The warehouse was silent as everyone just stared at the new figure standing before them. Even Nate, who had planned to become a Ranger had no idea what was going on. The robotic body that he had built…a very fine piece of work even if he said so himself, after all, he didn't want to take the chance that Scrozzle would take a look and realise he was building an empty husk, so he had actually built the robot even if he had no intention of seeing it activated…when it started moving, it was a shock to him. He'd seen Evox being sucked back into the Cyber Dimension, so what was inside it. However, what happened next though was completely beyond him right now.
"You…you MORPHED!" Nate stammered, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. The robot started to walk towards him.
"Is that what happened?" It asked in a surprisingly friendly voice. "Fantastic! I am amazing!"
"TWO more Rangers?" Blaze yelled. "No matter! We'll destroy you all!"
"Ha! Not a chance!" The Silver Ranger responded. "They're no match for the two of us, right?"
Nate just stared blankly at him. He still had no idea how this had even happened. It was always his plan to become a Ranger. He had been working to create the morpher and the weapons he'd need. He'd even gathered the samples of animal DNA. He had originally intended to use the Neural Aligner back in his lab to turn himself into a Ranger when he got the chance, but when Blaze and Roxy kidnapped him and he saw the stolen Neural Aligner, he had seen the opportunity to use theirs instead. Summoning a weapon gave him a very slim chance of escaping, but his very own powers? That increased his chances dramatically, and he could always present his newfound power to Commander Shaw as a happy accident after the event. But this new Ranger? That surprised even him.
"This whole deal is going into the toilet!" Scrozzle said in a panic, teleporting out.
Nate summoned a spare Striker Morpher, offering it to the Silver Ranger.
"This ought to help." Nate told him.
"Ooh, shiny!" The Silver Ranger replied as Zoey came to their side, joining them. "I like it!"
"You're both going down!" Blaze responded, summoning his sword. The Silver Ranger just shook his head.
"I don't think so." He replied. "Well, what are we waiting for?"
With that, all three of them rushed into battle.
Elsewhere in the city, Devon's Racer Zord was the first to arrive on the scene, coming towards the Gigadrone as it attacked one of the Morph-X towers. It looked like Scrozzle had fitted it with a vacuum weapon much like the Robotron they had been facing, which made its motivation pretty easy to ascertain. It was going after the Morph-X. He punched in a few commands, transforming into battle mode.
"Alright Cruise, we've got to get its attention and get it away from that tower." Devon told him. "Light him up."
"Whatever you say." Cruise answered, firing some blasts. They weren't enough to do any real harm, but that was by design. Since the Zords were built to protect Morph-X towers, Nate had reasoned that there would be times they'd be fighting in close proximity to them. Morph-X was highly explosive if ignited carelessly, and even small amounts could be deadly. Along with an arsenal of lethal weaponry, there was a whole array of low-powered weapons designed more to cause minor damage and make a lot of noise and flashes than inflict any read harm, just in case the team had to fire on any enemies that were dangerously close to Morph-X towers before they could close the distance and ensure more damaging attacks weren't likely to miss the mark and cause a tragic accident.
The Gigadrone turned towards him, converting its main weapon into a blaster and firing back. It started to run away from the tower as it opened fire. Devon's plan had worked, he was driving it away from the tower, where they could target it more easily. His Zord darted around, blocking and evading as many blasts as he could on the way.
"Ravi, I've got his attention." Devon told him. "But I could do with some backup!"
"Don't worry, I'm on the way!" Ravi responded as the Wheeler Zord roared into view. "Gorilla Mode, activated!"
"Whatever you say, Ravi!" Smash answered, beginning the transformation. "Locking on…"
"Target its weapon." Ravi interrupted Smash. The Beastbot altered his calculations.
"Disarming him first, that makes sense." Smash conceded. "Locked on."
"Missile storm!" Ravi called out, mashing the controls. The Gorilla Zord braced itself as it fired a salvo of missiles. The Gigadrone caught him by surprise though, converting its weapon back into vacuum mode and beginning to suck the missiles right out of the air. Ravi continued to pour on the firepower.
"Ravi, it's not working!" Devon told him. "Cease fire and…"
"I've got an idea!" Ravi assured him. Devon watched as eventually the vacuum stopped sucking up missiles and a few slammed homes into it, just as Ravi's salvo finally ran dry. Devon smiled.
