'TIL I COLLAPSE - PART THIRTY: LOST TIME
SEQUEL TO: ORDINARY WORLD
SUMMARY: Destruction in the past. Could this be the end of the Power Rangers legacy all together, or do they have a chance to stop it before it gets worse?
DISCLAIMER: Power Rangers is not mine. You know that drill.
A/N: Just read on. Read on until you find a way to understand what I got to say. I hope you like this now. Give me a break about my next line of posts. I've become quite the busy bee. It could be awhile. But see you when I do.
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"We cannot give up. No matter where we are. And we made it back in one piece. But now, what? How much has changed since we have returned? And what more do we need to gear up for from this evil guy? We gotta be open and be prepared for everything and anything coming our way." -Eclyptyk Neo
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Dinshade had saw his opportunity to destroy the pink crane ranger before the eyes of her fellow teammates, and successors. He had moved quickly against her as the other weakened rangers tried to get to her, but couldn't. They were far too weak to do anything except call out her name.
She had looked up to see the danger, but could only back-pedal away in fear. Just as Dinoshade had his chance, raising his hand to land the final blow, two lights came between the two.
As the light cleared, two new rangers had joined the battle. It was the white falcon ranger and black DT ranger, suited up and ready 90 for action. The strength, confidence and power ran through their bodies. And it was clear if he had decide to go anywhere near the pink ranger or the other rangers, he would have to deal with them first.
"Don't even think about it, Dinoshade," the black DT ranger stated coolly as he pulled out his brachio staff.
"If it isn't the leader of the entire pack, the black DinoThunder ranger." Dinoshade greeted. "I must say, I am surprised to see you standing here. I would have thought that last battle finished you."
"We're all full of surprises, now aren't we?" the black DT ranger replied. "But, why don't you step down before I decide to hurt you more than I would like to?"
"That doesn't scare me. Look around you, black ranger. You're team is weak and pathetic. You stand no chance against me," the robotic dinosaur said.
The black DT ranger peered over his shoulder to see the weaken line of rangers behind him. They slowly tried to peel themselves off the ground, but found no strength left in their bodies to sit up. He gestured simply for them to stay down as he walked over to the robotic dinosaur. He looked over the robotic shoulder to see the almost motionless dino menace. Mesogog could only stare at him, but had no intention in moving.
The robotic dinosaur pulled out his hand, and planted it firmly on the neck of the black DT ranger. "I have been waiting for this day."
"I'm sure you have, but you're forgetting something," the black DT ranger said calmly.
"What's that?"
"A certain white falcon ninja ranger by the name of Tommy Oliver."
The robotic dinosaur turned around to see a crescent kick fly his way as he took the attack head on. He hit the ground just as the black DT ranger moved against him. And though with the limited power the two rangers had, they kept the robo-menace at bay. At times, Mesogog would attack, but none seemed as strong or deadly as it came from Dinoshade.
The weakened rangers looked from the battle to one another, trying to figure out what to do. But they had already taken enough damage to continue on, even if they tried. And it felt like it was one battle they could not win.
"I thought they were too weak to battle," Rocky, the red ninja ranger protested as he tried to sit up.
"And when did it get this hard to beat the bad guys?" Adam, the black ninja looked over at his successors.
"Now, you know what we go through," Ethan replied as he shook his head.
"Aren't we all full of surprises? I mean, we just found out that our leader has his own team to mentor years down the line," Billy spoke as he looked at the two rangers battle the dino-robot.
But that didn't seem to stop the legendary ranger or his younger self from stopping the battle. They were beyond any need to worry about the limited power they had at the moment. The black DT ranger tried to claw at the device hanging around Dinoshade's neck, but could not get to it. Dinoshade had it well guarded against any of his attacks.
The white falcon ranger was slowly showing signs of fatigue, but he held on. He worked around his older self, matching his own wits against their enemy.
The weakened DT teens looked at each other again as they noticed the fatigue fall over the two fighting rangers. They weren't gonna last, and though they were left with only so much energy to move on, they knew they had to help out.
