Summary: The defeat at Blue Bay Harbor and at Reefside, has both Conner and Tommy out of action for now. With only Kira and Ethan to tend to their injured comrades, Cam and Ethan take it upon their shoulders to develop new Morphers for the Ninja Storm Rangers; a temporary call to action once again. But will the new, temporary powers hold up and how will everyone fair to news about Hayden's sudden return?

A/N: I'm hoping you all enjoyed the previous chapter? Good, I'm glad. This one will, at least I hope will be, without action as I wanted it a character building and informative chapter then anything else. When you all review this time, I would appreciate it if you gave me your opinions on both the story so far and if you want the Ninja Storm Rangers to play a much larger, nearly permanent role, too my story. PLEASE let me know what you think! Thanks. Oh yeah, and do you know who your Team-Up is now:P

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Tommy lay in the bed comatose for god who knows how long and Conner was right beside him, unconscious but no where near as battered as Tommy – though he possessed his fair share of injuries as well; a severely broken leg, minor fractures to his skull in multiple places as well as a fractured collar bone. If that wasn't a big enough list, his right elbow had hyper extended to the point of breaking. And in the immortal words of some blithering idiot – "You dun gone got fucked up!" – fit bother Conner and Tommy fairly well.

Thankfully, the Ninja Storm Rangers weren't too badly hurt; just minor bruises and some ache's that would take a day or two to heal. Ironically, Shane had taken the most damage of the four. For this, the Dino Rangers were grateful – at least they had a set of veterans to back them up should the time ever come.

Speaking of which…

"Hey Cam, how's those morphers coming along?" Shane asked, flexing his shoulder as he winced. "Got any time table on when they will be done?"

"Unfortunately no. I had great difficulty building the first set of morphers. Since the Morphing Grid can't sustain a second Ranger team, I have to find a way around that…" He gave a deep, frustrated sigh.

"Great. Who's going to defend the city now, especially with the Dino Thunder Rangers down?" He received a contemptuous glare from Ethan, Ethan and Kira.

"Hey, hey, hey! Only two of the five are down!" Trent hissed and then looked back at Conner and Tommy. "We can still defend the city…"

"But you won't have to do it alone." Another voice added. Everyone spun around, instantly falling into stance upon the new comer. And boy were they surprised.

Standing before them was a boy no older then nineteen or twenty years old. He sported golden-brown, shoulder length hair and a "rich-boys" clothes; expensive silk, tan dress shirt; crisp, golden brown dress pants with equally colored shoes. Clasped firmly upon his wrist, beneath the loose dress shirt, was a familiar morpher – the Dark One's morpher.

"How did you get in here!?" Trent hissed, raising his morpher but Hayden shook his head.

"I'm not here to fight you." He said and slipped the band off his wrist. He surprised them all by tossing the morpher into the middle of the room. "I'm here in peace, Rangers, not to destroy you."

"You hurt Conner!" Ethan bit out and jabbed a finger behind him. "And your pathetic master has nearly killed Dr. O!"

"I understand that, Ethan." Hayden glanced past him to the other Rangers. "No words of apology will ever make up for the horrible deeds I have done…" He looked down at the floor. Another picture entered his mind. "…especially what I did to Hayley…" He lowered his head even further.

"How do you know abou-wait, you killed her too?!" Ethan bellowed, his morpher appearing on his wrist. Hayden's morpher had returned to his outstretched hand. He had to calm them down; he was no good to anyone dead.

"More…I was also the person who had Kim arrested. You see, my Gem grants Metamorphamagus abilities. I…transformed into Hayley…and picked that fight with Kim." He looked up at the wide of the Dino Thunder Rangers. "…and I turned Kim into what she is…"

"Y-You…" Trents eyes flared with hatred. It was the first time that anyone had seen that type of emotion radiate from the White Ranger. "I SHOULD KILL YOU!!"

Hayden slipped the bracelet back on and then nodded. "You should…" He flicked his wrist a moment to make sure it was tight enough, but still loose enough for his tastes. "…I'm not here to harm any of you. I'm here…" He gave them all a once look over. "…to right the wrong. Or, at least try."

Kira was about to say something when she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She looked up to see Conner balancing along side her with a rather unreadable expression on his face. And that was what scared Kira the most. She'd never seen her friend so calm like this. He was so calm it was almost…unnerving. She gave a violent shutter and shoved the feeling into the back of her mind.

"Hayden." Conner spoke as he wobbled forward, assisted by Shane and Tori who immediately sprang to their feet. "What you said…do you mean it?" Hayden met Conner's eyes and the stare lingered. Then, Hayden nodded. "Then pick a chair and sit down."

"Conner, are you sure about this?" Kira placed a soft hand on her shoulder and looked over at the newcomer. He hadn't sat yet and simply waited until the true sentence was made. "Even after all he's done you still want him here?"

"With Dr. Oliver out of the picture, we're going to need all the help we can get." He looked back at the Ninja Rangers and gave a weak smile. "No offense, but as of right now without your morphers, you aren't much help."

