Hey guys! Here's chapter 25!

I want to thank JTWAS1994, GoldenMewtwo and DaughterOfSBWG for their chapterly reviews. It helps me see what you guys like and don't like! I also want to thank Nerdman3000 for following and favoriting the story.

I do want to warn you that finals are coming up in about a month for me, and I probably will either post a chapter early, or (more likely) post it late next month.

For those of you who don't like filler, I plan on doing a small (2-3ish part) story arc around chapter 30, so just hold on until then! Let's just say that Gryphon's quest is involved...

That's everything! On with the story!

Myth 25: Fear Factor

"Another Dark God has come and gone," Hades said as he paced in his throne room, "and yet we are no closer to getting the rest of the Flame of the Gods."

"Perhaps it is not meant to be?" Persephone asked. She was sitting on her throne, as usual.

"What are you insinuating?" Hades asked as the flames on his head began to rise.

"Perhaps you are not meant to get the Flame," Persephone offered.

"I am Hades, King of the Underworld!" Hades roared as his flames turned red and rose higher and higher. "I am a god! I can get whatever I want!"

Persephone seemed to shrink in her throne from Hades' outburst.

"Of course, my lord," she said as she bowed her head.

Gryphon stepped out of the shadows.

"Perhaps what you need to do is target the Rangers' weaknesses again, like you did before the Dark Order showed up," Gryphon said. "You have all of Olympus at your disposal. You might as well wait and see what weaknesses the Rangers show and capitalize on it."

"Perhaps you are right, Gryphon," Hades said as he calmed down and his flames returned to normal. He walked over and sat down on his throne.

Good, Gryphon thought in his human voice. If he's focused on the Rangers, he won't notice me and what I'm doing...

If he targets the Rangers' weaknesses again, they might not be ready, Persephone thought. I might need to warn them…

...I'm running out of time, they thought together, though neither was aware of the other.


"Guys?" Diana asked as she looked around at the normal lunch table. Only Adrian was currently sitting there, looking slightly worried.

"Hey, bro," she said. "Where are the others?"

"I honestly don't know," Adrian admitted. "They've been acting kind of strange today. Maybe there's something going on with them we don't know about?"

"Whatever," Diana said, "if they don't want to sit with us anymore, I could care less."

"You act all tough sometimes, sis," Adrian said, "but I know you care about them."

"Uh huh," Diana said unconvincingly as she picked at her food.

It was a long and quiet lunch as the twins pondered what was going on with the others.


"C'mon," Valerie said as she, Jay and Mera pushed a large balloon display over towards the stage, "push!"

"I am pushing!" Jay shouted as he pressed onto the base. "Who knew balloons could be so heavy?"

"I believe it's more of what's keeping them in place," Mera explained as she pushed, "all of the metal used to hold it in place would add to the weight."

"Victor, Nate," Valerie said. "You two got the other one?"

Victor pushed the other one into position all by himself, with Nate leaning against it but not pushing.

"You could help, you know," Victor said as he stepped away from the displays.

"I liked it better when you didn't speak your mind," Nate said before Valerie walked over and smacked him on the shoulder.

"You're going to help and you're going to like it," she said. "Now come help me hang the banner."

"I swear she's like her mother sometimes," Jay muttered to Victor, "very determined to have her way."

Victor nodded in response.

"Can you explain to me again why we're having this party?" Nate asked as he and Valerie walked over to the banner. "Adrian's birthday was the one you were invited to a few months back, and he and Diana are twins, so it's not a birthday. So what is it?"

"Didn't you read the banner?" Valerie asked.

"'Happy 2 Month Anniversary'?" Nate read. "Is there some sort of relationship I've been missing?"

"No, it means their 2 month anniversary of being on the team," Valerie said. "I feel like we don't show them enough appreciation, so I wanted to throw a party for them."

"And we're doing it at your house because…?" Nate asked.

"Because we can't use the Temple," Valerie explained. "They're there too often. They would see the decorations too early."

"And we want them to see it…?" Nate asked.

"Tomorrow," Valerie said as she grabbed one part of the banner and walked over to the ladder with Nate grabbing the other piece and taking it over to a different ladder,. "That's exactly two months from when they joined."

"It feels like they've been with us for a year," Nate commented. "Are we sure 2020 just started? It feels like November already."

"I have no idea what the heck you're saying," Valerie said as she thumbtacked the banner onto the wall while Nate did the same on the other side.

"Forget it," Nate said as they climbed down the ladders and backed up to view their work. The other teens came over and joined them.

"Alright, now that almost makes missing lunch worth it," Jay said, "I just feel bad for Adrian and Diana. They probably think we abandoned them or something."

"Oh, they're big kids now," Nate said. "They can handle one lunch without us."


The bell rang as students packed up their lunch and headed down the stairs.

Diana headed down the stairs with the other students, splitting with Adrian as each of them went a different way. Diana walked down the hallway and ducked into a bathroom.

Inside the bathroom were a few girls just hanging out. Diana gave them a glare and they walked out of the bathroom, obviously not wanting to mess with her.

"Most people are afraid of me," Diana said to herself, "but would they be if they knew that my worst fear is coming true? That the people I trusted have let me down?"

She looked at the mirror and noticed a tear coming down her cheek. She wiped it away and gave a determined look.

"I'll just do what I did before I met them," Diana said. "Push everyone away. Because they abandoned me, just like…"

Her determined look wavered again as tears overwhelmed her.


"Hm...interesting," Hades said. "The Silver Ranger talks about her worst fear coming true. Perhaps I can cause all of the Ranger's worst fears to come true…"

He stood up and walked through the main doors and down the hall towards the cells. He opened the door and stepped through.

Most of the gods, major and minor, perked up when they saw Hades. They began to beg to be released as he walked past.

