As the Rangers rapelled down from the Galleon, they found themselves immediately targeted by the Overdrive Rangers' blasters. They hadn't morphed yet, knowing that the Overdrive team didn't have Ranger powers anymore themselves, and so they were hoping to be able to shut them down without too many problems. However, as the blasts narrowly missed them, it became clear that they were far from helpless.
"Alright guys, we need to shut them down and quickly!" Troy called out. "Just remember, they are Rangers! Don't harm them any more than you have to!"
They all released their lines, morphing as they fell through the air to protect them from the fall, and the firepower. As they headed towards the Overdrive team, Troy levelled his pistol at Andrew in the Trans Tec armour.
"I'll take care of him!" Troy instructed them. "Deal with the others!"
Gia rushed towards Ronny, swinging out her cutlass on a line, disarming her. As she closed in on her predecessor, tackling her to the ground, she pinned her there, keeping her pistol trained on her.
"Get off me!" Ronny demanded as she started to struggle.
"Just give it up, you can't win like this." Gia told her as the others went after the remaining Overdrive Rangers. "You might still have some toys, but we have powers! We don't want to hurt you!"
"You made a huge mistake coming back here!" Ronny spat at her. Gia furrowed her brows as she heard her say this. "What happened? Did Mack refuse to tell you what you wanted to know? Do you need more hostages?"
"Wait...come BACK here?" Gia asked her. Her head snapped up as she heard an almighty crash. Troy had sliced one of the legs off the Trans Tec armour, causing it to fall to the ground. The others were making quick work of restraining the other Rangers. Gia saw the damage to the front of the mansion and then back to Ronny. "Guys STOP!"
The others had managed to restrain the others, while Troy was just finishing carving Andrew out of the Trans Tec armour, hauling him out. Gia offered Ronny a hand.
"I'm putting my weapons away." Gia assured her. "If you promise to hear us out and not start attacking us, can you tell us what happened here?"
"You kidnapped my son!" Andrew called out. "You fired on my home, you attacked..."
"Sir, Sir!" Spencer yelled as he started to hobble out onto the lawn, still showing the effects of the earlier attack. "Sir, we've made a terrible mistake! Stop fighting!"
The Rangers all looked among each other, then back to Spencer. The Overdrive team was obviously more than a little cautious.
"What are you talking about Spencer?" Will asked him. "You said the Rangers took Mack onto a red ship."
"Yes, I did." Spencer told them. "But not THAT ship!"
He produced an I-pad from his jacket, and pulled up some surveillance footage, showing the attack. All of the Rangers gathered around as he showed them the ship.
"That's a different ship. So what?" Will demanded. "It's not like we only had one ride back in our day."
"That ship isn't ours." Troy replied as the Corsair Rangers de-morphed to face them on a more even term.
"From the looks of it, I'd say that's The Commodore's old ship." Noah told them with authority. He had shot it down a couple of weeks earlier, and recognised it. "It's had a paint job, and some other work done to it by the looks of things, but I'd recognise it anywhere."
"So The Armada salvaged his ship?" Jake asked.
"You said Rangers took Mack right?" Emma asked Spencer.
"The White Mighty Morphin' Ranger and the Silver Space Ranger." Spencer confirmed. Emma just looked to the others.
"We don't have those keys yet." Noah sighed. "I think it's our new stalker."
"Wait, what's going on?" Rose asked. Troy pulled the Red Mighty Morphin' key out of his belt buckle, flicking it open.
"These Ranger keys, that's what we're looking for." He explained. "If we have the right key, we can access the powers, weapons and abilities of the Ranger that used to use them."
"The only issue is, all the keys are scattered, so we have to find them first." Emma continued. "Not to mention the fact that we recently found out someone else is looking for Ranger keys, someone that can apparently turn them into puppets."
"Puppets?" Dax asked, looking confused.
"It's like...having his own Rangers." Noah explained. "They can't talk, and they obey his commands apparently, but other than that, they have the powers of the Rangers they represent."
"The Rangers that took Mack didn't speak." Spencer confirmed. "Only the other man did."
"What other man?" Troy asked him. Spencer just looked to him.
"He was dressed...a little like you. Like a pirate." Spencer explained. "But it wasn't you was it?"
"Great, and while we've had this little cross-generational throw down, the guy who really took Mack is getting away!" Gia complained, before looking to the others. "We're sorry about what happened, but if you want Mack back, the best way you can do that is help us. We think whoever took him is heading for Atlantis."
