.:24:.

Missing Link

The rangers had been fighting against the Batlings for hours. Every time they'd taken down a wave of them, Vypra would send out even more, an entire wall of mooks that kept the rangers from coming closer to her. All the while, she continued wreaking havoc around Mariner Bay. Even as they faced the Batlings, working hard to break off from each other to get a driving shot toward Vypra to take her down, Vypra was sending shots of lightning out in all directions that sent chunks of broken buildings in all directions and people screaming and running for cover.

Every time a Batling was taken down by the rangers, another would pop up in its place. And wave after wave would swell into place. The rangers were slowly starting to tire out. They'd never faced that many enemies all at once and were slowly starting to get in each other's way.

Carter nearly took off Chad's head with a swipe of his blade, taking down a Batling. Joel accidentally shot Dana in the chest when he was trying to take down a Batling. Kelsey knocked Joel's legs from beneath him before knocking into Avalon. Avalon quickly pushed her out of the way before, almost, striking Carter in the back with her Turbo Wild Hammer.

Finally, the training session came to an end and the virtual reality that had been set up was lowered. Bailey stood next to Miss. Fairweather, shaking her head as she went through the motions of ending the simulation. Part of her wanted to burst into the battle dome—as she called it—to tell the rangers everything they'd done wrong (and suffer Av's wrath from embarrassing her) but part of her wanted to show them what they'd done wrong. She wanted to get the morpher she'd been building and morph and show them what was up.

But knew it was a dumb idea. It wasn't ready. She wasn't ready. She hadn't been a ranger in…how long? Long enough that her confidence was shattered more than she thought it was. Miss. Fairweather placed a hand on Bailey's shoulder, giving her a small smile, then motioned for her to follow.

Picking up a clipboard and a pile of readouts from a nearby printer, she walked toward the waiting area just outside the virtual reality room. The rangers all exited, the quietest that Bailey or Miss. Fairweather had ever seen them. Frustration and the want to get things right, Bailey noted. They'd been trying all morning.

"That was a better try," Miss. Fairweather said kindly to them. She clutched the clipboard to her chest. "You were closer that time."

"Closer to losing, you mean," Avalon grumbled.

"Speak for yourself," Joel shot back with a scowl. "We were doing a good job of getting ahead until you started to wildly swing your hammer like some sort of a Paul Bunyon."

Avalon made a face while Carter reached up and rubbed at his forehead. Chad simply shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, shoulders slumping forward. Kelsey folded her arms and looked away, her lower jaw jutting forward. And Dana ran her hands over her hair, taking in a deep breath to steady herself.

"Yes, well." Miss. Fairweather cleared her throat and looked down at the pile of papers in her hand. "Ii got your readings back from that last battle and, while you did better in terms of outward power, you were starting to tire out a lot faster—"

"—Well, what do you expect?" Joel demanded. "We've been doing this for an hour!"

"And losing," Avalon pointed out.

Joel puffed up his cheeks. "Look, I don't need you to—"

"—Okay!" Bailey interrupted. She held up her hands and stepped forward between Miss. Fairweather and the rangers. "Anyone would start to get tired after a few rounds of trying to take down Batlings." She waited for Joel to give his smarmy smile before continuing with, "But, being a ranger means having to work hard even when you're tried. Having to push those thoughts aside and keep working to save the city."

"And, you know why we've started this training session with you," Miss. Fairweather insisted.

"Yeah, so we can stop the Titanium Ranger and kick his ass!" Kelsey cried.

Miss. Fairweather shook her head. "It's to teach you all teamwork. There's no way for the team to work together if you're not going to work together."

"She's right," Carter said, speaking for the first time since they started training that morning. He ran a hand through his hair then turned to face the other rangers. "We're not working as a team. We're five individuals who are still learning how to be a power ranger. But we're not trying to be the team of rangers."

