The Rangers returned to the Command Centre, feeling every inch of their injuries. The fact was that Malkor was a completely unprecedented threat. It had taken everything they had, quite literally EVERYTHING, and even then they were well aware there was a huge element of luck involved in the end result. The ship breaking up on re-entry distracted him long enough to unleash the combined power of all their Zords. He was gone, but they paid a high price for it, and they knew it.

Tensou was rushing around, once again playing the role of nursemaid. He was currently working on Jake as the others stood around.

"Malkor's gone, but so are the Zords!" Gia piped up in frustration, reiterating their situation. It wasn't as though any of them could really have missed what had happened. She looked to the others. "What the hell are we meant to do now?"

"Metal Alice is still out there." Noah reminded them. "She has to be aware of what happened by now."

"If that's the case, then we're sitting ducks!" Jake snapped. Jordan just ran his hands through his hair. It wasn't likely that he could have done much about it, but that didn't mean he didn't blame himself for it. The fact was that as the Rangers faced the biggest battle they ever had, he was nowhere around. He was in The Library trying to get answers. "All she needs to do is send a big robot into the city and we're screwed!"

"We've faced worse." Jordan told them. "Besides, we have one Zord left. The Lion Zord might not be much, but it's better than nothing."

"We've faced worse?" Gia asked him sceptically. "Maybe we have, but where the hell were you?"

"Gia..."

"Don't tell me to calm down Troy!" Gia warned him, getting off the bench and getting into Jordan's face. "We were facing off against one of the worst of the worst, one of the most dangerous monsters ever to come to this planet, and where were you? You were catching up on your reading! With your damned morpher switched off!"

"Gia, I'm..."

"Don't try to tell me you're sorry!" Gia yelled at him, shoving him roughly. "We're meant to be a team! We're all on board; all of us were there..."

"And I would have been..."

"And you would have been if you weren't too busy pissing about in The Library concentrating on Metal Alice!" She roared.

"Gia, back it down!" Troy told her. "None of us are happy about the situation..."

"In case you hadn't noticed, Gosei's not exactly been the most forthcoming about this whole thing!" Jordan told her. "She's Eltarian, she fought against Zordon..."

"What's your point?" Emma asked him.

"The fact is, she killed dad!" Jordan snapped in response. "Now, I'm sorry I screwed up, but she's been running rings around us for weeks now, taking shots at us whenever she feels like it...doesn't any of you want to know why?"

"Jordan, I can sympathise, really I can." Noah told him. "But being brutally honest, right now I don't really care."

"You don't care?" Jordan asked.

"Yeah, that's right, we don't care!" Gia answered. "I'm sorry if that sounds harsh Jordan, but who the hell CARES why we have to destroy her? She's trying to destroy us; she's threatening the Earth, isn't that enough?"

Jordan had to concede that Gia had a point. The fact was that one way or another, they had to destroy her regardless. It wasn't as though knowing why she had a grudge against him, what perceived slight Jordan had perpetrated against her would change that. It was only his own peace of mind that wanted to know.

"I'm sorry." Jordan replied quietly as he sat down. "You're right. No more looking for answers. Gosei shut down the Library anyway. I couldn't go back, even if I wanted to."

"Right Jordan, apology accepted." Troy told him.

"Apology accep..."

"I said that's the end of it!" Troy put down flatly as Gia glared at him. "Getting mad and fighting each other isn't going to help matters! We still have Metal Alice, and however many Robots she still has at her disposal to face."

"Yeah, we just have to wait on her making a move." Jake commented. "All we know is she's somewhere under the ocean. We still don't know where."

"Even if we did, we only have one working Zord." Emma reminded them, gesturing to Jordan. "Last time I checked, the Lion Zord wasn't exactly an amphibious vehicle."

"Right, let's stop worrying about what we don't have, and start concentrating on what we do have." Troy stated. "We're all still alive, so that's one thing at least."

"We all still have our powers." Jake continued. "We also have Ultra Mode."

"I'm still around, so we do still have one Zord." Jordan said dejectedly.

"OK, so it's not much but it's a start." Noah told them. "The Zords...Gosei built them once, can he rebuild them?"

"It's not going to be easy." Tensou told them. "I've already started teleporting the wreckage back to the island, but the power source in his life-support suit is almost completely depleted. He can't leave his chambers anymore, not long enough to rebuild the Zords."

"Not to mention it'll take time." Noah responded. "Something tells me Metal Alice isn't going to give us an early Christmas present and wait around for us to rebuild our arsenal."

"If she's got anything in reserve, we could be in serious trouble." Jake stated. "You said Gosei's power source is almost out of juice, is there any way we can get more of...whatever it is?"

"I'm afraid it's really quite rare." Tensou told them regretfully. "There were never many power rubies to begin with."

