Chapter Five: Boys and Girls and Monsters

"Hey, Em! Over here!"

Emily Rice spotted a familiar figure waving at her from across the mall atrium. She waved back, threading her way through the busy Saturday shopping crowd to where her little brother Jack was standing. She gave him a hug. "How's it going?" she asked him as they headed toward the food court.

"It goes," Jack shrugged. "Too much homework. Lots of pressure. Way too hot for practices."

"Sounds so rough to be a senior in high school," Emily teased him. "You want to swap homework and pressure sometime, I'll gladly switch you." Especially with the new added pressure of being a Power Ranger, she thought to herself. Jack asked her a question about one of her classes and she smiled. "Ecology 260? Don't even get me started…" She had no problems complaining about the toughest class on her schedule, all the way until they were standing in line for shaved ice at their favorite spot at the mall.

Jack elbowed her in the side, interrupting her diatribe about the two other students in her group project midterm. "Ow! What-" Her little brother wasn't looking at her; rather, he was looking at the white tiled floor, but gave Emily a not-so-subtle nod to look to her left.

Emily frowned and looked, but she didn't see anything except a gaggle of girls in short shorts and t-shirts proclaiming them members of Jack's high school. "What?" she asked Jack again.

"That's her," Jack said under his breath, refusing to look at anything in particular. The line moved forward and Emily had to shove her brother to keep their place.

"That's who? Jack, you're 18, this is ridiculous." Emily studied the four girls at the taco stand next to them.

"Gina," Jack muttered. "Tall, brown hair, glasses."

Ahh…This was starting to make more sense. The two of them ordered and Jack dragged his sister as far away from the shaved ice as he could. "I really like her, Em," Jack explained. "She's in my AP English class. She's super smart and she plays volleyball."

"Homecoming is pretty soon, isn't it?" Emily had a hard time keeping track of her schedule and her brother's, too many things happened all around the same time. "Do they still do the big bonfire thing? You should ask her to go."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'll get right on that," he groaned. "Pretty sure she doesn't even know I exist."

"Then go over there and introduce yourself," Emily said. Jack reminded her so much of Nakoa. That was probably why she and Nakoa were such good friends. They were both great guys, but neither one of them had any self-confidence to speak of socially. They differed in that Jack was just shy, and Nakoa spent too much time in front of a screen.

"Yeah, no, I'm good," Jack said, and was saved from further pushing by his sister when they called their name to pick up their order. Emily did notice, however, when they started walking toward the bookstore, that Jack looked back more than once to see if Gina was still standing in line.

"What is it with guys?" Emily asked Kealey later. The two of them sat on the beach outside their beach house, watching the waves lick the sand.

Kealey laughed, rolling onto her stomach to even out her tan. "You'll have to be a bit more specific, Em," she said. "'Cause that conversation could take us until you graduate!"

Emily relayed the events at the mall. "Like, how hard is it for them to just say what they're thinking?" she said.

Kealey tilted her sunglasses so she could look at Emily over the top of them. "Are we talking about Jack, or someone else?" she asked.

Emily choked on her soda. "I-what?"

The Pink Ranger grinned. "Oh come on, Em. What's the deal with you and Nakoa? You two seem pretty chummy. Anything happening there?"

Emily shook her head. "We've been friends since freshman orientation," she explained. "He's…we're…we're just friends."

Kealey scrolled idly through her phone. "For now," she shrugged.

"Kealey, between school and this whole being a Ranger thing, I definitely don't have time to even entertain the thought!" Emily protested.

"Okay, okay," Kealey said placatingly. "You guys'd be cute together, is all I'm saying." She rolled over and sat up in one movement, brushing sand off her legs. "I'm fried. See you inside!"

Emily buried her head in her arms. "Ugh." She heard footsteps crunching in the sand, looked up to see Landon coming down to where she was sitting.

"Yeah, she does tend to elicit that feeling," Landon said, plunking down next to Emily in the sand. "You okay?"

"Just peachy," Emily rolled her eyes, getting up and heading up toward the house.

Landon watched her brush past Kealey on the way up. Kealey was coming back his direction. "Forgot my shoes," she said.

"What's up with Emily?" Landon asked.

Kealey picked her flip flops out of the sand and brushed them off. "Oh, I think she's found the one thing she can't get answered by a book," she shrugged.

