Chapter 17 - End of the Eclipse

Palace on the Moon

Widow was watching things through one of her portals. Her mouth thinned as her monsters were engaged by Rangers they no longer considered threats. The Zeo Rangers were thought completely defunct and the Astro Rangers now exclusively operated out of KO-35. At least that's what all their intel said.

"How is this happening?" she demanded of no one.

"I wouldn't worry about them. Neither team will last too long against Meanwing and Freakbeak," Zita said thoughtfully.

"No, of course not, but it indicates something bigger is in the works, but what?" Widow murmured. Zita couldn't find an explanation. They didn't have to wait long before everything to become obvious. The Phantom Ranger reappearing and multiplying was hard to miss. Both women turned white and watched anxiously to see what would happen next.

-x-

Dark Triumph and the other Dark Rangers eyed the Phantom Rangers their friends had just turned into. "As I said, the confrontation was up to you," she said tightly. The Sword of Darkness appeared in her hand. "Neutralize them," she ordered the others.

"You know the plan," Phantom said to the others as the Dark Rangers went on the offensive.

Dark Tyrant drew his TyrannoSword. He rushed at Phantom, who made twin sticks appear in his hands and blocked the slash by crossing them in front of him. He grunted at the effort. He'd obviously put his strength behind it. He kicked out and back-flipped to the edge of the roof. "You want me, come and get me," he said and jumped. He landed on a nearby roof.

Dark Tyrant scoffed. He ran and jumped. He landed in a crouch, the concrete beneath him cracking a little. "Why are you running, Rex? Not scared are you?" he asked, as he raised himself to full, impressive height.

Phantom shook his head. "Just making sure we have the room to do this right," he said. He and Tyrant circled each other, weapons at the ready, looking for the perfect opportunity. Tyrant muttered under his breath and sprang forward. Phantom gladly met him.

Dark Sword split himself into three. One of him summoned his familiar CeratoSword, but the other two weren't empty handed for long. Each of them summoned smaller, simpler swords.

In his full gleaming gold, scorpion armor, Griff smiled. "I usually like to pound on the Green Weinie over there, but you'll do this time," he said and made his mace appear.

"Aren't you on the wrong side of this?" the Dark Sword holding the CeratoSword asked.

"Nope," Griff answered and attacked. Sword put up his weapon and blocked but it was jarring. Often even though his usual strength is lessened when he split up, it was balanced by the 'strength in numbers' theorem. He wasn't usually facing two alien beings with the strength of ten men either.

Lammy also wore her full scorpion armor. She wielded a sword of her own and was fencing with a Dark Sword using one of the smaller swords. She was strong but he was good.

Moriko was facing the final Dark Sword. Her armor was similar to Zita's usual battle armor except without the blades and she favored smoky green, gray and purple colors. She also had a brand new staff gifted to her by her mother. It was made of a rare wood found only in the Mystic Realm. She knew how to use it well. She'd been training with Griff. She also had a longer reach than Dark Sword and his little sword. He was, however, the more experienced combatant. She couldn't seem to get the upper-hand on him.

Lammy and Griff had suited Taran up in a gold armor similar to theirs but with a spider motif. His leather under armor was also dark brown rather than black. He wielded a mace. It wasn't his StegoMace but it would do. Especially against Dark Drake.

Drake had access to his Stygian Blade and happily summoned it. "You never actually beat me," he said, whirling his Blade in his hand idly.

"I wouldn't be so cocky. You were juiced to gills with whatever Widow was giving you. You ain't juiced anymore," Taran said. Drake snarled and attacked. Taran brought his mace up to block. They strained against each other, nearly nose to nose. Taran reared back his head and smashed it into Drake's helmet. His head piece protected him but Drake was jarred and stumbled back. He shook his head, trying to clear it. He went on the attacked, more viciously. it was almost all Taran could do to defend himself.

Phantom White sprang into action against Dark Styx. "I kind of hate to say it, but you look good in purple," she remarked as she swung her twin sticks at the older girl.

