Steel arrived at one of the towers, finding the Tronics already hard at work, laying siege to the place. He skidded to a halt, watching for a moment in confusion as he saw what was happening.
Far from a firefight, he noticed that it was more of a blitz rush on the base. The guards were taking hardly anything more than basic covering fire from a few Tronics on their way in. Most of them were simply running straight to the storage area, and picking up any barrels or cans of Morph-X that weren't nailed down before running away again into a waiting portal. The ground all around was strewn with scattered parts from Tronics that had already been obliterated in their single-minded rush to the base. He got onto his communicator.
"Uh, guys, are your Tronics barely fighting back too?" He asked.
"It's a Zerg Rush!" Devon explained.
"Sorry, come again?" Ravi asked for clarification.
"They're not here for a fight, they're here to grab all the goodies they can and bug out!" Devon explained. "I've speed-run every Soulsborne game like ten times. The first thing you do is run into the highest level areas, ignore all the bad guys and grab the highest level gear! You don't care if you get killed, you just want the gear you need!"
"There's a lot of them!" Nate commented. "It looks like Evox is sending everything he has!"
"But they're getting annihilated!" Ravi replied. "Why would he do that? He's losing his entire army!"
"Because he's looking for a big payoff! He wants a lot of Morph-X fast!" Devon answered. "We have to take out as many of them as we can! Whatever he wants that Morph-X for can't be good!"
"On it!" Steel replied as he charged into the middle of the yard, smashing through Tronics. He suddenly noticed the biggest problem.
"Guys, our security can't take on most of them!" Steel told them. "With this much Morph-X around, if they miss, the whole place could go sky high!"
"We've all got the same problem!" Devon told him. "Stow the blasters, we need to do this up close and personal!"
"But there's no way we can take out all of them with just Beast-X Sabres!" Ravi yelled.
"We don't have much of a choice!" Devon replied.
With that, Steel summoned his sword and began cutting down all the Tronics he could.
Back at the Winchester estate, Blaze and his robotic counterpart fought in a deadly duel, their swords clashing as they ducked and dived among the monuments and garden decorations, trying to get some kind of advantage over each other.
Robo-Blaze chuckled as Blaze stumbled into a state, limping away from it a little.
"You know, even without my morpher there's no way you can win, right?" Robo-Blaze taunted him. "I can do this all day. The longer this goes on, the worse it gets for you. You get hurt, you get tired. I don't!"
"You're nothing but a copy." Blaze replied. "I know everything you know...but I've learned more since you were built!"
"The time of humans is coming to an end, don't you get that?" Robo-Blaze asked as Blaze circled around him, trying to find a better position to strike from. "Evox has already brought one dimension to its knees. He's evolved since then, you really think you have a chance?"
Blaze furrowed his brows, what was he talking about? Another dimension? Evox had been created in Nate's lab, how could he have destroyed another dimension?
"I mean, it's inevitable, even without Evox, mankind was well on its way to destroying itself." Robo-Blaze continued. "You have pandemics with people actively resisting any attempt to curtail it. You watch your weather getting more and more extreme every single year and yet you still have a bunch of people that won't even be alive when the planet burns to the ground striving to get as much out of the Earth as they can before they die. You have people still trying to drive each other to extinction over which book they believe magically holds all the answers to existence and you think Evox is your problem? He's just a catalyst, speeding up a process you're managing just fine on your own!"
"You're wrong!" Blaze snapped back. "People are fighting to change that!"
"And it's all too little too late!" Robo-Blaze mocked him. "The only saving grace is you and your little girlfriend won't have to worry about living long enough to watch your world burn to the ground!"
Blaze rushed at him, their blades rebounding off each other, as they fought frantically. Blaze roared as he aimed every strike with all the training he'd earned over his years, aiming to find the one strike that would bring his opponent down. All those years, all those lessons, every broken bone, every hour he had trained, all those tournaments, none of it mattered, it was all about this one battle.
Blaze managed to get through his guard, slicing down Robo-Blaze's left arm, opening it up, but instead of pulling away, Robo-Blaze came forward. Having no pain receptors, he could take a hit to get an advantage. He returned the strike, sending Blaze to the ground, clutching his left arm to himself as he tried to stem the blood flow. He reached for his Katana, but Robo-Blaze stepped on his wrist, stopping him getting it. He looked down on him with a sinister smile.
"Nice try." Robo-Blaze told him. He looked to his arm. "Scrozzle will have this straightened out soon. But you...not so much!"
He raised up his katana, aiming the point down.
"And don't worry, once I'm done with you, your little girlfriend is next!"
