Fresno Bob made his way back to the race track with Benny, making his way into the private lounge, where his highest ranking lieutenants were all assembled. The call had gone around that Fresno Bob wanted his men ready for a major operation.
As he entered, finding the room filled with cigar smoke, and his men playing cards. They all turned to look at him, awaiting his orders. All except for one, who just sat in the corner, observing the events unfolding.
Harris was a monster of a man. He towered over even Benny, and had to have his suits specially made to cover his massive frame. His hands were almost as large as a man's head, and looked like they were capable of crushing a skull with ease. He had soft, brown hair that was always styled short and neat. His strong, handsome features were broken up by a massive, branching scar extending from a little below his scalp to his chin, narrowly missing his right eye, the result of an attack with a glass bottle early in his career. He was an utterly pitiless and ruthless man, making him ideal for some of the messier parts of the business. Everyone was scared of him, even Bob. His reputation for brutality was known throughout the city. Very few had the honour of crossing paths with him on the opposite side and walking away.
"As you all know we're still having difficulty progressing through the contested zones. Since Newmark went down, Spike Mike and Ronan have been incredibly cautious." He began. "We think it's time to initiate a plan that will get us the funds we need to destroy the others for good."
He noticed Harris whispering something to one of the others, eliciting a small laugh. Bob just ignored this sign of disrespect. He knew that Harris had been growing more and more impatient with his 'incompetence' and the Cartel's lack of significant progress. He knew it was likely to only be a matter of time before he made a move to seize control for himself. He was already starting to get into a few select ears and gather some support.
"We got some very interesting information from one of our moles downtown." He continued, handing around some photographs.
"This is the Green Ranger." Harris commented.
"As you know Grover stole a significant amount of money from us." Fresno Bob reminded them as he handed around a few more photos. "As you know, I've maintained a no-touch policy on Ziggy and the other Rangers because of the heat it would attract. However, we now have reason to think it might be worth the heat."
"Why are we wasting time with him?" Harris asked aloud. "Shouldn't we..."
"He's been seen visiting a storage unit. It's paid cash, no paper trail." Fresno Bob continued, ignoring the interruption. He handed around the last photograph, showing Ziggy opening the unit. They all stared at the picture in disbelief.
"The truck?" One of the gangsters asked him. "I thought he'd have hocked all the goods by now."
"Well it looks like he might have been holding something back for a rainy day." Bob responded. He paused for a while, a little hesitant about the next part of the plan. He didn't like it at all, it was risky. If Ziggy misjudged any part of the plan, he would effectively be throwing his son, the man he had given up everything for to the wolves. "I'm lifting the no-touch policy on Ziggy. I want you to grab him, and bring him here."
"We should just ghost him." Harris sneered in response. "If we know where the truck is..."
"Ziggy might have been a lot of things, but an idiot isn't one of them." Fresno Bob reprimanded him. "We can't take the risk he's got the truck or the unit booby-trapped. Find him, and bring him here, alive!"
Just as they were about to leave, Bob whistled, bringing their attention back to him. He looked at Harris with a little smirk on his face.
"Remember, I want him alive." Fresno Bob told him. "I never said he had to be healthy."
With that, they all rushed out of the private lounge, in search of the Green Ranger. Benny poured them both a drink, handing one to Bob. He knew how much he hated this part of the plan.
"Ziggy's smart, he knows what he's doing." Benny assured him. "You know how slippery he can be when he wants to. He'll be fine."
"What if something goes wrong?" Bob asked him. "What if...?"
"You have to trust Ziggy." Benny reminded him. He then gestured for Bob to sit down. "Ziggy talked to me before he left. There's something you should know, just in case something happens."
"What is it Benny?" He asked him. "You can tell me anything, you know that."
"You remember Kerry sent you that letter, telling you where Ziggy was?" He asked him. "Well about a fortnight before that, she contacted me."
"You never said that?" Bob stated. "What did she ask for?"
"She wanted a new identity, one that would stand up." He informed him.
"But she could easily have gotten that from me." He replied. Benny shook his head.
"It wasn't just an ID; it had to be bullet-proof. She needed it to be so airtight no one would ever figure out that it was a fake." He informed him. "She's been around the whole time. She never left town when she recovered from surgery."
"Why are you telling me this?" Bob asked him.
"She's in Corinth." Benny told him. "Kerry made it into the city. She's been alive this whole time; I've always known where she is. The only reason I never told you is because it would have put her and Ziggy at risk."
"Kerry's alive?" Bob inquired in a weak voice as a tear began to roll down his face. Kerry had been the love of his life. Benny knew how much it hurt when they agreed to separate for the safety of their son. "Where is she?"
"She's been close by." Benny told him. "Helen Foster, the matron of the orphanage is Kerry."
Ziggy made his way through the streets of Corinth late at night, talking on his cell phone with Tenaya. He was smiling as he chatted with her happily.
