Power Rangers Elementalists: TTEOTY Chapter 12: Navigating the Base, a power rangers fanfic

Summary: A change of scenery is supposed to do Justin some good, but not when the Power won't leave him alone. Time changes people; war does it more quickly. Not even Justin's former teammates will be able to help what awaits.

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers, Justin and the others are whoever owns legal ownership of them now. It's just everyone that you don't recognize that are mine. Oh, on Jessica, she's a one-shot girl from Mighty Morphin' from the episode "Rocky Just Wants to Have Fun" and I couldn't remember her name, but she's a character that popped out among the children of Power Rangers.

References: None.

Justin teleported directly in front of the school. School children still milling around stared in shock along with some adults. The Ranger simply opened his hands and whispered two words. "Nolite videre." Immediately, in the eyes of all looking, the Ranger vanished. Before the screaming could begin, Justin added more words. "Nolite tenere in memoria." Everyone merely went along as planned. He was searching the school, adding another spell when he almost crashed into another person. "Noli me tangere." Now he was like a ghost, unable to be sighted or touched. As he stepped through another senior, he froze as he registered three people from his hometown.

"What do you mean Justin isn't here?" A Hispanic teen lifted Fred up by the scruff of his shirt.

"What I'm saying is that he disappeared two weeks ago along with eleven other children and the parents of five of them and himself." Fred replied coldly as he reversed the grip and laid a knee on the teen's chest in the surprisingly empty hall. "What's it to you?"

"Stop fighting." A girl, one with brown hair, ripped the two apart and glared coolly at them. "Geez, you two don't have to fight. This is about Justin, isn't it?"

The two teens avoided their eyes.

"As I thought... Nico," the Hispanic teen raised his eyes, "and Fred," the other boy did so also, "just make out already."

"Jessica!" Nico yelled as Justin left. He could feel the Hispanic teen's eyes on him, however, and left quickly.

Now, where would they be? Justin extended his magic senses, feeling the world around him drain. All he could hear was his own breathing, harsh against the silence. His eyes saw nothing but the magical realm, that which is hidden from normal eyes. There! He pinpointed a change, recognizing it as a very strong illusion spell. He walked toward it. "Tangam." He was able to touch the physical realm again. "Videar." Again, he could be seen. He would need all the magic power he could get and wasting it on an illusion spell was pointless.

"I knew someone was there!" Nico's voice rang out triumphantly as the three from Angel Grove ran toward him. Justin opened the magic door that he had wordlessly broken the spell of and walked through. Right before the door itself faded from view, the three slipped through and skidded to a halt.

"What are you doing here?" Justin asked harshly, opening his hand to light the darkened room.

"Where the fuck are we?" Nico countered easily as they stared down the stairwell in the corridor they were in.

Justin meanwhile was staring at the door - or what had sealed up immediately from the looks of it. "Damn. Stay here." He ordered as he started walking down the stairs.

"I never knew Rangers were so rude! They certainly weren't back at home!" Nico yelled.

Justin felt his control snap. "Scu..." The word never passed his lips as a monster charged from the bottom of the staircase. He drew the Sword of Light and decapitated the monster in one stroke. Several more appeared but a single orb of power from his hand obliterated all of them.

The three teens' eyes widened.

"It isn't safe here." Justin responded coolly. "It's the enemy base. If you have to follow me, stay far away. It's going to get messy. Very messy."

As Justin marched off, the group from Angel Grove glanced at each other before following.

Justin was in his zone. He could feel the life-forces of each monster in the next area and his eyes blazed. One spell would eradicate them all. As the Gray Balance Ranger, it would hardly drain him.

"Ex igne ad vestum. Ex vesto ad aquam. Ex aqua ad terram. Ex terra ad ignem. Deleti sint omnes!" Fred quickly translated it in his mind and gasped.

"From fire to wind. From wind to water. From water to earth. From earth to fire. Let all be destroyed!" The deafening screams for at least twenty monsters died out after a few minutes.

"Follow me if you wish, but stay behind." Justin ordered. Without waiting, he rushed down the hall, flinging protection spells on the three teenagers behind him. He was pissed, hell yeah, but he wasn't about to let anyone be killed when he could have helped.

Justin soon stood in front of another room, filled with fire energy. He grinned ferally as he rose off the ground by pure power.

"Yo assholes, come get some!" Justin shouted as he dove into the monsters waiting within.

The three teens from Angel Grove stopped with wide eyes.

"Carnage." Fred whispered, awed by what one Ranger was doing.

The Sword of Light carved into flesh easily, one slice doing enough damage to defeat one monster instantly. Coupled with Justin's unnatural affinity for swords and one could see why Justin was beating the horde easily. Justin flipped over a flame blast before slicing an avian monster's torso off, throwing the Sword of Light into the ground. He channeled his power into the blade, all the gems in the blade shining brightly, each representing a color of all the Rangers. Energy cackled as a wave of pure Power knocked all the monsters away.

"Delete." He whispered, and then all the monsters turned to dust. Drawing the sword, the Gray Ranger stalked towards the exit of the room, the three from Angel Grove following.

The next room had but a single monster in it.

Justin gave the Ranger version of an arched brow, falling into a simple sword stance. "And you are?"

"Silly human, my name is Hiron, the Magus Beast." The monster was huge, stanced like the hypothesized T-Rex. It looked just like one too, except its scales were crimson and had spikes growing out of every joint. Glowing golden eyes locked onto the gray figure beneath him.

Justin shrugged. "Tell me, Hiron," he managed to put a lot of insult into that little word, "can you sense magic?"

"Of course I can human!" Hiron roared.

"Then you'd know that you don't stand a chance against me." And with that, Justin launched into a wild strike, which Hiron barely managed to deflect. Before Hiron could move again, Justin had launched into the air, firing volleys of fireballs. A breath of cold air managed to neutralize them, but Justin was back up again, sword slicing down. It cleanly sliced the left arm off and as a torrent of blood fell, the Gray Ranger drew back.

Nico's eyes widened. "That's amazing."

Fred agreed.

It was Jessica who called their attention. "He slowed down."

Both boys paused, turning to the girl. "Huh?"

"He slowed down." Jessica insisted. "The three spells he used before and that corridor battle took more from him than he knows. The magic's weighing down on his limbs, but he doesn't know it yet."

Nico returned to the battle, right when the Ranger blasted with seven different spells, charging right behind them. They impacted and in their wake, the Sword of Light was thrusted into the monster's chest, blood leaking for the death blow inflicted.

Justin continued on indifferently, running faster than he ever had so that he could make it in time. The Apocalypse was coming and he intended to stop it.

As he passed through the winding corridors, blasting through doors, and killing monsters, Justin wondered. Where were his friends? They were alive, their life-forces beating within him, but they were muffled. He could trace the energies, but for some reason they hit a certain point and just stopped. Justin burst through a door and paused.

"Amazing psychic echoes." He whispered. There was a lot of water magic in the air, with a certain touch. He recognized it as Jace's aura. It was then that the psychic echoes in the room overwhelmed him, his temporary post-cognition flaring up.

Jace stood against another boy, one of Polish descent. He had blonde hair curling down his head, stopping at the collar. This one was taller than Jace and more muscular too, though not as much as someone like Alex. Ice blue eyes glared daggers at the Water Ranger and in this room, water churned at the sides.

"So, Jace, ready?" The boy hissed.

"I'm ready Lan." Jace answered, drawing a staff out of his pack. Lan waved and a scythe appeared. Both lunged.

The fight was rather tame. Lan swung with his scythe and Jace blocked it, twisting the blade away. he then kicked up with his leg, catching Lan in the chest. With a heave, the other boy was thrown off, following it with a mid-air somersault strike. Lan dodged that by rolling away, though a small crater was created by impact. The boy fired off three lances of water, which struck Jace full in the chest. Jace still stood, however, light filling his eyes.

"Swords of the Sky." He whispered, lancing his hands forward. Seven swords glowing white appeared in mid-air before they rained down on Lan. The other boy managed to dodge five of them and used water magic to dispel the last two. He failed to see Jace charging at him, however, until his face was bleeding from a knife and two throwing stars were flying at him. Using his scythe as a wheel, Lan deflected them, but three arrows of light soon followed, which destroyed his scythe and forced him back into a wall.

"Why are you doing this Lan?" Jace whispered an orb of light appearing in his hand.

"Because the Dark Water Avatar asked me to." Lan replied before launching forward with nine water blasts. Jace's eyes glowed an aqua color as all nine blasts froze in mid-air. He raised a hand and the nine merged into a serpent, reminiscent of his Beast Zord. With a simple wave of his hand, the serpent coiled around Lan before his orb impacted, causing the older boy to cry out in pain. With another wave of his hand, every single drop of water in the room twisted into a Chinese Dragon, which coiled in mid-air. As that dragon moved around, Jace stared coolly at Lan, face harder than ever. "Why are you working for the Dark Avatars?"

"Because I have to." Lan whispered. He jerked to the left as a sudden pain flared in his right arm. He looked, but there was nothing.

"I bound your body in healing spells." Jace whispered. "It's a lot more damaged than you think. I can torture you by ripping the spells away one by one, each pain throbbing more than the last. Don't force me to do so. I've only been angry a few times in my life and you've seen none of those." The Aqua Water Ranger narrowed his eyes.

When Lan's head came back up, his eyes were filled with tears. "You want to know why?"

"I do." Jace whispered the line and even the dragon calmed down. "I do."

Lan stood and started walking toward Jace, who was still wary and tugged the dragon closer to him. When he was but a foot away, Lan stopped. His eyes held Jace's in his gaze, blue touching blue. Jace stood, pose relaxed, saying "just come". And Lan did.

He pulled Jace into the first and what would be one of the fiercest kisses of his teenage years.

The passion grew, but Lan cut it off, drawing back. "Understand now?" He fell to his knees, tears falling from his face.

