In the lobby of the TV station, Nate, Steel and Ravi were battling with Roxy and Meghan, together with a whole squad of Tronics. Steel had secured one of the doors, and was standing guard, letting the people trapped in the building get a safe route out, keeping Tronics at bay while Nate and Ravi dealt with the avatars.
"I've got to say, this foreplay is pretty hot loverboy." Roxy taunted Ravi as she evaded one of his strikes. "You can't say you don't love this."
"I'd love it a lot more if you'd stand still!" Ravi bellowed as he swung for her, narrowly missing with his sword. He knew that Roxy was just trying to get into his head, and unfortunately it was working. He'd do anything to get Roxy back. He'd even felt the effects of the Neural Aligner, making him question everything he'd believed in, that had kept him from Roxy in the first place, and he'd admitted being tempted to just letting go. To just saying 'what's in it for me?' for once in his life and just turning to an avatar, but deep down he knew that this was not his Roxy. It was a perversion of her. Her very worst traits heightened to dangerous degrees and all the best parts of her, her kindness, her warmth, her compassion, all stripped away leaving this insult to the woman he loved. He wanted Roxy back, HIS Roxy, and this thing was the only thing holding her hostage within her own body.
Nate, meanwhile, was dodging Meghan's wild swings. Meghan was wildly dangerous, even without the Ranger training Blaze and Roxy had. Evox had gifted her with her very own morphing powers, based on Ravi's Gorilla DNA powers. She didn't need to be good, all she needed was to hit him. He didn't want to take the gamble about whether or not he could shake it off, but her massive swings with her large club dominated such a wide area that he was struggling to find any openings to attack back.
"Keep swinging Meghan, maybe you'll give me a chill!" Nate challenged her, trying to sound a lot more confident in his abilities than he actually was. For all his own training, he did realise that any battle was always a gamble. He could very well defeat Meghan with his own abilities, which he had trained as he built his Ranger technology, but if he was unfortunate, if he made one wrong move, was just a little slow on one dodge, then it could all be over. He hoped he could cause her to be the one to make a mistake.
"You're spending a lot of time running away for someone that feels like he can beat me Nate!" She shot back. "Admit it, you know I'm better than you! You know I'm smarter! You know I was able to do things you never would, that's why you and laundry girl got rid of me!"
Nate knew he'd struck a nerve. Meghan was a sociopath, meaning that she lacked empathy, the ability to see or appreciate the feelings of others. In her mind, she was the victim in the story.
"Are you kidding me?" He asked her. "You don't have anyone to blame for what happened to you but yourself Meghan. Zoey and I did nothing to you!"
"You got me sent away…"
"You got YOURSELF sent away!" Nate yelled back, flipping nimbly away from her latest swing. "That stunt you pulled in the lab could have killed Ben and Betty, don't you get that?"
Meghan didn't seem to take too kindly to that assertion. She rushed him wildly, at which Nate managed to duck aside, hitting a telling blow across her hip.
"Good, my plan is working." He thought to himself. "Now I just have to hope I live long enough to finish her!"
Up on the roof of the building, Vargoyle was working frantically on the Memory Pulsator. He was following Scrozzle's instructions on the communicator, trying to get it up and running, ready to activate.
"Alright, now you want to link the interface to the main controls." Scrozzle told him, pressing a button on his wrist. Vargoyle saw the lights turning on and heard a humming coming from the device.
"Finally!" He complained. "Now we just need to…"
"You can't teleport from there; you need to get further from the tower." Scrozzle told him.
"What?" Vargoyle demanded.
"The residual radiation from the jump would affect the delicate receivers." Scrozzle informed him. "You need to be at least on the third floor or lower."
"You're telling me this now?" Vargoyle snapped.
"Your upgrade is fully fuelled up with Morph-X, you should be more than capable of getting low enough." Scrozzle told him. "If that receiver is damaged, all this will be for nothing!"
"Fine." He grumbled, heading back for the building.
Down on the second floor, Devon and Blaze were locked in the middle of an intense struggle, battling back and forth through the offices. He'd sent Zoey away to find her mother, but a part of him still had an itch he needed to scratch when it came to Blaze. He knew that his ego wasn't the important factor, but it still irked him that Blaze was the one enemy he'd never been able to defeat in a straight one-on-one battle. It was worse than the time he took three months to finally beat Ornstein and Smough in Dark Souls.
"You're getting better Devon." Blaze complimented him as he blocked one of his sword strikes.
"Thanks, that's what I do." Devon told him. "Go away, grind and come back stronger!"
