A/N: Ah, only one more episode left and then the epilogue! Enjoy!

edited on september 5th, 2022 @ 8:52am

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

CHAPTER FORTY - SOURCE CODE

Previously in Back in Black . . .

"What if we trap Evox's Gigadrone in a Zord hangar and use the mega transporters to capture him?"

"What is this? Argh!" Evox exclaimed.

"Blaze's plan worked. Evox was imprisoned. But then we realized. . ." Trent's voice was cut off.

Ravi snatched the bandage off of Blaze's arm, revealing that he was Robo-Blaze.

"We got played." Ravi spoke.

"If all of this was his plan. . . then Evox must have wanted to be captured." Nate claimed.

"But why?" Devon asked.

Now . . .

𝓣𝚁𝙴𝙽𝚃

RAVI, DEVON, AND I WERE keeping an eye on Evox as Commander Shaw, Nate, Zoey, and Steel walked in. "Devon, Ravi, Trent, back me up." Nate told us.

"Roger." Ravi said as the three of us were at Nate's side.

"Ready." Zoey announced.

"Okay. Lower the shields." Nate ordered.

Zoey sighed. "Lowering." She replied as the shields lowered.

"Ready." Commander Shaw said. "Fire."

Nate fired towards Evox, hitting him as he growled. "Again." Commander Shaw ordered.

"Re-energizing."

The blaster powered up and fired at Evox once more, making him kneel. "Nice job, Nate. It's working." Ravi praised.

"Oh, I got a bad feeling about this. . ." I muttered.

"Focus, Rangers. Again." Commander Shaw told us.

"Re-energizing." Nate said. The blaster powered up but suddenly the shield was placed back up, making the attack fly back.

"What the. . . ?" Steel trailed off in confusion.

"Did you reactivate the wall?" Nate questioned.

"No!" Zoey responded.

"It wasn't me." Steel said as Zoey was pushing a few buttons.

"And it won't go back on again!" Zoey added on.

"It's Evox." Nate turned to the Commander. "Somehow, he's controlling the computer."

Evox started to laugh. "Step by step, my plans have brought us to this moment. You've reached the final chapter of your story." He claimed.

"Whoa!"

"Look out!" Nate warned as Evox disappeared.

"He's using the computers to access the Morph-X Towers!" Zoey informed.

"Destroy the computer!" Nate exclaimed.

Zoey moved out of the way as Devon, Ravi, and I pointed out blasters towards the computer and fired.

"He's getting away!" Steel shouted.

"He's still in the system. He wants to get in the Morphin Grid, but there's only a few computers that have direct access to the tower network. We've gotta destroy them before he can get in." Nate informed.

"Go!" Commander Shaw demanded.

"We'll start with the command room." Nate said as all of us headed out.

"Look out!" Nate warned the workers as we rushed by them.

"System overload! Clear the room!"

"Move, move, move!"

We walked into the command room as Nate fired at Evox. "Destroy the computers!" Nate said as both Ravi and I fired at the computers, destroying them.

"No!" Zoey shouted as Evox disappeared again. "He's getting away!"

"He's damaged. Is he leaving a trail?" Steel asked as we all rushed towards the last computer.

"He's headed towards the research room." Zoey replied.

We quickly rushed towards the research room. "Look out!" Nate shouted as we eventually made it to the research room.

Nate nods at Zoey who presses the buttons onto the keypad and the door opened. Nate fired at Evox once more, making him disappear again and Devon destroyed a computer.

"Now, where would he go next?" Steel wondered.

"Hard to say." Nate answered as Devon's wrist comm beeped.

"Go ahead." He said.

"Someone just accessed the vault." Commander Shaw informed.

"He's in my lab." Nate said.

"Then that also means. . . Coda!" I exclaimed, realizing Dacoda usually spent his time in Nate's lab.

I took off running with the others following right behind me.

We arrived at Nate's lab as I spotted Dacoda wearing a gray hoodie and groaning in pain on the ground, the Brachio staff was right next to him.

"That's a Cell Shift Morpher." Nate realized.

"He's repairing himself." Devon added.

"That's impossible." Nate claimed.

Dacoda quickly got up and joined me at my side. "Coda, are you okay?" I asked.

"I will be." Dacoda responded, still in obvious pain.

Nate and Devon nodded to each other before firing at Evox who just absorbed the attack.

"You're powerless against me now. I'm more than Evox. Haven't you figured it out? You. You should know who I truly am." Evox said to Nate.

"What are you talking about?" Nate questioned.

"Years ago, you experimented with old Ranger technology, hoping to find a new way to morph." Evox said.

"Yes, but how do you know about that?" Nate asked.

