Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers. I think Saban owns them again. It was Disney for a while, but whoever owns them, it's definitely not me. . I also don't own any song lyrics used.

AN: Here's chapter 15! Enjoy and let me know what you think! Thanks to all the great reviews too and here's notes to those individuals:

Fallingstar22: Yeah, sector nine's meddling will continue unfortunately. The reactions from the people we saw though aren't the reactions of everyone. You'll see that a little in this chapter. Glad you're enjoying the story.

Garnetred: Thanks, glad you're enjoying the story so much.

WideOpenSpacesGirl045:Yeah, sector nine sucks. They're making everything worse. Glad you're enjoying the story. The first battle begins in this chapter so your wait is over.

Harry2: Yep the first battle begins in this chapter and it's nonstop action so enjoy!

YellowPrincess: Thanks! Glad you're enjoying the story. Time to rock and roll, as the battle begins!

Crimson Rising

Chapter 15: Through the Fire and the Flames, Pt 1

On a cold winter morning, in the time before the light
In flames of death's eternal reign we ride towards the fight
When the darkness has fallen down, and the times are tough all right
The sound of evil laughter falls around the world tonight

Fighting hard, fighting on for the steel, through the wastelands evermore
The scattered souls will feel the hell bodies wasted on the shores
On the blackest plains in hell's domain, we watch them as we go
In fire and pain, and once again we know

So now we fly ever free
We're free before the thunderstorm
On towards the wilderness our quest carries on
Far beyond the sundown, far beyond the moonlight
Deep inside our hearts and all our souls

So far away we wait for the day
For the lives all so wasted and gone
We feel the pain of a lifetime lost in a thousand days
Through the fire and the flames we carry on

Song: Through the Fire and the Flames

Artist: Dragonforce

Mr. Collins allowed himself to be led into the cell and watched the bars separate him

from his captors.

"Do I at least get my phone call or are you allowed to take away that right too?" he asked. Gorbin smirked.

"Of course, you can have as many as you want actually. I doubt they'll do you much good though if you're thinking about calling someone to post bail. Your assets are frozen," Gorbin replied smugly. Mr. Collins clenched his teeth.

"You can take my company and the silver guardians, but you have no right to freeze my own personal wealth!" Collins roared.

"You're considered a conspirator and in a time of war, we can do exactly that. Your son's accounts are frozen too since he's a wanted vigilante. Any help you may have provided to the rangers will not be allowed," Gorbin responded.

"Why are you doing this? What are you possibly going to gain by turning everyone against the Power Rangers? They're not going to stop fighting Ivan Ooze. In fact, if anyone will defeat him and his army, it will be them. They have powers that none of us can understand," Collins stated. Gorbin smirked.

"Yes…alien technology in the hands of a group of emotional young fools that walk around with power at their fingertips and enhanced DNA that they don't even realize makes them nearly super human. Instead of using that to their full potential, they're too busy screwing each other or working mundane jobs trying to pass themselves off as normal," Gorbin spat.

"Enhanced DNA? What are you talking about?" Collins asked. Gorbin smirked.

"You don't really think that the powers they've held didn't have an effect on their DNA, did you? We've been studying their collective DNA for years now. They're careless and they make it all too easy to collect hair and skin samples. The results are nothing short of fascinating," Gorbin said smugly.

"What do you want from the rangers?" Collins demanded protectively.

"It's simple, Mr. Collins," Gorbin said, as he paced in front of the cell with his hands behind his back.

"Imagine a world free of war, tyranny, poverty, and crime. With a team of super human soldiers, the ideals of peace could be realized. They could make a difference. They could create a peaceful world, cut crime in half, and help us regulate resources to eliminate poverty," Gorbin stated.

"Regulate? And where exactly is freedom in all this?" Collins questioned.

"Freedom is a fool's playground. Under the government's protection, societies can flourish and every citizen can realize their full potential," Gorbin replied.

