Chapter 37 – Going Underground

The sky overhead was heavy and grey with a light drizzle falling but that didn't bother the thousands of people that were roaming through the streets of East London. A small army dressed in claret and blue shirts had just left the London Stadium, previously known as the Olympic Stadium the home of West Ham United and they were in a jubilant mood. A raucous noise of singing and chanting bounced off the narrow streets as the supporters celebrated a 2-1 victory over Liverpool. Unnoticed by the crowd, six people snuck down a nearby side street and huddled into a dark shadow cast by a tree. The tallest of the group dropped the disguise he was using and clapped his hands together enthusiastically, "Man that was a great game", Dean began, "I know that Liverpool aren't the team they once were but I never thought we'd win".

"I can't believe we wasted a batch of Polyjuice to watch a football game", one of the females snorted. Her skin began to bubble as the potion wore off and she reassumed her true appearance, "Still it was nice to get out of Grimmauld Place for a while", Cho continued.

"Wasn't a patch on Quidditch though", Ron pulled out his wand and transfigured his football shirt back into his regular clothes. He then turned to his sister and did the same to her shirt.

"I dunno, I can see why people like it", Ginny stated, "it would be more exciting if a few more goals had been scored".

"See that's what's exciting about football", Dean replied, "it's like a chess match on grass so when you do finally score, you feel like you've achieved something". The group continued down the side street to avoid the crowd of football supporters. They paused at the end of the road and the green ranger continued, "Guys the match wasn't the only reason I brought you out here".

"You want to check on your family", Harry replied, "we kind of guessed you'd want to check up on them if you were in the area".

"So you don't mind?" Dean asked in hope.

Hermione shook her head, "Not at all", she paused for a moment, "does your Mum know that you didn't go back to Hogwarts". The silence from the green ranger told its own story, "Dean, that's really reckless of you".

"Plausible deniability if the Death Eaters came calling", he replied, "at least that's what I told myself at the time". He checked his watch, "If we hurry then we can still make it in time for tea".

The rangers moved quickly through the streets of East London, trying to stick to the shadows where possible. It was unlikely that Voldemort would have a presence in the area but in the current political climate, you just didn't know who your enemy was. It took them about ten minutes to reach Dean's home and the green ranger opened the front door with his key, "Mum", he called out, "I'm home". There was no immediate answer and no obvious signs of life. The teens immediately reached for their wands, something about the silence unnerved them. Moments later a side door opened and a girl charged out with a frying pan in her hand. She was around thirteen years old with black frizzy hair and for some reason, she was covered in flower, "Shaz, what the hell are you doing with that frying pan?"

The younger girl looked at the object and hid it behind her back, "How was I supposed to know it was you", Shaz replied, "aren't you meant to be in school?"

"Yeah long story", Dean replied, "is Mum home?"

The girl they assumed was Dean's younger sister shook her head, "Nah she's and Dad are heading to the West End for a show". Shaz gave the other rangers the critical eye, "Aren't you going to introduce us?" she asked.

"Right sorry", Dean began, "Shaz I'd like you to meet my good friends Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, his sister Ginny, Hermione Granger and Cho Chang. Guys this delightful little urchin is my younger sister Shazney".

"Or Shaz for short", the younger girl added, "you didn't tell me why you weren't at school?"

"You're right I didn't", Dean then looked at his younger sister, "why are you covered in flour?" Shaz let out a big sigh and led the older teens into the kitchen where a scene of devastation awaited them. There was flour all over the walls along with various other miscellaneous food items. Standing in the middle of the room was a couple of younger girls, also covered in flour, "Camilla and Kennedy, I should've known".

"It wasn't our fault", Camilla, the older of the two girls, stated, "Shaz started it".

"I did not", Shaz bit back, "I was helping you make a cake and accidentally dropped some flour".

"On to me", Kennedy interjected.

"Don't worry we'll help you clean up", Hermione pulled out her wand and with a quick waive, the walls were soon clean, "There, good as new".

"What about our clothes", Camilla pulled on her black top that was now covered in eggs and flour.

