Athens was a strange city. Flynn had expected something much like Rome. They were from roughly the same time period, after all. The Italian wonder had featured many splendid buildings of all ages sharing harmoniously the same efficient space. In sharp contrast, this Grecian mess was an endless sea of low concrete structures arrayed vaguely around a jutting plateau, upon which sat the crumbled ruin of what appeared to have once been a great temple. Absent were the futurist towers and criss-crossing walkways, which made the flying cars in the air all the more bothersome.

While the other locations had adapted to the times, Athens seemed frozen in the past, a city so wrapped up in its own history that it refused to modernize. Though one might expect this familiarity to instill a sense of comfort, all it did was make Flynn anxious. In the year 2600, Athens didn't belong. Things that didn't belong were unfamiliar oddities. Unfamiliar things were scary.

Of course, the only reason he got to take all of this in at all was because he had been, again, spared the chore of driving. At this point, the three Rangers had been up for sixteen straight hours, the upper limit for most people before going to bed. That they had been working all this time made him feel all the more tired. The others recognized the necessity of preserving their energy. So, instead of exhausting one member, they decided to share the load.

To that effect, Tommy sat behind the driver's seat of the flying green Land Rover they had borrowed from Fae. It hadn't necessarily been his choice to drive, however. As the one from the furthest back in time, he was—understandably—the least comfortable with things like airborne cars. But, he was also the only one who hadn't driven yet. So, the task fell to him.

Though, that wasn't entirely true. Z probably could have taken them on this short stint, but a glance at her in the back seat revealed she wasn't quite up to the job. She propped her elbow up at the base of the left rear window, and cradled her chin to stare out the window. The poor girl had hardly moved from that position since they got underway, nor had she spoken a single word.

Flynn wanted desperately to say something to her, but what comfort could he possibly offer? All of the same diatribes wouldn't work. Telling her it's no big deal, or that they'd get the next one, or that she couldn't give up, none of those things mattered. Flynn knew how it felt to fail, to mess up in a way you thought to be irrevocable. In moments like that, regurgitated common wisdom went in one ear and out the other. He knew very well the one and only thing that would make Z feel better was to atone for her mistake. What better way to do that than by getting the Mythos Morpher in Greece? So, he left her alone, with a silent promise to make sure she succeeded in her mission, no matter what.

This particular trip led them to a spot more or less right in the middle of the city. According to the map, this was the Temple of Hephaestus. Flynn didn't know what that meant, other than it must've been a monument to some god. To him, it looked like any other ruin, old pillars in various states of disrepair, a peaked roof, and overly grandiose stairs.

There was a large rectangular patch of grass right in front of the Temple, and so Tommy put the car down in it. Flynn looked around the place as they descended. Unlike with the Tower of London, there were no enemies to be found guarding it. In the same vein, no humans escorted by goblins walked around the premises. This all was good. Flynn dared cross his fingers and hope nothing stood in their way this time. He knew better than to believe in it, but he prayed all the same.

They landed and made their ways out of the vehicle. As Flynn didn't have to worry about turning the thing off, he was the first to exit, followed shortly by Tommy. However, he noticed how Z took her time opening the rear right door and stepping out.

"Come on, let's go get your Morpher." Flynn did his best to give her a winning smile. Z didn't say anything, but she did smile back. A win, in his book. They followed Tommy, who held the map projected in his right hand.

"According to this, the Morpher is down," he said

"I could've told you that," Flynn said. "They've all been underground, so far. Why break the trend?"

"Could be the bottom of the hill," Tommy replied with a shrug.

"Maybe," agreed Flynn. "Let's look for a staircase or something, first."

"Think we should split up? It'd be faster."

"No." Flynn shook his head. "That's what got us into trouble last time. Let's stick together."

