Author's Notes: Congratulations to fanficrulez for figuring it out. You're the only person who even really ventured a guess as to what was really going on with Kira. As for the rest of you, I hope you appreciate the twists I chose to inject into this chapter. Many things happened! Unfortunately, it cuts off rather abruptly, but I couldn't think of anywhere else for it to go to by this point. Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys it, and please feel free to leave any comments and criticisms in the review box!

Disclaimer: Power Rangers is owned by Saban. Power Rangers Dino Thunder was owned by Disney at the time. I only own the story and the words, and Caroline.

It was early Saturday morning, and all was still in the Oliver household. This was mostly due to Tommy Oliver himself being sound asleep and the figure standing over his bed being careful to remain motionless and soundless as he observed the former in his slumber. He looked at the alarm clock next to the bed: 6:58 AM; not too early to be up, right? Slowly, the intruder leaned down until he was mere centimeters away from Dr. Oliver's ear. Taking a deep breath, he said, "So this is what a washed up Ranger looks like when he sleeps."

Tommy was awoken by the voice, but hadn't managed to connect it to a face or name in his just-woken-up state. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself face to face with Jason Lee Scott. He promptly screamed and tried to back away from him while still lying there. Jason fell backwards at the reaction, laughing the whole way.

Tommy sat up in his bed and took a moment to regain his composure. Finally, he shouted, "What the hell are you doing? How'd you get in here?"

Jason continued laughing as he got up and answered. "Bro, you don't lock your doors. I just walked in and figured I'd give you a wakeup call."

Tommy shook his head and looked at the time. He sighed and said, "Well, I guess I had some things to look into this morning anyways." He looked up at his best friend and grinned. "Good thing you're here, bro, 'cause you're coming with me!"

He was sleeping peacefully. After the pseudo-dream he had the night before, he had felt a calm over himself that was completely foreign to him for so long, and so he was reveling in it. Unfortunately, his peace was to be invaded by a sudden jumping onto his bed.

Conner McKnight open one eye enough to see his daughter Caroline grinning at him. Once it was apparent he was awake she giggled and said, "Wake up daddy! We're going to Uncle Tommy's today, right?"

Conner shut his eye for a moment before resigning to the inevitable. He opened them both back up and sat up, picking up the little girl and slinging her over his shoulder. He said, "Well if that's the case, I guess we'd better get going, then?"

He made his way down to the living room and flung her into the couch, where she landed softly on the cushions. His mother walked in from the kitchen and said, "And where do you think you two are going this morning?"

Before Conner could answer, Caroline shouted, "We're going to Uncle Tommy's for training!"

Mrs. McKnight put her hands on her hips and glared at Conner, saying, "You don't think you're going to be training this little girl to fight, now, do you?"

Conner held his hands up in surrender. He said, "No, no… I kinda promised her she could come with me to watch."

The glare had softened, but the hands remained firmly in place. Finally, she sighed and said, "Just be careful out there, okay? Don't do anything that would lead you into more danger than you can handle." She started to turn back to walk into the kitchen before she remembered something and said, "You need some breakfast before you go?"

Conner called back to her and said, "Nope, we're meeting the others at Hayley's and getting a small breakfast there. We'll leave for Dr. Oliver's after that."

"Alright," came the response, "you two have fun out there, then. Let me know if you'll be home for dinner, alright?"

"Got it, mom." Conner turned to where his daughter was sitting up on the couch and said, "You get dressed. We'll probably be outside most of the time, so keep that in mind. I've gotta get a shower, so be ready when I come downstairs, okay?"

She nodded in reply and Conner made his way to get himself ready for the day. By 7:45, they were on their way to Hayley's, feeling prepared for just about anything the day could throw their way.

Jason wasn't sure how he'd gotten himself in the situation. He was standing in the middle of what he'd describe as a mud pit, holding a device that he had no idea what it did, looking for something that according to Tommy was only about two centimeters in diameter and would likely be blending into its surroundings. Tommy himself was holding a similar device, and seemed to be absorbed in the readings he was getting. He heard Tommy yell, "Got anything yet?"

Jason looked at the object in his hands. He looked back up at Tommy and said, "I, uh… I don't think so…" He turned in place and suddenly the device started beeping at him. He shouted, "Scratch that, this thing's wigging out on me."

