Today, the Angel Grove Youth Center is hosting a community event with a combination of different attractions. For some of the kids, there is a carnival, games, rides and other fun activities to partake. As for the adults, they can also partake in these attractions, but there is also a concert going on along with a job fair a short distance away from all of the fun activities. Essentially, there is something for everyone today.

Unfortunately, things will not be peaceful for too long, especially with what Dr. Raymond Ogden brought with him at the job fair. As a representative of GENESIS, Dr. O is in search of people that are compatible with the Power Crystals, hiding behind the facade that GENESIS needs more full-time workers and interns. GENESIS's research has led to an opening in the Morphin Grid that has brought on a grave danger.

Oblivious to the circumstances and just doing her job as an intern, Charlie is working the table with Dr. Ogden, but when he has to step away for a little while, she is left alone to man the station. She's passionate about what the company offers, but doesn't want to look incompetent at her post.

Perhaps Ryan is part of the performing arts portion of the fair. Or maybe his parents are funding the event in a small or big fashion. Either way, he's certainly making his presence felt one way or another given his tendency to float around conspicuously.

Jordan is probably attending the festivities to get out of the house and maybe look for a job. The job fair has several opportunities for her as well as a familiar face in Charlie. Does she stop by the GENESIS table?

The former high school athlete Nick would probably enjoy the beach volleyball setup a distance away from the concert area. A couple of kids are playing, but he may be open to showing them his skills. Angel Grove hasn't been feeling like home since his family left, but maybe it's also time to consider a job?

A big event as such tends to rub Aiden the wrong way. Too many people, too much stimulation. He would rather be alone. But the fact that he has a cool bike is probably going to bring attention to himself given where he's parked at from a distance. Does he stay where he is in the parking area or does he dare see what's going on at the event?

Regardless, the fun times won't last too long as the Dark Empire has intentions on making its presence felt in a huge way just as things get going.

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Being an intern with a prestigious company like GENESIS was something that Charlie always dreamed of. At an early age, she was a child prodigy, taking an interest in how devices were created and how they operated to the point where she disassembled one of her aunt's telephones to get a closer look at the inside. The result? She was able to actually get the phone to operate faster and more smoothly after she got her hands on it. Needless to say, Charlie had a future in this business which was why Dr. Ogden was adamant about bringing her on as an intern.

What she wasn't expecting within her intern duties was manning a table in the absence of her internship coordinator. Something about needing to run back to headquarters for an emergency left Charlie responsible for handing out flyers and directing prospective employees to tablets so that they could fill out an internship application. As far as she knew, GENESIS was looking for a variety of workers: from cafeteria staff all the way up to engineers.

Fiddling with the cuff of her emerald hoodie, Charlie avoided eye contact with some of the passers by, lowering her gaze to the titanium briefcase that Dr. O left behind.

"Hm... did he mean to leave this?" Charlie mumbled to herself, reaching to pick it up and setting it on the table next to her bag. "Whatever... I'll just let him know it's here if he's looking for it."

Pulling out her phone, Charlie leaned against cloth-covered table with GENESIS's logo on it and shot her mentor a text message. All the while, there was random uproar coming from the other parts of the event. Had she not been working, maybe Charlie would have partook in the activities.

"That funnel cake is calling my name, ugh," Charlie said with a sigh after sending the message to Dr. O, rubbing her stomach to settle it. Narrowing her eyes, she could have swore she saw the all too familiar face of a close friend. "Is that... Jordan!" she called out, waving her friend over. Was she still looking for a job? Being coworkers (technically not coworkers since Charlie was an intern) seemed like a good idea.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the attenders of the event, there was a watchful eye on the perimeter. With an army of Muddie Patrollers forming behind him where he stood at a higher elevation than the event, General Maskaraid began to rally the troops.

"Those Power Crystals are around here somewhere. Lord Galza has given us direct orders to do what is necessary to steal them and bring them back to him."

Turning to face his army, he lifted his scepter up high which prompted a rabid chant in unison.

"On my signal, you attack those humans and capture the Power Crystals!"

Location: Angel Grove Community Event
Interactions: Nick @rocketrobie2

Of course, Ryan had to make an appearance at the event. He was just so in demand these days, he couldn’t let his fans down. His parents were involved in funding the whole thing, there was a performing arts section, and Fae Ree was going to make an appearance at Drag Queen Story Hour for the kiddos. So much to do so little time.

