Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers. Saban and Nickelodeon own them. I also don't own any song lyrics used.

AN: Here's chapter 31! Enjoy and let me know what you think! Thanks to all the great reviews too and here's notes to those individuals:

Alex B. Goode: Thanks, more action ahead. Glad you're enjoying!

XRanger13: Thanks, glad you liked it. I haven't made any final decisions on Trent yet, but I will give him a story eventually. With such a large cast, it can be difficult to work everyone in, but I won't leave any loose ends. :)

RHatch89: Glad you liked it so much!

TommyOliverMMPRFan : Yep, their weapons are unfortunately effective. More action ahead. :)

Lmv16: Thanks, glad you like the story. :)

fallingstar22: Yeah, unfortunately, things between Tori and her dad will get worse before they get better. As for Zedd, the green coin was drained. I'm eventually going to tell that story from Zedd's POV. Basically, when he was his evil incarnate, he hated that coin so much because it was his last link to the part of him that was once good, which was why he went to such great lengths to destroy the green powers. I am going with the theory that the green power coin and dragon dagger/zord operate as separate entities, so no green ranger(unless I change my mind down the road), but I believe the dragonzord may make a future appearance. :)

Pinkrangerfan: Thanks, glad you're enjoying the story. :)

WideOpenSpacesGirl045: Yep, the danger just keeps coming and unfortunately, it will get worse before it gets better. Hang onto your seat. :)

Harry2: Thanks, glad you're enjoying the story. :)

MMPRFansince93: Yep, some major stuff is going down. However, Zedd drained the green coin. I'm actually going with the theory that the green coin operates separately from the dragonzord/dragon dagger. A back story from Zedd's POV and his reasons for draining Tommy's(his own as well) coin will be told in later chapters. :)

garnetred: Yeah, it was gutsy of him, but you know Ivan Ooze...he has a trump card. Hang onto your seat. :)

Crimson Rising

Chapter 31: Radioactive

I'm waking up to ash and dust
I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust
I'm breathing in the chemicals

I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus
This is it, the apocalypse
Whoa

I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones
Enough to make my systems blow
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Welcome to the new age, to the new age
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm radioactive, radioactive

Song: Radioactive

Artist: Imagine Dragons

Blue Bay Harbor Beach

Tori growled under her helmet, as she and Toxa rolled to the sand, while the purple creature attempted to wrap her hands around the blue ranger's neck. The water ninja kicked her feet into the alien woman's abdomen, throwing her off into the sand. Jumping to her feet, she guarded with her dolphin blades, as the evil woman launched a purple energy orb at her.

"Time to die, little dolphin…" Toxa hissed, as the orb grew in size. It sizzled and popped violently, as it made contact with her blades. She struggled to keep it away, but she felt her feet being pushed back. Just as she thought it would break through and strike her, a pink arrow struck Toxa, followed by a yellow ninja beam, which blew her off her feet and cancelled her energy blast.

"Back off, you slimy bitch," Kimberly spat.

"You okay Tor?" Dustin asked, as he helped steady her.

"Yeah, thanks guys, but Hunter isn't!" she called, as she turned to find Ivan Ooze hovering over her beloved, a look of pure hatred seeping from his eyes.

"How predictable, the cavalry has arrived," Ivan quipped, as he noticed the arrival of the other rangers.

"They can't save you from me though. Thanks to your parents and your uncle, I spent six thousand years locked in a hyper lock chamber. And then your wench of a mother had the audacity to awaken the Ninjetti spirits in your uncle's chosen brats," Ooze spat.

"But all their hard work to protect Zander's precious sire has been for naught. I hope they're all watching this," Ivan hissed, as purple lightning poured from his fingertips and into Hunter's paralyzed form.

"HUNTER!" Tori screamed, as his painful howls rang out. Dustin tried to hold her back, but she jerked away from his grip and ran at the monster.

