Chapter 25: The Morphinaut: Part II

7760 BC - Frontier Lab - Planet 0117 - Galaxy A4 - Land Without Magic

As the monsters get closer to the Lab, Orisonth comes up with a plan

"Grab the Morphinaut" Orisonth said "we'll take him with us to the teleporter. I can remotely self destruct the Proto Arch. I hate to see it go… but better than it falling into the wrong hands" and they grab the Morphinaut and head back towards Elepis.

"C'mon" Orisonth said "before they completely… cut us off" as they realize the monsters have surrounded them

"Wait" Phiro said "does anyone hear that? That sounds like… Whendi!" and his giant pet attacks the monsters "she's panicking give her space, she'll" and Whendi takes out several more monsters, but they send a lava like substance flying towards her

"No!" Aleia said

"The lava… it's… moving?!" Orisonth exclaimed

"We have to move" Rhian said, noticing the path Whendi had cleared "Phiro, I'm sorry, we can't help her now"

"I'm so sorry Whendi" Phiro said as he notices that Whendi is still alive, but looks very different "M… maybe she's okay?"

"Less optimism, more running" Telosi said and then the monster reach them. However, when they get near the Morphinaut, the Grid energy vaporizes them and purifies Whendi.

"I think…" Phiro began "I think whatever that stuff is, it doesn't like Grid energy"

"This guy is soaking in it" Aleia said

"Maybe this guy can help us" Telosi said

"Yes, because he's been so helpful up to this point" Rhian said

"Huh, they are terrified of this guy" Telosi said as he sees the monsters running off

"It must be the energy" Orisonth said

"Doesn't matter" Rhian said "we're gonna use what we got. Everyone, behind Phiro!" And they get behind Phiro, who's holding the Morphinaut, and use the Grid energy to clear a path to the teleporter.

They hear the monsters whisper a name "Dark… Specter"

"We've got to get to the teleporter" Phiro said "Ori, you're the closest, contact your brother and have him ready to teleport us. We'll distract the monsters" and Ori makes it to the teleporter and activates his communicator

"Ori?!" Kartor said "thank the stars. Now why in… are you still there?!"

"We…" Orisonth began

"Please tell me…" Kartor tried to say, but the transmission is garbled "… reach the teleporter… can't hold it open forever…"

"Kartor" Orisonth said "they're going to get through!"

"They?!" Kartor exclaimed "Get out, Ori, leave now!"

"But my friends…" Orisonth began

"Just get through!" Kartor interrupted "we'll figure something out! Ori please… come home… please… Ori?… Ori?!… where… going?!"

"I can't Kartor" Orisonth said

"What?" Kartor asked "Why?… What are… doing?!"

"I can't leave them" Orisonth said "and I can't let them get through" and he enters the self destruct sequence for the teleporter

"Ori, we love…" Kartor began, but the transmission was cut off as the teleporter exploded

"What happened?" Telosi asked

"I'll explain later" Orisonth said "we need to find cover!"

"We got a plan?" Telosi asked

"Yes, well some of one" Orisonth said

"Wait where's…" Aleia begins but then a monster is destroyed by the Morphinaut

"The teleporter?" the Morphinaut asked

"I… it's shut down" Orisonth said

"Good" the Morphinaut said

"Those things are everywhere, where can we possibly hide?" Telosi asked

Elepis School

"School, really?" Telosi asked "after all the time I spent avoiding class"

"The lab should be secure" Orisonth said

"When we're safe" Rhian said "maybe this… fossil… can tell us what's going on"

"I am right here" the Morphinaut said

"We're about to have company" Telosi said as more monsters appear

"Telosi, help me with him…" Rhian began and then the Morphinaut disappeared

"Wait, where'd he go?" Telosi asked and the Morphinaut reappears and fights and destroys two monsters

"How did you do all that?" Phiro asked

"Spent two decades lost in the Morphing Grid" the Morphinaut said

"You're unstable" Orisonth said "with that much energy in you, you're lucky not to have been torn apart upon exiting. I don't know even whether you're you in there anymore. That suit could be all that's keeping you together anymore"

"That's a good question" the Morphinaut said

"While I'm running some more tests on how we can use that energy, Telosi, can you search for food?" Orisonth asked

"Ok" Telosi said "but what's the greater plan here? I mean, we can't hide here forever. This place is crawling in goo things… and so far our only source of defense is a maybe-not-alive guy. And has everyone forgotten the big question of how we're even going to get out of here?"

"Telosi, behind you!" Rhian shouts as a monster approaches Telosi

"No" the Morphinaut said and he grabs the monster by the throat "I'm done running"

"Pl… ease" the monster said

"Wait!" Aleia said "I think there's someone in there" and the Grid energy burns away the monster's 'skin' revealing a human beneath it

"Xev?!" Telosi asked as the last of the lava substance is burned away

"How did you do that?" Orisonth asked

"Grid energy is antithetical to the very nature of Dark Specter" the Morphinaut said

"Telosi" Xex said

"I've got you brother, I promise" Telosi said

"If this Dark Specter is incompatible with Grid energy, then why is he trying to enter it?" Rhian asked

"Because he's trapped in a timewarp" the Morphinaut said "he figured out a way to exit the timewarp via the Morphing Grid. If a portal is opened from our world to the Grid, he could pass through it to release himself"

"But still" Orisonth said "who's to say he'd survive the trip through the Grid, his troops seem to have a pretty bad reaction to even a small amount of energy. No way he could survive the trip"

"He may be willing to chance it" the Morphinaut said "if he makes it through great, if he dies and takes out the Morphing Grid with him, so be it"

"Or maybe he's looking for a vessel that's compatible with the Grid…" Orisonth said "we need to get to the lab now."

