The Rangers were down in the lab, waiting for word from the rest of their team. It hadn't been particularly long, perhaps a little over an hour since they had split off in battle, but that didn't mean to say that they weren't now worried. Like it or not, there was only one Ranger with any powers on their way to the ship. They wanted to go up and help, but until they got word from the others, anything they did only risked giving the game away.
"Would you mind NOT doing that?" Chase asked Ivan as the Gold Ranger ran a whetting stone along the edge of his Ptera Sabre. It was a pointless action, since it self-sharpened between battles, but it was an old habit. He had often spent time between battles doing that exact same thing. "It's really starting to get on my nerves."
Ivan just put the sword and the stone aside, clasping his hands silently in front of him. Chase continued to hold onto Allison. She had assured him she was fine after the assault, but right now Chase couldn't bring himself to leave her side. It was clear he felt a little guilty about the fact he wasn't there when she needed him.
"This make Koda angry." Koda blurted out. "Want smash! Want help friends!"
"Koda, we all feel the same way." Chase assured him. "I know all this waiting feels worse than the actual battle."
"This is nothing. Back in my day, before we had all your telecommunications, we would arrive on the battlefield at least the day before the battle." Ivan informed them. "We'd need to wait on the messengers taking messages back and forth during negotiations before we'd even know if we were going to HAVE a battle. It wasn't unknown for us to spend two, three days in some muddy field before the battle ahead."
"I'm going out of my mind and it's only been a bit over an hour." Chase agreed, grabbing a cup. "I'll bet back then your camps didn't at least have cocoa."
"Most certainly not." Ivan agreed, finishing his cup. Just then, Phillipe came back into the room, talking on the phone.
"Yes, thank you doctor." He responded as he hung up. He looked to the others. "Margaret's just resting."
"Riley, any luck with that footage?" Chase asked him. While they were waiting to hear word from Shelby, there was another mystery for them to solve. The restaurant had been attacked, but the girls had been saved by the Aqua Ranger! Though according to Leanne, he ran away moments later. So far, they had no idea where the Aqua Ranger had been, but now they had an appearance right here in Amber Beach? Unfortunately so far his appearance had only given them more questions than answers. Where was he? How long had he been here? Where did he go? Why had he not come to them before now? The footage had been damaged, but Riley was hoping he could salvage something.
"Uh...no, sorry." He replied. "I've cleaned it up as much as I can but...I still can't find anything."
"I guess we have to put that mystery on the back burner then." Phillipe responded. "Until then, all we can do is hope things are going well up there."
At that moment, up on Sledge's ship, a couple of Spikeballs were patrolling the corridors. They heard a noise as something rattled down the hallway.
"What was that?" One of them asked. They both went to investigate. As they got to the end of a dead-end, one of them crouched down, finding a large bolt on the floor.
"It was nothing, just this old tub falling apart as usual." The one with the bolt said, throwing it aside. "I thought Wrench was meant to see to the upkeep of this place."
Before he could get up though, his comrade fell to the floor and stopped moving, before dissolving into the floor. He looked up in time to see the Purple Ranger bringing her Dino Sabre down, before everything went dark. Kendall gripped her Sabre tightly as she looked around for any sign she had been heard.
"OK, you're good at that." Shelby responded. "Scarily good!"
"The Plesiosaur was an ambush predator." Kendall reminded Shelby. "It's not surprising I took on a few of its characteristics."
"Alright, so we got rid of the guards." Tyler stated. "Now, I'm almost certain we docked the Plesio Zord right through here."
Just then, they heard a strange, mechanical sound. They looked down the hall in time to see the Get-bot rolling around the corner.
"The Get-bot?" Shelby asked.
"It was in my pod." Kendall recalled. "I forgot all about it!"
"So what's it doing?" Tyler asked her.
"It's operating on its original programme so..." Kendall started to say. "Oh no!"
"What?" Kendall asked.
"It's searching out an Energem!" She told them.
"But we already have the Purple..." Shelby started to say. "It's going after the Red Energem!"
"So we can follow it!" Tyler suggested. Kendall and Shelby looked to each other, and then back to Tyler.
