Okay, I'm finally off for the week until Saturday, so I'm gonna try to get some chapters done in between chores. (laughs slightly) Keyword is try. (pulls the Disclaimers over)

Disclaimers: I don't own Power Rangers, as it is a product of Hasbro as of May 1st, 2018.

(Hadley's POV)

Won't lie, my first few days at school were pretty eventful, and I felt like I needed a break from the rush of being a Power Ranger, so while I was meandering around my new home one day, I came across a cool area called 'Hayley's Cyberspace'. "This looks like a great place for me to work on my sketches." I walked inside and looked around the vicinity, smiling as I recognized some kids from my art class and some of the other students, letting off a low whistle. "Man, I bet Ethan wishes he lived here."

"Sure got that right." A voice behind me made me yelp and instinctively throw a punch, but Conner caught it in time with a quick blink. "Jeez, are you jumpy all the time?"

"Only when I least expect it," I explained to him, lowering my fist and calming down as I looked at him and Kira. "Guessing Ethan gave you guys the invite too?"

Kira nodded a bit. "Yep. Personally, I'm not really complaining. This is a cool hangout spot."

"There they are," Ethan came over to us, "my brother and sisters in crime!" He lowered his voice slightly, "or at least crime fighting." He turned around to view the hangout as he continued, "So welcome to my world."

"This is incredible, Ethan," I told him happily. "Even Mariner Bay didn't have a kid's hangout like this." The comment earned me a look from the others and made me shrug slightly. "I rarely got a chance to get away from the family. Don't judge me."

Conner chuckled slightly and patted my shoulder. "It's cool. If I were in your shoes with fighting demons, I'd probably feel the same way."

The comment immediately made me drive an elbow into his gut as the others clamped their hands over his mouth, Kira hissing slightly, "Keep it down, will you?! Do you really wanna blow our cover so quickly?!"

I looked around and saw that we were in the clear, so I gave them the signal and they immediately let him go as he stood back up and exhaled hard, releasing what I assumed was a pent up groan as he looked at me and rubbed his stomach. "That hurt."

"Sorry." I cringed slightly; I didn't mean to hit him that hard. It was just instictive reflexes.

"Let's get you something to settle your stomach, dude," Ethan helped Conner over to the bar and sat him down as Kira and I followed behind him.

"Hey, guys. What can I get you?" A fellow redheaded girl walked over to us, whom I assumed was Hayley.

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

I smiled at Hayley. "Make it two."

"Oh, that's easy." Hayley smiled and led the way as she asked, "So Kira and Hadley, right?"

"How'd you know?" Kira asked curiously.

"I'm all about information," Hayley explained casually. "I heard you like singing, so how about this Friday, I see what you do? We'll call it an audition."

Kira seemed to be ecstatic about the opportunity. "Well, yeah! I mean that'd be great!"

"Alright. I'll see you then." Hayley told her before she looked at me. "I know you're a master detective as well as a skilled artisan, Hadley, so I was thinking maybe you could use a few tips and tricks for your work. I've got a good selection of books over in that corner that are mystery and art oriented." She pointed out a bookshelf in the corner of the area.

I smiled as soon as I saw them and looked at her. "Sounds great, Hayley. Maybe I could even show off some of my artwork here on occasion?"

"I'd like that," she smiled at me and patted my head before she walked off.

Kira smiled at me. "Okay, I love her!"

"Ditto!" I grinned excitedly.

"That's Hayley for you. There's not one kid in here that she hasn't helped somehow," Ethan told us.

I looked at Conner as he leaned against the counter. "Hasn't helped me."

The comment made me chuckle and wrap an arm around him. "Relax, Mr. Kicks. You'll get your chance."

He smirked at my comment and ruffled my hair before he heard Hayley talking about him and looked over.

"I'm surprised you're not at the open tryouts for the Reefside Waves." Hayley mentioned to him, making me smile at the shocked brunette and comment, "I told you."

