Chapter Twenty Nine. Heat Of The Moment.


Previously On Poké Rangers SDI...

Summoned by Kable, the Cryscaptor demon began his hunt for five ancient powerful crystals. Gathering four of them, his attention was brought to the rangers and SDI. Realising where she had seen them before, Danni, Andrew and Duo paid a visit to her brother to try and convince him to give them the crystal. They failed, and his mansion was attacked by Cryscaptor, Ramelow and the Misdrabeings. Barely managing to hold them off, Danni eventually lost the crystal after being blasted out of a window. As Bristow chewed them out, Cryscaptor used them on himself to become incredibly powerful. Freezing the SDI Megazord and Dragon Solarzord, it took the help of the Poliwrath Time Battler and the Houndoom Zord to defeat the demon. After the battle, Danni tried to make amends with her brother for destroying his home by giving him the five crystals and offering to help him redecorate.


"'Cause it's the heat of the moment. Telling me what my heart meant. The heat of the moment showed in your eyes!"

Groaning and jerking himself awake, Luke looked over at the bed opposite him where Xavier was pulling his sneakers on.

"Rise and shine, Lukey boy," he laughed. "Not getting any sleep with this going on."

"Turn that damn radio off," Luke groaned, looking at where it was on the ceiling. "I'm trying to sleep."

"Can't," Xavier replied. "Dominic decided that's what we need to wake up in the morning. Of course, I've been awake for a while and..."

"Okay, okay," Luke groaned. "I get the picture. Just give me a second."


"So, why are we being sent out for coffee again?" Luke complained, as he and Xavier headed down the street towards the Starmiebucks. "Can't they get the damn machine to work?"

"I already told you that," the red ranger replied, rolling his eyes. "Someone went postal and put his boot through it."

"Bet it was Bristow," Luke said, managing a grin. "He looks like a man on the edge most of the time."

"Nah, it was one of the nameless people on Miranda's staff," Xavier told him. "Heard he was on edge because of what they'd been working on."

"What have they been working on?" the green ranger wondered. "Seems like all they ever do in there is make stuff that either explodes when you don't want it to, or doesn't explode when you do want it to."

"Your Mystic Cannon worked pretty well," Xavier pointed out. "That didn't explode."

"I'm just still in a bit of a bad mood from waking up early," Luke admitted. "Just ignore me and I'll not yell at you."

"Sounds reasonable," Xavier said. "Okay, let's go in and..."

Before he could finish what he was about to say, a young boy burst out in front of them, gasping for breath after his exertions.

"Sir, you've got to help me!" he shouted, looking up at the two of them. "Please, it's an emergency."

"Oh, go away!" Luke groaned, rubbing his head. "Not now, not this."

"Don't overflow with emotion," Xavier replied, angrily leaning down to talk to the kid face to face. "What's wrong?"

"It's just..." the boy said, sadly. "There's a demon attacking. Over there!"

Pointing into the alley, Xavier got up and looked down the narrow space, slowly shifting his glance over to Luke.

"I don't see anything," Luke replied, leaning inside the alley, scanning the area for signs of lie. "Are you sure?"

"Did I say that the demon was there?" the kid asked, suddenly looking less sad. "Sorry, I meant that I was here."

Without hesitating, he suddenly grew out several feet, transforming into a demon. One with the tiny body of a Celebi, but with the wings and head of a Venomoth. Angrily fluttering his wings, several spores came out of the appendages, melting the ground as they landed on the sidewalk.

"Damn," Luke said. "That's fugly."
"Air Slash!" the demon howled, crashing his wings against Xavier. "Feel the might of Celimoth!"

Unmorphed and defenseless, Xavier felt the attack rake against him, the pain excruciating. The force from the wing strike enough to send him crashing back through the air several feet, he hit the ground and didn't move. His neck at an unnatural angle.

"Xavier!" Luke shouted, suddenly worried. Seeing that his friend still wasn't moving. "Oh crap!"


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!


"'Cause it's the heat of the moment. Telling me what my heart meant. The heat of the moment showed in your eyes!"

Groaning and jerking himself awake, Luke looked over at the bed opposite him where Xavier was pulling his sneakers on.

"Rise and shine, Lukey boy," he laughed. "Not getting any sleep with this going on."

