A/N: Welcome to the main event of the Project Phoenix series. As a disclaimer, this series is inspired by Kctimes2's The Adoption (one of the best stories I've ever read here). Before reading this, you should read The Crane's Destructive Path and its accompanying one shot, Granted Wishes.

A/N 2: This is the story of when Jayden leads Rangers old and new into a fight for Earth's survival...with his corrupted mother. In this chapter, Jayden makes his first big decision as a Ninjetti after a few weeks of struggle.

A/N 3: Couples featured are Jayden/Mia, Memily, Lantonio, Jason/Kat, Adam/Tanya and a slew of other old-school pairings. You'll have to read on to see if there is Tommy/Kim at the end...hehe.

A/N 4: Usual disclaimer. Power Rangers doesn't belong to me.

Chapter 8: Taking Flight Part I

Saturday, June 16, 2012

1:30 a.m.

The Shiba House

Panorama City, CA

It was funny how just a short amount of time could change things, huh?

Three weeks ago, Jayden-what's-his-real-last-name had all the good feelings. The Memorial Day party nearly three weeks ago at the Shiba house had given him nothing but good feelings. He'd been able to meet his father, his real father, for the first time and had met pretty much every one of the extended family of Rangers. There were a few that couldn't make it but most of them had.

Every one of those teams had gone through their own troubles, trials and tribulations to keep the world safe long before Jayden was even close to being equipped enough to fight evil.

How things changed in three weeks.

A little less than three weeks later, and all the good feelings were gone. Well, not all, but most of them.

Since he'd begun his training on Phaedos, he was constantly getting his butt kicked by every veteran Ranger imaginable. Now, it wasn't any shame getting kicked around by a Ranger, no matter who it was.

It was that, in his opinion, he wasn't making a whole lot of progress. Sure, he was learning about his new powers and everything like that, but all this stuff didn't seem to be getting him anywhere.

He still couldn't get the previous day out of his mind. To be fair, Taylor Earhardt-Meyers was a very skilled Yellow Ranger and was an excellent fighter - she was a former Air Force pilot.

But she'd kicked him around the whole day yesterday and kept talking about how "the so-called savior of the world doesn't impress me very much right now."

That hurt, so much more than he wanted to admit. He'd gone about his evening as normal when he'd got back from Phaedos, and tried not to show it, but it hurt.

He wouldn't have minded it so much if it were from Mentor Ji, or even Lauren or Daisuke. Heck, Mentor Ji had taken Mike's Samuraizer away once just to make a point. With Mentor, that was par for the course. And Lauren was his big sister, that was her job.

But to hear it from a veteran Yellow really was a stab in the heart. Yeah, he figured that Taylor was probably still upset that he and Cole had fought...that is if Deker was Cole.

He tossed and turned restlessly in his sleep, knowing that he had to do something because he was going nowhere fast.

Then, the words of his sister came floating back to him. Prophetic words.

"Be ready to change your plans on the fly. I know you've already thought of a plan, and if it works, great, but the best generals are able to adjust on the fly."

Boy, she'd never been more right. Something was off that was keeping him from progressing where he wanted to go. The trick was finding out what it was.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

2:30 a.m local time

The Shiba House

Panorama City, CA

24 hours later, Jayden felt a little bit better, but he was really glad that he had the day off today.

He'd had to more than extend himself again, this time fighting Xander Bly of Mystic Force, one of the five "Retro Rangers" of 2007. In fact, it had taken all of his strength and power just to get to a stalemate with Xander.

So how is this possible again, Jayden wondered in frustration. The way this was going, he was going to be cannon fodder by the time Maligore's army got to Earth. He was going to extend himself too much, would tire himself out and would never reach his full potential.

He was convinced more than ever that something had to change.

For now, he was wondering where the hell he was. This was one of those weird dreams again.

In this dream, he was standing before some sort of temple, with fire all around him. This was actually a very comfortable place for him whereas it would have been unbearable for others.

Better question than where was he, was what was he doing here.

That was when the ghostly image of two different birds, one a pink crane, appeared to his left, and the other, a white falcon appeared on his right.

'Greetings, young Phoenix,' a ghostly female voice said. 'It is a pleasure to finall meet you in person.'

"Mom, is that...you?" Jayden blurted out. He knew it probably wasn't but it didn't hurt to ask.

'No, I'm not her, but it's a good guess.' the female voice said again. Jayden could now only assume that at least a part of his mother's spirit was talking to him.

'I am called Taregan, young Phoenix. Do you have any idea what Taregan means?'

Jayden racked his brain trying to find an answer. He still had no answer five minutes later.

'I see you don't know. That's not unexpected so don't hang your head,' the female voice told him. 'Taregan, quite literally, is the Algonquin Native American translation for Crane. I am your mother's spirit animal.'

Jayden immediately turned right when he saw the white falcon's eyes glow gold.