Jace stood over Lan for but a moment, but then grabbed the larger boy's chin and forced him to meet his gaze. "You didn't have to turn to darkness, you know. A heart has a large capacity to love. Maybe, in time, I could have loved you like I love Cassy. Maybe even more." Lan's eyes still held tears, but they stayed in contact with Jace's. "As it stands, I like you, a lot, even after everything, even after Lance died. Please, just come back to me. Be the boy I know you are, that I knew you as. Please..." Jace collapsed into sobs, throwing his arms around Lan's neck. And the teen hugged the boy in his arms, feeling in his heart all his mistakes, everything he did wrong.

"Forgive me Jace." Lan whispered, burying his face into Jace's hair. "Just forgive me."

"Already have." Jace whispered back. The perfect moment was shattered Lan shoved Jace away and started to clutch his head. Jace could feel the darkness build up in the other Ranger and did the only thing he could. Wings sprouted on his back, the color of his Ranger suit as he focused all his power. "Purification!" The water dragon circling above their heads turned white and crashed into Lan. In that instant, the dulled aqua that was Lan's bracelet shattered into a brilliant blue. When the dragon disappeared, Lan had also gained wings, the color of sapphires.

"Just come." Jace held a hand out, looking to Lan all the part of an angel.

Just as he did so, Lan felt something. "Give me your right hand!"

"What?" Jace cried.

Lan latched on to Jace's right hand. "I give to you the Blue Tsunami Elementalist Powers. Protect them from the Darkness." Right as the morpher came to Jace's wrist, Lan disappeared in a swirl of black energy.

Jace fell to his knees as tears ran down his face.

Right as Justin recovered from that scene, another came up, worse than the last. This time, Jessica, Nico, and Fred were caught up in the echoes re-projected by Justin.

Jace warped in from somewhere. He stood erect, eyes flashing dangerously. One hand was glowing a bright aqua color, the color of the Water Powers. The other, blue, from the Tsunami Powers. He whispered lowly into the dark room. "I know you're there, Dark Water Avatar."

"As well you should." A figure warped into existence. She had a graceful body, clad in blue leather. Her eyes were a dark brown, though the most striking feature was her snake hair, like one of the Gorgon. She seemed to lack the geopetrification ability though. "My name is Divaradio, mother of the Space Pirate Divatox. I am the Dark Water Avatar, he who holds the Water Elementalist Powers. Ready your powers, for we fight!" With that, she drew a sword, the blade long and thin.

Jace narrowed his eyes and held his arms out, tensing his hand. "To me, Aqua Water Power! To me, Blue Tsunami Power! Element Morph!" He closed his eyes as the twin sensations of water surrounded him, one aqua, and one blue. When he opened his eyes, he was a mixture of the Aqua Water Ranger and the Blue Tsunami Ranger, with both colors melding into his uniform. He flicked his hand and drew his old staff. "Ready Divaradio."

That was when she charged. The two clashed with a horrible flash of light. Both traversed the room as they fought, sword blocking staff, metal meeting wood. Jace lashed a kick at Divaradio's head, but she dodged it, her blade arching toward his chest. The Ranger ducked, sweeping his legs into the Dark Water Avatar's prone lower body. Even as she fell, red lasers emitted from her eyes, blowing back the Ranger until he slammed into the wall. They rebounded at the same rate and Jace tucked into a somersault, ducking under another blast of energy. When he came up, a fierce cry tore from his lips. "Water of the gods, come to my aid. Bring forth the magic hidden in the seas!" He crossed his arms over his chest and then sprung them out, a torrent of water releasing itself. Divaradio did nothing but watch, until it came close enough to her where she placed one delicate hand over the spell and it disappeared.

"That won't work."

"It was worth a try." Jace shrugged. He was surprised when Divaradio appeared before him and his eyes bugged out when she slammed a water-coated fist into his stomach, driving out all the air from there, snapping his staff in half when he tried to block with it. The staff's shards disappeared in a flash of aqua light as the initial attack was followed up with another punch to his face and the Water Ranger felt his helmet crack, something that never happened. Another kick sent him flying for the wall and Divaradio chased after him. Seven lights flew from the fallen Ranger's hands, but Divaradio deflected them from her body before slashing into Jace's chest, drawing blood.

"How?" He gasped.

"I can break the magic that fuels the Ranger suit. Why do you think the Elementalist Powers were so dangerous?" Divaradio calmly asked. "I'm afraid that this is the end though." And with that, she thrusted for his stomach. A flurry of feathers suddenly surrounded Jace and then a sickening scream tore from not the mouth of a morphed Ranger, but from the mouth of a thirteen-year-old boy. The scene revealed to see Jace's wings pierced through, alongside the right of his abdomen. The blade was stained with blood, Jace's blood, as it flowed freely from the wound. Divaradio backed off as she withdrew her sword, wrenching another cry from the winged boy's mouth. With a flap of wings, he arose into the air, even as he pressed against his wound.

"Oops. I missed." Divaradio remarked offhandedly.

What she didn't see was Jace's fist heading toward her face. Enhanced by magic, it sent her flying back, making her temporarily lose control of her body. Jace then appeared behind her in a muted flash and started to move his hands in various motions, too fast to follow. It ended with his right hand tensed completely, to the point where it became a blade in itself. Jace's face tightened into an emotionless mask as he did so, so it wasn't really Jace doing this, but his inner Ranger. As the force from the original strike made Divaradio fly towards him, the boy thrust his hand out, piercing Divaradio's heart with that single, devastating strike. As he withdrew his hand, Divaradio slid to the floor, still alive, though bleeding profusely and she let out a small moan.

"Good fight." Divaradio gasped, blood filling her mouth. "Interesting technique- that's an assassin one."

"I know. It's an ancient Japanese Jutsu." Jace whispered. "Learned it from a TV show and a bit of inheritance."

"You are aware of techniques such as that?" Divaradio whispered. "You Earthians deserve a lot more credit than the rest of the galaxy gives you. It was a good fight. You won. I, at least, have that much honor to admit defeat. Please, if you see my daughter, give her this." She held out a gold necklace, which Jace caught. The boy, feeling compelled, placed it around his neck, even as Divaradio's body faded, leaving nothing but an orb and an aquamarine necklace with a snake inside it left. Jace wearily stood and placed the blue orb in his pocket, also putting the aquamarine necklace around his neck. All of a sudden, the boy stopped and looked to the right.

A figure appeared, dark and menacing.

"The Dark Fire Avatar." He whispered, his voice tight and weary. What he saw behind him made him yell. "Mom! Dad!"

Ami Mai-Hana stared horrified at Jace. "JACE!" she screamed at the cut on his chest and the large wound on his side.

"Jace!" Glen Mai-Hana also yelled, infinitely angrier now that he saw his son with a wound that looked like he was skewered with a sword.

"I'm sorry to break up this happy reunion, but I really need you." With a snap of his fingers, Jace's hands were drawn together and raised above his head. Chains encircled themselves around them and he soon hung from the ceiling. Ami was screaming in pain and denial. Glen was yelling in anger as he tried to get to his son, but a magical barrier prevented him from doing so.

"Aqua Water Power! Blue Tsunami Power! I release you! May the Light take you to another Ranger for protection!" Jace yelled at the top of his lungs as his bracelets disappeared. His body soon fell limp from both the pain and the sudden of loss energy. His body seemed to freeze in a temporal stasis as not even blood flowed from his wound, like he was caught out of time.

All four vanished.

As all four recovered from the psychic echoes, Fred turned to the Ranger. "Lan and Jace. Two of the missing boys are Rangers. I don't think that's a coincidence." Before Fred could go further, Justin was off again, heading for the doorway and into a maze of corridors.

Lan and Jace. Lan loved Jace. The Dark Avatars manipulated the thoughts of them. Divaradio. Divatox's mother! She pierced Jace's side. Blood. Too much blood. Justin didn't even think in complete sentenced as he ran, avoid obstacles and slashing monsters mechanically as he thought. She paid. Divaradio died. Jace might die. He will die anyway if I don't get there in time. Justin's eyes locked onto the monster blocking his path. A dark paladin, a mockery of the stereotypical white knight turned dark. It would do. Any would do. With a fierce yell that he poured all his anger and hate inside, he cut the knight into so many pieces that its blood splattered onto his suit, staining his gray body as he slowly fell onto his knees, sobbing his heart out.

This was the scene that the three from Angel Grove came upon as they entered.

Fred's eyes closed with a soft sigh. "Your teammate, huh?"

"Yes." The voice emitted from the helmet was raspy, filled with grief and pain. "We're close. Very close." Wishing he could wipe away his tears, the Balance Ranger stood. "Are you sure you want to continue? None of my comrades returned, so I believe that there are similar scenes ahead." The blank face stared into the three teens, looking past their bodies and into their very souls. "Maybe worse."

Fred looked up. "I will."

Nico turned to the Ranger. "I will too."

Jessica sighed and nodded. "As will I."

"Then come." The room opened up into something similar. This one opened up into a cold cavern, sand beneath their feet. The walls were jagged with rocks, yet the room itself seemed untouched. The psychic echoes called upon Justin's temporary powers and soon all four were looking into the past.

Alex was fidgeting in place, a careful pattern to his motions. A Korean boy with dark blue eyes and wild black hair stared at him, shorter though.

"Why do we have to fight, Kyle?" Alex asked, his tone pleading.

"Because the Dark Avatars wish it so." Kyle's voice intoned and before Alex could blink, he had dashed forward, a mace outstretched that was summoned from nowhere.

The Earth Ranger dodged out of the way, still continuously moving his upper body to some unknown beat. A step to the left and a twirl to the right let him dodge the attacks. As a dancer, the Ranger was adept at seeing patterns and could dodge most patterns as they came toward him. As they dueled, Alex was just weaving in and out of attacks, hoping that Kyle would eventually tire himself out.

No such luck.

A sudden rumbling of the earth made Alex falter, dropping to the ground mid-step. He crouched low and started humming as a blast of earth energy crashed into him. Except it didn't. A barrier of blue sprung around him and absorbed the impact as Alex stood, a brighter light of fire in his eyes.

"Dance magic." Kyle hissed.

"Of course. I am an accomplished dancer." But Alex's eyes narrowed. "I don't want to fight, but I won't hold back if you force me to."

