Just as a reminder, all character names relate to who is IN the body! I've also tried to avoid pronouns and use the character names (believe me, it's as weird writing it as it is reading it I assure you!)
Noah has been switched into Emma's body.
Emma has been switched into Noah's body.
Gia has been switched into Jake's body.
Finally, Jake has been switched into Gia's body. Hope that helps.
Up on The Armada Command Ship, Damaras was on the ship, looking for Transfercer. Although he was meant to be looking for a new Commander to send after the Rangers, he had a few other things he wanted to deal with first.
His position on the ship now looked shakier than ever. With Lavira in the Prince's affections, her honeyed words finding his ear and blocking out any contrary voice, he knew that his agenda to see Vrak installed in Vekar's place was now riskier than ever. She delighted in tormenting him now. The only reason he was still the Tactical Officer was because she hadn't seen fit to suggest to the Prince he be demoted, or worse...court marshalled for his continued failures in his role! Although Vrak assured him that his plans were progressing, the lack of any visible activity left him worrying how long it would be before Lavira suggested to the Prince to replace him with someone more loyal to herself.
He found Transfercer in the Mess, where a large number of Commanders were waiting for their call to action, wiling away their time drinking, feasting and gambling. Damaras ducked a power blast that sailed a little past his head casually, making his way to Transfercer's table. He didn't think anything about the power blasts rebounding around the room. Sometimes, after a few drinks, the rough housing and boastful story-telling could get more than a little enthusiastic...the less said how the gambling games could get out of hand the better.
"I see you're using your time productively." He teased Transfercer. The creature just looked to him as he took a long swig of his drink.
"The Prince told me to wait for further orders." Transfercer grumbled. "Until Intel find out where the world leaders are, I'm to remain on the ship where it's safe."
They both leaned back as another power blast flew between them, smashing empty bottles and scattering empty plates and condiments. Damaras just sighed.
"Good choice." He said sarcastically. Transfercer just threw up his hands.
"So what else am I meant to do? Wait in my quarters?" Transfercer asked him. "I'll be bored out of my skull!"
"Well...how about I give you something to do to occupy your time?" Damaras asked him. Transfercer just looked to him as Damaras moved in closer. "I am sure you have noticed that Lavira exerts a lot of influence over the Prince these days."
"Uh...yes." He responded.
"Well...some of the upper Command are a little concerned about how that could affect his judgement." He continued. "The Prince is a passionate man. Sometimes, he lets his emotions affect his decisions."
"What are you asking me to do?" Transfercer asked him. He just smiled.
"I think perhaps you could use your unique talents to arrange a little...shift in their relationship?" He suggested. Transfercer backed away a little.
"But...but if he finds out...he'll destroy me!" Transfercer protested.
"But if he doesn't...then you will have done the Empire a great service." Damaras assured him. "If the Prince has his heart broken, he will never want to see her again! He'll send her to the other end of the galaxy! Of course he will be upset, but in time...he will regain his strength."
"I'm not sure..."
"If you do this, I can ensure your services are rewarded." Damaras interrupted him. "Perhaps I can see to it that you can command your own ship...perhaps even your own planet!"
Transfercer had to admit that this was a tempting offer, but he couldn't get over the risk involved. Damaras just leaned in closely.
"Switch her mind with someone completely loyal, that you can trust to follow any command, and ensure she is indisposed while your agent ensures the Prince never wants to be in the same star system as her again." He instructed the reluctant creature. "Contact me when you are done."
Transfercer got up, and left the table, making his way out of the room. Damaras picked up a drink, and started drinking, only for the tankard to be smashed out of his hand by a stray blast. He got up, turning towards the source of the blast, irate that someone would endanger him so recklessly.
"How DARE you?" He snapped. "I am the Chief Tactical..."
His words tailed off as he saw that no one was looking at him. They weren't even facing his direction. A huge crowd seemed to all be facing someone in the corner, whooping and chanting. The creature in the corner just laughed.
"Oh come on, you call that a blast?" He asked, laughing loudly as another monster took money from the creature whose hands were still smoking from firing the offending blast.
"I...I don't understand it, that attack has destroyed armoured transport vehicles!" The creature protested, handing over the money it had bet the boastful creature. Damaras watched on, seeing the wreckage around the other Commander. Clearly, he was taking bets, challenging others to try and attack him, proving how tough he was by withstanding them. By the looks of it, he was doing pretty well.
