A/N: You know this drill. I don't own em, but I wish I did. I do own Lady Chaos. See Chap. 1 for those owners

A/N 2: Thanks to Lavonne for coming through in the clutch for me with these story ideas for this chapter.

Ch. 7-Relief, Grief and a Challenge

Sunday, April 6

3:00 a.m. local time

Park Residence

Angel Grove, CA

Inside the Park residence, all appeared to be quiet.

However, one look inside Adam Park's bedroom would confirm that it was quite another story.

For three straight nights, he'd had these horrendous dreams of a one-on-one fight with his arch-nemesis.

And there she was again on the fourth night in this alternate world, Stinger sword in hand, getting the upper hand. Adam was fast, but his enemy was even faster.

"Say goodbye, Green Ranger!" she shouted as she charged her stinger with energy and flung it at Adam like a boomerang.

Same Time

The Power Chamber

"Curse that vile creature!" shouted a blue figure from his private quarters. He could feel Adam's nightmare in the desert, as well as his nightmares from the last three nights.

"I must go to help him…to shake these nightmares!" said the figure. With that said the figure teleported away in a streak of blue light.

Park Residence

As the boomerang continued to spin at Adam, all of a sudden his dreams swirled inside his head. He was then pulled on roughly by a big arm.

"What the…Oh no!" he shouted, and then he realized who it was.

"Ninjor! Am I ever glad to see you right now!" said the young Korean as sweat dripped from his forehead, with tears in his eyes.

"There now, Frog Prince. Settle down now…it's OK…" said Ninjor in the quietest voice that he could, lest there were other people in the house.

"I was beginning to think that everyone had turned on me since what happened on Sunday," said Adam. "Even my former teammates have been giving me dirty looks. Do they not realize she is evil?" Adam said painfully.

"You mean, was," said Ninjor.

"Not was, IS, Ninjor! She hasn't done a damn thing to prove to me otherwise!" said the Green Ranger irritably. At this, the Ninja Master thought, 'Ah, Green Rangers. How stubborn they are.' Adam then continued, "I had a life with Tanya, everything was great, we were beating the Machines to pieces, and then she had to come back and ruin it!"

"Adam, you MUST listen to me. The whole world in part depends on you being able to fight for us! Do you understand?" Ninjor nearly growled.

Adam nodded absently. Despite his current thoughts, there was no way in hell he could say no to the Ninja Master…after all, he thought, if Ninjor hadn't come into their lives, then Earth would be toast right now. He needed to at least hear what Ninjor had to say.

"Good. Now, have you studied about Tommy's time as Rita's Power Ranger?"

Unknown Time

The Lunar Palace

"Masters," Goldar of Titan suddenly said after having watched Kimberly in Florida through Rita's telescope.

"Oh, what do you want, monkey breath?" said Rita.

"Chill, Rita. Kimberly's warming up for practice. I think it's time we send down another of our attacks." They'd done this for three days straight, and they were finally getting Kimberly in the state she wanted her.

"I like that thought. Goldar, Tengas, go and get after her!" said Rita as Rito's bird warriors and the winged-plated monkey disappeared.

6:00 a.m. local time

Oliver Residence

Angel Grove, CA

As the current leader of the Power Rangers tossed and turned in his sleep, he couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen next.

It had been eerily quiet ever since Adam's departure from the team, and he didn't like it one bit.

So when he heard his communicator beep, even at six in the morning, it was a relief to him. After all, his parents were out of town, and his principal and main teacher would allow him to do what was necessary to protect Earth.

So, with conviction, he brought his communicator up and said, "This is Tommy."

"TOMMY, I'M SORRY TO WAKE YOU FROM YOUR SLEEP, BUT WE HAVE BIG TROUBLE IN FLORIDA, AND HAVEN'T SEEN SABRINA'S CREW SHOW UP YET. KIMBERLY HAS BEEN ATTACKED BY GOLDAR AND AN ARMY OF TENGAS. YOU MUST GO IMMEDIATELY."

"I'm on it," said Tommy. 'Nothing like my honey and the Power to wake up your senses.' he thought.

"This one's for you, my Pink Princess. IT'S MORPHIN TIME!" he shouted as he summoned his Zeonizers and put them together.

"ZEO RANGER V, RED!" called Tommy as the familiar red suit that once belonged to his best friend covered his body.

With that, he pressed his communicator and teleported to the coordinates given.

8:10 a.m.

