In the Boma airship, Hellivore stepped forward. "Our forces are constantly depleting.", he announced. "So I and one of my warriors have devised a solution."

"Really?", Malchemist asked, fascinated. "What would that be?"

"I'm glad you asked.", a voice came from a metallic figure, with an appearance resembling a cross between a knight and a conch shell. From his body hung a transparent sickle attached to a chain. "I, Metalner will restore our ranks and deal with the Power Rangers."

"And how do you intend to do the former?", Reptillia asked, throwing her whip handle at Metalner, which bounced off him. "Your skin may be almost entirely endurable, but you can't expect them not to think around that weakness."

"They won't get the chance.", Metalner stated. He zapped an unaware Bugroth and a pair of Savants with a beam from his mouth, causing them to be trapped in cocoons. "These cocoons overwrite the DNA of their occupants, replacing it with my own. In 3 hours, their minds are brainwashed into obedience to Malgramon, in 4 hours, they become an exact copy of myself, and in 6 hours, the process will be complete."

Malchemist was confused. "What requires the process's final two hours after they become obedient replicas?"

"The clones need that time to develop a resistance to sunlight.", Hellivore explained. "Without it, the process will be undone within 5 seconds of exposure. Once the full six hours have elapsed, the process becomes irreversible."

"Not that it matters.", Metalner declared, as he used his sickle to cut the cocoons open, freeing their captives. "Only this sickle made of diamond can cut through the cocoons. And I never let it out of my sight."

"Thanks for letting me out.", Bugroth wheezed. "I don't know how long I could've lasted in there."

"Neither will the Power Rangers.", Hellivore declared. "They'll be the first members of my Metalner Legion. And with them out of the way, nothing will stand in the way of the Bomas."

Back with the Rangers, their tour of the state had taken them to an industrial town by the name of Albertville. Drew, Artie, Roland and Raquel were on a tour of the local industrial plant. "Are you sure Ricky couldn't make it?", Artie asked Drew, who once again was sharing a room with Ricky.

"He said his family would be calling him from back in Crosslands.", Drew answered. "So he'll be held up in his room until he gets their call. He promised to meet us for lunch though."

"Does it matter if he misses one thing?", Raquel said rhetorically. "We've been doing a lot of stuff together and he's not joined at the hip with any of us. Let the boy have a life."

"Can we keep it down, please?", Roland hissed. "I'm trying to listen to the tour. I'm considering a career in engineering and I could do without the -." He was interrupted by the sight of a Boma fighter landing nearby. "-interruptions."

"They just don't let up.", Drew sighed. "You guys get us excused. I'll conference Ricky in." He went over to one side and opened his communicator.

In the hotel room, Ricky was sitting down on the one provided chair, which was at a makeup station. He was waiting for his mom to call him from back in Crosslands. He had taken the liberty of finding out the numbers of all the places Raquel had arranged for them to stay with the tour guides and let her know before he left. They had agreed to call each other for every third or fourth day of the two week trip, a deadline that fell on today. So, to receive the call, he had asked to be left in solitude.

Solitude that was broken by an alert from his communicator. "Ricky, there's an emergency at the power plant we're visiting. I'm sorry to take you away from your mom calling, but a Boma has touched down near here and we'd like to be careful."

Ricky sighed. "Sorry, Mom. Duty calls." He said this to the phone as he darted up and left the room.

As Ricky ran from the hotel, he was observed by Damos. "Where Ricky is going, the Bomas are sure to be not far behind.", he commented as he began to follow Ricky.

At the power plant, the 4 Rangers present, now morphed, came fact to face with a rolling cocoon. "Hey you, stop!", Drew yelled as he pointed at the cocoon. The cocoon complied.

"So you're here.", Hellivore declared from atop a gantry, as everyone turned towards him. "I'd have preferred all of you here, but I don't need to deal with the Red Ranger now. Go, Metalner."

The cocoon uprighted itself and burst open to reveal Metalner, who drew his diamond sickle. "You called, sir?"

"So this is your latest ugly.", Drew stated. "We'll take care of him."

Artie and Roland presented their weapons. "Trek Blaster!"

"Dune Bow!" The two fired, but Metalner took their shots with no damage other than that to the surrounding scenery.