"Whuh?" Luke wondered, sitting up in bed. "I just had the strangest dream. You were killed by a Celebi slash Venomoth demon."

"Nice," Xavier replied. "Just the way I wanted to go. You like the way that Dominic decided that we need this to wake up in the morning. Of course, I was already awake and..."

"Yeah, I heard you the first time," Luke muttered, dropping back to his pillow. "Just give me a second and I'll be up."

"Hurry up," Xavier said. "We need to go and get coffee from Starmiebucks. Someone went postal and put his boot through the machine."

"Erm..." Luke muttered, suddenly remembering the dream. "Maybe I should go on my own. It's not that hard to fetch back that much coffee."

"If you're sure," Xavier replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Meh, I could enjoy some early morning eggs and..."

"Okay, go for it," Luke said, picking his shirt up to put on. "I'll be back soon."


"There you go," the green ranger proudly said, coming into the mess hall. "Sixteen cups of coffee, all on one moderately sized tray. Face it, I rule. A lot."

"You didn't defeat forty thousand Misdrabeings all on your own," Andrew pointed out, taking a cup. "You went to the store."

"Nobody died," Luke reminded him, only to hear Xavier let out a sarcastic spray of laughter.

"Like you'd be dumb enough to die on a run to Starmiebucks," he remarked. "That would be embarrassing."

"Yeah," the green ranger said, rolling his eyes. "You would look a fool if that happened."

As he moved out to help Luke distribute the drinks, his chair hit the front of the green rangers leg. Causing him to fourteen cups to the floor, the liquid ending up everywhere. Just as Danni was getting to her feet, ending up slipping on the stuff. Falling to the ground, she let out a yelp that was followed by a cracking sound as her head smashed against the tiles. Blood mixing in with the coffee as she remained motionless, face down in the drink.

"Errr... Danni?" Katie asked. "Are you okay?"


"'Cause it's the heat of the moment. Telling me what my heart meant. The heat of the moment showed in your eyes!"

Groaning and jerking himself awake, Luke looked over at the bed opposite him where Xavier was pulling his sneakers on.

"Rise and shine, Lukey boy," he laughed. "Not getting any sleep with this going on."

"Huh?" he asked, starting to get slightly worried by what was going on. "Something strange is going on."

"I'm not seeing it," Xavier replied. "Other than Dominic deciding that we needed this this to wake up to in the morning. Of course, I was already awake and..."

"Gotcha, gotcha, yadda yadda yadda," Luke said. "Try and surprise me over what comes next."

"Hurry up and get ready," Xavier told him. "We need to go to Starmiebucks."

"Of course we do," the green ranger groaned. "Okay, give me a second to get ready. And also, let's not go down 28th Street to get to Starmiebucks. I've got a bad feeling about it."


"Something up?" Xavier asked, as the two of them walked down the stree. "Normally, you're so derisive of everyone else."

"I can't work out what's going on," Luke admitted. "Whether I'm caught in a strange dream or something."

"So, you think that you're dreaming?" Xavier wondered, taking the lid off a cup of steaming hot coffee. "So, what if I pour this over your head? You think it'll hurt?"

"I would assume so," the green ranger replied, half a second before Xavier tipped the cup up over his hand. Instantly causing him to let out a hiss of pain, swiping up at the cup out of reflex. As it sailed up into the air, it hit the electric lighting above them, sparks crashing up from the wires inside it. Almost inexplicably, it broke loose from its securings and fell to the ground. Landing straight on top of Xavier, crushing him to death. His foot sticking out from the huge light, letting out one final spasm before remaining still.

"Okay, that was a bad idea."


"'Cause it's the heat of the moment. Telling me what my heart meant. The heat of the moment showed in your eyes!"

Groaning and jerking himself awake, Luke looked over at the bed opposite him where Xavier was pulling his sneakers on.

"Rise and shine, Lukey boy," he laughed. "Not getting any sleep with this going on."

"What the holy crap is going on?" Luke shouted, jumping out of bed to throw himself at Xavier. "Are you doing this?"

"What?" the red ranger replied. "It's just Dominic deciding that we needed this to wake up to in the morning. Of course I was already awake and..."

"Okay, coffee is bad," Luke insisted. "Should stay away from it. Get Katie and Danni to go out and get it from Starmiebucks."

