Disclaimer: Yeah I like the power rangers. Guilty as charged. thats the ONLY charge I'm guilty of. None of this belongs to me, thus I am making no money off anything in this story. Sue me if you want but you won't get much. I'm poor, lol.

Kim and Kat watched the fight in utter horror. To say that it wasn't going well, was a massive understatement. Sparks of battle damage continued to fly from Trent and Kira as the eight armed abomination continued his work. Tommy attacked with blast after blast from his Brachio Staff but nothing seemed to phase the monster. Kim and Kat turned to look at each other at the same time and knew what they had to do.

"Ninjetti!", They both cried out as they made the morphing hand movements. However just as they were about to sprint off to join the battle, they were both grabbed at the back of their ninja gi's. Ryan spun them around to face him.

"Now I just know that you two aren't about to do what it looks like you're about to do."

"What choice do we have?", Kat asked. "I don't know about Kim, but standing around and watching our friends die isn't what I had in mind for a morning activity!"

Ryan smiled, "Belive me Kat, it isn't on my agenda either. I have a plan, and I'm going to need you two to pull this off."

"Dr. O! We need to get them down from there! They're getting shaken around like rag dolls!", Ethan shouted.

"I know Ethan, but in the fighting condition we are in, its gonna take a goddamn miracle to get this monster to retreat let alone kill it!"

Suddenly from the direction of Tommy's house came a blast of wind and dust. Conner shielded the hole in his faceplate with his hand in order to see in that direction. All three of the Rangers on the ground turned in that direction just in time to see a giant ball of orange energy shoot out of the dust cloud and strike Octoslaughter in the chest with a thunderous crack.

Octoslaughter reeled backward and roared in pain as the blast hit him. As he staggered back, he had to flail his arms to keep his balance, thus dropping Trent and Kira. Just as quickly as the blast had shot in, two pink streaks of light zipped along the ground and scooped up the injured duo. The monster roared with anger this time as he realized that his captives had been taken from him. Denied his previous toys, his arms shot out to gather up the rest of the injured Rangers. Another whip of wind lashed out and a second bolt of orange energy slammed into the black behemoth. As the energy hit him, the same two streaks of pink light raced in and snatched the other Rangers from harms way. Tommy watched as his Rangers disappeared from the battlefield. Knowing now what the pink streaks of speed had been, he retreated back to his house to check on them.

Devoid of any more playthings, Octoslaughter squared himself to face the direction the energy blasts had come from to see a form walking toward him from inside the dust. The form kept walking forward towards the beast, as it finally emerged from the cloud of dust.

His uniform was similar to Tommy's in that the diamonds on the sides were gold. His helmet took the typical form of this Ranger incarnation and displayed what looked like the silhouette of a raptor skull. His chest was covered with an armored vest similar to the one Tommy used to wear as the white Ranger, but the symbol in the middle of the chestplate was definitely dino thunder. This Ranger's color, was orange.

Ryan strode towards Octoslaughter with purpose in his demeanor and ignored everything around him except the monster. Elsa looked on from the sidelines, shocked at how quickly she had gone from elation at the inevitable defeat of the Power Rangers to the feeling of dread and the incredulous stare she now wore upon her face.

"What are you waiting for you moron! Attack him!"

Elsa's words sparked the monster into motion. He threw blast after blast of energy at Ryan, only to watch him deflect them with the backs of his hands like they were annoying flies. All the while, he kept walking. Octoslaughter roared once again with anger, charged at the new hero and threw all eight of his tentacles at him. Ryan set his footing and made sure they only managed to grasp him on the arms. If the monster would have had a mouth, he would have smiled. He pulled on his tentacles to bring Ryan towards him, but he didn't budge. The large eight armed creature strained and groaned as he pulled with all his might to try to move the Raptor Ranger, but the newest weapon in the Power Ranger arsenal held his ground.

"My turn", Ryan said calmly.

Ryan leaned back and pulled Octoslaughter toward him with all his might. The eight armed fury lifted off the ground and flew at Ryan only to receive a reverse roundhouse kick to the head upon arrival. Octoslaughter flew backward just as fast as he had come in, landing on the ground, and sliding a few feet to a stop.

Ryan turned to Elsa and pointed straight at her. "Now, get your ass out of here, and take that heap of shit with you."

