Hey guys!

I've been working to improve the story, so I went back and updated most of the chapters. Mostly minor stuff like capitalizing words I should have or spelling mistakes. For instance, the Door vs door debate and Underworld now being capitalized like I should have had it in the first place (ctrl+f is a godsend for that!) I went back and checked Mera's disuse of contractions (which is a defining characteristic of her's), and reworded things to flow better. Finally, I changed it so the weird "radio in the helmet" in the first few chapters is now their morphers, the "magic appearing door" has changed to a door already being there in Chapter 3 and the "torch" Hades had in the early chapters was changed to the proper "brazier". Thanks for bearing with me. I know it probably doesn't make a difference in your enjoyment, but I think it makes it more professional looking when the continuity lines up.

I want to thank JTWAS1994 and GoldenMewtwo for their chapter-by-chapter reviews. I really appreciate it more than I can say. I also want to thank PenPal33 for his review. Please check out his Fanfic, Power Rangers: Legendary Warriors. There's only one chapter up, but I personally am looking forward to where it goes next! As for a potential team-up, it's always possible...

If you noticed the new logo for the cover image, I have MP6 on Power Ranger Fanon to thank for it. If you haven't been to Power Ranger Fanon, it's on Fandom and has a lot of Power Ranger and Super Sentai fan teams, Rangers, Zords, villains and weapons. I've been updating on and off, so some details are still missing here and there. I'm basically up to where I wanted to be a year ago, so that just shows how slowly I'm going with it. If you want more information on characters or just don't feel like reading all of the chapters again when a new one comes out, I would recommend Fanon (at least that's the idea. I'm only updated to chapter 12 at this point, but that should change soon)

This is another "filler" chapter that focuses on another one of my underdeveloped characters, and this is a combination of my ideas and DaughterOfSBWG's review / suggestion. I liked her idea and decided to play with it a little bit.

My finals are just ending and I begin my winter job soon, so chapters will probably be coming out at about the normal pace (the 15th of the month), depending on my hours, which range based on the week. However, I have been getting really excited to put my ideas to paper and usually do my best writing after working, so who knows? ;)

Wow, that was a lot… Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

Myth 26: Human Nature

"Persephone told me to find Elysium," Gryphon said to himself as he flew over the dark, gloomy Underworld landscape. "But she didn't tell me where. I've searched almost the entire Underworld for it, and it's taken a week of my limited time. But I dare not ask Hades for help. My quest could interrupt his plan, and he would then put a stop to it. I must do this on my own."

He noticed a glowing light in the distance.

"That certainly doesn't match the rest of the Underworld," he said. "Perhaps where that glow is coming from is Elysium."

He swooped silently down like a hawk and found a white marble city that seemed to be glowing, giving off that light that Gryphon had noticed earlier. People were walking around. There was a mix of modern and ancient clothing and hairstyles.

"I could go in and make them tell me where the Oracle is," Gryphon said to himself, "but that might alert Hades. A more subtle approach might be required…"

He silently landed on a white marble rooftop and gazed down, looking at the people for clues. The people continued walking around, completely unaware of the bronze figure watching them…


"C'mon, bro!" Diana said as she dragged Adrian out of their mansion. "It's not that cold outside! And besides, you need the exercise!"

"I have no problem with exercise," Adrian said as he slipped his arm into the coat sleeve as Diana dragged him down the street by it. "It's the outside part that I have a problem with."

"What? You love art, isn't there a lot of art in nature?" Diana asked.

"I mean...technically?" Adrian reluctantly agreed, "but you know that nature and I do not get along. It may not have happened in the woods when we found the Purple Olympian Gems, but bad things usually happen to me when I'm outside in nature."

"Hey, if anything happens to you, I'll punch what did it, ok?" Diana asked as they finally reached the central park in Olympia Hills.

Adrian decided to change the subject.

"You know, the others told me that they've had a few battles in this park," Adrian said as he finally got Diana to release his sleeve and he adjusted his glasses.

"Yeah, and we were only involved in one of them," Diana said. "I wish I could have helped more."

"You seem a lot more mellow now," Adrian said as they started down the trail around the lake, "ever since you got that story of your old friends off your chest."

"Hey, I can still be aggressive when I need to be," Diana said as she lightly punched him.

"Yeah, good point," Adrian said as he rubbed the hit shoulder, trying to soothe the dull pain.

He wasn't looking where he was going and tripped on a knot in the grass, causing him to tumble over and land face-first in the grass.

Diana ran back to her brother and helped him to his feet.

"I told you this was a bad idea," Adrian said as he spat out a blade of grass.

"Since when are you such a pessimist?" Diana asked. "The brother I know is positive about everything."

"I'm positive this was a bad idea," Adrian retorted as they continued their walk.

Next was a montage of Adrian getting into nature-related dangers/annoyances: he fell knee deep into mud; he got hit in the leg by a falling branch; he got attacked by the birds from the nest on that branch; he was stung by a bee. On and on it went until the twins finished the loop around the lake.

"Owwww," Adrian said as he limped to the bench, "that really didn't go well."

"Yeah, that's more than usual," Diana commented, "I tried to shoo the birds away, but man were they pissed."

"Let's go home," Adrian said. "I think I've had enough of the 'Great Outdoors' for today."

Diana nodded and moved to help him stand up when their morphers went off.

"Guys, I just made a major breakthrough!" Victor's voice said from the other end. "Come to the Temple quickly! I want to show you!"

"On our way, Victor," Adrian said as he limped towards the nearest house on the outskirts of the park. "Open a door at our coordinates."

The outline of the door glowed blue as it flew open. Diana and Adrian walked through the Doors of Janus to the Temple.

The others, Christina included, were already there, watching as Victor typed away on the mosaic computer.

"You guys are just in time," Valerie said. "Victor says he has something important to show us."

"Yeah, well, let's get on with it," Nate said, "I didn't agree to Ranger duties on the weekend."

"As you know, Chiron and I have been working on improving the Olympian Gems Radar," Victor said. "And with the help of Mera and Christina, we have managed to do it.

He pulled up a map of the entire world and typed in a command.

A white arrow and a crimson arrow appeared in different parts of the world. The crimson arrow appeared in Russia, while the white arrow was in Great Britain.

"Pretty far from us," Jay commented. "How come we haven't heard of Ranger battles in these areas?"

"My guess is that the gems are there, but either haven't been found or activated yet," Victor answered.

"That or the governments of those countries want to hush it up," Nate commented.

"We know Hades isn't going after them anymore," Jay said. "So we don't really need to worry too much. At least we know where they are for the future. We might need them later."

"I would suggest we go now," Mera said, "but we are unaware of when Hades will send his next Dark God."

"Not today, I hope," Valerie said. "Jay and I have plans. We're going shopping!"

"We are?" Jay asked before Valerie grabbed him by the arm and pulled him towards the Doors of Janus, "I guess we are. I'll see you guys later! Good work, Victor, Mera and Christina!"

