Chapter 10

Dreams

Alpha had teleported Bailey, Fred, Bulk, and Skull Back to Ernie's and they watched in fascination and horror as kids and teenagers streamed in and out of the Youth Center and up and down the street. They screamed like banshees and caused havoc everywhere they went; swinging baseball bats and throwing things. Papers were strewn all over the street, windows and headlights on the cars were knocked out, some teenagers were fighting in the street, and little kids ran by with large pillow cases filled with numerous candies.

Bailey jumped back out of the way as a tall teenage boy raced by, spraying something out of the top of a can. Judging by its spray, it appeared to be soda, however as she leaned over and glanced at the wet spot on the ground, she realized it was, in fact, Ooze.

"Looks like Ivan's reaching out even further, yeah?" She remarked. "Not only did he have the Ooze in general as things kids would play with, seems like he's changed it to something he can ingest."

"No," Fred contradicted. "Not ingest, it still Ooze, you can't drink it. He just came up with different ways for people to come in contact with it. If it's loaded into a can like silly string, what better way for kids to get at it?" He shrugged before pulling off his hat and running a hand through his hair."

"Bulkie and I'll do our best to try and get some order around here," Skull said, patting Bulk on the shoulder. "Maybe once they see that some police officers are trying to keep the streets safe, they'll realize what idiots they're being."

"Yeah, hopefully they don't do too much more damage." Bulk pulled out his nightstick and started to head towards Ernie. He and Bulk blocked off Fred and Bailey to keep them from getting hit by the flying food and ooze that nearly hit them as soon as they stepped foot through the door. Their mouths dropped open as they saw the destruction that had befallen the youth center.

"I wonder where Ernie is," Bailey murmured, shaking her head. "If he saw what happened to his store…"

"Considering there doesn't seem to be anyone that's trying to stop them, I'd think that he got stuck with some of that Ooze," Skull remarked. He looked over at Bulk and the two nodded before heading out into the fray for crowd control. Fred and Bailey watched as they pulled kids clinging to the support poles off and back onto the ground, handcuffed a few to chairs as they started to get a little bit too rowdy, and even Skull having gone as far as to tackle an unruly kid to the ground as he had started to spray a fire extinguisher around.

The purple ranger chewed her bottom lip as she looked around at the mess. There had to be something that would break them out of Ivan's control. There was always a weakness to something; it was just a matter of finding it. However at the present moment in time, it seemed that they were at a rave where the only thing that would break it up—the cops—wasn't working.

Fred glanced around at the mess, gently shaking his head. He tried to shout over them, waving his arms over his head as he did his best to get their attention. But the kids continued to run around, rampaging like they had never done before. The lack of mind control for the adults must have been a lack of inhibition seen in the kids under Ivan's spell. As soon as the adults are gone, they can finally do everything they were never allowed to do before, he realized. Frustrated, he glanced over the group of kids before standing up on a table and shouting to try and get their attention. He turned back to the purple ranger. "It's not working; they're not listening to me!" He cried.

"Keep trying, Fred," Bailey shouted back. She lowered her head and placed her fingertips on her temples. Think, Bailey, think. You're taking it in as a complex situation; break it down so that it's easier. She switched gears, thinking about the situation chemically as opposed to situationally. There's always something that will loosen the hold on chemical prospects. Nail polish and other adhesive substances can be removed by alcohol. Liquid stains are always able to me taken out of fabrics by the Bentinite which is a natural absorbent. The means of getting rid of chemical spills are…a chemical wash! She gasped loudly, eyes flying wide open as the revelation came to her.

Of course, how could she have not seen it before? Of course they didn't have an actual chemical wash, that would probably cause a lot of liability issues in the long run, but there had to be a fire alarm somewhere. The purple ranger spotted it on the wall and did a little jump before hurrying over to the far wall, lifting the glass that covered the emergency item and pulled.

A piercing siren blared seconds before the room was filled with a torrential downpour. The kids and teenagers all screamed and shrieked in surprise before covering their heads. The purple ranger watched as the ooze washed away from the kids and they seemed to be broken out of their spell. Grinning, Bailey turned and gave Fred a double thumbs up, which he returned with one of his own before whistling once more.

Now he had a captivated—albeit confused—audience at his feet.

"Listen," he called. "Everyone listen up!" He gestured around the Juice Bar, at the devastation that had been created while they had been under Ivan's control. "You all think this is some big party, don't you?" He rolled his eyes at the unanimous answer of affirmation. "Well you've all been brainwashed. Ivan's taking over the planet, and he's using all of us in his plans. And he's got our parents"

There was a low murmur that went around the room. Fred's eyes scanned over the faces of the kids that were in front of him. He couldn't get a good reading on whether or not they believed him. Some appeared skeptical while others appeared worried. They looked around the juice bar and down at their own hands as if they couldn't believe they would've done something like that.

However, one of the kids that Bulk had handcuffed to a chair loudly called out, "What are you talking about?" He shifted back and forth, trying to break free. "And why did you handcuff me? Let me go already!"

Skull shook his head, waving his nightstick at the guy. "Sorry, bud, we can't do that."

"Look, Ivan Ooze is evil," Fred continued. "And if you don't come with me right now, our parents are going to die! Ivan has them under his trance, after doing their dirty work he's ordered them to jump off the cliff at the rock quarry." He exclaimed before groaning in frustration, noticing the increasing looks of disbelief on the faces in front of him. "You gotta believe me!"

"Hey!" Bailey hurried over to Fred's side. "He's telling the truth. Ivan Ooze, under the guise of that ooze that he gave you all earlier…he has some sort of magical powers that put you and our parents in a trance. And if we don't stop him, the city is going to be destroyed by his monsters."

"There's more monsters running around?" a girl called.

"This is Angel Grove, there're always monsters running around," a guy called back.

