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Cerise sighs as she adjusts the skirt of her dress.
Of course, for her, Aunt Syd, and Pops’ birthday, Aunt Syd wants to go somewhere with a dress code.
And of course, she has to get all dressed up in blue.
Aunt Syd took her out shopping and everyone agreed she looked prettiest in the blue dress, despite the fact that Cerise does not like this specific shade of blue very much.
And now she has to walk into SPD headquarters looking like Aunt Syd’s brunette and blue mini-me to try and get Uncle Sky to put his work down and go out with them.
Why would they send her? Uncle Sky would be way more likely to listen to Aunt Syd or her dad— she’s just the child that got thrown into his life without his consent.
And when she gets to the desk and hears that apparently Uncle Sky asked not to be disturbed, she sighs. She’s got no chance.
But somehow, her life works out.
“Hey! There’s Ceri!” Uncle Boom yells, throwing an arm around her shoulder. “Here, I’ll take you to Sky!”
“Uh, he asked not to be—”
“This is Cerise Landors-Tate, she’s allowed to disturb him whenever the hell she wants.” Kat purrs. “Come on, let’s go.”
Next thing Cerise knows, she’s being whisked into Uncle Sky’s office and he looks up from his work with bags under his eyes.
“I thought I sai— Oh, it’s just you. Did you need something, Ceri?”
“Uh… Aunt Syd wants to go out to a show for our birthday. Maybe… do you want to come with us?” She asks, and Uncle Sky’s eyes widen and he checks the time on his morpher.
“Oh, god. Ceri, I’m sorry. There’s no way I’m getting all this paperwor—”
“It’s okay, you’re busy. I get it.” Cerise sighs. “But if you can get out of your work, I think… Pops and Aunt Syd would want you there.
“Hey, come on.” Kat says, pointing to Cerise. “She got all dressed up too. Your paperwork can wait till the morning.”
“Crime doesn’t take days off, and neither can I.”
“Crime does take days off for their daughters' birthdays.” Grandpa’s voice rings out, and he paces in. “Don’t make me relieve you, because if I can take off for her birthday, so can you.”
Uncle Sky lets out a soft laugh.
“Fine, fine. Okay.”
“Great. Then your orders are to go home and take a nap.” Kat laughs. “Then get dressed up and come to the show with Jack and Ceri.”
“We’re getting dressed up… god, I’m so tired, I didn’t even notice how nice you looked. Syd got to you, didn’t she, Ceri?” Uncle Sky says, and Cerise laughs.
“Yeah, Pops and I had to stop her from buying a tiara. I think she did anyway and she’s gonna make me put it on before we leave.”
Uncle Sky sighs before pulling himself out of his chair and walking over to the door.
“I guess justice has to wait a day. Let’s get home.”
“Yeah, and I’m driving. You’re about to fall asleep on your feet.” Kat adds.
~
“So, we’re going to see a show?” Uncle Sky starts.
“Yep! A musical!” Aunt Syd responds. “Trust me, everyone’s going to enjoy it.”
“What’s it called?” Cerise asks, adjusting the tiara, and Aunt Syd laughs again.
“It’s a classic. Parade. Don’t google it, though! I want the entire plot to be a surprise!”
“We’re watching Parade?” Uncle Bridge asks. “Who’s putting it on? Don’t like… only three of the local troupes have anyone that’s Jewish in them?”
“It’s a touring production.”
“What the hell are you two talking about?” Uncle Sky groans, and Uncle Bridge blinks before walking to Aunt Syd’s other side.
“Can’t say.”
“Wait, it’s about a parade?” Aunt Z tries, and Aunt Syd shakes her head.
“You’ll see.”
“See what?! Syd!”
Aunt Syd just walks into the theater without responding, and the moment she smiles at the usher they’re all whisked up to a box.
“Jeez, Syd. This is insane.” Pops laughs, and Aunt Syd laughs back.
“What can I say? I’m a sucker for a musical.”
People shuffle around underneath the balcony, and Aunt Syd picks up a Playbill.
“Here it is! Now, everyone, sit down and get comfortable!”
It’s still kind of strange how easily Cerise sinks into the plush seats.
If this had been the same day three years ago, she wouldn’t even have a birthday. Much less all this cool stuff.
It almost makes her feel guilty. She just kind of… fell into this life.
Home, love, and family…
She had that a long time ago, but then her parents died. They just left one day and never came home.
She waited for so long, but then the bills began to pile up and they took the house away.
And she lived on the streets. Bartered for a blanket, stolen for some bread. Learned to take some chances, and use her head. A street rat is clever.
Clever, or she ends up dead.
And now she’s here. Because she broke into the right place at the right time and met Jack Landors. A fundamentally good guy.
And he took her, adopted her, and even got the guy that he’s madly in love with to agree to adopt her too.
And that’s how she became Cerise Landors-Tate. Niece of Sydney Drew, daughter of the SPD Red Ranger…
It’s a shockingly good life after all she’s been through.
She’s… really lucky that Pops likes her enough to keep her around.
The lights go down, and the spotlights start to come up.
The first couple of songs feel kind of slow. There’s one song that’s kind of cute, but it’s not really what Cerise expected. This one’s not on the list of her favorite musicals so far.
She guesses it’s fine if Aunt Syd and Uncle Bridge like it…
At least, that’s what she thinks until the cute little girl who was playfully singing with a boy that was flirting with her gets fucking murdered.
Uncle Sky suddenly goes from leaning back in his seat half-asleep to at full attention, and Cerise is suddenly deeply invested. What the fuck just happened?
A very sad funeral song comes next that gets Aunt Syd to start tearing up, and then…
Oh, boy. That’s what this show’s really about.
Mob mentality and racism.
The plot spirals from there, and slowly but surely the protagonist’s grave is dug by the fact that everyone assumes that he’s guilty and their testimony is based off that. Even the boy that was flirting with the murdered girl’s testimony is completely unreliable.
And the people dance and cheer when he’s convicted. God.
The lights go up, and everyone turns to Aunt Syd.
“This is a classic musical?” Aunt Z asks.
“Yeah. It’s really depressing, but it’s got great songs and is an analysis of how the regular police system can be really messed up.”
“Why’s it such a big deal that he’s Jewish?” Kat asks.
