Episode 26:

Beneath the Surface


Another week had gone by and the teens of Lakeview High had dutifully flocked to the popular hangout like it was their last night on earth. The place was packed, the full crew running overtime to keep on top of demand while Electrohead kept the energy buzzing with another killer set. Sitting back with Lena, Zeke shared an amused look with his teammate, watching as Erika scanned the crowd and hammered the lyrics with calculated intent.

"She is dressed to kill
And he is to die for!
She knows he would kill
Just to hold her on the dance
floor, so,

Do we dare
to take this dance?
'Cause I'm willing to take the chance.
And tonight could be the night, baby
just take my hand."

"I swear we'll make it right!"

Erika hit the chords, pulling the song to a close as the patrons reveled in the excitement. But Zeke knew full well that her eyes were on the prowl, scanning the Hub for the true recipients of the song. Abbey and Miguel. The red-headed teen was thoroughly enjoying herself, bopping enthusiastically as she danced behind the counters and moved to the kitchen window. For a moment, just one, Zeke spied Miguel's equal enthusiasm on the other side, practically spinning the plate toward her.

"I swear we'll make it right…!"

The two shared a look, an electric glance that jolted both with an agreement of interest. And just as quickly, Abbey looked away, Miguel presumably doing the same as they went their separate ways.

Again.

Even Zeke was starting to wish they'd get it over and done with.

"I swear we'll make it…"

Back on the stage, Erika's face flicked into frustration at the sight of snatched-away victory, and her fingers snapping to the chords as she slammed down the final notes. With the set complete, Erika bowed beside her bandmates, grinning from the continued enjoyment before ducking backstage.

With the latest attempt finished, Zeke shot Lena a glance that said "I told you so" as gleefully went back to his smoothie.

"Careful there," Lena warned. "Given your history, one might be forgiven for wanting Erika's plan to fail."

But Zeke just shrugged. It was true that he still had mixed feelings about the lingering dance between Abbey and Miguel; his own unrequited feelings weren't going to just vanish at the snap of his fingers. But he and Abbey had made their feelings clear, choosing to value and preserve their friendship over everything else. And if that meant pushing her to take the plunge with Miguel, then that was what he was going to do.

That did not, however, mean embracing Erika's terrible plan.

"Struck out again?" Lena asked as Erika emerged from backstage and plunked herself down in frustration.

"So close!" she groaned. "I swear if I was spelling it out any clearer I'd be mistaken for a talking lobster."

"Wasn't Sebastian a crab?" Zeke mused, smirking as Erika shot an unimpressed glare.

"Priorities," she warned. "Although honestly? Maybe I should just throw "Kiss the Girl" into the setlist and call it a day."

"Not to throw another spanner into the works," said Lena. "But wasn't the scheme that inspired this big plan of yours ultimately foiled by an evil, octopus witch?"

"Squid," Zeke corrected again.

"No, Ursula was an octopus; her arms count as limbs," Lena replied just as quickly with a satisfied grin. Her face dropped moments later with soft contemplation. "Although, I guess given our history, that makes me the sea witch in this scenario. Huh…"

Pedantry aside, Zeke knew they had a point. Ever since the Dark Ranger incident, Abbey and Miguel had maintained a nervous, skittish distance. Every time it looked like one was about to make a move, the other would back away. And having finally put aside his petty dislike of Miguel, even Zeke was admitting that something had to give.

"Maybe we're just going about it the wrong way?" he said. Erika raised an eyebrow, daring him to suggest how singing suggestive songs at the unwitting pair was in any way ineffective. "I mean, maybe we're just being too subtle."

"Hello?" Erika shot back. "Singing crab plan?"

"What I mean is, while your song choice is on point, as always," Zeke backpedaled. "How do Abbey and Miguel even know that the songs are for them? Maybe we need to be a little bit more active?"

Erika scrunched her face in contemplation, sharing an equally ponderous look with Lena as the two of them sat in contemplation. Zeke sat back and let them. He'd taken his skin out of the game, and as much as he wanted Abbey to finally let herself be happy, he also knew why she was holding back. But that wasn't his story to tell. If Erika and Lena wanted to get to the bottom of Abbey's reasonings, they'd need to ask her themselves.

But as the two girls returned to spit-balling fresh, hair-brained schemes, Zeke shot a look toward his best friend. As Abbey moved to the kitchen window to collect the fresh order, her face softened to a wistful longing that skittishly vanished just as quickly. Then, as Abbey swept up the plate and hurried out onto the floor, he saw Miguel watching her go with the same yearning expression.

Crazy plan or not, Lena and Erika were right. If someone didn't push them to take the step, then the rest of the team was going to go mad. Assuming that they weren't there already.


The darkened tunnels were filled with echoing footsteps, Cyberdrones hurrying left and right with bundles of boxes, wires, and equipment under their arms. From the terminal at his station, Ender's brow furrowed in frustration. When his master had announced an upgrade in facilities, Ender had been overjoyed. Who didn't love moving up in the world, and conquering it from new, upmarket real estate?

But at the same time, who also actually loved moving house? Now that they were actually doing it, shifting around their infrastructure the enable the next phase of their master's plan, Ender was readily wishing more and more that he'd invested a little more time into programming independence for the Cyberdrones. They were already stronger and faster Byte-Bots, why didn't he ever think to make them smarter?

Instead, Ender was stuck directing his hapless bozos through every dismantling, relocation, and reconstruction to bring Xaviax's expansion online as quickly as possible. The fact that ArcKnight kept drawing him into his petty bouts with the Rangers wasn't' helping.

