The Sun Goes Down
by Peregrine

They mourned in their own ways. Particularly the original rangers.

Trini's calm became a deadly weapon, a Tiger dance of destruction seeking to lose the pain in battle. She and Jason, they'd spent so much time with him. Unbidden, memories of Zack rose before her sight as she fought, when for all her reserve she had laughed and laughed until she was nearly sick. She hated the memories, hated them because they told her what she wanted to deny; this was real, he had died, he was gone and to say he did for a greater good seemed right now just words as empty as the void they battled in.

Mind to mind they reached, all of them, drawing comfort from each other when they could not find it in themselves, soothing the tortured conscience of Rocky for sending him to that place where he breathed his last, comforting those who felt responsibility and turning what had happened into their best motivation to win, rather than give up ... as so many of the other surviving Ninjetti had done. If he could give his all, then so would they.

~*~

Lillian DeSantos sighed. Her heart went out to the Taylors, but what else could they say? Zack's mother was breaking her heart in one of the rooms, being comforted by Ishala. Now there was a woman whom she could respect, she had a calm authority in her that made everyone around her listen and defer to her judgment. It seemed hard to swallow, but they had problems enough that grieving would have to wait. She knew that... when she had lost Ricardo, her grieving had to wait for the sake of the children. Sometimes she wondered if she had ever let herself really let go. But there was one thing she knew, and that was the Taylors would not be the only ones mourning if they did not focus now. The other adults in the Power chamber were deathly pale and hushed as if only now realising this was not a game their children were playing. The ground rumbled unexpectedly and Lillian steadied herself before calling out.

"Come on, people, they need us! Let's get some help for them all... hmm? Hank, get hold of the President. If there is one thing I will do is tell him EXACTLY why he is still breathing, my gift to one of our brave children." Her eyes were dark and fiery with emotion.

She fiddled with a toggle button and spoke selfconsciously. "Rockino? Rocky, you hear me?"

"Yes, Mama." Rocky's voice held that tight strained pitch of someone trying hard not to cry.

"You have to concentrate on what you are doing, love. For the sake of everyone. They are relying on you." A Mother's way of finding the buttons to push, there was no one else who could do it with the same skill. "Tell us what is happening, and we will try and help."

There was a pause and the attempt at a factual report came through. "Rita, Zedd and Master Vile are targeting Angel Grove, Billy and Cestro are trying to stop them. Divatox is still around DC. Jason is fighting an army on his own. Delphine was meant to be backing him up, but is instead now trying to stop Divatox. The Allies' fleet headed by Phantom is battling against Dark Spectre's fleet, but taking heavy damage. Tommy is leading the assault there, and Kim is backing me up here." Dry facts. Dry and lifeless and he knew it, but he found it hard to just bounce back from this. Aisha had lost Zack, he could lose Kat or any of them lose each other if they indeed survived at all. It was a thought they had all tried to ignore as the war swept them into its embrace. It couldn't be ignored any longer. The only thing he could do was the best he could because if that weren't good enough there would be nothing else he could do anyway, and that meant not moping around. The others were relying on him.

"Justin, see if you can help blindside the force on Jason." He spoke with more authority and focus. "We have two Master Ninjetti covering Angel Grove as it is. When you are done, hightail it to back up Delphine." His voice and presence through the link grew stronger and Lillian DeSantos nodded in approval, though she didn't say any more. There was a time for sympathy and that would be later, when he had regained that respect for himself. He wasn't her baby anymore, for all that she wanted to protect him.

"Now... let's have a word with Mr President," she said, all but cracking her knuckles in preparation.

~*~

"Will you hurry up and crack open that fault line!" Rita paced up and down.

"I have to find the right area, or we will destroy what we are looking for," Zedd replied irritably.

"You think it can be destroyed? Ha!" Rita muttered to herself, wondering at his ignorance.

"Listen woman, you want to take that chance?" Zedd growled as he pinpointed the spot. "Now here, tell your father to hit the fault line here and it should peel the ground open all the way for about 20 miles."

Rita rolled her eyes at that and relayed the message to Master Vile. "Zedd says here, father." She transmitted the information.

"Very well, be prepared to take the prize and don't let that pirate snatch it," she was cautioned as WolfZord's first attack thundered onto the hull of their ship.

"Blasted Blue Ranger. I remember that Zord, damn thing jumping everywhere." Zedd settled himself. "Fire at Will! And for once I really mean at Will. Oh shut up, Rito!" he said exasperatedly at his brother-in-law's infantile hysterics.

"Sorry, Edd," the walking skeleton said flippantly.

"Tell me again why he's here?" Zedd asked the room in general and then staggered as the ship rocked again from WolfZord's second attack.

"I think father was hoping he might get killed," Rita said casually.

"On that I can agree with him." Zedd sighed. "Rito, get outside and distract that Ninjetti from what Master Vile is up to."

"Happy to oblige, Zeddy old boy." Rito flipped a salute and disappeared outside to thump to the ground.

"You or me?" Zedd asked, in a foul mood now.

"I will." Rita replied, patting him on the arm. "Magic Wand, make my BROTHER GROW!"

The burst of magical energy swelled Rito to monstrous size and he danced with glee, thundering on the desert floor.

"You should have said grow up instead of just grow," Zedd commented to Rita, watching his antics with disgust. "It will be a miracle if he can do anything."

"He just has to stand there, wave his sword around and look stupid," Rita reassured.

Zedd snorted. "Now for that he is IDEALLY qualified."

~*~

"Rito?" Billy looked at the immense apparition. Skye flinched back a little.

"He dangerous?" he asked, not as used to seeing massive monster forms spring out of nowhere as Billy appeared to be.

"Comparatively no ... which means that either Zedd and Rita don't care if we defend this spot of Angel Grove, or ..." Billy flinched as their Zord was tossed around by Zedd and Rita's ship opening fire from one side and Rito from the other. "A trap! Damn!"

"Billy, do you need assistance?" Cestro queried across the link.

"No... that's what they want us to do." The besieged Blue Wolf Ninjetti tried to fight his way out of the corner they were in. "Focus on Master Vile. He's the one working on something!"

"I concur." And Cestro swung out to intercept Master Vile and whatever plan he was trying to implement.

~*~

On the face of it, Justin thought as he sped towards helping Jason, an aerial army against one Zord was logically a terminal situation for the Red Lion Ninjetti.

And yet as he approached, the battle on screen reminded him of nothing as much as some space invader computer game, with hordes of mind-numbingly stupid craft pitting themselves against a skilled player.

Boom... Boom... Boom... one after another, the drones exploded as the RedLion Zord twisted and turned. The only one giving him any trouble was Goldar in Cyclopsis. Even Justin had heard about that. Tommy had told him, not to start off with, but later; as if he had been driven to confess to every new member the saga of his misdeeds as the Evil Green Ranger. Tanya, Adam and Rocky had heard it in their time, and he had eventually been let in on the secret. The thing that seemed to give Tommy the most trouble was the way he had left Jason powerless to be toyed with by Goldar in the Dark Dimensions, and the way he had nearly killed him in that same place. But even as a later comer to the Powers, Justin knew that there would be a grudge between the primate warrior and Jason and he would not be thanked for interfering there. So, to mop up the petty distractions then. The DolphinZord leapt into the fray and took on all the drone fighters with his usual enthusiasm.

"Flipper to the rescue!" Justin called out, the words caution and danger meaning practically nothing to him. "Wooooooohoooo!"

Jason managed to retain his focus and was not sure whether to be grateful or anxious at the help that had arrived.

"Watch yourself, Justin," Jason warned as he faced up against the immensity of Cyclopsis. This thing had taken out their original zords... all of them!

"I'll just keep the annoyances off of you," Justin said airily. "You deal with Goldar."

Jason wished he had the confidence that Justin seemed to at the moment. But then, they had when they were his age and started off as the Power Rangers. If they knew, really knew what it would entail he didn't doubt that they would have run away screaming at the thought. But they had been teenagers and believed that they were immortal and that there was nothing they couldn't handle. Maybe that had been the secret to why they won over and over despite the odds against them. None of then truly believed they could be beaten. Well then, the Power of positive thinking would aid him again. He KNEW he could beat Goldar. They had before, and he would again.

"Goldar, your time is over. I will defeat you, we both know that."

"I am a warrior of warriors in my race!" Goldar replied in his growling voice. "I have defeated all of my other rivals who were more worthy adversaries than you, human."

"And yet, I'm still alive. Can't help but think there is a gap in your logic there," Jason retaliated. "LionClaws!"

A swift shredding attack with the searing fire of the LionZord's laser claws and chunks of Cyclopsis ripped away, leaving gaping metallic wounds. The bone-jarring thud he received in return bounced him away, but like most cats, LionZord had excellent balance and managed to right itself before it went into a tumble.

"We will defeat you! I will triumph!" Goldar roared, getting frustrated. He remembered the Red Ranger as being more impulsive, more liable to hasty errors and anger. He had counted on those flaws.

"Wake me up when you start saying something new," Jason gritted out as he blurred with speed and literally clambered up Cyclopsis to attack the head module.

