Ravi hadn't even fully stopped the truck outside the hospital when Zoey opened the door and charged up the path in the main door. Ravi called after her, but she wasn't listening. It was understandable, but he wanted to be there for moral support. All they had heard was that her mom had been attacked, he didn't know how bad it actually was. The horn blaring behind him from someone who was stuck behind him reminded him he still needed to park up, and so he had to pull away to find a space.

Zoey got to the desk, looking around frantically.

"Can I help…"

"I'm here to see Muriel Reeves." Zoey rushed out, slapping down her ID. "Someone take me to my mom!"

"Ms Reeves, thank you for coming." The Receptionist said, handing back her ID. "I'm just going to call a nurse and…"

"Take me to my mom!" Zoey screamed at her. One of the nurses, who had been passing, just came along and interjected into the situation.

"Thank you, I'll take it from here." She said. "You said you were here to see Muriel Reeves? I've just come from her room, if you'd like to follow me."

As she led Zoey down the hall, Zoey took a deep breath.

"Look, I'm sorry for making a scene, I know people are just doing their jobs here, it's just…"

"I understand, it's a stressful time." The nurse assured her. "Now, I have to warn you that it's not pretty."

"How bad is it?" Zoey asked her, sounding worried.

"Well, it looks a lot worse than it is, but I just wanted to prepare you for what you're about to see." The nurse told her. "It's mostly superficial, cuts, bruising…she'd most definitely be sore as hell for a while. It looks like whoever was breaking in got startled and lashed out. We want to keep her for a while for observation, but your mom seems pretty tough."

"Yeah, the Reeves' are definitely a rough and tumble family." Zoey agreed. "Can I see her now?"

"Absolutely." The nurse replied, gesturing to the door. Zoey was about to head in, when a thought occurred to her.

"I have a friend with me, Ravi Shaw. He's just parking up the car just now." Zoey told her. "Can you let the desk know it's alright to send him along when he gets in?"

"I'll pass along your message." The nurse assured her. Zoey went to the door, letting herself in. When she got there, she could see what the nurse was talking about. If this was what she called 'superficial', her mind boggled as to what she would consider serious. She was lying in the bed, very still, and her bed sheet and robes covered most of her, but her arms and face, which were all she could see, were horrendous shades of black and blue with very little healthy flesh showing through. There were some dressings covering some areas too, and a drip had been inserted into her hand. Muriel's face was distorted, swollen badly in places, and badly bruised, with a few cuts, held together by little white dressings were visible. She looked up as she became aware of someone in the room, seeing Zoey standing over her.

Zoey took her hand gently, looking down on her mom, trying hard to keep herself from breaking down right next to her. Her mom had been beaten badly, she needed her to be strong, not go to pieces. Zoey just looked to her.

"Zoey." Muriel greeted her. "What are you doing here?"

"Just…coming to check you weren't just looking for sympathy." Zoey said, trying to make light of the situation. "I know how much of a drama queen you can be about these things."

"Yeah, I just felt like a stay in the world's most expensive hotel that doesn't even have a bar." She chuckled, aggravating some of her injuries. Zoey just held onto her.

"Mom, the police are saying this was a break-in." Zoey told her. "Did you really try to take on burglars?"

Muriel didn't want to say anything.

"Mom, it's just stuff! We can replace most of it." Zoey told her. "The TV's older than I am! Any burglar would probably be more likely to leave a new one out of sympathy than take ours."

Muriel didn't say anything. It was pretty clear from within moments that whatever the motive for the attack was, it wasn't burglary. She imagined if she was able to go to the apartment, she'd probably find most of her stuff was still there. For starters, they hadn't even broken into her apartment before she got back. Most burglars tended to wait until a house was empty before they made their move. In their case, they'd waited until she got back and forced her to let them in.

"Mom, I know this is hard, but did you recognise any of them?" Zoey asked her.

"I already told the police…"

"Mom, please, I need to hear this." Zoey pressed on. "Do you know who it was?"

"I…didn't recognise any of the men." She told her. "They were a gang."

"A gang?" Zoey asked. "What gang? Was it those assholes that hang out by the old school?"

"Bastards." Muriel told her.

"Yeah, I'm not too fond of them either." Zoey stated.