"It's weapon, it's blocked!" Devon called out. Ravi just laughed.
"Believe me, when you clean as much as I do, you know how easy it is to clog a vacuum cleaner." He chuckled. "And now that weapon is full of explosive…"
"I am way ahead of you!" Devon interrupted him. "Cheetah Beast Blaster! Cheetah Zord, HYPER STRIKE!"
He powered up its sword, surging straight towards the Gigadrone. It held up its weapon to try and block, but the sword sliced straight through it, the energy setting off the warheads clogged within. Devon's Zord staggered back, being caught before it fell over by Ravi's Zord, and they all watched as in a chain reaction, all the warheads housed within the Gigadrone exploded, scattering pieces of it everywhere. Only its legs and hips remained, which fell to the ground a moment later. The Cheetah Zord stood upright once more.
"Virus eliminated!" Devon declared. "Now, we gotta go. We need to get back and help Zoey!"
With that, they both transformed back into their vehicle modes and sped back towards the warehouse.
Back in the warehouse, the battle raged on. Nate, Zoey, and the mysterious new Silver Ranger were starting to get to grips with the avatars, who had been caught completely by surprise. Roxy spun through the air, sparking as she took a harsh hit from Zoey's sword.
"How are they beating us?" She screamed. She looked to the Cyber Gate, and reached up, seizing the Neural Aligner. She tore it free, before making a run for it. Zoey chased after her, leaving Nate and the Silver Ranger to deal with Blaze.
Roxy made it a little way into another section of the warehouse, pulling out her morphing key, preparing to teleport when Zoey managed to tag her in the leg with a blaster. She fell face-first to the ground, the Neural Aligner and her morphing key skidding away from her across the floor.
"NO!" Roxy screamed, reaching out towards the Neural Aligner. She turned over, just in time to see Zoey's blade coming down straight towards her in a downward grip. She barely rolled clear as the blade rammed straight into the concrete, but Zoey didn't let up, wrenching the blade free and swinging it down towards her, colliding with the floor in a shower of sparks as Roxy rolled over and over in a desperate attempt to get away. She finally managed to summon her blasters, using one of them to block as Zoey tried to take her head off, before finally flipping back to her feet, into a position where she could defend herself. She swiped out, slicing Zoey across the chest with one of her bayonets, giving herself a few moments to regroup.
"Well, well, it looks like the little rabbit has finally found its claws." Roxy taunted her. Zoey just glared at her, beginning to circle her, while Roxy took a couple of moments to figure out her options. She held up one of her blasters, looking to the bayonet.
"Oh…you remember these do you? I hope you don't take that sort of thing personally." Roxy taunted her.
"You're done!" Zoey panted, breathless from the exertion of the battle. "You're not Roxy."
"Or maybe, I'm the real Roxy, and the one you knew is just a pale imitation of what she could be." Roxy replied.
Zoey let out a hellish scream as she ran straight for Roxy. She opened fire, but Zoey continued her charge right through the blasts, swinging wildly with her sword. Before long, they were both trading violent blows, struggling to find the one that would finally put their victim down.
Elsewhere in the warehouse, Blaze was battling Nate and the Silver Ranger, but even though neither one of them was his match individually, together they were starting to make some headway, keeping him off-balance. Blaze was a tough opponent. Between his skill and his power, there weren't many that could take him on one-on-one, but Nate and the Silver Ranger seemed to mesh into a single opponent that was incredibly difficult to predict and defend against. It was like when he struck at one, the other defended. When he had one on the defensive, the other was able to lash out. It was like fighting a tidal wave. No matter where he turned, one or other of them was on top of him quickly.
They had both abandoned their blasters, exchanging them for swords, but even that didn't help Blaze much. He was holding his own as much as he could, and he even managed to score some telling hits, but he was quickly finding himself overwhelmed. Eventually, they both rushed forward, Nate smashing the sword from Blaze's hand, while the Silver Ranger sent him flying with his own. Blaze tumbled and flipped away with the momentum, quickly regaining his feet. He just glared at them.
