A/N: OK, first to start off on a little note. Apologies for the hiatus, I had a health issue that pretty much floored me for the last week or so and I'm afraid writing has had to suffer the inevitable consequences. On another note, the ending of the first section of the Ninja Steel storyline is coming to an end, so that is going to bring up the inevitable questions I'm sure regarding Beast Morphers. Well, the simple answer is Yes, yes, I WILL write Beast Morphers, though I cannot guarantee when I'll be starting it. I still have Super Steel to get through, and while I may streamline it a little due to the number of filler episodes and throw in a few of my own storylines to bring everything around, I'm making no promises when that'll end. Just rest assured that Beast Morphers will be covered at some point.
Anyway, thank you for your patience and on we go!
Over at the Ranger Base, Hayley flinched and wriggled a little as she stared at one of the screens.
"Sarah, would you quit that?" Hayley said, in a stilted tone as she watched the footage Mick had of Psycho Green's first battle with them. "Sarah, seriously that makes it really hard to concentrate!"
"I'm sorry, I'm just trying to fix your fractured ribs here." Sarah said, withdrawing her hand from Hayley's side. "You think YOU'RE distracted? At least you're not sitting half-naked in front of all your friends!"
The nature of Sarah's power meant that when she took the pain of others, she took it into herself. It was empathy taken to a physical level. While it wasn't a straightforward transfer, for instance she didn't break one of her bones in exchange for someone else's, a wound would open up on her. She had since learned for the sake of not having to explain blood-stained clothing to her parents she'd have to either store a whole bunch of clothing at the Ranger Base or strip down as much as dignity would allow until her own healing factor sealed the wounds. The guys, with the exception of Calvin who had told them he had something he needed to attend to at home, were all sitting in the corner, their hands clamped over their eyes.
"Are you nearly done there guys?" Mick asked, unable to see through his hands.
"I'd be done a lot quicker if this one would stop wriggling!" Sarah complained. Hayley let out a bit of a shrieking laugh as Sarah touched her. "What?"
"I'm just…really…really ticklish." She answered. "Calvin sometimes calls me tickle-me…"
"It's fine, I'm done here." Sarah rushed out, heading over to her clothes. She pointed to the guys. "NO! I will tell you when you can look!"
"So, any idea what he's saying?" Mick asked her.
"I…I know exactly what he's saying it just doesn't make any sense." Hayley told him. "When the cops start firing on him, he turns to them and asks them to stop."
"You don't think that makes sense?" Preston asked her.
"No, he ASKS them to stop!" Hayley told them. "He then goes on to say he's on their side!"
"THEIR SIDE?" Levi asked. "He blasted them just the same as he blasted us! Half of them are still in ICU!"
"The way he said it, I can't explain it, it's like…it's like he genuinely believes that they're on his side and should be fighting with him." Hayley answered.
"Well fat chance of that happening now." Brody stated. "This Green Guy is probably the only person in the city that those cops hate more than us right now."
"Psycho Green." They heard someone say. They all immediately looked in the direction of the voice, completely forgetting about the fact Sarah was in her underwear. The stranger in the powered armour was standing in their base. "His name is Psycho Green."
"I thought we were getting good at the ninja thing." Preston muttered.
"Look, we're really grateful about your help before, but we don't exactly have this place sign-posted." Brody stated. "So, who are you, how do you know about us and what do you know about this guy?"
The stranger pulled off her helmet, revealing her identity. Grey hair spilled out of the helmet as she looked to them.
"My name is…"
"GRACE STERLING!" Sarah squealed, running over to her and shaking her hand vigorously. "Oh my God, oh my God, Grace Sterling is here in our lab! GRACE STERLING!"
"OK, so apparently Sarah knows who you are." Brody commented as the team all started to look around. Sarah looked confused for a moment, before turning bright red.
"Oh SHIT!" She screamed, running and grabbing her clothes, before heading behind some equipment to get dressed.
"That still doesn't explain how you know about us or about this guy." Levi continued the questioning. Grace put her helmet down on the table.
