Author's Notes: This is my twenty-second story in the Power Rangers Beyond series. It comes after "Heartbreak." And now on with the story!

The young man had been a programmer at one of Marques Jeffries' subsidiary companies, until Jeffries learned that Goldman had been skimming small portions of money from the accounts of his fellow employees. Shortly afterwards, Goldman had found himself behind bars, and that's where he'd been for the past six years.

After recently getting out on parole, Jerry had sought out his wife, Sherri, hoping that they could get back together, but when he finally tracked her down, she had found someone else to love. She had told Jerry that this man had integrity and was going to provide her and Jerry's three children, with the father figure that they had been lacking for the past six years. She then told Jerry that he'd have to make something of his life, if he ever wanted to be a part of their children's lives again.

Goldman left the house, an angry man. *She has no right to keep those kids from me!* he thought. His first intentions were to kidnap the kids from school, but he knew that Sherri's wealthy parents would only use their vast resources to hunt him down, and so he borrowed a few bucks from some old friends and moved to the West Coast.

Now the thirty-seven year old Caucasian man was in need of cash, and so he'd taken a "job" from a small time terrorist organization called RED BLOOM.

His mission was to break into Ray-Tech and steal the data disks containing the information about how Ray-Tech's Defense Borgs would operate. Little did Jerry Goldman know, his life was going to be forever changed that night.

********************

Goldman quietly made his way through the dark halls of the building, until he found the Technology Lab.

He first instinct was to turn on the room lights, but he wasn't sure if doing that would trigger some sort of alarm system, so he just whipped out his trusty flashlight. Unknown to Goldman, a security camera had been following him since he had entered the building, and before he could react he was smacked over the head.

********************

Goldman awoke in Mason Hedges' office, and Hodges, Derek Simon, and another man dressed in a doctor's uniform stood around him.

"Hello, Mr. Goldman," Hodges said, professionally. "We were beginning to become concerned that that blow might have killed you."

"What are you going to do to me?" Goldman asked, sitting up.

"Hmmm, what would you do to a man who had broken into your company, and tried to steal information?" Hodges inquired.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jerry replied, defensively.

"Don't play dumb with us, Goldman. We know that you are a member of RED BLOOM," Derek Simon revealed, sternly pointing a finger.

"I'll bet INTERPOL would love to get their hands on you," Hodges suggested. "They'd probably lock you up for the rest of your miserable life."

"Go ahead call them! I've got nothing more to live for now, anyway," Goldman scoffed.

"No, Mr. Goldman, we're not going to turn you in, at least we won't if you agree to work for us," Hodges assured.

'Work for you. No offense, Mr. Hodges, but I sent an application here as soon as I got out of jail, and I didn't even get a reply."

"If I had let you work for me then, Marques Jeffries would have thrown a fit. Though our companies are in heavy competition, he and I are old friends, and I wouldn't want to upset him by hiring man that he detests such as yourself," Hodges paused. "At least, not with him knowing it. Besides, its not your programming expertise that I'm interested in."

"Then why do you want from me?"

"You competed in a variety of sports during your college days. I believe one writer from Sports Illustrated even went so far as to deem you "The Ultimate Athlete"," Hodges continued. "My associates and I might be able to let your little breaking-and-entering slide, if you agree to work for us."

"But what about RED BLOOM? They'll hunt me down and kill me if I don't return with the data disks," Goldman pleaded.

'Don't worry about RED BLOOM. Just leave them to me," Hodges said soothingly. "Now are you willing to work with us?"

"You've got yourself a deal," Goldman replied with a smile. He and Hodges shook hands in agreement, as Derek Simon and the other man looked on.

"Jerry, I'm sure you know my right-hand man, Derek Simon, but allow me to introduce you to one Ray-Tech's finest computer experts, Dr. Miles Worick," Hodges introduced. "And now there is much work to be done." Hodges motioned towards the door, and two security guards entered the room and seized Goldman.

"You promised that you weren't going to turn me in!" Goldman exclaimed.

