Zadan nearly ran Doctor Radkee over as he hurried out of his room. He'd been called to the command room and even though it was late at night he knew that he had to go. He was either in trouble or...well he was probably in trouble and delaying would not make things better. Radkee got out of his way as quickly as he could, but shot him a disapproving look. Zadan didn't even look back; he was in too much of a hurry. A few moments later he entered the command room, a little out of breath, and found Red and Crimson already there. He breathed a sigh of relief. At least he wasn't the only one it trouble. But that thought quickly derailed as he realized Navy wasn't there.

"Psycho Yellow, did you know about Psycho Navy's betrayal?" Kalix demanded.

Zadan kept a carefully schooled face, but inside he screamed out. They know! Does Niko know that he's been found out? Are they plotting against him? He knew he had to answer Kalix, but he was afraid anything he said might condemn him and/or Niko.

"No Master, if I knew of a traitor I would turn him in to you." Zadan replied evenly.

"Liar." Crimson hissed. "You knew Niko was the traitor! You protected him when I questioned you!"

"I thought we were becoming friends again! I was merely trying to protect my friend! I had no clue he was a traitor!" Zadan yelled back, losing his patience. "If I'd known I would have killed the bastard myself." Okay, maybe that was a bit over the top.

"Enough!" Kalix roared. He glared at the unmorphed Yellow Psycho Ranger. "I don't know how much I trust your loyalty to me, but I believe you wouldn't risk your own skin by hiding a traitor. All of you get ready to deal some revenge. That traitor isn't going to get away so easily."

"Master..." Red spoke up as Kalix started to turn away from them. He fidgeted a little when Kalix turned his furious gaze back to him. "Terik and I worked together to expose the traitor. I believe we still have issues to deal with, but I think we have gotten past the need for the shackles."

"I'll be the judge of that." Kalix snarled. He glanced at Crimson. "What do you have to say?"

Crimson hesitated, wondering if he was about to make a big mistake. He wasn't sure his ego would ever recover, but deep down he'd learned the truth. "I agree with Dariv and as proof I relinquish leadership of the Psychos back to him."

Zadan and Red both looked at their teammate with shock. Even Kalix himself looked completely surprised by Crimson's words, but it also seemed to have a pacifying effect. With a nod of Kalix's head Deder stepped forward and pointed a remote at the shackles. They made a brief somewhat musical sound before unclasping and falling to the ground.

"Now get out of my sight while I think." Kalix barked. "Lothor is going to want me to do something. He will not be pleased."

"Master, we don't need Lothor to defeat the rangers." Crimson insisted. "You're ten times the warrior and leader he is."

"I know." Kalix said, a malicious and somewhat mischievous smile crossed his face. "I'm just having some fun."

ZzZzZ

Kale was surprised to say the least. He had expected Niko to be in the healing chamber for at least a week, but when he woke up the next morning the young man was already beginning to wake within the healing chamber. He popped open the side and gave Niko space to gather himself before exiting. While he waited for his guest he went to the small kitchen in the hanger. Max had installed a food synthesizer and a fold out table with chairs that slid into the floor. Max had made other improvements because the shuttle had been his. Like many other things it was one of the only things he had left from his teammates.

"I had hoped you'd find me."

Kale glanced over his shoulder at Niko and smiled. "You're lucky too. I have a healing chamber that probably saved your life."

"The Gems give us increased healing ability." Niko said. "I might have been out of commission, but it takes a lot to kill one of us."

"That's both good and bad."

Niko nodded and glanced around a little before focussing back on Kale. "Have anything to eat?"

"I was just getting ready to synthesize something." Kale said, motioning toward the machine in the wall. "You can create whatever you want…as long as it's not Garusian meatballs."

"No problem there, just the smell makes me sick." Niko replied.

Kale laughed and nodded in agreement. He typed a few things into the synthesizer and a moment later a plate with some foods from his home planet appeared in the receptacle. He took his plate and pulled a stool up from the floor and sat at the table. Niko followed his lead, though he created food completely different from Kale's. The two ate in comfortable silence as if they had known each other for years. It was an ease that came from being experienced rangers and having that common bond between them.

"I have to ask something and I hope it's not intrusive, but how old were you when you became a ranger?" Kale asked. "You're 16 now and as far as the reports say you've been with Kalix for almost a year."

"The first threat our planet faced was Tralor three years ago." Niko said. "I was thirteen when High Commander Rexin put out the call for volunteers to be rangers."

Kale looked understandably surprised. "You became a ranger at thirteen?"

"Not easy by any means, but my teammates accepted me and I never had to prove myself to them."

"I did." Kale said with a sad smile. "Rez thought I was an annoying pest, Max could never get me to listen to his techno-babble, and no one trusted me with any responsibilities. It took three months and me saving them all single handedly before most of them gave me any respect. At least Nick and Valin were in the same boat as me though. We were the three youngest."

"That must have been hard." Niko said.

"If it hadn't been for Nick and Valin it would have been." Kale replied.