Tommy jogged over to where Jason was standing and looked at the display. Sure enough, a reading was being taken, and appeared to be coming from only a few meters away. They started walking towards it until the pinging was very quick and intense, apparently signifying that they were right overtop of whatever was causing the reading. He motioned for Jason to stay standing right there and took the device out of his hands, running back to his Jeep and exchanging them for two shovels. Once he returned, he handed Jason a shovel and said, "We dig around this area, it shouldn't be too far down due the reading we got. We'll know when we find it, as it'll probably be glowing."

Jason just shrugged and started digging alongside his best friend. After about five minutes, his shovel hit something much harder than the soil he had been encountering up until then. He said, "I think I've got something…"

Tommy stopped digging and bent down to observe the object Jason had just found. It was a large black rock, about 30 centimeters in length. He grabbed at it and felt something of a pulse from it. Staring at the find, he said, "This is it. It's inside here. We need to get this back to the Command Center before it's discovered we've found it." He looked up at his friend and said, "Let's go!"

Jason hadn't heard Tommy's Leader Voice since his days as the Gold Zeo Ranger, but he knew well enough to follow the order when it came. They broke into sprints and buckled themselves into Tommy's Jeep, speeding away almost as soon as they made it.

Kira Ford and Ethan James were seated at their usual table in Hayley's Cyberspace Café. They had ordered some muffins and hot chocolate while they waited for their leader. Minutes later Conner and Caroline strode into the establishment and, upon seeing the others, took seats with them. Kira cocked her head to the side and indicated in Caroline's direction, to which Conner replied, "I promised she could watch us train today."

They "ah'd" and nodded. Hayley approached the table and asked them, "What can I get the two of you? We're having a special on our muffins this morning…"

Conner looked to his daughter and said, "We'll take two blueberry muffins and hot chocolates, please."

Hayley nodded and said, "Coming right up." She returned in moments with the order and they happily ate in silence; Hayley had walked in the back to take care of some things. Once they were more or less finished, a sudden wave came over the three Rangers. They held their heads for a moment before it more or less passed, but a feeling of menace lingered in the air around them; it felt like a weight was being pressed into their chests.

The door to the café opened and a figure in white strode in and looked around. He spotted the four of them sitting at the table and walked over to them. Smiling, he asked, "I'm looking for Hayley? She said for me to come in for an interview…"

Kira and Ethan still appeared to be paralyzed by the feeling, so Conner found it in him to shake off the feeling enough to answer. "She's in the back."

The boy nodded and said, "Thanks. I'm Trent; Trent Fernandez." He held his hand out.

Conner looked at it warily and said, "Conner McKnight." He grasped the newcomers hand and shook it. A moment similar to the one he shared with Ethan on Monday morning washed over Conner and he let go of his hand. He gestured to the others and introduced them. "These are Kira Ford, Ethan James, and this little one is my daughter, Caroline McKnight." Upon mentioning Caroline, another wave washed over the three of them and Kira audibly squeaked. Conner and Trent looked at her funny for a second.

Finally, Trent said, "I should go find Hayley and do this interview. I start in to classes on Monday at the High School; maybe I'll see you there?" They nodded and he left them, going into the back to hunt down Hayley.

The feeling died down a little, and Kira looked up at her teammates, saying, "Okay, that was weird. Was that another destiny?"

Conner nodded and said, "I think it was. Something's not right about that Trent kid. It wasn't your normal destiny, like I felt with the two of you. I don't like where this is going…"

"We should tell Doctor O. about this during training today." Ethan added. He looked at the clock and said, "Speaking of training, it starts in a half an hour. We should probably get going."

They stood up from the table and left some money for their orders, and the four of them walked out to Conner's car, where they made their way to Dr. Oliver's house.

When they arrived to the house, the first thing they noticed was the presence of a motorcycle next to Tommy's Jeep. It was red with yellow lightning bolts painted on either side. None of them knew who it could belong to, and for a moment they wondered if they should even be coming for training that day if Tommy had visitors up. Deciding that they should just ask him, they continued into the house. Conner opened the door and called out, "Doc? You there?"

A voice sounded through the open kitchen window. "Out back!" They followed the voice through the back door of the kitchen and found their science teacher sitting at a table in his backyard with another individual. The man had a vaguely Asian look to him, and was well built with short black hair. He was wearing a red muscle shirt and loose black pants. The two of them stood up and took places in front of the four of them. Tommy said, "Welcome to your first training session, newbies. Today we have a guest which will be aiding me in instructing you in basic martial arts. Please bow your heads and please, no hero worship; may I introduce you to the first Red Power Ranger and first leader of the Power Rangers, Jason Lee Scott."

