Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.

Chapter 7 – Back in Black

The days following Connor and Kira's bonding passed with relative ease. Jason, Trini, Billy, Kat and Zack stayed a couple days before they decided things were settled enough for them to head home. The day after that, the city had been cleared up enough for the school board to declare the re-opening of schools on Monday, and Connor and Ethan no longer had an excuse not to head home for the weekend. As expected, the separation took a toll on both Connor and Kira, but they were strong enough to cope and Connor never snuck into the Olivers' home in the middle of the night, though he did appear early in the day and stayed as long as he could get away with. This pattern continued throughout the following week, though with the addition of school, Connor no longer showed up for breakfast but rather after school, Ethan more often then not accompanying him. Mesogog continued to send his minions to test them and Connor and Ethan finally got to meet Elsa, both swearing they'd seen her somewhere before. Luckily for them, Mesogog seemed to take on a similar pattern of attack as Rita and Zedd had and never attacked during school hours. While confused as to why this was, like the Originals had been before them, none of them complained for it was just one less thing they had to worry about.

-C/K-

One Saturday about a month after they'd become Rangers, Connor entered the Oliver residence to the now familiar sound of Kira singing along to her favourite CD as it blasted from the kitchen where she often did her homework.

" 'I wanna know know where you're at I'm at the front but baby you're still at the back, oh can you tell me where it's at' "

"Hey!" Connor greeted as he entered the kitchen, dropping a kiss on her head, as had become his custom, before taking a seat.

"Hey Connor." She shot him a smile before getting back to her math so she could have the afternoon off. One thing about Kira's maturity was that Tommy and Kim rarely had to nag her about her homework. She'd already realized that if she did it early, she'd have more time later to do what she wanted.

"Connor." Kim greeted as she set two lunches down on the table. She and Tommy had quickly learned that Connor was a lot like Rocky when it came to his eating habits and so they'd stopped asking if he'd be joining them for a meal whenever he was over.

"Thanks Mrs. O." he said before chowing down. "So, what are you doing this afternoon?" he asked once he inhaled his sandwich.

"Don't know, why?"

"Cause your favourite singer is having a meet and greet at the mall. I thought we could-" He was cut off by an excited squeal as her face lit up.

"Kira Ford is in Reefside?! And you'll take me to meet her?"

"Yeah, if you want to."

"YES! Can I go mom? Please, please, PLEASE?" Kim held in her laughter at her daughter's excitement and nodded with a smile. Kira squealed again before rushing upstairs to change, her math homework completely forgotten.

"She didn't even let me say that it's not for another three hours." Connor muttered with a smile and Kim no longer held in her laughter.

"Remember guys, if anyone asks, we're old family friends." Kim said awhile later as she and Tommy said goodbye to Kira and Connor. This was the first outing the two of them had alone and that cover story was deemed the most appropriate should anyone ask why a teenager was out with a kid. There was the obvious of saying he was babysitting, which was certainly a part of the cover for now, but wouldn't hold out forever, and neither for the amount of time they spent together, or their clear attachment for each other; claiming to be old friends of the family's gave an excuse for the obvious attachment between the two, and would let them spend more time together without raising suspicion.

"I can't believe I'm going to get to meet Kira Ford!" Kira gushed, clutching the picture she wanted to get signed.

"You know I still don't know why you like her. Unless it's-"

"It's not because we have the same name." Kira defended. Everyone liked to tease her that her favourite singer just happened to be named Kira, and it got old pretty quick. "I like her music."

"It's not bad, I guess."

"Shows what you know about music."

"Hey, you're ten. I think my tastes in music are more developed then yours."

"Uh huh. Keep telling yourself that." They arrived at the mall to see that there was a huge crowd gathered.

"I'm never gonna get to meet her." Kira moaned upon seeing the crowd.

"Don't worry, you will. I promise." They waited for nearly another hour before the star herself showed up, all smiles for her fans and words of thanks for their support. A table had been set up for autographs and Kira Ford seated herself behind it, beginning the line. Kira and Connor were pretty far back, and Kira still held out little hope that they'd make it to the front before the allotted time was up, but like Connor had promised she eventually did get to meet her idol, as the teen star determined to stay until she'd met all her fans. When it was their turn, an uncharacteristically quiet Kira handed over her photo with a shy smile.