"I'm not. These men are going to escort you down to the Technology Building," Hodges said smoothly. "You want to find out more about Ray-Tech's little project.....while now you're going to be a part of it."

Goldman didn't know what Hodges meant by that, but he had a feeling he wasn't going to like it when he found out.

********************

"I'm really glad you asked me out tonight, Chris," Jasmine said, as she and Chris stepped out of the movie theatre. "I was beginning to think that you were having second thoughts about us dating."

"No, it was nothing like that. I've just been really busy the last few weeks. I'm glad I have a nice, caring girlfriend like you," Chris complimented. "I promise you that we'll go out a little more often from now on."

"I'm going to hold you to that," the girl replied.

As the couple walked to Chris' van, they heard screams coming from around the corner.

"I wonder what's going on?" Jasmine inquired.

"I don't know, but I'm going to run inside of the theatre and call the cops," Chris said. Before Jasmine could utter another word, Chris dashed off.

A group of Tengas were harassing some teenagers outside of the ice cream parlor.

"Okay, kids, you know the drill. Hand over all of your money or we'll bust all of you up," threatened one of the Tengas.

"The only ones who are going to get busted up are you Tengas," stated the Red Ranger, as he came running up.

"This must be our lucky night. We're going to get our chance to beam down the leader of the Power Rangers," hissed one of the thugs.

The cocky street punks charged at the Rangers leader, wielding knives and bats, but their primitive weapon couldn't pierce the Red Ranger's armored suit.

Chris hurled each of the punks into a large dumpster, and then patted himself on the back proudly.

"Not bad, Red Ranger. Not bad at all," came a voice from behind the Ranger leader. Chris spun around to see standing before him a cyborg, with human features on the right side of his face and robotic features on the other side of his face. The borg's body was comprised of a shiny, bronze, armor, and he stood at about 6'9. The borg was holding a long spear in his right hand.

"Who or what are you?" the Red Ranger asked in astonishment.

"Society hasn't been fair to me, so I've got a large vendetta against it. Call me Vendetta," the borg said in a half human half robotic voice.

""Well you'd better watch where you point that spear, because you could hurt someone," the Ranger replied.

"Ha!" Vendetta moved in, smacking the Red Ranger in the chest with a swinging spear attack. Chris was sent crashing into the side of the ice cream parlor's outside wall.

"Okay, buddy, this mean war," Chris said, rising to his feet. "Lionizer!"

The Red Ranger leaped into the air to deliver a flying Lionizer attack, but Vendetta simply stuck his spear in the air, causing the Ranger to strike it and slump to the ground.

"Fool, you can't defeat me," hissed Vendetta as he stood over his fallen opponent.

"Maybe not alone, but with our help he can!" yelled the White Ranger. The other Rangers began to fire blasts from their Power Weapons at Vendetta.

Vendetta turned to his attackers, and began to twirl his spear around like a baton. As he twirled a large red energy ball shot out from the twirling spear, sending the Rangers to the ground in pain.

"I could destroy the six you, but that's not my job. You've lost, Power Rangers, do yourselves a favor and retire now. I'm Angel Grove's new guardian," With that, Vendetta dissolved into a beam of gray light and flew away.

Nick quickly rushed over to his brother and helped him up. A crowd of people had began to gather around the Rangers.

'Are you okay, Red Ranger?" asked a little girl, who was standing beside her mother.

"Yes, I'm fine," Chris replied. "I'm just a little shaken up."

The Rangers saw a News van pulling up, and agreed that how wasn't the time for an interview, so they all teleport away.

********************

At Ray-Tech, Vendetta stood before Mason Hodges, Derek Simon, and Dr. Worick.

"I never felt power like this before. It was exhirating!" Vendetta said triumphantly.

"Don't get over confident. Tonight the Power Rangers only got a sampling of your power. Now we have to work on your Public Relations," Hodges stated.

"My Public Relations?! What do I need with Public Relations?! I've never seen the Power Rangers on television, holding press conferences," Vendetta protested.

"The Rangers have let their actions speak for them, which is what I wanted to do with you, but your little skirmish with the Red Ranger didn't help things," Hodges said sternly. "You came on too strong. You were supposed to show up and capture those Tengas."