"You mean be forced to do whatever you want them to do," Collins retorted.

"From a certain point of view, I suppose it can be seen that way. But really, we're just trying to achieve a peaceful world," Gorbin answered.

"Maybe you can sell that to some people, but really you're just slapping the word peace on your conquest for world domination. That's what this is really about, isn't it?" Collins demanded to know. Gorbin smirked.

"Call it what you want, Mr. Collins. You can't stop us and neither can the rangers. They either work for us or remain outlaws. It's as simple as that," Gorbin said, as he walked off.

"The rangers won't ever work for you and they won't let you succeed!" Collins called. But Gorbin ignored him and continued on.

He didn't have access to any of his money and his mansion was crawling with government agents now. Fortunately, he and Anton Mercer had prepared for something like this should the rangers ever need to go underground. He just hoped Anton wasn't found and arrested for his involvement with the rangers before he could give them access to their joint, secretive project. He needed to get a message to him and he would have to speak in code to conceal the information from the listening ears.

"Guard…I'd like my phone call now," Collins called.

Silver Hills

The city was absolutely swarming with more abhorrent creatures than Tori could have ever imagined. But she didn't have time to even think about what they were, as she was immediately dodging them on her storm cycle and using the lasers to blast her way through the streets. She saw an abundance of Tengus and a hoard of another type of foot soldier that literally looked like giant walking tan and green colored grasshoppers with large wings and tails and arms with large pincers on all appendages. She fired her lasers again, hitting one dead on and it exploded, spraying a remains of thick yellow goop.

"And I thought those ooze things were gross," she grumbled, feeling her stomach churn in disgust. She gasped, as a Tengu bird dived down on her, trying to peck at her, its sharp talons trying to grab onto her suit. Fortunately, the armor prevented any puncturing and she slammed the breaks on, throwing it off. She flipped off the bike and took on the minions in hand to hand combat. She was immediately amazed by her new powers, but the bug creatures were very strong.

"Tor…call your weapon!" Hunter called to her. She nodded, though she wasn't sure how much help her sonic fin would be against these creatures. Willing her weapon into her hand, it appeared in a flash of blue, but definitely was not her sonic fin. In her hands appeared two ornate daggers with golden hilts and the symbol of the dolphin emblazoned on each. The sharp, jagged blades shined in the moonlight like water. She heard a loud clicking sound come from the bug creature, as it thrust its pincer tipped tail at her. Without thinking, she swiped the dagger in her right hand and sliced cleanly through the appendage, causing it to screech in pain and green blood spattered on the ground. A Tengu warrior came at her angrily and she slashed at him. Instead of the usual sparks and minimal damage her weapons in the past had inflicted on her enemies, her dagger passed cleanly through the Tengu bird's left wing. It fell to the ground and the bird screeched in pain, angrily pecking at the blue wind ranger. Tori finished the job and kicked the bird away. It fell to the ground and oozed purple liquid, ceasing movement. She looked at her weapons in awe and pressed on through the army of minions.

Dustin ploughed through a cluster of ooze men and felt a large bump, as he ran over one. He fired his lasers and looked down, seeing the one he squished that was just a pile of ooze now.

"Ah dude, you got slime all over my sweet new tires," he joked, as he continued to fire his lasers at the moving creatures. Had the situation not been so serious, he would have compared it to one of those retro arcade shooting games. Suddenly, he felt more weight on his bike and looked behind him, finding a pair of huge, yellow bug eyes staring at him. Yelping in surprise, he flipped off his bike and pried the creature off.

"Dude…nasty," he complained, as he sunk into fighting stance. He saw Tori with her new weapons and willed his own, wondering if it would be his lion hammer. But he was pleasantly surprised to see that he had received a weapon upgrade as well. In his hand now was an axe, its blade gleaming in the moonlight. The hilt was golden as well and bore the symbol of the lion. Dustin smirked beneath his helmet and dashed into the furry of minions, chopping and cutting them down with minimal effort. He looked at his weapon in amazement and noticed the open ended hilt of the weapon. He shrugged and pointed it at a Tengu bird. He unknowingly pressed the trigger at the junction between the hilt and the base of the blade, watching in surprise as a yellow orb of crackling energy shot out and hit the bird, causing feathers to rain down on him.