"I don't have time to deal with you," Hades said as he walked past. "It's Phobos I want."

He reached a cell that held a young god with black hair and a white toga, matching most of the other gods. He had glowing white pupil-less eyes.

"I know what you're scared of, Hades," the young god said in a sing-songy tone as he looked over at Hades before laughing. "Do you know?"

"I have no time for your games, Phobos," Hades said. "I'm going to convert you into a Dark God and you're going to fight the Rangers."

"Oh, I'm sure you will," Phobos said. "But the one who set you on this path...You're still scared of him."

"Get out of my head!" Hades shouted at the god. "Play your mind games with the Rangers, not me!"

"Make me," Phobos sneered.

"I plan on it," Hades said as he snapped his fingers. "Spartoi! Take him and follow me back to my throne room!"

The Spartoi put Phobos in chains and led him after Hades back into the throne room.

Hades sat down on his throne and grabbed a ball of blue flame from the brazier.

"Any last words before you become one of my Dark Gods?" Hades asked.

Phobos looked over at Persephone.

"You're afraid," he said simply before expanding on it. "You are very afraid of...Actually, now that I think about it, I won't say that. It should be fun for everyone here to catch up."

"What are you babbling about?" Hades asked.

"Now, now," Phobos said. "No spoilers."

"Then you have no use to me as yourself," Hades said as he hurled the ball of flame at Phobos. The flames spread up his body, reaching his eyes last and making them glow a dark blue instead of the normal white.

"Now go and make the Rangers suffer!" Hades said as the Spartoi removed Phobos' chains and Hades created a portal behind Phobos. "And get the Flame while you're at it."
"This should be fun," Phobos said as he stepped into the portal, which closed behind him.

"Now, what was he saying about you being afraid of something?" Hades said as he looked over at his wife.

"Nothing, my lord," Persephone said as she shook her head. "The Underworld just scares me a little, even after all these years."

Hades nodded at her answer.

"Fair enough. Now, where did Gryphon slink off to?" Hades asked.


Hephaestus was sitting down, leaning on the wall, when a dark mist emanated from one of the shadows.

"Is someone there?" the blacksmith god asked as he looked towards the mist.

Gryphon stepped out of the mist and the shadow before putting a finger to where his lips would be and drawing his sword, pointing it at Hephaestus' throat.

"Be quiet, if you know what's good for you," Gryphon whispered.

"Ok," Hephaestus agreed as he looked down at the sword pointed at him before looking back at Gryphon. "What do you want?"

"I want what you're hiding from Hades," Gryphon whispered. "I want the location of the Cyclopes who forged the god's weapons back when they first fought the Titans."

"You're referring to ones who made the Thunderbolts, Trident and Helm of Darkness?" Hephaestus asked. "Those Cyclopes?"

"Yes, you fool," Gryphon whispered. "Where did they go? Where are they now?"

"I don't know," Hephaestus answered.

"I don't believe you," Gryphon said as he slightly raised his voice. "You worked with them for millenia in your workshop and now 'you don't know'?"

Gryphon moved his sword point closer to Hephaestus' throat.

"Zeus told them they could go anywhere on Earth they wanted to, as long as they didn't interfere with mortal affairs!" Hephaestus whispered quickly.

"So the gods really don't know…" Gryphon pondered as he lowered his sword. "I thought that Zeus was just lying, but you just confirmed it."

He noticed Hephaestus scooting away and pointed his sword at Hephaestus again.

"Are there any clues to where they could be?" Gryphon demanded.

"Just look for volcanoes," Hephaestus whispered as he became flustered again. "They need the heat to melt the powerful metals they use."

Gryphon pulled his sword away and sheathed it before turning away and walking back to the shadows.

"Thank you for your cooperation," he said as he stepped into a shadow and disappeared.

"What problems did I just create for the Rangers?" Hephaestus asked as he looked to the shadow Gryphon had disappeared into.


Phobos stepped out of the blue portal and looked around. It looked like a quiet enough part of the city. He started to walk down the street, stealing a pair of dark shades off a random citizen walking past. Phobos slipped on the shades and was glad to notice that the shades were dark enough to hide his eyes.

He walked past a clothing store and noticed a dark leather jacket in the window. He walked inside and grabbed a similar black leather jacket, putting it on as he moved to leave.

"Excuse me, sir," a security guard said as he moved to block the door. "Are you going to pay for that?"

"Pay? Why would I pay? You should pay for getting in my way," Phobos said as he lowered the shades and the security guard looked into the glowing blue eyes. His eyes became blue and pupil-less as he started to scream and ran past a couple shoppers.

"The monkeys! They're everywhere!" he screamed as he ran in a panic away from people.

"Hey, Jim, you ok?" a fellow security guard asked as he grabbed his coworker by the shoulder.

"The monkey's got me! He's got me!" Jim shouted as he tried to get his coworker's hand off him.

"What are you...oh my god!" the other security guard shouted as he saw Jim's glowing eyes.

As the panicking guard took everyone's attention, Phobos slipped out of the store and onto the street.


"Hey Adrian," Jay said as the blonde walked into the temple. "Where's Diana?"

"She said something about a math test to study for," Adrian explained.

"Wait, I'm in her math class, and there's no test coming up," Jay said. "Are you sure everything's ok with her?"

"She seemed pretty depressed at lunch that you guys weren't there," Adrian said. "Hey, where were you guys anyway?"

Jay was about to answer when Valerie stepped in.

"Secret project!" she said. "It's really nothing to worry about, it should be ready tomorrow. You can come see it at my house."

"Sounds good," Adrian said, "I just wish you could explain that to Diana…"

"Is there some reason why she's been more distant lately?" Jay asked. "She seems more agitated in battle."

