Chapter Twenty-Nine

Trent now found himself in the lab, the white light long gone. "Whoa! What was that?" He asked, trying to regain his balance.

"Congratulations, Trent. You've just been teleported." Jason said, patting the teen on the back, gently. He remembered the first time he teleported. Unfortunately, he wasn't lucky enough to land on his feel. "It'll take some getting used to."

"Uh, okay." The White Ranger said, still dazed as he looked at the former Red Ranger, not recognizing him. "Who are you?"

"A friend of Tommy and Mel's." The older man simply said.

"Oh… Who's Mel?" This was all too confusing for him. What had he missed while he was gone?

"Nevermind that, now. The others are up against Mesogog and they aren't doing so well." Hayley said. "Give me the coin." She held out her hand in waiting.

"Okay, but I don't know what good it'll do." Trent pulled the coin/gem hybrid from his pocket and placed it in Hayley's flat palm. "What kind of power can that have?"

"Just think about how much power your Dino Gem has and double it." The red head said as she took the gem and placed it into what looked to be a simple Thundermax Laser gun. "Okay, all you have to do is aim and fire. That should take care of Mesogog."

"Right… Great." Trent said, apprehensively as he took the laser and flicked his wrist. "White Ranger, Dino Power."

The Green Ranger fell to the ground with a thud, her powers finally failing her as she was un-morphed. She panted hard and loud as she tried to lift herself off the ground, but couldn't. She was too weak; as were the others.

Mesogog loomed over all of them; he was going to enjoy turning their minds to mush. He cackled evilly as he savored the moment.

"Great, we came all this way to be killed by some crazed monster." Ethan said, wishing his gem would let him morph again.

"Yeah, but it was a good run." Conner said.

"Too bad we couldn't save the world one final time." Kira added.

"We can't let him win." Tommy said, finally getting feeling back in his legs. "There has to be a way to stop him."

"If only we could turn him back." Melissa thought out loud.

"Back? Back into what?" Conner asked.

Melissa stared into Mesogog's eyes with sympathy. "He's human." She said. The others didn't make a sound, but she knew that they were surprised at the fact.

"How right you are. Too bad you'll never see that half again." He began to use his mind torture on them. They all writhed in pain before him.

Suddenly, the torture stopped as Mesogog grabbed for his own head. The rangers all looked up to see him writhing in pain, his face shifting from lizard to human. His mutations had been erratic and it seemed as though Mercer was becoming able to fight his other half.

"Dr. O!" A familiar voice called out from behind Tommy. The Black ranger turned to see his student standing there, holding a laser gun in his hand. Trent tossed the gun to his teacher who aimed and fired at Mesogog as he began to split into two. Trent would have done it himself, but there was the fact that his father was part of the creature and he just couldn't bear to hurt him.

There was a burst of light which blinded them all. They all had to shield their eyes from how bright it was. When the light began to fade, they were all stunned at what they saw. Mesogog stood there, but along side him now stood Anton Mercer.

"Dad!" Trent cheered. "Power Down!" He rushed over to his father, hugging him tight as the creature looked around dazed.

"This is not over with, Rangers!" He cried out before he disappeared from their sight.

The rangers all climbed back to their feet as they stared at the Mercers.

"Anton?" Tommy asked.

Anton looked up at his former partner and smiled. It was a weak smile, yet it was still one. "Tommy. It's good to see you again… I mean it, this time." He said as she leaned on Trent's shoulder for support. The separation had taken a lot out of him, which would return in time.

"It's over." Ethan said, dumbfounded. It just seemed so bittersweet that it was all over with.

"Not completely, Ethan." Melissa said. "Just because the two are finally separated, doesn't mean Mesogog won't still try to destroy the planet."

"She's right. It seems like we have a lot of work ahead of us." Anton said.

"We?" Kira asked.

"That is, if all of you agree to let me help you?"

They all turned to look at Tommy, for only he would be able to answer that question. He stood there for a moment, his arms crossed over his chest as he though. It was a risk to trust the man in front of him, he knew. But, as he looked as his face, he seemed like a new man to him. The all of their surprise, he held out his hand. "We'd be happy to have you." He said.

Anton smiled and took Tommy's hand into his as they shook. "Excellent."

The rangers all arrived back at the lab, still clutching their various pains and taking seats wherever they could find them. Melissa took a seat on the stairs, her head in her hands. Jason sat next to her, slinging his arm around her shoulder. "I'm glad you're okay." He said, softly.

She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Me too."

Hayley turned her chair around to face them all. She looked at all of them in turn. "You all did good." She furrowed her brow for a second. One of them was missing. "Where's Trent?"

"He decided to take his dad home. He figured the separation would have taken a lot out of him." Tommy said, taking a seat in his own chair.

"At least he'll be around to help out. He knows more than Dr. O. about what the Tyrannodrones and monsters are capable of." Conner said, leaning against one of the computer consoles.

"That might not be true, Conner." Hayley said. "It might be possible that Anton was cut off when he became Mesogog. He might not know anything of his plans."

"It looks like we still have a long way to go." Kira said, taking a seat on the floor.

"Yeah and now that we have Mel on the team, it's basically in the bag." Ethan said, taking a seat next to Kira.

Melissa looked up at Ethan with a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

"Well, just that, you'll be a big help to us."

"Oh… Yeah… And now that the morphers have the teleportation chips installed, it'll be easy for me to go back and forth from New York when you guys need me." She was beginning to get baffled looks from the others. "What?"

"You mean you're not going to stay?" Conner asked.

She let out a short laugh. "I wish I could, but my whole life is back in New York; my friends, my family, my job. I can't just pack up and leave all of it behind… no matter how much I want to stay." She looked at Jason with sympathetic eyes. She knew that this would affect him most of all.

"I was hoping you would stay." He said, sadly.

"I know… but I can't."

He nodded disappointment clear on his face. "Yeah…" He trailed off as he got up and headed up the stairs.

"Jase… Jason!" She called to him. He didn't answer as they all heard the front door slam. "I do want to stay, but I can't. New York is my home."

"And that will never change." Tommy said. "Give him some time. He'll come around."

"I hope." She said, resting her head on her hands.

So, I guess the countdown has started, right? There's at least two more chapters left to go, before this work of fiction has ended. But, no need to worry. I do plan to write a sequel. I just need to get a few ideas on how to make sure it works the way I want it to.

So, if you'd like to, please make a suggestion, one that you will be credited for.

Please read and review.