Chapter 15 - New Year's Evil

Rex was enjoying a chocolate shake at the Youth Center. He wasn't in training anymore this year, plus it was almost New Year's Eve. He figured he could afford just one little, itty-bitty triple chocolate fudge milk-shake. He was studying an advanced Kung Fu manual and generally enjoying the peace and quiet.

Manny scooted into the booth across from him. He glanced over the edge of his book. "Yes?" he asked.

"Saw you with the chocolate. I was just checking to see if you weren't suicidal or something," she answered.

"Why, because Nathan won the meet? That was over a week ago and I'm fine. You people act like he's never beaten me before," he groused. Truth be told, however, that was one tough meet. But, he didn't begrudge Nathan the win. "Why are you here bothering me anyway?" he asked.

Manny shrugged. "I've been abandoned in favor of boys," she said with a pout.

Rex chuckled. "Right, Danny and Chloe got in from New York this morning, didn't they?" he said. He already knew that Tai and Lani were at some matinee marathon of kung fu movies. Tai had somehow found one of the few girls who thought that qualified as a date.

Manny nodded. "I came in to grab a café latte when I saw you sitting here all by your lonesome," she teased him.

"Well, I am hardly one to deny myself the company of pretty girls. Grasshopper! Get Manny a café latte!" he called out loudly.

"Yes, seifu," Fox all but growled at him from the counter he was manning. He ignored the twins giggling at him. Rex he could handle. Ever since he put himself in charge of his training, he'd taken to calling him Grasshopper. In retaliation, Fox called him seifu. It was Autumn and Winter that were grating on his nerves. Autumn had had this big brainstorm about a Christmas party in the Youth Center. Two days before Christmas. And made him see to it. Spring and Summer did the best they could to help. Somehow it managed to not be a disaster.

Winter wasn't any better. He'd been leaving the finances piling up and Fox finally had a go at them the night before. He couldn't imagine what was up with his cousins. They were also A.W.O.L. today, too. No one else seemed to notice anything amiss. Perhaps he did because he was closer to the problem. He just wished he understood the problem.

Thoughts banging around in his head, he took the café latte to the booth.

"Thanks," Manny said and smiled up at him. Ordinarily he'd take a moment to appreciate the smile from a girl as pretty as Manny, but today he was too distracted.

"You look beat. Why don't you pull up a chair and sit a minute," Rex said with a frown.

"No time. With Rei off doing God knows what, Zack's day off and Win and Autumn in crazy town, someone has to pick up the slack around here," he said and already started back toward the counter.

"Turn that scrawny butt of yours around and get back here to explain that," Rex said.

"No offense, seifu, but it has nothing to do with you," Fox said and kept going.

Rex bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from responding. It really did have to do with him if two Power Rangers were acting out of character. He made a mental note to check in with Lammy and Taran when they get back from Kansas. If anyone else noticed Win and Autumn acting off, it would be those two.

"You're not leaving it at that are you?" Manny asked with a grin.

"Of course not," Rex answered and went back to his book.

-x-

Sora had the distinct feeling he was being followed. He'd left his apartment building on his way to the Youth Center. He hadn't gone far when the air on the back of his neck stood on end. He spun around, splitting into three.

"What if I'd been some sad sack human? You'd have scared the life out of me just then," Griff stated from where he stood. He hadn't been trying to sneak at all. It was just his natural gait. He was incognito. He wore biker boots, jeans, a tee shirt and a faded black hoodie. His long hair was pulled back at the nape of his neck. His stance was relaxed but he could spring into action at a moment's notice.

Sora didn't recombine. The three of him narrowed their eyes at him. "What are you doing here?" the middle him asked.

"We need to talk. About our girls," Griff said.

"Rei's visiting her mother," Sora-on-the-right said as the three of him shrugged.

