I think I've been more excited about this chapter than the finale, but I think you can guess why!

Hope you like it!

Chapter 38: Source Code

Tensions were running high in Grid Battleforce, and everyone stayed out of Commander Shaw's path as she strode quickly through the corridors and into Nate's lab, where he, Zoey and Steel were working together. Ryne was again prepping their gear, making sure that everything was running correctly, as now more than ever they needed to be.

"Is it ready?" Commander Shaw asked urgently. Nate didn't look up from what he was doing. "We're out of time," she warned.

"We're just finishing the upload," Zoey explained, and Nate finally lifted his head.

"Disconnect it," he told the other two, who moved quickly as the genius walked over to Commander Shaw. "Evox is essentially a computer virus. I've programmed the Ultra Blaster to fire a data packet at Evox. It will scramble his coding, byte-by-byte, until he disintegrates," Nate explained his plan to their Commander.

"What's your confidence level?" she asked him. Nate held her gaze.

"It can't fail," he answered.

"I hope you're right," Commander Shaw said quietly. "Ryne, how is the rest of the gear faring?" she addressed the Pink Ranger, who lifted her goggles and rubbed her eyes. She'd been working around the clock, like Nate, to get everything ready as soon as possible.

"Everything is more or less good to go, except our Zords. We just have to hope that we aren't expecting another Gigadrone anytime soon," Ryne said honestly. Their Zords had been all but destroyed in the battle against Evox and his Omegadrone, and it was going to take more time to get them back up and running.

"Let's go then," Commander Shaw decided. The four Rangers followed her out and back to the large room where Devon, Ravi and Lewis were guarding Evox. Devon and Ravi were pacing, while Lewis stayed by the computer, his arms folded and his eyes not leaving Evox's still motionless form.

"Devon, Ravi," Nate called out to the two Rangers. "Back me up," he requested as Ryne went to the computer. She prayed that Nate was right, her heart hammering against her chest. This was their one chance to stop Evox, before whatever he planned could happen.

"Ready," she told the Gold Ranger, trying to hide the nerves from her voice.

"Okay…lower the shields," Nate said, aiming the Ultra Blaster at Evox. Ryne took a deep breath, and Zoey put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Lowering," Ryne announced as she hit the button. The moment the forcefield dropped, Nate fired a shot at Evox. The virus gave a shout - the first sign that he was even still inside the robot.

"Again," Commander Shaw instructed as Evox's body began to flash erratically.

"Re-energising," Nate announced as the Ultra Blaster began to hum with power again. He aimed, and fired a second shot that made Evox scream louder, and this time his body began to flicker in and out of sight. He fell to his knees.

"Nice job, Nate. It's working," Ravi encouraged their teammate, but he and Devon didn't lower their blasters.

"Focus, Rangers. Again," Commander Shaw ordered.

"Re-energising," Nate said as he charged up the Ultra Blaster for one more attack. However, as he fired this time, the forcefield went back up, and the blast ricocheted across the room, exploding against the wall.

"What the-" Steel started as they all turned to Ryne, who was frantically typing.

"Did you reactivate the wall?" Nate asked her.

"No!" Ryne shook her head. "It just did it itself, and now nothing is responding. Like…" her eyes went wide. "Evox, he got into the computer!" she realised in horror. At her words, Evox started to laugh.

"Step by step, my plans have brought us to this moment," he declared as he got back to his feet. "You've reached the final chapter of your story," with that declaration, Evox vanished, turning into data and escaping through the connection he'd made with the cables hooked up to his prison.

"He's using the computer to access the Morph-X towers!" Ryne warned them as she saw what was happening on the screen.

"Destroy the computer!" Nate shouted, and Lewis grabbed Ryne to pull her back as Devon and Ravi fired a shot each, causing the computer to explode. However, the glowing blue light of Evox's data shot through another cable, vanishing into the ceiling.

"He's getting away!" Steel shouted.

"He's still in the system," Nate breathed. "He wants to get in the Morphin' Grid…but there's only a few computers that have direct access to the tower network," his mind was racing as he tried to work out Evox's plans. "We've got to destroy them before he can get in!" he told them.

"Go!" Commander Shaw ordered.

"We'll start with the command room," Nate told them as the Rangers sprinted out and through the base.

Everything was in chaos as Evox broke lights and damaged equipment as he shot through the base's network connection, headed straight for the command room. People were knocked around, fighting to stay on their feet as the damage exploded outwards towards them, but the Rangers didn't dare stop.

"System overload!" the workers in the command room fled as Evox sent them running, and he reappeared in the centre of the room. He gave a satisfied laugh as he began to wirelessly absorb the data from each computer around him.

"Yes, give me the access codes!" he growled, only to take another hit from the Ultra Blaster and scream as he fought to keep himself together.