Bailey shook her head. "This is different. The ectomorphicons have the means to completely destroy the city and if we don't go now—"She was cut off by a low quake rumbling through the room, nearly knocking her off her feet. Fred grabbed onto her arm and steadied her before jumping to the ground. The two blasted out of the Youth Center, followed by Bulk, Skull, and a group of kids.

She skidded to a stop, gasping, when she spotted a metal monster in the distance, walking through the city. It brought back an arm and swung it towards a building and the group watched, wincing as they heard the sound of glass cracking and dropping seconds before sirens started to wail, the familiar sound t the residents of Angel Grove who knew to follow the emergency evacuation plan as quickly as possible.

"You were telling the truth?" A kid asked.

"What about my Mom and Dad?"

"What are we going to do?"

"Don't panic!" Skull called loudly, voice drifting over the group of now panicked kids. "We have a plan." He turned to Bulk, Fred, and Bailey, lowering his voice. "Please tell me you have a plan."

"Sort of," Bailey fibbed. Buy as much time for Tommy and the others to come back. She cleared her throat. "First thing we're going to do is find the adults and stop them from going over the side of that quarry."

Fred nodded. "We'll take the monorail; it'll be the quickest way to get there." He turned back to Bulk and Skull. "Can you get us there in the cruiser?" Bulk gave him a pained look and pointed over towards the car that now had dents and fractures all along its body. The young boy grimaced and turned back to the purple ranger. "Looks like we're going to run."

"Looks like it." She looked at the group behind them and got ready to call towards them, then stopped, slowly smiling as she spotted an array of rainbow colors streaking across the sky towards downtown Angel Grove. They could hold off the monsters long enough so that they could find a way to save the adults. Good luck, guys.

She waved a hand to the group and with her and Fred leading the charge, started to run towards the monorail.

Ivan stood on the balcony of the highest point of Angel Grove, the Needle Eye Watch Tower, one of the biggest tourist attractions of the city. He trailed his nails along the railing of the tower as he watched his Ectomorphicons start to destroy the city. He took in a long, deep breath through his nose, releasing it with an almost erotic sigh.

"I love the smell of destruction in the evening," he said in a slow murmur.

"Me too." Goldar said, laughing. He thrust his sword high into the air, cheering loudly as Scorpitron and Hornitor started their destruction. Rito stood in the back of the tower, watching the two but not saying anything otherwise, gently running his bony fingertips down along his bone sword. Even from where they were standing they could hear the sound of the scared Angel Grove residents screaming in fear.

Ivan took in another deep breath, but this time as he let it out, it turned into a cough of indignation when he spotted the multi-colored streaks zoom across the sky. His eyes were now ablaze with fury as he grabbed onto the railing of the tower. "NO!" He bellowed. "Impossible. The Great Power…it was a myth!" He yelled so loudly that Goldar shrank back away from him.

He had never seen anyone come to the viciousness that Zedd had always managed, but this was close. He turned his gaze to the colorful streaks as they landed on the ground far below and for the first time hoped they would win.

The rangers landed in the middle of the destroyed road. Shock and confusion graced their features as they looked around the destruction. Papers from the nearby office building fluttered in the light breeze, the area around them completely empty.

"Oh man," Tommy breathed. He gently shook his head as he looked around. "Look at this place!" He lifted his arms and dropped them back down to his sides.

"This is definitely Ivan's handy work," Rocky said.

"Looks like the emergency evacuation system went off without a hitch," Avalon added. "At least that's a good thing, yeah?"

Adam started to speak but was cut off as the ground suddenly shook, nearly knocking the rangers to the ground. He whipped around, trying to find the source of the noise, but didn't find anything. The ground shook once more, this time knocking them over.

"What was that?" Billy asked.

Aisha, kneeling on the ground, caught sight of the silvery, metallic monster and gaped at it with wide eyes, hidden behind her helmet. She lifted a hand and pointed. "I think were about to find out, look!"

The rangers followed her gaze and spotted a monster that resembled a Hornet moving towards them. The pincers by its mouth clanged open and shut, sending deafening booms in the air around them. It locked its eyes on the rangers and tilted it head to the side before leaning closer as if studying them.

"Whoa what is that thing?" Kimberly asked.

"Looks like Ivan's been busy while we were away." Tommy muttered.

"I think it's one of those ectomorphicon Zordon was talking about, Bro," Avalon said. Before any of the rangers could say anything else, Hornitor turned and shot a blast of laser like energy out towards a nearby car. The rangers shrank back, shielding their faces as the rush of fire streaked towards the sky in a brilliant plume.

Hearing another sound behind them, the rangers whipped around, spotting the companion ectomorphicon, Scorpitron. It scuttled along the ground for a few feet before shooting out a blast of laser like energy as well, but this one coming from its tail. It destroyed another car, causing the rangers to instinctively take a step back.

"Oh, this one's even uglier." Kimberly said.

Tommy nodded then turned to his friends. "We've gotta stop these things," he declared. "For Zordon and for Angel Grove. We went to Phaedos looking for something we didn't think existed, but now we have it. We've got the new Ninja Zords, let's use them."

"Right!" His friends replied.

"Ninja Crane Zord!"

"Ninja Wolf Zord!"

"Ninja Tiger Zord!"

"Ninja Frog Zord!"

"Ninja Ape Zord!"

"Ninja Bear Zord!"

"Ninja Falcon Zord!"

The rangers then grabbed onto their power morphers and held them out towards each other. Beams of light zoomed from the power coins that lay nestled inside the morphers and hot out towards the sky. The rangers watched as the light dissipated and the zords came out from their hiding places, answering the call for them.

As the zords passed by the watch tower, Ivan didn't appear concerned. In fact, compared to how angry he had been before, Ivan seemed to be taking a stroll in the park. He waved his hand, dismissing the situation as Goldar cried his fury of the zords being released. "No need to worry, Goldar. My ectomorphicons had destroyed many a race and planets. They'll crush the power rangers like little roaches, leaving behind multi-colored piles of spandex, gore, blood, and bone." He rubbed his hands together. "I can't wait."

