A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to another chapter! Nate finally becomes a Ranger! Enjoy!

edited on december 6th, 2021 @ 3:00am

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

CHAPTER EIGHT - THE CYBERGATE OPENS

𝓣𝚁𝙴𝙽𝚃

I WALKED INTO NATE'S LAB with Devon, Ravi, and Zoey wearing a black hoodie. "Nate. Where you off to?" Devon asked.

"I'm developing some new weapon prototypes. Gonna upgrade them with animal DNA, so I. . . thought I'd. . .  head to the woods and get some insect DNA to work with." Nate explained as Zoey and I walked to the new weapons along with Devon.

"Uh. . ."

"Hold up." Ravi said, stopping Nate. "Dude, you know the rule. You're not supposed to go off base without an escort. You're too important."

"I need this DNA. If anything happens, I can handle myself." Nate reassured.

"Why not let us come along and keep you company?" Zoey questioned.

"Fine." Nate replied, giving up and agreeing.

"Let's go." Ravi said.

Nate was scanning a mantis while Devon and Ravi were sitting on a rock.

"Praying mantis DNA is just what I need." Nate said to himself. "Now, what other insects are around?"

"How about this spider? It's an arachnid, but—" Zoey began as Nate stepped back.

"I love pretty much all creatures, but not spiders." Nate informed.

"I'm on Nate's side with this. My husband once put a spider down my back when we were children and I've been afraid of them ever since." I added, coming up to the two.

"Thanks, though."

"Oh, OK."

Nate found a scarab beetle and was about to scan it when Ravi's wrist comm beeped.

"Rangers, a Robotron has been spotted stealing Morph-X in Sector Lima 8-3." Commander Shaw informed.

"Roger that." Ravi replied.

"Nate, go back to base where you'll be safe." Devon told him.

"I'm not done yet. I just found this scarab beetle." Nate informed.

"Nate—"

"I know. It's the rule." Nate interrupted. "OK. I'll go."

"Uh, actually. You guys can handle the Robotron on your own, right?" I spoke up as all of them looked at me. "I can stay here and help Nate with his research. It seems important."

"You sure, Trent?" Ravi asked.

"Yeah. You guys go. Call me if I'm needed." I reassured as the three left.

"Thanks, Trent." Nate thanked me as I nodded, watching him scan the beetle.

"It's not a problem. I'm sure those three can handle the Robotron themselves anyhow." I said.

"Scarab beetle DNA. . . and praying mantis DNA. Phenomenal." Nate stated.

We were about to leave when Blaze and Roxy showed up. Roxy tied both of us up, breaking Nate's comm.

"Blaze! Roxy!" I exclaimed.

"What do you want?" Nate asked.

"We need to pick your brain, tech boy." Blaze answered. "Black Ranger here is just wrapped up in this."

"That's a really horrible joke." I commented before Blaze and Roxy grabbed both of us.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

"Whatever you want from me, you're not gonna get it." Nate informed as we were being dragged to a warehouse.

"Oh, you're so brave." Blaze said sarcastically.

"Scrozzle, you're a genius! A genius, I tell you!" Scrozzle exclaimed, staring at a huge machine.

"I got a bad feeling about this. . ." I think to myself.

"Where am I?" Nate questioned.

"Welcome to your new laboratory." Scrozzle greeted as Blaze released Nate.

"Try anything funny and you'll regret it." Roxy threatened me before releasing me as well.

"What is that thing?" Nate asked.

"Well, boy genius I'm Scrozzle, and I used your Neural Aligner to make my masterpiece—the Cybergate!" Scrozzle replied.

"What do you want with me?"

"You. . ." Blaze began, putting his hands on Nate's shoulders. "are going to build us. . . a very special robot."

"You'll be pleased to hear that we have everything you'll need." Scrozzle said.

"Hey, that's my Grid Battleforce tech too." Nate informed.

"Stolen by yours truly. Memory drives, weapons, sensors, but you need to put it together into a robot, just like you did with your Beast Bots. Any questions?" Scrozzle questioned.

"That portal. . . and a robot. . . You're trying to bring Evox back into our dimension!" Nate concluded.

"Bingo!"

"I would never help you." Nate said.

"Oh, yes, you will." Roxy told him.

"Otherwise. . ." Scrozzle began as Roxy pulled out her weapons and pointed one of them at me.

"Think, Nate. You can get out of this." Nate said to himself.

"Nate. I'll be fine, seriously. I've been in worse situations. This is nothing compared to that." I informed as Nate looked at his broken comm, thinking of an idea as he turned around.

"OK. I know what I have to do." He announced. "Please, don't hurt me or Trent. Please."

"Wow, Nate. Your acting is amazing." I thought, trying not to laugh and blow his cover.

"Told you he was pathetic." Roxy claimed. "Get to work."

Meanwhile, Devon, Ravi, and Zoey walked into the base.

