Chapter Twenty Eight. Family Affairs.


Previously On Poké Rangers SDI...

After being stuck in the Aquabase for a week, the rangers were starting to get bored and anxious in the familiar surroundings. Finally getting out of the Aquabase to fight Blastivire, Xavier became aggravated when the demon escaped from them after setting a bus on fire. Still annoyed, the red ranger went and trained, while the others went to the beach. Finally heading off to join them, he encountered Blastivire again, who made off with a school bus full of children. Following the demon again, he found out that Kable and Ramelow were engaging in a practice of transplanting a child's mind into such similar demons via the means of a control collar. Shattering the device, he managed to sever the connection between them and save the little girl. All before finishing the mindless husk off with the Guardian Battlezord. Later, he went to meet up with the other rangers, before hearing an interesting proposition from Katie...


"Hey, Fretters!"

Looking around to the sound of the voice, Daniel Fretkin saw his co-worker, Ricky Zanetti waving a flask of something towards him.

"What do you want?" he asked. "And, more importantly, what's in the flask?"

"Just good hot coffee," Zanetti replied, grinning. "It'll wake you right up."

"I'm not tired," Fretkin answered. "But, I can see why you might be. I've got that superior mental training. I can remain completely unfatigued by anything but the harshest of crazy purple knockout gas."
"Is it just the purple and crazy brand of knockout gas?" Zanetti wondered. "Or any sort?"

"I don't know," Fretkin replied. "But, when I worked at Gaitham City, that was the most common sort."

"Ah, the stock and trade of super criminals," Zanetti quipped. "Crazy purple knockout gas. Are you sure it was purple and not lilac?"

"I don't care."

"Yeah, I kinda got that, but I thought that I'd ask the question anyway just to annoy you."

"Well, it worked. Congratulations," Fretkin snapped. "Working tonight when I could have been at my kids birthday."

"Ah, Fretters Junior," Zanetti snickered. "How is the fellow?"

"Probably more important than guarding some crappy museum full of relics who nobody in their right mind would try to steal."

Pausing for breath, Fretkin suddenly spun around on the spot. Hoping that he hadn't been caught on camera saying that.

"Don't worry, it's not on," Zanetti replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Can't you see the off light?"

"Why's the camera switched off?" Fretkin wondered. "Shouldn't it be on? Much as I appreciate it not recording my little mishap just now."

"You're right," Zanetti told him. "It should be switched on. I switched it off."

"Why'd you do that?" Fretkin asked. "You know we could both be fired if it came out that that happened. And it eventually will."

"But, only a few seconds ago you were complaining about the job," Zanetti smirked. "So, what's it going to be?"

"You're trying to help me out?" Fretkin wondered. "I find that hard to believe."

"Okay, I turned the cameras off because some friends of mine want to steal the one thing in this museum that is valuable," Zanetti replied. "You want a cut of the profits? Set up a trust fund for good old Fretters Junior?"

"I don't know," Fretkin said, slowly. "It sounds kinda crooked. I need this job, man."

"That's all the answer I need," Zanetti smiled, his body starting to change. Within seconds, he'd gone from an average sized human to a demonic monster. A Weavile demon whose black body was covered in Kakuna-style armour. The parts of his body that weren't covered in the armour had huge claw-like spikes erupting out of it.

"Sure you don't want to help out?" the demon asked, the savage grin easily visible underneath the Kakuna-face helmet.


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!


"Well, look who finally woke up," Andrew remarked, walking into the sleeping quarters that he shared with Luke and Xavier. Both the green and red rangers were both waking up finally, despite it being half past eleven in the morning. "Interesting nights, I take it?"

"It was still our day off," Xavier pointed out, dropping his head back against the pillow. "What's his excuse anyway?"

"Oh yeah Sunderland Drinks Corporation was holding an executive shindig," Luke replied, getting out of bed. "Figured I go and see if there were any smoking hot senoritas there."

"What about Nahir?" Andrew wondered, trying to sound innocent as he said it. Something that wasn't lost on Luke.

"Nah, she wasn't there," he replied. "And, what do you mean by that?"

"I've been picking up tension between you two lately," the gold ranger said. "And not just the regular I want to throw things at you and make you look like an idiot tension."

"Wow, that's an actual kind of tension?" Xavier wondered. "Things you learn."

"I just sank a little too much and ended up back here," Luke replied, rubbing his head. "Like I said, day off."

"You're telling me," Xavier said. "Anyway, I'm going back to sleep for another four hours so..."

"Commander Bristow requests your presence in the main command deck right now," Andrew told them. "So, you might have to abandon that plan."

"Jeez, don't you call him Dad, at all?" Luke muttered. "I know we're on what is technically a military facility, but do you have to follow it to the letter."

"I saw that you were both in a distressed state..."

"I'm not," Xavier groaned, getting up out of bed. "I'm just a bit sleepy still. Anyway, got to get up and..."

"So, what happened with you last night?" Luke wondered, pulling his shirt on. "How'd the date go?"

"It wasn't a date," Xavier replied, reaching down to grab his jeans. "Just a couple of drinks between friends."

