There was a swirling vortex of light, a complete assault of the senses before Blaze, Roxy and the supercomputer finally landed with a thud. Roxy sat up, stroking the side of her head.

"What was that?" Blaze asked as he got to his knees, starting to look around. "Where the hell are we?"

"I caught a glimpse; it wasn't one of the weapons they hit us with. It was the transporters." Roxy muttered. "As for where we are? Uh…your guess is as good as mine."

Looking around, they were in some kind of waste land. They were surrounded by red sands and rock as far as they eye could see. The sky was varying shades of purple, yellow and other highly unnatural colours that suggested either the environment was extremely polluted. The exact spot where they had landed had some unmistakable walls, smooth by comparison to the cliffs and ground, but angular and made of shaped brick that had been put together with some kind of cement. Although the walls had long since been smashed or blasted by something and were crumbling, and the rubble beneath them looked a lot like what was left of the building, it was clear that at one time there had been buildings here.

"There's someone here." Roxy told him. "Or…there was at least. Looks like whoever was here is long gone."

"Master Evox!" Blaze called out as he turned his attention to the super computer. He ran to it, checking over it in a hurry. "He was in here! If it's been wrecked…"

"Calm down, he'll be fine!" She muttered as she got up, dusting herself off. "That's a supercomputer that was built in the basement of a military base, it's been built to survive direct attacks from WMD's and…hey, these outfits are…nice!"

She started to admire her new outfit. It was much like her old uniform, but with the exception of her yellow accents, it was now completely black.

"You know, being on this side has its perks." She stated. "These definitely look better than those things Grid Battleforce made us wear."

"Will you focus please?" Blaze snapped.

"Calm down, will you?" She asked. "We're avatars! We don't need to eat; we don't even need to breathe. It's not like we're going to die out here so it's not like we're in much of a hurry, so we can take a few minutes to figure out where we are and what we're going to do."

"We're not going anywhere if Evox…"

She leaned over, checking the computer and smiled.

"It's still on." She told him. "Look, a couple of barrels of Morph-X were caught in the wave, we've got enough here to power the computer for centuries. Evox is going to be just fine."

"Which is more than I can say for YOU!" They heard a screeching voice calling out. They spun around, finding a robot stepping out of hiding, coming towards them.

"OK, so it seems someone else is here." Blaze commented.

"You're in the Cyber Dimension! Which is MY Domain!" The robot declared as he stood before them. "I am the mighty Scrozzle! Head of secret weapons research for King Mondo!"

"King Mondo?" Roxy asked, looking to Blaze, who just looked back at her. They had both heard the name, part of their training was extensive historical research on previous Ranger teams and their enemies.

"King Mondo, ruler of the Machine Empire! The one who will no doubt rule the universe!" Scrozzle told them. "He sent me here to work on some secret projects for him and…"

He suddenly stopped as Blaze and Roxy doubled over, laughing out loud at him.

"What? How dare you! You dare to laugh at The Machine Empire?" He screamed.

"Dude, the Machine Empire was destroyed in '98." Blaze chuckled. "King Mondo is spare parts. Your 'King' has been toast for over 20 years!"

"YOU LIE!" He screamed at them.

"Tell me, have you received orders from him lately?" Roxy teased the robot. "Like…for the last 20 years or so?"

"He…he said he would contact me to check on my progress and request my help when he needed me." Scrozzle told them.

"Well, you'll be waiting on that call for a while." Roxy replied dismissively, before looking to Blaze and smirking. "How sad. He's just sitting here waiting for orders that'll never come for a war that ended and no one thought to tell him about."

"You will NOT mock me you foolish avatars!" He yelled at them. That caught their attention. They both stared at him.

"You know we're…?"

"Yes, I know you're avatars. No way any human would dare to come here!" He announced, before raising a hand. "Now, how about I show you about a little upgrade I threw together in my spare time? TRONICS!"

