Chapter 18: Evox Upgraded
Loud banging and buzzing sounds filled the air, echoing through the hangar as people worked hard and as fast as possible.
"Remember, everyone! All connections need to be checked," Nate called over the din. "We only have one shot at this," he said. He wore his Ranger suit, ready to jump into action at a moment's notice, with his helmet off.
"Hey Betty," the young woman who'd been working hard on helping build the Cybergate looked up. Perched easily on the top of the metal construction, Ryne was wearing her Pink suit and making sure the wires were connected. She didn't wear her helmet, but was wearing her goggles as she worked. "Pass me the screwdriver?" she asked. Betty stood on her tip-toes, holding it up so Ryne could reach it. "Thanks," Ryne smiled at her, and got back to work.
"A-are you okay up there?" Ben asked, nervous about Ryne being up on the top of the Cybergate.
"Uhuh," Ryne nodded simply, already getting back to what she was doing.
"Nate, progress report," Commander Shaw requested as she walked in, wanting to move as quickly as they could.
Not only had Devon been captured, but the Avatars had stolen an entire Morph-X tower, and Roxy's warning was dire. Evox had a new body being built, and all the Morph-X he could need to fuel it.
"I've repaired the damage as best as I can," Nate answered. "Ryne's just finishing off the last of the connections, and then we're ready for a test activation," he looked around at Ryne, who was focused on what she was doing.
"Let's hope the Cybergate coordinates are still accurate," Commander Shaw said, looking over at the large metal gate.
"We won't know until we try," Steel shrugged, trying to stay positive despite the dire situation.
"Commander!" she whirled around, and Nate looked up in surprise at the familiar voice. Even Ryne looked up from what she was doing. Commander Shaw looked startled, backing away from the taller man as she lost her usually powerful air.
"Mr. Mayor, I wasn't expec-"
"My son is a Ranger?!" he cut her off furiously. He'd spent hours pulling strings to get back into Grid Battleforce, determined to confront the Commander. "Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded, and Commander Shaw was quiet. Ryne jumped down from her perch to walk over, exchanging worried looks with Nate as she pulled her goggles down to rest around her neck. "Do you have any idea what it's like to know your child's life is in danger?" Mayor Daniels kept going. At this question, Commander Shaw's head lifted, and she met his gaze easily.
"Respectfully sir, I do," she answered, her commanding presence returning as she refused to back down against him. As if on cue, Zoey and Ravi ran in.
"We're ready to go," Ravi said, and the two froze as the Mayor turned to them, seeing the faces of the other members of the Ranger team.
"Meet my son - Ravi," Commander Shaw spoke as she looked at her son, pride in her expression. Mayor Daniels did a double-take, looking at her and then back at Ravi, holding out his hand.
"Mayor Daniels?" he frowned a little, but shook the man's hand.
"Your son is the Blue Ranger? I had no idea…" the Mayor breathed, staring at Ravi as he realised that while he'd only found out about Devon, Commander Shaw had known the entire time that it was her son out fighting. He then looked at Zoey, and then over to Nate, Steel and Ryne. "All of you…are Rangers?" he asked, stunned.
"Yes sir," Zoey confirmed with a nod. The Mayor recognised the young woman, not only from having spoken to her the last time he'd been at Grid Battleforce's headquarters, but as the creator of the Morph-X fueled Bikes.
"We've had intel about what Evox has planned for the Morph-X he's been stealing," he was a little surprised when Ryne was the one to speak up. She looked young; definitely the youngest of the group. "He plans on using it to power a robotic body for him to inhabit, which would allow him to escape his prison and return here, to this world," Ryne explained, meeting his gaze easily. Guilt then flickered across her face. "Devon was trying to stop them from getting the tower," she said quietly, and Mayor Daniels was silent for a moment as he processed her words.
"Ryne?" Ben called over nervously, and Ryne went back over, scaling the side of the Cybergate to pull a cable up to connect up top. "Thanks," he smiled up at her, and she nodded, taking the wrench from him to secure the wiring up top.
"What can I do to help?" Mayor Daniels then asked, turning to Commander Shaw.
"Nothing," her answer was blunt, but the truth. "Devon is trapped in a place called the Cyber Dimension, where Evox has his stronghold," she explained to the stunned man. "That Cybergate is the only way we know of to get there," Commander Shaw told him.
"Once we know it's safe, we can go through it and rescue Devon," Nate spoke up, and Mayor Daniels stared at him for a moment longer, surprised that the genius he'd spoken to about powering the city with Morph-X was also a Ranger.
