Yuri remained crouched in the closet, listening to Gien and Akayama talk while remaining as quiet as possible. She just had to wait till they left, then she could get Tomo to safety, contact her teammates, and they could apprehend this Iesnes.

Then she felt something. There was a pressure building up in her behind.

No, not now...

Despite her best efforts, nature would have its way.

Pffffttt!

Both Gien and Akayama turned to the closet.

Damn Yukari and her natto!

"Iesnes, are you conducting any gas experiments in your closet?"

"No" said Akayama as he glared at it.

Gien raised his right hand. The three claw-like fingers retracted inside and a roll of gun barrels emerged in their place, looking like a hand. He fired at the door latches and it fell, revealing a red faced Yuri.

"TimePink! How nice to see you. I always suspected Lila was lying when she told me females didn't expel gas that way."

Yuri struck a pose.

"Chrono-"

Gien opened fire and hit the Chrono Changer, the force making Yuri hit the wall.

The Chrono Changer made a crunching noise as segments of her Chrono Suit flickered on and off before it vanished all together.

"Oh dear. Did I break your Chrono Changer?" said Gien. "I suppose this won't be a very fair fight, then."

Yuri looked back and forth between Gien and Tomo, weighing what to do. She sighed.

I'll be back for you, Tomo.

Yuri jumped up just in time to avoid the bullets,leaping on and off Gien's shoulders, and covered her face with her arms as she went through the window, smashing the glass and landing on the lawn outside.

Akayama immediately fell into a panic.

"She knows about us! If she gets the others-"

"Do not worry, Iesnes. I shall take care of this matter myself. It's been far too long since I've allowed myself to indulge in recreation."

Crouching on the lawn, Yuri examined her Chrono Changer, trying to figure out the extent of the damage. When it came to tech, though, she was no Sion. She couldn't tell whether it would function again on its own after a time or if it would need repair.

She had to break her attention from it when Gien effortlessly landed on the ground by her.

Yuri rose. Whether she could transform or not, she wasn't going down without a fight. She leapt at the golden robot, but Gien held out his metallic arm so she'd hit that on impact, knocking her out cold.

As she lay helpless before him, Gien felt a sort of hollowness about the situation. After all this time, to finally kill a Timeranger, not seeing the terror and panic in their eyes…it felt anti-climatic. But he got over it. After all, there were five more left.

Just as he was about to fire, he heard screeching wheels. He looked to see heavily damaged car drive right in between them before coming to a stop.

Yukari smacked the dashboard in frustration.

Great, the one time I'm trying to hit someone...

She opened the passenger seat and reached out for Yuri.

"Stop! I'm not done with her yet" said Gien, as Yukari took Yuri into the car.

Gien followed the car as it sped off, jumping for it and grabbing the bumper of the car.

However, keeping hold of it proved difficult, as the car swerved, sped up, slowed down, went through stoplights, and numerous other disruptions. At first trying to stop the car, Gien soon found himself hanging on for dear life.

My, I must have really given that woman a fright for her to drive so erratically.

Inside, Yuri stirred, awakening back to consciousness.

"Yukari?" she said as she saw where she was.

"Hey girl friend, glad to see you're okay" said a cheerful Yukari.

"What's going on?"

"Well I couldn't just let you be killed by that robot, could I?"

Yuri was impressed with how calm Yukari seemed given the situation, though judging by her driving the stress of the situation was obviously getting to her.

"You risked your life and confronted - WATCH OUT YOU'RE GOING TO HIT THAT TODDLER! - a Londerz to save me?"

"Hey, that's just the sort of person I am!"

God I can't wait to see Nyamo's face when she finds out what I did. Show her who cares about other people.

Meanwhile, Gien had managed to get enough of a grip on the Yukarimobile to reach for a small device he had on him. Iesnes had given it to him in case of emergency, and he felt this qualified.

He tossed it just up ahead of the car.

"Did you see that?" said Yuri.

