Power Rangers Atomic Force
Chained by Lies
FISHER LABS, INC. 7:00 A.M.
Rebel drew back the sling of her slingshot and fired a popcorn kernel at one of the balloons she had taped to the wall. Once again, it was a miss. The young woman groaned and touched her eyepatch. Ever since she lost her eye to Rob, Rebel had been off her aim, what with the lack of depth perception.
"Crap," Rebel said to herself as she pulled the sling back again, loading with another kernel.
Her door slid open and Marcus Regalia stepped in. Rebel's room was everything you wouldn't think it would be; the room was bright pink with a giant stuffed panda toy in the corner. Her mini bookcase was full of romance novels, even the Twilight series and on top of the bookcase was a vase with a red rose in it.
"Hey, Quinn," Marcus said, using her real name opposed to her nickname.
Rebel scrunched up her nose, the usual response to being address by her real name, and said, "Really, Marcus?"
"We might as well start," Marcus told her, "Mom and Dad are coming."
Rebel's face went pale, and Marcus replied with a solemn nod. The two were, in fact, biologically brother and sister, though no one could tell. The two had written to their parents that they were the yellow and pink rangers of Atomic Force. Since Five Hills wasn't the only safe haven (there are others, like Wellspring, Fringe, and Rapel), Mr. and Mrs. Regalia had no idea that they were lying.
"Should we tell the rangers?" Rebel asked.
"Most definitely, but let's not tell Doc Fisher," Marcus replied, "It'd tick him off."
"Agreed." Rebel looked her brother in the eye. "And that should fool them for the while?"
Marcus smiled and said, "Definitely."
"Alright, call the rangers in here," Rebel said.
Marcus shot his sister a look. "Why here? Why not my room?"
Rebel returned the look and replied, "Because we're both already here."
Marcus stroked his chin and said, "True, true."
Rebel shook her head and muttered, "Idiot."
GELATO'S SHIP 7:10 A.M.
Biomecha led the first fully recovered Gel Shocker to the bridge. The monster was neon green with a whip-like antenna facing behind it. Chains coiled around the Gel Shocker's arms and legs, causing him to seem more like a prisoner than a warrior.
Gelato turned from the screen to the thawed Gel Shocker. "So, this is the one who will retrieve the Time Walker for us."
The chained Gel Shocker bowed, his irons making a loud jingling sound. "Lord Gelato, allow me, Biolash, to take care of this."
Gelato sat on his throne and replied, "Yes. Now go and do not fail me."
The warrior rose and walked out, his chains swishing and jingling.
FISHER LABS, INC. 7:10 A.M.
"So, let me get this straight," Seymour said, Andrew and Gwen to his left and right respectively, "You two want us to help you convince your parents that you're the yellow and pink Quark Rangers?"
Andrew picked up from there: "This is to be accomplished without Dr. Fisher knowing and it's only one day, correct?"
Rebel nodded and Marcus said, "Crystal clear."
Gwen said, "I had a brother that really loved duct tape and shipped me a few rolls from Wellspring. He was a grad student at Oxford."
She began to cry a little. "He- he..." She let out a sniffle. "He was killed in one of the Wellspring raids. Gel Trooper fire."
Seymour sighed, patted her on a shoulder, and said, "Well, at least your entire hometown wasn't torched by a fire-breathing Gel Shocker."
Andrew smirked sadly and added, "Or you and your true love taken prisoner on Gelato's ship, put under the knife without anesthesia, and tortured for whatever information you might have."
Gwen wiped her tears away, and said with a few sniffles, "I'll go get some yellow and pink duct tape to put over the gray."
"When your parents get here, we'll play it up. We'll go to the Pit for some unmorphed training, then go over a Zord System Check, or ZSC as we like to call it," Seymour began as they walked to the parlor.
"Only you call it a ZSC, Seymour," Andrew replied, then returned his focus to Rebel and Marcus. "We'll tell them that your Zords are in the shop."
"Thanks, guys!" Rebel yelled, giving Seymour and Andrew a bear hug.
Marcus chuckled and said, "That goes double for me."
The two male rangers exchanged a glance behind Rebel's back and Seymour replied, "No problem. Now you might want to let go Rebel because here comes Fisher."
The young woman let go and straightened her dirty blonde hair.
"Hello, all," Dr. Fisher said cheerily.
"What's up, Doc?" Seymour replied with a smile.
"I'm working on something. You guys?" Fisher said.
