Chapter 27: The Evox Snare

"Status report," Commander Shaw's voice was low as she took a seat in her chair. Standing to the side, Ryne was fighting the impulse to look at Devon, who looked as if he was going to be sick.

"Citywide communication is open," the woman who ran the communication and surveillance teams announced as she activated the systems. Commander Shaw cleared her throat.

"Fellow citizens of Coral Harbour. I'm Commander Shaw of Grid Battleforce. As you know, Evox has been trying to take control of the Morph-X Tower network," Commander Shaw began, her voice transmitting all across the city. "We have reason to believe that he may have compromised the network's computer system," her words made Devon's fingertips dig into his arms. "This puts the entire world in jeopardy. Therefore, effective immediately, the towers will be shut down, and the Morph-X will be returned to the Morphin' Grid, where Evox cannot reach it."

The rest of the Command Centre was completely silent as Commander Shaw spoke, as they hardly dared to breathe. They knew the real reason for the towers being shut down. Commander Shaw continued to speak, giving the speech she'd come up with just before. "The old power system will be turned on temporarily. Thank you," she said quietly.

"Communication ended," at that, everyone let out the breath they had been holding, but the tense atmosphere didn't fade. Commander Shaw got to her feet, walking over to Devon, Ravi and Ryne.

"Commander, how can we know Evox didn't put some kind of malware into the system?" Devon asked. There were dark lines around his eyes; proof that he hadn't gotten any sleep since discovering that Evox had possessed his father and was now effectively holding him hostage.

"We're searching for traces of the Evox virus now," Commander Shaw said, her voice gentle as she spoke to the Red Ranger. She could see how affected he was by the discovery. "In the meantime, start draining the towers, one at a time," she ordered.

"Yes ma'am," the woman nodded. "Beginning Tower One shutdown," she announced as she got to work.

"Hey," they looked up as Lewis walked in. "Nate wants to see you. He's got a plan," he told them. Ravi and Ryne looked at Devon, who looked determined.

"Let's go," he said, following Lewis back out.


The Rangers, along with Commander Shaw and Lewis, met Nate and Asher in Lewis' training room. Asher was holding a long box, which looked hefty in her arms.

"For months, Evox has been using the Mayor's body to appear to be human," Nate started. As Devon took a shaky breath, Nate continued. "But we know that human DNA corrupts his virus," he gave a pointed look at Steel, who was able to fend of Evox' virus because of the human DNA he'd gotten from Nate. "By my calculation, such a lengthy exposure has made him very dependent on Morph-X to survive," Nate explained.

"When he realises that the city's supplies are going away, he'll get desperate," Zoey smiled as she continued on the theory that the two had discussed the night before.

"That does explain the Mayor's weird attitude yesterday, and why the robo-clones kept showing up. They were trying to get him Morph-X," Ryne realised. The two nodded.

"We think that he'll show up in person," Zoey told them.

"And that's when we can use this. I built it when Nate had the idea," Asher held up the box in her hands. "It's a Hyperfreeze arrow," she opened the box as the Rangers all peered closely.

"It's a tricky shot," Nate warned as he lifted the arrow from the case. It was clear, with blue tinges to the tip and end. "But I've made a new weapon formation; the Beast-X Ultra Cannon," he led them over to the bow he'd designed only a few weeks ago. It had been upgraded, now looking more powerful than ever. "It's perfect to shoot the arrow at Evox," he explained.

"The Ultra Blaster and the Beast-X Ultra Bow combined?" Ryne leaned closer, her eyes lit up as she studied it intently. "Will it really work?" she asked, looking back up. Asher smirked.

"Try for yourself," she lifted the new weapon, and dropped it into Ryne's arms. It was heavy, but nothing the Pink Ranger couldn't handle.

"Please, just don't destroy my training room again," Lewis pleaded, warily eyeing up the weapon that looked massive in the arms of the small girl.

"Again? That was Ravi and Nate the last time," Ryne sounded offended as she drew back the bowstring and took aim. Lewis glared at Ravi and Nate, who both had the decency to look sheepish. Their instructor had never quite forgiven them for destroying the majority of the training rooms with an untested weapon.

With a grin, Ryne released the string. The arrow shot out at a speed they couldn't register, and slammed into one of the training dummies that Lewis kept out for target practice. On contact, the arrow exploded outwards, encasing the target in ice.