"Destroy the computers!" Nate ordered. Ryne threw out her hand, her powers frying the computers and causing them to explode, but Evox managed to jump into the last one and vanish before it was fully destroyed.

"He's getting away!" Zoey shouted.

"He's damaged, is he leaving a trail?" Steel asked hopefully as Zoey checked the systems for the disruptions being caused throughout the base.

"He's headed towards the research room!" she warned. They took off through the corridors once more, and headed straight for the research room. Zoey opened the door, and Nate fired another shot at Evox, only for him to escape once again. Devon then destroyed the computer, preventing Evox from returning.

"Now where would he go next?" Steel wondered as they all gasped for breath.

"Hard to say," Nate breathed. Devon's wristcom then beeped, and he answered quickly.

"Go ahead," he said.

"Someone just accessed the vault," Commander Shaw warned, filling them with horror.

"He's in my lab," Nate realised. They raced back through, and stopped at the open door as they spotted him holding a briefcase. His body was flickering dangerously, barely held together as he pulled out a device from the case and held a hand out towards it. Data began to pour from it, and Evox let out a sigh.

"That's the unknown Morpher," Nate realised.

"The what?" Ryne frowned, but there was no time to explain as Evox began to stabilise.

"He's repairing himself," Devon breathed, and all of them stared in disbelief, not understanding just how Evox was able to do so. Nate then shook his head, and turned to Devon. He gave a nod, and the two ran into the room and fired their shots. However, Evox just raised a hand and caught the energy, absorbing it.

"You're powerless against me now. I'm more than Evox!" he declared as he turned to them at last. "You," Evox turned to Nate, who frowned. "You should know who I truly am," he told the genius, who only became more confused.

"What are you talking about?" he asked slowly, not lowering the Ultra Blaster.

"Years ago, you experimented with old Ranger technology, hoping to find a new way to Morph," Evox reminded him.

"Yes…but how do you know about that?" Nate asked him.

"Because I was there!" Evox' declaration made Nate inhale sharply, his eyes going wide. "You were just a foolish little boy, trying to power old Ranger Morphers with Morph-X and Snake DNA. All of your efforts failed, until you tried the mysterious old Morpher that you found in a dusty, dark corner of the vault," he talked about Nate's past with such detail that Nate held his breath. "That DNA became a part of my data, and I was released into your system. A dead-end for you, a new beginning for me," Evox laughed.

He then lifted the strange Morpher on the table, and Ryne stared at it hard. She didn't recognise it through any of their Ranger classes. Seeing her confused face, Evox gave a laugh. "I suppose I can give you a clue. This took place in another timeline, after all," his words made their eyes widen. "In a timeline where most of humanity was eradicated by a computer virus, leaving only the city of Corinth and its team of RPM Power Rangers," Evox told them.

"RPM?" Ravi repeated, confused.

"Wait," Devon inhaled sharply. "Do you remember when we went to the past? To save Ravi?" the others glanced at him as they thought about when Lord Draven was stealing Rangers from across the timelines to power robots in his attempt to destroy the barriers between timelines and rule over everything. "There was a Ranger there that we didn't recognise…Ziggy, his name was Ziggy," he remembered. "The Green RPM Ranger," he said, and the others gasped quietly as they recalled him too.

"So you do have some idea," Evox nodded, seeming amused. "With this Cell Shift Morpher, it could mean only one thing…I-" Evox's voice began to change, becoming less snake-like and instead deeper. "Was Venjix!" he declared. "I have had many forms, and now, my victory is certain," he announced.

"So he's the computer virus that almost destroyed the world in another timeline?" Ravi realised, his mind reeling.

"That can't be true!" Zoey refused to believe it.

"How did you even cross timelines to begin with?" Ryne demanded. Evox - or rather, Venjix, laughed.

"The data on how to jump timelines was all stored within SPD's computer systems. They might have locked me out of most of their systems in time, but not that one. I simply used that power, and the power of a Cell Shift Morpher, to cross to this timeline, going back in time to give me as much time as possible to regain my power," Venjix explained, gleeful.

"Nate?" Zoey turned to the genius in hopes of him saying something to disprove what the virus was saying. When Nate just started to stammer, going pale, they frowned.

"Bro?" Steel called out.

"I…I don't-"

"It is true! I've waited years for you to energise the Morph-X towers, so I could harness the Morphin' Grid, and today, that becomes reality!" he fired a blast of energy so powerful that everyone was blown out of the doorway. They crashed against the wall and fell to the ground, injured and groaning as Venjix simply walked past them, laughing.

"Stop!" Devon tried, pushing himself up, but his legs gave out and he toppled back to the ground. "Is it true, Nate? What he said? Did you create Evox from a virus in that old Morpher?" he asked the Gold Ranger the question that was on all their minds.

"It was years ago! I was just a kid!" Nate stammered out the words, struggling to breathe.

