It wasn't an uncommon sight but it certainly was startling to walk into the main laboratories at what felt like early morning to find Anton and Tommy leaning over a table, arguing in low tones over something or other; Billy was standing off to the side, a somewhat concerned look on his face yet words seemed to be failing him. Tsuki and Hayley for their parts looked more amused than anything, the two women leaning against a nearby blackboard with all sorts of writing on it. It was hard to make out what it all meant, a mixture of atrocious handwriting and highly specialized science/technobabble; still something occurred to Andros as he tried to read over it all, a feeling of familiarity and it took him a moment, as the group seemed to notice his arrival and stopped cold, that he knew what it all meant.

"It's research into the Morphing Grid; Tommy, Billy and Tsuki have been looking into it since they were teenagers and me and Anton, we decided to put in our two cents."

"We discovered a pattern, a sort of list of necessary elements to have a functioning Power Ranger team. I mean the three of us have suspected much of it; Billy and I figured out parts though we needed more data to figure out what was an absolute and what just was good to have but Tommy and Hayley helped cement a lot of it and Anton hasn't been completely useless."

"What are these necessary elements then?"

The entire room was chaotic, yells and gunshots, bodies hitting the ground as the air started to fill with the heavy scent of blood. RJ had finished fighting back one of the soldiers, who had been moving to attack Annie while her back was turned, when he heard Tsuki's scream and the gunshot and an eerie sort of sense came over him. Then he found himself staring at the communicator strapped to his wrist, the tiny morpher he'd put so much work into, that had stopped flowing with Morphing Energy over two years prior. And now glowed once more and a warmth and power filled him inside; it was akin to his abilities as a Pai Zhua, connected yet apart, and he knew it, he understood it. The morpher came alive, one of many, and he along with many others in the large destroyed courtroom fell to his knees clenching his chest.

"A talisman to focus power through. The Power Coins, the Dino Gems, the morphers themselves; every team needs something to connect them to the Power."

RJ tried to breathe but found it hard; blood rushed through his ears and he wondered if the others felt the same, heard the same. He could barely make out screams, cries of confusion demanding information; he could barely see through the fire that felt like it was wrapped over his eyes, seeing light wrapping around around multiple of them, around the most injured of them, around Tommy and seeming to suddenly and violently throw him apart from Tsuki, landing them far from either other. But in that second his sight and senses blacked out, the longest second of his life as he felt something around him, another different but familiar sensation. The suit. The suit, wrapping itself around his body, covering him.

"A protective costume, something to keep the wearer safe and in many cases enhance or supplement their Power-given abilities."

Once his senses returned it was like adrenaline now; pain was gone, confusion was gone, and he felt...rejuvenated. Like every cell in his body was awake, active, and new. It was strange but he felt as he had years before and he wasn't sure why but it didn't seem bad.

What did was seeing the others, enemies and allies alike, suited in all sorts of designs, forms and colors, but all fundamentally Power Ranger. A collection of Power Rangers. And not far from where he now stood, floating in the air, was Tsuki; color surrounded her, all color, all light, and he watched as what looked to be tiny items, at least one shaped like a small crystalline gem blue in color, appeared in an orbit around her.

Then she dropped and he moved without thinking, rushing over and barely catching her before she could hit the ground. Her body was light, almost too light, and the items glowed around her before fading away, the small blue gem being the last to disappear. She seemed to sleep peacefully, her expression neutral even as Tommy screamed her name and the man, his suit changing, Green Ranger, Red Ranger, White Ranger, Black, having regained the ability to move and used it as he rushed over with others in tow.

"And a mentor. There must always be a mentor, because they become the conduit, the true link between their Rangers and the Grid. The mentor is the one who takes on the blunt of the power, even if they don't always realize it, and then filter it out to the others. The mentor becomes the key."

"Tsuki!" Tommy tried to take her from RJ and the newly reinstated violet Wolf Ranger handed her over gingerly, glancing at the others. All around them was chaos as the government Power Rangers and many of their own were left out of sorts by the sudden return of powers, the military types without Grid given strength finding themselves uncertain on who to shoot and who to fight alongside, and he took notice that his own group too seemed confused.

Annie made her way over with Tyler in tow, her voice portraying the emotion her helmet covered face couldn't. "We have to get going now while they're scattered and confused."