Back on the ground, the rangers watched as their ninja zords approached then all leapt into the cockpits of their zords. Tommy piloted his zord low over the building of downtown Los Angeles and directed it towards Scorpitron. "All right guys, I'm over the east quadrant and heading straight for the scorpion," he explained. He pressed a few buttons in his control panel and flipped open the top of his joystick and pressed the red button sitting at the top. "Rockets away!"

The Flacon zord swung upwards and brought its wings together as rockets appeared at the wing tips. As Tommy pressed the button, the rockets engaged, flying out of the zord and shooting towards Scorpitron. The scorpion monster scuttled aside and towards the Scorpitron, barely hitting it. The Scorpitron then aimed its stinger towards Tommy and started to blast towards it. Tommy expertly maneuvered the zord out of the way while, below, Avalon's tiger zord started towards Scorpitron and lunged at it knocking it aside with a quick blast of its paw.

The blow knocked Scorpitron aside and as it fell, it blasted out another beam of energy that shot into the wing of Tommy's falcon zord. "I've been hit. I'm pulling out," Tommy said, pulling up and soaring out of the way. He passed by Adam as the frog zord jumped towards Avalon and Scorpitron.

"Sorry about that, Bro, I thought I had a good shot," Avalon quickly apologized.

"Don't worry about it, Sis," Tommy replied quickly. "You did good, great thinking on coming up on its other side." He soared out of the way to take stock of the damage on his zord and Adam moved to take his place.

"Frog Zord is on its way," Adam said. He searched through his control panel and grabbed onto a lever, pulling it hard. The mouth of the Frog Zord opened and a long whip shot out of its mouth, wrapping around Scorpitron's neck. Adam grinned as he watched the scorpion monster tried to pull back, feeling the strength through his hand holds and pulled back just as hard.

The two continued their game of tug-of-war for a bit before Adam soon grew tired and slammed his fist onto a button directly to his left. He watched as an electric wave shot up through the length of the whip and crashed into Scorpitron. It twisted back and forth for a moment, as if in pain and shot a blast of energy back towards Adam, hitting the frog zord directly in the face of the zord. The black ranger winced as the windshield cracked but still held.

"You're gonna pay for that one man," Adam murmured.

Billy hurried his zord from around a corner block and headed towards Scorpitron. Avalon's tiger zord had gotten back to its feet at that point and backed away as her sensors showed her that Billy was approached. The blue wolf zord slowly stalked towards Scorpitron as Adam continued to play tug-of-war. "Heads up, Adam. I'm loading hydraulics on the wolf zord," the blue ranger said. He then put his zord in front of Avalon's. "Hey, why don't you pick on somebody your own size?"

"Is that supposed to be a 'short' joke?" Avalon demanded.

Billy chuckled in reply. After a moment of loading the springs on the zord, Billy pulled back on his handhelds and the spring-loaded hind feet of the zord and shot towards Scorpitron. The wolf's teeth clamped down on the tail of the scorpion and he hung there, frantically shaking its head back and forth trying to break off the tail from the zord.

A few block away, Aisha converged upon Hornitor, taking it in her sights. She pressed a few buttons and loaded up the bear zord, bringing it to its hind feet. "Time to boogie with the bear," she murmured. The zord landed back on its feet and raced forward, crashing into Hornitor, causing it to stumble back. The bear zord then backed up and came up on its hind legs once more, swinging its paw at Hornitor's face.

Hornitor made a squeaking sound and turned back to the bear zord, practically glaring at it. As the bear zord stood on its hind legs, the bellow exposed, Hornitor shot a blast towards its stomach. The yellow ranger let out a gasp of surprise as the shockwave of the blast knocked her back into her seat. The bear zord flew off its feet and crashed into a building behind her before falling over. "I've been hit hard," he called.

"Hang on, 'Sha, I'm on my way," Rocky replied. He directed the Ape zord to scale the side of a building so that he could get a greater vantage point from the top. Once he arrived at the roof he peered over the edge and watched as Aisha continued to bravely fight off the hornet monster. "Ape Zord locked on target," Rocky said. He made sure that the crosshairs on his screen held onto Hornitor before leaping below and landing on Hornitor's back. The hornet monster started to twist back and forth, trying to knock him off, giving Aisha the opening to get back to her feet. She maneuvered the bear zord around and started to attack with straight blows from its paws and a few shots from its teeth as well.

Kimberly in her Crane zord decided to straight for their target, Ivan and zoomed up towards the watch tower. Her upper lip curled in disgust as she spotted Ivan watching the fight along with Goldar and Rito, two of the three monsters that had destroyed their zords, their Command Center, and gravely hurt Zordon all in one fell swoop. They weren't going down without a fight.

"Alright guys, I got a lock on the Oozeman," She told her friends, soaring through the skies as quick as lightning. She headed directly towards Ivan and got her zord ready to send out canon blasts towards him.

Ivan smirked as he looked up towards the skies, watching the pink ranger approach. He slowly ran his tongue over his sharp teeth. "Ah, here comes the cute little pink ranger to the rescue," he drawled, almost maliciously.

Goldar glanced at him then snorted before crossing his arms. "She's already spoken for," he commented. Ivan gave him a curious glance. "Zedd has a dibs on her, plans…"

Ivan sucked in a deep breath, chest rising ominously. "Do you see Zedd here? That pulsating mutant isn't in charge anymore, I am! And if you don't know what's good for you, you'll end up with the rest of them!" He turned back to Rito, who continued to watch the two quietly. "Do you hear that?"

Rito merely glared back at him.