Goldar flailed around, the comparative sizes making it look ridiculous, but Cyclopsis sparked and flames appeared as one by one his systems failed. He ejected, burnished wings gleaming in the air as he caught the laden smoke to drift to the ground. The winged primate rolled and stood, a tiny figure silhouetted against the flaming carcass. He roared with chagrin and whirled his mighty sword above his head in a traditional challenge.

"I challenge you, Red Ranger... it's personal between us. Come and fight, coward! Come and FIGHT!"

Instincts burned in Jason to fight, to take the challenge. Defend your territory, spoke the voice of the lionspirit. It is right to do so. This one has challenged you in the past, you have a personal grudge against him, fight him strength to strength, prove yourself victorious...

Jason paused.

"Go on Jase, I'll cover for you," Justin encouraged, wondering why he hesitated. Surely he wouldn't pass up this opportunity? Who would?

Jason looked up at the sky. Above them his friends fought in the void of space, over their homes, over everywhere. Dulcea fought there for something important.

"No. Personal is not the always same as important" Jason said, feeling a rightness in himself that quenched the flames calling for vengeance and retribution. "Besides, Goldar... what would it prove? I know I have beaten you. It is only you who cannot accept the obvious and I will not be responsible for your ignorance. I do not waste time on matters that are of no real consequence."

With that the RedLion Zord turned and knowing it was the most crushing thing he could have done to his opponent, Jason moved on, leaving Goldar stranded in the desert, raging impotently at the disappearing Zord... surrounded by the hulking wreckage of his own.

~*~

"Rocky ... any time any of our HomeGuard want to come up the front lines, we could REALLY use the support," Tommy spoke through the link desperately. The Ninjetti were hard pressed. Attack and counter attack cycled in a ceaseless flow of destruction, and each time it was harder to regroup and attack. Tanya's ability to trigger megazord sequences was proving invaluable, but they were slower than the single Zord attacks. Tactics spun in his mind as he constantly searched for the weak spot he knew they had to have, that he HOPED the enemy actually had.

"They have their hands full, Tommy," Rocky replied, busy trying to defend himself and Moonbase. There were some attacks being directed at their depot there as well, and besides it being a strategic necessity, Kat was down there. "Billy and Cestro are hard pressed themselves, and I cannot get back up to them."

"Angel Grove is under attack?" Tommy asked, feeling his anxiety climb suddenly.

"Yes. Rita and Zedd and Master Vile." And if he was right, soon to be Divatox as well as the Space Pirate appeared to be fleeing from Delphine towards that area.

"Man... keep that quiet for now, Rocky; I can't afford to lose any support out here on the lines." Tommy responded with natural authority, considering the impact of the news on the Earth rangers especially.

" I know." Rocky had already considered that fact, the moment he felt the urge himself, to abandon his post and rush to protect his parents and home. "I'll keep it under wraps."

"Right. God, I hope Billy comes up with a plan soon, we can't just keep fighting with no real direction," Tommy said, sounding weary now.

"He's never let us down before," Rocky stated firmly, not even allowing the thought of 'there's always a first time' to enter his mind.

Plans at this precise moment were not high on Billy's agenda. Stopping Rita and Zedd's mother ship and Rito as well from bouncing them again, Zord and all, against the fastness that contained the Power Chamber was currently prioritising itself swiftly to the top of the list.

"You okay?" he asked his co-pilot, trying to get WolfZord on its feet as fast as possible.

"Fine." Skye's voice sounded a little shaky; he yelped as they were slammed back again and he was snapped out of his seat once more. He could be heard muttering many oaths under his breath.

Billy retaliated with a howling blast that enabled them to get back up and then frantically rerouted systems to get their equipment on line. "Oh no," he groaned under his breath. "More company. Just what we need!"

Divatox was heading their way to join the party.

~*~

"If you saw Master Vile's ship lock onto those co-ordinates, why didn't you tell me immediately!" Divatox raged as they sped towards Angel Grove. "Rita and Zedd are nearly as stupid as you, but I've never known Master Vile move unless he was sure of something!"

"I'm sorry, Auntie D, you told me to let you concentrate on the Ninjetti!" Elgar tried to defend himself.

The Space Pirate cursed and pushed up the speed to try and close the gap as Master Vile started to reach the source of the apparent reality focus by the simple expedient of trying to crack the Earth apart.

~*~

Hank Cranston steadied himself on the console in the Power Chamber. "We are experiencing Earthquake effects here, everyone," he called out urgently. "This is not getting any better. Whatever he is doing is setting off seismic disturbances all along the local faults."

"Translation ... the ground is rippling like water from here right down into Angel Grove," Trini's father interrupted, unconsciously mimicking the role of his daughter in relation to Hank's son.

"And it's getting worse."

The strangest thing was the sound. Earthquakes, it seemed, roared—growing louder in angry protest to being hit with pulse weapons. Items began to shimmy from surfaces, clattering to the ground, heavier unsecured objects beginning to bounce as the very ground bucked and twisted in response to the attack.

"Everyone! Earthquake drill!" Jason's father yelled above the growing panic. "Away from anything that might fall on you... go! Go!"

Sparks flew and smoke issued from tortured consoles as they tried evacuating. "Son, we're having... to..." There was a crackle and a hiss as the normal communications failed them, and Jason called "Dad? Say again?! Your transmission broke up - DAD?"

"Normal communications down!" Rocky reported. "That has dropped out of the loop completely—Earthquake, Jase."

"A Vile-quake, more like." Jason pushed LionZord to full speed to get there in time. "We can't allow that in Angel Grove!" Find a solution, find a quick solution. "Cestro? Your Master Power? Can it stop them destroying our base and Angel Grove?" he said, suddenly remembering the irony of the Aquitian holding the Power of Earth.

It was Zack who pointed that out, wasn't it? And for a moment there was an overwhelming stinging sensation in his eyes as tears fought to be shed in private.

"I am unaware of my limitations in this regard, but it is imperative that I try," Cestro announced over the Ninjetti link. "We cannot afford to lose our base or the Council of the Wise."

Or our home, Jason added privately to himself. "Thank you. we'll deal with Vile when we get there. It will not be long."

"I hope not. Billy is hard pressed and requires assistance." Cestro replied calmly. "Teleporting to ground level now."

And with that he ceased communication, leaving Jason in charge of trying to work out how to back up Billy, take out the immediate threats and protect their home with their limited resources.

~*~

"Lateral stabilizers are ... wonky," Skye reported through a bit of a fuzzy head. Blood trickled from a cut, but he had no time to stop it right now. "The bad news is they are coming about to kick our butt again, the good news is that Jason is about to haul us out of the fire."

"Wonky by how many degrees?" Billy asked, struggling to get WolfZord to right itself.

"For god's sake!" Skye exclaimed. "What type of a question is that?" He nearly started laughing. "Off normal yaw to the tune of 34 degrees."

Target lock... target lock. The computer alarm warned over the sounds of battle

"Evade, evade!" Billy twisted the controls, but they still took enough of the hit to send them spinning dizzily into the ground with an almighty thump, which tossed them around like beans in a tin.

"Billy?! God! That wasn't good. Billy?" Jason called out, sweeping in overhead "Justin? You still there? Take Rito and I'll handle Zedd. Delphine, you make sure that Divatox stands clear. Gotta give Billy time to recover."

Assuming of course that he could. Wouldn't that just take the biscuit? All their careful planning and their main weapon was taken out before they had a chance to do anything. Jason's eyes widened in horror at his thoughts. So cold and callous they seemed, defending themselves from more hurt. He pushed them away and launched into the fray, trying to warm himself with the heat of battle.

~*~

"Nearly there... nearly there," Master Vile exclaimed gleefully. "If I should get the Orb, not even the Darkness Visible could stand against me!"

"Reality signature exposed," the computer reported as with a roar of protest the Earth shook and split apart, sending fissures like deadly serpents striking outwards in all directions. The main one, to Master Vile's satisfaction, seemed to speed directly towards the population centre of Angel Grove. "Serves them right! Now... let's get the Orb!" He took his battleship closer to the heaving ground, only then noticing the unsteady blue-clad figure below.

Cestro considered he might as well have been on Aquitar and trying to walk on water for the unsteadiness of the ground beneath him. It was impossible to do anything but stumble and then crawl unsteadily. As the ground ripped he realised immediately the probable consequences, managed to get to his feet carefully and touched his Master Glyph.

"Master Power Erda!"

Immediately the energies in the Earth were apparent to him as if they were blood in his own veins. The unbelievable energies in the quake met and were absorbed by him, as he strained to hold the fissures from their lightning expansion. In his mind he knew that if the Rangers of Earth's families and homes were destroyed, then they would falter. With so much at stake and all of them so key to events, it could mean the end of their resistance to this terrible invasion.

He felt like the twisting was inside of him, that every cell and molecule of his being was being saturated beyond its capacity, wanting to fly apart unless he could find some way to be rid of this energy. However, Cestro was not a Blue Ranger for nothing. Second nature to him were the elemental rules of physics ... transformation of energy. Kinetic energy passed into a transformer, that of himself, could be redirected, but redirected where? He looked up at Master Vile's battle craft and managed a slight smile. "There ..." and raised his hands to loosen the force the villain had released, back at him but magnified a thousandfold.

