A\N: This turned out surprisingly cheerful. Also: This actually has some correlation to rare types of IRL flashbacks-so basically I just gave an entire team of Power Rangers PTSD. I am impressed with myself. :p

Location: Reefside Police Department Headquarters, Reefside

Date: September 14, 2003

Tommy studied the map.

Things were going FUBAR. Normally, Tommy would have been in his element, but he'd just had too many emotional blows. Even with all the Rangers under his command...

Dana had quietly suggested he go rest. He'd quietly told her he was the Leader of the Earth Ranger Corps, and he was not going to rest until the job was complete. But it wasn't healthy for him, and every minute he could feel his children slipping away.

"Bad news." General McKnight grunted. "No National Guard."

Damn. Tommy breathed out, then glanced at McKnight. "They say why?"

"Apparently, the bastards are still technically alive, thus American citizens." General McKnight shook his head. "So we're trusting the safety of our citizens to demons. I hate my job."

Normally, Tommy would have protested the racial slur, especially since the Princess-Heir of the Dark Court had come down to Earth to handle this herself. But Karone wasn't here and Tommy was exhausted. "Thanks. Go take five. You're exhausted."

General McKnight chuckled. "Son, you're the pot calling the kettle black there."

Tommy smiled weakly beneath his helmet. "Well, I'm a Ranger, I get to."

General McKnight chuckled again. "You're all right, son. You're all right." He headed out, leaving Tommy to stare at the map.

Thank any Divinity listening for the Daemon. They were weird as hell, Tommy would freely admit that, but the ones on Earth weren't just willing to step in and help, they considered it a sacred duty since the virus in question was modified from a Daemon virus.

But everyone was running into the same problem. The infected were walking around. Shambling, maybe, but walking and moaning, and by that definition, they were still alive.

And word had come down from some blithering moron that if a Daemon killed a human, it would be considered a declaration of war.

So they lost life after life and tried to contain the infected and every minute there was a new report of some poor soul collapsing in the areas on lockdown. There had nearly been a riot in the lockdown center under City Hall. And the most Tommy could do was pray.

Karone entered the war room, a haze of violet and pink magics, her little brother Justin in a light blue whisper of the Power. Tommy muttered some sort of greeting in lieu of collapsing in exhaustion.

Karone replied with a string of swearwords.

Tommy chuckled. "Happy fun time with the government?"

"I should have attacked DC." Karone grumbled. "Attacked and destroyed. Salted the fucking Earth."

Tommy shook his head in amusement.

"We need a team." Justin had been part of the Turbo team, the team the United Alliance of Evil had created to destroy the Earth Rangers, until someone had discovered that he was the biological son of Dark Spectre. Now, as the Prince of the Dark Court, he was clever, calm, and easily every bit as powerful as Tommy. "Someone who can go kill these things. Someone the government can't touch."

"Wraiths." Tommy agreed. It was a slang term he'd picked up from High Command of the Galactic Ranger Corps; a wraith was someone unconnected, who could move freely and held no citizenship. A wraith team was everyone's dream.

They fell silent.

"Go sleep, Black." Karone said quietly. "You're exhausted. I'll keep an eye on things here."

"You sure?" Tommy asked.

Karone nodded.

Tommy should have protested, but he was too tired. Instead he nodded and headed off.

Sleep sounded good right about now.

*PR*PR*PR*

Location: Mercer Household, Reefside
Date: September 14, 2003

There was something wrong.

They felt it in their blood. The Arthurian Stones, long ago, had been tied to the fate of the world; it was meant as both a crown and sword. They knew something was...bad.

And they knew other things.

Anton hadn't come to talk to Trent in two days. The others had broken out and found their teammate, and nothing had happened. Now, the pack all together, their collective thoughts ran along one line:

Something was wrong.

They considered what it might be. They had no idea. But at the same time they had some; the Earth spoke to them through the Gems. Disease, it whispered, illness, corruption, badbadbad.

Need Arthur. Need Merlin. Need Guinevere. Need Mordred. Need Lancelot.

Anton would know, Trent\Mordred suggested, so they crept down to listen to Anton speakyell at his jars of colors and dishes of goo.

And they heard a lot of stuff that didn't make sense. But they were teenagers. So it was a natural leap to go from 'T-Virus' to 'zombies', even if the coding system should have made no sense at all.

And thus it was even more natural to think, hey, let's go stop them.

It was insane. But no one had ever accused the Dino Rangers of sanity to begin with.

*PR*PR*PR*

Location: Reefside Police Department Headquarters, Reefside
Date: September 14, 2003

The nice thing about being the Leader of the Earth Ranger Corps was that no one really minded if you took a break from the politics by going out and fighting. Tommy would have gone stir-crazy in a traditional military.

As it stood, there wasn't much fighting to do, though. King Hakim, the leader of the Earth Daemon (Queen Bansheera and Olympus had apparently been dethroned after the mess with Lightspeed; the Daemon people were not thrilled about picking fights with their next-door neighbors), waved cheerfully to Tommy as he approached the corral.