"Oh god who's the idiot who can't get out of the way now? You know, maybe it's pedestrians who need to go to traffic school so they can learn-"

Yukari's rant was cut short when there was a huge explosion right in front of them. The smoke prevented the two from seeing that a huge hole had opened up, and the two women screamed as they fell through.

It was not a deep fall, and after a moment to check for injuries they both got out.

Yukari groaned as she saw the state of the car.

"Oh great, mom's never going to believe a robot did this!"

Yuri looked around.

"Looks like we're in the subway. We should be able to-"

Gien jumped in, landing on the car and crushing it even further.

"You asshole!" yelled Yukari. "Do you know how upset my parents are going to about that car!?"

"Not as much as they will be at losing a daughter, I would hope" said Gien.

"Well of course not, what does that have to do with anyth- oh" said Yukari, realizing the robot was aiming at her.

Yuri grabbed her hand and the two ran.

"Oooh, a chase, is it? How fun!" said Gien as he fired at the fleeing women.

The two ran, ducking bullets, until Yukari slipped and fell.

"Got you now…" said Gien.

Before he could fire, though, there was a loud horn. Gien turned and found himself starring down the lights of a rapidly approaching subway train.

"Oh dear-"

The train struck Gien, and when it had sped off, only a few stray bolts and pieces of his golden exterior laying on the ground.

Yuri took Yukari's arm again.

"Come on, let's put as much distance between him and us as we can."

"Wait, that robot isn't junk?"

"I'm not taking the chance, are you?"

The school hallway was empty, save two, as Osaka and Sion saw each other fork opposite ends.

Laying behind one corner, however, were Osaka's friends, occasionally poking their heads from out the corner.

"This is so exciting!" said Chiyo. "Miss Osaka is going to find out whether her love is returned. It's like a shoujo manga! Oh, but what are we going to do if he doesn't want to be her boyfriend?"

"Don't worry, I've thought of that" said Kagura. "We take her for a girls' night out, make her forget about him, and then, whenever we play dodgeball, somehow we always end up hitting Sion's head."

On the other side of the hallway, Domon and Ayase stood behind a corner, occasionally peeking out themselves.

Tatsuya was walking up when he saw them.

"Domon, Ayase, what are you doin-"

Before he could finish, Domon shused him.

"Quiet Tatsuya! Our dear Sion is about to find out whether a girl likes him back!"

"Really?" said the Red Ranger, peering his head out to look.

"So, what are we going to do if she says no?" asked Ayase.

"Then we go for a guy's night out, make him forget about her, and then, next time we're fighting a rebounded Londerz, TimeRobo 'accidentally' steps on her house."

"Domon!" yelled Tatsuya.

"Don't worry, we'll make sure she and her folks aren't there first."

"We're not doing tha-"

"Shhh! They're talking!"

"Hello, Osaka" said Sion, scratching the back of his neck.

"Hey" said Osaka. "Uh, ah have a question: are we boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Oh, I was hoping that you would know."

"Ah, drats."

The two stood in awkward silence.

"Well…didja wanna be?" asked Osaka.

"I…I do, but, now that I think about it, I'm worried. I don't really know how to be a boyfriend."

"Ah know whicha mean, ah ain't got much experience 'bout being a girlfriend either."

"That's it, I'm going over there" said Kagura, who was immediately restrained by Sakaki and Yomi.

Not noticing this, Osaka and Sion stood silent in thought.

"Ah heck!" said Osaka finally. "So what if we don't know what were doin'? Mah folks always told mah, love finds ah way."

"You're right!" said Sion. "I've gone up against a lot of scary things, but I've never quit, and I won't now!"

"Sides, if ah ever truly need help, ah can ask Miss Kurosawa, she knows ah lot about this sort of thing."

"And I can ask Domon!" said Sion, causing Tatsuya and Ayase to grimace at each other.

"Ah'll right, ah think this is going to work out swimmingly."

"Yeah!"

The two stood in silence again.

"So, now that we're boyfriend and girlfriend, what should we do?"

