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

AN: I'm not going to continue typing Mesogog's elongated speech, as it gets annoying.

Chapter 5: Red and Green With Evil

Cyberspace

The next day, Hayley was busy with dinner hour. Krista said she was going to spend the night at a friend's place yesterday, and would come home after school let out. But she wasn't back yet, and Hayley was starting to get worried. Before she could focus too much on it, the doors to the Cyberspace opened, and Detectives DeSantos came in. Hayley sighed in relief.

"I'm glad you two are here. I was hoping to find you again. I'll be with you in just a minute," Hayley finished as she gave a customer her sandwich and returned with some menus for Rocky and Aisha.

"Why were you hoping to find us," Aisha asked.

"It's something that's best left for when there's less people around. This is already a delicate situation, and I don't need word to start spreading."

Rocky raised an eyebrow, but nodded anyway. After getting Rocky and Aisha their food and drink, Hayley made the final call announcement, and those who were finished went home. Soon, everyone but Hayley and the two Detectives remained, with Hayley asking them to stay for a moment.

"What's going on," Rocky asked.

"I very strongly believe a friend of my niece had been abused at home lately. I didn't know who to go to, due to the corruption scandal that has rocked the Police Department lately. Nor do I have any real proof."

Hayley went on to explain what she and Kira both saw and heard, as Kira had told Hayley of what happened when she and the others got detention for a week. The two Detectives knew it wasn't a lot to go on, but it may be enough to start poking around. As they continued speaking, two muscle bound men entered the Cyberspace, looking the place over.

"Sorry, but we're closed. You'll have to come back tomorrow."

"We're not here for food. We're looking for a Dr. Thomas Oliver. Have you seen him?"

Rocky and Aisha exchanged looks. "Doctor Thomas Oliver?" No way they're talking about the Tommy we know."

"As I said, we're closed. Now please leave."

"Just answer our questions, and we'll be out of your hair," the leader said in an irritated voice.

Rocky had seen and heard enough. "She asked you nicely to leave, and you didn't. Who are you, anyway? State your name and purpose," the former Red growled, flashing his badge, as Aisha did the same.

"It's none of your concern. This is between the lady and us. Get out of our way, and nobody gets hurt."

"You just threatened cops. We can take your asses in right now, if we wanted. Now answer my questions."

"I don't think so," the leader growled as he grabbed Rocky's shoulder, trying to intimidate him. To the man's surprise, Rocky simply smirked, as the other man tried to intimidate Aisha.

"Thank you for doing that," Rocky said as he and Aisha quickly subdued the men. After arresting them and putting them in their car, Rocky and Aisha turned to Hayley.

"Something tells us there's a lot you do know about Tommy, whom we haven't seen for some time. What's going on," Aisha said.

Hayley sighed. She wasn't the type to lie to cops, and she wasn't about to start. But that didn't mean she had to tell them everything. She decided to give an abridged version of the events leading up to that moment.

"Tommy and I met in college, and we both attended grad school at MIT. We quickly became good friends, and helped each other out with classes. He eventually went on to Harvard to get his PhD, while I went to Stanford. During his internship while pursuing his Doctorate, Tommy became a part of an expedition on an island in the Pacific. For some reason that neither of us know, there was an accident, and the island was lost, along with most of the people. Some biologists who were in the area conducting research of marine life rescued Tommy, who went into a short coma. When Tommy woke up, he tried to see if he could go back to where the island was, in case there were survivors. Instead, he was asked a million different questions from numerous authorities, many of whom neither of us trust as far as we can throw this building. And he was never given the answers he sought, whether it was about survivors, or what caused the accident. We both suspect there's a cover-up taking place."

Rocky and Aisha raised their eyebrows at Hayley's explanation, and they agreed that the mess reeked of a cover-up. The fact that some people were sent after Hayley for answers was proof enough. The two Detectives looked at each other and sighed. This was not their day, but they both knew the matters Hayley brought up were quite serious, and must be investigated.

