Episode21:

RangerWars- PartII:Eye of the Thunderstorm

Another week down, another weekend rolling in, and the Shak was as busy as ever with the Argonauts blasting their set from the stage.

"I know what I want,
You
just take me through the motions!
I
know what I want,
And
that's more than you can say!
I know what I want,
You
just take me through the motions!
I
know what I want,
And
that's more than you can say!

Since you found me out,
Since you found me out,
Since you found me out,
Since you found me out!

The band built to the climax, strumming the final chords to lead out the song as the audience applauded. With a flourish of the chords to the thumping of the drums, they hit the final note as the distortion rung out to their bow.

"Thank you, everybody, we're the Argonauts!" Ray called out to the crowd, "See you next time!"

Stowing his guitar, he briefly thanked and said goodbye to Travis and Gary before eyeing their usual table. Far from the row of happy faces, Jake was sitting at a table alone.

"Where are Ben and Hilary?" Ray asked casually as he and Johnny approached.

"They said they were working on something with Doc," Jake replied. "Something to do the Digitizer."

"Well, they missed a great guitar solo," sulked Johnny as he took his seat beside him. "Not to brag, but I really tore it up there today."

"He's not bragging," Ray said cheekily. "But watch him tell everyone he can for the next two hours."

Johnny scoffed as Ray quickly checked around. After being certain that no one was eavesdropping, he leaned in closer so only the two could hear. "Any word on other new Rangers?"

But Jake just shook his head. "Not yet."

It had already been a week since the veteran Rangers had joined them. So far, they'd only had a few minor scuffles, but Ray knew it was only a matter of time before Gideon would be able to resurrect another warrior. After the battle with Goldar, Carlos introduced them to Damon Henderson, the man responsible for the Mk2 Astro Megazord and had once been, it seemed, the Green Lost Galaxy Ranger.

"Sorry I couldn't join in the fun," he'd apologized when introduced the next day. "I figured you'd need the big guy up and running before you'd need more boots on the ground."

But since then, there'd been no more arrivals, and with the veteran team happy to leap into battle, things had felt almost quiet. Too quiet. For all their recent victories, Ray knew it wasn't going to last.

"We were lucky those guys could come at short notice," Johnny pointed out. "I mean, they came practically straight away. And even Doc didn't know who he could contact or how to get the word out. Truth is we've got no idea who's coming, or how many to expect. For all we know, this could be it."

Ray released a heavy sigh that admitted that the Black Ranger could be right. They were already lucky to get the support they had, any more could well be a pipe dream. Jake, meanwhile, narrowed his eyes skeptically, before snapping his head back in a howl of laughter.

"Hang on," he realized. "You don't want to know about reinforcements. You just want to know if you're the only Red Ranger that Tommy's wiped the floor with while training!"

Ray conceded with a sheepish smile. To be honest, he'd been enjoying being top of the ladder in sparring. Kyle and Johnny would give him a good workout, but until now he'd always managed to keep himself on top. But only one day earlier, Tommy had offered to join in, and Ray had eagerly accepted at Johnny's urging. Ray should have been ready, he'd seen the guy fight before, but Johnny had failed to mention that Tommy ran his own dojo back in Reefside.

By the time the clock rang out, Ray was certain he'd hit the mat more times in those five minutes than he had in his entire life. After enduring the groups' amusement at the fall of their mighty leader, Ray had asked if he'd even stood a chance, to begin with.

"Rocky refused to tell me," Ray admitted, finally answering Jake's question. But the Green Ranger was no longer paying attention and instead was staring at the counter, jaw agape.

"Guys?" he asked. "You know that girl that you hear on the radio all the time?"

"Miley Cyrus?" Ray suggested.

"No."

"Taylor Swift?" Johnny tried.

"No, not her either."

"Jake," Ray pointed out. "You'll need to be more specific or we're going to end up listing every female artist in the Top 40."

