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Chapter 3

"But how did our powers come back?" Kira asked from where she sat on a rock sticking out from the wall. "I thought we used all of the energy in the gems when we defeated Mesagog."

"They must have just been dormant, instead of dead like we thought." Tommy said as he paced in front of the computers. "Kira, you said that it felt like your gem was charging up for something?"

"Yeah. But Mesagog's gone. What could it have been charging up for?" She asked.

"Maybe it wasn't for anything specific." Ethan suggested. "Maybe they just needed some time before they had enough energy for us to morph again."

"Do you think we can?" Conner asked with a small smile on his face. He didn't wait for anyone to answer, but jumped up from the sofa and flicked his wrist, making his red morpher appear. "Man I missed this. Dino Thunder! Power Up! Ha!" He called. The others watched as he morphed, his red suit and helmet moulding around his body. "It worked!" He cheered.

"Now there's something I didn't think I'd see again." Trent muttered with a smirk.

"You guys try." Conner said, making them all share looks.

"I guess we should make sure." Ethan said as he stood up. "Just in case we're needed again." Tommy nodded and watched as Trent stood up before frowning at Kira. She seemed to be battling within herself before she slowly stood up, her movements hesitant. Before they could move any further, an alarm rang out from the computer, making them all share looks.

"What was that?" Trent asked as Tommy sat in front of the computer, a frown on his face.

"Impossible." He mumbled as he typed away on the keyboard.

"What?" Conner asked, removing his helmet.

"Someone's on the Island." He said, making them all share worried looks.

"How do you know?" Conner asked as he looked at the screen.

"There's energy spikes all over the fortress." Tommy replied, an anxious expression on his face.

"But how? We shut down the invisiportal network after we defeated Mesagog." Kira questioned with a frown.

"And more importantly, who?" Ethan said, making them all look at each other with frowns.

"We need to figure out what's going on." Conner said, stepping into his leader role. "Ethan, can you call Hayley and see if you two can get the portals going again?" Ethan nodded and pulled his phone out of his pocket as he took Tommy's seat in front of the computer. "Trent, I need you to go check on your dad. Make sure he hasn't tried any more experiments on himself. I'll go and check on Randall. Tommy, you and Kira go and check the place we fought Zeltrax."

"What?" Kira and Tommy said together. They shared a glance before both looking away.

"You two need to be able to work together. No better place to start." Conner said as he demorphed and headed towards the stairs with Trent. "See if you can see any signs that Zeltrax survived. And talk to each other! The sooner you work out whatever is going on between you, the sooner you'll work together better." He said as he walked up the stairs, leaving Ethan staring after him in shock.

"Did that all just come out of Conner's mouth?" The Blue Ranger asked as Tommy started walking towards the stairs.

"I thought I was the teacher." He grumbled before looking back and seeing that Kira hadn't moved. "You coming?"

"Yeah." She breathed, following him up the stairs. She kept her eyes locked on the floor as they walked through the house, and Tommy mentally kicked himself when he noticed. She had clearly come in through the tunnel entrance because she didn't want to walk through the house she once shared with him. She silently followed him to his Jeep and climbed in, taking note of the aches and pains in her body.

They drove in relative silence, Kira looking out at the scenery without really taking it in while Tommy tried to figure out what to say to her.

"How have you been?" He asked after a couple of minutes of silence, making her jump slightly as she turned to look at him.

"Alright, I guess." She replied, making him frown. "What about you?"

"As good as I can be." He said, keeping his eyes fixed on the road in front of him.

"I am sorry, Tommy." She said, making his hands grip the steering wheel.

"Why? Why did you leave me a voicemail? Why not tell me in person?" He asked, making her sigh.

"Because I was a coward. I figured leaving you a voicemail would hurt less." She replied.

"Hurt who?" He asked with a sarcastic tone.

"You… Me…. Both of us? I don't know." She said, rubbing her eyes. "I was scared and not thinking properly. I knew that I wouldn't have been able to do it if I heard your voice, so I took the easy way and it hurt us both just as much." He glanced over at her and saw the frustration in her face.

"I still don't know why." He said, making her freeze. "Were you not happy?"

"No! I was really happy." She answered, frowning as she tried to think quickly.

"Then why?" He asked, making her close her eyes tight.

"Things were happening, and I couldn't ruin your life like that." She said, making his frown deepen.

"Ruin my life? What are you talking about?" He asked, only to get no answer. "Kira?"

"Let's just look around for any sign of Zeltrax. We can talk about all of this later." She said, her voice giving away how tired she was. Tommy frowned but nodded as he parked the car and they climbed out. They started looking around and Kira sighed. "What are we even looking for? It's been 2 years."

"Just anything, I guess." Tommy replied, although he wasn't sure what to look for either. They searched in silence before Kira jumped at the sound of her phone ringing.

"Hi Tanya." She said as she answered, making Tommy look at her as he continued to search.

"Kira, I told you I'd pick you up in an hour. Where are you?" She asked, making Kira groan.

"I forgot. We got a little distracted." She said, glancing at Tommy out of the corner of her eye. "I'm going to be a while longer. Go home. I'll get Conner to take me back later."

"Kira, you are supposed to be taking it easy. You know how much the chemo takes out of you." Tanya chastised, making Kira roll her eyes.

"I know that, Tanya. But this is Ranger stuff. I can't just leave my team." She replied.

"But what if the team leaves you?" A voice snapped, making Kira and Tommy jump and spin around, both freezing with wide eyes at what they saw.

"Tanya, I'll call you back." She said as she hung up, slipping into a fighting stance next to Tommy. "This can't be happening."

