After their confusing and wild day, the Rangers decided to go to the Rip Tide Gym for dinner. They'd begun the day, worrying that Meghan had gone back to her old ways, that she was going to try and use the Compliance Collar on one of them, or perhaps the Commander for her own ends, but afterwards learning that she had actually used it on herself.
"I still can't believe that Meghan thought it would be better to let other people tell her what to do and what to feel." Devon said sympathetically. "I know that she finds that whole thing difficult, but I never thought it would be that bad. I couldn't imagine just letting other people make my decisions for me."
"There's a certain ironic freedom in letting other people make the big decisions." Nate told him. "I mean, look at me. Before a couple of years ago, I barely left the base. I never had to buy my own clothes or my own food. I've never had to pay rent or worry about a mortgage. All I needed to do was worry about my work."
"That doesn't sound that great." Devon said, recoiling a little.
"Hey, I'm not saying I don't prefer how things are now, I like going out and trying new things like basketball or baseball or dancing or..."
"Dancing?" Devon asked. "You dance now? This I've got to see!"
"Uh..." Nate stammered, realising he'd just let that one slip. Zoey, as part of trying to encourage him out of his shell a little had started teaching him to dance. It was a lot of fun, but Nate wasn't exactly ready to hit the local clubs or anything just yet. He was happy enough just bopping around with Zoey in the lab after hours with the door securely locked. "...what I was getting at is, I can kind of see why she might THINK it was better to be that way. I'm not claiming to be some kind of emotional expert, but we do kind of take a lot for granted."
Some smoothies were placed in front of them. The waiter just placed them down and walked away. People didn't really find the sight of Steel particularly unusual nowadays. Nate had brought him in quite a few times, and most now just assumed he was just some kind of science experiment that he'd done for school. It wasn't ENTIRELY inaccurate that he was a science experiment, but then it wasn't a hundred percent accurate either. Of course, no one was really too quick to correct anyone. Steel picked up one of the smoothies.
"Wow, this looks really good." Steel commented. "I really wish someone would upgrade me so that I could eat and taste this..."
"I know, you've only told me like 8000 times." Nate sighed. Steel had been pretty vocal about the fact that he felt like a human and wanted to be more human. It was understandable, all his friends were human, but Nate wasn't sure how much of it was just him wanting to be like his friends. For the most part, he just humoured his brother.
Ravi had been incredibly quiet. He had barely said anything since they came out, having to be virtually dragged to the gym. He'd been on a personal day before he'd been called back for the search, but in the end they'd talked him into joining them. He suddenly launched forward in his seat.
"Hey, turn that up!" He called out to the girl behind the desk, pointing to the television. She got the handset and turned up the volume, showing the local news. Zoey just rolled her eyes.
"Ravi, you really want to listen to the guy they gave my mom's job?" She asked. Ravi just waved her off as the report started.
"I'm standing here outside Coral Harbour Custom Jewellery, where there has been another daylight robbery!" The reporter stated. "Amazingly, despite the store being open, and with staff and customers in the store, the owner reports that nothing was seen by anyone, nor was anything captured on security footage."
"That's pretty weird." Devon commented. "No one saw anything? Jewellers normally have pretty good security; you'd think someone would notice someone trying to break into the safes."
"That's the third jeweller that's been robbed today!" Ravi told them, causing them to look around at him. "Adam's Hidden Treasures was cleaned out this morning, and so was Buchanan's Beautiful Gems."
"Three jewellery stores in one day?" Nate commented. "Obviously someone's been busy."
"And the owners said the exact same thing, no one saw anything!" Ravi told them. Zoey just furrowed her brows.
"Wait, how did you hear about the other two?" Zoey asked. "You were out all morning, and then you were with us searching the building."
"I happened to be walking past and saw the cops outside." Ravi rushed out, before bringing them all in. "OK, so that's three jewellers in one day, one beginning with A, another beginning with B, and another beginning with C."
"Wait, you think a robber is hitting them in alphabetical order?" Devon asked.
"Don't you think it's a lead worth checking out?" He asked them. "The next nearest place is Destiny Diamonds, which is just around the corner!"
