Chapter 2 - Black & Blue

Winter hung up the phone at the Youth Center and sent his sister a smile. "That was Zack Taylor. He'll be here tomorrow. Not only has he agreed to teach a class on his mix of hip-hop of martial arts, he also agreed to be a Youth Center grunt for awhile," he explained.

Autumn grinned. "Sweet," she said. She was in a rather good mood as she served a couple of sixth graders some chili cheese fries.

"Would that be the famous Zack Taylor who coordinates and choreographs fight and dance scenes on some of the best blockbusters to come out of Hollywood this decade?" asked the customer behind the kids. He was a tall lean man with shirt scruffy brown hair and he wore a pair of sunglasses.

Autumn looked up at him and her eyes bulged. "Dr. O?" she asked. It was strange, to say the least, to suddenly be looking at her science teacher, especially when she graduated and left the entire school behind.

Tommy Oliver smiled at Autumn. "Miss Baker. One of my favorite students. I'd heard your brother had bought and breathed life back into this place," he said. He gave her a wink. "I heard a few other things as well," he added.

Winter had wandered closer. "Dr. O," he greeted. "What, er, exactly have you heard?" he asked.

"That there are new Power Rangers in Angel Grove," he answered. "I'm in kind of a rush, but I will catch up with you all later. I just need a coffee. Black, sugar. Large. My transfer to Angel Grove was so sudden and my dig went on longer than I thought. I have a ton to do before school starts next week," he said and really did seem rushed and harried.

Autumn nodded and fixed his coffee.

He paid for it then paused before turning away. "I'm not sure how it all happened, but do the Green proud," he told them and walked out of the Youth Center.

The two of them gawked after him then glanced at each other. "You don't think Dr. O..." Autumn trailed off, not voicing that thought.

Win smiled. "You know, I think I do," he quipped. "Now get back to work," he said and snapped his fingers at her.

She scowled and tossed a straw at him.

Two teens entered the Youth Center and looked around. One of them was a tall, lean boy with light blue eyes and sandy blond hair that was cut short and had a natural sort of spike. He had silver rimmed glasses, wore beat up sneaks, ripped-at-the-knees stone washed jeans and a blue button down hanging open over a white tank. The girl was much shorter though not really petit. She was on the slim side. She wore slim black boots, pink tights with a black tunic over them with a wide pink belt. Her hair was a few shades darker than the boy's. She had it braided into twin tails that reached her shoulders. Her eyes were wide and brown.

"There're ya friends, Danny. Tell them I said 'hey,'" Chloe Kennedy told her brother and moved off to sit with the cute girl sucking down a strawberry milkshake and doing a terrible job of pretending not to stare at Wood Johnson. "So transparent," she remarked. There were still traces of New York in her speech patterns. It would take a few weeks for that to wear off.

Victoria Williams flushed, her pale mocha colored cheeks turned dusky. "Pfft, no clue what you talking about," she denied flatly and turned her attention to her shake. Tori, as she was known, was a small, sprightly girl who adored boys, fashion and pink. She was of mixed race, a fact made obvious by the light aquamarine color of her eyes. Her long hair was dark brown but had a mix of highlights that ranged from red to almost gold. She grinned. "So dish. How was the Big Apple?" she encouraged.

Chloe smiled. She had met Tori eleven years earlier, when the girl and her Native American guardian Dawn Feather had moved to Angel Grove. It was also during the time Chloe and Danny's parents were getting their divorce. The two of them had been fast friends ever since they met when most of Chloe's were bailing on her. Every summer since, she and her brother stayed with their father in his home.

Since she knew Tori so well, Chloe could see that something was bothering her. The best thing she could do was distract her, so she went into detail about her less than glamorous New York lifestyle.

Danny approached Wood and Nathan where they were trying to show a group of eight year olds a dance move. "'Ey. What, no hello?" he said loudly.

"Danny!" Wood said and grinned. "Why didn't you tell us you were back?" he demanded and extracted himself from the kid to clap his friend on the back several times.

"Probably trying to avoid the pounding," Nathan said and shot Danny a grin. "Cutting it a bit close, eh?" he asked.

Danny shrugged. "Had to wait around for a tournament. We hopped a plane soon as we had our trophies in hand," he answered. Like his sister, he spoke with an accent that would take awhile to drop.

Wood chuckled. "You talk like you had no doubt you'd win," he said.

