Chapter Five:
Attack on Ranger HQ
The lab was a flurry of activity, scientists running around and getting everything ready while Doctor Kuchar doled out orders. Joshua stuck close to Gordon and led him into a section of the lab lined by four large human-sized pods, each marked with a different poker suit and letter. Most of the scientists were currently working on one labeled "A" with a spade emblazoned on it.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Joshua asked, sitting down on a small desk next to what looked like a hamster cage, the hamster inside running on its wheel at speeds that didn't seem quite natural. "You're missing your last track meet now, aren't you?"
Gordon nodded. He knew what time it was. "I'm sure," he said. "The world needs a new ranger, right?"
Joshua looked down. "Yeah, it does."
Gordon took a breath. "Then it's the right thing to do." He grasped Joshua's arm. "Just one thing," he said. "June's waiting outside in the car. I haven't told her anything except that it's important. I want to be able to tell her about everything. It's her life too."
Joshua nodded. "I'll make sure you can," he said.
Doctor Kuchar stepped over, carrying the same large vial of white liquid. "Are you ready, Mr. Cherry?"
"I am," Gordon said. "You say it's going to hurt, right?"
Doctor Kuchar nodded. "Unfortunately," he said. "Though, not as much as it used to, and you won't be out for several days. We've heavily refined it, and now it should only take about an hour."
He led Gordon over to the spade machine, tapping on the keypad attached to its side and popping it open. "You'll step inside here, we'll plug the serum in, and you'll emerge a new superhuman."
The doctor stepped aside, clearing the way for Gordon. Gordon stepped up, staring into the tube that would change him forever. He glanced at Joshua one more time, who gave him a reassuring nod. Gordon nodded back, took a deep breath, and raised his right foot.
A loud crack shattered the silence in the room, shaking the entire building. Everyone turned to see that something had hit the far wall hard enough to crumple it inward. Through the window, something large and gray was racing fast toward them.
"Everyone, get down!" Joshua shouted, pulling Gordon and Doctor Kuchar down.
The incoming object struck the window, shattering it and sending glass flying everywhere. Gordon looked up to see the robot with the large crab claw from the news standing inside the hole it had just made. Its bright red eyes scanned the room, zeroing in on Gordon and Doctor Kuchar where they crouched.
"Gordon Cherry," it said in a deep voice, raising its claw. "Daniel Kuchar. Must destroy."
Joshua's eyes widened, realizing what it was after. "It's trying to stop the JAKQ Project," he said. He pointed to two nearby scientists, the woman who had helped Gordon when he first arrived and the one who had yelped his name. "Dr. Jarman, Dr. Hassan, get Gordon and Doctor Kuchar out of here. I'll handle this."
The two scientists nodded. "Yes, sir."
They quickly grabbed Gordon and the doctor and pulled them in the opposite direction. The rest of the staff followed, leaving Joshua behind to face the monster. "Looking for someone," Gordon heard him say, stepping out from behind cover. Gordon looked back to see his friend's body flash with bright light, transforming in an instant into the bright red costume he had seen fighting Black Cross Masks and alien monsters a hundred times.
Joshua clenched his fist and drew his sword. "Not this time, monster," he said. He tapped his earpiece. "This is Joshua Cage, calling all rangers. Headquarters is under attack. I repeat, headquarters is under attack." He ended the call, raised his blade, and charged the robot.
Drs. Hassan and Jarman hurried Gordon and Kuchar from the room. As they passed, Doctor Kuchar shouted, "Wait!"
He stopped, pulling the lid off the hamster cage and grabbing the hamster inside. He held the little creature up to his mouth, whispered something, and then set it free to scamper off to safety.
"Okay," the doctor said. "Let's go."
They crossed the room to the lift on the other side. Doctor Jarman had just pressed the button to summon it when Joshua came flying toward them and smashing into the wall hard enough to make it crack.
His robotic opponent appeared behind him, its red eyes still on Gordon and Doctor Kuchar. It charged toward them, slicing through everyone in its path. Doctor Jarman pressed the button again and again before giving up. "Protect them, Mira," she told Doctor Hassan, crossing to a console. "I'll contact—"
She was cut off as the machine reached her, slicing her head off with one swipe of its claws. It then leaped at Gordon and Doctor Kuchar, Doctor Hassan throwing herself in the way and being impaled by it. Gordon and the doctor pressed up against the door, frantically pressing the button as the robot raised its arm for a killing blow.
Metal clashed with metal as the claw struck Joshua's sword. The red ranger struggled back to his feet, holding the claw back with all the strength he had. As Gordon watched, he could see Joshua's suit beginning to flicker, losing definition here and there.
"I think," Joshua said, his voice strained, "the virus that Dayton downloaded. I think it's affecting my suit too. I . . . need to . . ."
He balled up his free fist and punched the robot hard in the gut, throwing it backwards across the room.
"Go," Joshua said, pointing to a nearby door. "Hurry!"
He launched himself at the machine as Gordon and Doctor Kuchar raced for the door. Out of the corner of his eye, Gordon could see Joshua and the robot grappling, Joshua holding his own for a little while until his suit flickered at just the wrong moment, suddenly depleting his strength and allowing the robot to throw him hard into the ceiling, shattering it so hard that Joshua ended up buried by rubble the moment he hit the floor.
"Josh!" Gordon shouted, almost turning back.
"No!" Doctor Kuchar said, grabbing him. "We've got to go!"
They turned back to the door, only to find the robot dropping down and blocking their way. It marched toward them, its red eyes burning brighter.
Joshua struggled underneath the rubble, watching as Gordon put himself in front of the doctor and raised his arm to block the oncoming blow. He had to do something. He struggled and fought, but the damage the virus was doing to his suit was too much. He didn't have the strength to get the rubble off of himself.
