Chapter Eight: Lessons

"So, how do we do it?" Seth asked, looking up from what he was doing. Conner stared back at him, looking more than a little confused. He glanced over at Kira and Ethan for help, wondering if he was having one of his oblivious moments, but both of them shrugged as well. After it was clear that Seth wasn't going to add to the question, Conner finally took the initiative.

"Do what?" He asked and Seth sighed.

"The way you guys are. The way the Ninjas are. The way Danny and Max are. The Ranger thing. The teamwork thing. The friend thing," Seth answered. "You can't tell me you didn't do something to make it work."

Ben glanced over, looking a bit shy about it. Then again, the green Ranger often looked shy and rarely said anything which was fine considering that his three teammates often talked instead. "He's got a point. How do we get the way you are?"

"Time," came the answer, but it wasn't from Conner's mouth. Instead, Tommy was standing over them. His arms were crossed, but he lowered them to put his hands on Kira and Ethan's shoulders. Conner nodded in agreement from the side. "It takes time and effort. You have to want it. Or at least ignore what bothers you."

"Technically," Kim added as she joined him, placing her own hands on Conner's shoulders while leaning her head against Tommy shoulder tiredly. "Conner, Kira, and Ethan turned what bothered them about each other into friendly jokes. That's not exactly ignoring."

"Thanks, Kim," Tommy answered sardonically, though he smiled as he did so. "Still, there has to be effort."

"And near death experiences," Conner said helpfully. They all looked at him for that answer and none of the looks were very approving. "What? Nothing bonds you like nearly croaking with someone else."

Tara raised her hand, timidly for her. The idea obviously wasn't appealing to her. "Umm… Is there a way without nearly dying? How about Scrabble?"

"Scrabble," Jera muttered. "The bonding game."

"Hey, it was a good suggestion," Ben argued, backing up his friend which he was quicker to do than backing up himself. Seth opened his mouth to counter, but Conner answered first.

"See? This is not friendly. This is real anger. When I call Ethan a geek, he knows I mean it jokingly. He knows I respect his abilities," he answered. Kim nodded.

"You're better, but you all need a lot of work if you're going to win this war," she said calmly.

"I always say the team that trains together, bonds together," Tommy added. Kim gave him a look. "Fine. I'll say it more often… or ever. Now, you four, get going."

The four of them half-way complained, but took off. Kim sighed. "They're just not understanding it."

"They will," Tommy insisted. "They're still learning. Speaking of which, don't you three have homework?"

"No," Conner answered as Kira and Ethan rolled their eyes.

"Alone time, Conner. They want alone time," Kira told him and they dragged him off. "Just pretend like you haven't written that paper for class."

Kim shook her head as they walked off. "They're good kids."

"Maybe," Tommy started before joking. "But sometimes they make me want to bang my head against the wall."

"Did you ever warn Jason about having children because of them?" Kim asked and Tommy nodded.

"Every week up until Trini got pregnant," he answered, though his tone was filled with affection as he spoke. "Every week."

"The most important thing to do when you're out there is to think," Kim said as she took her turn as mentor. Tommy had taken over the physical part of it for the moment, leaving Kim with the mental side of it and the former Dino Thunder Rangers helped whichever one was teaching at the time if they could or helped in the Lair if there was little for them to help with. "If an opponent sees any sort opening, they'll take it. So, think before you do anything. If it seems like they're going to shoot at you, duck before it hits. If one can't handle it alone, use two of you. There's a reason why you have a team instead of there just being one of you."

Seth was the first to nod. "Conner mentioned that. He said that my team is my most important asset, that the other Reds tended to forget that, and something about Red only missions being bad."

"True, for all of it," Kim answered. "Tommy and Jason are especially bad as the ringleaders of that. No teammate is more important than another."

They all nodded at that, though they weren't sure if they would remember to follow it. Kim, for her part, seemed pleased that they'd already heard it. It meant that she wasn't going to have to take as much time convincing them. "Now, here's the part that you haven't probably heard before. Along with your powers, you each have a special way of doing things. Probably not as drastically different as we originals, but it's still there. A different fighting style, a tactical mind, a unique view… These are things that will help you in a fight… Damn."

She swore as she was cut off when their communicators sounded. Seth looked at Kim who nodded for him to answer it. Teaching them would just have to wait. "Seth here."

"Downtown, major problem," Tommy answered. "I'm sending your vehicles. Get down there."

"Okay," Seth answered, sounding a bit nervous. He often did before going into a fight, which Jera often covered up. She might have been the Blue, but she knew it wasn't good for a team to see their leader freaking out especially with how Ben and Tara already were. The last thing she needed was a team falling apart on her. She quickly motioned for him to continue, which he did in a stronger voice, happy he could read her. "Ready, guys?"

