Victor was still pacing when Monty came towards him, looking like he was a million miles away. He had a strange smile on his face. Some women were following him, carrying a bunch of equipment, including a folding chair. Victor threw up his hands as he saw them.
"Finally!" He commented as he saw them. "I was beginning to think you'd never get here! Good work Monty."
Monty sighed and something completely unrecognisable as any human language came from his mouth. Victor just looked at him.
"Set up just here." He told the stylists, before looking to Monty. "What's with you?"
Monty just sighed and stared off into space. Victor just shook his head and got into the chair.
"Alright, we don't have long, but it looks like this shouldn't take long." One of the stylists said to him. "A trim and the manicure, right?"
"That should be good." Victor told her. He looked back to Monty, who had picked up a flower and was busy pulling petals off it, mumbling to himself. He furrowed his brows.
"Seriously, what the hell is with you?" Victor asked him. "You haven't made this little sense since you learned Dothraki!"
"I met someone." He sighed.
"Well, you're bound to meet people there are tons of people here!" Victor stated. He saw the way Monty was acting and the penny dropped. He smiled. "Wait…was this someone a girl?"
"Yeah." He responded wistfully. "The most beautiful girl I've ever seen!"
"Well now we're talking! Way to go my man!" Victor congratulated him. He was genuinely happy for Monty. He knew the kid found it difficult at times around people. Victor was his only friend. Most of the other kids didn't really know what to make of him. Those that knew him from Middle School were still a little freaked out around him given the bombing incident. While the school did all they could to cover the incident up and keep names and details under wraps, the fact there had been an explosion from a locker and Monty was suspended for longer than any other student in the school's history made it pretty easy for most to put two and two together. Others that hadn't known him that long were either freaked out by how smart he was and got jealous or they took one look at his clothes, his hair cut and his glasses and wrote him off as a nerd that spent all his time in his mom's basement. "So, what's she like?"
"She's…amazing!" He replied. She's pretty and kind…"
"Well that's great!" Victor answered. "Did you ask her out?"
"Um…no." Monty answered.
"Well, does she go to our school?" Victor asked. Monty just shrugged. "Well…do you have her number? E-mail? Twitter?" Monty shook his head.
"I…kind of didn't get a chance to ask." He admitted. "I…don't even know her name."
"Wow…you are NOT good at this!" Victor teased him. "You know, I find your chances with the ladies increase by a significant margin if you at least ask their name."
Monty just stared at him.
"Well…what are you waiting for? Go and find her!" Victor told him, waving him off with his one free hand while the stylist worked on the other. Monty just ran off in search of the mystery girl while Victor smiled.
"My boy is finally growing up!" Victor said proudly. "Hey, careful! Don't you have a finer emery board?"
Meanwhile, Calvin was just heading to the sign-in table as the crowds started to gather. He was almost knocked down as Principal Hastings barged past him.
"Hey, Principal Hastings, I didn't know you were…" His words tailed off as she ignored him. He just looked curiously after her. She was with two guys, both of whom looked athletic, but never said a word. They also both looked identical, making him suspect they were twins. He stared after her for a moment.
"I wonder who those guys were." He commented, before shrugging and going to the sign in table. He put down the forms for the two teams. "Alright, two teams to sign in, one team is myself, Brody Romero and Levi Weston, and the other is Hayley Foster, Sarah Thompson and Preston Tien."
"Brody…oh, the plagiarist." Tom said as he came to the table, checking on the form. He looked at it, checking it out. "I hope he doesn't think he can cheat this time."
"Tom? What…what are you even doing here?" Calvin asked.
"Our record company is very committed to charity work. My dad was always about paying it forward when things are going well for you, and life has been pretty good to me." Tom told him. "Think of what you can do for others, not just about yourself."
"Look man, I don't know what happened about that song. Brody swears to me his dad always told him it was his song." Calvin answered.
"Yeah, because cheats have never lied about being cheats." Tom answered him, picking up two batons and handing them to Calvin. "Just tell Brody that I'm going to be watching…closely!"
