Jordan and Metal Alice crashed through concrete as Jordan threw her again, taking her through the ground into an underground parking complex. Although she had anticipated this reaction, knowing full well that the illogical human side of Jordan would lead him to attack her with all the ferocity within the primitive human mind, but with none of the control that his armour's programming should have given him. However, she had made a minor miscalculation in exactly how fast and how hard the attack would come. She did a quick analysis, finding that the damage was mainly cosmetic, and should not hamper her abilities in any significant way. As she got back to her feet, she deflected another of his attacks.

"Now that we're alone, we can finally talk without any further interruptions." She stated as she levelled her sword in his direction. Jordan fixed his attention on the sword, remembering their previous battle. Unlike any of his previous foes, her weapon had managed to completely penetrate his armour. He was certain it blunted her strike, but he had to keep in mind that it wouldn't completely protect him from her. She could still deliver a lethal strike, even without forcing his armour to shut down.

"I think you've said enough!" Jordan replied as he ran at her, swinging wildly. It took her by surprise for a moment, her scans had been looking for a pattern of attack, but right now his technique was pretty well non-existent. She corrected for it though, instead focusing on the movements of his body. He was driving each strike through with as much power as he could, using his sword more akin to a smashing tool like a hammer, and so he was putting as much of his bodyweight behind it as he could. His footing, his stance, his shoulders...she quickly found herself able to find where each of the attacks was coming in plenty of time after taking only a couple of more hits. She caught his blade, turning sharply and sending him tumbling to the ground, his blade caught up in her arm.

"This is an intriguing weapon, Eltarian in origin." She stated, inspecting the Robo Blade. "Just like the armour, just like your mentor. All Eltarian."

"What of it?" Jordan roared as he came back for another attack. This time, he was repelled first by her sword, and then taken down with his own blade. She looked down on him, placing a foot on his chest.

"It is pathetic, your feeble human emotions, they cloud your mind and force you to act in a way that causes only destruction to yourself and those around you, leaving you completely ignorant of the fact that you are no closer to destroying your real enemy than you are to embracing the God-like power at your disposal."

"I've got all the power I need!" Jordan snapped at her, grabbing her foot and shoving it off, before rolling back to his feet. He launched forward, catching her off-balance and wrestled the Robo Blade back from her. "And I already know who my enemy is!"

"Really? Are you so sure?" She asked him as she drove him backwards into a pillar. He struggled against her grip, but even with the power of his armour, he found that she was much stronger. "You still don't get it do you? You are inhibited by the feeble limitations of the human in your mind, well, why don't you ask yourself. Why did I only target General Edwards? Why have I never targeted any of the other Rangers' families?"

Jordan struggled to get her to let go, but her strength was just too great. She looked straight into his visor as she brought up her sword.

"This sword doubles as my direct link to the database. It analyses everything about my victims." She informed him. "When I took your blood, I found..."

"The General wasn't my dad! So what?" Jordan spat at her as he finally got enough space to bring up a knee into her stomach, driving her back. She looked up in time to see him coming for her, before he smashed her full in the face, tearing off her face plate and sending her sprawling. She blasted him away, but as he got up, he saw her holding her hand over her face, fluids running between her fingers. She just shook her head as she stood up.

"Such a feeble minded and pathetic race." She stated. "Perhaps you need a little longer to ponder who the real enemy is."

With that, she disappeared. Jordan slammed his fists into the ground, shattering concrete and roaring in anger. She had gotten away from him once more. As he got up, starting to head back to the main battle, he saw her face plate on the ground, covered in fluids. He drove his heel down into it, shattering it into pieces, imagining her face behind it. Next time, he would make sure it was.

Out in the street, the Rangers had powered up into Ultra Mode, and were battling with Rotox DX, their extra power giving them enough of an edge to keep up with him. Even still, he was a tough opponent with his new upgrades. He spun around, smashing them all to the ground in a shower of sparks, before an artillery salvo left them laying in a heap. Troy was the first to recover, launching an aerial attack, but he was caught by a power beam.