"I can only guess," Adrian said. "I know she had a bad experience with a friend group back at Olympia Hills Prep a year ago, but she never told me exactly what happened there. When we switched schools, she seemed almost glad to leave. She could be thinking about that."

"I would assume the best person to ask about such an event would be Diana herself," Chiron said from his position near the mosaic computer

Jay was about to respond when the alarm went off.

"Guys, I've got some punk Dark God just strolling down the street," Christina said. "I don't know why it took a few minutes to detect him. I guess he didn't use his powers until now."

"Rangers, be careful," Chiron said. "Especially with you missing a Ranger. I don't know which god this could be."

"I'm going with Sunglassus, the god of sweet shades," Nate joked as the Rangers lined up.

"Cut the snark, Nate," Jay said. "It's Morphing Time!"

"Gold Olympian Power!"

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

In a flash of light, the Rangers were transformed and they, one by one, ran out the open Doors of Janus.

"Christina, call Diana," Jay ordered. "Chances are that we'll need her."

With that, he followed the others through the Doors.

The Rangers found themselves in the clothing district of stores in downtown Olympia Hills. They looked over at the mystery Dark God, who had the signature dark aura around him. He was walking up to a woman who was cowering against a wall.

"You think you're scared now," the Dark God said. "Wait until you get a taste of my power."

The woman turned her head to look at him as he lowered his shades and flashed his eyes at her. Her eyes became blue and pupil-less too and she began to scream louder as she backed away from the Dark God.

"What the hell did you just do to her?" Jay demanded as the Dark God ignored him, "who are you? Answer me!"

"You can call me Phobos," Phobos said. "You see, I'm the god of fear. I make people...afraid."

He flashed his eyes at the Rangers.

"Protect your eyes!" Jay ordered as he raised an arm to cover his visor.

"Like Medusa all over again," Nate commented as he did the same.

"But this is instantaneous," Mera corrected while copying the gesture, "which makes it even more dangerous than Medusa."

Victor didn't block his eyes in time and cried out as his visor glowed blue from his eyes glowing the same color. He fell to the ground and seemed to be in a sort of trance.

"I've only had that reaction from gods and demigods," Phobos said as he raised his shades to cover his eyes again, "I guess you're some sort of demigod?"

"None of your business!" Valerie shouted as she looked at Victor. "Now what did you do to him?"

"He is in some sort of fear-induced trance," Mera said. "I would need to observe further to really understand it.

"Don't think we have time for that!" Nate shouted as he and the other Rangers dodged a throwing knife from Phobos that appeared from thin air into his hand.

He raised a knife.

"Tell me, do you like scary movies?" he asked, "because when I'm done with you, your life will be a scary movie."

Phobos ran forward, knife in hand.

"Hero Armor, Power Up!" Jay shouted as he summoned his Hero Armor and his Lightning Sword and ran to meet him, clashing his sword against Phobos' knife. Jay grunted as he pushed against the Dark God's blade. He managed to push Phobos back before whirling around and kicking him in the gut.

Phobos recoiled from the strike before summoning more throwing knives into his hands. He hurled multiple knives at a time at the Rangers.

"Power up and protect Victor!" Jay ordered as he blocked a knife with his sword.

"Hero Armor, Power Up!" Mera, Nate and Valerie shouted as their Hero Armor appeared around their chests.

Mera leapt in front of the entranced Victor and summoned the Mirror Shield. She blocked all of the knives flying at the two of them, reflecting them to the ground.

The other Rangers dodged the attack before summoning their weapons and either leaping at him in Nate's case or aiming their bows at him in Valerie and Adrian's case.

Nate rammed his trident into Phobos' held knife, knocking it out of his hands before stabbing at his chest.

Phobos backed away from the thrust and lowered his shades.

Nate looked right into Phobos' eyes and cried out as his visor began to glow blue from his eyes glowing the same color. He fell to the ground, also in a trance just like Victor.

"Damn it, he's already taken out two Rangers!" Jay said. "Where the hell is Diana?"


Diana sighed as she walked down the street.

I probably should have gone with Adrian to the Temple, she thought, but if my 'friends' really don't want to spend time with me anymore, I guess it's better I didn't go. I never really told anyone about what happened last time I got close to a friend group…

Flashback

"Hey! Hayley!" a slightly younger Diana shouted as she ran up to meet up with a blond girl in a yellow tank top and shorts. "What's going on? You and the rest of the group haven't been texting back or accepting my calls. What's up?"

Hayley sighed, obviously not wanting to deal with Diana.

"It's nothing personal. We just decided that you're just not a good fit for the group anymore. We just don't share enough common interests anymore. I thought that if we just ignored you, you'd go away, but obviously you didn't understand. The group is done with you."

"What?" Diana asked, shocked. "I've been nothing but a good friend! I've listened to what you guys want to talk about, and I've stayed in touch as much as I can, and…"

"Oh, would you just shut up?" another girl said as she walked up to Diana. "Hayley wanted to be nice about it, but I won't do the same. Your animal-loving is getting really annoying and no one cares!"

Diana looked at this other girl, trying not to cry.

"What do you mean, Kristen? Where is this coming from?" Diana asked.

"I don't have to explain myself to you," Kristen said as she walked past and grabbed Hayley's arm. "Come on, Hayley. We're going."

Diana ran away from the girls, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

End Flashback

After that, I became closed off from everyone, Diana thought. You can't be pushed away by people if you push them away first. And being ignored was the first thing my old friends did, so when the other Rangers started doing it, I assumed the worst. She looked at the morpher on her wrist. But maybe I'm just jumping to conclusions…

She was taken out of her thoughts by the sound of her morpher going off.

"Yes?" she asked as she brought the morpher up to her mouth as she stepped into an alleyway.