"I guess we could check it out." Nate replied with a shrug, downing his smoothie.
As they were gathering their stuff to head out, Zoey just furrowed her brows, before getting out her phone and starting to look something up.
"Zoey, what are you doing, let's go." Nate told her.
"Just checking something." She said as Nate tried to encourage her to go.
"Zoey, we should go." Nate told her. "We need to get there before the thief."
"Right, of course." She said, shaking her head and putting her phone away. "Yeah, we should get going."
Back in the Crystal Dimension, Roxy had a dark look on her face and her arms folded defiantly as the others laughed at her, mocking her over her suggestion as the next monster to resurrect.
"Stop laughing!" She snapped, stomping her foot angrily.
"Oh, you really can pick them." Blaze chuckled. "Not only did Astronema turn good, but she only went and became a Power Ranger!"
Roxy stormed over to him, shoving him off the rock he was sitting on before turning back away from him, sulking. Scrozzle just face-palmed.
"This is the problem with bad guys." He stated. "You're all so quick to turn on each other; we have to wonder if someone will stick with us."
"Which is why I have the perfect candidate, one whose motives we can rely on completely." Blaze said as he went to the chest, pulling out a data card. "The Psycho Rangers were created for the sole purpose of destroying Rangers. Nothing else mattered to them! They were completely ruthless and utterly obsessed with their mission. I say we bring back Psycho Red!"
He put the footage up on the computer, stepping back and grinning as they watched him battling against the Red Space Ranger.
"Look at that. The power, the commitment, the rage, the Psycho Rangers were so close to taking out the Space Rangers so many times, ultimately it took TWO teams of Rangers to finally beat them for good." He said, nodding in approval. "And even then they took one of the Galaxy Rangers with them."
"Hmmm...yes, that's a good point." Roxy said, shoving him aside. "But let's not forget, that it was that exact same obsession that got them destroyed!"
Roxy pulled up the footage of Psycho Red battling with both the Red Space Ranger and the Red Galaxy Ranger.
"Even when the odds were against him, he was so single-minded he led his team right into battle against odds they had no chance of overcoming." She reminded him. "Which is why, all that's left of him is this card."
"It seems that Roxy raises a good point. What is the point in bringing back a powerful lieutenant that's only going to get any forces I send with him destroyed over a petty personal grudge?" Evox asked. "He would make a fine footsoldier, but as a leader of my forces? I think not!"
He took the data card from Blaze and tossed it into the chest.
"Any more bright ideas?" He asked. Zeltrax stepped forward.
"I think I might have a suggestion." He said as he walked over to the chest, beginning to rummage through the artefacts.
Back in the city, the Rangers had parked an unmarked transport across the street from Destiny Diamonds, keeping an eye on it from a safe distance. While law enforcement wasn't really their responsibility, it also wasn't as though they could simply call the police with what was just a theory at this point. Zoey was watching through her binoculars, while Devon was playing a game on his phone to stave off the boredom.
"Come on, this is a waste of time." He grumbled.
"Give it a little time." Ravi said, keeping a close eye on the door.
"Ravi, what kind of thief is going to be smart enough to manage to rob three jewellers in broad daylight, without once appearing on camera or being seen by a single person, and then do something as stupid as robbing them in alphabetical order?" Devon asked.
"Uh...maybe they don't have to be that smart." Zoey suggested. She pointed to the door as it opened, but no one seemed to be going in or coming out. "That's not an automatic door."
"You think the thief is invisible?" Devon asked her. She adjusted the binoculars to heat vision. She let out a gasp, before handing the binoculars to Nate.
"What is it?" Ravi asked. "What's going on?"
"It's a Robotron!" Nate answered. "It has to be using some kind of cloaking tech!"
"Now we know why no one saw anything." Devon rushed out as they all started to disembark. "Good call on the 'not smart' thing."
They all morphed as they headed across the street. Nate adjusted his visor to heat vision, firing a shot at the Robotron. As the shot hit, it sparked and started to shift into view.
"Hey, no fair!" The Robotron complained.
