Ryder was dreaming, no, more like having a nightmare
| Ryder's head |
Where am I? She asked herself. She spun around to see herself. Reaching out, she didn't grab her. She started spinning not known where the tune/lullaby was coming from. Then she heard something click on the metal floor.
A walking stick? Someone was probably blind in my past, but how dad wasn't. Reaching out to the girl, she failed. "Ah, ah, ah," the girl grunted.
Ryder fought through the Grinders, trying to reach the girl. A man beside her, older than her, trying to do the same shouting out "No! Stop!"
They reached her, grabbing onto one of her hands, trying to pull her up but … the girl fell.
They grunted as Grinders apprehended them, "Master shall I initiate the upload on subject D44 and subject R17?" Said an antenna like Bot.
"Of course, take their memory." Said Venjix.
"No!" They both shouted. "No!"
| Outside |
She jolted up in code sweat. The man's voice sounded familiar, where had I heard it before. She wondered.
Walking out and down towards the garage, Dr. K was talking. She stopped in front of Dillon who seemed to be in the same situation as her.
His eyes asked 'you too?' She nodded and both walked down to join the others.
"Rangers, I am picking up a transmission from within the city that is designed to momentarily cause shield energy disruptions," Dr. K explained quickly as the Rangers prepared themselves for battle. "But there's another signal heading south by southwest through the sewer corridor."
"The sewer?" Flynn repeated. "Of course. What fun."
"Its target must be the city central dam. If we cut across the aqueduct, we can beat it there." Scott deducted.
"And I'll try to track the source of the energy disruption," said Dr.K
While the others climbed into the respective vehicles, Ziggy claiming the passenger side of Dillon's car as his own, Summer caught the black Ranger by the arm as he passed her. She couldn't help but notice his disheveled look.
"Hey, sleep well?" Summer asked.
"Like a baby," Dillon replied sarcastically not thinking twice.
Ryder was mounting her Motorcycle while listening to their conversation.
"Any dreams?" She asked
"You know, start a rock-'n'-roll bad," Dillon replied. "Tour the world."
Summer rolled her eyes and walked over to Flynn's truck. She climbed up into it as the blue Ranger started the engine.
Tires screeched as the three cars, two Bikes peeled out of the garage, leaving Dr. K alone to monitor the Rangers from the lab.
| Battle |
"RPM, Get in gear!" They called morphing.
Racing straight into battle, the Rangers each paired off to deal with the new threat. This attack Bot was no freakier than usual and was equipped with the usual army of Grinders.
Ryder ducked under an attack and rolled over as a Grinder slashed down at her while she was on the floor; using her arms to protect herself, then kicked the foot soldier in the stomach, sending it flying behind her.
"come one is that all you got?" Scott asked, tauntingly.
"They never give up, do they?" Summer asked continuing fighting.
"Time out, time out, a little stuck here," Ziggy said. Unsurprisingly, the Grinders did give him a time out, "ok, let's go."
"Take a load off," commented Dillon throwing the Grinder over a car.
"I just want a dreamless sleep," even if the dreams are my memories, Ryder mentally added.
Ranger red engaged in a fight with the Attack Bot.
"I'm going in!" Scott announced.
"Right with ya!" Flynn agreed. Ryder would also agree and join them if possible, but right now she was dealing with the excess Grinders along with Dillon and Ziggy.
Once the three rangers that were dealing with the Grinders were done, they joined together preparing for the Bot. Both men had their Nitro Saber's while the female had the Nitro Blaster out.
"Shall we?" Ziggy asked holding his Nitro Sword over this shoulders.
"No us but," Ryder trailed off so Dillon could catch up.
"Ziggy, you could sure use a bath," Ryder and Dillon charged.
"Huh?" Ziggy sounded mildly offended.
Ryder was mostly throwing kicks and punches, but when the Bot held onto Dillon's sword, she blasted him sending him stumbling back. Dillon swung Ziggy in a circle twice hitting the Bot. Ryder shot her blaster in the same place as Ziggy slashed would cause more damage, and that was what she did. Once she blasted she joined her teammates.
Bad idea.
The Bot shot out water knocking the three of them onto the floor.
Rolling in Summer said "Zip charger," rolling her secondary weapon up her arm and then letting it zoom along the floor at the attack Bot. The attack Bot growled and fired at Summer, knocking her off of her feet.
Scott stood and stepped in front of them summoning his Saber, "Street Saber strike!" he rushed at the attack Bot, but before he could land a direct hit, he was blasted backward onto the ground.
They were all joined together so the Bot opened fire and knocked all six of them down. The Rangers groaned as they recovered from the third attack.
"OK. Now, this is getting kind of humiliating," Ziggy said, pushing himself to his hands and knees.
