In the meanwhile, Billy chatted with Sydney.
"Hmm..So he requested his laptop as soon as he regained consciousness?" said Billy.
"Yep. And he was moaning something about a formula." Said Sydney.
"Did you say formula?" said Billy.
"Yeah, why?" said Sydney.
"Do you have any idea if it was about energy amplification?" asked Billy.
"No. I never even seen the proposal he wrote to get admitted in the festival." Said Sydney.
"Hmm. That's odd. Just wish there was a way we could resolve this and retrieve his laptop for him. I know what's like to have your hard work burglarized from you." Said Billy.
"Yeah, I'm sure it'll work out somehow." Syd stated, just as a real conversation of interest was coming about between Sam, Tommy and Jason.
"So, this medal brings good luck?" said Jason.
"Yep, my grandfather let me use it, so we could bring some good luck to this trip. He was a military strategy guy, and he taught me some stuff. But the good luck hasn't worked so far yet, hasn't it?" said Sam.
"Don't say that. Frank is OK, he'll be OK. He's lucky that he wasn't seriously hurt." Said Tommy.
"True, I guess." Said Sam.
"So what kind of music do you like?" Said Jason.
"Um...my own? Ha ha ha! Nah, just kidding, but seriously, we have a band." Said Sam.
"You have a band?" said Jason.
"Yep! It's a lot of fun, and it let's me spend lots of time with the best friends a person could want" said Sam.
"Yeah, same way we all feel about each other" said Jason.
"Yeah, we practice martial arts all the time. You ever try it?" said Tommy.
"I know a few moves, which have come in handy in the...uh...after school job" replied Sam.
"Really?" said Tommy and Jason simultaneously.
"Yeah. Let's just say it's a rough ride to and from work. And the work itself is a pain in the butt." Said Sam.
"Yeah. I know what you mean." Said Jason.
Then, just as a truly mellow mood of friendship and bonding between the two groups began to come about, Jason's communicator went off.
At the hearing of that sound, Amp got snapped back into something resembling coherent consciousness, and let go of Kimberly's hand.
"What's that?" asks Sam.
"Uh..My new watch alarm. We got a meeting to get to. Guys! It was nice to meet you Sam. And all your friends. We'll see you later, at the festival." Says Jason.
"OK Jason. Nice to meet you" said Sam.
Then the six rangers said their good-byes to their new friends, and left the juice bar, leaving the four Syber-squad members to enjoy the rest of their lunch.
"Well, that was strange but they all seem like nice people. Still why'd they leave so suddenly?" said Sam.
"Maybe they are the Power Rangers." Said Amp.
They all look at him like he grew a fifth eye or something.
"I mean, they do have on the same colors as the Rangers. Red, blue, black, green, yellow, and pink. It is an odd coincidence. Or maybe not. It was just a guess. I have seen stranger things." He replied.
"So, what was that I saw there? Hand touching? You and Kimberly? So does that mean that you…" asked Tanker.
"Uh…wow…she touched me!" Amp said, with the most aloof look on his face. He turned slowly to face his friends, and they all are staring at him with sly smiles on their faces. This brings Amp back to normal, or at least what comes closest to it for Amp.
"Anyway, yeah, that Kimberly is a really cool one also. She's a smart cookie, like you Syd." Said Amp.
"If you say so, but Billy is clearly someone who know has a brain behind that cute look of his." Said Syd.
"What?" said Tanker.
"Oh, don't worry, Tanker. He got nothing on you." Said Syd.
"You're the sweetest, Syd." Said Tanker.
The two smile and stare at each other, just like Amp was staring at nothing. They are unaware their just-departed colleagues are answering their page.
"Zordon. We read you." says Jason.
"Power Rangers. I need you at the Command Center immediately."
"We're on our way." He replied.
Then in a flash of light, they disappear to their base of operations, unaware of what is transpiring at the same time at the hospital. Malcolm has regained consciousness.
CHAPTER 14 - Malcolm's Surprise VisitorsMalcolm wakes up and looks around, a little disoriented, and then remembers his last thought.
"Huh? What...now, where did those buffoons go? Oh, Man! No! They're gone! No laptop, no formula, no virus, no nothing. My plan is ruined!" said Malcolm.
Just then, a flash of light hits the room, and is then replaced by a bunch of putties, and Goldar. Malcolm tries to scream, but is gagged by one of the putties.
"Grr...! OK, Human. We got big plans for you! Do as we say, or you'll never see this again" said Goldar, as he held out the laptop over Malcolm.
"Well...?" says Goldar, just as Malcolm's face has hit total fear.
Meanwhile, The Rangers are at the Command Center, and wondering why they were summoned.
"Behold the Viewing Globe!" signals Zordon.
They turn around, and one look at its image sends Jason's jaw dropping in disbelief. "King Sphinx! I destroyed him!"
