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Chapter 12: Wired Part 1

"So there's the Wind Ninja Academy, which has Wind, Earth and Water Ninjas," Bridge listed as he walked with Annie through the SPD base. "The Thunder Academy, which is just Thunder, and the Fire Academy, which is just Fire, and the Celestial Academy, which has Sun and Moon Ninjas?" he asked, and she nodded. "What about Ice? Or Lightning?" he asked.

"Why those?" Annie asked curiously. Bridge shrugged.

"Well you know, Fire, Ice. Thunder, Lightning," the Green Ranger said.

"Huh. Good point. No idea. It's just been those elements as far as I've known, but I was never big into my Ninja history. Just learning how to get the next guy on his face," she grinned, making Bridge laugh. "Why all the questions about Ninjas? You finally enrolling?" Annie teased him.

"Just curious!" Bridge told her. "I mean this is something totally new, well, Ninjas aren't new, but knowing that there's real Ninjas is new," he explained.

"Right," Annie raised an eyebrow but smiled all the same. "Speaking of Ninjas, where's Spencer?" she asked him.

"Oh, he's outside training with a guy, I think he said he was his teacher," Annie frowned. "Master...something, he said his name was," Bridge tried to remember.

"Master Taurus?" Annie realised.

"Yeah! How'd you know?" Bridge nodded. Annie smiled.

"Minos is in town! Why didn't Spencer say anything?" she complained. "Come on, let's go see him!" she started jogged.

"But I already met him..." Bridge frowned.

"Come on!" Annie laughed.


Spencer hit the mat again with a groan, and opened his eyes to see the blue eyes of his teacher, shining in amusement.

"You're enjoying this," Spencer accused him, taking his teacher's hand.

"Well..." Minos shrugged, but was grinning as he pulled Spencer to his feet. "Let's go again," he said, running a hand through his blonde hair. Spencer nodded, falling into a fighting stance. The two began to spar again, unaware of their audience. Spencer threw a punch that Minos caught, before catching his other fist. It turned into a grappling match, and Spencer grinned as he pushed back against Minos. "You're as good as your father," Minos commented. "But unfortunately..." Spencer's grin dropped and his eyes widened as Minos hauled him into the air, tossing him aside. "I was always a little stronger," he laughed as Spencer landed in a heap, groaning.

"Ouch, that looked a little sore," Spencer looked up at the other Rangers, who gathered around him.

"Wish I could say that was the first time he's done that," Spencer sighed, getting back to his feet.

"Who is he?" Sky asked as Minos approached.

"Guys, this is Minos, or Master Taurus," Spencer told them. "He's been teaching me the way of Pai Zhuq from the moment I could convince him to," he grinned. "Minos, this is Jack, Sky, Bridge, Z and Syd, my team," he introduced.

"Hey," Minos raised a hand. "Good to see you again too, Annie," he smiled to the young woman, whom he'd known since she was a baby. Part of him was always surprised to see her, remembering those days well. "They know about Pai Zhuq?" he realised what Spencer had said.

"Yeah, kinda had to tell them about, you know, my heritage," Spencer nodded with a weak laugh.

"I see," Minos nodded.

"We better go, we've got training with D-Squad," Jack remembered. "It was nice meeting you man," he nodded to Minos, who raised his hand.

"Remember, keep practising that grapple Spencer. You're as good as your dad, but you have potential to get even better," Spencer frowned as the others headed off.

"Not really saying much," he commented. Minos snorted.

"Kid, one thing I learned, don't underestimate your dad. He's a good fighter when he has to be. His Spirit is strong," Spencer blinked, surprised at Minos' words. "I know it can be tough, trust me, I've known him a while, which is why I say 'when he has to be'. He nearly started a war with the Elves to protect his family. Remember that," Minos clapped a hand to Spencer's shoulder, making him flinch.

"Right. I better go," Spencer nodded slowly, and jogged off, his teacher's words still in his mind.


"So remember!" Sky called to the cadets opposite him. "You never know when your enemy is going to strike. Grumm and his goons rarely give an advanced notice," he said.

"Sky's right," Z spoke up next. "You have to be alert at all times," she told them firmly.

"Being ready and alert means that when an enemy does show up, you'll be able to respond quickly," Spencer called out next. "They won't wait for you to be ready, they'll strike at the most opportune moment for them. So always be ready," he warned.

"Well," one of the cadets stepped forwards, smirking arrogantly. "If any of those Krybots try to mess with me...I'll be ready," he laughed.

