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Son of Whitebeard: Scorpina would like to have control, but Goldar has gone pretty crazy so it should be interesting to see them try to work together. Glad you enjoyed it.

Established Pairings: Tommy/Kim, Jason/Trini, Rocky/Aisha, Adam/Tanya, and Billy/Kat, Dustin/Marah

Pairings in Progress: Conner/Kira, Hunter/Tori

Thunderstruck

Chapter 2: Unnerving Pattern

Angel Grove

"You're seriously freaking me out," Rocky said, as he and Jason watched Billy pin up the photos of each victim in order of their murder.

"Okay, we know the reason that we had so much trouble nailing this guy down was because he was all over the map with his victims. In fact, if he hadn't killed them all in the same exact way, then we might have never connected all the murders to one person," Billy started trying to explain.

"Yeah, he killed at random. A lot of serial killers go for a type, but not always. Some just hate women in general," Jason replied nonchalantly.

"What if his victims weren't random?" Billy asked, looking at them both.

"How do you figure that? I mean, you've got race and background that is all over the place. The fact that they were female seems to be only common denominator," Rocky pointed out.

"That's what it looks like to anyone else. But if you apply one common denominator that only we might pick up on, there's a very scary pattern," Billy said.

"I'm assuming that you mean rangers by that, but I still don't see where you're going with this," Jason replied, still trying to understand.

"You will," Billy said, as he turned to the wall.

"First victim, Caucasian petite brunette, second victim, Asian, specifically Chinese, third was African American, fourth was a tall, leggy blonde, fifth was another African American, sixth was another Asian woman, followed by another Caucasian with dark blonde hair," Billy said, as he kept pinning something beneath each photo that Rocky and Jason couldn't see yet.

"Eighth was another blonde, who wore glasses, ninth was another brunette, exotic looking, tenth was another blonde, eleventh was an athletic brunette," Billy continued pinning the cards beneath more photos.

"Twelfth was another petite brunette and thirteenth was another African-American. Fourteenth was a very petite brunette, possibly of partial Asian descent, fifteenth was another blonde, sixteenth was an athletic blonde, and finally seventeenth was a petite girl with dark blonde hair," Billy rambled, as he stepped back from the wall. Jason and Rocky's eyes widened, as they read the names below each photo.

"What the hell…" Rocky cursed.

"You think the pattern is related to every female ranger?" Jason asked in disbelief.

"They were killed in order that each woman served and each victim closely matches the name below her photo in physicality," Billy said.

"But…why? Or more importantly how?" Rocky asked.

"You said this guy knew about our pasts as rangers," Billy said, as he sat down at his laptop.

"He was beyond obsessed with rangers and he knew the identity of every single one of us, even Tommy's new team," Billy stated.

"But why kill all these girls that resemble all ranger females?" Rocky asked.

"To send us a message of what he wants to do to all rangers. This was just his way to get our attention, because let's face it, most of us are married to ranger females," Billy explained. Jason looked dumbfounded. Rocky snorted.

"He certainly knew exactly how to piss us off," Rocky concluded. Billy nodded.

"That's my theory, but fortunately he's dead, so he can't carry out the next phase of his plan, assuming that he thought he could somehow manage it," Billy said. Jason shook his head.

"That still doesn't explain how he knows who every ranger is. I mean, he even knows about Time Force and the Galaxy rangers. Who the hell was he?" Jason said, as he started pacing the room.

"I haven't got a clue. He was surprisingly careful as to not reveal much about himself. What we know about him was a surprisingly mundane life. Somehow, I have a feeling that he kept most of his real life off the grid," Billy replied.

"But…it's over. He's dead, right?" Rocky asked.

"We've always assumed he worked alone. His profile jumped around all over the place, but never to anything that suggested he had a partner," Jason replied with a shrug.

"There's no way to tell," Billy said.

"All his information is backed up on the grid now and no one can get access to it?" Jason asked.