"I got Lauren!" Came Zack's voice and the teen boy came hobbling over, face scratched up, arm bleeding but grinning like the luckiest nutcase in the insane asylum as he carried the unconscious girl over to them and no one was entirely sure they wanted to ask why she was out cold now nor how he had gotten her away from the dead body of her younger brother. Last of the Samurai Rangers; that thought flashed in his mind and sent a cold chill through RJ, not the only one of them that it did. Abby moved to help him and Annie tried to get a head count, looking out for each and every member of their group; out of the corner of his eye the Jungle Fury mentor noticed one of the enemy Rangers moving, managing to collect himself and draw his sword to attack. As he did another jumped in the way, blocking the attack and Karone's voice rang out, "Guys, we better hurry and get out of here!"

"You aren't going anywhere!" The enemy Ranger said and pushed the pink Ranger back; Billy called out "Jason stop it!" but the man didn't. He tried again only for Karone to block him away and groan softly as their blades connected; this happened over and over until a golden flash appeared, slamming into him and the Red Ranger was laid flat on his back by what looked to be a golden cheetah Ranger. A silver and blue wolf Ranger ran over, grabbing the other Ranger and pulling them back, "Lana, chill!"

"You're telling me to chill?! You don't tell me to chill, Merrick!" the cheetah who it appeared was Ileana yelled and her brother heaved her over his shoulder, about to carry her back to the group when Jason tried to get up; the silver stopped, stomped down on the other man's head and then walked away; he passed by RJ and the others, speaking coolly, "That should keep him down for a while; shall we get going?"

"And them?" Tyler inquired and pointed as the soldiers regathered themselves and more appeared, guns at the ready as they advanced upon the collection of Power Rangers. Hayley swore under her breath and as the final members of their group made their way over, including a rather miffed and scabby looking Anton holding a gun in one hand and a beat up medical bag in the other, the group all tried their communicators. No response, and Tyler wished he was surprised.

"They're jamming our signal?!" a pink that sounded like Abby exclaimed and Billy started messing around with his.

"It would appear so," he said somewhat frantic and looked around to see the enemy Rangers start to recollect themselves, "We need a new plan expediently before we become overwhelmed once more."

"We're morphed this time, we're not going to get overwhelmed by this," Kira said with zero confidence.

Tommy said nothing, just holding Tsuki tenderly in his arms with an unreadable expression; she continued to lay peacefully, making no indication of awakening or moving outside of gently breathing. Billy glanced over and bit his lip before turning to the communicator strapped to his arm again.

"Perhaps if we all send a simultaneous beacon to the Megaship, we can break through whatever is disrupting our ability to communicate with the-"

"Wait look!" Annie spoke up and the blue stopped for a moment, looking over where she gestured, towards Tsuki once again.

Light had once more gathered around the girl, a shimmering sort of thing and it flowed out, snaking and wrapping around them each in turn; he froze up, unsure what to make of it at first until a familiar hue took to it and he realized what it was almost too late.

At which point the group of them, fifteen morphed Rangers, four unmorphed allies, an unconscious girl and six dead bodies, landed inside the command center of the Megaship; it was not with a thud or an unceremonious dropping to the group, but gentle, soft, exactly as Billy remembered it had been when his team would be teleported to Zordon's chamber for some reason or other, a mission, a new monster, a new talk. Something; this felt the same and it was in equal parts comforting, and heartbreaking to remember his old mentor. He wondered how Zordon would have felt about all this fighting, all this violence over the Rangers and their existence; would the kindly space wizard have been saddened by what Jason was doing, or would he have agreed that they were too dangerous to keep running around?

Whichever the answer was he was unsure and he didn't get a chance to contemplate it much more before he powered down, his suit disappearing, his morpher suddenly in his hand before it fell to the ground. His body was wracked with pain, intense, burning agony and he let out a cry as he fell to his knees. All around, through the pounding of his heart, he could hear similar cries, some swearing, some simply whimpering; clangs and thuds followed and it didn't take much for the genius to realize that whatever was happening to him suddenly was hitting all of them too. It felt like an eternity before it subsided, a slow and agonizing process, but he managed to regain the power to breathe and his sight, blurred by flashes of pain, returned, giving him the first look at his allies since they had been suddenly morphed.

He did not expect what he saw. For some it was borderline unnoticable, the slightest change, hair just a little shorter or a little longer, clothes just a tiny bit baggier. But for others, it was like time had stopped and then aggressively turned itself back until what stood, or in many cases knelt, there was someone Billy barely recognized. Yet in the case of at least two of them, he could remember them all too well; one was Abby, no longer looking to be the mature woman who had a son, had gone through decades as a Ranger, as an ally, knowing the darkness and the light of existence. She was younger now, far younger, her clothes hanging off her body as she stood beside her son and now looked more like his sister. And not far from her was Tommy and his change seemed so much more drastic; the tattoos that littered his arms, the lines and edges that time and so much fighting had etched into him, all gone. His hair was longer, back to how it had been when they had met, that long mane that brushed over his shoulders and fell to almost hide his face; he was young again, a teenager, and Billy found himself looking at his own self, his hands that he almost didn't think was his until he realized in a moment what had happened. But the thought of it being true felt far too insane to be so.

