Ninja returned to the ship, a little shaken up from his battle with the Aqua Ranger, but fortunately having avoided any serious harm. The Aqua Ranger seemed to be more concerned with keeping him away from the prone Red Ranger than actually causing him harm. As he returned to the control room, he found Singe sitting on the command chair, swinging around casually as he waited.
"Ninja, that took longer than I expected." Singe remarked. Ninja just shook his head in disbelief.
"I got a little side-tracked." Ninja told him. "I was in the process of trying to secure you a nice little bonus."
"A bonus you say?" Singe asked, becoming interested. "What kind of bonus?"
"One of the Rangers went off by himself, left his Energem behind the dumbass!" Ninja told him. "I had the Red one dead to rights until the Aqua one showed up."
"You almost took out a Ranger?" Singe asked him, ignoring the second part.
"I saw an opportunity and I was planning to take it." Ninja explained as he came closer. "I was sure you'd be willing to arrange a bonus."
"Get in there!" Heckyl yelled as he shoved another monster into the room. This one was yellow and black striped, and was protesting wildly as Heckyl shoved him in. Heckyl was carrying a gun that he seemed to have confiscated from the monster. "Ninja, you're back."
"Master Heckyl, I was...um...just about to call you." Singe answered as he hurriedly got out of Heckyl's command chair.
"I was a little distracted. I found this one on the lower decks hunting my viviks!" Heckyl told him, powering up a blast. "I was just about to..."
"No Master Heckyl, please!" The monster pleaded with him. "It's in my nature! I need to hunt! I've been cooped up so long, that..."
"Those were perfectly good VIVIKS!" Heckyl yelled at him. Singe stepped in the way.
"Master Heckyl, I don't meant to interrupt, but...there is a more pressing matter at hand." Singe told him, gesturing to Ninja. "Ninja has returned."
"Oh." Heckyl said, turning to the monster. "I hope you have better news than Hunter has in his immediate future."
"Well, I found the Rangers in the woods and..."
"Get to the point Ninja, did you upload the virus or not?" Heckyl asked him. Ninja handed him the flash drive.
"They never even knew I was there." He replied with an arrogant tone. "In and out without a single one seeing a thing...even got a nice little drink out of it thanks to the Green Ranger."
"So, you did exactly as I asked you to do." Heckly responded. "Excellent. It is something of a novelty around here. Now, if you'll excuse me I just need to vapourise..."
"He also almost destroyed the Red Ranger!" Singe rushed out. This seemed to catch Heckyl's attention. He turned slowly to Ninja and smiled.
"Really?" He asked. "How 'almost' are we talking?"
"He ran off into the woods alone, and without his Energem." Ninja informed him. "I would have succeeded too if that Aqua Ranger hadn't gotten involved."
"The Aqua Ranger? He showed up AGAIN?" Heckyl snapped as he tried to think of how to process this. "First he lays Fury up, now he's saved the Red Ranger?"
"If I may Master Heckyl...perhaps it is best to focus on the positives of the day." Singe suggested. "Ninja has uploaded the virus to their lap top. It can only be a matter of time before they hook that up to their weapons' systems."
"That...that is true." Heckyl agreed. "We need to be ready to take advantage when they do. In the meantime, I have some business..."
"Perhaps I can think of a more fitting use for this...thing." Singe suggested, gesturing to the creature still cowering in the corner. "Perhaps we should send him out with Ninja. Give him something to turn that gun of his on other than your viviks and besides, if the Rangers destroy him, it just saves you having to do it."
"True." Heckyl agreed, handing Hunter back his gun. "Fine, go ahead, take him out of my sight!"
As Singe, Ninja and Hunter left, Heckyl returned to his command chair. Wrench came over from the corner where he had been listening.
"Master Heckyl, he's now sending two of your monsters?" Wrench asked him. "He's throwing an awful lot of resources at this plan."
"Yes, that had occurred to me too." Heckyl agreed. "I'm taking a calculated gamble. If he is willing to leverage a lot of resources at a plan that ultimately fails, then I'll know he's not got our interests in mind."
Back at the Dino Lab, the team were gathered around, while Kendall worked on the last of the data needed to create her new Dino Charger. While Ivan and Chase were using the time to train, Shelby was still moping over her last encounter with Tyler. Riley was helping Kendall, who was hooking up the lap top he'd taken their training on up to the system. She had told them that the data they collected was the last thing they needed to synchronise up their new weapon. As she did this, Riley couldn't help taking the new Dino Charger out of its housing to look at it. It wasn't like the others, it was predominantly red instead of silver, and had the designation +1 instead of just a number in sequence as he'd expect.