With that, some robots appeared in a flash of light around him. They were purple and black, with silver heads, and all of them were armed. They positioned themselves to attack Blaze and Roxy, but he held a hand across to indicate to them to wait.

"I'm in charge here, and you may yet prove to be of some use. To send a message to Earth." He told them. "Bow down to me…"

An evil laugh emanated from the super computer, silencing them all, before Evox emerged. It seemed he'd heard enough of this exchange and decided to make his presence known. He dismissively blasted down the Tronics with ease, at which Scrozzle fell to his knees, snivelling and begging for mercy. Blaze and Roxy both relaxed their stance and smirked.

"Well, so much for the ruler of the Cyber Dimension." Blaze sneered.

"You will bow down to ME!" Evox roared as Scrozzle begged for his existence. "I must get out of this dimension NOW!"

"I can help you! I have a teleporter here but…uh…" He stammered. "It's out of power. Sorry."

Blaze just leaned over to Roxy.

"So, he has all these weapons that he's been working on for 20 years but King Mondo left him no way to send them to him?" Blaze asked. "You starting to get the impression that his being sent here wasn't exactly a research sabbatical?"

"You need power?" Roxy asked, heading over to some barrels of Morph-X. She took a small container and showed it to him. "How about this? Pure, refined Morphing Grid Energy."

"Pure Morphing Energy?" He asked, snatching it from her like a survivor of a shipwreck desperately snatching food. He looked to it longingly, like he hadn't seen any power source like it in years. "How did you get this?"

"The place we came from is full of it!" Evox told him, launching a beam into Scrozzle's head. He downloaded data from the years he had missed on Earth, showing him all about the defeat of the Machine Empire, the years in between, and the development of the Morph-X technology.

"My…My King…he is truly gone?" Scrozzle asked him.

"Help us, and not only will you have all the Morph-X you could ever want, but you can exact revenge on those who destroyed him."

"This is not nearly enough to send someone of your might through to the real world." Scrozzle told him, before looking to Blaze and Roxy. "But it should be enough for robots…or avatars."

Evox turned his attention to Blaze and Roxy.

"I must return! Return with this creature to Earth's dimension and retrieve enough Morph-X to send me back to Earth." He ordered them. "Do not fail!"

On Earth, Ravi was sitting by Roxy's life-support pod. He was always an early riser, but after the chaos of the previous day, the last thing on his mind was training.

He was a Ranger, the Blue Ranger. That was the only thing that had gone to plan. They still were largely in the dark about what exactly had happened. All they knew was that a being, a virus called 'Evox' had infected the system and created avatars of Roxy and Blaze, putting both of them into comas in the process. They knew Evox wanted Morph-X, and they knew he wanted to take control of Earth, but beyond that they were completely clueless. Where had he come from? Was he working alone? What ultimately did he want?

He didn't know how long he had been sitting by Roxy's pod. It could have been the whole night for all he knew. Looking on her, his heart aching for the woman he loved, he could only think of the last thing he had said to her. How their last words, possibly the last words they would ever say to each other, had been to tell her that he would not defy Grid Battleforce's rules about them being together. It devastated him to think that she might perish never knowing that he was more than willing to give it all up if it meant getting her back.

He was so focused on Roxy, he didn't notice as Commander Shaw came to the door, before pulling back when she saw him. She listened in from the edge of the door.

"I drove us apart. I'm so sorry Roxy." He lamented. "I'd give anything to have you back. I don't know how, but I promise…I will bring you back. Even if you can never forgive me."

Commander Shaw felt a tear rolling down her face. Her heart broke for her son. She had been the cause of his agony. She saw how miserable the other cadets made him with their accusations of nepotism. She saw how he fought every day to try and prove himself in a fruitless battle to gain the respect of those that would never give it. She had only instituted regulation 34C in the hopes that he would quit, to give him a way out that would preserve his pride and for something more valuable than Grid Battleforce could ever offer. Now, she could only watch as he was going through a Hell of her making, and knowing that if she ever told him that she was the one responsible that he would likely never be able to forgive her. Nor, would she blame him if that was the case.