"Yeah, neither is taking what's not yours!" Devon snapped. "I might have my own opinion on what people charge for shiny rocks, but just taking what belongs to someone else is wrong, and we're bringing you down!"
"Uh...later!" The Robotron said, ditching the bags of diamonds, before running off. Devon gestured to the bags.
"Nate, Steel, return those to the jewellers!" Devon instructed them. "Come on guys, we need to deal with this robotic robber!"
Back in the Crystal Dimension, the monsters were all at each others' throats, arguing and yelling at each other. Scrozzle was standing well back, taking cover behind a rock just in case the situation turned to violence, which it looked like it might be ready to do at any minute. Blaze and Roxy were just standing ready in case they needed to either flee or defend themselves if someone decided to take their point a little too far.
"Oh yes, great idea, let's bring back the mutant dinosaur!" Scorpina complained. "Of course you just left out the fact where he ended up putting the last guy he teamed up with in a jar as a collector's piece!"
"Well, what about THIS guy? He wanted to bring back the guy who defeated his own team of Rangers, and then GAVE UP and turned himself in!" Snide said, pointing at Sledge accusingly.
"What? You're meant to be on my side!" Sledge complained.
Scrozzle heard an alert from his computer and cautiously made his way to it, trying to keep out of the way of the others. Some of them already had weapons drawn, and he really didn't want to be too close in case any of them decided to make a move. He watched the screen, then turned towards Evox.
"Um...Master Evox, there's been a development." He said a little nervously. "The Rangers have destroyed my Robotron."
"WHAT?" He roared, causing everyone else to fall silent for a moment. Scrozzle backed away.
"They found him." He told him. "He won't be bringing us any more diamonds!"
"Then it's time we made a decision, before the Rangers pick off any more of your useless minons!" Evox hissed. "We have enough diamonds for one superpowered Clone, correct?"
"Yes." Scrozzle confirmed. "But we still need to decide who it will be!"
"Ah, but I've already made my decision." He said, taking the reanimiser. He pointed it at the diamonds, at which it absorbed them all into itself. "There is one monster that has been powerful enough to fight the Rangers on their terms, ruthless enough to beat them when they were down. Determined enough to shrug off many attempts to destroy him, and most importantly, loyal enough to never leave the side of his one true master!"
He pulled out a large, golden Bastard Sword, holding it aloft. Scorpina smiled as she saw this.
"Yes, yes! Of course!" She said enthusiastically. She took the sword from Evox. "Allow me!"
She took it a short way, before driving it into the ground. Evox took careful aim, before firing the reanimiser. Before their eyes, there was a huge flash of light, before a massive creature took form. It was almost eight feet in height, and massively muscled. It had the face of a gorilla, and huge, powerful wings. It was covered almost completely in golden armour. The creature turned towards them.
"Goldar lives once more!" The creature boomed, throwing back its head and laughing triumphantly. Scorpina came over to him, smiling, looking impressed.
"Well, this is an upgrade." She complimented him. "Looking good, Goldar."
"No, not Goldar." Evox told them. "From this day on, you are Goldar Maximus!"
Goldar stepped forward, coming face to face with Evox, before growling.
"You brought me back?" He asked.
"I did." Evox declared. Goldar sank down to one knee, before bowing his head reverently.
"Then you are my master now!" He declared. "Tell me what you want me to do."
"This guy's going to lead us?" Sledge asked derisively. "I'm tougher than him, I bet I could beat him with..."
Before he could say another word, Goldar threw his wings out behind him, knocking Sledge clean off his feet, sending him flying into some nearby crystals, which shattered under the impact. He got to his feet and turned towards him, gripping a massive sword in one hand. He just growled a low, deep growl.
"Shall I, master?" He asked. Evox shook his head.
"No, not yet." Evox declared. "He can still be of use to us against the Rangers."
"As you wish, master!" Goldar said, before standing over Sledge, casting a foreboding shadow over him. "But question me again, and you will fall to my sword!"
Back at the Command Centre, the Rangers met up with Commander Shaw to explain what had happened. They had managed to return the diamonds and destroy the latest Robotron, but the fact that a Robotron was involved at all gave them another troubling question.
