In the Crystal Dimension, Kendall was sitting, watching Scrozzle working, muttering away to himself. She was trying to get the lay of the land. Thanks to the compliance collar, she couldn't attempt to get away. She had been instructed to stay where she was, which meant until one of her captors told her otherwise, she couldn't leave her spot. However, she was still able to try and figure out the dynamics of the current villain team, and hopefully search for cracks. In her experience, there were always cracks, and this team appeared to be no different.
Bickering, snide remarks, muttered remarks...all of them spoke of an atmosphere where there were multiple agendas, not all of which aligned. She could tell that Scrozzle was rather put upon, and it felt more like his compliance was borne out of fear or necessity than any true loyalty.
He reminded her a lot of Wrench. He was Sledge's tech master, a mechanical warrior who tended to all his ships needs and all his weapons. He had taken something of a personal grudge against Kendall when her tech kept besting his, taking it as far to enter a 'rivalry' with her. It was kind of an odd thing, considering the fact Kendall wasn't even aware of their 'rivalry' until Wrench mentioned it as he tried to destroy her when she infiltrated Sledge's ship, but also because even though he was part of a rivalry only he was aware he was taking part in, he still somehow ended up losing!
She shook her head to get her thoughts back to the matter at hand. Wrench, for all his work and all his compliance with Sledge's orders was still only loyal as far as times were good. He had actually abandoned Sledge's crew before the end of her tenure, and she found out afterwards had joined the production crew of Galaxy Warriors! He had literally jumped ship when it looked like things weren't going their way. She did wonder if perhaps some careful words might convince Scrozzle to do the same.
"I wouldn't think about it." She heard a whisper in her ear, causing her to jump in fright. Roxy slid onto the rock beside her, sitting down next to her. She hadn't even heard her approaching. How could she move so quietly? She looked to her.
"Think about what?" Kendall asked. Roxy nodded in Scrozzle's direction.
"Turning him on us." She clarified. "Don't try to say that's not what you were thinking; I know I'd be considering the same thing in your position."
"What makes you think...?" She started to ask, before Roxy just gave her a side-ways glance. She figured there was no point in lying. Roxy, she had already ascertained, was a sneaky, underhanded character, and likely had considered such ideas herself. "Maybe he'd be better off..."
"Scrozzle may complain, but he knows when he's got it good." Roxy told her. "He's not got anywhere else to go. When we found him he'd been cut off from the Machine Empire for over two decades!"
"Machine Empire?" Kendall asked. She knew the name from her talks with other Ranger teams. "But...but they were..."
"Destroyed!" Roxy interrupted her. "Gone, wiped out, kaput! The only reason he wasn't turned to sand too was because he was in another dimension researching the next generation of upgrades for King Mondo. Like I said, he's got nowhere to go. Without us, he's back to tinkering alone in a dimension far, far away."
"So, what about you?" Kendall asked her. "What do you want?"
Roxy just smiled smugly, before Ryjax teleported back to the base, bringing some Morph-X with him. She got up, heading over towards him with Blaze and Evox.
"There we go, some more Morph-X, and two Rangers down!" He told them. "If my horn blast hasn't finished them already, it's only a matter of time."
"Impressive!" Evox hissed in delight, running a hand over the Morph-X barrels. "Where is Vargoyle?"
"Ah, well, as you know sometimes some prices have to be paid." Ryjax commented. "It was a shame, he was a good slave, but unless you have anything else of his..."
"I do not." Evox replied. "But I was thinking, your collection of weapons. Perhaps you have something that we can use to bring back some other powerful allies."
"Hold your horses there, Evox." Ryjax told him, holding up his hands. "That's my collection."
"And when you get the Ranger's tech, your collection will expand rapidly." Evox pointed out. "Perhaps if we could look through your artefacts..."
"They're all safe on my ship back on Earth!" Ryjax told him. "And that's where they're going to stay unless you want to name a price."
"Did you hear that?" Roxy asked Blaze. "Ryjax's ship is on Earth."
"He's even stupider than he looks." Blaze agreed. Kendall made a mental note of this. She had also heard this. While Ryjax was helping them now, it looked like they were already looking for a way to reduce his value enough that they didn't need him.