"I'll go next.", Drew announced as he pulled out his own weapon. "Convoy Hammer!" But upon contact with Metalner's cranium, the Convoy Hammer's head broke off. "What the?"

"You bore me.", Metalner announced as he punched Drew back towards the others.

"Maybe we need more power.", Raquel suggested as she combined her Motor Staff with her Vroom Blaster. "Dual Slider, fire!" But the shots proved just as ineffective as her teammates' efforts. "It can't be. He's absorbing our attacks."

Metalner could only tut at this. "Took you long enough to figure that out, brainiac."

"Do it now, Metalner!", Hellivore commanded.

"You got it, boss." Metalner swung his sickle into the ground, creating an explosion that sent all of the Rangers flying and knocked them out of their morph. "Now to do what I came here for." He blasted the 4 with his beam, trapping them in cocoons like his own. "I got 'em, Mister Hellivore. I got 'em."

"Not all of them.", Hellivore mused. "There's still one missing."

It was at that moment that Ricky came running. "Guys, where are you?", he called out. "Drew! Artie! Roland, Raquel! If you can hear me, call back."

He then heard muffled yelps coming from the 4 cocoons, going over to them. "Are you guys in there? Don't worry, I'll get you out." He instantly morphed into the Red Rangers and began swinging his Auto and Gearshift Sabers at the cocoons. But after a few seconds of frantic swinging, he had failed to make a dent in any of the cocoons. "Why won't they break?"

"Because all of them are indestructible.", Metalner appeared and declared. "Only the diamond sickle around my neck, or something just as sharp, can hope to cut through them. And even then, you only have 6 hours until they become my loyal servants."

"Six hours is no time at all.", Ricky stated. "I'll beat you before then." He ran towards Metalner and swung both swords at him, failing to do any damage. "What?"

Metalner then knocked him back. "My body is made of the strongest metal on this planet. You can't harm me unless you hit my weak point."

"You fool." Hellivore leapt down and slashed at the recovering Ricky, knocking him out of his morph. "You almost said too much. We'll take our prize and allow the Red Ranger to wallow in his own failure." He walked over to the cocoons with Metalner, with all of them teleporting out, leaving Ricky alone.

From the side, Damos had observed all this. "So, Ricky has to figure out that thing's weakness in order to beat it. There's no way he can do that by himself in the time provided." He noted. "So, there's only one thing to do."

At the Boma Palace back in Crosslands, the Crab Boma reported to Malgramon. "Word has reached us from Hellivore. He claims that he has captured 4 of the Power Rangers and placed them in Metalner's cocoons."

"Excellent.", Malgramon applauded this news. "With four of the Rangers in our ranks, it is only a matter of time until the other one and Damos fall to us."

"Should I command him to turn the two of them into Metalners?", the demonic Boma asked.

"Go ahead.", Malgramon nodded. "The irony that I'll be conquering this planet with the aid of my enemy's servants. It's delicious." He broke out into maniacal laughter.

Elsewhere in Crosslands, Kalia and Beck had received news of the predicament from Ricky. "This is bad.", Kalia stated. "If we can't get them out before the time limit has expired, then the other Rangers will be turned into Metalner clones. And there's no cure for that."

"What will you do?", Beck asked Ricky. "If what you say is true, we can't break that Boma's armour, or his cocoons."

"Nothing's completely unbreakable.", Ricky stated, totally serious. "I just need to hone my technique with my two swords so I can hit him with enough force."

"Be quick.", Kalia urged. "We have no idea how long the others have left until they permanently become Metalners."

"Presumably not long.", Beck answered her. "But she's right Ricky, every second counts. Don't waste two much time."

"I'll bear that in mind.", Ricky nodded as he ended the communication.

In a cave, Hellivore and Metalner placed the cocoons down several feet inside. "There, even if the Red Ranger can break them out in time, they'll be far enough away from the sun to be turned back to normal.", the latter noted.

"I wonder how the children are doing, as their bodies and minds are slowly and irreparably changed beyond recognition.", Hellivore commented. Then, he received a telepathic message from Malchemist. "What do you want, old man?"

"A new order has come in from Malgramon.", Malchemist's voice echoed in his mind. "You are to capture the Red Ranger and Damos and place them both in Metalner's cocoons."

"I would've done that without orders.", Hellivore snapped. "But if that's what Malgramon wants, then who am I to deny him?"

