Present

Trent hung up the phone and once again pulled Kira into his arms.

"I'm sorry." She said. She took a deep sobbing breath, and tried to compose herself. She was mentally kicking herself. She always thought she was stronger than this, but she had never experienced death, real death and loss, like this before. Trent just held her tighter. "It's alright Kira. It's gonna be okay." He replied.

Conner looked at Trent with disgust. "How is it going to be okay?" He said angrily. He stood there with his arms crossed. "Did you not see what happened? They killed Dr. O! Don't you care? Or was this part of your plan all along, huh? Whose side are you on this week Trent?"

"Whoa!" Ethan said cautiously approaching Conner. "I think everyone needs to calm down..."

"How can you even say that?" Trent replied glaring at Conner. He gently pulled away from Kira and stood to face Conner. "Haven't I proven myself yet? When is it going to be enough for you?" He got a dangerous look on his face and approached Conner. "You don't think I care! Dr. O was.." he faltered.

"Guys please stop it!" Kira cried, still kneeling on the ground. They both looked at her, crushed at the sight of her so vulnerable and sad. Both were silent. Trent glared and turned away from Conner.

"Kira's right." Ethan said stepping between the two. "We shouldn't be fighting each other. Mesagog is the enemy. We need to figure out what to do."

"Oh, I'll tell what we're gonna do." Conner said glaring at Trent. "You wanna prove what side you're on? You're gonna take us to Mesagog's lab, I know you know how to get there. We're going to get our morphers back, and then we're gonna put an end to Mesagog, Zeltrax and Elsa once and for all."

"You can't do that!" Trent said frantically. They all looked at him.

Conner got a dangerous look on his face. "Oh yeah? And why not?"

Trent took a breath, trying not to be suspicious and resisting the urge not to punch Conner. "You can't underestimate Mesagog." He stuttered. "Hasn't today proven that? We should wait for Hayley, to come up with a plan."

Conner started to argue with Trent, but Niriinya interrupted them. "Enough gentleman." She said in a very diplomatic tone and moved in between the two boys. "I know you are all upset right now. Emotions are running high and..."

"This is none of your business. We wouldn't even be in this mess if it weren't for you!"

"Conner!" The other three teens exclaimed, but Niriinya held up her hand.

"It's okay." She said sadly. 8 years ago she would have broken down into sobs, the way Kira had, but now she understood better how to over-rule the human emotions that were running through her. She squared her shoulders and looked up at the teens, her face a mask.

"You're right. If it wasn't for me, your black ranger would be alive right now. You also need to get your powers back, you can bet your enemy has a big moved planned."

"Ha!" Conner exclaimed.

"However," she interjected quickly to avoid a fight, "you cannot do that alone. There are bigger forces at work here. You cannot begin to challenge them, especially since you can't morph."

"So why don't you help us?" Kira spoke up, surprising everyone. She was standing off to the side, but moved in close to Trent and continued. "You're Lilly's mom right? She said you were like some super warrior among your kind right?"

She sighed and turned away. She wrapped her arms around herself. 'Focus!' She berated herself. "That used to be true. But..." she faced them again, "right now I have no powers that could help you. In fact, I am more powerless than the four of you, as I am simply human." The kids looked at each other confused.

Ethan took a step closer. "What do you mean? You are Lilly's mom right?" She nodded. "I don't get it."

"I'll explain. We have to wait for Lillyana to return before we can make a move anyway." She sat down on a crate and began to explain what had happened, all those years ago.


*Angel Grove 1996

It was a week before Niriinya's injuries had healed enough that she could comfortably walk around and talk in full sentences. She had been staying at the command center in a back room. After the first two nights of terrible nightmares, Zordon decided that Niriinya needed some to be with her at night, someone human, and so Kat had volunteered to keep her company, as her parents were out of town.

Tommy and Jason explained to the other rangers about the Mythics and how they met. When she felt the time was right, Niriinya sat down with the rangers and explained her tragic tale.

"In the years that followed the Great Battle, conflicts with the warriors had been scarce. At first we were encouraged. We thought that the Great Battle had opened a lot of eyes and hoped that their cause was losing steam." She looked at the floor and shook her head.

"We were terribly wrong. Although there were not many open attacks against human kind they were working very very hard. Turns out the Great Battle did open their eyes, just not the way we thought. After realizing that killing our own kind was psychologically and physically devastating to all Mythics, the Warriors council decided that alternate means were necessary to defeat us. They turned to using magics, from all sources. They tapped into magics from realms beyond our own, what the human wizards called black, or dark magic. Evil forces and powers were also unleashed with these magics and infected the minds of the Mythics who practiced them. And with that infection came the most evil and unthinkable of plots."

She paused to catch her breath and looked at the rangers. "Tommy," she said, "You've been wondering why you couldn't communicate with me using the gift I gave you?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "I thought that I was doing it wrong, I.." She held up her hand cutting him off. "You did nothing wrong. It didn't work because I am human now." She waited for that to sink in, but continued quickly before questions could be asked.

"It is by far the Warriors most offensive and vicious act yet. They figured if they couldn't kill us to get us out of the way, they could at least disable us, get rid of us. They had developed the energies to strip a mythic of their being and make them human. How they kept this all secret from us for all these centuries, how we didn't feel or sense it drowns my soul." She had to fight back the tears.

"The attack was so sudden. They attacked the ancients and the elders of the council first. I'm not sure how many, if any escaped. We didn't have time to react before the core of our being was ripped from us and we were defenseless. Do you understand what that means?" She looked at them pleadingly, "The council of elders was composed of the oldest and wisest of our races and they are no more. It's just the same as if we had died."

With that she couldn't continue, her voice choked up and the pain of sorrow filled her chest. She had to stand up and turn away from them. She was alone in her mind, for the first time in her life, there was no one to reach out to, no earth to draw strength from, only her thoughts and pain.

Tommy walked over and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I..I'm just not use to.." she said trailing off.

She turned and buried her face in his chest. He wrapped his strong arms around her as she silently cried.

"Hey it's okay," Tommy said, "We can hear the story another time. You need to rest."

She wanted to be strong and say that 'Everything was fine.' But it wasn't, how could it ever be fine again? She took a deep breath and looked up into his concerned eyes. She was surprised at the compassion and understanding she saw there. He was so young, even by human standards. She had always admired the human spirit, but before now, she had never really understood it. How could they deal with these emotions and still function? As old as she was, she felt like a child compared to the boy who was now comforting her.

She stepped back and wiped her eyes. "No, I can continue. Thank you though." She said holding onto his arm unsteadily. He led her back to her seat, and she faced the group. "After, after the attack, they took us to various locations around the world, probably to keep us separate, and from warning others."

She paused. "Now, they're out there." She motioned with her hand. "Somewhere out there, about 30 or so others, like me, for the first time in thousands of years of walking this earth, are alone. I was knocked unconscious and woke up in a homeless shelter in Los Angeles. I can only hope that the others received the same courtesy and at least will be in a place where they will be fed and sheltered. But I know that none of them are as lucky as I was." She smiled, tiredly, at them. "To have ended up where I did, so close to you. If the Warriors had known about our connection, I'm sure I would not be here."