(This is the personal journal of Bryan Stone, leader of Cyberspace Task Force GammaRanger, for August 4, 1998.
Amy's dreams were becoming increasingly prophetic when Sei, the former GridRanger, became involved in them. For nights, she would have those dreams until we figured out that these were not deams, but visions of what was coming. Namrock sent a monster disguised as a teddy bear to ambush us. We managed to defeat him though, and I'm happy to say that I am able to write this in peace now that Amy hastopped coming aboard at 2:30 in the morning.)
(The scene: the Satellite, where Galevan is getting another idea to expose Hexalink.)
Rhexus: (sigh) Not again, Galevan.
Galevan: You don't understand, Rhexus. This man is a threat to my position, and if I don't expose him for his lies, then my position is most likely to be compromised.
Chouzo: Sure! Go ahead! Expose him for whatever! Just leave us out of it!
Galevan: To hell with you both. I'm sure I can think of ways to outsmart him without your assistance.
Rhexus: Not going to happen in this startup time.
(Cut now to the living room of Eric Moriboshi. Darren Moriboshi, Eric's thirteen-year-old little brother, is glued to the set playing an interactive role-playing game, definitely getting into it.)
Darren: All right! Yes! We finally beat the Flying Hellfox! Now onto the Black Knight.
Computer: Behold. Your next clue, dream master. "The light of six different stars can shine over the darkest soul." This will lead you to your next battle, and the final key to the destruction of this dimension.
(Outside the house, Jill and Eric come from a movie, ready for a snack.)
Jill: Couldn't we have just gotten drive-thru?
Eric: Everything is closed now. It's like 12:30. How was I supposed to know that the show was going to be delayed?
Jill: Well, you have a point there.
(The two enter Eric's house to find that Darren is still trying to get to the final castle where the Black Knight is waiting.)
Eric: You're still on that game?
Darren: Yeah, I mean, it's cool!
Eric: I know what you're talking about. There used to be a time where I could get a funky high off of "Dragon Warrior."
Jill: Well, Mr. Dragon Warrior, how about that snack...
Eric: Oh, sorry. You know me, I'm a boy at heart.
Jill: Bryan could tell us that.
(The two go to the kitchen and get their snack. Meanwhile, in the living room, Darren finds the castle in his game. It is a giant neo-medieval castle with three doors.)
Darren: Three doors? Hmmm... I know that these two lead to the inside, but where does this third one go?
(He enters out of curioisity, but something strange happens as the screen shuts down andlightning surges out of it. It takes a hold of Darren and tries to pull him in. Eric hears noises from the kitchen and he and Jill run to the living room. Eric tries to pulls Darren out of the lightning's grasp.)
Eric: Jill, go get my parents!
Jill: Got it!
(Jill runs to the back rooms while Eric keeps pulling.)
Mr. Moriboshi: Wha... What the (coming out in his bathrobe). Eric, what are you doing with your brother?
Eric: Don't just stand there thinking of ways to punish me, help me!
(The two men pull with all their might, but the force of the computer is too strong, especially, the force on the other end. Cut to that force now.)
Namrock: A User? In Cyberspace?
Hexalink: It was extracted by the newest Betavirus strain. I laced an entire browser system with it.
Rhexus: This could be better than you think, my master.
Namrock: How so?
Chouzo: The Balzac have learned of the identity of the first captive. It is Darren Moriboshi, youngest brother of Eric Moriboshi, the green Gamma User.
Hexalink: Well, I'll be damned.
Galevan: The site which he was taken to has given me an idea. Rhexus, take Hexalink's strain and make me a Beta Knight.
Rhexus: You suppose you can say "Please?"
Namrock: Just do it.
(Rhexus access the format for Beta Knight. After the monster is infused with viral energy, it materializes.)
Beta Knight: (in a deep, almost devilish voice) Behold. I shall anoint my blade with the life fluid of the GammaRanger!
Namrock: Spirituous, indeed! Now go fulfill your claim!