"So this only works with the Red Energem?" Riley asked her. It was a departure from Kendall's usual approach, normally she would look for ways to spread the power around. Most of their power up modes, like Dino Steel, Dino Drive mode and Dino Super Drive mode were upgrades for the whole team as opposed to one single Ranger. Even their Dino Armour X armour, which had originally been set up to only operate with the Black Energem had been recalibrated to allow the Red Ranger to use it too. However, this latest power up, from what little Kendall had said, seemed to be focused on uniting multiple Energem signatures into a single Ranger. It would be risky, putting all their eggs in one basket, but it had the potential to be powerful for sure.
"It relies on the Tyrannosaurus Rex energy." She explained, taking the charger from him and placing it in the machine. "Only Tyler will be able to access T-Rex supercharge mode."
"Why does the Red guy get the cool toys?" Chase asked her. Ivan just shrugged.
"I think my toys are pretty cool." He remarked.
"Only because you're so stubborn about your ways your equipment literally changed to suit you!" Chase complained.
"May I point out that you WERE the first to use all the Ranger equipment?" Kendall asked him as she began the download. "Or that you had sole use of the Dino X Armour for almost a whole year?"
Before Chase could answer though, Tyler came sliding down the slide and landed in a heap on the floor. It didn't take a genius to see that he had been attacked. They team were quickly over to check on him, meaning no one noticed that the laptop switched to a screen, signalling the download of Singe's virus.
"TYLER!" Shelby called out, beginning to check him over. "Are you alright? What happened? Who did this to you?"
"One of Heckyl's goons jumped me in the woods. He was so fast, he came out of nowhere." Tyler told them. "I thought I was done for, but...someone saved me. I think it was the Aqua Ranger!"
"The Aqua Ranger?" Chase asked. The team all turned to stare at Leanne.
"Oh come on, I lied about that one time!" She protested. "I've been here with you the whole time! It couldn't have been me!"
"So this time, it really was the Aqua Ranger?" Chase asked. Keeper appeared in the room, stepping out of a fine mist.
"I always suspected this day would come." Keeper declared. "Tell me, do you know his identity?"
"No, it was like...one minute he was there, and then...he was gone." Tyler told them. "Half the cliff we were on was missing when I came to, it must have been some fight."
"The Ankylosaurus was known for its strength. Its tail was capable of generating an impact that would register in tons." Shelby stated. "It's possible that the Aqua Ranger could have enough strength to generate the force needed to create seismic shocks."
"What I want to know is where he's been all this time?" Chase asked. "We all felt the pull here. We all answered the call."
"Exactly, we all felt the pull, we couldn't have ignored it if we wanted to." Riley reminded him. "Maybe he didn't have a choice in the matter. Maybe he's been...I don't know...trapped or something."
"Wait, there is something..." Tyler said, thinking back to his meeting with Rusty. He looked to the team. "When I met Rusty, he asked to look at my Energem. I got a strange feeling, but...it seemed almost like he'd seen an Energem before."
"You think Rusty, your dad's old running buddy could be the Aqua Ranger?" Shelby asked him.
"Stranger things have happened." Riley answered with a shrug. "Most of us became Rangers by accident! I'd never left the farm before now, Shelby basically stole the Pink Energem..."
"HEY!" She shrieked in protest, giving Riley a harsh look.
"So far our team consists of a caveman, a knight and a prince." Riley reminded them. "Even Ms Morgan took three different attempts at becoming a Ranger before it stuck."
"Alright, we get your point Riley!" Kendall snapped, glaring at him coldly, but looking away as he considered what he had said. It was true that no one really understood how the Energems made their decision who to bond to. If Rusty did recognise the Energem, if he did know what it was, then it was possible that he was the Aqua Ranger, or at least knew who he was.
"Whatever the case, the Aqua Energem would not have bonded to someone evil." Keeper reminded them. "In time we will no doubt have a powerful ally. The Aqua Ranger's strength could be what we need to tip the balance and end our war with Sledge. Answers regarding his or her actions can wait."
The computer bleeped to indicate that the download was complete. Kendall made her way over, taking the new Dino Charger out of the machine.
"Speaking of strength, do you feel up to a little test?" Kendall asked Tyler. "I've just finished the download on your new T-Rex Supercharger."
"A new mode?" Tyler asked.
"A new mode only you can use." Chase said with a little pout. "I was the first Ranger. Where's my cool new mode?" Kendall just slapped him upside the back of the head.
"What do you say Tyler? Are you willing to give it a shot?" Kendall asked him. Tyler took the Dino Charger from her.
"T-Rex Super Charge Mode?" He asked with a smile. "That ninja won't know what hit him!"
"Then let's go." Kendall said, rounding up the others. As they were about to leave, Shelby grabbed Tyler by the arm.
"Tyler, can we talk?" She asked him. Tyler just shook his head.
"There's nothing else to say." He put down flatly. He didn't want to hear anyone saying that his father might not be alive. He didn't want anyone to try and take away whatever tiny hope he had. Shelby wanted to answer, but she couldn't find anything to say to make it up to him. She had dug herself a deep hole, one she wasn't sure she could dig herself out of.