"So nice to see the two of you again." A figure snarled as it moved closer to them.

"How did you survive, Zeltrax?" Tommy asked, subconsciously stepping slightly in front of Kira as if to protect her.

"I managed to drag myself back to the last working portal before you shut them all down." Zeltrax said as he pulled a sword out. "And I managed to rebuild and recharge. I will make the two of you pay for what you did!"

"Why now?" Kira grumbled. She thought she was quiet, but Tommy managed to hear her. "Guess we'd better figure out if we can morph."

"I guess so." He said as they raised their wrists, their bracelets turning into their morphers. "You ready?"

"Ready." She replied with a nod.

"Dino Thunder! Power Up! Ha!" They called. They both smiled as they morphed and Kira noticed that her energy seemed to increase, the tiredness disappearing.

"But you're powerless? How did you get your powers back?" Zeltrax asked in shock as he watched them morph.

"Does it matter?" Kira asked, slipping back into a fighting stance.

Zeltrax seemed to growl before he attacked them, swinging his sword at them. They both ducked around him, dodging the sword. Kira kicked him from behind, sending him into Tommy's outstretched arm. He jumped up and saw the two rangers stood together, both looking ready to fight. He swung his sword again, only to be met with Kira's Thundermax Saber as Tommy used his Brachio Staff to strike his torso, sending him stumbling backwards.

"I need more strength." He gasped as Kira and Tommy both got ready for another attack. "I will see you soon, rangers!" He called before jumping into an invisiportal.

"Well, now we know he's got the portals working again." Kira said with a sigh. "Power down." They both demorphed and Kira suddenly stumbled, grabbing onto the wall next to her. "Woah." She gasped, her eyes closing as dizziness set in.

"Kira?" Tommy asked, holding onto her other arm to keep her upright. "Are you alright?"

"Fine, just lightheaded." She breathed, panting slightly as she tried to get her breath back.

"Are you sure?" Tommy asked, concern written over his face.

"I'm fine. Let's get back to the lab and tell the others that Zeltrax is back." She said as she stood straight and started walking back to the jeep, trying to make it seem like she didn't feel like she had no energy.

Tommy watched Kira carefully as they drove back, noticing that she put her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes. He noticed that she seemed to be paler than before and her breathing was a bit too quick for his liking. They got back to his house and he watched her silently as she walked in front of him into the house and down into the lab, his frown deepening when he saw how tightly she was gripping the railing as she walked down the stairs.

"Well, Randall and Mercer are both fine." Conner said as they walked down the last step. Tommy saw that he and Trent had both returned and Hayley was now sat next to Ethan.

"Tommy, a portal opened next to where you two were searching. Did you find anything?" Hayley asked, turning in her chair to look at them, frowning at Kira as she sat on the sofa.

"Yeah. Zeltrax." Tommy said, making them all freeze.

"What?" Trent asked in shock.

"He survived. And wants revenge." Kira said, leaning forward with her head resting on her hands and her elbows on her knees. "He said he went back to the Island before we shut down the portals and has spent this time rebuilding himself."

"But he didn't do it very well." Tommy added. "He tried to fight us, but it was almost like he couldn't actually control himself."

"What now?" Trent asked, making Hayley sigh.

"Go home and rest. If Zeltrax is back and wants revenge, you're going to need your strength to fight him." She said, making Tommy nod.

"Go on, guys. Come by tomorrow evening unless Zeltrax decides to attack before then." He said before walking over to Kira and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Come on. I'll give you a lift."

"It's fine. I'll get a taxi or something." She said, standing up. She realised too late that she stood too quickly and stumbled slightly, causing Tommy to grab her arm and help steady her.

"Like hell am I letting you find your own way home like this. Now stop complaining and come on." He said, helping her to walk up the stairs, unable to see the look Hayley was giving him. The silence as they drove was only broken by the occasional directions Kira gave Tommy, giving her time to allow her headache to ease. "Is it later yet?" Tommy asked, making Kira frown as he referenced their previous conversation before they found Zeltrax.

"I guess." She said, sighing slightly.

"What did you mean earlier, when you said you didn't want to ruin my life?" He asked, making her wince slightly.

"Things happened, and if I stayed then you would have gotten caught up in it too, and you would have been too selfless to realise what it was doing to your life." She said, making him frown.

"What does that mean? What was happening?" He asked, making her shake her head.

"I can't tell you." She muttered, looking away. "I will tell you soon, but not yet." He didn't say anything for a few moments, taking in what she had said.

"Kira, are you ill?" He asked, making her look at him in shock.

"What?" She asked, her eyes wide.

"Before you left, we were waiting to hear back from the hospital about the pain in your chest. And now, you're paler and thinner than you were before. And after that fight with Zeltrax, you looked like you were about to faint." She silently cursed his observation skills.

"I'm fine. I told you, I've just been overdoing it trying to get my album finished." She said, trying to smile slightly. "We're here." Tommy parked outside a block of flats and frowned, looking around.

"This is where you live?" He asked, looking at how run down the building looked.

"For now." She said, not looking at him. "Thanks for the lift."

"Are you going to come to the lab tomorrow?" He asked as she got out of the Jeep, freezing slightly with her hand on the door. "I want to try and figure out what Zeltrax is up to."

"Not tomorrow." She said, closing the car door. "I have a meeting in Angel Grove and won't be back until the next day." She started to walk away, only to stop and look back, a small smile on her face. "Goodnight, Tommy." She walked into the building, leaving Tommy watching her with a frown before he began to drive home.