Chapter 35

Deal Your Cards

"And while we're glad to have you back in class, Avalon, I can't help but worry because you grades still haven't improved. Yes, you're participating in class more often, but there hasn't been a significant shift in the amount of work that you turn in," Ms. Appleby said. She sat, prim and proper, at her desk, fingers laced and wearing an expression of concern towards the orange ranger, who sat across from her, legs cross at the knee and her arms in the similar position on her down student's desk.

"I'm trying my best, Ms. Appleby," Avalon said calmly. "But school has never been my strong point. I'm street smart, not book smart and quite honestly, mate, I think it's more important." She did her best to keep her face from warping into a mixed expression of a knowing smile and a grimace. If only her teacher had known who Chase really was that one time she had let her leave the classroom. The kind teacher would have probably had a heart attack if she knew how beat up Chase had ever made her. If not call the police herself.

That would have been pretty funny.

"Now, I don't believe that," Ms. Appleby said with a slight shake of her head. "It just takes a lot of hard work and I know you have that drive in you to do well." She picked up the staples papers that sat in front of her and held it out to Avalon. "Now, I want you to look over this and fix the mistakes that were made and I can give you extra credit. I'm sure if you buckle down from here on out you'll continue to improve in the way both of us know you can."

Avalon took the test, folding it up in her hand. Her right eyebrow rose. "You're not going to ask me to have my parents sign it?"

"I think, by now, I would know whenever my students forge the signature so that's not necessary." Ms. Appleby laughed as she stood up, gathering her things. "Thanks for taking the time to stop by, Avalon."

"No worries." Avalon stood up, taking her test with her. Folding it in her hands, she waited for Ms. Appleby to leave the room before walking out herself. She held it tight in her hand as she headed over to her locker. Once there, she spotted the other rangers at their own locker and her pace increased. She approached Tommy, whose locker was the closest to hers.

"Hey Av, what's up?" Tommy asked in cheerful greeting. "How was your meeting with Ms. Appleby."

Avalon snorted, holding out the folded sheet of paper. "Does this answer your question?" She slapped the sheet of paper into his chest before leaning against her locker, arms over chest, one boot covered foot up against the metal door.

"What's that?" Zack asked. He snapped his fingers and pointed at her. "A restraining order?"

"No." Avalon pointed at him. "That hasn't come in the mail yet." She then smiled evilly. "Though your face is good enough as a replacement so far." She laughed along with the others rangers as Zack pursed his lips. "No, it's my last history test."

"Oh, really? How'd you do?" Kimberly gave her a bright smile, moving up to Tommy's side and standing on her tip-toes to see for herself.

Tommy grimaced as he handed the test back to Avalon. "Well, think of it this way," he said helpfully. "You can only improve from here." He handed the test back to the orange ranger, turning back to his locker. He barely acknowledged Kimberly, who had taken a step away from him. Apparently things weren't back to normal between the two of them.

"Yeah, right." Avalon opened her locker and shoved the test inside before slamming the door shut. She let out an exaggerated cry of frustration, throwing her hands into the air. Her left hand clutched a Ring Pop she had taken from the shelf in her locker. "Why can't anything good happen to me?"

"I don't know," Jason started. A smile slowly wormed its way on his face as he turned his gaze from the strap of his backpack over to the orange ranger. His eyes shined with mischief. "If you ask me, I think that you—"

"Belt up!" Avalon warned him, pointing directly at him. She knew exactly what he was referring t and immediately felt a rush of anger as well as annoyance towards the red ranger. Sure, he had been nice after she had practically jumped him, but did he have to bring it up later? Of course. It must have been payback from all of the times she had teased him so far…and from the first time she met him, that was a lot. But who knew a guy would ever use a kiss as a way to tease someone? It wasn't just smart, it was underhanded and something she would have never expected to be thrown back in her face.

But he was the one that threw in your face that you were putting your friends in danger, Avalon reminded herself. The thought along made her huff with annoyance, causing Jason's smile to widen to its full extent.

