Disclaimer: All characters are property of Saban Entertainment. However, some names have been taken directly from Toei and Gekisou Sentai Carranger. This is purely because I like the Japanese name better than the American name. I have no intention of making a profit off of this story, so don't sue.

Trey, the Gold Ranger, has returned, with a way to restore the Zeo powers! But, will the rangers succeed with Divatox right at their door?

The Pirahnatron jumped at the sound of the nearby door, and the familiar ranting that belonged to its queen, Divatox. The brown-clad warrior had recently encountered the remains of a former teammate who had been torn asunder by an upset queen, and all Pirahnatrons had been warned to stay clear of her today. It was the rumor that Divatox had experienced a rather unpleasant nightmare last night, and several Pirahnatrons had reported her ranting about the Power Rangers, but other than that, nobody the Pirahnatron had talked to today knew exactly what was going on. Nevertheless, it quickly ran off. It had no wish to end up like its teammate.

"Porto!" cried Divatox. "Show yourself, coward! Come back here so I can scream at you some more!" Divatox was indeed upset. Two of her most brilliant plans - the gradual phasing of a ranger into the past, and the death-defeating LifeStorm - had been thwarted. And, while normally she never got into a rage, the dream she had last night, in which every ranger appeared to her and mocked her, had driven her temper past the border.

All of a sudden, a flash of white and orange streaked past Divatox's peripheral vision. Divatox smirked. For a fat blob, he sure could move fast when motivated. "Pirahnatrons!" she hollered. "Grab him!" Every Pirahnatron within earshot immediately blocked Porto's escape route and grabbed him. Each Pirahnatron held on for dear life, because they knew well that any who let go would be disassembled in a very painful manner by their queen.

"Well, Porto," Divatox said as she approached the struggling blob. "You have some explaining to do." Almost within the blink of an eye, Divatox became enraged. "First, you assured me that the autonomous chronometric anchored phase inducer would function properly. You were wrong!"

"Wait, wait, my queen! I swear, the phase inducer works! It's just that, well, the rangers must have found the anchor. I told you that Zordon's scanners can pick up chronometric readings. It must have been child's play to find something emitting as many chronometric waves as a phase inducer anchor, even if it was cloaked. I told you to find another way of hiding it, but-"

"So wait, now it's my fault?"

"Of course not, it's never your fault, my queen," Porto spat out nervously after seeing Divatox's eyes glow. "It's just that if the anchor was simply cloaked, it was doomed to failure. We can try again, this time trying to phase the anchor too." Porto's brow (or what would be considered a brow) wrinkled. "Oh wait, what am I saying, trying to phase an anchor. That would be ridiculous; when you consider that its main purpose is to pinpoint the present time, phasing it would be-"

"Okay look, I don't care about your science mumbo-jumbo. I'm telling you right now, the plan failed, and it's your fault! Now, about LifeStorm . . ."

"Ah yes, one of my favorite monsters ever. Look, my queen, it was not my fault the monster bled. We had to sacrifice something so it could incorporate the replication genes, but I must have taken out some of its natural defenses."

"Once again, it's your fault. What happened, Porto? I always counted on you to help me out. It was your genius that won us the war at Pelos XII. And Delgor VI. You had tons of ideas, and it was simply a matter of choosing which one to use. But now, when it comes to a measly planet like Sol III, you can't even come up with a plan that works! Tell me why I shouldn't kick you off the Baribarian right now!"

Porto gasped. In all his faithful years of service, never had he seriously considered the possibility of being kicked off his queen's private task force. "Please, Divatox, give me another chance!"

"Well . . . if it was someone else, probably not, but you've served me well, winning many planets with your inventions. Very well. Get to work on another plan right away."

Porto, now freed from the mass of Pirahnatrons surrounding him, fled towards the balcony of the Baribarian right away, intending to head to his lab. Instead, he paused for a moment to observe the sky. He had always been interested in space, even when his race discouraged dealing with outsiders. From his stance, he could see the rings of Saturn, the asteroid belt, and even a comet heading towards earth. Then, suddenly, something peculiar about the comet caught his eye. Intrigued, Porto ran straight to the external sensor lab, where he analyzed the comet. Upon further analysis, he discovered that he was hasty in calling it a comet.