"No!" Ender yelled as another absent-minded henchman snapped up from the crate it was about to carry. "Don't take that yet! We still need half those tools to dismantle the hyperbolic generator, unless you fancy carting the whole thing up four tunnels to its new abode by yourself?"

The Cyberdrone looked to one of its comrades, its expressionless green globes tilting in nervous confusion before placing down the box and searching for a new task.

"Honestly," Ender grumbled as he returned to his readings. "You just can't find good help these days."

"It's funny, Ender," Xaviax's cool voice rasped behind him through the grill of his iron mask. "I was just thinking the same thing."

"My lord!" Ender pandered. "I wish you to know that, despite my frustrations, our upgrades are still proceeding as planned."

"Good," Xaviax mused. "I was beginning to worry that perhaps it was all too much to handle."

"Certainly not, my most magnanimous one!" Ender pleaded. "Although, if I must admit, having a few extra sets of hands would certainly speed the process up considerably. Just something a little bit smarter than… these."

To emphasize his point, he gestured over to the closest pair of Cyberdrones. In an effort to dismantle the machine they were assigned, one of them had climbed into a hatch to inspect the inner workings. It had now become stuck, its legs kicking wildly as its brethren scrambled to pull it out.

"I see what you mean…" Xaviax conceded coldly.

"My lord," Ender entreated. "I know you prefer to preserve Digitizing monsters for when you have a plan to enact within the city, but I must say that their slightly improved intelligence would be an astronomical improvement over relying on the help to guide themselves. I know it wouldn't be ideal but…"

"No, I agree," Xaviax nodded. "You get one, so make it count. In the meantime, I think there may be something else that will speed things up."

"Ooooh, another scheme?" Ender snickered. "Perhaps we will see another masterpiece of your brilliance?"

"No," Xaviax decided, a sinister smile splitting between his lips with cold contemplation. "I have another idea in mind…"


"So basically, we've still got nothing?" Erika realized as they stared at Hilary's impressive, and complicated, display.

"Basically."

Following their gathering at the Hub, the team had converged at the lab. They'd hoped that across the week, Hilary, Ray, and Jessica had been able to begin piecing together Xaviax's plan, the endgame for his sudden acquisition of city services as Davian Scolex. But so far it seemed to be nothing but dead ends and loose threads.

"I just don't get it," said Ray. "If philanthropy really is his end goal, he can already do so much good with all he's bought. And with his finger in nearly every pie in the city, not the mention the ear of the mayor, it's not like he doesn't have plenty of power."

"To be fair, Mr. Granger," Abbey noted. "Maybe that's why he's an evil supervillain, instead of a good-natured guidance counselor?"

A small comfort in the face of zero answers. Zeke could only continue to stare at the display, a scatter graph overlapping the city map that displayed all the Scolex had acquired. While the others continued to stare dumbfounded at the map, it was Miguel squinted as zeroed in on a particular spot.

"What's happening at the eastern outskirts?" he asked them. "There's a blip for something he owns, but it's not lining up with a monster attack. It looks like it was one of the first things he bought."

"It's the Emegren Tech office," said Hilary. "They were the old operators of Lakeview's power station before Scolex bought them through a series of shell companies."

"I don't remember going out there," said Miguel. "What's the incident that's marked above it?"

"Us," Ray explained. "That was when Hilary and I went to investigate the tunnels that ran beneath it. Ran into a bunch of Cyberdrones for our troubles."

"And you haven't been back since?" Miguel asked, "Not even after you got new Morphers?"

The married couple shared a look, conceding that they had not and were nervous to try. But as the rest of the Rangers turned to other possibilities, Zeke caught Miguel continuing to stare at the map. His expression was focused, curious; like someone formulating the beginnings of a plan. But whatever Miguel was scheming, he kept to himself, and the conversation moved on before Zeke could consider calling him on it.

"Whatever is there, it's going to have to wait," Hilary said as she checked her watch. "Because I have a city council meeting to go to."

"We have a meeting to go to," Jessica corrected. "Unless you've memorized the entire museum's budget after remembering this was even on your calendar."

"Hang on," Zeke realized. "If both of you are out, who's on mission control?"

"That would be me," said Ray. "I at least know enough about the gear to keep things running, and Jess has made things a little more user-friendly in the last few weeks."

Zeke raised an eyebrow. As much as he trusted Ray, he was by far the least tech-savvy of anyone at the museum. He would have assumed that Lena would have taken the control seat for the evening before Ray sat in on the evening shift. But his silent query was shortly answered. With the meeting adjourned, Erika saddled up beside Abbey with a sly look on her face.

"Soooooo, Abbey. Given any thought to what you're wearing to Spring Bloom?"

The question turned every single head in the room. Of all the people in the room, Erika was the last person that anyone expected to start a conversation about dresses. But while everyone else stared at their Red Ranger with suspicion, Abbey blushed as she looked away.

"Oh, that?" she replied, too flustered to manage any attempt at being cool and casual. "I'm not sure I'm even going…"

Erika raised an eyebrow. "You're on the planning committee, but you're not going?"

"I mean, just because I'm helping organize it, doesn't mean I have to go…"

"But how will you know things are running smoothly if you're not there?"

"I trust everyone else. And besides, I didn't say that I wasn't going, just that I wasn't sure…"

With every sentence, Abbey kept looking either away or across the room, right to where Miguel was equally avoiding eye contact. It appeared that Erika had decided to discard subtlety entirely. On the other side of the room, Lena was equally smirking, while Ray and Hilary smiled in wistful recollection.

