Chapter 10 - Fathomless Depths

Sky Base has been flipped, turned upside down by the arrival of a very special guest who announced that the project was now a joint venture between Astral Dynamics and Nodroz Corporation.  At first Lark had been taken aback. Even if Dr. Wilhelmina Davis-Doyle was someone she admired, it'd didn't mean she would willing give up control of her first project. That, however, was not what she'd meant.

"Relax. No one's taking the project away from you. I don't have the time or inclination to relocate. I wouldn't trust it to anyone else. I'm just going to help spruce the place up a bit. The Caervinians were Eltar's allies. That makes this place not just a relic of a bygone alien species. I'm just going to help fill in the ranks a bit. Get a few non-essentials up and running," Dr. Billie informed her.

And that's exactly what had been happening. New personnel were coming along to study, work, and revitalize the island. Lark hadn't lost her job, it meant it was going to be busier. She felt it was a good direction.  Something she'd have liked to do herself eventually, but her father's interest had only been in the technology. Not only the experimental Morph Tech but also the everyday technology the island utilized.

Dr. Billie seemed to have different ideas. Or, perhaps, Lark partially suspected, she was merely the conduit for the will of someone else. Perhaps the White Wizard. He seemed to speak for Eltar.

Meanwhile, Billie had taken over a smaller lab in the citadel to work on the broken Morpher.  She didn't like being interrupted either. She scowled at Taylor through lenses that magnified her eyes to about fifty times their normal size. "I cannot science a way to unpossess Rena. I told you already, according to the experts, only you can do it and none of them would elaborate any further than that," she told him for the umpteenth time.

That's not why I'm here. I swear," Taylor said, holding up his hands in surrender. "You're a computer nerd, though, right?"

"Yes, I am highly intelligent and know how to do more on my computer than stream cat videos on YouTube," she answered.

"So you know other nerds?" he asked, ignoring her corrective jibe.

"Yes, I do know other highly intelligent people," she answered. "What are you trying to ask?"

He leaned against the wall, and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm trying to figure out the phrasing. I don't have the gift of speechifying like Tai. Man, that guy can make you want to run naked into the flames of Hell if it was the right thing to do," he said with admiration.

Billie snorted in amusement. "He is an artist," she agreed. "Take your time and don't hurt your brain," she permissed and went back to her minute work on the Morpher.

Taylor waited until she seemed to pause before he spoke again. "When you get that fixed, I'm going to need someone to replace Ram," he said.

"You needed that long to think that up?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I was trying to figure out a way to be less blunt," he answered. "Ram won't be able to do both. He can't be in the field and on the computers chasing bits of code to save our skins at the same time," he said.

"You sound as though you'd rather he be stuck in the Lab," Billie mused.

"No," he said immediately then seemed to think it over. He shook his head. "No. Ram was chosen as a potential Ranger for good reason. As good as he is in the Lab on computers, he's that good at the field stuff. He deserves his chance," he said.

Billie nodded thoughtfully. "What do the others think?" she asked.

"I haven't broached the subject with them yet. They're already about to blow fuses over the additional personnel being brought in. Talking about bringing a stranger into the Lab might, I don't know," he mimed a head exploding gesture.

Billie blinked and took off her magnifiers. She rubbed her eyes and reached for her coffee cup. She sniffed it, made a face, and drank it anyway. "Are you sure it's because you think they won't respect your thought on the subject?" she asked. “You led a large and diverse team to victory. Why the sudden attack of the insecurities?" she asked.

"It's not all of them," he said and propped the back of his head against the wall as he glanced up at the ceiling. The ceilings were always moderately low in functional areas like the labs. He grinned. "Tempe's pretty much solidly in my corner after the plane ride from the nightmare realm. Ram would probably agree, too. Sin's a wildcard but his loyalties are usually with Doc and Gore. They run the base. It's their show. I try to respect that," he said.

"Well, there's your problem right there," she said.

He raised a brow at her. She slipped her glasses on. "All teams have their growing pains. It's true, just because you're wearing the red suit doesn't mean you're the boss," she said and stood up with her mug. She walked over to the single-cup coffee maker she had set-up in here. "Although aside from Dr. O taking charge after Jason left the original team...or Dr. O when he was working in Reefside...okay so I can't think of any instance besides Dr. O where the Red Ranger wasn't the leader. Crumbs, what was I saying?" she made a face and scratched at her haphazard bun.

