Sector 13 High School
Metro City, Canada
April 30th, 2015
2:07 PM
"Chloe Baldwin"
"This is the worst day of my life..." I said.
I just found out that my dad had to use my college fund to pay off another one of his mother's gambling debts. Not the grandma I live with, that's my maternal grandma. My family is rich. I mean, we live in a mansion, but we're not so rich that we have mansions in every country. We don't have any private jets or bowling alleys in our mansion. We have one maid, one butler and only two floors, but hey, a mansion is still a mansion.
"Don't say that," said Rachel, "Things change. This might only be temporary."
"It's not the money I care about. They can always put away more." I said.
"Then why is this the worst day of your life?"
"This just sets in stone that he cares more about his promiscuous, 60 year old mother who essentially lives in casinos than he does about me."
"You don't think that's a little harsh?" asked Rachel.
"No, Grandma was 20 when she got pregnant. She's had a lot of plastic surgery to keep herself looking as young as possible. Most grandmas knit and play canasta, but my grandma gambles and then uses the money to lure handsome, naive young men into her bedroom."
"I see..." said Rachel, "But, I was talking about your father."
"Still no. This isn't the first time he's done this," I said, "Remember my Sweet 16?"
"When there was only four horses for upwards of fifty guests?" she asked.
"Dad had to use the funds for my party because Grandma got Chlamydia," I said, "The most important birthday of a girl's life and he ruins it all because of Mommy Dearest."
"He loves you," said Rachel, "He lets you live here without him because he knows you'd hate being dragged all around the world with him, never being able to settle down."
"That wasn't his idea, it was my Mom's." I said.
"Hello ladies." said Oz as he walked by us.
He wedged himself in between us and put his arms around both of us as if we were his dates.
"Don't you have math class?" asked Rachel.
"Probably," said Oz, "So what are we talking about?"
"She got a call from her father this morning," said Rachel, "He had to use her college funds to pay off his mother's gambling debts."
"Rough break," said Oz, "Fathers... Who needs them, am I right?"
"Um, me?" said Rachel.
"Present company excluded, I mean," he said, "And by present, I mean just you."
"Ostreicher! Woo on your own time!" snapped the Principal, "Get back to class!"
"Principals and fathers," said Oz, "Who needs them, am I right?"
He got up and headed in the complete opposite direction from where math class was.
"If you want to get your father to notice you, try doing something unexpected." said Rachel.
"Like go to Vegas and elope?" I asked, "I'll bet that would do the trick."
"No, that's too clichéd," said Rachel, "Not to mention extremely stupid."
"Then what did you have in mind?"
"Why don't you get a job?"
"I told you I don't need the money." I said.
"It's not about money, it's about being your own person," said Rachel, "If your father really doesn't want anything to do with you, then you getting a job might show him that you don't need him. Maybe he'll realize how much he misses having you need him and apologize or something."
"Wow, that's incredibly insightful." I said.
"It's just a side effect of having a psychiatrist for a father." said Rachel.
"Stephen "Silver" Silverstone"
After my first disastrous attempt to socialize with the rangers outside of HQ, Chloe mysteriously invited everyone, myself included to the coffee shop in Sector 0.
"Silver?" asked Marcus, "Chloe invited you too?"
"I'm as surprised as you are, Marcus." I said.
"Here's your coffee, Oz." said Chloe.
Chloe was standing before us, wearing an apron and an excited grin. I never thought in a million years that Chloe Baldwin would ever need to get a job, and even if she did, I never thought she'd be happy about it.
"When did you take his order?" asked Riley.
"About ten minutes ago," said Chloe, "He got here before all of you."
"The principal wouldn't leave me alone, so I teleported here," said Heath, "After what happened with Knox, I'm afraid of going to history class."
He paused and took a sip of his coffee. The look on his face told us he was surprised. Luckily, he wasn't facing Chloe, so she couldn't see this.
"How is it?" she asked.
"Perfect." he said, giving her the thumbs up.
Chloe grinned delightedly and then left, heading back to pick up another order.
"That's not what you ordered, is it?" asked Riley.