Right now though, he was enjoying the event. He was dressed in full Fae Ree drag. He snapped some selfies with people to post on insta later. Being a Drag Queen, Ryan got some dirty looks from people. He just blew them a kiss, and waved them off. He couldn’t help that he was the prettiest girl here.

He grinned when he saw a familiar face near the concert area, and ran over to him. “Nicky darling!” He gave the former high school athlete a kiss on both cheeks. “Selfie for the gram?” He didn’t even wait for Nick’s response before throwing an arm around his shoulders and snapping the picture anyway. Ryan would happily admit he didn’t know a thing about sports, nor did he care to know. Ryan didn’t need an excuse to talk to a cute boy. He then showed the selfie he took. “Oh yes. My followers will love that. So, how have you been? I’ve been so busy these days. I imagine you’ve been snapped up by a university or something?”

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_{”Should have known he had an ulterior motive, cheeky bastard.”}, Jordan muttered under her breath as she stabbed the flimsy plastic fork into a sliced strawberry sitting on top of the best known dessert at any carnival, funnel cake. Try to convince her differently but this was the one and only needed dessert while there were plenty of other savory items needed at carnivals. Sadly, even its glorious flavor couldn’t stop the pout on her lips as she quickly realized why her uncle had suggested she visit the community center event even though the excuse had been to get her out of the house to meet new people or reunite with others that hadn’t seen her since junior year of highschool. No, the true reason for this little suggestion was stumbled upon on the outer edge somewhat near the funnel cake stand and that was an open job fair event which was indeed nice, but it wasn’t like she hadn’t been searching…it just happened that none of them felt like the right fit. Okay, so…maybe the real truth was she had tried a few and gotten fired but she wasn’t about to tell Benny that. He had enough to worry about with her.

"Jordan!"

Her head snapped to the side as she paused in her steps, scanning the crowd of people around her before her eyes landed on a familiar face. Charlie waved her over to a cloth-covered table with GENESIS's logo plastered on it which wasn’t all that surprising considering her passions but she had to raise an eyebrow on why she would give up such a personally nice day to do, well, this. ”Fancy seeing you here! So, um, GENESIS booth huh? Sign up a few suckers to the cause and what not?”, Jordan asked teasingly, scooting the odd titanium briefcase along with Charlie’s bag over before plopping down directly on the table for a convenient seat.

There was nothing technically wrong with the company when looking it over and she was happy for her friend but it just always seemed too good to be true. Something about it rubbed her the wrong way and she didn’t trust it. Maybe she was slightly more pessimistic than she believed herself to be but if anything, she always went with her gut on these things. ”But seriously, how has your day been going? Get to check out any of the other attractions and what not or have you been stuck here all alone with… a pile of flyers and this creepy ass tin can of a case?”, she questioned with a nod of her head at the items before taking another bite of her delicious treat.

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Work was killing Nick. When you were trying to make a sale it felt like the world was ending and when there wasn't a customer around it was like being stuck on Alcatraz, stuck by yourself with nothing to do. That's why Nick had been looking forward to the Community Event for the past two months. As he finally entered the grounds Nick realized just how little he'd be socializing the past couple months, with his family clearing out of town and most of his old friends doing the same or losing contact, Nick was looking forward to meeting some new people and seeing some old faces.

Speaking of new (or old) faces, Nick quickly found himself getting his face kissed and picture taken before even realizing what was going on. It took Nick a moment to recognize who was talking to him, more than a little secretly embarrassed that he could forget someone who dressed this bombastically. Just as they finished asking about uni, Nick recognized Ryan and put things together.

"Ryan! Hey yeah no. I'm still figuring things out on the school front, don't want to jump the gun and get two years into a degree I hate." Nick chuckled a bit, crossing his arms over his chest. "What about you? You still doing the theatre stuff?"

Aiden had been stretching his legs in the parking lot; this was normally his favorite spot for just... Relaxing, but today it was crowded with the Youth Center event. He stood leaning against his bike, just watching the crowded scene suspiciously, debating whether to brave the horde or move on.

