"He's taking longer than I thought," Alex remarked as Kim glared over at him. She knew Tommy. She knew that this time was to prepare for what he would need to do. He had long learned it was better to have a plan when it came to these sorts of missions.
"You're all dead men," Kim stated as one of them walked over to her. His breath settled on her cheek and she met his gaze. She had stopped being scared when something like this happened after Divatox. Tommy was absolutely reliable in a pinch. "You know what he's capable of, right?"
"That's all a rumor. We want to see it," Alex said and Kim glanced over at him. That was a first. Most beings that came after her did not want to provoke Tommy too much, they wanted to make a deal with or turn her evil so that she could be used against him. Those ideas rarely turned out well for the beings on the other end. "You don't get it, do you? That kind of raw power, harnessed…it's a hell of a weapon."
"Tommy is not a weapon. None of us are and if you think you're going to harness anything- that went poorly for the last being that tried," Kim ground out and the lights cut off. The men around her scattered and she quieted. Tommy normally didn't announce himself like this, then again- he had advisors now. They may have convinced him that announcing himself was smart so that there would be a clear path to her.
Thump. Thud. Crash. Screech. The silence was randomly broken as shadows were thrown around the room. She stilled as she strained to hear Tommy, to hear anything more than bodies hitting the floor.
"Can you move?" Thomas whispered as he leaned down next to her and she barely nodded. It wasn't her husband, but he was just as much of a relief to hear. "Good- he's got to keep them busy."
She leaned into Thomas as he crept them along the wall. Her hero was surely going to make a point, but he didn't want her to see it. This was the side of Tommy that terrified everyone else. For her- it was what she loved the most. She had always seen him in his wild and loved him there when everyone else had run.
"We're out," Thomas muttered and she felt herself being teleported. She was pretty sure that that was the signal for Tommy to stop messing around.
The lights snapped back on and Tommy stood in the middle of the men. He could barely contain the energy that he felt at this moment, but he knew that he needed to let it swell if he was right about what they wanted.
"You certainly deliver, Dr. Oliver," Alex said as he shook out his neck. He met Tommy's gaze and then he froze. "What is wrong with your eyes?"
"Didn't anyone tell you that I'm a once in a lifetime ranger? All I have to do is let down my walls and the power comes out," Tommy stated and he felt bracelets slapped on his wrists. He looked to see that Alex was wearing an identical pair. This was going to end poorly for Alex. "You want my powers? Alex, they'll kill you. They'll kill just about anyone."
"We've calibrated these so that only a fraction of your power will transfer," Alex said and Tommy locked eyes with him and shook his head.
"And who did you test that with?" Tommy asked as he started funneling his powers into the bracelets and locked eyes with Alex. The glow that filled the room was an obvious shock to them, but he just kept at it. After a few minutes, Alex started frantically slapping at the bracelets, but there was no way to take them off. They had not thought that he would be able to overwhelm them. "There's only Kimberly that you would have tested it with and she's not the same. Not even close."
"Stop. Stop it!" Alex yelled and Tommy pulled the powers back. Alex fell to his knees and looked up as Tommy moved closer to him. The other men started to move, but quickly found themselves frozen on the spot.
"Wait your turn," Tommy growled and he felt his eyes were glowing. He felt the fear run through them all and hoped they were properly scared. He had to make a point and he needed information as well. "Are you working for them?"
"For who?" Alex asked and Tommy pulled him back up to his feet as the bracelets crumbled. Tommy shook his head as he slammed him against the wall. "I figured out Kimberly was a Power Ranger years ago. Just how she acted whenever we had to cover it, a few questions here or there. I always planned to get her powers- then you came along."
"So you know nothing about the monster that is after us?" Tommy pressed and Alex shook his head no. He let him fall to his feet and glared at the man. "So you really thought it was a good idea to abduct your pregnant co-host, lure her more powerful husband to…here…to take my powers? And what was your back up plan?"
"Expose you," Gary said as he stepped out from behind a wall and Tommy rounded to face him. Gary nonchalantly pointed at the various cameras that were in the room and Tommy let out a blast of energy that sent all of them to the ground. Gary slowly stood up and faced him as Tommy shook his head, the man was absolutely insane. "You have to admit- it's an amazing story. Even if it also means exposing her."
"Well, that won't be happening," Roberto said as he walked into the room and all of the men fell asleep as he went. "She told me that they only talked about how cool the video of Alex would be with powers. He alive?"
"Yeah, but only because I pulled back and didn't overwhelm him," Tommy said as he shook his head, killing humans was something he had always avoided if he could help it. He had some limits to what he would do to protect this world and his family. "They all could have died- for some stupid expose. Was she…"
"She wants you, but she's fine otherwise. Let me and Genesis handle this. We'll wipe their memories, replace them, and generally give them a feeling that if they ever want to mess with either of you again- that it would be a very bad idea," Roberto said and Tommy nodded. The other guardian appeared and he smiled over at her. "Go."
"It doesn't bother you that we're no closer to who is behind the monsters?" Tommy asked and Roberto and Genesis exchanged a glance. Apparently they had hoped that he would not pick up on the fact that Alex lacked any actual intelligence on what was going on. "Glad we're on the same page."
Tommy teleported out of the room and Roberto started reviving the humans. As they slowly came around, Genesis let out a sigh. The interrogations were going to take awhile, but they had to be sure. They had to be sure that this was just a case of dumb humans and that they hadn't lied when they told Tommy that they were doing this on their own.
AN: We're in the homestretch for this story and it will be wrapping up by the end of May (6 chapters left)! The next story in this series, Time of the Yogen-sha, will pick up then. If you have any guesses, ideas, or just things you want to see in that story- feel free to drop it in the comments over the next month and we'll see how close you all get!