The enlarged monster maker roared with delight, hands waving above his head as he towered above the city. The enormous jaw stretched to reveal a row of razor teeth, cackling at tiny people fleeing his path in terror. Ray clenched his teeth in a silent curse, watching their enemy tower above them as their dilemma became all too clear.

They couldn't fight both, but they let either run wild either.

"Kyle," Ray ordered. "Take the Firewall and throw your old friend a welcome party. We'll handle Gideon."

"Right!"

The Security Ranger bolted, racing to the school boundary as he held his Morpher high.

"Zord Power! Digitize!"

A shining light burst from his Morpher as the Zords thundered out into the street, shifting and whirring to form the mechanical warrior. With the Firewall Megazord combining in the distance, the remaining Rangers spun to give Gideon their full attention.

"Don't get too comfortable, Gideon," Ray warned. "We're still ready to school you!"

"Please," Gideon scoffed from above. "You'll find there are still a few lessons for you to learn. Byte-Bots, destroy them!"

Like a metallic wave, the henchmen rose above him, launching into the air before diving in droves at the Rangers. And with a flourish of their weapons, the team rose to meet them.

Taking up the center, Ray and Hilary leaped together, striking and weaving in perfect coordination as the Byte-Bots fell from the sky. Ray would lead, swinging wide with the sword to catch those too slow to dodge before Hilary zoomed in from below with flashing sais, carving through the remainders that thought themselves safe. They landed and spun, back pressed together as they assessed the next wave surrounding them.

"So," Ray laughed. "Prom night everything you expected?"

"I'm not sure," Hilary replied. "Was hoping for another dance with you before the night was out."

"Well then, shall we?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

More Byte-Bots descended, but the two Rangers were already moving. Now it was Hilary in the lead, spinning into a razored pirouette that parried the oncoming blows before slicing through their guards. As she came to a stop, sais crossed above her head in defense, Ray launched in after. The Byte-Bots had nowhere to go, pressure focused on keeping Hilary pinned and making them easy targets for the sword. The Power Weapons slashed across them, sending them flying in dismembered, sparking parts as Hilary went back on the offense.

As Ray's torso lowered from the blow Hilary vaulted over, rolling across his back as to land before the next coming group. In one swift motion, she drew her pistol, landing and kneeling to open fire. The round burst at the henchmen's feet, casting them aside and into the air.

All around them, the others had done the same; the army of bots lying scattered and broken at their feet. The Rangers wasted no time, forgoing celebration as Ray lunged into the air and the others followed. All five landed on the roof, a perfect star formation as they closed in on Gideon.

The villain growled at them, teeth gnashing as he spun to stare the Red Ranger down.

"Welcome to the party, pal," Ray taunted.

All five Rangers flourished their weapons, ready to engage. But Gideon didn't prepare. He lowered his guard and laughed.

"Well done, Rangers," he chuckled. "It seems you're all as formidable as ever."

Ray shot a look at the team, warning them not to engage. Not yet. Not if it could well be a trap.

"Give it up Gideon," Ray warned. "There's no way you can defeat us all together."

"But that's where you're wrong, Red Ranger," Gideon snarled. "You see, here you have a choice to make. Right now, your precious Security Ranger is fighting Kelgar in the ultimate duel. And I don't think it's going to so well for him."

There was a blast in the distance, a glowing tower of embers reaching out from behind a building. Smoke billowed in its wake.

"Guys," Doc warned. "I hate to agree, but things aren't looking as good for Kyle for over there!"

"Ignore that!" came Kyle's reply. "Gideon's the priority! Take him down!"

As if to punctuate, another blast boomed in the distance.

"Here are your crossroads, Rangers," Gideon smirked. "Attempt to apprehend me as your precious city and teammate are destroyed, or go and summon your machines, leaving our fight for another day."

As said it, he fixed his eyes on Ray, stubborn gazes locked through the opaqueness of the visor. A challenge, a dare. But one where Gideon already knew the answer.

The choice the Rangers would make, every time.

"Stand down," Ray ordered through gritted teeth.

