Kira woke up, feeling something pressing against her face. She reached up, feeling around to find that it was firmly strapped in place, with no obvious release mechanism.

She swallowed, but found there was something in her throat. She tried to scream, but found she was incapable of making any sound whatsoever. A tube had been shoved down her throat, allowing her to breathe, but preventing her from making any sound. She heard the door open, and General Ibar entered.

"I take it your accommodation is comfortable?" He mocked as he closed the door. Kira wanted to answer, but the muzzle wouldn't let her. Instead, she just flipped him the bird, to which he just laughed.

"If you knew what awaited you, perhaps you wouldn't be so defiant." He suggested. "After all, we already know that the bracelet is not the sole source of your power."

Kira froze as she heard this. One of the things she was sure was keeping her safe was the fact they hadn't figured out the power of her Dino Gem was connected to her DNA. Even with the bracelet, they had no way of accessing her powers.

Now though, they seemed to be getting more frustrated, and desperate, and as a result were coming uncomfortably close to finding the way to release her powers. Of course other than that, they clearly had no problem with killing her to get that power.

"Of course you could always tell us how to get that power." Ibar scoffed as he looked at the scans. "Of course, we all know now what your voice is like rock star!"

Kira could do nothing as they said this and laughed at her expense. The tube down her throat prevented her from making any sound at all, much less using her ptera scream.

She found her thoughts straying to her team. She had been crushing on Trent for a while, so much so that her best friend Ethan still teased her about it. She had hyperventilated when she had first seen Trent. He was cute, that much she couldn't deny, but she had to admit that although he was attractive, she couldn't get over what he had done to her, to her team.

She knew Trent wasn't in control when he attacked them, but that didn't make it any easier to deal with. There was a part of her that still thought of him as the guy that almost killed her, and as much as she didn't want to feel that way, she couldn't help it.

Ethan was her brother. There was no other way to describe it; he was her little brother, despite being technically two months older than her.

She would never have imagined being friends with him at the beginning of the year, but now she knew there was so much more to him than just the geek so many had picked on. He had shared so much with her, she knew him intimately. He had told her how he felt about Cassidy, but he was willing to give her up because he knew she would only be in danger if they stayed together.

Trent had his own issues. She wasn't sure what those were, but he never hung out with her or the guys outside of Ranger training or active duty. He just kind of disappeared into the ether whenever the battle was done.

Conner was also cute in his own way, but usually he just annoyed her. He varied between whining constantly about his responsibilities as a Ranger, and being overbearingly bossy. He never seemed to find a balance between the two. He was strong, tough, and he was kind of attractive, but any time she found herself noticing he was cute, he always found a way of ruining the moment and reminding her why she wasn't into him.

Her thoughts then turned to Tommy. He always insisted they call him Dr. Oliver or Dr. O, but he wasn't really that much older than them, at least not as far as her research went. She had seen his high school photos, and indeed had "borrowed" one of his yearbooks. She didn't know why at first, but pouring over it so many times, she had become infatuated with how handsome he was, and how little the years had seemed to change that.

She knew it was pointless, she knew he would never feel the way she did, but she couldn't help it. She was always finding reasons to go to his place. She had volunteered more than once to help him clean up, and to organise his things. She was heartbroken when he was stuck in his morphed form, and it killed her when Hayley brought him back and he lapsed into a coma. He had only been out for a day, but that was a very special day for her. It was the first day since she had left Sunday School that she had prayed.

As the door opened, she looked around, finding General Ibar there.

"It is time." He told her, grabbing her wrist and twisting it, before dragging her from the room. Kira tried to struggle, but he was simply too strong. If she had her morpher, or she could use her ptera scream, then things might have been different, but right now she was no match for them. "It's time for us to find out the real secrets to your power. It's time for your vivisection."

Kira had never been a keen student, but she knew the subtle undertone to the word. It wasn't exactly any better, but dissection at least indicated she'd be dead and not feel anything. Vivisection was something she had protested against. Vivisection meant that the subject was alive when the dissection began.

The tube down her throat compressed her vocal cords, meaning she couldn't scream, but every instinct in her was doing so. Kira struggled in a futile manner as Ibar dragged her down the corridor.

Meanwhile, out in the wastes, the troopers huddled behind a rock as they surveyed the situation. They weren't far from Grimlord's fortress, but they were sure they still had to be careful. There was a fine line between bravery and stupidity, and they were keen not to cross it. Kaitlin clutched her hatchet tightly as they surveyed the area.

"There's a passage on the Eastern wall." He told them. "You can get in through there."

"We?" Kaitlin asked. "What about you?"

"Someone needs to attract their attention don't they?" Ryan asked her. JB held up a hand.

"I'll do it." JB stated. Kaitlin grabbed his arm as he said this.

"JB, you can't!" She demanded. "It's suicide!"

"She's right." Ryan told him.

"I'm the one with the vortex command." He reminded them. "I'll keep them busy as long as I can. Then I'll bug out. By the time I do, you should have gotten Kira out of there."

Kaitlin couldn't speak to argue with him. His plan made some measure of sense, but that wasn't what she was thinking about. Although she was desperate to get Kira back, all she could think about was the fact JB was going to be facing an army by himself. She couldn't stand to think of him facing those kinds of odds alone.

"I'll go with you." She replied, only for him to shake his head.