Yet he was not the first to speak. "Oh my god, look at us!" Kira sounded astonished as she looked from Trent, standing next to her looking once again as he did that first day they met all those years ago at the Cyber Cafe, to herself; like Tommy and Abby she too had been regressed to a teenage state and she was uncertain whether it seemed good or not. Indeed many of them were about that same age, something Billy was less surprised by than the rejuvenation itself; Laura and Hunter looked at one another and Tori flexed her fingers in confused fascination. Anton and Hayley seemed the only ones not affected, staying primarily the same and both looked at each other then the others; RJ and Annie, still primarily the same save for some minor differences, looked confused but the former spoke with his usual good natured tone, "It would seem we didn't just get back our Ranger powers."

"No," Hayley spoke and started to walk around, examining everyone, "It looks like...this is weird, but it looks like when your connections to the Morphing Grid were reinstated, somehow your bodies were regressed to this."

"But why?" Tyler asked furrowing his brow; it felt a bit odd, standing by his mother but having her look no older than he was, and from the expression on her face he got the feeling she felt similar.

"Because this is when we were at our physical peak to be Power Rangers," Billy said and everyone seemed to turn to him; he cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses uncomfortably, "The Morphing Grid reestablished our ability to transform into our morphed states but perhaps to properly accomplish this task, it required our physical attributes to be in such a state as to be able to best successfully reassimilate the energy required to maintain and utilize our original skills."

"So basically the Grid changed us back into how we were when we were Power Rangers because that's when our bodies could best handle the power?" Trent translated to which Billy nodded an affirmative.

"What about Tommy and Abby though?" Kira asked frowning, "They were Rangers with me, when both were adults. But they're teenagers too."

"This is not something I ever hoped to reexperience," Abby said and Tommy said nothing, seeming distracted still as it was.

"But that wasn't when they were at their peak," Anton spoke up, calling attention to himself, "Tommy and Abby might have fought as the Black and Pink Dino Rangers but they weren't at their absolute best. I mean, Tommy went into a coma, remember? The Morphing Grid needed you all at your best to be able to handle the Power and that's what happened; you were all returned to the way you were when you could best use the Power, when it was the easiest for you to handle. RJ and Annie didn't change much because they were only Rangers a few years ago, and the rest of us were never Rangers so we didn't need to be regressed."

"But Tsuki," Tommy finally spoke. The girl was still asleep and girl was the best word for it; while everyone else had been demorphing and going through that strange bout of pain, it seemed the same sort of transformation that had happened to change Tommy and Abby into seventeen year olds had affected her too. The light from before that had brought them there still dimly surrounded her but the most interesting thing was how just like them she had been regressed to a younger state, a teenage girl fast asleep in her boyfriend's arms.

"Why did she change?" Lana asked, one of the few Rangers who looked to be in their early twenties rather than their teens; having calmed from her anger earlier, and having been dropped by her brother during the wave of pain that had hit them all, she got to her feel and stepped forward to look the other girl over. Merrick stepped in though, putting a hand on her shoulder to stop her and shook his head gently.

"The Morphing Grid used her," Andros said frowning lightly, "Or maybe rather she used it."

"She must have called out to it somehow," RJ said nodding, "I saw her before she collapsed; there was all this light around her and these little things, one of them looked like that," he pointed towards Kira, and more specifically the small bracelet that lay at her feet where her yellow Dino gem was set; the young woman frowned and he went on, "I think...I think they might have been Ranger items, morphers and stuff."

"Tsuki tapped into the Morphing Grid," Billy said softly, almost absently, staring at his old friend, "We had contemplated the implications of possibly finding a way to connect once more to it but to think she somehow did it..."

"She did it to save me, to save us," Tommy chimed in, "I was dying, I know I was, but she was saying something, begging something to help us. I think...I think she asked the Morphing Grid to reinstate our powers and in the process..."

"In the process it decided to use her as a vessel," Tyler completed for him, getting a nod in agreement; it seemed so wild, something he was certain he would never see in his lifetime. His mother, the people he had grown up again, the people he had come to fight alongside; he had seen them fighting at the courthouse and he had seen what trouble they all had been in. To say that the reason they had managed to get away was because of the Rangers would be an understatement but to think it was because Tsuki, the strange woman who had once babysat him as his mother ran off to fight with Kira and the others, had beseeched the Power to come back and give them what they had lost, it was incredible. That she was the cause of the de-aging, of the Power Rangers return, of Jason being able to morph too, there was so much to unpack and it started to hurt his head.