"Okay, I believe you," Luke said, sarcastically. "Anyway, I suppose that we should get over there before Bristow decides to send Arcady to drag us over."

"Nah, he told me to do it," Andrew replied, folding his arms. "Please don't make me ask again."

"Okay, we're coming," Xavier groaned.


"Now that we're all here," Bristow said, glaring at the arriving Luke and Xavier. "We can begin to get this underway."

"What's this all about?" Danni wondered. "It seemed pretty urgent when you sent Andrew to wake us all up."
"Heh, you too?" Luke asked. "Join the club."

"Anyway," Bristow continued, the glare still continuing on at his rangers. "Might I remind you that the day off was yesterday. Today, it's back to the ranger work and I expect a certain degree of professionalism."

"You got it, Commander," Xavier replied. "So, what's going on?"

"We have reason to believe that the demons have been stealing... Tri-Composite stones," Bristow said, clearly expecting a response. Something that Dominic provided.

"They've been stealing what?" the Pokémorph wondered.

"Crystals," Bristow replied, managing a change in expression at the response. "Five to be exact. Five crystals of unquestioned power. They have four of them."

"Four crystals?" Luke asked. "When the first two went missing..."

"We have no idea where the fifth is though," Miranda offered. "And we've been looking. Along with pretty much every law enforcement agency throughout the region. When aligned in the correct formation, these crystals could destroy the whole region."

"That'd be bad," Nahir said. "You got pictures of what these things look like?"

Reaching down into a folder, Miranda brought out five pictures and placed them down onto the table. Pointing to one of them

"This is the one that they don't have," she explained. "The one that we have no idea of its location."

Looking down at the photographs, Danni spoke up.

"I've seen these before," she replied. "One of them more than others."

"You've seen them before?" Luke asked. "What, in your past life as a ranger?

"No, my brother has it, fool," she replied, surprising everyone.

"Why does your brother have it?" Xavier wondered. "Did he swipe it from a museum or...?"

"That was what happened to the fourth crystal," Bristow remarked. "Last night to be precise."

"... He found it in a cave a few years ago," Danni replied. "He has a hobby of collecting rare items. Joe never found out what is was for. As far as I know, he still hasn't."

"What do you mean as far as you know?" Katie asked, scratching her temple with one of her fingers. "Is there something..."

"Ah, we haven't gotten along for a while," Danni admitted. "Family disagreement."

"Family disagreement?" Luke asked. "Wow."

"You need to get that crystal back," Bristow replied. "Go and talk to him."

"Yeah, if I show up and ask about the crystal, there's not a way in hell that he'll budge on it," Danni replied. "He's one suspicious..."

"So, you need to be sneaky," Xavier commented. "Sneaky like a... Sneaky thing. What's sneaky?"

"Andrew's empathic ability?" Luke suggested, shrugging. "That's sneaky and creepy. Two Pidgeys with one huge rock."

"I resent that remark," Andrew replied. "I can't help what I've got. Just like you've got that sense of sarcasm."

"He's got you there," Katie pointed out, before looking back over at Danni. "Well, you could go and see your brother. Maybe try to patch things up over what went wrong and bring the crystal up in conversation."

"You need a guy with an empathic ability?" Andrew wondered. "Just to weigh up the conversation and see how it's going?"

"That might not be a bad thing," Bristow remarked. "Both of you go over and see if you can convince him into giving us the crystal for safe keeping. If it's down here in the Aquabase, then we can stop the demons from using it to blow the region up."

"My brother has a mansion outside Holimar City," Danni said, stroking her chin. "Maybe... Maybe we can come up with a plan. He'll probably be there."

"The whole region depends on it," Dominic pointed out.

"Just spitballing here," Xavier offered. "But, there's probably not a huge chance that he's just going to accept that and give us it, is there?"

"Depends what sort of day it is," Danni replied. "Maybe. Have to make a convincing case for it. So, that's me, Andrew and..."

"What, I don't get to meet your brother?"

Looking around, everyone present saw Duo leaning against the open door. Shuffling a deck of cards in his hands as he did so, a grin on his features.

"Hey, Duo," Xavier said, saluting him. "Long time no see."

"Yeah, not since I was thrown across the room by that morpher," he replied. "Been in therapy for the cracked ribs."

"Really?" Katie wondered, shooting him a strange look. "I didn't think that you were that badly hurt."

"Nah, I just improved my poker and spent the time chilling," Duo told her with a grin. "Still, I hear it was all resolved."

"Yeah," Andrew replied, moving the collar of his shirt to reveal the golden morpher next to his amulet. "Didn't throw me across the room."

"Don't make this a pissing contest," Duo said. "If it was down to ranger experience rather than the morpher being picky, I'd have been wearing a classy black shirt."

"You couldn't pull it off," Nahir commented, sarcastically.

"Not now," Duo replied. "Maybe one day I'll pull off wearing black. And look damn good while doing it."

"Never know what the future holds," Katie pointed out. "Could be anything."


"Good morning," Joltara said, cheerily as the demon from the museum appeared inside the peak chamber of the Skull Tower. "How went your quest, Cryscaptor?"