"I'm sorry, it must be hard talking about them." Niko apologized, realizing he was probably poking at a raw nerve.

Kale smiled slightly. "It's okay. I should be able to talk about it after hundreds of years."

"We can talk about something else." Niko said. "I know I'm not ready to talk about my teammates."

"What about your newer teammates? Care to talk about them?" Kale asked.

A frown filtered across Niko's face. "At the moment I'm wishing I could flog two of them like naughty children. Aurias is awake and still recovering. Zadan..." Niko trailed off as he thought of how betrayed his friend probably felt. They had been getting closer, but the truth about his betrayal probably ruined all that. "...he's probably wishing he would have gotten a hold of me too."

"There's something you should know about Zadan. He's under the influence of the Yellow Amulet. Amulets---."

"Oh lords not another one." Niko groaned. His thoughts instantly shot to Amias. He didn't know what had become of his wayward teammate. "I've had experience with the Red Amulet. My teammate, Amias got taken over by it."

"Not taken over, influenced. The Amulets were created by one of the Holders of a Gem of Power. He was corrupted by the power and in turn created the Amulets to control rangers. The colors had to match for some odd reason that probably has to do with types of power and all that." Kale explained. "Without a Holder around the Amulets merely influence the ranger to be, well, evil."

"It's so obvious when I think about it. Zadan wears that damn thing proudly and I never made the connection." Niko could have just kicked himself for that stupidity. "How can I help him?"

"The Yellow Amulet has to be destroyed for its control to be released." Kale replied. "Only someone with a Gem of Power can destroy an Amulet."

"So I have to destroy it." It wasn't a question - it was a firm statement of purpose.

"How will you get the chance? He'll be morphed whenever you see him now." Kale said. "You'll have to talk him into doing it."

"That'll never work. He probably hates me now. He probably thinks I was just toying with his feelings." Niko said sadly. What he wouldn't give to make Zadan see the truth.

"We'll worry about that when the time comes." Kale suggested. "Let's just finish eating and then I'll take you to meet the rangers."

ZzZzZ

Dustin smiled, stretching out in the warm sun. He had been meditating, talking with his lion spirit, but that was done and he was just enjoying relaxing. It was nice to get a little peace, since there had been very little of it since the Psychos appeared. He knew that as soon as the day really began the Psychos would be up to no good as usual, but he wasn't going to let his thoughts go there yet. It wasn't generally in his nature to be negative, but he just had a feeling that something big was going to happen and given recent events he assumed it probably wouldn't be good.

His thoughts gradually drifted to the one person who had been consuming most of his thoughts recently. Hunter. It had come as quite a shock that Hunter had any kind of interest in him other than friendship. Oh, he'd figured it out before really confronting Hunter about it, but when Hunter all but confirmed it he was still a little surprised. They were motocross buddies and teammates. Not that he was against there being anything more. Hunter was attractive with a deep inner strength that was alluring. There was so much about Hunter that was still a mystery and he wanted to know what his friend was hiding…other than a crush on him.

Hunter stood in the shadows watching Dustin's lithe form spread on the ground. Bits of skin were showing where his shirt rode up a little and Hunter desperately wanted to touch him, but he was afraid. He was afraid of what would happen then. He couldn't even bring himself to make his presence known. All he wanted to do was watch his crush in his moment of relaxation.

Dustin frowned inwardly and wondered how long Hunter was going to keep watching him before making some kind of move. He wondered if Hunter would make a move at all. He thought about letting Hunter keep thinking he didn't know he was being watched, but then maybe if he forced Hunter's hand a little the Thunder would a least sit beside him. That's all he wanted at the moment, just his companionship.

"Hunter."

Hunter jerked out of his stupor and was surprised to see Dustin watching him. He crossed his arms and tried to make it look like he hadn't actually been staring at Dustin, but they both knew he had. "What?"

"Come sit by me." Dustin said. When Hunter didn't move, Dustin gave him a winning smile. "I promise not to bite."

"Who says I don't like biting?" Hunter replied, smirking at the red that flushed across Dustin's face. Nonetheless he moved to sit beside Dustin and they sat in comfortable silence for a while.

"Do you think we'll beat them? The Psychos I mean. Do you think we can beat them?" Dustin asked.

Hunter frowned. Before the Psychos he was almost arrogantly confident in his abilities, but Psycho Crimson had shown him the error of his ways. Now, he was still confident, but he was a little more humble. Of course he wanted to believe they would beat the Psychos, but he wanted to be realistic too. The Psychos represented the biggest challenge they'd ever faced.

"I think if we work hard as a team we can beat them." Hunter finally said.

Dustin nodded. "That's something we have that they don't."

"And that's a good thing for us. If those guys worked as a proper team we'd be dead by now." Hunter said and the thought sent a chill through them both. The truth behind it was frightening.

Dustin opened his mouth to say something when his morpher beeped and he answered it. He wasn't the least bit surprised that it was Cam telling them to get back inside. He was surprised to hear that Kale was there and that he had brought someone for them all to meet. He and Hunter shared a look before heading back inside.

