Chapter Seven. Touchdown Smackdown.

"So tell me," Max called over, looking at Katie. They'd long since left the Night Hawk via shuttle and were now speeding across the surface of Vandor's moon, homing in on a signal that a scan from above had found. "How'd you grab my hand out of the air like you did? Few can do that, you didn't even flinch."

"Maybe you're just not as hot as you think you are," she retorted. "But if you want an answer, it's a little something left over from my days as a ranger."

"We all got something," Duo said. "I can turn invisible. One minute you see me, the next you don't."

"Creep," Diana muttered.
"Believe me, love," Emma said. "I thought the same thing when I heard that."

"Guy says he can turn invisible, you automatically think he's going to use it to do bad things," Sandy said. "Fact of life, he inevitably will."
"You know something," Ryan commented. "Looks like you're all paranoid in the future as well as in the past in that respect."

"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean someone isn't out to get you," Claire offered. "Like when I was banned from Hoenn that time. I thought everyone was out to get me and I had a right to really."

"You know something," Luke said. "I remember that. Remember when we all teamed up for that mission?"

"Whose we?" Xavier wondered. "I never heard about that."

"To be fair, it's not the sort of thing you can send an e-mail about," Nahir said. "Or make a phone call over. Never know whose listening in."

"I was there," Duo said. "Luke was. Amii and Mika who represented the Hoenn rangers…"

"Jake Coshi from Holon," David offered, glancing over to Katie. "Remember him?"

"I do indeed," she said. "Red ranger mission up into space to get after Chronos."

"Wait!" Max interrupted. "There was a mission solely for red rangers. Why was I not informed of this?"

"And the other was Sabrina, right?" Julia asked. "Barinholtz."

"Name rings a bell," Xavier offered. "Think I once battled a guy named Barinholtz in Hoenn, I was in Slateport for the weekend."

"You know," Crane said. "I guess I missed out on a lot after I left with you guys."

Silence befell the transport.

"You want to tell him?" Katie asked, looking over at Paige. "Or do you want it to be a surprise?"

"What's a surprise?" Nick wondered. "Is it going to be something really discomforting for him."

"Think I'll wait," Paige said. "Wouldn't want to spoil it. Although it's made so much of the last fifteen years so much clearer."

"Can smell when someone's being shifty," Lily remarked. "You might want to start thinking about telling the truth."

"Or what?" Paige asked calmly.

"Calm it!" Falco said, the Mirror Ranger having joined them on this mission. "We're almost there, I don't want anything to jeopardise the capture of Nixysis, less of all a squabble between you."

"For all that military discipline," Katie observed. "Guess we're all not that so much different over time. All of us were rangers at a different time, but we all have our ups and our downs."

"Maybe it's just a thing about being human," Ryan said. "Or whatever some of you guys are, no offence."

"Is it really that unusual?" Diana wondered. "Seeing someone like me or Lily?"

"Like he said," David said. "No offence but we used to fight against things not a millions miles separated from you."

"And the mouth is the gift that gives on talking," Naomi remarked dryly. "I'm amazed you added the no offence part before jumping in there."

"We're just a collection of freaks by your standards?" Lily wondered with a smile that would have frightened small children. "Nice, I like that."

"We never said that," Nahir said. "I prefer to judge by actions rather than appearances."

"Sure you're all good at what you do," Riku added. "Otherwise you wouldn't be here, right?"

"Yeah, because there's such a great track record of people becoming rangers deliberately," Claire said sarcastically. "Hey, what's that up ahead?"

Everyone looked over towards the building in the distance, immediately spotting the distinct outline of the spire curling towards the heavens.

"I believe we may be here," Falco said. "We'll take the speeder further and then abandon it to move the rest of the way on foot."

"Walk?" Duo asked dryly. "That wasn't part of the deal."

"Makes less noise," Crane said. "Although, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a welcoming committee for us. I can hear something up ahead."

Just as the Solar Ranger had predicted, there were Blastbots waiting for them, a squadron of the creations blocking their path.

"You heard that?" Dice asked in surprise. "That's impressive."

"Yeah, I'm shocked myself," Crane said. "Well, what do you say? Smash these things up and onward bound?"

"Sounds like a plan, Mr. Edwards," Falco remarked. "Take positions at the ready…"

All twenty one rangers took up their various fighting stances.

"… And attack!"

Katie, Max and David took the closest wave, wading in fists first. David jumped up and kicked one back, his boot clanging into its face. The Blastbot launched a stream of fire at him, only for him to dodge under the stream and kick its legs out from underneath it. Katie activated her ability, throwing a pair of heat charged punches into another Blastbots face, melting the shape of it into a twisted wreck. She then twisted it off and watched the wreck fall to the ground. Max was dealing with his own, trading blows with it before grabbing its arms. Startled, it sent a jolt of electricity through his system, only for the Red Cosmo Ranger to jerk it down and slam it into the ground. With its arms ripped away, he struck out with a perfectly placed spin kick and knocked it onto its back.