"Hi!" Kira Ford enthused, obviously used to dealing with shy fans.

"Hi…"

"Thanks so much for coming out! What's your name?"

"Kira." She replied quietly.

"No way! Your name's Kira too? That's awesome!" She said at the little girl's nod. The star then looked up at the kid's caregiver and a look of recognition flashed across her face.

"Connor? Connor McKnight?"

"Hey, Kira. Wow…I didn't think you'd recognize me." She raised an eyebrow at him, clearly unimpressed with his opinion of her now that she was famous.

"Seriously? It's only been two years, Connor, and we did go to school together practically our whole lives. I mean I know that jock brain of yours has a short attention span, but…"

"Same old Kira. Your opinion of athletes clearly hasn't improved."

"Wait…you guys know each other?" Kira asked looking up at them, some of her shyness leaving her as the separation between fan and star slightly diminished.

"Yeah, Reefside's Kira's hometown." Connor answered. "We're the same age and like she said were in the same class for practically our whole lives, until two years ago when she went off to be a star."

"Oh…wow…"

"Yeah…so is this your…cousin?" the older Kira asked. "Sorry, I just I know you don't have a sister, and you've never been one to babysit."

"Well, like you said it's been two years." He countered. "Things change. And no she's not a cousin. She's the daughter of old family friends."

"Ok, cool. Well I'm sorry to cut this short, but I don't think they're gonna wait much longer." She pointed to the line of people behind them who were indeed getting impatient. "But it was nice seeing you again Connor. And it was nice meeting you Kira." With a final smile, she handed Kira her picture, expertly sending them on their way and turned to greet her next fan.

"Why didn't you tell me you knew her?!" Kira demanded as they headed back to the car.

"I don't really, we just went to school together. Kind of like Ethan and I before all this happened. And I never thought she'd remember me. I mean she's a star now."

"That doesn't necessarily mean anything. My Aunt Tanya's pretty famous and you've met her. She's not this stuck up star. It's not who she is."

"Well you know your Aunt Tanya, I didn't really know Kira Ford." He countered as they climbed into the car before he drove them home.

-C/K-

The following week, everyone was gathered at Hayley's Cyberspace, Tommy and Kim taking advantage of being friends with the owner to excuse their presence at a teen hangout; Tommy especially as many were his students. Hayley had recently hired a new employee, and new student at Reefside High, Trent Fernandez, who found the group of two of his classmates, his teacher, his teacher's wife and daughter, and his boss, to be quite intriguing. Apart from being friendly, the group tried their best to ignore Trent, and his weird looks, and appear as if nothing was out of the ordinary. It was as he returned with a third round of smoothies and coffee that Tommy could no longer pretend nothing was out of the ordinary. His mouth dropped open, unable to believe what he was seeing, as a familiar figure entered the Cyberspace.

"Anton Mercer." He mumbled going over to greet his former partner, and hopefully get some answers.

"Tommy. Tommy Oliver. How've you been?" Anton greeted back, shaking Tommy's hand.

"You know my dad?" Trent asked, having seen his dad at the same time as Tommy and come over to greet him as well.

"Your dad? I-I had no idea. I mean your last name's-"

"Fernandez." Anton interrupted. "It's a long complicated story, Tommy, more importantly, how are you?"

"Trent can you help out with table 3?" Hayley asked coming up to her employee. "There's been a bit of a mochaccino incident."

"Yeah I'll be right there." He answered shooting one more look to his father and teacher before heading off.

"I don't understand." Tommy said once Trent was out of earshot. "I thought you were dead. I mean the island was destroyed."

"I was lucky Tommy. From the looks of it we both were."

"Why didn't you call? Send a message?"

"Yeah well you know what it's like trying to start over, trying to get your bearings."

"Yeah, I do." Tommy looked around before leaning in close. "Anton, the experiments we were working on…some crazy things have been happening. We need to figure some things out."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Look I'll clear some time next week if that's alright with you."

