A/N: the next chapter; this is the quickest I've ever updated for any story. I think. Yay me! I hope you guys like it

Chapter Summary: the reunion continues, and the former rangers fight their first fight; help comes from an unexpected person and the rangers learn a bit about what's in store for them.

O.P.D: Monday 19th April, '10.


Last time on RAN;

"He was," Trini smiled and she, along with the rest of her friends, proceeded to tell them about Zordon. Halfway through, Tommy had the teens call their parents to let them know where they were before continuing. The discussion went long into the night and the teens, Anton and Elsa, were happy to learn about the man that started it all.


It's been a few days since Kim showed up at Reefside High's Senior Prom and since she had reunited with her friends and met the newest team to become part of their ranger family. The group had spent the entire night talking, finally drifting off to sleep around three in the morning. They had woken at eleven later that day and after talking some more over breakfast, everyone had returned to their respective places, with the older rangers going back to Angel Grove because of their jobs. The prom was on Friday and it was now Monday. The alarm going off woke Kim from her sleep. Eyes closed, she reached a hand out to turn it off before reaching over to where she knew Tommy was, but her hand hit nothing but air. Frowning slightly, Kim opened her eyes and saw that his side of the bed was empty. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was seven and she shook her head as she moved from the bed. Grabbing Tommy's shirt from the chair sitting next to dresser, she headed into the bathroom. She brushed her teeth before washing her face and leaving the bathroom. She left the bedroom and headed downstairs when she smelled the scent of breakfast; with a smile, she headed straight for the kitchen. The sight that greeted her made her smile even wider; Tommy was standing at stove in a white wife-beater and black dress slacks.

"Morning Handsome," Kim smiled as she walked over to him.

"Hey," Tommy turned from the stove, taking her in his arms when she was close, before leaning down for a kiss. "Morning Beautiful; did you sleep well?"

"Better than I have in years," Kim smiled up at him. "Sleeping in your arms is the best medicine for a guaranteed good night's sleep."

"I like the sound of that," Tommy laughed. "Why don't you grab a seat? I'll be done soon."

"Alright," Kim said as she moved from his arms and sat in the chair near the center counter or island. "What are making?"

"I know how much you loved those croissant sandwiched back in high school," Tommy smiled. "So, I'm making a couple of those, along with a few sausages, bacon strips and about four pancakes."

"Hmm," Kim closed her eyes on a moan before opening them again. "Smells good; what's the occasion?"

"It's been a while since I cooked breakfast for you," Tommy smiled at her. "Saturday, Aisha and Tri dominated the kitchen, and then Sunday we went over to Hayley's café since you wanted to check it out and she ended making breakfast for not only us, but the teens as well, so today I decided it was about time I did it."

"Well I appreciate it Handsome," Kim leaned up to kiss him when he placed a plate in front of her.

"You're welcome," Tommy said. "For your drinking pleasure a nice, slightly steaming cup of Honey Lemon Tea, courtesy of Lipton Tea Bags." He knew she didn't drink coffee; one reason was, as a gymnast, she had to watch what she put in her body.

"Thank you," Kim giggled as she accepted the cup. After securing his own breakfast, Tommy turned off the stove and joined Kim. The two talked quietly as they ate, occasionally stealing kisses from each other. When they were done, Kim rinsed the dishes off and placed them in the dishwasher.

"So what are you doing today?" Tommy asked her as the two walked out the kitchen and back up the stairs.

"I'm going over to Hayley's," Kim answered as she pushed open the door to the bedroom. "Tanya's getting off from her job around twelve, so she's going to stop by to spend the afternoon with me; thought I'd help out Hayley and spend some time with her before Tanya comes."

"Ok," Tommy nodded as he sat on the bed and bent to put his shoes on. "I'll meet you there after I'm done at the school." He sat up and smiled at the picture she presented. She was leaning against his dresser, her hair was down and it fell around her waist in soft waves, his shirt coming to rest just above mid-thigh on her. "Come here."

Kim smiled as she pushed off the dresser and walked over to him, squealing when he pulled her to straddle his lap. "Yes?" she smiled at him as her hands played with the hair at the back of his neck.

"You're very beautiful, you know that?" he said to her as he brushed a lock of her hair from her face.

"Hence the nickname that you gave me back in high school," Kim teased.

His hands fell to her waist and squeezed slightly. "I love you, you know."

