Author's Note: The following "reboot" of Metalder/VR Troopers takes place during Year Four of my Ultimate Power Rangers series, an AU that incorporates Sentai, Kamen Rider, Metal Heroes and anime.

A Father's Gift

Crossworld City

Karl Ziktor sat in his high-rise office. He watched a live-stream video of a protest against his latest business endeavor, which called for the removal of several acres of rain forest.

A small lizard climbed along Ziktor's left arm. He gently pet the reptile beneath its chin.

"These people are fools, Juliet," he said to the lizard. "They don't realize that this world of theirs is nothing."

Ziktor set Juliet aside and reached for a crystal ball on his desk. The shades closed as he grasped the crystal and stared into its depths. He felt an intimate connection to the orb, taken from an artifact known as the Box of Isis.

"Forces of darkness, empower me," he said. The words served as a way for him to focus the tremendous amount of energy he wielded. "Take me back to my virtual reality…"

Energy tendrils snaked from the globe and wrapped around Ziktor's body, penetrating him. Warping him. His skin turned dark and tan. Wrinkled. His hair grew pale white.

A beam of energy shot from Ziktor's skyscraper and pierced into another realm. The realm of virtual reality.

Ziktor teleported into a domed fortress surrounded by virtual storms. Within the castle, Ziktor appeared on a dark throne and assumed his virtual form: Grimlord.

He wore a dark helmet and black armor over gray robes. Dozens of cables and tendrils connected to his throne, which looked out upon a wide throne room, lined with teleportation capsules. Soldiers of virtual matter and energy stepped from the capsules and entered the main chamber. They stood at attention as they chanted their master's name.

"Hail, Grimlord! Master of the Virtual World! Hail!"

Grimlord raised his hand to silence his troops.

"The time has come to break through the reality barrier," Grimlord said. His eyes scanned the mutants and bots spread before him. "Their world, will become ours. Their reality, will become ours."

The soldiers raised their voices in approval. The virtual beings were ready to attack.

Nineteen-year-old Ryan Steele jogged through the woods outside of Crossworld City. He usually ran through the city streets near Tao Dojo, which he helped manage, but something in the forest seemed to call to him. The sensation felt odd but compelled him to follow.

Strangest of all, Ryan felt the calling was somehow connected to his father, who went missing 10 years ago.

Ryan continued his jog, unaware of the power beginning to awaken inside of him.

Grimlord felt it immediately: a virtual flare from reality prime. He extended his hand and emitted a holographic viewscreen, which showed an image of a blonde teenager jogging through the woods. The villain's body tensed with rage.

"Ryan Steele?" he grumbled. "This is not possible…"

Grimlord killed Ryan Steele before seizing the Box of Isis years ago. Son of Tyler Steele, Ryan got in between Karl Ziktor and the Box, and Ziktor had no choice but to kill the teen, despite his youth.

For Ryan to appear alive and unaged, emitting a virtual flare, could only mean one thing.

"The boy has the secrets of Tyler Steele…" Grimlord rolled his hands into fists. "General Dark Heart!"

A virtual cyborg stepped forward. He wore black from head-to-toe. A domed helmet covered his head, and gray armor wrapped around his shoulders and left arm. The villain carried a slender energy rifle. He belonged to Grimlord's Robotic Warrior Army.

"Yes, Grimlord…"

"Bring me Ryan Steele," Grimlord said. "Dead or alive…it makes no difference."

Dark Heart nodded and selected his scouting party. He chose the Swordbot Brothers, Slice and Dice, of the Armored Army. Slice wore red armor and carried a katana. Dice wore purple armor and wielded a naginata.

Dark Heart selected his next soldier from the Mutant Army: Wolfbot.

Next, Dark Heart chose Slashbot as his second in command. The bot wore gray samurai-style armor.

The villain selected a few more low-ranking bots and mutants to assist with the abduction of Ryan Steele. They set out immediately.

Ryan continued his run through the woods. He slowed to a stop when he noticed the landscape blur around him. In some spots, the distortions looked like ripples in a pond.

