"Ethan?" Haley asked cautiously. He'd been staring into space for ten minutes now, barely blinking. She was starting to get seriously concerned.

Ethan turned a vacant gaze on Haley, who tried desperately to find appropiate words. Then he suddenly lunged forward, grabbing her in a hug that made her ribs creak. She gasped in mingled surprise and lack of air, but quickly returned the embrace. Even though he still wasn't crying, she could feel his misery.

Haley knew this was going to be hardest on Ethan. Out of their whole team, only Ethan could genuinely claim Cassidy was his friend. They'd even briefly toyed with a romantic relationship. She couldn't imagine what he was going through.

"It's our fault," he said, his voice muffled by her shirt.

She thought he was talking about failing to rescue Cassidy. "No it's not, Ethan. We did the absolute best we could..." even though she was still hurting from the fact that it had taken her so long to find the blond.

He pulled back, shaking his head. "No, it's our fault because we're Rangers. Mesogog wouldn't have even have glanced at her otherwise. He may want to destroy humanity, but he doesn't care about individuals. At least he didn't until we pissed him off so badly that he started taking his frustrations out on our friends."

Haley decided to voice the thoughts that had been going through her head. "Ethan...I don't think it was Mesogog. It doesn't fit his M.O. Power Ranger villians may be powerful and dangerous, but they're also predictable. Attacking someone like that...that viciously...is out of character."

Haley didn't add her knowledge that the few times the villians DID get creative, they often came dangerously close to winning. Rita was a prime example: the Green Ranger, Cyclopsis, the Green Candle...

Ethan looked at her gravely. "Then that means...there's someone else. Someone who doesn't play by the same rules."

Haley's nod was grim. "And they are more sadistic then Mesogog, more clever than him, and--in some ways--more subtle." She cut off Ethan's rising protest. "Subtle by Power Ranger standards, I mean. Think about it. This wasn't the usual 'send foot soldiers out to create panic so the Rangers show up to face my new monster.' This was a surgical strike. Cassidy was located, kidnapped, tor...hurt, and discovered within a five-hour time span. That shows planning skills."

Ethan's face darkened even more as realization set in. "It wasn't luck that we found her alive, was it? I mean, five more minutes and she would have died there. The bastard timed it perfectly. He wanted us to find her alive, only to realize that we could do nothing to help her. He wanted us to feel..."

"Helpless," Haley finished. "And we did, didn't we? This isn't just sadism, Ethan. This is psychological warfare. And it's only going to escalate from here."

Ethan squared his shoulders. "How do we stop them?"

Haley sighed. "I hate to admit it, but for once, I don't have any ideas. The problem is another thing that's different about this villian: we know absolutely nothing about them. Usually villians can't shut up about their brilliant plans, much less an actual victory. Mesogog's not quite as bad as most of them, but even he let us find out the location of his base right off the bat--we just can't do anything about it. And if they're as smart as they seem, they'll stay in the shadows as long as possible."

Ethan looked at her, and there were finally tears in his eyes as he asked "Haley? Can we...are we going to win this?"

When she and Tommy first started creating the DinoThunder powers, Haley made a vow: she would never lie to the future Rangers. No mentor ever had, and she was not about to start. Though neither of them spoke it out loud, Haley knew Tommy felt the same way. She could not, of course, predict the future. So her answer, although worded carefully, was absolutely sincere. "We have to Ethan," she hugged him again. "We HAVE to."