Mark gripped his sword, watching carefully as Kane loomed over him. His new team mates were down, overwhelmed by the number of Gougers, "Look at the end of your world red ranger," Kane taunted whilst bending down over the prone ranger, "no one can help you now."

"Wanna bet tin can," Taylor cried, launching herself into the air by jumping off Kane's head. The Air Force Major landed and without breaking stride, started attacking the Gougers.

Seeing his opening, Mark slashed at Kane legs right at the knee joints. The mechanoid cried out, sparks flew from his joints followed by a dark, viscous liquid, "Curse you, humans," Kane hobbled away. Mark prepared himself for another attack but his initial strike had done enough, "You won't be so lucky next time," Kane huffed and teleported away with a shimmer.

Meanwhile Taylor had cleared enough of the Gougers away from Stevie and Ricky to allow the rangers time to get back to their feet, "These things are a lot tougher than Putrids," she wheezed between kicks. One Gouger managed to catch her leg but Taylor responded by kicking off the monster with her free leg, executing a backflip at the same time.

Landing in a crouch, she quickly swept out the leg of another Gouger, taking it to the ground. Allow herself a second's rest, she instinctively struck a pose, "That was totally bas ass," Stevie gushed with praise, "was the pose necessary though?"

"Perhaps you youngsters could help out the forty something, I'm doing all the work here," Taylor groaned in response.

"But we don't know what to do?" Ricky protested.

Taylor stood up but quickly crouched back down as a Gouger rushed her from behind. The monster somersaulted over her back, allowing Stevie to kick it straight in the head as it came down, "Trust your instincts," the Major stated, "the grunts like to attack in numbers, try to tackle them one at a time."

The latest Rangers nodded, trying their best to avoid being swamped by the creatures. Ricky was still hesitant to attack and his arms were quickly restrained by two Gougers, "Just be confident," Stevie tried to help her team mate. The blue ranger was taking to her new powers a little easier, levelling a Gouger with a sloppy but powerful crescent kick.

Struggling against the Gougers grip, Ricky surprised himself by freeing himself by flipping backwards over their heads. The Gougers stared at the yellow ranger in shock, allow him to grab their heads and bash them together, "Confident," he breathed, "I can do this, I think." Charging at another Gouger, Ricky unleashed a jumping uppercut that blasted the soldier high into the air, "OK, that felt good."

"I think they're getting nervous," Taylor called to the two young Rangers, "this is the point they run away," she added whilst kicking a Gouger in the stomach.

"Fight many alien monsters in your life," Stevie called out.

"Not alien monsters," Taylor replied, "but I've fought my fair share of beasts."

At this moment Mark charged over expecting to relieve his team, "Looks like you have things under control Major," the red ranger said with a hint of surprise.

"First battle jitters that's all," Taylor began, "we've got the Gougers under control, go take care of that bug Lieutenant."

Mark didn't need to be told twice, taking off at pace across the sports field. Crossing the athletics track he spotted Jazz being menaced by the Vampire Bug. Behind her were a couple of students and an older woman who he presumed was their coach, "I'll warn you, I'm a Glaswegian," Jazz shouted, swinging her metal case in its direction.

The bug quickly shot out its tongue, seeing his chance Mark leapt towards the monster. With a single upward swing of his sword, he sliced the creatures tongue clean off. The Vampire Bug roared in pain, running around aimlessly whilst frantically grabbing at its mandibles. The red ranger turned towards the group of civilians, "Now's your chance," he said, "oh and Miss," he added towards Jazz, "be careful with that case."

Jazz nodded, "Come on Coach Newton, let's get your team outta here."

"Time to squash this bug," Mark pulled his side arm from its holster, linking it with his sword. "Jet Cannon," he called whilst taking careful aim at the bug, "fire!" The burst of energy ripped through the bug's chest and moments later it crashed to the ground in a fiery explosion.

Taking a look around and seeing the coast was clear, he demorphed and walked towards the remains of the bug, "Better than a can of bug spray," he vaguely registered Stevie's voice from a distance, "although crispy cockroach isn't my thing."

Mark remained stone faced as his team approached, "That could've been smoother but we got there in the end."

"Really need to work on your pep talks dude," Stevie snorted. She looked back at the school which had been damaged in the initial attack, "Guess school's out for the day, shame," she added with a shrug.

Taylor was a little slower than the blue and yellow rangers, her body was a stiff from the exertion, "I'm not as young as I used to be," she grumbled under her breath. Looking back at the field, she was relieved to see that those affected by the Vampire Bug were slowly getting back to their feet, "At least the civilians seem to be alright," she called out to the team.

"Thanks to the Black Widow over there," Stevie replied with a smile, "you've got some move for an old lady."

"Hey," Taylor protested but as she pointed towards Stevie, she felt a slight twinge in her shoulder, "I'm still in charge of Project Jet Force, just remember that." She rolled her shoulder as subtly as she could but Taylor knew the Rangers could see what she was doing, "That was a good effort today but that was just the first battle. The Vyglass will be back before we know it."

"We need to find the other Rangers," Mark added, "I'll have Jazz meet us at the car and we'll show you around our base."

"And we'll discuss our pay, right?" Stevie said with a cheeky grin.

"Just go to the car park," Taylor shooed the blue ranger away who took Ricky with her, "they did well," Taylor continued once she and Mark were alone, "bit of a rocky start but they have potential."

"Stevie yes," Mark sighed, "something tells me that Ricky's going to need a lot of work."

"He just needs to work on his confidence," Taylor replied, "once he's done this a few times then it'll come naturally."

"If you say so," Mark didn't sound convinced, "thank you for the save by the way but I didn't know they taught those moved in basic training."

