Gem was in the main throne room having the time of his life, completely oblivious to Gemma's plight. While she was locked in the slave pen down below, he was earning himself an ice-cream headache by downing his fifth straight chocolate shake. He politely declined glasses of wine and offers of drugs and other forms of entertainment, but he was only too happy to take part in the dancing.

As he was on the dance floor, showing off some of his moves, he suddenly became aware that the others were beginning to move away. At first he thought they were just clearing room for him to dance, but as Julian arrived with his guards, the mood changed somewhat. Gem noticed them beginning to take strategic positions around the dance floor, while Julian took his place on the throne. As he snapped his fingers, the music stopped, at which Gem stopped dancing.

"I see you're enjoying yourself Gem." Julian said in a casual drawl. "You're enjoying my hospitality I see."

"I am, this place is great." He said, beginning to feel uneasy. It hadn't escaped his notice that the room was now surrounded. Despite his childish ways, Alphabet Soup had taken full advantage of his intelligence, and trained him in many things, including battle strategy. They were moving into perfect position for an ambush. "Ummm....where's Gemma?"

"She's becoming acquainted with my service staff." He told him, shifting in his seat as a woman came to his side, carrying a golden chalice filled with wine. "Like you, she has outstayed her welcome."

"If I've done something wrong..."

"Do you think I'm going to let a couple of outsiders destroy the paradise I've set up for my people?" He asked him. "Sorry, but Eden is my kingdom!"

At that, one of the guards rushed Gem. The Gold Ranger grabbed his morpher from his belt, morphing as he repelled the first attacker.

Over in the caves, Ziggy came into a room, finding Nick in a cave, deep in meditation. Flames were forming around him as he concentrated, forming fine tendrils, which twisted and writhed in the air, forming into patterns and shapes. Before his eyes, the flames shot from above Nick's head, striking the wall, and scorching a cross-section of the city into the wall.

"Most of the mutants here are slaves we've managed to free." Nick explained. "After going into their minds, I've managed to get a pretty accurate picture of the layout of the city."

"So the slaves are kept under the city in these tunnels?" Ziggy asked, pointing to the map. Nick nodded as he came to the map.

"The Prince, Julian, says their appearance offends him." Nick told him. "He keeps them out of sight, only to have the guards bring them out during the day to do all the work. The normals get to lounge around all day, while the mutants get to clean up after them."

"But it's his fault they were mutated in the first place." Ziggy remarked. "Has he even tried to change them back?"

"He claims it's impossible, but I know that it's not." Nick assured him. He pulled a glowing blue crystal out of his cloak, presenting it to Ziggy. "These crystals are what augments the power of magic here. The city's built on a massive stockpile of them. Julian has mutants mine them to increase his power."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Ziggy asked him.

"The crystals will increase the power enough to change back all the mutants." Nick informed him as he put it away. "Julian just doesn't want to risk losing his power. He continues to force them to do his bidding while he lives like a king."

"So what are we going to do?" Ziggy asked him. Nick sighed.

"Dragonheart gives me enough power to stand up to Julian and his men. Since I arrived, the mutant rebels have been safe, but on my own I just don't have the power to turn the war in our favour."

"Well I'm here to help." Ziggy told him. "Once I contact my friends, I'll..."

As soon as he opened the communications link, he heard the sounds of a furious battle in the background. Ziggy looked to Nick.

"You didn't send any mutants into the city did you?" He asked Nick. The Red Mystic Force Ranger shook his head in response. "That's what I was afraid of."

Back in the Spire, Gem was busy taking care of guards, sending them flying with dismissive ease as Julian watched in interest. Once the last of the guards was down, Gem turned towards Julian.

"What have you done with Gemma?" He roared as he activated his Cloud Hatchet, flames flickering around it menacingly.

"I wouldn't worry about your sister if I were you." He stated, getting off his throne and making his way towards him. He flicked his wrist, at which a long, elegantly curved sabre appeared in his hand. He strode into the centre of the room, swinging it a few times to feel its weight, before pulling into a guard. "I'd be more worried about what I'm going to do to you."

Gem powered up his weapon in his rage, casting forward a flame blast. Julian held forth a hand, catching the blast, which absorbed into his body effortlessly.

"Nice power." He sneered. "Now let me show you what I can do!"

Julian ran forward, smashing the Cloud Hatchet aside with amazing strength, before scoring two slashes to his chest, sending sparks flying. He grabbed Gem by the harness, his hand beginning to glow ominously.