"I know," Kim nodded. "Because I love you too." With that, she leaned down and captured his lips. She shifted her hips and opened her mouth to accept his probing tongue, only to moan as she felt it against hers.

Tommy's hands moved from her waist and up under the shirt, teasing her skin as his hands moved up to cup her breasts. Kim pulled away from the kiss and threw her head back in a moan; in reflex, she pressed closer to him, causing him to hiss as she had rocked against his cock.

"Fuck!" Tommy hissed as Kim started rocking her hips.

"Hopefully," Kim whispered against his lips. Letting out a groan, Tommy grabbed the back of her head and pulled her to him; he captured her lips in a passionate kiss, imitating to her mouth, what he wanted to be doing to her body. Kim pulled away and he trailed his lips down her throat, causing her to rocky faster.

"Tommy," Kim breathed as he unbuttoned her shirt. She grabbed his head and let out a loud moan when he captured her nipple in his mouth. "Oh God." She was beyond aroused and she could feel that he was too.

"God Beautiful," Tommy moaned against her chest, the vibrations sending more pleasure through Kim. "You taste so good."

Kim pulled his head away and pulled him up into a kiss; she was about to lift his wife-beater off, when her cell phone went off. She stopped with a groan and rested her forehead against his. "Damnit."

"Check it," he nodded to the phone lying on the bedside table next to the alarm clock; he tried to get his breathing under control.

"Fine," Kim sighed. She shifted off him to her knees and leaned across the bed to grab her phone. Her position had Tommy fighting the urge to grab her and finish what they started.

"Hello?" Kim said as she brushed her hair from her face and tried to control her own breathing.

"Kim?" Hayley's voice sounded. "It's me, Hayley."

"What's up Hayles?" Kim asked.

"Could you do me a favor and stop at the store to pick up some glasses for me?" Hayley asked. "I'm a little swamped, so I can't go."

"Sure Hayles," Kim smiled slightly. "No problem; I'll see you in a few."

"Alright," Hayley smiled. "Thanks Kim."

"You're welcome," Kim said. "Bye Hayles." She hung up before turning to look back at Tommy; she moved back to his lap and placed her arms around his neck. "Shall we continue?"

"As much as I'd love to," Tommy sighed. "And I really would, I have to get to the school and by the sound of your conversation, Hayley needs your help."

"Damnit," Kim smiled ruefully. "Just when things were getting good."

"We can pick this up later," Tommy smiled.

"We are definitely picking this up later," Kim said and she kissed him again before moving off his lap.

"Where are you going?" he asked her.

"To take a shower," Kim called out over her shoulder. "And you should probably get a change of pants."

"Damn," Tommy laughed softly to himself as he looked down at his lap; seeing the slight wetness there, he removed his shoes and did as she said. After getting his body under control, he changed out of his slacks; at the last minute, he decided against slacks and opted to wear a pair of jeans. After pulling them on, he pulled out a long sleeved shirt and put it on over his beater. Hearing the shower start, he grabbed his keys from the dresser and headed to the bathroom. "Beautiful?"

Kim pulled the curtain just enough to stick her head out. "Yeah?"

"I'm going to go," Tommy said as he walked over to her. "I'll meet you at Hayley's later on."

"Ok," Kim nodded and she leaned out to kiss him before going back to her shower. By the time she was done, Tommy had left. Smiling to herself, she picked out her clothes before toweling out the excess water in her hair. She plugged in the blow dryer and threw her towel in the hamper. Grabbing the lotion, she creamed her skin before pulling on her underwear. Grabbing the blow dryer, she dried her hair; when she was done, the pulled on a pair of pink shorts and a white, buttoned sleeveless top, similar to what she wore in high school. She pulled her hair into a half ponytail before going down the stairs. After grabbing her keys from the coffee table, she left the house, closing and locking the door behind her. Going down the steps, she went to her car and got in; starting it, she pulled out of the drive and headed into town.

After stopping at the store to pick up the glasses for Hayley, she made her way to the café. The parking lot was almost full, but she found a parking spot a few places from the door. She got out of the car and headed inside, smiling when she saw her friend behind the counter serving a few teens. As she walked over to her, she spotted Trent walking with empty glasses on a tray.

"Hey Trent," Kim smiled at him.

"Hey Kim," Trent smiled back at her; he looked around as he heard his name before turning back to Kim, a pleading look on his face. "Please say you've come to help."

