Episode 9:
The Rescue-Part 3
"So, our computer Science teacher just quit," Hilary bemoaned. "Can you believe it? Apparently, he can't take teaching 'horrible devil spawn' students."
"They said you made him cry, sis," Ben pointed out. "and that your 'helpful suggestions' weren't actually making things better."
"He was nearly in tears just going near the mouse," Hilary retorted. "I don't think he'd seen a computer since nineteen eighty-five."
Ray could only help but nod in agreeing frustration. The school was always horrible this time of year. The work was piling up, the commitments starting to call in, and sick teachers dropping like flies meant the school was always scrambling to find replacements. Just last week, his whole class had been forced to sit there grimacing as their sub for English Lit, upon learning they were reading To Kill a Mockingbird, had told them all about 'the good ol' days of the south, back before people were too politically correct and sensitive.'
It was stressful at the best times, but at least in previous years, they weren't trying to juggle their Ranger duties on top of it. Now it felt like they were barely treading water.
"Any idea on when they're getting a replacement?" he asked, knowing the answer would not be positive.
To confirm the suspicion, Hilary shook her head. "At this rate, they'll be asking me to teach the class."
"And if that happens" her brother with a grin of sinister glee. "I will definitely be transferring into it."
Hilary stuck out her tongue as the five descended the high school steps into the freedom of the afternoon. At least with so many subs, their homework load was light, but that meant catch-up would only slam them hard when their teachers finally returned. It also meant they were best to make the most of their freedom while they had it.
"So, we gonna head to the warehouse for some training after school?" Jake queried.
"You call it training," Johnny replied with a grin. "I call it floor mopping."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Jake insisted. "You might find that I've been working on some new moves."
"Well, if they're anything like you're last 'New Moves'," Ray chuckled. "Then Johnny might first need to get himself a new mop."
The other four cracked up in laughter, Jake's face dropping into a pout as they exited the grounds and made their way into the city. Maybe, just maybe, they'd enjoy just a single quiet weekend before the next week of chaos arrived.
Mileena stood on the balcony, fully exposed to the wind rustling her hair as she watched the city below. The start of her master's dominion, innocently waiting for them to descend like angels from above. Her hands gripped the railing, feeling the firmness of the metal squeeze against her palms as she adjusted to the sensation. This body she had been granted was strange, the way it… felt things. The cold of the metal to her touch, the tingling of the wind on her neck. The feeling of breath pumping in and out from her rising and falling chest.
The crunch of a Byte-Bot beneath her fist when she'd first tried out her new form.
"Mileena."
She turned to see her master standing at the balcony doors, and on instinct kneeled in his presence.
"My Lord Gideon."
"You may rise," he said. "Come, walk with me."
He gestured inside and Mileena followed as commanded.
"How are you finding your body?" he asked her.
"It feels powerful," she told him. "I am grateful, that you had Kelgar create me. I only wish that I could do what I was created for."
"Yes," Gideon smiled at the sentiment. "I feel I must apologize for my in-action, I know that you are eager to face your enemy. But your predecessor too was eager, and it led to his destruction. And we must be patient. The Rangers feel that they have won a major victory. Making them wait will only lull them into a false sense of security."
"Of course, Master, I have complete faith in your decisions."
"I am pleased to hear it."
Gideon pushed open another set of doors to reveal Kelgar's lab. The reptile was his workstation, hurriedly finishing a strange device. Wires protruded from it at odd angles, all winding to connect to a large, white crystal. Wedged into its fitting, it sat atop the device like a prized jewel, faintly glowing within the darkness of the lab.
"How long until the machine is fully operational?" Gideon asked.
"Not long master," Kelgar assured, "but I will need some more time."
"Whatever time you need, halve it," Gideon warned. "Cannot afford to wait much longer."
"My lord, we do have the Byte-Bots ready," Kelgar replied. "You could begin deploying them, that should distract the Rangers long enough to finish what I need. Besides, wouldn't you want to know that the Rangers are dealt with before the device is unleashed?"
From her position by the door, Mileena watched as Kelgar braced himself as if expending a violent reprimand from his master. But instead, Gideon merely smiled.
"Excellent, suggestion Kelgar," he decided. "They are our guests of honor, after all. It would be a shame for them to miss it.
Kelgar grinned with his large reptilian jaws. "I have already prepared a virus for you, my lord."
"Then I must thank you for taking the initiative."