"Y'think?" Ryder asked sarcastically.
"Rangers, make an offensive maneuver," Dr. K called over the comms links in each Ranger helmet. "Wishbone alpha."
Flynn stood up and shouted, "ah, the wishbone!" Flynn grinned, cracking his knuckles. "One of my favorites." Jumping over his friends, Flynn rushed at the monster and activated his time freeze attack. The monster froze while Flynn attacked him, and when time resumed its normal course, the attack Bot exploded.
"RPM, ENFORCER!" Flynn shouted.
Together the five rangers combined their weapons to create the enforcer.
"Engine cell, activate," said Flynn, inserting his engine cell into the side of the giant weapon. "Fire!"
A beam of light hit the Attack Bot and he exploded.
…
Then it grew again. They have it covered, Ryder thought as she headed back to the lab.
Before she could enter the garage, there was another Bot. Groaning in annoyance, she turned around, got onto her bike, and drove off to the location Dr. K sent her.
Diking into the woods, she stopped her bike and ran towards her teammates. Fly kicking the Bot's back.
"Why can't there be only one Bot for one day?!" She yells annoyed, "FUCK YOU VENJIX!"
"Ryder," the rangers deadpan, the usual quiet was gone for a few seconds/minutes.
Continuously kicking the Bot, letting out her frustration, it zapped electricity around it, sending the rangers to the ground.
"Alright come on," Ziggy says as he standing up and punches the Bot. "Ow, ow, ow, it's biting me it's biting me." Flynn and Summer try to release Ziggy from the monster's mouth.
Once the Bot let go, they were standing opposite each other. The Bot forgot about the grey ranger, "Nitro Sword," they all say. The Bot turned around to face the grey ranger, "surprise," she said slashing him with her Sword, the others joining in the attack.
"Rangers I have pinpointed the transmission disrupting the shields, are you done with that Attack Bot and ready to deploy?" Dr. K asks.
The rangers then summon their rightful weapons and attack one after the other.
Scott was first to attack using his Street Saber stabbing the Bot. "Take this," Summer slides her car on Scott's Sword aiming at the Bot.
Dillon jumps in firing using his Rocket blaster while shouting out its name. Flynn was next but running in shouting "Turbo Cannon!"
Then was Ryder slashing with her Cycle Daggers, Ziggy came up behind her slashing with his Turbo Axe twice sending the Bot to the ground, "RPM Enforcer!" He announced. The five rangers combined their weapons.
For the second time that day, the Rangers supported the super canon between them, while Ziggy inserted her engine cell into the side. "Engine Cell, activate! FIRE!" Ziggy said as a green shark exploded from the end of the blaster, and trampled the attack Bot, causing him to explode.
I blame you Mebius Ryder said in her head since her technology was mostly alien, non-compatible with humans.
"Doc, we're on our way to find that pulse signal," Scott said as he led the others de-morphed, away from the woods.
They made it back to their vehicles, which were still stationed in the car park parallel to the first attack. "Rangers," Dr. K said, causing them to stop their tracks. "I'm detecting another breach at the docks."
"Doc, we're not going to be able to keep this up," said Scott.
"You guys do your best with the alarms," said Dillon. "Ziggy and I will go after the signal."
"I'll go with them," Ryder volunteered.
Scott looked like he wanted to argue, but it was the best defense they had at the moment. If all of them went after the signal then they'd be putting innocent lives at risk, and if they all went after the attack Bot it would be the same.
They entered rode their vehicles, Ryder following behind Dillon as they have always been doing in the Wasteland.
Reaching their destination, Dillon and Ziggy got out of the car, Ryder simply got off of hers.
"200-mile radius of your current location, Ranger series black," Dr. K explained. "You're looking for high vantage points to broadcast from. Trees, electric towers…"
"Rooftops there," Ziggy said, pointing a dark-antenna-like shape at the edge of the tallest building in Corinth.
"You cover the back," Ryder ordered. "Dillon and I will flush him to you."
"Right," Ziggy nodded, taking off to cover the back. Dillon and Ryder rolled his shoulders and then started up the side of the building. Ryder leading. They reached the top and stopped just short of the attack Bot which was firing energy blasts at the shields around him.
"I hope you've enjoyed this broadcast," Dillon shouted, causing the attack Bot to turn to him. "Because you're about to go off the air."
The attack Bot growled and turned to face the nuisance. Without wasting time, Dillon started forward and kicked up with his foot, catching the attack Bot in the side; the Bot beeped and Dillon looked up, he frowned as he seemed to recognize the Bot, but couldn't put his finger on where he had seen it before. Ryder was on the side, she didn't attack, didn't move, something about this Bot, it … made her.