Ivan turned and glared back at the pink ranger, his scowl deepening. He lifted his hand and shot a bolt of electricity out at her, and her Crane zord immediately stopped short, not moving forward nor backwards. Ivan started to laugh evilly as the zord continued to freeze in mid-air. He moved his hand back and forth and the Crane zord followed it. Inside the cockpit, the pink ranger was slammed back and forth as her zord was flung around.

She pulled hard on the joystick in front of her but found that she couldn't move the zord in the ways she wanted to. "Ooze has me in some electromagnet deadlock, I can't break free!" She cried, already starting to panic.

"Hang on Kimberly!" Tommy's voice came over the speakers.

She continued to struggle with control over the zord, trying to block out the sound of Ivan's cruel laughter. Tears sprang to her eyes as she felt the temperature inside the zord rapidly increased. Warning bells and klaxons started to go off inside her Zord. Ivan was burning her form the inside out! "I'm burning up in here!" she yelled.

Now the yellow ranger's voice came over the speakers via the communication system. "Kimberly use your thrusters!"

A wave of relief crashed over Kimberly and she nodded, regaining control. "Right, right," she said. She let out a deep breath and started to press buttons along the unfamiliar face of the Crane zord. "Now which button?" All of a sudden she heard the Crane's cry from deep inside her. Not a cry of sadness or despair, but one that made Kimberly feel she could do anything she put her mind to. An image of the correct button appeared in her head and the pink ranger smiled. Thanks Crane zord, she thought before pressing it firmly.

Kimberly was slammed back in her seat as the thrusters on her zord kicked on and she was shot forward, out of Ivan's grasp and through the sky.

"Blast it!" Ivan growled, lowering his hand. He watched as the rangers continued to fight his ectomorphicons, a scary thought entering his head.

The rangers might actually win.

Adam's hands trembled as he held onto the control for the frog zord as hard as he could. Scorpitron was putting up a better fight than he thought was possible. Billy, on the other hand felt he was about to puke at any moment as Scorpitron continued to lash its tail back and forth. However, he knew if he let go of the monster it would give the ectomorphicon the better chance to get at Adam. It was the extra weight holding the ectomorphicon back that was doing his best to get to the frog zord.

Billy let out a cry of surprise as he suddenly felt weightless. And as the streets of Angel Grove whizzed by, he came aware that the tail of Scorpitron had finally broke apart and he went flying back away from the ectomorphicon. His zord suddenly came to a stop before falling heavily to its side. It was then nudged back to his feet by the tiger zord.

"You okay?" Avalon called.

"I'm good," Billy replied. "Thanks, Ava."

"No worries."

"I'm losing my grip, I can't hold on much longer," Adam said.

"Disengage!" Tommy directed. "I'm coming back in to try again." He flew over the top of Scorpitron and readied his zord to fire off the rockets once more. Avalon came up on the other side of Scorpitron and the tiger zord's tail moved straight up and created a canon at the tip of the tail.

"Fire!" Tommy cried and the two zords shot out their weapons and it crashed into Scorpitron, immediately incinerating it.

The rangers cheered as steaming piles of metal crashed to the ground around them, what was left of the Scorpitron ectomorphicon. The white ranger grinned behind his helmet as he slowly brought his zord over towards the remaining; Hornitor. "Good job, guys," Tommy said appreciatively as he landed on the ground. Now let's go get the other one."

He and the rangers arrived just as Hornitor knocked Rocky off his back and sent him scraping against the ground. The bear zord stood atop of the ape zord, shielding it as Hornitor moved closer towards them.

Ivan glared down at the rangers as he watched the flames subside. No. Not again. He wasn't going to allow himself to be defeated again. He only just got resurrected; he couldn't be taken back down that easily. "Those power brats are going to wish they never met me. The last color they shall see is purple as I rule over this God forsaken world!" His growl was suddenly transformed into a scream of fury as blinding pain seared through his back.

He fell to his knees and turned around to see Rito standing behind him, still holding onto the handle of his sword, the other side shoved straight through Ivan's shoulder. Dark purple ooze dripped from the wound and as Ivan twisted towards him, pain continued to twist into the wound.

"What do you think you're doing?" He demanded.

Rito's empty eye sockets glared at Ivan with the coldest, utmost fury. "Doing what I should've done when you first took over."

Ivan lifted his free hand and shot a blast of electricity at Rito and caught him straight in the chest, knocking him backwards. The movement caused the sword to be pulled back out of the wound, causing Ivan to scream in pain once more. The purple monster fell to his hands and knees and took a few deep breaths, trying to work through it. He turned towards Goldar.

"Do you have anything to add?"

The golden monster shook his head.

"Good!" Ivan lowered his head and started to stretch himself down from the tower and into Hornitor. As the seconds massed, the ectomorphicon grew bigger, taking on Ivan's body. Finally, Hornitor stood straight up, towering over the ranger and their zords. Hornitor's face was replaced with Ivan's and he glanced at the rangers before tearing off the watch tower he, Goldar, and Rito had occupied before and spun it in his hands.

He couldn't care less about the monsters that may nor may not still be on the tower. No, he just needed to get rid of the rangers. He slowly started to walk towards the ranger, stepping on and breaking the monorail track as he did so.

"Uh, I don't like the looks of this," Rocky stated.

"Neither do I," Tommy agreed. "We need Ninja Megazord Power, now!"

"Ninja Megazord, Power Up!"

"Guys, The monorails in trouble, I'll complete the sequence later," Tommy said before flying off.

"Go Tommy, we can take care of Ivan," Kimberly replied to her boyfriend, his absence immediately putting her in the second-in-command position.

The Crane, Wolf, Bear, Ape, Tiger, and Frog zords combined to create the Ninja Megazord. "Ninja Battle mode, now!" The six said in unison. "Power Sword, now!"

The power sword appeared in the Ninja Megazord's hand just as Ivan raced forward and slashed at them with his own weapon.

