Chapter 19: Believe It Or Not

The atmosphere in Coral Harbour was so relaxed, nobody would have guessed that the city had narrowly avoided destruction only two months prior.

With the attacks on the city now non-existent, the people who lived in the city were more than happy to continue on with their lives without fear of their day being interrupted by robots trying to steal the Morph-X that powered everything.

One person taking advantage of that peace was Ryne, who was currently on her skateboard making her way to Riptide Gym and cursing under her breath as she pushed her board to go as quickly as it could.

"She's gonna kill me," she muttered to herself, jumping the curb and turning the corner as the gym came into view. Ryne stepped off her board, kicking it up into her hands, and hurried inside.

Riptide Gym was as busy as ever; the open space had people using the exercise machines, while others were just sitting enjoying the food or even just the juices or smoothies. The normal chatter, however, was drowned out by the shouts coming from the centre of the room where the mats had been laid out for the people who booked the area out for martial arts training. Mixed with the shouts were the bangs of wood colliding with wood, making it hard to hear anything else.

Ryne went straight over to the tables, spotting the young woman sitting by herself drinking an orange smoothie. Her hair had been cut shorter and had been left loose around her shoulders, but was still kept neatly. Her head was angled slightly, her green eyes on the two sparring in the middle of the training mats.

"Asher!" she turned her head quickly, and smiled warmly as Ryne reached her. "Sorry I'm late," Ryne apologised, setting her board down and flinging her arms around her cousin. Asher laughed lightly, hugging her back.

"Don't worry about it. There was no rush," she soothed as Ryne let her go and smiled back.

It had only been two months, but Asher was already looking stronger after finally waking from her Avatar-induced coma. Ryne had stayed with her throughout, her relief that Asher was back obvious even now.

As Ryne relaxed, Asher leaned back in her seat, lifting her smoothie to take a drink. "Go get a drink, they should be finishing up soon," she told Ryne, who nodded and wandered over to the counter.

'Due to its success in Coral Harbour, the whole world is embracing Morph-X technology,' after ordering a strawberry smoothie, Ryne looked up at the TV as she recognised the voice. On the screen, was Devon's father, the Mayor of Coral Harbour, as he was interviewed in Paris. 'France's new Morph-X tower will bring unlimited energy to Paris. It's just the latest addition to our growing network that will soon circle the globe,' Mayor Daniels announced.

"Seems Morph-X is even more popular that people thought," Chloe, the girl standing behind the bar was pouring the contents of the blender into a glass for Ryne.

"Clean energy all over the world. It's incredible," Ryne admitted, smiling softly.

'With the threat of Evox gone, it's my honour to help the world achieve clean energy one tower at a time. Earth will be greener and more peaceful than ever, thanks to Grid Battleforce, and the Power Rangers,' Ryne's smile grew at his words.

"Here you go," Chloe slid the glass to Ryne.

"Thanks," the Pink Ranger took it and made her way back to the table to sit opposite Asher.

"When's your next physio session?" Ryne asked as Asher looked up from the book that was on the table in front of her.

"Tomorrow. Dad's insisting on being there," Asher rolled her eyes, and Ryne smiled. After being in a coma for so long, Asher, Blaze and Roxy had been going through physio to get back their strength. And on top of that, Asher's parents had been around a lot more, to her exasperation.

"They're just worried about you," she said, and Asher huffed in response. A few strands of her brown hair fell in her face, but she didn't swipe them away.

"Hey guys," they looked up, as Blaze fell into the seat beside Ryne. Devon then took the seat beside Asher, both sweaty but grinning after their workout.

"You couldn't get changed first?" Asher complained, wrinkling her nose.

"So rude," Blaze looked offended by her complaint.

"How was training?" Ryne asked, hiding her smile by taking a long drink of her smoothie.

"Was great," Devon grinned, taking a drink from his bottle of water that he'd brought with him. "Blaze has some great moves," he said. Ryne glanced to Asher, both a little entertained as they remembered the first time Blaze and Devon had 'sparred'.

"Devon's a great teacher," Blaze shrugged, looking modest. "How are you guys doing? Much planned for the day?" he asked, looking down at Ryne beside him.

"Ranger training, then food," Ryne said simply, making all three laugh lightly. They were all aware of how much food Ryne was able to put away. She seemed to always be hungry.

"I have to meet my family," Asher sighed, closing over the book.

"Well, you were in a coma for months," Devon pointed out, smiling a little at her exasperation. "They're bound to be a little…overbearing after all that," he said. Asher didn't look comforted by his words.

