Episode 4:
Extra Credit
Jake stared at his sandwich, staring at him free of its clingwrap while resting atop its suffocating prison. It had not weathered well across the day. The juices had seeped into the bread, the citrus of the tomato having melted the cheese into a mayo-like paste.
And it was still far preferable to the alternative. Ever since the food poisoning incident of "Mystery Meat Monday", he made a point of bringing food from home. He looked up from his lunch to see the other four Rangers making their way to his table, each with a tray of food. Some people never learn.
"So, what have you got this time?" he asked begrudgingly. Always a gamble, despite the gastro incident, most days the food on the tray looked much better than his soggy sandwiches. And here it would come, another attempt from his friends to convince him that the cafeteria food wasn't "that bad". But today would not be one of them.
"I think I'm going to follow Jake's example from now on." Ben groaned as he looked down at what, if Jake squinted, could maybe be described as meatloaf.
Jake grinned. Now it was his turn.
"Come on guys," Jake said. "Cafeteria food can't be that bad…"
"It's green."
Jake had been preparing his 'I told you so' argument for a very long time and was about launch right into it when suddenly he noticed Ray indicating behind him. His good mood vanished in a cartoon cloud the second he saw who was standing behind him.
Miss Ratched, his History teacher.
"Hi there, miss," he said nervously.
"Hello Jake," she replied, "it's good so you're awake and upright. You're so often asleep in my class, I was beginning to worry you suffered from narcolepsy."
"I'm sorry miss," said Jake. "You know things have just been so busy lately with term papers and football practice. And you know, we've got a big game coming up and coach has really been riding us so…"
"Yes, I spoke with the coach," Ratched snarled in a tone that made Jake's insides turn cold. "He wanted me to remind you of the school's agreement about grade-point averages and staying on the team. And so, I thought I would also come to remind you about the test you have this afternoon. The one on technological developments in the 20th century?"
"Don't worry, I'll be there," Jake replied, desperate to sound confident and chipper. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Good, because if you don't achieve at least a B+ on this paper, you'll be off the team."
Jake went white as Ratched's sour demeanor shifted into spirited delight.
"I'll see you after lunch," She smiled before spinning on her heels and striding out of the cafeteria to leave Jake looking white as a sheet.
"Great, that's just what I need."
"Dude," said Ray. "You didn't tell us you were flunking history."
"Don't worry Jake, failing a subject is not the end of the world," comforted Hilary before shooting a cheeky, all-knowing look at her brother. "Isn't that right Ben?"
"Oh, you had to bring in my semester of Computer Science, didn't you? At least I didn't fail Home Ec" Ben retorted.
"I'm sorry, 'Jamie Oliver', maybe I'd prefer holding the world's entire new digital infrastructure together instead of testing how crisp my lettuce is."
"Come on dude," said Ray, in hopes of shifting away from the twin's fresh argument. "We're basically walking examples of technological improvements of the twentieth century, just use the original Power Rangers as an example and you'll be fine."
"Didn't the original team get their powers from aliens?" Johnny pointed out.
Jake just shot him a look. "Dude, not helping."
"My bad."
Hilary meanwhile placed a comforting hand on Jake's shoulder. "You'll be fine. Put all that study you did to good use." But Jake looked up at his teammates, sheepishly turning the same color as his Ranger uniform as Hilary's face dropped. "You did remember to study, didn't you?"
"I may have forgotten that part."
"Well in that case you're done for."
Jake groaned as he slumped down on the table's surface and buried his face between his arms.
"I never thought I'd say this, but I would kill for Cyrax to attack the school right now."
High atop the city, the doors of Gideon's observation deck flung open as Kelgar excitedly hurried into the room. From his vantage point, Cyrax turned and readied for a show. This should be good.
"Why have you disturbed my silence?" Gideon asked lazily. "Haven't you brought me enough disappointment lately?"
"My lord, I have developed the most brilliant invention!" Kelgar announced. I have developed a scanner that will allow us to immediately create a digital replication of any item we point it at."
"We could already create these things," Cyrax pointed out.
"Yes, but now we can do it in a fraction of the time; time we could use to properly integrate components into our virus', rather than having to attach them separately. Full integration of these components will allow us to remove any external weakness our virus might have."
Cyrax turned, hoping to silently communicate his disbelief to his master. But Gideon was leaning forward, clearly curious about Kelgar's newest invention.
"Do you have something in mind?"
"My newest creation needs something to give it some grunt to back up its speed. A hot rod motor should be able to do it. There's one in the carpark of Cranston City High School."
"Hmm," Gideon mused. "I'll admit, I'm intrigued. Cyrax, take the scanner and make sure it's used properly."
"Yeah, Cyrax," Kelgar chuckled. "If you wouldn't mind."
"You would have me retrieve a car part?" Cyrax scoffed. "I will not have my abilities insulted like that."
"But it's not an insult at all," Gideon snarled back. "I would trust no one else to the task. The school where the car is located is attended by the Power Rangers. And I would prefer to leave a task like this to the most capable of hands." He cast a withering look at Kelgar, who shirked at the sudden attention. "We wouldn't want any upsetting mishaps now, would we?"
