A/N: Well, I took a small hiatus to take care of my personal life and to fix future elements of the story. Hopefully, it will get better and better if I've done this right.

Chapter 7

Old enemies and New Fears

Tommy rose from his bed and stretched out all of his muscles. As he opened his eyes, he didn't recognize his surroundings at first, still fighting through the early morning haze. But after only a few confused moments, he remembered that he was in his small apartment that Zephyr had given him in the newly rebuilt Command Center. He looked around the room and took it in.

It had been decorated in white, green, red, and black, all tastefully done. There was an area that represented his time as a Ranger, with his old uniforms proudly displayed for his viewing pleasure. Pictures galore were everywhere, showing him with his friends and teammates.

Tommy could have stayed there for sometime, reminiscing in his past. But he knew there was much to be done, especially with Zephyr and his friends.

Tommy had been thinking about his decision for a long while after, trying to decide what to do. In the end, he realized that, Ranger or not, he still had an obligation to fulfill. Not only that, but how could he claim to be "history's greatest Ranger" and even think about not saving the world?

When Tommy walked into the main room, he was greeted by the sight of the other former rangers and Zephyr standing around talking. Apparently, they had been waiting for him.

"Ah, and here comes sleeping beauty!" said Zephyr, causing everyone to look at him, which made Tommy blush.

"Nice to see you haven't changed much, Tommy." said Jason. Everyone laughed as Tommy joined the crowd, smiling and chuckling with the rest of them.

"All right, everyone. Settle." They all did as Zephyr said, and after a moment he asked the question they were waiting for.

"Well? Are you all ready to make a decision?" They all nodded in unison.

"Very well. Take a moment to confer amongst yourselves one final time before giving me an answer." And with that, he turned away to gaze at a screen filled with charts and graphs. The group all faced each other in a circle and began to talk.

"Well, guys. What's it gonna be?" asked Tommy.

"Tommy, I think you already know what we're gonna say. What kinda rangers would we be if we said no?" said Jason.

"He's right. We wouldn't say no to Zordon. And Zephyr is essentially Zordon. I'm in." spoke Katherine.

"You know I'm in!" said Zack.

"Me too." Rocky piped up.

"You can count on me and Trini" said Billy while Trini nodded. The others all gave their approval as Tommy's eyes met theirs. The last person he made eye contact with didn't let him down either.

"You know what my answer is, Handsome." Tommy's smile grew as wide as possible.

"Alright then, guys. Looks like we're gonna save the world again!"

"Excellent! That's great!" They all turned and looked at Zephyr, who had his hands raised in the air in triumph, with a sheepish look on his face.

"You were eavesdropping?" asked Billy.

"Can you blame me?" replied Zephyr, without lowering his arms.

"Well, now that you know we're in, what happens next?" Zephyr opened his mouth to speak when the alarms went off. He spun around and pressed a few buttons on the console he had been standing in front of, bringing an image up on the screen that shocked the rangers, as they watched a familiar gold-armored monster traipse through downtown Angel Grove.

"What the hell?! How's he still alive?!" yelled Jason. Zephyr looked at him.

"You know this odd fellow?"

"That's Goldar. He used to work for Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd years ago when we first started. But he's supposed to be dead!" said Kimberly. Zephyr turned back toward the screen.

"Hmm, for a dead monster, he looks rather mobile to me."

"We gotta stop him! You ready guys?" yelled Tommy.

"Whoa, whoa, hold on. What are you doing?" asked Zephyr. Tommy looked at him, flabbergasted.

"We're gonna stop him." he said, as if this should have been the most obvious thing ever.

"With what power?" asked Zephyr in return. Tommy continued to stare at him for a moment before he realized what he was talking about. They had only just agreed to help him. They were still without powers.

"You let me handle this one. I don't think he'll be a problem."

"Are you kidding?! He's over forty feet tall!" Zephyr glanced again at the screen.

"So he's a small fry. Big deal!" And before anyone else could raise a protest, he disappeared in a flash of light.

"Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi! He's going to get himself killed!" exclaimed Alpha.

