Fury was up on Sledge's ship, taking a bit of a rest and having a snack while he kept an eye on a selection of screens for news reports around the city. He didn't like to spend too long off the ship these days. The aches and pains were coming more frequently, and he wasn't as energetic as he used to be. He knew that without absorbing more human life-force, his aging was becoming a serious problem, and so he wanted to be away from the stasis technology of the ship as little as possible. Especially when he didn't REALLY need to be there, all he really needed to do was ensure that Christie was still granting wishes and creating chaos. It would be some time before he was actually needed in the field, it would take the Rangers a while before they figured out what was going on.
As he slurped a cup noodle, his feet crossed on the table before him, he chuckled as he saw reports starting to come in that showed really obvious signs that people had been making wishes. A guy was being hauled into the back of a police car, protesting his innocence of bank robbery screaming that he had just "found" the bag lying in a bush! As doubtful as that story sounded on the surface, Fury was not willing to rule out the probability that he had wished to get that money, but never specified HOW.
"FURY!" Sledge roared as he came into the room, swiping his feet off the table, causing the feline warrior to spill noodles over himself. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I was just..."
"I told you to keep an eye on Christie!" He growled, smashing a fist down on one of the monitors. Fury started to scramble to his feet.
"But...but...she's in disguise! She's at the fair!" Fury reminded him. "It'll be ages yet before the Rangers figure anything out, I was just..."
"Just lazing around on the ship like you seem to be doing all the time these days?" Poisandra teased him as she came closer. "Come to think of it, you really haven't spent all that much time off the ship since you came back from New Zealand..."
"What are you trying to say witch?" Fury asked her.
"Be careful how you address my Sweet!" Sledge warned him, pulling out his blaster. Fury backed up a little, realising he still hadn't turned down the power setting since he had threatened Heckyl. He backed up as he just pointed to the screens.
"She's creating chaos; she's doing exactly what she was meant to!" Fury protested. "She doesn't need supervision for that!"
"Really?" Poisandra asked, pointing to another monitor. Fury just gulped as he saw the Red and Pink Rangers locked in a desperate battle with Christie in her true form. "It looks to me like she took a little wander when you let her off her leash."
"Master Sledge I..."
"SHE'S GOING TO GIVE THE GAME AWAY!" Sledge roared. "Get down there and get her back on her leash NOW!"
Fury immediately scrambled to leave the room, heading for a transport pod. Christie had managed to mess this up in a big way! It was unlikely any of them would forget the trouble she caused the last time!
Over in the Dino Bite Cafe, Kendall had moved from her office to the cafe to continue her work. Riley had taken a break from searching for stories of heroism from the local area to start training, and Kendall had found the racket he was making far too distracting. The practice dummy he and Ivan were using whenever they weren't sparring was well past its best and they kept hassling her to replace it, but with its protection wearing thin, they were essentially striking the metal frame. She had enough of a headache as it was, and could live without Riley making it any worse. Knowing that the lunch rush was now over, she was essentially in the cafe alone. She took a sip of her coffee as Ivan came over to her, with his mop in his hand, cleaning the floors.
"So, how goes the search for our new Ranger?" He asked her. Kendall just humphed and shook her head in exasperation.
"It's not going well at all." She grumbled. "Focussing purely on people who have performed heroic acts and who are close enough to make them practical candidates really isn't narrowing things down. Koda said he'd check Alessandra...I kind of couldn't really say no since we'd already tried Margaret and Allison."
"Yes well, even in my day it was a difficult search." He admitted. Kendall just looked to him.
"I thought you said all you had to do was go to the local tavern." Kendall teased him a little. Ivan just sucked his teeth, being reminded of his own boasts back in the early days of his tenure on the team.
"Well, it was certainly simple enough to find people to fill a retinue that way. Plenty of people were willing to sign on for some ale and a few coins." Ivan admitted sagely. "Sadly though, those worthy of joining the Knights of Zandar were very rare."
"I suppose it's always been difficult to find good recruits." Kendall stated as Erica came over, carrying a ladder. She seemed to pause as she heard this. Kendall realised she had only heard the tail end of the conversation. "We weren't talking about you; you don't need to worry Erica."