"OK, if you find out anything else, or even suspect anything about all this," Rocky started, gesturing with his hands to allude to what just happened, "give us a call." Rocky gave Hayley his card. "Meanwhile, we're going to start looking into Conner's domestic situation, and also maybe find out what's going on with this mess involving Tommy. Have a nice day," he finished. Hayley returned the greeting and continued to clean the place up and called Tommy.

"So they know I'm here, huh? Perfect," he groused.

"Sorry," Hayley said.

"It's not your fault. We both knew that sooner or later someone might stumble upon it. I was hoping for later rather than sooner, but maybe it's for the best."

"Don't say that just yet. Nobody knows of the project just yet. I stayed clear of that."

"I know. But they're not stupid. We've covered our tracks pretty well, but if they start suspecting something, they know what to look for. I still don't think I'll be able to answer a lot of the inevitable questions. Especially since I don't know all the answers myself. I've tried my contacts, but they've been running into brick walls, as well. We'll talk more about it here. Thanks for letting me know."

"Not a problem. I'll be there soon. Later."

"Later."

The two hung up and Hayley made sure everything was secure and ready for the next day. She then left for Tommy's place.

Scott residence-Angel Grove

Jason and his wife Emily just got home from their jobs at Angel Grove Memorial and turned on the news while Jason got started on fixing some grilled chicken for dinner. It had been 3 years since Trini passed away to cancer, and Jason was a mess. But Emily, a civilian Jason met back in the Zeo days, helped him get over the passing of the first Yellow Ranger, and over time, Earth's first Red Ranger fell for the blonde. Their relationship didn't last long after Jason's days as the Gold Ranger came to an end, as Emily had to move to New York for school, and both knew long-distance relationships rarely lasted. But second time seemed to be the charm as the two renewed their relationship a little over a year after Trini's death. Jason initially felt guilty for falling for the beautiful blonde, but Trini came to Jason in a vision while sleeping, and said that while she was touched by his loyalty, he had to let her go and move on with his life.

As the news played, both saw there was a new Ranger team in Reefside. Emily knew Jason held out hope for the day Ranger teams were no longer needed, even if the ideal was foolhardy, as some would say. She knew of Jason's Ranger past, having been told when they became serious. She was hurt at first that Jason didn't tell her, but eventually understood the need for secrecy.

"Uh Jason, you might want to come in here!"

"What's up, Babe?"

"Just watch, and you'll see."

Jason frowned, but did as he was asked. He quickly saw why his wife called him in as he noticed the new Black Ranger use moves that he had been on the receiving end of, both in battle and in sparring.

"What the Hell is this," Jason growled. "When will he put the fucking morpher away?"

"Well, let's be fair here. You once told me that it's not really your choice."

"The Power chooses you. Yes, I remember. But Zordon's not here anymore. How did he even become a Ranger again?"

"I don't know, but don't you think you should at least give him the benefit of the doubt? Maybe he didn't want to do it again."

Jason took a deep breath and exhaled. "Perhaps. All I know is that he acted very weird at Trini's funeral, and he never gave me a satisfactory answer as to why. Maybe now I'll get some answers."

"Just be careful. There may be some things you don't want to know."

"Maybe. Anyway, I have to take some time off before I lose my vacation days, and Reefside is only an hour and a half drive, and less on a good day. Maybe it's time to take some time off and get some answers."

"I'm going with you. And don't try to talk me out of it."

"Wouldn't try to. At times, you remind me so much of Trini. You would've made a good Yellow. And you're just as stubborn as Trini was," he cracked with a smirk. Emily raised an eyebrow and responded just as playfully.

"Yeah, well what does that say about you? You married both her and me."

"Yeah, yeah, don't remind me." He got serious at the next part. "Rocky and Aisha live in Reefside. Maybe they can find him for us."

A loft of things didn't make a lot of sense to Jason. He still wondered why Tommy was acting so strange at the funeral, and when he asked, Tommy said it was nothing he should worry about. Jason didn't like that answer, but something in Tommy's undertone suggested it was something big. There were few times Jason had seen Tommy afraid, but that was one of those times. He hoped to be able to get some definitive answers once Rocky and Aisha found Tommy. He decided to call them and ask about it.

