A/N: A very pleasant Tuesday from the Great State of Texas. Welcome to the main event of the Project Phoenix series. As a disclaimer, this series is inspired by Kctimes2's The Adoption. Before reading this, you should read The Crane's Destructive Path and its accompanying one shot, Granted Wishes. Hope everyone is staying safe in the middle of the coronavirus, although there are signs it may finally be tapering off for now.

A/N 2: Self explanatory. A lot of bad in this chapter. A whole lot of bad.

A/N 3: Couples featured are Jayden/Mia, Memily, Lantonio, Jason/Kat, Adam/Tanya and a slew of other old-school pairings.

A/N 4: Usual disclaimer. Power Rangers doesn't belong to me. Used to be Saban, then Disney, then Saban, now Hasbro owns them.

Chapter 41 - Mourning

Saturday, December 1, 2012

The Moon Palace

Unfortunately for Jayden and his group of Power Rangers, they were not the only ones who could feel combined powers.

As soon as Mia was taken prisoner, Scorpina, knowing Jayden and knowing his parents like she did, knew they would successfully open a gateway to the dimension that the Phoenix's significant other was in. The power of those three alone was very strong, and the confluence that was keeping her mistress knocked out was playing a factor as well.

So she knew immediately when the doorway was opened by the combined powers of the Falcon, Crane and Phoenix. And she knew that Jayden was going to be coming for his girlfriend.

There was no excuse not to be prepared. She was going to be waiting on him when he did come for his little Dove.

"Someone isn't making it out alive, Draco," she told him as soon as the gateway was opened.

"You're sure about that," Draco said.

"Absolutely positive. There is no way those brats are all coming out alive from this next battle. I'm sick of getting my ass kicked by them and I know you are too. We're either going to take the Phoenix prisoner, keep the Dove or get a scalp...preferably all three."

Sunday, December 3, 2012

Unknown Dimension

She'd been in her prison for one day, basically starved with nothing to eat, but she could feel the warmth of her significant other, the Phoenix, blaring over her telepathic connection like a blanket.

She knew Jayden, his parents, and the hell that was coming with them was on its way to rescue her, because he'd explicitly told her. But she was still concerned.

They had been silent since they'd put her in prison two days ago. Which meant they were up to something. She hated when the enemy was silent...it meant they were more dangerous that way.

She would have told Jayden to be careful, but she knew that Jayden wouldn't listen too much. He was the typical stubborn, hard-headed Red and was going to do things his way.

Chamber of Command

Angel Grove, CA

They were all up, early. And they were all ready to go get Mia from her hellish prison.

The only holdup was there was a delay. Jayden was talking with his parents, the rest of the originals and Rita about something. What, they knew not. None of them could hear anything, nor were they allowed anywhere near the conversation. Lauren had explicitly told them 'mind your own business.'

Finally, the conversation ended, and Jayden looked at the rest of the Rangers and said, "Go time."

They all lined up and then Jayden made the call, "It's Morphin Time!"

"Crimson Ranger Power," Jayden said.

"White Ranger Power," Tommy said.

"Black Ranger Power," Adam said.

"Pink Ranger Power," Kim said.

"Blue Ranger Power," Billy said.

"Yellow Ranger Power," Aisha said.

"Red Ranger Power," Rocky said.

"Silver Ranger Power," Zack said.

"Orange Ranger Power," Kat said.

"Purple Ranger Power," Tanya said.

"Navy Ranger Power," Trini said.

"Green Ranger Power," Jason said.

"Aquitar Ranger Power," the Alien Rangers cried.

"Let's Rocket."

"Go Galactic."

"Lightspeed Rescue."

"Titanium Power."

"Time for Time Force."

"Quantum Power."

"Wild Access."

"Ninja Storm, Ranger Form, Ha."

"Thunder Storm, Ranger Form, Ha."

"Samurai Storm, Ranger Form, Ha."

"Dino Thunder Power Up, Ha."

"White Ranger Dino Power."

"Magical Source, Mystic Force."

"Overdrive, Accelerate."

"Jungle Beast, Spirits Unleashed."

"Go, go Samurai."

"Samurai, gold power."

The room rumbled a little bit as they morphed. It was the first time, ever, in history, that Falcon, Crane and Phoenix had morphed together as one.

They all hoped it wouldn't be their last.