Joel lifted an eyebrow. "If it's that obvious, then how come you haven't been trying to bring us together? Huh, team leader?" He stepped forward and got into Carter's face. "You keep running off trying to take down Vypra yourself. Has that been helping any of us? Or are you just trying to play hero?"

Carter's eyes flashed. He stepped back toward Joel. "I know how to command a team," he declared.

"You're not commanding us, Carter," Dana reminded him. His gaze shifted from Joel to her, softened the tiniest of bits. "You're supposed to be leading us. Every team needs a leader, the red ranger is it. But you keep running off on your own. Leaving us to fend for ourselves."

"That's why we keep falling apart," Chad agreed. "Because we're not working as one."

"Okay, we got your point." Kelsey planted her hands on her hips, turning her attention back to Miss. Fairweather and Bailey. "We need to work as a team. But how are we supposed to do that when we have more Batlings than we can handle coming at us at once?"

"If we're going to be going up against Diabolicco, the amount of Batlings you throw against us isn't going to matter, yeah?" Avalon said, her voice dripping with sarcasm and bitterness. She folded her arms, shaking her head. There wasn't any time she wanted to talk about Diabolicco, let alone look at him, but it seemed like they weren't getting it. "He managed to, as a spirit, get out of his box and murder or friend's mum. What makes you think we can stop him now?"

Bailey sighed heavily, lowering her gaze to her feet. Pain splashed across her chest, a lump forming in her throat. She hadn't known Lacey for long, had grown closer to Tommy's parents while Avalon grew closer to Billy's, but Lacey Cranston still welcomed them with open arms to their home. She was one of the casualties of war that didn't deserve it.

"The only way you can stop him now is if you get through whatever issues you have each other, and work together," Miss. Fairweather insisted. She shook her head, leafing through the pages in front of her. "Or else we're going to have to go with—" she broke off, eyebrows slamming together. Her eyes shifted back and forth, she picked up the page and turned it in her hand as well. "The Cyborg Rangers?"

Bailey blinked rapidly. She pushed her glasses up her nose then looked up at Miss. Fairweather. She hadn't heard anything about Cyborg Rangers being brought in and hoped they were nothing like the Psycho Rangers she'd heard about. "Miss. Fairweather?" she asked.

But Miss. Fairweather continued to shake her head. "I don't understand. We aren't developing any Cyborg Rangers."

"So…who is?" Kelsey exchanged a glance with Dana. "If you're not making any 'Cyborg Ranger's," she made exaggerated finger quotes around the words. "Then who is?"

"I am!"

The rangers, Bailey, and Miss. Fairweather turned and watched as Captain Mitchell and another, taller man dressed in an olive green suit festooned with badges, swaths of red fabric, and a service cap.

Seeing the newcomer with her father, Avalon tilted her head to the side and asked, "What's Bison doing here?" making Bailey giggle quietly and bring up her hand to stifle it while Joel laughed uproariously. The man did have a sort of resemblance to the Street Fighter character.

Captain Mitchell glared, making Avalon's smirk fade, Bailey's giggles to stop, and Joel's laughter stop so abruptly that he started coughing. Miss. Fairweather shot Joel a meaningful look then turned to step by her boss's side. Captain Mitchell gestured toward the man standing next to him, but continued to stare straight ahead, as if looking at nothing.

Or that he was trying to hold back some sort of emotion.

Bailey recognized the look. There was something her father knew that he wasn't telling the rangers. Or, she realized, he wasn't happy with telling the rangers.

"This General McKnight," he explained. "He's going to be residing on the Aqua Base for the foreseeable future as we work things out with our new program."

"New program?" Miss. Fairweather blinked rapidly. She passed the clipboard and papers to Bailey, who set them on the nearby counter. The older woman stepped forward to address her boss, looking between him and General McKnight, who stood aside, watching with a raised eyebrow. "General McKnight." She greeted him with a quick nod. Then spoke in a hushed tone to Captain Mitchell. "What's going on? I wasn't told—"

"—No one was told," General McKnight interrupted. His rolled his steel blue eyes, then looked toward the rangers. His eyes narrowed just slightly, wrinkles in the corners of his eyes growing deeper. He practically glared at them. "The Cyborg Rangers are a top-secret project."

