Chapter 32: Grid Connection Part 1
Running into Grid Battleforce, Ryne barely managed to remember to say hi to the guards as she quickly scanned her pass and made her way through through the corridors.
"Ryne!" at Ravi's call, Ryne turned and spotted the rest of her team, who seemed as worried as she was.
"What's going on?" the Pink Ranger asked as she hurried to catch up with them. The group hurried together, headed not to the Command Centre, but one of the hanger bays where the Commander was waiting for them. All of them had been called in, disrupting their free day and bringing them all back together.
"No clue, but the Commander didn't sound happy," Zoey answered as Devon grumbled to himself. They reached the hangar, and the doors were already open as people came and went. "Commander!" Zoey spotted the woman who was waiting for them patiently. Lewis stood beside her, just as serious. "What's so urgent?" she asked as they walked in.
"Please tell me this is just a drill, Cruise was just about to take me to a video game tournament," Devon complained. His console was in his hand - he'd been practising when the call had come in. The rest of the Rangers turned to stare at him, and he blushed. "I got a championship to defend! Kerry's waiting and she'll never let me hear the end of it," he complained. If things didn't seem so tense, the others would have teased him for spending so much time with his rival.
"It's not a drill," Commander Shaw spoke up. She looked serious, and the fact that she didn't even give Devon an annoyed look told them just how serious the matter was. She turned her head, and their eyes widened as they spotted a familiar figure walking towards them.
"Keeper?" Ryne gasped at the sight of the alien. "What are you doing here?" she asked, confused.
"Hello Rangers. I know it has not been long for you, but it has been many years for me," Keeper told them, but he looked grave. "I've come to warn you that I've had a vision. A vision of many Power Rangers in a mighty battle," they frowned at Keeper's words.
"And what happens to the Power Rangers?" Zoey asked, noticing that Keeper hadn't mentioned a victory.
"They were beaten. Perhaps destroyed," Keeper warned gravely. "It could disrupt the timeline and change things as we know it," he said, and for a moment they were all quiet at his warning.
"Were we the Power Rangers you saw?" Steel asked, breaking that quiet.
"As you know, there are many Ranger teams throughout time. I cannot know for sure which Rangers were fighting, and when. The vision was not clear," Keeper shook his head, apologetic that he wasn't able to give more information about it. Before they could press him for more information, Keeper turned to Devon. "But I saw you, Devon. You were hit by a meteor," Devon froze for a moment, before he fully processed Keeper's words.
"A meteor?" he repeated, and a sceptical look crossed his face. "From outer space?" he pointed up. "Are you sure?" Devon asked, finding the whole thing a little ridiculous.
"Yes. That part of the vision was clear. I do not know when or how these things will come to pass, but I have a strong connection to the Morphin' Grid. You must be ready," Keeper warned them all, but kept his focus on Devon.
"Hold on," Devon couldn't help but smile despite the warning. "A battle against Rangers that may or may not be us, and a meteor? With all due respect Keeper, this vision from the Morphin' Grid, it's a little far-fetched," he admitted.
"Don't dismiss Keeper so easily, Devon," Ryne warned him quickly. While it did seem a little crazy, she admired Keeper from the stories she had heard about him when she was growing up. "Keeper was in charge of the Energems and worked closely with their creator. He is as linked to the Morphin' Grid as any Ranger, if not more," she told the Red Ranger firmly.
"I don't doubt it. But getting hit by a meteor? It's just crazy," Devon shook his head.
"So, you doubt the existence of the Morphin' Grid?" Keeper challenged, taking Devon by surprise. Ryne hid a smile as Devon began to stutter.
"No, I get the Grid - we tap into it in the Towers, it's how we get Morph-X," Devon answered so confidently that Ryne had to fight the impulse to roll her eyes. "But visions and seeing the future? Sounds sketchy," he said.
"I don't know," Zoey said quietly, arms crossed as she looked uncomfortable. "I've studied Ranger history. There's some pretty amazing stories about the Grid," she pointed out. The others agreed with the Yellow Ranger.
"Either way, we need to be prepared," Nate told him, taking the warning a lot more seriously than their Red Ranger.
