The device was a strange, trapezoidal contraption with various pieces of wiring and circuitry sticking out of it, clearly thrown together from various pieces of scrapped technology and junk metal. A large lever dominated the main console. "Well, Hexa?" Lord Zero demanded. "I'm waiting. This had better be impressive."

"Don't worry, my lord," Hexa cooed. "You won't be disappointed." She pressed a few buttons, then pulled the big lever. The machine whirred to life. Then stopped.

"Wow, that was anything if not disappointing," Lord Zero observed sarcastically.

"Just a small… teensy… teething issue, my lord," Hexa replied sheepishly, quickly running around and removing the back cover. "Aha, just a couple of loose cables." She stood up, turning to the three Digidrones who had brought the machine in. "Which one of you bumped it?!"

Two of the Digidrones looked at each other, then shoved the third one forward. Hexa extended her left arm with her hand in a fist. A powerful beam of blue energy shot out of her wrist, destroying the unwilling volunteer on the spot.

"There," she sighed. "That should prevent any more… setbacks." With that, she turned her attention back to her machine.

Meanwhile, Aiden, Tony, Jordan, Mason, Selena, Leo, and Kaia were gathered in the secret lab under the warehouse near the old wharf. "How's that little project we were working on coming along?" Aiden asked Tony.

"Pretty good, Doc," Tony replied, tapping away on his keyboard. "Theoretically, everything checks out, but I'd like to run a few more tests before I'd be confident in sending them out into the field."

"What's that you're working on?" Kaia asked.

"Some secret project between him and the Doc," Mason replied, leaning against a wall nearby. "He won't even tell us what it is."

"And speaking of projects," Aiden interjected, "you all have your group dynamics project to work on. Come on, I'll drop you off at the school library."

"I don't like to be kept waiting, Hexa," Lord Zero sighed, drumming his fingers on the armrest of his throne impatiently.

"Don't worry, my lord," Hexa purred as she pressed various buttons on the machine's console. "I'm locking onto Wrathware's last coordinates now." She pulled the big lever. "Activating Data Storm!"

A satellite dish on top of the machine rotated, then shot out a brilliant beam of blue light. As it materialized in the sky hundreds of thousands of feet in the air and sped down toward the site behind the school where the Rangers had defeated Wrathware, an ominously large shape began to emerge.

Meanwhile, Aiden was driving his students, apart from Tony, back to the school, when "Does anybody else feel that?" he asked. The people-mover's suspension rocked violently from side to side.

"Yeah," answered Jordan. "Could it be an earthquake?"

"I know what earthquakes feel like," replied Selena. "This is something else."

Kaia was idly staring out the window at the passing buildings. Suddenly, she perked up. "What is that?"

Aiden narrowed his eyes. Dwarfing the school building was an immense humanoid shape resembling Wrathware, but much, much larger in size, surrounded by a bolt of blue energy, which soon dissipated. "Hexa. Rangers, you know what to do."

"Look at the size of that thing!" Kaia exclaimed. "How can we take something like that down?"

"Just get out of the car and morph," Aiden instructed. "I'll take care of it." He pulled out his phone and tapped it a few times, speed-dialling the lab. "Tony, we need that little project we've been working on."

The Rangers disembarked from Aiden's van and ran over to the scene. People screamed and ran away in all directions as Wrathware roared with laughter. "You're in BIG trouble now!"

"Hey, freakface!" Jordan called out, catching the supersized Glitch's attention.

"Oh, hello, Rangers!" Wrathware bellowed from above. "Prepare to be crushed!"

"It's not crushin' time…" Jordan countered, looking at his team gathering on either side. "It's Morphin' Time!" He swiped his hand over his left wrist, revealing his Morpher. "Ready!"

"Ready!" Mason, Selena, Leo, and Kaia echoed, mirroring his action.

