Chapter 28 – Hidden Dangers
Valley Repairs
His eye lids were heavy and even making the smallest of movements was extremely hard. He was close to overdosing on Espresso's and Mountain Dew but still Koda could feel his head slowly dropping. He was manning the front desk of Valley Repairs and today had been a very slow day. It had been a busy week for the rangers and all of them were tired. Unlike Koda though, they didn't have the responsibility of co-running a small business. Tyler, Shelby and Chase could clock out at the end of their shifts and forget all about work until next time. Riley was in a similar position with school and Kiera and Ivan didn't have to work, although Jason kept them busy at the Mansion.
When you work for a small business, problems don't disappear at closing time. Some jobs took longer than expected and then there was the mountain of paperwork that went with it. He knew that he should leave all the management stuff to his sister, the actual owner, but he couldn't help himself sometimes. Together with a heavy ranger training regime and the relentless Deboss Army and it was a recipe for one tired blue ranger.
Chloe Yuzuki walking out from the back room of the store and saw her brother fast asleep with his head resting on the counter. Shaking her head and sighing, she debated about what to do with him. The older sister in her wanted to left him rest, clearly he needed it. The boss in her, however, wanted to slap him until he woke up. She decided to try the gentle approach first, "Koda", she whispered in his ear, "time to wake up".
"Just five more minutes Mom", he groaned. Rolling her eyes, Chloe decided that the gentle approach wasn't working. Filling up a glass from a nearby water cooler, she dumped the contents over her younger brother. Immediately Koda bolted upright, so quickly that he fell off his stool and onto the floor, "What the hell did you do that for?" he cried.
"That's what you get for sleeping on the job", Chloe placed the glass on the counter, "you should be grateful, most bosses would've fired you by now".
"Most bosses wouldn't have dumped cold water on their employees", Koda grumbled, shaking his long hair dry.
"Koda I'm worried about you", Chloe began, "I haven't seen you this tired since you stayed up for 36 hours watching Game of Thrones continuously. You're out with your friends every night and always come back with several bruises", she sighed, "even Kristy's begun to notice".
"Way to guilt trip me sis", he replied. "We're all learning martial arts together and you were always saying that I should get out of the flat more".
"But not every night, you're not as young as you used to be", Chloe sighed.
"I'm 26 not 46", Koda threw his hands into the air, "and you're still older than me".
"Which means that I have to look out for my little brother", Chloe was exasperated and this wasn't helped by the sound of Koda's communicator, "what is it now, a surprise training session?"
"Something like that", Koda said, grabbing his jacket, "sorry I've got to go". He didn't even hear Chloe's response as he rushed out of the store, "Koda here", he said into his communicator.
"There's a monster near the Elementary School", Kiera replied, "he seems to be using some kind of attack that makes people act all weird and goofy".
"Kristy", Koda whispered, his niece went to that school, "alright I'll be there as soon as I can". Checking that there was no one around, he morphed without breaking stride.
Back at the store, Chloe watched as her brother ran off down the street. She saw a flash of blue light as he morphed in the Dino Charge Blue Ranger. Shaking her head she retreated back into the store. Chloe had suspected since the beginning that her brother was the blue ranger and the incident at the summer festival had confirmed it for her.
Taking a seat behind the counter, she opened a drawer and pulled out an action figure, the blue Dino Charge ranger to be precise. She had picked this up from a shop a few weeks ago and although it would be funny to taunt Koda with it, saying that the blue ranger would be a harder worker than he was. In response Koda usually laughed nervously and quickly changed the subject. Chloe could remember the pair of them playing with their Mighty Morphin action figures when they lived in Angel Grove and now her brother had his own figure. That was why she had eased up on him about not fulfilling his potential because he was now doing something better than designing a building or a bridge, he was out saving the world.
With a monster attack going on the city, Chloe knew that the store would be pretty quiet. Grabbing the store's laptop, she loaded the local news station's website. They usually had rolling news coverage of the latest monster attack. It was her way for keeping an eye on her little brother without actually being there. "You join us live from the scene of the latest monster attack", the station's announcer began, "the latest monster had been seen in the vicinity of Hunston Elementary School".
"Kristy", she cried and jumped to her feet. Grabbing a light blue jacket from the rack, she rummaged in a drawer for the keys to the van. She might not be a ranger but she needed to protect her daughter. Her husband had been taken from her, she sure as hell wasn't going to lose Kristy as well. Locking up the store, she ran out the back door and jumped into the van. It screeched out of the car park as quickly as it possible could.