"But…"

"It's good seeing you again, Tommy. Truly it is." Anton said before taking his leave, leaving behind one very confused Tommy.

"Was that…?" Kim asked when he returned to their table, also freaking out a bit, having recognized Anton.

"Yeah. Though I don't know how he's alive."

"You'll find out eventually." Kim assured him.

"I need to search now." He replied. "There's something going on and I need to know in case it affects the team."

"Alright, go on home. Kira and I will be there soon." Tommy nodded and gave his wife a kiss before heading out, though he had barely stepped out the door when Kim's head snapped up and a look of horror crossed her face.

"Mom what is it?" Kira asked.

"Your father's been kidnapped." She mumbled.

"What?!" Ethan hissed.

"Some Tyrannodrones grabbed him. He's not unconscious so I can see what he does, though I have no idea where it is."

"Is it some creepy lab?" Kira asked. And Kim nodded.

"Mesogog's lair." She answered. "That's where I was taken that time just before we became Rangers."

"Alright, let's get back to the Dino Lab. We need to figure out a way to free him."

"You guys go, I'll meet you there. I may have something that can get you there once we figure out where there is." Hayley said. She quickly left Trent in charge before running into the back where her office was as the others ran out the front door and sped back home. Upon reaching the Dino Lab, Kim and Ethan immediately went to the computers and used their combined brainpower and knowledge to begin the search for Tommy, while Kira and Connor paced worriedly nearby. It wasn't long before Hayley arrived and the two at the computers gladly relinquished them to her expertise before joining the others in their pacing. Seventeen minutes and thirty-eight seconds later, Kim was counting, Hayley found something.

"You found him?" Kim asked.

"Almost. I've got a lock on the backdoor to Mesogog's firewall. In theory it should lead us right to an Invisi-portal."

"Then what?" asked Kira. Hayley held up a computer disk in answer.

"Then I get you in there and you do whatever you Rangers do. I can figure technical stuff out and advise you sometimes, but I'm no Ranger. What you do and how you do it is up to you." As Hayley went back to work, Kim tensed up, receiving a message from Tommy, or rather something that was happening to him that he wanted her to see.

"Once I harness the power in this rock, my dream of returning the planet to its pre-historic roots will be a mere formality." Said Mesogog to Tommy who was tied to a lab table and had a silver spire hanging down over him.

"Why can't you just want to rule the Earth like all the other sickos?" Tommy asked with an eye roll.

"Are you going to tell me how to open that stone or not?" asked Mesogog, ignoring Tommy's comment.

"Take a wild guess." Tommy replied with a straight face. Mesogog hissed and pressed a button on the machine causing the spire hanging over Tommy to begin to swirl with energy.

"Have it your way then. Why are they always so stubborn?" Mesogog then took his leave, and with only Tyrannodrones as company, Tommy had a chance to talk to Kim.

'Hey Beautiful.'

'You ok?'

'I'm-'

'Wait, don't answer that until you tell me what that spire of swirling energy will do to you. Then I'll decide for myself if you're ok.'

'It's going to drain my life force.'

'WHAT?!'

'I know. But until you guys find a way in here there's nothing we can do.'

'Tommy, I'm teleporting to you now.' She said preparing to do just that. They all may not all be able to teleport through Mesogog's defenses, but there was nothing that could keep her from Tommy if he was in danger, and a machine that would drain his life force certainly counted as danger.

'No, Kim, don't.'

'And why not?' She seethed, unable to believe he'd tell her not to when she knew full well that if their situations were reversed Tom, not Tommy, would have already gotten there to kick Mesogog's ass.

'Because we don't want to clue Mesogog in to the fact that there's more to us then meets the eye. You really want him to start looking in to us? It won't be too difficult for him to find out we share a bond and then thanks to Rita's big mouth some more digging could reveal things we don't want revealed. Things that might lead him to Kira.' Kim had to stop and think at that one. He was right that Rita had shot her mouth off about Tommy's powers as her Evil Green Ranger, then again once the Green Ranger had shown up after Tommy had become the White Ranger. Between her and Dark Spector, who knew about a being of ultimate power, even a little digging could lead Mesogog to their daughter.