There was a glint of... Something just up in the hills... Some activity, too. Eh, it was probably just carnival workers setting up fireworks displays, or something.

With a sigh, he shrugged it off and decided to go ahead and see what fun there was to be had- who knows? Maybe he'd find something interesting at the job fair between games?

He tried to be discreet as he gave a "fairy woman" an appraising glance- she was too busy having a selfie with someone else to notice, and it was probably better that way. No doubt she worked here, like a cosplayer, so any "reciprocating" was going to be a matter of professionalism. Now, where's the whack-a-mole? He was betting the kids would appreciate a leg-up against the booth operators!

As Jordan made herself comfortable on the covered table, Charlie's eyes widened ever so slightly as she reached for the titanium briefcase before it accidentally tipped over. It had no chance of doing so, but Charlie was just paranoid.

"Heh... I wish. Everyone is all distracted by the carnival games and the performances," she mentioned, spotting the Fairy Woman from before greeting some guy. Not too far in the distance, she spotted another person seemingly isolated from everyone else. "My day has been kinda... blah," she added, sticking her tongue out in feigned disgust. "Dr. Ogden left me to man the table by myself so I haven't even had the opportunity to indulge in unhealthy carnival food."

The comment about the briefcase made her tap her acrylic nails against it, resulting a metal drumming sound. "Apparently this suitcase is very important to Dr. Ogden. I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate you calling it creepy just as much as he wouldn't appreciate your ass sitting on our table. Get up, unless you want me to fill out a job application for you," she teased, poking a finger at her shoulder. "Seriously. We've got plenty of jobs available..."

A sudden ka-boom sent the entire event in a frenzy as one of the food trucks toppled over on its side. Fire and smoke erupted while adults and kids screamed and ran in the opposite direction of a monstrous humanoid creature with red-skin and partial head and face covering that was comparable to the Comedy and Tragedy Masks of Theater.

General Maskaraid stepped up onto the side of the fallen food truck, wielding his scepter as several of his Muddie Patrollers swarmed around his side before running out to attack civilians.

"I am Maskaraid, General of the Dark Empire! Hand over the Power Crystals immediately and I won't have my Muddie Patrollers massacre all of you!"

A look of confusion struck some of the faces of the people attending event before they were surrounded by Muddies. A duo of Muddies lifted a person together before slamming them into the ground while others grabbed at another person was tossed into a nearby tent. A gurgling sound emitted from the Muddies mouths as they celebrated the beginning of their carnage.

"Ah! So no one wants to step up? Fine! Attack!" Maskaraid shouted, pointing his scepter forward, commanding more damage to be done until they recovered the Power Crystals.

The explosion's impact was strong enough to knock over the GENESIS display that Charlie helped set up. In turn, the table skidded backwards causing the suitcase to drop to the ground and slide slightly on the concrete, out of Charlie's peripheral. For the time being, she wasn't concerned about the suitcase, and more about Jordan's well-being.

"You okay?" she asked as the smoke began to clear, but suddenly a massive claw attached to staff was swiped into her face, leading her to clumsily flip backwards and off the other side of the table. "What the fu- WHOA!" she yelped, ducking another swipe of the claw before being tangled up from behind by a Muddie, attempting to hold her still. "Get... off me!" She grunted, kicking the Muddie in front of her in the chest and then squirming away from the one that had her wrapped in its arms. She ran over to stand back to back with Jordan. "Who brought the circus?"

The kids were having a great time, now that he was helping them rob the booth operator of his precious tickets! They were giggling uncontrollably, when suddenly, just as he was hitting yet another "mole", the ground shook, and there was an explosion! Pausing for a moment, he looked around when he realized the explosion was somewhere else.

Some kind of monster was making demands of the crowd, but it didn't seem to like the response- It's minions began to attack!

Some of these things were coming their way! "Oh, no..." Aiden looked over his shoulder to the now frightened children- there parents hadn't figured out where they were, yet. The booth operator was long gone. He looked back, steeling himself for what he'd have to do, his knuckles popping from his tightening grip on the mallet. "... Stay behind me, kids!"

He picked up a tall stool as the Muddies closed the distance, and quickly clobbered 3 of them with the mallet! They shook, stunned by the blow, but more were coming! Aiden crouched into a heavy swing of the still, tripping up 4 more! Another 2 mallet strikes, and he yanked the rope for forming lines lose, tossing the other end to the kids, who dutifully took hold, abandoning the ticket haul.

