured her.

"I guess I'll check my diary then." She told him as she took a sip of coffee.

Dane had been in San Francisco a couple of days now, but his search was proving to be a lot more frustrating than he had originally intended. Shane had provided him with the kind of lead he never could have dreamed he'd get on his search for Mariko. It turned out, just like him; Mariko had received a helping hand from the Academy in setting up outside of the Academy. In this case Shane had called in a favour from his brother Porter, who was a property developer, in order to set her up in an apartment in San Francisco, the closest thing she'd had to a home outside the Academy. Tori had narrowed down as he suspected, that Mariko had said she was coming to the city but after that, he was left with a long search. Shane had managed to provide him with a street address. One, admittedly, that was several years old and may no longer be valid but he still had something to work with...or so he thought.

It turned out that he had more to worry about than just the fact Mariko may have moved on in the time since she had left. The street address itself proved difficult to find, and Dane had underestimated how much a city could evolve and change in sixteen years. As he stopped another stranger to verify for the fourth day in a row that he was indeed on the correct street, he found himself once again standing outside a rather quaint little diner. Real estate in San Francisco, as it was in any built-up city, was a valuable commodity. It appeared as though at some point the apartment block he was expecting to find had been converted or torn down.

He'd done this circuit now for about three days, and was quickly running out of options so he decided to go inside this time. The place looked like something from straight out of a Riverdale comic. From the chrome-edged tables covered in garish Formica to the bright red stools bolted into the floor at the counter there was a distinct feeling of stepping back in time to a kind of Americana he wasn't certain had ever existed outside of some very rose-tinted views of the fifties. He crossed to the counter and took his place on a seat.

"What can I get for you?" The guy behind the counter asked him. From the striped shirt with suspenders to the bow tie, the only thing missing from this guy was a waxed moustache. Dane took a quick glance up at the menu.

"Just a coffee." He told him.

"You sure?" He asked. "We do a deal with a slice of pie for an extra dollar. The cherry just got pulled out the oven!"

Dane thought about it for a moment, before gesturing for the man to go ahead. He didn't know how fruitful any kind of inquiry here would be but if he was going to start asking about things that happened before the cafe opened, he figured putting a little cash in the register first couldn't hurt his chances.

"I've seen you floating around outside the shop the last couple of days." The man commented as he went to pick out a slice of pie for Dane. "Did it take you this long to decide on a coffee?"

"I'm kind of looking for someone." Dane told him. "How long has this place been here?"

"Must be going on...twelve years now." The man said as he popped the pie onto a plate and went to the ice cream cabinet. "A la mode? No extra charge."

"Vanilla, thank you." Dane told him. "Twelve years? That's a long time."

"Why, what were you looking for?" He asked.

"A friend of mine, an old friend, I was told she lived in an apartment at this address." Dane said as the guy put the plate in front of him and gave him a spoon, before going to the coffee pot.

"Apartment block?" He asked, looking a little curious. "There are a couple of apartments above the shop but a block? Not as far back as I can remember."

"There are still apartments here?" Dane asked. "Do you know anyone that lives up there?"

"I see them in passing sometimes. Occasionally one of them will stop by for a joe on the way to work." He said as he gave Dane his coffee. Dane took one sip and put the cup down straight away. Why anyone would want to drink this he had no idea. It was bitter, and had a weird consistency to it that made it seem like the guy had never even heard of coffee before, never mind made it. "Who are you looking for?"

"Her name's Mariko." Dane told him. The man stopped for a moment, thinking about his answer. It took him a good while, making Dane wonder if perhaps risking the coffee here had been a good gamble after all. However, he just shook his head.

"I'm sorry sir, that's not a name I'm familiar with." He answered, just as the bell above the door sounded. Dane looked around seeing some men in suits coming in. "Enjoy the pie. Gentlemen! I have your usual booth over here!"

Dane took a bite out of the pie, and almost gagged. If the coffee was bad, the pie was even worse! The guy had managed to somehow make it sour, sweet and salty all at the same time! As the man went about his business, Dane was considering leaving when he noticed the man heading into the back. He came back a moment later with a whole different pot of coffee and some truly spectacular looking pastries. As he had another look around, he started to notice a few odd things about the place. Apart from the table that just walked in, he was the only customer in the place. Despite the cafe being in the heart of Castro, one of the busiest neighbourhoods in San Francisco, other people just walked straight past. A quick look at the reaction from the guys at that table said that their meal was significantly better than his. The man talked with them made it seem as if he knew them well, and was going out of his way to please them.