“Oh, people can be really racist to Jewish people.” Uncle Bridge responds. “Like. Really. I have some horror stories.”
“Why?”
Uncle Bridge shrugs, and Cerise chimes in.
“As a society we’re stupid. You couldn’t even marry someone that was a different skin tone until the 1960s.”
“What?! You guys are barely different!”
“We are, but it doesn’t matter.”
“If aliens hadn’t invaded, we’d probably still be fighting each other as much as we were back then.” Uncle Sky says. “I mean, interracial marriage wasn’t until the 60s, and gay marriage was just in the 2000s.”
“You can’t be serious. Why do you guys hate each other so much?”
Cerise shrugs.
“Don’t know. But I think this musical’s really cool for its critique of the inherent racism in the criminal justice system.”
“I’m not sure it’s about the police system specifically, more like the inherent racism in 1920s society. Though the mob mentality aspect is really interesting.” Uncle Sky responds.
Cerise is about to respond, but the lights go down and the intermission ends.
Damn it, she was about to make a fun point and start up a great debate!
Well, it’s okay, she can make her points later.
The protagonist’s wife fights until she gets his sentence commuted to life in prison, but…
Oh, no.
Oh, no no no.
He got kidnapped out of prison and…
“You humans suck.” Kat whispers, the moment Leo Frank is lynched.
“Sh’ma…” Uncle Bridge sighs.
“What does it mean?” Pops asks, and Uncle Bridge sighs again.
“He’s praying. I’m just glad we don’t get extrajudicially murdered as often now.”
“Yeah, you’re telling me.” Pops responds. “You and I would have been in some deep shit back then.”
“You people really suck.” Kat responds, and Aunt Syd turns to her.
“Remind me to show you But I’m A Cheerleader.”
“Oh, that movie.” Uncle Sky responds.
“Why am I worried?” Kat sighs.
“You should be. But that one ends happily, at least.”
And when the show ends and everyone seems to be so confused, Cerise sees her chance.
“It’s a critique of the conviction system.” She says.
“Well, now we have the Judgment Scanners for that.” Uncle Sky responds. “And we’ve abolished the death penalty, so this kind of stuff doesn’t happen anymore.”
“But what if the Judgment Scanner was wrong?” Cerise asks.
“They’re never wrong.” Kat responds.
“Okay then, what if like… hypothetically a mob was convinced someone was guilty, but they were found innocent?”
“Then we’d have to find a way to protect them, I mean you saw the show.” Uncle Sky responds. “And we’d need to find the real criminal so their rage could be directed properly.”
“So instead of going after and killing an innocent man you’d rather they kill a guilty man? Either way, it still results in more murders.”
“…You’re right, bad phrasing. No one should be killed, obviously. But justice still needs to be served.”
“Isn’t it more important to free an innocent man than to punish a guilty one?”
“Of course it is, but…”
Pops bursts out laughing.
“I think she’s got you, Sky.”
Cerise takes another sip of her soda and smiles, and that gets Aunt Syd to laugh too.
“Okay, okay. Come on, you two, you can debate on the way to the restaurant.”
Uncle Sky nods at her, and Cerise downs the rest of her soda before pulling the edge of her dress and getting to her feet.
“So, what were you saying before Pops cut you off?” Cerise says, stretching her arms a little.
“Oh, right.” Uncle Sky starts. “But it’s important to catch the person that’s really guilty too, though. So that mother can rest easy knowing that what happened to her little girl won’t happen to anyone else.”
“Who do you think really was guilty?” Uncle Boom adds.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Cerise says. “It was probably the night watchman, Conley.”
“Yeah, probably. He admitted he took her down to the basement, and she was alive when she was brought down there.” Uncle Sky adds. “Why everyone was so set in their ways when it was slowly becoming clear that he wasn’t the killer, I will never understand.”
“It’s the fact that we as humans kind of suck sometimes.” Cerise says.
“Hey, it’s just a story.” Kat adds, and Uncle Bridge turns to her and shakes his head.
“It’s based on real events. I’ve read about it.”
Kat’s ears twitch.
“Yeah, you’re right. You humans do suck.”
Cerise loves how intense the debate gets between her and Uncle Sky, and it keeps going until they get to the restaurant and are seated and waiting for their food.
Huh… this is weirdly fun.
And Uncle Sky’s actually smiling at her.
It’s nice. She guesses this is why Aunt Syd and Pops like their birthday so much.
Cerise really likes it too. It’s a great day.
And just before she’s about to finally find an argument against Uncle Sky’s latest particularly devastating point, there’s a yelp and a crash and everyone turns towards the sound.
A girl’s dropped to the floor, and Uncle Sky leaps into action and checks her pulse.
“She’s not breathing, and there’s no pulse.” He mutters, before beginning to perform chest compressions.
“We need a bus at my location!” Aunt Z barks into her morpher, and Uncle Bridge and Aunt Syd flash their shields and start to push people away from the scene.
Grandpa starts to scan the crowd, Pops leaps out of his seat and walks over to the door to make sure no one leaves, and Cerise just… sits there with Kat and Uncle Boom.
…God, she hates feeling useless.
The paramedics burst in and the girl is pulled from Uncle Sky so they can check on her, and they sigh and call it. She’s dead.
But when they back away from her, Cerise realizes that she looks… very familiar.
Oh god.
“That’s Mindy!” She gasps. “Mindy Johnson!”
“And who are you?” The paramedic asks, and Cerise thinks quickly before falling into a familiar lie.
“Cadet Cerise Landors, sir! S.P.D. ID number B-17321!”
She can feel Pops smirking. He of all people should recognize that ID number— It’s his, after all.
The paramedic looks her up and down, and Aunt Z clears her throat.
“Cadet Landors is an early inductee into the academy. She’s a genius, but she’s not fully becoming a cadet until she graduates high school.”
“And… you took her out for dinner?” The paramedic asks.
“It’s her birthday.” Aunt Syd adds.
Uncle Sky’s eyes are glittering with amusement, but he doesn’t say a word about how Cerise hates S.P.D. but is pretending to be one of them.
“Cadet, you know this girl?” He asks, and Cerise nods.
“She’s in my math class. How’d she die?”
The paramedic still looks confused, but she looks down at her scanner.