"Okay," Jake nodded, still not dragging his eyes away from the entrance. He seemed almost flustered as he tried to think of a coherent description. "Umm, I think she played that song that was a big hit a few years ago; "Freak You Out," or something?"

At the mention of the song, Johnny perked up, eyes looking quizzically at Jake as Ray replied without daring to meet the Black Ranger's eye. "Kira Ford?".

Jake's eye bulged as his fingers clicked in recollection. "Yeah, that's her!"

"Okay, you remembered her name," Ray pressed. "What's got you thinking about her all of a sudden?"

"The fact that she just walked inside."

Ray and Johnny spun around in their seats, eyes darting to the counter. Sure enough, there she was. Far from the made-up look from the music videos and posters, she was dressed in jeans and a yellow sweater, engaging in polite conversation with Bulk and Skull. Before either of the other two could say anything, Johnny grinned and got up, striding confidently toward the counter.

"Wait," Jake asked, staring in astoundment. "What's he doing? He can't just go over there!"

But the young woman's star status had no deterrence on the Black Ranger, who by now had finished his approach and tapped her on the shoulder. The girl was shocked at the touch, spinning around in surprise only to stop as she saw who greeted her. Her face lit up immediately, laughing as she threw her arms around him and squeezed him in a tight hug.

Jake was gobsmacked. "He's on hugging terms with her? Johnny is on hugging terms with a national pop star? How come he's never mentioned this?" Ray opened his mouth to answer, but Jake wasn't listening, immediately cutting him off as he rose from his seat. "It doesn't matter; we know now. And if he's on such good terms with her, then I think it's important that she's introduced to his best friend."

"You're his best friend?" Ray asked amusedly.

Jake ignored him, retrieving a small mouth spray from his pocket and pumping it twice into his breath. Then he sauntered his way to the counter before Ray could advise him otherwise.

"Hey Johnny," he said coolly, saddling beside the pair. "How are you doing?"

"As well as I was a minute ago," Johnny replied, expression more confused than annoyed, "when I was sitting at your table?"

Jake ignored him, shifting his attention in feigned surprise to Ms. Ford.

"Oh, hey there," he said confidently. "I don't think we've been introduced. Johnny, how come we've never introduced this woman to your best friend?"

Both Johnny and Kira Ford gave him an odd look.

"Best Friend?" asked Johnny amusedly, "Really?"

"Hi," said Jake, completely ignoring the black Ranger. "I'm-"

"You must be Jake!" Kira Ford announced excitedly, arm grabbing out and pulling him into a hug. Jake spluttered in surprise as the pop star squeezed against his back, finally releasing him as he stumbled back.

The confidant bravado vanished, leaving Jake with only a babbling surprise. "You… you know who I am?"

"Of course," Kira laughed. "What kind of big sister would I be if I didn't know who Johnny's friends were?"

At the mention of the word 'sister', Jake's eyes bulged, shocked gaze drifting slowly between Johnny, then Kira, and then at Johnny again. He slowly turned his head to Ray, he was standing arms folded by the table, condescending grin as he nodded emphatically.

"S…Sister?" he stammered.

Kira looked back at her brother and laughed. "You mean you never told them?"

"It never came up," Johnny laughed back.

Jake quickly turned to look at Ray, who at last had wandered over to join them. "You knew, didn't you?"

"We all do," Ray admitted with a cheeky grin. "And in my defense, I did try to warn you."

At Ray's arrival, Kira shot a beaming smile over Jake's shoulder.

"And you must be…" she decided, pausing to thought as eyes scanned him from top to bottom. "Ray?"

"Nice to meet you," the Red Ranger replied, offering his hand only to also be pulled in for a squeezing hug.

"So, are you guys going on later?" Kira asked, quickly looking around to see the half-packed-up stage. "Dammit, I must have missed it!"

"It's okay," Johnny replied. "Maybe you'll get a chance to see us later. If I'd known you were coming, I'd have told you when the set was."