"Fudge it. You have the training, the experience, and the instincts. No matter what plans were put into place, you are the one who ended up as the Red Ranger here. Not Lark. Not Gore. You," she pointed at him. "If you think what this team needs to keep protecting this city and the world from these Warstar aliens is new tech support, then that's what you need," she said. "Now, leave. I need to recaffinate and get back to work. I'll have Danny look into someone suitable to replace Ram. He has his limits. You need someone that can not only find source codes already existing in the system, but someone who can build them from scratch depending on the situation," she said and made a shooing motion with her hand.

Taylor had remained in a state shocked muteness while she went on her tirade. "The world would have fallen apart already if you didn't exist," he declared.

"Of course it would have. Don't try to flatter me, I'm married," she said but she managed a somewhat pleased smile.

Taylor chuckled and left her to it. The door slid closed behind him. "She's right, you know," Ram said from beside the door, nearly scaring him into an early grave.

"You're taking to ninja training a little too well," he said and patted his chest to get his heart working again. "What is she right about and how much did you hear?" he asked.

"New tech support. I approve. I've been thinking about it myself. And pretty much the rest of it. She's right and I knew that from the beginning. Why do you think I made sure you got the Red Ranger Card? I didn't even know about your past experiences. I just knew you. Doc and Gore have gotten to know you, too," he pointed out. "I think you can put things out there without immediately being shot down."

"I was kind of hoping to have a suitable candidate before I broached the subject," Taylor said. They entered the Lab and were surprised to see everyone already there. "What's up?" he asked.

"That's what we were wondering. Dr. Cranky-pants said you wanted to talk to us about something," Tempe answered.

"I wouldn't recommend letting her hear you call her that. She's scarier than anything I've ever faced," Taylor said thinly. Mainly he was talking about her maneuverings to call a team meeting.

"So what is this about?" Lark asked.

"I've asked Dr. Billie to help us find someone to take over for Ram when he becomes active," he stated in a rush.

"Okay. Good plan," Gore said.

Lark nodded. "It makes practical sense, though I will have to vet any potential replacements," she warned.

Taylor blinked at them. "That's it?" he asked.

"What do you mean? Mr. Ramon can't be in two places at once. Given Dr. Billie's experience and network, she's more likely to find someone suitable than I would be able to. From amongst Astral Dynamics' best and brightest, they are here," she said and fanned her hands to encompass them and the base itself.

Sin chuckled. "I think he was expecting more resistance," he stated.

Gore rubbed his jaw and looked chagrined. "Yeah, I can see where in the past we hadn't been quite so accepting of...suggestions," he said.

"You mean in the past you and Doc balked at everything he said on principle," Tempe said. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave them a look daring them to argue with her.

"It wasn't on principle," Gore grumbled.

"It was because he was an unknown variable. We have since been proven wrong. On many occasions," Lark stated. "If that was all you needed," she glanced at her tablet, "more personnel are coming in and I need to assign them to their quadrants," she said even as she was already drifting out of the lab.

"That's Doc speak for 'sorry about being mule headed,'" Gore said and gave a brief smile. He clapped Taylor on the shoulder. "Don't be late for your shift," he said as he walked out behind Doc.

Sin gave him two thumbs up and scurried after the other two. He was actually in the middle of his shift and needed to get back to it.

Taylor sat down at a workstation and ran a hand through his hair. "The only people I never had to prove myself to were Kane and Alex," he declared drily.

"And us. Don't forget us, sweetie," Tempest said and draped her arm over Ram's shoulders. Ram nodded.

Taylor smiled and laughed. "Okay. Point made. Now I just have to figure out how I'm supposed to exorcise Rena's demon," he said, sobering again.

Tempest ruffled his hair. "You'll figure it out, hon. I got the faith," she said and left the Lab to return to the clinic.

Ram cracked his knuckles. "I think I found more snippets of code, so go away and leave me to it," he said. He put on a pair of headphones to block out the world. He didn't even know when Taylor actually left the Lab.

--/-\--

"It has occurred to me that Doc needs to update her record gathering software," Sinclair remarked. He was on the beach with Nia and Ram. With swift practiced movements, he watched Ram run through what was basically a barrage of water based attacks as Nia used the sea and her training to try and put him down. It was a demonstration that she wanted the both of them to understand. But Ram was flipping, rolling and bouncing off things like he was made of springs. Sin was rather impressed. "Is that Parkour?" he asked when Ram came through the end of that only minimally moisturized.

