A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Inspiration was fickle.

Chapter 5
Short-Circuited - Part 2

Location: Command Center

11:00 AM

A bright flash of green and yellow heralded the appearance of Ty and Thuy. "What's wrong?" Thuy asked. The alarms weren't going off, Zordon wasn't visible in his tube, and the viewing globe didn't display any danger in Angel Grove. The back wall displayed various suits from previous Ranger teams as always, though the Yellow Zeo Ranger caught Thuy's attention for a moment. She had questions to ask one day.

"Nothing," Billy said as he approached. "Sorry to bug you guys when we're relatively Zedd-free, but I'm attempting to integrate some new weapon technology into your powers. I wanted to borrow your morphers for a few hours to program in the new stuff, then have you test it once it's ready. It could be fun... in an 'extra-credit-is-fun' kind of way."

Ty yawned. "Why us? Did you guys draw straws when we weren't around or something?"

"I thought I'd give Kerri some time to keep working on her schoolwork, since she's still a little weirded-out from the candle monster incident. Jake's out of town visiting his grandparents, Aiden's been working way too hard lately and would be too eager to help out (plus he has family in from out of town), and Bryan's new weapon isn't fully finished yet. So it came to you. Unless that's a problem?"

Thuy handed her morpher to Billy while shaking her head. "I'm good."

Ty did the same. "No problem. Waking up early on a Saturday is the best thing ever."

"Oh, come on," Thuy said, rolling her eyes. "It's 11 in the morning. How late do you sleep? Never mind, don't answer that." She turned to Billy. "I assume you want us to stick around for a while?

"Right," Billy said as he received Ty's morpher. "It shouldn't take me long. Go hang out in the study if you want, I'll call when it's ready."

They didn't hang out in the study. By the time Billy started work on the weapons, Thuy had mats set up in the basement of the Command Center, in a large open room that was mostly devoid of stuff, save for a few boxes along the walls, and what looked like sections of old mainframe computers in the corners. Thuy hadn't had a chance to spar with Kerri, Ty, or Jake so far, and given that they came from the same martial arts studio, she'd been looking for a chance to check out their fighting style. She would have preferred to spar against Jake, as he was easily the best of the three, but Ty was no slouch, and this was her chance.

Ty, on the other hand, was significantly less enthused by the proposition. "Are you sure we should be doing this? I mean, we might break something here." It was mildly surprising that there wasn't a sparring area in the Command Center aside from the holographic training room. But sparring in there meant there would be monsters and Zords involved, which would have been a bit too much.

"You're not nervous, are you?" Thuy asked, genuinely not teasing him.

Ty rolled his eyes. "Sparring against the most skilled fighter on the team? Why would I be nervous about that?" He took a sip from his water battle and removed his shirt, setting it and the bottle with his shoes for the moment. "It's not like you're going to completely humiliate me or anything." Ty was in good shape physically, though he wasn't quite as bulky-buff as Jake, nor as lean-buff as Aiden.

Thuy had already changed into her gi, as she'd brought her gym bag with her when she teleported. Her white outfit was adorned with a purple belt. Ty was a belt behind, only a blue belt, but he wasn't about to admit that. He was dressed in gym shorts and no shirt, since he hadn't brought an outfit to spar in, and jeans didn't offer much in the way of mobility or flexibility.

"I am not the most skilled fighter on the team," she retorted as she took her stance.

Ty rolled his eyes again. "Sure you're not."

"When you're ready," she challenged.

Ty tried to test her with a simple kick, but she easily dodged. He waited for the counterattack, but none came. The further into the match they got, the more he realized that she was throwing very few attacks at all, content to walking in circles and dodging his strikes with relative ease. Even his feints weren't helping. As the match dragged on to 30 minutes (with a couple of breaks), he'd only connected twice and was exhausted. Meanwhile Thuy had gotten in several good strikes and had pretty much dodged everything Ty had thrown at her. At one point she'd placed a handsword on his spine and just held it there, matching his turns and making it nearly impossible for him to even get her in his line of sight.

Ty was exhausted, annoyed, embarrassed, and... well, mostly annoyed. When the final "round" started, he raced toward her. When she prepared to dodge, he feinted, feinted again, feinted some more, and when she finally thought she had a bead on what he was doing, he sent a powerful kick to her stomach. Too powerful, even, as he wasn't intending on putting that much force behind it. Thuy tried to roll with it but ended up slamming into one of the mainframes in a corner of the room. Immediately the alarms started going off throughout the Command Center.

