[980312]
The battle team gets wise to Cyborg Hebosha but don't realize Will's IRS Agent,
Dieter Frapschnitzelhausen, has revealed itself to be Cyborg Morpher. Now, he's
alone with Morpher--without the others in episode 15, "More than Meets the Eye"
next.
                                                                      [Preview]


Artist Bros. Enterprises presents . . . 


                        GALAXY TASK FORCE ASTRO RANGER
                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Starring...

         Sheratan Kasei, a.k.a., Dave Marcello.  MarsAstro!

         Australis Mokusei, a.k.a., Will Richards.  JupiterAstro!

         Messuta Suisei, a.k.a., Ron Michaeli.  MercuryAstro!

         Lotia Kinsei, a.k.a., Amy Leven.  VenusAstro!

         Nashiran Dosei, a.k.a., Tom Nevison.  SaturnAstro!

  and... Commander Leto, a.k.a., Dr. Aaron Hanson.

  Featuring...

         Detective Frank Mahoney and Detective Kathy Sanchez.



Last time on Astroranger

    "The internal revenue service?" Will asked while opening the letter. Tom
  stood behind him while he read it.
    "Uh oh."
    Dave looked at Tom and asked, "What does 'uh oh' mean?"
    "It means I'm being audited," Will answered.

    "His name's Dieter Frapschnitzelhausen and according to the contents of
  his brief case, he was about to conduct an audit on behalf of the IRS,"
  Beverly reported.  "When we found him in the dumpster, he had no clothes
  on and no blood according to the paramedics," Beverly Tenmei told them.
  "There weren't even any signs of physical entry or harm at all.  They
  don't know how he died."

    "That is perfectly all right, Mr. Richards," he replied.  "Take your
  time."
    Will nodded and left.  Frapschnitzelhausen looked around--stood up and
  looked out the doorway to ensure Will's occupation.  Once satisfied, he
  turned around and took off his glasses.
    The pupils of his eyes began to glow red when a thin laser-like beam
  streamed from his eyes.  The telephone jack on the wall was melted down,
  destroying the telephone's cord.

    Igan nodded.  "So essentially, it removes internal organs from humanoids
  and stores them for our usage."
    "Basically.  And Cyborg Hebosha's optics have been programed to
  pre-evaluate conditions such as brain damage, tumors or other such
  elements rendering a human's brain worthless," Pleadia explained.

    Hebosha tried to get into the hospital when SaturnAstro ran past the
  parked cars and shouted, "Hey, stop!  I said stop!"  Hebosha turned around
  and saw him at which time he immediately pulled out his large black
  gun-like blaster.
    "Woah boy..."  Hebosha opened fire as SaturnAstro was already turning
  over in the air from the explosion of sparks in the pavement.

  The medics inside wheeled the injured person out of the back of the
  vehicle and towards the entrance of the ER.  Cyborg Hebosha jumped off a
  wall and ran after them.  He kicked and punched personnel away as the
  gurney rolled to a stop.
    "Hey!  What the hell??" a paramedic said as he watched Hebosha pull
  out its weapon, return it to its original mode and then fire the red fuzzy
  ray upon the patient on the gurney.
    SaturnAstro ran down the sidewalk and jumped over a bush into the
  secondary lot where Cyborg Hebosha had affixed its ray upon the patient's
  head.  When it was finished, the cyborg put away its blaster, wrapped
  itself up in its lab coat and disappear into a puff of smoke.
  SaturnAstro stopped running and then punched the palm of his left fist.
    "Damn it!" he said to himself.  "I let him escape!!"

                                  Episode 15:
                            "More than Meets the Eye"                         

  ACT I:

     The Astroranger SpaceBase, an opal globe shaped satellite, stayed in
synchronous orbit with the dark-side of the lunar celestial body.  Inside, the
top floor marked Deck A on the floor featured a wall showing an active matrix
color monitor with five work stations on the left and right with the whole
chamber illuminated by the entire ceiling.  The sliding double-doors parted,
allowing Nashiran to walk inside.  "Commander Leto?"  The elderly man walked
into the main chamber out of a doorway to greet him.
  Nashiran sighed.  "This weird cyborg attacked a hospital and I couldn't stop
him.  The bad part is that it was doing something strange to this patient that
probably got injured from some other cyborg's assault on the city."
  "Clam down, Nash--I'll take a look at the video logs," Leto replied.
  "Thanks," Nashiran replied.  "At first I thought this cyborg had just killed
someone for no reason but then I wondered why it took so long."
  "I don't think they're doing that," Leto said.  "The Nazitans seem to have
a pretty consistent plan involving either controlling or abducting massive
amounts of people."
  Nashiran frowned.  "But why?  I mean, not that I care--I just want to know
what the point of all this is."
  Leto shrugged.  "Any number of reasons, really.  Perhaps, Humans have
something in them these aliens require to survive.  They could have a disease
which requires antibodies they don't have and maybe human beings are the cure.
I don't know.  It could be as simple as curiosity."
  "Curiosity or not," Nashiran replied, "we can't let these people kill another
civilization just to save their own."