Styx blocked with her Power Staff. "Thanks," she grunted and whirled around, spinning her staff and then coming in low in an attempt to sweep White's feet out from under her. White jumped, doing a no handed back flip. She landed deftly. She crouched as Styx came toward her. The Power Diamond in her chest-plate glowed. She put her hand on the ground and patch of ice spread out around it. She rolled backwards. Styx hit the ice and her feet came out from under her.

Phantom Green had been shocked when Rex had put a hand on his head and made the Phantomizer appear on his wrist. Now he was in the middle of a battle with experienced Power Rangers who've gone bad. It was all bloody mad. Still, he'd been given a task and he was going to see it through. The twin sticks that seemed to make up the Phantom arsenal appeared in his hands. Luckily for him, they were the beginning weapons Rex had him training with.

Unlucky for him, Dark Saber had been in training a lot longer. Saber summoned his Power Daggers and jumped over Green head and whirled around to slash him from behind. Green managed to whirl around just in time. Saber jumped again, but not over him. Green managed to get his sticks up to block the flying kick to his chest but the momentum sent him flying off the roof.

He landed with a crash. The sidewalk under him cracked and he left somewhat of a crater. Shocked to still be alive, Green got to his feet just as Saber landed on cat feet nearby. "That fall looked like it hurt. Did it?" he asked.

Green twisted his neck this way and that. "Surprisingly no," he answered.

"Too bad!" Saber said and came at him again. He jumped. Green ducked. When his hand touched the ground, the Power Emerald in his chest glowed. A pillar of earth rushed up to meet Saber, slamming into his middle.

Dark Master summoned her Power Axe. She watched Phantom Yellow come at her with her sticks in hand. Yellow may not be on her level in karate but she touch, fast and acrobatic. It was not going to be an easy win. She didn't move very well while she was solid. The two circled each other as they sized each other up.

Yellow began to run, she'd zoom in close, get in a few swings with her sticks and dash away. It was all Master could do to block the blows, she was that fast. Yellow began to move again. Master, so far dodging, turned solid and stepped into her path.

Yellow hit solid matter at a high rate of speed and bounced back, crashing into the ground a skidding. She almost feel off the roof. She managed to get a hold on the edge by dropping her sticks. She hefted herself back onto the roof. Master was coming at her axe raised.

Yellow's power Topaz began to glow. She grabbed the Axe handle. A streak of lightning flashed. It hit the Axe and sent Dark Master flying from the shock.

Phantom Blue faced one of his best friends, now under the influence of an evil Sword. He also seemed to be having some sort of relationship with his other best friend, also evil. It was all just too weird. "We're gonna fix this, Nath," he said as his sticks appeared. His plan was to get in close before Nathan could get enough distance to use his Power Bow.

He didn't realize that Mina had already taken that into account and gave Dark Terror an alternate weapon. "I don't need fixing, Danny," he said. What appeared to be curved bladed tonfa appeared in his hands. He rushed forward. The two of them traded blows, lashing out with their weapons, arms, legs.

Blue was shocked at the level of skill displayed by his friend. He jumped back. "Somebody's been practicin'," he muttered.

"Yes," Terror answered. He suddenly threw his weapons at Blue discus style. He levitated and summoned the Power Bow.

"Crap," Blue said. He'd managed to deflect the weapons, but now he was running, zigzagging, and taking cover as arrows zoomed at him. He also tried to avoid getting in anyone else's way. He needed a way to knock him out of the sky. His Power Sapphire began to glow. He suddenly stopped and turned. This building was the kind that had it's own water reservoir. The door suddenly burst open and a thousand pounds of water crashed into Dark Terror, guided by Phantom Blue's hands.

Dark Triumph waited patiently while Phantom Pink approached her. "You're cut off from the Power Sword. What do you hope to accomplish?" she asked.

Pink shrugged. "Hopefully, getting my friends and my boyfriend back to normal," she answered and her twin sticks appeared.

Triumph scoffed. "How do you plan on doing that? With some sticks? The Sword is more powerful than you can even imagine. So am I. Admittedly, I didn't calculate this turn of events, but when it's all over, it'll merely serve to convince everyone once and for all that joining us is the only choice. Things on this planet will be so much better for everyone with us in charge," she said. "You will all understand in time," she said and attacked.