"I have," Kim laughed. "And I'm glad I did as you guys look like you could definitely use the help."

"We could," Trent nodded quickly, causing Kim to laugh.

"Alright," Kim giggled. "Let me go give these glasses to Hayley and then I'll help you guys."

"Thank you," Trent released a breath of relief.

Kim was still laughing as she walked over to the counter. "Hey Hayles."

"Kimberly," Hayley smiled when she saw her best friend.

"Got something for you," Kim smiled as she held up the bag.

"Thank you," Hayley smiled in relief. "Can I ask another favor?"

"I already told Trent I would help," Kim smiled. "Just give me an apron."

"You are such a godsend," Hayley smiled; she bent under the counter and pulled out an apron and handed it to Kim. "Here you go."

"Thanks," Kim said as she gave her the bag while taking the apron. She wrapped the apron around her waist, took the pen and pad from Hayley and turned to the customers.

"Hey Kim," a young girl called out when she saw her. "Are you helping?"

"Hi Mallory," Kim smiled at her. "Yeah I am." Kim had met the teen just yesterday when she had stopped by to check out the café with Tommy.

"Thank God," Mallory said. "I guess I forgot that with school over, all the teens would need somewhere to go."

"Well," Kim said as she moved to a teen-filled table. "Better to get the business here than to have it go anywhere else."

"True," Mallory nodded before waving goodbye as she walked over to the counter to pick up her orders.

The morning went by swiftly, and with Kim's help, Trent and Mallory were able to handle all the customers. Connor, Kira and Ethan showed up just before ten and took their usual spots.

"Hey guys," Kim smiled as she walked over to them. She came to a stop next to Connor and ruffled his hair before turning to the others. "What do you guys want?"

"Blueberry muffin and a cherry milkshake," Connor smiled up at her.

"Chocolate chip muffin and a banana milkshake," Kira said.

"And you Ethan?" Kim turned to him.

"I'll have a grape milkshake and a peanut butter muffin," Ethan said without looking up from his laptop.

"Alright," Kim said. "I'll be right back." She ruffled Connor's hair once more before walking off.

"You two haven't spent that much time with each other," Ethan looked up at Connor. "I mean, it's only been, what, three days? And yet, you act so close."

"Why is that?" Kira nudged her boyfriend with a smile.

"I don't know," Connor laughed. "I mean, you're right, it's only been three days, but I don't know; there's just something about her I can relate to…it's like when you meet someone for the first time and yet you get the feeling as if you'd met them before, maybe in a past life. Maybe I did know her in a past life, I see her as an older sister, so maybe that's what she was."

"Or lover," Ethan suggested to their shock and disgust.

"Ugh," Kira and Connor said as they screwed their faces up.

"I doubt that," Connor said as a shudder wracked his body.

"I agree," Kira nodded; the thought of Connor with someone else, no matter if the person was as nice and sweet as Kimberly, rubbed her the wrong way.

"It was just a joke," Ethan snickered.

"I love Kira," Connor smiled over at his girlfriend. "More than anything and if I was going to be with anyone in a past life, it would be her."

Kira couldn't help the blush that stole across her cheeks, which happened whenever he said something so sweet to her. To everyone else, he was nothing more than a jock, but when he was around her, he was the sweetest boyfriend a girl could ever have and she was beyond happy that he was with her.

"I love you too," Kira said as she leaned over to kiss him.

"Aww," Ethan cooed. "You are so sweet."

"What's sweet?" Angela asked as she and Krista walked up to them.

"Hey babe," Ethan smiled at his girlfriend. "Hey Krista."

"Hi Ethan," Krista smiled as she sat down. "Hi Connor, hi Kira."

"Hi guys," Kira said and Connor echoed her greeting.

"Now," Angela said as she sat next to her boyfriend. "What's sweet?"

"These two lovebirds right here," Ethan gestured towards Connor and Kira.

"They are lovebirds aren't they?" Krista smiled.

"Not you too," Kira groaned while Connor chuckled.

"Here you go guys," Kim stopped before the table with a tray. She placed the drinks and muffins on the table. "Oh, Krista, Angela, I didn't see you guys there; did you want anything."

"Hi Kim," Angela said. "And no, I'm good; I'll just steal some of Ethan's."

"What?" Ethan turned wide eyes to her causing the others to laugh.