"I know about you because I've been looking over your shoulder and cleaning up after you all for months. I have to say you're getting better, but it's not been easy." Grace told them. "As for Psycho Green, I know him because he's been in my nightmares for almost fifty years."
"Fifty years?" Mick asked her. "But…how…?"
"We share more than an interest in defeating Psycho Green." She told them, before pointing at Brody. "Back in 1969, I had his job."
"1969?" Preston asked. "There weren't Rangers in 1969. The first team didn't show up until 1993!"
"Our story didn't exactly make it into the public sphere. We only went on the one mission, the one to bring down Psycho Green." Grace told them. "It was a mission only two of us came back from."
Grace took a seat on one of the work benches. The others gathered around as Sarah returned, finishing getting dressed. She took a deep breath as she prepared to tell her story.
Up on the Warrior Dome, Viera and Monty were being held by some Kudabots as a few more worked over Victor, beating him as the others were forced to watch. Galvanax watched on, clutching the Mega Mag while Odious sat at his side.
"Leave him alone!" Monty screamed. "STOP! We need him…"
"Oh, you'll excuse me if I have doubts that you really need this one." Odious said dismissively. "It doesn't take a genius like me to figure out that he's not exactly the brains in your little outfit, but he can at least serve as some motivation. In fact,…hold him."
The Kudabots held Victor as he struggled. She pulled out a knife and approached him.
"You tried to take my eye!" She snarled at him. "How about I show you how it's done!"
"NO!" Viera screamed. "Do what you want to me, but…"
"Something tells me the new ruler of the Lion Galaxy would appreciate you getting back in one piece." Odious told her. "I need the scrawny one intact to show us how his device works, but this one…"
"ENOUGH!" Galvanax roared. Odious put her knife away reluctantly. He approached Monty with the Mega Mag. "Show us how this works. I want you to set it to find a very particular form of metal."
"What do you want it to pick up?" Monty asked him. "Gold, silver, iron…"
Galvanax handed him a small fragment of metal, no bigger than a sewing needle. It was glowing purple.
"Ninja Steel!" Viera gasped. "How…how did you get that?"
"The last time we faced off, the Pink Ranger stabbed me through the shoulder." Galvanax recalled. "This was left in the wound. It wasn't enough to fashion any kind of meaningful weapon from, but it will be more than enough for you to find the right setting for this machine."
"Monty, don't do this…"
"You can help us, or you can watch your friends die!" Odious told him. "I know we said the Lion Galaxy would PREFER to get Viera back in one piece…but we could take a reduced price for her remains."
"Monty, please, our lives don't matter!" Viera pleaded with him.
"They do to me." Monty replied regretfully, taking the Mega Mag. He started to alter some settings on it. "This could take a while."
"Don't worry." Galvanax replied as he took a seat on his throne. "I've waited this long. I think I can wait a little longer."
Down at the Maxwell House, Ava was in her garage, replacing the spark plugs she had agreed to. She had already agreed to the work, and she had already had the car a full day longer than promised, the only reason she was even doing the work. She really didn't feel much like doing anything related to engines, she wasn't even sure she wanted to again, but she had to at least make sure her neighbour got her car back.
The spark plug she was holding slipped out of her grip, falling through the engine to the ground. She cursed under her breath. Her mind clearly wasn't on the task in hand. As she started to shift to reach under the car, another hand came through, taking it.
"Let me help you with that." Calvin said as he took it, before offering a hand to help his mom up.
"I…I thought you'd be with your friends." She commented.
"I was, but it's important to spend time with your family too." Calvin told her.
"I thought that was the last thing you'd want." She sighed. Calvin hated seeing his mom like this. He had, even when he was angry with her about the damage to Nitro, but now especially, now he appreciated what she was doing for him he felt so much worse. He didn't even feel this badly when Psycho Green was pounding his whole team into the pavement. His stomach was so knotted and sickened that he didn't know if he'd be able to eat, something that rarely bothered him. His heart felt heavy. "I'm sorry about…"
"You know what mom? You're not the one that needs to be sorry." Calvin told her. "Mom, I was mad and I lashed out at you and you totally didn't deserve that. I know you were trying to help and that's never a bad thing."