"Reminds me of our senior prom," said Ray.

"Now that was a good time," Hilary agreed. "Man, what a night."

"Last big night before school went out, taking the stage for a final big bang…"

"… the final battle between good and evil for the fate of the city…"

"One of these days," Abbey butted in. "You're going to tell us a completely boring story from your high school years, and I'm just not going to know what to do with it."

But as Abbey had been distracted by Ray and Hilary's story, Erika had saddled up beside Lena, looping one arm around the other as they turned to face Abbey.

"So anyway," Erika explained. "Lena here has never had a Spring Bloom, or junior prom. Or anything, actually. And do you know what that means…?"

All of a sudden, Abbey's face lit up, any nervousness vanishing as her face filled with pure, elated excitement. "Oh my God! Are we going dress shopping? Are we having a girl's night? Is this really happening?"

Meanwhile, Erika and Lena looked like a pair of deer in the headlights, completely unprepared for what they'd just unleashed.

"That's right…" Lena said cautiously while shooting Erika a wary look. Seeing the pointed glance in return, Lena then recomposed herself and nodded. "Abbey, would please go dress shopping with me?"

The only reply was a high-pitched squeal as Abbey gleefully agreed. Realizing they were short on time, she bid her leave, practically skipping to the elevator as Erika followed text Valerie the arrangements.

"What did I just agree to?" Lena asked, half-panicked as the others looked on with amusement.

"An important rite of passage," said Hilary. "Have fun."

"Well, if the girls are having a night out," Ray suggested as he turned to Zeke and Miguel. "What do you say? Guys night in?"

The man seemed weirdly excited about the idea, but before Zeke could respond, he noticed that Miguel was stealing another glance at the display. At the area that he'd noted earlier.

"What?' Miguel asked suddenly, snapping back to reality as Ray prodded him for an answer. "Sorry, Mr. Granger. I don't think it's a good idea to play poker with someone whose job it is to get into my head."

Ray nodded gracefully, accepting that, with Miguel out, Zeke likely would be as well, resigning himself to an evening alone in the lab while others were busy.

"I uh, I've got to head out too," Miguel decided awkwardly. "There's a test on Monday that I should be studying for, so…"

He trailed off, awkwardly sidling toward the elevator as no others questioned his excuse. But while Miguel scuttled away, Zeke's eyes narrowed in growing suspicion. Miguel was up to something, and if Zeke were going to bet on anything, it was something that Ray and Hilary would disapprove of.

But with their Dark Ranger gone as well, it left Zeke alone with his mentors, Jess, and Lena, all who'd gone back to snickering over Erika's blatant scheming.

"I've got to admit," Ray grinned. "It is funny being on the other side of it this time."

"How do think I feel?" Lena asked. "At least now I'm rooting for it to happen."

"Were you guys really that bad?" Jessica asked them in complete oblivious.

"We were hopeless," Hilary confirmed. "We both, independently, swore my brother to secrecy, and then tormented him for months by being too chicken to make a move."

"And in the end," Ray continued, "he even tried pushing us together with very unsubtle suggestions about prom."

"I'll never forget when it finally happened," Hilary recollected with a wistful smile as she looked fondly at her husband. "You approaching me, asking a question I'd that I'd been dying to hear. The beauty of the gorge sweeping out beneath us, Gideon's ruined air fortress blazing in a wreck at the bottom…"

"Wait!" Lena gasped as she put two and two together. "That's when you finally asked her out?"

"You know," Zeke said dryly as he made his way to the elevator. "Sometimes I think you're all making these stories up, just to mess with us. Because we would never know."

He let doors close as the others returned to the jovial reminisces, all the while planning his excuse to duck out that evening. Because if their Dark Ranger friend was up to something, then Zeke very much wanted to know what it was.


The four girls hit the stores like there was no other care in the world. Abbey had some idea of what to expect from Lena, having shopped with her once before when she'd needed to expand her wardrobe. But while she expected Lena's quiet modesty in selecting things to try, nothing would have prepared her for the avid enthusiasm of her other companion. Even Val seemed taken aback as Erika eagerly descended on the racks, returning with an armful of garments for them all to try.

"What?" she scoffed as noted everyone else's surprise. "That's the pro of being poor; you have a lot of fun with the 'try before you buy' mentality. And there is a lot to try."

And boy did that mentality work out for Lena. At first, she was nervous, shyly emerging from the changeroom while Erika and Valerie eagerly raced around the store to find new gowns to try. Cocktail, ballroom, mermaid tail, and even princess style, different shades and tones tossed about as Erika and Val eagerly played dress-up. By the third dress in, Lena was embracing it, launching from the change rooms in fresh gowns to the woos and wows of friends.

Once a backlog had been established, Erika and Val very eagerly took the changerooms on either side, excitedly throwing on their own collections of frocks to parade around in. For a while, Abbey just watched, smiling from ear to ear as she watched her friends revel in an excitement that she'd never seen before. It was refreshing, to see both the once-dour Erika and once-evil Lena let loose in a fashion parade of their own making.

Of course, she should have known that her turn was coming.

After enough cheers and screaming Lena's dress was finally settled on, a silvery column dress that draped over her shoulder that Erika insisted would need shoes to match. To her credit, Erika had strutted out in bold, scarlet sheath, grinning wildly with daring excitement.

"I have to admit," Abbey conceded. "I never had you for a dress."

