POWER DRAIN, PART 2.

1st December. Time, 16:40 Ace Chemicals.

The Rangers arrived at where the parasitic robot had destroyed Ace Chemists' defenses, which was a large metal gate that descended like a castle bridge, but the robot jumped creating a rocket with it and entered the factory. Several employees told him not to move forward, but he found good use of the power he had taken from John to disable them. The reason why he had fallen into the water after absorbing John's powers was that he did not yet know that the powers required concentration and will, but since he is a robot, it was easy to create something, since his concentration was too strong to achieve An objective.

Even though all the factory employees were unconscious, J'onn lowered the bridge for the Rangers. One of the benefits of being in the conference room reviewing the progress and status of the Rangers. Furthermore, he told them that the robot was targeting the factory's power source, which was a giant sphere-shaped radioactive power source that powered the entire factory.

Although it was a great source of energy, there was another source of power at the base of the Justice League, but since it was not the most logical option, it was for Ace Chemists, and then went for the other. If he seized this source of power, the chances of stopping it would drop to almost zero.

The Rangers reached their location and saw the robot walk slowly. With the power, he had there was no need to rush, that until the four Rangers ordered him to stop. The robot ignored the others, having enough power to beat them up. But he preferred to first absorb the power source to easily take down the Rangers.

Seeing that he did not stop, Kal shot him with heat vision. The robot took a bit of damage but was able to create a shield that would resist for a time. Diana tried to shoot him, but the robot shot her with another machine gun created by him. Barry tried to reach him, but the robot created a safe around him that Barry couldn't get through. Shayera shot but did nothing to the robot, just like Kal couldn't use his heat vision for long. Diana got fed up with this and went to try to break the safe, but to no avail; This caused Kal to join her trying to break the box, and they were close to doing so, but the robot created a truck and ran them over with it. Shayera took advantage of this to attack and managed to land a few punches, but the robot tied her with chains and hit her with great force. Barry tried to hit him, but since the robot still had some of Barry's speed, he was able to intercept it and put it against the wall.

XXX

John did the course five other times, each time faster and angrier, but the commander ordered him once more to make the tour. He did but asked her to do it again. John, fed up and muddy, yelled at him.

"I've had enough. You just want me to see that I'm useless and that I can't do anything anymore. I better get out of here," John shouted, touching his chest with his index finger.

"Look who's saying it. You did this circuit seven times, and you're telling me that's not being useful?" asked the commander.

"This is for beginners only, not for a Ranger," said John.

"You did this when you were a beginner, and many new recruits always do it: You were a recruit, but you forgot," The commander said without flinching.

"I was, but I was defeated by that robot. I no longer have powers. I'm useless, and nothing can reverse it" John said very defeated.

"Do you think that powers are important to being a Ranger?" The commander asked very calmly.

"Are you serious?" John said annoyed. He was beginning to consider the commander a fool. "Sure. All Rangers need the power to be, which is why you chose Kal and Diana over me."

"Strange. You met Ranger Grayson, he has no powers and is the leader. Tell me that's not being useful," said Commander Wayne. "And look at me, I have no powers and I am the commander, is that why you judge me?" The commander asked in a threatening whisper.

"That doesn't matter to me. I was defeated and I can't do anything else" John said still very negative.

"You don't know what it is like to be truly defeated," he said very threateningly. "Don't forget that you were initially a soldier in the Justice League in Zone B. Then you, your wife, and another partner signed up for the experimentation program to acquire powers. During all that time, you were never defeated. But now you were defeated and you surrendered," said the commander. John could only look at him with wide eyes. He couldn't believe that the commander knew so much about him. "I investigated you. I investigated all your colleagues. I investigate everyone who works at this base to establish maximum security. Don't be so surprised," said the commander, raising his hand close to John's face. "And you even kept fighting once your wife had your son, but now you don't want to fight anymore. You must keep fighting. Now listen to me well, cadet John Stewart" the commander ordered pointing his finger at him. "Being a Ranger is not a social posture, it is not a question of power, it is not the color, it is not the weapon or the skills, but of the person himself" The commander took his Morpho and put it in front of John's face. "This is a symbol and its meaning depends on the person who uses it. I did not choose you behind the cadet Prince and cadet Kent because you are not as powerful. I chose all of them in their respective positions because they are the right people to spread the correct meaning of that symbol. But you, like all the other Rangers, still don't do it the right way, but your teammates seem to be one step ahead of you," he said knowing that this was going to make John react.

"How come they go before me?" John asked. "They always care about something before the mission:"

"They are fighting the robot right now not only for the mission, but because if they destroy it, that could give you back your power," the commander replied.