     Sun lit up the pavement and buildings surrounded by palm trees swaying in
Beverly Hills.  And, at the Talent Agency where Amy worked; she was on her way
to out to lunch when a tall thin woman joined her on her way to the double
glass doors.  Amy looked uncomfortable at first but was too hungry to care. 
  "Hi, Amy--wanna join me for lunch?"
  "Uh, okay, Lori," Amy replied.  "Where are we going?"
  "A salad bar, I'm tired of guys trying to bug me when I've only got an hour
to eat and relax and be in the sun all at the same time--maybe they'll go away
when they see you with me," she answered.
  As the two of them left the building, Amy looked at her with a confused look.
"Why is that?"
  "It just does," Lori answered, "trust me.  Anyway, I'll pay.  Just wanna have
someone to talk to that is looking at my face."
  While they were in the parking lot, Amy figured Lori was outgoing but rather
desperate for someone who will listen to her; so, feeling charitable, she
joined her.
  As they approached a green Toyota Civic of Lori's, she used the remote to
unlock the doors for Amy and herself.  "Amy, did you hear this on the news?  I
was listening to it while I was working and I heard that an IRS Agent got
killed in the strangest way!"
  After Amy opened the door to let herself into the car, she waited until Lori
was inside as well.  "What happened?" Amy asked with her training telling her
this is probably related to the Nazitans.  Lori closed the door and started the
ignition.
  "They said that they don't know how this was done because of no physical
trauma, but, his entire body's blood was drained."
  Amy nodded.  "That'd definitely kill him all right--where was he going?"
  "The IRS reported he was going to audit someone so the police suspect whoever
he was going to audit had him killed," Lori chuckled.  "Heh--it seems like
people are getting the right idea--just get rid of the agents."
  Amy's eyes widened.  She knew that the police would come after Will.
  "Ah, here we are," Lori said as she drove towards the traffic light.  Amy
discretely placed her fingers against pressure points on the right side of her
head.  ``Will, this is Amy--please answer...''
  Lori looked over at Amy.  "Something the matter?"
  "Oh, no, it's just that I've had this really bad headache; I'll be fine," Amy
told her.  Lori continued to drive while Amy looked away and resumed holding
her fingers to her head.
  ``I hear you, speak quickly,'' Will's voice echoed through her mind.
  ``The real IRS agent that was to audit you died and was killed in a way not
possible by humans.''

