Battle Heroes X Classic: S01E09

Julius! Zack! Cloud! Popple! Save the Earth! is the ninth episode of the Battle Heroes X series that aired on TV Nexus, the ninth episode of season one, and the ninth episode overall. The episode is also the second part of the season one finale and the final episode of the TV Nexus version of the series. It revolves around Julius, Zack, Cloud, and Popple's skills being put to the ultimate test when Bane threatens Earth with annihilation unless they surrender to him.

The heroes' skills are put to the ultimate test when Bane threatens the Earth.

### Previous Episode

Julius! Zack! Cloud! Popple! Save the Earth! (Part 1)

## The Episode

PREVIOUSLY ON BATTLE HEROES X!!

BANE CALLS AN EXPLOSIVE ATTACK ON THE HEROES!

Cloud leaps in front of the ghostbots as they're about to detonate.

THE HEROES ARE BEAMED UP TO SPD EARTH BASE, WHERE THEY WILL THINK UP A PLAN OF ATTACK AGAINST BANE!

A blue beam of light showered over the heroes, whisking them away to to the legendary SPD Earth Base.

NOW FOR THE EPISODE!!

When the heroes reappeared, they found themselves in a massive building filled to the brim with technology. There were computers at desks everywhere and at all four corners of the base were large turbines humming with a blue glow. In the middle of the hall, there was a towering staircase that led up to a higher and lower level. On the northern wall of the hall was a massive computer monitor with an image of the Earth on it. Uniformed rangers filled the base, either at desks working or going up or down the staircase to and from missions.

Cloud was overwhelmed by the sight. "Woah..." He said wistfully. "This place is...AWESOME!"

"Yup, it's quite a sight," Julius responded.

"You're all here, thank goodness," a voice from behind the four said.

Julius, Zack, Cloud, and Popple turned around to see Roy walking towards them from the crowd.

"SPD Commander Roy!" Julius said, standing to attention.

"At ease, Julius. Let's go somewhere we can sit down and talk. Follow me," Roy walked towards the staircase and down the steps. The heroes followed him. They kept going down until they reached the lower level, which was even larger than the floor above them. At the front of the room was a large exit hole. On this floor, vehicles of all kinds were everywhere. They varied from land vehicles like trucks and jeeps to air vehicles like airplanes and jets, to sea vehicles like boats. Rangers entered the vehicles and departed through the hole, which led back outside. All four heroes stared in awe.

"Wow...so many vehicles!" Popple said, amazed.

"You've been holding out on us, huh?" Cloud turned to Roy.

"Yeah, now that I think about it, why don't we have these?" Julius asked.

"You don't have the clearance for those yet. Once you complete your vehicle training, they'll be at your disposal." Roy answered.

"Yet we're deemed old enough to take on a world-threatening disaster," Zack replied.

Julius glared at Zack, who innocently shrugged.

"No, he's right. This mission is over the top for you four, but like I said, you're the best chance we've got of stopping Bane," Roy said.

The five reached an elevator with a special lock at the center of the door. Roy took a key from his pocket and placed it in the hole, then turned. A holographic keyboard appeared and he inputted a pass code into it. The elevator door opened and everyone entered.

"This elevator leads to the meeting room. The other SPD Commanders are waiting for you. I don't think I need to emphasize the seriousness of the situation," Roy said, looking at Zack in particular.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. I'll be good," Zack said finally.

The elevator arrived at its destination and opened. The floor they were on now was just one room with a large circular table. All around it were SPD commanders from around the world, some even from beyond the world. Various features distinguished them, from horns to extra appendages. They all set their eyes on the newcomers. Roy entered first and had a seat, then gestured his hand to four seats available next him. The heroes took their seats.

"Alright, now that we are all here, we can begin the meeting," Roy said, standing up and getting ready to address everyone.

After clearing his throat, he began. "At 3:20 PM today, an explosive ambush from space was executed on Earth. The intent of the attack was to kill these Delta rangers." Roy pointed to Julius, Zack, Cloud, and Popple. "The assailant? Bane, an evil genius bent on world domination. After his attack, Bane hacked into the cameras of a news network and released this broadcast," Roy pointed to the wall in front of him where a large monitor was rotating into view. When it hummed to life, it revealed Bane seated in his ship with Chan and Hoji standing beside him, weapons ready.

"Greetings, people of Earth. I am Lord Bane, your future ruler. Earlier today, I dispatched an array of bombs and killed your only chances of survival. Now, no one can stop me from destroying this planet and everyone on it."