"Oh, I was hoping he'd say that," Annie smirked, pressing a button. Beeping echoed behind the cadet, and he whirled around to find himself face-to-face with a Krybot. More leapt into view, attacking the cadets as the Rangers stood back and watched.

"Is she using him as a meat-shield?" Spencer asked as she watched one girl hiding behind another cadet.

"Seems so," Sky nodded.

"Think we should help them out?" Syd asked. Jack looked up from his notes, watching the Krybots overwhelming them.

"Maybe in a minute or two," the Red Ranger smirked. Syd grinned, and they went back to their notes.

"Hey, check it out," Bridge nodded to one of the cadets. She flipped through the air, easily fighting off the robots.

"Well...at least someone's got game," Jack commented, impressed.

"Yeah...she's kicking bot," Bridge commented, earning several glares. When she finished off the last of them, Annie sighed and pressed the button. "Not bad," the Green Ranger said as the girl looked around when the simulation disappeared. She lowered her fighting stance as Annie grumbled under her breath and handed over money to Spencer.

"Seriously guys, you need to stop betting on the newbies," Z hissed at them. Spencer just smiled innocently back. The four other recruits slowly pushed themselves to their feet, dazed.

"Okay, D-Squad!" Sky called as the cadets brushed themselves off. "Next time you might want to be a little more prepared," he told them.

"Let's regroup after lunch. And cadets?" they looked to Spencer, who had his arms folded. "Work harder next time, or you might want to reconsider your place at the academy," he told them. The cadets groaned, limping off as Syd approached the one who had managed to fend off the attack.

"Dude, Sensei much?" Annie whispered to him.

"Yeah, I don't know where that came from," Spencer shrugged, pushing his glasses back up. They glanced over to where Jack and Bridge were speaking to the girl, who was smiling shyly back at them. "She's pretty impressive," he commented to Annie.

"Yeah...she is," the Thunder Ninja murmured. Spencer arched an eyebrow, wondering what was going on in the mind of his friend.


"How was training?" Kayden smiled to Spencer and Annie as they walked into the control room.

"Which training? Spencer getting thrown across the field, or the D-Squad cadets getting their butts kicked?" Annie smirked. Spencer rolled his eyes.

"Oh? What happened to you? I know Annie always beats you, but I didn't think she was that strong," Kayden commented, folding his arms and wincing. He was still a little sore from his encounter with Benag, but most of his cuts and bruises were almost completely healed.

"I was training with Minos," Spencer frowned at him.

"Oh, I didn't realise he was in town. Looking forward to you getting tossed about plenty more then," Kayden grinned, and Annie laughed. Spencer gave a mocking laugh.

"Mock me all you will, but when I get that grapple down, I'll be doing the same to you," he warned the cousins. They exchanged smirks.

"Sure, you beating Annie at something. Let me know when that happens, because clearly it'll be the end of the world," Kayden told him.

"Who's side are you on?!" Spencer demanded.

"The side that won't kick my ass if I agree with her," Kayden told him seriously. Annie smirked as she leaned her elbow on his shoulder. Spencer sighed, unable to argue that logic.

"Welcome to the extremely cool and high-tech command centre," they looked around to see Bridge guiding the new girl in. She looked around, fascinated. "Notice the many buttons and switches," he grinned.

"This must be the Cadet you suggested for our computer intern," Kat approached the two.

"Yep! Sophie, I'm sure you've heard all about our resident brainiac, Doctor Manx," Kat smiled bashfully at the praise. "Then there's Kayden, her second in command and our kind of team coach," Kayden raised a hand.

"Sup," he greeted. "Wait, team coach? When did that happen?" he glanced to the two beside him.

"Since you give us little pep-talks?" Spencer snorted. Kayden frowned.

"I do not!" he argued.

"You so do," Spencer insisted.

"And yes, it's always like that when they're around," Kat told Sophie, who laughed.

"And of course, the big dog, Commander Kruger," Bridge introduced Sophie as Kruger approached.

"Cadet," he nodded.

"I can't believe I'm meeting you all in person," she smiled shyly.

"Sophie knows a ton about computers," Bridge explained. "I mean, maybe even more than me," he shrugged, looking impressed with the girl.

"I'm so honoured to be here sir, it's always been my dream to be part of SPD," Sophie told Kruger.

"Well, from what I've heard, you're off to a good start," he nodded. Sophie looked down at the screens in front of her.

"This looks like a complicated system, I'm not familiar with it," she commented.

"It's the upgrade programme for DBDS, the Delta Base Defence System," Kat explained. "It'll be amazing, if I ever finish sequencing the algorithms," she sighed.