He glanced over at Z, who refused to look at either of them. He had wanted to avoid bringing up the previous mission. The last thing Z needed was a reminder of her failing mere hours after it happened. Part of him wanted to comfort her, but he knew that would just make it worse. Z was a Ranger. She'd be ready if anything happened. Until then, best to let her be.

Tommy led them up the stairs and into the heart of the monument, a direction Flynn was more than happy to go in, as it would've been his first instinct as well. He had expected to find something atop the stairs, an altar, or a statue, or anything at all of substance. Instead, an expanse of flat marble greeted him, a simple floor that extended all the way to the opposite sides in each direction. Weren't temples supposed to be places of worship? How could anyone worship in a flat open platform?

The only real break in the monotony was a literal hole in the floor. It looked as though someone had ripped up one of the tiles and fed a ladder through the opening. The Rangers stood over the gap and peered into it. Since the roof overhead kept the space rather shaded, the void was completely dark.

"I mean, come on," Flynn gestured toward it.

"Guess I'll go first," Tommy said, already moving to the ladder.

"I'll bring up the rear, then," Flynn decided. Not only did this get the ball rolling, it also removed some of the impetus from Z. Lacking the responsibility of keeping watch hopefully made her a bit more comfortable.

Tommy hopped on the ladder, descending with with one hand while the other still held the map. The blue light it provided revealed that the hole was, unsurprisingly, a simple stone shaft. When both he and the illumination had traversed a bit longer than her own height, Z began her climb. She glanced up at Flynn just before her head plunged into the depths, and he gave her a little wave with just two fingers. She smirked at him, and then disappeared. Without the blue light to show her, she vanished entirely in the darkness. Flynn gave her a five count before he became the third and final member to descend.

In old mummy movies, there was always a part where the intrepid adventurers entered the old tomb, right before it collapsed behind them. This moment felt a lot like that, in all of the worst ways. So far, literally none of their missions had gone to plan. Flynn expected to find any one of a dozen unknown horrors, all of which were equally as horrifying.

"There better not be any snakes down here," he called down. "Wait, does Greece even have snakes?"

"What, you don't like snakes?" Z asked, the first thing she'd said in hours.

"I'm not sure, but I don't think I wanna find out," responded Flynn.

"Don't worry, no snakes," Tommy said from the bottom. "At least, I don't think there are."

"If you don't think there are any, that means there's a good chance there are some," contested Flynn.

"It's alright, Indiana, I'll protect you," Z joked.

"Hey, I'm surprised Future Girl could even make that reference," Flynn fired back as Z hit the bottom.

"Please, everyone knows who Indiana Jones is."

Flynn let the conversation die there. The only reason he'd pursued after his initial joke in the first place, was because it got Z to finally open up a bit. She had been beating herself up ever since losing the Italian Mythos Morpher. Flynn was just happy to see her at least mostly back to her old self. While he couldn't be sure his efforts to make her feel better were solely responsible, he liked to think they helped, and that made him feel both happy for her, and good about himself.

The previous lack of surprises which started with the ladder continued at the base of it, as the Ranges found themselves inside a long dark hallway. Between the Scotland ruins, and now this place, Flynn was beginning to see a pattern. He reckoned the Italy Morpher somehow also resided in a similar place before Adam stole it. Say whatever you wanted about whoever placed these Morphers, they were at least consistent.

Not wanting to waste any time, Tommy set off down the corridor. Doors at normal intervals broke up the stone expanse. Peering into them revealed, through what little light the map provided, modern chairs, tables, portable lights, datapads, things like that. Clearly, this was some sort of archaeological site, an area of historic study. That no one currently occupied it was a stroke of luck. Maybe they were all on break, or this may have been their day off. Either way, Flynn thanked the stars. Explaining what they were doing there would have been difficult, and he really didn't feel like beating up a bunch of scientists.

They walked all the way to the end of this passage, because of course they did. The first door on the left would be too easy, after all. When they reached the very limits of the space, Tommy turned them right. This was obviously a storage area. Labeled shelves with similarly denoted plastic totes dominated the space, with only a few artifacts left unsorted either on these units or one of the two tables in the middle of the room. It was all very well organized.