Bane paused for dramatic effect. "Unless...you comply with my demands. I want full control of every nation's nuclear weaponry. I also want this city under my control first, as my base of operations. Finally, I want every able-bodied citizen in this city as a slave aboard my ship. You have 10 hours to give me what I want. For every hour you keep me waiting, I turn my laser on a randomly selected city in the world. I will be sending an armada of smaller spaceships to collect my slaves. Oh, and one last thing. If I see anything shady going on, anyone trying to play hero and rising up against me, I'll turn Antarctica into the world's largest puddle. Have fun resisting me when your world starts flooding. Do not disappoint me."

The video feed went dead after that.

A SPD commander piped up after the video ended. "So to make a long story short, this Bane has decided to unleash a doomsday device ransom scenario and the people you want on this life-or-death mission are a couple of teenagers?"

"Yes, wouldn't more experienced rangers be better suited for a task like this?" Another SPD commander added. The other commanders talked among themselves, taking their colleagues' comments into consideration.

"Don't rule them out as inexperienced just yet," Roy got up and moved to the front of the room. "There's more than meets the eye. They're young, yes, but they have something no other ranger here has: the element of surprise. Need I remind you that in Bane's eyes, the only people who know how to fight him are burnt to a crisp? Bane has proven himself to be a formidable foe, but these rangers have gone toe to toe with him and thwarted his plans time after time."

The commanders began talking some more with each other.

"Once more, I, a senior SPD Earth Commander, see no other rangers better fit for the job than these ones. Time and time again, they have exhibited qualities that took years to appear in even our top rangers,"

Roy turned to Zack. "Proficiency."

He turned to Popple. "Intelligence."

He turned to Cloud. "Bravery."

Finally, Roy turned to Julius. "Competence."

"I believe that with these rangers on the job, we'll have a fighting chance to take down Bane," Roy concluded.

The entire room broke out in applause from Roy's speech. The heroes beamed with pride.

"It's settled, you four are going out to save the Earth," Roy said.

"Trust me, we're ready," Julius said.

"I always knew you were. Now, let's go over the plans for saving the day..."

...

A couple of hours later, a dozen of Bane's space ships entered the Earth's atmosphere and landed in the city. They landed at the entrance to the city, the agreed upon place where Bane would claim his slaves. Citizens stood there, fearing for their lives. The space ships opened up, revealing ghostbots armed with blasters.

"Come with us, slaves," The ghostbots said in a monotone robotic voice. The people reluctantly boarded the ships, where they were promptly chained together. All but one of the ships departed. The last one was about to close its doors and take off when four people rushed to it.

"What is the meaning of this?" One ghostbot demanded.

"We're here to deliver the, uh, nuclear weapon codes," One of the people answered, scratching his blue hair.

"We have every code for the United States here," Another said, waving a clipboard in his hands. He pulled down the brim of his cap over his face and jet black hair.

"Very well. Hand over the codes and enter the spaceship for enslavement."

The codes were relinquished and the four were escorted into the ship.

"Extend your appendages for imprisonment," The ghostbot now demanded.

None of the four stepped forward for the cuffs. The ghostbot reached forward to take the closest one's hand.

"Now!" Julius yelled.

The ghostbot turned to the source of the voice and its hand was sliced cleaned off by Zack. It immediately raised its other arm to strike the assailant. "Prepare for imminent punishment."

However, a blaster shot from Julius blew a hole through its head, shutting it down. This caught the attention of the other ghostbots.

"Hostiles detected. Lethal force authorize," Another ghostbot said. The other ghostbots began morphing their arms into swords and laser cannons.

Cloud sprung into action, summoning his own sword as he leapt at the ghostbots, slashing and dicing them as he entered the melee.

"Popple, you're up! Time to shut this ship down!" Julius said, firing blaster bolts at an incoming ghostbot.

"On it!" She replied, morphing into her yellow ranger armor and tapping her wrist. A holographic computer screen formed on her forearm and she began typing into it.

"Must alert Bane of resistance," A ghostbot who was entering the holding area stated as it rushed to the front of the transport ship.

"That one's getting away!!" Zack said, thrusting his sword through one robot's chest and kicking it off. A bolt of energy was fired at him and he ducked, narrowly avoiding it. However, his cap was burnt to a crisp.

"Allow me!" Julius aimed his blaster at the fleeing ghostbot and fired. The shot whizzed through the air and hit it in the leg, causing it to stumble and fall down.