"Not even close..." said Heath.
"Well, the fact that she's trying is worth something, isn't it?" asked Rachel.
Heath took another sip of his coffee and smacked his lips quietly afterwards.
"Why are you still drinking that?" asked Marcus.
"It might not be what I ordered, but it's still pretty good."
Just then, a deafening crash echoed throughout the building. There was also the sound of a man snarling, and the sound of several women shrieking. Moments later, Chloe appeared and collapsed into the vacant chair next to Rachel.
"Well, I just got fired." she said.
"Already?" asked Marcus.
"I tripped and ended up spilling coffee in that guy's eyes," said Chloe, "Also, all the mugs I had been carrying on that tray broke."
"Wow..." said Riley.
"It's no big deal," said Chloe, "I'll try somewhere else."
"Have you ever thought of performing?" I asked.
"You mean like acting?"
"You're thinking too big," I said, pointing at a poster behind her, "Sector 0 is having a talent show tomorrow night."
"Silver, you're a genius!" said Chloe.
"Yes I know."
"Chloe, do you even have any talents?" asked Marcus.
"Being a ranger doesn't count," I said, "You can't use your powers for personal gain."
Rachel leaned over and whispered something in Chloe's ear. Whatever she said made Chloe chuckle and smirk.
"I've been practicing ever since," said Chloe, "Hopefully enough that it will pay off."
Heath had a look on his face that seemed to indicate that he was formulating an opinion about what the girls were whispering about.
"You know Oz, it is possible for girls to whisper to each other about non sexual things?" asked Marcus.
"I don't care, it's a lot more fun if you keep an open mind." he said.
"Chloe Baldwin"
A few hours later, I was back at home.
In case you were wondering, Rachel whispered in my ear to remind me about my first crush. He was my vocal coach, Kyle Friesen.
He was obviously much older than me, he was like 20-something while I was only 9. I wasn't too thrilled with the idea of singing lessons at first, but after I saw Kyle for the first time, I practiced as hard as I could in the hopes that I'd get good enough for him to notice me.
Obviously, that never happened, but as I practiced, I really started to enjoy it. I'm still very much in the closet about my voice though. Rachel is the only person outside my family that knows I can sing. But, if she brings everyone to watch me at the talent show, then they'll know too. Hopefully they'll be pleasantly surprised.
"Where the hell is it!?" I snapped, louder than I meant to.
"Are you alright, Chloe?" asked Vernon, our butler.
Notice how Vernon addressed me as Chloe and not Miss Baldwin. See, our mansion isn't like the stereotypical mansions you see in movies. Vernon might work for my family, but at the same time, he's been our butler for my entire life. So, he both works for and is part of my family. He never has, nor will he ever, address me as anything other than my name.
"I'm fine, Vernon," I said, "I'm just frustrated because I can never find anything in my room!"
"Sylvia cleans it quite regularly." said Vernon.
"Just because you always keep things on the floor doesn't mean that's where they belong." sighed Sylvia, our maid, as she walked by in the hallway.
"My CDs are always in a stack next to my stereo, but now they're gone." I said.
I could hear Sylvia laugh hysterically from further down the hall.
"What did I say?" I asked.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vernon beckon Sylvia to join him in the doorway of my room.
"Chloe honey, what you call a stack, I call a heap." she said.
"Whatever, would you please just tell me where you moved them?"
"First I put them back in their cases so they wouldn't get scratched, then I put the cases in an empty drawer right underneath the stereo."
"You mean this drawer?" I asked, "It wasn't empty, that's where I was keeping my make-up!"
"That stuff was all expired, you still have plenty more in the kit on your wardrobe."
"Never underestimate the power of organization." chuckled Vernon.
"Well, thank you Sylvia," I said, "If I'm going to sing at the talent show tomorrow, I've got to pick a song and start practicing."
Sylvia left and went back to whatever she had been doing.
"Talent show?" asked Vernon.
"Yeah."
"What brought this about?" he asked.
"I saw a flyer in the coffee shop and thought it might be fun." I said.
"Really?" asked Vernon, "And this wouldn't have anything at all to do with your father using your college fund to pay off gambling debts?"