Ryan finished what he had to say and didn't wait for a reply. He turned away from Elsa and began walking back in the direction of Tommy's house, where the girls had taken all the injured Rangers.

Elsa stood there slack-jawed and unsure of what to do for a moment. She looked down at Octoslaughter who in two hits had been dazed so badly he was having trouble staying in a standing position.

"Ugh, come on you worthless excuse for a mollusk", she grumbled as she opened an invisiportal back to Mesogog's lair for the both of them.

Ryan arrived at Tommy's house still morphed to a nightmarish scene of broken and bruised bodies the likes of which he had never seen before. All of the Rangers were powered down and conscious, though some of them looked like they shouldn't be. Kat and Kim turned to the door as he walked inside.

"Oh thank god, Ryan. We had hoped that you were okay." Kim gave him a huge hug and a sigh of relief. "Are you injured anywhere?"

"I don't know, I don't think so. What about them? Don't we need to take them to the hospital?"

"No, they don't appear to have any life threatening injuries", Hayley replied for Kim as she came up the stairs behind them. "However, I do think it would be a good idea to bring them downstairs so I can scan them and make sure nothing got re-arranged too badly."

"I'll give you a hand, just as soon as I can figure out how to get out of this thing."

Hayley smiled a bit, "Just give it the command "power down" and you should pop right out of it. The five of them don't even say it anymore, they just think it and poof, no more armor."

"Thanks Hayley", Ryan replied. He then concentrated and the armor around him exploded into bright orange shards and fell away.

"Kat, help me get Ethan downstairs first please, that broken arm needs to take first priority."

Kat nodded at Hayley and carefully helped Ethan to the stairwell. Kim and Ryan stayed upstairs to help care for the other four injured Rangers. Kim was dying to know what had happened after she and Kat left the battlefield with the other Rangers. She gave Ryan a quick once over, checking for bruises amidst his grumbles of protest. She finished a few moments later with an unbelieving look on her face, which she then turned to look him in the eyes.

"You got away without even a single bruise?"

"You sound disappointed. Want me to punch myself really hard?", He said with a grin.

"NO! I mean, how did you do it?"

"Stick and move? Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee?"

"Ryan I'm serious! Octoslaughter took out five fully powered Rangers all at once. YOU have been a Ranger for five minutes, went in alone and not only came out alive, but without even a scratch on you!"

Ryan kneeled beside Conner as Kim checked on Tommy on the adjacent couch.

"We might want to keep Conner conscious just in case he has any serious head trauma", Tommy said. Having a mother that works at a hospital tended to come in handy sometimes.

"Stop moving while I try to put this brace on your wrist", Kim chided him. Even though she was deeply concerned about the condition of all of them, she couldn't help it that her curiosity was getting the better of her.

"So? Did you kill it?"

"Did I kill what, Kim?", Ryan asked as he applied a patch of gauze over Conner's injured eye.

"Did you kill Octoslaughter?"

"He better have", Conner piped up. "That son of a bitch got me in the eye."

"Hush while I fix your eyepatch, One-eyed Willie", Ryan growled at him.

He took a moment during the long pause of silence to finish applying the patch, sat back on his feet and sighed.

"I'll take that as a no", She stated as she finished strapping a wrist brace on Tommy's left wrist.

"I couldn't do it, Kim. I'm not a killer. It might be evil, but it's alive."

Kim finished with the brace, then came over and sat beside Ryan. "Normally I would agree with you. I had the same problem when we first started so many years ago. But, soon I realized, that the evil we faced didn't have the same compassion for us. Most of the time the monsters we fought were created by magically imbuing an object, or some other unnatural way. Whether it was magic, crystals, technology or yes even the underworld, these things were created by evil, and all we did was break a spell to return things to as they were. To use a movie quote I'm sure you know, 'One does not kill a demon, one merely sends them back to the hell from whence they came."

Kim's quote finally elicited a smile from him. He looked up at her with gratitude in his eyes.

Tommy chipped in his two cents, "She's right Ryan. You should have destroyed that monster. Its not alive. If you don't, Mesogog will just repair and enhance it, and send it right back."

"How soon?"

Tommy adjusted his wrist brace to a slightly more comfortable position with a wince, "I don't know. That'll depend on how badly you hurt it, and how pissed Mesogog is."