Ty immediately regretted it and ran to her, helping her up. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry, that was way too much." Thuy was still catching her breath, but she was trying to wave it off like it was nothing. But the wind was knocked out of her. After attempting to huff out a response for a few seconds, Adam appeared in the doorway.

"What are you two doing?!" he demanded. "This isn't a gym!" He ran to the mainframe Thuy had crashed into and pushed some buttons on it, turning off the alarm system. He looked at Ty. "Put some clothes on, and both of you go to crash space. I've got enough to do around here without having to fix things you crash into." Thuy was still catching her breath so she picked up her gym bag and headed for the study. Ty scooped up his clothes and shoes and immediately did the same.

12:30 PM

Ty lay slumped over a bed in the study, staring at the ceiling in utter boredom. Thuy was on the computer, typing something ruthlessly. As her fingers flew over the keyboard, Ty groaned loudly. She ignored this, and continued typing. The groaning continued. After about four or five of these, Ty finally spoke.

"Wanna play a video game?"

"No."

"Let's watch a movie."

"No."

"You hungry?"

"No."

"Thirsty?"

"No."

"Horny?"

"No."

A pause.

"What?!"

Ty cackled at his own joke to the point of almost falling off the bed. Once he calmed down, his inquisition and her typing continued.

"New episode of Star Trek?"

"No."

"Record funny voices and audition for a YouTube series?"

"No."

"Have you had your daily V8?"

"No."

"Wanna make our own sitcom?"

"No."

"Allergies bothering you?"

"No."

"Are you thirsty?"

"No."

"Did you noticed I already asked that?"

"No."

"Whatcha doing?"

"No."

A pause.

"I'm working on a Creative Writing assignment."

"What's it about?"

"Ty, would you please..."

At that moment, the power cut out. The lights went black, the computer flickered out, and the usual hum of the various computers throughout the Command Center went silent. Thuy shot up out of her chair. Ty fell off the bed and scrambled to his feet. The only light available to them was a red emergency light out in the hallway, which shone dimly through the tiny window in the now-sealed electric door.

For a moment, the two Rangers didn't speak a word. This was just creepy. Then, Ty finally broke the silence. "What happened?" he whispered harshly.

"I don't know," Thuy whispered back. "The Command Center should have backups and backups for those backups. I don't know what could knock the power out."

"Ty to Billy." The communicator returned the error tone. "Ty to... everyone. Come in." Error tone. "With the Command Center's power out, communications must be down."

Thuy rolled her eyes in the darkness at the obvious statement before turning to the door. "We need to get this open." Ty walked over to the door and began trying to slide it open using brute force. After a few seconds of grunting, he began looking around for some kind of manual override. But he found none.

"Okay," Ty said, cracking his knuckles as he backed up from the door. "It's time to try the brute force approach." He cracked his neck for good measure, then danced around a bit like he was limbering himself up for the task. He braced himself, then charged.

Moments before this, however, Thuy looked out the window and saw something very troubling. As Ty rushed forward for his rather impulsive tactic, Thuy's leg shot out in front of him, tripping him. As he began to fall forward, Thuy clasped her hand over his mouth while her other arm wrapped around his torso. She slid down with him, cushioning his fall while keeping him as quiet as she could. The two ended up right next to the door, just below the tiny window. Ty struggled at first until Thuy painfully turned his head to the window. A monstrous silhouette appeared in the doorway, looking into the room. It hovered for a few moments before continuing on, seemingly satisfied. It emitted a familiar growling noise throughout.

The silhouette was gone, but the two Rangers remained frozen in place for at least a minute before they finally started breathing normally again. Ty sat up and looked at Thuy. "Was that Goldar?!" he demanded in a harsh whisper.

Thuy was too spooked to make a sarcastic remark. "Yeah... yeah, I think so." Her now-adjusted eyes began to dart around the room, surveying their options. "Keep an eye on the door, let me know if he comes by again." She stood up looked around the room, her eyes eventually landing upon a large air vent near the top corner of the room, over the desk where she'd been working. She quickly cleared her books and papers off and stood on top, grasping the sides of the air vent and pulling. But it didn't budge. With a sigh, she looked around the room. There weren't any other egresses she could find. Ty was still vigilantly looking out the window. Subconsciously, her hand moved to the back of her belt, where her missing Morpher should have been. This was a really bad time to be without it.

