Chapter Twenty Six. Some Invention Required.
Previously On Poké Rangers SDI...
Recruited to SDI, Andrew, the gold ranger joined the team to help the rangers in their quest to stop the demons from taking over Verger. Meanwhile, in the battle with the Kazania demon, Nahir accidentally was infected with some of his blood after defending herself against him. As she gained the ability to read minds, it first seemed like a fun way to annoy her friends. Yet, the side effects were soon clear as her body began to reject the syndrome, causing intense pain. As Miranda set up a blood transfusion with the aide of Luke's blood, Andrew and Xavier battled Kazania in their Megazords. Yet, with his ability to read minds, they couldn't touch him. Until Nahir recovered and the rest of the rangers arrived to help them out. Combining the Guardian Jet with the SDI Megazord, they managed to find a weak spot for Kazania and destroy him. Before Nahir again thanked Luke for saving her life.
"Fire!"
Bringing the weapon up and shooting five times in the direction of the target, Katie saw every single blast hit home.
"Hmmm," Dominic remarked, folding his arms in reflection. "Not bad. But not great either."
"He's dead," Katie protested, gesturing at the target. "Even if he's not, he ain't getting back up."
"A human wouldn't," Dominic pointed out. "A demon might well do."
"Two in the head, one in the arm and two in the body," the blue ranger said. "Depends what demon it is."
"We're operating under the assumption that it is a most deadly one," Dominic pointed out. "You want to make it interesting and put money on it? You hit it five times in the head and I give you fifty dollars. Ten dollars a head."
"What that I can't hit the thing five times in the head?" Katie asked. "I bet I can. Although I... I think I won the last bet I had. Ah, the slap bet with Danni."
"Wasn't that over the Assault Racers and what they would turn out to be?" Dominic asked, with interest. "I think I recall that."
Bringing the weapon up, Katie peered down the sights at the target, taking deep breaths.
"I think at this very moment," Dominic continued, as she lowered the weapon to her side. "Her team has just about finished building one for Andrew."
"Good," Katie replied. "Okay, so you want to..."
"Fire!"
The sudden command ringing out, the blaster came up, pumping out laser fire into the target.
"Hmmm," Dominic remarked, seeing several smoking holes appear in the target. "I believe that you may have tricked me into parting with my money here."
"Hey, I'm a hustler at heart," Katie replied, with a grin. "Even had a T-Shirt with that on at one point. Must find that out again."
Shaking his head, Dominic reached down into his pocket, bringing out the money.
"Remind me to never make that sort of offer again," he remarked. "Still, I'm glad that you proved me wrong."
"I aim to please," Katie replied. "Now, if there's anything else..."
"Nah, we're done for the day," Dominic said. "Blaster training is over for now."
SDI ready!
The five rangers salute at the camera. Shots of Waterfall Shores.
Somewhere out there, a signal is calling
Darkia and Joltara shake their heads. Ramelow stalks away. Kable applauds.
Verger is falling.
The Aquabase is shown, the train bay rises up out of the ocean. The rangers pose with the Lugia Lances.
The danger is here.
Danni leans back in her chair, shaking her head. Shots of her climbing up the Merlin's Plateau. Danielle Tanner. Yellow SDI ranger. Created by Joseph Winter.
Better call on SDI!
Katie drops into the pool, ducking under the water. Shots of her scuba diving. Katie Myers. Blue SDI ranger. Created by Blue Bongo.
Poké Rangers SDI!
Xavier sprays a fire with a hose. Shots of him diving through a window. Xavier Jackson. Red SDI ranger. Created by Blazin' Saddles.
Poké Rangers SDI!
Nahir reads a book, shaking her head as the alarm goes off. Shots of her sat in the medical bay. Nahir Moon. Pink SDI ranger. Created by Famousgirl01.
The trials will test you.
Luke does a chin up on a door frame. Shots of him stood at the helipad. Luke Sunderland. Green SDI ranger. Created by MakubeDaKiddX.
Better call on SDI!
Andrew leans back against a console. Shots of him wielding the Dragon Staff. Andrew Bristow. Gold SDI ranger. Created by Blue Bongo.
S... D... I...
Miranda and Dominic appear. Commander Bristow shakes his head as something blows up.
Powers on display
The Skull Tower appears. Darkia, Joltara, Ramelow and Kable bow down before the altar.
Rangers on the way
The SDI Megazord appears, swinging its sword.
They'll save the day.
The Guardian Jet and Dragon Shuttle appear. They transform into their battle forms.
Poké Rangers SDI!
The five rangers pose. The Emergency Fearow Cannon flies from the roof of the train bay.
Poké Rangers SDI!
Mal and Tim run into a cave with a camcorder. They're chased out by a swarm of Zubat.
S... D... I...
The Aura Carriers fly up off the track and into the sky. The Aura Carrier Megazord poses.