"Done!" Popple announced. Suddenly, every ghostbot in the holding area short-circuited and shut down. The light on the ship went out for a moment as well before going back on.

Zack, Julius, and Cloud also morphed into the Green, Red, and Blue rangers respectively.

"All communications with Bane's shuttle have been shut down," Popple said.

"Perfect, now how about the remaining ghostbots in the ship?" Julius asked.

"You know the clipboard we gave the ghostbots? Well, there's a remotely detonated chip on it that's gonna reprogram them right about..." A loud surge of electricity was heard. "Now."

The four made their way to the front and saw two pilot ghostbots staring at them. Popple typed something into the holographic computer on her wrist. They turned back to the front and the ship hummed to life, taking off.

The ship left Earth and headed for Bane's shuttle, which was orbiting around Earth. As they entered the shuttle, the heroes saw Bane's laser cannon attached to the top of it.

"Woah..." All four teens said in unison.

The spaceship landed in an area with another 40 other ships like it. The other ships, however, were filled with people. Men, women, children, all were being herded out like cattle out through a large doorway on the other side of the area. The four heroes stepped out silently through the side of their ship and Popple tapped something into her wrist. The ship they entered in maneuvered up and exited the shuttle.

"They know what to do next?" Zack asked Popple, who nodded.

"Let's roll out," Julius said, looking to his left and right before sneaking towards the pathway that led out of the landing area. The others followed. Right before they could leave, an alarm went off. The area was blinking red and blue as the path out was blocked by a metal wall that appeared on it.

"INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!" A robotic voice on the intercom said.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Julius yelled in frustration.

Ghostbot after ghostbot entered in, all their laser sights pointed at the heroes' heads.

"Great, just great." Zack rolled his eyes and glared at Julius.

The four were escorted to a massive elevator that led to every level on the shuttle. A ghostbot pressed a button and the elevator ascended to the top floor. The heroes were taken to a room with a computer monitor mounted on the wall which showed the deadly laser cannon in full view. There were three men with their back to the intruders. They turned around, revealing themselves to be...Bane and his two henchmen, Chan and Hoji!

"Well, what do we have here?" He said, satisfaction oozing from his voice.

A ghostbot shoved them on their knees before Bane. "These four were found in the spaceship landing area, sir. They snuck in through one of our slave collectors."

Bane stared at the heroes for a moment before beginning to laugh. "Now, isn't this just great? Here I was, thinking you were all extra crispy piles of ash on Earth, yet you're right here in front of me!"

"How did you detect us so quickly, Bane? How?!" Julius asked, frustrated.

Hoji smirked. "You dumbasses really thought that you could sneak onto Bane's shuttle without him knowing?"

"Yeah, we've got eyes everywhere in here!" Chan chimed in smugly.

Bane paced around the teens, eyeing them up and down. "Don't worry, there's some good news. Well, good news for me, anyway. When I thought you four were dead, part of me was disappointed..."

He stopped pacing and continued to look at them, fire in his eyes. "...Disappointed that I didn't have the satisfaction of watching you die with my own two eyes!"

Bane snapped his fingers and Chan and Hoji stepped forward. Chan morphed into his robotic alien armor form and Hoji cracked his knuckles menacingly. Both looked pleadingly to Bane.

"...Ah what the hell, I'm a sucker for pain and agony. Go ahead, boys!"

"With pleasure, boss," Chan said before punching Zack as hard as he could in the stomach, doubling him over. Julius got up to charge at Chan, but Hoji clocked him in the face with a right hook that sent him back on the ground, hard. Chan then moved on to Cloud and Popple, grabbing them by their heads and slamming them on the floor.

"Lovely, lovely! So, which of you gets to die first?" Bane turned towards Chan and Hoji. "What do you think, boys?"

Chan laughed, transforming one of his arms into a blade and aiming it at Zack. "How about Zack first, he's gotta pay for the other day!"

Hoji had his eyes on Julius. "Bitch boy over here netted me some time in the cage. If anyone deserves to go first..."

He immediately moved to Popple. "It's his little lady friend here."

Bane stroked his chin, mulling over his options. "All excellent choices, but I almost forgot! Just because you defied my demands, I'm going to set the Arctic ablaze with my laser cannon! You four have the privilege of watching me kill your planet, while I kill you! Ha. Haha. HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Bane pressed a button and the laser began to charge up. He then cackled madly. Chan and Hoji joined in as well.

"Ahem, ok, enough playing with my food," Bane recomposed himself and pointed at Popple. "I want her dead first, because I know it'll break the other threes' hearts before I *literally* break their hearts."