"Because I was there. You were just a foolish little boy trying to power old Ranger Morphers with Morph-X and Snake DNA. All of your efforts failed until you tried the Cell Shift Morpher. That DNA became part of my data, and I was released into your system. A dead end for you, a new beginning for me." Evox explained. "You're starting to put it together. A Cell Shift Morpher— that could mean only one thing."

"I. . . was. . . Venjix!" Evox concluded in a deep voice. "I have had many forms, and now my victory is certain."

"So he's the computer virus that almost destroyed an entire world?" Ravi asked.

"That can't be true." Zoey claimed.

"Can we just back track for a second here? You're saying Nate created you?" I scoffed. "Okay, I know Nate was some child genius or whatever, but even he's not dumb enough to do that. Right?"

"Nate?" Zoey questioned.

"Bro?" Steel added on.

"I. . . I don't. . ." Nate stammered.

"It is true! I've waited years for you to energize the Morph-X Towers so I could harness the Morphin Grid. And today, that becomes reality!" Evox claimed.

He then fired at us, making us scream and we collapsed to the ground, groaning in pain. Evox laughed evilly as he walked by us.

"No, stop!" Devon shouted as he tried to follow after Evox but it was no use. "Is it true, Nate— what he said? Did you create Evox from a virus in that old morpher?"

"It was years ago. I was just a kid." Nate answered.

"So it is possible." Devon said.

"Yes. . . I guess. I might have released Venjix into our world." Nate stated.

"We've got to go after him— right now!" Ravi informed as Zoey helped Devon up.

"Come on!" Steel said.

Zoey kneeled down to Nate. "Nate, we need you." She said, holding out her hand.

"Okay." Nate took her hand.

I grabbed onto Dacoda's shoulder. "Stay here, okay? For the sake of my sanity, don't try to be a hero, Coda." I told him.

"Got it. Go get him, Dad." Dacoda said, making me blink.

"What did you call me?"

"I said, 'go get him, Trent.' Are you losing your hearing old man?" Dacoda asked, making me smack him in the head before following the others.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

We saw that Ben and Betty were tied up. "Guys!" Devon exclaimed.

"We almost had him!" Ben claimed.

"He went that way!" Betty added on.

"We'll be back!" Ravi promised as Zoey's wrist comm beeped.

"What is it, Jax?" Zoey asked.

"We're tracking Evox. We can cut him off on sub-level one." Jax replied.

"We're on our way!" Zoey informed.

"Activate Beast Power! Ha!" We all shouted, getting covered in our respective colors mist and morphing.

"Hurry!" Devon exclaimed.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

"All right, team, stay close." Devon told us.

"Wait. He's here." I informed, my hearing picking up footsteps.

"Childish fools. You're really going to try to stop me?" Evox asked.

"You're the fool if you think we won't." Devon responded as Evox started glowing green and monsters appeared.

Evox laughed. "With the full power of the Venjix virus, nothing can stand in my way." He claimed.

"Well, I guess we'll see." Devon said as we all charged forward and began fighting.

Devon headed for Evox as he stabbed him. "I have all your weapons data. They're useless now." Evox said as Devon was thrown back.

"Devon, are you okay?" Zoey questioned.

"Look out!" Devon warned as Evox sent another blast at us, making us groan.

"We can't fight him. His programming absorbed my saber." Devon informed.

"He's right. Now tell me, boy genius, how does it feel to be responsible for the destruction of human civilization?" Evox questioned as he attacked Nate.

"No! Nate!" Zoey shouted.

Nate fell to the ground as he demorphed. "Are you okay? I got you, bro." Steel said, helping him up as Evox laughed evilly.

"You'll go down in history." He claimed before disappearing.

"I can't believe what I've done." Nate stated as he walked away.

"Wait!" Steel called out, sighing.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Zoey soon came into the command room. "Well? Is Nate working on a solution?" Commander Shaw asked.

"No. He's paralyzed, afraid he'll make another mistake." Zoey responded.

"Maybe I should talk to him." Devon offered.

"That won't help. He needs to talk to someone who truly understands what he's going through." Zoey said.

"You sound like you have someone in mind." Commander Shaw stated.

"Yes, ma'am, I do." Zoey said. I snapped my fingers in realization.

"Doctor K, right?" I asked, making Zoey nod as she turned to Devon.

"Can you help me make a trans-dimensional call?" Zoey questioned.

Devon smiled. "I sure can." He replied.

Soon, we all watched from the door as Doctor K and Nate began working together.

"Now there's the Nate I know." I commented, smiling a little.

"Good job, Zoey." Devon added.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

All of us soon entered Nate's lab. "It's Blaze. He's been spotted heading for Tower Seven." Devon announced.