"I hope that isn't your best shot. Maybe the Prince will find a world full of babies for you to tickle to death!" The boastful Commander replied, taking another drink. "Alright weaklings, whose money am I going to take next?"
"How about mine?" Damaras asked. The monsters all fell silent and backed away, realising Damaras was there. They all separated, letting him step forward. "What is the stake?"
"Uh...a...a...a...hundred." The Commander responded nervously. He held up his arms, showing his forearms to be covered in large, curved, thick plates that seemed to interlock. "A hundred credits that no attack can penetrate my shield."
"One thousand." Damaras replied, putting his money down. The Commander readied himself, at which Damaras fired off his attack. As he locked his shield together, the blast hit, and splashed off it, bowling over unfortunate Commanders and wrecking furniture, but as the smoke cleared, his shield was intact. Damaras looked to him as he opened up his shield. "Impressive. What is your name?"
"Turtlelini." The Commander replied. Damaras approached him, taking the winnings from the other Commander and handing them to him.
"I have a little task for you." Damaras told him. "And it promises to be more profitable than taking the pocket change from your drinking buddies."
"What would I have to do?" Turtlini asked him.
Elsewhere on the ship though, Trancfercer was wandering the ship, the conversation with Damaras still echoing in his mind. He stopped to ponder the conversation. What was he to do? If he reported Damaras, would anyone believe him? He would be accusing a member of the Prince's War Cabinet of treason, with no evidence of the conversation! If he simply ignored the conversation...would Damaras go after him? He knew for a fact if he tried the plan and failed, he would be destroyed for sure. He wandered off through the corridors, hoping that the answer would come to him.
As he continued on his way, he passed by Lavira's lab, finding the door open, and seeing her working on Argus. He had been out of action since the Rangers attacked him in New York. Transfercer was about to leave when suddenly a thought occurred to him. The Science officer didn't even see him, she was too busy working away, humming contentedly as she did so. Waiting until Lavira's back was turned; he powered up and launched his attack.
Striking both Lavira and Argus, he switched their minds, switching them with his power. He went to Lavira's fallen form and helped her up.
"Argus, are you alright?" He asked.
"I am fine." Lavira's body responded. Transfercer smiled at his handiwork. It was a perfect plan. Argus' real body was shut down. Lavira was basically trapped inside, unable to move, communicate, or even see or hear anything. She would remember nothing of the attack once he switched them back. Argus meanwhile was easily the most loyal of all the Prince's underlings. He would obey any command given to him without question, and better still, once he was back in his own body, his memories could be altered to remove all trace of this mission. Transfercer turned him.
"Argus, we have a little job we need you to do." He told him, closing the door.
On the Red Galleon, the Rangers had assembled on the deck at Gia's request. They'd all had breakfast, and gotten dressed, ready for the day ahead. Noah watched as Emma did her yoga exercises, and shook his head.
"It is so weird seeing my body doing...that." Noah commented. Emma just smiled.
"No weirder than it was seeing my body making that blaster." Emma told him. "You know, your body's in pretty good shape, but it's not as flexible as I'm used to...perhaps you might want to consider some regular yoga." Noah was about to answer, but as he saw Jake arriving, he couldn't help himself and just started laughing.
"Jake...what did you do to yourself?" Emma giggled. He looked like he had tried and failed to remove a lot of make-up. A LOT! By the looks of the unnatural shade across his face, it looked like he had used a patching trowel to apply it, before realising it wasn't working and washing it off.
"You should have seen what it looked like when I woke up!" Jake protested. "It was all over the pillow and..."
"You didn't remove your make-up before you went to bed?" Emma chuckled.
"Dude, even I know you have to take off make-up before you go to sleep." Noah stated.
"Well I know that NOW!" Jake protested. "I tried to fix it, but I couldn't figure out how much of all that stuff to use and...then when I tried to wash it off...I end up looking like this!"
"I'll show you how to use make-up remover later." Emma promised him. "I think Gia would appreciate it if you didn't make her walk around looking like Krusty the clown!"
"A make-up malfunction is the least of my worries to be honest." Gia said as she came up on deck with Orion and Jordan. They saw she had a large band-aid on her forehead.
