Cruger was out on a patrol of Rainbow Falls when he heard a scream. Following it, he found himself face to face with a skeletal figure standing over a pair of fillies.
"I was wondering when I'd finally run into you, Grumm," Cruger said as he drew his sword.
"Well, it appears that I need to execute somebody," Grumm replied, "I thought that I kept myself unknown to all save those who served me."
"Don't bother, I'm just knowledgeable when it comes to supervillians."
"Supervillian? I feel insulted, I am an emperor, or at least will be when my work is done."
"You're a criminal, I already have you on supplying equipment to a known felon, and that machine in and of itself was illegal without the proper permits, which I don't think you have. Now, as cliche as it is, easy way or hard way?"
"Actually, you have bigger problems." Grumm laughed evilly as his holographic projection flickered and died.
Before Cruger could figure out what he meant, his communicator beeped. "Sir, you need to get here NOW!"
(15 minutes earlier)
"Uh, I'm bored, why can't something interesting happen?" Dash moaned. They were currently patrolling the Everfree for the umpteenth time, and nothing had come of it.
"You know, if anything happens now, I'm blaming you," replied Hammer Fist.
"At this point I'd take it," Dash said.
Before anyone could respond a cloaked figure stepped out of the bushes. "Greetings."
"Finally, something."
"Identify yourself," said Night.
"You may call me Broodwing, but I'm not what you have to worry about right now." As he said that, a strange looking bat flew out of his cloak and flew towards the Delta Base.
"What was that thing?" asked Pearl Spark. As if in answer, a massive explosion came from that direction, prompting them to look. When they turned back, Broodwing was gone.
"We'll worry about him later," Dash said as she sprinted back, the rest following suit soon after, "I've got a bad feeling about this."
"It may not be the time, but I told you so."
A giant, blue, vaguely T shaped monster was attacking the Delta Base. Luckily between the base's armor and shields there wasn't much damage, but there was enough that it would take at least a week to fix, assuming the monster stopped now. More importantly, the access door to the Runner Bay was rendered unopenable by debris.
At the same time, Cruger arrived via portal. "So what's... oh, that's what's going on."
"Sir," Dash shouted in relief, "the Runner Bay's blocked, how are we going to get the Megazord?"
"Let's see, they blocked the primary access quite thoroughly, but..." Cruger pulled out his Morpher and set it to comm mode, "Deploy the Delta Runners via the secondary access." As he flipped it closed, a massive door opened on the opposite side of the base then usual, and the Runners shot out."
"Gonna have to remember that," Dash said, "thanks boss!"
As the Rangers boarded their Runners and formed the Megazord, Cruger felt slightly uneasy. "That's T-Top, or a version of him anyway, I wonder." After about a minute, the Megazord was about to finish it. "Wait a minute," Cruger called out over his Morpher, "scan to make sure, I've got a weird feeling about this one."
"Understood," Dash said as she activated the Megazord's integrated Judgement Scanner. However, the result surprised everyone, except Cruger.
"INNOCENT!?"
Cruger sighed, "I figured as much, cuff 'em."
As the Megazord used an oversized, even in comparison, set of handcuffs to transport it to a containment facility, another alert came in.
"Sir, we have an intruder in R&D."
"En route," Cruger said as he opened up a portal. When he arrived, he found a feminine looking plant creature in a purple outfit messing with the mainframe, surrounded by unconscious staff. 'Of course, where T-Top goes, Hydrax is sure to be, taking advantage of the confusion,' Cruger thought to himself as he drew his sword. "I'd recommend you surrender, I'm not as easy to take down as a bunch of scientists and engineers."
"No matter," Hydrax said as the words 'File Sent' appeared on the terminal she was using, "my mission is complete, although I would still like to leave." With that, Hydrax suddenly turned around and shot a stream of super high pressure water at Cruger, who simply turned intangible to dodge it.
"I don't think so," Cruger replied, before dashing forward and subduing her with a Vulcan Neck Pinch, "I believe the good doctor would love to know how exactly you and your associate gained your current appearance." As a group of B-Squad troopers cut through the jammed door, Cruger turned his gaze onto the terminal, "You may have hit my home Grumm, but like the Van-Dorns, we never give up, never."
(Back at the evil lair)
"A toast to a job well done," Broodwing said as he poured himself and Grumm a glass of wine.
"Yes, both versions of the serum performed most adequately," Grumm said as he took his glass, "and that mercenary was able to send us the data we required."
"Pity she got captured though," Broodwing said as he took a sip, "she didn't come cheap."
"No matter, now that we can show proof that it works, would-be criminals will pay anything for a taste of that power."
"A toast to a most profitable future," Broodwing said, raising his glass.
"Profit will be the least of it," Grumm replied as he clink his glass.