"But...Wrench said it's in the Magna Beam." Shelby reminded him. "That'll be on the Bridge! You'd be running right into Sledge and..."
"I'm not leaving here without my Energem." Tyler told her.
"But Tyler, Sledge and Fury and Poisandra...it'd be suicide!" Shelby told him.
"You heard what Wrench said, that laser cannon will take out our Megazords. If we don't get it, we're sitting ducks. He'd be able to take pot-shots whenever he wanted."
"Tyler, we came for the Energems and Keeper. We've got one Energem and Keeper. That's a win as far as I'm concerned." Shelby answered. "We can come back for the other one."
"I hate it too, but Shelby's right. We need to get Keeper out of here." Kendall told him.
"But my Energem is right down that way!" Tyler told them, pointing to where the Get-bot was heading.
"Fine, then if you stay, we do too." Shelby told him flatly. "Either all of us get out of here, or none of us do."
"But Keeper..."
"I'm serious about this Tyler, I'm not leaving here without you!" Shelby stated with authority. "I mean...we're...not leaving without you."
Tyler thought about it for a moment, before nodding.
"Fine. We'll take Keeper, get out of here, and then come back with the others." Tyler agreed.
"Good. Then we understand each other." Shelby answered. "Come on, let's go."
As they stepped through the door to the loading bay they'd docked into though, Tyler suddenly shoved Kendall, Shelby and Keeper all through the door, before hitting the button to close the door behind them.
"Tyler! What are you...?" Shelby started to say, pounding on the door as she watched him smash the control panel, preventing them from unlocking it. "TYLER!"
"I'm sorry Shelby, but that is MY Energem!" Tyler told her.
"Tyler, you don't have your powers...and you want to take on Sledge ALONE?" Kendall screamed at him.
"Get going! I'll follow you!" Tyler told them. "Shelby, I'm sorry. I have to do this!"
As he ran off to find the Get-bot, Kendall and Shelby continued to pound on the door screaming.
"TYLER!" Shelby screamed.
"How could he do anything so unbelievably reckless?" Kendall yelled. Shelby just gave her a withering look.
"Really?" Shelby asked. "After what you pulled, you don't get to call out any of us again!"
"Well...uh..." Kendall stammered. "There's nothing else we can do. We need to get out of here."
With that, they headed for the Plesio Zord, Shelby taking one last look back.
Back at the Cafe, Leanne was straightening out the restaurant as much as he could. It was clear that they would have to close for a little while to replace some of the broken furniture, but she was trying to salvage as much of it as she could. Riley arrived, seeing her.
"Hey, Riley, are you after the food?" She asked him. "It should almost be ready."
"I think you've got it handled." Riley said with a smile, helping her right a chair and sitting on it. "Wow, those monsters really did a number on this furniture."
"Yeah, they sure did." She agreed. "I know you Rangers are heroes and everything, but you have absolutely no respect for property damage."
"I'd almost be offended if it wasn't true." Riley chuckled. "I lost count of the number of cars I've written off. I think the real reason for the secret identity is to prevent lawsuits!"
"Can you be sued considering the fact you're a minor?" Leanne asked him. Riley shrugged.
"All I know is I don't want to find out." Riley answered. "So exciting day huh? We have the battle with Greenzilla and you get to see the Aqua Ranger?"
"Exciting isn't exactly the word I'd use to describe it." Leanne chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand. "I was spending most of my time cowering behind the counter."
"So...you saw barely anything?" He asked.
"I wouldn't exactly say THAT." She told him.
"But you just said you were behind the counter." Riley pointed out. "How would you see anything?"
"I...saw a little bit of it." She told him. "He came in through the door, and started...uh...swinging his sword and everything..."
"His sword? He had his sword?" Riley asked her.
"Yeah, it was green, just like yours." She said. "Say, why are all your swords green anyway?"
"It's just...the weapons get called from the lab and according to Ms Morgan's systems," Riley said, pulling up some information on his phone for her to see, "his sword's never left the lab since it was made."
"Oh...well...like you said, I was ducking behind the counter." Leanne answered. "It might have been...a table leg or something."
"But you said you were sure, that it was green!" Riley reminded her. Leanne just crossed her arms defiantly.
"Are you interrogating me?" She demanded.
