Episode 30:

Crash the Mainframe Part III

"SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE, ACTIVE!"

Every screen was flashing, warning levels blaring as Doc was leaping between three different consoles to keep the Zords' levels stable. Stable enough to keep them going as the Megazord's limbs locked around Kelgar and held for dear life. Stable enough to blow.

The Rangers had ejected, soaring to a safe distance as onscreen Doc watched Kelgar thrashing against the grip. "That's not fair! I was only just starting to have fun!"

The sequence had initialized its final checks before flushing the overload code through all remaining systems. By then, Doc could only watch as the dreaded words filtered across the screen.

Self-Destruct confirmed.

All individual feeds cut to static as Doc switched to the city street cams, just in time to watch the glorious display of the booming Megazord. And at last, his heart allowed him to feel it. Relief.

There was no way Kelgar was escaping that blast.

A final security measure, something he'd written into all Zords to ensure they couldn't fall into the wrong hands.

Not again.

The explosion was only a by-product and outward venting as the entire Megazord programs were deleted from physical existence. And taking all nearby data with it.

Not an elegant solution, but it had got it done.

"Yeah!" he heard the Rangers cheer through the com-line, and Doc switched to their helmet cams in time to see Howard Gates now lying stunned in the crater. Served him right.

"Good going guys," Doc congratulated. "Freeman's on his way for the pick-up. Just hold tight in case Gideon's got any more tricks planned."

"Got it!"

With that all done, Doc cut the com-line and finally released his held exasperation. He needed a drink.

Great one Julian; don't tell the Rangers. It'll be fine. No, Gideon wouldn't try anything yet. He couldn't possibly have anything too worrying after the crash. Let them have their prom night; what could go wrong?

Nice going.

He supposed he should be relieved; the Rangers had repelled the attack on the school, and no one was hurt. But they'd gone from landing a blow on Gideon to taking one themselves; they'd taken Kelgar off the board, but the Zords had been too steep a price. If Gideon had any more giant tricks up his sleeve, they'd be defenseless until he could program new ones.

They'd made the right call, pursuing the rampaging monster maker instead of keeping Gideon contained, but it left a gaping new problem to deal with. Gideon was in the wind, and could now just as well be anywh-.

BANG!

A mighty boom thundered through the warehouse as the doors blew off the hinges. Doc almost toppled from his chair, snapping to his feet as he whipped around to the gaping threshold and watched as a looming figure strode through the smoke. And then his heart stopped dead.

Gideon.

The firewall! He'd dropped it after the fortress went down! He'd forgotten to put it back up! Eyes bulging in horror, Doc dived to the com, but Gideon was already moving.

"I don't think so!"

The bolt of lightning snapped from his hands to blast at the doctor's feet. The small explosion flung him backward, smacking across the hard concrete as Gideon sauntered further into the warehouse.

"Hello there, Doctor," he smiled. "It's been far too long. I'm sorry, I don't have an appointment. But I'm hoping you'll make some time in your schedule."

Doc groaned as he rolled to his back before wearing crawling back upright. Gideon had already reached the console, now standing lazily between Doc and his only line for help. Which meant Doc needed to move him.

The weapons!

The cabinet was by the stairs. He just had to be quick. Doc bolted in a run, desperately hoping his legs to carry him across the room in time.

A fool's hope.

Gideon was in his path before he could blink. With one fluid motion, his hand cracked across Doc's jaw to send him sprawling to the ground once again.

"Now, Julian, that's no way to treat a guest," Gideon snicked, this time stepping over him and grasping by the collar.

"I don't remember giving an invitation," Doc sneered back. "I didn't think you could enter without one."

"It appears your humor has devolved to the same level as your proteges," Gideon mused. "A shame; you always were a sharp mind."

"Sharp enough to beat you every week," Benson retorted.

For a moment, Gideon paused, nodding as if conceding in bemused consideration. But then he dropped him, leg snapping out to pummel into Doc's stomach and send him reeling across the floor.

"Still a sore loser," Doc wheezed, curling as the air desperately tried to refill his lungs. "Got it."

"And yet, here I am," Gideon growled. "Winning. You see, Julian, your mistake was only ever fighting the battles. I was winning a war. And now, with the King still standing, the board is mine. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a call to make."

He walked away, wandering back to the console to leave Benson gasping on the floor. And then, taking an effort to keep his eyes locked on his helpless captive, Gideon opened the com-line and contacted the Rangers.

