A/N: Sorry, meant to put this in the last chapter. The statement made by Jordan marked with an * was based on a quote by a famous sportsman. Bonus points to anyone who can name that person in their review.
Jordan ran through the woods, tailing Mephit as he went. He had flipped his visor to thermal imaging so he could track her through the thick foliage. As he got to the top of a cliff, he launched himself off it, landing in a roll on a street far below. He looked up to see Mephit standing in the street as citizens started to run in panic.
"So you finally caught up did you?" She taunted him. Jordan just stood up to full height, stretching out his shoulders.
"I guess it was too much to hope you'd fight somewhere there were no innocent casualties." He stated. Mephit just smiled.
"Would you fight in YOUR living room?" She asked him. She filled the street with her noxious gas, knowing that while it wouldn't affect Jordan, it would certainly make things more urgent since it would start to poison the citizens. The rest of the Rangers teleported in behind him one-by-one.
"Jordan, what's going on?" Troy asked. "Gosei contacted us to say you'd activated your armour."
"You notice the skink that's about to become a pelt?" He asked in response.
"You know what I mean." Troy snarled. "What were you thinking going after her alone?"
"I have a plan." Jordan assured him as the streets suddenly filled with Loogies. Bluefur charged towards them, swinging his mace.
"Well don't waste time explaining it and just do it!" Jake called out as they ran off to intercept the Loogies. Troy parried Bluefur's first strike, leaving Jordan alone staring down Mephit.
"So, what's this plan then?" She asked.
"You'll find out soon enough." He replied rushing towards her, tackling her through the glass front of a shopping mall, taking her inside.
Outside, Gia was struggling to keep Loogies away from a girl she found cowering behind a dumpster. She took down some of her attackers and reached out her hand.
"Come with me!" She told the girl. She reached out a hand, but as Gia touched her, she flickered, and disappeared in a haze.
"What the...?" Her words were cut off as a blast hit her in the ribs.
Jordan fought with Mephit in the shopping mall, sending her from pillar to post as she tried desperately to get a break to counter. He didn't give her a second to breathe, to regain her sense of direction knowing that one moment was all she needed to cause untold devastation. Eventually, as he rushed her while she was on her back, she managed to plant both feet in his stomach, and drive him away, before scrambling to her feet. She was breathing heavily from the assault, and she felt blood running down her face from her many injuries. She smiled through blood-stained teeth.
"So this was your plan? To beat me before I had a chance to poison people?" She asked him. She tensed up all her muscles, forcing out a huge cloud of gas, intending to instantly wipe out everyone unfortunate enough to be in the mall. She started to laugh as the air filled with the green fumes, but as she looked around, no one dropped. No one even appeared to choke. Eventually, they all flickered and disappeared.
"Actually, that was my plan." Jordan told her, pulling out his Robo Blade. He rushed forward as she raised her spear to block him. He sent her flying through the support beams, bringing down the entire mall on both their heads. He was smashed to the ground by falling rubble, before the light was completely shut out.
Outside, the rest of the Rangers were finishing up with the rest of the Loogies when the mall collapsed. They all watched in horror as it happened. Bluefur just laughed.
"Mephit was insane; you probably did me a favour getting rid of her." He said as he hefted his mace over his shoulder. "Still, she had her uses. Another time Rangers."
As he left, they rushed to the rubble, only to see it moving. Jordan stumbled out, clutching his head.
"Jordan, are you OK?" Emma asked.
"You have NO idea how loud those impacts are in here." He answered, tapping his helmet. "Does anyone have an aspirin?"
"An Aspirin?" Jake asked. "What about all those people you just buried?"
As he said that, the remaining citizens flickered and disappeared. They all looked around in confusion before Noah saw Tensou roll into view.
"It's amazing what a few holograms and heat generators can do." He stated. Noah looked to Jordan.
"Where are we?" He asked, suddenly realising he didn't recognise the streets. Being teleported, they hadn't had to follow any route that would indicate where they were. Jordan smiled.
"Welcome to Harwood Marine Corp barracks." He informed them. "These streets? They were built on site to simulate urban combat scenarios."
"So you used Tensou to create some fake life signs..."
"She did love her innocent casualties." Jordan interrupted Noah. He looked to Troy. "There are times to use a scalpel..."
"And there are times for the sledgehammer approach." Troy answered, realising what Jordan had done. Instead of trying to control the fight to limit casualties, he had taken it to a place where casualties weren't a factor. It was the first rule of the Art of War. Never fight an enemy on their terms, force them to fight on yours. Jordan had done that, tricking Mephit into going somewhere that he could fight without worrying about anyone being around.
"So...what about the soldiers?" Jake asked.
