Fury was skulking about in the ship, still angered over his injuries at James' hands. He had chased the Aqua Ranger for ten solid years, but James had always managed to evade him. He had actually lost him a couple of years ago and hadn't been able to pick up the slightest traces of him since then. It was disastrous luck that when he DID show up, Fury was already weakened from battle with the Rangers.
He had gotten lucky that time. He had Fury vulnerable, dead to rights, just waiting on the final blow, but he had to abandon the battle, or execution as the case may have been, when he saw the Rangers struggling with their own battle. Fury knew he was lucky to be alive, but that didn't mean he didn't want to make sure he made James pay for his error in allowing him to live, to repay in kind the humiliation of his current state.
As he made his way past Singe's cell, the cell that USED to be his, he could hear the mechanism that increased the atmospheric pressure working, meaning that likely Singe was inside. However, he was sure he could hear something else as well, he could hear voices.
He moved closer to the door to try and hear. He did indeed hear two voices, one was Singe's, the other...he hadn't heard before. At least, he couldn't recall ever hearing it before. He doubted there were many creatures that would be able to withstand the pressures Singe considered his native environment, none of the remaining prisoners sprang to mind on that account. He was drawing closer when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Fury..." Fury spun around, grabbing the creature and ramming him hard against the opposite wall. The creature didn't make any move to fight back, instead seeming to cover up in a vain attempt to protect himself from any attacks that were to come. Fury just growled as he saw the chef's hat and oversized head.
"Half-Bake!" He growled, shoving the monster away. Half-Bake was considered something of a joke on the ship. Hardly the most dangerous of creatures, he had been picked up...frankly he didn't even know why Sledge had picked him up. His contract wasn't even in the double figures of space bullion, offered up by a dissatisfied customer from his restaurant. His cooking was terrible, but it wasn't like there were too many other volunteers for the job, and so Sledge seemed to have picked him up as a cheap way to tend to the kitchen duties. "What the devil are you doing here?"
"I...I...I saw you out here and wanted to ask what you wanted for dinner!" Half-Bake stammered. "I have some nice stew that should help build you up, help with your recovery..."
Just then, the door to Singe's cell opened up and Singe stepped out, looking to the two of them. Fury wondered exactly how much he had heard, but after a few moments, he just turned and walked away, either satisfied that they hadn't caught him in the act of doing anything suspicious, or simply not seeing them as a threat!
"Hunter!" Singe called out. "Hunter, we've got work to do!"
"Great, there goes my opportunity to find out what he was up to!" Fury commented, looking back to Half-Bake. "Thanks a lot!"
"So...that stew...?"
"Whatever, just send a bowl to my room." Fury grumbled. "It all tastes like garbage anyway."
James and Tyler arrived out in the woods, right up by Samson Caves. It had been a long time since James had come here, but he could remember it well. In his flight from Fury, he had always felt a strong pull towards Amber Beach, something he now understood was the other Energems calling to him to unite with the others. As Tyler secured the jeep and started to work with some of the equipment James gathered up his back pack and came around to the rear. He had taken Tyler on some of his digs, but he was always too young to take anywhere too dangerous. He had been on some basic climbs and caves, but nothing that would present any real danger. James had always dreamed of taking him on his adventures one day, when he was old enough.
"Tie an Alpine Butterfly loop in that rope." James told him as he adjusted the straps on his helmet. "That way..."
"Don't worry, I've done this before." Tyler assured him, showing him the rope he had just tied. James inspected the knot, finding it to be perfect. He had learned to abseil from Special Forces units, and he knew a good few of them that could have taken lessons from Tyler. He tugged on it a couple of times to check it, but it didn't budge an inch. He smiled, looking impressed as he handed it back to his son. He really had missed out on a lot with him, hoping to teach him that himself, but it seemed Tyler had learned very well.
"It seems you have." James agreed. "Nice!"
"The entrance I went in last time is just up here." Tyler told him, gesturing up some rocks. "The bed-rocks there are really solid; they make a great anchor for..."
"This is exactly where I went in too." James answered, looking up the rock face.
"I...guess great minds think alike?" Tyler offered up as a possibility as he started to scramble up some rocks. James followed him, watching his son nimbly make his way up the rock face, sure-footed as a mountain goat. Tyler had always been a good climber, but James couldn't help being impressed by how much Tyler seemed to have learned in his absence. By the time they got to the top, they found the narrow opening that they had used to enter the caves all that time ago. Tyler looked to his father.