"Just us," Billy assured. Jason sighed.

"Okay, all this stays out of the official report, of course and we go on like normal, but we remain vigilant. We'll make a detour to Reefside and brief Tommy and Kim on all this before we return to Quantico," Jason decided. Billy and Rocky nodded, thinking they had dodged a bullet. Life would return to normal now that this possible enemy to all rangers was dead…


Reefside

Dr. Tommy Oliver parked his jeep in his driveway next to his wife's white convertible and headed inside. Since their move to Reefside, things had been anything but quiet.

"Hey handsome," Kim said, as he came into the kitchen where she was making dinner.

"Beautiful," he whispered huskily, making her giggle. Since he had been freed from the confines of being stuck in his ranger suit or invisible, they had been insatiable for each other, even more than usual. It had been three days since their team up with the Ninja rangers of Blue Bay Harbor and Lothor's defeat. Kimberly was just grateful that Mesagog had been quiet since then and she hoped it stayed that way, though she knew it wouldn't last much longer.

"Smells good, but that's a lot of food. Don't tell me Conner is coming over to eat us out of house and home again?" he asked. She giggled.

"No, but we are having company. Jason actually just called and apologized for the late notice, but he and Billy have time so they're swinging by for a quick visit tonight before they head back to Quantico," Kimberly replied.

"Seriously?" Tommy asked with a grin, as he went to open the fridge.

"Truly," she replied with a smile.

"Is Rocky coming?" Tommy asked.

"I don't think so," she replied.

"Then since when do we buy Jolt Cola?" Tommy asked, but then thought about it for a second.

"Conner," they stated simultaneously.

"I heard on the news that they finally got that guy," he mentioned. She nodded.

"I know, as evil as Mesagog and all the others we've faced are, it's harder when you put a human face on that evil. I'm not sure how Jason and Billy do it for a living," Kimberly said, as he wrapped his arms around her.

"It's part of who they are and it would probably eat them alive if they didn't have good women behind them, just like I do," Tommy told her. She smiled and their lips met, passion swelling between them.

"I love you," Kimberly whispered. He smiled.

"Love you too beautiful," he whispered back, as their lips met again.


Two hours later

"I'm so glad you guys had time to stop by," Kimberly said, as they sat out on the porch. The guys each had a beer and Kimberly opted for a glass of her favorite wine.

"Us too…and I wish it was all casual, but we kind of came to clue you in on something we ran across during the investigation," Jason stated. Tommy raised an eyebrow.

"Something we won't learn from the news reporters?" he asked.

"This is really sensitive information," Billy replied.

"Are you allowed to tell us that kind of stuff?" Kim asked.

"It's not FBI classified, but rather ranger classified," Jason replied. That caught their attention.

"What could a serial killer have to do with the rangers?" Tommy asked. Jason glanced at Billy and he pulled out a disc.

"You have a command center of sorts here?" Billy asked.

"The Dino cave in the basement," Tommy replied.

"Is the security good?" Billy asked. He nodded.

"Hayley's system is top notch. She's almost as good as you," Tommy assured him. Billy nodded, as Tommy and Kim led them down to the Dino cave.

"You two are freaking me out. Most of us haven't been rangers in years, excluding Tommy," Kimberly mentioned.

"We know, that's what's bizarre about it, but Victor Goldman knew who we are, every single one of us, right down to your new team," Jason stated, as Billy pulled up the victim board on the computer after inserting the disk.

"There's no way…how could he?" Tommy uttered. Jason shrugged.

"We don't know, but Billy cracked his victimology that we couldn't pin down. He murdered a woman that closely resembles each ranger female in order of service," Jason said.

"Oh my God..." Kimberly uttered, as she looked at the young women, right down to the last one, noticing that she did indeed resemble Kira.

"We think he wanted to enact some sort of plan by going after the girls first, thinking it was the easiest and quickest way to get the attention of the ranger males. Fortunately, I just put a bullet in him so the danger is over, but we thought you both should know," Jason stated.