"Not bad, huh?" Asher grinned proudly as they all gasped at the sight. "It's not just regular ice; it may have an enchantment or two that keeps the ice harder than steel," she announced.

"Harder than me?" Steel glanced at her. Asher sighed. "I doubt it, I'm pretty tough," he bragged as he walked over and rapped on the ice. "But it does seem pretty tough too," he allowed with a nod.

"Nice work, guys," Ravi smiled, amazed by the work. "You really chose well with your new assistant," he said to Nate, who nodded. Asher blushed.

"It's not what I originally signed up for, but I like it," she admitted, and Ravi grinned at her.

"So after we freeze Evox…how do we separate him and my dad?" Devon asked, speaking up for the first time since he'd gotten there. Nate's smile faded and he looked down.

"I uh…" the Gold Ranger started quietly. "Haven't figured that part out yet," he admitted. Devon sighed, disheartened. Ryne hummed, chewing on her thumbnail.

"Devon, right now our first concern is to stop Evox," Commander Shaw reminded the Red Ranger. "After we've done that, he'll remain frozen until Nate can find a safe way to save your dad," she told him carefully.

"And how long will it take to find a safe way to save my dad?" Devon snapped back at her.

"I don't know," Nate confessed. While his primary goal had been to come up with a way to capture Evox, he had been thinking about ways to save Mayor Daniels, but hadn't come up with anything. "It's difficult to do. It could take a long time," he said honestly.

"My dad could be frozen, forever?" Devon's anger grew.

"I didn't say forever," Nate defended quickly, unsure of what to say to calm him down.

"You might as well have! That's not gonna happen!" Devon shouted at him, his anger growing as he towered over Nate.

"Hey!" Ryne was in between him and Nate in a beat. Despite her shorter height, she seemed to get in Devon's face. "Nate's been working from the moment we found out about your dad. He's been working to help him. You don't get to treat him that way," she warned him. Devon fell quiet, staring at her in shock. "We are all trying to think of a way to help your dad. We get you're scared. I would be just as worried if it was…" Ryne stopped her tirade suddenly, her dark eyes going wide. "If it was my dad," she breathed. "Lewis!" she turned to the young man, who was smirking as he watched Ryne standing up to Devon.

"You got an idea?" he asked, seeing her expression.

"I've got an idea. Ashe, I need you too," Asher tilted her head, wondering.

"What's your idea?" Devon asked, calming down as he started to find hope once more. Ryne glanced at him.

"I'll share when I know if it'll work," she told him, and with that she ran out of the room.


"So this is the infamous vault," Asher murmured as she stepped through the huge, heavy steel door and into a large room. There were shelves through the room, with tables to the sides, all covered in various technology and files.

"Yup, the Ranger Vault," Ryne nodded.

"Whoa…" they glanced around as Ben and Betty peered inside. "What are you doing in here?" Betty asked, her eyes lit up at all the technology that was scattered around.

"Look at all this old Ranger stuff!" Ben exclaimed as he stepped inside. "Whoa! That's a Thundermax Blaster! How did it get in here?" he reached out to touch it, only for Lewis to slap his hand away.

"No touching. Half this stuff is still dangerous," he warned. "As for how it got in here, well, when Grid Battleforce launched, a lot of old Ranger teams came forwards with their old tech, wanting it kept safe. This way, they don't have to worry about it falling into the wrong hands," Lewis explained as he leaned in to study the four pairs of sunglasses that were propped up together.

"SPD did house a lot of it, but since Grid Battleforce is designed for Earth, rather than being an intergalactic institution, they decided to move everything here. It also lets Nate use them to help develop our own arsenal," Ryne added as she pushed aside a box containing a blue fin-shaped weapon. She lifted up a hefty looking hammer that had seen a lot of action. "I think this was my mum's. I think she said that it was originally a sword, but then it changed to a hammer mid-fight and just never changed back," she considered, before setting it back down.

"What's this?" Betty lifted a small black box and opened it. She gasped as she saw the golden Morpher inside.

"That's grandma's Master Morpher," Asher realised as she looked down at it. As they stared at it, it seemed to change forms, swapping to a Mystic Morpher, to a Solar Morpher, and then to the Dino Thunder Morpher. "I wondered where she was keeping it," she commented as Betty carefully set it down.

"So, what are we looking for?" Lewis asked as he resisted poking the Power Coins that seemed to sparkle even in the artificial light.