Griff's face hardened slightly. He shook his head. "I was right. You don't know. She isn't just in the Mystic Realm visiting her mother. She's risking her life by going into the Mystic Realm. In order for her to go unnoticed she cannot use magic for anything and whatever she's doing there has to be far more important than 'visiting her mother' for her to go there," he said.

Sora recombined without meaning to. "What are you talking about? Why wouldn't she tell me?" he demanded. For a brief moment his eyes flashed darkly.

"Maybe she was more afraid to stay here. Moriko was right, wasn't she? Mina's using the Sword to convert other Rangers. Fantastic," Griff growled. He became just a little less relaxed.

"That doesn't matter," Sora said dismissively. "What do you mean by Rei risking her life to go to her mother?" he demanded.

"The Mystic Realm is enemy territory for the Repulsa triplets. The beings that combined them into one person want them dead now that they're three again. Whenever they use magic, shades appear and watch them. They aren't allowed to interfere with them in the human realm, but if they try to use magic in the Mystic Realm," Griff shook his head. "And, this does matter. Because of this Moriko went there to find Rei," he added. It wasn't his style to threaten people. He said what he had to say and then he disappeared.

Sora stared at the spot where Griff had been. In truth, he hadn't let himself think about Rei the last week or so. Now she might be in danger. He felt conflicted. He had no idea what or where the Mystic Realm even was. He just knew that was Rita Repulsa had made her home after the Z-Wave turned her good.

He'd give it a couple more days then he'd try and get Griff's attention. He'd storm the place if he had to, with or without Mina's permission.

-x-

New Year's Eve rolled around and there were things beginning to happen. There was supposed to be an event at the Youth Center and a countdown for the New Year. Fox had been working diligently on that since after the near Christmas debacle they weren't even supposed to have. New Year's Eve was supposed to have been the big event. Therefore, he gave himself the day off and Autumn and Win could either work or let the place go to pot.

He stopped just short of telling them that. The twins could pass the message along if they were so inclined.

Autumn was annoyed that Fox had disappeared on them. Taran was supposed to get back into town today and she was peeved that she had to work instead of getting to see him. There was no guarantee that he'd drop by before the party that night. Win got to go see Lammy. It wasn't fair.

She was pouting pretty hard when a familiar face came into the Youth Center, She blinked just to make sure she'd seen correctly. "AJ?" she asked.

A young man a year younger than her brother, Austin John Scott had also been Win's best friend in school. He was a taller, leaner version of his big brother, Jason. They had the same dark hair and warm brown eyes. He ran fingers through his hair to fix where his motorcycle helmet plastered it to his skull. "None other," he said.

With a mental sigh, she came around the counter and gave him a hug. "It's been ages. Win's not here," she said.

"I came to visit Jason and Randi for a day or so and heard about the party tonight. Figured I'd catch up with Win before then. See if he ever cut his hair," he said.

Autumn didn't get a chance to answer or explain where Win was. The twins spotted him. Whether they admitted it to anyone else but each other, he was their first crush and even if they grew out it, which was still in debate, they were excited to see him. Autumn scowled at their backs and went to serve a customer.

-x-

Mina hadn't been idle during the holidays but she had found converting more of the others to be difficult. Not Wood, though. There were perks to being long times friends with someone. You knew the things they cared for most. In Wood's case it was simple. It was a mint out of box limited edition of the Blue Astro Ranger action figure.

Rex was proving to be difficult. She realized that while everyone seemed to know him, no but Tai really knew him. Even that wasn't helpful. Tai couldn't name an object he seemed to hold above anything else. None of his trophies; they were just things. He didn't wear jewelry that held any significance; he didn't wear jewelry at all. Clothes were just clothes.

She was beginning to see why Tai was suddenly eager to rip into him. He was freaking annoyingly a good guy who liked people more than things. She stuck him on the list of people to find other avenues of conversion for.
Now that Chloe and Danny were back from New York, she was determined to get them. They weren't home when she went over. That was good. Their mom let her in on her way out the door. She was on her way to an office thing for New Year's Eve. That she had to set up.