"Then I'll force you to fight." The Dark Ranger dashed at Alex. That blaze sharpened in Alex's eyes and a blade of rock soon found its way into his hand. With a sharp clash, both weapons met each other. Alex gave a push off with his foot and jumped back, the two watching each other warily. Alex then summoned another sword and started to move in fluent, repetitive motions. Kyle stood back and with a bit of trepidation, wondered what this was about.

"Ever hear of the Sword Dance?" Alex questioned. Kyle's eyes widened as suddenly several different Alexes appeared around him. Kyle raised his mace to block as the Alex in front of him charged, but he was struck with two slashes in his back. He spun, but a slash caught him in his thigh. And so on it went, Alex keeping the illusions up until Kyle's body was marred by many cuts.

"Do you see the differences in our abilities?" Alex asked coolly as the dance magic faded, leaving the Alex to the front of his the only one.

"That doesn't mean I should give up." Kyle panted, the pain in his wounds flaring.

"Now there's the Kyle-stubbornness I know well." Alex smiled cheerfully. "So, care to show me what you can do? The offer to not fight is still open: I'd much rather be watching TV right now."

As Alex was babbling slightly, trying futilely to stop Kyle from fighting, Kyle was concentrating on the earthen spikes that poked out of the walls. A low rumbling caught Alex's ears and he looked up just in time to see hundreds of very, very pointy spikes shoot toward him.

In a desperation move, Alex did something never done before. He twirled his body around and did a couple of steps, a protection dance step, while pulling earth magic from his body to stop the spikes along with using some sorcery to shatter those that his other magics couldn't reach. The combination of all three caused a flash of rainbows to appear, blocking out all sight. When the light died down, Alex remained unharmed, though there was a lot of sand on the ground.

"Dammit." Kyle slammed his fists into the ground, falling to his side exhausted. Alex warily approached, his tight, almost leather pants allowing him a grace in his movements that Kyle had admired for so long.

"That was my last resort, and you flung it away like nothing." He gave a small sniff before tears started leaking out of his eyes. "I thought that if I acted tougher, you'd notice me more."

Feeling nothing wrong with the situation, Alex knelt beside the boy, drawing a strand of black hair away from the face. "Notice you like how?" He questioned.

Kyle's eyes sparkled for but a moment before he turned away. His response was barely audible. "...like you notice Lina..."

Alex's eyes opened wide for but a moment before he placed a hand on the other boy's chin, drawing dark blue to his brown. In an action eerily reminiscent of his brother, Alex spoke in soft tones, tones that he had perfected over the years with Jace as a brother. "Y'know, I do fall for the nice ones too. I could have easily fallen in love with you. Maybe I still might. I love Lina now, but I still like you. Even after the torture you put my teammates in, especially Jace; I still like you a lot."

The tears flowed more freely from Kyle's eyes, but Alex refused to let the other boy break eye-contact. "You love me, don't you? Then you also should know that you can love other people as well." Alex closed his eyes and brought his mouth down, covering Kyle's lips. The smaller boy pushed into the kiss, drawing Alex closer, hoping beyond hope that this was real. They slowly drew away, panting slightly from the effort.

"I'm sorry." The words were whispered softly, but Alex heard it. "By the Power, I'm so sorry." He collapsed into himself and started crying anew.

"Release." Alex whispered softly, surprising Kyle. The smaller boy looked up and then noticed his morpher shift from a muddy brown to a brilliant green. Soft feathery wings surrounded him, the same shade as his morpher as he was finally freed from the dark magic.

That was, of course, when something happened.

Dark strands of black magic surrounded Kyle, pulling him away. Alex tried to fight back, but Kyle shook his head sadly and said two lines clearly. "I give to you the Green Quake Elementalist Powers. Protect them from the Darkness!" And he disappeared, leaving Alex on the ground, crying softly.

Justin merely had time to glance at the three non-Rangers, remembering when they were friends, before they were transported to the next memory.

Alex warped in, his eyes dark. Soft pseudo-silk pants covered his legs and a shirt of the same material his torso. There was a lean grace in his movements, but a deadly bite behind it all. "Dark Earth Avatar! Show yourself!"

A muted flash of brown light ensured, revealing a woman in golden armor. She had an Asian face and pale skin, but looked formidable. Clutched in her right hand was a sword sort of like a stinger.

"I am the Dark Earth Avatar, Sabrina, formerly Scorpina. I used to work for Lord Zedd before the Avatars were called." Bright brown eyes looked up at Alex. "Ready yourself, Ranger of Earth. Your time has come."

"To me, Brown Earth Power!" Alex called, thrusting his left hand to the side. "To me, Green Quake Power!" He pushed his right arm to the right. "Element Morph!" A miniature mountain covered his body, shattering to reveal a brown and green Ranger. Alex's enhanced voice called out to the Dark Avatar. "I'm ready whenever you are. But first, tell me where Jace is."

"Beat me and you'll find out!" Sabrina launched forward, her stinger aiming for his neck. A wave of his hand and his axe appeared, both weapons clashing with a flash of light. The two started a deadly dance, weaving around the room with the metal of their weapons meeting again and again.

"Earth Rush!" Strands of earth energy entwined themselves around Alex's blades before he rushed faster than any earth elemental should, crashing his axe into Sabrina's golden armor many times, ending with a fierce kick to her chest. He then followed through with a wild swing aimed at her neck, though the Dark Avatar merely tilted her head back to dodge.

At Sabrina's command, spikes launched themselves from the walls and ceiling.

What annoyed her was the frequent humming that issued forth from Alex as he weaved in and out of the attacks. One step forward, two steps back, one to the left, and another to the right. Almost like a... dance...

"Dammit!" Sabrina cursed as the spikes suddenly inverted towards her instead of the Ranger. Another wave of the hand stopped the attacks, but she didn't realize that Alex's hand was on her chest until the runes of sorcery made the armor burst, leaving her in a brown one-piece leather suit.

"That will be your downfall." Sabrina's eyes narrowed as she disappeared from Alex's sight. He didn't realize it, but she had appeared before him and slashed him across the back. A loud gasp was issued from his mouth as he felt blood, actual blood leak from the wound.

"That shows why you're supposed to be powerful." Sabrina said simply before she darted in again. Alex's axe met her half-way and with his remaining hand, Alex drew his blaster. "Gnome Blast!"

The enlarged blast of energy blew the Dark Avatar back, but not before she threw her stinger. The Earth Ranger's eyes widened as the stinger pierced his stomach, forcing his suit to shatter and making his wings, one brown and one green, to sprout out from sheer shock.

"How?" Alex whispered as he managed to pull the weapon out of his stomach, but not before he let out a scream.

"My powers allow me to pierce the power of the Power Ranger suit." Sabrina shrugged, getting up. "Why do you think you have the ability to do so many things? We need to retain a balance, remember?"

She suddenly let out a scream as her body paralyzed. She looked up to see Alex glowing a faint violet, the light especially bright around his left hand. She could only watch as he walked closer to her, body swaying to the left and right as he chanted something under his breath.

"Mok bong Fuo. Fuo bong Tou. Tou bong Gam. Gam bong Sui. Sui bong Mok. Sang. Mok chuk Tou. Tou chuk Sui. Sui chuk Fuo. Fuo chuk Gam. Gam chuk Mok. Hak. Am wo Gwong. Yin wo Yang." Alex spoke, Chinese characters appearing on his fingers, each representing the five elements of fire, gold, wood, water, and earth. On his palm a symbol appeared, the symbol of Yin and Yang. "Do you what this is, Sabrina?"

"I don't recognize the symbol," Sabrina admitted, watching carefully his actions, "nor the language. But I do realize magic when I see it."

"This is sorcery, Chinese Sorcery." He showed his hand. "And this is the balance. Yin and Yang. Darkness and Light. My fingers hold the five elements included in it: Wood, Fire, Earth, Gold, and Water. I may be of the Body, but I know sorcery."

Sabrina's eyes widened. "This never happened with the previous Elementalist Rangers!"

"Well, now you know." He knelt, his hand level with Sabrina's face, even as he ignored the immense pain from his stomach wound. "We inherit things from our parents. My brother's a healer. That's Spirit. But what you don't know is that he's also a ninja in training, of Body." Dark brown eyes stared down at her. "That's probably how he killed the Dark Water Avatar: using a ninja skill. And now you die by sorcery. We don't have to conform to our Powers; we adapt but never forget what our parents gave us." The glowing hand implanted itself on her chest. "Sei le!"

The Dark Earth Avatar let out a scream as the magic flowed through her, burning her with the purity of the balance. She tried to thrash, do anything to get that hand off her chest, but the restraining magic cast her didn't budge. When the spell died out, she was still alive, though only barely.

Alex fell back, clutching his abdomen wound. "Dammit. Lost focus."

"It did its job." Sabrina's eyes were half-lidded as she stared at him. "It burned out my magic and without that, I'm simply Sabrina, not the Dark Earth Avatar. And I can't survive right now as Sabrina. Hey, do me a favor, will ya?" She tossed him a golden necklace with a heart shape. "Give that to Adam Park if you see him. Tell him that Sabrina did love him, in the end."

"I will." Alex caught the necklace with one hand, using the other to stem the flow of blood.

"Good. Good." The former Dark Earth Avatar looked up, her black hair and Asian face pale as she struggled to breathe. Even so, she was beautiful, something that Alex hadn't noticed before. "I've lived for a very long time. But I've only ever fallen in love once. It was with that teen, a man now. He's probably living his life without giving a second thought to me, but I love him all the same." A single, solitary tear trailed down her face, hitting the ground with a small plop as her body disappeared in sparkles of sand. She left two items behind: a brown orb and a topaz necklace encasing a scorpion. He placed the orb in his pocket, drawing the scorpion necklace around his neck.

Doubling over in pain, he traced his hand over the wound, ready to release healing magic. Alex's back stiffened, though, as something caught his senses. He turned, seeing someone he thought he would never have to see. "Dark Fire Avatar!"

"Ah, I see Scorpina died." With a wave of a hand, something appeared above the Earth Ranger

"Jace!"

