Disclaimer: I still don't own Power Rangers

A/N: Chip comes off a little OC here, sorry, but all the same, he is in a very stressful situation, even for a Power Rangers.


Tommy and Kim found Chip in the park the next morning; the time traveling Ranger was carrying a stick and 'attacking' an invisible enemy. "Morning Chip," Kim called as they came into hearing range.

Chip turned, "Good morning Kim, Tommy," he said, "what are you two up to?"

"Just enjoying our Saturday," Kim said, sliding her hand into Tommy's, "and you?"

"Just training," Chip replied, "I'm going to be rusty with my archery when I get back, but that doesn't mean I can't do sword drills." He glanced at their hands, shook his head and looked up at them.

"What?" Kim asked.

"I think I mentioned meeting Tommy before," Chip said, he waved his hand, causing Tommy to grab the stick before it hit him, "Sorry. Anyways, it was a thing where Tommy's protégé had taken Nick, my Red and caused all this trouble and we had to go to Tommy's to get him back. Tommy was pissed at his protégé for what happened. His friend Hailey told Udonna that his wife was out of town or Tommy would have been a lot calmer. I can see that it's true, but it's still strange. My mental image of him is him sparing three on one with his other protégés and wiping the floor with them."

Tommy whistled, "Three on one?"

"Ki- one of them told me that they didn't have real training before they got the Power although her dad taught her self defense. How did she put it? 'I can put a grown man in the hospital if I have to, but the freaky lizard things were another thing all together.'" Chip shrugged, "It's like I was saying, Lady Rangers are an interesting and varied bunch, and while a lot of them are usually nice, they're all scary when they want to be."

"You're saying I'll mentor a four man Ranger team," Tommy asked.

"Nope," Chip said, "I'm saying you'll mentor four Rangers. They aren't the only ones you'll train, but you're closer to them than some of the others. I mean, your protégé is a good person, and the White Ranger on that team, well, some people called him your Mini-Me, even though a lot of the other Rangers used to tell him that your list wasn't a bucket list."

"My list?" Tommy asked.

"The list of things that could only happen to Tommy Oliver," Chip replied. He sighed, "Someone's going to tell me that when I get back. That's kind of sad."

Kim giggled "I can totally believe that Tommy has a list," she said, "he does seem to end up with the weirdest stories."

"Well," Chip said, "he hasn't turned into a tree. Yet."

Tommy groaned, "Please tell me I don't turn into a tree."

"I know there was a plant related incident," Chip said, "because Nick spoke about it when Xander had the tree incident that we really don't talk about."

"What's a bucket list?" Kim asked, in a clear attempt to change the subject.

"It's a list of things you want to do before you die. Stuff like climb Mount Everest or see Paris. I've had a couple of mine come true," Chip grinned, "I'm a superhero, I've fought a vampire, I'm training to become a knight," he swung his stick again, "and soon I'll even get a chance to add ride a dragon."

"You want to ride a dragon?" Tommy asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah, who wouldn't?" Chip replied with a grin, "I mean, Fire Heart's just a baby now, but he's growing fast and soon he'll be big enough to ride."

"You are something else," Kim said, "I couldn't image riding a dragon."

Chip nodded, his smile fading, "Yeah well, it's your team that gave a lot of us dreams. Before Angel Grove, the closest anyone came to being a superhero was in a movie. Now, there are kids everywhere learning martial arts on the off chance that they'll earn a morpher. The…Rangers who have had their identities reveal, or never hid them in the first place, they're role models, but it's the original team, the 'Mighty Morphing' team that is still the iconic team."

"People know Ranger identities?" Tommy said, startled.

"Well, yeah," Chip said, "I know someone in Angel Grove has figured yours out, but in a couple of years, when you all pass on your power, there was a team that had to reveal their identity. Ash- their yellow, said they had to prove that they were just as human as anyone else on Earth and that it would make a difference between winning or losing for their team."

"It was bad," Tommy said, a statement, not a question.

"No team ever got that close to losing again," Chip replied, "all the retired Rangers, whether or not they had Powers, fought in that battle. Civilians fought in that battle. It was the end of an era in a lot of ways. I was told that when Zordon left, the Rangers thought that marked the end of the era, but I think it was only the beginning of the end."

"What do you mean, Zordon left?" Kim demanded.

Chip winced, "Oops, um, well, Zordon had an opportunity to return to Eltare. He's more than just a head in a tube, he's an icon. With the forces of evil growing stronger, he was needed to both rally the good guys and to smooth out the leadership issues in the Defense. His decision to go was instrumental in defeating the growing darkness. It was after you guys passed on the Power anyway, he's not going anywhere for years." He glanced away then back at them, "Look, don't dwell on it. I need to ask you something about Aisha."

"What about Aisha?" Tommy asked.

"First off, who told her she was a mind healer without checking to make sure she actually was?" Chip asked, "I'm not a mind or soul healer, but even I know you can't make someone be something they're not without consequences. She isn't happy, and if it hasn't shown up already, it will soon. To be healthy, you have to have a healthy mind, body and soul. It's a proven fact. I can't tell you what type of Healer Aisha is meant to be, she has to find out on her own, but I know she's not happy and you both know it as well." He looked from the White to the Pink Ranger, "Red, Blue and Yellow may be important as the command triad, but yellow, white and pink are the spirit triad. As close as your team is, you can feel that your team is off balance, can't you."

Kim looked troubled, but Tommy shook his head, "I have no clue what you're talking about."

"Of course you don't," Chip threw up his hands, narrowly missing Tommy with his stick, "the legendary, Technicolor Tommy, enough colors to be his own Ranger team and too fucked up to use them properly." He glared at the other Ranger, "I don't like you, and you know it, so I'm going to tell you something I wanted to tell you when you were older but Tanya was too damned nice to tell you. You need to get your head out of your ass and see that other people are not the backdrop to your psychodrama. It's no wonder your wife is gone all the time, she probably can't believe she married you."

Tired, homesick, and irrational from an underlining worry about his own team, Chip did the one thing he could before he said any more. He walked away. Twenty steps found him in one of the oak groves that littered the Angel Grove Park, and he laid his palm on one of the trees. I want to go home, he thought, thinking of Briarwood, the Rock Porium, Winterlight Farm and Rootcore. A familiar and unexpected surge of power answered his thoughts and he let himself be whisked away into the tree road, not even hearing Kim call his name or scream in shock as he vanished.