"Go on in dear. I'm sure Danny will show up soon," she said as she breezed out the door.

Mina closed the door behind Mrs. Kennedy. She headed upstairs. Chloe was an easy read. Everyone had chipped in to get her a new camera for Christmas. They'd given it to her before she left for New York so it'd been out of reach. Until now. Mina headed up the stairs. She knew the Kennedy house as well as she knew her own. Maybe even better.

She entered Chloe's room. She didn't have to hunt for the camera. Chloe had an entire section of her room dedicated to photography. Her camera was practically on display. She summoned the Sword of Darkness. She touched the tip of it to the camera. Inky smog billowed around the camera and was absorbed into it.

Satisfied with her work, Mina started to leave the room. The door burst open.

"She said I could use it for a--" whatever else Fox was about to say died instantly because just as quickly as he opened the door, a rather nasty looking sword was pointed at his face. "If this is about all the inappropriate cracks about you and your laptop; I sincerely apologize," he babbled.

"'Ey what's--uh, Billie?" Danny moved up behind Fox. "Yeah, Fox, back away slowly," he said quietly as he and his best friend eyed each other, sizing up the situation and playing out the best move now. Danny muttered a curse and grabbed Fox's shoulder. He teleported both of them. "Lock down mode. Priority code Oscar Mike Foxtrot Golf. Daniel Kennedy verification code; Delta Kilo nine-seven-five-five," he called out as soon as they arrived.

Muted alarms began to go off. "Ay yi yi! Danny! What's going on?" Beez asked, her hologram appearing.

Fox cried out and scrambled away. "Wh-what?! Where did she--how did we--where the h--" he couldn't even form the questions and Danny wasn't in an answering mood as he dashed from console to console.

"I need Dr. O, Beez. And Holly. Until I know who we can trust and who we can't, ain't nobody else gettin' in except you and me and who goes on the approved list," Danny explained.

"I am already in the city. I will find Tommy," Beez answered from a monitor.

Billy came out of his lab. "What's going on?" he asked. "Why are we on Priority One Lockdown?" he asked. He noticed Fox and blinked. Fox gave him a blank sort of wave.

"Sorry about him. He wasn't safe. Had to bring him along," Danny explained. "Billie had the Sword of Darkness," he added. "And, if my guess is right, she ain't the only one under it's influence. When Dr. O gets here, I need you to see you can't use him to figure out a way of detecting it or something," he instructed.

"Beez, teleport Tommy directly to my lab," Billy said and dashed off.

"Don't explain anything and continue referring to me as if I'm not even here. Thanks. Thanks so much," Fox said. He paced slightly, wrapping his head around the fact that one of his friends was obviously a Power Ranger.

"Beez, can you handle him?" Danny said absently. He'd apologize later, he was trying his very best to take the Command Center offline and change as many codes as possible.

Holo-Beez turned toward Fox. "Please, be calm. I know this must seem strange right now. I am Beta Z. If you'll follow me, I'll take you somewhere you can sit quietly," she said.

"Screw that. What can I do to help?" Fox said stubbornly.

"Maybe he can. He's an outsider, he may have noticed things we were too close to see," Danny said.

Holly arrived in a flash making Fox jump. "What do you need me to do?" she asked immediately.

"Codes. Change as many as you can. Billie might be able to crack mine more easily than yours," Danny instructed. Holly nodded and got on that.

"We can also let in Melody and Zara," Danny murmured and added them to the list. He had a feeling any of the elders were safe but he didn't want to take any more chances than he already had.
"And Taran. He'll be immune to the influence of the Sword of Darkness," Beez pointed out.

"What about Lammy?" Holly asked.

Beez shook her head. "I cannot say. Perhaps Taran would know," she said.

"Right, Taran, Mel and Zara. Get them here," Danny said. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He stared at Fox for a long minute. "Right off the top of your head. Power Rangers. Take a guess," he prompted.