Trini looked back and forth between the two rangers as Jason started to laugh to himself. She looked over at Kimberly, who appeared just as baffled as she did. "What'd I miss? What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Avalon mumbled darkly.

"Really? It doesn't sound like nothing," Kimberly pressed. A tiny smile tugged at her lips. "What's going on between you two?" She looked over at Jason, who pressed his lips together and shrugged. "Really. What is it?"

"Nothing," Avalon insisted in a low growl, glaring at the pink ranger. "Seriously, back off, alright!" Kimberly's eyes widened though Avalon didn't apologize, choosing, instead, to turn her head away. She never apologized unless she absolutely had to. It wasn't her fault she hated it whenever people got up in her business.

"Your body language and the sudden abrasive nature of your tone suggest that there really is something that is bothering you as opposed to the absence that you're referring to," Billy said innocently.

"Smurf! Don't help, you yobbo!" Avalon snapped. She pinched the bridge of her nose for a minute then looked at her watch. "Hey, today's Friday! Whose house are we going to for movie night?" She turned back to her locker, hoping the change in subject would take everyone's attention off of her. Thankfully she heard the rangers behind her conversing over what movie they were going to watch and at whose house. Thank God, she thought. The last thing I need right now is for these guys to put even more attention on me than I already have. She let out a sigh, suddenly remembering that she was supposed to meet up with Chase, Skye, and Summer that night. He had sounded very insistent on the phone the last time he called.

Then again, when had he not been insistent?

Ever since she joined them, he had really taken her under his wing, being sure she knew what she was getting into. He had shown her around the city, introducing her to some of the facets that had to go along with gang life and being in the Vipers. He took her on stakeouts to watch the police, seeing what they were doing to catch those from the Vipers, he pointed out the High-Flyers, showed her the best places to hit that had little to no security or video cameras around. He took her under his wing, protecting her and letting her know what was going on in the world around her…and yet he was the one that caused her the most harm. He pushed her, punched her, tortured her whenever she didn't do exactly what he wanted or in a way that he approved of. He smacked her around when she talked back, waved a gun in her face and threatened her life on numerous occasions.

The times that she would wake up from a nightmare, though they had started to become few and far between, she would suddenly sit up and grab a bat that sat by her bed and sit in the corner of the room, watching and waiting for something to happen. The High-Flyers had quickly raised her sense of paranoia when they had kicked in the front door of their apartment and left their symbol to let her know they knew where she lived. Even being at the Cranstons' house now, while she did feel safe, she didn't know how much longer things were going to stay that way.

It's only a matter of time until she was able to finally relax and not worry about my head blowing up from the blood pressure. Avalon thought. She took out the books she needed for her homework and shoved them into her backpack, turning back around to her friends.

"I'm just saying that watching action movies get boring and predictable after a while," Kimberly said. Her arms were crossed over the front of her sun dress, her hip was cocked, and she was glaring up at Zack. Zack glared back down at her, his hands on his hips, head tilted down so that he could respond to her.

"And I'm just saying that watching romance movies gets old," Zack insisted. "Especially considering its all fake and the whole movie could be fixed within the first fifteen minutes if the two leads would just talk to each other!"

Kimberly made a scoffing sound and the two started to bicker as the rangers looked back and forth between the two as if watching a volleyball match. Jason sighed loudly, looking at his watch. "So who do you think will win this time? My money's on Kim."

"Or we could compromise," Trini pointed out. She stepped up between the pink and black rangers, placing a hand on their shoulders and pulling them apart from each other. "This fight will go on longer than we need if you don't stop." She cleared her throat and motioned to Billy. "Since we're having it at his place, why don't we let Billy decide?"

"Because he'll make us watch some sort of documentary," Zack reminded him.