"I've been trying to reach you for 10 minutes!" Christina said through the morpher. "The others are in trouble. They're facing some sort of 'god of fear' and we've already lost two Rangers to his powers!"

"Open me a Door," Diana said. "I'm on my way."


Jay grunted as he blocked another knife thrust with his sword. He looked back at Nate and Victor, who were still on the ground in their trance. He grit his teeth as he pushed against the knife, but it seemed harder than before.

Phobos stabbed his other knife into Jay's torso, causing sparks to fly as the suit absorbed the momentum and blade to protect Jay. He still fell back as Valerie lined up a shot with her bow and took it, shooting just where Jay had been and striking Phobos in the arm.

Phobos grunted as he dropped the knife and looked at the Pink Ranger.

"You're a bigger nuisance than I thought you would be," he said. "Let's change that, shall we?"

He lowered his shades and Valerie didn't look away in time. Her visor glowed blue as her eyes behind it glowed the same color. Phobos raised his shades back up over his eyes and grinned.

"Valerie!" Jay shouted as Valerie fell to the ground. He disengaged from fighting Phobos and ran over to her. He gently shook her.

"Val? Talk to me!" he said as he became a little more panicked.

Adrian looked over at his fellow archer teammate before aiming an energy arrow right at Phobos' heart. He let go of the string and watched the arrow fly. At the very last second, Phobos blocked it with his knife.

"Is that the best you got?" he asked as he summoned a knife into his injured hand and hurled a barrage of them at and around Adrian, giving him nowhere to dodge.

With Mera on the other side of the battlefield and Jay distracted, there's no way for me to be protected from the attack! Adrian thought.

A silver blur streaked in from behind Adrian and stopped, revealing Diana. She was morphed and had her daggers drawn. She swung her daggers in wide arcs rapidly. When Adrian looked again, the knives in front of him had been knocked to the ground and the rest had hit the wall behind him and had stuck there. Diana was standing in front of him, panting a little.

Jay looked up just in time to see this display of speed and gently lowered Valerie to the ground before running over to the twins, with Mera running over to join him.

"Diana, am I glad to see you!" he said. "We could really use all the help we can get."

"I agree," Mera said. "He appears to be getting more powerful the more people he affects with his power. He was unable to throw that many knives that fast before. He only threw a dozen at the others and I estimated that attack to include at least a hundred."

"We need to get out of here," Jay said. "If he keeps getting us, that's more power for him versus less of us. That's math even Nate would get. We're fighting a losing battle."

Much to Jay's surprise, Diana nodded.

"You're right," she said. "We need to grab the others and get out of here."

"I expected you to go in guns blazing," Jay admitted.

"I'm determined, not stupid," Diana said before turning and running over towards Nate. "Mow c'mon! We're wasting time!"

"Uh...yeah," Jay said as Adrian and Mera looked at him. "You heard her. Let's go."

The other two nodded and set off to grab their friends. Jay grabbed Valerie and lifted her into his arms while Mera and Adrian each grabbed half of Victor. Diana hoisted Nate onto her back and started walking towards a door on a building with the others right behind her.

"Christina, we need a Door, now!" she ordered as the door began to glow blue.

Phobos tried to follow, but was pushed back by the aura emanating from the Door.

"I guess Janus' safety measures are working," Jay commented as he followed the Rangers through the Door and back to the Temple.

Chiron was waiting there for them. As the Doors slammed shut, he galloped over.

"Take them to the medical center," he ordered as he led the Rangers over to the medical center.

The Rangers laid their entranced comrades on the beds, their visors still glowing blue from the effects of Phobos' power.

"Is there a way to demorph them?" Jay asked as he, Mera, Adrian and Diana did just that, with a burst of light in their Ranger color accompanying it.

"Christina!" Chiron shouted through the doorway between the rooms. "shut off Morphing Energy to Blue, Black and Pink!"

Christina typed a few runes on the keyboard and the affected Rangers glowed their respective colors as they demorphed. They still had the glowing blue eyes and were still entranced.

"Is there any way we can actually help them?" Jay asked.

"I can at least try to figure out what is occurring," Mera said as she walked over to the doorway leading to the Temple. "I cannot build a machine like I did before, but I can use what equipment we already have."

With that, she walked out.

"Well, while she's doing that," Jay said as he grabbed a chair and sat himself next to Valerie's bed and looked over at Diana. "Why don't you tell me what's going on? Not with the battle, but with you avoiding us."

"I had a group of friends before," Diana started. "Back at Olympia Hills Prep. It was mostly girls, but there were a few boys too. Anyway, that part isn't important. What is important is that one day, they just decided they were sick of me and cast me aside. I tried to ask why and what I did, but I never got an answer."

She raised her hand to her face and noticed the tears on her hand. She had started crying somewhere near the end of the story.

"But because of that experience," she continued. "I decided to push other potential friends away before they could abandon me like my old friends had. That's why I was so rude to you on my first day. But over time, the entire group got closer, and I couldn't hide anymore. At first I felt comfortable in my role, but then I became more aggressive in battle to make sure you guys would still need me. If I fought harder, maybe you wouldn't drop me from the group like I had been before by my old friends."

"First of all, we would never abandon you," Jay said as he put a reaffirming hand on Diana's shoulder. "I don't know what was wrong with your old friends. And second, you would never be dropped from the team. You don't have to prove yourself to any of us. We've believed in you all along. I'm just glad I know the reason why you became so aggressive in battle. I thought you just had anger issues or something."

That made Diana laugh a bit as Adrian came over.

"I didn't know exactly what happened before," he said as he adjusted his glasses, "and I'm sorry I wasn't there for you like a brother should be. If I had known what they put you through, I would have said or done something. I know I'm not a fighter, but I would have gone down swinging to teach your old friends a lesson."

