A/N: A very pleasant Christmas, Hanukkah, whatever you celebrate, Friday 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. America is seeing the second wave of the virus in force, as is much of Europe. Readers in the UK, please stay safe from your new strain. God help us in the States if it ever gets here...

In the meanwhile, please enjoy my special Christmas gift to all of you.

A/N 2: In this chapter, Kimberly sees both the new Chamber of Command and a massive jacuzzi for the first time. Also, the Mia is captured saga continues.

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 40 - Combined Powers

Saturday, December 1, 2020

Chamber of Command

Angel Grove, CA

Kimberly Hart thought she was in awe when she first saw the original Command Center. But that was nothing compared to now.

She understood it had automatically been rebuilt from the ashes of the old Power Chamber which Divatox destroyed - and it had happened when Jayden had claimed his Phoenix powers.

But this was unlike anything she'd ever seen.

This was just the main room. And Tommy and Jayden had informed her before that there were many more levels to go to get through all of the place.

The main room was wild enough. It had clearly been updated with the latest technology, and it was a well run outfit.

'No doubt Billy has had a field day with this place,' she thought. Especially since he'd been on another planet and seen its technology up close.

Then in the next breath, she thought, 'Focus, Kim. Your son and your future daughter in law need your help.'

But as much as she tried to remember why she was here in the first place, she couldn't help but be distracted by all the newfangled stuff and that was just in the main room.

"1993 moment, Kim?" a female voice said. Everyone paid attention at that moment because face to face were Kim and the woman her evil half had conquered not long ago, Rhiannon, the exiled queen of Eltar.

Instantly, tears pricked her eyes.

"Rhiannon..." she murmured as surprisingly, the ex-queen embraced her. Kim hadn't been expecting that. "You didn't deserve your fate..."

"It was horrible, but I've learned to live with my new normal, Kimberly," the ex-queen said. "I can't imagine how hard it must have been for you to have to make that sacrifice...Twice in fact..."

"You have no idea, Rhiannon," Kim said. "It's just so sad...you didn't deserve it..."

"Yes, but I know you stayed evil to protect your son," the ex-queen said. "All's well that ends well, right?"

"So far. But your planet is still under martial law and my evil half will awaken sooner or later. Probably on the moon and then all hell will break loose..." Kim said.

"That confluence is pretty powerful though," Rhiannon said. "Let's hope so. Besides, we're still here for a mission. Your future daughter in law is missing..."

"Perhaps," Jayden cut in, "but I'm not that worried. We'll get her back, if Mom can get herself together again..."

Everyone looked at Jayden curiously. What kind of gibberish was he talking about now?

"Believe it or not, if Mom can get her emotions back, we can find Mia without me. I was informed after my imprisonment on the Moon that one of the tech people said that if Tommy and Kim had been together, they could track me easily."

"That was me," Justin said, "and Jayden is correct. The Falcon and Crane powers are easily powerful enough to track any Ninjetti anywhere. Jayden is the single most powerful Ranger, but combined the two most powerful Rangers are Tommy and Kim...easily."

"If we use Mom and Dad to track Mia, that will look maybe less conspicuous than me doing it also," Jayden said. "Let's face it, they're after me. They want to turn me evil and against you guys. And if that happens, we're all screwed."

Kim gulped. Jayden was no doubt correct about that.

She'd seen Jayden's powers up close, on both sides of this war. They were absolutely phenomenal and he was in total control of how to use them.

But it was also scary. My God, she thought, if he ever ended up on the other side...

And the other thing was, he was actually really, really smart. Not wanting to take the bait unless he absolutely had to. Yet, there was no doubt he'd fight for his girlfriend.

He was the total package.

"Rhiannon, remind me to call Dulcea in the morning too. I need to speak with her about a couple of things," Jayden said.

"Perhaps I could answer the questions," Ninjor said. "What's on your mind, young Phoenix?"

"What are the chances of me going evil?" Jayden said. "If you can, could you give it to me straight?"

