THE REASON - Part Seventy-Four: The Truth

Summary: Now, that the truth is out about Trent's father, can the other teens trust their teammate, or will he have to hang up his powers as a Power Ranger forever?

Disclaimer: Power Rangers is not mine.

A/N: So, what will happen? Just read on.

"I wanted to tell you. I should have told you, but I made a promise to the only family I had left. I'm sorry for all the lies." -Eclyptyk Neo

After school. Underground lab.

"This is definitely one day we need to place in the record books." Ethan paced the room, still trying to cope with the news he had gotten earlier in the day. "I mean, I knew that Mercer was never really PTA material, but Mesogog? No way."

They all were. After the discovery of Anton Mercer being Mesogog, it had gone downhill from there. Their hearts sunk, and it was hard for both Kim and Tommy to keep their composure about the whole thing. They knew the truth and respected Trent gratefully for holding onto the secret for so long. They just hoped he wouldn't come crashing down hard when the finally decision was made. The team was all there, except that Trent was upstairs waiting to hear the punishment the rest would place on him.

"Well, there must have been a reason to why Trent didn't tell us." Kira tried to defend her friend from a harsh punishment.

"Think about it, Kira. The guy used to be the evil white ranger. Then he fails to tell us his dad is Mesogog. He can't be trusted." Conner shook his head a line of rage running through his body.

"Well, let's look at the options." Kim suggested, stopping the teens from starting a line of arguments. "If you had to put yourself in Trent's position, what would you do?"

"One chance." Tommy said simply. "If he can't convince us otherwise, he's done."

With that said, Tommy turned and left the room to confront the white ranger on his own terms. The only four could only question what he would say as they had their own thoughts about what to say to the white dino thunder ranger.

---

Upstairs.

Trent was sitting on the couch when he heard the footsteps echo through the hall. He quickly got to his feet with a sense of fear, but relaxed a little to see it was only his teacher than came to confront him. He could only wonder what was going on in that cool, calm look in his teacher's face.

"Hey, Trent." Tommy greeted as he directed the teen to take a seat.

"I take it the other rangers aren't taking to it very lightly, are they?" Trent could only ask.

Tommy nodded. "No. They aren't. We're in a tight position, Trent. And I never would have expected this to happen. I just feel bad for not saying anything sooner. I should have told you I knew about your father."

Trent nodded. "Yeah. Well, I guess I haven't been the trustworthiest either. But I really thought he could have had it. Defeating Mesogog."

"He's got a long way to go. And I do respect what respect you pay to him. He really is a great guy. A dear friend. And whatever loyalty and trust you gave him should also be respected. You did what you had to, Trent."

"But they won't see it, will they?"

Tommy shook his head sadly. "No. Sorry, Trent. We're in a rough position, now. Trust is lost. And what we do—saving the world—takes a lot of trust. We lost it when that news was spilt."

"You can't just call me out when you knew about it." Trent protested making it clear he didn't want to go out on his own.

"I'll take some of the blame. The worst thing to do is lie to them more than we really need to." Tommy looked down at his dino morpher, shaking his head. "You know what we got to do. There no use to destroying trust anymore than we need to."

Trent looked down at his own morpher, knowing exactly what his teacher meant. "New mentor?"

"I'm handing it over to Kim. She'll know why when we hand them over, but I just can't afford to make anymore big mistakes."

"Well, I'm ready when you are, Dr. O."

Tommy looked at the teen for some time and nodded, directing him out of the room.

They filed down the hidden stairs in the study, only to stumble into the conversing four re-calling the memories of what they had gone through in the last year of their lives.

Conner was the first to notice the two new members in the room as he glared at Trent. "So, what's the news, Dr. O?"

Tommy came to a halt in the middle of the room with Trent at his side. "It is a hard decision to make. And none of us would ever want to get stuck in such a position as this. But I have made my decision. And since I do, in fact, have the final say, I ask that Trent hand over his morpher and give up being a Power Ranger."

Trent felt those words pierce through his heart. He couldn't do it. It never felt so painful to do this. He looked across the room seeing the saddened faces of Ethan, Kira and Kim. Conner actually seemed happy with the decision, even if he too, held some sadness for the decision. It was a harsh punishment, but made perfect sense. He looked at his teacher for more support, but his face was neutral and clear. He had to do it. Trent forced out a breath and pulled off the metal cuff mounted to his wrist.

"Well, then. Things go back to normal. Without dealing with the problems with Trent on the team." Conner breathed a sigh of relief.

Tommy shook his head as he called his fiancée over to him. He looked down at the dino morpher fixed around his own wrist as he placed Trent's into her hand. He felt his whole body shuddered with guilt as he yanked his own morpher off and placed it into Kim's free hand. Kim looked down at the prizes in her hands and looked at the two powerless rangers who couldn't really say anything more.

"What are you doing, Dr. O?!" Conner shook his head. "You didn't betray us. Trent did."

Tommy turned to look at his students. He held a look that held sincerity and seriousness at the same time. "No, Conner. I did. I knew about this. I knew about Mesogog being Anton. I found out months ago when my own set of evil deeds began to come into play. I too, refused to speak of it to you guys in respect for all that he has done. And as much as I thought I could control that darkness, it could not be done without your help."

"But…" Ethan breathed not believing what had just happened.

"Anton is in much need of help as any of us here. But he refuses to ask for it. It'll be hard, but I don't believe it is right to have a team full of insecurity, lies and unstable loyalty. So, I ask Kim to take over where I have left off in guiding you. She won't be that much of a pain since she isn't exactly apart of the dino thunder team."

"But you can't do this, Dr. O." Kira shook her head.

"Would you want someone on the team you couldn't fully trust? Being a ranger takes a lot of trust, and that is something both me and Trent failed to do. And I am sorry for what has happened, and what you have discovered. Don't take this leave as anything personal, rangers, but maybe it is my time to go."

"Dr. Oliver, you're making a mistake." Conner pleaded, not wanting to see his mentor go.

"If you guys can't trust me or Dr. Oliver, then it'll only make things worse if we stay." Trent said firmly but painfully.

"Even if it means handing over our powers." Tommy agreed with what the teen had to say. "So, Rangers. I wish you luck. May the powers always protect you."

Trent and Tommy made a gesture saluting the team and turned to head up the stairs leaving the new team to discuss a new set of game plans without them.

And at that point, they were feeling a little guilty to have pulled it into something as painful as this.

to be continued…

A/N: What?! Dr. Oliver and Tommy giving up their dino gems in order to not jeopardize the team from loss of trust. But was it a good move? Read on and don't you love the tension. May the Powers Protect You Always.