(Beta Knight returns to the game site to claim more victims. The next morning, Eric and Jill head for Scottie's house. They figure the only ones who know more about this game than they do are the game masters that live there.)
Eric: Bryan! Scottie! Something happened!
(The two come out of the basement.)
Bryan: What's up?
Jill: Have you ever heard of "The Phantasma?"
Scottie: (Takes the newspaper with the game article on it from Jill) You mean that RPG that just came out? All I know is that it is boasted to be the most complex RPG of all time. And it's playable on the Internet.
Jill: Well, it just got a little more complex.
Bryan: How? What happened?
Eric: Darren was playing the game online and after a while, it sucked him in!
Jill: I don't know much about video games since I stopped playing them, but even I know that it's not supposed to do that!
Bryan: (Analyzing the game article) I don't think this is a game.
Eric: Namrock. Figures.
Bryan: My thoughts exactly. (activates his Cyber Loader) I'm gonna call Amy and Laura to meet us on the NetStation. We'll be protected from the virus there.
Jill: Protected?
Bryan: Well, if it took Darren in, there's no telling what else could happen.
Eric: Good point.
(Eric, Jill, and Scottie transload to the NetStation while Bryan calls up the other two Rangers over Com-Link.)
Bryan: Amy? Laura? Come in! We have an emergency!
AquaMercury: (Over Com-Link) I wish we could, Bryan, but we have an emergency of our own!
(Cut to Tradewinds Park, where the two primary female GammaRanger are fighting Galevan and the Balzac.)
Galevan: Tell me what you know about Hexalink!
YellowVenus: You've got to be kidding.
AquaMercury: Yeah, why should we?
Galevan: Because you really have no other choice!
YellowVenus: Yes we do! C'mon, Laura! Bryan and the others need us!
(The two transload to the NetStation, leaving Galevan alone at the fight.)
Galevan: Fools!
Hexalink's image: (from nowhere) That's the null calling the User a fool.
Galevan: Hexalink...
(Cut back to the NetStation, where Amy and Laura are just coming on board.)
Laura: (taking her helmet off) What's up, Bryan?
Bryan: This... (hands Laura the newspaper article)
Amy: A game? What does this...
Jill: Yesterday night, when we were coming home, Eric's brother got trapped in it.
Laura: Namrock?
Scottie: (on the computer) We think. I've been searching like mad trying to find an answer and... Hello, what's this?
(From the browser used to play "Phantasma" comes a foreign code. After a few glitches and blips, an image of the Black Knight, now Beta Knight, appears.)
Beta Knight: Humans with light souls feed on dark energy! Who will be my next victims? (disappears)
Bryan: I think we found the source. and I know how to get rid of it. Two of us wil have to go to Cyberspace and try and bring the monster here. Only when we defeat it, will the rest of his victims be rescued.
Eric: I'll do it.
Jill: I'll go with you.
Scottie: Wait. You might need this. (hands over his Cyber Loader. the other Rangers follow suit.) Now let me find that code again.
(The GammaRanger wait tensely for Black Knight to appear. He does, and Scottie, this time, presses "delete" on the computer.)
All right... NOW!
Eric: Mars Ranger file, download!
Jill: Grid file, download!
(The two transform as they are whisked away to the land of Phantasma. They land on the ground at the Castle of Wynds, where Darren was when he got captured.)
GridRanger: All right, game genie. Show your stuff.
GreenMars: If I remember correctly, the clue said "the light of six will shine above the darkness of one" or something like that.
GridRanger: You don't suppose...
(Suddenly, a voice appears from the castle and three doors appear.)
Voice: Enter the Castle of Wynds, warriors.
GridRanger: Three doors? Which one is the right one?
GreenMars: Wait a sec... The light of six. The Cyber Loaders!
(Eric gets all six Loaders out and focuses their energy on the castle. The door to the right begins to glow.)
The right one! Let's move!
