Disclaimer: I do now own Power Rangers.

Chapter 30 – Venjix Then and Now

"You may think you created Venjix, but I promise you, you didn't. There's so much more to it, so much you couldn't know because we weren't here to tell you. Or to fight Venjix when he first reappeared. We abandoned Earth. It's our fault the planet's like this."

"We didn't do it on purpose though." Connor assured them, though really he was trying to reassure his mate.

"Alright, it sounds like there's a very long story here, so why don't we go sit down so you can explain. I'm Scott Truman, by the way, Ranger Operator Series Red and team leader." Kira and Connor nodded in greeting and allowed themselves to be led in to the RPM Rangers pseudo living room as the others introduced themselves. Dr. K hung back long enough to call Colonel Truman and open a communications channel so he could be there as well.

"Oh, and that's my dad, Colonel Truman." Scott said, pointing to the screen where a man waved from. "Now, why don't you finish telling us about Venjix before you get into how it's your fault Earth is like this." Scott suggested and when no complaints came, Kira and Connor started in on their story, though for this part at least, Kira took the lead for she knew more then her mate.

"As already stated, Venjix was one of the generals of the Machine Empire. In spring of 1997, the Zeo Rangers destroyed Mondo and most of the Empire with him."

"Hold on." Said Flynn. "How old are you? Cause you really don't look old enough to have been a Ranger in 1997."

"I wasn't, I'm fifteen, I was two when the Machine Empire attacked Earth. The Red and Pink Zeo Rangers were my parents. Who were also two of the Original Power Rangers, and a couple Rangers after that…suffice it to say my parents have a long and involved history as Power Rangers. Connor and I kind of stole their Morphers. We knew seeing Zeo Rangers would creep Venjix out the most."

"Wait you're fifteen but you were two in 1997?" Summer asked.

"Well I turned three in August of '97."

"That's not possible. If you're fifteen you would have been born in '99. You wouldn't have been alive in '97."

"What? Why…what year is it?" Kira asked, dreading the answer.

"2014." Kira and Connor looked to each other and their faces fell.

"It's been five years." Kira muttered. "Oh my god…"

"It's ok." Connor said. "We'll sort all this out, I promise." Kira nodded and put herself back together, turning to face the RPM Rangers.

"Ok…so, yes I'm only fifteen and yes I was born in 1994. How that's possible we'll get to in a minute. Anyways, when the Machine Empire was destroyed, Venjix and four other generals escaped, though no one knew that at the time. It wasn't until 2002 that they made an appearance, trying, unsurprisingly, to destroy Earth."

"A team of every Red Ranger in existence at the time went to stop the generals and thought they had succeeded." Connor continued. "Venjix was inside a machine when it blew and it was thought that there was no way he could have survived that." Connor recounted Kira's memories though didn't mention that that machine had been Serpentera for he didn't want to get into an entire Ranger history. "Again we heard nothing from Venjix for years…until we learned he'd taken over Earth."

"And this is the part of why you weren't on Earth when the attack began." Said Colonel Truman, who'd been brought up to speed by Dr. K before being brought into the room.

"Yep." Said Kira. "In 2009 we received a distress call from the planet Eltar. Some digging revealed that it wasn't just Eltar that was in danger, but their entire galaxy. An evil being we knew nothing about had risen and had launched a full out war in that part of the universe. Do you remember 1998? That planet wide battle with Astronema?"Colonel Truman nodded as did everyone else, though they knew more about it then remembered it for they'd been kids at the time. "Well picture that battle, but on a bigger scale. That's what we were facing."

"But you weren't facing it." Said Dillon. "They weren't attacking Earth."

"Earth may be the home planet of most of the Power Rangers in existence, but it isn't home to all of us. Eltar was home to the very best of us." Kira said, evading mentioning Zordon for she didn't want to get into that at the moment. "Not to mention that we're not just guardians of the Earth, we're guardians of the entire universe."

"And there's the fact that if that unknown evil being succeeded there was a very good chance they'd turn their sights on Earth. Destroying the home of the Power Rangers, and even the Rangers themselves would see that evil being revered above all other evil beings."

"So basically we had to stop them before they gained more power. With a battle that size, one or two, or even several, teams of Rangers wouldn't be enough to defeat them. We'd die and then when they came to Earth there would be less Rangers to protect that planet. So we all went. Every last one of us, and those Rangers who weren't on Earth met us there."

"We didn't leave Earth completely unprotected though. There was a shield surrounding the planet, protecting from invaders from another galaxy, and we boosted our teleportation to be able to return instantaneously if there was an attack. We never expected not to be able to teleport, or even make contact."