"Sweet! Bonus weapon!" Dustin called, as he began firing at more of the oncoming creatures.

Shane propelled himself into the air on his storm cycle, feeling his powers over air carrying him. Red laser fire blasted through several minions and Shane heard screams, seeing a few of the Tengu birds terrorizing an unfortunate homeless man who was trying to escape from the alleyway. Leaping off his bike, he flipped into the air and landed on his feet. Appearing in his hand was his new and improved hawk blaster. Listening to the power, he pressed a yellow button on the barrel and watched the handle extend into a hilt, the barrel of the blaster separated and folded out, as a shimmering blade extended forth. Shane wielded the hawk blade and sliced through the three birds with ease.

"Hurry…get to safety," Shane told the man. The man was almost in awe that anyone had bothered to help him when the police and government officers refused and ignored him during the evacuation. He ran as the ranger told him to, but decidedly wouldn't ever forget being saved by a ranger in a time where society was denouncing them.

Angel Grove

Adam was the first one to descend from his glider, purposing landing on an unfortunate Tengu bird.

"Thanks for breaking my fall," he joked, before laying into the birds that swarmed around him with furious punches and kicks. The birds dropped around him and he smirked beneath his helmet, admiring his own handiwork.

"That's what I like to call old school…but I'm interested to try these new genetic powers out that seem to be all the rage these days," Adam quipped, as he willed his new powers forth and the black ranger disappeared into the background of the tree behind him. The idiotic birds squawked and flailed their wings in confusion, screeching and scrambling to find him.

"Hello…I'm right here, bird brains!" he called, watching as they tried to follow his voice.

"What…you can't see me? That sucks," Adam said, as blasts of energy came seemingly out of nowhere and feathers exploded, as the Tengu birds were fried. Adam unmasked his presence, emerging from the concealment of the tree, the barrel of his power axe smoking.

"Sucks for you guys that is," Adam joked, as Rocky sailed down from his glider.

"You didn't tell me you were cooking fried chicken," the red Ninjetti joked. Adam rolled his eyes beneath his helmet, as he proceeded to chop through the oncoming ooze men.

"You and your stomach," he quipped.

"Nah, not even I'd eat these birds. They probably taste like the ass of a chicken," Rocky joked, as he slashed through more ooze men with his power sword. Suddenly, he saw something sharp coming at him from the corner of his eye. He flipped out of the way just in time, as the creature's pincer ended tail swished back.

"Whoa…that is one giant grasshopper," he said.

"Gross…Kim's probably freaking right about now," Adam replied, as he slashed at another bug, who swiped at him with its pincer-like hands.

"It's bug squashing time," Rocky joked, as he saw another come at him. Calling on his new genetic powers, he caught the thing's tail as it came at him, clearly surprising the creature.

"You're so screwed," Rocky joked, as he lifted the creature off its feet like nothing with his new super strength. He started spinning the creature around in the air and then hurled him like a shot put into the side of a building. There was a sickening crunching sound, as the bug creature splattered on the side of a skyscraper, its remnants trickling down the cracked glass.

"Guess I don't know my own strength anymore," Rocky joked, as he rubbed his hands together and rejoined Adam in his fight against the giant grasshopper-looking creatures.

Aisha slashed her way through the shark-like creatures with her new power daggers and found that being a ranger again really was like riding a bike, as she wasn't nearly as rusty as she thought she would be.

"That's right fish freaks…time to get filleted by the bear," Aisha growled, as she chopped her way through the powerful minions.

"I see you can handle the little fish, but can you take on the big one?" a voice hissed. Aisha looked up to see a large shark looking monster.