"Blaze? Not Evox?" Nate questioned.

"Go ahead. I'll finish the antivirus." Doctor K said.

"I should stay and help you." Nate told her.

"It's Blaze. We need your help, Nate." Zoey informed as Nate looked at Doctor K, who gave a short nod.

"Okay." Nate finally agreed.

"Great." Steel said as we all rushed out.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

We all stepped in front of Robo-Blaze. "Don't take another step!" Devon told him.

"Sorry, but I have business to attend to." Robo-Blaze claimed.

"Not today. It's Morphin' time!" Devon shouted as we got out our morphers.

"Activate Beast Power! Ha!" We shouted as we morphed.

"Transport!" Devon, Ravi, Zoey, and I shouted. "Beast-X Visor linked."

"Activate Beast-X Mode!" The four of us exclaimed as we got into Beast-X Mode.

"Unleash the Beast!"

We all charged forward. "Six on one? Fine by me." Robo-Blaze commented as we soon began fighting him.

I tried slashing my Lion Lance at Robo-Blaze who kept blocking and dodging my attacks. Zoey leaped into the air as Robo-Blaze kicked her back.

"Z!" I shouted out in worry.

"Someone needs to pay attention." Robo-Blaze mocked as I crashed to the ground.

"You two all right?" Nate asked.

"We're fine." I answered.

"Let's change that." Robo-Blaze said as he attacked all of us, making us groan as we fell to the ground. "You like that?" He then asked, chuckling.

"He's giving us everything he's got." Devon said.

"Well, we can do the same. Let's go!" Steel informed as him and Devon charged forward.

"Come on." Zoey said as Nate's comm beeped.

"The arrow is loaded and ready to go." Doctor K informed.

"Thanks, Dr. K. Let's do a field test." Nate said. "Transport Beast-X King Ultrabow."

The Ultrabow soon appeared. "I really hope this works." Nate stated as Robo-Blaze soon fell to the ground.

"Beast-X King Power Bolt!"

Nate fired the arrow straight at Robo-Blaze. "Come on!" Ravi said as Robo-Blaze soon exploded into the air.

"It worked!" Steel laughed.

"You did it, Nate!" Devon exclaimed as we all cheered and laughed.

"Robo-Blaze is gone for good!" Steel said.

"Thank goodness for that!" I laughed, giving Steel a high five in which he returned.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

"Are you sure we can't convince you to stay?" Commander Shaw asked.

"We could use someone like you on our team." Devon added on.

"I'm sorry, but I've got to get back to Corinth and start checking our systems for any traces of the Venjix virus. If he made it here, who knows where else he might be?" Doctor K stated.

Nate and Zoey soon walked in hand in hand. "Thank you for coming, Dr. K. I really thought that. . . that nobody could know how terrible I felt. But you understood." Nate said.

"You are guaranteed to face challenges in life. But you don't need to face them alone, not when you've got such good support around you." Doctor K told him as Ben and Betty soon walked in. "Ah. Hello."

"Hey, Dr. K. We got your special fuel." Ben informed.

"Oh, let's see. Hot water. . . sucrose and organic plant extract." Doctor K said.

"Yup."

"Smells great." Doctor K said as he raised the glass to her lips.

"Oh!"

"Ah! I love a good cup of tea." Doctor K stated.

"Tea?" Betty repeated in confusion. "You said it was special fuel."

"Yeah."

"Oh, well, a good cup of tea really keeps me going."

"Do you know how hard we worked on this?" Ben questioned.

"Yes, and you performed admirably. You two are welcome in my lab any time." Doctor K answered.

"Okay. . ."

"Okay, well, . . . thanks!" Betty said.

"Okay." Ben chuckled.

A portal soon appeared as Doctor K turned to face us. "You have a beautiful world. Keep it safe." She told us.

"We will. Thanks." Devon said.

Doctor K turned back around and stepped into the portal, with it disappearing soon after. The alarm soon blared.

"Commander, there's an alert. The Tower Network has been activated."

"What?"

"All over the planet."

"Shut down the system." Commander Shaw ordered.

"I can't control it. The network has been disconnected from our system." The female worker said as Evox soon appeared on screen.

"You fools were so busy with Blaze you missed Scrozzle slipping right into a tower. Now the Global Morph-X Network is under my control. All of those mighty towers you built will be your doom! Thanks to you, the entire world is at my mercy, and there's nothing you can do to stop me!" Evox announced, laughing evilly.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

A/N: Dacoda wears anything silver and/or gray. Hinting to his Ranger color in Dino Fury. Thanks for reading!

Word Count: 2415 words.