Hello, Ranger Nation! I'm finally back with a new chapter! After taking off a month to prepare and take my final exams, I'm back at the keyboard. I know this is a little later than just a month, but hey, I'm not perfect. I'm happy to get this chapter out to see what you guys think. But first, some housekeeping (as my high school teachers used to say):

First of all, Chapters are now referred to as "Myth". Sentai always did cool things with episode names and I decided to follow their example. I've already fixed the titles for the popdown menu and inside the story itself.

Second of all, I have started to go through my old chapters and fix the grammatical and formatting issues and I am about halfway done (I'm at Myth 18 right now) and plan to fix all of them. Myth 6 (The Tangled Web We Weave!) has had a MAJOR rewrite after the (fair) criticism I received from xXRocketShark216Xx. While the idea is mostly the same, I would still recommend a reread to anyone who wants to stay up to date. I also updated Myths 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 13 in minor ways to improve flow, explanations and character interactions. A good way to check if a chapter has been changed is to look at the Author Note, as I added that I changed things in there. However, some edits I considered so minor that I didn't put a note. I am so sorry for any confusion this causes old readers, but I feel it'll make things better for the new ones.

Third of all, I want to thank JTWAS1994, GoldenMewtwo and SwifteForeverAndAlways for their reviews of Myth 37. Couldn't do it without you guys!

Finally, I have begun to create Pixel Art for this series. It will be visible on Power Ranger Fanon on the Olympian Force characters' pages. Look forward to more of that in the future!

Now that that's out of the way, on with the story!

Myth 38: Ranger Danger!

"Come out, come out wherever you are," Dark God Valerie said as she gently and expertly stepped forward, bow in hand and ready to shoot. "You know, the more you hide, the more fun it is for me." She smirked under her helmet as she continued forward through the park. As she continued to move down the grass, she noticed a flicker of movement behind a tree.

"Foolish mortal," Dark God Valerie commented as she quickly released her pink energy arrow. The arrow struck the tree and caused it to crack. A second later, the tree shattered as splinters of wood and leaves flew everywhere.

A figure in a robe cried out as a rather large piece of wood struck him in the side. Wordlessly, the figure felt under their robe for a wound, only to find a bruise. There was a brief sigh of relief before the figure took off.

"We're not done playing yet," Dark God Valerie remarked as she quickly created an energy arrow and aimed it upwards. "Not by a longshot." She released the arrow and watched as it arced in the air before coming down right behind the robed figure, tattering the edge of their robes a bit. Dark God Valerie prepared another arrow and was about to release it when her morpher went off. The noise was a more sinister version of the music the normal Olympian Rangers' morphers played. Dark God Valerie sighed as she dissipated the arrow and activated the morpher.

"You're interrupting my playtime," she remarked.

"That target is small compared to what we have a few blocks from your location," Dark God Victor said from the other end of the morpher. "We have a sighting of Hermes. Zeus says that you need to snipe him out of the sky."

"On my way," Dark God Valerie said. She looked over at the retreating robed figure and gave a humph before turning around and running the other way.

"But you know, once we take out Hermes," Dark God Valerie said into her morpher as she ran. "I was thinking we could try out these new bodies in a more...intimate way."

"Sounds good to me," Dark God Victor said from the other end. "But there's no way Master Cronus is going to let that happen unless we bring him someone's head."

"Guess I shouldn't have played with that rebel for so long, then," Dark God Valerie said. "No matter. I'm enroute now. I should be at his location in about 30 seconds." Indeed, she was running rather quickly further into the city. While not as fast as Diana, Dark God Valerie was still faster than an Olympic Athlete, something she considered rather fitting. Her speed might have been impressive, if there was anyone there to see it. But the city was completely dead, with no people in sight.

Dark God Valerie stopped at the street corner and looked up just in time to see Hermes soar overhead. He seemed to hover there a moment, giving Dark God Valerie all the time she needed to summon her bow again and prep an arrow. Just as Hermes was about to start moving again, Dark God Valerie released the arrow.

"Ah!" Hermes cried out as the arrow struck the wing on one of his sandals. The wing stopped flapping and Hermes tumbled onto a nearby roof.

Perfect, Dark God Valerie thought as she leapt up in one jump onto the roof.

"Going somewhere?" Dark God Valerie asked as she marched up to Hermes.

"Now Valerie, I'm sure we can talk about this," Hermes remarked as he looked around to see Dark God Valerie aiming her bow at his head.

"I'm not Valerie and you know it," Dark God Valerie said. "So appealing to me that way won't work."

"Can't blame a god for trying, can you?" Hermes asked as he put his hands up in a show of surrender. "I just keep hoping that the cracks might begin to show eventually. Being merged with a god for almost three weeks can't be good for the mortal's body or mind."

"You act like I care," Dark God Valerie said with a laugh. "This girl is just a vessel for me. Honestly, Master Cronus would be happier if my very presence in her burned this body to ash eventually. But enough about me. Let's talk about you."

"Me?" Hermes said as he moved to a sitting position. "There's not much to say about me. I'm just trying to do what needs to be done."

"Funny," Dark God Valerie remarked. She paced around Hermes, bow still aimed at his head. "Because Hades said the same thing and you saw what happened to him."

"He's still alive," Hermes said, "somewhere in this mess of a city you've created."

"The city you and the rebels have forced us to fight over!" Dark God Valerie shouted. "Why are you helping the rebels? Why do you choose to fight your fellow Olympians?"

"Because you aren't an Olympian," Hermes said. "You might claim the name of Aphrodite, but you are just a sickness from Cronus's dark Flame that has infected the Aphrodite I know. And now that's traveled into the mortal Valerie Onasis through your fusion."

"So, are you here to save the goddess or the girl?" Dark God Valerie asked.

"Definitely the girl," Hermes said. "For as Apollo told me at the beginning of our imprisonment in the Underworld, the time of the Olympians is over."

Flashback

"What do you mean 'over'?" Hermes asked as he looked through the bars at the Sun God across the way.

"Just as Uranus was replaced by Cronus and the Titans, and the Titans were replaced by Zeus and the Olympians, so must we be replaced," Apollo explained. "It's a cycle of rebirth and a changing of the guard."

"But those were direct children of each other," Hermes pointed out. "Why would things change so drastically between us and the next group?"

"Because change wasn't needed," Apollo said. "We have maintained an era of peace for a few millennia. As such, the cycle didn't need to continue until now with this fight with Hades."

"And who do you think the next group is?" Hermes asked. "There haven't been gods born in a long time. Wouldn't they have come by now?"

"Gods born from immortal blood might not be what humanity needs now," Apollo said. "In fact, I believe what they require is someone who is more like them. I think the group that will replace us and become the new gods are the Olympian Rangers."

"But they're just mortals!" Hermes argued. "How could they replace us?"

"Hercules was made into a god once," Apollo said. "There is precedent for it."

"And what of us once they do become the new Olympians?" Hermes asked. "The Rangers wouldn't destroy or banish us like the last 2 groups did to their predecessors."

"That I am unsure of," Apollo admitted. "All I know is that the Rangers will beat Hades. That is their destiny. What happens then...only the Fates know.

End Flashback

Dark God Valerie started to laugh as Hermes finished his story. Her bow was lowered to her side as she held her chest in laughter.

"You agreed with Apollo that these mortals will become the new Olympians?" she said between fits of laughter. "That's absolutely ridiculous! The Rangers have struggled against the forces of evil for months and have finally lost! Whatever gave you the idea that they had what it took to become the next Olympians?"

"Because unlike us gods, their human spirits have never given up," Hermes said as he walked over to Dark God Valerie. "And I don't expect them to now. I know you're in there, Valerie Onasis. Don't let this Dark God possess your body!"

"I told you. I'm not Valerie!" Dark God Valerie shouted as she lashed out with the body of her bow, trying to hit Hermes.

The Messenger God backstepped away from the attack before rising into the air, the wing on his sandal apparently repaired.

"Then consider this a warning," he said. "A warning that the other Rangers' human spirits have not given up either."

With that, he took off, much faster than before. Dark God Valerie didn't even have a chance to nock her bow before he was out of her line of vision.

Did he let me shoot him? Dark God Valerie thought. Was him being caught just an act to pass on that message? She shook her head. That's not my problem. That's for Zeus and Master Cronus to figure out. Meanwhile, I've got some things to try out with this mortal body of mine.

As she opened a blue-ringed portal behind her and stepped through, she missed the three golden-robed figures standing on a roof above hers, watching. Their golden hoods hid their faces from the light. They nodded to each other before turning as one and disappearing in a flash of golden light, leaving no trace they had ever been there.


Jay grimaced as the sound of thunder reverberated through the room, shaking it a bit.

"Man, that rain sure is harsh," Jay's brother asked as he looked out the window at the flooded roads.

"Yeah," Jay said. "I just don't get why it won't stop. Shouldn't the clouds have released all of their water by now? Man, Mera would know. I should probably call her and see if she knows what's going on."

He pulled out his cell phone and looked at the charge.

"1%? Really?" Jay asked. "I swear I just charged the thing." He walked over to the table and grabbed his charger off the table. "Guess I'll just have to charge it again. Just hope the-"

Suddenly the room went dark as the lights went off.

"-Power doesn't go out," Jay said. "Well, I really jinxed that, didn't I?" He waited for his brother to respond. "Torrin? Did you hear me?"

He ran into the kitchen and started rummaging through the drawers. Eventually, he found a flashlight. As he powered it on, the room finally became illuminated again. However, Jay's brother was gone.

"Torrin? Where'd you go?" Jay shouted throughout the house.

Nobody answered.

"This isn't funny!" Jay added. "So you can just come out now!"

However, his brother was gone, and Jay was…

"Alone," he said finally as he leaned against the wall and slid down it, turning off the flashlight as he did. "I'm all alone."

There was another crash of thunder and a flash of lightning that illuminated the house for a minute. Jay looked down at the ground, lonely, as the rain continued to pour down.


"Ah!" Marcus grunted as Virginia put the ointment on the bruise. "Could you stand to be a little gentler?"

"I'm being as gentle as I can," Virginia said as she finished rubbing it in. "Though you obviously can't say the same thing for your robe."

"Hey, when a Dark Olympian possessing one of your friends fires an arrow at you, we'll see how worried you are about a robe," Marcus argued as he pulled his shirt down. "Keeping it tidy wasn't exactly in my list of things to worry about. I was more focused on getting that crystal we needed."

"And did you find it?" Christina asked as she walked up to the two of them. The Rangers and Chiron were currently in a classroom in Olympia Hills High. Other than the eight teens and twenty-somethings (Paul was absent) and the centaur, the room was empty save for a few chairs and desks still lined up.

