Chapter Twenty Five. Hooked On Ambiance.
Previously On Poké Rangers Genesis Overload...
With Paige now back as part of the team, the rangers explained everything that had happened to the returning Lance. Who was shocked and surprised at the whole thing. As they went back to the mainland for various stuff, Luke and Nahir went for coffee, Katie and Duo had a moment of flirting while Xavier got a lucky charm from a girl named Christy who gave him her phone number as well. Unfortunately, despite making him luckier, the charm turned out to be from the Meoluck monster who controlled the power of luck. In battle, she managed to best the rangers and turn everyone apart from Xavier and Paige into lucky charms. Facing Meoluck again, the two remaining rangers managed to destroy the source of her power before defeating her. After the battle, Xavier mused on whether or not the charm was a good thing for him...
"Right, so I think there should be a rule that you can't use SDI Red," Ryan said, dropping the controller down in disgust. "That's ridiculous that you can just beat all comers down into the ground with the Battlizer every single time."
"Why don't you use G-Force Red then?" Xavier asked. "Use Crane's Battlizer. Besides, I was the Red SDI Ranger. Which gives me a right to use it, y'know."
"It's not exactly skill when you use probably one of the best characters on there," Duo pointed out. "It's like winning on a football game when you play as Inter Saffron. Go through using either Paige or Nahir and..."
"Hey!" the white ranger protested. "What are you saying?"
"That it's more of a challenge using your old G-Force powers than just holding it out until you can activate the ultimate weapon," the black ranger replied, quickly backing off. "Not trying to offend you, Paige."
"That makes a change," Luke commented, looking over from where he was reading a magazine. "Normally, you try to insult and offend everyone in sight."
"That's a bit harsh," Duo said. "Not normally."
"To be fair..." Paige piped up. "I've known him a lot longer than you have Luke. And I can categorically say that..."
"Thank you," Duo muttered.
"... You're absolutely right."
"Wait, what?"
Gen-esis Over-load.
Season logo appears. The seven element symbols appear.
Poké Rangers! Go!
Cities and towns of Verger appear. Peace occurs throughout.
Coming together to fight the evil
G-Force rangers face Regli. SDI rangers face Queen Misteria.
They will always save the day.
Katie flips through the air, firing Heat Blasters. Other rangers pose with weapons.
Poké Rangers! Go!
The Overload Megazord falls through the air, battling Garbot.
But then they lost their edge!
Rangers fall to the ground, old costumes vanish away. Dogbots celebrate their victory.
Poké Rangers! No!
The Coppinger logo appears on the horizon. Shadows fall across the land.
Gen-esis Over-load
Lance appears with his Dragonite. Bill and the Silver Gyarados appears behind him.
It's time to battle...
All seven rangers pose, the outline of the Coppingers glaring down at them.
Poke Rangers! Go!
Xavier picks up the Water Stone. Xavier Jackson. Blue Genesis Ranger. Created by Blazin' Saddles.
Power of the Eevee!
Ryan picks up the Leaf Stone. Ryan Leopard. Green Genesis Ranger. Created by Hotrod198.
Poké Rangers! Go!
Nahir picks up the Thunder Stone. Nahir Moon. Yellow Genesis Ranger. Created by Famousgirl01.
Power of the Eevee!
Katie picks up the Fire Stone. Katie Myers. Red Genesis Ranger. Created by Blue Bongo.
Genesis Overload!
Duo picks up the Dusk Stone. Duo Roronoa. Black Genesis Ranger. Created by JMB2NAMI.
Poké Rangers!
Luke picks up the Sun Shard. Luke Sunderland, Purple Genesis Ranger. Created by MakubeDaKiddX.
Genesis Overload!
Paige holds up the NeverMeltIce. Paige Martinez. White Genesis Ranger. Created by Famousgirl01.
Power of the Eevee!
The seven rangers morph. The Cobra Rangers appear.
Poké Rangers! Go!
The Hover Chasers carry the rangers into battle. Explosions occur behind them.
Verger needs you!
Mal and Tim look around, inanely. Before being chased by Golbat.
To fight that evil!
Dennis, Arbok and other enemies appear. Dennis holds the Genesis Book up high.
And save the day!
Rangers search for artefact's. Dorlinda appears.