"You okay?" Telosi asked Xev "not feeling monster-y anymore?"

"I'm okay, I think" Xev said "I'm me. I think. I feel like I can still here him in my head though"

"This Dark Specter" Phiro said "there's no way he could get the Proto Arch online right?"

"No!" the Morphinaut yelled as he begins to glow even brighter than before

"What's wrong with him?" Xev asked

"The energy is getting more unstable" Orisonth said "he's losing coherence, we have to stabilize…"

"My Proto Arch" the Morphinaut said "you did manage to get it back online just enough for me to slip through. If Dark Specter's forces discover my lab, if they figure out how to finish your work…"

"He can't possibly know it exists" Orisonth said

"It's not worth the risk" Xev said "you don't know what it was like being controlled by him. Dark Specter won't stop"

"Xev" Telosi said "it's okay, you're free now"

"And it was Grid energy that did it" Xev said "but if Dark Specter succeeds… nothing will be able to stand in his way"

"His forces are still out there" Telosi said "I can't lose you again"

"I'm overflowing with enough power to hold them off" the Morphinaut said

"You can barely stand" Phiro said "you're in no condition to hold off an entire army"

"I can hold them off long enough for you all to join your families" the Morphinaut said "it would not be difficult to change the Proto Arch to portal you to wherever they went"

"And then what?" Telosi asked "we just leave you behind?"

"Then I blow my lab up" the Morphinaut said

"Unacceptable" Telosi replied

"Or…" Orisonth said "maybe there's a way to stabilize your energy and get you back on your feet"

"How?" the Morphinaut asked

"By sharing it" Orisonth said "every scan indicates you've been inundated with every spectrum the Grid has to offer. But by bombarding you with the spectrometer here…"

"Smaller words for the rest of us, Ori" Telosi said

"…Right" Orisonth said "If I use this machine to initiate an energy surge using the Power Crystals I found, I think we can use their crystalline structure to siphon off the excess energy that's currently ripping you apart"

"That was more words, but okay" Telosi said

"You asked for smaller, not less" Orisonth said

"This is risky" the Morphinaut said "the energy could destroy you if you're wrong. I can buy you time, distract the horde, you should make it if you run"

"I was the one who endangered us with the Proto Arch" Orisonth said "and Phiro is right, you're barely keeping coherence. I know I can do this. Let me fix it, please. They're stuck here because of me. I have to try"

"Fine" the Morphinaut said "what do I have to do?"

"Are you all sure?" Orisonth asked his friends "we could very well burn to a crisp or…"

"We're sure, Ori, promise" Rhian said

"Remember how you told us that adding protonium in the lab definitely wouldn't explode on us?" Aleia asked "we trusted you then, we trust you now. It will be okay"

"Didn't the protonium explode?" Telosi asked

"Minor detail" Aleia said

"I could use a pick me up anyway" Phiro said

"On my signal then" Orisonth said as each on of them take a Power Crystal. Rhian takes the red dragon; Telsoi, the green lion; Phiro, the yellow griffin; Aleia, the pink firebird; Xev, the black hippogriff; leaving Orisonth with the blue unicorn

"Go!" Orisonth said and they each put their Power Crystal into the machine, holding it in place. Morphing Grid energy rises off of the Morphinaut in six colors, red, green, blue, yellow, pink, and black and each color surrounds one of the teenagers, transforming each one into a colorful suit… into a Power Ranger

"It… it worked" the Red Ranger said "Stylish"

"You mean it looks amazing" the Pink Ranger said "feels amazing too"

"Can't argue with these changes" the Yellow Ranger said

"These suits are incredible" the Green Ranger said

"Okay, but what happened to our actual clothes?" the Black Ranger asked

"My working hypothesis is that the Grid energy transformed out clothing at the molecular level…" the Blue Ranger tried to explain

"You morphed them into something amazing" the Pink Ranger said

"Warning" the emergency broadcast system said "Atmospheric breach! Please head to your nearest shelter immediately. Warning. Atmospheric breach! Please head to your nearest shelter immediately"

"Huh" the Morphinaut said "the emergency broadcast still sounds the same. Something is coming"

"We're hours from dawn" the Pink Ranger said as they stepped outside, noticing the light

"That's no sun" the Morphinaut said and they see a giant lava monster's face in the sky

"Is that Dark Specter?" the Blue Ranger asked

"No" the Morphinaut said "he is still trapped in the timewarp… for now anyways. Whoever it is, will be here on his behalf, and they will be a force to be reckoned with. With those suits of yours, you should now be able to make to my lab. Go and change the Proto Arch to simply portal you across the galaxy. But once you get through, you must destroy the Arch. Dark Specter cannot escape