“Her windpipe closed up. It looks like anaphylaxis.”
The chef gasps, and he starts to shake.
“Oh, no… oh, no no no! The girl, she told me about her dietary restrictions! I must not have cleaned enough before I made her food!”
One of the people that was eating with Mindy slams the table, his face creased with rage.
“You let her have an allergic reaction?! I can’t believe this! You killed my cousin!”
“I-I didn’t mean to…”
Uncle Sky gets up, barely even fazed by Mindy’s cousin and the fact that there’s a dead body on the floor, and he switches his morpher to judgment mode.
“Judgment mode. You are charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter.”
The chef is declared guilty, and Aunt Syd is about to cuff him, but…
“Something’s wrong here.” Cerise says. “Mindy was allergic to peanuts, yeah, but…”
“Peanuts?” Uncle Sky says, and Cerise scoops up the menu and looks through it.
“They don’t sell anything with peanuts here. Not even peanut oil.”
The chef looks confused, and he turns to Cerise.
“No, no. The girl said she can’t eat anything with animal products.”
That confuses Cerise even more, and then everything falls into place.
“…Mindy went vegan two months ago. She was super annoying about it, talking about how much better she felt and about how all of the rest of us were murderers. But she wasn’t allergic to animal products, she just didn’t like them!”
“Wait, what are you trying to say?” Uncle Bridge asks.
“I’m saying that if they don’t sell anything with peanut products here, and she died from an allergic reaction to them, someone must have added them in after the food got here. This wasn’t manslaughter, it was murder!”
“Wait, but the judgment scanner declared him guilty.” Kat says. “My scanners don’t make mistakes.”
Cerise bites her lip, and it all starts to click in her head.
“Don’t the judgment scanners declare guilt or innocence based on bodily reactions?” Cerise asks. “If he was convinced that he was guilty…”
“…The judgment scanner would read the signs of guilt on his body and declare him guilty.” Uncle Sky sighs. “They’re not infallible.”
“I…” Kat says, but her ears press down on her head. “Damn it, Cerise. You’re a little genius, but I can’t believe you figured out how to manipulate the judgment scanners!”
“Wait, so we have a real mystery on our hands!” Uncle Bridge adds, walking over to Mindy’s plate and taking off his gloves. He tries to scan the area around them, but… “Too many people were around here, I can’t distinguish the auras that passed by.”
And in typical Uncle Bridge style, he scoops up the fork and takes a bite.
“…Yeah. That’s peanut dressing on top. None of the salads on the menu have peanut dressing?”
“Nope.” Cerise says, turning to the page on salads and showing it to Uncle Bridge. “Do you guys keep peanut dressing in the kitchen?”
“No, why would we? We don’t make any salads that need it.” The chef responds.
“Wait, are we just going to skip past the fact that one of the officers just ate part of the crime scene?” One of the paramedics chimes in.
“Bridge is just… Bridge.” Pops says. “But he always gets the job done. Alright, so…”
“Who would have a motive to kill this girl?” Uncle Sky asks.
“I mean, I do.” Cerise sighs. “I hated that girl.”
“You hate everyone and you’re not stupid enough to commit a murder while surrounded by cops.” Kat responds.
Uncle Bridge tilts his head slightly.
“Well, maybe she committed the murder while surrounded by cops to throw us off her trail, or maybe because we’d protect her since we love her—”
“Are you trying to get her arrested?” Pops cuts him off.
“You didn’t go anywhere near her food and you have nine eye-witnesses to testify to that. Please don’t joke about committing a murder at a crime scene.” Uncle Sky chimes in.
“You’re no fun. Whatever, we need to talk to the witnesses.” Cerise starts, pulling out her phone and opening up a transcription app. “Let’s start with whoever was eating with her. You, you’re her cousin, right? What’s your name?”
Mindy’s cousin looks Cerise up and down before shaking his head.
“I’m really supposed to believe that you’re an S.P.D. cadet, cupcake? Run along and let the big kids handle this.”
Cerise folds her arms behind her back and takes a breath.
“Lieutenant, permission to break this guy’s nose?”
“Denied.” Uncle Sky says.
“Damn it. Okay, then here’s plan B. Officer Carson, if you’d please.”
Uncle Bridge looks up, and he starts to really be himself.
“You know, I always liked peanuts. It’s so surprising that something so delicious could be deadly to the wrong person. But, then again, some people hate peanuts. And peanut allergies have been on the rise for years, thanks to overcautious doctors accidentally causing them. So when people hate peanuts, are they actually hating the system which caused these little things to be so deadly to so many children? Or—”
“What the fuck is he saying?” Mindy’s cousin asks, and Cerise shrugs as Uncle Bridge keeps going on and on and on about peanuts.
“—And you know, peanuts aren’t nuts, they’re actually legumes, which puts them in the bean family. But they’re so much like nuts that most people put them together for culinary and common English purposes. Like how spiders are really arachnids instead of insects, or how tomatoes are actually fru—”
“Okay!” Mindy’s cousin snaps. “Okay, I’ll talk, just shut up!”
Uncle Bridge tosses a thumbs up at Cerise before moving on to interview someone else, and Cerise smiles to herself.
“Thank you, Officer Carson. Now, your name?”
“…Benjamin. Benjamin Johnson.”
“Alright, Mr. Johnson. Did you see anyone pass by your cousin’s food?”
“I don’t remember. And why would anyone put peanut dressing on her salad anyway? I still think the chef must have messed up.”
“The forensics teams are already searching the kitchen, we’ll know soon enough. Now, as far as you know, did your cousin have any enemies?”
Cerise keeps the ‘aside from everyone she’s ever lectured about veganism’ to herself.
“Everyone loved Mindy! She was a sweetheart!” Benjamin says. “Why would anyone want to kill her?!”
It takes everything in Cerise to not say ‘maybe it’s because she was a condescending bitch.’
Cerise can think of a million reasons why someone might want to kill Mindy, but none of them make sense unless she knew the people in here. And she doesn’t recognize anyone in here from school, so none of that makes sense.
She wanders off from Benjamin after getting some more information, and everyone meets up at the table to compare notes.
“Okay, so it looks like they were here to celebrate the victim choosing to graduate early from high school. Ceri, you know anything about that?” Uncle Sky asks.
