As Saturday rolled around, Al came into the kitchen, yawning as he did so. He had spent most of the day the previous day working on turning the garage into a work room that he had been promising Sarah since they moved. His frustrations with his situation at work were building quickly and he was looking for any distractions he could get in order to get through it.

He didn't ask for much in life anymore. While at once time, he had chased the almighty dollar with a passion, he had since seen where that led and had altered his views on his priorities. Now, he was more concerned with covering his bills, and after that, ensuring he had enough of his life outside of work to enjoy what his work got him. A good home, and a comfortable life for his family. A long lie on a Saturday was a simple pleasure, but one that was pretty important to him. As he got to the kitchen, he found Sarah humming contentedly to herself as she grabbed food out of the larder, putting it into a bag.

"It is WAY too early on a Saturday to be that cheerful." Al commented.

"How can I not be cheerful? It's a lovely day out, yesterday was...uh...quiet..."

"You mean there were no monster attacks." Al interrupted her. Sarah froze completely still. She had kept her promise, kept to her oath not to tell anyone about her duties as a Ranger outside of those that already knew. She was a little worried now that he mentioned it so casually. "It was Friday, for some reason those freaks always show up on a Friday don't they?"

"Oh...yeah, right." Sarah said, a little relieved that he hadn't somehow managed to figure out why this was unusual for her. She and her friends had all noted that it was strange that a Friday had passed and Cosmo hadn't sent any new monsters after them. It hadn't occurred to her that the rest of the city would have noticed as well that the monster attacks tended to always come on the same day. "Yeah, that was odd."

"Why, what did you think I meant?" Al asked her.

"Oh...I just meant...Preston's show! He debuted a new trick, but there were only a couple of kids there so it was pretty quiet. We'll have to try it out again when we get a bigger audience." Sarah told him as she started to make up some sandwiches.

"Preston...Preston...Tien?" Al asked. "As in...my boss' kid?"

"Yeah, that's right." Sarah chuckled.

"You're spending quite a bit of time with him lately." Al commented, trying his best not to sound too disapproving or hesitant. He really didn't want his problem with his boss to become Sarah's problem with his kid, but he couldn't help wondering how close to the tree the apple fell. "So are you friends or are you...GOOD friends?"

"Me and PRESTON?" Sarah asked, looking like she was about to hit the floor with the suggestion. She just laughed. "No dad, it's not like that at all! We're friends, nothing more!"

"Right, sorry to pry." He answered, though he couldn't help being a little relieved to hear that Sarah wasn't any more deeply involved with Preston than mere friendship. As much as he knew that Sarah was thankfully not much like him, he couldn't help wondering and fearing if Preston would be like his dad.

"What's with the suit?" Sarah asked him.

"Mr Tien wanted me to work today." Al told her. She just looked to him curiously.

"Why?" She asked him. "He never wanted you to work weekends before."

"Hopefully it won't become a habit." Al commented. "Anyway, would you like a lift?"

"No thanks, we're just meeting up at the school." Sarah told him.

"The school?" Al asked, looking a little confused. "Why would you meet at the school?"

"Um...it's...pretty central for most of us." Sarah finally managed to come up with. She didn't think she could really explain the fact that Brody actually lived at the school. "It won't take me long to get there."

"Alright, but don't say you weren't offered." Al told her, pouring some coffee into a travel mug and sealing it, before heading over, hugging her tightly. "Have fun today."

"I will." She answered. "Don't work too hard."

"It's better to work smart than hard." Al answered as he headed out the door. Sarah just shook her head and chuckled.

"Right...Preston doesn't like butter, Brody...pretty much eats anything as long as it has meat in it." She reminded herself as she started sorting out sandwich ingredients. "Calvin...he'll eat anything. Now, what was it Hayley likes again?"

In another part of town, another couple of young people were out and about surprisingly early for people their age with nothing better to do. Victor and Monty were waiting patiently for Mr Tien in his office as they had been instructed. Both of them were wearing suits for the first day of their internship with Tien Industries. They had been told to wait in the office, but since no one was around to say exactly WHERE in the office, they had succumbed to temptation and headed out onto the balcony. Victor took a long, deep breath in as he looked out over Summer Cove from what was easily the highest vantage point in the city.

"You smell that Monty?" Victor asked him. "That is the smell of…success. I'm telling you, we are on the way to the big time!"

"Wow, we are…like…so high up." Monty gulped as he stood by the balcony, looking down. Monty had never been particularly great with heights. He had found himself getting queasy on the kiddies' merry go round at the county fair once.

"That is because we are on top of the world my friend!" Victor declared as he put his arm around him. "Just think of it, one day, you and I, we could have all this. The money, the power, literally everyone in the city looking up to you!"

"I think I'd prefer something on the ground floor." Monty said, suppressing a little bit of vomit. Victor just beamed at him.

"Monty, only the common, run-of-the-mill people inhabit the ground floor." Victor told him. "We need to reach for the clouds. Just grab them, and take them!"

"That's what I like to hear, some ambitious talk!" They heard a voice behind them say. They both jumped in alarm, having to steady themselves on the guard rail as they turned to see Mr Tien standing behind them. "Nice suits boys."

