Hello all! Here is another chapter of 'The Last Stand'! And it is Christmas Eve already!! WHOOO!!! And tomorrow will be Christmas Day, and two days until Kwanzaa starts, and seven days until New Years, and eight days until 2010, and-
Okay I'll stop now.
lol
Okay, well this is the part where I tell you to start reading. But instead of saying something cute, I'm just going to ask you nicely.
Please continuing reading. Thank you and have a nice day.
^_^
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--------------CHAPTER3--------------
"Corp Hicks!" Summer shouted, running down the last steps. Hicks had been placed in the SSUC (Strict Security Unit Cell) at the entrance, so the guards could keep a closer eye on him. Yeah... right.
Hicks looked up from his seat at the sound of his name. He would've stood up and walked to the edge of the cell, but his restriants were preventing him from doing so. "Ranger Yellow?"
"You're back to normal," Summer sighed. She began typing in the codes on the keypad by the door to unlock it. "I'm really sorry that you've been like this for the past hour or so," she added, walking in as the door opened. She began unlocking the restriants. "Hicks, we need your help. Venjix has activated hybrids all over the city, including Dillon, and they've captured the Colonel!"
"Colonel Truman? How?" Hicks asked, standing up.
"Turns out the city is infested with hybrids... and a majorty of them are soldiers or officers" Summer responded, crossing her arms. Hicks shook his head. Summer looked at him. "Hicks why didn't you tell us?" she wondered. The Corporal stared at her as if she had two heads.
"Tell you what?" he wondered. Summer looked at him in disbelief.
"Hello? The fact that you're a hybrid! That could've prevented today's earlier event of you almost killing Colonel Truman!" Summer exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. She rolled her eyes and began walking out of the cell. Hicks grabbed her arm.
"Wait, what?" Hicks demanded. "Did you just say I'm a hybrid?" Summer's eyes widened.
"You mean... you mean you didn't know?" she asked softly. "Hicks... Venjix activated your machienary earlier today... you almost killed Colonel Truman! You're fifty- three percent robot!" Hicks hand dropped to his side. He looked at himself, suddenly so self- conscious. "How could you not have known?" Summer wondered. Hicks looked at her sadly.
"To be honest... I don't know..."
Dr. K lifted a small vial and inspected it's green contents. She nodded and finally poured it into another vial with blue chemical. Handing it to Tenaya, she went to the computer and typed in some codes. Tenaya slowly and carefully placed the vial's contents. Then suddenly, the alarms started blaring. Tenaya looked around in confusion, not sure what was happening. Dr.K, however, ran to a different computer. Tenaya followed. "What's happening?" she wondered. Dr.K shook her head in disbelief.
"Kilobyte... he's on his way here."
Tenaya's eyes widened. She looked to the lab doors, and then to the antidote. Finally, she turned to Doctor K. "Can you put this place on lockdown?" she wondered. Dr.K looked at her confused.
"Well... yes, but-"
"Perfect! Start it up, and keep working on the antidote!" Tenaya shouted, running out of the lab. Dr.K, uncertain of what Dillon's sister was coming to, ran after her, stopping at the lab doors.
"Tenaya!" she exclaimed. Tenaya spun around. "Where are you going?" Dr.K demanded.
"Getting rid of that annoying robot once and for all! Kilobyte and I have a score to settle!" Tenaya stated firmly. With that said, she turned around and ran out of the Garage. Dr.K went back to her black chair and sat down.
"Probability of working: ninety- four percent..."
After following a group of hybrids, on foot, the Rangers came to a warehouse. Hybrids were all inside, occupying the whole building. There had to be at the very least six hundred in there. Meaning about a hundred and twenty for each Ranger. Scott had quickly organized an attack plan to capture the hybrids, thus weakening Venjix's army.
"Everybody in position?" Scott asked over the feed.
"Yep" was the general response from everyone.
"Good, let's do this," Scott stated.
"Wait, I have a quick question!" Ziggy exclaimed. Everyone groaned.
"What now Ziggy?" the Red Eagle Ranger wondered.
"We aren't going to... you know... kill these guys, are we?" the Green Ranger asked. Flynn shot Scott a look. That was a good question. Something they hadn't considered. Would they kill the hybrids?
They were people. And it wasn't their fault that they had Venjix hardware inside them. But if they knew, why hadn't they come forward to get help? Maybe it was because they didn't want to be thrown in jail or examined like a lab rat. Scott thought this through. True, they were the enemy and had to be stopped. But what if it were Dillon? Scott sighed and lifted up his morpher.
"No Ziggy. Although we'll be using our weapons, avoid any casualities at all costs? Got it team?" he responded.
"Couldn't agree more," Gem said.
"With you all the way!" Gemma added gleefully.
"Ready for this fearless leader?" Flynn asked Scott, patting his shoulder.
