Streets of Angel Grove
Dillon and Scott immediately turn the corner and are completely aggravated, and dumbfounded, to see nothing but a Hexagon shaped crater where the building used to be... "Where do you think it went exactly?" Ziggy ponders, coming down to the street off an adjacent balcony. Dillon and Scott ignore Ziggy's statement, staring blankly towards the crater. "No" Dillon starts, as he pushes his way towards the hole, casting aside pieces of debris left behind in the move. In no time Dillon reaches the edge of the crater, only to see that it is, in fact, empty. "It's gone! It's all gone!" Dillon bellows. Quickly, Scott and Ziggy make their way to his side. "Well it didn't just disappear, and it definitely didn't just walk away on it's own, so we gotta hope there's some clues, some trace of the thing, yeah?" Scott reasons. While Scott and Ziggy make their way into the crater to survey the area, Dillon steps away from the now vacant lot. "It was right here, hell, we were standing inside of it. It was all right here, and they were all right here, right in my hands! And I let that all slip away. Summer's gone, and this is all my fault" Dillon mutters, inaudible to Scott and Ziggy. "You coming, Dillon?" Ziggy yells up from the crater. Incensed, Dillon makes his way back to the edge of the crater. "No, you know what? How about you guys go back to Tommy and his colourful pals and help them out, trust me, they need it. My biggest mistake was getting wrapped up in all that, all I care about is getting Summer back and I can do that by myself" Dillon orders, begrudgingly,"So how exactly do you plan on doing that?" Scott wonders. Dillon looks at Scott directly in his eyes, but still almost too angry to form a proper sentence. "I'll knock on every door around here if I have to, until someone tells me what happened to an entire building" Dillon explains, "We'll come with you then" Scott responds. Dillon, in an attempt to demonstrate that he's at least somewhat level headed, places his hand on Scott's shoulder to cool any tensions. "No, I need some space, and some time, and...I might not really care about the war those guys are fighting right now, but I really should. So go, go help those guys out. This is something I have to do for myself" Dillon articulates, before casually walking away.
Helipad
Elsewhere, the truck used to transport the Hexagon's rangers from Turtle Cove to their next rendezvous point has finally closed in on its destination. The truck's cargo, 3 able Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, 6 battered Samurai rangers, 5 dismantled Mega Force, 6 not unscathed Lightspeed rangers, 2 thrashed and demoralized Overdrive rangers, and one indifferent Turbo ranger, wait in anticipation of the new base of operations that they've been informed of. "Are you guys going to be okay?" Dana asks Gia, Noah, and Emma, 3 of the more injured rangers, "I think so" Emma smiles back, "Man, I hope so" Noah adds. Meanwhile, Gia seems far less sure of here condition, cowering an grasping her side. "Here, let me have a look at that" Dana exclaims, gingerly making her way towards Gia, and then gently helping her lift her shirt enough to see her injuries. "No lacerations, but severe bruising...I think you may have some broken rips" Dana lends her expertise, "Really, I'm fine" Gia retorts, dismissively. Dana takes one look at the young teen and knows she's more hurt than she's letting on. "Then you won't mind if I..." Dana starts, lightly touching Gia's ribs, but still managing to reign in a chorus of pain from Gia's mouth. "I'll get you wrapped up as soon as we touch down" Dana smiles. Gia smiles back, though with the intensity she is usually treated with by her superiors, she feels that it may be against her own better judgment. Put on edge by the young Megaforce rangers' injuries, Dana slowly makes her way back over to Carter, Kelsey, and Chad, on the other side of the truck.
