Zoey, Nate and Ravi arrived at a distribution centre, where some workers were draining the last of their Morph-X reserves into a tanker. The foreman was overseeing his workers as they prepared to shut down. There were already guards there, having been there to check on previous loads, but now they were nearing the end of their long task.
It was no small job draining the city of every last drop of Morph-X. Since the launch of the towers, almost everything in Coral Harbour now ran on Morph-X. The majority of the gas stations had converted to Morph-X months ago with only a few holdouts to cater to the ever-diminishing customer base of those who still saw Morph-X as a fad that was going to fail. Needless to say, the announcement that they had to shut down operations didn't do much to inspire confidence.
"Alright, let's get this moving! No need to draw this out longer than we have to!" The manager yelled, before turning to see the Rangers approaching him.
"Sir, we're just here to check on…"
"I know what you're here for, it's a major pain in my ass!" He complained loudly. "This station's been in my family for years! I converted to your new miracle fuel in good faith, now you're shutting me down?"
"It's only a temporary measure, sir." Nate tried to reassure him. "Once the threat has passed, we'll refill everyone's stock free of charge."
"Yeah, and how long's that going to take?" The manager grumbled. "I have a family. My guys all have families! We need this place open if we're going to provide for them!"
"Sir, please try to understand, we're not taking this step lightly." Zoey tried to assure him. "Grid Battleforce is willing to compensate…"
"Yeah, a PERCENTAGE of the wages!" He snorted. "Maybe I was too quick to switch from gas."
As he stormed away, Zoey sucked her teeth.
"Well, he seems about as happy as everyone else we've talked to today." Ravi stated.
"Can you blame them? They're just trying to look out for the people they're responsible for." Zoey reminded him. "I just hope that once this is over people still have faith in Morph-X."
"Well, if all goes well…"
There was a bleep on his communicator. Nate looked to it and smiled.
"Guys, it's show time." He told them. "You know the plan."
Meanwhile, a little way off, Blaze and Roxy were watching the workers preparing the truck. Seeing the Rangers, Roxy just rolled her eyes.
"Of course, they're here." She grumbled.
"Hey, what fun would it be if it was too easy?" Blaze asked her. "Come on. Let's…"
"Whoa, wait a minute!" Roxy tried to caution him. Blaze gave her a withering look in response. "Something doesn't feel right about this."
"Roxy, you're over-thinking it." Blaze told her. "We were too late for the other distribution centres; this is the last supply outside of Tower 5. If we don't hit this truck before it gets there, we have to hit Tower 5 before they drain it."
"I don't know…"
"Roxy, if we wait until they get that truck back to Tower 5, we'll be on the clock until they drain the last of the Morph-X back to the Morphin' Grid." He reminded her. "And if Tower 5 is the last site, you just know they're going to have everything in their arsenal waiting for us there! It'll be much harder than getting this truck."
"Yeah…it will." Roxy said thoughtfully. Before she could say anything else though, Blaze had made his move, leaping down off the building. Roxy just rolled her eyes before joining him.
They landed a little way from Nate, Ravi and Zoey, who were about to get into the truck to take it back to the tower. Blaze just smirked.
"Well, well, how considerate of you to get us a present." He taunted them. "You even gift-wrapped it too! To think, we didn't get you anything!"
"Sorry, Blaze. This is a private party." Nate told him. "Invite only."
"Oh, but crashing is so much fun." Blaze announced. "TRONICS!"
As a small army of Tronics appeared, Blaze and Roxy morphed, before rushing to the attack.
"Looks like we're going to have to play bouncer." Ravi answered. "It's Morphin' Time!"
Back at Grid Battleforce Headquarters, Devon was in his quarters, keeping an eye on the door. He checked his communicator, knowing that it could go off any minute. He had sent his team on without him, knowing there was a good chance that Evox would attack. They'd set up the plan to try and draw out his forces. However, it was the last part of the plan he was trying to avoid.