"But she didn't save them." Another voice cut through and attention went to the bodies of the fallen Samurai Rangers, to where Lauren was leaned beside her brother, holding him up to look him over; on her face was a mixture of emotions, a torrent that was hard to predict and harder to read, but her voice was clear and hurt and angry.

The surviving Samurai set her brother down and stood up, facing Tommy with a pained look. "She healed everyone, gave them back their powers, gave many of you back your youth. But my brother and his team she couldn't even give them back their lives?"

"Lauren, it's-" Billy started but she cut him off.

"What makes the rest of you so important? Why do you get to live while Jayden and the others are dead? If the Morphing Grid could do so much, why didn't it give them back too?" With that curt angry statement she stalked out, leaving the room and all of them in sudden harsh silence. None of them had words, there were none to give; for some it was a case of not knowing what to say. But as Tori bunched up her face then softly excused herself, leaving the room with Hunter and Laura in tow, and Hayley set herself down in a seat with a pained expression, it was clear that it was a question more than a few of them too had. Plenty of Rangers had died, some in front of them, some outside their reach; Dustin had survived the blast by what they believed was the will of the Grid, yet Jayden and his team lay cold and motionless on the floor of the cockpit, yet Blake had died at Taylor's hands. It was a question to them all what led them to this, why some of them survived while others died, why they were given this power while others still it seemed lay dead.

It hung heavy and Tommy turned to walk out of the room without another word; Billy and Kira had a feeling of where he was going but neither moved to follow. No one else seemed to notice in that moment and it took a time before they all started to move again; Andros tried to move the dead Samurai Rangers, and his sister, along with Trent and the Baliton siblings, came to assist. RJ said something about making food, wanting to help in the best way he knew how, and Annie went with him to help with cooking; Zack mumbled about his head hurting and that he was going to go to his room, while Kira stood around awkwardly, biting her thumbnail and thinking things over. Tyler turned to his mother, wondering what she was going to do, but Abby didn't even turn to him before leaving the room too, her gaunt denoting something strong on her mind and he got the sinking feeling it would be better not to follow her this once.

"Let me help," he said instead and helped pick Mia up, following Andros and the others as they moved to take the fallen Rangers somewhere else.

By time Abby caught up to Tommy he was leaving the infirmary, giving one last glance inside to where Tsuki lay peacefully upon one of the beds, her sword tucked in beside her, her hands folded over her abdomen. He looked hollow, his stare blank as he turned away; he didn't even flinch as Abby reared up and slapped him across the face. Instead he reached up, touching his stinging cheek and furrowed his brow, "Abby..."

"How could you bring Tyler into a battlefield like that, he could have been killed." She didn't yell, she didn't need to; the low tone denoted far more anger and disbelief than any amount of screaming would have.

"I didn't-"

"I understand you're used to putting teenagers in danger, Thomas, but he is my son and I will not have you endangering him because you have a hero complex."

"Abby, just-"

"He's just a kid, you shouldn't-"

"What do you want from me, Abby?!" Tommy snapped angrily, causing Abby to take a step back; he clenched his fists tight and his entire body was shaking but it didn't seem to be violence on his mind, his eyes reflecting something far more painful than physical pain.

"I want you to understand how I feel," she said annoyed, "I want you to get that you didn't have a right to put my son in danger like that!"

"I didn't do anything; Tyler made a choice-"

"Tyler is sixteen, you're an adult; he doesn't get to make decisions that almost get him killed!"

"Tyler isn't any older than we were when we were fighting putties and Rita and her goons. I mean, look at the proof right here." He gestured at himself, at her, their bodies with their baggy clothes, his wild hair, her young face.

Abby narrowed her eyes. "We were...are Rangers; that's different. That's like Bulk and Skull trying to fight off monsters in their ridiculous costumes."

"Admittedly Tyler is far more capable than Bulk and Skull were at his age," he responded sounding calmer but his gaze was off, "And truth be told you don't really get to talk about putting Tyler in danger can you?"

"How dare you-"

"What did you think was going to happen, Abigail, when you ran off like you did? You wanna talk about Tyler being just a kid and not being able to make decisions for himself and me not being allowed to put him in danger but what do you call abandoning your kid, leaving him by himself while you ran off to do what? Try to distract the government? Wander about? What have you been up to?"

