Roxy teleported in, a little way from the car wash. She had a quick look around to make sure she wasn't seen, before starting to make her way in.

She crept in, keeping nice and low. She could see the Rangers working on a car, dancing away to the music as they worked their way through Devon's backlog. Even Ravi was starting to get into it a little. She smiled a little to see it. He always liked to play so stiff and rigid, but there was a part of him not too many people got to see. He loved music, something he picked up from his grandfather, one of the few Shaws who hadn't ended up in the military. When it was just them, when they were listening to her playlists during their time together, she could see him beginning to tap his feet, move his shoulders…on occasion they even danced. He actually had pretty good rhythm too. But of course, in the end, he was always more about appearances and his duty.

She got her mind back on the task in hand, heading towards the chair with their communicators and cell phones on it. She silently picked them up, making sure she wasn't seen. She needn't have worried; they were much too busy messing around as they did their job. Right now, Devon was taking pot-shots at Ravi with the hose while Ravi flicked soapy water from a sponge at him. She slipped away, putting them all down on the ground. She summoned up one of her blasters, and using the bayonet, repeatedly stabbed them all, quickly smashing them into pieces.

She brought up her own communicator and activated it.

"Alright Blaze, their service has been disconnected." She informed him. "You're good to go."

With that, she took one last look at the Rangers, before teleporting out.

Over at the Command Centre, Joanne was at her console, checking on the Zord diagnostics, making sure that they were ready for action.

"Smash, how's the wheeler Zord feeling?" She asked. One advantage with Nate's system was that the Beast Bots directly interfaced with the Zords. It meant they quite literally had someone on the inside that could find far more minor faults than any external repair team could ever find second-hand. It was kind of like the difference between asking a mechanic that could only look over a machine what was wrong, which relied on them being able to see or hear something that was out of the ordinary, and a doctor who could simply ask a patient what their symptoms were.

Indeed, it was actually easier than with a patient because instead of just being able to tell them what hurt, they could start to direct them to what exactly was causing the issues.

"It feels all good here." He told her. "Systems are operating at 98.3 percent."

"That's good, but we can do better can't we?" She asked with a smile. "Let's see if we can install that update to the weapons systems and go from there."

"Joanne, is this a good time?" Nate asked her. Joanne just turned and looked at him.

"Nate, what are you doing here?" She asked him.

"You've missed our last couple of appointments. You were due for a check-up months ago." Nate reminded her. "Commander Shaw called to say it looked like you were experiencing some pain…"

"It's fine." Joanne told him.

"Yes, but there's a difference between fine and good." Nate reminded her.

"Nate, I've got work to do." She said dismissively.

"Joanne…I've just heard you tell Smash that you want to do more work when the Wheeler Zord is at 98.3 percent." He reminded her. "Why would you think it's acceptable to treat yourself any differently?"

Just then, an alarm sounded. Joanne checked the scanner.

"There's an alert at the Morph-X Tower in sector Bravo 93." She called out as she pulled up the footage. "They're under attack!"

"An attack on a tower in broad daylight? That's pretty brazen, even for Blaze." Nate commented.

"I'm calling the Rangers." Joanne told him, hitting the alert. "Something's wrong."

"Are you sure?" Nate asked, getting on the console next to her and trying to activate their communicators. "There's something wrong, the communicators are off-line. I'm going to try and remotely turn them on."

He worked on his computer for a bit, but he just got an error message.

"It's not working. There's something stopping the communicators from activating!" Nate called out.

"They're slicing into the tower. They're already starting to take the Morph-X." She told him.

"Keep trying the Rangers, I need to save as much of the Morph-X as I can." Nate responded as he grabbed a seat and started working frantically on a computer. "Alert Commander Shaw, tell her what's going on."

"Still no luck with the communicators." Joanne said to him. "I'll keep trying, but now I'm trying their cell phones too."

Commander Shaw walked into the room, finding them working frantically.

"I just got your signal. What's going on?" She asked.

"Blaze is attacking a Morph-X tower. He's draining it as we speak." Joanne told her. "I'm trying to raise the Rangers but it's not working."

"He's attacking a tower directly?" She asked, thinking much the same as the others. Blaze and Roxy had attacked other targets before, but they'd always gone for much softer, less well-defended targets. A Morph-X tower would naturally have a lot of Morph-X, but for the same reason they were also some of the most heavily fortified buildings in the city.

"I've activated an emergency pipeline. I'm draining Morph-X to the nearby towers." He told her. "The tower is emptying."

"How long will it take?" She asked.

"The tower should be completely drained in the next thirty seconds." Nate told her, checking the levels. Although the Morph-X towers stored plenty of Morph-X, they were very rarely ever at capacity. A fail-safe was put in place in case any tower ever became compromised that would safely drain them into spare storage space in neighbouring towers. The intent was to be able to safely remove Morph-X in case of an emergency such as a fire or other emergency. Nate had activated the system in order to drain it so that he could limit how much Blaze could take. "It's done. We've managed to save approximately seventy percent of the yield."