"It was trap." Kira said plainly. "We arrived at Eltar and the supposedly live images the Eltarians were sending to us was not what we saw before us. Our ship was gunned down and we found ourselves stranded on Eltar, which had actually been abandoned some time ago. Not only that, but we found ourselves unable to morph, unable to teleport, or communicate with anyone."

"We knew that whoever had set the trap was targeting Earth. They'd lured us away with the one thing they knew we'd have to send every Ranger to fight, and they were technologically savvy enough to fool our main computers when we tried to verify that there was indeed an attack of that magnitude taking place."

"We didn't know who it was. We were stuck on Eltar for six months, during which we did everything we could to escape and get back to Earth. That's why it's possible that I'm fifteen. It's been five years on Earth, but only six months on Eltar, the planets are in different orbits, different parts of the universe and time passes differently."

"Eventually, we discovered a hidden base on the planet guarded by your Grinders. Our best and brightest determined that what they guarded was a device that released a signal that stopped us from morphing, teleporting and from activating our interplanetary communications. We destroyed the Grinders and the signal easy enough and finished the repairs to our ship to return to Earth."

"Why didn't you just teleport?" Ziggy asked.

"Because something was still blocking the signal, but not from our end. We assumed that whoever had set the trap for us, whoever was targeting Earth, had placed another device on Earth, which still prevented us from teleporting, or communicating with home." Kira explained. "It was then that my parents, and the other Zeo Rangers, discovered who this enemy was, or at least narrowed it down. The Grinders are modified Cogs."

"Cogs?" Gem asked.

"Like the ones used in various machines?" Gemma added.

"No, though that's where their name come from. Cogs were the foot soldiers of the Machine Empire. If you take away a Grinder's metal armour, it's a Cog. Once they realized that, we knew it was someone from the Machine Empire."

"Kira and I came back first, before the ship was fixed. Don't ask us how." Connor said. They'd used their power to circumvent the second device not allowing them to teleport. They hadn't done it before for they didn't know what they had to do, or what they were facing and they'd learned, when using their power to create the temporary Jungle Fury Morphers during the final battle against Dai Shi, that knowing exactly what they wanted their power to do didn't use up nearly as much of it, putting them in less danger. It also helped that they'd combined their power, though Connor readily admitted his was relatively minimal when his mate wasn't in danger. He knew that Kira was the one with the ultimate power, but Connor had enough to be of use to her, and was able to tap into The Great Power itself when needed to protect his mate. "We went to the site of the Command Centre, the Command Centre of the Original Power Rangers, which still stands today. Our robotic tech advisor had been searching for us. We then learned it was Venjix that had attacked. His forces were camped outside the Command Centre, which is heavily protected, so he couldn't touch it, but if anyone left the Command Centre, or if we ever returned, he was waiting. Kira and I destroyed the second device and most of his forces that were there, before Alpha sent us here. And you know the rest."

"And you're certain this is the same Venjix?" Dr. K asked.

"Well if we weren't before, his reaction to seeing the Zeo Rangers was enough to convince us."

"Doc, you know what this means right?" Ziggy asked suddenly, turning towards Dr. K with a bright smile.

"No." She answered in her blunt manner.

"It means you didn't create Venjix!" he cried happily. "You thought you were responsible for Earth's destruction because you created him, but you didn't! So you're not!"

"He does have a point Dr. K." Flynn said also smiling, a fact that was reciprocated on every Ranger's face, even Dillon cracked a smile, for they all knew how much that had eaten her up. Dr. K seemed to process that information for a moment before excusing herself and heading into her lab. After a moment Ziggy followed, and Kira and Connor smiled at each other, now knowing of his feelings for her.

"So what happens now?" Colonel Truman asked from his office via the computer screen.

"Now we defeat Venjix, for good this time." Kira said simply.

"Easier said then done." Scott muttered.

"We know." Connor agreed. "But there's no other option."

"But what do we do after Venjix is gone?" Summer asked. "Assuming we defeat him. Has anyone actually thought about that? Earth is destroyed and most of the planet is inhabitable due to toxin levels."

"Don't worry about that." Said Kira dismissively.

"How can we not?" Asked Dillon.

"Because after this is all over the damage Venjix caused isn't going to matter, I promise. Trust me." She added when they looked at her funny, Connor included.

"Why don't I like the sound of that?" Connor asked his mate suspiciously.

"Because you rarely like the ideas that come out of my mouth." Kira countered, telling Connor through their bond to drop it, which he did for now, though this was far from over.