With that, Valerie pulled him through the Doors.

"The poor man," Nate said. "We'll remember you!"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Mera asked. "A girl may go shopping with a boy if she so wishes."

"Never ends up well for the guy," Nate said sagely. "Trust me, I've seen my parents. And other couples."

"I wonder if it has anything to do with Valentine's Day next week," Christina said. "Did anyone have anything planned besides those two?"

"Nope, the romantic subplots here are pretty thin except for theirs'," Nate said.

"I don't even know what that means," Christina said.

"Don't worry about it, just something for my fans," Nate said.

Everyone laughed as they walked away from him.

"Guys? I really do have fans!" Nate said as he followed them.


"Nothing," Gryphon said to himself as he patrolled the rooftop. "I've been here for hours! Not that you can tell in this place. Time is meaningless after death, I guess."

Kill them all! the animal-like voice said inside him. Why are you waiting? Don't you want the Cyclopes location?

Shut up, the human voice replied, I'm trying to be subtle about this. Hades will stop me if he finds out. And we both know I don't have the time for that.

The animal-like voice was about to say something else when Gryphon looked down onto the street again. He noticed a woman in a golden dress. She had auburn hair and her eyes seemed to be a deep green. If Gryphon had known of the mists the Rangers had gone into, he would have recognized it as the same color green.

"That's her," Gryphon said as he flew to the next building, following her on her path through the city. "She looks too important to be anyone else. Even if it isn't her, she can tell me where to find the Oracle."

The woman walked into a temple as Gryphon stopped his following of her. He leapt into an alleyway and turned into his signature black smoke that flowed over the crowd and into the temple. The smoke followed the woman as she walked into the main room and sat down on a mat with candles dancing with orange flame on it. No one else was around as Gryphon's black smoke stopped and reformed into the bronze warrior. He pointed his sword at her throat.

"You're going to tell me what I want to know, Oracle," he growled, "or we're going to see what happens to a dead person when they're stabbed."


"So, what are we exactly shopping for?" Jay asked as Valerie led him down the street. "Anything Valentine's Day related is going to ruin the surprise."

"Not if we do it right," she said vaguely.

She pulled him into a tuxedo shop. Jay looked wide eyed at all of the tuxedos around him.

"Hate to break it to you, Val," he said in a loud whisper, "but this is completely out of my budget!"

"That's why I'm here," she said. "You just need to rent one. Shouldn't be more than $200."

"Yeah, and I just have $200 lying around," Jay said sarcastically.

"Louis?" Valerie asked as she walked up to the man at the register. He had a black pencil mustache and had a bald spot on the top of his head.

"Miss Valerie," Louis said as he bowed his head, "it's been a while."

"I suppose it has," Valerie said. "I last saw you when my father came here a few months ago. I guess that was technically last year."

"And who is this?" Louis asked as he looked at Jay. "Your boyfriend, perhaps?"

"You got it," Jay said with a small wave. "I'm Jay, but I'm not exactly sure why I'm here. I can't afford this."

"You did mention that," Louis said dryly, "but I assume Miss Valerie has an idea on how to...circumnavigate that."

"Here," Valerie said as she pulled out a credit card and handed it to Jay. "Just use this. You can return it to me tomorrow."

Jay looked at it with wide eyes.

"Now, no willy nilly spending," Valerie said as she wagged her finger.

"What? Me? Never!" Jay joked. "No, seriously. I would never do that."

"I know," Valerie said as she walked out before looking back. "You boys have fun. And Jay? Pick something good, ok?"

"Aye aye, captain!" Jay said as he saluted.

"I promise he's in good hands, Miss Valerie," Louis said before leading Jay away. "Now to figure out your size…"

Valerie smiled as she walked out.

"That ought to give him a push to plan for next week," she said as she started down the street, "but I better start preparing myself too."


"You know, Christina did have a point," Diana said as she and Adrian walked down the street towards home, "Nate might have interrupted it with his nonsense, but she did point out that none of us really have romantic relationships with anyone."

"I don't think we really have to," Adrian said. "Besides, didn't you complain about Jay and Valerie when they first became a couple?"

"That was when I was insecure about my place on the team," Diana explained. "We had just joined the team, remember? Besides, I wasn't talking about me."

"Who were you referring to, then?" Adrian asked as he looked at her, confused.

"You and Christina seem pretty buddy-buddy sometimes," Diana said as she nudged him, "you're really the only one who has deep conversations with her. Remember when you guys discussed her using the Flame a few weeks ago?"

"Wait, you think she likes me?" Adrian asked. "Because I think you're just seeing friendship. Christina and I are friends, that's all."

"I'm still unsure about how to form deep relationships," Diana said, "but I do recognize them, and you two have something going on."

"Even if we did," Adrian said. "We don't have a lot in common anyway."

"You're both students at Olympia Hills High, you're both artists…" Diana started listing. "Wait, you're not talking about the nature thing, are you? Just because you guys don't have the same opinion on nature doesn't mean you can't be together."

"She loves nature," Adrian said. "Kind of like you and animals. Meanwhile, I struggle with it. We're complete opposites. Besides, why are you playing matchmaker?"

"I just want you to be happy, ok?" Diana said, slightly annoyed. "Why can't a sister do a nice thing for her brother?"

"And why can't you just leave it alone?" Adrian asked, also annoyed. "Our relationship is just fine the way it is!"

Diana was going to argue further, but they had finally reached their mansion. They opened the door and Adrian marched up the stairs to his room across from Diana's before slamming the door.

Diana looked over at her brother's door, concerned.

I just want to help him out, she thought. Why is that proving to be so hard?

Adrian flopped down on his large bed and looked around the room full of instruments and painting materials. He looked over at one of his newest additions, a golden lyre straight from Greece. It had cost a pretty penny, but for his father, a wealthy lawyer, that didn't mean much. Adrian got off of the bed and picked up the lyre.

Playing music does always help me calm down, he thought as he started to play.

Diana heard the music coming out of her brother's room and smiled.

Maybe he'll calm down in a few and we can talk again, she thought. Until then, I have a call to make..


"Where is Gryphon?" Hades asked as he paced the throne room. "I haven't seen him all week."

"Perhaps he is training?" Persephone offered from her throne. "You know that it's one of the few things he does in his free time. I've seen him train for weeks on end when necessary. Probably to try and defeat the Red Ranger in their next encounter."

"I suppose…" Hades said. "But why does he hate the Red Ranger so much? Who is Gryphon? We know so little about him."

"We know that he comes from the Echidna line of monsters as part of the Dark Order," Persephone offered, "and was sealed as part of said group in the Second Great War. Then he was released from Tartarus somehow… I guess you're right. How did he escape?"

"No one has escaped Tartarus without help," Hades said as he sat down on his throne. "Not even the Titans who are also trapped in there, and they are as powerful as the Olympians. Someone on our side of the seal in Tartarus has to let them out."