Jason just shook his head at the over-the-top presentation and said, "Thank you kindly for the introduction, Dr. Technicolor. Why don't we start with a little show for them? A sparring match between me and their mentor?"

Tommy nodded and said, "Pull up a patch of grass and prepare for the most amazing fight you'll ever witness."

The four walked a ways away and took a seat on the ground. The two combatants stood apart from each other and bowed, then took up basic fighting stances. Soon the two were a whirlwind of movement, throwing and blocking punches and kicks in every which direction such that it was difficult for the spectators to follow the match. Soon a yawn was emitted from the littlest one, not because she was bored but because the motions were causing her to become sleepy. She leaned over and put her head on Conner's right leg.

Conner had crossed his legs under him and placed his hands on his knees, paying utmost attention to the fight. His eyes never left the former Red Ranger, and soon he appeared to lose focus, despite continuing to follow Jason's movements. Within his mind, he could picture the motions and movements, but instead of Jason it was Conner himself performing them. He hadn't even noticed the shifting mass to his right side nor her presence resting on his leg.

Kira was paying half attention to the fight and half attention to Conner, as something seemed off about him at the moment. She could feel him feeling out the battle, and was slightly concerned at the seeming trance he had placed himself in.

Similarly, Ethan wasn't paying any attention at all to the fight. All of his concentration was on Conner once it was apparent that he was going through something strange while watching the fight. It both scared and intrigued him enough to want to know what he was going through, and after a moment of focus, learned exactly what that was. This was not without an effect, however, and soon Ethan appeared to be in the same kind of trance, only unlike Conner, he was sweating bullets at the exposure.

The two former Rangers continued sparring for several minutes, neither gaining the upper hand on each other. Finally they both knew it wouldn't end, so they concluded the fight with a bow. Once it was over, they turned to address the Rangers. The scene before them shocked them both and they ran forward, Tommy taking Conner's shoulders and Jason doing similarly with Ethan's. They both snapped back to reality, Conner more gently than Ethan, and all three started shaking their heads to try to clear them.

Tommy said, "What the heck just happened there, guys? You all looked hypnotized or something…"

Conner blinked away the last of his disorientation and said, "I was just watching the fight… but after a moment, I stopped seeing Mr. Scott performing the moves and started seeing myself do them."

Expecting disbelief, Conner was surprised to see Tommy just nod in response. He said, "I've seen that before. Jason can do that; used to scare the crap out of us back in the day. It's made him one heck of a fighter, though…" He turned to look at Ethan, who still looked a little shook up. "What happened to you, Ethan? You had the same kind of look as Conner did, but you weren't paying any attention to the fight. Does this have anything to do with how you knew the Red Ranger was Conner last Monday?"

Ethan turned his head away before answering. "Yeah, it kind of does… I was wondering what was happening to Conner, so I kinda… looked inside… to see what was happening…" This last statement was met by a collective raised eyebrow, so he continued. "If I concentrate hard enough, I can read minds. It's what I did on Monday when Kira said it was Conner… I used the power to verify her claim."

"Ah." Was all Dr. Oliver said to that. Finally, he turned to Kira and said, "And what about you? You seemed a little distressed at what was happening, plus there's the matter of how you knew Conner was your rescuer on Monday. Care to give some explanations?"

Kira looked back and forth between Dr. Oliver and Conner for a moment before saying, "Um, no… I mean, not yet… Actually, can I speak with you for a moment, Conner?" She appeared increasingly agitated as she tried to explain herself. She stood up and walked a distance away into the surrounding woods. Conner shook Caroline gently to awaken her and stood up as well. He instructed her to stay with Dr. Oliver and followed Kira into the woods.

He found her standing there looking a little nervous. When he was a short distance away from her, he asked, "What's this about, Kira?" She didn't answer for several moments and he continued. "Does this have anything to do with what you were going to tell me in the park the other day?"

