The Rangers got to the set the following day, assembling in the park, finding Dax setting up another scene. Even despite the attack the previous day, he still had a schedule to keep, and all the delays were bound to be impacting the Hartford budget. There was a more noticeable presence from the Cerberus team though; obviously Dax wasn't willing to take any more risks with his actors than he had to. It had taken them nearly ten minutes to get past the checkpoint set up at the main gate while a guy checked their ID's.
"Alright guys, thanks for coming back." He greeted them after hanging up his cell phone. He didn't look like he had slept, and there were a few less extras on the set today. Although monster attacks were relatively common in the city now, that didn't mean to say that parents were especially happy about it when their kids were put in danger. Mr Burley had almost lost his job when the Toxic Mutants attacked them at the field trip near the plant, and since the film was funded by the VERY deep pockets of Andrew Hartford, the idea of a lawsuit had to be appealing to some. Not to mention more than a few of them probably didn't want to come back after the attack. "Right, we're doing a very simple scene here. It's a one-shot scene; we just need a few people in the background. Uh...how about you, you, you, and...that group over there. Just...arrange yourselves around the place."
As Troy and Emma went to a spot just under a tree, Jake, Noah and Gia made their way to the middle of the park, Jake dribbling a soccer ball with him. Being extras, they had all been instructed to act as naturally as they could in their scenes, so they had opted to pretty much do what they usually did, and ignore everything else going on.
"Alright, this scene isn't too lively, so don't expect much action." He told them. "In this scene, the Red Ranger Austin, is going to meet up with the Pink Ranger Amy. It's a meeting that none of the others know about, which is why no one else is in this scene. He's here as part of the romantic sub-plot. This is the scene where he's going to tell Amy that he's in love with her."
Troy and Emma just looked at each other and smiled. Although it sounded like most of Dax's ideas were pretty out there, it was occasionally amusing when he got something right purely by accident.
As Xavier came onto the set, Dax started looking around.
"Uh...Xavier? Where's Felicity?" He asked. Xavier just shrugged.
"I don't know." He responded. "She was in her trailer last time I saw her. She was saying she wasn't coming out until the guy got back with that gerbil of hers."
"It's a Pomeranian." Dax sighed, rolling his eyes. Felicity was more than a little bit of a pain in the ass on the set with her behaviour. "Alright, who has the dog?"
"I do." One of the security team called out, carrying a large ball of fluff in his arms.
"Kyle?" Wayne groaned. "What the hell are you doing?"
"That Amy chick just gave me her dog and told me to take it for a walk." He told Wayne. Emma chuckled a little, remembering him. Months ago, it was Kyle who eventually took down Spider at the plant, leading to his arrest. Her father had rewarded him with an advanced training course to further his duties in the company. It seemed like he had come back, and been assigned to this team.
"Why the hell are you walking her dog?" Wayne sighed, looking at him.
"She said she'd get me fired if I didn't!" Kyle protested. Wayne just shook his head in disbelief, taking the furball from him, which started yapping bad-temperedly as he handed it to a crew member.
"Kyle, I'm the only one that can hire and fire security team members." He reminded him, looking to the team member. "That's what teamsters are for. Here, take this...thing...back to Her Highness...and what the hell is that smell?"
"The dog...kinda puked on me." Kyle answered honestly. Wayne just threw up his hands.
"Well...go and get changed then!" He told him. "Thanks for this job Eric."
"Well, now that's dealt with, maybe we can finally get to film a scene?" Dax suggested, sounding a little exasperated. "OK, first positions everyone."
As they set up, Xavier sat down at a picnic table. Amy finally arrived on the set, looking somewhat less than happy.
"OK, everybody ready?" Dax asked. "Fine, then...action!"
Amy walked over to the bench, taking a seat with Xavier. She looked to Xavier and smiled, flipping her hair back over her shoulders.
"Amy, thanks for coming." He began a little nervously, looking to her with a smile. "Um...you look great."
"Thanks, I just finished my spin class." She replied. "So, what's up? It sounded important when you contacted me on my communicator. Is it Ranger business?"
"It's not really." He told her honestly, stroking the back of his neck nervously. "It's just...I really wanted to see you. After everything that happened...I wanted to check and see if you were OK."