"Delta Code, Download!" The team yelled in unison, crossing their arms over their chests, then thrusting their left arm into the air and swiping down on their Morphers' touchpads. Red, yellow, blue, green and pink lines of binary code materialized in the sky and ran down to each of their respective colored Morphers.

Jordan was transformed in a flash into his red-and-black spandex suit, the silver belt and V-shaped sashes joining together at his waist. A small, triangular emblem bearing a flame design sat on his chest between the sashes. For an instant, Jordan thought he saw a giant, mechanical bird flying towards him out of the corner of his eye. The bird's beak snapped shut around his head. Suddenly, his helmet appeared, the visor resembling the bird's open beak. "Defender of fire!" Jordan announced, flames erupting behind him as he struck a powerful pose. "Delta Code Red!"

Yellow binary code crept down Mason's left arm, transforming him in a bright flash into his yellow-and-black spandex, a similar emblem on his chest showing a boulder cracked in two. Behind him, a large, ethereal shape resembling a mechanical rhinoceros opened its impossibly-wide maw, slamming it shut around his head and disappearing as quickly as it had appeared, leaving Mason with his helmet on, his visor resembling a stylized rhino mouth and horn. "Defender of earth!" he announced, pounding his fists together. The earth cracked beneath his feet before sealing back up with a golden glow. "Delta Code Yellow!"

Selena's light blue suit appeared around her, the added mini-skirt making her stand out from the boys. A triangular emblem with a wave design lay embroidered in the middle of her chest. A glowing shape resembling a snakelike robot pounced on her from behind, covering her head with its mouth as her helmet appeared, her visor shaped like the open mouth of the toothless serpent. "Defender of water! Delta Code Blue!" She moved her arms around fluidly, conjuring ribbons of water, which swirled around her before dissipating in the atmosphere.

Leo felt a rush of power as the green binary code made its way down his arm and transformed him into his green suit. The emblem on his chest resembled a vine, and a hologram depicting a larger-than-life robotic bear appeared behind him, letting out a roar as it chomped at his head. As it vanished, Leo's helmet appeared with its small, round bear ears. His helmet bore a design resembling a bear's face, the open mouth forming his visor, decorated with a few white streaks resembling sharp teeth. "Defender of nature! Delta Code Green!" Vines appeared from his wrists, and he managed to crack them like whips moments before they vanished into fragments of green code.

Kaia was likewise transformed into her pink-and-black spandex, complete with a mini-skirt, the silver belts, and a triangular emblem with a curved design resembling a gust of wind. The shape of a peregrine falcon appeared behind her, swooping low toward her. As its beak shut around her head, her helmet appeared, the visor almost perfectly resembling the falcon's open mouth. "Defender of air! Delta Code Pink!" She twirled around, stamping her foot as she landed and sending a circular gust of wind out in all directions around her.

"Defenders of reality!" The five Rangers shouted together. "Power Rangers Delta Code!"

"You done?" Wrathware grunted, unamused. He lifted his foot off the ground, forcing the Rangers to scatter moments before he planted it down where they would have been standing.

"I told you, Doc," came Tony's voice over the phone. "They haven't been fully tested."

"Then think of this as a field test," Aiden replied. "Look, we don't have much of a choice here."

"Hey, Dr. Lorne?" Jordan's voice broke in. "Whatever you're doing, you'd better do it quick!"

Tony closed his eyes. "Fine," he said reluctantly, tapping on his keyboard and clicking things with his mouse. "Stand by, Rangers. One order of serious backup, coming up, served extra hot!"

The Rangers, and even Wrathware, looked up as a jet engine roared loudly overhead. A bright red, delta-winged fighter jet appeared on the horizon… getting bigger… too big for a normal fighter jet… Suddenly, its wings ignited and swung out. A bird-like head emerged from the front of the plane, and its entire body seemed to alter slightly to a more organic shape. "Jordan," came Tony's voice. "Meet the Blazing Phoenix Zord."

"Awesome!" exclaimed Jordan. "But, how do I get in?"