"I used this as my anchor last time." Tyler told him, gesturing to a rock. "It's really secure and..."
"And...you obviously didn't look around the side, did you?" James asked him. Tyler just furrowed his brows, before heading around. He found a small little symbol carved into the rock with a rock hammer, something he hadn't noticed the first time he had been here. He remembered James telling him a long time ago that he often liked to leave himself reminders in places he had been in order to help him navigate if he ever had to come back. Tyler ran his fingers across it and then got up, seeing James gesturing to the rock.
"Great minds indeed." James told him. "I wanted to remind myself that this rock was a good anchor."
They tied off their ropes around the rock, before securing their harnesses. They both backed towards the entrance, resting their heels just over the edge.
"You ready for this?" Tyler asked his dad. James just smiled.
"I've waited for something like this for a LONG time." James told him, before starting to rappel down the rock face.
In the Dino Lab, the team were awaiting word from Tyler and James about their mission. It was a frustrating wait for the team, particularly those that still had their Energems bound by the Zotak Rings, knowing that there was little, if anything they could do to help if they were called on.
As they were waiting, they were all passing the time however they could. Shelby had cracked out some books to get some more studying done, while Ivan had broken out an easel and some paints. Inspired by Koda's cave painting earlier, he had decided to re-visit an old hobby. Like many nobles in his time, he had filled a lot of his days with art and literature. While he didn't claim to be a great artist, like many of the true artisans of his era who dedicated their whole lives to it, he certainly did enjoy the hobby, and he was often complimented on his work by others.
Riley was doing some work of his own, trying out various ideas he had to try and destroy the Zotak Rings. Unfortunately, his efforts weren't yielding much success, but it kept him occupied while he waited for word on whether or not the Red Energem had been repaired. He didn't think for one minute it would be the BEST way to deal with the problem, but if they knew they could repair the Energems afterwards, then at least they knew one way to destroy the Zotak Rings.
Kendall was sitting by her computer, looking exhausted and frustrated by the day's events. The computer alerted her to a few city blocks she had managed to short out with her use of power to break the Zotak Ring. The lab had a back-up generator, a precaution she was sure to take in case of emergencies to be able to keep her systems running, but having blown the local grid, much of the rest of the area was still without power. Fortunately, there was nothing vital like hospitals in the affected areas. Currently, Allison, Leanne and Alessandra were putting the food from the restaurant into storage boxes, hoping to save as much of the food that was in the fridges and freezers as they could.
"Damn it Singe!" She snapped as she inspected her scans of the broken pieces of the Zotak Ring they had already managed to destroy. She had ascertained that they were technology, but she had no idea of their origin, or of how they worked. She was hoping to figure out how to reverse-engineer a control unit in order to simply turn off the rings currently suppressing the Energems. "If my aunt were here...GAH!"
"I don't think that's going to help much." Phillipe responded as Kendall hit the monitor in her tantrum. She just glared at him.
"This can't be it, it just can't be!" Kendall ranted as she tried to contain herself. "We've come this far, we've gotten nine Energems and now..."
"And now we still have three that work and they still haven't managed to take the other six." Phillipe reminded her. "We've got you to thank for that."
"You've got me to thank for a fast escape." Kendall responded. "Now I've managed to maybe destroy one of the Energems...something I wasn't even sure was possible!"
"You didn't destroy it; you had no idea that the feedback would cause that damage." Phillipe told her. Kendall just sighed.
"Now we've only got three Energems left and there's nothing to stop Singe just neutralising them too." Kendall answered. Phillipe put his hands on her shoulders.
"Yes there is, we have you." Phillipe told her. "If there's anyone that's going to come up with an answer for this, it's you."
"But we've only got three..."
"Unless I'm very much mistaken you started all this with only two." Phillipe said with a smile. "Now look at what you've built up."
"When did you become so optimistic?" Kendall asked him. Phillipe just smiled at her.
"I've had a lot of practice lately." He answered honestly. Just then, Allison and Leanne came down the stairs, carrying a lot of de-frosted burgers.
"Koda, can you start us a fire?" Leanne asked. "We've saved what we can, but this lot, they're either going to get eaten or end up in the trash."