"Divatox! I found something!"

Meanwhile, in Angel Grove, it was a sunny day, and everybody was taking advantage of it. Rocky and Adam were involved in a fierce game of flag football. Though many of the players objected to it, Adam brought Carlos into the game as well, helping out Adam's team since they were losing at the moment. Meanwhile, Tommy and Kat sat on the sidelines.

Kat was the most content she had been in a while. Originally, when Tommy had asked her out, she had been a bit hesitant. After spending a year in Angel Grove High School, she knew how close Tommy and Kim had been, and she was worried that their dating might be seen as "stealing" Kim's boyfriend, especially since many of the more uptight girls already considered Kat as Kim's snotty replacement (Little do they know, thought Kat). Her heart won out, though, and she accepted. Still, she could tell that both of them felt uneasy at the thought of the new couple, since they were both very close to Kimberly. Perhaps the lightest day of her heart came when Kim offered her blessings to the new couple shortly before leaving to return to Florida. She could tell a similar effect had a hold over Tommy, judging from his reaction.

Almost unconsciously, Kat said, "Tommy, I love you."

"Wha?" Tommy had been almost fully concentrated on the game, and he had not been expecting Kat to say anything.

Kat swatted her boyfriend playfully. "You heard what I said."

"Yeah. It was just a little sudden, you know?"

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Isn't this supposed to be the part where you say, 'I love you too'?"

"Oh yeah. Love ya. Now hush up, the game's almost tied." Instantly, both of them were laughing at Tommy's act. Kat leaned against Tommy, while he put his arm around her.

"Score!" yelled Rocky.

"Score?!" countered Carlos. "That was way out!"

"It was not! What do you say, Adam?"

Adam shrugged. "I'm going to have to agree with Carlos. Out."

Rocky shouted indignantly, "I don't believe this! We need a ref. That was completely in!"

From behind Rocky, Ryan, one of Rocky's teammates, came up and said, "C'mon, Rocko, just let it go. That was out. Even I say it was. We're leading by so much."

"Traitor! I want a new teammate!"

Carlos shouted, "And what do you mean, 'leading by so much'? We're almost caught up!"

"Not for long!" replied Ryan, as he ran off to grab the ball.

As Carlos ran off to whack Ryan a good one on the head, A familiar six-beep tone was heard. Instantly, Adam and Rocky ran off towards Tommy and Kat, who were already running towards a nearby building. When they reached their destination, Tommy brought up his communicator.

"Rangers," Zordon's voice intoned. "Teleport to the Power Chamber immediately. I've already contacted Tanya at the mall."

"Right," Tommy replied. "Let's go, guys."

"TREY!" Tommy was the first to regain his voice after Zordon revealed to the rangers their latest visitor. "Trey! Hey, man, how's it going?"

"Fine, thank you. Luckily, the week I spent here after I regained my Gold Ranger powers insured that I would not split back into my three selves."

Adam said, "So, uh, what are you doing back anyway? And so soon? I thought you said you were coming of age."

"That's right!" exclaimed Rocky. "Don't you have a lot of testing to do before you become king?"

Trey smiled slightly. "Yes, there's a lot that needs to be done. Unfortunately, the king cannot be the holder of the Gold Ranger powers. Too dangerous. And since I have no current son, the law dictates that I must either have a son or designate an heir for the powers. And well, I love being the Gold Ranger. I can't give it up just like that." Trey stopped for a second to acknowledge Tommy's understanding grin. "The law of Triforia says that my advisors are to pick an heir if they feel I am not actively searching for one. Luckily, most of my advisors understand my need to be the Gold Ranger. I don't think I'm going to get my powers stripped away just yet."

Tanya said, "But, just why are you back on Earth? You only left a few weeks ago."

Trey's face lit up in a big smile, something the rangers were not used to, as Trey was usually a sea of stolidity. "Back in Triforia, I asked one of my scientists to research the Zeo power in full. I felt that, since you had your powers stripped away so quickly, I should be prepared in case something like that happened to me. And he found something interesting." Trey held out his hand, and the Golden Power Staff appeared. "During one test designed to test the Gold Ranger powers under extreme duress, part of the power was removed from the staff." Noting the shocked expressions on the rangers' faces, he quickly added, "Don't worry. Even if all the power that was removed could not be returned, the Zeo energy would replenish itself within two months. And that's the point. The part my scientists removed replenished itself. It multiplied until it carried as much energy as the Golden Power Staff. It dissapated in the space of one hour, but if it had a Zeo energy to lock onto . . ."

