A/N: I am REALLY sorry about the long break between chapters. I've had a whole lot of distractions lately, but rest assured, I fully intend to put a new focus on this story, which should see a good few chapters out before the end of the year, and who knows? Possibly even a finale. Thank you for your patience.

The city of Summer Cove was not a stranger to panic within the last two years, but it had never been in the full throes of an outright invasion before. It had been four full years since The Armada had been destroyed, and many believed that nothing like that would ever happen again, certainly not in a city which until the beginning of Cosmo's broadcasts had enjoyed a reputation as rather dull as far as violence and crime had been concerned.

Now though, the ominous nature of Drakkon's threat was clear even in the skies. Looking up, people could only see a shimmering, crackling forcefield, cutting them off from help out with the city. People had already taken to the streets in desperate attempts to flee, only to find that they were trapped in a hopeless situation.

Drakkon decided that now was the time to address his new subjects.

Cosmo watched as his followers took control of virtually every aspect of his ship. After hacking every communications network, they began the broadcast. Drakkon stood before the cameras, eschewing a lead-in from Cosmo. He needed no introduction.

"Citizens of Summer Cove. You find yourselves in a unique position. You find yourselves in the grace and mercy of Lord Drakkon." He began his address, flanked by two of his followers. The other three were ensuring that the broadcast crew were keeping things running smoothly with barely-concealed threats. "I seek no bloodshed. In fact, it is exactly the opposite that I seek. I seek nothing but to unify all under one banner. MY banner! Follow me, and there will be no more crime, no more violence, no more bloodshed!"

He started to pace the stage as he continued to stare, unblinking into the camera.

"I have already met with your Power Rangers, and I have given them twenty four hours to give to me the source of their power, the Nexus Prism." Drakkon declared. "If they comply with my request, there will be no need for any suffering. If, however, they selfishly cling to the power in their possession. If they do not heed the good grace of my mercy, then I will have no choice but to send forth my followers to claim it by force."

He swept back his cloak as he stood before the camera, glaring into it.

"You may know who they are. If so, if you care about your world, your family, your friends, and indeed, even your Rangers, you will beckon them to submit to me." Drakkon proclaimed. "If not, then just know whatever else happens falls squarely on them."

In the Ranger Base, the team were watching the announcement. They weren't too surprised that Drakkon was confident enough to declare his intent to the world. From what they'd heard he'd already almost destroyed several universes before, and the fact he'd survived almost complete destruction within the Morphing Grid itself didn't seem to have deterred his confidence at all. The only thing they were a little surprised about was that he hadn't revealed their identities.

"Well, I'll give him one thing, his manifesto is at least pretty open." Hayley remarked. "It's just a shame he's open about the fact that he wants to destroy us."

"OK guys, I've tried, but I can only get a few images from outside the dome." Mick told them. "I can't get a message to any of the others yet."

"And?" Brody asked.

"It's…not good." Mick told them, patching through some grainy, fuzzy images from all around the planet. "Amber Beach, Ocean Bluff, Angel Grove, Mariner Bay…Drakkon's sent Sentinels to pretty much every part of the planet."

"He's keeping us fighting on all sides." Preston summarised. "Which means…"

"We're on our own." Sarah concluded in a sombre tone. "So, what are our options?"

"I'm not really sure we have too many options." Levi replied. "Cosmo's ship is outside the dome so we can't go and take the fight to them."

"Which means we're waiting for him to come and take the fight to us?" Calvin asked. "Isn't that kind of the opposite of what we want?"

"I really wish we had better options." Brody agreed. "I somehow doubt Drakkon's new squad is really going to care too much about collateral damage. Fighting in the city, there's no two ways about it. People are going to get hurt, or worse."

"Guys, I'm not crazy am I?" Preston asked them. "About those new friends of Drakkon's? I mean, they look…they do look an awful lot like…you know…right?"

"Drakkon's been across more dimensions than any of us knew existed." Mick reminded them. "I can't imagine in all those Earths its impossible there aren't Rangers that decided that the good side wasn't for them."

"I'm…I'm really sorry guys." Sandy said as her sister held her. "This is all my fault."

