Summary: Tommy and the other's prepare to re-harness control of their inner spirits; meanwhile, Tommy reveals his mission for the Space Rangers and other surprising news.

Author's Note: This chapter is going to be pretty long, so I hope you enjoy it. By the way, I'm going to start adding times so it doesn't get confusing.

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December 1st, 2005 – Noon

Tommy awoke with a start and looked around at his surroundings. He was protected by the thin walls of his room and he looked at the woman who slept beside him. Unlike his dream, he actually enjoyed (and wanted) Kimberly's warmth. He smiled and laid a soft kiss on her cheek before rolling out of bed and shower for the days start.

He was rather surprised when he looked at the clock. It stared back with crimson red digits that spelled out noon. He didn't think it was that late, considering they had all gone to bed about 10 o'clock last night. He shrugged absently and moved to the bathroom to first relieve himself and shower. He wasn't to surprised to hear Kimberly stir in the bed and moan to find him gone. He had been doing that since high school – having her wake up in the morning to find him gone; showering or making an attempt at breakfast.

"Tommy?" He heard her moan from the other room. He smiled in the mirror as he glanced at the shut door.

"I'm in here, Kim. I just thought I'd get the shower ready for us." He grinned and flushed the toilet and quickly turned on the water.

He heard the soft click of the door and glanced over his shoulder to see the rather nude Kimberly yawning and stretching in the door way. Seeing her had brought back the images of last night. They had not had a night to themselves in a while and things got rather heated. He hadn't realized just how much he missed the touch of a woman until last night. Having gone eight years without it, the sudden pleasure drove him to completely insanity.

Tommy gathered Kimberly in his arms and kissed her silky smooth lips gently.

"Good morning, beautiful." He said, feeling her body pressing against his. He resisted the wave of dirty thoughts and gave her no time to reply as he kissed her softly once more.

"Ahm…and good morning to you too, Tiger." Kimberly grinned and rested her head against his hard chest. "Did you enjoy last night, handsome?"

Undeniable now; something was stirring and he realized what direction this was going and fast. "Well, if I didn't, would we have gone on for nearly 2 hours?" He questioned, running his fingers down her spine. She gasped and moaned, shivering in his loving embrace.

"Ah…I see someone liked it…" She whispered, looking up at him seductively.

Tommy groaned, feeling her hand caressing a certain…weak spot and quickly found himself being pushed into the shower. He heard the door slam shut and Kimberly stepped in a second later. He had no time to say or doing anything before she pushed him against the back wall, driving their lips together.

It took no more coaxing from his sweetheart and the passion was on…

XXXXXXX

Ethan James sat in the Oliver Residence's living room, staring blankly at the computer screen. It was noon and the only one's who seemed to be up was himself, Dr. O and possibly coach. He pressed a button on his computer, bringing up the internet, but when he saw the plain, black-white screen of he no longer had any desire to surf the web.

Instead his thoughts drifted back to yesterday. Vertox had paid them a surprise visit with a surprise offer. What had been even more surprising, Dr. O had given into the offer so quickly. He sighed lightly, tapping his cheek absently and glanced up at the wooden walls. Everyone had been half expecting Tommy to suddenly sound the charge for the other rangers and make an attempt to eliminate their foe.

In fact, he could recall the overwhelming rage he'd felt when Vertox first appeared. His desires to morph and attack the hostiles had nearly won out, but his thoughts flickered to Conner and he quickly abandoned that idea. More then once he had glanced at Tommy, trying to get some reading on the doctor's face, but he could make out rage, hate, desire and…fear.

Yes, for the first time in Ethan's life, he'd seen his mentor fear something. Sure, Dr. O had feared many things; monster battles or losing his job, but that was only a secondary fear. It was one that would be overcome by the sudden thrill of battle or good news; exceptional or not. No, this was not a secondary fear – not at all. In fact, it was the complete opposite. This fear was 100, true, absolute fear. The kind of fear that nothing could over come and smash down.

This fear would stick and stick forever.

Even after the confrontation he could see the fear present in his mentor's eyes. Fractionally, he could see the man shake, almost looking at some points as if he was about to break down and cry. Hell, after the incident, he thought everyone had a right. Nine Power Rangers confronted the very basis of all evil and lived to tell about it.

