Return of an Old Evil

Discaimer: Same as always.

A/N: Same pairings as listed before.

Chapter 6

"Ivan Ooze?!" Adam exclaimed with a gasp.

"That's right," Carlos said with a nod.

Adam shook his head. "But that's impossible!"

Carlos was now puzzled. "Why?"

"Ivan Ooze was destroyed a little over two years ago."

Andros came up next to Carlos. "You know who he is?" He asked Adam.

"You're Andros, right?" Andros nodded and Adam went on. "I've heard a lot about you. And as for Ivan, I do unfortunately know who he is. I was part of the team that destroyed him."

"If he was destroyed, how do you explain this?" As Andros spoke, he held up a jar of ooze that Rakor had given him back on KO-35 before they left. They had wanted it to do their own tests and analysis on it.

Adam was taken aback at the sight of it. "I've no idea. Where did you get that?"

"On KO-35. It and hundreds of others just like it showed up there out of the blue a few days ago. A few hours later, most of the people had become zombies."

"Did they touch what was inside?" Adam asked seriously.

"Yes, that's when they became zombies, according to the few people who were left that did not touch it," Andros replied.

"This sure does sound like Ivan," Adam said in amazement. "I think we need to get together in person and discuss this further. Can you guys meet me here at my house in five hours?"

"Tell us how to get there and we'll be there," Andros told him.

Adam gave them directions then said, "I am going to try to contact the other former rangers and have them come too, if they are willing and able to."

"That's great to hear. We need all the help we can get," Carlos replied. We'll see you in five hours, Adam."

"I'll be waiting and hopefully so will the others," Adam said and ended the transmission.

Andros looked at the others. "We'll we better go get ready. DECA, can we land anywhere close to his house?"

The closest possible landing site is in a clearing located in a forest about two miles away," DECA responded immediately.

"That'll work. Take us there and we'll walk the rest of the way," Andros said and DECA acknowledged.

"Why not take the Galaxy Gliders?" TJ asked.

"That'll only draw unwanted attention. And that's what we don't need right now. We're much better off lying low so Ivan has a much more difficult time finding us." The others nodded at the logic of his words and they all went to get ready for their rendezvous with Adam.

Exactly five hours later, after landing the Megaship in the designated clearing and activated the cloaking shield, they were standing on Adam's doorstep. Carlos rang the doorbell and moments later Adam answered.

"Hey guys, come on in. We're all in the basement. It's this way." Adam led the way past the kitchen and dining room to the basement door and they all descended the stairs. The room they found themselves in was warm and inviting, with soft green carpet, two very comfortable looking cream-colored leather couches, a matching recliner and love seat, three mahogany end tables, a big screen television against one wall, and it was bathed in warm yellow light from the lamps on each of the end tables and an overhead light.

Several people already filled the couches as the Astro Rangers and Adam all found seats in the love seat, recliner, and the floor.

"All right," Adam began once everyone was seated. "Before we get started, in think introductions are in order since I don't think everyone here has met. I'm Adam Park and on the first couch we have Rocky DeSantos, Katherine Hillard, Tanya Sloan, and Zack Taylor. ON the second couch we have Tommy Oliver, his fiancée Kimberly Hart, Jason Scott, and his girlfriend Trini Kwan." He then turned to the Astro Rangers. "Andros, will you please introduce us to your team?"

"Certainly. I'm Andros, next to me is my girlfriend Ashley Hammond. Then we have TJ Johnson and his girlfriend Cassie Chan, Carlos Vallerte, and Zhane, who's been my best friend since we were very little."

"Okay, now that that's been taken care of, let's get down to business. Andros?" Adam said, giving the floor to the leader of the Astro Rangers.

"We're here because an old evil has resurfaced and our powers alone may not be enough to stop him," he began. "He already has taken hundreds of captives a couple of days ago from my home planet of KO-35. When we tried to stop him, he tossed us around like rag dolls. We couldn't even get close enough to damage him."

"Wait a minute," Tommy broke in after he'd finished telling the whole story. "Who is he? Do we know him?"

"He said he was Ivan Ooze." The room erupted into murmurs of disbelief at Andros's words along with loud laughter from Rocky.

"What the hell is your problem, Rocky?" Zhane demanded. "There's absolutely nothing funny about this at all."