"Alright, there's one other thing we have to do before we defeat Venjix though." Summer said. "Dillon's sister, Tanaya, is being controlled by Venjix. He's using her as one of his minions. We have to save her." Summer wasn't going to consider any other possibility. This meant too much to Dillon, which meant it had a lot of meaning for her too.

"Of course." Kira agreed readily. "No one gets left behind."

"But how?" Asked Scott. "How can we save her? Venjix has her completely under his control."

"How is she under his control?" Connor asked. "I'm assuming it's some device since he's a machine."

"She has Venjix technology implanted inside her, just like I do." Said Dillon. "Only hers is much more. She's more machine then human." Kira and Connor thought for a moment, both coming to the same conclusion: that they needed to know more about this technology.

"Alpha may know something." Kira muttered, raising her communicator to her lips. "Alpha come in."

"Aye yai yai! It is certainly good to hear your voice again Kira!" He responded almost instantly.

"You too Alpha." Kira laughed. "Listen, we need your help. Can you teleport to my location? And bring your scanner."

"Will do!" He signed off and the RPM Rangers had just enough time to ask them who Alpha was before the robot himself teleported in.

"Guys, this is Alpha 5." Kira introduced. "The tech advisor of the Original Power Rangers, and one of the creators of the Morphing Grid."

"Meaning he's partly responsible for the existence of Power Rangers." Connor added.

"Nice to meet you." Dillon said and Summer was thankful to note his lack of sarcasm. "Now how can he help save my sister?"

"Alpha, Dillon here has Venjix technology implanted inside of him, as does his sister who's very much under Venjix's control like Karone was Dark Spector." Kira said, knowing Alpha would understand. "We're hoping you can tell us more about this technology. Maybe come up with an idea on how to deactivate a Venjix mind control."

"I will try." He said, approaching Dillon with his scanner. "Stand up please." Dillon did as instructed and allowed Alpha to run the scanner over him. "I shall have to run the results through the main computer at the Command Centre and shall let you know as soon as I am finished."

"Thanks." Dillon muttered. He could be nice, especially if this helped his sister.

"Yeah, thanks Alpha." Said Connor. "And hey, one more thing, did the Command Centre's Zord Bay get destroyed? Or is it still intact?"

"The Zeo Zords and Super Zeo Zords are safe and fully functional." Alpha responded, knowing what Connor was getting at, before he teleported out.

"Zeo Zords?" Flynn asked to which Connor nodded.

"We haven't seen the last of Venjix. And I know when he returns we're gonna need all the fire power we can get."

"After all these years you sure they're strong enough?" Scott asked, this time it was Kira who nodded.

"Zords aren't like regular machines. Time doesn't make them rust or lose any strength."

"You seem to know a lot about Power Rangers for having stolen your parents Morphers." Colonel Truman commented and Kira had to laugh at that.

"You just said it, my parents are Power Rangers, of course I know it all. Well, almost."

"Your parents share everything about their job with you? Mine doesn't." Muttered Scott.

"Being a Power Ranger isn't the same job as being in the military." Kira said. "Once you're in on the secret there's very little that can't be shared with you. It all depends on whether it should be shared with you. Some stuff just shouldn't be shared with anyone."

"But in terms of our knowledge specifically there's also a small fact we forgot to mention and that's that we're Rangers in our own right." Connor added. "I'm the Red Dino Thunder Ranger, and spent a short amount of time, a very short amount of time as the Jungle Fury Lion Ranger. Kira here is the Yellow Dino Thunder Ranger, and the Yellow Jungle Fury Ranger, though her term as a Jungle Fury Ranger wasn't nearly as short as mine."

"Try I was one of the original three Jungle Fury Rangers and you came in only for the final battle." Kira imputed.

"Ok so that explains a lot." Said Scott.

"Except why you stole your parents Morphers if you have your own." Said Dillon.

"Well, apart from scaring Venjix, which we've already said, the Zeo powers were created to fight the Machine Empire, just as your RPM powers were created to fight Venjix. Although this Venjix seems to be more powerful then the one we knew he is still a part of the Empire, and as such the Zeo powers were created to fight him."

"Ranger powers are never stronger then against the enemy they were meant to fight." Connor added to their confused looks. "While we could use our Dino powers, or Kira her Jungle Fury powers, they wouldn't be as effective as the Zeo powers or RPM powers."

"We're in a rare situation, if its ever been seen, where two teams of Rangers were created to fight the same enemy…technically speaking." She amended a bit. "We intend to use that fact to our full advantage."