"So it is possible…" Devon whispered.

"Yes…I guess…" tears started to sting at Nate's eyes. Realisation was sinking in, accompanied by dread. "I might have released Venjix into our world," Nate realised.

"Then we have to go and stop him, now," Ryne told them as she pushed herself back to her feet. She and Zoey helped Devon up, but they only made it a few steps before realising that Nate hadn't moved.

"Nate!" Zoey crouched beside him and he looked up at her. "We need you," she pleaded, holding out her hand. Nate stared at it, conflicted, before he nodded.

"Okay," he agreed, taking her hand to get back up. They ran off, determined to stop Venjix.

Evox strode through the corridors of Grid Battleforce like he owned the place, and with the chaos he'd created already, there was nobody around to get in his way.

Until one figure stepped out from around the corner, standing with his arms folded across his chest as he lifted his gaze to meet Venjix's.

"You aren't getting out of here," Lewis warned him. Venjix gave a laugh.

"There's something oddly familiar about you, boy. But what…oh," Venjix realised. "Siren 8, of course," his words made Lewis' eyebrow twitch upwards, the only emotion he betrayed as the name didn't sound familiar to him. "Out of the way, or you'll regret it," he warned, but Lewis just moved into a fighting stance.

"I told you already," a black aura surrounded him. "You're not leaving!" he shouted, charging forwards as his Bat Spirit rose from his body with a squeak.

The Rangers had increased their pace at the sound of explosions, racing through the almost empty building until they came to one junction that was covered in soot and deep scratches.

"Lewis!" they gasped as they spotted the young man, who was groaning as he lay on his side. He was barely conscious as a shot from Venjix had burned through his shirt and left a nasty injury that made it hard for him to breathe. Ryne rushed to him, her skin lighting up golden as she began to heal him quickly.

"He went that way," Lewis managed to point in the direction that Venjix had gone after defeating him.

"I'll catch up," Ryne told them as she healed their friend. The Rangers nodded, taking off quickly. "It was crazy of you to try to fight him alone, Lewis," she scolded him, and he gave a quiet laugh.

"Tired of you Rangers being the only ones allowed to do dumb things," he told her quietly. Ryne glared at him as the burn healed over, leaving just a hole in his shirt. The bruises across his face started to heal as well, and the swelling went down. "He's powerful, Ryne. You guys are going to need to throw everything you have at him, and more. Go," Lewis warned, and pushed her away. He groaned, putting an arm around his ribs, which still smarted. "Go," he repeated, and Ryne didn't hesitate.

As the Pink Ranger took off after her team, Lewis slumped back against the wall and closed his eyes. "Seems I inherited that crazy trait after all," he considered.

Reaching sub-level one where the Beast Bots had worked to track Venjix, Ryne had caught up with the rest of the team and Morphed, ready to fight.

"Wait, he's here," Devon hissed as he heard the footsteps in the poorly lit room.

"Childish fools. You're really going to try to stop me?" Venjix asked as he stood opposite them. His scarlet eyes glowed ominously in the dim light.

"You're the fool if you think we won't!" Devon replied as they aimed their weapons at Venjix. However, the virus held out his hands, and using his power, he created several robots to stand behind him.

"With the full power of the Venjix virus, nothing can stand in my way!" Venjix vowed.

"Well, I guess we'll see!" Devon shouted, and the Beast Bots hurried to safety as the Rangers began to fight. Ryne threw her Chakrams, cutting through one of the robots and leaving a weak spot for Steel to fire a shot that caused a small explosion.

"I have all your weapon data, they're useless now!" Venjix warned, and Devon's sabre vanished in a flash. He was then thrown backwards, landing heavily in the middle of their fighting.

"Devon!" Zoey and Ravi hurried to his side.

"Look out!" Devon spotted Venjix moving and called out a warning. The virus gave a shout, creating a wave of power that knocked everyone backwards. "We can't fight him, his programming absorbed my sabre," Devon warned them as the wave faded.

"He's right," Venjix sneered. "Now tell me, boy genius. How does it feel to be responsible for the destruction of human civilisation?" he asked, and before Nate could react, he held out a hand to send a beam of pure energy to explode against his suit. Nate cried out, crashing to the ground.

"Nate!" Zoey screamed as Nate demorphed.

"Are you okay?" Steel reached him first, helping him up. "I've got you, bro," he said as Nate clutched his stomach, struggling to breathe.

"You'll go down in history," Venjix promised, before vanishing in a flash of purple.

"I can't believe what I've done…" Nate breathed, and turned, staggering off. The others called out to him, but he just kept walking without looking back.

"Are you sure that you're okay now, Lewis?" Commander Shaw asked as he stood with her, Devon and Ryne in the command room. Workers were carefully dismantling the computers that had been destroyed in their attempt to stop Venjix from getting what he wanted.