"Hey, I'm always prepared," Devon said, puffing out his chest proudly. "If there's trouble. But right now I have to get to this competition. If you need me, Cruise can bring me back, it's less than an hour away," he said, turning to the Commander hopefully. She gave a deep sigh, knowing how headstrong Devon was.
"Okay," she relented. "But stay alert," she warned him as his face lit up.
"Great! See ya!" Devon turned and strode towards the door as Cruise followed him dutifully.
"Devon!" he stopped, trying not to sigh as Keeper called out his name. "You should not doubt the power of the Morphin' Grid!" he warned, and Devon smiled confidently at him.
"Don't worry. I'll look out for any meteors," he struggled not to laugh, and ran out the door with his Beast Bot companion. Ryne shook her head.
"Maybe getting hit with a meteor will soften that hard head of his," she muttered. Ravi, the only one to hear her, snorted, before trying to give her a stern look. Ryne gave him a droll stare back, unaffected by his silent attempt to chastise her after hearing the sound he made. "The rest of us will stay alert until Devon gets back. We don't have much information, but staying prepared is the best thing for us," she said, and they nodded.
"Great," they turned at Lewis' bright voice. "That means you can join me for some training," he decided. All of them groaned.
"I swear, you're a major sadist," Ryne told their instructor, who kept the innocent look on his face.
"Just making sure you're ready for anything, including a huge battle," he said, but none of them believed him.
Lewis lost that innocent smile as their training was interrupted by an alert from Asher that pulled Nate back to his lab, and before long the Gold Ranger had called the rest to the Command Centre, warning them of an emergency transmission coming through.
"Put it on the main monitor," Commander Shaw ordered as she strode into the room. Nate was working frantically to connect the message that was being sent to them.
"Yes ma'am," he nodded, sending the link to the bigger screen as the other four Rangers and Lewis followed her in.
"Where's the transmission from?" Ravi asked as Nate straightened up and moved to join them. His expression was grim.
"The past," their eyes widened at his words. The screen flickered, and suddenly Tyler showed up on screen. The same age as he was when they had last seen him, Tyler was bruised and covered in dirt.
"Tyler? What's going on?" Ryne asked, surprised to see the Red Ranger reaching out to them. As far as they knew, Chase had cast a spell that would cause them to forget the team.
"We're under attack. There are too many of them - they're after our Energems," Tyler said, and in the background they saw the Rangers fighting off massive amounts of monsters.
"Keeper's vision is coming true," Steel realised in horror.
"Chase's spell on us broke and we remembered your team. Something tells us that it was for a reason, so I contacted you," Tyler was breathing heavily as explosions shook the area around him and caused the transmission to flicker. "You have a transportal device, don't you? Please, open a portal and come here," he pleaded, and the transmission ended; the Rangers unsure of if it was intention or not.
"Battle-ready, now," Commander Shaw didn't waste any time.
"What about Devon?" Nate asked as Commander Shaw went to her desk and pulled a box from the drawer.
"He'll have to follow you later. Ryne will lead you in the meantime. Let's go, Rangers," she ordered. For a moment, Ryne didn't move, and Steel put a hand on her shoulder. Finally Ryne blinked, but didn't lose the scared look on her face.
"We have to be careful. This is a crucial time we're going back to. It could be Evox trying to mess with time, and we can't let him change anything," she said. The others gave her gentle smiles.
"We'll stop him," Zoey assured her.
"We always do," Ravi said, confident. Their words had Ryne calm down, and her powers settled.
"You're right," she said. "Then let's go. It's Morphin' Time!" she shouted.
"ACTIVATE BEAST POWER, HA!" they Morphed, and Commander Shaw activated the transportal device that Spencer had left with her after their last trip to the past.
"Stick together," Ryne warned her team, and they stepped through. As they did, the portal vanished behind them, and Lewis and Commander Shaw exchanged looks, both as worried as each other.
Landing in a place far different to where they had previously been, the Rangers looked around the wooded area where they had been brought. It wasn't quite as tranquil as it looked, as the sounds of fighting filled the air.
"There's Tyler!" Ravi was the one to spot the Red Ranger, who was being thrown around by not only Vivix, but Putties, Tronix and a various host of other foot soldiers too.