Poké Rangers! Go!
The six rangers transform into their Eevee forms. Then, they transform into their Zords.
Power of the Eevee!
The Cobra Rangers transform into the Silent Strike Megazord.
Fight! Fight! Fight! Win!
The Overload Megazord and North Wind Megazord appear.
Power of the Eevee!
The Coppinger Aerial Platform crashes to the ground and explodes.
Poké Rangers! Go!
Camera pans out to show the rangers relaxing on the Silver Gyarados. Dorlinda watches over them.
Genesis Overload!
Poké Rangers Genesis Overload created by Blue Bongo. Verger region created by Blue Bongo. All other rights reserved.
Poké Rangers! Go!
"Heh heh!"
Looking over to the snickering PokéManiac, Lance quickly raised an eyebrow at his friend, surprised and bemused.
"What's so funny?" he asked. "Is it a clever joke that only you would get?"
"Nah, it's a video on Youtube that a friend sent me," Bill replied, leaning back to show the Dragon Master what it was that he had been sent. The full screen showing an Aipom dancing furiously on the spot while inanely grinning at the camera.
"The things that..." Lance started to say, before his face slipped into a grin at the sight. "Heh. That is funny actually."
"I mean... Normally, I probably wouldn't watch something like this," Bill said. "But... I'm glad I did, this is one of the funniest things I've ever seen."
"Are you going to send it on to someone else?" Lance asked. "Because... I think they need to see it."
"Before anything else..." Bill replied. "The rangers need to see this."
"What gives?" Nahir yawned, glancing over to the screen. "What... What..."
"Not a morning person, huh?" Luke asked, smiling over to the yellow ranger. "Never have guessed."
"It's not that I'm not a morning person," she replied, stifling another yawn. "It's just more a case of..."
"Quiet," Bill said. "You're going to miss the start of it."
"Start of what?" Katie wondered, as the screen cleared and the Aipom appeared and the video started to play. For a few seconds, the rangers watched in silence, before the first gradual snickers rang out from the group. Snickers that quickly grew into full on laughter.
"That's awesome," Ryan commented, watching the simian Pokémon shake its moves on the screen in front of them.
"It is pretty cute," Nahir said. "On one hand it's funny. On the other..."
"That Aipom's dancing on Youtube?" Paige asked. "Come on. There has to be something better on there."
"It's gotten over four hundred thousand views in a little under a day," Xavier said. "It's..."
"Isn't there a music video compilation for the backing track of it?" Duo wondered. "See it spring up and down in tune to..."
"Who would film something like that?" Katie asked, shooting a disdainful look at the black ranger. "Come on."
"Ha!"
"What are you looking at?" Tim asked, glancing over to where Mal was looking down to his cell phone. "Has someone sent you a below the knuckle joke?"
"You're the only other person I know," Mal said. "Have you sent me a below the knuckle joke?"
"No."
"Well, why are you asking me that then?" he replied, disdainfully. "Nah, I'm just looking at this video that I found on Youtube."
"Really, you get Youtube on your phone?" Tim asked. "I didn't know that."
"Dude, you've got to check this out," Mal said, handing it over. "It's fricking awesome! It's so nuts that... That... You get the idea, it's nuts."
"Well, it's an Aipom," Tim remarked, looking down at the screen. "And it's about to... No way! That's awesome!"
"I know, right?"
"Dance, you purple little freak!"
"Have you seen the video?" Hawk asked, looking over to where Jake was stood by the window. His superior watching the city below them, his focus fully on whatever he was doing.
"I'm not going to watch it for obvious reasons," he replied. "But I hear that it's good."
"Not really," another voice remarked, coming over. "However, I do like the idea that the my moves are appreciated by so many in so short a time."
"Ambiance," Jake said, turning back around to the monster. The creature in question resembling a giant Ambipom, with the head of a Mime Jr. and to complete the effect, he was covered in black Stunky fur. He was also wearing dancing shoes, and both his tails were covered in white gloves. "Where have you been?"
"Around," the monster replied. "Checking out how my glamour works. My mystical glamour."
"Does it work?" Hawk asked. "Because we're just desperate to know. So that we can instigate the next part of the plan."
"It works," Ambiance confirmed. "With my graceful skills, I almost convinced some children to walk into a lake."
