The Rangers got back into Grid Battleforce headquarters, following Ben and Betty's call. They had been looking for the Robotron's truck, but they'd had no luck by themselves. Ben and Betty had said they had a way to track it, and so they had come to meet up with them.
They got back before Ben and Betty, but they could see Joanne and Commander Shaw frantically working on computers as they got there.
"Have you tried his cell phone again?" Commander Shaw asked. Joanne just shook her head.
"I've tried five times and it keeps going to voice mail." She informed the Commander. "Either he's not answering or he doesn't have it with him."
Commander Shaw looked to the Rangers as they entered.
"Have you found the Robotron?" She asked them. They'd all thought it was rather odd that the Robotron used a truck to take the Morph-X from the scene of the battle. Ordinarily, they'd have expected him to teleport it straight back to the Cyber Dimension. It meant that either there were other targets they were planning to hit, or for some reason they wanted to stockpile Morph-X in the city. Neither was a particularly savoury thought. Ravi just shook his head.
"Nothing yet, mom." He told her. "Ben and Betty said they had a method of tracking it, we were coming to meet them here."
"Well, that's good." Commander Shaw told them. "However, right now we have another problem. No one has seen Nate all morning. We've tried his cell phone several times and his communicator is off-line."
Devon and Ravi looked at each other, feeling a little guilty. Zoey though looked like she'd been slapped across the face. She backed away, finding a seat as her legs weakened beneath her. Her chest started to hurt, and it became difficult to breathe.
"We…we left him alone in the woods." Zoey murmured.
"You did WHAT?" Commander Shaw demanded.
"He was out collecting samples for a new weapon." Devon explained. "We got the call about the Robotron while we were out there, but we made Nate promise he was going to come right back!"
Zoey couldn't look at anyone. She felt like she was going to be sick. They'd left him to go after the Robotron. The Commander had told them that he wasn't meant to go anywhere without an escort. She took some deep breaths as she became overcome with worry. She never should have left him. She didn't know exactly what she should have done, bringing Nate to the battle would have been risky in and of itself, but it only took a few minutes for things to go badly. She dreaded to think what could have happened to him. It wasn't like him not to answer his calls, and disabling his communicator was something she couldn't imagine him ever doing wilfully. She'd personally felt the cruelty of Evox's minions, and a million and one horrific thoughts were running through her mind what they might do now that they might have him in their clutches.
"He could be in trouble." Ravi declared. "We have to save him!"
"Hold on." Commander Shaw told them. "Nate's a very capable young man. Don't count him out just yet."
"But he's not a Ranger." Devon reminded her. She just sighed.
She was about to answer, when Ben and Betty came in. They both looked a little roughed up from their encounter with the truck. Betty was still holding her wrist tenderly.
"Whoa, what happened to you two?" Ravi asked.
"We were testing out our new tracker in the city." Ben informed them. "That truck almost turned Betty into a permanent fixture in its grill."
"You were testing a tracker?" Devon asked, remembering what they had said earlier. A ghost of a smile was crossing his face. "Please tell me…"
"How often do you see a truck driven by Tronics with a Robotron clinging to the back?" He asked them, giving them the handset. "I threw the tracker onto the truck."
"You are LEGENDS!" Devon said, taking the handset and grabbing them both tightly. He let go pretty quickly as he aggravated Betty's wrist, backing away. "Sorry…guys, they were taking the Morph-X on a truck, they didn't teleport it. The signal is still in the city…"
"Which means the Morph-X is still in the city." Ravi surmised. "And if they did take Nate…"
"I'd say it'd be a pretty big coincidence if they were separate incidents." Devon replied, looking back to Ben and Betty. "Thanks guys. We've got to move…"
Devon didn't finish, Zoey shoved past them and was already out the door, snatching the monitor from him as she went. He just looked to Ravi and shrugged.
"And I thought I was fast." He commented, before they followed her out of the Command Centre.
Meanwhile, in a garage on the other side of the country, a man was sitting, duct-taped to a chair. He was already bloodied and beaten, but his captors were not done by a long way. He'd been here for at least two days, and while they got shifts to make sure they got some rest, he most certainly didn't.
He recoiled as the door opened, letting light in, assaulting his eyes painfully and two men came towards him. One of them was a huge, hulking brute that had been taking the lead in his mistreatment. He was at least six foot six, and well upwards of two hundred pounds. He had a bald head, and was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt with a logo on it. His kutte bore the same logo on the back. He was a member of the Bastards of Kronus motorcycle club. He had heavy tattoos running down each arm, depicting a variety of skulls and daemonic faces, and his face bore many scars. One of them looked very recent, deep and still bright red, running the length of his face, narrowly missing his eye. He carried himself with a very stilted gait, the result of some very recent injuries that had yet to heal. His kutte bore a patch on the front, on the right-hand side, bearing the moniker "Sergeant at Arms."