"No, but I'm trying to figure out what happened." Riley told her, regretting putting her on the spot like that. He really didn't want to sound like he was accusing her of anything, not when all he was doing was trying to figure out what had happened. "I'm really glad that you weren't hurt."
"I'm glad too." Leanne said with a little chuckle, covering her mouth with her hand. Riley just went to the grill.
"So, you want me to take this to the others?" He asked her.
"Yeah, it should be ready." Leanne answered.
"Say, you want to come down and join us?" Riley asked her.
"Oh...well...alright." She responded. "But give me a moment to get some coffees together alright?"
"The way you make coffee? You bet!" Riley answered as he left. Leanne went to the machine and started making up more coffee.
Up on the ship, Tyler made his way through, avoiding guards where he could. The Get-bot was making its way through the ship at a decent pace. It seemed to be heading right for the bridge, just as Kendall had warned him. As he got closer, Tyler looked around for a weapon. He had already squared off with Sledge twice, and both times he'd come off the loser.
He almost jumped out of his skin as his communicator went off. He pulled it out, answering it.
"What the hell?" He asked as he saw Shelby on the other end. "Are you TRYING to get me caught?"
"Not exactly." Shelby told him. "But we figured, if we can't convince you to leave, then at least we can support you."
"How are you planning to do that exactly?" Tyler asked him. Just then, the ship rocked, almost causing him to lose his footing.
"We'll give them something else to think about." Kendall told him.
"You ARE aware I'm still on this bloody thing right?" Tyler asked.
"Don't worry, I'm not targeting anything vital! It'll only do cosmetic damage." Kendall assured him. Tyler was about to respond, but before he could, he heard footsteps and had to quickly get find somewhere to hide. Fury and some others started to run past him.
"Where the hell is Wrench? Repairs are his department!" Fury complained. "Alright, you lot go that way, I'll go this way!"
Tyler smiled seeing this. He lifted up his communicator.
"Thanks guys!" He replied, before putting it away. "The way should be clear, thanks!"
Meanwhile, over on the Plesio Zord, Shelby was overjoyed hearing Tyler say this.
"Thanks Ms Morgan! You're the best!" Shelby stated, restraining her urge to reach over and hug her. Kendall just nodded in response.
"Hey, it gives me a chance to use my Zord." She responded. "Is this what piloting a Zord feels like every time? This is incredible!"
Just then, they had to bank sharply as the ship started firing back. Shelby held on tightly to her control column as Kendall pitched the Zord to avoid the first barrage.
"OK, that is a LOT of firepower!" Kendall commented.
"Well this was YOUR plan!" Shelby responded. Kendall just shrugged.
"I never said it was a GREAT plan." Kendall answered her honestly. "All we can do is hope Tyler gets out of there before one of these guys figures out how to shoot straight!"
Back on the ship, Sledge was by the main console, taking pot shots at the Plesio Zord. He swore loudly as hi first volleys missed. The gunners on the other decks didn't seem to be faring much better! Most of the shots missed completely, and those that did seemed to cause only superficial harm.
"Stay still you cowards!" Sledge snapped at them. "Why are all my gunners so useless? How can you miss a one hundred foot target?"
He stopped talking as he heard the door slamming shut behind him. He turned around to see Tyler standing by the door, activating the locking mechanism.
"YOU?" He asked. "How did you...?"
"Never mind how I got here Sledge! You have something of mine!" Tyler declared as confidently as he could. "I want it back!"
"You come here, with none of your friends, no weapons...and you DARE to demand ANYTHING?"
"You're doing a lot of talking!" Tyler said, adopting a guard. Sledge turned from the console and started making his way towards the Red Ranger. Tyler cast a quick glance around Sledge, seeing the Get-bot heading for the console with the large red button and tools coming from it, beginning to open it up.
"That must be the Magna Beam." Tyler thought to himself. "If I can keep Sledge's attention on me long enough, maybe..."
His thought was interrupted as Sledge took a massive swing for him, his fist colliding with a bulkhead, denting it. Tyler just bounced on the balls of his feet, trying to keep moving.
"All I have to do is hope he doesn't crush me like a melon in the process!" He thought to himself.