DeSantos residence-Reefside

After getting what they could on Conner's parents in a short amount of time, they came home and sat at the table in the living room, the files on the table. Aisha got up and got herself and Rocky a beer. After thanking his wife, Rocky turned on the news only to hear of the latest Ranger team. They were glad that there was still people willing to pick up the mantle, but both were also dismayed, wanting for the never-ending evils to just leave them alone. They weren't ignorant-they knew evil would never truly go away, and that it had to exist in order to maintain balance. But they had hoped that there wouldn't have been a need for future Ranger teams. As the veteran Rangers watched the latest report, they noticed the new Black Ranger using some moves that were all too familiar to the both of them.

"No fucking way," Rocky said, spitting out his beer.

"Aren't you a little old for this Tommy," Aisha asked rhetorically, as if Tommy could hear her.

As the veteran Rangers continued watching the footage of the Rangers, Aisha's cell rang and she saw it was Jason.

"Put it on speaker," Rocky said.

"You guys saw it, right?"

Rocky and Aisha didn't need to be told what Jason was asking about. "Yes," Rocky said. "Still doing this shit in his thirties. What's he thinking?"

"Don't know, but now that we know where he is, maybe you two can find him, and we can get some answers."

"Funny you should say that, because some very weird shit went down today."

"What happened," Jason asked in his Red Ranger tone.

"Not over the phone. You come here once we find Tommy," Rocky replied in the same tone. "We'll talk then."

"OK, but you call the moment you find him. It's time we get to the bottom of this."

"Count on it. Look, we got to go. We have a puzzling case here, and we need to get back to it. Later."

"Later, man."

Aisha hung up and the two went back to the files of Eric McKnight, Conner's father. What they found continued to puzzle them, as Rocky got a bad feeling that Conner wasn't the first foster child Eric used.

"Something else going wrong. How much worse can this day get," he thought bitterly. He no longer believed in fate, so he had no qualms in thinking that.

Orlando, Florida

Kimberly Hart was not having a good week. In fact, she was not having a good month. Everything had been going downhill ever since she caught her latest boyfriend Jeff cheating on her. The worst part is the woman he was cheating on Kim with didn't even know he had a girlfriend, until Kimberly walked into their apartment and saw the two in a compromising position. Three days later she was in her new apartment.

"If I had known nothing would work out, I never would have left Tommy."

At the thought of the former White Ranger, Kim sighed. She heard stories from the others of how depressed he was after getting the infamous Dear John letter. At the time, she believed everything she wrote in the letter, as she met fellow gymnast Chase down in Florida and fell hard for him. But she didn't have the courage to call Tommy to break up. And because of her letter, Tommy was driven right into the waiting arms of Kat. Kim wasn't stupid-she knew how the gorgeous Australian with the amazing accent felt about Tommy. But to her credit, Kat never made a move after she freed herself from Rita's spell. She even went out of her way to atone for her actions while under the spell, and Kim couldn't find it in her heart to blame Kat for taking the shot with Tommy. She just hated how she ended things like a coward, and when she saw Tommy hugging Kat at the end of the tournament after the Muranthias incident, she couldn't muster the courage to talk to him. She left without saying goodbye to Tommy, again.

"After everything I faced as a Ranger, I couldn't handle one talk. How pathetic was that?"

It turned out that Chase wanted only one thing from Kimberly, and once he got it, he decided to leave her high and dry. She got a small measure of revenge when she revealed his duplicitous behavior to a girl he was hitting on at the training facility, though.

