Fran was lost in her thoughts of Theo as General Scorch came back to her room. Hearing the loud click of the lock on her cell door triggering, she was snapped back to her predicament, beholding the Phantom Beast General.

"I take it it's time to change my sawdust." She snorted as he came into the room. "Tell Dai Shi..."

"He wants you to come to him." Scorch interrupted her sharply. "It would be best for you if you went."

"You know, I kind of like my suite." She replied sarcastically. "I'll stay here."

She felt every fibre in her body burning painfully as she collapsed to the floor, screaming in agony. Dai Shi was obviously using her bracelet to ensure her compliance with his request for her presence.

"You will come with me." Scorch told her. "Or Dai Shi will call for you himself."

She got to her feet, limping towards the Phantom Beast General with as much authority as she could muster while cradling her left wrist to her abdomen. She still hoped that Theo would come for her soon, but she had a feeling things were not going to be pleasant until he arrived.

Back at JKP, Theo, Dom and Camille stood ready to undertake what easily had the potential to be their most dangerous mission yet. Theo couldn't think of anything but Fran. Looking forlornly at a cheap, Casio watch she had given him when he forgot his, he felt every second of her absence in his heart. It hurt to know she was in danger, even more so because she had risked herself for him and the others.

"I want you guys to get in, and get out." RJ reminded them. "His entire army's in there. Don't take any stupid risks."

"We won't." Dominic assured him. "I have as little desire for a showdown with the whole posse as anyone."

"Theo, are you OK?" He asked the Blue Ranger. For obvious reasons his reaction to the whole affair would have a pivotal role in the whole outcome.

"I'm fine." He snapped. "Camille, show us the door."

Fran was led back to Dai Shi's throne room to find a thick, heavy iron gate between her and Dai Shi. She knew what he had planned couldn't be good, but she held herself with dignity and courage before him.

"Are you this scared of me?" She asked him, gesturing to the gate.

"Not quite, you will understand soon." He replied as Scorch left the room. Another gate slammed down behind her, cutting off her escape route.

"Now, let us talk about your life." He began, gesturing to a mirror beside his throne. "Or rather, your lack of one."

"You want to break me with the fact I was a geek in high school?" She snapped. "I know I was. Hell, I'm a geek now; you'll have to do better than..."

Her words ended as she saw a fresh-faced young man in his early twenties ice-skating around a rink in hockey gear. Her heart froze and she felt her chest tighten as she beheld the image.

"Take that away." She beckoned him.

"But why? You get to see daddy dearest BEFORE you ruined his life." Dai Shi taunted her. As much as she wanted to look away, to preserve her sanity, she continued to watch. An unseen force compelled her to see this.

"You were born in 1989 were you not?" He asked her. "That's exactly when everything went wrong for your family."

She was compelled to behold the mirror as she saw the young man score a masterful slap-shot into the net. He gestured with his free hand to the stands.

"Those were talent scouts for the Pittsburgh Penguins." Dai Shi told her. "Of course..."

The next moment, she saw another player fly into the view of the mirror, scything down across his shoulder with his stick. He was immediately thrown off the ice, though Fran couldn't notice. Instead, all she saw was his point of view as he watched the talent scouts leave, and more importantly, his view straying to the reason he'd even gone to this tryout, Fran and her mother.

"He risked everything for you." Dai Shi whispered. "And he lost it all as a result. That shoulder injury ended his career before it began."

"Stop this." She whimpered, beholding the events on the screen. "I beg you, please stop this."

The picture advanced only a couple of years and Fran saw what was undeniably the same young man, though the years hadn't been kind. His hair was receding and his build had atrophied quite badly. A toddler approached him on hands and knees, dumping some toys at his feet.

"Please, stop this!" Fran pleaded with him. "Daddy, please I..."

"What do you want?" The former hockey player asked. "I work to give you your clothes. I bust my ass to get you those toys!"

"Please, I beg you, stop this!" Fran wailed as she recalled the repressed memory with pointed detail. He picked up the toddler and threw her across the room. Fran wept as she saw this.

"Do you know how much work is out there for a god damned cripple who can't lift his arm over his head? Shut it you ungrateful little..."

"Daddy, I didn't do anything!" Fran wailed as she beheld the scene unfolding. "Please, stop it, it hurts it..."

Dai Shi chuckled with contentment as he realised his plan was working. He observed the portal between Ocean Bluff and his fortress. He knew he could count on company soon.

Theo prepared himself for the battle ahead with deep meditation. None of the others could shake him out of his mood, though that was hardly a surprise. In his head, he was trying to reach Fran, to ease her and let her know he was coming. Unfortunately, all he could see was fog.