Andrew made a face that said "I don't know" and replied, "Nothing much."
With that, the four entered the parlor.
"Oh," the doctor replied as he left, nose in a holoscreen.
As the doctor exited, he bumped into Gwen, who had calmed down. Two rolls of duct tape was in her hand, one yellow, one pink.
Fisher looked at the two rolls of tape and asked, "What's with the tape?"
Gwen shrugged and replied, "Nothing, really."
The doctor squinted and said, "Right."
With that, he left. Gwen ran over to Rebel and Marcus.
"Okay," the green ranger said, "I've got a tape measure, scissors and a lot of duct tape. Let's get to work."
After a few minutes and a few feet of tape, the job was finished; Marcus now had yellow on his uniform and Rebel had pink on hers.
"Nice," Marcus said, looking at his uniform, "Can't even tell this is duct tape."
"Yeah," Rebel concurred, examining hers as well.
Suddenly, Marcus's cell phone rang to alert him that he'd received a text. It read: "Outside waitin 4 u. MOM"
Marcus's eyes' widened and said, "They're here. Now, remember, call Rebel Quinn, her eye was lost in a battle, and don't make fun of my mom's hat."
Seymour nodded and said, "Got it."
Marcus gave the red ranger a thumbs up and left to get his parents.
"Oh," Rebel said, "And they're reporters and they want to interview us."
Andrew mouth dropped and the blue ranger replied, "Why didn't you tell us this earlier?"
Rebel sighed and said, "Because we were afraid if we told you, you wouldn't help us."
"Okay, Reb... I mean Quinn," Andrew replied, shrugging it off the strange way he does.
Rebel's eye twitched.
"Something wrong, Quinn?" Gwen asked.
Rebel's eye twitched again, faced Gwen, and told her, "I don't like my name. That's why I've gone by Rebel since I've been here."
"Okay, but try to control that twitch," Gwen replied, "It's so noticeable..."
Andrew interrupted. "This is a serious time, Gwen. It's not the right time for jokes."
Gwen stuck her tongue out at the blue ranger, but he ignored it.
"Is this how you usually act?" a new voice said.
The rangers turned as a 5' something woman with blonde hair and blue eyes entered the room. The warning Marcus had given them about the hat was quite in order; it was a fusion of a sombero and straw hat with fake fruit spread around inside the rim. She was followed by a 6' even man that looked at rather lot like Marcus.
"Hello, Power Rangers," the woman said as she sat down. "I am Romona Regalia. This is my husband, Paul Regalia."
The man nodded before he sat down.
"So, I already know my two children," the reporter said, "Why don't you other three introduce yourselves?"
She gave a wave of her hand for them to sit. The three rangers did so, taking up the entire couch opposite of the love seat. Marcus and Rebel shared a recliner.
"I'm Seymour Russell, the Red Atomic Ranger," Seymour informed them.
Mrs. Regalia became intrigued. "Are you any relation to Nick Russell?"
Seymour shook his head and replied, "I'm sorry. I don't know who that is."
"He was the Red Mystic Force Ranger down in Briarwood," Mr. Regalia explained.
"Oh yeah!" Seymour replied, slightly embarrassed. "I am related to his adoptive parents, they're my aunt and uncle, but I'm not related to Nick himself."
Mrs. Regalia scribbled down notes and Mr. Regalia nodded.
"So, onto the next ranger," Mrs. Regalia said.
Andrew nodded and said, "I'm Andrew Davis, and I am the Blue Atomic Ranger."
Mrs. Regalia wrote some more.
"And I'm Gwen Montgomery, Green Atomic Ranger," Gwen said.
Mrs. Regalia squinted and said, "Isn't green usually a boy color?"
Gwen made a confused face. "I guess?"
"Then why is Marcus the yellow ranger?"
Gwen shrugged. "Ask Dr. Fisher."
Mrs. Regalia nodded deeply and said, "I'll do just that."
She got up to go to his office.
"Um..." Gwen began, casting an urgent look at Andrew.
"Dr. Fisher is busy today," Andrew piped up.
"Yes," the green ranger replied, then calming down rather quickly, "Sorry."
"Oh," Mrs. Regalia said as she sat back down.
The three rangers exchanged a "That was close" look with each other.
"So, what do you as the Power Rangers Atomic Force?" Mr. Regalia replied.
Seymour scooted forward on the couch. "We fight Gelato's forces and protect the city of Five Hills and all its inhabitants."
