Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, Saban does. I own all characters, places, and events not found in Dino Thunder.

AN: I will not be making a chapter for every episode of Dino Thunder, but will be writing some chapters that provide the background to certain events taking place in the fic. There will also be some alterations to the season, which will be made clear over the course of the fic. If you are weak of heart, this fic will not be for you.

Chapter 2: Wave Goodbye

Kira was seen walking up to an establishment. She saw a large sign above the brightly colored walls.

"Hayley's Cyberspace," she read aloud. She noticed Eric walking up.

"Eric!"

"Ethan called you to, huh?"

"Yeah, he said it was important. What is this place?"

"Only one way to find out," Eric said as the new Rangers walked inside.

Once inside, Eric and Kira saw teens idly chatting with each on a nearby couch, or eating, drinking, or working on computers that were set up in the cybercafé. The White and Yellow Rangers saw Ethan walk up to them, with a cat-caught-the-mouse grin.

"Here they are, my partners in crime (fighting,)" he said, whispering that last part so nearby civilians wouldn't overhear.

"So what's up," Eric asked. "You said it was super important."

"Nothing. I just figured if we were going to be hanging out, you should know what I'm all about," the Blue Ranger responded.

Eric and Kira shrugged. "Whatever. So what is this place," Kira asked.

"Welcome to my world. You can do everything here: chat online, listen to music, play games, eat, drink."

"So who came up with the idea for this place," Kira asked.

"That would be Hayley," Ethan responded, pointing to a beautiful redhead at the bar, who turned at that point to Ethan, having heard him. "She's a techno legend, MIT grad, programming genius. She got tired of working for big technology and decided to open this place."

"Good thing for you," Kira said.

Eric took another look around, and nodded. "Pretty cool. But what was so important?"

"I figured if we were going to be saving the world together, I wanted you to see what I'm about," Ethan said. Eric and Kira nodded, and Hayley came up to the Rangers.

"Hey guys. What can I get you?"

"I'll just have an apple juice," Kira said.

"Oh, that's easy. Kira, right?"

"How did you know?"

"Oh, I'm all about information. It's my business. You sing, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Great, how 'bout this Friday, you and your band play here. We'll call it an audition."

Kira's jaw dropped, but she quickly recovered. "Well, yeah! That'd be great!"

"Great! See you then," Hayley said and she walked off after giving Kira her apple juice.

"OK, I love her!" Kira gushed.

"That's Hayley. There isn't a single kid in here she hasn't helped somehow."

"I have to restring my guitar," she said as she handed Ethan her apple juice, not having taken even a sip.

At that moment, a couple came in. They appeared to be in their early thirties. The man was Hispanic, while the woman was African-American. Hayley quickly greeted them and got their orders, when Ethan and Eric's Communicators chimed. The couple's eyes widened when they heard that; they knew a Ranger summons when they heard it. They watched the two youths look around discreetly, and head to an alcove where some computers were located. The alcove was free of customers, and there weren't any customers nearby. The couple kept a close eye and an open ear.

"Go Dr O, you got Ethan and Eric."

"Ethan, Eric, can you guys meet me in an hour at the end of Riverside Road?"

"Yeah, sure. What's up?"

"Just be there, and I'll fill you in."

Ethan left the Cyberspace, leaving behind two shocked former Rangers. They didn't expect a team to be here, although they should've guessed. Evil seems to be everywhere, and relentless. They exchanged looks with each other.

"'Sha, you heard that voice, right?"

"I did, but it couldn't have been. Could it? Not here?"

"I don't know. That guy did sound and act like a certain multicolored colleague. He just can't say no to this, can he?"