"Yeah, I found it," Marcus said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the blue crystal. "It was like finding a needle in a haystack. I really hope it still works, because I'm not looking for a new one."

"What does it even do?" Jasmine asked.

"As Hermes told us before, it's the power source of the Doors," Christina explained as she held it up to the light, "and luckily it wasn't damaged from the blast. It's going to help us get the aid we need to separate our friends from the Dark Olympians."

"Oh yeah!" Mikhail said. "Hermes mentioned that there was a god who might be able to help us."

"His name is Hypnos," Hermes said as he landed on the ground, having come in through the window. He was back in his tan trenchcoat and white shirt and jeans. His winged sandals remained from his original outfit, however. "He is the god of sleep and dreams."

"I have two questions," Dan said. "1) Why wasn't he on Olympus and captured like the others and 2) How in the world is a god of sleep going to help us?"

"Hypnos is an odd god. His physical form is asleep most of the time while his astral self travels the world, enjoying others' dreams," Hermes explained. "As the gods don't sleep, he gets no enjoyment from being on Olympus. While I know he is somewhere in the mortal realm, I am unaware of exactly where, even after three weeks of searching."

"But even if we did find him." Dan said, "you never answered my question of how he would help."

"Because the Dark Olympian have not merely taken the other Rangers' bodies," Hermes explained. "The Dark Olympians have also found ways to pacify their minds in an almost dreamlike way so the Rangers will not fight back. I could feel it in my encounter with Valerie."

"So, you're thinking that if we use Hypnos's power to awaken the others' minds, they might find a way to expel the Dark Olympian from their body?" Diana asked. "Sounds a little farfetched to me."

"Well, let's consider our options," Adrian said. "We can continue to fight a losing battle against the Dark Olympian Rangers, or we can go try and find Hypnos to maybe have a chance."

"Ok, when you put it like that…" Diana said.

"Sounds like we have to try," Virginia said. "I mean, without the Temple, it's just a matter of time before the Dark Olympians find and destroy us. I just wish we could have done more. Especially for Paul…"

"We did our best," Mikhail said. "There was just no way to beat the Dark Olympian Rangers in their Deity Mode. And Paul did what he had to…"


Flashback

Paul cried out as he went flying back into a wall, with the wall cracking from the impact.

"C'mon, Paul," Dark God Jay mocked. "Why are you pulling your punches? Can't hit an old friend?"

"Don't act like you're Jay," Paul said as he stood up. "I don't know exactly what just happened, but I know you're not Jay. Jay wouldn't be attacking his friend."

"Friend?" Dark God Jay sneered. "Is that what you think you were to Jay? You were just his pet project; someone he was trying to fix. Not very well, I might add. You still haven't contacted your parents, have you?"

"That's none of your business!" Paul shouted as he ran at Dark God Jay, shield raised. Dark God Jay scoffed at the action before firing a stream of red lightning from his open palm. The attack hit Paul's shield and sent him flying from the force of the attack.

"Paul!" Adrian shouted as he looked over at the weakening Hades Knight as he tried to stand up again.

"Worry about yourself," Dark God Nate said as he stabbed his trident into Adrian's leg. Adrian grunted in pain but managed to fight through it to slam his Sun Staff into Dark God Nate's helmet. To his surprise, the attack did nothing. Dark God Nate retaliated by slamming his fist into Adrian's chest, sending him skidding into the ground.

Marcus came swooping in, trying to smash his Messenger Caduceus into Dark God Nate's body. However, Dark God Nate gracefully whirled out of the way. When Marcus swooped in for another strike, Dark God Nate stabbed with his trident, knocking the White Ranger out of the sky. Marcus rolled on the ground a few times, dropping his caduceus as he did so, before springing back up.

"I ain't going down that easy, mate," Marcus said as he ran over and punched at Dark God Nate. The Dark God caught the punch before using his other hand to smash the body of his trident into Marcus's helmet. Dark God Nate then used his trident in a sweeping motion as Marcus was reeling to knock him off his feet. As Marcus hit the ground hard, Dark God Nate turned his trident so the points were pointing downward and easily stabbed right into Marcus's chest.

Hades smirked as he watched the Rangers fight. He grabbed a weakened Dionysus before disappearing in a flash of blue fire, leaving a few ashes behind as evidence.

"Ares's Ranger," Dark God Victor hissed as he advanced on Mikhail. "I was hoping to run into you again."

"This grudge is getting ridiculous," Mikhail said as he summoned his War Ax and looked down at it to see that the handle was only half its original size and was severely damaged on the unbladed end. Both of his hands fit on the handle but just barely. "Oh, yeah. Ares sliced my ax in half."

Dark God Victor summoned his Blacksmith Hammer and slammed it into the preoccupied Mikhail's torso. Mikhail gasped as the breath was knocked out of him and left him weakened momentarily. Dark God Victor pressed the attack, striking again and again with arcing swings. He was about to attack again when a group of grapevines wrapped around his arm, stopping his next strike.

"Sorry," Dan said, "but I'm going to have to ask you to stop attacking my friend now."

Dark God Victor pulled against the grapevines but quickly found he was getting nowhere. Instead, there was a flash of fire from his arm that turned the grapevines to ash in an instant. His arm no longer hindered, Dark God Victor swung again at Mikhail, this time with the head of his hammer on fire. Mikhail cried out as the flaming hammer head scorched and smashed at the same time. He went tumbling back before Dan made some grapevines rise up to stop his roll.

As Dan was momentarily distracted in aiding his teammate, he was unprepared for Dark God Victor to slam his flaming hammer into him instead. Dan went flying forward and crashed into Mikhail, knocking them both to the ground.

Dark God Mera blocked an attack from Diana's daggers before kicking her away. As the Silver Ranger tried to advance forward, Dark God Mera fired short swords from her palms, forcing Diana to dodge. As Dark God Mera continued her barrage of short swords, she missed the orange-glowing fist slamming into the back of her helmet. Her head snapped forward a little from the attack before she whirled around to see Virginia standing there, her orange aura around her.

"Now I understand why Mera considered you to be one of the cleverer Rangers," Dark God Mera said. "You really are smarter than you give yourself credit for. Not many would try powering themselves up like you have."

"I'd rather have the compliment from the real Mera," Virginia said as she roundhouse kicked Dark God Mera in the helmet.

Again, Dark God Mera's head moved a bit, but she quickly corrected herself and dodged Virginia's next strike. As she ducked under the swing, she summoned a dagger that she used to slash Virginia in the legs. Virginia cried out from the attack and backed away from it a bit, her aura less radiant than it had been before.

"It seems like that aura is only powerful when you are not attacked yourself," Dark God Mera remarked. "How unfortunate for you."

With that, she launched into a flurry of attacks with the dagger, slashing at Virginia at multiple places. As she was about to stab it directly into Virginia's stomach, Diana came in and slashed Dark God Mera with her own daggers. Dark God Mera ignored the attack and stabbed the dagger into Virginia, causing sparks to fly and a gash to appear in the suit. Virginia stumbled back and fell to the ground.

"Virginia!" Diana shouted before looking to Dark God Mera. "You're going to pay for hurting my friend."

"I think not," Dark God Mera replied as she summoned a longsword and slashed through Diana's defenses into her abdomen. Diana stumbled backwards before being kicked to the ground with a lash of Dark God Mera's leg.

Jasmine launched an aqua orb with red energy inside it at Dark God Valerie, but the Dark God moved out the way with superhuman speed before firing an arrow from her bow. The arrow struck Jasmine in the shoulder and she cried out as she dropped her scepter.

Christina snuck up behind Dark God Valerie and kicked the bow out of her hand. Dark God Valerie growled in annoyance before backhanding Christina away. Jasmine, her shoulder still aching from the arrow, reached down with her other arm and, having grabbed the scepter, launched a barrage of aqua spheres in a wide berth. Dark God Valerie managed to perfectly dodge each one, with some of the dodging requiring insane flexibility to pull off.

As the orbs splashed on the ground harmlessly, Dark God Valerie zipped forward to slam the body of her bow, which she had somehow retrieved during her dodging, into Jasmine's stomach. Jasmine gasped and doubled over as the wind was knocked out of her. Dark God Valerie grabbed Jasmine by the arm and hurled her with one hand a few dozen feet away so Jasmine landed on her back.

All of the Rangers began to back away from the Dark Olympian Ranger they were facing as said Dark Olympian Rangers continued to advance.

"We need to retreat!" Marcus said as he stumbled over, his stomach bleeding a little. "These buggers are strong and I don't think anything we're going to do can beat them."

"I have to agree," Paul said. "Whatever power boost this Deity Mode gives them, we're no match for it."

"Chiron, get us a Door out of here!" Adrian ordered into his morpher. A few seconds later, a door right behind the Rangers began to glow. "Grab Hermes and let's go!"

The wounded Rangers nodded as they limped or stumbled their way through the Door. Dan led a woozy Hermes through the Door. Adrian was last and stepped through just as the Dark Olympian Rangers were about to reach them, with the Door slamming shut right in Dark God Jay's face.

The Dark Olympians smirked under their helmets.


(Still in Flashback)

"Man, that was close!" Jasmine said as she and the others demorphed.

All of the Rangers nodded in agreement. Every one of them had cuts and bruises, but Marcus, Virginia and Diana all had blood dripping from their abdomens.

"I can only heal one or two of you," Chiron warned as he looked at the Rangers. "That is all of the nectar we have left."

"Don't worry about me," Diana said as she looked at the others. "For all her talk, Mera didn't cut me too deep. Give me some gauze and I should be fine."

"Hang on," Adrian said as he ran into the medical center before bringing back the white gauze. "Here we go."

Diana lifted her shirt to expose her stomach as Hermes, having apparently recovered, cleared his throat.

"I don't mean to intrude, but perhaps Marcus should be given the nectar," he suggested. "Those puncture marks look worse than any of the other injuries."

"I have to agree," Adrian said as he began to wrap the gauze around his sister's exposed stomach. While there were a few bloody gashes, they weren't too deep, just as she had said.

"Very well," Chiron said as he brought over a needle towards Marcus. "I'm somewhat worried about internal bleeding, so I'm just going to inject what's left all at once. The amount is low enough that it should be safe."

"'Should be'?" Marcus asked. "That's not exactly reassuring."

There was a loud bang on the Doors as they rumbled a bit.

"Neither is that," Dan said as he glanced from the Doors to Christina. "Have they ever done that before?"

"Not that I remember," Christina said as she looked at the Doors as well. "But I wouldn't worry about it. People can't just barge in on us. We have to let them-"

She didn't even finish her sentence before there was a small explosion that blasted the Doors off their hinges, leaving a tear mark that leaked blue energy as the Dark Olympian Rangers walked through. They were still in their Deity Mode and didn't seem like they had exerted themselves at all while they were breaking in.