"Keep at it, Miss Manx, we know you can do it," Kruger told her confidently.

"Well maybe if my second in command wasn't so easily distracted," she shot Kayden a look, and he cleared his throat, walking over.

"Hey, I build the hardware, you do all the genius stuff Doc," Kayden grinned. "She's the genius here. I just help make it look good," he confided in Sophie, winking at her. The girl couldn't help but laugh as Kat rolled her eyes.

"Then how about getting to work with it?" she asked him sternly.

"Anything for you Doc," Kayden grinned. "This upgrade is gonna be off the hook dudes, laters!" he called, leaving.

"Someone seriously needs to tell him what year it is," Spencer said to Annie, and when she didn't respond, he frowned and looked at her. "Yo, what's up?" he asked as she watched Sophie with an unreadable expression. Suddenly the ground began to shake, and Spencer caught Annie as she fell. His brow furrowed even more. Annie never lost her balance in such a way.

"What's happening?" Sophie cried, hanging onto the console.

"What is it Kat?" Kruger looked to her quickly.

"Unidentified seismic activity in sector 17," she said.

"You and the Rangers go investigate," Kruger ordered. Kat nodded, and she hurried off with Bridge, Spencer and Annie.


Pulling up where the disturbance had been picked up, the Rangers and Kat approached a massive hole in the ground.

"Whoa," Z gulped.

"This is the epicentre of the disturbance," Kat determined.

"Yeah, I can believe that," Spencer ran a hand through his hair.

"This thing is massive," Jack frowned.

"Well it doesn't look like an earthquake caused it," Z commented.

"Maybe it's some sort of excavation site," Syd considered.

"It would take a massive machine to dig a hole this big," Sky frowned.

"Or..." Spencer swallowed nervously.

"Or what?" Jack asked him.

"Dig out of it," Kat finished for the Gold Ranger.

"Hmm...I'm thinking giant gophers," Bridge suggested. The others looked at him with droll stares. "Anyone else?" he asked, looking to each of them.

"Something tells me it's a little more dangerous than giant gophers," Spencer commented.

"And whatever it is, it's still out there," Kat reminded them.


"Annie, what is up with you?" Spencer asked as he caught up to the Silver Ranger. "You've barely spoken unless you have to. You haven't even made any snarky comments to Sky today. And that's weird," Spencer told the blonde. She looked away.

"It's nothing. I'm fine," she insisted.

"You're a terrible liar Annie. Seriously, what is up?" Annie frowned and kept walking, but Spencer followed her. "Dude, you know I'm going to bug you till you tell me. It's how we roll," he pointed out.

"It's nothing Spence, I'm just tired and want to be left alone!" she snapped at him. Spencer stopped, his eyes wide in surprise, and Annie bit her lip, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap. I'm just..." she trailed off, and kept walking as Spencer followed. When they stepped into the rec room, Annie stopped abruptly, watching Bridge talking brightly to Sophie as he ate.

"Annie?" Spencer glanced to her, and followed her gaze. "Oh," his eyes lit up. "Oh," he couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" Annie snapped at him.

"You're jealous of the new girl," Annie felt her cheeks blaze at Spencer's accusation.

"You're crazy!" she almost shouted, which only made Spencer laugh more.

"Seriously Annie? That's what this is about?" Annie scowled, going even redder as Spencer tried to stop laughing. "I'm sorry Annie, but I've been worried all day. So has Kayden. We thought something was really wrong with you," Sophie suddenly jumped up from the table and practically ran away from Bridge, who had been in the middle of removing a glove. She almost ran into the pair, her eyes growing wider. Annie frowned, seeing something that she didn't expect, but Sophie ran off before she could say anything.

"Spencer, if you don't stop laughing..." Annie growled when Spencer almost doubled over laughing. When he didn't stop, her eye twitched.

There was a loud crash, and Spencer's laughter turned to a cry of pain. Bridge looked up in alarm to see Annie pinning Spencer to the ground, her knee in the small of his back as she pressed his face to the ground. "Knock it off!" she snapped at him.

"That's more like it," Spencer managed to say, despite his face being pressed into the ground.

"Um...Annie?" she looked up quickly as Bridge blinked at her. "What are you doing?" he asked curiously. She let Spencer up, and the Gold Ranger stood slowly, rubbing his back.

"She's reminding me why I don't make fun of her," he told Bridge.

"Oh...I thought that was a given," Bridge smiled. "She'd kick all our butts," he said. Annie's expression hardened, and she turned away.

"I've got training," she muttered, leaving abruptly as Bridge's smile fell.