"He put up a good fight, but Divaradio skewered him and I put him in suspended animation." The Avatar gave a shrug. "I still need him."

"Release him." Alex's fist clenched, glowing violet. There was a small tsk from the Avatar as the creature stepped aside, revealing two people. "Mom? Dad?"

"Alex!" Both Ami and Glen shouted at the same time.

"Not you too!" Ami cried.

"Your wound..." Glen spoke softly.

Alex felt an unknown force wrap itself around him, drawing his arms above him. "Brown Earth Power! Green Quake Power! I release you! May the Light take you to another Ranger for protection!" He cried to the air as his bracelets warped away. He soon hung limp before freezing altogether, blood refusing to flow from his wounds.

Again the four disappeared.

The four found themselves again within their own bodies.

"Scorpina." Fred murmured, his eyes lighting. "I remember her. Adam's a Power Ranger then?"

Justin didn't answer, only stared ahead. "Alex got stabbed too. He used sorcery. He hasn't used that in battle in a long time."

Jessica's eyes widened. "That Asian girl hanging off of Adam way back when was Scorpina?"

"Sabrina." Justin whispered. "Sabrina."

"Ah, Sabrina." Nico nodded then turned to Justin. "More?"

The Ranger drew his sword and nodded.

The four continued on, the three normal kids feeling like they had to do something.

Justin pushed off with his right foot and slicing the head off of the nearest monster in the next room. A jet of flame launched from his other hand into the next monster and he used telekinesis to throw the next into the wall.

A fourth monster was thrown over his head and Justin turned in surprise. Nico stood there panting before he gave a thumbs up and started to work in unison with Fred and Jessica to take out some of the smaller monsters. Smiling under his helmet, Justin turned back to the monsters ahead of him and charged forward, allowing himself to use less energy. It wasn't long before the room was clear and the three Angel Grovians were standing there out of breath.

"Dammmnnnn!" Nico spoke up. "That was tiring."

"Thanks." The Ranger's quiet voice drew tired smiles from the three as they entered the next room.

An artic battlefield stared out at them, the walls literally covered in ice and snow appearing out of nowhere. A wind blew up, harsh and strong.

"Cassy." Justin whispered, just as his powers fell out of his grasp.

"We don't have to fight, dammit!" A Korean girl, Cassy, shouted as she raised her daggers to ward off a savage strike.

"Oh, but we do!" The other fighter, a Chinese teen with long black hair replied as she struck again with her own daggers.

The area around them was pure ice and snow. Used to these conditions, neither girl balked at the cold. Cassy drew a rune in the air and let loose several javelins of ice, but the girl threw them away by launching her weapons into the spell. She equipped herself with deadly bladed claws and launched herself at Cassy.

"Christina, what happened to the girl I knew all those years ago?" The ice mage hollered over the wind as she parried, swinging her leg around and kicking the other girl away.

"She died!" Christina replied as she drew back, claws glowing. "Whirlwind Slashes!"

Cassy let loose a cry of pain as the other teen came upon her, many slashes tearing into her skin at eye-blurring speeds.

"Dammit. Energy Shield!" The barrier of energy magic pushed Christina away as Cassy regained her equilibrium. "I didn't want to fight, but you forced me to!" Cassy launched forward, daggers intent on Christina's chest. The other girl barely managed to block, but was blown back by the pure force of the strike. Three ice waves soon followed her, but Christina slashed those away. What she did not see was the energy witch following up with several blasts of pure energy.

The Dark Elementalist let out a loud cry of pain as the energy ripped through her, blasting her into the ice wall.

"Frost Cycle!" The attack came and Christina was overcome again by ice energy, repeated slashes striking her full on the chest.

When the attack finished, Cassy back-flipped away, landing in a ready stance. Christina's brown eyes followed her every move as she recovered.

"We don't have to do this." Cassy reiterated, pleading for her friend.

"The Dark Avatars wish it, so it must be." Christina murmured as she dashed for Cassy again.

The two met again, blades meeting with blades. Their battle traversed the whole field, neither one giving in. The speed they were going at was one that would surprise anyone, especially at their age. Their feet left footprints in the snow, though those faded quickly as the wind blew harsher and the snow fell faster.

Both girls soon tired, neither completely used to fighting for so long out of Ranger forms.

"Stop, please." Cassy pleaded, dropping her weapons and falling to her knees.

"No!" Christina shouted, letting loose a blast of icy wind. The attack blew the Purple Ranger back, but after a moment's pause she got up and started walking forward, tears filling her eyes.

"Please." She spoke again, water dripping from her face.

"No!" The attack came, knocking Cassy back again. She still got up and moved forward.

"Please."

And the cycle repeated itself, both protests becoming weaker as it went on until Cassy stood one final time.

"Stop, please." She pleaded once more, tears frozen on her cheeks and skin as pale as death.

"No..." The protest was weak also as another blast of icy wind launched from Christina's hands. The attack knocked the Light Ranger away, but she didn't get up again.

"Cassy?" Christina stood, face also pale and tears soaking her cheeks. She stumbled her way across the ice field, one arm limp. "Cassy?" She fell near her former friend, turning the body face up. Shallow breaths issued forth from her, but the eyes were frozen open in an eternal expression of pleading.

"Nooo..." Christina's sorrowful voice echoed throughout the room as she hugged the cold body to her chest. The other girl didn't move. "By the Power, you can't die. Not yet, not until I tell you how I feel." Her tears dropped onto Cassy's unmoving body, rubbing her arms across the chest in a vain effort to try to get the blood flowing again.

"Please. If you just wake up, I won't go back to the Dark Avatars. I'll just be Christina again. Please. Just come back to me. I love you Cassy, you can't leave me." She bowed her head and dulled purple wings sprouted from her back before they changed into a beautiful shade of indigo. Her bracelet as her morpher shifted slightly from the faded violet to a faded indigo and she pressed her cold lips to Cassy's.

The soft kiss was full of love, life, and warmth. As she did so, the Dark Elementalist pulled all the surrounding cold magics into her body from everywhere, taking the cold from Cassy's almost hypothermic body and placing it into her own. When Christina drew back, Cassy gave a sudden gasp and sat straight up, wings an awe-inspiring of violet flowed from her body. She looked up, brown eyes speckled with purple wondering, her voice croaking as she spoke. "Christina?"

"It's me." The girl smiled softly as the wind died down from around them, the snow fading. Christina closed her eyes and removed the darkness from within herself. When she opened them again, her eyes were filled with sorrow. "I'm so sorry."

Cassy looked at her with mistrust before the pain melted from her face and she flung herself at Christina again.

"You're back!"

They spent a few minutes like that, Cassy sobbing into her chest.

When Christina felt the first stirrings of magic, she bowed her head and whispered into the Purple Ranger's ear. "I'm sorry. I give to you the Indigo Blizzard Elementalist Powers. Protect them from the Darkness!"

The indigo bracelet faded from Christina, heading over to Cassy. Christina raised her head and mouthed sorry, just as she vanished.

Cassy continued to cry.

Justin felt knowing eyes on him when the visions stopped, but it didn't matter as they were swept up in the visions again.

Cassy teleported in, eyes alight with a dark power. She stretched out her wings, one a pure violet, the other, a deep indigo. With a melodic voice cultured by witch chanting and singing, she called out into the artic land. "Ice Avatar, I know you are here. Come out so that we may fight!"

A figure shed its invisibility, a monster with a hideous appearance. He was completely made of bones, nothing else. A sword of impregnable material was clutched in his hand. An oddly echoing and somewhat annoying voice answered from the monster. "I am Rito Revolto, brother to Rita Repulsa, the most powerful dark Sorceress in the galaxy and would-be Queen of Evil if the Earth's Power Rangers hadn't defeated her. If only she hadn't weakened her powers so much in confinement, she would have beaten Earth's Rangers already." At Cassy's stare, Rito elaborated. "What? Do you seriously think someone powerful enough to tie Zordon completely in a war and still had enough energy magical energy and will power to lock one of the most powerful beings in a time-space warp would lose to a bunch of beginner Rangers?"

The Ice Ranger spoke slowly. "Okay..." She tossed her hair back, falling into a morphing stance. "Do we fight?"

"Sure." Rito waved a hand over his face. "I've been cursed with this form for a while, but with the Dark Ice Powers I can return to my original state." He drew a circle in the air and stepped through it. The bones stripped away, revealing a somewhat androgynous, yet undeniably male, person in his (in Earth years) late teens. It was slim figure, pale, with surprisingly large eyes. A loose brown tunic flowing from his body, a material close to Earth's denim stretching across his legs. There was a soft, feminine grace in his movements that wasn't shown in his previous form. "My father, Master Vile, turned me into what you saw before you fro being too feminine and getting involved with another male. But I'm back and to fulfill my mission, I have to kill you. Ready!" The sword remained and was pointed at Cassy.

"To me, Purple Ice Power! To me, Indigo Blizzard Power!" Cassy called, eyes shining. She thrust her hands to her sides. "Element Morph!" The power of pure ice flowed through her being, body being veiled by the force. When the ice shattered, a purple and indigo Ranger stood, daggers clenched. In the adult voice that came with the suit, Cassy spoke. "Let's go."

The two rushed at each other, weapons flashing. Cassy's daggers whipped up, slicing Rito across the chest. She then flipped over his head, trying to slash his back too. The Dark Avatar blocked the strike with his sword, nicking Cassy as she turned back.

"Crystal!" She called, raising a hand. "Freeze!" Nine multipointed crystals of ice flew at Rito, who simply blinked and they froze in midair.

"You have to do better than that." Rito told her as the crystals melded into one, launching at the Ranger. It struck her in the chest, an intense feeling of pain and surprisingly enough, burning, as she flew back to land onto the hard snowy ground.

The Ice Ranger stood, clutching the point of the attack. "I'm burned." She spoke, amazement coloring her voice.

"Ah. Dark Avatar Powers can break Ranger Suits. Didn't you know that?" Rito smiled, unfazed at all.