"Let's get in there! Be careful!" Ryne told her team, and they ran in to help out the Dino Charge team.
"Fresh meat!" the monster that seemed to be leading the charge was familiar, but they couldn't quite work out why.
"Them again?!" Snide snarled as he followed Goldar Maximus to fight the reinforcements. "You're as big a pain as them!" Snide focused on Ryne, who spun to avoid his sword.
"And you're just annoying," she fired back, landing a kick to his chest and throwing him backwards. Nearby, Ravi kicked away the Putties that were harassing Tyler, giving him a moment to breathe.
"We're here to help," he told the thankful Red Ranger, who smiled in relief.
"Ty!" the familiar voice made Ravi's eyes widen as he saw the White Ranger run to Tyler's side. A ball of golden light flickered to life in her hand, and she hurled it at the Putties rushing in. It exploded, blowing them away. "You alright?" she asked, and Tyler nodded with a smile.
"I'm fine," he said, and Teddie glanced at Ravi. Her confusion was obvious in her body language, and Ravi struggled to find words to greet her.
"Who are you? I've never seen your team before," Teddie said, suspicious and confused.
"We, uh-"
"I'll explain later," Tyler told her quickly. "They're here to help," he soothed, and Teddie gave a tired sigh.
"I hate not knowing stuff," she complained, and Tyler managed a laugh before she ran off to help the others.
"Any idea what's going on here? Why have they all come to our time?" Tyler asked, and Ravi shrugged.
"I have no idea how they came to this time," he admitted.
Ryne cursed as she dodged another of Snide's blows, fighting back as hard as she could against the vicious monster. She didn't dare risk using her powers, and instead fought off Snide with her sabre as he growled and snarled at her.
"Hey!" her eyes widened when Chase jumped between, raising a shield that Snide's sword bounced off. "You alright?" he glanced over his shoulder at Ryne, who nodded.
"I'm fine, thanks," Ryne smiled, and cocked her head. "We're supposed to be helping you, you know," she pointed out, and despite the dire situation, Chase laughed.
"Can't help myself," he shrugged, and the two fought off Snide together.
"Give me your Energem!" Snide yelled as he managed to catch Chase across the stomach. The Black Ranger cried out as the force flipped him through the air so he landed on his back. Out of energy, his suit shattered, leaving him exposed like Tyler and Ivan nearby.
"No!" Ryne ran in as he advanced on Chase's vulnerable form, but Snide backhanded her across the helmet. Stunned and her vision swimming, Ryne fell to her knees, leaving Snide free to snatch the Black Energem from around Chase's neck.
"Thanks for the Black Energem!" he mocked as he stood over the fallen young man. "And for good measure…" he raised his sword over his head, intent on finishing Chase off, before blue lightning crackled through the air and hit Snide in the back, making him screech.
"Bro, you okay?" Teddie called as she helped Chase to his feet. He wound an arm around his stomach, but nodded.
"I'll be better when I get my Energem back," he muttered. Ryne looked up as she felt someone helping her up, and her eyes went wide under her helmet.
"You Rangers really are popping out of the woodwork from all manner of places," the younger form of her father commented as he released her, and Ryne stared at him, unable to speak. "And I would really like to know how you dragged yourself back. It's hardly been two hours since we destroyed you," Heckyl turned to Snide, who held the Black Energem tightly in his hand. Snide sneered back at him.
"Ask her," he gestured to Ryne, whose eyes went wide under her helmet as Teddie and Heckyl both looked at the Pink Ranger standing with them. She swallowed, before taking a breath.
"Later. Right now we have to stop them from stealing all the Energems," she said.
"She's right," Chase nodded. Nearby, Koda yelled as he was thrown from the trees that surrounded the clearing where they fought, and demorphed as he landed.
"You humans have always been pathetic," Goldar Maximus strode out after him, laughing loudly as he yanked the Blue Energem from around Koda's neck. "Now I, Goldar Maximus, have the Blue Energem!" he declared as he held the shining Blue gemstone in the air.
"Not for long!" Ravi shouted, sounding winded. As Zoey, Nate and Steel stood with him, Ryne ran over to join them.