"They're these pyramid-like devices," Ryne gestured the shape with her hands. "Called Split-Emitters," she explained, and Lewis barked out a laugh.

"Of course! How did we not think about them sooner?" he grinned, and Ben and Betty turned to the pair curiously.

"Split-Emitters?" Betty repeated, not understanding.

"My mum made them," Asher said slowly as she tried to remember through all the stories. "When Lewis' dad…" she glanced at the lanky young man. Lewis cleared his throat.

"When my dad shared a body with a monster called Kerberos, who was created when Lord Arcanon made my dad touch the Dark Energem, Kendall built the Split-Emitters to separate them," he explained.

"They were then stolen, and used on my dad, separating him from his other half, Snide," Ryne continued as she looked around. Her eyebrows rose when she looked up at the pink Power Bow that was on display, before she quickly moved on. "They thought they had to be destroyed after that, but somehow they managed to survive when Sledge's ship crashed back down to Earth during the final battle," she told them. Betty looked excited, wanting to ask more about it all, but Ben nudged her and shook his head, encouraging her to continue looking.

"I think there was a little bit of magic used when making them," Asher considered. She shoved aside a box containing pieces of the Cybergate that Scrozzle had made. That one she recognised, and it made her sick to look at it. "With grandma involved, it wouldn't surprise me," she added, and Ryne nodded.

"Miko Watanabe helped, didn't she?" Lewis remembered.

"Miko…you mean the woman who helped create Grid Battleforce?" Betty gasped as she recognised the name. "Cameron and Melody Watanabe's daughter?" she demanded, knowing all about the family of technical prodigies.

"Cam was the Green Ninja Storm Ranger," Ryne said simply, and Betty gaped at her. "He's also a Samurai. So's Miko. Melody's the headmaster of the Flame Ninja Academy," she continued.

"Ryne, if you don't stop, I think Betty's head might explode," Lewis chuckled as he saw Betty's reaction. Ryne grinned.

"So I shouldn't mention that Cam is my dad's godfather?" Asher couldn't help but add.

"What?!" Betty shrieked.

"I think I found them!" Ben spared his sister more teasing as he found two small crates with writing scrawled across the sides. Ryne hurried over and peered closely.

"Oh yeah, that's my dad's handwriting alright," she shook her head at the messy writing. Her wristcom then beeped loudly as she made to lift one of the boxes, and Ryne backed away.

"Go ahead," she answered.

'The decoy truck to lure Evox into the open is moving out,' Commander Shaw informed her, and Ryne glanced at the Split Emitters as Lewis lifted one. 'We need you out in the field. Can your project wait?' the Commander asked.

"Go. We can handle this," Asher told Ryne when she saw her hesitate.

"I'm on my way," she answered.

"Trust us. We'll get the Split Emitters working," Lewis ruffled Ryne's hair, and she swatted him away.

"Just do what Asher tells you," she told him, and Asher hid her giggle as Ryne hurried out of the vault. Lewis glanced back at the young woman, looking unimpressed.

"I guess you're the assistant today," she told him, making Ben and Betty laugh.


As the Grid Battleforce truck drove through town, it was forced to come to a stop as a bright yellow Robotron blocked the path. The two guards leapt out, running off with the civilians who had been nearby.

"Aw, I didn't even get to smash anything!" Bulldozertron whined, looking disappointed that they had given up so easily.

"Hold it!" he whirled around as Devon's shout echoed. The Robotron scoffed as the Rangers leapt over the wall nearby.

"You twerps are no match for Bulldozertron!" he declared, arrogant as they approached him slowly.

"Twerps? What year did this dude come from?" Ryne wondered. "And don't say it," she warned, seeing Ravi open his mouth. He grinned, but didn't speak.

"Bulldozer, eh?" Devon called back as he took another few steps forwards. "We're about to bury you! It's Morphin' Time!" he shouted.

"ACTIVATE BEAST POWER!" the team Morphed, calling on their weapons.

"That won't stop me!" Bulldozertron ran in to attack them.

"Beast-X Cannon, ready!" as Devon, Ravi, Ryne and Zoey combined their sabres and blasters to make their Beast-X Cannons, Nate and Steel aimed their own blasters. "Beast Blast!" they shouted together, firing. The combined attacks slammed into the Robotron, tossing him off his feet.