"How do you know we need to go to Starmiebucks?" Xavier asked, surprised. "Even though we do. Someone went postal and put his boot through the machine."

"Just trust me on this," Luke replied. "I'm not feeling so good."


"We're back with coffee," Katie called, the other rangers waiting for her and Danni to come through the main command deck. "Because someone felt a little ill."

"Not my fault," Luke replied. "If you were ill, I'd be understanding."

"Yeah, right," Nahir quipped. "I bet you would be."

"Hey, careful over there!" Miranda called from the other side of the room. "We've just wiped the plunge pool out."

"Meh, I've never met water I couldn't conquer," Katie said, sarcastically. All of three seconds before slipping on the wet ground and plunging head first into the pool.

"Conquer that?" Luke asked, before the other five rangers heard the alarms go off all around them.

"WARNING! FOREIGN OBJECT DETECTED IN PLUNGE POOL! ACTIVATING DEFENSES!"

"Holy crap!" Xavier shouted, as the metallic cover slammed shut over the pool, trapping Katie inside. "How's she going to breathe?"

"ACTIVATING ELECTRICAL PULSE!"

"Electrical pulse?" Luke wondered. "Where did that come from?"


"'Cause it's the heat of the moment. Telling me what my heart meant. The heat of the moment showed in your eyes!"

Groaning and jerking himself awake, Luke looked over at the bed opposite him where Xavier was pulling his sneakers on.

"Rise and shine, Lukey boy," he laughed. "Not getting any sleep with this going on."

"Not again," he groaned, slumping back to the pillow. "Listen, I don't care about Dominic pumping this through the system because he decided that we need this to wake up to."

"Well, we might need it to wake up to in the morning," Xavier replied. "Of course, I was already awake and..."

"Do we need to go and get coffee?" Luke asked. "Oh, we do. What a surprise. Because someone went postal and put his boot through the machine?"

"Yeah, how do you know that?" Xavier wondered. "Unless... Can it be...?"

"You notice something different?" the green ranger asked, sitting up straight. "Please tell me that..."

"What are you talking about?" Xavier replied, puzzled. "You obviously got up earlier and heard about it before coming back to sleep."

"Yeah," Luke said, rolling his eyes in disbelief. "That's exactly what happened."

"Now come on," the red ranger said, kicking him his shirt over. "Let's go to Starmiebucks."


"We're back!" Xavier called, as the two of them headed into the mess hall. "Even though he's gone insane."

"I haven't gone insane," Luke said, angrily. "I think I'm caught in a time loop. That's all."

"A time loop?" Andrew asked. "Are you sure?"

"That's just stupid," Katie pointed out. "There's no such thing as a time loop. No creature in this universe, demon or otherwise could do that."

"Well, actually..." Danni said, scratching her temple. "I can think of two."

"Hey, they were selling the coffee off cheap," Xavier said, handing Andrew a cup. "Because they were spraying repel down to get rid of Noctowl infestations."

"Isn't it that a worrying thing?" Nahir asked. "What if some of the repel got into the drinks? It's pretty poisonous to humans."

"Nah, I'm almost certain that that hasn't happened," Luke said, watching Andrew take a drink of the coffee. "Nothing but the finest beans that Starmiebucks has to offer."

"Does this taste funny to anyone else?" Andrew asked.


"'Cause it's the heat of the moment. Telling me what my heart meant. The heat of the moment showed in your eyes!"

Groaning and jerking himself awake, Luke looked over at the bed opposite him where Xavier was pulling his sneakers on.

"Rise and shine, Lukey boy," he laughed. "Not getting any sleep with this going on."

"Oh not again!"


"Miranda!" Luke shouted, running over to her. Not even bothered in the slightest that he was still wearing his sleeping attire of a green dressing gown. "I desperately need your help. I keep repeating the day over and over again."

"Well, you're a ranger," she replied, unsympathetically. "That's what happens. Demon attacks, you attack demon. You destroy demon with shiny weapons. Demon grows big. You destroy demon with Megazord."

"No, I've repeated this morning over and over again," Luke said, hoping and praying that she would believe him. "About... This is the sixth time."

"Hmmm," she said. "I think you might be suffering from stress and anxiety."

"I wasn't until the time loop started," he shot back. "Please, you've got to help me."

