Still don't own.

Chapter Four: Help; Spirits and Meetings

The Dino rangers stood in the front yard of Tommy's house waiting for the Ninja Storm rangers to arrive, excited about the meeting despite the terrible and confusing circumstances. Tommy was standing on the porch when his phone rang, drawing his attention from the van driving slowly up the dirt road to his house.

"Dr. Oliver."

"Hey Tom."

"Jason?! Wow, how are you man?"

"I'm…not so good. Kimmy called, she was in a lot of pain. Said something about a ranger in trouble, but we got cut off. She's headed your way Tom and so are Trini and I. Adam, Rocky and Aisha are headed there as well, since Adam got the same jolt that Kimmy did. What is going on there Tom?"

Tommy sighed deeply and slumped into one of his dining room chairs, covering his eyes with one hand.

"We've got another evil ranger to deal with, this one is green though."

"Oh man bro, you alright?"

"Yeah, it's no different than the situation with Trent on my end, but that isn't the main problem."

"Then what is?"

"This ranger doesn't want to be evil. Hell, the ranger actually attacked Elsa when ordered to attack us!"

"So he's not under their control? Why doesn't he leave?"

"We saw some type of bracelet that seems to cause her pain, we think that's how they control her."

"Her? The green ranger is a girl?"

"Yeah, at least that is what the voice indicates. The armor is male, but that may be because of something else. The voice is definitely female."

"Alright, well we'll be there tomorrow."

"Got it bro. Jase?"

"Yeah bro?"

"Thanks."

NOASTRIKS

That night was the strangest in Tommy's long tenure as a ranger.

He found himself in a dark place, the ground covered in fog, monoliths in the distance. It did not look like a nice place in the least and he was confused about what he was doing there.

:You are in her mind hatchling.:

Tommy spun and gaped at the sight of a white falcon the size of a full grown tiger. He was a majestic bird, with snow white feathers tipped in green and black with a red crest. Around his neck he wore a pendant emblazoned with a brachiosaur.

"Who?"

:I am your ninjetti partner. The colors I bear represent your history and the pendant is to your current partner. He will be along shortly, but right now you should greet your flock-mates.:

Tommy spun again to be greeted with the sight of a pink aura, soon coalescing into Kimberly Hart, his first and only love, a blue aura before Billy, a red aura coalescing into Rocky, a yellow aura heralding Aisha and a black aura heralding Adam. Behind each were their ninjetti spirit; the pink crane, the blue wolf, a red ape, a yellow bear and a black frog that had streaks of green down his back.

Behind them was another shock for Tommy. His current team appeared with their respective zords behind them; Conner in red with the Tyranno behind him, Kira in yellow with Terra, Trent in white with the Drago behind him and Ethan in blue with Tricera. Finally the Ninja Storm Wind Rangers appeared, Shane with his hawk, Dustin with his lion and Tori with the Dolphin.

"Whoa, what's going on Dr. O?"

Tommy turned to glare a bit at Conner, but noticed that he didn't have to as Kira already had it covered, so his anger turned to amusement as he watched them.

"T-tommy?"

He turned and smiled at Kim.

"Hey Kim, how are you?"

"Tommy, what is going on? How are we here…wherever here is?"

"I don't know Billy, but I think that maybe our guides do. Falcon?"

:We are here to meet him.:

:Meet who?:

:Me. Thank you for coming my old friends.:

Everyone turned at the raspy, unhappy voice coming from their left. Standing there was a green raptor with black stripes running down his back and a black pendant around his bird-like neck. The spirits behind the Dino Thunder teens stepped forward and the humans could only watch as they confronted the raptor.

:Why have you done this Raptor? Why have you abandoned us for the enemy?:

:It was through no choice of mine Tyranno! That…that woman has my Beloved trapped! Even Thundra can't help her any more than numbing the pain!:

At that Terra reared back, a surprised squawk coming from her beak.