Hoji's gauntlets materialized on his hands and crackled with black lightning. The first hit got her in the face and she crumpled on the ground, groaning. "Say your prayers, sweetie."

"POPPLE! GET AWAY FROM HER!" Julius yelled. Chan struck him.

"Ooh, never seen that kind of fire from you, Foolius," Bane turned to Chan and Hoji "You see?! THIS. THIS IS HOW A VILLAIN REALLY GETS THE JOB DONE!" He said triumphantly.

"Aw man, Bane, can you...can you stop?" Zack said groggily from on the ground.

Bane turned to Zack. "Can I stop what, Zack? Stop DOMINATING you all?!"

"No...stop...stop...*stop...."* Zack's voice began to fade.

Bane leaned closer to hear Zack.

"Stop...stop spitting whenever you speak, man. God, that's disgusting."

Bane was taken aback. "I do NOT do that," He said defensively.

"Do...what?" Julius asked, in pain.

"Spit when I talk!" Bane said as he turned to Julius.

"There he goes again," Zack rolled his eyes and looked at Julius.

"I did not!"

"No, you definitely did, Bane. I got some on my helmet and everything," Julius turned to Chan. "Hey, Chan, before you kill me, could you at least have one of the ghostbots wipe my helmet or something? If I'm gonna go down, I wanna die being able to see who's killing me."

"Shut up!" Chan kicked Julius in the back and he fell on the ground.

"Aw come on, Bane! You managed to get some on me, too! And you're not even looking in my direction!" Cloud yelled.

"Silence, fool!" Hoji said, kicking him.

Cloud looked up at Hoji. "Be honest, Hoji, does Bane spit when he talks?"

"HOJI DON'T ANSWER THAT!"

"You know who else does that? Babies!" Popple added.

"That's so true, Popple," Zack agreed. "What's wrong Bane? All that time in preschool and you never learned how to talk without getting saliva everywhere?" Zack taunted.

"You're talking a lot of shit for a guy who's about to die, Zack," Bane stated.

"If I'm dying today, I'm dying the way I lived, talking shit. You know what you do, Bane? Talk spit."

"I DO NOT TALK SPIT SHUT UP!"

"How about *you* shut up, Bane! It's like standing in front of a sprinkler!" Cloud said.

"Bane talks spit! Bane talks spit!" Zack began to chant. Julius, Cloud, and Popple soon joined in.

"ALRIGHT SHUT UP ALL OF YOU!" Bane fired a shadow ball at the ground, which made a loud boom sound. The room went silent.

"IT DOESN'T MATTER WHETHER OR NO I SPIT WHEN I TALK, WHICH I DEFINITELY DON'T! I'M BLOWING UP THE ICE CAPS AND KILLING YOU ALL!" Bane turned to Chan and Hoji. "FORGET WHAT I SAID ABOUT THE GIRL, I WANT ZACK FIRST, GOT IT?!"

Hoji got Zack in a full nelson and Chan readied his blades to slice him up. Bane activated the laser and was about to press the button to fire it when the entire room began to shake and everything went black.

THREE HOURS AGO...

Julius, Zack, Cloud, and Popple stood at a round table with Roy, schematics and a checklist on the table.

"So, when you four successfully commandeer a spaceship, drop yourselves off in the landing area and allow Bane's forces to apprehend you. But before that happens," Roy turned to Popple. "You're gonna have the ship take a specific route around the moon, picking up as much speed as possible. While that's happening, all of you have to stall as much time as you can until it's fast enough. When its velocity is at its highest, you're gonna send that thing straight at that laser cannon of his. By the time the ghostbots realize that the ship isn't responding to communications and has been compromised, it'll be too late for them to react. Get to the cells, free the prisoners, and get to the landing area ASAP so we can begin phase three. For that we'll need two of you..."

BACK TO PRESENT TIME

Bane got up and held his head. "What...the hell...just happened?" He turned to the last still functioning ghostbot in the room. "Status report."

The ghostbot's head fizzled and crackled. "The spacecraft--spacecraft was hit by a slave collector ship--ship moving at a high velocity that had gone off the grid."

"Damages?"

"Minor damage across the ship. However--ever, the laser cannon took the most damage. It is at 89% firing capabilities."

"Fire it at Earth. FIRE IT NOW!"

"That action cannot be performed right now, the cannon fired after the rogue ship impacted with it. It will take at least 20 minutes to reposition and recharge for another hit.

