I'll admit, I struggled writing parts of this. I honestly wasn't even sure I would get it out in time. I actually took a break from writing it for a few weeks. I knew where I wanted it to go, but writing it was just hard. Then JDF passed away and in a weird way, it made me want to finish it. So this chapter is dedicated to his memory. May he rest in peace.

Ep. 10: The Next Phase

Rise up Rangers save the world/Put the demon in his place/Go Rangers/Go Rangers/Go Rangers Go/Use Ancient Animals to save the world/Power Rangers Ancient Animals Rule/Go Rangers/Go Rangers/Go Rangers/GO!

Zayna sighed as she tapped her pencil against the desk, watching as the seconds on the clock ticked away slowly. It was the end of her final class and she was bored, unable to wait for the bell to ring and for the school day to end. Her parents had told her some exciting news about certain family members who would be visiting after school.

"Hey, what's up?" James asked, looking over at her from where he was sitting at the desk next to hers. She turned away from the clock and looked over at him.

"Can't wait for the day to end."

"Ah….any reason in particular?"

"You'll see," Zayna answered, giving him a mysterious smile.

"Okay, Woman of Mystery," James drawled, returning the smile anyways. A moment later, Liam sauntered over. Apparently he had become bored with the conversation over on his side of the room and decided to join his fellow Rangers. Situating himself on the desk so he could see them both, Liam shot a grin at the two.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

"Nothing much, just Z being mysterious," James replied to the Silver Ranger, leaning back in his chair. Liam let out a playful snort.

"Other than that, since it isn't anything new," he teased.

"Just waiting for the day to end," Zayna returned her gaze to the clock with a shrug, staring at it as if she could make it go faster through sheer force of will.

"And the rest of us are on what? Vacation?" Liam snarked, "Cal is so lucky to have release time…" Zayna snapped her head to glare at him, blue eyes meeting brown. Liam merely stared back, promptly turning it into a staring contest. After several moments, James let out a sigh before leaning forward.

"So what are we doing after school? Grove, Ernie's…?"

"Ernie's," Zayna calmly answered, returning her gaze to the clock.

"Cool." James reclined in his seat again and closed his eyes, "I so need one of his patented smoothies."

"All hail the smoothies," Liam stated, earning a grunt of agreement from the pair.

"Oh, and we might be meeting up with some other…..friends…." Zayna vaguely added, getting their attention again.

"Really? Who?" Liam leaned in, intrigued.

"That would be telling. You'll see boys, you'll see." She smirked, clearly enjoying her secret and their frustration about her lack of sharing.

"She's been like this all day," James loudly whispered, earning a playful kick in the shin from said girl.

"Ow! What was that for?" He whined.

"A girl has to have some secrets, boys," Zayna deadpanned.

"Cmon, not even a hint?" Liam asked. Zayna just shook her head, smiling.

After school, Calleigh was humming along to her MP3 player and half singing the words to 3 Doors Down's Kryptonite and nearly missed the voice calling after her. Pulling out an earbud, she turned and asked, "Huh?" A man and a woman in a Jeep had slowed down. The man had short, dark brown hair and wore a red shirt with a black leather jacket over it. The woman had on a pretty pink top.

'That's the kind of top Z would like,' Calleigh thought absently as she looked at the two. In a way, they felt familiar to her but exactly why was eluding her.

"Excuse me, but can you tell us how to get to Ernie's? We're a bit lost and he needs the Wi-Fi connection," the woman said, pointing at the guy, who looked mildly offended.

"You know I have to look over those papers for my online class!"

"I know dear. That doesn't mean I can't drive you up the wall…" She rolled her eyes and Calleigh couldn't help but let out a snort at the two adults's snark.

"Yeah, uh you take the right up there, go three blocks down and it's on your left." Calleigh pointed in the direction she'd just come from. The man and woman looked at each other, then back at her.

"Why aren't you there? From what I hear it's the hang out of all the kids."

"Band practice." Cadigh shrugged, not wanting to say too much to the somehow familiar strangers. "Bit of a full tilt thing right now, winter concert and then the Rose Parade. Football season has nothing on this insanity."