"Ready," they agreed. "Planetary Rangers, go!"

They suited up as the bikes stopped at their side. They got on and sped into town. Kim spent the time making it back to the lab where Tommy and the trio were waiting. "How goes it?"

"They're there," Conner answered, looking grim. "The rest is up to them, I guess."

Jera screamed as the monster threw her back, advancing on her. Seth caught up with her and helped her up, but both of them looked more than a little banged up. Tara caught the wind currents and used them to move upwards and toward the creature, landing on his shoulders. The move startled it, but he quickly threw her off as easily as the others. Ben helped her up and over to Jera and Seth. "Seth, do you have any ideas?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure one at a time isn't working. Maybe we should morph," Seth suggested. Jera shrugged.

"We tried that. There's a reason we're not morphed now," she reminded him, holding her shoulder and remembering how painful forced demorphing was. It looked like a mix between a horse, a spider, and a scorpion which had led them to believe that it was be fast, but not strong. Unfortunately, similar to mythological centaurs, it was fast and strong. Four spider-like legs gave it incredible jumping power as well which it used to smash them into the ground. The same shape as a centaur didn't help and the spider body was just freaky looking. The scorpion tail behind it served as a spear, which they'd managed to block. Still, if they couldn't stay morphed, then there was no reason to get back into uniform. "We just have to think about this. Alright. We have fire, earth, water, and wind powers, right?"

"Yep," Seth agreed. "And none of them worked."

"One at a time they didn't, no. I have an idea. Tara, hold him off until I say, okay?" Jera said and the other girl nodded, distracting the creature. "We're relatively alone, other than a monster, so we shouldn't hurt anyone if we do this. Ben, pull up rocks from the earth as many as you and push them toward him. When he starts, Seth, burn the rocks. Put as much heat toward them as possible. Melt them."

"Why?" Seth asked and Ben winced as he did as he was told. He still managed an answer.

"Molten rock," he muttered as he concentrated, sweat beginning to fall down his face. Earth was a great power, but he liked working with plants more than rocks. Still, he wasn't going to give up. "Lava."

The two worked together as Ben pulled the rocks up through the ground. It was tiring, but he managed to push them toward the monster who was still distracted. Seth immediately did his part to burn the rock, concentrating just as hard as his teammate. With work, the rock melted and oozed across the ground, heading toward the monster. Tara waited until it was close enough before using her power to move out of the way. She didn't wait until it hit either, knowing that lava was extremely hot and didn't need to touch the skin to burn. The boys moved it up and over, encasing the monster within. It howled in pain and anger, trying to get loose to all of their surprise. Jera looked at them. "I thought that would kill it."

"Do we have a Plan B?" Seth asked, looking at Ben. "You're the other good one in science. Idea?"

Ben looked a bit surprised. "Umm, well, uh lava when cooled is, uh, rock again, right? So, maybe we should do that with, uh, Jera and Tara, maybe?"

Seth nodded and turned to the girls. "Do it."

The two concentrated and water headed toward the monster. Tara used her own power to cool it, making the encasement quicker as it turned to rock. Both of them stopped and all four waited. The monster didn't move, engulfed under cooled volcanic rock. Seth was the first to say anything. "Did it work? Did we do it?"

Jera paused and then nodded. "I think we did."

Tara literally squealed with joy, jumping up and down. "We did! We did! Look Ben, did you see?"

Ben, the ever practical one, nodded but quickly turned their attention to the people starting to come back. "It, uh, might be a good idea, to, uh, morph."

Seth nodded. "Yeah."

They did so as the crowds returned, cheering. They felt a bit of pride from their accomplishment and their mentors had already called in to tell them what a good job they'd done. They could hear the trio whooping for joy in the background among Tommy's many tries to keep them quiet.

"Well, that was fun," Jera said sarcastically. "Can we go home now?"

Seth grinned. "I don't see why not."

"Did you see that? They were great!" Conner said enthusiastically. "They were working together and kicked some serious ass!"

"Conner's right," Kira agreed. "They were amazing."

"And they did it unmorphed. Mostly because it wasn't working the other way, but still," Ethan added. Kim was laughing at their delight, thrilled to be sharing it with them while Tommy looked skeptical.

"I agree. They did great," he said. "But I have a bad feeling."

They immediately sobered up. Kim wrapped her arms around her fiancé. "What sort of bad feelings?"