"Yes yes," she replied, absentmindedly picking up a piece of metal that closely resembled some sort of body armour. "I just need to finish the work on the Satellite Weapon that we've been working on."

"Miranda!" he shouted. "This is urgent! I'm worried I'm losing my mind!"

"Stop overreacting," she replied, putting the armour down and picking up something else that looked like a harpoon. "Mmmm... I'll be testing this out later. On Wailord."

"Are you serious?" Luke wondered, suddenly worried at what she was implying. "That thing's nowhere near sharp enough to pierce a Wailords skin. And since when did you implant an electrical pulse into the plunge pool?"

"After Andrew broke in here, we decided to put it in," she replied, still looking at the weapon. "And, I think this is sharp enough. Hold on a second..."

In her surprise, she accidentally pulled the trigger of the weapon. Sending a razor sharp harpoon bursting out of the barrel, streaking across the lab where it impaled a passing Danni through the neck.

"... How did you know about the electrical pulse?"


"'Cause it's the heat of the moment. Telling me what my heart meant. The heat of the moment showed in your eyes!"

Groaning and jerking himself awake, Luke looked over at the bed opposite him where Xavier was pulling his sneakers on.

"Rise and shine, Lukey boy," he laughed. "Not getting any sleep with this going on."

"I'm really starting to get annoyed here," the green ranger snarled, jumping out of bed to kick the wall. Getting nothing but a pain in his foot for his troubles.

"Don't diss the song," Xavier told him. "Dominic decided that's what we need to wake up in the morning. Of course, I've been awake for a while and..."

"Starmiebucks. Moron. Postal. Boot. Machine," Luke said. "I'm going, just let me get dressed."

"Wow, you're using less connectives than usual," Xavier remarked. "Interesting and strange. I wonder what today holds for us."

"Not good," Luke muttered. "I've already on my seventh."

"What?"

"Nothing," he replied. "Maybe I'll get Nahir to come with me."

"Aww, that's so sweet," Xavier said sarcastically, as he headed for the door of the sleeping quarters. "Maybe you can..."

Before he could finish what he was saying, the door fell off its hinges and collapsed on him. Forcing him to let out a sickened gasp of pain, his body crushed by the heavy frame of the door.

"Karma?" Luke wondered, closing his eyes.


"'Cause it's the heat of the moment. Telling me what my heart meant. The heat of the moment showed in your eyes!"

Groaning and jerking himself awake, Luke looked over at the bed opposite him where Xavier was pulling his sneakers on.

"Rise and shine, Lukey boy," he laughed. "Not getting any sleep with this going on."


He was out of the Aquabase and heading towards Starmiebucks when he heard footsteps behind him. Turning to see Nahir running after him.

"What took you so long?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders.

"You're in a hurry," she said, grumpily. "Can't believe that you called me in to help you out with this. Shouldn't Xavier be..."

"Yeah, he's ill," Luke replied. "A door fell on him."

"Ouch," she said. "Is he okay?"

"Fine, fine," he answered, stopping to let her catch up with him. "You caught up?"

"Hey, we can't all be as freakishly tall as you," Nahir replied, scathingly, as the two of them headed across the road.

"I'm only six one," he said. "Not that tall. Of course, anyone over five foot and a half feet looks like a giant to you, I take it."

"Not funny," she replied, rolling her eyes. "Not my fault I'm only five two."

"I didn't notice that you'd grown," he said, looking her up and down. "Must be that clinical atmosphere of the Aquabase."

"Can't explain it," she replied, shrugging. "Although..."

Suddenly smirking, an idea crossed Luke's mind as he looked at her. If the day was going to get repeated over and over again, then he might as well have as much fun with it as possible. Say things that he normally wouldn't if the day wasn't going to repeat itself on him.

"Nahir," he said. "There's something I want to tell you. Something that you should know."

"What's that?" she answered, suddenly looking interested.

"I love you," he replied, trying to keep a straight face as they reached the other side of the road.

"Of course you do," she said, not really taking it in. "Wait, what? What did you just say? You love me?"

"All my heart," he replied, watching her take a step back. "I think that you're..."

Too late, he heard the sound of the trucks horn. Too late Nahir realised that she'd stepped back into the road.

At least it was quick as eighteen tonnes of metal hit her, her broken body sailing through the air and hitting the ground with a sickening thud several feet away.