"Somehow this guy got around ranger security of not just one team but all teams, which I find nearly impossible. There's more to this, but with him dead, there are no answers or ways to know if he was working with anyone. I've combed his whole system too and there isn't anything to go on," Billy said, sighing in frustration.

"Okay…this information will go no further and we lock down all this information in the grid," Tommy suggested.

"Already done, we just wanted you in the loop. If we're lucky, then we dodged a bullet today and we'll never have to worry about any of this," Jason said.

"But we'll keep vigilant and I'm going to keep researching," Billy added. Tommy nodded and sighed, hoping they were right. But a small nagging in the back of his mind, his finely tuned instincts told him that this would eventually come back to bite them. Hoping he was being paranoid, Tommy put on his usual confident front and led his wife and friends back upstairs. They lightened the mood, as they reminisced on old times, before Jason and Billy had to head to the airport to return to Quantico.


2005

One year later

Reefside

Kira sat on the bench, her guitar across her lap with a paper and pen beside her. She strummed and sang a few lyrics, before writing down a few things and continuing. Nearby, several children ran around on the soccer field at play, while a young man in red looked over his list on a clipboard. It had been a year since Mesagog's defeat and he had just completed his first year in college, becoming MVP for Reefside University's soccer team and winning the state championship. But his time as a ranger had both humbled him and made him more aware that there was much more to life than soccer. Today was the first day of his soccer camp for kids, ages eight to twelve, and he was excited to be doing something to help kids, especially since many that were signed up were under privileged.

A blue van pulled up and parked nearby. Kira smiled, as she set her guitar aside and went to greet the occupants.

"Hey guys," Kira said, as Hunter, Tori, and a boy she knew must be Charlie got out.

"Hey," Tori replied, as she hugged the other girl. Since they met a little over a year ago, the ninjas had kept in close contact with the Dino rangers, particularly Tori and Kira.

"You must be Charlie," Kira greeted. The boy nodded shyly and waved.

"I'm going to go get him checked in with Conner," Hunter said, as he and Charlie jogged onto the field.

"So, how are things at the Academy, Sensei Hanson?" Kira teased. Tori rolled her eyes.

"The same. Blue Bay's been pretty boring since Lothor, not that it's a bad thing," Tori replied.

"I know what you mean. Reefside has been the same," Kira replied.

"How's the album coming?" Tori asked.

"Slow, but now that classes are over, I plan to spend the whole summer working on it," Kira replied.

"It's really great of Hunter to use his free time to bring Charlie here," Kira mentioned.

"I know, he has such a big heart and Charlie's been through so much. First he lost his dad and then his mom got sick. Hunter knows what it's like to lose your parents and he's really great at keeping him positive. Charlie's mom is responding well to the chemo though," Tori mentioned. Kira smiled at the way her friend glowed when talking about the older Bradley brother.

During her days as a ranger, Tori and Blake seemed that they might have something between them, but Blake left to pursue his career in Motocross. With the distance between them, whatever might have once been there soon fizzled. They were still friends, but Blake had moved on with someone else he met on the tour, another rider, and Tori accepted that, wanting him to be happy.

Unfortunately, neither Tori nor Hunter could see the chemistry and obvious attraction between them. Kira was hoping to give her friends the gentle push they needed, but Conner had refused to help her, stating that he wanted no part of what he called meddling or daresay, matchmaking.

"That's good, I'm glad she's getting better and you're right, he has that whole brooding bad boy with a heart of gold thing down to an art. I'm surprised some girl hasn't come along and snatched him up," Kira mentioned.

"Oh yeah, that was really subtle there, Kira," she thought sarcastically. Tori shrugged.

"Girls hit on him all the time, but he never seems interested. I guess I'm kind of glad for that, because the ones that do are always tramps," Tori said. Kira suppressed a knowing smile.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Conner is usually up to his ears in annoying bimbos," Kira grumbled. Tori grinned.

