The 5 Rangers drove on to the scene at the dockyards, where reports of a monster had come in. "Keep your eye out for anything that shouldn't be here.", Mark told the others.

"You mean like me?", a new voice called out. Everyone turned around to see a humanoid cockroach covered in tubes of glue. "They call me Stickroach. So you're the famous Flying Rangers I was told by Fwelf to get rid of. Let's see how you stand up to my super glue." Stickroach then fired a stream of glue from his mouth, which caused everyone to jump off their vehicles to avoid it. The Rover Launcher ended up getting the full brunt of it, eventually being covered totally in a strong glue-like substance that held it in place. Mark then tried engaging the Hybrasect in battle, only to be knocked down. "Wow, I didn't think the Red Ranger would be a pushover."

"Then let's see how you do against the Black Ranger.", Wayne called out as he jumped in to stab Stickroach with his Wing Saber. However, the oversized bug simply moved out of the way at incredible speed, doing likewise for all other attempts Wayne made to attack."

"I'm doing pretty well against you, Slowpoke.", Stickroach mocked.

"Let's see how you do against 3 of us.", Lulu called out as she ran in with Carrie and Steven. However, the Hybrasect managed to grab onto the White Ranger and throw her to one side.

"Now you've made me mad.", Carrie said, going for her Beak Blaster. Her two comrades did likewise, with all 3 aiming at Stickroach and firing. However, he once more zoomed out of the way and used a crate as a jumping pad to attack the three of them."

"Nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh.", Stickroach taunted as he once more zoomed away and began climbing up a girder. "You can't catch me. You can't catch me."

Mark looked up, Beak Blaster in hand. "Okay, this guy's really starting to annoy me." He landed a shot on the Hybrasect, causing him to fall to the ground. "Okay, Rover Launcher!"

But Wayne stopped him. "We can't use it. Not with what he did to it." He then indicated that the dune buggy/cannon was covered head-to-toe in glue, making it impossible to do anything with.

"Okay then.", Mark said as he stepped forward. "Guess we'll have to go for the Hyper Cannons."

The five inserted their Wing Sabers into their Beak Blasters, forming the Hyper Cannons, which they aimed at Stickroach. "Fire!", they all called as they pressed the trigger, causing the Hybrasect to be surrounded by fire.

"We did it.", Steven celebrated.

"Good riddance.", Carrie commented.

However, much to everyone's horror, Stickroach emerged from the flames unscathed. "Was that supposed to hurt?"

"He survived.", Lulu said, with a tone of voice that made it clear she understood the gravity of the situation.

Wayne was also shocked. "Nothing's ever survived a shot from all 5 Cannons at once."

"Oh, so you were trying to burn me to death, we're you?", Stickroach said, annoyed. "Well let's see how you like being sprayed with fire." He then launched a stream of flame from one of his nozzles, which knocked them back. "Well that was fun. Tat-ta." The Hybrasect then dashed off in the other direction, vanishing from sight quickly. As the Rangers recovered, they were unaware they were being watched by a mysterious presence.

"So this is the force defending Earth.", the voice noted. "Pathetic."

On board the ship, Algrin was impressed with his subordinate's work. "I don't know how you did it Fwelf, but you've managed to actually create something that can threaten the Rangers."

"Even I'm surprised by that.", the returning Stickroach commented. "I thought the Flying Rangers were supposed to be tough."

"They are, but I modified you to be tougher.", Fwelf explained. "I found out that Galvahex had a data archive of every weapon in the Rangers' arsenal. Using that, I then took a Hybrasect and identified weaknesses in its composition that the weapons took advantage of. With this in mind, I created a totally unbeatable Hybrasect, with none of the weaknesses of his brothers. His senses have been severely enhanced, to the point that, as you saw, he dealt with the Rover Launcher ahead of time."

"Speaking of Galvahex, where is he?", Algrin realised. "We haven't seen him or Halatia since their last failure."

To answer that question, Galvahex had sequestered himself inside his quarters alongside their human member. During their last battle, she had suffered a hit to the head from friendly fire, courtesy of the Black Ranger. Now, her original personality from before she was captured and brainwashed by the Dominion had returned. "Why don't you let me go?", the human asked. "I'm not useful to you anymore. Mark knows I'm alive and I'm not on your side."