"By the time I got there the Red Ranger had already subdued them. I decided to show the citizens of Angel Grove that I am the superior to all six of those multi-colored punks," Vendetta answered.

"I'm going to call for a press conference tomorrow morning," Hodges informed. "The two of us will clear up this mishap. Goldman, I want you to act courteous and diplomatic. You must win the trust of Angel Grove's citizens."

"Don't worry, Mr. Hodges, I won't let you down, but remember our little deal. I'm going to pay a visit to that clown that stole my wife and kids from me, and make him pay!"

"Okay! Okay! First, the business here and then the business in Columbia," Hodges stated.

Vendetta turned and exited the lab.

"He's a loose cannon, Mason," Derek Simon warned.

"I know, and we've got too much at stake for him to mess up. Keep an eye on him. If he steps out of line, let me know," Hodges ordered.

"Consider it done," Derek replied.

********************

The next day, at school, the six Rangers had assembled at Chris' locker.

"How are you feeling, man?" Joseph asked.

"A whole lot better than I was last night. When I demorphed and got ready to a shower, I noticed that I had a large gash on my shoulder, but thank goodness for rapid healing powers," Chris replied.

"That guy seemed to be one mean fighter," Michelle added.

"I talked to Andros and Ashley about this, and they seem to believe that Vendetta is the first of Ray-Tech's Defense Borgs," informed Tim.

"You mean there are going to be more of those things?" Stephanie said worriedly.

"Not if we have anything to say about it," Chris vowed.

********************

The six Rangers were now in the Power Lair, using the computer to view several databases of Criminal Records.

"Have you guys found anything?" Ashley asked, as she walked downstairs.

"Not yet, but I know I remember seeing the human side of Vendetta's face somewhere else before," Chris replied.

"Eureka!" exclaimed Joseph. 'Check this out." The other Rangers glanced at the file that Joseph had pulled up, and sure enough there was a picture of Jerry Goldman on the screen.

"Now I remember. That's the guy that caused such an uproar at J-Tech a few years ago," Chris revealed.

"Yeah, I remember Marques mentioning him. Goldman was an excellent computer programming, but honesty wasn't his strong suit," Nick added.

"How ironic that Goldman is now part man part computer," Michelle commented.

"We should go over to Ray-Tech and kick Vendetta's butt," Nick suggested.

"No, that's probably what Hodges wants us to do. If we go barging into Ray-Tech, it would make us look like the bad guys, besides we can't escalate a battle unless the bad guys do first," Chris reminded. "We'll let Hodges make the next move."

"Hey, guys there some very interesting information that might be helpful to us if we have to go into battle against Vendetta again," Joseph said. "It says here that his ex-wife, Sherri, and their three kids are now living in Columbia, South Carolina."

"So Goldman had a family, interesting," Tim said. The Rangers were so wrapped up in planning their strategy, that didn't notice Andros and Karone standing on the stairs looking down at them.

"Sounds like they're putting together a great game plan for dealing with Vendetta, doesn't it, Andros?" Karone commented.

"It sure does. Some enemies can only be beaten with the power of the heart," Andros stated.

********************

The night had passed, and in few hours Vendetta would be standing along side Mason Hodges at a press conference. Vendetta had spent the greater part of the previous night thinking about his ex-wife and three kids. Thoughts that had now brought him to a quiet suburban neighborhood in Angel Grove.

Vendetta lurked in some bushes outside of house. He watched as three young children came out of the front door, followed by their father.

"Bye, mommy," a little girl, who appeared to be no older than five or six, waved to her mother, who stood in the doorway.

"Bye-bye, kids," the woman replied with a smile. "Study hard at school, and remember mommy loves you."

"And what about me," the father replied. The three kids began to laugh at their father.

"I love you too, Stan." the woman replied.

Vendetta watched as the man and his three kids got into a car, and drove away.

*It used to be like that with Sherri, the kids, and my* the cyborg thought. There was no time to ponder this further, for at that moment, his communicator began to beep.

