"You had him alone and you didn't kill him!" yelled Mesogog into her face.
"But my lord, this red ranger, a friend of Dr. Oliver's, showed up out of nowhere. If it hadn't been for him-"
"Enough with the excuses." He grabbed her by the neck and threw her across the room. Elsa hit the wall hard and dropped to the ground. "Next time you fail me will be your last," he snapped.
Once Mesogog was gone, Janixsaur stepped out of the shadows and went over to Elsa. He helped her to her feet. "You see what I mean. He will kill you no matter what. We must put an end to him. Are you with me?" he asked.
Elsa just glared at him. She knew that Mesogog was very powerful and that it would take someone more powerful than Janixsaur to put a stop to him. Unless there was more to him then he had been letting on. "What do you have in mind?"
He laughed. "It's time to put my plans and creation into place. I have the perfect weapon to deal with the rangers, while we kill Mesogog once and for all." Janixsaur grinned evilly. He had been waiting for the day to use his creation, his weapon, the one thing that would kill the rangers.
"And what are you going to do about Zeltrax?" asked Elsa.
"Let him be for now. Who knows," he eyed her carefully, "perhaps he will be able to kill Dr. Oliver." He then smirked, as he walked past her.
Elsa eyed him darkly. She knew she had failed at her attempt in killing Dr. Oliver. And now that he knew the truth she would not be able to return back to the high school.
It was nearly ten at night by the time Tommy returned to his home, taking Jason and Schuyler with him. While Jason was putting his son to bed in the guest room, Tommy got a hold of the others, to let them know he was alright.
Jason walked into the kitchen just as Tommy hung up the phone. "Everything okay?" asked Jason.
"Yeah. They just wanted to make sure I was alright," responded Tommy.
Jason nodded his head. It had been a good two years since he had last seen Tommy. Back then he really didn't see it, but Tommy looked tired, overwhelmed, and after talking to Kim and seeing it for himself he knew it was all true. "Yeah," he responded silently feeling an awkward silence between them.
"So you have a son," announced Tommy, wanting the silence to end. He wasn't sure how much Kimberly had told him about what had happened in the past six years, but one thing he hated was to be in a room with an old friend and have there be an uncomfortable silence between them.
"Yeah," replied Jason dryly. By the sound of his voice, it was hard to tell how Jason seemed to feel about it. Which seemed strange to Tommy, Jason had always been great with kids.
"You don't sound too excited about it. Isn't he like four or five?" asked Tommy, figuring that amount of time would get someone used to that sort of thing.
Jason sighed. "It's not that." Jason bit his lip. He felt ashamed of himself to even think it. "It's complicated."
Tommy eyed Jason hard. There was something hidden in Jason's voice, something he hadn't told him. "How do you mean? You and Emily slept-"
"He's not Emily's." And that's all it took. Three little words 'It's not Emily's'. Jason bowed his head down, sighing. Slowly he looked back up at Tommy. "You remember about five years back. Emily and I were going through some problems…"
Tommy then knew where this was heading.
"Anyways. I was at this bar, met this girl, we talked, danced, then I went back to her hotel and we…." To this day Jason hated himself for it, but what was done was done. "Next morning I woke up and she was gone. A few weeks later, I met up with Emily. We talked and worked things out between us. I never saw the girl again." Jason took a moment to gather his words and perhaps to even try to read what Tommy might be thinking. "About a mouth ago, I got this call. Sky's mother died of cancer; somehow before she died she tracked me down, and that's how I found out about him. I'm all he has. His mother had no living relatives."
Tommy smiled faintly. Now he was seeing where Jason was coming from. It was a complicated situation; that kind of stuff happens, but you never think it will happen to you or to someone you know. "I'm sorry. But I am proud that you're doing the right thing, taking him in, raising him. It's a big step."
"Thanks for understanding."
"How's Emily taking the news?" asked Tommy, knowing that this had to be really hard on her.
It hadn't been easy to tell her. "It's not easy, but she's adjusting. It did help that I told her a long time ago about sleeping with Sky's mother, but finding out about Sky was hard on both of us." Jason sighed. "We're all still getting used to it. Besides my parents and Emily's parents, you're the only other person I've told. Once things all get settled we'll start telling the others."
"I understand." Tommy then gripped Jason's shoulder. "If you ever need anything let me know."
"Thanks. That goes for you too. Kim called me and told me what was going on. I'm so sorry, man."
He knew he should be upset or even angry with Kim for telling Jason, but he couldn't blame her. She was worried about him and she was just doing what she felt was right. "Yeah. But I'm doing okay. Well, I think I'm going to head in. Night." Tommy headed off towards his bedroom.
"Night," responded Jason, as he stood there and watched Tommy disappear down the dark hall. He then began to see the Tommy that Kim had spoken off. He wasn't sure what he could do or say, but before he and his son headed out he would do whatever he could to get through to Tommy.
Tommy tossed and turned in his sleep, as he had done during so many nights for the past four years. Sweat covered his body, and his sheets and blankets were all tangled, lying all over the bed. "No," he cried out softly.
There were explosions going off all over the place. The lab was on fire, burning everything in sight. Tommy tried as hard as he could, with all his might, to defeat the Tyrannodrones, but there were too many. He couldn't get to them in time. He watched with horrified eyes as the monsters he had helped create killed fellow scientists, some of them friends. He watched as their bloody bodies dropped to the ground, not moving. Across the room he saw his partner and good friend Anton Mercer in the same predicament, fighting off the creatures that were supposed to be an advancement in science but instead became a living nightmare.