"What happed?" Jake asked her. Gia just sighed.
"We all slept in our own rooms to be comfortable right?" Gia reminded them. "Well, there's a shelf over my bed with some of my books on it and...well...Jake's taller than I am."
"You hit my head?" Jake asked her. Gia just sighed, before pointing to a crate.
"Jake, why don't you show us a Kong vault?" She asked him. Jake just smiled.
"With pleasure." He replied. As he ran at the crate, he put his hands on it, pushing off as he jumped...
However, as he did, he quickly fell into difficulty. He jumped a little too high, and his centre of balance was very different than he was used to. He ended up over-shooting the jump and coming down almost face-first to the deck. Fortunately, he tucked and ended up just landing on his shoulder and crumpling up into a heap on the deck. The others just stared.
"Jake!" Orion called out. "Are you alright?"
"I...I haven't bailed like that in years!" Jake commented as he clutched his shoulder, moving his arm to make sure it wasn't too badly damaged. He looked up to Gia. "What gives?"
"We're all in different bodies." She reminded them. Emma thought about it for a moment before looking to them.
"I had to adapt my yoga workout because...because I wasn't flexible enough..."
"Noah's body wasn't flexible enough." Gia corrected her. "Just like Jake couldn't get the balance right in my body on the vault, and I..."
"You can't wake up in bed without ruining my good looks." Jake muttered. Noah just looked to them.
"Wait, if we're having these kind of problems with benign tasks..."
"If one of Vrak or Vekar's goons shows up, we could be in serious trouble!" Jordan stated. Gia just nodded.
"Alright, so for now, training intensifies." Gia told them. "We don't know how long we'll be like this, so we need to be ready when..."
"Rangers, Rangers!" Tensou squealed as he flew up onto the deck.
"Man, I hate when this happens." Jordan muttered. It seemed like the bad guys always had the worst timing imaginable. "What is it Tensou?"
"A monster's attacking the city." Tensou told them. "He's heading for the Pentagon!"
"Please tell me it's the one that did this to us!" Jake stated. Tensou shook his head.
"No, it's a different one." He told them. "Apparently he's daring the Rangers to come and face him, he keeps saying he's indestructible!"
"Well, it's not like we haven't heard that before." Gia replied. "Come on!"
"But what about...?"
"It looks like we don't have much of a choice!" Gia interrupted Jake. "Come on, we need to deal with this guy."
Down in the city, Turtlini was tearing up the streets on his way to the Pentagon. He had been told that it was the sight of the country's headquarters of their military defence, and so had chosen it as a demonstration of his strength. People ran from him as he marched through the streets, smashing aside anything in his way. A SWAT unit opened fire, but their guns were no match for his shield.
"Your peashooters are no match for me!" He screamed, running headlong into one of their armoured trucks, overturning it. The Rangers arrived on the scene, ready for action.
"Get out of here, he's too powerful!" Jordan warned them. "Get everyone clear!"
As the cops started to clear out the street, Turtlini looked to the Rangers and smiled.
"Well, what do we have here?" He asked. "I hope it's something with a little more kick than those pea shooters your humans call weapons."
"I thought you'd never ask." Jordan responded as they all ran to the attack. Turtlini fended them off as they attacked, their swords rebounding off his forearm shields. Gia leapt up for a flying-kick, hitting only chest-height. Turtlini countered it with his shield though, causing her to slam into it, falling to the ground. The impact running up her leg made it feel like something was about to pop.
"Damn it, I was too low!" Gia complained.
"I'm heavier than you, you need to use more of your strength in the jump!" Jake told her as he went for Turtlini, only to find as he swung his sword; the hit nearly ripped it from his hand. He took a hit and flew a lot further than normal. When he hit the ground, it took him a lot longer to get up.
"I'm not as big as you!" Gia reminded him. "You can't go toe-to-toe!"
"He's too strong!" Noah complained as he tried one of his sword techniques, but found because Emma didn't have the same upper-body strength, the monster just pushed through what was a flawless technique just through sheer power and bodyweight, sending him face-first into the asphalt.
"We'll see about that!" Jordan yelled, leaping at him from behind with Orion. They figured that since they were the only ones in their own bodies, they weren't affected and could hopefully take him down before he was too much of a problem. He blasted them out of the air, leaving them in a heap alongside the others.
