Kaitlin gathered her bearings, still shielding Kira's prone body protectively with her own as she heard a commotion a little way from her. She shook her head to clear her vision, and looked up to see a guy in a black, skin-tight suit with gold accents and shoulder pads holding a weapon directed at Ryan's throat. She didn't quite register what had been said between them, but she was sure it wasn't friendly.

She gripped her hatchet, beginning to run towards him, but she was cut off by a power blast sending her to the ground. Trent strode out confidently, holding the Drago Sword over his shoulder as Conner and Trent appeared.

"Stay down." He warned her. Kaitlin rolled aside, pulling out her blaster and fired, striking him in the chest and sending him to the ground. Conner and Ethan rushed her in response.

Tommy was still keeping Ryan in his sights, unblinking as he had his Brachio Staff levelled, ready for action. He edged closer, pressing the point into his throat.

"Leave!" Tommy urged him.

"Sorry, but we don't do that here." He replied, kicking his feet against the ground hard, rolling backwards away from him and finding his feet. He swung his sabre, finding it parried as Tommy pressed his own assault.

The Troopers quickly found themselves under pressure though. Like it or not, the numbers were against them. These opponents were far stronger than Grimlord's usual vanguard. Ryan eventually found himself blasted into a wall with an Energy Orb, while Conner and Ethan sent Kaitlin flying.

Just as the Dino Thunder Rangers started to consolidate on them, there was a burst of what looked like lightning split the air. They all looked around as a figure in black and silver armour plunged around twenty feet from the burst and landed on the ground, unmoving.

"JB!" Kaitlin shrieked as she saw him, running over, almost sending everyone to the ground in her rush to check on him. The DT Rangers kept Ryan in their sights as she fell to her knees next to him. Kaitlin recalled her Trooper Armour as she checked over him, seeking the extent of the damage.

"She's human?" Ethan asked.

"That might just be one of her forms." Conner told him. "This might be a trap."

Kira had, by now, gathered enough of her senses to see what was going on. She had watched as the woman in red and silver armour who had saved her turned back into the reporter she had been there to interview about a minor journalism award. She could see that her friends, the DT Rangers had arrived, probably to rescue her, only to end up attacking the very people that had got her free.

She tried to yell, but couldn't, suddenly being reminded about the muzzle strapped to her face. The tube down her throat, compressing her vocal cords wouldn't let her even make a sound. Conner and Ethan rushed towards Kaitlin and JB to keep them covered, while Tommy and Trent covered Ryan. Kira finally lost patience and got up, rushing forward and slamming a hand into both the White and Black Rangers' chests, shoving them away.

"Kira..." Tommy's words tailed off as she ran over to Kaitlin and JB, throwing herself in the way and helping Kaitlin check on him. Kaitlin looked up, realising that having recalled her armour in front of her, she had revealed her identity. Kira locked eyes with her for a second, but Kaitlin was a little surprised that far from being shocked, she almost had an understanding look about her. She held up her hands to stop the others acting.

She reached inside Kaitlin's coat, pulling out her notepad and a pen. She wrote something frantically, before showing it to them. It simply read the word "save".

"Save?" Conner asked. "They saved you?"

Kira nodded, before writing something else. She showed it to them.

"I don't understand." Trent said. "You want us to..."

Kira picked up a rock, throwing it at him to cut him off. She finally slammed a hand into Kaitlin's chest, then pointed to her friends, before clasping her hands together.

"You want us to work together?" Ethan asked her. She rolled her eyes and nodded as she wrote one last thing on the pad. She showed it to them. It was the word "reveal".

"Reveal?" Tommy asked her. "Reveal what?"

Kira tapped her bracelet to demonstrate what she meant. Kaitlin had, for want of a better phrase since she knew nothing about her new friends "de-morphed" in front of them. It wouldn't take them long to figure out who she was if they wanted to. She gave up and wrote something and showed it to Kaitlin.

"She wants us to go somewhere we can talk in private." She informed them. "Kira said we have a lot in common. She also said you can de-morph...whatever that means."

"Are you sure?" Tommy asked her. Kira just looked to him, her eyes connecting with his and nodding. She didn't know much more about what was going on than he did. All she knew was that Kaitlin was one of the mysterious warriors who had saved her from Grimlord. Right now, that was good enough for her. He sighed and nodded to his students.

"Is there somewhere private we can talk?" He asked, offering Ryan a hand to get up. Ryan accepted it, getting up.