"I will." Calvin said as he held up the batons and walked away. He shook his head as he headed towards his friends. He liked Levi a lot, and for him, he was willing to give Tom a pass, but he didn't like that he was singling Brody out like this. Brody was a lot of things, and being a ninja, deceit and misdirection were skills he had developed, but he had never lied to his friends. If Brody insisted that his dad had always told him that he wrote the song, Calvin had no reason to believe any different. Whether or not Dane had gotten the song from someone else though…that much was a different matter, but for Tom to single out Brody as some kind of liar or plagiarist because he had in good faith believed his dad had written his family song just seemed like a dick move to him. "Jerk." He muttered under his breath.
As Calvin headed towards his friends, he could see that the Mayor was already beginning to make the announcements.
"As Mayor of Summer Cove, I am delighted to welcome you to the lake sunshine fun-athalon! Let's raise lots of money to keep our lake sunshine clean and beautiful for generations to come!" The mayor announced as Calvin found his friends gathered near a table. "And don't forget to say hello to the lake's mascot, Bubbles!"
"Hello Bubbles!" Preston said, leaning over and tapping the glass. Sarah was just standing with her arms folded.
"I just don't get it, why is a goldfish the mascot for a lake?" She asked. "That lake is salt water. A goldfish is a fresh water fish. If Bubbles went in that lake he'd die."
"I…don't think you're meant to take it that seriously." Preston chuckled. "I mean, if you think about it, this isn't even Bubbles. How long does a goldfish live? This would have to be like…Bubbles the eight hundred and fifty ninth or something like that."
"Yeah, he's also really not keen on you tapping the glass like that." Hayley told him. Preston just looked to her.
"He's not?" He asked her.
"His exact words are, 'does this asshole have any idea how loud that is in here'?" She informed him. Preston just cleared his throat and stood up.
"Um…yeah, sorry about that Bubbles." He answered. Calvin came across with the batons.
"Alright guys, I've got you all signed in and ready to go." Calvin told them. "Hayley and Sarah, you're on the green team with Preston."
"Really? It had to be green?" Sarah asked.
"Apparently Principal Hastings already has pink." Calvin informed her as he handed his girlfriend the green baton. "Besides, I figured the best way to avoid fights was to pick colours that don't correspond to our Ranger colours. That's why Brody, Levi and I are the Orange team."
"You are aware that's Red and Yellow right?" Levi chuckled. "Say, what was Tom saying? It looked like you two were talking for a while."
"Oh…um…" Calvin stammered, trying to think of what to say. "He was just saying hi and wishing us well on the race."
"Yeah, I'll believe that in a hurry." Brody grumbled. "He doesn't need to worry, I'm not planning on cheating here just like I didn't cheat at the talent contest."
"Cheating?" Levi asked. "Did I miss something?"
"It's…a long story." Brody assured him. Just then, they heard a roar of an engine that made them all jump into a guarding position. It sounded like a rocket ship, and they were convinced that one of the Warrior Dome's warriors had come down to cause trouble, but they all breathed a sigh of relief as they saw Ace and his friends roll into the parking lot.
"It's alright, it's just Ace's car." Hayley commented. They all looked as Calvin stared longingly at it, his face in a wide grin. He started to walk over. "Hey, where are you going? The race is about to start!"
"That's Ace and his crew!" Calvin said as he gestured to them. Sarah sighed and rolled her eyes. She had heard all about his past with Monty, and to say she didn't think much of Ace would be only marginally less of an understatement than to say she didn't think much of Galvanax. "Wow…that car sounds sick! It sounds like he's done some new upgrades!"
"You are aware he's a sociopathic asshole, right?" Sarah asked him. Calvin either didn't notice or ignored her comment.
"He's got the coolest car in town!" Calvin explained to them. "And he totally…"
"…built the engine from scratch himself." Hayley completed his statement in an exasperated tone. She had heard this from him many times before, and despite having virtually no mechanical skills herself, had heard Calvin go on about his car so many times she felt like she would be able to build the engine! "Yeah, I remember!"
"Don't worry, I'll be right back!" Calvin told her as he walked away towards Ace and his crew. Hayley just sighed and watched him.