"No…that's what they call themselves. The Bastards…"

"The Bastards of Kronus?" Zoey screamed. It was pretty unusual. While there were charters of the club in a few different cities, Coral Harbour didn't tend to get much trouble from them. Zoey could only feel a wave of disgust and rage washing over her. It couldn't be coincidence that members of Eli's club had showed up in town not long after he did. Muriel tried to calm her. Just then, Ravi came in.

"And who's this?" Muriel asked. Zoey just looked upward towards Ravi.

"This is Ravi, he drove me here." Zoey told her. "He works at Grid Battleforce too."

"How are you feeling Mrs Reeves?" Ravi asked her.

"Sore." She admitted. "Pissed off more than anything. My apartment might be a shit-hole, but it's my shit-hole." Ravi just chuckled a little.

"I see where Zoey gets it from." He commented. Zoey just forced a smile.

"Yeah, that's my mom." Zoey answered. "Hard head, tough as old boots and stubborn to the point of self-destruction."

Meanwhile, at Riptide, Nate and Steel were just arriving. Devon was waiting outside for them. He didn't want to risk contacting them while they were likely driving over. He stood up as he saw them coming towards him.

"Whoa, nice robot dude!" One of the patrons leaving the gym said, inspecting Steel. Steel snapped around, starting straight at him.

"Who are you calling a robot?" Steel demanded. "Can't you see I'm half-human?"

The man just stared at him. He looked about as human as a blender. It wasn't exactly difficult to see why people would make the mistake. Since he had human DNA as part of his make-up, and so was at least partially human, the technical term was more likely to be 'cyborg' than robot, but it wasn't like there was anything on the outside that would lead people that didn't know about him to believe that. Nate interjected himself between them.

"It's just a joke. He's my science experiment." Nate said, trying to cover for him. The man just snapped his fingers, smiling.

"Dude, you programmed in a personality that makes fun of people, that's so awesome!" The patron commented. "I went to this one sushi place where there are robots that run around with trays of sushi, and one of them even tells customers to move their fat asses out of the way!"

"I am NOT a robot!" Steel put down aggressively. Nate just started backing him away.

"Yeah, he's definitely unique." Nate told the man, before looking up to Steel. "Steel, you can't just lash out at people like that."

"Why not? He insulted me! He called me a robot!" Steel yelled at him.

"He just…doesn't know the real you." Nate told him. "There are going to be a lot of people that don't really get you. There are people that don't get me either."

"People make fun of you?" Steel asked. "But you're awesome!"

"Sometimes people just make fun of things that don't interest them or that they don't understand." Nate tried to explain. "Because I wear glasses and like science and sometimes say words people don't understand, sometimes people say mean things about me, but I can't go around trying to beat up anyone that doesn't treat me nicely."

"There are people that don't like my big brother?" Steel asked. "How's that even possible?"

"It just is." Nate told him. "You have to try to blend in."

"It's hard to blend in, when you're built to stand out!" Steel said with a little swagger in his step. Nate just shook his head. Irritatingly, he did have something of a point. It wasn't like he was hard to spot in a crowd.

"Hey, guys." Devon greeted them. Nate noticed he was on his own.

"Are the others already inside?" Nate asked. He just shook his head.

"Zoey got a call; it seems her mom's in the hospital." Devon informed them. "Apparently she was attacked. It sounds like a robbery that got out of hand."

"Oh my God, that's horrible." Nate said, instantly forgetting any thoughts of smoothies. "Is she OK?"

"I don't know about her mom, but Zoey was pretty upset, as you can imagine." Devon responded. "She's at the hospital now. I stayed behind to let you know."

"OK, so let's go." Nate said, heading back towards the truck. He could only imagine how upset Zoey was. He wanted to be with her, to make sure she was alright. Zoey cared so much for others, any time someone she cared about was in pain, it was almost like she took on that pain herself. They were almost at the truck when an energy blast struck the ground in front of them. They turned around to see Blaze and Roxy coming towards them, Roxy holding the offending blaster.

"Sorry, my finger slipped!" She said as they approached.

"We really aren't in the mood for this." Devon confronted them. "Just tell us what you're after so we can send you packing!"

"Only that steely hunk!" Roxy said, raising her eyebrows a little. Nate looked back to Steel.

"Why, thank you!" Steel answered. Clearly, he didn't catch the fact it wasn't meant as a compliment. Nate picked up pretty quickly on why they would want Steel. The team that went to clear the warehouse had found all the parts of the Cyber Gate gone. They knew that Scrozzle still had the tech, which meant that he had the ability to try again. Which meant that Steel was a valuable asset to them. He was a powerful body that could house Evox's virus.

