Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Kanto Sentai Pokéranger ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Kanto Sentai Pokéranger

(a.k.a. Power Rangers: Pocket Monsters)

Usual disclaimers apply.  These characters do no belong to me.

"So I was thinking that we could have a big wall of monitors right here…" Max explained as he gestured to and fro around the hollowed out basement of Professor Oak's laboratory, "…the database and all the electronics set up here…a place where I can work on my gadgets and such over here…"

"You certainly don't have any shortage of ambition, do you, Max?" Professor Oak asked.

"Nope.  Oh!  Oh, we've gotta make this a secret from everyone else!  I was thinking we could have some sort of scanner hidden somewhere in the lab…but not behind a bookcase or anything like that, too cliché.  Perhaps we could-"

"Max, calm down!" The good professor chuckled.  Sure, his ideas were good, but the fact that he was asking them of a thirty thousand year old spirit who just recently constituted a body of his own was just a little too ambitious and just a little bit rude.  The kid had to keep himself under control if he was going to be a good technical aide to the Power Rangers: Pocket Monsters team.

"Relax, Professor," Degenhart said.  "Max has every right to be excited.  Though he can't be out there on the field, he feels strongly he has to help the Power Rangers in every way that he can.  I admire his enthusiasm."  Now that he was separated from Professor Oak, he could better serve as the Rangers' advisor and not have to usurp control of Oak's body from him.  And as per their agreement, he would assist the Professor in his research.  For all intents and purposes, everyone else would refer to him as Professor Degenhart.

"Thanks," Max agreed, "and besides, my sister is counting on me to be there for her!"  He was met with the gazes of Professor Oak and "Professor" Degenhart.  "Oh…and so are Ash, Brock, Misty and Tracey."

"Every little bit counts.  Now then, let's worry about hooking up these monitors; then we will concern ourselves with everything else."  On the far side of the room opposite the doors, six large, plasma-screened monitors were seated atop a large computer console as wide as three of said monitors set side-by-side.  Max spent the majority of his time trying to hook up the six monitors to the computer.  Degenhart had a hand in creating everything in the new command center, including using his magic to create stainless steel walls and Linoleum flooring.  On the wall there were five sigils, one in each color for the active Power Rangers.  On the floor right by the entrance was a gold version of their sigil, with the words "POWER RANGERS" following the arc of the top half of the sigil, and "POCKET MONSTERS" in similar fashion on the bottom.  Said entrance was a wide cul-de-sac where - ideally, as far as Max was concerned - they would enter after clearing security from somewhere in Oak's lab.

Max worked carefully behind the console, making sure each connection was just right.  This was all very sensitive electronic equipment, and those plasma monitors were at least $8000 a piece.  As much as a single static shock could ruin their whole day's work.  Needless to say, they didn't want all of this to be for naught just because of a little static.

Each connection needed to be done with great delicacy.  Eventually, every last wire was in its proper place.  "Okay," Max said, replacing the back panel and screwing it back on.  He went back in front with Oak, Degenhart and Pikachu.  "Let's see how it works.  Pikachu?"  Max motioned to the on/off switch on the right hand side of the machine.

"Pikachu," {"If you insist,"} he said.  Pikachu jumped from the floor to the console, walked over the controls, and pushed his little paw down into the power switch.  The console's many buttons lit up, and the monitors came on.  Everyone cheered.  Max's work was a success.

"Excellent work, Max!" Professor Oak said.

"Astonishing," Degenhart said.  "You should very pleased with your accomplishment, Max."

"Thanks, you guys," Max said, blushing just a bit.  "Now then, let's check in on our friends."  He went to the controls and typed a series of commands on the keyboard.  "Alright, give me a second here…I'm gonna establish a communications link with Ash while I'm here…" Max's twelve-year-old hands flew a mile a minute over the keyboard, but eventually he got what he wanted-a status report on the Rangers in action.

And there they were…standing at the feet of the giant-sized Tempo, backing away as it stepped.  Professor Oak's and Max's jaws hit the ground.  They had never seen a monster of that size before!  It was understandable why they were backing off.  As they witnessed, their weapons had no effect.

"Professor!  Degenhart!  Max!" Ash's frantic voice shouted over the link.  "We've got big problems here!  We can't stop this thing!"  All five Rangers shouted as they dove out of the way of a very large ball of fire.  "What do we do to stop this?!"