"Nice." Tommy said, nodding at the force field. It enclosed the northern edge of the city, where the hospital was. Thankfully it had been evacuated, but there would probably be a few insurance companies crying themselves to sleep at night when this was over. "It's going well?"

Hakim looked dark. "It's...going."

Tommy nodded.

There was a noise like a thud. Tommy frowned, but he couldn't see anything. A holocom on Hakim's wrist flashed. Tommy thought Hakim swore, but his Daemon was a bit rusty-

There was a flash from inside the force field.

Then another one.

Everyone nearby started staring.

The Dino Rangers appeared in a flash of light, then vanished as quickly. Tommy's heart almost stopped. Then there was a blur of Red as a wave of zombies fell; a flash of golden light as Kira's scream killed more; images, in the flash, of Blue and White fighting methodically and with terrifying efficiency.

Tommy stared.

"Leader, you're not going to believe this." Karone deadpanned over the comlink.

"No. I see it." Tommy replied quietly. "I'm just not sure I believe it."

"Well, believe it." Karone's grim triumph was evident over the comlink. No. No, why was everyone happy, this was a bad thing-"One second, and we'll have our wraith team."

"No!" Tommy burst out. "Pink Galaxy! Hold. Let me talk to them."

"...Why?" Karone asked. "Leader, they're doing our job for us."

"No, they're batshit, and-" Tommy paused.

"...They won." Vasquez, who had come up behind Tommy, deadpanned. "Damn. I am gonna throw those kids the world's biggest party."

"Not quite." Karone warned, her voice tense. "Hakim. Drop the shields."

"Cousin, why-" Hakim started.

An invisiportal opened, dropping Mesegog, Zeltrax, and Elsa into the battlefield. Against four psychotic mind-melded Rangers. This was like Tommy's worst nightmares come to life.

"Your Majesty, this is Blue Ranger I. The other teams and I would appreciate it if you would drop the force fields." Billy's voice was colder than anyone had ever heard it. "Very mu-"

And then time froze.

*PR*PR*PR*

Location: Containment Zone, Reefside
Date: September 14, 2003

Conner\Kira\Ethan turned.

Trent was there. They could feel him. But it was as if part of his mind was...gone, doing something else, was almost a different person. Conner\Kira\Ethan hissed, confused and frightened.

Mesegog said something gleeful about 'instructions'.

Conner\Kira\Ethan felt...stunned. Trent looked helplessly at them. He hadn't even known the instructions were there...

Trent fell to his knees.

Trent was psychic. He had never done anything with his abilities, but he was young and strong and freezing everyone within a mile radius was most certainly possible. But it was hurting him. The rest of the hivemind swarmed around him.

Mesegog laughed.

"You caaan't...wiiiin." The hivemind ignored him, trying to bash their way through, tease out threads of thought, do anything to save their brother. "You are...asss good asss dead."

"No, they aren't."

...They knew this man. He wore the same costume as the man who had been chasing him, but he wasn't the same. That man had been a stranger and a predator. This one was...

He was a memory from a time of cages and needles, a face standing in a door, horrified. He was a memory of a van they had lived in and rest stops in the middle of nowhere and late-night fast food and laughter.

They'd been living in the memory of Trent's death. Of the final time he had been dragged away, of the daysweeksmonthsyears waiting for him to return. But now they remembered what had happened next.

They remembered Tommy.

And Tommy, who had unwittingly been living a memory of his own, a memory of uncontrolled killing and the color green, the only reference he had for a child killer, remembered that they simply weren't him.

Their minds parted.

Tommy muttered a phrase, using magic to undo the knots in Trent's mind. Trent blinked and took the hand Conner offered, getting up.

There was a second of silence.

"You're not dead." Conner said.

"Um. No." Trent said awkwardly. "You're not dead?"

"No."

"...Okay, then."

"Can you guys move out of the way so we can kill now?" Karone asked. The Dino Rangers turned. The entire Earth Ranger Corps (or at least it looked like it; there were a few stragglers dealing with other issues) had turned up.

"...Can we help?" Conner asked cheerfully.

Karone snickered. "You're definitely Tommy's kids. Sure thing." She stepped up to them, leading the Ranger Corps that was now circling around Mesegog and his cohorts, patting Conner on the shoulder. "Just try and leave some for the rest of us."

"Okay!"

Tommy groaned. "Don't encourage them..."

Karone just chuckled.

*PR*PR*PR*

Unfortunately, after only a few minutes of what was usually considered 'the most epic beatdown in history' (and was even titled as such in the Youtube video Vasquez uploaded while laughing hysterically), Mesegog and his generals managed to escape. The Earth Ranger Corps, now with their wraith team safe and sound, stuck around for a few hours to help with the cleanup and left.

The Power Rangers seemed to have disappeared again.

Seemed.