Pan Globals Gymnastics Complex

Tampa, FL

In Florida, Kimberly was fighting the Tengas on her own, which was giving her quite a bit of a wakeup call and a warm-up for the day's events.

She'd held in for the first five minutes until she'd been attacked by Goldar, un-morphed. And without the Power, Goldar easily dispatched of her.

"I'm going to love torturing you, Kimberly, assuming my master doesn't," roared the winged monkey as he prepared to bring his sword down on her. Don't give up hope yet, young Crane, a familiar voice called in her mind. Help is almost here.

As Goldar brought his sword down on her, he was suddenly hit by a few laser blasts, and was then drop-kicked in the back by the new arrival.

"How does it feel to be on the wrong end of a sneak-attack, you overgrown monkey? Miss me?" said a familiar voice. Goldar then whirled around to face his nightmare once again.

"Ah, so big, bad Tommy has come for his pink princess. I was wondering when you would come out of hiding, Red Ranger," sneered Goldar.

"Are you going to attack me, or are you going to make insults all day long, bucket-head?" rasped Tommy in the cocky type of voice that Goldar hated.

He hated it because Tommy acted like he owned the whole damned Moon Palace, which insulted a proud warrior like Goldar that such a mere human would walk around acting like he owned these powerful creatures. Ever since Tommy had been freed from Rita's grip, all he'd done was taunt Rita, Zedd and their generals to no end, first as the Green Ranger, then as the White Tiger Ranger, and later as the White Falcon Ranger. It was Goldar that had received the brunt of the taunts, and he rarely forgot that he'd been humiliated time and again by Tommy, sometimes un-morphed.

Goldar had a grudging respect for Jason, even though he hated that Power Ranger teams led by Jason triumphed over his forces, time and again. Jason enjoyed the pureness of a one-on-one fight, and didn't like making insults at opponents unless necessary. On the other hand, the Titan had no respect for the young Red Ranger in front of him, who had become Rita's prize warrior and later Zordon's chief fighter. Tommy had ruined his life single-handedly as a proud warrior just like Tommy thought Rita had done all those years ago. Now, here, he faced the red monstrosity once again.

"That's the last insult you make about me, Tommy! You're mine!" roared Goldar as he charged at the Red Ranger with his sword held high.

"If that's the way you want to play it, Goldilocks, be my guest," muttered Tommy. "Zeo V Power Sword!" called Tommy as his own sword appeared, and the two arch-rivals went head-to-head once more, while Kimberly watched from the side after having dispatched the Tenga Warriors.

'My White Knight. He finally came,' said Kimberly with a smile on her face.

As with most Tommy/Goldar fights, the battle was close for about ten minutes, but about that moment, Tommy called "Zeo V Power Kick!" and nailed a startled Goldar right in the side. Tommy then let loose with a barrage of firepower from his

Zeo Laser Pistol that nailed the Titan warrior right in the chest.

"You may have won this round, Red Ranger, but I'll be back!" roared Goldar as he disappeared in a flash of gold.

"Yes!" said Kimberly, as she ran up to the man in Red that she'd never stopped loving. "Good going, Handsome."

"It's good to see you too, Beautiful. Now, what say we excuse ourselves and go to our new ally's residence?"

"I'll drink to that. Besides, I know the coach is under a spell."

"Right. POWER DOWN!" said Tommy as he changed back into human form. "Now, let's get out of here."

"Uh-uh-uh, little Red Ranger," said a think German voice, which belonged to none other than Gunthar Schmidt himself. "Your girlfriend is coming with me."

"Just what do you plan to stop us with, Coach? We've taken care of the Tengas and Goldar. What else do you have up your sleeve?"

"THIS!" roared the coach, and he then let loose with a lightning bolt that Tommy barely ducked as the bolt crashed into the wall, leaving a hole.

"Whoa! Didn't know he could do that," said Tommy.

"News to me. I'm here and didn't know he could do that," said Kimberly. "LOOK OUT!" she then shouted as an energy orb came hurtling at them both, which they ducked again.

"Tommy, I think this constitutes as an emergency exit situation," said Kimberly as they ran for the doors.

"Oh no, you don't! Tengas!" the legendary coach hollered, as Rito's bird warriors appeared once again.

"Don't let them escape! After them!" said the coach as the Rangers led the Tengas to the doors and out the doors.

Eventually, they reached her car and headed for the highway.