"Now, if you don't mind, I'm just going to rest up a while." Ryjax told them. "Before long, you'll have two less Rangers to worry about."
Back at Grid Battleforce Headquarters, Meghan was working on the alien, trying to figure out how to stabilise him when Nate, Steel and Devon rushed in with Zoey and Ravi on gurneys. The medical team working with her immediately rushed over, crowding around them.
"Their vitals are falling; they've been like this since the battle!" Nate rushed out as he went to get his lab coat to help the medical team.
"These green veins, I've never seen anything like this." One of the other medics said.
"Ryjax blasted them with something from his horn." Devon said. The alien strapped to her table looked over, and started to struggle. Meghan looked to him, noticing the reaction. Everyone else was concentrating on Zoey and Ravi, so they didn't see him reacting in this way. Nate looked over to Meghan.
"Can you help us with this?" He asked.
"I was told to help this guy." Meghan pointed out. "His vitals are..."
"Never mind, we don't have time to argue!" One of the other medics said, looking to them. "We need to get them into isolation chambers. It will stabilise them at least until we can figure out what they're infected with."
As they took them away, leaving Meghan alone with the alien, she looked down to him. She was noticing his struggle to get off the table. It wasn't unnatural for anyone or anything that was restrained to try and free themselves. In her time in incarceration, it wasn't as though there weren't times she had been restrained, and wanted nothing more than to be let out. But in his case something seemed different. He'd almost resigned himself to the fact he was restrained until he saw Zoey and Ravi.
"You, do you know something about this?" Meghan asked, pointing after the other team. The alien just looked to her. It was difficult for Meghan to put things together, she didn't quite read social cues like others did, and she struggled to put herself in the position of others. She was working hard in therapy to learn to try and put herself in the situation of others to try and relate, but it was still an extra step others didn't seem to need to take. "Do you know what's happening to them?"
The alien nodded. It said something, but it came out garbled and unintelligible. She started to get worked up, frustrated.
"I don't understand you." She told the alien. "And I don't know why your vitals are..."
She saw the alien doing something with its hand, making a shape like it was holding something, and gesturing towards its face as much as it could while strapped to the table. She watched this and tried to figure out what he was trying to indicate. She thought she noticed something on his helmet and moved in, grabbing his helmet, pushing it down hard into the table.
"Hold still." She told it. She inspected the helmet, trying to see what he was indicating, and noticed that by the mouthplate, there were little ridges, almost like something was meant to fit there.
She thought about it for a moment, before heading to the vault, punching in the code and opening it. She went to find the device the Rangers had put in there earlier.
She started to inspect it. It was curved, but she couldn't see any buttons or triggers, anything that made it obvious what it was for. Its shape was REMOTELY gun-like, and the fact the Rangers found him powering it up with Morph-X made them suspect it was a weapon, but she couldn't see how it was activated.
She then saw some ridges on the edge of it and a thought occurred to her. She ran back through, bringing the device with her.
"This, do you want this?" She asked. The alien nodded. She put the device to the face plate, where it fit with the ridges in the helmet. Within moments, she heard some mechanical sounds that made it seem like it was working. Before long, the alien's vitals started to stabilise and he settled down. She looked to the alien on the table.
"Thank you." The alien told her. She was quite taken aback, hearing it speak her language. She looked to it. "Can you let me up please?"
"You...you can speak our language?" She asked.
"I can now." The alien replied. "I'm Captain Chaku of the G4 Galaxy Police."
"Captain Chaku?" She asked. "Wait, you were the one that sent the message about Ryjax!"
"Yes, that device is designed to calibrate my systems to unfamiliar environments." Chaku told her. "Your friends, they were hit by the blast from Ryjax's horn?"
"Yes, they were." Meghan answered.
"Then we don't have long!" He told her. "Let me up, I have something that might help them, but I need to administer it quickly!"
Meghan wasn't sure what to do. Releasing a prisoner was a serious risk, and it could come back on her in a very serious way. She was still technically a prisoner herself. The locator strapped on her ankle was a constant reminder that she still had a long way to go to make up for all the bad things she had done. If Chaku wasn't on the level, if he did anything that harmed anyone else, then it would surely reflect on her.
