General Snapper dragged Fran roughly into the throne room of Dai Shi's fortress. She knew he was far more powerful than her, especially without her morpher so struggling against him would be pointless. As he threw her to the floor in front of Dai Shi, she stroked her wrist gently, trying to sooth the painful bruising.

"So you chose to stand against me eh?" He greeted her. Fran lifted her head to face him as she got to her knees. "I would have thought after what happened to you the last time you were in my grasp you'd have seen sense and stayed out of this."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She lied. "I know the Rangers, but I just work in the pizza parlour."

Dai Shi gestured to Snapper, who grabbed her jersey, tearing it off roughly, exposing an extensive collection of bruises across her arms and torso. Fran wrapped her arms around herself to hold what was left of her clothing to her frame and maintain what was left of her dignity. She was inwardly thankful she was wearing a t-shirt underneath her jersey. Being held by Dai Shi was bad enough without being humiliated by being paraded around in front of his army half-naked.

"So how did you come by those?" He asked her, gesturing the bruises. "I saw you unconscious on the battlefield after you absorbed that blast. I know you're the Orange Ranger."

She held her wrist limply and looked away. Just as the boss had instructed, she had managed to keep herself out of sight, only breaking cover when there was no choice. She couldn't believe her identity had been discovered like this, she had no idea Dai Shi had been watching the battle from a nearby vantage point.

"Well, the only question to ask now is what to do with you." He thought aloud as he got up from his throne and began pacing the room. "Perhaps we could..."

"Unleash the fox!" Fran yelled, snapping to her feet and casting her fox spirit at him. Dai Shi turned and dashed both Fran and her fox spirit aside dismissively with a blast from his Zukado power. Fran tried to get back to her feet, only to collapse on the floor again, all but completely spent by the brutal assault. She had never been so gravely injured, and was now completely helpless before him. She could feel the pain of her fox spirit as she returned to her, resting deep within her. Snapper grabbed and held her in a tight grip as Dai Shi came over to her, observing her thoughtfully.

"Destroying you would end your torment far too quickly." He told her, pulling her glasses off her face. Fran wasn't so short-sighted she couldn't see as he crushed them into oblivion before her face. "You have spirit. Let's see if we can't do something about that. Give me your wrist."

General Snapper grabbed her left arm, forcing her to hold it out to him. She could barely make out the silver bracelet in his hand. She renewed her struggle to break free as she remembered Camille telling her about the restraining bracelet he forced her to wear all those months ago. Dai Shi placed it over her hand, upon which it shrunk down to be little more than skin-tight around her wrist. Fran held it to her chest, though made no attempt to remove it. She already knew she would be unable to do so; she had nowhere near enough power to overcome the bracelet's energy.

"I believe you know what this is." He taunted her. "I can now see and hear you at any time. I will be able to bring you to me at any time, and I will be able to punish you at any time."

The runes on the bracelet began to glow red, and Fran collapsed to the floor, writhing in agony as energy surged painfully throughout her body. Dai Shi laughed as he released her from his demonstration of the bracelet's power. Snapper pulled her back to her feet roughly.

"Escort her to her room." He instructed, cupping her cheek with his hand. Fran felt herself shudder at his touch, being more than aware of his capacity for cruelty. She knew that as long as she remained in his grasp, she would be in constant danger. "Make sure she's comfortable."

Snapper dragged her down the hallway towards the dungeon. He tossed her into a cell, sprawling her across the floor.

"Welcome to your new home Orange Ranger." He sneered as he locked the door. Fran crawled into the corner and curled up into a ball for comfort. She held her wrist close enough to be able to see it without her glasses. She traced the dark runes around its surface with her fingers as a few tears began to form in her eyes and her thoughts strayed to the man she loved, the man she'd agreed to marry only a short time beforehand.

"Help me Theo." She whimpered, feeling helplessness washing over her. "I'm sorry; I didn't want to lie to you. Please come quickly!"

Back at Jungle Karma, the others were simply relaxing having bid farewell to the masters. Camille and Flit were playing chess, while Dom and Casey were sparring on the training mats. RJ and Lily were just enjoying the all too rare opportunity to spend some time together, talking on the couch. Theo stormed into the room, throwing the door open with a loud bang, causing everyone to jump. Lily got up from the couch, making her way over to him with a look of concern on her face. His clothes were messed up, and he seemed to be limping as though he had been attacked. The look on his face was a mixture of sadness and anger.

"Theo what hap..."

"Where is she?" He snarled, pushing his way past his best friend. It was obvious he wasn't happy about something. As he saw Camille in the corner of the room, he began striding over towards her purposefully. The others could see that letting him get to her was not going to lead to anything good. Dom and RJ grabbed him, holding him back from her, while Lily held Camille protectively. Casey inserted himself between the two of them.

