AN: Thanks to my reviewers. A warning though, I will probably put at least five days between chapters most of the time it'll be more like a week. Of course, enough kind words would persuade me to post faster.

the real vampire-Don't know what Sharpe books you are referring to. Actually, in all honesty I heard the name on Andromeda. Haven't seen much of the show though, so he's not really based on anyone, just has the name.

lightning boltz-Glad you like the adventure into Kale's soul. I have to say I was kind of surprised the first time one of his teammates talked to him. It kind of jumped out of nowhere, but now it's grown into something bigger. I'm pretty pleased with it.

And now for the chapter. Enjoy!

ZzZzZ

The world was bright white for several long minutes and when the light finally faded Kale could vaguely see everyone around him laid out unconscious and demorphed. All the dedians and lizarians were gone and so were the Knights of Destruction. He blinked a few times as the world went into slow motion as he fell to his knees. He felt himself demorph, his power temporarily completely depleted. Darkness encroached on the edges of his vision as he thanked whoever was listening for letting that little trick work this time. Then he collapsed, allowing the gentle encouragement from his teammates to lull him to sleep.

At length Hunter stirred, opening his eyes just in time to see the Psycho Rangers get transported away. He groaned and rolled onto his back to stare up at the sky and try and gather his senses. He could sense his teammates and allies lying all around him, some starting to stir and others still knocked out. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before forcing himself to sit up. I feel like a freight train just ran over me. What happened? He rolled onto his hands and knees and crawled the short distance over to Blake, who was still out cold.

"Blake? Blake, wake up bro." Hunter put and hand on his brother's shoulder and shook.

Blake gasped, bolting up so fast their heads slammed together. Hunter yelped and fell back with a hand to his head. Blake mirrored his position, both of them groaning. After a few moments both brothers recovered and helped each other get up. Blake looked around at the carnage. Shane was up and helping Zadan come to his senses while the three Battle Rangers still hadn't stirred. There was a brief flash of light and then Amias was there helping Niko up.

"Kale?" Niko called as he went to kneel beside the fallen Knight Ranger. "C'mon buddy, you heroic idiot. You just woke up you can't do this now."

"Relax lad," Kardan said, bending down with a groan to check on Kale. "He's just sleepin' it off."

Niko looked down at Kale and sighed with relief. Gently he and Kardan picked Kale up and transported back to the ship. Gradually all the rangers managed to gather their senses and transported back to the ship. Once there Kardan ordered everyone to get rest and he confined others to the infirmary. For the first time since Kalix's arrival there was absolutely no one capable of protecting Earth.

ZzZzZ

"One Ranger managed to take you all out?" Kalix hissed. "That's more pathetic than the first team of Psycho Rangers."

Aurias, Terik, and Dariv bristled at that, but didn't say anything. Samous growled softly and spoke up on behalf of his team. "Master Kalix, there was nothing we could have done to stop him. He exploded before any of us had a chance to realize what was going on."

"I don't want excuses! I want results!" Kalix barked.

"Master, if you feel need to punish anyone for our failure, I ask that you punish me alone. I deem myself responsible for what happened." Samous replied.

"Very well." Kalix said. He then turned his gaze to the three original Psycho Rangers. "You three could stand to learn a few things from your new comrades. Now, all of you get out of here."

Samous stood tall and strong as the rest of his teammates left the room. Kyle patted him on the back and whispered words of encouragement to him as he left. Samous bowed his head and stood silently in front of Kalix as the raptor sat staring him down.

"You single mindedness harms the whole team." Kalix finally said. "Your thirst for revenge has consumed your soul."

"Niko must pay for what happened." Samous replied softly. "I will make him pay."

"That is the single mindedness I'm talking about." Kalix said. "It's going to get you into trouble."

Samous opened his mouth to reply, but something stopped him. He could feel something on the edge of his mind. At first he tried to ignore it, but it slowly turned from a slightly uncomfortable feeling to one of pain. It was like a needle being driven into his mind and it sent jolts of pain through his head. Samous gasped and fell to his knees, his hands going to his head.

"One way or another you're going to learn your lesson." Kalix continued one eye squinted slightly.

Samous whimpered and a few tears slipped from his eyes. He cursed himself for being weak. He was a mighty warrior. He could handle a little pain. But this wasn't a little pain. The needle had turned into an ice pick and he couldn't stand it. It felt like old wounds were being ripped open. Nightmares were resurfacing and his worst fears were tormenting him. It had to stop. He had to make it stop.