"Uh… maybe that?" Ethan suggested, pointing at the screen. The monster had been broken free of the casing and grown. "They always grow them. Seriously, Doctor O, every bad guy does it. What is it, Miracle Grow for monsters?"

"If it is, it's gotta be 10 cents a gallon with how often these guys use it," quipped Conner. "So, we've got Zords, right?"

"Yep," Tommy answered. He turned back to the communication. "Guys! Behind you!"

The four teens turned around, gaping at the giant. Seth was the first to answer back. "Doctor Oliver, you have a plan, right?"

"They'll be right there," Tommy promised and started to press various buttons. Conner looked a little confused.

"They don't have to call for them?" He asked.

"Not this time," Tommy answered. Conner nodded as Kim took over the communication, explaining quickly how to merge the Zords together if necessary. Kira and Ethan gave their own advice based on what they'd seen. Finally, they could only wait. Conner bit his bottom lip and wondered if this is how Kim and Tommy had felt the year before with them. Had they felt this helpless?

He glanced over at them and saw that Doctor O had finished as was subconsciously patting Kira's back to keep her calm. Kim had both of her hands on Ethan's shoulders as the young genius was inwardly panicking. He nearly sighed as he realized that no, this isn't what they had felt. They had felt much worse.

Kalderon Phoenix screeched as she announced her presence to the rest of the world, leading the way. Her large frame was dwarfed by her two companions, especially Mirinoi Dragon who was managing not to crush buildings as he moved. Aeris Gryphon made his way, flying between the other two. The only one not seen was Aquitar Hippocampus since there didn't seem to be water nearby. Jera felt her disappointment and wonder at that until the ground exploded and the Zord came out like a whale at Sea World.

"Wow," Seth whispered as the Zords stood ready. "They're amazing."

"Yep," Jera agreed. Seth looked at her. "I'll tell you later. Let's go."

Seth agreed and they all got to their Zord. They worked together to push the monster back, completely catching it off guard. None of them were surprised by that. The creature didn't seem to have the intelligence that its leaders had, instead being a creature of strength. Seth looked through the screen to where he knew the mentors could see him.

"So, are we supposed to bring them together?" He asked. "Or keep going the way we are?"

"If we're voting," Tara said. "I vote we stay like this because the Gryphon is awesome."

"Keep them apart for as long as possible. Numbers are often a good thing. Still, them together is stronger, so when you feel the need, do it," Tommy instructed. "And before you ask, you'll know."

"Got it," Seth agreed and they moved into attack again. Within a certain amount of time, they realized they were getting nowhere and quickly merged. The four Zords came together with the Dragon as the main body and arms, Hippocampus and Gryphon as legs, and Phoenix as the head, her wings making a helmet. Hippocampus' tail came apart and the caudal fin came together to create a sword. They easily fought it back after that, destroying the creature. The four of them cheered at the new feeling of comradery and the familiar sense of victory. They exited the Zords, allowing for them to head off. They looked at each other and nodded to Seth who spoke to their mentors. "We're coming home."

"Are you kidding?" Seth asked. "Kalderon Phoenix was way better than your hippocampus. She could fly. Yours can only swim."

"Yeah, and she came out of the ground. Best entrance," Jera argued. "I'd ask Tara and Ben to back me up, but they're still going on about the dragon and the gryphon."

"He's huge!" Ben said, feeling overwhelmed. "He has to be careful not to knock over buildings. What if he decides he doesn't like me?"

Tara patted his arm. "Relax, Ben. They're Zords. I don't think they randomly turn on you. Right, guys?"

Jera and Seth shared a quick looked that said 'truce' before turning to their green teammate. "Seriously, Ben. I don't think that happens unless maybe a Ranger goes bad or something. And you're not going to go bad."

"Seth's right," Jera agreed. "Don't worry so much. Besides, we kicked ass! We're supposed to be happy right now. We just won our first Zord battle!"

Tara squealed with delight at that and rushed Seth, who quickly caught her and spun her around before handing her off to Ben. "We won, we won, we won!"

Seth laughed as she pounced on Ben's back, arms around his neck, still squealing. "Tara. Tara. Tara! I think he's trying to breathe," Seth joked and patted Ben's shoulder. "You okay, Man?"

"I will be," he promised and his eyes lit up a bit. "Do you see it?"

Seth looked around. "See what?"

Jera caught on a bit quicker. "We're getting along," she answered. "All of us."

"Like real teammates," Ben continued, nodding. "We're doing it."

Seth grinned. "And it only took giant creatures that shouldn't exist for it to happen," he joked again, but Tara shook her head.

