Noah sat alone under the light of his workshop in the garage. The last time he'd checked his clock it was 2 am, but for all, he knew that was hours ago.
At the table sat Tensou, a project he'd been working on for what felt like weeks. At first, he didn't know what to do, and the machine's body was too mutilated to use it as a reference. So instead he began to painstakingly dismantle the robot to examine what was left and hope he could make sense of it.
So far he'd been mildly successful, and he'd been able to replace a lot of the damaged wires. But that would be completely moot if something major had been damaged. He could re-solder his motherboard, but how would he replace some sort of advanced alien hardware?
He sighed as he connected the wire back to the motherboard.
He felt himself start to get angry, so he remembered the breathing exercises Jayden had taught him their kata.
Alien tech… where would he even begin?
And in a flash of inspiration, he remembered the spaceship currently in the planet's stratosphere.
Noah didn't show up for practice that morning, but with Emma, Axel and Gia there Jayden didn't have time to be irked.
"Sorry if I'm messing up your groove," Axel said. "I just figured if I'm going to be a Ranger I should know a thing or two about fighting."
"Very true," the deep robotic voice said from his pocket. Then a handheld lion head floated above him.
"Yeah, I almost forgot," Axel said. "This is the Zord from earlier. I guess when I used the morpher it woke him up."
"Your spirit energy is in sync with my Grid Spirit energy so when you activated your morph you also activated me." The lion explained. "I am Gosei Knight, protector of Earth."
"Welcome aboard," Gia said. "We could always use more insanity on this team."
When she smiled Jayden was honestly thrown off guard. Even he was aware of her disdain for Axel, yet she seemed almost friendly towards him and his robotic friend.
"So are things better with your sister?" Gia asked, "You guys seemed friendly last night."
"Uh-yeah," Jayden replied. "We talked a bit more and we're pretty good I think."
"Where is she staying?" She asked.
"She's at the Ramada downtown," He said.
He eyed her a few moments, trying to figure out why she was full of so many questions.
He shook his head and dismissed it.
"Everyone grab a bokken and we can begin."
"Hmmm," Karone said, looking down at the mess of parts on Noah's table. "I'm not exactly an expert, but I think I know someone who is."
Before Noah could question her statement they were both transported to the Megaship, along with Tensou.
"Decca," She said to nobody that Noah could see. "Analyze this for me."
A small red LED came out of the wall above the table that held Tensou and began to surround the parts with a red light.
"I'm sorry," A female robotic voice said from the ship's speakers. "It appears that the robot is completely unsalvageable."
Noah nodded sadly. It wasn't like he'd had a long time to develop a connection with the robot, but the idea that he was gone still bothered him.
"Although," Decca continued, "His personality chip appears to be functional. So if another shell could be provided he could be installed inside of it."
"That gives me an idea…" Karone said, but before she could elaborate the alarm on the Megaship began to ring.
Baron sat alone, stewing over the information Noctis had told him.
Lyra watched him from afar… feeling a wave of anxiety stirring in her stomach.
Whatever had happened between the two hadn't provided information he wanted, because it had been forever since she'd seen him so distraught.
"He's certainly an interesting one," The Edenite said, "Wouldn't you say?"
"Yeah," Lyra said. At one point in her life, she'd thought he was perfect. Handsome, charismatic, an alluring loner. She'd given up everything for him, but he was nothing but a lie.
"He's extremely determined and powerful enough that I have no doubt he will get what he wants." He continued, "But he isn't the only one to catch my interest."
"What do you mean?"
"I sense something inside of you," The man said, "You have the potential to be great, but you hide in the shadows of people you believe to be greater than yourself."
She just stared at him blankly, unsure of how to respond to such a strange compliment.
He shrugged, "Maybe not. An ember will either catch flame or flicker into obscurity.
The choice is up to you."
Noctis held his hands against the urn. The power was stronger than ever.
He could sense it was almost complete. Just a little more despair and Xandred could be revived from the flesh left.
He looked around and frowned, besides himself, the only people left aboard the ship were Octoroo, Chinomanako, and another.
He looked at the other, like Noctis he held enough power to retain a human form. Which might have something to do with the fact that he was Noctis's nephew.