"You underestimated us, Rangers," Dark God Jay said. "You thought you could hide behind your Doors. You were mistaken."

The Rangers grimaced as they backed away from the Dark Olympian Rangers. This was exactly what they had been hoping to avoid. As Christina backed up, she looked back at the mosaic computer. The others prepared to morph, only for Dark God Jay to raise a hand and release multiple streams of red lightning that blasted them off their feet. They all cried out as they hit the walls of the room.

Christina began to type on the mosaic computer quickly, with nobody seeming to notice at the moment.

Dark God Victor summoned his hammer and set the head on fire before slamming it into the ground. Fire shot up from the floor and began to travel along the floor in bizarre patterns, somehow burning with nothing to sustain it. Quickly, the weapons racks were gone. As the fires burned, Dark God Jay finally released the Rangers from his streams and let them hit the floor.

Christina typed faster and faster, something Hermes had finally picked up on. His caduceus appeared in his hand as the wings on his sandals began to flap. In an instant, he was up in the air and fast approaching the Dark Olympian Rangers. Just as he was about to reach them, a large heart exploded in front of him and knocked him out of the air.

"Your speed means nothing to us," Dark God Valerie. "I could see you coming the instant your wings started flapping."

"And I could see what you're doing, Christina," Dark God Mera said as she launched a barrage of maces from her outreached hand. The maces smashed into the stones of the mosaic computer and caused them to fracture. Quickly, the shards started to rain down around Christina. A moment later, the keyboard began to spark, causing Christina to cry out as her hands were forced away, before it exploded. Christina went flying backwards and hit the floor.

"Christina!" Adrian shouted as he ran over to his injured girlfriend. "Are you ok? What can I do?"

"I'm fine," Christina said as she slowly sat up. "What's important is that I activated the emergency function. After Dark God Janus invaded the Temple, Chiron and I created a function to force intruders out if they somehow got through Janus's new defenses."

Indeed, the Dark Olympian Rangers looked around as a blue energy ball appeared around them. Slowly, it began to roll towards the gash the Doors had left behind.

"Your emergency function is…a ball?" Adrian asked. "I'll give you points for creativity. But what's stopping them from breaking out?"

"That ball is made of Morphing Grid energy," Christina said as she and Adrian stood up. "There's no way they can break-"

There was a shattering noise as multiple blasts of red lightning blasted throughout the room. The two Rangers looked over to see that the energy ball was completely gone and that the Dark Olympian Rangers were free once again.

"Hey, Blondie!" Marcus said as he reached the two of them. "You might want to have your girlfriend stop talking. She's jinxing everything!"

"'Blondie'?" Adrian asked Christina as she laughed a bit.

However, this interaction was interrupted by multiple streams of red lightning blasting around the Temple again. Dark God Jay let out a cackle as his lightning began to destroy everything it touched. With one movement of his finger, a stream sliced through three pillars. The roof creaked as half of its support suddenly wasn't there anymore.

"He's going to bring the whole place down!" Virginia shouted over the sound of the crackling fires..

Dark God Victor brought his hammer down again and the fires began to intensify and burn even more. The sparring mat went up in flames as Jasmine and Mikhail backed away from it, only to find a wall of fire behind them.

Dark God Mera launched another round of maces at the mosaic computer, finally bringing the entire panel down and allowing it to smash onto the keyboard and wires.

"What do we do?" Diana asked as she yelled over the raging fires. "The Dark Olympian Rangers are blocking the way out. We aren't going to escape unless we can get past them!"

Paul pressed the button on his bracelet to make the shield expand and pulled the sword out. He leapt over a wall of fire and made his way over to Adrian and Christina.

"I have an idea," he said, "but it's going to be risky."

"Pretty much open to anything right now," Adrian admitted.

"I think I can hold them off," Paul said. "You just focus on escaping."

"We're not leaving you behind," Adrian said matter-of-factly. "Jay would never forgive me if I let one of his best friends sacrifice himself."

"Well, Jay isn't here," Paul said before looking over at Dark God Jay. "Ok, technically he is, but he isn't here. This is my choice. Consider it my penance for all I did to you guys when I was Gryphon."

"We're not going to let you die," Christina said. "We just need to formulate a plan and-"

"The time for talking is over," Paul said. "This is the time for action. Now go!"

Adrian grimaced before motioning for the others to go.

"And Adrian," Paul said as Adrian turned to go. "If you ever see Jay again…tell him I'm sorry. For everything." With that, Paul reinserted his sword into his shields compartment and turned the Olympian Gems so their bands were vertical. "Hades Knight Power!"

In a flash of black and bronze light, Paul was transformed into the Hades Knight. He took off towards the Dark Olympian Rangers, the shininess of his armor reflecting the orange flames. He shield-bashed the surprised Dark God Victor out of the way before whirling around with his sword in a spin attack that hit all of the Dark Olympian Rangers at once, causing sparks to fly.

As Paul engaged with the Dark Olympian Rangers, Adrian had managed to lead the others, Hermes and Chiron included, next to the tear.

"Is this going to take us back to Olympia Hills?" Mikhail asked.

"Does it really matter?" Marcus asked, gesturing towards the damaged and crumbling structure. "Anywhere's better than here!"

With that, he stepped through the tear. One by one, the others followed. Adrian and Chiron were last.

"I should stay and help," Adrian said as he stepped towards the fight, but Chiron grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Paul is sacrificing himself so we may fight another day," Chiron said. "Guilty as you may feel, you will at least be alive. Do not have the team lose two Rangers because of a guilty conscience."

"I guess you're right," Adrian said as he turned around and stepped through the tear.

"Good luck, Paul Blake," Chiron said, "And may the Fates smile upon you."

With that, he turned and stepped through the tear.


Still in Flashback

The Rangers stepped out of the Door one at a time. After about a minute, the entire group was out of what was left of the Door. For the actual door itself had been sliced off its hinges and the doorway had the same tear in it that the Temple had on the other side.

"How do we close it?" Jasmine asked.

"Yeah, we need to make sure they can't follow," Virginia agreed.

"What about Paul?" Adrian asked. "He might still come out."

"It should close on its own," Hermes said. "As for Paul, he made his choice."

There was a blast of bronze energy that blasted out of the Door, forcing the Rangers to jump out of the way. There was the sound of an explosion coming from the sky as a wave of energy pulsed out, with what the Rangers assumed to be the school at the epicenter. Debris began to rain from the sky, with a colored stone landing next to Christina's foot.

"What is it?" Diana asked as Christina picked it up.

"It's a part of the mosaic computer," she said before looking up. "I think the debris from the Temple has shifted to our dimension."

"Humans of Olympia Hills," the booming yet familiar voice of Dark God Jay said from the sky as there were some crashes of thunder. "We are the Dark Olympians and we have taken your precious Red, Blue, Black, Yellow and Pink Rangers as our vessels. The other Rangers have tried to defeat us and failed. Surrender yourselves or you will be destroyed. Do not try to hide or flee. We will hunt you down. We will find you. And we will execute you. Enjoy the precious few days you have left."

"They survived that explosion?" Dan shouted. "How?"

"It doesn't matter," Adrian said. "We can't beat them head-to-head. We need a plan."

"I'll see what I can think of," Hermes said. "I'm hoping a certain god can help us. Until I figure it out, lay low and search for the Command Crystal that was in the mosaic computer. It will enable us to create a new Door system to travel where we need to go."

"Right," the others said with a nod.

"Chiron, continue to mentor them," Hermes said as he rose into the air. "I'll be back when I have more information."

After finishing his sentence, he took off, leaving the Rangers and Chiron behind to pick up the pieces.

End Flashback


"I keep hoping we'll find Paul somewhere with some of the rubble," Adrian said, "but we haven't found him in three weeks. He's probably dead."

"But his sacrifice wasn't in vain," Christina said as she put her hand on top of Adrian's. "We have the Command Crystal now. If we find Hypnos, we can free our friends."

"Potentially," Diana added as she crossed her arms. "I'm still not convinced this is going to work." She looked over at Adrian. "That being said, it's worth trying."

"Alright, Hermes," Marcus said as he stood up. "I risked my ass for that thing. How do we actually use it?"

"First, don't we need to know where we're going?" Dan asked. "The Door system can work all it wants. It does us no good without a location."

"I might have an idea," Marcus said. "Set the location to St. Paul's Hospital in London." He looked at the others as they looked at him strangely. "I'll explain on the way."

"Well, we all shouldn't go," Mikhail said. "If we all leave, Olympia Hills is defenseless when the Dark Olympian Rangers attack again."

"There isn't much left to defend," Adrian remarked dryly, "but I see your point. Mikhail, Jasmine, Diana and Dan. You guys stay here. Marcus, Christina, Hermes and I will go find Hypnos if Marcus is onto something with…whatever idea he has. Chiron, I'm hoping you can work the Door?"

Chiron accepted the Command Crystal from Christina and moved over to the crappy old desktop in the classroom. He opened the front of the case and inserted the crystal right onto the CPU. In a flash of blue light, it was adhered to the computer part and began to glow a brilliant blue. Chiron nodded before placing the front of the case back on and booting up the computer. After about a minute, he typed a few keys, and the Rangers watched the door to the classroom glow blue.

"Good luck, Rangers," Chiron said simply as he watched the four Rangers and Hermes walk through the Door before it swung shut behind them.

"And now we wait," Chiron said simply.


"Ah, just what I needed," Nate said out loud as he lounged out on the deck chair. He closed his eyes for a minute before water quickly splashed on his face. His eyes shot open as he sat up in his chair to see the 6-year-old twins each holding the sides of a bucket that was currently empty…

"Run!" one of the twins shouted as he and his brother took off.

"I'm going to get you!" Nate shouted as he ran after them towards the ocean. He didn't seem to notice the lack of other people around him, though the umbrellas and towels were still set up like there had been people there.

As the twins reached the ocean, they filled up their bucket again just as Nate caught up to them.

"Alright, you two," he said playfully. "You enjoyed splashing me so much. Let's see how you like it!"

He reached down and cupped his hands to launch a spray of water at the twins, who giggled as they began to splash back. Nate heard squeals as the other four kids, a girl around 7, a boy around 5, a boy around 4 and a girl around 3, came running towards them. He kneeled down on the sand and scooped the littlest one up in his arms as the others crowded around him.

"Guys, we're at the beach!" Nate said. "You don't have to stay with me. Just go have fun."

"Being with you is fun!" the 5-year-old boy said, with the others chorusing their agreement.

"Alright," Nate said as he put the girl in his arms down on the sand. "But I play rough!"