"Rangers…" Degenhart's voice said, relaxed.  "This is where the Power Rangers make themselves known.  More than their powers or their weapons, or their hand to hand combat skills, what truly defines a Ranger as a Ranger can be summed up in one thing…"  He paused.  "Their Zords."

* * * * *

"Zords?" Ash asked.  Everyone was linked into the conversation with the new command center.

"What's a 'Zord'?" Brock asked.  He never heard the word before, let alone knew what one was.  He barely finished the question when a rush of knowledge poured through their minds.  This information included the definition of what the giant robot known as a Zord was, how they worked, what their own individual Zords looked like, and how to work them.  Of course, a lot of this was elementary; the advanced techniques they would have to discover - or devise - on their own.

"The Zords are everything you will need to defeat even the toughest monsters when they grow to giant proportions like so," Degenhart said simply.  "You know what you must do."

"Right!" Ash shouted.  He addressed his team.  "So you guys up for taking these things for a spin and terminating Tempo?"

"Yeah!" they all shouted.

"Alright then!"  As with the Morphing sequence, they knew the gestures like they practiced them forever.  They shifted their hips and brought their right arm across their chest, then snapped it down, their fist seated right on their hip.  From there, they reached for the sky.  They summoned them in one voice…

"Pokéranger!  PokéZord…POWER!"

They were miles away from where the Zords emerged from their hiding places, but in their minds, they saw them like they were right there watching them emerge.

Zooming across an ocean of grass, a yellow Scyther…

Darting through a winding canyon, a red Combusken…

Gliding across the surface of a crystal clear lake and pristine beach, a blue Togetic…

Out of a dark, forgotten cave, a green Crobat…

 And running through the depths of a deep forest, a white Pikachu.

The five PokéZords met up in a common, desolate wasteland, the white Pikachu in the lead.  The others fell in formation behind it, forming a "V" formation as they flew or ran across the ground.  It was when the Rangers saw the five Zords meeting as one that they gasped…they all resembled Pokémon; but not just any Pokémon, but Pokémon they themselves used and were famous for!  The White and Blue Rangers' Zords should've been obvious; Ash and Pikachu are joined at the hip, and Misty cared for Togepi as though it were her own child.  Brock caught a Zubat when he was at Mt. Moon, and it eventually grew into the Crobat he had now.  Tracey's battle-scarred Scyther was the former leader of its swarm, and was just as tough as he.  And May's Combusken still loved her even when it became more than just a Torchic.

The Rangers looked to the sky.  They could see the PokéZords coming, and knew where they would end up.  The lenses of their helmets flashed their individual colors for a second, and in the next instant, they disappeared in a stream of color-specific light.  When they reformed, they were in the cockpits of their respective Zords.

"All Rangers, report!" Ash shouted.

"Brock here, everything's green!" Brock called.

"This is Tracey, ready, willing and able!" Tracey answered.

"Misty here, ready when you are!" Misty shouted.

"May here, let's take him out!" May concluded.

The Zords kept their formation.  In their cockpits were holograms of their surroundings, giving detailed information on their surroundings, including power levels, status reports, and distance to the nearest bogey or bogeys.

"You're not so tough now, are you, Tempo?" Ash taunted.  "Let's see how you like it!  HA!"  Ash pressed two buttons on the end of his dual joystick-like controls, and the Pikachu PokéZord, without missing a step, shot white electricity from both its red cheeks.  Tempo convulsed and blabbered gibberish upon impact.

"So you want a shock to the system, do you?" Misty asked.  She pushed a few buttons, readying an ice beam attack.

"Come on, babe, let's give him one!" May shouted.  "YAH!" She attacked at the same time as Misty.  Her Combusken and Misty's Togetic attacked with flamethrower and ice beam attacks respectively, and they slammed into Tempo one after another.  It felt both drastic changes in temperature even after the attacks passed.

By now, they were at the city limits.

It was Brock's turn now.  "You guys better cover your ears!" Brock shouted.  His Crobat PokéZord started floating in place, and it emitted a stream of ring lasers, indicating an ultrasonic attack.  Luckily, the other Rangers were immune to its effects, but not anything else.  Tempo grabbed where its ears would be and wailed in agony.  Meanwhile, thousands of windows shattered.

"Typical.  Energy attacks," Tracey chided.

"You mean your PokéZord doesn't have anything like that?" Ash asked.