"I didn't. Where's Billie? She finally find some girl friends and stop hanging around with you losers?" he asked.

Nath and Wood shared a look Danny couldn't quite read. Nathan shrugged. "She'll be around. She was looking forward to you coming back. Maybe you should find somewhere to hide," he suggested.

Wood snickered. "Yeah," he agreed.

Danny was flabbergasted. "Uh, yeah," he said. "So, I miss anything interestin' this summer?" he asked. Wood and Nathan shared another look. Wood just grinned at him and Nathan got an enigmatic look on his face that was driving Danny up a wall. "What! Did I grow another head or somethin'?!" he demanded. That only made Nathan and Wood laugh at him.

Autumn smiled as she watched the room. She was about to go on break, mainly to fetch Billie from the Command Center, when someone new walked up to the counter. He was an unfamiliar face, around Win's age and a strangely nice looking man. He was tall but well muscled through the arms and shoulders, his features weren't placeable right off so she would have settled to say Polynesian with a more Asian bent. Then again he had the deepest emerald eyes she'd ever seen. His dark hair was sticking up at odd angles but he made it work.

He gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry to trouble you miss," he said with a faint Irish lilt to his words which surprised the hell out of Autumn. He showed her a hand drawn map. "My cousin drew this for me, but I can't make heads or tails of it. Do you know where the Ryder Building is?" he asked her.

Autumn looked at the map, appalled. "You poor thing. If you've been following this, you've probably been going around in circles," she said sympathetically. She gave him directions to the building he was looking for as if she were an Angel Grove native.

"Thanks, you're a lifesaver," he said and folded the map. "I will be sure to tell my cousin what I think of her map making skills," he said. He gave a jaunty wave and left the youth center.

Autumn chuckled. "I can't help but wonder who drew that poor man's map," she said to her brother. He grinned and shrugged.

-x-

Roki entered the lab that belonged to the servant Finster and shook his head at his sister. "Why are you trying to salvage that thing?" he asked her as she and ratty looking Finster tried repaired the laptop.

Zita looked at him. "Because. When he comes back online, everyone he infected with his virus will become mindless zombies who do our bidding. Was there something you needed?" she asked him.

"I was finishing unpacking. I was wondering if you'd seen the blueprints I was working on before we left Onyx," he answered.

Zita turned away and tried to appear innocent. "Which blue prints?" she asked a little too casually for his liking.

He narrowed his eyes. "The exoskeleton blueprints," he answered quietly.

"Oh, the ones with skeletal power suit? Erm...I may have used them as the basis of a curse I performed when we stopped at KO-35 for supplies," she answered and tried to ease out of the way.

Roki rubbed his forehead. "You went into my things?" he demanded.

Zita reached out and rubbed his arm. "Now calm yourself, brother. They were experimental. Think of it this way, we have a chance to test the suit on someone expendable," she soothed him.

Roki gritted his teeth. "I suppose you have a valid point," he agreed. "How are you going to test it, though if you cursed someone on KO-35?" he demanded.

Zita clapped her hands together. "That's the best part! He's not on KO-35 anymore. He's on Earth now. Right where he'll be the most use," she said gleefully.

"Mistress. I have repaired Virustron," Finster said, interrupting them timidly.

Roki snorted at his sister and walked over to the laptop. He turned it on and typed in a lengthy bit of code.

"What are you up to?" she asked him.

"Just a few improvements to his programming," he answered absently. He executed the programming and stood back.

The laptop shuddered and transformed into a new and improved monster with a long lance-like blade weapon.

"Go, Virustron v.2. Infect more people. You, sister, test my brilliant design," he ordered and started for the throne room so he could watch things. Virustron disappeared. Zita grinned and rubbed the shadowy coin around her neck.

-x-

Sora van Zandt had finally arrived at the apartment building where he met with the landlord and was now settling into his new apartment. He had to go shopping soon. The clothes he was wearing were out of date and borrowed from his sensei.

A sudden pain sliced through his head and he felt a heavy weight around his neck. He reached up and took out from under the neckline of his shirt a silver coin attached to a leather thong. It usually gleamed but now it was shadowy. Blackness was overcoming his vision and soon he was aware of nothing at all.

-x-

Billie and Billy were at the Command Center. She'd been exploring and there was a door she wanted to get behind but couldn't. She started making her way back to the main area when she heard Billy call her name. She sped up and skidded into a halt, but the floor was slippery and she crashed into a console.

