Dani stood, breathing deeply and glaring daggers at Venjix.
Over in the garage, Dr. K couldn't believe it. Dani's return wasn't the only surprise awaiting everyone. It must have been when Greg's subconscious heard Dani's voice that he began to wake.
His energy levels were starting to rise once more, quickly reaching 10% and continuing to grow.
Suddenly, his figure rose up on the battlefield.
"Venjix is not going to win," he said. He turned to the rest of his fallen friends, "C'mon guys. Think of what we're fighting for."
Scott suddenly started to stir, and the others quickly followed his lead. Mike and Flynn watched their friends return from the dead in total awe.
Mike's hands, however, were still letting Hayden's blood seep out from her body. Slowly, but surely, he was still killing her.
-----RPM-----
"This isn't possible," Gem and Gemma both said, running over to Dr. K and glancing at the screens from over her shoulder, "We thought they were dead."
"They aren't," Ronny grinned.
Dustin suddenly realised the one flaw.
"Kaylee, Hayden's still dying!"
Kaylee's eyes widened as she realised this as well. She fumbled around for her communicator, but she was too anxious to get a strong grip on it. If she arrived even a nano-second to late, Hayden would have died for nothing.
"Fuck this!" Kaylee screamed, "It's Zwopping time!"
A cloud of smoke appeared, replacing Kaylee as the zwop sound echoed through the room. All eyes were on the monitor, waiting for Kaylee to appear and stop Mike.
-----RPM-----
Mike barely had time to notice the cloud of green smoke before his aunt jumped out of it, tackling him to the ground and pulling him away from Hayden. Mike was too stunned to do anything, but Kaylee quickly turned back to Hayden.
"Mayday..." she called, using the nickname the Brooks and Summer had given her. She stepped over to her daughter carefully.
"What's going on?" Flynn managed to say as he helped the other Rangers up. He grabbed Scott's arm, gently pulling his leader to his feet.
"We all have someone back at home waiting for us," Scott explained, wiping the blood from his mouth.
"Or something worth protecting," Dillon nodded, helping Summer to her feet. Summer quickly glanced over at Hayden, seeing the blonde lying in the dirt, covered in her own blood.
"What happened?" she asked the two boys.
"We... it was..." Flynn tried to answer, but he couldn't.
Daniela helped Greg up and turned to Blue and D-Green. Her eyes narrowed on Mike.
"He killed her!" she screamed. Though she had appeared at super-speed, she had seen Mike holding Hayden's wound open.
Summer looked over at her older cousin. She couldn't believe it. Mike had dedicated almost his entire life to protecting others, especially Samantha Jr., Hayden and herself. He couldn't have killed Hayden, could he?
"Hayden, c'mon, baby girl, wake up," Kaylee whispered, touching her daughter's hand.
Venjix chuckled, rubbing the spot on his chest where Dani had hit him. It did sting, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.
"Well, I didn't kill the team, but maybe you ten are going to kill yourselves?" he laughed.
"Shut up!" Mike screamed.
"I'm just pointing out the facts," Venjix shrugged, "The pink one could heal, right?"
"What are you talking about?" Dillon asked. He was willing to let the virus talk, if he was going to bring up a good point.
"Look at her injury," Venjix smirked, "If she was still alive, don't you think she would be healing."
Dillon took Summer's hand in his as he looked over to the princess. Venjix was right; the wound Mike created wasn't healing.
"SHUT UP!" Mike roared, finding the energy to quickly morph and attack. He pulled out his nitro blaster and began shooting at will. The blasts came down on Venjix like the rain, causing his to stagger backwards.
Dani growled, jumping into super speed. She ran between Mike's blasts and checked Venjix, knocking him over. She landed on top of him, quickly powering up and slamming her fist in his face, over and over again.
Flynn joined the attack as well, morphing as quickly as he could and pulling out his turbo cannon. Knowing Dani could easily avoid the blast if she ran at light speed, he fired.
Dani heard the shot and quickly jumped away, just missing the force of the blast. The energy that did hit her, caused her to roll on the ground, where Greg quickly caught her.
He looked over at Venjix, "This means war."
He morphed as well before disappearing. His mother blessed him with invisibility, and he was going to take full advantage.
Venjix didn't seem him coming as the gold Ranger threw himself at the virus, attacking with all the energy he had left.