"Some day I wish Calvin would look at me that way." She joked. Sarah wrapped her arms around her.
"Aw, it's just a little man-crush." Sarah assured her. "I'm…not at all sure WHY he'd man-crush on Ace-hole, but I guess each to their own."
"Let's go discuss order." Preston suggested. "Sarah, how do you feel about taking the first leg?"
In another part of the yard, Princess Viera was just getting ready to begin her surveillance. So far, her disguise appeared to be working, and no one suspected a thing.
She kept her eye on the Rangers as they gathered to discuss the upcoming race. She knew that soon she would have the opportunity to see the Rangers in action. She could see Shoespike in his disguise also getting ready for the race. He was thrashing through some push-ups all while yelling motivational phrases at himself.
She went to the stands, making her way up and took a seat overlooking the starting line. From here, she'd have the perfect view of the start, and also the finish line. From here, she would see everything.
Over in the parking lot, Ace and his friends were gathered around his car, "The Beast" as he had dubbed it, all worshipping it like some sacred idol. Ace had a rag in his hand and was polishing it.
"Come on Ace." His girlfriend Cherry complained. "What are we still doing here? We don't have to be here, we could be off having fun!"
"Babe, we're here to laugh at all the dweebs running around like idiots." Ace reminded her. "They're running around in circles all day for an overgrown puddle."
"Yeah, it's lame, so why are we here?" Cherry asked him. "If we leave now we can get to Panorama and go to Rainbow Corner."
"Babe, I don't want to go there." Ace told her.
"But I do." She complained. Ace was about to answer when Calvin came over.
"Melvin, my man! How are you doing?" Ace greeted him, seeing the opportunity to shut down his conversation with Cherry. He didn't really care much for Calvin, hell he didn't care enough to bother learning his name, but he knew Calvin as a bit of a petrol-head. He was always hanging around whenever he had the chance to admire The Beast, and talking a bout his own truck Nitro. He didn't care at all about that, but it was always nice to have someone else admire his pride and joy and stroke his ego over it. "Wow, that paint job is TIGHT! The paint room in the shop class is still out of order, where did you get it done?"
"Where do you think man?" Ace asked, holding up his hands. "Best shop in town with ten specialist employees!"
"YOU did this!" Calvin gasped, admiring it. "Wow, that is…wow!"
"Hey, watch it!" One of Ace's meathead friends said, seeing Calvin getting close.
"Yeah, don't breathe on the paint!" The other snapped.
"Guys, it's fine, he's just admiring a work of art!" Ace told him. "Just finished rebooting the engine. Want to take a look at the goods?"
Calvin looked like he was about to faint as he nodded his head frantically. Ace popped the hood, lifting it up and letting Calvin look inside. The Yellow Ranger stared at the engine, almost drooling as he saw it. Some looking at his expression would almost have wondered if he was looking at an engine or a copy of Playboy.
"That Nos kit is off the chain!" Calvin gasped as he pointed to it. Ace just nodded, making some kind of noise with his throat that sounded like agreement.
"It sure is, I put a lot of elbow grease into those mods!" He answered. Calvin looked down as he noticed a small stain though. Although there was meant to be oil on most engine parts, he could tell the difference between a small amount for lubrication and when there was a problem. He put his fingers down, before pulling them out, confirming his suspicions.
"Hey, Ace, it looks like you have an oil leak." Calvin informed him. Ace shoved him aside, staring at the engine.
"Are you kidding me? I spent good mon…" Ace started to say, before biting his tongue and restraining himself. "I spent ages putting that together!"
"Well, it should be a cinch to fix, I mean a pro like you right?" Calvin asked. Ace just stared at him for a moment. He looked between Calvin and the car for a moment, before putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Uh…well…yeah, sure I could fix it." Ace stated. "But maybe you might like to take a crack at it huh?"
"Seriously? You want me to spend another day watching you stare at this stupid car?" Cherry asked him.
"Nobody asked you Cherry!" Ace stated, before looking to Calvin, who was still looking at the engine. "So, what do you say?"
"Uh…yeah, sure!" Calvin stated. "Um…it looks like it should be an easy fix, we can do it at the shop class. It's just a short way."