"Hey," Erika shrugged. "You old only get one senior Spring Bloom; I'm dressing to kill."

At least Erika had a date to die for. Of course, Lena didn't have one, nor had she shown any interest in it. She was likely going merely for the experience, to enjoy a night out with friends while dressed to the nines. So, if Lena was happily going without a date, why was it bothering Abbey that she didn't have one of her own?

Or was it just because of who she wanted to go with, and what was holding her back?

But she didn't get a chance to sit in wistful contemplation for much longer, not as Erika grinned and gestured to the now-empty changeroom.

"Alright, Abs. Your turn."

"Me? Oh no, I'm not even sure if I'm going," Abbey insisted.

But Erika was having none of it, already moving to begin physically pushing Abbey into the booth. "And I was definitely not even considering half of the dress I just tried on. Come on, it'll be fun."

Well, she supposed that there were a few dresses that caught her eye…

Smiling in concession, Abbey ducked into the store to make a selection, returning shortly before vanishing into the changing booth. She emerged soon after, sporting a periwinkle empire waist that fully covered her chest and shoulders.

The response was tolerable, but not exactly inspiring.

"What do you think?" Abbey asked nervously. The others shared a glance, showing their agreeable but unenthusiastic appreciation. It was Erika who finally broke the awkward silence.

"If you want to find your Mr. Darcy, then it's perfect."

Abbey raised an eyebrow, knowing her friend far too well to let that one slide. "I can't even tell if you're being sarcastic."

"I am," Erika said flatly. "I'm saying that you'd look at home at a Regency Fair, not that you'll be reeling in a Colin Firth."

"Firth?" Valerie asked. "I always pegged you for a McFadden."

"He is dreamy, don't get me wrong," Erika admitted, "but I'm a sucker for simmering slow burn."

"Oh?" said Valerie suggestively, "You are, are you?"

"Girls, focus," Lena warned them before adding. "Besides, you're forgetting about Gordh."

That one raised some eyebrows.

"What?" Lena protested. "I've been catching up on a lot of web content since I was brought back. Plus, he's kind of robotic, so…"

Abbey could only stare in complete disbelief, gobsmacked at the conversation that was unfolding in front of her. Erika and Lena? Talking Austen? What was even happening right now?

"I'm kinda surprised you even have an opinion on this," Lena admitted.

"What? I'm gay, not dead." Erika reasoned. And then she turned her attention to Abbey, all eyes falling upon her as Erika persisted with a wicked and playful grin. "So, what about your favorite, Abbey? '95? 05? …Zombies?"

Abbey could only roll her eyes, blushing a little before finally adding. "Actually, I'm usually into the Bingley's…"

A trill of hooting amusement followed as the other three took gleeful delight in her reply before Erika finally returned to the question at hand.

"Seriously, Abbey," she insisted as she reached for a strategically placed gown on the nearby rack. "You won't need a dance card for Spring Bloom, you can live it up a little. Here, try this one on."

Abbey's glare narrowed, knowing full well that Erika had fished that dress out much earlier and hidden it among the many meant for Lena. Like she'd been planning this from the beginning. But Abbey was already there, and Erika was right. The others had had plenty of fun trying dresses they had no intention of buying, why should she be any different?

With a determined huff, Abbey took the dress from Erika's scheming hands, watching her friend and teammate smirk as she once again vanished behind the curtain of the booth. Not that any of it mattered anyway, not when there was no one that she wanted to ask her. Even if there was.


It was a cold night, and Zeke was already wishing he'd worn another layer as he crept up to the yard he'd spied on the map earlier. The clouds loomed overhead, smothering the moon and stars as they blanketed the area in a sinister shadow that joined the darkness of the night. Plenty of places to hide, but Zeke was well away that he wasn't the only one doing so. Miguel was nearby, he had to be. But in a place like this, Zeke knew that the Cyberdrones were just as likely lurking about as well.

The entrance to the service tunnel loomed ahead, a gaping maw that beckoned him into the depths, although having it his way, it was the last place Zeke intended to be. All around the entry, trucks, shipping containers, and half-built scaffolds littered the surroundings. To the unsuspecting eye, it looked like a simple worksite, but to Zeke, it was the possible ground zero for Xaviax's schemes.

This was ridiculous! He had no reason to be there, and for all he knew, Zeke wasn't going to find anything that they didn't already know. But Miguel had seen something, or figured something out, and Zeke was damned if he was going to let his teammate investigate it on his own. Or get into trouble trying to.

Maybe it was all for nothing? Any minute, Zeke expected a beep on his communicator, a hail from Ray asking why he was hanging out in the creepy part of town. Then, Zeke would be able to laugh it off as a joke, as a baseless hunch, and go home to a safe, warm bed.

And then he caught a flicker in the corner of his vision.

If Zeke didn't know what to look for, then he would have missed it entirely; black smoke among the creeping shadows wasn't exactly the easiest thing to notice. But Zeke knew Miguel well enough to spot the subtle signs. The way the air seemed to draw in, right before he Wisped, the subtle crack when he transported from one area to another. Miguel had come a long way with his power, his use was softer, subtler. But Zeke could still tell when he was using it.

A split-second later, Miguel appeared before a tall stack of cinderblocks, emerging from the wisps with his eyes fixed dead ahead. From his perch, Zeke watched as Miguel surveyed the large entrance before his head moved down, slowly. It wasn't dismay or defeat, it was focused. And Zeke realized Miguel's plan just that little bit too late.