"I hope you like flying." He taunted him, before unleashing a powerful blast directly into Gem's chest. The Gold Ranger smashes through the wall, into the open air.

Gem was stunned by the blow, but managed to keep his grip on the Cloud Hatchet. As he tumbled through the air, speeding towards the ground, he activated the flight mode on his weapon, soaring away. He hated to leave, every instinct in him screamed at him to go back for his sister, but he knew that right now, it would be a fruitless mission. Julian had expressed an interest in Gemma. While he was childish, Gem was no idiot. He had picked up on the way he looked at her and acted around her. He had also remembered that Julian had never told him that Gemma was dead. He had only talked about adding her to his staff. For the time being at least, he was sure she was alive. All he needed now was to regroup, and figure out how to get her back.

In the Spire, Julian made his way to the hole in the wall, watching as Gem flew from the city, smirking arrogantly.

"Bring the girl to me." He ordered one of his guards. "Be careful. She's a wild cat. Use the restraints if she gets out of hand."

"Your Highness." The guard replied with a bow, before leaving. Julian waved a hand, at which the metal simply twisted and reformed, closing the hole once more.

Meanwhile, in Corinth, a new day was dawning. Dr. K was awake early, looking through the file once more when Tenaya and Summer came into the room.

"What are you working on?" Summer asked the younger woman. "You said you wanted to see us about something."

Tenaya hefted Alex onto the desk, still strapped into his car seat, sleeping soundly. Dr. K looked to him, and felt something in her heart. She had never really been a huge fan of kids in general, or babies in particular. However, the thought occurred to her that at one stage, she had been just as fragile, just as helpless as Alex. Did her parents even want her then? Was it always their plan to get rid of her?

"Before she went back to New Tech, Charisma gave me some files." Dr. K told them. "She said that SPD regularly backs up its files. All of its bases have a complete copy of files pertaining to every case they investigate."

She paused for a second, trying to compose herself as she prepared to tell them the next part.

"One of the cases they investigated was cases of child abductions relating to Alphabet Soup." She told them, bringing up an image on the screen. "They know who I really am."

"They know your real name?" Summer asked her. "What is it?"

"Sarah Marie Jackson." Dr. K told them. "I'm slowly getting used to Sarah. It's starting to grow on me."

"It'll take a little getting used to, but I like it." Tenaya told her with a grin. "Sarah...I definitely like it. It suits you."

"But why were SPD investigating the government?" Summer asked her. Dr. K looked like she was ready to break into tears as she heard this. It didn't really make a difference if she was held by the government or a private business, all that mattered was that her life had been taken from her. What hurt though was the circumstances.

"Alphabet Soup was not a government installation as I was originally led to believe." Dr. K continued, showing them more of the files. "A private firm, known as the Macha Group owned it. They were a weapon's manufacturer, at one time one of the chief suppliers to the U.S. Military. They started taking children that showed unusual levels of intelligence and making them work developing weapons."

She paused for breath as she prepared to show them the worst part, the part that had changed everything for her.

"Three days before I was taken, the Macha Group deposited 100,000 dollars into my parents' bank account." She informed them. "I was not kidnapped as I was originally led to believe."

"Your parents sold you?" Tenaya asked, her face one of contempt. She pulled Alex a little closer, obviously disgusted at the notion that a parent would do that to their own child. She'd had problems with Alex since his birth, even admitting having thoughts of hurting him, but she could never bring herself to actually do anything to him. She couldn't imagine letting him out of her sight, much less selling him like an unwanted gift at a car boot sale.

"It appears that is the case." Dr. K whispered as her tears began again. Summer reached around, grabbing her and hugging her tightly as the young woman sobbed into her shoulder.

"You shouldn't feel badly about this, you did nothing wrong." Summer murmured reassuringly in her ear as she rocked the young doctor. Tenaya came over, gently stroking her shoulders.

"They never wanted me!" Dr. K sobbed, her heart breaking as she let her friends know the lie that had dominated her entire life. "I used to think I was taken, but they let them take me!"

"Dr. K, you can't dwell on this." Summer told her. She smiled at the younger woman. "Your parents gave birth to you, but that's all. A family is so much more than that."

"You...you think of me as family?" Dr. K asked her. Summer and Tenaya both nodded.

"We couldn't imagine our lives without you in them." Tenaya assured her. "I know you're not the greatest with babies, but even Alex has taken a shine to you."

"I kind of like him too." Dr. K told them. "Even if his screaming does distract me from my work sometimes."