Just then, there was a roar of engines. They both looked aside to see a tanker smashing through the garden wall. Robo-Blaze stepped away from Blaze, just moments before it slammed into him, sending him flying through the air. Commander Shaw got out of the cab, reaching down to Blaze.
"I have no idea what you were thinking..."
"Commander, with all due respect, please feel free to arrest me if I survive!" Blaze told her, tearing off part of his shirt and quickly binding his arm. They both looked to where Robo-Blaze was getting up.
Robo-Blaze no longer had his morpher, but seeing things change with the arrival of Commander Shaw, he played another card. Using his image inducer, he changed his clothing to match Blaze's, before running off. Blaze gestured to the mausoleum.
"Meghan's in there!" He told her. "Free her and go!"
"Blaze..."
"I can finish this!" Blaze reiterated. "GO!"
"Blaze, you're hurt!" She reminded him. "You need help..."
"And the last thing I need is you shooting me by mistake!" He reminded her. "GO!"
Commander Shaw ran towards the Mausoleum to find Meghan, while Blaze ran off in search of his doppelganger, hoping to finally get his life back and end his reign of terror once and for all.
In another part of the city, Zoey's lungs burned with exertion as she smashed Tronic after Tronic, cutting down any that got within arm's reach. At one time, she could barely see anything other than Tronics all around her, another taking the place of every one she destroyed.
However, a glimmer of hope came as she finally saw daybreak. More and more fell, and more light came through. She watched the last couple disappear through the portal, which disappeared behind them as the last one fell. She got onto her communicator, breathing deeply to try and get her breath back.
"Things are finally clear here." She panted, doubling over and supporting her weight on her knees.
"Same over here." Ravi added, his sword dropping from his hand. "I don't know how much they got away with..."
"We can worry about that later." Devon said breathlessly. "We'll get the staff to do a full inventory of what's left, see if we can't figure out how much is gone. In the meantime, everyone head for the Winchester place."
"The Winchester Estate?" Ravi asked.
"If they pulled this, I've got no faith they'll play fair with the handover there." Devon told them. "I think we need to assume it's a set up too."
"I'll meet you there." Zoey replied, looking to one of the guards. "Can someone lend me a vehicle?"
He tossed her a set of keys and pointed to a car a little way from him.
"It's mine." He told her.
"I'll give it back, I swear." Zoey replied as she got in, gunning the engine and speeding away.
Back at the Winchester Estate, Commander Shaw ran up to Meghan, and started to get to work, trying to pick the lock on her shackles.
"Where's Blaze?" Meghan asked her in a panic.
"I'll get you out soon." Commander Shaw said, struggling with the locks.
"Where's Blaze?" Meghan repeated frantically. Commander Shaw just swore loudly, before throwing away her tools and pulling out her blaster, aiming for the chains. Meghan turned away as she blasted them, freeing her. "Come on, we need to get out of here."
"We're not going anywhere without Blaze!" Meghan screamed.
"Blaze made a choice! It's a brave choice, one I admire, but he made a choice!" Commander Shaw told her. "But I'm responsible for your safety..."
Meghan just ran out of the mausoleum. Commander Shaw rolled her eyes, before following her.
"Meghan..." She called out, before seeing her just outside. She had suddenly stopped. "Meghan, we need to go..."
"Blaze!" She called out. They both watched as he appeared, limping down the path, holding his arm to his side. He was dragging his katana along the ground, and was clearly injured, but coming towards them. Meghan was about to rush to him when Commander Shaw stopped her. "Commander..."
"His morpher was broken, but Robo-Blaze still has his image inducer!" She told her. "He made himself look like Blaze."
Hearing this, Meghan realised the danger. They didn't know if this was Blaze or his doppelganger. Commander Shaw stepped before her, holding her blaster on him.
"Put the sword down, Blaze." She told him.
"Commander, it's me..."
"Then you'll have no problem proving it." She responded. "Put the sword down!"
"It's me, I got him." Blaze told them. "He's over by the mansion if you don't believe me! You can see..."
"Put the sword, DOWN!" Commander Shaw yelled again. "You won't get another warning!"
Just then, there was a yell and another Blaze leapt out of hiding, barrelling into the other. They both tumbled away, before scrambling to their feet. They took up their swords, facing off against each other.
"Get out of here!" One of them called out. "I've got this!"
"Go!" The other answered. Commander Shaw started to aim frantically between them both as they fell upon each other, their swords smashing into each other, ringing out over the entire estate.
"Commander, we have to help!" Meghan shrieked.
"Which one?" Commander Shaw asked. "Meghan, we need to go!"
"But Blaze needs help!" She answered.
"Both of you, get out of here!" Both Blazes yelled.