"No, I have a vortex command, you don't." He reiterated. "You need to get Kira and get her to a portal. I can make one for myself."

Kaitlin didn't respond, she was too busy imagining JB being among Grimlord's forces by himself. Ryan hit her shoulder, bringing her attention back to the mission in hand. He was her closest friend, and was well aware how she felt about JB, and so he understood her dilemma, but he was confident JB knew what he was doing.

"Kaitlin, we'll go in." He assured her, before turning to JB. "Don't do anything stupid."

"You know I always do." He replied flippantly before running off across the mountains. Kaitlin reluctantly followed Ryan as he headed towards the fortress.

In Reefside, Tommy was awakened by a noise in the ground floor of his house. He was a heavy sleeper, having been raised in California. Indeed, he had often said anything below a 6 on the Richter scale wouldn't wake him. This time though, he knew he was already on edge.

He knew he shouldn't have those feelings about Kira. She was 7 years his junior, and she was one of his students, but that didn't stop something about her speaking to him on a level he hadn't felt since Kat had left him. He hadn't imagined ever feeling that way again. His first love Kimberly had left him to pursue her dream of being a gymnast, and while things had been going well with Kat, she had left to go to school in England.

When he was called back into action in his mission to the moon, he was sure that this was just the sick joke fate had played on him. It didn't matter how hard he tried to pull away, or how long it was since he had worn the "spandex", he was doomed, fated to that life. He had loved comic books as a kid, but now more than ever he identified with Batman. It didn't matter what he felt, he was doomed to be alone.

He crept down the stairs, making no noise as he did so, using all his training to keep his presence secret as he made his way into the living room. He saw a red-haired woman sitting by the computer.

"God damn it Hayley, you gave me a heart attack!" He sighed as he realised the identity of the intruder and realised there was no danger. "What are you doing here?"

"My warning system detected a blip." She told him. "Your computers have more accurate scans than the ones in the cyber cafe."

"So you broke into my house?" He asked her. Hayley just held up a bunch of keys and rattled them.

"It's not exactly like I haven't been round here before." She reminded him. "We did have that month in Junior Year."

"Why are you here Hayley?" He asked her in an exasperated sigh.

"It's Kira." Hayley told him. Tommy's heart went cold as he heard this. "I thought that might get your attention."

"What's wrong?" Tommy demanded, rushing to the computer.

"It's her energy signature." She told him. "It disappeared."

"You mean..." He couldn't bring himself to say it. Although he knew it was wrong, he couldn't help the way he felt about her. It would have destroyed him if anything happened to her. Hayley shook her head.

"If she was dead, her Dino Gem energy would still be active." She told him as sympathetically as she could. "She's alive, but I have no idea where she is."

"What do you mean?" Tommy asked her.

"I mean there's no trace of her Dino Gem energy on Earth!" She told him. "It's like she just disappeared from existence!"

"Call the others." Tommy instructed her. "Tell them to meet me in Cross World City."

Kira was dragged into the lab as the foot soldiers scattered. Ibar almost knocked her senseless with a back-handed slap which almost knocked her unconscious. She could feel her cheek swelling and throbbing as a result of the blow, but she couldn't even scream because of the muzzle. Ibar pointed to the table.

"Go!" He barked. Kira just glared at him, at which he punched her hard in the stomach, doubling her up and forcing her to her knees, fighting for breath. "I said GO!"

Kira did nothing but glare at him. While she wasn't sure how much good fighting against them without her powers would be, she was quickly exhausting her options. She already knew what awaited her on the operating table.

She saw her Dino Gem Bracelet hanging in a frame, being bombarded with lasers. Clearly they were still trying to figure out how to access its powers.

"We recently performed a scan of both you and the gem, and found both of you give out the same radiation." He informed her. "So we know now that you're connected to its power."

Kira renewed her struggle as the footsoldiers grabbed her, holding her tightly and started dragging her towards the operating table. She didn't like where this was going, it was amazingly close to the truth.

"Once you're gone, perhaps we can harness..."

An explosion rocked the room and sent everyone tumbling to the floor. Kira got back to her feet just as she watched a couple of armoured strangers enter the room. One of them was wearing red and silver armour, and was carrying a hatched, while the other was wearing blue and silver armour, and carrying a sword. He powered up the blade into an energy weapon and smashed Ibar to the floor.

"We've got her, let's get out of here!" Ryan snapped. Kaitlin grabbed her, beginning to pull her away, but Kira just ripped her arm from her grasp.

"We need to go Kira!" Kaitlin pleaded with her. The Yellow Ranger nodded, but gestured to her muzzle and to the Dino Gem bracelet.

"We'll get it off when we get back!" Kaitlin assured her. "Come on!"

Kira just rolled her eyes and rushed across the room, snatching the bracelet out of the frame, before returning to Kaitlin and Ryan as they backed towards the door.

"You're risking a lot for a bracelet!" Kaitlin replied. Kira had no idea who these people were, but she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. While the opportunity was there, she was going to escape. As they ran through the halls towards the portal, Kira slipped the bracelet onto wrist.

As they reached the portal and fell through it, they landed in a crumpled heap on the ground. Ryan was just starting to get to his feet as he felt a point pressing against his neck. Following it up, he saw the other end being held by the Black Dino Ranger.

"The girl's with us." Tommy told him. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't take your head off right now, and I suggest you talk quickly."