"What is it?" he hissed into the object.

"The press conference is about to begin, where are you?" came the voice of Derek Simon.

"I'm on my way." With that, Vendetta teleported away.

********************

"Is everything ready?" Hodges asked, speaking with Blane via a large viewing screen.

"Yes, the Quantrons are ready to attack," Blane replied.

"Remember, wait until exactly eleven-fifteen. That should allow me enough time make a good presentation of Vendetta to those media hounds," Hodges. The communication channel was closed, and then Hodges, Simon, Dr. Worick, and Vendetta entered the board room, where several members of the press were waiting.

"Good morning," Hodges greeted. "I'm glad all of you could make it. Allow me to introduce the first Defender Borg. Call him Vendetta."

"Excuse me, Mason, but isn't that the same borg that attacked the Red Ranger last night?" questioned a male reporter for Angel Grove News.

"That whole ordeal with the Rangers was just the result of a big misunderstanding," Hodges explained.

"You see...I arrived at the ice cream parlor, too late. I guess the Red Ranger thought I was working with the Tengas. If the Power Rangers are watching this, I'd just like to say I'm sorry," Vendetta stated.

*Yeah right.* Chris thought, as his class watched the press conference on television.

"Mason, You mentioned that each Defender Borg would pilot a zord. Does Vendetta have a zord yet?" asked a lady from Fox News.

"Its in development as we speak," Hodges replied. "When the first Defender Zord is com--," Hodges was interrupted by the sound of Angel Grove recently built, Monster Alarm.

The people in attendance began to scramble and scream in fear.

"Everyone, stay calm. Vendetta will deal with this problem," Hodges announced.

With that Vendetta teleported away.

At Angel Grove High School, everyone was panicking. Teachers and students, alike were frantically running through the halls.

The Rangers managed to get out of the building during the confusion, and met up near the football field.

"Alpha, have you located the cause of the alarm?" Chris spoke into the communicator.

"Yes, Blane and a group of Quantrons are attacking NASADA," Alpha replied.

"That's strange," Tim said. "Blane has never led an attack before."

"I guess there's a first time for everything," Chris replied. "I'd better get over there and straighten things out." The six teens looked around to make sure no one was watching, and then pulling out their newly repaired morphers, they shouted "Let's Rocket!"

********************

A group of guards were doing their best to fend off Blane and the Quantrons, but to no avail.

"Where are the Power Rangers when you need them?" commented a guard, as he fired laser blasts at the attacker.

Vendetta arrived, and immediately pulled out his spear. "Time to die, aliens."

Blane pulled out his laser pistol, and began to shoot at Vendetta, intentionally missing, or course.

Vendetta began to twirl his spear once more, and the energy beam streaked out and knocked Blane to the ground.

*That fool is suppose to be missing me," Blane thought as he got to his feet.

The Quantrons rushed at Vendetta, but each of the robotic foot soldiers were ripped to shreds with Vendetta's swinging spear attacks.

"Hey leave some of them of us," commented the Pink Ranger, as she and the other Rangers arrived.

"Get lost, Rangers! There's only room in Angel Grove for one superhero, and that's me!" snarled Vendetta, as he once again began to twirl his spear.

The Ranger tried to avoid being struck by the energy blast, but found themselves on the ground writhing in pain.

"I told you to retire, Power Rangers! Now all six of you are going to pay for not taking my advice," Vendetta sent yet another energy blast at the Rangers.

"Ahhhhh!" screamed the superhero teens, after being struck once more.

"He's too strong!" exclaimed the Yellow Ranger.

"Lionizer!" Chris yelled. He then charged at Vendetta, striking the borg in the head, and causing Vendetta to drop his spear.

By this time, the other Rangers had summoned their Power Weapons.

With Vendetta temporarily stunned, the Red Ranger used his blaster to destroy the Energy Spear.

"So much for your weapon, Vendetta," Chris said.

Regaining his senses, Vendetta shoved the Red Ranger to the ground, and was about to move in for another attack, when he was struck by a combined blast from the other Rangers' weapons.

