tA/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. I am in Houston where it is running rampant...we are COVID central right now here in the US.

A/N 2: Part II of Confluence and Consequence. In this chapter, Jayden is informed that he has, against all odds, done something that seemed impossible. A tearful conversation is had between two star crossed lovers.

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. Used to be Saban, then Disney, then Saban, now Hasbro owns them.

Chapter 35 - Confluence and Consequence II

November 18, 2012

Just Outside KO-35's Orbit

As the Brachiozord Mark I pulled away from KO-35's orbit and booked it at top speed toward Phaedos and Dulcea, the occupants wanted to speak to each other, but found they couldn't.

That was because they felt something they hadn't felt in years. Many years. In the cases of both Jayden and Mia, as well as Jason, Zack, Trini, Kat and Tanya, their minds were feeling the full brunt of this power for the first time. Jayden had felt it on a limited basis several times but nothing like this.

It couldn't possibly be...could it?

If they were feeling it, though, then they KNEW Dulcea could feel it too. And that meant it was even more important to get answers. They had to get to Phaedos as fast as they could!

Tori looked at Trent and said, "Your father and Hayley better have put an incredible speed on this thing, because the amount of power the Ninjetti are feeling is immense. I can kind of feel it too."

"Oh, he did. This baby will get us to Phaedos in no time," Trent said. "This is the finest bit of machinery I have ever seen."

"For our sakes, it better be," Hunter said. "If it's possible that...THAT...power is back, then we all need to know about it."

"Don't we, though," Kira said. "That's only the Falcon's other half and Jayden's mother."

"I am not familiar with the Ninjetti as others are, but if I had to guess...it's a distinct possiblity," Udonna said. "I know magic. This sort of power is like nothing I have ever seen."

"I am familiar with them and I am in complete agreement with Udonna. I felt it right away when Flammia surrenedered KO-35. I think it is distinctly possible the Crane is back, even if it's only on a temporary basis," Rita said.

"Confluences of powers between planets are rare. Exceptionally rare. I do not think Jayden meant to do that, but the Phoenix is so powerful that an accomplishment like that by him can create that confluence," Rito said. "A confluence of that magnitude is easily powerful enough to reverse even the most powerful evil spells."

"Then if it's true, we need Dulcea to tell us," Shane said, speaking for the whole room.

Three hours later, the group of Rangers were sitting and eating together. No one dared said a word. The situation was tense.

Finally, Tommy decided to speak. It was obvious that the other Rangers just didn't want to bother him, and the others, which he understood.

"I know you guys are wondering the same thing we are," he said after he took a bite of potato, "and I think I speak for my son and all of us who are Ninjetti when I say...we don't know the answer."

"But there is one thing I do know...I know the Crane connection because we were soulmates for many years. I have not felt our connection that powerful since the Letter. I honestly try not to think about the possibility because I am so jaded, but just based on what I see the possibility exists. We need Dulcea to tell us."

"I would know the powers, I would know if there is even a semblance of a chance that the Crane has returned. I think it is a strong possibility but as you all have said, we need Dulcea to confirm," Ninjor said.

"How long do you think it's going to be till we get there?" Shane asked.

When we took off the Brachiozord communication system said it would be 12 hours," Jason said. "It's been three. So I'd say we have about nine hours."

"Just enough time to lay back and recharge, so to speak," Adam said.

"The sun may be about down when we get to Phaedos, I am not sure of the time difference between the two planets," Billy said.

As Jason guessed, the journey took about nine hours, but to everyone inside the Brachiozord the journey seemed like 90 hours...especially for the older teams. They were all fidgety.

Finally, the ship entered the planet's atmosphere, and everyone gulped. Very soon, they were all going to get some answers.

As the ship touched down at the plateau where the original six Ninjetti had come when Ivan Ooze had destroyed the Command Center, they could see Dulcea was waiting for them. Their senses were on high alert as they all exited the ship, with Jayden leading the way.

"Welcome, Rangers, to Phaedos, or in some cases, welcome back," Dulcea said. "I have been expecting you. This occasion is quite momentous. We must hurry to my Temple, immediately. I felt the same power you all did. We have much to discuss."