"I have four of the crystals that I need to power me up to full maximum strength," Cryscaptor replied, walking over to the podium where Princess Chumso was laid. "Aww, she's sleeping."

"Okay, quit trying to curry favour with Queen Misteria by showing interest in her daughter," Darkia demanded. "The useless waste of space. No point her being here at all."

"At least she's regularly quiet," Kable pointed out. "You'd never know she was here, she's that easy to forget about."

"I wouldn't let the Queen hear you say that," Ramelow remarked. "At least try and keep the pretence up about what's going on."

"How are you going to find the last crystal?" Darkia demanded. "And more importantly, what are you going to do if you encounter the rangers?"

"Learn how to explode like a demon?" Ramelow suggested.

"If they get in my way, I will destroy them," Cryscaptor snarled. "I do not fear them. Once I power up with the five crystals, they will not be able to stop me."

"That part sounds good," Joltara smiled. "Make sure that you get it before they stop you."

"I have a good idea where it is," Cryscaptor replied. "I'm going to take a platoon of Misdrabeings and grab it right now."

"Need some help?" Ramelow wondered. "I could do with getting some violence on."

"More the merrier," Cryscaptor said, nodding. "Welcome to the rampage."


"So, how are we going to do this?" Danni wondered, the three rangers sat in the Defense Driver. "I mean... one of you going inside with me... He'd buy that. But, two of you...?"

"Well, I was told to go inside and check on his emotional state," Andrew told her, leaning against the back of the seats. "So, it was kind of an order."

"Yeah, but I'm her actually boyfriend," Duo replied. "I can fake interest."

"Hey!"

"Joke!"

"It's true," Andrew remarked, rolling his eyes. "He wasn't being serious."

"You know what," Duo said. "Go on. I'll stay here. Watch out for the demons showing up. Not that I'm trying to tempt fate."

"So, you're fine with the whole..."

"What, it's not like you're going to pretend that he's your boyfriend in order to lie to your brother?" Duo replied, shrugging as he leaned back and put his feet up on the dashboard.

"Well, actually..." Danni said, slowly. "It is for Verger. To stop the whole region from being blown to thousands of pieces."

"When you put it like that," Duo replied, not looking pleased by the idea. "Go ahead. Go lie like a politician to your brother and grab that crystal."

"Don't think anything of it," Danni urged, as she and Andrew got out of the vehicle. "It's just a big lie."

"He's really not happy about it," Andrew muttered, the two of them heading through the gate. "But, I suppose that you should be relieved about that."

"And no making out on the job, either," Duo called.


"Mr. Tanner will be with you shortly," the butler said, showing the two of them through the entrance into the living area of the mansion. "He's currently in the attic polishing his prized posession, the Sun Crystal."

"Ah, I've heard about that," Andrew remarked. "Is it as valuable as they say?"

"Most assuredly so, Sir," the butler replied, turning to leave. "Can I get you any refreshments?"

"Nah, we're good," Danni answered, watching him exit the room.

"What does your brother do for a living?" Andrew wondered. "This place is..."

"He's a Pokémon trainer slash explorer," Danni replied. "If it's done the right way, then it can be quite profitable."

"Well, that's an understatement."

Looking around, both rangers spotted Joe Tanner walking into the room. A tall man roughly a couple of years older than Danni, but with the same coloured hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a sweat stained black vest and sweat pants of the same colour.

"Heh, I can see the family resemblance," Andrew said, seeing Danni get to her feet and following suite. "That's a good thing."

"Nice to see you again, brother," the yellow ranger said, smiling at him. "It's been a while."

"Your choice, not mine," Joe replied. "But, it is nice to see you again. What can I do for you?"

"I was in the area," Danni said, trying to sound casual. "So I thought that I'd drop in and introduce you to my boyfriend."

"Ah," Joe remarked, holding out his hand to Andrew. Who quickly shook it back, offering a confident smile. "Joseph Tanner."

"Andrew Bristow," the gold ranger replied. "And, I've got to say that I'm very impressed by the house."

"Of course you are," Joe said, smugly. "Why are you both really here?"

"Why so SUSPICIOUS?" Andrew wondered, winking at Danni as he emphasised the last word. "She's had plenty of nice things to say about you, I thought that since we were passing by..."

"Don't insult my intelligence," Joe said, darkly. "Don't think I don't know why you're here."

"Uh oh," Andrew muttered, trying to think of a viable way to tell Danni what was going on. Without blurting it out completely.

"You're the one who started the argument, Danielle Tanner," Joe continued. "Don't think that you can come in here, showing off your beau, a full freaking Poké Ranger and think that you can rub it in."

"Ah, that's not what I'm trying to do at all?" Danni said, before allowing a surprised look to wash over her face. "Hey, how did you...?"

"I take a close interest in the media," Joe replied, shrugging disdainfully. "You think I wouldn't notice you becoming a national hero?"

"Maybe," Danni said. "It's just... I feel really bad about our argument and I wanted to make amends."

"Two years later?" Joe asked, shaking his head. "No! No! No! No! There's something else that you're after."

"What could that be?" Andrew wondered. "I mean, do you really have anything in this mansion of value enough for that?"