Billy winced in sympathy. "Virustron has been spotted in the park. This time, he has followers," he said and showed her Virustron v.2 and his zombies.

"Ah, man. Contact the others," she said. "I'll figure out a way to put him down for good," she stated. She twisted her wrists, making her cuffs appear. "It's Morphin' Time! Triceratops!"

-x-

Tai nearly fell off the tall pole in the center of the pond that was in front and a little off to the side of the house he shared with his grandfather, Akira Watanabe. His wrists were beeping, snapping him out of his meditation. He twisted them. "Virustron has been spotted. Sending you coordinates now," Billy said.

"On my way," Tai said and teleported.

-x-

Rex was training with his sister in the basement of his house when his wrists started beeping.

"What's that noise?" Rena Hart demanded. She was barely fourteen and nosy as all hell.

"Nothing, Rat. Ten more reps," he told her and darted into the bathroom. He twisted his wrists to make his cuffs appear. He got the same message as Tai. He darted out. "Gotta go for awhile," he said to his sister and dashed upstairs, teleporting.

-x-

Chloe sighed, bored, and played with the end of her hair. Tori had run to the bathroom, but Chloe stayed behind to finish the shake she ordered a few minutes earlier. She would have to have been deaf, blind and dumb not to notice Danny's friends make a hasty exit without him. "What was their deal?" she asked as he approached her.

He shook his head. "Donno, but I'm gonna find out," he said. "'Ey, Tori," he greeted when the little bundle of energy came back.

She gave him a smile and kissed his cheek. "Welcome home, Danny. Sorry, Chlo, I have to bail. DF needs me," she said and gave the Kennedy's a wave and bounced out the door.

Chloe sighed. "All right. Let's go find those friends of yours. I sense a mystery afoot," she announced.

Danny nodded. They walked out of the Youth Center. "I think I saw them run that way," he said, pointing. She nodded. She gestured for him to take the lead. He gave her a mocking bow and led the way down the street.

-x-

Virustron v.2 wasn't too surprised when Power Rangers began to appear around him. "Welcome to the showdown!" he crowed. "Go forth! Protect me," he ordered the infected zombies. People with eyes with green numbers racing madly across a black surface stepped forward to attack the Rangers.

"Glitch, can you figure out a way to help these people?" Red Ranger demanded as he drew his sword.

Blue Ranger tapped her helmet. "Just watch my back," she said and began to analyze the monster and the people he infected.

"How are we going to avoid hurting these people?" femme Green Ranger asked.

That was a good question and one Red Ranger didn't have a ready answer for as he began to try and defend himself against the attacking zombies.

Virustron cackled. "There's nothing you can do," he said and began to wander away. He didn't expect an attack. Someone tackled him and someone else jumped on his back.

"Danny! Chloe!" Blue Ranger sputtered.

Black Ranger whistled. "I dibs Chloe," he said. As if on cue, the other half of his Power Coin appeared in his hand.

The Kennedy siblings found themselves thrown off Virustron. Danny yelped and landed in a heap at the feet of the Blue Ranger. "For a smart guy, you are an idiot," she stated.

Danny gaped up at her. "Billie?" he asked. He automatically took the hand she reached down to him. He briefly felt a sliver of metal "Wha'?"

"Triceratops," she stated.

His eyes widened and a smile overtook his face. "Triceratops!" he said firmly. Blue energy formed his metallic blue cuffs before spreading over his body to form a male version of the Blue power suit. The male Blue Ranger got to his feet.

Chloe was flying through the air but the Black Ranger jumped up and caught her and they landed with a dual oomph. "Whoa, thanks," she said and smiled at him. She blinked when his helmet popped open. "Rex? Rex Hart?" she asked dumbly.

"Chloe Kennedy," he said with a grin. He took her hand and helped her to her feet. She felt a piece of metal briefly. "Mastodon," he urged with a grin.

"Mastodon," she repeated. Black energy formed her metallic before covering her body to form a female version of the black power suit. "Wow," she said.

He let go over her hand and turned back to the fight. "We have to find a way to separate him from his human shield," he said.

The male Green Ranger found himself in the ridiculous predicament of being faced with an old lady hurling herself at him and no chance to duck or dodge. Wishing she could just pass right through him, he braced himself for an impact that never came. The woman actually passed through him.