He remembered something Dayton had taught him. He quickly tapped on his morpher, hoping it would work despite the virus. Once he had put in the commands, he said, "I now transfer control of this device to Gordon Cherry."
The morpher detached itself from his wrist immediately, his suit vanishing off of himself in an instant. The morpher flew across the room, attaching to Gordon's wrist and activating with a flash of light. In less than an instant, Gordon felt a million nanites spread across his arm, down his back, and up over his face, hardening and taking shape as a blue visor opened up before his eyes. The machine's claw connected with his arm, but the armor held up against it.
"Whoa!" Gordon said, staring in awe at what had just happened. He pushed the creature back, stumbling a few steps backwards as he looked down at himself. He felt strong, stronger than he'd ever felt in his entire life, a feeling he didn't feel all that often. His suit was sleek and bright red, the same suit he'd seen Joshua wear through dozens of impossible battles, and now it was on him.
A small square appeared in the corner of his visor, showing Joshua's face from where he was stuck under the rubble. "Gordon," Joshua said, his voice straining and the audio warped every so often by random glitches. "I gave you temporary control of my suit. But be careful. It's still malfunctioning. I don't know how well it will hold up to a full-on battle. Just use it to try and survive."
"Got it," Gordon said. "I'll handle it."
The robot came at him again, raising its claw to attack. His visor zeroed in on the claw. He knew tanking a hit from that thing was far too risky. Tapping into his gymnastics training, he launched his newly powerful legs up into the air, grabbing ahold of the lower part of the clawed arm, using it like a pole to flip himself up and around, landing on the creature's head and forcing it to the ground.
"Go!" he shouted at Doctor Kuchar. "Get Joshua and anyone still alive! I'll hold it."
Doctor Kuchar hesitated, but hurried to Joshua's side, tossing rubble off of him as fast as he could. Gordon kept the robot down, holding its claw arm tightly so that it couldn't move. He could hear the sawblade at its chest spinning rapidly against the floor, unable to do anything either. The robot raised its non-clawed arm and pressed it against the floor, gears grinding loudly as it tried to push itself up. Gordon did his best to keep it down, but the robot just kept pressing harder and harder, smoke rising from its elbow, until finally it threw Gordon off of itself and got back to its feet. It turned to face Gordon, its red eyes seeming to glow with rage.
"Kill Gordon Cherry!" it shouted, coming after him again.
Behind the robot, Gordon watched as Doctor Kuchar threw the last piece of rubble off of Joshua and helped him to his feet. His left leg seemed to be broken as they hobbled together toward the stairwell door and out. Once he knew they were safe, Gordon took the opportunity to run. He turned and raced for the window, intent on slamming through it, his powerful legs and the suit's enhancements working together to give him insane speed. The robot chased after him but it was no match.
A few feet from the window, Gordon saw his visor start to glitch out again. His legs seemed to freeze up, stiff and impossible to move. He did his best to power through, but he found himself being slammed into by several hundred pounds of metal and forced to the ground. The robot held him down, slashing and beating at him with its two arms.
"Josh!" Gordon shouted as its metal fist connected with his head. "I need help! The legs aren't working! I can't move!"
Joshua's face appeared on his screen, though very distorted. "Are your birdies working? The rockets?"
Gordon shook his head, trying to shake off that last blow. "Um," he said, focusing on all the readings in front of him. A little symbol that looked like rockets glowed green. "Yeah. I think so."
"Good. Do you see the word 'Files' at the lower left side of your screen?"
Gordon felt another sharp smack to the side of his head, this time hard enough to crack his helmet and make his brain feel fuzzy. He shook it off again. "Yeah," he said. "I see it."
"Focus on that, it should open it up."
Gordon did so as the robot kept slashing and attacking, trying to get through his armor. After a couple of seconds staring at the word, a long list opened up before him. "Now, scroll to the bottom with your eyes," Joshua said. "You should see the word 'Home' in bright red letters. That's an emergency escape. It will get you out of there!"
"Got it."
Gordon focused on the little red word just as another smack to the head broke through the helmet entirely and knocked him unconscious. His head hit the floor just as the HOME option flashed. The birdie rockets fired up, extending themselves and turning upward to blast fire at the machine holding Gordon down. The robot jumped back in surprise, releasing Gordon. The birdies then pointed straight back and launched him forward, through the window and out over the city, racing through the sky at mach speed and disappearing into the distance.
The robot staggered to its feet and rushed to the hole in the wall to go after him. It stopped as its sensors picked up three energy signatures racing toward the building, identifying them as the other three rangers. New orders took over in its central computer, and it started up its rockets, blasting off in the opposite direction away from the rangers.
Far below, Joshua, Doctor Kuchar, and the remaining scientists descended the stairs, Joshua's broken leg aching. Finally, they reached the ground floor and spilled out onto the street, where emergency vehicles were already on the scene, and several civilians had gathered to see what was happening.
"Josh!" a familiar voice shouted.
Joshua turned to see Gordon's girlfriend June getting out of a car nearby and running over. "What's going on? What happened up there?" She stopped, looking down at his leg. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Joshua said. "I'm fine."
She put her arm around him to help him up too. "Where's Gordon?"
Joshua looked at her, about to answer, when his three fellow Power Rangers dropped around him, keeping their suits on. June yelped in surprise.
"Power Rangers?"
"We lost it," Sean said to Joshua. "It disappeared over the mountains that way."
"What happened?" Peggy asked. "How did it know your location?"
Joshua shook his head. "I don't know, but right now, we need to—"
"Excuse me!" June said, cutting them off. "What is going on here? Why are the rangers involved. And where is my boyfriend?"
Everyone stopped, looking at her. Joshua looked down. "Gordon's inside my suit," he said. "He should be about halfway to Turtle Cove by now."