"Quick, Alpha, focus the screen." As Alpha did that, the rangers watched as Zephyr teleported into the middle of downtown, right at Goldar's feet.

Zephyr craned his neck upward to see the full scale of his opponent. Yes, the armored beast was tall, but that also made him slow. Which meant the beast didn't stand a chance.

"WHO ARE YOU?! WHERE ARE THE POWER RANGERS?!" yelled the creature. It's hot breath hit Zephyr full force, blowing his hair and clothes about, but not budging the man himself.

"Two things. One: The Power Rangers are not here, so you shall have to deal with me."

"AND NUMBER TWO?!" But before Goldar could say anything else, Zephyr was already moving. With incredible speed that rivaled lightning itself, Zephyr launched himself from the ground and moved up Goldar's leg, across his armored chest and up onto his nose. With a quick hand movement, Zephyr summoned a bo staff from nowhere and jammed it into the monster's eye. As Goldar recoiled in pain, Zephyr dropped back down to the ground, landing gently on his feet without a single scratch.

"Number two: You really need a mint."

When Goldar finally recovered, he raised his foot to squash Zephyr, who simply stood there and watched as the foot came closer and closer. But before it could crush him, Zephyr raised his hand, palm up, and stopped the foot... by himself!

"If that's the best you can do, you'd do well to retreat."

Goldar let out an enraged roar and made to force his foot down, until a booming voice interrupted.

"That's enough, Goldar. Return to you normal size for a moment."

"BUT MASTER, I CAN DESTROY HIM!"

"Look at yourself, you fool! He's holding you up with one hand! You are no match for him! Now stand down!" Goldar grumbled, but did as he was told. He shrunk down until he was just a little taller than Zephyr. Before Zephyr could do anything else, six intense blasts of energy appeared near Goldar. When they dissipated, there stood six figures, only one of who Zephyr recognized.

"Azazel."

"Oh no. Not them." said Kimberly. As she stared at the screen, she felt her stomach drop and her heart beat faster in fear.

On the screen stood the villains of the Rangers' past: Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa, Goldar, King Mondo of the Machine Empire, Divatox, and purple slime-coated man she didn't recognize. And there in the midst of the evil group stood who she assumed was Azazel. He closely resembled Zephyr except his hair was shorter and he had several scars criss-crossing his face. He also appeared to be worn out and could barely support himself.

"Apparently you've enough strength to gather minions, but not stand unaided, Azazel." spoke Zephyr. Azazel laughed, worrying Zephyr.

"Correct, brother. But when dealing with such simpletons, you don't need to display much power to convince them."

"Simpletons! Why you-!" Lord Zedd failed to finish his sentence as Azazel threw an energy bolt at him, barely missing hitting him directly, but getting it close enough to singe his exposed muscle. Zedd recoiled back into his spot and shivered.

"My apologies, master." he muttered. Azazel lowered his arm and brought his full focus back to Zephyr.

"So tell me brother, do you still think you can kill me?" he sneered.

"Even as I speak to you now, I struggle to keep myself from attacking." This got Azazel laughing.

"Now that's the little brother I knew! So what's stopping you?"

"I'm not a fool, Azazel. I know when I cannot win."

"Then why do you still defy me?" Azazel's eyes were full of curiosity and silent rage. Zephyr failed to miss it.

"Aren't all younger brothers supposed to be annoying?" he said with a smirk. Azazel's own smirk fell from his face, replaced by a scowl.

"Even in the face of oblivion, you still retain that impertinent attitude of yours. I should have eradicated you and Zordon both when I had the chance."

"Yes, well you didn't. And now I stand here before you, giving you such an easy target, and you can't even lift a finger." Zephyr spat out the sentence as he challenged Azazel to make a move. Both knew they were facing a stalemate currently. Azazel wasn't strong enough to fight Zephyr and win, but Zephyr was still outnumbered. Azazel's minions wouldn't have killed him, but they would wound him enough to make it easier for Azazel. After a minute of silence, Azazel began to chuckle.