"Okay, we should be good to test the gate," Ryne called over to Nate, jumping back down and landing lightly.
"Everybody clear! I'm bringing the Cybergate online now," the Gold Ranger instructed, and the people who had been helping to assemble the gate quickly moved away from it to watch. "Initialising," Nate activated the Cybergate, hoping that he was doing it right. The others watched as purple energy flowed at the back of the gate, almost like electricity, and when it collided, there was a flash of light and a portal formed.
"That's the Cyber Dimension!" Steel recognised the portal from when Evox had attempted to use him as a host.
"Wait, something's wrong," Ryne warned as the air grew fuzzy around the gate. "Betty, move back!" she grabbed the young woman and pulled her bag as the air seemed to tug at her. Betty gasped, and moved back quickly before it could suck her in. "Nate?" Ryne turned to him as he checked the readings on his tablet.
"Nate, is that portal safe or not?" Commander Shaw asked, not liking the idea that the gate could be a threat to them.
"Negative," Nate shook his head. "There are flashes of stability when we might be able to get through, but it's too unpredictable," he said, and Ryne frowned as she watched the gate, hating that they were so close, and hit a dead-end.
"I'll carry the beacon through the portal. It'll broadcast the coordinates of Evox's base, and…" Ravi looked behind him nervously at the dangerous portal. "You guys can follow," he volunteered.
"Absolutely not," Commander Shaw denied, grabbing his wrist quickly. He looked at her in surprise. "We can't afford to lose another Ranger," she told him, her voice soft.
"But mum, someone has to try," Ravi pleaded with her.
"He's right," to their surprise, Mayor Daniels snatched the beacon from the Commander and ran into the Cybergate before they could stop him.
"Mayor Daniels, don't!"
"Stop!" they shouted, but he vanished through the portal without looking back. As he did, the portal turned white.
"It's overloading! The portal's shutting down!" Nate shouted, and a moment later there was a loud bang as the portal seemed to explode out, vanishing.
"The Mayor…did he make it?" Zoey asked the question on all their minds.
"Nate?" Commander Shaw addressed the Gold Ranger, unable to maintain her own composure.
"What is it, bro?" Steel asked when Nate didn't answer straight away, scanning the readings on his tablet.
"I think it's the beacon," he admitted. "It's giving me the exact trans-dimensional coordinates of the Cyber Dimension," he smiled, and they gave a sigh of relief.
"Well, I guess we can see where Devon gets that crazy streak from," Ryne commented, hands on her hips.
"Like you can talk," Ravi said, and she stuck her tongue out at him.
"Let's fire up the Transporters, get in our Zords, and go surprise that snake!" Steel exclaimed, fired up and ready for battle.
"Wait!" Ryne exclaimed, grabbing him and pulling the Silver Ranger back before he ended up charging in alone. "Evox is going to be powered up, and we're fighting on his turf," she pointed out. It felt weird to be taking charge, but she was Devon's second in command, and without him there, she had to be the one to speak up. "We're going to need something he hasn't seen, something strong that he hasn't been able to analyse yet," she considered, trying to think of something.
"Like all of your Zords combined," Commander Shaw's suggestion made Ryne lift her head.
"Now that would be some real power," she agreed, having heard stories about Rangers in the past combining all of their Zords. Their other Megazords were strong, but nothing compared to the power of all of them together.
"I've been developing a new Megazord formation," Nate admitted. "The Ultrazord," he said, and Ryne bit back her smile. "If that isn't powerful enough, nothing is," Nate said confidently.
"Then let's get to work," Ryne smiled.
An eerie green glow cut through the red haze that covered the Cyber Dimension, pulsing brighter and darker almost like a heartbeat. Asher leaned against the wall as Blaze paced impatiently, both eager to get back into battle against the Rangers. Without their leader, they were weaker, and Asher especially was ready to be done with them.
"Look at the Morph-X flow!" Scrozzle exclaimed, almost bouncing with excitement. He'd been downright gleeful since they'd stolen the Morph-X tower. "It's so beautiful, I could watch this for hours!" he sighed as he watched the Morph-X filling the body he'd built for Evox, preparing it for the virus.
"How much longer til Evox's new body is done?" Blaze asked, frustrated. "It's taking forever!" he complained. Scrozzle sighed.
"Listen kid. It's a complex process! But when it's complete, Evox will rise in his new form!" he declared brightly. Asher rolled her eyes. "We'd better get the teleportation system ready," Scrozzle said, and with a huff, Blaze stormed off to do so. Asher followed, hoping that it wouldn't take too much longer.