Inside the cocoons, each of the Rangers were beginning to mutate, their hands having begun to reshape into barbs, while their skin turned silver. "The pain!", Artie cried out. "My body's on fire."

"Where's Ricky?", Raquel asked. "Why isn't he saving us from this pain?"

"Heck, why isn't anyone saving us from this?", Drew yelled. "Pallagos, Kalia, Ricky… everybody we can rely on has let us down."

"There's only one person that can help us out of this.", Roland stated. "Malgramon!"

"Malgramon!", the 4 all stated in unison, as the brainwashing part of the transformation kicked in.

In the quarry, Ricky, morphed into the Red Ranger, cut through a rock with his two swords. "That one took two seconds less than the last one to cut through.", he noted. "If I can keep it up, that freak won't be much trouble for me in no time."

"Yes, cutting through rocks will give your blades the strength to cut through something harder than titanium." Ricky turned around to the source of the voice, who turned out to be Damos. "Flawless logic."

"Damos!", Ricky said as he got defensive. "What do you want?"

"Fight me, Ricky.", Damos insisted, signalling for his spider to generate his cutlass. "Give me all you've got."

"You got it." Ricky nodded, before running forward and throwing his Auto Saber at Damos, who blocked it with his cutlass. Damos then kicked him back before he could swing his Gearshift Saber. Damos then threw a punch that knocked Ricky backwards. "You've improved since we last fought.", he noted.

"Of course I have.", Damos declared, putting his sword on his shoulder. "Why do you think I left? It was so I could catch up to you in terms of skill. It' s clear that you didn't do likewise."

"I'll show you who hasn't caught up.", Ricky yelled as he ran towards Damos, who responded in kind. As the two crossed swords, neither seemed to be willing to let the other stand up for long.

"Let me demonstrate a new move I picked up.", Damos stated as he generated several mirror images of himself. "You could say, I've had time to practice in my own company." All of them then slashed at Ricky, knocking him back, before running towards him.

Ricky pulled himself up. "I need to take out the real one.", he realised. "I need to focus." As the horde of Damoses leapt towards him, he slashed at the one he saw was casting a shadow, with both hitting each other twice. After a few seconds, Ricky fell down.

"Too easy.", Damos declared as Ricky stumbled. But as he raised his cutlass, he also fell down. "Well done.", he commented. "You found my weak point all on your own."

"'Weak point'?", Ricky realised what Damos was trying to show him. "Of course, Metalner mentioned that he had a weak point. I just need to find it by myself."

"You won't get that opportunity.", Hellivore announced as he and Metalner entered the scene. "I was ordered to find and convert the two of you into my latest conscripts for the Metalner legion."

"You'll have to catch me first." Damos declared as his spider spun its threads into a rifle, which he fired at the two, causing them to separate. He then leapt down to engages in a sword fight with Hellivore. "Now Ricky, get going."

"Okay.", Ricky nodded and set off running, noticing the footprints on the ground. "They must've come from wherever they've hidden my friends. If I can follow my way back there, then I can free them."

Back at Highway Base, Beck received a telephone call. "Hello?", he said. "Who is it?"

"Hi, Nat, it's Harriet. You know, Raquel's mother and your co-worker?", the voice on the other end replied.

"Ah, Mrs. Collins.", Beck suddenly changed his tone, trying to sound charming. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"It's about my daughter and her friends.", was Mrs. Collins' response, which shocked Beck into seriousness. "Ricky's mother tried to call him earlier, but got no response. When she told me and the other kids in their groups' moms, we all tried calling, but got no response either. You're the one who they've been spending a lot of time with recently. Do you know why they aren't calling us back?"

Beck paused, thinking of something to say. Then he came out with. "I'm sure they're fine. They're probably just unable to come to the phone right now. If I can get them, I'll make sure that Raquel calls you personally."

"I see.", came Mrs. Collins' voice over the phone, in a disappointed tone. "Sorry for taking up your time, Nat. I'll talk to you when the semester resumes." The phone then rung off on the other end.

Beck sighed at this. "I wish I could be more honest with her. With all the kids' parents.", he thought. "As of right now, all I can hope is that Ricky rescues the others in time."

In the cocoons, the 4 Rangers had almost finished their mutations into copies of Metalner.

