Although it was some way out of his usual patrol route, Trevor couldn't help swinging past the hospital. Summer Cove had once been a very quiet and peaceful place, before the Rangers showed up the last violent crime reported had been some time in the seventies and most weeks the most serious thing most would have to deal with was a little bit of vandalism, perhaps some petty theft. However, this wasn't the first time Trevor had seen scenes like this.
As he got to the wards, he could see the members of the SWAT unit he had attacked. He managed to confirm to his relief that none of them were fatally injured, in fact a fair few had already been released to go home, but there were still some very serious cases. Body armour could only do so much to help, and the equipment issued to the other officers was never meant to handle anything like the power of his suit. He could see one of the men being tended to, his family at his bedside as the doctors showed him x-rays. Trevor could see without even going into the room that there were multiple breaks on that particular x-ray. It would be some time before he was going home.
"Marx?" He heard someone say. He turned around to see one of his followers, Baxter gesturing him over. Trevor just made his way over. "You've got some nerve showing your face here…"
"What?" Trevor asked. He could recall the battle, he was wearing the helmet. Was it possible the officer had still recognised him? They didn't seem to when they opened fire. He was trying to think of anything he might have said or done. "I…I don't…"
"Where the hell WERE you?" Baxter snapped at him. Trevor felt only a little bit of relief hearing this. Baxter wasn't calling him out for attacking them, he clearly had no idea it was Trevor under that helmet. No, he was calling him out for chickening out on his unit. "I called you and you said you were on your way!"
"I…I was." Trevor told him.
"In fact, I seem to remember you saying something about having something that could help." Baxter pressed on. Trevor looked down to his hands, thinking about that. He had meant the armour. He didn't fully understand it or how it worked, but he knew it was powerful, far more powerful than even the weapons the SWAT unit could bring to bear. He knew even before he faced the Rangers that he would have the power to tip the scales. "So, what the hell happened?"
"I was held up." Trevor said. Even he wasn't convinced by his lie. Baxter just looked to him in disgust.
"Held up my ass, we all know what really happened." Baxter responded. "Sterling's got your balls in her purse."
"Baxter…"
"You've been reprimanded once and now you're just backing off like a frightened little puppy." Baxter sneered as he pulled himself into a better position. "You started this Marx, now you don't have the guts to see it through."
Trevor wanted to explain, to try and assure Baxter that he was still committed to the fight, but he could already tell he wasn't willing to listen, even before he turned over to face away from him. He looked around and could see that others were giving him dirty looks and opted instead to turn and leave. He would make it up to them in kind when he brought the Rangers down. Sometimes, people just had a habit of not being in the right place.
Years previously, back in Afghanistan, Trevor and his unit brought some casualties to the co-ordinates they had been given, finding a village largely in ruins with some hastily-erected structures and tents among them. He could recognise markings that these were medical units and knew he was in the right place. As he dismounted from the truck, he banged on the side.
"Alright, alright men, we're here!" He called out as a man rushed to him. "Are you the chief medical officer?"
"No, I'm just a paramedic, but I'm the highest-ranking person here so I guess you could say for now I'm the closest thing you have." The man called out. "Sergeant Vincent!"
"Sergeant Marx, military law enforcement!" Trevor replied, shaking his hand. "I was hoping for someone more senior…"
"You and me both! In case you hadn't noticed everyone's making do out here." Vincent replied. "It's just me, a couple of others, and some local volunteers."
"Locals volunteers?" Trevor asked. Vincent just smiled.
"Hey, some of the locals are pretty good. The learning curve is pretty sharp out here." He told him as a guy, who looked like he couldn't be much more than seventeen showed up, carrying some supplies. "Victor here might be young but he's been through more procedures than a lot of the guys I've trained with."
"His name is Victor?" Trevor asked, looking a little surprised.
"Well, not really." Vincent explained. "The unfortunate thing is I really have no idea how to pronounce his name but he reminds me so much of my boy I just call him that."
"Sergeant Vincent has told me all about his son." The young man replied cheerfully. "I consider it a compliment."
"Serge!" One of Trevor's guys called out. He turned around to see one of the casualties turning an unnatural shade and starting to thrash around. He couldn't hear his breaths.
"It's a collapsed airway!" Victor rushed out. He started to look out a scalpel, at which Trevor was about to intervene. Vincent pulled him back.
"It's alright, give him space to work." He told him.
"But that man…"
"That man's dying right now." Vincent told him. "Let the man do his job."
"But…" Trevor was surprised as he saw the young man work quickly, with a dexterity and certainty of someone much older than him, slicing into the man's neck. A moment later, he had inserted a tube, and the man fell still once more. Vincent slapped Trevor on the back.