"Almost?" Jake demanded. "They managed to break out of your control?"
"Think about it, moron," the monster said. "If reports break out about some kids that died because they followed an Aipom into a lake, that would affect the rest of the plan."
"True," Jake had to concede. "That's a fair point. Sorry about that. Anyway, back to the plan."
"Everyone is distracted by our dancing Aipom video," Hawk commented. "And all it took was a little help from Noland to get it up on the Internet. And our monster."
"If they're not, they soon will be," Jake said. "His hypnotic moves will lure and distract them. Everything is going to plan."
"Once they are lured and distracted, they will be putty in our hands," Hawk said. "Only able to do what Ambiance orders them. When that happens, they will take over the search for artefacts from us."
"We get all the credit and the artefacts, while doing very little work," Jake snickered, reaching over to high five his fellow Coppinger. "Fantastic idea."
"It gets better every time you watch it!" Xavier yelled, in glee. "I'm sure these moves are different every time."
"What's your favourite thing about this Aipom's dance routine?" Nahir wondered. "Because I like that little twirl that it does. The one before it looks like it's going to fall before it reaches out and stops itself with the tail on its hand."
"So, I'm interested," Luke commented. "You think that battling Pokémon is cruel and pointless. But, how is this not a little bit cruel? Even though the Aipom looks like it's having a Wailord of a time."
"Yeah, but every time you see an Aipom, they're always smiling," Duo pointed out. "They're a happy species. You could probably whip them for hours on the end and..."
"If we whipped you for hours on end, would you be smiling?" Katie asked, glancing over to the black ranger. "Huh?"
"If you did it?" he replied. "Well..."
"Okay, forget it," the red ranger said, instantly realising what she had said and who to. "Bad example."
"Interesting."
"What is?" Cobra Purple demanded, looking over to where Cobra Blue was stood looking out over the horizon of the city below them. "What's so interesting."
"Don't you feel it?" Cobra Blue asked. "I'm sensing something. Something distant and powerful."
"Powerful, you say," Cobra Red said, walking over. "Where?"
"Honestly, I don't know," Cobra Blue replied. "But..."
"I can sense it too," Cobra Yellow offered, coming out from where she had been lurking in the shadows. "But, it's hard to explain."
"And there's also the distant part," Cobra Green said. "That is something that should not be forgotten."
"If it's out there, then we can track it," Cobra Black remarked. "If we can track it, we can find it."
"Why can the five of you sense this thing and I can't?" Cobra Red demanded. "What are you hiding from me?"
"We're not hiding anything," Cobra Purple protested. "If you can't sense it..."
"I'm sure that it's nothing to do with us," Cobra Blue said. "So, don't blame us, Cobra Red. Maybe you're not as in tune with it as us."
"What is it?" the evil ranger asked. "That you can sense. What am I missing out on?"
"A trace of Genesis energy," Cobra Yellow remarked, gesturing out towards the mountains far in front of them. To the Merlin Plateau. "That is where it is. Where our readings are coming from."
"Then, that is where we shall go," Cobra Red said. "Away to it!"
The six of them hearing their leader's command, they quickly vanished away in streaks of same coloured energy.
"What did I miss?" Luke asked, coming over while eating pizza straight out of the box. "Did the Aipom do anything different?"
"Nope," Paige said. "But, it has to soon. It's been doing the same dance over and over... It's mesmeric."
"Really, mesmeric, huh?" Katie commented. "Wouldn't it be ironic if this entire video turned out to be a Coppinger plan to render us drooling lunatics?"
For several seconds after she finished speaking, nobody said anything, their attention fully on the dancing Aipom.
"Nah, that'd be ridiculous," Xavier said. "Honestly, how could that sweet little Aipom be anything other than exactly what it is on the surface?"
Almost as if it had heard the blue ranger making his point, the alarms started to ring out on the bridge.
"Guys..." Bill said. "Monster attack!"
Turning the video of the dancing Aipom off, the PokéManiac brought a video picture of Ambiance up onto the screen. The monster dancing its way towards a group of humans, something obscured within its hands.
"That's not possible!" Ryan exclaimed. "Turn the dancing Aipom back on."
"Wait a second," Katie interrupted. "It's not attacking."