In the forests, Ricky ran along the path. The footprints are getting less fresh.", he noted. "I should be getting nearer to their location."

"You are on the right path.", Metalner declared as he leapt out and tackled Ricky to the ground. "But you don't think I'm going to let you get there easily. Not when the process is almost complete." He then slashed at Ricky again with his barbed arms.

Ricky didn't attack straight away, instead choosing to go on the defensive. "I've got to find his weak point. Like Damos showed me." He looked over Metalner's body, seeing that it was made seemingly entirely of metal. Except for one area. "Of course." He leapt forward and punched Metalner in an exposed red area beneath his face, causing him to fall back in pain. "Gotcha."

"How did you know?", Metalner asked as he clutched the Red area. "How did you find my weak point?"

"Simple.", Ricky said in response. "It was the only part of you that wasn't armoured." He then picked up the diamond sickle that was hanging from Metalner's body. "And to the victor goes the spoils." With that said, he turned around and took off running.

Back at the quarry, Damos used his cutlass to block an energy pulse launched by Hellivore and redirect it at his foe, who jumped to dodge. "You're quite the expert warrior, aren't you Hellivore? I shouldn't have expected less from one of Malgramon's strongest fighters."

"And you too have become quite the expert duelist.", was Hellivore's reply. "But alas, I must destroy you so that you can't pose a threat to our plans for this world."

"But I don't have to be a threat.", countered Damos. "I have information that could help Malgramon's quest for absolute power."

Hellivore tutted at this. "What information could a lowly hybrid like yourself have to offer?"

"The identity of the lost Princess.", Damos declared, making Hellivore stop. "The information wasn't destroyed with the destruction of the hologram. It was rehoused inside me."

Hellivore thought about this. "If what you say is true, then perhaps you can be put to use." He pointed at Damos, signalling for him to be beamed back up to the airship. "Now then, I have other business to attend to."

Meanwhile, Ricky had found the cave with the four cocoons, all of which were shaking. "Don't worry guys, I'll get you out of there.", he said as he cut open the 4 cocoons with the diamond sickle. However, instead of his four friends, he found four new Metalners. "Oh no, I'm too late."

"On the contrary," said one of the Metalners, who spoke with a female voice (Ricky correctly assumed this was Raquel), "you're right on time for us to end you."

"I'll go first.", a Metalner with a high pitched voice declared as he leapt towards Ricky, who ducked out of the way at the last second and ended up just an inch outside the cave. "Ahh, the sunlight burns!", the Metalner hissed as he dissolved back into Artie. "What happened?", he asked, as he took in the situation. "Why are there three of this guy now?"

"Aw, he got exposed to the sunlight and went back to his miserable human life.", a high-pitched Metalner pouted.

"We'll just get rid of him with the Red Ranger.", a normal pitched Metalner snarled. "All for the glory of Malgramon."

"Artie, help me drag them out of the cave.", Ricky yelled as he grabbed the low-pitched Metalner.

Artie nodded at this. "You got it, buddy." He ran over and grabbed the normal pitched one, dragging him outside along with the one Ricky threw out.

Exposed to the sunlight, the two turned back into Drew and Roland respectively. "Are we back to normal?", the latter asked.

"It would appear so.", Drew answered him. He looked over at Ricky and Artie, both of whom were smiling. "And it appears we have them to thank for it.", he added.

"Curse you Rangers.", the female Metalner, the last one standing, hissed. "All I have to do is stay in his cave until the process completes itself. Then the sunlight won't affect me." She turned and began running further into the cave.

"Like that'll stop me.", Ricky snarked, pulling out his Vroom Blaster and shooting at the cave roof in front of her, causing it to collapse as the light trickled in, restoring her to Raquel, who Ricky went over to. "Are you okay?"

"I am now.", was Raquel's reply. "You came to save us? Even though you missed your mom's call?"

"You're my friends.", Ricky assured everyone. "I'd never let anything happen to you."

The original Metalner then stuck his face in through the cave entrance. "Oh no, they're all back to normal."

"That's right.", Artie snapped back. "And all of us have a score to settle with you for putting us in those cocoons."

"Ready guys?", Ricky asked as everyone prepared their morphs.