"In keeping track of the media," Joe continued, smirking. "I happened to notice the theft of four certain crystals. Moon, Star, Sky and Earth Crystals. All stolen from various places in Verger. All part of a five set collection that includes a certain Sun Crystal which I myself happen to have in my possession."

"Well, how about that?" Andrew quipped. "He almost figured it out on his own."

"And, since you're with SDI, both of you I presume," Joe finished. "I can assume that you're here to try and persuade me to give you it so that you can keep it locked away in an underground vault where nobody will ever be able to get at it in the future."

"You haven't changed," Danni commented, angrily. "You're still damn good at missing the point. Verger could be destroyed if those crystals are aligned."

"Don't worry, sister," Joe said, still smug in his words. "I've got a world class security system. It involves ninjas guarding my collection. Nothing's getting in here to steal anything."

"YAAARGH!"

Right on cue, Duo came sailing through the front window, shattering it into thousands of pieces before hitting the carpet.

"Could you be any more dramatic?" Joe wondered, disdainfully. "You're paying for those windows."

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Duo said, getting up to his feet. "But, I should warn you that there's a demon on its way. And a huge gang of Misdrabeings."

"How many?" Andrew asked, suddenly sounding worried. "This isn't the best place for a smackdown?"

"It's the perfect place for a smackdown," Duo remarked, prising a painting off the wall. "We've got plenty of stuff to hit them with."

"Don't think that you're going to wreck my home," Joe demanded. "My ninja security system will take care of them."

"Ninja security system?" Duo asked. "That's... Not going to work."

As if to prove his point, one of Joe's ninjas came crashing down through the ceiling, landing on the ground in front of them. Trembling in pain.

"Oh for the love of..." Danni began to say, before hearing the sound of Misdrabeings above them. "Duo, get Joe out of here. We'll go and take them out."

"Like hell I'm leaving," Joe snapped, standing back. As he did so, a group of the demon foot soldiers appeared through the door behind him, almost grabbing him. Shoving him out of the way, Danni hit the first creature with a high kick, the blow sending it back into the other Misdrabeings. More began to appear through the shattered windows, Duo and Andrew turning to face them.

"This isn't going to be fun," Duo muttered, grinning. "Anyone want to take bets on who knocks the most out."

"Is this really the best time?" Andrew wondered, looking around at Danni. "You want to go and get the crystal. We'll hold them off down here?"

"Sounds about right," she replied, heading for the door. "Have fun."

"Got to love that sense of humour," Andrew commented, a wry smile on his face.

"Oh believe me, I do," Duo answered, rolling his eyes. "Okay, let's do this thing."

Jumping up to bounce off the wall, he struck the closest Misdrabeing in the head with his foot, the demon foot soldier instantly smashing down to the floor. Barely hesitating, Duo leaped backwards to the same ground, taking another into a supplex move. Hearing either the floor or the Misdrabeing's skull crack under the pressure.

"Nice," Andrew commented, taking one of the Misdrabeings down with a punch to the face, before grabbing it by the shoulders and hurling it against the wall. "Can you do this?"

Throwing out his hand, he grabbed another by the head, unleashing his empathic ability into the Misdrabeings brain. Instantly causing it to collapse and vanish.

"Meh, I don't need to," Duo replied, kicking up a piece of lumber into his hands and smashing it against the head of the closest Misdrabeing to him. "That's just as effective."

"But not as refined," Andrew remarked, hitting another with a spin kick that sent it crashing back through the window.

"Neither's that!"

"Okay, you got me there."


Running into the attic museum, Danni instantly saw Cryscaptor trying to prise open the case holding the Sun Crystal. As she watched him dig his claws against the corners of the glass for leverage, she could see several black clad ninjas down on the ground, unconscious from the brutal attacks that they had suffered.

"Okay," she said, reaching for her morpher. "Step away from that crystal and I won't destroy you."

Without looking around, Cryscaptor let out a giggle of laughter, completely derisive of her.

"I'm in the middle of something here," he replied. "Buzz off and deal with my friend."

"Your friend?" Danni wondered, before being hit from behind by Ramelow, the blow enough to send the yellow ranger flying through the air. Dropping her morpher during the flight, before landing against a glass case full of diamonds. Something that Ramelow was aware of, as he picked the Pokéball morpher up and hurled it down the stairs to the rest of the mansion.

"What are you going to do now?" Ramelow laughed, bringing out his sword. "Morpherless ranger?"

"That the best quip you could come up with?" Danni retorted, flicking her wrist out. In a burst of black light, the Houndoom morpher appeared, ready to be used. "Go... G-Force!"

At her command, the mystical spirit of the Houndoom erupted out of the device, crashing into her to create the black ranger armour.

"Where's your quip now?" she demanded, leaping forward to hit Ramelow with a flying kick to the demon's neck. Sending him crashing back to the floor and destroying an ancient golden crown.

"Damnit," Ramelow complained, getting back up and rushing towards her with his sword. A strike that she easily dodged, striking back with a punch to his throat. "I'll get you for that!"

"Faint Attack!"

