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The Rangers on the beach looked at the horror of a small red and blue bug. They gathered together on the sand. Phoenix turns to her teammates screaming, "After it!"
The five Rangers ran after it. Minerva was wondering what all the fuss was about. "What is it about that bug that has you worried?" Phoenix was about to answer when Andros stepped in. "Those things are Barillian Bugs. Once you get stinged, you will become one of them." "Geez! You mean a person will mutate to one of those things?" exclaims Minerva. Zhane answers her this time. "Yeah. The bugs can have a biped form as well as a bug form. They are dangerous either way." Kat continues, "Is there a cure of some kind?" Phoenix tells her, " The last of it was destroyed. At least it was after me and Carlos were cured." Minerva was in shock. It was the first she heard of a Ranger turning into a bug. She then is reminded when Divatox tried to do the same thing not too long ago. Diver points out to the bug. "Look! It is about to bite those people." Phoenix looks out in dread. A bug stings two people. "NOOOOOO!!!"[Theme Song.]
Two people collapse to the sand ground beneath them. In anger, Phoenix lets out another cry. Minerva races to the people on the ground as the bug makes its way further down the beach. Diver helps out Minerva.
"Co . . .cold," murmurs an infected man on the sand. Minerva summons her transector to gather the two stung people to a hospital. She takes out the first aid kit, running back to the people. Andros stops her. "No! It won't do them any good." "We have to do something! We can't let them mutate," Minerva argues. Her hand stretched out with one finger in front, pointing at Fortress. "You can't stop the mutation. Just keep them comfortable and watch them. Diver stay here with Minerva. Phoenix and Cab, with me. We are going after the bug." Fortress orders. Phoenix runs then yells, "Pretender . . .Phoenix!" Her robot form appeared. Phoenix then transformed into a jet, racing after the bug. Fortress yells, "Phoenix no! This is all we need." Cab replies, "should we get our transectors?" "No. They are too big. The Galaxy Gilders are still operation. Let's do it! Galaxy Glider . . .Hang ten!" Fortress in battle armor , jumped on the familiar red jet board , flying away. Cab followed, "No this I remember! Silver Cycle!" Cab flipped through the air, racing off to join Fortress. Minerva looks down at her patients. The man was beginning to have the sting bite on his chest. Diver looked at it. "Oh god! The bite is moving rapidly." "Is there any way to slow it down?" Minerva cried fanatically. Diver shook her head. "If we can't find a cure soon, they will become bugs."----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Astronema smiles at the display of fear and terror in the eyes of the people in angel Grove. She walks lightly towards her console. A flash of a scene enters her thoughts. She sees herself. A boy playing at her side. Her brother. The flashback ends as quickly as it began, leaving the Empress of the Decepticons deep in thought. Ecliptor returns to her in his Bludgeon armor.
"My princess, all goes according to plan." Ecliptor's voice was filled with pride. Astronema turns to him, ready to ask a question but does not. "I . . .excellent. As the Barillian bugs bite the people of Earth, we will stage the next phase of our plan. We must keep the Rangers busy. And I have a way to do just that." Astronema snaps her fingers, revealing Soundblaster. Soundblaster steps forward. "Ready to obey my queen," Soundblaster replies. Astronema states, "I want to get those Rangers to be distracted. We will divide up our forces in three attacks. Two will be decoys to lure the Rangers apart while another force will be here in Angel Grove, hampering the efforts of the Rangers trying to cure the plague. Soundblaster . . . .you , Gilmer and the cassettes attack London. Ecliptor , you , Blood and the Seacons take care of New York City. The Headmasters and I will handle things in Angel Grove." Ecliptor nods as does Soundblaster. Astronema turns to leave them. In her private chamber, she looks into her locket and weeps.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fortress and Cab moved quickly on their gliders after the bug. The two were blasting frantically to stop that bite with little luck. Andros signaled to Zhane to take it from side to side. The bug moved through an alleyway with maneuverability and quickness that the two Transformer Rangers were trying to catch up to. Cab took a steady shot, then blasted the bug with a laser blast from his gauntlets. The two Rangers stop to smile but grab the bug. The bug surprised them as it transformed into its humanoid form.