"Ah, I know insanity well." The man nodded at her, then waved. "Nice meeting ya."

Calleigh vaguely waved in their direction as they drove off, sticking her earbud back in and changing the song to 'Tango: Maureen' before starting to sing along as she walked. She only got a few feet before she realized why they're familiar to her, and she stopped dead in her tracks and whipped her head around in time to see the Jeep make the turn.

Her eyes went wide and she stared at the intersection long after the Jeep was out of her line of sight, trying to wrap her head around the fact that she just met Tommy Oliver and Kimberly Hart, two of the original Power Rangers and freaking legends.

"Holy shiz…" She almost considered running back up the street after them, and then remembered she had band practice. Pulling out her phone to check the time, she broke her gaze from the intersection. A rehearsal she's about to be late to. "Shit." She broke into a sprint, thanking whatever gods there are for marching band and Rangering for keeping her in good shape.

Aaron was just arriving at Ernie's, locking his bike up when he saw someone walk up nearby him and when he looked up, his jaw nearly fell to the floor. He couldn't help but stare at the short spiky haired man standing before him, in all his Oliver glory.

"Oh my… you-you… you're Tommy Oliver! You-you're…." Aaron stammered, unable to get a coherent sentence out in his awe of the man.

Tommy turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow, but otherwise generally unsurprised by being recognized. "Yup, that's me. Though it's Doctor Oliver these days."

"Really? Doctor of what?" Aaron grinned intrigued by this new, and unknown to him, development in 'the most kickass Power Ranger ever' as he liked to put it.

"Paleontology."

"Oh…" Aaron's face fell, disappointed because he'd expected something cooler. In the back of his mind though, he made a note to tell Cal, she'd probably have a Jurassic Park quip.

Tommy didn't seem to notice the change in excitement. "So, this Ernie's?"

"Yeah." Aaron nodded, just as someone else walked up. "Doesn't look like much I know."

"Please tell me this is it." Tommy's friend spoke up and Aaron gaped again.

"It is." He confirmed, turning his attention to her.

"Oh thank god, I was starting to wonder how it was possible to get lost after asking for directions."

Tommy sighed. "You just love giving me a hard time don't you Beautiful?"

She grinned. "You'd think something was wrong if I didn't."

Then he returned his attention to Aaron. "Maybe we'll see you around?"

All Aaron could do was wordlessly nod and stare as the two legendary Rangers headed inside, lightly bantering.

"Hey Sparky." Maila came up behind him, startling him. "You okay?"

"Ye-yeah." He stuttered, causing Malia to gaze at him in concern before he caught himself. "Ready to head in Lia?"

She nodded, still looking concerned, but not saying anything as they headed in. Once inside the Juice Bar, they headed over to the table their friends and fellow Rangers usually occupied.

"Hey guys." Aaron greeted as they sat down at the table.

"Hey." Liam nodded, moving his seat over slightly to make room for Malia. "What's up?"

Aaron looked around for a moment, then turned his attention back to the table and lowered his voice to an excited whisper, vaguely pointing. "Look over there… the guy in red and the girl in pink. You know who they are?"

The rest of the group looked around a moment before spotting who he was talking about. They were in line at the bar, the woman pointing at the menu.

Zayna sighed. "Yeah… Tommy Oliver and Kimberly Ann Hart. Tommy's the original Green, and then White Ranger, as well as Zeo Ranger 5 Red, the first Red Turbo Ranger, and the Black Dino Ranger. He held the Dragonzord when he was the Green Ranger, White Tiger as the White Ranger, and Brachiozord as the Black Dino Ranger. Kimberly's the original Pink Ranger, holding the power first of the pterodactyl before they gained the Thunderzords, which she held the Firebird Thunderzord while her Ninjetti was the Crane" Everyone's heads snapped to look at her, awestruck at the information. Sure, they knew about them, Dusa had shown them some info on all the teams, but Zayna was a lot more specific than their mentor had been.

Malia was the first to recover, only to intelligently say. "What?"

"How do you know all that?" Stephan added.