A blast of pure life energy answered him. The attack caught him full in the gut, causing the feminine boy's eyes to widen. The attack ripped itself through him, though his body remained unchanged except for burns. A twitch from Cassy's fingers turned the energy into flames that Rito deflected past a small barrier, only to cry out in pain as the flames morphed into lightning and struck him from behind.

The Avatar straightened, eyes narrowing. "Energy Witch!"

"Level 3!" Cassy retorted before a blast of pyrothunder launched from her fingertips.

Rito moved to deflect, but Cassy seemingly warped behind him, fingers jabbing into the middle of is back. The Dark Avatar's eyes widened, body failing him, and the energy hit his chest. Pain coursed through his body and he staggered, though he didn't fall.

"Damn, that was good." Rito remarked off-handedly, regaining his composure. "Well, let's go, shall we?"

The fight began in earnest again. Cassy poured everything she had into this fast. More than she had against the Dark Elementalists. More than against Larana. More than against any spirit or monster they had to fight before. But it still wasn't enough. Every spell she cast, every attack she used, every trick she had in her sizable repertoire was deflected, parried, and/or rendered useless by this guy.

And then the unthinkable happened.

As she parried a block, Rito's sword started glowing a fierce black color. She was suddenly locked in place and the energy spread over to her weapons. A second later, her weapons shattered, the daggers she had used since forever disappearing. Her blaster was next, followed by her boomerang. The weapons she had come to depend on over the months had disappeared in an instant.

"Damn you!" Cassy cried, ice magic coming to play around her. "I call upon the Goddess of the Frost! Imbue me with your endless might! Final Freeze!" And Rito's eyes widened as the image of one of the Goddesses herself appeared behind the Ranger. "I am an Energy Witch! Elements that have long since died, I summon you! Pyrothunder! Icefire!" Just as the goddess released a blast of ice the likes of with he had ever since, the fire-thunder and the icy flame launched forward. All three attacks slammed into him at full power, sending searing pain over his body. In the midst of pain, Rito still managed to find the power to launch his sword forward.

With the action stopped, all the two combatants could do was stare at each other.

"I win." Rito smiled. As bruised and battered as his body was, it was nothing compared to having a sword pieced through your chest. Cassy toppled over, eyes closing as her Ranger suit disappeared. Rito stood, smiling. It was over. He had one. Now all he had to do was collect her... blood...

Except there was none.

"What the hell?" He stared at the body of the Ranger he supposedly killed... only there wasn't any blood.

"Looking for me?" Rito heard someone growl from behind him before quick fingers pushed seemingly random points on his body. As a combination, though, they somehow sealed off his magic. And the way his existence was changed by the Dark Avatar Powers... He depended on his magic. Without it, he would die. Rito turned.

Cassy stood behind him, a gaping wound on her chest, though she was still alive. Blood covered her hands, but she still glared defiantly. "I'm an acupuncture worker. I know how to manipulate the body's chi paths to suit my needs using various points on their body. Your physiology isn't much different than an Earthians, so it was effect enough. I sealed your magic off. So I think I win."

Rito choked back a laugh, a smile spreading over his face. "Thank you! Thank you!"

Cassy's eyes widened at the smile.

"Thank you! I can finally escape this hell! Wait for me Glen! I'm coming to meet you! Thank you so much!" And Rito laughed as his body started fading away. It was then that Cassy noticed the tears in his eyes. "Goddess, I hope he still wants me." He stepped forward, throwing a small star necklace at her. "Give that to Reena if you see her. She's the real Rita."

Cassy stared at the disappearing form of her enemy and suddenly had a thought. "What's your name? Your true name?"

Rito looked surprised, but smiled anyway. "Reeno."

The Ranger just watched as the male disappeared, leaving behind a purple orb and a bone necklace encased in the same purple crystal her Ice Ranger morpher appeared to be.

"Ah, I will." She clutched her chest and panted, but it would be fine when she returned.

"Not just yet, Ice Ranger."

The dark voice boomed over the area and Cassy looked up, though what she saw made her yell. "Alex! Jace!" She saw the gaping wounds, much like her own. What she saw behind the Dark Fire Avatar made her scream louder. "Mom!"

"Cassy! Oh God!" Meiren Chen nearly had a heart attack when she saw the state her daughter was in.

Feeling magic entwine around her hands, Cassy did the only thing she could do. "Purple Ice Power! Indigo Blizzard Power! Aqua Water Power! Blue Tsunami Power! I release you! May the Light take you to other Rangers for protection!" As four lights sped from her being, her body fell limp before it ceased moving, though she remained alive.

The five disappeared.

The four teens found themselves back in their own bodies.

Fred turned a gaze toward the Ranger in front of them. "You're either Jake or Justin." His tone brooked no protests. Jessica and Nico gaped at him.

"Huh?" They spoke with genius articulation.

"The rest of the Rangers are girls. That means you're either Jake or Justin. Which one is it?" He cocked his head to the side, brown hair falling in such a way that made him look dangerous.

"That, I am not allowed to tell you." Justin kept his tone emotionless, despite how much it pained him to hurt his friends. "Your mind itself must make the connection, if you are able. But the Power actively hinders; I know you won't be able to figure it out." The Gray Balance Ranger then stood and motioned. "Shall we go? Time is of the essence." His steps took an even more urgent pacing and he soon left the three in the dust.

Two more. Two more. Tears almost threatened to overwhelm him, but Justin shoved them down. He pulled himself from his emotions, detaching himself from his pain. I can cry later. Now, when the Earth is in danger, I must not falter!

Like some sort of patchwork, the next room was looming with monsters. Most were spirits, but here and there were monsters Justin recognized from the Power Chamber's files.

A slight twinge in his magical senses made Justin note that he really had to conserve his magic. With that in mind, he used his telekinesis to force air molecules into a hardened blade of wind that sliced through several spirits, but was deflected by one of the monsters.

"It's YOU" The loud shout made Justin pull his attention back toward the entrance. Fred stood there, eyes ablaze. He stepped forward, pointing a shaking finger at one of the monsters. The one who he was pointing to was a monster birthed from a Japanese ninja costume. Covered completely in shadows, it had a Japanese katana at the waist and a pouch of throwing stars or shuriken.

"You damn near killed me!" Fred wagged a finger, tears choking his voice. "You're the damn reason why we moved to Boston. I still have the scars from those fucking stars on my chest!" The martial artist lifted his shirt, revealing a tanned flat stomach and multiple scarring on his chest.

"Would you like me to add more?" The monster, Ninshad, asked nonchalantly before throwing several shuriken in a quick motion. The edges of the boy's t-shirt were sliced off, but the teen had dodged just in time. Action resumed as Ninshad focused on the Angel Grove pair and Fred while Justin started wiping out the other monsters.

Fred dodged a strike from the katana and ducked several shuriken. Nico flashed up and gave a high kick while Jessica slid below in a perfect maneuver. There was the simple fact that Ninshad had apparently learned some new moves, however.

It flashed away in a puff of smoke to appear behind Nico. The soccer-specialist rolled, avoiding the blast of lightning that launched from the body of Ninshad. Jessica arced a kick to where she thought Ninshad's head was, but struck wood. Fred backflipped over a katana slice, though the palm thrust in retaliation was dodged.

"Whirlwind Left!" Nico yelled at Jessica as the two clasped hands. They started a rotation that ended with Jessica flying into Ninshad, her foot outstretched. The monster cried in pain before forming seals with its hands. Fred was there before it could finish though, his foot smacking its hands. In a perfect combo, Nico grasped one while Jessica, the other and both pulled, breaking the thumb bones before being thrown away. Ninshad's scream still echoed though.

Jessica, Nico, and Fred regrouped, panting from the exertion.

"That should stall him." Nico grinned fiercely, though his tanned face was red from oxygen loss.

"Spoke too soon." Jessica grimaced as Ninshad appeared before them again, completely healed.

"Shuriken bunshin no jutsu!" A single shuriken suddenly morphed into ten and the teens were too slow to react.

"No!" The Gray Ranger was suddenly before them, a telekinetic wall being put into place. The shuriken stilled for but a moment, but broke through and sliced across the Balance Ranger's body, eliciting cries of pain. Ninshad was suddenly there, rapidly slashing across the Gray Ranger's body; Justin wasn't allowed to move.

Fred's eyes widened. "Hell no." But he knew it was true; for all his power, Ninshad at this rate would decimate the Ranger. There was a significant boost in strength from before.

"No! No! No!" The last shout was echoed by Jessica and Nico. It reverberated around the room and, to the shock of all, the three started shining.

"Magi Sparkles!" The three shouted, eyes blanked.

"Gold Magi Power!" Fred raised a hand into the air.

"Silver Magi Power!" Jessica followed suit.

"Bronze Magi Power!" Nico copied his friend's move.

A golden light spewed forth from Fred. He was soon encased in golden version of a Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger costume with a few minor changes. The diamonds that were the trademark were changed into three-pointed stars. His helmet also held the same figure. At his hip was a holstered blaster. Jessica became the same Ranger, only silver. Nico morphed into a bronze version of the other two.

"Bronze Magi Ranger, ready!" Nico spoke, his voice and body changed to that of an adult.

"Silver Magi Ranger, set!" Jessica was next, speaking her name.

"Gold Magi Ranger, go!" Fred finished before the three took off. Nico was suddenly at Ninshad's head, landing a swift kick that knocked the monster away. Jessica appeared in a flash, thrusting a silver boot into its stomach, which Fred followed up with a snap kick to the back.

"Bronze Shuriken!" Nico launched six of his own version of the popular ninja weapon, the spinning discs barely missing their target. They looped around and the Bronze Ranger caught them in mid-air, releasing them on his descent to the ground. They missed again, but Jessica appeared suddenly in a formation born from knowing each other for a long time.

She made a lashing motion with her hands. "Silver Whip!" The sleek chain appeared in her hand and wrapped around Ninshad's arm, wrenching the katana from the limb before striking its chest. Showing an uncanny link with Nico and a strange affinity for the weapon, the Silver Ranger then wrapped around several shuriken and redirected them toward the monster. It dodged, though several managed to slice across the arm.