"Ah'm not sure. Hmmm… want to go to ah fire alarm and fantasize 'bout pulling it?"

"Yeah!"

The two walked off together, neither realizing they were being watched the whole time.

"What the hell?" said Kagura. "They didn't even kiss!"

"I think Osaka and Sion will forge their relationship their own way" said Sakaki.

"Yeah" said Yomi, "it makes sense that a relationship between those two isn't going to be conventional."

On the other side of the hallway, Tatsuya and Ayase watched Sion leave with his now girlfriend with pride.

"Good for Sion" said Tatsuya. "Aren't you happy, Domon?…Domon?"

Tatsuya and Ayase turned to see that Domon was weeping.

"Domon? Are you okay?"

"Our little Sion is becoming a man! Oh, I wish Yuri could have been here to see it."

"Yeah, I wonder where she is?" said Tatsuya.

Yuri and Yukari had been walking for what felt like hours, hoping to come across an exit. Unfortunately, they seemed to have wandered into an are no longer in use, old and decrepit.

Yuri looked at Yukari; she had been doing fine, but the teacher was now struggling to keep up.

"Let's take a rest" she said.

"HUFF - well - HUFF - if you think - HUFF - you need to" replied the teacher as she slid to the ground.

The Pink Ranger again checked her Chrono Changer, hoping to see some sign it was working again.

Meanwhile, Yukari sat, staring at the ground as if in thought.

Yuri smiled as the Chrono Changer turned on. She managed to check their location, and find a route out. But when she tried to contact Tac and the others, there was just static. So then, could she transform or not? Well, as long as Yukari was around, it was a moot point.

"I think I know our location. Another few miles and we'll reach-"

"I am worried about Tomo" blurted the teacher.

"What?"

"Look, my students tend to like me, for whatever reason. But Tomo…she actually looks up to me as a role model. Don't ever tell her I said this, she's insufferable enough as it is, but it's nice to know someone thinks I'm this amazing woman instead of some fuck up. And what do I do? Send her to some doctor for some crazy experiment without a thought as to her safety."

Yuri put her hand on Yukari's shoulder.

"You couldn't have known. It was the school that accepted Akayama's word."

"That's what I keep telling myself. But I could have done more. I should have suspected something was up. I should have looked into it. That's what Nyamo would have done…"

"Listen, Tomo isn't dead yet. Once we get out of here, we can help her. I admit, when I first met you, I was…uncertain about your suitability as an educator. But today has shown me that whatever else, there's a reason your students like you."

Yukari thought about it.

"Yeah. You're right! I am a good teacher, and I don't have to change a bit!"

"Well I wouldn't necessarily go that far-"

The chat was interrupted as a metallic hand punched through the stone wall.

The two women backed away as Gien emerged, damaged, with but looking no less dangerous.

"Hello ladies. I hope I haven't kept you too long."

Yuri instantly ran.

"Get away, Yukari! I'll distract him!"

"Oh, I don't think they'll be time for that!"

Gien raised his arm and fired at a decaying arch above her, causing the debris to collapse on her as Yukari looked on in horror.

"YURI!"

Gien manically laughed, before feeling something strike his head. Behind him, a furious Yukari hit him again and again with a rod she had found on the ground.

"You dumb stupid robot! I finally made a new friend, and you had to go and kill her! Now I'm going to have to apologize to Nyamo! I hate apologizing to her! I-"

Yukari shut up as Gien turned around and grabbed the rod, breaking it in two.

"You are a very aggravating woman…"

Yukari whimpered as Gien lurched over her.

Suddenly, beams of pink light shot out of the debris, causing a small explosion as dust covered the area.

As it began to clear, TimePink leapt out, brandishing her Time Vector sword, slashing Gien and allowing Yukari to get away.

"Oh, goodie" said Gien before opening fire. "This will make killing you far more satisfying."

Yuri focused on her opponent. Although she had her powers again, she was far from out of the woods. Gien was a strong opponent; when they faced him back in June, he had managed to hold his own fighting the entire team at once. Yuri prayed his damage from the train would give her an edge.