"Come on, we'll find your parents, but first we're getting you somewhere safe!" He led them along, clobbering Muddies as they went, finally passing them off to a security guard, apparently one of the parents!

"Thank you, young man, now get to safety!" and with that they scampered off, the kids in tow, and his attention was caught by the flashing light reflecting on- "Hey, it's that monster guy! He must be the one I saw before!" The monster calling itself Maskaraid was attacking a pair of young ladies. "I've got to help them!" In that moment, he looked at the monster, and hesitated at the ruined mallet in his hands. "...But how?"

As if struck by inspiration, he turned, and looked at the parking lot. With a deep breath, and a "...OK." He sprinted, kicking, hitting and tackling Muddies as they crossed his path, until he reached his bike. He put on his helmet, revved the engine, and drove through at reckless speed, knocking down more Muddies as he went, at one point stopping to skid in a semi-circle, knocking a group down and saving some more people they'd cornered.

Once he'd found the Monster again, He revved the engine once more, and popped a wheely as he charged the menace!

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She turned her head in the direction Charlie was looking, noticing the fairy woman performer or at least what she assumed was someone in entertainment taking a picture with one of her fans. Perhaps it was a boyfriend though with how comfortable they seemed with each other. It was a pretty cute scene either way from this distance. Jordan took note of a few people walking by as they headed in or out of the game sections but for the most part she changed her attention back to her companion. ”That sucks, sorry you ended up getting ditched. Let me know if you want a bite.”, she replied with a gesture to her plate, offering up her funnel cake. Charlie was literally like a little sister to her and was about the only one she would be willing to have snag from her plate or to share such a perfect treat.

The comment about the briefcase and lack of chair however had her rolling her eyes a bit before lightly lifting her arms in false surrender at the poke. These moments were also why she felt like Charlie was a sister, always trying to keep her out of trouble or looking out for her in some way. ”Fine, you win this round but I have to say that if this case was so important to him, then why did he go and forget it. Just sayin’, plus who cares what he would appreciate when he hasn’t bothered to be here.” Jordan stated while dramatically hopping off the table to instead lean against it so she could slide over an application before scrunching up her nose at the hinting offer to join. ”Appreciated but…”

A sudden ka-boom silenced the rest of Jordan’s words, knocked over due to the sudden unstable balance since most of her weight had been against the table which flung backwards with the force of such a nearby blast. [i]’Did one of the food trucks explode or something?’[i], she thought as she slowly sat up, feeling a little scuffed and bruised from the concrete but that was less of a concern at the moment. She glanced around as the entire event was in a panicked frenzy, one of the trucks was on its side, fire and smoke erupting while everyone continued to scream and ran in the opposite direction. That was understandable; all things considered but the monstrous humanoid creature on top of the overturned truck yelling nonsense with a swarm of minions was baffling. There was no way this was a performance and with everyone’s confused expression, she doubted anyone had a clue on these power crystals they were jabbering about.

The second people started getting hurt, Jordan pushed up into her feet in an instant and only hesitated to rush forward so she could check on Charlie first.”I’m fine but we have bigger issues. Are you-Charlie! Look out!”, she called out in horror as a massive claw swiped near her face. If the weapon wasn’t being pointed at her friend, she might have chuckled that it looked like an oversized rake but as it stood, she felt terror which morphed into pure rage. ”Get away from her!”, she hissed, ready to attack when movement from her peripheral vision caused her to flip back into an arch to dodge a weapon swiped in her direction. With no other move to make, she finished the cartwheel motion to get back on her feet, kicking the weapon up to give her some room once landed to not be instantly attacked. She quickly grabbed the other end of a weapon from a second enemy as it went for her to defend the first dodged minion, biting her lip as parts of its claw points dug a bit into her shoulder as she blocked the best she could from the sudden attack. She wrapped her hands around the staff, yanking it closer to throw the Muddie off balance so she could land a solid right hook to the minions face.