"Get him!" Ravi shouted, and the Rangers charged forwards. Bulldozertron leapt back to his feet, growling angrily.

"You're gonna regret messing with me!" he warned, swinging the hefty metal of his arms. Their weapons bounced off the red and silver metal, unable to cut through his thick armour, and Bulldozertron knocked them aside.

"Oh no," Ryne breathed as she managed to catch herself, only to spot Blaze, Asher and Roxy appear nearby with a group of Tronics.

"Nate, Steel!" Ryne called over her shoulder. "The Robo-Clones are here," she warned.

"I see 'em!" Steel nodded, and the two followed her over to them. "That Morph-X isn't going anywhere!" Steel warned as they caught up to their enemies.

"I think you'll find that it is," Asher growled back, in no mood to deal with the Rangers after their last defeat was only so recent. She glanced at Blaze and Roxy on either side of her, and they lifted their black keys. In a flash, they'd called on their Purple, Jade and Amber armour.

"Try and stop us," Blaze challenged.

"We always do!" Ryne declared. The fighting broke out, as Nate fought off Roxy and Steel focused on Blaze, while both pulled the Tronics away from the truck. Ryne focused on Asher, dodging each of the balls of energy that were thrown her way.

"You barely survived against us last time, runt," Asher kicked Ryne backwards, and the Pink Ranger flipped to the side to dodge the followup attack. "You got lucky then. Not this time," she warned as Ryne rolled her eyes, tired of Asher's constant arrogant comments. She quickly grabbed the orange visor from her belt.

"Beast-X Visor, linked!" she connected it to her Morpher, and it flashed green as the Morph-X powered it up. "Activate Beast-X Mode!" Ryne shouted, letting the thicker armour surround her. "Beast-X Mode, ready!" she called.

"That won't be enough!" Asher threw up a shield to defend herself from Ryne's far more powerful punch, only to cry out when the shimmering light cracked and shattered from the punch.

"Wanna bet?" Ryne challenged, but before she could follow up with another attack, she was hit from the side by something large and heavy. She cried out, falling to the ground with Steel on top of her, and Nate landed beside them.

"Should have minded your own business," Roxy taunted with a cackle.

"Let's go, Asher," Blaze barked over to the Jade robot. She didn't respond at first, glaring at Ryne as she pushed herself back to her feet. "We have more important things to deal with," he reminded.

"Next time, runt," Asher warned, running off to grab onto the side of the truck.

"No! We can't let them take the Morph-X!" Nate shouted as he tried to push himself up. Unlike Ryne, they hadn't been as protected, and had taken heavy hits from Blaze and Roxy.

"Guys, are you okay?" Ravi called as he ran over, wearing his Beast-X armour as well.

"We're fine," Nate insisted as Ravi pulled him to his feet, and Ryne helped Steel back up. "But they're getting away!" he pointed to the truck as it moved further and further away.

"Better luck next time, Rangers!" Roxy taunted.

"Ravi?" Ryne looked up at the Blue Ranger, who nodded. "Perfect," shaking out her hands, Ryne let the energy flow down her arms and out her hands. The power slammed into the truck, causing it to explode in a low rumble. "Whoops…too much power," Ryne muttered, looking down at her hands.

"The tanker!" Nate groaned.

"Did you really have to blow up a perfectly good truck?" Devon asked as he ran over with Zoey.

"It was an accident!" Ryne defended, going red.

"It was necessary to take them out!" Steel spoke up, patting Ryne's shoulder. They looked around as another car pulled up. A man jumped out, opening the door for Commander Shaw.

"Commander?" Devon turned to the woman as she strode towards them. It was unusual to see the woman come out to the field to reach them.

"Blaze, Asher and Roxy are eliminated," Ryne told the woman, who managed a small smile and a nod.

"Good work, Rangers," she praised. "But I have bad news," they frowned at her words. "Tower Five had a system failure. We cannot drain it," Commander Shaw warned them, and they gasped in horror.

"Then we've got to protect it!" Nate exclaimed, ready to hurry over to the other tower.

"That'll draw too much attention," Commander Shaw shook her head. "We'll leave it totally unguarded. Evox will think it's empty, just like all the others," she explained when they were stunned at her words.

"If we were to leave even a few guards outside, Evox might get curious. Commander Shaw is right," Ryne agreed with the woman. "Leaving it unguarded will make it seem like nothing happened," Commander Shaw nodded.