"A secret project?" Chad repeated. He looked to his team then back to the older man. He didn't like the sound of that. "For what?"

"We already have rangers!" Kelsey added gesturing wildly between herself and the rest of the team. "Us?"

General McKnight chuckled. He looked around at the rangers, his gaze settling a little bit longer on Bailey. "You mean you kids?" Bailey felt herself bristle. Out the corner of her eye, she saw Avalon's hand clench into a fist, but she stayed silent. One of the few times she was listening to what was being said before flying into a rage to defend her little sister. "The Cyborg Rangers are ten times stronger." He lifted his hand, starting to tap his palm with what looked to be a whip.

Bailey winced each time the whip smacked his glove, hitting harder each time.

"And they're only programed for one thing; fighting!" His gaze swept over the rangers. "And they never make mistakes."

"Meaning, what?" Joel demanded.

Captain Mitchell let out a short sigh through his nose. "General McKnight arrived earlier this morning. At 0600 hours." He ignored Joel reaching up his hands and counting on his fingers. "He wanted to see how Project Lightspeed was moving forward." Carter's eyes widened just slightly before dropping to his feet. He cleared his throat, clenching his jaw, waited for the bad news. "He's watched footage of your last battles with the Titanium Rangers, all of your times in battle and he's been disappointed."

"Especially disappointed with the display that I've seen while you were in training!" General McKnight's bark made the rangers jump. "There's more to war than making sure you can give the hardest hit. There's a General and then there is a chain of command that has to be followed!" He stepped in front of Carter, who lifted his chin and looked directly at him. "And there should be no back-talk."

"Yes, sir," Carter agreed.

"So…" Joel smiled a little. "The Cyborg Rangers are going to help us?"

Bailey shook her head. She understood faster than they did. Saw the writing on the wall the second her father had come into the training area and didn't look any of them in the eye. She looked to Avalon, who looked back at her, something darkening her eyes that Bailey hadn't seen in a long time. Sadness, and loss. Bailey winced, hearing General McKnight start to laugh.

A dry, humorless laugh.

"The Cyborgs aren't here to join you. They're here to replace you."

Silence stretched between the groups. Miss. Fairweather sucked in a sharp breath. Her jaw dropped. Eyes widened. She looked at the rangers then to Captain Mitchell. "You can't be serious."

"I assure you, we're very serious," Captain Mitchell replied. He glanced at Miss. Fairweather then looked away once more. His cheeks bulged, as if he was repeatedly clenching his jaw. He tightened his grasp behind his back. "As sad as it is to say."

Carter's eyes flashed. He stepped forward, getting into General McKnight's face, but staying a respectable distance away. "Sir, this is a mistake! My team and I…there may be some kinks we have to iron out, but we're the only ones who can do this. We're the only ones who can protect the city!"

"I don't think so, Carter." General McKnight smiled, seeing Carter's eyes widen in surprise. "Yes, I know your name. Carter Grayson. I know your ranking within the fire department. I know about Hunter and Anderson. I know how you recently got injured." Dana gasped lightly, drawing Carter's and General McKnight's attention to her. "And yes, I know about you. The Captain's daughter. Can do no wrong. But that's not to say you're truly perfect, right?"

Dana lowered her chin.

"My Cyborg Rangers will protect the city while you figure out what it is you're doing wrong and can be the actual heroes we've designed this program to turn you into." Shaking his head, General McKnight turned his attention to Captain Mitchell. He shook his head, pityingly. "What were you thinking, Billy? They could never defeat Diabolicco and those evils."