"So what do we call you from now on?" Summer asked her. "Are you still Dr. K?"

"No. I'd prefer to leave that name behind me." She told them. "I like Sarah. I'm not Sarah Jackson. I feel no affinity to my parents, certainly not enough to want to carry their name."

"So, just Sarah?" Tenaya asked her. "Kind of like how I'm just Tenaya?"

"Exactly." She replied. "Just Sarah."

"OK then, if that's what you want, from now on we'll call you Sarah." Summer assured her. With that, they all embraced again. Sarah, formerly Dr. K, still wanted to know more though. It was just in her nature. Despite her disdain for her parents, and the way she had been thrown into her artificial world, denied the opportunity to grow and develop freely as other children had, she wanted to know as much as she could. Despite it being likely that her parents weren't even alive anymore, she wished she could confront them to ask why they had done it.

Back in the wastes outside Eden, Ziggy and Nick came to the mouth of a cave. There was something of a commotion as the mutants started to ramble on and on about a flying man. As they arrived, Ziggy looked up to see the Gold Ranger flying from the city.

He waved his arms wildly, trying to catch his attention. Gem noticed him, and was ready to help. However, as he got closer, he noticed that the mutants surrounding Ziggy didn't appear to be making any moves to attack him. Indeed, he wasn't even morphed, or attempting to defend himself.

Gem landed on his feet near them, powering down, at which his injuries finally overcame him. Nick caught him as he started to collapse.

"What happened?" Ziggy asked him.

"Julian, the Prince. He kicked me out." He told them through a few gasps as he tried to regain his breath. "He pretended to be all nice to us. Then he just told me he's taken Gemma to his service staff and tried to kill me."

"He sent her to the mines." Nick told them.

"We have to get her out!" Gem told them. "We have to..."

"We're not going anywhere just yet." Nick assured him. "You need to rest up. Once you're ready, we can see about storming the city."

"Julian's some kind of wizard." Gem informed them. "He blasted me through a wall like it was nothing."

"Fortunately we have a wizard too." Ziggy told him with a grin. "Not to mention a dragon."

Back in the fortress, Gemma was bought into the throne room by the guards. They all stood a safe distance from her, knowing how dangerous she and her brother could be from the earlier fight. Having no desire to feel the harsh current of her restraints again, she just went without protest. She made her way into the centre of the room.

"That's quite far enough." Julian instructed her, holding up a hand. Gemma stood where she was told, her head held high despite her captivity. She was covered in grime from working in the mines since she was captured. Her body already carried a few grazes from the harsh rock face. Julian came forward, taking her left wrist and turning her hand over, inspecting it. It was already red raw, and showing the first signs of blistering. He just tutted softly.

"Your lovely hands should never be in such a condition." He told her, inspecting her thoughtfully. He waved a hand before her, at which all her injuries and all the dirt simply disappeared. "You know, it pains me to treat one as beautiful as you this way, but you force me to do so. You don't deserve to be in the mines like those filthy mutant..."

"They are living things!" She hissed defiantly, looking straight ahead as he wandered around her. "No one has the right to treat another as a slave."

"Well I beg to differ." He said in a dry tone. He came around behind her, before leaning in, stroking some of her hair aside and kissing her cheek. Gemma flinched away from him. "Is this about that soldier?"

"His name is Hicks!" She snapped aggressively. "And he's twice the man you'll ever be."

"You say that, and yet you're the one out here, working away in my mines, while he's where exactly?" He asked her. "Marching around a parade ground in a nice neat uniform like a good little mindless drone?"

He walked around her, considering her for a moment. She didn't back down to him, not for a second, despite knowing what he was capable of. He stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"You know, you don't have to work in the mines." He told her. "I've never had a slave I'd want to touch before, but you...?"

"All things considered?" Gemma interrupted him, before turning and glaring into his eyes. "I'd rather go back to the mines."

"As you wish." He replied, before activating her restraints. Gemma screamed in pain and found herself forced to her knees in pain. Julian just laughed as she got back to her feet.

"You will learn that here in Eden, the only rule is mine." He told her. "Take her back to the mines. It won't be long before she reconsiders."

With that, Gemma turned and left the room, being led back to the mines by the guards. Julian had said nothing about her brother. She knew he was so arrogant that if he had killed Gem, or even if he just believed he had, that would have been the first thing he'd have told her. She was certain he was still alive. As long as that was true, she still had a chance.

0800 9555 444

1006