Return of an Old Evil

Disclaimer: Same as before.

A/N: Many thanks to those who reviewed. Here's the next chapter. You will see some Adam/Tanya in this one, plus an old friend makes his debut!

Chapter 8

"Star-Slinger!" Ashley yelled, summoning her weapon and blasting two Oozemen, making them shatter into thousands of drops of ooze, which splattered everywhere. She shook her head and said wryly, "This has got to be our most disgusting battle ever!"

"I don't know about disgusting, but it is the slimiest!" Zhane added as he destroyed an Oozeman with his Super-Silverizer.

Rocky laughed loudly at Zhane's remark. "Great pun, Zhane," he told the Silver Astro Ranger, and then kicked a Tengu in the head, sending it flying into one of its fellows.

Zhane took an exaggerated bow. "Why, thank you! It was my pleasure!"

Andros rolled his eyes inside his helmet. "This is just what we need, another Zhane!" He said sarcastically.

"Hey, that'd be great!" Zhane said enthusiastically.

"Don't even think about it. I can barely handle one of you now," Andros was quick to tell him.

"Hey!" Zhane protested loudly among laughter. Just then, a Tengu kicked Cassie from behind, knocking her into Kat, which sent them both tumbling to the ground.

"You're going to pay for that, you big oaf!" TJ yelled, charging at the Tengu that kicked his girlfriend and nailing him over the head with his Astro Axe. He turned to Cassie but before he could even say one word, he saw Adam get kicked viciously in the stomach by an Oozeman. He doubled over and fell to the ground. He heard Tanya scream his name and rush to him, viciously knocking aside any enemies who tried to stop her. He rushed to help, along with Rocky and Carlos, who kept the Tengus and Oozemen away from Tanya and Adam.

By now, Tommy was seeing red. "That's it, you dumb asses, you're all going down now!" He yelled and joined by Andros and Zhane, who were also pissed off by now, attacked the Oozemen and Tengus all out. Seconds later, the others, minus Adam and Tanya, joined in as well. They didn't stop until they were all destroyed a short time later.

Then as one, they all turned to Ivan and blasted him with their Zeo and Astro Blasters. The only thing that did, though, was send him stumbling back a couple of steps from the force of the combined blasts. "Nice try, kiddies," Ivan said and snickered loudly. "But you'll have to better than that to stop me!" He raised his hands and blasted them back with purple lightning.

The rangers barely managed to dive out of the way of the powerful blast. It struck the ground next to them, sending dirt and grass clods everywhere. "Again, guys, full power this time!" Andros yelled as they came up. They all blasted Ivan a second time, this time on full power, but once again it was to no avail, as he just shrugged it off. "Damn, what does it take to hurt this guy?" Andros yelled, totally frustrated as they dodged a second blast from Ivan.

"Whatever it is, you children sure don't have it!" Ivan sneered as he let loose a third blast. This one managed to hit the rangers and send them all tumbling to the ground in a pile. Ivan laughed loudly. "Now that's what I call bowling for rangers!" His laughter was cut short however, when he was struck by a powerful kick from behind from Tanya. Now it was his turn to flying into the ground. He hit face first and before he could get up, the rangers, including Tanya, began blasting him repeatedly.

The sight of Ivan Ooze writhing around on the ground was too much for Rocky. He burst out laughing. "Hey guys, look at this! It isn't every day you see a pile of ooze break dancing!" He shouted.

"Good one, Rocky!" Zhane shouted back, giving him a high five. He wasn't sure what break dancing was although of course he certainly knew what dancing was. He would have to ask someone about it later.

Ivan, deciding he had had enough. "This isn't over rangers! Not by a long shot. I will have my revenge!" He snarled as he teleported away.

"Try all you want, Ivan! It won't do you any good, you ugly piece of scum!" Tommy shouted back.

"Uh, Tommy, I don't think he could hear you," Kat told him wryly.

"I know, Kat, I was just venting my anger," he replied, sounding a little sheepish. "Come on, let's go see if Adam's okay." Kat nodded and they went over to Adam, who was already surrounded by the others.

"Are you okay, Adam?" Kat asked him, concern filling her voice.

"I think so," he replied, groaning a little. "I'm really sore on the right side of my chest."

"I think maybe you have some bruised ribs, sweetie," Tanya told him.

"Let's go back to the megaship," Andros spoke up. "We can check him out there in the medical bay."

"Yeah, let's go," agreed Tanya.

"But what about the others?" Tommy asked. "We just can't leave them hanging."

"DECA can teleport them on board, don't worry."

"Wait, who or what is DECA?" Kat asked.

"DECA is the ship's artificial intelligence," Andros explained. She performs many shipboard functions, including teleportation.

"Okay," Tommy said. They then teleported aboard the megaship, landing in the medical bay. Tanya and Rocky immediately helped Adam lay down on one of the beds while Andros got the medical equipment ready for use.