'So what do you propose we do?' She asked finally.

'Keep looking for another way in. We've got some time, this machine is still starting up and then he's got a lot of life force to drain before I'm in any real danger.'

'Alright fine.'

'And Kim, when you find a way in-'

'Don't leave without that stone I know. You wouldn't have shown me Mesogog's obsession with it if you didn't want us to take it from him.'

'I love you Beautiful.'

'Love you too Handsome. We'll get you out soon.' With that final promise the two dropped the link and Kim turned to face her daughter. Kira was more then used to her parents having silent conversations and so it came as no surprise when she recognized one.

"Your father's fine." Kim said, trying to sound reassuring. "He's in danger, obviously, but not imminently." Kira breathed a sigh of relief, glad for that at least. So long as he wasn't in immediate danger, they had time.

"I got it!" Hayley cried, effectively reclaiming everyone's attention. "I've got a lock on an Invisi-portal."

"We're on it." Said Connor.

"You're not going in alone." Hayley inserted the disk into the main computer and hit a few buttons. Seconds later three colour coded cycles appeared in the empty area by the cave entrance. "These are your Raptor Cycles. They can travel at speeds of over 600 miles per hour and possess enough firepower to cause some major destruction to Mesogog's lair."

"Alright!"

"Way to go Hayley!"

"Uh…can you drive one of these?" Was Connor's comment as he turned to Kira.

"Good thing Power Rangers don't need driver's licenses."

"Yeah…that's not what I asked."

"Don't worry, Connor, they're programmed to assist you automatically." Said Hayley. "Although I'm sure Kira will be fine, her Raptor Cycle won't lose control even if she does."

"Alright then." Said Connor, fears assuaged, though he silently swore not to ride too far away from her, just in case.

"Remember you have to reach a speed of 536 miles per hour upon entry otherwise you'll never make it past the security wall and probably be ripped to pieces." The three stopped in their tracks and turned to face their tech advisor with open mouths. "Did I forget to mention that?" With a look on all their faces that clearly said "Uh…yeah!" she allowed a sheepish look to cross her face before smiling.

"Your Cycles should have you to the portal co-ordinates in approximately 92.75 seconds."

"And when we get there?"

"Use your Gems to access the hyperdrive, then head straight through the portal to Mesogog's island fortress."

"Wait, did you just say island fortress?" asked Connor.

"Yes…why?"

"Well…islands…they're…surrounded by water…"

"Usually."

"No." said Ethan, drawing the word out. "You can't swim?"

"I didn't say that." Connor defended.

"But it's true. You can't." He sniggered.

"The Invisi-portal will take you directly to the island. You'll never have to get wet."

"And when we get back I'm teaching you to swim." Said Kira, trying to hide her own smile.

"What if I don't want to learn?" he pouted.

"Then you're in for some lonely weekends cause I fully intend to take advantage of southern California's year round summer and spend a fair bit of time at the beach."

"Fine I'll learn." He grumbled. "Now can we get going?"

"Not without me." Kim called from where she'd been standing off to the side as Hayley introduced them to the Raptor Cycles.

"Mrs. O?" Ethan questioned.

"Come on, you guys know I'm a Power Ranger. And that's my mate in there. I dare you to tell me you'd stay back if the other was in danger." She directed to Kira and Connor who couldn't tell her that, even on a dare.

"How are you going to get there?" Connor asked. "There's only three Raptor Cycles."

"I've got my own mode of transportation, don't worry."

"Gotta say this is kinda cool." Kira said to her mom. "Finally getting to fight alongside you."

"Only you and your father would deem this cool." Kim said with a shake of her head.

"And Uncle Jason." Kira added.

"Ok fine, him too." Kim conceded before stepping forward as veteran Ranger and leading the sequence of morphs.

"It's Morphin' Time!"

"Pink Ranger Power!"

Although the Zeo powers were also at her fingertips, none of the Original Rangers would ever choose to use powers other then their Ninjetti ones if they had the choice. The Ninjetti powers were just right, there was no other word for it, and they never felt more powerful then when becoming one with their Animal Spirit.