The others didn't question, relaxing their stances without relinquishing their weapons. Gideon or the city; it wasn't a choice at all.

Not to them.

Gideon didn't seem one to wait, already moving to the edge of the roof before any could change their mind. Before jumping, he turned and gave a mocking salute.

"This isn't over," Ray sneered at him.

"No, but it will soon be," Gideon grinned back. "Until next time, Rangers."

But they'd already moved on, ignored his arrogant taunt as they stood together and held their Morphers high.

"Zord Powers!" Digitize!"

The Zords burst to life, the five colorful animals erupting from the Morpher screens as the Rangers vaulted into the cockpits.

"Go after Gideon!" Kyle insisted. "He's more important!"

"Not a chance, Kyle," Ray retorted. "We're coming to you!"

He punched the command sequence into the controls, the five Zords roaring through the city as they closed in on the fight. They ripped around the building, just in time to see Kelgar land a mighty punch on the stumbling Firewall.

Just in time.

"Let's bring them together!"

Hilary and Ben accelerated, tiger and wolf launching at the Firewall and wrapping around the legs as Johnny and Jake formed the thicker armor of the chest. The lion roared, crimson beast-king launching high as the limbs folded into the body. Ray's chair snapped back, pulling him into the chute as the Zord shunted over the firewall's head to form the helm.

Pulled to the fresh cockpit, Ray lurched to the front as the new controls lit up before him and his teammates sat ready by his side.

"CtrlAlt-Delete Megazord! Online!"

The ground boomed as the mechanized warrior stepped forward, the whole form rumbling as the arms raised into a fighting stance.

"End of the line, Kelgar!" yelled Ben.

"End of the line?" Kelgar scoffed. "But this is so much fun! I should have been doing this from the beginning!"

Then, before the Rangers could input the attack sequence, the shelled reptilian lunged.

Sparks flew as the scything claw sheared against their breastplate, the Megazord staggering as the Rangers braced for impact. Then he struck again, Megazord too sluggish in size to stop as he hammered another blow. This one cracked harder, crunching into the breastplate as the mecha stepped back again.

A warning flashed, Megazord defenses engaging to defend the ruptured area as Kelgar saw his opening. He skipped towards them, swiping wide across the face with a dance with glee.

The cockpit flooded with sparks, the entire machine shaking as blinding light flared in all directions. The CtrlAlt-Delete spun from the blow, feet slamming the ground in a stumble as the stabilizers faltered and it dropped. With an earthshaking quake, the Megazord dropped to its knee as Kelgar manically clapped his hands in delight.

"I can see why you were having problems," Ray groaned to Kyle, punching at the controls to keep the weapons operating. "Hilary, how're we looking?"

"Chest got ruptured but the central core's okay," she nodded through her helmet. "But I don't get it, how could he hit us that hard?"

"Guys you've got to see this," Ben warned. "The readings I'm getting off him are off the chart!"

"He's right!" Doc confirmed through the coms. "That guy's brimming with Digital Energy. They juiced him up to size and threw him at you."

"And what does that mean for us?" Johnny demanded.

"I'm still working on that!"

Ray's hands snapped the console, eyes narrowing as Kelgar gleefully skipped in front of them. Elated with his newfound power, the monster maker had no concern for any threat from the Rangers.

Big mistake.

"You need time," Ray decided, hands on the controls. "Then let's buy some. Ben, Hilary, get ready on the turn; Johnny, prepare to counter."

"Right!"

Then his gaze narrowed on their foe.

"Kelgar wants to play," he decided. "Then let's play."

Kelgar was too eager, striking too leisurely with all the hubris of an inexperienced fighter. He almost danced toward them, joyful giggling as he raised his claw. The Megazord responded in an instant. In an act both immature and foolish, Kelgar dropped his guard to strike, and the Megazord hit back.

With a lightning swing, the CtrlAlt-Delete's fist thundered through the air, ramming Kelgar's jaw so hard his eyes bulged from the unleashing shockwave. The shelled reptile shrieked as he flew back, spinning with skidding feet as he clutched his face.