Sin himself hadn't faired so well. Though he'd been able to either been able to block or turn back her attack, he still wasn't near her level. At all.

"Doc just needs to dig deeper. Sure all my military stuff is listed out in the open, but it's when you crack open the sealed records that all the good stuff comes pouring out. My sister and I ran with a bad crowd when we were kids," he answered with a shrug. He never hid from his past. It was part of what made him who he was today.

Nia nodded in understanding. "I know that feeling. Luckily, my mentor had turned cop after his training and set me on the right path," she said with a small smile.

"So I'm palling around with a couple of delinquents?" Sin asked, mocking outraged shock.

"Reformed. We're the good guys now," Ram said.

"I even helped save the world," Nia said smugly. "In a small way that if someone were to write about it I'd merely be one of the many Ninja who fought against escaping Gedoushu and not even worth mentioning by name," she added.

"That doesn't diminish anything you did. Every soldier counts in a warzone," Sin assured her. From what he understood about what happened in Angel Grove, it was a warzone at the time. She gave him a small smile.

Ram nodded. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "Is it hot to anyone else?" he asked and glanced up at the sky. The sun was hidden behind clouds.

"It's rather warm. Kind of strange for this time of year this far north," Sin said.

"It's not the weather!" Nia exclaimed and turned toward he ocean. It was red-hot and boiling as something moved through the water.

"You two get back," Sin ordered as the thing came up from the water. The alien was weevil-like, white, and seemingly porous. But the pores were giving off a devastating heat.

"Ah. Are you a Power Ranger? Ahaha! Away with you little man. I, Hervi the Dehydrator, have no interest in your petty squabbles. I have work to do," he said.

Sin flipped his Morph Card while Ram and Nia scurried out of the way. "No, I don't think I'll be awaying," he denied. "DynaMorpher! Blue Ranger Power!" He slid his Card and morphed. He ran toward the alien and attacked.

The two splashed around in the water, trading a series of punches and slashes, each trying to get the upper hand on the other. Hervi finally managed to knock the Ranger back. "Don't get angry, Ranger. I did warn ya," he said. His pores began glowing a fiery red. The energy concentrated and was blasted at Blue, hitting him several times in the chest and knocking him backwards into the sand.

Blue rolled to his knee as the alien continued toward him. "It's nothing personal. Just m'job," he said. "Augh!" He stumbled back as laser blasts hit him. Rangers Red, Pink, Yellow and Black had arrived. With their blasters out, they aimed at the monster and checked on Blue.

"You all right?" Red asked.

"I've been better," Blue answered, pulling a card from his belt as he came to his feet. "Sea Sniper!" he summoned his weapon and rushed forward, firing on the creature.

The alien returned fire even as Blue kept running forward. He hit the alien with the Sniper and they grappled.

The other four attempted to take came with their blasters while he distracted the alien. "He keeps getting in the way," Black said.

There wasn't much Blue could do about that as the alien wasn't letting him move aside. Finally, a devastating blow hit in the chest, shooting up sparks and sending into crashing into the others. They all collapsed into the sand, except Red who'd managed to light foot it out of the way. "You all right?" he asked Blue and tried to help him up while the other three were staggering to their feet.

"I honestly don't have time to play with you guys," Hervi sighed. He glowed again and sent a ball of superheated plasma at them. The ball crashed into the ground, sending them all flying into a heap again, even Red. "TTFN," he said and turned away from them, walking off until he disappeared.

Black had come to his feet and started after the alien, but it was too late. He kicked at the sand. "He got away," he complained. He glanced at Blue, struggling to get up while clutching his left shoulder. "You sure you're okay?" he asked.

"No sweat. Tempe will fix me up," he said and got to his feet.

"Sure will sweetie," Yellow agreed, coming up to him.

He glanced up and saw Nia waving at him from his cliff. He gave her brief wave back and the Rangers teleported away.

--/-\--

Ram watched as Tempest took care of Sin's arm. "This is why I need to be able to do something besides just get out of the way. Maybe we could have got the upper hand sooner," he commented.

"It was my fault. I jumped the gun, so to speak, and he managed to use me as a human shield," Sin said.