"This isn't right, they're just kids" Dana whispers, "Dana!" Carter fires back much louder, gesturing towards Jason, Billy, and Trini. "So what? Were not allowed to dislike the way we conduct our business? Even if we still keep doing the dirty work anyway" Dana rifles back, her own voice involuntarily increasing in audibility. "Dana, please. Our government asked each of us here to do a job and we're doing that job, it's that simple. It's our responsibility to be loyal citizens and do the best job possible, and without questioning those above our pay grade" Carter tries to reason, still quietly. Dana takes one quick glance into Carter's eyes, expecting to see a bold, plain idealism like so many others involved in the mission have, but instead she is convinced she sees fear, which is truly unbecoming of a red ranger, or any power ranger for that matter. "Don't question..? Or else what?" Dana starts, her voice now loud enough to be luckily heard by all the inhabitants of the truck. "Or else we end up like Ryan and Joel? I'm sorry, I don't get it. I don't know what they did to them but those shells are not them" Dana continues, motioning towards Joel and Ryan, staring blankly into the wall of the truck. "Joel hasn't tried a single joke since the president "persuaded him" into coming back. Ryan hasn't had a single independent thought. So either this mission brainwashes you, or it breaks you, but either way, I'm done living in fear. I'll do the job, it's what my country asks of me, but I will not do it naively, and I will not do it happily" Dana finishes, surprising all of the government's rangers. All of Dana's teammates, whether old or new, having never seen her act like this before, have no clue how to act. After a brief pause, Carter gets up and puts his hand on her shoulder. "I'm not going to let what's happening break anyone else" Dana begins to tear up, "I know, I know" Carter sighs, embracing Dana. Suddenly, abruptly, the truck stops. "Now, if Days of Our Lives is finished back there...we're here" Jason booms from the front of the truck and then leads his crew out of the vehicle. Stepping out of the truck, the rangers find themselves in an airfield. "Kind of barren, don't you think?" Chad jests, "It's an airfield you primordial ignoramous" Billy cackles back. Once the group of rangers reaches about 40 yards from the truck, they are met by a welcoming committee of the president and a dozen clones. "Where are the planes taking us?" Kelsey asks, "Helicopters! And the exact location is classified. But let's just say it's familiar, though you've probably never seen anything quite like this before" The president explains, mostly adding to the confusion.
The Power Chamber
Tommy Oliver stands in the middle of the power chamber. With the collective focus of all of "his" rangers (sans the RPM rangers who have yet to return) placed firmly on him, he struggles to find something encouraging to say. "I want to tell you that we can fix this easily, or that we're on the right track and everything's going to be okay, but it's not. All I can tell you is that the president is planning something much bigger than we initially thought, and if that's any indication, he wants more than just us dead. We could even be talking genocide, and so...It's about time we step out of the shadows and go on the offensive. We have to bring this to an end. One way, or the other" Tommy preaches, "It's about time! We can take those guys. We could've taken them right there in Turtle Cove" Conner considers, "Yeah, but at what cost" Kira emphasizes, pointing to their most injured. (T.J., Lily, and Merrick primarily). Tommy takes a deep breath and goes to finish his thought. "And that's exactly it, the risks are so great. You need to understand that, understand that you still may be able to walk away at this point. I would never walk away but I wouldn't question any of you for doing so. We've fought robots, monsters, demons, you name it...and we have lived, fought, won, lost, thrived and died inside of a day, but this is different. This is personal, these are our friends, and frankly, most of them want to kill us. If you don't want to cross that line, I don't blame you" Tommy ends. "That line was crossed a long time ago" Zack breathes, placing his hand on Tommy's shoulder, "Yeah, we're always with you Dr. O" Kira adds, for she and Conner. Leo and Karone look to each other next. "I didn't fly all the way down here to miss this" Leo exclaims, "Me neither" Karone joins. Hunter and Tori follow suit with silent nods. "You have my spirit, but I'm afraid in this condition I can't offer much else" Merrick dampens things slightly, "Without question you know where my loyalty lays" Adam smiles, but continues his work. "As soon as I'm up on my feet, we'll be standing side by side" Lily grins. "I'm always up for it and I bet T.J. Will be too, you know, the second he wakes up" Wes completes the roll call. With the room united, Conner gingerly approaches his mentor. "What's the next step then Dr. O?" Conner asks. As Tommy prepares to find a synonym for war, he is interrupted by the sound of a commotion on the stairs that stuns the room. Taylor Earhardt enters the power chamber, helped by the quantum ranger, Eric Myers.