That got her thinking. The Morpher was just down the hall in the Control Room. They were in relative proximity to it. If she could make a connection... Thuy closed her eyes, focusing on the Sabertooth Tiger Power Coin. She could feel her connection to it. It was weak, but it was definitely there. She just needed to focus. And she mentally begged Ty to be quiet while she focused.

And it worked. In her hand, a dull light flashed, and a Power Dagger appeared. Noting the light, Ty turned around just in time to see Thuy slice the vent cover off the wall and set it gently on the ground. She motioned for him to come along, and the two crawled into the vent, not sure of where they were going.

"Okay, I admit this isn't quite what I had in mind," Thuy whispered harshly as the two remained perfectly still inside the vent. Thuy awkwardly had her Power Dagger in her hand while attempting to crawl, as it had sliced her pocket open when she tried to store it. Meanwhile, Ty had his phone out for a flashlight which he couldn't keep steady while crawling. But perhaps the most damning part of Thuy's whole plan was the noise. Every 'step' they took echoed loudly throughout the ventilation system. There was no way Goldar would miss that, even if he was an idiot. At best they could try and slide through the vents using their sleeves and pants as buffers, but that would slow them down considerably.

"There's a vent cover to our left," Ty reported. "Where does that go?"

"That should lead to the VR room," Thuy whispered in response. "That's not going to help us. We need to get to the Control Room."

"Okay," Ty said. "But how? The Control Room is on the other end of the Command Center. There's no way we can get there without tipping Goldar off."

Thuy stopped to think.

"Maybe we should go for a Zerg rush and push to the Control Room," Ty suggested. "I mean it's risky, but..."

"First, there's only two of us. We can't do a Zerg rush with two people. Second, keeping our identities secret is too important an advantage to give up. Third..."

Both Rangers' heads jerked to the left when the corridor was washed in light. The bright lights of the VR training center were on and were visible through the vent cover. "Third," Thuy continued, "the power's back. That means..." What did that mean? Did Billy and Adam manage to bring the Command Center back online? Did that mean the monsters were gone?

As if in response to Thuy's silent questions, Ty began sliding down the corridor to the left slowly and deliberately. Thuy inadvertantly began holding her breath as she waited, hoping Ty wouldn't get caught. He reached the end of the corridor and peered through the grate for a few seconds before sliding backwards toward the intersection where he'd started. "Two Putties down there," he said. "I think you could take them out with your Dagger if you're quick enough."

Thuy shook her head. "No, there's no advantage to taking the VR room." She thought for a moment. "But I do have an idea. Follow me."

Billy shifted in his seat, attempting to loosen the ropes that tied him to the chair. Adam sat nearby, quiet, contemplating. Putties swarmed the control room. They weren't the issue. Goldar was.

"Even if you get free, you can't fight Goldar by yourself. The two of us aren't enough without our powers," Adam warned quietly.

"What did you do?!" Goldar's booming voice demanded as the giant golden ape rounded the corner into the Control Room. "Why is the power back, and why did a force field slice my putties in half?!" He looked around the room, as if expecting to find someone else there. "Which one of you did it?!" He approached the two former Rangers.

Billy rolled his eyes. "You set off the failsafe, you ignorant ape. The Command Center is on lockdown, and will remain as such until you are destroyed or ejected. The rest of your army will remain trapped outside due to the force field. You're welcome to leave anytime, though."

"I could destroy you!" Goldar said menacingly as he leveled a sword at Billy's throat.

Billy remained calm, however. "And that would do nothing for the lockdown. Also, what do you gargle with? Lord Zedd's...?"

"Billy!" Adam said sharply. Billy simply shrugged and stared Goldar dead in the face. "Your move, Golden Goon."

Goldar and Billy entered a staring contest for a few moments before, in anger, Goldar slammed his sword through a console. Sparks flew as the golden ape stormed off, presumably looking for a way to get his army inside the Command Center.

"Well, there go communications," Billy said dryly.

Adam stared blankly at Billy. "Did you have to antagonize him like that?"

"Angry enemies make sloppy mistakes," Billy said.

"But you never know what a cornered beast will do," Adam countered.

1:00 PM

It took nearly 15 minutes, but Thuy and Ty made it to another vent cover. Thuy expertly sliced it off, catching the grate, and bringing it into the shaft with her to avoid drawing any attention. The room had a single Putty in it standing guard. Thuy waited for it to turn away before silently sliding out of the vent and approaching from behind. Before the Putty had any idea she was there, her dagger sliced through it three times, sending crumbled dust to the floor where it once stood. When the coast was clear, Ty jumped out of the vent, looking around.