Hunston Elementary School
When Koda arrived at the scene, he could see the children of the Elementary School trapped in the playground. Obviously they had been evacuating the building but the monster had blocked their escape. Fortunately the school gates stopped it from getting too much closer. The monster was probably the strangest he had seen from the Deboss. It had green legs with images of various different bits of fruit etched on. Around it's waist was a red and white life preserver and it had a red flowery chain around its neck. One of its arms was an ice cream cone and the other was a lobster claw. The monster had razor sharp teeth and its eyes were mounted on a pair of palm trees on its head.
Scanning the area, he saw Riley and Ivan duelling the monster with their swords. He then found Tyler, Chase and Shelby sitting on the kerb laughing and joking like they didn't have a care in the world. "Hey guys what's happening", Koda asked the trio.
"Koda", Tyler drew his name out, "my main guy in blue".
"Stop sitting around, we need to help the others", he cried.
"Pfft, too much effort man", Chase reclined and lay down on the sidewalk.
"Yeah take a chill pill old man", Shelby added, earned a high five from Tyler.
Seeing that they had been affected by the monster, Koda ran out to the green and gold rangers. He called on his Stego Shield and blocked an attack from the monster, "Koda I'm so glad you're here", Riley puffed, "the others all got hit with some kind of beam now all they don't want to do anything".
"Looks like we're on our own for a while", Koda replied and readied his shield for battle.
Down the street, Chloe pulled up and got out of the van. She could see her brother and two of the other rangers fighting the monster but there was no sign of the red, black and pink rangers. She could also see that the children were safe as they could be for now. As she got closer to the battle, she could see the three missing rangers giggling like schoolgirls, "Hey you three", she barked, "what are you sitting around for?"
"Oh hey it's Koda's big sister", Shelby smiled, "aww she even frowns like him as well". The pink ranger stood up and inspected Chloe closely, "It's like looking at Koda in one of those fairground mirrors".
Chase was now alongside her, "You're hair is as dark as the night sky", he ran his gloved hand through Chloe's hair.
"What is wrong with you guys", Chloe slapped Chase's hand away. She didn't know what was going on but it seemed to be affecting their concentration. Spotting a fire hydrant nearby, she ran back to the van and retrieved a wrench. The nut was hard to turn but then she remembered that both Koda and Kristy were in danger if she couldn't get the rangers to snap out of this. Finding a reserve of strength, she freed the nut from the hydrant. The three rangers were soaked with a blast of cold water from the hydrant.
"Cold, cold", Tyler shrieked, jumping up and down.
"Tyler snap out of it", Chloe tapped him on the helmet with the wrench.
"C-Chloe", he stammered, "what are you doing here?"
"Saving you three apparently", she replied, "well don't stand around talking to me, Koda needs help", she pointed the wrench at the ongoing battle.
"Wait you know who we are?" Shelby asked.
"We can talk about that later, now go", she cried.
"I like it when a woman takes charge", Chase joked and he and the others entered Armour Mode. The black ranger fired off a burst from his Para Shot as Tyler and Shelby charged at the monster, slamming their Tyranno Fang and Tricera Drill into its body.
"Guys you're alright", Ivan stated.
"Yeah but we needed help from a strong woman", Tyler indicated at Chloe in the distance.
"Dude what's my sister doing here", Koda asked as he blocked the monster's crab claw with his shield.
"Not important right now", Chase blasted the monster at close range whilst Riley sliced him across the back of his legs. Ivan used his Ptera Brace to create an opening for Shelby to get closer to the monster. The pink ranger accepted this invitation and ramming her Tricera Drill into the abdomen of the creature.
Koda took his turn and kicked the monster in the chest before smashing his shield into its face. The attack broke one of the palm trees off its head that acted as its eyes. With the creature half blinded, it couldn't defend itself from Tyler ramming his Tyranno Fang into its jaw. The monster rolled away and spat out one of its teeth that had been dislodged by Tyler. "Alright lets finish this", the red ranger called out and summoned the Dino Lance Energem. Ivan inserted some Energems into his Thunder Blade and prepared his final attack. The massive lance and Ivan's lightning slammed into the monster and it fell to the ground.
As the rangers celebrated, a soaking wet Chloe approached them slowly. She walked up to Koda and gave him a hug, "Thank you Koda", she whispered, "although if a school full of children weren't watching, I would shout at you for trying to keep this a secret for so long".
