Legal: I do not own the rights to Power Rangers or the associated names, places, characters etc. Anything not covered by the above rights should be presumed to be purely the creation of the author.

Rating: T – may be some mild adult themes.

Noah arrived at the Wildlife Centre the following morning, nice and early. He had never really thought much about getting a part-time job before. Normally the allowance his parents gave him, together with the odd freelance IT repair he did for kids who seemed to have no understanding at all how their computers worked was sufficient, but he was quickly finding that his expenses were growing. Several new things had crept up on him without him noticing. Before, he only had a couple of science journals and the odd part or programme to buy. Every once in a while, he'd save up and actually buy a game for his computer, but the last few months, since he'd become a Ranger had been unusually expensive.

He and Jake were now hanging out at the Brainfreeze a lot more often, the whole team were, and not wanting to be left out, Noah tagged along to make sure he didn't miss any new developments with the team. He'd already had to buy a lot more components for experiments and new programmes for his computer when he needed to perform tech duties for the Rangers, stuff he couldn't just ask his parents to buy. They might not have understood a lot of his experiments, but that didn't mean they wouldn't have had questions when he wanted the components needed to make the plastique explosives he'd made when they went to destroy Vrak's lab.

His parents had been a little surprised when he said he had a job interview, but they seemed to be quite enthusiastic about it. His mom even commented that it would be good for him to get outside more often.

As the car pulled up outside the Wildlife Park, Noah folded away his laptop. Although he knew that Quinn had put in a good word for him, and that her boss had expressed an eagerness to meet him, he still wanted to be prepared. If he was honest, biology was his weakest science, not that that was saying much. He could easily, with a bit of work turn his studies towards a career in medicine, but he was always more interested in technology. He had spent most of the morning looking up all he could about the park, the species he might be dealing with...he wanted to be ready to answer any questions the park manager might have. Emily looked to him as he put his laptop in the bag.

"Well, we're here." He told her. "Thanks for the ride. I'm sure you want to get back to the others..."

"No, it's fine." Emily answered as they got out. "The others will have that covered; besides, I'd love to see what they have here. I've got a few chickens at my farm at home, but we're thinking of expanding."

"Well, I haven't heard of any farms with a Llama or an elephant." He chuckled. Emily just put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

"They have a petting zoo Noah." She reminded him. "I was thinking it might be an idea to get advice on what kind of care goes into owning a goat. I think I could just about handle that just now."

"Well, I guess we're going in then." Noah stated as Emily started to head towards the gate. "Uh...Emily, you're double parked. You'll get towed."

Emily just whipped out her Samuraizer, and cast a little symbol, casting it at the car, which disappeared. Noah just blinked and looked around, finding no sign of it. He looked at her in surprise.

"Antonio showed me that one." She replied, blowing the end of her Samuraizer like a gun, before flipping it away. Noah just shook his head.

"Is there anything that Symbol Power can't do?" He asked her. Emily just pressed the buzzer, at which Quinn arrived at the gate. She smiled as she saw them.

"Hey, Noah you made it!" She blurted out as she opened the gate and waved them in. "Um...you're his friend aren't you...?"

"Emily." She responded, shaking Quinn's hand. "I'm a friend of the family. I just gave him a ride over."

"Well, Mr Evans will be waiting." Quinn said, grabbing Noah by the jacket and pulling him along. "He's just this way; he's just dealing with a little situation with the ostriches."

As Emily walked with them, a couple of paces behind them, she watched Quinn, observing her behaviour. She was sticking close to Noah, holding him by her side as she guided him through the Wildlife Park. Her uniform was remarkably clean for someone who probably spent a significant portion of her time dealing with animal poo, and if she wasn't mistaken, it was freshly pressed. She had washed and styled her hair. Emily had to stifle a laugh. As they headed past the first few bird enclosures, eventually they got to a large pen, which housed some Ostriches. There was a guy in the pen, wearing a set of red overalls, which had been pulled down and tied around his waist. He was wearing a black tank top, and had wild, slightly unkempt hair, which was tied back with a headband, and some dark stubble. He was seeing to one of the creatures, whispering to it as he checked on it. He looked over as Quinn called him.