"Any luck finding that Robotron?" Commander Shaw asked.

"None of us found a thing." Devon replied.

"Understood. But right now, we've got another problem." Commander Shaw informed. "Nate hasn't returned to base, and his communicator is offline."

Zoey sighed. "We left him in the woods. But Trent was with him. He should be fine." She said.

"Trent would've called us if something was wrong. He must be in a situation where he couldn't. They both could be in trouble. We gotta save them." Ravi added on.

"Hold on. Nate's a capable young man. Don't count him out just yet." Commander Shaw stated.

"But he's not a fighter, Commander. And Trent's pretty new to this whole thing." Devon said.

Ben and Betty then walked in. "Commander, uh, we have some bad news." Ben began.

"You know that truck that got away with the Morph-X? Well, we saw it, and our tracker tag. . . it. . . it. . ." Betty sobbed.

"It fell on to the back of the truck. Sorry." Ben finished.

"Wait. If your tracker's on the truck, it means that if we find the truck, then we can most likely find Nate and Trent too." Devon pointed out.

"Oh, yeah! Good point." Ben agreed as he began to look at the tracker. "I've got a lock. It's in an unused warehouse in Sector Kilo 1-8."

"Great work, Ben and Betty." Commander Shaw complimented.

"Mm-hm!" Betty replied.

"Bring them both back safe and sound."

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

I silently watched as Nate was trying to get his comm working as the robot was made. I let out a sigh, ignoring whatever Blaze was going on about.

"Nate, if I tell you a secret, would you promise not to tell Devon, Ravi, and Z?" I asked silently.

"Depends on if it affects the team."

"Well, kind of? Not in a bad way though. Think of it more as a benefit." I replied.

"What is it?" Nate questioned, still focusing on his work.

"I'm a former Ranger." I told him as Nate chuckled a bit.

"I know."

"What do you mean, you know?"

"When Evox was going after you before you joined us officially, I connected the dots." Nate explained. "I'm sure the Commander has her suspicions, as well. I never confronted you about it because I wanted you to trust me enough to tell me yourself."

"Glad to have you on the team, Green Ranger."

"Ooh, bonus points for knowing my former Ranger color." I joked as Nate smiled.

Roxy then walked towards us, interrupting our conversation. "Hey, you. Is the robot done?" She asked.

Nate sighed. "Yeah. It is." He answered.

"Tronics! Get over here."

Nate quickly placed his comm in his pocket. "Put the robot in place." Roxy ordered.

"Careful. It's very high-tech." Nate warned as the Tronics picked up the silver robot.

The robot was placed in the portal. "Yes! Right there, under the Neural Aligner. My plan is finally happening. It's time to witness history in the making!" Scrozzle exclaimed.

The portal was then activated. "It's working." Roxy said.

I then saw a cobra like hologram coming out of the portal. "I've been fighting against a cobra hologram this entire time?" I mumbled to myself. "The villains have definitely downgraded since my time with the Ninja Steel Rangers."

Nate gave me a weird look. "Sorry, not the time or place." I apologized.

"At last, I can leave my cyber prison and take control of this new and mighty body. Soon, the powers of the Morphin Grid will be mine!" Evox exclaimed as he evilly cackled as he disappeared.

Nate pressed his comm as a blaster appeared before firing at the portal and Evox slowly went back into the dimension.

"Ugh! He's ruined our plan!" Roxy exclaimed.

"Don't you know that good guys always finish last?" I asked her.

"Someone get him!" Blaze ordered as I pressed my communicator and my morpher appeared.

"Activate Beast Power!" I shouted before getting covered in black mist and finally morphing as Nate fired at the Cybergate and Nate went under it.

A gold blast shot out as Nate was covered in golden mist. Once it disappeared, Nate appeared as the Gold Ranger.

"Phenomenal. The mantis DNA worked!" Nate exclaimed as he chuckled.

"Nate, you're a Ranger!" I added, coming up to him. "I must say, Gold really suits you."

"Didn't think I would see the day when I see someone else wearing Aiden's color. . ." I added in my head.

"He played us." Blaze mumbled as him and Roxy got suited up.

"You'll pay for messing up our plan, tech boy." Roxy threatened.

"Can it, Royal Pain rip-off." I insulted.

(A/N: Royal Pain is the main villain in the movie Sky High, for those of you who don't know).

We were about to fight them until a sound caught our attention and the silver robot had been activated.

"No way." Nate said as the robot got covered in silver mist before a Silver Ranger appeared.

"You. . . You just morphed!" Nate exclaimed.

"Oh. Is that what happened? Fantastic! I am amazing!"

"And I'm a little creeped out." I commented.

"Two more Rangers? Ah, no matter. We'll destroy you both." Blaze claimed.

"I'm here too." I reminded him.

"Ha! Not a chance. They're no match for the three of us."