"He's right. My family barely let me out of their sight most of the time these days," Blaze nodded in agreement. "Same with Roxy. My sister kept waking me up ever hour when I first went home," he added, making them laugh.

"Yeah…my brother was the same," Asher nodded, thinking of Nathan and how he'd wake her up every hour during the night. He only stopped when she threatened to dump him in the Cimmerion Forest.

"Just give them some time to adjust to having you back," Ryne spoke up. "Things will be back to normal soon enough," she said confidently.

"She's right," Blaze agreed, nudging Ryne lightly with his elbow.

"It happens on occasion," Ryne retorted, making him laugh. Her wrist com then beeped as Devon's did the same, and they looked up at each other.

"Time for training. Let's go," Devon stood, and Ryne drained her glass of the last of her smoothie before standing too.

"See you guys later," the two waved, and headed off to return to Grid Battleforce.

"You up for some sparring before we go?" Blaze asked Asher. Her eyebrow rose just slightly, and she grinned back at him.

"Absolutely," she nodded, getting to her feet as Blaze grinned. "I hope you remember the taste of victory from beating Devon, cause you're about to lose now," Asher warned him, making the young man still sitting laugh.

"Bring it on," he challenged.


Training was the same as ever, with Lewis leading the group with their usual routine. While Zoey and Ravi were doing target practice, aiming at the moving targets that Nate had helped set up along the wall, Devon and Ryne were sparring.

"Still a little tired from training with Blaze?" Ryne teased after landing a blow to the side of the Red Ranger's ribs.

"Giving you a chance to wake up, since you showed up late again," he retorted, dodging the next punch Ryne threw. Lewis shook his head, wondering if every Ranger team sparred verbally while they sparred, and glanced over to where Zoey and Ravi were grinning as they fired their weapons, having turned it into a competition to see who could hit more of the targets.

"I think this job is going to age me prematurely," he murmured to himself, before there was a loud thud, and they saw Devon on the ground, having had his legs swept out from under him by Ryne.

"Nice move," Devon said as Ryne offered her hand to pull him back up.

"Shouldn't have given me that chance to wake up," Ryne told him, and both laughed as Lewis shook his head.

"Hey, everyone," they looked around as Nate arrived, wheeling in a trolley carrying a new weapon.

"Hey Nate," they all greeted the Gold Ranger.

"Where's Steel?" Ravi asked as he helped Nate wheel the trolley over to the target practice section. "It's not like him to miss training," he considered.

"I haven't seen him today," Nate admitted. "I've been pretty busy," he explained, looking down at the blaster that was balanced on a stand between two of the transporter crystals. "Zoey's been helping me work on this project. Check it out," Nate said, sharing a smile with the Yellow Ranger, before lifting the plastic cover off.

"They really couldn't be more obvious," Lewis whispered to Ryne. She hid her smile, but nodded her agreement. It was incredibly obvious that the two had feelings for one another, as she started helping him with more and more projects despite her inexperience, while Nate would drop practically anything to help her out with whatever she asked. "I've decided to call this the Beast-X Ultra Blaster," Nate told them, oblivious to Lewis and Ryne's reactions. "Wanna try it out?" Nate offered.

"Sure!" Ravi was the first to speak, excited to try the new weapon out.

"It's not only more powerful than your Beast-X Blasters, but it's also got rapid fire, just in case anyone tries to come after our Morph-X again," Nate explained. He shrugged, trying to look casual, but his pride was apparent.

In the two months since they'd defeated Evox, things had been quiet in Coral Harbour, with no real need for the Power Rangers. However, the Rangers continued to train, and Nate continued to upgrade their arsenal, just in case that changed.

"Let's give it a try," Ravi charged up the weapon, and squeezed the trigger. While there was little recoil, Ravi's eyes narrowed as he began to struggle with the weapon. Lewis groaned as he watched the shots miss the targets, hitting the wall and causing it to crumble. "Nate?" he cried, and all of them grabbed a hold where they could, trying to steady the weapon while Nate was able to power it down.

"Sorry! Just a small…stabiliser malfunction?" Nate apologised as he took the weapon back, sounding a little unsure.

"Small?!" Ravi repeated, staring at him.

"That's putting it lightly," Lewis sighed heavily, staring mournfully at the destroyed target range.

"It's got the power we want?" Zoey offered, but her optimism was weak. Her words were then followed up by a loud crash, as the last of the targets hit the ground and shattered.