"Like the Zeo energy in the Turbo powers!" Adam finished excitedly.

Trey nodded. "That is why I have come back. It is the least I can do for allowing me to recover the Gold Ranger powers. Without you, I would have lost them when I split in three."

Zordon took in this new information. "If what you say is true, and the Zeo energy from the Golden Power Staff can recharge the rangers' Zeo powers, then it has come at a time when they are most needed." Zordon quickly explained the current situation to Trey, with the rangers tossing in a few personal obvservations here and there.

"Wow," Trey remarked. "If she can turn the public against the Power Rangers, then surely Divatox is worthy of the reputation she has around the galaxy."

Zordon nodded. "Now, Alpha and Adam will assist you in making the neccessary arrangements for the power transfer. They should be ready within two hours, assuming nothing happens." Adam grinned sheepishly. A week ago, he and Alpha had discovered the hard way just how much time Billy had spent redesigning the Power Chamber to suit his preferences. The Power Chamber had been without power for most of that night until Adam had discovered that Billy had hooked up the main power to a silent generator. It was so silent that Adam had unhooked and discarded it earlier that day, assuming it to be a worn-out piece of equipment. Both he and Alpha had received a stern warning from Zordon about the dangers of not having a monster detection system online, though Adam thought he noticed a small hint of amusement in Zordon's voice.

"Are you certain it's the Gold Ranger?" Divatox's dream had kept her even more paranoid than usual, and given that Trey's recovery was only a few weeks ago, she had a hard time believing her less-than-trustworthy assistant.

"I'm certain. Unpowered Triforians give off a brown-tainted color during interstellar teleportation, and this Triforian was definitely gold colored. It's Trey, all right." Porto paused for a moment to catch his breath. "And, we have more news. It seems Trey has a date with the Power Rangers. It's such a shame that Triforian teleportation is so visible. They're kind of like human teleportation that way, at least from what I've been able to see. Humans don't usually teleport." Porto caught himself before he could really start to ramble.

"You know where the Power Chamber is?" Divatox laughed with delight. "Rygog! Get the attack vehicles! Elgar, round up your best Pirahnatrons! It's time for party!"

Porto nervously asked, "Does that mean I won't get fired?"

"Ha! Don't be ridiculous. Everybody here has a chance of being fired. No special treatment for you, my dear. Now, go scan the area for the best angle of attack. I want everything to be perfect!"

Rocky and Tommy's teleportation streaks were hidden by the advanced Power Chamber technology, not that they needed it. After years in the job, the two of them knew exactly where to teleport so nobody could see their streaks anyway. Both of them had started a sparring match in the Power Chamber, until Zordon had finally asked them to leave. They had decided to return to the park on the offchance that some of the players from the football game were still there.

As they reached the the "quad", an affectionate term for the rectangular area of the park reserved for football, Rocky quickly hid behind a tree and motioned for Tommy to follow suit. Rocky peeked his head from behind to see if he really did see what he saw.

"What is it, Rocky?"

"Look." Just to their left was Carlos and Ryan, talking amiably.

"What's the big deal, Rocky?"

Rocky shook his head. "Look, Tommy, Carlos is actually talking to someone!" Seeing Tommy's confused look, Rocky continued, "Oh, that's right, you don't play soccer. Carlos used to be this big soccer guy, but he'd never talk to anyone. I know because he and I both used to go to Stone Canyon High. Ryan too. It's just a big shock to see him talking."

"Oh. Maybe we should leave them alone then, huh?"

"My thoughts exactly. We should tell Adam, too. He'd get a kick out of knowing about this. Heh, it's funny how everybody at Stone Canyon High tried to change his attitude, and Adam turns out to be the guy who changed him."

Tanya was shaking with excitement. They were getting their Zeo powers back! Unlike the others, Tanya's first taste of rangerhood was in her Zeo Ranger II, Yellow outfit. While she was a tad upset that the others were not as happy as she was, she realized that Tommy would feel the same if it was the Green Ranger powers he was getting back, or Kat her Crane Ninja powers. So she understood why the Zeo powers were not as important to them emotionally as it was to her; to them, it was a replacement of their original powers.