"When you mess with one Ranger, you mess with all of the Rangers," the White Ranger proclaimed.

"Okay, Rangers, I know when I'm beaten. I've got other matters to tend to," Vendetta then dissolved into a beam of gray light and flew away.

"Thanks, you guys," Chris said, as Tim and Nick helped him to his feet.

"I don't think this is over," Joseph said.

"We'd better get back to school, before someone notices that we're gong," Michelle advised.

"Alpha, keep an eye out for Vendetta. I'm sure he's got something in mind," Chris spoke into his communicator.

"You got it, Rangers," replied Alpha cheerfully.

********************

"Get out of my way!" snarled Vendetta as he tossed a group of Ray-Tech security guards, and entered the rooms, where the Defender Zords were being built.

"Goldman, what are you doing in here!" yelled Dr. Worick.

"When will my Defender Zord be ready?" Vendetta asked.

"It should be fully built by the end of the day, but then we'll have to do some thorough testing to make sure that it will be safe for you to use," Worick explained.

Vendetta grabbed the doctor by the collar, and shook him angrily. "Listen up, Worick, I want that Zord operational by three-thirty I've got somewhere I need to go, and I need that Zord to get there."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible," Worick said. "Mr. Hodges wants you to stay here and protect the city for now."

"I'm threw taking orders from Hodges! I've got my own personal agenda to tend to," Vendetta stated.

Vendetta was just about to hurl Worick against a wall, when he was smacked in the back. he turned around to see the Shadow Ranger standing there.

"Be a good little cyborg, and cool your jets, before I have to separate the human part of you from the robotic part," the evil Ranger threatened.

"Arrrrr!" growled Vendetta as he delivered a strong uppercut to the Shadow Rangers' head. The evil Ranger went flying backwards into a wall.

Shaking off the pain the Shadow Ranger charged at the cyborg, with his Shadow Blade extended. Vendetta fired a red eye beam at the Shadow Ranger that knocked the charging Ranger down.

Vendetta then picked up the Shadow Ranger and tossed chokeslammed him.

"Goldman, what are you doing?!" Hodges yelled as he entered the room carrying a remote control.

"I'm threw taking orders from you! I've matters of my own to attend to," Vendetta snarled.

"Oh on the contrary, Mr. Goldman, you are going to take orders from me, " Hodges replied coolly. Hodges aimed the remote control at Vendetta, and pressed a button. A beam fired from the remote, striking Vendetta in the chest.

"Hey! What's going on! I can't move!" Vendetta yelled.

"Fool, did you really think that you could double-cross me. I mean, surely you didn't think I'd give you the power that you now have, without being able to take it away from you," Hodges stated. "Your entire body is paralyzed, and you will stay paralyzed until you decide that you're going to be obedient to me." Hodges then addressed the guards that had just entered the room. "Take Mr. Goldman to the basement."

The five guards picked up the immobile cyborg and carried him out of the room.

"Hodges! Hodges! Hodges, I'll get you for this! Hodges, you'll pay!" Goldman yelled, as he was carried through the hallways.

"You should never have recruited him," the Shadow Ranger whispered.

"He'll come around," Hodges replied.

"He wanted the first Defender Zord," Dr. Worick stated.

"He's still bent on hurting that man who took his family from him,' Hodges guessed. "Tell the workers that I want the Defender Zord ready for action by sunset. If Vendetta has calmed down by then, we'll let him take it for a test drive."

********************

Vendetta had been in the basement for several hours. He'd already formulated what he was going to do, all he needed to do was get his body mobile again.

"Guards! Guards! I'm ready to cooperate! Tell Hodges I'm ready to cooperate!"

A door immediately opened, and in walked Hodges, the Shadow Ranger, and a few guards.

"Good. I will reactivate your body, but if you betray me again, you'll be destroyed," Hodges warned.

"Okay, just reactivate me," the cyborg begged.

Hodges used the remote to make Vendetta mobile again, and then gave Vendetta orders to take the Defender Zord, flush out the Rangers, and destroy them.