"Mr Evans!" She called out, waving and pointing frantically to Noah. "This is Noah, the guy I was telling you about!"

"Excuse me a moment." He stated, before turning his attention back to the ostrich. He reached under its wing, pulling out a twig that had gotten tangled in its feathers. "There, that's better now isn't it?"

He dusted his hands off as he came over, and extended a hand to Noah.

"Hi, Cole Evans." He introduced himself. "I run the day to day stuff here in the park. Quinn's told me all about you. I...kind of feel like an interview's redundant."

Emily, who was checking on a nearby goat, had to stifle a laugh hearing this. She could imagine Quinn tailing Mr Evans around, singing Noah's praises to get his attention, hoping to get Noah the job.

"Well, I really appreciate you seeing me at such short notice." Noah answered. "Quinn said you need an extra pair of hands around here."

"We could always use the help." Cole assured him. "Petunia here's been acting up for days, she got caught up in a hedge after a fight with one of the other birds. I wouldn't have been able to see him if Quinn hadn't come in on her day off."

Emily made a mental note of this. It was Quinn's day off, and she had shown up anyway...on a day she knew Noah would be there!

"I didn't even ask, she just turned up." Cole told him. "She's a godsend around here. Quinn, Petunia's fine, she'll be a little sensitive, so just keep an eye out. I'll take Noah to the office."

He noticed Emily and gestured to her.

"A friend?" He asked. Noah just nodded.

"She came along for moral support." He answered. "She owns a farm..."

"A fellow animal lover!" Cole called over, offering Emily a hand. "Hi, I'm Cole."

"Em..." She tailed off as she finally got a look at him. She found herself breathless, seeing his face. He just looked at her. "Um...Emily."

"Is everything alright?" He asked.

"Yeah...just...felt like I saw a ghost." She answered, finding the scene a little creepy. She felt like she was looking at Dekker, the man who had caused her and her friends so much pain across two long years. She knew it couldn't be, she had watched him age centuries and scatter into dust in the wind when his curse was broken. It was obviously pure coincidence this Cole guy happened to look just like him.

"Um...OK, I guess." Cole responded. "Quinn, I'm taking Noah to the office to interview him. Can you mind things out here?"

"Sure." She replied enthusiastically. "Good Luck Noah."

With that, Cole took Noah into the back. Emily just went to Quinn.

"So...I'm thinking of getting a goat for the farm." Emily told her. "Is there anything you could recommend for their care?"

"Sure thing." Quinn answered as she took Emily back over to the goat pen.

Meanwhile, in the woods, the rest of the Megaforce and Samurai team were training. It was something of a tradition that whenever a Ranger team came into another's town that they not only buy them a celebratory meal, but that they also train together, hoping to share some of their wisdom. It was a tradition that according to those they had met, had worked out for the best. Training was one thing, long runs, swimming, weights, even sparring were all great for keeping in shape and practicing technique, but there really was no substitute for the learning experience of real combat experience.

Jake hit the ground again, finding his arm being trapped in a harsh lock as Terry wrapped his legs around his neck, squeezing hard. He struggled for a moment, his face turning red, before finally deciding he couldn't escape and tapping his leg to signal a submission. Terry smiled as he let him go, and rolled backwards into a standing position.

"Go on, say it!" Terry said with a little smirk. Troy just helped Jake back to his feet, still coughing.

"Pink is a manly colour." He said sheepishly. Terry just threw his hands up in the air in triumph.

"Ha, what did I always say?" He asked. "It's easy to be all tough and everything when you're wearing a cool colour like red or blue or black."

He then turned back to Jake.

"It takes a real man to be a badass in pink." He teased him. Troy just stepped up as Jake accepted the lesson.

"He has a point there." Troy told him. "Alright, what do you guys have planned..."

"Wait, hold up." Antonio announced, holding up a hand. "I think you guys should hear this."

He turned up the radio as the others gathered around.