"Whoa! Watch it Andros!" Zhane says as he ducks an attack from the Barillian bug. The Barillian Bug jumps at Andros then slashes away at his armor. The bug then shot some kind of liquid, shocking Fortress and Cab. The two Rangers laid on the ground. The Barillian Bug stalked its prey till laser blasted stopped it. The bug and the two Rangers looked into the air to see Phoenix in jet mode blasting away at the bug. A stray blast nearly caught Cab. Phoenix finally roasted the bug with a concentrated blast. The bug disintegrated. Phoenix transforms stating, "I got you this time." Phoenix lands to the sides of the two headmasters. Fortress moves to her. "Cassie, what is wrong with you? You nearly toasted Zhane." Zhane/Cab puts his hand on Fortress's shoulder. " It's all right." "No it's not. Phoenix's rage could have gotten someone killed. Cassie, I know you have a grudge against the bugs but chill out." Fortress looks on to Phoenix bluntly. Phoenix turns away from both Rangers. "You don't understand. You can't understand." Phoenix runs and transforms. The two Rangers to try to call her back , but fail.******************************************************************************
Soundblaster , Gilmer and the cassette arrive in London. Rumble and Frenzy are deployed, shaking the ground of London apart. Ravage attacks stores throughout the grounds. Laserbeak, Buzzsaw and Ratbat take to the air as the sky force. Gilmer and Soundblaster attack feverishly towards the British role palace. Tanks and jets block the way to the palaces as the two big Decepticons take on the British army.
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Meanwhile, Bludgeon and his group begin an assault on New York that tears the heart of the city apart. Blood takes to the air in his jet mode, blasting apart the bridges that connect the metropolis. Bludgeon orders Quantrons to blast away on Wall Street. The Seacons run about parts of the city, destroying buildings, hurting people. Bludgeon himself transforms into his tank form , blasting away at the UN. People run in primal fear away from the evil Decepticons.
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While all this is happening, Alpha picks up hundreds of distress signals from all over the planet. Alpha, with the Help of Eject, Rewind and Twincast, do their best to deal with all the messages coming in. Alpha gets calls from the President. Twincast receives word from the British Prime Minister. The comm. system in Fort Max is lit up like a Christmas tree.
Alpha yells in worry, "Aye yi yi! This is too much! There are three different situations all over the globe." "We have to get the Rangers and fast. New York and London can't take much more before the UN and the Royal Palace fall before the control of the Decepticons," Twincast says. Alpha replies, " I'll get the Rangers. All Rangers . . .report to Fort Max immediately, we have code X. I repeat code X. Return to base. Alpha out."----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phoenix flies fast in the sky as she picks up Metalhawk and Lander on her radar. She goes by Metalhawk, who is trying to get back to base as fast as possible. Metalhawk sees Phoenix.
"Cassie . . . did you get the message?" "I sure did. We have a code X on our hands. We need to Hurry. Carlos, Can I speak to you," Cassie says. Lander stops as Metalhawk goes on ahead of them. Phoenix transforms to robot form in front of Lander, who does the same. Lander looks at Phoenix. He detects anger and frustration in her eyes. Something was wrong. "What's up Cassie?" "Carlos . . . the Barillian Bug is here." Lander's mouth dropped as he heard Phoenix's word. Lander became distress with what he had heard. "Where is it?" "I destroyed it. But some people were bitten. We need to be ready to stop them," Phoenix tells Lander bluntly. Lander snaps his metallic fingers, "Wait a minute. I saw Porto leaving something earlier. You don't think . . .?" Phoenix begins to get more concerned. "On lord! We have to find it fast." "What about the others?" Phoenix bluntly states, "We need to stop those bugs now are we may not be able to face them when we get back." Lander agrees with Phoenix. He transforms into his car mode and races off. Phoenix morphs into her armor, getting into Lander. The two rush off to stop the Barillian Bugs.******************************************************************************
Back on Fort Max, the rest of the Autobot Rangers gathered together to try and solve their current dilemma. Fortress stood in front of the team with a look of dread. The team was about to face one of their biggest challenges yet. All the Rangers and Autobots stood in order around the main console where Fortress and Alpha stood.