"Sandy, it's not…"

"No, it is." She responded. "If it wasn't for me, if I could control this stupid power of mine, then Drakkon would never have been able to come back."

"He'd have found a way." Preston told her. "He's been at this for God knows how long. He's been a pain in our asses now for ages, and apparently for the other Rangers a lot longer. He was bound to find a way sooner or later…"

"But it was my power he used to open the portal!" She reminded them. "I've never claimed to be a great Ranger. I've done my best, but I've been fumbling my way through this more than anything else."

"No, Sandy, you've been great!" Preston assured her.

"I just…don't want to make things any worse than they already are." She answered. "I'm sorry."

"Sandy, none of us blame you for this." Preston told her. "We've all made mistakes. Hell, Sarah managed to create twelve Galvanaxes. Brody once used the Warrior Dome's database to tell him how to fight monsters apparently thinking no one would re-write it. I once turned Hayley invisible! What matters is we get back up and keep going, right guys?"

He looked to the others, but there was an awkward silence there.

"Guys?" He asked.

"You know, I don't need to be able to hear to know that when your lips aren't moving you're saying something louder than ever." Sandy sighed as she got up. She and Emma just left the room.

"Sandy, wait!" Preston called after her, before rounding on the others. "What the hell was that?"

"Presto, we all think she's great, but lately…that sparky thing she does? It's been more of a hindrance than a help." Hayley said tentatively.

"Maybe if we knew what it was or how it worked it would be a game-changer, but right now…"

"Guys, she's one of us, she's a Ranger!" Preston stated. "Now, I know with what we're up against we'd love to have some more veterans with us, but do you really think we're in a position to turn away Rangers?"

"Preston, you need to take the boyfriend goggles off for a minute." Calvin started to say.

"Oh, well you'd know all about boyfriend goggles wouldn't you?" Preston snapped at him. "Or you would do if you didn't throw them and your girlfriend away by being a colossal dickhead!"

Calvin connected with a right cross straight to Preston's lip just as Levi grabbed him and hauled him backwards, while Brody did the same to Preston. The Blue Ranger just touched his fingers to his lip, seeing the blood, before storming out of the base.

Calvin didn't say another word. Grabbing his things, he headed for another exit, heading out of the base.

"And that…is precisely what we don't need." Levi commented.

"Everyone go home." Brody announced. "Get your heads on straight. Given what we're up against, if we don't…we're going to lose more than our heads."

Up on the Warrior Dome, Drakkon was in the throne room, with his followers around him as Cosmo came into the room. He bowed respectfully to him as he entered.

"Lord Drakkon, I must congratulate you on a most successful broadcast…"

"There will be time enough for more." Drakkon told him, waving him off. "How long has it been since we delivered our message?"

"Three hours Lord Drakkon." One of his female followers told him. He just looked to her, and then shook his head.

"I know better than anyone that Rangers are a stubborn breed." He sighed. "But I feel like this particular team aren't taking me seriously enough. Three whole hours, and not so much as a word? I feel most disrespected."

"Well, we could always go and have a little fun." One of them suggested. "Show them that we're serious."

"I appreciate that, but we both know how you like to break your toys when you play." He said thoughtfully. "No, I think this one needs a slightly more…thoughtful touch."

He pointed to another of his followers.

"Have you been tracking her?" Drakkon asked.

"Indeed I have." The follower replied. "And best of all, she's on her own…mostly. She does have another girl with her, but that shouldn't be a problem."

"Still, take some Basher Bots with you." Drakkon told him. "Remember, don't touch her."

"As you wish." He replied, leaving the room. Drakkon just gestured his followers around him.

"Movie time." One of them chipped in cheerfully. "Cosmo, go gather some snacks."

As Cosmo scurried away, Drakkon tuned in his viewing screens to catch the action.

"You know, at times like this I miss Ernie." He stated. "His smoothies were good. Perhaps there's a reality where I didn't disembowel him."

Calvin arrived back home, coming into the Living Room.

"Mom, dad, I'm home!" He called out. Mr and Mrs Maxwell ran into the hall, immediately grabbing him in tight hugs.

