The Waitress ↯ C. Randall

Chapter 29 | Forged Under Fire

SADLY, QUINN AND CHASE'S DATE had been pushed back indefinitely. Both were all too busy protecting the fate of the Earth to find time for just the two of them. But, that didn't mean that the two didn't flirt at the base, much to the chagrin of close friends such as Riley. Honestly, mainly Riley.

But, other than the flirting that the two could now gladly indulge in, not much had changed between them. Sure, they were more touchy now, but their signature banter was still there. Quinn was as sarcastic and insulting as ever and Chase's flirting had only become more overt. Now, they were just more comfortable around each other. Since their feelings for each other were now out in the open, things had really smoothed out for them.

In fact, the entire team was much better off. With the return of Tyler's dad, the father-son duo finally got to reconnect. After all those years of Tyler chasing him down, the two got along so well that it seemed as if Tyler's dad had never even left. With Shelby now getting a paleontology degree rather than a business degree, she also got to follow her passions. Riley, Ivan, Koda, and Miss Morgan were also all in good spirits thanks to everyone else being pretty happy, plus how the team was now stronger with the new addition of the Aqua Ranger.

In fact, said Aqua Ranger was now being given a tour of the base by his son. When introduced to Koda's cave paintings and Ivan's precious swords, he confused them for replicas. Poor Tyler's dad apparently didn't seem to get the memo about how a third of their team had stopped aging a longggg time ago. Quinn couldn't help but giggle at it, especially at Ivan being offended by the accusations.

"Yeah right, next, you'll be telling me that he's the Prince of Xandar," James said, pointing toward Prince Phillip. Quinn snorted, causing a pointed look to be sent her way by Tyler's dad. Oh, that poor man.

Of course, Phillip was as regal as ever and reached out for a handshake. "Prince Phillip the Third. Pleased to meet you, Mr. Navarro," he announced, all too genuine, formal, and unaware of Mr. Navarro's skepticism. Good-naturedly, James laughed, thank god.

Then, Miss Morgan approached James, ready to shatter his realist view of the world. "It's true, Phillip is the prince. And Koda is a caveman," She explained, pulling Koda toward her. Koda flexed his muscles, acting like a stereotypical caveman. James was not thrilled. "He discovered the blue energem over one hundred thousand years ago. Oh, and Ivan was a knight of Xandar. Eight hundred years ago." She continued, very proud of her team. Unlike Miss Morgan's enthusiasm, James' smile melted away the more Miss Morgan explained. It took incredible restraint from Quinn to keep herself from laughing at the ordeal.

Shelby approached the group and continued the explanation. "When they bonded to their energems, they stopped aging. Just as you stopped aging ten years ago." While things didn't seem to completely click for James just yet, he nodded along in understanding.

"Honestly, you and Tyler look more like brothers than you do father and son," Chase piped up, leading Quinn to pop up from her seat.

"That's what I've been thinking the whole time! You literally look our age," Quinn added.

Stunned, James stared at the aqua energem before him. His eyes were bright, looking incredibly optimistic. "Incredible," he breathed.

Slinging his arm around his pops, Tyler excitedly pulled his dad toward Miss Morgan's desk. "C'mon bro," he emphasized. A cacophony of laughs was heard from the duo afterward.

Once everyone was crowded around Miss Morgan, the three women got to explain the new modifications they made to Tyler's supercharger. Well, that they were currently making. Once the Aqua and Graphite energems' powers were transmuted to the supercharger, then Tyler would be able to access the weapons of all bonded energems. Sadly, the yellow energem could not be accessed yet since no one had bonded to it yet. It annoyed Quinn to no end, but she knew that eventually, they would find the right person to bond with it. It would just take time. Hopefully, a short amount of time.