A/N: A very pleasant Tuesday to all of you from the Lone Star State. 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. This chapter begins an arc that is as described...havoc on Halloween.

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.

By the way, I'm sorry for the delay in this update. I've been busy, I just haven't been...here. I live in Houston where we barely survived Harvey, and then a number of weeks ago my Uncle passed away so that delayed this update as well. To all my readers, please pray for all of us in Houston, and pray for my Uncle as well.

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

Chapter 24: Halloween Havoc Part I

Wednesday, October 24

Rangers Chamber of Command

Angel Grove, CA

Jayden knew the older teams wouldn't like what he was about to say. And he was right.

The fact that he had suddenly received a letter from his own grandmother, out of the blue, was causing a lot of dissension especially within the very first teams.

The younger teams, not knowing that much about how deep the feelings of animosity between Caroline Hart and many of Zordon's original Rangers went, just stood back, choosing not to say anything.

"She said WHAT?" Aisha said. "Jayden, you have to be KIDDING me!"

"I'm sorry, Aisha, but it's true," Jayden said sorrowfully. "But you must know that Zordon is spearheading this."

"What in the hell would Zordon want with that pathetic ingrate?" Rocky said forcefully. "The same woman who would have wanted you killed!"

"I'm guessing Zordon believes in second chances, even if I agree with your opinion, Uncle Rock," Jayden said. "I'll read it again, because I know the first time I read it, it caused a lot of dissension. I'm also reading this because it's very important."

Then he took the note again, and read it again, just so they could understand the significance.

Dearest Jayden,

You have heard of me, but have never met me.

I am your grandmother. Your Grand-mere, as the French translation goes.

I understand that you do not trust me, and you have every reason not to. I have screwed up in many different avenues, young Phoenix, including where your mother is concerned.

However, the person, the mentor you call Zordon is making me write this. Basically, on pain of death, might I add.

I am here to inform you that Zordon has told me that in Angel Grove itself, friends of yours, and friends of mine are being held hostage by Flammia, or Cherie's, evil army even as she sleeps in recuperation.

You probably understand they are trying to lure you out, and you aren't taking the bait. You are going to have to spring the trap, dear grandson. If you don't spring this trap, many of your friends, and some of mine, will die.

None of us want that on our conscience.

You don't want to fight them, but they are forcing the hand.

Please, I beg of you, be careful when you go fight them, but please do something to stop what they are doing. If you don't want to do it for me, please do it for Zordon and everything he stands for. He chewed me out but I deserve it. He was an honorable mentor for your father and mother.

I wish you the best of luck in bringing Cherie home.

Beaucoup,

Grand-mere Caroline Hart

Everyone fell silent when Jayden finished reading that letter. All the dissension in the room stopped.

None of them wanted to do it. But they didn't have any choice.

However, before they did anything, they were going to do it on their terms.

Ninjor then suddenly came up and whispered something to Jayden, with Jayden listening very intently. The various teams murmured amongst themselves, wondering what this could all mean.

Finally, the conversation ended, and Jayden turned to face the group, his eyes gazing on one specific person with laser-like focus.

"Trent, come here," Jayden commanded.

"Me?" Trent said, half surprised, and half nervous that he had been summoned so abruptly.

"Yeah," Jayden said. "I need you to do me a favor. As great as the Phoenix powers are you have an ability I don't have. I need you for this, Trent."

"Camouflage?" Trent asked.

"Yeah, and it is my understanding, thanks to Big Blue, when you recovered your powers you added another ability; phasing," Jayden said.

"Namely, the ability to phase in and out of dimensions," Ninjor added. "I didn't even know you had this ability until I was doing some homework on the various powers the teams have, and this was a couple of days ago."

"It is a very rare power," Zedd added as he walked into the room. "Only a select few have this ability. You don't even know it's there, but you have it. With practice you will become better at it, but for now you can use it to help us with our problem."

"Here's the deal," Jayden said. "It is my understanding that amongst the prisoners being held hostage are your old friends, Cassidy and Devin."

Immediately, Conner, Kira, Trent, Ethan, Hayley and Tommy's faces fell. Both of those former students of Reefside were now in the media business, and were very good in fact; one was working for the NBC affiliate in Los Angeles, the other one for the ABC affiliate in San Diego.

"I need you to focus on Cassidy and Devin, and memories you have with them. Focus on them with your mind, and that should activate your phasing power. It is my understanding that they are being held in some sort of dimension, not the Lost Dimension, but one nonetheless," Jayden said.