Mesogog was waiting as Elsa and Octoslaughter returned to his lair. He was noticeably unhappy but surprisingly calm. Failure of this type is most definitely unacceptable, however he had learned that nothing ever goes completely according to plan, especially when the Rangers are involved.

"So Elsa, even when given the most powerful monster we have ever created, you still manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory."

Elsa knelt at his feet humbly and pitifully, "But master! There was a new Ranger that appeared at the last minute with devastating power!"

"SILENCE! Your failure is disappointing, but not unexpected. Your ineptitude seems to grow with every passing moment."

"My apologies master! Please give me another opportunity to redeem myself!"

Mesogog regarded her wistfully. Although Elsa has a lengthy track record of failure, perhaps her recent success at the beach had given her a taste of something to strive for. "Very well Elsa, tend to Octoslaughter and return to me when you are prepared to... redeem yourself."

"Thank you master." Elsa said with a sigh of relief.

Mesogog nodded, turned around sharply and strode out of the room.

Elsa turned to Octoslaughter, "What the hell happened out there? How could you lose?"

"Forgive me mistress. The new Rangers speed and strength caught me by surprise. It will not happen again."

"When will you be ready to go?"

Octoslaughter thought for a moment, "All I require is a short rest, then I will have my revenge."

Elsa smiled widely, "Excellent, we shall leave in an hour. Even with a new Ranger, they don't stand a chance."

All of the injured Rangers minus Kira were in the living room attempting to rest, some more fitfully than others. Hayley's scans had thankfully revealed that the glancing blow to the head Conner had taken had only broken his faceplate and some blood vessels in his eye. The cuts around it were just collateral damage. Ethan's broken arm had been set and put into an air cast so it could heal properly. The only Ranger so far without any form of bandages was Trent, as there wasn't a whole lot that could be done about bruising or cracked ribs.

Ryan, Kim and Kat turned from what they were doing to see Tommy attempting to sit upright. Kim rushed over and tried to guide him back to a prone position but Tommy was adamant.

"Lay down Tommy, you need rest."

"No, I need to sit up."

"Thomas James Oliver, you need to rest and you know it!"

"Woah there, little Miss Kimmy, ease up on the middle name usage! You sound like my mother."

"I do not! Your mom would get a bit of that annoying Fran Drescher whine in her voice when she would yell."

Tommy just gave her the evil eye, and Kim knew what it meant.

"Well she did! Anyway though, you still need to rest."

"Well I can rest sitting up. It's easier to breathe sitting up at the moment", Tommy paused as he searched the left side of his torso with his right hand and sucked in a sharp breath when he found what he was looking for. "Ow, yup. You guys need to add a cracked rib or two to the injury list."

Kim turned to Ryan as she finally noticed his snickering in the background of their conversation. "Whats so damn funny?"

Ryan had an involuntary smile on his face, "You two fight like an old married couple. The comedy is priceless."

Kim looked around quickly, decided on a weapon and whipped a throw pillow at Ryan's head. Ryan swiftly blocked the pillow and kept laughing.

"So how long do you think this all will take to heal Tommy?", Kim asked after giving Ryan a raspberry.

Ryan looked at her with a confused expression at such an odd request.

"Eh, tough to say really, what's the injury list look like?", Tommy asked.

"Well, Ethan has a broken left arm, a pretty nasty bruise on his chest and a sprained ankle. Kira looks like she has at least a sprained left knee and took at least one nasty shot to the kidney. Not to mention all the marks on her abdomen from Octoslaughter trying to squeeze the life from her. Hayley is taking a look at her now. Conner took a shot to the face that broke his helmet, giving him a really nice shiner and broke some blood vessels in his eye. It turned completely red but Hayley says it should be fine. He also has a mild concussion from the same blow and various bruises. Trent has a lot of bruising around his neck where he was held by Octoslaughter. He also has a few cracked ribs and lots of bruising around them because of being squeezed there as well. And finally you, Tommy. You have a deep thigh bruise, a sprained if not broken wrist, and now a couple cracked ribs."

Tommy whistled, "Wow, he certainly put a dent in us. I take it that I have you two and Kat to thank for that rescue?"

He turned his head slowly and shot Ryan a knowing look, "You morphed huh? I figured thats where that orange energy came from."

Ryan nodded sheepishly, "Yeah, I got to a point where I just knew I had to do something, so I told Kim and Kat to get you guys out of there while I distracted it. By the way, how did you do that so fast?"

