Over at the Maxwell House, Ava was sitting in her garage, absent-mindedly playing with some parts and some tools. She had a glum look on her face, and was completely oblivious to the world around her. She had gone home after the disaster at the school, but when she got there, instead of going back to work, all she could do was sit and think about what had happened.
Ava had always been a keen mechanic. It was just always so fascinating to her to imagine how things worked and to find new ways to fix and improve things. She had started out with simple kits her dad brought her home from the toy store, but pretty soon none of those were challenging enough for her and he started bringing home appliances and engine parts for her to look at. It was an obsession that was so strong that even in adulthood she'd turned it into a "business", as much as what she rand could be called such. The truth was she just did some repairs for friends and neighbours in her garage when they didn't have the money to go to a real garage. Her husband made enough as a filing clerk for one of the Tien offices that she didn't really need the money and often charged barely more than the cost of the parts when all was said and done. It was more of a glorified hobby, but it was still something she loved and took great pride in.
She loved that she and Calvin shared their love of engines. While his dad was always taking Calvin to play catch or teaching him how football was played or suchlike, it was nice to know that there was one thing that she and Calvin shared that was just theirs. While Dave was always happy to express an interest in what they were doing and bring them new parts, the fact was he didn't know the difference between a Jackson head screwdriver and a Philips head screwdriver and didn't really care to learn either. It was one thing that she loved having with her son.
Seeing his designs, seeing his thoughts behind the new engine part, she was just as excited as him to see it become a reality. If it worked, it would greatly improve the fuel economy of the engine. With similar systems in common use, it could greatly reduce the pressure on the average family and their budget. The economy in their country, for a long time had pivoted largely on oil and its products. Families would be in dire straits if the cost of petrol ventured towards four or even five dollars a gallon because for many their cars were vital to how they lived. Of course, if those same families only had to fill their tank once every month or even once every couple of months, all of a sudden that five dollars a gallon would be a lot less of a strain on the average family.
"Ava?" She heard someone asking. She turned to see one of her neighbours, Mrs Fletcher, standing in the driveway. Ava just looked at her blankly. "I was here about my car?"
"Oh…oh…right the um…the spark plugs." Ava said, suddenly remembering that she had taken Mrs Fletcher's car for a simple repair. Replacing a set of spark plugs was so simple she had taught Calvin to do it when he was only ten years old, but that didn't mean to say that everyone knew how to do it. "I'm sorry, I'm just going to level with you, I completely forgot to buy a new set."
"Ava…"
"I'm sorry, I had to run an errand to the school and I meant to stop in at the store and buy some on the way home…" She started to explain, before shaking her head. "I'll get them tomorrow. No charge."
"I was really hoping you'd finish today…"
"I know, and I'm sorry it's just…something came up." Ava told her. She didn't really want to go into detail about what had happened, but she didn't believe in lying to customers or sugar-coating it when she wasn't able to do the job, she had promised them she would do. After blowing out most of Calvin's engine, after hearing her son screaming at her for destroying his car, she had completely forgotten about the spark plugs. "It'll be done tomorrow, I promise. No charge."
"Well, alright." Mrs Fletcher answered. "Is…is everything alright Ava? You don't seem like yourself."
"I'd really rather not discuss it." Ava answered. "I'll have your car ready tomorrow."
"Well, as long as you're sure." She answered.
As Mrs Fletcher walked away, Ava turned back to the parts on her table. She always knew that using parts that weren't designed for the purpose carried an inherent risk. Calvin had told her he had ordered specialised parts from a factory but she was sure that with a little work some of the parts she already had would work. Sure, the whole rig ran at a much higher pressure than normal, but it wasn't the first-time parts had been re-purposed successfully.
Realising she wasn't going to get anything else of value done today, she went to her garage door and pulled it shut, before heading into the house to get cleaned up.
The Rangers arrived at the Industrial District, finding a monster chasing away all the workers. He wasn't really doing much, he just seemed to be running around running off anyone in the area that worked in the many factories and warehouses. They thought by now they had seen just about every form of monster they could possibly have seen, but this one looked truly bizarre even to them. It was kind of a white creature, with what looked like yellow and black striped industrial safety markings on his hands and lower legs. There was a huge, four-barrelled artillery gun mounted on its back, but as it turned to face them, it had kind of soft, rounded, almost friendly looking features.
"Is that it?" Calvin asked. "THAT'S the last monster we have to face before Galvanax?"
"Is it just me or does he actually look strangely kind of cute?" Hayley said, pondering the creature in front of her. "It kind of reminds me of one of those boglin toys I had as a kid."
"You are noticing the howitzer strapped to his back, right?" Preston asked her in response.
"Rangers! Ready for defeat?" The monster asked them.
"We're always ready!" Brody called out. The others just stared at him.
"Uh…that didn't sound how I think you wanted it to." Levi told his brother. Brody just shrugged.
