A/N: Sorry for the long wait, I don't really have an excuse other than work. Oh, and Rangercast dot com can take some of the blame. Since that site started I've been making banners left, right, and centre. Come check it out, under 'Fan Art'. My gallery is called "Back to my drawing board"
Anyways, to the story!
-----PROO-----
"Whoa, slow down there chief." Will said with a smile, interrupting Dax's flow of words. I haven't seen Dax this excited since...come to think of it I've never seen him this excited. Not even when we first became Rangers.
"Look what I found in Trade Magazine." Dax said with a grin as he pulled out a magazine clipping and started to read. "'New big budget movie, Nanger Rhumba, is holding open auditions for handsome actor.' Hello."
This is just what Dax has always dreamed of. He wants to become an actor so much, this is like a dream come true. Well, if he gets the part, that is.
"'Who can perform his own stunts.'" Dax finished the article. "I'm perfect."
"That's great Dax, but we're kind of in the middle on something important here." Ronny said with a glance at the other Rangers. Dax's face fell. Way to go Ronny. "Remember: saving the world. We need you."
"I know," Dax explained, "but it's only a one day shoot. Please." Dax was appealing to Mr. Hartford. I hope he says yes. After all, it's only one day. We can manage without him for just one day. And it's probably not even the whole day.
"Sorry Dax, but Ronny's right." Hartford said, walking up to Dax. "You're needed here. I'm going to have to say 'no'." He said firmly. Dax looked down at his shoes as he realized what this meant. "Alright Rangers, back to work. We need to find those jewels as soon as possible."
I walked over to Dax and put my hand on his shoulder. "Dax, don't worry about it. There will be lots of other opportunities. Besides, once we save the world they'll be begging to have a hero acting in one of their movies." I smiled at him, trying to cheer him up.
"Yeah, you're right Rose. Don't mind me." He gave me a smile and walked out of the Command Centre. I stood, looking after him.
"He's not a very good actor, is he." A voice came from behind me.
"No, Mack, he's not. He really wanted this acting job."
Mack put his hand on my shoulder, its warmth spreading all throughout my body and causing my mind to go blank. "Don't worry, he'll get his big break soon."
"Yeah. Anyways, I've got to go work out some bugs in our newest weapon." I smiled at Mack and headed towards the stairs. Of course I had to leave the plans in my room. Of course I had to stay up half the night working on this thing. Oh well, it'll definitely be worth it.
"-flowing through my veins. I've come for the Kakoona Idol, and I won't stop my quest until I have it in my hands." A voice drew me to the rec room. Leaning against the doorjamb I saw Dax reading a script, acting out the part. He really is a lousy actor. I thought with a smile. But he's a great guy. "Heh, that was pretty good."
"What are you doing?" I said in a sing-song, catching him off guard. It was funny to watch him try to cover up his real actions.
"Nothing!" He denied frantically, then looked at me suspisciously. "What does it look like I'm doing?"
"It looks like you're acting." I said walking forward. Not doing a very good job, but still.
"I was!" He said pointing to the script in his hands. "I was reading the lines for that audition I'm going to miss."
"I know that." I told him with a smile. "I said it looked like you were acting. I read a book by Stilanski The Art of Acting. He claims the objective of acting is to not look like you're acting, while acting." Wow, I just condensed a 600 page book into one sentence. Wait a second, he looks confused. I'll give him a minute to think about it. He's a smart guy, it just takes him a while.
"Uh, good point. But it doesn't matter anyway. Andrew said I couldn't do the job." Dax said walking over beside me and leaning against the couch.
"Yes, but he didn't say you couldn't audition." I am going to be in so much trouble for this, but hey, this is really getting him down. If he's down then he won't be as focused when we fight. Anything to help the team, right? "Well, technically he didn't. Dax, I know this is a dream of yours. Do the audition. If they choose you, just say no, you're busy doing something else. It's a win-win situation." Unless he doesn't get it and becomes even more depressed than he is now.
"Ya think?" Dax said slowly, a light coming into his eyes. "I do the audition, rock their world, they offer me the part, and I just say 'no'." He stood for a few moments, considering the 'plan.' "It's a good idea, Rose. Thank you so much."
"No problem, Dax. You're one of my closest friends and I hate to see you so miserable. Now let's go work on your acting."
We stood beside each other, each of us looking at the script. "Okay Dax, I'll be Strandre.
"'Why don't you just give up? You're never going to get that Idol.'"
"'I will not give up, never as long as the blood is still flowing through my veins. I-'"
"Dax," I interrupted him. "You look like you're acting again. Maybe you're trying to hard. Let's try something different. Think of Strandre as Moltor, who's trying to convince you to stop looking for a jewel. Keep that picture in your mind's eye. Let's try this again."
"'Why don't you just give up? You're never going to get that Idol.'" I said with a taunting tone in my voice
"'I will not give up, never as long as the blood is still flowing through my veins.'" Dax's voice was quiet, yet fierce. "'I've come for the Kakoona Idol, and I won't give up my quest until I have it in my hands.'"
"That was great, perfect, Dax." I said with a smile.
-----PROO-----
Where IS he? The auditions started at 10 and it's already 3. How long does it take? My thoughts were interrupted by a beeping sound coming from my Tracker. I ran out of the garage and into the Command Centre. I joined Hartford at the large viewing screen.
"We heard the sensors." Ronny said as she, Mack and Will came sliding down the poles and ran up beside us.