"Why are we back in the basement?" he asked.

Thuy turned to him. "Cross your arms."

"What?" he asked even as he did so.

Before he had a chance to react, Thuy kicked him square in the chest, right where his arms were crossed. Ty stumbled backwards and crashed into the same terminal he'd kicked Thuy into before. Immediately the alarms started going off throughout the Command Center. Thuy helped the dazed Green Ranger up and climbed back into the ventilation shaft with Ty not far behind.

They were a few rooms away when it all clicked. "I get it!" Ty said just loud enough to be heard over the alarms. "Now he can't hear us move around."

Thuy nodded as she continued crawling. "Need some light up here." Ty obliged with his phone. "Okay, next stop is the VR room. Then the lounge. Then the Control Room. We need to clear out as many Putties as we can stealthily, and find out what's going on and whether Billy and Adam are safe."

1:25 PM

Their speed wasn't as restricted as before, but it still took about 30 minutes to carefully climb from the basement to the main floor of the Command Center, take out Putties in two rooms, then make their way all the way to the Control Room. The two traveled in silence, both attempting to come up with ideas on how to handle their current crisis while avoiding freaking out about what they'd find when they reached their destination. Were Billy and Adam okay? Was Alpha in hiding, or had he been destroyed? Had Zordon returned? And if he had, what could he do?

As they got closer, Thuy suddenly stopped, Ty's head bumping into her butt. He apologized immediately, but she shushed him. "Listen. No, feel." Ty held still and tried to pay attention to what he felt. Something was bumping around in the air vents. He could feel the vibrations in the metal. "It feels like there's someone else in the vent system with us," she said as quietly as she could while still being heard.

A few seconds later, they couldn't feel the movement anymore. "Watch out for Putties," Ty warned. "No way Goldar could fit in here."

"Keep moving," was Thuy's only reply as they continued toward the control room. However, she did more carefully look around intersections to make sure they weren't blindsided by enemies. Ty occasionally hung his head and peered between his legs to make sure they didn't get flanked from behind. They eventually made it to the Control Room area without incident. The vent system had come down to a T-intersection with the Control Room directly in front of them, and the back of the room, where the suit displays were, to their right. Ty shut off his light as Thuy peered into the room. "Goldar's not there right now, but the place is swarmed with Putties. Adam and Billy are okay, but they're tied to chairs across from Zordon's tube, directly in front of us."

"Wow," Ty remarked. "All that's left is Goldar monologuing the master plan at them, and this'll be a full B-movie."

Thuy shushed him again. "Focus, please. We need to..."

She was interrupted by Goldar's return. "Turn off these alarms, you pathetic clay-brains!" The Putties responded by hitting every button on the control panels, but none had any effect. The alarms kept blaring, which clearly was taking its toll on Goldar's sanity, who, in anger, sliced through three Putties with his sword, prompting the others to frantically mash buttons and dials. However, nothing would activate the holographic control panels that would grant them access to the alarm system.

Goldar stomped over toward Billy and leveled his sword at him. "I know you did this, Blue Ranger! Turn it off!"

"We have to help him!" Ty hissed.

"No," Thuy whispered harshly. "We can't do anything now. And I'm sure they're not helpless. Just wait."

Ty didn't like it, but he kept watching.

Billy kept his cool as he spoke. "I didn't do anything you mindless monkey. But I can tell you how to turn it off."

"How?!" the gold monster demanded.

"Leave, you buffoon! The alarms are going off in response to you!" He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "It's astounding that Zedd's right-hand monkey has the intelligence of a flatworm."

Goldar roared in his face before storming off once more, leaving the control room empty except for the two bound Rangers and three Putties. "Summon your dagger. It's time."

"Finally," Ty said as he concentrated on the image of the Dragon Dagger. He couldn't do it before, but now that he was closer to the control room, he could sense his coin's presence and tap its power. "Where are our morphers?" he asked.

"Don't know," Thuy answered as she applied her dagger to the vent cover. It slid slowly, but smoothly through the metal as if it were nothing. Once she cut all four sides, she caught the metal grate and brought it in. "I'll get the Putties. You free the guys. Go!" Thuy leaped out of the vent and cleared the landing area so Ty could get out. She threw each dagger at a Putty Patroller, shattering them instantly. Before the third Putty could react, energy ropes appeared, linking her hands to the daggers. She whipped them back to her and creamed the last Putty with both weapons, reducing it to dust. Ty wasted no time slicing the ropes off the hands and feet of the Veteran Rangers.