Duo, Emma and Lily were also going for a group of their own. An enraged Lily tore into the group with little concern for her own safety, slashing out with her Cosmo Baton to knock them away. Locking her eyes on one, she opened her jaws and spat a blast of poison towards it, the stuff frying its circuits. Emma activated her aura powers and blasted one square in the stomach, before dropping down to the sand to kick its legs out from underneath it. As it hit the ground, she kicked it in the head, seeing it fizzle out.

Duo was fighting two of them, seemingly outmatched by their presence. Smirking, he activated his invisibility, stepping back to watch the two of them hit each other with full power attacks and explode.
"Got to be up earlier than that," he chuckled, already throwing an elbow back into the face of another trying to sneak up on him.

Claire, Xavier and Sandy were fighting their own battle with the creatures, Xavier having already used his own ability. A Blastbot hit him without any effect, the blows ringing off his face. Stretching the muscles in his neck, the Blue Genesis Ranger hurled himself at the robot and grabbed both of its arms from behind, pulling back with all his might. Grunting with the effort, the arms came off, before he twisted the neck and saw the head go the same way. Claire and Sandy were fighting their own battle, three Blastbots surrounding them. Claire kicked one in the face to knock it away from her, before producing an LZ Blaster from inside her coat.

"Could say I always come prepared," she quipped, before blasting it several times in the chest. At the same time, Sandy grabbed the other two by the throat and smashed them together with incredible force, it suddenly almost impossible to tell which had been which.

"You could say I already am prepared," she said, winking at Claire.

Nick, Ryan and Dice were working hard at defeating their own foes, Dice hurling himself into action with a flying kick to the face of the closest one. It went down under the blow, the Green LZ Ranger already going for the next one. It punched him in the face, forcing him back to nearly tripping over the one he'd just floored. Ryan tore in, slamming a hand into the ground. Giant roots tore out of the sandy earth and impaled the Blastbot, the creation shattering into several very small pieces. Across from the two of them, Nick turned into his Grovyle form and slashed another several times in quick succession with the blades on his arms. They cut deep, decimating the circuits inside them.

"Think it's safe to say we got to the root of the problem," Dice quipped, stamping on the head of the Blastbot he'd downed first.

Julia, Nahir and Diana had their own problems, five of them around the three yellow rangers. Not hesitating, Nahir broke into a sprint, moving faster than the eye could follow to break through the ranks. Two of them went down instantly, a third badly wounded. Julia hit the fourth with a barrage of kicks, before slamming it with a final uppercut that tore its face clean off, the metal resting in a sandbank far away. Diana took care of the fifth, getting behind it and using her Cosmo Baton to snap its neck clean off.

"You know," the Yellow Cosmo Ranger remarked, watching Nahir finish what she had started on the third Blastbot. "You'd think they'd make these things a little better."

"Presumably, you get what you pay for," Nahir quipped.

"Quantity has never quite been the same as quality," Julia agreed. "Why do bad guys never get that?"

Riku, Crane and Luke had gone straight into the crowd, none of them caring about the numbers surrounding them. Luke, having already used his telekinesis to smash three of them into the ground, kicked another in the face. Only their parts remained. Crane went through them with gusto, punching and kicking them aside like they were nothing more than ragdolls. Pausing to draw breath, he hit a final one and smashed his fist clean through its chest, pulling the various wires out from within. Riku grabbed one by the shoulders and pulled it back, twisting it into a horrific shape as he brought his knee up into its back. As it crashed to the ground, he turned to another and fired an aura blast towards its face, frying its robotic brain.

Finally, Paige, Naomi and Falco went through the last lot of Blastbots. One of them went for Paige, swinging a flurry of punches towards her. Not blinking, she let them land, activating her ability to lose all solidity. As they passed through her, she flung out a hand and ripped out its control circuits from inside its body. As it fell down lifeless, she kicked it towards another. Naomi flipped up and kicked one in the face, staggering it back. Jumping back up, she grabbed it by the throat and swung it towards another, before bringing it back to trip over her outstretched leg where it fell to the ground in a lifeless heap.

Falco, like Crane, tore through them with no concern for his own safety, his fists and his wings tearing out to shatter metallic skin. With one final Blastbot remaining of the initial group, he sprang for it, grabbed it in both arms and soared up into the air. Spinning, he tossed it down to the ground as hard as he could, able to hear it smash from even where he was in the air.

"Alright," Claire said, watching the Aerobian land close to the rest of the group. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"If that's the best this Nixysis character has got," Nahir said. "Then this'll be over very soon."