Immediately, Alyssa hurries and grabs Taylor from Eric. "What is he doing here!?" Conner gasps. Meanwhile, he, Wes, Hunter, Zack, and Leo, and Kira mostly surround Eric. "Come back for round 2? Because trust me, your cheap shots get really boring, really fast" Wes taunts, "Naw, he's here to convert us to the brand new cult he calls the kiss the president's derriere club" Zack grins. Treading lightly, Eric takes a slow step towards Wes. "I assure you that I'm not here for any of that. I just want to make sure that Taylor gets the help she deserves" Eric tries to explain, "That still doesn't explain how he knew where to find us" Kira spits, "Yeah, or why he thinks he can walk in here like he owns the place" Conner adds, grabbing Eric by the collar and pushing him to the wall. As tensions build, Taylor's cry breaks the agitated silence. "Stop, please...don't hurt him" Taylor begs. Conner looks to Tommy who gestures for him to let the quantum ranger go. "He's really not a bad guy...just pigheaded" Taylor continues to argue Eric's case, "Isn't that the truth" Wes joins emphatically. With the formerly boiling tensions now on simmer, Conner backs away from Eric. "You're lucky this time" Conner mutters, "Please, I'd have you eating through a straw before you could say Dino rangers roar or whatever the hell your stupid voice command is" Eric postures. With the stalemate between Eric and Conner dually recorded, Eric makes his way past those who her were formerly surrounding him, addressing Tommy. "And if you guys didn't want me to find the place then you should've had Anton Mercer cover his financial tracks" Eric says with a sense of pride in his deductive skills. "How long have you known? Who else knows?" Tommy quickly shoots off some questions, while extending a seat for the quantum ranger. Somewhat uneasily, Eric takes a seat near where Alyssa and Adam are examining Taylor's injuries. "I've known for a little over a month, but I haven't told another soul" Eric explains, "Why?" Leo asks, confused. Eric looks at Leo dismissively but Tommy sees the statement as valid. "The man's got a point. You could've hit us in our sleep. You could've skipped the battle and ended the war" Tommy exclaims, trying to piece together Eric's somewhat fragile psyche. "But where's the fun in that? They would've just dropped a bomb on you in your sleep. Where I come from, winning the battles is what makes you deserve to win the war. Besides, contrary to popular belief, things are, uh...a little unstable over there, so it's always good to have a little something up your sleeve. Who's to say they wouldn't just turn on us if they got rid of the other rangers so easily?" Eric deconstructs his thoughts. Tommy is still unconvinced. "Why are you telling us this now? You know we can't let you leave with this information?" Tommy wonders.
"Uh guys, you're not going to believe this, but the Hexagon is gone" Ziggy shoots, entering the power chamber, led slightly by Scott. "Ugh, this guy" Scott exhales, angrily forcing his way towards Eric. "Hold up!" Zack exclaims, stepping between Scott and Eric. "Yeah, what do you mean the Hexagon is gone?" Tori asks, "As in, not there" Ziggy states matter-of-factly. Without time to spare, and his attention now hitting the right note, Scott takes control of the room. "It's gone, nothing but a hexagonal crater where the damn thing used to be. We don't know how, and we don't know why, but we do know that knowing where their base is was the only advantage we've got. So Alpha, what I need you to do is to locate some of the government rangers, then locate where they inevitably fall off the grid. From there, we can triangulate their position and put the ball back in our court" Scott commands, and without a better idea, the rest of the rangers stand by. "Great idea, Scott" Alpha cheers, "Right away" Alpha finishes, inputting a sophisticated series of commands into a nearby control panel. After about 30 seconds of flashing lights, Alpha finds no results. "Ay yi yi, our sensors are down" Alpha screams, "You're kidding" Scott looks on in disbelief, having thought that he came up with a stellar idea. With Taylor now sedated, Adam makes his way back over to Alpha. "This is bad. We've been having serious hardware malfunctions all day long" Adam grumbles, "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll have them back up in no time" Alpha assures the green Zeo ranger. Adam pushes a few buttons, running a diagnostic that gives back poor results. "I sure hope you're right Alpha, because about all we have is "no time" Adam curses.
"Maybe I can help" Eric offers, standing up from his seat, "You? Help? Now that's what I call funny" Conner smirks. Exacerbated but not diminished, Eric presses on. "Seriously...I can get you the Hexagon's new location" Eric lobbies, "And why would you do that?" Karone speaks as the avatar for her friends who share the same doubts. Frustrated but determined to stick his point through, Eric edges his way closer to Tommy who he considers to be the most level headed. "You don't think I can see my mistake? Things aren't adding up over there. People are getting hurt all in the name of a progress that isn't being made. My history in law enforcement, my past loyalties, chose my side for me the first time around, and now I need to right that wrong" Eric pleads. The room continues to look unconvinced. "Whether you like it or not, you are going to need me. If they went to the trouble of moving the place then they're going to up security tenfold. I've got an address here, but it's undoubtedly just a rally point, there's no way they're letting the cat out of the bag prematurely after all the trouble they just went to" Eric reasons, tugging at Tommy and the others' sense of desperation. "Wes, what do you think? You know Eric better than anybody" Tommy jarringly calls across the room, "I think we don't have a choice" Wes quickly answers. After saying his peace, Wes makes his way closer to the conversation. "No, what do you think of Eric?" Tommy reiterates. Stalling to formulate the best possible response, Wes closes in on his former partner.