Marianas Trench

She felt she knew the humans better, now. She'd been following and listening to them as they sailed through her domain. Syrena glided through the darkness, letting her fingers drift through the smoke emitting from the vents at the bottom of the Trench The smoke was scalding, but she barely felt it.

One of her creatures jetted past her, the small, glowing light at its front the only giveaway it was coming. Syrena was drawn to the light, just its' prey was, reaching out a taloned finger and stroking it along the scales.

The colorful warriors had bested another of her creatures. It was frustrating, but Syrena knew that wars can take some time. Perhaps, she mused, rather than my creatures continue to go to them…the warriors should come to me.

She had just the creature to do it.

Jack Rice shut his locker and threaded his way through the halls the following morning for his first class of the day. He found his desk in AP English and sat down. As he pulled out his books for the day he listened in on the conversation of the two girls across the aisle from him.

"…soooo cute."

"I know, right? I hope I see him later."

Jack rolled his eyes. Girls. All they saw were looks. He started copying the homework instructions on the board and tried to tune them back out.

It wasn't until the bell rang to switch classes that he realized.

Gina, who sat right behind him, wasn't in class.

Emily bobbed her head with the music in her earbuds as she pondered the essay question she should have been working on. Someone tapped her on the shoulder and she jumped, yanking her earbuds out as Nakoa held up his hands in surrender. "Wow. Sorry, Em. Didn't realize you were so in to it. That your essay for ECO260?"

She nodded, taking a breath. "You're done for the day, what are you doing on campus yet?" Emily asked Nakoa.

Her tall friend straddled the chair next to hers. "Landon's still at work and Kealey's out on the water…plus the WiFi at the beach house kind of sucks."

"Don't let Doc Johnson hear you say that," Emily told him. "So, you're here doing…."

Nakoa ducked his head, embarrassed. "Oh no you don't," Emily said. "Spill. You don't get to interrupt my study session without getting some kind of payback." She poked her pencil at him. "Spill."

Nakoa handed over his phone. A familiar blonde surfer was laughing into the camera, holding onto a pink surfboard. "Seriously." Emily rolled her eyes. "Nakoa, you live with her! I'm pretty sure if you'd just ask Kealey, you could've come with her down to the water, you know."

"I-yeah, I know," Nakoa said, running a hand through his hair. "I…she…I just…"

It dawned on Emily then. Nakoa was more than a fan, he… "You like Kealey, huh?" she asked him. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.

"Maybe a little," Nakoa finally admitted, tucking his phone into the back of his shorts pocket. "I mean, she's funny, she's pretty…she's a total badass…"

"She's also your-our-teammate," Emily pointed out.

"Well, exactly!" Nakoa agreed. "Like, I dunno if it's okay to ask her out, 'cause like, we're all on the same team, and what if that throws off our team groove?"

The conversation was making Emily uncomfortable. She wasn't sure why, but her stomach felt like it was in knots. "Maybe you should ask Landon about all this," Emily suggested. She started packing up her laptop and textbook, and frowned when her phone lit up with her brother's picture. Feeling annoyed but not sure why, she was a little harsh when she answered, "Jack? What do you want?"

Nakoa looked at her, watched her facial expressions. "I'm sure it's fine, Jack. I wouldn't worry about it." She hung up.

"Brother troubles?" Nakoa asked her.

Emily shook her head. "No. The girl Jack likes wasn't in school today and nobody knew why she missed class."

"Probably just out sick or something," Nakoa guessed.

"That's what I thought." Emily ran a hand through her ponytail and zipped her backpack shut. "I think I'm gonna finish studying at home. See you there." She brushed past Nakoa and headed for the library exit.

"Okay," Nakoa said, to no one in particular, watching her go. "See ya."

The girls in Jack's AP English class were all abuzz the next morning when Jack got into the classroom. He sat down and pulled his things out, glancing up to see Tucker Gantz taking his seat ahead of him. "Hey, Rice," Tucker greeted him.

Jack nodded. "Tucker, how's it going?"

Tucker jerked a thumb at the group of girls standing by the entrance. One of them squealed and was immediately shushed by everyone else. The room went deathly quiet and then just as suddenly, the girls were whispering and giggling again. "Kinda ridiculous," Tucker rolled his eyes.

"What was that all about?" Jack asked him.

"Oh there's a guy here from some college on the mainland," Tucker said. "He's sooo cute!" he said in an exaggerated falsetto. "All the girls in my math class can't shut up about him."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Girls are weird," he said. Their teacher came in and shooed the girls to their seats. During attendance, Jack noticed that the two girls who normally sat across the aisle from him were both gone.

