*Waves* Here we are with the next chapter! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season no matter what you celebrate.

Anyway, I'm posting this now so those who are traveling won't miss it. For those who are going out of town, I'm sending good vibes and hopes for safe travels!

I also want to thank everyone for the nice reviews laster chapter!

There was a question posed by a reviewer asked me to explain the names the Miscreants chose during the ceremony. A few minutes ago, I replied on the FaceBook page so you can go there for a full explanation!

I also have a new Twitter Page for fanfictions for those who don't use Facebook anymore or want easier access to any updates I post. The link is on my profile page!

I guess that's about it as far as ANs go. Read on and I'll see you at the bottom!

The Next Morning

"Gather around Miscreants, we have something to show you before you go to school today."

The crew with the exception of the lovebirds were dressed and ready to go. Rookery had shown up a few moments before and Cold-Stone and Nocturne had stayed the night. They all stood at the counter as Eric and Wes pulled out a couple thin black boxes and slid four of them towards the Miscreants.

"What's this?" Rookery asked.

"Well, you guys are officially a team, so we thought some kind of token would be appropriate." Wes answered. "For us, it was morphers for you guys, something a little less technological, but still pretty awesome."

Rookery opened the thin box and grinned. There, resting on the back velvet square was a shiny silver dog tag with a skull design on the front. He turned it over to see the back was blank.

"I know that they're blank, but that's because when we bought these from the wholesaler, we didn't know what codenames you wanted to use. When you want to, you can get them engraved or we can do it for you. Whatever works."

Cold-Stone grinned at his girlfriend. "We know the perfect place."

"The Gilded Rose. She answered with a nod. "We could grab some pizza afterwards."

"Thanks for this!" Paladin said as he put his dog tags on. "This is awesome!"

Eric grinned as he handed over the last two boxes. "Then ride out, Miscreants!"

The others made sure to thank them before they left. When they were gone, Wes grinned at him. "Did you enjoy that, sending them out like a team of heroes?"

"You bet your ass, I did." Eric answered with a grin. He was still grinning as he saw Trent emerge from the shadows.

"You know, if you're going to keep lurking in the hallway, maybe we should charge you for a permit." Eric added.

Trent huffed a sigh at them. "That's not really a threat. I have more than enough money for any fees you can come up with."

Wes grinned at him. "So, what's on the agenda?"

"I'm making a day trip to go meet with my father, to seek his counsel…and blessing."

"What, for this adoption thing?" Eric asked.

"Well, he is still head of the family. It'd be rude to proceed with my plans without talking to him first. I'm heading there in a few minutes."

Wes nodded. "If you're going to ask us to look after him, his crew has it covered. Still we'll make sure to keep him out of trouble."

"Thanks. I'll back by tonight."

AGHS

They were a sight as they walked through the hallways. Though Kyle and Autumn weren't there, everyone looked up as the rest of them walked through the doors. Subconsciously, Katsume's eyes searched for Elisa and he saw her gathering her notebook from her locker. As if sensing him, her eyes looked up and they smiled at each other.

He was still smiling as he opened his locker and hung up his coat. That smile fell when he felt the little hairs on the back of his head standing up. Before he could react, he felt a hand on his shoulder; a second later, that same hand grabbed his a fistful of his shirt and yanked him away. On pure instinct he grabbed the hand trying to free himself of the hold.

"You know, you really should have kept that mouth of yours shut. Now I'm really going to make your life hell."

The old Katsume would have cowered, but Paladin stood tall and felt no fear at all. He looked Mr. Hatche in the eye. "What do you think you can do to me that hasn't already been done? If you're hoping that I'll cower in your intimidating presence, you've got the wrong guy."

Mr. Hatche glared at him and then smashed him into a locker. He saw stars and turned on his side, preparing for another hit…but then nothing happened. A few moments later, he heard a grunt and saw Rook and Connor confronting the teacher.

"You just couldn't leave him alone, could you!" Connor said in a voice of authority. "You're like a rabid dog; do I need to put you down to keep you from molesting my family?"

"I don't see a family here. I see a street rat and a man just barely out of his teens that thinks he can take me on. You don't have it in you."