"It's just that you must be mistaken if you think it's actually Ivan Ooze, given that we threw him into a comet over two years ago. It's obviously a scam you've fallen for, but it's not really your fault, given that you all never fought against him or maybe even heard of him," Rocky explained bluntly.

Zhane shot to his feet. "Who the hell do you think you are? We may never have fought against Ivan, but that doesn't mean we're some naive little children like you seem to think we are! So don't treat us that way! We know what we saw and heard!" He yelled angrily at Rocky.

"Hey chill, man," Rocky replied holding his hands up. "I didn't mean anything personal against you guys."

"Don't insult me and my friends then tell me to chill like nothing's wrong!" Zhane shot back.

"Rocky said he didn't mean anything personal, why don't you calm down, man," Jason broke in.

"Why don't you stay out of it," Zhane retorted. "We came for help, not to get insulted and treated like morons to our faces. If that's the way---." Zhane was cut off as Andros grabbed his shoulder and turned him around to face him.

"Hey, Zhane, calm down. This is not why we came here and it's certainly not the way to get their help." His voice was firm.

"But he practically accused us of lying to all of them," Zhane protested.

Andros shook his head. "No he didn't. That's not he said. Remember what Adam said when we talked to him earlier?"

"You mean about he being a part of the team that destroyed Ivan over two years ago."

Andros nodded. "Yes. You can't really blame them for being skeptical. We'll show them the evidence hope that convinces them."

Zhane took a deep breath. "Maybe you're right, Andros." He turned back to the others. "I'm sorry I got so mad. It's just that we fought this guy and saw firsthand how dangerous he is. We even have a jar of his ooze that we brought back from KO-35."

"It's okay, Zhane," Jason said. Rocky isn't exactly known for his tactfulness."

"Hey!" Rocky started to protest but Tanya cut him off.

"Jason's right. You could have said it a lot more tactfully. And your laughing at them was uncalled for."

Rocky sighed, knowing that Tanya was right. "You're right; I shouldn't have laughed and said it like that. It's just that Kim, Tommy, Adam, Billy, Aisha, and I all saw him get destroyed right in front of us," He explained.

"Then something weird's going on. Take a look at this recording DECA made of our fight with him on KO-35," TJ spoke up, reaching into the bag he had brought and pulling out a videotape.

Ashley reached into a second bag and pulled out the jar of ooze they'd brought. "We also have this." Gasps from the former rangers filled the room upon seeing the jar.

"Oh, my gosh, could he really be back?" Kim asked, her face paling.

"But didn't Ivan's old jars have labels on them?" Rocky asked. This is plain."

"That's right, they did," Said Tommy, remembering.

"Maybe he didn't have time to label them," Carlos put in.

"Who knows?" Andros responded. "But let's show them the recording."

Adam nodded and took the tape from Andros and put it in the VCR that was on top of the TV and pushed play. They all watched in silence and when it was over everyone was filled with dread.

"I don't know hoe the hell this is possible, but that's really Ivan," Tommy said, his voice grave.

"How can you be so sure?" Rocky asked.

"Think about it, guys. Those Oozemen were identical to the ones we fought. And look at the way he created them. That's exactly the way he did it before. Who else can do that? And use ooze to brainwash people. Not to mention those purple lightning blasts."

"Not to mention he's the spitting image of Ivan," Adam added.

"Okay, now that we got all that sorted out, any ideas on what we do now?" Cassie spoke up.

"Yeah," Tommy replied. "We can help you. Ivan is more dangerous than anyone else out there. We must stop him now. We're all going to have to work and fight together to do that."

Ashley was confused. "But how? I thought the Turbo powers were destroyed."

"The Turbo powers were; but that's not what I meant." He crossed and uncrossed his arms and suddenly his Zeonizers appeared on his wrists. He indicated them. "We still have our Zeo Powers, Kat, Tanya, Rocky, Adam, and I. And I think they're just what we need to destroy that bastard once and for all! Now, let's work on a plan to do it."

"I suggest we make one fast, because we don't have much time," Andros added seriously.

"He's right, so come on, guys, let's get brainstorming," said Jason.

Three hours later, they had a plan made.

A/N: I hope you all liked this chapter. I know it's a little slow and boring, but it's necessary for the story to work. I also hope I kept everyone in character. As always, please review and tell me what you think about it. Just so you know, the more reviews I get, the faster I'll provide additional chapters!