"Well, that's sweet." Amy said with a smile. "I mean, the Ranger thing is tougher than my yoga class, but..."
"Listen Amy, I really need to talk to you about something." Austin replied as he took her hands in his own. "The thing is...I really need you to know..."
"Austin...maybe some things are better left unsaid." She suggested.
"The thing is, that isn't an option anymore." He assured her, reaching up and beginning to stroke her hair. "I'm crazy about you Amy, I have been since the first time we met."
As he started to draw closer, she tried to stammer something out. Austin pulled her into a long, deep kiss, before parting from her, looking into her eyes.
"But...what about the others?" She asked. "What about...?"
"I don't care." He replied with a grin. "With the Earth in danger, we need to hang on to anything that's important to us."
Emma looked to Troy, who just shrugged and shook his head.
"I didn't tell anyone, I swear!" He assured her in a whisper, remembering having almost the same conversation with her when they first got together. Just then, the set was flooded by Loogies...this time though, they all came from the crew trailer, so they knew that these really were stunt performers.
Xavier and Felicity immediately sprung into action, getting up from the table. Xavier performed a quick hand-spring over the table, propelling himself into two of the Loogies, taking them down with hard kicks. As the extras all fled off the set, clearing the way, Jake and Noah watched Xavier, looking to Troy.
"Wow...um...I thought he was fake." Jake commented. "You said..."
"He was good when I knew him." Troy said, watching Xavier with interest. He had listened to their old sensei all those years ago when he started to rant and rave about Xavier's decision to quit the dojo and go into movies. He had heard him go on and on about how great Xavier could have been if he hadn't sold out, and gone on to become a Hollywood phoney. Seeing him in action though, he had his doubts.
"There's no rigging, no wires...his outfit doesn't leave any room for any special effects devices." Noah rhymed off. "There's only one explanation...all of that's down to him."
"He's legit?" Gia said with an impressed smile. "Wow, he is good."
As Felicity and Xavier took down the last of the stunt crew, a buzzer sounded.
"Cut!" Dax called out with a smile on his face. "Alright folks, that was amazing, one take! Good work everyone."
As the buzzer sounded, Felicity looked to Xavier.
"Did you have onions for lunch?" She demanded. "I HATE onions!"
"I had a few on my sandwich!" He protested. "A sandwich I only had because you were late on the set...AGAIN!"
"Whatever, just...don't let it happen again!" She responded coldly, fobbing him off as she left. "And where's the idiot who walked Princess? She's totally a mess! I'm going to have to call her groomer!"
"Wow, you're a better actor than I thought." Gia commented as Xavier shook his head in disbelief. "How do you play romantic scenes with...uh...someone who uh..."
"Someone who's a complete pain in the ass?" He responded. "Trust me, it isn't easy."
"Hey, there's Oliver." Jake stated as Dax started to clear up the set, preparing for another scene. "I promised my cousin I'd get a picture."
As he ran over, he tapped Oliver on the shoulder. The massive man turned to look at him.
"Yeah, what is...?" He looked at Jake, and just paused. His face slipped more than a little. In their earlier battle, he had taken Jake's thoughts, read his mind to figure out how best to deal with him. Looking at him now, he felt an incredible fury building up in him. The power Vrak had forced upon him existed purely to destroy him. He felt compelled to lash out, to destroy Jake where he stood. Seeing his face before him, the one that was now imprinted in his mind, only Vrak's instructions not to engage unless he ordered him to stopped him.
"Um...my cousin is a huge fan." Jake told him. "He'd really love it if you would give him a picture."
"I took all the pictures I wanted to yesterday." Oliver said gruffly. "You should have thought about it then."
"Please, he's seven years old." Jake told him. "He's the same age as two of your god kids, and his birthday's coming up. Please, just one picture and I'll be the best cousin ever."
Oliver just smiled, before striking a pose. He loved kids, it was for that reason he had six god children, and it was for them he had taken the part in the film. He wanted to destroy Jake, but the thought of making a kid happy, especially a fan, that was too much for him to pass up.
"Alright, just a couple." He replied. Jake smiled and waved over Emma.