She halfway turned and he saw her nod. She fully faced him and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Once she exhaled, she said, "As I tried to tell you before; Conner, I have a confession to make to you…" She paused for a moment to gauge his current reaction. All she could read was fear and curiosity, so she forged onward. "I haven't been very fair to you all this time. You see, I kind of have this power… I can feel what other people around me are feeling." Conner looked very confused at this point, which caused Kira to sigh and shake her head. "I'm empathic, Conner. I can feel the feelings and emotions of the people around me." Conner's eyes widened at the realization. He sputtered for a moment but was unable to find his voice. Now all she could read was embarrassment. She said, "This is why it's not fair… I could feel your attraction to me the whole time. But you don't need to be embarrassed about it… I kind of feel something for you, too…"

She had blushed fiercely at this last statement. Conner calmed down at this point and took hold of her shoulders. He bent his head down close to her face and said, "Well if that's the case… thank you for being honest with me. I… It's true, I kind of was attracted to you from the beginning, but it wasn't until yesterday that I actually felt like I could give in to it. You see, I was visited by Jessica that morning and she told me something… she told me to move on." Conner had paused in his explanation for a moment to compose himself. "She said I had to find someone that could stand by my side, and could be there for me, and for Caroline. The vision went a little further and what I saw wasn't Jessica anymore… It was you…"

Kira could feel the truth in his words and reached out to grasp his body, pulling him into a tight hug. He returned the hug with equal force. After several minutes within each others' arms, they pulled apart and looked into each others' eyes, smiling. After a few moments, they both broke down laughing and again hugged, briefly this time. Kira said, "I guess we should get back, huh?"

Conner nodded and said, "Yeah they're probably wondering what's going on."

They grinned at each other momentarily before walking back out of the forest, hand in hand.

Once Conner had left the group, Tommy turned back to his Blue Ranger and said, "So you read minds? Billy will certainly find you intriguing…" He pondered the gift for a moment before asking, "Say, you don't use that power to cheat in class, do you?"

Ethan's eyes went wide and he shook his head violently. He answered, "No, no! It takes too much concentration to actually do it. It'd look too funny to actually try doing that in my classes. Plus, it's too easy to break the concentration, not to mention that it's much too tiring to sustain a connection; you saw what that did to me when I focused on Conner."

Tommy and Jason both nodded, satisfied with his answer. Jason said, "That might change if Billy feels like training him, though."

Dr. Oliver just looked at his friend and said, "Don't give him any ideas!"

Jason laughed and turned to the other person in their group. He kneeled down to address her and said, "And who is this little one? She looks too young to be a ranger?"

She grinned at him and said, "I'm Caroline and I'm three!"

Jason chuckled and said, "Well I'm your Uncle Jason."

Further conversation was cut short when the Red and Yellow Rangers came walking back together. A single of Tommy's eyebrows rose when he noticed that they had ahold of each others' hand. Kira blushed before Dr. Oliver said, "Are you ready now to let us know what's going on with you?"

She nodded and released Conner's hand. She said, "I'm not sure how to best explain it, so I'll just go ahead and say it: I'm empathic. Everything you feel, I feel. I don't have full control over it, and I can't block it out completely. At best, I can focus on a single individual and tune out everything else. I knew the Red Ranger was Conner because I matched his emotional signature to the one I had read that morning in science class."

"So," Dr. Oliver started, "We've got someone who operates on Observational Memory, a telepath, and an empath. To top it all off, you're all Rangers. I'm not too surprised, really. Recently it seems that all Rangers have had extra powers of some kind in addition to the Ranger ones…"

Something clicked in Conner's mind at that statement and he said, "Oh yeah, that reminds me… I now have Super Speed."

The others stared at him for a moment. Tommy asked, "How exactly did you get that?"

Conner held his left arm up and displayed the Red Gem. He said, "I think it's an extra power from the Dino Gem itself. When the park was attacked, I picked up Caroline and ran home with her. I hadn't noticed it at the time, but she pointed out that everyone around us was moving much slower than we were. That's when I noticed that my Gem was glowing brightly. After dropping her off, I sped back to the park and found I could activate my power at will; I also learned that the power disappears after morphing, since I was still moving at Super Speed when I morphed and had dropped down to normal speed afterwards."

Tommy frowned, but nodded. He explained, "That makes sense in a way. You need to be quick to play soccer, not to mention that the Tyrannosaurus was supposed to be a very quick runner once it got moving. But if you have an extra power, the others should, too. What can we do to activate those powers?"

Conner pondered this for a moment before saying, "I think it needs to be triggered the first time. I had a genuine need to move very, very quickly and the Gem responded. I think if we fought, say, 'drones without morphing, it might be the trigger needed to get their powers to the forefront."

They all agreed with this theory and settled into silence. Finally, Dr. Oliver asked, "Was there anything else, or should we get started on this training session?"