"TORI NO!" Aisha cried. Ivan saw her coming and hit her with a smaller blast. She cried out and collapsed to the sand in pain.

"Tor…" Hunter cried out through his painful screams. Ivan scoffed.

"Just like your father…trying to protect the one you love when you should be worried about yourself," he spat, as he kicked the blue ranger away. She rolled and her morph failed, leaving her prone in the middle of the battlefield.

"No…" he cried.

"I guess it's only fitting torture that you watch me kill her before I kill you," he said deviously, as he raised his hand toward her unconscious form.

"NO…" Hunter pleaded. But a sudden blast of silver lightning struck the purple monster and threw him back. His attack on Hunter ceased and the crimson ranger looked up, only to see a silver Z gleaming in the sunlight. Hunter saw Cam carry Tori off to the side and out of the line of fire, while his Uncle stood tall, glaring at the evil being.

"Well, well, so nice of you to join us Zedd," Ivan hissed, as he climbed to his feet. Zedd raised his staff and prepared to use it free his nephew when Ivan raised his hand.

"Ah…I wouldn't do that if I were you, Zeddy," Ivan hissed.

"And just why the hell wouldn't I? Zedd spat back.

"Because if you free your beloved nephew…they die…" Ivan stated, as he motioned behind him with his hand. In an instant, General Xinshing appeared with six young people, dirty, battered, and wounded.

"Leo!" Wes cried.

"The Galaxy rangers have been my honored guests for the last few days," Ivan goaded.

"BASTARD!" Tommy cried, as he started toward him.

"Easy White ranger, unless you wish to see poor little Maya's blood all over your white boots," Ivan threatened, as Xinshing held his blade to the yellow Galaxy ranger's throat. Her eyes were wide with fear and Tommy stopped in his tracks.

"What do you want Ooze?" Zedd snapped. The purple monster chuckled.

"Simple…I propose an exchange…" Ivan replied.

"Not going to happen," Zedd refuted. Ivan chuckled.

"So quick to doom these other rangers in favor of your nephew? How selfish Zedd. It seems you haven't changed much at all," Ivan insulted.

"They live if I agree…to be your prisoner?" Hunter asked in a pained voice. Ivan cackled.

"So noble is he…definitely your stupid brother's spawn," Ivan spat.

"Hunter…" Zedd tried to reason with him.

"Uncle…I can't let them die just to save my own skin," Hunter replied.

"They will die anyway without you leading the fight! Everyone on this planet, including Tori, will die!" Zedd roared.

"They'll fight on…and they'll win. I have to believe that," Hunter said, trying to force the pain from his voice.

"Tell Tori…I love her," he said, as he turned burning blue eyes to the monster above him.

"You let them go and we have a deal," Hunter stated. Ivan raised his hand and the Galaxy rangers were released from their bonds. General Xinshing came forward and grabbed Hunter by the shirt and in a flash, he, Ivan Ooze, Toxa were gone. But they had left the Burlot General and the army of foot soldiers behind to fight.

"No…NOOOO!" Zedd screamed, as he fell to his knees. He had failed his brother once again, even after reclaiming his magic in an attempt to use it for good for once. Blake knelt beside him and his visor opened.

"We'll get him back, Uncle Z…" Blake assured him.

"In the meantime, we still have problems!" Shane called, as he fought off several Ooze men.

"Uh guys…we've got even bigger problems!" Jason called, as they looked out over the ocean, only to see two of Ivan's Ecto morphicon creatures trashing the city.

"Tori's down. Can we still call the Megazord?" Shane asked.

"Without Hunter, there's no Phoenix zord, but I can have Hayley put the dolphin zord on remote so you and Dustin can form the Storm Megazord," Cam said, as they, the Ninjetti rangers, and the Dino rangers called their zords into action.