Conner was the first to his feet. Trent followed suit as he helped Ethan to his feet, and finally Kira. For a moment, the colored array of rangers caught their breaths setting up for the next set of attacks.
The black DT ranger swung with might under his brachio staff, but found no real weak spot on the dino-robot. The white falcon ranger used what ninja skills he could muster to keep Dinoshade as far back from his team as possible. At times, they made a hit, but it wasn't enough to really slow Dinoshade down. He was tough, and he seemed to get stronger with every blow, absorbing the impact like it was nothing.
For awhile, the white falcon ranger and black DT ranger had to re-group and figure out another strategy. And that's what slowed them down. The energy and protection was starting to leave them and they could feel it. The white falcon ranger winced under the punishment his body had already taken. The black DT ranger was also trying to keep his legs stablized on the ground. They were shaking and nearly out of support to keep him up, the drain of poewr taking an immediate toll on him.
Dinoshade bellowed out in laughter. "What? Tired already, Oliver? I'll have you know your wife is safe... for the time being. But if you ever make it back, she may not be who you once thought she was."
The black DT ranger let out a stifled growl under gritted teeth. A new fury and rage ran through his body as he heard Dinoshade laugh again. The next few actions seemed to slow down. Just as the DT teens were about ready to join the battle, they fell short as they felt a strong aura of energy rub off their mentor. They weren't quite sure what was going on, but it seemed to energize the white falcon ranger, too. The black DT ranger let out a warrior cry that sent a blinding light over the two rangers.
It forced the fallen rangers to shield their eyes as energy from each ranger seemed to feed into the two rangers. And when it cleared, the two rangers seemed to be energized beyond words once again. Their suits glowed to life, and the outline of the powers honed by the legendary ranger guided them into battle. The green dragon powers, the white tiger, the spirit of the falcon, the red zeo 5 powers, the power of the pink dino gem, the meterorite, and a little rage built up within the soul of the legendary ranger.
The black DT ranger and white falcon ranger fell into another defensive stance beckoning Dinoshade to come forth.
"Nobody messes with my wife," the black DT ranger spoke in a low voice.
"Or my team and gets away with it," the white falcon ranger urged the robo-dino their way again.
"You don't stand a chance," Dinoshade challenged as he took a step forward.
The two rangers didn't flinch as the dino-robot moved toward them. Another battle raged on, but the two rangers had the advantage this time. And they weren't taking no for an answer. They were on fire and they didn't seem to care what damage they were doing. They were trapped in the moment of the battle, laying out several attacks that could very well destroy a human in one blow but slow down the dino-menace. And that's ally they could hope for in this battle.
The DT teens exchanged a look before racing into battle, but fell short when Mesogog came between them.
"Don't even think about it," Mesogog hissed.
"Dad, please," Trent shook his head in protest as he held out a hand. "Let us help you. You don't want to do this."
"I have my orders, son. I have to destroy you," the dino menace replied as he took a step toward the DT team.
"No. You could be fighting with us. Put an end to Dinoshade, Mindshatter and bring some order to this planet's safety," Ethan corrected him as the dino menace growled at him. "Or not. But it is a thought. You want to work for a scrap heap made of metal? Sorta bad..."
Kira smacked the blue DT ranger's helmet shaking her head. "Stop." She looked back at the dino menace. "I know you have to be in there, Dr. Mercer."
"Anton is no more. Only I remain," Mesogog hissed.
"That's not true. We're not giving up on you," Conner stated.
"Then be prepared to be destroyed," Mesogog said as he moved against the teens.
"Dad, please," Trent pleaded as his voice croaked. "Don't do this. We can help you."
But he didn't hear the white drago ranger. And they were caught up in a battle against the dino menace. The attacks still seemed slightly weak and slow, but still inflicted some damage to the rangers. Yet, he was still holding back and they could tell when their attacks just weren't as strong as they could lay on him. Mesogog was the same way, as if fighting to keep himself from doing serious damage to the teens.
The rest of the ninja rangers had managed to muster up some energy to re-group beside a line of bushes. They were far too weak to continue on in any battle, and forced to rest and catch their breath.
"Um, anyone notice the change in weather?" Billy looked up in confusion.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Kim said quietly.