Poké Rangers!
Poké Rangers: SDI. Created by Blue Bongo. Verger Region created by Blue Bongo. All other rights reserved.
Go!
"He looks like he's enjoying it," Danni remarked, looking at the video feed of what was happening out in the grassland between Waterfall Shores and Lassana City. "Take it that it wasn't any trouble to come up with a new Assault Racer."
"Nah," the lab technician replied, watching Andrew test out the machine in the private area that SDI has set up to test out vehicles. "We had the schematics on file. All it took was a days building work and..."
"Yeah," the yellow ranger said, seeing Luke come over.
"That gives me the urge to go out and get some ATV practice in," Luke remarked. "I did some fencing this morning with Dominic, but there's nothing like hitting the open road with one of those."
"If you want to do that," Miranda pointed out. "You can claim it as valid training."
"Sweet," the green ranger replied, heading for the service elevator. "I'm going. Bye."
"You really shouldn't encourage him," Danni said, looking over at Miranda.
"Hey, those vehicles are just as tricky to master as blasters or Lugia Lancers," Miranda replied. "If you take into account the weapon systems that they have on board, they're just as deadly."
Hitting a ramp, Andrew unleashed the lasers on his ATV towards a pile of stacked barrels. A series of explosions bursting out as the attacks hit home, blasting the barrels into oblivion. Pushing down on the accelerator to go into a spin as he hit the ground, he very quickly realised that was a bad idea, being thrown from the seat and hitting the dirt. Hard.
"Graceful," was the comment, the sound enough to make Andrew look around and spot Luke pushing his own Assault Racer to the start point.
"I'll break it in," Andrew replied. "Don't worry. We're starting to understand each other."
"Are you being sarcastic, or actually using the Rapidash comparison for a reason?" Luke wondered.
"Both," he said, quietly sounding amused at the comment. "Are you going to stand there all day? Or are you going to...?"
"Are you challenging me?" Luke replied, grinning at the thought. "Bring it on."
"I never lose," Andrew said, getting back onto his Assault Racer. "So, prepare to..."
Right on cue, a powerful burst of laser energy exploded out of nowhere, striking the ground in front of the two rangers. The shock wave easily enough to send both of them crashing up into the air, hitting the dirt in pain.
"Ouch," Luke groaned, trying to get to his feet. "Where did that come from?"
"Search me," the gold ranger answered, looking around. "I don't see anything, but..."
"Well, something shot at us," Luke pointed out. "I mean..."
"Let me finish," Andrew demanded, angrily. "But, I feel something."
"Ah, there's no hiding from you, is there?" a voice from out of nowhere remarked. "Gold ranger."
"Show yourself!" Andrew yelled, getting to his feet.
"As you wish," the voice of what could only be a demon retorted. The next second, Andrew was thrown through the air by a powerful blow, the gold ranger crashing to the ground again for the third time in as many minutes.
"This is getting old," he muttered, before the source of their attack appeared. Not from teleporting, but fading into view. It had the body and head of a Kecleon, even though the ridges on its skin were pink and blue striped rather than gold. The arms were those of a Porygon, while there was also a Porygon shaped eyepatch across one of his eyes, connected to his green scaled skin.
"Greetings, rangers!" he laughed. "The name's Keclindo, and I'm here to make you fade away into oblivion. I'm not going to make you vanish, just beat the crap out of you until you die."
"This guy really strikes me as the annoying type," Luke remarked. "Ass kicking time?"
"You know it," Andrew replied, taking out his morpher.
"SDI!" Luke shouted. "Time to battle!"
Morphing into their costumes, the green and gold rangers leaped into action, diving towards Keclindo.
"Cloaking Device!" the demon yelled, vanishing away out of view. "Activate!"
With that move, the two rangers lost their focus and missed the demon completely with their attacks
"Damn," Luke muttered, looking around for the demon. "Where the heck did he go?"
"Don't know," Andrew replied, bringing out his Dragon Staff. "But, I'm about to track him down. Earth Strike!"
Before he could crash the weapon down into the ground, a beam of blue light shot out from somewhere, running over the Dragon Staff.
"Weapon scanned," the same blank voice remarked. "Regulating!"
"That can't be good," Luke said, watching the shock wave rush out around them. Hitting something, something that quickly reappeared in the form of Keclindo. An unharmed looking Keclindo.
"That all you got?" the demon asked, shrugging his shoulders. "That didn't hurt one speck."
"What the...?" Andrew exclaimed. "My staff didn't work!"
"I hate being right," the green ranger remarked. "Well, not all the time. Just most of it."
"This will work!" replied Andrew, his staff glowing with blue and gold energy. "Dragon Fury Attack!"
Throwing himself forward, he brought the weapon crashing against Keclindos body. The attack still not doing any damage to the demon.