"Foolish Human, you're no match for my new powers, and now, I will terminate you all!" He taunted them as he launched Troy into a building. "Unlike us, you humans can be destroyed."

"Think again." Troy shot back, having had enough of seeing his friends being thrown around like rag dolls by the same robot they had already defeated. Vrak had found a dangerous and powerful new army, one that couldn't even be whittled down one at a time like his other minions. Everything they had done up until now wasn't working, now they had to find a new plan, and quickly. He could only think of one, and it was pretty much the antithesis of everything his training had ever taught him. There could be no restraint, no mercy, no holding back. It was destroy or be destroyed, with no middle ground. "I just have to make sure we smash you into smaller pieces. This time, I'm going to turn you into dust!"

He rushed forward, just as Rotox launched more artillery. He felt every one of the shells slamming into his armour like a hammer, but gritting his teeth, and driving onwards, he ignored them, powering up his blade until he got to Rotox, slicing through his mid-section. He just stood; staring at Troy, before in a massive explosion, most of the front of his body fell away, destroying his artillery guns.

As he was about to swing for Troy, he found his arm stopped in its tracks. Scanning, Rotox found Robo Knight behind him, his knee in his back, straining to hold his arms back.

"You decided to go all smashy and didn't invite me?" Jordan asked.

"Thanks for joining the party." Jake added as he and Gia leapt into action, slicing off Rotox's arms as Jordan held them for them.

"What about Metal Alice?" Gia asked him.

"She bugged out." Jordan told them, preparing his Vulcan Cannon. "How about we finish this version off."

"Fine, but this time we do it right." Troy stated. "Leave nothing for them to reclaim. Everything we've got!"

As they fired their blasts, Rotox ejected something from his body, before it hit. The Rangers watched as he was completely obliterated.

"Again!" Troy called out.

"But Troy..."

"There's something left!" He interrupted Noah, pointing to the piece on the floor. "Again!"

"That was a disappointing test." Vrak stated as he arrived, drawing their attention. "But perhaps it won't be a total loss."

The Rangers watched as Zombats descended, but as they got closer, they realised they were different. They looked a lot more mechanical. As they got to what was left of Rotox, they turned into screws, and burrowed into him.

"That...that piece, it must be a data centre." Noah surmised. "Kind of like the Black Box on a plane, it's designed to survive so that data can be retrieved after its destruction."

"Great, that's all we need." Gia stated as Rotox was reborn yet again, this time growing to immense proportions.

"Fine, then we'll have to destroy him again!" Troy stated, pulling out his power card. "Command Ship Activate!"

"Knight Brothers!" Jordan called as he took on his Megazord form, joining the Rangers in battle. Rotox DX just looked at the Zords standing before him.

"Such magnificent technology." He remarked. "Perhaps once I remove you humans from it and bring it to my mistress, I'll earn my pick of upgrades."

He launched his artillery, but this time he found that it was largely ineffective. Scanning the two Zords coming towards them, he found that there was only superficial damage to them. Their power levels had barely dipped at all, and getting a scan of them, he now realised that their power was now far greater than his. It was a pointless battle, which he knew would only end one way, but that didn't matter. His orders were to battle the Rangers, and that was what he would do.

"Sky Lion Kick!" Jordan yelled as he launched the Sky Lion Hedder, smashing off one of Rotox's arms. Rotox continued to attack with his one remaining arm, without so much as a moments' hesitation. With no pain receptors, this loss had no traumatic effect on him like it would have for any of the other creatures they had fought.

"He can still fight with one hand." Noah stated as the Command Ship Megazord grabbed the arm. "Let's see how he does with no hands!"

The Megazord heaved against him, ripping the other arm off his body, spraying fluids and sparks in all directions. A flame started to engulf the 'wound' as some of the fuel caught light.