"It's got a hyper beam in its mouth, but it takes too long to charge.  Besides, I don't need it."  His Zord took off at double its previous speed, its long, curved, sword like arms crossed over its body.  "I've got everything I need right here, baby!"  As it neared Tempo, the Scyther's arms glowed bright yellow.  Tempo barely had time to react.

"I don't think so, cowardly Ranger!" it shouted.  Tempo swung his staff, trying to knock out the Scyther PokéZord with one blow.  But just as it brought its weapon down, the Scyther's arms lashed out in an X slash.  Tracey and his Scyther appeared behind Tempo, and the broken weapon dropped to the ground.

The other Rangers' Zords assembled around the monster, Combusken blocking a busy intersection while Pikachu and Togetic sat on the tops of skyscrapers.  Crobat floated above Scyther, its wings flapping.

"So, how do we finish this?" Ash asked.

"As a team," Degenhart's voice said.  They knew what they had to do.

"Okay Rangers, we're taking this creep down as a team!"  He grabbed his Morpher.  "Morphers ready!"

Somehow, everyone else knew just what to do as well.  "Morphers ready!" they echoed.  They opened on their own, the Pokécrystal inside shining.

"Set the Crystal into the controls!" Ash commanded.  He did so first, the white Pokécrystal fitting just right in the center of his controls.

"Crystal set!" everyone else shouted.  Each crystal flared up as they fused with the controls, and the Zord.

"Alright!  Now…LET'S BRING THEM TOGETHER!"

The five Zords shot straight up into the sky, settling into a V formation with the white Pikachu at the front.  They stopped their ascent somewhere in the upper atmosphere, and began to descend. 

The Scyther and Crobat were first.  "Docking sequence: stage one!" Brock and Tracey instinctively shouted.  The Crobat had a simple "transformation"…its wings locked in pace straight above and below its body.  The Scyther went through the most dramatic transformation, as it - they would find out - formed the upper body of the new Zord they would form.  The blades on Scyther's arms detached and went on its back, crisscrossing like holstered swords.  Everything from its hips down disconnected and relocated to where the blades were except for a section of its tail, which would be used to form the helmet for the head, its feet separating and forming hands.  The head remained dead center of the "chest", its mouth half open.  It settled down atop Crobat's upper wings, and together, the Crobat and Scyther formed the arms, chest, and torso of the new Zord.

Next were Togetic and Combusken.  "Docking sequence: stage two!" Misty and May shouted.  Misty's Togetic recombined, the outer layers of its lower body redistributing themselves along the thinner, weaker neck.  The whole thing shifted until everything from the neck down was sticking straight up, the head still looking forward.  It formed a leg, with the head serving as the foot.  May's Combusken straightened up, its arms up and curved around its head.  Its body shifted in similar fashion, the Combusken's head forming the foot.  It too was a leg, and it fell in place to the left of Misty's converted PokéZord.  The combined Scyther/Crobat combination came down, each of Crobat's lower wings going inside one of the other two converted Zords.  So now, May's altered Combusken formed the right leg, while Misty's shifted Togetic formed the left.

All that was left was Ash and his Pikachu.  "Docking sequence: stage three!" he shouted.  His Pikachu came down tail first, its head looking straight up.  Its eyes and mouth closed, and the ears shifted so they stuck out like an elf's ears.  The legs tucked themselves against its body.  A spot on Tracey's Scyther opened, enough for the Pikachu's tail to fit in.  The tail slid into the slot easily, and it settled down until it was about a quarter of the way in, just as the detached piece of Scyther came down, forming a helmet.  What was left of the belly that suck out spun around, and on the opposite side of the Pikachu's belly was a human face with gold eyes, a thin nose, and stern lips.  It had a very serious demeanor.

Inside the new Zord's chest was the cockpit.  The interior was a deep gray, and had the Pokéball sigil on the wall behind the controls.  A series of elaborate holographic and 3D imaging displayed their surroundings, right down to the last detail.  There were two levels of controls, the lower with three stations, and the upper with two.  From right to left, Brock and Tracey occupied the upper stations, while May, Ash and Misty manned the lower stations.  Each station had a plush chair and a color-appropriate sigil on the back that they had to see for themselves to actually know it was there.  All had a small monitor in front of them.

All of the systems booted up, and their surroundings became apparent.  They looked forward.

"PokéMegaZord…online!" they shouted as one.  The new PokéMegaZord finally landed, and it made a powerful stance in the middle of downtown Viridian. 