Bailey followed Fred, leaping over the abandoned turntable of the monorail and climbed into the first car of the monorail with Bulk and Skull following close behind. All the kids are running, trying to go save their parents.

Fred looked over the control over the monorail, chewing his lower lip, before pressing the button that seemed that it would be the button that would get the monorail started. He let out a breath of relief when the monorail slowly started forward, pulling out of the station. As the monorail continued one, the group looked out the windows, watching as the rangers fought Ivan.

"What is that thing?" A kid asked.

"Who cares? The power rangers are here to help."

I hope they can do it, Bailey thought. We don't have much time left. She turned back towards the monorail track and squinted her eyes as she looked further down the track. There was something off with it and when she saw a spark of electricity, she immediately knew what it was. "The track's broken!" She gasped. "Ivan must've knocked it out while trying to get to the rangers." Before she could start to panic, she heard the sound of a Falcon screech as a shadow zoomed over the windows.

"Look!" Skull pointed.

The group watched as the falcon zord flew overhead, heading straight for the monorail. "It's Tommy," Bailey murmured to Fred, Bulk, and Skull, who all nodded, watching in reply. The falcon zord laid down on the tracks in a perfect connection of the monorail and the train smoothly went overhead.

"Good luck," Tommy said.

Bailey heard him through the Communicator she still held on her wrist and she turned to the side, bringing it up to her mouth. "Thanks Bro, we've got it covered," she replied. They rode the monorail down to the rock quarry and quickly climbed off the train, racing towards the site. Bailey breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted the adults still moving slowly towards the edge of the cliff. She looked around, hoping to find something that would keep the adults back long enough to give them time to stop them.

"Hey guys?" Bulk's call grabbed their attention and the two young kids hurried over to the two police officers as they pointed down a side of the cliff. "Do you think we could use some of that?" Fred glanced over down the side and looked at the fire truck that sat below.

"Bonzer!" Bailey clasped her hands together. "That's perfect."

"You guys try to stop them," He called to the group of kids that watched the adults with fear. He paused, spotting Ernie and Lt. Stone in the crowd near his father. Swallowing thickly, he looked over a Bailey who had noticed the same thing.

The purple ranger put on a brave face and nodded off the kids before turning back to Bulk and Skull. "We have to get down there and we have to get down there now! The fire truck should have a means of a water pump on board as well as a ladder that will extend us up here if there aren't any keys we can use."

"You got it, boss!" Bulk agreed, giving her a salute before the four hurried down the side of the rock face and towards the bottom of the quarry. The water had receded far enough to show off the sharp and jagged rocks that lay below. If any of the adults went over the edge…

Don't think about it, Bay, she reminded herself. Focus on the task at hand. Remember what Dad always said, no outside thoughts or you'll put yourself in even more danger. The four carefully made it to the bottom and looked over the fire truck.

Skull immediately leapt into the front seat and looked over the controls. There were no keys that would be used to get the truck started but that was no problem. Not only did he have a lot of time on his hands after having been kicked out of school, but he had always been interested in mechanics and automobiles, restoring some cars back from the proverbial dead. There wasn't any sort of automobile he couldn't hotwire. Leaning over, he reached underneath the dashboard and pulled out the wires from underneath the steering column and looked through them. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a set of keys and snapped it through two of the wires. With the insides exposed, he pressed them together and the truck roared to life.

"Great job, buddy!" Bulk hollered at him.

"Nice one, Skull," Bailey added as she, Fred, and Bulk climbed into the cabin of the car. "Drive it over there! Get it as close to the cliff as you can." Fred leaned forward and watched as little rocks started to fall from the lip of the cliff and below. He held his breath, watching as the heels of some of the kids started to come into view as well as their backs. "Hurry!"

Skull drove the fire truck forward, as close to the cliff as he could and stopped it. Bulk immediately got out of the cabin of the truck and opened a panel on the side. "I got the ladder here," he instructed, pointing upwards. "There's a pump at the top, you two get up there and I'll direct you towards the group. If water was what had gotten the kids to come to their senses, maybe the stronger blow from this water pump will knock back the parents."

Nodding, Fred and the purple ranger scrambled up to the top of the ladder with a lift from Bulk and held on to the sides as tightly as possible as the ladder slowly directed their ways over towards the cliff. Once they were at the right height, Fred turned back to Bulk, cupping a hand around his mouth. "Turn it on!"

Bulk nodded and released the lever of the water pump and Fred and Bailey reached out and grabbed onto the nozzle at the front. A jolt shook through the front of the hose as the water came flying out towards the large group that slowly continued to shuffle towards the edge.

Gritting her teeth, Bailey held on tight to the hose and maneuvered it back and forth, showering them with water. There didn't seem to be any change at first, causing Bailey's heart to leap up and cram into her throat when she spotted Erie, Mitch, and Lt. Stone getting closer and closer to the edge of the cliff. Come on…come on…

There was another jolt through the nozzle of the hose and the water started to spray out harder and faster and then she saw that the group was starting to backup, shaking off the effect of the Ooze over them. The water didn't stop until every last adult and kid were pushed back far enough away from the edge.

"Yes!" Bailey cheered as Fred threw his hands up in the air. The kids started to scream and cheer as they grabbed onto their parents and hugged them tightly.

"Do you see my Dad?" Fred looked around the group having lost sight of his father. He frowned, leaning back and forth as he looked for his father. Finally, the purple ranger tapped him on the arm and pointed towards the side. Fred grinned and cupped his hands over his mouth "Dad!" he called.

Mitch caught his son's eye and grinned before hurrying over to the two as the ladder was slowly lowered enough that they could get back on solid ground. When Mitch reached the two young kids he wrapped the two of them in a tight hug. "I'm so glad you two are okay," he said to them, drawing back. "What happened? Last thing I remember, I was messing with your ooze."

"It's a long story, Dad," Fred responded.

