Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.

Chapter 34 – Get in Gear

Kira and Connor did not remain with the Megaforce Rangers for much longer, largely because there was just no point. Vekar had attacked on occasion over the last two days since the Samurai Rangers had left, but there was no sign of Thrax, nor any other past enemies. So the two had returned home to Reefside, staying with Kira's parents. They had not gotten on with their lives, having taking leave from school and the team, and so did not return to L.A., knowing that should they fail in this mission that missing practice and classes wouldn't matter. So they spent their time with family, often visiting the McKnights, or having them over for dinner, and heading to Blue Bay Harbour so Connor could visit Eric, while Kira happily spent time with Tori. They'd been truthful with Connor's parents about their bond up to a point. Connor did not believe it best to tell them the entire truth, or even that they'd bonded when Kira was a kid, but they'd told them about Animal Spirits and that they were mates, saying that their then dormant Spirits knew they were mates when they first met, which is why they had become close friends, but they hadn't bonded as mates till Kira reached her maturity. Mr. and Mrs. McKnight had taken this to mean 'until Kira had turned eighteen' for they hadn't said a word until some weeks after her eighteenth birthday, and while not true, neither Kira nor Connor corrected them.

As Thanksgiving was only about two weeks away from the time Thrax made his return known, the Rangers had requested their standard Christmas get together be moved to Thanksgiving this year, not wanting to wait an extra month to explain things to their parents, which they knew they'd have to, for when all hell broke loose, and it would eventually, their parents would just get in the way in their panic if they didn't know what was going on. At the Rangers request, Alpha and Billy had made communicators for every single one of their parents, their children naturally already having them, so that when the big battle came, or if they were ever in danger, they could teleport to safety. The Rangers had also offered similar things for other Ranger teams' families but were not taken up on the offer. Many of them had secret, protected places of their own where they would send their families, and for those who didn't, and for those family members who remained ignorant that their loved ones were Power Rangers, Lightspeed Rescue had offered up the Aquabase, and were keeping tabs on those that were ignorant, ready to get them out of trouble at a moment's notice.

Naturally their parents were terrified for their children, and grandchild, Kira being the only one of her generation to be a Ranger; though she wasn't sure that with a ten year age gap at minimum she was considered a part of the other Ranger children's generation. A couple days after Thanksgiving was when the next call came, this time from a frantic Dillon. With Kira and Connor taking point on this, the two had teleported to Corinth immediately, not having understood a thing Dillon had said beyond that something was seriously wrong.

"What is it?" Kira asked their friends, for they'd all kept in touch and seen each other relatively often over the four years since Venjix had been destroyed, and Earth had been restored.

"Tanaya's missing!" Dillon said, not stopping his pacing of the Garage. "He couldn't find her this morning." He pointed an accusatory finger at Flynn, for naturally it was all the boyfriend's fault. Flynn and Tanaya had started going out a few months after she, Dillon and Summer had returned from their world tour and had been dating for about a year now. Their relationship had started much as Zhane and Karone's had. The more Tanaya saw of the world the more guilt she felt for she'd been a part of destroying it all. By the time she'd returned to Corinth she was feeling pretty low, and Flynn, still always wanting to help people, took it upon himself to make her see it wasn't her fault. They'd become friends, good friends, and their relationship had progressed naturally from there. Only two months ago did the two move in together, much to Dillon's chagrin, but with Summer and Dillon recently married, much to her parents delight even if he wasn't rich, Tanaya really needed to get out of there, both for herself, and for the newlyweds.

"She was there when I went to sleep but not when I woke up." He muttered, his Scottish accent never being more pronounced then in his grief. "I had early training with the Guardians, so it was about 5:30 when I got up. She never gets up that early, the daycare she works at doesn't open till eight. It's all my fault."

"Damn straight it-"

"Dillon!" Summer yelled at her husband, who stopped at the tone of her voice. "What have I told you?"

" 'Don't blame everything that goes wrong in Tanaya's life on Flynn.' " He recited grudgingly.

"Exactly." She said condescendingly. "As much as you'd like to blame everything on your sister's boyfriend, it's not Flynn's fault. We knew this could happen. Kira and Connor told us old enemies were returning and that Venjix may come after Tanaya." Dillon flung himself into the nearest chair and dropped his head into his hands, trying not to show too many emotions, for he still never liked to, at least to anyone but Summer. "She'll be ok Dillon." Summer murmured, coming to sit in his lap and comfort him.

"Summer's right." Kira said. "There's not a chance in hell Connor and I are gonna let anything happen to any of our friends and family. We'll get her back Dillon, I promise."

"Promises usually mean very little to me." He muttered finally. "It's easy to say words, not to keep the promises. But with you two," He looked to Kira and Connor with tired eyes, but ones that held an enormous amount of trust in them. "After four years of getting to know you, and having watched you bring the entire fucking planet back to life…thank you."