"Is that thing giving them flowers?" Duo asked, unable to believe his eyes. The video rendered image of Ambiance indeed handing out single flowers to each of the humans in the group. "What the heck is going on there?"
"Might want to go on down and see what's happening," Lance said. "Just on the..."
"You'd love us to go on down there," Luke remarked. "Then you could watch the dancing Aipom video all on your own. How dumb do we look?"
"Dumb enough to argue about it when there might be a threat to people," the Dragon Master retorted. "Now, get going!"
"Come on, guys," Katie said. "Let's go. No ranger suits, I want to see what's going on first."
"Where is this signal coming from?" Cobra Blue demanded, scanning the side of the mountain. "It's definitely in this direction, but... It's faded. Distant."
"I'm starting to feel it," Cobra Red commented, rubbing at his head. "It's here. Somewhere."
"It's a pretty big mountain," Cobra Yellow pointed out. "We might have a task on our hands."
"The search hasn't started yet and you already want to give up?" Cobra Black asked, shaking his head. "What kind of evil being are you?"
"One who doesn't like searching every pissing hole on this mountain," Cobra Green muttered. "Damn place. When we gain ultimate power, I suggest that we flatten the entire place."
"Not get a disagreement from me there," Cobra Purple commented. Seconds before several bright orange humanoid beings rose up out of the ground, surrounding the Cobra Rangers. Each of them making to block the rangers away from escaping, the unusual beings taking up fighting stances.
"What the...?" Cobra Black exclaimed. "What are these things?"
"Couldn't tell you," Cobra Yellow said. "But, either way, they're in our path."
"What's going on?" Katie asked, she and the other rangers making their way through the group that had formed in the location where the satellite had picked up the images of the monster earlier. "What's so interesting."
"There's some sort of mutated Ambipom over there," a helpful man offered. "He looks like one freaky thing, but he dances like the Aipom on Youtube. Which makes him a good guy in my book."
"Yeee!" Nahir exclaimed. "The live action dancing... Wait, what...? If he's a monster, aren't you worried?"
"Surprisingly not," the man shrugged. "You see him dance and you tell me if you think he's a threat?"
"I'll take that challenge," Duo said, starting to move off through the crowd. The rest of the rangers shrugging before following him, the task of getting to the front not taking too long. The first sights of the dancing Ambiance reaching them, the image enough to make them smile.
"Well, it stands to reason that not every monster would be a city destroying badass," Luke commented. "Ah, what a sight. I mean... How can something like that be evil?"
"I feel at peace inside," Ryan remarked. "I look at him and just know that everything is going to be fine."
Even as he made the comment, Ambiance began to speak.
"Greetings, everyone," he said. "I am Ambiance!"
"Go Ambiance!" someone yelled. "You rock harder than a cave full of Onix!"
"Why thank you," the monster replied, grinning at the crowd. "That makes all my problems all seem so small."
"Aww, he has problems!" someone else called. "How can we help?"
"Well, you're so kind as to ask," Ambiance said. "There are several items that I need to find. Rare artefacts, hidden all around the region."
"Now wait a second!" Paige exclaimed. "Is he having a laugh? Why would a supposedly good monster need to find the Genesis artefacts?"
"Maybe he wants to use them to make the world a better place," Luke suggested, a completely straight look on his face. "Because..."
"Yeah, actually now you put it like that," the white ranger said. "I suppose it makes sense. Why did I ever doubt him?"
"To the Merlin Plateau!" Ambiance yelled, starting to dance his way ahead of the crowd. The people cheering instantly, before rushing to follow him.
Growling under his breath, Cobra Red brought his fist back and smashed it against the face of his enemy, the mysterious orange figure taking the blow with ease. Despite half of its face breaking and reforming, it didn't seem to take any damage.
"I'm so not in the mood for this crap," Cobra Yellow commented, launching a barrage of Poison Sting attacks at the orange figure in front of her. As it easily took the blow, it spun around and kicked her to the ground. Cobra Blue trying a Poison Jab against his opponent, only for that to do little damage and the orange figure to throw him into the air. Hitting the orange figure in front of him with a series of powerful fist strikes, Cobra Black wasn't really doing much better as his enemy took the attacks and forced him to the ground. Desperate not to go the same way, Cobra Purple hurled a roundhouse kick at her own opponent, only for the orange coloured figure to grab her leg and toss her aside like a ragdoll. Finally, Cobra Green grabbed one from behind, trying to crush it. The attack instantly failing as the orange figure broke free, back kicked him in the stomach before turning to hit him in the face. Hard.
