The Rangers ran through the streets of Auckland, in hot pursuit of the Purple Ranger. They had known that someone had bonded to the Purple Energem, but to actually SEE the Purple Ranger was still something of a surprise. They knew that there were certain things that seemed to come naturally to them once the Energems bonded. They all got stronger, they all became faster, they started to gain heightened senses and instincts related to their individual dinosaur spirits. Thanks to Shelby, Tyler and even Phillipe, they also knew it was possible to morph without being taught how. It was the only explanation how the Purple Ranger had appeared. It was even possible to summon their weapons without even knowing they existed...Riley had summoned his sword when he first got his Energem, even before his first morph. However, this guy had also managed to BOTH!

Ms Morgan had worked hard to make new weapons technology that was compatible with their Energem power, that could be summoned in time of need. The Rangers were all well briefed on their weapons. How to summon them, and more importantly, had trained extensively in how to use them. They knew that there were certain instincts that the Energems looked for in those they bonded to. All of them had bonded to their Energems after performing acts of heroism that proved they were worthy of that power. They also knew that the Energems came with certain instincts. Even those of them who had not been trained fighters before they bonded had a certain level of instinct likely taken from their Dinosaur Spirits. However, that didn't mean they didn't train to know how to wield such power safely. Whoever had bonded to the Purple Energem though had all that power, but there was no way to know how much they understood the dangerous nature of the power any more than a novice understood the dangers of a loaded gun.

"Man this guy can move!" Riley commented as he vaulted over a guard rail, following the purple clad stranger. "Can we...?"

"We still can't risk morphing, too many people around!" Tyler reminded him.

"That might not be too much of a problem much longer." Chase said as they saw the tell-tale signs of screams and people running away. He got on his communicator. "Ms Morgan? It looks like Fury might be in the area. We're going to need you to work your magic!"

"I'm triangulating your position from your communicators." Kendall said wearily.

"Did...did I just wake you up?" Chase asked.

"Don't worry; I took the precaution of sleeping in the lab." She told him. "I needed to account for the time difference."

"Well, we're probably going to need to morph soon." Tyler answered. She worked as quickly as she could.

"I'm getting into the city grid, isolating any surveillance in the area...that should do it!" She responded.

"Alright, here we go." Tyler answered. "Unleash the Power!"

A little way off though, the Purple Ranger, or Violet Avenger as the locals had come to know him, had run into more than a little trouble. He was no stranger to being chased. He was technically a vigilante, and so he had been pursued from the scene of crimes by police before. A few reporters and people with camera phones tried their luck as well, even before the aliens showed up. However, these kids that were following him seemed different somehow. Most gave up the chase after a couple of blocks. They were keeping remarkably good pace though.

He got to an area of the waterfront, only to find once again that the strange cat-creature was there, together with the seaweed things that followed him around. He skidded to a halt.

"Not YOU again!" He protested. Fury just smiled.

"Yes, me again!" He responded. The Purple Ranger was about to start running, when a flaming rock smashed into the ground a little way from him. He was thrown to the ground by the impact. He looked up to see another monster standing a little away from him. "No, I am SICK of this wild goose chase! That's why I brought my friend Meteor here!"

The Purple Ranger looked across to where the other monster was standing. Underneath him, between his feet, a couple of kids were cowering in his grip.

"Meteor here has a unique gift. He can cause meteor showers that can cause untold destruction. It wouldn't be the first planet he's carpet-bombed into oblivion."

"Those children..."

"They're just a little incentive for you to stick around." Fury told him. "If you run, Meteor melts your precious city...beginning with these precious little darlings!"

The Purple Ranger knew he was overmatched. He knew that these monsters were far more powerful than him. However, now he knew he couldn't take the chance of running. This Meteor had destroyed a large part of the street without even trying. He couldn't let the kids, or his city pay the price if he ran. He got to his feet.

"Let the kids go. I won't run, I swear it!" The Purple Ranger told him. Fury just gestured to Meteor to release them. He still had the whole city as hostages if the Purple Ranger went back on his word. The kids ran off, leaving them alone. "Now, how about you save the city, and yourself by handing over your Energem?"

"If you want it, why don't you try taking it from him?" Tyler declared as the Rangers arrived on the scene. They positioned themselves between the Purple Ranger and Fury's forces. "Are you alright?"

"You...those costumes...you're just like me!" He responded. "Who are you?"

"We'll explain, we promise!" Chase told him. "First, we have to take care of these guys..."

"We can't!" The Purple Ranger called out. "That monster will destroy..."

"He's not going to destroy the city while he's STANDING IN IT!" Shelby responded as Fury ordered the Viviks forward. The Rangers charged into battle. "If you really want to get rid of these guys, now's the time!"

Back in the States, Phillipe arrived back in the Embassy, coming into a private parlour with Margaret. He threw his coat onto a coat hook by the door and made his way to a chair, slumping down into it.

"I swear to GOD, if I ever meet the man who invented golf, I am going to extradite him to Zandar and have him tried for crimes against humanity." He grumbled. Margaret just sniggered a little, fetching him a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Surely it can't have been THAT bad." She chuckled. Phillipe just looked to her.