"Oh, goody," Tempo shouted, "the Power Rangers have themselves a new toy!" He cackled wildly.  "It doesn't matter what kind of robot you Rangers throw my way, I'll melt it down to its basest metals!"  He thrust his right hand out, sending another wave of fire at the new PokéMegaZord.  The giant robot staggered back.  The heat from the fire made the scene of the battle look warped from several city blocks away.

"Wow, that's hot!" Brock shouted.

"Apparently this thing can take up to 15,000 degrees," Tracey reported, looking at his monitor.

"Yeah," Ash said, "but I'm not gonna take that chance!"  He pushed forward on his controls, and the MegaZord marched forward, through the fire, and landed a right jab right between Tempo's eyes.  Tempo staggered back, and prepared to engage the Zord in hand to hand combat.  The punches from both the demon and the robot were slow, but the other usually didn't react fast enough to counter.  Eventually, the PokéMegaZord got the upper hand with a left uppercut, breaking through Tempo's guard.  The Zord then turned and threw out its right leg, landing a hard side kick square in Tempo's chest.

"This thing could be just a little faster," May said to no one in particular.

"We're piloting a giant robot," Misty answered, "if it could move as fast as we could, we'd burn it out real quick."

"Misty's right," Ash added.  "Besides, we didn't know about these things until just now.  We still haven't gotten a real feel for them yet."  He led the Zord over to Tempo, who was struggling to his feet.

"Too bad you won't live that long, Rangers!  HA!"  Tempo grabbed a hold of the Zord's right arm with his left hand, and after a moment of concentration, sent a wave of sub-zero energy through the thing.  Soon, the entire right arm and shoulder were encased in ice.  Inside the cockpits, all sorts of warning sirens were going off.

"Ash!" Misty shouted, "The right arm's completely frozen!"

"Quick!" he shouted, "Give 'em a brainshock!"

The ears on the MegaZord stood straight up, and a current of electricity danced between them for a second.  As it disappeared, a bolt of lightning shot out and blasted Tempo away.  The PokéMegaZord slammed its frozen arm against a building, shattering the ice around it.

"Had enough?" Tempo cackled.

"The Power Rangers can take anything you can dish out!" Ash shouted.

"I knew you'd say that!"  Before the others could react, Tempo unleashed a veritable blizzard at the PokéMegaZord.  The chilly wind froze not only the Zord, but a few nearby buildings completely over.

"Damn it!" Tracey shouted.  "Everything's locked up!  The controls aren't responding!"

"We're trapped like this!" May added.

It was an intriguing site, really.  A giant humanoid thermometer fighting a giant composite robot made up of five smaller robots that were currently completely frozen over, along with a few buildings it was standing in between.  The giant wall of ice that resulted tied up traffic for nearly a mile (for those who hadn't fled the scene in terror).  Anyone still in the area stared at the giant artificial glacier with rapt interest…as though they needed to confirm it was real.

Meanwhile, in the cockpit of the giant composite robot, the temperature had dropped severely.  Had they not been wearing their helmets, the Rangers would be able to see their breath.  Instead, it stayed in their helmets, and in some cases, started to fog the inside of their visors.  And while they were still stuck, they were determined to get out of this predicament.

On Ash's command, the others concentrated all of the MegaZord's power into each limb.  "Hopefully, with all the power concentrated in the hands and feet," Ash explained, "it'll put out enough strength to break this ice.  Okay…punch it!"

What Tempo and other onlookers saw was the four corners of the ice wall suddenly glow and turn red.  A loud humming accompanied the glow sounding like the buzzing of bees, just before the ice exploded into a million pieces, freeing the Zord and damaging the nearby buildings.

Tempo shielded himself from the blast, and recovered just in time to see the PokéMegaZord staring him down.  "Eek!" he shouted.

"Come in, Rangers!  Ash, can you hear me?" Max's voice rang out through the cockpit.

"We read you, Max," Ash answered, "what's up?"

"Ash, the blades of the Scyther PokéZord can be used as weapons.  It'll be like the MegaZord swinging around two swords at once."

"Nice!" the Yellow Ranger shouted.

Information started to stream across the main hologram, showing the two crossed Scyther blades on the back of the Zord, and how they could be used as weapons, including the finishing blow, which came by putting the two swords together to form a double-edged sword.  The info came pouring in, but the Rangers understood it perfectly.