He pulled Diana into a hug.

"The best I can do is comfort you now," he said.

"Thanks, bro," Diana said as she reciprocated the hug. "I'm sorry for making you have to play middleman between me and the people I targeted. It must have been a real workout for you."

"It was no big deal," Adrian said as they broke off the hug. "I'm just glad I can try to help you now. And I promise, if any of the other Rangers abandon you, I will personally kick their ass, Gold Ranger style."

Diana laughed again.

"Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever heard you laugh before," Jay admitted. "It's nice to see that change."

The three Rangers looked down at their affected comrades.

"But I have to ask...how do we help them?" he asked.


"Hello?" Valerie asked as she looked around. She was currently on a floating island of solidified dirt. Around her were multiple other small islands of dirt. Below those islands was about a few thousand feet straight down into an abyss.

"Don't look down...don't look down…" Valerie said to herself before…

"I looked down!" she shouted as she began to feel a familiar feeling in her stomach. That feeling of a fear of falling.

"Where am I?" she asked. "Because this is literally my worst nightmare!"

She heard the sound of falling dirt and looked down to see the island slowly disintegrating from the dirt falling from the bottom. Valerie cried out as she leapt from one island to another, falling to her hands and knees as she landed.

"How do I get out of this?" she asked.

There was no one around to answer her...


Victor looked around at where he was. He appeared to be in his father's office at Steel Works. His mother, 12 years older than when Victor had last seen her, was standing in front of the desk next to Victor. Victor's father was sitting behind the desk. The two adults were glaring at each other.

"You ruined his life!" his mother shouted. "A teenager shouldn't have to move out to make his own path! And what you did with Tom was almost as bad! Stop being so selfish!"

"What do you know?" his father shouted back. "You abandoned Victor for 12 years because you couldn't have your way! Who's the selfish one here? I just want my company to continue and Victor to be successful! Why can't you get that through your thick head?"

"Stop!" Victor shouted as he covered his ears and closed his eyes. "I wanted you guys to see each other again, but not like this! I wanted you to reconcile and get along again, so we can be a family again!"

"What you want is unimportant!" his father shouted at him. "How could you possibly think that this woman I was once married to and I could ever get along again?"

"At last we agree on something," his mother said, "I thought you were smart, Victor. How could you make such a huge error like this?"

Victor tried to cover his ears again, but no matter how hard he pressed them against his head, he could hear his parents yelling at each other and him.

"Make it stop…" Victor said as he started to cry.


The first thing Nate felt was the splash of cold water on his body. His eyes shot open as the cold water completely covered his upper and lower body, leaving his head exposed.

"What the hell is going on?" Nate asked as he looked around while treading water.

The only thing around him as far as he could see was open ocean. He looked down into the depths and couldn't even see the bottom.

"Great, I'm in the middle of nowhere again," he said, "this is becoming a theme. Or the writer's getting lazy. Either one's really a possibility at this point."

He looked around again and thought he saw a shape poking out of the water.

"Please let that be a boat," he said as he swam towards it before looking at it closer. "Wait, that's too small to be a boat. It looks like a fin or something…"

As the fin got closer, Nate noticed the large shape connected to it under the water. And that the fin was gray…

"Oh shit," Nate said. "It's a shark!"

He started rapidly swimming away, but the shark was getting closer, and it had brought friends. Nate stopped as a shark swam up in front of him, blocking his path.

"Hey guys," Nate said nervously, "I won't hurt you if you don't hurt me, right?"

One shark, the one in front of him, rose slightly out of the water and opened its mouth, its sharp teeth gleaming in the light of the sun.

Nate screamed as the rest of the sharks opened their mouths and swam towards him…


"Fascinating," Mera said as she typed on the mosaic computer, Christina off to the side watching. The screen was showing a brain and multiple types of waves.

"So you know what's going on?" Adrian asked. "Because I'm getting nothing from this."

Diana nodded in agreement.

"They appear to be in some sort of REM sleep," Mera said before turning around in her chair and looking at the twins' confused faces.

"And what the hell does that mean?" Diana asked.

"In Layman's terms, it means they are in a dream-like state," Mera said. "What is odd is why it is happening. I found footage of this at a clothing store. It is amazing what this computer can do..."

"Less praise of the computer, more showing," Diana said

She turned around again and pulled up the footage of the clothing store that Phobos had gone to before and was of the man looking into Phobos' eyes and freaking out.

"He is awake, meanwhile our friends are unconscious," Mera said. "However, I have no reason for this difference."

"Didn't he say something about us being demigods?" Adrian offered as he looked at Chiron. "We're not, but we're still related to the gods. Could that have something to do with it?"

"The gods are affected differently by gods' powers compared to humans," Chiron explained. "There is an immunity that full gods have. The immunity gets weaker and turns into a resistance the further you go down the bloodlines. This could be a form of that resistance."

"But it didn't work on Hebe's powers?" Diana asked. "I was two years old for a few hours! Is it just selective or something?"

"Hey, you got pizza and nap time," Christina remarked. "I wouldn't complain. The rest of the team had to fight Hebe themselves."

"The rules about gods' powers can be a fickle thing," Chiron said. "Even I am unsure how they work completely. Some follow science, some follow magic. Some are stronger than others as well."

"I think we're looking at a more scientific one," Adrian said. "If they're being put into a REM sleep state."

"My theory is that he targets the brain of his target and emits electricity from his eyes to theirs to affect it," Mera said. "It is not enough to make them convulse on the floor, but it is enough that it alters brain chemistry and induces this state."

"So how do we get them out of the trance?" Diana asked. "Hit them with electricity again?"

"I sincerely doubt it," Mera said. "That may have the negative effect of making things worse."