"Yeah…I'd hate to be that wall," Devon said, and Nate groaned. Ryne shook her head, not saying anything. While Nate occasionally asked for her help when he was building new things, it was happening less and less, as Zoey was around more and more.

"Guys!" they looked around to see Steel finally arriving, dragging a whiteboard behind him. "I have an urgent announcement. It's very bad news," Steel's voice was grim. "Evox is back!" all of them were taken aback by the declaration.

"What?!"

"He is?"

"How?" Ravi, Devon and Ryne all spoke at the same time, while Nate placed the Ultra Blaster back in its case.

"How do you know?" Nate asked his brother.

"Once you look at the evidence, it's obvious!" Steel turned the whiteboard around, revealing maps, pictures and newspaper clippings all pinned to it, with red string linking it all together. "Listen, I've been doing the research for weeks now. I've found some pretty troubling stuff!" the rest of the group were silence, but all of them visibly relaxed. It was hard to take the board seriously, especially with a newspaper clipping about the Loch Ness Monster, and even a picture marked 'Lizard People Underground?'. "Look, I know it's a lot to take in, even I was lost for words!" he exclaimed as Zoey walked up to the board.

"So…this is your evidence?" she asked, taking down a newspaper clipping.

"Precisely!" Steel didn't notice her smile. "Exhibit one; remember that Morph-X tower spill in Sector Lima-3-2?" he asked, taking the paper and turning to the group. They all nodded, having heard about it from the Commander. "It's all cleaned up! I checked the logs, no clean-up crews were ever assigned. That's a hundred tons of Morph-X unaccounted for. It must have been stolen!" Steel insisted, holding out the paper.

"No, no, no," Devon shook his head, taking the paper from him. "My dad said it was taken care of. He's the mayor, he'd know," he soothed.

"Even mayors can make mistakes, Devon. We have to investigate!" Steel argued.

"Steel, Evox is gone. We destroyed him," Nate tried to soothe his brother. "You were there!" he pointed out. Steel didn't respond. "Underground lizard people? Earthquake machines? These are ridiculous," he shook his head.

"The earthquake machine, not so much," Ryne commented, now standing beside Zoey as she looked at the papers. "One of the Galaxy Warriors contestants built a 'Tsunami machine' that created earthquakes under the sea. Mum told me," she said simply. Nate sighed. She wasn't helping to deter the half-human, half-robot of anything. "Some of this other stuff seems right too," she added, passing over the artwork depicting a lizard person.

"She's right," Zoey agreed. "But you can't get obsessed," she told Steel, turning to him.

"I'm not! I'm sure I'm right!" Steel insisted.

"You need to have proof!" Ravi pointed out as Devon rolled his eyes.

"Enough with the conspiracy theories," he added, and Steel wheeled around.

"You're kidding!" he protested.

"No, I'm not," Devon denied, still holding the newspaper article in his hand. "My dad is back in town. It's been ages, and I can't wait to see him," he said. After Evox's defeat, he'd become a lot closer with his dad, repairing their once strained relationship.

"Look, when you defeated Evox, it was sudden, and it takes time to adjust to the peace that follows not only an incredibly dangerous final battle, but months of being on constant alert," Lewis spoke up, stepping in to avoid Devon getting annoyed. Nobody spoke for a moment, and he shook his head. "That's enough training for today. We'll pick it up tomorrow. Nate, Steel, you both better show," he warned the pair. Nate nodded, embarrassed, while Steel didn't reply, having turned his attention back to the board.

"You guys go. I've gotta get this stabiliser fixed," Nate said, already inspecting the new blaster. "It's gonna take a while," he said as he fiddled with it, using a screwdriver from his pocket.

"I have a suggestion for tomorrow's training," they all looked around as Steel spoke up suddenly. "How about a run through the woods?" he suggested eagerly.

"Sounds good," Nate agreed.

"What do you think?" Devon asked Lewis. Their instructor had his sharp blue eyes on Steel, momentarily quiet as he seemed to consider it.

"Sure. I don't see why not. It's going to take a little while to get this fixed anyway," Lewis agreed, glancing over his shoulder.

"Sorry…" both Nate and Ravi apologised.

"It would be nice to get out in the fresh air for some training," Ryne agreed.

"Fantastic!" Steel exclaimed as they headed for the exit. "See you in the morning, then," he waved, keeping one hand behind his back.

While the rest of the Rangers traipsed out, chattering amongst themselves, Nate took an extra moment to study his Ultra Blaster, before wheeling it off back to his lab. Steel stayed behind, and Lewis turned to the destroyed range in front of him. He closed his eyes when a couple more pieces of the wall fell down, clattering into the wreckage.