"Blast! I shall be back, however!" roared Lady Chaos as she teleported away.

9:30 a.m. local time

Sabrina's Residence

Lakeland, FL

"Welcome back, White Falcon," said the Master Warrior of Phaedos to the newest arrival, who walked in shortly after Kimberly's arrival. "I have missed you, and I am glad to see you have recovered your Pink Princess."

"I am so glad to see you two are alive," said Sabrina of Eltar. "When Chaos came to the battle, I thought you wouldn't survive but you did. I will warn you, Tommy, be careful. There's something that's going to happen within the next 48 hours, and I believe it involves you."

"Let's not worry about that. Let's party!" said Tommy. "Besides, my Beautiful could use a day of stress relieved…with me."

10:30 a.m.

Kimberly's quarters

"So, what was it like fighting Goldar again?" said Kimberly.

"Weird. Been a long time since I fought him. I thought I saw the last of him when the Machines came…until this Chaos creature came into being. But it's always good to give him a beatdown. You know how much crap he talks," said Tommy. Kimberly giggled at that assessment as she knew from personal experience how obnoxious Goldar could be.

"What are your thoughts on Adam's latest behavior?"

"I don't know what the hell's going on there, Kim. I thought a motto of a Ranger was supposed to be forgive and forget, but he hasn't done it. And you know if he still harbors some of those same thoughts, some of those alien beings are going to target him."

"Don't worry about him. Just you worry about us."

11:15 a.m. local time

Somewhere in Lakeland, FL

"So, what about your own teammates?" said Tommy.

"All have been wonderful, even in recent times. All are wondering what's going on with Coach Schmidt, and you know I can't tell them, well, because…you know." At that Tommy smiled, and suddenly his smile disappeared.

"Guess who?" said Lady Chaos as she stood in front of them.

"Great. The ugly one is back," snapped Tommy

"Zip it, young man! You're going to pay for helping her escape, Tommy!" said Lady Chaos.

"Can you beat me one-on-one, lady? No one for the side of evil has ever done it!" said Tommy. Lady Chaos grinned. Here was her chance to exploit Tommy's bravado. She felt all along that she was better than the legendary Red Ranger even in his morphed state, and now was her chance to prove it.

"OK, honey, since you think you're all powerful, here's the deal. Defeat me in a one-on-one battle here in 48 hours, and your pink princess will no longer be a target of mine, though I may target Adam. But if I win, not only do I take your pink princess and your ex-Green Ranger, you're not going to like what will happen to them."

Tommy thought hard for a couple of minutes. He didn't want to lose his girlfriend and former teammate, but he also had this sense of honor that he felt he had to live up to.

"Come on, sugar, answer me! Or are you too chicken to fight?" said the silver, humanoid woman.

Just then, Kimberly whispered in his ear, "Do it. If you lose, you lose." That was all the reassurance he needed.

At last, Tommy made his decision.

"I accept your challenge."

"Good. In 48 hours, right here, we shall meet. Only one of us shall be the victor. We shall meet again," said Lady Chaos as she teleported out in a flash of silver.

Noon local time

Angel Grove Juice Bar

Angel Grove, CA

"So, Adam, you finally decided to show yourself," said Jason as the shell-shocked Green Ranger walked into the Juice Bar, still with thoughts rambling through his mind about his talk with Ninjor.

"Jason, can we talk? It's awfully important," said Adam. "I need you to tell me all about what happened when Tommy was under Rita's control." He then described his middle-of-the-night encounter with Ninjor, and the revelations he'd been given.

45 minutes later, after a pained Jason had finished his story, Adam almost wanted to throw up. Here was Tommy, a legend in Adam's mind for what he'd done as the White and Red Rangers, and yet Adam had just finished hearing the gruesome details of what Tommy had done.

"So…Jason, are you saying…that what Tommy did was worse than anything Scorpina ever did?" said Adam in shock.

"She was a minor comic book character compared to the monstrosity that was Tommy when we first faced him."

"Thank you for telling me, Jason. That's something I really needed to know."

"Any time man," said Jason as Adam headed towards Ernie to order a smoothie.

'Man, can things get any more complicated?" he thought.

Unknown Tome

The Lunar Palace

"Everything's falling into place," said the shadowed figure. "In 48 hours I shall dispatch Tommy and take his princess, and Adam can't see left from right!"

"The preparations are almost ready," said the figure as its face broke into one of the cruelest smiles one would ever see.