"You think you can beat me?" He screamed at them. "I don't care if you've got a fancy new suit. You're still just the dweeb…"
"Blaze, you never learn, do you?" Nate asked him as he and the Silver Ranger walked towards him, throwing their swords nonchalantly over their shoulders, where they disappeared back to the weapon's rack at headquarters. They both tapped their transport controllers.
"Transport Striker Morphers!" They chorused together. Their blasters appeared before them. "Striker Morpher Charged!"
The Sliver Ranger stepped directly in front of Nate, holding his wrist with one hand to steady his aim with the blaster. Nate just sighed.
"Uh…excuse me." He said, tilting the Silver Ranger's head to one side, resting his hand on his shoulder. Blaze saw the writing on the wall, and moments before they fired, he slammed his key into his morpher, teleporting out. Their blast took out the wall behind where he'd been standing.
"Well, that's one of them gone." The Silver Ranger said, before Nate started running. "What?"
"ZOEY!" He called out. "We need to find her!"
The Silver Ranger just turned and followed him, in his search for Zoey.
Back at her own battle, Zoey and Roxy fought for dominance.
Roxy bore her to the ground, but as she tried to press the advantage, Zoey rammed her sword into her abdomen, causing her to scream out and stagger away.
Zoey's suit disappeared; the energy finally spent. She was exhausted, barely able to stand, but she was willing herself to get up. Roxy's suit also disappeared as she just stared at her.
"You've really toughened up, little rabbit. I never thought I'd see this from you." Roxy commented as she started to back away, looking for her key and the Neural Aligner. "What could have inspired all of this I wonder?"
She backed away a little further, her foot coming to rest on her morpher key. She looked to where the Neural Aligner was, figuring out how to get to it. She let out a little gasp as she saw Zoey finally on one knee.
"Oh, I know what could possibly have inspired something like this." She commented. "Tell me, did it make your guts all twist up when you thought about what I was going to do to him?"
Zoey froze as she said this.
"Just imagine, all that time I had with him, all that time I could have been making him suffer and I left him without a mark on him." Roxy taunted her.
She rolled the key so that it ended up resting on her foot, preparing for her move.
"Just think, you fought so fiercely for him, and yet…you're still a coward." Roxy taunted her. "Because deep down, you know, the only reason you don't tell him what he means to you is because you're terrified, he'll never see you…"
Zoey saw red, overcome with a rage she'd never felt before. She got to her feet, rushing straight towards Roxy. Roxy flicked the key up into the air, firing at Zoey with one hand as she snatched the key out of the air with the other. Zoey was knocked to the ground, giving Roxy a brief moment of respite. She reached out for the Neural Aligner, but Zoey threw her sword, knocking it away from her hand.
She saw Zoey still coming for her, and realised her opportunity had passed. She slammed her key into her morpher, disappearing just as Zoey swung for her, a wild hook that found only air. She fell to her knees, breathless just as Nate and the Silver Ranger found her, running towards her.
"Zoey! Zoey! Are you alright?" Nate asked. Zoey could only look to Nate and nod.
"She doesn't look fine." The Silver Ranger stated. "We should get her to a medic."
"I agree." Nate replied. "Put your arm around me, lean on me. You're going to be fine."
As they were starting to leave, Devon and Ravi arrived.
"Zoey! Are you…?" Devon started to say, before he saw the two new Rangers before him. "Um…alright?"
"She should be fine." Nate replied. "Once we get her to a medic."
"Yeah, we're missing a bit of the story here." Ravi said, looking confused. "Who are you?"
It was only then that Nate realised he was still morphed. He recalled his suit, at which they both backed up.
"OK, that…um…" Devon stammered. "Since when have you been a Ranger?"
"It's a long story." Nate answered.
"OK, that explains who you are." Ravi said, before pointing to the Silver Ranger. "So, what about that guy?"
The Silver Ranger de-morphed, revealing his robotic form.
"Yeah, still doesn't really answer the question." Devon pointed out. "Who are you?"
"That's a very good question." Nate replied. "One that's probably best answered back at headquarters."
With that, they all headed back towards the transport vehicles, heading for the base. They were glad to have Nate back, safe and sound, but it was pretty clear that this day was only going to get a lot more confusing.