"Oh, thank God you're alright!" Ava rushed out. "We were worried sick! We were trying to call…"

"Shoot, my phone's still off." Calvin said, pulling it out and turning it back on to find almost three dozen missed messages from his parents. Given the fact the world had just been invaded while he was out, he wasn't too surprised they'd tried to call him. "I'm sorry I made you worry…"

"And we're sorry we made you feel like you couldn't come to us." Mr Maxwell told him, relieved that his son was alright. "Look, I admit that I wasn't thrilled with your decision, but all this…this just showed me that things can be so much worse. If you want to…"

"Actually…I've decided that I'm going to go back to school." Calvin told them. "You know, presuming school still exists after all this."

"Cal?" His mom asked.

"Look, I admit, getting to work on cars and drive around all day was kind of cool but, I got some pretty sharp lessons in reality." Calvin admitted. "Joe wasn't offering as much as I was expecting. Turns out all I'd have been is an apprentice until I was accredited. Then I took a look at apartments…"

"You looked at apartments?" His mom gulped. He just sighed.

"It was pretty sobering alright." He told her. "Don't get me wrong, I don't intend to live with you guys forever, but I don't think I'll be going anywhere in too much of a hurry…as long as that's alright with you guys."

"Calvin, we will do whatever we can to help you." Mr Maxwell told him. "Times are tough. Hell, they were tough when your mom and I got together and started out. We know all about that struggle and things weren't nearly as expensive as they are now."

"The important thing is, one of the reasons we worked so hard to have a good life is so that hopefully, when your time comes, it'll be just a little bit easier for you." Ava told him. "And when you and Hayley do decide to move on…"

"Yeah, that's another thing." Calvin interrupted her. "There is no me and Hayley."

"Really?" Ava asked him. He just nodded.

"I did…I did something really stupid." Calvin admitted. "And now I don't know if I can take it back!"

With that, his parents just grabbed him, hugging him tightly.

In another part of the city, Hayley was just getting home to her mom's place. Brody had told them all to go and get their heads on straight, but right now she wasn't sure that was even possible anymore.

Calvin was more than just her boyfriend. He was like another part of her. He was her best friend, the one person who knew more about her than probably anyone, even her own parents. She had often thought of the future, and she had some pretty wild dreams, from being an ambassador, or a UN spokesperson or even a senator right up to and including becoming President. But no matter how many different paths those dreams took or wherever they went, the one thing that was constant in all of those was that Calvin was with her.

She didn't feel right about calling his parents when he dropped out of school. She didn't like being anything less than honest with Calvin, but she didn't know what else to do. She had every faith that he could do whatever he wanted. He was never the most ambitious guy, and she was perfectly certain he'd be more than happy working in a garage and changing oil and balancing wheels for the rest of his days, but she just wanted him to have the best start he possibly could. If he wanted, she couldn't think of anyone else she'd rather have working on Air Force One or Marine One if she ever did make it to the Oval Office and would be flying around with him and their kids.

She was still shaken by the break-up. She'd never seen Calvin so angry with her. She could barely remember seeing him so angry with anyone. She knew that more than anything it had to hurt him to feel like she would not be honest with him and speak with him directly about her concerns. It broke her heart to think that something she'd done with the best of intentions might well have ruined the best thing that had happened to her.

She got into the house and was a little surprised by what she found in the Living Room. There, sitting with a couple of drinks was her mom…and Maxie.

"Well, Maxie I have to hand it to you, you've done something I don't think Aaron ever could." She declared. "You've actually made this interesting! I couldn't put it down!"

"You really like it? You think it reads alright?" Maxie asked in response.

"Absolutely! I'm not an academic, but I do know one thing, I can actually understand what you're trying to say. You know…before all that statistics stuff."

"I really can't thank you enough." Maxie declared. "I had no idea how I was going to get this put together when the power went out. I…"

She noticed that Laura was looking over her shoulder and turned around.

"Oh, hey, Hayley!" Maxie greeted her. "We were about to call you, it's been insane in the city, the networks are jammed up so we couldn't get through…"

"Yeah, I'm fine…what's going on here?" Hayley asked.