"Gryphon also somehow got the rest of his family released," Persephone continued, "and then joined their campaign against the Rangers, but actually remained loyal to you the whole time, even faking his death for your plan."

"But he's had his moments of disloyalty," Hades said as he made a fist in anger. "He's launched attacks upon the Rangers without my permission, all in some bid to defeat the Red Ranger. Like there's some personal vendetta…"

"Perhaps dwelling on it isn't the best, my lord," Persephone offered. "You have a personal vendetta against the Olympians, and you hate to talk about it. I'm sure Gryphon is the same."

"I guess you're right," Hades said. "I should focus on the Rangers."

He reached into the brazier of blue flame next to him and threw it at the wall, creating a flame screen that showed all of the Rangers that were outside the Temple. Hades looked over at Jay and Valerie as they were each in a different store, trying on fancy clothes. Hades rolled his eyes and looked over at Adrian as he played his music and Diana outside the door listening, apparently back from her call.

"Music, huh?" Hades said, "and I have seen the Gold Ranger struggle against the forces of nature before. I know of one god who combines the two."

He stood up from his throne and walked out of the throne room and down the hallway towards the dungeon. He opened the door and let it slam shut behind him

"Look who it is!" Ares shouted as he stood up and clutched the bars, shaking them as Hades walked past. "Come to send another one of us to fail again?"

"Shut up!" Hades roared, his flames turning orange and rising, as he hurled a ball of orange flame through the bars at Ares, hitting him in the chest. Ares was sent flying backwards and hit the wall, slamming into it as he grunted in pain.

"Anyone else going to aggravate me?" Hades asked, his flames still orange and burning intensely.

There was dead silence as everyone looked over at the prone Ares, who had smoke coming from his chest where the fireball had hit him.

"Good," Hades said, his flames calming down and returning to their blue coloring, as he walked over to a certain cell. "Pan, I have come here for you."

Pan looked up from fiddling with his hands. He was only about 4 feet tall, and had brown hair and a beard. What was especially strange was how the bottom half of him was a bipedal goat, hooves and all. The fur was the same brown color as his hair, which had 2 little horns in them.

"Hey, man!" Dionysus, who was in the cell next to Pan's, slurred as he grabbed the bars. "You gonna...gonna take our music away?"

"Yes, you ignorant drunk," Hades said as he waved his hand to fan away the alcohol fumes from his flame. "Now back up before you cause an explosion!"

Dionysus backed up from the bars, moving to flop down on his old, smelly bed.

"How he took Hestia's place in the Olympians is beyond me," Hades muttered as he turned his attention back to Pan. "Now, Pan. I have need for you as one of my Dark Gods."

"Not gonna happen," Pan said. "I have too many songs to play on my panpipes and too much fun to have here."

He pulled out a set of panpipes from behind his back and began to play. The music was high-speed and energetic. The other gods and goddesses began to nod their heads to the tune.

"Stop that racket!" Hades shouted as he covered one ear with his hand and pointed the other hand and finger at Pan like some kind of gun, firing a stream of blue flame at the pipes. The music stopped as Pan dropped the pipes and left them to the flames.

"There's more where that came from," Pan smirked as he prepared to pull out another set of panpipes.

"Restrain him!" Hades shouted as two armored Spartoi grabbed him and shackled his arms and legs.

"Hang on!" Pan shouted as the armored Spartoi dragged him to follow Hades to the throne room. "You really don't want me...do you?"

Hades just smiled as they reached the throne room and he sat down on his throne. Persephone was still there and looked at Pan being dragged in.

Another god set against the Rangers, she thought. At least they get to be free once they are defeated. If only I could be free. I should have my freedom in a month and a half's time, but who knows if Hades will even honor the agreement between Olympus and him anymore, especially with the Olympians captured…

"Pan," Hades said as he stuck his hand into the brazier and pulled out a blue ball of flame, "you WILL join my cause, whether you like it or not."

"Let's go with not," Pan said. "We both know the Rangers are just going to beat me. All of the gods in the cells know of your losses by the fact you keep coming week after week. When are you going to just give up?"

"Never!" Hades shouted. "Not until the Flame of the Gods is mine! And this time will be different. The Rangers will be unprepared for your combination of traits…"

He hurled the fireball at Pan, who cried out as the flames covered his body, leaving a shadowy aura wherever they burned. The flames reached his eyes last and made them glow a brilliant blue color.

Hades motioned for the shackles to be released. As the armored Spartoi did so, Pan stood up. He whipped out a new set of panpipes, but these ones had a blade on the end of each metal "reed" and it was colored black, making it look malicious in its purpose.

"Defeat the Rangers with your music!" Hades ordered as he threw another fireball to create a portal. "Let the chaos you create bring them destruction!"

"You got it, boss," Pan said, half-saluting, before he leapt into the portal, which closed behind him.

"Now to figure out Gryphon…" Hades said as he began to think.


"I'm not playing around," Gryphon snarled as he looked at the Oracle's face, "so why are you smiling?"

"Because you act like a strong beast, but inside you is a scared teen," the Oracle said, still smiling even with the sword at her throat.

"Nobody's scared!" Gryphon roared, his anger rising higher than his desire to be discreet. "I don't know why everyone thinks that, but I am Gryphon, the Dark Order Knight! I am never scared! And where are you getting the 'teen' idea from?"

"Only a child or teenager would have rage problems like your's," the Oracle replied. "Why do you continue to deny half of yourself? I know of the deal you made. An angry Human and beast-like Knight coming together into one being...It's quite an identity you've created for yourself."

"How do you know of my deal?" Gryphon questioned. "Nobody but I and the being I made the deal with should know! Are you going to tell the Rangers? Have you? Answer me!"

"I have already spoken with the Rangers," the Oracle said. "Almost a month ago now. After Chiron found them and you were repelled by him, they took the Hero Test and passed. But no, I did not reveal your deal to them."

"No wonder Jay got that new armor…" Gryphon said. "But how do you know of that deal? Not even the god you derive your power from, Apollo, knows!"

"My powers have advanced far beyond what Lord Apollo gave me originally," the Oracle explained. "They evolved over time, as the mists were passed down the generations and I took over their minds for the times they required me to speak to mortals. I know so much now that the spirits of nature finally let me move on to Elysium to stop me from affecting the mortal world anymore. This body you see is just one I created when I was sent to the Underworld, as I took the form of the mists in the mortal world. As for knowing your deal, I now know most things that have happened, most things that are happening, and most things that may happen. My vision is blocked from certain events, but your deal was not one of them. That dark being you made the deal with...the one who put you into the body you now possess...I dare not speak his name."

"Fine. One last question, the real reason I came here," Gryphon said. "Where are the Cyclopes? I know they reside in a volcano in the mortal world, but I do not know exactly where."