"Stop it! STOP IT!"

With a roar of desperate fury Samous suddenly lashed out. His fist connected with Kalix's jaw and the raptor's head snapped back with the impact. Instantly the pain in Samous's head faded as if it had never been there. The Psycho Ranger got back to his feet and stared in horror at what he had done. He had hit the most powerful being in the universe. Kalix was going to have his head when he came to. He would be labeled a traitor and executed. He was doomed.

Then he saw a small trickle of blue blood from Kalix's brow. Something inside him snapped awake, realization dawned on him. Kalix wasn't some all powerful being as he had always acted. He was mortal and more than that he was weak. His psychic abilities were powerful, and painful, but he was as vulnerable as any other. Kalix was using the fear of punishment to control them, but they could fight back. They could win. The Psycho Rangers didn't have to be controlled by Kalix. They didn't have to be controlled by anyone. The epiphany shocked him to the core and excited him like nothing else before. He was done taking orders from an abusive, power hungry monster.

Psychos, come to me.

It took a few minutes, but gradually the whole Psycho team gathered back in the command room. All of them stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Samous holding an unconscious Kalix by the back of his neck. They weren't sure what to think.

"This scum has fooled us all." Samous announced.

"What are you doing?" Dariv demanded.

"I'm setting us free." Samous replied. He dropped Kalix on the floor. "He's been controlling us with fear, but we have nothing to fear from this snake."

"You're sounding a lot like a traitor." Psycho Bronze said, morphed except for his helmet which he had removed.

The three original Psychos shared a look. It was obvious to them that their time for revenge had finally come. Kalix was going to pay for what he had done to them. What he had caused them to lose.

"Samous, there's something you should know." Aurias said. She looked up into the massive man's eyes. "Kalix set us up on Jaldia. He made sure our team fell apart. Whatever he told you that happened was a lie. He was behind it all."

"A lie? Niko didn't abandon me?" Samous asked.

"Oh he did. He didn't try very hard to find you before he fell back." Dariv said.

Samous growled, his hands tightening into fists. "I knew it. I'll kill the bastard for leaving me behind."

Dariv and Terik shared a quick smirk, before Dariv spoke up. "Now, we may be capable of overthrowing Kalix, but who says we should?"

"I don't want to be someone's slave if I don't have to be." Silver spoke up.

"Yeah, I say we show this bastard what Psychos can really do." Gold added.

"Deder will never follow us. He's programmed to be loyal to Kalix only." Kyle said. "Neither will his Dedians or the Lizarians."

"No one's said we're rebelling yet." Dariv argued.

Samous gave him a defiant look, eyes gleaming with malice. "You're either with us or against us Dariv and I wouldn't be against us if I were you."

"Fine," Dariv growled. He knew it would be better to go along with them than to defy eight Psycho Rangers. "But I'm still the leader."

"Why should we follow you?" Kyle demanded. "Samous is more of a leader than you'll ever be."

"There's more required to be a leader than just brute strength."

"Are you saying I'm stupid?" Samous snarled.

"No." Dariv barked. "What I'm saying is I've had more experience leading."

"Fine." Samous relented. "But if I'm not satisfied with your leading ability..."

Dariv understood the warning. He knew his leadership over the new Psycho team was tentative and they would only follow him as long as Samous did. He knew that Samous knew this. In a way that gave Samous a lot of control, because if Dariv did anything the Black Psycho Ranger didn't like he could turn the whole team against him. Only Terik and Aurias were loyal to him, but they couldn't stand up to the rest of the Psychos. Maybe if Zadan and Niko were still with them, but with only three of them, they didn't stand a chance.

"Okay, lock Kalix up in one of his own force fields. Samous take care of the dedians and Dani you do the same with the lizarians. Chris and Sid, find Deder and put him with Kalix. The rest of you spread out and make sure the monsters are going to be loyal to us." Dariv ordered. "Akki, make sure the communication systems are fried. We don't want the rest of the fleet finding out what's going on."

Sensei Watanabe watched the coup d'état take shape. He couldn't help but feel like things were about to get much worse for his rangers and he had no way of sending them a warning. Be strong my rangers. Your limits will soon be tested.