Kim shared a glance with Kat and smiled, "The same way we got out of Mesogog's dungeon. The Ninjetti powers also grant us super speed."

Tommy looked bewildered, "Wait, I thought our ninjetti powers were gone?"

Kim shook her head, "The Crane spirit guide appeared to us in our cell. She helped us figure out that although our Ranger powers from that time are permanently gone, the ninjetti powers we had, never left. They came from us and not our power coins."

"You think mine is still around too?"

"Its possible, but don't go and find out right now, you are still pretty injured here mister Oliver."

He smiled, "Don't worry your pretty head. I might be curious about it but I don't want you using my middle name again."

Kim glared at him as she realized she probably shouldn't hit someone quite so injured already.

"So back to my original question. How long are you guys going to be out of action?", Ryan asked.

Tommy thought for a moment, "Well, Ethan will be out for the longest with that broken arm. Barring any internal injuries, Kira sounds like the best off. She and Conner should be good to go by tomorrow."

Ryan interrupted him, "Wait what!"

Tommy looked up at him, "Oh yeah. You don't know about the best part about being a Ranger. The Ranger powers give us accelerated healing. It really only speeds up when we are asleep, but I've just about cut my finger off before while I was cooking. I bandaged it up nice and neat then went to bed and it was healed about seven hours later, I just had to rip off the scab at the end."

"Gross!", Kim said while slapping him on the shoulder, regretting it after remembering he was injured.

Tommy winced slightly, "Well, I'm sure you've done it before, too."

"Wow, that's amazing!", Ryan said.

Tommy held his hands up, "Don't get too excited, you aren't immortal or anything. A mortal wound is still a mortal wound, and if you get a limb cut off you aren't going to grow a new one. All it does is accelerate the healing of injuries that would normally fix themselves. We still have to set broken bones, brace weakened joints, and bandage things properly, too."

"Well, thats a bummer."

Tommy just rolled his eyes, "So anyway, Trent and I should be good to go later in the day tomorrow, and Ethan probably the day after. We are gonna need a lot of food and rest though. The faster healing uses raw materials faster too."

"Well food can be solved later, but I'm sure the nurses would agree that a little bit of rest is in order for all of us."

Tommy nodded in agreement, "Yeah the more, the better. Depending on how badly you beat up Octoslaughter, I'm willing to bet that Mesogog is going to press his advantage with so many of us injured. No telling when he will send it back."

Kim, Kat, and Tommy all looked at Ryan as he began to laugh nervously, "Well see Tommy thats just the thing, I kinda just knocked him around a bit, and told him and the she-bitch to take a hike."

Kim slapped herself on the forehead and groaned.

"Well," Tommy said calmly. "That could be a problem."

Kat picked this moment to interject, "Well it doesn't really change the situation much, you all need rest, and you can't fight Octoslaughter when he comes back anyway. Get some sleep, Ryan, Kim and I will handle him when he returns."

Ryan shot Kat a raised eyebrow, "Yeah, we are gonna talk about that by the way."

"Okay, don't mind me then but I think I'm going to try to sleep sitting up, laying on these ribs was killing me." Tommy said as he shoved a pillow underneath his arm to lean his damaged ribs on.

"Right," Kat said. "Lets go you two, I think we've patched up these four about as much as we can. Lets go see if Hayley can tell us when it'll be back.

Ryan and Kim nodded and headed for the stairs. Kat sighed, and lingered at the top of the stairs long enough to see that all of their patients were fast asleep.

Hayley had just finished putting a knee brace on Kira when she heard the trio coming down the stairs behind her.

"Okay Kira, that should do it. I can't do much to bandage a kidney unfortunately."

Kira smiled, "That's alright Hayley, it already feels a lot better than it did."

Kat walked up to them and looked at Kira, "Your teammates are resting upstairs, you should probably join them and get some rest yourself."

Kira nodded and headed for the stairs. Ryan got there right behind her and gave her a helping hand with the climb.

Hayley chuckled under her breath," I'll tell you what Kim, I'm not sure what to make of Ryan. One minute he's a complete chauvinist, and the next he's opening doors and helping injured girls up the stairs."

Kim nodded at Hayley, "That's just the way he is. Most of the male ego thing is just to annoy me of course. I just put up with it because I know he doesn't really mean it. So then, any new info on that monster that we didn't know before?"