     In the study of their house, William listened to Amy in his mind while Mr.
Frapschnitzelhausen was at his desk, continuing to fill out forms.
  ``I think whatever is auditing you isn't human,'' Amy concluded.
  ``Thanks for confirming that one for me.  I'll contact you.''  Will stood up
and walked over the telephone.  "Excuse me, Mr. Frapschnitzelhausen--I need to
make a phone call."
  Frapschnitzelhausen nodded while still writing.  "Certainly."
  Picking up the telephone, William noticed there was no dial tone.  "Funny,
the phone is dead.  I'll just use my cell ph...," Will said removing his
flip-phone from his coat's inside pocket.
  Frapschnitzelhausen stood up and grabbed William's wrist holding his phone.
"You cannot do that."
  Will looked at his hand and then up at him.  "Unusually strong grip!"
  "You may not leave here," he threateningly said.  Will pulled away and put
his phone away.
  "Okay," he said calmly.  Unexpectedly, Will punched his face in.  The agent's
nose was broken but then it re-solidified into its original shape, the last
shape it held when the original Frapschnitzelhausen was alive.
  "This is very unfortunate, Astroranger."
  William tightened his eyes as he stood back.  Frapschnitzelhausen took off
his glasses as his skin had lines cracking vertically on his face.  The flesh
was pealing and crumbling off while smoking.  Smoldering fragments of his face
began to hit the carpet such as hair, ears and nose.  All that was left was a
skull-shaped silver metallic head within the man's suit; suddenly the clothes
began to glow.  The glow started to re-weave itself into a white rubber-plastic
that molded itself around Cyborg Morpher's metallic skeleton.
  Will jerked.  "A cyborg!"  Cyborg Morpher swung the back of its hard, black
fist into Will's head, knocking him out of sight.
  Will's body crashed against the window and, in the front yard, he flew
backwards through the window, breaking the glass in the process.
  On the grass outside, William landed on his side and struggled to his feet
while his eyes were shut tight from his aching back.  "Augh, I don't EVER wanna
do that again!"  A huge crash was made again, causing Will's head to snap to
his left.
  Cyborg Morpher busted through the other window facing the living room and
turned to face him.  With the blue sky above its muscular body, Morpher brought
its strong arms apart while the sun shined behind its demonic looking face.
  Will got up with his cheek bruised as Cyborg Morpher looked at him.  "Whoever
sent you will regret this!"  With his head lowered, Will's determined eyes were
threatening while he pointed.  "NOBODY invades our home!"  Cyborg Morpher came
running after him.  William turned around and jumped into running for the
garage like a bolt of lightning.
  Running around the car hold towards the backyard, he leaped over the white,
wooden fence in his green three-piece suit and ran out of sight.  Standing in
front of the backdoor, Will looked around himself.  "Now's my chance to
AstroCharge." Suddenly, in the sky, Cyborg Morpher triple-somersaulted overhead
and out of sight. Morpher landed right behind Will trying to choke him from
behind.
  Will resisted but then grabbed its arm, knelt down and pulled Cyborg Morpher
over his shoulder, throwing him into the ground.  "UGH!  Damn, it's strong!"
Will said while breathing heavily.
  Cyborg Morpher aimed its boxy fists and swung after Will.  He ducked as much
as he could before Morpher started rolling punches into him non-stop.
  All of a sudden, Cyborg Morpher threw itself into a hard front kick that
knocked Will into the lawn.
  After dropping, he looked at Cyborg Morpher and wiped the blood from his lip.
"Man, I wish the others were here."  Through the corner of his eye, William
noticed a garden hose beside himself.
  The robot's eyes glowed indicating it has now reached peak power in its true
form.  Will grabbed the garden hose and cranked the valve on the stand pipe.  A
stream of water shot through the air at its face and Cyborg Morpher quickly
raised its arm to shield its face.  The water melted down the forearm's white
exterior, exposing the boney metal core.
  Will put the hose down.  "What the??"  Its arm grew back and Cyborg Morpher
pushed out its other fist before it shape-shifted into a ball and chain at the
wrist.  Swinging it overhead, Morpher threw it out at Will.
  Will's neck was wrapped up in the chain and he was yanked off his feet.  In
his business suit, Will flipped over in front of the back of their house and
hit the ground.
  Cyborg Morpher's eyes flashed as an arc of electricity jumped across the
chain link and caused sparks to explode everywhere.
  "YAH!!" Will hollered as he rolled out.  Morpher re-shaped its arm to become
a hand again.  Holding his left shoulder to limit the pain, Will pulled himself
up off the smoldering grass, looking at the deadly cyborg.  "All right--that's
it!  You've had it!!"  Will stood and pulled up his right fist. "ChangeForm!"
Will pointed his fist causing the golden GeneGem ring to glow.  "AstroCharge!"
  In a sudden ring of white light that flashed, a black silhouette of Will's
head appeared before a red-grided black backdrop.  A white bar scrolled across
his face, covering it with a green grid; when the light returned, he was seen
within his masked helmet as green Astroranger--JupiterAstro.
  He assumed his bow and arrow battle posture and Cyborg Morpher put out its
forearms.  On top of its forearms grew long and narrow slots from which, a pair
blades had instantly ejected into place.
  JupiterAstro jumped back while his fists were still up.  "This thing is
serious business."  In front of the backyard lawn, one of its arms were pointed
to the ground before it was brought in front of its chest; Morpher then crossed
its switchblades upon aiming them at JupiterAstro.
  The green Astroranger watched the white cyborg charge towards him and
prepared to face the challenge.
     JupiterAstro hop-kicked up one of its blade and turned around to
spin-kick away the other blade.
  Cyborg Morpher's recovery move was to tornado kick the green Astroranger.
JupiterAstro ducked but his switchblades sparked off his protected
uniform when it cut against his clavicle.
     He stumbled back but the green Astroranger stabilized himself
before Morpher sliced down with its left arm.  JupiterAstro ran past
the cyborg, just missing its blade, however, when Morpher turned
around; its switchblades sparked against the green Astroranger's ribs.
     Cyborg Morpher cross his blades into JupiterAstro's chest knocking
him off his feet following the blast of sparks. 
     On the grass, JupiterAstro fell out of the air before rolling to a
stop.  Kneeling up, shiny green arms swung around to his left side to
the white holster on his belt.  "Moleculatom Weapon!"
  JupiterAstro's white gloves pulled the Moleculatom Weapon from out of the
belt's holster. "This better work," he said setting it to maximum power output.
  JupiterAstro stood up, aimed and fired the bright electric blue beam
into Cyborg Morpher's chest with the impact sounding of thunder when
sparks exploded from the shot.
     The shot put a dark brown smoking crater in its chest but the cyborg
just inhaled as his white body armor filled out and restored itself.
Morpher exhaled and was strong as ever.
  JupiterAstro jumped back and put away his blaster.  "That's impossible!!"
Cyborg Morpher ran after him and then jumped into the air.
     As JupiterAstro watched it fall from the sky, Cyborg Morpher fired
several explosive photon flashes downward from its mouth.
  JupiterAstro scattered as he became surrounded in a multiple towers
of spark-filled explosions.
     With both feet, Cyborg Morpher bounced off the side of a tree and,  in
midair, Morpher free fell while aiming its huge black fists.
  JupiterAstro was knocked out of sight by the cyborg's fists crashing into
his chest; in the sky, JupiterAstro flew backwards before he hit the back of
their house and dropped to the ground.