Fred appeared where Ninshad dodged to, arms outstretched. "Gold Bastard Sword!" The one-and-a-half sword appeared in his right hand and he swung, the tip cutting into what passed for Ninshad's waist. The Ranger then changed his grip to a two-handed one and, in one glowing swing, decapitated the monster.

The three Magi Rangers panted, their bodies telling all.

"Magi Sparkles." Justin breathed, standing. "They take the form of whatever group of people envisions a team of heroes is like and they become them with a few minor changes. They're incredibly rare though; only three groups in the last few centuries."

"Gods, that was amazing." Jessica stood, looking around in awe.

Nico shook his though, making his shuriken disappear. "We have to go. There's a deadline to this."

The Gray Ranger snapped his head up, acknowledging the truth of it. Suppressing his awe over the Magi Sparkles, cold determination appeared over his body again. This time, the Magi Rangers had only a little trouble keeping up with the Gray Balance Ranger.

They exited into a stormy field. Lightning flashed in the sky and Justin's powers wavered before falling out of his control again.

"Thor!" Lina raised her hand as the visage of the Norse God of Thunder appeared behind her. Before the attack could be fired though, the other girl, a white female of the same age, called upon another god.

"Zeus!" The Sky God of the Greek pantheon appeared also and the two gods canceled each other out.

"Lisa, We don't have to fight." Lina panted, lightning flashing across her fingers.

They'd been going at it for half an hour. It wasn't long by any stretch of imagination, but the intensity of the battle left them tired.

Lina threw several throwing daggers coated with her magic, but Lisa dodged, replying with a stream of electricity.

The pack made her clumsy; Lina tripped and watched as the pack exploded.

"Damn, Alex's gonna be pissed." The Gold Ranger muttered before tucking into a roll, avoiding some more electricity.

Lisa carried some serious power, despite the fact she was of Mind. Lina quickly ran several plans through her head, but dismissed them all. The Dark Elementalist was a cold, analytical thinker that knew the laws of magic and science. The best way out of it was to use the most unpredictable thing she had at her disposal; her emotions.

Mental empathy was really handy at times like this.

The Thunder Ranger fell into her emotions, letting them embrace her. She quickly kicked forward, a trail of flame blazing along the foot. Lisa blocked the attack with one tonfa, a long stick attached at a right angle to a handle, and attacked with the other. Lina turned the kick into an upward slice, a blade of energy ripping across the tonfa and blowing the wielder back.

The fighter mage landed lightly on her feet, bouncing slightly. She was ready to go again. Lisa got up and started charging another spell. Lina carefully pulled ki into her hands, ripping off a popular fighting game in the process. "Hadoken!" -1- The blast of blue energy forced the Dark Elementalist to abort her spell, favoring instead to duck the fireball.

Lina was there in a flash, fist encased in icefire. She punched Lisa in the gut, backhanding her the next moment with a fiery hand. The Dark Elementalist flew back once more as Lina fell back into a ready stance. The ability to read emotions was useful.

Lisa sighed as she held a loose stance. "This is going nowhere."

"Of course it isn't!" Lina snapped. "I've been trying to tell you that from when we started. Let's just STOP!"

"I'm only allowed to stop when you're dead." The Dark Elementalist raised her hands, eyes growing dark. "Dark Lightning!"

"Shining Thunder!"

The two shades of electricity canceled each other out and the two rushed at each other again.

"Why are we fighting?" Lina roared as she punched Lisa in the face.

"Because the Dark Avatars order it." The other girl replied, retaliating with a kick to the gut. Lina grunted, not accepting the answer.

"Seriously, why?" The Thunder Ranger asked as she deflected an attack from the tonfas, coating her arm in a battle aura to nullify damage.

"Because the-" Lisa repeated, but Lina beat her to the punch.

"Because the Dark Avatars order it. Yadda yadda yadda. Another company line, but it doesn't fool me. Empath, remember?" Lina tapped her head, grasping Lisa's hands in a swift move afterward. She proceeded to place her in a submission position, stopping her from using any moves by locking her limbs in place. One finger was also harshly poking a particular point on her body which disrupted the flow of her magic enough that Lisa wouldn't be able to get any spells off. It was a trick that she had learned from Cassy, her mind easily pulling it from the dark recesses.

"Tell me. I know there's a reason; you wouldn't be able to pull off what you had if you were simply under a spell. Cassy and Jace already hypothesized that for you to still do what you did; you had to have some semblance of yourself. Meaning not like the Green Dino Ranger who was under a polar-changing spell." Lina glared hard. "Tell me."

"Dammit, alright!" Lisa growled, suddenly handing limp. "I like Justin, y'know. Except he was all hung up with Adriana. And I liked Jason, 'cept he was oblivious."

Lina paused, but didn't change the restraints. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Dammit, how were we supposed to?" Lisa's voice remained strong. "We all fell for you in some way, somehow. Your continued ignorance of us perpetuated what amounted to the Dark Elementalists."

"Human emotions are one our strongest and weakest points." Lina whispered.

"As an empath, you'd know." Lisa acknowledged.

And it was true. Lina was currently reading Lisa's emotions and felt what she felt. The attraction and what may be termed as love was there.

"Justin would like you a lot better if you didn't try to kill him on sight." Lina reminded.

"Well, yeah." Lisa deflated as her eyes started returning to a color other than dark blue.

"So, at the very least, throw off the darkness spell." The Thunder Ranger's eyes hardened. "At this point, if you wanted to, I know you can throw it off. I know you. We were the best partners back in the day. Your will should be easy to break through this spell. So DO IT!" She shouted the last part, throwing away the Storm Ranger to let her regain her focus.

Lisa quickly overcame the shock of the movement and her mind worked in overdrive involuntarily. A shift in her magic and inner light forcefully expelled a shade from her body and released pure yellow wings. As for the shade, Lina blasted that with a slightly overpowered Hammer of Thor spell. No one could ever claim that she couldn't be even more vindictive than Cassy on a bad day.

Lisa gave a tentative smile, waving a slightly blotted out yellow morpher. "Sorry." Her wings flapped sheepishly.

"No problem." Lina smiled and her emotions triggered something within her body, something she had previously left untapped. The purity of the emotions drew them out; golden wings that shined beautifully.

"We're all so blind, right?" Lisa took a strand of her long blonde hair into her hands, a sad look coming onto her face. "I guess that's why we're the Dark Elementalists."

Lina shook her head. "No, it's because you took a wrong path. You're a Light Elementalist now, look at your morpher."

"I already know." Lisa smiled softly. "I'm sorry."

Lina blinked, but Lisa was already at her side, grasping her right arm. "I'm sorry. I give to you the Yellow Storm Elementalist Powers. Protect them from the Darkness."

The Thunder Ranger watched as Lisa vanished, not even a warp trail left behind.

And she wasn't surprised by the tears running down her face either.

The four Rangers looked at each other and Justin felt Fred's knowing gaze. He just knew that the other boy knew. But before either could comment, they were sucked up in the next scene.

Lina stood poised, the four morphers on her arms glowing. The Yellow Storm and Gold Thunder were brighter than the Green Quake and Brown Earth though. She looked around the darkened battlefield, gazing with her mind and magic. "Dark Thunder Avatar, I know you are here. Three of you have fallen; the fourth shall as well."

"Ah, but you forget." The rough male voice floated throughout the area. "Three of your own have also fallen. Maybe you're the fourth."

"We'll never know till we try." Lina replied grimly.

"Of course." The figure appeared, a monstrous being. About the size of an adult male, the Avatar was completely purple and appeared to be made of a weird goo. It was wearing a purple cloak, also made of goo and had this weird beard growing form his chin. Despite this, Lina remained on guard.

"You're Ivan Ooze, aren't you?" The Thunder Ranger spoke.

"Yes, I am. But we both know we aren't here to exchange pleasantries." The monster smirked before raising his hands. "Now morph, so that we may fight."

"To me, Gold Thunder Power! To me, Yellow Storm Power!" The thirteen-year-old clapped her hands, the sound the action elicited sounding very much like a thunderclap. "Element Morph!" Lightning rained upon the girl as thunder crackled. When the energy faded, a tall woman stood, in a gold-yellow version of the Light Elementalist Ranger suits.

"Gold Thunder Rings." She held her weapons out, their points glowing when the lightning flashed. She fell into a familiar stance, the weapons she held glowing slightly. "I'm ready whenever you are."

"I'm ready now." With that, Ivan Ooze launched forward, purple electricity flashing from his hands. The Thunder Ranger tilted her head to the side, letting her rings catch the energy and fling it back into the approaching Dark Avatar. Ivan Ooze, of course, simply dodged the counter, conjuring a blade in the process. The three weapons clashed, a spark of their own magic clashing flaring off.

"S." Ivan Ooze whispered as he drew back before slashing with his sword. Lina's right ring came up to meet it, the left digging into Ivan Ooze's stomach. The two drew back, the Dark Avatar whispering out another letter as he hissed. "E."

"Gold Spark Laser." Quick as a flash, Lina switched to her mini-laser, calling for her gun with the next. "Thunder Gun!" She started rapidly firing blasts as she weaved in and out of Ivan Ooze's attacks. Each laser hit its mark, but the Avatar merely stumbled. Purple lightning flashed out again, but like what Lina did with Lisa, canceled it out with her own lightning.

"Gold Thunder Rings, Thunder Coil!" Lightning coated her rings, enhanced to be stronger than they were in the beginning as she tapped into the magic that made the weapons. She could coat them with her element anytime she wished; they all could. It was just easier for Justin because he had runes that made the transition easier. She spun rapidly, but the moment her rings touched Ivan Ooze, something weird happened. The ooze reflected her weapons. Ivan Ooze's face suddenly split into a grin and the next thing she knew, her weapons shattered.

"Dammit!" Lina cursed. The last time she'd broken her weapons, it'd taken two weeks before replacements could be forged. And that was with time warping.