Then Gideon turned to Mileena.
"Take the forces down to the city, and make sure to cause a scene. You wouldn't want to make a bad first impression on the Rangers, would you?"
Sensing his plan, a sinister smile spread across Mileena's lips.
"Of course not, my lord," she said. "I'll make sure to give an entrance they'll never forget."
As Johnny and Jake headed straight to the warehouse for some early training, Ray, Ben, and Hilary decided to swing by the Shak. Bulk and Skull had been eager to them stories of their times with the old Rangers, and feeling grateful for keeping their secret hidden, the teens had felt obliged to come and listen.
An hour later, having heard a detailed tale of how the pair had met both Lord Zedd and Rita Replusa (in which both insisted the other wasn't there), they exited the Shak to make their way toward Ben's car, none of them really able to recount what the story had been about.
At the very least, Ray guessed Johnny would have had a chance to see these 'moves' that Jake was so proud of, and perhaps offered some pointers for improvement. And that's when the Byte-Bots appeared in front of them.
"Come on, really?" Ben groaned.
"Don't these guys have anything better to do?" Hilary agreed.
But these Byte-Bots didn't lunge at the Ranger as they'd normally do. Instead, they scattered, rushing about the streets and harassing passers-by. People screamed, hurrying to cover and safety as the Byte-Bots set upon them, the street erupting into pandemonium.
Through gritted teeth, Ray snapped his hand to his Morpher. And then he stopped. Even with all the chaos, they couldn't risk morphing, not out exposed in the open like they were. Which meant they do things the old-fashioned way.
He shot a look to Ben and Hilary, both sharing his though as they raised their guard and readied for what was coming. And then they leaped into action.
Ray rushed to the sidewalk, hurrying to where an old lady was battling a foot soldier for her handbag. His feet spring him into the air, launching a flying kick that smashed the robot to the curb.
"Thank you, young man," the woman smiled, straightening herself before shuffling away. "What a nice young boy..."
Ray didn't have time to bask in the gratitude, spinning his attention to the two more Byte-Bots running amuck around the street. One of them had lifted a trashcan, holding it high above their head preparing to hurl it into a window. Checking no one was watching, Ray narrowed his eyes, two thin beams of energy bursting from his gaze and knocking the bin from the air.
"You guys should stick to your day job," Ray taunted before landing a punch into the Bot opposite. "We've already got people to take out the trash." Two more pounced but Ray just rolled under, kicking them as they landed. The robots clattered to the ground, rolling as they struggled to stand. With those problems dealt with, Ray lunged at the next, hoping to push back the tide.
Beside him, Ben had run to the wall. Flipping up his legs to avoid a strike, he bounded off the brickwork and landed behind the bot. The foot-soldier had barely turned before Ben landed a powerful side-kick, cracking it back into the wall. Hilary meanwhile had lured some into an alley, flipping up the lids of trashcans and clanging them against their blows as shields.
She swung them inwards, clanging them against the metal head before seeing some more coming for her. The lids spun from her hands, the first one colliding directly with a Byte-Bot while the second caught another as it ricocheted off the brick. Then she cartwheeled over, landing behind the dumpster as the liquid metal began to sheath her form.
With a mighty kick, the metal box went careening across the alley, crushing the robots in its path.
And yet there just kept coming!
"Um, guys?" Ben called to them.
Ray spun to his friend, immediately looking up to where he was pointing. The whole sky was turning emerald, small beams shooting down all over the city. Ray hurriedly reached for his Morpher, realizing the futility of hoping the waves of Byte-Bots would end.
They wouldn't.
Over at the warehouse, Johnny slammed hard into the mat.
Jake was in hysterics. Having grown bored waiting for the others, the two boys had moved to the mat for Johnny to handily manage Jake's 'New Moves'. But as Johnny stood triumphantly over the pouting Green Ranger, he'd made the time-honored mistake of complaining that training was getting too easy.
To new resident Kyle Mason, that just sounded like an invitation. Jake watched with glee for the next hour as Johnny was tossed around like a rag-doll, flipped over, and sprawled across the ground with every engagement. Jake's favorite may have been watching the Black Ranger floored by his favorite trip attack.
"You know," Jake decided, "you were right. The training was definitely too easy if this is how you're going."
Johnny stood up and wiped the sweat off his brow. Then he raised his hands to form T.
