"What am I wearing?" Julia asked as she looked down at the gi and then over at Shelby. Shelby shrugged as she put on a similar garment. She really had no idea what they were getting in to. "First thing- we have to get better clothes."

"I'm not sure you're going to be able to convince…that guy…that we should wear non-karate clothes," Shelby said and Julia laughed. 'That guy' had apparently not made much of an impression on her.

"I think his name was Tommy," Julia remarked and the two of them moved to head out of the locker room. This was their first lesson and neither of them really wanted to be here. There had been a couple of skirmishes, but they had managed just fine without special training.

They stopped, dead in their tracks, as they saw the man sparring with one of the other instructors. The way he moved was impressive, but it was more than that. There was a silent confidence about how he faced his opponent. They could tell he wasn't trying that hard and it was just a matter of him deciding when he wanted this fight to end. None of them were that comfortable with fighting and it was starting to become apparent why they needed the training.

Kimberly popped out from a door at the back of the space and chuckled as she watched the two of them continue to spar. She moved towards the men and the familiar man stopped before getting decked in the side. Kimberly cringed, but continued towards them as the man pushed himself up and walked over to her.

"You done for the night?" Kim asked and Tommy shook his head no and nodded towards the group that was standing on the other side of the room. "I think you've managed to terrify them."

"I needed to work out some stress. It's been a rough few weeks," Tommy stated as Grant walked over and stood between the two of them. "Thanks, man."

"One day you'll really spar with me. You're not even breathing hard," Grant remarked and Tommy shrugged. It was hard for him to find people he could spar with that he was challenged by and he missed that challenge. He missed sparring with rangers and he hoped Kim would be willing to spar with him again once she had the babies. "Those the babies?"

"Yeah, we'll see how they do," Tommy said as Grant chuckled and shook his head. Tommy was the one instructor that they didn't want teaching beginners, even he would admit it. However, he was the owner and when he said he wanted this class- none of them really questioned him about it.

"Good luck!" Grant called out to them as he headed out the front doors and the rangers, collectively, shuddered,

"One hour?" Kim asked and he cringed. "A two hour class? For beginners?"

"We'll see. I promise not to run them into the ground…today," Tommy stated and she shook her head as she reached up and he gave her a quick kiss. "Was there anything you needed?"

"No, just wanted to check in," Kim said and he nodded before giving her a hug and another kiss. "You may want to toss on your gi."

"Don't like the view?" Tommy quipped and she met his gaze and he chuckled as he walked over to grab his top. He was used to her getting jealous from time to time, but pregnancy had brought a new wrinkle into things. "I'll make it up to you when I come up tonight."

"I'll hold you to that," Kim stated as she moved back towards their home and he then turned to face the rangers. He saw the fear in their eyes, but he also knew that he could train them past being scared of what he would throw at them.

"Was any of that for us?" Cameron asked and Tommy shook his head no. He had been serious that he needed to spar. If he had come into this class without sparring, he was sure he would do some damage to one of them. "So you're really that good?"

"I don't get to really spar with anyone. I train with various people here, but there's something about training with rangers," Tommy said as he looked at each of them. Two of the men were close to his height and one was taller; the women were compact, but he knew that size would not matter in this world. "The good thing for you- is that you're not likely to hurt me while you learn."

"You're not that good," Brandon said and Tommy held up his hands. He'd let them think they were badasses for a bit. Every ranger eventually realized their limitations, even him. Especially him. "You're old."

"Are you trying to have him kill us?" Julia asked as she pushed Brandon back and he gave her a patronizing smile. "What is it with the cockiness from the three of you? Do you not remember being knocked on your asses last week and leaving it to us? Because I do and I certainly didn't appreciate being left to deal with that shit on my own."

"You're just not as naturally gifted- maybe you should walk away," Patrick stated as Julia launched at him and Tommy grabbed her and pulled her away from him. She struggled against him and he easily contained her, but as he heard the laughs from the boys he threw his arms up and released her. He had a feeling the boys were about to learn a valuable lesson.

She quickly took Patrick down and then moved on to Brandon and Cameron. Tommy watched as she moved and saw the boys fumbling over their feet. She definitely had a point, they were leaning in to being naturally stronger and that was not playing out for them the way that they wanted it to. Julia and Shelby had to work harder at this, but it also meant that they had had to start learning some sort of technique before coming to him. He didn't know where Julia had picked it up, but he was glad that she had. As she slammed Brandon into the ground, Patrick started to get up and he placed a foot in his chest. He wanted to see how this shook out.