"Hopefully that won't be for long." Tori glanced at Cam and he gave an apologetic shrug. "Until then, we will do we can…"

"Yeah, we're not completely useless." Dustin added and stood up. He ran a hand through his scruff, curly brown hair. "At least…I don't think we are."

"Dustin, we're about as useless as a fish in a barrel." Tori chastised and glance at Conner. He was grinning widely. "What's so funny?"

"Oh?" Conner glanced back at her and just shrugged. "Kind of glad that I'm not the stupidest one in the room anymore…"

Dustin paused and placed a hand on his chin. He looked over at Shane and leaned sideways. "He didn't mean that as a compliment, did he?"

Shane just smacked his forehead and let out a sigh. Deciding to ignore Dustin's comment, he threw a glance at Cam. "Any word on Black and Hunter? Are they coming?"

"Yeah, they said they'd be here as soon as they take care of things at the academy." Cam answered without looking up. He was fiddling with the morphers and he frowned deeply. "I hope I have better luck with their morphers. For once, I actually wished Hayley was here…"

And the thought hit Hayden. "Aquitar…" Everyone stared at him. "Billy Cranston. If you can call Aquitar, you might be able to call Billy Cranston to Earth." Another really confused stare. "He's the Mighty Morphin's technical advisor. Really smart; genius level I.Q."

"You know this how?" Conner asked, arching a brow.

"Raizerus gave me extensive history lessons on all the Power Rangers." Hayden began and sighed. "…one of his plans was to systematically hunt down all of the Power Rangers. He had planned to work backwards, staring with the Ninja Storm Rangers." He gave them an apologetic look. "I'm beginning to understand why he wanted another Ranger around."

"Why?" Trent asked, looking from Cam – who was busily at work on the Computer – and back to Hayden.

"A failsafe plan, incase if something happened to me." Hayden sighed lightly. He wasn't sure if that was the reason or if it was simply to punish Tommy even further. Either way, both theories fit. "Any luck, Cam?"

"No, this is going to take some time." He looked back at the others. "Why don't you all get some rest, especially you guys." He stared directly at the Ninja Storm Rangers. "Ethan, can you stay down here with me? I understand you are one of the teams technical advisor."

"Yeah…" He sighed lightly, looking away. "Though Hayley was better…"

Silence lingered between them. Everyone's thoughts were still Hayley, especially with her Death still so fresh. Hayden gave a soft sigh, wishing that he could make it all right again. But he knew that he couldn't. He stood up and several others seemed to come around as well.

"Conner…Rangers…If none of you mind, may I stay here?" He looked hopeful, praying they would give him a chance but he wasn't expecting much.

Conner looked at the other Rangers and he received glares from each. But after a moment, they begrudgingly nodded. Kira stepped away from Conner as she wrapped an arm around Trent. He watched them head up the stairs and with a jealous sigh, he looked up to Hayden. "Yes, you may. I'll try and find you a temporary room for now."

"No…no, it's alright. I will sleep down here. I know you and your friends probably – no need – your space from me." He rubbed his arm a moment and then smiled. "I'm…sorry for hurting you, Conner... I hope I didn't do too much damage."

"Well…minor fractures to the skull, severely broken leg and hyperextension in my elbow…I guess it isn't as bad as what Raizerus did to Dr. O." Conner leaned against Tori for support now as he looked back at his mentor. "But yes, I am alright."

"Remind me to buy you a walking stick." Hayden said and grinned as the two shared a laugh. "And…Ninja Rangers…I'm sorry for whatever pain Raizerus caused you."

The Ninja Rangers simply grinned and waved their hands. "Think nothing of it. We've been through much worse then this, I assure you." Shane frowned, reflecting on the time they had lost all their powers and when Cam had to save them. "In fact, we've lost all our power before. That was not a very happy feeling, let me assure you."

"Ah yes…the famous 'Cam' incident. That was when Cam went back into the past to become the Samurai Ranger?" Cam nodded and continued to tinker with the morpher. It looked as if he was about to make a major breakthrough. "Those must have been tough times indeed…"

"You have no idea." Tori said and sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I thought we were going to die…the situation was looking horrible."

"I'm not really sure how we even got through that…" Shane added, rubbing his chin. "The situation was completely hopeless. We had all but lost the battle."

"Yeah…the zords got wiped." Dustin said and sighed heavily. "Our power ran out and the stupid monster was about to kill us when Cam showed up."

"So you've been through a problem like this before." Conner said and glanced at Tori and then others. Hayden had walked up to the circle now, hands jammed into his pockets. "You know how to deal with these kinds of problems."

"Yeah, kind of. We understand fighting evil rangers and our Sensai was turned into a Guinea pig." Dustin snorted at Shane's comment. "We understand some of the emotions you possess."

Conner sighed heavily and just shook his head. He glanced Tori and she nodded, understanding his unspoken question. She helped him back to the bed as Hayden glanced at the others. Just when Hayden was about to break it, the wall behind them opened and the Thunder Rangers stood behind it. They stepped into the room and were immediately embraced by their fellow Ninja Ranger friends.