“Yeah, vaguely. She was in a lot of AP classes and had enough credits to graduate a couple of years early if she wanted to. I guess she decided to.” Cerise responds. “She was a popular bitch, though. I don’t know why she chose to graduate early, she loved school. She had everything— hot bod, hot boy, cheer captain, and she was obviously rich if she’s eating here. I would have thought she’d stay through her senior year so she could be crowned prom queen.”
“So it doesn’t make sense that she’d graduate early, then…” Uncle Sky says, scribbling something down in his notepad, and Uncle Bridge switches from sitting in the chair to doing a handstand.
“So, they were here to celebrate her decision to graduate early, but according to Ceri, she might not have wanted to. Something must have made her choose to graduate early. Maybe something forced her hand?”
“I did hear something about a trust fund.” Aunt Syd says. “Did her inheritance have something to do with it?”
“But why would a condition of her inheritance be finishing school early? That doesn’t make much sense, does it?” Aunt Z adds.
“Ceri, could you talk to some kids at your school in the morning?” Uncle Sky asks, and Cerise freezes.
“What? Me? Why?”
“They’re more likely to talk to one of them than to one of us.” Aunt Syd adds.
“I’m not one of them, you know I have no friends.”
“Ceri, please. It’ll be easier for you to get information than one of us.” Kat says. “You might have no friends, but you knew the girl. You could say that you wanted to…”
“You’re on the school newspaper and you want to write a tribute about her.” Uncle Bridge says.
“That’s so easy to check, Uncle Bridge.” Cerise groans.
“Who actually knows who’s on the newspaper?”
“It can’t be that easy.” Uncle Sky responds.
“Name one person on the academy newspaper that isn’t me.”
“Features Editor Linda Porter.”
“Linda’s on the paper?” Aunt Syd asks.
“Exactly. Only the biggest nerds on campus know who’s on the paper.” Uncle Bridge adds, flipping out of his handstand and sitting back in his chair. “Like Sky. And you’re not looking to interview nerds. You’re looking to interview the popular kids. It’ll work, trust me.”
Cerise sighs.
“Okay, okay. I’ll try it in the morning. Let’s just get home.”
Uncle Bridge’s stomach growls, and Aunt Syd sighs.
“We didn’t even get to eat.”
“We’ll pick up some pizza on the way home, you guys can crash at our place tonight.” Pops says. “Ceri, what toppings you want?”
Cerise’s stomach turns. She doesn’t really feel that hungry after tonight.
“Let’s just get what we always get.” She mutters. “Two of those fancy basil, onion, and roasted tomato ones and two with whatever meat anyone’s feeling.”
“Yeah, that’s what we’re asking, Ceri-berry. What meat do you want?”
“…Eh. Beef or something? Whatever.”
Uncle Sky gently ruffles her hair.
“Don’t worry.” He whispers, and Cerise feels so stupid. It’s obvious that she can’t stand the idea of eating right now because she just watched a girl die because of something that was put in her food.
But then, Uncle Sky says something that shocks Cerise.
“Hey, you know, your guys’ birthday has already been a mess. We can get pizza any day, why don’t I make us some dinner?”
“Oh, now that sounds like fun!” Aunt Syd laughs as she leaps into the back of the car, and Cerise feels a strangely warm sensation spreading throughout her chest.
He knows she doesn’t trust outside food right now, so he’s making dinner himself even though this is his first day off in forever.
But it’s gone almost as soon as it arrives. He’s just a good person, he’d do this for anyone. But even good people have their limits. Don’t get attached, don’t get attached, don’t get attached.
He doesn’t even like her. So don’t get attached, because she knows that he wishes that he had a daughter like…
Like that ranger geek. Who knows zord stats, has files on every single specific Ranger memorized…
Who heard her last name and immediately asked if the Landors-Tate stood for the S.P.D. B-Squad Red and Blue Rangers that defeated Grumm.
No one else made that connection. Hell, when Uncle Sky shows up to the school, everyone assumes that they hate each other because Cerise keeps getting into debates with him about the S.P.D. system.
But the way they look now, both all dressed up in blue…
They really do look like father and daughter, huh?
Even though she only ever knew Uncle Sky as the Red Ranger, when he’s off-duty and at home, he’s always in blue. He was the Blue Ranger before he was Red— and with a name like Sky, she guesses blue has been his color for a long time.
…Cerise really can’t stand this color. It just reminds her of how she’s not his daughter, and she never will be.
They’re too different. Oil and water.
And so when she gets home and slips into her room to change out of her dress, she pushes it as far back into her closet as she can.
She doesn’t want to be reminded of that fake blue princess ever again. She’ll redye the tips of her hair to a new color next time she gets a chance.
She considers going back to red for a second, but…
But red’s the family color.
And right now, all she can think about is that she’s not really part of this family.
There’s a knock on her door, and she quickly walks out to see Aunt Syd smiling at her and dragging her over to the table.
…Well, one good thing about Uncle Sky not being tired of her yet. He’s a great cook, and too good of a person to poison her.
So Cerise takes a bite and smiles.
~
Okay. It’s the morning, and Cerise is going to get more information.
When it comes to lunch, she pulls out her notepad and phone and waits for everyone to show up to the stupid table.
Gah. She doesn’t want to talk to them, damn it! Her perfectly silent lunch is being ruined!
The Ranger Geek shows up first, and Cerise internally rolls her eyes and turns to her.
“Hey. Did you hear about what happened to Mindy?”
“Oh my god, yeah. It’s so sad.” Rowan starts.
“Well, I write for the student newspaper, and we’re trying to write a tribute about her. Could you tell me some more about her?”
Rowan blinks twice, but…
But Uncle Bridge’s stupid plan actually works.
“You… want to know more about Mindy? I-I mean, she kept writing ‘Ranger Geek’ on my locker with lipstick. Oh, but that doesn’t mean I think she should have died!”
“Don’t worry, you’re not being accused of anything. Do you know anything about why she’d be graduating early?” Cerise prods, and Rowan tilts her head slightly.
“Huh? Graduating early? She made me tutor her boyfriend so they could graduate together, so that’s… kinda weird…”
“Whoa-ho-ho!” Astro says, slamming their lunch tray next to Rowan. “Cherry Lettuce and the Ranger Geek actually talking? What’s up?”
