Chapter 16 - Phantom Phenomena

A tense couple of days passed. The people affected by Slumbuhbye were still asleep. The divide between the two sets of Rangers was palpable.

After the effects of the Dormite spell wore off of Lammy and Taran, they warded each remaining Ranger against the Sword of Darkness. They also warded the elder Rangers, Fox, Melody and Zara.

Danny had moved out of his house with the stern admonishment to his sister that if she harmed a hair on their mother's head, he'd forget they were kin. She'd glared at him for even suggesting such a thing. The story for her mother was that he was on a camping trip with some of the guys. He was crashing at the Command Center along with Fox, who was too skeeved to stay at the Youth Center, though he worried about Nanna Mai and the twins.

Danny was jangle of anger, tension, hurt and confusion. Rex was distracting him by channeling his emotions into also learning Kung Fu. Fox felt sorry for the guy. All his friends and his sister had been turned to the Darkside. At least he still had Holly. They'd look up every now and then to see Jason and Randi's brother watching them with an odd look on his face.

Rex and his two pupils had just finished a major training session that left Danny feeling drained in a good way. He sent them off to shower. He did a few more reps and exited Room 3. AJ was in the main entrance answering the door. Rex had noticed him observing them earlier. They were there at an odd time of day when there were no classes in session and hardly anyone was there.

Rex was about to walk on when he saw who was at the door delivering food. He stepped back into the shadows hoping Winter hadn't noticed him.

AJ grinned. "Win! I was beginning to think you were avoiding me," he said had he took the food his sister had ordered for herself and her two brothers. He set it aside and attempted to hug one of his oldest friends.

"I was but Nanna made me take the delivery since Fox left," Win answered. "That'll be twenty-two eighty-five," he said and waited for the payment.

AJ narrowed his eyes at Win but fished the money out of his wallet. He gave him a twenty and a five. "Keep the change for your delightful attitude," he said dryly.

Winter snapped and lashed out attempting to take the other man's head off. AJ reacted just as quickly, throwing up a block and jumping back.

Rex slid between them. "What are you doing? You have your money. Get out of here, Winter. You aren't welcome," he said.

"This has nothing to do with you Rex. Stay out of it," Winter said savagely and exoskeleton began forming on various parts of his skin. He moved with preternatural speed, grabbed Rex's shirt and threw him across the entrance hall.

AJ was in motion again. Unfortunately for him, Winter was now an alien hybrid and had the same strength, speed and agility of Taran and Lammy. They traded a few blows but AJ couldn't seem to adapt quickly enough. Winter grabbed one of his arms, twisted it and dislocated the shoulder. He kicked him in the ribs and sent him crashing into a wall.

AJ grunted in pain. He was pretty sure his rib just broke but he could handle the arm. He positioned it just right and rammed his shoulder into the wall forcing it to pop back into place. "If this about Savannah Lowell, I thought we cleared that up," he said painfully.

Winter didn't answer. He began to come at AJ again. Almost unconcerned, AJ took the tiger stance. He didn't have any other choice. Whatever was up with Winter wasn't normal. "Unleash the Tiger!" He made an arm movement and from within him a spirit tiger, white with black stripes, jumped crashing into Winter. It held him on the floor and roared in his face.

"Enough!" Jason shouted, coming down from office.

AJ glanced at his brother and the tiger paced off of Winter and disappeared. Winter got to his feet and glowered at the Scott brothers. He turned on his heel and left the dojo.

Rex got to his feet, mildly in awe. Two sets of dark eyes swung toward him. "I'm off to the showers," he said.

"Rex," Jason said.

"If I need to know, you'll tell me," Rex said. "I have enough crap to worry about. Spirit tigers don't even make the top ten at the moment. Proceed with the reaming of your little brother," he said and left before Jason could stop him.

Jason bit back his grin then sent his brother a look.

AJ sighed. "Let's go have the reaming upstairs while we eat and you bandage my ribs," he suggested.

Jason grunted. He grabbed the bags of food and made his brother lead him upstairs.

-x-

Dark Keep

Nathan approached Mina as she worked diligently in her lab. He kissed the top of her head. "Whatcha working on?" he asked her, resting his chin on her head.