"I was protecting my son," she said coldly, "I knew being near him would put him in danger, I had no other choice. You have no idea how hard it was, you have no right-"

"I think I have every right, Abby," he interrupted shortly, "You know how we found him? You know what your son was up to when we came across him? He was unconscious, injured and nearly crushed to death by a large portion of the Wind Ninja Academy; he was alone and we saved him. We protected him, Abby; Tsuki and Billy tended to his wounds and we gave him a safe haven, we let him help out when he could and we let him stay aboard the Megaship. And for the record, when it came to that mission, I told him it was dangerous and I tried to stop him; he was the one who made the decision to go. You might not have noticed but he was raised by and around Rangers; of course he'd inherited quite a bit of the stubbornness and attitude of someone like us. If I'd tried to stop him, he'd fight; I try to leave him and Zack behind they'd follow anyway somehow. Its either have them included in a way that's easier to keep an eye on them and have them be safe or let them just be wild and not under our direct protection because we wanted to treat teenagers like they're five year olds instead of almost adults themselves."

Abby didn't have anything to say to that and her expression seemed sour for a moment. Tommy watched her for a time before clicking his tongue. "I know you don't like it, and I know you're angry but fact of the matter is that Tyler isn't just your son and he's not just a kid. He's a part of our team and he knows it too; you saw how he was there, how he tried to fight too. He has no intention of sitting back and letting us do all the work and there's nothing you nor I can do to stop him."

"He's still my son though," she said and he frowned some looking at her; she looked sad, face turned away, "I don't want Tyler to get hurt, I don't want to lose him. You might say he's not a kid but he really is; he shouldn't have to be involved in all this, he shouldn't have to fight. He should be in school, driving his car and hanging out with friends and doing all those stupid teen things that we never really got to fully enjoy. Live a normal life, not be aboard some broken down ship with his mom and a bunch of other people who suddenly look..."

She didn't complete that thought, simply staring at her hands; Tommy didn't need her to to understand. He looked back towards the infirmary, his thoughts clouding for a moment.

"We all wanted a normal life," he said, his voice somewhat distant, "I should be at the school, preparing for my next class; we'd be going on another dig, the students tend to like those days, or maybe talking about the difference in life during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Hayley would be helping Ethan out with his company and Conner would probably be winning the World Cup or something, Kira would be singing her heart out in front of thousands of adoring fans and Trent would be working on his next big art piece. And Tsuki...

His words drifted off and he couldn't look away, couldn't stop staring into the infirmary, where she slept undisturbed. "Tsuki would..." He couldn't remember and that hurt more, making him clench his fists harder.

"Tommy," Abby said gently and reached out to touch his shoulder, "It's okay, she'll be okay."

"I can't remember what she would be doing right now," he said, "I can't...I look at her and all I can think of is her sleeping and her holding me when I was dying, her crying. I don't like thinking about her crying, it reminds me too much of the past. She didn't cry immediately when Billy said he was going to stay on Aquitar, you and the others didn't see it, she didn't want you to, but she did and I can remember that," he turned his body as if to walk back inside, as if to return to her side but his legs didn't move, "I remember how much that hurt to see, how painful it was to watch someone else go through having the one they love abandon them and feeling broken over it; I remember finding her sobbing in Angel Grove Park and how sad she seemed. I didn't want to make her cry again, I wanted her to know everything was okay and to not think it was her fault what happened, but..."

"Try and think of something nicer, Tommy, some other memory." She was worried to see her old friend act this way; the confident, capable Tommy, Green Ranger, White Ranger, Red and then Black, mentor to his team, who watched over so many as time had gone by. It felt strange to see him looking so lost and broken, half rambling as he looked in on the one who was causing his heart so much distress. Abby bit her lip, "Tell me about Ryuu."

The man stopped, froze up completely before turning to look her finally; he looked confused, surprised, but that soon gave to a thoughtful sort of expression and a small smile even found its way across his face.

"You mean that stupid little dragon," he said and Abby nodded, "She made it for me; I sure as hell didn't ask her to or ever would have wanted a dragon stuffed animal if asked but there it was. She used to work on it in the command center while we were out on patrol; I remember stumbling upon her doing so once when I came back early. She turned all bright red and tried to hide it and I teased her about it; I always teased her about everything, her height, the way she'd squeak when I picked her up, the way she'd be able to bake cookies and sew one day and slice through a putty and throw Zack to the ground the next. I loved teasing her and I thought that she was just making something for one of the kids in my karate classes, but then my birthday came along and there she was, holding that stupid stuffed dragon out to me and she just...smiled. She smiled and it didn't hurt seeing the reminder of my first Ranger powers, I didn't feel like it was a taunt. It was her being sweet, in that sweet way she could be. She smiled and gave me that stupid thing and I loved it...I loved her," he laughed, a trembling sort of thing and Abby pretended not to see him tear up, "I knew I loved her then; that's when I finally figured it out."

