Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers. That's a pretty obvious statement.

AN: Hi! Here's chapter 5 of Silver Hope! Hope you like it. Please review, and enjoy!

Silver Hope

Chapter 5

The next day passed by without evil interruptions. But the rangers knew that Zedd was just trying to get them to drop their guard. That was one thing they weren't going to do.

After school, the gang hung out at Ernie's as usual. But today, thing were a bit more serious. Tommy sparred with Rocky, while Adam sparred with Billy. Zack and Jason also took a turn at sparring with the four active rangers.

Trini sparred with Katherine, and Aisha sparred with Tanya. Little did they know, they were being observed.

"Well Zeddy, it doesn't look like the rangers are letting their guards down!" Rita ranted.

"That makes no matter, they will still never see what we have planned for them," Zedd replied.

"Lord Zedd, we are entering the earth's atmosphere," Finster reported.

"Yes, good," Zedd commented.

"So are we attacking the power brats in the morning, or what?" yelled Rita.

"And give them a chance to get a good night's sleep? No, we are going to attack tonight," Zedd reported.

"We've never attacked at night before," Rito said.

"Yes, you fool. It could have possibly been one of our biggest errors all along. We attack at night, and then the rangers won't get enough sleep. The next battle, they will fail due to fatigue," said Zedd.

"That's your plan radiator face!" Rita yelled.

"Hold your tongue! This is only part of my plan!" Zedd yelled back.

"Rito, Goldar, I want you to head up an attack. Take the Tengus, the cogs, and the Ooze men," ordered Zedd.

"Yes master," replied Goldar.

"All right, time to kick some power ranger butt!" called Rito.

"Just shut up you idiot and go!" Zedd ordered, as he was on the verge of losing his temper.

The six rangers and four former rangers were walking through the park. Suddenly, in front of them appeared Rito, Goldar, and Tengus. To their left, cogs appeared. And to their right, Ooze men appeared. It was then, they all noticed the large mechanical space vessel.

"Guys! It's Serpentera!" called Tommy.

"That's right power rangers! Prepare to meet your doom!" ranted Goldar.

"Guys, let us help you take down these creeps!" said Jason.

"All right Jase, but if things get ugly, I want you guys to get out of here," called Billy.

"You got it bro," Jason replied.

"Ok guys spread out!" he called. The rangers spread out and prepared to fight whatever came at them. But they soon found that there was too much for them to handle without being morphed.

Billy contacted Alpha on his communicator.

"Alpha! Teleport Jason, Zack, Trini, and Aisha to the power chamber," Billy said.

"Right away Billy," Alpha replied. They were teleported away in white columns of light.

The rest of the rangers broke free and gathered by Billy.

"Guys, It's Morphin Time!" Billy called.

"Zeo Ranger 1-Pink!" called Kat.

"Zeo Ranger 2-Yellow!" called Tanya.

"Zeo Ranger 3-Blue!" called Rocky.

"Zeo Ranger 4-Green!" called Adam.

"Zeo Ranger 5-Red!" called Tommy.

"Zeo Ranger 6-Silver!" called Billy.

"Power up the metallic armor!" called Billy. Each ranger's armor glistened with metallic light, as his or her armor was enabled. The rangers faced off with the monsters.

Katherine was doing well enough against the Tengus and cogs, but soon began to have trouble when the Ooze men began attacking her.

"Pink Power Cloud!" she called. The cloud hit one of the Ooze men and made an ooze puddle out of him.

Tanya was only familiar with the cogs, so naturally the Tengus and Ooze men were attacking the yellow ranger. But with the yellow ranger powers, she managed to take many of them out.

Rocky, being familiar with all three, was making quick work of the creatures. The zeo powers were definitely more help than even the ninja powers. Rocky began to feel that maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all.

Adam drop kicked some Tengus and sent feathers flying. He had to admit that the Ooze men were stronger than he remembered them being. Unfortunately, Billy was probably right about being lucky when they had defeated Ooze the first time. Rocky was feeling good, but he couldn't help but have a bad feeling in his gut. A feeling that said this was just a battle in an all out war.

Tommy relentlessly dropped the villains around him, as they came at him in hoards. But lucky for him, none of these creatures had very high I.Q's. He took out several of the ooze men with the zeo 5 power sword, but he too shared Billy and Adam's fears.

Billy shorted out all the cogs he could with the thunder power of his power lance. Fortunately bird brains weren't fond of lighting either. Now he found himself dealing with an abundance of ooze men, who seemed to absorb electricity. But he considered two out of three down was pretty good.