Connor smiled coldly. "You are way too overconfident…it's like you're trying to compensate for something. I could destroy you where you stand and barely break a sweat. Thankfully, I won't have to…yet." He paused and held up a folded piece of paper. "This is a restraining order against you. I'm giving you 30 seconds to clear out of here before I call the authorities. Try anything and I will end you!"

There was such power behind those words, that all bravado left the teacher and he turned on his heel and left the hallway.

While all this was going on, Leif and Sapphire had helped Katsume to his feet and stood watching the confrontation. His head was pounding a little but his vision was clearing. Connor walked over to them and looked at Katsueme closer. "You look like you're okay. Anything hurting?"

"I have a headache, but give me a few minutes and I'll be fine."

Connor nodded non committedly. "Take a walk with me." He paused and looked at the other Miscreants. "Go ahead and get to class. Tell the homeroom teacher what happened and that I'll send Mr. Shen along with a note after we see the nurse."

When they were gone, Connor looked back at the teenager. "Come on Paladin. Let's do this."

Rook and the others trudged to class. When they arrived, the looked at the new teacher in surprise. It was Dr. Oliver.

He was in a casual outfit consisting of a white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and black slacks. Tommy's hair was growing out again and pulled into a short pony tail at the base of his neck and his tribal choker was in full view of everyone.

He looked up at them and stood up to full height. "So glad you could make it to class. Where's Mr. Shen?"

"Mr. True-Heart took him to the nurse office. He said to tell you that Mr. Shen will be in as soon as the nurse clears him."

Mr. Oliver gave them a long look and glanced at his phone. "Ok. Go ahead and find your seats. I don't care what you do as long as you keep everything to a dull roar."

"Yes Sir."

"Is Katsume okay?"

Rook looked over at Elisa and smiled at her. "Yeah, he's a tough kid; he can take a beating and come back for more. He'll be back in class any moment."

Elisa smiled at him and then looked back at her paper.

Nocturne fought her smile as she whispered. "He's a Paladin now."

That made Elisa look up at her with wide eyes. "You think so?"

"Yeah, he is."

Up at the front, Dr. O grinned to himself. He knew exactly what they were up to. If he had any doubts about this new crew they'd formed, they were gone the moment they started hyping up one of their own.

Cold-Stone simply shook his head and went back to his phone, he'd gotten a text from the shelter about needing them for an adoption event during the upcoming fall festival.

He gently laced his fingers through his girlfriend's hand and when she looked up at him, he showed her the text. She cocked her head to the side and then grinned at him; nodding in agreement she watched as he replied that they were 'in.'

That was pretty much how the hour went. About 5 minutes before the bell was to ring, Dr. O got up from his desk and walked to the front of the class and leaned against his desk.

"All eyes up here, please."

When he had their attention, he nodded his thanks. "I want you all to think about what Principle Matthews said this morning. This city went through some dark times and that darkness even hit families out in Reefside. Now that the cause of that darkness has been eradicated, it's time to spread good vibes to counteract all that nasty stuff that happened. Now, I'm not saying that you have to become rangers and fight monsters, but you could maybe just start with helping the elderly of this city load their groceries into the trunks of their cars. Maybe once in a while let an overwhelmed parent cut in front of you at the grocery store so they can get those kids home faster."

"And what are you going to do to help, besides telling us what to do?" Jezebel asked him in a haughty voice.

Dr O frowned at her. This must be that girl that was giving Autumn so much trouble. Still, he kept his cool.

"Of course I'm not the kind of person that would give orders that I am not willing to follow. Back in the day, my wife and I were students here and this is the school we both graduated from. We moved after graduation to Reefside. For the last several years, I taught science at Reefside High School; I had tenure and a very secure job position. We had a nice house and my wife and I put down roots there. When we heard about what happened in our hometown, we made the decision to uproot our family and move back here.

You as teenagers wouldn't understand how complicated it is to move towns especially with a 6 year old and a new born in tow, but it's no easy feat. I gave up a lot to come back here to help my city.

Now, I'm going to be at that meeting on Friday, and I hope you all would do the same. If we work together and walk the walk, we could really turn this city around."

As he finished his little speech, the bells rang and the students began to file out. "Leif, Sapphire, Rook, please stay a minute."

When it was just them, the remaining students stood in front of him. Before their eyes, he seemed to relax and become just Tommy again.