"Stop!"
Hearing the command, the strange orange beings quickly melted away out of view, forming away into strange puddles of liquid. The six grounded Cobra Rangers looking at each other in surprise, before the outline of a figure appeared ahead of them. His appearance masked by shadows.
"Greetings," the figure remarked, walking into view. "Are you lost? Because if you are, go exactly back the way that you came."
"Is that meant to sound threatening?" Cobra Black demanded, looking over to the figure. Like most of the beings they tended to encounter, he was a humanoid with the head of a Gyrarados. The skin on his hands was a strange silver colour, while he wore the dark blue armour in the style of a Kyogre's body. Rather ostentatiously in the middle of the armour, there was a large red gem. The surface of the stone winking in the sunlight.
"I am not threatening you," he replied. "Just rather informing you that it will not end well, should you not leave this place right now."
"But, you called us here," Cobra Blue protested. "We sensed a disturbance. Some sort of Genesis energy."
"This Genesis energy, as you call it," the figure said. "Is not for you. It is for your opposites. So leave, or I will destroy you, for I am the Gyardian."
"Interesting play on the name Guardian," Cobra Purple commented. "But, it makes no difference. We want what you have!"
"You can't have it," the Gyardian answered. "You might want to get that through your heads, otherwise..."
"Do you know who we are?" Cobra Black demanded. "You should show some respect."
"You want respect?" the Gyardian asked, the ends of his arms starting to extend and shine, quickly growing out into a pair of large blades. "You earn it!"
Hurling himself forward, he began to attack. Taking the Cobra Rangers by surprise, he slashed Cobra Purple across the stomach, his blow forcing her back. As Cobra Green came in, he turned to kick him, the strike sending him up into the air before the Gyardian impaled him with both sword arms. Throwing him to the ground, he turned to block an attack from Cobra Blue with both blades, forcing them apart before kicking the Cobra in the head. Swinging both arms out in opposite directions, he landed devastating blows onto both Cobra's Black and Yellow before turning to face Cobra Red.
"As the leader of this bunch of rejects," he said. "I'm appealing to your better nature. That you'll see sense and walk the other way. Otherwise, I'll crush you all into the ground."
"You haven't got either the height or the weight," Cobra Red replied. "So, do your worst!"
Rolling his beady eyes in resignation, the Gyardian began to grow to a giant size. Easily towering up over the six figures below him.
"Still want me to do my worst?" he asked.
"Here we are!" Ambiance exclaimed, momentarily dancing on the spot before sweeping out an arm to gesture at the sight of the Merlin Plateau behind him. "The Merlin Plateau. One of these artefacts is here somewhere. Whoever finds it gets a private display of dancing so intense that it will blow your mind completely. The stakes are high, the prize is worth it."
"I'm going to find it first," Xavier said, glancing around. "I bet this is awesome. Plus, the chances are that one of us will find whatever it is. Because we do have experience in that department."
"Hey, what's that?" someone close to them asked, before altering their tone to a shout.. "Ambiance!"
"Yes?" the monster replied, casually. "What is it?"
This time, everyone present heard the shock waves ringing out through the ground. The outline of two giant shapes starting to appear over the outline of the mountain.
"What's that?" someone else asked, before Ambiance turned to look
"What the...?" the monster exclaimed, as the Silent Strike Megazord powered out onto the scene. Battling against the giant shape of the Gyardian, he quickly took a step back in surprise. "That's not..."
"Save us, Dancing Aipom!" someone in the crowd shouted. "We're all going to die otherwise!"
"If we ignore them, they'll ignore us," Ambiance insisted, turning his back on the scene. "Now, start..."
Rather than listen to him giving them orders, the group in front of him seemed more interested in watching the battle take place. The Silent Strike Megazord hitting out at the Gyardian with an Arbok ended hand, their opponent easily blocking the attack. Inside the cockpit, Cobra Red gave out the command.