"Really? 'Cause I thought that learning about the Big Bang Theory was simply fascinating," Tommy said sarcastically. He exchanged a look with Jason and the two started to laugh, giving each other a high-five. "Hey guys, don't worry about it, we'll figure out what to watch when we go later tonight."

"If that's the case, I need to go find Bailey," Avalon said, pulling her backpack up on her shoulders. "I'm sure she's anxious to get more of her science fair entry done."

"What have she and Fred come up with, anyway?" Trini asked. She gave the orange ranger a warm smile, hugging her own backpack to her chest. "They've kept it a secret for so long I don't think anyone knows it."

Avalon waved a hand. "Something about nano particles," she said. "Billy knows what it is but I couldn't sit still long enough to listen before my eyes glazed over." She looked over at Zack and Kimberly once more as they continued to argue. "She's really excited about it though. More excited than her birthday, honestly, and I didn't think that was possible."

"Well, turning thirteen is a big deal," Trini pointed out. She gave a half smile. "It just sucks that your Mom and Dad can't be there to help celebrate." Her eyes lowered to her feet and she let out a short sigh before looking over at Billy, who had now given up trying to step between the two rangers. Billy gave her a sympathetic look, reaching down to take her hand and gently squeeze it in his. "But at least she'll be in the company of friends."

Avalon slowly nodded. Her eyes narrowed as she continued to study Trini, knowing something else was going on, but didn't push on it. She could accept it whenever someone had something they didn't want to talk about. She was like that anyway, whenever someone tried to push into her personal business, she would lash out until they got the message and continued to stay away from her. The rangers didn't seem to worry about that, they had been the first ones to break through her barrier quicker than anyone she had ever encountered.

"That's what I was thinking," Avalon said. "Especially considering it's the same day as the science fair so no matter what she's going to have her friends around her." She placed her hands on her hips and looked at the rangers. "Thanks for agreeing that you'll go. Bay doesn't like to make a big deal about her birthday but I know she's excited to know you lot are going to be there."

"We wouldn't miss it," Tommy reminded her. "What better way to spend the day than with your friends?" He thought about it for a minute. "Apart from fighting monsters and saving Angel Grove," he added. The rangers laughed. Tommy let out a sigh.

"If we're going to have movie night at our place then we need to get the place cleaned up before you all come over," Billy said. He looked at his watch. "I suppose we have a sufficient amount of time to successfully sanitize and put everything away." He turned to Avalon, eyebrows raised. "Are you ready to go?"

"Hey, it's the weekend, I was ready to get out of here as soon as I stepped foot in school on Monday," Avalon pointed out. She then pointed at Kimberly and Zack. "And as much as I enjoy watching Frick and Frack argue, it's starting to wear on my patience."

"That's saying something," Jason remarked. He turned and reached behind him, pulling out a sheet of paper. "That reminds me, this is from my Dad." He handed her the sheet of paper and she opened it, quickly looking over it. "Considering the police involvement you have, he says the two options are to turn yourself in and deal with community service or turn in the others and get a plea deal."

"Great." Avalon rolled her eyes. "Either way I'm on the losing end of the deal."

Kimberly and Zack had finally stopped arguing at that point and finally turned back to the other rangers. "Everything's going to be OK, Av, don't worry." Kimberly reached out and gently placed her hand on the orange ranger's wrist and squeezed. "You just need to focus on something else….like the prom dresses that we still need to get."

"Only you can turn everything back to shopping Kim," Jason teased her.

"Hey, prom is a very important part of a girl's life," Kimberly said. "And just like homecoming, we need to find the perfect dressers sooner rather than later."

"You look beautiful in everything you wear, Kim," Tommy said almost shyly. "So whatever dress you find, I'm sure it'll be amazing." Kimberly gave him a bright smile, her eyes lighting up. She stepped over to her boyfriend and gave him a hug, one that was shorter than usual. Enough so that the other rangers noticed it. "C'mon, I need to get home and get changed before we go over for movie night. Drive me?"