"We at least have to try." Troy answered. "Without his help, it's only going to take longer to repair those Zords."

Tensou performed a scan of the area, thinking that it was pointless. It wasn't as though he hadn't done this before, since his armour was damaged all those years ago, Gosei had been very limited in what he could do. As far as Tensou knew, there weren't any power rubies in the galaxy.

"I've...I've got a hit!" He said, sounding surprised. "I've scanned this whole galaxy a hundred times..."

"Where is it?" Noah asked him. Tensou just looked to him.

"It's in the wreckage of the Warstar ship." He informed them. "They...they must have taken a planet with a mine on it...they must have been using them as a power source!"

The Rangers all looked to Troy, looking a little confused.

"OK, that kind of creeps me out." Jake told him. "How did you...?"

"I really wish I knew." Troy told them. "My dreams haven't quit yet, a whole lot of enemies we haven't faced yet are still in there. I knew this wasn't the end of the story. I guess I just...had to believe."

"Well hallelujah and call me a convert." Noah told him. "So, we need to get down to that wreckage and swipe some Power Rubies."

"You need to rest." Tensou corrected him. "I'll go."

"But Tensou..."

"I know what I'm looking for." Tensou reminded him. "Not to mention all of you should really be getting home. It is still Thanksgiving, and I'm sure your parents would like to get to see you at some point. You all need to get yourselves cleaned up before you get back home."

"He's got a point." Noah grumbled. "I've been out of the house all day; my folks have probably already called the cops!"

"You think you've got it bad? I promised to help mom make the dinner." Jake told him. "There's no way my folks aren't going to kill me over this."

"Take all the time you need." Tensou told them. "I'll worry about the power rubies."

Meanwhile, in the Underwater base, Metal Alice was working on what she was sure would be her greatest creation. She held the torch in her hand like an artist's brush, working on her masterpiece. She had always intended to repay Vrak in kind for what he had tried to do to her.

He had rebuilt her, making her into what she was now, but there was no altruism in his motives. He had tried to make her into his latest and greatest weapon. In his arrogance, he had told her he would try to wipe her mind. To purge her of her own personality and turn her into a slave to his will. She was still livid when she thought about his arrogance. She was Eltarian! She was controlling the evolution of the universe before his species had crawled out of the swamps of their home world. He wanted to control her? Did he not realise that the Eltarian mind was not something he could ever hope to comprehend? Through willpower alone she had kept her own mind, and plotted her revenge.

When she found him among the wreckage of the ship, she was far from discouraged. Although she had planned for him to destroy himself when he sought to destroy the Insectoids, the fact he had barely survived had afforded her the opportunity to take her spite beyond merely killing him. Now, she had the opportunity to turn him into an abomination of her own creation.

She saw the systems beginning to activate and realised he was regaining consciousness. She just smiled as she saw this.

"You are almost complete my marvellous creation." She told him. "Tell me, how does it feel knowing you have been outwitted? I wouldn't know you see. My kind were ruling the universe long before your kind even knew there was more beyond their own tiny planet."

She worked on some more of his weapons systems, casting an eye over at the computer that was tracking his mental reconditioning.

"You may be surprised that I am being so open with what I'm telling you, but in a few moments it won't really matter. You will just satisfy yourself, content in the knowledge that I am your greatest creation, and that your coming invasion will go off without a hitch." She told him. "Oh yes, I know all about your little plot. I figured it out long ago. I've seen all your communications. I know that soon your envoy will arrive to confirm Malkor is gone for good."

She drew closer, looking straight into his eyes.

"Then, he will signal the beginning of the true invasion." She told him. "Of course, they won't know the true architect of their fate until it is far too late. You won't be able to tell them what I have done once my programme takes hold."

She finished up her work, and marvelled at her creation as she activated him.

"My greatest weapon." She told him. "Congratulations Vrak, it looks like you do get to be the one that destroys the Rangers after all."

In the wreckage of the Warstar ship, Tensou was following his sensors, finding what he was looking for. The Insectoids had indeed been using a power ruby to power their ship. It was large, almost the size of a watermelon, and uncut. He couldn't believe that it had been delivered to them. The ruby that had powered Gosei's armour for millennia was barely the size of a ping pong ball. This was just the kind of luck they needed, this could tip the balance, and allow them to rebuild what was left of their arsenal.

Unfortunately, as he was about to leave, he saw something that troubled him. It wasn't wreckage, or blood, there was plenty of both in the area, but as he looked, he saw that some of the wreckage had been recently disturbed. There was a trail of blood leading from it, but on closer inspection, it was more like it was smeared on the wreckage, like it had been dragged across it. The trail suddenly ended, but with no body, like it had just disappeared.