Mrs. Regalia nodded and wrote more notes. "It must be hard having to protect thousands with five of you."
Seymour relaxed, his back coming into contact with the back of the sofa. "It's not easy, but I know that three of us can take care of anything Gelato throws at us."
Mrs. Regalia made a confused face. "Then why are there five rangers?"
Seymour shrugged. "Just in case Gelato sends more than one Gel Shocker."
Mr. Regalia nodded and said, "That makes sense."
Seymour got up with a grunt and said, "Is the interview over?"
Mrs. Regalia put her notes and pencil away. "Yes."
Andrew got up as well, followed by Gwen.
"Well, let's go. We've got training to do," Seymour said.
He exited the room, quickly followed by Andrew and Gwen.
"Well," Mrs. Regalia told her children, "What are you waiting for? Aren't you going to train with your teammates?"
Rebel and Marcus looked at each other.
"Oh, right!" Marcus said.
The two squirmed out of the arm chair and rushed after their "teammates".
FIVE HILLS, NC 7:30 A.M.
Biolash looked around the corner from an alley.
"It's time to put my plan into action," the Gel Shocker said to himself.
The chains unwrapped themselves, seized a car and flipped it over.
Biolash walked out into the open.
"That should get their attention," he chortled.
FISHER LABS, INC. 7:31 A.M.
Alarms began to go off in the halls of Fisher Labs.
Mrs. Regalia looked at her husband and said, "I think we're about to see a ranger fight!"
"Crap," Seymour whispered, "This isn't good."
"I know," Marcus replied, "But if we don't go with you, they'll know we're lying."
Seymour, Andrew, and Gwen all exchanged looks.
"Fine," Seymour told them, "Just don't get too close to the fighting."
Marcus rolled his eyes and said, "Look, if we don't fight, they'll know we're lying."
Out of nowhere, Dr. Fisher walked up and said, "Hello, rangers." He winked at them.
"Hey, guys? I think the doc knows," Gwen whispered.
"No, really?" Andrew replied sarcastically.
Dr. Fisher pulled out a brief case to reveal a yellow and pink version of the Atomic Morphers.
"These are good for a one time morph," Dr. Fisher whispered. "Whichever of the two of you performs the best in the field today will test my new gadget once it is finished. Do we have a deal?"
Marcus and Rebel nodded and took the Morphers.
"Good luck," he whispered with a smile.
The five cast looks after the doctor and Seymour said, "We are in so much trouble."
And with that, they took off.
FIVE HILLS, NC 7:34 A.M.
Biolash laughed as he whipped his chains around, slicing everything in their paths.
"Hey, Biolash," Seymour said as the monster turned about. "I can see you're halving a good time, but is there any chance we're inviting."
There was a pause.
"Halving? Get it?" Seymour said.
"Ugh, just leave the bad jokes to Gwen," Andrew told her.
"Hey!" Gwen replied in a hurt tone.
"Ready?" Seymour said.
"Ready!" the other four replied.
Seymour, Andrew, and Gwen punched in 2-8-1-3-* and said, "Atomic Scramble, Engage!"
Marcus and Rebel followed the lights programmed to show them the code and punched in 7-9-2-1-3-#-#.
"Quark Power!" the two yelled.
Seymour is in a nuclear reactor. The atomic structure of the uranium is displayed until it explodes. The neutrons and electrons vanish, leaving protons. The protons collide with Seymour's body causing a suit to form. The helmet is made from the remaining protons. The visor forms a plus sign.
Andrew is in a nuclear reactor. The atomic structure of the uranium is displayed until it explodes. The protons and electrons vanish, leaving neutrons. The neutrons collide with Andrew's body causing a suit to form. The helmet is made from the remaining neutrons. The visor forms a null sign.
Gwen is in a nuclear reactor. The atomic structure of the uranium is displayed until it explodes. The protons and neutrons vanish, leaving electrons. The electrons collide with Gwen's body causing a suit to form. The helmet is made from the remaining electrons. The visor forms a minus sign.
Marcus and Rebel are in near a giant atom. They enter one of the protons to reveal orange, yellow, and pink quarks. The yellow ones orbit Marcus and the pink Rebel. Their bodies glow their respective colors, creating their suits. Their helmets form. Marcus's visor is a slash and Rebel's a backslash.
"Power of the Proton, Red Ranger!" Seymour called.
"Power of the Neutron, Blue Ranger!" Andrew said.