"Tail Strikes!"
Whipping out with a vicious intent, the arms came crashing against the Gyardian's body. This time, the attacks dealing some damage to him, the Gyardian grimacing in pain. Slashing out with the blades at his arms, he managed to retaliate with some damage of his own, the evil rangers inside the cockpit all grimacing in pain.
"Acid!" Cobra Red roared, punching the console in front of him. "Now!"
Responding to his order, the stream of corrosive liquid erupted out of the hands of the Silent Strike Megazord, completely covering the Gyardian. The strange figure groaning in pain as he tried to shake it all off, just allowing enough time for the Cobra's to give off another command.
"Serpent Sabre!"
Managing to shake the acid out of his eyes, the Gyardian looked over to see the bladed weapon appearing in the hands of the evil Megazord. Bringing his own blades up, he blocked the initial slash before feeling the shock as the huge sword pushed his own aside.
"No!" he muttered, as the Serpent Sabre began to glow with a bright purple energy. "This can't be possible."
"Everything is possible!" Cobra Red snarled, giving the command. "Toxic Slash!"
Under his barked instruction, the blade came sweeping down onto the Gyardian. Breaking through his defenses, he felt himself start to shrink. Yet, able to summon up his remaining strength, he struck out with both blades. Crashing them against the body of the Silent Strike Megazord, he heard the screams as his enemy began to go down as well.
"No way!" Paige said, watching with shock as the two giant beings fell to the ground in front of them. The Silent Strike Megazord collapsing down into the form of the six Cobra Rangers, while the Gyardian returned to his normal size. All Cobra Rangers aside from their leader being surprisingly knocked out by the stress of the forced dis-assembly of the Megazord.
"You cannot stop me!" he exclaimed. "You will never hear my message. Never find the source of my power. It's not for you to own, it's for them alone."
"Then, you'll take it with you to your doom!" Cobra Red snarled, jumping up to engage the Gyardian. The being dodging his blows, before kicking him in the stomach.
"As long as evil is in your heart, you will not triumph," the Gyardian replied. "Because..."
Taking his opportunity, Cobra Red struck out and kicked him in the chest. Pushing forward, he grabbed the Gyardian by the throat.
"That evil makes me strong," he said, darkly. "What powers you?"
Making a snatch for the stone in the Gyardian's chest, the evil ranger closed his fingers around it. Grunting with the exertion as he pulled it free, the Gyardian's eyes instantly went white. As he slipped down to his knees, Cobra Red cracked a knee into his face, knocking him out cold.
"Is it this?" he wondered. "Because..."
Glancing down to the red jewel in his hand, the evil ranger quickly moved to hold it up for all to see. Streams of bright red energy rapidly racing down from the item, fusing into his system, Cobra Red began to glow with a red light. The crimson shade covering his entire body, ruby red spikes started to erupt out of his armour, making him look even more terrifying than usual.
"... You've got to give me the name of your supplier," he snickered, moving his expression around to look at Ambiance and the group of his followers. "And what are you all looking at?"
"One ugly ass beastie," Ambiance muttered, much to the chagrin of Cobra Red. The evil ranger taking a step forward, his demeanour showing barely concealed menace. Something even Ambiance seemed to finally recognise, as the monster let out a gulp of fear.
"Uh oh," he said. "Protect me, devoted mass..."
Getting to him before he could finish ordering the hypnotised group to protect him, Cobra Red struck. The sledgehammer blow raising Ambiance up off the ground, separating him from the group.
"You think we should help him?" Paige asked. "Because..."
"Ah, the mighty Ambiance can take him," Katie said. "Then we'll go and find the stones for him."
Jumping back up, Ambiance came to attack Cobra Red, wielding both his tails like a pair of boxing gloves. Not even bothered by the threat, Cobra Red easily kicked both of them aside before landing a Poison Jab into Ambiance's body. The monster screeching in pain as he fell back, before dropping to his knees in prayer.
"No! No! Oww! Oww! Please, no!"
"You're pathetic," Cobra Red snarled, both his fists starting to glow with a pulsating red energy. "Now, it's time for you to go!"
Striding across the short distance, he struck out twice, each fist landing one blow. The twin attacks forcing Ambiance up, before the right arm came up, centimeters from the monster's stomach.