"Really?" John asked. "Are they fighting the robot over that?" He asked this because he found it difficult to believe.

"Yes. I told them that, to motivate them," said the commander without changing his facial expression. "So the companions who always thought they couldn't be Rangers because they were distracted by something else are fighting to give you back your powers."

John didn't know whether to go or not. He felt useless, but his companions were fighting to return his powers. This was difficult.

"So if you are finished feeling useless, you have two options: you can leave the base and go back to your wife and son without a job, or you can go to Ace Chemists, help your colleagues with that robot, regain your powers and give him the correct meaning to the symbol of the Justice League," The commander said hard and direct.

John thought about it, and yes, he wanted to continue helping his wife and son and regain their powers, but also help his companions. Before he replied, the commander's Morpho rang.

"Commander, the robot is too strong," said Kal.

"Help is on the way," replied the commander.

"I'm coming, commander," John said, but the commander raised his hand in a halt.

"You are very dirty. Go change yourself"the commander ordered. That was true. He was covered in dirt, and if he wore the Ranger uniform this would be very uncomfortable. "Go change your uniform. I'm going to help the Rangers until you arrive. "

"Thank you, Commander," John said and went to change his clothes. Meanwhile, the commander went to help his Rangers.

XXX

Despite the Rangers' resistance, the robot was only slightly more powerful than they. If not because the robot had John's power, the Rangers could have destroyed it. For now, they were somewhat weak and needed reinforcement. Luckily, the robot created a wrecking ball to destroy the door. The door was already weak after about ten knocks, but he couldn't see a boomerang coming straight to his head. The robot turned around and saw the Dark Ranger facing the other four Rangers.

"Commander, how good you are here," said Kal.

"Yes, we needed help after this robot was a real nuisance," said Barry.

"Since Cadet Stewart is not a robot, he cannot create so many things at once without overloading his mind," said the commander.

"No, the robot looks like you Commander," said Barry. He realized that he had made a big mistake.

"Alright, cadet Stewart is coming, so it's better to stop the robot while he arrives," said the Dark Ranger as he drew his Dark Sword and went to the robot.

"What did he say? Is John on the way?" Diana asked. "I thought he wasn't going to do anything anymore," she said as the commander tried to brandish his sword against the robot.

The robot had not acted because it was dedicated to analyzing the Dark Ranger and realized that if it absorbed its energy, it would also absorb the information of the entire Justice League, all the bases, all the passwords, all the soldiers, all weapons and all Rangers. The robot would have the necessary information to absorb all the power it wants in the world. Therefore, when the Dark ranger started attacking him, he was waiting for the right moment to absorb his energy.

"Yes. Cadet Stewart needed a little time alone, but now he's on his way," the Dark Ranger replied. Barry tried to help him by running towards the robot, but it created a ramp that sent Barry flying against the wall. Diana tried to help the commander with her sword, but the robot created a boot with which she managed to crush it. Kal tried to shoot him, but this caused the robot to find a logical solution, and that solution was to create an oxygen-free safe.

The Dark Ranger fought for a few seconds before he began to feel like he was losing consciousness. The Dark Ranger tried to break the safe, but could not. Fortunately, his four Rangers hit the wall he was trying to open. The Dark Ranger realized that he could give the Rangers a chance to explore along with the robot, so he dropped small explosives at the robot's feet. The robot, seeing that the Dark Ranger was near collapse, he launched himself at the commander and created a protective bubble, but before reaching the commander, the Rangers managed to break through the wall and Diana pulled the Dark Ranger out.

The Dark Ranger began to regain consciousness as he saw the helmet of his blue Ranger. The robot tried to attack the Dark Ranger, but Kal shot him with his heat vision, crashing it into the wall. Barry ran around him and hit him now and then. The robot, fed up, created a wave of energy that interrupted Barry. Shayera shot the robot, but he only created another shield in front of him but didn't see a bomb thrown at him, but that bomb was from John. The robot could not react and fell to the ground.

"John, I can't believe you're here," Shayera said. The four Rangers couldn't believe it, but they were happy to have him back, but he still had no powers.

"Yes, and I don't blame them, but first let's destroy this robot," John said, refocusing on the Rangers.

"Stop it, Rangers," the Dark Ranger ordered, signaling them with his Dark Sword. But as the parasitic robot was heading toward him again. "Kal, Allen, Prince, and Hol keep him busy," he ordered his Rangers. The four of them went, John wanted to go, but the Dark Ranger stopped him. "Do you know how to stop or disorient him?" He asked John. This question was somewhat troubling for the Rangers since he asked John how to beat him, but not them. This also made John nervous; while he wanted to regain his powers, he had no plan.