"Nate's going to regret not testing this first," he muttered, before glancing around as he heard Steel rushing out of the room. His eyebrows furrowed, and while he hoped that Steel was wrong, he also hoped that he wouldn't get himself in trouble.


The next morning came too soon for Ryne, who was practically dragged out of bed by Zoey when they'd come to pick her up.

"Ryne, we've been doing this for months," Ravi laughed as they got into the car. As soon as she shut the door, Ryne slumped against it, her eyes barely open. "How do you still sleep so late?" he asked her as he started to drive.

"It's been months and you're still asking me that?" Ryne mumbled, rubbing her eyes before opening to peer out the window at their surroundings. "I don't do mornings," she answered simply. "And it's not late. It's only 8am," she argued, making the others laugh, not surprised in the slightest.

It didn't take too long to reach the entrance to the forest, and after parking, the group walked towards the trees.

"What an awesome morning!" Zoey smiled widely, admiring the bright blue sky above them. Ryne just grunted.

"Isn't that the Lima-3-2 tower?" Devon asked as he saw the Morph-X tower in the distance. "The one that leaked?" he remembered from what Steel had said the previous night.

"Indeed it is!" Steel confirmed. "Very observant, Devon," he said, pleased.

"What a coincidence…" Ryne murmured, watching their Silver Ranger carefully. Even though she was still tired, she could still tell that something was off. However, before she could try and press it, Lewis pushed to the front of the group.

"Come on, we're not here for a walk. Keep up with me," he called over his shoulder as he started to jog. The rest of the group followed, jogging too to keep up with Lewis as he weaved around the trees, ducking to avoid low hanging branches. They jumped over fallen trees, straying from the stone path as Lewis seemed aware of the best route to make them all have to work harder.

"Come on, buddy!" Ravi called over his shoulder as he saw Steel slowing down. The Silver Ranger was bringing up the rear, glancing around as if expecting to see someone else around.

"Coming!" he called, quickly catching up to them.

Lewis led the Rangers further and further into the forest; so deep that they could no longer hear the bustle of the busy city. The only sounds around were the birdsong, the chirping of insects, and the wind rustling the leaves on the bushes and trees.

Their surroundings comforted Ryne, who wanted to stop just to be able to close her eyes and listen. While she was always happiest when she was working on some project or another, she also loved being out in the wilderness where it was quiet and peaceful. It always reminded her of the Magical Realm.

As Lewis went to pick up the pace, pushing the group even harder, Steel called out. "Hold up, guys! I think it's time for a break," he suggested, and everyone slowed to a stop.

"Yeah, okay," Lewis allowed, though he wondered just why it was Steel calling for a break. While he was half-human, his robotic body meant that he didn't get tired normally, and he most certainly didn't get out of breath.

"Man, look at this scenery," Ravi murmured as he looked around the trees.

"It's so nice," Ryne commented as she took a drink of water. Her face was warm and flushed from exertion, and the water helped cool her down, letting her heart rate slow back down.

"Guys, check this out," Steel gestured for them all to gather around. "Does this person look familiar?" Steel asked, holding out a photograph that had been printed out. They leaned in to study it, and saw a cloaked figure in the forest.

"Not really," Nate admitted, smiling a little. It was impossible to tell who it was.

"Okay, Devon. What about you?" Steel turned to the Red Ranger, who was sitting on a mossy log as he caught his breath.

"Uh, what person? You mean that blurry shape?" he asked, squinting at the picture.

"Yeah, I mean, for all we know that could be Phineas wandering around again," Ryne shrugged as she took a look.

"Who?" Zoey asked.

"He's a Troblin. You know, half-Goblin, half-Troll?" she said, and when she was met with a blank stare, Ryne gave a quiet sigh. "You guys have clearly never been to Briarwood," she muttered, a little exasperated. Lewis grinned at her words. "But yeah, that doesn't look like anyone," she told Steel.

"Really?" Steel groaned. "Clearly, it's Evox' right-hand man, Scrozzle!" he exclaimed.

"Not again," Nate groaned.

"It was taken here two days ago," Steel said, not hearing the tone in his brother's voice. "I found it 'online', so it must be true!" he insisted.

"Yeah, nobody lies on the Internet," Ryne rolled her eyes, her words dripping with sarcasm.

"Is that why you suggested we come here today?" Lewis asked, irritation in his voice. He was very precious with the training he planned for the Rangers, he'd be the first to admit it, so he didn't like Steel manipulating that for half-baked theories.