"Nearly there, nearly there," Master Vile crooned to himself. "Oh yes, bring it up." Never in his very long life had he felt such excitement and trembling anticipation. "Analyse...!" he demanded of the probes. "Analyse and report NOW!"

There was a heart-stopping pause. "Reality node caused by modified Zeo crystal energies. Artefact. Zeo Crystal cluster."

"Zeo... Zeo Crystal?!" Master Vile was incredulous. "WHERE is the ORB!? " He stabbed a finger on the communications channel to hurl abuse at Rita and Zedd when out of nowhere his Battleship was struck with the channelled energy of the very earthquake he had initiated. He was stunned into silence and then roared with protest and outrage as his ship imploded and writhed around him, trapping him in a prison of twisted metal and death.

~*~

Cestro cried out as the energies tore through him, pain reflecting the agonies of the Earth until they stilled, leaving him a gasping, exhausted wreck in the now quiet desert, with his fallen enemy jutting out of the chasm that was his own handiwork and inadvertent grave.

"Vile," he gasped. "Vile ... destroyed. Orb ... not found." Then he dropped slowly to his knees and pitched forward to lie still in the drifting dust.

~*~

"Polluter of Waters!" Delphine exclaimed in one of the Aquitians' worst insults directed at Divatox. "You shall not pass."

"And a descendant of a kipper is going to stop me? Think again, fish-girl," Divatox sneered. "You don't stand a chance."

"You will not take the Orb," Delphine said firmly, trying to intercept the Space Sub.

"Oh, so it IS here, is it? " Divatox exulted. "Well done, my little walking sushi bar, you've just condemned this two bit... habitation of vermin to extinction." She would quite cheerfully level this place just for old times' sake.

What was that? Vile was destroyed? Well, that made the race that much more interesting.

"I will have it," she said aloud. "Then I won't need anyone to get me the Power I need." She smiled behind her mask. "And then, sister Dimitria, there will be answers, MY answers and no MORE of your infernal questions!" With a fervour born of a gnawing need for triumph, Divatox swung in to attack Angel Grove with the battle frenzy of a ravening pirate horde.

~*~

"You alright there, Billy? Billy, come on man, answer me?" The familiar voice persisted despite his attempts to remain in the realms of blissful unconsciousness. The Blue Wolf Ninjetti groaned. His leg hurt with a dull worrying ache, but was being drowned out by the crawling lights in front of his eyes. Initially he thought he was blind or something. There had been an explosion, a bright flash next to his face, and when he came round there had been a blinding brightness, which turned out to be the sun piercing into the cockpit of the downed Zord. When he moved he realised that the crawling lights seemed to be a part of that larger light and things were not as bad as they looked.

Wait a moment...

He frowned, trying to track down that elusive thrill of thought, that sensation he had come to recognise as the precursor to an important realisation.

"Billy? Are you all right? Come in!" That was Trini's voice with more than a little undertone of fear in it.

"I'm fine," he said automatically, realising his mouth was a bit dry. What was that thought? There was a thought there and it had glided out of reach.

He tried to sit up and decided maybe he had been a little hasty in saying he was fine.

"Thank god. We were getting worried. Things are going to pieces up here; we need all the help we can get. Rocky thinks they are only now getting ready to hit us full force and we are down to half our number!" Trini's voice managed to contain the dreadful urgency only by immense control.

Light against Light, that was the thought. "Where do you never look for something? In the light you are using to find it." He spoke aloud. "I've been BLIND... a source of energy that would show up as light? Where would you hide it? Not in the dark, but in the biggest light around. The Sun. The Orb is in the Sun!"

Like all things, it was obvious when you went looking for it. It didn't take much to rewire enough power into his device to check, and sure enough, when he bothered to filter out the actual light a representation of a reality node as bright as a great star beamed out from the corona of the sun. Even the warning, the original Ninjetti warning, was a clue of sorts, hidden in plain sight. "The Sun goes Down. Beware the Darkness Visible!" All this time they had never questioned WHY it was the Sun. Just taken it as a metaphor of coming peril. Stupid, stupid, he should have known better than to assume and here he was at the eleventh hour, making a critical deduction that could have saved all these uncountable lives!

"Then he can't get it. Who could get that?" Skye's voice spoke up, having steadied himself and rid himself of débris.

"I'm not underestimating him." Billy replied darkly. "The Darkness Visible has met our every move as if he had known it from the start. Nevertheless, whilst the Zeebeedees are fixing us, we best tell the Mentors."

"You... you sure?" Skye asked, a shudder running up his spine at that moment. Probably reaction from the crash.

"What else can we do?" Billy asked, pushing up unsteadily. "I can reach Zordon at least, he is Ninjetti." He took a deep breath, hoping that Zordon had heeded their warnings of a potential traitor in the Council of the Wise. "Zordon, it's Billy; the Orb is in the Sun, actually in the sun itself. I'm really hoping the Darkness Visible cannot get it there."

"Well done, Billy, I do not believe that it can. Master Ninjetti Ba'rak would not have placed it somewhere easier for this evil entity to reach." Zordon sounded pleased. "All we must do is bar its way and we will have succeeded!"

Billy relaxed a little. "Rocky, we'll rejoin you all the moment the Zeebeedees have patched us up." He spoke up, also passing that to Trini. "Hold on up there... there is an end to this!"

"I hope so, Billy, because I'm not sure how much longer we can keep this up."

Trini's voice came over the Ninjetti link before she disappeared into battle once more.

~*~

Overhead Divatox, Rita and Zedd were taking on Jason and Delphine and being beaten back as, with the destruction of Master Vile, they lost an important point of cover and firepower. During Billy's recovery period, the Red Lion and White Shaserrel Ninjetti had double-teamed them effectively, creating a barrier that pushed Divatox into a brief retreat, and Lord Zedd into panic.

"Retreat!" Zedd bellowed. "The Orb! Let's get out of here!"

"No!" Rita shrieked back, her focus destroyed. "My Father! They will pay for what they have done to him ... my father!"

Zedd didn't give a damn about Rita's father. All he could see was that if a single Master Ninjetti could bring down Master Vile's space fortress, then what chance did they stand against two of them? Three, if you counted that pesky DolphinZord which was bouncing around here somewhere. If the Orb wasn't here, what was the point of hanging around?

"Rita.." He tried being reasonable, which he found to be a bit of a strain. "Is this is what your father would have wanted?"

"Yes! He would expect me to wade through freshly spilt blood! To destroy and annihilate, to leave a mark of terror and desolation in the hearts of his killer to commemorate his passing!" Rita was filled with an anguished blood lust. "They will all DIE for this!"

"But the Orb ..." Zedd interrupted her tirade and then froze as Rita whirled on him, magic wreathing her hands and glowing in her eyes.

"For better or worse ... HUSBAND!" she spat. "If you will not join me in avenging my family, then you are no husband of mine."

It was then, a little late, that some of Rita's history flooded back to him that had seemed so laughably distant in the past and a cheerful exaggeration of her court at best. Strongest wielder of the witch-magic in this aeon, in her prime she had enslaved planets with a single, unbelievably complex magic working. It was hard to fathom after she seemed unable to penetrate the
protections of Earth. But then if the Orb was here - that would explain why this backward, technologically and Power-deficient planet had stymied her legendary abilities. Not that he had any longer to think about it than that, because in that moment witch-power crackled around him and with a scream of pain and protest he was sucked into the nearest magical reservoir - his Z staff. As it clattered to the floor with a metallic tinny clang, Rita turned with a feral and completely insane smile.

"Now then—let's see about destroying them all," Rita announced, no longer concerned with personal safety or anything but gratifying her need for vengeance. "Full power to attack them both and grind this place to dust and bone!"

"Rita and Zedd have lost it!" Elgar said excitedly. "The old witch has put all her power into attack."

"This is not good!" Divatox growled. "I don't want to ride in on her funeral party."

"But she's winning!"

Indeed it seemed like the Ninjetti Masters were taken aback by this sudden recklessness and being beaten back towards the suburbs of Angel Grove. "Now a VICTORY party I'll happily crash." Divatox said in a u-turn of allegiance. "Let's beat these Ninjetti! Fire missiles ... fire everything you have got!"

There was no way they could protect all of Angel Grove, not from an attack that would have been better viewed as the climax of a science fiction blockbuster. Missiles escaped past them and every time they did, Jason felt the guilt of it like a stabbing pain. Houses tumbled into flames and Jason glimpsed in one moment, way beneath him, the sprawled body of someone. Someone young, no other details, just a lifeless form, hair splayed out in the dust. He hoped, he prayed she was already dead because in the next moment, the building collapsed, burying the figure in a blazing rumble. He felt as if he had been punched in the gut, hard. People were DYING here. Innocent people. God, he used to walk that street on his way to Angel Grove High, maybe it had been someone he knew! Even someone he had known just from walking past and maybe even waved at, what had THEY known or cared about galactic threats? All they had known was the terror of an innocent involved in a war and destruction they had no knowledge about and had died, a sacrifice to a greater good they didn't even understand!

Lives wasted, ruined. Jason swallowed, trying to rid himself of a burning emotion that could not decide whether it would be guilt or anger.