Fox rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You and Billie obviously. That Taran guy, yeah, I can totally see that. Umm, oh crap. Autumn and Win," he said as things started to make so much sense with his cousins. "I think you can also safely put them on the 'Sword of Darkness' list.Yeah," he said.

"Noted. I have arrived with Tommy. Billy is analyzing him now," Beez reported, confusing the crap out of Fox. Wasn't she standing there?

Deciding to tackle one problem at a time he continued. "Oh, Tai. Definitely a Ranger. Rex, too. Your sister. I should have guessed that ages ago when she wanted to take on those gray things for a camera," he said with a sigh.

While he was thinking, Melody, Zara and Taran arrived.

Danny jotted down a list of names for Fox to peruse. "Anyone you think hasn't been acting out of whack would be good," he said before addressing Taran and the girls to fill them in on the situation.

-x-

Palace on the Moon

Widow felt almost triumphant as she thought up a course of action for getting Mina under control. She found a powerful spell she was infusing into a monster. she just hoped it would work. Somehow, Mina had managed to block their access to the Dark Dimension, which was intolerable. When she managed to get her hands on the girl, she wasn't going to try to control her. She was going to put her down.

The fact that Moriko had been right had left Zita in a quiet state that was unnerving. Moriko and Griff suddenly disappearing didn't bode well either.

Roki was alternating between tearing down the library and chasing down contacts. He was up to something and she wasn't sure what. He said he didn't want to get her hopes up if it didn't pan out.

"Finster! Is Slumbuhbye ready yet?" she demanded as she stalked into his lab.

"Nearly so, my lady. Would you like to perform the spell now?" he asked in his acquiescent tone.

"Indeed I would," she said and walked to the half formed lump of clay and began to chant.

-x-

Lammy was mildly surprised when Winter knocked on her apartment door. She'd been meaning to have him over to show off the place but things kept coming up. Then she went on the trip to Kansas with Taran and when they finally got back, Griff showed up to take up residence on her couch without explaining why.

She shooed her brother into the bedroom and gave him a warning to keep quiet. She opened her door and gave Winter a smile. "Well, hi there," she greeted him and let him in the door.

He came in and looked around. He let out a low whistle. "Wow, nice digs," he said.

She beamed. "I know! It's so fantastic! My own place, my home. I can't remember the last time I stayed in one place for longer than a couple of weeks and now I'm nesting. It's amazing and surprisingly scary at the same time," she gushed without meaning to.

Winter grinned. "That's great but to be honest I didn't come here to see the apartment. I came here to see you," he said.

She looked at him, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "You see me almost every day," she pointed out.

He reached out, wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her closer. "For breif snatches at the Youth Center. Do you really think that's enough?" he asked quietly.

She smiled up at him. "It's really not," she agreed. He smirked. "What do you suggest?" she asked.

"I could spend much more time over here."

"What about the Youth Center?" she asked.

His face tightened just slightly. "It'll survive," he answered.

She gave him just sweetest smile. "Wrong answer," she said and broke away from him. "How long have you been evil again?" she demanded, putting her fists on her hips.

Win grinned. "Awhile. So, my complete and utter antipathy for that place came through, did it? I'll have to work on that," he said with a sigh. "Join us. You never wanted to be a Power Ranger anyway. You, yourself claim you aren't Good. What's the problem?" he asked with a frown.

"You're the problem. After all the trouble I went through to turn you good again. Undone! Sure you have more than two brain cells to rub together this time, but you still aren't you," she said. "The Winter I risked everything for is not only Good but a good guy. I can tell just by looking at you you've become a Grade-A jerk. Don't worry though, I'm sure I'll figure out how to fix you again. For now: Be gone</b>," she said and held out her hand.

Winter felt a strange jerk as he was banished from her apartment.

"Get out here now!" Lammy shouted at her brother.

Unperturbed, Griff came into the living room. "You called?"

"Tell me everything," she demanded. With a sigh, he obliged.