As they walked, Dulcea suddenly noticed the strange looking gun Jayden carried in his right hand, suddenly asking, "Where did you get that?"

"KO-35's new queen gave it to me. I assume you already know of what it can do as well?" Jayden said.

"I do indeed," Dulcea said. "Those used to be more frequent across the galaxy but the more individuals that got corrupted, the less frequent those became. Only those who are trusted implicitly get one of those. We actually used to use those in the old days of the Ninjetti, to see if any traitors were in our midst. It is a huge honor."

20 minutes later, the Rangers were all sitting in front of Dulcea, at her temple. They could see the sunset, and it was gorgeous, but at this point, those assembled could not care less.

"I shall cut to the chase and answer the question on all your minds. Jayden would need to scan her for any evil that remains," Dulcea started, "but I believe that at least for now, from what Rhiannon has told me, the Crane has returned."

If there was anyone else living near them, they could have heard the cheers that followed that statement. A jolt of energy surged through all of Zordon's original Rangers, and high fives were exchanged.

"I want to emphasize how incredible this feat is," Dulcea said. "I never honestly thought it could be pulled off given the strength of Flammia's army. But they were defeated so soundly on KO-35 and Triforia that, as you have found out, it created a confluence of power between those two planets and Earth which can reverse even the worst of evil spells."

"How long do you think this will last?" Nick asked.

"I am not so sure, Bowen, but this confluence, I feel, is stronger than even a usual confluence of power. This reversal could last a good three or four weeks."

"Where is she, still on the moon?" Jayden asked.

"She was actually forcibly powered down back to her original state and teleported to the desert outside the Chamber of Command. This is why Rhiannon wanted you to return to Earth, but I felt it would be better if you had a briefing first," Dulcea said. "I ordered Rhiannon to teleport her inside the base and put her in a stasis field till she can be scanned."

"OK, then, here's what we will do," Jayden said. "As much as I love my mother we cannot have her in that base because I am certain Maligore's power is not destroyed completely, am I correct?"

"Yes, unfortunately," Dulcea said.

"I don't want Maligore getting any extra secrets about that base. We need to contact Rhiannon and have her teleport me back so I can scan her. Then, if she's all clear we can teleport her to Dad's house in Reefside. She can stay there until the confluence runs out. The basement is locked, right Dad?"

"Yes," Tommy said.

"Before I go though, Ninja Storm Rangers, I need to ask you, do you want to hear about who our intelligence people are?" Jayden said. "Because I know who they are, but you may not like the answer. Our intelligence people are related to your team."

All nodded their heads, but solemnly.

The faces grew more somber and turned to shock as Jayden told them what Atsila had told them yesterday. He told them right down to every detail.

"My question is, do you want me to scan Kiya as well to see if there is any trace of evil left in him?" Jayden asked.

"I'm sure there will be, but do it," Shane said. "If he can help us, he needs to be with us."

"Agreed," Dustin added. "Marah would be thrilled."

"Yep," Hunter added. "Him being married to Nova helps greatly. I know Nova and she's as good as it gets...unlike what Kiya did, Nova was framed and I told Omino that."

"Right," Blake said. "She should have never lost her spot."

"It pains me to say, but where Hunter goes, I go," Tori said.

"Yep," Cam added, with Mia nodding right along with him.

Jayden then raised his communicator to his lips.

"Rhiannon, bring in Kiya and Nova and put them in stasis along with Mom," Jayden said. "Then teleport me in so I can scan them."

"Got it," Rhiannon said.

"If they're all good, then we're coming home," Jayden said. "I'll come see her and we'll teleport her to Dad's house in Reefside. I don't want Maligore gaining secrets about our base."

"A wise decision. See you soon," Rhiannon said.

Jayden then hugged every last one of the Rangers, but most especially the Ninjetti and Ninja Storm Rangers, who awaited the fates of these people that were about to be scanned.

Right as he hugged the last person, Rhiannon chimed through, "I've got a lock on your location. Teleporting."

