Ravi was lying in his bed, just looking at Roxy, lying next to him, sleeping soundly. She had a restless night, unable to settle, but now she was just so at peace, that he couldn't help just watching her.
Roxy was just the most beautiful, and amazing person he'd ever met. He couldn't believe his luck in finding her. Well, now he knew it wasn't so much a case of 'finding' her, now that she had actually admitted to him that she had done a lot of the chasing. He was always so driven and so focused on his career path that he hadn't actually noticed her at first. Her teaching at the gym, joining Grid Battleforce, even their 'chance' encounter at the park were all things she had set up to spend time around him. She might not have intended to cause him to trip and hurt his ankle, but it was that day as she carried him back to his car that he fell for her.
It was now an amusing anecdote between them that she had gone out of her way to get him, but now she was in his life, he couldn't imagine it being any other way. His mom still talked fondly about his father, and had even told him that if she could get just another day with him, or even just another hour, then she would be willing to sacrifice pretty much everything she had accomplished in her career.
He got up and started to get ready for the day ahead, taking great care not to wake her. Now she was finally sleeping, he didn't want to risk disturbing her. He knew that this was what he wanted in his life, to be with her, to wake up with her every day from now on. It was just unfortunate that he had missed out on his opportunity.
Trust Evox to suddenly develop an interest in diamonds right when Ravi was trying to buy an engagement ring! The stores that had been robbed were now closed off as crime scenes, and the diamonds that the Rangers had recovered confiscated as evidence until due process could be completed. Ravi knew that this could take a long time. He was conflicted in his view on the subject. A part of him wanted to take his time, to peruse every option, to pick out the perfect ring, one that Roxy really deserved. After all, he was hoping that she would agree to wear it for the rest of their lives together.
Another part of him though, just couldn't wait to get something, to ask her as soon as possible, to begin that adventure together as soon as he possibly could. He'd gone over in his mind a thousand times what he wanted to say, to make sure that the moment was just perfect, something they would both remember forever.
As he stared in the mirror, wiping off his face after shaving, he smiled. How could one man be so lucky?
"Out of the way! OUT OF THE WAY!" Roxy screamed, barrelling into the bathroom, grabbing him and throwing him out of the room, before slamming the door shut and locking it. He could hear her starting to heave. She'd picked up a bug somewhere, and he'd heard her a couple of times, but even now, he couldn't help smiling. He'd find the ring as soon as he could.
In another part of the base, Blaze and Devon were working out together ahead of their day. They'd become pretty good friends since Devon had destroyed Blaze's avatar, both of them were pretty similar as people. They were both competitive, and that led them both to push themselves against each other to get to another level.
Today though, the contest was more than a little one-sided. Blaze hit the mat again after Devon hit him with a stunning flip-kick. He offered Blaze a hand up.
"Good hit." Blaze commented. "That another one of Mike's techniques?"
"Mike...didn't really have techniques, he just kind of chained together stuff to see what worked." Devon told him. Mike Barnes, Devon's long time friend and video gaming partner had been the one to get Devon into karate in the first place. His family had a long history of martial arts training, but Mike had always loved video games, movies and comic books and was very athletically gifted. He wanted to fight like he saw his favourite characters did and blended gymnastics and highly athletic moves into his style in order to create a style that was both very flashy and flamboyant, but also didn't leave him wide open to getting taken down while he was trying to do something outlandish. For the most part it worked, especially with people who spent more time watching his movements than tracking when the hit was about to come. "But it was definitely one he'd love to see. Shame no one was recording it."
"I'll get that one back." Blaze assured him, stretching out. Devon just looked to him a little unconvinced. "What? Multiple time world champ here!"
"Dude, you're totally off your game today." Devon told him. Blaze just furrowed his brows.
"So, I'm a little behind." Blaze told him, before scratching his head. "Uh...what is the score exactly?"
"Let's put it this way, if we were playing Red Dead Online, I'd be checking your player level because I've put you down so many times I'm starting to feel like it's just bullying." Devon told him bluntly. "Something on your mind?"
They started to walk off the mats to go and get some water. Blaze sighed.
"There was a tournament coming up I was hoping to attend to retain my title." Blaze said. "Course, it doesn't look like that's going to happen now I'm not allowed to leave the base."
"Dude, that tournament's not for months. You don't know what could happen before then." Devon reminded him. "And if your robot double fights like you did today, I could take him down real soon."
Devon noticed that he didn't react to that joke at his expense. As they sat down, he started to drink.
"Alright, tell me what it's really about." Devon continued. Blaze thought about it. He did want to talk to someone about what had happened, but he wasn't sure who would be the best person to bring it up with. When he found Meghan, when he found out she had used the Complaince Collar on herself, when he insisted that she take it off, she had kissed him. It was something that was playing on his mind now, over and over. He had little doubt it was something he probably should report, but then what would happen to Meghan? He was pretty certain that it had to be a violation of a whole bunch of rules of her probation. However, so far he hadn't been able to bring himself to speak to anyone about it, not even Meghan.
"You mind if we call it a day?" Blaze asked. Devon just shrugged.
