Episode 19:

A Friend in Need

"…and Hawkins runs behind Granger for a sneak attack!"

Ben's feet skidded on the concrete, the ball bouncing from one hand to the next as he spun through Ray's defense to dart into the key. With the Red Ranger well and truly in the dust, he braced and flicked up the ball, grinning at the satisfying swish of the net. "He shoots, he scores! Another flawless victory"

From the top of the three-point zone, Ray shook his head. "Come on, I'm not that easy to beat."

Ben could only look at him, ball braced against his waist as he reveled in his victory with a cheeky grin. "Yeah, you are," he grinned. "I mean, Kyle might still be better than me by a long shot, but I've never lost twenty-six- to nothing. I mean, that's just embarrassing."

Ray raised an eyebrow in a half-serious lack of amusement. "You know, you're a really bad winner," he pointed out.

"Maybe," Ben conceded. "Or maybe you should tell that to all the robot butt I've kicked."

"I mean, I would, really," Ray chuckled. "But they're already so busy having their defeat rubbed in their faces. Honestly, I think I feel sorry for them, having to listen to you."

Hearing the rising challenge, Ben lifted the ball and offered it to his friend. "Oh, it's that bad huh?"

"Oh, it's that bad."

"Well then," Ben decided. "Let's see how bad it is after this!"

He shot to the edge of the court, hollow rubber bouncing against the cement as he spun around to approach. Ray's eyes were fixed on him, hanging back just enough to react to Ben's direction.

But not far enough.

Ben took a feint, darting to the side before snapping around and making the break. Ray saw it too late, the Blue Ranger rushing past him and laying up into the hoop. The ball hit the board, flopping into the net for another successful point.

"And that's game," he declared proudly.

"Aw, come on," Ray complained, "you didn't even give me a chance."

"All right then," said Ben as he passed him the ball. "Come on Red Ranger, show me what you got."

Ray slowly dribbled to the halfway line, this time keeping his distance as he watched the opponent for movement. Ben gave him nothing, hanging back near the center as he waited for Ray to engage. The secret to Ben's success; waiting.

Ray pushed in hard, but Ben let him, waiting for Red Ranger to get close enough to shoot. Surprised at the lack of resistance, Ray skidded to a halt before the free-throw line. Then, just as his legs bent to take the shot, Ben chose his moment to strike. As the ball soared from Ray's hand, Ben spiked downwards, slapping it from the air and away from the center.

With Ray off guard, Ben darted to scoop it up, running to the line back again before pausing at the inner crescent. Without the pressure of Ray's stumbling defense, Ben took the chance to line up the shot and let fly. The orange ball tumbled, almost gliding as it hit the backboard and ricocheted through the hoop. A near textbook three-pointer.

"And that's game."

"Fine, fine," Ray conceded, already bent over to catch his breath, "I suck."

As his best friend recovered, Ben slowly sauntered over with an air of almost mocking concern. "You know," he decided, "you'd think someone who can take down a whole swarm of Byte-Bots would have faster reflexes at basketball."

"I mean, if you want to go by that measure," Ray chuckled miming so loose punches, "we could easily go a couple of rounds right now."

"Hide from your bad B-ball skills, all you want," Ben replied before adding with a cheeky grin, "I just hope your moves with my sister aren't as bad as your moves on the court."

"Dude, low blow."

The pair of them laughed, wandering over to where they'd left their water bottles and eagerly guzzling down a drink. At last, Ben turned to Ray with an earnest smile. "This is good. It feels like ages since we've hung out like this."

"What do mean?" Ray replied. "We hang out all the time."

"Yeah, but it's always with the others," Ben clarified. "What I mean is that it's been a long time since it was just you and me. You know, like old times."

Ray knocked back another gulp and nodded, perspiration dripping from his forehead. "Yeah, I get it," he agreed. "Everything's just been so crazy lately. With all these monster attacks and schoolwork. Once I fit in rehearsals with the band, I'm surprised we've got any spare time at all."

But to Ben, it was more than that. Ray was right, things were getting busy, but as time went on, it felt like they were seeing each other less and less. When they were kids the duo were inseparable, two peas in a pod that spent every possible waking hour together. But now, especially since Johnny joined the band, sometimes it felt like Ray barely remembered him at all.