     Dave's red convertible Mitsubishi was parked on the curb outside the
talent agency where Amy worked.  She walked out of the sidewalk just then
putting on her purse as Dave opened the passenger door for her.  She nodded and
smiled as she got inside; Dave drove off.
  Inside, Amy put on her seat belt.  "Thanks you for picking me up after work."
  "It's no problem," Dave replied.
  Amy looked at Dave.  "So where's Will?  He usually picks me up."
  Dave shrugged.  "Eh, he was still busy with that IRS Agent."
  In Westlake, traffic suddenly got thick when Dave noticed television, radio
and police helicopters circling overhead with spotlights on the hospital on 3rd
Street.
  "I wonder what is going on?" Amy asked.
  Dave looked around.  "I don't know, but by the looks of things--trouble."
  "Dave, can you get us out of here?" Amy asked.
  "Let me cut through this gas station," Dave said as he made a right, drove
through the gas station's lot and then out on to Alvarado.  Parking there, he
used the automatic controls to roll up the tinted windows and lock the doors.
After they both got out of his car, Dave closed his doors and activated the
alarm system with his key chain.  "All right, let's..."
  Suddenly, a window in the hospital exploded with Cyborg Hebosha leaping out
of it.  A SWAT team member inside ran up to the window and started firing from
his automatic weapon.
  Dave grabbed Amy and ducked behind his car.  "Hit the deck!!"  As shots
rapidly sputtered from the rifle, bullets sparked off of metal objects and
pierced thinner material everywhere.  In front of Dave's car, Amy jerked within
his arms repeatedly as they heard the machine gun fire continue.
  When the shots stopped, Dave's head suddenly ascended from behind the roof of
his car and looked angrily at the officer.  "Hey watch it!!"
  "Sorry, sir!" an officer in armor shouted.  As soon as they all left, the two
of them stood up.
  "Well, before it started raining bullets, I thought I saw a freaked out
cyborg fly through here," Dave said.  "I say:  we--ChangeForm!"
  "Right," Amy said bringing up her GeneGem rings.  The two pointed their fists
while shouting, "AstroCharge!"
  A split-view of the two showed Dave and Amy's faces in front of a red-grid on
a black backdrop as white beams scanned back and forth across their faces.
When the white beam returned, they appeared in Red and Pink helmets.
  Within a brilliant flash of white light, the two Astrorangers assumed their
battle positions in front of his Dave's sports car.
  Cyborg Hebosha performed a miraculous backwards somersault onto the top of
the Hospital, turned around and ran away from the edge.
  The two Astrorangers ran into place while looking up.  MarsAstro clenched his
left fist and shouted, "Let's go!"  The red Astroranger's arms came down to
power an incredible jump into the air.
  "Right behind you," VenusAstro followed before also leaping skyward.
  Up the side of the mini-tower-sized building, the red and pink Astrorangers
had rapidly flown up to the roof.
  On the top of the hospital, Hebosha looked for ventilation ports on top of
the building when suddenly, sparks all blew it off its feet and onto its back.
Smoke was rising from the tips of the Moleculatom Blasters that the two
Astrorangers had held in front of themselves as they put them away.
  Cyborg Hebosha turned towards the Astroranger battle team, appearing
obviously annoyed; it pulled out its mini-rifle like blaster, flipped switches
on the side of the weapon and then aimed it.
  "Duck!" MarsAstro said.  Hebosha pulled the trigger and a chaotic beam began
to thrust from its blaster.  A dust cloud exploded from the roof while the
Astrorangers leaped away.  MarsAstro rolled out and then jumped into the air.
  "Aries Ram Horn-Kick!" MarsAstro shouted while flying in the sky.  The red
Astroranger had both feet together and eventually, the blaster was kicked out
of Hebosha's hands.  In the sky, it tumbled out of view and, on the roof,
it landed on the concrete to spin out and slide to the guard railing.
     MarsAstro turned around and spin-kicked at Hebosha's head.  It
ducked and then blocked a shin-kick to the chest.
     The red Astroranger punched ahead and the cyborg caught his fist
and upper cut-punched his abs.
  Hebosha turned around and kicked MarsAstro into flipping over onto
the ground.  The cyborg turned to see VenusAstro flying in out of the sky.
  "Venus V-Tackle!" VenusAstro shouted while jump into the air.  In the
sky, she flew in with her legs in a V.  VenusAstro's ankles wrapped
themselves around the cyborg's neck as she leaned back and stood on her
hands.  Using her body to pull her legs back, Hebosha was yanked off
its feet and flew head-first through the air.
     VenusAstro pushed off her hands and onto her feet before turning around
and holding her Celestial Weapon.  "Sonic Boomerang!"  The pink Astroranger
tossed her weapon directly ahead after shouting that.
  While already flying backwards through the sky, Cyborg Hebosha's torso
exploded with sparks when the Boomerang struck it down.  On the roof, Hebosha
hit the concrete smoldering.  However, directly beside himself was his blaster.
  VenusAstro caught her boomerang as MarsAstro approached her.  "Looks like we
smashed it up pretty good," MarsAstro said.  Suddenly, Cyborg Hebosha grabbed
his weapon and aimed it at the two of them.
  VenusAstro pointed and shouted, "Sheratan, look out!!"
Hebosha pulled the trigger sending another wavy beam of yellow and blue light
towards them.  Big bright blasts of yellow sparks generating tall white clouds
of smoke lifted both Astrorangers into the air.
  Over the side of the tall hospital, the red and pink Astrorangers plummeted.


 ACT II:

