*-* Eltar *-*

Most of the major cities had already been destroyed. Eltarian scientists had been rounded up by enemy forces and taken to prisoner holding camps. Some were executed; others were forced to work a being only known as Dark Specter.

The attack came without warning, and the Eltarian's, who were a peaceful people, found themselves ill-equipped to deal with the invasion once it began. By the time they realized what was happening, over hundreds of Eltarian's were killed, dozens more critically injured. Realizing that there was no way for the Eltarian people to survive the invasion, The Great Sage, considered a GOD among his people, decreed that Eltar itself would have to enlist the services of Power Rangers.

Zordon, the Eltarian assigned to protect Earth and other surrounding planets in it's galaxy, relinquished the Zeo powers to The Great Sage, allowing him to choose five new warriors to defend his home world.

They failed…….

The rangers chosen to defend Eltar fought well, but in the end, Dark Specter destroyed all but one. The last surviving ranger was serious injured, and his body was beyond repair. Instead of allowing him to die, his consciousness was transferred into a biomechanical body; part Eltarian, part machine, and powered by a red ruby. With no real identity of his own, Zordon nicknamed him The Phantom Ranger.

With his newfound power, the last surviving ranger did his best to hold off enemy forces, but ultimately failed as well. Dark Specter had kidnapped the Great Sage, and it seemed as if it was only a matter of time before Eltar bent to his will.

Zordon himself returned to Eltar to assist in the struggle, but even then, all hoped seemed lost.

"Alpha, try to stabilize the power grid. If you don't, the circuits will overload and the command center will explode," Zolara told him as the two of them worked on two separate control panels in the new command center.

At this point, it wasn't much to look at as most of the major systems had been destroyed beyond repair. The entire center had been reduced to backup generators, making it difficult to see.

"Ai yi yi yi yi, I'm trying Zolara, but every time I stabilize a pathway, another collapses," he pointed out.

"Just do your best my friend," she sighed.

It was at that moment that the Phantom Ranger stormed in, having a hard time staying on his feet. He fell to his knees in front of the long, blue tube that encased Zordon.

"Zordon," he mumbled.

"Was your mission a success?" he asked him.

The Phantom ranger opened a small container, revealing five morphers. "The cloaking technology you installed in my chest plate worked perfectly. Dark Specter's minions never even knew I was there," he told him.

"Excellent. With the Zeo morphers in our possession again, perhaps now our planet will have a chance to survive," Zordon said.

"But Zordon, who will you give these new powers to? Andros is still leading the rebellion on KO-35 with the Astro rangers," Alpha pointed out.

"Rest assured old friend, I have someone in mind," he told him.

*-* Earth * October 1997*-*

He'd battled against an entire Machine Empire and won, engaged in battles with space pirates and saved the universe more times than he could count, but now, he was about to face his greatest challenge……..

"Breakfast," Adam grumbled inwardly as he walked into the kitchen, pulling a skillet from under the sink and placed it on the stove. Next, he headed over to the refrigerator, rambling through until he found the eggs. He simply dropped the eggs into the skillet and turned on the stove, and using a spatula, made an attempt to scramble the eggs.

It had only been a few days since Dimitri ordered he and the other rangers to transfer their powers to a new group of rangers. Part of him felt a bit unsettled about the idea of having an entire group of newbies given the responsibility of saving the world, but trusted in Dimitri's decision. 'They still have Justin,' he thought to himself, but found little comfort in the thought of the most experienced ranger on the team being a 12-year-old boy.

None-the-less, Adam found himself trying to adjust to a regular life. He'd made plans to enroll in some college courses, maybe take up some computer classes. And of course, there was Tanya.

The two of them had never been given the chance to fully explore their feelings; they were too busy saving the universe. Now, that part of their lives was over, and he was looking forward to simply being with Tanya.

His thoughts were broken as he looked up only to see Tanya walking into the kitchen wearing a yellow housecoat. Funny, even now, they clung to their former ranger colors. Adam cracked a smile as he realized that he had on a pair of green pajamas.

"Morning sweetie," he said, leaning in to kiss her, but she turned her head, glancing over her shoulder.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked him, pushing him aside and rushing into the kitchen.

"I'm making you breakfast in bed, I thought it would be romantic," he mentioned as Tanya picked up the skillet and tossed it in the sink, running water in it. Next, she rushed over to the toaster, which was smoking, and snatched the cord out the wall.

"Next time babe, leave the cooking to me," she sighed.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"That's okay Adam, it's the thought that counts," Tanya said, walking over to him and wrapping her arms around him.

They moved in to kiss one another, but were interrupted when the phone rang. They both let out a sigh of frustration as they backed away from each other. Adam reluctantly headed over to the phone.

"Hello," he said dryly, never taking his eyes off Tanya as she opened her housecoat, revealing a yellow bra and panties set underneath.

"Hey Adam, sorry to bother you so early in the morning, but can you meet Kat and I at the juice bar this afternoon? About twelve," the voice on the other end of the phone said.

Adam quickly recognized the voice. Even now, Tommy had a silent way of commanding authority, and even though Tommy requested Adam and Tanya's presence, Adam was compelled to comply.

"Yeah, sure Tommy. What's up?" he asked him.

"I don't think we should talk about it over the phone, but we'll go over all the details when we meet you there," he told him.

"You got it,"

"What was that about?" Tanya asked as Adam hung up the phone.

She walked over to him after noticing the confused look on his face, wrapping her arms around him for comfort.

"That was Tommy, he said he wants us to meet him at the juice bar this afternoon. It sounded important," Adam said.

Tanya glanced up at the clock. "Well, there's about 3 hours before noon. That gives us plenty of time to……."  She simply paused, licking her lips slightly.