"They are in the crater of Vesuvius in Pompeii," the Oracle answered. "They have been there since the eruption in 79 CE cleared out the people around them. Did mortals not think it strange that a dormant volcano just erupted one morning? The gods did it to hide the Cyclopes from mortals' prying eyes. If mortals knew of the Cyclopes being there, imagine the horrible weapons they could have created!"

"Interesting," Gryphon said. "Thank you, Oracle. You have been most helpful, though I do not know why. I am considered a villain by most. Why did you aid me?"

"Because your path will not end the way you think it will," the Oracle said, "and I wish to see the best future come to pass."

"I will get my revenge," Gryphon said. "I don't care what future you have foreseen! Nothing will stop me!"

"Of course," the Oracle smiled as Gryphon turned to black smoke and flowed out of the building. She maintained her smile.

"Everything is going the way I told Persephone it would," the Oracle said to herself. "Now to sit and wait. All will pass as it should."


Diana knocked on Adrian's door a few minutes after the music had started. She slowly opened the door and poked her head in.

"Feeling better?" she asked.

"I guess," Adrian said as he stopped playing his lyre and set it on the bed next to him. "Why? Are you going to come at me again?"

"I wasn't 'coming at you'," Diana retorted. "I was trying to help you."

Adrian was going to speak again when the twins' morphers went off.

"Go ahead," Adrian said into the morpher.

"I've got some sort of goat creature...a satyr?" she asked away from the speaker before coming back and continuing. "A satyr attacking the central park. Chiron thinks it's Pan, but it's hard to tell what's going on there with all of the chaos he's causing."

"Alright, we're on our way," Adrian said. "Don't bother with a Door. We're close enough to get there quick enough."

"Good luck, Adrian," Christina said as the call ended.

Adrian stood up from his bed and he and Diana rushed out of the room and down the stairs. They each pushed open one of their twin front doors and ran towards the park.

"Guess we should morph on the way," Adrian said as he saw no people on the street.

"Right," Diana said as they both crossed their arms over their chests while running.

"Silver Olympian Power!"

"Gold Olympian Power!"

In a flash of gold and silver light, the Rangers were transformed. They arrived in the park, running through the arch marking the entrance, and found a chaotic scene, just like Christina had said.

The other five Rangers, already morphed and Hero Armored-up arrived at the same time as the twins and looked around at the scene.

"What the hell?" Nate asked as he saw a tree raising its roots from the ground and whipping them at people, as well as pelting them with nuts and leaves.

"Uh...ok…" Valerie said as she watched a flock of geese attacking people quite aggressively. "I left preparing for Valentine's Day to fight geese?"

"More accurately," Mera said as a swarm of bees chased some people past the Rangers. "It looks like we are fighting nature itself."

"Well, either way," Jay said. "We've got to find out what's causing this. It has to be that satyr. Is he a Dark God?"

He heard laughing in one of the bushes. As the Rangers moved to flank around it, a 4 foot goat-man with a shadowy aura jumped out.

"Of course I'm a Dark God!" the goat-man said, "I'm not just any satyr. I'm the God of the Wild: Pan! And you look like you could use a little more fun in your life!"

"Fun?" Diana asked as she looked around. "You think using poor plants and animals as weapons is fun? Especially when you of all people should know that those plants have spirits!"

She charged at him with her knives, but Pan leapt over her and landed in front of one of the trees attacking people.

"Oh, the dryads?" he asked. "They don't mind. I am their master, after all."

"Oakley and Needles did say something like that," Victor agreed.

"Well, whether he's their master or not, he's using them to attack innocent people!" Jay said. "And we can't allow that. Let's take him!"

The Rangers nodded as they summoned their weapons and followed his lead.

Pan played a quick tune on his panpipes and the tree behind him whipped its roots towards them.

Jay slashed through one vertically, causing the root to split in two around him, while the others leapt and slid and rolled around the attacks.

"Damn it!" Diana shouted, her daggers now back to its bow form, as she aimed said bow at Pan while dodging the roots, but the tree used its roots to protect him, "I can't get a clear shot!"

Pan laughed as the Rangers struggled against the tree's roots. He put the panpipes up near his lips and played another tune.

Jay looked up as a flock of geese came flying at him. He cried out as the geese used their talons and beaks to strike him, causing sparks to fly from his suit.

"It must be the panpipes that are controlling the plants and animals!" Mera realized as the tree roots finally let up their assault for a minute. "We need to go for them!"

"You mean that instrument he's playing?" Nate asked. "He really named them after himself? That'd be like me calling a flute the Nateflute! You know, if I played the flute."

"The panpipes weren't named by Pan," Adrian said as the 6 Rangers, minus Jay, regrouped near their leader to try and help him with the geese. "They were named after him by Greek musicians instead."

"That's great and all," Nate said as he grabbed a goose off of Jay's suit and threw it away, "but I don't see how that helps us."

"Watch it with the geese!" Diana snapped. "They're still living creatures, even if they aren't in control of themselves."

Victor pulled one off of Jay and lowered it to the ground, but it simply jumped back on the swarmed Red Ranger once it was placed on the ground.

"Guys, don't worry about me!" Jay said. "You guys just have to get the panpipes away from Pan! Go!"

"You heard the man," Nate said as he charged at Pan again while summoning his trident.

"Ocean Trident!" he shouted as it appeared in his hands while he ran.

"Ocean's Fury!" he shouted as the tips glowed blue and he leapt and stabbed at Pan.

Pan played a new song on the panpipes and a swarm of bees appeared out of a beehive on one of the trees and swarmed at him. They stung his hand, causing him to drop his trident mid-attack. Nate landed next to Pan and tried to strike him with his fist, but the agile Satyr flipped backwards onto one of the lower tree branches. Nate was about to follow when the bees started to try to sting him. He ran towards the lake and jumped in. The bees swarmed in front of the lake in formation, stopping Nate from being able to reach dry land.

"Guys, the bees literally won't let me leave!" he shouted. "And I don't think I could take any more stings, so I'm out."

The others looked between their two trapped teammates and then turned around. Diana, Adrian and Valerie all fired shots at Pan, while Mera and Victor pointed their weapons at him and fired a string of spears and flame at him respectively.

The tree blocked the attack with its roots, which were damp enough from the dirt around it for even the fire to not affect it.

"When are you going to just give up?" Pan asked, "I can trap the rest of you just as easily as I did your friends!"

"We'll never give up!" Valerie shouted. "Not when we still have a chance!"

"I think I'll take away that chance!" Pan replied as he played another song on his panpipes.

The grass around the Rangers began to coil around their ankles. Adrian, Diana and Victor managed to jump out of the circle of grass being affected and onto the sidewalk, but Valerie and Mera weren't so lucky.

The grass was manipulated in such a way to make the two female Rangers fall to the ground as the grass grew to expand around them. Valerie looked down to see a swarm of ants crawling towards her.

"Nope," she said. "Not doing that!"

She squirmed around in her grass binding but she had no luck getting free. The ants started to crawl over her feet and legs, causing her to scream.