"Miscreants, I thought you'd like to know what happened this morning. We didn't have time to let you know before Hatche struck."

"It all happened really fast." Rook confirmed.

Dr. O nodded. "Yeah, we barely got things done in time." He paused and pulled out an official copy of the restraining order. "We had to work fast and call in a solid to get this signed by a judge. It's all official and legal now and should you witness Hatche going anywhere near Paladin, you have my permission to do anything and I mean anything to keep that moron away." He paused pulled out another picture. "This is the other perp to worry about. It's that probation officer from LA. He may try and come here to make trouble. Should you see him anywhere in this city, let us know." He then turned his attention the Noctorn and Cold-Stone. "If you could, let the coven know. That probation officer is an idiot and he may not even show up, but if he or his golf buddy tries anything, every set of eyes could be an advantage."

"You bet." Cold-Stone said a second later. They both took a picture of the picture and saved it to their phones. When they were done the meeting was over. "Alright you Miscreants, better get to your next class." He turned back to his desk and picked up some passes and handed them out to the teens. "Here, just in case you're late to your next class."

"Thanks Dr. O. See you at the Manor tonight."

Dr. O nodded and then pulled out a 50 dollar bill. "Taking care of your fellow team mates is important and Paladin will need some distraction so here's some cash for your feast. Stay out as long as you need to, but also leave some time to get your homework done."

"Yes. Sir."

Lunch Time

"Katsume?" Paladin turned to see Elisa hurrying towards him on her crutches.

He couldn't help but smile at her. "Hey, what's up?"

She stopped short and looked up at him as if suddenly unsure of her self. Katsume grinned at her and gave her a small bow. "Milady Olanys, what can I do for you?"

That made her smile at him. "I was um..just wanting to check on you…you know after what happened this morning."

Katsume shrugged. "I'm good. It's nothing a couple of aspirin and a short nap couldn't help. I was up on my feet about 30 minutes later and I've had worse."

"Oh, Ok." Then she turned and walked away quickly before he could say anything else. A second later, Rook subtly nudged him. Katsume looked at him strangely. "What?"

"That, dear Paladin is an opportune moment." Rookery answered with a shooing motion. "Go woo the fair maiden!"

Paladin only shook his head and hurried after Elisa.

When he was gone, they didn't leave the cafeteria, but sat at a table by the door.

"Why do you care so much about those two getting together?" Cold stone asked while they ate their lunch.

"Because if I don't, this whole thing is going to turn into a chick flick and Paladin has had enough drama in his life. Those two are completely into each other, I'm just removing the ugly crying moments so they can get to the good parts."

"You know, not all chick flicks are bad." Nocturne said thoughtfully. "Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightly? That was an amazing movie."

"She's right, you know." Cold Stone backed his girlfriend up. "Yeah, there's drama in it. But it's more about two insanely stubborn people clashing over and over again. But once Mr. Darcy realizes how much he's in love with Miss Bennet, he goes to insane lengths to win her over. I'm not much into chick flicks, but that is one movie I don't mind watching as often as my girl wants."

"And oh my gosh, that final scene in the fields…" Nocturne said dreamily. "It makes everything worth the struggle."

Cold-Stone grinned and kissed the side of her head. "And I'll recite that line as much as you want."

"Ooookay." Rook said rolling his eyes. "I'm just go find somewhere to puke now."

"You know, if you ever plan to have a healthy relationship with a pretty girl, you'll need to work on developing a softer side…and get over your aversion to chick flics. Not all of them are bad."

"I'll keep that in mind." Rook said as he resumed eating his lunch.

Angel Grove Mall

Food Court

They got lucky that business was slow at The Gilded Rose. After paying for the tags to be engraved, they sat at a corner table, with two large pizzas and cokes and waited for the order to be done.

"So, there's something we wanted to ask you guys about." Nocturne began. We don't need an answer until Pyre and Wyvern come up for air, but we wanted to get your thoughts on it."

"Well, we have plenty of time." Paladin answered. "Let's hear it."

"We got a text from the shelter where we volunteer today. Every year at the Fall Fest, the animal shelter has a tent set up for adoptions; this year, the shelter volunteers want to try something new to get more attention from the attendees. And we wanted to know if you'd be willing to join us."

Rook gave them a long look. "Join you…doing what?"

