A/N: Welcome to the main event of the Project Phoenix series. As a disclaimer, this series is inspired by Kctimes2's The Adoption (one of the best stories I've ever read here). Before reading this, you should read The Crane's Destructive Path and its accompanying one-shot, Granted Wishes.

A/N 2: This is the story of what happens when Jayden leads Rangers old and new into a fight for the Earth's survival...with his corrupted mother. But to claim his destiny and face his mother, he must first advance past battles against Deker as well as Master Xandred. This is the final fight with Deker...with a slight Ninjetti twist. Also includes appearances from some of Zordon's Rangers.

A/N 3: Couples featured are Jayden/Mia, Memily, Lantonio, Jason/Kat (Usually I go with Jase/Trini and Billy/Kat but they can be interchanged and with the way this series goes I think Jase/Kat and Billy/Trini is a better way), Adam/Tanya, Billy/Trini and a slew of other oldschool Ranger pairings. You'll have to read this story to see if there's Tommy/Kim at the end, hehe.

A/N 4: Usual disclaimer. Power Rangers doesn't belong to me. Oh and as one last note, as a resident of the USA, I would like to wish our Canadian friends a happy Thanksgiving weekend.

Chapter 1: Deker Defeated, Cole Cleansed

May 12, 2012

2:30 p.m. local time

1492 Valencia Drive

Reefside, CA

They were all watching on screen, every one of them. And their blood was running cold.

Who were they, you asked?

A legacy, and a family, that Jayden, the ex-Red Ranger of the Samurai team, had no clue of.

All of them.

In the Ranger world, news got out like wildfire. The second that word had got out that Jayden was fighting a cursed former Red Ranger, everyone had stopped what they were doing, taken their kids to Angela Taylor who they all knew would look after their kids during Ranger crises and then they'd all rushed to the Lair.

And at the moment, they were all scared to death as they watched Jayden square off with Deker. But Tommy, Jason and most every Red in the room, knew him as Cole.

Oh they'd watched Jayden from afar, for sure, in particular everyone who had gone to Phaedos...except that one. Jayden was resilient, doing the thankless task of standing in for his adopted sister, who it was believed was the only one that could seal Master Xandred permanently. Now, she was back, and Jayden was out in the cold.

Tommy had been right to also keep his eyes on Mia; as it turned out, she had feelings for Jayden. He was going to get some help in that regard too if the Samurai Rangers survived this; Mia had been accepted to a cooking school run by Rocky, of all people. It was a small, small world sometimes.

Not to mention, to add to Jayden's problems, had been homeschooled all his life which also wasn't fair. He'd never been behind the wheel of a car, had never had the benefit of going to a school like his aunts and uncles (and father and his similarly cursed mother) had. Every precaution had been taken to keep Jayden off the radar.

All of the Ninjetti felt it when the Phoenix had roared to life 24 hours ago when Jayden had survived Fiera.

However, as resilient as Jayden had turned out to be, this was his first real test. A fight to the death against an honorable (if there was such a thing) but relentless villain and a skilled former Ranger.

As Tommy watched helplessly while hearing Jayden tell Deker, "we have nothing in common," (which as it turned out would be a lie, and Tommy knew how much of a lie that was), he felt Aisha and Rocky attempt to comfort him, though if they were truly honest with themselves, they were feeling the same way he was.

"I know, it's tough, but he's resilient," Aisha said. "They're scared of him otherwise that slimy Octoroo would try to pick him off right now."

"One thing we can do, try to channel positive thoughts his way," Rocky said and turned to the rest of the group. "Not all of you are Ninjetti like some of us but you can help. Any positive thought helps."

"Agreed," Billy said from Aquitar; this, as it turned out, was requiring two screens because Billy was on one screen on a call, and they could see Jayden and Deker on the other. "It will take me a moment but let me start meditating."

"That's right," Jason said as he looked at his wife of 11 years, Katherine Scott. "Kat and I believe a positive approach is always best. Do any of you who were on that island remember what Quagmire told us?"

From the back of the room, the Mystic Mother shivered just a bit because as Rita Repulsa, that had been her creation to destroy the first Power Team, the Island of Illusion. Thank God for Quagmire and a Ranger team that grew up fast.

"To keep from getting caught, think a positive thought," Trini said. "That's IT!"