Mina sighed and put aside the device. "Something I was hoping I wouldn't have to use," she answered. "Hopefully it'll make them understand how much better things would be with us in charge of everything. No more war. No more poverty. No more famine. Diseases cured instead of treated so big pharma can make money off the sick and dying," she said and turned toward him.

He smiled and knelt beside her. "They'll come around," he assured her.

Mina nodded. "I'm sure they will," she said and leaned forward to kiss him. A device began beeping. "That monster is back. We'd better go help," she said. "It's going to take all of us," she said. "Remind me when we get back to yell at Winter," she added.

Nathan gave a crooked smile. "Of course," he said.

She twisted her wrists making her Morpher appear. "It's Morphin' Time!"

-x-

Holly was busy working in the Zord Lab when the alarms went off. She wanted to be there for Lani whose boyfriend went wrong and she wanted to be there for Danny whose everyone went wrong but she also needed to do her work. For a moment she wished she could split herself into three like Sora.

Fox, who turned out to be great at fetching and carrying, had been helping her. "Uh, what's that?" he asked.

"The monster they Rangers fought the other day has returned. Beez is sending for the Rangers now I'm sure but we need to finish this. If it grows before we've completed it, they may not be able to defeat it permanently," she said.

Fox nodded. "Right," he said. Holly smiled and began bossing him around again.

-x-

Lani and Manny where indulging in shop therapy. It was helping a little, but Tai being evil didn't mean he didn't still care about her. He continued to try and talk to her. He'd call her or text or show up. It was annoying and made her want to cry. It also made her more determined to do everything in her power to change him back to good.

"Earth to Lani. Quit thinking about tall, gawky and evil. This shop I know has some of the cutest tops that would be perfect for your ironic retro rocker-girl tomboy style," Manny said.

Lani laughed and looked down at herself. "Is that what my style is?" she asked.

"Absolutely so let's go already," she said and drug her friend down the street. They rounded a corner and stopped short. In front of them people were slumped over asleep. Putties were lazily milling around and Slumbahbye, the mad, pajama wearing, star shaped monster was yawning in the midst of them.

"So much for a nice relaxing therapeutic shopping trip," Manny groaned.

Lani's face hardened. "This time, we end that thing," she said. They stashed their bags and made their Morphers appear. "It's Morphin' Time! Tyrannosaurus!"

"Smilodon!"

The two Rangers run toward the monster. Yellow skids to a stop with a gasp. "Lani! It's Mel and Zara," she said and knelt to check on the two girls. They appeared unharmed except they were fast asleep. Donuts were strewn around them.

"They must have been on a food run when he appeared," Red said. "Beez! Lock on to to Mel and Zara and teleport them to the Medi-Lab," she said into her communicator.

"Ay yi yi! Taking care of it immediately," she said. Once the two girls were safely teleported away. Red and Yellow caught up with where the others had arrived to engage the Putties.

Slumbuhbye suddenly laughed and his eyes sprang open. Arcs of electricity rained down upon the combatants.

The equivalent of a person sized wrecking ball crashed into his back. The female Black Ranger bowled over him after being tossed by the male Red Ranger at full strength. He was propelled through the air and landed face down. Female Black rolled to her feet.

Each faction of Power Rangers eyed each other warily.

"Why are you here?" male Black asked quietly.

"Temporary truce. No one wants Zita, Roki and Widow to win this fight," female Blue answered.

Slumbuhbye was already back on his eyes. "You'll all pay of that!" he seethed and began his electric attack again.

"Power Armor!" the Red Rangers both summoned the armor and activated their shields while the male Blue Ranger hastily threw up a force-feild.

Male Green used his phasing ability to run toward the monster, his Stygian Blade at the ready. When he was close enough, he solidified and slashed him several times. The attack stopped, giving the Red Rangers an opening to come in and all but finish him.

"Magnum Power Cannon!" male Black summoned the weapon and stood behind it. When he touched it, their Power Coins began to glow. Each barrel began to glow, staring from the outer most and going inwards until the large barrel began to glow as well. He waited until the Reds got clear. "Magnum Blast!" he pulled the trigger. The individual points of energy converged and exploded into him.

There was no lull between the explosion and Slumbugbye's growth.

"Now that he's large he's more powerful. If you aren't in a Zord, get somewhere safe!" male Blue shouted.