Scott turned to the remained of his team. Summer, Dillon and Ziggy all nodded.
"RPM, get in gear!" they called.
Just before they reached Venjix, Mike, Dani, Flynn and Greg stopped them. The eight Rangers got a look at the once strong virus.
His armour was cracked, leaving his mechanical parts exposed.
"I'm so going to kill this shithead," Summer growled, pulling out her nitro blaster and shooting, right for the parts. There was a loud crunch as she connected with Venjix' leg and it tore off.
Venjix fell over, unable to support himself, and squirmed on the ground in pain.
"Anyone have any cool toys for us?" Scott asked. "I don't think counter-strikes will be much of a problem now."
"I've got one, but it's untested," Dr. K's voice came.
"So far we..."
"... haven't found a problem with it," Gem and Gemma spoke.
"There is one thing though," Ronny laughed. "I've got the blueprints on my screen, and I'm seeing something you're not going to like, Scott."
Knowing Ronny's voice only came when there was bad news; Scott had a moment of panic.
"What is it?" he asked.
"It seems this has been out local scientific doctor's special project. It's only programmed to work with the L-Green Operator."
"Ziggy?" Scott laughed.
"Well..." Dr. K said nervously, and everyone could hear it. "I didn't grow up learning the normal was to express human emotions..."
"It's cool, Doc," Ziggy laughed, gently pushing Scott out of the way as he stood in the lead of the group. "Who's the little man now?"
"Still you," Dillon chuckled, patting his best friend on the shoulder, "You just have a big job."
"Downloading the Final Strike Cannon to you, Ziggy," Dr. K called.
In Ziggy's hand appeared a rather large weapon. He found it to be very heavy, almost collapsing under its weight, were it not for the other Rangers quickly positioning themselves around the cannon.
"Whoa, this is a big cannon, doc," he laughed. "What do I do?"
"Insert your engine cell in the slot. Information will instantly be downloaded into your Ranger suit and the steps will appear on your visor."
Ziggy did as he was told, inserting the engine cell key into the slot. Just as Dr. K said, the information for the cannon was downloaded into the suit, and Ziggy's view suddenly filled up with letters and numbers.
"I can't read this!" he frowned. He looked down at the cannon, spotting a small trigger, "How about I just pull this button."
"Wait!" Ronny's voice yelled, before Ziggy tried shooting the cannon, his way, "It's the end of Venjix. You've got to say some last words before you kill him."
"Mom... do we have to?"
"All monsters need a speech to be taught a lesson."
Ziggy nodded.
"Eat noodle arms, ya toaster freak!" he yelled, pulling the trigger.
Venjix stumbled as he got to his foot, and saw the rather large and very green beam of energy soar towards him.
"This isn't the end!" yelled before he was stuck with his end. His pieces were ripped from his body, littering the wastes with mechanical pieces.
The Rangers turned, facing the cameras that allowed the mentoring team in the lab to watch them and smiled, powering out of their uniforms and cheering.
Venjix had been destroyed.
"We did it!" Scott cheered, turning to his team. "I can't believe it, Venjix is gone!"
"We won!" Ziggy smiled, "Aha!"
"You won!" Dillon laughed, "You shot the blast that killed Venjix and saved the world."
Suddenly, the Rangers heard a cough in the distance. Summer's ears perked up. There were only two people who would be coughing: Tenaya or Hayden.
She looked over at her little cousin, and Hayden was still unconscious with Kaylee sobbing over her.
That meant...
"Tenaya!" Summer screamed, running to her friend's side and helping Tenaya sit upright. The Rangers joined, as Summer looked over her friend's body.
Tenaya's flesh had been ripped apart in many places, causing her to bleed heavily. Not only that, but her mechanicals parts were nearly destroyed. There was no way they were going to be of any use to her, proving to be fatal because Tenaya needed her machine parts to keep her biological system functioning.
"Let's get her inside the city, and fast," Dillon said, lifting Tenaya in his arms.
"Aye," Flynn nodded, "I think we're all going to need a doctor."
Dani agreed, pulling out her communicator, "Mom, is dad nearby?"
"The twins have just gone to get him. He should be here by the time you guys get back."
Dani nodded, "Let him know that both Tenaya and Hayden need to be his main focus."
"Alright."
