A Dashed Shade Of Red Part 3: The Storm’s Snare

by TheSuperTransformerFan

Part 2: Missing A Rainbow

Vapor Trail & Sky Stinger both headed inside the Battleforce base through the entrance. They had met their old friend from Wonderbolt Academy earlier during the fight with Bulldozertron. Now, they were going inside to check on her to see if she was okay.

As they were about to head in the hall, one of the guards stopped her. “Uh Uh.” He said. “Sorry. No unauthorized personnel is allowed.”

“It’s alright.” Sky said calmly. “We’re here to check on a buddy of ours, if that’s okay. We heard that she works with those inside.”

The guard moved to the side. “Of course.” He said, letting them in. “You may pass.”

“Thank you.” Vapor said as they made their way in the hall, and over to Nate’s lab.

Inside Nate’s lab, the rangers, and ponies were checking on Rainbow Dash, who was in bed, trying to rest. They had a plan to send a decoy truck over to stop the Storm King from taking the Morph-X, which failed since Tempest and Vargoyle got away with it. That was the least of their worries however as right now, their friend’s safety was of most importance.

The two Pegasi came in the lab to see their friend. Zoey took notice of them. “Sky! Vapor!” She said in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re here to check on Rainbow Dash.” Vapor answered.

“How is she doing?” Sky asked, worried.

“She’s right over there.” Zoey said, pointing to her, trying to recover in the cot-like bed. “It’s not good.” The two looked at her, and exchanged looks of worry, and sympathy, as they, along with the others hoped that she would be alright. Nate watched her, and felt that the telekinesis lesson put too much pressure on her, and that is was all his fault.

Ravi got out a tongue depressor, and put it to Rainbow’s mouth. “Say ‘Ah’.” He said, as he kept down to her.

“Ah, brick.” Rainbow said weakly to him.

“Dash isn’t doing too good.” Starlight said, concerned.

Nate sighed sadly. “I blame myself, Starlight.” He apologized.

“Whoa, how is this YOUR fault?” Devon asked concerned as well.

“Because, Devon, that telekinesis lesson...I may have pushed her too hard.” Nate said, regretfully. “Anger and pride led me down the wrong path. But I’ve learned that from now on, I’ll keep my temper in check, and my lip buttoned.”

“We’ll see how long that lasts.” Steel said, sarcastically.

“Don’t patronize me, Steel!” Nate said, turning to him and gritting his teeth.

“Hey, Calm down Bro!” Steel said as he backed away. “I was only joking!”

“What happened to Rainbow Dash?” Vapor asked Nate as she came up to him.

“She hit herself in the head with a brick 37 times...” Nate explained to her. “Then, the brick split in half.”

“You taught her telekinesis?!” Twilight asked in shock. “Like unicorn magic?!”

“That’s not easy to do when you’re a Pegasus.” Cozy answered. “That IS a serious problem.”

“Was this a karate test of some kind?” Spike asked, curious.

“Not precisely.” Nate simply answered.

The commander turned to him solemnly, after scanning her head. “I’m afraid the stress has caused her to mentally withdraw.” She said concerned, to which Nate started to gasp sadly. “But, I have a plan to shock her out of it.”

This made Nate’s spirit soar. “Anything.” He said, hopefully. “Anything that will help her.”

“How do you plan to shock her out of it?” Ben asked. The commander thought it was best if they found out in their own.

She then came over the the front of the bed, and looked at the recovering speedy ally. “Now, Rainbow Dash....” she said to her. “I’m going to show you a few things. I want you to say out loud what they are. Okay?” Rainbow Dash just silently nodded as she got out the first object.

She instantly recognized the object. “Pen. Brick.” She said. She was then shown another object. “Pencil. Brick.” She said again. The commander shown her one more object to her, and she gasped as she saw that object when she was training with Nate. “BRICK!” Rainbow shouted, as she went into hysterics, and sobbed uncontrollably into her arms. “BRICK!” She sobbed again.

“She’ll be fine.” Commander Shaw told them. “She just needs to rest.”

“We’ll have to get that Morph-X back ourselves.” Nate said, now focusing on the mission.