More smoke was already hissing from the boy's body as Zeke broke into a run, leaping across in a vain attempt to stop his teammate from making a catastrophic mistake.

"WAIT!"

But he was too late for Miguel to stop. With all his might, Zeke launched himself as Miguel spun around, wide-eyed horror as he realized he had company. Then, with the air cracking like a whip just as Zeke grabbed hold, both boys vanished into mid-air.

A split-second later, Zeke hit the ground, tumbling in fright as the world became very dark indeed. But Miguel wasn't focused on where they were, instead he now stood above Zeke with his eyes fuming.

"What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same," Zeke scowled, dusting himself off and rising as he looked around. Yup, they were in the tunnels alright. Just how deep had Miguel planned on jumping? "So, what was the plan? Skulk around, maybe Wisp in and out? Uncover the entirety of Xaviax's plan all on your own without anyone noticing?"

"Pretty much," Miguel said dryly. "At least it was until you decided to tag along and throw off my Wisp at the last second."

"What?" Zeke scoffed. "You're going to tell me that you didn't plan on jumping around tunnels all by yourself?"

"Yeah, but not here!" Miguel snapped. "Taking someone with me takes concentration. Your little stunt up there threw off my aim!"

Zeke's next retort caught in his throat, the sudden realization stifling his nerves he realized what Miguel was saying. If Miguel hadn't meant to land there, that meant he didn't know where they were. And if he didn't know where they were, then…

"…you don't know how to get back." Zeke gasped, now too horrified to be angry as Miguel seethed further.

"Didn't think I'd be bringing a tag along," Miguel grumbled, as his eyes narrowed at the maze of tunnels all around. "We need to move. We've got no idea how long until we're-."

His words cut off with a gasp, his head slowly turning as he realized where they were. Brow furrowing, Zeke tilted his head to follow Miguel's gaze, and his jaw too dropped with astounded astonishment.

It was an enormous chamber, filled with machinery. At the far end, a huge cylindrical tower covered in tubes and cables towered into the ceiling above. Pipes were welded at its foot, winding serpents that stretched out from their source toward the other darkened tunnels ahead.

A second cylinder rose before it, thinner and darker with far fewer cables. As Zeke and Miguel watched, a loud buzz grated across the chamber, signaling the cylinder beginning to lower and reveal a wide, circular platform at its peak. It was an elevator. The platform descended with a loud hiss, and a small cluster of Cyberdrones scattered as it stopped. Some had crates in their hands, while others were moving to assist their comrades in moving more. Those that weren't moving toward the giant tower at the back were shuffling toward the tunnels, boxes in their hands.

"What are they doing?" Miguel gasped.

"It looks like they're building that big thing over there," Zeke realized.

"But then why are they moving other things away from it?" Miguel retorted. "Why would you make something only to pack everything up around it?"

He was right, it didn't make sense. Unless they were thinking too narrowly, too committed to the idea that this was the only place that Xaviax was operating. Anymore.

Ray and Hilary had been down here before, not this deep, but enough to know that the Cyberdrones were guarding something. But that had been before; before Xaviax had gone through with his plan to plunge Lakeview into chaos. Before he used the mayhem to further his standing as Davian Scolex, the city's most philanthropic billionaire. Before he'd finish buying more than half the city.

"They're not just building," Zeke realized in horror. "They're expanding. This used to be their base, but now it's just one of several. That tower must be their power source…"

"… but with Scolex now investing all over the city they can build a million more of them, and no one will notice!" Miguel finished.

But if they were staring at all of that, if they were where they thought they were, then it meant they were even deeper than they realized.

"We need to get out of here."

And then an alarm started blaring.

"Great going!" Miguel groaned. "Now they know we're here."

"You're right!" Zeke snapped back sarcastically. "I completely forgot that Xaviax's cameras can only see people when there are two of them!"

The klaxon echoed, bouncing off the winding walls as the glow of a flashing red light blinked overhead. Suddenly, all heads whipped around, a hundred glowing eyes shooting up to where the boys were standing. And then all of them reached for their weapons.

Zeke shot a frantic look at Miguel, guessing what he no doubt must be thinking. The temptation to Wisp away while he still had the chance had to be overbearing. But he couldn't blink safely with Zeke, not without a destination in mind. And they still had no idea where they were.

Miguel clearly thought otherwise. As the Cyberdrones opened fire, the teen lunged, grabbing Zeke and Wisping them out in a crack of black smoke. Seconds later, they hit the floor of another darkened tunnel, and both boys snapped to their feet as they scrambled for a plan.

"Where'd you take us?" Zeke demanded.

"I don't know," Miguel admitted. "I just grabbed and flashed. We needed to get out."

"And you didn't think to bring us toward an exit?"

"I already told you, it doesn't work like that!"

But their argument was cut short as a shadow flicked from the end of the tunnel. Both boy's breath snapped short, inhaling nervously as they realized the same thing. Something was down there. They weren't out of the woods yet.

"Can you Wisp us again?" Zeke asked hopefully.

Miguel shook his head. "I need a second, I already told you it's harder with two people."

Which meant that whatever was coming toward them, they were going to have to face it. Or desperately hope they could outrun it.

"It's probably just Cyberdrones," Zeke decided, more to assure himself than anything, "We can handle them, then make a run for it."

"Here's hoping."

He just had to say it. No sooner had Miguel sounded his agreement, than a pair of sinister voices sounded down the hall. And neither were ones he recognized.

"You hear that, Hurley?" it chuckled. "Looks like we got ourselves some intruders."