-x-

Tai and Lani strolled through the park. They'd had a good time with a picnic even if it was a little nippy. Still though she couldn't put her finger on what was different lately. Something was. Pushing that aside she smiled up at him.

"Did you have a good time?" he asked.

She nodded. "It was lovely. Thank you," she said with a smile.

Tai slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. He leaned down and kissed her. She was surprised but didn't complain.

Someone else complained for her. "Hey! What he heck is going on here?"

Lani gasped and pulled away. She saw her brothers heading toward them. Stocky and wide, Pua was the eldest and as hot headed as any Hawaiian could hope to be. Keoni was the middle brother, a little taller and leaner than Pua but also not quite as hot-headed. That wasn't saying much. Noa was the youngest and in the same class as Tai. He was also the tallest and leanest of the brothers. He was more of laid back surf bum than a hot head.

Pua was barreling toward them like a volcanic eruption; Keoni hot on his heels. Looking like he wanted to be anywhere else, Noa trailed behind them. Since her two elder brothers were in college and no longer in the house, only Noa knew about her and Tai. This was not particularly how she wanted the other two to find out about him. Not because she was embraressed to be caught kissing Tai but because they were so overbearing.

Tai crossed his arms over his chest and watched them come.

"Lani! Who is this guy? What's going on here? Hey, you. Keep your hands off my sister," Pua made to push at Tai and Lani shouted his name. It all happened in a blink. Pua was a highly trained practitioner of Tae Kwon Do and Judo. He was award winning and confident in his ability to handle any situation, especially putting a guy sniffing around his sister in his place. He was wrong.

In a fluid motion, Tai stepped aside, wrapped an arm around Pua's, kicked his feet out from under him and put him on the ground. He used his arm as leverage, holding him in place. Pua cried out in pain.

Lani gasped again. "Tai! Let him up. What's gotten into you?" she demanded. Tai cut his eyes toward her. Something dark flashed in them. Dread licked down her spine. "Let him up now," she said in a firmer tone.

Noa's eyes where about to pop out of his head. Naturally he'd known that Tai was highly skilled. He hadn't warned Pua because he'd been looking forward to seeing what would happen when he went all Pua on him. This he hadn't expected. Keoni made to step forward but his little brother stopped him. "Not a good idea," he said. Keoni glared at him. Noa held firm.

Tai let Pua loose and stepped back. "Don't get in my face again. I may not be so gentle next time," he said.

Pua got to his feet, rubbing his arm, his face red.

"That's enough! All of you. You three go that way. Now!" Lani said and pointed. She knew how to handle her brothers when she needed to.

"Come on," Noa said, backing up his sister. He had to all but physically drag his stewing brothers off.

Lani and Tai stood tensely watching them go. "Don't even think about touching me," Lani said when he made a move to take her arm. "Just stay away," she said and backed up a few paces.

"I'm not going to hurt you, little red fae," he said.

"As if that matters. Just stay away," she repeated. She backed up some more and teleported.

-x-

Billy rushed into the Power Chamber; Tommy was right behind him. "I think I have it. I discovered a subatomic residue. barely there anymore after all these years but it has a distinct signature," he was saying even as he slid behind a console and began feeding information from a chip into the Command Center systems.

"So you thinkin' that if we program the Command Center to recognize he signature, we can block any affected Rangers from gettin' in. Brilliant," Danny said and helped speed along the process.

"Changes made. Signature recorded," Beez announced.

"Start calling everyone in. Let's hope this works," Danny said.

Lani appeared. "I think Tai's evil," she burst out immediately.

"Yep," Fox confirmed without glancing up from his list. "He's been a bit of butt wad lately when no one else is around," he said.

"Well, that ain't great news," Danny said.

Lani glanced from Fox to Danny. "I've missed something huge, haven't I?" she asked. Before he could answer, people began to appear.

"Attempted breach," Beez reported as Tori appeared.