"But my part, it blew out your engine…"
"Yeah…about that." Calvin said in a little whisper, pulling a twisted piece of metal out of his bag. His mom took it and looked at it curiously.
"This looks like a patch for a fuel tank." She stated. Calvin just nodded.
"I put that in a few months ago when I got a leak." Calvin told her. "But it was such a routine repair I never factored it into my calculations for how my new part would put stress on the engine. It blew out and the blow back…"
"The blow back is what caused the fuel injector to explode." Ava stated. Calvin just looked to her with regret in his eyes.
"Mom, this would have happened with my part or with yours. It was all my fault." Calvin assured her. "In fact, as near as I can tell, your part was working perfectly until…well…this happened."
"You mean it worked?" Ava asked. He just nodded.
"Mom, when I was a kid, you were the one who got me into engines in the first place." Calvin reminded her. "I was never great at maths until you showed me that most of mechanics is just applied mathematics. Everything I know is down to you."
"Well, not everything." Ava told him. "I took one look at your designs for that fuel injector and I was amazed. I could never have come up with something like that."
"Mom, you're being too hard on yourself…"
"No, I'm serious Calvin. I've seen you grow and I've seen your work on Nitro improve over the years and it's been…it's been like watching you grow up all over again." She said to him proudly. "And then there was a time, I really can't put my finger on it, but a time when all of a sudden you stopped needing to ask me for help so much. Your truck ran a lot better and there were less leaks to plug or parts to replace. I've seen that thing go from the shell we bought from a scrap merchant that broke down every couple of hundred yards to something that runs better than straight off the lot."
She then looked a little sad as she thought about it.
"In fact, somewhere along the way, your work actually looked…better than mine." She told him. Calvin knew his abilities had come along leaps and bounds in the last few months. He had learned a lot from Mick, and his abilities enhanced by his contact with the Ninja Steel allowed him to learn at a much greater rate than he had before. "I guess a part of me was starting to become scared that you're forming this life for yourself and becoming a young man and that I wouldn't be a part of it. I was worried that maybe…maybe you didn't need me anymore."
"Mom, you are an amazing mechanic, and an even better mom." Calvin told her, taking a hold of her hands softly. "And if the day ever comes, you know…some day a long, long time from now, when I have kids, I know for a fact that anything I manage to do right with them will be because of how amazingly you've taught me."
He looked to her and smiled.
"I might not NEED you the same anymore." He replied. "But I'll always WANT you in my life."
Ava grabbed Calvin in a tight hug, squeezing him hard as he reached around to return the gesture. He had always though that his mom's insistence on helping him had just been about her sticking her nose in or not wanting to give him space, but he had never actually thought about the fact that their mechanical projects was just a symptom of another part of their relationship, the fact that as he grew into an adult who in the next few years would possibly be looking at going to college or getting a job and moving out, her role in his life was changing. He always imagined that it would be somewhat of a good thing for parents to see their kids leave the home and have less to worry about, he never imagined though that it also meant a huge change in their own role in life.
"Well, this is nice to see!" Dave said as he arrived in the driveway, carrying some groceries. "What's all this then?"
"Oh, I just realised that it's never a bad thing when parents want to help their kids." Calvin told him. "And I have to say I have some pretty awesome parents."
"You know, I think we have a pretty great kid too." Dave answered. "God knows how THAT happened!"
They all shared a little laugh at the joke, at which Calvin noticed some boxes on the table nearby.
"Is that what I think it is?" He asked.
"It's the parts you ordered. The RIGHT parts." Ava told him. "They came while you were out today."
"Well, since there's going to be a lot of work on Nitro in the near future, how about you help me put this together?" He asked her.
"You really want my help?" Ava asked.
"Well, you have done it before right?" He asked. "Always pick the best pit crew!"