"I'm fine, thanks to Ryne," Lewis confirmed, but he put a hand to his chest. He wore a new shirt, but his chest still felt off as he adjusted to the rapid healing that Ryne had helped him with.

"Good," Commander Shaw nodded, and her concern vanished. "Do not do anything so reckless again, understood?" she warned him, sounding more stern and authoritative now. If it had been anyone else, Lewis might have accused them of being worried about him. But he wasn't foolish enough to say such things to the Commander.

"I won't. I'm sorry," instead, he lowered his head.

"We need a plan to stop Evox - Venjix, whatever," Ryne corrected herself, arms folded as she stared up at their wall of weapons. "He absorbed Devon's sabre, and considering his words, I don't think any of our weapons will stand up to him," she said softly.

"We have to hope Nate can pull himself together enough to come up with something. We need him against something like this," Devon sighed.

"That's a tough ask," Lewis commented as he moved to stand beside Ryne. "Asking him to come up with something to fight the very thing he created, accidentally or otherwise. Knowing Nate, knowing any of you," he glanced over his shoulder at Devon. "He might just shut down, blaming himself for everything that Evox has done since he came to this world," he reminded them.

The doors slid open, and they turned to see Zoey walking in. She was struggling to keep her emotions off her face, worried and scared for both the upcoming battle, and for her boyfriend.

"Well? Is Nate working on a solution?" Commander Shaw asked quickly. Zoey sighed and shook her head.

"No. He's paralysed, afraid he'll make another mistake," she told them. Lewis sighed, hating that he was right.

"Maybe I should talk to him," Devon suggested, but as he took a few steps towards the door, Zoey caught his arm.

"That won't help," she shook her head. "He needs to talk to someone who truly understands what he's going through," Zoey told him. Devon frowned.

"But who?" he asked, and Zoey wavered.

"I could ask my dad," they looked at Ryne. "He would know what it's like to cause harm without meaning to," she offered.

However, before Zoey could say anything, there was a crack that sounded like thunder in the distance. They all looked around, and one of the systems beeped suddenly.

"Some kind of temporal disturbance in Nate's lab," one of the workers warned. Eyes wide, the Rangers took off quickly to make sure that Nate was okay.

Nate stood frozen, staring at the portal that had opened up in the middle of his lab. He knew it well by now - a temporal portal, a doorway through time. But he hadn't opened it, and he had no idea who had.

"Nate!" Zoey yelled as the doors opened and she ran in, ignoring that he'd asked her to leave him alone.

"What's going on?" Devon asked, looking from the portal, to Nate.

"I-I don't know," Nate shook his head quickly. "It just-" before he could explain, the portal rippled, and a short woman stepped through, followed by another woman who was much taller.

For a moment, nobody spoke as they stared at the two who had stepped into their time. The shorter woman had a black bob and a serious look on her face, her pale blue eyes scanning everything and everyone in the room. Her companion had half of her face obscured by a scarf, but something about her bright eyes was oddly familiar as her curly dark hair was swept back into a ponytail.

"Ah," the shorter woman finally spoke as her eyes locked onto the Cell Shift Morpher sitting on the table. "That solves the mystery of the missing Ranger Series Red Morpher," she said simply, addressing her companion.

"Who are you?" Devon asked carefully, and she finally turned to him.

"My name is Dr. K," the woman introduced herself. "I'm from another timeline," she told them, as this answered everyone.

"Another timeline?" Ryne repeated, cocking her head as she looked at the Morpher on the table. "Then…you're from the same timeline as Venjix!" she realised. Dr. K turned to her, and a flash of recognition entered her gaze.

"I see you're sharp in any timeline, Ryne," the Pink Ranger stiffened when the woman addressed her by name. Dr. K offered a very small smile. "Yes, I know you in my timeline also. You're my assistant," she clarified.

"Her assistant?" Devon repeated, still trying to understand what was going on.

"Yes," Dr. K said. "And I assume by your knowledge of Venjix that he has escaped from the Morpher once again," she said. Nate's expression darkened, and he sat back down.

"What do you know of Venjix?" Devon asked hopefully. "Anything that might give us a clue on how to beat him," he said, and was surprised by the wry smile that crossed her face.

"I know everything about Venjix. I'm the one who created him originally," their eyes went wide in disbelief at her confession. Her companion watched silently.

"We have that in common," Dr. K looked over at Nate when he spoke bitterly. "We both set him loose on unsuspecting worlds," his words were filled with self-loathing.

"True," Dr. K agreed, one eyebrow raised. "Except that he nearly wiped out my world. Venjix's onslaught was relentless. The Ranger operators put everything on the line. Even then, they only barely managed to defeat him," her gaze was distant as she remembered the final battle like it had only just happened.

"If they defeated him…how did he come back? And jump to our timeline?" Ryne asked.