She wasted no time stealing the weapon from the creature, holding it like a bat as she got into a defensive stance even with the sting in her shoulder. Jordan felt a back to her own, relaxing a bit as she knew Charlie was alright but also that she wouldn’t have to watch her own back and would be able to help her friend with the same problem. "Who brought the circus?"
”To hell if I know but I don’t mind messing up a few clowns.”, Jordan teased, while knocking one of the Muddie back who got too close for her liking. Now, normally that wouldn’t lead to any hilarious outcomes but the poor creature backed up too far from the shove, as it just got practically plowed over by a motorcycle flying at high speeds towards the main monstrous humanoid creature that seemed to be the leader of this band of monsters. She had to give it to the driver, they had guts and appreciated them helping people where they could along the way since most seemed to be running off. She wasn’t sure if she would go after the main instigator of this attack but at least someone had tried something. Charlie and herself not really able to do much to get there from their current position.

Interactions: Nick @rocketrobie2

Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Really? I was sure you would have gotten a scholarship somewhere… Well, I’m sure you’ll find something. As for me, well of course I am! That’s what I’m going to school to study. I’m going to be a star, and you’ll see my name on the bright lights of Broadway!” He replied with a flourish. “Buuut, in the meantime, how would you feel about going out with me once this is done? It’s been a while since I’ve had a fun night out with a handsome guy.” He grinned.

Before Ryan could find out if he was going to get a date out of this or not, there was a sudden ka-boom that caused a food truck to fall over, and chaos ensued. A tackily dressed stepped out and started speaking nonsense. At first Ryan would have thought this was a really bad performance or something, and Ryan would have to have a word with this idiot later. The minute he saw the Muddies attacking people was when he knew this wasn’t part of the show.

Ryan would have grabbed Nick’s hand and ran away from this nonsense, but one of those Muddie things came up behind him, and grabbed him. “Beg your pardon? I know I’m beautiful, but I did not give you permission to touch!” Ryan kicked the Muddie in the groin with a high heeled clad foot, causing it to let Ryan go.

But then he was soon surrounded by three more with those pointy metal sticks in their hands. Ryan put his arms up. “Uh, Nicky. Assistance would be appreciated!”

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Without a moment to reply, Nick found his conversation upended. One moment everything was fine and the next the event was plunged into chaos. Nick wasn't sure what to do at first, running seemed to be the general consensus but when Ryan was grabbed, Nick figured that wasn't going to work. After Ryan's own escape, Nick moved closer and went back to back with him as the duo faced the other weapon wielding monsters.

“Uh, Nicky. Assistance would be appreciated!” brought the full weight of the situation down on Nick. He wasn't much a fighter, Volleyball didn't involve much tackling and there wasn't much roughhousing growing up in his family of three sisters... but Nick was always a quick study.

"Keep up the kicking and I'll take care of the rest" Nick quipped, feeling corny as all hell, before puffing his chest and mustering as much bravado as he could. He got into a low stance and charged for the closest monster, mimicking the tackles he'd seen his high school peers pull off. He wasn't going varsity for his football skills but it seemed he had enough skill and (more importantly) muscle left to topple his target to the ground before he himself rolling off and charging the next. This one had time to react however, bringing its weapon down in a strike that Nick narrowly avoided but sent him tumbling to the ground himself. Trying to get his bearings back, Nick quickly found himself staring down three sharp prongs as the hurtled towards his head. Moving more so on instinct, Nick's hand reached and grasped at an overturned stool from one of the many event stations and brought it up to block the attack. Nick got a a fat-lip and a bruised cheek from the force of the stool colliding with with his face but Nick was grateful it was the chair and not the claws mere inches from puncturing their target.

"Hey!... Might need!... A hand!" Nick struggled out as tried to force the stool and the monster up and away from him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his previous mark getting up from his tackled state. This things were no joke but Nick knew he thrived under pressure. It was only the first set and Nick wasn't about to throw in the towel for this game anytime soon.

The Muddies were gaining ground on the two women, with Charlie's breathing suddenly becoming a bit heavier at the sudden need to protect herself as well as Jordan and the people around her. Just as she was about to make her move though, a motorcycle zoomed towards one of the Muddies, sending it flying into a nearby pole, the creature exploding into a pile of dust upon impact.

"Ho-ly shit!" Charlie exclaimed as the Muddies were just as shocked at he humans were.