"And I thought seeing glowing people was odd," the femme Green Ranger remarked.

The new Blue Ranger held out his hands and felt them tingle. A faint bluish field appeared around some of the people advancing on the Rangers.

"Awesome," the Yellow Ranger declared. "I might be able to jump them," he said. "Power Daggers!" he made the daggers appear and jumped. Something large batted him out of the sky and sent him crashing into the ground feet away.

"Wood!" Pink Ranger shouted and ran toward him.

The Red Ranger gripped his sword as a newcomer to the battle holding a ridiculously large double bladed sword landed in a crouch between the Rangers and Virustron and his zombies. He wore was obviously a power suit, except it was armored in a grotesque simile of bones. Even his black helmet was a skull. A tattered blood red cloak billowed behind him.

"Well, this is new," the male Black Ranger declared.

"Go. Leave these Rangers to me. Your mistress has other plans for you," the Skeleton Ranger told the Virustron. The monster saluted and darted off, taking his zombies with him.

The femme Blue gave a grim nod of satisfaction. She ran over to check on the Yellow Ranger. "Wood," she said and tapped his helmet lightly.

"Jouguyz gedda  lizens numba?" he asked groggily.

"License number?" the Pink Ranger asked, flabbergasted.

"Odabusat himme," he responded as he attempted to get to his feet.

The Skeleton Ranger paid the threesome no mind as the Red Ranger, Black Rangers, Green Rangers and male Blue Ranger surrounded him.

"We don't have time for this," Red Ranger said.

The Skeleton Ranger laughed. "Too bad. Now you all have to deal with...me," he faltered slightly on that last word. He shook his head. Something wasn't right. He staggered back and gripped his head with one hand. Pain throbbed through his head. "This isn't over," he said and teleported.

Red Ranger sheathed his sword. "Billie," he said and turned to where she and Pink Ranger were helping Yellow Ranger to his feet.

"Let's get him to the Command Center," she said. She and Pink Ranger teleported Yellow Ranger.

Red Ranger nodded. He looked at the male Blue and femme Black. "New kids, follow us," he said and the six of them teleported as well.

-x-

They arrive unmorphed at the Command Center. "This way," Trini told Billie and Nathan and directed them to something that resembled a bed. Nath laid Wood on it. Trini turned it on. "Medi-bed," she explained. "He'll be fine a couple of hours," she assured them.

Danny and Chloe were looking around, amazed. Danny was already poking around the consoles.

Tai looked at Billie. "Well?" he said with a strange expression of patient impatience.

She jumped when light suddenly flooded everything. They all watched in amazement as the entire Command Center began to ripple. Rubble disappeared, consoles came on, and there was the low sound of doors unlocking.

Danny pulled himself out from under the main console in the center of the room. "There. Everything should be working right. Whoa," he said, amazed by his own work.

"Get over yourself," Chloe told him.

Billy beamed. "Nicely done," he congratulated.

Danny nodded absently. "Right then, I believe we're all waiting for Billie the results of her analyses of that monster thing, right?" he asked without missing a beat.

"I have to write an anti-virus program. It needs to be plugged directly into the monster but it should free all those infected people. Then he's fair game," she answered.

"How long will that take?" Rex asked her.

"The rest of the night," she answered.

Nathan sighed. "I'll get the caffeine," he volunteered.

"We have to get back, but we'll keep you in supply," Winter assured them. Autumn nodded.

"What about that Skeleton Ranger?" Jason asked from where he seemed to have been watching them. He wasn't alone.

"They always have to go messing with evil Rangers," Tommy declared, shaking his head.

Autumn and Winter goggled at him then shared a brief look. "Dr. O," they greeted. He smiled at them and gave a little salute.

Tai crossed his arms over his chest. "He looks like he'll be tough, but he also seems to be having glitches," he answered Jason's question.

"Just watch your backs," Jason said.

"We'll let you know as soon as we have another bead on Virustron," Billy assured them.

"There's no way I'm leavin' this place," Danny declared.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Yes you are. Mom wants to take us out tonight," she said and grabbed his ear. She gave the others a sweet smile and she and her brother teleported.

Autumn giggled. "Beep us if you need anything," she told Billie and Nathan. Winter gave a brief wave and they teleported away as well.

"Same goes for me," Tai said and after bumping fists with Rex, he teleported as well. Rex gave the elders a little salute before teleporting, too.