"And there's no better time then now." Ziggy's voice came from the doorway to Dr. K's lab. "Venjix has sent an Attack Bot." The Rangers all jumped up and Colonel Truman signed off, heading to the main control room that overlooked the city.

"Tanaya's with it." Dillon observed.

"We'll get her back, Dillon. I promise." Kira said. "We just have to give Alpha a little time to figure out how."

"Trust in Alpha." Connor added. "He's never failed us."

"Let's get going." Said Scott.

"Could we morph here?" Kira called as they began to run out the door. "Only, Venjix doesn't know we're not my parents yet and the longer we keep up the illusion, the longer he'll be on edge and more prone to make mistakes." Finding no reason not to morph now, Scott pulled out his Morpher and called it.

"Ready?"

"Ready!"

"RPM Get in Gear!"

"It's Morphin' Time!" Connor cried, Kira allowing him to say those iconic words this time as she had got to the first time they'd morphed into the Zeo Rangers.

"Zeo Ranger I-Pink!"

"Zeo Ranger V-Red!"

Once morphed, the Rangers sped out of the Garage, Kira and Connor riding with Flynn again, arriving at the scene shortly thereafter. As they fought the Grinders Kira was never more glad that the Zeo powers were not tied to her parents DNA like the Dino powers, or the Original Ranger powers. Apart from the one she'd shot on the Moon all those years ago, she'd never fought Cogs before, but if they packed half the punch these Grinders did, then the added protection the Zeo powers gave them was a relief. Half way through their battle, Connor's words that Alpha never failed them were proven as the robot contacted Kira and Connor with a plan.

"I have analyzed the Venjix technology. It is very similar, if not somewhat more advanced, then what Mondo used. The databanks in the Command Centre have enough data to be able to create a signal blocker that will stop the signal of Venjix's mind control technology from entering Tanaya's brain. I shall begin on it right away and also continue to look for a more permanent solution."

"An excellent start. Thanks Alpha!" Kira said, kicking a Grinder back. "Dillon!" She called to the Black Ranger. "We have to capture Tanaya. Alpha found something but it'll do no good if she's in Venjix's base." Dillon nodded and immediately got to work on that with some help from Ziggy and Gemma who had both heard Kira as well. While they'd taken out the Grinders, and fought Tanaya, the other RPM Rangers had taken on the Attack Bot, eventually seeing it destroyed, only for Venjix to download the data to make it grow big.

"High Octane Megazord!" Summer, Flynn and Scott called together, summoning their Zords and the most basic of their Megazords. Kira and Connor looked to the others and saw that they were still occupied with Tanaya and so resolved to do what they'd come here to do.

"Gem, go help them!" Said Connor. "We'll help the others." Gem nodded and went to join his sister who filled him in on what they were attempting to do.

"We need Zeo Zord power now!" Kira and Connor cried together, summoning her parents and aunt and uncles old Zords, which thanks to teleportation arrived from the opposite side of the country within seconds. Connor jumped up into the red bird like Zord while Kira headed for the tank like Zord, having to remind herself it was the one with the pink band around the top not the yellow one. "Zeo Megazord!" The Zords combined together and the two found it strange to be sitting while operating a Megazord, not to mention the strangeness of operating this Megazord instead of their own, but they got over it pretty fast. The two Megazords worked together to destroy the monster, and Kira and Connor got to test out exactly what the Zeo Megazord could do.

"Zeo I Battle Helmet activate!" Kira cried, adding a woah as the cockpit rotated so that she was in the forward most position usually reserved for the Red Ranger. "Gotta admit this is kinda cool." She muttered and Connor laughed. "Fire!" A blast of energy left the cannon mounted atop the Pink Ranger's battle helmet.

"Shall we finish this?" Connor called over to Scott.

"Oh yeah!" Came the reply.

"Zeo V battle Helmet!" The cockpit rotated so Connor was once again in the driver's seat. "Zeo Megazord Sabre!"

"Super Sabre!" The two Megazords called on their main weapons and launched their final attacks, the Attack Bot having no chance against the two powerful Megazords. Once that battle was over, the Rangers jumped from the Megazords and sent the Zords back to their Zord Bays, joining the other Rangers who'd been successful in capturing Tanaya, thanks to a little help from Dr. K.

"Let me out!" Tanaya yelled, banging on the glass cage she found herself in.

"Dr. K's a lifesaver." Said Dillon, admitting that openly for the first time. "We just gotta find a way to get her back to the Garage."

"No problem." Said Kira. "Alpha, will you teleport Tanaya to the Garage?"