"They're kind of like family to me; the guy who adopted me is Tommy's brother." Zayna began to explain. "I know because his brother knows."

There was a moment of silence as everyone tried to process this new information. Then James realized something. "Wait… you knew they were coming didn't you? They're the friends of yours you were being all mysterious about last period."

She grinned. "Yup. Wanna meet them?"

"YES!" Aaron enthusiastically said, standing up so quickly he nearly took the table with him.

"Watch it Speedy Gonzalez, they're not gonna vanish on us." Liam deadpanned, calmly picking up his smoothie.

There were a few chuckles, but after a decidedly smoother exit from the table than Aaron's, the rest of the group made their way over to the couple.

Kimberly and Tommy had just sat down at their table, arranging their food so they could comfortably share it and talk.

"I wonder how these taste dipped in smoothies." Tommy looked at the fries, head tilted.

"Probably the same as fries dipped in a Frosty." Kimberly quipped, taking a couple of fries and shrugging. "I'll give it a shot."

He watched her dip the fries in the smoothie and eat them, an impressed look crossing her face.

"Good?"

"That is actually really good." Kimberly pointed with another fry at the drink.

"Of course it is, Ernie's smoothies are the best." A female voice said, causing the pair to look up.

"Hey Z!" Kimberly stood and embraced her niece.

"Hi Aunt Kim." Zayna smiled, returning the hug. "Uncle Tommy."

"Hey Z." Tommy nodded, smiling.

After a moment Zayna ended her embrace with her aunt. "Oh, Aunt Kim, Uncle Tommy, these are my friends. James." She gestured to her black garbed friend, who gave a small smile.

"Aaron." He gave a small wave at the couple, both noticing he was in green.

"Maila." The White Ranger gave them a respectful nod.

"Liam." He threw up a peace sign to match the silver one on his t-shirt.

"David." The Red Ranger gave them a small salute.

"Stephan." He fidgeted with his blue shirt.

"And Birdy." The Gold Ranger smiled and waved.

"There's also Cal, but she's got band rehearsal right now." David added on.

Kimberly's eyebrows furrowed. "Prep for the winter concert and Rose Parade on top of the normal fall stuff right?"

It was the group's turn to be confused. "Yeah, how'd you know that?" Timothy spoke up.

Tommy laughed. "I think we got directions from her. Bout five eight, glasses, brown hair about shoulder length, enthusiastically dances or, something, to music while walking…"

Timothy and David shared a look with each other, and then replied in tandem. "That's her."

And the rest of the group broke into laughter, because of everyone, the two have known Calleigh longest, not to mention they're in the same grade.

"Maybe we'll be able to have a proper meeting with her later… once she's done with band." Kim remarked, then smiled. "Meantime, why don't we…"

She never finished her statement because at that moment the team's phones all went off, and they shared a collective look of 'oh shit' as they checked them. "Uh oh, I know that look…"

She and Tommy shared a look, realizing that they're with the newest team of Rangers, one of whom is their niece.

"So when we're you gonna mention that?" Tommy asked, his tone of voice leaving no mistake that he's referring to the group being Power Rangers. And they all knew it.

"Well…" Aaron drew out, running his hand against his hair, not really knowing how to respond, given that they are Z's family after all.

"Somewhere a little more private." Zayna responded, clearly annoyed by the development. Then she lowered her voice. "You were Rangers too, you know how it is…"

"It's a dangerous job." Kimberly directed her words to the whole group.

"I know Aunt Kim." Zayna said with a grin, "We all do."

Kimberly shared a look with Tommy, who shrugged as if to say 'what can we do, they know the risks as much as we do'.

She sighed. "Just… be safe. Okay?"

"We will." James promised for everyone.

"You'd better be, or else all of you will be in some big trouble with us."

Zayna groaned. "Uncle Tommy, we'll be fine. I swear." And no sooner were the words out of her mouth than did their phones go off again, seemingly more insistent.

They all shot the couple apologetic looks. "We've got to go, I'm really sorry." Aaron said to them before rushing out with the rest of the Rangers.