Doc's heart stung at every word, dripping like venom from Gideon's tongue as he taunted his team. He could see it unfolding. The Rangers would come for him, give up anything to save him. Which no doubt was exactly what Gideon had planned.

He had to stop them.

He lunged for the desk, desperate for the com to pick up his voice. "Don't do it, Rangers!" he pleaded. "Don't-!'

Gideon's hand cracked across Benson's jaw to send him sprawling back down to the increasingly familiar concrete. And then Gideon lazily returned to the taunting as if nothing had happened. He made one concession, just one, as Doc heaved his aching body back to his feet. Keeping his eyes trained, Gideon raised his hand, summoning the purple glow of energy in a warning. A message that was loud and clear.

Gideon was in control, and Doc was powerless; he'd won.

Everything they'd fought for, everything they'd been through; it was all over. Finished in an instant. Gideon had everything he wanted, and the Rangers were completely at his mercy. And it was all his fault.

The room started to spin, his breathing growing tighter as Doc slumped into a chair with a sinking heart. He'd stopped paying attention, Gideon's taunting fading into an echoed muffle as he desperately searched for an answer. But there wasn't one; there was nothing he could do.

It was all down to the Rangers now, he just had to hope they'd pull through. No, he knew they would. They always did.

That's what made them special.

At last, Gideon finished issuing his demand and returned his delighted attention to Benson.

"Sorry I don't have a waiting room," Benson said dryly. "Can't offer you a magazine."

"No matter," Gideon replied. "I'm sure I'll find ways to pass the time."

"Think you're so smart, huh?" Doc asked, "You really think the Rangers aren't going to stop you?"

"They're welcome to try," Gideon grinned. "Of course, with you as my prisoner, their options are somewhat limited. Now, pleasant as this conversation is, I have a few friends who would like to join us."

From his cloak, he produced a large, square disk before looming over the console, Doc completely helpless as he watched Gideon insert the cartridge into the computer before tapping away. Sheets of code rolled along the screen, every monitor flicking to life as over by the Digitizer the projector's lens began to glow. Light burst out, flashing at the point of impact and blossoming into a humanoid shape. In its wake, a robotic warrior now stood before them.

A Byte-Bot.

The foot-solider snapped to attention, obediently stepping back as Gideon cackled at the success and hammered at the keys some more. The projector flashed, again and again, each time with more beams and bright bursts as an assembly line of production erupted from the device.

The number just didn't seem to stop.

The Digitizer began to rattle, shaking against its holding bolts as the bots cramped further and further into the room.

"I'd be careful," Doc warned coldly. "Wouldn't want it to go off."

"I'm well aware, Julian," Gideon sneered back. "But no worries, I already have a solution in mind."

At last, the projector died down, whirring to a stop as the now legion of Byte-Bot turned to their master and saluted in perfect unison.

"Stand guard outside, but let the Rangers through," Gideon ordered. "If anyone else approached, well… you know what to do."

Without any question or hesitation, the Byte-Bots spun into a march, their boots stamping the cement as they stepped in time. With his perimeter secure, Gideon wandered over to the Digitizer.

"Now," he chuckled. "For what I really came for."

He reached to the top and pulled open a panel, revealing the wiring within, the lilac glow of the built-up digital energy illuminating outwards.

"It's a shame, Julian," Gideon mused. "You never did truly comprehend the power of what we were creating."

"What I was creating," Doc shot back. "All you did was fetch the tools."

"And yet here I am," Gideon tutted. "Taking greatness with my own hands, a power you were too afraid to touch."

"I never touched it, because I'm not a maniac," Doc sneered. "Because I wasn't prepared to give up what made me human."

"And that, my old friend, was your biggest mistake."

With an evil smile, Gideon lowered his hand into the Digitizer, the glowing only intensifying as he did. Like water displaced from its container, the energy flowed outwards, bursting from within while having nowhere else to go. Nowhere but Gideon.

Streams of lights wisped outwards, streaming into his body as the villain's echoing voice cackled with laughter. The glowing was intensifying, now emanating from his very body as it consumed him more and more. Doc snapped his hands to shield his eyes as the light grew blinding and enveloped Gideon completely. Then, with a violent flash, it vanished.

Gideon stood there, smoke rising from his body as he stared at his hands. His fists clenched, muscles bulging beneath his suit, and as he raised his head to Doc, the scientist gasped at what he saw. Every vein beneath his face was glowing, edges blacked as they pulsed beneath his flesh, leading to a pair of bright, glowing orbs that now replaced his eyes.

He'd made himself the very thing he'd always send to fight the Rangers.