"It was a bit last minute," Kira admitted. "I'd hoped to surprise you, so I basically just came straight here; I haven't even told Mom I'm in town yet."

Johnny frowned as if piecing together what she'd just said. "That is last minute…"

But before he could enquire further, their conversation was broken by another, inquiring voice behind them. "Kira?"

The pop star spun around, jaw-dropping as she laid eyes on an Asian-American man, his dark denim jacket over what looked like some kind of tour shirt. Immediately she threw her arms around him, and the man grinned as he returned the embrace.

"Blake? You look great!" she said excitedly, "I had no idea that you were coming to Cranston."

"Yeah, I had no idea about you either," the boy admitted before Johnny interrupted.

"Um, sis?"

"Oh sorry," Kira replied, immediately turning back to the group to make introductions. "Blake, this is my little brother Johnny. Johnny this is Blake Bradley; we… ah… let's just say we go way back."

The two boys shook hands before at last Ray motioned toward their table.

"Guys?" he suggested. "As much as I love meeting new people, why don't we take this where we can sit? I think we're blocking the entrance."


"Okay, give it a try."

Hilary hit the power as Ben stepped back, the Digitizer humming to life. The whirring inside grew louder, and the machine began to shake as smoke hissed from the vents.

"Turn it off!" Ben warned quickly, "Turn it off!"

Hilary cut the power as the noise died down and the machine returned to calm.

"There's got to be something we're missing," she decided, although, for the life of her, she couldn't figure out what it was. She'd checked the coding three times; everything was running smoothly on the software end. But if it was hardware, then it could well have been out of her wheelhouse. Which brought her to where she was, begrudgingly asking her brother for help.

Thankfully, he was still too busy gushing over their new arrival to be roiling in his smugness.

"It could be the power couplings," Damon noted, standing over the machine with his arms folded across the chest. "The higher power drain could be creating a backlash, frying some of the internal circuitry and systems while forcing a power reroute through the remaining body."

"Finally," Ben grinned. "Someone around here who speaks English!"

Hilary rolled her eyes as Damon and Ben set to work checking the internal workings of the machine. The last two recharges had put the Digitizer through the wringer, and Doc had admitted that he wasn't sure how many more powers he could restore before blowing the machine for good.

"Good thing some Rangers still have active powers," he'd decided. "Or else I think we'd be in a lot more trouble."

But having spent the entire night getting the Digitizer ready for another power recharge, Hilary had sent him to bed upon her arrival that afternoon. He was no use to them exhausted, and at this stage, he'd stepped her through so much of the program she could easily run the device until he awoke.

Of course, that had been her theory before two more Rangers showed up, each needing a power recharge. And as a result, she had to call in the big guns before their mentor awoke.

"Thanks for helping us with this Damon," Hilary said gratefully. "I know this probably wasn't what you expected when you made the trip out from Mirinoi."

"Honestly," the Green Galaxy Ranger admitted. "It's cool to see what this thing's got going on under the hood. It sure beats trying to get two completely different Zords to integrate. I thought Carlos was crazy when he told me his idea. I guess that's why he waited until we were halfway across the galaxy to suggest it."

"Well, you sure made it work," Ben replied. "And you've got to let me take a look around that thing. It looks insane!"

"I'll see what I can do," Damon chuckled as they returned their attention to the Digitizer.

As the two of them reached deeper into the machine, Hilary decided to run another diagnostic. But just as she booted the program, he thought was broken as she eyed a man wandering in from the entrance.

In baggy hemp pants and a lilac henley, Hilary wondered if she should be surprised that he was wearing shoes. His fair stumble had just grown out into a light beard, a mane of hair neatly swept back as he stared around the open space of the warehouse with a wide-eyed grin.

"Ummm," she offered. "Can I help you?"

The man didn't respond.

"Are you looking for someone?" Hilary asked again, this time breaking him from his daze.

