Chapter 3: Could There Be Any More Drama Here Already?
"Hey where are you? Thought you might wanna help set up my basement but I guess you're busy. Just stay on your toes and don't forget what you have to do. I need to see you on my lunch break tomorrow so call me as soon as you can."
As he listened to his voice mail on his cell phone, Justin walked into the kitchen where Cassie was having some coffee. He nonchalantly put his cell phone on the counter, went for a cup of coffee and sat down next to his friend at the counter. He grabbed the sports section and began to read.
"What were you up to last night?"
The simple question had more of a complicated answer than Justin was willing to give. "I was out," was all he said.
"Oh yeah? Do anything fun? Toronto's a great city."
Justin replied, "Nothing really. Just went for a walk."
"You know, I really appreciate you being here this week. No one else has really been around."
Justin nodded in understanding. He thought back to his former teammates back in his Ranger days and it felt weird not to share his new adventure with Cassie.
"So what are we going to do with the Allison situation? Spencer did not handle it well and now this huge fallout – I was hoping you'd be able to help, being close to her age and all…"
Justin shrugged. "I don't know what to do. She's a tough person to figure out. But I ran into her yesterday and we talked a little."
Cassie's eyes lit up. "So you guys are getting along?"
Justin nodded. "Listen, don't worry about it – she'll come around." He picked up his phone from the counter and added, "I gotta go." He stood up and walked away.
"See ya later!" was Cassie's reply as he closed the door to the condo.
After Justin's departure, the phone rang. Cassie quickly picked it up. "Hello?"
"Hi."
Cassie's face lit up at the sound of Alli's voice. "Hey, Alli, what's going on?" she asked casually.
A sigh was heard and then Alli replied, "I'm sorry about what happened the other night. I didn't mean to a brat."
"Sweetie, I understand how you feel. It was all really sudden. Your father didn't handle it the best way – I just hope you can learn to live with this…"
"I'm trying…so anyway, is Justin around?"
"No he just left."
"Okay, I'll try his cell phone. I just wanted to apologize about the other night."
"Okay…take care. We should hang out sometime."
"Maybe. I'll catch ya later. Bye."
Before Cassie could respond, Allison hung up.
"What the hell is this?"
Marco's annoyed tone of voice rang through the halls of Degrassi as the students headed for their classes. Paige pretended to be busy at her locker as her Italian friend approached her.
"Paige, what is this?" he went on, waving a piece of paper in front of her.
Paige feigned ignorance. "A piece of paper?"
"How did a note from your brother get into my locker this morning?"
"Marco, hun, calm down – I just…"
"You know what, forget it. Let's just go before the new Bio teacher flips on us for being late."
Paige followed Marco into the science lab where they sat down to wait for the new teacher.
"He misses you, you know?" Paige said quietly as the new teacher entered the science room.
Marco didn't have time to say anything however, because a man of average height with dark spiky hair entered the noisy classroom.
"Due to recent events at Degrassi and your science teacher becoming principal, I've been hired to replace her as your science teacher. My name is Dr. Oliver."
There was a serious vibe when Justin finally got around to meeting with Tommy later that day. Tommy had been concerned when the younger man hadn't answered his cell phone all evening. Justin's technological genius could have been used. Tommy was like, his older brother, and like any concerned older brother, he was gonna grill Justin about why he had not answered his cell phone or returned any phone calls. He only had an hour for a lunch break and was waiting at Starbucks for Justin. Finally the young man entered the coffee shop and joined his older friend at the table.
"Where were you last night? You didn't answer my calls."
"Sorry, man, I was out with Cassie's soon-to-be stepdaughter."
Tommy raised an eyebrow at this. "You sure you know what you're doing?"
Justin shrugged. "She's not so bad. A bit edgy but really nice once you get to know her. What's with the look?"
"You're getting distracted, kid. You said you'd find people to recruit."
"I think she'll be perfect to be your Yellow Dino Ranger."
"Really?" Tommy seemed intrigued.
"She's really great. And she's really fit. She looks like she's in shape. Cassie told me she's a swimmer so she's used to training. She'll work out just fine."
"Okay, so you've got the girl. You need a guy. You need leadership. You're no leader, Justin."