"Please tell me he didn't call himself Goldar," she muttered to her team.
"This isn't going to be pretty," Nate winced, recognising the name as well. All of them did - as one of the formidable generals in Rita Repulsa's army, Goldar's strength was renowned, and Ranger History had taught them that the Mighty Morphin' Rangers had always struggled against him.
Goldar Maximus gave a loud roar and charged, his sword held high, and they fought him as best they could. However, their attacks just seemed to bounce off his thick golden armour, and Ryne threw a punch that seemed to hurt her more than it did him. Laughing loudly, Goldar grabbed her and hurled the Pink Ranger into Steel as he ran in, and the two crashed to the ground with the others.
"Is that the best you've got?" Goldar taunted, and swung his sword hard. Blue energy rocketed towards them, and no sooner had the five Rangers gotten to their feet were they thrown back down. This time, their suits couldn't hold, and they demorphed.
"Come in, GB Command. Come in," Ravi pleaded as he managed to sit up. The others were still trying to muster the strength to do the same as their Blue Ranger, and all they heard from Ravi's wristcom was static.
"Don't think we get great reception to the future," Ryne groaned.
Lewis was sure that he was about to wear a hole in the flooring of the Command Centre, but he didn't care.
"Commander, let me go look for him," he asked the woman. Commander Shaw was holding it together better than he was, but Lewis could see just how stressed she was. The slightest inconvenience would set her off.
"No," she denied him once more, and Lewis bit back a frustrated yell. "If it comes to it, I'm going to have to send you there instead," the Commander warned him, and Lewis once again fought not to groan. As their trainer, Lewis was a better fighter than the Rangers, but without being a Ranger himself, he didn't dare risk it, especially with it being a trip to the past.
Finally the doors slid open, and the pair spun around to see Devon run in. Breathless, covered in dirt and looking a little frazzled, Devon was a sight for sore eyes.
"Where the hell have you been?" Lewis demanded as Devon beelined for the Commander.
"I've been trying to call you!" the Commander's usual calm manner of speaking had gone out the window, and Devon winced at how angry she sounded.
"My wristcom is busted," he explained. "You aren't going to believe what happened. Cruise and I were just-"
"Devon," something about how the Commander spoke made Devon fall silent. "The Dino Charge Rangers were attacked. The others went back in time to help them," Devon felt like his stomach had just plummeted as she brought him up to speed.
"They did? When? Are they okay?" he asked, bombarding her with questions.
"Play the message," Commander Shaw told Lewis, who nodded and brought it up again. Footage of Ravi appeared on screen. He was covered in dirt, and had a small cut over his eyebrow, making him look thoroughly trounced in their fight.
"Come in GB Command, do you read me? Come in!" Ravi pleaded, crackling and breaking up as he spoke. In the background, Devon heard more fighting going on.
"Don't think we get great reception to the future," they heard Ryne's groan, as she sounded as injured as Ravi looked.
"Goldar's back, and he's calling himself Goldar Maximus," Devon was chilled at Ravi's warning. "They're just too powerful. Our Morphers, weapons, transporters, everything has been destroyed! They've stolen four Energems," Ravi continued his warning as more explosions rocked.
"Ravi, we've gotta go!" Zoey yelled.
"Even if Devon can open up another portal…it's too dangerous. We need more-" Ravi's message ended abruptly, and Devon tried desperately not to assume the worst.
"They're helpless," Lewis spoke, seeing no point in sugarcoating the truth. "Even if we were to send you back…you're powerful, but not that powerful," he shook his head, and Devon clenched his fists.
"Goldar Maximus…" he breathed, and realised that he was shaking. This was dire - too dire. It was the worst his team had ever faced, and he wasn't even there to help.
"Devon!" he whirled around as Keeper appeared nearby.
"I should have listened to you!" Devon was unable to stop his frustrated words as he rushed over to Keeper. "The Morphin' Grid tried to warn me, but I left anyway," he breathed, furious at himself.
"Beat yourself up later. Right now you have bigger things to worry about," Lewis warned him. He wasn't about to let Devon wallow in self-pity when the rest of his team needed him. When the timeline itself was at risk.