Mera seemed less concerned and more angry, growling as she thrashed around in her bonds. The ants began to crawl up her too.

"Victor, use your fire!" Valerie shouted, panicked. "Burn the ants before they get too high up my body!"

"I can't risk hurting you two," Victor said. "I can't control my flames that well. I might burn you girls too."

"Get the pipes!" Mera said. "Then you can save us all!"

Diana aimed an arrow again, but once again the tree protected Pan with its roots.

"I can't risk harming that tree, especially when I know that it has a dryad connected to it!" she said, "I really don't know how to get to him without harming nature!"

"I have a plan," Victor said. "And it's a little risky, but it should work."

"And that plan is…?" Diana asked.

Victor leapt in front of the tree.

"Telling you to run and get help!" Victor said as he tried to protect the twins from the tree's reach. "Call the others, they should be well suited to handle this!"

"What do you...oh, I got it!" Adrian said as he grabbed Diana's hand and pulled her away from the battle, "come on, sis!"

Diana pried her hand from Adrian's as she looked at Victor struggling to keep back the roots with his hammer.

"You go," she said. "I think Victor needs help covering the retreat. I trust you, so you need to go and get Christina and Dan!"

Adrian looked ready to argue until Diana pushed him towards the exit.

"Go!" she shouted before turning around and summoning her daggers again, "Hunting Daggers!"

Adrian started running away as Victor and Diana forced the roots back. He reached the exit and turned around to see Pan play another song with his panpipes. A hoard of squirrels appeared from the trees around the one Pan was attacking with and leapt onto the two Rangers, who sent their weapons to the pocket dimension in fear of hurting the creatures. Adrian tore himself away from the view and ran down the street.

"Christina, I need a Door!" he shouted into his morpher.

"Got one near your coordinates," Christina said as a door in a building near the park's outline turned blue and flew open.

Adrian ran through the now open door before it slammed shut behind him. He stumbled into the Temple as the Doors of Janus slammed shut as well. Adrian was breathing heavily as he ran up to Chiron and Christina at the mosaic computer, demorphing on the way.

"We just got our asses handed to us by a bunch of animals and plants," he explained as he pointed at Christina. "And I'm going to need your and Dan's help to beat their master."

"Why us?" Christina asked before she thought about it for a minute, "wait, I got it!"

"Better call in Dan," Adrian said as he turned to the Doors of Janus again. "And give me a Door to my house. I've got a few ideas on how to fix this mess and one of them starts there."


All the other Rangers that Adrian had left were now wrapped up in the tree's roots, holding them in place and keeping their arms at their sides. Pan was still on the same tree branch he had been on the whole fight.

"You can't hold us forever!" Jay shouted defiantly as he and the other Rangers struggled against the roots holding them.

"I don't have to!" Pan said, "I just need to hold you long enough to destroy you!"

"Hey, if it's the tree roots or the ants, I'll take the tree roots," Valerie said as she stopped struggling for a minute to catch her breath.

"How to best destroy you?" Pan said as he sat down on the branch, "I could summon a mighty beast to attack you! Or I could smother you with squirrels! Or…"

"Oh, just pick something!" Nate shouted at him. "The indecision is killing me!"

"I think I'll…" Pan said before he was interrupted by someone else.

"Give up?" Adrian asked as he ran up in front of the roots holding his friends. "Great idea. Right, guys?"

"Couldn't agree more!" Dan said as he pointed a finger at Pan. "Your Dark God days are over, goat man!"

"Yeah!" Christina agreed. "Especially with the three of us here!"

All three were unmorphed, and Adrian was holding a golden lyre in his left hand.

"And what can you do that your friends couldn't?" Pan asked.

"We can do this!" Adrian shouted. "It's Morphing Time!"

All three crossed their arms over their chests, with Adrian still holding the lyre.

"Green Olympian Power!"

"Purple Olympian Power!"

"Gold Olympian Power!"

In a flash of green, purple and gold light, the Rangers had morphed. Dan summoned his thyrsus and Christina summoned her scythe, while Adrian grasped the lyre tightly.

"More Rangers? So?" Pan asked with a yawn, clearly unimpressed. "Why should I care?"

"You should care because of this!" Christina shouted as she posed. "Demeter, goddess of the harvest! Green Olympian Ranger!"

"Dionysus, god of the vine! Purple Olympian Ranger!"

"Apollo, god of healing! Gold Olympian Ranger!"

Pan started laughing at the Rangers.

"Harvest, vine and healing? What am I supposed to be scared of again?" Pan asked between fits of laughter.

"You should know that most gods and goddesses aren't one trick ponies," Dan said as he wagged a finger. "Dionysus is also considered a god of vegetation of all kinds."

"As is Demeter," Christina added.

"And Apollo is probably best known as a god of music and…" Adrian said as he strummed the lyre. "He's known for playing a lyre."

"So what?" Pan said. "I'm also the god of panic. It's an additional perk, but it only does so much...wait...vegetation...as in plants...like…"

"Like that tree!" Christina shouted as she focused her power through her scythe, while Dan did the same with his thyrsus.

The blade of the scythe began to glow a brilliant green color and the pinecone on the end of the thyrsus glowed purple as the tree slowly but surely began to lower the Rangers to the ground.

"I'll stop you two!" Pan shouted before he put the panpipes to his lips and began to play.

"Oh no you don't!" Adrian shouted as he started to play a song on the lyre that was the reverse of Pan's. "I was paying attention to the songs you played earlier! I assume if I play the notes in reverse, it should cancel out your power!"

Pan's eyes narrowed as he tried to play louder, but he found that he could not overpower the song of the lyre with his own panpipes.

The Rangers were released from the tree's roots and watched as the roots went back underground where they belonged.

"Much better," Jay said with a sigh of contentment before he pointed a finger at Pan. "Now to stop you! You have nothing to protect you now!"

Pan started to panic as he looked around at the animals and plants going back to normal.

"No, no, no! You're taking away all the fun!" he whined as the bees went back to their hive and the geese took flight.

"Cry me a river," Nate said. "What's the play, fearless leader?"

"Adrian, keep playing that lyre. It seems to cancel out his power. Dan and Christina, you support him in case the plants start acting up again. The rest of us are going to make a dash at him and hit him with everything we've got before we all finish with the Nine Ranger Omega Strike!" Jay said.

"Sounds like a plan," Nate said as Adrian, Christina and Dan stepped off to the side and the remaining six rangers summoned their weapons and prepped them.

"Here we go!" Jay shouted as he started running at Pan, who was still in the tree. The others followed behind him.

Diana and Valerie stopped a little ways from the tree Pan was hiding in and aimed their bows.

"Fire!" they shouted as the pink energy arrow and silver energy arrow flew at Pan.

Pan backflipped out of the tree, making it so the energy arrows missed. Luckily, they dissipated a few yards after they missed their target, making it so there was no damage to the trees or animals.

