AN: Alright, gonna address Psycho Tangerine's review. When I said I couldn't avoid slash, I wasn't kidding. It pops in there without my say and I honestly can never bring myself to fight it. What I really meant by light splash of slash was that it just would never be a main focus of the story. The only true focus this story has is on the angst of being up against something that seems completely unbeatable. You'll probably keep seeing slash pop up in the second and third story, but as I've said before it will never be a main focus. Any stories that focus mainly on relationships will be posted under More To It.

On another note. Those two guys who had stopped talking...you'll see them again. Don't worry. Nothing that happens is without a purpose and everyone remotely mentioned will play a role.

ZzZzZ

Red looked around as he sat in Kalix's chair in the command room. He never would have thought that he would dare sit in Kalix's chair. He never would have guessed that they would have the strength to overthrow Kalix and take control. Now though he was faced with the dilemma of keeping control. The eight new Psycho Rangers were rebellious and defiant and weren't going to follow someone they thought was weak. He barely had control over them now and if Psycho Black decided to take over no one would be able to stop him. He, Crimson, and Blue weren't as strong as the new Psycho Rangers. They were somehow tapped into more of their power and it made them even more volatile and much more dangerous.

"We can't trust them."

Red glanced over at Crimson, who was still acting as his second in command. "I know. Samous has more control of the situation than I like. It might be better to get rid of him."

"As if the other Psychos won't see right through that." Crimson argued. "Kyle could take command just as easily and there would still be too many of them for us to stand up to."

"My only course of action is to make them respect me."

"You can't make them respect you anymore than you made me respect you." Crimson replied. "Respect has to be earned."

"I have no idea how to earn their respect." Red admitted.

"I do." Crimson's visor flashed. "Kill your Ranger first."

Red's visor flashed in return. "That's a great idea."

"Now you just have to pull it off."

ZzZzZ

"We can't put more importance on one over the other."

"Get real Cam, we don't even really know this Sebastien kid. You're telling me healing him is more important than Dustin?" Hunter demanded. "That kid doesn't even fit in on the team."

Cam glared back in response. "Yeah, because you keep alienating him. You're the only one that has a problem with him."

"Relax guys. Dustin's head wound will heal a lot faster than Sebastien's wounds." Kale said. "I'll put Dustin in first and get him up and awake and then we can get Sebastien healed."

"I still say it's unnatural." Kardan said, watching as Kale gathered Dustin in his arms. "Healing chambers and the like take the danger right out of life."

"Not really." Kale replied. "Most fatal wounds won't heal."

Kardan didn't get a chance to reply before Kale transported away. The doctor sighed and went about his rounds. Most everyone was out of the infirmary now, but Zadan was still resting from his fight with the Psychos. Like Dustin, Tori had a concussion and had yet to wake up, but Kardan was confident she wasn't as bad off as her yellow teammate. His teammate, Sizvu, was getting some much needed bed rest under the strict orders of Kardan. Sizvu would have never stayed in the infirmary willingly and Kardan was willing to bet he wouldn't rest in his own room. He knew he would have gone straight to his little workshop and started tinkering instead of following doctor's orders.

"He's going to be mad you made him stay." Harper mused, from the doorway.

Kardan sighed. "I know, but he's too damn stubborn for his own good."

"And too grumpy."

"Only if you don't look deep enough." Kardan replied with a knowing look.

Harper rolled his eyes and started out of the infirmary when the alarms screamed to life throughout the ship. He turned back and shared a look with Kardan. Together they headed out of the infirmary and followed the flood of rangers to the bridge. Once there Harper brought up the emergency on the main screen and everyone stared in horror at what was happening. The Psycho Rangers were focusing on the citizens. It was a total slaughter unlike anything they had seen before. Death and carnage was everywhere and it tore at all of them, the protective instincts inside them flaring to life.

"We have to stop them." Blake said, voice soft from complete horror, but no less determined to put a stop to it.

We don't stand a chance. Hunter thought morosely as he watched what was happening. Someone is going to get hurt.