"Nothing at all."
"Why do you keep trying to pull a fast one of me?" asked Vernon, "I've known you your whole life."
"Okay, maybe it has a lot to do with that," I said, "I'm just so tired of not being his biggest priority."
"So you think that if you win this, your father will feel bad that he wasn't there to support you and apologize for all the other times he's let you down?"
"Something like that," I said, "It was actually Rachel's advice."
"I suppose there are worse people to take advice from."
"Even if this doesn't change my dad at all, at least I'll have fun competing in the talent show."
Vernon smiled at me. He had several different kinds of smiles. Each one meant something different. They were all very similar, so only someone who had known him for a while would be able to tell them apart. This one seemed to be his "I'm proud of you because you're doing this for the right reason" smile.
"Any song suggestions?"
"I've never really cared for your taste in music," said Vernon, "The only song you listen to that I like is..."
He came into my room. I expected him to go into the drawer with all my CDs, but instead, he went over to my closet and grabbed a box from the highest shelf. After placing it down on my bed, I realized that it was a box full of things from when I was a baby. My first pair of shoes, all my baby teeth in a jar, my favourite blanket, you get the idea. Vernon took out the blanket and unfolded it, and out fell a small cassette tape. There was a label on it that said "Chloe's Song" in my mother's handwriting.
"Has that always been in there?" I asked.
"Yup," he said, "Your mother bundled those two things together because without either of them, you absolutely would not fall asleep. In fact, I remember one time, the original cassette broke so your mother just recorded herself singing it to you. I think that's also what inspired her to try and become a famous singer."
"But I don't listen to this song."
"Not anymore. But you used to," said Vernon, "At least once a day."
"I don't even remember the words."
"Just play it a few times," said Vernon, "Scent and sound are the best ways to trigger memory."
"Plus, it might help remind my dad about how much fun we used to have when I was younger."
"Two birds with one stone." said Vernon.
"It's the perfect song," I said, giving Vernon a big hug, "I better start practicing."
"Rachel Parker"
I hadn't heard from Chloe at all since the coffee shop. At school today, she wouldn't even talk to me. She had her headphones on and didn't even take them off during class. This meant that I had either really pissed her off somehow, or that she was too busy memorizing the words to whatever song she planned to sing.
During lunch I met up with Riley, Marcus and Oz. Chloe was absent, which was yet more proof that she was focusing on her song for the talent show.
"Hey Rach," said Riley, "Has Chloe been giving you the silent treatment as well?"
"Don't take it personal," I said, "I think she's just preparing for the talent show."
"Wait a minute..." said Marcus, "You know what her talent is, don't you?"
"My lips are sealed," I said, "She wants it to be a surprise for you guys."
"Does she actually have a talent, or does she just think she has a talent?" asked Oz.
"She has a talent. One she's kept secret since she was 9 years old."
"$20 says it's ballet." said Marcus.
"You're on." said Oz, shaking hands with him.
After school we all hopped into Oz's big yellow truck. Chloe didn't join us, which meant she was going to meet us at the community centre later. Traffic was chaotic and it was a fairly long. We could've teleported there, but then we'd still have to wait for the talent show to get set up. So, it made more sense to just do what normal people do and drive.
It was about 4:30 in the afternoon by the time we got through traffic to the community centre in Sector 0. The talent show wasn't until 5:00, so by driving we managed to kill about 45 minutes.
"You guys stay here," I said, "I'm going to backstage to check on Chloe."
"Why?" asked Marcus.
"She hasn't said a word to me all day," I said, "Unless she's been rehearsing in her head, something strange is happening."
"Don't you think you should have backup or something?" asked Riley.
"If I need you, I'll call you on your Digitizers."
I expected getting backstage would be tricky, but then I remembered that this was a talent show, not a concert.
It didn't take me long to find Chloe. She was pacing back and forth in a frantic sort of way, she hadn't even changed into her dress. I could see it draped across the back of a chair a few feet away from her.
"You're not even dressed yet!?" I exclaimed in shock.
She turned around to face me, looking half relieved and half horrified.