"I guess you're out of mojo..." Keclindo snickered. "Oh dear."
"Guess I'll have to do it then," Luke said, shaking his head with resignation. "Emergency Fearow! Fly!"
At his command, the Emergency Fearow launched itself out of the Aquabase roof, hurtling towards the green ranger. Homing in on his location, Luke jumped up to catch it. Hitting the ground, he turned to level the weapon at Keclindo.
"Eat laser!" he shouted. Before the eyepatch shot out another blue beam, this one running over the Emergency Fearow.
"Weapon scanned," the demon announced. "Regulating."
"Fire!" Luke yelled, pulling the trigger of the weapon. The white hot beam of energy erupted from the barrel of the weapon, scything through the air and raking against Keclindos body. But, instead of destruction, the demon just scratched his stomach.
"Tickled," he said. "Anything else? Come on! Make my day!"
"Something's wrong here," Andrew remarked, as Luke tossed the Emergency Fearow back into the air, returning it to Aquabase storage.
"You think?" Luke asked. "Nah, it has to..."
"Hyper Beam!" Keclindo roared, unleashing the powerful blast of energy across the area, the attack sending both rangers crashing into the refilling station of the vehicle testing area.
"Ouch!" the green ranger finished, gasping for breath. "That hurt."
"Yeah," Andrew said, stretching out to get to his feet. "Okay, I vote for less weapons and more punching."
"That could work..." Luke started to say, before a barrage of laser fire hit Keclindo from behind. Spinning around, the demon spotted the other four rangers running towards him, their Defense Blasters up to fire. Almost instantly, he shot out another beam of blue energy, scanning the weapons.
"Weapon scanned," he said. "Regulating."
"What's the crack with this guy?" Danni asked, surprised.
"Are you both okay?" Nahir wondered. "You look like you took a heck of a beating."
"Nah, I'm fine," Luke replied. "Let's Aeroblast him and go home."
"Not so fast!" Keclindo yelled, unleashing a pair of Hyper Beam attacks towards the two groups of rangers. One sending Luke and Andrew crashing back even further through the air. The other hitting Xavier, Nahir and Danni. Only Katie remained standing, unable to believe her luck.
"Guess the aim's a little off," she said. "You guys okay?"
"Get him!" Xavier yelled, clutching at his stomach in pain. "Kick his ass!"
Holding out her hand, Katie gave the command.
"Lugia Lancer!" she yelled, the weapon materialising in her grip. Throwing herself forward, she slashed away at the demon, the creature yelping in pain as the weapon cut across his stomach.
"Hey, that hurt!" Keclindo complained. "Have to see what I can do about that!"
Again, the beam of blue light shot out of his eyepatch, scanning the Lugia Lancer.
"Weapon scanned," he announced. "Regulating!"
Still surprised, Katie slashed out again. This time the Lugia Lancer bouncing straight off his scales.
"Oh crap!"
"Thanks for the help, rangers," the demon laughed, spinning around to strike her to the ground with a powerful kick. "Couldn't have done it without you."
"No!" Katie shouted, as Keclindo vanished away. Seemingly out of the area.
"Is he gone?" Xavier wondered, getting to his feet. Searching for any desperate sign of the demon.
"Yeah, I think he's gone," Andrew remarked. "I'm not getting anything. No empathic trace of him."
"None of weapons worked against this thing," Luke said, kicking at the floor angrily. "Emergency Fearow. Useless."
"The Lugia Lancers were useless," Katie pointed out. "Defense Blasters... Well, they went the same way. Completely ineffective."
"Even my Dragon Staff didn't do anything to hurt him," Andrew complained. "So now what?"
Hearing the information, Miranda dropped down into her seat, suddenly looking depressed at what she was hearing.
"He can turn invisible as well," Xavier pointed out. "That's not fair."
"I've got nothing," she admitted. "If they're all useless, then there's nothing I can think of."
"Calm down," Bristow said. "There's always a solution. You've helped us get this far, and I'm sure you can help us get out of this mess."
"Well, I do know someone," Miranda replied. "Someone who has experience in ranger technology and how it works. An old friend who I used to work with at Silph. He might have some ideas. His name's Bill."
"The Pokémaniac?" Xavier asked. "Interesting."
"When did he have an interest in ranger technology?" Danni wondered. "I mean... It's not a common phenomenon."
"He has an interest in rare things," Miranda replied. "Rare Pokémon, rare machines, rare occurrences. You get the idea."
"Get in touch with Bill," Bristow said. "If he's been researching ranger tech for years, he may be able to help us."
"I'll call him right now," Miranda answered, getting out of her chair.
"Heh, guilty admission," Katie said, as the six rangers walked out of the main command deck. "When I was younger, I had such a crush on Bill."
"No way," Danni asked. "I had one on Crasher Wake."