"Before his defeat, Venjix achieved the one thing he had been desperately attempting from the moment of his rise to power - he accessed the Morphin' Grid," Dr. K explained solemnly. "We thought we had chased him out and destroyed every byte of him, but we later discovered that in the moments before his defeat, when Venjix realised we had hacked him, he hid a fraction of his consciousness within the Morphin' Grid - within Scott, our Ranger Red's Morpher," Dr. K hadn't taken her eyes off Nate, who was sitting at the table glaring at the Morpher.

Everyone was silent as she continued. "Because of my past mistakes, and my fear that Venjix would one day return, I had systems in place to detect for any truly malicious threat. A year ago, the systems I had hoped would never wake, sounded the alarm that Venjix had returned, and in those years gained enough power to slip out of the Morphin' Grid and return," Dr. K continued her story. "Thanks to the assistance of-" she stopped quickly, and looked at her companion. "Siren. This is Siren," she introduced her, sounding oddly stiff.

The woman bowed her head to them in greeting, still not uttering a word. "Thanks to Siren, and my dearest friends, we were able to create a new team of Rangers to stop him. But before Venjix was defeated, he once again stowed away within the Series Red Morpher, and this time used it, and the knowledge of jumping timelines, to come to your world," Dr. K told them as she once again returned her attention to Nate. "When he regained his full power, my systems alerted me to his presence, and with permission from SPD, I was allowed to come here, to analyse the threat and help stop him for good."

Dr. K's declaration had the four Rangers staring at her in quiet disbelief. She gave them a few moments, before speaking again. "Making an observation on a few things, your choice of colours, your request to help you defeat Venjix, tells me that you are this time's current team of Rangers," Dr. K deduced.

"That's right," Zoey nodded quickly. "So we would really appreciate the help in stopping him, and maybe…" she trailed off, thinking about what she'd only said a few minutes before.

"He needs to talk to someone who truly understands what he's going through."

As if able to tell what Zoey was thinking, Dr. K crossed her arms over her chest and turned her attention to Nate.

"If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to have a few words with you in private," she requested. His eyes narrowed, but the others saw the opportunity.

"We'll give you a few minutes," Zoey said eagerly, already backing up to the door. Devon and Ryne followed, with Siren silently moving with them. As the door slid open, however, they stopped as Lewis did too, eyes widening.

"The Commander wanted to know what was going on…I'll tell her you have…guests," his eyes locked onto Siren, who was staring at him. While most of her face was hidden by her scarf, her eyes were filled with surprise and confusion, and Ryne realised what was so familiar about her.

"You're…"

"Mum?" Lewis stared at her, and her eyes went wider.

Determined to let Dr. K try and coax Nate back into helping, the Rangers, Lewis and Siren waited outside, a small distance away. Lewis hadn't stopped staring at Siren, who was doing the same to him.

"So uh…you're Cassie, right?" Ryne addressed Siren, and she tore her gaze from Lewis to look at the girl in front of her. For a moment, she hesitated, before starting to make gestures with her hands. Instantly Ryne frowned, not understanding.

"She says she is," they looked at Zoey in surprise. She flashed a smile. "I learned sign language when I was a kid…I had a friend who was deaf," she explained, and Devon and Ryne smiled at her commitment. Siren relaxed her shoulders a little, sending a grateful look to the Yellow Ranger as she began to sign.

"Yes, I'm Cassie. I lost my voice a long time ago, thanks to Venjix," Cassie explained, and after a moment, she tugged down her scarf to reveal the scarring down her face and throat. Nobody spoke, horrified. "I might have died, but in a twist of fate, Venjix saved me by turning me into a Hybrid - a human with Venjix implants. Thanks to him, I became Siren 8," she told them.

"Siren…" Lewis' voice was hoarse. "When I tried to stop Venjix, he told me that I reminded him of Siren 8," he told them. He hadn't understood at the time, but now he did. Cassie's gaze softened as she looked at him.

"You look so much like Jeremy, it's astounding," she told him, her eyes shimmering with tears.

"So in your time…" Lewis trailed off, his heart racing. The Rangers had never seen him so unsure.

"I…can't have children. Part of the Hybrid thing, I suppose," Cassie explained. Rage flashed in Lewis's eyes at the cruelty shown his kind, gentle mother. "The implants began to fail a few years after he was destroyed, and without the virus that was controlling my body, I couldn't repair my vocal chords, so I lost the ability to speak," her words made Lewis' hands clench into tight fists. To him, his mother was a singer, so to lose her ability to speak was a cruel twist of fate.

"How's it going?" they turned as Ravi approached. "Mum said you've got people from Venjix's timeline here to help?" he asked. Cassie turned to him quickly, eyes flashing with recognition. She signed again, and Zoey frowned.