Bane looked around and saw Chan and Hoji on the ground, moaning and groaning. However, no sign of the heroes.

"Get me eyes," Bane commanded urgently. "Get me eyes on the landing area for the ships,"

The computer monitor on the wall, now with multiple cracks on the screen, hummed to life and showed the heroes leading the prisoners to the landing area, where SPD carriers awaited them.

"The SPD forces and the intruders have been fighting off ghostbot forces and freeing the prisoner--prison--pri…." The ghostbot shut down and deactivated.

"My plans...MY PLAAAANNNSSS!!" Bane turned to the downed Chan and Hoji, firing a shadow ball at them. The impact of it sent them flying into the air and back on the ground, groaning but awake.

"WHILE YOU NUMBSKULLS WERE DOZING OFF, THOSE LITTLE SHITS WERE TAKING AWAY MY FREE LABOR! WE'RE GOING DOWN TO STOP THEM AND IF WE DON'T STOP THEM I SWEAR TO GOD BEING IN A CAGE WITH ONLY FECES TO EAT WILL BE THE LEAST OF YOUR PROBLEMS!"

Chan and Hoji were speechless, mostly because that was the largest amount of Bane's saliva they got on their faces in the history of working for him.

Both ignored this however, fearing for their lives. "Yes, sir..." Bane made his way to the elevators along with Chan and Hoji.

Meanwhile, Julius, Zack, Cloud and Popple watched as the prisoners they had freed were getting on the SPD transport carriers.

"That. Was. AWESOME!!" Cloud yelled at the top of his lungs.

Julius nodded. "Mission accomplished. Zack, nice job stalling with the spit bit. It saved our behinds."

Zack shrugged, a grin on his face. "It's true though, it's like talking to a shower head. What really floored me was your acting. The whole POPPLE bit? Genius."

Julius began to blush. "Now hold on a sec...."

"I thought it was sweet," Cloud teased. "Especially since she's your girlfrienndddd…."

Julius became flustered and blushed. "K-know what I loved?" He pointed at Zack. "When Chan punched you in the stomach and you *totally* faked falling on the ground in pain!"

"Really? Cause your performance when Hoji hit you was spectacular. And that was just a love tap."

"A love tap? A love tap?" Julius deactivated his helmet and pointed to where he was hit. The area had already begun to swell. "Does this look like a love tap to you?! He put everything he had into that punch!"

"Pfft. Mine's bigger."

"That's a load of bull!"

Cloud got in between them. "Alright, alright, calm down, you two. Besides," Cloud deactivated his helmet and pointed to the welt he got from Chan. "Mine's the biggest outta the three of us anyway."

All three of them stopped when they heard laughing. They turned to see that Popple was cracking herself up. Slowly, the others joined in until they were all laughing.

The moment was interrupted by a roar of anger from across the area. Bane had arrived with Chan and Hoji. And they were blazing furious.

"IT'S THE END OF THE LINE FOR YOU BRATS," He said as he fired a shadow ball at one of the carriers, barely missing as it departed the shuttle. The others followed suit. Julius' communicator beeped and a hologram of Roy appeared.

"How's it going up there? Are you ready to begin phase three?" He asked.

"Good, good, everyone's on the carriers and now we're getting ready to go--OOF!" Julius was interrupted as a shadow ball connected with his abdomen and he slid across the ground on his back. Zack picked up the dropped communicator.

"Everything's good here, Commander. Just one teensy problem: Bane's in the docking area and he's pissed. Here's Cloud." Zack threw the communicator to Cloud as he charged at Bane with his sword.

"Uh, hey Commander, we'll be back soon! Warm up the high-five machine! Bye!" Cloud quickly hanged up and ran after Zack to charge at Bane. Both of them were sent flying by Chan and Hoji's punches.

"I've done too much work, sacrificed too much time, just for this to fail. Ohhh no, I'm not letting this plan fall through," Bane made his way slowly to the other side of the area, where the few remaining carriers began to take off. Popple went after Bane as well, firing her blaster. Bane simply fired a large shadow ball that destroyed the other projectiles and hit Popple.

All 3 of them were sent sliding across the ground just like Julius and stopped near him. Zack and Cloud got up and began providing covering fire while using one of the ships for cover, which slowed the advancing villains down a bit. Popple took out her own communicator and Roy's hologram re-appeared before them. "What happened back there?"

"It's Bane and his henchmen! They're here with us, but we're ready for phase three!" Popple answered over the gun fire.

The space commander shook his head. "Negative, you can't start with Bane there."