"I have no plan, he handles my power better than I do," John replied feeling helpless again. The Dark Ranger got mad at this.

"He has your power. The power that you know and that you said you knew better than me. You must know how to use it against him," said the Dark Ranger.

John thought for several seconds and recalled an experience from his early days of his powers, in which everyone asked him to create many things at once to know his limits, but that ended up leaving him exhausted.

"Already. We have to make him believe many things with his will. If he concentrates on many things at once, we might surprise or disorient him," John replied.

"Well done. Then attack her one way, I attack her another" the Dark Ranger ordered. John pulled out his pistol and shot him. The robot blocked it, but John kept firing. The Dark Ranger threw smoke bombs at him, so he created a bubble to block it.

"Kal, use your heat vision or attack otherwise" ordered the Dark Ranger. Kal obeyed and shot the robot with heat vision, so it created another shield. "Diana, attack him differently, not melee," ordered the Dark Ranger. She picked up a piece of the wall that the robot had knocked down and tried to hit the robot, but it again created a metal dome to protect itself. Shayera and Barry, be creative but attack the robot. Barry saw debris from the wall, so he went to them, grabbed them, and threw them onto the robot's shield. Shayera threw a grenade. Nothing worked, but the Dark Ranger had a trick up his sleeve. "Activate the Dark Sword," The Dark Ranger said and the sword emitted a black aura; The Dark Ranger ran towards the dome and gave him a precise and quick thrust, which hit the robot, distracting him a bit, causing his shield to disappear, so Kal shot him with heat vision and the robot crashed into the wall. Diana threw the rubble at him, but the robot blocked him, but Barry took advantage of this distraction to grab him by the shoulders, smash him into the wall twice, John hit him two shots, Shayera pulled out a sword and struck him in the neck, but the Dark Ranger He hit the robot with an accurate blow to the head with his Dark Sword. The robot tried to react, but the sword and those attacks left him very disoriented, but not turned off. Kal ran and hit him in the face very hard, knocking the robot down.

"Super Canyon Time. There will be no other chance," said the Dark Ranger.

"Super cannon," The five Rangers said pointing the super cannon at the robot. "Ready, Aim, fire!" They screamed in unison, but John screamed louder. The fireball shot out. The robot could barely react when it felt the fireball hitting its robotic body. The robot sparked and fell to the ground with a huge explosion.

With the robot destroyed, John tried to create something with his mind, but nothing happened. He tried again, but nothing happened.

"Wow, I can't believe I still don't have powers after this," John said. "But do not worry, I will continue to be part of this team, comrades," He said something sad. Then there was the sound of a sword repeatedly striking the metal. The Rangers saw that the Dark Ranger was destroying the robot's head. After a few seconds, John tried again to create something but was afraid. The Dark Ranger was able to see this, so he approached him.

Remember that your power is based on will, not despair or fear. Concentrate," the Dark Ranger told him.

John let out a sigh and tried to create the Justice League logo, it didn't work. John tried again... and this time it did work. John tried to create a small plane and he succeeded. All five Rangers were happy, their green Ranger was back.

"I'm back," said John. "I'm back!" He screamed with much encouragement. "I have never felt happier in my entire life since my son was born."

"Very well, cadets, time to call the base to collect the remains of the robot and help the employees," the commander ordered.

XXX

18:00

"Rangers, we have investigated, and it turns out that the robot was the brainchild of a Zone B scientist, he wanted to create a super-soldier with inexhaustible energy for the league, but it didn't go well and ended up causing damage in Zone C and B, "Said the commander. "But thanks to you, the robot was destroyed and all the blueprints and designs of the robot, including the remains of the robot we are facing."

The Rangers were so happy that they applauded but did not know that the commander had something more important to tell them.

Silence, Rangers. Even though we stopped the robot, you still have a lot of trouble being Rangers," said the Dark Ranger. "First, you did not attend or worry about whether the factory employees were fine. They focused more on stopping the robot than on the welfare of the employees. Second, teamwork on the battlefield is still very poor, and third, they still don't know what it is to be Rangers. If you don't solve this, the result would be catastrophic, so resolve it as soon as possible. Questions?" To everyone's surprise, Diana raised her hand.

"Yes. Why was John the only one to lose his powers and we were fine?" Diana ask. "I'm just curious."

"J'onn," said the commander. J'onn quickly took action and explained it to the Rangers.

