Syd walked down to Sky's room looking for him. Ever since Cruger had been taken, he shut himself off from everyone. His sister was gone, his parents had returned to Silver Hills to round up the Guardians, and he was left alone while the others continued their search.

Bridge and Z were helping Kat and Boom in the lab, and Syd had snuck away in hopes of comforting her boyfriend.

She opened his door with the access code he had given her and walked in. The room, she found, was empty. Sky's uniform was thrown haphazardly on his bed, something he never did…

The shower was running and she smiled sadly, knowing hat he needed some way to calm himself down. Quietly, she entered the adjoining bathroom and saw his silhouette in the steam of the shower door.

"Sky?" she asked softly.

Sky leaned his head against the tile wall. "I'm fine Syd," he said, not looking over. He smelled her perfume coming through the door, and secretly was happy she had come.

The door opened and Syd entered, completely void of clothes, and wrapped her arms around him from behind. "I don't buy that for a minute Meyers," she muttered.

Sky smiled a little. "You've never called me that before," he said softly as he turned to her, holding her close against him. "You're going to ruin your makeup."

Syd kissed him. "I don't care. I care about you, and getting you out of this funk you're in. Your parents called and said the Silver Guardians are on their way here in case Grumm wants a fight."

Sky smiled. "They never could learn to let us fight our own battles," he muttered as he kissed her again. This was definitely making him feel better…

"Sky!" Bridge said as he ran into his room. Hearing the shower, he ran in.

Sky immediately shielded Syd with his body as Bridge screamed and covered his eyes.

"Sorry Syd… Sky… you guys… um, " he muttered.

"What is it Bridge?" Sky asked annoyed.

"They found Ani and Jack! Karone, something, is bringing them back!" he exclaimed.

Sky immediately shut off the shower and was ready to open the door when Syd let out a squeak. "Bridge," Sky said. "Could you leave?"

Bridge fumbled his words a bit, but left. Sky and Syd immediately got dressed and headed to Command.

Kat was there, along with Bridge, Z, and a handful of the best cadets.

"Animaria and Jack have been found," she said happily. "Commander Cruger is on Grumm's ship in a holding cell. I can't communicate with him at all."

The rangers all stood at attention. "We need to get up there and rescue him," Sky said. "The other rangers and I will go."

"What about Jack and Ani?" Bridge asked.

"If we go up there, we can get the Commander, and Jack and Ani can back us up when they return," he answered.

"But we don't know how to get there," Syd pointed out.

"I think I know someone who does," Z said. "We need to pay a visit to Piggy."

Kat sighed. "I commend your courage, but I don't think it's a good idea," she said. "Grumm will be expecting you all to rescue Doggie."

"But we're not all here," Bridge pointed out. "It'll be a surprise that he doesn't have all of us."

Kat thought for a moment before turning to them. "Go see what information you can get from Piggy. Come back here and we'll discuss what our next move will be. Fair?" she asked.

The others nodded and ran out of the room.

When they pulled up to Piggy's, they saw that the normally busy place was empty.

"Piggy!" Z called as they walked around the tables.

"Where do you think he is?" Syd asked.

"I'm right here Princess," Piggy said as he came out of his trailer. "What do you need now?" he asked annoyed.

Sky grabbed him by the jacket. "How do we get on Grumm's ship?" he demanded.

Piggy flinched and Sky tightened his grip. "How should I know that?" he asked nervously.

"Come on Piggy. We know you know how to get up there," Bridge pointed out, as the others saw that he had taken his glove off. "You must know, or else your aura wouldn't be showing that you're scared and you're lying."

Piggy took a deep breath. "All right," he said at last, as he shrugged away from Sky. "I'll tell you… but not here." He looked around quickly. "Follow me."

The others looked at each other questioningly, but followed him into the alleyway behind his trailer.

Before any of them could react, Krybots, Orange Heads, and Blue Heads appeared, capturing them, and disappearing,

Kat silently cursed as she saw the rangers leave her radar. "I knew it was a setup!" she cried. Boom looked on the monitors in front of him.

"Um, Kat? There's an unidentified craft approaching the shuttle bay," he said. Kat ran over to the monitor and straightened her face.

"That would be the Astro Megaship Mark 3," she said. "Grant them clearance and bring Ani and Jack here immediately."

Boom nodded and punched in the proper codes, and took off to greet the two remaining rangers.