"Let's shut this robot down for good." Troy stated as the Command Megazord's chest opened up. "Ultimate Charge!"

The attack slammed home, penetrating deep into his power core. Within moments, Rotox knew he would be utterly destroyed beyond repair. A hidden command in his programming activated, causing him to relay a message hidden from his central processor.

"Metal Alice will defeat you!" He warned them. "And Robo Knight...the games have only begun!"

With that, he exploded, completely destroying him. The Rangers performed a scan of the whole area, making sure nothing was left to be retrieved, but all they could find was the occasional scrap of metal.

"I doubt even Metal Alice could put that back together." Noah told them. "There's barely enough left to make a beer keg."

"Then...we can say it?" Emma asked. Troy just nodded.

"Mega Rangers, that's a Mega Win."

As they sent the Zords home and powered down, Jordan stood before them, seeing the way they were staring at him.

"I don't know what she meant either." Jordan told them. "All she kept going on about was something to do with who the real enemy was."

"I don't really care about that right now." Troy told him. "Jordan...you completely ditched us in battle."

"Again!" Jake added.

"Metal Alice..."

"Metal Alice is playing you, that much is obvious." Gia interrupted him. "Why, I honestly don't know, but you're playing right into her hands!"

"Well maybe she should be careful what she wishes for." Jordan replied. "Because when I get my hands on her..."

"You'll what? You'll let her bounce you around like a pinball again?" Jake asked him. Jordan just looked to the ground, thinking that in a lot of ways they were right. Metal Alice was playing him. She took him out of the fight early on, and nearly cost the others the battle. Their new foes were already more dangerous than anything they had seen until now.

"Jordan, if you...?"

Jordan just turned away from Emma. She was hurt; normally he was a lot more open to talking to her about his family than he was the others. She doubted he meant to hurt her, but she was struggling to imagine what was going on in his mind, and without him telling her, she was likely never going to know.

"It's just a shame we have to destroy so much." Noah lamented. "Maybe if we could study some of their technology..."

"I think I know where you can find some." Jordan stated. He started walking towards the underground garage as the others just stared at him. "Well? Are you coming?"

Later, back in the Command Centre, the Rangers were sitting around in the Command Centre, while Noah worked on a computer. They had retrieved what was left of Metal Alice's face mask, and had brought it back for analysis. Noah knew that it was only metal, with no real systems or mechanisms to speak of, but it was better than nothing.

"This...this is incredible." Noah told them. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Noah, it's a piece of metal." Jake groaned as he checked his watch, realising they had now been waiting nearly two hours.

"What's so fascinating?" Troy asked him.

"It's incredible, massive strength, next to no weight..." He told them. "Iron, Titanium, Tungsten..."

"Yeah, so we know what she's made of." Jake replied, twirling a finger in the air. "Whoop!"

"Actually, we only know what 32 percent of her is made of." Noah told them. "Look at this...unknown, unknown, unknown...most of what went into making her isn't on the Periodic Table."

"Vrak's an alien. He probably brought stuff with him." Jake suggested. Noah just looked at him.

"There's also these fluids." Noah told them. "I mean, a lot of odd chemical compositions, but most of them are recognisable as hydraulic fluids, lubricants, fuels...wait...this one's odd."

"Ooh, some weird goop." Jake said sarcastically. "What's so weird about it?"

"It's...it's got cell structure." He told him. "That would mean..."

All of a sudden, the screen started to flicker and went blank. Noah backed away as he looked to it.

"Wait, what just happened?" He stated. "The system just glitched out...no no no...DAMN IT!"

"What?" Emma asked him as she came to his side. "What happened?"

"All the data we have on this...it's gone!" He told her.

"Metal Alice must have had a worm programme in her technology." Tensou suggested as he took over. "The console's been fried. It'll take some time to get it up and running."

"We can't risk analysing the mask again until we figure out how to do so safely." Gosei told them. "Until then, it would be for the best if you went home. You will all need to rest after the battle."