Repeatedly vanishing away, only to reappar several times and strike Ramelow each time. An assault that eventually brought the demon to his knees. The attack finally stopping, Danni hit him with a spin kick and put him down. Hard.

"I really need to work on my technique," Ramelow groaned, looking over at Cryscaptor. "Are you done yet?"

"Of course!" Cryscaptor replied, holding the glass case up. "I just need to smash this and..."

Dropping a hand down to her waist, Danni brought out one of her Pulse Pistols, blasting at the demon with a stream of flames. As the red hot blast washed across him, the demon let out a howl of pain and jumped back. Dropping the glass case to the ground, where it bounced up. A few stray flames went wide, igniting a pair of rare paintings upon the wall nearby. The wall of heat instantly shot up as they began to expand across the room.

"Tough glass," Ramelow quipped, leaping forward to try and grab it up. Being part of a rock type Pokémon, he wasn't really bothered by the heat. Bringing out the other Pulse Pistol, Danni fired a Dark Pulse towards him. The blast going slightly wide and striking the case, pushing it down the ladder out of the attic. Holstering her weapons, Danni threw herself towards the gap, scrambling past Cryscaptor. Feeling herself fall the short distance through the ground, she reached out and grabbed up her other morpher. Briefly considered trying a double morph, before Cryscaptor came falling down after her. Landing on top of the glass case, still not shattering it, even under his weight. The thought driven from her mind, she threw her leg out, trying to kick the case out from underneath the demon. Next thing she heard was sound of the demon letting out a yelp as he fell off the item and hit the ground. Jumping up, she managed to roll forward and grab the case up. Seeing a crack was starting to appear in the clear glass frame, she picked herself up and began to run with it. Towards the window at the end of the corridor.

"You're not getting away!" Cryscaptor roared, firing a mixed blast of poison and ice towards her at the same time that Ramelow fired a barrage of rocks towards the fleeing ranger. An explosion ringing out as it smashed against her back, sending her flying forward through the air and straight past the glass.

"Give me that crystal!" Ramelow howled, as he and Cryscaptor began to run towards the sunlight streaming through into the corridor.


Below them, Duo and Andrew's battle with the Misdrabeings had spilled out onto the lawns, the two of them shocked by how many of them had shown up.

"This isn't normal," Andrew remarked, hitting one with a roundhouse kick that hit the Misdrabeing present through the air and landing in one of the fountains. "They don't often show up in this many numbers. They must have brought an entire platoon."

"And, I could have been chilling by the ocean this morning," Duo quipped, back elbowing one in the face, before stamping on its knee and forcing it to the ground. "Fighting for my life. Not what I had planned."

"At least it'll save your ranger skills going rusty," Andrew pointed out. "I'm surprised that you didn't morph."

"Nah," Duo replied, throwing another against the wall and striking it in the middle of the stomach. As it doubled over, he crashed his knee into its face, taking it down. "If you can handle it like this, then it's no problem for the Amazing Duo."

"Cocky little..." the gold ranger began to say, before they heard a crash above them, the sound of breaking glass. Seconds later, a black clad figure came flailing down through the air, hitting the ground and demorphing out of her costume. A glass case shattering on impact next to her, the Sun Crystal tinkling down to the paved ground she'd landed on.

"Danni!" Duo yelled, rushing over. "Are you..."

Before he could get there, Cryscaptor came falling down out of the sky, landing in front of him with a cocky grin. Something that was almost enough to stop Duo in his tracks. Without hesitating, the reached out, striking him with a powerful Shadow Claw that was enough to throw him back acros the ground. Ignoring him, the demon reached down to pick up the Sun Crystal. Letting out a ferocious laugh as he did so.

"Got you," he laughed. "Despite all your best efforts, I've got the last crystal."

"Give it back," Andrew warned, going for his morpher. "Or else!"

"I'll pass," Cryscaptor smirked, holding it up to the light. "Later, rangers!"

Clutching the item close to his chest, he vanished from view. Leaving the three of them alone, Duo and Danni wounded, Andrew kicking the ground in frustration. Behind them, the mansion was starting to burn, the sirens already in the distance.

As Joe staggered out of the burning mansion, completely in shock at what had gone on, Duo picked the moment to look up at him with a grin.

"You know those windows that you asked me to pay for? If your house burns down, where do you want me to send them?"


"Unbelievable," Bristow muttered, looking at the report in front of him. "You managed to cause estimated damages of nearly a hundred million dollars."
"No half a job here," Duo offered. "Besides, I'm sure his insurance covers act of demon."

"You shouldn't even have been there!" Bristow snapped. "This should have been an SDI operation."

"All was going fine until he was thrown through the windows," Andrew pointed out, shaking his head. "The whole thing turned out to be a mess."

"You can't blame me for everything," Duo pointed out. "I didn't even go on the grounds until the attack. I was waiting in the Defense Driver while you and my girlfriend decided to..."

"Calm down," Danni insisted. "This isn't helping. Cryscaptor and Ramelow got the crystal..."

"Just know one thing, Danni," Bristow said. "I don't blame you for losing the crystal. Not completely."

"That's a relief," she muttered to herself.

"Your brother does though."