"Should someone go get Jay?" Christina asked. "I think he should hear all of this."

"I did," Jay said as he stepped into the room from the doorway, "and I have an idea, but it's going to take all of us to do it. So I need you all to trust me. Do you?"

"Of course," Mera said, "I have full confidence in you."
"Yeah," Adrian said, "I agree."

Diana was silent as she looked to the ground.

"Diana?" Jay asked. "We especially need you. Your speed will be a big part of the plan. I trust you. I need you to trust me."

Diana looked up and smiled.

"Let's do it."


Phobos walked down the street, lowering his sunglasses to strike civilians who were unlucky enough to look into his eyes. This caused them to scream louder than the people just running away from the god.

"That's far enough, Phobos!" Jay shouted as the Rangers stepped out of a door behind Phobos. They were already morphed and Jay and Mera had their Hero Armor.

Phobos turned around and laughed.
"Four little Rangers, struggling to avoid their fate," he said. "Your friends are trapped in nightmares, and you think you can save them by defeating me? I'd like to see you try!"

He summoned throwing knives into his hands and started to hurl them at the Rangers, nearly as fast as he had last time, but not as many as before.

"Follow the plan!" Jay ordered as the Rangers scattered.

Jay rolled out of the way of the knives and summoned his Lightning Sword before running up to and slicing at Phobos with his blade. Phobos blocked it with one of his knives and kicked Jay away, pushing him a few hundred feet away.

Mera came in for a spear strike just as Adrian fired an energy arrow at Phobos' leg. Phobos blocked both attacks with his knives and slashed at Mera, sending her flying back in a spray of sparks on her suit. He hurled two knives at Adrian, knocking his bow out of his hand with one and sending him falling to the ground with a strike to the knee with the other.

"Is that the best you can do?" Phobos asked as he looked around at the three weakened Rangers. "Time to join the others in their fate."

Diana sped past Phobos twice, slashing him in an "x" pattern across his chest with the streaks created by her daggers.

Phobos stumbled backwards as Diana stopped in front of him, sending her daggers to the pocket dimension.

"Leave my friends alone," she said in a grim tone. "Or I'll make you afraid of me."

"Me? Be afraid of you?" Phobos asked with a snicker. "Don't make me laugh! Time for you to join your friends, Silver Ranger!"

He lowered his shades and time seemed to slow down around Diana as she raised her right arm.

"Mirror Shield!" she shouted in the milliseconds between Phobos' eyes being exposed and a small blue spark being sent from his eyes to her's behind her visor. She raised the shield just in time to deflect the spark back at Phobos, striking him in his chest.

Time returned to normal for Diana as the spark finally hit Phobos in the chest, but it had no effect.

Phobos laughed maniacally as he raised his shades back over his eyes.

"That was your plan?" he laughed, "your mentor should have told you that gods are immune to other godly powers! That includes our own! You can't reflect my attacks back at me!"

"I know," Diana said, "but it allows the plan to go into action."

"What is this 'plan' you keep referring to?" Phobos asked as he heard a rumble of thunder, "and what is that?"

"Lightning Arrow, fire!" Jay and Valerie shouted from behind Phobos.

"Sun Arrow, fire!" Adrian shouted as he powered up an energy arrow next to the other Rangers.

He whirled around just in time to be struck in the face by the Lightning Sword, which was surrounded in electricity, and Adrian's Sun Arrow. He cried out in pain as his shades broke and his eyes were pierced by the blade and energy arrow. Phobos reached up and pulled the blade out before throwing it to the ground. The energy arrow dissipated on its own.

"What did you do?" he shouted as his eyes became cloudy, "you've destroyed my power! I'm blind!"

He fell to the ground as streaks of blue light emanated from his eyes and returned to the people affected by his power, making their eyes turn back to normal.

"Now what?" Adrian asked, "we can't do the 7 Ranger Omega Strike without the others."

"Hang on," Jay said as he put up five fingers and slowly lowered them, as if counting off the seconds. When his last finger was lowered, the door the Rangers had come from began to glow blue and the three Rangers affected by Phobos' power ran out, morphed and in their Hero Armor.

"I don't know what just happened," Valerie said, "but I'm really not complaining."

Victor nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I have a bone to pick with this guy," Nate said as he ran up to the Dark God and kicked him in the crotch with his boot. Phobos clutched the tender area and fell to the ground.

"See, now I feel so much better," Nate commented as the Rangers gathered in a line. "Ok, we can do our finisher now."

"7 Ranger Omega Strike!" Jay announced as the Rangers summoned their weapons.

Nate's Ocean Trident bent 90 degrees as the "teeth" spread out and bent to form a handle. Victor's Blacksmith Hammer landed on the ground handle side up as Valerie's Love Bow clicked onto the former trident, which then clicked onto the hammer handle. Mera's Battle Spear was bent around the bowstring to make it thicker. Adrian's Sun Staff helped the hammer hold up the crossbow, and Diana's Hunting Daggers went on either side of Jay's Lightning Sword as both were loaded into the crossbow.

The Rangers lined up diagonally on either side of Jay. Nate and Victor put their hands on Jay's shoulders, then Mera and Valerie put their hands on their's respectivly. Then Diana put her hand on Victor's shoulder and Adrian put his on Valerie's.

The Sword and Daggers began to glow with a golden energy created by combining all of the Rangers' power as Jay put his finger on the trigger.

"Fire!" he shouted as he pulled the trigger. The Lightning Sword and Hunting Daggers flew at Phobos just as he had recovered from the painful attack.

An omega symbol was carved into Phobos' chest by the sword and the daggers. He fell into the ground and split into two. One Phobos had a dark aura still, while the other was normal.

Jay reached down and helped pull the normal Phobos up. His eyes were no longer cloudy.