"Oh, well…your mom came around to straighten things out from the other night and when the power went out she took me to the office to get my thesis printed up and bound." Maxie told her. "Now all I need to do is send it to the University. You know…when this whole invasion thing is over."

"Yeah, those things are inconvenient." Hayley said, a little wrong-footed by the casual way she talked about the invasion.

"Oh, the Rangers will figure something out, they always do." Laura agreed. "In the meantime, where's that husband of mine with the drinks?"

"Unfortunately none of the whites are chilled properly, so I had to go look out a good red." Trevor said as he came in the room, carrying a bottle.

"Handsome AND a good judge of wine?" Maxie said, looking to Laura. "I can totally see why you snapped this one up!"

"Yeah, I'm just glad I did." Laura replied. Just then, the door opened and Aaron came in.

"Hi, um…I didn't quite understand the message, you said I was to bring the food…here?" Aaron asked. Maxie just pointed to the vacant chair.

"Oh, you just sit yourself down my man, we have got a whole lot of celebrating to do!" Maxie declared, showing him a leather-bound book. He smiled.

"Is that it? Is that really it?" He asked.

"Laura here was kind enough to let me put it together at her office." Maxie told him. "Just under three years' work, and all I need is to hand it in and get my letters!"

"That's amazing!" Aaron declared. "Um…sorry, there's not much I could get which didn't require cooking…I hope everyone's alright with sushi."

A loud cheer went up. Hayley just stood, blinking a few times before a little smile crossed her face. She had one weird-ass family, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

In another part of the city, Preston finally caught up with Emma and Sandy as they walked home. He ran around in front of them, stopping them. He needed to stop for a moment to catch his breath.

"Sandy…Sandy, wait. You need to listen…"

"Preston?" She asked. "What happened to your mouth?"

"This?" Preston asked, dabbing it slightly. "Oh, that's…not important. Look, you need to come back. You need to join us…"

"Preston, I…I can't." Sandy told him. "All I seem to do is make things worse."

"Sandy, you're a Ranger." Preston told her.

"Yeah, a Ranger by accident." She answered.

"What? You think I got into this by choice?" He asked her. "I have absolutely no clue how or why the Nexus Prism does…literally anything it does. I do know one thing though. It has never made a mistake. Every single thing it does it does for a reason, even if that isn't immediately apparent."

"Then maybe it's due a mistake." She suggested. Just then, there was a bright flash of light. Preston turned around in time to see one of Drakkon's followers standing behind him, along with some Basher Bots. He stood, taller than all three of them, and had a kind of sandy coloured hair, some of which was faded slightly into grey. He had deep, blue eyes, behind wire-rimmed glasses which reflected a lot of the light. He had some pronounced wrinkles on his face, along with a few scars, and was wearing a black uniform of sorts, trimmed in blue piping. A long cloak billowed around him in the breeze.

"Oh great, this is just what we need." Preston responded. "What are you doing here? We've still got seventeen hours!"

"Lord Drakkon thinks you're not taking him seriously. Such disrespect will not go unanswered." The man declared. "So, he sent me to make you see that he means business."

"Like we don't know that already, you've invaded the whole planet!" Sandy snapped sarcastically. "So, what does he want?"

"Funny you should ask." The man said with a sick smile, pointing right at her. Sandy just gulped.

"No way! Not happening!" Preston yelled back. "You go back and tell Drakkon he can have his answer at the agreed upon time and no sooner!"

"You see, this is where we have a failure to communicate." The follower answered. In a bright flash of light, he transformed into a Ranger form. Blue, armoured, with three pronounced horns on the top of his helmet. He had armoured plates on his legs and shoulders, along with a chest piece that looked like crossed bandoliers or a four point seatbelt with a red ruby in the centre. He had a long, spear like weapon with multiple wicked looking spikes at each end. There was a blaster in a holster at his hip. He twirled the lance in expert strokes. "You seem to be under the impression I'm asking."

"You seem to be under the impression I care!" Preston replied as he and Sandy stepped forward.

"NINJA SPIN!" They called out together as the Basher Bots rushed them.