"Yeah, I doubt Metal Alice will leave it too long before we see more of her creations." Jake commented. "And thanks to SOMEONE, Emma and I have a float to make."

"I said I'd help!" Noah protested. With that, they all teleported out of the Command Centre, heading for home. Tensou turned to the wall.

"Gosei, I don't understand what happened." Tensou told him. "I can't detect what kind of programme did this."

"Just concentrate on getting the console up and running." Gosei told him.

"I will...and then...I can enter the data I remember." Tensou told him. "I saved some..."

With that, a beam shot out of Gosei's statue, striking Tensou in the head. The little robot slumped over lifelessly, and remained that way for some time, before rebooting. All of the consoles came back to life in the meantime, while he performed a full reboot. Tensou looked to Gosei.

"What...what happened?" He asked. "My memory banks...there's something missing."

"It is likely just a glitch." Gosei assured him. "Take the sample from that machine and dispose of it."

"Why?" Tensou asked him.

"It is of no consequence." Gosei told him. "There is nothing to be learned from it."

Tensou wanted to protest, but he had no reason to. His memory had no record of what the sample had taught them. In the end, he just did as he was told, disintegrating the mask, leaving no trace of it.

As Gia and Emma got home, they were more than a little weary. Gia got in the door first, finding Louise waiting for her.

"I guess you'd like a first aid kit?" She asked. Gia just nodded.

"We have a lot to do tomorrow." Emma told her. "Thanks to Noah's big mouth, we've got a Thanksgiving float to make by the end of the week."

"Well, just get ready for dinner." She told them. "We've got company."

"Mom, can we just get something in our room?" Gia asked. "I've had a rough day, I just want a shower and about 12 hours' sleep..."

"Gia Ciara Moran!" Eric insisted. "You have company, and that's no way to act!"

"You're middle-naming me now?" Gia asked him. She just sighed as she saw he was serious, before taking off her jacket. "OK, but I'm not going to like it."

"Really?" She heard a familiar voice say as she got into the Living Room. "Because this bus ticket was kind of expensive."

"CAT!" Gia shrieked in delight as she saw her girlfriend waiting on the couch. She threw herself into Cat's arms, embracing her tightly, before she looked to her. "But...how...I thought?"

"I could tell by the message you were having a tough time." Cat told her. "I know you said to stay away, but I just felt like you needed me...so I paid for an earlier coach."

"I just can't believe you're here!" Gia told her. Eric just smiled as he saw them.

"So...have you reconsidered dinner?" He asked her. Gia nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh God, I have to look awful." She stated, suddenly becoming aware of her appearance. "I'll just go and get cleaned up."

"Yeah, that robot thing looked brutal." Cat told her. Gia and Emma just stared at her. "Eric, Louise and I all talked while you were out."

"Go and get cleaned up." Eric told the girls. "We'll be ready to lift by the time you're cleaned up."

In another part of town, Noah came into his house, finding his parents on the couch watching some form of reality TV show. He just rolled his eyes.

"Did you remember the pumpkin pie mix?" His mom called over. Noah sighed, realising he had forgotten all about it. He just looked to them.

"Sorry, I..."

As his dad turned around, he saw his son looking more than a little roughed up. He just frowned.

"Too busy with your experiments again?" He asked. "You better not have messed up the garage!"

"The garage is fine dad." Noah groaned, before heading up the stairs to his room. He shook his head thinking about it. He'd love to tell his parents what he had been doing, to shove in their faces why the damned pumpkin pie mix was the least of his concerns. Thinking about it though, he could only imagine how they would react. They rarely were interested in him or anything he was doing. They'd probably just be worried he'd bring his Ranger business home. God forbid he'd risk scratching his dad's car, it wasn't like he was saving the world or anything. In the end, he just went up to his room.