Satisfied with his lord's favor, Cyrax bowed. "Of course, my lord, then I will fetch it at once."
"I just need a scan," Kelgar called after him. "It'll make avoiding detection easier."
"Naturally."
Cyrax pressed a button on the Digitizer, causing fifteen Byte-Bots to appear.
Because if he just happened to run into the Power Rangers while he was down there, it would be rude not to bring some company. Then, with the press of another button, Cyrax and his minions flashed to the city below.
Ray was sitting in Biology with Ben, both hating every second. More charts outlying potential probabilities of genetic variation, more math.
Ray was looking forward, pretending to listen while his mind wandered to replay his favorite songs inside his head. Ben was a little less discreet; firing spitballs across the room whenever Mr. Hubbard turned to write on the board.
He was just about ready to fire another when Ray stopped him. Something had moved in the corner of his vision, out the classroom window in the parking lot below. Somewhat disbelieving what he thought he'd seen, he tapped Ben on the shoulder and pointed out the window.
"I think the school's got some unauthorized visitors."
Both jaws both dropped as they looked closer to confirm what had drawn attention. Sure enough, Cyrax and a group of Byte-bots were moving towards a car. But not just any car, it was Ben's car. That was extra bad; the car was Ben's baby, his pride and joy, and always insisted that he still hadn't gotten it the way he wanted. He spun to Ray, desperation clear as day. "We've got to stop them," he begged. "We've got to do something!"
"We can't just jump out in the middle of class," Ray hissed. "Might as well hold up a big sign saying, "ducking out to be Power Rangers!"
"Is something the matter, Mr. Granger?" Mr. Hubbard called from the front of the room.
"Uh, no sir," Ray replied awkwardly. "Just talking with Ben about how cool it is that he and his sister have the same hair."
"Given they're twins it should not be surprising," Hubbard said dryly before returning his attention to the board.
The second their teacher's back was turned, Ben returned to pleading. "We need a distraction."
"Like what?"
"I don't know, something!"
Then Ben paused for a moment, shrugged, and snapped to his feet.
"WHAT ARE THEY DOING TO MY CAR?" he yelled pointing to the window. Every single head whipped around, gasping at the group of robots that were huddled in the student parking lot.
Seizing the chance, Ray looked up at the fire detector on the ceiling. It would have to do, and he'd have to be careful and not go too hard. Time put his practice to good use.
Focusing not to make the beams too strong and destroy the unit, two barely visible beams shot out from his eyes and into the detector. Bullseye. Disturbed but the flashing heat from the lasers, the fire alarm began to blare.
"Everyone outside!" yelled Mr. Hubbard. "Come on, let's go!"
Ben and Ray didn't need to be told twice. They darted for the door, with Ray pressing a button on his Morpher to alert the others. Within a minute they'd reached the back of the school to meet the others.
"Saved by the bell," Jake said happily. "I'll gladly never look at another History paper again."
Johnny, however, was all business. "What's going on?"
"Our robot friends came to drop off our lunch," said Ben.
"We figured it'd be rude not to meet them," Ray agreed as he and the others pulled out their Morphers. "Ready?"
"Ready!"
"Data Squad, Digitize!"
The light flashed, suits forming over their bodies and encasing them in their helms. Then, as the shining faded, they raced to the parking lot.
Jake had never been more grateful for a monster attack but decided to save his high spirits until after the problem was dealt with. Ben, meanwhile, wasted no time in letting the Byte-Bots know that Rangers had arrived.
"Hey!" yelled Ben, "You'd better have a good reason for touching my Baby!" Because no one touches my Baby!"
"It's true, and you don't want to see what happens afterward," added Hilary.
Cyrax, however, didn't seem in the least bit phased. "I'm dying of anticipation. Byte-Bots get them!"
Modem Blasters in sword mode, the Rangers lunged to join them.
Three came at Jake, peeling off from the group to lead the bots to the front of the stairs. He flipped over a perfect somersault, landing behind to knock two of them over. Climbing up the stairs again, he ducked as the last one swung, swinging out to strike the stomach and send it hurtling down the railing. It landed on its butt, thudding down every step before whacking its head on the metal pole.
Just as the two he'd knocked over returned.
The first one swung with its weapon, parried by Jake's sword while the second got his boot planted firmly in its chest. His blade arced in a crescent, guiding the first robot the stumble into its friend. Spinning around, Jake switched to blaster mode.
"See guys?" he laughed, "This is why you stay in school!"
He snapped up the weapon and slammed the trigger, unleashing a torrent of lasers that blasted the two robots to bits. Then he rushed as quickly as he could to rejoin friends.
Gathering together, Cyrax was huddled in the corner with the remnants of his Byte-Bot forces, all equally battered by the rest of the Rangers.
"Ready to give up yet?" taunted Ray
"Not a chance," replied the warrior, holding up a strange device. "I have what I came for."
And then they vanished as quickly as they'd appeared, and Ben rushed to his car to see hood had been popped open.