As soon as Brandon and Patrick were out of the fray, Cameron's skills immediately improved. It was like he remembered that bro fighting was not going to help him survive and that he might want to use some of the random new abilities he was finding. The boy back flipped away from Julia and he could tell that it shocked the both of them. He was getting ready to call it a draw when Julia slammed Cameron into the wall and the boy groaned as he slid down it.

When Julia turned around, he saw her eyes flash pink and he moved his foot to let Patrick up. The other rangers were, rightfully, terrified, but he was impressed. He had never seen a ranger connect with their powers so quickly before. She started to charge at him and he grabbed her and tossed her into the mats.

"You've proven your point, Julia. You don't want to test me," Tommy stated as she bounced on the mats and then looked up at him, shaken out of the power surge. "Good to know you're still arguing with each other- that's about standard."

"This is normal?" Shelby asked as she moved out from behind some of the mats and he looked over at her. She was the timid one in the group. There was always one that didn't openly move toward conflict.

"Yeah. Completely normal. It's worse on teams where you're thrown together and don't know each other," Tommy said as the boys finally started sitting up and he could see that they were licking their wounds and their pride had taken a hit. "Jules…how much have you been leading?"

"Hold on, I'm the leader," Cameron said as he walked over to them and Tommy completely ignored him. If he had been leading, Julia wouldn't be the one chastising the team. "I am- aren't all the leaders red?"

"Generally, yes- but sometimes the powers get it wrong. Your powers may be designed for a leader, but I know it doesn't always work that way," Tommy said as Julia pushed herself to her feet and quietly dusted herself off. He could tell that he was the first person that had really challenged her and that she was not a fan. "Jules?"

"It's been defaulting to me a lot. They're either incapacitated or being bull headed about taking out the monsters on their own," Julia stated as she snatched back her communicator that Tommy had picked up. "And I'm tired of it."

"You should be tired of it, but it also means you've connected to your powers much more," Tommy said as he grabbed her arm and she glared at him. "Fighting me is stupid though, I know all the tricks. You haven't even figured out the best ones yet."

"Fine," Julia said as she snatched her arm back and then crossed her arms to glare at him. "But only because you do know what you're doing."

"I haven't been watching the recent battles. Maybe I should have, it certainly would have made me more prepared for tonight. What the hell were you three thinking?" Tommy asked as the boys looked up at him and he felt their nerves. "Connecting to your powers helps the most. You aren't doing that though. The two of them are- that's why they've progressed faster."

"I don't like how it feels," Cameron admitted as Tommy looked over to see him rolling his morpher around in his hands. "Do you enjoy it?"

"Yes…and no," Tommy said as he ran his hands through his hair and looked over at Julia and Shelby. "Are you two having the same problems?"

"No," Shelby supplied as he nodded and let out a sigh. So it was just the boys that were having this problem. Wonderful.

"Well…I guess we're going to have to work that out," Tommy said as he just shook his head. He knew there were going to be problems with this team- there were with every team. "For now, let's focus on getting you to fight more as a team. That'll help the most."

The rangers stood still as they stared at him and he walked away from them, setting up to where it looked more like a normal class. He had forgotten, momentarily, that the large glass windows allowed anyone to see in. He needed this to look like an absolutely normal class in case anyone was watching them. He knew that, eventually, someone would be watching them. There was always a time when the evil decided it was time to spy on them.

When he turned back to face the rangers, they were still and he, self-consciously, looked around the empty dojo. He then saw the light radiating from him and he let out a sigh. Apparently, they had struck a nerve with him and he quickly shook his head and the light stopped.

"Get moving, if Kimberly finds us like this…it's my ass that's on the line," Tommy stated and the rangers quickly set up in sparring pairs, leaving Patrick as the extra ranger. "Well…I guess you get me."

"Shit," Patrick muttered and Tommy chuckled. These rangers were definitely going to learn from him, he just wasn't sure if this was what they imagined.

AN: If you or someone you know are struggling, call the Suicide and Crisis lifeline at 988 (for the U.S.). Please do not suffer in silence, reach out and get the help you need.

AN2: It's a holiday week- so enjoy enjoy this extra chapter! I'll be posting on Wednesday and Saturday through January 7th and then back to once a week after that.