"You look a little, shell-shocked!" Turtlini taunted them. Orion was the first to his feet.
"We'll see about that." He told him, turning a key in the Silver Spear Blaster. As he fired it, the kick-back throwing him into a massive back-flip, he landed on his feet, ready to observe the results. Only, as the smoke cleared, the creature was still standing.
"Oh...is this where I'm supposed to fall down?" He asked in a derisive laugh. The other five Rangers all got up, putting keys into their sabres.
"Final Strike!" They all yelled together, swinging their swords. Turtlini once again just held up his shield, taking the blast full on. The Rangers could only stare in disbelief as he blew the smoke from his shield. "I have to compliment you, I actually FELT that one!"
"He's taking everything we have!" Gia yelled. "What now?"
Orion was about to power up his weapon again, but he was tackled roughly, pulling him away from the Rangers. They all watched as Lavira smashed him through a car.
"Hey Jake, it's your ex!" Noah stated.
"Do you mind?" Jake asked. "We have this guy to worry about!"
"Maybe we just need to soften him up a bit first!" Jordan suggested as the Rangers ran back towards him, turning a key in his morpher as the others followed suit, hoping a small boost would help. "Mighty Morphin'!"
Meanwhile, a short distance away, Orion found himself pinned to the ground by Lavira. He tried to get up, but she had him in an arm-lock, forcing him down.
"Stop struggling." She told him.
"If you think..."
"I said stop struggling Orion or I'll break your arm and shove that toothpick up your ass to make a point!" Lavira snapped. Orion's eyes opened wide. He couldn't look round, but there was only one person he could remember that would ever say something like that to him.
"Marv?" He asked. Marv, in Lavira's body just nodded. Transfercer had chosen Argus as the target because he was always loyal to the Prince, but the one thing he didn't know was that Argus wasn't a robot. He was a cyborg. He didn't know about Marv, or the fact that his brain was still inside Argus. Instead of switching out the programming of Argus, he had in fact put Marv into Lavira's body, without any of the control software making him a puppet.
"Yes, it's me!" He told him. "Now listen to me, I can get rid of this guy while you re-group, but you need to know...that body switching guy, he's going to try again with the World Leaders!"
"How...how do you know?" Orion asked him.
"It's amazing what you learn when people think you're someone else." Marv told him, letting Orion go. "Now, let's get rid of this guy."
"How?" Orion asked. Marv just stood with his arms open wide as he flicked Orion's Silver Spear up with his foot, where Orion could catch it.
"Just...make it look convincing." He told him. Orion nodded in understanding.
Across from them, the Rangers were being bounced around like pinballs. Turtlini was strong, but the added complication of their unfamiliar bodies definitely didn't help.
As he pulled himself up, Noah called up the only thing he could think of, the double-key blaster. It was the last thing he could think of that they hadn't used. Putting in two Pink Keys, he turned them. Turtlini just laughed.
"This again?" He asked. "Go ahead; give me your best shot!"
He fired his shot, which slammed into the shield. Transfercer struggled to hold it, before reflecting it back at Noah. It hit him, causing the blaster to explode in his face with the feedback. He hit the ground, de-morphing. As Turtlini opened his shield again, he looked a little winded.
"That...that actually hurt!" He remarked. "No one's done that in a long time!"
Just then, he heard a scream and saw Lavira running back to him, her armour damaged and clutching her side.
"We need to go!" Marv told him. "We...we should never have sent you alone, if you had adequate reinforcements, you would have destroyed them!"
"My duty is to return my superior officer to the ship!" Turtlini stated, taking the excuse to leave. "But I will be back, and next time...I'll crush you all!"
As he disappeared, the Rangers all breathed a collective sigh of relief. Emma helped Noah up. Noah was just staring at the ruined blaster.
"Well, that went well." Jake commented sarcastically.
"We really need to work this out." Jordan agreed. "If it wasn't for Lavira..."
"Marv." Orion corrected them. "It was Marv."
"Marv?" Gia asked. "Why would...?"
"It's a long story." He told them. "All I know is, he told me Transfercer is coming back as soon as he finds out where the World Leaders are being kept."
"So we know we'll get a chance to take him out eventually." Jake said with a smile. "Great!"
"That just leaves the small matter of this guy." Gia told them. "Let's get back to the ship and figure out what to do."