Flynn and Mike walked over to Kaylee and looked down at Hayden. Kaylee shook her head.
"She's not healing."
The mother grabbed her hand-held computer and logged into Dr. K's files from the Lab. She looked at Hayden's energy levels.
"She's not dead," Mike frowned, a little surprised, and relieved about the results.
"She's not... but why isn't she..."
Kaylee finally began to feel the rain falling and looked up. Though the Rangers hadn't been battling in a high-radiation zone of the wastes, the water around these parts was still very polluted. This meant that the rain was filled with radiation.
She got to her feet quickly.
"Everyone, back into the dome!" she yelled, pointing to Corinth. She and the Rangers had been exposed to the poisonous radiation, and though she could heal, it seemed as if no one, not even Hayden, could. They were all in danger of being hurt.
Flynn grabbed his fiancée, refusing to leave her behind before running with the others back to the safety of the dome.
-----RPM-----
The war with machines was still far from over as T15 sat at the repairs station, working on the damages. She had been watching the battle from the screens and laughed.
"I always knew Venjix was pathetic anyways," she smirked. "He wasn't worth my time."
She finished up with her repairs and walked to the computer. The crane above the pit of monsters started to move, before pulling out a small attack bot. It was placed before her and she smirked.
"Time to get to work."
-----RPM-----
Kaylee had been treated for radiation, but just like she had predicted, her powers had protected her. Of course, that meant she wasn't allowed in with the Rangers as Doc cared for them.
"So... have we really won?" Samantha asked, finding nothing else to do to keep her worry and fear down. Yes, the world was safe from Venjix, but if the radiation decided to work against the Rangers, she was looking at losing her boyfriend, her cousins and her sister.
"We'll see," Kaylee sighed.
"I don't understand," Ronny frowned, "They're poisoned?"
"The rain had radiation," Kaylee said, "And so far, I know two cases of radiation poisoning that have hit this family."
"Elena and Karly," Ronny gasped.
"When Elena's body came in contact, it hurt her. The radiation worked against her biological system and took her sight from her. It 'destroyed' her. But with Karly, it worked with her, reversing the aging process and giving her the ability to talk."
"Based on those two events," Dr. K added, "We can safely assume the radiation can either destroy, or enhance the human systems."
The doors to the lab opened up as eight of the ten heroes stepped out. Mixed emotions could be read on their faces.
"We got the all clear," Mike explained, "Uncle Doc says we're not sick."
"Then what could it have done?" Ronny asked, coming over to her daughter and Greg and wrapping her arms around them.
"Well..." Ziggy said. He grabbed Dillon's arm and lifted the Black Ranger above his head. The mentoring team looked at him in shock.
"Noodle arms... you can't possibly lift that much weight!" Samantha gasped. "Dillon's one of the biggest guys here!"
"Unless..." Gem started, looking to his sister.
"They got superpowers!" Gemma cheered.
"So, the radiation is working with the eight of you," Kaylee said. "What else can you guys do? Scott?"
Scott grinned before suddenly changing shapes. Now, he no longer looked like Scott, but rather, Kaylee.
"EW! No, go back!" Kaylee winced, shutting her eyes until Scott was back to normal. "Yuck, I hate shape shifting."
Ronny chuckled before looking to Flynn.
"Apparently my brain can now understand every language. I've just got to know which one you're speaking."
"And how would you know this?" Ronny asked him. "We speak English."
"Every language," Flynn smirked, "When Doc was explaining my powers, he was using medical terms. Now, I may be a mechanic, but I'm no doctor. Yesterday those terms would have confused me. But today..."
"He was our translator," Summer said, getting to the point.
"What about you, Summer?" Dustin asked his niece. Summer shrugged.
"I don't know... I can scream louder I guess."
Samantha covered her ears, "The house is definitely going to know next time you might be pregnant then."
Dustin smacked his daughter on the arm, giving her a disappointed look. Summer and Dillon both turned red as they looked away.
"Dillon?" Gemma asked.
"I can kill the Brooks girls," he smirked, glaring at Samantha.
"What can you really do?"Gem asked.
Dillon snapped his fingers as a small flame appeared. Both twins' jaws dropped.
"We won't need matches for boom-time anymore!" they cheered.