Now here she was, feeling a void in her life, and her top gymnast out for at least a year due to an ACL tear. Kim knew that due to the severity that it was likely a career ending injury. She was no stranger to injuries; indeed no serious gymnast was. Kim had an ACL tear of her own after receiving a Silver medal in the Pan Global Games, and a Bronze medal in the Olympics. Rather than try to make a comeback, Kim decided to retire from competing and instead became a coach. She felt some satisfaction in helping teach the next generation of Olympians, although she oftentimes wondered if it was enough. She felt as if she no longer had the passion she once did for the sport, and it wasn't fair to the hopefuls for their coach to not put as much effort in teaching them as they did in practicing.

Kim made a sandwich, pulled a beer from the fridge, and sat down to watch the news. She saw, to her utter dismay that yet another Ranger team had been created, this time in Reefside, California. She held no delusions-she knew that evil would always exist, and that hoping for its destruction was a childish ideal. But she still hoped that no evil would arise that would necessitate the creation of new Ranger teams. The news was showing footage of the latest team handling an attack from a robotic creature named Zeltrax, and of the newest Black Ranger…who just happened to use moves very familiar to the former Pink Ranger. She rubbed her eyes and opened them again, thinking her eyes were playing tricks. They weren't.

"It can't be. Just can't stay from it, can you Tommy?"

Now that Kim decided to be honest with herself, she had indeed lost her passion for gymnastics and was giving serious consideration to retiring from it altogether. She wanted to get back to her singing, and she knew her old friend and former Ranger Zack Taylor had connections. He had already signed Tanya Park, helping to launch her career to superstardom. There were other coaches there who could pick up where she left off. And Reefside did have an up and coming star in one Kira Ford. Perhaps that would be a good place to move to, and it'd give Kim an opportunity to clear things up with the new Black Ranger. She just hoped he didn't hate her.

London, England

On the other side of the Atlantic, another former Pink Ranger was not doing so well, either. Katherine "Kat" Hillard had, on paper at least, a good life. She was doing what she loved, and being with the Royal Dance Company was a dream come true for the Australian beauty. But she still felt hollow inside. All of her fellow cast members had found the ones they wished to spend their lives with, and it simply reminded Kat of how empty her own love life was. She had tried to move on from Tommy, even though she was the one who broke it off in an email of all things.

"I still can't believe I did that. I saw how heartbroken he was after getting Kim's letter, and I did the same thing. I didn't even give him the chance to say goodbye."

That act would come back to haunt her in the following years. She had boyfriends, and even got serious with one, until he decided that he wasn't ready for a long-term relationship. She was devastated, but grateful that he was at least honest with her.

"It was better than what I did to Tommy. At least he didn't run off without even giving a hint that he was going to break things off."

Kat sighed as her mind came back to that damn email. She felt horrible about doing that to him. And when the Holidays came around, she felt even worse. Her mother had passed away, and her father has one foot in the grave, and he begged her to not see him like that. He hated feeling weak, a trait she acquired from him. She begged him to let her see him, as she didn't know if it'd be the last time she saw him alive. But he was adamant, and she sadly gave into his wishes. She didn't know what became of her brother and his wife as they lost contact with each other. So she didn't have anyone to spend the Holidays with, and it left her in a dreadful melancholy during the Holiday season. Some of her cast members feared for her health, and silently prayed that she pulled out of her state. They even invited her to spend the Holidays, or any other time, with them, as they all loved her. She took them up on their offers sometimes, but it still wasn't enough. She appreciated their efforts, and made sure to tell them so. But she was always reminded of how lonely she was when she saw people celebrating with their siblings, wives, husbands, children, and parents.

She had to pull herself out of this. She knew that something had to give. But first, she decided to get something to eat. As she pulled out her unfinished salad from lunch and got a glass of water, she turned on the news. She sighed, shaking her head as news of yet another Ranger team was being announced. This one was based in Reefside, California.

"Not Angel Grove? There's a bit of a shock. For once, some freak doesn't want to wipe out home."

As Kat listened to news of this team, she noticed they mentioned a new Black Ranger. As they showed footage of the Black Ranger's battle with a Humanoid robot named Zeltrax, Kat couldn't help but tilt her head as she noticed the Black Ranger using some very familiar moves.

"Can't you say enough is enough, Tommy?"

