Hayley nodded gravely as the two former Rangers recounted their story. She sighed and rubbed her temple. "This is definitely worse than I thought it would be."

"I get that the whole universe falling apart is pretty bad," Tori said after a few moments of silence. "But stopping Lord Drakkon and this Ivan Ooze guy should be our first priority."

"She's right," Adam near instantly replied. "I mean, there's no point in worrying about the universe if our world is already doomed."

"That's true," Rocky agreed.

"That's not entirely true," Tanya shot back. "We have other planets we can go to if things get too bad."

"Say that to the millions of people who'll die," Tori said.

Tanya silently seethed.

"Well thankfully we've already found a way to take care of Ivan Ooze," Jason explained.

"Yeah?" Rocky asked. "Well don't leave us hanging."

"Ivan Ooze is a creature of pure negative energy," Zack explained. "Therefore if we can direct the full power of the Zeo Crystal together we can cancel him out of existence."

"There's only one problem," Tanya said. "We only have four of the sub-crystals."

Jason and Zack simply smiled to one another. "Actually we have that covered too." Jason threw a small folder down onto Hayley's desk.

"What's that?" She asked.

"It's a list of all those that boarded Terra Venture."

"You can't be serious…" Adam mumbled.

"That's why it seemed like Kat fell off the face of the Earth!" Tanya exclaimed, "Because she literally did!"

"So how are we going to contact her?" Rocky asked. "Nobody's gotten ahold of Terra Venture since it left the solar system."

"Nobody the government is willing to acknowledge," Jason clarified. "There's a wormhole right outside of the asteroid belt, another strange anomaly we've connected back to the universal deterioration. We also know that the wormhole leads to the planet Mirionoi, a world that the pilgrims of Terra Venture made their home."

"So what then?" Rocky asked, "Does that mean we're all gonna just pack up and go on a big old space adventure?" Rocky's voice was sarcastic but his eyes gleamed with excitement.

"Not all of us," Tanya said with a stern expression. "We still need some people to stay behind and hold down the fort until we can get the Zeo Crystal back together."

Nobody spoke for a while.

"I'm staying here," Zack said. "Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the final frontier, but I've got responsibilities here on Earth. Plus Angela would kill me."

"Me too," Jason said, "I mean disregarding the Angela thing. We're both kinda getting paid to keep Earth safe now."

"Well nobody's paying me," Tori said, "And I've always wanted to see an alien world."

"I'm going too," Adam said.

"Same," Tanya said abruptly.

Rocky looked from Adam to Hayley. "I gotta stick with my team. Besides, I didn't get invited to the moon, so I'm not gonna miss out on this too."

Jason rolled his eyes, "I meant to invite you, but I couldn't get your address."

"Yet somehow you managed to get a hold of the freaking Aquitar Ranger," Rocky was still grinning but Jason seemed a little annoyed.

"I'm staying," Hayley said.

"Well actually…" Jason, "We were kinda hoping you could fly the ship."

Hayley grew pale and frowned, "Wait… are you telling me everyone else gets a choice but me?"

"We didn't get a choice," Wes said. "Eric and I have to stay here to help manage to the Silver Guardians and remain as backup."

"I'm staying too," Trent said. "I'm sorry I messed up earlier but I want to keep protecting Reefside."

"Well I guess it's decided," Jason said. "The five of you will be escorted to NASADA tomorrow morning."

"You're not even gonna let me defend myself?" Hayley asked.

"Sorry," Jason said, "When you put that Morpher on your wrist you decided that the fate of the world comes first."

"Just because I wasn't around when Zordon gave you your powers doesn't mean I was born yesterday," Hayley spat. She quickly stormed out of the room and didn't look back.

Billy gave Ethan one last look before bending over his contraption. "We won't have a surplus of time after I set this off. We need to find out Morphers and get out. Preferably as fast as possible."

Ethan nodded. He didn't know what was coming next, but he was ready regardless.

Billy fingered the makeshift button. "Ready?"

"Ready."

Billy flicked the button. A small beeping noise echoed around the room and the impenetrable steel doors swung open.

Sirens immediately followed.

Ethan ran behind Billy who rushed forward like a scared rabbit. Ethan could hear the Tyrannodrones coming but he couldn't afford to look. He couldn't even afford to think about them.

The two turned into a hallway only to discover it completely infested with those robotic dinosaurs.

Instead, they turned back into the adjacent hallway.

They did this twice more before realizing they were lost.

"I'm a little disappointed. All you both had to do was just sit still and not cause any trouble."

Lord Drakkon was standing in the hallway.

His white armor was on but his helmet was under his arm. The corner of his mouth twitched into a grin. It was clear to Ethan at this point that the two of them were merely pawns, something to kill the time.

"Poor, poor Ethan," Lord Drakkon said with a showman's frown. "I had so much faith in you…"

"Can it!" Ethan spat, "You don't care about anything other than your own ambitions."

Lord Drakkon shrugged, "That may be true, but I'm also a man of compromise, and I'm willing to offer a share of my power to anyone willing to help me achieve my goals."

From behind Lord Drakkon stepped Conner. The site of his friend stirred strange feelings inside Ethan. He knew he was supposed to feel angry, but it had been so long since he'd been with his any of his teammates he actually felt desperate for that old connection.

"I wish I could say that I won't enjoy this," Conner said as he armed his Morpher.

Ethan felt his insides tense up. Lord Drakkon was bad enough, but there was no way they could hold their own against two Rangers.

"Ethan!" A voice exclaimed. He recognized instantly but it was more confused than anything else.

Elsa stood from just beyond the ranks of Tyrannodrones.

"What are you doing?" Lord Drakkon asked. He was more confused than angry.

