Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.

A/N - This is the sequel to The Winged Lord and Lady of the Skies, and its follow up one-shots Countdown to Destruction and Forever Red. I'd at least read The Winged Lord and Lady first if you don't wanna be confused.


Chapter 1 – Day of the Dino


It was the first day of fifth grade at Reefside Elementary/Junior High for ten-year-old Kira Oliver and she was already unimpressed. Her classmates were immature, her teachers either pushovers or hard asses and the cafeteria food was worse than her Uncle Jason's cooking. To top it all off, the Oliver family had recently moved to Reefside from Angel Grove and so Kira didn't know a single person. It was lunchtime and Kira was picking at a plate of meatloaf, if it could be called that. No one had talked to her and she had yet to see anyone she wanted to talk to. She was looking through the crowd for a group of kids who would never truly welcome her but would allow her to latch on to them at school events and lunch. The problem with her finding friends is that she could never let anyone in completely; her family had too many secrets. The most obvious one was the fact that they were Power Rangers. Her parents, aunts, uncles, family friends and even a large group of acquaintances were all Rangers; in fact there were very few people in her life that weren't Power Rangers. Her best friend, more like an older brother, was Justin Stewart, the Blue Turbo Ranger, and nine years her senior. That was the closest to an age appropriate friend she had. Now Justin had just graduated MIT and was off to some fancy job working with Lightspeed Rescue. After the debacle of external interference during Lightspeed's term as active Rangers, they tried to keep the highest-ranking positions within the Ranger family, and so it was no surprise that they'd recruited genius Justin.

Kira pushed the food around again and tried once more to at least make eye contact with someone. So far she was invisible. At least, invisible to people she might want as friends. A group of eighth grade boys had set their sights on her and deemed her an easy target. There were fallbacks to living in a smaller town then Angel Grove, which itself was pretty small. The number of kids aged elementary school to junior high was so low the school board deemed it a waste of funds to give them separate buildings. So fifth and sixth graders were stuck having a lunch period with the older seventh and eighth graders.

"Hey, you're in our seat." One said, coming to stand in front of her, banging his hands on the table and giving her his best mean face. Now Kira was an easy person to get along with, she could adapt to nearly anything and preferred to avoid confrontation; such were the key aspects of her life having grown up in the centre of the Power Ranger family. However, she couldn't stand bullies. She got enough of that with all the evil beings that were after her.

"There's plenty of room, you can join me if you want." She said, looking him in the eye, obviously not intimidated by him in the least.

"Why would we want to join a puny sixth grader?"

"A fifth grader actually. And if you don't want to join me, then don't. There are many tables here, I'm sure someone else will let you sit with them."

"Hey newbie! He said you're in our seat!" a second thug grabbed her shirt and pulled her up forcefully, the eyes of the entire cafeteria were now on them.

"Let me go." Kira said calmly, her voice deathly quiet, a warning sign to any who knew her. Unfortunately, no one here did. The thug tugged on her shirt, forcing her on her tiptoes and getting in her face.

"Are you gonna make me, shrimp?" Kira smirked evilly, a trait inherited from her father, and swept her leg out around him, knocking him to the ground. His grip on her would have taking her with him, but she anticipated it and turned her fall in to a handspring, coming up facing the thugs and falling into a fighting stance. Most of the cafeteria burst into laughter, finding it hilarious that one four foot seven girl could take on three five foot sixish boys. There were those, however, who weren't so quick to judge.

"Oh, you've done it now!" said the third. He rushed her, making Kira smirk again. When his arms were within reach she swept one aside, sweeping under it and flipping him onto his back. The first guy grabbed her from behind, however Kira stomped on his foot and elbowed him in the stomach. His grip loosened and Kira grabbed one of his arms and brought it behind him, raising it up but stopping before she truly injured him.

"Can I eat my lunch in peace now? Or does anyone else wanna start a fight?" She released the thug, pushing him to the floor and glaring at all three of them. They held their hands up in defeat and Kira sat back down, once again pushing the food around on her plate. At this age size tended to matter in terms of strength, and so Kira's age combined with her petite stature, this being a trait inherited from her mother, often had people underestimating her. However, having evil villains after her for as long as she could remember had had Kira's family teaching her to fight from a very young age so she could fight the evil beings on her own if they weren't there to protect her. Kira's solitude was short lived as she felt the presence of an annoyed teacher behind her.