"You know Ravi?" she asked, and Cassie nodded. Ravi blinked rapidly, not understanding. Cassie started to sign again, and Zoey translated for them.

"Ravi was one of our chosen Rangers," they all stared at her. "You worked at SPD, and our former Gold and Silver Rangers recommended you for the position," Cassie explained to him.

"I what…?" Ravi looked even more confused.

"Every time something happens with the timeline, things get so confusing," Ryne complained, putting a hand to her head. Cassie's eyes were sharp as she turned to Ryne.

"Did Asher become a Ranger too?" she asked quickly. Ryne's gaze flickered.

"She was supposed to," Ryne put a hand on her wristcom. "But when Evox - Venjix - attacked, he put her under his control, along with Blaze and Roxy. They were supposed to be the Red and Yellow Rangers," she explained. Zoey and Devon exchanged looks, thinking back to that day.

"If not for these guys, I'd have ended up the same way," Ravi smiled thankfully at his team.

"Venjix attacked…and put Asher, Blaze and Roxy under his control. He was aiming for you too…" Cassie was processing things quickly. "This was intentional. You and the others posed a threat to him, because in our time, you were part of the team to stop him," she told Ravi, who felt a weight on his chest.

"You mean…Venjix turned them into Avatars because he thought if they were Rangers, they'd stop him?" Zoey asked. Cassie nodded. "That's…all kinds of messed up," she breathed.

"Good thing we saved them," Devon said, putting a hand on Ryne's head as he saw her own anger rise.

"Venjix made a mistake in underestimating you," Cassie told them.

"Then let's continue to show him that," Devon said firmly. Cassie indicated for them to be quiet, and edged back towards the door to Nate's lab. The others shifted closer, peering in and listening to Dr. K coax Nate back.

"How can I tackle a problem like that?!" Nate demanded, full of anger and guilt.

"The same way you tackle any problem," Dr. K urged him. Nate sighed and turned away. "You start by taking the first step," she encouraged. Nate was silent, but her words seemed to break down the walls preventing him from working it out.

"The first step…" he repeated, walking over to where the Cell Shift Morpher sat. He lifted it, staring at it. "We have the source code right here…we could look for Venjix's vulnerable points, weaknesses?" he suggested, his voice still soft. Dr. K gave a smile.

"Sounds like step one to me," she said. "Tell me about this fuel you use," Dr. K requested, having seen the information for Morph-X all around the room.

Outside, the Rangers and Lewis smiled, glad that he had finally emerged from the shadow he had fallen into. Cassie gave a nod of approval.

"Dr. K has come a long way from the moody little thing she used to be. I'm glad she's learned enough from her own team to encourage your friend," she said.

"Zoey was right," Devon said, smiling at their Yellow Ranger.

With Venjix back in the crystal dimension, his remaining allies stood ready and waiting to continue with the plan.

"So, Master Evox. What's the plan?" Robo-Blaze asked as he approached. They could all sense the shift in their master, who seemed far more powerful and terrifying than before.

"I've retrieved these three access codes from the Grid Battleforce computers," Venjix lifted the key he had stored the codes on.

"Incredible," Asher said as she approached carefully.

"Upload them into a tower and activate the global network. Using the towers around the world, I can finally harness the Morphin' Grid!" Venjix declared.

"Brilliant!" Scrozzle exclaimed gleefully.

"We'll get the job done," Blaze said, and he and Asher vanished.

While Nate and Dr. K worked quickly to come up with something to stop Evox, the rest of the Rangers waited with Cassie, who told them what she could of the other timeline, and their quest to stop Venjix before. She told them of both teams, and even explained her own part as one of Venjix's puppets.

"So using those robotic implants, Venjix was able to use his own virus to turn humans into his minions…" Ravi shuddered at the very thought.

"Thanks to Dr. K, everyone who had implants received the antidote that saved our lives and stopped Venjix from controlling us - not that he could ever fully control Ranger Black," there was amusement in Cassie's words.

"We know that Ravi and the others were chosen to be Rangers, just like here, but who were the others?" Ryne asked curiously. More amusement sparkled in Cassie's bright eyes.

"As eager for all the information as ever, Ryne. This team had Green and Black Rangers too, they-" before Cassie could give any more information, the one working computer beeped loudly.

"Robo-Blaze and Robo-Asher have been spotted heading to a Morph-X Tower," one of the workers reported.

"Robo?" Cassie repeated, eyebrows furrowing.

"After we defeated their Avatars, Scrozzle copied their DNA to create robotic clones. There was one of Roxy too, but we destroyed her and they can't make any more. Just waiting for an opportunity to do the same to them," Ravi explained to her, and Cassie nodded slowly.

"Looks like this is that opportunity," Ryne hissed, ready to stop them once and for all.

"So convinced that having them on his side will give him the advantage," she considered.