A monster.

"Such short-sighted thinking," Gideon mused as he stepped from the Digitizer, casting the panel aside to leave the glowing core exposed. "You presumed that it was only when pulsing that the Digitizer would be able to confer power unto others."

"Only because I never thought someone would be stupid enough to expose themselves to the core," Doc shot back. "You have no idea what that much digital energy could do to you! How much it could change you!"

"But I do," Gideon grinned. "Believe me I do. I can feel it now, pulsing through me, invigorating me. To think you had such power within your grasp this entire time, and yet you did nothing with it. All for the sake of your precious humanity; something I have now evolved far beyond."

"It won't be enough," Doc warned. "You might think you're all-powerful, but the Rangers will still take you down. Their track record's against you."

But Gideon simply laughed. "Perhaps against one of Kelgar's pitiful creations, but I am another matter entirely."

"So, what are you going to do now? Bore me to death, maybe? Sit here and gloat about your evil plan?"

"Such impatience, Julian," Gideon mocked. "I'm surprised you haven't figured it out for yourself. With the Rangers destroyed, I will build up an army of Byte-Bots and take this city's power plant. With all the power I need, I will take the cities surrounding, then the state, then the country. Then the world!"

There it was. The master stroke plan. Just as predictable as ever.

"Take over the world, that's really it?" Benson laughed, "I'm disappointed; I'd have thought you'd have been at least a little bit original."

"You can laugh all you want, Benson," Gideon snarled. "But your opinion means nothing to me; nor will it matter, given I have no intention of letting you live long enough to see it."

"All these years," Doc pressed. "You're still as unimaginative as ever."

That one got him. Gideon's face twisted into a scowl, shadow growing beneath his brow as Doc's taunts continued to pierce him. "Unimaginative? Do you not see all I have achieved?"

"All built on the back of someone else's work," Benson sneered. "You used my Digitizer, Kelgar's monsters. You barely have any idea of how it works. Just see a button, push it, and hope for the best. You haven't achieved anything for yourself."

Gideon's hand was at his throat before he could move, grasp sealed tight as the monstrous man reefed him from the seat. Doc gasped for precious air as Gideon pulled him closer.

"You may laugh all you want, Julian," he sneered. "But it will not change your fate. Your Rangers will surrender their Morphers to me; their precious "moral fiber" will make it so. And then, I will make them watch, helplessly, as I destroy you. And then each other. And when you and your precious warriors are nothing but ash, nothing will be left to stand in my way!"

"DAMMIT!"

Ray slammed his helmet on the edge of the tree, suit strengthening his bones to shatter the wood in its path. Then, keeping his grip tight, breathing hissing every seethe, he sunk to his knees as the world started to spin.

Stupid!

Of course, Gideon was up to something, why else would he just attack and run away? Why else would he hold Hilary prisoner, if not to lure them all away?

Why else would he-?

The rest of the team was reeling, Johnny staring blankly into the distance, while Jake slumped against the vehicle in a vain attempt to even his breath. Beside Ray, Ben held his sister, both squeezing the other for comfort. Kyle and Freeman both looked dispassionate, the trained façade of soldiers practiced in compartmentalizing only meaning it hadn't hit them yet. But they knew what it meant.

It meant they'd lost.

That it was over.

At last, Hilary breathed in deeply as she stepped towards her boyfriend and put her gloved hand on the shoulder of his suit. "Ray, this isn't your fault."

Tenderly he took her hand, looking upwards to see her quivering eyes staring down in comfort. Eyes that betrayed her own uncertainty. She may not have blamed him, but she did herself.

They all blamed themselves.

"It doesn't matter if it's my fault or not," Ray replied sadly. "Not now that Gideon's got what he wants."

But Hilary wasn't having any of it, kneeling lower to sternly meet his gaze. "And what would have happened if we chased him?" she asked. "If we'd gone after Gideon, then there would have been no one to stop Kelgar from going all Godzilla on the city."

"Yeah?" Ray retorted, "Well now that we've stopped Godzilla, Gideon has control over not only the Digitizer but also Doc's life. He's now able to create far more Byte-Bots than ever before, not to mention take away our Ranger powers with the push of a button. It's o-"

And then he stopped himself, as at last Hilary's stern veneer broke with a quivering lip, with shimmering eyes that trembled in desperation. Desperate for it not to be true. She threw her arms around him before the dam could break, burying her head in his chest before inhaling quiet sobs. Ray's arm curled around her, holding her tightly as he fought back tears of his own.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I'm not angry at you. You're right, we did our best."