Dane watched on a little longer. The men at the table all wore dark suits. The largest of them was a true monster of a man, easily upward of 300 pounds and bald. While he was quite rotund, Dane could recognise the signs of someone whose build hid great power. Although they were noted for being large, and many dismissed the sport as just shoving and slapping, the sumo wrestlers of Japan were incredibly thickly muscled and had immense power behind them. Between his posture and the line of his suit, Dane could recognise the fact the man's girth concealed a significant muscle mass. As one of them leaned over to point to an item on the menu, he saw a shoulder harness, and the glint of a pistol just under his jacket...these men were armed! While America did have the right to bear arms, in most places one needed to have a concealed carry licence if they wanted to carry weapons that weren't openly on show. That meant either these men had such licences or were carrying their weapons illegally. He had a distinct feeling it was more likely to be the latter.

Dane picked up his cup, braving another sip of coffee to make it less obvious he was watching the men as he looked for a reflective surface so he could keep his eye on them. There were some envelopes being exchanged, and when the large man handed over cash for the meal, it was definitely not the four dollars that Dane had paid for a coffee and a slice. He could recognise. As he took a sip, he noticed that one of the men gestured in his direction. The man running the cafe said something that made them all start talking among themselves as one of them kept an eye on him. It didn't take long for one of them to come over to the counter.

"Hey, Tony, wanna put a grilled cheese on for me? Make it nice and gooey just the way I like." The man told him, before looking to Dane. "Nice place, huh?"

"It's definitely something." Dane replied.

"I don't think I've seen you around here before." The man continued. "Are you just passing through?"

"It depends." Dane stated.

"On what?" He asked.

"How long it takes to find what I'm looking for." Dane said.

"Well, maybe I can help." The man said. "You know...to help get you on your way."

"I'm looking for a friend that lived here." Dane told him. "Her name was Mariko."

"Sorry, doesn't ring a bell." The man said, though he did hesitate. It was way too long for Dane not to pick up on the fact he thought about his answer too much for it to be the truth. He clearly recognised the name.

"She might have looked a little like this once." Dane said, showing him a picture. "She might have been here with a young kid..."

"I said she wasn't here." The man told him. "Enjoy the pie."

"You know, you do seem awfully certain that she wasn't here for someone you said you don't know." Dane answered. This caused the man to stop his journey back to the table. He turned back to Dane, putting his hands on his hips.

"You a cop?" He asked.

"No." Dane replied.

"A fed?" He asked.

"Why would you think...?"

"You ask an awful lot of questions." He stated.

"Like I said, I was looking for a friend." Dane told him, starting to size up the situation. The man in front of him was armed, and by the looks of things was right-handed. It would take him at least a couple of seconds to pull out his gun, more than enough time for Dane to stop him. The others in the corner, he could use the man in front of him to prevent them taking action. The way they watched on, he seemed to think they at least cared enough about him to not be willing to shoot through him. The door wasn't far away; he could easily get enough time to get out if he needed to. The largest man got up and made his way over. This made things a little murkier, the bigger man was clearly someone that got respect from the others, and he knew they wouldn't act if it meant harming him. Of course he was so huge that it did cut down potential escape routes. He put his hand on the man's shoulder.

"Go sit down."

"But..."

"I said sit down!" The bigger man told him. The other guy backed off a few places, before the bigger man smiled at Dane. "Look, your friend clearly isn't here, and the pie...it really isn't that good."

"That's one thing we agree on." Dane answered. "Yours looks pretty good though."

"The door's over there." The big man told him. Dane just got up, gathering up his jacket, before heading for the door. He wasn't intimidated, despite their efforts, but they had confirmed one thing, someone here did know who Mariko was, which meant they might know where she went. He just knew when the situation wasn't to his advantage. As he left, the large man turned to his associate.

"I said sit down." He told him.

"I was just..."

"When I tell you to do something I expect you to do it!" He stated bluntly.

"Hey, I've earned my bones, just like you Benny!" He replied. "That deal you sent me on was an ambush and I still walked out..."

"You got lucky in Fresno, Bob!" He reminded him. "That guy was clearly fishing! Now get your grilled cheese and sit your ass down!"

Bob turned to the counter, picking up his plate as they both headed back towards their table.