They put away the attackers and regrouped, waiting to see what else was in store for them. The passenger door opened on Serpentera. Zedd, Rita, Ivan Ooze, Divatox, Master Vile, King Mondo, Queen Machina, Prince Sprocket, and Scorpina exited the mechanical beast. The rangers all made an audible gasp as the most evil beings in the universe approached them.

"Stay strong guys," Billy encouraged his team.

Kat began to tremble. She couldn't handle it if Rita took her captive again. The time in Rita's palace had been a nightmare, a nightmare that she had trouble getting rid of. Billy put a hand on her shoulder to calm and reassure her. The forces of good and the forces of evil stood face to face.

"Well, I thought I smelled a stench," Ooze commented.

"So these are the power brats," commented Divatox.

"Nice to see you all again. It will be a pleasure finally putting an end to all of you," said Scorpina.

"Nice color on you Billy. So you're the team leader now? How does Tommy feel about that?" Zedd taunted.

"And how many times have you tried a stupid plan like that?" Billy asked rhetorically. Zedd growled.

"You won't think this is a joke once we get through with you rangers! I have had enough of you silver ranger! You have continually spoiled our plans since the beginning. Mark my words Billy Cranston, you will not come out of this alive!" Zedd yelled.

"We'll see who comes out alive Zedd," Billy replied in a confident tone. Scorpina, Rito, Goldar, Ivan Ooze, Divatox, and Zedd stood ready to fight the rangers, while the other villains watched on.

Goldar attacked Rocky, and he and the longtime enemy fought. The blue ranger used his blue power kick, and took the wind out of Goldar. However, the gold plated creature was determined to beat him, and was far from giving up this time.

Scorpina took on Adam and the two fought again as they had back when Adam was the black ranger. The now green ranger avoided Scorpina's deadly sting, while attacking with his zeo weapons. But like Goldar, Scorpina was far from defeated.

Divatox introduced herself to Katherine and made a point of insulting her before attacking. The pink ranger used her zeo attacks, but they weren't as effective on her as many of the others. She could see that Divatox was in a very different league than the others.

Tanya found herself fighting Rito. His smell was enough to knock her down, but she managed to keep it together. Rito was strong, but the yellow ranger was holding up well, because Rito was a bumbling idiot to say the least.

Tommy had more on his hands as he was fighting Zedd himself. The former white ranger and Zedd had fought many times. Clanging sounds were heard as the zeo five power sword and Zedd's staff met each other in furious attacks. Neither was anywhere near to giving up.

"So you're the one that decided it would be a good idea to let the comet destroy me? Pathetic really, my collision with the comet only made me more powerful," Ivan taunted.

"I've become more powerful since our last meeting also Ooze," Billy replied with a smirk.

Ooze sent out purple jolts of his energy. The former blue ranger blocked them with his lance, but soon Ivan's power bypassed the silver ranger's thunder lance and attacked him. The jolts of energy coursed through his body like electricity. Billy gritted his teeth in pain, but remained standing. He used his power to levitate, in order to escape Ooze. But Ivan surprised him again by levitating with him.

"I have that little trick too silver ranger," Ooze told him.

"Why don't you try a little trick I acquired from my lovely comet friend," Ooze said as he launched a ball of steaming ice and rock at Billy. The attack hit the warrior in the chest, and threw him back and toppled him to the ground.

Rocky had pushed Goldar back, and was now helping Katherine with Divatox. It was taking the both of them against her. They could see why she was the most powerful space pirate in the universe. Katherine caught sight of Billy being thrown back by Ooze's attack.

"Oh no Billy!" she called.

"Sorry girly, but your fight is with me!" Divatox told her as she grabbed Kat and began throwing her around. The rest of the rangers continued to fight, but were unaware they were being watched by two familiar faces.

In an patch of bushes

"Man Skull, this looks serious," said Bulk.

"Yea Bulkie, those bad guys are really roughing the rangers up this time," said Skull.

"We should stick close," said Bulk.

"What are we gonna do Bulk. They're the power rangers! Haven't you given up on trying to find out who they are?" Skull asked.

"Yes Skull, but the power rangers are really getting it put to them. They might need our help getting medical attention," said Bulk.

"Whatever you say Bulkie," Skull replied.

The sides of good and evil had now ceased on each other and had turned to watch the fight between Ivan Ooze and the silver ranger.