"Tensou, Tensou! Come in!" Troy called through the communicator. "Have you got it?"

"I've got the power ruby." He confirmed. "But I'm not the only one that's been here. Someone else has searched through the wreckage. They've taken someone from the crash site."

"Tensou, just get back here." Troy told him. "You don't know if they're still there."

Tensou teleported back to the Command Centre, where the Rangers were waiting for him. Noah took the power ruby from him.

"This is it?" He asked.

"It hasn't been cut or refined." Tensou told them. "It'll take a while for me to prepare."

"Can you do it?" Troy asked him. Tensou just looked at him.

"It'll be a few hours, but I can have it ready." He told them. "In the meantime, all of you should go home. Enjoy what's left of..."

Just then, the alarm sounded. They all groaned.

"She never lets up does she?" Jake complained. "So much for Turkey Day."

"It's Metal Alice alright." Gia confirmed, turning from the screen and looking to Jordan. "So, the question is..."

"I know what has to be done." Jordan assured her. "I'll not flake again."

"Good, because we're all still feeling the last round." Noah told him. Jordan just nodded.

"I'll do the heavy lifting." He assured them. "Come on guys, she wants a fight, let's give it to her."

Meanwhile, in another part of town, at the precinct, Detective Barnes was back at her desk, checking her computer. She had e-mailed a copy of the photograph of Emma and her friends to the computer. Finding Emma's library card...or what was left of it...had played on a hunch she'd had since she began searching for the Robo Knight.

She had entered all the images into the computer, checking them against the school's matriculation records. All students were issued with photographic library cards, meaning that there were images available of all the students. Checking all the students in Emma's year, it wasn't long before she found all the students in the picture.

She had a notepad next to her, and had the names written down. Troy Burrows, Jordan Edwards, Noah Carver, Jake Holling, Emma Goodall and Gia Moran were all written down, with three of the names scored out. She had received a call from Mrs Carver asking if there were any reported sightings of Noah, who went missing before Malkor's attack.

She had been to Emma and Gia's home, and had heard from Eric that they too had been missing from most of the day. Three out of the six kids in the picture were unaccounted for at the time of the attack. She was currently on the phone.

"OK, thank you for your time Mr Burrows." She answered. "Yes, I'll let you know if we hear anything."

As she hung up, a colleague came over to her desk with a report.

"So, can you save me a phone call?" She asked him. The officer handed her a report.

"The Holling family called to ask about their son a couple of hours ago." He informed her. Detective Barnes just smiled as she scored off the last three names.

"Six out of six." She announced. "How lucky can I get?"

"You're not still on about this wild theory of yours are you?" He asked her. She just looked to him and sighed.

"I guess it's impossible to keep anything quiet in this precinct." She grumbled. "Yes, I'm working a hunch."

"You really think the Power Rangers are teenagers?" He asked her. "You seriously think a bunch of kids have been fighting to save the city all this time?"

"I'm starting to think that." She told him. "There's a monster attack in the city, in the early hours of Thanksgiving morning, almost nobody's around...and these six kids are all missing at exactly the same time?"

"Barnes, you're clutching at straws!" He tried to reason with her. "This is all because of the Edwards kid. Everyone knows you're trying to pin the General's death on him."

"I'm starting to doubt that to be honest." She told him. "We never found a weapon, the weapon itself was titanium steel, way beyond the means of the average burglar...what if his death wasn't down to a break in?"

"You think one of these monsters killed General Edwards?" The other officer asked her. "Do you have any idea how crazy that sounds?"

"Think about it, if you were one of these...freaks! If you had to fight Rangers day in day out, risk taking on someone with those kinds of powers...what would you do if you knew who their families were?"

She pulled up some files she had gathered.

"Eric Goodall and Louise Moran, they were kidnapped by that Spider Monster a few months back." She told him. "The same monster was seen in the same street as the Holling house."

"Barnes, this is thin, this is...circumstantial at best!" He told her.

"Well, you don't have to believe me; I know the case is weak." She told him. "But I just think this is worth looking at."

"Well, you're on your own with that one." He told her. "If you want to flush your career, don't bother taking the rest of us with you."

As he left, Detective Barnes looked back to the picture. She knew that a lot of what she knew was nowhere near enough to prove her thoughts, but since taking on the General Edwards case, the only real suspect had been Jordan. As much as it was easy to believe that he would want to do it, a lot of the main evidence, such as any trace of the weapon was never found. This at least provided a real explanation why that would be the case, and why Jordan would be so obstructive in their efforts to find the General's killer. After all, if he was a Ranger, how could he tell the cops one of the monsters attacked his father in his own home without revealing why? The more she thought about it, the more it made sense, regardless of how insane it sounded. She just had to find out for herself.