"Yeah," the other one snickered. "Seems like we get to have some fun, eh Burley?"

"Right you are, Hurley."

All color drained from Zeke's face as he turned toward heavy, thumping footsteps. Both boys backed away on instinct, as slowly but surely, two hulking shapes appeared down the tunnel. Zeke's best guess, Ender was going through a fantasy phase. They were nearly identical in appearance, hulking masses of muscle, wielding clubs, and nearly unclothed save for their torn pants. Their faces were wide and squashed, each sporting a mane of scraggly black hair with horns protruding from their heads. The only difference between them was that one was red, and the other blue.

Both boys snapped back-to-back as they arrived, guards raised in terror as the two ogres lumbered hungrily toward them.

"Now what have we got here, Hurley?" asked the blue one.

"I don't know, Burley," said the red. "Don't seem too different to little mice sneaking in the cupboard."

"Well, we know what to do with them, now, don't we?"

And the two monsters lunged at the boys with frightening speed.


Hilary had never been more bored in her life. And having completed a PhD where she had to sit through a million different grad proposals, she felt that was really saying something. Her eyes subtly tracked to her watch, flicking the screen alive to see that it had been a whole two minutes since she'd last checked. Two minutes, and yet the council treasurer was making the budget seem so endless that Hilary would have assumed that the coffers were as well.

Jess, to her credit, was making a much better impression of someone paying attention, nodding politely at all the right moments and occasionally jotting a note with her pen. Hilary was about to lean in and congratulate her, only to notice that Jess' notes were actually scribbled drawings. They really should have drawn straws on whose job it was to pay attention.

At last, the droning accountant finished their report, and the meeting moved on to the next item of business. Permits.

Wonderful.

Perusing the agenda, Hilary had to wonder why she even needed to be there. She'd never been requested before, and it wasn't like she was an elected member of city governance. Equally, there seemed to be nothing on the list that indicated anything involving the museum was coming up.

There was nothing relevant to her, nothing at all. And yet, that very morning, Jess had received an urgent email from Mayor Fielding requesting Hilary's attendance. And as much as Jess' spine had grown dramatically over the last year, there was no way she was saying no to an express invite from the mayor. Even Hilary would have only thought about it.

As the council debate raged on in a mind-numbing fashion (they were cordially arguing over whether the current permit format was too broad, and if they needed to move from a seven-point, color-coded model to a singular, fourteen-point one), Hilary made another check of the time, hoping that at the very least she could conjure an excuse to leave before her brain melted out of her ears.

And that's when her phone screen flashed.

Left on silent, there was no hint at all of her communication, save for the screen glowing against the page it rested under. Shooting a warning look to Jess, Hilary slid the phone beneath her notebook and checked the message.

It was Ray.

Grid active- Z&M.
Old Powerplant.
Keep you updated.

Hilary's brow furrowed. It was strange for several reasons, not least because of who it was. If it were Abbey with either of them, maybe. But Hilary also knew for a fact that their sweet blue Ranger was currently being cornered and interrogated by her two female teammates. And she highly doubted that Zeke and Miguel had all of a sudden to have a guys' night.

But Hilary's confusion was only a distraction from the other part of the message. Old Power Plant.

That was where she and Ray had run into hive Cyberdrones. Where Miguel had been asking about earlier…

Dammit!

She should have known he was up to something. Zeke must have figured it out and followed. He should have said something!

As all of this raced through Hilary's mind, her face remained stony as she shared a subtle look with Jess. Both were in agreement, they needed to get out of there. If for no other reason than to get someone on mission control so that Ray could go bail out the boys.

But as Hilary's mind raced for an excuse that she hadn't used before, the door to the boardroom suddenly opened. Her head whipped up, her heart racing to double speed as Jessica went white as a sheet. The man walking in was Davian Scolex.

"Sorry I'm late," he said with a winning smile. "Just had a pesky last-minute problem that needed handling."

"Davian," Mayor Feilding greeted. So, they were on a first-name basis now; great. "No trouble at all, we were just about to get to your proposal."

Hilary raised an eyebrow, eyes in synch with Jess's as they scanned the agenda. Proposal SA11. The two women shared a look, a silent conversation of sudden strategy as they scrambled for what to do.

But Scolex answered for them.

"Dr Hawkins?" he realized. "Now this is a pleasant surprise. I would have thought you preferred to spend your Friday night with that wonderful husband of yours. Although, from what I hear, your social circle seems to keep you quite busy as well nowadays."

At first, Hilary thought to snarl, assuming that her presence at the same meeting where Scolex was presenting was far from accidental. That his entrance was too well-timed to the message that she'd just received from Ray. A thought clearly shared by Jess as they exchanged another silent glance.

But as Hilary held back the biting remark, an icy smile crept to her lips as another thought occurred just as quickly. The dig at her and the Rangers was obvious, a slight that only she would notice. But what was more interesting was why; what did it gain him other than setting her a little on edge? Sure, Scolex knew, and by now was likely aware that she had also discerned who he really was. But outside of that, there was no reason at all to draw attention to it unless Scolex had some other purpose.

And then hit her, he'd been legitimately surprised to see her. The dig was an obfuscation, an attempt to recompose as he adapted to Hilary's presence. Which meant that Scolex wasn't the reason Hilary had been invited to the meeting. And if he had a plan for it, then Hilary could cause a problem. At the very least, it could give them insight into what he'd been planning.

And that meant, despite whatever crisis Ray was dealing with, that she needed to stay at this meeting.