"No problem bro." Said Connor. He and Kira then turned their attention to the other RPM Rangers. Nothing had changed with them really. They were all in the same jobs, all of them having settled into life without Venjix. Scott was seeing someone in the Air Force while Ziggy and Kate had grown even closer and everyone knew there would be wedding bells soon, Ziggy only waiting to pop the question till he was sure it was what Kate wanted. He didn't want to rush her, nor take away any chance at anything she had missed out on for the first eighteen years of her life. Gem and Gemma were the same as always. Of all the RPM guys they'd changed the least, and were perfectly happy with their lives. Kira and Connor stayed for awhile and accepted the offer of staying in the Garage for the night, no one really wanting to go home, largely because they all felt an attack wasn't far off. They certainly weren't wrong. The following day was when the attack came. Grinders were seen in downtown Corinth, drawing a lot of attention, naturally, for they hadn't been seen for four years. The Rangers rushed downtown and saw the group of Grinders being led by Tanaya.

"We'll handle Tanaya." Connor said, placing a calm but firm hand on Dillon's shoulder. Although hesitant, Dillon nodded, knowing they'd never harm her, and he wasn't in any condition to fight her, he'd just be on the defense all the time and would only get injured himself. The RPM Rangers went to face the Grinders, not even bothering to morph, these guys being as easy as they remembered them to be, while Kira and Connor ran over to Tanaya.

"Tanaya!" Connor cried.

"Correct. I am Tanaya, Generation 19, Venjix Human Infiltration Attack Bot."

"Venjix certainly doesn't waste time." Kira muttered to Connor. "She's only been missing a day and Venjix has already given her back her implants."

"And upgraded four generations from the last time." He muttered back. Tanaya had then decided she'd waited enough and launched on the attack. As they didn't want to hurt her, the two were basically on the defense, but only to the point of not hurting her. Where Dillon would have done nothing but defend, they kept her at bay, until she brought out the weaponry. Firing her blaster at them, the two decided if they were to come out of this with no real injuries, they needed better protection, and so they pulled out their Morphers.

"Jungle Beast, Spirit Unleashed!" With the added power, Tanaya's attacks didn't hurt nearly as much and they were content to continue on the defense. But, things couldn't last like this for long, if it did Venjix would get nowhere, which wasn't an option for him so he sent in an Attack Bot.

"What is that supposed to be?" Summer asked, as the Rangers re-grouped with this new addition, though she was referring to the creature following the Attack Bot. Kira laughed out loud when she saw it and upon seeing what was so funny through their bond, Connor joined right in.

"Either that's Venjix," Kira said. "Or he's made an Attack Bot with the same body he had back in 2002."

"That's what Venjix looked like in '02?" Scott asked with a snigger. The Venjix, standing before them was far from scary. He hadn't been back in '02 when Kira was a kid, and he wasn't now, not to her nor the others, who'd seen Venjix in some truly terrifying forms.

"If you're trying to creep me out with the Beetle Borg suit it's not working." Kira yelled over to Venjix, referencing a popular '90s children's show, which had, coincidentally, had characters whose suits were very similar to Venjix's 2002 body.

"I will regain my proper form, but for now this will do to destroy you!" He yelled back, telling them that he was, without a doubt, Venjix. He didn't sound happy about being in this body and Kira briefly wondered if Thrax had been the one to return Venjix to this body, and if not why he was in it, before deciding she didn't really care; whatever form he was in, they'd defeat him again all the same.

"Ready to join the party?" Connor asked.

"Oh yeah." Said Scott as he took a step forward and pulled out his Morpher.

"Ready?"

"Ready!"

"RPM Get in Gear!" The Rangers morphed with no real changes to it except that Kate had powered up their Morphers, making them a match for any new Venjix technology.

"RPM Series Red!"

"RPM Series Blue!"

"RPM Series Yellow!"

"RPM Series Black!"

"RPM Series Green!"

"RPM Series Gold!"

"RPM Series Silver!"

"Power Rangers RPM!"

Venjix waited long enough for them to morph and do roll call. He, along with every other villain, had learned the hard way that attacking while the Rangers morphed got them nowhere for there was some power protecting them during the seconds it took to morph, while attacking during roll call didn't necessarily end badly, but often annoyed the Rangers, especially if they'd sat through a speech or taunting from any of their enemies. But once morph and roll call was over, all bets were off and Venjix sent the Attack Bot after the Rangers. Unlike last time where Kira and Connor had stepped aside and allowed the RPM and Zeo Rangers to take on Venjix, it was them that took him on this time; though granted they weren't really given a choice, for Venjix had taken offense to Kira's Beetle Borg comment and had gone after them.

"You're pathetic, you know that?" Kira said to the arch-enemy when his blade, which she couldn't remember him having back on the Moon, and her Jungle Bo clashed together.

"Perhaps. But unlike you, I shall come out victorious!"

"Unlikely." Connor said, adding to the conversation, if it could be called that. "Aren't you curious how the Earth you destroyed came back to life?"

"I assume it has something to do with the ultimate power." Venjix said, sending off warning bells for Connor and Kira.

"What ultimate power?" Kira asked, playing dumb.

"Do not toy with me!" Venjix snarled. "There is an ultimate power in this universe, Thrax has told us so. One of you Rangers has it, and we will find out who and use that power to see to the end of the Universe!"