"Dirty trick!" he snarled.

But the Rangers had no interest in repeating his mistake. The Megazord rumbled forward, swinging another punch while their foe's guard was down. The uppercut boomed on impact, Kelgar stumbling back as the Rangers closed in for the count. The mighty hands clapped above, and the team roared in unison.

With a single mighty blow, the Rangers brought them down, clasped grasp thundering into Kelgar's skull like a metallic meteor.

The boom echoed through the streets as Kelgar hit the ground, concrete cracking beneath his weight.

"Twin Sabers!"

Both Data Blade and Terabyte Saber flashed to the hands, Megazord striking a guarding pose before rushing to engage. Kelgar had barely regained his balance when they met him.

Then they plunged them down.

The blades plunged through the air, piercing tip aimed straight the Kelgar's belly. But while the shelled reptile was down, he wasn't out. The claw flashed across his body, batting away the first blade before flipping to his belly. As the second dropped, he withdrew into his shell, the tip bouncing off the carapace like it was nothing.

"Too slow!"

The shell began to spin, surging into the air like it had a mind of its own and battering against the damaged chest. The Megazord stumbled on the impact, thunderous strikes battering armor and crumbling it further.

"Hurricane Strike!"

They dived back in, slamming the command as CtrlAlt-Delete snapped out the blades and charged. Like a razor top, the Megazord's chest spun from the hips, a whirling tornado ready to slice all in its path. One that Kelgar was making no effort to avoid.

His hand snapped out, squeezing in perfect timing into the gap between the blades before grabbing hold. Grinding gears and crunching metal groaned as Megazord lurched still, sequence killed as Kelgar gripped with Data Blade in his claw. And now they had nowhere to go.

"Not bad," laughed Kelgar, "But this is how it's done."

His head snapped in, horned skull slamming into to helmed head of the Megazord. The blow was so strong it nearly threw the Rangers from their seats, Megazord almost falling as they wrestled for stabilization. But Kelgar wasn't done. He rushed at them, leaping into a kick that slammed the chest and at last knocking down the CtrlAlt-Delete. The ground quaked on the crash, the entire back of the Megazord rupturing the city's central road as Kelgar returned to his delighted dancing.

"This is the most fun I've had all year!" he cheered. "I guess it's true what they say, if you want something done right, do it yourself!"

The Megazord sluggishly pulled to its feet, every joint grinding in protest as it heaved. The windshield of the cockpit was ruptured, enormous cracks fracturing across the surface as the giant machine limped back toward their foe.

"Ray," groaned Jake, "can I suggest we don't do that again?"

Every console was flashing red, the arms, the chest, the legs; all of it. Aside from a couple of lucky slogs, they'd barely made a scratch on Kelgar.

Time for the big guns then.

"I agree," Ray decided, slamming the dial to diver power to the arms. "Let's take this guy out hard and fast."

"Right!" called the team. "Deleter Blasters!"

The slats on the arms hissed open as the Megazord took a bracing position and snapped the wrists forward. The row of barrels jutted from their holdings as the barrels began to glow.

"Oh no!" Kelgar cackled. "My one weakness; wrist mount blasters!"

"Let's give him everything we've got!" Kyle cheered.

"Diverting all non-essential power to the cannons," Hilary confirmed.

The whole machine began shaking, golden light continuing to gather above the wrists as power drew from the Megazord's final reserves and surged into the mounted cannons.

"Ray…" Doc warned. "With the damage you've taken, I don't know if the Megazord can withstand unleashing a blast that big!"

"It'll hold!" Ray insisted. "It has too!"

"It could tear the Megazord apart!"

"We can do it!"

The team was beside him, all nodding in agreement as their hands hovered above the triggers and preparation. Before them, the giant Kelgar continued his mocking grovel, unwilling to believe the power they were about to unleash.

His choice.

His mistake.

"Ready?" Ray confirmed.

"Ready!"

"FIRE!"

