Episode 16:
Grounding Day
The bell shrilled through the halls, echoing through the hall as students flooded out like a tidal surge. Eager to reach their lockers, grab their things and leave, some of them were far more pleased than others.
"Yes!" Johnny cheered, strutting from his economics class and pumping his fist by his side, "No homework!"
"Lucky you," Hilary groaned as she appeared behind him with the other Rangers. "Kyle might be an awesome teammate, but he just loves to pile on the workload."
"Bad time too, huh?" asked Ray as he and Ben emerged from Biology.
"Yeah, but at least I don't have Computer Science until Monday," Hilary admitted gleefully. "I can do it on the weekend. What'd you guys get hit with?"
"Hubbard just told us we've got a test on Monday," Ben sulked. "A pop quiz on the difference between meiosis and mitosis."
"So…" Ray suggested. "Study group this weekend?"
"Probably a good idea," Hilary agreed.
Meanwhile, Ben and Johnny were more than willing to put homework out of their minds.
"So given that we've all decided that that's a weekend thing, and not a 'now' thing," Ben suggested. "Time to hit the Shak?"
"Definitely," Johnny replied.
"I'm in," agreed Hilary, "I need a break."
"Great," decided Ray, "Let's see what's holding Jake."
They headed down the hall, reaching the corner between the stairs and the door of Jake's history class. As they arrived, the Green Ranger was shuffling out with a solemn look.
"Huge workload?" asked Johnny.
"I have it tomorrow!" he groaned. "Why give us so much to do when we have it tomorrow?"
"So, I'm guessing you 're probably a 'no' for the Shak then?" Ben realized with a wince. The reply he received was a sharp elbow to the ribs from his sister.
"Yup, I'm out," Jake confirmed, sadly. "Who knows, maybe I can get this paper done quickly and then come meet you. But I don't like my chances. Besides…" He trailed off, frustration at the work mixing in with a fresh annoyance.
"Besides what?" Ray asked.
"Mom and Dad are tightening up," Jake explained. "Apparently they weren't too happy that I only just passed History last semester, so I don't think they'll be singing my praises if I get a detention for not doing my homework."
The Rangers expressed their commiserations to their teammate as they reached the front of the school, preparing to part ways as Jake set off home.
"Well, good luck man," said Ray. "Better stay on your parent's good side. The last thing we need is you getting grounded."
"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," Jake replied. Then he waved them goodbye, walking to his awaiting car and wishing well and truly that his friends weren't having fun without him.
But while the Rangers settled in for a quiet afternoon, high above them the forces of evil were hard at work. The monitors flickered between maps of the city, all the while Kelgar frantically typed away at the terminal. Behind him Gideon loomed, pacing with rising impatience.
"Have you found a power source strong enough yet?" he snarled as once again the screen changed and Kelgar ruled out another location.
"I'm very close, master," Kelgar replied. "I'm just programming the transmitter now. That way when the location is confirmed, we will be ready to strike."
"Excellent," said Gideon. "With this new virus uploaded into the global communication system, the world will be plunged into chaos. With all the resulting disorder, even the mighty Power Rangers will be completely powerless to stop us."
From behind them, Mileena wandered over to the terminal and begin examining the recently proposed location. "The job looks easy enough," she noted. "Get in, install the transmitter, then get out. Nothing to it."
Gideon cast a condescending glare at his minion and smiled. "If only everything you did were as easy as you say."
"Master," Mileena replied. "I can assure you; the Rangers will not defeat us this time. They'll be so preoccupied with our distraction, that they'll have no idea what our true plans are."
"See that it is so," Gideon told her. "There can be no mistakes this time."
"It will be done, my master."
Beside them, a beam of light shot from the nozzle above the console, with a small square device materializing on the floor. As the light faded, Kelgar picked it up and proudly handed it to Mileena.
"The transmitter is finished," he announced, "and the location has been confirmed."
Mileena snatched the device from Kelgar's hands, before pulling down a lever that summoned a horde of Byte-Bots into the room.
"Then let's get started," she announced with a sinister grin. "I'll be back shortly."
She raised her hand, summoning the flash of green light that teleported her down into the city. It was only when she and her forces were gone that Kelgar turned to his master.
"In the off chance that the Rangers do discover what she's up to," he said. "Would you like me to prepare a backup plan?"