Billie cracked her knuckles. She worked a few controls and her laptop appeared. She plugged into the Command Center mainframe and got to work.

Nathan shook his head. "I'd better let his parents know he's staying over with me tonight and get Billie some caffeine," he said and gave a steady look. "You don't want to see her lacking caffeine," he declared and teleported as well.

Wood slept on clueless on the medi-bed.

Tommy glanced at Jason and raised an eyebrow. "New recruits looking good so far," he said.

Jason shook his head. "You ever going to retire?" he asked his asked his old friend.

Tommy just grinned. "Are you?"

-x-

Zita left her brother watching Virustron v.2. She had every intention of going to punish her Skeleton for retreating, but her chest was beginning to hurt. Instead she stumbled into her room. The pain was beginning to radiate into her head. This was different than the infamous Repulsa headaches she was prone to.

She stumbled into her bedroom and barely managed to stretch out on her bed, before the darkness wanting to cloud her vision overtook her completely.

-x-

Sora van Zandt awoke in a strange place and realized it was full night. His head throbbed and he couldn't remember how he got there. Shaking his head to clear it, he began making his way back to his apartment. He debated whether or not to tell his sensei about this, but decided to decide after he got some sleep.

-x-

Billie jumped up from where she'd fallen asleep on her computer at the loud crash suddenly echoing around the Command Center.

Nathan snickered. "Ah, the true face of Wilhelmina Davis. Keyboard imprinted onto it," he remarked dryly as he picked up the pizza box he'd dropped. The Command Center was so cavernous, the sound it made had even startled him.

Billie scowled and rubbed her face. "What time is it?" she demanded tartly. She took the flash drive from her USB port and wrapped the cord it was connected to around her wrist.

"'Bout ten," Wood answered, opening the pizza up and stuffing his face. He gave her a grin around his food. He'd ended up staying the night and now felt better than he had in weeks.

Billie groaned. "I need caffeine," she said and closed her eyes, rubbing the gritty feeling out of them. When she opened them, Nathan was sitting a large coffee cup in front of her. "You're my hero, Nath," she said and popped the lid off and took a grateful drink.

Luckily she didn't notice him flush slightly. "I just know you," he said and took a slice of pizza for himself.

Danny and Chloe appeared. He was bright eyed and bushy tailed while she looked half asleep. She perked up slightly when she smelled pizza.

Danny rubbed his hands together. "There's still lots of work to do on this place," he said.

Billie yawned. "Make a list, we'll work on it after we get rid of that viral monster," she said. He wasn't listening to her and was already pulling a PDA from his pocket and was making notes to himself.

Autumn and Winter appeared. Autumn had donuts and Win had a tray of coffee. He chuckled. "Looks like we were too late for refreshments," he declared.

Autumn made noise. "Pfft. I have donuts," she declared and set them down. Nathan dropped his half eaten slice of pizza and dashed for the doughnuts, taking a chocolate covered one with sprinkles.

Tai and Rex showed up. "No one thought to invite us to the party?" Rex asked. He spotted the donuts and the pizza at the same time. He wavered a moment before deciding on the pizza.

Tai shook his head at his friend with a slight smile. "How is it coming, Glitch?" he asked her.

Billie held up her wrist with the dangling flash drive. "Just have to insert this," she answered and yawned.

Billy skidded into the Command Center and looked around owlishly. "You're all here," he said. He was very reminiscent of Billie just then.

"Dr. Bill, you seriously need to sleep somewhere other than your ship," Billie told him.

Billy smiled sheepishly. Before he could ask her how she knew he slept on his ship, the viewer lit up. "It's Virustron. We finally located him," he said seriously.

Tai nodded. "Right. Let's take care of him and hope that Skeleton guy doesn't show up again," he stated grimly. He twisted his wrists and made his cuffs appear. "It's Morphin' Time. Tyrannosaurus!"

"Mastodon!"

"Triceratops!"

"Saber-toothed Tiger!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Stygimoloch!"

-x-

Virustron v.2 found a strip mall downtown was a very good place to add to his horde of infected. "Mistress Zita and Master Roki shall be pleased with all those under their control all ready," he said to himself in a sing song fashion.

"I don't think so," Red Ranger said stepping toward him.

Virustron found himself surrounded by Power Rangers, but he didn't seem to care. "Didn't you people learn last time? Go my slaves! Protect me!" he ordered the people mindlessly following them.