Hayden decided to let them have a moment and looked back at the computer. Cam still worked feverishly at the keys. He noticed the morpher had been discarded to the side; most of its parts now replied. Hayden scooped it up and gazed down at it. "So were you able to fix it?"

"Yes." Cam said as he looked at the screen. "Though the Power Supply is still extremely low and they wouldn't even last a single hit before they're drained."

"How do you plan to empower them?" Hayden asked, setting the morpher down again.

"Aquitar. Once I get a hold of Billy, I'm going to see if they have another power source we can use; something other then the Morphing Grid." Cam answered and grinned widely, seeing he was receiving a hailing frequency from the planet. "If you'll excuse me, I have finally picked Billy up…"

Cam felt Hayden walk away when Billy's face popped up on the screen. Ironically, he didn't look a day older then twenty-one at the latest and looked as healthy as can be. He gave a confused stare at Cam and his eyes shifted momentarily left and right, trying to pick out some sort of distinguishing marks but none came.

"Billy Cranston? This is Cam Watanabe for the Ninja Storm Power Rangers." He said and slight wave. "I'm afraid this situation here on Earth has become…increasingly distressing and we need your help."

Suddenly Billy's face went utterly seriously. "You have my attention."

"I'm sure you still remember Tommy Oliver? Well, he leads a Ranger Team known as the Dino Thunder Rangers…unfortunately Dr. Oliver and the Red Ranger Conner McKnight are out of action for the time being and we've been forced to call the previous Power Ranger team to active duty once again." He held up the Ninja Storm morpher and frowned. "Unfortunately, the morphing grid can't sustain a secondary team and we have no energy source strong enough to power these."

"I have just the thing." Billy moved off screen a moment and came back with a silvery-blue crystal. "These are Aquitarian Power Crystals. One of these is enough to fully charge up to six morphers."

Cam grinned excitedly. "Good, because we have six morphers that need to be recharged. Do you think you can return to Planet Earth? We are in desperate need of your help…"

"Yes, I'll be there within the hour. It's going to take some time to set up the teleportation unit here. Do you have any coordinates for me?" Billy asked, turning to face another computer beside him.

"Sending Coordinates now." Cam answered as he tapped a few keys and Billy gave a thumbs up. "Billy, I really appreciate this…"

"Think nothing of it. I was planning to return to Earth shortly anyway." He looked over at a clock and frowned. "Jason usually has a Ranger Reunion in the next few months and I like to return early so I can get used to Earth's gravity again."

XXXXXX

Night had settled upon the Oliver homestead but only Kira and Trent were upstairs to enjoy the beauty it offered. Absently, he ran his fingers through her golden-brown hair as she laid her head on his chest. There was nothing but silence around them for the time being; neither having much to say to one another. Both of them were thinking about what had transpired over the last few hours; Tommy and Conner both being serious injured and the other with the possibility of never awakening again. The very thought of it made her shutter involuntarily against Trent.

"I know…I'm worried too, Kira." Trent whispered soothingly, rubbing her arm lightly. "About Conner and Dr. Oliver." But another emotion lingered within Trent's heart – one of disgust and hatred. Hayden stood in their command center right this minute and somehow he managed to convince Conner of his lies.

Kira sensed the struggle in her friend and brought him back to reality with a soft kiss upon his cheek. "You're worried about Hayden aren't you?" She asked and received a nod for it. "Don't be…if Conner trusts him, the very man who Hayden nearly killed, then I'm sure everything's okay." She gave a little grin and giggled. "Besides, you should know the great Conner has trust issues…I mean, remember when he trusted you, twice, and got burned for it?"

Trent gave a whimper. "Do you have to bring that up, Kira?"

She giggled again and poked him teasingly. "All I'm saying is, don't be like Conner; don't read to far into this. You sensed it, Trent, you had to of. Hayden isn't the same Dark Lord we've fought before. You could see it just by staring at his Gem. It was gold instead of black…"

Trent said nothing but merely frowned. She had a point. The other Dark Lord would have ripped them to shreds without a moments hesitation. But Hayden had surrendered his morpher at once; it was a sign of peace in the Ranger ways. Trent gave another sigh and rubbed his pounding head. There was just too much to think about.

"I thought I said to stop thinking…" Kira whispered softly in his hear and that made Trent shutter; a wave of spine-tingling pleasure washed through him. "Do I need to try and convince you some other way?"

Trent looked down at her and arched a brow, grinning. "Oh? And how do you plan to do that?"

Kira sat up at once, turned to face him and held her hand out. "Let me show you…"

Trent needed no further persuasion. He could see the twinkle in her eyes; something he last saw when they first met and during the action-free year after defeating Mesogog. But behind it…Trent could see loneliness; a desire to belong and to be wanted. This nearly broke Trents heart seeing his friend suffer like this. He was on his feet in a flash and the next thing Kira knew she was in his arms.

Tonight belonged to them…

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A/N: shock, gasp, cardiac arrest Another chapter, you say!? Yep! Anyway, let me know what you honestly think! Enjoy the chapter and please R&R!