"Thanks, Max," Ash said.  "Now then, let's see how Tempo likes a taste of our blades!"

The PokéMegaZord reached behind its back with both arms, and drew the yellow Scyther blades.  It stood in a sidelong stance, the right blade held straight up and the left blade level with the ground and pointing at Tempo.

"Those little toothpicks don't scare me!" Tempo shouted, as though it was trying to convince itself it wasn't afraid.  The giant robot dashed forward and swung first the right, then the left swords, scoring two direct hits marked by small explosions on Tempo's body.  Tempo fought back, and scored a shot to the chest of its opponent when it missed a huge overhead swing.  The force of the blow sent the Zord staggering back a few steps.

"Look out, incoming!" he shouted gleefully as he jumped.  His laughter accompanied his attack, but it quickly turned into a scream of shock when the MegaZord met him in mid air.  The robot swung both of its swords diagonally from its right shoulder, countering Tempo's attack and sending him sprawling to the ground.

"I think he's had enough," Brock said casually.

"It will be enough in about ten seconds," Ash said.  The PokéMegaZord put its two swords together, forming a wicked two-edged broadsword.  The new weapon glowed with tremendous power, and its light could be seen almost anywhere in the city.

"Wh-what is that thing?!" Tempo shouted, scared out of its mind.

"What is it?  It's the bringer of your destruction!"  Ash shouted.  The systems were all set up, and all that was needed to deliver the final blow was the verbal command from the Rangers.

"PokéMegaZord!  FINAL CUTTER!" the Rangers shouted.

The MegaZord held its sword across its chest as it dashed forward, jet boosters in its feet igniting.  It closed the gap between itself and Tempo nearly instantaneously.  It slashed so quickly it was impossible for common folk to follow it.  The Zord hit Tempo with an upward diagonal strike, a straight overhead slice, a cross slash and finally a lunging stab that put some distance in between it and its enemy.  As it staggered back, the robot raised its sword, energy gathering in the blade.  When it was fully charged, it brought the sword down in a last overhead swing, sending a wave of white energy from the blade.  The wave of energy moved too fast for Tempo to do anything but stand there and be struck by it.  Upon impact, Tempo died in a violent explosion.

Inside the cockpit, the Rangers cheered loudly over the destruction of Tempo amidst high-fives and knuckle taps.

* * * * *

"Unbelievable!" Pandion roared.  He was watching the battle the whole time through a scrying pool, a pool of reflective water set on a sturdy pedestal.  "I find it absurd that those Rangers were able to defeat my monster like that!"

"You never said conquest of the world would be easy, my lord," Melkid said, his white face forward.

"It never is."  He walked away from his scrying pool.  "This just means we will have to be more cautious in our endeavors.  Perhaps I have underestimated the Power Rangers…"  He sat down upon his throne, made of the bones and leathered carcasses of dozens of dead Pokémon.  "…but I will not make that mistake again.  Next time, they will be fall before the might of Pandion!"

* * * * *

"Great dinner, mom," Ash said.  "Thanks."

Sunset fell over the peaceful town of Pallet as Ash finished off the last of his dinner.  Brock and Misty were there as well, as it had become a habit when they stated at Ash's house during lulls on his journey.  Tracey, May and Max were staying at Professor Oak's lab.  Mrs. Ketchum told them they could be excused, and that she would take care of the mess.  With no other chores to do that night, they were free to do whatever.

All Ash wanted to do was rest.  The battle today took a lot out of him, more than he realized.  He started to feel grateful for having the powers of the White Ranger.  The magical protection provided by The Power combined with the adrenaline rush of fighting alien evils on what would probably be a daily basis made him feel invincible.  But once he left the battlefield and demorphed, everything seemed to hit him at once.  Thankfully, so far, it was just stuff that made him ache and move a little slower.

Ash hoped he wouldn't be at the point where he needed that adrenaline rush just to function.  If that were the case, he figured, he'd have to start diving off ladders, painting his face strange colors and calling himself Ash Hardy.

Ash and the others were out on the back porch, Ash laying facedown on a straightened out lawn recliner.  As he settled down, he let out a long, low groan.

Misty plopped down on the small of his back.  He grunted in protest.  "How you feeling, Ash?" she asked.

"…Just fine, now, thank you," he groaned.  He looked up at his girlfriend, and at Brock, who was leaning on the railing looking at the setting sun.  "Ranger powers or not, today was rough."  He kept his voice low so his mother wouldn't overhear his conversation.