"You are still here", Galvahex said in response "because Algrin would notice if Halatia suddenly vanished from our ranks and returned to the humans. Even if I could set you free, which my programming forbids me from doing, Algrin would still track you down and return you to his ranks."

"Are you sure you're stuck following your programming.", Mary asked. "You were programmed to kill me when you were finished with the brain scraping, but you kept me alive."

"That was merely a temporary defect in my processor.", Galvahex tried to assure her. "If you wish to remain alive, then we must convince Algrin and Fwelf that you are still under the brainwashing. You'll have to do some acting."

"Right, acting. That shouldn't be too difficult. I played Lady Macbeth in my third grade drama festival. This should be a breeze." But it didn't take very long for Mary to cave in to the pressure. She didn't even say one word. "Can you help me practice?"

Galvahex let out an electronic sigh. This was going to take a while.

Back at the Nest, everyone sans Mark (who was off training himself elsewhere) informed the Group captain of their troubles. "He just seemed impervious to everything in our arsenal.", Steven exclaimed.

"Isn't there something we have on standby to exterminate this bug?", Lulu asked.

Wayne shook his head. "Nothing. Everything that was in the Garuda files has already been built and deployed."

"In the files, maybe.", Gordon interjected. "There is however at least one prototype weapon I've had in preparation for a long time."

Wayne was flabbergasted. "Why haven't I heard of this before now?"

"Because I had it constructed by an outside designer, one Doctor Yuki Minami.", was the answer he received. "If you want to receive it, than Dr. Minami lives in Hokkaido, Japan."

Carrie stepped forward. "I've always wanted to go to my mom's homeland. Plus I speak a little of the language. I'll go with Wayne to pick up these new weapons."

"I don't know.", the Group captain said. "One Ranger being absent might be acceptable, but I'm not sure we can still function effectively without two of them."

"Please, we managed to take out an elite Commander with only 3 of us.", Lulu pointed out. "If it gets to the point where he grows big, we can just use Dash Boxer again."

"So it's settled.", Wayne said decisively. "Mark, Steven and Lulu will stay behind to fight Stickroach, while Carrie and I go to pick up the new toys from Dr. Minami."

"It's not ideal, but it'll have to do.", the Group captain nodded. "Now go." The others nodded and went about their decided tasks. "Good luck.", she said under her breath.

In the garden of the Lowfall Apartments building, Mark was practising with a foil on some bushes, as he collapsed on one knee. "I think I'm definitely improving.", he said to no-one in particular.

"You keep telling yourself that.", Leroy said as he came out with a drink. "What's brought about this current obsession with Kendo? Something to do with your job?"

"Something like that.", Mark said in response as he sat down. "Have you told anyone else about my work? It's supposed to be a secret, after all."

"And it's perfectly safe with me.", Leroy assured him. "Client-customer confidentiality's a major part of the deal. I just want to know how long you've been in the line of saving the people from aliens."

"I've had this job for the last 5 years, though I've been active only for a couple of months now. Months I've spent without sleep, thinking about the fact that I'm one of only 5 things standing between the world and complete destruction."

Leroy lost his casual expression. "Have you considered taking a break and going on vacation? Even for just one weekend?"

Mark thought about this question for a few seconds, before being interrupted by his communicator beeping. He excused himself and answered the call. It was Lulu. "Big bro. The bug-man's back on the rampage. Steven and I are heading to his location now. Get here as fast as you can."

"Okay.", Mark replied, before ending the call and morphing to join the battle.

Elsewhere, Wayne and Carrie were touching down in Japan. Not willing to wait the few days it would take to arrange for seats on a commercial flight, they had decided to take the Falcon Corde for speed, with Gordon calling Dr. Minami to let him know they were coming. Luckily, he good doctor had taken the liberty of having a runway installed at his laboratory, presumably in case they had used the vehicles to visit him. After touching down, the two Rangers exited their transport to see a middle-aged Japanese man in a lab coat waiting for them. This must be Dr. Minami, the two thought. It was Carrie who decided to greet him, figuring that he only spoke Japanese. "Gokigen'yō, Minami-Hakase.", Carrie said in unaccented Japanese, doing a curtsy.