Kira squeaked for the second time that day and said, "We felt an oppressive destiny at the café this morning! It was like we felt with each other, but something about it seemed off. The person was emitting wave after wave of things like anger, hate, and jealousy; especially jealousy after Conner introduced him to Caroline. I really can't explain it very well…"

Tommy looked confused at this, since another destiny in such close approximation to these three could only mean one thing: a fifth Dino Gem out there. Ethan spoke up, "Do you think he's destined for that Dino Gem you were going to look for this morning?"

That brought Tommy out of his thoughts, and he replied, "No. In fact, I know he has nothing to do with it. It'll require a few more tests, though, but soon you'll have a brand new teammate."

Conner looked at him confusedly and said, "Wait, what? You found another Gem? Why didn't anybody tell me?"

Tommy laughed and said, "You had left with sleeping beauty there before I told these two. Jason went with me this morning and we located a Gem that seems to be sealed in a black rock of some sort. I'm performing tests on it now to try and release it from its prison." Conner lifted his head in understanding and Dr. Oliver continued. "If that's all, let's get started, shall we?"

They spent the remainder of the morning going over basic martial arts stances and moves, and Jason taught them all their first kata. Caroline had watched them all from her seat at the table in the backyard, but stood up when Jason's part of the training began. Tommy watched her, amazed, as she mimicked the movements of the kata almost flawlessly, just like her father.

It was approaching Noon when they heard the sound of a car approaching the house. A loud honking sound could be heard, and Jason looked up and said, "Hey, lunch is here."

Tommy looked at his friend and questioned, "You got lunch delivered?"

He shook his head and motioned for them to head into the house. The Rangers all shrugged and followed them in, Conner holding his daughter by the hand as they filed in. What greeted them was a stack of five large pizzas on the center island of the kitchen, as well as four color-coded people standing around arranging things. A tall, sandy haired one in blue acknowledged their host and said, "Tommy, you realize you have a telepath and an empath in our midst, correct?"

The former leader shook his head and replied, "I do now. They just told us this morning."

Caroline looked at the strange people that just showed up took a step backwards. She reached up and tugged on her father's shirt. Conner kneeled down and she said, "Daddy, who are all these people?"

He shrugged and said, "I don't know, but why don't we find out?" He picked her up and they faced the newcomers.

The Rangers were all lined up on one side of the island, the strangers were lined up on the other side, and Tommy and Jason were standing between the groups off to the side. Dr. Oliver turned to his Rangers and said, "Guys, I'd like to introduce you to the other four Original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: Billy Cranston in Blue, Trini Kwan in Yellow, Kimberly Hart in Pink, and Zach Taylor in Black." He turned back to the now identified former Rangers and said, "Guys? These are my new team of Rangers: Ethan James in Blue, Kira Ford in Yellow, and their leader and Red Ranger Conner McKnight."

Unable to help herself since everyone else was introduced at the time, the girl in Conner's arms shouted, "I'm Caroline McKnight!"

The room chuckled at the interjection. The one identified as Zach spoke up, "Well now that we all know each other, why don't we dig in? I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry!"

They got out enough plates for everybody and they filled up with what they thought they could eat. It came as no surprise that Conner and Jason appeared tied for taking the most pizza to start with. They took their bounty outside and found places around the backyard to sit and eat. They stayed together as a group for lunch, and the conversations were many and varied. Kira and Ethan both learned that Billy had his own well developed mental powers, and promised to train them to better control the powers over the course of the next week.

After a short time, they finished lunch and were at a loss for a moment on what to do. Tommy didn't want to continue the teens' training while his guests were hanging around like that, so he spoke to the group, "Any suggestions on what to do now?"

No one said anything at first, so Conner made a decision for them. "Let's go to the park. There's room for us to spread out and do whatever we might want to, plus I know I could use some exercise after that lunch."

Jason laughed and said, "Of course you could. I think you might just give Rocky a run for his money when it comes to food."

Conner looked confused at this, to which Kimberly giggled and said, "Rocky was the second Red. He was a human garbage disposal; he could eat any anything and everything, and much more than the rest of us were even close to capable of."

"Oh." Was all Conner said. He wasn't sure if he should take that as a compliment or be offended. He settled on indifference and asked, "So, we're going to the park?"