He understood Nate's plan to freeze Evox. It would effectively end one of the greatest threats to the planet currently at large. But as long as his dad remained inside him, sharing a body with Evox, he couldn't let them go through with it. They all took risks for the sake of the planet, but they had all agreed to that. His dad though was another matter altogether. A part of him dreaded the fact that if this long-shot didn't work then they would be left with no alternative but to go through with it. He didn't even want to think if he would be able to stand by and let them freeze his father, potentially for good. If push came to shove, would he have to try and stop them?
The hair on the back of his neck stood up, and he felt a distinctive electricity in the air. A shimmering portal started to open, and before long, a blonde woman with glasses stepped through, carrying a heavy briefcase, which she quickly set down on the floor. Devon smiled as he saw her steadying herself against a wall.
"Dr Morgan I presume?" He asked, offering her a handshake. Kendall just held up a hand.
"Yes, that's me." She told him. "Excuse me a minute, it's my first interdimensional trip. I've been warned they could be rough but…excuse me."
She found her way to a chair, taking a seat and held her head in her hands for a moment.
"You need me to get a medic or…?"
"No, just need to let my faculties catch up." Kendall assured him. "OK, Dr K contacted me and told me about your problem."
"She told me you had a problem with someone on your team that was similar." Devon answered. "She said you used something called Split Emitters."
"The first Dino Charge Silver Ranger, Zenowing was attacked millions of years ago. He was captured, and the power of the Dark Energem was used to create an evil being inside him called Doomwing. It was all part of a plan to use his powers and his technology for evil."
"So, you created these split emitters and split them apart, right?" Devon asked her.
"After a fashion, we did." Kendall told him.
"Good, then we need to set these up…"
"Devon, you don't know the full story." Kendall told him. "There was a problem when we separated them."
"I don't…"
"There's…there's a reason I referred to him as the first Silver Ranger." She told him regretfully. "I thought I had calculated everything correctly. I thought I had figured out everything, but there was one unforeseen problem with the process. When we separated Zenowing and Doomwing, the separation wasn't complete."
"I don't understand." Devon responded. "Are you saying Dad could like…lose an arm or something?"
"Not exactly." Kendall told him. "Even though they gained separate bodies, they were still linked. It turned out whatever happened to one of them happened to both of them. If we attacked Doomwing, Zenowing would also be harmed."
Devon started to see the problem now. He took a seat as he tried to process it all.
"In the end, Zenowing sacrificed himself to destroy Doomwing." She informed him. "My husband, Matt, took up the mantle after he died."
She took his hand, looking to him seriously.
"Devon, it's plagued my mind ever since. It's one of the biggest mistakes I ever made, and it cost a Ranger their life." She told him. "I have spent years trying to figure out if there was some way, I could refine the process, make the split complete. I think I'm close, but I'm still…"
"Thanks for being honest with me." Devon sighed. "But if there's even a chance to get my dad back, no matter how small, we have to take it."
"I just wanted to be honest with you, to prepare you for the fact you might have to make a choice." Kendall told him. Devon just looked to the case.
"Those are the Split Emitters?" He asked. She just nodded. "Well, we've not got a moment to lose."
He took the case and grabbed Kendall, dragging her with him towards the lab.
"Devon, what's going on?" She asked him. "Devon, where are you…?"
She looked around in awe as he finally brought her to the lab. Inside, Meghan was working on something. She just stared at him in confusion, but he brought Kendall in.
"Kendall, this is Meghan. If anyone can help you figure out these Split Emitters in time, she can." Devon told her. "Meghan, this is…"
"Kendall Morgan, the Dino Charge Purple Ranger!" Meghan stated, looking to her. "Devon, what are you…?"
He put the case on the table and opened it up.
"Meghan, you and Kendall need to get these things working." Devon told her. "They just might be the only chance my dad has!"
At the distribution centre, Zoey, Ravi and Nate were fighting with Evox's forces. Zoey and Ravi just looked to each other.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Zoey asked him.
"You know it!" Ravi agreed. "Beast-X Mode, activate!"
They both powered up into Beast-X mode, knowing it was one of the few ways they could match Robo-Blaze and Roxy in terms of power. However, by the time they had powered up, one of the Tronics had broken into the tanker. As the engine fired up, Blaze and Roxy broke off.