"I'm tapping out," he panted before spinning and pointing to Jake. "He's fresh though."
Jake immediately regretted his words, spinning in the chair in desperate hope for any distraction that would save him from the horror awaiting him on the mat.
"Hey Doc, what have you got there?"
Doc looked up from his desk, raising an eyebrow that immediately told Jake he wasn't buying the sudden interest in his work. "Secret project,"
Now it's Jake's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"I thought we decided there weren't going to be any more secrets?"
"He's being modest," Kyle clarified as he wandered over. "He doesn't want to say anything in case it gets your hopes up."
"Well, now I have to know!"
Doc sighed, shooting an unimpressed glare at Kyle before tapping at some keys. Jake's curiosity quickly turned to surprise as a render of Cyrax manifested on the screen. The armor was standing upright, hands outstretched and turning slowly.
"I've managed to recover the data from the shield unit," Doc explained, pointing to the scorched, crumpled device plugged into his computer. "Right now it's mining everything we managed to grab onto that night."
"The one we used to destroy Cyrax?" Jake asked.
"The one that Ray, Hilary, and I used to capture Cyrax," Johnny corrected, walking toward the desk with a towel around his shoulders.
"Wait," Jake realized, he pointed at the unit in surprise. "So Cyrax is in there?"
"Kind of," Doc explained. "The base code for Cyrax's powers and the Malware that created the personality are both in there, all mixed together. I'm now sorting through to find the corrupted files and separate them before changing back to their original coding."
"Original form?" Johnny repeated. "Wait, what do you mean by that?"
"Cyrax's armor was part of an older program, part of the original Project Digitizer," Kyle explained. "It was the alpha version of what would become your Ranger powers."
"Wait," said Jake. "So does that mean if you pull out the Cyrax parts, Kyle would be able to join us in battle?"
"In theory," Doc agreed. "But I don't yet know if it will actually work. There's still a lot of testing and-"
The rest was drowned in the blaring alarm. Doc's hands snapped to the keyboard as the display shifted to a map of the city, covered in green, flashing dots. And more and more of them were appearing by the second. The programmer's eyes widened, hands flashing across the keys as he desperately tried to confirm it wasn't some glitch. His dropping face was not comforting.
"That's bad," he hissed, "That's really, really bad."
"What's going on?" Jake asked.
"See those dots?" Doc pointed out, controlled panic already seeping into his voice. "Well usually when a group Byte-Bots try to ambush you guys on the street, there's only one of those."
"Oh."
The boys were already reaching for their Morphers as Doc started picking up surveillance of the city.
Then Ray's voice sounded over the com.
"Doc!"
"I know, I know!" came the hurried reply. "I see them."
"They're everywhere!" came Ben's voice. "Where do we even start?"
"They're all over town but it looks like they're converging on the main square," Doc replied, opening a fresh window to show the square's camera feed. But as he did, no one in the warehouse could do anything but gasp, eyes bulging as they realized what suddenly awaited them.
It wasn't just a couple of Byte-Bots hurrying to the central location. It was a whole army of them.
"This is it," Johnny breathed. "This is Gideon's plan."
"He must be using the crystal to up his production capacity" Doc agreed. "Murphy's program must have improved the efficiency as well."
"Ah, Doc?" said Jake. "You might want to take a look at this."
Everyone gathered around the monitor to see where Jake was pointing. A tall, dark-haired woman, wearing armor that was eerily similar to Cyrax's.
"Nothing says 'valued employee' like being replaced the moment your gone," commented Kyle.
"They were probably bitter you didn't give them two weeks' notice," Johnny quipped before leaning into the com. "Ray, we're heading to you."
"Copy that!"
The two boys rushed to the exit, Morphers in hand.
"Ready?
"Ready!"
"Data Squad! Digitize!"
The other three were already morphed and mounted on their Data Cycles as Jake and Johnny caught with them, the five Rangers driving into a V formation as they rocketed to the square.
"All right, Gideon's gathered them nicely together," Ray told them. "So, when you get there give it everything you've got!"
"Got it!"
The bikes ripped into the main square, hitting the air as they opened fire with blasters. The air was consumed with light, the technicolor barrage blasting through the Byte-Bot ranks as the engines roared. Ray's wheels screeched as they hit the concrete before whipping around and barreling through another group of bots. The foot soldiers crumpled one by one, flying in all directions as Ray bulldozed through their ranks, slashing left and right with Modem-Sword in hand. But even as he moved, he could see he was still in trouble.