Suddenly there was a flash of light and Kale appeared on the screen, challenging the Psycho Rangers. That snapped the rangers out of their horrified staring. Sizvu joined them, ignoring Kardan's annoyed look. As one they all morphed and transported out, none of them were prepared for what was about to take place.

ZzZzZ

It was chaos from the moment the rangers got there. The Psycho Rangers still outnumbered the rangers by three, but it seemed that Kale was fully capable of picking up the slack. In fact, he was the only one not struggling against his opponents. Even the three experienced Battle Rangers were having a hard time against their foes.

Shane felt totally thrown off by the lack of his two best friends. Even though they usually fought separate, they could always feel each other's energy. The lack of that silent support was affecting him worse than Shane wanted to admit. He was having a hard time with Psycho Red, barely keeping up with his quick and brutal opponent. He felt unbalanced and alone even though he had allies all around him.

Hunter and Blake struggled to stay together much to the annoyance of Crimson and Teal. The two Psychos were incapable of working together, but they didn't need to. Blake grunted as his staff attack was knocked to the side and he was kicked roughly in the chest. He used the momentum to flip backwards, but as soon as his feet touched the ground he was hit hard by Teal's mace. Blake fell back in a daze and watched as Teal stood over him, ready to deal a fatal blow. Teal raised his mace to make the strike, but was yanked backwards, the mace slipping from his grip. He spun to face whoever dared interfere and received a powerful punch to his face that snapped his head backwards. Teal stumbled and never got a chance to recover as he caught a flash of crimson before he felt a fiery pain in his stomach. Darkness swallowed him and as his world faded the last thing he saw were glowing green eyes.

Hunter jerked his arm back and looked in surprise down at the gauntlet on his fist. He hadn't called it. In fact, he hadn't even thought about he was doing. He saw Blake in danger and just reacted and the gauntlet must have known it was needed. He knew the gauntlet was capable of action on its own, but he was slightly startled to realize that it had taken initiative in attacking Psycho Teal. That worried Hunter just a little bit. How much control did the gauntlet have over him? His thought process was brought to a brutal end as something hard impacted with his head and everything went blurry.

"Not bad Crimson Ranger, but you shouldn't have lost focus on me." Crimson sneered. He raised Teal's borrowed mace, but never got a chance.

Before Crimson could even tense a muscle to bring the mace down the Tiger Gauntlet reacted. The gauntlet moved itself pointing its muzzle right at Crimson. The startled Psycho barely gasped before crimson energy hit him dead on in the chest. The pure power lifted him off his feet and tossed across the street through a wall where he lay unmoving.

The fight between Cam and Psycho Green was going as fast and furious as before. This time with their weapons drawn Cam was having a little bit of a harder time keeping up with Green as his Psycho opponent had two sabers. One false move, one misplaced step and he was done for. But as they fought Cam was beginning to recognize his enemy's fighting style. Cam anticipated one of Green's attacks and moved aside, giving him just enough time to verbalize his realization.

"You were a student at the Wind Ninja Academy!"

Psycho Green turned at Cam's words, his smirk hidden behind his helmet. "So, you finally recognized my fighting style, eh Watanabe?"

"Don't the bad guys ever learn not to use one of our own against us? Lothor already tried that with the Thunder Rangers." Cam said, preparing for his opponent to attack.

"Oh please, Lothor wasn't smart enough to offer the Thunder Rangers anything of value." Green replied.

"And what did he offer you?"

"Why, power of course and what fool would turn that down?"

"I would." Cam retorted easily. "Nothing could convince me to work for the enemy."

"Then you're as much of a fool as I thought you were." Green taunted. He tensed and raised both his sabers. "Now, enough talk!"

Cam raised his saber to block Green's sabers. Green smirked and though one saber did make contact with Cam's, he changed the other's direction to slash the Samurai across the chest in a shower of sparks. Cam stumbled back and was unable to defend himself as Green ruthlessly followed. Sparks flew and Cam struggled to get back into the flow of attack and defend, but Green was suddenly two steps ahead of everything he tried. He couldn't catch up and realized with horror that Green was going to win if he didn't figure something out quick.