"That means those of us not effected by an evil sword," female Red said. The crystal on her gauntlet began to glow. "Magnum Alpha Megazord!" she summoned.

From various place around the city, Zords began appearing and converged on their location. The Zords began assembling together. The SmiloZord and the MastoZord formed legs and feet. The TyrannoZord formed a torso while the PteroZord and TriceraZord formed arms. A helmeted head turned out of the TyrannoZord. The StygiZord broke apart to form gauntlets, a chest shield and a helmet. The StegoZord, CeratoZord and VelociZord configured themselves in a shoulder mounted dino head cannon system that attached to the back of the shield with a tail. Their pilots were teleported into an enormous combined cockpit except for the Greens and Silver.

So far, Slumbuhbye had been sleepily spreading his Dormite dust in larger doses, unconcerned with the Power Rangers. He turned toward the Megazord as it ran up to him. His eyes began to open.

"Oh, no you don't," Red murmured under her breath. "Magnum Dino Blast!" She lined the target up on her screen. This time when she pressed the buttons, not only did the dino mouths come open but their tail whipped up and four points of energy where fired at the monster.

Slumbuhbye stuttered and stumbled back, smoking and sparking but now enraged. His eyes were wide open and bulging. "You'll regret this!" he cried in a cavernous voice. He emitted his electric attack, focusing it solely upon the Megazord.

The Rangers within cried out as their consoles exploded. They were transported before the whole thing could blow.

"Welcome to the Alphamax Cannon. May I suggest firing at will," Holly's voice said over the comm system.

Mere moments after the Megazord was nearly demolished by the monster, a giant version of the Magnum Power Cannon had appeared. Red approached the center console. She grabbed the dual joysticks and targeted the monster. "Target Acquired. Firing!" She depressed the buttons. Two by two, from the outside in the points of the Alphamax Cannon began firing, hitting the monster in succession. Each hit glowed. Finally the middle barrel fired. A beam of blindingly bright light hit. The other ten points connected in a circle.

The points exploded, taking the monster out.

"Wow. Remind me to get that girl somethin' fabulous," Blue said.

"On the ground now," Red said and the Power Rangers teleported out the Cannon.

Mina's Rangers were waiting for them. "Good. You came back," she said. She held up a slim black device. She pressed a button. She and her Rangers glowed as their Morphs contorted. Her usual powersuit became a darker black and blue suit and her helmet darkened as well. Three black horns adorned it. Each of the others' usual powersuits became darker and different. Female Green even became Violet.

"What the--"

Black's comment was cut short as his Morph failed when she pushed another button. All their Morph's failed.

"Billie! What are you doing?" Danny demanded.

"Cutting you off from the Morphing Grid. The Power Coins are useless now. Until you come to your senses and join us, none of you can Morph. You may call me Dark Triumph. My Generals; Dark Tyrant, Dark Drake and Dark Sword. My Captains; Dark Master and Dark Saber," she said, indicating in turn to what used to be male Red, Male Green, Silver, female Black, and male Yellow. They gave little bows.

"Oh, Nath doesn't get a fancy title?" Danny asked.

"Of course he does," Triumph answered. She walked over to him and slid a land over his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her waist. "He's my king, Dark Terror," she added. "I'll give you time to think it over. I'd rather there not be a confrontation. That's up to each of you," she said and she and the others teleported out.

The now unmorphed Rangers were left stunned. "Our teleports still work, right?" Lani asked.

"Yeah, looks like it," Danny answered when he checked his cuffs.

Two figures were coming toward them, seemingly bickering the entire way. Moriko and Rei were dressed casually. "I leave for a few weeks and some one lets Sora get turned evil. Again," she complained and put her hands on her hips.

"If that was a dig, I don't appreciate it," Moriko snapped back. She looked around at all the sleeping humans. "Dormite spell?" she gasped. "How long?" she demanded, zeroing in on Lammy.

"These, less than an hour but other humans have been asleep for days," she answered.

"You have a reversal potion in the works?" she asked.

Lammy bristled slightly. "I'm not an idiot and have been practicing magick for longer than you've been breathing on your own," she said.

"Stop. All of you," Taran said, putting his foot down, stepping into the trio. "Now is not the place. Rei, grab your sister. We need to regroup," he suggested.

