The Rangers all got back to Grid Battleforce headquarters, having been summoned by a high-priority message. The Commander wasn't known for exaggerating such matters, and while they were always on-call in times of crisis, she was also usually pretty good at respecting their personal time and space so long as they respected and fulfilled their duties. If she summoned them on a priority signal, they knew it had to be important.

When they got to the Command Centre, General Burke was there, along with Ben, Betty and Joanne. As soon as they got there, she sealed the room.

"General?" Devon asked. "Commander Shaw, what's this about?"

"You don't know?" General Burke asked them. The Rangers all looked among each other, shaking their heads and shrugging. He just sighed. "Have ANY of you been keeping up with the news?"

"Not really." Steel answered. "After Nicky cancelled her interview this morning, we all figured it was too nice a day to waste indoors watching television."

Commander Shaw looked to Joanne, who pressed a few buttons on the hand-rest of her wheelchair. The Rangers all looked to the screen, seeing the advert running.

"Once again, this evening, Channel 6 News will deliver the story of the century by answering the most talked-about question ever. Who ARE the Power Rangers? Exclusive footage will be presented by our very own Muriel Reeves tonight on the Evening News!"

They all just stared, open-mouthed at the screen. Zoey just blinked.

"Uh…that's…not good." She stated, suddenly beginning to panic.

"Zoey, you understand that we have to ask the question…"

"No, no absolutely NOT!" She shrieked. "I love my mom, but telling her about this? She'd have a heart attack! I'm too scared to even tell her I haven't been to Synagogue since Yom Kippur!"

General Burke just breathed a sigh, before looking to Commander Shaw, who gave him a knowing smirk. He'd had his concerns early on with Zoey's close relation to a member of the press possibly being a security concern, but he'd relaxed a little over time. Commander Shaw had never shown any such doubts and had stood up for her many times. General Burke just smiled.

"We believe you." He replied. "But you understand we have to ask."

"Do you think there's any chance this is another hoax?" Ravi asked. "I mean, I hear there are bloggers all claiming to know who the Rangers are every other day, but none of them are even close."

"I really don't think we can afford to take the chance." General Burke responded thoughtfully.

"Can't you just lawyer-bomb them?" Devon suggested. "Just say the words 'National Security' and you can tie them up in so much red tape they'll still be arguing to release the footage when our Great Grandkids are old and grey!"

They all stared at him, at which Devon shrugged.

"My dad's a politician, we deal with lawyers all the time!" He pointed out.

"Yeah, but if we do that, we just confirm that they have something we need to be worried about." Ravi pointed out. "If we sic a battalion of lawyers on them, we'll have every conspiracy nut in the country, maybe the world, breathing down our necks 24/7."

"Maybe we can do something a little less...by the book?" Ravi suggested. "If they do have that footage, maybe we can hack our way in and cause a little glitch in the system and oops, it's gone?"

"We'd already considered that." Joanne informed him. "If they really have something that important, they're not going to keep it on a server. It's going to have a hard backup somewhere, we'd need to deal with that too, and the only way to do that would be boots-on-the-ground."

"And I'm pretty sure the authorities would have a little something to say about the military kicking in the front door of one of the largest media groups in the city." Nate added. "Lawyer-bombing them will get all the conspiracy nuts out in force. Sending in an armed response unit? That's going to get US hauled before a jury!"

Zoey saw the way the conversation was circulating and just gulped.

"Maybe…maybe there's one other way." Zoey suggested. "Perhaps my 'close relationship with a member of the press' could be used for our benefit?"

"Zoey, that's your mom." Devon pointed out. "You know what this story could do for her, what it means for her. Do you really think you can ask her to pull it?"

"I don't really think we have much of a choice." Zoey interjected. "I can't guarantee it'll work, but we have to try."

"Zoey, this is everything your mom worked for her whole life, a once-in-a-lifetime scoop." Ravi reminded her.

"Yeah, I know…and it'll break her heart to let it go." Zoey agreed. "But…I love my mom too much to put her through what will happen if that footage ever gets leaked. I'll just have to hope one day I can explain and she can forgive me."

Nate couldn't help putting his arm around her as she said this dejectedly. He understood how much family meant to Zoey, and how much it had hurt her to be at odds with Eli. If she was to lose her mom, if her mom turned away from her after Zoey convinced her to throw away her life-long dream, he had no idea what she would do.