"Can I help you, sir?" she asked sweetly, throwing in her best smile.

"Care to explain how three of my basketball players ended up on the floor?"

"They tripped?" she guessed, he didn't look impressed. "Sir, do you really believe that someone as small as me could take on one of them, let alone three at once?"

"The three boys and the entire cafeteria said otherwise." Kira sighed and dropped her innocent act.

"They started it." She said as she gathered her things and followed him to the principal's office.

-C/K-

Later that day, Kira was sitting on the school steps waiting for her dad to come pick her up. The school had called him at work, he was a science teacher at Reefside High, when she told them her mother was out of town. He was late, though that should not come as a surprise to her; her dad was periodically late. Finally, when there were only a few kids milling about, going to catch the late bus, Tommy pulled up. He sighed at his daughter and looked most unimpressed with her.

"Fighting? On the first day?" he asked as she got into the car.

"They started it. You know I wouldn't fight unless necessary."

"And felling three eighth graders in the middle of the cafeteria was necessary?" Tommy put the car in drive and pulled out from the school.

"When one grabbed my shirt, hauled me up so my feet could barely touch the ground and got all up in my face…yes."

Tommy sighed again but didn't say anything. He knew what it was like. What the teachers saw isn't always what happened. Though he also knew that someone with Kira's personality, who had the skills to back it up, could jump on the attack with barely any provocation.

"Um…dad?"

"What?"

"Who are those guys?" she had turned in her seat and was pointing to the back where two boys sat sullenly. One was African-American of medium stature, with short black hair and the other was a tall Caucasian with ear length brown hair.

"Oh, right." He said, just remembering they were there. "The one behind you is Ethan James, the other is Connor McKnight. They're two of my students. Guys this is my daughter, Kira." Half-hearted greetings were given before the boys returned to staring out the windows.

"And what are they doing here?" Kira asked.

"They have detention. I'm taking them to a museum just outside of town."

"Please tell me you're dropping me off at home first."

"Nope. Consider this your punishment." Kira let out a dramatic sigh and then joined the boys in staring sullenly out the windows. The rest of the drive of spent in silence and Tommy could not have been happier to arrive at the museum. His happiness, however, turned into confusion when they reached the front doors.

" 'Under construction, in the event of an emergency call Anton Mercer Industries.' Anton Mercer, that's impossible." Muttered Tommy.

"Oh well, no museum for us." said Connor, quite happy with this outcome.

"Great, let's go home." Enthused Kira. Tommy turned to them, deciding he needed to send them off so he could look around.

"Tell you what, why don't you guys have a look around while I try to find someone to tell me when it's gonna open. If you find anything prehistoric, I'll cancel detention for the rest of the week."

"Sweet." Said Ethan as they turned around to start looking.

"And hey, keep an eye on her!" called Tommy, Kira spun around and shot him a dirty look.

"And you keep your eyes open." Was his only response. He held her gaze long enough for Kira to get the message that something was up. The teens headed into the woods, basically deciding to go for a leisurely walk.

"Hey, did you guys ever hear the story about the guy who was hiking up here and fell into a giant sink hole?" asked Ethan, once they cleared the edge of the woods and were out of sight of the building.

"Must have missed that one." Muttered Connor. Kira hung back and let them have their discussion or argument or whatever it was. She used the time to look around and take in her surroundings; noting all the trenches, fallen trees, large rocks and a nice open area for battle. Not something a normal person on a hike in the woods would think of, but with her it was always a good idea.

"Come on! It was on all the urban legend websites."

"Dude, you know this isn't computer club right?"

"Oh, I guess you're too big and bad to surf the web. Well what do you do in your spare time?"

"Me? I go out with girls. You know, they're the ones at school that smell really good with the long hair and the makeup."

"Oh it's like that is it?"

"Yeah, it's like that."

"Whatever." Kira muttered as she shoved passed them. These two were at least five years older then her and there was no doubt in her mind who was the more mature of the three.

"All I'm trying to do is give you guys a heads up. Stuff happens out here." Ethan insisted, taking up the rear as he and Connor followed Kira. "Just don't come crying to me when you two fall into a giant sinkhole." As if the world was just waiting for him to say that, the ground below them gave in. They fell down about fifty feet, landing on their backs and coughing as dirt rained down on them. With moans of pain and confusion, they got to their feet, wiping the dirt off them and looking up at where they had come from.