Landon grinned as Kealey added cayenne pepper to the group of spices already gathered on the kitchen counter. "You're speaking my language," he grinned. "Pretty sure my blood is at least 50/50 cayenne and garlic."

"Something smells good," Emily said, coming into the kitchen from downstairs. She flopped down in the bench seat next to Landon.

"How's the essay coming?" Landon asked her.

"If I didn't know my professor would run it through the plagiarism thing, I'd give up and just copy paste an article from National Geographic," Emily said. "Thank God there hasn't been any monster attacks in awhile, I'm having enough trouble trying to finish this stupid essay without that."

"That could be it's own Ecology thing," Nakoa pointed out, coming in from the living room. "Defeating Sea Creatures From the Black Lagoon- a Study by Emily Rice." He sat down in the chair across from her.

"Yeah, pretty sure we're supposed to be keeping all that under wraps," Emily countered.

Landon raised an eyebrow. "You okay, Em? You seem a little…tense."

Even Kealey had turned around from the stove, the only sound in the kitchen now the sizzling of whatever she'd put in the saucepan. "You're being kind of a bitch," Kealey didn't bother to sugarcoat it. She glanced at Landon with a shrug. "Takes one to know one."

Emily dropped her head. "I'm sorry, you guys," she apologized. "It's just, I'm trying to get this essay finished, my partners in my group aren't being any help, and my brother won't stop texting me that something is up at his school."

Landon waited, but Emily didn't elaborate further. "Hey, we're all under a lot of pressure right now," he told her. "Just remember, you've got people you can talk to about all this stuff. I took Ecology when I was in college, maybe I can look over what you have so far."

"And I can help with…other stuff," Kealey offered from the stove, adding strips of chicken to the pan. She gave Emily a meaningful look.

"What's all this about your brother?" Nakoa asked. "He called yesterday too, right?"

Emily glanced toward the ceiling. "He really likes this girl Gina in his AP English class, but she hasn't been at school for a couple days. And now he's claiming that there's two other girls who didn't show up for class this morning. He think something's up."

"Meningitis?" Kealey offered. "Kept a lot of girls in my class out in high school…" Landon snickered.

"Did he say anything else?" Nakoa asked Emily.

"I dunno, I'm sure it's just high school drama," Emily said. "Apparently there's this really cute recruiter from some college on the Mainland, and all the girls are just like, fawning over him. Jack's probably just being insecure, right? That all these girls are paying attention to this obviously older guy?"

"What college?" Landon asked.

Emily scrolled back through her texts. "St. Maria's?" she read.

Nakoa popped out his phone, did some quick typing. "No results," he said, with a glance at Landon.

"Does Jack know anything else about this guy?" Landon asked.

Emily glanced between the two boys. "Wait…what are you saying?"

"No attacks in awhile, but these girls are going missing, and the guy's a complete poser?" Kealey spoke up from the stove. She looked at Emily. "Sounds sketch to me."

"Yeah, we should look into it," Landon agreed, looking at Emily. He grinned. "And I've got an idea…Shorty."

Emily shot him a Look.

"This is so weird," Jack muttered to his sister the next morning. The two of them walked down the halls headed for the study lounge.

"How do you think I feel?" Emily shot back, shouldering her backpack. "I didn't particularly want to go back to high school."

"Well, for what it's worth," Jack said. "I'm glad you're here. I think it's weird you're here…but I'm glad you're here." He pulled up short in the hallway, and pointed. "There he is."

Emily looked up. The girls were right, he was pretty cute. He stood almost as tall as Landon, wearing a white polo shirt with a lightbulb. He had thick black hair and a deep tan. She squeezed Jack's hand. "Head to class, kiddo."

"What are you gonna do?"

Emily flashed a bright smile at the college recruiter. "Don't worry. I'll call you later."

Jack ducked into his classroom and Emily tucked her hair behind her ear and stepped up to the recruiter. "So…can I hear more about your school?"

Outside the school, Nakoa, Kealey and Landon watched from Landon's truck as Emily and the recruiter walked down the sidewalk in front of the school toward a nearby park. "He is pretty cute," Kealey said.

"If we're right, he's also pretty dangerous," Nakoa countered, watching. "Come on Landon, let's go."