"No, unfortunately. Ryan gave him a few good shots but it doesn't look like much has changed."

A sound of footsteps from the stairs meant Ryan was returning from the living room upstairs that had become the medical ward. Kim turned and looked, only to find him walking toward them and happily munching on a piece of beef jerky. She gave him a funny look.

"What? He had a bag in the pantry. Seemed appropriate seeing as how I just beat up an eight-armed sasquatch. Besides, someone's timely escape interrupted my breakfast", Ryan smiled.

Kim shook her head, "Only you..."

"It's a gift", Ryan said with a shrug.

"Anyway", Said Hayley. "Seeing as how he didn't take much damage in the fight, we should be hearing from him soon."

"Speaking of bad guys, you used your little pink ninja suits to get out of Mesogog's dungeon. How powerful are they?"

Kat shrugged at Ryan, "Barely enough to be of use. They supply us with speed, a bit more strength, and a few illusion tools which we can use to our advantage; but beyond that, most of the power comes from us. Going up against monsters with them would be nearly impossible. They do make fights with the minions far easier though."

"Cool, can I have one?"

Kim rolled her eyes and replied while Kat just laughed, "We got them from a secret temple. We had to go through some incredible trials of wisdom and strength to get them. My Ninjetti Ranger powers were transferred to Kat when I left for Florida and thats how she got hers. When the Machine Empire showed up, the Ninjetti Ranger powers were destroyed, but apparently the ninjetti suits stayed a part of us", Kim explained.

"Awesome. Don't get me wrong, I was ready to come and get you girls out, but it was sure a lot easier to get you out this way!"

Kim stuck her tongue out at Ryan and he gave her a big hug. Taken into a tight embrace, she just sighed with a grin and patted him on the back.

"I hate to put a damper on the light-hearted mood", Hayley interrupted. "but I think your eight armed friend just decided to make an appearance downtown."

Ryan released Kim and turned to the monitor. Just as Hayley had said, there were images of Octoslaughter downtown scaring people and making a mess.

"Damn, I thought I put more of a dent in him than that. Guess I'll just have to put an end to him this time."

"Kat and I will help you."

Ryan shook his head strongly, "No way missy. You just told me that your ninjetti suits weren't all that powerful. Tommy and his team had full Ranger powers, you won't stand a chance in that Halloween costume."

Kim opened her mouth to protest.

"AH AH! No argument! I'm putting my foot down on this one."

Kim slumped her shoulders. Ryan did have a good point, and the man was just so goddamn stubborn sometimes when he has made up his mind.

"At least let us go with you and help clear the area", Kat pleaded. "There will be a lot of frightened people needing someone to point them in the right direction."

Ryan sighed, "Alright, but get those people safe and get the fuck out. There's no telling how bad its gonna get."

"Just make sure and be careful with those energy blasts. Aiming is important downtown where there's a lot of people and buildings", Kim suggested.

"The other problem is transportation. It would look kinda silly to see a Power Ranger pull up in a car and I don't think my friend is gonna wait for me to pedal my ass downtown."

Hayley chimed in with another addition to the plan, "I'll program Tommy's ATV to recognize you and you can use that."

Ryan's eyes lit up with glee, "Cool can I use it to go mudding afterward? I've always wanted to do that!"

"NO", all three girls answered at once.

"Spoiled sports", Ryan mumbled.

"How are you two getting downtown though?" Hayley asked, looking at Kim and Kat.

"Oh that's easy, we can use the same super speed that we used to get the others away from Octoslaughter."

Kat nodded, agreeing with her friend.

"Okay, power up then and be on your way. I'm sure Tommy will be pretty pissed when he wakes up that I let you three go out alone, but he's not in any shape to fight anyway."

"Right, here goes nothin."

"NINJA RANGER POWER!"

Kat and Kim whirled their hands through the air and formed the ninjetti pose just as they had done a hundred times. Twin bright flashes of pink light erupted and when the light had faded, two identical pink clad ninjas stood where they had been.

"Nice", Ryan said. "My turn!"

"DINO THUNDER! POWER UP!"

Ryan's morphing sequence took the usual path as his armor assembled around him in a sea of orange light. When he had completed it, Hayley, Kim and Kat were granted a better look at the uniform of the newest Ranger than they had gotten the last time. On his helmet was indeed the skull of a velociraptor. He had gold diamonds down his arms and legs like Tommy's uniform but the diamonds were trimmed in black. His chestguard looked similar to the one Tommy had worn as the White Ranger, however the shoulderpads were curved upward into points. On the chestguard was also the Dino Thunder emblem displayed in gold against the black relief of the armor.