A little while later, the team had found a nice, safe clearing a reasonable distance from the city. Although Kendall had done all the calculations and simulations she could to ensure the new Dino Charger was ready for use, there was always a risk when it came time to do the first real life tests. Unexpected circumstances were a part of science, and when that science was working on weapons' systems, that danger factor increased dramatically. Not only was it best to do such tests where they could get some privacy, they also had to do it somewhere they could avoid collateral damage. Out here, the worst case scenario was they would destroy some rocks or maybe uproot a tree or something.
Koda had morphed and adopted his Dino Steel mode, taking up his Stego Shield. Using a live target for the first test wasn't Kendall's first choice, but she also didn't want to burn the whole forest down if the weapon malfunctioned. Everyone other than Koda was morphed, and standing well back, while Koda was trying to psych himself up to take the first shot of the new weapon. Kendall took one last look around, satisfying herself that as much as possible they had removed anything flammable from the immediate area, and handed the T-Rex Supercharger to Tyler.
"Alright Tyler, here it goes, the moment of truth." Kendall told him. "Just aim straight for the shield. Koda, are you ready?"
Koda nodded to indicate he was ready as he braced himself, waiting for the shot. Kendall took up position between Ivan and Chase.
"You guys are going to love this." She assured them. "Fire when ready Tyler!"
Tyler put the T-Rex Supercharger into his morpher, and closed it up. He felt a little jolt through his arm as he did so. Nothing huge, it was more irritating than painful. He made a mental note to bring it up with Kendall after the test.
"Alright, here goes." Tyler said, before spinning the chamber. The jolt came back, and he could see energy flaring up around his Morpher. This time though, the energy was a lot harsher than before. Before he could do anything to stop it, the energy coursed through him, electrifying him and causing him to scream out and convulse.
"TYLER!" Shelby called out as she saw his suit starting to spark, indicating it was working to protect him from the energy running through him from the weapon.
"This isn't right." Kendall called out, watching in horror as her weapon malfunctioned horribly. While there was always a risk in science, she prided herself on the fact that she did everything possible to ensure that the risk was at a minimum by the time her team got their hands on one of her weapons. So far, the only time one of her weapons had ever malfunctioned in a way that put the team at risk was when Chase first tried to use the Dino Armour X Charger, and on closer inspection she had found that was down to Chase.
Koda rushed forward, using his Stego Shield to swipe the malfunctioning morpher from Tyler's hand, at which the Red Ranger slumped over. Koda approached him. "Tyler? You alright?"
Tyler turned to look at him, but instead of answering, he let out an ear-splitting roar, one that didn't sound human! Koda stumbled backwards, tripping over his own feet in his surprise and landed on the ground. Kendall was quickly by Tyler's side, grabbing hold of him.
"Tyler, it's alright, we'll help you!" Kendall assured him, but Tyler didn't seem to have much interest in anything she had to say. Instead, he rushed her, driving her back. Shelby noticed his hunched posture and the fact he held his arms close to his chest, almost like he was unaware of the entire upper half of his arms. He held his hands in claw shapes.
"He's acting just like a T-Rex!" Shelby called out to them. They all knew that they took on characteristics from the dinosaurs their Energems had bonded to originally. Riley could call on incredible speed when he wanted to. Kendall had shown a natural aptitude for ambush attacks since she bonded to the Purple Energem. They knew the spirits of those dinosaurs affected them, but it looked like the spirit of the Tyrannosaurus connected to Tyler's Energem had completely taken over!
Tyler rushed Kendall again, this time bowling her over. He leapt on top of her, pinning her to the ground. He was pressing his helmet against her, almost like he was trying to bite her, completely unaware that the helmet wouldn't allow it.
"Tyler, stop, you're hurting me!" Kendall called out as Riley and Ivan wrestled Tyler off her. He lashed out at all the Rangers in turn, forcing them off him, before letting out another deafening roar and running off at incredible speed. Koda and Chase helped Riley and Ivan off the ground.
"You alright?" Koda asked as he got to them.
"We'll be fine." Riley assured them.
"He thinks he's a real T-Rex." Chase commented, looking in the direction Tyler had run. "We need to find him before he finds anyone and decided they're lunch."
"What happened?" Shelby asked her.
"I...I...don't know." Kendall asked, going to Tyler's fallen morpher, which was now inert, and carefully removed the T-Rex supercharger. She just stared at it, completely distraught that her technology had put one of her best friends, not to mention anyone unfortunate enough to be in his path in so much danger. "You guys find Tyler. I'll meet you back in the lab."
As she left to return to her car to go to the lab, she de-morphed, and got into the vehicle, but she had to stop and remove her glasses, wiping away a few tears. There were always risks in creating the technology she did, and her worst nightmare was the thought that one day she would be directly responsible for one of her friends losing their lives as a result of one of her mistakes. Knowing the danger Tyler was in, and the danger he posed to those around him now, that was pretty close to the worst thing she could possibly imagine.