Tommy hesitated a moment, his eyebrows lowering in confusion. A second later his eyes cleared and he smiled at her. "Yeah, let's go." He nodded over to his friends. "

"What's up with them?" Avalon asked Trini.

Trini shrugged. If the yellow ranger knew, which Avalon was sure she did, she wasn't saying anything. The pink and white ranger walked off and the others continued to gather their things together. Billy looked at his friends. "Are any of you accompanying me and Avalon back to our residence to help set up?"

"Helping set up means cleaning and you know I already do enough of that at home with my Mom being a neat freak and everything," Zack said. He held up his hands, taking a large step back.

"And I have to do my homework before I go over," Jason replied. "You know my parents' rule." He rubbed his chin then turned to Avalon once more. "Though my Mom says 'hi' and she wants to know if you plan on stopping by again." He laughed and backed away with Zack as Avalon let out a cry of frustration.

Now he was doing it on purpose.

"What up with you and Jason?" Trini fired back to Avalon as the two and Billy headed towards doors of the school to go to the Cranston house.

"Touché."

"Those power brats better not think we're giving up on them!" Rita grumbled to Zedd, shoving another piece of meat into her mouth. She chewed viciously before grabbing another piece with her fork. "We haven't come up with a new plan of attack in days, Zeddy! We have to do something soon!"

"Patience is a virtue my dear," Zedd replied. "We need them to fall into a sense of security before we strike again." He gave her a long look. "And this time, I'm running the plan and we're going to destroy the power rangers once and for all."

Rita let out a loud, bark of laughter. "What makes you think you'll be able to do it?"

"What makes you think I won't?" Electricity crackled as Zedd stood up, grabbing onto his staff. "With the horoscope monsters at our arsenal, we have to continue to throw monster attacks to the rangers until they become exhausted." His fingers clacked against the rod of the staff. "And then we'll crush them like the little fleas they are."

"Like I haven't tried that before, "Rita said, rolling her eyes.

Zedd turned back to Rita and shook his head. "You underestimate me. I've seen everything that Zordon and his rangers have been throwing out at you since the beginning and I've started to plan accordingly. Exhaustion and balancing their lives is one thing that they've had to deal with. But they're not going to be able to see what I have coming."

"So spit it out!" Rita screeched. "What's your big plan?"

"That will come in time, all you need to know is that while you've been out in that space dumpster, I've been searching for something that will destroy Zordon, Alpha, and everything they stand for once and for all. And believe me when I say it'll be the last thing Zordon could see coming."

Avalon tapped her foot up and down and glanced at her watch. She needed to get this done so she could get back to movie night with her friends before they noticed she was gone. When she had left, they were in the middle of picking the next movie and a ping-pong tournament. As she was pretty bad at ping-pong, though her competitive nature hadn't been quelled hen facing Zack, she knew she had a good ten minutes before anyone would see.

Sitting across from her, Skye flipped a switchblade up into the air and caught it in his hand. Tearing her gaze from her watch Avalon was mesmerized by the light glinting off of the blade. The rhythmic movement caught her off guard. Nothing around the warehouse was rhythmic, it was all systematic. Things had to work at a certain way at a certain time or else the Vipers suffered Chase's wrath. He was usually complacent and confident, though in the right circumstances he became a blood thirsty sadist.

It was a shock to her, the first time she witnessed it. It had been her first time out defending the Vipers' territory. As she walked along with Chase and Skye, she was already pumped, ready to go and not willing to let anything get in her way. Nothing could compare to the adrenaline rush. It was a different kind of energy; a cold sweat rolled down her back, her heart thudded against her breastbone. Who knew what was going to happen that not? She didn't. Not at the time. Chase's silent determination, his calculated exterior didn't help her anxiety.