"Knew her for three years and it took you that long to realize you were head over heels for her," Abby said with a smile of her own, "For the record I knew you loved her the day you went after her when Billy gave us that message; you were always terrible to hiding your real emotions, Tommy, though I guess you were at least good at hiding them from yourself. You just looked so worried when she left, I was more surprised that you didn't realize it then. But I guess you two have had years to make up for that haven't you? Basically inseparable since that day."

"Yeah," he said and glanced back inside again; she worried he might slip back to depression but he went on, "When all this began she told me she was going to fight by my side no matter what, and when Jason came, when we were preparing to leave the house to come out to try and save Andros and everything, she promised she wouldn't do anything reckless, that she knew I didn't want to lose her but she didn't want to lose me either. This whole time she's fought by my side, she'd pushed herself to help us when necessary, to tend to wounds and help fix up the ship, even use her power to save us from certain danger; part of me knows she understands how important it was to me, how much I appreciated everything she did, but that doesn't change the fact that still I feel terrible. And I'm worried, that maybe she won't wake up, that she'll stay like this, that I might not get to talk to her again."

"I think a lot of people are feeling similarly," Abby said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "This whole ordeal, this fighting, it's taken a lot from all of us; we've lost our homes, our anonymity, our friends. Lauren and Hunter both lost their brothers, and the Wind Ninja Academy is just a memory now. I'm sure there are others too, who are afraid they might never again get a chance to be with the ones they love, so know at least that you might feel down but you're not alone."

"I'm aware," he said shaking his head, "I'm not so selfish as to think I'm the only one suffering; right now Laura is probably wondering if her brother will ever wake up, and Lana is probably hurting after seeing Jason again. Somewhere on this ship Lauren is probably despairing over not being able to save Jayden. We've all lost things, we're all having to deal with trauma related to everything that's gone down, it's not just me and believe me I know. I'm constantly thinking about the others, wanting to protect as many of them as possible, to fix everything; maybe it's a Red Ranger's prerogative, or maybe it's lingering guilt over what I did as the Green Ranger, or maybe the mentor in me wanting to protect them all. Whatever it is, it's not like I'm unaware that I'm not alone in my pain but...Abby? For one minute, even if just for that, I'd really appreciate it if I was allowed to just...feel, to be selfish, to hurt. I know we're all suffering but sometimes, it can help to just let the pain out instead of trying to constantly remind ourselves that there are others too that are hurting too."

"You really want to wallow in self-pity?" she asked raising an eyebrow and he laughed bitterly before turning to her.

"Uh-huh, just for a bit. Our powers being back, their powers being back, everything that happened back there; it's obvious this is far from the end of things. The Samurai Rangers are dead, save for Lauren, and while their enemies still roam, the government now has more active Rangers than they did before; it doesn't take a genius or someone who has experience to know that things are going to get harder from here on out, not easier. But even just for now, until we get the next rumor, we find out our next mission, I'm going to act like my new physical age and be a moody, selfish teenager. My girlfriend is unconscious and shows no sign of waking any time soon, my old best friend is currently my greatest enemy, there's six dead Rangers somewhere on the ship, I'm a teenager again and you slapped me in the face which really hurt; right now I think I'd like to just sit and mope for a while."

Abby was half tempted to scold him for it, this self-centered talk that was coming from him suddenly, yet what came out inside was a chuckle. She could understand his feelings and she smiled a bit at him before shaking her head. "Tommy, you got your chance to be moody when we really were teenagers, but I guess right now it's only fair to let you be. I apologize for hitting you, you didn't really deserve that after all."

"You're a protective momma bear, what can I say?" he said shrugging and avoided another swat by stepping away.

"You better go do your pity partying somewhere else before I smack you again, Thomas." He gave her a small smile before walking off, leaving her to her own. Abby stood there, watching over the hallway as Tommy left before turning to look within the infirmary as well. Tsuki slept but so too did the fallen Ninja Storm yellow, still in his capsule; she didn't know much about his injuries, only able to figure from the fact he was inside one of the cryogenic pods that they had to be serious. She wondered for a moment if the Grid healed him too and her hand touched her arm, the one that had been badly injured back in the courthouse but now looked as good as new; all of those within the place who had been injured was healed, but the Samurai Rangers were still dead. And Dustin didn't seem to have moved from inside his chamber; there were many mysteries in the end over what happened, over what would happen next. Yet what she found herself focusing on was none of that; she thought of her son inside and wondered how he was doing at that moment.