She stopped for a moment to think about her own situation though. She had been a prisoner for some time, but she still worked for Grid Battleforce. She worked to earn her freedom, to make amends for the people she had hurt. She made a decision, releasing his restraints. Chaku got up, removing the device from his helmet and handing it to her.
"Thank you." He stated. "Take me to your friends!"
She nodded and went with him, taking him through to where the medics were working on the others. They barely noticed them arriving.
"I don't know what else to do." One of the medics stated. "We've put them in isolation but their vitals are still tanking."
"We're going to lose them if we don't do something!" Nate rushed out.
"I don't know what to do; this thing is like nothing I've ever seen!" One of the medics replied.
"That's because it's not from Earth." Chaku told them. They all turned in alarm. Devon, Nate and Steel all pulled their blasters.
"Guys, he's here to help!" Meghan interjected.
"Meghan, you let this guy loose?" Devon asked. "What were you thinking?"
"I was thinking none of us seem to know what to do, but this guy...he does!" She explained. Chaku stepped forward cautiously, activating a holographic ID which projected into the air.
"My name is Captain Chaku of the G4 Galaxy Police." He explained. "I've spent years chasing Ryjax's gang across multiple dimensions."
"Chaku...you were the one that sent that warning!" Steel recalled. Chaku just nodded in response. He pulled something from his belt, showing it to them.
"This is a treatment for the virus caused by Ryjax's horn." He told them. "I don't know if it'll work on your friends, but without it, they will almost certainly die."
Devon thought about it, struggling with the decision. Looking at the machines, showing his friends slipping away, he put up his blaster.
"Help them!" Devon told him. Chaku approached the isolation pods, opening Zoey's. He held the device, spraying something into her face.
"We'll know soon if it's worked." Chaku stated. They watched as Zoey struggled a little on the bed, but eventually the green veins started to subside, and her vitals started to return to normal. Satisfying himself it was working, Chaku went and administered the same treatment to Ravi. "It looks like we're in luck, your friends are responding to the treatment. Ryjax's horn blast administers a deadly virus that can be deadly in a matter of hours. They are very fortunate."
"Thank you so much for your help." Nate said in relief, helping Zoey into a seating position, holding her tenderly. Devon looked to Chaku.
"How...how do you now speak our language?" Devon asked him. "And your vitals..."
"The device you confiscated is designed to acclimatise my systems to unfamiliar environments." Chaku explained. "On my planet, we discovered Morph-X much sooner than you did on Earth, so our climate is much less polluted. My systems needed to calibrate to your environment. When it does so, it also gives me knowledge of local languages."
"So, you weren't trying to power a weapon..."
"I was just trying to power up my calibration unit." Chaku responded. "How are your friends?"
"We'll be fine in a little while." Zoey told him wearily.
"Thanks again." Ravi told him.
"So, that only leaves one question." Chaku said, looking around. "Is this how you treat all visitors to your planet?"
The Rangers all looked around each other rather sheepishly.
In the Crystal Dimension, Ryjax was preparing some weapons for his next trip to the Rangers' world when Blaze and Roxy came up to him, with Kendall a little way behind them. He turned slowly as he realised they were there.
"What do you two want?" He demanded.
"We just wanted to say what a marvellous job you're doing." Blaze stated. "Really."
"Well, what can I say? By observation I don't have much competition around here." Ryjax stated. They both noticeably bristled when he said this. "Oh, what's the matter, touched a nerve did I?"
"No, we just wanted to be sure this isn't just beginner's luck." Blaze replied.
"Yeah, I mean you do seem to like to rely on tech." Roxy stated. "And we all know that sometimes tech doesn't work."
"What do you mean? My tech is infallible!" Ryjax roared defiantly.
"Really?" Roxy asked. "You're certain about that?"
"My tech has never failed me!" Ryjax reiterated.
"Then what about her?" Roxy asked him. "I mean, we wouldn't want her to run off or start plotting against us or anything."