Gideon slowly turned, completely stone-faced save for a single raised eyebrow.
"If you wouldn't mind…"
"JAKE! TURN THAT MUSIC DOWN!"
"Okay, Dad!" Jake called down the hall reaching for the volume knob, miming the turn of the dial with a roll of his eyes before going back to the comic book in his hands, "I will..."
It was good to relax. Ratched's homework was done and dusted, and all his chores were finished too. It was almost worth heading down the Shak to meet with his friends, although he realized that with closing time around the corner, he'd just be turning around just as he arrived. But it did leave him with all the time in the world to unwind with some light reading.
Ultimate Spider-Man, Issue #21; classic. Poor old Peter Parker, never catching a break.
But his calm serenity was broken as his father burst through the bedroom door.
"FOR GOD'S SAKE TURN THAT DOWN!" he yelled, "I CAN HEAR THAT OUT IN THE STREET!"
"WHAT?" Jake replied, feigning deafness while pointing to his ear. But while Jake tried to mouth 'sorry, I can't hear you,' his father wandered over to the stereo and cut the music.
"Never mind," he replied with a cheeky grin, "Doesn't matter now."
Jake shot his father a sarcastic smile and flipped over to the next page.
"Also coming up to let you know that dinners in ten," his dad explained. "Now, try to not give yourself a hearing aid before I get one."
Jake rolled his eyes as his father then headed down the stairs, just in time for his Morpher to beep.
Good thing he was all finished. Curling up from his bed, Jake crept to his bedroom door to shut it completely before reaching his bedside table and opening the com line.
"Jake here."
"We're all here too," Came Ray's voice across the line.
"Hey guys," said Doc's explained, "Looks like there's a little Byte-Bot activity at the power plant downtown. Kyle's already en route."
"On our way," Ray confirmed.
"Me too," Jake added. "Be there soon."
Closing the line, he reefed his jacket from the cupboard before thundering down the stairs. From the kitchen, both parents stared up at him, shocked that he was suddenly dressed to go out.
"The guys are meeting up at the park," he told them, "I got all my chores and homework done so I'm going to go meet them.
"But dinner's nearly ready," his mom protested. "I made drunken chicken."
"Is it okay if I have it when I get back?" Jake offered. "I was hoping to hang out this afternoon before I got slammed with this history paper."
His mother's eyes narrowed as if for a moment she was considering stopping him. A brief moment of panic seized him, wondering how on earth he'd be able to explain where he was going without explaining where he was going. Then, a moment later, she released an exasperated sigh and relaxed.
"All right," she relented. "Just make sure that you're home before curfew."
Jake was already out the door before calling back a hurried "Thank you!".
As the door slammed behind him, he raced out the gate and into a back alley close by. Then, looking around to make sure no one was watching, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his Morpher.
"Data Squad! Digitize!"
The light consumed him, shining from the Morpher's screen as his green suit materialized and wrapped around his limbs. Then, as the light began to fade, he held out the device strapped to his wrist.
"Data Cycle!"
Another burst of light, and this time the bright green motorcycle appeared in before of him. It was a school night, so he was on the clock. Speed was definitely required. Climbing into the saddle, he took one last check that no one was watching before slamming the throttle and rocketing down the road downtown.
The others had the same idea; the four other colored motorcycles and Kyle's ATV joined into a V-shaped convoy on the highway as they thundered toward the power plant. The gate smashed as they soared through, with Byte-Bots dead ahead. The bikes hit the air, the Rangers opening fire as the rounds exploded around the foot soldiers' feet, blasting them back as the vehicles skidded to a stop and Rangers dismounted.
As the Byte-Bots regrouped, the team stepped forward, unified and ready to combat the latest threat.
"Okay, guys," Ray told them. "It's nice and simple. We just have to stop Mileena from doing whatever it is she's doing."
"Right!" Nodded the other four.
"Ah, guys?" Kyle warned, deactivating the zoom function on his visor, "We've got a problem."
So much for nice and simple.
"Kyle's right," Doc warned them through the coms, "It looks like Mileena's decided to take the workers hostage, instead of just scaring them off. You guys need to be careful."
At the center, Ray paused in contemplation before turning to the others.