Clearly, he hadn't seen the Morphers in her hand.

Conner had though, and a mask of fury bloomed over his face,

"Stop her!" He screamed and pressed the button on his Morpher. "Triassic Slayer!" He called as his crimson armor came over him.

Her body shifted into her scaly form as she cut into the oncoming Tyrannodrones.

With one chuck she threw both Morphers into the air.

They flew through the air with a few elegant twirls, and Ethan and Billy both caught them.

Lord Drakkon was fuming. He put his helmet back on his head and turned to the two Rangers. "I'm tired of both of you."

The White Ranger came rushing forward. His speed was impeccable, moving with a sort of deranged and yet still calculated rhythm.

"Dino Thunder, power up!"

"Phantom Power!"

The Blue Ranger just barely missed the White Ranger's swinging fist. The evil Ranger cursed and threw out his foot, kicking him in the ribs and forcing sparks out of his armor.

The Triassic Slayer came next. He stalked forward with his golden blade in hand. He swung like a guillotine, slicing into the Phantom Ranger's armor and erupting a rush of energy.

He laughed maniacally as he continued his onslaught.

"You can still join us," Lord Drakkon said. "I'm giving you one last chance."

"Forget it," Blue said without a moment's hesitation.

"That's a shame. You had potential."

"Still do, helmet head," The Blue Ranger said and his fist into Lord Drakkon. He didn't care if his line was cheesy, or even that it was actually self-ridiculing because Lord Drakkon had been caught off guard and was flying backward.

Lord Drakkon quickly regained himself and prepared to rush forward but a pair of strong scaly arms wrapped around him.

"Let go of me this instant!" He roared at Elsa.

Mesogog's former General looked up at Ethan with pleading eyes. "You have to find the real Tommy. As much as I hate to admit it he's the only one who can save us!"

Lord Drakkon chuckled and peeled her hands off his armor. "I hope you enjoyed your little rebellion." He grabbed hold of her humanoid head. She struggled hard against his tight grip, but it was hopeless.

With one powerful jerk, he snapped her neck.

The Phantom Ranger had managed to blast the Triassic Slayer away from him. He ran to the Blue Ranger and grabbed him.

"We have to get out of here," he called. "The exit should be this way." He tugged on the Blue Ranger but he didn't budge.

"I'm sorry," Blue muttered. "But I can't do that." He ran off, going towards neither the exit nor Lord Drakkon.

"We seriously don't have time for this," the Phantom Ranger said. "We got away from Lord Drakkon by sheer luck."

"Elsa was right."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"There's only one person who can save us."

The Blue Ranger summoned his blaster and shot through the steel doors. Finster jumped in surprise, his black monsters eyes widened with excitement.

"Give me the dimensional teleporter," he barked.

"Excuse me?" Finster asked in disbelief.

"You're insane!" The Phantom Ranger exclaimed. "This is the stupidest idea I've ever seen."

The Blue Ranger wasn't paying attention anymore. He had pushed Finster aside and grabbed the device.

"It's unstable," Finster cried, "I haven't found a way to accurately triangulate the decent. You could be transported right into a brick wall."

"I'll take my chance," Blue said and pressed the button. By that time a posse of Ooze Clones and Ivan Ooze himself had leaked inside.

The green portal opened up. Blue could feel its immense power. There was a flash of uncertainty in his chest. But it was too late now.

With one last deep breath, Ethan jumped into the portal.

Hayley sat alone in Cyber Space. She knew that she should be sleeping, but she was far too wired, too filled with anger.

How could they assume she was their pawn. She wasn't some disposable scientist. She was a freelance engineer, a self-taught entrepreneur, it didn't get much more independent than that.

A knocking at the shop door broke her back into reality. She grumbled to herself and swung the door open.

It was Rocky.

"What do you want?"

"I know you're upset."

"Well, that's perceptive."

"I'm trying to say that I get how you feel."

Hayley wanted to continue her wall of attitude, but Rocky had such a childlike look in his eyes. He was far too earnest for snark.

"Look," he said. "I'm really sorry they forced you into this. You have a right to be mad."

Hayley just nodded.

"But they trapped you into this because you're the only one who can do this and they know that."

"Well if they've been secretly building a rooster why'd they make a big thing out of letting you guys pick?"

"Because everyone else is disposable. We're just bodies. It doesn't matter if it's me or Jason out there. We both can wave a sword and kick ass. You're the only one of us who's smart enough to fly a spaceship. This isn't Ranger tech, our suits wouldn't tell us how to fly it. I can hardly even drive."

For a few moments, this made Hayley even angrier. She knew Rocky was right.

"We need you, Hayley," Rocky said. "I'm not here to force you to do anything you don't want to. I'm here to ask you."

Hayley felt a moment of deflation. Her shoulders sagged and she grunted slightly. She'd already known what Rocky was saying, but her anger mixed with the feeling of entrapment until she had completely denied the feelings. "I'll be there tomorrow."

Rocky grinned. "Thank you."

Ivan Ooze looked down at the Oozemen glowing with moonlight. Each one had a pickaxe in hand and they were steadily tearing into the dirt. It was tough, tedious work, but it would be done no matter what.

Lord Drakkon was really nothing but an overzealous human, a mortal with his eyes set on the divine.

But he did have a good idea.

Ivan Ooze grinned to himself, never in his eternal existence would he have been able to put together such an ingenious scheme.

And he was all for it.

A/N: Well that officially concludes this chapter in the series. It's weird to think about how much has changed since I started this series, Lord Drakkon hadn't even been revealed as an alternate Tommy yet!

Next week there should be an update (fingers crossed) But I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to structure the next story. Anyway, see you then!

-Shadowhenshin