"Not at all, Mr. Scolex," Hilary smiled sweetly as she sat back down. "I barely leave my lab most days. My husband sometimes thinks I'm married to it instead of him. You'll find that I'm very, very dedicated to what I do."

Beside her, Jess nodded, masking behind a matching innocent smile as her eyes betrayed her uncertainty. Without a word, she pulled out her phone, and Hilary saw Jess' reply to Ray' on her phone screen.

Stuck at meeting.
Mr Nice guy is here.
Dr's orders are to monitor
Call Cavalry if necessary.

Hilary was impressed, a series of silent glances and Jess knew exactly what to send. She should have her brought into the loop far earlier.

Pushing the trouble with Zeke and Miguel aside, Hilary's entire mindset then fixed upon Scolex's proposal. And if she was going to sit through the hell of the meeting, then she'd be damned if he'd be skipping any more of it.

"Before we get to Mr. Scolex," Hilary said slyly before returning to the treasurer. "I'm curious about your thoughts and expanding the range of permits out to chartreuse…"


"Server Force! Login Access!"

The suit had barely formed from its basking yellow light as Zeke dived beneath a swinging, meaty hand that smashed into the wall above him as he scrambled to summon his shield. Even morphed, Zeke was barely fast enough, feeling the force of the pummel from the arm as the monster spun to face him down.

This was bad. This was really bad.

As the ogres lunged, the boys had split, connecting to the Grid as quickly as they could and racing to opposite sides of the room. There was a brief moment of reprieve as the two foes bickered about who was fighting who, and then the monsters were all over them.

They needed to move, to regroup and come up with a plan. Zeke didn't have the firepower to take down one monster, let alone two. While Miguel's Dark Saber packed a punch, there was no way he'd be able to line up a Shadow Strike on both at the same time.

"Stop moving!" Burley bellowed, roaring in frustration as he thundered after Zeke. "Just let me squish you!"

But now Zeke had a new problem; he hadn't been tracking where he was going, and now he'd been backed into a corner. Gulping down, he turned around to see the large, blue mountain of meat looming over here.

"Nowhere to run now," he chuckled with far too much delight.

Ray's voice suddenly buzzed in his ear. "Zeke? Your suit just went live, what's going on!"

But Zeke didn't have any time to reply, swinging up the shield as Burley's club came crashing down. He had one hope, and only one hope only; that he could angle the block just enough to use the force to his advantage.

He'd guess right.

As Burley's heavy weapon collided with the shield, Zeke titled his protection. Tremendous force rocketed through, surging through Zeke's body and sending him flying under Burley's legs. The Yellow Ranger went skidding along the tunnel floor, and Burley stumbled from the recoil as he spun around in shock.

"That was a handy boost!" Zeke taunted as he whipped out his Security Pistol. "Here's a thank you."

Yellow beams trilled from the weapon as they seared into Burley's skin, the large mountain of meat howling as Zeke rocketed away.

"Zeke!" Ray demanded, tone both worried and impatient. "Zeke, are you still there?"

"Sorry," the boy replied as he leaped to his feet. "Took a scenic route home, got a little lost. Met some new friends."

"I'm guessing they're not the friendly kind." Ray was back to his usual quips, but Zeke caught the hint of stress in his voice. Mission control was one thing, but the situation that Zeke and Miguel had landed in was a whole other trouble.

"That would be correct."

By now, Burley had figured out where Zeke had got to, and now was locking eyes with fresh fury in his eyes. "You! You're a sneaky one! Get back here!"

Time to go!

With the open hall of the corridor behind him, Zeke took off again, hoping to regroup with Miguel and find a better vantage. He didn't have to go very far for the first one.

Something boomed in the distance, the Dark Ranger surging from a black streak with his Dark Saber glowing. Behind him, Hurley was roaring, ground quaking as he took after his equally fleeing foe. Zeke's heart sank as Miguel saw him.

If the team's powerhouse was retreating, then it could only mean one thing. He wasn't strong enough to take either out on his own. And meant they had a fresh batch of problems.

"Guys, I know where you are," Ray warned them. "We can save the lecture for later, but right now I just need you out of there. I'm pulling up the schematics of the tunnels, I should have your location in just a sec-."

And then Ray's voice vanished into a hissing sea of static.

Not good!

Really not good!

"Behind you!"

Zeke took the warning, dropping without thought as an enormous club beat the air above his head. Diving far as he could, Zeke rolled to his feet and spun around, smacking right into Miguel who'd tried to do the same.

"Watch where you're dodging!" Miguel growled as both stumbled back.

"I literally have bigger things to deal with right now," Zeke replied.

"Just hang back behind your shield," Miguel warned. "I'll handle them."

"My shield's the best chance we've got," Zeke snapped back. "We can't take them like this, we need to retreat."

"I'm not going anywhere until I got what I came for. Now stay out of my way!"

But any rebuttal Zeke had was cut short as the two meatheads descended upon them.

"Now, now, no fightin'!" Hurley laughed.

"There's plenty of hurtin' to go around!" Burley agreed.

The boys split again as both clubs thundered into the ground where they'd been standing. With his pistol still in hand, Zeke fired wildly behind him, hoping it would give either of his pursuers enough pause to gain some distance. Instead, it only made them mad.

"No fair! Play nice!" Hurley roared as he took off after. Once again, Zeke was backed into a corner. Maybe he could pull the trick with the shield again? It was unlikely to work on Burley, but Hurley hadn't seen it yet. But even as he thought it, Zeke knew he was gambling on a second-time fluke.