But then lightning struck from up above nearly taking them off guard and surprise. They rolled away to avoid the attack and when a bigger one dropped and cleared, a figure emerged from where it struck. The cybernetic robot pulled free his staff and raced toward the ninja rangers. And though weaken, they sprung into action with what energy they had left.
"Great, that's all we need," Conner huffed as he locked Mesogog in a hold. He had seen the scene unfold before him with the lightning bolt, only to find Zeltrax had joined the battle.
Trent and Kira joined Conner as they tried to force Mesogog into the ground. They tried to reason with the dino menace, but he didn't seem to hear them at all. Ethan side-swiped the dino menace to throw him off-balance. Mesogog hit the ground as he growled in frustration.
Meanwhile, Dinoshade was slowly faltering behind the new energy and rage within the skilled rangers of the two teams. He wasn't gonna go down that easily though. He refused to give up the fight, let alone hand over the device the black DT ranger was desperately trying to grab. He felt more power and rage from the black DT ranger, but the white falcon ranger wasn't too far behind. It was clear that both of them could not stand to see their team go down to anyone.
The ninja rangers had to time their attacks right, or they could be in for some serious damage than they really liked. Zeltrax was one guy they had no real preference about except that he had a huge hate trained for their leader—or more of his older self. Zeltrax had been weakened from the last battle, that was no surprise. But he still had power that drove them crazy.
And with some control of lightning, Zeltrax raised his hands to the sky and let out a darkness that swept the land. The area changed from day into night in a matter of moments. He let out an insult toward the shaken and weak ninjas and pushed his hands to the sky again. A wave of lightning struck the ground making it shake. It threw all the rangers off-balance and finally caught the eye of the other two evil beings.
Dinoshade growled as he kicked the white falcon ranger aside and strode over to the cyborg. "So, you are the one causing all these problems, Zeltrax?"
"Out of my way, you tin canned ancient reptile," Zeltrax hissed as he pushed him aside. "You would be nothing without me." He moved toward the fallen white falcon ranger and black DT ranger, both showing signs of fatigue and exhaustion. "If it isn't my favorite power rangers."
"And my favorite cyborg," the black DT ranger greeted sarcastically as he let out a painful breath. "So, Zeltrax, you had to return yet again for another bad beating?"
Zeltrax growled as he pulled the black DT ranger to his feet.
"I am tired of your jokes, Oliver. This ends now."
Zeltrax looked up into the sky as a spark of electricity came from his visor. A light began to formulate, drawing energy from around it above them.
For a moment, time slowed and confusion rushed onto the faces of the rangers. Zeltrax raised his free hand to the sky as the energy grew and began to form a point. And as he was about to launch it down, he fell to his knees groaning in pain. He was stopped short of his tracks as he began to grab his head. The energy bolt disappeared quickly. The black DT ranger tracked it back to the source of the pain as he caught his breath, it lead to Mesogog.
The DT teens had stopped short yet again, looking at the dino menace in confusion. Had they seen it right? Did Mesogog just help out their mentor? Yeah, he did. And he was continuing to. Without any real hesitation.
"Traitor," Dinoshade hissed as he charged at the dino menace.
A line of laser fire sent the dino-robot back as the ninja rangers held their ground, firing their pistols at him. The DT teens joined them quickly with their own line of fire. The black DT ranger helped his younger self to his feet.
"Shall we finish this?" the black DT ranger offered.
"And sent you guys back to the future? Works for me," the white falcon ranger nodded. "This protection isn't gonna last forever." He fell into a fighter stance.
The black DT ranger followed suit as they launched themselves into battles throwing kicks and punches into Dinoshade. He growled under the impact and pain as the rest of the rangers helped to keep him at bay.
Meanwhile, still locked in the mind control of Mesogog, Zeltrax struggled to keep it back. He was nowhere near the power of his former master, and it was clear that Mesogog wouldn't take anymore chances from him.
"You should have died when I drained your powers before, Zeltrax," Mesogog hissed as he walked up to the cyborg. "Don't think this time I will let you go. I gave you life, but I can also end it."