"Rule number one, always look the part." Victor declared as he shook Mr Tien's hand enthusiastically. "I read all of your business books Mr Tien. You are an inspiration! The American Dream in the flesh! You are…"

"Thank you, I think that will be enough for now." Mr Tien said, gesturing them both inside. "Boys, you are being given an opportunity, one that I rarely give out. You will work directly under me. I expect absolutely nothing but the best."

"That's what you'll get from us for sure sir." Monty stated. Mr Tien smiled.

"Good." He told them. "Now, today we're heading out of the building. I thought it might be good for you to see that business isn't all about stuffy offices and pieces of paper."

"That sounds good Mr Tien." Victor answered. "Whatever you need us to do, we won't let you down!"

"Good, that's good to hear." Mr Tien told him. "Tell me, since you've read all my books, what are the most important qualities in any employee?"

"Loyalty, Dedication, Hard Work and Being a Team Player." Monty rushed out excitedly. Mr Tien clicked his fingers and pointed at him.

"That's exactly right Morty." He told him.

"That's…Monty, Mr Tien." Monty answered.

"What I need more than anything else is people I can count on. People I know will have my back. There are a lot of sharks out there boys, and you need to know that the person with you will be willing to punch that shark on the nose and send it on its way instead of feeding you to it so that you can swim away." He said sagely. "So, what kind of people are you?"

"We're your shark-punchers." Victor told him as Monty held up his tiny fists and started flailing around at imaginary sharks. "Just point us in their direction and we'll send them packing!"

"Excellent! Just what I wanted to hear! Now, we're just waiting on one more." Mr Tien said. Just then, the office doors opened and Al was shown in. He didn't look particularly happy to be there. "Mr Thompson, so good to see you. Nice and punctual I see."

"I like to keep good time." Al sighed. He looked to Victor and Monty, seeing that they were about Sarah's age. "So who are they?"

"These fine young men are my new interns! Bright young men with bright futures that I want to shape in my own image!" Mr Tien said with delight. Al could only think that the last thing the world needed was more people like Mr Tien. "This is Victor and Morty."

"Monty." Monty corrected him again. Al recognised the names from Sarah's stories. He could remember her describing them in somewhat less than flattering terms. Looking at them, clamouring for Mr Tien's respect and admiration, he could quickly guess why he liked the idea of having them around.

"So what do you need me to do?" Al asked. Mr Tien just smiled and wagged a finger at him.

"Always in such a rush. We've got some time before my driver arrives." Mr Tien said as he gestured to them to take a seat. "Have you eaten yet? I can have my assistant bring some breakfast."

"Nothing for us thanks." Victor said proudly. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. No good business gets done on an empty stomach."

"Very good!" Mr Tien replied, looking impressed as Victor and Monty lapped up his praise. Al just looked like he wanted to leave. "We're heading out to the site of my latest development. I plan to break ground on a new skyscraper. It will combine luxury apartments with top-notch business premises. By the time it's open and it's filled, I fully expect it to bring in this city hundreds of millions of dollars a year…and more importantly about 20 million a year for yours truly."

"That sounds great Mr Tien!" Victor replied in a sycophantic tone. Al just rolled his eyes. Now he understood why he was here. This was the real estate deal that Mr Tien had tried to advise him about weeks ago. This was him making another pitch to try and tempt him by showing him exactly what he was turning down if he walked away.

"Indeed, it'll be a great boon for this city." Mr Tien told them. "Now, I always like to begin every great project with a nice mimosa. How about it boys?"

"Um…I don't think my mom would like that." Monty said a little hesitantly. A mimosa was a mix of champagne and orange juice, and both Victor and Monty were way underage.

"Come on Monty, you heard the man, have each other's backs. Mr Tien would never ask you to do anything harmful." Victor said confidently. "I'm certain one won't hurt."

"Be a good man and pour us all some mimosas." Mr Tien told Al in an off-hand way. Al just got up and headed for the table, where the champagne and the orange juice were already waiting. He got a napkin and taking a deep breath, before holding his breath, he slowly twisted the bottle, releasing the cork without sending it flying.

"You see that boys? Now THAT is practice!" Mr Tien said, sounding impressed. "I can see you're no stranger to the bubbles right Al?"

"I've had my fair share." He replied as he poured champagne into three of the four glasses, before filling them up with orange juice. He handed out the glasses, being sure that the one he had was the one with no champagne in it.

"I have a feeling this will be the beginning of big things for all of us." Mr Tien said, tapping his glass to each of theirs. "To success!"

"To success." Victor and Monty replied, before throwing back their cocktails. Al just drank his orange juice, tuning out Mr Tien as he started to regale the boys with the tale of his success.

The Rangers had all met up at the school, following which Preston had taken them out to the park on the edge of the city. There were many great parks and beauty spots in Summer Cove, but he wanted to bring them here for a reason. It was worth the drive, between Brody's truck and Calvin's Nitro, there was more than enough space for all of them. Redbot naturally had to stay behind, and since he had other work to do anyway, Mick had offered to stay and keep him company.