She backflipped away from a swing from the sword, sidestepping a thrust. She fell back into other habits, opening up her empathy. Even if she couldn't get an accurate reading off of the Avatar, she could deflect some spells with it. Lina arched her foot into a backflip, releasing a wave of energy in the process. The moment her foot touched the ground, she dashed behind it. Ivan Ooze dodged the blade of energy, but he didn't see her flaming foot coming his way until Lina had effectively punched into his chest. Normally, the ooze would have rebounded, but the magic coating it allowing the being to be pushed back.

"Hadoken!" In another quick maneuver, she released a ball of fire from a video game she specialized in. Lina threw herself to the left when Ivan Ooze punched through the attack with a streak of lightning and started focusing once more. She was upon Ivan Ooze once more, ice covering her fists. Multiple punches at eye-blurring speeds forced the Dark Avatar back, but Ivan Ooze slashed once in an opening, striking along her leg. The Thunder Ranger drew back, surprised and in pain. She could feel blood dripping down her suit and she looked down.

"What the fuck?" Lina yelled. Her suit was torn open, a minor layer of fiber below it, but the very fact that the suit was broken was surprising.

"Our powers as a Dark Avatar allow us to break Ranger suits." Ivan Ooze flashed a smile before muttering under his breath. "A."

Lina was desperate now. She had a wound and Ivan Ooze wasn't even tiring. She dashed forward once more.

It was a stalemate. They moved around the room, exchanging blows and the occasional spell. Lina managed to destroy the sword that Ivan Ooze carried, but not much else. She could barely land any major blows on him while she was being pounded on. Was this the difference between their abilities? Lina gave a grunt as a particularly harsh blow landed on her chest.

She pulled back for a breather, but Ivan Ooze was suddenly triumphant.

"L!" At that moment, Lina felt something filter across her senses. Suddenly her chest seized and she couldn't breathe. Feeling her energy drain, the Ranger fell onto the ground. Pain flared across her senses and, barely aware, she felt a wound open up on her chest. Knowing there wasn't much time left, Lina broke her Ranger suit, throwing away her powers. She felt somewhat better, but only had enough strength to sit up.

"What the hell did you do to me?" Lina gasped.

"I sealed your magic. You threw it off, but I guess you can't move. There's a wound that you're eventually going to die of on your chest." Ivan Ooze smirked. "I'd say I win."

The Dark Avatar watched as Lina closed her eyes and stalked forward. It was his win. This would probably be enough to tip the scales in their favor because it was at a balance at that moment.

"This is the end!" He shouted as he thrust his palm down...

...and hit nothing.

"What?" Ivan Ooze started, looking around. Suddenly, the whole team of Light Elementalist Rangers was there. Orange Fire Ranger raised his hand and released a jet of flame, just as Silver Wind Ranger created a wind funnel. He backed up, but Brown Earth Ranger's earthen wall stopped him from dodging and he was hit with an excruciating strong fire spell. Aqua Water Ranger and Purple Ice Ranger combined their powers to send fifty ice daggers into his body.

Gold Thunder Ranger merely looked at him and Ivan Ooze took the chance to release a stream of lightning. It, to his surprise, passed straight through the Ranger.

"Huh?"

"Back here moron!" He turned to see Lina flapping on her wings, one gold and the other yellow, an orb of blue in her hands. All of a sudden he felt a pain like no other, searing all his senses. It burned him, shocked him, froze him, and many other painful sensations all at the same time. The pain did something that he thought it'd never do. His Dark Avatar powers failed him and imploded within himself.

He suddenly looked around, he was back as before with no one but the winged Lina.

"What happened?" He croaked.

"Illusionist. I made your body 'feel' pain that wasn't real." She half-smiled. "I guess it worked."

The Ranger looked at the being across from her. It wasn't the purple man made of ooze from before. He now looked regular, like an Earth blonde-haired human in his early thirties. He was somewhat handsome, but too old for her tastes.

"I'm back to normal." Ivan Ooze looked shocked, before a smile overcame his face. "Thank you."

She looked surprised.

"I'm dying; the Dark Avatar linked to my life essence and if they're gone, I am also." He looked up into the dark sky, a small smile filtering onto his face. "I wasn't Ivan Ooze forever. I was actually pretty regular. My best friend was Zeeden, Lord Zedd now. We parted many centuries ago and became who we are now. We didn't even recognize each other." Ivan Ooze shook his head before giving a half-smile. "You won this, Gold Thunder Ranger. Please, do me a favor. If you even see Zeeden, not Zedd, give this to him." He threw a star-shaped figure at the winged girl, who deftly caught it. "Tell him that I never really forgot him." Ivan Ooze looked into the sky as he felt his body fade.

"What's your real name?" Lina suddenly asked, looking up at her enemy.

The former Dark Avatar looked surprised, but answered anyway. "Ivanis."

"Goodbye Ivanis; you were a good match."

Ivanis smiled slightly before fading into dust. All that remained was a small gold medal with a purple circle on it and a yellow orb. She put the medal around her neck, pocketing the orb and star.

Moving to teleport out, Lina froze.

"Dark Fire Avatar, you are here."

"Yes. Look up."

The Ranger did so, eyes widening. "Jace, Alex, Cassy!"

The three Rangers hung, looking like fallen angels, their own wings limp.

"And look behind me." The shadowy shape moved to reveal someone that Lina knew well.

"Uncle Kira!" She gaped.

"Lina!" Kira Rana yelled. "No!"

"Oh yes. I'm sorry, but it looks like this is another stalemate."

Lina felt her body stiffen and did the only thing she could do.

"Gold Thunder Power! Yellow Storm Power! Brown Earth Power! Green Quake Power! I release you! May the Light take you to other Rangers for protection!" Four colored lights sped before her being before all went black.

The six teleported away.

The first thing out of Fred's mouth was these words. "You're Justin."

Nico and Jessica paused, turning to look at the two Rangers.

"The Power isn't hindering the final connection for me." The Gold Magi Ranger crossed his arms. "I know of the web of relations between you all. You're Justin and that last vision proved it for me."

The four Rangers stared at each other before the Balance Ranger dropped his head. "I am." He looked up though, his ferocity shining in his eyes. "However, I will not stop and argue with you now! There is one room left and then the final. Let's go."

As if like clockwork, the next room appeared almost as soon as they left. It was a large and spacious room, but not the same as the rest. Instead of a room full of monsters, a large fire dragon awaited them.

"You're gotten this far." There was intelligence in those eyes. But I shall allow none further."

"Wanna bet?" Justin held the Sword of Light in front of him, the Magi Rangers flanking. Each had their own weapons out, ready to be used.

"Alpha!" The Balance Ranger called out, hoping their old split-form commands worked. They apparently did as Fred dashed to his right, Jessica, his left. Nico dashed at him and jumping, landing on Justin's shoulders before jumping again.

The Gold and Silver Rangers both attacked, but the dragon's scales deflected their weapons and Nico's shuriken merely bounced off the scales of his face. Justin slashed and the Sword of Light did minor damage, but not much.

"Black Night! Falling Rain! Indignant Flash! Heaven's Judgment!" Justin called out rapidly, forming sigils in a flash. The room darkened and darkness started slamming into the dragon as torrents of rain fell. A blinding crash of lightning heralded another spell, the dragon roaring in pain. Columns of light soon followed, slamming into the monster and throwing it up into the ceiling. Fred took the opportunity to slash at the tail, drawing blood.

"Go Justin!" The Gold Ranger turned toward the Elementalist. "You need to hurry. We'll deal with this guy!"

"But-" His protests were cut off when Nico and Jessica threw him into the next doorway. The door slammed shut behind him just as a crash sounded through it, bringing the cries of pain from the Magi Rangers.

Justin blinked away his tears, the sorrow threatening to overcome his defenses. For the umpteenth time though, he shoved the pain away. He then started wondering, as he dashed through the silvery corridors, whether or not this was the reason why Rangers usually weren't chosen until they were older. The scars were getting deep and his emotions were simply cast aside. Too much pain ruins a person. Justin realized. And being a Ranger is one of the most painful things ever. Sometime in the future, there will probably be people who won't know our pain. That would view Rangering as something cut and dry. And they'd be in for a great shock. A very great shock.

Justin forced the thoughts out of his head when he came upon another room.

It was a tower, with sharp drop-offs at the ends. They seemed to go down for an eternity. They probably use dimensional portals. Justin thought. A wave of energy passed through him and Justin lifted his head, losing himself in the psychic echoes.

"Wind, hear my plea!" The voice of Amanda Bryson shouted, her long black hair moving in the wind that stirred up. She thrust her hands forward and let loose ten strands of glowing air. Adriana merely stood calmly before plucking the strands out of the air with her hands. Her magic aura expertly manipulated the air into a bow and arrow, which were released. The Japanese girl moved to dodged, but a tornado of wind appeared right where she moved, slamming into her. She backflipped to regain her balance and with a cry of "Wind Lances" let loose several pikes of hardened air.

They found their mark in Adriana; the girl was blasted away by the spell but soon recovered.

The two had been fighting for a while, but they were at a stalemate. It was the best they could do without the Power.

"I'm telling you, we don't have to fight." Adriana repeated for what seemed like the thousandth time as she drew herself up. Her clothing was torn in places from spells she couldn't dodge, cutting across the thigh and stomach. Amanda wasn't much different and was, at the moment, wielding a glaive.

Adriana quickly pulled a stamina potion out of her pack and downed it, launching the glass bottle afterward at the Dark Elementalist. It was quickly slashed in half and rendered useless, but it gave Adriana the opening she needed as she dashed in, a spear appearing in her hands. A sharp jab was deflected by Amanda's glaive, yet a tornado kicked up around her. Amanda dodged that one, leaping back. She landed on a sigil on the ground, though, which exploded into a large updraft that caught her in its grasp. Flying toward her on wind currents, the Wind Ranger stabbed Amanda in the shoulder before backing off, letting loose the magic and staring impassively as blood dripped down her former friend's right arm.

"Dammit." Amanda growled as she raised her left hand and started to gather sparkles of energy. Her shriek echoed throughout the room when the magic exploded, burning that hand. "What happened?"