Were it not for the time they spent as Rangers, Ben wondered whether they would even hang out at all. He supposed he should enjoy it while it lasted. Come summer's end, Cranston was going to very lonely place…

But as Ben stood there and reminisced about simpler times, he saw two figures over Ray's shoulder, wandering up the hill. A few moments later, Jake and Johnny stepped onto the court to greet them.

"Hey guys," said Johnny, "Who's winning?"

"You need to ask?" Jake scoffed with a knowing nod to Ben.

Ray raised his hands, seeming offended that there was no consideration for his prowess. "Wow," he decided, "good to see you guys have so much faith in me."

"It's what we do," laughed Ben, striding to the two to give Jake a high-five.

But Ray wasn't having any of it. "All right, I see how it," he glared as he scooped up the ball. "Looks like I'm just going to have to wipe those smirks off; Johnny, you're with me."

He moved to the center court, Jake and Johnny eagerly following. Ben, however, paused.

"I mean if you want to win this thing," he offered, "Why don't I go on your team? Make it more even."

"It would," Ray conceded. "But I can't exactly put you in your place if you're not on the opposite team."

With that, he darted around Jake, snapping past the Green Ranger's defense, before passing to Johnny. The Black Ranger wasted no time stealing the ball, snagging the shot before Ben could even make it to the court.

That's it, Ben thought as he watched Ray and Johnny celebrate the half-decent play, it is so on.


Over at the warehouse, Hilary and Doc were hard at work, punching away at the terminals as Kyle stepped in with a tray of coffee in hand.

"Can you simulate the energy fluctuations?" Doc asked.

"Already done," Hilary confirmed. "We need to shift three percent to the arms if want to avoid overload risk."

"And the blasters?"

"Should work if we cut back power outflow by fifteen percent, then they should be able to fire without much charge-up time."

Doc nodded and returned to punching away at the keyboard.

"Hi Kyle," Kyle announced, now standing before the two completely engrossed brains. "How are you?' How was your walk? Thanks for bringing me the sweet nectar of life that stops me from falling asleep in my chair after an all-nighter."

"Sorry," Hilary said bashfully, "it's just we're so close to finishing."

"I'll say," Kyle agreed. "If I'd known you'd still be here when I got back, I'd have brought you a coffee too."

"Aaaand done!" Doc proclaimed behind them. "Now we just need to run a final simulation and begin the new upload."

He took the coffee from Kyle's and immediately knocked back a gulp. Then he turned to Hilary. "It will take a while before we can do the final check. Probably not much for you to do while it's loading."

"That's okay, I've got a math final to study for," Hilary replied, reaching below the desk to sling her bag over her shoulder. "Let me know if there are any calculations you want me to check." Then she shot a cheeky grin at Kyle with a cheeky grin. "And I'm glad you enjoyed your walk."

Then she strode out of the warehouse, leaving the two men alone.

"Got yourself an assistant," Kyle said amusedly.

"Tell me about it," Benson conceded. "She's been a lifesaver. I have no idea how we'd have got these Megazord upgrades online in time. Give her long enough and she'll be telling me how to run my own equipment."

Kyle nodded as he took a sip of his coffee. He knew what Benson meant; the last virus they'd fought had nearly toasted the Megazords; the mecha had taken almost twice as long to reboot afterward. Anything stronger than that, and they could well be in a world of trouble.

"You really think the new configuration will give us an edge?" he asked.

"It had better," said Benson. "Because if Gideon's planning on hitting us with anything bigger, I just don't see how we're going to manage."

"Yeah…" said Kyle, seeing his chance to broach the subject he'd been pondering. "About that…"

He reached into his pocket and produced a folded piece of paper; a printout of the news article, with an unnervingly familiar face. Just like what Johnny had seen at the Cranston Tribune, the picture showed the blurred, black-and-white figure of Kelgar.

"Our boy's been spotted again," he confirmed.

Benson's eyes widened as he picked it up and scanned the article. "Where'd you get this?"

"The Grove Herald," Kyle explained. "The story was on the website, printed yesterday morning. I started scanning some of the small local papers after Johnny mentioned Reefside."