Zeltrax growled in pain as he grabbed his head. It spun like there was no tomorrow. He just couldn't think straight anymore. His thoughts were being jumbled, scrambled and erased right before him. The mental strain was far too much for him. "I will have my revenge, Mesogog."
"Revenge is all you ever mentioned and it got you nowhere. It destroyed you because it owned you, Zeltrax," Mesogog announced. "Say good-bye Zeltrax for good!"
With the heightened strength of mind power, the life force from Zeltrax was leaving him. He grew weaker as he slowly tried to drag himself toward Mesogog. But as he did, the pain only got worse. The cyborg began to glow and when Mesogog had pulled up his hand he had pulled out a small device taking the rest of his powers away. The cyborg laid there motionless for only a moment longer and a light covered the area, the darkness clearing away as the cyborg disappeared into thin air. It was like he never existed. Mesogog hissed in satisfaction as he flexed his muscles to feel a new wave of energy roll over him.
The DT team had now moved against the dino-robot and he was finally losing more than he could bargin for. The attacks got more stronger and powerful as they made contact with the robot.
"I will not be defeated," Dinoshade growled.
"And neither will we," Conner announced as he launched another kick into him.
That's all they needed as it finally locked with the device, sending it flying into the air. For a moment, all eyes fell on the device as they scrambled to get ahold of it. It jumped several hands until it fell into the grasp of the dino menace.
Everyone stopped short unsure what to do. Or what the dino menace had intented to do with it. With all that was going on, it was hard to grasp what would happen next. The ninja rangers had fallen back to catch their breaths again. They had hoped it wouldn't get worse, but it was really too hard to tell.
Mesogog looked at the device in his hand and threw it to the ground. The device smashed into pieces as a tear in the very existence of time appeared. The power of the tear acted like a vacuum sucking what it could in its path. Dinoshade tried to claw the ground, find his footing, but was the first to disappear through it.
The rangers looked at each other in confusion as the ninja rangers stepped back, pulling their weaken leader with them safely away from the suction. Yet, the fight had taken a lot out of the two skilled rangers, causing both of them to de-morph. Sweat ran down both of their faces, but the black DT ranger seemed to hold his ground much better than his younger self.
The blue DT ranger raced over to his weaken mentor, patting him on his shoulder. "Is that our ticket home?" Ethan nearly had to yell just to be heard over the vacuum-suction power of the tear in time.
The DT rangers looked at each other as they looked into the tear to see the familar downtown area of Reefside, CA. The area where their last battle was before they were sent back in time. Each of them looked at the pale face of their mentor as he nodded.
"It won't hold much longer," Dr. Oliver noticed as the tear became smaller. He shoved his teammates into the suction. "Brace yourselves upon re-entry. I'll meet you on the other side."
"Are you sure, Dr. O? It doesn't look safe?" Conner breathed as he felt the pull on him as he struggled to stay clear.
The familar chime from their morphers went off as Trent pulled it up for them to hear. But the message seemed distorted and full of static. But no one could blame them for the tear was disrupting it.
"We've...can, guys. Nothing...working. ...tear ...only hope ...back here...," Cam stated from the comm.
Trent tapped the communicator, but all that came out now was static. Each of them tired their own morphers, but got no better reception. They looked at their mentor who could only push them closer to the tear.
"Go! This may be our only chance," Kira shoved her teammates forward before their teacher could say anymore.
And one by one the DT teens had disappeared into the field and into the abyss of swirling lights and sparks back to their own time period.
The black DT ranger looked over at the dino menace who couldn't say much of anything. He seemed frozen in his tracks, but once he sensed the stare on him he had moved quickly away and disappeared through the tear leaving the line of ninja rangers behind with the black DT rangers. He had turned to face them as each held up a hand in good-bye.
"I'll see you guys in the future," Dr. Oliver announced.
"You all right?" the young white falon ranger asked as he flet some strength come back to him as he stood up straighter.
Dr. Oliver winked back. "I'll be fine. I got you to thank for the strong-will. You're a tough character, you should be proud of what you're capable of doing."