Kat bolted out of her seat as she realized this presented an unforeseen opening. Ever since sending that email, she hadn't spoken with Tommy, having lost the nerve to talk to him at Trini's funeral. The other Rangers haven't seen him in a long time, either. He apparently had been skipping Ranger reunions, much to Jason's dismay. Earth's first Red Ranger had always hoped that Tommy and Kim would at least talk to each other, and Jason didn't know where Tommy had been hiding ever since Trini's funeral. Now that Kat knew where Tommy was, perhaps she could apologize for the way she abandoned Tommy, and go from there.

Mesogog's fortress

"My Lord, I have the prisoners," Elsa said as she came in with Conner and Krista.

"Excellent. Take them to the cell and strap them into the chairs. They must be broken first."

Zeltrax had the Tyrannodrones follow him to a medium sized cell that had two chairs with straps and a small helmet apparatus at the top. The Tyrannodrones strapped Conner and Krista in, their struggles not having done anything to loosen the grip. When they were strapped in, Zeltrax attached the helmets to Conner and Krista. Zeltrax hit a red button on the wall by the exit and walked back into the lab as the screams of Conner and Krista were heard echoing down the halls.

"Master, why not just force the Gems on them now? They're weak and cannot resist," the cyborg asked.

"Because Evil Rangers have an annoying tendency to break free. They always have some free will left, and fight the dark influence. We must break them first, making it much more difficult to bring them back," Elsa explained.

"Exactly," Mesogog said. "We must learn from the failures of other villains, and not make the same mistakes ourselves."

After the teens screamed for a few minutes, the base went silent, and Mesogog was satisfied, knowing the kids were now unconscious. He ordered Zeltrax and some Tyrannodrones to bring them in. Zeltrax approached the teens, whose heads were dipped forward. Zeltrax used a foul smelling chemical of Mesogog's creation to awaken the teens, and they were freed from the chairs, with the Tyrannodrones dragging them into the lab.

"Bring them here," Mesogog stated as he approached a table with two silver bracelets, one with a Red Gem in the center, and the other had a Green Gem. The Tyrannodrones brought the teenagers towards the table.

"What do you want with us," Conner slurred, still recovering from the attack, but getting some strength back, while Krista recovered more quickly.

"You are going to help us kill the Power Rangers, and help us return the planet to its prehistoric roots," came the response.

"Why would we help you do that? What if we refuse," Krista snarled, her anger starting to return.

Elsa punched Krista in the stomach, making her double over. Conner's own ire was raised, as he snarled and renewed his struggle against the Tyrannodrones. He managed to kick Elsa in the face, breaking her nose. Zeltrax growled and punched Conner in the stomach, making the weakened teen fall to his knees in pain. Zeltrax pulled out his sword as Elsa got up and went to punish Conner.

"No! We need them in one piece to kill the Rangers." Mesogog turned to the teens. "You have no choice! You will obey me!"

Elsa and Zeltrax lowered their weapons, but not before glaring hatefully at Conner and Krista as the Tyrannodrones picked them up and shoved them towards the table with the bracelets. The bracelets shook and latched themselves onto the teens' wrists, the Gems having chosen the two.

Conner fell to his knee once more as he was overtaken with an energy he never experienced. He saw a glimpse of a Red warrior with a Silver diamond-shaped shield, grasping a Dagger with a Red background, several buttons, and a mouthpiece. The background had a T-Rex.

Krista struggled to stand up, but had difficulty when she was overwhelmed with energy. An image flashed in her mind of a warrior in a Green outfit and a Parasaur in the background.

The teens slowly regained their footing as Red and Green Ranger suits encased them. Mesogog gazed on the two Rangers with pride.

"Now, go kill the Rangers!"

The two Evil Rangers silently turned and entered an Invisiportal, taking them into the heart of downtown Reefside.

"Send a monster down as well. Make them think we're looking for our new allies."

"Yes, my Lord," Zeltrax said as he created a monster.