Thinking of the others, Tanya's eyes searched the room. Adam and Rocky were engaged in discussion about Carlos and his recent turnaround, while Tommy and Kat were discussing the news of the day. On that note, Tanya felt a small hint of jealousy. Why doesn't Adam just tell me? It had been about a year since they met, and most likely about nine months since Tanya first noticed Adam's silent affections. Yet Adam still treated her like he did the first day they met. Many times, Tanya had considered making the first move, yet Kat always discouraged it.

Finally, Trey and Alpha emerged from the Power Chamber subroom. Trey smiled as he said, "It's done. My Zeo powers have been infused into the Turbo powers. The next time you morph, you should be able to maintain the Zeo costumes indefinitely, and over time they will grow stronger until you cannot notice the difference between your true Zeo powers and your current ones." Alpha in the meantime had been handing back their Turbo Morphers, noting how eagerly Tanya had snatched hers back.

"For the time being," Trey continued, "you will have to use the Turbo Morphers. In a few days, according to Alpha, we should be able to reconfigure the Zeonizers to respond to the Turbo powers."

Amidst applause, a small alarm beeped on the consoles. Alpha promptly rushed over to check it out.

"Well, what is it Alpha?" Tommy had traditionally been the one to ask that question.

"Looks like a disturbance in the old Zeo Zord Hanger Bay. Nothing serious; I'll check it out myself."

Tommy stopped him. "Wait. Let's go take our powers out for a spin. It'd be great to see the Zeo Bay from within our Zeo powers." Alpha shrugged. He hadn't really planned on going out anyway.

"Shift into . . . no, wait, let's not say that." Tommy grinned sheepishly at his friends. "It's Morphin' Time!"

Tommy felt a tremendous rush of energy as he inserted the Turbo Key. Unlike the Turbo powers, which were weak and unpredictable and seemed to serve only as a power-up to their civilian strengths, the Zeo powers were one of the strongest sets in the universe. Tommy had to struggle in containing this new power, so unaccostumed was he to it. After what seemed an eternity, the struggle ended. Key and morpher separated, and the Zeo Ranger V, Red uniform wove its threads around Tommy. It was as if he had been sent back a year in time, back to when he had first sampled the power.

After the morph completed, the five Zeo Rangers were teleported directly to the Zeo Zord Holding Bay. Adam immediately took the lead. Now that Billy was gone, he was the one that had the most experience around here. Tommy stepped back and followed on Adam's right.

A small shadow streaked against Tommy's peripheral vision. He spun, automatically drawing his Zeo Laser Pistol. There was nothing there. In his younger days, he would have put away his pistol and passed off the disturbance as an imagined threat. But years of training as a ranger showed him how easily enemies can hide in the shadows. Tommy stepped forward, his finger on the trigger.

Just as Tommy reached the wall, a Pirahnatron burst out. A laser blast straight on the chest put it down, but the cover of surprise was blown. Pirahnatrons began leaking out of the shadows, attacking the rangers head on.

Which was just as well for Tommy. His heart was pounding with the Zeo energy inside him. He jumped to the front of the team, putting the others behind him. He blocked the first Pirahnatron's punch and delivered a side kick, knocking it into several of its teammates. The second Pirahnatron was tougher, quicker. Tommy blocked a low kick, ducked a high kick, and swept the Pirahnatron off the floor with a sweep kick.

"Tommy!" cried Adam. "There's too many of them! We have to pull back!"

Tommy began to object. He had so much raw power inside, he felt he could take them all on. But he looked back and saw a different story. Adam and Rocky were being overwhelmed with Pirahnatrons. Both Tanya and Kat had taken one look at the swarm and decided to make a long-range attack only with their Zeo Laser Pistols. "Rangers!" he yelled. "Fall back and regroup!" The rangers did so.

From within the Pirahnatron swarm, several battle vehicles emerged. They were heavily armored, and weapons protruded from every angle. Rygog and Elgar stood at the top of the front line.

"Nice to see you, rangers!" bellowed Rygog.