"Okay…" he whispered while stepping back, his senses alert. "Now this is getting weird…"

Ryan felt his hair stand on end. Static filled the air. Then, suddenly, it all stopped. The teen shook his head and looked around the woods. He saw nothing. "What was that…"

His instincts kicked into overdrive. He dove to his right, just as a volley of spears struck the ground behind him. He rolled into a crouched stance and turned to see his attackers jump from the treetops: the Swordbot Brothers, Slice and Dice.

Ryan widened his eyes with shock. He'd seen monsters and creatures on the news over the years, but never in Crossworld City.

"We have the Steele boy," Slice said into his helmet communicator, just as the brothers charged to attack.

Ryan turned and ran as fast as he could.

"What the hell is up with this day?" he asked himself, pumping his legs faster.

A howl shuddered through the air. Wolfbot landed in front of Ryan and snarled. Ryan gasped and skid to a halt. Before the teen could run, Wolfbot pounced.

The mutant tackled the teen to the ground. Ryan struggled to push the mutant away, but Wolfbot bit down hard against Ryan's shoulder. The teen screamed as the creature's fangs ripped through flesh and bone.

Ryan felt a wave of dizziness, followed by bolts of pain that shot through his entire body. Something stirred within him. A mechanism buried and forgotten. It triggered an instinct. An instinct to shout a vocal command.

"Cyberize!" Ryan screamed through the pain that washed over him.

He didn't have time to guess why he'd spoken the word. His entire body ignited with white-hot light. Tendrils of energy danced across his skin, and it felt like fire ants were scattering across his brain. He started to change. Transform. Ryan's vision blurred into lines of digital static.

Wolfbot howled and leapt away from Ryan.

The teen rose to his knees as electricity danced in and out of his every pore.

Grimlord's bots kept their distance, too startled to advance any closer.

Ryan's pain subsided, replaced by feelings of strength and clarity. He looked over his body and found himself encased in armor. Beneath the armor, his entire body had become a machine. Wires replaced nerves. Conduits replaced blood vessels. Servos replaced joints. And advanced positronic processors replaced his brain. His armor was gray, with tints of red on the left side and tints of blue on the right side.

Slashbot tilted his head with confusion. "What has he become?"

Ryan snapped into a fighting stance. Every program in his body screamed at him to defeat the robots and mutants. He realized he was no longer Ryan. A new name came to mind, one he shouted as his war cry. "Cybertron!"

Slashbot charged with a swing of his katana, aimed at Cybertron's head.

Cybertron's defensive programs activated faster than thought. The cyborg used his left hand to block the blow, then spun forward, using his right hand to knock the blade, and slamming a reverse side-kick against the bot's chest. The blow dented the bot's armor and tossed him several meters backward, smashing through a tree trunk that splintered to pieces.

Slice and Dice moved forward. Dice swung high, and Slice swung low. Cybertron jumped several meters above the blows and arced backwards. He slammed his feet against a nearby tree and pushed off, flipping forward towards his opponents.

"Lightning Hand Command, now!" Bolts of lightning struck his hands, and he angled his descent towards Dice.

Cybertron swung a knife-hand strike diagonally towards the bot. Dice lifted his staff to block the blow, but Cybertron snapped through the weapon, and his strike bashed the villain's chest with bursts of spark. Cybertron hopped and turned to his right, swinging his other hand down in a blow that smashed Slice's collar bone, sparking on impact.

The two bots were forced back as Cybertron dashed forward. He launched a double flying sidekick that slammed against Dice.

Cybertron landed and looked up to see the virtual soldiers regroup. The human side of his conscious took over with a single imperative: Run. He turned around and dashed away from the battle at blinding speed.

Ryan's mind screamed from its metal shell. Confusion. Pain. Separation. Father…

He ran without a destination in mind. He just wanted to escape. To leave the confusion behind. He ran from uncertainty. Ran from fear. Fled from his own screaming mind.

A video screen appeared in the lower right side of his vision, displaying a distorted image of an African-American man in glasses.