"It's a battle for the Parchment. We need to-" His voice trailed off as he looked around. "Wait, where's Dax?"
"He's, uh," think Rose, think fast! "taking a walk." Oh great job Rose, that's a perfect excuse. Gee, some genious I am… "He needed some alone time." They don't look convinced. "Actors." I said with a weak smile.
"Fine." Hartford said. Wow, I can't believe they bought that. "But grab him on your way out. GO!"
'Grab him on our way out'? How on Earth are we supposed to do that? I guess I'll just have to tell the other Rangers the truth. Ronny will be pissed.
"Go." Hartford said sharply, reminding me that I had yet to move.
I jumped into the jeep and we took off. "Taking a walk, eh?" Mack said with a little smile.
"Oh, we forgot to grab him. I'll contact him on his morpher." I took out my morpher and spoke. "Dax, get to the beach, hurry. I'll send you the co-ordinates." Shutting off the communication I smiled weakly at Mack. "He's on his way."
-----PROO-----
"Dax is trapped in the cave!" Ronny said as we gathered around the entrance.
"Not anymore." Dax said from behind us.
"Dax! How did you get out?" I asked as we all de-morphed.
"There was a hole in the roof, so I just used my DriveVortex. Simple, no? Ah man, I've got to get back!" Dax said as he used his genetic enhancement to jump away.
We walked back to our vehicles and headed back to the mansion. All during the drive my mind was busy. He got the part! I knew he would, his acting has improved so much (A/N: ah, the irony… he didn't even audition!) But now he's actually doing the movie. It's only a one-day shoot. I can stall Hartford for that long, can't I? Oh man, if the other Rangers tell Hartford Dax is sunk. He'll be in so much trouble.
I slowly got out of the jeep and followed Ronny into the Command Centre. "We almost had him, but those slippery slugs slipped away." Ronny burst out as soon as we saw Hartford.
"Where's Dax?" Hartford asked with a frown. He's not asking about the fight? Oh man, this is not good, this is not good!
I was frantically searching my brain for a plausible excuse when Mack's voice stopped me. "He's uh, at that-doing that-"
"At the audition." Hartford said sternly. Great, he's going to be in so much trouble. "I explicitly told him not to go."
"How did you know?" I asked, pretty sure that I hadn't said or done anything to give him away. Except for that stupid 'he's taking a walk.'
"I own the studio that's making that film." That would explain it. Oh poor Dax! Wait a second, poor me! I'm going to be in as much trouble as Dax is. "Dax chose to disobey me, and in doing so he disrespected you all." Wait, what?
I had to speak up. "Now wait a minute Mr. Hartford. It was Dax's dream to be an actor. He just wanted to audition to see if he was good enough." Confession time, "with a little encouragement from - well, a lot of encouragement from me. I'm sorry." And I was. I hadn't thought of it being disrespectful. Mr. Hartford just doesn't understand.
"Apology accepted. Let's hope Dax realizes what's really important without any encouragement. On that note, let's get to work." Hartford said with a last look at me before turning to the computers.
I slowly walked over to a computer and started work. Okay, there must have been something on that parchment that led them towards that cave. Well let's look at that cave and see what's special about it.
-----PROO-----
Twenty-seven bathrooms. TWENTY-SEVEN! What kind of a house has27 bathrooms? "Okay Dax, let's split up each floor." We were standing at the top of the stairs, one hall leading to our rooms, the other leading to Hartford, Spencer and the guest bedrooms. "I'll take our half, you take the other half. Meet up here when we're done."
"Right. Wait, how exactly do we clean bathrooms?" Dax said with a confused look in his eye.
"You've never done this before? Okay, come watch me do my first one." I led him over to Will's bathroom. Might as well do this methodically. Up one side and down the other. I explained each cleaning utensil to Dax, and showed him how it was done. "Don't forget, we have to clean everything, the bath, toilet, cabinets and the floor."
"Right, I think I've got it. Well, see you in 6 bathrooms." Dax said with a wave as he headed off.
I sighed and headed off to Ronny's bathroom. I pulled off my old rubber gloves, put on a new pair and got to work.
My mind is a very busy place, and when I clean my mind clears. I'm able to empty my mind and stop thinking. It's a relief to be able to do that once in a while. I opened the cabinets to give them a cleaning when I saw something. Inside Ronny's cabinet there was a picture of Will. Aha, what have we here? Well Ronny Robinson, keeping pictures hidden in your cabinet? Tsk tsk tsk. I smiled and filed that bit of information away in my head. It'd make good blackmail material.
I quickly finished Ronny's bathroom and headed over to do my own. Wow, it's so weird to enter by the main door. I'm so used to my bookshelf door. I had just cleaned my own bathroom yesterday so there wasn't much for me to do. I headed over to Mack's room, suddenly getting nervous. I stood outside his bathroom door and took a breath, and entered. I was greeted by pure white. Wow Mack's bathroom is clean. I had just opened the first cabinet when I was interrupted.
"What are you doing, going through my cabinets?" Mack practically yelled. He ran across the room and slammed the door shut.
"Um, I was just about to clean it. Remember, latrine duty."
"Oh, right," Mack looked a little relieved at that. "Anyways, you can just go ahead to the next bathroom now. You don't have to clean my cabinets, they're fine. Now go." He ushered me out of his bathroom and slammed the door.
I walked over to Dax's bathroom in a daze. What on Earth was that all about?