Fran continued to watch the mirror, seeing the scene a couple of months later. Her mother cradled the infant defensively as her father rampaged around the living room, smashing furniture.

"Donald, I know you're angry, but we're doing all we can!" She pleaded with him. "It isn't Fran's fault it..."

"It's all her fault!" He roared, rounding on his wife, getting into her face menacingly. "I was injured in that college game the previous week. I wouldn't have even played that game if it wasn't for her!"

"Donald, you can't keep blaming her for everything!" Her mother protested. "Please, it's just the drink talking. She's your daughter, you love her, and you love me. You can't keep hurting us like this."

"Leave her Mary." He beckoned her. "She's been a cancer on this family since she infected..."

"Donald, please stop this!" She implored her drunken husband. "She's our daughter, she deserves..."

Her words were cut off as the back of her husband's hand slapped her hard, sending her to the floor. The infant fell to the ground, landing hard and beginning to cry. Her mother began to crawl to her daughter, only to be cut off and doubled over in pain as she was kicked roughly in the ribs by her husband.

"Leave her!" He roared. "She is the reason we're nobodies. She is the reason we'll never get out of this hell hole of a neighbourhood. She ruined everything for us!"

Fran fell to her knees as she saw this, unable to cope.

"You see Fox Ranger; you really have chosen the wrong side." Dai Shi continued.

"I beg you, please stop!" Fran pleaded, all but completely smashed into submission by the display.

"No, you need to see the true depths of human cruelty." He answered, gesturing back to the mirror. It was now a little later. The infant Fran was now around five years old and cycling around on her tricycle. She saw her father as usual watching the television, sipping beer despite the early hour and lamenting over how much he had lost. The little Fran saw him looking miserable and picked up a ball, coming towards him.

"No, Please!" Fran beckoned Dai Shi. "Don't!"

Donald looked down to his daughter, seeing her looking up at him with hope and love, presenting the ball to him.

"Want to play catch daddy?" She asked him.

"No, I want to rest. Go away." He snapped, opening another beer can as he answered. The toddler Fran climbed onto the arm of the chair as he said this.

"Can I have some?" She asked, gesturing to the beer can. "It looks yummy!"

Donald shoved her off the arm of the chair, never even looking her direction. Not when she fell, not when she landed, and definitely not when she began crying.

"For God's sake Donald, what are you doing?" Mary yelled, picking up the screaming toddler. "She's hurt!"

Fran wept a little more in Dai Shi's presence as she recalled her repressed memories. She knew what came next.

In the clinic, Mary paced the floor in worry. She was eventually approached by a doctor.

"Fran has broken her left shoulder." He informed her. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

"No." She replied. "We're fine."

"But madam, there's..."

"I said we're fine." Mary replied. "We'll be alright."

He young intern wasn't at all happy with the resolution to the situation. He knew damn fine that the injuries to the child and even those to the mother were inflicted by a violent assault. He checked to make sure his resident was not within earshot, and then approached her, handing her a card.

"This is MY number." He told her. "Please, I know you love him but if nothing else, look at what he's doing to her. Call me and I'll help you. Get her away from him."

Fran closed her eyes and tried to hold onto that. It was one of the few major moments of humanity she'd seen in that image.

"He only wanted ONE THING!"

"He took care of us!" Fran sneered as she curled into a ball, trying to defend herself against the mental onslaught. "He helped us..."

"Until he realised you were part of the deal." Dai Shi interrupted her. The image shifted to a slop house in the university district.

"Mary, I love you." He began. "But we need to talk about Fran."

"What do we need to talk about?" She asked.

"We all love crashing at your place." He began. "We all love..."

"You want me to get rid of her?" Mary interrupted. "I'm sorry but..."

"She's a pretty girl, she'll live." The sleazy intern told her. "She'll be taken care of."

Mary never even answered. Instead she just gathered her things and left the room. That was the last time she ever saw the young intern. Returning home, she paid the babysitter and went into Fran's room, seeing her sleeping there peacefully.

"Maybe your dad was right." Her mom whispered. "Maybe you are a cancer on this family. I've just lost him because of you."

She came over to the bed, stroking her daughter's hair as she slept, tears rolling down her face. "You've ruined our lives."

Fran wept loudly as she heard her mother's hurtful words, feeling the pain more deeply than she thought possible. It was then she realised why. The pain was also affecting her fox spirit. It had been injured by Dai Shi's Zukado power. She now realised what he was trying to do. She knew now why the grill was there between her and Dai Shi. He was trying to force her to lose herself to her animal spirit. She remembered what happened when RJ had been lost to the wolf spirit and the thought of going the same way terrified her.

Theo, Dom and Camille arrived at the portal, preparing for their mission.