"I know. I'm working on that. I don't know how I'm gonna find this guy, but I will."
Allison walked into the YMCA; her father had gotten a family membership ages ago. She decided to work out, blow off some steam. Working out used to be a family thing and she used to love to go swimming there with her mother, but after her sudden passing, Alli never bothered to ask her dad to go with her and she never used to go alone. But it seemed as though the day made her want to go back. After a short bus ride, she made it. She slung her duffel bag over her shoulder and walked into the place. Hasn't really changed. The sentiment was bittersweet for her – it was reassuring yet painful to think of it that way.
The pool was the place she felt the most at home. She loved it there, as if she was born to live in the water. She quickly got changed and jumped in the pool. She did a couple of lengths of the pool freestyle just warm up.
"Looks like your form hasn't changed."
When Allison emerged from the water, she realized where the voice had come from. "Dylan!" she exclaimed, visibly startled, watching the tall blond sitting at the edge of the pool to her right.
"Welcome back – what kept you away?"
The curly-haired blond seemed edgy and Allison was not about to get into it with him. "I was just back for a visit." She pursed her lips.
"Listen, you're gonna have to give me more than that."
"I don't owe you an explanation," Alli countered, "I have my reasons for leaving and staying away."
"Why don't you just level with me for a change?" Dylan snapped back, "I don't even feel like I know you anymore."
"Maybe you never knew me to begin with."
Allison swam off to where the steps were and walked out of the pool. She had to get away. She wasn't ready to confront Dylan.
Justin clenched his fists tightly. His right wrist had his gauntlet on it, displaying a blue Dino Gem, which turned into his morpher when he was ready for it. He scanned the gauntlet at the entrance of Dr. Oliver's cave for identification purposes and then as soon as he was granted entrance, he went straight for the connecting tunnel that led straight to the basement of the house. He knew had very little time to act. He walked over to the Communication panel and opened an important direct transmission line straight to Lightspeed Rescue. He tried to keep cool.
"This is The Lightspeed Rescue Dispatch Center, how may I direct your call?" a blonde woman on the screen greeted him.
"My name is Justin Stewart – I need to speak to Captain Mitchell right away," Justin announced with authority.
"If this is urgent, please state your security key phrase for identification purposes."
"Firestorm Blue."
"Please hold while I transfer you to the Captain."
The screen went black for a moment, and then the Captain's face appeared. "Hello, Justin, what's going on?"
"They're coming from the West, sir, and I just wanted to put you on notice in case things get out of hand."
"Where's Dr. Oliver?"
"He's at work. I have one recruit but I still need time to find the other one."
"Do you need me to send out the Lightspeed Rescue – the team is battle ready?"
"No – instead, I would like to request that you grant me access to your Canadian database. I think that may be the key to all this."
"Why? What makes you think you'll find anything there?"
"It's a good place to start and I'm getting desperate. I have something to prove here."
"That you can find the right Rangers?"
"Yes, and you've done well with your database, haven't you?"
"Yes, but the Canadian database has never been used – it was more of a contingency plan."
"I think this is as good a time as any to use it, considering I'm in Canada, sir."
"Type in your security key phrase and you'll get one time access to the database. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir. I will report back with an update later."
Justin terminated the transmission and went to a computer panel to pull up the Database. He quickly accessed the search function and typed DAVIS, ALLISON. A file came up and he clicked it open. The Lightspeed Rescue profiler did a thorough analysis on Allison's physical abilities including her personal best swim times and her typical training regimen. Under PERSONAL HISTORY he found some interesting points: lost mother a couple of years back, father remarried, gay best friend…he copy and pasted the name into a new search window and found the file for MICHALCHUK, DYLAN. And there he had it – his recruits! Now if only he could find them…
"Maybe you never knew me to begin with."
The words echoed in Dylan's mind, fresh from the encounter earlier that afternoon. The voice was distinctly engraved in his mind from the first day they met as children from the day she walked out of his life nearly a year ago. They had been through so much – all those years of school, the first date, the first kiss, his coming out, her mother's death…how could she say he never knew her?
The cold water hit the blond pretty hard but he didn't bother to change the temperature. He tried to keep his mind cleared up but thoughts of the blonde came floating back into his mind, taking over his consciousness.