"You'll have to go through me!" Nate called out, stepping between them and his brother. He had only just gotten a brother, and while he was already starting to find out that it wasn't entirely the dream world, he had imagined it would be, he wasn't about to let anything happen to him. Not only was the thought of Evox having a fully functioning body in the real world horrifying in and of itself, but if he did take over Steel's body, he'd likely remove any surplus programming that took any space that he could use himself…which meant Steel.

"Well, if you insist." Blaze said with a cocky smile. "TRONICS!"

Back at the hospital, Ravi was outside, on his cell phone, updating his mom on what was happening.

"Oh my God, is she OK?" Commander Shaw asked sympathetically.

"She's in pretty good spirits." Ravi told her. "She's a pretty resilient lady."

"How about Zoey?" Commander Shaw asked him.

"I think she's angry more than anything." Ravi replied honestly. "I wouldn't like to think what she'd do if she got her hands on the dirt bags responsible for this."

"That's understandable." Commander Shaw told him. "Keep an eye on her."

"You know I will." Ravi answered, hanging up. He was about to head back into the hospital when his communicator bleeped. He just let out a huge growl. "Not now! You're go for Ravi!"

"Ravi, you have to get over here!" Devon told him. "Blaze and Roxy just brought along a ton of Tronics for a dance party!"

"You're still at the gym?" Ravi asked.

"Steel and Nate are with me." Devon told him. "Get over here, now!"

"OK, I'll be there…" He was almost knocked over as Zoey rushed out of the hospital, looking around for the truck. He cut off the communications link and went to her. "Zoey…"

"You heard them; we're needed!" Zoey told him.

"Zoey, your mom…"

"My mom is surrounded by doctors and nurses. She couldn't be anywhere better right now!" Zoey rushed out.

"But…"

"Ravi, I am REALLY in the mood for a fight right now!" Zoey cut him off. "I'd rather it was directed at someone that deserves it!"

"Ravi just pulled out his keys and took her towards the truck, letting her in, before reversing out, spinning the truck around with a squeal of tyres, and blasting out of the hospital to a chorus of car horns and angry expletives from motorists who had to take some very quick evasive action.

Back at the site of the battle, Devon, Nate and Steel were holding out as best they could against the Tronics. Devon and Nate couldn't remember having ever seen Evox throw so many at them all at once, but if there was any doubt before that they were after Steel, that quickly dissolved as soon as the battle got to its most fierce. For every one Tronic that came at Nate or Devon, it seemed like three were going for Steel. He fought bravely, but quickly found himself overwhelmed.

The difficulty with Tronics being robots was that they had no self-preservation instincts and felt no pain. They would think nothing about losing a limb if it meant they got to get a hold of their target. Soon, Tronics were hanging off his arms and legs, trying to restrain him.

"Steel!" Nate called out, breaking off from his own opponents to go for him. He was cut off as Roxy fired some energy blasts, forcing him to back off, only to be swarmed by Tronics himself again. Blaze and Roxy watched, waiting on their opportunity.

Just then, there was a roar of engines, and they both turned around, seeing the other Grid Battleforce truck flying into the parking lot, almost rolling as it skidded around. It barrelled towards them, slamming into them and sending them both flying. Ravi and Zoey disembarked, joining the fight, making a beeline straight for Steel, pulling his enemies off him.

Steel only needed a little bit of room before he could bring his strength to bear, smashing some more Tronics, freeing himself. Between the three of them, they managed to free him. They were joined by Devon and Nate, who were just finishing off a group of their own.

"Did you guys see that?" Steel asked. "It's like I'm some sort of Tronic magnet!"

"What makes you so popular?" Devon asked.

"A dazzling personality!" Steel replied.

"I don't think Evox is done with you Steel." Ravi explained. "To throw this much at you, he clearly wants you badly."

"Scrozzle still has the components for the Cyber Gate." Nate reminded them all. "If he gets a hold of Steel, he can try and download Evox again."

"But this is my body! I was here first!" Steel declared. "I'm happy to share, but my body is mine and that's it!"

"We need to get him back to base, figure out what we're going to do from there." Zoey replied.