The numbers of Byte-Bots were too great, and his path was growing narrower and shorter everywhere he turned. He was losing room to maneuver, and soon his jaw dropped in horror as he realized what they were doing. They were guiding him to the center of the square, the perfect place to surround him. And he was running out of ways to avoid them.
Then he saw her, the woman he'd heard Jake and Johnny describe over the com.
"Ray, be careful!" Kyle warned into his helmet's com. "If Gideon was smart, she'll have all my old powers!"
Too late.
The woman locked eyes with him, standing right in the path of his bike in a daring game of chicken. And she wasn't moving she was smiling. The lifted her sword, a long, thick blade of sickly green, and slashed at the charging Ranger. The thin wave of energy seared from the edge, slicing through the air and soaring directly toward him. Trapped in the corridor of Byte-Bots, the Red Ranger had nowhere to go.
"Ray get out of there, now!"
It was him or the bike, and it wasn't a choice at all.
Ray's feet snapped to the saddle, vaulting into the air as the attack collided with his vehicle. Energy sliced through the metal, cleaving neatly in half before detonating. The motorcycle burst apart, wreathing the surrounding Byte-Bots in flame as Ray somersaulted clear ground.
As he turned to face the newcomer, the other Rangers leaped to join him.
"Hey," Ray growled. "I liked that bike."
"Then you should have been more careful," the woman sneered. "You wouldn't want to have an accident, would you?"
Then she pointed her sword directly at them.
"I am Mileena," she declared. "And I will bring about your demise!"
She lunged then without uttering another word.
She got to Jake first, his Modem-Sword barely rising to parry, stumbling backward from the force of the clash as she followed up immediately with another assault.
"What, no trash talk?" Jake asked.
"I like to get right into things."
With a single swipe, the blade flashed across Jake's chest, flinging him backward to be caught by the mob of Byte-Bots behind him.
Then her head whipped around with a smile that made Ray's insides turn cold. Cyrax was always faceless, and Ray always thought that that was what had made him so menacing.
But this woman… she was enjoying it.
"Who's next?" she snarled, setting eyes on Hilary. The yellow Ranger spun, snapping up her sais that blocked the sword and locked them in place. Then the two women leaped back to stare the other down.
"If you wanted a challenge," Hilary snarled back, "You only had to ask."
"Don't get my hopes up."
Hilary's daggers spun at lightning speed, splitting their air as tips glistened to land a strike. But Mileena was just as fast, green blade flashing as it parried blow after blow.
"I'm sorry," she laughed. "You said something about a challenge?"
With a mighty swing, she brought the weapon upwards, smashing through Hilary's guard and throwing back the Ranger's hands. Then she snapped it down, slashing across the yellow suit with a blast of sparks and blasting Hilary to the ground. Then she stepped forward to menacingly bare down on the wounded Ranger.
"Ben!" Ray called out, "Switch with me!"
The Blue Ranger nodded, whipping out his blaster and tossing it just in time to catch the giant red sword that Ray had thrust at him. Snatching up the pistol, Ray snapped his own from the holster and vaulted.
Mileena raised her sword, ready to finish the job as Ray landed in front and opened fire. The laser barrage slammed into her armor, hurling her backward only to be caught by the gang of Byte Bots.
Taking the chance to regroup, the Rangers huddled around Hilary.
"Are you okay?" asked Ray.
"Yeah," she nodded, "a little shaken, but okay."
Johnny meanwhile twirled his staff and pointed it straight at Mileena. "Ready for Round Two?"
Before she could answer, a steak of purple lightning sliced through the air. It struck the ground with a deafening thunderclap, blasting where the Rangers stood as energy burst from the impact and sent them soaring. The five hit the ground, rolling with the suits steaming as the Byte-Bots rushed to surround them. Groaning, Ray rose to his feet, eyes widening as the ranks of Byte-Bots slowly parted and Mileena shifted into a kneel.
At the center of the square stood a man. Clad in black armor, with a cape of deep purple and hair as red as the hottest flames, he stared at Rangers with a pair of glowing green eyes.
Ray's heart froze as he realized who it was that had unleashed such an attack. A man that needed no introduction.
"I thought I would come down to see what this fuss was about," Gideon announced with a devilish grin. "And I can't say I'm particularly impressed."