"He'll never suspect it's actually full of Morph-X!" Steel exclaimed.

"Correct, I need each of you to be on standby for the next attack. Any little trace of Morph-X left around the city is vulnerable," as Commander Shaw continued to talk, Ryne smirked. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Scrozzle vanish in a flash of purple.

"There goes Scrozzle, ready to tell Evox the good news," she warned, having noticed the robot lurking by the truck nearby.

"You've got to tell me how you can sense this stuff," Ravi told her. Ryne shrugged.

"Train at a Ninja Academy for a year. Makes it real hard for anyone to spy on you," she grinned. The Blue Ranger huffed at the response. "With Scrozzle telling Evox about Tower Five, he's bound to make an appearance," she said.

"And he'll get a huge surprise," Zoey grinned. They turned back to Commander Shaw when her wristcom beeped.

"Go ahead," Commander Shaw answered.

'We've detected an incoming Gigadrone. It's headed for Tower Number Five,' the warning made them all grin. Evox had fallen for their trap.

"Right on time. Deploy the Rangers' Zords," Commander Shaw instructed.

'Wait!" they were surprised when Lewis' voice came through on the channel as well. 'We need Ryne back here,' he requested. Ryne bit her lip.

"Can you both of you handle the Gigadrone?" she asked, making Devon frown when she addressed Ravi and Zoey, and not him.

"Of course," Ravi nodded.

"We can handle it," Zoey sounded confident.

"Commander. Devon and I need to get back to base. It's urgent," Ryne told the Commander, looking up at the woman. Commander Shaw looked confused, but nodded anyway.

"Okay. Devon, Ryne, back to base," she told the two, before turning to Ravi. "Use Nate's new Zord combination. Wipe out that Gigadrone fast," she ordered.

"Understood," Ravi agreed.

"Nate, come back to base," Commander Shaw then turned to the Gold Ranger. "Complete the second Hyperfreeze Arrow to use on Evox when he attacks Tower Five," she ordered.

"Roger that," Nate agreed, and the team split up. As Nate, Ryne and Devon returned to the base, the other three called on the Beast-X King Zord to fight off the approaching Gigadrone.


Devon, to his credit, had managed to stop himself from pestering Ryne as they drove back to base. Partly due to his embarrassment over losing his temper at Nate and being shouted at by the docile Pink Ranger, and partly because he was scared that whatever she had planned, wasn't going to work out.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" Ryne called as the doors to the lab slid open, and Devon and Nate both looked surprised to see Asher working on four devices, with Lewis holding out a screwdriver to her.

"It's not what it looks like!" Lewis protested, looking horrified to be caught helping Asher.

"What are you guys doing?" Nate asked, not understanding what they were doing.

"The circuitry was fried," Asher said as Ryne approached. "But I've managed to replace most of it. It just needs some more work," she told the Pink Ranger, who then turned to the other two Rangers.

"They're called Split Emitters," she told Nate and Devon.

"Split Emitters?" Devon repeated, confused. Ryne glanced at Lewis for a moment.

"When Lewis' dad became the Silver Dino Charge Ranger, for a while he was trapped sharing a body with the monster Kerberos. Same with my dad and Snide," Ryne started. "Aunt Kendall, Asher's mum, she built the Split Emitters to free Jeremy from Kerberos, and they were later used on my dad as well," Devon's eyes were wide at the explanation as he barely dared to breathe as Ryne met his gaze. "I think they can be used to split your dad from Evox as well," she told him gently.

"They can save my dad?" Devon's voice was barely above a whisper.

"I don't know for sure, yet," Ryne warned, raising her hands. "First we have to fix them. Ashe, Nate'll need your help with the Hyperfreeze Arrow. I can take over here," she told her cousin, who nodded.

"Sure thing," she agreed, going over to the side to start collecting bits and pieces that she'd used on the first arrow.

"Let's get to work," Nate nodded. Ryne took the screwdriver from Lewis, who sighed.

"What have I become?" he muttered under his breath.


"This Hyperfreeze Arrow is ready to go," Nate announced a short time later, placing it into the case. Ravi, Zoey and Steel had returned, having easily defeated the Robotron with the new Megazord combination that used the Beast-X King Zord. "We'll have one chance," he warned them.

"That's all we need," Steel said confidently.