Ryan smiled underneath his helmet, "So? What do you think?"

Hayley grinned and was the first to comment, "I think it suits you perfectly, but there's no time to waste. Octoslaughter is having a field day out there remember?"

"Right, right. Is the ATV good to go?"

Hayley punched a few buttons on the console and looked back to him, "All set, it's waiting for you outside."

"Sweet, lets go ladies!"

All three morphed Rangers nodded in unison and ran out the door and up the ramp outside.

Ryan found Octoslaughter easily. The trail of carnage and mayhem was easy to follow, like bread crumbs from Hansel and Gretel. He rounded a corner on Tommy's ATV in time to see Octoslaughter flip a parked car into the middle of the street. The car exploded violently and Ryan looked at pieces of the car as they rolled past him.

"Hey fugly! Yeah fugly that means you. That's short for fuckin ugly, by the way. Didn't I tell you and that emo slut Elsa to get lost and not come back?"

To Ryan's surprise, the monster with no eyes and no mouth began to speak.

"Indeed you did Orange Ranger. However, idle threats from a pathetic being of the light such as yourself do not frighten those of pure evil."

"Idle huh? So you did this to draw me out? That means you're ready for another asskicking. I'm not going to be so nice this time around."

"We shall see who bests whom, defend yourself!"

Octoslaughter instantly lunged at Ryan with blazing speed. He attempted to counter but was caught off guard by the quickness of the monster. Sparks erupted from his chestplate as Octoslaughter hit him again and again. Ryan fell back against the pavement and held his chest.

"Dammit that smarts! Fine, if he wants to use cheap shots then so be it. I play to win!"

Ryan quickly got to his feet and ran at the monster. Tentacles shot in from every angle to ensnare or strike him but this time he was ready. As he ran, he batted down every incoming shot and fired some of his own toward Octoslaughters body. The small bursts of orange energy hit him with the force of a shotgun blast, making him stagger back to regain his footing. Seeing the opening, Ryan leapt to the air and planted a foot square in the side of Octoslaughter's head. The force of the impact knocked him off his feet and deep into the side of a parked car.

Ryan smirked, "Well, good thing it was just a Prius."

Octoslaughter pried himself from the mangled lump of steel and faced Ryan once again.

"Is that all you have Ranger? It will take far more than that to defeat me."

"Oh believe me, I'm far from out of options, bub."

Shit. I thought that was a pretty good combo and he acted like it was nothing. Either he's bluffing or he's really that much tougher than I thought. Guess the answer to both is to dig deeper into my bag of tricks and pull out that can of whoop-ass I've been saving. I can't do it here though, too much property around here.

Ryan ran towards Octoslaughter as fast as he could and leapt into the air. He executed a perfect flip with a half turn over the monster and in doing so got a good look at his surroundings.

Looks like there's a park a couple blocks over. Time for a chip shot.

He ran toward Octoslaughter a second time. Luck was not with him though, as one of Octoslaughter's tentacles penetrated his defenses and knocked him squarely upside the head, stunning him. The evil monster found this the perfect opportunity to use the same maneuver that had worked so well on Trent and Kira. He wrapped his tentacles around Ryan's neck and abdomen and pulled him in close.

"You see Ranger, you made a mistake by using the same technique twice. I found a hole in your defense."

Ryan strained against its grip gaining enough breath for a retort.

"Yeah? I found one too", He rasped.

Ryan brought his knee up sharply underneath Octoslaughter's rib cage and he was forced to drop him. Ryan fell to his back at the monster's feet and held his hands in front of him, summoning a ball of telekinetic force.

"Say, is this your boarding pass? Time to fly!"

Ryan grinned as he released the energy into Octoslaughter's abdomen and sent the eight armed menace flying through the air. He watched as Octoslaughter flew over the buildings in the direction he was hoping that he would go.

"Shit, I should have adjusted for the wind."

He looked around for a moment to try and locate the ATV he had on loan, "Now where did I leave that damn golf cart. Ahh!"

Ryan sprinted over to Tommy's vacant ATV and hopped into the seat.