"Yep, positive thoughts everyone," Tommy said, as he specifically looked at those who had gone to Phaedos with him, "Especially you, you, you and you. We'll get him through this."

"I know one thing, the world will be a better place without you, Deker," they heard Jayden say at that very moment. "It's time to finish this, once and for all."

They saw Jayden draw his sword, and Deker ready Urumasa. The fight, and Jayden's first true test, had really begun.

"Ninjetti, let's help him," Tommy said as he motioned to the three known as the Stone Canyon Trio. Billy also readied himself from planets away.

"Ninjetti! The Bear!"

"The Ape!"

"The Frog!"

"The Wolf!"

"The Falcon!"

"We call to the Sacred Animals of the Great Power! Help The Phoenix and give him the strength to survive this test!"

Moments later, the lair was suddenly filled with a pink light and Tommy's mouth dropped open in shock. A ghostly figure appeared before everyone.

"Is that.." Jason muttered.

"No way," Justin said.

"Kim!" Tommy gasped.

"Hi guys," she said. For the moment, this wasn't the evil half of Kimberly that had wrecked worlds. This was just regular old Kimberly Ann Hart.

"What are you doing here?" Rocky said. "Don't you realize you're doing a dangerous thing?"

"Relax, Ape Boy, don't worry my evil half is busy with petty obsessions, so my Maligore half has no idea what I'm doing. Pretty convenient timing for my Maligore half to not be paying attention," 'Kim' said.

Ninjor looked like he was about to protest but 'Kim' looked at him and said, "Dulcea came and told me what was going on also. By her decree, my son, OUR son," she looked at Tommy as she said this, "must be kept alive at all costs."

"I'm here for the same reason we're all here. To give Jayden the strength to end this ridiculous charade and bring Cole home where he belongs," 'Kim' added. "My Crane spirit is weak but received a boost when Jayden beat Fiera. I have enough power to help but my spirit will be weaker for some time after this."

"Indeed, Rangers," the voice of Dulcea echoed as she suddenly appeared in ethereal form. "Back in 1997 when I had Kimberly surrender to Maligore, young Jayden wasn't even two years old and would have been vulnerable should Maligore have found out about him. Things are different now. Maligore's control, while still tight, is distracted right now and Jayden is old enough to fight for himself. We must help him."

"In addition, Handsome, here," Kim said as she looked at Tommy, "did a very wise thing when he asked the Sentinel Knight to keep my evil half's army away from Earth until Jayden is ready. As long as the Knight lives, neither my evil Maligore half nor any evil force can invade Earth from the outside."

"And in addition, Dulcea can conduce what we are doing, so as to dissuade my evil half from suspecting anything. If the powers that I use run through Dulcea it will be more difficult for Maligore's control to detect," Kim finished.

"If Jayden dies tonight, all our hope dies. Young Crane, do it," Dulcea ordered as her ethereal form disappeared.

"Ninjetti! The Crane!" 'Kim' said without a moment's hesitation. "Help the Phoenix end this fight and bring Cole home once and for all!"

As soon as she said this, six beams of light flew out from the lair; white, slightly darker pink, red, black, blue and yellow and all headed towards the site of the final duel currently taking place 90 miles away.

8:00 p.m.

Panorama City, CA

It felt like he'd been fighting Deker for hours, and he had no idea how he was still going

Every part, emphasis on every part, of Jayden's body hurt. He also felt the same power which had protected him against Fiera, only stronger this time. He had felt like he was on fire from the outset of the fight, and the fire hadn't subsided, in fact it felt stronger than it had in the fight with Fiera.

He also felt an unseen power (and Jayden could have sworn he felt several) near the fight that seemed to be helping give him unending strength. At least, enough strength to continue the fight.

He felt Urumasa slash him twice, and knew this had to end one way or another.

His body hurt, but still, he used his sword to stand up, and saw Deker attacking again. But this time, in a display of unfathomable skill for a guy who was dead tired, he turned Urumasa to the side and slashed Deker, then slashed Urumasa, causing Deker to lose his grip.

"This ends now!" Jayden said and with every ounce of strength provided him, hammered Deker with his sword, causing a massive fireball. As it turned out, that fireball exploded right as Mia, Emily and Mike arrived. They hadn't known where to go at first, but they'd found a trail lit by six different colored lights; white, dark pink, blue, black, yellow and red.