     Around the dark side of the moon, the opal globe SpaceBase for the
Astroranger battle team remained in synchronous orbit of the lunar body.
Commander Leto finished entering in access codes to confirm his actions at
Nashiran's console.
  "I have programmed the computer to display this station's log on the main
viewer," Commander Leto said.  "It will first display Track 1 and then in an
inset picture, display Track 6 which has a recording of subatomic particles."
  "Just in case, put Track 8 up there, I want to know what sort of photon beam
it is using to do whatever it is its doing," Nashiran said.
  Commander Leto sat down at the workstation and started typing while Nashiran
watched the screen.  On the monitor, an overhead shot of the battle was played
with sparks seen flying everywhere from the conflict; SaturnAstro fell back
after several explosions knocked him off his feet when Hebosha ran out of the
shot.
  Suddenly, SaturnAstro got up and started running into the parking lot to see
the cyborg using its gun-like blaster on a patient.
  "Slow-Motion," Nashiran requested.  The speed reduced to half-pace as an
inset window came up in the upper-right hand screen showing a view of the beam
using special graphics.
  "According to this computer's analysis of the recording, that is a matter
transporter.  I can't quite make out what it's trying to receive because that
is a high-resolution quantum-level emission," Commander Leto said.
  "It's aimed for the head, so it seems like its primary purpose is to beam out
an internal organ and the only one in the head of any value is the brain,"
Nashiran added.  "That's gross."  He turned his head when the sound of the main
entrance opening.  At the door, Messuta walked inside still wearing his Union
Express uniform.  "Bad news."
  "Oh good, for a minute there, I thought you were going to give me bad news,"
Nashiran sarcastically replied, "what's wrong?"
  "The real IRS agent that was supposed to audit Will is dead, murdered."
  "What?"
  Messuta nodded.  "I don't know who Will's talking to now but I think you and
I should check it out, Nash."
  "No can do, Messuta--I just got reamed out by this cyborg that showed up at a
hospital and killed somebody by beaming its brain out of the victims skull!"
  "What?!"
  Leto put up his hands.  "Hold on a minute you too.  I'll try to contact
Sheratan and Lotia, you two figure out what's happening with Will.  Got that?"
The both of them nodded aggressively.
  "ChangeForm!" Nashiran ordered as he and Messuta brought up their fists on
cue.  "AstroCharge!" they shouted when they pointed their GeneGem rings.
  The Onyx and Diamond flashed when both of them appeared in front of the black
on red-grid background.  As their faces dissolved into black silhouettes, a
white beam scanned across their heads.  Returning, they were in the black and
white Astroranger helmets.

     In the clear blue sky, SaturnAstro and MercuryAstro somersaulted overhead
and out of sight in opposite directions.  Landing on the sidewalk in front of
their house, the shiny black and white warriors assumed the trademark positions
with Celestial Weapons in hand and shouted, "Astroranger!"
     JupiterAstro perried into Cyborg Morpher with his dagger.  The
cyborg high kicked the blade and brought up his forearms to block the
second attack.
  JupiterAstro was pulled into flipping over as Cyborg Morpher turned
around to face the two Astrorangers, which changed their battle stance
and then charged after it.
     MercuryAstro turned around and swung his PowerStaff into Cyborg
Morpher. Morpher ducked, blocked a kick from the White Astroranger and
turned around to kick the staff away.  MercuryAstro stabilized himself
by running past the cyborg and turned around to try that again.
  His shiny white uniform produced a blast of sparks from the blow of
Cyborg Morpher's forearm blades striking him down.
     SaturnAstro came in and hurricane-kicked the other blade away and
then struck down with his BattleScythe.
  Sparks exploded from the white cyborg but then it turned around to kick
SaturnAstro.  The black Astroranger cannon-ball back flipped out of the
way and then turned around cutting across with his black weapon shouting,
"Saturn Ring Attack!"  A blast of sparks knocked Cyborg Morpher off its feet.
  SaturnAstro stood ready while watching the cyborg.  "Australis, what in the
world is that thing?"
  "And what the hell is it doing at our HOUSE!?" MercuryAstro added.
  JupiterAstro stood beside the black Astroranger and pointed.  "Guys--THIS is
who my IRS Agent really was!"
  "Damn, I heard they were a nightmare but this is ridiculous," MercuryAstro
replied.
  JupiterAstro looked at him and nodded.  "I knew something was weird when he
was cut, he didn't bleed."
  MercuryAstro put his gloved fingers on the chin of his helmet while thinking.
"Maybe he used the blood's plasma to make up the humanoid tissue."
  SaturnAstro watched it run after them.  "We'll figure it out later, guys."
Cyborg Morpher hop-kicked between them all as MercuryAstro turned around and
then repeated many backward handsprings.  Jumping backwards, the white
Astroranger back flipped through the air.  His two white boots hit the side of
the garage door before jumping off again.
  "Gemini Twin Kick!" MercuryAstro shouted in midair while swinging his legs in
opposite directions.  And before he dropped out of sight, the white
Astroranger's feet whacked the cyborg's face, knocking Morpher out of sight.

     Underground, at the Nazitan outpost in Pluto--Adol the Great watched the
Cyborg Morpher take many hits from the Astroranger's Celestial Weapons and
tensed his eyes.  "Hebosha will be free to complete its mission once the
Astroranger task force bring their robot to do battle with Morpher."
  From out of the shadows, Adol walked in beneath a single light from above as
he approached the glowing crystal ball on its stone pedestal.  It gleamed in
the light before a skeletal shadow was cast over the gas-filled sphere by the
boney hand of Adol the Great.  When he waved his black, pin-wheeled wand, Adol
to speak.  "Cyborg Morpher:  by the power of Lord Vahorra, magnify your size
one hundred fold!  Augment your strength one thousand fold!  Grow, my warrior,"
Adol commanded; the wheel on his wand began to spin on its own as fog blew like
the wind.  "Grow tall, cyborg and become...  Titan-Morpher!"  The pinwheel on
his wand spun even harder, showering his crystal ball with purple bits of
light.  The energy passed through the smooth, transparent surface of the sphere
and bombard the cybernetic creature pictured on that crystal ball.
  In the residential neighborhood, Cyborg Morpher brought its arms apart as the
thin bits of light showered its white, rubbery body.  Its legs were vibrating
from rapidly expanding while its left arm started growing wider and thicker. As
Morpher's right arm stretched and expanded, it vibrated as well.
  While bent over, Titan-Morpher stared downward before standing straight up
and uncrossing its arms.
  The green, black and white Astrorangers turned around and jumped back.  "This
is going to get much worse before it gets any better."
  "Looks like inflation helped this agent hit the big time," JupiterAstro
replied.