"Ok," Kim smiled. "Well what about you Krista?"

"I'm good too," Krista shook her head.

"Ok," Kim smiled at the group. "I have to go and finish up, but I'll join you guys when I'm done."

"Alright," the friends all nodded.

Waving bye, Kim walked away. After that, time seemed to fly by; Kim and Trent, the latter having calmed down from the earlier morning rush, seemed to have fun as they helped the customers. Two hours passed and Kim and the others were still working. Around twelve-thirty, Tanya showed, but she wasn't alone; with her were Adam, Aisha, Zack, Billy and Kat.

"Hey guys," Kim smiled when she saw them. "What are all of you doing here? I was only expecting Tanya." She smiled at said girl as she grabbed her for a hug.

"So I was I," Tanya smiled as she pulled back from the hug. "But they decided they wanted to come."

"Did you really think that we would pass up the opportunity to see you?" Adam teased as he pulled her into a hug. "Especially after we haven't seen you in so long."

"And this weekend doesn't count," Aisha smiled at her best friend as she hugged her.

"But what about your jobs?" Kim asked as she let go of Aisha and moved to hug Billy.

"Family emergency," Kat said as she hugged her after Billy let her go.

"All of you got away with that excuse?" Kim looked at them in disbelief.

"Yep," Zack nodded. "Now, where's my hug?"

"Sorry," Kim laughed as he lifted her off her feet. When he set her back down, her laughter had gone down to giggles. "Why don't you guys join Connor and the others while Trent and I work?"

"Alright," Billy nodded to her and the friends made their way over to the teens.

"Hi guys," Kira smiled when she saw them. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Tanya smiled as Adam pulled up a chair for the both of them. "Thanks hon."

"No problem," Adam kissed her briefly before sitting down before he turned to the teens. "So how are you guys enjoying your summer so far?"

"It's going good," Kira smiled. "Especially now that we're done with our 'job', we don't have to worry about dates being interrupted to work."

"I hear that," Zack laughed as he remembered the many dates he had with Angela that were interrupted.

"I think we all can sympathize with that," Kat chuckled.

"Especially Tommy and Kimberly," Aisha added with a laugh.

"Tell us about them," Krista said. "I mean, we've heard of how powerful they are as rangers, but not as teens."

"As regular teens," Billy was the one to start as he had known Kim and Tommy and had seen them as a couple longer than the others. "They were just as amazing; before we became rangers, Kim was a real valley girl. She was always into shopping and her hair and her talking was proof of just how valley-girl she was. She was this very perky and cheerful person; always looking out friends, always helping others. After we became rangers, the only thing that really changes was her speaking; she was and is still into shopping, she still helps others and she's still the perky and cheerful person that you know, but she no longer spoke in her valley way. Tommy, well, to tell the truth, as long as I've known Tommy, I don't know that much about his life before he came to Angel Grove. All I know is that he was adopted and he saw Martial Arts as an escape, and that he was somewhat of a loner. Kimberly on the other hand, could probably tell you all that you wanted to know about his childhood."

"What about as a couple?" Angela asked. "What were they like?"

"They were known as the Royal Couple at AGHS," Billy smiled. "It was always Kim and Tommy/Tommy and Kim, never one without the other. A lot of girls were jealous and angry at Kim for being with Tommy and a lot of guys felt the same way about Tommy for being with Kim. Don't get me wrong, Tommy was not the perfect boyfriend; he was very forgetful, shy and seemed to have this guilt thing or as Trini and Kim called it, The Oliver Guilt Complex, but to Kim, he was the perfect boyfriend and it was vice versa for Tommy. Kimberly had her faults as well, but he didn't care; in his eyes, Kim was perfection."

"Wow," Connor said. "They were really in love with each other back then, weren't they?"

"And they still are," Kat said. "I've never seen two people who are more right for each other like Tommy and Kim; they were meant to be."

"And we got to see them reunite," Ethan said. "I feel so honored."

"So do I," Kira nodded in agreement as did the other three.

"Tell us more," Krista pleaded at them and the other teens nodded; this was a chance for them to get to know a different side of their former teacher/mentor.

"Alright," Zack clapped his hands. "How about how I helped Tommy get up the courage to ask Kimberly out?"

"Seriously?" Connor turned wide eyes to him.