"You can go and change", Dean began, "and take a shower, consider that your punishment". The three girls groaned but they reluctantly trooped out of the kitchen, "Sorry about that, the three of them can be a handful when they get together".

"This was nothing", Ron began, "try growing up with Fred and George. I remember one time they coated an entire floor with some kind of sticky substance".

"Mum was furious, once she managed to get her feet free that is", Ginny laughed at the memory.

"Dean", they heard Shaz called out from the front room, "you might want to see this".

The rangers hurried into the front room where the eldest of Dean's sisters was watching an emergency news broadcast, "Breaking news coming into our studios is that a District line train is running out of control towards Central London. The train had just left Upton Park station and will be full of supporters from the recently concluded match between West Ham United and Liverpool".

"Mum could be on that train", Shaz said with a quiet whisper.

Almost immediately Dean was heading for the door but he was quickly stopped by Harry, "I know what you're thinking and you're not going alone". The green ranger sighed and nodded in appreciation, "Weirdly we didn't get a report of a monster attack in the area".

"So just your run of the mill Death Eater attack then", Hermione stated, "the best chance we have is to get on the train. I can only guess but I bet they've used some kind of charm on the train itself".

"Great so we can just teleport in and we'll be good to go", Ron said but he noticed Hermione shaking her head, "didn't think it would be that easy".

"Teleporting on to moving objects is tricky and requires precise calculations", the yellow ranger began, "and we don't have time to work them out. Contrary to the name, a lot of the Underground is actually above ground but the tunnels begin about 10 minutes from here".

"Then we'll take the Phoenix Zord", Cho interjected, "no offence to the Dragon Zord but mine is much more nimble and will be able to do the job better".

"Agreed", Harry began, "Dean go with Cho, we'll go on and help the people further up the line".

The others nodded in agreement but Dean then had a thought, "Wait, one of us should stay and watch my sisters".

"I'll do it", Ginny raised her hand, "you don't need me to form a Megazord but if there's any trouble, just call". The five rangers nodded and quickly bolted out the door, this would be a true race against time.

A short time later the Phoenix Zord flew as fast as it could towards the runaway Tube train but time was against the craft. With the delayed news report and their few minutes spent planning, the pink and green rangers only had about two minutes before the train entered the tunnel and out of their reach. Dean didn't want to be a back seat driver and tried his best to resist the urge to tell the pilot to go faster. "Dean stop pacing", Cho snapped, "its distracting".

"I can't help it", Dean began, "we need to be at the front of the train in less than two minutes".

"Can't you jump on at the back and walk down to the cab?" the pink ranger asked.

Dean shook his head, "There's no access between carriages on the tube so I wouldn't be able to walk through".

"Great now he tells me", Cho poured as much of her Chi into the zord as she dared but there was only a finite amount she could use. With about a minute left before the tunnel the train came into sight. Dropping as low down to the roof as she dared, Cho manoeuvred her zord between the narrow walls that lined the tracks. Her approach was slowed down when she had to tilt the Zord upwards to avoid crashing into a steel support. With the wings level she instructed Dean to get out on the nose and prepare to jump, "I'm holding it as steady as I can, this is all on you now Dean", she called over the radio.

Dean didn't reply and steadied himself for the drop. He was about to jump when he saw the solid wall of the tunnel coming up fast. Tube trains did leave much room around them so Dean would have to jump aboard before entering the tunnel, otherwise he would be crushed to death. Taking a deep breath he jumped onto the roof and clung on for dear life. He pulled out his blaster and shot out the cab window before swinging his legs inside. There were moments to spare as seconds later, the train plunged into the dark tunnel.

Taking a few moments to look around, he immediately noticed the driver sprawled out on the floor. The pool of blood forming around the man didn't fill Dean with much confidence but he had to check if the man was still alive. He checked for a pulse and lowered his head when he couldn't find one. The man had a huge wound in his abdomen, there was no chance of saving him. "Dean are you there", he heard Cho shout through his communicator.