For ten seconds he waited. For thirty seconds he hoped. After a minute, he felt the wave of remorse rush over himself, dropping to his knees in pure emotion.

"Noooooooooo!"


"Damnit," Luke muttered, standing at the top of one of the highest buildings in Waterfall Shores. "I screwed up. I screwed up."

Kicking out at one of the ventilation ducts, he could feel the tears falling free.

"Why hasn't time reversed itself?" he yelled, shouting out to the city. "Why isn't she back? Why!"

Hearing no answer, not that he was expecting one in the first place, he kicked the duct again. And again. Hoping that the pain would make the sadness go away.

"What's the point," he continued, moving to sit down on the mangled duct. "It's my fault that she stepped back into the road."

"Well, in theory."

Hearing the voice, Luke looked around in surprise. He thought that he'd been alone on the rooftop, but the presence of the figure moving towards him told the green ranger otherwise. A blue haired man wearing a grey suit and tie combo underneath a long leather jacket, a strange look on his face. As he moved closer, Luke could see that he had a pair of violet coloured eyes, something that struck a chord in his mind from somewhere. Although he couldn't remember where it was from.

"Excuse me?" he replied, still surprised at the interruption. "What did you just say?"

"I said that her death was in theory your fault," the figure told him. "But in practise... the driver who hit her, the fact that she stepped back into the road on her own... Hell, even the thing that trapped you in the time loop in the first place could take some of the blame. Lulling you into that sense of security, thinking that you could screw around and there'd be no repurcussions."

"How the heck do you know that?" Luke asked. "Every time someone I know dies, the day starts over. And I'm the only one who remembers what happened previously."

"I know," the figure replied, hands in pockets. "Like I said, and like you've worked out. You are trapped in a time loop."

"How do I break out of it?" Luke wondered. "It didn't restart when Nahir died, so..."

"Well, for me to answer that question," the figure replied. "You need to understand why it happened. When you and Xavier encountered Celimoth earlier..."

"When Celimoth struck him down?" Luke asked. "Wow, how many Tuesdays ago was that now?"

"Seven, I believe," the mysterious man replied. "And the first one was where it all started."

"Yeah, I worked that out," Luke said. "So, what... some of those spores did this?"

"Oh believe me when I say that you're not hallucinating," the figure told him. "It's not one of those days. Although the reality distorting spores given off by Celimoth, a by product combination of its Celebi and Venomoth genes, did play a part in it."

"So, that caused this to happen?" Luke wondered. "Right."

"No, are you even listening?" the man replied, sounding angrily irritated by his lack of understanding in what was going on. "That wasn't the sole factor in what happened."

"What was then?" the green ranger asked, the exasperation threatening to overtake him. "Get to the point"

"Okay then," he said. "When Xavier died, you felt guilty, correct?"

"A little," Luke admitted. "I mean... It's not like he died because of me."

"Or did he?" the figure asked, a strange smile on his face. "Are you one hundred percent sure that you had absolutely nothing to do with his demise."

"Well, I told that kid who turned out to be Celimoth where to go," Luke muttered, trying to remember what had happened. "And then Xavier got in close and... Holy crap."

"The subconscious guilt in your system combined with the spores and locked you in the loop," the figure confirmed. "A most interesting development. I had no idea that could happen."

"You and me both," Luke replied, shrugging at the realisation. "So, how do I get out of it?"

"I can pluck you out of it and send you back to the first Tuesday," the figure said. "Before any of it happened. When you and Xavier first encountered Celimoth. With the full knowledge of what could take place. You get one chance to put things right. Screw it up and you'll be locked in limbo forever. And by limbo, I mean the time loop."

"How can you do that?" Luke asked. "And, you never told me how you know about my predicament."

"I know a lot of things," he replied. "Apart from one. Answer my question and I'll send you back to the start."

"Does it have to be an honest answer?"

"I'll know if you're lying," he said. "Why'd you do it? Tell her that you love her?"

Slightly taken aback by the question, Luke didn't reply straight away. Instead thinking it through, searching himself for the right answer.

"Just to see what would happen," he eventually said, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "Mainly that..."

"And, why did you want to see what would happen?" the figure continued, staring at him with the piercing violet eyes. "Seems like a strange thing to do."

"Well, we all have moronic sides," Luke replied, sarcastically. "So..."