Back in the Zord Bay, the Rangers were bracing themselves to test Nate's newest combination that would bring all their Zords together into one powerful Ultrazord. With their helmets back on, the Rangers didn't have time for simulations; they were testing with the real thing.
"Everyone ready for Ultrazord combination?" Nate called.
"Copy that!" the others responded, despite all of them being nervous. Cruise piped up too, handling Devon's Zord in his absence. "Disassembly engaged!" the group shouted, activating the program on their individual Zords.
"Starting combination sequence!" their Zords began to split apart, and joined together, connecting perfectly as Nate had planned. "Beast-X Ultrazord, unleashed!" they chorused. Ryne breathed a sigh of relief as it worked, and her determination returned. They would save Devon, and stop Evox.
The only reason Lewis hadn't started pacing, was his fear of Commander Shaw. He didn't want her snapping at him, and he knew she was just as worried about the Rangers, if not moreso.
His phone buzzed with texts that Fane was bombarding him with, after Ryne had told her that she was in for a big battle. The Princess of Zandar was worried about her friend, and Lewis was going to do his best to keep her informed. At least, that's what she was demanding.
"Cyber Dimension coordinates locked in," Lewis was pulled from his thoughts by the announcement. The Ultrazord combination had been a success. "Ready to deploy on your command," the woman who seemed to balance a lot of the work - from what Lewis had seen - turned to Commander Shaw. Lewis watched as she hesitated for just a moment, before pressing a button to open a communication link.
"Ravi, complete your mission and bring back the team in one piece. That's an order, son," she instructed, wanting just one moment to address her son before he threw himself into danger so serious he might not return.
"Yes ma'am," Ravi answered, his words quiet, but confident. Commander Shaw ended the link as abruptly, turning back
"Deploy Beast-X Ultrazord," Commander Shaw instructed.
The Ultrazord rose from the Zord Bay, appearing in the city as it began to shimmer green with the energy of Morph-X that would allow them to teleport.
"We can do this, team. Devon's counting on us!" Nate shouted confidently. The others didn't speak, but they nodded, believing his words. They would stop Evox, and get Devon and his dad back. "Transport!" he pulled a lever by his side, and the Ultrazord vanished in a flash of green, gone from the city in an instant.
The view of the city around them was replaced in a flash of green light, and the Rangers found themselves staring out at the ruins that seemed to go on for miles. A red haze lit the sky, managing to get through the thick, dark clouds, and in the distance, they spotted the Morph-X tower.
"So this is the Cyber Dimension…" Cruise breathed, the first to find his voice. The hairs on the back of Ryne's neck stood on end as strange energy filled the air around them, making it heavy and uncomfortable.
An alarm distracted Scrozzle, making him grunt in surprise.
"Hmm? What's going on?" he wondered, bringing up the alarm system as he wondered what had tripped it. He'd designed it for Vargoyle, but his creation was destroyed, leaving him somewhat safe. Scrozzle gasped, rearing back in alarm. "The Rangers are here, with a crazy new Zord combo!" he shrieked, looking at Asher and Blaze.
"What?" Asher frowned as she walked up.
"Really?" Blaze sounded almost amused as he looked at the readings. "Good. Send in an army of Gigadrones and tear those fools apart," he said, his eyes glittering with malice.
"Great idea!" Scrozzle exclaimed.
"Aw, I wanted to tear those fools apart," Asher complained, and Blaze smirked.
"Don't worry, there'll be plenty others for you to fight once Master Evox's body is complete," he told her, making Asher's smirk return.
As the Rangers adjusted to their sudden teleportation, looking around the Cyber Dimension, a wave of Gigadrones appeared, and they inhaled sharply.
"Oh man, that's a lot of Gigadrones," Ravi gulped.
"Oh, I've never seen that many," Smash was nervous as well.
"We can do this guys. Nate's Ultrazord combination is powerful," Ryne tried to sound confident as she looked out at the large amount of Gigadrones that were making their way towards them.
"Your power combined should be more than enough!" Scramble agreed, sounding more confident than Ryne did.
"Time to give the new Ultrazord a workout!" Zoey cheered. They pushed forwards, and immediately the Gigadrones launched their attacks, firing a barrage of missiles, lasers and energy blasts. However, they all bounced harmlessly off the Ultrazord's shields.
"Here…we…go!" Ravi growled as they pushed hard, cutting through the Gigadrones with their spear. They all smiled, growing more and more confident as they easily fought off the Gigadrones, destroying them in one hit.