"It's nice to see that you speak my language.", was the man's reply, spoken in pretty perfect English. "Fortunately for our international collaboration, I speak yours as well. You must be two of Gordon-Shirei-kan's Flying Rangers."

"Wayne Burley and Caroline Brown, at your service Professor.", came the Black Ranger's response. "We hear you have a new weapon that we can use."

Minami nodded. "Indeed I do, Wayne-san. But I think it would be better if we discussed this in private. Let's take this indoors." The Professor led his visitors indoors, unaware that the same presence from the docks was still watching from afar.

"So the Flying Rangers have a new weapon ready to deploy, eh? We can't allow that, can we?" His thoughts voiced, he followed the three inside the lab, summoning a squadron of Bio-Roids once inside.

Up on the ship, Fwelf noticed the sudden appearance of Bio-Roids in another country. "Algrin, did we send a squad of Bio-Roids to attack a place called 'Hoak-aid-do'?"

"This is the first I've heard of it.", the Mad Viscount replied as he walked closer to the screen, as if to confirm what he was being told was true. Sure enough, it was showing a clear signal. "Send down some U-Clones to investigate."

Elsewhere, Stickroach was attacking again. "I love the smell of destruction in the morning.", he declared to no-one in particular.

"Hold it right there.", the Hybrasect turned around to see three of the 5 Rangers had shown up. "You got the better of us last time, but this time you won't get away.", the Red one declared.

"It's funny that you think there's an option to catch up with me.", Stickroach laughed, before sprinting off again.

"Great.", Steven quipped. "How are we supposed to catch up to him now?"

Lulu stepped forward. "Don't worry. Wayne shared his bike's upgrades with me." She then spoke into her communicator. "Jet Cycle, come closer." The bike came on command, with its owner jumping on and speeding off after the speedy Hybrasect.

"Hey that's no fair.", Stickroach complained. "Using a vehicle gives you the advantage."

"That's kind of my idea.", Lulu responded. "Let's see how you like my other new trick." She pressed a button on the left handlebar, which caused a laser to fire from the headlights, which hit Stickroach and knocked him down. "My own personal fly swatter."

"Nice shot.", Mark commented. "Now I can actually get a shot in on this thing. Sky Enforcer, Burst Mode!" He fired his laser at the Hybrasect, hitting him in the chest.

But Stickroach recovered from both of these shots. "You didn't think those would really hurt me, did you?" He then dashed off again, no worse for wear.

Lulu and Steven tried to run after him, but Mark stopped them. "Wait. We need to come up with a new plan before we face him again. Something we've never done before."

Back in Hokkaido, Dr. Minami was showing off the new weapons to his two visitors. They were a set of red, compact guns, with the word "Jetman' written on them. "These are the AviAttackers. They come with 3 different modes: electric, ice, and fire. They also have an auto-targeting system that makes it so no target can escape its sights."

Wayne was impressed. "Would you mind giving us a demonstration, 'hakassy'." He was using the term that Carrie had referred to him as earlier.

"It's 'Hakase'.", Minami corrected him. "But since you asked, I'd be pleased to show off my creation's capabilities." But before he could do anything further, a group of Bio-Roids appeared in the laboratory. "Dare da?", he asked.

"Bio-Roids.", Carrie answered him. She then took two AviAttackers from the stands. "Minami-Hakase, let us handle this situation." The doctor nodded and ran off. "I thought the Dominion had scrapped these guys."

As she finished saying this, a group of U-Clones teleported in. "Evidently, they like to mix and match.", Wayne commented. "But it's a good opportunity to test out these new AviAttackers."

Carrie three one of her picked-up weapons to Wayne and they engaged the two groups of grunts. Wayne flicked a switch on he weapon, which announced "Thunder Attack!" He then fired a bolt of lightning at the U-Clones which knocked them back and destroyed a few of them. Carrie meanwhile went for the Bio-Roids, setting the AviAttacker to "Freeze Attack" Mode. The grunts were encased in ice, which shattered, destroying them. Hen both set their weapons to "Fire Attack", unleashing a laser beam that wiped out the remaining U-Clones.