As Jake got to his house, he found his parents in the Living Room, looking through boxes of decorations. Within quick succession, they had Thanksgiving and Hanukah to prepare for. His mom loved the holidays, and insisted that even at times where there was a lot of bad things going on, it was if anything even more important to celebrate properly.

"Well, nice of you to show up." Mr Holling chuckled. "I thought you were helping me get this out the..."

His words tailed off as he saw the state Jake was in. He came close to him, concern showing on his face.

"Jake, what happ..."

"I'm alright, I'm fine." He assured them. "I just got banged up at soccer practice."

Even he knew that was weak. It was his go-to excuse for all the days he came home with injuries, but today, that looked more than a little bit of a stretch.

"Soccer practice?" His dad snapped. "Do you play with sledgehammers now?"

"I told you, we're getting ready for the Stone Canyon game." Jake assured them. "It looks worse than it is."

"Believe me, I'm going to have words with that Edwards boy!" Mrs Holling grumbled as she put aside some decorations and went to get a first aid kit.

"Judy, leave it alone." Mr Holling told his wife. "Jordan's just lost his father..."

"Well, that still doesn't give him the right to take it out on his friends!" She snapped as she sat Jake down. "I keep telling you that you need to quit that awful team. It was bad enough last year, but now it's just getting worse..."

Jake tuned out the rest as his mother fussed over him. His parents hated it any time he got into trouble. If he came home with so much as a hair out of place, it was a federal case. He just let his mom check over him thinking how much worse they'd be if they realised he was running towards all the monsters when every sane person in the city was running away. They'd insist he'd quit. Hell, if she could, his mom would probably go straight to Gosei himself and bawl him out over choosing her son for something so dangerous.

"Yeah, tell my parents." He thought to himself. "Great idea Emma."

Finally, at the Burrows house, late at night, Troy came down into the family gym, where his dad was working out, after having closed up for the night. Mr Burrows always worked out when he was worried, it was where Troy got his habit from. Jordan had locked himself in their room virtually the moment he had arrived home.

"Good day?" Troy asked him. Mr Burrows just shrugged.

"Business is slowing down." He told him. Business in gyms always slowed down coming up to the holidays. Usually, between parties and shopping, people had little time to work out. It was balanced out by the sudden upsurge in January when people came flooding back to work off the holiday weight, and those who had made new years' resolutions came in for a few weeks. "How's the face?"

"It looks worse than it feels." Troy assured him. "Dad...it's about Jordan."

"I know he's going through a rough time." Mr Burrows interrupted him. "I wish he'd come to us too, but until he does..."

"It's just..." Troy interrupted him. "Dad, there's something important I need to tell you about Jordan and I."

Mr Burrows put down the medicine ball he was holding, and looked to Troy, waiting for him to speak.

"I've...I've not been entirely honest with you about a lot of things this year." Troy told him. "I only did it because I was worried about what it would mean for you, but given a lot of things that have happened recently, I think it's important you know this. You need to know everything to understand what's been going on."

Mr Burrows just looked to his son.

"Dad...Jordan and I...are Power Rangers." Troy told him, pulling out his mopher and showing it to him. "I've been a Ranger..."

"Yeah, I know." Mr Burrows replied. Troy just looked at him with his eyes wide in amazement. "I figured it out pretty soon after the first monster attack. Your sword technique's always been pretty distinctive."

"You...you knew?" Troy asked him.

"Since Jordan only got to town after that, I'm guessing he's the Robo Knight?" He asked. Troy just nodded. Mr Burrows just looked to his son.

"I'm not completely in love with the idea." Mr Burrows admitted. "But for what it's worth, I couldn't think of anyone that I think would make a better Ranger. The world really lucked out when you were chosen."

He pulled his son in, hugging him tightly.

"Thanks for telling me son." He told him as he left the room. Troy just sat on a weight bench, and couldn't help smiling. All the worry he'd felt about his family, and it was finally over. Emma was right, he already felt like a weight had been lifted. Now, he was sure the next time he was called into action; Metal Alice would be the one that would have to worry.