"I promise you I'll be home soon; I'm just on my way back. I told you I had to talk to Bob." He told her as he turned a corner. "Yes, I'll stop off and get you some Mexican food. I love you..."
His words tailed off as he looked up, finding Harris and a couple of other mobsters standing before him, wielding baseball bats. Ziggy lifted the phone to his ear as he saw the sick smile on Harris' face. "You know what? I'll have to call you back."
With that, he shoved his phone away in his pocket and turned tail, running as fast as his legs would carry him. Harris and the other two gangsters took off in hot pursuit, as Harris held a radio to his mouth.
"We've found Grover, we're chasing him south down 7th avenue." He called through the radio. "Everyone get down here now!"
Ziggy leapt onto a car, before throwing himself onto the top of a parked truck, and launching himself from that onto a nearby rooftop. He turned back to see one of the gangsters landing right behind him, and kicked him backwards, causing him to fall from the rooftop.
He pulled out his cell phone and speed-dialled Chas as he made his way across the rooftop.
"Chas, the Scorpions are after me. It's time to begin the next part of the plan." He instructed him, before shoving his phone away. He quickly activated his morpher as he arrived at the edge of the roof, turning back to see Harris and some mobsters approaching him.
"Better luck next time guys!" He taunted them as he teleported away. Harris screamed in frustration as he threw down his baseball bat. He pulled out his radio, contacting Fresno Bob.
"Grover slipped through our fingers." He informed the crime boss. "He used his teleportation ability."
"You better find him; we are not going to risk that truck slipping though our grasp again!" Fresno Bob barked at him. "Find Grover, and make sure you get him this time!"
Harris just put the radio away, and gestured the men to spread out and search again. He was determined not to let Ziggy get away from him again. One of the other gangsters came over to him.
"Sir, I've been thinking, how are we meant to catch him?" He asked. "Even if we do corner him, he's just going to teleport away again."
"You know, you might just have a point there." Harris responded. "I think maybe we need to find a way to get him to stick around."
"How do we do that?" The gangster asked him. Harris just smiled.
"We find someone that he'll want to stick around for." He replied. "I think it's time we found out a little more about the guy we're chasing."
Deep within the Blue Crew's territory, Hicks was back on surveillance, keeping their headquarters under observation when Chas called him.
"Ziggy's got their attention; it's time to start the next stage of the plan." Chas informed him. "Good luck Hicks."
Hicks put away his radio and picked up a blaster, making his way out onto the street, and beginning to head around the building. Eventually he found a guard making his way through a back door into the alley. He watched from a safe distance as he put his weapon down and checked around; making sure no one was looking before lighting up a cigarette. Hicks ran up behind him, smashing him to the ground before covering him on the floor. He kicked away his weapon.
"I want to see keys." He instructed him. "Where are they?"
Just then, he heard a distinctive click behind him, and felt the barrel of a blaster being pressed into the back of his head. Hicks slowly held his blaster out to the side, before dropping it on the ground.
"I guess the tables have turned then, haven't they soldier boy!" The gangster on the ground taunted him as he stood back up. Hicks just held his hands where they could be seen, but said nothing. "I recognise this guy, he's Truman's gofer. He's the one that duped Fresno Bob into hiring him when Gates took over the city."
"What's he doing out here?" The one behind Hicks asked him as a couple of others came out, surrounding Hicks.
"I heard from my boy on the inside he's on psych leave or something like that." Another commented. "I guess that's all just to cover him spying on us."
One of the gangsters slammed the butt of his rifle into Hicks' ribs, doubling him over. Hicks fought for breath as he rolled on the ground in pain.
"Bring him inside. I have a feeling Ronan's going to want to talk to him." One of them stated. They grabbed Hicks, and dragged him inside. "I hope you think this was worth it. By the time Ronan's through with you, the Battle of Corinth will seem like a day at the park."
Spike Mike was wandering through the corridors of the old foundry as his men all did their usual security sweeps to ensure the building was locked down. One of his runners came up to him, carrying some photographs.
"Boss, we found something interesting in the military zone. It looks like the Scorpions are finally making some big moves." He informed him. "There were a load of them in the city."
"What were they doing so far from the track?" Spike Mike asked as he took the photographs. "Why would Bob only be making moves now?"
"We pulled this from the city surveillance." The messenger informed him as he brought his attention to one photo in particular. "They were after Ziggy Grover."
"But they've had a no touch policy on him for all this time!" He commented as they made their way to his office. "Why would they go after him now?"
"They were after the truck." Ziggy stated as they arrived. He was sitting on Mike's desk, playing with a snow globe. Spike Mike closed the door and pulled a hand blaster out.
"How the hell did you get in here?" He asked the Green Ranger. Ziggy just pulled up his sleeve, showing him his morpher.
"This is a useful thing to have when people are chasing you." He responded. "I'm sure by now you've heard Fresno Bob's calling in my debt."
"I thought you'd have sold the goods on by now." Mike remarked. Ziggy just shrugged.