"Can't we just fight him and do phase three at the same time?"

"Too dangerous. Bane by himself is already a lot, but with his henchmen? Impossible."

Zack threw a small spherical object and Bane, Chan, and Hoji. When it landed on the ground, a large wave of green fire spread across the entire area like a wall. He then went down behind the cover to reload. Cloud fired a few more shots before going down as well to reload. "What if I lured him out of the landing area?" Zack volunteered.

Roy, Julius, Popple and Cloud looked at him, surprised. "No way. You'd be alone with all three of them. Not only that, but how would you escape the ship in time?" The SPD commander responded.

Zack ignored Roy's question. "Destroying the shuttle is our priority," He said plainly.

Now Julius spoke up. "I'll go with him. We only need two people minimum to do phase three, right?"

"You're right, Julius. Then it's settled, Zack and Julius will lure Bane and the others away while Cloud and Popple execute phase three."

Popple de-activated her helmet, took Julius' hand and gave it a quick squeeze. "Don't die, alright?" She looked at Zack. "Same goes for you. I'm not losing any friends today." Popple added. Cloud nodded in agreement.

Julius smiled and squeezed her hand back. "Y-you kidding, Popple? I couldn't even die on purpose!" He was trying his best to look brave and tough, but it was noticeable that he was incredibly nervous.

Zack shook Julius' shoulder. "We gotta go, lover boy."

Julius nodded and quickly kissed Popple on the cheek as he got up. "Zack and I got this in the bag." The two heroes then started walking towards Bane, Chan and Hoji.

"Good luck, you two. Now to explain phase three. I want you to hack into as many of the space ships as you can. When I give the signal, set them all to travel to the top of this shuttle and evacuate in the last SPD carrier."

Popple and Cloud nodded and got to work, activating holographic screens on their armor's arms. Meanwhile, Zack and Julius approached the wall of green fire, which was beginning to fade, revealing a furious Bane and his henchmen. The heroes ran at them. Bane looked on, unamused. "Destroy them."

Chan fired lasers and Hoji activated his arm cannons, sending out a concentrated barrage of lightning at them. Zack and Julius acrobatically dodge the lasers and lightning bolts. The two ran past Bane and his henchmen.

"Gee, I wonder if Bane's laser cannon is unguarded! Let's go find out!" Zack yelled as they passed Bane and ran towards the elevator.

"AFTER THEM YOU TWITS!" Bane yelled, shoving Chan and Hoji. Bane began floating upwards through the ceiling.

Zack and Julius got to the elevator and began their ascent to the top floor, where they were taken to Bane earlier. Chan and Hoji came just in time to see the door close and the elevator car rising up.

Chan activated his robotic form and began to climb up after them. Hoji followed suit. As the elevator rose up, energy shots came from under the elevator car and narrowly missed them. Finally, they arrived at the top floor, where Bane was waiting. He was laughing as they came in.

"It's over, I have the winning hand! Not only is the laser nearly charged up, not only am I going to get what I want, but the entire SPD fleet you brought to rescue *my* slaves? They're right in the path of fire! Face it, you lost!" Chan and Hoji came from behind them and surrounded Zack and Julius. Bane was in front of them with the remote in his hand, with Chan and Hoji coming from behind.

"Any last words, fools?" Bane asked, a shadow ball charging in his palm. It began to increase and increase in size.

"Leap frog!" Julius exclaimed, running at Bane. Zack ran close behind him.

"Weird, I was expecting 'please don't kill me!' or, 'this isn't over!' or something. Oh well," He fired the shadow ball at them. About halfway towards Bane, Julius bent over and got down on one knee. Zack, using his back as a springboard, leapt right over the shadow ball and kicked Bane clean in the face. Julius low profilied the shadowy attack. The impact of Zack's kick knocked the villain to the ground and the remote slid across the ground.

"Hell yeah!" Julius shouted as he ran over and grabbed the remote.

"You idiots, you're still too late! The laser's already set to fire when it reaches 100%!" Chan said as he and Hoji approached them. Zack and Julius had their backs against the wall.

Julius summoned his twin blasters and put them together to make a combined rifle. He held down the trigger and the entire thing began to glow. Chan and Hoji saw what was going on and began to look nervous. Even Zack looked surprised.

"Julius, what the hell are you doing?"

Julius turned to look at Zack. "Just trust me, alright? For once, can you trust me with this?"

Zack paused for a moment, but finally nodded. "Alright then...take it away, Red Ranger."