"No point waiting on an empty stomach I guess." Chase answered with a shrug, grabbing Koda. "Come on big guy, time for an old-fashioned barbecue."
Down in Samson Caves, Tyler and his dad were at the bottom of the cliff-face, standing right by the lava pool. The heat was intense, and the air was thick and smelled of rotten eggs as the sulphur burned around them. Tyler was holding his Energem in a device Kendall had created, essentially a long pair of tongs, but with the Energem itself held in a frame that monitored its condition. He had been holding the Energem in the lava for a good couple of minutes, hoping that they could re-create the conditions that had forged it in the first place.
"Alright, let's see how it looks." Tyler said as he pulled it out, letting the excess lava drip off. He held it over towards James, letting him inspect it. "So, how is it?"
"The crack's only gotten bigger." James replied dejectedly. "We have to go deeper. We need to go hotter, more pressure."
"I can use Dino Morpher X to dig further down into the mantle." Tyler suggested. James just shook his head.
"No, you can't!" He told him flatly. "It's too risky; I can't let you do it!"
"Dad, I know you're trying to protect me but it has to be done!" Tyler responded. James just looked to him.
"Tyler, you can't risk morphing. The crack is already most of the way through the Energem, using it at all could risk it shattering completely." James reasoned with him. "I know this has to be done, I'm just saying...let me do it instead."
"But dad, you've never used Dino Armour X Mode before." Tyler reminded him. James just held out a hand.
"Then I guess I have to learn pretty quickly then." He answered. "I haven't been able to do much for you over the last ten years. Please, let me do this now."
Tyler didn't want to let his dad take this risk, but he had made a good point. It was difficult enough being here, just beneath the Earth's crust. Going any lower, going to the mantle, would almost certainly require their suits to protect them, and he couldn't be sure his suit would be up to the task in the state his Energem was in. He reluctantly handed over his Energem to James, who pulled out his communicator.
"Ms Morgan, its James here." He told her. "The lava isn't providing the heat and pressure we need. I need to go deeper."
"Deeper?" She asked him. "But...you're already..."
"I already know the risk." James interrupted her. "I need you to send me Dino Armour X...and give me the five-minute version on how it works."
"James, if you go down there...there's no way we can guarantee what will happen." Kendall explained. "You have one of only three working Energems. If anything happens to you..."
"If I don't do this, we're just waiting for Singe to come back with those rings and take out the rest of us." James interrupted her. "This way, however slim it is, we at least have a chance."
"Alright, I'm calibrating Dino X Armour for you." She answered. "The data should feed straight into you through your suit. It'll let you know what to do."
"Dino Armour X Charger!" James called out, morphing into his morphed form, and bringing forth the additional armour. He gestured to the entrance of the caves. "Tyler, you need to get out of here."
"Dad, I'm not leaving you." Tyler stated.
"Tyler, there's nothing you can do from here that you can't do from the surface now go!" James told him. Tyler hugged his dad tightly, before heading to the ropes and beginning his climb out of the cave. James waited until he was a safe distance up, before taking a deep breath.
"Alright, here goes nothing." He stated, before launching himself into the air, and spinning rapidly, started drilling straight down towards the Earth's mantle.
Back in the Dino Lab, the team anxiously awaited word from James and Tyler. It was while they were waiting that they heard an alarm. Kendall went to her computer.
"Oh no." She stated. "Alien Bio Signs, heading right for the cave entrance."
"James is heading down to the mantle." Phillipe concluded. "Tyler can't risk accessing his powers. He's a sitting duck!"
"We need to go out there." Kendall concluded. "Phillipe, come with me."
"Ms Morgan, why aren't we going too?" Shelby demanded, looking a little worried about this plan. Kendall just looked to the team.
"Without your Energems, it's simply too risky." Kendall answered honestly. "We've got no idea what we're going to face out there."
"But there are only two of you." Riley reminded her. Kendall just nodded.
"Someone reminded me that all this began with just two." Kendall replied, looking to Phillipe.
"If Singe is there with that weapon..."
"We're backed into a corner; we really don't have any options!" Kendall interrupted Shelby. "Alright Phillipe, it's just you and me."
With that, Kendall and Phillipe ran out of the Dino Lab, morphing as they went.