"Which is stranger, I wonder," Luke mused. "Anyway, I'll see you later. I'm heading to the surface to get something."
"See you," Nahir called, watching him turn the corner and head for the elevator. "I've got something to do as well. Be seeing you."
As the other rangers watched them head opposite directions, Katie was the first to make the observation.
"There's something going on with those two," she commented. "They haven't argued for about four days."
"I'm not getting anything," Andrew said, tapping his forehead. "Anything at all. Strange."
"Hold your applause!" Keclindo exclaimed, walking into the chamber in the Skull Tower. "I did it. I've got the rangers beat."
"Then why didn't you beat them down rather than run away," Darkia demanded, looking around at him with anger. "You had them on the ropes, their weapons useless... How does that work by the way?"
"Ah, I scanned them with this," Keclindo answered, gesturing at his eyepatch. "Scanned their weapons, worked out what they could do and then regulated my skin so that it was impervious to that type of damage."
"So, it's a souped up Colour Change," Kable offered. "With their weapons useless, the rangers have no way of finishing him off."
"That doesn't change the fact that you retreated!" Darkia snapped. "Why did you do it?"
"I was running out of energy," Keclindo admitted. "In combination with scanning their weapons, plus the attacks that they did manage to get off, and the Hyper Beams..."
"Knew that this demon was too good to be true," Darkia said, shaking his head. "Unbelievable."
"It's not my fault that..." Keclindo began to say, before realising that it would probably be pointless to argue. "I've been locked up in the other world for a long time. I guess I'm just out of practice. Need to get back into the groove and all."
"I suppose that you can't blame him for that," Joltara pointed out. "It can make you a bit ring rusty being trapped in those cards. Or so I've heard."
"Unfortunately my magic cards are more practical than comfortable," Kable admitted. "Sorry about that."
"So, you won't be affected by the rangers weapons?" Darkia asked, looking at the demon. Ignoring Kable completely. "That is handy. When you're rested, you go down and pick them off one by one. Or in as small groups as possible."
"Understood, General," Keclindo replied. "I'll be recharging somewhere."
"Greetings all!"
Looking around to the source of the voice, Miranda was greeted with the sight of Bill walking into the main command deck of the Aquabase. The lanky figure with the red hair and the blue and white striped shirt, grinning like a kid in a candy store.
"Man, this place is... It's awesome!" he continued, looking at the machinery surrounding him. At the Dragon Shuttle in the repair bay, several technicians working over it like ants across a baguette. "Hey, an actual Zord! Damn..."
"Hello, Bill," Miranda said, waving at him. "Over here."
"Mindy!" he shouted, running over to hug her. "Long time no see."
"Mindy?" Dominic wondered, leaning against one of the counters. "That's a new one."
"Ah," Bill replied, turning around and holding out a hand. "I could tell you some wild stories about this lady. Even though you wouldn't believe me and call me a liar. And then she'd probably hit me because she knows they're true and she swore me to secrecy after that night in Saffron City."
Grinning, Dominic shook Bills hand.
"Nice to meet you," he replied. "Dominic West. I'm the quartermaster. Plus I cook."
"Very well actually," Miranda said. "He doesn't look like a chef, but he is a damn good cook."
"You might make me blush," Dominic replied, shrugging his shoulders. "So, you think that you can help us?"
"This is a dream come true!" Bill insisted. "I've been fascinated about this ever since I first saw a Megazord battle a giant monster in Hoenn. I've got footage of every battle in every region to date."
Reaching down into his shirt, he pulled out a metallic circular disk with a hole in the middle that was hung around his neck.
"This is an O-Ring from the Overdrive Megazord," he replied. "A deeply prized possession. I grabbed it when it was blown up by Mechigigas in Hoenn. Don't tell anyone."
"Well, if we ever find any of the rangers from that particular team," Dominic commented. "I'll be sure not to mention your name. Although..."
"Nice amulet," Andrew commented, walking past. "I've got a better one."
"Well, it's not an amulet per se," Bill replied. "More a useless token or trinket."
"Mine repels demons trying to get inside my head," Andrew said, dead seriously as he reaching inside his shirt and brought out a golden amulet. Shaped like a Spiritomb. "There was an incident a while ago where that happened and I nearly died."
"Bill," Miranda remarked. "This is Andrew Bristow. He's one of our rangers."
"Aha!" Bill said, jumping up and down on the spot as he looked at the gold ranger. "It's a complete honour to meet you sir. I can't tell you how long I've waited to..."
"You don't have to," an uneasy Andrew replied. "I'm empathic, I can sense it."
"This gets better and better!" Bill yelled.
"How's the Solarzord going on?" Andrew wondered, looking at Miranda. "Anything doing?"
"It's a work in process," Miranda replied. "And, since there's currently no emergency, we're more interested in a way to defeat Keclindo."