The cannons erupted, the shining blasters exploding from the barrels to light up the city. For any nearby, the night may as well have vanished, nearly daylight in intensity. The Megazord stumbled, foot slamming back to brace against the bast as the barrage surged across the street and impacted with a flash. It hit Kelgar dead on, a blast so hot and wide it enveloped him completely, the entire reptilian monster vanishing in the blinding light.

The screens were flashing like strobes, flicking red glow illuminating the cock pit as the claxons of every system blared in a critical warning. But the Rangers continued, holding the trigger to keep the energy surging at the enemy, the whole machine shaking with sparks bursting from the joints as the recoil threatened to smash them apart.

They couldn't even see him now, flailing form vanished in the column of golden light. And then, at last, he exploded. An enormous plume of flame discharged from the depths of the beam, blasting in all directions as at last, the guns ran dry.

The Rangers killed the onslaught, guns whirring to a whimper as the entire CtrlAlt-Delete lurched forward, almost falling before catching itself. The entire central street was nothing but a curtain of black smoke, small chunks of debris scattering the ground like pebbles.

Panting heavily, Ray pulled himself from the controls, looking back to check on his team.

"Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah," Jake groaned. "We're okay."

"See, Doc," Ray smiled into the com, "I told you we'd hold it toge-"

His words were cut as something moved through the smoke; a dark shadow that swiped it clear. As the claw pierced the blackened veil, the Rangers gasped as their worst fear was realized.

Kelgar had survived.

His front was scorched, one horn fried away completely as remnant tips of his hair glowed with smoldering embers. His grin widened further, near manic as his eyes widened in glee.

"Wrong again!" he cackled as he lunged, and the Rangers had nowhere to move. With no power remaining, the body of mighty Megazord had become a prison, a stationary target that Kelgar gleefully beset upon. He swung in a punch, fist cracking beneath the helm to send the Megazord stumbling. Then he swung again, and again, each blow snapping back the head with more violent whiplash the last, slamming the Rangers in their seats so hard they could barely hold on.

And it was all they could do to remain standing.

Screeching in triumph, Kelgar's claw snapped to the shoulder, the other to the waist.

"He's got a hold!" Ray realized. "Shake him!"

But there was nothing they could do. With barely any power left, the Megazord could only limply flail as Kelgar heaved it high. Then, with a cry that pierced the night sky, he dropped them, reefing down to bring the CtrlAlt-Delete Megazord cracking across his knee. Sparks burst from the waist, ripping metal screaming as electricity surged from their control units and sent them diving to safety.

Body broken, the Megazord hit the ground with the defeat crumble. Groaning from the crash, the Rangers climbed back into their seats. But their troubles were far from over.

"Every day!" Kelgar announced, "I have waited for this moment!"

He slammed his foot on the chest, shunting Ray hard into the seat behind him while the others unseated were thrown across the cockpit.

"Every monster!"

SLAM!

"Every creation!"

SLAM!

"This is the justice that I've longed for!"

SLAM!

Beneath every blow, the breastplate crumpled further, fresh sparks bursting as the inner workings and wires crunched. He had them pinned, they could barely move. Any second now, Kelgar was going to hit a system that would trigger an overload.

And that would be it for all of them.

"Hilary?" Ray begged, desperate for an opening he hadn't seen "How are we going? Tell me you've got something!"

"All systems critical!" she warned. "Ray, if hits us with basically anything, it's gone!"

Then this was really it; this was how it ended. Barely hours ago, they'd been celebrating their final victory. Now here they lay, broken and battered, with Kelgar readying the final blow.

One last hope to try.

"Doc?" he pleaded. "You said you working on a plan, now would be a great time."

There was a long pause before he got his answer.

"I've got something, but it's risky."

"And so!" Kelgar announced. "Here I prove, once and for all, the true master over the Power Rangers!"

"Kelgar's power is all coming from a massive build-up of Digital Energy," Doc said quickly. "It's letting him overpower you but it's also his weakness. Because it's also what's powering you Zords."

"Doc, we're running out of time!" snapped Johnny.

"The Zords have a manual deletion protocol, a mass purge sequence that'll unleash a burst of Digital Energy as they flush everything from their systems. Get close enough to Kelgar, and it should delete his absorbed data as well!"