After parking up, Preston had led them on a pretty fair hike into the park. The others were starting to wonder where he was taking them or why they had to come so far, but as they came to a small hill, Preston started to speed up, indicating that they were almost at their destination. Looking up, they could see at the crest of the hill, an immense oak tree, one that looked like it had to have stood for at least a couple of hundred years. It was covered in bright ribbons that made it look incredibly bright and really made it stand out among its brothers.

"Is that…is that the Ribbon Tree?" Brody asked as they all started to sprint towards it. They all arrived at the foot of it, where Preston had stopped to wait on it. "I remember this from when I was a kid!"

"I…I don't get it." Sarah admitted. Levi also looked similarly confused as to the significance of the landmark. They were the only ones that weren't originally from Summer Cove, and so they didn't know that this tree was a local landmark.

"This tree was said to have been planted when the city was first being built." Preston told them, panning his hand across the tree. "People started pinning ribbons on it to signify important moments. Family, friends, accomplishments…"

"Eric Worth, graduated Summer Cove University 2001." Levi read from one of the ribbons. "Terry and Mark Granger celebrate their wedding, August 3rd 2008."

"Calvin and I put up a ribbon on our anniversary." Hayley said, grabbing his arm and pulling into him.

"Wow, there are so many here. This one here dates back to…1897. Wow!" Sarah commented as she looked at them. "All these important moments, all these dreams…no wonder you like it so much."

"And I thought that it was about time we marked our own!" Preston said, pulling out a length of ribbon. The team all looked to it as he presented it to them.

"Sarah, Preston, Calvin, Hayley, Brody, Levi." Brody read aloud, looking at the ribbon. "A Ranger Ribbon!"

"So that's what you were making in Home Ec." Sarah said, nudging Preston. "You are so sweet."

"I just thought, with this Ranger thing, we don't get to get any awards or our pictures in the paper or anything." Preston said as he held up the ribbon. "So I figured this way, there'd be something we could leave behind to commemorate what we do here…even if we're the only ones that know about it."

"That's a great idea Preston!" Hayley said as she and Sarah grabbed him. "Come on, let's find a place to put it!"

The team were just about to find somewhere to hang their ribbon, when they were interrupted by the blaring of a truck's horn. They looked around to see several trucks arriving, carrying a whole variety of tools and materials, along with a LOT of workmen. The fact they were so far from the car park meant it was no accident they were out here, and they didn't look like they were here to give the tree a trim.

"What in the world is going on here?" Brody asked as workmen started to get out of the truck and head over. When they started bringing out saws and axes, their intentions suddenly became a lot clearer.

"Hey, you kids need to clear on out of here." One of them called out. "We're cutting this tree down today."

"You're what?" Sarah asked. "They can't do that! Can they?"

Sarah didn't claim to be a law professor. She knew that a lot of public lands and a lot of landmarks were protected under the law and so were not open to developers, but that didn't mean that was always the case. A lot of land WASN'T protected, and even protected land had been known to lose it protection status and get sold off to developers if the price was right. In particular there was a clause known as "eminent domain" which allowed land to be seized if it was of particular value such as if it was needed for a highway or for drilling rights. She didn't want to think that the town's valued Ribbon Tree would be sold off so easily, but there were no guarantees…especially since no one seemed to be trying to stop these men.

Preston gripped the ribbon tightly in his hand and stepped up to the men, glaring at them intently. He knew there would be no statues or plaques in their honour as Rangers, that was just part of the deal. However, he was not about to let this one tribute he could put up be taken away so easily.

"Unless you're here to put a ribbon on it, you're not touching this tree!" Preston put down a lot more forcefully than the others were used to seeing from him. The workmen didn't look particularly bothered though, it seemed like in their time they had met resistance before.

"Want a bet?" One of them asked, holding up his chainsaw and revving it to make a point. Levi stepped forward and held up his hands.

"Whoa there partner!" He called out.

"Hey, doesn't that kind of look like Levi Weston?" One of the others asked. Levi just tipped his hat.

"In the flesh." He told them, taking out his phone and taking a selfie with the men, who posed and smiled for the picture. "Now, can I have some names? I want to know the names of the men that I'm tweeting about."

"Names?" One of them asked. "You're tweeting about us?"

"Oh yeah. I figured my followers might like to know about douchebags that threaten teenagers with chainsaws." Levi answered. "There's no need to worry though, I only have…wow…839,000 followers? It looks like I gained some since last night."

"Hey, now hold on a minute, let's not get too hasty here." The guy with the chainsaw said, turning it off and putting it down carefully. "There's no need to…"

"HEY!" They all heard someone call out. They all looked up to see Calvin and Hayley sitting up the tree. "If you want to cut down this tree, you'll have to do it with us in it!"

"They're pretty stubborn." Levi told him. "And you know what? It's been a long time since I climbed a tree. We've got all day."

With that, the rest of the team started to climb up the tree. One of the other workmen came over to the foreman.

"What do we do now?" He asked.

"There's nothing much we can do." The foreman sighed as he gestured to the other workmen, who settled in for a long wait, while he got out his cell phone and dialled.

"Mr Tien, it's me." The foreman said. "We've got a problem here."