Moments later, the shimmering portal appeared before them and one by one, each Ranger filed through into the dangerous snake pit that awaited them.

Most didn't know it at the time, but for two Rangers, it would be their final battle.

Unknown Dimension

As the Rangers one by one filed into the dimension with the portal closing behind them, the hair on each of the Rangers stood up on the back of their necks.

The air was supercharged with dangerous pitfalls. They could all feel it, too.

"This is creepy," Kim said. "They're here, I just know they are."

"Where do you think they are?" Jason said.

"My prickly senses tell me they're hiding in the caverns right above us," Kim said. "And they know we're here."

Jayden went right, no doubt using Atsila to ascertain the place where Mia was captured, and everyone followed him, but they all knew they were being watched. They could all feel it.

Finally, after about 20 minutes, they all turned left and skidded to a stop. A row of cells, and Jayden's eyes were locked on a specific one...the one second nearest to the end of the path.

"There! Mia's in there!" Jayden said as he rushed forward. Kim knew that was a bad idea, but she wasn't going to stop her son.

"No! Jayden! It's a trap!" Mia tried to shout. At the same time, a massive boulder came flying down from the rafters, aimed right at Jayden. He quickly maneuvered out of the way as the boulder hit the ground hard and rolled right by all the Rangers as they scattered.

The next thing anyone knew, past monsters by the dozens were jumping down from the ceilings, along with a huge plaotoon of Flamers, Tengas and others. And, of course, at the center of it all were Scorpina and Draco leading the charge.

"Is your substance going to work on these guys?" Kim asked Cam.

"I doubt it. They aren't necessarily affiliated with the Flame so it will have less effect," Cam said.

"Shit. We're fucked," Kim murmured under her breath.

"We'll just have to do our best then," Jayden said, boring a hole through Scorpina. "Come hell or high water, we're not letting you all keep my girlfriend for another day."

"We'll see about that, fledgling," Scorpina said. "Attack."

With that, both sides surged forward and the melee began. But this time, the Rangers were heavily outnumbered and though they tried their best to use their weapons, they either found that Cam's substance, as expected, had little effect on the past monsters or they were just flat disarmed early in the fight.

Meanwhile, Jayden and Tommy dueled with Scorpina and Draco near where Mia was being held prisoner. They still hadn't been able to reach the cell, mainly because Flammia's two top generals had cut them off before they could get there.

The fight raged evenly for about 15 minutes until with one quick strike, Jayden disarmed Scorpina, knocking her to the stone floor. That gave him the window he needed, as Tommy continued to engage Draco.

Quickly, he rushed to the cell, and two small fireballs formed in his hand. He easily fried the lock, and the door swung open. Finally, the Dove had been set free.

"Thank God," Mia said, embracing her boyfriend. "If you had come just a little bit later I think I may have starved to death, plus I was scared to death they were going to move me to another location."

"That's one of the reasons why, despite the risks, we came here now. The fear they were going to move you to some place worse," Jayden said.

"WATCH OUT!" Mia suddenly cried, but it was too late. Scorpina had gotten up by this time, had bided her time, and suddenly wrapped her tentacled tail around Jayden's waist and was pouring electricity into him as he howled in pain.

And things were about to get worse.

"MOM! NOOOOOOOOOO!" Nick Russell suddenly screamed. They all turned to see why.

Madame Woe, an old foe of the Rangers, had just stuck her claws right through Udonna's chest as if she was nothing. As powerful as Udonna was, she was no match individually for Rita Repulsa's old friend. The only person who had successfully beat Madame Woe in the day was Billy and that was only because he had destroyed her crystal.

There was no doubt Udonna would be dead if she wasn't already, as she was forcibly demorphed.

"You witch!" Kim shouted. She knew that when Rita found out what had happened, she would be devastated for days. It didn't matter that she, in her other form, and Madame Woe had been good friends. Those days were long past, and Rita had formed a friendship with Udonna in this life.

"Now, now, Pinky, you were once on our side too, so you should know how it is," Madame Woe taunted. Kim gulped and knew she had no answer for that as she and Mia fought eight Tengas, trying to get to Jayden. Scorpina still had him in a choke hold.

"Guys! Our issues aren't done! They've got Antonio!" Lauren suddenly shouted from across the battle field. Sure enough, it was true. Vipera had her arm wrapped around Antonio's neck, as she used her other arm to hold her blade to his throat.