Unbeknownst to them, Hayley had heard everything and narrowed her eyes. She didn't like the way they were talking; there was a reason Tommy kept his operation secret from everyone but a very small handful of people. It's not as if he wanted to get back into this, but the Power clearly had other plans for the good Doctor. She recognized the two: They were Rocky and Aisha DeSantos, the world's second Red and Yellow Rangers. Rocky was a notorious blabbermouth, and she didn't want word of Dino Thunder getting out, lest two certain former Pink Rangers show up. Tommy's relationships with the two Pinks did not end well, and didn't need go through that again. If Hayley had anything to say about it, he wouldn't. She chose that moment to walk up to them and act as if she heard and knew nothing, their drinks and sandwiches on a tray in her hands.

"Here you go, guys. I hope you enjoy them."

She walked away and got the orders for a table not too far away. It was convenient, as they were the last orders for the day, as she had already sounded last call before getting the orders. It also would allow her to see if the DeSantos would continue their earlier conversation; she never like spying, and tried to avoid it. But she had to know if they were merely curious about a seemingly familiar voice, or if they were going to try to find out. To her dismay, it was the latter. She sometimes cursed having impeccable hearing. Now she had to warn him without tipping those two off, which wouldn't be easy. She noticed gold badges on their belts from the Reefside Police Department, which would make the married couple Detectives.

"Well, I didn't get a Master's from MIT by being dense."

About 15 minutes later, the Cyberspace was closing down for the night, and the Detectives left, after telling her they enjoyed the food and drinks. She smiled and thanked them. When they left with the other guests, the smile disappeared. After sweeping the Cyberspace for any surveillance devices that she didn't install and finding the place was clean, she pulled out her cell and called Tommy.

"Hey Hayley. What's up?"

"I'm afraid to say this isn't a social call. Are you alone? This is something that shouldn't be discussed around those not of the color order."

There was a pregnant pause, and Hayley knew she had to tell him. But it certainly didn't make things easier.

"OK, I'm alone now. What's going on," he asked, instantly reverting to leader mode. It was moments like that this had shown Hayley why Tommy Oliver was so feared by evil forces.

"Two of your former teammates stopped in and overheard you contact Ethan and Eric. They're a little too curious, and I overheard them say that they're going to try to find out if it was you. And Tommy, they're Detectives with Reefside PD."

She heard Tommy exhale sharply. "Who were the two?"

"Rocky and Aisha."

"Fuck!"

Hayley blinked. She rarely, if ever, heard Tommy swear. But she couldn't blame him in this case.

Tommy sighed. "Aisha may be OK, although I can't say for certain. She was friends with pretty much everyone, so there is the possibility that she could say something. But I know for a fact that Rocky would shoot his big mouth off. And once everyone settles down, they'll start asking questions I don't think I can answer. I can't go underground, as I can't leave the team in the lurch." She heard him sigh. "I don't know what to do here. The others wouldn't understand that none of this was of my own volition, the same annoying jokes would be said, and then certain parties would lay the guilt trip on me!"

It was Hayley's turn to sigh. "I know. Wish I had answers myself, but I'm coming up with nothing. But I had to at least warn you."

"I appreciate it, Hales. Bye."

"Bye."

The two hung up, and Hayley continued cleaning up. She sighed again. She really needed to hire someone to help out around the place.

Tommy headed back into his house after getting off the phone with Hayley.

"I should've known someone would come by sooner or later. I never did have good luck."

That couldn't possibly be more accurate. Right after Ethan and Eric got there, Elsa and Zeltrax ambushed the three, hoping to get the Dino Eggs that Tommy had located about an hour's drive from his house. The eggs hatched into man-sized raptors that Tommy dubbed the Raptor Riders. But training them was going to take some work, and a lot of patience, as they trashed his basement. He was supremely lucky they didn't any of his equipment, although they did set some of his work back at least 2 weeks. Then there's this mess with Rocky and Aisha. He didn't know what to do about that. He wanted to keep everyone out of this, especially since he started to doubt the intentions of at least some of the parties investigating the incident on the island. He was hardly a conspiracy theorist, but some of the questions and actions reeked of a cover-up. He wondered what was being hidden, and why they weren't letting him in on anything.