"Yep," Zack laughed and he told them. Time passed and the teens had been told a few more stories. By the time Kim and Trent were ready to join them, the café a lessened considerably in customers; Hayley, realizing this, decided to join her friends and made her over to the group with Kim and Trent.

"So what has all of you over here smiling and laughing like this?" Kim asked as she walked up to them. Instead of sitting in a chair, she sat down on Zack's lap and he in turn placed an arm around her waist.

"They were telling us about you guys as teens," Kira said.

"Oh?" Kim smiled. "And I guess Zack here as been telling the funnier and possibly embarrassing parts."

"Doesn't he always," Hayley teased as she pulled up a chair next to Billy, who wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Hey," Zack laughed. "I wasn't the only telling, Billy did too."

"Did he?" Kim turned to look at her childhood friend.

"They asked," Billy pointed to the teens. Before Kim or anyone could say anything, a voice behind them spoke.

"Zachary Taylor," the person said. "Would you mind telling me why my girlfriend is sitting on your lap?" everyone turned to see Tommy standing there.

Kim smiled and moved off of Zack's lap to embrace Tommy. "What are you doing here so early? It's only one-thirty."

"I finished up early at the school," Tommy said as he returned the hug. Keeping his arm around Kim, he moved to pull up a chair. As he passed Zack, he scuffed him over the head.

"Hey!" Zack laughed as he rubbed his head. "She's one that sat on me."

"I figured as much," Tommy said as he sat in the chair, pulling Kim onto his lap. "But since I can't and won't hit her, I had to hit you."

"Whatever," Zack said and the others laughed.

"Anyway," Tommy said. "I thought only Tanya was supposed to come?"

"They decided to take a sick leave," Kim smiled.

"So I'm guessing the others are coming up later?" Tommy asked.

"Yep," Adam nodded. "We talked to them before we came; they couldn't leave at the time and said they wouldn't be able to until later."

"Which Rocky was pissed about," Aisha smiled. "As he had really wanted to come."

"I can imagine him throwing a little temper tantrum," Tommy laughed as did the others. The group continued talking and after a while, Hayley, Kim and Trent got up and helped the few customers that came in. As the afternoon was winding down, the atmosphere in the café was lighthearted and warm. People were smiling and laughing as they hung out with their friends or watched the TV; forty-five minutes later things changed. The group of friends were still sitting together, the teens listening as they were told stories about the older rangers past. Things were quiet and a few people were sitting around the café when it happened; an explosion shook the ground. Gasps were heard throughout the café followed by shouts of fear and confusion as another explosion rocked the café. Kim was making her way to her friends when the first explosion shook the ground; she stumbled, hearing Tommy's cry of her name, and would've fallen if Trent hadn't caught her.

"Gotcha," he said as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Thanks," Kim breathed out. They started again and this time, the second explosion knocked them off their feet. Before she could move, Tommy was already next to her, helping both her and Trent to their feet.

"Thanks Dr. O," Trent coughed.

"Thanks Handsome," Kim said as she held his hand in hers. She looked around at the others. "Is everyone ok?"

"Yeah," Aisha said, everyone else nodding in agreement.

"What the hell was that?" Ethan asked as he grabbed his laptop.

"I don't know," Adam answered. Before anyone could say anything else, screams tore through the air. The friends looked at each other before running towards the door.

"Be careful," Hayley called after them. "God, I hope it's not what it sounds like."

When they got outside, they literally stopped in their tracks; the destruction that they saw had them frozen.

"What the hell?" Connor asked.

All around them were fires; cars were flipped over or on fire, the ground was torn up in places and a few people were bleeding.

"Come on," Tommy said and the former rangers instinctively went into ranger mode.

"Krista, Angela," Kim turned to the two girls. "I need you two to get the injured people out of here; you guys might want to stay, but you can't."

"Alright," Krista nodded followed by Angela. Giving Trent and Ethan a kiss, the two girls started to move the injured back into the café.

"Let's go guys," Adam said. The group ran towards the end of the street, where everyone else was running from and they froze in shock for a second time.

"What the hell are those things?" Aisha asked.

"I don't know," Tommy whispered. Just yards away were the ones responsible for the destruction; they were creatures that were slightly pudgy with a disfigured face, and it was covered in black armor.

The former rangers looked at each other before nodding; taking a deep breath and releasing, they attacked. When the creatures saw them coming, they roared out in anger and attacked as well. Rangers and creatures met up in the middle and the fight was on.