"Once you phase in, your camouflage should kick in as well to protect you from being seen. Find out what we're up against, who is held hostage, how much power I'm going to need to use to get them out, etc. Got it?" Jayden said.

Trent gulped. He knew it was a big job, but he knew he was seen as the redheaded stepchild of the Dino Thunder team. He loved Kira, but Conner had got the girl instead. His father Anton had been evil, and he was unfortunate enough to touch the evil White Dino Gem, which had got him into this in the first place.

Now was his chance, years later, to make his mark. He was a part of Ranger lore, but was seen by some in the immediate family as sort of an outcast.

"Yes sir," Trent said. He knew that failure was not an option.

Focusing his mind totally and completely on Cassidy and Devin and where they were, he began to phase out of the room, sighs of relief going around.

"Activated successfully," Ninjor said. "Now let's wait to see what news he brings back."

"I just know it's gonna be bad," Mia said.

With Trent, same time

Moments later, Trent knew he wasn't on Earth anymore, but somewhere else.

The dimension he had landed in was pitch black, although there were a few things he could hide behind. He probably wouldn't need them, but still.

He also could feel he was near to Cassidy and Devin, and sure enough, he looked to his left, and saw a group of cells not far away.

He was about to head left, but suddenly felt someone touch him on the shoulder. He blanched, wondering if he'd been caught already, but was quickly reassured.

"Hey, Trent, take it easy buddy. It's me, Marah," a voice said, and sure enough, a few seconds later, she made herself visible to him.

"Marah, what are you doing here?" Trent said. "Don't you know you could get caught? Dustin's probably driving himself up a wall right now."

"Oh, don't be so dramatic," Marah said. "Dustin knows I have Ninja powers now and if weird things start happening, that I'm probably on some mission. Turns out, it's the same one yours is apparently."

"What are yours?"

"Apparently the same thing yours are without the camo," Marah said. "I can phase in and out of dimensions too. This morning, I was in bed with Dustin, and then all of a sudden I'm here."

"And you haven't been caught yet?" Trent said.

"Nope, been using my Ninja powers to keep myself hidden from view. And I've been here for hours," Marah said.

"How many people are there in here?"

"A lot. And with every passing moment and every prisoner they get in here, it gets tougher to get them out," Marah said.

"That's why they sent me in here. To get an estimate of how many people are in here and how much power Jayden needs to use to get them out," Trent said.

"Then let's do it," Marah said.

"Ladies first," Trent said.

"You're so nice."

"Shut up."

Quietly, they crept towards the cells where, they figured, their friends and other civilians were being held prisoner. Within 10 minutes they had arrived, and sure enough, even though a number of minions had walked by, neither of them had seen Trent or Marah yet.

"I'll go left, you go right," Trent whispered. Marah nodded and for a number of minutes, the two split up, carefully counting the number of people. About 15 minutes later, they met back up again and laughed to themselves.

Camouflage and Ninja powers did work wonders. They hadn't been seen once yet but had almost accomplished their mission.

"How many do you think they have prisoner?" Trent whispered.

"Goodness, don't you think 75 to 100 people?" Marah responded. The question remained, how to get them out.

Suddenly, Trent got an idea. He looked at his communicator to find the coordinates, then pressed a few buttons.

"What I just did should have sent the coordinates back to the Chamber of Command. We need to do one more thing."

"What's that?" Marah said.

"We need to lure them out," Trent said. "I have an idea for a fake rescue."

"What do you mean by that?" Marah said.

"Just unlock the doors, don't go in. As many as we can get," Trent said. "I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that if we unlock some of these doors that will set the alarms off. They'll know someone has been in here and they'll attack Angel Grove."

"Genius. Absolutely genius," Marah said.

"Got some keys?" Trent said.

"I always carry two of em, sweetheart," Marah said. "Here, catch."

"Let's go unlock some doors," Trent whispered.

Sure enough, when Trent went left and unlocked the first door, a pair of alarms sitting nearby started blaring furiously.

"I think we did our job," Trent said. "Let's go home and tell them our findings."

Moments later, they teleported out and back to the Chamber of Command, seconds before an enraged Red Samurai clone came storming in.

Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012

3 p.m. local time

Rangers Chamber of Command

Angel Grove, CA

"You said how many people were in there?" Jayden said.

"About 75, maybe 100," Trent said. "Marah had been in there for hours and saw them bringing prisoners in and out for a while. Some of them including Cassidy and Devin are in really bad shape."

"I know it sucks seeing it, but good job, Trent, you got me the info I needed," Jayden said.

"You can get them out of there?" Trent asked. "That's a lot of people."