Yukari, meanwhile, was feeling useless, and for once she didn't like it. They're had to be something she could do to help.

She looked around, and saw the tracks. The third rail was electric; if it still got power, then maybe she could somehow conduct it and fry that robot like she did Chiyo's childhood music box when she tried to get it to play the radio last summer. But how? Think she told herself…think back to science class…

Mr. Shimada stood in front of the classroom, writing on the chalkboard.

"All right class, today we're going to be learning about how electricity works. This will be on the test, so please pay attention…"

Yukari leaned over to Nyamo sitting next to her.

"Hey Nyamo, guess what I found out in gym class: Sayoko Watabe stuffs her bra!"

Yukari groaned.

Stupid Nyamo, distracting me in class!

Yuri swung her Time Vector again, only for Gien to catch her arm, allowing him to grab it and toss it away.

Crap, thought Yukari as she watched. C'mon, she thought, think back to that class…

"I knew those things couldn't be real! I have a sixth sense, and I could tell that girl was as flat as a postcard-"

"Yukari, I'm trying to pay attention to this! You should be too."

"Hmmph. Fine…"

Yukari punched the air.

Thanks Nyamo. Although, you didn't have to be such a bitch about it...

She checked her coat pocket. There, the copper wire she was going to try to wriggle the change slot in the snack machine open. And there were her rubber gloves she was going to use so she didn't leave fingerprints. And to think people kept telling her she was too old for this sort of thing.

Yuri gasped for breath as Gien's hand held tight around her neck, futilely trying to break his grip as he lifted her up.

"Dolnero will be quite happy when I present you to him. Hmmm, what should we do with your body? I know! I think I'll arrange a package to be sent to TimeRed! Haha, I'll make it seem one of a romantic nature. And when he opens it, haha, he'll find your severed head!"

Gien began to laugh madly, in a state of ecstasy over his plot, and such did not notice an approaching Yukari at all, right up to her sticking the cord into one of the openings created by the collision.

"Eat this, 3PO!"

Gien's eyes popped out as he screamed as the electricity surged through his body. He dropped Yuri as he flailed about.

Seizing the opportunity, Yuri grabbed her Time Vector and leapt into the air, freezing as the two swords forming the hands of a light based clock, before landing and striking them through Gien.

Sparks flew out of the robot, his eyes going black as he collapsed on the ground.

Yuri and Yukari stood over the fallen robot, the latter hardly able to believe what just happened.

"Wait, did we just kill a Londerz? Oh man, wait till I tell my class, those little shits will never turn in something late ag-AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Gien's eyes opened.

"Dolnero! Where are you!?" he cried out.

He didn't sound like before; he sounded like a young man, a distressed one.

"Dolnero! Help me, I'm scared!"

Yuri's initial thought was to finish him off. That was against the rules, of course; criminals were to be taken alive except if it was a matter of life or death. The procedure was to freeze compress them, but all five of them needed to be present to do that.

She wagered she would have a decent shot at convincing her superiors that taking out Gien was acceptable, that he was a clear and present danger, but even as he was, she was unsure she'd be able to destroy him by herself. And besides, she had both Yukari and Tomo to consider; their safety came first.

"Come on, let's go, they'll be others to retrieve him here soon."

"Yeah, all right. Wait, Yuri! You got to help her, she might still be alive-"

"Don't worry, I saw to her before; she's safe."

The Pink Ranger paused for a moment.

"She...she told me to thank you. She wouldn't have survived had it not been for you."

Yukari first had a look of shock, before slowly smiling as her eyes watered.

The school day ended, and most had left, save the gang. Despite their happiness for Osaka, they couldn't go long without remembering Tomo, Yomi most of all, and they wanted to discuss what they could do.

"Hay guys" said Osaka as she joined.

"Osaka?" said Kagura. "I thought you and Sion were going to Magicland."

"Oh we are. He said he had to do something first."