Moments later, Jayden disappeared in a flash of crimson light.

The Chamber of Command

Angel Grove, CA

A little while later, Jayden landed in the medical room of the Chamber of Command. He immediately saw the three people he was expecting; all in stasis.

Before he went to work, Jayden took a moment to examine his mother. He guessed before he landed that she would be in bad shape...and he was right.

She needed new clothes in the worst way. The pink shirt she had on, right before she became evil, was tattered and torn in many different places. Her hair, once a beautiful brunette shade, was still pitch black. Jayden surmised from the couple of times she came to directly supervise a fight that her hair had turned black when she became evil. The smell coming off her was horrendously bad as well.

Then, he saw the other two. Kiya, who not surprisingly to him, looked like an older version of Mia and Cam, and then Nova. Jayden had to admit, Nova was gorgeous. She was petite, had flowing blonde hair with olive colored skin and radiated power.

"God forbid that power get into evil hands," Jayden muttered, before turning back to his mom. He then pointed the ray gun at her.

"Please, one time..." he muttered as he pulled the trigger and a green laser came shooting directly at Kimberly. It scanned her for about 10 seconds, before a message popped up on the screen.

'Completely clear of any evil, though Maligore has not been destroyed. Evil will probably resurface once current confluence of power ends.'

"Yes!" he silently cheered, then brought his communicator to his lips.

"Rhiannon, release Mom from stasis and teleport her to Dad's house in Reefside. I will direct the team to go there when we get back home. And teleport some clothes with her. The clothes she has are...well, not suitable. And give her a communicator."

"You got it. I will contact Hayley also and tell her to take care of Kim until you guys return home."

Moments later the stasis field disappeared and Kimberly was gone in a flash of pink and white light.

Then, he turned to the two remaining occupants. He chose the easier one first, or the one he knew would be easiest as he turned towards Nova and hit the trigger again.

It scanned her for a brief time before the result came in. He was not surprised by the result.

'No evil, now or ever. Completely clear. Could be an asset in the current war.'

Then, he turned to the wild card, Kiya, and hit the trigger again.

It scanned him too, but he noticed a difference. The light was green, but a slightly darker shade of green.

Then, the verdict.

'Traces of evil, but slowly being pulled towards the side of light. Biggest problem is guilt complex, much like Tommy Oliver in the past. Can be an asset or a problem.'

Then, he put his communicator to his lips again.

"Rhiannon, release them both. Keep these two here for now. Kiya is a wild card, but for now I am giving him the benefit of the doubt because he has Nova to keep him in line. I will be back home soon and will make a final decision then."

"You got it. Do you want to go back to Phaedos?"

"Yes, and I'll come home with the guys."

Moments later, Jayden left and the medical room was completely empty.

A little while later, Jayden landed back on Phaedos; most of the Rangers were still milling around, which was no surprise to him.

Everyone looked at him intently when he landed.

"Dad, Ninjetti, good news. Mom is back, if only briefly," Jayden announced. Once again, there was a massive celebration amongst the first group of Rangers.

"Rhiannon sent her to Dad's and I told her to send some clothes with her. You didn't want to see how out of shape her pink shirt was," Jayden said.

"If it's the shirt she had on when she was in the bilge on Divatox's ship, I can imagine," Jason said. "Who wants to be the one to talk to her?"

"I think Dad should. He's been waiting for this day, more than even me," Jayden said. And every single one of Zordon's first Rangers agreed.

"And as for you guys," he said, turning to the Ninja Storm team, "Nova is 100% pure. Kiya is a wild card. Leans good, but traces of evil remain. Can be an asset or a real nightmare."

"And trust me, we don't want Lothor 3.0," Shane said.

"True, and you guys will have input, but I will make the final call on whether Kiya stays or goes. As I see it right now, he's on double secret probation. My feeling is as long as he has Nova to keep him in line, we may be OK."

"In the meantime, I think, as nice as it is to see Dulcea, we should all go home."

That got unanimous cheers from the group, and they headed back for the ship. As they left, Dulcea said, "Good luck, Rangers."