'I am called Chayton; it is a pleasure to meet you as well,' the white bird said. 'As you can probably guess, Chayton is the Sioux Native American translation for Falcon. You can probably guess that I am your father's spirit animal.'

'And we are here to help you with your problem, Jayden,' Taregan said. 'You look worn out. You expended a great deal of energy today fighting.'

"Yes, and I don't know why," Jayden said. "We're two weeks in, I am fighting various Rangers and gaining more experience, yet I don't feel I'm getting anywhere. Every fight is a struggle and it takes all my mental and physical strength just to go toe to toe with these Rangers."

"Taylor Earhardt, Meyers whatever she is, chided me recently, saying she wasn't that impressed with me," Jayden continued. "That hurt."

'Taylor is a very skilled Yellow there is no doubt but she was wrong to do what she did,' Taregan said. 'I will read her the riot act if Tommy doesn't do it first.'

'Part of it is due to experience. You are practicing well, but you just need more experience,' Chayton said. 'There is another thing you must consider.'

'Before I make my suggestion, Jayden, I want to say that I admire your plan. It's a good plan,' Taregan said. 'You think that if you move in with Dr. Oliver that my spirit sister's evil half will notice the connection. You don't want Flammia to know what you're doing. It's a great thought.'

'But here's the thing. It will be so much easier for you if you are that much closer to the holders of the Great Power. We're a family, Jayden, and the holders of the Ninjetti can feel each other's pain and every emotion you can imagine,' Taregan said. 'The longer you live in the Shiba House, the harder it will be for you to truly reach what you can be because you won't have the necessary connection with your father and the holders of the Power.'

This revelation made Jayden reel in shock. His Samurai team had been a family, a tight knit family, there was no question about that.

But he had completely underestimated just how closely linked the Ninjetti were, and specifically how closely linked he was to his father's and mother's animal spirits.

'You don't want her to notice and try to tighten her grip on the Crane, but here's the thing; Flammia can't do much about it,' Chayton said. 'The Flame of Destruction needs Kimberly's body to live so she can't completely kill the Crane. She'll notice your power growing but she really won't be able to do anything to stop it because the Sentinel Knight is protecting Earth.'

'Here's the cold hard truth: The sooner you move in with Dr. Oliver, the faster your abilities will grow, things will be a lot easier and the greater your connection with the Great Power will be. Think long and hard about that,' Taregan said. 'Besides, even if you were to stay, you wouldn't be living in the Shiba house that much longer anyways.'

"What do you mean by that?" Jayden asked.

'You will find out soon enough. For now, it is time for you to leave,' Taregan said.

'And Jayden, may the Power protect you,' Chayton added as Jayden's dream vanished.

Jayden went to splash water on his face, his customary action whenever he had weird dreams like this.

But in the end, he knew what must be done. For now at least, his time here was finished.

2:30 p.m local time

1492 Valencia Drive

Reefside, CA

To him, this was without question the happiest day of Dr. Thomas Oliver's life.

And the thing was, he hadn't expected for it to come this soon!

"You are 100 percent sure about this Jayden? You want to come to Reefside with me?" Tommy asked over his iPad. He was using the Rangers only app to talk to Jayden instead of over the phone where things could be monitored more closely by unwanted people.

"There is no doubt, Dad," Jayden said. "For a number of reasons, not the least of which was another weird dream."

"That seems to be a thing with you, you and weird dreams," Tommy said. "What was it this time?"

"Yours and Mom's spirit animals, most notably, giving me an education on how the Ninjetti powers work and why I have been having so many issues lately," Jayden said. "Taregan and Chayton, they call themselves."

"Yes, most if not all of our spirit animals have Native American based names. I myself am part Native American," Tommy said.

"Basically they said the longer I stay here, the more trouble I'm going to have getting to where I want to go. That's why I want to move ASAP."

"They also said that even if I stayed I wouldn't be here for long," Jayden added. "Do you have any information about that?"

"Well, the first part of what you said, I am not surprised about," Tommy said. "It is true, the Ninjetti are a family, and we can feel each other's pain, suffering and everything else. I am sad that you've had to exert so much energy so far, but I think it probably will be easier if you move in with me."

"As for the second part, that part about not staying there for long, that does make me scratch my head a bit. I have not heard anything about that kind of stuff about where Rangers will stay, etc," Tommy said.

"This is a good time for you to move in as well," Tommy said. "I just got finished with my school year on Friday. I can be there some time this week to help you pack up."

"One other thing, on behalf of all of our family, I apologize for what Taylor said to you," Tommy said. "Believe you me I read her the riot act and I'm sure our spirit animals did as such too. I let her know on no uncertain terms that if she messes with you again I will make her unrecognizable."

"I'm not sure you needed to go that far," Jayden said, laughing slightly. "I know why you did, but if anything it helped me. It gave me that kick in the pants to find out what was wrong and act on it. If anything, I needed it."