"What?" she exclaimed. "That filthy son of a... Damn, I can't even call him that without insulting my mom."

"Now who needs to calm down?" Duo wondered, getting up to head for the door. "Anyway, if you need me..."

He brought his wrist up, gesturing to the G-Force morpher he still wore.

"... You know where to get in touch with me."

"Now wait just a second!" Bristow said, angrily. "I'm not done chewing you out yet."

"Is there really a polite way for me to answer that?" Duo replied, folding his arms. "I don't work for you. Never signed a legally binding contract. I tried to do you a favour helping out in this. Don't blame me because it went wrong."

With that, he stormed out of the door, whistling a snappy tune as he strode down the corridor.

"This isn't what I need right about now," Bristow muttered, angrily shaking his head. "Miss Tanner, I'm seriously considering revoking his clearance to enter this place."

"I don't think he's coming back anyway," Andrew remarked, sagely. "He seemed pretty angry about the whole thing."

"No disrespect, Andrew," Danni commented. "But I don't think any of us need empathic abilities to see that."

"He should be angry," Bristow said, darkly. "With himself. Given the way the mission went."

"If anything, he was a great asset to the mission," Andrew pointed out. "He managed to take out quite a lot of Misdrabeings."

"But, the crystal was taken," the Commander replied, coldly. "I'm not concerned with the body count or the property damage. That's what worries me."


"Okay," Cryscaptor remarked, holding the Sun Crystal in his hand to let the light from the flames catch it. "I just have to do this right."

"How are you intending to harness it?" Joltara wondered, looking over at him, and then at the other four crystals in front of the demon.

"With the use of a special skill," Cryscaptor smiled, peeling back some of his armour on his chest. To reveal five slots engraved within his chest. Reaching down, he started to insert each and every crystal into his stomach, before replacing the armour. "Right, give it time and..."

Suddenly, he began to glow with a brilliant white light, laughing in ecstasy as he stretched his body out.

"Oh, this feels good. With this power, I can destroy everything."

"Hmm," Darkia mused. "What do you know. This might actually work."

"The way I feel," Cryscaptor smirked. "I could go a round with a few rangers. Not just that multicoloured one. Take her out as quickly as possible."

"Well, if you can do it as painfully as possible," Ramelow remarked, rubbing an ice pack over his injuries. "That would be appreciated."


"Oh look at that," Miranda muttered, looking around at the screens in front of her as the alarms in the Aquabase all went off at full pelt. "What a surprise. Another demon attack."

"This is just what we need," Dominic remarked, coming over to look at the screens. "Cryscaptor is back."

"You think that he might have used the power of the crystals?" Xavier asked, the rangers having arrived seconds earlier. Just enough for them to catch the brief snatch of the conversation.

"It could be possible," Miranda mused. "Guess you'll have to go and find out."

"Oh joy," Luke said, sarcastically. "I love the idea that we're going out to see if he's ten times possible than he was before when he kicked Danni's ass."

"He didn't kick my ass," Danni protested. "Just shot it."

"That makes the story so much better," Katie commented, with a smile. "No wonder you were sitting down gingerly earlier."

"Oh ha ha," the yellow ranger replied. "That's so funny I forgot to laugh."

"Okay people," Xavier called. "Let's go and kick that demons ass. Show him why it's not a good idea to mess with super powered crystals."

"If they're as powerful as everyone says, don't you think he might show us that?" Luke wondered.

"Pessimist," Andrew remarked.

"Mutant!" Luke quipped.


"Ah, rangers," Cryscaptor called, seeing them approach down the street on their Assault Racers. "So very nice to meet you all. I mean, I met multi and goldie beforehand, but..."

"Save it, dirtbag," Nahir shouted. "Give those crystals back and we won't blow the crap out of you."

"Sounds threatening," Luke muttered. "Got to applaud that."

"Shut up," the pink ranger told him. "That's really not helping anything."

"All the power from those five crystals," Cryscaptor mused. "So very relaxing. Can't keep it all inside. Check this out."

Holding out his arms, more bright white light began to erupt from his body. Causing him to grow to a huge size, something that didn't completely surprise the other rangers.

"Is anyone else even remotely surprised by that any more?" Katie wondered, sounding bored. "I guess we know what's coming next."

"Let's do this thing!" Danni yelled. "You ready to take this overgrown worm down?"

"Oh yeah," Xavier said. "Call it at will."

"You ready, Andrew?" the yellow ranger asked.

"As I'll ever be," he replied, grinning under his helmet. "All waiting for you."

"Aura Carriers!" Danni shouted, throwing her arm up into the air for dramatic effect. "On track!"

"Dragon Shuttle!" Andrew roared. "I summon thee!"


Over the horizon, the five train carriages roared into view, the Dragon Shuttle hovering above them. Running towards the machines, the six rangers got inside their individual Zords, powering them up.

"Volcano Tamer!"

"Emperor Racer!"

"Mystic Soarer!"

"Flycatch Tracker!"

"Happiness Rider!"

"Dragon Shuttle!"

"SDI Megazord formation!" Danni yelled, pushing a button in front of her to start the transformation. "Now!"

"Dragon Solarzord formation!" Andrew called, giving his own orders out to the machine. "Activate."