Pink was taken aback by her sudden and well executed attack. She brought her sticks up to defend. "I see you've taken advantage of Tai and Sora," she remarked.

"Naturally," Triumph agreed. She came at Pink again. Pink barely had enough time to deflect, but while Triumph was better than she expected, the girl had been a barely proficient in karate klutz. Pink had been training since she could walk. She thought she'd get the upper hand, but the Sword of Darkness itself didn't want to be defeated. It gave Triumph boosted speed, agility and strength.

Sometimes, more than her sticks, Pink's insane elasticity saved her hide. Sometimes it didn't. Triumph managed to slip under her guard and slash her across the chest several times. She fell back with a cry. Her Power Ruby began to glow and thrusts her hands out at Triumph. A localized vortex of wind energy scooped her up and whirled her away. It dropped her as it dissipated.

-x-

The ferocious orange bird monster, Freakbeak literally crowed as his energy attack exploded around him. He was sure he had the Astro Rangers beaten. He wasn't far from the the truth. They lay around him, smoking.

Astro Red clambered to his feet. Around him, the other Rangers got to their feet as well. "That was pretty good, but it's going to take more than that," he said.

Freakbeak spluttered. "That's not possible. You're all out of date. Weak," he squawked.

"We'll see about that," Red said. He pulled his Astro Blaster and combined it with his Spiral Saber. "Spiral Saber Booster Mode!"

"Quadro Blaster!" Astro Pink ordered. They combined the Lunar lance, the Astro Axe, Star Slinger and Satellite Stunner into one weapon wielded by Astro Black.

"Super Nebulizer!" Astro Violet changed her weapon's configuration.

They pointed each weapon at the monster and fired. They fired. Beans of red, white and violet energy crashed into him, exploding.

"I forgot how much fun that could be," Astro Black remarked.

Freakbeak squawked and flapped his wing. He was smoking, sparking, and hurt but he was not down. "That all you got? Let me show you my Bird Fu!" he screamed and ran forward. He began spinning, bouncing around like a top, hitting each Ranger several times before they could react. They went flying in a shower of small explosions. They landed hard, losing their Morphs.

Jason gritted his teeth as he got to his feet.

Freakbeak squawked in surprise as the others pushed themselves up as well. "Surrendering on your feet? I can respect that," he said smugly.

"Never," Jason said.

"Eh? Eh? What's that you say?" he demanded.

"Never!" Kim shouted.

"Never give up!" Cassie said.

"Never surrender!" TJ agreed.

"Let's Rocket!" Billy called.

-x-

Meanwing nervously scratched at the ground with a talon as he waited for the results of his attack. He expected victory. These Rangers were weak, after all. Old. Retired.

Obsolete.

Zeo Red coughed as he stood. He dusted bits of debris off his shoulders. He helped Pink to her feet. Blue, Green and Yellow got to their feet as well.

Meanwing clucked loudly. "How'd you do that?" he asked and jerked his head around, as if looking for the secret to some trick.

"The Zeo Crystals are old, powered down. They're still more than a match for you," Red said. "Zeo Blaster!" The Zeo Rangers came together and joined their weapons to form a weapon wielded by Red. They fired on the monster.

Meanwing staggered back, sparked and smoked. Has he fizzled he squawked and his feathered fluffed out. "Not bad, but not good enough. Behind my Fly Swan Do!" he said, running forward and flapping his wings. He took to the air and began to fly around them, hitting them multiple times with his claws. When he landed, they exploded and went flying.

Their Morphs failed as they lay there. Meanwing, scratched at the ground again. His chest feathers fluffed out again as he strutted cockily.

"You think you're cock of the walk?" Tommy asked as he sat up.

"You got another thing coming," Rocky piped up and got to his feet with a wince. His old back injury twinged slightly.

Meanwing turned toward them slowly. "How?" he demanded.

"That's the best part," Aisha said as she and Kat to their feet.

"It's something Zordon once told us," Kat said.

"It's human factor," Adam declared.

Meanwing clucked nervously. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"We'll show you," Tommy said. "It's Morphin' Time!"