"Take this!" Nate shouted as they swung the spear and stabbed another two.
"Not today!" Zoey laughed as she avoided the attacks from the Gigadrones that pushed in, stepping over the fallen robots.
"Let's end this!" Ryne declared as they jabbed their spear out, hitting more and ripping through their circuitry.
"Beast-X Ultra Strike!" they shouted, and the spear began to spin, lighting up green as they dashed forwards and destroyed the last of the Gigadrones.
"This Ultrazord is legit!" Ravi cheered as they smiled. However, their victory was short-lived, as they spotted a green light hurtling towards them.
"Incoming!" Ryne shouted, before the light landed in front of them.
"What is that?" Ravi wondered, and they watched as the lights faded, revealing a bulky yellow robot with glowing red eyes.
"Hello, Rangers," the voice reached them despite being below them, and it made them shiver. It had been a while since they'd heard it. "Have you come here to stop me?" Evox asked, sounding amused.
"Could…could that be Evox?" Zoey gulped, terrified.
"Now that I'm free from my digital prison, your time in this dimension will be brief and painful!" Evox followed up his declaration with a yell, throwing out a hand. Pale red energy gathered for just a moment before he threw it out, and it struck the Ultrazord, exploding on contact.
"Systems critical! Our Zords are breaking up!" Nate warned as they all struggled to hold their Ultrazord together.
"Hold on, team!" Zoey shouted.
"Brace yourselves!" Ryne shouted, before the Ultrazord fell apart.
Ryne groaned as she sat up, barely having managed to stay conscious as she was ejected from her Zord's cockpit. "Well, that sucked," she muttered, putting a hand to her head. Once it cleared, she checked herself for injuries, pulling her helmet off.
"A little help, please?" she looked over and gasped as she saw Scramble on her side, underneath some rubble.
"Hang on, I've got you," Ryne hurried over, dropping her helmet in the dirt, and pulled the rubble off Scramble to help the Beast Bot stand upright. "Are you okay?" she asked, checking the pink squirrel-like robot for damage.
"That tickles," Scramble squirmed away, and Ryne smiled faintly.
"Ryne, Scramble!" she looked up as she saw Ravi and Smash hurrying over. "Are you guys okay?" the Blue Ranger called as Ryne stood.
"A bit banged up, but fine," she nodded. "Are you guys?" Ryne asked, looking from Ravi to Smash.
"Same," he said, looking over at their Zords. "Too bad about the Ultrazord," he murmured, and Ryne nodded.
"Come on, we need to find the others," she said, and they hurried through the wreckage, finding Nate and Steel, and then continuing on to find Zoey.
"Zoey, Jax! Over here!" Steel was the one to spot the two as Zoey limped into view, followed by Jax.
"How's everyone holding up?" Ryne asked as they gathered together.
"Yeah…barely," Zoey winced, putting a hand to her head. Her eyes widened as she lifted her hand to find traces of blood on her glove.
"Here," Ryne walked over, starting to glow golden, and touched beside the wound. Immediately the pain faded, and Zoey gave a sigh of relief as it healed quickly.
"Thanks," she smiled as Ryne pulled back, letting the glow fade. She smiled nodding at the Yellow Ranger.
"Guys!" they all looked around quickly as Devon's voice reached them. He ran into view, followed by his dad.
"Devon!" Ryne threw her arms around the Red Ranger, relieved to see him in one piece. "Thank goodness you're okay," she smiled with relief, and he hugged her back, before releasing her to hug Zoey.
"We're all lucky to be alive," Devon said, looking up at his dad.
"Couldn't have done it without you, Mr. Mayor," Ravi said with a smile.
"But we're not out of trouble yet," Ryne said, turning to Devon. He frowned as his joy at seeing his friends again was short lived.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Our Zords, they're history," Nate said, looking over to where their Zords now lay, smoking and badly damaged.
"Really?" Devon gasped.
"And it's not over yet, look!" Steel pointed, and they gasped as Evox approached them, laughing quietly.
"Well, what do you think of the Cyber Dimension, Rangers?" he asked almost pleasantly. "Is it a fitting place for you all to meet your ends?" Evox asked, his eyes glowing red and making them all gulp.
"Dad, get somewhere safe," Devon told his dad, who nodded, knowing he'd only get in the way.
"Devon, I thought you'd need another wristcom," Devon looked at Cruise, and a small glimmer of relief went through him as he took it.