Tommy struggled to get to him, to help him, but the Tyrannodrones held him back, tossing him to the floor. Dazed and beaten, Tommy looked over to Anton, and for a second he noticed something different about him, in his eyes. What could it be? The light maybe? But he had no time to figure it out.
He heard Mercer yell out to him. "Run! Get out of here, get the gem to safety!" Tommy hesitated for a moment. He just couldn't leave Mercer to die here alone. "GO NOW!" Mercer yelled even louder.
Painfully Tommy jumped to his feet and dashed out the door, grabbing the dino gems off the counter, but not before taking one last look at Mercer. He watched as the Tyrannodrones beat and battered him to the ground. "I'm sorry..."
Outside, the place was crawling with Tyrannodrones, no matter where he turned there was a group in every direction. He paused and hesitated, wondering which would be the best way to go. BOOM, Tommy turned around and watched as the lab he helped create fell to pieces, smoke and fire surrounding where the once proud building stood. He felt his heart racing as he saw a dark shadow appear from the smoke. It was hideous and monstrous. "Mesogog!"
"Kill him, he must not be allowed to escape!" yelled Mesogog.
He had to get out of there. Making a quick decision he took off, running straight forwards into the woods, with the army of Tyrannodrones following quickly behind him. Halfway through he ran into some. He was cornered. He had no choice but to take them on. He quickly opened the box and put the gem in his pocket.
He ran straight forward, side-kicking the Tyrannodrone in the chest, throwing him back. "Who's next?" Tommy turned to his left and blocked an oncoming punch, but did not notice as one snuck up behind him, grabbed him by the shoulder and tossed him to the ground hard. "I have to get out of here!" He quickly jumped to his feet and took off running, as fast as his feet would carry him. He knew they were gaining on him.
Everything came to a stop, he couldn't run any further. He was at the very edge of the mountaintop. He looked down. It was a long way down. He watched as the waves hit the mountain rocks. "Good going, Tommy." He turned around and saw the Tyrannodrones not too far away. He couldn't run forward, so the only thing he could do... "It's time to put those diving lessons into good use." He jumped off the ledge, diving into the water. He just barely missed hitting the rocks and ending his life for good.
He watched from down below as another explosion hit. He sighed heavily, watching everything he had worked for, for the last two years, being destroyed.
Tommy woke up in a jolt, his heart racing. He sat up and looked around. He was in his bedroom. "Just a dream..." It was morning out. The sun shone through his bedroom window, as he got out of his bed. He woke up as he could smell bacon and eggs cooking in his kitchen.
He walked into the kitchen to find Jason showing Schuyler how to cook. Tommy had to grin at the sight of Jason teaching a five year old how to cook, while keeping a close watch on him to make sure he didn't burn his hands. It was a wonderful sight, to see a father and son spending time together. Tommy sighed; for a moment he was in his late twenties. He had graduated high school a little more than six years ago. Most of his friends were married or engaged. Rocky was married with a couple of kids. Everyone seemed to be starting a family. Everyone but him. It wasn't that he didn't want a family, get married, have a couple kids, but nowadays that all seemed lost to him.
"Oh, you're up. Hope you don't mind us cooking," said Jason, turning around to see Tommy.
"No. It's not everyday that I have someone cooking for me for a change," replied Tommy as he took a seat, as Jason walked around and handed him a plate.
Jason then set two more plates down on the counter table. Jason picked his son up and lifted him up into one of the chairs. "You a power ranger too?" asked Schuyler as he took a bite of his eggs.
Tommy looked over to Jason, slightly confused. "It kind of slipped out, but he promises never to tell anyone. Right?" Jason looked to his son.
"Right!" Schuyler turned to Tommy again. "Someday I'm going to be a power ranger!"
Tommy grinned. "Really? What color ranger do you want to be?" asked Tommy. He figured there couldn't be any harm in Jason telling Schuyler about being a ranger. Not to mention the fact he had told Hayley everything about being a ranger.
"I don't care, as long as I get to be one, the color doesn't matter!" he said, getting all excited.
Jason and Tommy had to laugh. The three continued to talk and eat their meal.
A couple of hours later Jason and his son were getting ready to hit the road. Jason would have liked to stay longer, but he knew he couldn't; he had a job to get back to and Emily was expecting them to be home tonight.
"Sorry we couldn't stay longer, but I have things to do."
"Hey, I understand. And considering what's been going on around here, it's probably a good idea to get Schuyler back home where it's safe," replied Tommy. "Thanks for everything though, coming to my rescue."
"It wasn't anything that you haven't done already for me." The two hugged goodbye. "If you ever need to talk, you know how to reach me."
"Thanks." Tommy smiled. For right now, he wasn't quite ready to talk to Jason about all that had happened. It was hard enough talking to Kim about it, but with her things were different.
Tommy then got down on his knees to say goodbye to Schuyler. "It was nice to meet you, Schuyler. You watch out for your dad for me, keep him out of trouble."
"I will. It was good to meet you, too." The two hugged. Before Tommy got up to his feet he patted the young boy on the head.
Jason and Schuyler started to head for their car when: "Hey Jase!" Jason turned around. "When's the wedding. I'd really like to come."
Jason smiled. "In a couple of months, I'll call you." He waved goodbye.
Tommy waved goodbye, and watched as Jason drove out of his driveway, headed for home. "Take care."