Everyone was simply hugging and kissing one other, just happy to be alive. Even Trent, the most hard-boned one of them all, looked relieved. Yesterday, everyone had looked death in the eyes and some how miraculously escaped death.

Ethan blinked away his dream and sighed, looking down at his computer screen. It had gone black, now displaying the Dino Thunder Logo. He'd been staring at the wall for nearly ten minutes and he could no longer hear the rushing water from upstairs. He pressed the power button on his laptop, sending it into its temporary shut down and stuffed it back into his bag.

He stopped when he saw the a picture of him and the other Dino Rangers sitting framed at the table side. The picture was of them all in suit, helmets off, with Anton and Elsa between them. It had been taken just several days after they had defeated Mesogog. He scanned the picture slowly and stopped at the Red Dino Thunder Ranger.

"Conner…" Ethan thought and looked away from the frame. At that point, everyone was happy. Trent finally had his father Anton back; Conner, at the time, had Krista; Kira had produced an album and himself…well, he had been the same geek since high school. He made money by designing and coding websites for big companies.

He could stop his eyes from drifting to Conner once more. Out of all the battles they fought, no one believed something like this could happen. No one thought that the Ranger Powers would fail them for their time in their lives. The Ranger Powers had failed to protect Conner, and for their own ignorance of the situation, cost Conner his life.

Tears threatened to spill as he forced his eyes from the picture and looked out the window. He suddenly frowned seeing Adam waving back at him. Absently, Ethan waved back and watched as the frog man disappear in the forest.

"Wow, and people think I have issues?" Ethan said allowed, looking away from the window. "Right…"

"That's the frog man for yeah." Tommy said, startling the Blue Ranger. Ethan glanced his way and forced a smile, seeing the two love birds holding each other. "He's a great guy once you get to know him, Ethan."

Ethan looked away and back at the picture again. "Yeah, so was Conner…" he said under his breath.

"What?" Tommy looked at puzzled, wondering what he'd said.

"Nothing…I'm sure he is Dr. O." Ethan answered and stood up. "I'm going to head home…our first day as teachers starts tomorrow."

What surprised Tommy wasn't the obvious moroseness in his tone, but the lack of anxiety. When in High School, Ethan had never been a very good public speaker and seeing him become a teacher was not exactly something he had expected. On that note, he hadn't exactly expected Trent, Kira or the others want to become teachers either. He expected them head off to some superb college and follow their dreams, but indeed, it wasn't the case.

"Is something wrong, Ethan?" Kimberly asked, hugging Tommy's arm. Her words brought him out of the trance.

For a moment Ethan was silent, staring at Coach and his Mentor. Sighing, he turned away and fell back onto the couch.

"Yeah, there is, for the most part." He answered, rubbing his shirt hair. "Dr. O, no offense, but whatever it is you have planned, it better work. With Conner not around, it…we just miss him…"

Kimberly smiled lightly and pulled Ethan into a comfortable hug. The Dino Teen returned it, embracing her a bit tighter. He wanted to cry but just couldn't find the tears to spill. Tommy turned away and stepped outside, deciding to allow them a moment. He looked down at the bush beside his door and sighed.

I'm sorry I failed you, Conner. Tommy thought, belittling himself. He closed his eyes, fighting back against his own tears now. But he heard a sudden rustle sound and he snapped to attention. A frog came bounding out of the bushes and looked up at Tommy with its bulging, wide eyes. Tommy stared back for a moment and then grinned.

"So you're his messenger, huh?" Tommy asked, kneeling down before the frog. "So what it is you want?"

It gave a rather loud ribbet and bound away, disappearing into the forest. Kimberly stepped out, watching as the frog disappeared into the darkness. She looked down at Tommy and raised a brow.

"Frog man commeth?" Kim asked, startling Tommy nearly to death.

"More like frog man goeth." He corrected, glancing over his shoulder. "I think he wants us to follow it."

"We better." She said, folding her arms. "With Adam, you can never tell if he's in a serious mood or if he's in a playful mood."

Tommy grinned, mimicking her stance. "Probably the reason he can't get a date." She took a swing at him, but grabbed her wrist and pulled her close. "He's so seriously all the time. I remember when I actually tried being serious one a date once with you. My god did that backfire."