As Commander Shaw grabbed Meghan and was about to leave, she started to struggle, refusing to go. Commander Shaw looked to her angrily.
"Meghan, we need to leave!"
"Not without Blaze!" She shrieked. She punched Commander Shaw in the face, knocking her to the ground as she pulled the blaster away from her. She aimed at the two Blazes fighting only a few feet away from her.
"Meghan, you can't risk it!" Meghan told her. "You could hit Blaze!"
"If we leave, he could be killed!" Meghan screamed. "I'm not going to lose him!"
"Meghan, you have no idea which one it is!" Commander Shaw responded. As one Blaze was disarmed, he grabbed the other, grappling with him, the two of them wrestling for the sword. Meghan aimed frantically back and forth between them, trying to find any sign that would tell her which one to aim at.
"Meghan!" One of them called out. "SHOOT US BOTH!"
Meghan took aim, firing and hitting the other Blaze. He fell to his knees, sparks coming from him as the other Blaze retrieved the sword. The real Blaze rammed it through his copy, glaring straight into his face.
"You think this matters?" Robo-Blaze taunted him. "Evox is still going to destroy you all!"
"Maybe." Blaze answered. "But at least you won't be here to see it!"
With that, he ripped the sword upwards, splitting his torso open. As Robo-Blaze fell to the ground, exploding, Blaze dropped the sword and turned towards Meghan and Commander Shaw. Meghan ran at him, wrapping her arms around him tightly, a gesture Blaze was only too happy to return.
"That was...a pretty big gamble." Commander Shaw told him.
"It wasn't a gamble. I wanted Meghan to shoot us both. It was the only way I knew you'd both be safe." Blaze explained, looking down to her. "How did you know it was me?"
"Because you told me to shoot you both." Meghan answered.
"Robo-Blaze would try to preserve himself." Commander Shaw surmised. "You knew that Blaze was the only one willing to sacrifice himself." She shook her head.
"Robo-Blaze is programmed to serve Evox, he'd sacrifice himself if he had to." She responded.
"Then how...?" She asked. Meghan looked to Blaze and smiled.
"Because only Blaze would know I actually COULD shoot them both." She replied. Blaze reached behind her head, pulling her in and kissing her deeply. Commander Shaw just looked away uncomfortably as the Rangers finally arrived.
"Whoa." Ravi commented. "Um...OK, so...looks like we missed it all."
"I'll say." Devon agreed. "Robo-Blaze?"
"Toast." Blaze answered. "So, um...not to be a drama queen or anything, but I could really use some medical attention!"
"Yeah, let's get out of here." Zoey agreed.
"This is Commander Shaw, we're returning to base." She announced over the communicator. "I want a full inventory of Morph-X when I get back."
With that, they all headed towards their various vehicles, leaving what was left of Robo-Blaze among the ruins of the Winchester Estate gardens.
In the Crystal Dimension, Scrozzle was working frantically to hook up pumps to all the Morph-X containers they had. Evox watched him work impatiently.
"Faster, Scrozzle, faster!" He hissed, his eyes glowing in anticipation.
"I'm going as fast as I can, Master Evox!" He protested. "But we only have a couple of dozen Tronics left, and without Blaze and Roxy, I'm a little short-handed!"
"All acceptable losses, our time is almost at hand!" Evox cackled. "My ultimate weapon is almost ready to be unleashed! The Rangers are all but defenceless!"
Morph-X started to get pumped from the barrels down some tubing, leading past Evox to a valley behind him. He looked down over the valley to the weapon beneath.
"Soon, this world will be nothing but rubble at my feet!" Evox stated. "And I shall rebuild it in my image! Soon, nothing will stand in our way!"
Back at the Grid Battleforce headquarters, the Rangers and Joanne assembled in the Command Centre. They were just waiting on Devon to get there. Zoey was the second to last to arrive, coming out of the elevator.
"The medical staff say Blaze should probably be OK." Zoey assured them. "Meghan's staying with him."
"Thanks for the update." Commander Shaw told them. "I'm going to have to have serious words with Meghan about obeying direct orders, but under the circumstances, I think I may just settle for a warning on this occasion."
"That's probably for the best." Zoey remarked. "The way she stuck to Blaze's side, I'm not sure a full security team could get her to leave him to be honest."
"Sorry I'm late." Devon said, coming in, carrying a box by his side. "What's the update?"
"Blaze is going to be fine. He'll not be going to any tournaments for a while, but he's with the best medics in the city." Commander Shaw told him. "The bigger issue right now is the Morph-X."
"It's clear all this was just a desperate Zerg Rush." Devon told them. "Evox sacrificed a lot of pieces on this play, so whatever he's planning it has to be big."