"All right," he decided, "We're split up. Hilary and Ben, you're with me, we're going to look like we're trying to fight our way inside, maybe even draw some of them out. The rest of you guys make for the hostages while the rest are distracted and then stop whatever it is Mileena's up to."
The others nodded, and the Red, Blue, and Yellow Rangers charged forwards. Ben leaped high, winding up his hammer to crack it down into the center of the Byte-Bot horde. The blow blasted out a shockwave, scattering their formed ranks as Ray and Hilary reached in to engage. Knocked back and off balance, the Byte-Bots were hapless prey as the three Rangers carved through the ranks, knocking the robots left, right, and center before they could recoup and retaliate.
But they weren't out of the woods yet; no sooner had the trio cleared the first wave than more Byte-Bots began surging out of the plant.
Just as Ray had planned.
Having begun to creep around, Johnny nodded to the two Rangers beside him, signaling for the three of them to stealthy slunk toward the backdoor. It was already getting dark, and with the new moon, there were plenty of shadows to cover their approach. They reached the backdoor, and after Kyle found it unlocked, the three of them slipped inside.
Somehow Mileena had found a building even creepier than the warehouse where they'd gained their powers. Cold and still, with the conveyor belts and machines standing lifeless in the darkness.
"Over there!" Johnny pointed in a hushed whisper.
Up ahead in the open space, Jake spied the collection of people. They were all sitting on the ground, huddled together with their hands tied behind their back. And barely four Byte-Bots lingering to guard them.
Nodding to the others, Jake whipped out his Modem Blaster, Johnny doing the same as Kyle draw his twin pistols. Then, carefully aiming, they each fired a single shot into the Byte-Bots. The guards dropped to the ground in a shower of sparks, the single volley of rounds echoing into the night.
The hostages gasped as the Rangers rushed towards them, immediately kneeling to untie them.
"It's okay," Johnny said calmly. "We're here to rescue you. Make for the backdoor when you've been untied."
But the victory was rewarded only with the sound of sarcastic applause.
"Well, well, well," laughed a voice behind them. "What do we have here?"
As the hostages hurriedly untied each other, the three Rangers spun around, putting themselves between the rescued in the newly appearing threat. Mileena; stepped out of the shadows with her usual smirk and posse of Byte-Bots behind her.
"Don't mind us," Jake replied, "Just taking a leisurely, evening stroll. Nothing special."
"Really?" smiled Mileena, "Because I've been meaning to get some leisure myself. Byte-Bots, attack!"
The robots charged as the Rangers lunged in to meet them, their line moving wide to keep the hostages safe from hard. Taking the far flank, Kyle's sword hummed to life, the warrior leaping over the horde to engage Mileena while Johnny swept into the middle with his staff. With the others engaged Jake rushed up the other side, modem blade poised and at the ready.
The first two went down easy, dropping as the sword sheared against their armor and hurled backward. But in his haste, Jake had neglected his balance, overcommitting without giving himself time to reposition. When the next one struck, he had no time to twist and block, taking a painful kick to the side that sent him flying off his feet. He spun, landing low and swinging the blade to block the follow-up strike before arcing the sword around and smacking the next one backward.
A little less graceful than he'd hoped, but he'd managed.
Another was coming, forcing him to duck and roll before flipping the blade into blaster mode and aiming. As the Byte-Bot turned, Jake opened fire, the laser shot ripping through the center of its armor and toppling backward with a scorching hole in his chest.
It really was a good shot.
But taking the time to admire it was a big mistake. The brief distraction was the only thing a Byte-Bot needed to rush straight forward and tackle Jake to the floor. He hit the ground with a painful thud, immediately jumping upwards to crack his heel into the Byte-Bot's head.
It was only then that he saw where he'd landed, right beside the Power Plant's center console. And plugged into it was a strange silver box, covered in wires.
"Well, this looks out of place," Jake decided, grabbing the Byte-bot by the scruff and hurling it deep into the Power Plant. He made a quick check around. The hostages were gone, Kyle was still occupying Mileena and Johnny was on the other side, still handling his group of Byte-Bots. But then he heard a whirring; his own group of Byte-Bots was back for more.
"Well guys," he decided, "It's been a blast." He leaped into the air, somersaulting high as the lunging Byte-Bots rushed beneath him. Soaring over them, Jake leveled his pistol, barrel swinging around to level at the device. Green streaks of energy burst from the blaster as he squeezed the trigger, searing toward that console before colliding with their target.