"Quite a neat place you have here!" added Elgar.

Tommy said, "How did you goons get in here?"

Rygog laughed. "Same way your Gold friend did!"

Trey stepped back from the Viewing Globe. "They followed me in . . . this attack on your base . . . it's my fault."

Zordon saw what was happening; Lord knows it happened much too often with his own rangers. "Trey, this is not your fault. You could not have known. In addition, you are currently in no condition to aid the others. We must monitor your vital signs; there may be unknown side effects to the removal of some of the Gold powers."

"It doesn't matter. This is my fault, and I have to help." Trey turned away from Zordon. "Gold Ranger Power!"

From out of nowhere, Gold Ranger appeared, brandishing the Golden Power Staff. Using its power, Gold Ranger blasted the battle vehicles, knocking Rygog and Elgar off.

Rygog brushed himself off and yelled, "Pirahnatrons, go!"

"Trey!" Tommy yelled. He turned to his teammates. "Guys, let's go help him!"

The six Zeo Rangers attacked. Pirahnatrons were tough, but they lacked the pure resilience of the Cogs the rangers were used to fighting with their Zeo powers. The rangers were used to using several blows to bring a Cog down, but now found that one of their punches would knock out a Pirahnatron.

Tanya grinned behind her helmet. "This is too easy!" She followed that up with a quick back elbow to the Pirahnatron behind her.

Tommy cleared the center path for Trey to enter in the front line. Rygog and Elgar both used long range attacks on their battle vehicles to attack the Gold Ranger. In response, Trey jumped over the blasts, grabbed Elgar, and fell, bringing Elgar down to the ground with him. Tommy grabbed his Zeo Laser Pistol and fired on the disoriented Rygog, knocking him off his battle vehicle as well.

All of a sudden, Trey's Gold Ranger uniform began to glow. Trey collapsed to the floor in pain. Tommy turned around and saw this. In one quick sweep, he motioned the other rangers to see. The others broke off their attacks and gathered around their fallen teammate.

Adam bent down and asked, "Trey, what's going on?"

"I don't know," came the reply. "I feel weak . . ."

Tommy looked around and saw the Pirahnatron forces gathering around them. "We don't have a choice; we have to get Trey out of here now!"

Rocky stood up. "Guys, I think there's a door over this way. C'mon, bring Trey!"

Tommy and Adam supported Trey as they retreated into the next room. Tanya and Kat brought their pistols out and cleared the Pirahnatrons back, then retreated as well.

Over the rangers' communicators, Zordon said, "It is as we feared, rangers. The Gold powers are becoming more unstable by the minute. They are not regenerating themselves as we had hoped."

Trey panted, "I don't understand, Zordon. My scientists assured me that the procedure was safe."

Tommy broke in. "That doesn't matter. Right now, we have to reunite your powers back." Seeing Trey in his current condition brought back recent memories of Jason in that same predicament.

There was thumping on the door, a clear sign that the Pirahnatrons were trying to break in.

Trey said, "If you do that, you will lose your Zeo powers."

Kat replied, "If we don't, you'll lose yours! It's the only way, Trey."

Tommy nodded. "Kat's right. We have to do this." Tommy summoned his Zeonizers. Carefully, he reconcentrated his energies back into the Zeonizer Crystal. Once this was done, and the Zeo uniform had disappeared, Tommy unconnected the Zeonizer Crystal and pressed it into Trey's hands. Red energy flowed from the crystal into the Gold Ranger, and the strange light flickers stopped momentarily.

One by one, Rocky, Adam, and Kat followed suit. Tanya stared mournfully at her Zeo uniform before doing the same.

Once it was done, the Gold Ranger stood up. His powers were now restored completely. Tommy clasped his hands on Trey's shoulder. "You okay now?"

"Yeah."

The pounding on the door grew stronger. The door would not last much longer. Tommy stood up. "OK guys, let's do it. Shift into Turbo!"

Rygog yelled, "Faster, you idiots! Get that door down!"

Elgar struck Rygog in the stomach with his palm. "Hey, lay off! These are my soldiers, and I'll give the order, thank you very much!" Rygog gave Elgar a meneacing stare. Elgar stammered, "Uh, right, so uh, you idiots just do what the man here said to do!" Elgar chuckled. "Sure, told them, didn't I?"