Maskaraid was content to sit back and allow the Muddies to do his work, but when the motorcyclist arrived on the scene, he took it upon himself to make a dastardly statement. There was a group of five notable people that stood out more than the rest who were actively trying to fight against his brigade, so Maskaraid's anger got the best of him as he lifted his scepter and swiped it forward. A piercing blast of energy fired towards Aiden and his bike, but energy got the better of the vehicle, slicing it in half, and sending the rider flying off of the bike.

"Foolish humans! You dare to defy the wishes of the Dark Empire!?" Maskaraid proclaimed.

With everyone else distracted with survival (or destruction, depending on your point of view), there was another figure donning a cloak that crept behind the now obliterated GENESIS table. The titanium suitcase was covered by the somewhat scorched tablecloth, but the person quickly pulled it aside to grab at the handle of the suitcase before running in the opposite direction of the carnage.

As he stood over the scene, Maskaraid's scepter began to glow before forcefully pointing itself in the direction of the cloaked figure with the titanium suitcase. "There! After them, Muddie Patrollers!"

Immediately, the Muddies shifted their focus from the event to the fleeing cloaked figure. The attacks against the group that was fighting to survive against them ceased. Narrowing her eyes, and feeling a sense of safety for the time being, Charlie soon realized that the cloaked figure stole the titanium suitcase. The same suitcase that Dr. Ogden asked her to protect.

"Too much crazy shit is going on today..." she said to herself, huffing slightly as she began to jog after the Muddies. It felt crazy, but Charlie needed to retrieve that suitcase, whatever it was that was inside of it. Dr. Ogden's work was considered top secret and classified; his work getting into the wrong hands could be detrimental to the world and, more importantly, Charlie's employment with GENESIS. "They stole GENESIS's suitcase!" she shouted to anyone who could hear. "Please! Help me get it back!"

By now, Charlie was in a full blown sprint away from the event, chasing behind the Muddies and the cloaked figure who was losing ground on Maskaraid's army. It wouldn't be long before they were caught and apprehended... which meant that Muddies would have possession of the suitcase then.

Interactions: Nick @rocketrobie2 Charlie @LG

Nick and Ryan fought off the muddies as best they could. To be honest, he left Nick to do most of it. He couldn’t bear to ruin his drag ensemble with needless violence! Ryan stood aside and ogled him. He was so manly and hot… But eventually, they stopped fighting to chase after a cloaked figure. Ryan was relieved that the fighting was over and done with. Ryan giggled, and kissed Nick on the cheek. “My hero!”

The whole thing left the fair a mess, and furrowed his brows. [colorFF69B4]“Ugh, how rude. Those… whatever they are made a mess. My parents invested a good deal of money into this fair, and they will not be pleased to see it ruined…”[/color]

Then another girl screamed about getting GENESIS’s suitcase stolen. Was that supposed to mean something? Ryan had heard of GENESIS, but he didn’t really understand what they did... Well, whatever. Those cretins destroyed the fair his parents put money into, and now they were going to run off with stolen property from a major corporation. He may as well try to get it back. “Come on Nicky. I suppose we should try to get that thing back…” He went after them, but running wasn’t exactly Fae Rae’s thing. Not in this outfit. It was more of a power walk.

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Just when things were looking worse for Nick, another new development showed itself in what seemed to be theses goons' leader telling them to book it after someone. Nick couldn't really see the situation unfolding from his spot on the ground but once he managed to pop to his feet he got a better idea of what was going on. Someone nabbed something from the GENESIS career table and these things wanted to get their hands on it. He was ready to make like lightning and bolt, short of being run over with a motorcycle these things didn't seem like they were mortal. His contemplation on fleeing was interrupted by a peck on the cheek; how European.

Further bringing himself back to the present was a call to arms coming from someone hoofing it after the would be thief. "I'm gonna run ahead, gimme a scream if you need a hand." Nick replied as he put his athletics to the test. He wasn't as fit as he used to be but he was still fast, making long quick strides towards the crowd. As he caught up to the swarm, Nick made sure to keep an arm's length away from the monster goons, knowing his charge would come to an end if one decided to jump him.

Aiden couldn't help but think to himself, as he flew through the air propelled by his bike exploding, Well, this took a turn...