However, no sooner had Vendetta departed from Ray-Tech then he guided the Defender Zord eastward.

"He's leaving the city," Worick said, as he, Hodges, and the Shadow Ranger watched on a viewing screen in Hodges' office.

"Override the Zord's controls, and bring him back here," Hodges ordered.

"I can't! He must be out of the range of our computers," Worick explained, as he frantically pressed buttons on a control console.

"Derek, take the Shadow Glider, and bring him back," Hodges ordered.

The evil Ranger then opened up a closet in the office, and pulled out a black and silver vehicle similar to the Power Rangers' Galaxy Gliders. He then teleported away with the Glider tucked under his arms.

********************

The Rangers were already hot on the Defender Zord's trail. They had been watching Ray-Tech all afternoon, and when they spotted the Defender Zord leaving, they headed for the Astro Megaship to pursuit him.

"DECA, give us a diagram of that thing," Chris ordered.

"Bringing up diagram, on viewing screen, now," DECA informed.

The Defender Zord was a large stealth bomber, with several missile housed below its underbelly.

"According to this diagram, the Defender is made of Pefrite," Joseph stated.

"Pefrite! I thought it could only be found on Isra?" Stephanie asked.

"Maybe Howlin sent Hodges some of it, before we showed up, and closed down the Brood's little operation on Isra," Nick suggested.

"If that thing is made of Pefrite then there's no way we can destroy it," Tim stated.

"There's small portion of the Zord that is made of regular metal, if we can blast that section, we can bring that thing down," Joseph informed. "Its located near the Zord's missile launchers."

"That means we'll have to fly below that thing," Tim said.

"This is gonna be tricky," added Michelle.

"We've also got another problem," Stephanie interrupted. "The sensors show that the Shadow Ranger is approaching us, on some sort of Glider."

"You guys deal with Vendetta and the Defender Zord, I'll go keep Simon occupied," Tim stated.

"Are you sure you can handle him?" Chris asked.

"Yeah," Tim picked up a white Galaxy Glider and headed off of the bridge.

"Let the Power protect you, Tim," Stephanie whispered.

********************

"Looking for a fight, Simon!" yelled the White Ranger, as he flew towards the Shadow Ranger, on his Galaxy Glider.

"White Ranger," the Shadow Ranger snarled. the two Rangers flew at each other, weapons extended.

Tim fell on his stomach after being struck by the Shadow Blade, the Shadow Ranger then pulled out his laser and began to shoot at Tim. "You shouldn't have challenged me, White Ranger!"

"I'm not beaten yet, Simon," Tim said, as he rose to his feet. Tim dodged a few of the Shadow Ranger's blasts, and then used his Liberty Blaster to fire a few blasts of his own.

Meanwhile, Vendetta was preparing to defend himself against the Megaship's attacks. "Those stupid teenagers think they're going to stop me, but they're sadly mistaken."

"He's firing two missiles at us!" Nick exclaimed.

"We need a distraction," Chris said.

"The Mega Winger," Stephanie suggested. Stephanie pressed a few button on the control console. The Mega Winger departed from its hangar on the moon, and flew to the Rangers' aid.

"Be careful, Stephanie," Alpha said.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Stephanie, as she teleported off of the bridge. She materialized in the cockpit of the Mega Winger, and began to set the controls. "Let's rock 'n roll!"

The Mega Winger soared through the sky firing blasts at the Defender Zord.

"I don't have time for this," growled Vendetta, as the Defender Zord sped up and vanished into thin air.

"Rats! He got away," the Yellow Ranger groaned. She guided the Mega Winger into the Megaship's hangar, and then headed back up to the bridge.

"Goldman got away," Stephanie said shaking her head.

"Don't I know where he's heading," Chris stated. "DECA, get us to Columbia, SC."

Tim materialized on the bridge, holding his arm.

"Tim, are you okay?" Stephanie asked.

"The Shadow Ranger hit me with a strong blast, but I'll be fine."

"Simon, is probably on his way to Columbia, also, so we'd better move it," Michelle stated.