“Stop calling me that. One of the popular girls got murdered and the paper’s writing a tribute. Do you have anything to say about Mindy Johnson?” Cerise asks.
“Eh? Which one was she again? I’m not actually here enough to know anyone outside of our little losers table.”
It takes everything in Cerise to not roll her eyes.
“Alright then…”
“We are talking about Mindy Johnson?” Olive asks, sitting next to Cerise. “That girl was terrible. She kept finding feathers and asking me if they were mine.”
Cerise really can’t help but agree, and Amber finally shows up and awkwardly sits next to Rowan.
“We’re talking today?” He asks, and Rowan falls silent and starts messing with her food.
“Apparently the paper’s doing some kind of tribute for Mindy Johnson since she was murdered last night, and Cherry Lettuce is writing it.” Astro adds, and Amber tilts his head slightly.
“Well, Mindy… I don’t know much about her, but she knows some guys on the lacrosse team. I… I think she might have been hooking up with one of them behind her boyfriend’s back? O-Oh, don’t write that! But she was complaining a lot about her dad’s company and trying to keep control of it?”
Cerise suddenly turns to him.
“Her dad’s company? Do you know anything else about that?”
“Uh… no, sorry. Why do you need to know, though?”
Cerise bites her lip.
“…Never mind. Do you know someone else who’d know more about that?”
“Her boyfriend, probably.” Amber adds. “Will Astor. Do you know him?”
Cerise scribbles the name in her notepad and leaps to her feet.
“No, can you take me to him?” She asks, and Amber gets to his feet and walks over to a boy.
The boy gets up from his seat and walks over to Cerise, and she notices that his eyes are red. He’s been crying.
“You’re… writing a tribute to Min-min?” Will asks, and Cerise nods. She… kinda feels bad for lying about this, but it’s to help find that girl’s killer.
“I am. Could you tell me some things you really liked about her?”
Will chuckles.
“…You’re not that bad, Cerise. I’m sure if Min-min were here, she’d regret all those things she said about you. She was just… always so passionate. After her dad died, she swore that she’d make him proud. She always wanted to be top of the class, top of the school, and she really wasn’t as mean as she seemed. All she wanted was to take over her dad’s company, but she couldn’t do that while doing her classes. She was going to graduate early so that she could focus on it fully.”
Cerise is about to push for more information, but the lunch bell rings. Damn it!
“Thank you so much, Will. I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you, Cerise. I… I just want people to know how amazing Mindy really was.”
Cerise nods, and she turns off her recorder and scribbles some thoughts down.
She’s barely paying attention in class while she thinks about what happens, and the moment class is over she rushes out the gate and starts walking towards the base.
But about five minutes into her walk, she hears a siren and a bright red bike pulls up to the sidewalk next to her, with two people on it.
“Oh, am I under arrest?” Cerise jokes.
“Oh, yeah.” Pops says, pulling off his helmet. “It’s illegal to be that cute.”
Uncle Sky rolls his eyes but can’t keep the fond smile off his face.
“Just tell us what you’ve found, Ceri.”
Cerise pulls out her notepad and smirks at Uncle Sky.
“I got a pretty good lead. Uncle Bridge was right, no one questioned me when I called myself a reporter. Apparently she was graduating early to take control of her father’s company. He died a while back and Mindy wanted to be like him.”
Uncle Sky reaches over and ruffles Cerise’s hair.
“That’s perfect. Thanks. Did you get anything else?”
“Uh, aside from the fact that she was cheating on her boyfriend who worshipped her, nothing. I—” Cerise starts, but she freezes.
They’re being watched.
Uncle Sky can clearly tell too, from the way his hand ghosts over his morpher, and Pops closes a fist.
Cerise tries to pinpoint the source of it, and suddenly she realizes that it’s not a vicious gaze.
Damn it.
“Oi, Ranger Geek! You’re not going to see a morph, so stop staring!” Cerise snaps, and Rowan stumbles out from behind a trash can.
“A-Ah, I’m not— I mean— I— Mindy! I thought something about Mindy, and—”
“Why is your hair soaked?” Uncle Sky asks.
“I-I needed info from the cheer team so I hid and one of them dropped soda on my head when she found me, but apparently h-her cousin was a pain? She constantly couldn’t go out because of h-him. S-sorry, you probably knew that because Cerise is really scary so she could have gotten anyone to say anything so I’m just gonna—!”
Rowan spins on her heel and runs in the other direction, and Cerise rolls her eyes.
“Scary? What is your reputation over there?” Uncle Sky asks.
“That no one should fucking mess with me.” Cerise responds.
“Okay, okay. We get it, you’re a little wildcat.” Pops adds. “What’s her deal, though?”
“Oh she’s like… super obsessed with Power Rangers.” Cerise groans. “She’s the only one at school who knows I’m related to you guys because she knows that Landors and Tate are the last names of the first and current S.P.D. B-Squad Red Rangers and always asks me for details on old cases. She’s helping prep the opening of that new Ranger museum and has been going through the archives, I guess. But if you ever need to look up an old enemy, she’ll know faster than your computer. She probably saw through my lie the moment I said it. And that’s what got her stuck at the losers table with me, I guess.”
“Why’d she be at the losers table?” Uncle Sky asks. “Wait, why are you at the losers table?”
“Ugh, it’s not that big a deal. They just don’t let us eat outside so everyone sits in their stupid little cliques and if you don’t have one you eat at the losers table in silence. Like… everyone knows that the Power Rangers are cool, but when you go off about Zord stats or comparing the Delta Runners to the S.W.A.T. Fliers or figure out a girl’s an S.P.D. brat the moment she tells you her name, that’s weird.”
Uncle Sky shrugs.
“I don’t think that’s weird.”
Cerise kinda deflates at that. Of course he wouldn’t think she’s weird, she’s… she’s the daughter he wishes he had.
“You should make friends with her, you know.” Uncle Sky says. “She’s a pretty good investigator, she got a good lead on the cous—”
Suddenly, Uncle Sky’s morpher goes off and he groans.
“Always at the worst times… I’ll see you both at home?”
Pops jumps off the bike and gives Uncle Sky a wink and a little salute.
“See ya, Sky!”