Fortress nods to alpha to begin the meeting. "Rangers. We have a big problem. Two groups of Decepticons are attack major places around the world. One group has attacked Britain , heading for the royal palace. The other group is attacking New York, pointing towards the UN." In that point Andros took over. "And we have a situation here." He looks around. No Carlos or Cassie. "Where's Carlos and Cassie?" All the Rangers gave expressions of unknown. Metalhawk moves forward. "Carlos and Cassie were with me a short time ago." Andros snaps, "Geez! Cassie must have told Carlos about the Barillian Bugs. The two of them have gone after them with out us." Fortress slams the table with his fist. "What is it Andros?" Kat says in her Minerva armor, without her helmet. "There were three attacks earlier. We believe that the Decepticons planted three Barillian bugs." The Rangers were in shock. Alpha turns to the Rangers. "We have to deal with both the bugs and the Decepticons." Rocky sighs in frustration, stating, "I don't believe this. It is like were are infested with Decepticons and Bugs." Twincast moves up to the stand. "We need to divide our forces and fast." Fortress nods. "Right. Two teams will deal with New York and London while those remaining will deal with the bug threat here. Metalhawk, you take Diver , Shooter and Minerva with you to New York. With New York being High population, Minerva, you can be more help there for the time being. Zhane , you get to London with Twincast and the cassettes. That them down. I'll . . ." Zhane, in his Cab armor but with the Helmet off states, "Let me talk to them. They won't turn away from me so quickly if I am the one to talk to them. Plus I am the only other person that has more experience with the Barillian Bugs than you." Fortress stayed quick for a moment. "Okay Zhane. You and Rewind will catch Cassie and Carlos. Trying to find the other two bugs and stop them fast." "Right!" Zhane says with a smile. Alpha moves in front again to talk. " The Delta Megaship is fix and ready to use for transport." Fortress smiles, " Fine. Metalhawk's team takes the shuttle. My team will take the Delta Megaship. Alpha, you're in charge of the base. Keep it floating above Angel Grove. Let's move." With that the Autobot Rangers, in their assigned teams, take off in their own missions. Zhane and Rewind begin thinking of what to do. Rewind looks over all the information stored on Barillian bug. They leave to track down the two Rangers.******************************************************************************
Lander and Phoenix track down one of the Barillian bugs to the Far side of the park. Lander lifts his door releasing Phoenix, in her armor. She looks around, using the scanning systems in her armor. She finds the location of the Bug.
"There" She points west. Lander morphs into his armor mode and runs off with Phoenix. The two follow the bug vigorously. The bug transforms into its humanoid form. The bug fires lasers at the two Rangers. Lander and Phoenix fall to the side , feeling the force on the blasts. The two see a guy who is at the park running about. He doesn't notice them till he hears the screams from the two Rangers. Phoenix and Lander jump back to their feet. Phoenix takes out her sonic blaster , while Lander took out his battle staff. The two Rangers attack the Bug. The bug jumps away , flipping behind the guy. The Bug stings the young man. Lander and Phoenix scream, "Nooooooooo!!!" Lander continues, "I swear you'll pay for this." Lander jumps in the air, preparing to attack with his battle staff. The staff's blade connects with the skin of the Barillian Bug. Lander follows with a slash upward. Phoenix jumps over lander, blasting sonic waves at the bug. The bug sways from the hits. Phoenix and Lander prepare to finish the bug off when Wilder and Cancer fire lasers from behind the Rangers. The two Rangers fall but get back up again. Bullhorn rams them with his transector. The two Autobot Rangers hit a tree. Phoenix struggle to stand as Lander began to walk slowly. Multiple blast come from behind them, reveal the master of the plan - Astronema. She teleports in front of the Rangers with her Scorpinok armor. "Ut uh un! Now, didn't your mother's say that it was rude to hurt other people's pets? I am afraid I'm going to kill you for that now."To Be Continued . . .
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NEXT TIME ON PRT:SMF- The Barillian Bug sting runs like wild fire as the Rangers have to deal with the two groups of Decepticons. Meanwhile, the guy that was stinged, named Damon, must watch as Lander and Phoenix fight for survival while trying to stop himself from becoming a Barillian Bug himself. Is this the end of the citizens in Angel Grove. Find out in an all new episode . . . The Cure Gambit
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