Command Center

The computer beeped as the team was in the Command Center.

"It's downtown," Hayley said.

"Ready, guys" Tommy asked.

"Ready."

"Dino Thunder, power up!"

Downtown

"White, Blue, Yellow, Black, nope! I'm looking for something in basic Red and Green."

"Red and Green? What's it talking about," Kira asked.

"Keep your eyes open. I have a bad feeling about this," Tommy commanded.

The Rangers were thrown into a wall by an unseen force. They got up and shook their heads, then noticed a Green Ranger in a skirt, her blaster casually held against her shoulder.

"Hey, what's going on? What are you doing," Ethan asked.

"Defeating you, of course. There are 4 Rangers too many. Time to change that." Her voice sounded altered and very cold.

The Green Ranger held up her hand, and Eric was sent flying face first into a tree.

"Telekinesis," Tommy muttered. "No wonder the attack seemed to come out of nowhere."

Krista then turned her blaster into its sword mode and went to work on the Rangers, moving with a fury that was familiar to the former Evil Green Ranger. Tommy held his own before Krista managed to get in a glancing blow with her sword. She threw him towards the others, who were regrouping, looking for any weakness they could exploit.

"And now for the coup de grace," the Green Ranger's altered voice sneered.

"How much worse can it get," Ethan whined.

"We still haven't met the Red Ranger yet, and I'm willing to bet he's around here somewhere," Tommy pointed.

A slow clapping was heard as the Rangers picked themselves up and saw to their horror that the Red had shown himself. He was casually leaning against a building near the Rangers, his ankles crossed. To Tommy's dismay, he saw the Red Ranger bore an outfit that had elements of the Original Rangers' uniforms, namely the Green Ranger uniform, as well as the Dino Thunder uniforms. The diamonds that went down the length of the outfit were Black as opposed to the White on the other Rangers' uniforms. The uniform's color itself was a dark Red. The footprint was superimposed on a White diamond, reminding Tommy of the Mighty Morphin' uniforms. The helmet's markings remained the same. But what really struck Tommy in the gut was the Silver triangular shield on the Red Ranger's chest that had small dinosaur footprints in each of the corners, eerily similar to his Dragon shield, the Silver armbands, and the Dagger bathed in Red he was carrying that looked far too much like the Dragon Dagger for Tommy's comfort.

"Very good, Black Ranger." The Red Ranger's voice was even lower and darker. It sent a shiver through the team's spines.

"Guys, watch out for that Dagger! It can do some unpleasant things!"

"You sound like you have first hand experience with it," Ethan said.

"He should! That's the Dragon Dagger, the weapon of choice of the first Green Ranger," Eric exclaimed.

"Enough talk," the Red Ranger snarled as he moved in a speed Eric couldn't match, and savagely attacked the Rangers with the Dagger. Tommy was able to hold his own for a while, but Conner's superior stamina and flexibility prevailed, as the Black Ranger was knocked down.

Tommy was confused. He knew the Evil Rangers would be more powerful; that was simply the name of the game. But he wasn't able to get a hit on either of the Red or Green Rangers.

"Is this what I was like as the Evil Green Ranger? Or is there something else?"

As Tommy thought about it, the two Evil Rangers stood a few yards away, with the Green slightly behind the Red.

"That was only a taste of our power. Next time, we won't be so kind," the Red Ranger promised. They disappeared into an Invisiportal.

Mesogog's fortress

"You were told to kill the Rangers! You let them go! Why," Zeltrax growled as he stepped in front of the Evil Rangers. Krista growled.

"Back off," she hissed as she kicked the cyborg away. Zeltrax got up and put his hand to his sword, only to be stopped by Mesogog.

"You didn't answer the question," Mesogog said as he rounded the Evil Rangers. "Why did you let them go?"

"Emotional torment is a powerful tool," Conner explained. "If we let them stew in their sound defeat, it'll be easier to break them. They don't stand a chance against us-they know this now. This game of chess has just begun."