“Bye.” Cerise mumbles, and Uncle Sky clearly wants to say something, but his morpher gets even louder and he flips it open and says something before driving off.
Cerise knew it was too good to last. She couldn’t be that fake blue princess for long.
Her sour mood must be written all over her face, because Pops throws an arm around her shoulders and gives them a gentle squeeze.
“What do you say we get some ice cream and surprise Sky when he gets home? We’ll get some extra since Z, Syd, and Bridge are definitely coming with him.”
Cerise just gives a vague sound of affirmation, and Pops sighs.
“You’re just like him, you know. You act like you don’t care what people think of you, but secretly you want their approval. If you keep trying to push everyone away, then you’re going to make it happen, Ceri.”
Cerise just sighs and leans into Pops’ side, and he gently ruffles her hair.
“Let’s just get home.” He sighs.
~
When Uncle Sky walks in, he immediately crashes back on the couch and shuts his eyes. Oh.
“Migraine?” Pops says, leaning over to snuggle up to him, and Uncle Sky nods.
“Yeah… damned bank robber had fireballs and a penchant for targeting civilians, so I had to make and hold a force field that covered half the block while Syd punched him in the face.”
Uncle Sky crackles with sharp energy, and Cerise scoots to the other end of the couch. She’s not in the mood to get thrown across the room today.
But this really does feel symbolic of their weird little family. Two people in love, and the kid that fell into their laps.
She’s not like them. She doesn’t have strange powers or the heart of a Ranger.
So she keeps that traitorous heart of hers under lock and key. Stop getting attached. Don’t be stupid.
They’ll realize it soon enough, just like all the rest.
But when Pops grabs the remote and phases it through the field to toss it to Cerise, she looks up and he’s smiling at her.
“Pick something to watch. Your choice.” He laughs, before getting up to go make some popcorn.
Cerise grabs the remote and tries to figure out what to put on, but the sound of crackling suddenly gets worse for a second before stopping fully.
Cerise turns to Uncle Sky, and he looks like he’s in a lot of pain, but he motions for Cerise to come closer.
“It’s fine now.” He groans, and Cerise shakes her head.
“Just let it go back up. You’re making your migraine worse.”
“I know, I know. Just come over here.”
Cerise scoots a little closer, and after not immediately being pushed back or shocked, moves all the way to the other side of the couch.
And she’s kind of shocked when Uncle Sky wraps an arm around her and presses her to his side, gently running his fingers through her hair.
It’s clear it’s hard for him to keep the force field down, but he does it because he doesn’t want her to feel left out.
It’s… so nice.
He’s such a nice guy, even though she’s not really his daughter.
Pops walks back with some popcorn and bursts out laughing before grabbing his laptop and handing it to Cerise, wrapping an arm around her.
“Okay, okay. Let it go back up. I’ll phase her through.”
“You sure you’re ready?” Uncle Sky groans, and Pops rolls his eyes.
“Just do it.”
Uncle Sky lets out a relieved sigh before the field appears around them again, and Cerise feels the strange sensation of it just… passing through her.
It’s like they’re in a little bubble, away from the rest of the world, and Pops taps the laptop.
“Idiot made it stronger, so we’ll have to watch from in here.”
Cerise pops the laptop open and inputs the password before opening up a streaming website and scrolling through the options.
“What about just putting on some Star Trek? Uncle Bridge has made Uncle Sky watch it so much that I’m pretty sure he has the entire series memorized by now, so he doesn’t have to worry about dozing off.”
Uncle Sky lets out a soft laugh, and Cerise throws on Enterprise because the theme is very soft and won’t accidentally wake him up when a new episode starts.
And just as she thought, he passes out around halfway through the first episode, still with an arm around her.
“Sky?” Pops whispers, and when he doesn’t respond, he softly chuckles. “Finally, he’s actually going to sleep.”
“Yeah, finally.” Cerise whispers back.
~
When Cerise wakes up, she notices the bubble around them has dissipated and she quickly pulls herself out of the cuddle pile and rushes into her room to get ready and grab her bag.
She’s gonna be late, but that’s okay. She doesn’t need to wake Uncle Sky up— He needs to actually get some decent sleep. She’ll just… figure out lunch herself.
By the time she gets there, she’s missed almost all of first period, but the teacher just rolls her eyes as she slips into her seat.
Ugh, she’s gotta talk to the Ranger Geek in third period again…
“U-Uh… how’s your investigation going?” Rowan asks, and Cerise rolls her eyes.
“Of course you’d figure out what I’m actually doing. It’s going— But we had to put it off last night because a bank robber fucked Uncle Sky up a bit. He’ll be fine today, so I guess we’re continuing.”
“Th-that’s cool… I… uh…”
“What, did you find another lead?” She asks, and Rowan shakes her head.
“Uh, no, it’s just… how did you get on this case? I know your dads are former and current S.P.D., but…”
Cerise sighs.
“She dropped dead at another table when I was having my birthday dinner.”
“Y-your birthday? It was your birthday?”
“Yeah, two days ago. Doesn’t matter. I’ve just been using the reporter persona to get more information out of people, trying to find a motive.”
“…That’s really c-cool.” Rowan starts. “You’re trying to be a hero like your dads.”
“I’m trying to find justice. I’m not a cop, and god willing, I never will be.” Cerise snaps, and Rowan squeaks and shrinks into herself.
God, that jealous fire in her chest doesn’t stop. She can’t stop those thoughts. If she was a little more like Rowan, would Uncle Sky actually see her as his daughter?
But once school finally ends, she starts walking back over to the Delta Base and is about to try and slip past the receptionist and see how far she can get without being caught, but someone immediately crashes into her back.
“Goddamn it, Ranger Geek.” She sighs, and she walks over to the receptionist. “Cerise Landors-Tate. I’m here to see my Dad.”
“And the girl?” The receptionist asks, and Cerise sighs.
“She’s with me.”
“Rowan Trueheart, ma’am.” Rowan chimes in.
They’re handed visitor badges, and Cerise groans.
“Why’d you follow me?”
“I-uh… I… I just…”
“Forget it, just don’t get in my way.”
They make it to the command center, and Uncle Sky’s messing around with the keys with his back to the door. Oh, this is gonna be so funny.
“Yo, Uncle Sky, what up?!” She snaps, and Uncle Sky jumps and completely messes up whatever he was doing.