They'd barely walked for a few minutes, before hearing a voice hailing them over a loudspeaker could be heard over the horizon.

"Bravo, bravo!"

Looking around, the rangers saw a speeder approaching them, a single Syodian on board. Atop the back of the speeder, two large plasma cannons rested, ready to be used.

"Nixysis!" Max exclaimed. "I presume, anyway."

"You beat the warmup act," the warlord said. "Now how about the main event?"
"Here's a better suggestion," Duo offered. "How about you quit while you're still alive and we'll not destroy you. Cut the super villain stuff and…"

"Nah, I prefer my plan better," Nixysis said. In front of him, the army of monsters he had been granted appeared, led by the four cyber-versions of the initial force. "The part where you fight to death is really good, I imagine."

"Aww, man!" David complained, looking across the army of monsters. "There's too many bad memories there. Remember some of those guys?"

"AquaBat! GallaBlade!" Julia said. "Not those again!"

"M-Ball!" Naomi groaned. "And… BoneShaman!"
"Check out Plusorb and Minnet again," Riky commented. "Emphasis on the word again."

"There's TropicalStorm!" Dice exclaimed. "And… Puree?"

"That name is illogical!" CyberPurrie said. "Any other name is an act of war."

"You want war?" Katie asked. "I'm all in favour of that."

"Yeah!" Luke said. "I've seen some of those things get destroyed before and I'm happy to participate again."

"Guess that means it's morphing time then," Max said dryly. "Shall we?"

"After you," Emma replied.

Stepping forward, the Genesis Rangers brought up their morphers first.

"Been a long time," Katie said. "Let's do this. Genesis Overload!"

Powerful white bursts of light erupting out of the morphers, the six of them hitting the first button on the device, they began to transform into their ranger costumes.

Katie went first, her body shining with a red light. As it faded away, she was wearing a red costume with cream coloured stripes on the sides of the stomach and legs. The gloves, belt and boots were also a cream colour, while her costume had a skirt. At her waist, she had a pair of black, red and gold blasters. On her chest, there was a fire symbol. Finally, her red helmet materialised. One with the black eye visors, mouthpiece and ears of a Flareon.

Next, Duo began to transform, his body shining with a black light. As it faded away, he was wearing a black costume with golden trimming upon it. His gloves and boots were also golden. His belt was gold with black stripes, while he had a dark type symbol upon his chest. At his waist, a single black and gold blaster appeared. Next, his helmet materialised. Complete with the golden eye visors and moutpiece. There were also a pair of black Umbreon ears at the top.

Up next, was Xavier, his body shining with a blue light. As it faded away, he was wearing a blue costume with several darker blue splotches across the body. His boots, belt and gloves were the same dark blue colour. On his chest, he had a water type symbol. At his waist, he had a single blue and black blaster. Next, his helmet materialised. A blue one with the black eyes and mouthpiece of a Vaporeon, while it also had the ears.

Ryan went to morph, his body shining with a green light. As it faded away, he was wearing a green costume with brown trimmings across the body and legs. The gloves, boots and belt were also the same brown colour. At his waist, he had a brown and green blaster, while wearing a grass type symbol on his chest. Finally, his helmet materialised, complete with black Leafeon eye visors, mouthpiece and ears.

Next, Nahir began to transform, her body shining with a yellow light. As it faded away, she was wearing a yellow costume with white trimmings across it in the same fashion as Luke. Her gloves, boots and belt were also white. Like Katie, her costume had a skirt. On the chest, she had an electric type symbol and a yellow and white blaster at her waist. Next, her helmet appeared. Complete with white Jolteon eye visors, mouthpiece and ears.

Transforming next, was Luke, his body shining with a purple light. As it faded away, he was wearing a purple costume with black trimmings across the costume. The gloves and boots were also black. The belt was purple with black stripes. At his waist, he had a black and purple blaster, while wearing a psychic type symbol on his chest. Finally, his purple helmet materialised. It had the black eye visors, mouthpiece and ears of an Espeon.

Finally, Paige transformed. The colour of her suit was white with a light blue trim, while the boots, belt and gloves were the same colour. Her costume had a skirt, while there was an ice type symbol on her chest. Her helmet was white, with Glaceon ears, eye visor and a mouthpiece.

"Genesis Overload!" the seven of them shouted.

The Lost Zone Rangers went next, Julia, Claire, David and Dice activating their Poké Gears, Naomi the Dragon Gauntlet, while Riku and Emma put their shade morphers on.

"Lost Zone! Energise!" they all shouted.

A bolt of yellow lightning burst from Julia's morpher, zapping the area around her. The yellow lighting engulfed Julia's entire body before it disappeared, revealing Julia wearing a yellow skin-tight battle suit with lightning designs on the skirt. Her helmet had a Raichu design.