"If it's anyone's fault, it's mine," said Freeman. "I should have left some men to protect him."

"We both know Gideon would have walked straight through them," Kyle reasoned. "Just as he knew we couldn't let Kelgar destroy the city. He read us like a book, and then played us."

"So, I guess it's over, then?" Ben realized despondently. "Just like that? Gideon… won?'"

"Yeah," said Johnny. "I guess he has. The sheer number of Byte-Bots he can make now would be more than we could handle. And now without our Zords…"

"I…" Kyle stammered. "I don't see any way we can win."

Slowly pulling from their embrace, Ray and Hilary both nodded in solemn agreement. Whatever moves they had left to play, Gideon would halt them in an instant; either through control of their Morphers or threats to Doc's safety.

Slowly they rose to their feet, to join the others in despair.

"No," stated Jake.

He leaned forward from the car, face narrowing into hard determination. As he looked around, he caught each Ranger's gaze, face growing resolve only growing as he met them. And seeing it, Ray felt the weight begin to lift.

"Dude," Ben asked. "What are you talking about?"

"It's not over," Jake insisted. "It can't be."

Slowly the other Rangers shared a look, uncertain whether their friend was diving deep into denial. And yet, there was something about his voice, a hardness in the words that made the syllable infectious. That made them want to believe him.

"Hilary," Jake said to her. "You've read those archives; how many Rangers have been through worse, only to come out on top."

Realization slowly dawning, the Yellow Ranger nodded, the words falling out like a gasp that dared to hope. "Heaps of them."

"And what about us?" Jake continued. "Things have been bad before, and we've still pulled through. We've fought legendary warriors from the past and been thrown into the future; every time Gideon threw a mountain at us that we thought was too big, we found a way to climb it anyway!"

Slowly they were nodding; their worried, beaten faces lifting to optimism, to faith. It felt like Ray's heart was beating again, like a current had been kick-started and sent live through his veins.

They could do this.

"He's right," Ben realized. "I mean, remember the day we got our powers? How bad those odds seemed then? Man, we had no idea how much harder it was going to get. And we're still here!"

Ray caught the look in Jake's eyes, a daring invitation to take the step; to take command. To lead the team not in defeat, but to victory. Just the words he'd needed to hear.

The others were grinning too, courageous confidence reigniting the fires within them. The stubborn pride that refused to let them truly back down.

That would refuse to let them lose.

"Guys," Ray told them. "We were made Rangers for a reason, whether we wanted to be or not. We knew when we picked up those Morphers we were taking a responsibility to do what no one else could, to fight for those who couldn't. Well right now, those people need us more than ever. Because once a Ranger…"

Others nodded, replying with one united voice, "Always a Ranger!"

"We still have our Ranger powers," Ray continued. "And even without them, our civilian ones. And even if it's hard, even if it seems impossible, I know that as long as there's breath in my lungs and we stand together, we owe the people of this city this fight. Because it's what we do."

Jake was grinning now, already offering his hand at the center as Ray placed his on top in solidarity.

"Then let's do this," Hilary nodded as her hand joined them.

"I'm in," said Johnny.

"Me too," stated Ben.

Then last came Kyle, joining their circle to place his hand on top.

"To the end of the line," he grinned.

"So, let's take the power we've got," Ray ordered. "And use it to make Gideon sorry he ever crawled out of that wreckage. Make him wish he'd never come to Cranston City at all."

"RIGHT!"

They broke the circle, spinning in synchronicity with helmets under their arms to stand face toward Freeman, standing ready.

"So, what's the plan?" he asked them.

"Gideon only has control while he's got Doc prisoner," Ray replied. "So, the priority is getting him out of there. Once he's in the clear, we can't finish this once and for all."

"All well and good," Freeman replied. "But to do that you'll need to get close, real close. By now he'll have the entire warehouse surrounded, there's no way you'll be getting in undetected."

But Ray's grin was already widening. Soon it was a look that was shared by Johnny and Hilary before Ben and Jake too began nodding in excited understanding. Even Kyle quickly caught on to what the Red Ranger was planning, a dastardly smirk of a plan he was going to enjoy.

They didn't need to beat Gideon, he would do that for them. He wouldn't be able to help himself. Because every time their nemesis had come close to victory, he'd always needed to gloat.

To make them suffer.

Gideon didn't have weaknesses; he was a weakness.

And it was going to bring him down for good.

"Simple," Ray replied. "To get to Doc, we need to get close to Gideon; so, we're going to give him what he wants."