She heard someone coming and wiped her face. She turned to see Nate coming down the hall with some men in fancy suits, along with a very familiar looking man, who looked to be irate.

"Commander Shaw." Nate began. "Mr Winchester insisted…"

"I want to know what the devil happened to my son!" He barked at her, interrupting Nate. Commander Shaw just looked to him and indicated for him to leave. She had already spoken on the phone to Blaze and Roxy's families. As the head of the Ranger project, it was her responsibility ultimately to inform the families of what had happened. There wasn't much she could tell them, partly because of the classified nature of the project, but mostly because they were still trying to figure out much of it themselves.

"Mr Winchester. I assure you that…"

"Is he in there?" He demanded.

"Mr Winchester, you can be sure your son is getting the best care available and…"

"Considering its MY money that funded the whole thing that is exactly the LEAST I'd expect!" He yelled at her. He didn't wait for an invitation, barging past her. She didn't think now was the time to explain to him what 'classified' meant. All she could see was a father that wanted to see his son. Ravi saw him entering and stood to attention as the rest stormed in. Mr Winchester didn't bother to ask who he was, instead he just went over to Blaze's pod and stared in at him through the glass.

"We've been assured that your son is alive." Commander Shaw told him. "We're working around the clock to give him the best care possible…"

"Will he recover?" He demanded. She just sighed.

"We're doing everything possible." She told him. He turned towards her, sticking his finger right in her face.

"That is my son, the heir to the Winchester legacy!" He stated. "Shut all of this down."

"I'm sorry?"

"The Morph-X, the Rangers, all of it!" He yelled. "Your only concern now is getting my son back out of that pod…"

"Mr Winchester." Ravi started to say, noting his enraged manner. "Your son…the only way we can get him back is for the Rangers to…"

"Why is he talking?" He interrupted him disrespectfully. "I own 30 percent of all of this. You would do well to remember…"

"And you would do well to remember that MY client owns 34 percent." Another man in a suit said as he entered the room. He looked to Commander Shaw. "I represent the Collins' estate. They sent me to assure you that whatever you need, you only have to ask."

"My son is a Winchester! He will inherit…"

"And MY son almost ended up in a pod right alongside him!" Commander Shaw responded. "Now, I am sorry for your predicament, but threatening us is not going to do your son or this situation any good Mr Winchester. You have my word, if there is any change in his condition, you will be the first to know. Until then, I would appreciate it if you would stop threatening and trying to bully my staff who are working VERY hard to save your son!"

Winchester looked to her in disgust, before gesturing to his lawyers to follow him.

"Rest assured, if anything happens to my legacy, I will end you!" He warned her as he stormed out, leaving her with Ravi. She took a deep breath.

"Mom, are you…?"

"Son, I have been personally threatened by men that ended up in the Hague for some of the most despicable crimes against humanity you could imagine." She interrupted him. "Lawyers don't really scare me."

"Is it time for the morning briefing?" He asked. She just nodded.

"Head up to the Command Centre." She confirmed. "I'll be up shortly."

With that, he headed out the door. Commander Shaw waited until he was gone, before heading to Roxy's pod and placing a hand on it.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

Up in the Command Centre, Zoey was waiting for the Commander and the other Rangers. Ben and Betty came into the room, seeing her.

"How are you?" Betty asked her.

"As good as can be expected." She answered with a shrug. "It was kind of weird being in the dorm by myself you know? I mean, that's Roxy's place."

"It was yours too." Ben reminded her.

"I know, but…" She just sighed and shook her head. "I found two half-finished packets of pop tarts that were both open and only had blueberry in them. I actually yelled at Roxy for it."

Ben and Betty just stared at her sympathetically.