"OK...I'm just...replacing this bulb. It's been blinking." She responded. "Would you mind holding the ladder Ivan?"
"Ivan...wasn't Chase meant to be on today?" Kendall asked as he held the ladder and Erica started to climb up.
"I agreed to cover for him so he and Allison could go on their weekend break together." Ivan told her. "Tyler and Shelby went to the park for a picnic..."
"They went for a picnic?" Kendall asked him.
"It has been planned for a while..."
"Yeah, I just thought Shelby would want to be at home today." Kendall told him. He just looked confused. "She got a lot of mail here today, a lot of grant application forms."
"You read her mail?" Ivan asked. "Even in my day that was considered impolite."
"I know application forms when I see them Ivan, I've applied for more than a few myself." She reminded him. "Waste of bloody time around here, I've been in front of most of the grant committees here and...let's just say they have a select 'type' of person they tend to award them to."
She paused for a moment as she thought about this.
"What is it?" He asked her.
"I was just thinking...most of these grants. They usually take months to send out the forms...and all of these arrived at the museum today." Kendall said, thinking about the mail. "Shelby had been asking me for advice on grants to apply for but...that was only within the last couple of weeks. And...Koda did get his burger..."
She looked to Ivan, seeing the look on his face as she considered this. It seemed silly, but there was an annoying thought in the back of her mind, like a little itch in her brain that she couldn't shake. She'd seen a lot of bizarre things since she had begun her tenure on the team. Hell, she had a caveman literally living in the basement!
"Ivan, when we were at the fair...what did you wish for?" She asked him. He just sighed and shrugged.
"I wished for what any gentleman wishes for." He told her. "To save a damsel in distress."
Pretty much exactly on cue, Erica slipped and fell off the ladder, screaming as she went. Ivan dropped the mop instinctively and caught her with barely a thought. She looked up to him from his arms, smiling as he put her down.
"Ivan, you really are my knight in shining armour!" She said a little breathlessly, putting her hand over her heart. It was still beating a little quickly after the surprise of her fall.
"You are quite welcome." Ivan told her, before pointing to the kitchen. "Now, would you mind cleaning the grill?"
"Yeah, anything." She said as she ran in the direction of the kitchen. Kendall saw this and the itch in her brain came back far more fiercely than before. She was never superstitious, but she had seen so many bizarre things, and there were an awful lot of coincidences...that was when a thought occurred to her. Sledge had sent a monster that could grant wishes before, and she knew that he had the capability now to bring monsters back to life...was it possible that he had done so? She remembered all too well when that had happened, Chase still had a picture on his cell phone of her when she had been shrunk to the size of a Barbie doll wearing a wedding dress and standing beside a Ken doll in a tux! It seemed like there were way too many coincidences all at once, but...was it possible he had inadvertently given them exactly what they needed? Christie's wishes all came true, just not the way they expected. It was risky to think about if it was true, but...if she was specific...VERY specific in the wording of how she phrased her wish...She stared to hurriedly gather her things together.
"Where are you going?" He asked her.
"I have a...really crazy idea!" Kendall told him. "Believe me, if I told you, you'd only try to talk me out of it, but if this works...I think I've found our Purple!"
As she left, Ivan just shrugged his shoulders, before going back to work. It was a moment later that Koda was brought into the restaurant, wearing a long dressing gown and groaning, with Alessandra helping him.
"A new look Koda?" Ivan asked him.
"He no feel well...have 'accident' training." Alessandra told him. "I take him to basement."
"By all means." Ivan said, gesturing to her to do so. Koda just continued to groan as he left.
In the park, Tyler and Shelby were still battling Christie. Tyler was thrown into the duck pond by one of her attacks, leaving her alone with Shelby.
"Christie, why are you doing this?" She yelled at her. "We were friends!"
"Friends?" Christie laughed derisively. "You Rangers have done nothing but destroy my fellow inmates for months!"
"We only destroyed them when they left us no choice!" Shelby told her. "People's lives were at stake!"
"You destroyed ME!" Christie screamed at her. "Now I get to return the favour!"