With that, he backed up and made a big splash right at the group. They all laughed as a few of the younger children fell down. For the next few minutes, Nate and the children all took part in a large splash fight, with even the 3-year-old girl taking part.

"Children!" Mrs. Seymor shouted down the beach, "Your father's back with sandwiches!"

"Oh boy!" one of the twins shouted as he led the charge back towards the umbrella and blanket.

"Mine better be just turkey and mayo!" the 7-year-old girl said as she followed.

Nate grabbed the two youngest and started to lead them back to the others.

"I never want this vacation to end," Nate said to himself. "Time with my family? Sounds great to me."


Paul groaned as his eyes slowly fluttered open. His eyes darted around to the stone wall in front and behind him, the dark shadows that ran along his left and right sides and the blue flame chains that were holding his arms in place on the steel piping. He looked down to see dirty water flowing in a divot in the stone floor.

"Great, I'm in a sewer," he remarked as he tested the chains, "and I have a feeling I'm not getting out of here by myself."

"Ah, you're awake," a familiar voice said as Dark God Hades appeared out of the shadows on the other side of the divot, his Dark God attributes as strong as ever. "I was beginning to think you were dead."

"You wish," Paul said as he pulled against the chains. "Now what do you want from me? I know you didn't take me from the Temple out of the goodness in your heart."

"You're not wrong," Dark God Hades said. "I do have a use for you. After all, you have something of mine."

"If you're talking about my Olympian Gems, they chose me," Paul said.

"After you stole them," Dark God Hades retorted. "But that wasn't what I was referring to." He stepped towards Paul. "It's time for me to collect what's mine."

Dark God Hades reached a hand out and put it on Paul's chest. Energy began to flow from Paul into Hades in a stream of golden energy. Paul screamed as the energy flow intensified. And then, as soon as it had started, it was over. Paul slumped forward as Dark God Hades stepped back.

"What did you just do?" Paul managed to get out.

"I took the energy I invested so long ago," Dark God Hades said. "I need it for what I'm planning to do next."

"'Invested'?" Paul asked. "Now I'm certain you're crazy. As if attacking your allies didn't prove that enough."

"That's no way to treat family," Dark God Hades said.

"What do you mean 'family'?" Paul said. "Unless…No…"

"You wanted to know who your great-great grandfather was, didn't you?" Hades said. "It was me! But you're not alone."

With a snap of his fingers, the darkness to Paul's left and right faded away to show multiple civilians trapped in similar blue flame chains.

"It's amazing how much humans love to procreate!" Hades said with a laugh. "Your family wasn't the only one I invested in. All of these people have some of my blood running in their veins. And I'm ready to take it all back!"

Paul's eyes widened as the line of people seemed to go on and on. He closed his eyes and grimaced as he heard all of them crying for help.

"Some hero you are," Hades mocked as he started to walk away. "Think about all the people you're failing as I take their energy. You may have survived the process but some of the others? They will not be so lucky."

With that, he started off towards the older woman to Paul's right. As Dark God Hades began the energy draining process, Paul pulled against the chains violently. However, no matter how much he pulled, the flame-chains remained tight and unyielding.

He grimaced again as he heard the woman next to him screaming in agony. The part he hated most of all was that all he could do was watch.

And wait, Paul added. There has to be something I can do eventually. He looked over again as the people around him as Hades moved to his next victim, the woman having turned to ash from the process. I just hope I figure it out before he kills all of these people!


Victor looked down at the materials around him before looking around at the small room he was trapped in. He wasn't sure how he got here but he was sure he wanted to get out. However, the only door wasn't budging.

As he looked at the materials again, the wheels began to turn in his head. He reached down and pulled a bag of black powder off the ground.

"This is gunpowder," he said to himself. "If I can find a way to ignite it, I might be able to blow that door off its hinges."

He put the powder down on a small table and began to dig around the scrap metal. He eventually found a damaged lighter that, when he opened it, still seemed to have the necessary parts to actually create the flame.

"Now I've just got to find a way to ignite the gunpowder from a distance," he said as he dug around again. "Maybe I can find something to make a fuse…"

A few minutes later, he had created a crude fuse out of some wax and string. A few minutes more and he had the gunpowder in a pile on the floor and his "fuse" leading to the opposite side of the room. As he created a spark using the lighter, the flame immediately shot along the "fuse" and ignited the gunpowder. Victor blocked his eyes from the flash of flame before looking back at the door to see that…nothing had happened. Yes, the door had some scorch marks on it, but the door was still firmly on its hinges.

"Guess I'll have to try something else," Victor said as he looked around at the materials that lined the room. "Something has to work!"


"So, back in London," Christina remarked.

"It's not my favorite place to be after what happened to me mum," Marcus said as he led the way, "but I remember seeing a guy in the hospital my mum was in. The staff said he had been in a coma for at least 30 years in his own special room. I'm wondering if it's Hypnos."

"That would be convenient," Adrian said. "But there are lots of people who are in comas. What makes this one any different from any of those unfortunate people?"

"Because…well, weird things happen around him," Marcus said as he walked up to the receptionist. "Hello, Shannon. How's the boyfriend?"

"He's doing good, but Dan, what are you doing here?" Shannon, a woman in her early 20s, asked as she looked up from the computer. "I wasn't expecting you to come back after what happened to your mother. So sorry for your loss, by the way. Did you come to talk to the doctor about something?"

"No," Dan said. "I'm actually here to see Mr. Joseph Anholts."

Shannon seemed to think for a minute before nodding.

"I'm only supposed to let family members see patients, but considering Mr. Anholts doesn't have any family that we know of, I guess I can make an exception," Shannon said. "10th floor, last door on the left. Room 10T" She pulled out some lanyards and name tags for the five to write their names on. "Just take these Visitor Passes and name tags with you."

"Thanks, Shannon!" Marcus said as he led the way. "C'mon, the elevator's this way."

"So, when you said 'weird things' earlier, what did you mean by that?" Christina asked as the elevator doors opened.

"Now, I just heard these as rumors from the staff," Marcus began as the elevator began to go up, "but apparently whenever they try to move him into a different room, they just find him back in his original room an hour later. Shannon, who you guys just saw, even tried to keep an eye on him to see what was happening. Instead, she closed her eyes for two minutes and poof he was back in his room. That's why they stuck her at the receptionist's desk instead."

"She didn't seem like the kind of person to slack at her job," Adrian remarked.

"She isn't," Marcus agreed as the doors opened. "That's what makes it even more strange. There's also a few others things-"

"Anholts is doing it again!" a nurse shouted as she ran down the hall.

"Not again!" another nurse shouted as she met up with the first nurse and ran with her down the hall back to the room.

"Uh…what's happening?" Adrian asked.

"The other major weird thing that happens," Marcus said as they looked in the little window as the nurses examined him. On the heart monitor were little waves and a display saying…

"Is it me, or does that heart monitor say 30 Beats Per Minute?" Christina asked.

"It has to be a mistake," Adrian said. "I read about the human heartbeat going below 60 Beat Per Minute during sleep but 30 Beats Per Minute is impossible."

"For a human," Hermes reminded as the group watched the nurses. A few minutes later, the Beats Per Minute display was back at a reasonable number and the nurses walked out, looking strangely at the group considering they had just been watching the whole time. As soon as the nurses were halfway down the hall, the group walked into the room.

"Is that him?" Christina asked as Hermes looked over the comatose man/potential god.

"It's hard to tell," Hermes said. "Gods can change their appearance at will and some do it more often than others." He walked around to the other side of the bed. "That being said, I'm pretty sure this is Hypnos."

"Did the low heart rate give it away?" Marcus asked. "Or was it the weirdness Shannon experienced?"

"Those certainly helped," Hermes admitted, "but the final nail in the coffin was the aura I'm sensing around him.

Diana let out a yawn. "Anyone else a little tired?" she asked.

"Hypnos always had a calming aura on Olympus when he agreed to stay put," Hermes said, "I think that tiredness you're feeling is created by that aura."

"Alright, so we found him," Adrian said. "Now what?"

"Now we wake him," Hermes said as he reached into his trench coat and pulled out his caduceus. He pointed it at Hypnos's head as a white beam fired from the head of the caduceus into the "comatose" god's head. A second later, the man/god sat up in bed.

"What'd you go and do that for?" Hypnos whined. "I was enjoying a good old 'went to school naked' dream! Though there were these walking coconuts instead of students…"

"Good to see you too, Hypnos," Hermes said. "As much as I would like to hear about the dreams you experienced in your travels, we have a situation with the Olympian Rangers that requires our attention."

"You're not talking about Olympia Hills, are you?" Hypnos asked, groaning as Hermes nodded. "Nobody's sleeping well over there! And all the dreams that do happen are so damn depressing. I'm heading to Hawaii! Maybe I can find a wet t-shirt contest dream or something." He started to lie down again before Hermes put out his caduceus to block his head from touching the pillow.

"I don't recall giving you an option," Hermes said. "My Rangers need your help. Cronus has managed to fuse them with his Dark Olympians to make warriors that the rest of the Rangers can't defeat. We've already lost one Ranger, and without you we're going to lose more."

"And what do you want me to do about it?" Hypnos asked as he sat up again. "'Cause I ain't fighting them. I'm a dreamer, not a fighter."

"The Rangers fused with the Dark Olympians are in a dreamlike state," Hermes said. "All you have to do is help wake them up. There'll be no fighting for you at all."

"I still don't see why I should help," Hypnos argued. "Cronus's plans have nothing to do with me."

"You do realize that if Cronus wipes out all mortals, there'll be no people to have dreams you can enjoy, right?" Christina asked.

Hypnos's eyes widened before he jumped out of the bed.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" he said. "I've got Rangers to save!"

He started towards the door before a nurse, sponge and bowl of water in hand, walked into the room. She took one look at Hypnos and screamed before her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she collapsed to the floor.

"We might want to take you out the back way…" Adrian said as the group looked at the passed-out nurse.

A few minutes later, the group had made it outside the hospital, having used the fire escape to make their exit.

"Let's call Chiron and get a Door back to Olympia Hills," Christina said as she reached down to activate her morpher.

"Rangers, please hurry!" Chiron's voice said from the morpher before Christina had even hit the button. "The Dark Gods are attacking and-"

The noise of static followed as the door nearby turned blue.

"Sounds like we don't have a second to lose," Adrian said. "C'mon!" He led the charge through the Door, with Hypnos being next and the rest filing in behind. As soon as Hermes, the last person, had made it through the Doors, they slammed shut.