"Now that we've got your attention, Mr. Phoenix, the choice is yours," Scorpina smirked. "Udonna is good as dead and your friend is on the ropes. Your girlfriend will be next, with one exception."

"And that is, you ugly bug?" Jayden quipped. Scorpina smirked as she zapped him again, causing him to scream in pain.

"Run your smart mouth again, and I'll do that again," she responded. "As I was saying. I will let your girlfriend escape. That is, if you will become our prisoner again."

While she was speaking, Jayden kept reaching for his morpher, which was no easy task since his arms were pinned to his side.

Finally, with all of his strength imaginable, he grabbed his morpher and unclipped it from his belt, which forcibly demorphed him.

Mom!" he screamed with all his might. Instinctively, Kim swept the legs of three Tengas before rushing to her son's side.

"Take it. I'm going to give it up, but I can't let them corrupt my morpher just in case. After last night I think I'm safe from an evil spell but I have to play along. Just in case, keep my morpher till we see each other again," he murmured.

Kim nodded and with tears in her eyes (unseen as she still had her helmet on, she grabbed his morpher and after a few moments, called the Chamber of Command and had the morpher teleported there, then went to fight five Tengas with Mia.

"Well, fledgling?" Scorpina taunted.

"You let Mia walk out of here alive and I'll do it," Jayden said.

"She will survive...for this day at least," Scorpina said.

"Deal. Take me," Jayden said, and suddenly a net opened from above and encased Jayden inside it, right as Lauren screamed bloody murder.

Just as Udonna, moments ago, had her life taken, now Antonio's was gone too, as Vipera had slit his throat like it was nothing. There was no doubt he was dead.

"We got what we came for," Scorpina said. "Until next time, Rangers."

The villains all teleported out, the clear winners of this fight.

It left the Rangers a wreck emotionally. One by one, the teams all powered down, with tears in their eyes. Nick was frantically trying to pump CPR into his mother, to no avail. The Samurai team was trying to do the same with Antonio, with little success.

They all knew they could be killed in the line of duty. Had known it since the first Power Ranger team had showed up in 1993. But it hadn't really happened outside of what happened to Kendrix.

Now it had happened to two of their most reliable people. Two of the people who had kept them sane. And unlike Kendrix, it didn't seem like Udonna or Antonio would come back.

"Guys," Rhiannon cried suddenly over their communicators. "I know you're in mourning but if you guys don't get back to the portal and get back here, you're gonna be stuck in there! You've got maybe 30 minutes!"

"OK," Tommy, who was no less glum because the bad guys had his son again, said. "We're on our way."

Chamber of Command

When they all came through the portal again, just before that 30 minute mark, there was not a Ranger in the group who didn't have tears in their eyes.

Two of their Rangers, two of their emotional leaders, were no more. Mia had made it back safely, for sure, but it was small solace for what had just happened.

"Oh, God..." Rita breathed. She'd seen what had happened on the screen...she was unable to believe it, but now up close she knew it with her own eyes. Udonna was dead. To no one's surprise, Nick was crying uncontrollably, as was Leanbow.

"I thought I killed that witch, sincerely," Billy sadly quipped to Rita. "Now because of her Udonna is gone."

"She is not completely destroyed easily. It is very possible that the power of the Flame of Destruction reversed her fate," Rita said. "I am impressed that you beat her the first time, Billy."

Then there was Antonio Garcia, the deceased Samurai Gold Ranger.

That had been especially cruel. He and Kevin had never truly gotten along but he had been a valuable asset to the Samurai Rangers, and bailed them out of many a pickle.

Not to mention Lauren had loved him with all her heart. Now, they were never going to make it to the day they always dreamt of.

And in the backdrop of it all, Lauren's brother, their leader, the mighty Phoenix, was captive once again.

"I hate to break up the tear fest, but we've got some more bad news. It's from Phaedos," Rhiannon suddenly said, looking up from the controls.

Kim's face turned five shades of pale.

"If they got Dulcea too, I'm going to scream," she said.

"They didn't, but she has some bad news."

Dulcea's face suddenly appeared on the screen.