"Shame you're never going to be good enough!" Blaze responded, sweeping Devon's blade upwards, scoring a couple of hits to his chest. "You're always going to be one step…"
He was staggered and winded as Devon took the momentum from one of Blaze's hits, continuing with the spin and slashed across his ribs, dropping to his knees. Blaze looked down in surprise, before looking up at Devon. The Red Ranger just smiled.
"See what I mean?" He asked. "Learning all the time!"
"Cute." Blaze replied, but as he was about to resume, there was a light blinking on his morpher. He looked to it and then back to Devon. "Second thought…I'll let you go, feeling like you accomplished something today."
He pulled out his Morph-X key.
"Save yourself for the real boss of this level." He said, before disappearing. Devon was utterly confused, until his communicator bleeped.
"Devon, we're getting a strong energy signature coming down from the roof." Commander Shaw told him. "Roxy and Meghan have bugged out; the others are evacuating the building. You must buy them time!"
"Heard and understood Commander!" Devon called out, before running for the stairs.
Elsewhere in the offices, Muriel was still hiding when she heard some pounding from outside the door. She recoiled into the corner as it got louder, and the door started shaking. Eventually the door flew in, and a Tronic flew into the room, landing on the floor right by her. In her panic to get away, she sprinted for the opposite corner, dropping the memory card.
As the Tronic was about to get up, there was a blur, and the Yellow Ranger powered into the room, leaping forward with incredible force, before driving her sabre into the Tronic. She brought it down, again and again, utterly smashing the Tronic. Muriel could only watch on in awe, seeing her in action. People all over the city had seen the Rangers in battle. Some up close, others were fortunate enough to only see it in recordings, but as she watched, she could only think of one thing. Under that helmet was her daughter.
Another Tronic was coming in behind her, at which Zoey turned and threw the sabre, lodging it in the Tronic's head and pinning it to the wall. Zoey looked around, making sure the coast was clear, before seeing her mom. She breathed a sigh of relief having finally found her.
"You're safe now m…ma'am." Zoey said, quickly correcting herself. Muriel was still frozen to the spot. "I cleared out the rest of the floor, you should be safe."
Muriel just nodded. Her daughter, her beautiful, strong, wonderful daughter was standing before her, a literal super hero. She was simply in awe of her.
"Ma'am, are you alright?" Zoey asked her. Muriel just nodded.
"Yes…yes, of course, just a little…"
"It's alright, I'll keep you safe." Zoey assured her. As she helped her mom up, she saw the memory card on the floor. Muriel and her both looked to it, before looking at each other.
Zoey bent down, picking up the memory card. She could see the way her mom's eyes never left it for a moment. She knew exactly what was on it. They were the only ones there, no one else would know. If she wanted to end the danger to their identities, it would literally be as simple as snapping her fingers.
Muriel could see the long look the Yellow Ranger gave the memory card. She had to know what was on it, the station had been advertising the footage all day. Here and now, she knew that if Grid Battleforce wanted to see the footage destroyed, this would be the best opportunity. No one would question the card being damaged in a full-on attack at the studio, it was a memory card! Half the station had to be damaged by this point. It would be her word against the Yellow Ranger's…her own daughter's…if she told anyone that it had been destroyed on purpose.
Zoey struggled with her thoughts. The Commander had told them priority of life was the primary goal, but she knew that her mom would be safe no matter what happened. Looking into her eyes though, she could only see the woman that had brought her and two brothers up alone, when her own father had walked out days after her mom found out she was expecting her, deciding three children was just too much for him to handle. Her hopes, her dreams…she held them all in her hand. She found there was only one option choice she could make. She offered her the memory card.
"Here." She said. "I believe this is yours."
As Muriel took the memory card, Zoey knew that she had possibly made a huge mistake, one that would impact her and all of her friends, but she couldn't make any other choice.
"Thank you." Muriel replied, putting the memory card in her pocket.
Up on the fifth floor, Vargoyle came into a corridor, in his continued search for the way out.
"Fifth floor? Stupid offices! Everything looks the same! How does anyone find anything?" He complained.
"I'll tell you what you did find, a whole lot of trouble!" Devon stated, standing before him. Vargoyle remembered what Scrozzle had said, that he couldn't teleport out above the second floor or he could damage the Memory Pulsator. He just looked to the Red Ranger.
"I'd say it's you that found trouble." Vargoyle told him. "Are you forgetting about THIS?"