The next twenty minutes had been nothing but chaos. Avalon stuck to Chase's side like glue, under her specific instruction to do so as the High-Flyers jumped out of nowhere and started to attack their small group. They had numbers not their side, a sea of purple against a tiny island of black, but they all had done the best they could to be sure they defended their turf as long and hard as they could. Grunts and cries of rage and pain rang out around them, but Avalon continued to fight as long as she was standing. Avalon had a tendency to go blank whenever she was fighting; she focused on the energy and combinations she was throwing, the way her fists and feet connected with whomever she was fighting. It made her smile with satisfaction when the feeling of a hit radiated through her body, rattling her bones.

That was the first time she heard the sound of a merciless beating.

Everything fell away in that moment as Avalon turned and watched Chase lean over a High-Flyer, his hand rocketing back and forth over his opponent's torso. At the time, when she had noticed the blood, Avalon curiously wondered whether or not he had pissed himself. The smell didn't hit her until a second later…

Chase delivered a solid punch to the High Flyer's face and Avalon could clearly hear his nose break like shattering glass. Getting to his feet, Chase shoved the High-Flyer back onto the ground and turned towards Avalon. He wiped his switchblade off on his shirt as he walked past her, eyes averted. Avalon could hear his ragged breathing, much like a lion's growl as it caught up to its prey. However, Chase's prey had been hunted.

"What are you looking at?"

Avalon blinked, broken out of her thoughts. Chase had said the same thing to me when he noticed she had watched him beat up the High-Flyer. Now Skye said it with the same inflection, though not with the same forcefulness.

"Not much, apparently," Avalon replied before shifting sideways in the armchair. That was my spot, the leather armchair, Chase and Skye had the beat up couch, and Summer usually sat on the floor, looking over our ammunition. She glanced at the ceiling; there were a few holes in the warehouse roof, worn down over time. The metal and wooden walls were starting to fall apart as well, it had been abandoned years ago, the musty smell a common feature, but it was theirs.

Skye didn't smile.

He caught his knife in his hand and shoved it into his pocket before leaning forward, resting his arms on his spread legs. Tilting his head down, he gave her a level gaze. "You run your mouth an awful lot for a fringe."

Avalon glared at the last word that came out of his mouth. Fringe also known as the person that you weren't sure was completely loyal to the cause. It was the one word that irritated her the most in the world. She was part of a gang and much like other groups and organizations, a gang had a specific set of structure that they all followed. The 'leaders' or the 'hardcores' were at the top; the gang leader the one who determined at what level of criminal activity the gang worked with. The hardcores were the gang members culturally and criminally enmeshed in the gang and are at risk of being that way for the rest of their lives. Then under those two were the Associates, Cliques, Fringes, Wanna-bes, and Could-bes. Associate gang members usually had a personal commitment to the gang, Fringes were the ones that were still able to live outside of the gang culture or someone who wasn't completely committed to the gang, Wanna-Bes are those that think they're gang members and try to prove that they can join, and a clique is a mixture of different members of a gang.

Avalon thought about the section she and Chase, Skye, Ross, and Summer were a part of. They were a clique; a gang within a gang. There were many more Vipers scattered round the US, but they were the only ones, at the moment, that were in Angel Grove. Who knew how many in all there were out there.

"Who are you calling a fringe?" Swinging her legs to the floor, Avalon mimicked Skye's posture, glaring at him. Did they all really think she was a liability to them? Right from the beginning Skye hadn't been happy with her being there, most likely as he was Chase's right hand before she came along. Avalon gritted her teeth, practically snarling. She had done nothing but prove to them over and over that she was loyal to them. She had the scars to prove it, she'd been in the fights, did drug deals, defended their turf…even kept being a power ranger from them to prove that she was willing to keep both of her lives separate.

Skye lifted an eyebrow; he probably saw the indignation in her face. "You can say and do whatever you want while you're with us…but when you're out there,"-he pointed towards the exit-"that's where you show you're true colors. You're a fringe if I ever saw one." He shook his head. "I still don't understand why Chase brought you here-"

"Maybe that's none of your business," Chase said as he strode into the room. Tim trailed in behind him. I reached out and grabbed onto the arms of my chair, ready to jump to Chase's aid if he needed it. I didn't trust Tim, not even when word started to spread around…that it'd be good for the Vipers and the High-Flyers to join forces. "I've got some news." He glanced around the room and his handsome features turned into a scowl. "Where the fuck is Summer?" He turned and kicked at the wall.