"Yeah I'm here", Dean replied, "the driver's dead so I can't get him to stop the train". He looked at the controls but there wasn't a big button marked 'Stop'. He held out his hands to check for any residual magic and there was something interfering with the systems, "I think they've placed a locomotor on the engines", Dean added, "there's no electricity running through the system but somehow the train's still going".

"Probably designed to trick the engines into thinking they're still getting power", Cho summised, "alright I've got an idea", suddenly the communicator went dead.

At first Dean was worried at the pink ranger had come under attack but after checking his communicator, he noticed that he wasn't getting a signal, "Great, it can teleport us underground but can't pick up a signal".

He took a step back for a moment and tried to think the problem through. He wasn't the best student at Hogwarts but he wasn't stupid either. He called his wand to hand and cast a Finite but that didn't work, "Probably a Chi enhanced spell", he muttered so the only way to counter this was to use his own power. At first he struggled to think how an illusion could help stop a speeding train but then it hit him, "If the curse is tricking the engines into thinking they're getting power then I can try to override that with a counter trick".

Dean placed his hand on the console and it began to glow bright green. The spell cast on the engines were powerful but he could feel his own Chi slowly breaking the spell down. He looked up to see where he was but to his horror, he could see a couple of red lights in the distance, "Shit there's another train up ahead". Pouring as much power into the console as possible, he felt his legs begin to weaken but the train was slowly down. A screeching of brakes echoed through the narrow tunnel but it the train was still moving when it shunted into the back of the other train. Dean was thrown to the ground and laid there dazed for a few moments.

The silence was deafening but Dean realised that apart from some broken glass, the cab was intact. The door burst open and he looked straight into the familiar helmeted head of the red ranger, "Cut that a bit close didn't you", Harry chuckled and held out his hand. Dean slowly stood up and exited the train. To his surprise the train was in a station, Mile End the sign said, and everyone was getting evacuated onto the platform, "We managed to empty the train in front of you but we didn't have time to get it moving", Harry added.

Dean looked at the front of the train, the low speed impact had shunted the train in front down the tracked and dented his train but other than that, they were both in good shape. Amongst the throng of West Ham supporters chanting the green ranger's name, he could see his Mum and Stepdad. They gave the rangers an appreciative nod. Dean waived back in acknowledgement, slightly embarrassed about the attention he was getting.

After the drama, Dean's Mum and Stepdad had returned home, neither of them felt like a night out after the drama of the evening. His sister's were being put to bed by his Stepdad, leaving Dean alone in the kitchen of his family home. The other rangers had returned to Grimmauld Place to give Dean some privacy with his family, "I guess we should talk", Isabelle Thomas said when she entered the kitchen. Dean sighed and took a seat at the table, "Care to explain why you've not at school?"

Dean took a deep breath, "You know what's happening in the wizarding world right?"

Isabelle nodded, "I've lived it once already Dean", she began, "you were just a baby at the height of the last war. Your Dad and I married shortly before you were born and that's when he told me he was a wizard".

"You didn't know until then?" Dean asked in shock.

"You father thought it would make a difference to my feelings for him but I didn't care", Isabelle paused some tears forming in her eyes, "I loved that man with all my heart and it nearly killed me the day he disappeared".

This wasn't news for Dean, he had known for years that his Dad had disappeared one day and never came back. His Mum had always avoided further questions about that day, until now, "You think he was murdered by Death Eaters?" he asked.

Isabelle nodded, "I've got no proof but it seems the most likely explanation. A couple of days before he disappeared he saved us from a group of them and they vowed revenge, can't be a coincidence that he vanished soon afterwards". Isabelle reached forward and grasped Dean's hands, "Just don't do anything reckless, I can't afford to lose you too".

Dean gave her a firm look and replied, "I won't Mum but if they find me, I will get revenge for Dad". He got up from his chair and hugged his Mum tightly and she released the tears that had been threatening to fall. Dean patted her on the back, Death Eaters had taken his father and nearly killed his mother today. If he didn't have a strong reason to fight before, he sure did now.