"Come on Dax, let's show them our new hardware," Will said, as he smirked at Zedd who was climbing to his feet. He watched the zords that Will and Dax had at their disposal. They were upright singly manned zords that reminded him of the Shogun zords in style, though without any animal spirit moniker. Instead, they looked very powerful, but were generic in the fact that they had no personifying attributes that most ranger zords had. The blue and black Overdrive rangers teleported to the cockpits of their new zords and joined the fight. For the moment at least they were battling the same enemy as the rangers, so he was grateful for their assistance. He decided he would take Tori back to Ranger Ops to have Dana look her over for injuries, before he would continue to monitor the battle in case the Dragonzord became necessary. As he stepped toward her, he heard the whine of a blaster powering up.

"Don't take another step toward her," Peter warned.

"I'm taking her back home to our base to have our doctor look her over. She will be safe," Zedd assured him.

"She's my daughter and she's coming with me," Peter stated.

"You're seriously going to let that man anywhere near your little girl? He locks up rangers who refuse to work for him!" Zedd protested, as he pointed at Gorbin.

"She'll be safe with me, the General has assured me," Peter responded.

"She's my nephew's fiancé and in his absence, it falls to me to look after her for him," Zedd argued.

"Your nephew is a dead man and he won't be marrying my little girl if I have anything to say about it," Peter replied bitterly. Zedd smirked.

"You really have no idea what kind of woman your daughter has become, do you? She won't stand for you making her decisions for her. She is positively one of the most independent young women I know. And Hunter is far from dead…I assure you," Zedd spat, as he started toward her again.

"I warned you, alien scum," Peter threatened, as he fired the ion beam, striking Zedd, who fell paralyzed to the sand.

"Good work, Mr. Hanson. Bring them both," Gorbin ordered to his men, who grabbed a hold of Zedd's arms, while Peter scooped Tori up.

"Bring that staff and the sword," Gorbin barked. One man grabbed Zedd's Z staff and the dragon dagger, while another tried to pick up Hunter's abandoned sword. But he found that it wouldn't budge.

"It won't move," the man said, as he struggled.

"Sorry boys, but no one but my nephew can lift that sword," Zedd said smugly.

"Leave it. Let's go before the brats realize we've got her and the old wizard," Gorbin spat.

"I'm a sorcerer, moron. There's a difference," Zedd quipped.

"Shut up, you're under arrest nevertheless and you will be held accountable for all your crimes, Lord Zedd," Gorbin spat, as he and Tori were put into the back of Gorbin's Hummer.

Ranger Ops

Rita watched the scene on the Ranger Ops viewing screen helplessly, wishing that her own magic had not all been sacrificed.

"Hayley…you must teleport me to that beach," Rita pleaded.

"They'll just capture you too. Anyone I send after them right now will just be disabled with that Ion ray. If it disabled Hunter, then none of us are safe, but Carly is already working on trying to figure out how to cancel it…with technology rather than magic," Hayley assured her, as she continued to monitor the zord battle.

Downtown Blue Bay Harbor

The Storm Megazord cockpit shook violently, tossing Dustin and Shane around inside like ragdolls.

"Dammit…this little bastard needs to die," Shane growled, as he, with Dustin's help, pulled the Megazord to its feet again. Cam and Blake were in their respective zords using the warrior modes. The Ninjetti Megazord fought with them, while the Dinos took on the other Ecto Morphicon.

"Dude…I'm out of ideas…" Dustin lamented.

"Well I'm not…Hawk blade, cyclone attack!" Shane called, as he employed an air attack with destructive winds equal to those of a powerful tornado. It was successful in blowing the ooze filled serpent zord into the side of a building. The Ninjetti Megazord grabbed the ecto morphicon by the tail and whipped it around into another building. The mechanical creature roared angrily and slithered into an upright position, preparing to strike. Laser fire pelted it though and it sustained heavy damage. The rangers looked to find that Will and Dax's new zords had delivered the blasts.

"They're helping us?" Dustin asked.

"No, they're just showing up what their stolen zord technology can do," Tommy's voice sounded over the comm.