Fifteen minutes later, Dylan stepped out of the change room and headed out the front door. He went to his car and noticed that Allison was waiting for the bus. He approached her carefully, keeping his expression neutral.
"Hey."
Allison's head quickly turned to her left; she waited a moment before saying, "Hi."
Dylan sighed. "Hey, you need a ride or something?"
"Why? So you can tell how horrible I was for cutting you out of my life? No thanks."
Dylan was surprised at how direct the comment was and sharp Allison's tone of voice was. Allison had definitely changed personality-wise – less of the sweet girl next door and more of an angry young woman and he wasn't exactly sure why she was so angry. "Alli…"
Allison sighed. "Listen, Dylan, I…"
"It hurt me to be so cut off from you…I just want my best friend back."
"You already have a best friend." Allison's hazel eyes darted towards the incoming bus then they met Dylan's baby blues. "I have to go."
As Allison turned away, she felt a firm grip grab hold of her hand. "Alli, please don't go. Let me drive you."
Allison's body stiffened as she attempted to resist the pull but in the end, she let the bus pass by her. She relaxed her body, pulled her hand away from Dylan and followed him to his car. They both got settled in, and Dylan drove out of the parking lot and into the streets of Toronto. Allison turned on the radio to a random station and music filled the car, allowing the pair the option of not talking.
Going through the motions
Stuck inside a silent world
Trying to bridge a distance
Between where we are and where we were
I can see were fading
But we cant go back and we can't go on
You're still the one that I want
Allison bit her lip as the song played. She didn't like how the song hit too close to home. She quickly changed the station and found another song she liked better. She sang out loud, forgetting who was in the car with her.
Did you know when you go
It's the perfect ending
To the bad day I was just beginning
When you go all I know is
You're my favorite mistake
Dylan turned the music down and commented, "I didn't know you could sing."
"Yeah, a couple of drunken karaoke doesn't make one a singer," Allison replied nonchalantly.
Dylan turned the radio off completely and said, "Marco never replaced you in my life."
"You could have fooled me," Alli replied with a bit of an edge in her voice.
"I tried, maybe not enough, but I tried, to give you some of my time – you always blew me off!"
"Maybe because I realized that I'm not the most important person in your life anymore. That's okay, you know?"
"You don't have to be so distant because of Marco…"
"Actually, I have to – but that's none of your concern really. I have more pressing matters to attend to."
Before Dylan could reply to her, there was a slight earthquake-like rumble and dark clouds began to creep into the sky. Allison looked at Dylan with a bit of a panicked expression.
"Oh must a storm coming…we better get some place safe."
Ringing came from Allison's purse and she grabbed her cell phone to answer it. "Hello?"
Dylan listened intently to Alli's side of the conversation.
"Oh hey Justin, what's going on?"
From where Dylan was sitting, it looked Alli was the one who had replaced him.
"Yeah sure, I'll be there soon, bye."
Dylan refocused his attention to the road and drove some more.
"I need you to get me to 322 Ashbridges Road – I need to meet up with my friend Justin. He's staying at the edge of Scarborough."
Dylan scoffed. "Are you sure you're not the one doing the replacing?"
Alli rolled her eyes and replied, "If you don't wanna drive, I'll take the bus."
"Okay okay okay, I'll drive."
"Take the 401 – it'll be quicker. With that mini-quake, it looks like there's a bit of a hold up here."
Justin was pacing around the condo. Cassie had already left for the work so he had the place to himself. The dark clouds and the mini-quake could only mean one thing: Mesogog and Zeltrax had been tracking Dino Gems and were headed towards Tommy's house. He needed to calm down and figure something out. His older friend had been right – he was no leader. He was never really good at thinking on his feet and was prone to panicking a little. He rubbed the metallic cuff where he had placed his blue Dino Gem earlier and he was wondering what he could say to Alli to get her to take the yellow Dino Gem and get her to lead him to Dylan…
"Look, Dylan, he's just a friend of mine – stop being such a loser!"
"Just because you felt you had to abandon me last year doesn't mean I won't look out for you!"
Having heard two voices outside the condo bickering, Justin just realized that while the manhunt was over, his job just got a lot more difficult.