-x-

Rei had been hiding in the shadows while the Dark Rangers were being distracted. Rex had specifically taken her aside to ask her a question about White spells and love. She had to admit, his plan was kind of ingenious. It was also their only chance. They didn't have time to teach the spell she needed to use to Taran. Really everything was up to her.

That was scary. She was more afraid of messing this up now than she had been the entire time she was in the Mystic Realm helping her mother prepare for what she called the trials before the coming of the Light. Yeah, her mother was cryptic like that.

She watched Phantom Blue all but drown Dark Terror. He landed in a soggy heap. She dashed forward. She caught him just as he was sitting up. She in front of him and held her hands on the either side of his head and began to chant. Her White magic wasn't strong enough to break the spell that the Sword of Darkness wove over him. She knew that.

That wasn't their endgame. She was using her White magic to amplify his natural feelings of love to overwhelm the Dark spell long enough to make a difference. She agreed with Rex. Nathan's love for Billie was their last best hope to bring an end to this once and for all.

Dark Terror was frozen, his head felt like it was going to explode.

Dark Triumph got to her feet, she gripped her Sword and was about to have at Phantom Pink again when she saw Rei standing over Dark Terror. "Get away from him!" she shouted.

Rei glanced toward her voice. Triumph threw her Sword. Terror knocked Rei back out of the way. The Sword caught him, going through his shoulder. He gasped in pain unable to do anything else.

"No!" Triumph shouted and ran to him. "Oh, my God. Nathan. I'm so sorry," she whispered. Tears filled her eyes behind her helmet.

"Hurts. Get it out," Terror said through clenched teeth. He cried out when her attempt to remove it failed.

Triumph was suddenly torn. It was either him or the Sword. His Morph fizzled and failed. He clutched at his shoulder. Pain etched his face. "Billie," he whispered.

Triumph gripped the Sword. "I'm sorry. This is going to hurt," she said softly. She briefly touched his face. He gritted his teeth and nodded. She gripped the Sword again and yanked up. Nathan screamed as loud as the blade when it warped and bent. It shattered releasing a shockwave of energy that blew everyone off the roof except the two of them.

The power source of the Dark Morphs now destroyed, their Morphs fizzled and failed for good.

On a completely different roof Phantom and Dark Tyrant traded blows. Tyrant suddenly faltered and staggered, his Morph failing. Phantom was already mid-swing. His armored fist connected with his friends unprotected face. "Son of a-- Tai!" he said as the ungainly frame staggered. He caught him.

"Ow," Tai grumbled and rubbed his jaw.

"Oh, shut up. You deserved that," Phantom said.

"I guess I did," Tai agreed starkly. Phantom hugged him. Tai hugged back.

Phantom stepped back and his Morph disappeared. Five bright lights were suddenly absorbed into his Power Ruby. His Phantomizer itself disappeared. "Huh, destiny accomplished," he declared.

"Yeah...about that. We need to have a talk about that," Tai said.

Rex nodded. "Regroup on the roof," he said into his communicator. He and Tai took the easy route and teleported to where Billie was sobbing quietly and using one of her handheld healing devices on Nathan's shoulder.

Wood was gripping his sore stomach when he arrived with Fox. "Remind me never to underestimate you again," he complained. Fox just grinned.

Tori gave an inarticulate squeak as she reappeared. She hugged Wood, who painfully hugged her back. Danny and Chloe reappeared and hugged it out.

Soon, everyone had reappeared on the roof and much hugging was done. Except for Fox. "I ain't huggin' those jerk-wads. The rest of them didn't turn into snarling, bratty dill weeds to everyone," he said, looking at Autumn and Win. They were shamefaced and couldn't deny it.

"Sorry about that," Billie said with a sniff. "The Sword of Darkness was screwing with Autumn's aura reading abilities. She was constantly irritable because of it. It was also warped slightly by the changes Widow made to Winter's body, elevating his aggression. Fixing them was on my to-do list," she murmured. She avoided looking Nathan in the face as she assured that his shoulder wound was beginning to knit together.

She pulled a device out of her pocket and pressed a button. "The Morph blocker has been deactivated," she said as she got to her feet.