"OK, then I guess we're all going back to the studio." Devon responded. "Come on, we have work to do."

Over at the studio, there was a lot of buzz outside, with a crowd clamouring around. Earlier in the day, it had been Nicky Reve that had been the talk of the town, but now, there were people who wanted to be at Ground Zero when the biggest story in the world dropped.

Vargoyle showed up, carrying the Memory Pulsator over his shoulder, while Blaze, Roxy and Meghan backed him up. He just looked at the building.

"So, you're all clear on what you need to do?" He asked.

"Take care of security, and hold the building." Blaze sighed. "We know."

"Fine, just as long as we're all clear who's in charge of this operation." Vargoyle stated.

"Oh, we are." Meghan said as she stepped forward.

"Then let's do this thing." Blaze stated as the three Avatars morphed and started making their way towards the station. Roxy got the attention of the crowd with some warning shots, sending them scattering. Meghan surged forward as the security team started trying to seal the door, smashing it into the lobby with her studded club. They all strode into the lobby, confronting the security guards.

"Which way to make-up?" Roxy asked. "We're here for our close-up!"

Elsewhere in the studio, Muriel was still sitting in the tech room, with the memory card in her hand. She couldn't deny what she'd seen on it. What she was holding in her hand was probably the biggest footage anyone had ever shot since the Frost/Nixon interview. It was the Golden Ticket to the big leagues, everything that she had worked for her whole career, the kind of thing that people would do virtually anything to get their hands on. And yet, as she twirled it between her fingers, she turned the decision over in her mind.

She had always prided herself on holding those in power to account. She held no biases when it came to those with positions of authority or responsibility, no matter what area of the political spectrum they sat on and how she felt about their policies. She believed in the role of the press to act as a balance to those that people trusted to have their best interests at heart, and she had decried those that sought to protect those that should lead by example because of personal relationships or feelings towards them. She never for the life of her thought she would be in the situation of being in that position herself.

She was proud of her daughter, who had worked and struggled through some hard times. Raising three children alone had been difficult to say the least, and to say that they'd gone without in a lot of situations was the understatement of the century. It always broke her heart when her kids got teased for wearing clothes with brand names no one had heard of, or had to stay home when their friends went on field trips. But through it all, Zoey had always shone out like a bright star in her life.

She was proud of Zoey for always looking at the best of things, and for always being ready to work and fight for what she wanted, no matter how many times life kicked her and her family in the teeth. She was so proud of Zoey for handling her disappointment being cut from the Ranger program and continuing to work on at Grid Battleforce anyway to continue her education when the new semester would begin. She couldn't be prouder if the only thing Zoey ever contributed to society was ensuring that the Rangers had clean clothes to wear, but now that she knew the truth, she started to see a whole lot of things very differently.

She had absolutely no doubt Zoey would bring the same light, the same values and the same compassion to her duties as a Ranger as she'd had everything else. Thinking about it, she couldn't imagine many people that she would prefer to have looking after others, but now it made her worry all the more. All those times she'd seen the Rangers battles, all that time, it had been her own daughter right there in the thick of it, risking her life for others. She risked everything for people who would never even be able to say thank you to her face.

She'd already promised the studio the scoop. She owed them that much, and they'd even succumbed to her demand that she was the one to break the story, but if they wanted to force the matter, the footage was shot on one of their cameras. It had been stored on one of their memory cards. It belonged to them in the strictest sense of the word, and yet she knew what it would do to her daughter to reveal it now.

She stared at the memory card, and in it, she saw the Sword of Damocles. It would give her everything she'd ever wanted, as long as she was willing to sell out her daughter's anonymity in the process. What was she to do? To stand by the values she'd held since the first time she wrote an article in High School? Or throw away all she had believed in her whole career and very likely her reputation and her career in the process?

Just then, she heard a blast out in the hall. She looked out the door, finding Blaze, Roxy, Meghan and Vargoyle making their way through the building with some Tronics. Vargoyle started to direct them.

"Alright, the building is ours! Make sure it stays that way!" He growled. "Hold the entrances."

As he left, Muriel went back into the room, bolting the door and shoving a desk in front of it. She sat with her back against a wall, and started to pray.

The Rangers arrived at the TV studio, hearing blasts inside and seeing flashes. They abandoned their truck on the sidewalk.