"Thanks, Cruise," he smiled at his Beast Bot, glad that he wouldn't have to fight Evox without his Ranger powers.
"There's no escape. You're finished," Evox declared, and Ryne rolled her eyes.
"Urgh, is it a bad guy thing that you all have to sound so cliché?" she complained, bored of his declarations.
"We won't go down without a fight," Devon said, glaring at Evox. "It's Morphin' Time!" he shouted. "ACTIVATE BEAST POWER, HA!" he Morphed as the others pulled their helmets back on, ready for a fight.
"Unleash the beast!"
"How charming," Evox laughed, charging up power in his hand as they ran forwards. He threw it before they could reach him, and the ground in front of them exploded, throwing them all backwards as they were lifted off their feet from the blast. Immediately they all demorphed, groaning in pain. "Enough distractions," Evox said as they pushed themselves back to their feet, not stopping. "I can feel the Morph-X pulsing through my body. I am unstoppable!" he began to glow green as his cackling laughter echoed.
"Back up!" Ryne shouted as Evox started to grow to tower over them.
"That's bad," Steel gulped.
"Time to finally leave this dimension!" instead of keeping his attention on the Rangers, Evox turned and walked away.
"Where's Evox going?" Mayor Daniels asked as he emerged from his hiding place with the Beast Bots.
"Roxy said he was planning to teleport to Coral Harbour to access the Morphin' Grid," Steel explained, and they all sighed, knowing how outmatched they were.
"I don't think we can take him down without our Ultrazord," Ravi admitted quietly.
"We can't just give up. There's bound to be something we can do. We don't just win because we're strong," Ryne turned to her team, refusing to give up. "We win because we're smarter than these guys," she said. They were silent for a moment, trying to think of something.
"Morph-X is highly explosive," Zoey was the one to break the quiet. "If we blow up that tower, it will take Evox with it," she suggested, pointing to the tower in the distance.
"But how? You said the Zords were toast," Devon frowned, liking the plan, but there wasn't a way to implement it.
"Actually…" they looked at Cruise when he spoke up. "The Racer Zord should still be operational. It seemed to take the least damage during the fight," he told them, and they all smiled. Finally some good news.
"That's it, then. I'll take out the tower," Devon decided, taking charge again - to Ryne's relief. "Scrozzle will be controlling things from his base. Dad, can you lead the others back there?" he turned to Mayor Daniels.
"I can try," the man nodded.
"Great. We'll shut down their teleportation systems and trap Evox here so you can destroy him," Nate grinned.
"Asher and Blaze will still be lurking around, and they'll do whatever they can to stop us," Ryne reminded them carefully, before smiling. "But we can take them. Ravi's already proved that," she pointed out, and Ravi smiled.
"We all know what to do. We've come this far," he said, looking to his team.
"Nothing can stop us," Zoey agreed confidently. Devon grinned, holding out his fist. Ryne put hers on top, and Zoey followed suit, with Ravi next, followed by Steel and then Nate.
"This way," Mayor Daniels led the Rangers away, followed by Smash, Jax and Scramble.
Evox stood in the teleporter, eager and ready to move forward with his plan to access the Morphin' Grid.
"Scrozzle, I'm ready to go and take what's mine," Evox's words, and his laughter, echoed for miles as he stood ready for teleportation. Below, at their base of operations, Blaze had resumed pacing.
"Will you hurry?" he snarled at Scrozzle. "Evox is in position!" Blaze shouted.
"Urgh, do you have to shout so much? I didn't know Avatars could get headaches," Asher complained, pinching the bridge of her nose. She was just as eager for Evox to return to Earth, but she wasn't losing her cool.
"I know!" Scrozzle groaned, not finding Blaze's constant yelling helpful. "Tronics, divert the Morph-X from the tower into the teleportation system now!" he shouted at the Tronics waiting orders.
'Digitization initiated,' the computer's voice spoke up as Evox was scanned in preparation for teleportation.
"Yes…" Evox hissed gleefully.
"Oh?" Scrozzle tilted his head as an alarm blared. "The Red Zord is headed straight for the Morph-X tower," he realised as the systems detected the moving Zord. Asher straightened up, but Blaze held out a hand, smirking.
"I'll handle it," he declared, vanishing in a flash of red before Asher could stop him.
"He's not going to have all the fun," she hissed, vanishing into the shadows.
Mayor Daniels was surprised by how well he remembered the way back to Scrozzle's lab where he'd found Devon imprisoned. After only having to stop twice to remember which direction to go, he led them towards a larger clearing, where a computer sat that Nate recognised as one of his own - the same one he'd sent to the Cyber Dimension when Evox had first attacked.