Bailey stepped forward, glaring at the older man. "You've never seen what Diabolicco can do," she spat. "Those boofheads we're going against now, they're nothing compared to what these monsters can do. Those myths and legends you've heard, yeah, they're kid's stories compared to the monsters we've gone up against." General McKnight turned a withering glance her way and she stepped back, reaching out behind her to keep herself steady against the table behind her, knees knocking.

"Is that so?" His lips twitched, amused.

"Yeah, General Mc-Know-it-all," Joel added. "You want to see how tough we are?"

"Quiet!"

Captain Mitchell's snap was loud, it made the rangers and Miss. Fairweather jump. Bailey gazed at her father. In the silence of the room, it was as if his voice filled every nook and cranny and shot back against the rangers, buffeting them from all sides. When he had everyone's attention, Captain Mitchell cleared his throat, clenching his hands at his sides.

Seconds passed.

Still, he didn't speak.

"But sir—" Carter started.

"—Silence!"

"Captain Mitchell," Chad tried. "You don't understand…"

"Oh, I believe it's you who doesn't understand…" General McKnight practically snarled. Then he smirked, almost impishly. He started to tap his whip against his gloved palm once more. A mocking motion. "You're relieved of your duties."

Miss. Fairweather gasped and stepped back, brought a hand up to her chest. As if she'd been punched har. "And-and you agree with this?" Her eyes were so wide they nearly encompassed the size of the lens in her glasses. "You think we should disband…?"

"It's for the best of the team," Captain Mitchell replied.

"What's best for the team is that we stay together!" Avalon spat.

"What's best for the team is that you work as a team!"

Bailey winced once more. Her shoulders hunched up to her ears. It was one thing to face her sister's wrath. Another to face her father's. But an even bigger thing when they were arguing with each other. Growing up, Bailey hadn't argued with her father, had clung to him and watched him as if the sun rose and set on him. Adored her father. But Avalon…she saw how much the stress and pressure got to her big sister, saw how she glared behind her father's back when he grounded her. How he corrected her on the tiniest of things…

"The Cyborg Rangers are the future of Project Lightspeed," General McKnight continued as if a family spat wasn't happening tow feet away from him. "They have Titanium-alloy skin. Night vision. Heat sensitive targeting. Every millimeter programed to perfection." His smirk widened. "Diabolicco won't know what hit him."

"Truly impressive." Miss. Fairweather lifted her nose in the air. Her eyes flashed. "But I fear they're missing something."

"And would that be?"

"The only thing you can't program. A heart!"

With that, Miss. Fairweather turned on her heel and stormed out of the virtual reality area, her heels clacking on the floor of the AquaBase as she walked away. Captain Mitchell watched her leave, then flung out his arm when Joel took a step forward to go after her. "Until you can prove that you can work together as a team, you're disbarred. I hope you use your time away to be productive." One by one, he went to each of the rangers and removed their morphers.

Avalon moved her hand behind her back when her father reached for hers. She glared defiantly at him. "I'm not a Rescue Ranger," she reminded him. "You have no right to take this away."

But Captain Mitchell still took her morpher. "This is precisely the problem," he said in a low murmur. Once he had all the morphers, he placed them in a metallic suitcase, swiped it off the table, and left with General McKnight. He stopped in the doorway. "I hope you're able to prove General McKnight wrong. I really do." He left the rangers.

Stunned silence stretched between them.

Chad spoke with a hesitant, "Are the cyborgs better than us?" directed to Carter.

Carter took so long to respond that Bailey didn't think he would. And when he did, his answer didn't fill her with much confidence.

"I don't know."

A/N: So its been a long time since I've updated this one and I needed to come back with a bang! And what's more 'bang' worthy than knowing the rangers are being decommissioned until they get along with each other and work as a team? Lol. I think this is going to span three chapters or so, but it's something I've been excited to do for a while.

I hope you guys liked it and it was worth the wait.

Thanks to Adela, ChibiDawn23, and Guest for reviewing.