"Familiar," the attack Bot said, also looking at Dillon and a frozen Ryder curiously(?). He beeped and they nodded. "Ahh, yes, subject D-44 and subject R-17"
"You!" Dillon accused.
"I still have your memories," the attack Bot said, blasting the air above him. A small hologram appeared, showing the rangers the imaged of someone walking around with a white stick in their hands, it then quickly changed to someone being pushed, and two hands locked but slipping apart rather quickly.
Blinded by the memories, Dillon missed the next attack and was knocked backward as Ryder's foot caught him in the stomach.
Groaning, and clutching his chest, "the hell?" Dillon asked as he got to his feet and reached for the engine cell around his neck. He pushed it into his Morpher and jumped over Ryder before he could attack again.
"Knock me out! He's doing something!" Ryder shouted desperately.
"RPM, Get in Gear!"
"Subject D-44, your modifications are incomplete," said the attack Bot as he used Ryder to fight Dillon, "But we can fix that."
"I'll fix you!" Dillon shouted, pulling out his Nitro blaster.
"Ah, ah, ah," said the attack Bot stationing a struggling Ryder in front of him causing him to hesitate. "You blast her you kill her. You blast me, and you blast your memories."
Dillon hesitated. He didn't want to risk losing his memories of his friend, but while the black Ranger was hesitant the monster wasn't. Sensing a weakness in his opponent, the attack Bot fired, and knocked Dillon over the railing, and sent him plunging to his death below.
"Ziggy, knock me over!" Ryder shouted. Ziggy did as told while morphing into the Green rangers jumping off the railing.
"I got you, buddy," Ziggy says as he holds onto Dillon and Ryder. Realizing their current place he shouted "we're going to splat! we're going to splat!" And then teleported them to the ground. "We didn't splat! We did not splat!" Ziggy yelled in glee.
"Not sure how you did that," Dillon says while holding onto his left shoulder.
"Uh, I don't know. Me neither," Ziggy replies awkwardly.
"What happened back there?" Dillon asked Ryder.
"I-I don't know," Ryder looked at her hands, scanning fearfully all the while searching through her memories, "I guess that something happened before, uh, we met." She then gripped her head (helmet) feeling a headache.
"Rangers, my sensors are tracking the target moving west," Dr. K relayed to Summer, Flynn, and Scott. They had just finished up with the third attack Bot and were now searching for the one Dillon, Ryder and Ziggy had failed to destroy. "Colonel, can you confirm?"
"Target just crossed Arlington Street, sir," Corporal Hicks confirmed.
"That's affirmative, Doctor," Colonel Truman replied. "It's just moved into the East gate of the city park."
"Rangers, converge on following coordinates."
"We're on our way!" Scott confirmed continuing leading the others running towards the location. "Over here!" Scott shouted fly kicking the Bot's side.
"It's time for you to go down!" Flynn said as he and Summer regrouped with Scott.
"We'll see about that," the attack Bot said, preparing itself for a fight. It rushed forward but was no match for the joint effort of all three rangers, and was easily taken down.
"Rangers, you must destroy that sat Bot before it can disrupt the shield and cause any more infiltrations." The three of us ran to rendezvous with the primaries. Scott went in for the attack, only for Dillon and Ryder to block him.
"Hey! What's going on?" Scott asked, confused.
"You can't." Dillon pleaded, "That thing has my memories." He then looked at Ryder, "our memories."
"Did I miss something?" Flynn asked him, Summer and Ziggy standing to the side.
The attack Bot laughed and took off in the other direction, away from the rangers.
"Hey!" Scott shouted, giving chase.
"Wait!" Dillon yelled, desperately, as he tried to stop the red Ranger.
"Ranger Series Black and Series Grey, you cannot allow personal agendas and emotion to interfere with the protection of this city." K firmly ordered.
"Please." Dillon turned to Scott, ignoring K, "they're all I have."
"It belongs to us, we have the right to know," Ryder continued pleading.
"Alright," Summer intervened, "Scott?"
Scott was silent for a second before replying, "we have no choice," he declined. "Get him Ziggy!"
"Right." Ziggy nodded.
Ziggy then teleported to the location of the Bot. Ziggy started with his ax.
"No!" Dillon and Ryder yelled, Dillon was limping.
"Ranger Black and Ranger Grey, I'm afraid I have no choice but to take you offline," K asked.
Dillon and Ryder stopped in their tracks, their suits did something. Struggling, they tried to break free causing a power surge. As it was done, the immobilized rangers fell forward to the ground. The power surge knocked everyone but Ziggy to the ground. It didn't spread for long. The attack Bot shot at Ziggy, causing him to fall, too.
"Rangers, you must take evasive action."