"Aren't we all… looking for someone?" the man replied. "Or is it that we've found someone, but don't know who they really are? To us, and in general?"

Hilary couldn't help but stare, gawking at than man and his strange musing. But then his misty gaze dropped to a grin. "I'm just messing with you," he admitted. "Friends call me RJ. I heard some people around here were looking for Power Rangers?"

"You?" Hilary asked, trying desperately to hide her disbelief. "You're a Power Ranger?"

RJ flourished his hands and gave a little bow. "Jungle Fury Wolf Ranger and accomplished Pai-Zhua master, at your service."

He held up his wrist, pulling back the sleeve to reveal a small device, stylized into a purple wolf's head. Determined not to look a gift horse in the mouth, Hilary was about to lead him over to where the others had set up a makeshift camp when she suddenly noticed another man standing at the desk.

Dressed in a black leather jacket with his hair neatly groomed into cornrows, he stared at the contents of the desk with bounding curiosity. Hilary's eyes widened; she hadn't even heard him come in! As her body carefully shifted into a fighting stance, she called out to draw that attention. "Hey! Get away from there!"

The boy's head snapped up, his smile spreading into a sheepish grin as he readied his hands in surrender. "Sorry, guess I slunk in," he explained. "Old habit, I guess. I'm Will Aston."

With that, he came out from behind the row of desks and outstretched his hand. Something clicked in Hilary's brain, a flashback to archives that Doc had had her sift through. "You're the Black Overdrive Ranger!" she realized. "Sorry, I didn't recognize you."

"Sounds like I'm in the right place," he grinned. "Heard you might be in need of my services. Although, I'm guessing you don't need anything lifted."

"I mean," said Ben, finally wandering over to greet the new Rangers, "I know where Mrs. Caswell keeps the answers to the final test papers so…"

Hilary cut him off with an elbow to the ribs.

And that was when the warning light blared, the map started flashing with points of red. Hilary slid into the chair, wheeling to the main computer as she kicked open the viewscreen. Multiple Byte-Bot sightings, all around the city. And this time it was more than just a few hoodlums.

Gideon was finally making his move.

"Tommy?" she said into the coms, "I've got a group of Byte-Bots down at the park. Carlos? I got another down by the river."

Dammit, another group by the dam. Kyle was close, but no one else. Which meant those in the warehouse were his only backup.

"What's going on?"

Hilary looked up to see Doc yawning as he came down the stairs from his loft, noticing the look of worry on Hilary's face.

"Gideon's making his move," she explained, leaping from the chair as she moved to the warehouse exit and nodded to the others. "Saddle up."

As if a switch had flicked, Doc's eyes snapped awake as he jumped in place and began punching at the keys. "Oh no!" he gasped. "We've got a fourth group amassing in the city."

Hilary's widened as she realized what that meant.

Ray!

Byte-Bots were making their way right for him.

But she didn't have time to worry about him. He could handle himself, she knew that, and Jake and Johnny were with him. That was before considering the two other veterans that were already heading his way. She just had to hope that whatever was going on at the dam was easy enough to deal with. Then she could get to Ray.

"Send the warning," she decided. "We'll deal with these ones first."

With that, she stepped forward, brother by her side as the other three Rangers needed no other signal for what came next.

"You guys ready?" she called, holding her Morpher high as the other Ranger stepped beside her.

"Ready!"

Damon flashed up his wrist, finger-snapping to it as he hit the activator, while Will's own Morpher spun in his palm before flipping it around, reefing it down his extended arm as the gears ground inside the wheel. Then RJ moved, body shifting like a martial arts kata, Morpher extending as he bellowed. Then at the last, the twins rose their own, moving in fluid unison as they called their battle cry.

"Go, Galactic!"

"Overdrive, Accelerate!"

"Jungle Beast! Spirit Unleash!"

"Data Squad! Digitize!"

