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CHAPTER 2

"Are you ready for this?"

"I'm ready. Are you ready?"

"Totally ready."

"Let's do this."

Adam looked at Rocky.

Rocky looked at Adam.

They both nodded once.

Trini rolled her eyes. "You two are so weird," she muttered before clearing her throat. "Alright Jase, fifteen seconds to meeting time."

"Initiate," Rocky said. As he and Adam each lifted ear plugs towards their ears, an alarm blared.

"Agh!" They both hastily dropped the ear plugs and clasped their hands over their ears.

Jason Scott, also holding the sides of his head, spun around from the huge screen he was facing. "Trini!" he yelled. "What is that?!"

"Like I know!" she snapped back at him while typing feverishly on a computer keyboard. "Alpha, do you know anything?"

"Ay-yi-yi!" Alpha 7 stammered. "It's the tree alarm!"

"Someone's travelling by the tree system the Mystic Force rangers use!" Trini relayed to Jason.

"It's coming from Briarwood!" Alpha squeaked.

"Briarwood? Isn't that where the Mystics are based out of?"

Before anyone could answer Jason, the room door burst open and Chip came rushing in. He immediately clasped his hands over his ears. "That's our tree alarm!" he shouted to the room in general.

"No shit, kid!" Jason yelled vaguely. "Trini! Turn that thing OFF!" his deep voice echoed around the room as the alarm turned off. "Thank you," he calmly stated after a moment.

"I didn't do anything. Justin?"

"It wasn't me!" Justin called from across the room. "My fingers were in my ears, not my keyboard."

"My keyboard," Trini muttered. "Which I now bestow onto you and your earwax. What about you Alpha?"

"Negative," the robot responded. "It seems the alarm has stopped because the tree activity has stopped."

"Makes sense," Jason said in a sarcastic tone. "What set it off?"

"Someone travelling by tree," Trini replied dryly.

"Do we know who?" he asked, ignoring her attitude that was in response to his.

She took a deep breath to calm herself. "No. I'm trying to find out."

"Um...Hey, Trini?" Justin asked tentatively.

"Oh great," Rocky muttered quietly so only Adam and Jason could hear him. "She's scared the children."

"Leave it alone," Jason warned, a smile tugging at his lips, before he spoke loud enough for Justin to hear him across the room. "What do you got, kid?"

Justin spoke only after Trini nodded at him. "Well, I don't know who it was. But I know what it was."

"And what was it, a stray dog?"

"Funny," Justin smirked at Adam. "It was a power ranger."

"Is everyone here accounted for?" Jason asked quickly, looking around at the few who were in the room with him.

"No one's left in days," Chip supplied. "Except for me and Zack...but we know where we are."

"That means it's a missing ranger!" Justin said excitedly.

"Trini, did we ever get that call?"

"No, I was supposed to make contact," Trini replied to Jason.

"Make it."

"Way ahead of you. It's going to take a moment or two."

Jason went back to the big computer screen. "Chip, do me a favor…get a headcount. Make sure there's still fifteen of us here. And take tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum with you."

"I resent that," Rocky said as he walked out. Adam quickly stuck his tongue out at Jason before following Chip and Rocky.

"Jason, they're answering," Trini said. "I'm putting it on the big screen."

"Hello Mystic Realm!" Jason boomed as an image from Rootcore came on screen. "It has been far too long!"

"Good to see you, bro," Tommy replied. "How's everything over there?"

"Dull. Except for a few minutes ago when our tree alert went bonkers. We got a reading from Briarwood. It was ranger."

"That was Nick," Tommy said, nodding.

"Nick…" Jason racked his brain. "The Light guy?"

Tommy chuckled. "One and only."

Jason noticed two men standing in the background who had started talking to each other. "So," he said, choosing to ignore them. "Any status updates from you?"

"Yeah," Tommy said, and Jason, Trini, and Justin looked up in anticipation. "Just five minutes ago The Light guy randomly showed up. Other than that…nope. You?"

"Well, other than The Light guy randomly showing up without warning us…nope," he mocked Tommy. "But seriously," he continued on, now ignoring more commotion on Tommy's end as several people left the room. "Now that we know where Nick is, we can take him off the M.I.A. list. And we have confirmed that Kai and Kendrix did make it to The Domed City."