"As long as you know," Gore said drily. Taylor nodded to agree. Sin grimaced. If they were agreeing, he'd done real bad.

"Hush. Don't rag on him too much," Tempe scolded them.

Lark rushed into the clinic. "Dr. Billie wants our Morphers," she said.

"Any particular reason why?" Taylor asked as he removed his Morpher and handed it over.

"She just said something cryptic about upgrades," Lark answered as she gathered them up. "Guess that means she's almost done with yours, Mr. Ramon," she said to Ram.

"Doc, you can just call me Ram like everyone else," he said.

Lark cleared her throat and hurried out.

Taylor snickered. "Don't take it personally. She still calls me Mr. Hicks more often than not," he assured him.

"And me Miss Strong," Tempe added. She patted Sin's arm. "Okay, sweetie. All done. Just take it easy for a while and you'll be fine," she said.

"Taylor will cover your next shift," Gore said. "Come on, let's go see if there's anything suitable for recuperation to eat in the mess," he said.

"Good luck with that," Tempe said.

"It might be okay. Nodroz Corp. sent over some people who know what salt and pepper are," Taylor remarked. He checked the time. "Guess I better start Sin's next shift," he remarked drily.

"Thanks, guy. I really appreciate it," Sin said as he and Gore left the clinic.

"It's my shift, too. We'd better go," Ram said. The two boys bid Tempe farewell as they, too, left the clinic.

--/-\--

Devourer

Sylon watched warily as the porous alien explained to Captain Drage his plans to extinguish the humans. "It's simple really, boss. I superheat the oceans. First the polar ice caps melt and flood everything. Then, if there are still humans who somehow managed to survive. I keep at it 'til everything evaporates. Without water, humans are dead dum-dums," he said.

"That's an ambitious project," he said. "One of your brothers in arms thought destroying the forests was the way to go. Guess what happened to him," he said smoothly.

Kragar stepped toward him. "You sound as though you want him fail," he snarled. Sylon stared through him, unfazed.

"No, guy. It's all good. I know it all. While on recon I tussled with those Rangers. They were kind of annoying but I ain't worried 'bout it. I got this. Trust me, boss," Hervi said to Drage.

"Very well. But I am getting tired of failures," Drage said. He'd been a bad mood since Mistress B went and got herself blown up. "Do. Not. Fail," he warned menacingly.

"Better start warming up, then," Hervi said and left the bridge.

Drage clinched his fist hard enough to shake. Kragar sneered at Sylon and stalked off.

Sylon ignored them both while he wondered if he should be concerned about the boiling oceans or not. He had a lot of work he didn't want to be destroyed. There was also Azula. Perhaps he might secretly root for those infuriating Rangers this time. Only this time, however.

--/-\--

Although everyone was on guard and prepared for the worst, the alien didn't reappear that day. No one let down their guards. It was perhaps a good thing that they weren't needed because Dr. Billie had their Morphers and she was ensconced in the lab she'd taken over and wasn't responding to anyone except to say, "Go away! I'll be done when I get done!" People stopped pestering her after that.

"All I wanted to know is if she heard anything from Danny yet," Taylor muttered. He'd known when she'd taken their Morphers, it was almost go time for Ram.

Ram, himself, began to suspect, even when the alien failed to trip the AAS the following days, that he was around. The temperature around the city was climbing. What was supposed to pleasant, slightly cloudy 70-degree weather, had been rising and was now in the 90s, but still cloudy. He didn't know how the alien was cloaking himself, but he wanted to find out.

Everyone was busy, but he'd informed them of his plans. No one saw a problem with his intention to go back to the beach where the alien had first appeared. He wanted to scan the area and take water and dirt samples to see if there was something that could help him track the alien like he had managed to do with Mistress B when he detected her pheromone trail.

The aliens were either getting smarter, or the AAS was designed to detect only certain kinds of biochemical signatures. He needed to take a look at how it actually worked. When he had help in Lab, that would be one of the first things he did. Someone else could chase code.

He teleported to the beach and began taking the samples he needed with the CSI worthy field kit he'd brought along. He was sweating within minutes and had to shed the jacket of his uniform. While he was working, Nia appeared. "Where's the other one?" she asked, looking around.

"Doing his day job. Although he has the night shift sometimes," he said with a wry smile. "It's nice to know where I stand though," he joked. He chuckled when Nia colored.