Landon shifted the truck into drive and inched slowly down the street.

"So do you offer any kind of tuition discounts since it's so far to move?" Emily was asking the recruiter, trying to keep her tone light. Her heart was pounding, and one hand was in her pocket clutched around the white nanite shell in her jeans pocket.

"Don't worry," the recruiter told her, giving her an assuring smile. "We take care of everything." Emily glanced behind her, looking for Landon's red Avalanche. She couldn't see it, but she hoped her team was there.

Ahead of them, Emily saw a maintenance shed for the park's groundskeeper, and her heart pounded faster. This is it, I bet. "Hey, um, I'm gonna be late for my next class," she stammered. "So, um, maybe I should…I should get back." She turned to go, but the recruiter reached out, grabbed her arm. "Hey! Let me go!"

"Why would I do that?" He gave her another bright smile. "You're bait!"

"Let go!" Emily yanked yard, but his grip was firm. He was opening the shed door, and Emily could see three figures inside among the equipment. Two blonde teenagers and a familiar-looking brunette. Gina. And the other two missing girls.

And me next!

The Avalanche jerked as Landon threw it into park and the remaining Rangers got out, running into the park. "We've gotta find her," Kealey said. "Let's split up, we'll cover more ground." She hesitated and looked at Landon. "That is…I mean…"

He rolled his eyes. "Yep, great plan, good call, let's go!"

Emily felt her fingers clench around her shell. "I warned you to let me go," she grunted. "Ho'ololi!" Her suit appeared and with a burst of energy, she pulled free of the recruiter and yanked him outside the shed. She shook her head. "Should've guessed that no news wasn't good news with you guys," she said.

"My Syrena wants you," the man said, though Emily noted he seemed less man now. His body arced and stretched, his mouth growing, teeth becoming pointier, glowing brighter. Emily gasped in horror. "Hey, I dunno if you guys have suited up yet, but now would be a great time!" she yelled into her helmet.

The creature had finished changing, and now it looked at Emily. "I hope your friends do come," it told her. "Syrena asked for one, but I would be rewarded if I brought all of you."

"Not gonna happen," Emily promised. Using the jets on her suit, she powered herself forward, throwing a punch into the creature's belly. It staggered, but Emily had to dive out of the way as it's jaw extended, trying to swallow her whole. She rolled out of the way of the sharp teeth and wished that Dr. Johnson was back from her trip so she could have her bladed fans.

"Holy crap," she heard someone say, saw Nakoa, Kealey, and Landon came running up, already morphed and ready. "What the hell is that thing?"

"Ugly?" Kealey offered, joining Emily and pulling her to her feet.

Something lashed out from the creature's head and the two girls jumped over it. Nakoa tried grabbing onto it but missed, and Landon launched himself into the air, pounding a foot into the side of it's head.
"Anglerfish!" Landon explained breathlessly. "Uses that light on it's head to draw it's prey closer, like a lure! The jaws extend out so it can swallow things bigger than it is!"

"I'll give him something to chew on!" Emily yelled, launching herself off a tree and giving it a solid kick in the jaw. A few of the pointy teeth came loose.

"Em, if it wants girls so bad, let's give him a couple," Kealey said, running up next to her.

Emily nodded, her jaw set inside her helmet. "I'm game." With that, both girls used the suit jets, driving their booted feet into either side of the grotesque fish's jaw, breaking it. Landon and Nakoa followed a moment later with two uppercut punches that sent it flying into the air and dropping it to the ground, where it disintegrated, like all the others.

"You okay?" Nakoa asked, clapping Emily on the shoulder.

"Fine," Emily said. "The girls are in there. We should probably get them some help."

Jack Rice waited impatiently with his sister outside the school's front door a few days later, waiting for bus 13 to pull up. He tapped his foot, watching the door slide back and the students pile off.

"She was supposed to come back today," Jack muttered.

Emily smiled. "She'll be here," she reassured him. Almost as soon as she'd said it, she pointed to the bus. Gina stepped off, looking no worse for the wear. She gave Jack a push. "Go on, Romeo," she teased him. "Walk her to class."

She watched her little brother jog up to the pretty senior, ask her a question. A moment later, Jack had Gina's backpack on his shoulder and they were headed into the building, Jack flashing Emily a thumbs up on the way by.

She smiled.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out. Hey. Movie night tonight? –N

Emily sighed. She still didn't know what to do about that one.