"A fashion show involving both handlers and animals that are looking for homes. It's not a new concept, other shelters have done it, and we want to try it out to give the animals more exposure."

"And you want me to dress up in fancy clothes and strut my stuff…" Rook asked looking for clarification.

"Not fancy clothes…Halloween costumes." Cold-Stone answered. "The dogs are the real focus of the show, but good-looking handlers can't hurt."

Rook nodded looking like he was really thinking it over. "I guess I'm in…but the rules of the group are that everyone gets a vote." Saying this he looked at Paladin.

"The one thing I miss about LA is working for the animal shelter. I'd love to get into rescue work again."

"Then we only need the love birds to chime in."

"Yeah, assuming they come up for air."

"They can't stay in their bubble forever." Cold-Stone snickered. "That mini-fridge only has enough food for about two days. They'll have to emerge eventually to replenish…everything."

An hour later, they got the text that the tags were done and so with bag in hand, they left for the manor.

The Manor

When they walked into the manor's kitchen, they were treated to a surprising sight. Adam and Tanya were standing in the kitchen in front of a holographic screen and the former yellow ranger was holding a bundle in her arms. The bundle was shimmery and definitely not of Earth.

Andros stood to the side of them and said a few words in an unknown language. Adam and Tanya repeated after him and the only words the group understood were their names. Andros turned to the screen and said a few more words in that strange language again. A few sniffles were heard and then the screen shut off and with the push of a button the strange screen folded up into a small square on the counter.

Adam and Tanya sighed in relief and seemed to relax a little bit. Then the bundle cried softly.

Adam gently touched the bundle. "And so it begins, I know I said we would help if there was a child in need…I just didn't think it would happen so soon."

Andros nodded. "I'm one of the few people on the planet that knew about this whole scandal to begin with. I even considered adopting Nova myself, but there are too many gossips in the senate and if Ash and I were to adopt the baby, those bigots would drag my daughters through the dirt. It would really throw a kink into what I'm trying to do here on Earth if I were to pull my spiral saber out and go after them."

Adam chuckled at the mental picture as Tanya smoothed the hair on what was obviously a baby's head. "This works out for us too. We wanted to have another baby, but Tanya barely survived the last time, and we can't adopt without risking someone finding out about our pasts."

Tanya nodded. "I'm glad that the adoption agencies are so through, but it makes things difficult for those who need to hide their identities."

Andros nodded but then looked up at the teens. Adam and Tanya followed his gaze and smiled at them. "Hey there Miscreants? How did things at the mall go?"

"We're all set." Rook answered taking out the last two boxes and putting them on the counter.

Andros took his cue from the parents. "So, these are the Miscreants?"

Adam nodded. "Yep, newly minted. Blessed by a shaman and given new names." Saying this, he picked up the last two black boxes and opened them up to inspect the tags. "These dog tags were a gift from Wes and Eric."

"I see. So, what do I call you guys now?" he asked walking over to them, giving them a through once over.

"When we're on duty, whatever that ends up being, I'm Rookery. It means stone fortress."

"And I'm Nocturne. Simply put, it means a night song."

Andros nodded and turned to Lief who sounded off. "I'm Cold-Stone. It's a character from the Gargoyles cartoon during the 90's. Cold stone was a gargoyle made of metal that was possessed by three different souls. He was pretty epic."

"I think I remember hearing about that show. Nice choice."

Then he turned to Katsume who looked him in the eyes. "I'm Paladin. A knight who's known for being brave and chivalrous."

"I'm impressed." Andros said. "Those are ambitions names. See to it that you live up to them."

"We will, it's the monsters out there that will be the challenge."

"You're not wrong about that." Andros answered. "May the Power Protect you." Looking at the new parents, he smiled at them. "I'll just be in bed now, good night!"

"Night, Andros."

When he was gone, the teens looked at the parents. "So, what's all this about?"

Adam gave them a smile. "We've adopted a baby. That's all I can tell you right now. Autumn would be hurt if we told you guys before her. She's a big sister now."

For anyone who misses Autumn and Kyle, I can guarantee that they will be back next chapter.

A wonderful reviewer mention to me who much she misses Connor and Kira. I do plan to do something with them after the new year, as soon as my side fic is done. I really miss writing them in too.

I guess that's it for now. Happy Holidays everyone!