"Sorry, would love to stay and play longer, but we really need to make a delivery." Blaze told them as they climbed in. "Tronics! Hold them off!"
Blaze shoved the Tronic out of the driver's seat and put his foot to the floor. They started to speed up, pulling the truck away.
"Ha! Did you see that?" Blaze asked. "Caught them flat-footed! They're…"
"They're not chasing us." Roxy commented. "They're fighting the Tronics."
"Yeah, that's what a diversion is for." Blaze said sarcastically. Roxy was about to answer, but before she could, she saw something up ahead.
"BLAZE!" She called out. They both looked ahead, seeing Steel appearing from cover. He powered up his blaster, taking careful aim. Blaze and Roxy looked to each other, realising they were effectively sitting inside a bomb. They both threw themselves out the tanker as he opened fire, destroying it in a massive fireball.
"Ha! So much for their robbery!" Steel said, putting his blaster away as the others finished off the last of the Tronics. They all approached him.
"Steel, did you have to destroy a perfectly good tanker?" Nate asked.
"I stopped them, didn't I?" Steel asked. "Now the only Morph-X left is in Tower 5. We can tell the Commander that they're no longer expecting the truck and they can start draining…"
Just then, their communicators bleeped.
"Mom, it's us." Ravi answered. "There was an issue with the tanker. We had to destroy it to stop it falling into evil hands."
"We're having problems here, too." Commander Shaw answered. "There's a problem with the tower. We can't drain the Morph-X."
"You can't drain it?" Nate asked.
"No, there appears to be a fault." Commander Shaw confirmed. "We'll need all available units at the tower until further notice!"
"On our way, Commander!" Zoey stated as they cut off the link. She looked around, before pulling in closer. "You think they bought it?"
"One way to find out." Ravi replied. "Come on, we need to set up stage 2."
As they all left, Blaze and Roxy were dusting themselves off, grateful to have gotten clear before the tanker was destroyed. Blaze just watched as their truck pulled away.
"This isn't good." Blaze stated. "Master Evox isn't going to be happy. Without that truck, we have to go after the tower!"
"Yeah, that's…" Roxy started to say, before pondering something. "Blaze, something doesn't feel right…"
"Roxy, you heard them, they can't drain the tower!" Blaze reminded her. "That means we have all the time we need to regroup back in the Crystal Dimension and get all the forces we need to take the tower by force! It looks like our luck is finally starting to change!"
As he teleported away, Roxy thought about what he had said.
"Yeah, that is…lucky." She commented, before teleporting out.
Back in the lab at Grid Battleforce Headquarters, Devon was on his communicator, being updated by Nate after the battle. He was watching as Kendall and Meghan worked on the Split Emitters. They were working quickly, while talking rapidly back and forth. Devon didn't claim to understand a thing they were saying or doing, but it looked very much like they were making some kind of progress.
"So, you think they fell for it?" Devon asked. He hated to leave his friends to work through the plan by themselves, but he needed to see if there was an alternative. The whole scene at the distribution centre had been a set-up, designed to not only draw out Evox's goons, but also to feed them the information they wanted them to have.
"It doesn't matter if they do or not. Now Tower 5 is the only place in the city with even a drop of Morph-X in it." Nate reminded him. "If Evox wants it, he needs to come to us."
"And we're ready with everything we've got." Ravi added. "Evox has been without his fix for quite a while. Pretty soon he's not going to have many options."
"How are things looking there?" Zoey asked him. Devon looked to Kendall and Meghan.
"I brought in some help." Devon told them. "I think we're making some progress."
"Alright, well, we'll hold the tower as long as we can." Zoey told him, looking a little uneasy.
"Yeah, I know." Devon replied sadly. "Hold off everything Evox throws at you as long as you can."
"We will." Ravi assured him. "But if Evox shows up, we might have to…"
"I know." Devon interrupted him. "Hold out as long as you can, but if Evox is going to get that tower, do whatever you need to do."