“Right!” Devon added. “It’s probably in the Morph-X LIMA tower, right by the woods.”

“And, that means we’ll have to step through doody water.” Nate said, as he started to leave. The others exchanged looks of confusion and shock, as they held their noses and groaned in disgust.

---

In the Crystal Dimension, Vargoyle & Tempest were discussing their latest victory over the rangers and ponies to Robo-Blaze and Robo-Roxy, who were rebuilt through the Robo-Maker. “And, so I said, well what do you know? Dash Under Glass!” Bulldozertron said in triumph.

“Excellent work, you 5!” The Storm King said pleased, that they had managed to hand him the energy he needed. “We have just enough for another attempt to change back into the Red Ranger’s father for a few hours again!”

“But, boss!” Robo-Blaze warned him. “What if you change back in front of the rangers again?”

“That...was a temporary setback earlier!” The Storm King growled a little bit at the Robo-general, as he slowly backed away. “This time, we will make sure that never happens again!”

“Yes, Boss.” Robo-Blaze said, nodding.

“That was an amazing plan you had Vargoyle!” Bulldozertron said excitedly as he jumped up.

“You bet it was!” Vargoyle said, getting into an action-like pose.

“Normally, they’d search the LIMA tower...” The Storm King started.

“...and find nothing!” Tempest said, as she laughed evilly. “Oh boy, Vargoyle’s hiding place was flawless: The Albany Scenic Reserve!”

“It’s been closed for eons!” Robo-Roxy said in glee as she heard this.

“Excellent!” The grey Tirek said bravely. “Go there, and scope the area for more of the Morph-X for my plan!”

The generals nodded, as their boss took off to find Grubber. “Not to trod old ground...” Robo-Blaze asked. “But, are you sure that the location is securely safe?”

“Those Tronics will destroy anyone who finds it.” Tempest hissed.

“Good! That won’t be Rainbow Dash!” Robo-Roxy said, pounding her fists together.

“Last time we saw her, she was surrounded by more glass than a jar of pickles!” Bulldozertron said, as they all laughed evilly. They had a good hiding spot for the heroes, which would never be found. Not unless someone happened to reveal the location of it yet.

---

Back at the base, the alarm started to go off again, just as their friend was being checked on. “Rangers!” The commander said in alert. “We’ve just spotted Bulldozertron and Vargoyle at the Albany Scenic Reserve in sector TIA 10-3! Be on the ready!”

“Copy that, commander.” Devon said over the Morpher, as they got in the GB vehicle. “Come on, guys!” The vehicle took off for said reserve, as they were ready for round 2 with that robotron.

---

At the Albany Scenic Reserve, Bulldozertron was already here and ready to fight the heroes again, just as the heroes...minus Rainbow Dash arrived. “Right on time!” The robotron said gleefully.

“Alright, Bulldozertron!” Devon said fiercely to him. “It’s time to send you back!”

“Oh yeah?!” He asked, as he got ready to clap his hands.

The heroes nodded towards each other, as they stepped up, and got ready to morph! “IT’S MORPHIN TIME!” Devon shouted, as the rangers activated their Morphers, and keys.

“ACTIVATE BEAST POWERS!” They shouted, as all 7 rangers were instantly morphed before the robotron. “UNLEASH THE BEAST!” The heroes shouted.

“TRONICS!” The robotron shouted, as the tronics appeared right next to him, clumped and ready.

Nate had a plan to deal with the Tronics. “Devon, we’ll handle the Tronics!” He told them as they nodded. “You, Cozy, Sky, Vapor, Applejack, Fluttershy, Ravi and Zoey handle the robotron!”

“Already on it, Sugarcube!” Applejack agreed as they got into a fighting pose.

“Consider it done!” Fluttershy said as well.

“ATTACK!” Bulldozertron bellowed told his army as the Tronics got ready to face the heroes!

“Let’s do it!” Nate said as he, Steel, Spike, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Ben, and Starlight went for the tronic army, while the others went for the robotron.

Meanwhile, Vargoyle, Blaze, Roxy and Tempest arrived at the location, and were shocked to see the heroes were already there fighting Bulldozertron. “Well, that’s a fumble for our team!” Robo-Blaze groaned.