"Yeah, don't lie to me," the man said. "You didn't do it because you're a moron."

"Okay, alright," Luke replied, taking a step back. "Just lately, I've started to... Develop feelings for her. And, because I'm a coward at heart, I wanted to see what would happen if I fessed up. I figured that I'd see the reaction, someone would die and the day would restart over again with nobody having any recollection."

"Which is why the loop stopped," the figure told him. "The guilt of having a role in her death overwrote that of having a role in Xavier's death. Hence..."

"That makes no sense," Luke replied, shaking his head in disbelief. "That's just... Not even remotely possible."

"And yet, we live in a world where you six... or should I say five at this moment in time... battle demons for the sake of humanity," the figure said, sarcastically. "You should have worked out by now that what's not possible has long been left behind."

"So, which are you?" the green ranger asked. "Human or demon?"

"Me?" the figure replied. "Neither. But, what you should remember is that..."

"Oh come on," he insisted. "You must have a name."

"Of course I do," the figure replied. "Do you really want to know it? You humans put such value and emphasis on names. Tags and... You know what... It doesn't matter. I'm keeping a watch over Verger while my brother rests himself up. He's had a stressful twenty five centuries work."

"Well, that'd make anyone exhausted," Luke remarked. "And, I take it that your brother isn't human either."

"Your powers of deduction are a credit, Mr. Sunderland," the man told him. "I already told you that we aren't human or demon. What matters most is that I'm going to help you out."

"Is that right?" he asked. "So... we going to do it?"

"Are you going to remember this little talk?" the figure asked, walking over to him. "When you wake up? Consider it over. You never know what might happen. And she probably won't die."

"Only a probably?" Luke grinned, as the mysterious man placed a hand on his shoulder. "What are you going to do? Touch me and zap me back?"

"Nope," he replied, pushing him back with incredible force. The strength enough to send Luke crashing backwards, straight towards the side of the roof. Flailing his arms to try and stay on solid ground. "And, if you really want it that much. My name is Errol."

Not even hearing him, while trying to keep his balance on the roof, his attempts to do so finally failed. And, as he plummeted down to the ground, Luke opened his mouth to scream...


"'Cause it's the heat of the moment. Telling me what my heart meant. The heat of the moment showed in your eyes!"

Groaning and jerking himself awake, Luke looked over at the bed opposite him where Xavier was pulling his sneakers on.

"Rise and shine, Lukey boy," he laughed. "Not getting any sleep with this going on."

"Is it Tuesday?" he asked. "Oh damn, I was enjoying that time I spent asleep. Hopefully I'd have gone straight through to Wednesday."

"Jeez, how many bad Tuesdays have you had?" Xavier wondered. "Was it that, or waking up to Dominic deciding that's what we need to wake up in the morning. Of course, I've been awake for a while and..."

"Yeah yeah," Luke replied. "I know."


"So, what did you drag us all out here for?" Danni wondered, as the five of them headed towards Starmiebucks. "Do we really need all five of us here?"

"I've just got a strange feeling that something's going to happen," Luke insisted. "I'm sure Andrew doesn't mind holding the fort at the Aquabase while we go. Plus, it's nice to have the five of us back together to do this. Just like old times."

"The five of us got together and did this a few weeks ago," Nahir pointed out. "When... I think it was when you got the Battle Strikers."

"Okay then," Xavier replied. "Let's hear your mad psychic theory again."

"I've got a strange feeling that something's going to happen," Luke insisted. "So... we're almost here and..."

Even before he could finish saying what he was about to say, the boy burst out of the alley. Still gasping for breath over his exertions.

"You've got to help me," he shouted, looking up at the five of them. "Please, it's an emergency."

"You're not the one we've got to help," Luke yelled, stepping forward. "Celimoth, show yourself!"

"I don't... I don't get you there," the boy said, puzzled by the random act. "I'm not a demon. Oh screw it, I am."

Transforming back into his demon shape, Celimoth glared at Luke and the other rangers. Showering him with pure hate.

"I don't know how you worked it out," he snapped. "But, you're going down."

"You first," Luke shouted. "I've seen your tricks. So bring it on."

"Has he gone officially insane?" Katie wondered.

"Meh, I'm rolling with it," Xavier remarked, shrugging.