"Whoa!" Connor exclaimed when he found himself thrown back. Before he could get up, Zack and Ethan joined him.

"Man," Ethan groaned as he moved to his feet. "These things are tough."

"You can say that again," Zack groaned as he helped Connor up.

"You guys ok?" Kira asked as she knelt next to them.

"Yeah, we're ok," Connor said as he stood up. They shook themselves off before joining the others. The fight continued on with the rangers getting frustrated as nothing they did, seemed to be able to inflict any damage to the creatures.

"It's like we nothing we do is hurting them," Kim panted out as she leaned against Tommy.

"These things are tougher than putties and tengas," Aisha said.

"Definitely," Adam said.

"I never thought I'd say this," Tanya said. "But I miss the machine bots."

"So do I," Kat agreed.

"They're stronger than anything we've ever faced," Billy said.

"But we can't give up," Tommy said. "We can't let them keep destroying everything."

"So what do we do?" Trent asked as Connor and the others walked over to them.

"What we always do," Kim answered him.

"We fight," Tommy continued. "Let's go." Nothing else was said as they attacked once more, but it was no use; no matter what they did, it seemed like nothing was hurting them…nothing was working. Before they could move, they were thrown back by a blast.

"Shit." Was the general exclamation. As the rangers tried to get to their feet, one of the creatures walked over to them. Kim was the nearest, so it got to her first.

"Destroy," The creature said as it raised its gun. The others looked on in fear and Kim did as well, but she also felt the rise of her powers inside of her. Before she could do anything however, a blast sent the creature away from her. When she looked up, she saw a guy standing there.

"Not today you don't," The guy said before he attacked.

The others rushed over to Kim, Tommy getting there first, and helped her to her feet.

"Are you alright?" Tommy asked as his hands ran over her body, checking for injuries.

"Yeah," Kim nodded. "I'm fine; he stopped it before it could do anything."

"Who is he?" Aisha asked as she stood next to Kim.

"I don't know," Kim answered. The rangers stood together and watched as the guy fought off the creatures.

"Is it me," Kira said. "Or does it seem like he knows exactly how to fight?"

"It's almost like," Tanya started.

"Like he fought them before," Kat finished.

"Yeah," Tanya nodded. As they looked on, they watched as the guy destroyed the creatures. When he did it, the rangers looked at each other before going over to him.

"Thanks for the help," Tommy said.

"Who are you?" Kim asked.

"You're welcome," the guy said. "And my name is Joey Petersen."

"Can you tell us how you destroyed those things?" Connor asked.

"And where you came from?" Trent asked.

"Yes," Joey said. "But not here; is there somewhere we can go?"

"Yeah," Tommy said. "We can go to my place."

"Alright," Joey nodded. "Lead the way."

The group made their way back to Hayley's, who had directed everyone to the hospital or to their homes and upon seeing them, came out of the café, Angela and Krista behind her.

"What's going on?" Hayley asked as she walked up to them, stopping next to Billy. "Who's he?"

"We're going to Tommy's," Billy said. "We'll talk there."

"Ok," Hayley said. "I called Jason and the others and they said they'll be here soon."

"I'll call and tell them to meet us at home," Kim said. "Let's go before the cops show up and start asking questions."

In agreement, the group headed to their vehicles, which to their surprise was still intact, with Joey and Hayley going with Kim; Kira, Ethan and Trent with Connor; Angel with Krista; Tanya and Aisha with Adam and Zack with Billy. On the drive, Kim called Jason and told him to meet them at Tommy's. Fifteen minutes later, she and the others were turning into the drive. They got out and was about to go inside when they heard more cars coming up the road; looking back, they noticed that it was Jason's and Rocky's cars.

"What the hell is going on?" was the first thing Rocky said the moment he got out of the car.

"Is everyone ok?" Jason asked he got out of the car and flew up the step, followed by Trini and Angela. "No one's hurt are they?"

"No," Kim shook her head as he pulled her into a hug. "We're all fine."

"Are you sure?" Trini asked as she hugged as well before she turned to the others.

"Yeah," Zack nodded.

"We should go inside," Kat said.

"Ok," Tommy nodded before opening the door. He allowed everyone inside before closing the door behind him. As they did the night of the prom, the friends took up their same spots, with Joey sitting in the single chair facing the others.