"Let's go," Ravi said, but as he lifted the Beast-X Ultra Cannon from the rack, he paused, looking over at Devon. The Red Ranger had been pacing, watching Ryne working. She had her headphones on, and her goggles hid her eyes as she worked quickly. "Devon…" he started, but as he looked up, the alarm blared loudly and they looked at one of the monitors.

"Rangers, what's your status? Why haven't you left for Tower Five?" Commander Shaw demanded, annoyed that they were taking their time. "You need to go, now!" she ordered.

"We're leaving," Ravi told her, but as he, Steel and Nate made for the doors, Devon didn't move, and Ryne didn't either.

"Are you coming?" Zoey asked when she turned back to Devon, looking worried.

"Well…I…" Devon hesitated. He knew that capturing Evox took precedence, but he couldn't let go of the hope that had sparked when Ryne had explained the Split Emitters to him.

"I'm almost finished with rewiring these," Ryne said softly, having pulled her headphones down.

"We can handle the ambush," Nate told them, before going over to one of the shelves. "For something this powerful, you'll need this," he held out a vial of Morph-X. "It should power them up," he said as Devon took the glowing vial.

"Thanks, Nate," Devon said softly. The Gold Ranger gave a supportive smile back.

"Let's go," the rest hurried off, and Devon turned back to Ryne. She was already back to work, as Asher joined her to finish off the other Split Emitters.

"Nate coming through as always. We've got them fixed, but there's no real power left in them; not enough to split someone as powerful as Evox anyway," Asher considered. "Last time, grandma powered them up to separate Jeremy and Kerberos. Morph-X should do the trick almost as well," she said.

"So how do they work?" Devon asked as he inched closer, watching them work.

"They emit a beam each," Asher explained. "When all beams cross, whoever or whatever is inside of those beams will be split apart," she told them. When Ryne and Devon both looked at her, surprised that she had so much information about them, she gave a sheepish smile. "I called my mum," she admitted with a blush.

"The question now is…" they looked up at Lewis as he folded his arms. "How are you going to get Evox to step into their snare?" he asked. Ryne bit her lip, unsure of how to answer.

"I have an idea," Devon's eyes lit up.


An explosion rumbled low by the Morph-X Tower, accompanied by four yells as the Rangers were thrown back by the exploding arrow. Having managed to get far enough back from the explosion, they weren't caught in the icy haze, but were still hit hard enough that they were winded, unable to get up. Evox scoffed.

"If I want your precious Morph-X, I will take it!" he taunted, having caught the Hyperfreeze Arrow and turned it on them. "You can't stop me," he mocked, as even in his weakened state, he was powerful.

"Wrong!" Devon shouted as he stood in between Evox and the entrance to the Morph-X Tower. "You're not going anywhere. Not with my father inside you," he declared, aiming his Beast-X Cannon at Evox. The robot gave a snarl, before purple light surrounded him. When it faded, Mayor Daniels stood in his place, coughing violently. Devon's breath caught as he stared at his father, who clutched at his chest as he straightened.

"Devon," the man's stern voice was shaky as he couldn't catch his breath. "Let Evox pass. He needs Morph-X to live. If you stop him from getting it, you'll destroy him and me," he warned. Tears stung at Devon's eyes as he listened to what Mayor Daniels was saying.

"Please dad, there must be another way," he pleaded, his heart breaking as he was forced to keep his blaster aimed at his father.

"That's not your dad talking!" Ravi shouted, clutching his ribs as he tried to get back up. "Don't listen!" he begged their leader, who glanced over at him.

"Devon!" Mayor Daniels spoke louder, pulling his attention back. "Please, son. I saved you once," he reminded as he took a few tentative steps towards him. Devon's grip on his blaster tightened. "Now it's your turn to save me," he said softly.

"Devon, no!" the yells of his team-mates echoed, but Devon lowered his blaster and slowly stepped out of the way. Mayor Daniels didn't speak, and instead walked past Devon.

"Perfect timing," Ryne spoke as she seemed to appear beside Devon. Asher stepped to his other side, nodding to Devon. Hearing Ryne's voice, Mayor Daniels whirled around just as Devon pulled a remote control from his pocket.

"Let's see what happens," the Red Ranger hit the button, and bright green and purple light burst from where Ryne and Asher had hidden them.

"No!" Mayor Daniels screamed as they were all forced to cover their faces to shield themselves from the growing light.