Kardan was finding out first hand how tough Psycho Gray was. She was quick and agile and while he was both of those things he couldn't match her. She snapped her whip at him and he instinctively raised his arm to block the blow. The whip wrapped tightly around his arm and held firm as he yanked against it. Psycho Gray smirked to herself and wondered when they would stop underestimating the power of her whip. Then she let energy surge through the whip and into the Blue Battle Ranger, who jerked under the power of the attack.

Harper was fighting Psycho Purple, with as much ducking and dodging as he was doing it wasn't much of a fight. Her two axes flashed in the sunlight as she swung them with deadly intent. Harper used the forearm mounted shield to deflect most of her blows, but the power behind the strikes jarred his arm painfully every time and it was getting harder and harder to get his arm up. Purple swung her axes at Harper's head and as he blocked with his shield she ducked low and swept his legs right out from under him. Harper rolled out of the way of her next attack, but as he got to his feet she caught him with both her axes across his faceplate. The blow sent him spinning to the ground where he was slow to rise and defend himself.

Psycho Bronze was a powerhouse as Sizvu quickly found out. Bronze moved slowly because of his size, but he was calculating. As Sizvu leapt into the air for a flying kick Bronze stepped to the side and snatched the Black Battle Ranger right out of the air. Sizvu grunted, completely caught by surprise, and began struggling as Bronze wrapped him in a bear hug. Bronze laughed maniacally and began to tighten his hold as Sizvu kicked and squirmed trying to get loose.

"Give it up, once I've got you in my clutches there's no escape." Bronze boomed. "I won't let you go until I've crushed every bone in your pathetic body." With every word he tightened his hold just a little bit, loving the soft gasps of pain he was drawing out of the still struggling ranger.

At first Kale had been able to keep up with his three opponents, but that illusion was quickly fading. He was powerful and more experienced than any of the rangers present, but fighting three very powerful, very well trained enemies at the same time had been a mistake. Silver and Gold made a dangerous team together and even though Black didn't figure into the mix very well he didn't need to anticipate his teammates' moves in order to get into the fight. Kale grunted as he blocked both of Black's swords with his lance and he was forced back a few steps before he planted his feet and shoved the swords away. Silver and Gold filled Black's position using perfectly synchronized attacks to keep the Knight Ranger in a purely defensive mode.

Let's show this chump what happens to arrogant fools that bite off more than they can chew. Silver suggested to his partner.

I've got a sickle with his name on it. Gold agreed.

Black unwittingly aided them. He went for Kale's legs to take him down, but Kale jumped the swords. Silver lunged over Black's head and shoved his blades into Kale's shoulder while forcing him backwards in the air. Gold zipped behind them and then leapt into the air and dug both his sickles into Kale's back. As they hit the ground they had the infamous and mighty Knight Ranger sandwiched between them.

How do I keep getting caught like this? What kind of ranger am I if I can't fend off their attacks? Kale thought as he desperately tried to work out away to get out of the mess he was in.

Suddenly twin steaks tore Silver and Gold away from their prey. Black watched with narrowed eyes as Yellow and Navy took his younger teammates by surprise. With a feral growl he lunged at Navy's back, catching his ex-teammate with a powerful kick that sent him flying to the ground. Yellow twisted around to go to Navy's aid, but Gold caught him with a kick to the side that knocked him to the ground as well.

"Give it up. You guys are outdated. You can't beat us, we're what you guys should have been." Gold taunted. "You aren't even in--."

Gold's taunt was instantly cut off by a kick to the chest. As he stumbled back he looked up to see Kale had come to Yellow's aid. Silver and Gold regrouped and got ready to start the fight over again. Yellow put a hand on Kale's shoulder to steady his friend, but Kale shrugged him off.

"Let's get this done."