"Where are our Morphers?" Ty asked.

As soon as Billy was freed, he was at a control panel, attempting to bypass the broken console and open up the communications channel to alert the other Rangers. "Guys... if you can hear me, we've got a huge problem here."

"You are not even kidding," came the response from Bryan.

"Where are you guys?" Adam asked as he stood up from his chair.

"We're outside the Command Center, and it's swarmed by Putties. Are they inside?!" asked Kerri.

"Unfortunately, and so is Goldar," Billy responded. "We need you to take out those Putties as soon as possible. They can't be there when we lower the defense shield."

"We got it," Jake said. "But Aiden's in a bad way. He needs treatment soon."

Adam began to ask how bad the injuries were, but Billy interrupted him. "Will do. Command Center out." He turned to the others. "There's a safe hidden in the base of Zordon's tube. We just need to..."

"Rangers!"

All four jumped at the sound of Zordon's voice, quiet as it was. "You're back!" Ty observed.

"Goldar is returning and will be here in the next minute."

Thuy grit her teeth before turning back to Ty. "Back in the vents. You two," she said, indicating Adam and Billy, "get back in your chairs. We'll think of something. Go!" Thuy noted Ty's annoyed hesitation before he jumped back in the vent shaft with her immediately behind him. Zordon vanished from his tube once again, going to who-knows-where.

"So what's the plan now?" Ty demanded. "I'm tired of running away."

"What's the alternative?!" Thuy demanded. "We just hand ourselves over to Goldar and his goon squad?"

"We could have gotten our Morphers, you know. I could have held him off until then. You're being too cautious."

"We have identities to protect as well was two depowered former Rangers. I don't know what world you're living in, but in this one, we need to play it smart and win this with our brains, not with a two-person Zerg rush."

"So the plan is to languish in this air vent until Goldar gets bored and leaves?"

"You're quick to criticize." Thuy pointed a finger in his face. "All you've done since this started is crack jokes, propose suicide runs, and lag a step behind me every time something happens. We don't have our Morphers. We're not Rangers. Not right now. We can't face Goldar head on without our powers."

Ty opened his mouth to retort, but paused. He thought for a moment, then cocked an eyebrow and a smirk. "You know what? You're right. We need to be Rangers. So let's become Rangers again."

Goldar entered the Control Room to find Billy and Adam still tied up, but his three Putties reduced to dust. He looked around frantically trying to figure out how his troops had been attacked with no one else in the Command Center. "What did you do?!" he demanded.

"What, you're the only one allowed to dust Putties?" Billy asked defiantly.

"Who else is here?!" Goldar screamed. "Is it that robot? Come out, little Alpha! I won't hurt you. Much. HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Of course, Alpha couldn't hear him, as he was recharging in a hidden closet.

"Sheesh, this guy goes through mood swings," Adam remarked quietly.

"ENOUGH." The booming voice caught Goldar off-guard and he jerked his head to the large tube in the corner of the room, where Zordon's face suddenly appeared. "Even tied to chairs, my Rangers are more powerful than your Putties, Goldar. Your army is trapped outside, and you have nowhere to run. Leave now, and you might survive this."

Goldar growled and leveled his sword at Zordon's tube. "Watch your mouth, old man," he threatened. "I'll slice you into pieces!"

Zordon shook his head. "Zedd gave you instructions not to, didn't he?"

Goldar simply growled in response. It was then that the Command Center shook and the sound of explosions could be heard outside. "What was that?!" he demanded.

"That would be the rest of the Rangers destroying your army outside the Command Center's dome," Zordon explained with a hint of pride in his voice. The Viewing Globe came to life as Goldar watched the scene.

"I'm going in for another pass!" Kerri shouted as the Pterodactyl swooped around. The other Rangers held on tight as she strafed the small army of Putties once more, sending rocks and dirt flying in all directions.

"We're going down on the ground," Jake shouted. "Let's go, Ranger Blue." The two Rangers leapt from the now low-hovering Zord and proceeded to fight their way through the crowds of Putties, sword and lance in hand. They took down numerous Putties as Kerri continued firing from the Pterodactyl, taking out large numbers that were still climbing the mountain to reach the Command Center.