"What's going on guys?" Trini asked.

"We were attacked," Kim answered.

"What?" Jason and the others had looks on shock and confusion on their faces.

"We don't know what they are," Zack continued. "But these things were strong; stronger than putties…"

"Stronger than tengas," Aisha picked up.

"Even stronger than the machine bots," Kat continued. "Jase, you know how much trouble we had with those."

"I do," Jason nodded. "So, where did they come from?"

"They're called Kronobots," Joey said. "And they're not from this world."

"What do you mean?" Connor asked.

"The Kronobots are soldiers of an evil being called King Nerian," Joey said. "Neither Nerian or his soldiers are from this world…this dimension."

"How do you know that?" Adam asked.

"Because neither am I," Joey said to the shock of the entire room.

"Explain," Hayley said.

"As rangers, I'm sure the idea of parallel worlds is not foreign to you guys," Joey said, when they agreed, he continued. "Well, my dimension is a parallel version of this world, with minor differences. Nerian destroyed my Earth and the rangers that lived there; he's more powerful than any of the villains you guys have faced because he is older than them, so therefore, he has more experience and more knowledge."

"Why is he in our world?" Kim asked.

"Because the rangers in this world are stronger than the rangers in the other world," Joey said.

"What do you mean?" Tanya asked.

"Even now," Joey said. "I don't know you, but I can see the bond that's between all of you; a bond which could have gone the other way; which is what happened in my home world."

"What are you talking about?" Rocky asked.

"He's talking about what happened back in high school," Kim said to Rocky before turning to Joey. "I'm guessing that in your world, she decided not to forgive them?"

"Yes," Joey nodded. "Because of that, the rangers were split apart and the bond was never fixed. By the time Nerian attacked, we weren't really in sync with each other, so it was easy to pick us apart."

"Are you saying that if Kim hadn't forgiven us," Trini spoke up.

"You wouldn't be as strong as you are today," Joey said.

"Zordon was right when he said that the bond between us is one of the strongest he's ever seen," Kim said. "Our team started it all and every ranger team that came after us, looked up to us in some way. If our team hadn't fixed the damage between us…"

"It would've caused a discord between every team that followed," Joey finished.

"What are you guys talking about?" Ethan asked.

"Remember how we told you guys that Tommy and I broke up in high school?" Kim asked the teens.

"Yeah?" Trent nodded.

"What we didn't tell you is that," Tommy said. "Kim had wrote a 'Dear John' letter; Kat, Adam, Billy, Rocky and Tanya were there when I got the letter and the heard what it said. They got angry at Kim and refused to talk to her; at the time, what they didn't know was that Zordon had allowed Kim to teleport to Angel Grove to talk to me and we worked things out. Eventually, the others found out about the letter and what it said and they got angry at Kimberly as well and cut all ties with her."

"The only who didn't was Aisha," Kim picked up. "She didn't believe I fell in love with anyone else or that I would hurt Tommy like that, so when she called, I told her the whole truth."

"We didn't know what really happened until Tommy was kidnapped by the Machine Empire," Jason said. "But by then the damage had already been done; we had nearly severed the bond between us and at that point, Kim was the only that could fix it."

"Aisha and I were the only ones that she still talked to," Tanya said. "Mainly because Aisha never believed her and for me, well it was because I had never met her."

"But Kimberly forgave you and the bond was repaired," Kira said.

"Yeah," Trini smiled over at Kim. "And I am beyond thankful for that."

"As are we," Zack gestured to the rest of them.

"What can you tell us about Nerian?" Billy asked.

"He's very ruthless," Joey said. "And he will stop at nothing to get what he wants."

"Which is the destruction of the power rangers," Zack said.

"Unfortunately," Joey nodded. "Yes."

"And I'm guessing that we won't be enough to stop him will we?" Rocky said.

"No," Joey shook his head. "We're going to need all the help we can get."

"Which means," Tommy said. "We're going to have to contact all the former rangers."


A/N 2: ok, now things are moving along; the rangers get a glimpse of what they're up against. Just who is Joey Petersen and how does he know so much about Nerian? All that and more in the next chapter. Read and review.

A/N 3: the creatures are a lot like the Orcs in Lord of The Rings, except the stonger and covered in armor. I couldn't think of a name for them or better description and I am definitely open to suggestions on how they should look, so if you have any....