"Cool." Connor and Ethan muttered seeing an Original Ranger appear before their eyes.

"Come on guys." Kira said as she activated her Morpher. Having seen her parents morph before, it wasn't nearly as impressive to her.

"Dino Thunder, Power Up!"

With four Rangers ready for action, Kim called on her old Shark Cycle, which, thanks to Alpha and all his attention over the years, was in great shape and had been updated with the latest technology, even if the look of it remained the same. The four sped out of the cave and Kira proved that being ten didn't mean she couldn't be a good driver. It helped that it automatically assisted her, though she'd never admit that to Connor. Once they reached the co-ordinates that Hayley had programmed in, the Rangers ran into some trouble in the form of Elsa, Zeltrax and some Tyrannodrones. It was then that they got to see first hand what an Original Ranger could do and Kim didn't disappoint, her anger and worry for Tommy only making her that much more lethal. With the added firepower of the Raptor Cycles, the battle wasn't a long one and the Rangers were once again on their way. Tapping into the hyperdrive with their Gems, Kim doing something very similar with her Power Coin, they accessed hyperspeed and sped through the Invisi-portal.

"Hayley we're here." Connor called through the comm system built into their helmets once they arrived, having landed in a corridor somewhere in Mesogog's lair.

"Good. I'll re-calibrate your cycles for the return trip."

"Alpha come in." Kim called through one of the channels of her own comm system, after all these years the veteran Rangers had more then one, this one being connected back to the Command Centre.

"Go ahead Kimberly."

"I need you to work with Hayley to re-calibrate my Shark Cycle. She's in the Dino Lab on the main computers. She'll explain what's going on."

"You got it!"

"And have Tommy's cycle on stand by. We may need it."

"Giving Alpha a work-out huh?" Kira asked teasingly as they made their way through the base.

"It's good for him. Keeps him on his toes and ready for just such an emergency." Replied the Pink Ranger just as jokingly. The four continued down the hallway, making turns here and there, as Kim followed her instincts as to where Tommy was being held. As they drew closer, a door opened ahead of them and the head mutant dinosaur himself appeared.

"Welcome. We've been expecting you." If he was at all surprised at seeing a Pink Ranger, who clearly did not belong to the same team, he didn't show it. Now faced with the dilemma of going to save her mate, or letting her daughter face their arch-enemy, when she was still truthfully warring with herself over having Kira fight at all, Kim stepped forward, having made her decision.

"You guys go get Tommy. I'll handle him." She said, calling on her Power Bow, and allowing the Crane out in a show of power.

"Mom will you be ok?"

"I'll be fine Kira. This isn't the first arch-nemesis I've faced alone and he won't be the last."

"And you think you have the power to defeat me?"

"Oh, I don't think, I know." She retorted, smiling under her helmet as the three Dino Rangers ran off into the room Mesogog had come out of. Facing off against the Pink Ranger, who he could sense was not to be trifled with, Mesogog could do nothing to stop them. "But I don't intend to defeat you, not today. Unless of course you force me to, and if you do I promise you won't like the consequences."

"Won't I?" Mesogog taunted condescendingly as they circled each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.

"Nope. I'd tell you to ask Divatox what it's like when I get pissed off, but she was destroyed years ago." Which was true, Divatox had been destroyed years ago by Zordon's energy wave during The Countdown, having brought back the good being she used to be before Dark Spector gained control of her. Of course Kim wasn't going to tell him that and instead allowed him to believe that it was her who had destroyed the space pirate. Even if this tactic could only be used once, for no doubt Mesogog would look it all up once they were gone, it was a smart move as it had Mesogog staying on the defense, not wanting to risk pissing Kim off until he knew for certain whether what she said was true or not.

As Kim faced off against Mesogog, the others followed one more hallway before finally locating Tommy.

"Dad!" Kira cried rushing over to him and helping to untie him.

"Hit the red button on that panel." He instructed, indicating to the panel on the side that Ethan rushed over to and did as instructed. The door behind them closed and locked just before Elsa and Zeltrax could get in. Even if Mesogog himself was busy, he could still send his minions after them. Once free, Tommy pulled his daughter into a quick hug, still not used to her bigger size while in her morphed state, before rushing over to another set of control panels and activating an Invisi-portal.