"Atlantis?" Andrew responded. "We found it years ago. The only reason I didn't reveal its location to the world is because there are dangerous artefacts down there. Things that should never be put in the hands of anyone..."
"Well, we have another pirate on his way there right now, looking for your Ranger keys." Jake interrupted him. "And something tells me that once he's got them, Mack's going to find himself like that giraffe in Copenhagen. Surplus to requirement."*
"Then we've got no time to lose." Andrew stated. "Can you get the tracking bracelets off the others?"
"We knew we probably wouldn't be able to take you without powers." Will continued. "But we knew it wouldn't be long until The Armada showed up once they heard what was going on."
"OK, then don't say anything that can lead them to Atlantis until we get the bracelets off. Noah, you get to work on that once we're back on the ship." Troy instructed him. "Come on guys, this dirt bag's got a big head start, and The Armada can't be far away."
Meanwhile, on the other ship, Mack was sitting by the table, having been served a meal for the journey. It was still sitting, untouched on the plate. As Lafitte came in, he just looked to the plate and furrowed his brows.
"Is the meal not to your liking?" He asked.
"I was a little put off by the company." He answered, gesturing to the four Ranger puppets that were standing around him. Lafitte just smiled.
"Yes, they aren't the most sociable bunch are they?" He asked. He pulled a trumpet out of his coat, and slotted a Ranger key into it. As he played, the key turned in the valve, and disappeared. Mack watched as in a flash of light, the Wild Force Wolf Ranger appeared in the room. Mack just looked to him.
"That's an impressive trick." He commented. Lafitte just smiled, showing him the trumpet.
"It's a little device of my own design." He informed him. "When I found the first of my Ranger Keys, it was obvious they held great power. It just took a while for me to figure out how to unlock it."
"So how many do you have?" Mack asked him. Lafitte just smirked, patting the treasure chest on the edge of his seat.
"I know better than to reveal all my cards until the last cards have been dealt." Lafitte replied. "Anyway, we're almost at the co-ordinates you specified.
He snapped his fingers, at which a door opened, and a large creature shuffled in. It was a huge, hulking, armoured creature, that rattled as it moved, but as it got closer, Mack got a look at its face. He almost started laughing.
"You're kidding right?" Mack asked.
"Is there a problem?" Lafitte asked as his henchman handed him some shackles. Mack just gestured to the creature. Aside from the armour, it had a large, red face, with a somewhat vacant expression. Mack just gestured to it.
"Your henchman is a monkey?" Mack asked him. Lafitte just looked confused.
"Your point is?"
"Your henchman! IS! A MONKEY!" Mack reiterated, punctuating for emphasis. "You've got to be kidding me!"
"Colo here has been a loyal companion for some time now." Lafitte told him, patting the creature's helmet. "And she is much more than just a monkey."
He took Mack's wrists and snapped the manacles around them, satisfying himself that they were locked in place.
"Well, I don't mean to point out problems, but in case you didn't realise, Atlantis is under the ocean." Mack reminded him. "So, unless you have a submarine somewhere nearby..."
"Believe me; I have made a number of upgrades to this ship." Lafitte assured him. Mack just watched out the port hole as it started to descend. There was a slight jolt as it hit the surface of the ocean, but before long, it started to submerge. "I'll be back for you shortly. I'd hate to think there are any nasty surprises waiting for me."
"In the city of Hades? Of course not." Mack replied sarcastically. Lafitte just walked out of the room, leaving Mack with the Rangers and Colo. He looked up to the hulking creature and smiled.
"You know, you remind me a lot of the last guy that had me locked up." He stated, thinking about the time he had been imprisoned by Moltor and Flurious. They had ended up leaving Norg to keep an eye on him, a decision they quickly came to regret. "So tell me, how do you like geraniums?"
On the Red Galleon, Dax was the last of the Overdrive Rangers to have his bracelet removed. Noah had quickly figured out a way to cut them off without hurting the Rangers. Tossing the last bracelet out of the window, he joined Troy and Andrew by the map.
"So you're certain it's here?" Troy asked him. "It has been seven years."
"Believe me, I remember it." Andrew Hartford assured him. "Not revealing the location of Atlantis was the hardest decision I ever made. It would have made the discovery of King Tut's tomb look like finding pocket change in Pompeii."
"Atlantis is just off the coast of Los Angeles?" Gia asked him incredulously. He just nodded.
"The Ancient Greeks sailed a lot farther than many people realise." He stated with authority. "Hades wasn't just the God of the Underworld, he also oversaw banking and expansion. The rumours of Atlantis' technological advancement were no exaggeration. From what I observed, they were centuries ahead of where they should have been. The wealth and power of the city state was legendary."