"They shut the base last year, budget cuts." Jordan explained. "My dad was the captain when they shut down, he retired when they did."
"Not bad Jordan, not bad." Gia complimented him, patting his shoulder. "Of course, maybe letting us in on the plan would have been an idea. It was only when we noticed you weren't in the canteen at lunch and asked Gosei where you were..."
"I made this mess, and I wanted to clean it up." He interrupted her as he saw some Zombats descending. "Speaking of which..."
"We'll..."
"I started this." Jordan interrupted Troy. "Let me finish it."
"We're here if you need us." Troy reminded him. Jordan pulled out the Robo Morpher
"Knight brothers!" He called out as he slammed in the card.
In another part of town, Roy was sitting in his apartment silently. Wayne was in a chair opposite him as Eric paced around. Both of them were well versed in the psychology of interrogation, having been trained for the possibility they might be captured and questioned when they served in the special forces together. Wayne's role was to keep an eye on Roy and ensure he didn't move, so that he felt isolated and helpless, while Eric moved around, demonstrating that he had all the freedom he wanted, he could do...anything.
"You don't mind do you?" Eric asked ironically as he picked up a bottle of bourbon, pouring himself a glass. "I know it's the middle of the day, but it's been a stressful few days."
He then saw a packet of cigarettes, and a lighter. He pulled out a cigarette and looked at it, before popping it in his mouth.
"It's been so stressful, I might even have one of these." He told him, lighting it up and taking a drag. He held it up, looking at it. "16 years, 51 weeks and 4 days. That's how long it's been since I last had one of these."
"Listen I..."
"Shh..." Wayne told him, gesturing to Roy to keep quiet while Eric talked.
"My wife, Eleanor hated me smoking. I quit the week Emma was born. I did it for them." He informed him. "You know they say that nicotine is harder to kick than heroin?"
"Mr Goodall..."
"In fact, statistics show that it's more likely someone will kick a heroin habit than stop smoking." Eric continued, turning a chair around so he could sit with the back between him and Roy, facing him as he stradled the chair, taking another puff. "My daughter doesn't even know I used to smoke. Can you imagine how much hell I'll get if she smells this on my breath?"
"Eric..."
"FRIENDS call me Eric!" He snapped. He rested his arms on the back of the chair and leaned on it, taking another draw on his cigarette. "Since I lost Eleanor, Gia and Emily have been my whole world."
"Mr Goodall..."
Eric kicked the bed, right between Roy's legs hard to make a point. Roy immediately fell silent.
"No names. You haven't earned that right." Eric said calmly. "You speak when I give you permission, and when you do, you call me sir, are we clear?"
Roy just nodded.
"Good, now I can start asking questions, and do remember one thing." Eric told him. "Someone threatened the lives of my family. I'll do anything it takes to keep them safe. The only reason you're still breathing is because I don't believe for one second you have the brains to do all this yourself."
Roy whimpered a little as tears rolled down his face. Wayne leaned forwards.
"Now, consider your answers very carefully." He warned him. "Why don't you tell us who suggested you do this?"
"He's...he's just some guy from the club." Roy whimpered.
"What club?" Eric asked in response.
"The Warriors of Gaia." Roy responded. Eric looked to Wayne.
"Environmental extremists." Wayne confirmed. "For the most part, they're professional noise makers, the kind of guys that kick off at protests for the hell of it, but there's been a few more serious incidents."
"So, one of you decided it was a great idea to start sending me threatening messages and pictures of my girls?" Eric asked. "Names."
"Nobody uses names." Roy told them. "None of them even know my name..."
"Frederick Rosewood." Eric stated, taking another puff of his cigarette. "You might have set up a convincing fake ID, but I'm guessing you didn't want to add credit card fraud to the list. Pretty dumb move using your card to buy your daily tofu baguette."
"Those credit card bills get sent right here." Wayne said with a smile. "Alright, so if you don't use names, how about you tell us exactly how many of you are involved, and what you did."
"It'll be simple enough to figure out from there." Eric assured him. "One of your guys was shot in the thigh and doctors are required by law to report gunshot injuries."
"Not to mention, one of your guys was about 6' 6" and has two fractured patellas courtesy of my boss here." Wayne told him. "There can't be too many knee injuries among guys that big in town."
"So...if there are no names, let's start with numbers." Eric continued. "And please, try not to lie. I may just get...annoyed."
Roy gulped deeply as he prepared to answer.
The Rangers got back to the school after Jordan was finished with Mephit. They'd all missed classes, but it was so close to exam time that students regularly cut classes, and most teachers didn't bother to try and keep track of who was there and who wasn't. Most of them were only doing revision for the exams anyway, so the kids that cut only missed out on helpful advice, meaning it was their loss in the eyes of their teachers.