"How did you find out", Koda whispered back.
"I'm your big sister, I know everything about you", she smiled, "plus you should really be more careful about morphing in the store room". The familiar ice crystals descended and the monster grew to giant size.
"Alright this is the part where you hide", Koda said to his sister, she nodded and ran over to the school to assist with the evacuation of the school. Big sister's tried to protect their younger siblings from everything but even she was powerless against a giant monster.
Dino Mansion
After the rangers had defeated the monster again, they had caught up with Chloe and officially welcomed her into their little ranger group. It surprised the rangers to learn that Koda wasn't the only smart one in the family. Chloe had completed a business degree at UCLA shortly before falling pregnant with Kristy. After her daughter had been born, she set up business with her late husband in Harwood County. The rest of the tragic tale the rangers sadly knew.
It was early the next day and Chloe pulled up outside the Dino Mansion for a surprise date with Jason. She had dressed especially for the day in a light blue knee length dress, leggings and a pair of knee high boots. Knocking on the front door, she waited a few moments before Kiera opened the front door, "Hey Chloe, you're looking good today", she said.
"Thanks I thought I would surprise Jason", she replied, "is he around?"
"I haven't seen him", the teen began, "he usually leaves early for his morning run but he's normally back by now". They were interrupted by the sound of Shelby walking down the stairs. She took was dressed to impress in a pink blouse and white jeans.
"Morning Chloe, looking hot", Shelby said before turning to Kiera, "you haven't seen Tyler have you, we're meant to go on a trip to Mariner Bay today".
"What am I, their personal assistants", Kiera snapped, "I haven't seen Tyler since last night". She paused to think for a moment, "Actually I don't remember hearing him go to bed".
Chloe frowned, "That's a little weird, could they have gone somewhere together?" The teens shrugged their shoulders but their attention turned towards the white Audi that was pulling up their driveway. Kiera and Shelby frowned, it wasn't very often that they got unannounced visitors at the Dino Mansion. The last people to visit were Kiera's parents a few weeks ago.
The doors on the Audi opened and two people stepped out, a man and a woman in their late twenties. The man was of Hispanic descent and he had shaggy black hair and a thin goatee beard. He wore a long sleeved white shirt with a black top underneath. The woman was a few inches shorter with dirty blonde hair that was cut into a choppy style around her shoulders. She wore a ripped pair of blue jeans and a long sleeved yellow top with a red mesh vest over the top.
Chloe jaw dropped, she recognised the woman immediately, "Oh my God, you're Kira Ford the Grammy Award winning singer".
"Yeah I am, always nice to meet a fan", Kira smiled at the woman.
"And you're Trent Fernandez", Shelby called out from inside the house, "I love your most recent graphic novel series", Trent gave the pink ranger a small smile.
"So is this a business of pleasure visit Big K", Kiera asked. Due to their similar names, the younger Kiera had given them nicknames so people would know who they were talking about.
"Business I'm afraid Little K", Kira replied as she and Trent flashed their Dino Gems.
"Is it alright to talk about, well you know", Trent asked.
"Yeah we're all rangers here", Shelby flashed her Energem and so did Kiera, "and Chloe here knows our secret".
"Nice one Little K, always thought you'd be a ranger someday", Kira smiled before her face dropped. "A few days ago Conner never returned home from training camp with LA Galaxy and we can't find him anywhere. I know my husband can be an airhead but it's not like him to disappear".
"Not even Doctor O and Hayley can find him", Trent added.
"Jason and Tyler had vanished as well", Kiera stated, "this can't be a coincidence, three rangers with the power of the Tyrannosaurus dropping off the map".
Chloe been silence during this exchange but the mention of Jason grabbed her attention, "Jason's a ranger?" she asked.
"The original red, didn't you know?" Kira replied.
"I can't believe this", Chloe shook her head, "I'm standing next to two internationally famous artists who have told me that not only is the captain of the US soccer team is a ranger but so is my boyfriend. My little brother I could accept but this is getting ridiculous. I want to know what's going on".
"That's a little hard to explain", a voice called out, Billy Cranston had arrived, "I'm afraid an evil force that we believed was gone forever had resurfaced and I'm not sure what we can do to stop it". Everyone present stopped at Billy's declaration and they were filled with dread. Three rangers were missing and possibly the smartest ranger of them all had no idea how to help them. Perhaps it was time to call in the cavalry.