"So, what would Evox want with diamonds?" Devon asked. "I mean, I sincerely doubt he's about to open a jewellers."
"Not to mention he lives in a dimension full of gems, so if he did, he would have plenty of shiny rocks to work with already." Steel added. The others decided not to point out that he had missed the point that Devon was trying to make.
"Diamonds have a lot of useful properties." Nate confirmed. "There's a lot of reasons I can think of that he might want them, and none of them are good."
"Well, at least we managed to stop him getting any more." Commander Shaw interjected. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a matter to attend to. The infirmary wanted to give me an update on Chakku's condition, and then I promised Starlight some burgers."
With that, she headed out of the room. The Rangers all gathered together.
"So, why is everyone so interested in shiny rocks?" Steel asked. "I just looked online and saw what people pay for them and yikes! I find rocks all over the place all the time, why are they so expensive?"
"Oh, that's...that's a really big question." Nate told him. "Maybe one for another day.
"I can go with that." Devon agreed. "I mean, until Evox makes his move, we're kind of stuck so until then, and I have a video game tournament to prepare for, so who wants to get their butt kicked!"
"OK, I'll play." Steel told him, going with Devon. "But you might want to be careful, my butt's made of metal. You might hurt your foot!"
As he, Devon and Nate all left, Zoey hung back for a moment, seeing Ravi starting to gather his things. When he turned back around, he saw her standing before him.
"Zoey." He stated. "I thought you went with..."
"Yeah, I'll catch up to them later." She told him. "I've been thinking a lot about today, and there's something that doesn't add up."
"Yeah, it's a mystery alright." Ravi agreed. "Evox stealing diamonds?"
"No, it's not that." Zoey said. "It's about you, actually."
"Me?" He asked her. "What about me?"
"When we heard about the robbery, you were pretty quick to tell us about the other robberies." Zoey reminded him.
"I don't follow." He responded.
"Yeah, but you were pretty quick to come up with your theory when you heard." She stated. "And when you had the idea to check out Destiny Diamonds, you already knew where it was, you didn't have to look it up."
"So, I knew where it was." He replied with a shrug.
"Ravi, you're not exactly a big jewellery kind of guy. I don't think I've ever even seen you wear a watch." She pointed out. "And when I asked about the other jewellers, you said you knew because you'd walked past them."
"Yeah, that's right." Ravi said with a nod.
"Well, I just checked it out and Adam's and Buchanan's are about six blocks apart." She told him. "And the nearest of them is four blocks from the base."
Ravi looked like he was trying to think of an answer, but she could see that he didn't really have one.
"Ravi, how did you know so much about jewellers in the city?" She asked him with a little smile. "And what was that personal errand you went on that I needed to cover your shift for?"
Ravi could tell that she was already putting the pieces together and knew it was pointless to try and hide it. She was only going to speculate anyway. He quickly looked around to make sure they were alone.
"Alright, but you absolutely cannot tell Roxy about this!" He told her. Zoey was pretty much bouncing by now, nodding enthusiastically. She looked ready to burst. Even if he didn't tell her, it looked like she had figured it out.
"I was going shopping for her." He told her. "Things have been really great between us, and with all the time we've been spending together since she was confined to the base, I've just been thinking a lot and it just feels right."
Zoey was just waiting for her chance to say something. She could barely contain herself.
"I was looking for a ring." He told her. "I'm going to ask her to marry me!"
Zoey let out a huge squeal of excitement and launched herself at Ravi, almost knocking him completely off his feet.
"Whoa!" He exclaimed.
"YES! Yes, I just knew it!" She screamed.
"OK, but keep it down, you have to promise not to tell Roxy!" He told her. "I was hoping to surprise her..."
"No problem, you can count on me!" She told him, before hugging him tightly. "But please, for the sake of my sanity, ask her soon! This is way too exciting to keep to myself!"
"Yeah, it's pretty exciting for me too." Ravi answered with a smile. "I've never been more sure of anything. I want this to be absolutely perfect!"
"Well, if there's anything I can do..."
"No, I want to do this myself." He assured her. "This is going to be the biggest surprise ever!"