"Whoa…and I thought the little ones smelled bad," Aisha joked.

"Amusing…" he sneered, as he disappeared beneath the ground.

"Land shark," it called, as the large fin barreled toward the yellow Ninjetti. Aisha cried out, as she was thrown off her feet and landed hard on her back.

"I hear bear meat is quite tender. Shall we find out?" he hissed, as his large teeth gleamed under the street lights. Aisha pulled herself to her feet and charge at him, daggers positioned to strike. But sparks ensued, as his claws slashed her across the chest. The creature laughed and kicked her hard in the stomach.

"Back off fish breath," Rocky growled, as he slashed the creature with his power sword and kicked him away, before helping his wife up.

"You okay, 'Sha?" he asked tenderly. She smiled beneath her helmet.

"Yeah, thanks babe," she whispered back.

"Aww…how sickeningly sweet, excuse me while I vomit," the creature spat.

"I think it's time to fry him," Rocky growled. Aisha nodded.

"And I know exactly how we're going to do it," Aisha said, employing her new gift of telekinesis to lift the creature into the air.

"Put me down, ranger scum!" he spat.

"Not happening fish face. Have a night flight!" she called back, as she sent him sailing up into a street light. He crashed into the glass covering the light source and it electrocuted the creature.

"Oops…I think I overcooked him," Aisha joked, as the flailing and mortally wounded creature fell to the ground, twitching and sparking violently.

"Die…rangers…" it croaked out, as it summoned a ball of energy in its hand. But the creature exploded, as another ball of energy hit him, before he could unleash his own final attack. Adam stood there, barrel smoking on his power axe and nodded to his two best friends.

"This is getting really messy," he quipped, referring to the fish guts that now covered the ground.

"Yeah, I don't think I'll be eating fish for a while," Aisha replied.

Silver Hills

Cam parried the monster's blade with his samurai sword, having dispatched the bug creatures around him. He definitely seemed to be the King Bug, the minions likely created by him and the other monsters that looked like him. He looked much like his creations, but was decidedly more intelligent, as he proved he could not only sword fight, but strategize and speak as well.

"You fight well, Samurai, but it won't be enough against me," he spoke, his yellow eyes glaring at the green ranger. Cam wasn't the squeamish type, but the creature was decidedly a frightening sight, with greenish yellow scaly skin with black spots, long gangly limbs, wings on his back, and a pointed tail that for some reason, made Cam really nervous.

"I might believe that if I knew who…or even what you are," Cam drawled in response, as he parried another strike.

"I am Phylian, leader of the Burlots. We are a race of insect like beings and proud members of the Ooze Empire. We will be your end, ranger," he stated.

"And I suppose the giant mindless grasshoppers are yours too," Cam said, as his blade was parried again. Phylian smirked.

"Yes, the Burmites are our creations if you must know. We have a unique ability," Phylian informed. The Samurai ranger watched the creature's pointed tail open at the end and secrete a yellowish green blob that fell to the ground, followed by another. The substance convulsed and quickly formed into the mindless aforementioned creatures.

"Well, I think that makes the top of the grossest things I've ever seen list," Cam said dryly, as the creatures advanced on him. Thinking quickly, he sheathed his sword and called upon the powers of his amulet and his new ice powers. Greenish white energy swirled around him, as he launched his new ice beam. The icy energy blasted the creatures, freezing them where they stood. The bugs shriveled and fell dead to the ground.

"The best kind of bug is a dead bug," Cam sneered, smirking beneath his helmet. Phylian snarled and charged at the ranger with fury. Cam drew his samurai sword and prepared to receive his attacks.

Reefside

"Everyone just calm down!" the well-built, uniformed man wearing a red beret called over the panicking group of people. The evacuation in Reefside was not going as smoothly, as debris was blocking many roads out of downtown. More screaming ensued, as Tengu birds dived down on the cluster of survivors. The Silver Guardians fired their weapons, but the laser blasts only seemed to be a minor annoyance to the dimwitted, but powerful avian creatures. A blur of red streaked past the police-like force and grabbed the wing of one bird that was trying to pound on a man.