Doc's eyes narrowed in contemplation as he stared at his computer screen. "What would Kelgar be doing in Angel Grove?"

"No idea," Kyle conceded. "But I doubt that he's scouting holiday destinations."

Doc nodded before his eyes suddenly widened. "What gave you the hunch to look at Angel Grove?" he asked.

"I don't know," Kyle shrugged. "I know there'd been Power Rangers in Reefside before, figured it wouldn't be the worst idea to keep an eye on other places where they'd been. Blue Bay Harbor, Turtle Cove, Silver Hills…"

But Doc was no longer listening, frantically tapping away at his keyboard as windows flashed open on the screen.

"What are you doing now?" Kyle asked, coming around to look over his shoulder.

"Nothing about what Gideon's been doing the last few weeks makes any sense," Doc replied. "They attack Hilary and Ben's house, don't do any damage but download Ranger history from the computer. Then attack the Museum of Modern Science only an hour later, but don't take anything. Then Kelgar shows up first in Reefside, and now Angel Grove? All the while attacking us, running away, and then giving the Rangers a monster they can take down easily?

"I don't know if I'd call that Jellyfish easy…" Kyle noted, although in truth he could see Benson's point. Mileena was running away far too quickly, and they had managed Tentakill relatively easily before he got big. The challenge it had posed to the Megazords could well have been a fluke.

"Something's up," Doc decided, at last leaning back having found what he was looking for.

"Any idea what?" Kyle asked.

"The museum's currently showcasing an alien sword," Doc noted. "The exhibition only opened yesterday, but the item itself arrived two weeks ago."

"Right when Mileena attacked it," Kyle realized.

"Exactly. I just ran an image of the sword through the Ranger archives and got a hit. Check it out."

He turned the screen on the swivel to give Kyle a clear view. Before him was a humanoid robot, black armor crisscrossed in electric green lines that intersected with mathematical precision. It stared back at him through the screen with unnerving, sinister red eyes. Beneath the image, Kyle looked at the name: ECLIPTOR.

"Ecliptor?" asked Kyle. "As in Right-Hand to Astronema, Ecliptor? As in nearly helped conquer the galaxy, Ecliptor? Please tell me we managed to stop Mileena from getting her hands on that sword."

Doc sighed and shrugged.

"See that's the weird part," he insisted. "The fight outside could have just been a smokescreen to make sure that you and the Rangers wouldn't stop the robbery. But while there were police reports that noted signs of a break-in, nothing was taken. The sword's crate had been forced open, but the sword was still there. They entered, found it, and then left it behind."

Kyle paused to ponder. That was odd, especially for someone as driven to victory as Mileena. "So why break in?"

"I have no idea," Doc admitted. "But I just checked the other locations in the database and look what came up. Turns out there's a similar exhibition at the Angel Grove Museum, among other things in there."

The screen changed, and suddenly two other creatures appeared, each with their names underneath: FURIO. GOLDAR.

Kyle's eyes widened as he recognized the names from the archive before staring at Doc in horror.

"What could Gideon possibly be up to?"


"And that's game!"

The ball soared through the air, launched from Ray's grasp after Johnny's keen pass. It bounced off the hoop, popping upwards before descending to swish through the net. A win well earned, and after half an hour of play, the four were thoroughly exhausted. Ben and Jake had put up a good fight, but the two were no match for Ray and Johnny's teamwork.

"Fine," groaned Ben, "We were wrong. We should have had faith in you."

"Damn straight," Ray grinned. "You guys have just got to get a better team game."

Ben's narrowed as he watched Johnny and his best friend high-five in celebration. Sure, Ray could do loads better with Johnny. His knuckles whitened as the water bottle contorted in his squeezing hand. Smug jerk.

But before he could dwell any further, the whole court was surrounded by a flash of emerald light. The boys snapped up, arms raised in guard as Byte-Bots encircled them, sealing all avenues of escape and looming menacingly. As the boys pushed close together, forming a line of defense, they watched as the crowd parted and Mileena stepped forward.

Great, Ben grumbled silently, because that was going to lighten his mood.

"Aww, how cute," mocked Mileena, "The boys playing are playing their little ball game."

"What's the matter?" Jake taunted, "Mad we didn't ask you to play?"