He immediately took off before my bracelet went off and I looked at the others quickly. "Uh, gotta call my dad. Be right back." I immediately bolted out the door and went into a private corner before I picked up the line. "Go for Hadley."

"Hadley, I've been picking up some invisi-portal activity in the woods near the Raptor Rider eggs. Need you here as backup now." Dr. Oliver told me.

"Roger that, Doc. I'm on my way." I promised and with the flick of a wrist, my Morpher was summoned before I headed out to the area.

As soon as I arrived on scene, I ensured that I was morphed to hide my identity as I walked over to him. "So where's the eggs?"

"Right over here." He pointed out four eggs in their little nest, all of them color coded with their glow like with the Zords.

I smiled and knelt down. "So these are gonna hatch into our Raptor Riders?"

He smiled as he knelt beside me. "Yep. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Wicked cool." I agreed and gently touched the purple egg, careful not to disturb it too much.

We both heard footsteps a second later and stood up as he explained, "I asked Ethan here to help. Stand guard by the eggs and keep an eye out for Tyrannodrones."

I nodded and got to work, keeping an eye on the vicinity silently as Dr. O explained about the eggs to Ethan, and I couldn't help but think about how much life had changed since Dana became a Ranger. Sure, I was a little jealous of her at the time, but she was extremely supportive of me helping Dad out at the base and Ms. Fairweather with her projects. Plus, she often ensured that I was safe outside the base by wearing a communicator that I still had on me for times of desperate need.

Suddenly, a harsh wind caught my attention and made me look around quickly. "Heads up, boys. We've got incoming."

We suddenly saw Zeltrax and whom I surmised to be Elsa from Kira's description come out of hiding along with some Tyrannodrones.

"I'm starting to have my doubts about your intelligence, Dr. Oliver," Zeltrax commented, but before Dr. O could be attacked, I drove a Cephalo Knuckle into the ambushing Tyrannodrone and glared at Zeltrax as I quipped, "You know sneak attacks are one of the oldest tricks in the Villain 101 book, right?"

"Attack!" Elsa shouted at the drones, which immediately got me battling the group as I looked at my companions. "Get the eggs outta here! I'll hold the drones off!"

Tommy nodded and bolted as Ethan joined me in combatting the Tyrannodrones, but I noticed Dr. O getting swarmed by drones and immediately flipped over to assist him, the two of us back to back as we fought the minions together and used our skills to our advantage.

I caught a glimpse of a high branch and looked at him. "Hey, Doc! Think you could use a lift?"

"Sounds good!" He kicked a drone away before jumping into my cupped hands as I gave him a boost into the air so he landed on the sturdy branch up above us before I returned to pounding the lights out of the drones and looked at Ethan. "Blue! Call the team!" I saw a couple of drones aiming at the branch and kicked up a couple of heavy boulders before punching them into the drones and standing protectively in front. "Gonna have to get up early to pull one over little old me!"

I heard a shout and looked up in surprise to see Zeltrax and Elsa swinging their blades at me, but I blocked them in barely enough time before I started fighting them, fisticuffs versus blades and I noticed the others coming in before I moved forward and headbutted Zeltrax into Elsa with a powerful shockwave following suit as I recovered. "Guess I've got a hard head and hard fists. Hi-ya!" I got in a boxing stance bravely as the others gathered around me.

"We're not through with you, Power Rangers!" Elsa shouted angrily, Zeltrax pointing at Dr. O and following up, "Nor you, Dr. Oliver." They disappeared through a portal, allowing us to breathe.

"Man, Zeltrax really has it out for you, huh, Doc?" I asked Tommy casually.

He nodded a bit. "Not sure why though."

Conner looked at us. "Look, guys. I gotta get back to tryouts."

I nodded to him. "Go. We'll fill you in later, Red."

He nodded and took off quickly, leaving me with a small frown on my face.

As soon as Dr. O and I were back in the lab and I'd demorphed, we set up the eggs in a nest and stayed back to watch over them, which was making me a little nervous about the whole thing. "Dr. O, what if they don't hatch?"