She looked around with a frown. "Chloe was right behind me," she said and turned in a circle, looking for her friend.

"Attempted breach. Attempted breach," Beez reported.

Danny cursed. "That was Wood and Nathan," he said grimly and rubbed his face.

Manny appeared followed shortly by Lammy with Griff in tow. Things were so bad, no one even bothered to be surprised that he was there. Elders began arriving.

"Attempted breach," Beez reported.

"That was Sora," Holly said.

"Attempted breach."

"And Autumn just tried," Danny said.

"Is there anyone unaccounted for?" Tommy asked.

"Rex, Jason, Justin and Carlos," Danny answered.

"Justin and Carlos are on patrol. Jason's probably out of town. I don't know about Rex," Tommy said.

"So far I've been pretty much spot on. I don't think Rex has been affected," Fox said.

"Then where is he? And what's going on?" Lani demanded.

"Well, that's why I brought him along," Lammy said and pointed at her brother. Griff shifted under the scrutiny of so many Power Rangers.

"It's all Zita's fault," he stated finally.

-x-

A Power Ranger fell on Rex. He was leaving the Dojo where'd been practicing a bit of Kung Fu in order to teach Fox. He'd just left when the alert came in for everyone to report to the Command Center. He ducked into the alley so he could safely teleport and a Power Ranger appeared in the sky and fell on him.

The big man rolled off of him. "Sorry about that, kid. I got the geosynchronistic coordinates a bit off didn't I?" he said as he got to his feet. He held an arm down to help Rex to his feet.

"Just a bit," Rex answered drily as he eyed the black armored Ranger. "So, why is the fabled Phantom Ranger falling out of the sky?" he asked.

The Phantom Ranger seemed to stare at him for a long time. "It's not quite time answer that yet," he said finally. Then he disappeared as quickly as he'd appeared.

Rex stared at where he'd disappeared for a few moments then teleported into the Command Center just in time to hear Griff tell everyone about Zita, Widow and Roki's plan to turn Billie evil with the Sword of Darkness and use her genius to destroy the Rangers.

"Moriko tried to talk them out of it but they wouldn't listen. Turns out she was right, now she's off risking her life looking for Rei and I'm stuck here," he complained.

Rex strode forward and looked at the list Danny had compiled. He whistled. "She is an evil genius. I bet she got Autumn first because of her ability to read auras. She probably went after Win at the same time for both convenience and his newly alien skills. Tai would have been the next logical choice with his skills. Sora, too," he said.

"Why Wood and Nathan? Why not you? Or me?" Lani asked quietly.

"They're her friends. Being evil doesn't mean you stop caring about the people important to you," Lammy answered.

"Yeah," Danny agreed. "She was in my house. She was after me and Chloe. Fox threw a wrench in her works," he said.

Rex glanced to where the surprisingly Zen Fox was mulling over a piece of paper. "You look pretty calm for someone who just learned almost everyone he met in his new town is a Power Ranger," he commented.

"Look at this face, seifu. This is my surprised face," Fox declared, pointing at his deadpan expression.

Rex couldn't help but grin. "Now, what are we doing to do about getting friends back on track?"

The monster alert sounded. "A monster and Putties have appeared in downtown Angel Grove. He's putting people to sleep," Beez reported.

There was a quiet in the room.

"That'd probably be Widow attempting to regain control of Mina. That's what she calls herself," Griff said, interrupting the silence.

"Well, we don't have much of a choice," Rex said.

"Right," Lani agreed. "It's Morphin' Time!"

-x-

Slumbuhbye left sleeping humans in his wake. He was a grotesque star monster with a blue nightcap with pink ponies all over it and matching footie pajamas. He had a face that strangely resembled Spongebob Squarepants. His eyes were closed and his expression was sleepy as he toddled along. He would stop and yawn and when he exhaled he emitted gold dust that put anything that once inhaled it put a person to sleep.

Putties sleepily toddled along behind him.

"Hold it right there!"