It was getting to be too much, though. Kerri couldn't risk hitting the Command Center's shield and disabling it, so her blasts were centered on outliers and other small groups that were further from the building. But the main body began to swarm over Bryan and Jake, limiting their movement and eventually holding them in place. But the two were saved at the last second by a burst of energy arrows that struck several of the Putties that were holding them. Jake turned to see a remorphed Aiden bracing himself against the door of Kerri's Zord, wielding her Power Bow with surprisingly good accuracy. Jake gave him the thumbs up before he continued his onslaught.

"Cyrus failed," Goldar growled.

"And so have you," Zordon retorted. "Look behind you at those suits, Goldar. They represent your failures, past, present, and future. No matter what you try, what you do, there will always be Rangers standing against you."

Goldar turned around and saw six Ranger costumes. Most were from teams he wasn't familiar with, but he did recognize one of the green ones. It was Tommy's old Green Ranger outfit. "I see the old Rangers aren't in those suits anymore," he growled as he approached. He stood in front of Tommy's Green Ranger costume. "But your team of newbies will fall, I promise you! Starting with the Green Ranger's legacy." He glared at the costume, as if it was the source of all the malcontent in his life.

It soon would be.

That Green Ranger costume's fist shot through the glass and grabbed Goldar by the braids. He helped and attempted to pull back, but it was too late. The suit yanked Goldar's face down into its rising knee. The impact was loud and jarring, and Goldar fell to the ground, stunned. The Blue Overdrive Ranger burst from its case as well, ready to offer backup, but Goldar was down for the moment.

Billy leapt to his feet and accessed the safe underneath Zordon's tube. "Catch!" he yelled as he threw the Morphers at the Blue Ranger. Both Rangers vaulted over the railing onto the main floor and Overdrive Blue handed the Green Ranger the Sabertooth-Tiger Morpher. Goldar rolled over and faced the Rangers as they did something very odd; with the usual battle cries, the Blue Overdrive Ranger morphed into the Mighty Morphin' Green Ranger, and the Green Mighty Morphin' Ranger morphed into the Yellow Mighty Morphin' Ranger.

"I've been waiting all day for this," Ranger Green said threateningly as he vaulted over the railing again. Goldar closed his eyes in anticipation.

2:00 PM

The other Rangers helped Aiden into the Command Center once the alarms were turned off. The putty dust was everywhere, and Goldar had retreated just before Rangers Yellow and Green sliced him to pieces, ending the emergency and taking the Command Center off lockdown. The security measures were back online, and Billy was running a diagnostic.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked his son as he demorphed.

"Yeah... I'm fine. Exhausted, but fine," he said, leaning against the railing. He looked around the control room. "Goldar was in here for three hours, and the only damage was two display cases and a console?"

"And the big mainframe thing down in the basement," Ty added.

"And several vent covers," Thuy remarked.

"What caused all this?" Kerri asked.

Billy was still looking at some holographic displays. "Goldar found our hidden cache of solar panels and overcharged them, leading to the blackout. By the time I manged to get power back, he was already inside with several Putties. I've fixed the core problem by setting limiters on the solar panels' intake, but we're still going to have to move them."

"Who was that you were fighting?" Jake asked Aiden.

Aiden sighed as he slowly sat down on the step leading up to the suit displays. "Called himself Cyrus. Claimed he was one of Zedd's generals, like Goldar. Given how powerful he was, I believe it. He was toying with me the entire time. Which means we have a really dangerous new enemy to fight."

"Where's your mother?" Adam asked his son.

"I left her on a rooftop not far from where Cyrus was. She should be fine. I sent her a text a few minutes ago saying that I'm fine and that I'll meet her at home." Adam nodded with approval.

"Speaking of your mother," Billy said, "she's on the news."

"I'm here on-site where the monster Cyrus battled the Black Ranger. I have an eyewitness here, a Ms. Ciara Park. Ms. Park, can you tell us what happened to you?"

"Well, I was out with my son, but when that monster attacked, we got separated. He's okay, by the way. But I went back to look for him, and that Cyrus creature tried to kill me! The Black Ranger saved me by dragging me up to the rooftops."

"You met the Black Ranger?" the reporter asked. "What's he like?"

"You're not going to believe this," Aiden's mother said, "but I spoke to the Black Ranger myself. She's a woman!"

The Rangers all turned to Aiden looking confused as the Black Ranger himself just put his head in his hands, not certain whether to laugh or cry.