They were both thrown to the ground by a blast as Fury arrived. Before she could get up, he kicked Shelby, sending her flying into the pond. Christie just glared at him.
"What did you do THAT for?" She yelled.
"I told you to stay at the fair!" He responded.
"I got bored!" She responded in an offhand way. Fury just grabbed her and started dragging her.
"If you don't get back to the fair, I'll give you something that'll REALLY keep your attention!" He warned her. By the time Shelby and Tyler got back out of the pond, Fury and Christie were gone.
"Son of a BITCH!" Tyler screamed. "He's gone!"
"He?" Shelby asked.
"My dad!" He responded. "I finally see him after all these years and thanks to her..."
"Tyler, wait." Shelby stated. "You saw your dad...and then we run into Christie? By any chance did you...?"
"Wait...the fair!" Tyler yelled as he suddenly caught onto what Shelby was thinking. "I wished to find my dad!"
"Tyler...we need to stop her before anyone else makes any wishes!" Shelby responded. She pulled out her communicator. "Ms Morgan...Ms Morgan? Damn it, my communicator is damaged!"
"Mine too." Tyler replied as he tried his communicator. "I guess we know they really are only water resistant to 50 metres. The middle of that lake had to be much deeper than that."
"We need to get to that fair now!" Shelby replied as they started running as fast as they could.
Over in San Angeles, Chase and Allison had arrived, seeing the hotel at the end of the street. They both looked up as the rain suddenly stopped.
"Great, that's just typical." She grumbled. Chase put his arm around her as they got closer.
"Don't worry, just think. In only a few more minutes, we'll be in the hotel, with a nice, warm spa, champagne and..."
"And a closed hotel?" Allison asked. Chase looked up and saw what Allison was talking about. The door was closed, and there were wooden bars nailed up over it. There was a sign marking the building as closed.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Chase said as he ran to the door and inspected the sign. "It's a foreclosure notice; it looks like the owners haven't been paying their taxes since...well...ever!"
"When did this happen?" She asked.
"The notice went up last week." Chase responded. "I don't believe this!"
He let out a huge yell and kicked the door, but completely underestimated his strength...and overestimated how sturdy the door was! It flew in completely off its hinges. Chase and Allison just looked in, unable to believe what they were seeing. The furniture inside was chipped and worn, the carpets were patchy and while it was clear it had been a luxury resort at one time, it looked like it hadn't been maintained properly in years.
"Wow, old father time really took a baseball bat to this place!" Allison commented. "I'm guessing those pictures from the website are pretty old."
"I'd say so." Chase agreed. Just then, they heard a siren, and saw some flashing lights. Chase turned in time to see a police cruiser pulling up.
"Oh, this isn't good." Allison commented. Chase just smiled.
"No, things are looking up." He replied as he walked towards them. "Hello officer..."
"Stay where you are sir!" One of the cops told him as they started to approach. Chase just looked confused. "What are you doing here?"
"I came here with my girlfriend to check in..."
"To a closed hotel?" The other cop asked him. He just shrugged.
"I didn't know it was closed until I got here." Chase told him honestly. Allison just face-palmed.
"Can we see some identification sir?" One of them asked.
"Identification?" He asked as Allison came up to his side.
"Um...Chase, we ARE standing outside a closed hotel." She reminded him. "And you did kind of just kick the door in."
"Wait, you think...?" Chase said as the penny finally dropped. While the hotel was closed, it had only closed recently, meaning most of the fixtures and fittings were still inside! It was a reasonably tempting target for the opportunistic thief! He held up his hands. "Oh, no, no, no...we were just..."
"Keep your hands where I can see them sir." One of the officers warned him. "Can I see some identification?"
"I think my wallet is in my bag..."
"He's going for the bag!" One of the officers screamed as he pulled out his tazer. Before Chase knew what was going on, he was on the floor, jerking around as the charge went through him. Allison dropped her bag and held up her hands.
"We don't have any weapons, I swear!" She protested. The cops came over, cuffing Chase, before approaching her. Allison didn't try to resist as they cuffed her too.