Conner delivered a flying side kick to the creature and swung his Tyranno staff around, batting another away. Kira arrived, back flipping into the fray and sparks ensued, as she sliced her way through with her Ptera grips. The birds swarmed her, but were sent flying back, as her Ptera scream rang out.

Ethan joined them, using his Tricera shield's laser fire to make quick work of them. The birds tried to swarm him, but his dino skin prevented their blows from doing damage.

"It's the Power Rangers!" an excited child called.

"Rangers, you're not authorized to be here. This is a sector nine matter and you're fugitives," the commanding Silver Guardian announced.

"You clowns can't defeat these things," one of the survivors spat.

"Yeah, screw sector nine," a woman called.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please stay calm and proceed through the city," he called, trying to coral the unruly bunch.

"They don't want to go with you. Get that through your thick skull," Kira spat, as she fought off more of the birds.

"We do need to get these people somewhere safe though," Ethan called, as he fired more blasts from his Tricera shield.

"I think you should be worrying more about yourself, rangers," a tall, muscular, green skinned man hissed, as he strode toward them.

"You're one of them…the ones that killed the blue Lightspeed ranger," Conner hissed back. The man grinned viciously.

"Oh no, I wasn't there for that one, unfortunately. General Xin entrusted the destruction of Briarwood to me. He was quite pleased with my work," he sneered.

"You're going to pay for every life you've taken, you green freak" Kira promised fiercely. He chuckled in amusement.

"Kalmec is my name actually. Remember it, little girl, because I'm the last thing you'll see before you take your last breath," he hissed, as he sent an energy blast toward them. The survivors scrambled to get out of the way, but they wouldn't have to.

"Stego Shield!" Kat called, as a violet colored shield shimmered to life before her. The blast slammed into it and wavered, but held out until the blast dissipated.

"Come on, we need to get everyone to safety!" Trini called. The people eagerly followed the silver and green rangers, as they led them away from the battle.

"See if your little shield can block this one," Kalmec hissed, as he fired a much bigger blast this time. Kat braced for the impact, but Jason stepped in.

"Brachio Staff…Energy Orb!" he called fiercely, as his attack met the green skinned commander's. The energy cancelled each attack out and the Duronian Captain smirked.

"Finally…a human on this mud ball that knows how to fight," he hissed.

"That's right ugly…you leave these people alone and you come get me," Jason replied fiercely. Kalmec chuckled.

"Careful what you wish for, gold ranger," he hissed, as he rushed the Brachio ranger. Jason keyed off and charged, Brachio staff ready, and met the Duronian's powerful blade with his own weapon.

Silver Hills

Blake expertly twirled his new navy thunder blade, which he found was the upgraded version of his thunder staff. The double ended blade slashed through the Tengu birds, navy thunder striking and feathers rained down around his path. Suddenly, he saw something sticking out of the ground, a triangle shape burrowing toward him. He was thrown off his feet, as it hit and he rolled onto his back, before getting to his feet, as the creature emerged from the broken concrete.

"Vexacus?" Blake hissed in disbelief.

"No, I'm afraid not, navy ranger. That fool Vexacus is dead. I am merely a member of his race, but I assure you that I am far more powerful," the shark creature's voice boomed.

"Whatever fish face. We fried Vexacus and you won't be any different," Blake promised. The shark creature chuckled.

"You rangers are amusing. I will enjoy adding another ranger helmet to my already vast collection. If you think Vexacus was bad, then I, Sydroxis, will be your worst nightmare," it hissed.

"Yeah, your smell is already a nightmare, so bring it already," Blake joked, as he raised his thunder blade. Sydroxis chuckled, as the ground beneath his rumbled. Several shark fins appeared, as the minions climbed out of the ground. They resembled sharks and their creator and they descended upon the navy ranger.