An eruption of flames shot out from the Red Morpher as David was covered in a cloak of flames. David forcefully threw a punch, dispersing the flame cloak, revealing he wore a red skin-tight battle suit with flames down the legs. His helmet had a Charizard design.

A torrent of water splashed out of Claire's Morpher and span around her, forming an orb of water. The water orb frose into a ball of ice, only to shatter a second later, revealing Claire wearing a blue skin-tight battle suit with bubble designs on the skirt. A helmet with an Empoleon Design materialized, covering her face.

A flurry of leaves blew out of Dice's Morpher, forming a cloak around him. Dice tossed the Leaf Cloak away, revealing he wore a green skin-tight battle suit with many leaf designs down the legs. His Sceptile helmet materialized over his head.

Emma's Shade Morpher glowed as the moon appeared behind her. Emma was engulfed in a ball of darkness. The dark ball was absorbed into Emma's body, revealing her to be wearing a black skin-tight battle suit with a skirt with two yellow glowing rings on each wrist and legs. Her Umbreon helmet materialized over her head.

Riku's Shade Morpher glowed as the sun appeared behind him. Riku was hit by a purple beam. Once it vanished, Riku was wearing an indigo skin-tight battle suit with a purple scarf and black eyes on the legs. His Espeon helmet materialized over his head.

Naomi's Dragon Gauntlet Morpher glowed as it shot out a spirit of a Latias that engulfed her, covering her in a red and white skin-tight battle suit with a skirt and a white cape. Her Latias helmet materialized over her head.

"Lost Zone!" the seven of them shouted.

Finally, the Cosmo Rangers brought up their morphers, the gloved fists already clenched together.

"Cosmosis!" yelled six of them.

"Solaris!" shouted Crane.

Lily's ranger suit appeared, it being a black colour. It had a white belt with a blaster and a baton on each thigh. The boots and gloves were white, one of the gloves had a silver rectangle on it. The right side of the chest had a huge number three across it in silver with a white outline. There were also white bands across the upper arms of the uniform. The helmet was Mightyena shaped and based with a curved visor and circular mouthpiece.

Diana's ranger suit appeared next, it being a dark yellow colour. It had a white belt with a blaster and baton on each thigh. The boots and gloves were white, one of the gloves had a silver rectangle on it. The right side of the chest had a huge number five across it in black with a white outline. There were also white bands across the upper arms of the uniform. The helmet was Ditto based with a rectangular visor and circular mouthpiece.

Finally, Falco's ranger suit materialised upon his body. It was a silver colour. The belt was black with a blaster on the right thigh. The boots and gloves were black, while both gloves had a white rectangle on them. The right side of the chest had a huge number six across it in black with a white outline. There were black bands across the upper arms. The helmet was Pidgeot based and shaped with a rectangular visor, as well as a black pointed beak outline rather than a mouthpiece. Behind him, his Aerobian wings broke out in their full glory.

"Cosmo Force!" the seven of them yelled, all twenty one rangers taking up fighting stances.

Ahead of them, Nixysis' jaw dropped.

"Oh my…" he said in shock. "This wasn't planned."

"Twenty one rangers?" BoneShaman asked in the crowd. "This is…"

"Eep…" Plusorb agreed.

"We ready to do this?" Katie asked, looking around not just to the Genesis Rangers but to the other fourteen as well.

"We're ready!" David confirmed. "Nothing's going to stop us."

"Least of all them," Max finished, pointing to the crowd. "We're Poké Rangers and we're going to take these guys down!"

"No arguments there," Lily said. "Let's fight."

"On the count of three, we charge," Falco ordered. "One…"

"Two…" Duo continued.

"Three!" Claire exclaimed.

With a collective cry of battle, the twenty one rangers started to run towards the group of monsters from the Lost Zone. And they started to advance towards their mortal enemies.

Pushing himself on, Dice reached CyberPurrie first, determined to beat his arch nemesis into the sand. Pulling out a Leaf Sabre, he swung it towards the cybernetic cat, ready to hack him to pieces…

… Only for CyberPurrie to block it with a metal arm, the sword not leaving a dent in the material.

"Oh dear," CyberPurrie smirked, his eyes glowing. "I've looked forward to this for a very long time."

A blast of energy erupted from his eyes, hitting Dice square in the stomach and hurling the Green Lost Zone Ranger several feet back through the air where he hit the ground in a crumpled heap.

"Now what have you got?" CyberPurrie taunted.

Author's Notes.

Suitably dramatic place to leave it, I think.

Thanks for the reviews.

Hope you enjoyed it.

More battles are to come. A lot more.

Thanks for reading.

Don't forget to review. Please…