Navy stumbled, trying to catch his balance, but Black was all over him. Swords raked across his body as his opponent zipped around him, hitting him faster than he could defend. When Black finally stopped in front of Navy the younger Psycho was on his hands and knees trying to recover. Black lunged with both swords toward Navy's back, but Navy anticipated and rolled to the side, kicking at where Black would land. The kick caught his enemy in the side, but Black hardly reacted. Navy scrambled to his feet and the two faced off.

"Who are you? Why do you keep singling me out?"

"I'm just someone looking for revenge." Black snarled.

Navy frowned. "That doesn't answer my question."

Black didn't reply, but he didn't attack either. The two warriors stood facing off in silence as the battle raged around them. Navy thought it was strange until he suddenly realized he could feel an extreme amount of energy radiating from Black and none of it was directed at him. The energy was being directed around them, circling them, before the power of the energy became great enough to see. A translucent black dome separated Black and Navy from the rest of the fight; not only that, it ensured that neither of them would escape.

"Now, I can have my revenge without anyone interfering." Black announced.

"Revenge for what? Who are you!"

"I think I'll let you figure that out yourself, small fry."

Navy froze. His whole world went into slow motion and he stared in disbelief at his opponent. It can't be. Only on person has ever called me that. "Samous?"

"Shouldn't have called you 'small fry'. I could have killed you without you ever knowing who it was." Black said. "But this might be even better."

"Samous? How—but---how?" Navy stuttered.

"I was 'captured' shortly after you left me behind. I was turned over to Kalix who gave me another chance and put me with the other team he was training simultaneously." Black explained. "That's unfortunate for you Niko. I don't take being abandoned by someone I trust lightly."

"I didn't have a choice! I followed orders like I was trained to!"

"And you left a teammate behind! That's unacceptable and I don't care what your orders were!" Black roared. "You could have taken five minutes to come back for me!"

"I saw you go down Samous! Blaster right to the back in a live fire training mission!" Navy yelled back. "You should be dead!"

Samous growled low and deep. "You're going to wish you were that lucky. I trusted you Niko, you and the rest of the team and you abandoned me."

"I--."

"No more excuses!"

Gold and Silver looked around and were startled to realize that all their other teammates had been beaten already. The rangers were beginning to converge on them and as egotistical as they were, they weren't stupid enough to believe they could beat all of them. Gold called mentally to Black, but the large Psycho didn't acknowledge him. Black and Navy were locked in a titanic battle, the smaller Psycho barely holding off his huge rival. If he faltered for even a second his vicious ex-teammate would be able to finish him off.

"Niko!" Yellow pounded on the shield surrounding the battle, but couldn't make a dent.

Navy's eyes flicked to Yellow for just a moment and it was all Black needed. He faked a swing at Navy's head and then landed a kick that sent Navy flying back into the shield. Navy tried to get to his feet as quick as he could, but he wasn't fast enough. Black got the chance he needed to get past Navy's defenses and land harsh blows. A blow to Navy's stomach winded him and even as he went down Black continued to pound and slash him with his swords. Navy was crumbling under the attack and couldn't seem to defend himself.

"Psycho Energy Strike!" Yellow threw his energy attack at the shield. The shield flexed, pulsed, and then sent the attack right back at the owner. Yellow dodged easily and watched as Black continued to thrash his teammate.

Navy ducked and rolled under Black's swords and managed to get to his feet, but before he could turn and defend himself he was struck by crackling black energy. His suit sparked wildly as he fell to his knees. He was yanked to his feet and thrown backwards against the shield again. He tried to get to his feet as quick as he could, but Black was too fast. Black yanked him up and pinned him against the shield by his throat and squeezed. Navy gasped and kicked out, but Black just absorbed the kicks and held on.

"Niko!" Yellow shouted in desperation. Niko, just hold on!

Can't beat him. He's too strong.

I'll save you!

"You're pathetic." Black sneered. "Here I thought all your training might have made you a warrior, but you're still just a bumbling child with more power than you deserve."

