THE REASON - Part Fifty-Six: The Evil Battle Continues

Summary: The teens come by to visit Dr. Oliver in hopes to see how he's coping with the recent events with Carl. But what they find will test their power to fight the person behind the mask. And can they rely on information from another source to find out what's really going on with the teacher?

Disclaimer: Power Rangers is not mine. Will never be mine, but I own every idea in this story—besides those claims of episodes.

A/N: Not much to say except that the struggle will continue on for some time. So, read on and see what is happening with our legendary ranger.

"The battle continues to destroy me from the inside out. But I won't give up until you all give up on me. Help me, please!" -Eclyptyk Neo

Sunday afternoon.

Tommy was sitting at the computer in the underground lab underneath his house. He continued to monitor his brainwave patterns, but every time he did, they appeared normal. He didn't know what to make of the situation. He knew what he was feeling inside. He felt like something was eating at his mind. Throwing away all the memories of good and replacing them with each and every time he had crossed into the evil path. He wanted to find answers, but he just couldn't think straight at all. If he didn't find answers soon, he may never get around to finding them at all.

He pried the dino gem from his metal cuff and rolled it between his fingers, looking deeply into the contents of the gem. He watched the haze of colors intertwine within it, feeling the warmth of it escape the gem and enter his fingertips.

But then the darkness filled his mind, and all other train of thought was lost. The only thing that remained was the destruction of the other rangers. His eyes began to glow in its unusual green hint, and the air around him grew into darkness.

"Hey, Dr. Oliver." a voice greeted from behind him.

The black dino thunder blinked slowly as the let the green hint escape his eyes. But he was still taking on a darker appearance. He turned the chair to find the four teens come into the room from the forest entrance. He relayed a smile, greeting them with a nod.

The teens walked over to their mentor, smiles on their faces.

"Hey, Dr. O. How are you doing?" Trent asked.

Dr. Oliver found himself shrugging. "I'm all right. How about you guys?"

"We just came by to see how you were doing. And hoping you caught some of the Olympic footage." Kira said.

Dr. Oliver forced out a breath. He hadn't. He turned in his chair to look back at the screen holding the results of his brainwave patterns. But they still appeared normal. He saw the opening ceremony, but that was it. "Actually, I haven't. I've been real busy doing stuff around the lab."

"Still haven't found a way to break the evil encoding?" Ethan asked.

Dr. Oliver turned around again, letting out a heavy sigh. That was a no.

"Don't worry, Dr. O. We'll figure something out." Conner said. "But I would have thought you'd be watching some of the Olympics..."

Dr. Oliver held up a hand to stop the teen from saying anymore. "There are matters to attend to here, in the lab. Someone has to keep an eye out for Mesogog and his goons. And it can't very well be Hayley all the time."

The teens exchanged a look taking a small step back.

"Um..Dr. O, are you feeling okay?" Ethan asked cautiously.

"I'm fine, Ethan. Nothing's wrong." the man slowly got to his feet.

The teens took another step back, watching their mentor approach them. And by the way he walked, it was clear they were facing his evil side.

"I don't assume you ever settled things with Carl?" Trent asked.

The man looked up to reveal the green hint in his eyes. The teens fell into a defensive stance as they took several steps back. Their teacher continued to walk toward them, but didn't as much lift a finger as a threat.

"Bad joke, Dr. O." Ethan said.

The teacher chuckled deviously. "Bad joke? This is the real deal. This is who I am."

"This is who you once were, Dr. Oliver. You're not this way anymore." Conner protested.

"Are you sure about that, Conner? How do you know who to trust when your entire life felt like you've been lied to? Everyone watches from the shadows and you can't find your way out. They always want you to do things that you don't want to do. You keep fighting, but you lose and you have to fall to their limp and do what they say or you're all gonna be destroyed. This is how the world will look at you from this side of the battle."

The teens hit the wall, watching their teacher. They didn't know what to do. They couldn't take him down because they knew how powerful he was.

"C'mon, Dr. O. We know you're in there. Fight it." Kira said.

"This isn't like you." Trent said.

"How can you believe someone when you're unsure of who you are and what you're capable of doing?" the teacher continued to file out the psychological questions. "Tell me something. If your friend was ready to destroy everything in their path, how would you go about destroying them?"

"We'd use everything we had to stop them."

"But would you kill me?"

The teens looked at each other again, unsure of what to say. They never thought they could get caught up in another situation with a ranger. They were all the same, rangers of the past or present. But they were well aware of what their teacher had done on the past. And he wouldn't hesitate to do it all over again with an attitude like that.

"If we had to, we will." Conner took a step forward, finding his leadership voice soar with determination. "But we will help you first, Dr. O."

"We know you're in there. You gotta fight it." Ethan said, taking a place beside his red ranger counterpart.