"Jealous?" she teased.

"I would be if he reacted, but he seems really serious about pursuing me," Kira said with uncertainty.

"I think it's sweet. He didn't give up until you agreed to go on a date with him," Tori giggled.

"Are you done teasing me?" Kira asked.

"You mean about the fact that you were caught completely off guard that you actually had a great time on said date, even though you insisted that you could never date Conner McKnight, King of all Jocks," Tori mocked teasingly. Kira tossed a mock glare at her.

"Maybe I'm not the only one in denial…" she preempted. Tori gave her a confused look.

"What are you talking about?" the blonde asked.

"Uh…duh, how about tall, blonde, and broody over there," Kira replied, indicating the blonde in crimson on the field.

"Me and Hunter? Whatever, we're just friends," Tori protested.

"So you don't think he's attractive?" Kira asked. Tori looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"I didn't say that. I mean, he's…handsome, but…" Tori said, suddenly at a loss for words.

"But…" Kira prompted.

"But we're not going there," Tori stated. Kira recognized her tone and let it drop for now.

"Okay, I guess we should go help Conner out with the kids," Kira said, changing the subject.

"How are Dr. and Mrs. O, by the way?" Tori asked. Kira smiled.

"Good, we see them at Hayley's from time to time. Kim just found out she's pregnant," Kira announced.

"That's great! They must be so excited," Tori mentioned. Kira nodded.

"They are ecstatic," Kira replied, as they jogged onto the field.


Zedd's dark dimension

"So this is it?" Sabrina asked, looking around, unimpressed. He had been working on this place for a year and the island seemed to be more like a paradise than the supposed deathtrap he was promising.

"Don't be so quick to judge and don't let the scenery fool you," Goldman replied.

"This is Zedd's dark dimension that he was working on creating when Mondo took over?" Sabrina asked. Goldman nodded.

"He pulled out all the stops with this one. I've finished it for him and now our fun begins," Goldman said.

"If it's so horrific, then why does it look like a freaking tropical island?" Sabrina spat.

"Like I said, don't let the scenery fool you. Even if the male rangers do make it to the mansion, they'll never get out," Goldman stated.

"Over the years, I've learned not to underestimate these brats," Sabrina hissed.

"It seems that no matter what you throw at them, they never fail to escape and they never die. What makes you so sure that this is the end of them all?" she asked.

"I will make sure it is this time!" Goldman hissed, as he got a psychotic look in his eye.

"Even if I have to sink into the ocean with this island myself, I'll make sure I take them all with me," Victor snarled. Sabrina's eyes widened. Going down with the ship was not a part of her plan, but she remained calm. She had learned that he definitely wasn't the same warrior he had once been. His time as a human had driven him insane and she knew she would have to wait for the right time to either get rid of him or escape from the island herself.

"It's time now. Are you prepared for the next phase?" Goldman asked.

"I am assuming you mean capturing our bait," Sabrina replied. He nodded.

"The teleportation grid is online. Use it to capture Katherine and Trini first. They live in Virginia and this afternoon is the perfect time to snatch both. Jason and Billy are on a plane thirty-thousand feet in the air right now," Victor stated.

"Fine, you want me to bring them back here?" she asked. He nodded and pulled up a dingy looking cell on the basement level.

"Nice dungeon," she commented.

"After you have those two, grab the newest yellow ranger. I'll handle Kimberly, Aisha, Tanya, and Tori," Goldman stated.

"Fine, then what?" she asked.

"We wait. The others will come for them and even if they make it out of this fortress, the elements and creatures on the island will get them. And if not that, then the island itself will when it sinks into the ocean. They have no zords and there's no way off unless I get them off. End game and I win," Goldman stated.

"Okay, so you kill them all and then what? What happens after we eliminate all rangers that have ever held the power?" Sabrina questioned.

"Then there's no one to oppose us. With Zedd's magic, the sky's the limit," Goldman promised.