"I see there is nothing I can do right now. But that's fine. The end has only just begun, Zephyr. Before the month is over, you and your Rangers will be dead, and I will have won." Zephyr studied his brother for a moment before replying.

"We shall see in a month." And they all teleported back to their places of hiding.

"Looks like the stakes have gotten higher." It was almost an hour later and Zephyr was sitting in the small lounge area he had constructed for the Rangers, with an icepack on his forehead. The confrontation with his brother had left him with a searing headache, as well as a lurching fear that wouldn't leave him. Azazel was the only person who ever truly frightened Zephyr, and that encounter had scared him to the core.

"So what do we do now?" asked Kimberly. Her and the others were all surrounding Zephyr, either sitting or standing. Zephyr rubbed his chin for a minute.

"Let's review for a second: Azazel is strong enough to have managed to resurrect your old enemies and make them his minions. This means that my original estimate of time is WAY off. He's gotten much stronger in a short amount of time. And as more time passes, he'll only get stronger." Zephyr stood up and began pacing.

"This also means that we've much less time to react and get our shit together. You all need to obtain your powers and be ready. Azazel will most likely use his minions to do tasks for him while he finishes recovering. Once he's finished, he'll begin his plan of destruction."

"How does he plan to do that, by the way?" asked Trini. Zephyr paused for a moment, considering her question.

"Honestly, I haven't the faintest idea. All I have is a theory, but it's far too dangerous, even for Azazel."

"And what's that?" asked Katherine.

"Well, if he's as crazy as I think, then he's going to try and open the gate to the Power Source and become a god."

"Wait, the what?" asked Aisha.

"The Gate. It's the physical entity that separates the source from the rest of existence. Every person in the universe is capable of drawing from the Source, but the Gate keeps a VERY close seal on that flow of power." Zephyr eyeballed the rest of the group and was met with confused looks from them all except for Billy.

"Ok, it's like this. The Gate is essentially a floodgate and the Source is like the water behind a dam. The Gate keeps most of the Source held at bay so that it can be accessible to people who need it in small forms. If the Gate is fully opened, then all of that power comes spilling out. And whoever it is that opens the Gate will most likely catch all of that power."

"Making them a god." spoke Kimberly in hushed tones. Everyone got it then.

"Exactly. And I'm sure you can imagine what a person with Azazel's sense of sanity would probably do." They all nodded. None of them needed to be told what an insane person would do with THAT amount of power.

"My god, this is so much to take in." said Rocky.

"Wait, you said that would also be dangerous for Azazel. What did you mean?" asked Trini.

"Well, it's pretty simple. The amount of power behind the Gate is tremendous. It's believed that it's too much for any one person. So the theory is that whoever opens the Gate will not only have the power of a god, but will probably be destroyed as well."

"Well, that's good then. Let him open the gate. Then he'll die and we won't have to do anything." said Adam.

"We can't allow that. It's only a theory. It's possible that he might get to be a god and not die either. And even if he does die from it, the power will continue to flow throughout the universe until the Gate is closed, and as it flows it will kill everything it reaches."

"So we're damned either way." said Tanya.

"Only if we don't stop him from opening the gate. If we can do that, then the other stuff won't be an issue."

"So then what now?" asked Jason. Zephyr looked at him and then let his gaze wander around to the rest of them.

"We'll get your new powers. After that, we'll have to keep an eye on Angel Grove. Whenever we see an attack from one of your past enemies, we'll respond. If we do things right, we may be able to track down Azazel before he has a chance to reach the Gate and stop him." Zephyr put his hands together and cracked his knuckles.

"Now lets go get you all powered up."

A/N: Many apologies for the lateness of this chapter. Many things happened. I got lazy, and then as soon as I got the gumption to start writing again, we learned my grandmother was going into hospice care. She passed away on the 22 of April, so we had to drive up and visit with my family up here and attend her memorial service. Most of this chapter was written in Michigan, including this Author's Note. But in any case, the chapter is finished and more are on the way! As usual, read and review. And hopefully, there won't be any more long delays like this. At least, not for awhile.