"Hey, Tommy," the young Rocky exclaimed. "You just let us know how much you changed the future now that this has happened,"
"I'm not so sure I really want to. But you'll find out. See ya later, Rocko," the black DT ranger replied.
"You got quite a great team before you, Tommy," Billy commented, a smile seemed the show beyond his concealed face in the helmet.
"I have you guys to thank for that. May the powers always protect you," the legendary ranger stated with a nod. "Oh, and Tommy, take care of Kimberly. You'll regret it in the future if you don't."
"But what does happen to you guys in the future?" Aisha asked.
"Do we see the wedding bells?"
"You'll see more than you bargained for. Tell Alpha and Zordon thanks for all they did and they're never forgotten, no matter the sacrifice."
And with time no longer on his side, the black DT ranger turned away from the predecessing team, a team he lead years ago, and headed for the hole. Before he fully departed, he turned to look at them again and saluted. And the suction had pulled him out of the scene and the tear closed behind him.
And life in Angel Grove of 1996 went back to normal. Or as normal as it could get for the power rangers.
For awhile, now all in their civilian forms, the ninja team had looked up into the sky pondering and wondering how exactly their futures were being laid out.
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Reefside, present day.Conner and the others weren't quite sure what hit them or how they could have caught themselves, but they tumbled out of that tear landing on top of each other much harder than expected.
Due to the travel through the hole, it had caused them the protection of their suits as they landed in the plaza in their civilian clothes.
Each groaning, they all quickly moved away from another to catch their breath.
"Why must re-entries be so nasty?" Ethan sighed as he rubbed his back of the pain sitting up.
"You're telling me. That was one crazy trip. I guess I was sorta glad I was asleep when this happened the first time," Conner nodded as he finally found the strength to stand up.
Trent pulled himself to his feet as he helped the yellow ranger to her feet. Each had gushed slightly over the relief that things were back to normal and they were back in Reefside.
It was quiet, though. Not quite normal for something that just happened to be a big battle out of Angel Grove in 1996.
"Rangers," a voice growled from behind them as the teens turned around to see a shaken Dinoshade stomp their way.
"Don't you ever quit?" Kira growled under her breath.
"If I couldn't destroy you in the past, then I might as well destroy you now," Dinoshade growled.
The teens were still weak from the battle and needed some time to rest. But as Dinoshade was inching closer, it was cear he wasn't gonna stop. The teens took a few steps back, in fear but still held their ground.
But then a figure came between the dino-robot and the teenage rangers. It was Mesogog and a new hint of fury and energy ran over his body as he fell into a fighter stance.
"You traitor!" Dinoshade hissed.
"We're all full of surprises, aren't we, Dinoshade?" Mesogog replied. But his voice sounded more like Anton than it did the dino menace standing between the two sides. "You're fighting for the wrong team, I hope you realize that."
Dinoshade launched himself forward as Mesogog followed suit. And the two dinosaurs went into battle. Each throwing in their own share of attacks.
The teens stopped short, pulling their friend in white back from the battle. He was the most fired up about the situation as well as confused. They questioned each other still trying to get over the fact that it sounded like Anton talking rather than Mesogog, or moreso one in the same. Both he and Mesogog as one.
Mesogog growled as he pushed Dinoshade back. He looked back at the shaken and confused teens. "Go! Go, now!"
"No, we won't leave you! Dad, please," Trent pleaded.
"Go, now. I can only hold him off for so long. Trent, you must not wory about me!" the voice, combined of Mesogog and Anton demanded.
"No, you cannot protect them forever, Anton," Dinoshade hissed.
The two dinosaurs continued to battle one another, but Mesogog was slowly starting to show signs of fatigue. They weren't quite sure from what or why, but they were growing worried. But in the wake of the battle, Dinoshade had finally gotten the upper hand as he locked Mesogog in his grip dragging him closer to the shadows.
The teens raced forward, but came to a halt when Dinoshade held out an armored arm ready to fire a deadly blow their way. He barked out an insult as the two figures melted into the shaodws and the plaza was left in silence.