"Come on, we're going to need Nate if they're both there," Devon told them, and they hurried back to the lab where Nate and Dr. K were working on a new arrow. "It's Blaze and Asher," Devon warned as the two looked around. "They've been spotted heading for Tower Seven," he told them. Nate looked confused.

"Blaze and Asher? Not Evox?" Nate asked.

"Go, I'll finish the antivirus," Dr. K told him, and he turned his frown on her. He hesitated.

"I should stay and help you," he argued, his uncertainty rising again.

"It's Blaze and Asher. We need your help, Nate," Zoey pointed out. Nate sighed, knowing that the two robotic clones were a big threat.

"Siren - or rather, Cassie," Dr. K started. "I believe you told them?" she asked, and Cassie nodded. "The others did warn you that there was no point in hiding it," Dr. K reminded her, and the Rangers could have sworn they heard Cassie huff. "In any case, Cassie will help me as she's done many times over the years," she said, and Cassie gave a single nod of confirmation.

"Okay," Nate finally relented, and the Rangers hurried out.

"Anything I can do to help?" Lewis asked, tilting his head. "I'm not great with tech, but since Ashe is on her way back from Japan, I can help out," he offered. Something flashed in Cassie's eyes, and she turned to Dr. K, signing to her.

"Well, if he's your son in this time, I suppose it can't hurt," she nodded, and gestured for Lewis to join them.

"You were right, Master. The tower is unguarded," Blaze spoke as he and Asher approached the Morph-X tower. However, Asher suddenly threw out an arm, and Blaze grunted as it collided with his chest and stopped him.

"Spoke too soon," she growled, and the Rangers ran over to block their path.

"Don't take another step!" Devon warned. Blaze grunted in irritation.

"Sorry, but I have business to attend to," he told them.

"Not today. It's Morphin' Time!"

"ACTIVATE BEAST POWER, HA!" the Rangers Morphed and called on their Beast-X Visors to gain their enhanced armour.

"Six on two? Fine by me!" Blaze growled as he and Asher strode forwards to meet them. Ryne threw her Chakrams, and as they hit Asher, the jade armour-clad robot gave a shout and staggered backwards, leaving herself open for Steel to run in. However, she recovered in time and blocked his punch, knocking him backwards into Ryne before she could call her Chakrams back to her.

"Zoey!" Ravi shouted as the Yellow Ranger was slammed to the ground by Blaze's powerful strike.

"Someone needs to pay attention!" Blaze taunted as he grabbed Ravi, twisting his arm and swinging him around. He grunted as he hit the ground, landing near Zoey. The others ran over, standing in front of their injured friends.

"You alright?" Nate called as they helped them up.

"Fine," Ravi groaned.

"Let's change that," Blaze smirked, drawing his sword. As it began to glow with power, Asher raised a hand and summoned sun energy to the surface. As she threw it, Blaze swung hard, and the combined attacks knocked all the Rangers back to the ground. "You like that?" Blaze taunted.

"There's plenty more where it came from," Asher laughed.

"They're giving everything they've got," Devon growled, forcing himself back to his feet.

"Well, we can do the same," Steel pointed out, already back up. "Let's go!" he shouted, and the two charged back into the fight. As Nate, Ryne, Zoey and Ravi got up as well, a communication came through to Nate.

"The arrow is loaded and ready to go," Dr. K reported to him.

"Thanks, Dr. K," Nate finally allowed himself a small smile. "Let's do a field test. Transport Beast-X King Ultra Bow!" he shouted, catching the bow as it appeared. "I really hope this works," he breathed as Ravi and Zoey steadied it. Ryne stood beside them, ready to help if it didn't.

With a well-aimed kick, Steel knocked Blaze to the ground. The robot growled as he rolled along, trying to stop himself. "Beast-X King Power Bolt!" Nate shouted.

"What?!" Blaze turned as he heard the words, just in time for the arrow to pierce his chest. He staggered backwards, and began to jerk violently. Nate hissed a prayer, and Blaze screamed before exploding.

"What?!" Asher gasped as she got back to her feet and stared at where Blaze had been. "How, what was that?!" she demanded, turning to them as the Rangers cheered. "No matter, I'll destroy you myself," Robo-Asher brushed it aside. "At least now he won't hog the spotlight," she laughed, calling on more sun energy.

"I don't suppose you have a second arrow?" Devon glanced at Nate, who shook his head.

"Then we'll do this the old fashioned way. Together," Ryne told them.

"Right!" they shouted.

"Gorilla Slam!" Ravi punched the ground, sending a tremor towards Asher. She raised a shield quickly, but the power behind his attack made her hiss.

"Jackrabbit Spin Strike!" Zoey leapt into the air and came hurtling back down as she spun rapidly. She collided with the shield, and after a moment, she was repelled, but the shield shattered.

