SOPHIE shook loose the cobwebs in her head and looked around as she came to. The warm, throbbing pain in the back of her head was an unpleasant indication of how she came to lose consciousness, the last thing she could remember was accompanying Johnson through the industrial sector when she had been ambushed. She surmised that Mason had, indeed, come to earth as they had all feared he would.
Struggling against her handcuffs in a futile gesture, she tried to guess where she was being taken. The sound of an engine and the sensation of motion informed her that she was in a van, but that information was hardly useful, it concerned her more where they were taking her. She could see that Johnson wasn't with her, leading to her hoping that he had escaped and was seeking help. The van stopped briefly, and she heard a large set of doors being opened. A short time later, they drove a short distance before killing the engine. Wherever they were taking her, they'd arrived. She heard the same heavy doors being closed again before the doors of the van were thrown open, and she saw five Rangers glaring back at her. The Yellow and Pink Rangers grabbed her and hauled her from the vehicle, throwing her to the floor.
"Power Down." The Red Ranger called out, de-morphing. She recognised him immediately. The arrogant grin, the chiselled features, the long, blonde pony tail, he looked the same as he had before Sky had sent him away.
"Mason." She snapped, getting up onto her knees. "So you did come back."
"Well I was feeling a little nostalgic." He taunted her, causing a small laugh from the others. "While I was out running another 15 mile course on the ice flats, I suddenly thought about the freaky lab boy and how he got me sent to that backwater crap hole of a planet."
"You got yourself sent there." SOPHIE yelled back. "The fight with Bridge was just one in a long line of incidents the training officers reprimanded you for."
"We all know what that was REALLY about, don't we?" He snarled, grabbing her by the throat. "I was the best cadet on this base by far. Everyone knew I deserved to be on B-squad, but Bridge and the base commander have been friends for years. They just didn't want me showing him up."
"He kicked your ass!" SOPHIE reminded him, coughing a little as he released her. "He humiliated you! You're nothing."
"If I'm nothing, how come I'm now in a position to take down SPD Earth?" He asked.
"You are so going down." SOPHIE responded. "Johnson will bring the others."
"That's not the case I'm afraid, the Blue Ranger responded, powering down and revealing himself to be Johnson. "How do you think we got the A-squad morphers?"
"You did this?" SOPHIE gasped. "Why?"
"I did it because I'm sick of being the 'normal guy' in this freak show of a team!" He stated. "I mean we've got the rest of those birth defects with the weirdo powers and a robot on the team. No matter how hard I try, I'm always going to be considered second string."
"I'm not a robot, I'm a cyborg you idiot!" She screamed. "I still have biological systems."
"Do you think I care?" He asked sarcastically. "To me you're a glorified fax machine."
"We trusted you." SOPHIE told him. "We thought you were our friend! How could you do this to us?"
"Friend?" He asked sarcastically. "When was the last time you included me in your recreational activities? At least when Mason was on the base I had a place I belonged."
"Johnson made contact with me a couple of months ago." Mason explained. "When he found out that I was being held down out there the same way I was here, he came up with this plan."
"If SPD wouldn't give us the respect and power we deserved," Johnson continued, "we'd just have to take it for ourselves."
"There's no way B-Squad will lose to you jokers." SOPHIE shot back. "Even without me and Johnson..."
"We already know that Bridge isn't on site." Mason snapped. "So that only leaves Sky and the two Barbie dolls to take down. By the time the Red Ranger comes back from whatever hole he's crawled into there won't be a base to come back to."
"You'll not be able to get into the base." SOPHIE yelled. "The security system there would make short work of you, even with your powers."
"We already know that." Mason told her as the Yellow and Pink Rangers dragged her to her feet and dragged her toward another room. Looking inside, SOPHIE realised it was an old meat locker. She noticed the Green Ranger welding metal plates over the vents.
"This place used to be an abattoir." Mason explained. "Put her in."
SOPHIE struggled as the Pink and Yellow Rangers forced her inside. Releasing her hands briefly, they re-fastened the cuffs with her arms wrapped around a shelving unit, preventing her from moving. "We're going to leave you in here, and weld the door shut."
"Mason, I still have biological systems." She reminded him. "I still need air, if you weld the door shut, this room's going to be air tight."
"Exactly." He responded. "We'll invite your friends for a little get-together. I figure you should have about three hours worth of breathable air in here once the door is welded shut."
"Mason, if you do this I could die." SOPHIE shrieked. "I'm not a robot, I'm a cyborg, legally I'm still human, and if I die you'll be guilty of homicide!"
"You better hope your friends find you quickly then." He replied. "Never fight an enemy on his terms, always force him to fight you on yours." He quoted. "Sun Tzu, the art of war."