"Try this on for size, green ranger!" Celimoth howled. "I'll destroy you! And the rest of your rangers."

"Not going to happen," Luke shouted. "You've ruined every possible Tuesday I could have had. And, payback is a bitch!"

Throwing out his arm, he gave the command. Waiting for the weapon to appear within his hands.

"Lugia Lancers!"

At the same time, the weapons all appeared in the hands of all rangers. Instantly combining them over with the Defense Blasters to create the alternate forms of the weapons.

"Aeroblast!" Xavier yelled, as they levelled the weapons at Celimoth, ready to pull the trigger. Five solid beams of white light erupted out of the barrels, exploding into Celimoth and putting him down.

"We got him!" Nahir shouted. "Oh yes!"

"But..." Katie said, allowing her voice to tail off as Kable appeared, hurling a card at the remains of the demon.

"Filled with fury this night," he intoned, dramatically. "Grow forth and invoke the fear of fright."

Without hesitating under the words of Kable's spell, Celimoth got back to his feet and grew many times his normal size. His wings unleashing spores down onto the rangers that crashed against their uniforms.

"Time to take this up to the next level," Luke yelled. "Oh, I'm looking forward to this. Aura Carriers! On track!"


Hearing his command, the Aura Carriers sped across the horizon, arriving onto the scene of the battle. Without hesitating, they got into the train carriages, the SDI Zords moving out of the compartments.

"Okay!" Luke shouted. "SDI Megazord formation!"

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.

"You're going down, Celimoth!" Xavier yelled. "Let's blast him!"

"Getting down to it," Katie called, hitting a button on her joystick. "Water Cannons, fire!"

Under her command, the Megazord brought up its arms, spraying out a blast of water into Celimoths body. The burst barely even fazing him.

"Part grass type, remember?" Luke remarked. "Let's try the Dragon Pulse Blasters!"

As he unleashing his own attack from the mouth of the Megazord, the blue grey vortex of energy did seem to do more damage to the demon. But still not enough to stagger him.

"Air Slash!" Celimoth roared, leaping up and striking the Megazord with the sharp burst of wind, the blow enough to send it falling to the ground. As it hit the dirt, Celimoth fluttered down and began to cover it in spores. Spores that started to melt the Megazord's armour.

"Guess we need to call in the cavalry!" Xavier shouted. "Guardian Jet, fly!"

At his command, the Guardian Jet launched itself from the Aquabase, swooping across the horizon. Moving down towards the fallen SDI Megazord.

"SDI Battle Megazord!" Luke yelled, eager to get the transformation under way. "Now!"

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. Back on its feet, the new Megazord shook its fist at Celimoth.

"Try melting this!" Danni shouted, more out of bravado than anything else.

"Gladly," Celimoth retorted, unleashing more acidic spores towards the giant robot. "The bigger they are, the harder they..."

"Up into the sky!" Xavier yelled, sending the SDI Battle Megazord up into the sky. High above the spores launched at them. It didn't take too long for Celimoth to flare out his wings and soar up after them.

"I don't even know why I'm surprised," Nahir commented. "Just hit him with something."

"Gyro Blow!" Xavier shouted, giving the command for the Megazord to spin around in mid air and hit Celimoth with a powerful kick. One that knocked it back through the air.

"You'll pay for that!" the demon howled, straightening up to unleash a Psybeam towards the SDI Battle Megazord. Pushing down on the controls, Xavier managed to get in closer, while dodging the strike.

"Call it at will," he said, looking at Luke. "Since you seem to have some sort of bone to pick with this creature."

"Inferno Flurry!" Luke yelled, hitting the button to activate the attack. "Now!"

Upon this command, the Battle Megazord ripped through the air, flames unleashing themselves from the cannons on its arms. Throwing out a series of physical blows mixed in with the flames for extra damage. Completely overwhelmed by the force of the attack, Celimoth fell to earth and exploded into thousands of pieces.

"You won't be causing me any more stress," Luke yelled. "That's a fact!"

"What stress has he caused you?" Danni asked. "You need to explain away. Something that you're not revealing to us."

"Maybe later," he said, softly. "Maybe later."


"So, how did you do it?"

Looking around from where he was leaning against the railings in the Aquabase, Luke spotted Nahir coming towards him. Leaning against the rails next to him.

"How'd I do what?" he asked. "I do a lot of things, many of them mostly brilliant."