“…If you were anyone else, you’d be dead right now.” Uncle Sky mutters, before turning on his heel and looking at Rowan. “…Oh, it’s you again.”
“Uh… hi, Lieutenant Tate. I’m…”
While Rowan stumbles over trying to introduce herself, RIC bounds in and nudges Cerise’s leg.
“Hey, RIC! What are you doing here, boy?” Cerise laughs, and RIC barks and opens up his ball compartment. “You wanna play? Aww, I’m a little busy, but… just one game couldn’t hurt. Here, fetch!”
Cerise throws it out the door, and RIC rushes after it.
…And there’s the familiar clang of metal. Damn it.
“…I wonder who threw that ball.” Uncle Sky starts, and Cerise shrugs.
“I don’t know.”
Rowan’s eyes widen, and Cerise chuckles.
“Relax, someone breaks something playing with RIC like… once a week around here. Though, if Grandpa asks, it wasn't me.”
Rowan blinks.
“Grandpa?”
Cerise freezes up slightly.
“…Commander Cruger. And if you tell anyone else I call him that, you’re dead.”
Rowan squeaks, and Uncle Sky chuckles.
“You can get away with it, Ceri. Bridge had to hide me until his murderous rage dissipated once.” He purrs.
“I’d still rather not risk it. Anyway, I’m sure you remember Ranger Geek. Her name’s Rowan Trueheart.”
“You actually brought her here?” Uncle Sky asks, and Cerise shakes her head.
“You kidding? She followed me.”
Aunt Syd slips into the command center, turning to Uncle Sky.
“Don’t worry, the commander’s not here and Bridge and Boom are fixing the door RIC brok— Oh, hey, Ceri-berry. Who’s the girl?”
Uncle Sky gets that stupid prick smirk on his face.
“Oh, Ceri made a friend.”
Cerise glares at him as hard as she can, but that smirk does not leave his face, and she’s suddenly overcome with the urge to strangle him.
Aunt Syd’s eyes light up, and she squeals happily.
“Oh, Ceri-berry made a friend! I need to know everything, how did you guys meet?!”
Rowan’s eyes turn panicked, and Cerise groans.
“Not my friend. She stalked me here.”
“I-I didn’t stalk you!” Rowan gasps.
“You secretly followed me to my place of employment. That’s the legal definition of stalking.”
“Technically, it’s only stalking if she does it multiple times.” Uncle Sky chimes in.
“She has done it multiple times! You were there both times!”
“Okay, but it needs to cause you to feel fear. You’re clearly not scared, you’re just annoyed.”
“It needs to cause a reasonable person to feel fear. Just because I’m not a reasonable person doesn’t mean it’s not stalking.”
“If either of you were reasonable people, you wouldn’t be having this debate.” Aunt Syd sighs.
“Wait, uh… ‘place of employment’?” Rowan asks. “I thought you hated S.P.D, you work here?”
“Oh, no, I do, but I’d better be getting paid for my pain and suffering because I have to deal with this thanks to you guys.” Cerise starts, motioning to Rowan.
“I’ll buy you a pony.” Aunt Syd says.
“I don’t want a pony, I just want cash.”
“You never want anything other than cash.” Uncle Sky adds, and Cerise shrugs.
“I’m a simple girl.”
“You never even spend it, what’s the point of having so much of it?” Aunt Sophie adds, walking in, and Cerise bites back the fact that she’s so scared of being abandoned again that she hides a bunch of cash in case she needs it.
Instead, she just puts a hand on her hip.
“You’re not a part of this conversation.”
“Wow, so because I’m an android I can’t be part of this conversation? I see you take after your father in the worst way, Ceri.”
“I’m never living that down, am I?” Uncle Sky groans.
“It’s not about you being an android, Aunt Sophie. Aunt Z and Uncle Bridge can’t be part of this conversation either.”
“What can’t I be a part of?” Aunt Z asks, and Aunt Sophie shrugs.
“We’re talking about why Ceri always wants money for her birthday and then never spends it.” Aunt Sophie adds.
“That’s not even how this conversation started, we were talking about Ceri-berry’s new friend.” Aunt Syd says.
“Ceri made a friend?!” Aunt Z snaps.
“Wait, this is way more important.” Aunt Sophie responds. “What’s her name?”
“Rowan isn’t my friend, she stalked me here!”
“Still doesn’t meet the legal definition of stalking.” Uncle Sky adds.
“Shut up!”
“U-uh, hi…” Rowan starts, and everyone falls silent and turns to her.
“So, you’re Rowan?” Aunt Sophie asks. “What are you doing here?”
“Uh… I just… I had a thought about the Mindy Johnson case? And I know Cerise was investigating, so I…”
“Eh? How’d you know she was investigating?” Aunt Syd asks, and Rowan shrugs.
“It was kind of obvious. I mean her dads are current and former S.P.D., she doesn’t actually write for the paper…”
“Wait, how do you know her dads are S.P.D.? Doesn’t Ceri like… actively hide that at school?” Aunt Z asks, and Rowan shrugs.
“Landors and Tate were the S.P.D. B-Squad Red and Blue rangers that defeated Grumm. And then, uh…” Rowan motions to Uncle Sky. “Landors quit and Tate was promoted to Red. And he clawed his way to Lieutenant.”
“That’s why we call her Ranger Geek.” Cerise groans. “Anyway, Mindy?”
“Uh, if her cousin was really mean, then do you think he had something to do with it?”
Things start to fall into place in Cerise’s head.
“…She was trying to keep control of her father’s company. Her cousins— if Mindy was out of the way, who would inherit it?!”
“Benjamin Johnson.” Uncle Bridge says, readjusting his gloves as he walks in, not missing a beat as he leaps into the conversation. “But someone else would have seen it if he was the one who slipped the peanut sauce into her food, and the judgment scanner declared him innocent.”
Cerise taps her fingers on the island in the center of the command center.
“What did you ask him specifically?” She asks.
“Huh?” Uncle Bridge asks. “I charged him with killing Mindy.”
“You said those exact words? ‘Benjamin Johnson, you are being charged with murdering Mindy Johnson?’”
“Yeah, exactly. What are you trying to say?” Uncle Bridge asks.