Trent and Kira took their place beside their red leader, hoping to divert the evil thoughts in their teacher's mind. They were told time and time again by Adam to keep an eye on him, stand up against him. And if at all possible, avoid any aggressive negotiations. That's what most evil beings were hoping for. If you don't fight, than they may as well find a way to break its curse.

The teacher looked at each of his students in turn. And he heard the voice of his other side, his true side.

"You can't win. I won't let you. They won't let you." he said in a quiet voice.

"But I already have." another voice echoed in his mind.

"And no one will escape the wrath." another dark voice said.

"No." Tommy said quietly as he felt his knees buckle beneath him. "I won't let you destroy me. Not like you have in the past."

"You will fall." the first voice said.

The teacher fell to his knees grabbing his head. He groaned in pain, burying his head into his knees.

"Dr. Oliver." Conner raced over to his mentor's aide.

But as soon as he got there, the teacher looked up at him eyes glaring in a green hint. He grabbed the teens wrist and pulled him down pinning him into the ground. The other three teens raced over to pull their teacher off their friend, but the teacher twisted beyond their attacks and rolled away. Ethan charged at his teacher, but Tommy had a hold of him before he could throw a punch. He wrapped the teen's hand around his back, pulling him toward him.

"Tell me, something, Ethan. Are you sure you want to go up against me?" the teacher growled in a dark tone against the boy's ear.

"I don't want to fight you, Dr. O. But I can't stand here and just do nothing." Ethan winced under the pain he felt in his arm.

A ptera scream from Kira made the teacher falter enough for the teen dressed in blue to slip away. Trent launched himself into the air, taking the teacher down as he rolled into a knelt fighter stance. Tommy looked at the white ranger, and launched several spin kicks to throw the teen off balance. Conner threw himself into the air to interfere with the teacher's attacks and avert attention to him. Tommy turned and threw a back kick at the red dino ranger as he came crashing onto his yellow and blue friends. They groaned in pain as Tommy turned back to the lone white ranger.

Conner slowly moved to get off his friends, grabbing his side. "I guess he's living up to his black belt status, isn't he?"

Kira let out a breath as she got to her feet. "This is no time to joke around, Conner. We got to help Trent."

Tommy was already advancing toward the white ranger. But Trent launched himself into an aerial spin kick, but Tommy ducked. Trent tried a swipe kick, but the skilled martial artist flipped over it. He landed on a knee to absorb his landing, and turned to look at the teen again. The others raced over to his aid, holding a fighting stance waiting for their teacher to make another move.

"We don't want to fight you, Dr. O." Ethan said behind clenched teeth. He didn't want his aggressive nature to take the best of him, but it was getting close. He didn't like to be on the losing end as much as anyone else on the team.

"Well, then it will make your defeat so much easier." the teacher replied in a dark cool voice.

"Fight it, Dr. O." Kira said slowly taking a step forward.

The teacher groaned as he hit the ground. He grabbed his head again, lowering it to the ground. "Guys..."

The voice was so quiet.

"Dr. Oliver?" the teens took a step forward.

"No!" a voice called from the stairs as the black ninja emerged from them. "It's a trap."

The teens looked toward their ninja mentor in fright. They watched the helpless teacher fumbler around on the floor in pain trying to fight his internal conflict. Adam jumped over the last set of stairs and rushed over to the fallen legendary ranger. But as he approached, the green hint in Tommy's eyes stopped him short and he found himself pinned to the ground, bare hands of his friend ran around his neck.

"Adam!" the teens rushed over, but Adam held up a hand stopping them.

Adam looked back at the man looming over him, trying to break the hold on his neck. He used his ninja powers to control his breath and take small little breaths. He met the glare in his friend's eye, watching the reflection of the lost and confused falcon appear in his pupils. "Fight it, Tommy. I know you can do it."

"You won't ruin this for me." the dark voice growled.

"Wake up, Tommy! This isn't real. You don't want to do this. Mesogog is making you believe we are the enemies. Don't trust him. We're your friends!" Adam demanded, recalling the same tactics he had used against his friend to free him from Gaskett's curse. "We aren't the enemies. Mesogog is. And he will do what he can to continue to make you believe that. But I know you're in there."

"C'mon, Dr. Oliver." Conner said, watching and waiting. If he had to rush in to save Adam, he was ready to.

Ethan couldn't stand the wait anymore and pushed himself forward, throwing the black dino ranger off balance. Adam twisted under the faltered move and threw his friend to the ground, pinning him there. Trent and Kira rushed over to help him as the teacher began to squirm under their hold.

Adam's eyes flashed shut as he used his ninja powers to call forth the falcon in the man beneath him. Again, he saw the falcon tangled up in the web of confusion and calling on his own animal spirit, snapped the web with his tongue. The call of the falcon echoed through his mind and when he opened his eyes, he heard it echo through the room as the light from the pink dino gem's broken pieces came to life from all its holders. A force threw the team off the legendary ranger and the room fell silent. The dark air disappeared.