"How much did Blaze get?" She asked. Nate did some calculations.

"Approximately 300 tons." He replied as he backed away from the computer. That was a disaster. They'd saved most of the Morph-X, but it was still the largest single raid by a long margin. Until now they had only managed to steal a dozen or so barrels at a time. Now they had 300 tons. It didn't bear thinking about what they could do with that kind of power. Commander Shaw just sighed.

"I want a full report of injuries, damages and losses sent to me within the hour." She told them. "I'm going to go find the Rangers."

With that, she gestured to some security personnel to follow her as she strode out of the room.

Back at the car wash, the Rangers were finally finishing up with their task. Devon was incredibly grateful for their help. If he'd been working by himself, he'd probably have been there until well after dark.

"Well, looks like we're all done!" He declared as he offered his fist for a fist-bump. Both Zoey and Ravi put their hands in, but pulled them away again, performing something of an elaborate handshake. "Uh…what was that?"

"It's our handshake." Zoey told him.

"You guys have a handshake?" He asked in response.

"It's a thing we kind of came up with in training." Ravi told him. He and Zoey just did it again to demonstrate.

"So, it's like this?" He asked as he attempted it. He already knew that Ravi and Zoey had known each other longer than they had known him, and that the fact he wasn't on the base as often as them meant he did miss out on some things. He didn't like the fact that he had let Sudsy or his friends down. More and more he was starting to think that 'growing up' as people put it just meant making more and more promises and commitments. Though he couldn't quite figure out how people were able to juggle them all. It kind of felt like whenever he made one promise, it just made it harder to keep another and more and more he was just letting everyone down.

They all looked up as some Grid Battleforce transports rolled into the car wash. Commander Shaw and some security guards stepped out of the vehicle. The expression on Commander Shaw's face let them know that she was far from happy about something.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" Ravi asked her.

"I was going to ask you the same question!" She said sharply, seeing the Rangers standing before her, looking like they had absolutely no idea what had happened. It was bad enough to miss out on a battle, it was quite another to not even know that they were needed. "Blaze and that Robotron sliced into a Morph-X tower. Fortunately, Nate managed to start draining it and they only got 300 tons."

"300…tons?" Zoey asked, wincing at the very sound of it as she said it. Morph-X was powerful, extremely efficient. Even a small amount, like a vial the size of a soda can could power a whole city. The thought of what anyone could do with TONS of it was something Zoey didn't even want to imagine.

"Yes, tons!" Commander Shaw snapped at them.

"Wait, 300 tons? Why didn't you call us?" Devon asked her. He regretted it almost instantly as Commander Shaw glared at him in a way that let him know she was starting to get to that scary lock-you-in-a-dark-room-until-death kind of mood.

"We tried! Your communicators AND your phones are all off-line!" She informed them.

"No, they're right over…" Devon was starting to say, before he saw the chair only had his and Ravi's jackets on it. They all ran over and started searching.

"What's going on? They were right here!" Devon said, before Zoey looked around a corner.

"Guys." She sighed as she gestured them over. They both came over, looking at a bunch of smashed pieces on the ground. Zoey picked up a piece of yellow plastic that had at one time been her phone, before letting it drop. "It looks like we had a visitor."

"Check this out." Ravi said, picking up one piece of metal that had damage consistent with being stabbed by a blade. It wasn't like anyone could claim someone just dropped them or run over them or something. "This was done on purpose."

"I think I can guess who." Zoey said, her hand straying to her shoulder as she saw the shape of the mark. It wasn't so long ago a blade that matched the one used on their phones and communicators was used on her. "Roxy."

"So, they took out our communicators so we couldn't be contacted." Devon surmised. "Damn it."

Just then, Commander Shaw's communicator sounded.

"Joanne?" She asked.

"Blaze and the Robotron have been spotted on city surveillance." She informed the Commander. "They're heading for the Morph-X tower in sector Kilo 15."

"Heard and understood." Commander Shaw responded. "Have Nate transport new comms to the Rangers. They're on their way."

Ravi and Zoey both headed to one of the transports, which the driver vacated for them. Devon just looked to her apologetically.

"Just a second, I've got to tell my boss I'm going." Devon replied, before heading to the office. Sudsy was there working on the day's figures when he got there. Thanks to his friends' help, he'd finished the backlog early, but he still technically had time left on his shift. He made his way to the desk sheepishly as he realised that once again, he was going to be running out on him.

"Sorry Sudsy, but it's…"

"It's an emergency. Yeah, right!" He responded. "Look kid, I've known your dad a long time, but that doesn't give you licence to just come and go whenever you damn well like."

"I know, I never said it did…" Devon started to protest.

"I don't care if you are Adam's son. You leave again, and you're fired." Sudsy told him flatly. "There are other people that need the work and I need people I can depend on. I don't ask for much, just a fair day's work for a fair day's pay."