She smiled lightly to herself and set off to find Tyler, letting the worries of what would happen next melt away for now. After all they were all aboard the Megaship now where it was supposed to be safe; as long as they were she doubted there would be any more trouble for them for the time being.

The infirmary was dark, silent and still when the doors opened again and the figure walked in. Hours had passed since the Renegades had returned to the ship, long enough for almost everyone to have settled down for what was sure to be strange dreams; yet he was still awake, for nothing he did seemed to calm the troubles in his mind.

He got a few steps inside when the lights suddenly came on and cringing in the light, a familiar voice spoke, "Anton."

The older man frowned, squinting in the sudden flood of light; he waited for his eyes to adjust, making a slight annoyed sound. As they did he saw Karone standing by the light switch, an eyebrow raised as she watched him carefully. He tried to recollect himself, standing up straight as he responded, "Karone, what brings you here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," she said and he didn't respond; his eyes moved over to the medicine cabinet where they kept most of the supplies. He could make some sort of excuse, say that he was there to return the medicial kit he'd taken with him to the courthouse, he had the bag with him, but just then he felt a surge of pain and he could swear he felt his skin crawl, a slithering that made him cringe again and close his eyes tight. Once more he heard her voice, half amused and half very serious, "But I'm certain I know what."

"Oh y-you do, do you?" he asked and he was certain he sounded more aggressive than he truly was feeling; it worried him honestly, the annoyance building, and the slight hiss to his words.

She nodded and walked over to him, reaching out to place a hand on his forehead only for him to jump back, glaring at her; his eyes flashed and he squeezed them shut again, holding his head. "D-don't..."

"You know when the Morphing Grid reactivated for me, it gave me back my Ranger powers," she said and he wasn't sure at first what she meant but she went on, "But it wasn't all. And I suspect when it did, it gave you back something too."

"It didn't I assure you," he said and cringed at the way he hissed the words, a low tone, not his tone. But it's.

"You feel it don't you?" Karone asked frowning, "Another self, another you. I could feel her; it wasn't immediate but she was there, like a whisper in my head. When I demorphed it was like my body was swimming in something deep and it took me a while to realize what it was, what it meant. But I knew I couldn't tell the others, least of all my brother; ignoring the fact he'd worry...the idea that she'd be back is terrifying right now, it's the last thing we need."

"And who is she?"

"Astronema." She spoke it like a terrible secret, a knowledge that was never supposed to be shared, and he opened his eyes to look at her, to meet hers and she stared back at him with all seriousness. And Anton knew it wasn't a trick.

"Yes," he finally admitted, gripping his chest as he set the bag on the nearest countertop, "I could fight it at first, when everything first happened, but it...Mesogog's just gotta stronger with every hour, every second. I could feel him under my skin, slithering around, demanding to be let out; I'd forgotten how it felt to share my body with him, to have him in my head. It's like a bad nightmare, to ever have him back, to be like this again."

Karone's frown grew and she turned to look over at the slumbering Tsuki. "I don't think she expected this when she called upon the Power."

"None of us would have expected it," he said with a bitter laugh, "Who'd have thunk that when the Rangers came back..."

"So too would their enemies." He nodded and she sighed a bit; the young woman ran a hand through her hair, trying to ignore the laughing voice in her own head, her voice from so long ago but she had never forgotten it, or how it had felt to be the Princess of Darkness.

"We're lucky we're the only two ex-villains in this group," Anton said, trying to find a silver lining.

"You are not." The third voice made them both jump and they turned to look to the door once more; Merrick stood there with his arms crossed and neither Karone nor Anton seemed to know what to say.

"Merrick," Anton said and the warrior raised a hand.

"Do not worry, I am not here to trouble you," he stated, "I simply came to check up on the two in here and happened upon your conversation. You are wrong; you are not the only two ex-villains, you are simply the only two ones who were primary enemies to the Rangers."

"Meaning...?" Karone asked.

He sighed and raised a hand; for a moment nothing happened and Anton was about to say something before something appeared in his hand. It was a mask, dark in color and something about it sent chills through the older man's body, causing him to be unable to look away; Merrick spoke once more, "This is the mask of Zen-Aku, a Duke Org. Over three thousand years ago when the primary enemy of my team Master Org attacked my kingdom Animaria, I took this mask from it's hiding place and put it on in hopes of defeating him; I did but in the process I became cursed, becoming the monster Zen-Aku, condemning my Zords to being cursed alongside me and forcing my fellow Ancient Warriors to have to seal me away to save their lives and the lives of all others. It was not until I was released and my team the Wild Force Rangers figured out how to break the curse that I was able to become myself again. But I never became fully free of Zen-Aku; he has been a part of me this whole time, waiting, listening."