Trent pulled free from his friends as he raced into the shadows, only to find that they truely were gone. He held his breath for a moment, trying to control his anger and rage. He was so close. He could have gotten his dad out of there, back to the safety of the lab, but just wasn't fast enough.
Kira walked over to him putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder, pulling him back into reality. She whispered some comforting words into his ear before laying a kiss on his cheek.
It had only occurred to the team when they were in silence that something was not right. Conner and Ethan slit up scanning the plaza.
"Um...where's Dr. Oliver?" Conner breathed as he ran his hands through his hair. He shook his head. "He still can't be back in 1996."
"The guy is all about sacrifice, but there is just no way," Ethan had to agree.
Trent and Kira had gone into serious mode as they helped to search the plaza. He may have been hiding or getting overthe trip of traveling between time back to their own reality. Conner was about to call out the technical directors for help when a bright light filled the area. They shielded their eyes as it cleared and a figure emerged from it.
But as it showed, the man was shaken and weak. Upon re-entry he just fell to the ground like a dummy.
"Dr. Oliver!" the teens cried as they raced over to his side.
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Everything around Tommy Oliver seemed to grow heavy and dark. He could feel the presence of others around him, but he just couldn't seem to open his eyes. He felt like he was in a void where there just didn't seem to be no return.
But somehow, he felt the presence of the two most important people in his life, which gave him some strength and energy to move. He felt pain run over his entire body, but that didn't seem to matter.
He just wasn't sure if he had been dreaming the entire time or if it was a reality, but there was only one way to find out. He winced quietly as he finally flexed his arm.
"I think he's finally coming to," the familiar voice of Adam rang in his head. "Hey, Tommy, you there?"
Tommy winced again as he slowly opened his eyes. The images of faces all around him was blurred for a moment. He blinked several times to clear away the blurriness, the faces became more clear. "What happened? Where am I?" He slowly tried to sit up, but the medical doctor shook his head as he pushed him back into the comfort of the couch.
The excitement nearly fell over the entire room as they all breathed a sigh of relief for the man in black. The audience of people included the DT teens, the three technical directors the ninja rangers and the zeo rangers as well as a youngster with a legacy under her wing. His daughter and wife nearly ran Adam over, but he had stopped them short with an upraised hand.
"Hold on. Gotta check for signs of amnesia. Now, Tommy, do you know...?" Adam began.
"To hell with it, Adam! Come here, my two beautiful girls," Tommy sat up as he was encased in a tight hug by his wife and daughter. Tommy had whispered a few sweet nothings into his wife's ears as tears streaked down their faces.
Kim had laid several kisses on his lips as Serena was glad to feel the embrace and warmth of her mother and father. For awhile, the rest of the people in the room could only watch as the family exchanged warm gestures toward each other.
Slowly, they filed for the door, knowing it was probably best to leave them alone. But Tommy had waved a hand, stopping the bunch of people assembled in the room.
"No, it's cool, T. We should head out," Rocky stated as he tugged Tanya with him toward the door. "You've had it rather rough. You need time alone with them."
"You've been asleep for almost four days now, Tommy," Kim had told him before laying another kiss on his lips.
"Four days!" Tommy breathed as he grabbed his head. He couldn't quite remember what had happened, except a battle that had sent him and the DT teens into the past. Upon return, nothing seemed to click. He couldn't remember what happened upon his return back to the present. "No way."
"Actually, you have," Conner nodded looking at his watch. "When you came back, you were out cold."
"We brought you back to the lab. But you didn't seem to wake up," Kira added.
"Everyone was growing worried. We all got out fine, but you took the most punishment, Dr. O," Ethan said.
"We went back to school to avoid confrontations. But Coach nor Serena had left your side, since" Trent stated.
"Things around Reefside are normal. As if you guys never really left," Billy stated. "You're lucky, Tommy."
"Why?" he looked at his teammates with some confusion.
"You didn't seem to alter time too much," Aisha said rocking on her heels, looking away. "Besides, that little thing about you revealing yourself before us when we were younger sorta got lost in our minds."
"Thrown into the back of our minds almost like a dream, but we all know it happened. To some degree," Adam said shaking his head.