"That's good news," Tommy commented with relief.

"Um, there's something else," Trini said. She stood and moved next to Jason so she could be seen by Tommy and the others in the Mystic Realm. "You can tell Madison we found her sister."

"That is wonderful news as well," Udonna said. "She will be so relieved to hear it." Trini and Jason glanced worriedly at each other. "Did you find out what happened to her, why she was so delayed in returning from her mission?"

"Yes," Trini said slowly. "She went to meet with her friend Matoombo as planned, but it was a set-up. Her back up, Chip and Zack, got there too late, but she got away. Trouble was, they had her surrounded."

"But Chip and Zack were able to get her out?" Udonna said softly, knowing exactly what Trini's hesitant tone meant: Something bad had happened.

"Chip brought her back yesterday. She's cut and bruised, but not too broken."

There was a moment of utter silence, and those in the Mystic Realm knew what it meant: Trini hadn't said anything about Zack coming back.

He didn't make it.

Trini continued numbly, "Can you guys handle telling Angela? I wish we had more details to tell her, or a body-" she broke off, slightly appalled that she was now referring to one of her best friends as a body.

"We will take care of it," Udonna spoke up.

"Thank you," Trini said quietly, and they could all tell she was close to tears.

"So Nick is back," Jason changed the subject, knowing that this was valuable time they had to check in with each other. There would be time to mourn later. "Did he bring any news from the real world?"

"We haven't had a chance to speak about it, and his main concern was his adoptive parents. I believe there is no news, or he would have told us straight away."

"We'll check in on the group in Peru, for him and the Overdrive rangers," Jason said as Adam and Rocky came back in.

"Chip counted fifteen," Adam told him. "Everyone's accounted for."

"Hey Doctor ranger, how are things going?" Rocky asked the screen.

"Hi Rocky, Adam. They're as good as can be. And Adam, we have something we need to show you."

"Are you ready? Here we go," Billy pushed a few buttons and a video of Kimberly, Aisha, and a little girl, about a year old, came on screen. Adam's face lit up.

"Is she going to throw up on my wife again?" Rocky asked dejectedly.

"That's my girl," Adam commented, his smile growing even wider at the memory.

"Hi Adam!" Cassie's voice came out of the speakers. She couldn't be seen on screen, meaning she was the one holding the camera. "We just wanted to show you what Ruth has been up to." The image moved to show a boy about the same age as Ruth lying on the floor, fast asleep. "Do you remember my son, Daniel? Well, you might not recognize him." The image zoomed in. "Because your daughter used his face as her painting easel while he slept. But don't worry, it is washable paint. And this boy can sleep through anything. Just like his father." The angle moved again to show TJ also lying on the floor, also sleeping. "Oh, but before you praise your bully of a daughter," she said with a teasing tone while zooming in on TJ's face. "Know that Aunt Kimmy and Cousin Aisha are really bad influences." Cassie, Kimberly, and Aisha giggled as the screen showed the butterflies drawn across TJ's forehead in marker, colored much too neatly to be made by a toddler. "Unfortunately, that marker is not washable…"

The image zoomed out again and back to the girls sitting on the floor.

"Ruth," Aisha said, lifting the little girl to help her stand. "Wave to daddy!"

Kimberly lifted one of her arms and waved it for her. "Hi daddy!" Ruth giggled and started waving both of her arms in excitement. "Yay Ruth!" Kimberly said enthusiastically.

"Hi daddy!" Aisha said for her again.

"Gaaaahh!" Ruth exclaimed. Rocky and Tommy glanced amusingly at each other as Adam weakly lifted a hand to wave back at the prerecorded video.

"Hi Ruthey," he whispered to the screen.

This time, Trini did allow the tears to fall.

"And just for the record, my dear cousin-in-law," Aisha commented as she placed Ruth on the floor again. "I happen to be a wonderful influence…It was Kim. She drew the masterpiece and Ruth saw her doing it. She's the horrible influence."

"Hey, you supplied the markers," Kim said, looking to Aisha and away from Ruth, who had rolled over onto her hands and knees.