"Theo calm down, what's going on?" RJ asked him as he struggled against them. Theo threw Dom aside aggressively, and shoved RJ aside, before charging at Camille, taking her to the ground, clamping one hand around her throat, squeezing tightly as she fought for breath.

"General Snapper took Fran!" He roared, bringing his other hand up to strike, only to be stopped as Casey grabbed his wrist. "She's in danger because of you! It's your fault he took her!"

Casey finally managed to haul him off the woman he loved as Lily checked over her. Casey fell backwards to the floor, continuing to hold onto him tightly, tying him up in a strong grapple.

"Theo, what the hell is wrong with you?" He grunted struggling against his friend's frenzied attempts to get loose. "She has nothing to do with Dai Shi now; she has no control over him."

Dom grabbed Theo, pulling him back to his feet and restraining him as Casey got back up and came to the Rhino Ranger's assistance. RJ interjected himself in front of Theo.

"Theo, you have to calm down and tell us what's going on." RJ told him. "What happened to Fran?"

"And why are you trying to hurt Camille?" Casey asked him.

"General Snapper took Fran to Dai Shi as revenge for standing against him!" Theo snapped as he finally stopped struggling enough to allow Dom and Casey to trust him not to try anything and release him. "Something I'm sure SHE put her up to!"

"Theo, you're not making any sense." Casey responded. "It's been months since Dai Shi made a play for Camille. What does she have to do with this?"

"Ask her about this!" He yelled, throwing Fran's solar morpher into Casey's chest. Casey managed to catch it and inspected it in disbelief. "Go on, tell him Camille! Or should we call you Green Ranger!"

Camille sighed and looked to her feet as though hoping for answers. She never wanted anything to happen to Fran, but both of them knew the risks when they took the morphers. She pulled her own morpher out of her pocket and presented it to Casey.

"You?" RJ breathed, completely confused. Camille could feel every judgemental pair of eyes in the room on her as she continued to stare at the floor.

"Yes, it was us helping you." Camille confessed, sitting on the couch. "I was able to sneak into Dai Shi's fortress and steal back the eyes because of my chameleon power. Fran was watching your backs."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Casey asked her, feeling a little hurt that she couldn't confide in him. He would have loved having her fight by his side, so he couldn't fathom why they had been so secretive about the whole business.

"OK, let's start from the top." RJ suggested. "How did you two become Rangers?"

"I shouldn't say." Camille responded sadly. "There's more important..."

"Camille, I know you and Fran couldn't have made these morphers." RJ interrupted her. "I know..."

Camille put her morpher on her face and opened the communications relay.

"Boss, the others know." She began. "Dai Shi took Fran."

"Hook me up." He replied in a sigh. "It's time they knew the truth."

Camille took off her morpher and connected it to the surveillance system. RJ wasn't too surprised by the face staring back at them, though the others were.

"Hello Rangers." Dr. Hartford greeted them. "I guess I have some explaining to do."

"Andrew, how did you get these morphers to them?" RJ asked him. "I thought your lab was sealed as part of the Overdrive Ranger's bail agreement."

"RJ, I'm a multi-billionaire. I have means at my disposal." He informed him. "Besides, you know better than anyone how hard it is to stop me once I have a plan."

RJ conceded the point.

"So why all the secrecy?" Lily asked him. "Why didn't you just tell us you were planning...?"

"Lily, I had wanted to leave the Overdrive Rangers in Ocean Bluff to help you, but we couldn't because of the trial and the bail conditions. The court has confiscated their Overdrive Trackers, so I came up with another plan, but I couldn't risk the courts hearing about other Rangers turning up and applying for a breach of bail conditions verdict. I couldn't let the Rangers go to prison, so I asked the others to help out."

"He approached us in the hotel room the night they went back to San Angeles to turn themselves in." Camille explained. "He told us he'd sort us out with the morphers, and asked us to stay out of sight. He only wanted us to help out if we were really needed."

"So it was you who stole the eyes." Casey surmised. "Only you could have slipped into the fortress unseen and knew it well enough to navigate it." Camille nodded to confirm the supposition.

"Dr. Hartford knew the eyes were the secret to freeing the masters and asked me to steal them." She told them. "I also tried to free the masters, but I couldn't open their restraints, so I was forced to leave with only the eyes."

"I analysed the eyes and Fed-Exed them from a PO Box." Dr. Hartford continued. "I began forming ideas for a device that could use the energy of the eyes to release them from Dai Shi's control, which was when Fran contacted me to tell me about your Claw Cannon idea. She E-mailed me your schematics. I knew your idea would lead to the Master's destruction, and I couldn't let you do that. I knew none of you would be able to live yourselves if you did that, so I adapted my own device into a power filter."

"I didn't notice you taking any risks." Theo grumbled. "Fran could have been killed by that blast! She's been kidnapped and they could be doing anything to her. How could you let them do this?"

"Theo, I'm sorry. If I could have acted myself I would have. I never asked them to do anything I wouldn't have done myself if I could." He told him. "They volunteered for all of it, I swear."