"Why is everyone running away from me today?" he asked. Spencer shook his head, rubbing his still stinging nose.

"And they call me oblivious," he muttered. Bridge just blinked, not understanding what he meant.


The next morning, the Rangers met the D-Squad cadets they had been training out the front of the SPD base. Annie was still irritable, glaring at Spencer as he tried to hide his amusement.

"Here on the streets is where it all happens," Sky told the rigid cadets. "It is up to us to keep the peace and quiet," he said, only for an explosion to knock both groups off their feet. The Rangers flipped through the air, managing to right themselves, but the D-Squad weren't so lucky, landing on the ground hard. Looking up quickly as they heard laughter, they found an alien in white armour holding a blaster, with a group of Krybots behind him.

"You okay?" Jack called as they pulled the cadets to their feet.

"I'm sorry, was that disturbing the peace?" he asked mockingly.

"Cadets, this is no test, this is the real deal," Jack warned them as he pushed them back.

"You have something I want. And I'm here to get it!" the alien declared.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Jack frowned.

"A Series One Processor Hyper Intelligence Encrypter. Surrender it now or pay the price!" the alien demanded. The Rangers frowned, none of them knowing what he was talking about.

"Even if we knew what you meant, we aren't going to give anything to you," Spencer told him, falling into a fighting stance.

"Except maybe 20 years in containment," Syd added.

"Out of my way!" he growled

"I don't think so," Sky frowned at him.

"Ready?"

"Ready!"

"SPD, EMERGENCY!" the Rangers Morphed and began to fight off their opponents, with Z and Syd fighting the alien. He tossed them aside, and as Sky and Spencer jumped in, he kicked them away. Seeing Sophie on the ground, he turned to her.

"There you are!" he began to move towards her, blasting her when she tried to run.

"Leave her alone!" Annie leapt in and slashed across his chest, making him cry out.

"Get out of my way!" he blasted the Silver Ranger, and continued towards the injured girl on the ground. However, before he could reach her, the ground rumbled and shook, making the alien cry out in alarm as he struggled to remain standing. In his disorientation, he didn't see the large hammer coming for him. It slammed into his chest, and he was tossed aside.

"Excuse me, but even I knew better than to pick on innocent civilians," the Rangers looked up in surprise to see an unfamiliar figure wearing brown and black armour with large horns.

"Whoa, who is that?" Z gasped, her eyes wide as they knocked aside the Krybots that got in their way. Spencer laughed as he saw Minos protecting Sophie, his hammer over his shoulder. He then lifted it, slamming it down hard, and the ground shook again, giving him a chance to knock him back again.

"Get these guys to safety, I'll help out here," Minos told Bridge as he ran over. The Green Ranger nodded, helping Sophie to her feet before guiding her and the others back inside.

"Thanks for the help," Spencer said as he ran over to him. Minos rested his hammer over his shoulder again; the long handle making it almost as long as he was.

"Well I was hardly going to sit back and watch," Minos snorted. Spencer laughed again, and they continued to fight. However, the alien suddenly blasted all of them, throwing them off the bridge and down to a lower section.

"Didn't see that coming," Jack gulped. When the ground began to shake again, they found a giant robot appearing in the city, emerging from underground.

"That's bad!"

"No kidding!"

"Now what?" Sky groaned.

"Perfect timing! Now attack the Delta Base!" the alien ordered. The robot turned to the base, and began to fire.

"We gotta stop them!" Jack yelled, grabbing his Morpher. 'Kat! We need the Delta Runners!" he told her.

'The exit doors are getting blasted!" Kat replied. 'They'll be destroyed,' she told them.

"Then how can we stop the base from getting destroyed?" Annie demanded. Lasers were then fired from the base, blasting the robot back. The base began to move suddenly, changing shape and moving towards the robot.

"That's new," Minos commented, tilting his head as they stared in shock.

"The whole base is moving!"

"It's incredible!"

"Kat, you've done it again!"

"Great work Kat!"

"It's so cool," the Rangers laughed in amazement. Blasts were fired from the turrets on top, but even it wasn't enough to take out the robot.

"It's still not enough," Annie frowned as the robot blasted the base again.

"Alright, then I guess I'll step in," Minos shook his head and walked away from the Rangers.

"Where are you going?" Sky frowned, watching him.

"Getting you an opening so you can get your Zords," Minos shrugged, his brown aura surrounding him. "Spirit of the Bull!" his Animal Spirit bellowed as it rose from him, growing in size and becoming more corporeal as Minos leapt up to it.