Slumbuhbye paused and seemed to look around lazily. "Who's there?" he asked in a sleepy childish sort of voice. "Is it...the Power Rangers?" he asked playfully as he spotted them. "Go play with them, Putty Patrol," he said.

The Putties were suddenly alert. They split into groups and attacked the Rangers.

Putties began to move in erratic pattern around Yellow, not allowing her speed to give her the upper hand. If she tried she'd end up barreling into one or more of them. "Power Grips!" she summoned. "By the way, guys. I'm a cheerleader, too," she said in her best cheer voice. She began doing a routine, using her Grips as pom-poms, turning cartwheels and round-off and popping up with a high kick or going down into the splits.

Blue surveyed the Putties trying to get at him. "You S.O.B.s picked the wrong day to screw wit' me," he told them. "Power Lance!" he summoned. The Putties attacked. They shouldn't have done that. He blasted them with force field and stabbed them with the Power Lance. Sometime he even allowed himself the satisfaction of pounding on one for a moment.

Putties moved in very close to Pink not allowing her room to summon her Fans. She was small and compact, so she was holding her own by using her size and agility to her advantage. She'd jab, kick, spin, high kick, sweep kick but they kept closing in on her. The front of her helmet popped open and she shrieked so loudly Putties in front of her grabbed their heads  and stumbled into others, causing a chain reaction. "Power Fans," she summoned croakily. She may have over did the shriek a little bit. At least she had her Fans now.

Gold was in a bit of a jam. When the Putties came at him, one of them threw some sort of dust in his face that made him sneeze. He felt foggy and disoriented. He was holding his own, but even with his StegoMace out, he felt like his usual strength and speed weren't on his usual level. Basically, he'd been reduced to the efficiency of a human being. His spidy senses were out of whack as well and the Putties were taking advantage of that by sneaking up behind him to try and trip him or jump on his back.

Electrum noticed her brother's trouble but she was having enough of her own. One of the Putties had used the dust on her as well. She'd never once wished to be anything other than she was so to be rendered essentially human was aggravating. "Dormite spell," she muttered thickly. A lucky Putty managed to knock her over.

A large black quickly ended that Putty. "Decided to stick my nose in," Griff said as he helped his sister to her feet. He was in full armor.

"Good thing. Widow infused that monster with the Dormite spell," she said. "Everyone be careful not to breath in any of the gold dust he emits," she warned her team. "It'll put you to sleep." She looked at her brother. "Let's go help Taran," she said.

"If we must," Griff agreed and he went to help the Gold Ranger.

Black filed away the information in the back of his mind even as he attempted to negotiate his way through the pack of Putties. He also kept an eye on the monster as it toddled around. He'd managed to summon his Power Scythe but they managed to stay out of reach without allowing him to get anywhere. He narrowed his eyes. He paused and allowed the Scythe to disappear. "We're going to do it the old fashioned way," he said.

There was a wary pause then he sprang into action. He ran forward and jumped, powering both feet into a Putty. He landed on the ground as it disintegrated and was immediately into his next move. He actually grabbed one of them and used it as a weapon against the others before striking it in the Z and moving on.

Red was trying to get to the monster but the Putties were adamantly defending it. Before she could summon her weapon, two Putties actually grabbed her arms and stretched her at least a foot in either direction. She cried out in a pain. She had a limit to how far she could stretch but she knew something they didn't know. An elastic band stretched too far eventually snaps back. She pulled back and the Putties collided, ending each other. "Power Sword!" she summoned and began to slice her way through the Putties.

She made her way through and ran toward the monster. "That's enough!" she cried out.

Slumbuhbye turned toward her slowly. "Don't take that tone with me, Ranger. You'll make me angry. You won't like me when I'm angry," he said and gave a giggle at his words.

"Then we'll both be ticked off," she said and lunged forward, slashing him several times.