"No. I think it was the power melding," she said distantly. They all looked over to make sure she was okay, but she soon was her happy self again. "Look! The raptors came to say hello!"

"Uh, Tara? The raptors don't… Gah! Hello, Red," Seth said as he turned around, right into the red raptors face. He quickly motioned for the others to get as far behind him as possible as he tried to figure out how to not get torn apart by the lead raptor. "Did I do something?"

Red chirped and Seth decided to take that as a yes. He glanced over to see his mentors, all five, watching though Kim and Conner were doing their best to make it to the raptor before he got to Seth. "Okay, what did I do?"

Red looked over his shoulder and Seth tried to block him. The other raptors fell in line behind him and Red made a noise that sounded like a chuckle. He chirped again and nudged Seth with his snout before moving aside and chirping for the others to do the same. Kim and Conner both looked relieved and Kim walked straight over to the red raptor, arms folded. "You had us worried sick."

Red looked apologetic and Conner quickly came to his rescue. "Maybe we should just be glad Red accepts them, huh? He was the last not to."

Kim nodded before turning and looking Red square in the eyes. "Don't scare me like that again!"

Red chirped and nudged her, trying to get off the hook. The other humans just snickered. After a few seconds, Kira seemed to get back on track. "You did it! You were great!"

The others followed suit, each congratulating the newest Rangers on their teamwork and how well they had done. Tommy and Kim both told them that they were now doing much better and the trio were just grinning. Before too much could be said, however, they were interrupted when Zack rushed down the stairs.

"Bad… Scorpina… transporter… good… tired…" were the only words out of his mouth before he collapsed into a chair.

"Zack, are you alright?" Kim asked, checking him over. He tried to catch his breath as his teammate asked and, after a minute, nodded.

"Yeah. Billy's transporter is the best ever," he muttered, still a little tired. "I just wish I would have remembered it before I ran three blocks."

"What did you do that for?" Kim asked incredulously and the others laughed. Zack looked as if what he was muttering about made perfect sense instead of the mish mash of topics coming from him.

"To tell you," he answered and Tommy threw up his hands.

"Tell us what, Zack?" He asked in a tone that was far more annoyed than his fiancé.

"Scorpina. She… She found a new tactic," he answered. Kim motioned for him to slow down.

"Try the beginning, Zack," she said softly.

"Alright. The battle, good job by the way, happened here, but not where I was negotiating and the company sent me there on business for a meeting. So, I didn't know you guys were really fighting because if it's not in the area, apparently people from Reefside are like people from Angel Grove and they just keep working. Anton was there, you'll be getting a call from him soon, and so was I. So, the two of us were making small talk and in comes the CEO of a new, well, new to her, company," Zack said, still babbling, but making a little more sense than before. "It was Scorpina, guys. She took over a company and I think she did it legally. She looked human and went under the name Sabrina Leiurus. Guys, if I didn't know her so well and if Mercer hadn't known what to look for himself, we wouldn't have known who she was. She pulled this off really well."

"Umm… I hate to sound stupid, but what's wrong with that?" Conner asked and Zack sighed.

"Okay, if she's in charge, CEO of a company, that means that people are going to notice if she disappears. It means she's respectable. And if she does this right, she might be able to sway the people's opinion away from us," Zack explained. "We could end up as the bad guys. At the least, she has money and power."

"So do we," Conner said and pointed at Zack. "You and Dr. Mercer."

"It's the loss of an advantage," Tommy explained and Conner nodded at that, completely understanding. "So, what do we do about it?"

Before any of them could answer, the computer popped up with Anton's face. It was clear he had made it home before he called and while Tommy and Kim realized he was worried merely from the time spent with him, he looked completely calm. He nodded in a quick greeting before looking straight at Zack. "I am assuming you informed them?"

"Yep," Zack said and Anton nodded.

"Good. It doesn't seem like she is trying for a corporate take over, but it would be beneficial if we could lower her advantage," Anton said seriously.

"Like, have someone there?" Conner asked and Kim turned to him.

"What are you talking about Conner?" She demanded and he gave a half shrug.

"Think about it. If there was someone there, they could keep an eye on her. Maybe even figure out what she's doing," Conner answered. "I've been looking for a job anyway…"

"Are you insane?" Kim demanded. "She'll kill you for even suggesting it!"

"Or she won't. She's not stupid," Conner answered, rolling his eyes. "At worst, she won't hire me. She can't afford any murder charges in her own building right now, right?"

"Kid's got a point," Zack answered and Kim turned her glare on him. "Face it, Kim, he's right. Still, Conner, you sure about this?"

"Yeah, I am. Why?" He asked and Zack sighed. He looked as if he wasn't sure how to answer.