She pouted and looked away. "I was just asking a question," she finally grumbled. "What are you doing?" she asked. She was dressed in the lightweight yoga wear she often wore for training, but she was already sweating.

"Trying to figure out a way to track that alien. It's obvious he's around," he said, wiping the sweat from his neck for emphasis. "It seems like it's even hotter than it was earlier," he complained.

Nia nodded. "The other Masters can feel it. Something is wrong with the oceans. The waters aren't right. Kyousuke is, of all things, a marine biologist. He was on about the fish the other day. There are too many some kinds and not enough of others. Something is disrupting the natural flow of things," she said.

"A Water Ninja who is a marine biologist. It's mind boggling," he said as he packed up his gear. Nia scrunched up her nose and made a face at him. He grinned back in return.

"Is being sassy a requirement for wearing the shiny suit? I swear, I've never met a more sarcastic bunch of people in my life," she declared.

"It's unwritten but I think it's in the rules somewhere," he answered. He pulled his phone out. Dr. Billie had taken his wrist teleporter/communicator "for reference" so he had to make due activating the teleporter with a cell signal. If he could get one. "You should probably go back to the other Masters and stay away from the beaches. I don't think it's safe," he said and began making his way to higher ground.

"Says the man who can't even sense the water," she said and followed him. "You shouldn't be down here alone," she informed him. "Not sure how much good Parkour is out here," she said.

"I know, that's why I'm going back as soon as I get a strong enough signal," he said, holding his phone up, watching as a second bar finally appeared. "Why does service suck out here?" he complained.

"It's a game reserve. Feds aren't so big with the cell towers being put up willy-nilly," she pointed out.

"Who was just complaining about sassy people again?" he asked.

She shrugged innocently. She gasped suddenly. "Oh, hurry and get a signal. Something is really wrong," she said. She began sweating so profusely, she started to shake. Ram went to her as she went down to her knees. He helped her stand up and they hurried up to where he and Sin usually meditate.

Hervi stood on that cliff, firing a red energy blast from his body into the ocean. The water boiled. At that moment Ram didn't even think that he had no Morpher, nor did he have any cool Water Techniques. He just reacted. He threw his kit at the creature.

Ram put his phone in Nia's hands. "Press 5 three times when you get a signal," he said as the alien turned toward them.

"Dude. Rude much, yeah? I'm kind of busy here and you start throwing things?" Hervi asked, offended.

"Ram!" Nia gasped, but whatever the alien been doing to the ocean left her feeling weird and feverish. She couldn't stop him when he ran forward. He tumbled and used the momentum to bounce off the ground with his arms and hit the alien in the chest with both feet. Nia began to frantically press the 5 button on his phone.

Hervi stumbled back under the attack. "Look, little man, you asked for it. Can't say I started this, but I will finish it," he said and lashed out. Ram dodged, flipping back. Hervi began firing heat blasts at him, but like his earlier training with Nia, he pulled off some interesting moves to avoid that. "Stay still so I can blast the heck out of ya!" he said, becoming more and more irritated.

He suddenly ran forward at a speed that was unexpected. He hit Ram square in the chest, kicked his feet out of under him, but before he could go down, blasted him in the chest again. Ram went sailing off the cliff.

The other Rangers arrived just as that happened and Nia disappeared at the same instant. "Ram!" Taylor shouted as he watched his friend disappear toward the sea. He tried to run forward, but Hervi whirled around and blasted him in the chest. Taylor barely managed to put up a blade of air and knock the blast off course, but the impact sent him flying backwards. Sin and Gore caught him before he could fall.

"Oh, sweetie, you done gone and done it now," Tempest said, anger coated her words in acid. The ground beneath her feet began to shake.

"Look, people, guy came at me first. Back off or, you know, you can join him and be people soup, too," Hervi said reasonably.

Hot winds whipped around the cliff. "The only thing that's going to be soup is you," Taylor said. Bright lights glowed around their wrists as their Morphers appeared. They flipped out their Morph Cards. "DynaMorphers! Red Ranger Power!"

"Pink Ranger Power!"

"Blue Ranger Power!"

"Yellow Ranger Power!"

"Black Ranger Power!"

They swiped their Cards and morphed.

Hervi clapped his hands together. "Guess I got to do some pest control first," he complained with a disgruntled sigh.