"Hello, Rangers," Dulcea said. "I know that today was a hard day for you all...believe me, we had days like that...but I have another piece of bad news. The deaths of Udonna and Mr. Garcia has ended the confluence that once existed."

"Shit, shit, shit," Rocky said. "That means Flammia's back too. Are we sure Kim is evil free?"

"I am. It's just there are two of me," Kim said. "Some day I'm going to have to fight her and win. Dulcea, any idea why the confluence just ended like that?"

"A lot of it is due to positive energy," Dulcea said. "Your wins on Triforia and KO-35 created so much positive energy it nullified the evil that was inside of you. It is most fortuitous that you talked with your mother two days ago. Because of that you were separated from her evil half and now it will come down to a final battle."

"Any idea what they're planning with Jayden?" Emily asked.

"Scorpina said something about taking his soul..." Kira said.

"Murianthias," Tommy, Kim, Mentor Ji (who was nearby) and Dulcea all said in recognition.

"God, that is a horrible place," Adam said, cringing as he did so.

"Back to the scene of the crime," Kim said. "As much as I hate this happening to my son, part of me says it has to be this way. To finally get closure. To be able to survive in that hellhole."

Later that day

Mia was trying her best to cope with what had happened that day. But it was no use.

Her boyfriend was gone, in evil's clutches once again. There was a really good chance, she realized, that she may never see him again as she'd known him.

And her teammate was gone for good. Antonio. The guy who kept the team loose, yet always had his eye on the task at hand.

Then, a female voice wafted through the room.

"Relax, Mia. It is all going to work itself out."

Immediately, Mia's heart fluttered with joy. It couldn't be...she'd seen her die earlier this morning.

"Udonna?" she asked, if but hopefully.

"Kind of. I'm an apparition. I can come and go from the spirit world as I please," Udonna responded. "Mia, as much as I hate it, it was my time to pass. I have lived a good life, I raised Bowen to be the best he could be...it was my time. Leanbow and Rita are sad today, but even they knew it could happen. Any one of us could get killed out there, Mia."

"She's right, Mia," Rita said, as she walked into Mia's room through the slightly open door and suddenly hugged Mia...she as much as anyone knew what the Turquoise Ranger was going through. "I saw teammates die when I was on the Council of Meledon, before Master Vile corrupted me. It can happen to anyone."

"And now they have my boyfriend, again...and they're going to do God knows what with him..." Mia suddenly wept again at that thought. Rita sympathetically put a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I won't lie to you. Flammia and her goons are probably beating the crap out of him right now," Udonna said. "But his faith is strong. He can, and will, pull through."

"And you know this how?" Mia asked. Udonna and Rita suddenly shook their heads...Mia hadn't been around for the previous conversation.

"So there's a plan that I don't know about," Mia said. "A typical foolhardy Red plan."

"Perhaps," Rita said, "but Ninjor has a theory and if it's true, then Flammia is SOL."

"His theory is that two wrongs do, in fact, make a right," Udonna said. "That is, because Jayden's parents both were evil, that he could be immune from most evil spells. I think he believes it too after he went to see Dulcea. He felt it was more important to have you safe and sound because he believes he can survive any evil spell."

"Hm, now that I think about it," Mia said. "That theory actually makes a lot of sense. Madimot should have went after him but went after Kevin. One of the most bizarre battles I've ever been in."

"Yes, and I think because Udonna and Antonio died, he will not forget. He will not let them corrupt his soul is his belief," Rita said. "Mia, he had to go through the Island of Illusions and the Evil Green Ranger just to get his powers. He beat Master Xandred before. He can do this."

"If there's anyone that can do it, it's him, no doubt," Mia said. "My boyfriend is strong. God, if that power of his ever gets in evil hands..."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. That's the end of us all if that happens," Rita said. "But we have to keep thinking positive thoughts. Jayden is thinking positive. That's what will get us through this."

"He didn't let them corrupt his morpher at least. That's something," Mia said.

"Hang in there. He'll survive and we'll get him back," Udonna said.

"But that begs the question," Mia said, "who is going to take Udonna and Antonio's powers? We need a full team."

"We do. And we have that covered. When we go to Murianthias to rescue your boyfriend, you'll see who is going to be in those uniforms. Tommy and Kim allegedly have other surprises planned for them also," Rita said.

Review box is at the bottom. Please review/follow/favorite if you don't mind. Thanks.