The last Pirahnatron attack broke down the door. The Turbo Rangers and the Gold Ranger emerged.

"Boy!", Elgar exclaimed. "It's getting so nowadays, you just can't keep up with those flashy ranger fashions!"

Rygog joined in. "Rangers, always changing their clothes. It's just like them."

The Red Ranger pointed his finger at them. "You can laugh all you want, but the fact is, we went through a lot of trouble today. And I think you've got a lot to do with it. So why don't you just get lost, before you regret it?"

"You talk the walk," said Elgar, "but can you walk the talk? Or is that the other way around?"

Tommy raised his fist. "Rangers, Turbo Auto Blasters now!" As the rangers fired on their foes, the dazed Gold Ranger used his staff to add extra energy, knocking the enemies down.

Rygog stumbled back up and shouted, "We don't need this! C'mon, let's just blow the fuse and get out!"

Elgar scratched his head. "Fuse? What fuse? Oh, right, the fuse! I gotcha." Elgar raised a small walkie-talkie to his mouth. "Blow the fuse!"

Explosions rocked the Zeo Zord Holding Bay. Scraps of metal from the infrastructure began collapsing. Rygog, Elgar, and the remaining Pirahnatrons got in their vehicles and teleported out right before the second major explosion.

"NO!" Tommy screamed furiously. "The Zords!" He began feverishly running towards the main zord chamber. Adam quickly ran up and grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Tommy, it's too late for that. Who knows how many more bombs are laid out here? We gotta get out, now, before the whole place goes up!"

Tommy shrugged off Adam's hand. "No, we have to save the zords. We have to!"

"Tommy," came Zordon's voice from his communicator, "the bombs were placed in the main zord chamber. All the old zords are now unsalvagable."

Tommy cried, "No, that's not possible!"

Zordon replied, "Tommy, you still have the Turbo Megazord. All the Zeo Zords are gone. You must destroy the entire Zeo Zord Holding Bay so that it cannot be traced back to the Command Center structure. If Divatox discovers the location of the Command Center sub-basements, or the Power Chamber, the results will be disastrous."

Tommy stood silent. Finally, the Red Turbo Ranger said, "OK. Adam, set the auto-destruct sequence. Let's get back to the Power Chamber."

The explosions began increasing in strength. Adam rushed to a nearby control panel and typed in the commands for auto-destruct. Once Adam signaled the OK sign, the six rangers teleported out.

The rangers stared mournfully at the Viewing Globe as they watched the Zeo Zord Holding Bay go up in smoke. Tommy spun away from the Globe and pounded his fist into his lap. "Man! I can't stand them! Nobody's ever gotten into one of our bases."

"That," Zordon said, "is the reason Divatox is so much more dangerous. It is fortunate that she did not discover the location of the Command Center structure."

Trey spoke up. "I must leave again for Triforia. I must conduct more research on my powers. I must also find the person responsible for misinforming me about the nature of my powers."

Rocky said, "Hey, don't be too hard. It was probably just an honest mistake."

"No! All of my scientists assured me that they had conducted multiple tests. Nothing had gone wrong. Somebody deliberately lied to me, and I need to find out who."

Tanya nodded her head. "Well, good luck, Trey."

Kat added, "Take care."

Trey smiled and replied, "Thank you rangers. I will."

"What do you mean, you didn't find the Power Chamber?!" Divatox roared. "You said you followed Trey into their base!"

Rygog stammered, "Well, it's just that, see, the Power Rangers seem to have more than one base. This one seemed to be some sort of zord bay."

Elgar added, "Yeah, and it was real cool-looking too!"

Divatox sighed. "Well, you destroyed the Turbo Megazord, right? Please tell me you did at least that?"

Elgar shrugged. "No, I think it wasn't there. We did blow up all this other cool stuff though!"

Divatox smacked him hard on the chest. "Idiot! Then we've accomplished nothing! The rangers still have a powerful Megazord at their disposal! Porto!" The bubbly scientist waddled into the room. "Porto, you say your monsters are still useful? Prove it!"

"What, my queen?"

"The Timetable monster. The one we used against the Yellow Ranger. It's still in storage. Pull it out again. We'll see just how useful it is."