"...Thank you Erin, this is Edward Forrester, reporting live from the yard at the Underwood Waste Management facility, following up on this incredible story..."

"Um...what's so important..."

"Just listen." Antonio told them.

"Yeah, we were just out on the road, minding our own business, when he showed up." A voice on the radio said. "He just went berserk, attacked without warning!"

"Yeah, you can see what he did to our truck!" Another man stated. "He aimed that blaster straight at us, if he hadn't missed, we'd have been obliterated!"

"That blast tore our truck apart like it was tinfoil!" The first chipped in. "Eddie's going to be in the hospital for weeks! Broken ribs and a concussion! That guy's a menace!"

"Wait, what happened?" Gia asked. Her question was answered shortly afterwards.

"And there you have it folks, this is a Radio Harwood FM news exclusive. Once again, in an unprovoked attack, the Robo Knight severely injured and threatened to kill three innocent people."

"WHAT?" Troy, Jake, Gia and Emma all called out together.

"This incident has already lit up social media, sparking fierce debate among the entire community." The reporter stated. "In one tweet, RoboFan616 stated 'Robo Knight has fought for humanity alongside the Rangers for months. Obviously he's been brainwashed.' While others are not so sure. RoboSux13 has tweeted 'He destroyed a whole street, and a school already. See a pattern?' while there are others who are already pointing the finger of blame. 'Such power running around unchecked was always going to end badly. The Power Rangers should be arrested immediately' says PowerCorrupts. Whatever your view on the matter, one thing is clear. Until the Robo Knight is stopped, serious questions are being raised as to how safe we are with super powered individuals running around the city unchecked. This is Edward Forrester, signing off."

As Antonio switched off the radio, Troy and the others all looked around each other.

"You...you don't think that's true do you?" Emma asked nervously. "You don't think Robo Knight really attacked those men do you?"

"Let's face it, he hasn't exactly been the sole of discretion or control has he?" Jake asked. "Man, it was bad enough when Jordan was in control, now he's no longer at the wheel..."

"Not to mention that this isn't exactly making us look brilliant." Gia reminded them. "They see a guy in a suit, they think of the Power Rangers. Robo Knight goes off on a couple of guys in a truck, and now people are calling for us to turn ourselves in?"

"That can't happen." Jake responded. "Seriously, what good are we going to do the world if we're locked up?"

"Alright, there's no point in worrying about the what ifs of the debate right now." Troy stated. "For now, it's probably best we get to the bottom of this. We should go to the command centre and see if we can find out if Robo Knight really did attack those guys."

"Yeah, I wouldn't put it past Vrak or Malkor to try and frame us." Gia concluded. "After all, this is all going to be a hundred times harder if we have to worry about the citizens too."

"Look, sorry to do this, but we're going to have to cut this short." Emma said to the Samurai.

"We understand." Kevin assured her. "We had a little problem with one of our Zords once. We know what it's like having to bring that kind of power under control."

"Would you like us to stick around and help?" Lauren asked. "Kevin's got to get back to Mia, and Mike, Emily and Terry need to get back, but Antonio and I could stick around."

"No, it's fine. You've done more than enough to help us already." Troy assured her. "You have your own lives to live; we need to be able to deal with our own problems."

"Well, we need to wait on Emily and Noah getting back anyway." Lauren told him. "We'll come to the command centre at least. We may as well check out what the situation is."

"Gosei, have you heard...?"

Before he finished, in a blinding flash, all the assembled Rangers found themselves in the Command Centre.

"Something tells me he heard." Jake surmised. "Where are Noah and Emily?"

"I could not risk teleporting them, there are witnesses at their location." Gosei told them. "They will join you presently."

"So, what's going on?" Gia asked. "This attack..."

"I have footage from the location." Gosei told them. "I'm afraid that it is not good news."

He keyed up the footage, at which the Rangers all watched.

"The Quarry?" Emma asked. "They said they were on a road."

They watched as the truck started dumping. Emma just looked disgusted.