"And that's about as good an emergency tracheotomy as you're likely to see." He stated. "Alright, let's get these men inside before the storm hits!"
As they started bringing the men inside, Trevor just looked to Victor.
"That…that was amazing." He said, looking to him in awe. Victor just smiled.
"I just believe that a person has a duty to do what they can to make the world a little better." Victor told him. "Now, come inside. While I help these people, you can tell me what it is like to be a policeman so far from home."
Back at the Ranger Base in the present, the team were all standing around as Calvin got to work on a device. Normally Sarah was the one that came up with most of the new gadgets, she was more of an expert with electronics, but just like her, the Ninja Steel had affected Calvin, though in his case it greatly enhanced his already considerable grasp of mechanics.
It wasn't as though the Ninja Steel just gave him the knowledge he would need, but what it did do was create new pathways much faster in his mind when he started working on machines. His problem solving, his special awareness, his instincts for working out stresses and energy all worked so much faster, meaning he now learned how to perform tasks so much faster than he had before. The others just stared at him as he built a device.
"So…do you have any idea what he's doing?" Brody asked.
"It doesn't look like a toaster so I'm lost." Preston replied.
"Damned if I know." Levi said with a shrug. "The last thing he said I understood was 'Pass the wrench please'."
"It kind of looks like…Calvin…are you building a generator?" Sarah asked him. Calvin paused and looked over to her smiling.
"Yup, I am indeed." Calvin told her. Sarah started scratching her head.
"OK, probably a dumb question, but…can I ask why?" She asked him.
"Well, I was just thinking. The Ninja Star we're trying to make is basically right, right?" He asked.
"Um…"
"It's the right shape, we've gone over the calculations and verified that." Calvin told them, not even looking at his hands which continued to work as though possessed. "It's the right shape, it's been polished…everything about it is right, but it's just not working to activate the Nexus Prism, right?"
"That would be about the size of it." Hayley stated.
"Well, I was thinking that it's kind of like Sarah's problem with the battery for her hoverboard." Calvin stated. They all just stared at him. "There's nothing wrong with the battery per se, it's just a matter of getting it to hold and keep enough energy to power it the way it's needed."
"Yeah, I built a supercharger." Sarah told him. "It works better than a mains supply."
"Well, what if we take that principle and apply it to the Ninja Star?" Calvin asked. "Oh, Sarah, that reminds me, can I borrow your supercharger?"
"I…guess." She replied, getting it out of her bag. Calvin took it off her and quickly removed one of the panels. "HEY!"
"Sorry, but I was thinking, what if we can supercharge the Power Star?" He asked. "Just like with my engine, by pushing greater power through, we can cause the whole thing to work a lot better and jump-start the whole process. So, by using your supercharger to power up the Power Star, and connecting it to this generator, we can put a whole butt load of power into it and really get that star humming!"
"That actually sounds like a great idea!" Sarah commented. "I…guess it would have been better if you asked before you cannibalised my supercharger first, but if it works, I guess it's worth it!"
"OK, but generators work by using energy to drive them, like hydroelectric plants, right?" Levi asked. "So, what are we using to drive the generator?"
"That is where these come in." Calvin told them, holding up his own Power Star. "We're going to use our own morphing energy to drive the whole process."
"OK, but…sorry to be the one to bring this up, your engine…it blew up." Preston reminded them. Calvin just sighed.
"I won't lie to you, just like my engine, if there's a fault and it doesn't hold while we're powering the generator, then the blow back could, well, it could potentially…blow out our Power Stars." He admitted. He could see the looks from the others. "Guys, I swear, I've thought about this, the odds of that happening are super remote. Redbot, Mick and I have gone over this thing a few times and I'm positive that it'll work."
"But it is a risk." Brody said, thinking about his options. He looked around the room. "It's got to be a unanimous decision."
"Well, if we don't do it, we don't have anything that'll defeat that Forcefear guy." Levi stated.
"I'm in." Sarah added. "But if you manage to blow out my supercharger AND my Power Star, I will never let you live it down."
"Considering the fact, we'll be getting scraped off the walls I don't think that's an issue." Calvin reminded her. Preston just came over.
"If you're sure this will work…"
"Believe me, it'll work as well as the fuel injector." Calvin told them, looking to Mick.
"OK then." Brody replied. "So, what do we do?"
"Alright, what we all need to do is stand around it, and all morph at once." Calvin told him. "But we need to channel our energy towards the generator to fire it up."
"Alright." Brody said as they all took up position around the device. "Alright Calvin, this is your show. You make the call."
"Ninja Stars, lock in!" Calvin called out as they all put their Ninja Stars into their morphers. "NINJA SPIN!"