Mera cried out as she flew into a pillar. She looked up from her position on her stomach to see Dark God Athena marching towards her. Both combatants were unmorphed and unarmored, as well as wielding spears. Mera's spear had fallen next to her during the collision with the pillar, however. The pillar didn't seem to serve much of a purpose in this gladiator arena Mera had found herself in. She didn't get much of a chance to wonder about it, however, before Dark God Athena started towards her.

"Get up," Dark God Athena demanded. "I'm not done with you yet."

Instead of standing up, Mera grabbed her spear and tried to use it to sweep Dark God Athena's legs. The Dark God leapt over the attack before slashing the point of her own spear across Mera's cheek. Mera stood up and ran her fingers along her cheek, feeling a cut along with a few drops of blood. She barely got a chance to do that, however, before Dark God Athena went on the offensive again. Mera managed to block every attack with her own spear as Dark God Athena started to slow down her barrage and whirled around Dark God Athena's next attack before stabbing it into the Dark God's arm.

Dark God Athena dropped her spear as Mera's own pierced her arm. As Mera pulled out the spear to attack again, Dark God Athena dropped down to the ground, grabbed her spear, and came back up with a powerful uppercut to Mera's chin. Mera flew back again before hitting the ground hard. As she tried to rise again, Dark God Athena marched forward.

"Up!" she demanded again.

Mera growled before standing up and stabbing with her spear in a quick and sudden strike. It was apparently something Dark God Athena was not expecting, as she did not block the attack. Instead, she looked down to see the spear body poking out of her and the golden ichor flowing from around it.

"I'm impressed," Dark God Athena said. "Using such a fast attack that I was unable to protect myself in time was a brilliant move." She pulled the spear out of her body and hurled it to the ground. "However…" - the hole in her stomach closed- "it wasn't brilliant enough."

She marched forward again, unrelenting in her quest to attack Mera.

Mera dove out of the way before scanning her surroundings.
There isn't much here to work with and my foe is unrelenting, she thought. But maybe I can do something yet…


Dark God Hades grinned as he walked up to the still-weakened Paul as he hung from the wall.

"Did you enjoy that?" Dark God Hades asked maliciously.

"You're going to pay for murdering those people," Paul growled as he looked over at the people remaining. Most of the descendents had survived the process, but at least a quarter of them had not been so fortunate.

Hades just let out a laugh at Paul's response.

"If you think that's bad, wait until my plan is complete," he said. "Once the dust has settled, all mortals will be dead!"

Dark God Hades let out a cackle as he left the tunnel, entering a larger room that had been changed into a sort of laboratory, though it was much more jury rigged than Cronus's had been. In the center of the room was a circle of everburning flame. Inside the circle were the Olympians that had been left behind by the Rangers: Hera, Hestia, Demeter, Ares, Apollo, Artemis and Dionysus. None of them were Dark Gods anymore and they all shouted to Hades as he walked over to a blue portal that was on one wall, ignoring them all. What was strange about this portal was that there was a golden energy cover over the portal itself, stopping anyone from entering.

"You should be grateful," Dark God Hades said as he turned to the captured Olympians. "I will finally put your energy to good use. This barrier has been up for too long. And now? I finally have the power to break it!"

"You fool!" Hera said. "We put so much of our power into that barrier. And for good reason! After all, the darkness in some of those beings in Tartarus…"

"Do me a favor, sister," Dark God Hades said. "Shut up." He fired twin beams of blue energy at the barrier, but it seemed to have no real effect. "I was wondering if this might happen. The energy I've absorbed wasn't enough. I need yours."

He whirled around and raised his palms. He watched in glee as golden energy from the captured Olympians flowed from their bodies into his. They collapsed to the ground as Dark God Hades's body began to glow with an even stronger blue aura. He began to scream in agony as the power burned through him.

"The power…" he gasped as he fell to his knees. "It's too much…"

"No one should handle that much power at once," Hestia said. "I gave up my Olympian status and still my power felt immeasurable. You are experiencing at least seven times that amount of power, especially with the power you just absorbed from the mortals! No being in existence can handle that!"

Dark God Hades slowly stood up as the aura seemed to burn even brighter, making him almost like a miniature star. With a shout, he raised his palms and fired twin beams of blue fire at the golden covering on the portal. Slowly, the cover began to crack before it finally shattered. Dark God Hades continued firing the beams of power, causing the blue ring of the portal to burst into flames. As the aura around the Dark God finally went back to its normal brightness, golden energy flowed back into the Olympians. They immediately seemed to get their stamina back and quickly stood up. Dark God Hades, however, remained on his knees as he fell onto all fours, panting heavily. Slowly, he looked up at the flaming portal.

"It is done," he said simply.


Valerie's eyes fluttered open as she slowly began to awaken. As her eyes finally focused, she saw a slightly older looking Jay lying across from her on the bed. Valerie screamed as she rolled out of bed and fell to the floor.

Immediately, Jay shot up and looked around. However, once he realized there was no threat, he looked over at Valerie.

"Everything ok, babe?" he asked.

"F-fine," Valerie said as she stood up. "Just a little surprised."

"I know, I just moved in," Jay said as he rubbed the back of his head. "But you said last night that sharing a bed was fine. I didn't overstep my boundaries, did I?"

"No, you're fine," Valerie said as she walked over to the dresser and looked in the miniature mirror on top of it. While she certainly saw herself in the reflection, it wasn't exactly the face she was used to. She wasn't hideous or wrinkly. She was just…older. Probably by about 4 or 5 years, if she had to estimate.

"Are you sure everything's ok?" Jay asked as he walked over and put an arm around her. "I've never seen you like this."

"I'm just…confused," Valerie said. "Last I remember, we were…"

She looked into Jay's worried eyes and the words seemed to escape her mind.

"We were what?" Jay asked.

"We were fighting…something," she said. "It's all a little fuzzy."

"It was probably just a dream," Jay said. "We haven't fought monsters in years. The world's safe. And we got our happily ever after."

"No, that can't be right," Valerie said, a little frantic. "We were still fighting Cronus's Dark Gods and-"

"Hey," Jay said as he looked into Valerie's eyes again. "Everything's fine. Instead of worrying about fighting Dark Gods, let's just spend the day together, ok?" He gave her a soft kiss and suddenly Valerie's mind went blank. She was here, with Jay, and that was all that mattered.


Adrian stepped out of the Door to see that the warzone in Olympia Hills had unfortunately expanded to include the school. As the others ran in from behind him, they could all see that the Dark Olympians had made their way through the halls. Lockers were torn out of the wall and the water fountains were overflowing.

"Nice place you've got here," Hypnos joked.

"It normally looks better than this," Adrian said as he watched Mikhail fly into a wall before running over to him. "Mikhail! Are you ok?"

"What's the term…'Just peachy'?" Mikhail said as Adrian pulled him out of the Ranger shaped hole. "The Dark Olympians managed to force their way into the school in a sneak attack. Chiron barely got to call you before we got overrun."

"Where are they?" Christina asked as she looked around.

"They've spread out all over the school," Mikhail said. "The four of us tried to gang up on Nate, but he managed to separate us. It's just me against him now."

"Well, now you have us," Adrian said. "Alright, Hypnos. What do we need to do?"

"I just need you to restrain him," Hypnos said. "I just need to be able to get close to his head."

Adrian was about to respond when Dark God Nate, already in his Deity Mode, ran up towards the group and blasted a wave of water at them. The group cried out as the wave slammed them into a wall of lockers.

"Well, that's going to leave a bruise," Marcus said as he stood up, rubbing his back.

"We need to morph before he does something like that again," Adrian said as he prepped his morphers. "Ready?"

"Ready!" Christina and Marcus agreed as they prepped their morphers.

"White Olympian Power!"

"Green Olympian Power!"

"Gold Olympian Power!"

In a flash of multi-colored light, the Rangers were morphed. All three of them put out their hands as their weapons appeared in them. Mikhail lined up with them, his ax already in hand.

"Let's go!" Adrian shouted as the Rangers surged forward.

Dark God Nate smirked at the Rangers' charge before putting out his palm and releasing another wave of water. The Rangers cried out as they were carried back towards the lockers. Adrian managed to grab onto a locker handle and held on for dear life as the wave splashed onto him. As soon as the wave had passed, Adrian took off towards Dark God Nate again. As Dark God Nate was about to fire another wave, Adrian changed his staff into a bow and fired off a quick shot, hitting Dark God Nate in the very palm he had been firing attacks from.

"You think that can stop me?" Dark God Nate asked as he looked down at his smoking palm. "Think again."

He raised his trident and slammed the non-pointed end onto the ground. Immediately, the building began to shake. Christina raised her scythe just in time to block a ceiling tile from hitting her in the head.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Marcus asked. "His element is water!"

"Poseidon was also called the earthshaker," Christina explained as she knocked a falling tile away from Hypnos.

Adrian's legs wobbled as he tried to withstand the earthquake. However, due to his proximity to the epicenter of the quake, he soon fell to the ground.

"That's it," Marcus said as he looked at Hermes. "You up for an aerial attack?"

"However I can help," Hermes said as his wings on his sandals began to flap. The two began to hover in the air, about two feet off the ground, before they shot over towards Dark God Nate. The Dark God was so focused on Adrian that he missed the twin caduceuses as they slammed into his helmet, knocking him to the ground.

"Quick! Restrain him!" Adrian shouted.

Immediately, Marcus and Hermes each grabbed an arm and held the still stunned Dark God Nate in place. Hypnos ran up as fast as he could and put his hand on Dark God Nate's helmet. There was a glowing white light as Hypnos concentrated…


"Everybody's bellies full?" Mr. Seymor asked as he looked around at the kids. Each one of them, as well as Nate, nodded. "Good. Now, we can't go in the water for at least half an hour, but at least you guys can still play in the sand."

"Yay!" the kids all shouted as they grabbed their beach toys and took off onto the sand. Nate couldn't help but smile at their enthusiasm for just about everything.

"You should join them," Mrs. Seymor said. "They really look up to you and you playing with them would make their day."

"Alright," Nate said as he started walking towards the kids. He stopped, however, when he felt a presence to his right. He whirled around and took a fighting stance as Hypnos appeared in front of him.

"This is nice," Hypnos said as he looked around. "I can see why you wouldn't question being here. Especially with the little ones over there."

"Who the hell are you?" Nate asked, still in his fighting stance.

"I'm a friend," Hypnos said as he put up his hands in a placating gesture. "Your fellow Rangers sent me to free you from the dream you're trapped in."

"I'm not trapped," Nate said. "I'm just on vacation."

"You don't find it strange that you have the beach all to yourself?" Hypnos asked. "It seems to me that Poseidon left out a few key details in this facsimile of his."

"Fac-wha?" Nate asked.