"It's definitely in here," Tommy said, checking the map. "Everyone pick a wall and search it."

"No need," Z said. She turned around from one of the unsorted shelves, a smile on her face, and a sheathed dagger in her hand.

In terms of basic form, it was mostly identical to the ones on the wrists of Flynn and Tommy, a bronze sheath with a simple hilt and crossguard sticking out, a leather strap below. The gem, in this instance, was a sapphire. The detail work looked like waves crashing upon the ocean. Z wasted no time in putting it on.

"Well, that was easy. Good work," said Tommy.

"Yeah, great," agreed Flynn. "Now let's get out of here before whatever luck that was runs out."

There was no further discussion required. They could all see the merit in Flynn's point of view. As such, since he was the one closest to the door, they followed him out. He set a decent pace toward the exit, somewhere between a walk and a jog. The back of his mind was aware of how ridiculous this sort of fast walk looked. Thankfully, there was no one around to see him looking like someone's eccentric aunt, or something.

He reached the ladder and began to climb without missing a single step, impressed by his own measure. That he had paced out his speed perfectly in relation with the distance he had to travel had been a fluke, but a welcome one. Maybe things were finally looking up for them.

Upon reaching the top, he waited for the other two before setting off back toward the car. He had an ounce of spring in his step, eager to get out of there before his fortunes turned. In most things, speed was paramount. Leaving the area quickly as possible mitigated the risks associated with staying too long. As he crested over to where the stairs were, and as the lawn before them came into view, he found his hopes dashed and his plan for haste moot.

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"You've got to be kidding me," he declared.

At the base of the stairs, flanked by an entourage of goblins, stood Shelby Watkins and Adam Park. Each of them had a devilish smile on their faces, as if they'd just completed some dastardly task, though Flynn saw through this as typical bad guy stuff. The villains were always so proud of themselves, even when they hadn't actually accomplished anything.

"Looks like we're a little too late," Shelby said.

"Looks like it," agreed Adam. "But, at least this way I can get another win under my belt."

Shelby rolled her eyes at him. "Rub it in, why don't you?"

"I guess I'm not surprised you two showed up," Tommy said.

"Neither are we," Shelby said.

"Was... that supposed to be a joke? Sweetie, you should get better material," chided Z.

"Sorry we can't all be so good with our words," Adam replied. "Some of us prefer action."

Shelby sneered. "Yeah, action. Let's take them, Adam."

"I was about to say the same thing," he agreed.

It was then that Flynn noticed the sheathed dagger strapped to Shelby's wrist. He opened his mouth to say something about it, but by then it was too late. The two evil Rangers began their morphing sequence.

"Mythos Rangers, one for all!" They shouted.

Purple illumination took over Adam, while Yellow obscured Shelby. When it dissipated, they were clad in their respectively colored uniforms. Adam's helmet had two glowing eyes above the thing visor with talons that wrapped around the sides. The open top half of a snake had been sculpted into Shelby's, with long fangs that hung down into her visor.

"Power of the Gryphon, Mythos Ranger Purple," said Adam.

"Power of the Zmei, Mythos Ranger Yellow," followed Shelby.

"Not bad," Z feigned being impressed, "but you're not the only ones with a new Morpher." She held up her Morpher across her chest, and the boys did the same a second later.

"Mythos Rangers, all for one!" They gave their battle cry, and went through the requisite motions.

Red and green took over Tommy and Flynn, as always. New to their mix was Z. She glowed blue before donning her new suit. Her helmet, unique like all of the others, had a pointed squid's head over the visor, while thin tendrils wrapped around the sides.

"Power of the Phoenix, Mythos Ranger Red!"

"Power of the Unicorn, Mythos Ranger Green!"

"Power of the Kraken, Mythos Ranger Blue! Get 'em!"