Devon hated this. He knew that Sudsy had a point. He was innocent in all of this. Realistically, all he knew was he had one employee that kept running off on him and shirking his responsibilities. There was a time he was part of a guild in an MMORPG that had a member who kept turning up when he wanted them to help him raid a dungeon for something for his character, but would often disappear whenever anyone else was looking for loot or duck out in the middle of a quest because it didn't suit him. Devon had been one of the ones that voted to have the guy kicked out of the party because they couldn't rely on him. If he was in Sudsy's position, he had to imagine that's what he was thinking.

He had enjoyed the fact he had been getting on with his dad. He had wanted to keep the job because it was a nice change to see his dad being proud of him. However, when all was said and done, he knew what his responsibilities were. If he abandoned the Rangers, abandoned the city, people could die. If he abandoned Sudsy, he could get someone that wanted the job for the right reasons and would actually do right by him. He just sighed.

"I'm sorry." Devon told him, walking away. "You do what you've got to do."

"Your father will hear of this!" Sudsy yelled after him. Devon just grabbed his jacket and helmet, mounting Cruise and riding off, following the others towards Blaze's position. He had no doubt Sudsy would call his dad, and he didn't doubt for a moment his dad would be only too quick to let him know how disappointed he was that it only took him two days to get fired from his first job. He had no doubts in his mind that he was doing the right thing. It just kind of sucked that his choices meant that he and Sudsy were the ones to pay the price.

Mayor Daniels was on an X-Bike, riding between meetings with his aide a little way behind him. He heard his phone ringing and gestured to her to pull into the side. He got off the bike and pulled out his phone, looking to the caller ID. He smiled when he saw it was Sudsy.

"Sudsy! Good to hear from you!" He announced cheerfully.

"I wish I could say this was a friendly social call." Sudsy sighed. "Adam, we've been friends a long time, so I thought I owed it to you to tell you myself…your kid ran off again."

"What do you mean he ran off?" Mayor Daniels asked him.

"Look, I gave him a fair shot, but he arrived late, and he's run off a couple of times in shift, he even cost me some business." Sudsy explained to him. "I had to let him go. I'm sorry…"

"No, I'm sorry." He sighed. "Devon let you down. I appreciate the call to tell me."

As he hung up the phone, the street shook and he heard people screaming. There were some blasts from nearby. He watched as the Rangers, Blaze and Slicertron spilled into their street in the middle of a heated battle.

"Mr Mayor!" His aide yelled, waving to him wildly as she took cover. Mayor Daniels went with her to hide, where he could keep an eye on the battle. The Red Ranger was fighting with Blaze, keeping him away while the Yellow and Blue Rangers dealt with Slicertron. The monster forced them both to retreat with some flying blades coming at them. Some of them imbedded themselves in nearby concrete, leaving little doubt that the Rangers were in serious trouble if any of them hit.

There was a scream as a little girl saw one of the blades coming her way. Mayor Daniels flinched, certain he was about to witness a tragedy, but after a flash of red light and a rush of air, he opened his eyes to find the Red Ranger standing next to him, cradling the girl in his arms.

"Da…uh…Mayor Daniels!" Devon stammered, realising who he was. "Can you take care of this girl?"

"Of course, anything to help!" Mayor Daniels replied. Devon just looked to him for a long moment, wishing that this moment could last. However, he turned back to the battle, racing back towards Blaze, only to be launched into the wall. Blaze activated his own speed boost, driving him into the wall with enough force to send concrete flying and levelling his sword at his throat. Devon grabbed onto the blade, struggling to push back against it.

"Now, this all looks familiar doesn't it?" Blaze asked him. "Tell me, when are you going to get it through your thick skull you can't beat me?"

"When are YOU going to get it through your skull…I don't have to!" Devon replied, nodding behind him. Blaze just turned in time to watch Zoey and Ravi aiming their Beast-X Cannons at Slicertron. He could only watch as they opened fire, completely destroying him. Blaze looked back to Devon. "I wasn't here to beat you…just keep you clear while we took out the can opener. No can opener, no beans."

Blaze threw Devon clear, where he rolled back to his feet, joining his friends a little way from him. Blaze looked at the odds before him, and realised that now the battle was pointless. Without Slicertron, he couldn't get into the Morph-X tower.

"This isn't working…we've got to think bigger!" He declared, grabbing his Morph-X key. "See ya!"

With that, he teleported out again. The Rangers all breathed a sigh of relief.

"OK, we're down one Robotron, but that doesn't mean we're out of the woods." Devon reminded them. Just then, a portal opened up a little way from them and a Gigadrone dropped out of the sky. Devon looked to the others.

"You had to say it didn't you?" Zoey asked him.

"I'll head him off. You two catch up." Devon told them, leaping onto Cruise as he summoned his Racer Zord. Ravi and Zoey got onto their communicators.

"Smash, you feeling up for a rumble?" Ravi asked him.

"Thanks to Joanne, the Wheeler Zord at 99.8 percent and feeling ready to SMASH!" Smash assured him.

"Hop to it Jax!" Zoey told him. "We're going to need all the help we can get."

"Just keep an eye on the skies!" Jax answered. "I'm coming in hot!"