"Perfecto! Maybe we ought to push it there just to be safe!" Ace suggested.
"Sure thing! We can push it, right guys?" He asked, just as Cherry, Ace and the two meatheads got into The Beast. "Um…okay…sure. Whatever."
With that, Calvin started to push the car, while Ace steered, heading for the school workshop.
Over by the start line, the Rangers were all starting to get ready. They had been given vests in their appropriate team colours like the other teams and were getting ready to head to their start positions.
"Gather your teams, the relay race is about to begin!" The Mayor called out over the microphone. "Remember, each member of the team must take turns carrying the baton."
"Alright, I guess we should head off to our starting positions." Preston said as he handed the baton to Sarah, who had agreed to take up the first leg. "You remember the route?"
"The hand-off is at the pedallo rental." Sarah told him with a smile. "You've only reminded me like a hundred times."
"Well that last time you went on a cross-country run you did get lost." Hayley reminded her. "And that course was pretty clearly marked!"
"It was a CLONE!" Sarah protested. "I'm the original and best!"
"Yeah, you are." Preston answered, but as he saw Sarah staring at him he just cleared his throat. "Um…yeah, Hayley we should get going."
"Hey, have you guys seen Calvin?" Brody asked.
"Bad news, Mick just said he saw Calvin pushing Ace's car into shop class." Levi answered as he arrived, de-activating his Ninja-Comm.
"Are you kidding me?" Brody asked. "Now what are we meant to do? We don't have a three-man team!"
"Not to mention he took the baton with him!" Levi groaned. Just then, a couple of powerful arms slammed into the back of their shoulders. Both Brody and Levi reacted quickly, launching the mystery assailant in a high arc overhead, driving him onto the ground, before crouching over him. They looked puzzled as they saw a guy in a gaudy spandex bodysuit lying on the ground.
"Say Levi, nice move." Brody complimented him. "That was just like something dad taught me and Aiden."
"Really?" Levi asked him with a shrug. "It just came naturally."
"Wow, nice reflexes." He said in a strongly accented voice.
"Sorry." Brody said as they helped him up. "Um…can we help you?"
"I couldn't help overhearing your predicament! It turns out my team bailed on me too!" He said, flexing and posing as he spoke. "My name's Shoespike…uh…Bob Shoespike! But people just call me Shoespike! You need a third man, I need a second and third man. How about it?"
"Um…"
"I even have my own baton!" He told them, holding a deep purple baton out for them to see. Brody looked to Levi and just shrugged.
"I guess it is for charity." He commented. "And it's not like we have many options."
"Then I guess we got lucky." Levi said with a smile. "I'm Levi, and this is Brody!"
"Alright, let's get pumped UP!" Shoespike declared. "Hands on the baton!"
Both Levi and Brody put their hands on the baton, but as soon as they did, they both felt really strange. They didn't really know what they were thinking of, but now the only thought through their minds was the race ahead and winning at all costs. They looked to each other, and there was fire in their eyes, a competitiveness that bordered on the outright psychotic.
"Let's terminate those other weaklings!" He snapped. "I'll take leading leg, you two take third and second! Show no mercy!"
"YEAH!" They both screamed as they ran off to take up position. Shoespike headed to the starting line where everyone was lining up. Principal Hastings and Professor Warwick had taken up the first leg for their teams, while Victor was just finishing up with his stylists and heading for the starting position. Shoespike lined up next to Sarah.
"Hey, I'm Sarah." She told him, offering him a handshake. "Have a good race."
Shoespike didn't shake her hand though. Instead he just got into position. As the gun fired and everyone began the race, Sarah felt something hook one of her ankles at the same time as she felt a hand on her back. Before she knew what else was going on, she was propelled face-first straight into the grass. She raised her head up, spluttering and spitting out grass as she watched Shoespike running backwards, waving to her, not even trying to hide the fact he had done it, before turning and heading to catch up to the others ahead of him.
"Oh, that is it, you are going DOWN!" She snapped as she got back to her feet and snatched up her baton, running after Shoespike, already way in last place.