"Go guys!" he said.

"We're not leaving you!" Kira cried. Before Tommy could say anything back the door opened and Kim rushed in just before Mesogog and his goons.

"You ok?" She asked Tommy who nodded.

"Then lets get out of here."

"We gotta get that stone first." He mumbled.

"Fine. Go!" She cried, launching herself over Elsa and heading for the stone, stopping only when their enemies forced her to. The others followed her example and immediately jumped into action, Mesogog going to fight against Tommy, who for some unknown reason, refused to morph. Eventually, Kim succeeded in getting the stone and they all jumped through the portal, which Tommy had set to take them to the Raptor Cycles.

"Alpha, send Tommy's Shark Cycle!" Kim cried and not a second later the White Shark Cycle appeared.

"Alright, let's get out of here." Said Tommy as he took the stone from Kim and climbed on, all five Rangers, one still un-morphed, heading back through the portal, and landing in downtown Reefside. Elsa and Zeltrax and a group of Tyrannodrones, followed them and upon arrival Zeltrax shot a blast directly at Tommy.

"Tommy look out!" Kim cried, though she needn't have worried. When Tommy didn't immediately duck she knew he had a plan, even if she couldn't think straight enough to know what it was. Instead, he held up the stone and allowed Zeltrax's energy blast to hit it directly. As the energy built, Kim began to question whether Tommy really did have a plan for she could tell that the stone was only seconds away from exploding and without being morphed, Tommy didn't stand a chance at such close range.

"Tommy-" She began but was cut off as the stone did just what she knew it would. An explosion of blinding light erupted from the stone and when it died down, Tommy was nowhere to be seen.

"Tommy…?" Kim breathed, desperately searching their bond for any sign of him, though her overwrought feelings were making it hard to determine the truth.

"No! Dad…" Kira cried, falling to the ground, Connor not a second behind her as he went to comfort his mate, though he too was pretty panicked.

"This can't be happening." Ethan said, not believing that his teacher and mentor, one of the world's longest serving Rangers, could survive all that, only to be destroyed now by an exploding stone.

"Oh, such negativity." Elsa taunted. "Haven't you learned that in our world anything is possible?"

"Even the destruction of the great Dr. Tommy Oliver." Added Zeltrax. Suddenly, the air in front of them began to shimmer and Tommy's voice rang out moments before his body re-appeared.

"I heard my name. You missed me didn't you Zeltrax?"

"Dad!" Kira cried as she and the others ran forward, Kim and Kira latching on and both muttering threats should he ever scare them like that again.

"Hey, Dr. O, what's this?" Connor asked as something in Tommy's hand began to glow. Tommy opened his hand to reveal a familiar looking stone, thought in a different colour to what they were used to.

"A Black Dino Gem?" Ethan asked. "Let me guess, the power of invisibility."

"Looks like it." Said Tommy.

"That Gem belongs to my master." Elsa called from where she stood flanked by Tyrannodrones.

"There's two things you guys need to learn about Dino Gems." Tommy called back. "One: you can't choose them, they choose you."

"What's the other?" Elsa asked, not liking where this was going. Not a minute ago it looked like Tommy was dead. Now he was back, and had a Dino Gem to boot.

"They go real well with Dino Morphers." He replied, raising his arm in front of him and activating his new Morpher, before slamming the Dino Gem into it, watching as it faded and gave power to his Morpher.

"Aren't you a little old for this Tommy?" Elsa taunted, though they all knew it was merely a cover for the apprehension she was trying to hide. Tommy may have been serving as a Ranger for over ten years, but he was still only twenty-six and far from being unable to enter a battle. Until now, Tommy had stayed back, not having powers specific to this enemy and knowing any of his old powers would only go so far, but if he had a Dino Gem, he could truly enter this battle and Elsa, Zeltrax and even Mesogog knew that they'd now have their work cut out for them.