"You're going to be okay, Adam," Tanya said softly as she stroked his curly black hair. Just then, there was a loud whoosh and the others appeared.

"Oh, my gosh, what happened," Trini cried, seeing Adam lying on a bed with an IV in is arm. Tommy quickly filled her and the others in on what had happened, including how Adam had gotten hurt and how Ivan had fled, promising he'd be back.

"Wow, it sounds like he's really pissed off now," Jason said. "He's really going to be after us now."

"Like he wasn't before," Zhane said sarcastically.

"I just meant he's going to be tougher to beat and nastier than he was before, and back before we know it," Jason explained.

Zhane looked mollified. "Oh," was all he said.

Meanwhile DECA had finished scanning Adam. "The subject has two bruised ribs that should heal completely within a couple of hours," she pronounced.

"Thanks, DECA," Andros replied.

"How in the hell can two bruised ribs heal completely in two hours?" Rocky asked disbelievingly.

"With his powers and the advanced medical equipment and medicines on the ship," Andros explained.

"Yeah, you have to remember that Andros is not from Earth and his ship and planet possess greater and much different medical technology," Tommy added.

"Some of it is the same or similar to what there is on Earth," Andros informed him. "But we're way off the subject at hand. Jason's right about Ivan being tougher and nastier than before. So we need to figure out where we go from here."

"Andros is right," Tommy spoke up. "Trini, were you able to get a hold of Billy before DECA brought you here?"

"Yeah, I did," she replied. He just has to get a few things together and he'll be here in about forty-five minutes."

"Good, but does he know where the megaship is and that that's where we are?" Carlos asked.

"Not to worry," Andros broke in. "I'll transmit that information directly to the teleportation center on Aquitar now."

"Thank you, Andros," Tommy said, relieved.

Andros nodded than raised his voice so everyone in the room could hear him. "We don't have long before Billy gets here and before Ivan attacks again, for that matter, so we need to go over the recent battles and devise some strategies against him," he said firmly.

"What good is going over the battles we already fought with him going to be?" Rocky asked, sounding a little confused.

"DECA has recorded both of them and we can study the recordings and learn more about how he attacks, uses his powers, and even maybe about what's he's thinking at different times during the battles," Andros answered him.

Adam nodded. "And we can use all that against him in future battles. We even could discover where his weaknesses are," he added.

"If he even has any," Zhane muttered doubtfully.

"Everybody has weaknesses," Kat told him. "Even Ivan.

"And we'll find them," said Andros firmly. "Come on, everyone, let's go to bridge and watch those recordings and discuss strategies." At his words they all headed for the door, even Adam who slowly got up from the bed and on his feet.

Tommy saw him and shook his head. "No, Adam, you need to stay here and rest," he told him.

"I only have two bruised ribs for crying out loud!" Adam told him sharply. "You don't have to act like I'm in critical condition or something!"

"But you still need to stay here and let the machines do there job," Andros told him. "And it'll only be for a couple of hours."

Adam looked ready to argue further but Tanya spoke up. "If he has to stay here, then I'll stay with him," she said.

Of course, people argued against that, but there was no changing Tanya's mind. So after a few minutes of bickering, the rest of the team headed for the bridge while Tanya helped Adam lie down again.

"I hate this," Adam said with a groan. I feel so useless, and not needed."

"You're not useless and you are most definitely needed. It's just that you need to be at one hundred percent to battle Ivan," Tanya said, her voice firm.

"I know, but still---," Adam's voice trailed off and he sighed, looking incredibly sad.

"Oh, sweetie," Tanya said in a voice filled with emotion. She leaned forward and kissed him deeply. Adam immediately responded, kissing her just as deeply. Their arms came around each other and after several minutes, Tanya, as they continued to kiss, lay down on the bed as well and snuggled up next to him as close as she could get.

Meanwhile, on the bridge, the others had watched the recordings of both battles and were now discussing strategies. With so many people, however, it was hard to get everyone to agree on the same ones to use. It seemed like someone came up with negatives on each one that was brought up. They had only been there for around forty-five minutes and already frustration was mounting and tempers were starting to flare.

"This is ridiculous!" Rocky shouted, highly exasperated. "At this rate we'll be lucky if we find a strategy by next century!"

"That thought is most disturbing," a new, but familiar voice said from the other side of the bridge. "Ivan will no doubt have solidified his position of complete dominance over the whole universe by that time."

Everyone gasped and spun around to where the voice was coming from and saw a very familiar and welcome face.

"Billy!" Several voices cried at once.

A/N: What does everyone think? I was thinking about having the Zeo Crystal reactivate Jason, Trini, Zack, and Billy's original Power Coins! And having Kim use her Ninjetti powers! What's everyone's take on that? Please remember that I love hearing your feedback! Just click that little button and keep it coming!