"I'll act as point." Camille told them. "As long as we don't attract too much attention to ourselves we should be fine."

Dom came over to Theo, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked him. "I know how much this it messing with you. Camille and I could do it, are you sure you'll be ok?"

"I'll be fine." He said softly.

"As long as you're sure." He replied. "Hey, I'm more worried about you."

"Me?" Dominic asked.

"Yeah, I'm the jaguar and Camille's the chameleon. Stealth goes with the territory." He joked weakly. "You're the rhino."

"I guess I see your point." He chuckled. "Anyway, are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." He replied. "Let's go."

Back in the fortress, Fran felt herself losing her mind as Dai Shi continued to emotionally torture her with images of her childhood. The mirror showed the day she returned home to find her mom crying on the couch. She saw a half empty bottle of gin on the floor and could smell the drink on her breath.

"Mom, what's wrong?" She asked, coming over to her. Her mom shoved her away roughly, causing her to fall over the coffee table.

"The police were just here, they found Donald dead in a back alley." She snarled at her. "He's dead because of you!"

"Mom, I'm sorry." Fran replied, starting to get off the floor. "I didn't..."

"You ruined everything you ungrateful little bitch!" Her mother roared, surging over to her and pinning her to the floor. She slapped her hard across the face. "He's dead because of you; I wish you'd never been born!"

She grabbed the bottle and brought it down again and again. Fran quickly lost consciousness under the relentless assault. "I wish you'd never been born!"

Fran could feel the fox taking over, seeking a way to escape the torment. She struggled for all she was worth to stop it. She sat in the lotus position, closing her eyes and beginning to shallow her breathing, meditating as Theo had trained her in the hope of maintaining control, but a surge of pain from her restraining bracelet broke her concentration, leaving her writhing in pain on the floor.

"You're not getting out of it that easily." He taunted her. "Not when the best is still to come."

She looked at the mirror through her tears already knowing what was coming. It was the day she returned home from school to find the house empty.

"Mom?" She asked weakly. She was used to finding her passed out drunk on the floor, or in the bedroom with her latest boyfriend, but this time she was nowhere to be found. She came over to the table to find a letter addressed to her in her mother's handwriting. She opened it, finding a note and a twenty dollar bill. She collapsed to the floor, overcome with tears. Now she truly was alone in the world.

"You really are more than worthless. You're a plague on everyone you touch." Dai Shi told her. "Your dad drank himself into an early grave just to get away from you."

"Shut up!" She wailed, slamming her fists into the grill separating her from her tormentor. "Shut up!"

"Your mother skipped town with the first deadbeat that would have her." He continued. "Your life always has been one sick joke."

"Shut UP!" She roared, swiping between the bars, opening long red gashes on his cheek. Dai Shi wiped some blood off his face and inspected it, laughing. Fran looked down in horror at her hands, seeing them beginning to form into claws.

"My work here is done." He taunted her. "And if I'm not mistaken, your rescue party should be here soon."

Theo, Dom and Camille made their way quietly down the corridors, searching for Fran. Making their way to the dungeon, they found all the cells empty.

"Where is she?" Theo asked.

"He must have her with him." Camille suggested. "The throne room's this way."

They continued to make their way towards the throne room, finding their way unhindered.

"Does anyone else think this is going way too smoothly?" Dom asked. Theo arrived in the throne room, before a grill slammed down, separating him from the others. Dom and Camille turned around to find themselves confronted by dozens of Rinshi warriors.

"Why do I always have to be right?" He sighed as he and Camille prepared for battle. "Jungle beast, SPIRIT UNLEASHED!"

Theo turned from them to see Fran huddled on the floor in a foetal ball and Dai Shi on the opposite side of a grill. He opened a secret door behind him.

"Enjoy your lives together." He taunted him as he left. "What's left of them."

Theo approached Fran, taking her into his arms.

"Fran, I'm here." He told her. "I'm..."

A loud snarl cut him off as she swung around, slashing a deep wound across his abdomen. He looked up in horror at the woman he loved, seeing her in her beast form, approaching him with murderous intent.

"Fran, please no!" He pleaded, scrambling back to his feet and preparing to defend himself. "This can't be happening, please!"

Theo felt his tears stinging his eyes and his heart completely left him, leaving him with no will to fight. He knew she wasn't acting of her own volition, but he still couldn't bring himself to hurt her. It wasn't in him to do so. He was trapped with no way out, and the woman he loved was now a mindless, savage beast intent on destroying anything it perceived as a threat, and apparently that included him. Theo prepared for the inevitable onslaught, moving away from her and circling the room, hoping to find some way out of this situation. He couldn't lose her now, not even if it cost him his life.