He gritted his teeth and groaned as he tried to recover from the fall, mostly hearing a high pitched buzzing in his ears.

As his hearing started to come back, and he dragged himself back to his feet, he locked eyes on Maskaraid. #&$% this clown! He picked up and clutched what used to be the tail-pipe on his bike, and called out to him. "Hey, you big ugly jerk! I don't know what your problem is, but you and your pals need to get your heads straight and beat it!"

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Jordan flinched, watching horrified as the energy blast sliced the motorcycle before sending the rider flying. There was no way she could move to help them or even check if they were alright with the enemies still surrounding Charlie and herself. She made sure to at least attempt to make her way over when she could. That being said, if these creatures' leader could do something like that then maybe there were more tricks up their sleeves which made her grip the stolen weapon harder.

"Foolish humans! You dare to defy the wishes of the Dark Empire!?" Maskaraid proclaimed.

”Damn right we do! Fuck you guys!”

"Hey, you big ugly jerk! I don't know what your problem is, but you and your pals need to get your heads straight and beat it!"

Her attention drew to the new voice, feeling a flood of relief to see that the rider was at least alright enough to stand even if it was with the help from the broken bike piece, not staying on the ground for too long. She didn’t care what the retaliation or the result was from their snapbacks and comments, just preparing herself to dodge. Heck, if he hit his own men in the process she would call it a win. The answer though was more surprising, her head turning in the direction of the cloaked figure escaping the grounds, who was also drawing the attention of all the enemies. [i]All this destruction of one person? Seriously? They had put families and everyone else in danger just to hide here? What the hell?![i], she thought to herself, frustrated but she wouldn’t let someone die for being stupid. Obviously more was happening here and she was going to get to the bottom of it. The enemies didn’t take long to completely ignore the existence of those left, instead pursuing chase with the hooded figure.

She relaxed a bit, rubbing the scrapped up shoulder from the weapon attack earlier, hissing in pain as she did. Jordan already planned to head after the swarm of creatures but when she noticed Charlie wasn’t by her side, she panicked for a moment before noticing that she had already jogged ahead. She had wanted to come up with at least a better plan than just straight chasing after them but it seemed that went down the toilet fast. ”Hold up! Where is the fire!?”, she called, starting to jog forward after Charlie when, "They stole GENESIS's suitcase! Please! Help me get it back!".

She freaking knew that creepy ass case was gonna be trouble! Jordan always listened to her gut and she should have known it wasn’t about the person but what they carried. With that information, she cursed under her breath before kicking into a full blown sprint, ready to catch up to her friend and hopefully get this case back before these monsters got their hands on it.”Any idea what’s in it? Like how bad are we talking if we can’t get this back?”, she asked as they ran.

Sheer adrenaline was the reason why Charlie was able to remain close to the Muddies while they pursued the hooded person. Sure, death was a reasonably scary scenario, but somehow losing that suitcase was even scarier. She couldn't risk losing her internship because some cosplaying guys with scepters or this other person wanted to get their filthy fingerprints on GENESIS equipment.

"It's gonna sound crazy... but I don't know exactly. The only thing I do know is that it's important to Dr. Ogden, my supervisor with my internship. If I lose it then... I lose the internship," Charlie said, quickly glancing over to Jordan and then behind her once she realized that there were other people following away from the community event and into the woods that led towards the foothills. "I owe you guys big time for helping me out," she acknowledged to the others that tagged along with her and Jordan.

Up ahead, the hooded figure was grasping the suitcase tightly against their chest as the Muddies gained ground on them. As they came up towards the slopping part of the hills, one of the Muddies fired a blast in their direction, which sent them stumbling forward onto the rocky terrain, falling on their stomach with the suitcase covered by their arms. As they turned around, the cloak was suddenly snatched away by one of the Muddies before they started to surround the revealed person.

"Th-these Crystals belong to the Crystal Kingdom! I c-cannot allow you or anyone else to h-have them!" she replied, faint tears streaming down shimmery face. "Pl-please... I ask you to step away... I d-don't wish to harm you!"