     At the hospital, VenusAstro helped up her red Astroranger counterpart and
looked into the sky, seeing an ominous robotic giant heading their way.
MarsAstro continued looking for Hebosha.
  "Sheratan!!" VenusAstro shouted when she pointed to Titan-Cyborg Morpher.
  "Oh, we most certainly do not have time for this!" MarsAstro complained.
"Let's get the shuttles and pray the others can join us."
   VenusAstro nodded.  "Right."
  "Galaxy Task Force Command:  Astro Shuttles--Blast Off!" MarsAstro signalled.
  In the zero-gravity take-off bay at the bottom of the SpaceBase, the force
field maintaining air-pressure inside of the take-off bay was activated.  The
doors began to open, showing Earth in outer space, as indicated by the warning
alarm.
    In outer space, two AstroShuttles had left the take-off bay as the
SpaceBase became invisible again.  The pink and red shuttles traveled towards
the planet Earth at maximum velocity.
  "All aboard!" the red Astroranger called out as they crossed their arms.  He,
with VenusAstro, became glowing spheres of red and pink light prior to
traveling towards the cockpits of the shuttle fleet.
  Within the CombatShuttle's cockpit indicated by the Mars insignia, MarsAstro
had materialized before sitting in his seat.  "CombatShuttle manned."
  VenusAstro looked to her side within the RescueShuttle's cockpit.  "Sheratan,
we've got to get this thing out of the city and out somewhere where we can
fight it."
  "Okay then, here's the plan," MarsAstro replied, "launch your grappling hooks
after teasing it with the moth to flame maneuver."
  The pink Astroranger nodded affirmatively.  "Got it."
  Pressurized air-locks under the wings shot out metal assemblies attached to
metal rope from the aft section of the red AstroShuttle.  Another set of ropes
with metallic hooks at the end bolted out of the rear section of the pink
AstroShuttle as well.
  Titan-Morpher's shoulders were caught by huge metal hooks and in the sky, its
body was dragged through the air.
  VenusAstro looked below herself and then up at her view screen again.  "Uh
oh!  This cyborg's too heavy for the hooks, we can only get it out as far as
Dockweiler Beach!"
  MarsAstro nodded.  "So be it--full throttle!"

     Looking up, the green Astroranger then looked to the others standing
beside himself.  "Those two aren't holding up so well.  We need to unite
AstroMan and take it from there."
  SaturnAstro looked at him sharply.  "But there's another cyborg I've got to
take care of!"
  "Don't worry, Nash--I'll take care of him.  You, Messuta and the others have
got to get rid of that thing as AstroMan; that cyborg is much too powerful for
Sheratan and Lotia to handle alone," Jupiterastro replied.
  MercuryAstro stood in front of the black Astroranger.  "Come on, Nashiran,
let's do it," he told him, clenching his fist. 
  "All right," SaturnAstro replied.  Simultaneously, they shouted, "Galaxy Task
Force Command:  Astro Shuttles--Blast Off!"
  In the zero-gravity take-off bay at the bottom of the SpaceBase, the force
field maintaining air-pressure inside of the take-off bay was once again
activated.  And after the doors rolled open, the planet Earth was seen in the
field of stars outside,  Behind the green star ship and black and white
rockets, their rocket boosters had fire bursting from their afterburners.
    Following those three AstroShuttles into outer space, they left the
take-off bay and the SpaceBase became invisible again.
  Cyborg Morpher was still hanging from the flying red and pink shuttle craft
when it noticed something it was surprised to see.  Flying between the
skyscrapers were the green star ship and the black and white rockets.
  JupiterAstro brought up his fist and nodded, confident they have a fair
chance against the title cyborg.  "All aboard!" JupiterAstro called out as he
and the black and white Astrorangers crossed their arms.  The tree became
glowing spheres of green, purple and white lights prior to traveling towards
the cockpits of the shuttle fleet.