"I think he's cocky, rash, difficult to work with, too quick to let his opinions be felt, and overall I can see why people would call him kind of a dick..." Wes starts, grinning as he speaks, "But he's an excellent martial artist, loyal to what he believes in, though that can change, and far more caring than he lets on" Wes continues, a greater sense of conviction emanating from his vocal chords now. Wes takes a quick look around the room and finishes his analysis. "He has hurt many of us, this is true...but he stood beside me during what we thought was the end of the world, when nobody else would, when nobody else could. He's taken a bullet for me, and he dropped everything to go to the moon, without hesitation, to stop Serpenterra from coming back online and destroying the entire Earth. On that moon he stood alongside many of the best leaders and most virtuous people the Power Rangers have ever seen, and fit right in the entire time. So, for all this, I think that he deserves one last chance" Wes finishes, to mixed reviews from his cohorts. Suddenly, Eric becomes energized. "Then I'm going" the quantum ranger exclaims, "Any objections?" Tommy inserts, to relative silence. "Good, because he's the only chance we've got" Tommy puts a stamp of finality on the situation.
The New Hexagon
Deep inside the bowls of the "new Hexagon", the government's relatively uninjured rangers are gathered in a conference room to be debriefed by the president himself. Dana, Rose, Mike, and Emily look on in disgust as the president continues to spew his idealistic garbage. The present Megaforce rangers, Troy and Jake, are less than enthused, while Jason, Billy, Trini, Justin, Joel, Ryan, Carter, Chad, Kelsey, Will, and the leftover Samurai rangers seem to mostly be eating it up. "I know many of you have had some issues with the way Tommy Oliver, Zack Taylor, Adam Park, and the others have forced us to conduct business, but I assure you that soon we will reach our greener pasture. After this last mission, our only remaining obstacle will be our final defeat of those treasonous pests" The president concludes his debriefing, generally meaning that his rangers are free to go. As the rangers make for the door though, he opens his mouth once again. "Actually, If I could have Dana Mitchell, Rose Ortiz, and Carter Grayson stay behind, please" the president asks, freezing Carter, Dana, and Rose in the doorway, while Jason, Billy and Trini have yet to even leave their seats. At an uncomfortable pace, the president swaggers his way over to Rose. "Ms. Ortiz, Mr. Aston tells me that you became a little gun shy in the field back in Turtle Cove?" The president quizzes, "I can explain.." Rose quickly starts up, "No worries my dear, just don't let it happen again" the president quickly dismisses any of her attempts at an excuse. Before long, Carter and Dana grow increasingly confused. "No offence, sir...but what does any of this have to do with us?" Carter wonders, "Nothing I suppose. I kept you because the Captains and the good doctor need you help in the lab" the president says, warmly. The body language of Trini and Billy is less warm, as they quickly make their way towards the 3, encroaching on their personal space. As Billy and Trini start leading Carter, Dana, and Rose out of the lab, Jason turns to the president. "What about green and yellow Samurai? They seem to be starting to think for themselves" Jason denotes his younger kinsman, "That's exactly what I'm planning on" the president snarls happily, ushering Jason away.
Helipad #2
Under cover of darkness, Eric Myers makes his way onto another helipad, where those he works for have arranged to pick him up. Before he knows it a helicopter touches down nearby, piloted and shared by government officials. As Eric enters he is greeted by a friendly pilot. "I don't know how you got this far separated from the team Captain Myers, but I assure you, we're here to get you back on track" the pilot gleams and begins to lift off. "Where is this new base exactly?" Eric asks, "The exact coordinates are classified, but I assure you, you'll know it when you see it" the pilot smiles. Despite the pilots talkative nature, Eric enjoys a short, uneventful trip that he is sure must be reaching it's destination. "Are we there yet?" Eric jerks the pilot, "Yes Captain Myers, sir...we are" the pilot exclaims. Immediately, Eric looks down out of the helicopter but only sees water underneath them. "I don't get it, is it underwater?" Eric wonders, "Kind of the opposite" the pilot quickly fires back, as the cloaking system on the new Hexagon comes down, revealing it to be the same as the old Hexagon, only high in the sky.