"Careful…they have a nasty bite," he warned, as Blake engaged in battle with the fish creatures.

Angel Grove

Tommy slashed through the grasshopper creatures with the curved blade of his new Falcon blade. He was making quick work of them, but a purple and black ball of crackling energy blew him off his feet. He landed hard on his back, but quickly rolled to his feet, as Toxa approached.

"Tommy Oliver…the legend himself," Toxa sneered, as she drew her own sword.

"Sure you can handle a duel? That arm looks pretty bad," Tommy jabbed, referring to her injured arm that Hunter was responsible for. She clenched her teeth in anger.

"One arm is all I need to take care of you," she hissed. He smirked beneath his helmet.

"I'm so going to make you eat your words," Tommy retorted, as he launched into battle with her, his blade slamming against hers. They traded strikes and parries, moving along the street, even as some people who had not evacuated looked on. Toxa growled and leapt into the air, before kicking the white Ninjetti in the chest. Tommy skidded to the ground on his back and rolled to his feet, barely bringing his blade up to block Toxa's as she slammed hers down on him.

"You have serious anger issues, lady," Tommy growled.

"Your team killed my father. Should I not be angry with you and seek vengeance?" she taunted. Tommy smirked beneath his helmet.

"Your father and I use that term loosely, is a murdering bastard," Tommy retorted.

"My father is a powerful ruler of worlds…worlds that have prospered under his dynasty. Earth could be the same…think about it. Your kind is no better. They run around, slaughtering each other, all making their own grab for power and importance. You humans thieve and lie to get what you want. Power is everything, as you have so proven with your latest quest on Phaedos. We are not so different, you and I," Toxa taunted.

"We're night and day, bitch. Not all humans are what you describe," Tommy spat, grunting as he parried her blade.

"So you say. It matters not, whether it's one ranger or twenty, father will crush you all," Toxa said smugly, as she kicked the Falcon ranger in the gut and swept his legs out from under him.

"Poor little birdie. Wings clipped so easily," she taunted, as she inched her blade toward his chest.

"You wish," Tommy growled, as he slammed his foot into her right knee. She cried out in pain and dropped to her knees. Purple slime spewed from her mouth, as he swiped her across the face with his blade and then kicked her away.

"Usually I don't hit women…but for you, I made an exception," Tommy sneered, as Toxa wiped her mouth, finding the bloody ooze on the back of her hand. Toxa roared in rage, as she sent a blast of purple energy at him. Tommy dodged and twirled his Falcon saber in a circular motion.

"Falcon Saber…spirit orb!" Tommy called, as he created a white sphere of energy. Toxa's energy met his and they struggled for control, eventually cancelling each other out. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed that her minions were falling quickly.

"Return to the ship, my daughter," her father ordered sternly.

"This is your lucky day, white ranger. I'm going to let you live to tell about this battle, but don't expect it to happen again," she spat, as she disappeared. Tommy scoffed.

"That's right, run back to daddy again," Tommy called, as he headed off to help the others.

A deafening scream sounded, as waves of pink blew the Ooze men surrounding her off their feet. Kimberly back flipped into the fray of battle, truly feeling alive for the first time in nearly ten years. Calling her power bow, she sailed into the air, firing her sparking arrows. One slammed into the chest of the oozing creature. It sparked violently and exploded into a puddle of ooze.

"Still as gross as it was the first time," she grumbled, as she looked at her ooze covered boots. Another creature came at her and she delivered a hard side kick. It stumbled back and came at her again, grabbing her arm and tossing her away. Kimberly tucked herself into a ball and rolled to the ground, before standing up and drawing her blade blaster. Pressing the blade down into blaster form, pink laser fire ripped through the ooze men.

"Pink is back, disgusting freaks," she said sassily, before returning to the fight…

The battle rages on in the next chapter…coming soon