Julius now turned to Chan and Hoji. "Quick question, Chan and Hoji. What're your thoughts on outer space?" Julius asked.

"STOP...HIM!" Bane commanded while on the ground. Chan and Hoji ran at them, trying to stop Julius from firing at the wall to open the cabin, but they were too late. Julius aimed the gun at the wall and the entire wall blasted open, sucking everyone into space. Zack and Julius' armor protected them, but Bane, Chan and Hoji floated in the protection of a Shadow Sphere. It was slowly coming after the two. Back in the landing area, Cloud and Popple had a bunch of space ships lined up at the exit of the space shuttle. Popple's communicator buzzed and Roy's holographic form appeared.

"Almost ready...activate it, right about...NOW!" Zack yelled out.

As the two Rangers watched, space ship after space ship after space ship flew from out of the landing area, above the space shuttle, and right into the laser cannon, which was about to fire a death beam at the SPD carriers holding hundreds of former prisoners. A single space ship ramming into it didn't do much, but it added up as each one hit the laser cannon in the same area, causing it to slowly but surely bend it out of its direction. By the time the last space ship had hit it, the laser cannon was aiming straight down at Bane's entire space shuttle.

"Holy F--" Were the only words Bane could get out as everyone's' vision was filled with bright lights. Bane's shuttle exploded into pieces, the recoil of the explosion sending Bane's shadow sphere, along with Chan and Hoji, floating away into space.

"THIS ISN'T OVER, RANGERS! NOT BY A LONG SSSHHHOTTTTT....." Bane yelled as he was sent away from the explosion.

Zack and Julius were violently sent hurtling away as well in the direction of Earth and the carriers. The last thing the two saw before losing consciousness were the letters SP and D painted on a spaceship and a voice calling for them.

...

Julius woke up in a bed. Side by side with him, in another bed, was Zack. Cloud was staring down at them, worried. Commander Roy was looking at something else.

"Hey...Guys, look! I think Julius is waking up!" Cloud said, waving Roy over. Julius blinked his eyes slowly and looked around his surroundings.

"Where...am I?" He asked.

"The SPD medical bay. You took quite a beating out there," Roy said, a hint of relief in his voice.

Everything returned to him slowly. The plan, the rescue, the explosion. "What's going on, Commander? Why is my--" He tried to get up, but was met with a searing pain in his entire body. "Argh!! My...everything hurts! How did we..."

Roy answered that. "Survive? You two barely cleared enough of the blast radius to make it out alive. Just a bit closer and this might've been a different story."

Now it was Zack's turn to wake up, and he looked around his surrounding for a moment before making his judgement. "What's this...heaven?"

Roy's bearded face came into Zack's view. "Afraid not, son."

Zack blinked a few time. "Hell it is."

"ZACK!" Cloud said, ecstatic.

"Cloud!" Zack said back, smiling. Cloud had a bandage on his face where he had been struck by Chan.

The next person to come in was Popple, who saw the both of them awake and immediately ran to give them bear hugs. Julius and Zack both cried out in pain and Popple backed up. "Oops, forgot about how sore you two are, sorry!" She also had a bandage from where she was hit.

"Popple! We made it, we're alive!" Julius said, laughing and happy.

"The team's back together again!" Cloud said, pumping his fist into the air.

"A-ahem, now that you're all awake, I wanted you all to know that SPD--no, the entire Earth owes a great deal to you four for what you did."

"When do they not owe us a great deal? it's our job to save the day," Zack said with a grin, his cockiness returning.

"After the incident, we've been working on cleaning up the remains of Bane's shuttle in space.

A serious expression formed on Julius' face. "Any sign of Bane, Chan, or Hoji?"

"We found them floating about the wreckage of the shuttle and took them in. All three of them are going to face justice for their crimes."

Zack grinned. "About time."

"How long's it been?" Julius asked.

Cloud looked down at the ground. "Oh, I don't know...around a week."

"An entire week?!" Zack exclaimed.

"Don't worry, your parents have been given a story regarding your whereabouts. Plus, we have some of the best medical technology on the planet right here. Right now, what you two need to worry about is relaxing and recovering. SPD will be in touch," Roy said as he got up and patted both Zack and Julius on the knees and departed. When the door closed, Zack and Julius exhaled a breath of relief.

"Oh, thank goodness he's gone! I don't wanna hear any business stuff, I just wanna get some rest!" Julius admitted.

"Rest, rest, rest, that's all you do, Julius." Zack stated seriously before a smile appeared on his face. "Only kidding."

"Well, we're glad that you're ok, guys," Popple said, smiling at them.