The others consented to the idea and they all piled into each others' cars; Conner, Kira, Ethan, and Caroline taking Conner's car, Zach, Billy, and Trini in Trini's car, and Tommy, Jason, and Kimberly in Tommy's Jeep. They arrived to the park and found a clearing near a serene looking lake to spread out in. Kira and Kimberly had brought their guitars and were playing for each other back and forth; Caroline had taken a spot near them to listen in like an impromptu concert of sorts. Ethan had his laptop, and Billy and Trini were talking with him about software and technology.

Conner believed he'd be practicing more martial arts with the other three, but was surprised to see Zach bring a soccer ball with him. Seeing the look on his face, Zach winked and threw the ball towards him, to which he promptly started working his magic, looking as if he'd never stopped playing. Soon a mini game had started up with Tommy and Zach teaming up against Conner and Jason. After a short time, Ethan had joined Conner's team while Billy joined Tommy's; the girls had stopped to watch the action between the six players.

An hour had passed since they arrived. They were all enjoying themselves immensely, which may have been the reason why a swirling green vortex appeared a short distance away. It deposited a small army of Tyrannodrones and disappeared. Tommy and his Rangers fell into place almost immediately, forming a line in front of the intruders. Once the former Rangers noticed what was going on, they joined them. That's when something occurred to Conner; he shouted, "Form a circle!" He turned around and bent down. "Stay in the center of the circle, honey. We won't let them get to you…"

Conner rejoined the defenders, who had created a ring around the little girl in the center. The 'drones charged and pressed into the circle of Rangers. They fought for a few minutes before a sound came from Tommy's left wrist. He paused long enough to answer it, "Hayley?"

"I just got to the Command Center. That black rock thing of yours is glowing. Know anything about it?"

"Nope. It's got a Gem in it, but I'm not done analyzing it. Can you teleport Caroline out of here, please? It'll make fighting these 'drones a little easier…"

"I'm on it." A moment later, in full view of all of the combatants, Caroline disappeared in a streak of Pink. They didn't have time to dwell on the reason for it, since the attack was still ongoing. Now the Rangers were free to spread out and attack in a more natural way; they were free to use more complicated maneuvers that they couldn't when maintaining a ring formation.

Tommy found himself fighting alongside and in sync with Kimberly. She called out to him, "Just like old times, huh?"

He laughed. "Yeah, feels like I never quit."

Conner was already implementing his Super Speed to help him fight, but Kira and Ethan were stuck relying on the moves they had been taught that morning. Despite the increased numbers fighting with them, the 'drones were still overwhelming them. Soon, Kira found herself crowded in by a press of enemies and suddenly felt the urge to scream. Unable to resist it, she gave in and let out a scream like she never had before: it was as if sound waves were solid and yellow in color. It decimated the 'drones it directly hit and pushed the remaining ones backwards. Kira stopped for a moment and blinked in confusion at what just happened. Another set of 'drones tried to take advantage of her distraction, but she just turned to them and screamed again, satisfied that she could do that on command it seems.

Similarly, Ethan was assailed by several 'drones in succession. He found himself not able to retaliate as well as he wanted to because the attacks he was attempting to block were fiercer than he could handle. He found himself getting mad at his foes, and a moment later he could feel a sensation come over his body; the next attack that tried to cut into him was blocked easily, and he found he barely felt it. He pushed the offender away from him and slammed his arm into the next one, causing it to go flying. Ethan smiled; this was going to be easy if he could keep that up.

With six veteran Rangers and three new Ranger with civilian powers, the Tyrannodrones were soon decimated, and the ones that remained opened the Invisiportal and retreated. The nine combatants remaining gathered together and caught their breath. Zach spoke first, "Haven't done that in forever! I've still got it, though."

"I don't think we'll ever lose it." Trini replied. "The Power leaves traces; we'll always be able to feel it, and when the need arises it will continue to strengthen us when needed. We may not be full Rangers anymore, but that doesn't mean we can't still access The Power."

Tommy inflected his best Leader Voice that he could. "Let's get back to the Command Center. Hayley said that rock I found this morning was glowing, so it might be ready to release the Dino Gem trapped inside it."

When they reached the Command Center, they were greeted by Hayley appearing to perform scans of some type on Caroline. Conner rushed forwards and asked, "What's going on? Is Caroline okay?"

Hayley smiled to him and said, "She's fine. I was just checking her over to see if I could figure out why she teleported in Pink. There's no trace of Power in her, so I can only assume it's something she's going to become destined for sometime in the future." Conner looked anxious at this declaration, so Hayley soothed him. "You don't have to worry… I doubt she's going to become a Ranger any time soon. It's likely not going to happen for a very long time, if ever."