The trio who had gone out after Jayden didn't know where the lights had come from, but upon seeing Jayden's Samurai teammates they had morphed into six distinctly different animals; a Falcon, Crane, Wolf, Frog, Bear and Ape. They hadn't figured out what this was all about but they heard a voice saying the animals before them would lead them to Jayden and sure enough they had.

When they got there, they found the two combatants surrounded by a hellacious ring of fire. Inexplicably, Jayden was back on his feet first, how they had no clue. They had no idea that the same power that had drawn them here, was the same power feeding their teammate positive thoughts as he attempted to end this grueling, classic duel once and for all.

A similarly powerful group of people 90 minutes away were in disbelief too (including one from a planet light years away). Even with the Ninjetti watching over Jayden and Dulcea conducting their powers, they couldn't believe Jayden had the ability to stand up after taking such a beating.

The Samurais pleaded, and Dahlia in spirit, pleaded for both combatants to stop. Both, as expected, refused to yield. One thing the Samurais and Jayden found interesting was that Deker, at least the Deker now, seemed to have no loyalty to Dayu or whatever this woman was, a woman that whoever Deker was had once loved.

That story would have to wait for another time. One thing was clear, Deker was going to see this fight through although Jayden was a little more reluctant and after much thought, decided enough was enough and that Deker had enough. He walked towards the ring that surrounded him and away from Deker, not realizing Deker was preparing for an ambush.

Jayden suddenly turned around and realized his mistake as Deker, in Nighlok form, was coming straight at him prepared to strike.

'I am sorry, Cole, but this is the way it has to be,' thought the dormant bird inside of Jayden. Acting as if it had a mind of its own, the big, majestic, crimson colored bird flew right out of Jayden and seared Deker with a fire based attack, just as Kevin released a water based attack that seared through the ring of fire and destroyed Urumasa. The bird returned inside of Jayden as Deker demorphed from his Nighlok form, shocked by the double attack that had come from literally nowhere.

Ironically, Kevin was the one Ranger who had volunteered to stay with Lauren to protect Panorama City against the Nighlok. Now, he was the Ranger who had in part done so much more than he even realized.

Deker was down and did not get up again. As Jayden (who the Rangers had pulled from the fiery arena, although it would be revealed later that Jayden could have walked through it himself), Emily, Kevin, Mike and Mia watched, Deker's spirit vanished.

Unbeknownst to all of them, it wouldn't be the last time they would see the man now formerly known as Deker.

"His curse has finally been lifted," was all Jayden could manage to say. But still, the questions remained. How in the world had Jayden pulled that off, and did he even know what he just did? And in turn, Jayden wondered how in the world did his team find him in the first place?

1492 Valencia Drive

Reefside, CA

Same Time

As one, all Rangers who had watched this battle cheered.

But it was an exhausted cheer.

Ninjor was gone now, having gone back to the Temple of Power. Ninjor had told the Rangers that when Cole was free of the burden of Deker's curse, he would keep him in the Temple of Power for a while after. The curse that had been unwittingly dropped on Cole Evans had taken a toll on the one known as "The Rookie" as well as the entire family of Rangers.

As for the rest of the Rangers, they were exhausted. Beyond exhausted, especially the Ninjetti, who had been channeling positive thoughts to Jayden for going on six hours. It had been a grueling battle, and a draining experience for especially those who had watched it.

Kimberly's good half, almost assuredly, would be out for some time although it was not going to be as bad because Dulcea had engineered the whole deal.

At this point though, nobody cared. Jayden was battered, beaten and bruised, but was still alive. And that was all that mattered.

All hope for the world was still alive. Jayden David Oliver, although currently a Shiba by necessity and a prophecy, had passed his first major test with flying colors.

Two people who had watched the whole thing that weren't near as tired as the others were Jayden's godparents, Jason and Katherine Scott.

The two had hit it off somewhat when Jason had come home from Europe, and the seeds for their relationship had been planted during the crisis where Tommy had been brainwashed by Gasket even though both were with others at the time. The indelible beginning of their lives together though had happened after the Turbo fiasco where Jason had apologized to Kat for his actions, although he really didn't need to.