Tommy and Kimberly glanced at each other, sharing an unspoken frustration about being on the receiving end of the same thing they'd once done in high school.

"We should follow them," Tommy muttered, Kimberly nodding in agreement. Without another word, the two got up and followed the Rangers out. Outside, they found the eight teens garbed in clothing that reminded Tommy and Kim of when they had their ninjetti powers. The group was fighting against what Tommy and Kim assumed were their version of Putties, something the news called 'Dummy Men'. They were a disgusting greenish grey with a white face that had a cross shape on it.

"Stop right there, Dummy Men!" David yelled, pointing at the Dummy Men. The Dummy Men made gibberish sounds and rushed at the Rangers, the two groups beginning to battle.

"If those Dummy Men are here, there has to be a monster here too," Kim murmured to Tommy, who nodded in agreement and looked around.

"There," Tommy pointed to a creature, half hiding behind a bush. Kim nodded and grabbed a large stick, tossing it to Tommy before grabbing a second for herself. Without another word, the two quietly approached it.

"Take this!" Tommy yelled, swinging the branch at the monster. It slammed into the head of the monster, knocking it back and allowing Tommy and Kim to get a good look at it. The monster was large with grey, scaly skin. It's hands were claws and sticking out its chest was a large cuboidal shape reminiscent of an old fashioned camera. A red hand crank stuck out of its side.

"Pesky humans!" The monster screeched, grabbing the crank and beginning to turn it. By now, the Rangers had morphed and noticed what was going on.

"Uncle Tommy, Aunt Kim!" Zayna yelled, running towards them. The Pink Ranger made it to the former Rangers just as the blast hit, the three disappearing completely.

"No! Where did they go!" James yelled at seeing his friend and her family disappear.

"That….that monster," Aaron seethed, pulling out his Animal Blade.

"Let's take it down," Malia agreed darkly.

"Oh Rangers. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Matter Blaster and it'll be fun to beat you," Matter Blaster said, winding up for another blast.

"What did you do with Z?!" James yelled as the Rangers rolled, dodging Matter Blaster's blast. The creature just laughed.

"Seems like you Rangers are down one. That'll make you even easier to defeat," he said before disappearing.

"No! Bastard!" James swore, punching a nearby pillar. Aaron grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Jay, you need to calm down," he said. James turned to the Green Ranger, his expression furious behind his mask.

"How can I when that monster…..that demon….Z is gone!" He seethed.

"I know," Aaron said sadly, "But we need to beat that creature. For her." James nodded as the Rangers teleported to the Grove.

Unbeknownst to Rangers, the blast from Matter Blaster did not kill Zayna, Tommy, and Kim. After the blast, the three looked around.

"What the hell just happened?" Tommy asked. Zayna shook her head, tapping her morpher to no avail.

"I don't know, Uncle Tommy," she said, approaching the other Rangers, "Guys…hey guys!" They seemed to not notice her, instead teleporting off to the Grove.

"It seems like they can't see us," Kim said, "Where did they teleport off to?"

"Probably the Grove, that's our base of operations," Zayna answered.

"Is it far away? Could we walk to it?" Tommy wondered. Zayna shrugged.

"It's in the woods behind the school so we probably could walk to it."

"Let's go then." The three headed off, beginning to walk off towards the school.

"So, what's going on between you and James?" Kim asked her niece as they walked. Zayna turned red at that.

"Nothing! Why do you think something is happening!" She said quickly.

"Because he was really upset when you disappeared."

"I….we….we're just friends," Zayna sighed.

"But you want to be more?"

"I….I like him, Aunt Kim. He's a sweet guy, always smiling and nice to everyone. He hates bullies and stands up to them. His little sister is a freshman and when some seniors were making crude jokes towards her, he stood up to them," Zayna admitted. Kim reached over and squeezed her niece's shoulder, "Then you have to tell him."

"If we survive this, then I will," Zayna agreed. Kim smiled as the three continued on.

The Rangers returned to the Grove in silence. When Dusa saw the look on their faces, she knew what had happened.