"Right," Lani agreed.

Rei grabbed Moriko and the group teleported.

-x-

Palace on the Moon

Widow had watched the battle while Zita was nowhere to be seen and Roki was continuing with his project. "It's a perfect time to end the Rangers," she murmured to herself. They were fractured and it appeared half of them could no longer even Morph.

"I agree," Zita said from behind her. "Come with me," she prompted.

Widow turned, intrigued. Zita led her to Finster's lab. He was busily working with some clay. "What is it I'm supposed to be seeing?" she asked.

"I've been gathering clay fragments from the Harphuries," Zita answered. "Though they're no longer powered by the Reaver Orbs, they should still be infused with some power," she explained. "I could only find enough for two though."

Widow smirked slightly. "Two should be enough," she said. "Have you heard anything of Moriko?" she asked.

Zita shook her head. "I suppose she's doing whatever she thinks is best in regards to the Sword of Darkness," she answered. She shrugged. "I'll be in my room until Finster finishes," she said and walked away.

Widow mentally shrugged and went to find Roki.

-x-

Kat was checking over Melody and Zara when the Rangers returned with Moriko and Rei. "There's no change," she said to Billy.

"Lammy did warn us that defeating the monster wouldn't automatically wake up the people affected by the Dormite spell. We'll just wait until the reversal potion is ready," he said.

Kat nodded and they joined the Rangers in the Power Chamber. They were almost all talking at once. Rex sighed and nudged Taran. Taran put two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. Lammy and Griff, once again let in by his sister, clapped their hands over their ears.

"A little warning next time?" Griff asked.

"If I warned you, it wouldn't be as effective," Taran said. He glanced at Rex, who obviously had something to say.

"Long and short of it; the Sword of Darkness. How bad are things?" Rex asked the Repulsa sisters.

Moriko sighed. "Bad. Last time it was used, our mother was in control of it. She was a lot older and wiser and more powerful than Zita, Roki and Widow combined. They reforged it and set it loose. It's in control of itself using your friends. I'm not even sure the Power Sword can defeat it this time. It's not only drawing on the power of one Ranger, but eight. White spells aren't going to work at all," she said making Rei pout. Rei was exceedingly good at White spells.

"Is there any good news?" Lani asked.

"Not much," Moriko said honestly. "Rei, Lammy and I will do what research we can magical wise. We'll let you know if anything comes up," she said.

"How much anyone know about the Phantom Ranger?" Rex asked suddenly.

Cassie, who'd been listening in the background, started. "Why do you ask?" she asked.

Rex shrugged. "You know something?" he asked.

Cassie fidgeted. "He's something of a hobby," she muttered. "I know he's powerful. He shows up all over the galaxy at different times during different crises," she answered.

Billy nodded. "He's of Eltarin origin and he dates back centuries. Tales of the Phantom Ranger are abundant on many worlds," he explained. "I still don't see what that has to do with--"

"Me either," Rex said. "Forget I mentioned it," he said. He shook his head and paced away a few steps.

Danny gave a frustrated sigh. He scraped both hands through his hair. Tori put a comforting hand on his back.

"Look, guys, there's no point in staying around here worrying," Lammy said. "There's still a few days before the reversal potion is ready. Unless any one of you understand or can figure out what Billie did to your Power Coins better than Danny or Holly, I suggest you all just go home for now," she said.

"I hate to agree with doing nothing as the best course of action," Lani sighed, "I agree," she added.

Tori smiled. "Ok, how about this. You two come for a sleepover at my house. We'll take out minds off all this by acting silly and watching movies until we can't stand it anymore," she said to Lani and Manny. They agreed and the three girls left.

Lammy turned toward the Repulsa's and her brothers. "We'll go to my place so we can spread out," she said. They agreed and left the Command Center as well.

"What about you, seifu?" Fox asked Rex as Danny and Holly strolled off to one of he labs to try and figure out what had been done to them.

Rex shook his. "No freakin' clue. Dojo maybe," he said. "Yeah, that sounds about right," he said and teleported.

Fox sighed and went to see what he could do to help Danny and Holly if anything. He was feeling rather useless.