"Goblins!" Adam ordered. All at once, both sides went to battle.

Flynn charged headlong, and wasn't surprised when Shelby made a b-line for him. They met on the stairs in a flurry of punches, each of them bashing in vain against the other's defenses. Afterwards, Flynn raised his foot as if going for a high crescent kick. Shelby blocked, but it was a feint. Instead of her head, Flynn turned his attack into a low snapping kick that buckled her right knee. He then used this opening to place a pair of punches into her face. She threw out a desperate fist, an attack Flynn dodged. He grabbed her arm and whipped around so she was flung up the stairs. The new Yellow Ranger rolled a few time before stopping on one knee.

With a touch of the gem on his Morpher, a burst of green light became his great Dane axe. He closed with Shelby and chopped down at her, but she spun on her knees to get off-line and avoid the blow. He swept a cut at her head, only for her to scrunch up beneath it. The moment the axe blade passed, she stood with a jumping knee that caught Flynn in the ribs. The split-second of a forcible exhale was enough for her to plant a push kick in his chest right before she landed.

He stumbled down the stairs, and as he did, so too did Adam. Tommy pursued his target, lashing out with his arming sword. Both of them had sword and shield, but where Tommy's were of a knightly fare, Adam had the big convex rectangular scutum and short gladius of a Roman legionary.

Upon absorbing a trio of slashes upon his shield, the Purple Ranger swept the implement out wide, an attack meant not to hit, but to impede. Tommy took a step back to avoid it, and so Adam found an opening to lunge forward. The tip of his shortsword raked against Tommy's chest in a shower of sparks. Adam went to combo with a vertical slash. Tommy cut into the blade with his own, deflecting it as he spun. Adam, as well, spun with the momentum of this redirection. As they came around, both lashed out with shield and then sword, smashing their respective implements against their counterparts.

Tommy threw a front kick, knowing it would be blocked by that big shield. The force of it caused Adam to falter a bit. Tommy caught the outside rim of his heater shield on the inside of Adam's scutum and yanked to tear open his guard. He managed to place a duo of strikes on Adam's chest before the corrupted Purple Ranger broke and retreated all the way down the stairs. Tommy took a brief look around the battlefield before reengaging with Adam, enough to see what his companions were up to.

The goblins, bereft of other targets, engaged with Z, who brandished a trident—blue like seafoam—before plunging into their depths. She spun her weapon to deflect two goblins on either side of her before giving an upkick to one in front. A goblin on her left went for an overhand punch. She raised her trident skyward to catch the encroaching fist between the prongs. In the same motion, she tossed the hand aside so that the goblin collided with another, punching it in the face before they both collapsed in a heap.

A trio rushed her, only to receive a jab each. Then, Z poked the trident's butt end into the knee of a goblin at her right, stabbed up into one on the left, and then spun around, twirling her weapon as she went to take down a whole bunch of them all at once. Once finished with this spin, two wide swipes brought down a pair more goblins. She marveled, despite herself, at how much easier these creatures were to bring down now that she had morphed. The difference was night and day.

The final goblin made a bold attack against her. She pushed out her trident and caught it around the neck between two prongs. A glance over at where Tommy engaged with Adam revealed what should be done with this captive. Z spun again, this time taking the captive goblin along with her. When the time was right, a flick tossed this enemy through the air into Adam's right shoulder, causing him to almost lose his balance.

Z followed immediately afterward, literally jumping into battle with a jab of her trident. Adam took it on the shield. Z got in another unsuccessful stab before she hit the ground on one knee. Adam turned and tried to slice her out of the air, but her low landing allowed her to dodge. All of this gave Tommy a prefect opportunity to cut Adam again in a show of sparks.