"Are you kidding?" He asked in response. "That man can't hit a straight drive to save his life! I needed to put my ball into the water trap three times to keep my score high enough..."

"You know, you don't ALWAYS have to lose to impress people." She reminded him. "Perhaps he'd have respected it if you actually won fair and square."

"The man argued with the caddy for forty minutes on the sixteenth hole to change his score card! He managed to accomplish seven 'practice' strokes on a par 3! He refused to let the poor boy do his job until he cut out half his strokes from his score card! I normally don't mind a healthy sense of competition, but I have a feeling if I'd won he'd be appealing to have me deported!" Phillipe responded.

"So...he's kind of a jerk?" She asked.

"If you think that's bad, not only did I have to throw the most embarrassingly one-sided game of golf since the game's invention, he had a few DOZEN too many martinis at the nineteenth hole, then as we were leaving he yelled at some guys who turned up to the club for a game only to be told the club was closed for us." Phillipe told her. "I swear, the clip's probably already all over YouTube."

"Still, at least you..."

"Oh, the worst part of it is we didn't get to even discuss the traffic issues around the Embassy." Phillipe told her. "Oh, well...sorry, we did 'discuss' it, or at least his very interesting interpretation of a discussion. He just muttered something about it not being in the budget, and then took the first of thirteen swings on the first hole!"

"So...not the most productive day then." Margaret suggested. He just sighed.

"You could say that." He replied, taking a sip. He felt his face a little tight, and pressed his fingers to it. "Damn it all, now I think I have sunburn."

"I told you to wear sun screen." She responded in exasperation. "I'll go and get some after-sun lotion."

As she left to get the lotion, Phillipe went to his computer and started to answer some e-mails. He was still getting used to the fact that any time he was away from his computer for more than an hour, he'd come back to dozens of e-mails. He started to cycle through them, checking them for any new business he needed to attend to. While he was still new to his post, and so it would likely be a while before he was invited to anything hugely important, since many were still no doubt trying to figure out if they should take an ambassador from a nation of less than a hundred thousand people seriously. He did however have plenty of people making inquiries and sending in comments.

"Watkins Ice Cream? Do I even know a Watkin's Ice Creams?" He asked, before opening the e-mails. He just read through a long complaint concerning the fact that the whole golf course had been closed for the day, and so he was forced to delay an important business function. "You think you had a bad day Mr Watkins? At least you didn't have to play the man."

As he started to type out a quick apology, Margaret came back into the room with the lotion. As he answered his e-mails, she started to rub some into his cheeks and forehead.

"More e-mails?" She asked him.

"Appeasing some of the locals." He told her. "It appears a few people weren't best pleased about the golf course being closed."

"So you're doing more to appease his constituents than he is?" She asked him. He just shrugged in response.

"I think of it as playing nice with the new neighbours." He replied as he tried to think. "What do you think would be an appropriate gift for an ice cream merchant?"

"Ice-cream merchant?" She asked.

"Yes, apparently some man that owns an ice cream business was meant to take some clients onto the golf course today. He isn't best pleased he had to delay that." Phillipe said, thinking about it. "Perhaps I could invite him and his clients to dinner? Perhaps that place down the street..."

"Watkins Ice Creams is a LITTLE more than an ice cream parlour." She informed him. "It's a nationwide business. They make those ice cream bars you like."

"Really?" He asked her.

"The business is worth an estimated 6.2 million dollars per annum." She informed him. "Why do you think he can afford a Platinum membership to the golf course?"

"Right, so something a little more up-scale than the steak-house." He responded. "I know, I could invite them here! I'm certain Henri would be able to come up with something appropriate!"

"That's a little more like it." She said with a smile. "But I think we can do a little better. You know he wants to take them for golf. I'm sure they'd appreciate having a dignitary there."

"I think I've had enough of golf for one lifetime." He grumbled, taking off his shirt. "Would you mind getting my neck?"

"I'm sure one day out of your schedule wouldn't hurt." She answered, rubbing some of the lotion down into his neck. She gulped as she did so, making sure she rubbed it in properly. She was quiet for a moment as she did so, her mind going into that place that she found it going to on occasion when she thought about him. She suddenly realised that she hadn't said anything in a while as her hands started to stray down towards his shoulders. She pulled away.

"I suppose not. It's not like congress has much for me to do lately." He commented. He noticed her hands suddenly pulling away. "Margaret?"

"I...um...I just realised there's something I need to...um..." She started to stammer, handing him the ointment. "I just need to...um...see about..." Phillipe watched her leave the room, before shrugging his shoulders and returning to his e-mail.

"He has a membership; he can play golf any time." Phillipe thought aloud. "I wonder how he and his clients would feel about dry slope skiing?"

Back in New Zealand, the Rangers were embroiled in battle with the remnants of Fury's forces. True to their assertion, Meteor was reluctant to call down any major destruction while he was in the middle of the blast zone. This gave them the perfect opportunity to whittle down the numbers and drive them off their new ally.