"We investigated the robot further before destroying its remains, and we saw that it needed the time necessary to absorb the full energy of any object that has energy. But the funny thing about this is that his abilities had to be regenerated, except for John's, which was absorbed and returned to you once the robot's consciousness was destroyed. And your power returned to you because it seems that you still retain a link to your power enhanced by your will power" John explained. This was a somewhat lengthy, and somewhat tedious specification, which was demonstrated when Barry began to get bored in the explanation. "But we need you to tell us how they got their powers," he said. The commander hurried over and stood in front of Cadet Hol, who already knew what to say, like all the other Rangers.

"Well, Thanagarians have this ability to emit electricity. We are born with it. And therefore, I don't think they can take it from me that easily, Commander. "Shayera said somewhat happily that it prevented her from losing her powers. The commander stood in front of Barry.

"Well, I was in the league a while before I enlisted for power, so I went and you know what power I stayed with. And I remember being told that the speed force is inexhaustible in the person who has it. I think," said Barry. They had told him that a long time ago, so he did not remember it so well. The commander stood in front of John.

"Like Barry, I obtained my powers thanks to the experimentation program they implemented at the base. My wife and another partner enlisted and each of us had power. They never told me if the power was inexhaustible, but I'm glad to have it back" John said very with a sigh of relaxation. The commander stood in front of Diana.

"At Themyscira we are a society that has always had advantages over the rest of the world. And like Barry and John, my powers come from a genetic improvement program that is slowly being implemented in the country. And after the battle against the robot, I think it is inexhaustible" Diana said very simply. The commander faced Kal.

"My powers are genetic. According to my mother, my powers are genetic. Thanks to sunlight, I have these powers, therefore they are endless as long as I have sunlight like this," Kal said. This was one of the reasons why Kal did not understand John when he lost his powers. He had lived his entire life with powers, so he doesn't know what it's like to live without them. At least he had something in common with Shayera.

"Well, you know where everyone's powers come from. Now, if we're done, you better go out and see how we can improve as a team," Commander Wayne told them. The Rangers, satisfied with the conversation, left without asking. This battle against the robot had been difficult and they wanted to rest.

"Commander, why did you wait for John to give you the answer on how to disorient or distract the robot if you know its power well?" J'onn asked.

"Are you serious?" Asked the commander. He was surprised that his scientist did not see the importance of that action. "If I told the Rangers, the cadet wouldn't have felt useful yet. It was something he needed" The commander answered his scientist's question.

"Well, excellent work. I hope this is a step forward for the team. And that you do it more often," J'onn said before leaving.

"You know that is something they must do themselves," said the commander. "I only did that because otherwise, the cadet would not have come to his senses."

XXX

20:00

The Rangers went to dinner at the base dining room, this time with John accompanying them. This was not so different from the routine, as they had done it every night since they were praised as Rangers. The only difference is that John did not have the same attitude as on night's past. The five of them each had their respective dinner and went to the empty table. Something curious is that, as always, many soldiers from the base were always paralyzed whenever they saw Diana, but on secret orders from the commander, he ordered them to speak to Diana only for work reasons (this because in his early days everyone was talking to her, which made her very annoyed), and since the soldiers knew the commander well, they knew that there was no suitable time except when a city criminal was captured.

"Companions," said John. They all paid attention to him. It was the first time he had spoken like this. "I apologize for underestimating them. I thought I was the best of all, but I am not. I always thought you guys cared about yourselves, but you proved me wrong. And I thank you for fighting the robot because you wanted to help me. Thank you," he said, staring at them, but he said it all very slowly. He had done this before but with his wife, not with the Rangers.

"You're welcome, Johnny. It's good to have you back," said Barry.

"Yes, in fact, I think you would have told us to look after the employees if you had been there with us with your powers," said Diana. She recognized him, but still had trouble accepting him and those with a different point of view.

"You are important to the team, John. Remember you told me the same thing a month ago, "Shayera said.

"And don't feel bad, John. We haven't done the best job, but with you back, I think it will be easier, "said Kal.

"Thanks," John said. No lumps in his throat, he started to eat, but when he wanted to grab his glass, he ended up hitting it and spilling it onto Barry's food.

"Who's the clumsy one now?" Barry asked annoyed since his food was soaked.

"Well, I'm human, like you, right? Please," he replied. He got up and went to a vending machine and bought a sandwich for Barry.

XXX

After seeing the Rangers' friendly and calm dinner, Commander Wayne knew this was progress, as all meals always included cold dialogue or awkward silence. This was good, but the Rangers had to keep improving.

However, this thought was replaced, because he knew that one day that he hated so much was on the way. He hoped that day would pass normally, and without any surprises, for the good of the Rangers. If only he knew that everything was going to happen oppositely.

NEXT: PRIVILEGES, PART 1.

I'll just tell you that the next chapter will be devoted to strengthening the relationship between the commander and his blue Ranger. JE JE.