"We figure he got away with about six dozen barrels give or take a few litres." Joanne answered. "If he needs that much Morph-X, my guess is he's powering something. Something big!"
"What's the progress on the Zords?" Commander Shaw asked her.
"They're about forty percent." She responded with a sigh. "They were pretty badly thrashed."
"That's not good." Ravi answered. "We should throw everything we have at..."
"We're already throwing everything we have at them." Joanne reminded him. "I don't have a single engineer who isn't on double or even triple shifts."
"Keep us updated. I have a feeling we're going to need those Zords pretty soon." Devon answered. "So, what's the good news?"
"With Robo-Blaze gone, Blaze will be able to get his life back." Nate reminded them. "You know, once he can leave the hospital wing."
"I don't think he's going to mind being there too much." Zoey said with a little smile, taking Nate's hand. Commander Shaw just cleared her throat.
"Yes, well, be that as it may, I think it's clear we all need to be on high alert." She answered. "For now, you're all dismissed, but please stay close."
"I'm just heading back to the Zord bay." Joanne told them as they all started to break off. Devon approached her.
"Can you hold up just a moment?" He asked.
"Devon, I have a lot of work..."
"I know, it's just...I promise this won't take long." He told her. "I got something for you."
"Look, that's really sweet, but can you give it to me later?" She asked.
"I really think you'll want to see this now." He told her. She just rolled her eyes as he took her to a table, putting down the box. "OK, close your eyes."
"Really?" She asked.
"Please, humour me." He told her. She just sighed, before closing her eyes. She could hear him opening the box, and get something out.
"Look, I really have to go..." She stared to say, before being interrupted by something warm and wet touching her face. "...wait, what the...?"
She opened her eyes, to see a pair of dark eyes staring back at her. Drawing back a little, she saw a little face, covered in white and light-brown fur. The ears were brown, and there was a brown patch over its left eye. She looked up, seeing Devon uneasily holding the puppy at arms' length.
"I picked him up from a shelter earlier." He told her.
"Devon, you..." She started to say, taking the puppy from him. It barked and scrambled happily as she held it in her arms, fighting for her attention. A bright smile split her face as she looked to him. "...what about your phobia?"
"Well, I thought this would make you happy." He told her. "And...maybe if we raise him together, then it might not be so bad."
She came to him, hugging him with one arm as she cradled the puppy in her other. She kissed his cheek as they parted.
"He's adorable, I love him!" She shrieked. "Thank you so much! I wish I didn't have to go to the Zord bay, I just want to play with him!"
"Well, he'll be in your quarters when your shift finishes." He assured her. "Which I suppose gives me a little time to get used to the little guy."
"Thank you again!" She answered as he left the room. She headed to the elevator, hitting the button. "OK people, we've got a lot of work to do, so I better see everyone going full tilt when I get down there!"
Elsewhere on the base, Ben and Betty were heading for a private boardroom. Their father, General Burke, had insisted on having dinner with them, something Ben had been dreading since he had heard of the visit.
Betty patted him on the shoulder.
"Ben, it's just dinner." She told him.
"Betty, there's so much going on...maybe we should just cancel!" He suggested. "I'm sure dad understands, I know Joanne would love two extra bodies in engineering..."
"Ben, we're here now." She told him. "Its just dad. Its been ages since we got together."
"Betty, I really don't want to..." He didn't get to finish as she shoved him in the door. They got there to see General Burke finishing lighting some candles. He smiled brightly as he saw his kids.
"Ah, Ben, Betty, you're right on time!" He told them. "The beef wellington should be ready any moment, and I've been assured the pate is just exquisite."
"Dad, things are..."
"Oh, come now, Commander Shaw and the others are highly capable, I'm sure they'll call us if they need us. Please, sit!" He insisted, gesturing to the table. They both sat down, while he poured them all some water.
"You really went to a lot of trouble for dinner." Betty commented.
"I just wanted to put in a little effort." He told them. "I don't get nearly enough time to catch up with you both. In fact, I'm afraid I have a little business that I have to attend to..."
"You're busy?" Ben asked, lighting up. "Well, we can go and..."
"Nonsense, if there's one thing I can do its multi-task." He replied as a bell sounded. "In fact, that should be him now."
The door opened, and Cole walked in. Ben's eyes went wide in panic.
"General Burke, I was told to meet you here?" He said inquisitively, seeing Ben and Betty. "Oh, you're in the middle of something, I'll come back..."
"Don't be silly, young man. There's plenty of room, we can discuss your future while you're here." General Burke told him, gesturing to a seat. "Go on, sit!"
As he took a seat uneasily, General Burke poured him a glass.
"Now, how about we get this all started?" He asked.