"We will make sure their sacrifice was not in vain," the mentor said softly. James looked at her, his dark eyes full of anger and hatred.

"That monster will pay, we will destroy him," he said in an uncharacteristically cold tone.

"James-," Dusa began when the Black Ranger shook his head.

"No," he cut her off, "He's going to pay. He has to. He took Zayna!" Dusa opened her mouth to say something when Aaron caught her eye, shaking his head slightly.

"Okay," Dusa said softly. James picked up one of the kendo sticks they used to train with and held it tightly.

"I'm going to go and train," he said, walking off.

"I'll go with him," Calleigh said, grabbing one of her own before following him.

Unknown to the Rangers; Zayna, Tommy, and Kim had arrived at the Grove and watched the scene.

"Damn, I wish there was a way to let them know we're alive," Tommy swore. Zayna sighed, rubbing a hand over her face.

"Me too Uncle Tommy, me too," she murmured, "But for now, we should stay here. That way we'll know if a monster appears somewhere."

"How does that work?" Kim asked. Zayna nodded towards the tree, "When a monster appears, the animals all make sounds. Dusa looks into that tree and she can see where the monster is."

"That makes sense," Tommy nodded.

"I still can't believe you're a Ranger, I remember when you first found out about us being Rangers," Kim said fondly. Zayna smiled at that, thinking about the incident that had occurred four years previously.

Four Years Ago

It had been two years since Zayna was adopted by David Truehart and his wife Marissa. Late one night, Zayna laid awake in her bed as she listened to David and Marissa talk with David's brother, Tommy, and his wife Kimberly.

"I'm glad Angel Grove has calmed down," David said, "I can't imagine what it was like for you two as teens."

"It was crazy, that's for sure," Kim said with a laugh. Zayna quietly sat up and snuck to the door, creeping out of her room and down the stairs to listen in. She had only met Tommy and Kim a few times but the two seemed cool. Tommy was a science teacher and held a PhD in Paleontology while Kim worked as a hostage negotiator for the local SWAT team.

"It must have been, being Power Rangers and all," Marissa said. Zayna couldn't help the gasp that escaped her mouth. Her Aunt and Uncle were Power Rangers? In an instant, the four adults spun around.

"Zayna, what are you doing out of bed?" David asked, disapproval in his tone. Zayna ignored him and instead looked at Tommy and Kim.

"Were you two really Power Rangers?" She asked eagerly. Tommy and Kim exchanged a look before nodding.

"We were," Tommy said, "I was Green then White then Red then Black. Kim here was Pink."

"Only colors Tommy hasn't been are Blue and Yellow since there haven't been any male Pink Rangers," Kim joked.

"Hey now, I haven't been Silver or Gold either, though I guess some would consider those special colors," Tommy joked back. Zayna just continued to stare at her Aunt and Uncle in awe.

"And now you're a Ranger yourself, and a Pink Ranger to boot," Tommy said. Zayna smiled and shot a wink at her Aunt, "Had to take after Aunt Kimmy y'know." The other two laughed as the animals in the forest began to make a racket. Dusa rushed over to the tree and peered into the trunk.

"Rangers! Matter Blaster has been spotted at the park!" Dusa reported as James and Calleigh emerged from the trees leading to the training area.

"Let's go and avenge Z," James said. The other Rangers nodded and morphed in a flash of light, running off.

"Let's follow them," Tommy said. Kim and Zayna nodded and followed the Rangers.

At the park, the Rangers found Matter Blaster attacking the civilians with the help of the Dummy Men. James pulled out his Animal Blade and ran at Matter Blaster, slashing at the monster.

"C'mon, we have to help him," Calleigh sighed.

"Fek, you, Sparky, Lia, and Lee help Jay. Birdy, Phant, and I got the DM," David commanded. The others nodded and did as their leader said.

"C'mon, we should help too," Kim muttered to Tommy.

"How, I thought all your powers were destroyed?" Zayna asked curiously.

"Our main powers were, yes. But our Ninjetti powers were integrated into our DNA. We will always have them," Tommy explained. Zayna nodded as Tommy and Kim made a large circular motion.