Tommy stepped forward and said, "That's comforting. Now, what's going on with that stone?" He walked over to where he had left it and saw the glow. It looked like it was charged with some kind of energy; it resembled sunlight in a way. He touched it and the rock appeared to melt away, leaving a smaller Gemstone in its place, colored Black and glowing faintly.

The others had gathered around by this point and he looked up at Conner. Conner stared into the Gem for a few moments before closing his eyes and shaking his head. "I can't sense who it goes to like I did with the Yellow and Blue Gems."

Tommy sighed and realized he'd have to do this like he did the Red Gem. Slowly he reached his hand out, but stopped when Hayley gasped and said, "Are you sure you want to do that? You remember what happened with the Red Gem?"

Dr. Oliver nodded and said, "It's the only way, Hayles. If Conner can't figure out who gets it, somebody's got to touch it, and I'm the only one to do it." He moved his hand slowly towards the glowing piece of rock on the table, and once he was hovering right over it, he shot his hand out and grasped the object. A feeling washed over him, and once again he could feel a rush of power energizing him. The Gem glowed brightly for a moment before fading. The other Dino Thunder Rangers' eyes widened at what just happened; it was just like with them!

The former Rangers in the room just looked at him expectantly, not realizing what just happened. Finally, Kimberly lost her patience and said, "Well? Who's the new Ranger?"

Tommy just kind of smiled weakly at her and said, "You're looking at him."

Now there were several reactions that Tommy was expecting from his friends hearing this news. Each of them happened in turn: at the top of his list was Kimberly fainting, next was Billy, Jason, and Hayley just shaking their heads at him, Zach looked hurt when he realized Tommy was going to be a Black Ranger, and finally there was Trini, who had tumbled to the floor doubled over with laughter.

Jason said, "You really can't escape it, can you?"

Tommy shrugged. Kimberly had come around by this point and just looked at him, saying, "Really? A fourth color? Can't you just retire like the rest of us?"

"I guess not," Tommy replied, "hey, when The Power calls, you answer. It was the same with us back when we first accepted it."

Hayley appeared to Dr. Oliver's side with an object in her hand. She shoved in into his free hand and said, "I suppose this really is yours, then." He looked at it and saw the Black Brachio morpher. Grinning, he slipped the bracelet around his left wrist and jammed the Gem into the device, which glowed for a moment.

The moment was cut short by the blaring of the alarm. Hayley took her position at the computer and located the source of the alarm. "More 'drones and a monster of some kind. Looks like you're getting a test drive, Dr. Technicolor."

The former Rangers in the room snickered at the jab as the current Rangers took up positions; Conner and Dr. Oliver right next to each other with Kira and Ethan off to either side and a step back from them. Dr. Oliver pulled a small object from his pocket. It flipped up into the shape of a key. The hand motions were different for the newest old Ranger, but the result was the same, though Tommy chose not to include the "Hah!" that the younger ones said at the end of their morphing call.

In a flash of light, four Dino Thunder Rangers were standing in the midst of Tommy's Command Center. The suit design for the Black Ranger was slightly different; the helmet had a blunt horn on it, and there were things resembling shoulder pads on it. Instead of a Thundermax Laser in a holster, he had an odd looking baton to his side. Hayley said, "I'll teleport you all a short distance away from the attack. Be careful out there, and good luck."

She punched a few buttons and in four flashes of light, they were gone.

As Hayley had said, they arrived a short distance from the monster and its minions. They took stock of the monster first, and found it to look rather brutish; it was large and bulky, with wide forearms and hands that were likely meant for attacking with heavy blows. It didn't seem too bright, but Tommy knew not to count on that. They nodded to one another and charged into the throng of 'drones, aiming to take them out first before engaging the main threat.

Kira and Ethan missed being able to use their Gem powers in this fight, but found that the actual Ranger Form compensated by giving them more strength and stamina in general. In a matter of moments, the Tyrannodrones were taken care of and they were able to turn their attention to the monster.

Seeing it was now left alone, the monster said, "Are you ready to play?" It ran forward and targeted the Blue Ranger first, who had the forethought to summon his Tricera Shield just before the blow connected. He managed to block it with some effort, and pushed the monster back. Pulling his Laser out, he fired twice to further drive it back. The others had drawn their weapons as well, and the Black Ranger took flourish when he shouted "Brachio Staff" before pulling the weapon from the holster.