Adam nodded, grabbing her by the hand and taking her into the bedroom and closing the door behind themselves.

*-*

"They should have been here by now," Tommy sighed, looking down at his watch for the tenth time as he and Kat sat across from one another in the Juice Bay.

It seemed strange to them, being in the Juice Bar again. Nothing had changed; everything was still in time same place, Ernie still worked behind the bar, every now and then Bulk and Skull came in to make fools of themselves, even the blue mat that he and Jason use to work out on was still there. It was them that were different.

"Relax Tommy, they'll be here," she assured him.

There were a lot of memories in that bar; some good, some not so good. Tommy recalled when he and the other rangers came to the Juice Bar shortly after Kimberly's death. At the time, he was convinced that he would never truly be over her death, and even now, he wasn't sure he was. The others had done their best to convince him it would be okay, but when their advice wasn't working, they suggested therapy. It went against his better judgment, but in the best interests of the group, he agreed. 'After all, what kind of leader would I be if I wasn't in control of my own emotions?' he thought to himself. He'd only been in therapy a few weeks, but he was amazed how much progress he'd made. Talking about to it someone truly helped him deal with his emotions.

And of course, there was Kat…….

In the beginning, he thought that, in a way, he would be betraying his feelings for Kim if he exploded the possibility of a relationship with Katherine. However, after only a few short weeks in therapy, he began to realize that even Kim would have wanted him to move on with his life.

He reached across the table, grabbing Kat's hand and holding it gently. She glanced down at his hand, and then smiled slightly.

"You're right, they'll be here," he sighed.

Just then, there were interrupted when Richie walked over to them with a piece of paper in his hand. "Hey guys, do you mind if I sit down?" he asked.

"Actually….." before Kat could respond, Richie pulled up a chair and sat across from them.

"I got a letter from Trini today," he sighed.

"That's great man, how's she doing?" Tommy asked him.

"See for yourself," he said, handing Tommy the paper.

Tommy glanced over it for a few minutes, and then quietly folded the paper, handing it back to Richie. "I'm sorry to hear that man. How are you taking it?" he inquired.

"She dumped me Tommy! I spent all that time writing her letters back and forth at that stupid peace conference and she dumps me a few days before she was scheduled to come home. How would you take it if someone sent you a letter dumping you?" he cried.

Tommy thought back to the letter Kim sent him, telling him they should just be friends. At the time, he hurt him more than he cared to admit, but after time went on, he realized that Kim was right. The distance between them was too much, and after time, they grew apart.

"Hey guys, sorry we're late," Tanya said as she and Adam walked over to the table holding hands with one another.

"Can you excuse us Richie?" Kat asked.

"Yeah, sure," he sighed, taking his letter and walking away.

"What's with him?" Adam inquired as he and Tanya sat down at the table.

"Trini dumped him."

"Really? That's gotta be tough," he said.

"Did the letter say why?" Kat asked.

"Yeah, Trini and Zach and together now," Tommy said.

"What?" they all asked in unison.

Tommy nodded. "The letter said that she and Zach were together now, and she apologized to Richie for leading him on," he said.

"Man, it must suck to get a letter from someone who claimed to love you, only to dump you for another guy," Adam mentioned, then looked over at Kat, who was shaking her head slightly. Adam paused, and then remembered the letter Tommy got from Kim years ago. "Sorry Tommy," he sighed.

"No problem."

"So what's up?" Tanya asked, getting down to business.

The four of them leaned in closer to ensure no one overheard their conversation. "I was contacted by Zordon yesterday," Tommy said.

"What did he say?"

"He told me that the battle on Eltar was getting worse. The rangers who protected the planet were captured and destroyed, all except for one. He said that unless something happens soon, Eltar will fall to Dark Specter," he explained.

"What can we do?"

"Zordon told me that Dimitri asked us to step down not because we were getting too old, but because Zordon wanted experienced rangers on Eltar to help in the rebellion. He wants us," Tommy said.

"What about Earth?" Adam asked.

"TJ and the other rangers should be able to handle Divatox. Zordon mentioned sending the one surviving ranger from Eltar here to help them just in case they needed it," he pointed out. "I can't force any of you to come. I know that giving up your powers gave you the chance to do other things with your lives. If you decide to stay, no one here will hold it against you," he told them.

"I'm in," Adam said bluntly.

"Count me in too," Tanya agreed.

Kat glanced over at Tommy. "Do you really think I'm going to let you go to another planet without me? I'm in too," she said.

Tommy nodded. "I'll contact Zordon and tell him the news. We should all meet on the outside of town just before dusk. A shuttle will come for us," he said.

"Can't we just teleport there? It would be a lot quicker," Tanya mentioned.

"We could, but Dark Specter is monitoring the system too closely. If we tried to teleport to Eltar, he would blow our energy patterns out the sky without a second thought. The shuttle Zordon is sending is equipped with some kind of cloaking technology, it should be enough for us to slip by Dark Specter and make it to Eltar without being seen," he explained.

"So if the four of us are going to be rangers again, who will be the fifth?" Adam asked.

"What do you mean?"

"There are always five rangers. Always," he pointed out.

"I hadn't even thought about it, but I'm sure Zordon has someone in mind," he said.

"You're right," he said.

"We'll all meet at the abandoned steel mill tonight around nine. The sun should be setting, and the mill will give us the perfect cover," Tommy said, extending his hand out.

Kat was the first to oblige him, placing her hand on top of his. Adam followed suit next, and last was Tanya. Each of them nodded, and without another word, went their separate ways.

As they walked out the Juice Bar, Richie stared at them with an evil look in his eyes. "What are those guys up to?" he wondered.