It had been cemented when Tommy and Kat had ended things at the end of their time as Turbo Rangers, knowing things just weren't going to work. Four years later, Jason and Kat had been married in Angel Grove and on that night, Kat had been briefed on Jayden and the reason Kim had surrendered to Maligore so easily.

Kat, who had once made life hell for her predecessor, felt so badly for what she'd gone through. None of it was her fault and while they were on their honeymoon, a lavish two week affair in Kat's home country of Australia, the first thing they vowed to do, some day, was to bring Kim home where she belonged for good.

Now, that promise, and being able to see their godchild, was a step closer to happening.

"I don't know about you, but that kid's got the right stuff, Jase. He doesn't know it yet, but I can feel it," Kat said.

"I'd have to agree," Jason said. "Rainbow ranger and the other holders of the Great Power gave him help, but no normal man would be able to form a coherent thought, much less stand after that beating he took."

Kat nodded in quick agreement. No way would she have been able to face an opponent like Deker for five hours, and she had been once upon a time a hopeful Pan-Global swimmer and swimmers were known to be some of the best conditioned athletes in the world.

"How do you think Technicolor's going to feel tomorrow?" Kat said.

"His legs are gonna feel like jello tomorrow and probably for the next couple days," Jason said. "It's too bad because if he weren't so tired he was going to watch Conner and Manchester City try to win the Premier League title."

Like most of the Rangers had suspected, Conner had eventually wound up playing in Europe in the Barclays Premier League, playing for a previously moribund Manchester City Football Club, having played for them since 2009. Since he'd become the centerpiece of their franchise, they had built up to this moment and could claim the Premier League tittle with a win over Queens Park Rangers tomorrow.

Between him and Kira's music success, the two had made millions of dollars and had a posh house in Redondo Beach when Conner was in the offseason.

"Yeah, it's too bad, but he's got that flat screen in his room. He'll try and watch it," Kat said. "Remember we're not out of the woods now. Xandred still has to be beaten."

Jason nodded grimly. It was true, Deker was still gone but Xandred still remained. As long as Xandred lived or wasn't sealed, Jayden could never reach his full potential.

"If he goes back to his teammates they can win," Jason said. "If Lauren seals Xandred they win and if for some reason it doesn't work, then Jayden can lean on that big bird. It beat Deker, it can beat Xandred. Everything's going to be fine, Kitty."

"I hope you're right, Jase," Kat said, but clearly she felt it wasn't over. And she was right.

Temple of Ninja Power

Same Time

In a flash, a man who showed the wear and tear of a long duel to the bitter end, appeared in a flash in this sacred place of power.

Much like his opponent, his body hurt all over too. There were cuts, scrapes, bruises and the man known as Cole Evans was even supporting a pretty good shiner.

Cole Evans could barely form coherent thoughts at the moment but a couple immediately came to mind.

One was...was he really free of that stupid curse, that stupid obligation?

And two, how in the world did that curse disappear in the first place?

One thing he knew for sure, that Jayden kid was like his father for sure...and probably his mother too if the word about his mother was true. Yes, he knew that Jayden was Tommy's kid...had been told a number of years ago.

Another thing was for sure, that kid was a freak. No mere mortal could stand like that for five and a half hours especially against a former Ranger with the powers of a Nighlok.

He knew where he was though, and knew who occupied this place.

"Easy there, Cole," a familiar voice said as Ninjor stood before him. "You took quite a beating in that fight."

"Ninjor, thank the heavens," Cole barely was able to say. "Please tell me I'm free."

"You are," Ninjor said. "That duel had to be fought, mainly because they only thing that could free you from such an unlucky curse is the dormant power the Red Samurai Ranger possesses."

"He is the Phoenix, the much talked about Phoenix?" Cole asked. It was the only way possible that Jayden could fight that long.

"Yes. And one day you will fight alongside him and save the world once more."

"Please tell me that Alyssa's OK, Ninjor. I need to see her."

"She is, and one day soon, you will go home and resume your normal life."

"I know this, I won't be able to go home until Master Xandred is beaten for good. Xandred is too powerful to be taken for granted."

"Xandred is tough but the Phoenix will be victorious, and you will have that chance. Have faith in the Phoenix. His destiny and his journey is just getting started."

"I hope Jayden can do it if Lauren cannot. I hope to fight by his side some day."

"He will, and you will. The Power of Ninja is greater than anything from the Sanzu River waters...always has been, always will be."

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