(Meanwhile, from the real world, the teens are having a time themselves.)
Laura: He went through the right door!
Bryan: Yeah, but will it be enough?
Scottie: Maybe. When the Knight appears, I'll just reboot his hard drive to ours. Then the NetStation should spit him out of a vortex.
Amy: I wish it was that easy. Look.
(From the bridge, the four heroes see Hexalink grown and trying to lure them into battle.)
Laura: Hexalink! He knows we can't use NetDriver without the other two Rangers!
Bryan: Or the File Coins, but that doesn't mean we can't still put up a fight. Prepare for evasive maneuvers!
(The crew man the bridge as they try to pilot it away from Hexalink's attacks. They also use the strategy that "the best defense is a good offense." In the game, though...)
Beta Knight: Welcome to my castle, and your nightmare!
GreenMars: Where's my little brother, damn it!
Beta Knight: He is now a product of my energy, as will you two be once I'm through with you.
(The Balzac appear. The two Rangers begin fighting them, while Beta Knight does not know that he is actually within the confines of a wormhole. Jill, while fighting, realizes this.)
GridRanger: What's up with the monster?
GreenMars: I don't know. But we better follow him. (activates Com-Link) Bryan, activate the GridTitan file, now!
Bryan: (still with evasive maneuvers) GridTitan, activated!
(The four members of the present crew witness two wormholes appearing. One of them is the GridTitan, ready for battle. The other contains one massive body and two small ones. It is Beta Knight, and he has grown to titanic proportions. The other two bodies, those of GreenMars and GridRanger, head toward their individual cockpits.)
GreenMars: Activating active transloader, now!
(The Cyber Loaders return to the bridge, and the teens notice it while Beta Knight lands on the ground. Galevan also notices Beta Knight and acknowledges him in his next order.)
Galevan: Secret bioneural file, download!
(A radical change happens within the Beta Knight's "mind" as he begins attacking Hexalink.)
Hexalink: What are you doing?
Beta Knight: (almost automatonically) Fulfilling my master's order.
(The two behemoths begin to clash. Bryan sees an opening.)
Amy: Now?
Bryan: Now. Ranger file, download!
(The four Rangers transform and join GridTitan and TankerDriver in the fight.)
RedJupiter: Jupiter Wing, ready!
BlueNeptune: DrillerDriver, ready!
YellowVenus: WalkerDriver, ready!
AquaMercury: Mercury Rider, ready!
(The three Drivers begin to puch the lights out of Beta Knight. The other vehicles shoot at it. After a while, Bryan gets ready to combine them.)
RedJupiter: Upload NetDriver sequence, now!
(Five windows open to view all five NetMechs in transformation mode as they combine to form NetDriver.)
Beta Knight: Another metallic knight, I see. Fine then. I shall waste no time. Away with you!
(The Betamon, sword in hand, charges toward NetDriver.)
GreenMars: If he wants a duel, let's give it to him! Antirod, download!
(The Antirod appears in NetDriver's hands, triblade side forward. The giant robot charges toward the monster, giving it one foul swoop to destroy the sword.)
Beta Knight: My sword!
RedJupiter: This calls for the biggie. Antirod finish, download!
(The Triblade charges up for one final shot, and then it flies right through the heart of the beast, utterly decimating it.)
GreenMars: All right! Hold on, Darren! I'm on my way!
(The players of the game are released to their original position and remember nothing. Eric retroforms and transloads to his house to join him.)
Darren: How long have I been playing this game?
Eric: You don't want to know. Say, you wouldn't need any help with that, would you?
Darren: I thought you were too old for this.
Eric: Please. I just had to say that to shut Jill up!
Jill: (from behind) Oh really...
(Cut to the Satellite, where Galevan overhears Namrock talking to Rhexus and Chouzo.)
Rhexus: I don't get it! Namrock against Namrock? It's just not right!
Namrock: You think I don't know that? All I know for sure is that today's battle was not an isolated incident. One of the two must be eliminated.
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