Ooze was throwing everything at Billy, but he was managing a good defense. Offense was another story, however. Ooze seemed to absorb his thunder attacks from the thunder lance. Billy continued to charge at Ooze and dodge his oncoming attacks. Billy twisted and flipped his way out of danger. His gymnastic skills were really coming in handy.

'Kimberly would be so jealous,' he mused.

"So dad, has it been done?" Rita asked her father.

"Yes of course, I have sealed off the power chamber's frequencies. It will be a long walk back to the power chamber," said Vile.

"Excellent!" Zedd growled.

Billy fell to the ground at the result of another attack.

"You're no fun anymore. Maybe I'll have some fun with the other rangers. That cute little pink one looks like a lot of fun," Ooze said as he turned towards the other rangers. Ivan powered up a fireball. He let the ball of flames swell in his hand as he stared down the pink ranger.

Katherine trembled as she saw the fireball being launched at her.

Billy mustered all his strength and stood up. He used his Pegasus flight power to lift himself into the air. He needed to get Kat out of the way. He couldn't let her get hurt.

She could feel the heat of the fireball upon her. Kat clenched her eyes shut and waited for the pain to come. But it never came. She opened her eyes, only to see that Billy had flown in front of her. The fireball had hit him in the chest, but still a safe enough distance from his heart. He cried out as he felt the flames burning through his suit and onto his skin. The fireball diminished, and Billy fell to the ground with a thud.

"BILLY! BILLY NO!" Kat cried as she fell to her knees beside him. She took his helmet off to give him air and then practically ripped her own helmet of as well.

"YES! Now your precious silver ranger is down! Goodbye for now rangers, next time it will be your turn!" Zedd promised as he and the others returned to Serpentera. However, Serpentera remained parked where it was. Zedd and Company was here to stay.

Kat's tears fell uncontrollably.

"Tommy to power chamber, come in Alpha," Tommy said into his communicator. But he heard no response.

"Adam to power chamber! Zordon!" Adam yelled.

"Guys! We can't teleport!" Tanya panicked.

"I'll bet Zedd and the others have something to do with this," Rocky growled.

"It's all my fault!" cried Katherine.

"No Kat, Zedd had planned to take Billy out first. Billy was his target. He just used you to get to him, it's not your fault," Adam told her.

"Adam's...right..Kat," Billy rasped.

"Honey, don't talk," Kat said worriedly, as she stroked his face tenderly.

"We have to get Billy to the power chamber," said Tanya.

"May we be of any help?" asked sincere, yet familiar voice.

The rangers turned their heads. All but Kat and Billy still had their helmets on, but they had been using each other's names.

"Oh no," said Kat.

"Don't worry guys, we're not going to tell. We gave those days up. We just happened to be in the area. Somehow we always are," Bulk explained.

"You'll help us Bulk?" Adam asked.

"Of course we will, we're friends aren't we?" asked Skull. Adam removed his helmet and smiled. Tommy, Rocky, and Tanya did the same.

"My truck is just around the corner. It may not be as fast as teleporting, but we need to get Billy some medical attention," Bulk said.

"The power chamber is only about a half-hour's drive from here," said Tommy. Bulk and Skull nodded.

Kat looked up at them with tearstained eyes.

"Thank you both, so much," she said as choked back more tears.

"It's the least we can do," Bulk replied as he patted her shoulder. Tommy and Adam hoisted Billy up and followed Bulk and Skull.

Bulk drove through the vast desert for about a half hour, when Tommy finally gave the signal to stop.

They reached the hidden doors to the power chamber and the six rangers and two civilians entered.

Inside, everyone was shocked to see Bulk and Skull, but Tommy assured them Bulk and Skull had helped them. Everyone's attention turned to the injured Billy.

"Tommy, Adam, bring Billy over here," said Alpha as he motioned towards a medical bed. Tommy and Adam set Billy down and Kat never left his side.

"Alpha, I'll assist you," Trini said.

"Thank you Trini," Alpha said, as they wheeled Billy into the medical wing. Aisha and Tanya put their hands on Kat's shoulders. Kat turned to them and began to cry. Aisha and Tanya sat down with her, and let her cry.

Jason and Zack were fighting tears, as were the rest of the guys. The guys talked to Bulk and Skull while the waited for any reports from Alpha and Trini.

On Serpentera, villainous party music was heard.

"That plan went better than I thought it would Zeddy!" said Rita as they danced.

"Yes, but I think I deserve the credit! It was my attack that put the silver ranger out of commission!" Ooze.