"I'm sorry, I just…blanked!" He conceded. "I mean it is kind of hard to take this thing seriously!"
"Again, am I the only one noticing the howitzer?" Preston responded.
"Well, let's get this over with quickly. I still have an engine to repair." Calvin stated. "NINJA SPIN!"
As the Rangers morphed, an army of kudabots and basherbots came out to back up the monster. Calvin launched himself into the air, locking in his element star.
"Ninja Steel Strike, FINAL ATTACK!" He called out. He believed he had caught the monster completely flat-footed, it didn't make a move to dodge or even try to block as he brought his double-handed overhead strike down. However, as he landed, he found the blade stopping dead. It was like he had hit solid granite! He looked to the monster and it just stared back at him, hardly even fazed in the slightest.
"Are you done?" It asked. "MY TURN!"
The monster hit Calvin, and it felt like he'd been run over by a train! He flew backwards, smashing into a factory wall, which cracked under the force of the blow, and crumpled to the ground in a heap.
"Aw man, what gives?" Calvin coughed as he grabbed his ribs. "Isn't this usually the part where you blow up?"
"Sorry to disappoint Yellow Ranger, but you'll find that I'm tougher than I look, even without my special shield!" He taunted him, leaning over and levelling his cannon at him. "Now, how about I show you why I'm called Forcefear?"
"Calvin, watch out!" Levi yelled as he sprinted, snatching Calvin out of the way just as Forcefear opened fire, destroying a massive section of the factory. Levi just gulped. "Aw man, that was WAY too close!"
"I don't think this guy knows this is only a preview. I think he's here for the main event!" Hayley commented, slicing down some kudabots as she went.
"You know what? He doesn't quite look so cute anymore!" Sarah grumbled as she and Hayley blasted some kudabots with their ninja blasters.
Trevor had just finished having his lunch and was about to head back to the precinct when his phone rang. He saw it was one of the guys from the precinct. He answered it.
"Marx here." He answered.
"Marx, where the hell are you? I was looking all over the precinct for you!" The other cop stated.
"I'm not at the precinct. I went home for lunch." Trevor told him.
"Home? How the heck did you get there?" He answered.
"That's…um…" Trevor stammered, uncertain how to answer. Even he didn't know how he got home.
"Never mind, I thought you'd want to know, the Rangers have been sighted at the Industrial District." He told Trevor. "We're a little lighter on people but we've got a unit on their way now."
"I don't know…"
"Come on Marx, you started all of this! Don't you want to see it end?" The other cop asked. "If you're worried about Sterling, I've got it on good authority she cleared her schedule for the rest of the day."
"Sterling's not around?" Trevor asked.
"By the time she's back, we could have this wrapped up!" The other cop told him. "Come on!"
"The time is right." Trevor heard the voice again. "Of course, if you're worried about power…"
Trevor watched as some armour appeared from nowhere and started to form a silver and black gauntlet around his hand. He could already feel the power coursing through him.
"I'll make my own way." Trevor told him. "Tell the guys I've got something I think might turn things in our favour!"
Back at the site of the battle, the Rangers were finding out how deceptive Forcefear's appearance really was. They had now finished with his backup and could concentrate all their attention on him, however they were finding that their attacks were having startlingly little effect. Preston hopped away from him as a flip-kick rebounded off his head without even stunning him.
"Man, that guy has a hard head!" Preston complained. Levi spun away from him with his Rockstorm Blaster smoking.
"I know what you mean, this thing nearly jumped out of my hand! It's like hitting concrete!" He added.
"Let's do this together!" Sarah called out as she and Hayley leapt at him, hitting him repeatedly with their swords. He punted both of them backwards with a shockwave attack.
"Two of you isn't going to be enough." He taunted them.
"Alright, time to bring out the big guns! Lion Fire Armour!" Brody called out as he powered up into his armoured mode. "Lion Fire Blasts!"
Forcefear waved his hands in front of him, at which a glowing purple wall appeared before him. The Rangers all watched as one of Brody's strongest attacks simply bounced off without any effect at all. Forcefear just laughed at them.
"He has some kind of forcefield wall!" Sarah called out.
"He stood up to the Lion Fire Armour like it was nothing!" Preston gulped.
"That's right, you can't attack me, but I can attack you!" Forcefear said, leaning forward so his howitzer was levelled their way. The Rangers were all blasted back by a powerful attack that sent them all flying high into the air, before crashing to the ground hard.
"Well, it looks like he can dish it out AND he can take it!" Preston muttered. "Can this get any worse?"
"Preston, why did you have to ask that?" Levi asked as he saw a couple of SWAT vans rolling into the area, and the cops dismounting.
"Great, so if the monster doesn't finish us, we have them to deal with!" Hayley stated. "Think it would help if I tell them my step-dad is a cop?"