They each exchanged a look and rushed over to the teacher. He laid there catching his breath as sweat ran down his face.

"Dr. Oliver?" Kira asked.

He looked at her, slowly sitting up. He looked over at Adam, nodding. "We need to figure this out now."

"I'm all over it, buddy." Adam got to his feet and raced over to the computer console.

The teens helped the teacher to his feet. He stood there slightly dazed as they got him over to a chair.

"Are you okay?" Conner asked.

The teacher forced out a breath as he blinked again. The events of the recent attack ran through his mind. And he knew it was real. He realized all those times he was at the island fortress was real, too. He could only hope that answers would be revealed soon enough.

Time passed, but nothing could be found.

The black dino thunder ranger retired to bed, while each of the team members held a heavy heart for finding a way to help their mentor out.

Adam encouraged them to not give up.

They all decided they could call it a night, but Adam made one request of Trent. Find out what he can from his father regarding the day Tommy went

to visit him weeks ago. Trent also found out that both Adam and Tommy knew the secret behind his dad, but didn't want to say anything to give respect to why Trent was doing it in the first place. Adam reassured the teen that they'll find a way to free his father from the dino curse. And Trent was glad to find a warm gesture come from the skilled black ninja ranger.

-----

Trent walked through the big empty house, hoping to find his dad there. He just hoped, he knew what to say once he found him. He walked down the hall, hoping to find his dad in his office, and he was.

He knocked on the wall quietly as his father looked up to see who it was.

"Trent." the man greeted slightly startled.

"Can we talk, dad?" Trent asked quietly as he took a step into the room.

The tall, stern man wiped his brows as sweat began to perspire on his face. He nodded slowly directing the teen inside. "Sure. Why don't you take a seat, son?"

The boy complied as he took the seat in front of his father's desk. He looked down for a moment, unsure of how to start the conversation. He continued to watch his father struggle with his own battle with Mesogog, and now his teaher/mentor/teammate was going through the same thing. He hoped he could get some answers from his father, but there was no guarantee. He wanted to help his father so badly, but he knew his father would be stubborn about it. He wouldn't give up, though.

"So, what can I do for you, Trent?" the man asked startling the teen.

Trent forced out a breath as he looked up to see the grin of his father face. "Um...well, there are some concerns."

"Concerns?" Anton furrowed his eyebrow.

"It's nothing serious, no, dad. There's just some concerns regarding Dr. Oliver's return to teaching. Have you heard much from him lately?"

The man fell back in his chair, loosening his tie and catching his breath. "You must be aware of his conditions. How he, like me, is going through some changes?"

"So, you've heard. Dad, I need to know why. I need to know how to stop it."

The man shook his head. "I'm sorry, I don't know how to stop his battle."

"Then at least let me tell the other rangers about your problem. They can help."

"No. Son, please." the man forced out as his vision blurred and he appeared a little dazed. He turned to chair away to avoid looking at his son.

Trent got to his feet and moved around the desk to look at his father. He watched his father take another painful breath in as he rubbed his forehead in frustration. "Dad, you need some help. But, you got to have some answers to Dr. Oliver's battle, too."

Anton forced out a breath peering over at his son. "Mesogog is using him against you. He has been seen around the lab in a shield that used to belong to the pink dino gem, but I can't say anymore than that." The man slipped out of the chair and crashed onto the floor as he let another breath escape his lips.

Trent tried to pull his father to his feet, but he didn't budge. "Dad, please. Tell me how to break the evil encoding."

"You can't." Anton shook his head, as he pushed his son back. "Only Tommy can."

"How?"

"I'm not sure, son." the man shook his head again. "I'm sorry I can't provide anymore information than that."

Trent was in fright as he watched the mutation take over his father's body. But Anton continued to fight it. "No, it's more than enough. But please, let me take you to Dr. Oliver's place. We can get you help."

"No, son. This is my own battle. I have to find a cure on my own."

"Don't be selfish, dad."

The man looked at his son, as Trent took a step back. He saw the eyes were no longer blue, but golden grown like Mesogog's. "Please, son. They must not know. Not yet."

"But dad..." Trent pleaded.

"Just go. Son, please. Promise me you won't tell them."

Trent let out another breath as he took a set back. He watched his father continue to struggle, watching the strange green-yellow glow take over the elder man. The transformation beginning as the hands began to morph into red taloned hands. He turned away and stormed out of the room, unsure of what else he could have done for his father. He had to trust him for now, but he didn't want to give up.

The man groaned as he got to his feet and disappeared into the invisi-portal that opened up in his office and demolished as soon as he stepped through.

To be continued...

A/N: Okay, so as the struggle continues for Tommy, there are things that seems to be going outside of the circle as Anton Mercer struggles to keep his problem in control, too. But, like I said, keep and eye out. I'll get answers going as soon as I can.