As he landed, the device exploded, booming into scorching flames that consumed the Byte-Bots in all directions. As his feet hit the floor, all that was left of the device were parts, ashes, and a pair of smoking legs. Pleased with his handiwork, Jake gave the pistol a twirl as he flipped it back into the holster.
"No!" screamed Mileena, kicking Kyle backward to lunge at the Green Ranger. "You will suffer a thousand agonies for what you've just done!"
"HELP!"
All heads whipped around to the sound of the screaming voice.
Jake had been wrong, not all hostages had escaped. One man, still dressed in a high-vis vest and hard hat was cowering in the corner as the Byte-Bots gathered around. Beside him was a support beam, and Jake's eyes widened as he saw the giant crack stretching across it.
A giant crack that was growing with every crunch.
Mileena smiled "Maybe you will get your just deserts after all."
She slashed out, catching Jake off guard before her sword began to glow. The long blade of energy seared out from her weapon, shooting across the room, and colliding with the support beam, cleanly slicing through the steel before exploding on the other side. Dust burst from the fissure, the sound of crumbling rock and groaning metal filling the room.
The roof! It was going to collapse any second!
Jake lunged forward, swinging his Modem Blade to knock back the Byte-Bots as he reached the worker.
"You, okay?" he asked, hand shooting down to help the man to his feet.
The man nodded, but it was far too late. Up above they heard a boom, a crash beside as rocks and rubble began soaring from above. Jake didn't even think, grabbing the worker and hurling from harm.
"Get down!"
The man was tossed across the room, tumbling a heap feet away as his eyes shot back at Jake. Then, barely a heartbeat later, the roof collapsed on top of him.
Blackness.
It swirled all around him, his head spinning, pounding. Up and down, all the same, moving in all directions. His ears were ringing, a sharpening pitch growing shriller with every passing heartbeat. But then it faded, stifled in an instant as the darkness shifted to bright and a muffled sound morphed into clarity.
"…going to be okay?"
Ray!
"Should be," Doc replied, "His Ranger suit took most of the impact, so it doesn't look like he has any major injuries. I'll need to check him for a concussion when he wakes though."
"He's going to wake up, right?" he heard Hilary ask.
As if to answer her question, Jake's eyes slowly fluttered open. The light above seared downwards, flashing directly at his vision and causing him to squint away. Slowly, he stood, only for Ray to race to his side and place a guiding hand on his shoulder.
"Slow, dude," he suggested. "Take your time."
Just as well, his balance gave away almost immediately, causing him to lean on Ray's wrist for support as his weight settled for sitting. Trying his eyes in the light again, he saw that the whole team was gathered around the makeshift bed that Doc had fashioned from a set of tables.
"H…" he asked slowly, brain still steering through the fog, "how did I get here?"
"You had a roof fall on you," Ben explained in a vain attempt to be helpful. It made him smile, albeit weakly.
"I remember that much."
"They dug out of the rubble the second the dust settled," said Doc. "You've got to give credit to your suit, you hadn't even demorphed."
"Doc's recent upgrades really paid off," Hilary agreed. "We brought you straight here, you were out cold."
Jake nodded slowly. The rest was starting to come back to him, and his eyes widened with a jolt.
"Mileena!" he realized. "The workers!"
"Breathe," Ray said calmly.
"They all got out," Johnny confirmed. "They're safe."
"And Mileena turned tail and ran the second she dropped the ceiling on you," Kyle added.
Again, Jake nodded. At the very least the people were safe; some good news at least. He slowly guided his legs to sit on the edge of the bed, feeling his body groan in protest.
"Give it to me straight," he said to the others. "How do I look?"
"Pretty ugly," Ben replied without missing a beat, with a hint of a grin. "But I don't think that's the roof's fault."
Hilary rolled her eyes beside him.
"No, bruises," she clarified. "You're lucky."
Jake nodded, contemplatively. They all hated coming up with reasons for their unexplained bruising, but usually Jake could pass the off as a side effect of football training. But showing up home with more bruises than he'd left with when he was only supposed to be meeting friends could be too suspicious. One more bullet dodged.
Over from his computer, Doc looked back up from the monitor.
"It looks like your vitals are fine," he concluded, "I just need to check you for concussion."