The Rangers drew their Blasters and fired on him. He generated a shield of heat that made them ineffectual.

Pink and Yellow summoned their weapons and ran forward. They jumped and activated them. "Opposite Trick!" Crescents of pink and yellow energy shot toward the alien, but he countered with another heat shield and retaliated by shooting a beam of heat at them, knocking them off course and sending them flying in the opposite direction.

"Tempe!"

"Lark!"

Black and Red rand forward with their own weapons, but Hervi just clapped his hands together again. "Spin Crisis!" and spun around, creating a large tornado of plasma fire that caught them up in it and sent them flying and crashing hard, even Red.

"Shark Snipe!" Blue ran forward and jumped, firing his weapon. The watery blue bolt hit the alien with a sizzle like a drop of water dancing around in a hot pan. Hervi send an energy blast that knocked him out of the air as well.

The Rangers regrouped, checking on each other. "That's it, huh? I told those guys this was no sweat," he said. "Corona Crisis!" From his pores he glowed and suddenly plasma blasts flew into the air as he seemed to explode. Like a meteor shower, the balls of plasma rained down around the Rangers. There was no escaping it. They just had to protect themselves from it as best they could.

--/-\--

As Ram was plunging to his death he could have sworn he heard he heard his sister voice calling him a dunderhead. Strange that he'd never see her again. He hadn't talked to her nearly enough these past couple months. Sky Base was top secret, after all. Plus, whole fighting off an alien invasion thing kept him kind of busy.

Even as he hit the water and sake into its depths, he could still hear her talking him, but he didn't know what she was saying. The water was enveloping him. It felt nice. Comfortable even. His chest didn't even hurt anymore. Stranger and stranger. He could feel himself sinking into her warm embrace and hallucinations of his sister's voice were getting further and further away as the sea whispered its secrets to him.

--/-\--

After the crazy meteor shower attack, the Rangers seemed to rally. They were weakened, but the thought of their lost friend kept them going.

Red rushed in to jab with his Sword, Black slashed with his Axe, Pink and Blue shot at him, Yellow swiped at him. He countered them all. He retailed with a slashing of fire that had them staggering back.

"This guy is worse than a Fire Ninja on steroids," Red complained.

"I hope I never get that reference," Yellow said.

"Sounds bad," Blue said.

"I'm with Tempe on this one," Black said.

"This is no time for quips," Pink said.

"Okay, guys. I'm going to finish it now, mm'kay?" Hervi said and began to catch fire again. "Corona Crisis!" the plasma balls shot into the air.

They fizzled out as a torrent of water crashed into the monster, putting out the fire. A Ranger in a Green suit landed after the water receded. He had the water wings on his chest, a blaster at his hip, and a crocodile motif on his helmet.

Hervi spluttered, shocked. "Wh-what?!"

The Dynamic Green Ranger stood from crouch in which he landed. "Nice seeing you again," he said.

"Ram!" the other exclaimed, coming to their feet.

"Sweetie, I'm so glad you ain't dead," Yellow said as she sagged against Black in relief.

"Well, I have something of a problem with it," Hervi said flatly. He flung a hand toward the Green Ranger and shot a blast of energy at him.

Green jumped, avoiding the blast. He punched the alien in the face with his momentum. The alien stumbled back. Green didn't stop his assault. The two sparred for a few moments. Finally, Hervi was able to knock him away. "Spin Crisis!" He heated up again started to spin.

Green was already taking countermeasures. "Sea Spin!" He began spinning, water forming a whirlpool around him. The two twisters met several times, bounced off each other and finally, Green's energy overpowered the alien and he went flying. Green stopped spinning calmly even though he swore his head kept spinning a bit.

"Sorry about the scare, you guys. You'll never believe what happened after that," Green said to the others as they ran to him.

"You'll have to fill us in later," Red said.

"You guys are really just major drags. Oozers!" Hervi summoned as he got to his feet. The green monsters seeped out the ground around him. "Go!" They rushed forward.

Green flipped a Card from his belt. "Sea Staff!" He slid the Card through a Morpher with green eyes. Magnetic bands appeared around both wrists and a short, ornate staff appeared in his hand. "You guys handle that, I got this," he said and ran, jumping over the Oozers, and using some of them as jumping off points.