"Unless they suspect me of something. Could they know of Dino Thunder? Who are these people working for? What do they want? And how do I shoo off Rocky and Aisha without raising even more questions?"

As these questions flashed through his mind, he knew he needed to at least try to relax. He went into the kitchen, grabbed a beer from the fridge, and made a sandwich. If he couldn't answer any of the questions, he could at least try to relax somewhat. He sometimes wondered when everything got so complicated. He wanted to put his Ranger past behind him, and start off fresh. That certainly didn't happen. Now he was the mentor of a new team, his own research was being used against him, and to make matters worse, the enemy has two of the Gems. He just hoped whoever received the Gems would be able to fight the corrupting influence. Having been under more than his fair share of evil spells, he knew the poor souls were going to be in for one Hell of a ride, and they were going to need all the help they could get during their tenure as Evil Rangers, and immediately afterwards. If it weren't for Kimberly, Jason, Zack, Billy, and Trini not giving up on him, he probably would've wiped out the Rangers. He was the closest an Evil Ranger ever came to killing the Power Rangers. And despite everyone saying it wasn't his fault, a part of him never forgave himself for everything he did. To this day, he still has nightmares. He can't go to a psychiatrist, as there aren't any Rangers, current or former, who are in that profession. And he certainly wasn't about to tell a civilian about his Ranger past. Hypnotherapy was out for the same reason. In essence, Tommy was screwed. And now two more hapless souls would be forced to go through their own personal slice of Hell. Tommy resolved to try to get some sleep tonight, and see if he can come up with something then.

"At least tomorrow is Friday," he thought.

Hayley's Cyberspace-Friday

At the Cyberspace, Kira was setting up for her gig today. She still had 45 minutes before they started, but she wanted to make sure everything was perfect. Once she was satisfied that everything was to her liking, she went to the bar and asked for an apple juice, which Hayley provided free of charge. It's to wish her luck, Kira was told.

The front doors opened, and Krista and Conner entered. Conner took a look around the place, and was impressed. Krista said her Aunt owned and operated this establishment, and Krista wanted to show it off. Plus, she rationalized, it would help get Conner's mind off his father's visceral reaction to him getting detention for a week. She heard the screaming, and she wasn't certain, but she could've sworn she heard a heavy crash. And with the way Conner winced when pressure was applied to his lower back, she had the sinking feeling his father struck Conner, hard. As far as she knew, that would've been the first. But now that she thought about it, there were plenty of other times Conner had mysterious injuries that he never really explained. He kept saying things like 'I fell down the stairs,' or some other garbage.

"Was I completely wrong this entire time? Had he been physically abused all this time?"

Hayley walked up to the two, and asked if they needed anything. Krista ordered a ham and cheese for both of them, a strawberry smoothie for Conner, and a honeydew smoothie for herself. It wasn't too busy, so Hayley didn't need to ask for her niece's help around the place. Krista had always said she'd be happy to help, if she needed the assistance. Hayley was starting to think she should hire Krista; she knows the place, the people, and how to make everything, having watched Hayley several times. But for now, Hayley was fine, and she got their orders.

As Krista and Conner were sitting down at a table, Krista noticed the sunlight showcasing a nasty purple and brown bruise on his arm.

"Conner, what's that," Krista asked, pointing to the bruise.

"It's nothing," he replied, quickly rolling his sleeves down. He mentally cursed himself for letting the bruise be shown. He didn't think it'd show up if his sleeve wasn't rolled up all the way. But Krista always had a sharp eye.

"It didn't look like 'nothing' to me. What happened?"

"Nothing. I lost my balance and bruised my arm when it hit the island in the kitchen," he replied truthfully. What he didn't want to say was that he lost his balance because his foster father punched him in the side of the head, twice. His foster father always got bellicose when he was drunk, as he was yesterday, and the day before. Conner suspected he got a concussion from his caretaker's assault, knowing that dizziness was one of the symptoms.