"How'd he do that?" Jack demanded as they watched the bull slam into the robot.

"It's an advanced Pai Zhuq technique. The Jungle Fury Rangers used it to form their Zords," Spencer explained as they watched the Bull knock away the robot. Jack's Morpher then beeped loudly.

'Rangers, I'm sending you the Runners,' Kat announced. The base opened the bay doors, and the Runners emerged, heading into battle. The Rangers leapt up into their Zords as Minos moved back to let them form the Megazord and face off against the robot.

"Come and get me!" the robot goaded, and they blasted him before leaping aside to dodge his attack. They blasted the robot again, before he came at them with his sword. Grabbing their own, they clashed, pushing back. "I've got you now!" he laughed as they pushed him. Both were then pushed back, and they grabbed their blaster again, blasting the robot repeatedly before leaping into the air. With a powerful strike, they damaged the robot, making him unable to move. Raising their blaster, they aimed it at him, charging it up.

"Seven!"

"Six!"

"Five!"

"Four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Fire!" the Rangers blasted the robot several times, destroying it.

"Got em!" Bridge grinned, before the ground began to shake again.

"What now?" Annie called as the Megazord stumbled. Clawed arms burst from the ground, raised over the destroyed robot.

"No way!"

"What?"

"You're kidding!"

"What is that?" the claws then wrapped around the robot, and dragged it underground. It disappeared, leaving behind a hole.


"So that was Goradon," Syd commented as the Rangers walked through their base.

"He's probably going to use the energy from that other robot to make himself even stronger," Sky frowned at the thought.

"Then we'll need to find a way to stop him before he trashes the city," Spencer commented.

"Hey, hold on guys, I just wanna see how Sophie's doing," Bridge remembered as they passed the D-Squad rooms. The doors to Sophie's room slid open, and they stepped in, freezing as she looked up with wide eyes.

"Why didn't you tell us you're a Cyborg?" Jack asked her softly when she struggled to think of what to say.

"I couldn't! You would have kicked me out of SPD if you knew!" she told him, looking scared.

"So instead you hide it from us?" Syd frowned.

"Like we wouldn't find out some day," Z shook her head.

"You know this stuff is supposed to be declared," Spencer folded his arms.

"You're all forgetting one thing," they glanced at Sky. "The Command Centre computer was hacked last night," he pointed out.

"Kayden said not a trace of evidence was left behind," Annie remembered what her cousin had told her. "No fingerprints, nothing," she frowned.

"Who wants to bet she did it?" Sky accused, scowling at Sophie.

"Alright, it was me," Sophie admitted, knowing she was cornered. "But I was only trying to help!" she insisted.

"And we're supposed to start believing you now?" Sky demanded.

"Why did you do it?" Annie asked her softly, making the others glance to her in surprise. She was frowning, but there was a gentleness to her voice that they hadn't expected from their short-fused Silver Ranger.

"I was trying to help!" Sophie insisted.

"You're a security risk to the entire base," Sky told her.

"Bridge, tell them! I'd never do anything to hurt you guys," Sophie pleaded. "I'm as loyal to SPD as any of you," she looked up at the Green Ranger, who had been silent the whole time. Bridge glanced to the other Rangers, before shaking his head.

"I don't know what to believe Sophie," he told her softly.

"I guess it's unanimous decision. You're expelled from the Academy," nobody spoke as Sophie got up and walked out, keeping her eyes lowered.


Rubbing her still damaged arm, Sophie leaned against a wall, closing her eyes as she berated herself.

"You're looking a little bummed out," she jumped, opening her eyes to find Kayden standing in front of her. "Sophie, right?" he smiled.

"Right," she nodded slowly.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked, leaning against the wall.

"I got expelled," Kayden's easy smile dropped in his surprise.

"What? Why?" he asked, confused.

"I lied about who...what I am," Sophie reluctantly lowered her sleeve, and his eyes widened.

"A cyborg...you're the one who hacked into the computer?" he asked her carefully. Sophie looked away.

"I was trying to help!" she insisted.

"I see. Well, come on then," she frowned, watching as Kayden pushed himself back up.

"Where are we going?" she asked slowly, confused. Kayden grinned at her.

"Back to talk to the others," he told her. Sophie's eyes widened, and she shook her head. "What, they let you explain?" he asked with a glimmer of amusement.

"I just didn't know what to say...I lied to them," she shook her head.

"Just who I've been looking for!" they looked around and Sophie gasped, backing away as the alien from before leaned against the wall beside them. He laughed as Kayden stepped in front of her, wondering just how he kept ending up in these situations.


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