"Took you long enough," Phobos said. "Really, you call yourself Power Rangers?"

"Can I kick this one in the nuts too?" Nate asked. "Please?"

Jay looked at Nate and put up a hand between Nate and Phobos.

"You sure know how to show gratitude," Jay said as he held Nate back a little. "I think the words you're looking for are 'thank you'."

"Yeah, whatever," Phobos said. "I haven't been watching your battles, but do they usually do that?"

He pointed at his dark doppelganger as blue flames engulfed him and he grew to the size of a skyscraper.

"Luckily I don't have a fear of heights!" Dark Phobos shouted as he grew.

"Yeah, that's pretty normal," Valerie answered. "Jay?"

"Let's do it guys!" Jay shouted before speaking into his morpher, "Christina! Send the Olympian Zords and the Gemini Zords!"

"Going a little old school?" Christina asked as she pressed a few keys on the mosaic computer. "Not a problem. They should be on their way now."

Jay looked up in time to see his Eagle Zord swoop down towards the Rangers, the Fish Zord in its talons. The other Zords ran or flew up to the Rangers. The Rangers leapt in.

"Form Pantheon Megazord!" Jay ordered as he pressed the button.

The other Rangers nodded as they did the same.

The Bull Zord was the first to change, as the head came off, the body split apart and the legs flipped around 180ᣞ and the front and back legs combined.

The Horse Zord was next, as it's head went into a chest cavity while the front and back legs combined together and connected to the Bull Zord legs, forming a complete waist, legs and feet.

The Eagle Zord was next. As its wings clipped off together in one long arc-shaped piece and it's legs slid into its body before it connected to the Horse Zord, it was now forming the entire body of the combination.

Next came the Owl Zord. As its head detached from the body and the body detached from the wings, the wings clipped onto the sides of the Eagle Zord and expanded, forming the arms.

Fifth was the Fish Zord. As the entire dorsal fin and tail came off, it popped open completely in half before coming onto the Eagle Zord's body as a chestplate and combining together again. The tail folded into a plume that went onto the Eagle Zord's head to complete the helmet look. The horns from the Bull Zord head attached together and became a straight point before combining with the dorsal fin to create a large spear that went onto the Megazord's back. The Owl Zord body lengthened itself a bit before the head slid into a hole in the center, finishing the shield, which went on the right arm.

The Raven Zord's legs came off before the main body and head of the Raven Zord clipped onto the front of the Megazord's chestplate, forming a gentle u-shape with its wings. The legs attached to the Megazord's arms to form small wrist-bands/ gauntlets.

The Deer Zord split in half vertically before both halves slid out and the center rose out from between them, revealing a gladius hidden in there. The Deer Zord reattached at the waist, forming the bottom of an armored tunic resembling the one a Roman soldier would wear. The gladius went into the Megazord's left hand.

The Rangers met up in a single cockpit. Jay was in the front row in the center with Nate and Victor on his left and right respectively. Diana, Mera, Valerie and Adrian were sitting in that order in the back row.

"Pantheon Megazord, ready!" all seven Rangers announced.

Dark Phobos looked directly at the Megazord and activated his power. To his disappointment, it had no effect.

"I'll just do it the hard way then!" Dark Phobos shouted as he summoned his knives and attacked.

The Pantheon Megazord raised its shield in time to block the knife strikes and then jabbed its gladius into Dark Phobos's chest while he was recovering.

Dark Phobos grinned as he grabbed the gladius and pulled it out of himself while kicking the Pantheon Megazord away, making it lose its grip on the gladius. Dark Phobos slashed the Pantheon Megazord a few times with the gladius.

"Yeah…Jay…Forming the Pantheon Megazord?" Nate said as the Pantheon Megazord took damage. "Not your best idea. At least with the Hero Megazord we would have more weapons to use."

"I wanted to give Adrian and Diana a chance to fight, ok?" Jay asked as he looked around at the others. "Does anyone else want to complain about my choice?"

"We do have another attack," Adrian suggested, interrupting the argument.

"Yeah, and let's use it!" Diana shouted. "Because I'm really sick of this guy!"

"Emblem Blast!" all seven Rangers shouted as light from the sun was sent into the Raven Zord emblem on the Pantheon Megazord's chest. The Rangers pushed their fists out as a beam in the shape of the emblem fired at Dark Phobos.

Dark Phobos stumbled backwards from the attack canceling out his further attacks and dropped the gladius on the ground.

The Pantheon Megazord quickly picked it up and raised it up high.

"Let's finish this!" Diana said. "Time to face our fears!"

"Light of the Olympians!" all seven Rangers shouted as energy from the Raven Zord emblem was sent into the sword, causing it to glow a golden color, before bringing it down in a two-handed slash.

"I was afraid of that!" Dark Phobos said before collapsing to the ground and exploding.

The Rangers celebrated in the cockpit as the Pantheon Megazord powered down.


"Damn, your friends did that to you?" Nate asked as the Rangers walked with Phobos, who had somehow gotten new sunglasses, through the Doors of Janus back into the Temple.

"No wonder you became so defensive and hostile," Valerie added, "I would be too if my old friends did that to me. But you really don't need to worry about us doing that to you. I promise."

"That's what I said," Jay said,. "And Adrian also threatened to kick our asses if we do do that."

"Heh, you said doo doo," Nate snickered.

"How mature," Mera commented dryly.

"Back on topic…" Jay said as they walked over to the center of the room. Chiron was already there.

"Phobos," he said simply.

"Chiron," Phobos replied in the exact same tone.

"I suppose you didn't thank the Rangers at all?" Chiron asked. "Just like your father."

"His father?" Nate asked.

"Ares," Diana said, "Chiron only mentioned it in the lesson on the minor gods at least twice!"