He shrugged a little bit and looked at me. "All we can do is hope that they come out."

I nodded and we waited with nervous breath before the cracks appeared on the shells and out came four mechanical raptors that were just like the eggs: Color coded.

Immediately they started messing up the place and I rushed in to try and corral them like I had done with the Bio Zords, but this was proving to be more of a challenge, even for Tommy as he was helping me. The Raptor Riders were throwing us every which way and at one point, I accidentally delivered a headbutt to Dr. O's gut when we collided as I shouted, "Sorry!"

The door to the secret base started to open and caused Tommy to shout, "Don't come in! It's not safe!" We yelped as we were thrown across the room.

"Yeah, we kinda got that." Kira mentioned before I got into their view and caught Tommy as he was launched into me, both of us hitting the ground hard.

"Ow." I groaned as I let him up first and he helped me after a second while Ethan asked, "Is that what was in those eggs?"

"Yeah. We're trying to train them." Dr. Oliver said.

"How's it coming?" Ethan asked nervously.

"Slowly." I mentioned before pulling Dr. O down quickly to dodge a tail. "Very slowly."

"Look, I can see you're both... extremely busy with... whatever, but we need to talk, Dr. O." Conner mentioned.

I saw the tail coming in again and shielded Tommy, but the impact knocked both of us out into the passageway, making the others quickly close the door.

He looked at himself and sighed. "Guess we could take a break." He was helped up by Ethan before he gave me some assistance.

I groaned as I stretched out. "Okay, ouch. Those Raptors hit harder than one of my headbutts."

Tommy nodded a bit before looking at Conner. "Okay, what's up?"

"You gotta find someone to replace me." Conner immediately said.

Ethan and Kira started to get annoyed, but I held up a hand. "Guys, settle down." I looked at Conner. "What do you mean, Conner?"

"Look," Conner explained, "I'm a soccer player. That's all I've ever wanted to do. Every moment of my life has led up to playing for a pro team and I get the greatest chance of my life and I blow it."

I nodded a bit. "It's understandable. But you do know that you can be a pro level player and a Power Ranger at the same time. It's not rocket science."

Tommy nodded a bit. "Look at Hadley. Her whole life was being surrounded by professional heroes who did everyday jobs like firefighting, hospital work, even aerial stunts. And they got the chance to become more important to their community, to inspire others."

I walked over and took Conner's hand. "I'm sure that Carter could agree that he's had his doubts about being Red Ranger before, but if it wasn't for my dad talking with him about everything and helping him see past the bigger picture, more lives could have been lost on his third day as a Ranger because of a near mistake he could have made on the field. It's not just thinking about your needs, Conner. It's about using your noggin and your heart to do whatever you believe is the right thing." I knew I spoke from experience when I said everything because I had seen it before and I was able to help Carter back then too.

"Even I've felt that way before," Dr. O agreed, "but it's better if you think about this before you do anything."

Conner took a deep breath before he nodded a bit. "I guess I could think it over." He patted my shoulder and walked off through the path again.

I smiled as I watched him go and looked at Ethan and Kira. "He'll come around. It'll take some time, but he'll figure out what everything truly means."

Back above the ground, I was doodling in my sketchbook again, watching as the others talked and sighing softly as I reminisced about Carter's feelings towards quitting the Lightspeed team. Sure, he felt like it had been his fault that the kid had gotten hurt in the first place, but that was a choice he had to make: Sacrifice one life for the safety of everybody in the area. Even I got the hint at thirteen years old back then and I was a late bloomer with my period.

Suddenly, I got the call on my Morpher and quickly got up, putting my stuff away and heading to the city where I saw a... bird thing... terrorizing the civilians. "Not good." I ran over and whistled to get its attention.

"Wha?" The bird freak looked at me.

"You wanna mess with humans, you go through me first, feather face!" I snapped at him.