"Jake Cheng," Jake replied impatiently. "Age seventeen, Nineteen Ninety-Three Scott Street, Cranston City, Barack Obama." The others looked at him confused, but the Green Ranger merely shrugged. "Took a couple of blows on the field, I know what they ask for."
Doc, however, wasn't convinced, holding up his finger for Jake to track. "Look here," he instructed, with a look so pointed that Jake didn't dare give another quip. "Okay now here. And here."
At last, he looked down at his finger.
"You're looking okay," Doc conceded, "But you need to take it easy for a little while, got it?"
Jake nodded while the rest of the Rangers returned their attention to the previous events, now relieved at the news their teammate was going to be all right.
"What were they even doing at the plant anyway?" Hilary asked.
Doc shrugged. "I've got no idea. I'm going over the footage from Jake's helmet cam, but I've got no idea what that device was for. I'm running an analysis now, so hopefully, that turns up something."
"Well in the meantime, let's just hope they don't try again." Ray decided.
But it was as Ray said it, Jake was hit by another panicking thought. He snapped his wrist, eyes darting to the watch only to be met with still hands and a cracked screen. He looked over at Ben, desperately.
"Time!" he said quickly. "What's the time?"
Ben looked away in sheepish guilt. "It's eleven-thirty."
"Eleven-Thirty!" Jake cried, "Mom and Dad are going to kill me! I need to get home, now!"
"Easy there, Speed Racer," Doc warned. "You just got knocked out, you should not be morphing and riding your Data Cycle in your condition."
"I'll drive you," Ben offered. "Come on, we'll go now."
It wasn't far, but as Ben roared down the road, the drive felt like an eternity.
Maybe he could creep in? Or climb up the drainpipe and pretend he'd been home for hours? Maybe they were already asleep, and could just tell them they didn't notice him come in…
But for every chance he thought of, he knew the true futility behind them. Ben quietly crawled the final meters around the curb, lights off in hopes of keeping the profile low, and as Jake climbed out and began his approach to the front doors, he knew the truth.
He was a dead man walking.
Harrison and Julie Cheng were both reasonable people. They had encouraged all of their son's involvement with sports, as well as taking opportunities for him to socialize outside of the typical jocks club that came with it.
Which meant Jake knew he had no hope in hell when he stepped into the house a full hour and a half after curfew. Two sets of eyes glared witheringly as he stepped closed the door behind him and backed up against it.
"Hi…guys…?" tried Jake as he walked through the door.
"Don't 'hi' us!" snarled his mother, "Where were you?"
"I was with the others and I kind of lost track of time," Jake replied weakly, knowing full well they weren't going to buy it.
"And you couldn't call?" his dad responded. "Did your phone suddenly break?"
"Look I'm sorry," Jake insisted. "But it was just one time."
"But it's not just 'one time', Jake," said his mother. "You're always out late, more and more. Half the time we don't even know where you are!
"And don't think we don't that you barely passed your history class last semester," his father added.
Jake felt like he was shrinking with every passing second, feeling the room rise around him as he wanted to disappear into the corner. At least, their anger seemed to be venting, hissing out with every syllable to allow rationality to return. With an angry sigh, his mother placed her fingers on her forehead.
"This is our fault," she decided. "We've been too relaxed."
"We should have set clearer boundaries," his father agreed. "To help keep you on the right path."
Oh no, he could see where this was going.
No, no, no, no!
He could practically hear the words before they even lift his parents' lips. "You're grounded," his mother said flatly.
"That's right," his father agreed. "From now on, you go to school, you come home from school. That's it, no movies, no friends, nothing."
For the second time that night, Jake was spinning. A prisoner in his own house. Losing time with his friends was one thing, but he knew full well the far bigger problem facing him. If he couldn't leave the house, then he was all but useless to the team.
"Mom," he tried to protest, "Dad-"
"Save it," his dad cut in. "Our minds are made up."
"You might not like it, Jake," said his mother. "But this is for your own good."
So, there was nothing he could do. He was stuck on the bench. And there was no way to convince them otherwise.
"I'll be in my room," he said, storming up the stairs before they could say another word. Before they could demand he stay and be chewed out further. Slamming the door behind him, he threw himself onto the bed, opening the communication line and preparing for the very difficult conversation he was about to have with Doc.