"I'm surprised you think I was paying attention," Nate replied.

Jay sighed as he looked at Nate.

"What are we going to do with you, Nate?" Jay asked.

"I don't know, but with Diana less insecure now and less aggressive, I'm probably the most interesting Ranger and character left," Nate answered.

"Oh, I can be aggressive," Diana said as she rolled up her sleeves. "Want to see?"

As Diana ran after Nate, Phobos looked over at them as they ran past.

"In all seriousness, it's good she got over her fear," he said. "Less fun for me, though. I enjoy playing with people's fear. Why do you think I like to inspire it in people so much?"

"Because you're a jerk?" Victor asked.

"Hey, it's my job," Phobos said, "I make people afraid. It's not my fault."

The Rangers looked ready to argue until Chiron put his hand on Phobos' shoulder.

"Why don't you go join the others in rebuilding Olympus?" he offered. "They could use your help."

"I guess," Phobos said. "Got nothing better to do."

Chiron nodded to Christina, who typed in a few runes on the keyboard before the Doors of Janus flew open again with a blue glow.

"Catch you on the flip side," Phobos said as he turned his head to look at the Rangers, "By the way, I'm keeping these."

He gestured to the new shades he had gotten.

"It's a good look on me," he said, "punk god of fear. Sounds like a band or something. See ya!"

He turned back and walked through the Doors, which slammed shut behind him.

The Ranger turned to look at the two other Rangers and found Diana had finally caught Nate and had him in a headlock.

"Should we interfere?" Victor asked as he looked at the others.

"Be my guest," Mera said. "I would rather not get in the middle of that."

While those two were talking, Jay and Valerie had walked over to look at the damaged suits from the fight, which were already self-repairing themselves using Morphing Grid energy.

"We did good today," Jay said as he looked at his suit being repaired.

"Yeah, you guys did great while we were in Phobos' power," Valerie said. "Did you come up with that plan yourself?"

"Yeah, but it took Diana to really do it," Jay said. "I hope the party tomorrow helps her understand that she's not going anywhere."

"Speaking of parties and holidays, any plans for Valentine's Day yet?" Valerie hinted.

"Not yet, Val," Jay sighed. "I'll figure it out, ok?"

"You better," Valerie said in a joking tone as she booped his nose.

The two of them looked over at Diana and Nate, who were still in a headlock.

"We should probably go help him," Valerie said.

"I don't know, he doesn't complain when he's like that," Jay said as he looked over at Valerie's disapproving face. "then again, maybe we should."

"I'll mention the party to her as we pull them apart," Valerie said as the two of them walked towards the wrestling teens.


"Volcanos, huh?" Gryphon said to himself as he walked down the dark hallway, "Earth has thousands of land volcanoes, and that's just the active ones. I'm not going to be able to find the Cyclopes without help. But the gods don't know…"

"Find the Oracle of Delphi," a female voice said as footsteps echoed down the corridor.

"Persephone?" Gryphon asked. "What are you doing outside the throne room? And what do you mean? The Oracle is dead."

"I cannot leave the Underworld, but I may go where I please within it," Persephone said. "As for the Oracle, remember where you currently are."

"The Underworld!" Gryphon realized. "The dead are all in this realm! I just have to find her."

"Look in Elysium," Persephone said. "I have found her there many times when I have questions about the future."

"Why are you telling me this? What do you want?" Gryphon asked as his eyes narrowed behind his visor.

"Just helping out a fellow tortured soul," Persephone said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Gryphon denied.

"Your obsession with the Red Ranger? Only one who has truly been wronged by him would be that obsessed with his destruction," Persephone said. "I know this because Hades is very much the same way with the gods of Olympus."

"Whatever," Gryphon said as he started walking away. "Thanks for the info, I guess."

"You've seen where vengeance has taken Hades," Persephone said. "Do you really want to go down the same path?"

"Stay out of my business from now on," Gryphon said as he continued down the corridor, away from Persephone. "I can accomplish the rest of my quest by myself. Like I've always been."

Just like the Oracle said, Persephone thought. I just needed to give him a little push. Soon, Gryphon will be saved from himself.


"They said to come here?" Adrian asked as the Thomas twins walked into the dark room. "Are you sure?"

"I'm going to be so pissed if they lied to me," Diana said, "but yeah, that's what they said."

Adrian walked over to the set of light switches and flipped them all on.

"Surprise!" Jay, Nate, Victor, Mera, Valerie, Dan and Christina shouted as the lights revealed them, the banner and all of the decorations.

"'Happy 2 Month Anniversary'?" Diana asked. "They know we're related, right?"

"No, it means the 2 month anniversary of you guys being on the team," Valerie explained as the other Rangers came over to the twins. "Why is that so hard for people to understand?"

"Maybe because 2 months is a weird milestone?" Nate asked before Mera smacked him. "Ow!"

"What he is supposed to say is 'congratulations'," Mera corrected.

"Wow, you did this for us?" Adrian said. "Diana, what do we... Diana?"

He looked over at Diana as tears filled her eyes.

"Are those happy tears?" Victor whispered to Jay.

"I really hope so," Jay whispered back. "We weren't trying to make her upset."

"You guys are the best!" Diana said as she pulled all of the Rangers into a group hug.

They held it for a few seconds before Nate, who was in the middle, said something.
"I'm getting claustrophobic here!" he shouted as he tried pushing out of the hug.

Everyone started to laugh, Diana included, as they continued the hug.

"Face your fear, Nate!" Jay said as everyone laughed louder.

Guess I had nothing to worry about, Diana thought as the hug broke up finally, freeing Nate. These friends won't be abandoning me any time soon.

You know the drill. Review, favorite, follow. Whatever you want to do, I'll appreciate it. I'll see you in about a month with the next chapter!