"They were illegally dumping garbage?" She asked. "The recycling centre's only ten miles from there!"

"Uh...not really the point." Jake told her as he pointed out the Robo Knight appearing on the screen. The Rangers all gathered around, watching as he threw one of the men into the side of the truck, where he stopped moving.

"OK, that must be the one that was injured." Gia surmised. Just then, they all jumped as he fired off a blast, which ruined the back end of the truck. They watched on as the men fled for their lives.

"Gosei, are you sure about this?" Troy asked him. "I mean...is it really...?"

"I'm afraid the power signatures do not lie." Gosei told him. "That was indeed the Robo Knight. Life signatures indicate that Jordan is inside the suit. That cannot be duplicated."

"So...the Robo Knight has gone completely insane." Jake sighed, throwing his hands up.

"Well...not necessarily insane." Antonio stated. "You said he reverted to his base programming right?"

"Yeah?" Gia asked.

"Well, he seeks to destroy threats to the planet right?" Antonio asked. "And those guys WERE polluting..."

"Yeah, that's logic." Emma said sarcastically. "I hate fly tipping with a vengeance, but seriously, trying to kill them? That's..."

"That's logic." Antonio interrupted her. "At least...it is to a computer."

"So what you're saying is his definition of a threat to the Earth..."

"Is more than a little broad." Antonio stated.

"Thank God he lives in a city that's won nationwide awards for environmentalism." Gia grumbled. "If we lived in Chicago, we'd be screwed."

"That does it, we need to find him and stop him." Troy declared.

"Yeah, but how?" Jake asked him.

"If he won't be reasoned with, then we're going to have to take him down the hard way." Troy answered.

"But...Jordan's in there!" Gia reminded him.

"What other choice do we have?" Troy asked in response, looking back to the screen. "If we don't bring him down, who else can?"

Meanwhile, at the park, some young men were sitting, enjoying the sunshine. They were kind of a raucous bunch, making a huge racket with their Boom Box, while they drank beer and laughed at people as they went about their day, enjoying themselves.

"Hey wheels, didn't anyone tell you? It's not 2002 anymore!" One of them called out as he threw a beer can, which lodged under the wheels. The skateboarder flew off the board, face-planting onto the concrete. The rest of them all laughed. "Skateboarding's out!"

"At least I'm not some loser getting drunk off his ass at ten in the morning." The skateboarder replied grumpily as he gathered up his board and left. Others were already giving the group a wide berth.

As one of them tossed a can over his shoulder, he reached for another can. He spat out some beer as the can hit him on the back of the head.

"What the hell?" He snapped. "If you think that's funny Skater..."

He stopped as he saw the Robo Knight behind him. One of the others threw down a cigarette and stomped it out.

"Pick it up." He demanded.

"What?" One of the four guys asked ignorantly. Robo Knight just stepped forward.

"Your trash." Robo Knight stated, looking around at the discarded cans and cigarettes. "Pick it UP!"

"You forgot to say please." One of the guys replied, stepping forward and pouring a can over his head. The others just laughed. "Go screw yourself Ranger, we..."

Before any of them knew what was happening, Robo Knight had grabbed the guy by the seat of his pants and the scruff of his neck, and dumped him head first into the nearest trash can.

"Whoa dude!" One of the others yelled. "What the hell...?"

Robo Knight just grabbed him and launched him into the air several feet, only to come crashing down on the ground a good distance away. He then picked up their Boom Box, and crushed it to smithereens in his hands.

"Whoa, dude, calm down!" One of them stammered out in panic as his friend tried frantically to help the other out of the trash can. "We'll...we'll clean up!"

"See that you do." Robo Knight answered, bringing out his Robo Blade. "I don't expect to find a single piece of trash in the whole park."

"Wait...what?" One of them demanded. "The WHOLE PARK? That'll take..."

"Dude, I don't think he's joking." One of the others interrupted him. "We'll do it, just please...don't hurt us!"

"I'll be watching." Robo Knight warned them, placing the point of his Robo Blade into the ground and folding his hands on the handle as they ran off to begin their task.