"A very long story, mate," Bailey agreed, still grinning. "But things'll come good." She looked up as there was the sound of an explosion. "The power rangers have everything under control." She looked over at Fred and the two shared a smile.

"If that's the case, we should get out of here, just in case things start to come this way," Mitch suggested. His idea must've been heard for the group started to leave the area. Bailey waited to be sure that Bulk and Skull made their way up from the bottom of the quarry and gave them a hug.

"Great job guys," she said to them. "And thank you. Fred and I…we couldn't have done this without you two."

"It was our pleasure," Bulk replied.

"Yeah, what he said," Skull agreed. He looked towards the horizon where the rangers continued to fight against Zordon. "Now, what are you going to do?"

"I'll figure something out," Bailey said. "First, let's make sure everyone is out of here."

Kimberly let out a grunt of pain as she was flung to the side in her seat, the arm crashing right into her ribs as Ivan swung a heavy blow their way. She winced and closed her eyes as bright colored flecks shot by the window.

"The Power Sword has been destroyed." Aisha told her friends.

"Micro pressures dropping," Billy said as he looked over the scales and charts on the screens in front of him. He frantically pushed a few buttons that were by them. "Negative zone." There was another rattle that blasted through the Megazord as Ivan, now having blasted away their power sword, moved close and picked them up over his head.

"Brace yourselves," Rocky cried. "We're gonna hit hard."

"Let's see if you guys have the power of flight," Ivan said with a light laugh. He reared the Megazord back over his head and heaved them forward. The Megazord soared through the air and crashed through a high rise building, landing hard on the other side.

"All systems are down," Billy said as the lights inside the Megazord started to flicker.

"He's closing in." Adam said.

Ivan started to walk towards the rangers but stopped when he spotted the steam of adults running away from the rock quarry in the distance. He growled in frustration, no, none of his plan had worked. Then he noticed the purple ranger at the back of the group with Bulk and Skull. His eyes stayed transfixed up on her. "Blast that girl!" He rasped as wings slid out of his back. "I'm going to squish her like a grape!"

He took off into the air and headed over towards the rock quarry.

"Where's he going? "Adam called.

"He's going after Bay," Avalon replied. "I'm sorry guys, I gotta disengage."

"You go do that, Av, we'll take care of Ivan," Kimberly said. She then turned to the communication system and yelled for her boyfriend. "Tommy! Get your ass down here, now!"

"Falcon zord coming in to complete the sequence," Tommy said, the falcon zord flying overhead just as Avalon's tiger zord disengaged from the Megazord and raced after Ivan. "Ninja Falcon Mega Zord!" As the Falcon zord landed on top of the Megazord and completed his portion of the docking sequence. "Alright guys, let's get Ooze out of here before he destroys everything." Tommy told his friends.

Avalon raced the tiger zord after Ivan as he reached the rock quarry. Hearing the sound of the quakes getting louder, the purple ranger twisted around and watched with wide eye as Ivan headed her way. She stumbled back and fell on the ground as Ivan landed in front of her, glaring down at her. He kneeled down and towered over her as she stared back up at him.

"BAY!" Fred turned back towards her but Bulk grabbed him around the waist and hoisted him over his shoulder, continuing to carry him out of the area. "What're you doing? We have to help her!"

"She'll be fine, Fred, don't worry," Skull reassured him.

"Now I'll finally have at least one of you rangers out of my hair," Ivan said, bringing a hand up to his eyes. "And I'm glad that I can start with you. This'll teach you for stealing my color…ruining my plans." He sent out a bolt of energy towards her.

Bailey squeezed her eyes shut and turned away, waiting for the pain to hit her.

"Tiger Token!"

The purple ranger opened her eyes and watched as Avalon leapt in front of her sister with a large orange and black shield—reminiscent of her former Stega Shield—held up in front of her. The blast bounced harmlessly off of the shield and shot away. Ivan growled as he sat back.

"Av!" Bailey cried, scrambling up into a sitting position. "Boy am I glad to see you."

"I can say the same," Avalon replied. She reached into the holster of her blaster and pulled out a small, gold coin, handing it over to her sister. "I think you're going to need this." Bailey grinned and held onto it, a purple wave of electricity moving over her body.

"It's morphin' time!" She called. "Purple Ranger Power!"

She morphed into her reconfigured suit and the two stood up in front of Ivan as he started up another blast of energy towards them. The orange and purple ranger backed up as far as they could go, waiting for the blast. Avalon steadied her shield up in front of them, waiting for him to make his move.

Then, all of a sudden, the Ninja Megazord came flying overhead with the hands cupping around the orange and purple rangers, fending off the blow that Ivan sent their way. One the smoke cleared, the Megazord pulled back from the two girls.

"Are you guys Okay?" Aisha asked.

"Better than," Bailey replied. "Just getting started. Ninja Lion Zord!" As Avalon leapt back into the cockpit of her zord, the purple lion zord came out of its hiding place and Bailey went into the cockpit, with Bailey shooting off missiles from the mane of the lion zord that struck Ivan, before the two connected back with the Ninja Megazord. "So what have I missed?"

"Nothing other than getting our asses handed to us," Adam said. "We were just thinking of getting out of here, even the playing field a bit."

"Got it," Bailey agreed. "I'll set a course for space."

"I'll get the coordinates," Billy said.

"Let's do it."

The rangers piloted the Ninja Megazord out towards space as Ivan quickly followed after him. At first the rangers were afraid the zord wouldn't continue to hold as they went through the different atmospheres but soon they would amongst the stars. Something caught Billy's eye and he slowly smiled, watching as Hailey's comet zoomed around space. It was to be over Earth in a few days, that's what had been the means of keeping the observatory open.

"Guys, I think I know a way to get rid of Ivan," Billy said.

"Really, how?" Adam asked.

"Hailey's Comet! We get Ivan in the Comet's path and make sure that he can't get out of it in time, and before we know it, the trajectory and speed will be too much for him to handle."