"Would you believe I'm just here because I'm bored?" she laughed back, "And I have a different plan for wiping the court with you. Byte-Bots, attack!"

The Byte-Bots charged in as the boys scattered, determined to shrink the numbers and even the odds. From where he was standing, Ben made for the basketball hoop, feet kicking to plant his shoes on the pole and pull him up. Spinning on the spot, the first charging bot slammed into the pole, helmet clanging against the metal as Ben swung back his heel and cracked it into the head.

With the others rushing around their stumbling comrade, he snapped his hands to the pole and flipped around, spinning on an axle to sweep his feet into the next two footsoldiers. They clambered to the ground, but already their comrades were rushing to support them. Time to reposition.

Bracing against the post, Ben leaped upwards, hands grasping the hoop to swing out, deeper onto the court. He kicked hard as he soared, smashing a bot in the face before stepping across the shoulder of two more. Then he flipped, landing on the ground with perfect timing to up his arms and block. A pair of punches glanced off his arm as Ben pirouetted and sent the remaining Byte-Bots barreling backward.

Beside him, the numbers were starting to thin. Ray had jumped to kick the first two away, foot stamping down and landing on the Byte-Bots shoulder. His head snapped around, watching two on either-side charge straight for him. Thinking fast, he leaped off the shoulders that were bracing him, launching the Byte-Bot into the charging path. Then, as the three collided, Ray unleashed a barrage of lasers from his eyes, turning them to ash.

Ben had to admit; it was impressive. Easy to forget that on his own Ray was such a clutz on the basketball court.

Then he caught movement; too late!

A Byte-Bot had taken to the air, using Ben's distraction to close in for the strike. Too close to dodge, too fast to turn and block. But as Ben braced for blow, a blur of black rushed past him. It burst into the air, whooshing past the Byte-Bot and smacking it to the ground. As the robot clattered against the concrete, twitching as it impacted with the concrete, Ben ground his teeth.

Johnny.

"I had that!" he insisted as the Black Ranger skidded beside him.

"I know," Johnny grinned, "the shot was just too good to miss. Behind you!"

Johnny shot past him, vanishing in another blur to speed around the Byte-Bots. Herding them in a circle, sparks flew from their bodies as he peppered them with a million blows that left them nothing but a pile of parts.

Whatever.

Better check on Jake.

But as Ben ran from the court to where his friend was fighting, he saw that the Green Ranger was managing just fine on his own. Someone had clearly been putting their training with Kyle and Johnny to good use.

Jake spun on the high ground, leading his group up the hill before dropping. The Byte-Bots punch soared harmlessly overhead as Jake rolled into a cartwheel and kicked his pursuers in the face. Keeping his momentum, he swept around his leg, tripping the Byte-Bots over to send them sprawling down the hill. Then with a grin, Jake looked down at the rest of the Byte-Bots rushing up the slope to meet him.

"Sorry, guys," he laughed. "I knew you'd fall for it."

He slammed out his hand, unleashing a wave of force that barreled into the henchmen and blasted them into the air. Pleased, he dusted his hands as Ben ran over to him.

"Fall for it?" Ben noted with a raised eyebrow.

"All right fine, the quips need some work."

"Work on this!"

Mileena leaped into the air, slicing out a blade of energy from her sword. The boys dived as the strike exploded where they'd stood, the blast sending them flying before they hit the ground and tumbled down the hill.

The boys groaned as they climbed to their feet and Ray and Johnny rushed to their sides.

"Well look at that," Mileena laughed. "It seems that now I have the high ground.".

"Not in any moral sense," Johnny growled before turning to the others. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm a little sick of playing games."

"Time to get serious," Ray agreed, holding up his Morpher, "Ready?"

"Ready!"

"Data Squad! Digitize!"

The technicolor glow filled the air, consuming the four boys as the Ranger suits snapped to their bodies. The power enveloped them, surging through limbs as the visors locked in place, and by the time the light from their Morphers faded, the four Rangers were already in the action, weapons in hand.

Hammer at the ready, Ben charged straight for the hill, eyes fixed on the slope.

"Jake!" he called out, snatching the Modem Blaster from his waist. "Catch!"