Kat knew their time was running out. With the rangers and Cruger captured, Earth was defenseless. The remaining Cadets could hold their own, but not for long.

Ani and Jack ran in moments later, having heard from Boom what had happened.

"What's the plan?" Jack asked out of breath.

"We need to prepare the base and the city for an attack," Kat said calmly. "Grumm will want to attack while we're weak. We weren't expecting you two this soon, so it works better for us now."

"Yeah. Karone got us here using the light speed accelerator I developed while I was at the Academy," Ani said hurriedly as she went to a panel and began typing in a code.

Jack walked over to her and saw that she was scanning for her brother.

"Animaria," Kat began. "We've run all the scans. From what we gather, Sky and the others are on Grumm's ship… Piggy tricked them."

Jack turned to her sharply. "Piggy? Why?" he asked with venom in his voice.

"Probably for the money," Boom said as he handed Jack a data pad. "Apparently he's been on Grumm's pay list for some time… one of our cadets found some notes in his trailer."

Jack clenched his fists and dropped the pad. "I'm going after him," he said.

'Jack, no,' Ani said to him telepathically. Jack stopped short. Ani had never done that before.

Kat knew what Ani was up to. "We need to lure Grumm out of the ship," she began. "He knows that you both were missing because of Broodwing. The two of them have been at each other's throats for some time now. He thinks you've both been destroyed."

"Broodwing's taken care of," Jack said as he handed Boom the containment card. Boom immediately went to lock it away with the rest of the criminals, while Kat continued.

"If one of you can lure Grumm out, the other can go to the ship, rescue the others, and then returning here, full strength."

Jack walked back to Ani and took her hand in his. "I'll do it… I'll lure him out," he said softly.

Ani looked at him questioningly. "I can't let you do that," she said softly. "I should be the one to stay here. You have more SWAT experience than I do. You can go in undetected with the new flyers and-"

"I'll stay."

They both turned and saw Eric standing in the doorway, Ani immediately ran to him and he gathered her in his arms.

"I'm so glad you're safe," he said. Taylor entered a moment later, and she hugged her daughter as well.

The family turned to Jack, and Eric walked over to him, holding out his hand.

"Thank you for looking out for my daughter," he said. Jack looked at his hand and took it after a moment.

"I'd never let anything happen to her, Sir," he replied. Eric nodded and released his hand.

"Papa, I can't let you use yourself as bait," she said as she looked at her mother.

Taylor placed a hand on her arm. "I've fought with him over this already, sweetie. You, Schuyler, and the others are all in danger. We can't let anything happen to you again."

"We won't be alone," Eric said. "The Guardians are here, along with Wes, Jen, and now Karone, and Zhane. If anything goes wrong while you two are up there, we'll take care of it. Don't worry."

Ani sighed. "Are you sure about this?" she asked her parents.

"Yes," Taylor answered. "You and Jack get up there and back as fast as you can." Ani hugged her mother and Kat moved over to the monitor.

They all watched as Eric morphed into the Quantum Ranger, and ran out, Taylor close behind him…

Up in Space, Grumm looked in at the Rangers. "Pathetic," he said. "I knew Piggy would come in handy."

"You monster!" Syd cried out. Grumm laughed.

"Of course I am!" he replied.

Cruger growled. "Grumm! Let them go. It's me you want," he said.

Grumm laughed again. "But I want to see you suffer Cruger… you took something precious from me," he said as he touched where one of his horns used to be. "Now, I will take something precious from you."

Yelling could be heard coming their way and Cruger felt his heart stop as he saw who the Orange Heads were holding back.

"Isydia?" he said nervously. The canine-like woman looked up.

"Doggie?" she asked back. Cruger lunged for the door, but Grumm fired at him, sending him flying. Isydia cried out as the foot soldiers took her away.

Grumm laughed mechanically and was about to open the holding cell when he sensed someone calling him.

He pulled up an image on the screen and sneered when he saw his former warrior calling him out.

Sky felt his heart drop as he saw his father trying to save him… again.

"Come face me again Grumm! Or are you too much of a coward to finish the battles you start?" Eric taunted to the sky. Grumm's eyes glowed red.

He slammed his fist on the console and turned to Cruger. "I'll destroy him while you all suffer my wrath." As he said this, he hit a button on the console.

Bridge took his glove off and nearly fainted when he realized what was happening. Grumm vanished and Sky steadied Bridge as the vision left him.

"The ship's going to self destruct…"