"I didn't know what you were going to do with them," Aisha defended herself as Ruth crawled away. Cassie kept the camera trained on the little girl as she got to a chair. She grabbed the chair leg and started pulling herself up.

"That defense will never hold up in court," Kimberly's retort could be heard in the background of the video.

Ruth had pulled herself up so she was standing. Slowly, she turned to look back at the other girls. Since Kimberly and Aisha were busy chatting, she looked up and Cassie and smiled into the camera.

Rocky leaned in towards Jason and muttered, "Is she gonna do what I think she's gonna do?"

"Gaaaahh!" Ruth exclaimed again, just as excited as the last time. This caught Kimberly and Aisha's attention.

"Well," Aisha said as Cassie moved closer so the camera was eye level with Ruth. "It's been two weeks since she's figured out how to stand by herself, but no walking yet."

"Baa!" Ruth said, and she let go of the chair to clap her hands together.

"Oh yes, and she also thinks she's a sheep," Kimberly commented. "Is there a zord for that?"

"Oh no," Cassie said disappointedly. "The battery's dying…Come on Ruthey, before we go, take a step for daddy!" Cassie's hand appeared at the bottom of the screen as she held it out to the little girl.

Ruth's smile faded, and she looked to Kimberly and Aisha, who were also encouraging her. She looked back to the camera, and a wide grin suddenly broke out again. She held one hand out to Cassie and took four steps before suddenly stopping, looking down at her feet in surprise, and plopping to the floor on her butt.

The former ranger girls went nuts.

"Oh my gosh-she walked!"

"Yay Ruth!"

"Cassie, you got that, right?"

"We have to send this to Adam right away!"

"Good girl Ruthey!"

The actual images on the screen were jerky as all three women rushed to Ruth, who was looking around, still confused about this new thing she did. At one point, the camera was facing a confused looking TJ, facial butterflies and all, who looked as though he had suddenly been awoken by the cheers of excitement. The confusion continued for a few more seconds until the battery seemingly died and the screen went blank.

"That's my girl," Adam said softly to the silent room. Rocky threw an arm around his shoulders.

"She'll be chasing the boys in no time," he commented as Adam subtly rubbed his hand across his dampening eyes.

"Yeah, great," he said, smiling. "And the first one she'll go after is Daniel. And then TJ comes after me."

"I think you should be more worried about Cassie coming after you," Jason said as he joined them in front of the giant screen, just as the image from Rootcore came on again.

"Well, I'm glad to see your side is holding it together," Tommy commented dryly. They noticed that Udonna had stepped out of view of the camera. As one, the guys in the human realm all turned to look at Trini, who wasn't bothering to wipe away the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"What?" she snapped.

"Nothing!" The three of them said, quickly looking away.

"It's so cute when the original rangers do things in unison," Justin smirked at them.

Tommy shook his head. "Alright, so I guess you're not holding it together…"

"Oh shut up Doctor ranger," Trini said, though she was smiling.

"Anyway, that was two days ago, Adam," Tommy continued. "Kim said to tell you that now she's taken up to nine steps without holding onto anything, and she can cruise if someone holds her hands and walks with her."

They spent the next few minutes catching up on the status of the known and unknown rangers. Then Adam left to tell anyone who would listen that his daughter had taken her first steps. Rocky went with to tell anyone who would listen that Ruth's walking now made it that much easier for her to harass Cassie and TJ's son.

"Is there news on any of the missing rangers?"

"None, other than Kai and Kendrix," Jason answered.

"We'll be sure to let Leo know," Tommy replied. "So we still don't know anything about the Grayson family?"

"Nothing. Kai or Kendrix was supposed to send word if Dana's father was with the other military forces in The Domed City, but they haven't contacted us further than saying they arrived safely. We were hoping maybe Captain Mitchell would know where the Carters are."

"Alright. Well, keep looking. Not that you were going to stop!" he added as Jason opened his mouth, a pained expression on his face. "I'm just saying!"

"Actually, I was going to say that it may be harder to find them than we thought. It turns out they have a really good reason to stay hidden and not risk travelling."

"They have their two kids with them?" Tommy guessed.

"That, and Dana's pregnant."