"Believe it or not, I have a theory that will surprise most of you. And if I'm right, it's really good news for us," Ninjor said. "I subscribe to the theory that two wrongs do in fact make a right. That is, because Tommy and Kim were both evil, Jayden may actually be immune from most if not all evil spells."

"Yeah, I'm not sure I buy that. Sis and Ed's son, Thrax, was evil when they both were," Rito cut in.

Kim snickered at that. She'd only heard rumors while she was on the other side that Rito liked to poke fun at Lord Zedd by messing up his name on purpose. But to see it live...

"Quit your snickering, Kim, and it's Zedd you moron," Zedd glowered at Rito.

"OK knock it off all of you," Ninjor said. "Rito, that is true, but my interest was piqued when Madimot, during the Samurai era, went after Kevin and not Jayden. Why would he not choose the Red Ranger?"

"He does have a point there," Kevin mused. "I always wondered, why did they choose me and not him? As powerful as Jayden has become, Madimot had to know that he had more power than all of us, yet he chose me. It makes no sense."

"Perhaps it would make sense to talk to Dulcea though on that," Ninjor said. "It's just a theory that I have."

"The other question I have is, I got a call from Dulcea not long after I got back from the moon...that awful excursion," Jayden said. "She said something, and I wanted all of us to be here for this, that the children of the Rangers, or some of them, could play a role in this war and definitely will be involved thereafter. She was really cryptic about it."

"She's right about that," Ninjor said. "What is not in the prophecy is that if the Flame of Destruction is beaten once and for all, artifacts known as the Ranger Keys will be unleashed and it will be up to you, Jayden, and the kids of the Rangers to find them. If Flammia is beaten, additional Ninjetti powers will be activated that will belong to children of certain Rangers."

All the Rangers looked at each other in shock. This was going to come as not good news to not just them, but many of their children.

Not only were they loathe to bring their children into this cutthroat world, but their children really didn't want to be a part of it either. But it seemed fate had other plans.

"How powerful are these Ranger keys?" Tommy asked. He didn't want to know the answer, but he knew he had to know. "I've never heard of them."

"They equal a team's Ranger powers," Ninjor said. "For every Ranger team in history. No one knows about them because they lie dormant in several locations across the world. If you can manage to find the keys, the next Ranger team that follows this battle will be using them against the next invaders."

"Who else knows about these...keys...except for Dulcea and you?" Kimberly asked.

"Zordon's protege, Gosei, and his robot companion, Tensou, who will mentor the next team of Power Rangers should Flammia be defeated. Before Astronema invaded, Gosei, Tensou, Dulcea and I met on Phaedos to make sure the Ranger keys could never be found in case of a worst case scenario," Ninjor said.

"And if Flammia is not defeated?" Rocky asked. But he knew the answer.

"Then darkness will rule the land. Forever. And Kimberly's soul dies," Ninjor said.

"We're going to have to get Mia back, first, although I know they're after me. I know it's bait, but we have to try," Jayden said. "Mom, Dad, can you?"

"Yes. Stand back. All of you. This is going to be pretty powerful, especially now that Kim has been exposed to evil herself," Tommy said.

For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, Tommy and Kim put their hands together. Those in the room could already feel the power building.

"I am the Crane, agile and graceful!"

"I am the Falcon, just and able!"

"We call to the Great Power! Help us find where the Dove is captured!"

Immediately the ground began to shake, and a swirling portal flashed before them before just as quickly disappearing.

"Bingo! Got her location," Justin said. "Watch the screen."

They all did, and saw Mia locked up in a cell in some dimension, where most of the Rangers knew not. Guarding the cell she was being held in were lots of the past footsoldiers the teams had fought over the last few months.

"That's one creepy place," Kim blabbered out. "That place just smells like trouble."

"Yeah. And it's got trap written all over it," Jayden said. "How long's that portal going to hold, Big Blue?"

"48 hours, I'd say. Maybe 72 if we're lucky with that confluence still in play," Ninjor said.

"Yikes. And I'm sure now they know that we know where she's being held. No pressure," Jayden laughed.