"Ah, Keclindo!" Bill exclaimed. "Good old Keclindo. Whose Keclindo?"
"A demon," Dominic replied, dryly.
"I see," the Pokémaniac answered. "What do you need?"
"Is it, or is not true that you have a wealth of experience with ranger technology?" Miranda asked. "Salvaged or otherwise."
"I may have acquired scrapped metal from destroyed zords, monsters etc," Bill admitted. "What about it?"
"Is it or is it not true that you are a genius who regularly builds your own machines?" Miranda said, asking the second question in quick succession.
"You know that I am," he replied. "Although I don't like to brag, the reason that you're asking me that question gives me reason to think that you already know the answer. So, what's all this about?"
"We need your help building some new weapons," Bristow said, walking into the lab. "Are you willing to offer assistance in this time of need?"
"Do you even have to ask?" Bill wondered. "Damn straight I'll do it. I've got some ideas right away that I want to put into practice. With your consent and funding of course."
"You have my backing," Bristow said. "Because if Miranda has faith in your ability to help us out, then that's good enough for me."
"I met the crazy Pokémaniac," Andrew said, walking into the room. To see the other five rangers all playing cards. "Emphasis on the world crazy."
"Ah, Bill's not crazy," Katie pointed out. "He's just..."
"A fruitcake," Luke suggested. "Nuttier than a sack full of almonds?"
"I tend to agree with Luke more," Andrew remarked. "Whatever an almond is."
"You've never even met the guy," Xavier pointed out. "They say that you shouldn't meet people you admire because they always turn out to be whatever the plural of jackass is."
"Is it jackasses?" Nahir wondered.
"Oh so if in five months time someone wants to meet Xavier Jackson, heroic red ranger, they'll automatically think you're a jackass?" Katie asked, glaring at him.
"What's a jackass?" Andrew wondered. "I don't believe I've heard the term before."
"Jackass is something that I'd call Luke traditionally," Nahir pointed out. "It's an insult, but it's not as bad as calling someone a fuc..."
"I knew it!" Danni yelled, jumping up out of her seat. "I knew that you two couldn't keep up being nice to each other."
"Try not to sound so overjoyed, will you?" Luke replied, grumpily. "I'm just about to..."
"Okey dokey," Bill said, looking at the computer in front of him. "Just as it would happen, I do have something that might help you out. You say that this demon scanned the weapons and then they wouldn't work?"
"That's more or less what happened," Dominic offered. "If you want the footage of the battle..."
"Are you kidding?" Bill exclaimed, practically jumping up and down on the spot. "I'd love the footage of the battle. Well, if you have it and any more I'll gladly take a DVD of it. Call it exchange for these top secret weapons designs."
"So, you happen to have these on file?" Miranda asked. "How come? And, it shouldn't be a problem. Most of it is on the Internet anyway."
"Yes, but tracking it all down into one big composition DVD is time and effort, Mindy," Bill replied. "Time I don't have. Long story short, I did some contract work for P-Net and modified some of their designs that were left behind. I take it since you have a satellite since the video feed is relatively clear and in high resolution. Meaning that it's not pulled off security cameras. Anyway I can upload these weapons data to your satellite, do some really complex technical things that I'm not going to explain for the benefit of Mr. West over there."
"Thank you, Mew," Dominic muttered.
"Then long story short, the signal can be redirected through the morphers, summoning these weapons to battle," Bill finished, drawing a deep breath.
"Well, that's very helpful," Miranda replied. "Very helpful indeed."
"And, I'll even throw this in for future access to any battle footage," Bill grinned, taking out another computer disk. "Although you'll have to complete it yourself. It's a certain piece of technology that... Well, I haven't had the chance to finish it, but it can surely be developed into a powerful weapon. If you work at it, you could make it better than I ever could in just a few weeks."
"What about the other weapon designs?" Bristow asked, walking over. "The ones that you're uploading right now?"
"I should warn you that these are only prototypes," Bill said. "I've only got two of them. I can't promise that they will be hugely successful, but I did design their data with the intention that it can't be scanned, copied, hacked, ripped off, stolen, exploited, monopolised, removed, improperly used by unauthorised... You get the idea. If my design is perfect... they are most of the time then they should help you with your demon."
"So, there are two weapons?" Dominic asked. "We've got six rangers. Who do we give them to?"
"I think the best thing to do," Miranda offered. "Would be to have a look at the weapons and see who they would suit more."
"That makes sense," Bill said, tapping a key down. "And presto chango, weapon... appearo."
"Hmm..." Bristow commented. "Interesting. Any opinions."
"Well, that one..." Dominic said, looking at one of the weapons. "Yeah... I got it. I know who to give these weapons to."
"You sure?" Bill wondered. "Because once the coding is written into the morphers it can't be deleted. Not without destroying the Battle Strikers completely."