"I figured you'd already be dressed and ready to go by now."
Instead of talking, Chloe grabbed my arm and then used her other arm to point at her throat. I'm absolutely terrible at games like charades, so Chloe was miming to the wrong person.
"What's the matter?" I asked, "Cat got your tongue?"
Chloe nodded enthusiastically.
"You don't mean literally do you?" I asked, "Cause I know for a fact that you don't have a cat."
Now Chloe had started pointing at the microphone that was resting on the same chair as her dress. Then she went back to gesturing at her throat.
"Something about the microphone?"
Chloe nodded again. By now I had realized that she wasn't messing with me or playing a game. Whatever she was trying to tell me was in fact something quite serious.
"Why aren't you talking!?"
You might think I said that because I was getting frustrated. But I actually said that because I know that Chloe reacts accordingly based on someone's tone of voice. I wanted her to show me what was wrong, not make me figure it out. And, sure enough before too long she opened her mouth to say something, but no noise came out.
"You can't sing!?"
Chloe gestured that I was on the right track.
"Or talk?"
Chloe ran at me and hugged me, sobbing into my shoulder. I knew she was crying because I could feel the tears, even if it didn't make a sound.
"Okay, get off me!" I chuckled, "You're making my shoulder wet!"
She wiped her eyes and looked at me in desperation.
"As soon as you touched the microphone, you lost your voice?"
Chloe nodded.
"Then that means that at school today, you weren't talking to me because you were busy memorizing the lyrics to your song?"
Again she nodded.
"Alright, stay here," I said, "Use this time to change into your dress and put your make up on. The rest of us are going to try to get your voice back."
Chloe handed me the microphone, but she grabbed it much like how you'd expect her to grab a dirty diaper or a boy's gym sock. I'm assuming she did this to avoid losing anything else.
I took the microphone from her, but forgot to grab it the way Chloe had been holding. When she saw this, she put her hand over her mouth, which indicated that she had gasped silently.
"I didn't feel anything..." I said, "Maybe it can only keep one person's voice at a time?"
Chloe shrugged.
I looked at my watch, the talent show would start in 20 minutes. According to the programs we were given when we arrived, Chloe wasn't set to perform until 5:30, which meant we had a little less than an hour to restore her voice.
Rather than paging the others and potentially ruining the surprise Chloe had planned for them, I returned to the guys and beckoned for them to follow me.
"Where are we going" asked Marcus.
"Headquarters." I said,
"But we just got here!" said Oz.
"I know," I said, "But something is wrong with Chloe."
"Well, she's perfect on the outside..." said Oz, "Uh, I mean, so are you, Rachel."
"Shut up..." I sighed.
"Stephen "Silver" Silverstone"
I had just finished positioning one of my surveillance drones into the community centre so that I could watch the talent show remotely. As I checked the quality of the video feed, the rangers, save for Chloe, teleported into headquarters behind me.
"Shouldn't you be at the talent show?" I asked.
"I think we have another sleeper virus," said Rachel, handing me a microphone, "When Chloe touched this backstage, she lost her voice."
"Do you mean as in laryngitis? I asked.
"I mean as in her voice was literally taken from her."
"Interesting," I said, "It stole Chloe's voice, but yet it didn't steal yours."
"So either it was only designed to steal Chloe's voice, or it can only hold one person's voice at a time." said Riley.
"How do we wake it up so we can fight it?" asked Heath.
"Hopefully, you should just be able to attack it with your weapons," I said, "But be careful, I can guarantee that it'll have some sort of nasty attacks up its sleeve; assuming it even has arms in it's true form."
"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Marcus.
"Ready?" asked Riley.
"Ready!" said everyone.
"CYBER POWER, ACTIVATE!" they shouted together.
"Rachel Parker"
Now fully morphed, I took the microphone from Silver.
"I vote we take it outside before attacking it." said Green.
"It would also be a good idea to take it far away from Sector 0." said Silver.
"Sector 11 has a scrap yard," said Yellow, "I'll bet there's plenty of room there."
"I like it," said Red, "Let's all teleport there now."