"Alright, man." Devon responded, hitting his shoulder. "But bring your A game tomorrow."
As Devon left, Blaze just took another drink. He didn't want to get Meghan into any trouble, especially now that the Commander had trusted her enough to remove her tracking tag, but he knew it was something that wasn't going to go away. Sooner or later, he had to talk to her.
Elsewhere on the base, Commander Shaw was taking care of Starlight. The little girl was restless, and was starting to get more than a little worked up now. They'd been doing everything they could to keep her distracted, but she'd now been here for almost a couple of days and yet she hadn't been able to see her dad.
Commander Shaw was running out of ideas, and she hoped that bringing her to the medical lab would at least give the girl some answers. She walked in, finding Meghan working on some of her latest results.
"Meghan, there you are." Commander Shaw greeted her. Meghan turned towards her, seeing the Commander, and Starlight standing before her. She immediately felt a pit opening up in her stomach. She couldn't help thinking of the last time that Starlight had been in her lab, when she had almost sent her into the room when he was still recovering from his first round of procedures.
"Commander! Starlight...what a nice surprise!" Meghan rushed out. Commander Shaw walked over to Meghan, looking to her.
"Starlight's just a little concerned about Chakku, and we were wondering if you had a progress update on his condition." Commander Shaw told her. Meghan looked at the Commander, trying to read her, to get an idea of what she wanted her to do.
"Oh, well...he's doing a lot better now." Meghan said, deciding to begin with something relatively benign. The girl wanted to see her dad, she wanted to know he was alright, so it wasn't difficult to figure out that she wanted to hear that he was getting better. "His vitals are all good, and he's healing up well from the first procedures. I was going to schedule his next round for later on."
"I'm pleased to hear it." Commander Shaw replied, before looking to Starlight. "You see? I told you, Meghan's taking really good care of..."
"Is he awake?" Starlight asked.
"Yes, he is." Meghan answered quickly. He was, she had just been in to check on him recently. Starlight's eyes grew wide and a smile appeared on her face, but the Commander, her expression wasn't quite as happy.
"He's awake!" Starlight squealed. "Can I see him?"
Now Meghan was panicking. She could now tell she'd managed to miss something that Commander Shaw was trying to communicate to her. She didn't know how to answer now. She'd already told Starlight that Chakku was awake, how was she able to tell her now that she couldn't see him?
"I...suppose that would be alright." Meghan offered. The Commander didn't seem at all happy with her answer, but Meghan had already made the call. She led her into the other room.
Chakku was lying back, trying to get some rest, when he noticed them coming in. Many of his implants had been removed already, and others had been altered cosmetically to look like his old body, but there were still some that they needed to work on, most noticeably his facial implants. He saw Starlight and started to panic, immediately covering up his face.
"What the...?" He rushed out, biting his tongue as he reminded himself that his daughter was in the room. "Starlight? What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see you." Starlight said, getting a little agitated. "Dad...what's wrong with your face?"
"Take her out of here!" Chakku demanded. "Starlight, you shouldn't be in here, just..."
"You heard your dad, just..." The Commander was interrupted as Starlight pulled away from her and ran to the side of her dad's bed. She grabbed one of his arms.
"Dad, what happened?" She asked him. "Please, let me see!"
Chakku couldn't bring himself to deny his daughter. Slowly, reluctantly, he pulled his hands away, letting her see. Starlight was a little shocked to see the machinery in her dad's face.
"Starlight, it's alright, this...this isn't going to last." He told her. "When I went after Ryjax, I needed some cybernetic upgrades to be strong enough to take him on, but these people...they're taking them out."
"They...they are?" Starlight asked him. He just nodded.
"It's alright, they promised me that they'll make me look just like I used to." He told her. "I didn't want you to see me like this. I wanted to be just like you remembered."
Starlight looked up to him, reaching out towards his face. Chakku leaned in, letting her touch the implants.
"They...they say they can't remove it, but they can make it look like I used to." He told her.
"But you'd have to go through more surgery?" Starlight asked him. He just nodded.
"It won't be long..."
"I don't want you to." Starlight interrupted him. Chakku just looked at her, a little shocked.
"Starlight, it'll be alright." He assured her. "It's just..."
"You've been away so long, dad, I only wanted you back." She told him. "I don't want you to be away any more!"
"But this..."
"This." She said, stroking the implant. "I love it."
"You do?" He asked her. "But it's not like..."
"But your implants made you strong, so that you could beat Ryjax and come home." Starlight told him. "I love them because they brought my daddy back!"
Chakku reached down, lifting his daughter up onto the bed and hugging her. Meghan watched the scene unfolding as the Commander came to her side.
"I'm so sorry, Commander." Meghan stated. "I should have..."
"No, Meghan, it's fine." Commander Shaw said with a smile as she saw Chakku holding onto his daughter. "It might not have been the call I'd have made, but I think on this occasion, you made the right one."
Elsewhere on the base, Ravi was taking a break between classes, going to one of the machines to get himself some water. He almost jumped out of his skin when there was a loud thud and Zoey slammed into the machine beside him with a huge grin on her face.
"Jesus, Zoey! You scared the life out of me!" He breathed.