"That doesn't look good." Devon commented, getting on his communicator. "Commander, the studio is under attack. It looks like Evox!"

"What?" She asked.

"Mom, Evox has the building under attack. There's still people in there." Ravi told her.

"Commander, my mom's in there!" Zoey rushed out. Commander Shaw just looked to the General, who just nodded in response. He'd hired her to make exactly these kinds of calls.

"Then do your job." She told them. "Priority of life in full effect. Save everyone you can. All other objectives are tertiary."

"All other…?" Ravi asked. "You mean…?"

"Screw the footage! We'll deal with that when it comes!" Commander Shaw told them. "Priority of life always! Get in there and do the job you were chosen for!"

"You know it Commander!" Zoey called out as they all ran in, morphing as they went. They blasted their way through the first wave of Tronics, heading into the lobby. They all started looking around.

"Rangers, so glad to see you arrived!" Roxy greeted them, stepping up with Meghan. "But I'm afraid it's a closed set. Extras aren't needed for this scene!"

"Steel, you and Nate are with me." Ravi said as he confronted them. "Zoey, you and Devon go."

"Ravi…"

"We've got this." Ravi assured them. "Zoey, you're the one that knows the building. You'll find the others way faster than we will."

"Thank you." Zoey breathed, before she and Devon ran for the stairs. Ravi, Nate and Steel summoned up their weapons.

"Late breaking bulletin!" Ravi yelled. "You're about to get your butts kicked, again!"

Up on the roof, Vargoyle was busy working on the Memory Pulsator, hooking it up to the broadcast tower. Scrozzle was on the communicator, guiding him through the set-up.

"No, no, no…not THAT wire, the other one! The Green one!" Scrozzle screeched. "Why you couldn't let Meghan do this I don't know!"

"Because I don't trust those avatars!" Vargoyle told him honestly. "This way takes longer, but at least I'll know it's done. Like this?"

"Almost, try moving it a little to the right…yes, that's more like it!" Scrozzle responded. "I know you don't like avatars, but Meghan is an engineer…"

"Those avatars are worthless! Almost as weak as the humans they replace!" He announced. "Once our plan succeeds, we can finally be rid of all humans, even the fake ones."

"Go ahead, destroy them all you want once we're done, see if I care!" Scrozzle sneered. "But for now, they're the ones buying you the time to fumble your way through…NO! NOT THAT WIRE, that's going to…"

There were some sparks and a puff of smoke from the Memory Pulsator. Vargoyle just growled.

"What happened?" He demanded.

"Oh, nothing, you just shorted the whole thing out! Now you have to start all over!" Scrozzle yelled. "Now, this time, I'll take you through it step-by-step, so listen carefully!"

Up on one of the higher floors, Devon and Zoey arrived, quickly looking around.

"That's mom's desk." Zoey told him. "She's in the building somewhere, her bag's there."

"Are you sure?" Devon asked. Zoey just looked at him.

"My mom would sooner leave behind her right foot than that bag." She assured him. "She's got to be close by. We need to find her!"

"Head's up." Devon told her, pointing up as Blaze stepped into view. Zoey just tensed up.

"Blaze!" She greeted him coldly. "What are you doing here?"

"You know how much I love being in the headlines." Blaze answered as he summoned up his sword. "You have a habit of being where you're not wanted."

"Funny, we could say the same about you." Zoey told him. Blaze cast a little look to the desk and saw the name plate on it.

"Reeves…oh, wait, that's right, your mom's the hack that does all those puff pieces no one watches isn't she?" Blaze replied. "You know, maybe if I have time, I can find her and give her a story she can really…"

Zoey lunged for him, but Devon held her back. He looked to Blaze.

"Go look for others." He told her. "I'll deal with Blaze."

Zoey just nodded, before running off in search of people that might be trapped to evacuate. Devon summoned up his sword and stood before Blaze. The Crimson Avatar saw him adopt a guard and just levelled his sword over his shoulders cockily.

"You know, they say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." Blaze said arrogantly. "What's the record, six, seven and oh? I forget, I stopped counting the number of times I kicked your ass!"

"Sorry, but I'm a grinder." Devon said as they started to circle each other. "Never stop fighting until the game is won."

"Your funeral." Blaze answered as they ran for each other, their swords clashing in the air in a shower of sparks.