And every moment somewhere, someone died in this war. Not a warrior but an innocent who hadn't chosen this path as they had, who as Rangers they had sworn to protect above their own lives. How had it come to this? How?

"Justin! The Power Chamber has some heavy defences," he gritted out, trying to see past the anger and the cold image that seemed to have burned itself on his vision.

"Get to one of the laser cannons and ... see if you can back us up here. We don't have enough punch!"

Justin, knowing when they were really outclassed, replied in an affirmative and the DolphinZord leapt out of the fray.

"He is going to be too late," Billy sent, monitoring from their crash position. "Jase, by the time he gets there, you'll be over the centre of Angel Grove."

"Then I'll use my Master Power," The Red Lion Ninjetti said grimly, reaching for his glyph.

"No, wait, Jason of Earth!" Delphine's voice rang out. "Your power is of Fire. This is dangerous to use where there are so many people. Mine is of air ... any destruction I wreak will begin and end with my command whereas fire might do our enemies' work for us."

"Good point." Jason knew when to back down. There was always the possibility that, like with Zack, the effort required might overwhelm them before they could stop what they had unleashed. The thought of fire raging through Angel Grove was not a pretty one. "Your call, Delphine; make it a good one!"

Delphine inclined her head. "Master Power Oless!" She summoned the power of the Air and it bent to her will so easily, twisting and spiralling to her as her telepathic powers reached out to enlist its aid.

The spiralling shape of a tornado seemed to spring out of nowhere, given colour and substance by the smoke and debris it pulled into itself. As yet it was nothing, but as Delphine concentrated the twisting thing of air grew and expanded until it roared, pushing at both Rita's and Divatox's craft with the might of a hurricane and was directed upon pushing them away.

Jason was hard pushed to control his Zord—and he was shielded from the buffeting force. The energy that had to be in that whirling tornado was staggering. "Push them out of Angel Grove... get them out!" he encouraged over the link.

Slowly, inexorably the space-faring destroyers were being repelled and Jason felt like letting out a whoop of triumph as not even their best attempts to fire on them or the city came to anything.

"Begone, Defilers of air and waters!" Delphine's voice rose, as did the intensity of her tornado force. "Be gone and trouble the Ninjetti no more!"

The sight was truly incredible. Like the finger of some vast wrathful deity the tornado, roaring, it seemed, with the righteous wrath of their many victims, swayed and then flicked at the crafts of Rita and Divatox. With effortless ease, that immense force sent them hurtling back up out of the atmosphere with such speed that they began to disintegrate as their ships reached and then surpassed escape velocity.

Out of control they tumbled out through space, too concerned with their own survival to worry about anything else or be a further threat.

Which left the Ninjetti with one problem removed and one problem gained.

"it's... so strong!" Delphine gasped out, her usually unshakeable voice trembling with strain. "it's... fighting... me..."

"Oh man, last thing we want is that thing loose in the city." Jason stared. It was hypnotic ... mesmerising in its raw power. Maybe that was why people got involved in causes he could not comprehend having any attraction. Because they were mesmerised by power rather than content. He tried to get his thoughts to behave. He knew it was a defence against these shocking events, but he didn't have time for his mind to blank out on him like that. "Push it to the desert; then you can let it go and it will collapse!"

"I shall... endeavour... to... not... hit the ... Power Chamber," Delphine said and the fatigue showed in her voice as she herded the pillar of tormented, angry air towards the desert and safety.

It was only then that Jason suddenly said aloud, "Wonder what happened to Justin?"

~*~

The Darkness Visible tensed, anticipation swelling within its amorphous form. Now? Not another tedious casualty report from his Chosen, but what he was waiting for?

Incoming Communication ... Sender unregistered.

Yes! FINALLY! "Open communications," he ordered.

The channel crackled a little. " Lord Zha'kha-rhee'aa, we have received a communication from the Wolf Ninjetti. This may not be news you receive well."

"Continue," the Darkness Visible said with irritation.

"It appears the Orb of Order has been placed within the sun's corona. Zordon and my fellow members of the Council of the Wise believe it will lie there safe from your interference." The voice shook a little.

"And you too cannot see how I could fetch it from such a resting place? But still you fulfil your part of the bargain." The Zha' Kha-rhee'aa laughed. "Truly the Aquitians are an honourable race," he said with heavy irony.

"I believe the Prophecy," the Aquitian mentor said simply. "The Shahin Tara Zed will be swallowed by Darkness. It is fated that you will succeed. Therefore I protect my people with our... covenant."

"You are wise to trust in me. I have a way, and I believe a means now I know what has to be done," the Darkness Visible replied. The safety of one world? It was nothing to what he could do when he had the Orbs and mastered them both. "If you would seek not just safety but good fortune for Aquitar, create whatever destruction and havoc you can upon our enemies... as you flee. For this I will reward you and yours well." He was playing the mentor skillfully. How easy it had been to learn his ways when he had them ... how much of doubt and darkness existed within him even then. Alesto had lived a long time with the portion of knowledge that told him and his line the greatest weapon of the Ninjetti would fail at the last. So easy to use that as a stepping stone into his mind and discover under that control a surprising emotional immaturity that could be twisted so easily. Twisted to make Alesto, stalwart of the Council of the Wise, turn traitor and believe he was doing it because it was the right thing to do.

"I will endeavour to fulfil your expectations for the sake of my people," Alesto replied coldly, ended the transmission and the Darkness Visible gave into delighted laughter.

~*~

Cestro staggered back to the Power Chamber, dazed from his exertions with the Master power. He felt so... drained. He was usually in control of his thoughts and was not used to them being so clouded and difficult to focus. For a moment he thought the sounds of explosions were from the battle or products of an overtaxed mind, but he smelled drifting smoke. Hallucinations were rarely that thorough. Smoke ... fire, coming from the Power Chamber!

He broke into a shambling run, forcing his fatigued body to respond, and stumbled into the darkness.

Something clattered on the floor near to him and he threw himself away instinctively, flinching from it, only just clearing the flash of bright energy that blinded him and tossed him back against the wall. He sensed rather than heard or saw someone pass him, pausing for a long moment over him as his skin crawled with utter tension at his vulnerability and then whoever it was exited, leaving him to push himself unsteadily up. Cestro's eyes watered painfully and he tried to rub the blurred vision away with the back of his arm. There was a strange disturbing realisation - the presence had felt... familiar; he wiped away the stinging

The inside of the Power Chamber drifted with dust and smoke and lights flickered, illuminating the devastation in small, brief, painful bursts of vision.

Cestro nearly tripped over a piece of metal, ignoring the tight sensation of heat in his skin that indicated the flash grenade had singed him more than just a little.

One of the Mentors had done this to them! Betrayed their position, betrayed Billy's deduction and signalled the doom of Earth. They had to stop him! His reasoning was arrested by a dim glimmer of blue material, covered by a shroud of the white dust. The hand twisted backwards was so still and young...

"Justin?" Cestro weaved unsteadily, as much from shock as from residual hurt and exhaustion. "JUSTIN!"

The young form was a husk. Pale and empty of any semblance of life, it having drained away in a thick pool of dark accusing blood. It was like a hideous fracture in the ways things should be. Justin, a dynamo of energy, his perpetual motion... stilled by a traitorous hand. The Aquitian's normally imperptuable expression was stricken with raging emotions, vivid and bright, so wrong to be gleaming in his gentle eyes. "Who did this?" he asked the air. "Who DID this?"

"Alesto..." came a weak voice from behind a computer bank. Lillian DeSantos pushed herself up and stood, favouring her right leg and coughed to clear her throat of choking dust.

"... just... walked in to the console... and Justin realised something was wrong. He tried to stop him, but could not - too strong and he just... killed him... Madre de Dios... just cut him down... in front of us all!"

"Alesto?" That was more wounding than anything. A surge of reflected shame and guilt swept over the Blue Ranger of Aquitar. It couldn't be true, they trusted him! They were devoted to him, and he had been the worst kind of traitor!

He stood a moment, not ready to accept the full extent of the devastation around or inside of him. The presence over him had felt familiar. He could not deny the truth. He clutched his spirit crystal, calling for the wisdom and clarity of the Celepha, his spirit animal, before sending.

This is a message for all Ninjetti. The Aquitian Mentor Alesto has turned traitor. Be warned, he should be considered dangerous and of hostile intent."

Rocky picked up the message and felt the shock hit his system. "But he was in the Power Chamber..."

The pain of horror and anxiety was so sharp that Rocky now knew why it was referred to as being stabbed in the back. It felt so literal, a betrayal that robbed him of breath. All this time they had thought Phantom to be somewhat paranoid and that the Council of the Wise was incorruptible by their nature of being the Council of the Wise. More shocks were to come, and he forced himself to listen as Alesto's mind voice continued.

"I regret to inform you that in his escape he has seriously damaged our base of operations. Casualties are as yet unknown save for one confirmed fatality." There was a significant pause as if Cestro was trying to compose himself. "That is the Blue Dolphin Ninjetti, Justin of Earth."

"No!" Tommy nearly missed his aim, nearly spun out of control, as he heard his own instinctive denial echoed around the Ninjetti link.