"The lab is just through…there," Mayor Daniels started to move towards the lab, only to find Tronics blocking his path. They chittered as they appeared from all around, surrounding the group.
"Great, we've got company," Zoey grumbled. While she knew they could easily fend off Tronics, they would slow them down.
"Nate, go stop Evox!" Ryne told the Gold Ranger as she moved into a fighting stance. "We can handle these losers," she said confidently. Nate nodded, trusting her directions, and turned.
"Follow me," he told Mayor Daniels, leading him and the Beast Bots away as the others faced the Tronics.
"You cheap circuits want a taste of Steel?" the Silver Ranger challenged, and the Tronics ran in to attack them. The four Rangers left to fight them easily threw them off, having grown stronger in their time as Rangers to the point where they didn't need to Morph to fight off the Tronics.
Ryne let her power crackle to life in her hand, but before she could throw it out, she was kicked hard in the back. The energy vanished, and Ryne landed in the dirt, stunned from the attack that almost burned from the pain.
"That's right, in the dirt where you belong," Asher sneered, standing over her as Ryne coughed, tears in her eyes. She looked up, glaring at the Avatar of her cousin.
"Perfect timing," Ryne growled, moving suddenly despite the pain, kicking out from the ground. Asher jumped backwards, giving Ryne enough time to get to her feet.
"Ryne!" Zoey shouted, seeing her facing Asher, before more Tronics swarmed in.
"It's you and me, just like it's always been," Asher taunted as the two circled one another, and she smirked, grabbing her key. "Let's finish this," she challenged, connecting it to her Morpher. Her armour surrounded her in a haze of pink; a butchery of the Pink Ranger suit she should have had.
"No running away this time," Ryne replied calmly, lifting her own key. "ACTIVATE BEAST POWER, HA!" she Morphed into her Pink Ranger suit, feeling more calm than before, despite staring down the Avatar who had haunted her nightmares for months.
"I've been looking forward to this," Asher declared, firing a blast of pink energy at Ryne. The Pink Ranger dodged it, running in and jumping up to land a kick that forced Asher back. She recovered quickly, and the two threw punches and kicks at each other. Some landed, making the other flinch, before they pushed back. "Okay, not bad," Asher allowed.
"Wish I could say the same for you. But that's the problem with you being nothing but a digital copy. You can't grow," Ryne told her coldly, and Asher's eyes narrowed under her helmet.
"I'll show you!" Asher rushed in, throwing a heavy punch, but Ryne dodged it with the use of her Squirrel Reflexes.
"Beast Spinners!" as Asher stumbled, Ryne teleported her twin weapons in and threw them at Asher's back. The Avatar cried out as both cut across her armour, making her being flicker dangerously.
"You aren't winning this so easily!" Asher snarled, turning and firing a shot that hit the ground by Ryne's feet. She was thrown backwards, sprawling in the dirt, but threw her Beast Spinners again and deflected the next shot fired at her. One of the chakrams impaled the ground, scorched and badly damaged, and Ryne cursed under her breath. "Even your weapons are pathetic," the Avatar spat as she aimed another shot at Ryne.
"I made them lightweight for a reason," Ryne's words were quiet, and Asher realised that the second Beast Spinner wasn't in her hand. Instead, it was glowing faintly. Asher whirled around quickly, raising her blaster, only for the Spinner to slice across her chest. Asher screamed, dropping her weapon.
"You little…" as she flickered again, much worse than before, Asher turned to Ryne, only to be hit again with blue energy. It made the Avatar jerk as Ryne poured as much strength as she dared into it, holding her hand out as Asher fought against it. When she finally stopped, Asher staggered, breathing heavily as her armour vanished. "You…won't…win…" she vowed, not able to stand up straight as she glared at Ryne.
"I already have. I'll see you soon, Ashe," Ryne then smiled as she aimed her Beast-X Cannon at Asher. "No hard feelings, huh? Beast-X Blast!" she fired, and Asher screamed again as the attack ripped through her, and she exploded. Ryne was quiet for a moment, before she gave a quiet laugh and her suit vanished in a haze of pink.
"Whoa!" Steel caught Ryne as she staggered backwards, overwhelmed for a moment from the amount of power she'd put into finally defeating Asher.
"That was amazing," Zoey smiled at her as Ryne caught her breath.
"No time for celebration. We need to get to Nate," she said, standing up straight.
'Digitisation terminated,' the computer's voice reached them, followed by Evox's roar of anger.