"I may be old, but I can still pull it off." He commented with a smirk as he activated the second part of his Morpher, which was a key much like their Turbo Morphers had been. With a sigh, Kim stood back and waited for him to morph. She couldn't decide if she was upset that her mate was once again going to be an active Ranger or if she was glad that he'd be out there fighting alongside their daughter and better able to protect her, though in the end the added protection for Kira won out. Then of course there was the hours of entertainment that would follow when their friends found out that the Technicolour Ranger had struck again, this time taking Zack's colour. For the simple fact that it annoyed Tommy to no end, all of them conveniently ignored the fact that Tommy wasn't the only one in their group with multiple colours, Jason having had three, which had been on par with Tommy until now.

"Dino Thunder, Power Up!" Tommy called bringing the key and his Morpher together and activating his powers. Although he'd morphed many times before, the feeling was always different depending on the powers being used. Seconds later, Tommy came out of his morph and struck a pose. The power of the Gem had awakened revealing to him he possessed the power of the brachiosaurus, and he knew instantly that his Dino Bio-Zord had not been set free to run wild like the others but had instead been waiting on the Gem's awakening and was even now making its way to their location.

"One more makes no difference." Zeltrax snarled. "Attack!" The monsters did just that and Kim allowed the Dino Rangers to take on the bigger enemies while she dealt with the foot soldiers. She could feel the difference through their bond between how her powers fared against these enemies the Ninjetti Ranger powers weren't meant to fight, versus Tommy's new Dino Ranger powers, which were created for just this purpose.

"Brachio Staff!" Tommy called on his new weapon as he squared off against Zeltrax. The two fought for awhile before Tommy decided to try out his new powers. "Brachio Staff Wind Strike!" A powerful blast left Tommy's staff and hit Zeltrax dead on, though one blast was not enough to defeat him.

"Finish it. I dare you." Zeltrax panted as he struggled to stand. Tommy's blast may not have been enough to destroy him, but it was still a hard blast.

"No." Tommy said after contemplating it for a moment. "I have a message for your master. Tell him Tommy's back and no matter what colour I am, he'll never succeed." Zeltrax didn't answer but merely disappeared into an Invisi-portal. Seconds after he was gone, Mesogog send his regenerative rain and the monster that had accompanied Elsa and Zeltrax grew to epic proportions. Tommy's communicator sounded as Hayley's voice came through the comm.

"Welcome back. Got a little present for you. I intercepted the Brachiozord and got the schematics. I think you'll like what's inside. You guys can take it from here." The Brachiozord then appeared in the distance, growing bigger every second as its long legs carried it quickly towards them. Once there, Tommy held up his Morpher, forming the final connection between him and his Zord. The Brachiozord then opened revealing the three other Dino Zords, which Kira, Connor and Ethan quickly had form the Megazord.

"A carrier Zord." Kim commented coming up beside Tommy. "Don't think you've had one of those before."

"Well there had to be some new things this time 'round. I couldn't have done it all."

"We're getting fried up here!" Kira cried and Tommy and Kim were brought back to the battle to see that the monster did indeed have its tentacles wrapped around the Megazord.

"Hayley, got anything else?"

"Of course. Try the Cephalazord."

"Alright." Said Tommy as the head of his Morpher changed from Brachio to Cephala. "Activating now." Out of the Brachiozord came a smaller Zord, though one full of energy.

"The Cephalazord can combine with the Megazord for even more power." Hayley explained

"Let's do it!" The Rangers disengaged the Tricerazord arm replacing it with the Cephalazord for a super powered punch that was enough to destroy the monster. With him gone, the Rangers sent their Zords back into the Brachiozord before sending that Zord back to the hidden location in the woods. After they were sure the Brachiozord was clear, the Rangers headed home, meeting Hayley in the Dino Lab before they all headed upstairs. Kim pulled out the blender and made smoothies for everyone while Tommy and Hayley made some sandwiches as the kids sat back and allowed the adults to do the work.

"What an awesome day." Ethan said once they'd all taken their fill of nourishment, though Connor was still eating. "New bikes, new Zords."

"New Ranger. Well, sorta new." Added Connor between mouthfuls.