"At least we're fighting one enemy and not each other," Cam reminded, as he launched a blizzard attack. The creature screeched, as it became covered in snow and Tommy pelted it with his falcon lasers. The Ninjettii Megazord powered up the power zord before it could recover and delivered the final blow. The serpent Ecto morphicon exploded, sending debris flying in all directions.

"Thanks for the help," Shane said, trying to be the bigger person by thanking them.

"We didn't do it to help you, but maybe now you'll realize that we're not just a couple of rookies," Will responded.

"Dude…we're supposed to be on the same team. Your old Overdrive zords are just as powerful. Why keep working for that dickhead General?" Dustin asked.

"Money and power, like it or not, that's what gets you places and I'm not interested in being on the side that's obviously going to lose, especially now that fire boy is probably being fried right now by Ooze himself. It was never personal, just business as they say," Will responded stoically. Shane scoffed.

"Glad I was never a business man then. Watch your backs then, because Gorbin will stick a knife in yours the moment you're no longer useful," Shane warned, as they stood by in case the Dino rangers needed help handling the vulture Ecto-Morphicon.

The vulture creature hovered and pecked at the cockpit of the Thundersaurus Megazord, causing sparks to ensue.

"Dammit…time to clip his wings," Conner growled, as he forced him back with the Tyranno drill. In addition to Trent's own Drago Megazord, the other four Dino rangers had formed the newest Megazord: the Brachio Megazord. No longer just a carrier zord, the Brachio had folded and separated to form powerful legs. Kat's Stego zord became the torso, head and tail, while the Anklyo zord and Para zord became the arms. The Stego tail whipped the vulture into the side of a building and the Ankylo arm delivered a drill attack, causing the vulture Ecto Morphicon to sustain heavy damage.

"Let's fry this little bitch," Tanya said, as she unleashed her Para beam. It struck the mechanical monstrosity, lifting it high into the air. She punched the laser beam to full power and incinerated Ivan's creation to nothing more than pieces.

The Legacy Compound

Medical Bay

"How far along are you?" Kendrix asked, as Alyssa treated the gash on her forehead. They had all five of the Galaxy rangers plus Mike in the med bay and she was helping Dana until Trini returned from battle.

"About five months," Alyssa responded.

"What happened on Mirinoi?" Dana asked, as she gently dabbed Leo's busted lip with an antibiotic cloth.

"Everything was fine that morning and then faster than we could blink; explosions were breaking out all over the city. We morphed and found the menace that was destroying everything. But we were no match. This guy was like twenty Trakeena's in her worst form," Leo said, recalling the devastating battle. They would all be dead right now if the green skinned aliens had not wanted them as prisoners.

"Who was that young man that gave himself up to Ivan Ooze for us?" Maya asked, as Mike sat beside her, their hands entwined.

"That was Hunter Bradley, the Crimson Phoenix ranger," Alyssa answered. Maya nodded.

"I thought I sensed both fire and thunder in his spirit. The legend is true then," she stated.

"What legend?" Kendrix asked curiously.

"The Legend of the Phoenix goes back centuries on Mirinoi, but I had no idea that there was a living Phoenix Ninjetti," Maya replied.

"I'm a little lost I guess," Damon admitted.

"Hunter's existence has been a very closely guarded secret for centuries," Rita said, as she entered to check on them.

"No serious injuries fortunately. You're all very lucky," Dana reported.

"What do you mean by centuries? That kid didn't look very old," Kai stated. Rita nodded.

"He is only twenty-four earth years, but was born six thousand years ago to Zander of Eltar and Dulcea of Phaedos," Rita began.

"Zander was thought to be the last Phoenix Ninjetti, according the legend," Maya said. Rita nodded.

"After Zander's death, in which he caused himself to reverse Master Vile's aging curse on his wife and protect his child from Vile's magic, Hunter remained on Phaedos with his mother for six thousand years. He, like her, did not age a day until it was time to send him to Earth," Rita explained.

