Author's Note: This is somewhat out of order with the rest of my series. By now, I was hoping to have finished posting A Knighted Ranger so this Halloween one-shot contains very minor spoilers to how that's going to turn out. Read at your own risk.
Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Dino Charge. This story is fan-made.
It was a late night. Kendall herself was exhausted, but her work wasn't done. She had organized a party at the museum to celebrate Halloween, something she did every year. However, this year had proven more challenging than most. Between Poisandra and Curio kidnapping a Ranger, and her having to figure out which one, as well as make sure all her guests were happy, enjoying themselves, and remained completely unaware of the actual monsters lurking the museum, Kendall was wiped.
Not to mention, she had done all that while watching Cammy for the evening. It was the little girl's very first chance to celebrate Halloween the right way. She had shared with Kendall and the Rangers that her mother would often forget to buy her a costume, and then would be too drunk on Halloween night to take Cammy out trick-or-treating. Kendall had to ensure this Halloween made up for the seven Cammy had already missed, and would get her excited to celebrate every other holiday with her friends and family.
Because it was so late, and there was still a lot of cleaning up to do before the museum opened again in the morning, Kendall was going to spend the night at work. She set up a cot in the lab so Cammy could sleep, since she had the little girl for the whole weekend. She had just finished getting the sugar high girl to fall asleep when she came back upstairs to the disaster that was the Rangers. Earlier that day, she had put the finishing touches on a new Charger she thought would come in handy from time to time for the Rangers. Temporarily, whoever was under its effects would fall in love with the first being they saw. Ideally, Kendall wanted the Rangers to use it against the monsters, so they would be so distracted with their newfound love to fight, giving the Rangers the upper hand, especially in tricky battles. It had already served its purpose once today and worked, so Kendall hoped, from here on out, the Rangers would take the new Charger seriously. They hadn't been too impressed by the idea at first.
Despite working in their favour in battle, right now, the Charger was proving to be a problem. Shelby insisted it had gotten stuck in her morpher, and when trying to remove it, she accidentally shot a blast directly at Chase. Kendall wasn't worried for the Black Ranger's wellbeing. This Charger caused no physical harm. However, the effects of the Charger would take a while to wear off, and unfortunately, Kendall had walked in at the wrong time. Just as Chase recovered from the shock of the blast and opened his eyes was when she walked into the kitchen to help the Rangers with the clean up. He turned to her and smirked.
"Cammy's down?" he asked her, causing her to frown. Her Charger worked. She had seen it work in battle against the Viviks. Chase was supposed to be in love, and uncontrollably so. She gave the black Ranger a confused nod.
"It was easy once the sugar rush wore off," she approached him slowly, ignoring the peering eyes of the other Rangers, who had ducked behind the counter as soon as Chase had been struck, terrified he would fall in love with one of them. "Are you okay?"
"Couldn't be better," Chase smiled then looked her up and down. Kendall gulped. She knew this was it. She was still in her Cupid costume, and she had noticed the looks she had gotten from the men at the party, including the Rangers. If Chase was supposed to be in love with her, and she was in a very flattering costume, he was bound to make a pass, or a comment, or something. "You know, it was really nice to see you letting loose at the party," he told her. "Well, until that monster turned up, of course."
"And it was great to unwind a little," Kendall answered, a little unsure. How was he not hitting on her? Had the Cupid Charger failed? "Are you sure you're okay, Chase? You're not feeling... strange?"
"A little woozy," Chase nodded. "Boy, those Chargers sure pack a punch, huh?"
"You were hit with the Cupid Charger," Kendall said. "You don't feel... uh, different?"
Chase thought for a moment then shook his head. "Not really. Should I?"
"It's the Cupid Charger, Chase. You should be in love with the first person you saw."
Chase shrugged his shoulders, "Guess it doesn't work the same on us as it does on monsters. Really, Kendall, I feel no different. And trust me, with you in that costume, if I was under a love spell, I would know it."
"Well, let me know if anything changes," Kendall stated before turning around to the others, "I guess there's nothing to worry about. You six can continue cleaning up in here. I'll make sure the main entrance is ready for opening tomorrow."
Kendall gave Chase one last look before leaving the kitchen. The other Rangers watched her go then got to their feet, eyeing Chase suspiciously.
"She walked in right after you were hit," Riley told him. "How are you not jumping on top of her like the Viviks did with that monster?"
Chase shrugged his shoulders. "Like I said, I guess the Charger doesn't work on humans like it does on monsters."
"Ms. Morgan didn't seem to think so," Shelby pointed out. "So, either she's wrong, or the Cupid Charger has no effect on you, because you're already in love."
Shelby gave Chase a knowing look, while behind her, the boys were all smirking. Chase scoffed, rolling his eyes as he dismissed her comment.
"I'll admit to a crush," he said. "Especially tonight. Kendall's looking fine. But seriously, can you picture me, the Hotshot flirt, in love?"
"He's got a point," Tyler conceded, nodding his head.
"So then why wouldn't the Charger work?" Riley asked. "It struck you. We all saw..."
"I don't know, mates," Chase shrugged. "Maybe I'm just immune. But I'm not acting any different, so how about we just all get back to work?"
"There is much work to be done," Ivan agreed while Chase picked up the garbage bags they had filled up from the party.
"I'll just take these outside," he announced to his teammates as he rushed to the backdoor. Once he was outside and the door was shut, he dropped the bags by the dumpster and rubbed his face in his hands, breathing out loudly, "Why don't I feel any different?"