The man, little more than a boy, just laughed, "They're all gone. Our entire clan reduced to the three of us."
"That matters naught," Noctis said. "We're soon to finally complete our centuries-old mission." He turned towards the Sanzu River and smiled as a rift to the human world opened up in front of him. "It's time to make history."
The six Rangers arrived at the scene, chaos had already begun, with Chinomanako running around and harassing anyone around.
They each morphed and rushed forward.
But another Nighlok, a teenage boy, blocked their path. He looked at them with a smile. In a flash he turned into a monster, an octopus headed creature with a large cavern on one shoulder and a tiki head on the other.
"He's nothing we can't handle," Jake said and summoned a boulder that flew towards the Nighlok.
But instead of hitting him it flew right into the cavern on its shoulder and flew back at Jake. Hitting him in the chest and knocking him back.
Emma and Noah immediately sprang to action, each of them summoning water and air respectively.
Which were both collected and ejected back at them.
"Grab your weapons," Jayden said to the other two Rangers still standing. "And avoid any more elemental attacks."
Gia and Axel nodded, each of them arming their respective weapons.
But the Nighlok was prepared and jabbed his spear forward. Sparks shot from Gia's armor and she fell forward.
That was all Jayden needed to know to determine this Nighlok was on a much higher level.
The enemy grinned and raised its spear again, pointing towards Gia's chest.
But as it swung down a red-colored blur appeared in front of her.
Lauren stood between Gia and the monster, her Fire Smasher deflecting the enemy's weapon.
"T-thanks," Gia said.
"No problem," The Red Samurai Ranger said as she drew her samuraizer.
"Wait!" Jayden called.
But it was too late, and she sent a blast of fiery symbol power that flew into the monster's shoulder and was shot back at the two Rangers.
Or it would've but Jayden summoned a tornado that deflected the attack.
"Everything you throw at him gets thrown back," Jayden explained, "So we're just gonna have to… hit him hard or something."
"Was that a joke from Jayden Shiba's mouth?" Lauren asked.
"It might have been," Jayden said as he readied his sword, "Is that a problem?"
"No," She said, "Just surprising."
"Maybe my new friends have rubbed off on me," He said moments before the Nighlok charged.
The two Red Rangers swung their blades simultaneously from each side of the monster. Sparks exploded from its midsection in a rough X shape and it stumbled forward.
Where Axel was waiting with his Vulcan Cannon, the Gosei Knight header charged with energy and shot the monster point-blank where Jayden and Lauren had already hit it.
Cracks began to form around the Nighlok's body as its entire existence destabilized. Chinomanako turned away from the group of terrified people, grabbed hold of the other Nighlok and teleported them both away.
Leaving four Rangers standing with three splayed out on the concrete.
The Rangers retreated to the Command Center to lick their wounds and rest.
"The Nighlok will come back," Jayden said darkly, "But it still needs time to rest. So we have time."
Gia looked over to Lauren, the blonde was cleaning her spin sword in the corner of the room. She stretched her sore muscles and approached the girl. She looked down at Lauren, but the Samurai didn't look away from her task.
"H-hey," Gia said.
Lauren turned and Gia felt her guts liquify.
Why did she suddenly want to run away?
"What?" Lauren asked.
"I wanted to thank you again for saving me," Gia said, "Without you, the monster would have toasted us."
"It's no big deal," Lauren said, "I've been slaying Nighlok my entire life."
"What's it like?" Gia asked, "Jayden doesn't talk about it."
"I was in secret my whole life. Hidden from everyone, even the people I was closest with," She glanced at Jayden, "Even the people I loved the most."
"That sounds insane," Gia muttered.
She couldn't imagine such intense isolation. Hiding from everyone she cared about.
Then she thought of Brad, and her stomach dropped.
A teleportation beam shot through the Command Center, bringing everyone's attention to the center of the room.
Where Karone stood, accompanied by a short android.
"Rangers!" The stocky robot with a saucer head exclaimed.
Noah shot up, "Tensou?"
"That's right," Karone said, "Turns out I had an empty Alpha body in storage, and they happen to be compatible."