SLAM

"Seems easy enough," Jake wheezed as he climbed back to his chair.

"There's just one drawback," Doc warned. "The purge protocol, it's a self-destruct."

"What?" Ben cried.

"That's your plan?" demanded Johnny, "Sacrifice the Zords?"

"In a few moments, that's not going to matter!" Kyle replied.

"Ray," Hilary insisted. "It's your call. Whatever you choose, we'll back you."

"To the end of the line," Jake agreed.

Ray's heart was racing, his head spinning as Kelgar continued his assault on their machine. The Zords, they'd had so many victories with them. They owed them their lives. They may have been mere programs, but they were almost… their friends.

But Kyle was right, if they gave him any more time, then Kelgar would destroy them anyway. With a heavy heart, he turned to his team and nodded.

"Let's do it," he decided. "Hilary, divert all remaining power to arms. Johnny, prepared the grapple-lock sequence, and Kyle, prepare to lock the controls.

"ON IT!"

"GOODBYE!" Kelgar roared. "POWER RANGERS"

As he raised his foot one final time, winding for the crushing blow, the Rangers struck. The arm shot upward, a giant hand snatching Kelgar's ankle and yanking it down. As his eyes widened in shock, the other arm snapped to his shoulder.

"What?" demanded Kelgar, "What are you doing?"

With their might, the Rangers climbed, guiding the Megazord as it reached to grip again, pulling itself up Kelgar's body with its ruined legs dragging below it. He tried through them off, swiping as he started to panic. But the CtrlAlt-Delete responded with a punch to the head. Not much, more a tap than a jab, but enough to throw his balance as it whipped the arm around his neck and the other looped around his shoulder.

Then, with Kyle imputing the controls to lock at the ruined arms, the Megazord attached completely.

"Okay guys," Ray warned them. "This is it."

All Rangers nodded and strapped themselves to their chairs.

"SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE, ACTIVATE!"

Ray slammed the button and his chair reefed upwards. The top of the helm flung open, all six seats soaring into the evening air. For a moment they hovered, watching as Kelgar struggled in vain against the broken Megazord's grip. The Megazord started to glow.

Then they dropped, seats falling below as their Ranger suits guided them into a somersault to land gracefully.

All they could do now was watch.

The Megazord could be barely made out, every limb and join glowing brighter and brighter with golden light. And Kelgar knew it too, flailing in desperate panic as he tried in vain flee.

"It's not fair!" he cried. "I'd only just started having fun!"

Then the Megazord exploded.

The blast was instantaneous, bursting from within in a blinding flash of white. The Rangers dived to the ground, bracing for the powerful shockwave unleashed by the machine as the detonation consumed all within its radius. Flames jutted in all directions, as the fractured pieces of the Zords flung into the air. And then, before their very eyes, the lion, the wolf, the tiger, the elephant, the eagle, the bison, and the battlezord all began to crumble. It was like the world had slowed, and Ray's eyes welling with tears as his crimson lion disintegrated, bonds of the physical data breaking apart as the wave of deletion consumed them.

Kelgar could only scream as the blast tore at his body, his shelled reptilian form ripping apart like sand in the wind. Then, the crying voice quietened into the night, as the last of the Zords vanished into dust, leaving only smoke from the blast. And as the Rangers staggered to their feet, bracing against each other as they reeled in the loss of their Zords, all they could do was watch as the smoke cleared.

All digital constructs were gone, and a crater was all that remained from the blast. And in the center lay a man, face scorched, clothes tattered, and hair standing on end as he stared at the sky in shock.

All that remained of Kelgar.

"Howard Gates." Freeman happily announced, "AKA: Kelgar. You are under arrest for the destruction and theft of military property, the endangerment of lives, and terrorizing the city of Cranston. You have the right to remain silent. I would strongly recommend you use it."

The man that had once been Kelgar was still near catatonic, dazed as a hand guided the back of his head into the car. Freeman grinned as he watched the man enter before slamming the door shut.