"No!" Asher shrieked in fury as Ravi caught Zoey.

"Squirrel Snipe!" Ryne charged forwards, punching through Asher's armour.

"Beast-X Blast!" Nate and Steel chorused, firing a shot each that hit where Ryne had landed a blow, causing even more damage to her armour. Asher staggered, desperately trying to go for her key to escape.

"Cheetah Charge!" Devon was cloaked in a red aura, racing in towards Asher and smashing through her armour.

"No…no! This can't happen!" Asher staggered as her body started to let off sparks, the circuitry damaged beyond compare. "I was going to…to…" she screamed, and exploded, leaving the Rangers victorious.

"We did it!" they cheered, happy to finally be done with the robo-clones at long last.

Commander Shaw was momentarily quiet as she processed Dr. K's words. The woman stood in front of her with Cassie, holding the transportal device that she had borrowed from SPD.

"Are you sure that we can't convince you to stay?" Commander Shaw finally spoke as she got to her feet and walked over to them.

"We could use someone like you on our team," Devon told her, and Dr. K smiled slightly at his words. Cassie nudged her lightly.

"I'm sorry, but I've got to get back to Corinth and start checking our systems for any trace of the Venjix virus," Dr. K told them. "If he made it here, who knows where else he might have stored a bit of himself," she pointed out. Cassie nodded, before the doors opened and Nate and Zoey walked in, holding hands.

"Just in time," Lewis told them, arms folded as he learned against the wall. "They were just headed back to their own timeline," he explained.

"Thank you for coming, Dr. K," Nate smiled thankfully at the woman who had helped him come to his senses. "I really thought that…that nobody could know how terrible I felt. But you understood," he told her.

"You are guaranteed to face challenges in life. But you don't need to face them alone. Not when you've got such good support around you," she said, looking at the rest of the people in the room. They grinned at Nate. "My team taught me that," Dr. K smiled. "I came here to make sure that nobody else would suffer like my world did, but after seeing you all today, I'm confident that you have things handled. So we will return to our timeline, and leave things in your capable hands," she told them. They nodded, and Dr. K looked up when Cassie tapped her shoulder.

Lewis tilted his head as Cassie walked over to him, and she tugged down her scarf to give him a warm smile. He didn't even seem to notice the scarring, as he smiled back at her.

"It was a gift, getting to meet you, Lewis. Thank you," Cassie told him - translated by Dr. K. He gave an embarrassed laugh.

"There's nothing to thank me for. No matter the timeline, you're my mum," he told her, and tears shone in Cassie's eyes. She hugged him tightly, and Lewis reciprocated, his heart hurting for all the pain that this version of his mother had gone through.

"We better get back. I'm still not entirely filled with confidence, leaving Flynn and Gemma in charge while we're here," Dr. K confessed, and opened a portal with the device in her hand as Cassie looked as if she was going to laugh. She signed something else, and Dr. K shot her a look. "They give me even less confidence," she said, before turning back to the team. "You have a beautiful world. Keep it safe," Dr. K told them.

"We will," Devon nodded, determined to do just that. "Thanks," he said. Dr. K nodded, and she and Cassie passed back through the portal, which closed behind them. Lewis let out a soft breath, and Ryne reached out to touch his arm with a small smile.

"I caught what Cassie said to Dr. K at the end…" Zoey admitted, and they turned to her. "She said 'Teddie and Ziggy are there to keep an eye too'," she translated. Ryne looked at her in surprise.

"Mum? Why's she there?" Ryne wondered, confused. Before they could try to wonder about the strange other timeline, an alarm started to beep loudly.

"Commander, there's an alert!" one of the workers warned. "The Tower Network has been activated!" she told them.

"What?!" Commander Shaw turned sharply.

"All over the planet," the worker breathed as she stared at the reading, showing the Morph-X towers activating everywhere.

"Shut down the system," Commander Shaw warned as everyone gathered in to look at the big screen.

"I can't control it," the worker confessed as she worked quickly, but nothing responded to her inputs. "The Network has been disconnected from our system," she explained, before the screen suddenly changed to a communication link with Venjix.

"You fools were so busy with Blaze and Asher, you missed Scrozzle slipping right into a tower," Venjix taunted them. Their breaths caught at his words. "Now the global Morph-X Network is under my control!" he declared with a laugh. "All those mighty towers you built, will be your doom. Thanks to you, the entire world is at my mercy, and there's nothing you can do to stop me!" his laughter echoed, even as the communication ended, leaving them completely at a loss.

Just one chapter left to go!

As an extra little reveal, I'm currently working on a short story that will be posted after Beast Morphers is finished; RPM: Venjix Returns. It's going to be based on how things went on in that timeline to lead into this, giving more detail to some of the information that Dr. K and Cassie shared!

Please look forward to it ;)

Let me know what you think!