"Maybe…" Steel was a terrible liar.

"Stop this already!" Ravi pleaded with him. "Scrozzle's toast," he pointed out, all of them remembering the explosion in the Cyber Dimension that should have wiped out anyone caught up in it.

"I think…this is your Scrozzle," Devon's voice was quiet as he walked by Steel, brushing fallen leaves off a large tree stump. "It just got overgrown," he said, and Steel groaned loudly.

"Impossible!" he exclaimed, turning to the others. "Listen, there's got to be some other clues," he argued, but his desperation was clear as he started to look around. "Look! Footprints! You can't deny a robot made these!" Steel gestured to the tracks in the dirt.

"A half-robot, maybe," Ryne said, leaning against the wooden stump.

"Those are your footprints, Steel," Nate said, unimpressed as he folded his arms.

"Huh? Oh…well…there may be some resemblance, but-"

"No buts," Nate stopped him. "You can't go around making wild claims without any proof," he said, sounding stern. It wasn't often that he put his foot down with Steel, but when he did, he always held his ground.

"Okay, fine!" Steel huffed, unhappy that they weren't backing him up. "I'll do this myself," he turned and stormed off.

"Steel!" Ryne called after him. "Where are you going?" she asked, worried about him.

"To find proof! Since you seem to love it so much," with that, Steel disappeared into the thickets, ignoring their calls to come back.

"I think we hurt his feelings," Nate sighed.

"We better go after him," Lewis said, not wanting Steel to get lost in the forest by himself.

"You okay?" while most of them hurried after Steel, Ryne spoke to Devon, who'd gone back to pick up his pack. "This stuff about Evox coming back, it seems like it's got you more worked up than usual," she commented, thinking about how frustrated he'd been about it the previous day. And even now, he'd been quieter than normal.

The Red Ranger was quiet for a long moment, seeming to hesitate as he considered what to say to Ryne. For someone who seemed so vacant, she was sharp, and rarely missed when one of them was acting strange.

"I had a lot of nightmares, after we beat him," Devon admitted. Ryne was one of his closest friends, and he didn't want to lie to her. "About when they had me as a prisoner, and about my dad coming to help," he shook his head, eyebrows furrowed. "Evox coming back…I don't want those nightmares to come back…or for them to be real," he admitted. Ryne offered a gentle, sympathetic smile.

"I get that. None of us slept well at first, and I figured you would least of all," she pointed out. "Even if Evox does somehow come back though, you have us. We're your friends and your team, we can stop anything," Ryne told him confidently. Devon nodded.

"Yeah. You're right. Thanks," he smiled back, already feeling a little better from her words.

"We better catch up and find Steel. But you can talk to us, you know?" Ryne pointed out.

"Yeah," Devon nodded again, and the two hurried to catch up with the others to find Steel.


"Steel!" Nate shouted, trying to get his brother's attention. Despite having followed him immediately, they'd lost sight of the Silver Ranger.

"The trail's gone cold," Ravi complained as they looked around.

"No it hasn't," Ryne pushed to the lead, continuing to hurry along. She scanned the ground carefully, and the others followed behind her.

"How can you tell? Is it that thing with your eyes letting you see more than us?" Zoey asked her curiously. Ryne shook her head, not looking up.

"No. I trained at the Wind Ninja academy for a year. One thing they taught us was how to track people," she explained lightly.

"You're a Ninja?" Devon's eyes lit up. They'd all heard about the Ninja Academies from their Ranger studies.

"Not really. I dropped out after a year," Ryne shook her head. "I only joined because of my family. Didn't really suit me," she said.

"What else did you learn?" Devon pressed as Ryne continued to follow the tracks.

"Eh, just basic elemental stuff and life-lessons. You know, stuff like not fighting yourself," she answered, before stopping abruptly.

"What's wrong?" Nate asked as he saw Ryne frown.

"Those aren't Steel's footprints," she said, pointing ahead to where there were more footprints. "Come on!" she hurried in the direction that the footprints went, and before long they found themselves on the outskirts of the forest, leading up to the mountains. Peering through the vegetation, the group inhaled sharply, horrified by the sight.

"Unbelievable…" Nate whispered as they stared out. Not too far away, they saw Tronics carrying large barrels, while Scrozzle barked orders at them all. "Steel really was onto something," Nate's guilt grew as he realised his brother was right.

"Hurry up with the Morph-X! Otherwise Evox will blast you to bolts!" Scrozzle shrieked at the Tronics, and his words carried over to them, making their blood run cold.