"Yes. And they will attempt to move her to another dimension before long," Ninjor said. "In another dimension, she will be doubly difficult to find. The Falcon and Crane powers cannot be used that much."

"I probably should go see Dulcea in the morning before we do anything else," Jayden said. "For today, I think we should call that good. Besides, Kim has to go see the rest of this place."

"Yes, it's truly a remarkable complex for being hidden from view," Rita said. "It's a perfect place to come to for a long term home or if we have to lock ourselves from the outside world. It's got everything we could ever need."

Kim nodded and went off to explore the rest of the place, at which point Kevin stood up.

"So that was the mighty Falcon and Crane combined, huh?" he said looking at Jayden.

"Yes. And that's only a taste of what they're capable of, so Dulcea tells me. I'm the singular most powerful Ranger, but together, they're the heart and soul of the Morphin Grid."

"He's right. More than he even knows," Rhiannon said. "Back in the days of the old Council of Meledon, which was the original team of Rangers, Zordon was the leader and his lover was a Pink Ranger. They were very powerful. But they don't compare to what Tommy and Kim are capable of."

"Rhi is right," Diana said. "When Kim sent that letter and then was turned evil via Maligore's power, it literally tore the essence of the Ninjetti in two. Together, at full power, I am not sure there is anything the Falcon, Crane and Phoenix cannot accomplish."

"And we've got them all with us now," Lauren said. "God willing, it will stay that way."

Later that afternoon

Through good and bad, Kimberly had always loved the water. And she'd loved taking hot baths after tough days when she was a teenager. That and the Power itself had gotten her through a lot of bad days in high school. Even when she was evil, Kimberly had made it a point to preserve bodies of water. She loved the beach, too.

So it was no surprise to Tommy when he found Kim on floor eight, in the massive hot tub in the middle of the room. The room was a total relaxation place. The massive tub, exercise machinery, sauna, the works. There were even beach images to give the room a more calm, serene feeling.

Kim immediately knew Tommy had just come in, of course, and said, "Hop on in, handsome, by all means."

"Wow, this feels right," Tommy said after he'd undressed (he'd brought along his bathing suit just in case he found Kim where he thought he might). "Talk about a time where I need to relax some place."

"Yeah, if it's not one thing, it's another. I just get back and now my future daughter in law is missing," Kim said. "We're gonna get her back though."

"The shock on Draco's face though when he found out the Pink Ranger was back," Tommy said. "Lord. I need to put that on a frame back at the house in Reefside."

"I know. They can't believe it. I love it, and I'm back to stay," Kim said. "We're not going to lose, Tommy, and we certainly aren't going to leave my future daughter in law to the wolves."

"Right. Today, they just got a small sample, an appetizer of what we're all capable of. Jayden, and us," Tommy said.

"I also came in to tell you that dinner is not far away. An hour or so," Tommy added.

"How do you guys do dinner anyways? Can't be easy with this group of idiots," Kim teased.

"Buffet. It's first come, first serve. Generally includes whatever the guys choose out of the Synthetron, but generally it's all good," Tommy said. Kim grimaced. That was definitely down Rocky's alley if she still knew him well enough.

"I've been in here an hour. 30 minutes more and I'll go get ready," Kim said.

24 hours later

The Rangers had all been summonsed up to the main command room because Jayden had just got back from Phaedos. The rumbling was he'd had an intense conference with Dulcea and several other galaxy-wide leaders.

When they all got in and look at Jayden, they all saw him smiling back at them.

"Be ready. Monday morning, we're going to get my girlfriend. First thing in the morning," he said. Tommy looked at his son and knew that look. It was a look of serene confidence, one he'd seen many times before from his son.

If that look was any indication, the bad guys were about to pay the piper for taking his girlfriend.

What transpired next, though, was about to change the entire complexion of this war. And it was about to come in the most unforeseen way possible. No one in the Ranger team had ever suffered what was about to happen.

Review box is at the bottom. Please review/follow/favorite if you don't mind. Thanks. Beware that the next chapter has a character death.