Too young to die, too young ... not even on the front lines... All their attempts to keep him safe, and he had fallen to the hand of someone he had trusted.

'There is no safe place in war,' his falconspirit echoed inside as he struggled to deal with the shock and prevent himself from being killed in the process. One slip, and the Falcon would fall to the mobbing black crows of the Nid-hi ships.

"So young ..." Tommy said aloud, his mind turning irresistibly to speculation and what ifs. He felt his throat close tight with burning emotion as he imagined Justin challenging his opponent with that total confidence that bad things did not happen to good people. That total confidence he had shown when he was a ranger, that no-one could get REALLY hurt, that the whole thing was just a big adventure full of wonder and dangerously exciting incidents and experiences.

He could SEE it as if he had been there, Justin challenging Alesto with that belief in his own immortality, for a moment certain everything would be fine.

It nearly destroyed him to even consider the fleeting moment in which Justin may have realised he was going to... going to die.

His eyes burning now, Tommy shied away from that empathy-induced horror as he felt also the cold clench of fear for his family. "David... Sam... Dad ..."

He had brought them there, thinking it safe for them and now they could be lost... like... Justin. They had been in the Power Chamber. How much damage had there been? Were they hurt or injured or their lives taken, too, by a traitor's escape? For all his training and preparation, that knowledge shook him to the core and across space many of the Ninjetti Masters wavered in their defence.

"Fall back towards Earth and regroup!" Rocky called out across the link, as ragged holes appeared in their lines.

"Everybody up ... there are massive energy surges in their big cruisers. They'll go right through us the way we are now! Allies fleet, withdraw to Earth and see if you can restore functions in the Power Chamber—your weapons are not effective against the Nid-hi and they are bringing out the big guns now." They would not get to Earth and destroy it. If he could find a way, they would not—and they still had their final weapon, didn't they?

Or did they have more traitors? Rocky's normally cheerful expression was darkened by anger. "And if anyone sees Alesto, I really think he should be stopped by whatever means you feel are necessary." The tone of his mind made it very clear he was not going to be too picky about what condition Alesto would be in when he was stopped.

~*~

Cestro pulled himself up, or tried to at the very least. The knowledge of this filled him with guilt in such a way that only an Aquitian could feel. Tight, internal and dangerous. He reached instinctively for the telepathic private reassuring touch of Delphine, sensing her exhaustion and distress.

"We are betrayed, love. Such gentle private emotions in the midst of destruction.

Delphine's thoughts were tired yet resolute. "It is down to us... to me to purge the Aquitian race of this dishonour. I have him on my display and I will stop him."

"No! Delphine, he is too dangerous and he will use lethal force! He has already." Cestro stopped, knowing that was the wrong argument to use to his wilful mate.

"Killed an innocent, broken one of the Aquitian Sacred Laws. Defiled the very precepts we trained so hard and strove for so long to defend." Delphine sounded unshakeable in her decision. "I am, for all that I am a Ninjetti Master, first and foremost the White Ranger of Aquitar, and you know what that means."

"No, Delphine, please... no," Cestro pleaded with her. He could imagine her eyes, fierce and bright with unshed tears as she sped after the escaping Mentor. A dread akin to that which he had felt seeing that crumpled shape on the floor of the power chamber, in the instant before recognition of a terrible unalterable reality.

"The White Ranger has the skill, the White Ranger has the responsibility. Alesto should know that I will not betray the Duty he instilled into my very heart," Delphine replied, a sense of fatalistic calm seeping into her mindvoice.

"I cannot let you go, Delphine." Cestro called to her across space.

"And you will not. For I will come to you when it is over, a soul seeking its other half—one way or another." Delphine targeted the small fleeing ship. "The honour of Aquitar will be restored Ý until then, my love."

And she drew her contact away with a feather light caress on his mind before she turned to face her one-time Mentor.

"Alesto of Aquitar! Stand and be judged!" She hailed the ancient Aquitian in a crisp voice. "You stand accused of being a traitor to not just the Oceans of Aquitar, but the galactic Seas of space. Return for judgement."

There was a pause and then that familiar voice that had so often guided the Rangers of Aquitar from danger spoke. "What I have done has been for the good of Aquitar. The weapon of the Ninjetti will fail, it is written... and the enemies of the Darkness Visible will be swallowed. This will not happen to Aquitar. I have vowed to protect my world."

It was hard to not accept those words, hard to remember that he had given away vital information and was even now hurrying to the side of their Enemy. For so many years the words of the Mentors had been immutable wisdom; it was a wrench of pain to break from the habit of obedience.

"At the expense of the rest of the free galaxy?" Delphine challenged. "This is a crime that you admit freely?"

"The ends justify the means. The Ninjetti are prophesied to fail. It is logical to preserve what aspect of security I can for my planet," Alesto replied in a cold voice.

Delphine was horrified, experiencing in that moment the terrible disillusionment that comes when a child realises their parent is indeed not infallible and makes their first grievous error in front of them. "And in doing so violate the Sacred Laws. You took an innocent life with deliberate aforethought. You know the consequences."

It seemed so strange to be doing this in the middle of battle, where life and death boiled around them without the courtesy of discussion.

Alesto sounded weary. "I will not commit Kinshini, I have stayed true to my Duty to Aquitar."

"But not to your Duty to the Power itself. You are a tool of Darkness and if you will not, then I must carry you to the Waters Beyond in my thought." Delphine spoke the ritual phrase that unlocked that secret training, her heart bidding farewell to Cestro as she did so.

"Delphine!" For the first time, Alesto sounded surprised and shocked.

"You taught me this. A White Ranger is the one who is prepared to die for the greater good, for not just those they love, but for ideals and Duty." Delphine shuddered, coughing as the subconscious command took hold and her eyes practically glowed.

This was the reason for the elaborate formality and exaggerated control of the Aquitian race; because of an extension to their telepathic ability that if uncontrolled, or unleashed in rage, could kill another of their race with the force of their mind. From childhood it was trained out, but in those trustworthy enough, the leaders of the Rangers, they were taught the Kinshini—a method to unleash the full telepathic potential of the Aquitian mind.

But once unleashed that was the end, and so Delphine, glowing with the light of a wakening mind, shrugged off her body and swooped, elegant in her soul-flight as the Shaserrel that was her animal spirit, across the intervening space and with determination dived at the Aquitian mentor and ripped his dark, shadowed mind from his body with all the righteous energy she could muster.

Strangely he did not fight, he did not even shield. It was as if it was a release from a terrible burden of hopelessness that had formed a canker in his being for too long to bear.

She set the essence free and felt her own dissolve into the Waters Beyond. Her body had no energy to take her back, she had no where to go except...

Fading, fading fast, called by a beacon of love for her, a lonely candle in the fast approaching darkness she reached...

Cestro dropped to his knees and seemed to mouth the word 'Delphine' before collapsing completely as Rocky reported her death to the Ninjetti Link, and that of the Aquitian mentor and betrayer, Alesto of Aquitar.

~*~

"Initiate, my lord?" Ilana the Silver Nid-hi asked, weary but elated from the long battle. Finally they would use their own master weapon. A crude form that had begun as the project of Dark Spectre and had taken the Nid-hi to hone and perfect under the guidance of the Darkness Visible into a weapon the like of which had never been seen in all their conquests.

She smiled and brushed the gleaming silver of her mane back from her sweat-dampened fur. They would win. She had seen THEIR weapon and in comparison, the frail human was like a speck of space dust falling into darkness.

"Initiate," the Darkness Visible agreed, his orders crisp as he set his own agenda into play. "Form point. Attack their Base on the lunar satellite."

"But my Lord, is it necessary? " Ilana asked, hesitating a little. The Ninjetti forces were fielded. Only wounded and non-warriors were there, she was sure. She could see no honour ... no tactical sense in attacking a base that could potentially be converted for their own use.

"Do not question me, my Chosen." The entity issued a mild warning. "I have my reasons. Do you presume to imply that I should justify them to you?" There was a piercing core to the warm golden voice she had never heard before.

"Of course not, my Lord, we shall see to it immediately," she replied hastily. "I will form our forces into a suitable escort for your triumphant approach."

"See that you do so, my Chosen." The voice replied as if whispering in her ear behind her and seeing the increasing doubts she had experienced ever since - ever since she had looked into the eyes of that alien Ninjetti and not seen evil in their depths. She shuddered, but immediately began issuing orders.

The Ninjetti fell back, bloodied and exhausted from the long battle in space. The long-awaited final push was on its way and fear preceded it like a tidal wave.

"Everyone!" Rocky was sending urgently to any Ninjetti Spirit Warrior there was, injured or otherwise. "Get up here now! We need all power to the front line ... the Enemy is ... is doing something. What the hell ARE they doing?" Rocky looked at his readouts with a sort of horrified dismay.

In the depths of space, massive amounts of energy arced around the surfaces of the vast matt black battle cruisers as they transformed, linking segment to segment in a stately terrifying dance.

Enterprising Ninjetti, hoping to find them vulnerable in this transition, flew in, managing a few shots before they were set upon by the remainder of the Nid-hi Legions. Long enough though to discover that the enemy weapon was force-field shielded. As they were helpless to prevent its assembly, it was the Ninjetti of Earth who recognised the shape.