"Gladly!" He shouted back.

Immediately, I activated my Morpher. "Dino Thunder, Power up! Ha!" I changed into my suit and started to battle the monster on my own, but he sure was crafty and he knocked me back just as the others came around.

"Whoa! Nasty! We can do it!" Conner shouted, leading us towards the monster and we started attacking quickly, but we all got knocked back.

The boys knocked him away from us and he took off into the air.

"Why, you little!" I started after him, impulsivity driving me forward as Conner stopped Kira behind me.

As I chased Birdbrain down, I heard a roar behind me. "Huh?" I saw the Raptor Riders coming in, and the team was each on their own Rider. "Perfect timing!" I hopped on to my purple Rider and grabbed the reins. "Let's go!"

As we rode on, Conner saw Tyrannodrones continuing to terrorize civilians, including a little girl. "Oh no! I'll handle the Tyrannodrones! You guys deal with that bird!"

"Right behind you!" Ethan told him and we split up, with me and Kira chasing Birdbrain up to a tall building and stopping before we hit the edge of the roof.

The monster landed and looked at us. "You afraid of heights?"

"You wish, you freaky bird!" Kira shouted back, riding her partner down the side and striking the monster with her Ptera Grips before I followed up with my Knuckles, Conner with his Staff, and Ethan with his shield. Then with our weapons united and us riding mine and Conner's Raptors together, we shot the finishing blow. Round one over!

As soon as we dismounted our Riders, I looked at the monster remains. "Don't celebrate yet, guys. Every monster has a secret growth weapon."

Conenr looked at me in confusion. "How do you know all this?"

"Yeah, you make it sound like you've been through this before." Ethan agreed.

I shrugged in response. "Once or twice."

As if on cue, an orb shot out from the monster and created a storm to rain on the remains, allowing Birdbrain to regenerate at a size of thirty stories.

I sighed softly. "Man, I hate it when I'm right." I called the lab. "Doc, send the Zords." Looking at the others, I nodded to them. "Go get him, guys!"

I hopped back on my Raptor Rider and charged to a safe distance along with the other Riders, stopping on a high hill and watching the team battle against Birdbrain, attacking with the PteraRang first and then finishing with the Dino Drill. Round two over, score one for the Rangers!

"Hoo-ah! Way to go!" I cheered excitedly as the Riders roared triumphantly, grateful for such awesome friends.

After the tough battle, I was headed to the Cyberspace with Dr. O, out of my suit again and talking with him about his recent discovery. "You think the others are going be happy to maybe have another teammate?"

He nodded a bit. "Yeah, and hopefully if something happens to me... well, I kinda figured you'd probably be there to help them out."

I looked at him incredulously, stopping a few feet away from the door. "But... I'm just a former ally who's had insight to other Rangers having issues. How can I be any more of a mentor than you?"

He placed his hands on my shoulders. "Hads, as far as I can see, you're the best support the team can have. You know all the problems they might have before they even have them and that's saying a lot all things considered. Between you and me, if anything ever happened to me, you'd be my first choice to show everyone the way."

I smiled proudly as I heard his confidence in my abilities and nodded a bit. "I'll do my best then."

The two of us made our way towards the doors, but before we could even get inside, we felt a harsh wind, immediately recognizing it as he looked at me. "Hadley, you need to get out of here! They can't find your Dino Gem!"

"No! I'm not leaving without you!" I immediately objected to him.

"There's no time!" He pushed me away just before a platoon of Tyrannodrones grabbed him and teleprted away with him.

"TOMMY!!!" I immediately got up and looked around, scared for my teacher and one of my closest friends. "This is not good."

(To be continued...)

Okay, wow. Didn't expect to get such a nail biter of an episode finisher done, but holy cow! What's gonna happen when Hadley has to be the mentor in Tommy's absence and how's it gonna lead into her being the temporary visual mentor later on (due to spoilers that I will not mention unless y'all have seen the series)? Stay tuned!!