"Ninja Ranger Power Now!" They called out. In an instant, Tommy and Kim were clad in white and pink clothes respectively. In the center of each chest was a metallic emblem. Tommy's had a Falcon on it while Kim's had a crane. Zayna took up a fighting stance and the three took on Dummy Men.

Although the trio had been unable to interact with others, it appeared as though they were still able to fight against the Dummy Men.

"Must be something with their demon physiology," Zayna muttered, half to herself. Tommy and Kim shot their niece a wondering look but she just shook her head. By now, the other Rangers had noticed that some of the Dummy Men were falling when no one was even near them.

"I wonder…" Aaron mused before speaking into his helmet, "Dusa. Is it possible this monster didn't kill Z, Tommy, and Kim but instead….made them invisible or something?"

"It's possible, I guess. But if they were incisive why haven't they interacted with us," Dusa replied.

"Because they aren't just invisible. They are out of phase like in that Star Trek episode. They're alive, but their molecules aren't in phase with this world and energy," Calleigh realized.

"How would we bring them back?" James demanded, blocking an attack from Matter Blaster.

"He blasted them with his chest, so maybe we hit it?" David suggested. James raised his hand in the air.

"Orca Fin Double Blade!" He yelled as his blade shimmered into existence. James grasped his blade tightly, facing down Matter Blaster.

"Take this!" He yelled and slammed his blade into the chest of the monster. Sparks erupted from it as the creature howled in pain. Tommy, Kim, and Zayna faded back into existence.

"Z!" Aaron exclaimed. James spun around, relief clear in his body.

"Z. You're back," he said softly. Zayna smiled at him.

"Thanks Jay, now let's beat this creep," she said. The others nodded as Zayna raised her right arm against her chest, flicking her wrist to bring her morpher out.

"It's Morphin Time!" She yelled, pulling out her totem and inserting it into the morpher, closing the morpher around it, "Ancient Animal Evolution!"

Zayna is running through a forest and a wolf comes up behind her. She stops and it jumps and hits her. It sinks into her causing her to look like a wolf girl. The fur then flies off and she is in a Pink Ranger form a sword appears at her side when she jumps and then she lands with her left leg bent, knee against her stomach, and her right leg stretched out.

"Matter Blaster, you have blasted your last being!" Zayna yelled as she drew her sword. Matter Blaster laughed as Zayna rushed at him, slashing his chest.

"That hurt!" Matter Blaster yelled out. Zayna laughed and ducked a claw, slashing his legs.

"Wolf Whip!" She yelled. Her whip materialized into her hand and Zayna whipped at Matter Blaster, catching his chest.

"I'm sorry Master!" He yelled out as Zayna whipped him again, destroying the monster.

"It's good to have you back," David said. Zayna grinned behind her helmet.

"It's good to be back."

Back at the Grove, the Rangers were celebrating their win while Tommy and Kim spoke with Dusa.

"Thank you for mentoring our niece and her team," Kim said. Dusa gave a small smile.

"The pleasure is all mine," she replied.

"I know how rowdy teenagers can be," Tommy said with a laugh, "Good luck with them."

"Honestly? I wouldn't have it any other way," Dusa answered.

"Me neither. Me neither," Tommy agreed before turning to Zayna and setting a hand on her shoulder, "What do you say? We should probably get your back to your parents now."

"One thing first," Zayna said, escaping her uncle's grip and walking to James, "Hey Jay?"

"Yeah?" James asked, looking up. Zayna placed a hand on his shoulder before leaning up to kiss his cheek.

"Thank you for being willing to avenge me," she whispered. James blushed as Zayna ran back to aunt and uncle, the group heading out.

There are two canon deviations with this fic (I guess I should say, pre-Samurai canon deviations as this fic deviates from canon after Samurai). First is that although the Ninjetti arc occurred as in the series, their Ninjetti forms are those from the MMPR Movie. Second is that the Ninjetti powers are bonded to their DNA, so even though the coins are gone, they can still access the ninja forms. Also, Bonus points for whoever gets the reference of Kim's job. Hint, it's related to her actress.