The other man wasn't quite as tall, or as heavy, but was definitely well-built. He was dressed similarly, with the same kutte, though the front patch declared him "President". He had long, flowing dreadlocks that contrasted his pale skin. He wore a shoulder harness that carried two new, military-grade blasters in holsters. He took a chair, sitting directly in front of the guy and lit a cigarette.
"Please…please, I don't know anything." He begged.
"That's funny, that's not what I heard from the people who were at that diner." The President told him, taking a drag from his cigarette. "I thought my man here would have loosened your tongue by now."
"Please…we tried to get him." He responded.
"Not hard enough." The President said in a sinister tone. "Now, tell me again, where did he go?"
"I don't know!" He whimpered. "If I did, I'd have told you, I swear!"
Just then, a cell phone rang. The President was a little surprised that it was one of his burner phones, but the number wasn't listed. He had a couple of pre-paid burner phones for use in his various illicit dealings, most of them with only one number on the call register. Curiosity got the better of him and he answered.
"Who the hell is this and how did you get this number?" The President demanded.
"Is this Spike Mike?" The voice on the other end asked. Spike Mike just furrowed his brows.
"Who the hell is this?" He demanded. "You better have a good reason for knowing this number!"
"It took me a while to track you down. You're a hard man to find." The voice responded. "My name is Arthur Winchester."
"Winchester?" Spike Mike laughed. "Yeah, and I'm Elon Musk…"
"If you need any proof that I am who I say I am, be at the airport in one hour." Arthur told him. "There'll be a branded, private jet there, ready to bring you to me."
"Yeah, and what makes you think we want to talk to you?" Spike Mike asked.
"Eli Reeves." Arthur told him. "I know where he is."
Spike Mike just gestured to his Sergeant at Arms, who gave him a pen and some paper.
"Where's this plane?" Spike Mike asked him.
"Hangar 12." Arthur told him. "One hour."
Spike Mike finished writing down the details as Arthur hung up. He pulled out one of his blasters, shooting the prisoner straight in the head, before he looked to the Sergeant.
"Tell the boys to mount up." He told him, flicking away his cigarette as he stood up. "Looks like we have a plane to catch."
Meanwhile, in the warehouse Scrozzle was using to build the Cyber Gate, Nate was working hard on his project. He had been asked to build a robot to act as Evox's new host for when he came through. Evox was already dangerous when he was only housed in a super-computer, but when he had a body that could act independently, it didn't bear thinking about.
However, he had convinced Blaze and Roxy that he had been terrified into going along with their plan. While they were well-trained, having graduated for the Ranger programme, neither of them was technologically-minded enough to really know what he was doing, and so they quickly got bored of watching everything he was doing, keeping an eye on him from a distance. It gave him time to work on his communicator secretly. He was almost finished when he saw Blaze and the Robotron stockpiling the Morph-X they'd need to power the Cyber Gate. Roxy started to head his way, at which he hid the communicator in his pocket.
"Hey, you." She said, coming towards him. "Are you done?"
"Yeah, it is." Nate said as he put the last couple of pieces in place.
"TRONICS!" She yelled, waving some of the foot soldiers over. "Get over here. Put the robot in place."
"Careful, it's very high tech." He warned them as they took the robot and brought it towards the Cyber Gate. He took the opportunity while everyone was concentrating on the Cyber Gate to slip the communicator from his pocket back into his hand. He took a couple of deep breaths. He knew he'd only get one chance at this.
Outside the warehouse, the Rangers had arrived, finding very little going on outside. Devon had slipped around the warehouse, looking for a way to see inside. He ran back to the others. Zoey was waiting, chewing on her fingernails nervously.
"I looked in through a broken window. Nate's inside with Blaze, Roxy and Scrozzle." He informed them. "They seemed like they were building something."
"Is he OK?" Zoey asked. "Did they hurt him?"
"It didn't look like it." Devon told her. "But I don't think we should wait too long to give them a chance to change that."
"Come on, we better get in there!" Ravi stated, at which they started to head towards the warehouse. However, almost as soon as they had broken cover, they had to scatter as energy blasts flew their way. The Robotron started to stride towards them, aiming its weapon.
"Evox is returning to this world to rule it!" The Robotron taunted them. "There's nothing you Rangers can do to stop it!"
"Evox?" Ravi asked.
"That's not good." Devon agreed. "We need to do this quick!"
They all morphed as they ran towards the Robotron, they started to attack it with their Beast-X Sabres as it barred their path.
"We need to get to Nate." Devon yelled.
"I'm on it!" Zoey called out as she leapt over the Robotron, sprinting towards the warehouse.
"Zoey, that's not what I meant!" Devon yelled. "ZOEY!"
Too late though, the Robotron was back on the attack. Devon and Ravi had no choice but to defend themselves against the powerful enemy.
Back inside, Scrozzle was directing the Tronics as they set up the robot under the Neural Aligner. He went to his control panel.
"My plan is finally coming to fruition!" He declared proudly. "Time to witness history in the making!"