"Lark, Sin, get ready to fire. Gore, Tempe, back me up," Red ordered. He ran into the Oozers, slashing and cutting with his Sword. Black and Yellow came in behind him. They cut down the numbers. Blue stood still and Pink took a knee as they aimed their weapons. When their friends made a path, they fired. Pink and blue energy tore through the Oozers, hitting them as they went.

Green landed in a grouch. He spun his Staff in one hand and flicked it forward. It extended and a green blade of energy collided with the alien. Almost immediately afterward, a blue bolt flew over Green's head and exploded into the alien, severely weakening him. Green spun his staff to his other hand, where it rested in its smaller state on his wrist. He did a one handed back flip from his crouch, and rejoined the others.

"Wow. I sometimes forget why we chose you for this," Black said appreciatively.

"Yes. I apologize for relying on you so heavily in the Lab," Pink said.

"No biggy, but this ain't over," Green said. He flipped a Card out of his belt. " Micro DinaZords! Summon Deep Sea DynaZords!" he summoned the three miniature Zords. In response to their summoning, they zoomed out and crashed into the alien and circled back to hover around Green and Blue.

"Micro DynaZords! Shark DynaZord!"

"Crocodile DynaZord!"

"Dragon DynaZord!"

These three DynaZords appeared and took their turn crashing into the alien before returning to their Rangers. The Rangers drew their Blasters as the Deep Sea DynaZords flew to Yellow, Pink and Black. Yellow attached HammerZord to her Blaster. Black attached MantaZord to his Blaster. Pink attached SawZord to her Blaster. Blue attached SharkZord to his blaster. Green attacked the crocodile headed Zord to his blaster.

Red attached DragonZord to his Blaster. Hervi had recovered enough to shoot fire at them. "Dragon Bullet!" he fired. The dragon energy spread its wings and fire met fire, exploding midair and sending them both staggering back. Red ducked and rolled out of the way.

"Fathomless Sea Bullet!" The other five Rangers fire their blasters. The energy came together to form a swirling torrent of watery teal energy that crashed into the alien and exploded him in a fiery display he would have been proud of.

Red came to his feet and stood with the others as they turned away, holstering their blasters.

--/-\--

Devourer

Captain Drage was shaking in rage. Sylon thought it best not to say a word. Even that idiot Kragar seemed to grasp the situation. It was with mixed feelings that Sylon pressed the button to launch the Ooze.

--/-\--

The ooze splattered over Hervi and he grew to giant size. He put his hands on his hips. "I have to say, I think that was totally uncalled for," he declared. "Well, I suppose there are some perks. Now instead of hopping around, I can just boil the ocean in one fell swoop!" he said reasonably.

"You guys got this? I haven't been able to find my Macro codes yet," Green said.

"Leave it to us," Red assured him. He flipped out a Card. "Been wanting to use this. Summon Dynamic Megazord!" he swiped the Card.

The Macro DynaZords appeared and teleported their pilots aboard. The Zords combined to form the Dynamic Megazord with wings and a dragon's tail for a sword. They appeared in the combined cockpit.

"Let's do this," Red said.

"Right!"

The Megazord stood a stance and strode forward. Hervi came out to match it. The grappled back and forth, splashing around in a large tide pool. The Megazord hit the alien and he staggered back. "There's no use for it. I'll just have to fry you guys," he said. His pores heated up and he clanged his fists together and blasted them with a steady radiant energy.

The inside of the Megazord heated up immediately. "It's too hot," Yellow moaned.

The heat was making sparks fly as circuits overheated. It was an energy sapping kind of hot. "We have to do some something," Pink said weakly.

Green appeared in the cockpit much to his own surprise. "Oh, this is bad," he said. He flipped a Card out of his belt. He reached over Red's shoulder and swiped it on his console. "Macro DynaZords. Summon Deep Sea DynaZords!" The Zords appeared in full-size and flew toward the alien, shooting him with blue energy beams, disrupting his heat beam and making him fall over.

"Good one, Ram," Black said appreciatively.

The effect was almost immediate. "Sin does not like it hot," Blue complained.

"It's a water thing. If you're stowing away, brace yourself," Red warned, flipping another Card out of his belt. "Deep Sea Megazord!" he swiped the card. The three Zords connected with the Megazord. SawZord connected to the right arm. HammerZord connected to the left arm. The Megazord's default flipped back into its chest and the MantaZord connected to the neck and formed a new head with an eye-patch and a general pirate-y flare.