"I need to help my friends. Somehow…" Devon turned to the Commander. "Will you open another portal?" he asked her, and was surprised at the shake of her head.
"Not without help. Not without a plan," she refused, though it crushed her to deny him. "The forces against them are too powerful," Commander Shaw warned as Devon started to protest. He fell silent, knowing that she was right. He then turned to Keeper.
"Like you said, there's lots of Rangers out there," he said, and Keeper nodded. "And they're all connected through the Morphin' Grid. Wait!" Devon's eyes widened. "What if we use the Grid to send a call for help? Someone might hear," he considered.
"It is possible, but it will take a great deal of power to access the Grid. More power than I have," Keeper could only shrug, knowing that he didn't have that kind of power.
"Every Morph-X Tower taps into the Morphin' Grid. If I could go there-"
"Impossible," Commander Shaw cut Devon off the moment she caught onto his line of thinking. "The energy flow is too intense," she warned. If Devon stepped into that flow unprotected, he'd be killed instantly.
"Sorry it took so long," Cruise's apology made them look around, and they saw him walking inside with Asher. The Beast Bot held a small metal box in his hands. "I had to find a lead case to shield the meteor," he patted it lightly.
"I'm very curious to know what Cruise is doing with a meteor," Asher said, hands on her hips.
"That's why my communications were busted," Devon gestured to the box. "The meteor knocked us right off the road," he explained, and their eyes went wide.
"You were hit by a meteor?" Lewis demanded, glancing at Keeper as he remembered the warning the alien had given.
"Show them," Devon nodded to Cruise. He opened the box, and the lights in the room began to flicker dangerously as all the computer systems began to go on the fritz.
"The meteor emits some sort of weird magnetic field," Cruise warned as Devon grabbed the box and quickly shut it over. "See what I mean? It's like it's disrupting energy," Cruise considered.
"I've never seen anything like that," Asher adjusted her glasses as she peered at the box carefully.
"That's it!" Devon's eyes lit up, and Asher and Lewis instantly exchanged wary glances. "The Morphin' Grid sent the meteor for a reason. It might be able to shield me from the energy in the tower, just long enough to send an SOS," Devon turned to Keeper, who hummed.
"Interesting idea," he hummed thoughtfully. "Let's try it," Keeper agreed. The two hurried out with Commander Shaw behind them, and Lewis put a hand to his face.
"What have I missed?" Asher asked, completely confused.
The Beast Morphers and Dino Charge Rangers were able to escape and take refuge in the forest, away from Goldar Maximus, Snide, and their assortment of footsoldiers, but it wasn't without cost.
On top of the four Energems they'd stolen earlier, Goldar and Snide had both claimed another Energem each, as Jeremy and Olivia found themselves as powerless as Tyler, Chase, Ivan and Koda.
"How are you feeling?" Ryne asked as she cleaned the cut on Ravi's forehead, making sure that the blow to his head hadn't concussed him. That was the last thing they needed.
"I'm okay, really. You don't need to fuss," Ravi soothed her.
"Yeah, you're starting to sound like a mother," Nate teased, and Ryne swatted at him. "Hey!" he protested as she almost knocked his glasses from his face. Ryne stuck her tongue out at him, and both Zoey and Ravi couldn't help but smile despite the situation.
"Thanks for coming here. We really appreciate the help," they turned their attention to Tyler as he walked over to talk to them.
"Sorry we couldn't stop Goldar Maximus and Snide from taking your Energems," Ryne apologised, running a hand through her hair. "I can't believe they came here," she sighed, frustrated at the lack of answers.
"We'll figure it out, and we'll stop them," Tyler said, before an arm slung around Ryne's shoulders.
"Yeah we will," Jeremy said, oddly cheerful despite losing his Energem. "Things look bad now, but we'll pull it back," he told her, and Ryne rolled her eyes as she tried to pull out of his grip.
"So you guys know each other?" they turned their attention to Olivia, who had her arms folded as she approached with the rest of the Dino Charge Rangers. Her gaze went to Ryne as she tried to break out of Jeremy's hold, and found her irritated look oddly familiar.
"It's an…odd story," Chase gave his girlfriend a weak smile. Olivia narrowed her eyes at him, wanting to know just what he was hiding.