"Facsimile," Hypnos said. "It means a copy. Poseidon's copied this part of the world for you to enjoy and not question so he may use your body as he pleases. Seems he missed important details, though." He gestured to the empty spaces where the umbrellas were, as well as the empty lifeguard chair Nate had missed earlier.

"Poseidon…" Nate said as he tried to remember before his eyes widened in realization. "Oh man! The Dark Olympians! We touched their gems and…there was this."

"I'm here to bring you back," Hypnos said. "Take my hand."

Nate reached out but stopped about halfway.

"But my family…" he said. "They're not stuck in here too, right?"

"They're still in Olympia Hills," Hypnos said. "I could sense their dreams. The children especially are hoping you can save them. They hold you in the same regard as the Blue Ranger, funnily enough."

"Alright," Nate said as he grabbed Hypnos's hand. "Let's blow this popsicle stand."

The world around the two of them dissolved as a bright white light began to glow in Nate's vision. Soon, it was the only thing he could see…


Hypnos stepped back as Nate demorphed and fell to the ground. The shadowy aura that had been around him died as the older figure of Poseidon appeared next to Nate.

"It worked?" Adrian asked as he reached down and felt the pulse of the unconscious Nate.

"It did," Hypnos said. "I don't know how long he'll be out for, though."

"We need to move on," Christina said as she walked up to Adrian and grabbed his arm. "The others need our help too."

"Right," Adrian said. "Everybody, with me. We're just going to have to leave Nate and Poseidon for now."

The others nodded in agreement as they started down the hallway.

"Where are we going next?" Mikhail asked.

"The school's a big building," Christina said. "We can't just explore every room."

"I can sense something in this direction," Hypnos said as he pointed. "Follow me!"

After a few minutes of following Hypnos's directions, the Rangers could hear the sound of a fight coming from the library. As they ran inside, they watched Diana as she slashed at Dark God Mera, only to be knocked to the ground by Dark God Mera's spear. She grunted a bit as Dark God Mera put her foot down on Diana's chest.

"Diana!" Adrian shouted as he ran and tackled Mera off of his sister. As the two tumbled to the ground, Dark God Mera quickly found her way on top. She created a dagger in her hand, her spear having been knocked out of her hand by the force of Adrian's tackle, and held it to Adrian's throat.

"You're either extremely brave or extremely foolish," she said. "Due to your premature death, I'm going to go with foolish."

She was about to slit Adrian's throat when she was shot by a silver energy arrow and distracted long enough for Adrian to force her off. As Dark God Mera rolled away, Diana ran up and helped Adrian up.

"As grateful as I am" -she smacked him in the helmet- "that was really idiotic! You say that I'm reckless but that was super reckless!"

"Sorry," Adrian said quickly, "but can we talk about it later? We found Hypnos, so all we have to do is restrain Mera long enough for him to use his powers."

"Good," Diana said. "Because there is no way in hell that I was going to be able to defeat her. That Deity Mode is no joke."

"You have no idea," Dark God Mera said as she picked up a wooden bookshelf and hurled it at the twins. They both cried out as the bookshelf shattered and the hardcover books also hit them.

"Let's get in there," Marcus said as he took to the air, Mikhail running right behind him. Marcus attempted to smash his caduceus into Dark God Mera's helmet, but she appeared to be ready and created a shield on her right arm to block. As Marcus turned around for another strike, Mikhail summoned his still damaged ax and swung it vertically from the ground to the ceiling. His ax blade caught the edge of the shield and forced it upwards, just in time for Marcus to attack with his caduceus into Dark God Mera's back.

"Ah!" Dark God Mera cried as she started to fall forwards before turning the movement into a combat roll. "Nice try! But it'll take much more strategy than that to outsmart me!"

Christina had been watching this whole time and almost seemed to be studying the room around her. Her eyes widened under her helmet as she saw the almost square-like layout of the metal bookshelves.

"Hermes, get Hypnos to the center of the metal bookshelves!" she shouted. "I have an idea!"

"Got it," Hermes said with a nod as he grabbed Hypnos and took off into the air.

Adrian and Diana had recovered at this point and all four of the other Rangers met up with Christina as she whispered her plan. They quickly broke off and ran in different directions as Christina summoned her scythe.

"I really hope this works," she said as she ran forward and kicked Dark God Mera in the stomach. Apparently Dark God Mera hadn't been expecting the attack, as she didn't block.

"I thought you were a pacifist," Dark God Mera commented.

"I fight when I have a good reason," Christina said as she slashed with her scythe, forcing Dark God Mera to backstep to the corner of the bookshelves-square. "And getting my friends back? That feels like a very good reason."

"You shouldn't have forced me back like this," Dark God Mera said as she summoned a pair of daggers. "With these shelves so close together, you have nowhere to swing that scythe."

"I don't need to," Christina said as she ducked just in time for Marcus to come in with a flying kick that knocked Dark God Mera right into the middle of the bookshelves. Christina went around to the one bookshelf that wasn't currently being covered by a Ranger and pushed. "Now, guys!"

The other Rangers nodded as they also began to push. With a creak, the four bookshelves shifted forwards.

"What are you doing?" Dark God Mera asked frantically as the bookshelves got really close, boxing her in.

"Using strategy to outsmart you," Christina replied before she stopped pushing. "Now, Hermes!"

Hermes nodded as he lowered Hypnos and watched as he immediately grabbed her helmet. A white light began to emanate from their connection point…


Mera began to swing her spear around faster and faster, hoping to maybe catch Dark God Athena with another surprising attack. However, it seemed that Dark God Athena was still able to predict most of her moves. Mera growled in frustration as Dark God Athena sidestepped her spear strike before stabbing into Mera's hand. Mera grunted in pain as she dropped her spear. She was about to try and grab it when Hypnos appeared in between the two combatants.

"Ah, this seems about right for Athena," he commented as he looked around before looking over at Mera. "Are you ready to get out of here and back to your friends?"

"You can do that?" Mera asked. "Who are you, exactly? What is happening?"

"Hypnos, god of dreams," Hypnos said. "And the short version is that you're trapped in a dream right now while Athena controls your body."

"Get out of here, Hypnos," Dark God Athena said as she swatted Hypnos away. "The two of us have a fight to finish!"

"We do not," Mera said. "I see no reason to continue this conflict."

"So you're being a coward and retreating?" Dark God Athena asked.

"There is no cowardness in seeing yourself out matched and leaving to live another day," Mera said as she ran over to Hypnos and helped him up. "Now, if you would be so kind as to get us out of here…"

"That's why I'm here," Hypnos said as the world began to fade to white. Dark God Athena started to charge towards them, only to disappear with the rest of the world. Mera closed her eyes as the white light became too intense…


Hypnos stepped back as Mera demorphed and fell to the ground, her shadowy aura gone. The armored figure of Athena appeared next to her. The other Rangers, having shifted the bookcases back to their proper position, gathered around their fallen comrade.

"We're going to have to leave her too," Adrian said after feeling her pulse to ensure she was still alive. "Jasmine and Virginia are probably fighting for their lives right now."

"Right," the others said with a nod.

"Let's go this way," Hypnos suggested as he led the way once again.

Soon, the Rangers found themselves by the gym and could hear the sound of arrows being released.

"That's probably Valerie," Adrian said. "Let's go help whichever of the girls is fighting her."

The Rangers nodded again as Adrian led the way into the gym. The bleachers were all extended from the walls and Dark God Valerie and Jasmine were exchanging projectiles across the room while hopping from row to row to dodge the other's attacks.

Dark God Valerie stopped for a minute to look at the new arrivals. Her eyes finally settled on Hermes.

"Are you back to lecture me about the human spirit?" she asked mockingly.

"No," Hermes said. "The time for talking is past. We're going to have to do as you wish and fight."

"And by 'we', I assume you mean your Rangers and…" Dark God Valerie said before she noticed Hypnos, "whoever this is."

"The names Hypnos," Hypnos said, "and I ain't fighting. I'm just here to free the Ranger trapped inside you and then go back to enjoying everyone's dreams."

"An interesting strategy," Dark God Valerie commented. "But I'm not just going to let you come up and free Valerie. I've gone through too much to give up this body now."

"Then we'll just have to force you," Adrian said as he summoned his Sun Bow. "Ready, guys?" He looked around at his fellow Rangers as they summoned their weapons. "Let's go!"

Mikhail and Diana charged forward as Marcus took to the air. Adrian stayed back and drew back his bowstring before firing a golden energy arrow at Dark God Valerie. Dark God Valerie let the arrow hit her armor, with it having no effect, as she leveled her bow horizontally. She pulled back the string and quickly released it to send an arrow each at Diana and Mikhail. They cried out as the arrows struck them in the chest, knocking them to the ground.

Marcus came in for a flying kick that Dark God Valerie blocked with the body of her bow before grabbing Marcus by the ankle and flipping him over her head into the bleachers using her enhanced strength.

Jasmine launched a barrage of Curse Orbs at the Dark God, only for Dark God Valerie to backflip out of the way and launch a barrage of arrows. Jasmine just barely leapt out of the way.

"Give me back my friend!" Diana shouted as she leapt at Dark God Valerie, daggers drawn. Dark God Valerie whirled out of the way before kicking Diana across the room with a side kick.

"Diana!" Adrian shouted as he looked over at Mikhail, who was quickly recovering. "Mikhail! Let's try something! Give me your ax!"

"Sure," Mikhail said as he ran over to Adrian and handed his ax to the Gold Ranger.

"War Arrow with Sun Power!" Adrian shouted as he drew back the bowstring as far as the damaged ax handle would let him and aimed slightly above Dark God Valerie. "Fire!"

He released the string and the two Rangers watched as the golden-glowing ax flew through the air and began to flip end over end. Dark God Valerie looked over just in time for the ax to slash into her helmet. She cried out as she fell to the ground, ax still in her helmet.

"Hermes, get Hypnos over there before she recovers!" Adrian shouted.

Hermes grabbed Hypnos under the arms and took off into the air. They landed on the bleachers and Hermes pulled the ax out of Dark God Valerie's helmet as Hypnos put his hand on the Dark God's head and concentrated. A white light began to glow…


Valerie and Jay broke apart for a second, finally coming up for air. Jay's shirt was already on the floor and Valerie had a feeling more would be following. They were about to start their makeout session again when Hypnos appeared next to the bed.

"Oh, we're in that kind of dream," he said.

"Who the hell are you?" Jay asked as he put himself between Valerie and Hypnos.

"Easy, lover boy," Hypnos said. "You're not the one I'm here for. I'm here for her."

"Like hell you are!" Jay said. "Get out before I make you!"

"Can I just say something to Valerie?" Hypnos asked. "Alone?"

"You can say it in front of me too," Jay insisted.

