AN: Powers Unleashed hits 100K words on 16/1/2013! Rest assured, I have many things planned for all worlds…both good and bad.

Chapter Forty Nine: Working Out

That may not have been one of her better ideas.

Bree sighed to herself and looked out at the new crater in one of the side streets and shook her head. It was now ingrained into her mind that mixing lit thermite with ice was not a very smart thing to do as the shockwave had almost ruptured her eardrums. In fact, she was absolutely sure they had been torn but the Power or whatever it was had healed them somewhat. She would get the technical analysis from Billy or Weihan later, but she didn't care for the technical aspects as it would serve nothing more than yet another headache. Turning away from the reinforced window, she wondered if there had been any other consequences to blowing up a creature with a thermite and ice mix. On their last phone call, her sister had mentioned something about an interesting show popping up on TV focusing on the science behind 'busting myths' or something. On the other hand, a thermite and ice reaction wasn't really in the category of 'sucking toilets' or 'elephants being afraid of mice'. Maybe in the future it would be something worthwhile for the show to test out but, all things considered, she had serious doubts the show would be renewed for a second season. Maybe the Feds would be banging on her door and asking her where her strength had come from. She didn't know what to expect in the future.

"You still haven't answered my question, Bree."

Yet, she wished everything would happen so she didn't have to be in the situation she was in now. After the dust had settled and the chunks of monster flesh and ice had finally stopped falling from the sky, she had doubled back to see how Olivia was holding up. The Australian-Italian woman had curled up into the foetal position and was mumbling to herself something that she couldn't quite make out at first. Bree hadn't even noticed that she had dropped her bag off with the woman but, to be fair, she did have other things on her mind at the time. It wasn't until she was half supporting and half dragging her to the college that she finally managed to hear what was being said. They were names of those who had started very recently. Bree's steps faltered as she heard her name spoken right before Olivia's train of thought had crashed back to her 'square one' – the comment the monster had made about both of them being allies of the Rangers. She had barely made it across the threshold of one of the classes on the second level before the teacher had started to break down spectacularly. There was no crying or screaming, just a sort of shudder that travelled through her body along with very tiny purple energy bolts. It was just the icing on the cake of the events of the past thirty minutes and solidified the notion to induct her into the Rangers or Sentinels as soon as feasibly possible.

"I'm waiting for an answer."

The only problem was that to have some degree of proof she hadn't lost her marbles, she would need Weihan or one of the other Crystal Rangers to help. Seeing that they weren't on the same dimensional plane anymore that would be a bit of an issue but she could, within reason, teleport her to the Ultra Cavern to explain but she needed to know that the woman could keep their secret with her life. Walking over to her bag that she had dumped on one of the tables, she unzipped it and withdrew the slightly-battered book that she hadn't had the time, or the inclination, to read and set it on the table before the shell-shocked teacher. She kept silent, hoping that the curiosity in the other woman would keep her from revealing too much, too soon.

"What is this book?"

Olivia took her eyes off the silent student in front of her as the design on the cover drew her in. The strange coin with the hybridised dinosaur sparkled in the fluorescent lights with an odd purple light. Lifting a shaking hand, she allowed her fingers to trace over the coin as…something indescribable but resonant unlocked within her. Images appeared in her mind's eye of Rangers and the enemies they were up against, of massive metal machines blasting through the skies above and towering creatures dying in balls of fire and smoke. It was all surreal as to why these images were being thrust into her mind as she didn't think of herself as Ranger material. More to the point, she was trying to work out why the monster had said she was an ally of a Ranger and she wasn't looking to become one anytime soon. Running her fingers over the other coins, she was surprised to find herself mildly disappointed that no more images flashed into her mind. It was as if that one coin in particular was the one for her…or something to that effect.

"What do you see in that coin?"

The voice from the girl made her blink in surprise. There were no trace inflections she could hear, almost as if she had seen some of the images herself in one of the other coins. If, in fact, Bree and the others were allies of the Rangers, she would have to report them to her sister for questioning. Even if the murders weren't committed by any Ranger villain, she would still need their help and expertise to stop the rapidly mutating creatures from swarming around everyone and everything. That they hadn't done so yet was, in Ben's words, 'a train wreck waiting to happen at the worst possible occurrence'. Shaking her head slowly, she traced her fingers over the design once more. If she concentrated hard enough, she could have sworn she felt the subtle trembles of movement under her feet and the smell of smoke and fires drifting past her nose. An odd sound flashed in her ears for a few seconds…something almost like metal clashing on metal. Looking down at her left wrist, her eyes widened slightly as her watch was replaced by a metallic wristband similar to the ones she had seen a few of the students wearing. Rubbing her eyes, she looked again only to see nothing out of the ordinary.

"You're seeing it, aren't you."

It wasn't a question and Olivia felt herself nod. A myriad of explanations ran across her mind in a vain attempt to reason with what she knew shouldn't have happened. Maybe there were drugs on the book that had somehow seeped into her system. Had she placed her fingers into her mouth at any point? She didn't know, nor did she think so. Hypnotic suggestion was an option but she seriously doubted the girl in front of her knew anything about implanting subliminal messages into words or images. That just left the monster and whatever strange things it had spewed out; who would know what exposure to the beams would do to her unprotected mind? However, even that theory fell through when she applied a bit of thought to it: Bree had been exposed to the beams and, while none of them had struck her directly, she seemed fine. A few other students had been in the open during monster attacks such as Liz and Weihan and, as far as she could tell, they seemed as normal as they had been before.

"It ain't normal or natural for regular folk but to have those images in your head takes a very special type of person."

Bree wondered where on Earth that drivel had come from. Maybe it was a by-product of being connected to the Sacred Powers to sound all mentor-like and mysterious but it was going to give her, and those she spoke to, a massive headache trying to work everything out. Attempting to smooth down her uniform, she felt a strange object in the inside pocket of her blazer and she groaned silently as she realised what it was. With a sigh of disgusted frustration, she took out her communicator and clipped it on her left wrist; all the while wondering if drawing upon the Sacred Powers made her more and more forgetful. She would have doubted it if it wasn't for listening to Rocky, Adam and Jason joking about how repeated exposure to the Power had made Tommy's memory worse than before he had become a Ranger. On the other hand, Zack and Kim had argued that the Power had made his memory better in the long run as he had (somehow) been able to complete a full PhD in Palaeontology as well as learning how to teach. That was the option she was hoping would happen but if it meant a period of forgetting how to breathe…

"What are you trying to say?"

Bree shook her head as she heard the dull buzzing that signalled the 'all clear' for the Monster Shelter locks to be released. Picking up the book once more and lamenting the fact that she had yet to even open the front cover, she looked the young woman in the eyes and smiled to herself. No matter what secrets would be laid bare, she knew she had found her second team member. She only needed the third member and to somehow get their Morphers and they would be able to stand up with the others. Slinging her bag onto her shoulder, she extended her right hand to Olivia and spoke in a quiet tone.

"Come with me."

TBC…