ZzZzZ

Hunter sat by Dustin's bed, worry creasing his features. Kardan had announced that Dustin's concussion was much worse. He didn't think Dustin would be waking up any time soon. Hunter couldn't believe it. Dustin was in a coma again. He was going to give the younger boy a lot of crap for being put in a coma twice. Joking about it would make it so much easier to deal with.

"He'll be alright."

Hunter looked up to see Shane watching him. "I know, but every time he gets seriously hurt..."

"It hurts you too." Shane finished when Hunter hesitated.

"You too?"

"He is one of my best friends." Shane said, his eyes trailing to where Tori was sleeping. "It hurts to see them both down."

Hunter sighed. "Y'know I wish we were still fighting Lothor. At least with him I never doubted that we could beat him or anything he threw at us."

"Well, maybe that's our problem." Shane mused. "We never doubted ourselves before and we could beat anything. But now we doubt ourselves and we're having a harder and harder time winning."

"Our enemies are getting stronger and stronger. Of course it's getting harder to win." Hunter lowered his voice so no one could hear him. "If we can win."

"Of course we can win. What kind of attitude is that?" Shane demanded.

"Well considering we barely survived this last attack I think I have a right to doubt. If Kale hadn't shown up we probably would have all fallen." Hunter replied defensively. "You're about the only one that walked away without a scratch Shane. I think that says a lot about what we're up against now."

Shane couldn't find an argument for that. He looked down at Dustin and sighed. At least it's not my fault this time. He put a hand on Dustin's shoulder and squeezed. He had a feeling his friend wouldn't be out as long as he was before.

ZzZzZ

"You're too weak Akar. You'll never make a good Ranger if you can't stand a little criticism." Ja'lar lectured. "Suck it up and stop being a hatchling about it."

Akar looked up, his yellow-green eyes flashing with wounded pride. "I'm not acting like a hatchling. But it's not fair. Sun'su always finds something wrong with my techniques, even if there is none. He doesn't even criticize the rest of you."

"Sun'su realizes you're the weakest of us all." Ja'lar replied.

"I'm not weak." Akar snarled.

"Don't fool yourself Akar. The team would be better off without you, but the Blue Dragon Power chose you and we have to honor that." Ja'lar retorted. "You're a liability to the team, but we're honor-bound to let you stay."

"Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about! I'm not weak and I'll show you!" Akar roared. He watched as Ja'lar stalked away, long tail swishing behind him. "I'll show you all."

ZzZzZ

Deder felt no fear as he was cornered by Psycho Gold and Psycho Silver. The two were laughing maliciously, weapons drawn and ready. Deder knew it meant trouble, but wasn't emotionally impacted by it. He knew that behavior like this meant rebellion and his master was most likely in trouble. He sent an order to all his dedians to find the other Psychos and stop them. In some part of his mind he knew his soldiers wouldn't stand a chance against the Psychos, but he couldn't give up without a fight.

"Just come quietly Deder and we won't hurt you." Silver said.

"Why do you betray your master?" Deder asked, unable to understand why something like this was happening.

"Kalix is using us and we're tired of being his puppets." Gold replied. "Don't try and understand it Deder. Someone who lacks any emotion at all can't possibly understand."

"Now, enough talk. Just give up or we'll have to us force." Silver ordered.

Deder's hand went to pull his sword, but Gold lunged forward, swinging a sickle at Deder's head. Deder ducked and shifted away from his attackers. Silver attacked with vigor. Deder managed to grab one of Silver's wrists and swung him around into the wall. He then did several back flips away from Psycho Gold and managed to pull his sword as his feet landed firmly on the floor.

"I was hoping you wouldn't give up without a fight." Gold said. "Makes things more exciting."

"I will not allow you to succeed."

Silver smirked as he moved to stand beside his partner. "Oh? That sounded like a cliché, Deder. You don't really think you stand a chance against us, do you? Not by yourself."

Deder didn't reply and simply waited. He didn't have to wait long. Gold lunged with a swing of a sickle at Deder's head. Deder ducked, but was caught by a kick to his helmeted faced by Silver. The force of the blow knocked him onto his back and sent him sliding down the hall a little. Deder used the momentum to roll backwards and onto his feet, but he didn't have time to recover. Gold caught him with a kick to the chest and Silver's blades raked over Deder's helmet, slicing through in some places. Deder got his sword up in time to block Gold's sickles, but that left his stomach painfully open and Silver took advantage. Silver's blades easily sliced through Deder's armor and to the tender flesh below. Deder hissed and kicked Silver away and swung his sword again to fend off Gold's sickles, but he was no match for the two Psychos fighting in unison. Deder swung his sword at Silver's head, but the Psycho caught his sword between two of the blades and twisted, ripping the weapon out of Deder's hands.