Krista frowned. She knew Conner well enough to know when he was lying, or not saying the whole truth. "You can trust me, Conner. What happened?"

"Please, just drop it. I'm fine."

Krista shook her head. She knew she wasn't going to get anything more out of him, so she agreed to table the discussion-for now, at least.

Meanwhile, Kira and Hayley were approaching the table when the two were having their chat, and heard and saw everything. Kira wanted to say hi to Krista, while Hayley was bringing their food and drinks. But they stopped and couldn't speak or move during Krista and Conner's talk. For Kira, this was a confirmation of her fears. She had hoped, even prayed, that she was wrong. But now she knew she wasn't. And she didn't know what to do. She didn't have any conclusive proof Conner was being abused, only overhearing a conversation and her own suspicions and observations. Circumstantial, at best, she thought. She didn't want to waste the cops' time, but on the other hand, this will continue unless it's stopped. Kira felt helpless. She always loathed being helpless. And her parents felt the same, thus they enrolled her in martial arts classes when she was a little girl. Kira stuck with it, and now she could hold her own against opponents twice her size. But this was a different matter entirely, and now she was helpless. Perfect. Just as she was about to break out of her stupor and put her own two cents in, Hayley reminded her that she had a performance to give, and that as insensitive as it may sound, for the moment, they couldn't do anything. Kira shot a look to the Cyberspace's proprietor, who merely held up her hand, and clarified that it was merely for that moment. She reminded Kira of the corruption scandal at Reefside PD, and the songstress looked down sheepishly, chastised. Hayley continued saying she'd hunt down two Detectives who showed up there yesterday, and that she has a strong hunch they could be trusted. Kira knew there was nothing more they could do, so she let Hayley lead her to the stage after Hayley gave Conner and Krista their meal.

For Hayley, the sight and talk was heartbreaking. She had always heard of victims who didn't want to talk about what happened, for fear that it'd happen again, or something worse. Conner was just a teenager-still a kid. Yet Hayley wondered if that was true, anymore. Was he still a kid after his father had been abusing him? Did he have any innocence remaining? Hayley sighed, and looked at the dirty blonde, who looked to be debating her options. Hayley knew what had to be done, although she didn't know if there was any proof of any impropriety outside of some circumstantial evidence. Circumstantial or not, however, Hayley had a responsibility, and she was going to live up to it. If those two Detectives from yesterday came back, she could talk to them. She didn't want to, as it could complicate matters even more. But there was no other option as far as she was concerned. Reefside PD had a bit of corruption problem lately, and she didn't know whom to trust. At least she knew she could trust former Rangers. Now the trick would be throwing them off Tommy's trail. He had shared his suspicions with her, and she couldn't help but agree with them. Something was very fishy, and the less people on the outside to get involved, the "easier" things might be. If something like this could ever truly be easy. She decided to track down the DeSantos couple after Kira's performance. But first things first, she knew. She gave Conner and Krista their meal and brought Kira back to the stage to introduce her to the patrons of the Cyberspace.

Ethan and Eric were wondering where the good Doctor was, knowing he was supposed to be there. Eric said that he was probably running late; his Uncle was notorious for that when he was their age, judging by stories from his father. Ethan shrugged his shoulders and accepted it. He was still shocked that Eric was Dr. O's nephew, but the resemblance was far too close to be ignored. Eric explained Dr. O and his father are twins, so it would explain his own appearance.

School was actually relatively quiet, and Tommy was in a good mood. He got some decent sleep last night, the students paid attention, nobody failed their quizzes, and Mesogog and his goons haven't attacked.

"Not yet, anyway," Tommy said to himself.

Just as he was about to walk inside the Cyberspace, an Invisiportal opened, and some Tyrannodrones appeared with Zeltrax right behind Tommy. They grabbed him by the shoulders before he could react, and disappeared with him back through the Invisiportal.

"Me and my big mouth," was Tommy's last thought before being rendered unconscious from a blow to the back to the head.