"Mind, remember?" Adriana tapped her head before raising her arms. "Goddess of the Wind, answer my calls!" She closed her eyes, rapidly forming runes in the air. Amanda rushed forward, but stepped on another hidden sigil; she was knocked to the edge of the battlefield by the blast of harsh wind that ensured.

Adriana's silvery aura flowed from her being and surrounded the Dark Elementalist, encasing her in a tornado of slicing winds. Amanda got her bearings, though, and dispelled the magic with a flick of her wrist. The girl floated down on air currents of her own making, staring back at the Light Elementalist.

"You were always better at magic anyway." Adriana shrugged with a slight smile, easily ducking the beam of wind launched her way.

"Why does everything I do always fail?" Amanda stamped her foot in frustration.

"I'm a worker of the Mental Plain." Adriana shook her head. "I can get inklings of your plans and instill some suggestions into your base on the Mental Plain as long as I'm connected. Now, I'm not a telepath, so I can't totally read your thoughts. I just want to know why you fight. We never had the chance to do this face to face before."

"I fight for the Dark Avatars." Amanda said simply before folding her hands. Another sigil went off by her feet, a blade of hardened air slicing across her leg.

"Try again." Adriana's cold blue eyes narrowed, silver flashing in them. She raised a hand, a magic circle forming at her fingertips.

"I fight for the Dark Avatars." The Dark Elementalist repeated, but flinched as another sigil went off, releasing another blade of air.

"I fight to make you pay." Another sigil flashed, but the magic stopped before being released. Amanda stared into Adriana's eyes and Adriana was startled by the harsh tears that welled up in the Dark Elementalist's eyes.

"What?" The magic circle disappeared as Adriana lost her focus, a distressed look coming onto her face.

"We all fight to make you pay." A few tears made their way down her cheeks, but Amanda wiped them away. "We all loved you, even at that small age when we weren't even supposed to. We just did. We still do." She spoke the next line softly. "I still love you."

Adriana stilled, dropping her spear with a clatter. Her magic dissipated and she took a step forward. "Huh?"

"God dammit, I love you!" She shouted tears flinging from her eyes. "I love you, but you didn't give a damn, withholding your affection until Justin pranced in and..." She shook her head, calming herself.

"But... I..." Adriana started, but Amanda shook her head.

"You didn't care." And with that, the Dark Elementalist stamped her foot on what seemed like empty ground, but was actually one of the more powerful sigils. Adriana gasped as Amanda was flung away by the resulting blast of wind magic, over the edge of the platform, and down into the abyss.

"Amanda!" The cry was ripped from her throat as she launched herself over the edge, using wind magic to propel her moments. At one moment though, the magic failed her and she fell into a freefall. In one final act of desperation, Adriana felt a change overcome her and she sprouted silver wings. She managed to clasp onto Amanda's hand, but her inexperience made it hard to keep them at the same altitude, let alone up.

"Help, please Amanda!" Adriana shouted desperately, flapping her wings with all her strength.

"I..." Amanda looked torn.

"I did love you! I just couldn't express it! I still do!" The winged Ranger yelled in one final attempt. "I'm just not in love with you! I love you like a sister. But please, I can't stand losing someone else! I've already lost five teammates and my mom cheated on my dad! Please, don't make me lose another loved one!"

Amanda stayed quiet, but the pink wings that sprouted out of her back as a blob of darkness fell in the emptiness below said enough. The two flew up to the platform, but Amanda shook her head.

She kissed Adriana soundly on the lips before whispering a few words. "I give to you the Pink Tornado Elementalist Powers. Protect them from the Darkness." She drew back as her morpher was transferred to the Silver Ranger.

"Wha?" Adriana tried to ask, but Amanda disappeared in a whirl of black winds.

The only thing to be heard was Adriana's crying.

Justin felt his heart twinge, but before he could contemplate, the final vision forced itself onto him.

Adriana teleported in, wings already spread. She wasted no time as she called out. "Dark Wind Avatar, you called me here."

"No patience. Just like a typical Wind." A masculine voice growled lightly as a figure warped in. Dressed in golden armor, this being was vaguely apelike and carried a powerful sword. On his back were wings, much bigger and stronger than Adriana's pink and silver ones.

"Who are you?" Her eyes narrowed, the orbs becoming colder by the second.

"Goldar, Rita Repulsa's and Lord Zedd's second-in-command. But I won't fight you in this cumbersome form." He pointed a hand toward himself and magic flowed around him, changing him into a slimmer shape. This one was more Earth human, in the thirties if he were from Earth. He retained the golden armor, but it was more streamlined, and the wings remained. "Ready yourself, Wind Ranger. The time for us to fight has come."

"Where are my friends?" She growled.

"Defeat me and find out." Goldar raised his sword, gathering energy at the tip.

"To me, Silver Wind Power! To me, Pink Tornado Power!" Adriana held her hands out, the silver and pink morphers flashing. "Element Morph!" A tornado surrounded her, hiding her from view. When she appeared, she was wearing a silver and pink version of the Wind Elementalist Ranger suit, glaring defiantly through her helmet. "Wind Spear." Her weapon appeared in her hands, though she was moving long before it finally materialized. Goldar parried the initial thrust and the battle was on.

The two flashed around the area, their speed mere blurs due to their speed. Adriana's mind worked at a fast pace, having to compensate for the increased speed. She quickly analyzed Goldar and tried her best to figure out a plan of attack. His mind was closed off to the Mental Plain, but that was okay.

They continued their deadly dance, neither scoring any hits. It was taking everything Adriana had to move at the rate she was going and lay traps at the same time.

The traps didn't help though.

Adriana only realized that when Goldar flew right through one of the sigils she worked.

Damn, I'm going to have to strengthen them.

She continued her meticulous plan, but had to back off when Goldar scored a slash right across her chest when she wasn't paying attention.

Blood spread the front of her suit and Adriana realized why she was so powerful.

"I can break the magic of Ranger suits." The Dark Avatar grinned. "And those sigils won't work; they're too weak. I guess I can stop playing." And Adriana's thought processed stopped when Goldar appeared before her and slammed his fist into her helmet. For the second time in a few months, her helmet cracked just a bit, but it was enough to throw her off balance. Fists flew at her at rapid intervals, too fast for her to see. She did feel them though. Blood splattered against her helmet as her body too abuse far more than it was meant to take. Her spear even snapped in half and if she could think, Adriana would have complained that it would take a month before the proper materials and magic for the forging could be gathered. But, at that moment, she was too busy being pounded upon. Adriana tried to pull herself into a void where she couldn't be bothered by the pain, but that plan was shot down when Goldar did something that no others had a chance to do.

He stabbed her.

Adriana let out a silent gasp as the sword pierced through her gut and out the back. Her wings suddenly failed her as she dropped to the ground like a rock, her blood coating the sword. Another silent scream was ripped from Adriana's mouth as the blade was ripped from her abdomen. Her Ranger suit officially shattered, not that it was much help, but she returned to her normal height.

"This is the end of you fighting, Silver Ranger." Goldar hissed as he swooped his sword down...

...only to strike the ground. The sword passed through Adriana as if she weren't corporeal.

"What the name of the gods?" Goldar growled as he drew back, only to be slammed by a blast of magic from behind. He turned to see Adriana there, pulsating with an unknown magic. Her eyes were a clear grey as she flicked her wrist, his sword disappearing. Another flick and his armor disappeared. A final flick and he felt small bits and pieces of his being disappear. It was an excruciating display of power, but one that didn't last.

Adriana dropped to the ground out of exhaustion, though she looked up at Goldar while she was at it.

"Molecular magic?" Goldar asked, staring in disbelief at his hands.

"Right, Level 2." She struggled to get up. "I pulled almost all the magic out of your body using it, exploding others, and freezing some more. You're not going to survive."

"I know." A soft smile came onto his face and he looked totally at peace. "Looks like the scales tipped in your favor." He pulled out two feathers and tossed them at Adriana, who barely caught them. "Give those to Tommy Oliver. He'll know what to do with them."

"I will." Adriana promised before speaking once more. "Can you tell me your name?"

Goldar looked surprised for a moment before he smiled again. "Jing."

"Good bye Jing." Adriana whispered.

"Good bye Wind Ranger." Jing closed his eyes as his body faded to dust, leaving behind a small silver pendant with a feather carving and a shining pink orb. Adriana slipped the pendant around her neck as she placed the orb and feathers in a pocket. She turned to warp out, but something caught her eye.

"Guys!" She screamed, seeing her four missing friends hanging from the ceiling.

"Over here, Wind Ranger." A dark voice growled.

The injured Ranger turned to see her father standing in front of a dark figure, presumably the Dark Fire Avatar.

"Dad!" She shouted.

"Adriana!" Jonathan moved, but a barrier kept him in place.

Adriana felt magic encircling her wrists and realized that it was at a standstill once more. "It's up to you, Justin." She murmured before shouted out the next few lines. "Silver Wind Power! Pink Tornado Power! Gold Thunder Power! Yellow Storm Power! Purple Power! Indigo Blizzard Power! I release you! May the Light take you to the last Ranger for protection!"

Six lights sped away from her before she blacked out, encased in stasis magic. The six former Dark Elementalists also appeared, in the positions of their black pentagon. The thirteen disappeared.

Justin returned to this plain with a gasp. He recognized the pattern. Even with latent Elementalists, the Balance circle would be extremely powerful. He had no time to waste.

He dashed through the remaining corridors, but his heart hurt. He had to see all five of his teammates lose horribly, locked in stasis. It was an extremely painful experience. But he couldn't let himself dwell on it, not when the Dark Fire Avatar was planning something, something extremely bad.

Justin came to two large stone doors, seemingly out of place. At the mere touch of his hand, the doors opened...

-1- I don't own the rights to Street Fighter. It belongs to whoever it belongs to.

Mathais waves, a grin on his youthful face. "Sorry about taking so long!"

Shinkaa sighs. "It took over a year, but this chapter's finished."

Sichao, one of the author's new muses to avoid copyright infringement, grins. "The story's almost done too."

All three speak at once. "Thank you for reading! We thank our loyal readers!" The trio laughs happily.