"Serpentera ..." Kim whispered as the black dragonish head morphed into place and immense energy charges played over its specially coated 'dragon-hide' and the force field it generated, making it an inky black shadow sinuously moving in the heart of tortured light.

"That thing makes Serpentera look like a joke snake out of a cracker," Trini replied, her heart pounding fast. There was no WAY Skye could beat this thing. Suddenly the symbolism seemed so terribly appropriate. Dragon and Phoenix—how had Billy known?

"The bigger they are..." Tommy responded wearily, all his resolve seemingly sucked from him with the appearance of this true manifestation of the Darkness Visible.

Acutely now he felt the lack of their link back to Earth. He felt he needed something to stabilise his decisions and to ground him. But the Power Chamber was destroyed, all the family he had somewhere in there ...

"Billy, got any weakness on it yet?" he asked hopefully. Don't let us down Billy; we need you to come up with an answer, he thought to himself as he waited anxiously.

The Blue Wolf Zord was climbing out of Earth atmosphere along with Jason and the Red LionZord. Cestro, by all reports, had been rendered unconscious by his grief for Delphine and seemed to not hear the summons. There was nothing they could say that even seemed to reach him.

"Running analysis now, Tommy," Billy replied tersely, frowning at the data stream flowing across the screen in front of him.

"We are going to need that data soon," Rocky warned. "Nid-hi force on intercept with lunar base."

Kat's down there, his mind kept telling him. So is Aisha and Adam; everyone who is really important to you is in danger. "Oh god."

"It is time to invoke the Shahin Tara Zed," Zordon's voice echoed through the link. "The Darkness now truly is Visible, incarnate in this form. Invoke the Star Phoenix Ninjetti to his destiny."

Billy paused a moment and his mind recoiled from even that possibility; with all instinct, with all parts of his being, the destroying, the murder of a friend was just unacceptable. It was the hardest thing he had done to go against the counsel of their mentor.

"No," he replied in a low whisper. "No, Zordon. I will not."

"You must! It is his destined path, Billy." Zordon's voice showed signs of strain. "You would let all die for the sake of one life? Billy, you have always trusted my judgement before, why not now?" The Eltarian tried to force him to a decision, believing that at the last the Wolf Ninjetti struggled with what needed to be done. He KNEW, with a completeness born of ages of study and research, the knowledge of the galaxy he had studied, that this HAD to happen. He felt the sorrow of the price, but all of the Council of the Wise understood implicitly what sacrifices had to be made.

"Because. it's not right, Zordon. Doesn't feel right." Billy nearly shouted, clenching his fists, aware of Skye's terrible stillness next to him, the Star Phoenix Ninjetti waiting as if a blade was against his throat.

"Doesn't FEEL right?" That was a different voice. C'haal's echoing roar tore at his confidence. "Are you a warrior or not? Death is a part of the cycle! It has been written longer than Earth has had history that the Shahin Tara Zed would be invoked once the Darkness had manifested its Avatar form! You think you know better? Put aside you misguided sentimentality and remember your Duty to the galaxy!"

"C'haal ..." Zordon interrupted, knowing his Ranger better than the Drakin Mentor. Billy did not need hostility, and he was under enough pressure. Too much would force the young Ninjetti down the wrong path. "Enough."

"No. It needs to be said," C'haal replied tersely. "This is our last hope. Our base is destroyed, our forces decimated for all their bravery, and he REFUSES to invoke our only weapon!"

"You will destroy us all." Rhamahada spoke up "The Prophecy must be fulfilled. It is Written and cannot be denied!"

There was a chorus of agreement from the other mentors that Billy could not tolerate. "Enough! Enough!" he snapped at them. "Just stop. Stop." His voice became quiet. He didn't need this, not before the end was due to break its devastation upon them all.

"You will invoke him?" That was Dimitria's questioning tone.

"No," Billy replied into the silence and with a pass over his spirit crystal his hand blocked incoming messages from the link and took one brief moment to feel his eyes burn at the injustice of being pressured like this when he was tired... so tired, and his leg hurt with god knew what injuries. How could he be sure he was making the right decision when he was so tired and they were so certain? Wouldn't it be easier just to follow their direction as he had for so long? No, if he were going to condemn Skye to death, it would not be because he would be too tired to think for himself. He owed his friend a decision at the very least, rather than a copout.

Why me? He asked again and then sighed as the same answer came back. If not you, then who else?

"Billy?" a tentative voice interrupted his momentary reverie. Skye was watching him closely, his bright clear blue eyes scanning his face anxiously. "Not that I'm not grateful, but... remember our agreement? Please don't let the others die if I could save them?"

Billy gave a noise of frustration and his fingers clattered rapidly over his computer interface keyboard. "I have my reasons," he replied, abruptly signalling the discussion was over. He could sense the mentors trying to reach him and refused to listen in case it eroded the certainty of his decision.

"Billy... I know you don't want to ... but ..." Skye sighed, seeing a familiar quiet stubbornness settle around his friend, more impenetrable than any armour. This was the last thing he needed, and he bowed his head. He could not beg to die. He hated that weakness in himself, but he did not feel strong enough to beg for his life to end; for all he knew it was like as not an inevitable consequence of this conflict. He could tell that Billy would not be moved on this, though, rightly or wrongly.

Billy frowned as he completed the programming, noticing the movement even amongst his concentration. "Skye, you have trusted me with everything else, up to and including your life. You think I would betray not only all my other friends but that trust as well?"

Skye looked towards him a moment and their gazes locked for a brief instant in a wordless communication. "No, Billy... you wouldn't." The Star-phoenix Ninjetti remembered acutely what it was that hurt his friend the most in their argument. Questioning his commitment in view of all the sacrifices he had made, what he had endured.

"Then trust me." Billy looked at him seriously. "I'm worried, Skye. Every move we have made, the Darkness Visible has been prepared for. You really think that he has not prepared for our counter attack? The problem is that right now I don't know what the end game is going to be like, and if you are our ultimate weapon, then you may be needed for that. Understand?"

"But Zordon and the others seem so sure," Skye said softly, hating himself for having to point that out again.

A chill ran down Billy's spine. What if he was making a deadly, desperate error? Had he ever gone against Zordon's counsel before? Had the mentor ever been wrong before? He had never felt so alone as now when this decision could mean so much for so many.

"I know," the Blue Wolf Ninjetti replied and focused his attention on the monstrous dragon form that could half wrap the moon it was attacking. His hand hovered over the Star Phoenix glyph that burned on his chest armour, flashing blue fire as he moved... and yet, it stayed, the Power dormant as he refused to invoke that Power yet, even in the face of Prophecy.

~*~

"Come on!" The Darkness Visible murmured from his personal area in the head of Serpentera Reborn. "Come on, First Warrior of Phaedos, your pride has to be sticking in your throat at this cowardly tactic... come on, I know you want to..." Did he have to engineer EVERYTHING? Had the Ninjetti become cautious in the aeons he had been gone? A brief sigh and then he opened a broadband communications channel.

"Surrender the Orb to me and I will not destroy your lunar base." He spoke in that golden, reasonable voice. "Have the Ninjetti lost all sense of reality? I see now that the vaunted honour of the Ninjetti has deteriorated to nothing more than Khal'az Kr'aa!"

To most of the fleet that last word meant nothing, but to Dulcea and some of the mentors it was an insult that warranted blood spilt in its answering.

"I cannot allow this to occur," Dulcea said, her eyes flashing, her outrage pushing the limits of her weary patience. "They must not attack the Moonbase. Most of our wounded are there. I'm going into complete stealth and I should be able to locate a weak spot."

"Dulcea, I'm not sure if that is ..." Tommy began as the OwlZord shimmered out of sight as the battle continued. "Oh dammit ..."

If the Darkness Visible had not been specifically watching Dulcea's craft, looking for that very disappearance, he might well have been unprepared. As it was, he smiled and for the first time called up his full Power and let it flow through the Dragon form, the electrical arcing tinged with red, a shimmer as the movements of the Serpentera Zord became more organic, more... alive as he breathed his own spark into its metallic hulk.

The shift was sudden. In a strange shift so swift it appeared as illusion it transformed from a gargantuan machine to a sentient monster that writhed like a strip of Darkness torn from space itself. The eyes, which had been mere stylised forms of metal before, became filled with the amorphous colours that had swirled in the entity of the Darkness Visible.

A moment too late the warning was shouted through the link.

"Dulcea! Get away from it!" J'shaar called out in warning, having recognised the eye patterns from their close encounter on the mission to rescue the Council of the Wise.

The Black Dragon's head swung around, glistening in the reflected light of the planets - and in the corona of the force field, flickering with blood lightning, a shape of invisibility was discovered and the head twisted with the speed of a striking snake, snapped down with metallic teeth, crushing close on the Master Ninjetti's OwlZord.

"Dulcea!" Jason could barely even gasp as a twisted, mangled Zord flickered into visibility, caught carefully between the dragon's jaws. "Dulcea..."