"Zordon saw that his nephew was adopted by a loving couple, a pair of Thunder Ninjas, and he grew up knowing nothing of his true heritage. He served his time as the crimson ranger with his teammates four years ago and has only recently come into his true powers, as well as learning of his true heritage," Rita continued.

"Then the prophecy of the Chosen Twenty has come to pass?" Maya asked. Rita nodded.

"And we just handed the ranger that's supposed to save us all to Ivan Ooze?" Kai asked.

"Is it not in the nature of any ranger to sacrifice other people to save themselves?" Rita questioned. They shook their heads.

"No…any of us would have done the same," Leo stated.

"Ivan Ooze holds a terrible grudge against Zordon and Hunter's real parents. While the Phoenix is not easily killed, I am afraid my nephew will suffer immensely. We can only pray that he will find the will and strength to escape," Rita stated.

"He's your nephew too?" Kendrix asked. Rita smiled thinly.

"By marriage. Zedd was Zander's younger brother," she explained.

"Whoa…wait, Zordon and Lord Zedd share a nephew?" Kai asked. She nodded.

"Yes, though my husband is not the monster he once was. But Hunter has quite the family tree," she said fondly.

"He must be so worried about Hunter," Maya mentioned.

"Unfortunately, Ivan Ooze is only one problem," Rita said.

"What do you mean?" Damon asked.

"Zedd and Tori have been captured by the government. Come to Ops and I'll let the others fill you in on the rest of the story," she said, as she led them from the medical bay down to Ranger Ops.

Ivan Ooze's Spaceship

Upon arrival on Ivan's massive ship, the paralysis that had kept him immobile had finally worn off. But his captivity was ensured, as he was placed in a cell behind electrified purple plasma bars. Normal bars couldn't be trusted to hold him, thanks to his super strength, but that didn't keep him from searching the cell for possible weaknesses.

"You're wasting your time," Toxa said, as she appeared outside his cell. Hunter glared at the purple skinned witch and ignored her, as a crimson fireball appeared in his palm.

"Go ahead and try to melt your way out. It won't do you any good," she warned.

"And why's that?" he snapped.

"Because this little cell has been designed specifically to hold you," Toxa said smugly.

"There's enough voltage in these plasma bars to injure even the mighty Phoenix. And the walls are coated with a special fire proof substance that will immediately squelch any attack you try," Toxa warned.

"Fine…you have me, so what now?" he asked. She smirked, as Ivan Ooze approached and Hunter's eyes widened, as he walked through the plasma bars like they were nothing.

"You, Mr. Bradley, are about to experience the most excruciating pain imaginable. And the most delicious part about it is that, since you're the Phoenix, you'll heal after I inflict my wrath upon you. And then…I get to start all over again, day after day, until my vengeance is fully complete," Ivan growled, as his purple eyes bored into the handsome young fighter that was the offspring of his long dead, but most hated enemy.

"I will have you cursing your father's name before I am done, for he is the reason you'll suffer!" Ooze growled.

"I will rip the flesh from your back, crush your bones to powder, and spill every single drop of your blood again and again until your body gives out and even the Phoenix spirit can no longer bring you back from the brink of death," Ivan ranted.

"But I assure you that you will be begging me for the sweet release of death long before I grant it so…" Ivan said, as he stepped through the bars to the outside again.

"But first I shall allow my most skilled General to deliver just a small fraction of what I have in store for you," Ivan said, as the bars disappeared temporarily and let the green skinned alien inside, before the bars reappeared. The General cracked his knuckles and raised his fist.

"Time to suffer…little Phoenix…" Xinshing said, as his fist struck Hunter's face…

Blue Bay Harbor Beach

As the zords were dispatched back to the zord hanger at the old power chamber outside Angel Grove, the active teams gathered back on the beach to be teleported back to Ranger Ops. They expected to find Tori and Zedd still there, but only Will and Dax remained, tying up loose ends with a few of their men.