He grabbed her blade and pushed her back. His eyes slowly began to open. They were massively bloodshot and had electric blue irises that were unnerving. His face changed from one of sleepiness to one of face. "I warned you!" he roared in a shocking deep voice. Bright light and electricity shot out of his eyes. Arcs caught her and each of the Rangers. They were hurled away as the area around them was devastated by the Power.

-x-

The Command Center was quietly tense, except for the furious tapping of keys from Holly. Fox peered over her shoulder. "What are you doing?" he asked. He watched code fly by. He understood the language but he didn't understand the context.

"Replicating the Power Armor by fitting the schematic over a digital representation of Lani so that I can create a physical copy within the Morphing Grid. Once created she will be able to summon her own Power Armor." she answered.

"Right, of course," he said. Now he had the context.

He heard Melody gasp and looked at one of the view screens just in time to see the world explode and taking the Power Rangers with it. Zara's face was a tense mask.

"And done. Lani? Are you still alive? If you are, you can summon the Power Armor," Holly said urgently into the communication systems.

Fox sincerely hoped they were still alive.

-x-

Dark Keep

Mina gathered everyone at the Keep when it became clear that their secrets were known. Her companions were not happy. Neither was she.

Winter's pride was stung by Lammy's rejection and her banishing him from her apartment. Autumn was both glad she didn't have to pretend anymore but also sad they were found out before everyone was on their side.

Sora was worried about Rei.

Chloe and Wood were disappointed that Danny had gotten away before Mina could get him.

Tai wasn't worried. Yes, he was a little stung by Lani's behavior but it was nothing he didn't expect. He also had faith that Mina had a plan.

Nathan walked to her and touched her on the shoulder. "What about the monster?" he asked.

Mina had been observing the battle. "I'm certainly not going let Widow and Roki destroy our friends. We'll help if we need to," she said.

"Does this change our plans?" Chloe asked.

"Change them? No. Sets them back a little but I factored in that I might get found out eventually. They've blocked me from the Command Center but that's only a matter of time," she said. "None of you worry. The New World Order shall include our friends. I promise," she assured them.

That mollified some of them. They all knew her genius. If anyone could figure out a plan from there it was Wilhelmina Davis.

-x-

Slumbuhbyes eyes were beginning to drift shut after his attack but the Rangers got to their feet. They'd each lost their Morphs and Griff was all but holding up Taran and Lammy. His eyes bulged. "How? That's not possible!" he said in his cavernous tone. "I'll just have to put you Rangers to sleep!" he growled and began to blow goldish dust in their direction.

Danny threw up a force field. "Holly came through with a Hail Mary. Use it!" he said to Lani.

She was way ahead of him. She had her cuffs out. "It's Morphin' Time! Tyrannosaurus!" She morphed. She crossed her wrists in front of her chest. "Power Armor!" A red digital matrix formed over her upper body briefly as golden and red armor formed. The digital matrix covered her left arm as a gold and red gauntlet formed. A small red jewel appeared near her wrist. Her Power Sword appeared in her right hand.

She left behind the safety of the force field and ran. Slumbuhbye unleashed another energy attack at her but she threw up her left arm. The red energy shield with the Tyrannosaurus-Rex face in the middle appeared and deflected the energy, bouncing it back toward him. He staggered. She got in close enough to stab in him in one eye and slash him several more times before the shield powered out.

Slumbuhbye sparked, his remaining eye bulged even more. "You haven't seen the last of me, Rangers!" he shouted and disappeared before they could regroup enough to summon the Magna Cannon.

Red stumbled and lost her Morph. She'd taken his entire attack and wasn't exactly the better for it. Manny sped to her side and helped her not fall over. "Let's get back. We need to decide what we're going to do. Not only about this monster but about our friends," she said.

Rex nodded. The ragged little group teleported back to the Command Center. They'd each dedicated themselves to fighting evil but none of them expected evil to be their closest friends and loved ones.

Needless to say it was not a happy New Year.

-xEnd Chapter 15 - To Be Continuedx-           

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