Adam faded back, out of range so both the Red and Blue Rangers were in front of him. Tommy came at his right, and Adam lashed out to keep him back. This allowed Z to close for a trio of jabs, all of which met his shield. Tommy tried to kick the sword from his hand, which failed, but did provide an opening for a sword slash to his chest. Adam faltered back, which gave Z an opportunity to put a thrust into his helmet. Adam stepped back from the attack, which lessened the impact he took, though it still rocked him. Good thing, though, for all of the force concentrated onto three little points may well have broken his visor otherwise.

He took a few big steps back to create distance. As he did, Shelby came tumbling into view, presumably tossed by Flynn. She held a broad sword, a great falchion with a straight razor edge, a flat tip, and three sick points out the spine on top. As the two teams of Rangers faced off with one another, she got to her feet. Yellow and Purple exchanged a glance.

"Think it's about that time?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, I do," replied Shelby with a nod.

Adam turned his attention to the other three. "Well, Rangers, that was fun, but why don't we bring this to a close?"

"Give it your best shot," Flynn challenged.

"Alright, since you asked so politely," Adam said.

He and Shelby passed their left hands over their respective Morpher gems, and then raised their right hands to the sky.

"Arise, mythical beasts!"

In a rush of wind and a bolt of lightning, two great Zords appeared there on the temple hill. The first was a mechanical gryphon, taloned front feet and feline back feet, a hooked yellow beak, and sleek purple feathers. It swooped down on great wings while Tommy's team braced themselves against the gust it made. The lightning deposited a massive robotic serpent, golden like the sun except for red eyes and blue electricity arching between its long fangs.

"See? I told you there were snakes!" Flynn joked.

"Stop them!" Tommy ordered.

His Rangers charged forward, but it was far too late. Adam and Shelby leapt into the air and entered their Zords. The Gryphon took to the air, while the snake slithered its way down the hill.

"Gryphon Zord, battle mode!" Declared Adam from his cockpit high in the air.

The Gryphon's back legs straightened out and angled to an upright posture while its long tail retracted entirely. The front talon feet rotated ninety degrees and then folded back, and so did the cat feet, to be replaced by more appropriate human-like appendages. Those great wings kinked and constricted along the Zord's back, going inert. Finally, the bird head rotated into the chest to reveal a robot head clad in the plumed galea helmet of a Roman soldier.

"Zmei Zord, sabre mode!" Shelby called when the first transformation had finished.

Her great mechanical serpent sprung into the air. Its entire body went rigid and then separated in the middle. From these breaks, a pair of short handles protruded. Aided in their flight by little rocked boosters, they fell into the waiting hands of the newly transformed Gryphon Zord.

"Cohort Megazord, ready!" Shelby and Adam called together. The robot gave a flourish to its dual swords, and then began to approach the temple where the good Rangers still were.

From the hilltop, Flynn observed all of this. "Probably should've seen that coming, really."

"This is bad, guys," Tommy said.

"Let's do the same thing they did," Z suggested. "If it summoned their Zords, then it should work for ours, too."

"That's a good point. We should all have the same powers, right?" Agreed Flynn.

"Alright, guys. Ready?" Tommy said.

Z and Flynn fell in at his shoulders. "Ready!"

The three of them mimicked the movements they had just seen, touching their gems and then reaching for the sky. "Mythical beasts, arise!"

Fire and leaves on the breeze brought forth the Phoenix and Unicorn Zords. Then, a tidal wave in the sky gave way to a great artificial squid, long and slender with fins like an arrowhead on top, with ten long tentacles and two great eyes, royal blue like the color of Z's suit. The Rangers jumped up to mount their steeds.

"Megazord, combine!"

Much like how the Gryphon Zord had, the Phoenix extended its two legs and straightened them to stand on before the talons retracted in favor of regular boots. Its wings folded into openings on the sides. The Kraken Zord's tentacles retracted so that a mannish forearm and hand could extend. It attached to the right side of the Phoenix, forming an arm and shoulder so the pointed fins protruded slightly higher than the head. The Unicorn bent and twisted to form the other arm. As it attached, the horn came off. It lengthened and formed a handle to slide into the waiting Kraken hand. To complete the change, the Phoneix head collapsed into the chest in favor of a head wearing a classic flat top great helm, red in color and gold around the eye slit.