Ivan had brought down some Viviks when he noticed that the Purple Ranger was on the ground, scurrying away from Fury as he advanced on him. He rushed over, powering up his Ptera Sabre with three Energems.

"You've led me on quite a chase weakling!" Fury growled as he brought his sword overhead. "But now you've run out of places to run and hide!"

"Not so fast you feline fiend!" Ivan declared as he flipped over Fury's head blocking his attack as his blade powered up. Fury's eyes widened as he saw this. He had felt the sting of Ivan's power more than once.

"Oh no..."

"Oh yes!" Ivan responded abruptly, swinging around and smashing Fury away. He reached out a hand for the Purple Ranger to help him up, never taking his eyes off Fury. "Glad I could help, my violet..."

His words tailed off as he noticed no one grabbing his hand. He looked around, only to find that the Purple Ranger was nowhere in sight! He looked around curiously.

"...friend?"

"Ivan, they're on the ropes!" Chase stated. "Get your shiny arse over here!"

Ivan powered up his blade again as the Rangers all powered up their blasters.

"Dino Morpher BLAST!" They called out, firing their rounds, utterly destroying the last of the viviks, and knocking down Fury and Meteor. By the time the smoke was clearing, all they could see was a landing pod speeding away.

"Damn it, they got away!" Tyler exclaimed.

"Well, our objective was to save the Purple Guy." Riley reminded them as they all started to look around. "Speaking of which...has anyone seen where he went?"

"Oh...Over here!" The Purple Ranger called out as he stood up from behind a nearby bench. They all started to approach him. "I'm sorry, I was just...ah...checking that none of those monsters were still hanging around. I was going to give them what for, I can tell you!"

"I'm perfectly certain." Ivan responded, sounding somewhat less than convinced as he looked to the others. They all de-morphed, revealing themselves to the Purple Ranger.

"Well, the city's safe for now." Shelby told him. "That's why we work in a team usually. It's a lot safer."

"Well, I don't mean to brag, but...I've been at this for something of a while now..." He started to say as a thought occurred to him. "Wait a minute, I know you!"

For the first time, he de-morphed, changing back into his original form. The Rangers were stunned to see a startlingly familiar face standing before them.

"You're the kids that were looking for that thing!" Albert said as he pointed in the direction the ship had flown. The Rangers all stood, staring in disbelief.

"ALBERT?" They all chorused together. Tyler's face lit up as he came to Albert's side, putting his arm around him.

"Excellent!" He called out, holding him closely. As he looked to the others, their reactions were all a little different. Shelby and Koda smiled, glad to see that Albert was safe, and that they had found their new Purple Ranger. Chase was a little more hesitant, his arms crossed over his body, but he was smiling, indicating that he was at least willing to hear how Albert had come into his powers. Riley and Ivan though...

"Wait, YOU'RE a Power Ranger?" Riley asked, pointing at the old tour guide, his tone doing nothing to hide his feelings on the matter. When they had met Albert before, Riley was the first one to say that they should just find out what they needed to and get the hell out of his camp. All he could see was the crazy old cook that spent all day ripping off gullible tourists who believed his wild tales.

"Power Ranger? Is that what I am?" He asked, placing his hands on his chest, before starting to laugh. "HAH! I thought all that was done with those pirate ones that liberated the world a while back!"

"Wait, you don't know what a Power Ranger IS?" Riley asked. "I thought there was a TV show filmed here."

"Yeah, but it doesn't actually air here." Chase told him. "I first found out about Rangers thanks to the Corsairs too."

"So they film a show that doesn't even air here?" Shelby asked him. Chase nodded and sighed.

"It used to, until some whacked out parent's groups objected to the violence in it." He replied. "Trust me; the irony isn't lost on me."

"So, I'm an actual Power Ranger?" Albert asked again, looking delighted. "I...I can't believe it!"

"Come on Albert, we've got a lot to discuss." Shelby told him. "But let's get somewhere quiet. Your camp should do."

"I'll bet you have all sorts of questions. I know I certainly do!" Albert answered as they started to lead him away. Riley and Ivan hung back for a moment. Riley could see the look on Ivan's face and could tell he was as sceptical as he was.

"So...Albert huh?" He asked.

"Quite." Ivan responded curtly. While Riley was thinking about Albert's wild and eccentric habits, there was one thing playing on Ivan's mind.

"I'm guessing you're not happy about this either?" Riley asked. Ivan just nodded.

"Albert disappeared, only to show up when the fighting was done." Ivan told him. "I met many of his kind in my day."

"What type is that?" Riley asked him.

"The ones you'd meet in the tavern before a quest. They would have wild and fantastic tales of their exploits and victories, and yet they were always strangely absent when there was fighting to be done." Ivan told him matter-of-factly. "They would always then turn up again when it was time to head for home."

"So you think he's a blowhard?" Riley asked him. Ivan just looked to him.

"I've met many like him." Ivan said, looking in the direction the others were taking Albert. "They were usually the ones that got a party killed."