"Modesty isn't one of them," she said, grinning. "Seriously though, how did you know about Celimoth?"

"One of those brilliant things I have is spookily good psychic powers," he replied. "Sometimes."

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" she asked. "Or do I have to..."

"Or do you have to what?" he replied, turning to grin at her. "You threatening me with violence?"

"Thinking about it," she said, raising a fist at him. "You want to risk it?"

"How do you know I won't get off on it?"

"See," she said, sounding frustrated. "You say things like that just to make everyone think that you're an asshole."

"Well, it clearly works," Luke replied.

"I don't know," she said. "Can't you... Can't you just for once in your life not be such a jerk?"

"I tried it once," he told her. "Was a bit bored after ten minutes. At least with the way I am, life's always interesting."

"Like your psychic ability?" she asked, humouring him. "That..."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you how I knew that was going to happen," Luke remarked. "Trust me, you wouldn't."

"Try me," she said. "I was the first one to believe we were under attack by demons. I'll believe anything."

"Xavier and I went to Starmiebucks to pick up the coffee. We were attacked by Celimoth, who took Xavier out when I made a bad decision. Then, I woke up again the next morning. Still a bit wary about what could happen, so I went myself. This time, I got back, spilt sixteen cups of coffee on the ground. Danni slipped over and fractured her skull. Then Xavier was crushed to death by a light. Then Katie fell into the pool and was electrocuted by the defense system. Next, Andrew suffered death by poisoned coffee. Then Danni was shot with a harpoon. After that, Xavier was crushed by a door. And then you..."

"Don't tell me how I died," she said, suddenly. "I don't want to know."

"All I'll tell you is that it broke me out of it," he replied. "I was so torn up by it, that I fell off a building and woke up again. Back at the start."

"Didn't know you cared so much," she said, managing a small smile at him. "That's touching."

"Well, what can I say," he replied. "Seeing my friends die... Repeatedly in the case of Xavier..."

"Yeah, what was the deal with that?" Nahir wondered. "Seemed kinda strange."

"... I wasn't finished," he insisted. "Seeing my friends die, it was one of the worst things I've seen ever. Take out the advice that the freaky violet eyed maniac gave me and it was a bad weeks worth of Tuesdays."

"Wait, you got advice?" she asked. "Are you going to follow it?"

"You don't even know what it's about," he replied, surprised at her reaction.

"Yet, you do," she reminded him, folding her arms. "And, only you know whether or not is what good for you. You think it was good?"

"It wasn't terrible," he said. "There were some good nuggets in there."

"So, are you going to follow?" she repeated, looking exasperated at his stalling.

"I don't know," he said, slowly. "Maybe."

"You should do," Nahir replied. "You never know where it could take you."


Author's Notes.

Okay, first of all I don't own the song. But, the story behind it was I heard it while out celebrating my twentieth birthday and had it stuck in my head for the next four days. Which was when I planned the chapter.

Errol... Remember him. And, Dorlinda is recharging. Still good of him to help Luke out. But, will Luke take his advice at any point? Have to keep reading and find out. Just on that thing, it was never down in G-Force, but both Dorlinda and Errol do have violet eyes. It's a way of distinguishing them. Actually, it might be a Lord of Time trait. Have to think about that, I must.

Regardlessly, I had a lot of fun with this chapter and I hope you did reading it as well. If a little confusing.

Thanks for the reviews. All completely welcomed with open arms.

Erm... Next chapter... Another chapter of filler before I start the next arc. The next one will be Metallic Rangers. Should be up soon. As always, preview below.

So, the next arc coming up... We get the departure of an old villain, the arrival of a new one, a new Megazord, and a new weapon. Also, some more filler before a crossover with Poké Rangers In Space. So, plenty to look forward to.

Anyway... I can't really think of anything else at the moment.

Okay, thanks for reading.

Don't forget to review. 'Kay?


Chapter Thirty, Metallic Rangers, preview.

Nahir: That's one spooky demon.

Katie: Crap, it bit me!

Andrew: And me.

Miranda: That's not right.

Nahir: What's happening to them?

Dominic: Does that make you the tin man?

Luke: Ha ha. No!

Miranda: Even as we watch, they're being turned into metallic statues.

Nahir: I have to help them.


Coming soon.