“We’ll get it back!” Tempest said, as they got ready to fight.

“How in BLAZES do you suppose the rangers FOUND this place?!” Vargoyle asked in shock.

“I’ll be the commander ratted them out!” Tempest snarled. “She does that sometimes!”

“Maybe, it’s time we step in and settle things!” Robo-Roxy said, as she readied her blasters.

“You got it!” Robo-Blaze said. “Let’s go!” And the 4 generals ran to the scene where the Gold Ranger’s team was taking on the Tronics. Things would be tough for the heroes now, as they would have 4 evil generals on their platter to deal with.

Nate threw down a tronic with his hands, while Twilight and Starlight teamed up to zap a few Tronics that came near them. At that moment, a few zaps came off at the team, startling them. “WHOA!” Steel said, as he pointed at who was approaching. “GUYS! LOOK!” They all turned to see the generals heading right toward them.

“All the rats in one place!” Nate said, as he clenched his fist. “How convenient!”

“And now, it’s time to finish you!” Vargoyle said, as he got his talons ready, as the others got their weapons ready.

“Oh, really?” Starlight asked, glaring at them. “We’ll be the judges of that!”

“Attack!” Vargoyle said, as he and his subordinates charged into battle.

“Let’s give them a party they’ll never forget!” Pinkie said, as she whipped out her party cannon, and the others got ready to charge at the generals. “TALLYHO!” They got ready to charge too, as they were in the fight of their lives.

Meanwhile, Devon’s team was ready to step it up a notice as they summoned their Beast-X Visors. “BEAST-X VISOR LINKED!” All 3 rangers said, linking their visors with their Morphers. They readied their Morph-X Keys at once. “ACTIVATE BEAST-X MODE!” They called out, as they were transformed into their power-up forms.

“BEAST-X MODE READY!” They shouted as they were ready to even out the odds, and started to charge at the robotron.

“Nothing can bulldoze through me!” Bulldozertron said, as he got ready to charge too.

“Is that true?” Sky said, smiling. “Well, you’ve got another thing coming!” They ran up to the robotron, who linked his arms together and delivered a powerful punch, which sent him flying a few feet back, and back to the ground.

“Whoo!” Vapor Trail said in excitement. “We are on fire!” Bulldozertron started to get up, but was overwhelmed by the heroes’ attacks.

“You guys finish him!” Ravi said to the others. “I’ll go help Nate and Steel!”

“Got it, Y’all!” AJ said, as she tugged on her hat, and Ravi took off to help the others. They were ready to finish the mechanical construction vehicle off.

“Copy!” Zoey added in agreement. “Come on, Everyone!” They nodded as Zoey jumped in the air with Fluttershy following suit.

“Let’s send this pile of scrap to the trash compactor!” Vapor said bravely, as she and Sky nodded.

“With you all the way!” Sky said in agreement as they took off into the sky.

Devon and Applejack took a running start to the robotron as he channeled his energy and got ready for his attack. “CHEETAH CHARGE!” He called out as he went through the energy cylinder and became a holographic version of his zord.

Zoey and Fluttershy did a swirling corkscrew kick to it as well. “JACKRABBIT SPIN STRIKE!” They shouted.

Sky and Vapor zoomed towards the robotron, forming a navy-white streak from the sky as they were about to dive bomb him, or slam into him. Bulldozertron got up, and was shocked at all the attacks they were coming right for him. “Uh oh!” He said in shock.

Their combined attacks punctured the robotron like a hot knife through butter, and they landed on the ground in victory. But to their surprise, their attacks only weakened him rather than destroy him.

“What?!” Applejack asked, horrified. “I thought that would work!”

“That is one tough robotron.” Sky said in agreement.

“Can nothing stop this thing?” Devon asked in shock.

“Just let me throw a blaster at it!” Cozy said, as she got out her Beast-X King Blaster.

“Wha?!” They asked in shock and confusion.

“Our attacks alone aren’t enough.” Cozy said. “We need to work together to finish him off!”