"Stand by," replied Tony. "Initiating teleportation. Here goes nothing…"

"What was that?"

"Uh… nothing!" Tony quickly pressed a combination on his keyboard without another word.

Within less than a second. Jordan found himself in the cockpit of a sleek, futuristic aircraft. "Whoa!"

"Plug your central Delta Drive into the console unit," Tony instructed. "That'll switch the controls from remote to manual."

"Right," Jordan responded, taking the middle of the three miniaturized USB drives from his belt buckle and plugging it into the slot on the instrument panel. "Delta Phoenix Zord, online!" The Zord responded easily to his movements on the control wheel. "Woo-hoo! This is awesome!"

"The Zord's onboard AI will help you fly it," Tony explained. "And yes, those thumb controls are weapons."

"Sweet!" Jordan exclaimed, circling around and lining himself up with Wrathware.

"What's this?!" The Glitch exclaimed.

"Fire!" Jordan shouted, pressing down on the thumb triggers. The phoenix's beak opened and belched an explosion of flames.

"Yeow!" Wrathware yelped. "That's hot!"

"Oh yeah, it is!" Jordan quipped. He felt like he was having the time of his life.

"Selena," Tony's voice came over the comms once more. "Surf's up!"

"Huh?" Selena looked back toward the ocean. She was puzzled, but not for long. A huge, blue submarine shot out of the depths, bringing with it an explosion of salt and sea spray. Its body extended into segments with flexible joints in between. Then, Selena noticed that the front of the sub resembled the head of a sea snake. As it slithered inland towards her and the other rangers, Selena felt the ground beneath her feet change. The next thing she knew, she was standing behind the control panel of her new Zord. She plugged in her Delta Drive and took a seat. "Sweet! Tidal Serpent Zord, online!" She piloted the serpent closer, then pressed the thumb triggers, shooting a jet of water with the pressure of a fire hose out of the serpent's mouth.

"AHH!" Wrathware screamed. "That's cold!"

"Oh, yeah! Cold as ice!" Selena replied coolly, flicking her shoulder.

"Watch your feet, Mason!" Tony warned.

Mason began to feel the ground shake beneath him. A huge drilling machine suddenly burst out of the ground. Its shiny drill tip glistened in the sun, and its caterpillar tracks easily carried it out of the tunnel it had just dug. Mason fell backward, finding himself on top of the machine's body as it swiftly transformed to resemble a powerful rhino, the drill bit forming its horn. "Whoa! Yee-haw!"

"Hang on, Mason," Tony advised. "Teleporting now."

Mason was teleported into the machine and plugged his Delta Drive into the console. "Rhino-Drill Zord, online! Let's see what this thing can do!" He pulled a lever next to his seat. The Rhino-Drill Zord charged forward, lowering its head. "Uh-oh…" said Mason, quickly finding a seat harness behind him and clipping it on.

The Zord plowed headfirst into the towering Glitch, who yelled in pain.

"Spiral Drill Attack!" Mason called, twisting the top of the lever ninety degrees clockwise. The rhino's head lifted up, and its drill began to spin rapidly, turning the giant Glitch into a spinning blur before dropping him.

"You little brats!" Wrathware roared angrily once he'd recovered. He lifted his foot up again, directly above the Green Ranger.

"Leo, heads up!" came Tony's voice again. A huge ATV-jeep-like vehicle raced up behind him, swiftly transforming into a green, mechanical bear, which caught the Glitch's gigantic foot, tossing it aside like a medium-sized rock before letting out a protective roar.

Once Leo had been teleported inside, he plugged his Delta Drive into the dashboard. "Bear Crawler Zord, online!"

By now, Wrathware was growing impatient. The last thing he wanted to see was another Ranger piloting one of these strange beast-vehicles. He locked eyes with Kaia. "Look into my eyes, Pink Ranger!"

Kaia tried to resist, but Wrathware's influence was too strong. "Agh! What are you…" she paused, taking a more aggressive stance. "What are you doing to me?!"