"Well now, Ninjetti." The insinuating voice echoed through their Zords. "It seems I have a message for one of you in particular. it's interesting what information can turn out to be so useful, even if Alesto - sadly no longer with any of us... saw no value in telling me the trivialities of who was with whom. I say, and stand proven, that all information is useful." The Darkness Visible's voice sounded rather good-humoured as if this were a mere distraction to it, not life and death.

"To business then. Jason of Earth! I address you out of all the Master Ninjetti. You have the Master Power of Fire. You can reach into the Sun itself and draw out the Orb. The offer is simple. Do this and you all live. Don't, and the first one to die... slowly... will be the love of your life." He made it all sound so reasonable.

"No! Jason, NO!" Dulcea screamed out from the crippled OwlZord, in the mouth of the massive black dragon form. She punched futilely at a self-destruct function and cursed genuinely that the thing would not work due to all the damage around it—what by all the Powers was the point of a self-destruct if it didn't bloody work!

Jason looked at the scene, the LionZord floating aimlessly as he screwed up his eyes, trying to hold back hot tears. He couldn't. He COULDN'T! She would never forgive him if he betrayed everything she stood for because he loved her. Personal was not always the same as important. He'd said that to Goldar.

"No..." he whispered, but the broadcast flung his word out across the stars.

"Then I will destroy your Earth. Think of that." The Darkness Visible purred from out of the void of stars, the black dragon's nest. "Billions of lives, the lives you swore to protect destroyed because of you. Let's tell the world, shall we?" There was a momentary pause and a click as communication channels were opened. "People of Earth, say your prayers to whatever deity you wish. I find I have no need of your planet because Jason Scott will not do me the favour of retrieving something that was stolen from me... and he refuses even for the sake of the love of his life. If you doubt my capability, then let us demonstrate on... oooh, I'm sure this red planet can do without at least one moon."

A charge seemed to crawl up Serpentera Reborn, starting from the tail, gaining power until like a whip cracking, the head snapped forward and a sphere of deadly energy was flung out of its forehead, spreading into a disc, into a coruscating wave of destruction that shredded any craft, Ninjetti or Nid-hi that did not flee swiftly enough, then finally Phoebus itself.

It was gone... just... gone. Where the wave had passed, blinding in its release, now vast meteors flung themselves into the surface of Mars, the only evidence that something so disastrous had occurred.

"Dear God." Kim felt her mouth go dry as she envisaged the disintegration of everything she knew and loved in the short moments it had taken to destroy the Martian moon.

"Billy, for god's sake invoke Skye!" Tommy demanded, desperately trying to reach Jason to try and stop him somehow.

"I can't, Tommy! Don't you see, that is what he wants me to do!" Billy protested, not wanting to defend himself before his friends as well as the Mentors.

"What he WANTS is the Orb!" Tommy flared back, impatient in his anxiety.

"No, what he wants is me to expend our last chance on this!" Billy argued. "If I have to spend Skye's life on something, it won't be a trap!"

"Spend ... spend his life?" Tommy hesitated, regretting his vehemence.

"The moment I use him, he will have only a short time and then will die, win or lose," Billy explained quietly as he began typing in commands for his countermove with desperate speed.

"But..." Tommy paused and then swore as he noticed something else.

Jason's resistance had crumbled. His home, his family, his friends ... Dulcea. Earth, that jewel of the heavens he had looked at and vowed to protect. The threat was no empty one, that evidence of destruction had been stunning in its effectiveness, practically bringing the battle to a halt. The Earth was no longer necessary to the Darkness Visible now that the Orb of Reality was discovered in the heart of the sun.

Maybe he would die if he went after it as the Darkness Visible demanded, maybe - but he could not live with that on his conscience. He doubted he could live with Dulcea's death either, but then it would only be him who would suffer, not an entire world.

Dark eyes resolute and full of anger, he invoked his Master Power of Fire, and as the Red Lion Zord became a thing of flames he wheeled it around on a direct course for the heart of the sun, able to stare at its heart, as it called to him, Fire to Fire.

"JASON!" Billy yelled aloud as well as mentally, "For God's sake, someone STOP him! STOP him NOW!"

"How?" Rocky responded, feeling Jason's hurt like a burning coal in his mind but unable to reach him however hard he tried

Billy hesitated and another part of his self died as he said firmly, "Destroy him if it is the only way. Destroy him."

"Jason! Bro... stop this! Jason!" Rocky tried to get through to him as the Red Lion Ninjetti, for the sake of Earth, for the sake of his friends, for the sake of his love streaked into the outer corona of the sun.

Billy was swearing at himself, and everything around him. He had to try and get Dulcea free and take away that threat of hostage manipulation. Maybe this ploy would be enough. The programming he had been doing since the manifestation of the Darkness Visible awaited the enter key to set into motion. Now would have to be the time. Here and now. An image of force field energy fluctuations appeared and he stabbed down with a decisive finger.

"Ninjetti, fall back," he said in a tone of authority that he used when he was implementing a plan. The despair that had filled some of the rangers lifted a little. Was it going to be the Shahin Tara Zed?

No. Out of every Ninjetti Zord streamed the Zeebeedees, the tiny maintenance droids that seemed too small to be a threat, cast out like motes of dust at the vastness of the Dragon avatar form of the Darkness Visible.

"Justin's Legacy." Billy murmured aloud down the Ninjetti link as they loosed a payload of miniature missiles constructed from the Ferian-X Justin had brought at great risk from Triforia at the Enemy fighters and at the black dragon shape blotting out the stars.

Too late the Nid-hi legions tried to fire at them, but it was like trying to stop a swarm of bees by shooting at it with bullets. A few were destroyed, but the fire passed through them as the Zeebeedee programming unerringly guided each missile to a target.

The carnage was terrible. The Nid-hi legions were blindsided by an opponent too small to register as a danger and for a long moment Serpentera Reborn writhed in a boiling sea of explosions and weaknesses until holes flickered in its force field.

The jaw area was targeted and OwlZord was dropped, tumbling out of control, riding the shockwave of the explosions, warped in and secured the damaged Zord and then warped them out of the way of the worst of it.

A great bellow of triumph went up spontaneously around the remnants of the Ninjetti fleet.

"Did we get it? Did we get the Darkness Visible?" Tanya asked excitedly. The glare of light faded and the monstrous dragon writhed, the force field flickering in and out.

"That was fantastic, Billy!" Tommy called out, a lift in his voice and a rekindled spark of hope. "Where on Earth did that come from? Why didn't we know!?"

"I couldn't afford any of the Council of the Wise knowing ... not after what Phantom said. Needed something up our sleeves," Billy murmured and then closed his eyes in an unseen expression of a mental pain. What to do? They had not finished the Darkness Visible, he knew that. He had no other secret weapons save Skye and, god, he was so tired. Then there was Jason. He would not know that Dulcea was safe.

"Rocky, try and get through to Jason again... tell him to leave the damn thing in there," he said, exhaustion sounding in his tone.

"He's locked me out." The Red Ape Ninjetti had been trying over and over. He could do it, but that would mean disconnecting from the others and he couldn't do that! "He's too deep inside for me to reach."

"I'll try and head him off when he comes out," Billy replied and then frowned, noticing an unobtrusive window on his console screen blinking for attention. How long it had it been there? And what was it?

A lifetime ago it seemed, he had set up a search for reference on the phrase Shahin Tara Zed and now, of all times it had returned. Feeling a strange prickle of anticipation and apprehension, he pulled the window up, despite the critical nature of their situation relying on Skye to pilot WolfZord.

It had been a search built on a random thought from rereading the transcript of the Prophecy, and as he skimmed the different meanings of the words in languages and dialects from all over the galaxy and narrowed the search with some more relevant parameters, he skimmed down a page and stopped. He was frozen by the utter simplicity and rightness of it all. An Earth language at that.

"Beta Aquilae—alternative names for this star. 'Alshain' is derived from Persian name for Aquila, Shahin Tara Zed, 'The Star-Striking Falcon'. Or simply 'Striking Falcon'."

The words burned there a moment on the screen as Billy felt that curious blankness that a revelation will sometimes bring, especially when you are weary and over-stressed. All the time the mentors had translated it as Starbird or Star Phoenix, and it was... or could be a Striking Falcon.

As if without his volition, Billy's eyes sought the battle-marked form of the Falcon Zord. There was only one Falcon that he knew of, and his Master Power was of the Lightning Strike, the single powerful blow. The pieces clicked into place in his mind, words from the Prophecy on Triforia coming to him.

"Know that in the ambiguity of Prophecy and Destiny lies salvation, for Words cannot be unsaid. Know that the Words of Prophecy have Power, but their final Power is in how they are read, not in the Word itself."

Would he be swapping Tommy for Skye, though? Was that what he was doing? He shook his head. No, he truly did believe they were being set up; he had a feel of how the Darkness Visible worked now. Skye might not be the one to face the Avatar of the Darkness Visible, but if Tommy did, then if necessary he would be able to quash his counter attack, using Skye if he had to. There was no way that the Darkness Visible would not come out after Jason... and he would come alone, but once he had committed himself to that action, what would he do with Serpentera? Send it on an all-out course of destruction to keep them occupied. That was logical. So.

His mind burning with inspiration, frantic and bright, he sketched out a hasty and desperate plan. But then some of his best plans had been born like that.