"Hey, Emma, you have your camera right?" He asked. "Mind if I take a couple with you? My cousin will never believe I met you if I don't."
"Who am I to say no?" Oliver asked as he put a massive arm around Jake. Emma starts snapping some pictures as Jake winced in pain.
"Um...that's a little tight..."
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you." Oliver told him with a smile. Not yet at least, not until Vrak gave the order.
Back on the Warstar ship, Vrak watched as his Loogies finished gathering all the materials he needed. He couldn't believe that the next stage of his plan was close to fruition. Pulling up an image on his screen, he saw some of his Loogies assembled near Harwood Harbour, gathering his materials. Some of them had already begun assembly. He knew it was only a matter of time, before Malkor emerged from his cocoon, and he needed to be ready when he did. He needed somewhere to go, a new base of operations, and now he had the materials he needed, all he needed to do was buy some time to assemble it. Soon enough, he would make his move to overthrow his old master.
He punched a few keys on his control console, activating his control over the Psycho Rangers. As he turned on a viewing screen, he had a Loogie bring him some snacks.
"Let the show...begin." He stated as he pressed a button.
On the set at the park, Dax was setting up for a new scene when Jordan finally arrived. He was looking around frantically for the others. When he finally found them, he ran over to them.
"Jordan!" Gia greeted him as he arrived. They pulled him aside, at which Troy looked to him.
"Alright, what did the Library tell you?" Troy asked him.
"It's not good news I'm afraid." Jordan told them. I didn't find out much, but what I did is pretty worrying. They are insanely powerful."
"Yeah, like we haven't figured that one out." Jake said sarcastically.
"No, you don't get it." Jordan told him. "The last time they were active, it took two teams to finish them off. Both the Galaxy and Space Rangers were needed to take them down. If they have that kind of power this time, it's going to be the biggest thing we've faced."
"But they were beaten." Noah said with a smile. "Then we can do it again. How were they beaten last time?"
"They were destroyed." Jordan told them. "But...that's the part that's worrying."
"Why?" Jake asked.
"The last time they were beaten, it took two teams." Jordan reiterated. "But...even that wasn't without a price."
"That doesn't sound good." Troy stated. Jordan shook his head.
"Last time, a Ranger died." He told them honestly. All of the Rangers just looked worried sick hearing this. Although they all knew the risks they took by taking on this mission, and they knew that some teams hadn't exactly made it through unscathed, it was entirely different hearing that one team had suffered that loss. It made each of them horrified to think that they now faced a foe that had accomplished that before.
Before anyone could say anything further, there was a flash of lightning, sending everyone to the floor, and smashing equipment. The Rangers all looked up to see the Psycho Rangers standing before them.
"Everyone, get out of here!" Wayne called out as he and some of the Cerberus guys pulled out pistols, levelling them at the Psycho Rangers.
"Please, do you really think that's going to work?" Psycho Red asked him.
"No, but it'll probably slow you down at least!" He replied as they started to open fire. The Psychos stood, bullets rebounding off their armour as people fled. Psycho Pink unleashed a storm of energy arrows, taking down the security team. They all fell to the ground and stopped moving. Everyone started running, at which the Rangers were left alone.
"Great, you're back." Jake grumbled. "Have you ever heard of the term closed set?"
"Call it a cameo appearance." Psycho Pink stated. "So, are you going to morph or what?"
"Morph?" Psycho Red asked, looking to her. She just nodded.
"Well, you heard her guys." Troy replied, looking to the security team, who he was sure were unconscious. He pulled out his morpher as the others joined him. None of them noticed Wayne stirring, and starting to come to.
"Go Go Megaforce!" They chorused as they morphed, ready for battle. They quickly powered up to Ultra Mode as they rushed to the attack. Troy faced off against Psycho Red as he pulled out his sword.
"So...You're the Red Ranger?" He asked, starting to circle him. "Little Troy Burrows, the Red Ranger? Now I know I was right about not needing your moves."
Troy just furrowed his brows, hearing this.
"You...you know who I am?" He asked.
"I do now." Psycho Red answered as he faced off against both of his opponents. "One Ranger or two, it doesn't matter. I'll take you both down just the same!"