"Steel was right. Evox is back," Ravi hissed.

"And he's wasted no time with getting a new henchman. Look at that creep," Ryne gestured to the red and silver Robotron who had large drill bits sticking out of his shoulders and down his chest, with one club-like arm.

"Get a move on, Tronics!" he shouted as the purple-clad robots continued to carry barrels from a nearby cave.

"Another drilling Robotron," Nate murmured.

"Good thing Ravi got over his fear," Ryne added, and Ravi shot her a droll stare. He wasn't surprised that she could make comments like that at a time like this. "What's to bet the Morph-X spill in the tower nearby wasn't an accident at all?" she wondered aloud.

"And it wasn't cleaned up…" Devon realised. "It was stolen," he muttered. They then looked around as Lewis' wrist-comm beeped loudly.

"Come in, Commander," he answered quickly, hoping they weren't noticed.

'Lewis, how's the training run?' Commander Shaw asked, checking in on the team.

"Uh…" Lewis looked uneasy. "Scrozzle and a Robotron are here. They're stealing Morph-X for Evox," he reported, and he saw her eyes widen through the link. He'd never seen her caught off guard like this before.

'What? Are you sure?' the Commander asked.

"Positive," Lewis confirmed, and Devon leaned in so he could be seen through it.

"We'll get more intel, and be in touch," Devon answered her.

'Put the Zords on standby,' Commander Shaw's instruction could be heard as she directed the order to someone nearby. 'Be careful,' she told the team. Devon nodded, and they ended the link.

"Lewis, you start heading back. If you can find Steel, tell him where we are," Devon told their instructor, not wanting to risk him getting involved with any fighting. While he could hold his own and was a better fighter than they were, he wasn't a Ranger and didn't have the protection their suits provided.

"Will do," Lewis agreed, turning and running off back into the woods.

"The Morph-X is ready for teleportation," the new Drilltron reported to Scrozzle, who clapped his hands together with glee.

"This day is going to be great!" he declared, cackling loudly.

"Really?" Devon's call earned their attention, and they whirled around quickly as Scrozzle's laughter stopped abruptly. "Well, we're about to ruin it," he declared. "It's Morphin' time!" Devon shouted, and they called on their Morphers.

"ACTIVATE BEAST POWER!" the five shouted together, and Morphed into their suits in a whirl of colours. "Unleash the beast!" they declared.

"And that's my cue to get out of here!" Scrozzle gulped, as cowardly as ever as he ran over to the barrels and vanished in a flash of purple, taking the barrels with him.

"No! The Morph-X!" Zoey cried out.

"We can worry about that later," Ryne told her, already in a fighting stance as the Tronics gathered by the Robotron.

"She's right. That's the least of your worries," Drilltron taunted them, gesturing to the Tronics. They chittered loudly, running forwards.

"Go get 'em!" Devon led the charge, and the team began to fight off the Tronics.

"Even now you guys are weak," Ryne taunted as she dodged the attacks from the robots, knocking them away with powerful kicks that made them disappear in a flash of purple. It didn't take them long to defeat the foot-soldiers, and they hurried to help Nate as he was knocked back by the Robotron.

"It's as tough as the last Drilltron," he complained as Devon caught him.

"I'm just getting started!" the robot slammed his club-like arm to the ground, kicking up a wave of dust before the shockwave tossed them off their feet. "Now seize them!" Drilltron ordered as more Tronics raced in. "You know the drill, Rangers," he taunted. "It's time for destruction," he approached them. The Rangers struggled, restrained by the Tronics.

"Not a chance," Ravi growled. The others struggled too, and blue sparks shot from Ryne's hands as she tried to let her powers flow. However, they jerked her around, and her battered body protested. After two months, she was unused to the beating they had taken.

"Hey, drill-head!" a shout echoed through the rocky battlefield. Drilltron whirled around, spotting Steel leaping down from above. "ACTIVATE BEAST POWER!" he Morphed as he dropped down, and as he landed, he swung his blaster around and fired. "Striker Beast Blast!" Steel shouted, and the blast exploded, sending Drilltron flying into the distance, vanishing in the trees. "Get down!" Steel didn't hesitate, turning and shooting the Tronics to free his team.

"Steel!" Devon called, relieved to see their friend.

"I found Lewis in the woods, he told me what happened. I came as fast as I could," Steel said as he hurried over to them.

"You were just in time," Ravi told him.

"Steel, we've gotta talk," Zoey started, taking a step towards the Silver Ranger as she fidgeted with her hands nervously. "We've gotta say-" she was interrupted when their Wrist Comms beeped loudly.