"OK then, let's split." Steel said as they headed for their vehicles in the confusion, fleeing the scene. Blaze and Roxy finally managed to regroup just as they were leaving.

"They got away!" Blaze screamed in frustration. Roxy grabbed onto his arm.

"Patience Blaze, they don't know we're listening into their frequencies." Roxy reminded him. "We'll get another chance soon enough. In the meantime, let's clear out of here. There's nothing of value here anyway."

With that, they both teleported out.

A while later, the Rangers were back at Grid Battleforce Headquarters, relaying the events of the attack to the Commander. General Burke had shown up to hear about it. They were all a little shaken up, and a little concerned about the events of the day. Any attack was a cause for concern, a targeted attack against one of the Rangers was another concern. One that could be used to bring back Evox was a whole new level of concern.

"So, why do they want him?" General Burke demanded, pointing right at Steel. He was already concerned with the thought of a robot Ranger. He did like the thought of technology that could make the lives of those serving their country easier and safer. It was one of the reasons the thought of Arthur re-routing equipment that should never see a battlefield to active units was so galling to him, but when all was said and done, he liked the idea that behind a drone, there was a human pilot. Behind every artillery piece, there was a human operator. Behind every gun, there was a person that could make those critical ethical choices whether to pull the trigger or not. He had an inkling of the answer, but he wanted to hear the Rangers say it out loud.

"We think Scrozzle has rebuilt the Cyber Gate." Ravi told him.

"Which means, if he gets Steel, he can download himself into his body." Devon concluded. "Which means potentially Steel is his ticket out of the Cyber Dimension."

"If they were ever to get a hold of this robot. Evox could be uploaded into it, and unleashed onto the world!" General Burke reiterated, looking around the team. Commander Shaw, Joanne, Ben, Betty and the Rangers all looked to him as he paced, trying to gauge what his decision would be. He pointed to Steel.

"It's simply too dangerous." He declared. "He needs to be shut down, and put into your secure vault immediately!"

"Shut down Steel?" Betty asked, looking shocked by her father's statement. No one really knew how Steel worked. They had some good ideas, but they were branching into new areas of science and study that frankly just didn't exist. Shutting him down sounded like a logical thing to do, but would he be able to save all his data, his personality like another computer program? Or was it possible everything that made Steel who he was would be lost?

"We can't do that." Devon stated. "He's more than just a robot!"

"He's my brother!" Nate protested. The General pointed to him.

"You honestly think that thing is your brother?" He asked. "I've never heard something so ridiculous in all my life!"

"You've seen the Beastbots, you know they're more than just robots!" Ben interjected. It was extremely unusual for Ben to stand up to his dad. He stood before him, pointing to Steel. "Steel is something that we've never seen before!"

"He's a machine, inside he's just a bunch of wires with a few strands of DNA in his programming." General Burke blustered. "He's a fantastic machine, but a machine nonetheless. He needs to be shut down."

"We don't know how his personality works. We don't know if he CAN be shut down and rebooted and retain his personality." Nate explained. "If you do this, you're effectively asking us to kill a member of our own team!"

They all stood, confronting the General.

"Sir, this isn't right!" Ravi chipped in. "Steel's only a danger as long as the Cyber Gate exists! If we find it and destroy it, he's no threat to the city!"

"Please, he's one of us!" Zoey added. The General just sighed and shook his head.

"Our job is to protect the city. Sometimes difficult choices need to be made." General Burke told them. "Right now, that means shutting down Steel. You have your orders!"

With that, he strode out of the room. They all looked to Commander Shaw.

"Mom…"

"You have your orders." She replied, before walking away regretfully.

"Dude, your mom too?" Devon asked. "I can't believe…"

"Guys…the Commander just left us alone with Steel and the door wide open." Betty pointed out. Ben grabbed a nearby trolley, opening the door and emptying out all the contents, and removing the shelves.

"Steel, think you can fit in here?" He asked.

"Just as well I'm amazing at hiding!" Steel declared as he climbed inside. Zoey just looked around.

"It's probably best we split up, try and intercept the General and the Commander if they're heading our way." She suggested. "Nate, you take Steel out, then call us on our cells. We'll meet up with you later, then we can look for the Cyber Gate."

As they all split up to go their separate ways, Zoey went to the elevator, heading down to the holding level. She was still worried about Steel, and her friends, but there was another matter she needed to deal with.