He activated his upgrade, rushing down the corridor at Devon with Cheetah Speed. Devon quickly activated his own powers to intercept him, their blades ringing out as they clashed.
Down at the ground floor, Zoey arrived with Muriel and a few of the other stragglers she'd found, to where Nate, Steel and Ravi were guiding them out of the building.
"I think that's everyone." Zoey told them. "You saw Roxy and Meghan off I see."
"No, that was the really weird part. They just kind of…left." Steel told her. "One minute they were putting up a good fight and then next thing they know, they're both teleporting out of here."
"What?" Zoey asked. "That doesn't make any sense."
"None of this does to be fair, there's nothing of value here at the station." Nate pointed out. "There's a Morph-X emergency generator in the basement, but that hasn't been touched."
"So, what were they here for?" Ravi asked.
"Maybe they wanted the footage?" Steel suggested.
"But Evox and his cronies already know who we are. The footage is worthless to them." Nate pointed out.
"Wait, where's Devon?" Ravi asked.
"We got split up, he was fighting Blaze!" Zoey told them. "Come on, we've got to find him!"
Meanwhile, Vargoyle and Devon were still locked in a deadly battle. Devon swiped for Vargoyle with his Cheetah Claws, while the robot struck back with deadly force, shattering concrete with mighty Gorilla Blows as he tried to crush the Red Ranger. He managed to catch him with a back-handed swipe, sending him tumbling down the hall. Devon struggled to breathe after the impact, shakily getting back to his feet.
"Worthless human, you all break so easily!" He stated, preparing for another attack. "Say goodbye Red Ranger!"
He tried to leap down the hall at him, but he found himself coming up short, VERY short. He tried to speed up, but it didn't work. He looked down to his upgrade, seeing that it was now sitting dark, inert. Devon just smiled.
"That's the problem with spending all your mana points early in the fight." Devon teased him. "It means you don't have anything left in the tank."
"I'll soon fix that." Vargoyle said, getting onto his communicator. "Scrozzle! Send me more Morph-X, now!"
"Right away!" Scrozzle told him as he scampered around his workshop, looking for a vial. As he was about to take it though, Blaze snatched it off him.
"I'll take that." Blaze stated.
"But…but…if we don't send that, Vargoyle could be destroyed!" Scrozzle screeched.
"Aw, wouldn't that be tragic?" Roxy responded sarcastically. He looked over as he heard some bleeping, seeing Meghan working on the computer.
"What are you doing? Get away from there!" He screamed, running over. "What…what did you do?"
"Oh, I just made a little tweak that'll stop the teleport function working for about half an hour." She informed him. "Don't worry though, it'll be working just fine when it comes back online."
"Oh, I get it." Vargoyle said as he finally realised what was happening. It had been a set-up all along. Blaze, Roxy and Meghan had only agreed to help Vargoyle to lead him into a false sense of security, to put him in the very centre of the Rangers' crosshairs. Blaze just smiled.
"And hey, pretty soon, you won't have to be scared of him, ever again." Blaze told him. "If we're lucky, he might even take a Ranger or two down with him."
"If not, no big loss." Roxy added with a shrug.
"REALLY? NOTHING?" Vargoyle's voice came over the communicator. Scrozzle just turned it off.
"So, how about we discuss the next stage of OUR plan?" Roxy asked.
Back at the battle, Vargoyle was pounding on his communicator when Devon finally struggled back to his feet. He confronted the evil robot, summoning up the last of his strength.
"It looks like you're on your own." Devon told him. "But my friends will be here soon enough!"
"Then I guess I just need to take you down before they get here!" Vargoyle replied. He started running down the hall towards Devon, who also started running. Vargoyle started firing blasts his way, which he batted out of the way, while summoning his Beast-X Blaster to appear in the air behind him. Surging forward with his Cheetah Speed, he swiped the weapons from Vargoyle's grasp, before kicking off him flipping down the hall.
Vargoyle could only watch as he flipped backwards, grabbing the Beast-X Blaster as it appeared, combining it with his sabre into the Beast-X cannon. Now, standing with no powers and no weapons, he had nothing to do but confront his fate with dignity.
As Devon opened fire, the blast ripped straight through him. Vargoyle looked down to the hole in his chest.
"I…don't…believe it." He stammered. "Destroyed by a lowly hum…"
With that, he pitched forward, exploding on the floor. The others arrived behind Devon, just as he fell to his knees.
"Devon, are you OK?" Ravi asked. Devon jerked his head in the direction of the wreckage breathlessly.