At their commands, the vehicles began to move into position, the five SDI zords starting 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.

Meanwhile, the Dragon Shuttle moved into a vertical position and began to transform. The peak of the vehicle slid down to reveal the face of a Dragonite. At the other end, the thrusters broke apart to form a set of legs, while a shutter slid up to reveal a shiny metallic stomach. Next the sides broke out of the vehicle to create a pair of clawed arms. The tail fin of the Dragon Shuttle slid down to allow a tail for the Megazord to appear, while panels upon the top of the Shuttle slid open to allow the pair of wings to move up to the back area of the machine.

Striking poses, the two Megazords moved into battle positions either side of the demon.

"Need to work together to do this," Xavier called. "You distract him, we'll hit him."

"Sounds about fair," Andrew commented, moving the Dragon Solarzord into an attacking position. "Dragon Claw!"

Swinging its arm forward, the huge machine tried to strike against Cryscaptor. Immediately, the demon blocked it, striking back with a Shadow Claw attack. Sparks shot up across the metallic body as the robot staggered back.

"Whoa!" Andrew yelled. "This thing's strong. Hurry up and attack!"

"Okay!" Xavier shouted back. "SDI Mach Strikes!"

At his command, the arms of the SDI Megazord erupted out of their sockets, rushing through the air to crash against the back of Cryscaptor. The demon spun around, howling in pain at what had happened. Unleashing the same mix of ice and poison that he had used on Danni earlier, he sprayed the SDI Megazord. Instantly freezing it solid.

"Well, that can't be good," Nahir muttered. "Can we move?"

"No!" Xavier yelled, dragging away at the controls. Nothing responded to his commands, the Megazord completely inanimate under the ice. "This is not good! Not good!"

"I'll try to do something," Andrew called, moving the Dragon Solarzord forward. "Iron Tail."

Under the command of his controls, the tail of the machine swept forward and cracked against Cryscaptor's body. Bringing it back to the demons attention.

"You'll pay for that!" Cryscaptor howled, turning around to blast the demon with the same attack. Andrew letting out a shout of pain as his own Zord froze completely solid under the blast.

"Oh crap," the gold ranger muttered, hitting his console. "Now I know how you feel."

"Plan B," Xavier said, speaking into his communicator. "Guardian Jet! Fly!"

Even as he gave the order, nothing was happening. No Guardian Jet emerging over the horizon to help them out.

"Aquabase, come in!" Katie shouted. Still nothing happened, the silence deafening.

"I guess we don't have a signal to the Aquabase," Danni said, hearing groans as she said it. Mainly from Luke and Nahir. "So, we're just going to have to wait here until we either defrost or die."
"Tough choice," Xavier quipped, leaning back in his seat. "Is this a bad time to think about ice cream?"

"Yeah," Katie pointed out, before a shrill beep rang out through the cockpit. From Danni's wrist, instantly causing the other rangers to look at her.

"Don't you need to switch cell phones off before boarding the Megazord?" Luke wondered. "That's just rude."

"That's not a cell phone, moron," the yellow ranger replied. "That's my other morpher."

"Finally," Duo's voice said through the device, loud and clear in the relatively small cockpit. "You guys need some help? Because I've been wanting to drag this thing out of retirement for a while."

"What are you talking about?" Katie asked, surprised. "Do you have...?"

"That?" Nahir screamed, pointing out of the cockpit window. To see a giant Dialga machine rolling across the horizon. One of the doors on the back opening up to let out a mechanical Poliwrath, about the same size as the SDI Megazord and the Dragon Solarzord.

"That's a relief," Danni said. "Hey, did Dorlinda talk to you when he gave you that Zord back?"

"Yeah," Duo replied. "He said hi. We hit the bars after. It was cool. He did this trick where... This isn't a good tale. Not a good time. Anyway..."

His voice breaking off, the other rangers watched the Poliwrath Time Battler leap up and hit Cryscaptor in the stomach with a powerful punch. The blow enough to stagger the demon just enough to get his focus away from the two frozen Megazords.

"Should buy you some time to figure out what to do," he continued. "You need anything? You okay?"

"We're frozen and dead in the water," Xavier said, sarcastically, the rangers in the two frozen Megazords watching the Time Battler fight against Cryscaptor. "I can't call the Guardian Jet, we don't have a signal to the Aquabase."

"And we can't move," Andrew offered. "If anyone has a better idea, then now might be the time to break it out."

"I've got a suggestion," Danni said. "It's a bit..."

"Do it," Xavier ordered.

"Houndoom Zord," Danni yelled, the morpher appearing on her wrist. "I choose you."

"Don't you need to be in the cockpit to work it?" Luke wondered, hearing a howl erupt over the horizon. "Like here..."

"I normally did," Danni replied. "But, I mainly used the morpher to control it with voice commands. Nobody ever noticed it though."

"So, you can do it from here?" Katie asked. "Nice one."

"Here it comes," Nahir called, seeing a large black mechanical Houndoom rush over the horizon. "Might want to..."