"Fine," Hypnos said with a sigh. "Let me put it this way, Valerie. This guy? He's not real. None of this is real. You're in a dream right now while Aphrodite controls your body."

"I…what?" Valerie asked. "What do you mean this isn't real? Trust me. Things feel pretty real."

"Honestly, I can get why you don't want to leave this," Hypnos said as he gestured to the room around him, "but your friends need you back. And then you can do this sort of thing with the real version of…whoever this is."

"My friends…" Valerie said, "Aphrodite…Wait! The Dark Olympians! I remember now!"

"Valerie, you don't have to go back," Jay said. "You can just stay here, and we can enjoy each other forever."

"Now I know you aren't Jay," Valerie said as she shoved Jay away. He fell to the floor as Valerie continued. "The real Jay wouldn't just let his friends suffer. It's one of the things I love about him."

"So, you ready to get out of here?" Hypnos asked as he extended his hand.

"I am," Valerie said as she took the hand. The world around her began to fade away as white light surrounded her and filled her vision…


Hypnos stepped back as Valerie's shadowy aura faded and she fell to the ground. Aphrodite's unconscious form appeared next to her.

"Three down, two to go," Hypnos remarked. "Let's keep going. The sooner we're done, the sooner I can go back to sleep."

The Rangers, who had all recovered, walked out of the gym and back into the hallway.

"Where to next?" Adrian asked as he looked to Hypnos.

"I'm sensing something that way," Hypnos said as he pointed to the left.

The Rangers once again followed Hypnos until they reached the woodshop room. They looked inside to see that several of the wooden instruments were on fire and Dark God Victor and Virginia were caught in a vicious battle. Luckily, the flames didn't appear to have reached the wall yet.

"We've got to help her!" Adrian said as he led the way into the room, the other Rangers right behind him.

Virginia, enhanced by her own Flame, dodged around Dark God Victor's next hammer swing before smashing her fist into his helmet. It had little effect other than forcing Dark God Victor's head back a bit. His head shot back to neutral before he slammed his hammer vertically into Virginia's head. The Orange Ranger cried out as she crumpled to the floor, her aura fading.

Adrian and Diana both came in with flying kicks to Dark God Victor's chest, knocking him back a bit and allowing Milhail to grab Virginia and start moving closer to the door.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he noticed Virginia moving a bit in his arms.

"Yeah," Virginia said weakly, "I'll be fine."

"Alright," Mikhail said as he put her down. "Stay there. We can handle this. We just need to restrain him and Hypnos can do his thing."

"Hypnos?" Virginia asked. "You found him?"

Hypnos gave a small wave from the other side of the doorframe.

Mikhail turned towards the fight and summoned his ax. As he charged at Dark God Victor, Adrian and Diana whirled out of the way to let him come in with a mighty slash. Dark God Victor withstood the attack before smashing his hammer into the Crimson Ranger, knocking him back. While the Dark God was distracted, Marcus swooped around him and came down from behind. He grabbed Dark God Victor in a headlock, only for Dark God Victor to judo throw him off.

"Got anything, Christina?" Adrian asked as he looked over at the Green Ranger.

"Nothing," she said with a shake of her head. "All I see are instruments on fire. Except that piano over there"

"We'll just have to use that," Adrian said, "Marcus, Mikhail. You guys come over here!"

The two Rangers disengaged from fighting Dark God Victor and ran over to Adrian.

"What do you have up your sleeve, blondie?" Marcus asked.

"We're going to drop a piano on him," Adrian said simply.

"Ok…" Mikhail said as he looked at Adrian strangely.

"Christina, you need to go tell Diana and Jasmine to force Victor to the ground," Adrian ordered. "You two, help me lift this."

Christina ran over and relayed the message to Diana.

"Force him to the ground?" Diana said before she looked at Christina nodding. "I hope Adrian's got a great plan."

"It's not bad," Christina said. "Let's make sure it works, though."

"Right," Jasmine said as she summoned her scepter and launched a red Curse Orb at Victor. As soon as it hit him, he dropped his hammer and reached down to grab it.

"Now!" Christina shouted as the three girls leapt onto Victor's back. He quickly crumpled to the ground from the weight before he began to struggle to lift the female Rangers. "Hurry!"

The three boys, lifting the piano above their heads, shifted over to raise it above the four Rangers.

"Move!" Adrian ordered as all three Rangers dropped the piano. The girls managed to move in time, but Dark God Victor wasn't so lucky. He groaned as he struggled against the weight.

"Hypnos!" Marcus shouted. "Get your ass over here!"

Hypnos started to run towards the group when the piano ignited into flame. The wood began to burn away, but the metal creating the weight just began to become heated instead of burning away.

Hypnos jumped back before shuffling forward until his palm pressed against Victor's helmet. There was a white glow…


"Nothing!" Victor said as he looked around at all of the failed attempts. "All these tools and I have nothing!"

He threw a metal nut at the wall just as Hypnos appeared. The nut hit the god in the eye and made him howl in pain.

"Jeez!" Hypnos said. "What the hell was that for?"

"Uh…" Victor said. "Who are you?"

"Give me a second," Hypnos said as he blinked a few times. "OK, I'm good." He looked at Victor. "I'm Hypnos. The bottom line? I'm your ticket out of here. Your friends sent me to help free you from this place."

"How are you going to do that?" Victor asked. "I've tried everything. There's no getting out of this room."

"I have my ways," Hypnos said. "Now, come on. Take my hand." He offered his hand to Victor.

"Alright…" Victor said as he took Hypnos's hand and watched in amazement as the room began to fade around him. Soon, he was just in a white void that began to glow brighter and brighter. Soon it was overwhelming, and Victor had to close his eyes…


"C'mon!" Adrian said as he saw the white light between Victor and Hypnos fade. "Let's get the piano off him. He doesn't have that enhanced strength anymore." The three Rangers lifted the piano, which was still on fire, and heaved it across the room.

Victor's shadowy aura faded as he demorphed and fell to the floor. Hephaestus appeared next to him, unconscious.

"Now it's just Jay," Christina said.

"With no one opposing him," Adrian added. "We'd better hurry." He looked to Hypnos. "Do you have any idea where he is?"

"Yeah, I can sense him," Hypnos said. "He's this way."

The Rangers filed in after the god of dreams, with Mikhail helping Virginia stand up before leading her after the others.

A couple of minutes later, Hypnos, Hermes and the Rangers had reached the stairs leading to the roof.

"He's up there," Hypnos said as he pointed to the stairs.

"He's probably going to be the hardest to restrain," Adrian said, "but we need Jay back. We save him and the Dark Olympians are no more."

"Except for Hades," Diana reminded.

"Except for Hades," Adrian echoed. "But once we have Jay again, he can help us figure out how to beat Hades." He looked at the others. "You guys ready?"

The six other Rangers nodded before they started their way up the stairs, Adrian in the lead. As they reached the top of the steps, they could see Dark God Jay standing there with his arms crossed about a football field from the entrance. He was already in his Deity Mode.

"Ah, I was wondering how long it would take you to defeat my fellow Dark Olympians," he said. "I actually thought it would take you longer. I'm impressed."

"Alright, Zeus," Adrian said. "You have two options. You either leave Jay willingly or we force you out."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Dark God Jay asked. "With Hypnos over there?" He pointed to the god standing off to the side. "I don't think so."

In an instant, he launched a red lightning bolt across the room and struck Hypnos in the chest. The god of sleep cried out as he fell to the ground, his chest smoking from the attack.

"Hypnos!" Adrian shouted as he broke from the group and ran over to the god of dreams. Hermes was already there, checking over Hypnos.

"He'll live," Hermes said as he looked up at Adrian, "but he isn't going to be able to free Jay any time soon."

"So what do we do?" Adrian asked.

"You fight and hope your superior numbers will allow you to win," Hermes said. "I unfortunately see no other alternative."

"Yeah, sure," Adrian said under his breath as he ran back into formation. "That won't be hard at all." He looked around at the group before speaking at a normal volume. "We're going to have to just try and beat him normally."

"Oh boy," Marcus said.

"Come at me, Rangers," Dark God Jay said as he beckoned them forward. "Beat me if you can."

The Rangers summoned their weapons and charged. Marcus, who had taken to the air, made it there first and came in with a two-footed kick to the chest. Dark God Jay smirked under his helmet as he caught the kick with both hands and twisted his wrists. Immediately, Marcus went flying to the right, the direction Dark God Jay had twisted his wrists. He cried out as he smashed into a lunch table, breaking a giant gash in the wood.

Diana and Adrian both fired arrows from their bows as they tried to hit Dark God Jay from multiple directions. The energy arrows shattered against Dark God Jay's armor as he raised his hands and launched a blast of red lightning from each. The blasts hit the twins in the chest, causing them to fall to the ground, convulsing.

Christina ran up and swung her scythe at Dark God Jay. He just laughed as he dodged attack after attack.

"You're trying to not hurt me because you think I'm still Jay," he said as he lashed out with a short stream of red lightning. "But I'm not!" He launched a wave of red lightning at the other Rangers as they charged, knocking them off their feet. "Jay is gone! And you're never getting him back!"


Valerie groaned as she sat up and opened her eyes.

"Someone get the number on that train?" she asked as she rubbed the back of her head and winced.

"Valerie Onasis," a familiar voice said. Valerie looked up to see Aphrodite standing before her.

"Aphrodite," Valerie said. "I'm glad to see that we're both free."

"As am I," Aphrodite said. "However, my senses tell me your friends are struggling against Zeus."

"Wait, if you were in me, then Zeus was in…" Valerie said. "Oh my god! Jay!"

She quickly stood up, her pains momentarily forgotten, as she moved closer to Aphrodite.

"Where are they?" she demanded. "Where's that fight happening?"

"Yeah, it's on the roof," Aphrodite said as a thunderclap could be heard overhead. "But with your current power level? You don't stand a chance either."

"So what do you propose I do?" Valerie asked. "Hide down here and let my friends be destroyed?"

"No, I propose we merge once more," Aphrodite said.

"I'm sorry…what?" Valerie asked. "Didn't the others and that Hypnos guy fight so hard to undo our merging in the first place? Why would we merge again?"

"Because the dark energy tainting our connection is gone," Aphrodite said as she pointed to the damaged dark gold morphers on the ground. The pink gems had completely shattered, and they looked pretty useless. "Let me put it this way, honey. I can't morph due to you having my Olympian Gems, but I have the power required to access that Deity Mode we used as a Dark Olympian Ranger. You have my Gems, so you can morph, but you can't use that mode. If we merge, we have a killer combination."

Valerie looked down at the ground, deep in thought.

"If we don't merge…well, honey, then Jay's a goner," Aphrodite said. "That pain you're feeling in your entire body? That's the strain from 3 weeks of being merged with an Olympian. If Jay and Zeus stayed together, it would just be a matter of time until that strain became too much for Jay's body."