"Battle Strikers?" Bristow asked, surprised.
"My own pet name for them," Bill admitted. "Their true names are BSD990URYI48899200598 and 99. So I shorten it."
"You wonder why we're getting called in?" Katie asked, as she and Luke walked into the labs.
"Nah, I figure that they're going to chew us out for letting our weapons get scanned by a strange demon rendering them useless," Luke replied. "Even though I was doing what any sane ranger would do and try to destroy the damn thing."
"We're not going to chew you out," Dominic remarked. "We're about to offer you new weapons. If you want them. We're telling you to go up into the field and test them out."
"Is Bill still here?" Katie asked, trying to sound offhand. "I've always wanted to meet him."
"Ah, he's around here somewhere," Dominic said. "Isn't that right, Mindy?"
Upon hearing that, Luke suddenly looked like all of his birthdays had come at once.
"Since when do you call her Mindy, Arcady?" he wondered. "Any particular reason?"
"Ah, I picked it up from Bill," the Pokémorph admitted. "He's quite a character. I'm surprised the Commander hasn't tried to recruit him to SDI."
"He wouldn't do it," Miranda commented. "He's not good with routine. His ideal job is living on a luxury cruise liner, designing Eevee based ranger equipment."
"Where's he going to find that in this day and age?" Luke wondered, shrugging.
"You never know what the future holds," Bill replied, walking into the room. "Hey, I kinda do. I built a machine that shows me what the future holds. It's similar to a magic eight ball, but I call it a magic ten square. No patent available, they can't sue me."
"You're right about him being quite a character," Katie said, grinning wildly.
"Now, what's that I smell?" Bill asked, sniffing the air. "Such a familiar aroma. Could it be wet Vaporeon?"
"I have a Vaporeon," Katie offered, still smiling manically. "She was my very first Pokémon. I come from Eon City, an Eevee is our towns symbol."
"I know," Bill said. "I'm close friends with Mayor North and Ethan the gym leader. I have family living there. Charming place. Plus, with all the Eevee running around, it's very relaxing. You have any other Eevolutions, or..."
"Nah, just my Vaporeon," Katie replied. "I'm a water Pokémon trainer, so..."
"Gotcha," Bill said, hearing Bristow cough out of irritation. "Anyway, it's been nice talking to you, so enjoy the weapons. Put them to good use, I've got to head back to Kanto. Taking a long well deserved vacation."
"We'll send you the DVD's when we've got them all fitted up," Dominic offered. "Meanwhile, you two head up to the surface and test your weapons out."
"What do you think of Bill?" Katie asked, as she and Luke walked down through the grassy areas towards the specialist weapons testing areas. Away from the regular ones so they had to walk some of the distance.
"Hey, if he's fitted us up with some great weapons then that's fine with me," Luke replied. "Personally, he could be a drooling lunatic for all I care if he does that."
"Well, he's not," the blue ranger pointed out. "I mean... there are some aspects of his personality that... He could be seen as crazy, but he's also just as smart as Miranda. Maybe even more so."
"Miranda acts almost normal at times," Luke pointed out. "I think that's a fair trade."
"Like you said," Katie pointed out. "If he helps us out..."
"Okay, you've got me."
Before Katie could react, a Hyper Beam came out of nowhere, crashing into the ground in front of the two rangers. The instant explosion strong enough to send both of them soaring into the air, eventually hitting the ground in pain.
"Miss me, rangers?" Keclindo asked, appearing out of his cloaking device. "I didn't miss you. That's why your on the ground."
"Oh, he's grown a sense of humour," Luke said, sarcastically. "Let's bust our weapons out and kick his ass."
"You'll get no argument with me there," Katie replied, taking out her morpher. "SDI! Time to battle!"
Transforming into their ranger suits, the two of them looked at the demon. Then Katie put her hand to her ear.
"Miranda," she said, sounding hopeful rather than expectant. "We might want to bust those new weapons right now."
"Okay, you can do it!" Miranda yelled, looking over at the two rangers on the screen in front of her. "You have to... call for the Battle Strikers. Use your morphers!"
"Nothing you can do will be able to hurt me," Keclindo snickered, as he advanced towards the blue and green rangers. Ready to attack again.
"I guess we'll have to soon see," Luke replied, taking out his morpher. Katie did the same, the two of them holding it up. "We're going to look so stupid if this doesn't work."
"Battle Strikers!" Katie shouted. "Activate!"
Instantly, the new weapons began to appear. Armoured backpack-like attire appearing on their upper bodies, straps meeting out across their chests in an X shape. In the middle of the straps, there was a white number two on Katie's armour and a white number three on Luke's. Next, the weapons appeared. A long green metallic rocket launcher-like cannon for Luke, which he rested on his shoulder. Meanwhile, Katie's weapon also appeared. A large blue box with a pair of Empoleon-wing shaped blades in front of them. A hole could be seen behind the sharp blades. Both seemed to be connected to the backpacks.