"What's up, Commander?" Devon answered.

'A Gigadrone detector just activated,' Commander Shaw warned gravely. 'Zords are en route, but it's about to land…' she trailed off for a moment as she suddenly seemed unsure of what she was seeing on the detectors. 'Right where you're standing!' she warned.

"What? Right here?" Devon was confused by her warning, before there was a loud cracking sound in the sky above. When they looked up, they saw the green lights of Scrozzle's teleporter. "Incoming, look out!" Devon shouted, and the six cried out as they ran out of the way, diving aside to avoid being crushed. It landed with a huge crash, causing the ground to rumble for some distance, while dust and debris rained down on the Rangers.

"No way!" Steel gulped.

"Let's check it out, come on," Devon led them towards the massive hole that had appeared in the ground in front of them.

"It's not coming after us?" Ryne wondered, tilting her head as she peered down into the darkness. When it had appeared, she assumed it was aiming to destroy them.

"The leaked Morph-X is still underground!" Nate realised. "That Gigadrone must be drilling down to steal it," he considered. "We have to stop it!" he said.

"I just knew something like this would happen," Steel groaned, worried about the Morph-X laying unguarded.

"You should have minded your own business, Rangers," they whirled around as Drilltron reappeared, stomping towards them as leaves and twigs fell from his body. "'Cause you won't be able to dig yourselves out of this fight," he warned.

"Ryne and I can handle the Robotron," Steel offered, and the Pink Ranger nodded.

"We've got this," she agreed confidently. "You guys go after the Gigadrone," Ryne told them.

"Right," Devon agreed, and they watched as Ryne and Steel ran towards Drilltron, kicking him away from the massive hole. The two worked in tandem, and as Ryne kicked the Robotron again, he stumbled back, leaving him open to a strong punch from Steel. The two then kicked it to the ground, sweeping his feet out from under him.

Nearby, the Nate and Zoey used their Zords to carefully lower the Devon's Racer Zord into the hole so that he could look for the Gigadrone. A moment later, two Gigatronics appeared, and Ravi started to fight them off, defending Nate and Zoey, who were helpless while Devon was still below.

"Beast Spinners!" Ryne shouted, holding out her hands. The Beast Spinners, which she'd repaired after her fight with Asher's Avatar, appeared in a flash, and she threw one at Drilltron. He jerked backwards as the spiked weapon cut through his armour, stopping him from hitting Steel, before the other caught him.

"Nice moves," Steel told her as Ryne used her powers to manipulate the Spinners, pulling them back to her hands.

"Thanks," she grinned as she caught them easily. She had been practising a lot with the weapons even after Evox's defeat, finding that they really were helping her to maintain and control her powers, just like Zoey had suggested.

"Beast Slash!" Steel shouted, using his sword to deflect Drilltron's followup attack. "We're not finished with you!" he declared as the two followed.

"Enough!" Drilltron slammed the ground with his spinning drill-bit, causing Steel and Ryne to stumble. He then laughed as he kicked Ryne aside, making her cry out, and turned to Steel as he was thrown into a tree. "Say goodbye!" he laughed, raising his weapon over his head.

"No thanks!" Steel dove out of the way, and the tree came crashing down as the drill smashed through it.

"Leave him alone!" Drilltron cried out as blue energy slammed against his body, arcing through the air like lightning. Ryne held out her hand, pushing the Robotron backwards. She then increased the power with a yell, and Drilltron was lifted off his feet, unable to fight the energy that crackled in the air. "Transport Beast-X Blaster," as Steel moved to her side, Ryne swapped her Beast Spinners for her blaster. Both the Pink and Silver Rangers fired several shots that peppered Drilltron.

"Sabre charged!"

"Cannon ready!" the two started to charge up their weapons, taking aim as Drilltron sparked dangerously.

"Uh oh…" he gulped, looking up at them with uncertainty.

"Beast-X Cannon, Blast!" Ryne shouted, firing the powerful blast that forced her arms up with the force.

"Striker Beast Slash!" Steel followed up with a powerful strike with his sword, landing behind Drilltron. The Robotron screamed, before collapsing and exploding.

"That was awesome!" Ryne called to him as she jogged over to the Silver Ranger. He nodded. "We'd better go help the others," she suggested.

"They need air support. Time for me to take to the sky!" Steel declared, before grabbing his communicator from his side. "Commander, deploy the Jet and Racer Zords," he requested.