"So when Tsuki reinstated the Powers..." Karone started.

He shook his head. "She gave power to Zen but no more than I did when I allowed my anger to overtake me when I attacked Taylor. I learned long ago to live with my darkness, to control it."

"Are you trying to say we can too?" Anton asked, skeptically, "That it's not a bad thing if Astronema and Mesogog wake up inside us if we learn how to, what, control them?"

"I cannot say for your darkness what will happen, but I can say that it did take me time to learn and it was difficult," he said, "I would say though that with everything that is going on, you may not have the same luxury as I did."

"Meaning we either learn quick or we make sure Astronema and Mesogog can't hurt everyone," Karone responded.

Merrick smiled and gave a nod. "I trust you two will find a solution that will work, as once a solution was found that worked for me. Know that Trent and Andros, they would not want you to hurt yourself even if it meant protecting them and the others, and nor would any of the others aboard this ship wish you to be harmed. You two are members of the Renegades, you are part of our team, and we care about you. If you feel the need to, I am certain the others will be happy to help you however they can."

With that he turned and left, leaving the two to the silence and their thoughts. Neither spoke, nor looked at each other; it should have been awkward Anton supposed but instead it felt like everything was simply waiting.

Finally he moved, walking over to the medicine cabinet and Karone turned to him, watching Anton as he opened it wide. "...I don't want to hurt anyone anymore but if I had to have a choice, I'd prefer to do it as a Ranger fighting to protect than as Astronema fighting to destroy."

"I don't think we have that choice, Karone," he said and pulled out two syringes and a small box; inside was two small green vials; he stared at them, tilting his head before speaking to her again, "And Merrick is right; we don't have the luxury of time that he did to figure out how to control ourselves. I couldn't keep Mesogog at bay before, I doubt I could do it now."

"So what do you suggest we do?" she asked him; he picked up one of the vials and looked it over in the light, turning it this way and that before facing her again, holding it out to her

"This is a highly concentrated sedative; it's capable of knocking a grown adult out quickly and slow their bodily functions to the point of almost seeming dead," he told her, "It's near impossible to awaken from, even for a monster or two. Here."

He threw it to her and she caught it, looking it over herself before noticing him watch over to hand her one of the syringes as well. Karone stared at him. "You suggest we knock ourselves out, to keep us from hurting everyone else?"

"You said you understood why I came here; are you telling me that you didn't think of maybe doing something to incapacitate yourself?" he asked raising an eyebrow at her.

"Of course I did," she answered, taking the syringe from him as well; as he walked back to the other set she readied the sedative, sticking the needle into the vial and draining it into the syringe.

Anton did the same and as he moved to face her she moved, placing the needle of hers against his neck; he didn't flinch, his eyes betraying no surprise. He raised a hand, doing the same to her and smiled just a bit."We do this, the others will worry. Two more bodies for them to watch over."

"We don't, then there will be far more bodies to bury I'm certain," she said clearly, "The others are still scattered, and with everything going on, I have no doubt the other us, the monsters we were, that are inside us, will be able to do some serious damage even before they figure out how to stop them."

"No regrets then, princess?" That hiss again, a low tone, and it didn't even sound like his voice anymore; his eyes flashed amber, inhuman, like a lizards.

Karone didn't flinch either and her heart felt calm suddenly; Astronema was waking but there was nothing she could do. And she would be asleep again soon, they both would. "None at all, dino boy."

He laughed a bit, amused and she couldn't help a smile.

"Well then...Good night Karone," Anton said and it was strange; he could feel the double heartbeat inside his chest, an apprehension that crept and slithered around as that old monster started to reform. But he also felt calm, looking straight into the pink rangers eyes. No, the eyes of his fellow ex-villain. And his finger felt steady, pressed lightly against the plunger of the syringe.

Her smile grew, a gentle almost sad thing but in all ways comforting. Her voice was barely a whisper, enough for him to hear. "Good night Anton."

And with that, in a perfect harmony they pressed the trigger; Anton took a deep breath, feeling the strong sophoric drug pour into his bloodstream through the new puncture in his veins and he could imagine she too felt it, the sharp pain that spread before slipping away, giving in to quiet numb silence. His hand slipped, the now empty vial falling to the ground with what sounded like a muffled crash; he could have almost sworn there was a second that followed, perhaps the one she had used on him but he didn't mind. He found he didn't mind anything anymore; he tried to step away but his legs already gave in and the man fell with a somewhat unceremonious thud, landing in a pile on the ground.

But neither he nor Karone cared; by then they were already lost to the world, fast in a state not much different than Dustin's or Tsuki's. Two more sleeping souls for the quiet, still infirmary.