"KIDS!"

Yukari was rushing down the hallway. The girls turned and were startled at the sight of their teacher looking so disheveled. But not as shocked as they were by what she did next, grabbing them all in a hug.

"Oh, my beautiful, wonderful students, I'm so happy to see you!"

"Aw great, as if we didn't have enough to worry 'bout Miss Yukari must've gotten hit in the head."

"Miss Yukari, what happened to you?" asked Chiyo.

"Oh, nothing much, just helping a Timeranger beat a Londerz."

"Oh, like we did" said Kagura.

"Well, in a way, 'cept mine was one of the big guys you see in the news. But we can talk about that later. The important thing now is for us to go save Tomo!"

"You know how to help Tomo?! You know where she is!?" said a hopeful Yomi.

"What? Oh, no, I have no clue. But I'm sure I can figure something out. Hmmm…Chiyo, you're smart, what do we do?"

"Yukari!"

They turned to see Nyamo running up to them.

"Yukari, I've been looking all over for you, I've been so worried! I wanted to apologize-"

"Hold on a moment, Nyamo, I got something to say. You were right that I was being insensitive about Tomo, and-wait, you're apologizing to me? You were worried about me?"

"Of course I was; somebody has to. And what it was wrong to say that to you earlier. I was worried about Tomo, and I took my stress out on you. But that wasn't fair; I've known you too long to buy that act you put on. I know you care about the girls."

"Oh Nyamo!" said Yukari, seemingly about to burst into tears, as she put her arms around her friend. Her mood instantly changed at the following words, however.

"See you guys?" said Chiyo. "I told you she cares about us!"

"Oh thanks a lot Nyamo, all that effort to make them terrified of me and you ruin it in an instant!"

"Wow" said Osaka. "Ah'm so lucky to have so many people care 'bout mah. Mah friends, mah English tracher, and nowmah boyfriend."

"YOU have a boyfriend!? Wait, I see what's going on here. Where is this punk? If he thinks he's winning a dogfight with one of MY students-"

"Yukari, it's okay, it's Sion" said Kagura.

"Ooooohhh, that makes sense. Congrats, Osaka. Oh, poor Kaorin, though, she's going to be crushed."

Suddenly, the doors to the school swung open, and the Timerangers marched in with purpose.

Kagura instantly frowned and ran up to them.

"Ah Christ. What are you morons doing here now?"

"Saving your friend, so maybe shut up and get out of our way" said Domon.

"Wait, you guys are to save Tomo? She's here?" asked Yomi.

"Not that we're ungrateful, but why are you getting involved in this?" asked Nyamo.

"I'm afraid this is our prevue" said Yuri. "Dr. Akayama is a Londerz."

"I KNEW something was up with that guy!" said Kagura as the others looked shocked.

The Timerangers arrived at the door to Akayama's room.

"Stand back" said Yuri, "this could get dangerous."

They pulled the door handle to no effect. They had expected it to be locked, but even when Domon put his weight against it, it wouldn't bulge.

"No good, he must be using some 30th century tech to reinforce it."

"Time to bring out the big guns then" said Tatsuya, and the Timerangers took out their Vol weapons, aiming at the door as Nyamo looked on in alarm.

"Hey, you can't do that in here-"

"VOL CANNON!"

The Rangers opened fire, blowing off the door and a good chunk of the wall around it.

Brandishing a badge, Yuri leapt in, followed by the others.

"Iesnes, you are under arrest for breaking-"

Yuri and the others realized the room was completely empty, not only of Iesnes and Tomo but anything, save a computer. It turned on and projected a holographic image of Iesnes.

"Hello Timeranger. I'm sorry I could not be here to greet you, but Miss Takino and I are engaged in delicate research and have relocated somewhere where we won't be disturbed. However, I have left you something for your trouble."

The hologram vanished, and a countdown then appeared on the computer monitor.

05

04

03

02

01

"Get out, now!" yelled Yuri.

The room erupted into flame…