"Power of the Electron, Green Ranger!" Gwen cried.
"Yellow Quark Ranger!" Marcus yelled.
"Pink Quark Ranger!" Rebel said.
"Through the power of science, we defeat the alien foe! Power Rangers Atomic Force!" the core three yelled.
Biolash scoffed and said, "Ha! You don't scare me for a second!"
The Gel Shocker whipped his chains towards them.
"Jump!" Seymour ordered.
Andrew and Gwen did so with Seymour jumping as well. Marcus and Rebel weren't that lucky. The chains wrapped around them and Biolash dragged the two towards him.
The monster laughed and said, "Don't waste you time."
The monster pulled out a chain whose edges were razor sharp and put it in front of the yellow and pink rangers. Biolash then binded them tighter, making their morphers break. The two's morphs broke. Rebel kicked and screamed while Marcus tried to free himself.
"Hey, let them go!" Seymour yelled, his sword poised.
"Uh, uh, uh," Biolash retorted. "One move against me and they die."
Seymour growled and stuck his sword into the ground.
The monster laughed and said, "If you want to see your friends alive again, then bring me the Time Walker. Otherwise, you'll have two more corpses to bury."
Suddenly, there was a flash of lightning and Biolash, Marcus, and Rebel disappeared.
"This is bad," Andrew said.
"Nah, ya think?" Gwen yelled at him sarcastically.
"Easy, Gwen," Seymour told the green ranger.
The rangers demorphed.
"How can we get them back?" Gwen asked, "We have..."
She looked up into the sky, forced her teammates into a huddle, and whispered, "We have no idea where the Time Walker is or who he or she is."
Then, Andrew got an idea. "Maybe we don't need the Time Walker."
Seymour and Gwen looked at him, confused.
"Okay," the blue ranger continued, "Listen closely."
ABANDONED WAREHOUSE, 8:01 A.M.
Biolash paced the floor of the warehouse, carrying Rebel and Marcus with him.
Rebel looked at her captor and said, "Would it kill you to stay in one place?" Her voice was hoarse from screaming.
Biolash slammed her against a box and said, "Quiet, whelp. Last time I checked, I was the one in control. And I don't think that's changed."
"Let them go!" Seymour said as he entered, quickly followed by Andrew and Gwen, the latter wheeling in Rob No-legs. Rob had a blanket over where his legs should be.
"Rob?" Rebel asked hoarsely.
"Rob!" Marcus yelled.
Biolash laughed. "Thank you ever so kindly, rangers. Who knew that the Time Walker was disguising himself as a man in a wheelchair?"
"Rebel and Marcus first, then you'll get the Time Walker," Andrew told him.
Biolash nodded. "I'm a Gel Shocker of my word. Catch!"
The next they knew, Rebel and Marcus were in the air. Acting quickly, Seymour caught Rebel in his arms, which made the two blush a little. Gwen, however, just ended up breaking Marcus's fall, keeling over onto her back with him lying on top.
"Thanks, Gwen," Marcus whispered.
"Get off," Gwen commanded.
Marcus quickly got up, and pulled Gwen up.
"Sorry," Marcus said.
"Don't talk to me," Gwen said, turning her back to him.
"Okay," Marcus said as he slumped.
Andrew nodded. "And the Time Walker as promised."
Rob nodded and wheeled over to Biolash.
"At long last, I have claimed the Time Walker for Gelato!" the monster howled in triumph.
"Yeah, there's just one thing," Rob interrupted. The man tore off his blanket.
Biolash roared. "You tricked me!" he said angrily, his chains rearing up to strike.
Before Biolash could do anything else, Rob snatched a Proton Pistol, a red and gray laser blaster, from behind his back and fired at Biolash's abdomen. The force of the blast at point blank range sent the Gel Shocker into the boxes behind him and Rob back to the rangers.
"Marcus, Rebel, get Rob out of here!" Seymour commanded.
The siblings nodded, grabbed Rob's chair, and wheeled him out of the warehouse. The three rangers morphed quickly and activated Gamma Mode.
"Let's go," Seymour said, his Gyroblade humming as he twirled it.
"You're going to pay!" Biolash said as his chains whipped towards the rangers.
The rangers charged and slashed their way through wave after wave of chains. Seymour reached the Gel Shocker first, slashing him across the chest. Andrew and Gwen slashed the monster up and down the shoulders, severing the rest of his chains.