"Templar Megazord, standing by!"

The Templar Megazord touched ground deep within the heart of Athens. The moment it did, the Cohort Megazord charged down the street at it. Templar met them full-force, cutting them off with a duo of stabs, high and then low. Cohort defended both and then swung their swords at Templar's off-hand. Templar blocked the pair along the length of the Unicorn horn and then manipulated them up and around to the other side, tying up Cohort's wrists and opening them for a kick to the side. Cohort stepped with the hit and then came back to lash out high. Templar blocked. While their weapons were tied up, Cohort used their remaining, unimpeded sabre to slice at Templar's middle. The good Rangers stepped back as sparks flew from the impact.

Cohort slashed high, low, high, alternating swords. After blocking the third, and from the high bind, Templar gave a push kick to make distance. As Cohort lost ground, they were in perfect range for a diagonal strike across the chest, which Templar also comboed into a lateral slice. Cohort thrust out both swords both to attack and keep the other Megazord back. Templar took an off-line step outside both swords, used their free hand to push away one of them, and then cut up. Before this attack could hit, however, Cohort jabbed over top with their other sword.

"Watch out!" Flynn warned.

Templar faded, and Cohort came forward. The good Rangers put out their unicorn horn and clipped the approaching robot in the shoulder, stopping it cold. Templar followed by cutting down and then up, filling the air with smoke and sparks. They gave two kicks, one to the knee and then to the body with the same foot, neither particularly strong but enough to keep Cohort's guard open. They then lifted their weapon above their head with both hands. With added momentum from putting their foot down, they crashed upon the head of the Cohort Megazord.

Cohort fell upon their back. A quick flick from Adam allowed them to roll backwards onto one knee, but the Megazord lacked enough strength to stand up fully.

"Let's finish this!" Tommy declared. Templar drew back their weapon, couching its handle beneath their armpit for stability, point aligned with the enemy and ready to pounce.

"Unicorn Lance, tournament rush!" The good Rangers called.

On the feet of a fiery burst, the Templar Megazord rushed forward. It clashed with Cohort, surpassing them to impale the evil robot with the Unicorn Lance. Electricity rushed up and down the Cohort's form. The possessed evil Rangers gave a panicked cry before an explosion took their fighting machine. The force of this fireball separated the Gryphon and Zmei Zords, reverting them to their base forms. The Gryphon screeched before vanishing on the wind, while the Zmei hissed prior to ascending on a lightning bolt.

The evil Rangers were thrown from their dismantled creation, yelling as they flew through the air. Both of them landed hard on the asphalt street below. The Morhpin Grid could no longer maintain their forms, and so they unmorped upon hitting the ground. Adam managed to get up on one knee, while Shelby struggled on the ground.

"I don't believe it," she said.

"Come on, Shelby, we have to go," decided Adam, rising to his feet.

"Yeah, do it."

Adam removed a long corked vial from his pocket. He smashed it on the ground so that the dark blue sparkling liquid inside vaporized into a thick smoke cloud. It only stuck around for a second. When it vanished, so too had the evil Rangers, whisked away by whatever strange alchemy Avanth had lent to them.

From where they towered above the city, the Rangers within the Templar Megazord celebrated their victory. They raised the Unicorn Lance up above their heads at the full extension of their arm, and then slowly brought it back down to a relaxed position. Flynn wasn't sure he liked that pose, but they could work on it later. He could barely describe his joy at everything that just happened. Not only did they finally get Z her Morpher, they also realized the full power of their Zords and scored their first real victory against the evil Rangers. That was a good day, in Flynn's book. Fae was going to be elated. He couldn't wait to tell her, and to achieve the next stage of their future adventure.