:Thundra? The ancient thunderbird? What has he to do with your Beloved?:

Raptor sighed and crouched closer to the ground, letting the pendant get closer to the humans, who could see that there was a phoenix carved into it in black stone.

:Thundra is her original partner. She holds the black shard of Balance encased in her heart and it was the shard that cleansed some of the malice from my gem. It is this influence that has allowed my Beloved to fight the hold that they have on her.:

"Excuse me, but what exactly is this shard you're talking about?"

Raptor looked at Adam and the black frog gulped at the sight of the massive creature. Raptor was nearly twelve feet tall with razor sharp claws and his toe claw was three feet by itself, a wicked weapon that neither Adam nor his frog partner wanted any part of. Raptor grinned a very toothy grin.

:The Crystal Shards are the oldest known link to the morphing grid and are actually shards of the larger crystal known as the Halcion Crystal. The crystal was actually a piece of the grid that had been crystallized when a foreign entity, which's name I don't know, passed through on their way to the Earth. When the crystal hit the Earth it shattered and each shard was bonded to a certain creature. The red shard bonded to a cougar, the blue to a badger, the yellow to a snake, the white to a bear and the pink to a gazelle. The black shard was the only one to bond with a 'legendary' creature, the Thunderbird. The enemy was defeated and the shard went into a type of hibernation until they were needed again, this time by a new set of rangers. Thundra chose my Beloved because of her heart and her staunch support of all things of balance; the same reasons that I chose to bond with her.:

"So these shards are powerful? How come we've never heard of this team?"

:They isolated themselves on purpose. Didn't want any attention brought to them, so they fought and then left quickly, not even bothering with civilians except for my Beloved. She was the only one who cared anything for the civilians, but we've gotten off track from why I brought you all here.:

:Why did you bring us here Raptor; where is here anyway?:

The growling voice of the blue wolf rose softly above them, his tone matching Billy's with a soft undertone of threat. Raptor looked at the mammalian predator and nodded.

:I brought you all here to show you what you are trying to help. As for where you are…I told you, we are in my Beloved's mind.:

The group looked around. The place was dark, very little light permeated the darkness and a low fog clung to the ground, reminding Tommy of Rita Repulsa's hideout on the moon. The monolith in the distance was a bit clearer now and they saw that it was covered in runes that sparked with a malicious black energy that reminded the Dino rangers far too much of the bracelet they'd seen around the green ranger's wrist.

:This is your Beloved's mind Raptor? Why is it so dark?:

The strangely soothing voice came from Terra, who had partially wrapped her wings around Kira, who was looking a bit wary about where they were and what was going on.

:She is in a lot of pain, so her mind has become dark. She should be here soon…she had a session with that fucking copy.:

The curse was venomous and surprised the rangers, but no one had time to react to it as a body appeared and slammed into the ground at Raptor's feet.

BREAK

She figured that calling the white ranger copy a cocksucker would get her into trouble and she was right. She could feel that her leg was broken in at least one place, probably two, and that her eye was going to be nice and black by the time morning came around. The lacerations from her session with Elsa were burning and she could practically taste the infection she knew she was going to get, but the look on Elsa's face when she electrocuted her was priceless. Added to that the shock in every line of the copy's body when she kicked him between the legs after he'd unlocked her legs to change her position for more extensive torture made the pain from the intense session a bit less potent. By the time they had thrown her back into her cell she was in dire shape and her head hitting the side of the dingy cot she slept on was the last straw and she fell into blissful unconsciousness.

Of course that blissfulness was ended when she slammed head first into the floor of her mindscape.

"Ow. That hurt, but added to all the other pain…I guess it's negligible."

:It really is your own fault Beloved. I told you not to call the copy a cocksucker.:

"Yeah, but the shock was fun to watch."

:I will give you that. You should get up Beloved, we've guests.:

"Guests? Who the hell would come into this shit hole?"

:Why don't you look and see?:

She groaned and looked up at the group of rangers before grimacing and glaring at Raptor.

"You just had to bring everyone didn't you?"