"Houndoom Zord Battle Form," Danni shouted, speaking into the morpher. The six rangers seeing it instantly transform. The rear legs of the Houndoom Zord began to shift and turn, the machine jumping up into the air to roll over. The back now became the front as both the fore and rear legs reveresed to aim that way. In addition to this the head slid backwards, the horns linking up under the arms of the zord for extra security. The nozzle of a cannon pointed out of the jaws on the chest, while a humanoid head could be seen where the beast-like head had been earlier. A black coloured head with yellow eyes. Standing up on two legs, the Houndoom Zord let out a roar as it faced Cryscaptor and the Poliwrath Time Battler.

"Nice," Duo muttered. "Waterfall!"

Inputting his command, the Time Battler leaped up on a powerful spray of water, striking Cryscaptor with the blow. Dislodging some of the chest armour with the strike.

"My signals are registering the source of the energy being in his stomach," Duo called. "Need some more firepower to get that armour away."

"That's where my thoughts come into it," Danni said. "I think I might be able to help with both things. First thing first. Dark Bomb!"

At her order into the Houndoom morpher, the Houndoom Zord fired out several small black orbs towards the chest of the demon. Where they settled for a second, to the bemusement of the demon, before exploding in a series of huge blasts. The force causing the armour to fall away, the crystals going with it. Suddenly, Cryscaptor gulped as he realised this. Dropping to his knees to try and grab the shrunken items up with his giant claws.

"No!" he yelled. "No! My crystals!"

"Part two," Danni said, still speaking into the morpher. "Heat Wave!"

Almost instantly, the wave of heat erupted out of the Houndoom Zord, thawing out the Dragon Solarzord and the SDI Megazord at the same time.

"Handy," Luke muttered. "See how much fun this is when you use that?"

"Shut up," Danni replied. "Time to finish him off. Enforcement Sword!"

As per usual, the blade materialised from the belt buckle of the Megazord, appearing in the hand of the giant machine.

"Ignition drive!" Danni shouted. "Now!"

Without hesitating, the Megazord burst forward, slashing the burning blade through Cryscaptor. Forcing the demon to the ground, where he instantly exploded into thousands of pieces. Leaving the rangers relieved at the way things had gone down.

"There's plenty of crystals where you're going!" Danni said, leaning back in her seat and removing her helmet. "Good job, team."

"No problem," Andrew called. "Even though I thought it was Xavier who usually said that."

"Just like Crane," Duo said. "Most of the time anyway."


Knocking at the door, Danni was surprised by how quickly it opened to reveal Joe stood there. An annoyed look on his face.

"What do you want?" he asked, sighing as he did so. "The last time I opened my door to you, it almost got blown off and my house nearly burned to the ground. Destroying a stack of priceless artefacts in the attic."

"Yeah, that's kind of why I'm here," she replied, gesturing to the box under her arm. "I wanted to apologise."

"Really?" Joe asked. "Nah, it's okay. You don't have to. I can rebuild. Make it better than ever. What's in the box."

"Well, after we destroyed Cryscaptor," Danni replied, with a smirk. "These were supposedly destroyed so don't let anyone know about them."

Reaching down and yanking the lid off, she held the contents up to the light. Revealing the five crystals that she'd acquired after the demon had been destroyed.

"Hopefully, we're even now," she said, handing it to him. "Plus, you've got to restart that priceless collection somewhere."

"Danni, you didn't have to do it," Joe replied, exhaling sharply. "I was in shock earlier. I didn't expect you to show up on my doorstep and I thought that was the only reason you were there."

"What, I couldn't come and see my brother?" Danni asked. "I've been... I've missed you the last few years. Any chance that we can just forget about that disagreement."

"What disagreement?" Joe said, holding out his arms. A gesture that she returned with a hug, the two of them holding it for a few seconds.

"You want some help redecorating?" Danni wondered, looking up at the mansion. "I've got some free time."


Author's Notes.

Whew. I think that scene in the mansion where they demolish the whole thing practically, is one of my favourite fight scenes every written.

Plus, Duo again. First time in a while. I'm not revealing who, but another G-Force ranger will be showing up in another few chapters.

Anyway... all's well that ends well. Cryscaptor's gone and Danni might start to patch things up with her brother. Whatever all that was about.

Okay, thanks for the reviews. All hugely appreciated completely and wildly.

Next chapter... Heat Of The Moment. Should be up in the next couple of days. Preview below.

And, the both the Houndoom Zord and Poliwrath Time Battler came out of retirement. How about that. Absolutely no coincidence to a review that I may have gotten, it was entirely planned.

Thanks for reading.

Don't forget to review. Please.


Okay, Chapter Twenty Nine, Heat Of The Moment, preview.

Xavier: Rise and shine, Lukey boy.

Luke: Turn that damn radio off. I'm trying to sleep.

?: Sir, you've got to help me.

Luke: Go away.

?: Try this on for size, green ranger!

Xavier: Rise and shine, Lukey boy.

Luke: Huh? Something strange is going on.

Katie: I'm not seeing it.

Luke: I think I'm caught in a time loop.

Nahir: That's just stupid.

Luke: I love you.

Nahir: Of course you do. Wait, what?

Luke: No!


Coming soon.