Dr. K turned to Mike, "Judging by Summer's enhanced powers, I would be safe to assumer your water manipulations skills are more developed."
Mike nodded, but the glum look on his face never disappeared.
Kaylee looked over at Daniela and Greg, "How about you two?"
"Us two what?" they asked in sync. Kaylee jumped back, eyeing the gold and silver Rangers suspiciously.
Greg chuckled, "We've got a mental link," he said.
"I can read his mind and he can read mine," Dani continued.
"We're so the coolest couple!" they both cheered, high-fiving.
Ronny looked at Kaylee, "Because knowing what your partner really thinks of you is perfect in a relationship."
"Meh," Kaylee shrugged, "Dani already speaks her mind. She's got nothing to hide. And it's not like she can understand half of what Greg's saying, never mind thinking."
Dani huffed, glaring at her Aunt, "I can so understand... sometimes."
"What about Hayden and Tenaya?" Dr. K asked, knowing the question was going to be asked at some point.
This sent Mike over the top as he stormed off, throwing a chair out of his way and breaking it in two as it hit the wall. He couldn't believe he almost killed his cousin. It had been his job to protect her, but he should have known to wait. He wasn't dead, Flynn wasn't dead, and Dani was sure to return at some point. The Rangers still stood a chance.
And now she was suffering.
Samantha ran after her younger cousin after handing Engel to her father. She knew she would be missing out on the status updates for her sister and cousin, but she figured she would most likely get an explanation from Mike.
Summer turned to her Aunt and uncle. They were the two who would be most hit by the bad news. Hayden was their daughter, and Tenaya was Dustin's niece.
"They weren't so lucky with the radiation," she sighed, "With us; it was only a little bit that got into our bodies via our cuts. When we found Tenaya, her entire mid-section was torn open."
"That's why doc asked for your blood before you left," Ziggy told Kaylee. "He's hoping that it'll be strong enough to keep her alive until he can flush out the radiation from Hayden's blood."
"What?" Dustin asked.
"Start with Hayden," Scott told the others. He looked to his mentor and Dustin sympathetically, "When it rained on Hayden's injury, the radiation got into her system. She's still healing everywhere else... it's just.. not on her heart."
"She's not dying," Flynn sighed, "but... she's not healing like she should. Every other cut on her body is gone but that one! Doc's stabilized her and stopped the bleeding, but if her powers don't flush out the radiation soon, she might never fully heal."
Kaylee swayed slightly, feeling a little light-headed. Rebecca placed her hand on Kaylee's back, hoping it would help steady her.
"She's in pain," Flynn shook his head, trying to keep the tears away. "A lot of pain. Nothing's helping her right now."
"So, it's just her heart that's not healing?" Ronny asked, "Is it still beating?"
"Like I said," Scott nodded, "Everything's healing, but not the injury itself."
"The radiation poisoned that part of her body, keeping the tissue from regenerating and leaving the wound exposed. That's why she's not healing," Summer said.
"How how does this affect Dawn?" Dustin asked, "You said Doc had to wait for Hayden before working on Dawn..."
"With Tenaya, it's a little more complicated," Greg said. "She was part machine, and when her stomach section opened up, that's where the radiation hit her. Her biological parts are sick, and her hardware is shutting down. Doc's removed every piece of Venjix machine he could from her body, leaving only what's natural. Kaylee's blood is keeping her alive, but it's not strong enough to heal her."
"Only Hayden's blood can heal something that intense," Kaylee told her husband. "Tenaya was almost completely robotic. If Doc removed all those parts, she would pretty much just be a head, one arm and pieces of her torso."
"The pieces are all attached," Daniela assured her uncle, "So when she does heal, we should have a full human Tenaya..."
"Why... why Hayden's blood..."
"Tenaya's missing vital organs," Daniela explained. "The healing powers in Hayden's blood is strong enough to recreate those organs and tissues and muscles, and Tenaya should be back to normal within a few hours of receiving the blood."
"So donate it..."
"Hayden's blood is radioactive though," Dillon frowned, "That's why her heart injury's not healing. The blood's too poisoned to deal with it. Until the radiation is flushed out form her body, Hayden's heart injury won't heal, and her blood won't help Tenaya."
"But, Hayden's expected to live," Ziggy smiled, bringing a little good news to the mentoring team. "We just don't know how long it'll be before she's living normally."