They surrounded the monster and attacked one by one; some of the attacks made it through, others were blocked by the massive arms. Finally, Kira shouted, "This isn't working! We need to hit it with something harder!"

Dr. Oliver knew exactly what was needed and said, "Combine your weapons together. They form a weapon called the Z-Rex Blaster. It should pack the punch you need."

They nodded and jumped back away from their opponent. The weapons connected together easily and together they shouted, "Z-Rex Blaster! Ready, Aim, Fire!" Conner pulled the trigger and a ball of energy shot out of the Tyranno mouth. It enveloped the monster when it connected and a moment later, it exploded. Pieces of it littered the ground, and the Rangers shouted in victory.

The celebration was short lived, as black clouds suddenly sprung up over the battlefield and a steady rain began falling. In the next moment, the pieces of the monster merged back together and grew in size, causing the monster to now tower over them. Conner turned to his mentor and teammate and said, "How are we supposed to fight that?"

Before Dr. Oliver could answer, a sound came from his left wrist. Raising it up to his helmet, he said, "What have you got?"

"Guess who woke up after you morphed?" Tommy smiled under his helmet, knowing that this new development wasn't going to be an issue. "He's on his way to you even as we speak; he's got a present for your Rangers, too."

"Thank you, Hayley." He turned to his fellow Rangers and said, "No worries, help is on the way…" The ground rumbled and a screeching noise could be heard from a distance. "In fact, there's help now." They turned to the new disturbance and found a towering Black Brachiosaurus. It stopped and three panels on its body opened up; a Red Tyrannosaurus, Yellow Pterodactyl, and Blue Triceratops all emerged from the beast and started making their way towards the battlefield. "Meet the Biozords. After the island exploded, they went dormant, but my becoming a Ranger has apparently allowed them to awaken and come together. You should know what to do, so get to it."

They found that he was right, and they proceeded to jump up and merge with their respective zords. The three zords began transforming and merging. Once it was completed, the Rangers piloting it shouted, "Thundersaurus Megazord!"

"This is so cool!" exclaimed Ethan. He was amazed at the technology necessary to make this work.

"I know what you mean." said Kira. "It was amazing flying in the Pterazord. You have no idea…"

Conner shook his head and said, "Well we won't be able to find out until we trash this guy. Let's go!" They engaged the monster, slashing with the Tyranno tail and punching with the Tricera fist while trying to block the attacks of the monster. They exchanged blows for a short time before Conner finally got tired of it. He concentrated on his console for a moment and came to a realization. He shouted, "Tyranno Drill!" and the Tyranno tail started to spin. The megazord drew back the now rapidly spinning drill weapon and charged forward, thrusting through the monster and stopping on the other side of it. It crackled with energy momentarily before falling over and exploding.

The Rangers had teleported away and those remaining in the Command Center gathered around the computer to watch the fight. Caroline jumped into a seat next to Hayley and said, "This is my favorite part!" The others couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm.

When it came time to take down the monster and the others had formed the blaster, Billy asked, "Why didn't Tommy combine with them, too? Surely there's a way for his weapon to fit in?"

Trini shushed him and said, "This is the first time they've ever done this! They really didn't know if his Staff would work with it."

"Yeah," Jason injected, "remember that one time when Tommy tried to combine his Dragon Dagger with our weapons? Man that was a disaster…"

Zach cracked up at the memory. "Oh man, I thought that monster was going to die of laughter! We're lucky we recovered before he did, 'cause that would have been embarrassing if he'd managed to beat us while we were still confused."

The monster grew to super sized proportion and Hayley started punching buttons. She hit the one for communications and heard Tommy ask, "What have you got?"

She smirked and replied, "Guess who woke up after you morphed? He's on his way to you even as we speak; he's got a present for your Rangers, too."

"Thank you, Hayley." They watched the screen as the Brachiozord approached the Rangers and ejected the smaller zords for them to use. The spectators watched in awe as they formed their megazord and did battle with the monster. Moments later, the fight was over and the zords were retreating. In four flashes of light, the Dino Thunder Rangers were once again standing in the Command Center in their civilian forms.

Jason stepped forward with a bright smile on his face. "You did good for your first time in a megazord. The Gems have chosen well…"

Conner bowed to his predecessor and said, "Thank you, Mr. Scott. It means a lot to hear that from you."

Jason frowned and said, "Call me Jason. I'm not old like your Science teacher."

Tommy shouted, "Hey, we're the same age!" The room descended into laughter.