"You have been doing an exemplary job," Mercer said instead. "Yet, we all know you haven't been completely well. We want to make sure you're sure."

"That I don't have a death wish or something?" Conner asked and Mercer nodded once, knowing it would come better from him than Zack. Conner knew that Mercer wasn't much better than him in that department. "No, I don't. I'm just the best choice."

"Why are you suddenly the best choice?" Kim demanded. "We have many former Rangers. Plenty of them. One of them could use a new job."

Conner sighed and walked straight over to his mentor, gently wrapping his arms around her before she had the panic attack he knew was coming. "Kim, I'll be fine. Look, she was interested in me. That means I have a good chance at getting the job. I'll be okay. You're not going to lose me again."

Tommy's arms were folded and he looked at Conner over Kim's shoulder. "It's not that we don't think you can't do it…"

Conner nodded. "I know, Doctor O. Really. I do. But like I said, I think I'm our best shot."

Zack looked at him seriously. "If you're sure about this, just remember that she might not hire you."

"I'm betting she won't," Conner said with a slight laugh. "Doesn't mean I'm not going to try."

Mercer nodded before Tommy and Kim could argue again. "Then you have my vote."

Zack nodded. "And mine. We'll put ourselves down as references, lie for you. Not that it matters too much."

Ethan looked at Kira and stepped forward, nodding. "Hey, Conner. We're behind you. If you want to do this, we'll help you."

"Right," Kira agreed. "Just… don't get yourself killed, okay?"

Conner let go of his mentor, letting Tommy take over before heading over to Kira and kissing her gently. "I'll try."

She laughed a bit at that, but nodded. "That's the best I'm going to get, isn't it?"

"Yep," he answered and turned to the newest four Rangers. "Well?"

They looked surprised by the question, but quickly answered. "If, uh, we can be Rangers then, umm, you'll do fine," Ben answered.

Tara smiled. "Yeah! You'll do great!"

"Good luck," Jera said with a smile and a shrug. Seth looked at Conner seriously.

"If you need help…" he started and Conner nodded.

"I'll ask," he promised. Seth grinned with the others and Ethan would joke later that he asked for the quartet's opinion so that they would pick his side without much of a fight. At last, even Kim and Tommy decided that Conner was right and he went off to start his resume followed by Ethan and Kira. Kim and Tommy both sighed, hoping their first Red would be alright.

"So, an assistant job," Ethan said as he walked into the shared dorm room. "You realize that both our mentors are still having an absolute fit, right?"

"Yep," Conner answered, before putting a finger over his lips. "Keep your voice down. Kira's sleeping."

"Is she okay?" Ethan asked and Conner shrugged as he tucked her into his own bed. He didn't mind sleeping on the floor tonight, not after that day. He gave Ethan a half-smile before answering.

"Freaked out," he answered and looked a little more serious. "Like you."

"Stop reading me like a book," Ethan teased, though their wasn't too much humor in his own voice either. Both Ethan and Kira had backed him, like the always did, but that didn't mean that they had to like the idea. Neither had tried to talk him out of it, but Kira had been slightly shaking by the time they'd gotten back to the dorm room and Conner, ever the good boyfriend, had soothed her until she fell asleep. Ethan wasn't much better, but he would be damned before he did that with the Blue. Not to mention Ethan would probably kill him for trying. Ethan glanced over at the computer screen. "Seriously though, just be careful. And change the wording there. It doesn't sound right."

"Thanks," Conner said honestly getting back up to fix it. "Everything will be fine, Ethan."

"Probably. So, did you finish that paper for your English class?" Ethan asked and Conner's eyes widened.

"Shit."

Author's Note: I know, I know. It took me forever to get this chapter out and it's not even as long as the others by about five pages. The truth is, college's winter break was hell for me. Not just because I didn't get it, but because Christmas is around that time and I'm still learning how to balance my job and life. Plus, my friends' usual baby-sitter sort of went on vacation so they didn't have anyone to watch the kid at night, so I was asked to do so. Considering that the kid is like a surrogate nephew to me, I agreed, but that made my writing even more hectic. Fortunately, their usual baby-sitter is back and I'm able to do more again. Yay! Also, this chapter was just hard to do. Like, really hard for some reason, so there's the other reason.

Other than thanking all of you for your wonderful reviews for both this story and for the Christmas story, which I do a hundred times over, I really don't have anything to add to this. So, thank you all for continuing to review. You guys make me feel guilty for not updating more often and thrilled when I've finished another chapter so that I can show it to all of you. Thank you for your support and being so patient with me as of late.