"More ready than I'll ever be," Scott stated. "Alright team. Let's move!"
In Middletown Village, Kilobyte was walking down the streets, heading towards the Garage. He stopped in his tracks when a certain someone walked onto the street he was on.
"Kilobyte!" Tenaya snarled. Her hands were in fists and you could tell she was clearly not in a happy mood.
Or in any good mood for that matter...
"Ah, Tenaya 15... I was wondering when you'd show up," Kilobyte sneered. Tenaya only let out a battle cry as she ran towards Kilobyte. The ego-maniac robot ran towards her, meeting her challenge. But what they didn't know was that someone was watching them.
And that someone was not happy.
In the Control Center, Venjix was looking at a pair of screens that monitored the city. Dillon came behind him.
"Is everything alright Master?" he asked.
"It appears that Tenaya, your sister, is fighting Kilobyte. I ordered her not to until we conquered the dome," Venjix spat. Dillon looked on with interest.
"Shall I go stop her, Master?" he asked. Venjix shook his head.
"No. Instead, I would like you to go assist her. After all, Kilobyte must be destroyed," he responded. Dillon nodded, bowing his head, and turned to leave. When he reached the door, he paused. He turned back to Venjix.
"Master... I ran into her earlier," Dillon stated.
"Oh?"
"Yes, and it seemed like she was in a hurry to get somewhere-"
"I had told her to get to the warehouse to command my hybrids," Venjix interrupted. "And I believe I gave you an order!"
"Forgive me Master, but... she wasn't heading to the warehouse. In fact, she didn't seem like herself at all," Dillon said. Venjix paused, seeming thoughtful at this. "What if when your device activated your hybrids, it shut off her technology?"
Venjix turned away from Dillon, walking to a window. "That is a rather... accurate theory."
"If I know anything about Kilobyte, it's that he's a traitor. But he's also intelligent. What if he was heading to the Ranger's base, to kidnap Dr.K?" Dillon went on. "Kilobyte might've been planning to turn on you, kidnap Dr.K, and attempt to destroy you."
"Where does Tenaya come into this?" Venjix asked.
"If her technology has been shut down, I wouldn't be surprised if she went running to the pathetic Rangers. And if she went to the Rangers, she must be protecting Dr.K," Dillon explained.
"It all makes sense... I have always had my doubts about Tenaya, as well as Kilobyte," Venjix commented.
"Shall I destroy them both, Master?" Dillon wondered.
"No!" Venjix barked. "Instead, we shall let them battle each other and we'll see what shall have to be done with who wins. But with Tenaya gone, I need a new general."
"Oh! Oh!" Crunch exclaimed, coming up to Venjix. "Let me do it Master!"
Crunch's reply was a strike in the chest, shutting off his hardware. His red eyes shut off as Venjix pulled out his staff. The Colonel winced at the sound of the thump Crunch's body made when it hit the ground. Dillon chuckled at the general's demise. "Always such a nusciance," Venjix muttered. He turned to the hybrids.
"Subject H74!" he shouted. Vasquez walked forward, kneeling before her Master. "Go to the iNet lab and find a... 'suitable' upgrade for our new general... General D44."
"ICE MODE!!" Gemma called out. She and Gem fired their Sky Shift Blasters at the hybrids, freezing them.
"Yes! We-"
"-did it!" Gemma finished. The two twins high- fived. Scott walked over.
"Way to go team. Everything went perfectly according to plan," he stated. The Rangers stared at the frozen hybrids.
"So... now what?" Flynn wondered.
"Colonel Truman was my friend, my best friend," Hicks stated, running a hand through his hair.
"Hey," Summer stated, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Colonel Truman doesn't blame you... no one does. And besides, you didn't kill him."
"If Scott wasn't there..." Hicks voice trailed off. Summer sighed. He had been moping and wallowing in self- pity for a very long time now, and Summer was getting annoyed. Didn't Hicks realize that the city needed saving? There was only one thing left Summer could think off. She lifted her hand and smacked him across the face. Hicks was silent for a moment while Summer waited for his response. He turned back to look at her. Summer shrugged. "First of all... ow! And second of all, what the hell was that for?" Hicks demanded.
"I needed to snap you out of it! Hicks, I'm sorry, but we've got a city to save. You can mope later, ok?" Summer stated. Hicks sighed and nodded. Summer smiled. "Let's go." The two ran into the lobby, Summer stopping in her tracks. Hicks turned to her.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"The hybrids- uh, guards... where are they?" Summer wondered, looking around. Hicks eyes widened.
"Ranger Yellow! Get down!" he yelled.
"Huh?"
Before she knew it, Summer found herself on the floor taking refuge from the guards blasters from the lobby desk. She turned to Hicks, who had tackled her to the ground. "Thanks, but please. Just call me Summer," she said. Hicks nodded.