"Rocky, I need Tommy and Tanya in a close link," he announced suddenly, his wolf spirit crystal glowing in response to his concentration.

"Got it, Billy. Zordon is still trying to get through to you before it's too late," he said as he contacted the others.

"I know... this time, I've got to go it alone." He was startled to hear Skye murmur behind him. "Spirit Warrior of the Wolf, seek your destiny within the lonely choice and decision upon which all else rests..."

"You think this is it?" Billy asked his friend hopefully, looking for any type of confirmation.

"Hard to see if it could be anything else," Skye replied quietly. "it's falling into place, Billy. Not long now and it will all be over, one way or another."

Billy took a deep breath. "Then let's get on with it. Tommy, Tanya... do you read me?"

"I'm listening in," Tommy replied "We're trying to make an impact on Serpentera's much bigger brother. Having little effect, though." Hidden in that statement was a plea for Billy to either come up with a plan now or something, anything that would help.

"Here." Tanya replied, sounding weary.

"I think I have a handle on what the Darkness Visible's next move is going to be," Billy explained swiftly. "When Jason comes out of the sun, I am betting that he'll cut the Avatar loose to try and distract us, set it to destroy everything it can so he can get to the Orb."

"This is meant to cheer us up?" Tanya said, aghast.

Billy gave a short laugh. "No, it's explaining why I am going to ask you what I am going to ask you. Tanya, I want you to invoke you Master Power and draw together the biggest Ninjetti MegaZord you can. I think with it weakened a little more, that Tommy... Tommy can have a chance to strike with HIS Master Power."

Tommy sounded shocked. "But the Prophecy and the ... and the mentors... won't this fail?"

Billy said firmly, as if he was completely certain. "Skye is not the Shahin Tara Zed ... you are, Tommy. That is the secret of the Prophecy we had to uncover. If you face the Darkness Visible's Avatar, then Skye and I will go after the Darkness Visible itself. If it comes to it, I think he is the only one who could possibly deal with him if it manages to get possession of the Orb."

It was amazing to Billy that they accepted his analysis so easily. He could be wrong... couldn't he?

Not in this lifetime, love." Trini's voice whispered through the link to him alone.

"Right." Tommy felt a surge of energy run through him. They had a plan. In the dying last moments of the battle, they had a plan! "Tanya, can you do this?" he asked.

"I'll pull in as many as I can... I'm going to need everyone we can get up there ... Anyone even conscious," she said in a determined tone. It was strangely frightening and exhilarating to be so crucial to events. She had noted that the power of the MegaZords she could pull together was exponential to the amount of Ninjetti in there. The whole became much much greater than the sum of all its parts.

"Right, put the word out, Rocky," Tommy said firmly. "All Ninjetti that are conscious and even partially mobile are to get up here immediately. Billy, are you sure you and Skye don't need back up?"

"we'll make do. I'm hoping that the Darkness Visible has expended a fair amount of its Power on animating that monstrosity," Billy replied and Skye nodded in tacit agreement.

"It has put a lot of its energy into animating it," the artist supplied in a soft voice.

"Right." Tommy sounded like he had shed half of his exhaustion. He had direction, focus and a hope that this battle could be ended—and in their favour.

"Listen up!" he sent out across the link. "We are going up against the Darkness Visible's Serpentera, using the biggest ranger Megazord we can muster. Tanya, Yellow Oryx Master Ninjetti, will initiate this. We need everyone close and when we weaken it, we will strike."

"Tommy, this is an unwise course of action." Zordon's voice spoke out. "This is not the way of the Prophecy. We would be wasting effort foolishly and endangering many lives amongst the Ninjetti and those we protect."

There was a long silence from Tommy and Billy held his breath. He did not want to defy his friend, but he could not do things otherwise, not now.

To his surprise, when Tommy spoke it was with a focus and certainty that Billy was not expecting.

"Zordon, I have been trusting my life, and the life of my teammates, to Billy's judgement for years. Part of my job as a leader of the rangers was to know when to rely on the others in the team. You taught me that, Zordon." He paused, examining his own certainties and doubts and coming to an inescapable conclusion. "Billy, we are going ahead with your plan."

"You are sure, Tommy?" Billy couldn't help but question, if only in surprise.

"Are you, Billy?" the White Falcon Ninjetti asked, focussing on manoeuvering close with the other Ninjetti.

"Yes." Billy replied with only the barest hesitation. The complex issues of his emotions surrounding the defiance of the judgement of their mentors did not shake the facts he had assembled in his mind, and the surety of instinct.

"Then I am, too." Tommy replied, with trust implicit in his words as he moved into action, a trust that brought a lump to Billy's throat rather unexpectedly. As careless as Tommy could be with his thoughts sometimes, he could be as generous with his emotions. "Deal with Jason. Tanya, you in position?"

"Ready and waiting." Tanya's voice sounded focused and intense even through the link.

"Go for it," Tommy said and covered Tanya as the process began.

Tanya touched the glyph on her chest and it glowed gold beneath her fingers, warm and bright in the cockpit of her Zord. "Master Ninjetti Power Mannaz!" she invoked, and with a rush of light her awareness spread out, touching the motes of life and Power around her as she focused hard on drawing them together into a warrior gestalt.

Like trying to wake to a greater consciousness, she clawed the fragments of power together, unified into a shape born from her mind and desire. A warrior shape, a bright defender, a fighter... vast and unstoppable. A dragonslayer.

The Zords of the Ninjetti, responding to her inaudible siren call of Power, began to tumble together. Tiny sparkling specks swarmed together as Tanya's mind and spirit strove to bring them all in, lock them all together. Each piece contributed to the group sentience, becoming part of the whole, becoming more as if each individual spark of will joined in total unity of purpose and moved as one. The shape was hazy at first, dreamlike in its definition until Tanya within its heart centre locked the entirety of the Ninjetti warriors into one warrior Zord Entity. Their focus and form a sharp reality now, they turned to face their enemy.

The Dragon writhed, the force field shield flickering in places, momentarily taken aback.

"No! This was not what was meant to happen!" The Darkness Visible cursed, shock making it draw in its power a little. "Should be the - should be the Phoenix, the Shahin Tara Zed of the prophecies!" There were few times in the Zha'Kha-rhee'aa's experience that it had ever been surprised or disconcerted, and this was one of them. Hastily he recalculated his strategy, trying to adjust to this new variable. It was nothing. The original plan could still work. The Dragon Avatar would distract them and hopefully destroy their world and their forces, and he would seize the Orb of Order from the Red Lion Ninjetti.

Then, in bringing the Orb of Chaos in proximity to this prize, BOTH the Orbs would wake and he would be able to bend the Universe ... Universes to his will without the limitation of rules or petty things like mortality. The Blue Wolf Ninjetti, he would be of no consequence. How could he hope to stand against the power of the Orbs and himself? Still, best to strike at him first. Eliminate the potential threat if he could, he had sensed some Power in that young warrior. So now, it was time to leave and bring his carefully worked strategy to its ultimate fruition.

"Nid-hi! Attend me!" he summoned his remaining devoted followers to the Dragon Avatar. Some remained outside his call, but most came, drawn by the habit of obedience to his call. They found themselves invaded, tapped, their life spirits feeding the power of the great dragon, tangled in a dark spirit web to its body. Fear mingled with a quasi-religious ecstasy as the lives of the Nid-hi zealots bled into the mechanical veins of Serpentera Reborn, allowing him to withdraw and leave the Avatar functioning as he seized the prize that had consumed his consciousness for aeons. Primal and raw, the life moved within his creation, animated by the sacrifice of his devoted followers as he instilled one simple imperative into the pseudoÝconsciousness of the Dragon Avatar.

"Destroy our Enemies. Destroy."

So many generations of subtle conditioning and manipulation paid off in a surge of hatred and righteousness that released the Darkness Visible to its own devices, a shadow in the night.

It was strange. Billy kept looking as they headed towards the sun and seeing a single enormous figure and yet his wolfspirit registered 'Pack'. Only he, Skye and Jason were not in the merge. All others were there, blending together, and there was a slow arc of light that all rangers would have found familiar as the final morphing lock down occurred.

"She did it," Billy said, quietly grateful for company as the connection to Rocky had faded, leaving him feeling alone with his decision. "I hope I wasn't wrong ... I really do."

"I don't think so," Skye replied, tensing as he saw a small anomaly on the screen. "And so he makes his move." He said it with a sigh.

A small part of the Dragon's head detached and shot out towards them, and the Star-Phoenix Ninjetti felt a surge of fear grow. "Here it comes..."

"Right... we stop it... him... before he can get to Jason," Billy said firmly, well aware they were more than likely outclassed in terms of weaponry. "Or at least delay him long enough so the Orb can be replaced back in there safely."

"Any ideas how?" Skye asked hopefully as he obediently turned the WolfZord to impose themselves between the Darkness Visible and the sun.

"Not a clue. Distract it and yell like anything to Jason when he comes out?" Billy replied with a shrug.

"I like it. Simple. Direct and above all, our only choice," Skye said drily. "Let's do it."

And Billy wheeled the WolfZord into an uneven battle against the superior might of the Darkness Visible.

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