With that, SOPHIE screamed as he shut the door, drowning out her screams. The Green Ranger then proceeded to weld the door closed.
"It's time to call the posers." Mason announced. "Let's show B-squad what war is all about."
Frank arrived back at the base, sprinting into the command centre with the two discarded morphers.
"Frank, are you alright?" Emma yelled, rushing over to her brother's side, hugging him warmly. "I was so worried."
"The other Rangers are definitely here." Frank told them. "What's going on Sky?"
"Scott from archives told us this morning after you left that someone stole the old A-squad morphers." Sky explained. "Somehow Mason and his three goons must have gotten hold of them."
"Four goons." Frank corrected him. "Johnson gave them the morphers. He's sold you out!"
"Johnson?" Sky gasped. "Why?"
"Because he's a jerk." Frank replied.
"What about SOPHIE?" Z asked.
"There was no sign of her." Frank replied. "I was lucky to get away myself. Mason and the others are not big on being friendly."
"We have to find her." Sky called out. "Mason could have done anything to her."
"He's lucky Bridge isn't here." Z remarked. "He's really protective of SOPHIE. He'd probably break his neck if he found out he'd kidnapped her."
A short time later, the large screen burst into life, showing the five rogue Rangers tearing up the main town plaza, shooting up the main street with their blasters. Mason pulled off his helmet and smiled into one of the many CCTV cameras he knew would be relaying their actions straight to the command centre.
"Hopefully this will have gotten your attention." Mason announced. "I just thought you'd like to know what we've done to your little pet cyborg." He clicked the control on a handset, which flicked the view to a camera inside the meat locker where SOPHIE was being held. "We're keeping her somewhere in the old industrial sector. As you can see, there are no air vents in the room." Suddenly a large, red digital display flashed on the screen ominously, counting downwards. "She has a little over two and a half hours before she runs out of air. If you want to save her, meet us at the top of the old stock exchange building in the financial
district in an hour. The three of you against the five of us, in a winner takes all battle. Don't take too long making up your minds."
With that, he replaced his helmet before blowing up the camera with his blaster. Sky looked nervously at the countdown.
"It's a trap." He breathed, running his fingers through his hair in frustration at the helplessness of their predicament. "But we really don't have a choice."
"He said that SOPHIE was in the industrial sector." Emma reminded him. "The room she was in had a tiled floor. It's not much to go on, but it might help narrow it down. I'll go looking for her."
"It's too dangerous." Sky told her. "A search could take hours."
"And if you fight and win, they might not tell you where she is anyway." She replied. "At least this way she has an outside chance."
"Alright, but stay out of sight. We don't need any more Rangers going missing." He tossed her the green morpher, before gesturing to the door. "Stay in touch, and call me immediately if anything happens."
"I will." She replied, saluting and running out of the command centre. Sky then picked up the remaining blue morpher, handing it to Frank.
"Here's your chance to earn that active reserve salary." He commented. "I think that five on four sounds like better odds than five on three."
"I won't let you down Sky." Frank answered, accepting the morpher. "I can't believe I finally get to be a Ranger like my dad."
"I'm sure you'll make him proud." Sky told him. "OK guys, now all we have to do is wait."
Emma had turned herself invisible, making her way cautiously through the streets. She didn't know why it seemed like such an important detail, but she couldn't help but think that the tiled floor was the secret to finding SOPHIE. There were literally hundreds of old warehouses, distilleries, abattoirs and canneries sitting vacant in that area of the city and SOPHIE could be in any one of them.
She made her way into the first warehouse she came to, looking around and finding to her disappointment that there was not only no tiled floor, but there wasn't even any other rooms she could be in. She looked across the street at the bakery, one of the few factories in the block that was still open and couldn't help but notice the workers moving pastries and pies around between the warehouse and the trucks. Noticing one wearing a heavy jacket despite the scorching heat, she noticed him going into a blast freezer, rolling the cage onto the tiled floor.
"How could I be so dumb?" She shrieked as she realised her mistake. She immediately opened up the comm. Link to Kat. "Kat, SOPHIE's in an old freezer or cold room or something." She rushed out. "How many businesses are there in the area with those kind of facilities?"
"There are two abattoirs, three bakeries and four canneries that all have walk in cold rooms." She answered. "I can narrow it down to half a dozen, three of the properties are still open."
"They'd need somewhere they wouldn't be disturbed." Emma agreed. "Can you forward me the details of the ones that are abandoned?"
"I've already uploaded their locations to your communicator." Kat responded. "Be careful out there."
"I will." She replied. "Thanks Kat, over and out."