"Poison Sting!"
Without even a pause, the barrage of bright red needles erupted out of the evil ranger's hand, searing straight through Ambiance's body. The force of the super charged attack completely decimating the dancing monster from sight, not even any remains left in sight from the blast. And, just as quickly, the hypotic hold he had held over the group instantly vanished. Turning to look at the group, Cobra Red let out a sinister laugh before vanishing from sight. Along with the rest of the recovering Cobra Rangers, leaving just the confused masses alone.
"What the...?"
"Who do you think he is?" Paige asked, looking down at the comatose form of the Gyardian. "Because..."
"I remember that he attacked the Cobra's," Luke said. "That makes him a good guy in my eyes."
"Just because he was fighting the Cobra's does not make him our ally," Xavier pointed out. "Plenty of Coppinger monsters have fought against the Cobra's. Didn't make them our friends."
"There's something different about him though," Ryan commented. "He went down when Cobra Red stole that stone from him. Which..."
"He has a point," Duo interrupted. "I mean... How many Coppinger created monsters have that much of an obvious weakness in them."
"How many good guys would?" Nahir retorted. "Then again, it's almost like it was the source of his power."
"Which would probably lean towards him being a good guy, a friend," Ryan said. "So..."
"Anyway, it's not our choice," Paige remarked, looking around to Katie. "You're our leader. You make the choice, we'll follow it."
"Enemy of our enemy," Katie asked. "Especially since he made our enemy stronger. We need to find out what happened right now, and waiting for him to wake up... If he wakes up, is probably our best chance of finding out what happened to Cobra Red. Let's get him back to the Silver Gyarados."
"Wow," Bill said, folding his arms. "I can't believe that the dancing Aipom turned out to be a sinister tool of the Coppingers."
"They always have the ability to do something like this," Lance pointed out. "And since his dancing essentially hypnotised us..."
"It's over now," Katie said. "No point worrying about it at this point. My bigger concern is Cobra Red. What he took from the guy down below. It increased his power."
"Like he wasn't already powerful enough," Duo commented. "I'm glad it wasn't Cobra Black that took the power boost."
"You have to face up to the very real possibility that you are going to battle Cobra Red soon," Bill said. "And, with the power of the Gyardian behind him... I don't know if you'll be able to defeat him. I saw some of the battle footage after he took in the power of that stone... I estimate that his power levels have increased by about three times."
"When he wants me, I'll be there," Katie said. "I'm not going to avoid fighting him, just because it's suicidally reckless."
"That's the rousing leadership speech we wanted to hear," Xavier commented. "We're all right behind you."
Stood at the top of the building that he and the others Cobra Rangers had been using to hide out in, Cobra Red found himself looking out over the skyline. The power from the stone still coursing through him, he couldn't help but laugh as he jumped down from the edge. Feeling his body briefly fall through the air, he kicked his legs...
And was airborne. Taking flight, he began to soar through the night sky...
Author's Notes.
Groan... That's not going to end well. But, it's going to make for an interesting next chapter. Also, there's no Cobra White. There probably won't be a Cobra White at all.
But yeah, Mal and Tim are back. How about that. If only for one scene. Meh.
Who is the Gyaradian? Other than some sort of guardian.
And the Cobra's help out again. Unwittingly.
Thanks for the reviews. All appreciated completely.
Next one... First of all, updates might not be as frequent from now on, because I go back to University tomorrow. But, there should still be at least one a week. Possibly two. But, the next one is entitled Katie's Passion. Preview below, up whenever. From the preview, make your own conclusions as to what happens and what piece of equipment she gets.
Okay, so thanks for reading.
Don't forget to review. I think Hawk can answer to this chapter.
Chapter Twenty Six, Katie's Passion, preview.
Duo: Wow, I can't believe she got beat by Lance.
Katie: This sucks.
Bill: Check this baby out. Almost as good as when you stole it.
Xavier: Does that even work? Can I use it?
Bill: Sorry, it's in tune with Katie's biometrics. So, only she can use it.
Cobra Red: Come and get me, Red Ranger.
Katie: Guess I've got a new trick up my sleeve.
Cobra Red: What?
Lance: This might be our only chance of helping the Gyardian.
Coming soon.