"You're under arrest on suspicion of burglary." The officer told her. "Nicely done genius, you got arrested on a Friday. The next arraignment is Monday morning. Hope you were looking forward to a nice weekend alone together!"
"Not like this." Allison muttered as he snapped the handcuffs shut.
Back at the museum, Riley was checking something out on the computer when Koda let out a huge groan. Alessandra was still playing nursemaid as she sat with him, looking to him sympathetically.
"Koda, do you mind?" Riley asked him. Ivan arrived in the cave, putting his Energem away. Riley noticed him grimace in pain as he put his coat on. "What happened to you?"
"I think I may have injured my back saving Erica from a nasty fall." Ivan complained. "It really is quite embarrassing. I've done much more dangerous things and walked away with nary a scratch. Now I make a wish..."
"Wait, what did you say?" Riley asked him.
"I wished to save a damsel in distress." Ivan told him. He was completely ignorant of Riley's thoughts as he heard this. Ivan had yet to join the team when they faced Christie the first time. "What did I say?"
"Koda, you got sick after you ate that burger, the one you wished for right?" Riley asked. Koda just groaned and nodded as a huge rumbling sound came from his stomach. "Sledge can bring back monsters now remember?"
"Christie!" Koda said as he recalled the incident.
"Who is Christie?" Ivan asked in response.
"Christie was a monster who granted wishes." Riley told him. "Only she granted them in a way that meant you got a nasty surprise into the bargain."
"Oh, then we may just have a problem." Ivan responded. "Ms Morgan...she was asking about the wishes we made, and then she declared she had a plan."
"What kind of plan?" Riley asked.
"I believe her exact words were that it was crazy and if we knew we would try to talk her out of it." Ivan responded. Riley snatched his Energem out of its housing.
"Ivan, try and contact Shelby and Tyler. Koda, contact Phillipe. I'll call Chase!" Riley told them. "We've got to stop Ms Morgan and fast!"
With that, they all ran from the lab, snatching up their Energems while they frantically tried to get in contact with their friends to warn them to be careful of what they wished.
In the hospital, Phillipe was sitting by Margaret's bedside when his communicator went off. The nurse in the room handing a painkiller to Margaret just glared at him.
"I'm afraid cell phones aren't allowed in here." She told him. "I'm afraid that applies to you too Your Highness."
Phillipe put his hand in his pocket, turning off his communicator. As the doctor arrived, dismissing the nurse, Margaret just looked to him.
"Alright, I think we can safely say my ankle is broken." She told the doctor, unable to shake the thought that Phillipe's communicator going off was probably more important than her stupid ankle. "So you're here to apply a cast? Phillipe doesn't need to be here for..."
"I'm afraid...that isn't all we're concerned about." The doctor told her. Margaret just looked to him.
"Look, I stepped on a curb wrong, and my ankle went over...it's embarrassing but it happens." She told him. "Can we..."
"I have to ask, how has your health been generally." He asked her. She just looked confused. "Have you experienced any fatigue lately? Nausea?"
"I work 16 or more hours a day, it's a surprise when I'm not tired." Margaret told him. "And yeah, I've been nauseous, I don't do well in hot weather. I'm from Zandar! I probably just have heat stroke!"
"Well, I'm afraid it may be something more than that." The doctor told her. "We found an...abnormality with your x-ray."
"Abnormality?" Phillipe asked. The doctor looked to Margaret, aware he couldn't say anything in front of Phillipe without her consent. She just sighed.
"Go ahead, I tell him everything anyway." She responded. The doctor put up the X-ray against a light. They both looked to it.
"There's a growth on your bone, just here in the lower region of your shin." He began. Margaret suddenly gripped Phillipe's hand tighter. "What...what kind of growth?"
"The thing is, we won't know until we take a closer look, but...we believe it's a tumour." He told her. "We'll need to schedule a procedure to go in and take a closer look to be sure..."
"Of course, anything that's needed." Phillipe told him without hesitation. The doctor started to talk to explain what was going to happen, but Margaret could hear nothing that made any sense. She held Phillipe's hand as he remained by her side, but her mind had already checked out. The one and only thing she could think of was the word tumour. She was no doctor, but she didn't need to be to know what that meant.