"Yes, but you could have had better aim. Just a little to the left and you would have hit his heart," Zedd replied.

"Nobody's perfect Z," Ooze replied.

"Now Mondo, did you see what I meant about stupid human emotions?" Zedd asked.

"Yes, I must admit this was ingenious Zedd," Mondo said.

"So what's next Ed?" asked Rito.

"It's Zedd! Z-E-D-D! Lord Zedd to you!" Zedd yelled.

"Sheesh, you don't have to yell!" replied Rito.

"We will discuss on next course of action in the morning. Right now, we celebrate!" Zedd called.

The villains cheered as the celebrating continued.

"So, it's been you guys all along huh? Right in front of our faces," Bulk said.

"Yep," replied Tommy with a smile.

"This wasn't just the routine monster attack was it?" Skull asked.

"No, I'm afraid not. They wanted Billy taken out, so they targeted Kat, figuring that would be the easiest way to get under his skin," Adam replied.

"Man, you guys are in for one hell of fight. But Skull and I want to help in anyway that we can," said Bulk.

"Thank you Bulk, that means a lot to us," Rocky replied.

"BULK AND SKULL, I AM ZORDON. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO THANK YOU FOR HELPING MY RANGERS. WELCOME TO THE POWER CHAMBER," Zordon said. Bulk and Skull were slightly unnerved by Zordon for a moment, but then graciously thanked him.

A few hours later, Trini and Alpha came out of the medical bay. They were immediately bombarded by questions.

"How is he Trini?" Kat asked anxiously.

"The wound was deep, but Alpha and I cleaned it and patched it. He's going to be fine, but he needs to rest, He did just wake up though," Trini said. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"When can I see him?" Kat asked. Trini smiled at her.

"Well, he's supposed to be sleeping. But he's so stubborn and says he won't go to sleep until he gets to see you. You can go in Kat, and then the other's in pairs," said Trini.

Kat hugged Trini with excitement, as she rushed into the med room.

Kat walked beside his bed and caressed his cheek. Billy opened his eyes at her touch.

"Hi gorgeous," he said weakly. She smiled as tears brimmed her eyes. She sat down beside him, holding his hand tight.

"I love you Billy. You scared me there," she said.

"I love you too Kat, and I'm fine. Zedd thinks he's won, but I beg to differ," Billy replied as he tried to sit up.

"Oh no you don't! You are staying right here mister," Katherine scolded.

"Kat, I'm fine," Billy insisted.

"Trini was right, you are stubborn," Kat said, as she kissed his forehead. Billy just grinned at her.

"Hey, tell the guys to come in here," Billy said.

"Trini said only two at a time," Kat protested.

"Oh come on, quit treating me like this weak little boy. I want to see my friends," Billy said. Kat rolled her eyes and went to get them.

"Billy wants to see everyone," Katherine said.

"That sneak, is he just going to ignore everything I say?" asked Trini.

"He's stubborn," Kat said.

"Well, at least that's a sign of normalness," Rocky said. They all chuckled and entered the room.

"Hey guys!" said Billy.

"Billy, man we are so glad you're okay," Tommy said.

"Yea, you scared us," said Adam.

"I'm fine guys, I'll be back in action before you know it," said Billy. Kat wanted to protest, but she decided not to.

"Well, maybe you should concentrate on getting better first," said Tanya.

"How did we get here anyway?" Billy asked, changing the subject. Just as he said that Bulk and Skull peeked around the corner.

"Bulk and Skull hauled us here in Bulk's truck. They saw the whole fight," said Tommy.

"Welcome to the team guys," said Billy. Bulk and Skull smiled and they continued to chat for a while.

Soon, they all left, leaving Kat and Billy alone again.

"You saved my life today Billy," Kat stated.

"Of course, I couldn't let anything happen to you," Billy told her.

"I know, but why did you have to throw yourself in front of that blast? The team needs you more than they need me," said Kat.

"Kat, that's not true. They can't form the Megazord without you. You are a very important part of the team. And you are the most important thing in my life, I won't let anyone hurt you," Billy told her. She looked into his eyes. Eyes that were so full of love, making her want melt under his warm gaze. They kissed warmly and Billy fell asleep, being so worn out from the day's events. Kat soon fell asleep in the chair she was sitting in, beside his bed. The others doubled up and shared the power chamber's rooms for the night.

AN: Hope you liked it! Thanks for reading and let me know what you think! On to chapter 6!