"Damn. That's a good reason."

"Yeah."

"How did you find that out if we don't even know where they are?" Ethan asked curiously.

"It was quite simple-" Alpha started to say, before Justin jumped up and covered his speakers.

"No!" Jason exclaimed. "You do not want to hear how we know! Just know that Alpha figured it out and that's all you need to hear. Trust me."

"You guys are such babies," Trini commented. "Justin, let the robot go."

"Thank you, Trini," Alpha said as Justin reluctantly withdrew.

"I'm confused," Ethan said.

"If you're lucky, you'll stay that way," Justin muttered. "Ignorance is bliss, man. Ignorance is fucking bliss."

"Alright then," Tommy said, shrugging at Billy. "Anything else we need to share?"

"Jase, I'm losing the connection," Trini said suddenly.

"And that's bad?" Tommy guessed.

"It means someone is trying to hack in. Or it's raining."

"It's not raining here," Udonna said.

"And we're in the middle of a world-wide computer-issued drought," Justin added.

"Well, I guess this means goodbye until next time," Jason said. "Really quick, how's it coming making a tree safe for travel so we can get more of us out of here?"

"It's coming," Billy said hurriedly. "We may be delayed as we figure out how Nick got through undetected."

"We will contact you again with a location and time when we have it," Udonna said as the on screen image distortion became worse.

"We need to disconnect now," Trini said urgently.

"Bye, Mystic Realm," Jason said, raising his fist to Tommy.

"Take care of yourselves, Human Realm," Tommy said, and the two friends did an air fist bump.

The screen went black.

"Cute," Trini said in regards to the air fist bump to fill the silence.

"Thanks, I try," Justin smirked.

"Alright," Jason rolled his eyes. "Let's go eat. I missed dinner since we've been here waiting to connect to them."

"Speak for yourself," Justin complained as they all left the room together. "Trini and I have been here since after breakfast."

"Why did Adam and Rocky have ear plugs earlier?" Jason asked as they made their way down the hallway.

"Because you and Tommy usually start off these meetings by yelling at each other, and sometimes the volume is all the way up."

"We do not yell at each other."

Trini and Justin looked at each other before exclaiming in unison, "HELL-OOO MYSTIC REALM!"

"We are not that obnoxious," Jason said defensively, pushing open the kitchen door.

"Yeah, you are," Rocky commented from where he was standing next to the nearest counter. "It doesn't help you have that deep manly voice that booms when you talk."

"Leave my deep manly voice out of this!"

"Boys, calm down. No arguments in my kitchen," said a young woman standing by the stove in an apron.

They sheepishly mumbled, "Sorry, Krista," and each grabbed a plate.

"I still don't see why it gets to be your kitchen," Rocky grumbled.

"Because she's awesome at making vegan food and you're not. And right now all we have to eat is whatever we got off the trees in Mariner Bay Park," Trini said, grabbing an extra plate.

"How come she gets two plates?" Rocky complained again, this time about Trini.

"Well, did you remember to bring something to Vida?" Krista asked.

Rocky silently looked at her for a moment, then filled the rest of his own plate and grudgingly stomped out, muttering something about how girls are always sticking together.

"Connor," he said as he sat down at a table. "I do not like your fiancé."

"Yeah, isn't she great?" Connor smirked at him, having heard their conversation in the close quarters.

"Oh shut up lover boy," he responded as he picked up something off his plate that looked suspiciously like tree bark and studied it cautiously.

"If you're not going to eat that, I will," Chip said. "It's amazing. Krista is amazing."

Connor coughed to cover his laugh, and Chip, feigning concern, patted him on the back.

Rocky scowled at them. "Hardy-har-har."

Meanwhile, Trini had filled the extra plate and was headed to visit Vida. Jason had decided his gnawing hunger could be ignored for a few more minutes while he accompanied his friend.

"Do you think we were right in not telling them the whole story about Vida?" Trini was asking him as they walked.

"Absolutely. It is what it is. It'll be upsetting when they finally do hear what happened, but for now there's no point in causing them to worry more than they already are."

"But wouldn't you want to know if it was your sister?"