A massive explosion shook the ground, and the three nearby were barely able to stay on their feet as two figures were thrown apart. Evox landed heavily as his bulky metal body gave a dull thunk, while Mayor Daniels gave a shout as he hit the ground with enough momentum to roll along.

"Dad!" Devon ran over to his father as the lights faded. "Are you okay?" he asked as the man groaned, before opening his eyes.

"Much better," he nodded as he was helped to his feet. He smiled warmly at his son; far more warmly than he'd done in months. "Thanks," the man said, and Devon threw his arms around him in a tight hug.

"They really worked," Ryne breathed as sigh of relief.

"Great idea," Asher nudged her with a smile.

"Master, are you alright?" they turned to see Scrozzle running over to try and help Evox up.

"Get off me!" Evox snarled as he threw Scrozzle aside. "I need Morph-X!" he roared.

"We'll find another way," before anyone could think to stop them, Scrozzle activated the device on his wrist, and the two vanished in a flash of purple.


Asher couldn't help but sigh as she lifted one of the Split Emitters to return it to its case. She held it up, admiring the work, before sliding it back in.

"I know I should be happy that we don't need them anymore, but…" she huffed, unable to deny that she was a little sad that something she'd helped rebuild was destined to be hidden away in the vault once more.

"Hey," Asher looked up in surprise as Blaze called out a greeting. He stepped into the lab, looking around. "How's the new job going? I hear you helped save the Mayor today," he said as he approached.

"It was Ryne's idea," Asher shrugged, looking down to lift another of the Split Emitters. A blush had started across her face the moment Blaze had walked in, and she tried to hide it from him.

"You still helped," Blaze shook his head at her modesty, and made to touch one of the small pyramid-shaped devices on the table.

"Hey!" he yelped when Asher slapped his hand away. "Be careful. I don't want to find out what these things do to us," she warned him. Blaze couldn't help but laugh, rubbing his hand.

"Sorry," he apologised, and Asher sighed in exasperation as both seemed to notice that they'd quickly slipped back into how they used to be around one another.

Blaze wasn't stupid. He'd noticed that something was off with Asher when he had asked Ryne out, and even after the Pink Ranger had broken up with him, she still kept a distance from him. He'd told himself it was because he'd hurt Ryne, and so allowed her to maintain that distance. But the more he did, the more he found he missed her.

"What brings you here, Blaze?" Asher asked as she finished putting away the Split Emitters. She closed the cases over with a snap, before looking up at the young man.

"I uh…wanted to talk to you," she frowned at the hesitation in his voice. "We haven't really talked since Ryne broke up with me, and, well, I've been thinking a lot about what she told me," Blaze admitted, meeting her bright green eyes.

"What…what did she say?" Asher asked quietly, not sure if she really wanted to hear what he was going to say.

"She told me that she wasn't who I really wanted," Blaze had moved even closer to Asher, who remained still. "I didn't really get what she meant at the time. At least, that's what I tried to tell myself. But she told me to be true to myself," with that, Blaze reached out and grasped Asher's hands, making her jump. "Ashe, I've liked you for a long time. Pretty much since the first time you kicked my ass during our initiation training," Blaze couldn't help but laugh at the memory, and Asher found herself smiling as well. "I held back, because of that dumb rule about Rangers not dating Rangers," he said.

"Commander Shaw got rid of that rule," Blaze's eyebrows shot up. "Nate and Zoey," his eyebrows rose even higher as Asher couldn't help but giggle.

"Go Nate," he murmured.

"Blaze," Asher stepped closer to him this time. "I…I've liked you for a long time too. I just…never said anything because I thought we were just friends. And then you asked about Ryne, and-"

"Please don't," Blaze groaned, and she saw his face light up red. "When I talked to Ravi about it, I think he managed to use every word meaning idiot in one breath. Including other languages. I didn't even know he spoke German," Asher giggled again. "I'm such an idiot Ashe, I'm so sorry. And I never wanted to come between you and Ryne. You guys are so close, and I would never want to ruin that for you," Blaze apologised, still holding onto her hands.

"I know you are," Asher shook her head with a faint smile. "But no apologies necessary. I was an idiot too, telling you to ask her out. But Ryne and I are stronger than that. She saved me. Saved us, and I'll always appreciate her for it," she pointed out. Blaze smiled, and after a moment of hesitation, he leaned in and kissed her.