Instantaneously, we arrived at the scrap yard. To anyone watching us teleport, we leave behind coloured streaks of binary code.
"Yellow, would you care to do the honours?" I asked, dropping the microphone on the ground.
"Well I suppose..." he said, "Download weapon!"
His large hammer materialized in his hands. His swung it around to build momentum and then, with a mighty heave, he brought it down, however, before the hammer made contact with the microphone, a deafening noise erupted from it that launched all four of us several feet into the air.
"Nice try," said the Virus, speaking in Chloe's voice, "But did you really think I'd give your friend her voice back without a fight?"
The virus hovered in the air and then began to spin around frantically. As it spun, it grew larger and larger as well gradually transformed. By the time it was done, the virus looked like a bunch of balls. Each ball looked like the part of a microphone that you talk into. The more I looked at it, the more I noticed about it. For example, now I could see that the balls had formed a sort of human shape.
"You all look like little ants from up here!" bellowed the Virus in Chloe's voice.
The virus clapped it's hands together and another deafening noise sent us flying yet again. Now I recognized the noise as that of microphone feedback. It was the same noise it had made the first time, only I couldn't discern what it was until now.
"Silver," I said, "We need the Zords!"
"They're ready to go." he said.
"Download Fox Zord!" called Red.
"Download Gorilla Zord!" called Green.
"Download Rhino Zord!" called Yellow.
"Download Marlin Zord!" I called.
The Data Zords materialized before us quickly. We all jumped into our respective ones.
"Commence Megazord transformation sequence!" I said.
I felt myself being pulled away from the cockpit. I floated up into the sky until the sensation stopped. I looked down and could see what was happening from an angle above the action. Piece by piece the Data Zords transformed until they were all properly attached in their designated locations.
"Cyberspace Megazord, online!" we announced together.
"Rangers, you're facing the Microphone Virus, which is #9C4R5O2P9H," said Silver, "Now that it's revealed it's true form, I can get a detailed analysis of it. It says here that it doesn't have a voice of its own, so in order to use its powerful sound wave attacks, it needs to steal someone else's voice first."
"That must be why it stole Chloe's voice." I said.
"Silver, do you have any advice on how to beat this thing?" asked Red.
"It doesn't appear to have any definitive weak spots," said Silver, "On most stereos, if you take the cage off, when sound is produced, there is visible movement that happens. Try looking for something like that and maybe you can dodge its sound wave attacks."
"Yellow, be ready to make us jump," said Red, "Blue and Green be ready to use the Cyber Cyclone technique. I have an idea..."
"Mind filling us in?" I asked.
"I can't, I have to concentrate on looking for our opening." he said.
"So what, you're just going to stand there and not fight me?" snapped the Virus, still in Chloe's voice, "Fine then, it'll make killing you so much easier!"
I could see that Red saw it. He had a satisfied smirk on his face.
"Yellow, jump over the sound wave and try and land behind it!"
Now I think I knew what his idea entailed. He must think that the virus only has one genuine attack: its sound waves. But it seems like it needs to charge up in order for that attack to be effective, so, Red wants Yellow to get us behind the virus so that Green and I can unleash the Cyber Cyclone while it recharges. It's a move that has worked in the past to great effect.
The Microphone Virus unleashed its attack a second or two earlier than Red seemed to have anticipated. The blast hit the Megazord's foot and made us teeter slightly, but we nevertheless stayed on course. If the blast had hit even a little more, it might've been enough to stop us, but that wasn't the case this time. The Megazord landed right behind the virus and then pivoted around to face the virus' back.
"ATTACK!" shouted Red.
Green cranked his steering wheel all the way around as used mine to hold the Megazord's arm right out in front us. This resulted in the Megazord's entire torso rotating nearly 360 degrees, with the sword arm slicing and dicing the virus.
The Microphone Virus screamed like Chloe, but then halfway during the scream, the sound stopped entirely, which hopefully meant that Chloe's voice had been restored.
"Great job, Rangers!" cheered Silver, "You had better power down and get back to the community centre on the double!"
"Chloe Baldwin"
There was only a couple more performers left before it would be my turn. I sighed desperately, and sound came out... I was cured!