"Absolutely!" Came the reply and not a second later did Tanaya and her prison disappear. "The signal blocker shall be ready shortly." He added.

"Excellent." Connor said. "Let's get back." Hopping back into their cars once again, the Rangers returned to the Garage, being met by eight fuming people.

"How did you get in here?" Scott asked immediately. After Summer's parents found their way into the Garage while the Rangers were out, they'd implemented measures to ensure that couldn't happen. The RPM Rangers were on guard, but the unknown peoples attention wasn't at all focused on them, but on the two behind them.

"Kira Hart Oliver…" Seethed a petite brunette who the Rangers had to admit greatly resembled Kira. It was then that at least two of these peoples' identities clicked.

"Hi mom." Kira muttered. "Dad. Look I can-"

"Explain?" Tommy interrupted. "Ok, explain to us why you both just disappeared when it was thought impossible to teleport. Explain to us why our Zeonizers went missing and when we finally return to Earth, in a complete panic that something had happened to you, that we discover the Zeo Megazord back in action!"

"We went ahead." Kira said plainly. "I know you're mad, but only Connor and I could have done so, you know that, so we did it to get back to Earth that much faster. And we took your Zeonizers because we all know it was someone from the Machine Empire that set the trap and seeing Zeo Rangers when they thought they were all stranded galaxies away, or even dead, would creep them out."

"It's Venjix by the way." Connor added.

"Yes, we know." Said Kim. "Alpha filled us in when we arrived at the Command Centre."

"Did you see Eric?" Kira asked. During her and Connor's brief trip to the Command Centre before coming to Corinth they'd seen none of the kids that had been at the Command Centre when they'd left for Eltar. Knowing that Alpha would inform them immediately had something happened to their family, they'd not asked about Kira's brother.

"Yeah." Tommy breathed as tears came to everyone's eyes as they thought of their kids, effectively stopping their anger, or rather redirecting it at Venjix for having cost them five years of their kids lives.

"He's so big." Kim added. "He's nine…they're all so big."

"That's what happens in five years." Jason ground out, speaking for the first time.

"I can't believe we lost that much time of their lives." Aisha muttered.

"Don't worry." Kira said. "How much time you missed won't matter soon. I promise." Her family looked at her with narrowed eyes as they thought of every possible interpretation of her words.

"Why, exactly, don't we like the sound of that?" Trini asked, speaking for them all.

"Because this is Kira we're talking about." Connor said. "She said the same thing earlier and I didn't like it. She's up to something but is completely blocking me." He ground out that last bit, shooting a glare at his mate who was indeed using all the control over their bond that she'd gained over the years to block him from seeing exactly what she was thinking.

"Guys these are my parents." Kira said to the RPM Rangers, employing her father's time tested technique of changing the subject. "Kimberly and Tommy Oliver, the Original White and Pink Rangers, the Red and Pink Zeo Rangers and the first Red and Pink Turbo Rangers. Dad was also the Black Dino Ranger."

"Yeah yeah we know we were many Rangers." Tommy said dismissively. "But speaking of Zeo Rangers, Zeonizers. Now." He and Kim held out their hand and Kira and Connor obediently took off the Zeonizers and returned them to their rightful owners.

"Then we've got my Uncle Jason, Aunt Trini, Uncle Billy and Uncle Zack, the other four Original Rangers, while Jason, Trini and Zack were the first Blue, Yellow and Green Zeo Rangers. Uncle Billy became a full time tech advisor when they gained their Zeo powers. And Uncle Jason returned as the Gold Zeo Ranger later on." Kira continued the introductions. "Then there's Uncle Rocky, Uncle Adam and Aunt Aisha, the second Blue, Green and Yellow Zeo Rangers. Uncle Adam was also the first Green Turbo Ranger." With one side of the introductions done, Kira turned to the other side. "Guys, these are the RPM Rangers, Scott, Flynn, Summer, Dillon, Ziggy, Gem and Gemma. I'm sure you can guess their colours. Oh and that's Dr. K." She added seeing the doctor coming out of her lab. "She's the creator of the RPM Ranger technology."

"Nice to meet you." Tommy said as they all nodded to each other in greeting. He then turned to his daughter and her mate. "So, what's the plan?"

A/N - Kira's up to something! Of course she's up to something, it's Kira, though not even Connor knows, though he and the others have their suspicions. And yes, thanks to time passing differently on planets in different galaxies only six months have passed for the Rangers. This has significance that you'll learn about next chapter.

Also I've decided to get the RPM story arch over with this weekend so you'll get that next chapter, and the final chapter of this bit of the story, tomorrow!

Review please!