"It's about damn time," the two jumped as Ryne's voice suddenly reached them, and they pulled away. Ryne was walking into the lab with Lewis, shaking her head. "I was wondering what was taking so long to put away the Split Emitters," Ryne said as both turned scarlet.

"You," Asher pulled away from Blaze and stomped over to Ryne. She then grabbed the girl by the shoulders. "Are an idiot. You shouldn't let yourself get hurt just so others are happy," she scolded, and Ryne rolled her eyes.

"I'm a Power Ranger. It's literally my job description," she pointed out with a droll stare. Asher wanted to shake her. As she went to speak, to scold her cousin, Ryne spoke up. "I'm fine, really. Since I realised, I've been wanting you both to stop being idiots and just confess already. Honestly, it's as frustrating as watching Nate and Zoey holding back," Ryne shook her head as she complained.

"You really are a weird one, aren't you?" Blaze couldn't help but chuckle. Ryne smirked at him.

"Just wait till you meet the rest of the family," she warned, and Blaze suddenly looked very nervous. Asher lightly tapped Ryne on the head with her knuckles.

"Yeah, you'll find that Ryne is probably one of the least weird ones," Lewis had to agree, wrapping his arms around the Pink Ranger. She gave a noise of irritation, struggling to break free of his grasp. Asher sighed heavily.

"They're right," she agreed.

"Now come on. The Commander is just about to give the order to bring back the Morph-X," without relinquishing his hold on Ryne, Lewis made his way back out of the lab.

"I better go," Asher shook her head at their antics, smiling faintly as she turned back to Blaze. He leaned in as she moved back over to him, and kissed her gently.

"Meet you here after?" he asked, and she nodded, unable to stop her bright smile as her heart pounded.


"Citizens of Coral Harbour. We've begun re-energising the Towers," Commander Shaw gave another announcement, this time a lot less grave. "Rest assured the Morph-X network is once again safe, and the Power Rangers will make sure it stays that way," she announced.

"Communication ended," with that, Commander Shaw stood up.

"The last tower is filling with Morph-X," Zoey told them with a bright smile, standing with Nate as he finished checking the systems.

"We did find traces of the Evox virus, but the system is clear now," Nate added. Looking happy with that, Commander Shaw turned to Mayor Daniels, who was standing with his son.

"Do you remember anything about Evox? What he did, maybe what he's planning to do in the future?" Commander Shaw asked, trying to keep her voice gentle. The man was standing strong, but it was clear he'd been shaken by the whole ordeal.

"My last clear memory was when we'd just escaped the Cyber Dimension. There was an explosion, and Ryne…" he glanced at the Pink Ranger, who smiled bashfully at his thankful look. "Later, there was something…wrong with my hands," Mayor Daniels looked down at his hands. "After that, it was all a blur - until the moment you saved me," he explained.

"Actually…our plan was a failure," Nate admitted as he got to his feet. "The only reason you're standing here right now is because of Devon," he gestured to their leader.

"It was Ryne's idea to use the Split Emitters. I never would have known we had such a thing right under our noses," Devon gestured to Ryne, who shook her head.

"I only thought of it because of your determination, Devon. You never gave up on saving your dad," she smiled, and Devon looked up as Mayor Daniels turned to him, looking proud.

"Well.." Devon then gave a smile. "You did save me from the Cyber Dimension. So now we're even," he decided. His father laughed, patting his shoulder. "Let's just hope neither of us has to save the other ever again," with another laugh, Mayor Daniels pulled him into a hug.

"I guess with that, I can stop ignoring Fane," Ryne considered, and gave a faint smile. "I don't think she's impressed that I've not been able to spend any time with her since she came back to town," she couldn't help but laugh.

"You're a Ranger, surely she can understand that," Ravi shrugged, and Ryne shook her head.

"She's a Princess. She can understand it, but she doesn't have to like it," she pointed out, which made the Blue Ranger grin. "I better go before she decides to actually make good on her threat and appoint me her official adviser," Ryne muttered, and Ravi chuckled, patting her head.

"Hey, Ryne," as she made her way to the door, Asher caught her arm. "Thanks," she said quietly, and Ryne grinned, bumping her arm with her fist.


This was real fun to write. Loved the throwback to the Split-Emitters.

Hope you liked it!

Please review!