"Alright." Panted Connor, still coughing up dirt. "You guys stay here where it's safe. I'll climb up and come back with help."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Warned Kira.

"Don't worry. I'll be back." He began climbing the rock wall but only managed to get about three feet off the ground.

"Back already?" joked Ethan when Connor fell back down. "Well, I guess we have no choice but to head that way." He said, indicating the tunnel ahead of them. They walked for about five minutes before Kira's boredom got the better of her and she began singing quietly to herself.

"Freak you out, freak you out, freak you out."

"Hey, kid, can you keep it down?" asked Connor coming up beside her. "I'm trying to keep focused here." He walked on ahead as Kira's mouth fell open in anger.

"Don't call me a kid!" she demanded. "Hey!" Kira growled and went after Connor.

"What?" he asked when she grabbed his should, which she grudgingly admitted she had trouble reaching, and whirled him around to face her. "Just chill out, why don't you?"

"Listen, my name is Kira. Why don't you write it on your hand or something, so you can remember." She stormed off ahead. Connor looked to Ethan for support but he simply held up his hands in defeat. They continued walking, eventually coming to the end of the tunnel, which just happened to be marked with the fully formed skeleton of a dinosaur.

"This screams Jurassic Park to me." Said Kira.

"This will get us out of detention for forever." Connor smiled at the thought. He reached up and grasped the dinosaur's jaw, trying to pull it loose.

"Do you think you should-?"

"Whoa!" cried Ethan as instead of coming loose, the jaw opened, triggering a hidden door in the side of the cave. The door gave way to a sparsely lit chamber, with a large mainframe computer at the end, and a smoking rock in the middle. The room wasn't big, and there were nooks and crannies that could be home to something of unknown origin. The thing that struck Kira, however, was the design carved into the walls and used as a screensaver on the computer. It seemed familiar somehow, and though Kira knew from what, she hoped it wasn't true.

"Whoa! This must be like the mother ship for you, dude." Connor teased Ethan.

"Normally I'd be insulted. But when you're right, you're right." Ethan wore a smile that was taking up his entire face. However his glee didn't stop him from seeing Connor about to touch the smoking rock. "Yo don't touch that!"

"Why not?"

"You really are taking this whole dumb jock thing to a whole new level."

"Look. I have sat through enough lame science classes to know that thing looks fully prehistoric." He indicated to three brightly coloured gems, red, blue and yellow respectively, sitting atop the smoking rock. "And if I don't have to miss soccer practice…"

"I hate to agree with him." Said Kira, joining them by the rock. "Really, I do. But the faster we bring back something prehistoric, the faster we go home. Besides, dad will flip." Kira knew that taking gems from a smoking rock in a hidden chamber was not a good idea. With everything she had been taught, her mind screamed at her not to go anywhere near the smoking rock or the gems. But something within her, her instincts, her heart, something, was telling her otherwise. And she also knew that in her family's line of work following that feeling was more important then following your brain and was what often kept them alive. So it was with hesitation that she reached out along with the boys and grasped on to the yellow gem. The gems glowed and they felt a surge of power wash over them. Whatever these gems were, they held tremendous power and Kira now felt good about taking them. If this place belonged to an evil being, they were taking away at least some of their power. If it belonged to someone who was good, they could find them and work it all out.

"What are they?" she asked aloud.

"I can go online later and find out."

"You in front of a computer? Wait, let me put on my surprised face." Connor jibed.

"You know, ten years from now, when your hairline's receding and you're playing pick up soccer in the park because your dreams of turning pro never quite worked out, I'll have my own multimillion-dollar software business. Yeah. " Kira rolled her eyes and walked back to the entrance. "Where are you going? Dr. O said we gotta watch you."

"I don't want to think of what kind of a freak lives in a place like this. And I sure don't wanna be here when it gets home." She turned and led the way out.

"Right behind ya!" They walked back to the end of the tunnel, this time, however, there was another tunnel they hadn't noticed before that led out to the mouth of the cave.

"This way!" cried Ethan, before stopping in his tracks. "Uh…compass! We need a compass, does anyone have a compass?"

"Oh, and I was going to bring one!" said Connor, snapping his fingers in mock disappointment. Any other sarcastic comment or cutting insult he could say was cut off when a strong wind came out of nowhere, and the forest went completely silent.

"What was that?" asked Ethan.