"Snide said you know how he came back," Teddie said, eyes focused on Ryne. The Pink Ranger did her best not to cringe away from the probing stare.
"We do," Ryne answered, not backing down as she decided to be the one to explain. "You don't know of our team yet because we're from the future," all but the ones who knew them stared openly, stunned by the revelation.
"The future?" James repeated, trying to process that statement. Ryne nodded.
"In our time, the enemy that we're fighting got hold of a device called a Reanimiser that lets him bring back monsters, and he's fixated on restoring monsters from Ranger history. Goldar Maximus is the latest of - oh god!" Ryne exclaimed, turning to her team. "That's why they wanted diamonds! To use the reanimiser to make stronger monsters!" she exclaimed. Ravi, Zoey and Nate all went pale as they realised she was right.
"Really glad that we stopped them before they could steal more. One is too much," Ravi groaned.
"If you're from the future," Kendall was the one to speak up next, disrupting their discussion. "How do you know each other?" she asked, turning her attention to Tyler and Jeremy.
"A little while ago, Keeper went to the future - we still have no idea why, but whatever it was, it was important. We went to find him when he didn't come back straight away, and met these guys. They helped us save Keeper," Chase explained. "Because we didn't want to change anything, I used magic to put a spell on us to seal our memories away until our paths crossed again," he told them.
"Right, that wasn't long after Jeremy joined the team," Shelby gasped as the memory came back to her, no longer hindered by the magic that had caused them to forget.
"When they attack us, the spell break," Koda added in. His hand kept going to where his Energem should have been. "We remember our friends," he smiled at the team, who smiled back.
"So much for meeting under better circumstances," Ivan mused. "And where is Sir Devon?" he asked. He hadn't missed that they were down a Ranger themselves.
"Devon wasn't with us when we got your distress call," Ravi answered.
"He'll show, and knowing him he'll have some crazy plan of action," Zoey smiled, believing in their leader. Ryne, Ravi, Nate and Steel all nodded, showing the Dino Charge Rangers that the team believed in their leader just as much they did with Tyler.
"Now that we have that out of the way…is that robot really a Ranger?" Riley was the one to ask the question on all their minds.
"I remember the last robot that helped us…didn't go so well," Teddie smirked as she glanced at Philip. The Graphite Ranger blushed deep as he remembered it well.
"Excuse you!" Steel was indignant. "I'm only half robot," he said, offended by their words. "And I am a great help! Right, bro?" Steel turned to Nate, who was fighting his laughter.
"Steel is half human. It's a long story, but I assure you," Nate smiled at the team. "My brother is exactly who you want to have in a fight," he promised, taking the fire out of Steel.
"Bro…" he stared at Nate, who blushed and shrugged.
"One question down and two more spring up in its place. Seems commonplace for you Rangers," Heckyl said, and Teddie elbowed him.
"Speaking of," Jeremy pulled Ryne close again as she tried to break free of his grasp. "We're going to need all our power. We can't hold anything back," her eyes widened as she understood his meaning.
"He's right," Chase agreed, Ivan and Tyler smiled faintly, and Koda nodded eagerly. Ryne looked at her team, unsure.
"Without Devon here, you're in charge," Ravi pointed out. Nate nodded with a grin.
"Most of our weapons are trashed, we're going to need all the power we can get," Zoey added. Ryne grumbled, knowing that the two were right.
"You have extra power?" Philip asked as the rest of the group tried to understand the cryptic discussion going on right in front of them.
"Oh, she has extra power alright," Jeremy said cheerfully. Ryne rolled her eyes and finally managed to break out of his grip.
"You're worse than Lewis, you know that?" she said as the Silver Ranger just laughed. Ryne then took a breath, and held up her hand with her palm facing up. All but the ones who understood jumped back, startled at the blue energy that began to gather in her open palm.
"That's…" Teddie breathed, looking up at Heckyl as she found it identical to his powers. He was staring at Ryne with confusion, not understanding how she shared his powers.
"You're from Sentai-6?" Heckyl's words were slow as he tried to understand what was going on. His memories, still hazy and slow to return, made it impossible to tell for sure, but something told him that he was the only survivor of Arcanon's wrath.