"Where are they?" Blake asked.

"Maybe Zedd already took Tori back to Ops," Conner said. Billy put his phone to his ear.

"Hey Carls, did Zedd bring Tori back to the med bay already?" Billy asked.

"No guys…after you went into battle, Zedd was going to bring her back here, but Tori's father shot him with one of those ion rays. Gorbin took them both," Carly said in a shaky voice. Shane's head snapped toward Will and Dax, who were leaving with their team.

"Where is she?" Shane yelled, as he ran to catch them. Will turned around and glared at him.

"Daddy dearest decided that he wanted his little girl with him. And as for Zedd, I'm pretty sure my boss wants to lock him up and throw away the key," Will replied with a shrug of indifference.

"Look man, he can't do that. Tell us where they are!" Blake demanded.

"Make me," Will hissed. Blake growled and lunged at him, toppling them both to the sand. Blake punched him in the jaw and Will swung with an uppercut, catching Blake just to the right of his left eye.

"Ooze took my brother…and your fucking boss isn't going to take the rest of my family!" Blake screamed, as he grabbed Will's collar.

"Tell me where he's taking them!" Blake screamed, as Tommy and Jason pried him off the black Overdrive ranger.

"Keep that psycho away from me!" Will growled, as Dax helped him up. He wiped the blood from his lip and spit in the sand.

"Dude…why would you do this? What did Tori ever do to you, except help save your sorry asses from Thrax!" Dustin snapped angrily. Normally, the light hearted yellow wind ranger was the last to anger, but Tori was closer to him than his real sisters and these posers had pushed him to his limit.

"You guys just better let it drop or my men are going to use the ion ray on all of you!" Will threatened.

"Do your worst, man! Hide behind your weapons if you have to!" Blake roared, as he struggled to get away from Jason and Tommy.

"Blake…stop!" Billy pleaded, as he blocked him.

"I will find them…there has never been anyone I couldn't find. Carly and I just need time," Billy promised. The Navy ranger began to calm down.

"Carly, you have a lock on us?" Billy asked.

"Teleporting now," she responded, as they disappeared, leaving Dax and Will behind.

Maximum Security Military Base

Outside Turtle Cove, California

On the long drive, the ion paralysis had finally worn off by the time they arrived at one of Gorbin's compounds. The place was a massive base, complete with two airstrips and large warehouse, large enough to house their new human constructed zords, vehicles, and weapons. The truck lurched and Tori groaned, as she finally regained consciousness. The first thing she noticed was that her hands were handcuffed, which made her sit up with a start.

"Zedd?" she asked, noticing him next to her, also in handcuffs.

"I'm sorry Tori, I tried to stop this," he replied regrettably.

"What…what happened? Where's Hunter?" she asked. Zedd lowered his head.

"After you were knocked out, Ooze had his General bring the Galaxy rangers before us. He apparently captured them several days ago. He promised to free them if Hunter agreed to be his prisoner in return," Zedd recalled sadly.

"You mean…" she uttered.

"I'm sorry Tori, but Ivan Ooze has him and I couldn't do anything to stop it," he said bitterly.

"It's not your fault," she consoled.

"If that wasn't bad enough, they captured the two of us while the others were in battle. I'm so sorry Tori," he replied.

"Everything is going to be fine, sweetheart. He may be under arrest, but you're not," Peter said, as he turned from his seat in front.

"Really? Because the handcuffs could have fooled me!" Tori snapped. He put his hand up.

"I knew you would be disoriented when you woke up. This is for your own good," he insisted.

"You have no right! Let us go!" she yelled.

"You're my daughter and I have every right," he argued.

"No…I'm an adult and I can make my own choices. This is not my choice!" Tori ranted.

"Tori, please calm down…" Peter pleaded.

"Yes Ms. Hanson, I would hate to have one of my men silence you," Gorbin warned. She glared and kicked the back of his seat.