     In RescueShuttle's cockpit--VenusAstro rose up out of her seat and pointed
ahead.  "I'm losing altitude--retracting grappling hooks now!"  The two metal
clamps on Titan-Morpher's shoulders let it loose.  Meanwhile, in the sky, the
other three shuttles flew overhead.
  Within the cockpit of CombatShuttle--MarsAstro wiped his forehead.  "Man, am
I glad to see you guys!  We've got to hurry up and form AstroMan before this
thing gets up again, are you ready?"
  Aboard CommandShuttle's cockpit, JupiterAstro nodded.  "We're with you!"
  "Let's go," MarsAstro ordered.  A five-way view of all cockpits showed the
ranger's pulling back a large black lever.
  Red and Pink Shuttles landed in the sand becoming large robot feet and legs
while the green CommandShuttle connected as the torso.  Meanwhile, the rockets
TurboShuttle and SolarShuttle hooked up as arms and hands.
  Inside tubes running throughout the interior of the massive robot, the chairs
transported each Astroranger to the central cockpit. 
  AstroMan's head ascended from between its shoulders--through its eye visor,
one could see the Astroranger battle-team rising into place.  On the bottom
level, JupiterAstro and SaturnAstro occupied the control bank there while the
top bank was manned by VenusAstro and MercuryAstro.  MarsAstro manned the
middle and center station and placed his hands on the controls.  "Merging
sequence complete."
  With its fists' knuckles together, light gleamed across AstroMan's red visor
before twinkling in the upper corner.  It brought its fists apart upon a field
of stars in outer space appearing behind itself, showing the planets Mercury,
Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
  Titan-Morpher's forearms grew as its switchblades ejected from the
extra muscles.
  Within the cockpit, MarsAstro said, "AstroMan: SunSabre Activation!"
  JupiterAstro looked up.  "Watch those blades." 
A single-sided sword with a golden sideways I-shaped guard and black hilt was
already in AstroMan's grip before waving it outwardly.
  The two giants engaged in a slow but powerful battle as sparks exploded from
from the blows at different locations.
  "Guys, you don't need me," JupiterAstro said in the cockpit.  "I can
take my HydroCycle back to the hospital and finish off the other cyborg."
  SaturnAstro looked to his right.  "I'm going with you."
  "Thanks, Nash--but I've got more experience and I'm at the end of my career,
if I don't make it back, it wont matter," JupiterAstro told him.  VenusAstro
turned her head in quiet disagreement.
  The green Astroranger stood up.  "Good luck everyone."
  "Same to you, Australis," MarsAstro said.  MercuryAstro nodded.
  JupiterAstro walked up the stairs along the right wall of the cockpit
opposite of the stair case on the left.  The door in the back of the cockpit
slid up allowing JupiterAstro to step inside and turn around.  "Green
HydroCycle Ignition!" he shouted just as the doors came shut.
 In the sky, white clouds parted as a disc shape saucer warped into visibility.
The underside door opened as Green HydroCycle rolled out into the sky. Air-jets
on the rear-wheel guards open out and extend to form wings.  It then flew
towards AstroMan below.
  JupiterAstro stood on top of AstroMan's head and jumped off, free falling
through the air.  After dropping from the sky above, JupiterAstro then landed
on his motorcycle and then flew away.  "This is Australis, I'm on my way."
  "Good luck," MercuryAstro radioed back as he flew away.

     At another Westlake-area Hospital, Cyborg Hebosha ran after the entrance
when suddenly a wall of sparks exploded in front of it forcing it to drop to
the pavement.  The green HydroCycle was landing from above as it fired again.
Hebosha hopped over the blast and ran through the smoke over to a parked
ambulance.  The cyborg pulled its right fist back and then punched out the
door's window.
  "Hey what the??" a driver shouted when Hebosha ripped the door off of its
hinges and pulled the driver out of his seat.  He fell on the ground and
watched the cyborg climbed inside.  Above the floor of the ambulance, Cyborg
Hebosha jammed its big foot onto the gas pedal.
  The driver on the parking lot looked up and shouted, "Hey!!"  The wheels spun
and smoke came from burning rubber.  The van finally drove off leaving the
paramedic there.  "They'll give a license to anybody!"
  JupiterAstro was on the ground driving after it.  "Uh oh, a cyborg on or with
wheels, very dangerous combination."  The ambulance was driven out of the
parking lot and into the street, its tires bouncing from driving off the ramp
this quickly.  Behind it, the green HydroCycle drove into a hard right turn to
follow it.
  JupiterAstro managed to change lanes to get beside the driver's seat.  Cyborg
Hebosha aggressively turned the steering wheel to the left ram JupiterAstro but
he swerved away.  The green Astroranger grabbed his Moleculatom Blaster and had
pointed it at Hebosha, shooting an electric blue beam into the ambulance.
Sparks exploded from the dash as the beam missed the back of Hebosha's head.
  The cyborg grabbed its ray gun and returned fire.  JupiterAstro dropped speed
and got behind the van.  "Moleculatom Gun!"  The hood of his green motorcycle
vehicle featured a machine gun barrel that slid forth. "Fire!" he commanded and
bolts of bright blue light hit the tires of the ambulance.  The rubber tires
were burned off the brake shoes as the hub caps rolled away, dropping the bare
wheels onto the street.  The ambulance swerved as sparks spewed from metal
scrapping the asphalt pavement at a high velocity.  JupiterAstro drove up ahead
and then cut Hebosha off with a sharp right turn.  The cyborg was forced to
start rolling the steering wheel right which caused the ambulance to jump the
curb and tip over.  The large vehicle fell onto its left side before skidding
on the roadway.  Sparks had flown out from under its body when it hit a lamp
post.
  The tire of green Hydrocycle stopped the entire motorcycle when JupiterAstro
looked ahead to watch the smoking emergency vehicle suddenly burst into flames.
  The red brake light on his bike was still on as the green Astroranger watched
the fire-consumed wreckage explode again--pushing flames skyward.  Black smoke
poured from the explosion while fire continued to rush skyward.
  However, a chared, smoldering creature managed to crawl out of the flaming
ambulance; it was what was left of Cyborg Hebosha.  "Oh, I don't believe this,"
JupiterAstro said while getting off of his bike.  "Celestial Weapon!" he
shouted, "ThunderBow!" he said as green lights solidified his decorated bow
within his left fist. Determined, the burning Hebosha limped while approaching.
  JupiterAstro pointed his right fist in the air.  "Cosmic Arrow!" he called
out.  A green beam of light brought him a glowing arrow of light.  JupiterAstro
loaded the arrow into his bow and pulled back.  Hebosha tried to raise its
blaster but it was too late when JupiterAstro had fired from his bow.  The
Cosmic Arrow of Light shot through the cyborg and caused sparks to explode from
its chest and back.
  As Hebosha fell forth, JupiterAstro held still and, upon falling, the cyborg
blew up into a tower of sparks that blasted its body apart.  The green
Astroranger turned his back on the fiery scene while bringing his bow down.