"OK, I'm just going to go and call something in. This sounds like it'll take a while." Dave said as he started to back out the garage.
"Calzone!" Ava and Calvin chorused together. "All the meats, no veg, double cheese with extra sauce…!"
They both pointed to each other and laughed, before starting to tear open the boxes. Dave turned to leave, smiling as he went to the phone.
Back at the Ranger Base, the team finished listening to Graces' story and could hardly believe what they had heard. They knew that monsters could be ancient, Sarah had told them about the Summer Cove team and how most of their enemies had been around for over 65 million years, but this one, a monster that hadn't been active in almost fifty years, somehow seemed all the more terrifying.
"Well, that's not terrifying at all." Levi said sarcastically. "Not only do we have to worry about Galvanax coming for his title defence, which we never even wanted by the way, but we also have to contend with this guy who has actually succeeded in killing three Rangers!"
"Not to mention we still have to find a new source of Ninja Steel." Mick reminded them. "Our options are now running pretty short."
"Well, I might have been able to help with that too." Grace told them. "I can't help noticing your tech here is a little basic…"
"Basic?" Mick asked, sounding insulted. Grace didn't seem to notice though, going to one of his computers and uploading a programme.
"Like I said, I've been trying to help where I can for a while now, and when I figured out the source of your weapons' power I started to look to see if there was more Ninja Steel. I haven't found that, but I have found something."
She showed them an asteroid.
"We picked this up on long-range scans a few days ago. It has a lot of the same properties as your Ninja Steel, but it seems to have a much higher power output and it seems much denser." She told them. "We've taken to calling it, Ninja Super Steel."
"Ninja Super Steel?" Brody asked.
"Tell you what, when you discover an asteroid, how about we let you decide what to name it?" She answered. "On its current path, it should be coming through our Solar System tomorrow. It'll only be in range for a few hours, so you've got a short window to work with, but it's your best shot."
"We can take the Astro Zord!" Sarah rushed out. Mick snapped his fingers.
"That's good thinking!" He replied. "Grace, I just wanted to say thank…"
He looked around and she was gone. He just scratched his head.
"…you?"
"Wow, she could give US lessons!" Preston stated. Brody just shook his head.
"Alright, I've got a feeling things aren't going to be going this well for long. We've still got some pretty terrifying enemies out there." He stated. "Sarah, set up the computers to monitor that asteroid. As soon as it's in rage, I want us all to know about it and be ready to go! Everyone, go home and get some rest. Tomorrow's going to be one hell of a day!"
Meanwhile, up on the Warrior Dome, Galvanax was holding onto the Mega Mag, standing the opposite side of the room from the tiny fragment of Ninja Steel. He turned on the device just as Monty had taught him and watched as the fragment flew to the device. He let out a gruff, bellowing laugh.
"Excellent! Soon the Ninja Steel will be mine!" He called out.
"Alright, they did as you asked, now let them go!" Viera told him. Galvanax just shook his head.
"I don't think so. They have one more use." He stated, grabbing Monty around the neck and lifting him off the floor. "This will go a lot faster if I know where to start my search."
"Put him down!" Viera screamed.
"You know the Rangers. You know where they are!" Galvanax stated.
"Look, you may think she's some princess or other but she does not know…"
"I have no further need of the scrawny one." Galvanax warned them. "Tell me what I want to know or I'll snap his neck!"
"Look, big scary guy, she doesn't know…"
"The school!" Viera rushed out. "Their base is at the school!"
"The school?" Victor asked as Galvanax dropped Monty.
"The…the…school?" Monty coughed, trying to get his breath back as Viera rushed to his side to comfort him. Now a lot of it made sense. Viera had insisted on going to the school instead of the police or the military when they were being chased. She hadn't explained why she wanted to go there, but if the Ranger Base was in the school…then the Rangers were too!
"Your protectors were under your nose the whole time and you never knew." Galvanax sneered. "I'm going to see Cosmo. Tomorrow morning, the Rangers are getting their title shot! Whether they want it or not!"