"Awesome," Katie exclaimed, aiming the weapon at Keclindo. "I love my brand new Emperor Vortex."
"Mystic Cannon," Luke remarked, seeing the name engraved onto the side of the weapon. "How awesome can you get?"
"Bah!" Keclindo snarled. "I'll take you to pieces still. Fancy toys or not."
"Then what are you waiting for?" Luke asked, levelling the oversized cannon at the demon. "Make my day."
"Gladly!" the demon howled, shooting out the beam of blue energy. Running it across the Battle Strikers. "Commencing scan..."
For the next moment, nothing happened. Nothing at all until Keclindo let out a desolate howl.
"My scanner!" he complained. "It doesn't work on your weapons."
"Damn straight!" Luke retorted. "Now, how do you like that?"
"It's annoying," Keclindo mused, before turning invisible. "But, not insurmountable. Now, what are you going to do if you can't see me?"
"This!" Katie shouted, bringing her weapon up. "Mist Blast"
Erupting out of the barrel of the weapon, dispersed over a large area by the fan blades of the Emperor Vortex, the mist began to fill the general area where Keclindo had been earlier. Spotting some of it being disturbed by movement, Luke brought up his weapon and aimed it at the movement.
"Mystic Cannon Sand Strike!" he yelled, pulling the trigger. A white hot stream of sand erupted from the barrel of the weapon, completely covering the ground in front of them. Footprints appeared first, followed by howls of pain as the still invisible demon was covered with the boiling silt.
"Now, we can see you!" Katie shouted, jumping forward. The blades on her weapon spinning around as she brought it crashing against the demons body. "Emperor Vortex Metallic Mauler!"
Feeling the touch of the blades strike him, the cutting sensation enough to send him keeling over in pain, Keclindo instantly exploded into thousands of pieces. His screams still echoing around the area as the two rangers turned away from where he had been, posing with their weapons. And as they did so, Danni, Xavier and Nahir came running onto the scene, morphed and ready to battle
"What?" Danni asked, as they came over to the other two rangers. Both still holding their new weapons. "How come you two get those? What about the rest of us?"
"He only had those two designs," Luke pointed out. "Pity, because this Mystic Cannon is pretty damn awesome."
"So, you get brand new weapons like that?" Xavier asked. "Good for you."
"Oh, rangers!"
Looking around, the five of them saw Kable appear next to the remains of Keclindo, dropping the card down onto the shattered back.
"You forgot something," the demon summoner snickered. "Filled with fury this night. Grow forth and invoke the fear of fright!"
Instantly, Keclindo was back on his feet, shooting up to many times his normal height.
"Is anyone even surprised by this any longer?" Nahir quipped.
"Emergency over," Katie said, the Battle Strikers vanishing from her and Luke's hands. "Now, Aura Carriers, on track!"
"Maybe I should get out and help them," Andrew said, looking up at the video feed beaming down from the satellite into the Aquabase. "Are those repairs..."
"Not quite," the technician replied, brushing him off calmly. "Your weapons and shields are currently experiencing some problems. You take the Dragon Solarzord out in this condition and it could end up..."
"Yeah yeah," the gold ranger replied. "I get the point. Guess they're on their own."
"They can do it," Miranda pointed out. "Don't worry about them. They managed just fine long before you came along."
Right on cue, the Aura Carriers accelerated across the rail system of the city, arriving before the rangers. Getting inside, their SDI Zords began to remove themselves from the train carriages.
"SDI Megazord formation!" Katie shouted. "Now!"
The five zords began to combine. The back part of Emperor Racer split away from the other part, Katie throwing the zord into reverse. As she did so, the backs of Happiness Rider and Flycatch Tracker opened up to allow the Emperor Racer to interlock. Once that had happened, Danni and Nahir activated their controls. Sending the two zords up onto the cabin part of their body. Next, Mystic Soarer swept down and gathered up the separating Volcano Tamer, depositing it down on top of the Emperor Racer. The arms swept out, accepting the water cannons from the top of the Emperor Racer's cabin, before Mystic Soarer came swooping in, the front part only remaining visible to form a head. The five rangers travelled up on a rail system, ultimately arriving in the cockpit.
"Gah," Keclindo spat. "I'll wreck you up!"
"Better demons than you have tried!" Xavier yelled. "Mach Strikes!"
At his command, the arms of the Megazord shot out repeatedly, striking Keclindo in the body. To his discomfort.
"You want to play it that way?" he demanded, before turning invisible again. "Cloaking device!"
"Aw crap," Nahir said. "Not again."
Before any of them could react further, the Megazord was struck from behind, stumbling forward. The blue light from Keclindos eyepatch ran it up and down, forcing groans from amny of the rangers inside the Megazord.
