Part Seven
Chapter Seven
Ian stopped in the hallway beside his father's study, took a second to catch his breath and rapped his knuckles against the door.
"Come in!" called his father. Ian pushed open the door and stepped inside to see Mr Thompson at his desk, casework and open folders spread out in front of him.
"Hey," Ian began. "Just wanted to check you were okay."
"I've had worse days," Mr Thompson replied. "We took a dozen of Australia's most wanted off the streets this afternoon. Once the, uh, once that crown thing was destroyed, they all woke up with no memory of what had happened. And since the nurses had strapped them down, it was pretty easy to round them up."
"That was helpful," Ian smiled.
"It took all the fun out of arresting them," Mr Thompson said, then leaned back in his chair. "What about you? Big day?"
"One of the biggest," Ian replied. "We're in the middle of something, right now. Even we don't really know what's going on." He paused before continuing. "I'm sorry our two worlds kind of collided. It was a theme of the day, actually. But I know you're not keen on the whole giant robot thing."
Mr Thompson sat forward. "Just hold on for a second," he began. "When the monster attacked, I remember you saying that I don't like it when our lives intersect. Ian, I need you to know, it's not that. I never meant to…" but his voice trailed off. "I'm saying this, not just as a police officer, but as one of your parents. It's my job to keep you safe, right? To protect you from monsters until the day when you're capable enough to deal with them on your own." He paused, looking for the right words. "I just never expected that day to get here as fast as it did. You don't need me to protect you anymore, at least, not in the way you used to. And I don't like how that feels. Who am I if I'm not your father?"
"You're the guy who shot a god, today, to protect me," Ian said. "That guy was amazing."
Mr Thompson smiled. "Until I can arrest this Zordon for child endangerment," he began, and Ian laughed, "I'm always going to worry about you and your brother in this insane, stupid world. As amazing and talented as you are."
"Not that amazing," Ian murmured.
"Hey," Mr Thompson said softly. "What's this really about?"
"What happened today, it's an open case at the moment," Ian began. "We're fighting these bad guys who deal in fear and nightmares. Everyone's gone through some pretty heavy stuff. But it made me realise that I still get scared about things. I've been doing this for years. I'm supposed to be past this by now."
"I don't think fear is such a terrible thing," Mr Thompson said. "It keeps us alive. It forces us to ask the right questions. It makes us measure our risks. I don't think that's always so bad. Let me put it another way. Have you ever let that fear stop you, from protecting somebody, from fighting a monster, or doing the right thing?"
"Not recently," Ian replied. "Not that I remember at all, actually."
Mr Thompson smiled. "Then trust me," he said. "You're doing okay."
The next morning, Ian and Brendan were walking down to the Youth Centre, hoping to make it to the beach carnival today, when Ian turned to Brendan.
"Can I ask you something?" Ian asked. "Do you ever get scared?"
"Of course," Brendan replied. "Literally, all the time."
"Really?"
"Yeah," Brendan continued. "I mean, we're starting back at school soon. What if I end up failing history and I get trapped in tenth grade forever? What if we get stuck in different classes? What if we get trapped with a bunch of jerks all year? What if we get a teacher who's mean? And then at home, what if my sister starts dating a horrible boyfriend? What if my mum gets another job and we have to move? I might need to start looking for a job this year, and how am I gonna deal with that, school, and still find time to hang out with everybody? And that's not even considering talking to girls, I mean, that's terrifying." He nodded to Ian. "Not all of us have your natural charm. For some of us, it gonna be an uphill battle."
"You really think about all that?" Ian asked.
"You don't?"
"I mean, yeah, I guess," Ian replied. "Just never all at once like that. When you put it like that, it sounds so…"
"Human," Brendan nodded. "All this stuff is just part of being alive, I think. Everyone all around the world is just doing the best they can."
A few seconds passed when Ian remembered the battle yesterday. "Zedd knew something," he said. "I forgot to tell everyone. After the zord fight, it seemed like Zedd knew something about all these demigods. The broken chains case, I mean. He almost seemed scared."
"Or he was just messing with you," Brendan added.
"That's true."
"One thing I was thinking about," Brendan said. "The last two artefacts were both possessed by demigods, right? The knife and the pendant. Both of them were citywide disasters. The crown can't have been cracking open dimensional portals for the fun of it. So who brought it into the city in the first place? And if the monster hadn't gotten in the way, just what would've actually happened?"
Later that night, when a bank of thick clouds was rolling across the sky, the abandoned warehouse district lay quiet and empty, apart from a single dark figure making her way down the street. Stopping in the middle of the road, she reached down for a piece of charred rubble and watched as it crumbled to dust in her hand.
"Another treasure lost," she murmured. "Something in this world infects everything. It's all so disposable. Still, my love, I promise you this," and she turned her gaze to the sky as the moon was consumed by the cloud front. "I know my duty and I will not fail you. After all," and she grinned triumphantly. A midnight breeze scattered the ash in her hand, revealing three blood-red jewels. "Every king needs his queen."
And at the sound of her laughter, the stars themselves refused to shine.
To be continued.