The final bell rang, and Emma started to pack up her things. Noah came up to her in the hallway, bumping into her and causing her to drop her notes.
"Sorry, let me help you." He rushed out as he helped her. "Um...some day huh?"
"Yeah." She replied. "Jordan really came through."
"I guess he'll learn subtlety another day." Noah chuckled. "Still, it was pretty smart."
"I guess he's learning something." Emma commented. Just then, Spider arrived. Noah got to his feet, holding Emma's notes, and handed them to her.
"Sorry, was I interrupting?" He asked.
"Nothing important." Emma replied, looking to him with a bright grin. It had only been a couple of hours since their kiss at the coffee shop, but seeing him before her now, she couldn't help thinking about it. "So...are you driving?"
"Fossil fuels? What do you think I am?" He asked.
"A human being born after 1899?" Noah grumbled sarcastically. Spider just glared at him.
"Don't you have another animal to dissect?" He asked him, before turning to his locker and opening it up. Inside was a thick red book, with gold writing down the spine.
"They don't dissect animals here anymore." Noah corrected him as Spider slammed his locker shut.
"Whatever, are you coming Emma?" He asked. Emma went with him, Spider wrapping his arm around her as they left. Noah, just opened his locker, seething about what had happened. Science and Environmentalism weren't mutually exclusive.
As he opened his own locker, he paused as he saw a book in it that attracted his attention. It was a thick, red book, with gold writing down the spine. It was a Physics textbook, one that was college level. Noah, unsurprisingly, was far beyond the curriculum, and well into extra credit in his science classes. Looking down the path Spider had taken; he took the book from his own locker, and stuffed it into his bag. He didn't like the guy, that much was a given, but now that he was hanging around one of his best friends, he wanted to understand what he was up to.
Back at the apartment, Wayne and Eric left, closing the door behind them. Despite their intense grilling, they had left "Roy" unharmed.
"He's going to call his friends now, you realise that right?" Wayne asked.
"Of course, I want him to." Eric told him as they got to the car, flicking his cigarette away. "You don't have any mints do you? Emma really will kill me if she knows I've been smoking."
"You want him to warn them?" Wayne asked. Eric just nodded as he took the packet of mints, popping a couple into his mouth.
"Maybe now they'll realise who they're messing with." He answered. "Anyone who wants to come after me, that's an occupational hazard, but threatening the girls...? They're obviously not too fond of breathing."
With that, Eric and Wayne got into the car.
Troy went to the gym, finding Jordan there working hard. Despite his earlier battle, he was still there working out. He approached cautiously.
"You know...we are a team for a reason." Troy told him. Jordan just sighed.
"I get that, seriously." He told him. "It's just..."
"What?" Troy asked him.
"Any team's only as strong as its weakest link." Jordan told him. "So far that's me."
"Look..."
"I know it, and so do you." Jordan interrupted him. "I've screwed up a few times."
"We all have." Troy assured him.
"The point is, I've always wanted to be a Ranger. It's the thing I've dreamed about ever since I first saw them." Jordan told him. "Now that I've got it, I'm finding out it's harder than I thought."
"Jordan..."
"I can't guarantee I'll never fail again." Jordan cut him off. "But I can guarantee that if I do, it won't be for lack of trying. I'll work longer and harder than any of you if I have to, but I will be the Robo Knight you deserve."
Troy didn't say another word, just patting Jordan on the shoulder before leaving him to continue his workout.
Over at Queen Power and Energy, Spider and Emma arrived on their bikes. Spider was about to chain his to the fence, but Emma just gestured to him to follow her to the gate.
"Hey David." She said to the guard on duty. "What's happening?"
"It's been pretty lively, they're stepping up security." He told her. "Your dad's pretty stressed about this protest."
Emma hoped Spider hadn't heard that, a lot of the people at her protest groups didn't know her dad was organising the security for Queen.
"Um...any chance you could look after our bikes?" She asked. "We're here for an interview for the school paper."
"You know you don't need to ask, you come around the office often enough." David told her, taking the bikes from them.
"Keep your camera at the ready." Spider stated as he put his arm around her. Emma prepared it, looking around. "Snap over there."
"Those tanks?" She asked. "Why?"
"I believe in the blitz tactic, just take a ton of pictures and the odds of you getting the perfect one by accident improve." He replied. Emma just went with him, taking more photographs as he made his way to the office of the plant manager. "Oh, and remember to e-mail me all the pictures."
Emma just nodded, and continued to take photographs as she felt his arm around her, holding her closely.