Mesogog thought on that. "Good answer. I'll let you continue, for now. But be sure to kill them when the time comes."

Conner and Krista nodded and left through an Invisiportal.

Command Center

"That sucked," Eric groaned as he and the other Rangers stumbled into the Command Center.

"Tell me about it," Ethan added. "My bruises have bruises!"

"Hayley, I wasn't able to land a single hit on those two. Evil Rangers were always stronger," he held up a hand to silence the protests of his teammates, "but something's not right here."

"Yes, I've noticed that, as well." Hayley picked up a scanning device and checked Tommy.

"Uncle, what's that," Eric asked as he, Ethan, and Kira looked at the device with interest.

"It's a life force scanner. I built it when I learned of Mesogog building a life force extractor, which I believe has indeed taken some of my life force."

Eric's eyes became saucers. "A life force extractor? Geez, how nasty can one get?"

"I suspected he managed to take some years off you. This confirms it. You lost at least 2, perhaps 5 years tops off your life expectancy. You're lucky it wasn't more," Hayley announced.

"Mesogog wanted me to free the Dino Gem from the stone. I wouldn't have been of any use dead. No, he used it as a torture device more than anything else."

"Lovely," Hayley groused.

"Is there any way to reverse this," Kira asked. Tommy and Hayley shook their heads.

"We need to get our hands on the actual device," Hayley said.

"And that's on Mesogog's island, which is swarming with Tyrannodrones. Elsa and Zeltrax are undoubtedly there, as well," Tommy added.

"So what? We're just supposed to sit here and let you accept years stolen from you," his nephew spat.

"Eric, there's nothing we can do that the moment. What Hayley, you, Billy, and I have built is impressive, but still nowhere near what Zordon and Alpha had. They had millennia to prepare. I had few years. I'm just supremely lucky that Billy was visiting Earth from Aquitar, and that Hayley chose to set up shop here, rather than take any of the numerous job offers from the government and private sector. And you had school. So what you see here is what we've got," Tommy explained and Eric sighed.

"And speaking of what we have," Tommy said, "I've managed to procure the materials needed to complete the teleportation device. Now all that's needed is the completed equations."

"I have those right here," Hayley said as she produced a notebook. "You gave us a very good start, and Eric helped fill it in, while I finished the work. We should start building it as soon as possible."

"A teleportation device? I thought you said Dr. O isn't a rocket scientist," Ethan said, his eyes bugging out.

"That was a tongue-in-cheek comment. While he may not be a rocket scientist in name, it may surprise you to know that he has the intellect, and his friend Dr. Cranston and I have been teaching him. With his background in Electrical Engineering, he's ideally suited for this undertaking, with my help as an astrophysicist and Mechanical Engineer, which I hold my second Doctorate in."

Kira and Ethan looked at their mentor with a whole new set of eyes and respect. They knew he was brilliant, but they didn't know he was that brilliant.

"Changing the subject here," Ethan said. "Do you have any idea who these new guys are? And how we're supposed to deal with them?"

Tommy shrugged his shoulders. "You guys may have a better idea than I do, as Rangers are typically teenagers. I had no intention of becoming a Ranger again, and was more than content to simply train the three of you and work behind the scenes with Hayley. The Red and Green Rangers are likely people you know."

"Great," Kira said in a despondent way. "How do we fight friends, or at least acquaintances?"

"It won't be easy. But remember what I told you: An Evil Ranger is never so by choice. It is forced on them. And when we free them, they will be feeling very guilty. I've been there; I still have regrets about my time as the Evil Green Ranger. The important thing is to never give up hope that you can free them, and to be there for them when they are freed. They will need you more than anything at that point," the former Evil Green Ranger said.

The three teens sighed and Eric said he'd drive them home. They hoped to be able to get some answers tomorrow, and were thankful today was Friday; they didn't know if they could show up at school dead on their feet. They hoped the Red and Green Rangers didn't attack, but also knew it was a fool's hope. They just prayed they'd be ready for the next attack, and that they'd get some good news. They'd need all the help they can get.