November 19, 2012

1492 Valencia Drive

Reefside, CA

The first thing Kimberly Ann Hart, herself once again for the first time in 15 long, thirsty years, smelled when she came to was a very pungent smell.

No doubt, it was herself because she couldn't remember the last time she had a good shower or bath, not since she became that heaven forsaken evil half of hers.

She tried to get her bearings, but she had absolutely no idea where she was...no one could blame her because she had never been in this place before.

Then she nodded. Clean clothes before her. Good. What she had on needed to go, badly.

She stepped out of the bedroom and nodded. She could only guess that where she was was in a guest bedroom somewhere. The bedroom itself was nice and tidy, by the way. Then she smiled some more. There was a bathroom just down the hall. Excellent. No one needed a hot shower more. She smiled again as she noticed what was on her wrist. A communicator. Obviously, whoever had put her where she was was going to contact her.

The bathroom was nice and tidy too. Whoever had this house either had a hell of a maid or did a great job keeping tidy themselves.

She was going to enjoy every moment of this...and every moment of these next few weeks. She'd been given a second shot...however brief...thanks to her amazing son and his friends...and she was going to make sure she took advantage of it.

20 minutes later, she was done. Much better. The disgusting smell was in large part gone. She brushed her hair, now black, back as well as she could. As she was about to look for a toothbrush, suddenly, the communicator she'd took off while in the shower beeped. That familiar six ring tone.

Some things never changed.

Reaching for it, she found it very similar to her first communicator and pressed the button she knew by heart.

"Hello?" she said.

"Beautiful..." came a familiar voice that made her almost faint all over again. If she hadn't grabbed the counter she would have.

There was only one person who could, and obviously still did, call her that.

"Tommy...it's you..." she stammered out.

"It's me, yes. Are you OK?" he asked.

"Much better now that I got rid of this stupid smell," Kimberly said, tears pricking her eyes. It was really him.

"Now if I could just figure out where the hell I am that'd be great."

"You're actually in my home in Reefside, per our son's orders," Tommy said. That made Kimberly snigger just a little. The part about Jayden ordering that to his mother and father, that is. But he was the Phoenix, so his word was law as far as Kim was concerned.

"He didn't want Maligore gaining access to the base outside Angel Grove and I think he's quite right. Don't go in my basement either, he said. That's off limits too."

Kimberly nodded. The war was far from over and Jayden knew it quite well.

"Man, that's one smart kid and we didn't even raise him," Kimberly said, tears pricking her eyes. "Shame."

"This is your house, you said," Kimberly said. "I have to tell you, Handsome, I've only seen two of your rooms but you weren't this neat in high school. You must have one hell of a cleaning lady."

"Shut up," Tommy said, which made Kim giggle just a little. "In all seriousness, I'm still not. You're right, Hayley helps me clean and I did hire a maid years ago. Jayden doesn't need it though...he takes after you."

"Aisha and Ninjor was the first to address him at the Shiba house when this whole thing started after they beat Xandred," Tommy explained. "Jayden said that Mike used his Samuraizer to spray green confetti all over the floor. Jayden hated it."

"Not only does it create a mess, it's against the first rule of the Power," Kimberly said. "So where are you?"

"In space, actually, but on the way home. I sent Hayley, my tech advisor for the Dino Thunder team, to take care of you till I get there. All the Ninjetti will be here when I get here, Jayden too."

'Good,' Kimberly thought. 'I get to see my son up close and I am going to savor every single second of it.'

"I'm not going to keep you too long; make yourself comfortable however you can. There's a big screen in the living room if you care to watch anything and I do have some things in the kitchen, though Hayley is on her way now if you want to wait."

"Handsome, I'm crying inside with tears of joy hearing your voice again," Kimberly said. "Even if I have to go back to my heaven forsaken state in a few weeks, the time we have now is worth it."

"It is. I will see you soon," Tommy said. "Watch for the big machine that looks like a Brachio. It's the new Astro Megaship, basically."

"OK. Catch you on the flip side," Kim said as the communication clicked dead.

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