"Gyroblades, Buzzsaw Mode!" the three yelled as their Gyroblades reached breakneck speeds.
They threw their Gyroblades at Biolash, causing him to explode.
"Don't mess with our friends!" Seymour yelled.
GELATO'S SHIP, 8:12 A.M.
"And nanobots are sent," Biomecha muttered to herself, hitting the enter button.
OUTSIDE OF WAREHOUSE, 8:13 A.M.
"You puny power punks!" an enlarged Biolash roared.
"Gamma Zords!" the rangers yelled.
The rangers entered their respective Zords where wires connected to their suits.
'Gamma Zords, Combine!' the three yelled in unison.
The Spino Zord roars, quickly echoed by the Cranio and Pentacera Zords. The Pentacera zord split in half symmetrically, then folded at the head to create the feet. The tail reassembled in a downward position, creating the pelvis. The Spino Zord's head attached to said pelvis, the spines on the front, tail swerving to create the left arm. The Cranio Zord's arms and legs attached to the main body and the zord attached to the other side creating the right arm.
The Megazord strikes a pose and the rangers proclaim, "Ancient Atomic Megazord!"
Biolash whipped his chains around the Megazord.
"This might be a shock to you," Biolash said as a shock ran through the chain.
To Biolash's surprise, nothing happened.
"What?" he roared in surprise.
'It's shock-proof,' Seymour replied. 'Nice try. Activate Spino Saw!'
The "saw" on the Megazord's chest cut Biolash's chain and began to spin extremely fast.
'It's time to end this!' Seymour yelled.
The background changes to a deep green, and the saw begins to rotate at breakneck speeds, creating electricity. 'Static Fist!' the rangers yell. The Megazord charges the monster, right arm extended. The electricity flowed into the fist, and it connected with the monster, causing an explosion.
"Ancient Atomic Megazord!"
GELATO'S SHIP, 8:19 A.M.
"Curses!" Gelato roared, the sound echoing throughout his ship.
Biomecha woke up from her nap, shrugged, and went back to sleep.
FISHER LABS, INC. 8:19 A.M.
Mrs. Regalia ran up to her children. "Oh, my babies!"
"Mom!" the two replied, very embarrassed.
"I'm sorry. It's just that I..." She stopped and looked at Marcus's uniform. A piece of duct tape had fallen off, revealing the gray underneath.
She peeled another piece of duct tape off. "You're not Power Rangers?"
Marcus sighed deeply. "No, Mom, we're not Power Rangers."
"W-why did you lie to me?" the reporter asked.
Rebel closed her eye and said, "We thought that, since we live at Fisher Labs, anything less than a Power Ranger you'd be ashamed of."
Mrs. Regalia looked at her children sympathetically and said, "Oh, kids, you don't have to be rangers to gain my approval. I love you just the way you are."
"Aw," Gwen said.
"And at least you're safe," Mr. Regalia said. "We hear explosions outside Gawson all the time."
"Not to mention the twenty-odd Wellspring Raids," Mrs. Regalia added. "I heard that they barely pushed the Gel Troopers back this time."
"And the Fringe Bombing and the Rapel Incident," Mr. Regalia piped up.
"Yes, yes, we all know. Fringe was bombed with bio-weapons and everyone is sick. Rapel was invaded and the majority of the citizens died before the Troopers were expelled," Andrew said.
"It's a cruel world we live in," Mrs. Regalia concluded, "At least we have the Power Rangers.
The rangers nodded.
Then, a question popped into Andrew's head. "Say Doc, how'd you know that they had said they were the yellow and pink rangers?"
The doctor pulled a device out of his ear. "Hyper Hearing-Aids. Allows me to hear everything inside of Fisher Labs. I finished them yesterday."
"And the Morphers?"
"Something I whipped up at the last minute," Doc Fisher replied with a shrug.
Andrew shrugged it off like he does and said, "Alright."
"C'mon, guys, let's go to Jungle Karma," Seymour said.
"Ooh!" Mrs. Regalia said, "Marcus's godmother is the food critic for the Gawson Paper and she says Jungle Karma has good pizza. Plus she used to work there."
Seymour laughed and said, "Yeah, it's pretty good. Just remember one thing."
"Oh?" Mrs. Regalia responded.
"Don't get in between Gwen and a Thriller Gorilla," Seymour said.
That's all for this chapter. A bit of trivia: this chapter was inspired by the SPD episode, Boom.