Inside they found Kale and a stranger standing awkwardly near one of the exits. The stranger was young, probably younger than any of the rangers. He had scruffy black hair and wide blue-green eyes. He was about Blake's height, but had more muscle on him. There was something about his stance that said "I'm relaxed for the moment, but don't upset me or you'll be sorry".

"Guys, this is Niko. Niko, this is Hunter, Blake, Dustin, Shane, Cam, and their Sensei." Kale pointed to each as he said their name.

The reaction was immediate. Hunter stepped closer to both his brother and Dustin in a protective gesture. "You brought a Psycho Ranger here?"

"This Psycho Ranger helped me escape." Kale retorted angrily. "He was busted last night."

"I played right into their trap." Niko grumbled. "It all happened so fast too. I couldn't do anything except try and escape."

"Why didn't you try to rescue Tori?" Blake demanded.

Niko glared at him. "Well, after Terik tried to break all my ribs I kind of lost track of my thoughts. My survival instincts are the only reason I'm alive. If I could have freed her I would have freed all the rangers Kalix has captured, but I couldn't. I barely got away."

"He was barely alive when I put him in the healing chamber. If not for the increased healing ability his Gem gives him he'd be dead." Kale added. "Cut him some slack. He's been on our side for almost a week and a half."

"I'm sorry I haven't been able to do much." Niko said. He brushed a hand through his hair and sighed. "I tried to fuel the flames between Terik and Dariv, but that backfired on me in a big way."

He opened his mouth to say something more when Cam announced Psycho Yellow was on Earth and calling Niko out. Niko stared at the screen, pain jerking at his heart. Yellow hated him again. They had come so far only for it to be ruined again.

"Come out traitor! I didn't get my turn!" Psycho Yellow taunted.

Niko morphed in a flash of blue light. He knew Yellow would just start hurting innocent people if he didn't get out there. He tensed to zip away, but Kale caught his arm. Startled by the gesture, Navy jerked his arm free and glared at the older man, though it was once more hidden by his helmet.

"You aren't strong enough to fight yet." Kale said. "If it's a trap--."

"I have to talk to him." Niko insisted. "He-I-we---I have to go."

"Just be careful. I'll be watching if you need me."

Navy nodded then zipped away. Within moments he found Yellow. Yellow zipped to meet him and for several long moments they clashed as nothing more than a blur. Finally they knocked each other backwards and stood facing off. Yellow charged first, ducking past Navy's defenses to tackle him. Navy got his feet in Yellow's stomach and kicked him away. The two got to their feet and circled each instinctively looking for an opening to exploit.

"I always knew you were too weak to be a Psycho." Are you okay?

"Or I'm too strong to be controlled by Kalix. I'm no one's puppet." I'm fine...Aren't you mad?

I knew before they did. "You're a fool. You've gone from one Master to another."

"I'm my own master now." You knew and didn't turn me in?

Yellow charged again, throwing a kick at Navy's head. Navy ducked and blocked a knee to the face. Yellow went at him fast and furious while Navy did all he could to defend himself.

"I took an attack for you and this is how you repay me? Betrayal!" I couldn't bring myself to turn you in. Not when I knew what would happen.

Why? "Why did you take that attack for me anyway?"

"I don't know!" Because I care about you.

Navy was thrown off by Yellow's answer and an uppercut knocked him to the ground. He rolled away as Yellow's scythe dug into the ground where he had been. He pulled his quarterstaff and blocked Yellow's next swing. He scrambled to his feet and blocked yet another swing. He ducked another swing and jabbed the end of his staff into Yellow's side. He followed it with a bash to Yellow's face.

You care about me? "I didn't ask you to save me."

"Still, you could show some appreciation and not stab me in the back." Of course I care about you. You're not that oblivious are you?

Okay Dr. Radkee, maybe I am oblivious. "I came and saw you in the infirmary, isn't that appreciation enough?" Care as in how?

"You still stabbed me in the back!" Does it matter?

Yes! "I'm just being who I really am! I'm a Power Ranger before anything else! I protect, not destroy."

Yellow hooked his blade around Navy's ankle and yanked hard. He then put the flat of his blade to Navy's neck. Navy started to lift his quarterstaff, but Yellow stepped on his arm. Yellow then sent a powerful charge into his fellow Psycho.

"You've made a fool of me." Yellow snarled. Mentally he completely ignored the question Navy wanted him to answer. Now what am I supposed to do? You've got me all twisted around.

Join me. You don't have to be Kalix's lackey. "You made a fool of yourself." Listen; before you decide anything just promise me you'll do something for me.

I promise.

Destroy the necklace you always wear.

Yellow didn't answer. He smacked Navy hard with the flat of the blade, knocking him out cold. Yellow raised the scythe and sent a quick prayer that someone would show up to stop him before he had to follow through with it.

"Stop!"

Yellow was knocked backwards by a kick to the chest and he silently thanked the Knight Ranger. He stood up, snarled something about getting the traitor later, and then transported away.