"I used some of it, but I still have about four and a half mil's worth of supplies left." He told him. "Being a Ranger doesn't exactly have a great pension scheme, and I plan on retiring some day."
"So why are you here?" Spike Mike asked him. "Why aren't you just giving the shipment to Bob?"
"Because I'm half a mil short on the debt." Ziggy explained simply. "I've known Bob long enough to know that he's unreasonable about things like that. I figured given the stalemate you're all in, that you might be willing to settle up."
"So you're going to just give me the shipment?" Spike Mike asked him. "What's the catch?"
"When you win, and you're the only mob left in town, me and my friends are off limits." He told him. "The debt's squared, and I get to go on my way no questions asked."
"Why shouldn't I just kill you now and take the shipment?" Mike asked him in response, levelling the blaster his way. Ziggy held his hand over the morpher.
"You know I'm smarter than that. The shipment's booby trapped." He told him. "If anyone but me tries to take it, the whole lot goes sky high and no one wins. Of course, if you want, I can always just teleport out of here and offer this deal to Ronan."
Spike Mike smiled and put his weapon away.
"You've got balls Grover, I'll give you that much." He responded. "You would never have had the nerve to approach me like this before. I remember you as a scrawny kid who used to stand trembling behind Benny, too scared to let anyone even see him."
"People's priorities change." He answered. "So do we have a deal?"
"Bring the truck here." Spike Mike told him. Ziggy just laughed and shook his head.
"I'm not that dumb. Here, the numbers are all in your favour." He told him. "I'll take the truck to the clearing in the contested zone, by the brewery in an hour. Be there to take delivery, or I take it straight to Ronan."
With that, he teleported back out of Mike's office. Spike Mike turned to the messenger.
"Have a guard perimeter set up here. Take everyone else to the contested zone." He instructed him.
"You're not going to trust him are you?" The messenger asked him.
"Of course not, that's why I'm sending everyone else." Spike Mike told him. "Once we know the shipment's there, bring it back here. If Grover does anything but hand over the keys, waste him."
Little did they know, Ziggy hadn't gone far. He had only teleported just outside the window. He smiled as he heard this. Spike Mike was as predictable as he remembered. He opened the communications relay to contact D46.
"He took the bait." Ziggy informed him. "Get into position."
In another area of town, Ronan came into the shower room of his headquarters, finding three of his men working over Hicks. He had been chained to the pipes, securing him in place. He shivered uncontrollably as icy cold water dripped over him, preventing him from simply zoning out, or losing consciousness. Cuts and bruises covered his body and face. His right eye was swollen shut. Ronan came up to him, signalling his men to stop the beating.
"So what exactly are you doing here?" Ronan asked him. "I mean, it doesn't sound real smart coming down here alone?"
"Who said I'm alone?" Hicks asked him. "I just wanted to get your attention."
Ronan punched him hard in the jaw, before grabbing his hair and pulling his head back to look him in the eyes.
"You've got my attention." Ronan told him. "Now is there anything you want to tell me before you die?"
"Only that the Scorpions are making moves." He told him. "The word is that they're after some major payout that will earn them enough to roll over you and your boys."
"You're bluffing." He sneered. "Everyone knows Fresno Bob's not making any moves."
"Of course Newmark wasn't making any moves either." He reminded him. "Of course when the military raided his place they found an amazing arsenal, the kind that would put you out of business."
"What kind of moves?" Ronan asked him.
"It's something to do with the Green Ranger." Hicks told him. "His guys were seen chasing him earlier tonight."
"Why would Bob be after Grover?" One of the thugs asked him. "He has nothing..."
"The shipment!" Ronan gasped as he realised what was happening. "He must have found the truck!"
He turned and gestured for his guys to follow him from the room, leaving Hicks alone in the dark. He finally let his strength fail him and slipped down, only being held up by his restraints.
"Get some men to keep an eye on Spike Mike's border. If Grover's under threat, then his only option is to try and do a deal. If he's trading with Mike, we need to know about it." Ronan ordered. "Take the rest of the guys and head to the orphanage."
"The orphanage?" One of his guys asked a little curiously. "Why?"
"I did a little digging after he stole the shipment. It turns out that the matron of the orphanage raised him." He explained. "He's been seen visiting the orphanage many times, and he even donated a lot of money from the charity Lightningball game there. If we have her and the kids, he'll call us for a deal."
Meanwhile, back at the racetrack, Harris was busy checking up some files when Fresno Bob came into the office, finding him.
"What are you doing here Harris?" He asked him. "I thought I told you to find Ziggy!"
"I plan on doing that, and this might just be the ace in the hole I need." He told him, holding up a piece of paper. "You see there isn't much point going after him; he can evade us indefinitely with that morpher. I just wanted to find a way to convince him to hang around."
"How do you plan on doing that?" Fresno Bob asked him. He smiled wickedly as he put a picture down on the desk.
"He has a connection to the orphanage." Harris told him. "All we have to do is put the little darlings at risk, and he'll have no choice but to come to us."