Navy growled. Someone was insulting his pride, challenging his ability as a warrior. He couldn't just let Black get away with it. He tapped his power and sent a searing charge of energy into his enemy. Black dropped him with a roar and stumbled back. That gave Navy all the opening he needed. He grabbed his quarterstaff from where it had fallen during the first few minutes of the battle and slammed it with all his strength into Black's stomach. Black stumbled back, winded, but it wasn't enough. He grabbed Navy's next swing and yanked the quarterstaff away and slammed it across Navy's faceplate. Navy went down stunned - once more open to Black's attacks.

"As I said, absolutely pathetic." Black taunted. He pulled his swords once more. "Now to finish this. Psycho Blitz Rampage!"

"NIKO!" Yellow slammed himself against the shield, trying to get to his teammate, but the shield held firm. He could do nothing but watch in horror.

Black energy crackled over the blades, gathering all along it and pulsing with amazing power. He then made slashing motions toward Navy and the energy sliced through the air. Navy cried out with each impact, body lifted off the ground as a continuous stream of attacks. When the attack ended Navy's body hit the ground with a thump and he wasn't moving. His suit was crackling, disappearing and reappearing as if trying to demorph but still loaded with too much power to do it.

"Still alive? That's alright, I like doing things by hand anyway." Black said, stalking over to where Navy lay barely conscious and on death's doorstep.

"Niko!" Yellow bashed himself against the shield, each time with more and more force. He could feel his friend's life energy wavering. He could feel the Gem of Power reacting to the fading life. "NIKO!"

Can't…can't give up. Have...stop Samous. Can't…Niko could sense Psycho Black standing over him. He knew that a death blow was coming if he didn't do something. He wasn't strong enough though, not as he was. His level of power was pathetic compared to Black's. He needed more power, needed to draw on more of the Gem's capability and take the risk he had never been willing to take before. He'd felt Blue do it once, but even the power boost she had gained wouldn't be enough. He needed more. But he knew there was a good chance he would not only kill Black, but himself as well. Zadan…

Niko!

I love you…

I love you too.

With that Navy closed his eyes and opened himself to his Gem. The response was immediate. The power surged through him, setting his blood on fire. He screamed in pain and arched his back as the raw power burned through him. Then he took control and directed the power where it needed to go. His suit began changing, altering to reflect the new power that he suddenly had, though he lacked control of it. The parts that had been silver changed to gold. The faceplate turned completely gold, the wicked smirk disappearing like a faded memory. The shoulder pads seemed to grow spines while two horns grew out of the forehead. And along with all the changes came a new strength that re-energized Navy.

The effect on the other two Psychos present was evident. Yellow was down on his hands and knees; suit crackling slightly as his Gem reacted to what was happening. He could tell that even though changes were taking place in his teammate, Navy couldn't control the amount of power he had opened himself up to. Without a thought to his own safety he reached down into his own Gem and then through the connection and began taking some of the released power into himself. Then his suit went through the same transformation, making them look less evil but no less intimidating.

Psycho Black's reaction was completely different. He too had tried to reach through the Gem connection to get a taste of the power, but he had gotten a nasty surprise. Navy's power fought back and instead of harnessing any of the power Psycho Black was knocked completely out of his morph as his body collapsed. He was the one unable to defend himself as Navy stood over him, energy crackling around one gauntlet.

"Now, I will show you the mercy you weren't prepared to show me." Navy said.

"That won't change anything." Samous snarled.

Navy sighed. "I know, but next time we'll be evenly matched."

"For your sake you should make sure there isn't a next time."

"You don't scare me Samous. You didn't when you were a bully, you didn't when you were a friend, and you don't now that you're an enemy."

"We'll see about that." And with that Samous was transported away.

Two things happened simultaneously. The translucent shield shattered apart and Navy collapsed. Yellow was at his side instantly, pulling his younger teammate into his lap. They demorphed and Zadan pulled Niko closer. They completely ignored the awestruck audience as they just celebrated the fact that they were both alive. The moment was finally broken when Kardan suggested they return to the ship. No one could argue. Everyone needed to visit the infirmary and that alone had Kardan worried.

Can we beat these Psycho Rangers? Every time we face them at least one person gets hurt. Do we stand a chance? Does Earth stand a chance?