"Who's King Sphinx?" asks the clueless Green Ranger. Remember he joined the team after the other Rangers fought and defeated the original version.
"A bad news monster. Almost toasted Jason. Before you joined us." said Zack as Tommy got the message.
"We got to get him!" replied Tommy.
"We have a more immediate danger. Goldar and some Putties are in that kid's hospital room." stated Alpha.
"Oh, No! Hey! The laptop! We got to save him and get his laptop back!" said Billy as he noticed what Goldar had in his hands. So without even a single moment of hesitation, the leader of the Power Rangers, reaches for his morpher, and declares the three magic words, while the other five followed suit.
"It's Morphin' Time!" said Jason.
"Dragon Zord!"
"Mastodon!"
"Pterodactyl!"
"Triceratops!"
"Saber-toothed Tiger!"
"Tyrannosaurs!"
Then in that instant the Rangers appeared in Malcolm's room, and began to face off with the Putties. Goldar got attacked by Jason and Tommy at the same time, and ended up accidentally tossing the laptop out the window. Then all parties in that room release the same universal cry.
"No!" as the Red Ranger, he being the closest one to the window, reached out, and in that split second, looked as it fell victim to gravity's fierce 5-story force fall. But then, in a quick whoosh, a figure swoops down, and gets the laptop, before it met an untimely demise with the concrete floor below. Then as the figure lands, Jason knows darn well who it is, King Sphinx.
"You!" Jason yells as he does a super Ranger jump "Hi-ya!" kicks out the window, landing on the ground level safely. Then as the Red Ranger goes to face his enemy, Goldar and his Putties vanish without saying anything, doing anything, or even taking Malcolm. Just left his there, gagged and very scared again. The Black Ranger ungags him, and asks if he was all right
Malcolm nodded "yes" as he was still short of breath, and the Blue Ranger said "We'll get them and your computer back", as they all teleported rather to the floor level outside.
The Red Ranger combated Sphinx with his Light Blaster in hand, in sword mode. He made unsuccessful attempt to seize the laptop, which resulted in Jason getting kicked to the floor. His fellow Rangers quickly joined his side.
"You OK?" asked Zack, and Jason quickly replied "yes" as he was anxious to get up and try to attack again, but Tommy said "Stay tight, bro. Me and Billy got this one covered," As he and Billy moved into attack position. "So, what are you two going to do, now that I have the laptop?" mocked the ugly monster.
"This!" They both declared as Tommy threw his Dragon Dagger at the monster, and Billy shot his Light Blaster at the monster. Both simultaneous attacks disorient the monster, enough for Billy to jump in and snatch the laptop.
"Hey!" yelled the Sphinx.
"You got it! Great work! All right!" said the Red Ranger, as he got up and had composed himself enough to fight again. Then, as the Sphinx was getting ready to use his wings to blow the Rangers away, it disappeared.
"Hey! Where'd he go?" said Tommy
"He's gone." Said Billy.
"Man..." said Zack.
"Well, at least we finally got the computer. Let's give it to him." Said Trini.
"No, wait. We need to investigate this further. Let's go to the Command Center and check this out." Said Billy.
CHAPTER 15 - The Infamous Laptop's SecretsOnce they get there, Billy is sat down at a table, and examining the computer's contents. With the other Rangers at the table, Billy acted a little extra fussy. He shrugged it off, and continued his analysis. He couldn't hack an access code to certain files, and didn't find any programs out of the ordinary. Then, he came across some odd files, which opened. The first was a picture diagram of some chemical substance, the one just like the second lesser one that he saw when he was with Malcolm. The other was a bitmap drawing of a monster creature, the one called Phantomite. The final one was a text file, of Malcolm's science report for the festival. There was nothing else that Billy saw that didn't seem odd in the laptop, so
Billy then said, "I can't find that formula I saw. I don't understand it! I guess we give it back now?"
"Yeah" said Jason with a more satisfied look on his face.
"Um, Alpha?" said Billy.
"Yes, Billy?" said Alpha.
"Hook this up to the main computer, and do a full copy transfer."
"OK." Said Alpha as he connected a link between the laptop and the Command Center terminal.
Alpha hit the button, a light on the console beeped and told them the transfer was done. Then shortly later the Rangers are back in uniform, handing Malcolm back his laptop, in his room.
"Thank you" said Malcolm.
Then in a flash, they were gone. Once clear, Malcolm turned on his laptop, and hit a few lines of code. One second later, Kilokahn appears on the screen.
"Well done, meat-thing! You have retrieved your portable terminal. And now, about this virus..." said Kilokahn.
"Yes, it's here." Malcolm said, as he pulled a disk from his pants pocket, and put it into the computer.
He hit more lines of code, and the virus's diagram came up on half the screen.
"We must wait, until these machines of theirs come out, or else the plan will fail." Said Malcolm.
"A minor yet definite point." says the evil program.