The Rangers were still morphed but had removed their helmets to breathe. Their hearts were still racing, bodies shaking from the loss of their Zords. They'd won, but barely and at great cost.

And Gideon was still out there.

"You made the right choice, Ray." Kyle comforted. "The plan worked, and Kelgar's history."

"Yeah, cheer up man," Johnny attempted with a nervous laugh. "You know if we head back now, Kira won't even have to stall for us."

But performing before a crowd was now the last thing on Ray's mind. Gideon could be anywhere, up to anything. How could they just go back to prom as if nothing had happened? How could he party like there wasn't a supervillain on the loose?

His heart was too heavy for celebration.

Sensing their dismay, Freeman spoke up in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Don't worry about Gideon," he insisted. "We'll find him. Besides, between growing Kelgar and making all those Byte-Bots, whatever stored power he'd have been relying on has got to be running fry. And now he's all on his own."

Ray slowly nodded, feeling the weight lift as he silently conceded to the logic. Freeman was right; Gideon was running out of tricks and out of friends. What more could he possibly do?

"You guys enjoy your night," Freeman smiled. "We'll find Gideon; he can't be much of a problem anymore."

And then voice cut through the air, stabbing at their hearts as their eyes widened at once.

"Oh, contraire, Lieutenant Commander" Gideon laughed. "I think your problems are far from over. In fact, they're only beginning."

It was coming from their Morphers!

Ray's head whipped to the device on his wrist, pulse screeching through his veins to tighten his chest as he realized what it meant. There was one way that voice could be talking to them.

"That's right, Rangers," laughed Gideon. "I am indeed in your inner sanctum. What a shame, in your moment of triumph you thought it safe to drop the firewall. Or in your rush to apprehend Kelgar, you thought nothing of my next destination. Or who you would be leaving defenseless."

Doc's voice cried across the line, panicked but distant.

"Don't do it, Rangers!" he begged, "Don't-"

But it was silenced with the slap of a hard strike.

"So, rude," Gideon snicked. "I was in the middle of something."

But Ray had had enough, face twisting to an angry scowl as he brought the Morpher to his lips.

"What do you want Gideon?"

"My demands are very simple, Red Ranger. If you wish to see your precious Dr. Benson alive, then you have thirty minutes to surrender your Morphers. You will come morphed, and power down before me so I know there can be no tricks. And you are also to come alone. I have no interest in dealing with Freeman and his flunkies."

Ray gritted his teeth as he looked at his team. Five horrified faces stared back at him, drained of color and eyes wide with shock.

"Failure to comply with any of my demands, and Dr.Benson will be destroyed," Gideon warned. "I'll be waiting."

And then the line went dead.

To be concluded…

NEXT TIME: With the warehouse occupied and Doc captured, the Rangers helplessly stare at the brink of defeat. As they race to hatch a plan, Gideon uses their Digitizer to grow his power and rebuild his army, to far greater heights than anything the Rangers have ever faced before! With the fate of the city resting in their hands, the Rangers prepare for one final showdown, but with Doc at the nemesis's mercy, what moves do they have left to make? Can they defeat him and save their mentor, or has Gideon's new power made him strong enough to destroy the Rangers once and for all?

Find out next time, in the thrilling conclusion to:

POWER RANGERS

DATA SQUAD

Crash the Mainframe- Part III

A/N:

Here we are, at last; one more episode to go. And this time, I've you've enjoyed the extra mid-week update, I have even more exciting news. Starting Monday, Power Rangers Data Squad will update every day, bringing this series to a close. I want to express a big thanks to all my readers and the people who have left comments and reviews on the chapters. Your words mean the world to me.

As always, if you like what you read, you can always drop a comment to let me know and don't forget to subscribe/ follow to find out the second I update. Power Rangers: Data Squad is a fan-made team of Rangers, and not explicitly based on any other existing Rangers or Sentai property. Until next time, may the Power Protect You.

Here I Am (2004)

Written by: A. Black, D. Genuardi, D. Walsh, M. Hock & S. Cave

Performed by: The Explosion

Courtesy of: Virgin Records