Danny came to help Nathan stand.

"Just in time. Although someone had the genius idea of throwing the elders into the line of fire, we should probably go relieve them and take out the monsters once and for all," Tai said. "We'll deal with all this afterwards," he added grimly.

"Then this is where we'll take our leave," Moriko said. "Be wary Rangers. Next time we meet we may not be on the side of things." She gave them a dainty wave.

Griff have them a two-fingered salute. The two of them disappeared in puffs of smoke.

"Shoulder going to make it?" Rex asked Nathan.

"It'll have to," Nathan said and gave it an experimental twist. He winced but he could handle it.

"I'll just go watch on the big screen," Fox said and teleported. When he moved into the Command Center, he'd been given a communicator/teleporter the same as the older Rangers.

Tai twisted his wrists making his cuffs appear. "It's Morphin' Time!"

-x-

Meanwing found getting rid of the Astro Rangers was a lot harder than he realized. They couldn't hope to defeat him, yet they bounced back from everything they threw at him.

Freakbeak was finding that to be true of the Zeo Rangers.

The two teams of Rangers had managed to bring the two monsters to the same spot in the city. They looked at each other then looked at the Rangers. They ran into each other's arms and embraced. They rippled as they became one larger, bright red and yellow bird monster.

"Oh, that can't be good," Zeo Red commented.

"It never is when they do stuff like that," Astro Red agreed.

"Meanbeak Wingjitsu!" the bird monster crowed and began zigzagging, leaving blurred after-images of itself, making his way through the Rangers, slashing and shooting them with eye beams. They went flying in all directions, once again losing their Morphs. This time, they weren't sure they had it in them to get up again.

They didn't have to.

Multi-colored beams of light hit the monster, making him stagger and spark. "Whaaat? Whaat?" he squawked, flipping his wings and puffing out his rustled feathers. He found himself surrounded by a united front of Power Rangers.

"Thanks for all the help but we got it from here," the male T-Rex Ranger said to the elders.

"We'll leave you too it," Tommy said, getting to his feet.

"Send him our love," Jason added. He and the rest of the elders teleported back to the Command Center.

"Go," male Red said.

Silver sprang forward. He split into three. One of him summoned his CeratoSword and the other two retained access to the two smaller swords. As they ran by they slashed into sides. The him with the CeratoSword jumped and slashed him down the middle.

Weapons out already, Gold and Electrum rushed ahead. She elegantly slashed him several times with the VelociRapier. He simply smashed the monster in the face with the StegoMace.

Female Green used her Power Staff as a pole vault and smashed her entire body into the monster, feet first. Stygian Armor already summoned, male Green used his Blade to jab. The Yellow team went in close and used their weapons before moving away. Female Pink whirled in close.

"You're Bird Fu is strong," Meanbeak squawked painfully. He didn't get a chance to say more as a succession of pink energy arrows hit him in the chest. Female Blue ran at him and jumped, stabbing her Power Sai into the sides of neck. She jumped away as male Blue slashed him several times with his Power Lance.

The Black Team moved in next. Female black cut one of wings off with her Power Axe. Male Black used his Scythe blade to do the same to the other.

Bother powered up Reds rushed forward. they used the Power Sword and the Tyranno Sword to slash him all over, leaving red streaks in their wake.

Meanbeak spark and exploded but he wasn't out. Yet.

"Magnum Blast!" male Black had summoned the cannon while the Reds were slashing at the monster. The cannon fire barreled through the bird monster. He really did explode that time. He came together again, growing to enormous proportions.

He crowed triumphantly and began demonstrating his magnificence in bird related martial arts on the buildings around him.

"The Zords aren't powered up enough to win but if we double team him with the Magna Alpha Megazord and the Alphamax Cannon we should do it," male Black stated.

"Magna Alpha Megazord," female Red summoned.

"I definitely need that upgrade," male Red declared. "All right Holly, Alphamax Cannon!" he said.

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. It teleported female Red, male Black, female Pink, male Blue, female Yellow, male Green, Gold, Silver and Electrum in the shared cockpit.

The Alphamax Cannon appeared beside the Magna Alpha Megazord. Male red, female Black, male Pink, female Blue, male Yellow and female Green were teleported aboard.