"Yeah, now you gotta get back on the street so we can finish Retro Boy World!" Cloud said.

"You said it, Cloud," Zack agreed. Julius nodded his head also.

"We'll give you guys some time to get some sleep now, you deserve it," Cloud said.

"We all do, because we saved the Earth together, guys!" Julius said, trying to pump his fist in the air, but wincing and lowing it instead.

Cloud said goodbye before leaving and Popple gave them light hugs and Julius a kiss on the forehead before leaving.

When Popple and Cloud left, Julius and Zack laid in silence together.

"Zack?" Julius asked.

"Yeah?" Zack replied.

"Thanks...thanks for trusting me back there."

"...Of course, man, we're teammates, and teammates trust each other. Just keep one thing in the back of your mind, though."

"What is it?"

"If you ever, and I mean *ever,* launch me into space for some half-baked plan of yours, I'm beating the crap outta you, no questions asked."

Julius chuckled. "Yeah, alright, man."

"No, I'm serious, I'll beat you 'till you're seeing double if you do something like that again. We almost died back there."

"Aw, c'mon, Zack! It was a ballsy move, but it worked out!"

"Ballsy and unexpected for someone like you. It was something an amateur would do."

"Are you saying that I'm not an amateur?" Julius' face lit up.

"I never said that." Zack said.

"Oh..."

"...Then again...I never called you an amateur either..."

A confused expression grew on Julius' face. "I...I don't get what you're trying to say."

"What I'm trying to say is...is..." Zack coughed, struggling with his next sentence. "I think that you're...not an idiot."

"Are you...are you trying to compliment me?"

"Yes, I am. Now get off my back about it, this is entirely new to me."

"Hehe...Thanks, Zack."

The two both look up to the ceiling, relaxing.

2 WEEKS LATER

It was an normal Friday afternoon, and the students at the Academy were running out, free to do what they pleased for the weekend. Julius, Zack, Cloud, and Popple were already out and on their usual journey that led to their homes. By now, Julius and Zack had fully recovered and had been released from the medical bay.

"So...what're we doing this weekend?" Cloud asked.

Julius shrugged. "I don't know, man. I'll do anything. I'm just that bored."

Zack looked at Julius. "How about a training session, then?"

Julius looked away. "Haha...ha, no. Ok, I'm not *that* bored."

Popple thought for a moment. "How about we get back up on Retro Boy World? We were pretty much finished before Bane ruined out weekend plans."

Cloud looked up to the sky as they neared his house. "I've been thinking about that, guys. Listen, a month ago, we saved the entire world from being Bane's slaves. And I almost lost two of my best friends. I feel like it's time we grew up and moved on. The past is fun, but we gotta keep moving forward so we don't lose what we have now, y'know?"

Cloud didn't get a response, as Zack, Julius, and Popple had stopped moving and talking. Their eyes were fixed on what was ahead of them.

"...I said, y'know? C'mon guys, I was having a deep moment and now it's ruined." Cloud huffed. "Ok, what exactly are you guys looking at?"

All three of them pointed at the boys' backyard. Ahead of them, right the backyard, was the treehouse, now fully finished and filled with wires stemming back to his house. Videogames of all kinds were hooked up in it. Retro Boy World had been finished. But by who? When the four entered the backyard, there were two things waiting for them: A pizza delivery man with 5 extra large pizzas with cheese and pepperoni. Someone had already paid for them and he just had to deliver them. The other thing was a note. Cloud picked it up and read it aloud:

"Cloud, Zack, Julius, Popple,

You're all some special kids with bright futures ahead of you. And although you're growing up and changing, that doesn't mean you can't have fun. We took the liberty of finishing your project for you and adding some upgrades of our own. Consider this and the free pizza as our thanks to you.

The Best

Roy and SPD."

 Now all four of the heroes were looking up at the awesome treehouse.

"Retro," Julius started.

"Boy," Zack continued.

"World," Popple and Cloud finished.

Julius turned to Cloud. "Sorry Cloud, we zoned out, what were you saying? Something abou--"

Tears began to appear in Cloud's eyes. He wiped them away. "Nothin', man. Just nothin'. Let's get in there and play. LIKE THERE IS NO TOMORROW!!!!

"YEAH!" Julius, Zack, and Popple agreed. All four of them went towards the treehouse and climbed up, ready to enjoy their weekend.

The End.

## Trivia

- Bane and Chan saying they wanted "Zack First" is a reference to an alias of Zacharias Smith's.