Elsewhere in the city, Viera, Monty and Victor were running for their lives, hoping that Victor's surprise attack on Odious had gotten her off their tail. They managed to get to an open-air theatre when they had to stop to catch their breath. Crouching down behind some seats, they took the time to get some much-needed rest.
"I didn't see that thing behind us." Victor panted as he cast a cautious look over the chairs.
"I think she might find it a little harder to find us with one less eye." Monty said, forcing a breathless little laugh.
"I don't think I took the eye out, but it'll definitely hurt like hell." Victor answered, extracting his dad's dog tags from between his fingers, wiping them down on his t-shirt before putting them back on. "Here's hoping that it's enough to keep her from finding us. I do not want to know what she'll do to us now I've pissed her off like that."
"Unfortunately, I'm sure she can probably find us through other means." Viera answered. "We should keep moving. We need to get back to the school."
"The school?" Victor asked. "What can they do, put her in detention? I'm thinking more like the marines or the National Guard 'princess'."
"Yeah, and what was that about anyway?" Monty asked her.
"I…don't know she must have…"
"Oh, come on, it was clear even to me that thing knew you." Victor interrupted her. "I'm not the brightest person on the planet but even I'm not that dim."
"I'm sorry, I really didn't want to involve you." She told them. She looked to Monty. "I'm trying to keep other people away from me, out of my business, other people that tried to help me…bad things happened…"
"Well I hate to tell you this but civilian casualties are a thing." Victor said sarcastically. "It doesn't really matter if you want other people involved or not. That thing attacked us anyway, we're involved!"
"I'm truly, sorry, really I am." Viera said to them regretfully, touching Monty's cheek gently. "I promise, I'll get you out of this, I'll…LOOK OUT!"
She shoved Monty to the ground and leapt over him, kicking straight through a Basher Bot as it came towards them, smashing it to pieces. She picked up its sword and continued into others that had clearly just come with it as part of a searching party. Victor and Monty could both only watch, wide-eyed and silent as she finished off the last of them, before returning to them, keeping the sword in her hand in case others showed up.
"You're…not from Idaho, are you?" Victor said.
"Indiana." Monty corrected him. Viera just looked to them both.
"I can't explain now, there's no time." She told them. "But trust me, we need to get to the school."
With that, she ran off. Victor whispered to Monty.
"I think I see the appeal." He said.
"She's…my princess." Monty sighed as they both started to run after her, hoping that they would keep close enough to her that she could take care of any more attacks.
Back at the Ranger Base, the team were channelling their energy into Calvin's generator, holding onto their morphers as tightly as they could as they struggled to maintain control.
Calvin stared into the generator, watching as it pulsed with light, turning their energy into power that was being focused into the Power Star.
"It's working!" He called out. "Just a little more!"
"Cal…I can barely hold on!" Hayley protested.
"Trust me, it's almost there!" Calvin stated. "Just a little more!"
Mick marvelled as the Power Star started to glow, taking on the charge it needed.
"Guys, that's it!" He yelled. "Back it off!"
The Rangers released their hold, feeling a little woozy and backing away from the generator as Calvin went to check on the Power Star. He was exhausted and felt like he could sleep for a week, but he was energised, thrilled to see the results of his work. He picked it up, examining it, before taking up position opposite the Nexus Prism.
"Alright, the proof is in the pudding." Calvin said, winding up. "And here we GO!"
He launched the Power Star, which sank into the Nexus Prism. The Prism started to glow brightly and spin furiously. Calvin smiled as the team came to congratulate him.
"You did it Calvin, that's amazing!" Hayley gushed as she held him tightly.
"Yeah, you are all kinds of awesome!" Sarah agreed, fist-bumping the Yellow Ranger. Unfortunately, the whole celebration seemed somewhat premature. The alarms started to sound, alerting the team to trouble in the city.
"It looks like Cosmo decided not to wait around." Preston told them, checking one of the monitors. "Forcefear's back and he's taken a major growth spurt."
"The Ultrazord Star isn't ready yet." Sarah said, looking to the Nexus Prism. "Without it, we won't be able to throw enough power his way to break his forcefield."
"How long until the Ultrazord Star is ready?" Levi asked. Mick just shook his head.
"I have no idea." He told them. "The Nexus Prism kind of has its own time scale."
"We have to go and intercept Forcefear." Brody announced.
"But without it…"
"If we wait, Forcefear could tear half the city down uncontested." Brody reminded them. "We don't have a choice."
He pulled out the Lion Fire Armour Star and Lion Fire Zord Star, handing them to Calvin.
"This is your show. You take the lead." Brody told him. "We'll back you up."
"Mick, contact us the second that Ultrazord Star is ready." Calvin told him, standing ready. "Alright, I've always wanted to do this. Lion Fire Armour Star…ACTIVATE!"