With no time to second guess, Zeke ducked and braised, leveling the shield at the perfect angle as he before. Sure enough, Hurley's club hammered into the barrier, shooting Zeke between his legs just as it had with Burley.

Okay, so maybe they weren't too bright.

This time Zeke didn't take the time to taunt him, leaping away in hopes of catching up with Miguel. Only now he had a new problem. Whereas last time the Rangers had been pressed together, this time Zeke had shot himself out between the two monsters, sandwiching himself in the middle.

"Would you look at that," Burley chuckled as he turned to see Zeke standing between him and his crimson counterpart. "Back for more, are ya?"

"Hey!" Miguel's voice cracked through the caverns of the tunnel, Hurley spinning around and grinning as he saw the Dark Ranger pointing directly at him. "I'm not done with you!"

But as Zeke looked past the blue giant, he noticed a look on Burley's face, a smirk of cunning excitement. His eyes flicked to Hurley behind him, and then he turned around to face Miguel head-on. The Dark Ranger hadn't seen it, energy already gathering around him as he readied another Shadow Strike. But Zeke did, and his heart sank. It was a trap.

"NO!" he screamed, but it was far too late. Miguel surged forward, cracking like lightning as his sword flashed toward Burley. But the Blue Ogre was already moving, gracelessly leaping aside to clear himself from Miguel's path. Leaving Zeke directly in it. All the Yellow Ranger could do was slam down the shield and brace as hard as he could as Miguel collided with him. The Dark Saber and Power Shield clashed, a mighty boom unleashing as both were hurled backward. Right into the awaiting Hurley and Burley.

"Batter up!"

"Right out of the park!"

In near-perfect unison, they swung their weapons into soaring rangers, crashing with the might of homerun hits and sending them back with a thunderous boom. The two boys collided, no shield to protect them this time, impacting with a thunderous crash. With nowhere to go, the boys were whiplashed by each other's propulsion, slapped still in mid-air before spiraling into a heap on the ground. As both of them rolled away from each other, groaning in disorientation, their Ranger suits vanished in a blinding flash.

"Well, that was a job well done, if I may say so, Burley,"

"I agree, Hurley. Well done."

Zeke's head was pounding, his world spinning as he struggled to stand. Beside him, Miguel was doing the same, groaning with disorientation as he recovered from the painful demorph. But as he readjusted to the darkness, Zeke's heart seized with terror as he realized their predicament. Coms were down, out of morph, and now the two slobbering monsters were gleaming down on them. And they were looking at the two boys like they were their final meal…

Beneath Zeke, Miguel's eyes widened, sudden recollection of their predicament as he gasped and spun around. As he realized just how deep a mess they were in.

"Now, what do you say, Burley?" asked Hurley. "We probably wants to stop them wriggling around before we eat them."

"Good idea, Hurley," said Burley. "And then gets to the best part. The squishin'!"

"Yeah, I loves the squishin'!" Hurley agreed with a grin that turned Zeke's insides cold.

"We need to get out of here," Zeke whispered harshly. "Can't you, I don't know, Wisp us out or something?"

"Give me a minute!" Miguel hissed. "I'm dizzy and I've got to concentrate if I take you with me. Unless you want to end up teleporting into a wall."

That was a pleasant thought that Zeke had never considered, and equally hoped never to again.

"I don't think we've got a minute," Zeke warned, readying to throw up his force field and desperately hope it was enough. "Not when these guys are this hungry."

The tide was turning with the ogres as well. It seemed there was trouble in paradise.

"Alright," Hurley decided. "You bonk 'em on the head, and I'll do the squishin'."

"No way!" Burley growled. "That's the best part! You bonk 'em on the head, I want to do the squishin'!"

"That's not how this works!" Hurley snapped. "Squishin's always been my job. You've got to knock 'em down!"

"We never done this before!" Burley insisted. "It can't be your job, you never done it!"

"Miguel…" Zeke urged. "Any time now…"

"Give me a sec…!"

Then the red ogre snapped his fingers a lightbulb as he came to a solution. "I've got it," said Hurley. "We'll just use them Cyber-thingies. You know, the ones that Ender's always barking about!"

"Oh yeah!" Burley grinned. "Then they can hold them still, while we do the squishin'!"

And then, in perfect unison, the two heads slowly turned to the boys with eager grins.

"But we should probably bonk em' on the head first," Hurley decided. "Just to be sure."

"Sure should," said Burley. "Sure as sure."

They took a step, and Zeke flinched back on instinct, a worried cry leaping free of lungs as the ogres lumbered towards him. Breathing in, his hands snapped up, ready to throw the forcefield as he stepped back against the wall, as far as he could. No way out.

And then something moved. Miguel leaped up, moving fast to stand defiantly between Zeke and the two ogres.

"Sorry boys; kitchen's closed."

Without even thinking, Zeke threw out the forcefield, just as both ogres took a furious swipe at Miguel. As Miguel's hand snatched to grab Zeke's shirt, the two meaty fists slammed against the golden dome, shattering it into a dazzling burst of light. The ruined forcefield flashed, throwing Zeke back into Miguel as the boy grabbed tight and summoned the smoke. In the shelter of the blinding light, the air cracked loudly as the ground vanished beneath Zeke's feet.

Then the boys wisped away, leaving a furious Hurley and Burley behind. And as they did, Zeke could hope that it was somewhere closer to the exit. Somewhere that could lead them out of the hellish maze.