"Nate did it!" Zoey exclaimed, and they hurried in the direction that their Gold Ranger had gone. As they did, they heard explosions in the distance, and ran in as Nate stepped away from the computer, looking worried.
"How do we get out of here, huh?" Smash asked, worried.
"We should go back to where the Cybergate is open," Mayor Daniels suggested. "Come on," he led them away, and they hurried to follow him as quickly as they could, as more explosions rocked the entire Cyber Dimension.
"No!" Evox's furious scream was swallowed up by the explosions with him, and the energy moved quickly.
"Quick everyone, just up here," Mayor Daniels spotted the portal where he'd come through.
"It closed on our side, but it's still open here?" Ryne was surprised.
"We might have been working to fix it," Ben and Betty appeared on the other side, waving to them. "Come on guys, you can do it! Let's go!" Betty shouted, encouraging them to pass through.
"We gotta hurry," Nate shouted, looking at the cloud of green that was hurtling towards them, claiming everything in its path.
"Move, move, move!" Mayor Daniels shouted as Ravi hauled Jax into his arms, and Steel did the same with Scramble, knowing they were the slowest ones there, and they all passed through the portal.
"Come on," they all huddled up away from the Cybergate, exhausted.
"Wait…" Ryne looked up as Mayor Daniels stood in the middle of the large metal construct.
"Where's Devon?" he called, staring through the portal for any sign of his son.
"Mr. Mayor, get away from the portal!" Zoey warned, before there was a loud crashing noise as the explosion travelled through the portal, hitting Mayor Daniels and throwing him to the ground. He groaned, barely moving.
"Mayor Daniels!" the others cried, and Ryne dropped to the ground beside him, her skin lighting up in a glow. It flickered, but she pushed it to keep going, healing the burns that covered his skin, ruining his suit. His eyes shot open, and he looked up at her.
"Young lady, just how is it that you glowing isn't the strangest thing I've seen today?" she asked, and Ryne smiled at him. He sat up, and the others helped him to his feet as Ryne caught her breath and stood as well, all of them looking around. "Devon…" Mayor Daniels turned back to the portal, which had been covered by a green smoke.
"I don't see anything," Ravi gulped.
"Wait, is that…?" Zoey spotted two figures as the smoke began to fade. "Devon, Cruise!" she exclaimed as all of them were relieved to see their leader, who was being supported by Cruise as they made their way through the portal.
"Dad," Devon smiled up at his dad as he laughed, walking over to help him. "Guys…" he was glad to see everyone was there as he stepped out of the Cybergate and away from Cruise and his dad to demorph.
"You guys okay?" Ravi asked, a hand on Devon's shoulder and his other on Cruise's.
"We're fine now," Devon grinned. "It's good to be back," he said, and his father moved to help support him, seeing how exhausted he was. Devon frowned when he saw the state of the man's suit, which hadn't been as bad before they'd split up. "What happened to you?" he asked, and Mayor Daniels glanced at Ryne.
"Nothing now," he said, chuckling as she grinned back.
"Good work you two," Nate told Ben and Betty as he turned to them. "You fixed the Cybergate and saved us," he said, and Betty's eyes widened.
"We did?" she asked, startled that their work had saved them.
"You're darn right we did!" Ben grinned, high-fiving his sister.
"Son, I'm so proud of you," Mayor Daniels told Devon, hugging him tightly as Devon smiled brightly, having been wanting desperately to hear those words for so long. The others exchanged smiles, knowing that it meant a lot to their friend. "I always admired the Red Ranger. So…in a way, I was proud of you all along," he chuckled.
"Thanks, dad," Devon smiled up at him, tears stinging his eyes.
"It's…really over," Smash was the one to point it out. Ryne's eyes widened, and she sprinted out of the bay without a word.
"Ryne!" Scramble followed her, wheeling along and out of view.
"Is she okay?" Mayor Daniels asked, concerned about the young woman who had saved his life.
"She's about to be," Ravi grinned.
Ryne stumbled as she made her way into the lab, which was quiet without Nate there mumbling to himself about whatever it was that he was working on. She tripped, banging against the tables, but ignored the pain in her hip as she caught it on the edge of the table, hurrying to the back.
"Please…please be okay," Ryne pleaded as she stood over Asher's sleeping form. Roxy had taken a little time to wake up, but Nate had attributed some of that to her deteriorating form when her pod had been sabotaged. "Asher, you've never slept in in your whole life, you're not about to start now," Ryne told her cousin, before hearing a gasp that made her jump. It hadn't come from Asher, but from the pod behind her. Quickly she turned around, pulling the lid of the pod up as Blaze blinked up, disorientated.