"Did you ask her yet?" Zoey rushed out in a giddy tone, bouncing with excitement as she fidgeted in place, looking to him expectantly.
"No, I've not asked her yet." Ravi told her. Zoey hit him.
"What's taking you so long?" She asked him.
"I just want the moment to be right!" Ravi told her.
"But I'm dying over here! Do you know how hard it is keeping this to myself?" Zoey asked him. "Come on, I'm going to explode over here!"
"But I don't even have a ring yet!" Ravi reminded her.
"Who needs a ring? My dad didn't have one when he proposed to mom!" Zoey said, before pausing. "Um...OK, thinking about it, MY dad is probably not the best example since he left town before I was born because he couldn't face having to raise three kids but...come on, Ravi, Roxy's not going to care!"
"But the ring's important, it's a symbol of what we mean to each other!" Ravi told her.
"It's just a ring! Hell, Roxy's got tons of them, her family's loaded!" Zoey reminded him. Ravi just got a look on his face.
"Damn, that's a point, her family will expect something really special. It has to be perfect!" Ravi said in a panic. Zoey realised her mistake and came around in front of him.
"No, no, no, no...that's NOT what I meant!" She said, trying to bring him back to the positives. "Look, Roxy came after you when you had pretty much nothing. She wouldn't have found out where you worked and signed up to the Ranger program and followed you to that park if she was worried about..."
"You know, you don't have to make my potential fiancée sound like a stalker." Ravi chuckled. Zoey bit her lip.
"Um...well...you know, I'd say more like...she knew what she wanted." Zoey told him. "Ravi, she isn't going to care if you get her a ring made from a paperclip or nothing at all. She wants you!"
"But I want it to be perfect!" Ravi replied.
"It will be!" Zoey assured him. "Now would you please hurry up so I don't have to keep ducking my best friend because I don't want to ruin the surprise?"
"She's right, you know." Another person said, causing them both to react in surprise. "Love is a miraculous thing. It's one of the most powerful things in the universe, able to make people do the impossible!"
They both turned to see a man standing in the hallway across from them. He was a bizarre looking man, with soft brown hair that had a large tuft of icy blue at the front. He was wearing a tuxedo that was virtually an assault to the senses. Bright red, highly ornately patterned, with a bright yellow shirt and a tie the same icy blue as his hair. There was a gold pocket watch chain strung across his waistcoat. He was wearing fingerless gloves, and bad a bright smile on his face.
"Wait, who are you?" Ravi demanded. "How did you get in here?"
"Oh, me?" The man asked innocently. "I just...let myself in."
He snapped his fingers, at which he disappeared, before reappearing a few feet away.
"Like that, you see?" He stated, coming between them and putting an arm around each of them. "It's a fun little trick I picked up. Really useful too! Now, let's talk seriously, this young lady, what were you thinking as a setting to popping the question?"
He let go of Zoey and started walking with Ravi.
"Were you thinking of natural beauty, like a nice park or a mountaintop? OOH! I know a great volcano that has THE best view of the Northern Lights!" He stated. "Or are you thinking more modern...Paris is just beautiful at this time of...AAAH!"
He was grabbed from behind and rammed against a wall, his arm being twisted up his back by Zoey.
"How about a cell?" She asked him.
"Not exactly the most romantic setting, but I've been rather experimental with some of my previous partners so...OWW!" He screamed as she twisted his arm further. "Hey, don't mess up the suit!"
He clicked his fingers, disappearing from her grip and reappearing a little way off. Zoey and Ravi both pulled into a guard.
"OK, who are you and what are you doing here?" Ravi asked him. "Answer before things get REALLY ugly!"
"Alright, no need to get out the morphers, we're on the same side." The stranger said, taking a bow. "My name is Heckyl."
They both looked confused and backed off a little.
"Heckyl...that name sounds familiar." Zoey said, looking to Ravi.
"Ranger history class. You were connected to Snide." Ravi answered.
"Yes, and I was also chosen by Keeper to wield his power when he...you know..." Heckyl replied. "I love the power, but the robes, they had to go. I like this get up though, don't you think...?"
"Heckyl!" Zoey interrupted him. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, right!" Heckyl said, snapping his fingers. Before they knew what was happening, all the Rangers, Commander Shaw and Joanne were all in the Command Centre, looking rather confused. They all turned to see Heckyl.
"What's the meaning of this?" Commander Shaw asked. "What's going on? Who's this?"
"Yes, I'm getting a lot of that today, I really need to work on my introductions." Heckyl said, taking a bow. "I'm Heckyl, the current Keeper in my dimension, and I've come to warn you about a great danger."
"What kind of danger?" Devon asked.
"Evox, you know who he is, right?" Heckyl asked. "Well, he just turned up in my dimension and he's making something of a nuisance of himself. I'm going to have to ask you to come and help us."
"Wait, what do you want...?" Was all Devon managed to say, before Heckyl clicked his fingers and in a flash of light, he and the Rangers all disappeared. Commander Shaw just blinked.
"So...do you have any idea what's going on?" Joanne asked.
"Not a clue!" Commander Shaw admitted.