"Hey!" Leo yelled. "Back off, bug-eyes! Bear Claw Slash!"

The Bear Crawler Zord let out an aggressive roar and swiped one of its huge, mechanical claws at Wrathware.

"Ow! Hey! Those are sharp!" The Glitch winced.

"Yeah," quipped Leo. "That's kind of the point."

"Oh, great!" Wrathware groaned. "Another lame pun!"

"Sky's the limit, Kaia," Tony called over the radio. "Sky Falcon Zord is inbound."

Kaia looked up as a large, sleek, pink-and-white jet flew overhead. It seemed smaller and more agile than the Blazing Phoenix Zord, like it had been designed more for stealth than brute force. The stealth plane spread its wings and revealed its falcon-like features. Kaia waited to be teleported inside, but nothing happened. "Tony? Why aren't you teleporting me?"

Tony typed furiously on his keyboard in the underground lab. "I… I can't, something's blocking me…"

"Blocking you?" Kaia repeated. "Oh great, so you release untested tech into the battlefield, and it immediately gets hacked!"

"No, this isn't a hack…" replied Tony, looking at the Sky Falcon Zord's systems. "It's your Zord. It's not letting you in because it knows you're too worked up."

Kaia looked up at the mechanical bird circling overhead. "What do you mean, it knows?"

"The Zords aren't just machines," Tony explained. "They each contain an element of artificial intelligence and independence; each given their own animalistic personality and human-like intellect."

"In English?"

"Their computers let them think for themselves in some aspects. The Falcon knows that having you at its controls in your current condition could be dangerous for you and the civilian population."

"Kaia, look out!" Mason's voice broke into the comms as the Rhino-Drill Zord jumped over her toward Wrathware.

Kaia growled in annoyance. "What am I supposed to do then?" She asked no one in particular. "Just sit here and do nothing?" She stared up at the sleek, circling Falcon Zord, its mechanical wings catching the sunlight. The others were already engaging Wrathware, their Zords delivering punishing blows and coordinated attacks, but she couldn't shake the knot in her stomach. Why wouldn't it let her in?

"Kaia!" Tony's voice crackled in her earpiece. "We don't have time for this! Try to focus."

"I am focusing!" she snapped, pacing back and forth. Her grip on her Delta Drive tightened as she glared at the Falcon overhead. "This stupid thing just doesn't trust me!"

"Kaia, we're getting pushed back here!" Jordan called over comms. "We need that Falcon Zord now!"

Kaia clenched her fists, glaring at the Zord. "What do you want from me?!" she shouted at the machine, her voice breaking slightly. "I'm trying to help! Can't you see that?"

The Falcon Zord's wings tilted slightly, as though observing her from a distance, but it made no move to descend.

"Kaia, focus!" Tony's voice pressed, but this time it carried a gentler edge. "The Zords aren't just tools—they're partners. The Falcon's not rejecting you—it's reacting to your mindset."

"Great," Kaia muttered under her breath. "Now I'm being lectured by a robot."

Meanwhile, Wrathware was regaining the upper hand. The Tidal Serpent's water blasts slowed him momentarily, but he countered with a surge of electricity that forced Selena to retreat. Mason's Rhino-Drill charged in again, but Wrathware dodged, swiping the Rhino hard and sending it skidding.

"Guys, I can't hold him much longer!" Mason's voice rang out. "Kaia, we need you in this!"

"Got your back, Mason!" Leo piped up. The Bear Crawler Zord charged toward the towering Glitch, then reared up on its hind legs. "Bear Claw Slash!"

"Not this time!" Wrathware sneered, catching the powerful Zord's arms in his hands.

"Come on!" Leo growled, wrestling with the controls.

Wrathware cackled. "Is that all you got, Green Ranger?" He shoved the mechanical bear away from him. The Zord fell backward onto its side, skidding across the pavement.