-x-

A couple of days went by without much incident. Rex, Fox and Danny had let off some steam by training. Being no closer to a solution was frustrating. Especially when Mina and her Dark Rangers weren't exactly hiding. They were in school, would show up in places as if nothing had changed.

He'd sent them ahead and he stayed awhile longer. Finally, too tired to train anymore, he left. He showered, changed and walked out of the Dojo. "Rex! Fox said you'd be here," Cassie ran up to him. He waited for her to catch up. "Okay, being completely honest, it's been bugging me. Why did you ask about the Phantom Ranger?" she asked him.

Rex ducked down the alley. "Because I saw him here about a week ago," he answered.

"The same one? The powersuit changes with each new chosen Phantom Ranger," she said.

Rex nodded. "Looked like it. Why are you so interested?" he asked.

Cassie grimaced. "Ok, so I had a little crush on him. Sue me, I was a teenager," she said. "For all I know, though, he isn't even remotely human," she added. "Strange that he's been sighted but not active," she said.

Rex shook his head. "He's active, just not active here on Earth. I think he is human and lives on Earth. In fact, I think he lives right here," he added and looked up at the back of the Dojo.

Cassie frowned trying to piece together what he was saying. She gasped but didn't get a chance to say anything. Suddenly they were in a brand new location. They appeared to be inside a spaceship. It was gleaming, stainless steel and black everywhere.

"Way to be discreet," someone grumbled. Rex was not surprised to see Jason Lee Scott manning a console. Cassie, however, gasped again. "Yes, I know, we have some things to talk about. I'm not good at that. Sorry," he muttered.

"We can sort out your love life later, is there a reason I'm here?" Rex asked.

"I don't do too many things without a good reason, especially when it comes to the identity of the Phantom Ranger. There are only four people at present who know who I am. Tommy and Beez are the only ones I can even name. You two make six," he said.

"Well, we're waiting," Cassie said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Rex bit back a smile.

Jason sat down in what appeared to be a pilots seat. He sorted out his thoughts for a moment. "Being the Gold Ranger nearly killed me. Trey didn't know how to help me so he arranged for me to get to Eltar. Once there, the sorcerer-scientists' helped me heal. While I was there, I became the Phantom Ranger. Along with the responsibility I was also given a legacy. That legacy included what could be called a prophecy. Well, several, but this one applies now.

"I was told that an Eclipse would settle upon Gaia. Darkness would spread when a Sword touches the mind of a Dark Queen. The Dark Queen will cut off her former allies from their Power. Only the New Hope can begin the end of the Eclipse. Only Hope and Love can shatter the Darkness.

"I know. It sounds like crap, but I give it credence. And I know you are the New Hope" he said when Rex looked at him blankly.

"Why is that exactly?"

Jason grinned. "Well several reasons. When Billy and Beez were doing blood tests to study the genetic abilities they not only  discovered Sora was part Triforian. They also discovered you had an Eltarin ancestor. It goes back several generations. I asked them not to say anything because I knew this day was coming. Want to know how I knew this day was coming?" he asked.

Rex sighed through his nose "Yes, that would be very nice," he said in clipped tones.

Jason grinned again. "That's the best part. In Eltarin the words 'New Hope' are Xa'Vier Har't," he said, essentially pronouncing Rex's full name with strange inflections.

"You're kidding me," Rex said.

Jason shook his head. "And there was plan put into place for when this prophecy was upon Gaia, that being Earth. People a whole lot smarter than me theorized that it would somehow mean that Power Rangers would be cut off from the Grid and would need an alternate means of facing this Dark Queen," he said. He twisted his right wrist and a large bracelet form where the Power Ruby gleamed. He popped the Ruby out of it's setting and tossed it to Rex.

Rex hastily caught it. The Ruby began glowing. There was a bright flash as the Ruby formed a brace on his arm identical to Jason's. The Ruby emitted another flash of light and five smaller gems appeared in front of him before disappearing again. "The crap is this supposed to mean? Am I the Phantom Ranger now?" he asked.

"Yes and no. It's a one time deal. I'm temporarily transferring my powers to you. I'll get them back intact until I retire. Then they'll be transferred to their new host and conform to him," he explained.

Rex narrowed his eyes. "And those other gems?"

An alert sounded. "That's up to you. We have to get to the Command Center. Now," Jason said.