"So we come together…and Jay doesn't die?" Valerie asked.

"Pretty much," Aphrodite said with a nod.

Valerie thought for a minute before nodding.

"Then let's do it," she said.

"Just put on your morphers," Aphrodite said. "And I'll do the rest."

Valerie reached into her pocket and pulled out her morphers before strapping them on. She looked over as Aphrodite began to glow pink before becoming pure energy and flowing into Valerie, but most especially the morphers. In a few seconds, Aphrodite was completely gone.

"I really hope this worked," Valerie said as she looked down at her morphers.

It did, Aphrodite's voice said in Valerie's head.
"Ok, that's going to take some getting used to," Valerie said. "But that's time I don't have. I need to go save Jay!"

She ran down the hall and over to the stairs. She was just about to go up them when she heard her name being called.

"Valerie!" Mera shouted as she ran up to her friend. "I am glad to see you are alright."

"Yeah," Valerie said. "I'd love to talk, but I need to go save Jay."

"Athena said you would agree to the process," Mera said as Nate and Victor came from different directions. "Did you boys merge with your gods?"

"Uh…yeah," Nate said. "How'd you know?"

"Athena predicted it," Mera said. "She told me that it's the only way to save Jay and it was extremely likely that we would all agree to do it to help our friend."

"Speaking of which," Valeire said as she gestured to the stairwell, "we need to get up there!"

"Right!" the three other Rangers said as they followed her up the steps.


"This is the best you can do?" Dark God Jay asked as he slammed a fist surrounded by red lightning into Mikhail's gut, making him double over. The Red Dark Olympian Ranger then smacked him aside with one strike of his open palm. "I was honestly hoping for more of a challenge than this? Did you really rely on Jay this much?"

Adrian and Diana aimed their bows at Dark God Jay and pulled back their bowstrings.

"Gemini Arrow!" they shouted. "Fire!"

With that, they released the bowstrings and watched as the energy arrows merged into one large energy arrow before striking Dark God Jay in the hand he put out to catch it. He skid back a bit as he pushed against the force of the arrow before pulling his other fist back and punching right into the arrow, shattering it.

"That was our last hope…" Adrian said as he slumped a bit.

"Don't worry!" a familiar voice shouted as Valerie, Mera, Victor and Nate, who had spoken, ran between the other Rangers and Dark God Jay and lined up to block the way. "We've got this."

"I see that the others managed to free you from your Dark God prisons," Dark God Jay said, "but what I can't see is why you think you have any chance of beating me."

"Hang on, Jay," Valerie said. "We're coming to save you."

"I'd like to see you try," Dark God Jay said as he summoned his Lightning Sword and held it in a ready stance.

"Ready?" Valerie asked as she stepped forward.
"Ready!" the others shouted.

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

"Black Olympian Power!"

"Blue Olympian Power!"

In a flash of multi-colored light, the Rangers were transformed. They crossed their arms over their chests again.

"Deity Mode!" they all shouted as they were surrounded in a golden light. Dark God Jay covered his eyes from the intensity of the glow. As the golden light died, the Rangers now had shinier gold on their suits as well as capes in gold with their ranger color on the edges lining it with golden clasps on the Ranger's fronts holding the cape onto the suit.

"Impossible!" Dark God Jay shouted as he lowered his arms and looked at his opponents in shock. "Only the Olympians can do that!"

"Or people bonded with Olympians," Mera corrected. "But that is beside the point. We have achieved this new state and we are going to use it to defeat you."

"Let's do this!" Nate said as he summoned his trident and held it in a ready stance as well. The rest of the Deity Rangers quickly followed as the other Rangers moved out of the way. With a cry, Nate charged.

There was a clang as Dark God Jay's sword clashed with Nate's trident. The two repeatedly smashed them into each other, with neither gaining any headway. They began to go faster and faster, hoping to outspeed their opponent. As they continued to speed up, wind began to blow around them from the force of their attacks, pushing the tables back. Dark God Jay backflipped back before raising his sword to the sky. Multiple red lightning bolts broke through the glass covering above in several places and struck the ground around Nate and the other Rangers, who had spread out around Dark God Jay. They cried out as the lightning shattered the floor under them and knocked them back. However, they quickly recovered their balance.

"Nate!" Victor shouted. "I have an idea! Fire plus water equals…"

"Yeah, I remember from Notus," Nate said with a laugh. "Fire plus water makes steam!" The two Rangers fired their elements at each other from their palms, with Dark God Jay in the middle of the blasts. While they only affected him a little bit, he was more frustrated by the steam that was created from the blasts combining.

"Clever…" Dark God Jay said as he saw shadows charging towards him. "But not clever enough!" He raised his sword again and let out a wave of red lightning around him. The wave blasted back the steam and the three Rangers (excluding Valerie) who had tried to capitalize on it.

Valerie launched her arrows into the air and allowed them to shatter the glass some more before coming down in random places around Dark God Jay.

"You missed," Dark God Jay said with a smirk before he noticed the arrows hadn't disappeared. He looked up just in time for Valerie to roundhouse kick him in the helmet. He stumbled backwards into one of the arrows, which exploded in a pink heart-shaped blast. He was blasted backwards a bit, right into another arrow that also exploded in the same shape. Dark God Jay growled as he bounced two more times before stabbing his sword into the floor.

"I…have had…enough!" he shouted as thunder boomed above. It quickly began to rain as the Deity Rangers spread out around Dark God Jay once again.

Mera created twin swords in her hands and ran at Dark God Jay. She slid between his legs before slashing along his back, managing to cause some sparks to fly. Dark God Jay whirled around and slashed with his own sword, only for Mera to turn the swords into a halberd and block the attack with the body of the weapon. She spun around Dark God Jay's next sword attack before slashing with the blade of the halberd. Dark God Jay cried out as the blade bit into his suit and actually caused some damage. He managed to kick Mera back a bit while holding the area Mera had slashed.

The rain began to intensify as Mera recovered and motioned for the other Rangers to move in and encircle Dark God Jay.

"It's over, Zeus," Valerie said. "Now give us Jay back!"

"Never!" Dark God Jay shouted as he stabbed his sword into the ground and sent out a shockwave of red lightning. The Rangers were knocked back a bit, but it was clear to see that, even with his enhanced power, Dark God Jay was losing steam.

Hypnos gasped as he sat up.

"Ow!" he said as he felt his chest. "Woooo! I'm going to be feeling that for a while!"

"Worry about that later," Hermes said. "The Rangers have Zeus on the ropes. Could you give them the push they need?"

"All business, aren't you?" Hypnos said as he slowly got up. "Yeah, I've got it."

He hobbled over to the weakened Dark God Jay, who couldn't even lift his sword anymore or fight Hypnos off.

"I might need some help for this one," Hypnos said. "I'm sensing he probably needs you guys in there. Wanna help? All you've got to do is put your hand on my shoulder."

"Of course," Valerie said as all four Rangers put their hands on Hypnos's shoulders.

"Get back here," Hypnos said as he noticed Dark God Jay trying to shuffle away and put his hand on the Dark God's helmet. A white light began to glow from where the two were connected…


Jay looked around at the dark room again. Somehow, it had gotten even darker and colder than before. He looked over as Hypnos appeared next to him.

"Who are you?" Jay asked.

"A friend," Hynos said as he looked at the teen. "What's wrong? You seem super depressed. Not that I can blame you. This scenery isn't exactly uplifting."

"I'm all alone," Jay said. "My friends have probably all forgotten about me by now."

"Trust me, they haven't," Hypnos said. "They've been fighting super hard to get you back."

"Then where are they?" Jay asked. "The only person I see is you, whoever you are."

Hypnos smiled as he snapped his fingers. Almost immediately, Mera, Victor, Nate and Valerie appeared in front of Jay. They were unmorphed, just like Jay.

"We are right here," Mera said. "Where we always have been."

"Where we always will be," Victor added.

"Trust me, fearless leader," Nate said. "Whenever you need us, we're going to be there."

"Because we're your friends," Valerie said as she offered her hand to help Jay stand up.

Jay gave a small smile as he took Valerie's hand and allowed her to pull him up.

"Thanks, guys," Jay said before he turned his head to look at Hypnos. "Is there a way out of here?"

"Take my hand," Hypnos said as he offered out his own hand to Jay.

Jay took Hypnos's hand as the other Rangers put their hands on Jay's shoulders. The room around them dissolved as a white void appeared around them instead. The light from the void began to grow brighter and brighter, forcing Jay to close his eyes…


Hypnos released his hold on Jay's helmet as he watched the Red Ranger's dark aura disappear as he demorphed and fell to the ground. Zeus's unconscious form appeared next to him. The four Deity Rangers backed up and demorphed in a flash of golden light as the rain quickly stopped.

"We did it," Valerie said as she looked at the remaining Rangers as they gathered around. "We freed Jay. The Dark Olympian Rangers are gone."

"Except Hades," Diana reminded again.

"What happened to him, anyway?" Mikhail asked. "He was there during the fight with the other Dark Olympians and then he just…disappeared."

"We'll have to track him down somehow," Victor said. "I'll see what I can think of. Shall we go back to the Temple?"

"Yeah…" Adrian said as he sucked in a breath. "You guys kind of destroyed the Temple as Dark Olympians. And you probably killed Paul."

"Paul?" Jay said groggily as he sat up. "What do you mean?"

"He sacrificed himself to let us escape from you," Christina said. "Adrian tried to stop him but…"

"He said it was his penance for being Gryphon," Adrian said. "He also told me to tell you that he's sorry for everything he did."

"No…" Jay said as he looked down at the ground. "He can't be dead!" He punched the ground, only hurting himself in the process.

"Look!" Virginia said as she pointed to the roof of the cafe building.

Standing on top were the three golden-robed figures that had been watching Dark God Valerie earlier. They stood there, motionless and watching.

"It can't be…" Hermes said as his face turned pale.

"What?" Jasmine asked. "What's wrong?"

"Those are the Fates," Hermes said as he shakily pointed at the robed figures. "And they only appear in the presence of someone close to death."

"And by close to death, you mean…" Nate said.

"Exactly what it sounds like," Hermes said as he looked at the group of Rangers. "Someone here is going to die."

Dun dun dun…

The Dark Olympians were pretty fun to write, and the dream sequences were fun too. Each one had to do with the god the Ranger was trapped inside. See if you can figure out how they were connected! I have to admit I struggled a bit with Valerie's because I didn't know how much I could get away with in a T-Rated story. I think I found a nice compromise, though.

Anyway, I hope to see you guys next month with the penultimate episode. Until then, may the power protect you!