Meanbeak squawked. "Not this time, Rangers. I'm a thousands times more powerful!" he said and launched an array of eye beams at them.

The Megazord was rocked. "We can't take much of that," male Blue said.

"I'm on it," female Red said. "Magnum Dino Blast!" She lined the target up on her screen. She pressed the buttons, the dino mouths come open and their tail whipped up and four points of energy where fired at the monster.

Male Red approached the center console in the cannon. He grabbed the dual joysticks and targeted the monster. "Target Acquired. Firing!" He 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.

Both blasts combined into one awesomely devastating blast that practically vaporized the monster. They heard one pathetically loud squawk as the monster turned to dust. There would be no clay fragments from that encounter.

-x-

Palace on the Moon

Widow sat in Roki's throne, holding her head. She was not a defeatist but she had to admit, she was a little afraid at the moment. She'd thrown everything she possibly could at the Rangers. Her latest scheme had backfired in a hideous way. "This is all your fault," she hissed at Zita.

"Don't blame me. I merely made a suggestion. You were the one who couldn't wait to reforge the Sword of Darkness," Zita shot back.

"It's all your faults. Move on," Moriko said as she joined them. Griff followed her silently.

"You have some nerve coming back here," Widow snarled.

Moriko raised a brow, unfazed. "I was doing what I could to correct the situation all three of you created," she said.

Widow made a noise somewhere between a scoff and a growl. She couldn't really argue with that. "I suppose the question is what now?" she said.

"That, my dear, is what I have been researching the past while," Roki said as he walked in calmly. "Pack your bags, my love, we're going on a trip," he said. He had a particularly gleefully wicked expression on his face. He didn't seem worried in the least that they'd suffered another crushing defeat.

"On a trip?" Zita asked.

"Color me intrigued, husband. Where are we going?' she asked.

"The Shadovian Cluster in the M51 Galaxy," he answered. His sisters gasped and Griff raised a brow.

"That's deep into Vilite territory. What could be so important that you'd risk that?" she asked.

"Roki, that's insanity. The Shadovian Cluster is where Grandfather keeps his most prized and dangerous assets. Are you proposing to steal from him?" she asked.

Roki shook his head. It was rather well known that as children born after their parents were caught in the the Z-Wave, Roki and Zita were not welcome in M51 despite their evil natures and deeds. "No. It had nothing to do with anything he claims as his. If it all goes according to plan, he'll never even know we were there," he said. His excitement hadn't dulled at all.

"You still haven't explained what you're after there," Moriko pointed out.

"I'm after enough power to defeat the Power Rangers and conquer Earth once and for all," he said. He held a hand out to Widow. "Will you follow me?" he asked.

Widow reached out and took his hand. "Of course," she agreed.

He pulled in close for a hug and dropped a kiss on her lips. "While we're gone, you'll continue to pester and annoy the Rangers?" he asked his sisters.

"Naturally," Zita agreed.

"It'd be kind of dull around here otherwise," Moriko agreed.

Roki nodded. "We have much to do before we leave," he said and pulled Widow along with him.

Zita and Moriko looked at each other for a long moment. Zita turned on her heel and went to her room. Moriko sighed. She draped herself around Griff. "It's been a long day. Let's go rest for awhile," she said.

Griff scooped her up in his arms. "If you insist," he said and carried her out of the throne room.

-x-

Holly had been busy recoding the security system in the Command Center to allow the formerly evil Rangers in. They had no trouble regrouping there after the fight. There was a momentary tense silence then a hail of cheers went up, celebrating the return to grace.

Billie pulled Lammy aside. "I deactivated the Darktrons and sent them back to the Dark Dimension but I need you to do something for me," she said quietly.

"What is it?" Lammy asked.

Billie sighed deeply. "There are things there that I was working on. World dominating things. If anyone ever found them and activated or finished them it'd be devastating. I need you to get everything. Destroy it," she said. "You're the only one here who can get into the Dark Dimension," she said.

Lammy nodded. "Consider it done," she promised. She gave her arm a squeeze. She disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Where'd Lammy go?" Taran asked.