"So why did the blast hurt Fran?" RJ asked him.

"I didn't have time to complete the design before you went into battle. Fran insisted on using it anyway." He told them. "She powered it up using her own morphing energy. I tried to stop her, but she took the risk anyway. She's the bravest person I know. You should all be proud of her."

"We are." Theo sighed as his tears began to fall. "But none of this is helping get Fran back. We need to do something."

"I can get you into the fortress." Camille told them. "I know a way to get there we can all take."

"It's too risky." RJ stated flatly.

"We can't go into Dai Shi's fortress, his entire army's in there!" Casey interjected. "It'd be suicide!"

"Well I for one am going to get her back!" Theo stated, moving over to Camille. "I may not be thrilled about everything you all did, but I'm going to get her back."

"Theo, we all care about Fran." Lily said quietly, pulling him aside. "We need to take this carefully. We..."

"Lily I love her." He told her. "When General Snapper took her I'd asked her to marry me. She said yes Lily."

"Theo, I had no idea." She gasped, comforting her long time friend with a comforting hug. "We'll get her back, I promise."

"I can't lose her Lily." He whimpered, pulling into her. "Not now, I can't lose her now, she's everything to me."

Back in the fortress, Fran strained to focus on the door as a dark shape appeared in the doorway. She heard a scrape of metal on stone as a dish was placed on the floor and slid inside.

"Eat!" General Scorch commanded in a gruff voice. "I suggest you take advantage of this. Dai Shi may not keep you around much longer."

"If he was going to destroy me, he'd have done it by now." She responded, crawling along the floor until she was close enough to see the dish clearly. "Bread and water? A little clichéd isn't it?"

"You should be happy he's giving you anything at all." Scorch sneered in response. "The only reason I don't destroy you myself is because of his orders. Make no mistake human, when he tires of you..."

"Something tells me he intends keeping me around for a while." She replied, gesturing to her restraining bracelet. "So Dai Shi orders you to keep a human alive and you do so without question? I thought you Phantom Beasts were meant to be powerful."

"My Rinzin power dwarfs his pathetic Zukado!" He snarled in response. "I am far more powerful..."

"Which is why you're taking orders from him like a lackey." She interrupted, taunting him. "And the Rangers were so worried about you..."

"When Dai Shi becomes our Phantom Beast King, the Rangers will fall!" She roared, a blast of flame erupting from his hand, missing her head by inches.

"You plan to make someone less powerful than you, a HUMAN your king?" She asked him, chuckling a little at the notion. "All as part of your campaign to erase humans from existence you plan to kneel before one? You really are an idiot aren't you?"

Scorch threw open the door, striding inside and grabbing Fran by the throat, lifting her until her feet were no longer touching the ground.

"I will follow Dai Shi for now, since it is in my interests." He told her. "But I will kneel before no human. ALL humans will be crushed underfoot, and the Phantom Beasts will take their rightful place as rulers of this world. Mark my words slave; you will not last long here."

He threw her back to the floor and left, locking the door behind him. As he left, Fran gathered her meagre provisions and began eating, before casting a glance to her restraining bracelet. Her plan had already begun.

In his throne room, Dai Shi dismissed the other Generals and sat alone. He could hear everything that happened in that cell.

"I always suspected you would try to and dethrone me Scorch." He mused to himself. "You are useful to me. I just need to think of a way to make you useful in a way you will not survive."

Back at Jungle Karma, the others were discussing how best to go about rescuing Fran.

"There really isn't any other option." Theo remarked. "We need to go into the fortress."

"I'm not thrilled about the idea." RJ sighed. "We're leaving ourselves vulnerable. Besides, we don't even know..."

"She's alive." Theo interrupted him sharply.

"Theo, we can't be..."

"I know she is." He stated flatly. "I can feel it. She's alright, but we don't have much time."

"I can get us in and out." Camille told them. "A small party would be able to get through more easily than all of us."

"I'll go with you." Theo told them. "If anyone's going for Fran, it'll be me."

"Fine, but take Dom with you too." RJ told them. "Between the three of you, you should be able to get in and out without raising too much attention. The rest of us will stay behind in case Dai Shi tries anything."

"Good luck Theo." Casey implored him, handing him Fran's morpher. "I hope she's alright."

"I know she is." He told him. "If I even think for one minute she's not, I get stiff. I can't breathe and my guts get all tight. I'm no good to her like that."

"We're all here for you Theo." Lily comforted him, hugging him tightly. "You're being really strong..."

"Fran has been stronger and braver than I'll ever deserve." He stated. "Now it's my turn to be strong for her."

Back in her cell, Fran was curled into a tight ball for warmth in her draughty cell, but suddenly felt a warm feeling coming over her. Her head rose up from the hard, stone floor and sat up in the corner, and for the first time since she'd been snatched from her fiancée's side, she smiled. She didn't know how, but she just knew Theo was coming for her.