"This is your last chance to surrender." Silver taunted. "I'd do it if I were you."

Deder didn't surrender, but he didn't stand a chance. Gold went for a leg sweep and as Deder jumped it, Silver caught the general with a viciously powerful kick to his chest. It sent him crashing back into the wall leaving a dent behind. He managed to get to his feet, but that was as far as he got. Before he could react his sword was shoved through his shoulder and into the wall behind him. He cried out in pain and reached a hand to pull it out when one of Gold's sickles was shoved through the other shoulder. It left him pinned helplessly to the wall as his two opponents snickered at him.

"Not very smart are you? Otherwise you would have known that together we are the most dangerous Psycho Rangers." Gold taunted.

"Just remember, it took two of you." Deder said and even though they knew it wasn't possible it sounded like he was mocking them.

Silver growled and pulled his arm back, ready to end Deder's life, but Gold caught his fist. "Dariv wants him alive."

"We can say he resisted." Silver said. "And he did."

"And Dariv is going to believe that the two of us couldn't have subdued him without killing him?"

"Good point."

Gold smirked then, visor glowing at he looked back at Deder. "For better or worse, you live for now. But I have a feeling you're going to wish we killed you."

ZzZzZ

Psycho Black smirked as he entered the Dedian's armory. All the dedians that had been out of armor were desperately trying to get ready. Those that were already in their armor had already started to spread through the ship to subdue the coup, but the reports coming back weren't good. They knew that the Psychos were quickly dealing with their brethren and knew they had to get out there quickly and stop the massacre. All of them stopped when they saw Psycho Black standing in the doorway.

"Don't even bother getting in your armor, unless you're ready to swear allegiance to us." Black said.

"Never." Came the unified response.

Black grinned, pulling his swords. "I was hoping you would say that."

The dedians tried to defend themselves, but Psycho Black was more powerful and better armed. It was a brutal, inhumane slaughter. He didn't give any of them a chance to get weapons, simply cut them down where they stood. Several tried to flee, but Black caught them as well. When the screams faded and the last dedian fell Black looked around at his carnage. The room was splattered with blood and gore just like Psycho Black was. As he turned and left the room a lone dedian climbed out of an armor closet and surveyed the scene of death and agony. He felt something he had never felt before, a blackness in the pit of his stomach that overwhelmed his mind and he didn't understand it at first. He had never felt anything, but suddenly he was feeling and it was an emotion he had no way of understanding. What he did understand was that his brethren had been slaughtered by the Psycho Rangers and he was going to make them pay. One way or another he would make them pay.

ZzZzZ

"One Psycho Ranger can't take us all." A lizarian hissed.

"You underestimate me." Psycho Gray scolded softly, with a hint of danger in her voice.

"Just try it girlie." Another lizarian sneered. The room held a total of sixty lizarians all in various states of preparing for battle.

"We're going to rip you apart."

Psycho Gray smirked. She pulled her whip from the holster at her hip. The lizarians laughed, unafraid of such a weak weapon. Psycho Gray's smirk widened and she decided to show them just how dangerous her whip could be. She attacked the closest lizarian to her with a kick to its face. The others attacked in unison, but none of them got close to Gray. She whirled and twirled using her legs, arms, and whip as deadly weapons. She was mowing them down, slaughtering them with terrifying ease. After a moment some of the smart lizarians turned to try and get away, but she was all over them.

Two lizarians cowered in a shower stall, listening to the slaughter in the main room. They could hear their comrades' frantic thoughts and feelings of despair and agony. One tensed to go out there, to stand beside his brothers, but the other grabbed him. Their emotions battled one another until one of them won. They both stayed crouched in the shower as they listened to the dying thoughts of their last brother. Then they listened to Psycho Gray mutter to herself as she left the room. When all was silent the two lizarians crept out of the shower and looked in horror at their dead and dying brethren.

"What do we do now Marx?" The younger lizarian asked, looking up at his clone brother.

"We wait for the time to avenge our brothers." Marx replied, reptilian eyes fierce. "I'll tear her apart with my claws and teeth."

"What about Master Kalix?"

"He's too strong to be taken out by a bunch of rebels." I hope.