Jay came in with a vertical slice with his sword, lightning sparking from the blade as he attacked.

Pan blocked the attack with the metal body of his panpipes before leaping up and coming in for a two-hooved kick to Jay's helmet and armor. Jay stumbled backwards, the kick not actually hurting him but disorienting him for a minute instead.

Nate stabbed at the satyr with his trident from one direction as Mera did the same from the other. Pan leapt above the attacks, causing Mera to duck to dodge the trident strike and Nate, who was too slow at the moment, to be hit with the tip of the spear, causing minimal damage but still pissing him off.

"That's how you want to fight, goat man?" he asked as he readied his trident again. "Take this!"

He stabbed at Pan with his trident while Pan ducked and lashed out, causing Nate to overextend and Pan to kick him in his unarmored nether regions.

Nate clutched the area and fell to the ground, dropping his trident to the ground as Victor came in to cover him.

Victor slammed his hammer onto the ground, creating a geyser of flame to shoot up from the ground and roast Pan. Pan cried out as he was singed by the attack. As soon as the flame attack ended, he collapsed to the ground.

"You...won't...beat...me!" he shouted as he tried to stand up but couldn't.

Adrian had stopped playing the lyre at this point. He started to walk towards Jay when Pan, still on the ground, reached towards the Rangers.

"You haven't beaten me yet!" he cried as he aimed his hand at one Ranger in particular, "Gold Ranger, I'll take my revenge now! No one can play music better than me and get away with it!"

The shadowy aura around him intensified before quickly fading away completely as all of the energy gathered around his hand, creating a ball.

"I'm taking you with me!" Pan shouted as the shadowy ball launched out of his hand and flew at Adrian. Pan collapsed after he fired it, all of his Dark God energy spent.

Adrian was too shocked to move, only for him to notice Diana running towards him with her superspeed. But before even Diana could get there, another Ranger leapt in front of Adrian, spreading their arms out to protect him.

"Christina?" Adrian asked, though he already knew the answer, as she was standing right in front of him.

She nodded back at him as the ball struck her head on, causing Christina to fall to her knees and then the ground, demorphing on the way down.

"Christina!" Adrian shouted as he kneeled on the ground and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Why did you do that?"

Christina looked at him between half-closed eyes as she put a hand on his cheek.

"Diana called me," Christina said. "She told me that the two of us have a connection. I felt it. And I hope you do too. That's...why…"

She closed her eyes as the hand fell to the ground.

"Christina!" Adrian shouted in agony before calming down. He had learned some things about first aid and medicine from Chiron, as well as his own research, including how to check a pulse. He put two fingers to her wrist and felt for the pulse. While weak, it was definitely there.

The other Rangers looked on in shock at what had just happened. They were unaware that any Dark God could use their power that way.

"You're going to pay for that!" Adrian shouted as he stood up. "Let's form the Omega Olympian Crossbow!"

Jay was the first to snap out of his daze.

"Right!" he said, "Dan, get Christina out of here and take her back to the Temple. Chiron should open the Door for you. Meanwhile, we'll take Pan out."

"Roger," Dan said as he picked the limp Christina up into his arms and carried her away from the battle. "Give him one from me!"

"I plan on it," Adrian said as the Rangers including Nate, who had recovered from his injury finally, created the Omega Olympian Crossbow and prepared the Seven Ranger Omega Strike.

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.

"Seven Ranger Omega Strike!" Jay shouted as 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 respectively. 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 aimed the crossbow lower and put his finger on the trigger.

"Fire!" he shouted as he pulled the trigger, launching the sword and daggers at Pan.

Pan didn't stir from the ground, as all of the power fueling him was spent. The sword and daggers struck him in the head before carving a large glowing omega symbol into it. Pan didn't even cry out as he exploded.

"Now to get to Christina!" Adrian shouted as he started to run towards the nearest building before turning around to see Pan split into two.

One was the normal Pan without the dark aura, and one had the dark aura somehow around them, which intensified, as well as the blue glow in his eyes, as he grew.

"Pan-ic now, Rangers!" the Dark God Pan said as he grew before stomping away from the park to the city.

"Oh, come on!" Nate shouted. "I thought he used all of his power! But he can still grow?"

"Doesn't really matter how," Jay said. "He grew. Let's take him down!"

"Hero Zords!" the five main Rangers called out.

Orbs in the Rangers colors flew out of their omega symbols on their chest plates and formed into the humanoid Hero Zords

"Send the Raven Zord!" Adrian shouted into his morpher.

"And the Deer Zord!" Diana added.

The Raven Zord cawed as it swooped in from the sky and the Deer Zord weaved its legs around the cars as it ran towards the battle.

The seven Rangers jumped into their Zords.

"Hero Zords, combine!" Jay ordered.

The Aphrodite Hero Zord's arms folded into its body as its legs pivoted to the front before combining to form a foot. Its head also flipped into the body, leaving a connection point. The Athena Hero Zord did the same transformation, creating a second leg.

The Poseidon Hero Zord's arms also folded into its body as the head flipped into the body, but leaving no connection point. The legs rotated 180 degrees before folding onto the back of the Zord. A connection point on the back of the Zord flipped out. A fist slid down and out of the Zord's body. The Hephaestus Zord made the same transformation but facing the other way, creating a second arm.

The Zeus Hero Zord's legs folded before sliding into the body and being covered by a plate with two holes for the legs. It's arms folded into the body and revealed a hole on each side for the arms. The head flipped around to reveal a larger head that still had the same style helmet, but in gold with a red plume on top.

The Aphrodite Hero Zord and the Athena Hero Zord connected into place as the left and right leg respectively as the Poseidon Hero Zord and Hephaestus Hero Zord connected as the left and right arms respectively, with the Zeus Hero Zord bearing the points they connected to.

A golden gladius and a round gold shield appeared in the Megazord's hands. Magically misty versions appeared in the Ranger's hands as they joined together in a single cockpit to show them how they were using the weapons.

"Let's form Gold Mode!" Adrian said as he flipped the lever in his Zord.

"You got it, bro," Diana said as she flipped the lever in her Zord as well.

"Zords, combine!" they called out together.

The Deer stood up on its hind legs, which unfolded to become thicker. It's front legs turned 90 degrees to look like human arms on the shoulder joint. The arms also expanded to become larger. The body of the Deer opened up, with the head becoming part of the chestplate. The Raven swooped in, with the wings detaching to create a bow, and filled in the giant hole in the zord, creating the shoulders and head. The Raven head slid up to reveal a robot face inside and create a hood.

"Gemini Megazord: Silver Mode!" the two shouted as the Megazord grabbed the golden bow from it's back made out of the Raven's wings. It then split them into two scimitars.

"That's a blast from the past," Nate said. "We haven't seen that in over ten episodes."

"What?" Jay asked as he looked over at the Blue Ranger.