"I'm scanning your weapons!" Keclindo whispered, the rangers able to hear his voice in the cockpit, before it was followed by a laugh. "Now, what are you going to do?"
"Scan this!" Xavier yelled. "Guardian Jet, fly!"
At his command, the Guardian Jet swooped down over the horizon, zoning in on the two battling beings.
"Want to call it?" Xavier asked, looking over at the blue ranger.
"I think I will," she said, giving the command for the combination of the machines. "SDI Battle Megazord!"
Soaring up into the air, the Battlezord began to seperate apart from itself. The arms, legs, head and wings all detached themselves from the body and began to attach to the SDI Megazord. Started by the Entei head moving over the top of the Megazord head, followed by the body flattening out and attaching to the chest of the SDI Megazord. The arms attached to the bottom of the arms of the SDI Megazord, the ends spinning around in cannon formation. The wings came down and attached to the back of the new Megazord, while the Blaziken feet combined with the legs of the SDI Megazord to complete the formation.
"What?" Keclindo demanded. "That's..."
"Thermal Scanners!" Xavier yelled, punching a button on his console. The screen in front of them shifted into its heat seeking form. Tracking Keclindo's body heat.
"You wouldn't think that being based on a cold blooded Pokémon that this would work," Luke remarked.
"Sssh!" Danni told him.
"Locked onto target," Xavier remarked. "He's all yours!"
"About time to take you down!" Katie said. "Gyro Blow!"
At her command, the SDI Battle Megazord leaped up from the ground, spinning through the air and striking Keclindo in the chest with a tornado-like spin kick. The resulting blow strong enough to send him sailing back through the air. As he hit the ground, he exploded into thousands of pieces, instantly vanishing from view.
"That wasn't so hard," Luke remarked. "I thought that he'd be tougher."
"Meh, take what we can get," Nahir commented. "Although I do agree that was easier than thought."
"Oh yeah," Miranda remarked, through the communication system. "Forgot to tell you, we did some work on the hydraulic based weapons of your Megazord. Since we figured that the enemies wouldn't get any easier, Bristow gave the order for a tune up. It's what we're doing to the Dragon Solarzord right about now."
"Didn't you only just build that?" Luke asked. "Seems a bit early for it to have gone wrong."
"Plus, there's some repairs that need doing after its last battle," Miranda replied. "Anything else you want to query?"
"Nah, I'm good," the green ranger replied. "Anyway..."
"Man, it's been a good day today," Katie said, smiling as she sat down in the living area of the Aquabase. "I got a brand new weapon that's awesome..."
"Mine's better," Luke muttered. "Mystic Cannon kicks Vortex ass any day of the week."
"... I met someone who I always wanted to meet," she continued. "And there's one less demon in the world. It was a damn good day."
"Pity they could only build two of those weapons," Danni remarked. "I mean... it would have been awesome to have five of those."
"Ah, we've still got the Lugia Lancers," Nahir commented. "They're pretty powerful. We're not struggling for weapons. There's a pretty powerful set of weapons that we're accumulating."
"I'm happy with my Dragon Staff," Andrew said. "That's already pretty powerful. Great range of attacks. Plus, I learned how to create a tidal wave with it."
"Yeah, we saw," Xavier told him. "How to sweep a bunch of Misdrabeings off their feet."
"Pity that we couldn't build more Battle Strikers," Bristow said, walking over to where Miranda was leaning against one of the rails, looking out across the ocean floor. "But, they seem to be a success."
"They were really only a trial," Miranda admitted. "Checking out the technology to see if it can be utilised without any bugs. Using the SDI satellite to transmit data to their morphers, the morphers acting as projectors to create weaponry. We're going to the next stage with that. Using Bill's data... I can do it."
"Excellent," Bristow said. "Well, I'll leave you to get on with it."
"Fine then," Miranda replied. "But, trust me. When the next stage is complete, Xavier's going to love his new weapon."
Author's Notes.
Hmmm... Want to have a guess?
Anyway... I like the demon in this chapter, and the way that Luke and Katie end up using their weapons to defeat him.
And, an appearance from Bill. Who may be back in Poké Rangers Verger at some point in the immediate future.
Next chapter will be entitled Burning Heart Of Fire. Preview below.
Okay, thanks for the review(s). All appreciated completely.
Ah, I like those weapons. Despite them only being prototypes in a way.
Thanks for reading.
Now, reviews welcome.
Chapter Twenty Seven, Burning Heart Of Fire, preview.
Xavier: Damn, I can't believe what just happened.
Dominic: Calm down. You did what you could.
Xavier: I need to train harder.
?: This will cause everyone to take notice.
Xavier: I let this demon get away, and he's taken those kids somewhere.
Katie: Don't beat yourself up.
Xavier: I'm getting them back.
Coming soon.