One of the Muddies stepped forward as they surrounded her body on the ground, pointing the scepter's tip against the suitcase. But before it could strike, the suitcase burst open in a beam of cyan light. From it, five crystals floated into the air momentarily before blasting off past the Muddies to where the five individuals who were chasing them stood behind the group. Individually, the Crystals floated in front of them: the Green Crystal with Charlie; the Blue Crystal with Jordan; the Pink Crystal with Ryan; the Yellow Crystal with Nick; and the Red Crystal with Aiden.

"What is this?" Charlie mumbled, watching the Green Crystal float and dance around her upper body before meeting with her left wrist. It spun around rapidly in a beam of green light before detaching to her wrist in the form of a device. "Dr. Ogden... never told me about this..." Charlie replied, glancing over to Jordan and then the others as she saw that their respective Crystals were doing the same thing before forming the device around their left wrists.

By now, the Muddies' attention were on the five of them, away from the formerly hooded figure. They crept away from her with the threat of these five individuals looming.

"It doesn't make sense right now but... I am Princess Crystalia of the Crystal Kingdom," the formerly hooded figure called out, running over to the side of where the battle lines were naturally drawn. Whether or not these five were prepared to fight, they had no choice. The Crystals had chosen them. "The Power Crystals have selected to be bonded with you. You... are the Crystalizers."

"But... Dr. Ogden..." Charlie called out to Princess Crystalia, brushing over the fact that she didn't look like she was from this planet.

"Th-there is no time to explain! You must morph!" Crystalia interrupted. "Tap the helmet icon and use your hands to spin the perimeter of the Crystalizer Morpher and call out: Crystalize!"

As the final words left Crystalia's mouth, the Muddies slowly began to walk towards the five of them, hoisting their scepters in a horizontal fashion as if to stab a hole into one of them upon getting at a close enough range. Charlie lifted her left wrist to glance at the face of this... watch-looking device. Her hazel eyes glanced at the Muddies and then down to other four individuals beside her.

"We don't have much of a choice but to fight..." Charlie said softly, with a head nod. "Let's see if these things can help us... Maybe we'll get answers if we don't die."

Tapping her right index finger against the 'Ranger icon', the screen of the device lit up in a green color immediately.

"CRYSTALIZE!"

Extending her hand out fully, she spun the tire-like perimeter of the device in a counterclockwise motion as the green Power Crystal emerged from the device and spun around her body rapidly. Charlie could feel her body beginning to "crystalize" and energize her as what was originally her street clothes changed into an entire different... suit.



"What is... this!?" Charlie squealed, glancing down at her hands through her newly equipped helmet.

The muddies led them away from the fair, and into the forest surrounding it. Ryan somehow managed to catch up with the criminals, and the other people who also decided to give chase, and that was when things got weird. The hooded figure appeared to be some kind of alien. Then the contents of the case revealed themselves, and a beautiful pink crystal floated towards Ryan. Well, at least this crystal had taste! It gave him a watch device that matched Charlie’s

But now this situation was becoming like one of those Saturday morning cartoons. Now they had to fight these things… again… Then the girl used her watch and transformed. Ryan followed suit next. He was not in the mood to fight in his drag ensemble he worked so hard to put together.

After pressing the button, and shouting “Crystalize!” The pink crystal spun around his body, enveloping him in more crystal. When the crystal broke away, Ryan was now wearing a pink version of the suit Charlie was wearing. Skirt and all.

Ryan studied his new suit. “Hmm, not bad… Pink is my color. Though I would have chosen something frillier, and something that didn’t hide my beautiful face!” He then turned his attention to the alien. “So tell me princess. Pray tell how exactly do we go about fighting these ruffians?”

He'd thought he looked cool, maybe even intimidating, in that moment, but, his confidence soon turned to confusion.

Did... Did I actually scare them off?

He noticed some others were caught up in the... Whatever was going on, and chose to run after them- maybe they were taking hostages? As he caught up, occasionally taking swings at Muddies along the way, he slid to a stop with the rest of them.

Before he understood what was going on, a red crystal did a few laps around him before turning into a device on his wrist! He decided to just roll with the instructions they were given, rather than get skewered. He pressed the button, spun the wheel, and struct a pose as he called, "Crystalize!!"

The Morphing happened, and he looked over himself, impressed. Not just with the outfit, but the feeling; the energy swelling inside himself! He almost thought he could take them all on, now, but with the others on his side as well? "Oh, hohoho! These guys are about to have a really bad day!"