He tossed it back, not even looking to see if the Green Ranger had caught it as he and the Byte-Bots collided. With both hands on the haft, Ben swung wide and brought the hammer down to unleash the powerful shockwave. It rippled through the ranks, flinging the footsoldiers up into the air and over Ben's head. Perfect targets for Jake.

Having grabbed the second pistol, the Green Ranger ran below the flying Byte-Bots picking them off one by one as they crashed to the ground as smoldering wrecks.

Not a bad plan, if Ben said so himself. But he quickly realized that the others hadn't even been paying attention.

Ray and Johnny were back-to-back, slowly being pressed in by the Byte-Bots that had rushed around the flank. But the duo didn't seem bothered one bit. Johnny swung low, using the reach of the staff to keep the Byte-Bots at bay, while Ray effortlessly leaped over to strike, backflipping into the cleared space with his Power Sword to keep up the pressure.

They didn't even have to say anything. Just as it had been on the court, the two were in perfect sync.

Johnny flung out the staff, cracking the center into the Byte-Bots face before dropping down to his foot. He punched, flurrying into the Byte-Bots chest before kicking the staff back into his hands and planting it into the ground. Working as a fulcrum, he flung himself into the air, flipping over an attack as Ray grabbed to vertical staff and swung himself into a powerful strike at the horde.

"Ray!" Johnny called as he landed, "Catch!"

He kicked up the planted end of the staff, the Red Ranger grabbing the end and moving in the same direction as Johnny. With the bar between them, they ducked and weaved, swinging it beneath the Byte-Bots legs and tripping them from beneath.

"Ready to finish this?" Ray asked.

"Yeah!"

Johnny heaved, flinging up the end of the staff to reef Ray into the air. Ray switched to his Modem Blaster, Johnny spinning to do the same as the pair opened fire on the remaining Byte-Bots.

With the last of the Byte-Bots limping to their general, the boys regrouped and brandished their weapons at Mileena.

"Well," Mileena pouted, with a tone that seemed more mocking than fearful. "I can see when I'm no longer wanted."

"If that were true," Johnny replied, "then you wouldn't show up at all."

"In your dreams."

Then she and Byte-Bots vanished in their usual emerald light, leaving the four alone on the grassy hill. Quickly looking around for any watching civilians, they all reached for the Morphers at their wrists. Powering down and returning to their regular clothes while staring in dumbfounded confusion.

"All right," said Jake. "Does anyone want to tell me what that was about?"

"It's like she's just showing up for kicks," Johnny considered. "First Hilary, then me. Now she jumps all four of us and still doesn't seem to care when we take down her robots."

"It's definitely weird," Ben agreed. "Let's get to the warehouse, maybe Doc's got an idea."

He turned to leave, assuming that others would follow. But instead, Johnny simply shook his head. "Heading back to the warehouse just means we've got to run back to the city if Mileena attacks there next. She's clearly up to something, and for all we know she's getting us to chase our tails while getting ready to hit somewhere we can't get to. We don't need to go to the warehouse to let Doc know; I say we'll call it in and see what he makes of it, then stay on our guard."

Ben stood there, trying to put together what Johnny was suggesting.

"So that's your plan?" he scoffed, taking a step back toward the Black Ranger. "Do nothing?"

"If you want to put it that way," Johnny replied, "Then yeah."

Both boys glared at each other, neither refusing to budge. Beside them, Jake leaned over to Ray.

"Ah, dude?" ask suggested, "shouldn't you put a stop to this?"

Ray nodded. "Guys, that's enough!" he said sharply. "Ben, you're right to be worried, but I think Johnny's got a good point. We need to be ready if there's another attack."

Ben's head whipped around in further disbelief. All Johnny wanted them to do was twiddle their thumbs in waiting. And Ray was taking his side?

Could he even hear himself?

For a moment he considered arguing, listing all the reasons they needed to regroup rather than just hand hang tight. But he could see already the argument was lost. Jake was happy with whatever Ray decided, and Ray was clearly taking his pointers from someone else now.

Not that it mattered. It wasn't like they'd be around much longer anyway.

"You know what?" Ben scoffed, tossing his arms into the air. "Do whatever you want. Let me know Milleena's goons find you."

And then he stormed off, fuming as he descended the hill and leaving the other three boys in a stunned, hanging silence.