"Got it," Tommy agreed. "Activating main thrusters." The Ninja Megazord zoomed towards Hailey's comet, turning around and watching as Ivan followed closely behind him. His face was a grotesque mask of fury as he zoomed towards them, hell-bent on destroying the power rangers after having had everything gone wrong for them. When he got close enough, they powered up the thrusters once more and rocketed upwards as Ivan kept going.

The Ninja Megazord turned around and faced Ivan. "Ninja Megazord Charge!" They cried and shot towards Ivan at blinding speeds, crashing into him and propelling him back into Hailey's comet, imploding upon impact.

The rangers cheered once they saw that Ivan had been destroyed and Tommy quickly regained control of the Megazord once more. "All right, now to get back to Zordon."

"And hurry," Bailey agreed.

The Command Center was dark, silent, and as Alpha continued to look down at his fallen friend, he let out little sniffles every now and then. He looked over as there was a surging sound and spotted the rangers teleporting into the Command Center.

With a brief feeling of excitement, he turned from Zordon and hurried over to the rangers as they took off their helmet. "Alpha," Bailey called, hurrying over to her friend and grabbed onto him. "Is everything alright?"

"Rangers, you made it!" Alpha cried happily seeing that the teens had managed to get the Great Power and defeat Ivan. He slowly lowered his head, sadness creeping over him once more. "But I'm afraid you're too late." He turned back towards the remnants of Zordon's tube and watched as the rangers hurried over to it, not wanting to believe the news.

But as they looked down at the still, gray person in front of them, they knew it to be true.

Zordon of Eltar was dead.

"Too late?" Billy asked. He had a hard time believing it, despite seeing Zordon lying quietly in front of him. Images of his mother filled his head and he dropped his helmet with a loud clatter, turning and punching a fist into the wall. "No!" Avalon looked over at him with tears in her eyes that she wouldn't allow to fall. She bent down into a squatting position and held her hands over her face, stealthily wiping away the tears before reaching out a hand and placing it on Billy's wrist and squeezing tightly.

"This can't be happening." Kimberly said with tears in her eyes.

Aisha whimpered and buried her face into Rocky's chest as he wrapped his arms around her. Bailey brushed away the tears that fell down her cheeks, but continued to hold a brave face the best she could. Adam put his arm around her shoulder, gently rubbing her arm.

Tommy clenched his hands into fists as he looked down at Zordon. No, all of their work wouldn't be for nothing. Zordon wasn't going to go, not like this. Not when he had so many people on his side. Suddenly Tommy realized something, remembering what Dulcea had said to them back on Phaedos. "Remember what we learned? To those who possess the great power, all things are possible." His friends looked at him in disbelief. "We have to try."

Then, following his lead, the rangers surrounded what was left of Zordon's power tube and raised their hands, pressing their palms together. Closing their eyes, they concentrated hard on the power inside them, just as they had when they were acquiring the great power from the Nathadian Monolith. A bright light shone from their chest plates and shot towards the center, coming together in a great ball of light, growing brighter and brighter as the seconds passed.

Alpha watched as the light continued to grow and the Command Center started to correct itself, fixing everything that had been broken, reconfiguring more and more as the seconds passed. Once the Command Center had been fixed, the light shone over Zordon, slowly engulfing him.

And to the rangers' surprise, Zordon's eyes flew open and he let out an almighty gasp. They watched in awe as the Command Center became fully restored, the last to come together being Zordon's tube. He opened his eyes, the mentor looking down at the color friends in front of him.

"Zordon!"

"Rangers!" He replied.

"We did it!" Bailey cheered before grabbing onto Alpha's hands and the two started to jump up and down in unison.

"He's alive, he's alive, he's alive!" Alpha cried out in happiness.

"We thought that you…" Kimberly trailed off as Tommy reached over and wiped away her tears. She didn't need to finish her sentence; they all knew what she was going to say. They had thought the same. But here he was, smiling in front of them once more.

"It is good to see you again too." Zordon told them, smiling like a proud father. "Rangers…you have done what others had failed to do, you brought the Great Power back and defeated Ivan Ooze once and for all. The Nathadians, the Order of the Meledon, Dulcea, myself, and all of Earth thank you for everything you've done."

"It's the least we can do, Zordon," Rocky said.

"Yeah, you've helped us and stood by us all these years, we couldn't give up on you," Tommy agreed.

Zordon smiled warmly.

The rangers walked along the boardwalk through the celebratory party that had been thrown as the city of Angel Grove had been saved by the power rangers once more as well as to celebrate the Grand re-opening of the Observatory. Despite the destruction of Hailey's comet, the observatory had a new life that had been given to them and there was always something more to see.

Besides, Avalon thought. There might be some more Ooze up there to look at. She smiled to herself at her little joke and Aisha and Kimberly, who were walking on either side of her with their arms linked together noticed and stopped.

"What's that smile for, girl?" Aisha asked.

"Nothing." The orange ranger shrugged. "Just…for once I'm really happy."

"I think I know why." Kimberly gave a sly smile before leaning over so that the yellow ranger could see her. The orange ranger watched with a suspicious glance. "Back when we had saved Zordon in the Command Center, I saw this one and a certain blue ranger getting a bit cozy." Avalon made a noise of protest as Aisha's eyes lit up. "They didn't stop holding hands the whole time they were there and don't try to deny it. You like him don't you?" Avalon opened her mouth to say her piece but was betrayed by the flush of crimson that slid up her cheeks. "I knew it!"

She and Aisha cheered, giving each other a high-five as Avalon dropped her arms from theirs. "Are you lot done analyzing my personal life to death?"

"Not really," Aisha said. "We,"—she motioned between herself and Kimberly—"always knew you liked him. I mean, he's always protect you in battle—"

"You sure you're not getting us mixed up with Tommy and Kim?" Avalon asked, ignoring Kimberly's indignant gasp. She smirked. "I mean, if I didn't hear her shouting Tommy's name so much, I might think she was actually starting to go crazy."