"I haven't heard from her all day," Skye said. He finally smiled for the first time since I had arrived at our place. "Maybe they finally realized how much of a fucking whack job you really are." He crossed his arms over his chest, not seeming to notice Chase's eyes flash over to him.

"Skye, shut up," Avalon said, her eyes still on Chase. She gripped her hands between her knees. Did he know what she was going to say? It wouldn't surprise her. He knew everything the police was up to weeks in advanced. It was how they were all able to get away from the police busts that had been set up last minute. Now that the media was figuring out they were the ones behind the break-ins, Chase had backed off for a bit, wanting things to die down before they struck again.

"Both of you shut up!" Chase snapped. "As of right now…we're in war. Not just with the High Flyers but with everyone that says what we're doing is wrong. We're going to show Angel Grove we're the ones that run this city."

Skye started to snicker at Chase's choice of words. In the next second, Chase had Skye pinned against the wall and had a gun pressed to his face. Tim raced across the room and grabbed Chase, pulling him off of Skye.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Skye spat, rubbing his throat.

"You're my fucking problem!" Chase spat. "This is fucking serious and if you can't fucking handle it, you need to get out now! Though I can't be sure that you'll survive it." He then rounded on Avalon. The orange ranger looked back at him evenly. "And you can go right with him, fringe,"—he spat the word at her with so much venom she felt she had been hit in the chest—"if you think you can't handle this." He waited a long, tense moment. Tim continued to stand next to Chase, though he was bulkier than the former, he appeared to be much smaller. "Good."

"I have something to say," Avalon said, grabbing Chase's attention.

Chase sneered at her as he turned back around to face her. "If it has anything to do with how you went to the police you can forget it? I should blow your head clear off your shoulders for that."

"I only did that for my sister," Avalon protested in a strong voice. She was doing her best not to shake. Who knew how he was going to react to what she really wanted to ask. "But I have a wage for you that I think you'll be interested in."

Chase licked his lips, his eyes flashing and for a moment, Avalon didn't see a human with him. She saw the devil with its horns and sinister expressions. She had fallen so deep in to a life that was so bad for her and now that she was slowly making her way back out of it, she finally saw Chase for what he really was. Someone to stand on her shoulder and told her what to do and manipulated every faction of her life.

Now she was ready to keep him away from her as far as possible.

"I'll do whatever it is you want…no questions asked," she said slowly. Chase nodded, waving a hand, urging her to continue. "If you do something for me." Chase's eyebrow rose. "One, you make sure that the High-Flyers in Angel Grove Middle school stay away from my sister." Tim made a scoffing sound ad Chase held up a hand, cutting his off. "Two, you leave my friends alone, I know they had something to do with what happened to Jason and I'm not going to let that happen to the rest of them."

"And?" Chase pressed.

"If you do that…then I'll do whatever you need me for," Avalon insisted. She paused the perfect amount of time for Chase to start to sweat a little. "As long as when you're done with me, you'll let me leave the Vipers, no questions asked, no tracing, and no trying to bring me back." She licked her lips. "I do what you want, you let me leave."

Chase continued to watch her.

"Deal?"

A/N: I needed to show a little bit of lightheartedness to balance the angsty portion at the end of the chapter. Besides, Jason always appears to be the one to get under Avalon's skin the quickest. I already have most of the sequel, Made of Glass, planned out though some plot points I'm not sure if I'll keep them or not. Then after that should be the Dino Thunder story, though I may mush another one between Made of Glass and that one. I change my mind a lot.

There's a hint to what's gonna happen in the sequel in this chapter, though I think I may have made it too small to be noticed.

-Avalon