As they began to celebrate, Carrie felt something nip at her neck. "Are you ok?", Wayne asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine.", Carrie assured him. "Just a bug bite. We'd better get these AviAttackers to the rest of the team." They picked up the remaining weapons and made their way back to the Falcon Corde, only stopping to give a "thank you" to Dr. Minami, who looked like he wanted to explain something to them.

Onboard the ship, Galvahex and "Halatia" emerged from the former's quarters onto the bridge. "So I see you've seen fit to join us.", Algrin commented. "Where've you're been?"

"I've been… recovering from injuries.", "Halatia" told him. "I'm better now, thanks to the help of the robot."

Algrin seemed suspicious, but he dismissed his grievances. "Well you're just in time. We're about to witness the end of the Flying Rangers, once and for all."

Sure enough, down on Earth, Stickroach was besting the three Rangers in combat. "You really think you can do anything against me? I'm impervious to all your moves."

"All the old ones, maybe.", Mark pointed out. "But we've got something new prepared just for you." The three then used their Sky Enforcers' Burst Mode, combined with the Hyper Cannons and fired at him. However, the Hybrasect still got up afterwards.

"Not even using two weapons overcame him.", Steven commented.

Stickroach laughed. "Like I said, nothing you have with you can hurt me."

"Then let's see how you do against something they don't have." Stickroach looked up to see Wayne and Carrie jumping down in their Ranger gear. They hit the Hybrasect with their new AviAttackers, knocking him down.

"Nice save.", Lulu commented.

"Thanks.", Carrie responded. She then threw an AviAttacker each to the other three. "And that's just for starters. Just try the auto-targeting."

"I'd rather not.", Stickroach said as he sped away in the other direction, moving from side to side.

Lock On!

"Oh no you don't.", Mark said as he fired his new weapon.

Fire Attack!

The beam bounced off the crates and eventually hit the Hybrasect, knocking him on his belly. "Alright, something actually hurt him", Lulu celebrated.

It was then that Carrie's communicator beeped. She saw that it was Dr. Minami on the other end. "I didn't have a chance to tell you something. You can insert the AviAttackers into your Beak Blasters for added firepower."

"Got it.", Mark nodded. He flicked a switch on the AviAttacker. The top half of the gun's barrel folded backwards, allowing a scope to fold onto the front of the barrel. He then plugged this new form into his Beak Blaster. "Sonic Smasher, assembled!"

Fire Attack, Power Up!

The others, having also assembled their Sonic Smashers, all aimed them at Stickroach, who began to panic. "I'm innocent. I was framed."

Everyone ignored this comment. "Fire!"

Strike Out!

The beams all hit Stickroach, blowing up his body. The Hybrasect survived, but instead of growing, it merely exploded into goop. "That's different.", Steven commented.

Before anything else could be said, Mark collapsed suddenly. "Mark, are you ok?", Lulu asked, concerned.

"I'm fine.", he tried to insist. But he knew that it was fatigue brought about from trying to take out this last Hybrasect. As such, he bought back to what Leroy had suggested earlier. Maybe he did need a break.

Onboard the ship, Algrin was furious. "Why didn't Stickroach grow like the others? His Hybrasect survived, didn't it?"

Fwelf became nervous. "Well, you see, when I was modifying the Hybrasect to remove his weaknesses, I MAY have also had to remove the ability to grow giant upon absorbing enough energy."

"And you're a junior technical officer?", "Halatia" tutted. Mary was using the information Galvahex had given her in order to make that insult.

"Quite right.", a new voice commented. The same voice that had been watching the Rangers earlier. "If you can't upgrade your forces without sacrificing their most valuable asset, then it's no wonder you haven't conquered this primitive mudball yet."

Everyone looked around, terrified by this new presence. "Who's there?", Galvahex asked. "Show yourself."

"My apologies. It was rude of me not to introduce myself." Then a cluster of insects assembled into a humanoid ant, with a cannon on his right arm. I am Cannant, second in command to Emperor Tann. And neither of us are impressed with your work."