"We have a command centre." He replied. "JB's hurt..."

"My guys will take him." Tommy replied. Conner, Ethan and Trent all groaned as they went over to help him. "Where is it?"

Back in the Virtual World, Grimlord came into the laboratory, observing the scene of destruction.

"You lost the girl?" He asked the robot set to perform the surgery. He nodded.

"The troopers came in and took her." It replied pleadingly. Grimlord looked to the frame before him, noticing that it was empty.

"So they took the girl, and the bracelet, and you didn't stop them?" He asked. "And yet you still EXIST?"

"Sire, they were..."

Its words were cut off as Grimlord's hands started to glow. He grabbed his minions' head and smashed it against the wall, again and again until all that was left was scrap metal. As the body fell to the ground, he turned to Ibar.

"Find the girl and that power source." He instructed him. "She is the key to ending my war with those accursed VR Troopers!"

As he stormed away, Ibar looked at the wrecked body of the robot charged with performing Kira's vivisection. He had no desire to end up the same way.

The Troopers arrived in their command centre, accompanying the Rangers. Ethan and Trent carried JB in, each supporting him under one of his arms. As they put him down, Jeb padded into the room.

"Hey guys, who are the bozos in spandex?" He asked. The DT Rangers, all except for Tommy all stared at him.

"Um...did the dog just talk?" Conner asked.

"I think it did." Trent replied.

"Hey, less of the it, I haven't been fixed." Jeb replied. "Call me Jeb, or 'he' at least."

"Well my first mentor was a head in a jar." Tommy replied with a shrug. "It isn't that bizarre when you think about it."

"Indeed it isn't." Professor Hart stated as he appeared on the screen. "It is my honour to finally meet Power Rangers."

"You know about us?" Conner asked. Tommy just tapped him on the shoulder.

"They're marketing Beanie babies of us." He replied. "I got a Red Dino Ranger toy in a Happy Meal last week. Everyone's heard of us."

"I guess you haven't heard of us then." Professor Hart added. "I guess we're better at the whole covert war thing than you are. They are the VR Troopers. They are three individuals chosen to protect the world from invasion from the Virtual Reality by the evil warlord Grimlord."

"It sounds familiar." Conner stated.

"Dude, we weren't exactly chosen. We just kind of picked up the wrong stones." Ethan reminded him. Kira rolled her eyes ans pushed her way to the front, beginning to type on a keyboard. Professor Hart just smiled.

"I believe Miss Ford would appreciate it if you'd put...in her words...the secret identity sht aside and just got on with it." He told them with a slight chuckle. "I believe she'd quite like to get that device off."
"We're not sure..."

"I've already shown who I am." Kaitlin reminded them from where she was tending to JB. JB reached to a switch and de-powered, revealing himself. They then both looked at Ryan.

"You next." He stated, looking at the Black Ranger as he de-powered. Tommy looked at him for a moment, before de-morphing himself.

"Ryan Steele?" He asked. "I saw you fight ages ago, you were a huge name in full-contact."

"Other stuff came up." Ryan replied, extending a hand. "Tommy Oliver? You were one of the guys I always wanted to fight."

"Likewise." Tommy replied, shaking his hand. "Guys, go ahead. We're all on the same side."

Conner, Ethan and Trent all de-morphed, revealing themselves. They made their way forward.

"Um...they're kids." Ryan commented. "I mean...they're actually kids. I doubt any of them are old enough to vote."

"Only until April." Conner piped up.

"They're handling the responsibility." Tommy assured him.

"I wasn't much older than Kira when we started this." Kaitlin reminded him. Ryan had to concede the point. They had been part of this war for so long, they really didn't appreciate how young they were when all of that started.

"I have some scans of Kira's restraint." Professor Hart told them. "It's a muzzle that has a tube extending down her throat."

Kira was starting to write something, but Kaitlin just put a hand on hers to stop her.

"She's figured that out." Kaitlin told him. "What can we do about it?"

"It isn't hooked to anything vital." He told them. "It'll be unpleasant, but if we manage to detach the straps, we'll be able to simply pull it out."

"I'll do it." Kaitlin told them before anyone could answer. As they looked at her, she just took Kira by the arm. "I doubt it's going to be peasant when we do this. Do you really want to be there?"

"Actually I was wondering if we really want her able to talk again." Conner joked. "I mean, I kind of like this Kira."

Kira just turned and gave him a hand gesture that showed she was far from amused at his ill-advised joke.