"My baby!" he cried out. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"
Even the face-concealing helmet could do nothing to conceal Hilary's eye roll.
"Well, looks like someone's running scared," Jake decided, nodding upwards.
"No, that was too easy," said Johnny. "Way too easy."
A sentiment the others seemed to share. "He's right," said Ray. "We haven't seen the end of this. Let's just power down and go back to class before anyone starts wondering where we are. We'll talk to Doc after school."
"Guys," Jack commented as he began to turn around. "Maybe we should power down somewhere more…private?"
The rest of the Rangers looked around. The whole school had come to see their battle.
"Good idea," said Ray. "Don't forget to smile and wave on the way out."
"So let me get this straight," said Doc that afternoon. "Cyrax and his cronies appeared, huddled around Ben's car, then disappeared almost as soon as you arrived?"
"That's the short version, yeah," Jake agreed.
Doc looked up from the fingers he had pressed to his forehead. "And what's the long version."
Jake paused for a moment. "I guess it's pretty much the same as the short version, only a lot more detail about how we kicked their buts."
"Right…"
They'd rushed to the warehouse the moment school ended, eager to see what Doc had pulled from the battle footage. But their accounts of the events hadn't helped him discern what Gideon was really up to.
"I'm sorry Ben," he admitted. "But I've got no idea why they wanted your car."
"It's okay," Ben sniffed emotionally. "It was a traumatic experience, but I think she's going to be all right. She's a strong girl, she'll pull through."
"Well, on the plus side," said Hilary, eager to ignore the dramatic blathering over her brother's vehicle. "He bought Jake here an extra twenty-four hours on his history paper."
"Oh yeah…" said Jake. "It was so kind of him."
"Which means," added Ray. "That we've got an extra twenty-four hours to help you get there."
"Consider this a blessing from above," Johnny agreed.
Oh yeah, so blessed.
"Okay, so what was a major technological development in the 20th century?" quizzed Ray, textbook laid out in front of him. By now they'd been working for nearly five hours, and all three boys looked like they were about to collapse.
"The Atomic Bomb?"
"We got there!" Johnny exclaimed, almost leaping from his seat in exasperation. "Now let's hope he remembers it tomorrow."
"I don't see why I've got to remember this stuff," Jake groaned. "I mean, it's all old tech. Why can't I look at all the new tech? I heard the new iPod even has a phone in it. That's pretty cool!"
"Look," said Hilary. "I'll be the first person the gush over new technology, really, I am. I'm hoping one day Doc will let me pop the hood and see how the Digitizer works. But you've got to know where these things came from. The future is built on the work of the past."
"Yeah…" Jake grumbled. "I guess…"
Ray meanwhile could see his friend at the end of their tether.
"I think we've covered enough," he decided. "Not much use cramming anymore. What time have you got History tomorrow?"
"Last period. Nice and early to wake up to my doom."
"We've all got that one off, so we'll be rooting for you," said Johnny.
"Yeah sure," replied Jake, really wishing he could join his friends in their spare lesson instead. "Go me."
"My lord," Cyrax kneeled before his master, eagerly presenting the fruits of his labor. "The scanner worked perfectly. We can now combine the elements of the engine into a new, more powerful virus."
"Excellent work, Cyrax," said Gideon. "It is good to see that some can still live up to my expectations."
Kelgar bitterly snatched the scanner from Cyrax's hand and walked over to the console. His claws tapping away at the device, the screen began loading a render of his final product. Then he yanked down a leaver, and a narrow glass tube at the end of the room began to hiss full of steam and light. The whole device shook, violently thrashing against the bolts that held it to the floor. Then it stopped
Kelgar pushed a few more buttons and the doors to the machine opened and outstepped a giant fly with exhaust vents poking from its back.
"May I present to you, Bug Eye," he announced proudly. "He may not look like much, but his speed more than makes up for it, he'll make short work of the Rangers!"
"I hope so," replied Gideon, "because for your sake, I would want a repeat performance. We both know what would happen then, won't we?"
"Of course, master. He will not fail, master."
"Then dispatch this… thing, at once."
Gideon turned to leave, only to stop at the door and turn back.
"Cyrax?" he said. "Would you mind going down there to ensure there is no interference this time?"
Tick…
Tick…
Tick…
Tick…
Tick…
The clock dragged itself down another minute, the click of its arc echoing through the dead silence of the room. Beside him, someone was tapping their pencil as they thought, yet one more sound diving Jake crazy as tried to concentrate and remember the facts they'd been revising last night
Come on think, you can get this question.
Jake's test had only been going ten minutes and he had already begun panicking. He stared at the question at the top of the page, but no matter how hard he tried, his brain snapped only to the wrong facts, or completely useless, unhelpful facts.
Or that friends were out relaxing while he was stuck inside.
Tick...
Tick...
Tick...
Tick...
Tick...
He couldn't fail. Not now. He'd worked too hard to make it onto the team. He couldn't get kicked off now just because of some lousy history paper! At least, told himself as he once again tried to focus on the question, there was no way things could get any worse.
Then the screen on his Morpher started flashing.