"Tommy dear, I'm a woman and women like to be playful on dates." Kim reminded, tapping his forehead. "Maybe if I was Kat or Trini, God bless her, then it might have worked." She turned away from him and grinned. "I'm the playfully romantic type while they are seriously romantic kind."

"Playfully romantic? Oh yeah…" Tommy flicked his brows. "In more ways then one."

"Thomas Anthony Oliver!" Kimberly huffed, glaring at him. "Excuse me?"

Tommy waved it off. "Nothing, nothing. Look, look! Frog Man commeth again!" He pointed to the forest, jabbing his finger at it. Kimberly whirled around looking but frowned when she saw nothing. Turning to protest, she gasped finding him gone. "Catch me if you can!"

She felt a slap on her ass and jumped forward. She heard the foot steps take off into the forest and she scowled.

"Ohh…that man makes me so angry some times!" Kim hissed and gave chase.

XXXXXX

Tommy raced through the forest and uncloaked himself. He dodged under some brush and raced through, smiling broadly. Even with a Ranger death looming over head, now was a time to let go and have fun. Death was something you need morn and comfort those who need it, but also realize the better of life around you.

Tommy stopped as he appeared into a barren landscape. He scanned the landscape with wide, curious eyes and suddenly gasped. He whirled around to find the forest gone, and instead a hundred miles of nothing but sand and death. He continued to scan the land, his heart sinking with each fleeting moment. One minute he was standing in a lush forest and next he was standing in the middle of no where.

His blood curled as he heard an ear-splitting scream. He twisted, facing the direction of the scream and swallowed hard. He clenched his fists instinctively to fight away the fear and took a step back. He heard the scream again, only this time it seemed much clearer, louder and…familiar.

It clicked. His eyes went wide with horror as he dashed forward. Fear raced through his veins and down his pine. He pushed every muscle in his body to move faster and faster, but something in his mind told him he wouldn't make it.

Something convinced him that he wouldn't make it.

He could see the smoke pillowing in the distance and his heart shattered. He was already too late to do anything. He heard several more cries of pain and another explosion shook the ground. But none of this bothered Tommy; no, he just pushed himself as hard as he could.

"Look at your friend! Give up now, Oliver, and I'll spare your life..." The familiar voice hissed, seething with unseen anger. "If you continue to resist me, then you will die."

Tommy stood on the cliff edge, looking down at the raging battle. Conner lay in a pool of his own blood; Kimberly knelt before him with tears in her eyes. She had tried to give him mouth-to-mouth but he wasn't responding. His eyes danced to Vertox and Merios, then himself. Kira was unconscious, oblivious to Conner's state; Trent and Ethan had yet to arrive, though he knew it would only be a moment more.

Why was he seeing this memory? What was the purpose? He had attacked Vertox foolishly and was nearly killed in a single blow for his efforts. Vertox was ready to deliver the final blow when he'd been caught off guard by a white streak. There was some talking between himself and Trey, and then he handed over the Gold Zeo Morpher.

Tommy looked at the sand, frowning deeply. Tommy had tried to convince Trey to keep his morpher and stay to fight, but Trey disagreed. He felt that if he handed over the Golden Morpher now and turned himself into Vertox, the Dino Rangers would be spared. He was right, they were, and Vertox took Trey to his ship for who knows what kind of heinous torture.

But…why was he reliving this dream? Who was making him relive this dream? He moved forward towards Vertox when suddenly it was all shattered. The vision vanished before his eyes by darkness. He whirled around and instinctively fell into stance. Or was it out of fear? No, it was both: instinct due his training and fear…because of the unknown.

"It's good to see you again, my son." A sudden voice said.

Tommy twisted, ready to strike…

…and caught a lump his throat. His eyes widen in sheer horror, shock, and…fear. The grey costumed being continued to walk from the light, a gentle, calming smile on its face. Tommy eased his stance, his eyes hurting from the bright light. At this point, he could care less. Yes, right now, nothing at all mattered.

"…a-and…its good to see you too…f-" Tommy stopped and smiled, the tears threatening to spill. "Zordon…"

XXXXX

hears crowd gasp WOOT! He's back XD Sort of. sees the hostile faces as they pick up their chairs What? What'd I do? looks behind and sees the screen flashing CLIFFHANGER'D Oh…

Turn of events huh? So what'll happen next? Keep reading and reviewing! I appreciate all your comments!