Billie just shook her head. She couldn't explain again. She couldn't face it. "I'm going home," she declared and teleported out before anyone could stop her.

"Should someone go after her?" Wood asked.

Nathan shook his head. "I'll talk to her, give her some space," he said. "I'm finding me a medi-bed," he said and wandered into the Medi-Lab.

"I am so glad our family is whole again," Beez declared.

"Yeah, us, too Beez," Danny said.

"We can regroup later. Everyone looks like they're about to keel over at any given moment. Young or old, go home," Tai said.

"This is my home," Fox declared with a sniff.

"No it's not. If you're still ticked at Win and Autumn, you can crash in my basement, Grasshopper," Rex declared.

"Whatever you say, seifu," Fox agreed with dignity. Rex rolled his eyes and teleported out with Fox. He'd catch up with Jason later. At the moment he seemed to be having a serious whispered conversation with Cassie.

"It's gonna take some time to make it up to him," Autumn said glumly.

"And he's going to make us sweat it to the very end," Winter agreed woefully. "I've still got to find a way to apologize to AJ," he added with a wince.

"He's gone," Taran said.

"Gone?" Winter asked.

Taran nodded. "Left the day after your fight. Don't worry. I'm sure you'll get your chance. Why don't we go drink coffee and wait for Lammy to get back from her errand?" They agreed glumly and they teleported out.

Rei was in the Command Center, but while the Rangers were fighting Meanbeak, she'd been discarding the shards of the Sword of Darkness. With any luck she'd hidden the pieces so well, no one would ever be able to use it again. She watched Sora approach her frowning severely. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Griff told me how dangerous it is for you to see your mother. Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, slightly hurt.

Rei sighed. "I didn't want you to worry," she said.

"Now isn't the place, let's get back to my apartment and talk about this," he said. She nodded and the two of them left.

Tori pretty much hadn't stopped hugging Wood and Chloe. At the same time. She was attached to each of them. "Let's go get some fries and ice cream," she said. "Danny, you too," she said.

"A'ight," Danny agreed.

"Are you ever going to let me breath again?" Chloe asked.

"Nope," Tori answered.

"My stomach is still kind of sore," Wood complained.

"Sorry, but I'm not letting either of you go," she declared.

Danny chuckled. The four of them teleported.

Manny went to Holly. "Let's go. I think those two need a moment," she said and nodded to where Lani and Tai stood awkwardly apart. Holly nodded. They teleported out.

Lani blushed. Her friends were so obvious. Tai reached a hand out. "Why don't we go somewhere quiet to talk?" he said. Lani eschewed his hand and hugged him around the middle. Tai hugged her back and teleported.

-x-

By the next day Lammy's Dormite reversal potion was finished and Beez began distributing it to everyone affected by the spell. The first people they used it on were Zara and Melody. They were quite irritated to have slept through all the action. Zara was doubly irate because someone had used the Digimorpher intended for her. She was steamed.

Fox brought her a hamburger and some fries to cheer her up. She had to admit, earth food tended to do that. Especially meat. There weren't many animals on KO-35 that were substantial enough for people to actually eat. She gave him a grateful smile around a mouthful of burger.

Melody was just disappointed she missed all the Phantom action. Beez cheered her up by letting her watch the footage of the fight.

-x-

Rex strolled into Jason's office at the Dojo. Jason raised a brow. "Just making sure everything got back to its proper place," he answered the unspoken question.

"It did," Jason assured him. "I trusted you with a secret, Rex," he said finally.

Rex nodded. "And I'll keep it. Tai will probably figure it out," he said.

Jason nodded. "Probably already has," he declared. "He won't bother to ask."

Rex shook his head. "So when you retire..."

"The Power ruby chooses it's new host as much as I do," Jason answered.

"Yeah, that's what I figured," Rex said. He got up. "Welp, I'll leave you to it," he said and wandered out. He felt strangely unsettled. He couldn't figure out why. Maybe in time he'd feel like his old self again. After all, he helped end the Eclipse. He was the New Hope and when he grew up, he was going to be the Phantom Ranger.

-xEnd Chapter 17x-           

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