"How does the new body feel?" Noah asked.
"It feels pretty good!" Tensou said, "But I'm still getting used to fingers."
Gia smiled at their returned companion, but when she turned back towards Lauren the girl was already walking away.
"I'll be right back," Gia said and followed her out.
Lauren took a deep breath as she stepped onto the beach sand. "Why are you following me?"
"Where are you going?" Gia asked.
"Back to where I'm staying," Lauren said simply.
"Why?" Gia asked.
"It's closer to town," She replied, "I'll be able to respond faster when the Nighlok comes back."
Gia sighed, she wasn't nearly as bad as Jayden. But she was a Shiba through and through.
"Maybe I could come with," Gia suggested.
"Why would you do that?" Lauren asked.
Gia froze, "I-uh- I don't…"
Lauren cracked a tiny smile, "Yeah, sure."
Gia was still stuck, her mind felt like it was blue screening as she stared at Lauren blankly.
"Well, come on," Lauren said.
Lyra took a deep breath and approached the Edenite who sat at his workbench
"Were you serious earlier?" She asked.
He looked up and smiled, "Of course I was."
"Why? What do you see in me?"
"In your current state?" The Edenite replied, "Nothing."
Lyra frowned, "What do you mean?"
"You'll never be anything more than a shadow if you look to others for what makes you important. That's the whole point."
Lyra felt a sinking feeling overtake her stomach.
But the Edenite continued, "If you ever want to rise above that you'll have to ask yourself that question."
"How?" Lyra asked in a small voice.
His eyes almost seemed to glow for a moment. "Exactly. And it's in the answer to that question that you'll find your strength."
Gia sat down in the plush but uncomfortable hotel chair. She then looked towards Lauren, who sat a few feet away at the end of the bed.
What was she even doing here?
"Jayden's changed," Lauren said.
"Yeah," Gia said, "He was honestly unbearable when I first met him. It was like talking to a statue."
"What happened to him?" Lauren asked with a wide expression.
"Well… he opened up a bit," Gia said.
"What do you mean?"
"He was so… closed in. It was like he didn't want to be close to anyone."
"That's how a warrior has to be," Lauren retorted. "We're swords designed to cut down the Nighlok."
"But you're more than that," Gia said, "You're people."
Lauren opened her mouth but then paused. She stared at Gia silently for a few minutes and the Yellow Ranger could see the realization dawning on Lauren.
It also brought Gia to an entirely new realization herself.
In a moment that caused Gia's chest to tighten with fear and excitement she realized how beautiful Lauren was. The cheap fluorescent lighting poured down on her round face, and her eyes glimmered like emeralds.
She was breathless, but whether it was Lauren's beauty or her realization she wasn't sure.
For a moment she was utterly lost, it was as if the universe paused and she was sinking into a world of ambiguity. She'd been to church, she'd heard the preacher condemn those kinds of thoughts, and she'd always believed that they were wrong.
So why did she suddenly want to kiss Lauren?
Her heart started to race. A rhythmic pounding assaulted her ears.
Her breath became raspy and shallow, choked by a million different racing thoughts.
Then they stopped and Gia found herself moving. Closer and closer to Lauren. She was standing over the other girl, their faces inches apart.
Lauren looked up at Gia, seemingly partially confused and partially in awe.
Gia hung there awkwardly as her senses returned.
"Can-" her words drifted awkwardly between them. "Can I just?"
Lauren moved in response. She sprang forward and their lips locked.
This was by no means Gia's first kiss, but it was the first to make every other kiss seem utterly irrelevant.
She moved in again, locking her lips around Lauren's. The thrill was so overwhelmingly addicting she couldn't help herself.
At that moment everything else in Gia's world became instantly irrelevant.
Noctis smiled down at the urn. Xandered was practically ready to burst out. Noctis could feel the energy oozing from it.
"It's time," Noctis spoke. "The moment we've all been working towards is at hand."
"But what of the Power Rangers?" Octaroo asked. "Surely they'll interfere with our plan."
Noctis scowled, "If we can keep the warriors scattered long enough to enact the plan they won't be a problem."
He looked down at the urn and smiled, "Once we're done nothing will stand in our way."