"Not quite," Ryne said as she let the power fade, and her arm fell to her side.
"If you're not from Sentai-6, then how do you have those powers?" Teddie asked, and Ryne raised an eyebrow at her.
"I think it's easy to figure out from what I've already told you," she said, tilting her head. Teddie's eyes narrowed as she found the action familiar, but it still didn't connect for her.
"Oh," Kendall was the first to realise, putting a hand to her mouth. Ryne glanced over as she heard her, and she smiled slightly at her aunt.
"What is it?" Shelby asked, not understanding as she looked from Ryne over to Kendall. "How could she have his pow-oh," it finally dawned on her when she saw Jeremy failing to hide his laughter. Ryne then gasped, and started to laugh when Koda couldn't hold back any longer and threw himself at her to hug her tightly.
"Koda!" she couldn't help but giggle as he lifted her off her feet. It clicked for Heckyl moments before Koda spoke, finding her laughing expression very reminiscent of Teddie. Something inside squirmed, his heart racing as he realised just who Ryne was.
"She family!" he exclaimed, setting Ryne down. She sobered, and ran a hand through her hair. Teddie had gone bright red, and was now beating Jeremy with her fists as she tried to stop his hysterical laughter.
"I know it's a lot right now," she said, meeting Heckyl's stunned gaze for just a moment before she looked away. "But we need to focus on why monsters under Evox's control have decided to come back here, and who else came with them," Ryne turned to her team, who nodded.
"Something tells me the Robo-Trio will be around somewhere," Zoey considered aloud.
"Then we better get some intel," Tyler decided.
It wasn't very difficult for Ryne and Chase to hide in the shadows, high up in a tree as they watched the Vivix and Putties preparing some sort of makeshift lab for Scrozzle. By the base of the same tree, Tyler was keeping watch as well as he made use of his powers of invisibility to spy.
All three watched as the strange mix of foot soldiers pushed a rickety wheelbarrow through the grass. It shook dangerously as they traversed the unsteady ground, threatening to tip over and dump the rocks that they were transporting. Ryne's eyebrows furrowed as she watched, wondering just what they were planning.
"There you are!" Scrozzle exclaimed as he turned at the loud sounds of their arrival. "Finally!" he added, impatient as he hauled one of the rocks from the wheelbarrow. "This one's a good shape," he admired it in his hands. It was hefty, and he struggled to hold it to the point where he almost dropped it when he was suddenly shoved.
"You're taking too long!" Snide snarled at him, even more impatient than the robot was. "Do you even know what you're doing?!" he demanded as Scrozzle cowered in front of him.
"Of course!" Scrozzle snapped back. "This is exactly what Keeper said to do! He was under mind-control, so obviously he was telling the truth," his words made Tyler's breath catch, and Ryne exchanged looks with Chase. They had wondered why they had captured Keeper in the first place, and the alien's memory had been nothing but a blank, leaving them with no answers. "We have six kinds of dinosaur DNA, and more than enough Energems," he held out his hand to reveal the stolen Energems. They sparkled brightly despite the overcast area they were using.
"We could have gotten more, had the Rangers not escaped!" Snide growled.
"Who cares?" Scrozzle dismissed his complaints as he went back to studying the rock in his hand. "This geode is perfect, we just need to find a way to crack it open," he said. In a beat, Goldar Maximus had raised his blade and brought it down hard, splitting the rock perfectly. "That'll do," he hummed.
"What's taking so long?!" Ryne went rigid at the familiar snarl belonging to Evox. The virus, piloting his powerful body designed by Scrozzle, was accompanied by the three Robo clones. "I need this new monster to crush the Rangers once and for all!" he shouted, all of them completely oblivious to the Rangers spying on them.
"It's almost ready, master," Scrozzle simpered, appeasing Evox just enough.
"Excellent," he nodded.
Having heard enough, Chase nudged Ryne slightly, and slid down the tree without being noticed. Ryne followed suit, watching as Tyler materialised beside them, and they slipped away silently.
With how long this chapter became, I felt it was better to split it into two parts! Part 2 will be up soon ;)
Hope you liked it!
Please review!