The suits all appeared, the Morphing grid blazing as their uniforms conformed to their bodies and the power infused within them. Then they surged from the warehouse, morphed and ready, lunging into action.

Hoping desperately that they wouldn't be too late.


For the next half an hour, the five of them chatted at the window, eagerly getting to know Johnny's sister and her friend. While Ray was enjoying her various stories from her time on tour, Jake was more amazed to hear that Kira had gone to High School with Connor McKnight, the lead striker for LA Galaxy.

It was nice to see. Ray had known about Kira for a while, but until now he'd never realized how close she and Johnny actually were. It was a nice change, seeing their usually sullen and reserved Black Ranger open up.

"So, Ray," asked Kira cheekily. "Has my metalhead brother been trying to get you to change the setlist?"

"Are you kidding?" he laughed, "If we didn't have Johnny shredding it up, we wouldn't be able to pull off half the songs in the list."

He shot a knowing grin to the Black Ranger that send a simple message; got your back.

"Why are you so annoyed by having a metalhead for a brother?" Blake asked with a grin, "I've seen some of the stuff on your playlists."

"Wow," Kira laughed while pointing an accusing finger. "I sing the national anthem at the AMA Champs one time, and you use it as a chance to flick through my iPod. I guess someone doesn't want me to do favors for them ever again."

Blake raised his hands in mock surrender, only for Johnny to jump in at his defense. "Careful there, man," he warned. "We wouldn't want people knowing that Miss Top 100 here is secretly a shred-head."

"Oh," Kira scoffed. "So, we're done pretending that the large Kelly Clarkson collection, that moved all the way here from Reefside, is mine?"

Blake snorted at the threat, as Ray and Jake slowly turned curious eyes over the scraggly-dressed rocker. Johnny didn't even blink.

"She speaks to me," he said proudly. "She helped me find my sensitive side."

All heads then shot back to Kira, who raised an eyebrow in dumbfounded amazement.

"Accepting yourself with reflective maturity, you've done some growing this last year," she congratulated. Then, with a smirk, she added, "Who are you and what have you done with my snotty little brother?"

The laughter of the five was so loud that they almost didn't hear the beeping coming from the three Morphers beneath the table.

Almost.

All three teens shot each other a look, Jake taking fist dibs to rise.

"Sorry, that's my phone," he excused, "I should probably take this."

Miming at his actual cell phone, he hurried out the back door, while Ray looked pointedly at Johnny. Now all they needed was an excuse for all three to leave.

But an excuse was the last worry they were going to have.

Something moved at the edge of his vision, eyes flicking to the window as a large shadow loomed over the Shak. Ray's face dropped as he saw the hulking shape that was soaring toward them. Soaring toward the window.

A car!

And it was flying right to where they were sitting.

He didn't have time to explain. "Get Down!"

Ray dived over the table, grabbing Blake by the shoulders just as the car hit the window. Johnny vanished in a flash of black. Had he not been watching as it happened, Ray would have missed it; the moment the glass broke, the Black Ranger leaped into action, sweeping the room and pushing all innocent bystanders from harm.

He returned just in time, lunging over the table to grab his sister and pull her from the path.

The vehicle barreled through the Shak, bursting through the walls and shattering everything in its path. Tables and chairs crumbled as the chassis rolled, crushing everything beneath its weight as it violently surged across the café. Finally, with a loud thump, the vehicle made its final roll, crunching as it came to a rest, upside down and through the stage. By then the customers were panicking, fleeing in all directions.

From down on the ground, Kira stared wide-eyed at her brother. "H… How did you do that?"

"Just lucky, I guess," Johnny replied nervously.

"Uh... guys?" Ray warned them.

As the others rose to their feet, they turned to see where Ray was looking; the source of the flying car being all too clear.

Byte-Bots.

They were marching down the street, making a direct line for the gap. Ray didn't need to be a mind-reader to know what they were up to.

They were here for the Data Squad Rangers; all these innocent people were just in their way.