The battlefield was nothing but a choking smoke. Tanya cleared the air in front of her, waving her hand around, but it had done nothing to improve the visibility. She cupped her hands around her nose and mouth, calling into the cloud of smoke.

"Adam!" she screamed. "Where are you?"

There was no reply, save for the booms of distant explosions and her own coughs. The dust was getting into her airways, and Tanya realized that the protective helmets of their Power Ranger costumes could filter dust out, maximizing oxygen intake. But what was that Zordon had said about not escalating the level of battle unless forced to?

"Fuck that," Tanya spat out loud. "My boyfriend's in trouble and I can't breathe. Zeo Ranger Two, Yellow!" A yellowish gold light of electricity surround Tanya's body, solidifying just over her skin to form a tight form fitting spandex suit that was far more durable than it looked. It was this battle suit that had protected her from gunshot wounds, whether they were from bullets or laser beams, powerful punches and kicks from enemies, and various other bumps and bruises she might have otherwise suffered in the heat of battle.

The visor on her battle helmet consisted of two parallel horizontal strips that stretched the length of both her eyes. From them, the helmet's heat sensors pierced the cloud of smoke, and immediately, the infrared images of flames showed up on her visor. Her eyes scanned the surrounding area for human bodies, though he was really looking for Adam. The ground was littered with dead and dying bodies, each one spilling out whatever amounts of blood they once held. They were all cooling, not one of them had a beating heart, making her own sink at the sorry sight.

Could King Mondo have done this? There was nobody else to blame at this point. And yes, the Machine Empire king was usually responsible lately for the barrage of attacks against the citizens of Angel grove. But never before had Tanya seen such devastation caused by Mondo's forces.

The buildings that flanked both sides of the street – she had only just been able to make it out from the infrared's abilities – were cracked, damaged and burning. Large hunks of debris lay scattered on the road. Cars had been overturned with people still in them. And now their passengers lay burning in the wreckage. It was hard to believe that anyone could've survived this onslaught, but Tanya knew that Adam survived. He was a Power Ranger for goodness sake. If anyone could survive …

"ADAM!" she suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs. Tanya's brains told her one things but her heart told her another. What would she do if Adam was dead? Her heart leapt into her throat. She began running blindly through the smog, looking for his familiar form, yet hoping that she wouldn't see his corpse lying here in all of it.

"Tanya, is that you?" someone had called out. She recognized the voice, but it wasn't Adam.

"Oh God, Tommy, please help!" she called out, sinking to her knees. Tanya had no confirmation that Adam was dead yet, no reason to believe it, yet the concept weakened her – with or without the protection of her Power Ranger uniform.

"Stay right there!" Tommy's authoritative voice called out. "We'll be right with you."

Tanya heard the footsteps. She tried looking around for any approaching forms, but only saw the blurred concoction of red, yellow, blue and green lights. The infrared was still activated and the tears that had welled up in her eyes weren't letting her make any sense of their shape.

Tanya felt a warm hand touch her shoulder through the suit. "What happened?" Jason asked. He had followed Tommy here, apparently. They too had transformed into their Power Ranger uniforms, most likely before their battle had even begun - a practice made common now since Mondo's forces were far more powerful than Zedd and Rita's had ever been. "Did you find Adam? Is he alright?"

But she was too overwhelmed with emotion for her to speak properly. Tanya just shook her head and sobbed.

"He's …" Tommy suggested, but Tanya shook her head again.

"I just don't know!" she sobbed.

"Pull yourself together, girl," Jason said, taking her by the shoulders. "You haven't seen him yet, have you?"

"No."

"Good, so now isn't the time to get all caught up in the possibilities. We'll pull ourselves together, regroup at the Power Chamber, and figure out what to do next." Jason spoke to Tanya with a strong, comforting tone. She knew that he was once the leader of the Power Rangers, though she wasn't around yet to witness it first hand. But now, after the way he handled her when her emotions had gone spastic, she could still see that he retained some of that leadership, even though Tommy had been the official leader for the past two years. From that moment on, Tanya knew she could trust Jason's abilities to head the team. She had his permission to challenge Tommy for the sake of the team, should the need ever arise.

XXXXX

Adam had found Kenny lying at the base of a tree, a few blocks down the street from the pizza parlor. Everything within a one block radius of the joint had been completely destroyed – leveled. Everyone had simply been beaten to death. Adam was thankful that he'd sent Kenny away earlier, giving him to fight off the attacking Cogs sent by Mondo. But he wasn't sure how Kenny had faired.

His relief was immense when he saw Kenny lying there, completely unconscious. Adam was still dressed in the armor of the Green Zeo Ranger, so even had Kenny been awake, there was no way his new friend would recognize the teen behind the suit. Adam placed his hands by the sides of Kenny's head, pressing gently, feeling for broken bones. He looked at his skin, searching for any scratches or bruising. Aside from the bruising, he looked alright, except for the trail of blood that ran down the center of his face. Adam moved his hands over Kenny's skull, feeling skin damage and big bump just above the hairline. But other than that, he seemed okay. But there was no way Adam could tell for certain right now. He would have to take Kenny back to the Power Chamber to be sure. And that would mean taking a civilian into Power Ranger headquarters. What would Zordon say about that? Surely Kenny would be allowed in, if it saved his life. But … what if it risked revealing the identity of the Power Rangers? It couldn't! They would just have to keep their helmets on.