     At the beach, Titan-Morpher swung both arms down and AstroMan blocked the
blades with its sword.  It then brought down its left arm breaking off the
switchblades as they hit the sand.  Morpher looked at its now useless  arms
when it suddenly noticed AstroMan ram its face with its black fist.
  In the cockpit, VenusAstro looked up at the others.  "Good news, I got a text
transmission from green HydroCycle that Cyborg Hebosha is gone!"  The others
inside of the cockpit looked at her.
  "One down, one to go," MarsAstro said.  "Let's wrap this up!"
  Sparks exploded on Titan-Morpher's body while AstroMan slashed down
and across its chest.  It walked passed it while cutting across causing a
bigger blast to knock it into spinning around.
  "Hey everybody, watch this--Australis would love to see this," SaturnAstro
said while he tapped buttons on his board in the cockpit.
  AstroMan kicked Titan-Morpher into stumbling backwards into the ocean.
  MercuryAstro watched it splash around in the water.  "What's happening?"
  "It can't hold its shape in water," SaturnAstro said.  "It's in this data
from Commander Leto."
  Titan-Morpher's metallic skeleton began to show itself as it began to spray
sparks from short-circuiting. It's red-glowing eyes start to flicker when, just
then, there was a loud blast.  Hundreds of gallons of water at sea was launched
skyward by the explosion, ejecting water dozens of meters into sky.  And
AstroMan stood still while watching the water rain back into the ocean.

     That evening, at the Terranian's house in the Hollywood hills, Amy tossed
out burnt out leaves and other rubbish in a trash can in the backyard.
  Meanwhile, in the living room, Will watched the television news while holding
an ice pack to his jaw while wearing a bandage.  The door bell rang and he got
up to answer it.  "I'll get it."  Standing upon their porch were the detectives
from Parker Center.
  "Good evening, Mr. Richards, I'm Detective Sanchez and this is my partner
Detective Mahoney, may we come in?" Kathy requested.
  "By all means, officers--how may I be of service?" Will asked.  The officers
walked into their living room as Will turned off the television set.
  "Sir, we regret to inform you that the IRS Agent sent here to audit your
taxes died in a most unusual fashion, Mr. Richards," Frank told him.
"Unfortunately, we don't know why but we think you do."
  "I'm sorry to hear that, Sergeant Mahoney," Will said when sitting down.
"However, I don't know why he was killed.  I believe I know how though."
  "Enlighten us," Kathy said.
  "I don't know why anyone would want to kill my agent; I have had nothing to
hide as I'm sure you already know by examining my records.  However, according
to the news, his blood was drained with his marrow.  Well, later today, a
monster had attacked me similarly to the beast that attacked the Astrorangers."
  "Go on, Mr. Richards," Frank said while taking notes.
  "It was posing as my IRS Agent, I believe it somehow to the form of Dieter
Frapschnitzelhausen and sought out to kill me," Will said.  "I managed to
defend myself, however, I was vastly overpowered."
  Kathy continued to write in her notepad.  "So what happened then?"
  "The green Astroranger arrived and took on the cyborg," Will explained.
"Eventually, the massive robot that the Astrorangers use destroyed it at sea
when somehow, it was enlarged to become the size of a giant."
  "So you believe the Astrorangers blew up a clone of your IRS Agent, whom was
killed by that clone?" Kathy asked.
  "You are absolutely correct, now, if you excuse me, I have had a horrible day
and a giant window repair bill so, I'd like to relax if I can," Will said while
standing up.  "If you have any further questions, mail them to me."  Kathy
headed towards the front door.
  "Thank you, we will show ourselves out," Frank said as he followed her.
  "We appreciate your time, Mr. Richards," Kathy added.
  Will nodded while watching them leave.

                                                           TO BE CONTINUED    


Next week on Galaxy Task Force Astroranger. . .

Cyborg Tousoy's mind-warping formula hits the so-called pure water supply in
the Los Feliz community and everyone becomes its slave and attacks the
Astrorangers.  While they attempt to combat Tousoy without harming the citizens
under its control, Tousoy's formula causes Amy to loose her mind and smother
Will in episode 16, "Drunk!!  The Lust of VenusAstro".


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"Galaxy Task Force Astroranger" is a trademark of Artist Bros. Enterprises. The
above text is protected under laws of the  United States  and other  countries.
Unauthorized duplication,  distribution  or  exhibition  may  result  in  civil
liability and criminal prosecution. Copyright (c)1997 Artist Bros. Enterprises,
Artist Bros. Music and Dairenn Lombard.  All Rights Reserved.  Country Of First
Publication: United States of America.  Artist Brothers and Dairenn Lombard are
the author of the preceding text.  The characters and events depicted  in  this
story are fictional.  Any  similarity to  actual  persons,  living or dead,  is
purely coincidental and unintentional.  This copyright notice does  not  extend
to infringe upon the  existing  copyrights for `Super-Sentai' titles maintained
by  Toei Company LTD., Toei Agency, Toei International, Asahi-TV, Marvel Comics
and Ishimori Productions.                                               [TV-PG]
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