"Give me back my morpher, fathead," she demanded, but Gorbin only chuckled in amusement.

"She certainly is spirited, but you had better control your daughter, Mr. Hanson. I cannot have her causing trouble on my base," Gorbin said, as he got out of the truck. Tori and Zedd were hauled out next by a few of the red bereted soldiers. The blue wind ranger took this as her opportunity and despite her bound hands, she delivered a flying kick to one of her captors.

"Control her!" Gorbin roared. Tori was shot with an ion blast and she collapsed to the ground. Two soldiers picked her up and Gorbin put his hand around her neck, as she glared defiantly back at him.

"You will be controlled, Ms. Hanson. Your alien boyfriend isn't here to absorb any attacks for you, so I would be cautious or I may have to teach you a lesson," Gorbin threatened.

"Take them to the prison barracks," Gorbin ordered.

"You said Tori would stay with me," Peter protested.

"I lied, Mr. Hanson. Your daughter is under arrest for vigilantism and if you even attempt to free her by violating your contract, you'll be in the cell right next to Dr. Cranston," Gorbin threatened, as Zedd and Tori were taken away. Peter could only watch helplessly, frozen by the look of sheer betrayal in his daughter's eyes.

"Damn that little punk," Will spat, as he cleaned the bloody cut on his lip, courtesy of Blake Bradley.

"Will…what the hell are we doing?" Dax questioned. Will turned to look at him.

"What do you mean?" he snapped.

"You know what I mean! The original plan was to work alone and maybe show them that we weren't just rookies, but we were never supposed to let harm come to them!" Dax screamed.

"Oh come on, are you going to ditch me like the girls did now?!" Will spat. Dax shook his head.

"They had the right idea. After Gorbin shot Hunter in cold blood, I should have walked away with them…but you're my best friend so I stood by you. But now…Tori never did anything wrong. Gorbin has no right to imprison her," Dax lamented.

"I don't like it any more than you do! But do you really want to be forced to hide like the others?" Will hissed.

"It's better than all this," Dax responded. But Will only smirked.

"You don't really mean that. I saw you with those reporters yesterday. You couldn't shut up and I'll bet they will want to talk to you again after the zord battle in Blue Bay Harbor. And don't you have a meeting with one of the biggest movie studios in Hollywood?" Will taunted. Dax frowned. It was true, they wanted him to star in the latest series of action blockbusters. And it was his dream to be famous…a dream he didn't want to easily give up.

"That's what I thought. Let's go, we're late for debriefing," Will said.

The Legacy Compound

Ranger Ops

"Leo, it's good to see you…all of you," Andros greeted, as the active teams arrived.

"Well that totally sucked," Conner grumbled.

"We have to keep our heads up, guys," Tommy reminded.

"How the hell are we supposed to do that? Ooze has my brother and that dickhead General has Zedd and Tori!" Blake ranted.

"And we're going to do everything possible to get them all back. Now go get that shiner taken care of," Jason ordered, referring to the swelling bruise on his face, courtesy of Will Aston.

"Come on, I'll help you with that," Carly chimed in, as she led him to the medical bay, while the others explained the situation with General Gorbin and subsequently Master Vile's schemes.

Medical Bay

"Here, this should bring the swelling down," Carly said, as she handed the icepack to Blake. He pressed it sourly to the place where Will had uppercut him and felt Carly take his hand.

"I'm going to do everything I can to locate them…all of them," she promised. He smiled gently.

"I know you will…thanks," he said, as he surprised her by kissing her cheek. He pulled away and their eyes met, green and dark brown colliding. With their lips mere inches apart, Blake closed the distance and pressed his lips to hers. Her arms slid around his neck, as he pulled her close, his lips moving passionately over hers.

"I think I could go for that ride now if you're still interested," he suggested. She smiled and nodded, as they left to get some air. The computers were searching and there was nothing more they could do at the moment but wait…and hope.