"Well, if someone like you or Kim were to get hurt in the Mystic Realm I'd be concerned, but I wouldn't dwell on it because there's no threat to her there. But here, in the Human Realm? So much could go wrong at any given time and a major injury like Vida's could be interpreted as being worse than it really is. And anyway, she technically is fine."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Trini agreed as they approached their makeshift hospital. "They're probably busy enough thinking about Dana and Carter and the girls. Plus…Zack…"

They both paused at the door.

"It would probably be best if we didn't talk about this in front of Vida," Jason suggested.

Trini nodded, and she pushed the door open.

"Hey Vida," Trini said as she stepped into the room. "You want some tree bark?"

Vida rolled over in her bed to face them. "That depends…who made it?"

"Krista."

"Then gimme some. Rocky's food makes me want to clean my mouth out with bleach."

Trini handed the plate to Jason and walked to the bed to prop some pillows behind Vida as she struggled to push herself up with only one arm.

"I can do it," Vida complained as Jason handed her the plate.

"Shut up and eat," he said, a smile forming on his face.

"I'm injured. You should be nicer to me."

"Alright you two," Trini interjected. "You-eat. You-update the patient," she pointed to each of them in turn.

"Well," Jason clapped his hands together cheerfully. "Your sister's boyfriend is back."

Vida choked. "What?!" she managed to say between coughs.

"Yup," Jason said, rocking happily back on his heels. "About twenty minutes ago. And they've already snuck off on their own. I saw it with my own eyes."

"Stop it, Jason," Trini said, playfully shoving him before turning back to Vida. "He managed to use the trees to get through to Briarwood without being detected, then our guys got him to the Mystic Realm right away. And they weren't sneaking off," she added. "He looked lost, so I bet she was just clearing up a few things for him or something. Anyway, he's fine. Just thought you'd like an update on your team leader. Also, we kind of told Madison about you."

"What do you mean, 'kind of'?"

"Well…" Trini looked over Vida.

She didn't have the heart, or the guts, really, to tell the pink mystic ranger how bad she looked. Her face was less swollen, but the bruising was still clearly visible down her neck until her shirt covered it. Her right arm was in a sling and there were cuts and bruises up and down both of her arms. Three fingers on her left hand were heavily bandaged because they had been broken, and Vida was struggling to pick up her food with only her pinky and thumb. Trini couldn't bring herself to look at Vida's legs, where her right leg was considerably shorter than her left.

"We didn't want her to worry. You're alive, you're fine. That's all Madison needs to worry about for now."

"At least until you two see each other in person and you can tell her," Jason spoke up. "One Rocca sister is scary enough for me."

Vida scoffed. "Oh please. Maddie is as gentle as they get."

Jason nodded. "Which is why you're worried about her being in another dimension with a hard core biker boy," he said over-dramatically. "I get it now!"

Vida sneered at him. "Realm."

"Sorry, what?"

"It's a different realm, not a different dimension."

"Anyway," Trini interjected yet again. "Jason's right."

"About what?"

"You can tell Madison yourself! She'll feel much better if it came from you!" Trini lost her temper and snapped at her. "Now, would you two be civil to each other for just one freaking day!"

They both fell silent.

"Thank you! Now, we didn't feel that it was our place to tell Maddie that her sister is-" she snapped her mouth shut. It was awkwardly silent until Vida spoke.

"You didn't want to tell her that her sister...is a pirate?"

Jason snorted, and even Trini had to crack a smile. "Yes," she said slowly. "That her sister is...a pirate."

"Trini, I know my leg got blown off. You don't have to sugar coat it for me," Vida said solemnly before perking up again. "Besides, I'm kind of excited."

"Why?" both of the veteran rangers asked incredulously.

Vida smiled broadly up at them. "This pretty much entitles me to free piggy back rides for the rest of my life."

Ten minutes later, Jason quietly shut the door behind him as he and Trini left the room.

"Well," he said after they stood silently for a moment. "At least she's in a good mood."

Trini looked at him like she thought this statement was crazy. "She's not in a good mood! Her leg just got blown off! She's just using dark humor to cover up the fact that she's in a horrible mood!"

"Shh!" Jason hissed, ushering Trini away from the door. "Don't wake her up."