Tommy was dumbfounded; he thought he was going to impose some basic rules for Jayden in the house. Now, he wasn't sure they were needed because of how disciplined Jayden appeared to be. If anything, the poor kid needed some fun at some point. If he didn't get the right amount of leisure, Jayden could crack under pressure which could mean certain defeat.

"So I can be there Friday. I'll even put it down, bring Jason and Kat and a few others, and we'll have the day to pack up, come back here and move you in. The Rangers who will help us can make it a three day weekend. That sound good?" Tommy asked.

"I'll plan for Friday. See you guys then," Jayden said.

"I look forward to it, and I can't wait to welcome you home where I feel you truly belong," Tommy said.

Friday, June 22, 2012

10:00 a.m local time

The Shiba House

Panorama City, CA

As Jayden hauled an especially heavy item out of the house, he looked at at the number of cars that surrounded the Shiba House and thought to himself that a few Rangers didn't equal the amount of cars that surrounded the place.

He wasn't surprised that all of Zordon's original Rangers showed up to help move him out; he was a bit surprised that it happened after Tommy had insinuated that he was just bringing "a few Rangers."

Then again, it's not like he wasn't glad for the additional hands. He didn't have as much stuff to move out as, say, Mia or Emily who hoarded a lot of material things, but the additional hands on deck were making things a whole lot easier.

As he was about to go back in to help wherever it was needed, he was tapped on the shoulder. He turned to see his father right there.

"I was going to talk about this at some point, but the thing I hated most about you growing up was that you never got to attend school like I and the others did," Tommy said. Jayden nodded; that had been a huge disadvantage compared to kids his age, having been homeschooled most of his life.

"The good news is that once you move in and everything, in addition to your driver's license and working on that, you can still graduate at the high school level with a GED," Tommy said. "You may not have been able to have fun in high school like some of us did, but it can still work out in the end."

"Yeah, I don't turn 17 until September, so there's still time for that," Jayden said. "You know somebody?"

"Yeah, I do. She was one of my former instructors in Angel Grove, and she now specializes in GED teaching. Once I speak to her, she'll understand what's going on. She was visited by Zordon a year or two after his death, so she knows about us and he told her there would be a situation involving us where she would be needed," Tommy said. "She also greatly helped me with getting the current gig I have at Reefside High."

"I am quite sure that once she knows what's going on, she'll be more than happy to help," Tommy said, as he handed Jayden something. "Here, take this to the Jeep."

Saturday, July 7, 2012

1492 Valencia Drive

Reefside, CA

How things could change in a short time.

Again.

Two weeks into his journey with his new powers, Jayden had faced his first major hurdle. The obstacle of going nowhere fast and having the need to find the answer to the problem.

Ever since moving in with his dad, everything had changed.

Everything.

No longer were the days when he'd have to exert all the energy he had just to fight veteran Rangers. No longer were the feelings of coming up short of his true abilities.

Everything had come up roses in the last couple of weeks.

He'd moved in to a nice, if but quiet, house outside of Reefside. He'd had his father, and his "aunts" and "uncles" decorate his room as if he were royalty.

Shortly after he'd moved in, he also met with Tommy's old friend and former teacher Ms. Appleby from Angel Grove who immediately volunteered to help Jayden pursue his GED.

Ms. Appleby also had learned of what had happened to Kim and why Jayden and Tommy's family wasn't complete. She wished Jayden much luck on his quest, which he was grateful for.

Tommy was also working on a date and paperwork for Jayden to get his last name changed from Shiba to Oliver. Those proceedings were ongoing.

Maybe most importantly of all, Jayden's true abilities and powers were starting to come out. To reiterate, he wasn't having to overexert himself to fight Ranger veterans anymore.

Taregan and Chayton had been correct all along. Ever since he'd moved to Reefside, as hard as it had been for Mentor Ji to see Jayden go and now have to be by himself in the Shiba house (for now), Jayden knew that having the support of his father and his extended family every day was allowing him to flourish, in both body and mind.

Lauren had been correct too. Already he'd had to make his first adjustment and the battle hadn't even started yet. There was a really good chance he was going to have to make a lot more strategical changes, but with the Phoenix guiding him, he knew he could make the adjustments necessary when the "bullets started flying" so to speak.

That ability to flourish was allowing him to unlock new abilities he never thought he had and was making him a whole lot more difficult to take on.

Now, it was Ranger veterans who were lucky if they came away from Phaedos not beat up and bruised. In fact, yesterday he had his best day with possession of his new powers.

Yesterday he'd hit a milestone; he'd faced both Conner and Kira in combat and soundly whipped them both. In fact, Jayden still smiled when he thought of Conner and Kira complaining to Tommy that "Jayden was playing too rough."

To which Tommy replied, "Sucks to be you, but soon it's going to be Maligore and not you so stop complaining."

He didn't think he could take on Dulcea yet, but he knew if he kept improving he would be able to get to that point and would finally be able to claim his destiny. He knew he was going to get Taylor back too.

The Phoenix was just now beginning to take flight, in full.

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