"But personally, my head is really about to blow with all these changes," Rocky said.
"We all haven't gotten much sleep since we've been worried about you. You were weak when the teens brought you back. Whatever happened in that last battle must have drained you good," Billy said.
For a moment, Tommy looked down trying to remember what had happened. As the images of the battle in the past played through his head, the players in the fight became more clear. There was him, the DT teens, the ninja rangers, younger, Dinoshade, Mesogog and Zeltrax. During the beginning of the battle Rito, Goldar and a few tengas showed up. He looked at his dino gem housed in the bracelet watching it glow, but seem to die out as if there was no more power in it. He was weak. "You mean, you guys don't remember what happened?"
Rocky scratched his head trying to recall what had happened. It was clear the other ninja rangers couldn't seem to put a whole lot on it. It had happened years ago, and as they had put it, it felt more like a dream rather than reality. "All I could remember was that it had to do with you being drained of your powers, both as the white ninja ranger and the baclk DT ranger."
"Then there was Mesogog, Dinoshade and Zeltrax in the mix of things," Aisha added as she tried to pry the memory from the back of her mind. "But it really is a blur. That happened years ago, Tommy."
"Maybe to you guys, but that was only days ago for us," Conner sighed. "That really did a number on our concentration in school, Dr. O."
"Yeah, Mindshatter really is a tough guy," Tommy had to agree.
"You can say that again," Rocky shook his head as their own mission in the present played back in his head.
"Don't worry. You're all squared away at school. I took over your classes for these past few days," Adam said with a nod.
Tommy thanked his friend as he looked around the room. He noticed something was missing. "What about Andros? I though he was here?"
"Andros went back to Angel Grove to see what else he could find. He'd let us know if he found anything more," the green samurai ranger finally spoke.
"Don't worry, we got filled in on the situation with Mindshatter, Dr. O," Conner said.
"It's some crazy stuff," Ethan breathed as if he just heard some heartbreaking news all over again.
"Yeah, you need to be educated on it, too, buddy," Rocky said.
"But we should leave ya'll to do your own thing."
"We've worked out a few things with the zords, but I think we should wait until you've conserved some more of your energy to give you the heads up on it," Billy said.
"It's some good stuff, daddy," Serena managed a smile as Tommy laid a kiss on her head.
"Yeah, we had Serena to thank for some of her ideas on it. I'm rather impressed," Hayley said.
The team slowly filed for the door, each had said their good-byes to the Oliver trio.
"Oh, I know I shouldn't be doing this," Adam stated as he looked directly at Kim and Serena . "I need you two to keep an eye on him. Make sure our boy, Tommy, over there, gets lots of rest. You may need to pamper him just a bit, but anything to keep him off his feet. Hey, Tommy. I'll keep an eye on your classes until you get better. You're still weak, if you haven't noticed. You need to rest as much as possible."
"And how long is that gonna be?" Tommy had to know with as stubborn as he was.
"A few days. Don't worry. I set some specific guidelines for Kim and Serena to follow. You're in good hands. If you need anything, you know where we'll all be at," Adam stated as he flashed a peace and left the room.
The moments felt like days, if not months or even years. Left in the wake of being locked in the arms of the two most important people in his life, Tommy could breath a little easier. He knew now that this was no dream. That this was reality. That he was back where he belonged.
And in their moments, nothing else seemed to matter. They were locked in their own world where only they seemed to be. A family as they waited on for another in a few months.
"I missed you, Handsome," Kim whispered into his lips as they shared a passionate kiss. And neither seemed to care if Serena was in the room or to see their deep affection for the other.
"I missed you so much, Beautiful. Are you okay?" Tommy asked after they broke their lips.
"I'm fine, Tommy. Nothing happened with me," She nodded as she put a finger to his lips. She smacked him across the chest as he looked at her with some confusion. "Don't do that again. No more of your suicide attempts, Thomas."
"What!" he breathed. "You would say that to the legendary ranger? You don't even know what happened."
"Not if you could have destroyed it all together in the past?" she countered.