"She can sleep through anything," Trini waved a dismissive hand.

"It's weird how much random shit girls know about each other," Jason shook his head.

"Yeah, well, we're outnumbered here. We need to stick together."

When they got to the door leading back into the kitchen, Trini stopped.

"Hey, Jase?"

"What's up?"

"We haven't really had a chance to talk in the last few weeks…How are you?"

"I'm good," he said with a hint of a smile, as if this random formal conversation amused him. "How are you?"

"I mean it, Jason Lee! You've never talked about what happened to Kat, and now that we've lost Zack-" she broke off and took a moment to compose herself. "Are you sleeping yet?" she tried again.

Jason responded by engulfing her in a bear hug. "When I feel myself starting to lose it, you'll be the first person I come to."

"Good," she mumbled into his shoulder. "Now, let go of me-I can't breathe."

"Sorry," he said smugly as he let her go. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"When you finally drop this bitchy tough girl crap, will you come running to me for a shoulder to cry on?"

"Absolutely, Jase."

"Good," he said, throwing his arm around her shoulders as they walked back into the now empty kitchen. "And I won't even tell your boyfriend about it."

"Like last time?"

"Ha-that was funny!" Jason said as they entered the room where everyone was gathered.

"Billy didn't seem to think so."

"He'll get over it. ATTENTION EVERYONE!" he randomly bellowed to the room, causing them all to jump, including Trini, who took the liberty upon herself to whack him on the arm.

"Geez, I'm standing right next to you-warn me next time you're going to yell!"

"And you don't believe us when we say you're loud," Rocky complained, still in a bad mood about not being in charge of the kitchen.

"Don't blame me, blame my deep manly voice. So," Jason continued. "As you all probably know-if not, where the hell have you been?-we talked to the Mystic Realm earlier and we have a few updates-"

"Adam's daughter can walk!" Rocky interrupted.

"Nick is back," Chip spoke up.

"And somehow he got through the trees," Justin added from where he was sitting next to Chip. "Alive."

"And you told them about Vida's misadventure," RJ said.

"And how Kai and Kendrix made it to The Domed City," Mike chimed in.

"Hey!" Jason yelled, and the room fell silent. "What is the point of being in charge if I can't make all the announcements?"

"There's still a chance, Jason," Rocky said sympathetically, causing the others to snicker. "You can still announce that Dana is pregnant!"

Jason glared at him as the room erupted into cheers.

"Alright, well," Jason said as everyone calmed down. "We all know what this means-"

"Pink mimosas?" Krista asked innocently.

"No, not…pink what?"

"Last time for Dana's baby shower we had pink mimosas."

"They were delicious," Trini added.

"We should have them again."

"Oh, but what if it's a boy?"

"What if it's two boys?"

"They already had twin girls, what are the chances of-?"

"Do you mind?" Jason interrupted the girls.

"You're right. Continue on, oh fearless self-elected leader."

Rocky coughed and it sounded suspiciously like "Dictator!" This earned him another glare from the original red ranger as more snickers filled the room.

"Bat your eyelashes at him all you want," Adam commented idly to Jason, rocking his chair back on two legs so he could nonchalantly stare at the ceiling. "He's not going to shut up."

"Fine. Whatever. So anyway, as I was saying…what the hell is a mimosa?"

"Orange juice and champagne," Trini provided.

"But we used pink lemonade instead of orange juice," Krista added.

"Oh, of course," Jason said weakly. "Why did I have to ask…?"

"So, can we go?" David asked. "I need to add to my list of why my brother is a better leader than you."

"No respect," Jason said as the room laughed, but he himself was resisting a smile. "No respect at all. Alright people, let's keep on those searches for the rest of the rangers. Who's in charge of locating the Graysons?"

"Me!" Mike called through the commotion of everyone pushing back their chairs and standing up to leave.

"Cam, help him out. We need to find them before The Bad Guys, especially now that Dana…Well, we all know what they'll do to her."

"Not to mention what they'll do to Amelia and Carly," Trini added. "If The Bad Guys consider rangers by themselves to be a threat, who knows what they think the offspring of two rangers are like."

Jason nodded. "Alright people. Let's go get the rest of our friends home safe."