"Ryan…" a voice said in his mind. Voices in his mind. Why were voices in his mind? "Ryan…stay calm. You're going to burn yourself out…it's going to be alright…"

Ryan ignored the voice. Crazy voice in his head. Disjointed. Voice in his head?

"Override," the voice said, "authorization Hart One-One-Pi."

Ryan suddenly found himself back in his normal form, only surrounded by white light.

"Where…" he whispered.

"We are in your mind, Ryan," the voice said. "My name is Professor Hart. I worked closely with your father."

"My father?" Ryan asked, his pulse slowly returning to normal as he calmed down.

"Yes," the Professor said. "I know your mind is searching for answers, Ryan. You weren't meant to find out this way…this quickly…"

"Find out what?" Ryan asked. "What's happening to me?"

"This is going to be difficult to hear, Ryan," Hart said.

"Professor." Ryan shook his head. "Just tell me what's going on. What is happening? Who were those freaks? How did I…what did I…?"

"Ryan," Hart said. "It all started ten years ago with a very special discovery your father made. It was called the Box of Isis. Inside were the secrets to melding man and machine. The secrets to virtual reality.

"A corrupt businessman took an interest in the Box," Hart continued. "He broke into your father's laboratory and stole it for himself. In the process, he was transformed into a virtual demon known as Grimlord. Grimlord has been amassing an army in the virtual world, preparing to break through the reality barrier and enter our world."

Ryan shook his head. "Is that what those…things were?"

"Yes," Hart said.

"What happened to him?" Ryan asked. "My father?"

"This is the difficult part, Ryan…" Harts said. "When the Box was stolen, your father was attacked. You and I were both caught in the crossfire. You and I were both killed by Grimlord and his men."

Ryan's face turned pale. "Wh…what?"

"Your father managed to revive you by using the secrets of his virtual technology," Hart said. "You became the embodiment of all he knew and discovered, through a complex virtual matrix installed in your brain. My consciousness was transferred into your father's lab's computer core."

"But…" Ryan said as he shook his head. "What about my father?"

"I do not know," Hart said. "When I awoke in the central core, I was as I am now, and you were as you are now. Your father was missing and has been ever since."

"Grimlord…" Ryan said. "He took my father…didn't he…?"

"I believe so," Hart said. "We will discuss this further Ryan, but at the moment, you are still in danger. We are only inside your mind at the moment. Your body is running on auto pilot."

Ryan narrowed his eyes. He knew what he had to do. He had to fight Grimlord, and he had to win. For his father. He could sort out his confusion later.

Ryan's mind suddenly returned to reality. He was Cybertron again, continuing his run.

Cybertron skid to a halt and turned towards the direction of his pursuers. He didn't see them but could sense their presence somehow.

He heard a shuffling noise in the treetops behind him; Wolfbot jumped down to attack. Dark Heart was hiding in the bushes nearby with his energy rifle armed and aimed forward.

Cybertron leapt straight up into the air and spun around while slamming a round-kick against Wolfbot's side. The creature howled as it was knocked backward through a tree trunk.

Cybertron landed and immediately somersaulted forward underneath a volley of energy bursts from Dark Heart's rifle.

Slashbot appeared and leapt forward while swinging his curved blade towards Cybertron's head. Cybertron grabbed the sword's edge and crashed it against his knee, shattering the blade. He snapped out with a side-kick that hurled the virtual warrior backward.

Slashbot rose to his knees, while Cybertron dashed forward.

"See ya," he said as he leapt forward and extended his hand into the air. "Lightning Blade Command, now!"

A glowing blade of cyan energy appeared across his forearm. Cybertron slashed the blade through the bot's armor, creating a small explosion that damaged the warrior.

Slashbot slowly stepped back a few feet before dropping to his knees, nursing his wound.

Grimlord watched the battle unfold through his view-screen.

"This was not expected…" he growled. "Issue a recall order."

He would need to develop a plan to destroy Ryan Steele. He could send another group of soldiers, and another, and another, but doing so would waste his troops- something he only wanted to do if he could guarantee victory.

He rolled his hands into fists. Red lightning crackled around his fingers. "Your secrets will be mine, Steele…This time I'll finish the job."

To be continued…