"Still, it's pretty awesome knowing we've got giant robots at our disposal," Brock added.  "Better than being stomped, that's for damn sure."

"Is it always gonna be like this, though?" Misty asked.  "I mean, is every demon we're gonna run into gonna grow to city-smashing proportions?"  She let herself fall forward, plopping down across Ash's back.  He let out a quick huff as she landed.

"Hopefully not," Ash answered.  "With any luck we'll be using the Zords only as a last resort.  I'd like to think we could take out our share without having them grow all gigantic on us.  I mean, how hard can that be?"

"We can't take too many chances, Ash," Brock finished.  "For all we know, this Pandion guy is just testing the waters.  The longer this war goes on, the more desperate he'll become.  The more desperate he becomes…well, the more powerful monsters he'll throw at us.  But I'm not scared.  We're Power Rangers.  There's nothing we can't take down, isn't that right, guys?  We're not gonna get wasted on our next encounter…especially after just getting these powers."  Brock looked back at the duo.  Misty was still laying on Ash's back, her head resting between his shoulders.  He rolled his eyes.  "You want I should leave you two alone for a while?"

Ash and Misty glared at the Green Ranger.

* * * * *

Everyone else at Oak laboratories was asleep.  Everyone, that is, except one young lady.

May had to get up in the middle of the night, finding sleep to be suddenly fleeting.  She had a spare blanket wrapped around her shoulders, trying to keep warm.  It wasn't anything big, really.  If she had to use the bathroom or get something from out of the fridge in the middle of the night, she would, and - boom - she'd be right back to sleep as soon as she settled back in.  This time, though, grabbing a few Oreos wasn't going to help her get back to sleep, and she knew it.

The house section of Samuel Oak's house/lab was pretty creepy in the dead of night with no lights on.  Shadows caused by swaying branches in the moonlight looked pretty ominous.  Not that that sort of thing still scared her, but the fact that she was far away from home in a stranger's house didn't help her any.

Eventually her midnight venture led her to the main section of the laboratory, where the only lights came from a few lit up tanks containing sleeping Pokémon.  She took care not to wake them, as she didn't want them to wake and give away her position.  Besides, it wasn't Pokémon she was looking for.  She was looking for her brother.  And the last she saw of him, he disappeared into the command center and stayed there the whole night.  She hoped he would've at least known when to get some sleep.

On the wall beside Oak's main work station was a small picture from nearly ten years ago.  The only people she recognized were the Professor, Mrs. Ketchum, and a five-year-old Ash Ketchum.  He looks so cute, she thought.  She didn't waste any more time reminiscing.  Moving the painting aside, she opened a small panel that concealed a retina scanner.  To activate the scanner, she pressed her finger against a small fingerprint reader.  When it confirmed her print, the scanner activated, and a thin, blue laser scanned her right eye.  It beeped for a second after finishing, and a recorded sound byte went off.

Welcome, Red Ranger, it said.

A few steps behind her, a section of the floor slid open, revealing a staircase.  She walked down it, and into the command center.  She was alone, so she thought.  The only lights came from the computer monitors, a few blinking lights on the various control panels, and the red sigil that glowed as she entered.  It was as if it could sense her presence.

May marveled at the complexity and the design of the command center.  She couldn't believe that Max and Degenhart did all of this!  It was unfathomable; the entire nerve center of the Power Rangers concentrated into an underground room that was half the size of her house.  The place had two entrances-the hidden on in the lab she just used, and the teleportation platform used when they teleported to the center in their morphed forms.

"Max?" she called, quietly.  "Max, are you in here?"  Silence.  She was about to head back to her room when she saw something out of the corner of her eye.  There was Max, sitting in one of the high-backed, plush computer chairs, and half on the table, asleep.

Quietly, she walked over to Max.  She tightened her blanket around her until it looked like a cloak.  Max was lying amongst numerous tools and half-finished gadgets.  Apparently he was "helping" the Rangers to the point of exhaustion.  His enthusiasm was getting the better of him, and he was paying for it.

However, now was not the best time to discuss Max's bad habits.  It was way too late in the evening for that.  With a sigh, she took off the blanket and draped it over his shoulders, turned, and left the command center.  As the hatch slammed shut, Max grunted and twitched, but was not disturbed from his slumber.

TO BE CONTINUED……………