"They'd probably just think you're lying." Brody said.
"Guys, he's powering up for another blast." Calvin stated, pointing to him.
"Say goodbye Rangers!" Forcefear said as he prepared for the blast. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll dedicate my title match to…"
He paused and looked upwards as the sky started to cloud over and turned dark. The SWAT unit did likewise. The Rangers all started to get to their feet, staring up at the sky.
"That isn't normal is it?" Levi asked.
"Thunder?" Preston asked. "That…wasn't what the weather channel predicted this morning."
"I think we can safely rule out this being a natural phenomenon." Sarah said as flashes of bright green lightning arced through the clouds. "What are you doing?"
"ME?" Forcefear asked. "I thought you were doing this!"
Just then, there was a massive bolt of green lightning which fell to the ground, forcing everyone to look away. As they all turned back though, there was a figure standing right where the lightning had struck. He was wearing black and silver armour, broken up only with bright green accents across the chest and shoulders. His visor was also trimmed with a pointed, almost demonic looking green pattern. The new arrival just stood, staring at them all.
"Uh…who exactly is that?" Preston asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Brody replied honestly.
"I guess he…KIND of looks like a Ranger." Calvin said uneasily, and with a sort of forced hope in his tone. "Think he's here to help?"
"I don't know, he doesn't look too friendly." Sarah replied.
"I don't know who you are, but I'm in the middle of something!" Forcefear told the Stranger. "Now, where was I? Oh, right. I was destroying the RAAAAAGHHH!"
The Rangers watched as the stranger pulled out a curved, green dagger and stabbed Forcefear in the back. Sparks flew as he fell to the ground.
"You got lucky this time Rangers!" He screamed. "I don't care if there's six or seven of you! When I get back, I'll destroy you all!"
With that, he teleported away. The Rangers all looked to the new arrival.
"I don't know who you are, but that was pretty amazing!" Brody complimented him.
"Brody, those SWAT guys are starting to move in." Levi reminded him. "Maybe we should move this to somewhere less crowded?"
"Yeah, we're having a few issues with cops right now." Brody told the stranger. "Come with us and we can…"
The Rangers all watched as the stranger punched Brody hard in the gut, doubling him up, before hitting him with a hard kick to the side of the face. Levi and Calvin stepped up first, placing themselves between Brody and the stranger.
"I don't care who you are, no one treats our friends like that!" Levi called out as they rushed to the attack.
Meanwhile, in a hotel room outside of town, Grace Sterling was settling in for the night. She had met Jason quite some way from Summer Cove, and so she had opted to stay the night at a hotel.
She kept the flash drive close. Although she had a laptop with her, she somehow doubted that the hotel wireless connection would be terribly secure. She still had no idea what was on the file, but given the fact she had been unable to access it herself gave her some impression of the seriousness of the information on Trevor's service in Afghanistan. Jason had to get the clearance directly from the Secretary of Defence, whose security clearance was second only to that of the President. It wasn't often that Grace had to beg for anything from the Government. She'd sat in on meetings that most didn't even know ever took place without anyone batting an eyelid.
"Why does no hotel ever have a good selection of TV channels?" She grumbled as she stared at the screen, flipping through all the channels. There was a knock on the door.
"Room service!"
"I'll be right there." Grace answered. She did a habitual quick scan of the room to make sure she hadn't left anything sensitive out in the open before heading over to the door to answer it. There was a kid outside with an iPhone in one hand, and her tray in the other.
"One cheese omelette, one glass of shiraz, are you paying now or signing to the room?" He asked without even looking at her. Grace just signed the check.
"Just put it on the desk." She told him. The kid didn't look at her, and seemed a little put out as he had to bring the tray inside. He was still glued to his phone.
"Sorry to inconvenience you." She said sarcastically. "I wouldn't want to interrupt your Minecraft time."
"Minecraft? Who the hell plays that anymore?" He asked her. "I'm watching the news."
"News?" She asked.
"Yeah, the latest Ranger battle! Some new guy just showed up!" He told her. "It's one hell of a show!"
"I'm sure it is kid." She replied.
"Yeah, this new Green Ranger guy is something else!" He replied. "He just showed up out of nowhere and now he's kicking everyone's ass! Even the Rangers!"
Grace felt her blood run cold as he said this.
"Did you say…green?" She asked.
"Well, as much as you can say it's green." He said with a shrug. "I mean most of his armour is black and silver…"
"OK, um…thanks for that." Grace said, shoving some money into the kid's hand and practically throwing him out of the room. He didn't seem to object too much when he realised that in her haste to get him out, she had given him a twenty by mistake.
Grace went to the television and started searching frantically for one with a feed from Summer Cove. She finally found one and she clutched at her chest as she saw the figure from her past on the screen, the one she prayed she'd never see again.
"Oh God, no!" She gasped. "Psycho Green!"