Rex nodded and the three of them teleported. He noticed the bracelet had disappeared. "What's going on?" he asked he arrived.

"Two monsters and an army of Putties have arrived in Angel Grove," Beez answered. "Wait, something else is happening," she said. She gasped. "Unknown robots are appearing to battle the Putties," she said.

Sure enough black robots began to appear. Some had silver cogs visible, some had copper and some had gold. They were fairly efficient. "No sign of the Dark Rangers," she said.

"What are we going to do?" Manny asked, biting her lip.

Rex frowned. "Someone needs to engage the monsters. Ordinarily this is where we'd split the team..." he trailed off. "We have two teams," he said.

"We do?" Fox asked. "By my calculations, you don't have any teams," he said. "You all right, seifu? Didn't kick you in the head too bad did I?" he asked.

"You didn't kick me in the head at all. Billy, the Zeo Zords were destroyed but not the crystal, right?" he asked.

Billy nodded. "It's true, the Zeo Morphers still exist but Rex, they aren't nearly as powerful as they used to be," he said warningly.

"They don't have to be. Get the band back together. Cassie--"

"Astro Morphers," she said, nodding. "But who gets what?" she asked.

"Jason can decide," Rex answered. "Beez," he prompted.

Two silver cases appeared. Tommy opened one and Jason opened the other.

Tommy distributed the Blue Zeonizer to Rocky, the Pink Zeonizer to Kat, the Green Zeonizer to Adam and the Yellow Zeonizer to Aisha. "It's Morphin' Time!" he called and joined his two parts of the Zeonizer together. The others did the same.

"Zeo Ranger One, pink!"

"Zeo Ranger Two, yellow!"

"Zeo Ranger Three, blue!"

"Zeo Ranger Four, green!"

"Zeo Ranger Five, red!"

Respectively-colored energy formed shapes over their faces. They lowered their arms and waves of matching energy formed digital matrixes over their bodies. Green energy traveled back up forming their powersuits and helmets.

Jason distributed the Blue Astro Morpher to TJ, the Pink Astro Morpher to Cassie, the Black Astro Morph to Billy, the Yellow Astro Morpher to Kim and kept the Red Astro Morpher for himself. He gave the Violet Digimorpher to Trini. Zhane apparently still had his original Digimorpher.

"Let's Rocket!" Cassie called as she and the others opened the lids of their Morphers. They pressed a series of numbers. They shimmered respectively colored gleams as their powersuits formed. Symbols on their helmets glowed briefly.

The two teams teleported to face each monster.

Rex looked at the remaining people in the Power Chamber. "Now, for the rest of us," he said as his made his Phantomizer appear. "I think I got myself a plan."

-x-

Meanwing and Freakbeak were somewhat humanoid shaped owl-like monsters. Each of them was covered in feathers, their feet ended in talons and their winged arms ended in four two-feet-long claws. Meanwing was blue with orange eyes and markings while Freakbeak was orange with green eyes and markings.

Meanwing was shooting energy from his eyes at anything and everything. His main mission was to take out Mina and her Rangers. His secondary mission was to take out the now Morphless Rangers. Any destruction he could cause in the meanwhile was just a bonus.

The appearance of the robots to face the Putties was not his problem. "Oh, Power Rangers! Come out, come out wherever you are," he called. His voice warbled and squawked as he talked.

Six blasts hit him, making him stumble back. "What!" he squawked. No one was supposed to shoot laser blasts at him. He looked around to see that he was surrounded by Power Rangers. "Who are you? You aren't who I was looking for!"

Astro Red holstered his Astro Blaster. "We're what you're getting," he said. "Spiral Saber!" he summoned a drill-like sword that appeared in a beam of bright red light. He ran forward and engaged the monster and was thrown aside. He recovered enough to roll to his feet.

"Astro Axe!"

"Lunar Lance!"

Astro Blue and Astro Black summoned their weapons. They went in close to the monster and traded blows, but the dangerously long claws scraped each of them, sending them flying back.

"Satelite Stunner!"

"Star Slinger!"

Astro Pink and Yellow's weapons appeared. Pink shot him with pink rings of ennergy and Yellow shot him with yellow energy pellets.