"The wind?" Kira asked hopefully, though she had no doubt in her mind that it wasn't.

"That was not the wind. As much as we'd like it to be, it ain't." Suddenly, two flashes of green on either side of them heralded the arrival of two groups of monsters.

"Don't move." Muttered Connor.

"Great idea, make it easy for them." Snapped Kira.

"New plan. Run!" Ethan cried and the three set off through the woods. They had run maybe sixty feet when a trench lay before them. Connor and Ethan jumped over it easily enough, but Kira and her short legs didn't make it.

"Whoa!" she cried as she tumbled down. Connor and Ethan turned around and ran to help her, pulling her up and out just as one of the monsters landed in the trench right where she had been. They continued running and once again Kira fell to the ground, this time tripping over a root. She turned to face the incoming monsters and opened her mouth to scream. However, instead of the scream of a scared little girl, she let out a high pitch screech that solidified into sound waves and knocked the monsters back. Connor and Ethan covered their ears, cringing at the sound. When it stopped they turned around and ran back to help Kira.

"Help her up!"

"What was that?"

"I have no idea." Suddenly, the yellow gem in Kira's pocket began glowing once again. She pulled it out and held it in her hand, feeling the power surge grow, and hearing the cry of a Pterodactyl as the image of one flashed before her eyes. Their attention was drawn back to the monsters who had gotten back up and were heading their way. Kira shoved the gem in her pocket as they turned and ran, this time splitting up. Once she was out of sight of the boys, Kira turned back around and fell into a fighting stance. The three or four monsters didn't stand a chance as she quickly and fairly easily dispatched them. A few minutes later, she joined back up with the boys, both of whom reported their monsters were dealt with.

"What just happened?" asked Connor, taking out his gem. Ethan and Kira followed suit and the three gems glowed in their hands.

"We should tell my dad." Said Kira as she began walking.

"Are you crazy?" demanded Ethan, he and Connor staying put. "I've got over a thousand sci-fi DVDs, you wanna know how many times the dude with the superpowers ends up in some freaky government lab lying on a table with wires in his head?"

"Even I know that." Said Connor. Kira shook her head in disagreement.

"Look, we can trust my dad. There's something you should-" Whatever she was going to say was interrupted by the arrival of another group of monsters behind Kira. They grabbed hold of her and she had just enough time to throw her gem to Connor and Ethan before the monsters disappeared with her in tow.

"Kira!" cried Connor, he bent down and picked up her gem.

"Dr. O's gonna kill us."

"We should get back to him."

"What are we gonna tell him? Creepy monsters kidnapped his daughter?!" Connor demanded and the two ran as fast as they could back to the car.

"He's a dinosaur guy, these things are dinosaurs. Sort of." Connor sighed but agreed with him, not having a better idea himself. When they arrived, however, they discovered that Dr. O, and his car, were nowhere to be found.

"Where the hell is he?"

"I dunno!"

"What do we do?" The two stood around in both shock and terror, trying to come up with a game plan.

"Why don't we head back to the cave?" suggested Ethan. "It's where we found these things, maybe we can get some answers, or help from the person who lives there."

"And if the person who lives there is the puppet master of those freaks that took her?"

"We're gonna have to take that chance." Connor thought about it for a second but conceded in the end. It took them awhile to find their way back to the cave entrance, not wanting to jump down the sinkhole, but eventually they arrived back at the hidden chamber.

"So what do we look for?" Connor asked.

"I'll check the computer." Said Ethan. However before he took two steps forward, a voice rang out.

"If you're looking for extra credit, you're in the wrong place." They turned to find Dr. O standing in front of the no longer smoking rock with his arms crossed and a pissed look on his face.


A/N - Here we go, the start of the sequel! This fic obviously starts with Dino Thunder and will span all the way through to the Megaforce all-Ranger reunion. Not every season between Dino Thunder & Megaforce will be included, and some may be touched on very briefly while others will get a lot more emphasis.

I know those of you who have read The Winged Lord and Lady will now be able to figure out for certain who Kira will be bonded to (while those who haven't will have no idea what I'm talking about, and I advise you to go read that story before continuing this one). We've reached the sequel so I'm not trying to hide it any longer and I ask that you please hold off questions on what's going to happen and how I'm gonna make this work. It's only a couple chapters until you'll get your answers, and since I've posted two chapters to start this off, it's really only one chapter. ;)

Review please!