“What if…” Cerise mutters. “No, that’s insane.”
“Ceri, if you have something, tell us.” Uncle Sky starts.
Cerise’s eyes narrow.
“What if he didn’t kill her?”
“Uh, he didn’t. We know that.” Aunt Z adds.
“But what if he orchestrated it? He was the one that was most insistent that the chef poisoned her, after all.”
“It wasn’t just him, they were all talking about how the chef killed her.” Aunt Syd says. “And he was found innocent of the murder, so…”
Something obviously clicks in Uncle Bridge’s head, and he shifts into a handstand.
“Okay, they were all talking about how the chef poisoned her, especially Benjamin. Benjamin is innocent of murdering Mindy. Benjamin is innocent of murdering Mindy.”
“Maybe I’m not as fluent in Bridge as I thought, because I've got no idea what he’s saying.” Aunt Syd sighs.
“Wait, I get it.” Cerise says. “It’s the words Uncle Bridge used! He didn’t murder Mindy! He got someone else to do the actual act!”
“I swear to god, if you found a second way to fool the judgment scanners, I’m going to scream.” Kat hisses, walking through the door.
“Either way, it sounds like we need to talk to Benjamin again.” Uncle Sky says.
“Come on, girls. You can ride with me.” Aunt Syd laughs.
Uncle Sky pulls his morpher out of his belt.
“Ready?”
Uncle Bridge, Aunt Sophie, Aunt Z, and Aunt Syd pull their morphers out as well.
“Ready!”
Rowan’s eyes start to glitter as they all call out “S.P.D. Emergency!” In unison, and they all morph into their Ranger forms.
They rush down to the bikes, and Cerise jumps in the passenger seat of the jeep while Uncle Sky, Uncle Bridge, Aunt Sophie, and Aunt Z leap on their bikes.
Rowan steps into the backseat of the jeep, and Aunt Syd takes off behind the bikes as soon as she’s buckled in.
“You again? Did you figure out who murdered Mindy?” Benjamin asks, and Cerise pulls down and fluffs up her hair slightly so she fits the cadet stereotype.
“Yeah. We did. It’s you.” Cerise says.
Benjamin’s eyes narrow.
“Hey, the green one judged me innocent.”
Aunt Sophie blinks.
“No, I didn’t.”
“Not you, the weird one.”
“We were out normally. Un— Officer Carson was wearing a green tie.” Cerise chimes in. “And yeah— He judged you innocent of committing the act of murder. But we have a few more questions.”
“Oh, really? What?”
“Like did you get someone else to commit the murder for you?” Uncle Bridge asks.
Benjamin freezes.
And then he bolts off, about to pass the jeep, and Rowan opens the backseat door and slams him to the floor.
“I…” Rowan starts. “I… I’m sorry…?”
“Don’t be, that was awesome!” Aunt Z laughs, raising her hand for a high five.
Rowan gently reciprocates, and Aunt Syd pulls her morpher out and switches it to judgment mode.
“Benjamin Johnson, you are charged with conspiracy to commit murder.”
The judgment scanner flashes Xs and Os, before settling on a bright red X.
“Guilty!” Cerise purrs.
Aunt Syd switches her morpher to confinement mode, and the card that Benjamin is trapped in lands on the floor.
“I can’t believe I got to see an S.P.D. morph in person…” Rowan gasps. “I can’t believe I got to help with a case!”
“Not bad, Rowan.” Uncle Sky says, powering down. “I haven’t seen a lot of people that can keep up with us, especially at your age.”
Rowan blue-screens, and Cerise feels that familiar jealous fire rise up in her chest.
An insidious thought rises up from the back of her mind.
You’re not his daughter anyway. Why do you care so much about what he thinks?
She… doesn’t care. She really doesn’t.
But then there’s a hand on her head, and her hair’s being ruffled gently.
“And hey, we would have arrested the wrong guy entirely if it wasn’t for you.” Uncle Sky says. “We should go and tell him the real killer’s been caught, so he doesn’t have to worry anymore.”
“We’ll drop Benjamin off, you guys go talk to the chef.” Aunt Sophie says.
“It’s fine, we’ll leave the paperwork for you.” Aunt Z teases, and Uncle Sky rolls his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah. Okay, come on.”
Uncle Sky pulls a small blue helmet out from the bike’s saddlebag and hands it to Cerise, who throws it on instantly and leaps on the back of the bike.
“Hey, I’m 15 now. When are you gonna teach me how to drive this thing?” Cerise teases, and Uncle Sky laughs.
“Not till you’re 30.”
“Hey, you’re not 30!”
Aunt Z chuckles knowingly. Cerise already knows how to drive a bike— but Uncle Sky’s not learning that fact unless he has to.
They make it to the restaurant easily, and Uncle Sky flashes his shield at the cadet who’s blocking the door to make him step aside.
The chef is sitting alone in a chair, and Cerise walks over to him.
“Hey. It’s over. We found the real killer.” She says, and the chef looks up with glittering tears in his big eyes.
“Truly?! I didn’t kill that poor girl?!”
“No, you didn’t.” Cerise says, and the chef leaps out of the chair and scoops up Cerise in a crushing hug.
“You! You beautiful young cadet, you must be the angel of mercy!”
He spins her around and puts her down, and Cerise groans.
“Uh… it’s not that big of a deal. I just couldn’t stand seeing someone innocent getting accused of a crime.”
The chef shakes his head.
“You’re far too modest! You will make a fine Ranger someday!”
Cerise groans, and she just can’t help herself.
“If you want to compliment me, never say that again.”
“Hey, just think about it, Ceri. Three generations of red rangers.” Uncle Sky teases.
“Ughhh…”
The chef looks… deeply confused.
“Aren’t you a cadet? Don’t you want to be a ranger?”
“…So I might have exaggerated about… certain things.” Cerise says, and Uncle Sky bursts out laughing.
“She’s my daughter.” He says. “Though, I wouldn’t mind if she wanted to be a cadet after she graduated high school.”
“Don’t hold your breath.” Cerise snaps. “And anyway, if what Aunt Syd tells me is true, didn’t a certain someone say a girl couldn’t be Red?”
Uncle Sky freezes, and now it’s Cerise’s turn to laugh.
“I’m never living that one down either.” Uncle Sky groans.