"Do you really have to ask that question?" Jayden said. "You know I can. By the way, that fake rescue thing you pulled, pure genius. You needed to do that to make them scared and lure them out."

"Now, what happens?" Emily said.

"Now, we wait."

They didn't have to wait long. 10 minutes later, the alarm sounded.

"Looks like they brought everyone," Justin said, as he pulled up the visual.

"Everyone and the kitchen sink. They seem angry too," Kevin said.

"They're over by the Specter Theatre. Perfect," Jayden said.

"Yeah, that's where the portals should open to get everyone out," Billy said. "Are you sure you can get them out?"

"With the Fire Cannon? Piece of cake. Just keep everyone off me," Jayden said. "Let's do it. It's Morphin Time."

"Triforian Ranger Power."

"Let's Rocket."

"Magna Power."

"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 Rangers all teleported out; amazingly enough, this was the first time they all would fight side by side, all at once. This was, obviously, a benefit to Flammia still being out of commission.

As one, they all landed in front of the massive group of monsters...and Samurai clone, weapons in hand. They were outside the evil theatre, so weapons were still at their disposal.

"Well, it's about time you finally showed up," Lieutenant Jorus said.

"And I'd like to know which of you fools was the one that got into our house. I know one of you was in our dimension," Lauren's clone snapped.

"I think you woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, lady," Emily said. "Need your diaper changed?"

"Oh shut up," Lauren's clone said. "Now which one of you was it?"

"Me," Trent said. "You can try and do something about it but I know you can't beat me."

"Oh is that right?" Lauren's clone said. "I'm going to teach you some respect, little boy."

But under his helmet, Trent was smirking. He knew he had Lauren's clone out of the way; the only way she could be effective in fighting was by facing Jayden or Lauren.

"Attack!" Scorpina shouted as the hordes of monsters charged forward.

"Keep them away from me," Jayden said. "I'll take Scorpina."

"No, Jayden, leave her for me," Mia said.

"She beat you pretty good last time, Mia," Jayden said. "You sure?"

"Yeah. I have a score to settle with her," Mia said. Sure enough, Scorpina had almost made it to Jayden when Mia cut her off and began engaging her.

"Don't think you're getting off easy, Phoenix Ranger," another voice said, Jayden saw Nepa step in front of him, but didn't even blink.

"You again," Jayden said. "Didn't Rito and I kick your ass bad enough on the Moon? Now you want more?"

"Mighty cocky aren't you for someone who's had only a few victories against us," Nepa said. "Nevertheless, you're going down."

In the following skirmish, Nepa fought better against Jayden, but the problem is she was facing a Phoenix Ranger that was at peak strength, both mental and physical. One on one, she was no match. 15 minutes after the skirmish began, it ended when Jayden blocked a weakened punch attempt and disarmed Nepa with the Fire Sword.

Quickly, he checked the battle field. He saw that the various teams were holding their own, but knew he needed to end this sooner rather than later.

"Phoenix Fire Cannon," he called, and the massive crimson cannon appeared in his hands.

Remembering the coordinates that Trent had sent the team and told him about, he knew he had to be precise to open the portal that would get the prisoners out and would probably only get one shot at it.

Waiting until the right, precise moment when the cannon's power grew to critical mass he grabbed the trigger.

"Fire," Jayden called. Lauren's clone broke free of Trent for a split second and rushed at him but was far too late.

When the blast hit the ground, Jayden held his breath, but sure enough, moments later, a massive portal opened and then, people came through the portal in droves, ala the Running of the Bulls in Spain.

Seconds after the last prisoner had come through, a blast rocketed in from out of nowhere and hit the ground in front of the Rangers, sending them all backwards.

"Well done, Rangers, you accomplished what you wanted to," a distinctly male voice said. Tommy growled under his breath and five of the Rangers scowled when they saw the Wizard of Deception walk into view. "But so did we."

"I hope you like searching dimensions, Power Rangers, because before long you'll be doing that to your heart's content. Until next time, ta da," Scorpina said as the villains vanished.

"Is everyone OK?" Jayden asked.

"I think we're all OK, the best question may be are those prisoners OK?" Mia said.

"Yeah, that's going to have to be a priority on the weekend. Tending to some of those who may have been hurt the worst," Jayden said. "In the meantime, let's go back to the Chamber."

But, even as they left, the spot that the Wizard had blasted with his wand was beginning to hum with energy.

In a matter of days, the trap would be set and every living Ranger would be in danger. They'd passed this test, but greater tests were yet to come.

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