“Isn’t that what we’ve been doing the whole time?!” Zoey asked in exasperation.

“Yes, but not as a team.” Cozy said, as she aimed the blaster at it. “Let’s try using this!”

“Great idea, Cozy!” Devon said, as they got to the blaster. “Just in time!”

“Hello?” Bulldozertron asked in mere frustration. “I’m still working here!”

The heroes took notice, and knew what needed to be done. “Let’s try this again!” Devon said as he got into position. “Zoey, Fluttershy, AJ, Sky, Vapor, Cozy!” Zoey, Fluttershy, and Applejack got on the right side of the blaster, while Sky, Vapor & Cozy got on the left side.

“FIRE!” Devon shouted.

“FIRE!” Cozy shouted, as the Beast-X King blaster emitted a powerful blast, making Bulldozertron explode and good as scrap, well at least they thought he did. But, unknown to the heroes, he teleported away before he could face his fate. They didn’t know that yet.

“Whoo hoo!” Devon said, he jumped up in triumph.

“Alright!” Applejack said in glee. “That robotron should’ve known that he was no match for ranger and pony power!” She stuck out her hoof, and they all did a hi-five.

“Together...like how it’s supposed to be!” Cozy said in agreement, as they all smiled. At that moment, Ravi and his team rushed back to the others.

“We did it!” Nate said in triumph. “Blaze & Roxy are down and out again!”

“And so are Tempest and Vargoyle?” Applejack asked in amazement.

“Uh...” Starlight said, as she pointed to the other two generals, who were shorting out.

“You may have defeated Bulldozertron....” Tempest snarled in rage. “But, it’s not over!”

“We’ll be back next time, rangers!” Vargoyle said, shaking his fist at them.

“Oh!” Applejack groaned in anger as she saw them teleport.

“Well, at least we stopped the robotron?” Fluttershy asked, as her friend gave her a dirty look.

Just then, a GB vehicle pulled up to the heroes, and Commander Shaw stepped out of it. “Commander?” Devon asked in calm shock.

“Blaze, & Roxy are eliminated.” Starlight said to the commander.

“Good work, everyone.” The Commander said proudly. She then shifted to disappointment. “But, I have some bad news.”

“What?!” Everyone asked.

“Oh, no. What’s wrong, Commander?” Twilight asked worriedly.

“Tower 5 had a system failure.” Shaw said solemnly. “We cannon drain it.”

“Uh oh!” Ben said in surprise. “Not good!”

“Then, we gotta protect it!” Pinkie said.

“That’ll draw too much attention.” She said to them. “We’ll leave it unguarded, and The Storm King will think it’s empty just like the others.”

The others smiled at this, as their perfect counterplan was ready to be set in motion. “He’ll never suspect it’s actually full of Morph-X!” Spike said sneakily.

“Correct.” Shaw told them. “I want each of you to...”

Unknown to them, Grubber was listening to the conversation nearby unnoticed, and smirked evilly. “So, tower 5 is full, and unguarded!” He said out out to himself, as he smiled. “This is the Storm King’s lucky day!” He teleported away, not knowing that Zoey, and Fluttershy watched his scheming.

“Ha, that’s what you think.” Zoey said, as she and Fluttershy got down to meet back up with the others.

“Guys! Good news!” Fluttershy squealed in excitement. “Grubber took the bait! Hook, line and sinker!” The others smiled at that announcement.

“Then, the Storm king is in for a big surprise!” Nate said determined.

“He won’t know WHAT hit him!” Twilight agreed.

At that moment, there was a call on the wristcoms. Commander Shaw answered it. “Go ahead.” She answered.

“We’ve detected an incoming gigadrone.” One of the workers contacted her. “It’s headed for tower 5.”

The heroes were shocked upon hearing this. “Uh-oh!” Spike said in shock.

“That was unexpected.” Pinkie agreed as well.

“We gotta stop those gigadrones before it makes tower 5 a dead husk!” Sky said, with Vapor nodding.

“Right on time.” Commander Shaw said. “Deploy the Ranger’s Zords.”

“Wait. There’s something else.” The worker said, as she looked at the monitor. “We received a strange message...we think it might be trans-dimensional...from someone called Dr. K.”