"Perfect," Ryne grinned. "Let's go," they hurried to join the battle.

Above the treeline, Ravi was struggling with the two Gigatronics, who managed to jump over him to turn their attention to Nate and Zoey. Stuck reeling in the Drilldrone that Devon had hooked, they were unable to pull away or defend themselves.

"Nate! Zoey!" Ravi gasped as he pushed his Zord towards them. However, before the two Gigatronics could fire, they were blasted from the sky, followed up by Ryne's Racer Zord colliding with them. "Thanks guys," Ravi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phenomenal timing!" Nate cheered.

"Thought we'd make a flashy entrance," Ryne called with a grin. "Ready to get back to action, Scramble?" she asked her Beast Bot.

"Oh yeah!" the Pink Squirrel laughed. "Let's get this done!" she cheered. Ryne grinned and kicked up the speed, turning back towards the Gigadrones. They pushed into the air, colliding with the two Gigadrones to throw them backwards towards Ravi.

"Take this!" he swung up with one powerful fist in his Zord's Gorilla Mode, and threw them both high into the sky. "Rocket Storm!" Ravi shouted. Missiles fired from his Zord's shoulders, destroying the two Gigatronics. There was a rumble from underground, and a moment later the head of the struggling Gigadrone appeared.

"Whoa, looks like we've caught a big one," Nate laughed.

"I'll help you," Steel offered. His Jet Zord flew in, changing forms, and grabbed the Drilldrone as it tried to get free.

"I'm right behind you," Nate followed his brother as Steel dropped Drilldrone. He swapped his Zord's form, and after a few powerful strikes, he took aim.

"WreckerZord, Bazooka Blast!" with a powerful shot, he destroyed the Gigadrone. "Virus eliminated! We did it!" Nate shouted, and the others cheered loudly.

"Great job, everyone!" Steel praised, all of them happy with their victory.


After the fight had ended, the six Rangers returned to Grid Battleforce's headquarters for their debriefing. Lewis had already returned, and had been discussing the repairs to the training room when they'd arrived.

"The crew has already taken care of the Morph-X spill," Devon told Commander Shaw as they filled her in on everything that had happened.

"Glad to hear it," Commander Shaw nodded. "Have you found Evox's base?" she asked, her attention moving to Nate.

"No ma'am," he shook his head. "I ran a scan of the Cyber Dimension. As far as I can tell, it's deserted. No sign of Evox," Nate explained, a little frustrated that his searches hadn't given any rewards. "They're hiding somewhere else," he said.

"So we don't even know where that Gigadrone came from," Ravi shrugged.

"Right now, we can only assume that today won't be the last attack," Commander Shaw considered. "We have to ready for anything. I'll inform the Mayor," with that, she left the lab.

"Commander, about the repairs," Lewis followed her out, waving to the team.

"Well, you all thought I had a screw loose," Steel spoke up as the doors closed behind Commander Shaw and Lewis. "And actually, I did. See?" he held up a screw in his hand, which made the others giggle. "Luckily, Nate fixed it. But, really, I just wanted to get to the truth," Steel shrugged.

"We shouldn't have brushed it off so easily," Ryne admitted. "While some of it might have been a little…unconnected…" she thought about some of the wilder articles that Steel had collected. "You were right. Like with the tower leak," she considered.

"And I guess that could have been a photo of Scrozzle," Devon allowed.

"It was so nice not worrying about the Robotrons, I guess we didn't want to believe that they were back," Zoey admitted. The other four nodded.

"We're sorry we didn't believe you," Nate apologised to his brother. "Will you forgive us?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course!" Steel nodded. "But, on one condition," he requested, and they all looked concerned.

"What's that?" Zoey asked carefully.

"You all join my expedition! I have evidence that proves Coral Harbour is home to the one and only…Loch Ness Monster!" he exclaimed. Ryne put a hand to her face. So much for it being unconnected.

"Like the one from Scotland?" Ravi asked.

"She's here on vacation! I know it!" Steel told them eagerly.

"Well, there are theories that she's really a Taniwha…a Plesiosaur that's managed to survive all this time," Ryne considered.

"And who knows, a boat trip could be fun," Devon decided.

"Great!" Steel exclaimed, excited for them all to be on board. "I'll go get what we need!" he rushed off, and they all smiled at each other. Even if Evox really was back, at least they had each other.


I'm back! Ryne took a very long break and refused to wake up, and I will admit I obliged her to write self-indulgent Final Fantasy XIV stuff instead. But now she's awake and I'm back on track with writing.

I hope you liked it!

Please review!