"I'm glad you're ok dad." Said Kira leaning over and giving him a hug. "That part wasn't awesome." She shot Ethan a look and he rolled his eyes but conceded that she had a point.

"So, how long have you had this fourth Morpher ready?" Ethan asked,

"Right after you guys became Rangers, I got an energy reading on the tracking system. I had a good idea it was another Gem, so I had Hayley build another Morpher just in case."

"Why didn't you tell us there could be another Ranger? We could have been looking for the Gem and gotten it before now." Said Kira.

"I was pretty sure Mesogog had it this whole time."

"Pretty sure? Pretty sure isn't positive." Kira grumbled.

"I'm sorry." Tommy said, and truthfully he was, he shouldn't be keeping things like this from the other Rangers.

"I'll forgive you this once, and only this once." She said.

"You know what I don't think your father's learned his lesson about keeping things secret." Kim said, half jokingly. " I think he needs to be punished. So you're now taking me on a shopping spree and are on bag duty…alone." Tommy groaned but wisely held his tongue and Kira chuckled; Kim was using this very thin excuse to get to go shopping, and she knew Tommy wouldn't saw no, not this time at least.

"What's so funny?" Connor asked.

"For as long as I can remember dad and my uncles have been telling horror stories of mom's shopping trips and being on bag duty, which just means they gotta carry the bags with everything she buys. My aunts assure me they're exaggerating."

"We are not exaggerating!" Tommy cried. "There's been more then one occasion when we needed the Zords to get all her shopping home."

"And considering that's what they say every time, I'm inclined to believe my aunts."

"Why do you have to go shopping anyways?" asked Ethan.

"Besides the fact that I said so," Kim said with a smile. "Having been the Green, White and then Red Rangers, Tommy doesn't have much black in his wardrobe."

"Which means I'd have to go shopping whether Kim said so or not."

"Why? The colour aside, do you not have enough clothes?" Connor asked.

"I got enough, but it has all to do with the colour. Have you noticed that everyday since you became Rangers you've been wearing at least one article of clothing that's your Ranger colour?"

"I hadn't until you said that." Said Ethan.

"We don't know why, but it never feels right unless we're wearing our Ranger colour." Said Kim. "I've worn pink everyday since I was fifteen."

"That's a lot of pink." Connor mumbled.

"Yep. It gets better after you're no longer an active Ranger." Added Tommy. "Shortly after we gave up our Turbo powers, I didn't have to wear red everyday, but if I wasn't wearing red it was green or white. It still never felt right if I didn't wear one of my Ranger colours, but since I wasn't an active Red Ranger, I could choose between the three and feel fine."

"And then there's those of us who only have one Ranger colour and aren't so lucky." Said Kim. "If something in me didn't compel me to love pink so much I'd have gotten sick of it years ago."

"It's one of the mysteries of being a Ranger." Said Kira. "Some things you just can't explain."

"That's right. So anyways, we're going shopping tomorrow." Kim said to Tommy. "I know you don't have any other plans and it's a Saturday so plan to spend the whole day there."

"Yes ma'am." He muttered.

"Can I come mom?" Kira asked. "We never did get shopping after I became the Yellow Ranger. It's only thanks to Aunts Trini, Aisha, Tanya and Ashley that I had so much yellow clothing in the first place." Behind Kira's back Connor's head had shot up and he began shaking his head furiously, silently begging Kim to say no.

"Of course you can come." She said, pretending to not have seen him, though Ethan had and he laughed when Connor groaned. They'd planned on a day long shopping trip and there was no way he was staying away from his mate for an entire day when he didn't have to, which meant he had to go with them.

"Looks like you're not gonna be alone in bag duty after all Dr. O."

A/N - Kira Ford's first, and most likely last, appearance. She appeared merely cause it was a fun scene to write, and it also serves the purpose of cementing the fact that Kira Ford and Kira Oliver are two different people. Trent has now been introduced and the White Ranger will make his first appearance next chapter. I am sticking to canon with the White Ranger so yes it's going to be Trent, and yes he's going to start off evil, though his time being evil and how big/long the evil White Ranger saga is in my story will be different then in canon.

Review please!