"This whole deal is going into the toilet!" Scrozzle exclaimed as he disappeared.

"This oughta help. Transport Striker Morpher!" Nate said. "It's all yours."

"Shiny! I like it."

"The three of you are going down." Blaze claimed.

"Wrong. . . we're going up!" The Silver Ranger declared as the three of us jumped up as we began fighting the Tronics before firing at them.

Nate headed for Roxy while the Silver Ranger and I dealt with Blaze. We fired at Blaze and Roxy as they were thrown back.

"How are they beating us?" Roxy questioned.

"With flair!" Silver replied.

Roxy and Blaze then disappeared. "Good job!" Nate complimented.

"Obviously!" Silver agreed.

Nate had fired at Vacuutron. "This mess will be an optimal test of our Ranger powers." Silver spoke up.

"What's this?" Vacuutron exclaimed.

"What? Who are you?" Devon questioned.

"Guys, it's Nate!" I responded.

"Nate?!"

"And this is—" Nate started to say.

"Not the best time for intros. Come on!" Silver interrupted.

"I'll explain later." Nate promised as he followed Silver towards Vacuutron.

"Hey, there's a Gigadrone in the city." Ravi informed.

"You guys go. We can take care of this." Nate told him.

"OK." We replied as the four of us went to deal with the Gigadrone.

"What's your status, team?" Devon asked.

"In position." Ravi replied.

"In position." Zoey said.

"In position." I added on.

"All systems go!" The four of us shouted in unison as our Zords were on their way.

"I have the Gigadrone in sight. It's sucking Morph-X directly from the tower. I'm gonna need backup." Devon informed as he attacks Vacuudrone.

"Almost there, Devon!" Ravi told him.

"Trent and I are right above you!" Zoey added.

"He's got the same weapon as that Robotron." Devon said as he suddenly got attacked and the Morph-X was being drained out of him.

"We're losing power! It's sucking out our Morph-X fuel!" Cruise informed.

"Devon's in trouble!" Jax said.

"Not for long! Rapid Blast!" Zoey exclaimed as both of us fired at Vacuudrone, making him release Devon's Zord.

"Thanks for the save. I hope Nate is OK too." Devon stated.

"Hey, Smash, let's go gorilla." Ravi suggested.

"Great idea!" Smash agreed.

Ravi fired at Vacuudrone as he just vacuumed the shots that were coming at him. But the vacuum had powered down.

"His vacuum's blocked! Nice!" Devon exclaimed. "Beast-X Megazord—combine!"

The Megazord then began combining. "Beast-X Megazord unleashed!"

"Right on!" Cruise said.

"Powering Beast-X Blade!" Zoey and I exclaimed.

"Charging main weapons." Ravi stated as we caught him in the force field.

"Transport—Cheetah Beast Blaster!" Devon shouted as the cheetah blaster appeared in his hands. "Beast-X Hyper Strike!"

Vacuudrone was finally destroyed as he exploded.

"Virus eliminated."

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

"Well, that is quite a story." Commander Shaw stated as we were all back at the base. "Sounds like you all handled it well. I'll let the general know."

"And it was nice to meet you, uh. . ."

"Oh, he needs a name." Nate stated.

"Yes. How about. . .  'Mr Fantastic Super-Handsome Strong-As-Steel'?"

We all laughed. "Maybe just Steel for short." Nate suggested.

"I love it. You are smart." Steel stated.

Devon banged on the metal. "Steel, yeah." He said. "That suits you perfectly."

"So, we know you planned to become a Ranger, but. . . how did he morph?" Devon questioned.

"Yeah, how could a robot do that?" Zoey asked.

"I'm still confused on that part, and I was there to witness it." I stated.

"Well, it was easy for me, since I had insect DNA. I also thought about Steel morphing, so I ran some tests." Nate began.

"I'll let you tell them the good part." Steel interrupted.

"Well. . ."

"You see, the thing is. . . I'm human." Steel explained.

"Excuse me?" Ravi asked.

"He's right. . . sort of." Nate answered. "Turns out that Morph-X bonded his systems to scarab beetle DNA and to my DNA."

"Yes, making me the perfect Ranger." Steel added.

"You Rangers have always been like my family. But now I finally have a real brother." Nate said.

"Well, you brothers did amazing today." Devon told them.

"I think we owe you an apology." Ravi stated. "We thought you couldn't handle yourself."

"But we learned the same lesson that Blaze and Roxy did. . . that you don't mess with Nate." Zoey said.

"Oh, yeah definitely. Nate really shouldn't be underestimated." I agreed, making everyone laugh.

"Welcome to the Ranger team—both of you." Devon welcomed them.

"Thanks, Devon." Nate said before looking over to me.

"Your secret's safe with me." He mouthed.

"Thank you." I mouthed back, smiling as I did so.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

A/N: Nate's finally a Ranger! Thanks for reading!

Word Count: 2486 words.