"Nebula Neutralizer!" Astro Violet summoned a weapon that appeared on her arm. She held up her arm and fired an energy blast that opened like a net and wrapped around the monster.

Meanwing squawked and warbled as he ran around briefly. His eventually freed himself and turned toward the Astro Rangers and fired a devastating volley of eye beams at them, making the area around them explode.

-x-

Freakbeak walked around squawking and chirping in a very unnerving manner, "'He's not a man, he's a Chicken Boo!'" when he'd get to the word 'boo' he would stop and began shooting energy blasts from his eyes and caw triumphantly. He'd strut around and start again.

He was cut of mid-lyric by several blasts of multi-colored energy. "What? Whaaa-aat?!" he squawked. He puffed his feathers and looked around. "Whoo-hoo-hoo are you?" he demanded when he didn't see the Power Rangers he expected.

Zeo Red cocked his head. "And they said I wouldn't need to suit up again," he said. "Zeo Rangers out of retirement for one show only. Let's make it a good one," he suggested.

"Right!" his team agreed.

"Zeo Power Disc!" Pink summoned. A small round shield appeared.

"Zeo Power Double Clubs!" Yellow summoned. Dual stick-like weapons appeared. They ran in close and while smashed him in the beak, Yellow beat at his torso with her Clubs. Freakbeak roared a and used his long claws to knock them away.

"Zeo Power Axes!" Blue summoned. Small twin blades appeared in his hands.

"Zeo Power Hatchets!" Green summoned. Larger twin blades appeared in his hands.

Together they rushed forward. Freakbeak used his claws as a shield and kicked them away, but they managed to break one.

"Zeo Power Sword!" Red summoned the blade. He ran and jumped, coming down, ready to slash the monster in half if possible. Freakbeak managed to knock him aside but not before he lost an entire hand.

Hurt and furious, Freakbeak rain fiery hail down upon them from his eyes. The world around them erupted.

-x-

The Dark Rangers arrived not long after the two the two older teams did. "What on Earth is going on?" Saber wandered. From their vantage point on a rooftop, they could see both battles.

"That's smart. Using the elders to take on the monsters," Tyrant murmured.

"But surely they know that neither team can actually defeat the monsters," Master said.

"That isn't the point. They're up to something. But what?" Triumph said. She was missing a piece of the puzzle. Something to give her the key to put their plan together. She thought she'd planned for every eventual happenstance. "I'm missing something," she said loudly in frustration. "My Darktrons are handling the Putties. We're more than enough to handle the monsters yet they called in the reserves. Why? What am I missing?" she growled.

"It's called the Phantom Phenomenon."

The Dark Rangers turned to see their former team mates standing behind them. Rex stood just a little in front of the others. Lani, Danny, Manny, Tori and, shockingly, Fox flanked him in either side. In full battle armor, Taran, Lammy, Grifforzer, Rei and Moriko made up the rear.

"What's called what?" Terror asked, mildly confused as usual.

"No. You can't have!" Saber said. Ever the Ranger buff, he was putting it together even faster than Triumph.

"Can't have what?" she demanded.

"Time to Phantom Up!" Rex said and his twisted his wrist making the Phantomizer appear. The Power Ruby Glowed and he began phasing in and out as black and chrome began wrapping around him.

On Lani's wrist a Phantomizer appeared with a pink Power Ruby. It began to glow and she phased in and out as a slimmer, pink version of the Phantom suit began to appear.

On Danny's wrist a Phantomizer appeared with a blue Power Sapphire. It began to glow and he phased in and out as a slimmer, blue version of the Phantom suit began to appear.

On Manny's wrist a Phantomizer appeared with yellow Power Topaz. It began to glow and she phased in and out as a slimmer, yellow version of the Phantom suit began to appear.

On Fox's wrist a Phantomizer appeared with a green Power Emerald. It began to glow and he phased in and out as a slimmer, green version of the Phantom suit began to appear.

On Tori's wrist a Phantomizer appeared with a white Power Diamond. It began to glow and she phased in and out as a slimmer, white version of the Phantom suit began to appear.

The Dark Rangers found themselves facing a full team of Phantom Rangers while battles raged bellow them. Another battle was about to begin. The battle that will determine the fates of Earth's Power Rangers once and for all.

-xEnd Chapter 16 x To Be Continuedx-           

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