"So why did it sink?" Jake asked him. Andrew just looked to him.
"There are many theories, but the most common one states that Poseidon was jealous of his little brother's power." He continued. "Poseidon was second only to Zeus in matters of power and worship. The Greeks were an expansionist, seafaring people. Sailing was an important part of their lives, so most Greeks prayed to Poseidon almost as often as they prayed to Zeus..."
"But Hades had a more powerful city." Jake interrupted him. Andrew just nodded.
"Not bad for the runt of the litter who was told to play in the Underworld because no one else wanted it." He told him. "The chances are it was basic continental or tidal shifts that caused the island to sink; you know what the seismic activity in California is like, but to a superstitious people like the Greeks..."
"It was divine intervention." Jake concluded. "They saw a city being flooded and chalked it up to Poseidon being pissed."
"It wouldn't be the first time something like that happened." Andrew told them. "When I found Sodom..."
"OK, as fascinating as I'm sure that story's going to be, can we concentrate on Atlantis for now?" Rose asked. "It's hundreds of feet beneath the ocean, tucked under a ledge caused by a massive tectonic plate shift thousands of years ago. Last time we went down in my sub, but..."
"I have a sub." Emma informed them. "You don't need to worry about that."
"I'm picking up some radio chatter." Will added. "The Armada ships have seen what's left of the mansion, and they're looking for us. They're heading this direction."
"Great, so we have some time before they show up." Troy concluded. "Gia, how are the underwater scans looking?"
"I've got a large heat signature; it looks like a craft of some kind already down there." She told him.
"I guess our competition's ahead of us." Troy commented.
"There's also something else." Gia told him. "I've got some strange seismic readings, and a lot of heat...it's like something's happening from under the Earth down there."
"That's odd." Rose answered. "I mean, I know about the seismic activity in this area, but its all plate movement. There hasn't been an eruption in this area in centuries."
"Why is nothing ever simple?" Noah grumbled.
"All it means is we have to be cautious. If something is going on down there, it could complicate matters." Troy announced. "We'll go. We know this guy has more Ranger Keys, so we should go, but we'll need a guide."
"I'll go." Andrew stated. "Other than Mack, I know the most about the kinds of dangers we could be facing down here."
"The rest of you wait up here." Troy continued. "There's bound to be ships arriving soon, but Tensou can utilise the weapons system..."
"Just tell us what to do." Will interrupted him. "The way I see it, we're fugitives. By now The Armada will know about the weapons we hid from them. They're going to arrest us when they find us anyway."
"Yeah, we might not be Rangers anymore, but we know how to fight." Dax added. Troy just nodded.
"Tensou, give them a crash course in how to use the weapons systems." Troy told him. "Mr Hartford, come with us. The sub is this way."
Meanwhile, under the ocean, Lafitte's ship rose up, breaking the surface of the water inside the city's perimeter. It came as close as possible to the shore, before a hatch in the rear opened, and a boarding bridge extended. Lafitte walked out of the ship, looking around at the city before him with a huge grin. Mack was being dragged along behind him by Colo, while the five Rangers brought up the rear.
"You've got to hand it to them; those Atlanteans did make the best of a bad situation." He commented, looking to Mack. "So, which way do we go from here?"
"You're asking me?" Mack asked him. "You're looking for something the size of a car key in a whole city!"
"The clue said something about a great treasure, the Heart of the Guardian." Lafitte told him. Mack just looked to him, his expression slipping a little. He looked a little pale.
"I...I...I wouldn't know anything about that." He tried to say. Lafitte just laughed.
"You're a terrible liar, do you know that?" He asked him. "It is an admirable trait. At least, it is advantageous to me."
Mack just shook his head.
"You don't want anything to do with that." Mack told him.
"If that's where I need to go to find your Ranger Keys, then that's where we're going!" Lafitte snapped at him. "Now tell me what I want to know!"
Mack looked around at the other Rangers and sighed, realising he was in no position to argue right now.
"It's a precious gem." Mack told him. "It's in a vault in the city's main palace. I can take you there."
"Now, that's more like it." He replied. "You don't mind leading the way do you? Places like this have a nasty habit of being booby trapped."
As Mack was shoved to the front of the group, he reached into his pocket, and took out some change. He made his way along the path, making sure to drop a couple of coins to lead whoever was following them the right way.
As they left though, they didn't notice a bright red glow coming from a crack between some rocks. As the split hit the water of the bay, a small puff of steam rose into the air.