********************

In a park, Sherri and her boyfriend, Theo, watched as Sherri's youngest two kids played on the swings.

{From out of nowhere, Vendetta appeared and grabbed one of the kids.}

"Mommy, help!" screamed the little girl.

"Melanie, its me daddy," Vendetta whispered.

"Daddy?" the child asked in a confused tone.

"Oh God!" Sherri screamed, as she and Theo ran towards Vendetta. "Jerry, put her down!"

"Put a sock in it, Sherri. I'm taking Melanie and Scott, and you'd better tell me where Brain is at or else," Vendetta threatened.

"Jerry, let the kids go, and we can talk this out!" Sherri pleaded.

"No! The kids are coming with me," Vendetta said, as he held Melanie tightly.

"Daddy, you're squeezing me too tight," the little girl complained.

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" Scott yelled, before kicking Vendetta on the human leg.

Melanie took this opportunity to slip out of the cyborg's grip, and run to her mother followed by Scott.

"Now I'm ma----," Vendetta's statement was interrupted by the combined blasts of the Power Cannon.

"You're coming back to Angel Grove with us, Goldman," stated the Red Ranger.

"Wow! The Power Rangers!" exclaimed Scott.

"You Rangers have meddled with me for the last time," Vendetta began to fire eyebeams at the six Rangers, until he was struck from behind by a flying Shadow Ranger kick.

"You were warned not to pull another double-cross, now its time to pay the price." The evil Ranger began to beat the cyborg under the head with the Shadow Blade.

"Goldman, may be a real creep, but he doesn't deserve to go like that," Tim said. The Rangers formed the Power Cannon and blasted the Shadow Ranger away from the fallen cyborg.

Vendetta struggled to his feet and then glanced at his family.

"Fool, I'll hurt you in the worst way! I'll destroy your ex-wife and your kids," snarled the Shadow Ranger. The evil Ranger pulled out grenade and tossed it towards Sherri, Theo, and the kids.

"No!" yelled Michelle.

"Don't!" Tim yelled.

Before the Rangers' very eyes, Vendetta rushed into the path of the grenade. the fighting object struck the cyborg on the head, and an explosion ensued.

"Jerry!" Sherri screamed.

Theo covered Scott and Melanie's eyes, preventing them from seeing the horrific scene.

When the smoke cleared, Vendetta lay motionless on the ground.

"My job is done here. Power Rangers, we'll meet again," with that the Shadow Ranger vanished into thin air.

The Rangers rushed over to the fallen borg, and kneeled beside him. Sherri also walked over and looked down at the man who had once been her husband.

"I made a lot of mistakes lately. Power Rangers, don't let Hodges accomplish his evil schemes," Goldman said weakly. "Sherri, I'm sorry that I wasn't a good husband, or a good father to our children. I hope you find happiness with Theo. He seems to be a good man. I only hope that you can forgive me for the pain that I've put you through."

"I forgive you, Jerry. I forgive you," Sherri said tearfully. After hearing Sherri utter those words, Jerry Goldman breathed his last breath.

The Rangers looked sadly at one another, and then had Alpha teleport Vendetta's body up to the Megaship.

"What will happen to the body?" Sherri asked.

"It will be taken back to Angel Grove. The man that the Shadow Ranger works for is going to have a lot of explaining to do, once the press finds out what happened here," the Red Ranger explained.

"Are you going to be okay?" Stephanie asked.

"I'll be fine. Theo and I are going to have to find the words to explain to the kids what just occurred," Sherri said, somberly.

"Good luck," Tim said. With that the Rangers teleported away.

********************

Mason Hodges slumped down in his chair, after hearing what had occurred in Columbia.

"The Rangers are going to do everything in their power to pin this on me. I can't hear it now, Ray-Tech turns lunatic cyborg loose on unsuspecting family," Hodges grumbled.

"So, are you going to terminate the Defender Borgs Project?" inquired Derek Simon.

"No, Derek. We're going to move the project development site into space. And then, we're going to put these to good use," Hodges held up the five datacards, which held the Psycho Rangers.