"Again, unlikely." Connor snarled back. "And even if there is an ultimate power, we'd never let you get your hands on it."

"So you admit it?"

"We admit nothing." Snapped Kira, getting pissed off with this guy and sending him flying with a powerful swing of the Jungle Bo. By then the RPM Rangers had dealt with the Attack Bot and were merely keeping Tanaya at bay, though for Dillon's sake, were doing a worse job then Kira and Connor had. Venjix saw this and growled, calling Tanaya to him.

"I will return and have my revenge!" He cried, calling up some kind of portal that appeared behind him. "Begin the Download!" He then jumped into the portal, closely followed by Tanaya, the two disappearing from sight. Evidently Venjix's last words had been to another minion who was located at wherever his new lair was for not thirty seconds later did the Attack Bot grow big.

"All yours!" Kira called to the RPM Rangers.

"No problem." Said Flynn.

"Dr. Kate!" Scott said into the comm, having gotten used to adding in the 'te' sound at the end of her name. "We need the Zords."

"As always, I'm one step ahead of you Ranger Red-I mean, Scott." She'd practiced hard over the years to call them by their names, truly thinking of them as family, and rarely had any slip ups, but when she did it was usually in situations like this, whenever the Rangers were needed, or she was talking about new technology or safety plans in case they were needed. The good news was that she always caught herself; all of the Rangers could not be prouder. True to her word, Scott had barely finished asking for the Zords when they appeared.

"Alright! Let's do it!" The Rangers jumped into their Zords, bringing them together very quickly.

"High Octane Megazord!"

"ValveMax Megazord!"

"Mach Megazord!" The Rangers each formed their individual Megazords, Scott, Flynn and Summer forming one, Dillon and Ziggy another, while Gem and Gemma made up the third. They fought the Attack Bot and eventually got tired taking it on as they were. With three Megazords they were by no means having trouble, but it was taking time.

"New formation!" Scott said to his team, the ValveMax and Mach Megazords disassembling. "SkyRev Megazord!" While not the Rangers most powerful Megazord, that being reserved for the RPM Ultrazord, which combined every single one of their Zords, it was more then enough to see to a swift end of the Attack Bot. When they returned to the Garage it was to find Colonel Truman there, having come over when Venjix had attacked again.

"Venjix had some serious upgrades." Scott informed Kate.

"Yeah if you hadn't,"

"Made those upgrades,"

"To the Ranger Series technology,"

"Then we would have been,"

"The ones to go boom!" Gem and Gemma said, finishing each other's sentences as always.

"Tanaya's now Generation 19." Connor said. "At least that's what she told us." Dillon growled and slammed his fist against the nearest surface in anger. It had been hard enough to bring her back with Generation 15 technology. Generation 19 was going to be much harder.

"It'll be ok Dillon." Summer murmured. "We'll get her back." Having already gone through this earlier, neither Kira nor Connor said anything. Dillon already knew where they stood on this matter and Summer's words were merely ones of comfort rather then informative.

"So what happens now?" Colonel Truman asked, though truthfully he knew the answer.

"Now we protect the city." His son answered him. "Venjix isn't going to rest till we're destroyed."

"I have thought of that." Kate spoke up. With an unhappy look she punched a few buttons on her keyboard and brought up something on the screen, while an automated voice told them what it was.

"Dome sequencing initialized."

"Dome sequencing?" Flynn asked. "There hasn't been a dome around Corinth in four years. Though as far as anyone apart from the Rangers are concerned, there never was one."

"I understand that." Kate said, looking at them all seriously, though far from condescendingly as had often been the case during their last battle against Venjix. "But Venjix knows there was a dome, his memory is the same as ours. Now imagine what will happen if Venjix has to alter his strategy of attack, and alter it in a way that gives him unimpeded access to the city."

"Yeah that wouldn't be good." Ziggy said. He'd known some of what Kate was working on, but although she'd calmed down a lot she was still Kate, so whenever she explained things there were a lot of big words and sentences that he didn't understand, so he often just smiled and nodded his head. "That really wouldn't be good."

"No it wouldn't." Summer muttered.

"But what about the rest of the world? Won't Venjix just go after them like last time?" Dillon asked.

"No." Kira said with no hesitation. "Venjix knows he'll be destroyed in minutes if he tries that. It's why he had to get rid of us first. No, he'll stick to attacking Corinth."

"There's also the not so small fact that Thrax wants to take over the world and there's many other evil villains attacking their own cities and Ranger teams and none of them will stand for Venjix trying to oust them." Connor added.

"So the dome is nothing more then extra protection for Corinth." Scott said. "And not a danger to anyone else."

"Sounds about,"

"Right." Said Gem and Gemma.

"Then do it." Scott said, nodding to Kate. She nodded once herself and hit another button.

"Dome sequencing activated." The automated voice said. And Kate turned back towards her friends.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Domed City of Corinth."

A/N - The dome is temporary, but a good protective measure I must say. We just had a whole thing with RPM so I didn't want to spend too much time on them, but of course they get their own tribute chapter, everyone does.

Thrax has been open with the other villains regarding the being of ultimate power, wonder how he found, and what exactly this means...

Review please!