Hervi got to his feet. "This ain't even right. A guy was just try'in'a do his job," he said. The Megazord came toward him.

The Rangers flipped cards from their belts. "Victory Charge!" and swiped them. The Deep Sea Zords powered up. "Deep Sea Strike!" The Megazord stepped forward. HammerZord slashed first, leave crackling blue energy. SawZord slashed next, leaving a second slash of blue energy. The Megazord turned its back as the energies ignited and the alien exploded.

--/-\--

Devourer

Sylon and Kragar wisely left the bridge of the ship as Drage flew into a rage. Sylon paused. He took pity on the alien captain and summoned a few Oozers for him to rip to shreds. Kragar snarled at him, but didn't beleaguer the point. The split into opposite directions. After, Sylon slipped into his room, he decided to see how Azula faired through the boiling oceans.

--/-\--

The Rangers appeared on the teleport platform while Ram was explaining what happened. "I don't know what it was. It was all muddled. The sea was wrapping me up in it. I could feel it all around me and for a while there I could have sworn it was talking to me in my sister's voice," he said.

"That wasn't the sea, blockhead. That was me telling you the wake the heck up and morph before you drown and I became not only an orphan, but an only child as well," said a voice that also sounded suspiciously like his sister's.

All the Rangers turned as one. In the Lab, where Ram was usually saving their skins, was a girl Ram. A shorter, curvier, and more highly feminine Ram. She wore an AD coverall that was the same base color as the usual AD uniforms, but the front had large sweeps of color. Hers was purple. Short dark hair was streaked with purple and slightly cat-like glasses covered her dark eyes.  "Mars?" Ram asked, stepping off the platform.

"As fate would have it, the only person who was capable of replacing one Ramon was another Ramon. And the first person to make a clone joke will need one." Billie declared from where she stood nearby. She had her silver case in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. "From today onward, Marisol Ramon will be in charge of the Central Codex. She's been working in Zord Bay with Holly Fairweather for almost three years now, so she's familiar with everything she needs to be familiar with. She's also as skilled a hacker as Mr. Ramon himself, so with his guidance, she should be able quickly grasp the way the Codex works and will, no doubt, be able to do it better since that is her only job and she learns quickly."

Billie took a drink of her coffee before continuing. "You're Morphers can now be used non-verbally, as demonstrated by the underwater Morph. I've also expanded your teleport network and hooked it into the Nodroz Network. You should now be able to site to site teleport. I found several moderately skilled techs to replicate the device Ram clabbered together so that everyone on base will be able to use one to communicate with the base and teleport without having to use the platforms, but the platforms are best for large groups and items.

"I will continue to keep an eye on things here and may even contribute to the cause if I can. As for now, it's time for the sonogram and I admit to being strangely excited for my first glance at my baby," she said. She twisted her wrist and a device that hadn't previously been there appeared. She tapped it and disappeared in a bright flash of light.

"I want to be her when I grow up," Lark said.

"She's only like a year older than you," Taylor said.

"Then I have a lot to do in a year," Lark said suddenly. "Miss Ramon. Welcome to Sky Base. I am Dr. Lark Walker, the Director of the project. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work piled up to my eyeballs," she said and skirted out.

Marisol, better known as Mars, grinned. "Not the outgoing type, is she?" she commented.

"She'll grow on you. Are you really this boy's sister?" Tempest asked.

Ram finally came out of his stupor and hugged his sister, picking her feet off the ground and making her laugh. "For a minute there I thought I was never going to see you again. Thank you for being here," he said.

"Hey, no sweat, bro. I got your back, like always," she said and returned his hug.

"Uh, not to break up the reunion and the warm and fuzzies, but how do I leave?" Nia had been lurking in the room. When things had gotten hairy, Mars had teleported her to the Lab for her own safety. She was dying of curiosity, but a security officer at the door had asked her not to leave. She could have easily taken him, but she had no reason to start trouble.

"I didn't know what else to do with her," Mars said when Ram put her down.

"It's okay. I'll take her back. Nice to meet you. I'm Sin," he said politely. He held out a hand and gestured for Nia to join him. She scooted to him. They stepped onto the teleport and disappeared. Those who remained behind were introduced to Mars, the other Ramon.

--/-End 10-\--           

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