PokéRangers: New World

King's Gambit (Part 1)

The Rangers had lost count of how many iterations this 'take down Tyrannox' plan had gone through. Just yesterday it was supposed to be a united front with aid from both the Dawn Ranger and the reformed Xanatar. And now, the Rangers were disoriented and divided, separated into three groups, as they chased after several copies of Tyrannox and the kidnapped Vinnie.

"Sorry I snapped at you" the Bewear Ranger quickly apologized as she and the Greninja Ranger ran towards the elevators to their right.

"It's fine" he smirked. "But after two years, please don't start counting now."

She offered a brief chuckle in reply.

As they both made it to the elevators, they noticed only one went up to the Penthouse, so they had to wait for it to come back down.

"I'm just worried about Infernape – you know?" she continued, a hint of unease in her voice.

"Yeah, I know", he assured with a smile. "Which is why I didn't want you blindly rushing after him."

"That's fair..."

It was at this point that the elevator had returned to the ground floor, sounding its customary 'ding' to announce its arrival.

"Plus I wanted to ask about that little aside you and Mandibuzz had..." the Greninja Ranger sneakily added as they both stepped in.

"You know I hate it when you eavesdrop like that!" she replied with a vexed look across her face.

"And I hate it when people don't tell me things!" he fired back.

The two were quiet for a moment - the elevator still parked in the lobby.

"Sorry. Guess it's my turn to apologize for snapping" the Greninja Ranger offered as he looked towards the panel of buttons to his right – the words 'See you Soon' scribbled next to the button labeled 'Penthouse North'. He pressed it. "Guess I'm a little peeved after last night."

"What happened last night?"

"Oh the usual" he began in a snarky tone as the elevator began its ascent. "Macho was being overprotective of his plushies. Dawn bamboozled me. And oh yeah: Infernape asked me to take over as Leader!"

"HE WHAT?!?!?!"

"Yeah!" he confirmed as the Bewear Ranger began pacing back and forth. "And when I tried to talk to him about it, I got the whole 'it can wait' response, which - judging by today's actions – was NOT the case!"

The Bewear Ranger stopped pacing and immediately punched the wall of the elevator in anger.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US?!?!" the Greninja Ranger cried franticly as the car stopped its ascent and violently shook back and forth from the impact.

As the Greninja Ranger scrambled to press the 'Emergency Stop' button, the Bewear Ranger remained frozen in place. Her breathing was heavy as her fist remained imbedded in the now heavily damaged wall.

"Look, contrary to what you might think, I do NOT feel like falling to my death today", he began sarcastically. "So if you – "

Though before he could finish his lecture, the Bewear Ranger turned around sank to the floor, hands around her knees.

"It's happening again" she finally uttered, a slight crack in her voice.

The Greninja Ranger was completely taken off guard by this display and the elevator again grew silent as it remained in place around the 40th floor.

"Okay seriously Bewear", he began in an almost begging tone, "what's up? What am I missing in all of this?"

At first, it seemed like she wasn't going to say anything. But in truth, she was just preparing herself for the admission that was about to follow.