Kaia watched on in horror. Something seemed to shift within her, as if witnessing her closest friend in trouble outweighed Wrathware's anger-amplifying effect. Then, Kaia felt her pulse begin to slow. She looked up at the Sky Falcon Zord still circling overhead, and closed her eyes. "My friends need me," she whispered. "I have to help them."

Tony sat up as an alert beeped on his console. "Kaia, you did it! The Sky Falcon Zord's relinquished control. Stand by for teleportation."

Kaia felt a strange sensation, like a split second of weightlessness mixed with a brief tingling feeling. The next thing she knew, she found herself in the sleek interior of her Zord. She looked around in wonder at the gleaming cockpit, then snapped back to attention and jammed her Delta Drive into the port on the instrument panel. "Let's do this, Falcon," she said softly, placing a gentle hand on the wall next to her, before turning her attention to the comm system. "Sky Falcon Zord, online!" As she gripped the control wheel, the Sky Falcon banked left and flew directly towards Wrathware.

"What the…?"

"Wind blast!" Kaia shouted, yanking back on the control wheel. The Sky Falcon Zord stopped short in mid-air, flapping its massive wings and sending a gust of air directly into Wrathware's face.

"Whoaaaaa!" the Glitch cried as he flew backward through the air.

"Whoo!" Kaia cheered. "I'm on top of the world! Hey, Leo, heads up!" She banked back towards the Bear Crawler Zord. The Sky Falcon extended its talons.

"I'm with you, Kaia," Leo responded, watching her Zord approach. The Bear Crawler raised its forelegs up above its head, letting itself get swept up by the Falcon.

Wrathware had only just managed to shake off his concussion when he looked up and saw the two Zords flying towards him.

"Did someone order air mail?" Leo asked as the Sky Falcon released his Zord from its talons, sending the Bear Crawler hurtling towards the towering Glitch. "Flying Bear Slash! Final Strike!"

"GAHHHHHHH!" screamed Wrathware as the Bear Crawler swiped all four of its claws over his body, sending him tumbling to the ground once more. The Green Ranger's Zord then leapt off its prey, letting out a loud, mechanical roar as the supersized Glitch exploded behind him in a spray of flames and binary code.

"Glitch removed," Leo finished coolly, sitting back in his command chair and crossing his arms.

[CONNECTION LOST]

[CONNECTION LOST]

The monitor flashed in front of Hexa's stunned eye. "My lord," she said softly, slowly turning around, a rare show of genuine fear in her expression. "Please…"

"Enough," Lord Zero growled, waving his hand dismissively. He stood up from his throne and strode toward Hexa's Data Storm generator. "This device has potential. And since you are most likely the only one capable of operating it…" he paused, letting out a deep, relenting sigh. "I suppose I have no choice but to keep you on."

Hexa's mouth twitched with a glimpse of relief, then twisted into her usual, alluring smirk. Her plan may not have gone as well as she'd hoped, but she was still in Lord Zero's good books… for now, at least.

Kaia stood alone in the vast Zord hangar, staring up at the nose cone of the Sky Falcon Zord, which stood at the base of its launch ramp in jet mode. "Hey…" she began carefully. "I just… I wanted to apologize for how I acted in that battle. I'm not usually so reckless. That Glitch just… had a way to get to me, I suppose." She continued staring up at the stealth jet in front of her, as if waiting for it to acknowledge her. Just then, a voice from behind startled her.

"Kaia!" Jordan called to her. "Come on, we gotta go study!"

"Be there in a minute!" Kaia waved to her peers, then watched them walk away. Once they were out of her line of sight, she turned back to her Zord and flung her arms around its nose cone. "I guess I'll see you later," she sighed as she pulled back, then turned and jogged along the catwalk toward the staircase.

Next time on Power Rangers: Delta Code, fortune doesn't seem to be on the side of one of the Rangers. I hope their luck turns around soon…

-Dr. Aiden Lorne