I got up and peered out into the audience. Vernon, Sylvia and my Grandma were there, but I didn't see anyone else that I recognized.
Then seconds later, I saw a laser beam fly right by my face. I turned on my heel and saw about six Replicators standing in the doorway that led to the community centre parking lot.
Now I think I understood. Trojan had created that virus to steal my voice. It never occurred to me until just then that if I had been attacked, without my voice, I wouldn't have been able to morph because I wouldn't have been able to say the line that bypasses the voice recognition. But, since I had my voice back...
"CYBER POWER, ACTIVATE!" I shouted, hoping that I could deal with them in time to perform.
Now clad in my fiery orange suit, I thrust out my hand.
"Download weapon!" I called.
My flail materialized in my hand. I wasted no time. With a flourish, I extended the chain and swung it hard over my head and struck three of them right in the chest one after another. Then I retracted the chain and cart wheeled over to the other three Replicators. They all drew their blasters and tried to shoot me, but they couldn't hit me while I was cart wheeling.
I stood up straight and jumped over all of their laser beams, landing right on top of two of them. My feet had touched their weak spots, causing them to be instantly destroyed. That left only one. Knowing it was no match for me, it just stood there, trembling. So, I whacked it with my flail and sent it flying.
"Power down." I said.
The others teleported right in front of me merely seconds later.
"Chloe, you look great, that dress is awesome!" said Rachel, hugging me.
"What she said!" said Oz, coming in to hug me too.
"Oh what the hell! Everybody else, get in here!"
"You heard the lady, it's a group hug!" called Oz.
After everything had calmed down, the others went to sit in the audience and I rushed back inside to make sure I didn't have a serious case of helmet hair. I had a little bit, but nothing too bad.
No less than three minutes later, the performer before me finished and returned backstage. Which meant it was my turn. I gulped while wiping a single bead of sweat from my forehead. I could the music for song playing now. I grabbed a different microphone, taking comfort in the fact that I knew Trojan couldn't make another virus out of a microphone that could steal my voice again. Then my cue came and I emerged from behind the curtains and sang like I had never been able to before:
"Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods? Where's the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds? Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed? Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need! I need a hero!"
I could see that Oz and Marcus had their mouths open in disbelief. Then, still without closing their mouths, Marcus reached into his pocket and handed something to Oz. Of course, I kept singing through all of this. Riley saw what I was seeing and had to cup his mouth because otherwise his laughter would've interrupted my performance. Rachel, Sylvia and Vernon, who of course already knew I could sing were cheering for me with the rest of the audience.
After my performance, there were six more. The show was officially over at 7:00, and by then I had already changed out of my dress and back into something more casual. I met up with Riley, Rachel, Oz and Marcus after the show.
"So I take it you were surprised?" I asked, delightedly.
"You were great!" said Riley.
"That was awesome!" said Marcus and Oz, more or less in unison.
"I'm sorry you didn't win," said Rachel, "And that your father didn't even show up."
"I was angry, but not anymore," said Chloe, "I was so busy trying to get my dad's attention that I didn't notice that I had something just as good, if not better all along."
"Friends that care about you." said Riley.
"Yeah," I said, "If dad cares more about Grandma Chlamydia, that's fine by me, I've got you guys, and my Grandma and Sylvia and of course, Vernon. I'll have to thank him again for suggesting I do that song. I don't think my performance would've been nearly as good if I had picked just any old song."
I had to pause and wipe a tear from the corner of my eye.
"Were you two betting whether or not my performance would bomb?" I asked.
"Of course not!" said Marcus, glancing at Oz for help in what he probably thought was a subtle fashion.
"We actually bet on whether or not there would be a virus to fight on the same night as the talent show." said Oz.
"But you know, here's a totally unrelated question that has nothing whatsoever to do with tonight, do you also happen to know ballet?" asked Marcus.
I was in such a good mood that that caught me off guard. Luckily I managed to keep my laughter contained in my head and instead made it look like I was furious with Marcus by glaring at him. He turned tail and ran, with Oz following suit...