As the rangers stood up, they were attacked by the reflected blasts from the Bot caused by the reflective part of the shields.
"Dillon, Ryder you guys are the only ones who can destroy the sat Bot."
"I can't!" The mentioned duo retaliated.
"You can't let your emotions get in the way! We need you!"
"They're our memories!" They retaliated again.
"Then I'll have to shut you down."
The duo ran forward but only to be stopped by an energy surge in their suit. "Unfortunately Doc, I don't shut down so easily."
Dillon fought off the force from K. Since his systems were clear, Ryder followed his suit. Unknown to her, also clearing the Bot's control over her.
"You alright?" Dillon asked to his left, Ryder was hunched over.
Ryder non-visibly checked herself, "better." She muttered.
Looking back at ht Bot Dillon announced, "you're mine!"
"Ours!" Ryder corrected.
The other Rangers were forced to watch the violent battle take place.
"Give 'em back!" Ryder shouted walking slowly at the Bot as it slashed her with wires.
"It's not over subject D-44, Subject R-17."
"It's over for you," Dillon announced finally showed sense. Both rushed forward and slashed the Bot out of its feet.
"Fuck you!" Ryder seems as though she loved to swear, she did. She hates this Bot to the guts since she and Dillon didn't have their memories because of it.
The others ran over to join them. Dillon was still injured in his arm so he gripped it.
"Come on. Let's put this thing out of my misery."
Ryder was feeling the backlash of the fight from the previous day, taking a step forward she fell onto the floor. The rangers looked at her in surprise and worry, she noticed, "I'll head back, don't worry. Finish him."
The others knew it wasn't time to worry about her so followed her orders, "RPM Enforcer."
"You won't do it!" the Bot taunted, "You said it yourself! This is all you have!"
"I have something else! New ones." Everyone agreed. Dillon inserted his engine cells, "Engine cell activate, FIRE!"
They destroyed the final attack Bot. Feeling exhausted, went back to the Garage. Dillon and Ryder went to get checked out by Dr. K.
Ryder was first checked out.
Summer asked holding the scanner, "Ryder could you take off your jacket?"
Ryder looked hesitant, "uh, can't I keep it on?"
"It will give better results with bare skin." Dr. K answered.
Giving up Ryder took off her jacket, revealing her reddened arm and shoulder.
Dillon stood straighter, "what happened?"
"Too close to an explosion," Ryder explained.
"Was this why you fell before?" Ryder nodded, "Why couldn't you walked?"
Sighing Ryder pulled down her pants, nobody seems to mind except Summer who told her to cover up, "Eh, he's like a brother," she answered. "But yeah, got bruised pretty bad." Summer was now running the scanner down Ryder's body, "don't tell the others, I'll heal, don't want you guys to worry." Both rangers nodded.
"Ranger Series Grey, it seems as though you are not entirely human. You are mostly a hybrid like Ranger series Black, but you have a small percentage of another being, which I can't seem to distinguish."
"Don't worry Doc. That one I'll figure it out myself." And I won't ever tell you since it's part Alien. Ryder mentally promised herself.
"For some reason, machinery parts are more hidden than Black rangers, that was how you bypassed the defense shields without being detected as a half, your other third was covering your machine. Interesting." Doctor commented.
"I know and am not being experimented on. Again," Ryder added as an afterthought.
"Hey, any nice dreams?" Summer flirted looking at Dillon after scanning him.
"I'm having one right now," Dillon flirted back. Ryder was next to them and silently but visibly gaged. Black and Yellow rangers laughed at her reaction.
Doc inspected the screen, "stranger, your machinery parts are reacting the same as Ranger Black's."
"How so?" Ryder questions.
"Ranger operator series Black, the sat bots signal that was transmitted into your arm, contains and incepted initiation code. And Ranger operator series Grey's is in the same position, the initiation codes have been activated."
"Initiation?" Dillon said in confusion.
"Initiation of what?" Summer clarified.
"initiation of the virus that we planted in your robotics."
"Doc, maybe you zapped us a little too hard with your joy buzzer or whatever, but I'm not," Dillon was cut off by summer.
"What are you saying?" Summer asked.
"Initiation of…" Ryder trailed off having a theory, but not wanting to be true she continued to brainstorm the prior events lowly, "Part machine, the machine part same reaction to Dillon's. The Bot didn't have to touch me to control me, I have machine parts, and…" realization dawned her "Oh, oh, FUCKING SHIT!" Ryder threw her arms up in annoyance and fear.
Summer and Dillon looked at her in confusion while Doctor looked at her in worry and sympathy. "I'm saying that the machinery in Ranger Series Black and the hidden robotic in Ranger Grey has begun a self recomposition process. And it is growing. And it will keep growing until it has taken over them entirely. There is no cure."