"But I didn't. You're still here, as beautiful and as healthy as ever," he said as he laid a quick kiss on her lips. He reached over and pulled Serena in for another kiss. "And so is Serena, an angel from above. There will be scars. There are already scars, but that is life."
"I want to hear some of your stories, daddy," Serena had spoke, her thick Filipino accent escaped from her lips.
Time had passed slow. Both Tommy and Kim had started from the very beginning of the legacy of the Power Rangers. From how Kim had first gotten her powers with Jason, Billy, Zack and Trini. The original team. And lead up to the dark past of Tommy, which Serena just didn't believe, but with the video diary not too far behind, helped fill in the gasps.
But only with those stories mentioned, it had made Serena fall asleep. She laid soundly asleep on the lounge chair tucked away. Husband and wife laid in the slightly dimmed room breathing in the presence of the other.
"That wasn't a dream, was it? I really was trapped in the past, wasn't I?" Tommy spoke quietly as he stroked Kim's soft brown hair.
Kim nodded slowly. "You were. But it felt like a dream to me, Aisha, Adam, Rocky and Billy. I don't know. It's hard to describe."
"Then msybe we should just leave it as that. What's past is past. What happened, just happened. And we just gotta move on."
"I just gotta know something," Kim thought a moment. "You were our sub at Angel Grove High. Was I hitting on you, or you sorta hitting on me?"
"Hey, you were talking to your future husband, right?" Tommy laughed. "I will admit that it was a little weird considering I was looking at you nine years ago."
"And I was looking at you as you were now," Kim sat up for a moment, Tommy rose wondering what had her bothered. "I'm worried though, about Trent."
Tommy looked away and nodded as he recalled the last battle again. He remembered he was in a deadly lock with Zeltrax as a bolt of energy was about to lay down on him, but Mesogog had stopped it. It was also Mesogog who had destroyed the device and made a free ticket for the team to return to the present. "Mesogog isn't who he once was. He's more like Anton than that dino menace ever was."
"And he felt obligated to capture me. It wasn't his idea, it was Mindshatter, but somehow he just didn't do anything. I was locked away, but Mesogog had opened up an invisi-portal to let the team through before anything could be done to me."
"So, nothing happened?" Tommy asked still feeling some rage run through him for the capture of his wife.
"Nothing," she nodded. She shook her head as she laid a kiss on his lips. "I think Mesogog really does have a change of heart. The teens told me how he had saved you and opened up that tear for you guys to return."
"He really is helping us out, but can we really trust him?"
"That's your friend we're talking about, Tommy. If you saw him, looked into his eyes, you could really see Anton in all that scaly flesh."
Tommy sighed as he could recall the images of Mesogog before he stepped through that tear. He looked like a change dino menace. That in how he stood, it really was Anton, but trapped in his alter ego. "We have to help him. It's the best thing we could do. Have we gotten any more information on the invisi-portal network?"
"Now, time out, Tommy," she covered his mouth again. "I didn't expect this talk to go into ranger business. You're not supposed to be doing all of this or really think about it. You need to rest."
"But you know how stubborn I am," he admitted slightly embarrassed.
"I do, and I'm saying 'no'. You heard Adam. You need to lay off and rest. You know, he didn't tell anyone this, but me, but he was almost worried you wouldn't wake up at all. Traveling through time holes and being drained of your powers could have put you into a coma for a long time."
"But it didn't. I'm still here. I'm still alive." He tried to move his legs, but winced. "Just a little weak."
Kim pushed him back down on the couch laying a kiss on his head.
"Get some sleep, Handsome. I'll see you in the morning."
Tommy reluctantly followed her words, but opened his arms as she melted into his embrace. "Why not stay and keep me company until I fall asleep? Besides, you'd miss me too much if you slept upstairs by yourself."
Kim snuggled into his embrace as they laid there slowly falling into a deep slumber.
to be continued...
A/N: Whoo! Finally done. The DT team is now back in their own time and this was a whole lot more work than I would have expected from this part of the story. But I hope you guys liked it. I'll see you when I do and I am terribly sorry for these long waits. I'm serious. I have been a busy bee and it's so hard to keep going. I'm out. May the Powers Protect You.