Taylor offered a grin, "Once the team is complete, I'll tell everyone about my combat history. How about that for an incentive?" As the Air Force officers left the field they failed to notice a batch of eggs pulsing ominously underneath the bleachers.

In the other side of town, a lone figure dressed in a tight black t-shirt was sitting at a bar. In one hand was a glass of bourbon that he periodically swirled in his glass. His eyes were fixed on the singer on the raised platform at the far end of the room, a single female strumming her acoustic guitar whilst performing a gentle ballad, "She's not bad," the bartender said, "some say she could be the next Kira Ford."

"Definitely has potential," the man replied blandly, "shame about the monkeys she hangs around with." Standing ominously near the stage was a man with greasy thinning hair backed up by two large men.

The bartender sighed, "Heard about Jarvis then," he leaned over and grabbed the man by the arm, "I'd stay away from them if you want to continue breathing."

The man snorted, "I've seen bigger," he shrugged whilst taking a sip of his drink.

"I mean it Harley," the bartender said with urgency, "I wouldn't want to lose my best customer."

"I'm touched but I can take care of myself," Harley replied, raising his glass once again. The bartender sighed, knowing that this discussion was over. As the young woman's performance ended, she took in the applause of the small crowd, her smile dropping when she was ushered off stage by the man identified as Jarvis.

Harley finished his drink in one go, grabbed his grey hooded jacket from the stool next to him, "Put this on my tab," he stated whilst putting on his jacket.

"The drink or the damage," the bartender called back in exasperation, Harley responded with a lop sided grin whilst flipping up his hood.

Making his way to the rear of the bar, Harley spotted the young performer surrounded by Jarvis's two goons with the man himself standing too close for comfort. He couldn't make out every word of their conversation, but he could guess it wasn't positive. The girl looked frightened, clutching her guitar case close to her chest.

As he inched closer, he began to pick out their argument, "This is it, I'm done," the girl replied, "you promised a West Coast tour not dive bars in the desert."

"Listen sweetheart, you're done when I say you're done," Jarvis said menacingly, "now get in the van."

The young woman paused before saying defiantly, "No, I'm not doing it."

"I wasn't asking nicely," Jarvis said just as one of his heavies grabbed the girl roughly by the shoulder.

Harley had seen enough, "Hey," he called, "the lady said no, now let her go."

Jarvis and his muscle paused before offering a chuckle, "Yeah, and what are you going to do about it," the girl was pushed roughly to the ground, banging her head on a garbage can in the process, "turn around and walk away, tough guy."

Seething under his breath, Harley grabbed a trash can lid along with a discard piece of wood, "Not my style," he said whilst bashing the wood against the lid.

"Your funeral," Jarvis clicked his fingers and the two goons lurched in Harley direction. Wasting no time, he flung the lid like a frisbee towards the big guy on his left. The metal object flew with tremendous speed, the man barely had time to acknowledge the incoming projectile, let alone dodge out the way. It impacted right across his jaw, snapping his head back violently and leaving him in a bloodied, unconscious heap on the ground.

His partner suddenly looked nervous, glancing back at his boss, "Don't look at me, get him," he hissed. Reluctantly he turned his attention back to Harley, lumbering towards his target. Once in range he swung his massive fist but Harley moved quickly, almost too quickly.

Before he realised where his target had gone, there was a sharp pain in his back coupled with the sound of splintering wood. Barely breaking stride, Harley dropped his broken piece of wood and advance on Jarvis, "Now let's not be hasty," he backed away defensively until his back touched his van.

With nowhere to go, Harley grabbed the man by the throat, squeezing and lifting him off the ground. Jarvis tried to splutter out some words but he couldn't, "Please," the young woman said from the ground, "I just want my guitar and enough money to go home."

Harley spotted the girl was bleeding but her pleading look and words make him relent. Releasing his grip and lowering Jarvis down, he said gruffly, "You heard the lady, give her some cash and let her go." Jarvis fumbled in his pocket until he found a roll of notes that he dropped in front of the woman, "Now we're going to leave, don't try and follow."

He turned away and was about to check on the guitarist when something struck him on the back of the head. He staggered for a moment before realising that Jarvis and struck him. Spinning around in a flash, he intercepted another punch by grabbing Jarvis's right wrist. The man swung with his left instead but once again, Harley grabbed his wrist. With a small grin, the man in black delivered a hard kick below the belt to his would be attacker. Jarvis's face was twisted in pain, going weak at the knees until Harley released his grip.

Grabbing Jarvis by the wrist, he began to drag him towards the van, "Get out of here," he said to the woman, "you don't want to see this." The woman did as instructed, grabbing her guitar case and running down the alley to the street.

Harley opened the van door, holding Jarvis's fingers at the edge of the frame before slamming the door hard on his fingers. Jarvis howled out in pain, slumping to the floor whilst holding onto his mangled digits, "Don't let me catch you or your goons around here again," Harley said with a dangerous whisper, "I might not be so nice next time," Jarvis nodded and let out a pained whimper.

Stepping over the fallen bodies, Harley reached the main road where he found the singer leaning against a wall with tears in her eyes. Harley sighed and pulled out a piece of cloth from his jeans, "Here you go, dry your eyes then hold this against your wound," he said to the woman.

"Thanks," she said, doing as instructed. She looked up a few seconds later but noticed that Harley was halfway down the street, "Wait, shouldn't we report this to the police?"

"Nah," Harley responded whilst turning back around, "the police and I aren't really friendly anyway."

"I wonder why," the woman shook her head, "do I get to know your name at least?"

"James Harley," he replied with a small nod, "now, do me a favour, get yourself cleaned up and head home." He turned around and started walking away, "And stay away from people like Jarvis in the future." Harley continued walking down the street until he slipped away into the darkness.