"Start Up! Ready, Go!" Everyone was morphed into their Ranger suits, ready for battle. "Guys, aim for his mouth.", Ricky advised. It's the one part of him that isn't protected by that armour."

"Okay." Raquel and Drew launched their kicks at him, followed by Artie and Roland, with both sets managing to knock him outside the cave. Drew and Artie then fired their blasts at Metalner, before Raquel and Roland attacked simultaneously with their unique weapons. The 4 then formed a tower.

"Leave this to me.", Ricky stated as he leapt through the gap between the 4 towards Metalner, slashing him with his sword. "Red Auto Crash!" The attack hit with massive power, causing Metalner to collapse.

"I'm going to the scrap heap.", Metalner commented as his body crackled with energy, before he exploded.

Everyone was shocked by this. "Ricky, how did you do that?", Roland asked. "We shouldn't be able to beat fully unsealed Bomas with our unique weapons."

"I don't know.", Ricky answered him. "All I can say is that I was feeling really angry and that caused me to feel more powerful."

Hellivore then made his entrance. "So, you've gained even greater power Red Ranger, or should I say 'Ricky'?" Everyone was taken aback by this. "That's right, I know your real name now. And believe me, that will make eventually carving your tombstone more satisfying." He then pointed his arm at the sky. "As for my servant, Winds of Revival, blow!"

A tornado was generated from his arm, which swept through and revived Metalner. "I'm even more unbreakable now.", he stated.

"We'll see about that.", Ricky said as everyone got into position. "Beck, send the Megazord."

The Racer Megazord made its appearance, getting a hit from Metalner, before another hit connected. It then leapt into the air. "Try this knuckle sandwich.", Ricky announced as the Megazord spun around and delivered a punch to Metalner, which missed the mouth and resulted in the robot being knocked backwards.

"That won't work on me any better than before.", Metalner hissed as he ran towards the Megazord.

"Try this then.", Artie called out at the Megazord fired one of its Exhaust Cannons, which proved just as ineffective.

"He's still pretty strong.", Ricky noted. "We need to hit him in the mouth."

The Racer Megazord deployed its Rev Saber, extending to hit Metalner in the mouth, before slashing him with its charged mode, wounding him fatally. "But I'm unbreakable.", he cried as he exploded.

"Nothing's unbreakable.", Ricky countered. "Except our resolve to protect this planet."

Onboard the airship, Damos was being interrogated. "So, you claim that you can help us find the lost Boma Princess.", Reptillia surmised as she circled Damos, who was being restrained by a pair of Savants. "And what good will this information do us?"

"The royal family were our enemies during the war.", Malchemist added. "Not that you'd know that, having begun your miserable existence as a human."

"You forget, the Princess was but an infant when she was lost.", Damos pointed out. "In order to integrate her into human society, she would have no knowledge of the age-old conflict. If we can find her and bring her over to Malgramon's way of thinking…"

"Then she'd be a powerful ally for our cause.", Bugroth finished that sentence for him. "I like the way you think kid. You're going to fit right in here."

"I hope so.", Damos nodded, smiling as his plan was making progress nicely.

Back in Albertville, Raquel finished calling her mother on a pay phone. "Sorry we couldn't take your calls earlier, but we were in a tour of the industrial sector. I assure you it was fascinating."

"Oh that's good, I'll let the other parents know soon.", Mrs. Collins' voice came over the phone. "But you had us worried sick for a while there. You should come home as soon as possible."

"I'll pass it on to the others.", Raquel nodded at this, though her mother couldn't see it. "I'll see you in a few days. Bye." She then hung up the phone and went over to the 4 boys. "Bad news. Ricky blowing his mom off has got all of our parents worried. My mom wants me home as soon as possible."

All of the boys were disappointed by this. All except Ricky. "That's okay. We'd never have got a truly good look at this state's greatest attractions anyway. And it was worth it to save you guys from that Boma."

"Besides, if Ricky hadn't blown his mom off, none of us would be standing here to be ordered home.", Artie pointed out. "Thanks for the help, man."

"Indeed, I'll give my thanks as well.", Drew commented. "I couldn't even think of a way out of that cocoon."

"Don't mention it.", Ricky said. "Let's just go back to the hotel and pack our things for the trip home." And so everyone turned around and headed back to their lodgings, to prepare for the return trip.