"I know, its stupid right?" She chuckled. "It always bugged the hell out of me when she did that. I yelled at her about it and it took me a couple of minutes to remember she wasn't actually there."

"Roxy was…IS…a friend." Betty reminded her. "She was always really cool to us."

"Yeah, most of the other cadets wouldn't give us the time of day." Ben agreed.

"She's the best." Zoey agreed. "If she walked through that door right now, I wouldn't give a shit about all the stale pop tarts in the world."

"Hey…its cool. Nate is doing everything for her." Ben reminded her. "If anyone can figure out how to bring her back it's him."

"You know…and Blaze." Betty added. "You know…if he has time."

Zoey laughed a little. She appreciated that they were trying to make her feel better. She had wanted to be a Ranger, but not like this. If Roxy walked back into the Command Centre right now, Zoey would have been only too happy to give her the biggest hug in the world and give her back her rightful spot on the team. "How's Ravi? I didn't see him in the gym earlier."

"He's been in the infirmary since about four." Ben told her. "I was on the night patrol. He hasn't left in hours."

"Poor guy, I can't imagine what this is doing to him." Zoey sighed.

"Guys, how awesome is this Ranger thing?" Devon said excitedly as he strode into the room with a huge, bright grin on his face. "I swear, last night, I needed to get a cab home. I could barely walk, this morning, I feel better than…than maybe ever!"

They all just stared at him. It was more than a little bit of a different mood.

"I mean, seriously, my wrist…it's never been the same since I discovered Inferno Battler but today it feels incredible!" He told them. "Stuff I've had for years, gone!"

"I'm glad you like the benefits of being a Ranger." Nate said as he arrived. "The powers will heal you all faster. I'm not saying you should try walking into traffic or anything, but most things should heal up pretty quick, and we have some of the best medical tech available for anything more serious."

"How are you?" Zoey asked, noticing that he was still limping a little. He just shrugged.

"I'll be fine eventually." He assured them. Just then, Ravi came in.

"Hey man, how awesome are these Ranger powers?" Devon rushed out. "I mean seriously, yesterday we were just about wrecked and today…"

"Uh…Devon?" Zoey said, trying to get his attention before he said something that might set Ravi off. Devon had no reason to know that he and Roxy had been in a relationship, but that didn't mean that Ravi might not take it badly. "Two of our…friends…are in intensive care."

"Oh…OH!" He said, suddenly realising how it had to sound. The powers should have been given to Roxy and Blaze. In his excitement he had let it slip his mind that while he had been fortunate, others had not been as lucky. He had his reasons to dislike Blaze, but he would never wish anything like that on anyone. "I'm…I'm sorry, I…that was thoughtless, I didn't mean…"

"Hey, I get it. If it wasn't for Roxy and Blaze, I'd probably be dancing right now." Ravi told him.

"He would?" Ben whispered to Betty.

"I'm not the only one a little curious how that would look, right?" Betty answered. Zoey just nodded in agreement. He was so staid, so rigid that it just seemed weird to think about him doing anything like that.

"I know, it's just…I'm sorry." Devon told him.

"If it wasn't for you two, I'd be right in there with them." He reminded them. "I know I probably had a little too much on my mind to say so earlier but…thank you."

"It's cool." Devon assured him. "I think all of us have to let our brains catch up to where we are right now."

"That's a good mentality to have." Commander Shaw said as she walked in. "This has caught us all off-guard. While the avatars have been dealt with for now, I think it would be foolish to presume they won't be back."

"Not to mention we need to find them if we're going to wake Blaze and Roxy up." Zoey recalled.

"You have a lot to learn." She told them. "Nate, are you ready for the introductions?"

"Introductions?" Zoey asked.

"Yes." Nate told them. "Follow me. It's time for you to meet the rest of your team."

"Rest of the team?" Devon asked. "I thought there were only three Rangers."

"Follow me." Nate said with a smile, leading them out of the room.