"Friends of yours?" he asked. Summer shuddered.
"I wouldn't exactly call them friends," she remarked, pointing to the light purple bruises forming on her neck. Hicks flinched. He grabbed a blaster that was on the ground, from Summer's earlier battle, and put it on stun mode. Leaning beyond the edge of the desk slightly, he fired at the hybrids repeatedly. Running out of ammo, he sat back down next to Summer.
"We need to try a different approach," he declared. Summer chuckled.
"Way ahead of you," she nodded, taking out her morpher. "RPM! GET IN GEAR!"
Seconds later, she was in her yellow ranger suit. "Ready to meet your distant cousins?" Summer asked, taking out her Nitro Sword as Hicks reloaded the blaster.
"Definitely," he said. Then without another word, they ran towards the hybrids. Summer leapt into a group of 4 hybrids, while Hicks took on the other three. Using the Nitro Sword, she knocked the blaster out of the first hybrid's hand. She kicked him, sending him crashing into hybrid number two. She deflected some off the fourth's hybrid's fired shots, which ended up hitting the guard in the leg. He fell down. Summer turned to the third hybrid. Her eyes narrowed. It was the hybrid who had chocked her. "Oh you are so going down!" she yelled.
Hicks found himself able to fight with more ease than ever before. He ducked a punch from one of the hybrids. Spinning around, he grabbed its blaster and snapped it from its grip. He banged him and hybrid two on the head with it. The third hybrid proved to be a bit more of a challenge. But finally, with a roundhouse kick, Hicks knocked him down. Summer ran over to him, her helmet retracted. "Let's get out of here!" she exclaimed. The two ran out of the building only to see Vasquez walking out of the iNet lab with a briefcase. "Vasquez!" Summer called out. Vasquez's head snapped to face the Yellow Ranger and Corporal. Her eyes glowed a faint red.
"Vasquez too? Are you kidding me?" Hicks moaned. Summer looked at him, a smirk on her face.
"You like her don't you?" she said.
"What?"
"Oh, admit it Hicks! You've got it bad for Vasquez!" she teased. Hicks put up a hand in defense.
"She is my team mate, nothing more!" he stated.
"Okay, okay. Fine..." Summer shrugged, still smirking. "I'll take care of her! Radio Scott and the others and find out where they are!" she stated, running to Vasquez.
"Wait! How?" Hicks yelled.
"The radio in the car!" Summer shouted, blocking a punch from Vasquez. Hicks ran to Scott's sports car and picked up the radio.
"Scott? This is Hicks!"
"Hicks? How did you get out? What happened to Summer?"
"Ask Dr.K for the details and Summer's fighting Vasquez," Hicks stated. After hearing a pause, he sighed. "Look, I know you don't trust me, but I'm on your side. If you don't believe me, ask Dr.K." He heard some talking in the background (Flynn was contacting Doctor K for confirmation). Finally, Scott's voice was heard.
"Alright Hicks, welcome to the team," he said.
"Where are you guys?" Hicks asked.
"We're in the iNet warehouse downtown! We were taking down some hybrids that met here." Scott responded.
"iNet? Vasquez was just stealing something from the iNet lab..." Hicks was cut off when Summer landed on her back and demorphed. "Scott, I got to go. Summer needs help." He dropped the radio and ran to assist the Yellow Ranger.
"Wait! Hicks! Argh!" Scott growled. "Did any of you get that?"
"He said Vasquez was stealing something from the iNet lab," Ziggy responded.
"And all the hybrids came to the iNet warehouse..." Flynn added. They five Rangers looked at each other, feeling very uneasy.
Vasquez managed to get away from Hicks and Summer, running off with the briefcase. "Now what?" Hicks asked. Summer looked at him.
"Now? Now we go to the Garage. Come on," she stated, running to the red sports car. She hopped into the drivers seat and Hicks into the passengers side.
"Probability of working: ninety- eight percent... almost there," Doctor K said to herself.
Tenaya flew backwards and fell to the ground. She looked up at her opponent. "Done already Tenaya? Pity, pity..." Kilobyte taunted. Tenaya looked up at him, growling.
Vasquez walked into the command center with the briefcase. "I have what you have asked for Master," she said, lowering herself to one knee and held out the briefcase before Venjix. The head virus nodded in approval.
"Well done H47," Venjix stated. The Colonel looked om in curiousity as Vasquez placed the case on the table. Opening it, Dillon smirked. He attached the laser gun to his right arm. Dillon chuckled, an evil smile on his face.
"Oh, I could definitely... get used to this," he assured Venjix and Vasquez.
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Sorry for not putting another chapter up as quickly as I had been before. My internet has been going crazy, again. But for what its worth, here it is. I'll try putting more chapters up today to make up for the other two days I've missed.
^_^
Ok, well you know what to do now: Hit that review button!
=D