Nate took some deep breaths as he watched him turn on the machine, and the portal opened. He could see right through to the Cyber Dimension. He watched as the nightmarish visage of Evox started to writhe from his super-computer, going through the portal, powered by the technology, heading towards the Neural Aligner. Slowly, surely, it slithered through each archway, and data started to be syphoned off to be able to be filtered through the Neural Aligner.
"At last!" Evox hissed menacingly. "Soon, I will escape my Cyber prison, and take control of this new and mighty body!"
He got to the end of the tunnel, starting to upload himself into the Neural Aligner. This was it; his opportunity was finally here. There was a crash, and everyone turned towards the door as Tronics flew in, smashing to pieces. Zoey rushed in, getting everyone's attention.
"Stop her!" Scrozzle yelled. Blaze and Roxy both morphed, heading to intercept her. Nate watched as she battled fiercely against the two powerful avatars. He wanted to help her, but he knew he needed just a few more seconds and he'd have all he needed to be able to do so. She'd provided him with another helpful distraction. Scrozzle saw that things weren't going to plan, but as he had already started the process, he figured there was no reason for him to be there. He pressed his wrist controller, teleporting out.
Nate tapped a few commands into his communicator, summoning one of his new blasters from the base, into his hand. He took careful aim while everyone was scrambling to swarm Zoey to fire at the Cyber Gate, damaging it. A huge jet of purple flame erupted from it, throwing everyone to the floor. Evox screamed as the gate collapsed, sucking him straight back into the Cyber Dimension. He broke into a run, heading for the Neural Aligner.
"Stop him!" Blaze yelled, still struggling to get up after the blast. Nate though was already under the Neural Aligner, making some adjustments. By using his own tech, they had inadvertently given him everything he needed.
Back outside, Devon and Ravi were still battling the Robotron. Ravi summoned a Beast-X Blaster, throwing it into the air.
"Devon, catch!" He called out, running through the Robotron's blasts, catching its weapon. He summoned up his Gorilla Strength, using it to crumple the blaster up like paper, before wrenching it from the Robotron's hands. By the time he threw himself aside, Devon had combined the blaster and a sabre into the Beast-X Cannon.
"Beast X-Cannon, FIRE!" Devon called out, firing off a blast which tore straight through the Robotron. It stood, sparking for a moment, before flopping face-first to the ground and exploding. "Virus Eliminated." They felt a rumble, and both looked up, seeing that a few blocks away, a Gigadrone had been summoned. Devon just looked to Ravi.
"We're going to have to go." He told him.
"But the others…"
"Imminent threat to life first." Devon reminded him. "If Evox does come through, we can deal with him later. Right now, we have a Gigadrone that's about to tear up half the city. Zoey's already in there. We can't spare anyone else."
"You're right." Ravi sighed. He got onto his communicator. "Deploy the Wheeler and Racer Zord."
"Deploying Wheeler and Racer Zords." Joanne confirmed. "They'll be with you shortly."
"Thanks." Devon answered. He looked to Ravi, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Zoey's tough. She should be able to handle this."
"I really hope so." Ravi agreed as they both headed out to meet their Zords.
Back inside the warehouse, Nate stood by the robot, pulling out the DNA samples he'd taken earlier. He didn't have time to decide which one he wanted to work with, whichever one took was going to have to do. They all watched as he was engulfed in a bright, green vortex.
"NATE!" Zoey screamed, watching him being swallowed up by it.
"What's he doing?" Blaze yelled, before they were all bowled over by a wave of Gold energy.
They started to get their bearings, pulling themselves off the ground. By the time the energy finally dissipated, standing before them was a brand-new Gold Ranger!
Nate looked to his hands. The power was everything he had always hoped it would be and more. He could feel it in every fibre of his being. The Gold energy…it was the Preying Mantis DNA that had fused with his own! He took a second to admire his new suit, and experience the greatest feeling of power he had in his entire life.
"PHENOMENAL!" He yelled excitedly, becoming momentarily the six-year-old kid that wouldn't go to bed unless someone read him a Power Rangers story. It was everything he had ever dreamed of! He looked to Zoey, who was just staring at him, frozen to the spot.
"Nate?" Zoey asked. He just nodded in response. She could only stare at him. "This…this is incredible!"
Nate stepped out from the Cyber Gate, clutching his Strike Morpher tightly.
"He played us!" Blaze growled as he squared up to the new Ranger.
"You thought you were getting Evox back, but I was one step ahead of you!" Nate taunted them.
"You'll pay for messing up our plan Tech Boy!" Roxy yelled. "Hope you liked being a Ranger! Your first battle's going to be your last!"
"Oh yeah? Bring it!" He declared.
Just then, they heard some mechanical sounds behind him. Nate turned around in time to see the robot body sitting up.
"Uh…Nate?" Zoey asked. "What's happening?"
Nate started to back away slowly.
"Um…I'm not…quite sure." Nate told her honestly. There were some energy flashes, and some horns appeared on the robot's head. It stood up and started to come towards them.
A cyclone of silver energy surrounded the robot, and when it dissipated, they were all staring at a new Silver Ranger.
"And that is…unexpected." Nate summarised in what felt like one of the biggest understatements of his life.