"Uh, fighting now, talking later!" Nate said quickly as he pointed at Dark God Pan as he attacked the city, taking a chunk out of a skyscraper with the bladed panpipes in his hand.

The two Megazords stomped up to Dark God Pan. The Hero Megazord slashed with its golden sword at Dark God Pan's chest, but it was blocked by the bladed panpipes. The Gemini Megazord: Silver Mode slashed at Dark God Pan's head with one scimitar and at his midsection with the other. Dark God Pan stepped backwards, avoiding both attacks, before coming in with a slash from the bladed panpipes' blades to the chest.

The Gemini Megazord: Silver Mode's chest sparked as the two Rangers cried out in their cockpits, sparks flying from the controls.

The Hero Megazord watched as the Gemini Megazord: Silver Mode fell to a knee before stomping over to help it stand up.

"We took some minor damage," Adrian said to the Rangers in the Hero Megazord, "but it'll still take a minute for the Megazord to recover."

"We've got it," Nate said as he and the other Rangers in the Hero Megazord made it start stomping towards Dark God Pan.

Dark God Pan leapt at the Hero Megazord as it was mid stride and gave it a double kick to the chest, sending it to the ground. The Hero Megazord tried to rise, only for Dark God Pan to put a hoof on the Hero Megazord's back. The Rangers could hear the Hero Megazord strain against the hoof, but it wasn't getting any momentum going to force Dark God Pan off.

"Damn it!" Jay said as the Rangers strained against the pressure Dark God Pan was putting out. "We need to get free!"

"Chiron, if you've got some deus ex machina, now is the time!" Nate shouted through his morpher.

"Yeah...hey," Dan said through the morpher, "Chiron's busy helping Christina, so I guess I'm doing support here."

"Great," Nate said sarcastically, "we're screwed!"

As Dark God Pan began to press harder down on the Hero Megazord, he didn't notice the Gemini Megazord: Silver Mode switching to Gold Mode and aiming its bow at him. The Gemini Megazord: Gold Mode released the arrow and watched as it struck Dark God Pan in the chest, with the force of the arrow knocking him off the Hero Megazord. The Gemini Megazord: Gold Mode offered out a hand to the Hero Megazord and helped it right itself.

"We may not have Christina right now, but we can still use her Zord," Adrian said, "Send the Serpent Zord!"

"Uh...yeah. Getting right on that…" Dan said through the morpher as the Rangers could hear him start typing random runes on the keyboard.

"Alright, Christina's stable. Now then...what the hell are you doing!?" Chiron's voice said, a little far away from the speaker. The Rangers could hear the clicking of his hooves as he galloped over.

"Millennials these days…" the Rangers could hear Chiron mutter before they heard the clicking of keys again. "Alright, Adrian. Sending it your way."

The Serpent Zord burrowed out of the ground at the park, leaving a large hole in the grass. It slithered over to the battle and hissed at Dark God Pan.

"Why's it hissing at him?" Victor asked.

"I would guess that it's upset Christina's hurt," Valerie suggested. "You know, if Zords had feelings."

"We do not know how advanced the Zords' Artificial Intelligence is," Mera said. "They may very well have emotions and a bond with us."

"Just what I wanted," Nate quipped, "a giant horse robot as a pet."

"Bond or not, it's ready to help," Adrian said, "Serpent Zord, combine!"

The Deer arms came off of the Gemini Megazord: Gold Mode and the Serpent Zord split in half horizontally. The halves of the Zord attached where the arms had previously been, forming new arms. The tail half was the left arm and the head half was the right arm.

"Gemini Megazord: Gold Mode with Serpent Power!" Adrian and Diana announced together.

The Gemini Megazord: Gold Mode with Serpent Power walked forward with the right, head-arm outstretched. The head-arm snapped out with its fangs, biting Dark God Pan right on the arm holding the bladed panpipes. Dark God Pan dropped them as he struggled against the head-arm gripping his own arm by the wrist.

"Let go, you stupid snake!" he shouted as he pulled. "You're ruining all my fun!"

"It's not the only one!" Adrian shouted as the Gemini Megazord: Gold Mode with Serpent Power kicked out with one of its legs while letting go with the snake head-arm.

Dark God Pan cried out as the kick went right into his gut and sent him tumbling onto the road.

"Let's switch to Valerie's bow and finish this!" Jay said.

The others voiced their agreement and the golden sword and shield in the Hero Megazord's hands faded away and was replaced by a golden bow and arrow.

"This is for Christina!" Adrian shouted.

"Serpent Zord Nature Beam!" he and Diana shouted together as the Gemini Megazord: Gold Mode with Serpent Power fired a powerful green beam of energy at Dark God Pan.

"Hero Bow Arrow Strike!" the five Hero Rangers shouted as the Hero Megazord's arrow started to glow. The Hero Megazord released the arrow, sending it flying at Dark God Pan as well.

Dark God Pan cried out as the arrow and energy beam struck him.

"I just wanted to have some fun!" he said before he fell over and exploded.

Unlike usual, the Rangers didn't celebrate, instead leaping out of their Megazords, demorphing on the way, and running towards a set of doors in a building next to them.

"Chiron, open a Door!" Jay ordered. When he saw the outline of the doors turn blue, he led the other Rangers inside.

The Doors of Janus slammed shut behind them, but the Rangers were already halfway to the medical center by the time that had happened. They ran into the room. Chiron and Dan were next to Christina's bed, watching for any signs that the nectar was working.

"How is she?" Adrian asked quickly. "Why hasn't she woken up yet?"

"The nectar is working too slowly," Chiron said as he went over the IV bag that was putting nectar into her bloodstream, "I can't give her too much, but the amount I can give her isn't enough."

The other Rangers looked at him confused.

"Why can't you give her more?" Valerie asked. "If she needs it, then you should give more to her."

"As descendants of gods, you Rangers can use some nectar to heal yourselves. But only a god or goddess can drink it like you would water. If too much is given to a god descendant at once, it will likely do more harm than good," Chiron explained, "it would probably kill them faster than whatever injury they have."

"There has to be another way…" Mera said as she thought about it.

Adrian silently morphed and summoned his Sun Staff.

"There is," he said. "This saved Jay from a deadly wound before. It should be able to do it now!"

He raised the staff and focused all of the energy in him into the tip of the staff. The end began to glow as a ball of energy appeared on it. The ball floated over Christina and flew into her chest. The Rangers all watched with bated breath, but nothing appeared to have changed. Adrian fell to his knees and demorphed, his energy having been used to try and heal her. He was, however, still holding the Sun Staff.

"I'll try again," he said as he used the staff to hold himself up.

"Wait!" Diana said as she ran over to him and put a hand on Adrian's shoulder. "You realize you might exert all of your power to try and save her. What if you couldn't morph anymore, or you used all of the energy in your body and you...died?"

"I have to do this," Adrian said as he brushed her hand off. "We just realized how strong a connection we have, and I don't want to lose her before we can explore that!"