In an airport on the other side of the country, Spike Mike and a dozen of his boys rode into the airport, being waved through by security. Mr Winchester had already told security to expect them. The club had a lot of members, but for something this important, he wanted to make sure he only had his strongest and most trusted men with him. All of them were fully patched-in members of the club, entitled to wear the full insignia of the club, and they'd all ridden with him for years. His Sergeant at Arms was with him, despite his injuries, because he had a personal issue with Eli. Most of those injuries were caused by Eli when he had been sent after him before. The others were all long-term members with a lot of miles under their belts, and a lot of blood on their hands.
They got off their bikes, heading for the crew that were waiting for them.
"Mr Winchester told us to expect you." The pilot said. "It'll just take us a moment to load up your bikes."
"Nice plane." Spike Mike commented.
"Go ahead and make yourselves comfortable." The pilot told them. "Mr Winchester is most eager to meet you."
Spike Mike just gestured to his boys to follow him, climbing up the stairs onto the plane. As they got in, they looked around in amazement. It was a private plane, luxuriously tricked out with big, comfy chairs that looked more at home in a Living Room than on a plane. There was a large-screen TV at one end of the plane, and a fully-stocked bar. Spike Mike went to one of the chairs and sat down.
"It's nice to see how the other half lives." One of his boys commented. Spike Mike just smiled.
"Make the most of it boys." He instructed them. "Our host is being generous. It'd be impolite not to accept his hospitality."
Back at Grid Battleforce headquarters, Zoey was in the infirmary, getting checked out after the battle. Devon and Ravi were with her. Nate had taken the Silver Ranger to the lab to run some tests to figure out exactly what it was.
"Am I the only one a little freaked out by the fact there's something that Nate doesn't know?" Devon asked. "I mean, Nate knows everything."
"That's a little bit of an exaggeration, but…yeah, there's not much he doesn't know." Ravi agreed. The physician finished his examination.
"You should be fine Ms. Reeves, nothing too serious." He told her. "I'd recommend…"
"Yeah, yeah, rest and relax, I've got it." Zoey grumbled.
"It could have been worse." Betty chipped in from the other side of the room, where she was resting. She held up her hand, which was in a cast. "I have to wear this thing for a few weeks."
"That's true." Devon agreed. "I mean, we all know Roxy doesn't exactly believe in kid gloves."
"No, she doesn't." Zoey answered. "Would you guys mind telling the Commander I'll do debrief tomorrow? I'd really like to get some rest now."
"Are you sure?" Devon asked. "I mean, we could stay…"
"To be honest, I'd really just like to get some sleep." She answered. "It's been quite a day."
"Ain't that the truth." Ravi agreed. "OK, I'll let mom know we'll debrief tomorrow. We're going to go see Nate, see if he can tell us more about our new tin-plated friend."
As they left, Zoey lay back on the bed. Betty looked over towards her.
"You want anything?" She asked. "The jello here is pretty…"
"No, but thanks anyway." Zoey replied. "I just want to sleep."
"OK then." Betty replied. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight." Zoey answered. She turned over, pulling the blanket around her, her mind still racing about the day's events. She had been petrified when she heard that Nate had been taken. She was relieved when she had seen him unharmed. She could no longer deny what she felt about him. It was more than just admiration of a brilliant mind, of someone that was working to help make the world a better place. She'd started to find so much of his action and his behaviour endearing. She was almost more worried about never seeing him smile again, or seeing him tuck his shirt in or wear those sweaters that should look out of place on anyone under the age of seventy, but somehow just worked on him.
When she had seen him turn into the Gold Ranger, it had been an amazing sight. To her, she couldn't imagine anyone that exemplified what it meant to be a Ranger than him. To her, he already was a superhero. His work, his mind, was what was what gave them the ability to do what they did, created all the tools they had which gave them the power to be Rangers. He looked tremendous, magical, every inch the hero that she saw any time she thought about him. But now, that was also tinged with something else. Sadness.
A tear rolled down her face as she pulled her covers around herself. She knew that she wasn't anywhere near as smart as him. She was nowhere near as impressive as him, but she had proven herself worthy of being a Ranger. She had rushed into the fray at a moment's notice to protect him, but now that he was a Ranger, the one thing she had that made her think there was even a shred of hope he might see her as worthy of him had been taken away. He didn't need her to protect him. Now that he was a Ranger himself, he didn't even need her for that.