"Wh…what-?"
"Hey, you're okay," Ryne came into view, gently touching his arm to soothe him. Blaze blinked up at her as the memories came back to him, belonging to the Avatar he'd been linked to.
"You're…"
"Ryne. Nice to meet you," she couldn't help but laugh a little, smiling at him. Blaze relaxed, settling down as things started to become clearer.
"Yeah…you too," Blaze smiled back at her, but it was weak from exhaustion. They both looked around quickly, as there was a thud, and a groan.
"Ow…" Asher groaned, her head throbbing after she'd hit it off the lid of her support pod. "What is this?" she grumbled, before the lid was almost yanked off her.
"Ashe!" she groaned when a weight landed on her, and it took her a moment to realised that she was being hugged tightly by Ryne. "You're awake!" Ryne was already crying, her entire body shaking as Asher took a moment, adjusting to suddenly being awake after so long of being linked to her own Avatar. Then she smiled, tears already running down her face, and she hugged Ryne back as tightly as she could.
"Yeah…no hard feelings," she mumbled, burying her face into Ryne's shoulder and letting Ryne cry hard.
The next week passed quickly, as all of the Rangers were ordered to take the time to rest up after a fierce final battle. Despite having completely exhausted herself, Ryne initially refused to rest, instead spending as much time as she could with Asher, until Commander Shaw threatened to call her parents. So she'd reluctantly done so, and when they were all called in, all the Rangers were recovered.
"Trust, loyalty, courage. Sure, that's at the core of a good team. But the key to your teamwork, is friendship," Mayor Daniels stood in front of the Ranger team, who wore jumpsuits highlighted in their Ranger colours. They smiled at each other, agreeing with the man's words. "One week ago, that teamwork saved our city," Mayor Daniels said as Commander Shaw stepped forwards, pinning a medal to Ravi's chest. She smiled warmly, proud of her son, and he smiled back. She then moved onto Ryne, smiling at her as she accepted the medal. Nearby, Asher stood with Blaze and Roxy, looking proud of her cousin. "So, for my first act as re-elected Mayor…" the man continued as Commander Shaw pinned a medal to Zoey's chest. "I couldn't be more proud to award each of you the Coral Harbour Medal of Valour," he announced as Commander Shaw gave Devon, and then Nate, their medals. The others applauded loudly.
"Thank you," Steel said as Commander Shaw pressed his medal to his metal chest.
"Ben and Betty Burke, please come forward," the two, who'd been standing back clapping with the Beast Bots, froze. For a moment, they were unsure, wondering what problem they'd caused, before Lewis pushed them forwards. General Burke stared at his children, also wondering what was going on. "Ben and Betty, in recognition of your bravery-"
"Are these for us?" Ben couldn't stop himself from interrupting the Commander as she pressed the medals to their chests as well. She smiled, nodding.
"Dad, we got medals!" Betty exclaimed, excited as General Burke openly wept with pride.
"Proud of you," Asher said as she hugged Ryne, who smiled back. Asher, like Blaze and Roxy, was undergoing physical therapy after months of them being in a coma, and so was still weak, but she wasn't going to miss the ceremony.
"Thanks," Ryne touched the medal. She hadn't expected such an honour - all she'd wanted all along was to save Asher, but it still felt nice to have her efforts recognised.
"Everybody, listen up!" Steel's voice cut through the chatter. "We've gotta take a group selfie. It's what humans do on special occasions, and this is a pretty special occasion," he said as he attached a phone to the selfie stick he'd gotten hold of.
"Hey, that's my phone," Ryne realised, seeing the little charm of a fox swinging from it.
"Perfect, you can send us all the picture," Devon teased, and Ryne rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"Whoever taught Steel about selfies, we're going to have words," she vowed, and Ravi tried not to look nervous.
"Come on," Zoey laughed, pulling the Pink Ranger in to stand beside her. Asher then stood beside her with Roxy, and they all got in close, putting their arms around one another.
"Ready?" Steel called. "Three, two, one…"
"Cheese!"
And that's the end of season one!
I hope you've liked it, it's been a lot of fun so far, and there's still plenty to go.
I'll be taking a little break (I know, I'm only just back, what the hell), but I've not had much motivation writing this recently as two other bunnies have been bugging me recently instead.
Let me know what you think so far! And yes, we will eventually find out Ryne's pairing. Eventually.