"Diana has a point," Mera said, "if it does not work, we would be down two Rangers instead of one. Do you really think Christina would want you to sacrifice your life for hers? We don't even know if she can be saved!"

"A little harsh, Mera," Jay muttered to her.

"I am just stating facts," she said, "we have two unknowns: an unknown amount of energy needed to heal Christina and an unknown amount of energy Adrian can give her. The odds are…"

"Never tell me the odds!" Nate said. Everyone looked at him strangely.

"What, you've never seen Empire Strikes Back?" he asked. "Even I know about it, and we can't afford to watch movies that often."

"No, I understood the reference," Jay said. "Just seems a little inappropriate right now."

"Guys, we don't know how long Christina has!" Adrian said. "Is now really the time for movie references?"

"Maybe I can help," a voice said.

The Rangers looked towards the entrance to the medical center and normal Pan was standing there.

"Did we forget him?" Victor muttered to Nate.

"I thought it was your job to grab him," Nate muttered back.

"Is there anything you can do?" Adrian asked as he looked at Pan.

"I might be able to work a little Satyr magic," Pan said as he flexed his fingers. "Come on, you got the powers of Apollo and she had the powers of Demeter. You both just need a little boost."

He pulled out a normal set of panpipes and began to play.

"Is anyone taking this seriously?" Adrian asked, angry.

"Dude, you're glowing," Nate said as he pointed at Adrian.

Adrian looked down and noticed that he was indeed glowing a gold color. He looked down and saw that Christina was glowing a green color, the same as her suit. His suit appeared on him again, minus the helmet, as he raised his staff. The staff was also glowing and Adrian focused this new power Pan was giving him into the tip of the staff. A ball of energy appeared on the end of the staff. It slowly flew over to the still glowing Christina and flew into her chest.

Adrian lowered the staff. His glow disappeared slowly as Pan stopped playing, but Christina's remained. A minute later, it too disappeared.

"That's the best I can do…" Pan said, "I guess we...lost her."

"No," Adrian said before whirling around and grabbing Pan by the shoulders. "There has to be something more you can do! You're a god!"

"I'm saying I can't!" Pan shouted back, "I thought because she had nature powers I could boost her healing ability, but it...wait a minute. Look!"

He pointed behind Adrian.

Adrian whirled around and watched as Christina opened her eyes.

"Why is everyone yelling?" she asked, still weakened. She tried to sit up, but quickly fell back down.

"Stay still," Chiron said. "We still have no idea what Dark God Pan actually did to you. There could be side effects."

"Seemed like a normal blast of destructive energy to me," Nate joked.

Mera smacked him and grabbed him by the wrist.

"That will be quite enough out of you," she said as she pulled him out of the medical center by his wrist.

Everyone laughed before Adrian looked at Christina again.

"How do you feel?" he asked her.

"Like crap," she said, "but I'll be better. Eventually. I did want to talk to you though."

She looked at the others staring at the two of them.

"Alone," she finished.

"C'mon," Valerie said as she herded everyone, Chiron included, out of the medical center. "You heard the girl. Out!"

Diana started to protest, but finally gave up and walked out with the others.

As soon as everyone was out, Christina began to speak.

"So, what's up with us?" she asked.

"Uh...what do you mean?" Adrian asked.

"I remember everything up to being unconscious," Christina said, "including telling you that I felt our connection. How do you feel?"

"Honestly, I never thought about it until Diana brought it up," Adrian admitted. "I just assumed we were friends and nothing more. But seeing you injured really made me stop and think. I guess we are more than just friends, aren't we?"

"I feel like the fact we're both artists means we see the world in similar ways," Christina said as she laid a hand out next to her on the bed. "A way that not many other people do. Why don't we see the world our way...together?"

Adrian smiled as he put his hand in hers.

"I would love to," he said.

"To be honest, though," Christina said, "it's because I see the world in that way that I refuse to fight. I've broken my own rule against violence twice now. I can't do it anymore. I'm willing to be working with Chiron on support, but between that and the fact that I'm probably going to be stuck in bed for a while, all this fighting...I won't be an active member in it anymore."

"If that's how you feel," Adrian said. "I can't say that I feel the same, but I respect it."

"That's all I'm asking for," Christina said. "Now go tell Pan 'thanks'. From me."

Adrian released Christina's hand and stood up.

"I'll be back to see you again shortly," he said, "just stay in bed for now."

He walked over to the main room of the Temple. He walked over to Pan, who was finishing up a conversation with Victor.

"A dryad saw your mother, but doesn't know where they themselves are located in this dimension…" he said as he stroked his chin. "I'll see what I can do."

"That's all I'm asking for," Victor said before noticing Adrian. "But I think someone else wants to talk to you."

He stepped away as Adrian and Pan faced each other.

"I'm sorry I yelled," Adrian said. "But thanks. From both of us."

"I used to chase after nymphs in the forest," Pan said. "I'm used to getting yelled at. And it sounds like you got yourself a girl through all this trouble. Take all the wins you can get. Hades is getting more and more desperate. There's at least 30 more gods and the goddesses he's got trapped down in the Underworld. So, to all of you, be careful and save them all."

With that, he walked over to the Doors, which were already open and waiting.

"Best of luck," he said, "and if you ever need a good song…"

He pulled out panpipes and played a quick tune.

"You know who to call," he finished. "See ya!"

He stepped through the Doors and, just like that, he was gone.

"You heard him, team," Jay said. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us. And don't forget Gryphon's still out there...somewhere…"


"Mt. Vesuvius…" Gryphon said as he flew over the Underworld, "I remember it from history class. It shouldn't be hard to find. I just need to get to Pompeii, and I can only teleport when I'm in Hades' palace. It's a pain, but I guess it keeps souls from getting out of their torment."

You have lost a week of your precious time! the animal voice inside him said. Soon, I will have control again!

It'll be over by then, the human voice said, and then, you can do whatever you like'

He landed at the palace. It had been a much shorter flight because he had flown in a straight line instead of searching every part of the Underworld. He walked through the entrance and found armored Spartoi blocking his way to the throne room.

Works for me, the human voice thought, I don't want to see Hades anyway.

He slunk off to a dark corner and disappeared into the shadow, turning into black smoke mid stride. What he didn't notice was an armored Spartoi watching him as he disappeared. It ran towards the throne room. It had news for its master.

The plot thickens. I'm trying to strike a balance between advancing the story and exploring the characters, as I don't want them all to act the same and say the same sorts of things. That's why Nate is so 4th wall-breaking or rude and Mera had her "no contractions" rule. It's to try and distinguish them from the other characters. That's why I consider Adrian underdeveloped, as he doesn't really have much personality wise to separate him from, say, Jay. That's why I brought up his music abilities in this chapter, similar to how I did in "A Golden Opportunity" (Chapter 14).

Anyway, that's way more than enough author notes for this chapter. Enjoy your holiday, no matter which one you celebrate, and may the power protect you!