On the outside, Kimberly laughed along with her girl friends, looping her arms back through theirs as they continued to follow the guys as they walked a few feet in front of them. But on the inside, she took that comment to heart. She knew Avalon didn't mean it to be mean in a personal way, she was just kidding around, but it reminded her of how badly she had done against the skeleton monster and the Gate Keepers. She was weak, even with her new powers it wasn't something that kept her at the same level as her friends.

She was broken out of her thoughts as Rocky turned around and called back to the girls, "hey, are you guys hungry?"

"We're not but I'm sure you are, Rocko," Aisha called back as the girls hurried and caught up to the boys, falling in step with them. She rubbed her hands together. "So, where do you want to eat?"

"How about that place right off the pier?" Tommy suggested. "Seafood and a great view over the water."

Kimberly thought of protesting but her stomach growled loudly. They hadn't eaten much since being on Phaedos and she had fought a lot, she deserved this. Smiling up at her boyfriend, she looped her arm around his waist and leaned into him. "Sounds good to me."

"Me too," Rocky concurred.

"I don't think we had a probability of you not liking the idea, Rocky," Billy said, causing the group to laugh once more.

"Cool. It's over here." Adam directed the group to the seafood restaurant and got a table for the group on the outside patio. Sitting down around the table, Billy frowned when he noticed the pink and yellow rangers cast him a sly glance as he settled into his chair next to Avalon.

"Uh, what are they looking at?" He asked his best friend.

"Nothing, mate," Avalon said shortly, her cheek blossoming once more. "Absolutely nothing." His eyes narrowed for a moment but then he caught sight of the redness on her cheeks and smiled to himself as he stretched out in his seat.

"I don't know, I think there's plenty to see."

Avalon rolled her eyes and made a show of lifting her menu and covering her face, missing the laughter from all of her friends around them. They ordered their food and just had it delivered to their table, ready to start eating when Fred and Bailey arrived at their table. Prizes from carnival games were draped over their shoulders as well as their faces being painted.

"Hey guys," Fred greeted them.

"Hey," Bailey echoed.

"Hey Fred," Tommy said, doing his handshake with the boy before ruffling Bailey's hair. "What's up?"

"You guys look like you've to quite a haul," Rocky added, looking over their prizes. "I hope you saved some for the rest of us." The purple ranger shrugged and beamed, appearing just as happy as her sister was.

"So rumor has it that you're quite the hero, Fred," Kimberly spoke up, flashing him a bright smile. Fred exchanged a glance with Bailey and shook his head.

"Thanks, but it wasn't just me. Bay and Bulk and Skull helped out a lot, too. Without them…we wouldn't have been able to get anything done. Besides, the power rangers did most of the work." He bit back a smirk.

Tommy shook his head. "Things got tough, you didn't panic. You my friend demonstrated true bravery."

Now Fred was enjoying the attention that was put on him. "It's like what you taught me about martial arts; use your head, and above all, stay calm." Fred said

"I heard you're in line to be a ranger yourself one of these days." Aisha said to Fred, making everyone at the table smile.

"Nah, that's impossible." Fred denied. Bailey made a snorting sound and gently bumped Fred on the shoulder, giving him a warning look. He ignored her. "You really think so?" Fred asked. "Cause I was thinking of being either the silver or gold ranger. I just hope that Zordon has enough space at the Command Center for me."

Now the rangers all froze as they ate and Bailey looked up at the sky, making sure she didn't catch anyone's gaze. Billy, on the other hand, immediately recognized the tactic out of his co-technical advisor and leaned towards her. "Hey Bay," he said to her. "How does he know about the Command Center and Zordon?"

All eyes turned to the purple ranger and she grimaced. "Well, about that—"she started but was cut off by the sound of fireworks going off behind them. Twisting around, the rangers watched as fireworks started to go off over the water. "Cool!" She and Fred chorused as they jumped up onto the railing to see.

The rangers got out of their chair and went to the railing to watch the fireworks as well. Noticing that the shortest ranger was the last to get to the railing, Billy held his hand out towards Avalon and she gave him a grateful smile as she took it allowed herself to be pulled up to stand on the railing next to her sister and Fred.

As the fireworks continued to explode overhead in rainbows of colors, Avalon tilted her head back and looked towards the sky. There were so many things she knew she was going to have to face now, thing she hoped the other rangers wouldn't find out about before she had a chance to work them out for herself. But everything with her mother, father, Dana, and the other thing…everything she had been anxious about returning to as they returned from Phaedos didn't matter in that moment.

All that mattered was that Zordon was back, Ivan was destroyed, and they had saved the world another time.

As she tucked some loose hair behind her ear, the orange ranger caught Billy's eye and he smiled at her. She smiled back at him before noticing a serious expression sliding onto his face. He leaned forward for a second, hesitated, and then leaned forward completely, pressing his lips gently against hers to which she shyly responded to.

And for the rest of that night, the rangers basked in another job well done and knowing that no matter what came their way they were going to face it together.

A/N: I'd like to thank heartpunker123 for a lot of the ideas that I ended up using in this portion of the story, it was very helpful and fun to bounce ideas off you. I'd also like to thank XoxMountainGirlxoX because she gave me some ideas for the past chapters as well as how to go forward with Kimberly's plotline. Thanks again!

I had a lot of fun writing these past couple of chapters and I can't wait to go through the rest of the story and see what you all think of the things I come up with. Thanks so much for the support you guys, it really means a lot.

Thanks to heartpunker123, TaitanoRules555, Adela, XoxMountainGirlxoX, I love power rangers7135, Ashley, brakel1, TerraHart, Keren Olivero, and Rose Specktor for reviewing.

~Avalon