"Better than him." He answered. "Virus, eliminated."
Back at the Grid Battleforce base, some time later, the team were debriefing with Commander Shaw and General Burke. There was definitely a lot to unpack, a lot more than any of them could really figure out.
"So, why did Evox even attack the television studio?" Commander Shaw asked.
"I really wish I knew." Ravi answered honestly. "The only thing of any value to them was the Morph-X down in the basement but they never even went near there. Almost like they didn't even know it was there."
"Which means if they were after anything then it was in the studio itself." Steel pitched in.
"Still, we did manage to save a lot of people." Devon stated. "And we're down one major threat. Vargoyle will not be bothering anyone again!"
"I'll say, you really took it to him!" Ravi complimented him. "I'm sure Mike would be proud."
"What of the footage? Do any of you know if it's still there?" General Burke asked. Zoey went incredibly quiet. She knew all too well she had the perfect opportunity to end that threat, but she just couldn't do it to her mom.
"To be honest, we were a little busy." Devon answered honestly.
"Well, I guess you get to see the scoop at the same time as the rest of the city." Joanne sighed, turning on the news. "Enjoy your anonymity while it lasts."
"I guess we'll be spending a lot more time indoors." Devon commented. "Maybe I'll finally meet that cat of yours."
"Cat?" Joanne asked. "I don't own a…"
"Shh." Ravi silenced her as he pointed to the screen.
Over at the hastily-repaired studio, Muriel was preparing for the bulletin. She'd been railroaded into the studio, as they were desperate to get the evening news ratings. By now, the whole city had heard of the attack, and not only wanted to know what happened.
The other anchors did an incredible job to present the news, ensuring people knew their dedication to delivering the news, no matter what happened. Muriel though was still thinking, turning over in her head again and again what she had. Her daughter had given her the memory card, and with it, the choice what to do with the story.
Her daughter had saved everyone in the studio, and so many throughout the city so many times. Many of the people that she saw and worked with every day would go home to their families because of her.
"Muriel, you're on in three…two…one." She was told, before the camera turned on. Now, she was just staring blankly at the camera. Normally she was very clear on what she wanted to say, but now her script had gone right out of her head. She looked to Eddie, who gestured to her to get going.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, as you know, earlier today we announced that we have exclusive footage of the Rangers, which shows them morphing. With that, we answer the one question that has been on everyone's mind for months…who are the Rangers?"
She gulped as she prepared to say the next part.
"I'll tell you who the Rangers are…they are heroes." She announced. "This very day, my life and the lives of people I have worked with proudly for many years were saved by the Rangers. Without bias, without thought for their own safety, and without even thought to protecting their own interests they leapt into action. They had every opportunity to leave us to our fate, and in the process ensure the safety of their secret, and yet still they did what was right."
She pulled the memory card out of the computer on her desk, holding it in her hands.
"I have been a journalist now for almost thirty years." She stated. "What I hold in my hands is what any journalist dreams of. The kind of story that comes along once in a career, that makes a career."
She stared at it, and could think of only one thing. Her daughter, her little girl, the light that had helped her life through so many difficult times needed her. She knew what it would cost her, but there was only one choice to make.
"But sometimes…it is not our place to tell that story." She said, snapping the memory card.
"What is she doing?" The editor screamed, seeing the broadcast.
"I know who the Rangers are…they are people that sacrifice everything for us…and perhaps they deserve that one secret." She stated. "This story may be told, but it will not be today, and not by me. This is Muriel Reeves, Channel 10 News…signing off."
At Grid Battleforce Headquarters, they were all watching. Zoey just stared at the screen.
"Mom…" She breathed.
"The Reeves family never ceases to amaze me." General Burke replied.
"I can't believe she did that." Ravi stated. "She had everything she ever wanted…"
"And she threw it all away for us." Zoey concluded.
Meanwhile, at the studio, Muriel was packing up after her broadcast. The editor came across, his face burning bright red as he approached her.
"What the HELL did you just do?" He demanded.
"I did what was right!" She told him.
"You threw away the story of the century on live television!" He told her. "You BETTER have a back-up of that footage!"
"I'm afraid not." Muriel said defiantly. The editor just looked to her and shook his head in disbelief.
"I hope you realise you just flushed your entire career down the toilet." He stated. "Security! Escort her from the building. You'll never work in this town again."
Muriel just gulped and held her head up as security came to escort her. She knew exactly what she was giving up, everything she'd ever worked for, and all for her daughter. As she was led from the building, a warm tear rolled down her face.