"Defend and detain. Wood, put those jumping legs to good use," he instructed just as some big hairy guy rushed him. He used his sheathed sword to block and deflect and push back the people trying to get a piece of him.

The male Black Ranger summoned the Power Scythe and was able to detract the blade so that he could use it as a staff. he was trying to be careful about hurting people, but they were tenacious.

The femme Black Ranger suddenly found herself about to be taken down by a football player size guy with a neck bigger around than her waist. She braced herself and the guy barreled into her. She didn't move. The guy stumbled back, groaning like he'd just hit a brick wall. "Now that was weird," she said with a gasp. "Power Axe!" she called, making the Power Axe appear. She mainly used the handle and flat of the blade to defend herself.

The male Blue Ranger was practicing what all he could do with his force-fields. Every now and then someone would slip through and he was forced to use the Power Lance.

The Green Rangers stood back to back, swapping the Dragon Staff back and forth, defending each other from the zombies. "Sorry!" the femme would say every once in awhile. The male would wince in sympathy and mutter, "My bad," every now and again.

The femme Blue unwrapped the flash drive from her wrist and tossed it at the Yellow Ranger. "Nathan. Up, distract him," she ordered.

The Pink Ranger summoned the Power Bo and levitated. He began firing on Virustron v.2 who was blocking the arrows with his lance-blade. He didn't have time to notice the Yellow Ranger bouncing around, slipping through people's legs, and going over their heads. He got behind Virustron v.2. He opened up the flash drive and ran, springing forward like a big cat.

Virustron yelped. "Gerroff!" He tried to shake the Ranger off his back. He reached around to grab him, just as the flash drive was connected to a port in his chest. He threw the Yellow Ranger but the male Blue Ranger was there to catch him with a forcefeild.

Every single person started in mid-action. Virustron scrambled to remove the flash drive, but it was too late. The people shuddered and fell to the ground. "Nooo! My slaves!" Virustron spat. "You'll all pay for that!" he said and waved his blade, throwing off some sort of energy wave that caught them all and sent them flying.

"Enough of this playing around. Power Blasters!" Red Ranger shouted and drew his. Nine Power Blasters were fired at once from all sides. Virustron v.2 screamed, sparked and exploded. The female Blue Ranger ran forward and continued blasting the laptop until there was nothing left of it but melted plastic and warped metal. And little of that.

She huffed and puffed. "That's one prize I'll pass on," she declared savagely and holstered her Power Blaster.

"Remind me not to get on her bad side," the male Black Ranger declared.

The femme Black Ranger shook her head. "I've never seen her good side," she stated.

The Red Ranger snorted. "Come on. Let's get back to the CC," he said and they all teleported.

-x-

Roki grunted and spun the spyglass away from him with a jerk. "Finster!" he shouted and stalked to the clay lab. "Have you made any progress with the growth serum?" he demanded.

Finster shook his head. "I'm sorry, master," he said and cringed slightly. "I'm working on it as fast as I can," he said.

Roki scoffed. "Work faster," he ordered and left the lab. Where the hell was his sister? Frowning he made his way to the bedroom wing and tapped on her door.

"GO AWAY!"

He turned on his heel and marched to his room. There was no dealing with her when she was in a mood. "Women," he said with a snort and slammed his door as hard as he could. He smiled when he heard a roar in response.

-x-

Tai watched his team quietly. He shifted slightly at the thought of 'his' team. They were coming together well but there were still three halves of the coins as yet unclaimed. They just won a battle and were still a bit high on that, so he decided not to address the issue just then. Especially since he was one of the ones who needed to pick a partner.

He nearly jumped out of skin when Jason clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Thinking leadery thoughts, rookie?" he asked with a grin.

Tai looked down at the older man with a sheepish smile. "I guess you could say that. Though really I'm just wondering how the hell I'm supposed to pick a partner," he stated.

Jason smiled. "That's the easy part. You feel it here," he smacked Tai in the gut, "and you know," he answered then gave the boy a push. "Go join the group. Aloof leaders are overrated," he advised.

Tai nodded and approached the group working on the cold pizza and donuts. He snagged a jelly filled donut and answered a question Chloe asked with minimal words that had Rex laughing at him for his lack of prowess with words around cute girls. He then stood through some good natured ribbing from the Bakers and that was fine with him. This was his team now.

x-End Chapter Two-x           

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