Adam bent down to pick up Kenny and winced in pain. He'd forgotten that he sustained injuries in the battle with Gasket and Archerina. The two of them were quite the pair. Young, in love, and hell of a pair of fighters. He'd fought his best against the both of them at once, but in the end, they had proved to be too much for him to handle alone. That was when he pulled back into the rising smoke, keeping his fingers crossed that they wouldn't be able to see him, like they'd missed him back at the parlor. Fortunately for him, they were too absorbed into their egos, bragging about how easily they could bring a single Power Ranger down to his knees, when Adam was able to slip away quietly. Adam had paged his fellow Power Rangers to assist in the battle, but found that he was being overpowered far more quickly than he thought he would. Retreat seemed like the only answer.

He'd been walking for a few minutes, still cloaked in his suit before he found Kenny. And he now realized he was in no shape to bring the kid anywhere. The only option was to wait for the other rangers to arrive. But had they already? There was no way to tell, seeing as how he'd fled the scene before confirming whether or not his teammates had arrived. Adam was in no shape to walk back the way he came. He wasn't sure if Gasket and Archerina still haunted the area. And if they did, he was in no shape to tackle to both of them. For the second time that day, Adam brought his communicator to his lips, found a place beside Kenny to sit, and made the call for help.

XXXXX

The Power Chamber was a vast domed hall made of a metallic support structure covered with stone. It was like the architectural aspects of the past had combined with the technology of the present, melding to each other to form superior columns of stone around the perimeter, centered around a central wall, rounded in structure. Within the central wall were six insets, each one sleekly covered by a clear, thick piece of glass. Within these insets, standing proudly in various poses were the costumes of the previous Power Ranger incarnations, the only remaining piece of dignity they had, after being ruthlessly destroyed in a final battle with Rita and Lord Zedd about one year ago.

The perimeter pillars supported the arched roof of the Power Chamber, but were also connected by a thick wall made of the same kind of pale stone, sporting all sorts of technologically advanced monitors, computer consoles, electric conductors, surgery tables, all packed conveniently into a room the size of a small church.

Tanya paced around back and forth with her arms folded tightly under her breasts. She hung her head down, not looking up at the other Power Rangers who looked with worried expressions at her. The blonde, beautiful Katherine Hillard hugged Tommy with what seemed like remorse for Adam. Then again, any reason was an excuse to hang onto Tommy for her.

Jason was leaning against one of the numerous computer consoles, one brawny arm lying across his chest, the other supporting his chin, as if he was in deep thought. Silence filled the air of the Power Chamber. Even Zordon, the giant, warped head floating in its enormous tube was silent, the first in as long as any of the Rangers could remember.

They had tried contacting Adam. Something must've happened to his wrist communicator because he was not answering it. It was Tanya's idea to search the area where Adam had made his initial call from, but there were so many bodies lying around that they posed an immediate health risk to the city and needed to be removed promptly and properly by the authorities. There was no room for the Power Rangers to look for their fallen comrade.

"If Adam's hurt, someone might have discovered who he is," Rocky said, Adam's best friend since the pair of them had moved in from neighboring city, Stone Canyon, together.

Tanya looked at him and rolled her eyes. "That's the least of our worries at this point!" she said. Tanya liked Rocky, she really did. The Spanish kid had was bright, playful, cheerful and funny. But he knew when to get down to business. She also knew that Aisha, her predecessor on the Power Rangers force, along with Adam, were tight with Rocky. But sometimes, the guy could have the most warped priorities. "How are we going to tell his parents that Adam died protecting the Earth as a Power Ranger!"

Noticing Tanya's frustration, Rocky knew it was better to let her vent her frustrations than push anymore of her buttons. But then, how selfish was she being by acting like she was the only one that cared for Adam's well being? After all, she'd just started dating Adam only recently, while Rocky had been there by his side since they were kids! Rocky wanted to say something, but forced himself to keep his mouth shut, if he didn't want to end up apologizing to Tanya later.

"Guys … your … something's … teleport …"

"That's Adam!" Tanya cried, racing towards the viewing globe. The viewing globe was a globe constructed of some enchanted crystal, hooked up with the latest technology to make it an orb that projected real life footage from within its arched confines. This allowed the Rangers to monitor the activities on the surface of Earth. This time, it was a welcome sight.

It was Adam sitting at the base of the tree. His helmet was off, but there was nobody in the immediate surroundings, at least none that anyone could see. The five Power Rangers gathered around the viewing globe, barely leaving room for each other to get a proper view. Adam's black hair hung down his face, barely revealing his eyes as he called desperately into the communicator. Smudges of dirt and crusted blood ran along his cheeks and forehead, coated in a fine layer of sweat. A younger boy lay against Adam, the back of his head resting against his shoulder. The boy was completely knocked out cold with a trail of blood running down the middle of his face, blood that looked like it was near drying. The wound was far from fresh, the Rangers could tell. How long had he been without treatment?

"Trace the signal," Rocky ordered to nobody in particular, but the Power Chamber's technician, Mr. Billy Cranston got right on the job, dashing to what looked like a random console and began punching its numerous buttons.

"Relax, Adam," Billy said, "we'll get you and your friend here in no time."

Meanwhile the others stayed glued to the viewing globe, continuing their moment of silenced shock.