"Uhh… not again."
The words slipped from Zayne's lips, unheard by anyone else.
Seeing the figure before him, he felt both bewildered and mildly annoyed. His luck had been unusually good all morning—was this where it finally ran out?
While Zayne grumbled inwardly, his classmates were having a completely different reaction. Especially the boys, who were practically bubbling with excitement. The same went for Kira and the rest of the team, though their thoughts carried a slightly different tone. The new teacher standing before them was very much to their taste.
After all, who wouldn't want a beautiful teacher? Most teenagers were suckers for pretty faces and attractive figures.
The woman in question walked in with a warm smile, dressed in professional attire that did its best to hide her curves—but failed all the same. Her red hair flowed naturally as she moved, effortlessly drawing the admiration of the students.
Her heels echoed through the now-silent classroom as she reached the desk. She placed the books in her hands, down neatly, cleared her throat, and prepared to introduce herself.
"Good morning, students~" Her voice was sweet yet mature. "My name is Natalie Rushman. I'm twenty-five, and I'll be your new history teacher. I hope you'll all cooperate with me so we can have a wonderful learning experience. The easier you make it for me, the faster you'll learn. Let's work hard together."
Her words instantly ignited an uproar of cheers and enthusiastic responses throughout the classroom.
Most of the students didn't really care about her name or her role in the school. Natasha—or rather, Natalie's—words entered one ear and exited the other. What truly captivated them was her voice alone. Sweet, mature, and alluring—it was more than enough to fuel the fantasies of young boys for days.
These reactions applied to nearly everyone in the room.
With the sole exception of Zayne Callahan.
As his classmates indulged in their excitement and bombarded Natasha with questions—some of them downright strange—Zayne's thoughts churned as he tried to figure out why she was here. This couldn't be a coincidence. It had to mean something.
"No… nothing involving S.H.I.E.L.D. or a future Avenger is ever coincidental," Zayne thought calmly.
"She couldn't have found clues about my identity… right?" His eyes narrowed slightly. "No, that's impossible. Even gods can't find me unless I allow it. How could a small organization like S.H.I.E.L.D. succeed?"
Yes—to Zayne, S.H.I.E.L.D. was a small organization.
They claimed to protect Earth from alien invasions, yet they had only truly succeeded once—and even that required the help of Captain Marvel, who herself was an alien. Worse still, they failed to prevent HYDRA from infiltrating their ranks, with agents embedded in high-level positions. And that infiltration was carried out with low-level technology, not even alien-grade tech—let alone civilizations far beyond human comprehension.
How on earth were they supposed to protect the planet? Even their most prized space cube had been stolen right from their nose.
"Hm… I'll figure out her purpose later," Zayne concluded internally. "For now, I'll play along."
He shook off his thoughts. All of this had happened in a flash.
As Zayne ended his internal monologue, Natasha was having one of her own.
"I hope this plan works," she thought. "I went through too much to get to this point."
She wasn't exaggerating.
Natasha had pushed herself to the limit to reach this stage—dodging rival forces, fighting bizarre humanoid enemies, and narrowly escaping death more than once. At long last, she had finally found a lead.
"Even if I can't uncover his true identity," her thoughts continued, "learning even a little about him is better than nothing. And what better place to start than the Ranger team we already know?"
She couldn't help but admire her own resilience.
From her observations, the Omni-Ranger had saved the Dino Rangers twice. There had to be a connection between them. They were fellow Rangers, after all. Even though she didn't know his or their true identity, there were certain educated guesses she could make.
For example, most Ranger-related chaos seemed to occur not far from this school and its surrounding district. It was highly likely that the Rangers either lived nearby or regularly stayed close to the area.
As for why she chose the school itself—it was simple. It was the easiest and most efficient cover identity for such a mission. A teacher raised far fewer suspicions.
Natasha was confident that her identity and plans were foolproof.
No one could possibly figure them out.
Well—
With the sole exception of Zayne Callahan.
As the class began and the chattering and clamoring finally died down, Natasha started her lecture.
Surprisingly enough, she was very good at teaching history. As a "super" spy, it was only natural—she had trained extensively for roles like this. Her cover identity had to be flawless in every aspect, including knowledge and delivery.
An hour passed by quickly, and before the students knew it, the first period had ended. Natasha assigned some light homework, flashed the class a charming smile, and exited the room.
The moment she left, the noise exploded again.
Most of the students immediately began gossiping and trash-talking—well, mostly talking—about their new teacher. Typical hot-blooded teenagers.
Zayne found himself sitting quietly, somewhat isolated with no one immediately beside him. From a distance, Kira noticed this and walked over to his seat to keep him company.
Zayne didn't mind at all. In fact, he was happy.
After all, they were potential lovers to begin with.
As their conversation flowed naturally, Zayne began to understand Kira far more deeply than what he had ever read in the comics. And the same went for Kira. She realized that beneath Zayne's once-cold and distant façade was a genuinely sweet boy.
He was really different now.
Brighter. Warmer.
Like a sunny boy.
She loved it.
Minutes passed, and soon the second period was about to begin.
But then—something unexpected happened.
The school principal made an announcement over the intercom, one that instantly caused the entire 12th and 13th grades to erupt with excitement.
There would be no more classes for the rest of the day.
They were going on a school trip.
And not just any school trip.
It was a trip to a museum.
An alien museum.
--- ✦ ---
(SPD Headquarters)
Doggie Kruger sat quietly in the control room, his paws supporting his chin as his brows furrowed in thought.
The main screen before him displayed an insect-like alien, roughly the height of an average adult. At the edge of the screen, a bold label was visible.
Danger Rank.
His thoughts were interrupted as Bruce Banner, dressed in a lab coat, entered the room carrying a thick file.
Bruce walked up, placed the files in front of Doggie, and spoke calmly.
"These are the records we have on the alien known as Idolon, including its known weaknesses."
"Mm." Doggie nodded, immediately reviewing the contents.
As he read further, his frown deepened.
"It seems I'll have to dispatch Squad A," Doggie thought to himself. "This alien is troublesome. Not particularly strong, but its abilities are… irritating."
And he wasn't wrong.
One line in the file stood out clearly:
Can possess any statue and bring it to life, fully replicating the intended abilities of the statue.
It was absurd.
Dealing with such a creature would require careful planning and coordination. But this was SPD—they had faced far stranger aliens with far more bizarre abilities and still prevailed.
Although the mission was rated Danger Rank, it was still manageable.
It was only a second-tier mission.
Above it were High Risk missions, and at the very top, Extreme Rank—operations so dangerous that Zord deployment was often unavoidable.
Compared to those, this was somewhat easy. As for the first rank, 'Moderate', with sufficient training, even standard SPD personnel could handle it.
"I'll contact Squad A and have them deal with it," Doggie said confidently, turning to Bruce with a reassuring smile. "There's no need for concern."
Doggie was genuinely satisfied with Bruce.
Though Bruce occasionally lost control, his scientific insight had been invaluable to SPD. Several research bottlenecks had eased since his arrival, and breakthroughs were becoming more frequent.
Hiring him had been the right call.
Bruce nodded in understanding and left the control room, his expression eager as he returned to the research lab.
As SPD finalized its plans, another force was doing the same.
Just from the opposite side.
As for who would emerge victorious—
Only fate could tell.
--- ✦ ---
Sorry for the late upload, guys. Time zone failed me. I had set the timer thinking it was correct like always, but I made a mistake. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, guys.