This was news to Devon as he heard this. “Dr. K?!” He said in amazement. “She responded!”

“Who is this...Dr. K you’re trying to contact, Devon?” Applejack asked, confused.

“She’s a lead scientist for the RPM rangers!” Devon relayed quickly. “I think she may have the solution to the Storm King!”

“Then, you better get back to the base, Darling!” Rarity said in shock.

“Mom, the rest of us can handle that gigadrone.” Ravi said, as he stepped up to the commander.

“I agree with Ravi.” Starlight said as well. “Devon needs to take that call! It’s important.”

“Ok, Devon. Back to the base.” The commander complied. “The rest of you wipe that gigadrone out fast.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Starlight said bravely.

“Nate, Ben, Steel, Twilight, Starlight, Pinkie, Spike, Rarity....” the commander continued. “Come with Devon back to the base. Complete the second hyperfreeze arrow to use on the Storm king when he attacks tower five!”

“You got it!” Spike said, as he and the others raced toward the GB vehicle. “Let’s go!”

“Right!” They said, as they joined them in the car.

“Move out.” Commander Shaw warned them.

“Alright!” Cozy said, as the rest of them went to fight that gigadrone. “DEPLOY BEAST-X KING ZORD!” She shouted as her Zord left Pine Ridge woods, and to the city. The Wheeler and Chopper zords were deployed too, as they joined Cozy’s Zord.

The heroes saw their zords arrive. It was time to act fast. “Here come out Zords!” Zoey said. “Quick! Let’s go!” They all jumped to their respective vehicles.

Sky and Vapor decided to join too. “We’d better go with them!” Sky said, as they jumped to the Beast-X King Zord.

“With you all the way!” Vapor added as they joined Cozy.

Once inside, it was time to take charge, as they activated their Megazord combination. “DISASSEMBLY ENGAGED!” They shouted, as the zords started to combine.

“BEAST-X KING MEGAZORD...COMBINE!” Cozy shouted, and within seconds, the zords combined to form an alternate version of the Beast-X Megazord, with a lion in place of a cheetah.

“BEAST-X KING MEGAZORD...UNLEASHED!” Cozy shouted, as their Megazord was ready to fight!

“Cool formation!” Vapor said in excitement, upon witnessing it.

“Time to rock and roll!” Sky said as well.

“You bet it is!” Cozy said, giving them the thumbs up. “Let’s go!”

Their Megazord was approaching Bulldozerdrone, who was already wrecking havoc in the area. “Time to destroy that Hunk of junk, team!” Ravi said boldly.

“Yeah!” The others shouted as the Megazord advanced toward Bulldozerdrone. The gigadrone was ready too, as he tried to use his hands to block the attacks, but the Megazord’s sword deflected its attacks. Then, it performed some swift kicks, and a few punches, and slashes, which were starting to overwhelm the gigadrone.

The heroes were ready to activate the finisher. “Ready, guys?” Cozy asked the others.

“You got it!” AJ said, as she tugged on her hat.

“Let’s finish this creep!” Zoey said, pumping her fist, while Fluttershy nodded.

The gigadrone was coming nearer to the Zord. “Ready!” Cozy shouted. “LION BLASTER...ACTIVATE!” They all shouted as the Beast-X King Megazord fired a huge energy beam from its chest, hitting the gigadrone spot on, severely weakening and destroying it.

“What a day...” Cozy said happily with relief as the Megazord turned to face the tower.

“VIRUS ELIMINATED!” The heroes shouted in victory as they had successfully stopped the gigadrone from taking Morph-X tower 5! All was well with the world, but it’s not over yet! They still had to find a way to separate the Storm King from Mayor Daniels, and defend the Morph-X tower network!

Author's Note:

And, that’s a wrap for this chapter! The rangers have defeated Bulldozerdrone, and tower 5 is saved! But, it’s not over yet! They still need to stop the Storm King and protect the towers. Also, will Dr. K have a solution that could save Mayor Daniels? What memories will be sparked in the process? Will Rainbow Dash recover? Find out in the next chapter that could bring in a possible solution!