"With that compliance collar she'll do whatever you ask her to do!" Ryjax told her.
"Really?" Roxy asked. "Slave, why don't you tell Ryjax what you were doing with Scrozzle earlier?"
"I was watching him, trying to figure out if there was some way to turn him against Evox." Kendall said, despite her efforts to keep it to herself. Because of the collar, she had no option but to answer. Ryjax just snorted.
"So?" He asked.
"So, she was plotting against us!" Blaze pointed out. He just shook his head.
"Slave, take those two broken fingers of yours and pull them sharply!" Ryjax told her. Kendall grabbed her fingers, and pulled on them hard, causing her to cry out in pain and fall to her knees. Ryjax just laughed and looked to them both.
"You see? Nothing wrong with the collar." He told them. "YOU just need to be very clear with your orders."
"Oh, right, that makes sense." Blaze stated.
"We'll remember that in future." Roxy said with a smile. "Good luck on your next mission!"
As Ryjax walked away, Blaze leaned in towards Roxy.
"You get it?" He asked. She held up a device.
"I always did have quick hands." She said with a smirk. "He'll notice this missing eventually, but by then we'll have found his ship."
"Then the real fun can begin." Blaze said, grabbing Kendall and pulling her to her feet. "Nicely done, you were the perfect distraction."
"Glad to help." Kendall grunted through her pain as he shoved her along the path.
"Come on, slave." He stated. "Time for you to earn your keep!"
Back at Grid Battleforce Headquarters, the Rangers had gone to the Command Centre with Captain Chaku to introduce him to Commander Shaw. It took a little while for them to explain the situation, but Commander Shaw listened intently as they relayed everything that happened.
"And are you alright now?" She asked, looking to Ravi and Zoey.
"I'm a little wiped, but I'll live." Ravi told her. Zoey slurped a carrot smoothie, while giving a thumbs up. She then looked to Chaku.
"Well, Captain Chaku, I must say, we all owe you thanks for your warning and your help." She told him. "Not to mention our deepest apologies for your treatment."
"It's quite alright, thinking about it, I can understand the mistake." Chaku replied. "I couldn't communicate why I was taking that Morph-X, and you were looking for a thief, so I can see how the mistake was made."
"We still should have tried to figure out what was going on." Devon told him. Chaku checked a device on his wrist, before reaching up, pulling off his helmet. The Rangers were a little surprised to see that he looked human, but half his face was covered in machinery.
"I needed to be sure my systems had been calibrated to your planet." Chaku told them.
"When you said your systems...we thought you meant your armour." Ravi responded. Chaku reached up to his face.
"I elected to have these cybernetic upgrades when I took the assignment to pursue Ryjax's gang." He explained.
"So, you're part human...part machine?" Steel asked excitedly. Chaku nodded.
"Your world isn't the only one with human life on it." He confirmed. "These cybernetics give me great power. I elected to get them when I took the assignment to pursue Ryjax's gang. I've already taken down the rest of them, but Ryjax is by far the most dangerous and powerful one."
"I'll say." Zoey agreed. "And his ability to bring back monsters and henchmen is freaky."
"He has technology that allows him to bring back anyone he has a DNA sample of." Chaku informed them. "All it takes is something that they owned, that they handled enough to leave trace DNA. He also has an extensive collection of some of the most powerful weapons ever wielded by the most vile and evil creatures across multiple dimensions."
"Great, just when we thought things couldn't get any worse." Devon complained.
"I believe his ship is on your planet." Chaku told them. "If we find it, and take out Ryjax, one of the most dangerous threats in the whole universe will be neutralised. I'm willing to pledge myself to help you end his evil for good."
"Then it's settled, you'll work with us until this mutual threat has been dealt with." Commander Shaw declared. Just then, there was another alarm. She looked over to Joanne.
"Attack at Morph-X Tower 7." She called out. "It's Ryjax!"
"Looks like we don't have to wait too long." Steel said excitedly. "I'm riding with Chaku!"
"Uh...OK?" Chaku said, looking a little confused. "I'll just call my transport vehicle."
"Let's go!" Devon ordered as they all rushed out of the Command Centre, morphing as they went.