"Let's go see how far from the pin we are, shall we?"

He started the ATV with a whoop of enthusiasm and drove in the direction of the park.

Kim and Kat had started near where Ryan had found Octoslaughter and cleared out as many people as they could. They also figured Ryan would need a bit more open space to work with, so they headed south and warned everyone in the park to head for cover as well. Kim was watching the last of the cars pull out of the parking lot as Kat rejoined her from the other side of the park.

"Well, thats everyone on the other side Kim. Think Ryan will see the park and head this way?"

Kim shrugged, " I dunno, but he's a bright guy. I'm sure he will figure out he can't fight downtown without breaking a few windows."

No sooner than the words had been spoken, a loud boom was heard from the downtown direction.

"Kim you hear that whistle?"

"Yeah, its like the sound a bomb makes on the way down in a cartoon."

The girls turned toward the north to see downtown Reefside in the distance. In the foreground was the park and more notably the small lake inside the park. The whistle getting louder and louder caused the girls to look skyward and what they found was something nature had not intended.

"Octopuses can't fly can they?", Kim asked.

"Not any that I've ever seen."

As the black speck in the sky got closer and closer they saw that it was indeed Octoslaughter. At the end of his flight, the monster smacked into the water's surface with a roaring wet splash. Kim and Kat looked at each other and could only think of one conclusion.

"Ryan", They said in unison.

As if he had heard his name, the sound of an ATV was soon heard. The girls looked back to the lake to find Ryan coming around the lake on Tommy's ATV. Ryan saw the girls standing there as he came around the edge of the clearing and gave an enthusiastic wave. He rested his forearms on the handlebars and motioned behind him at the lake.

"I misjudged my shot and hit the damn water hazard. I take it that the park is clear?"

Kat nodded, "Yeah, we thought you might need a bigger area to work with, so we cleared it for you."

"Great minds think alike, eh?"

"You sound like you are enjoying this, Ryan", Kim said with a touch of concern in her voice.

"Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't having fun beating the living shit out of the monster that injured my new friends and kidnaped two beautiful women before I got to enjoy their company at the beach."

"That making you reconsider Tommy's offer?", Kat asked.

Ryan shrugged at her, "To be honest, I don't know. That's something to be decided later. One thing's for sure though, I'm going to finish off this asswipe for good. You two head for the hills before he swims out of the lake."

"A little late for that I think", Kat stated.

The trio turned towards the lake again to find Octoslaughter trudging his way out of the water. He didn't have a mouth or eyes, but he looked pissed.

"Go now, I'll distract him", Ryan told them.

"Going so soon Rangers?"

All three of them whipped their heads around again to face the picnic tables about fifty feet away to find Elsa with a leg up on the bench and a smug look on her face.

"My master humbly requested that I help Octoslaughter to end all three of you for good. I intend to fulfill his wishes!"

Elsa waved a hand in the air and with a flick of her wrist, an invisiportal opened up and dropped out no fewer than twenty tyrannodrones.

Kim turned again to Ryan, "You handle big and ugly, we can handle the drones with ninjetti power."

Ryan nodded, "Okay. Be careful."

He turned to face the now soaking wet monster and once again set to the task at hand.

Ryan charged quickly at Octoslaughter. His furious attack caused the monster to have to backpedal towards the lake and away from the girls. Ryan attacked with punches and kicks from every direction, surprising the beast with his speed. Finally, he threw a punch he was unable to block. Ryan connected against Octoslaughter's bulbous head with a vicious uppercut and the monster was sent to his back with a dull wet thud in the sand. Octoslaughter slowly rose to his feet and released a small chuckle.

"Your speed surprises me Ranger, but if thats all you have, then this will be a short fight indeed."

Ryan smiled back at him, "Oh don't you worry, I've saved my best for last."

As Ryan sprinted off to fight Octoslaughter, Kim and Kat turned to face the incoming tyrannodrones. The drones were on them in a flash, but the girls and their ninja speed were quicker. Kat dodged the first two drones and planted a foot into the stomach of the third. The two she had dodged grabbed each one of her arms from behind her. She grinned under her mask and used her ninja strength to flip both of them at the same time.

"Hey Kim, is it strange that when I fight these things im reminded of tengas?"

Kim laughed while she swept two drones off their feet, "Nope. They are just about as dumb too."

"Lets play a bit then."

"Cool, I'm game."

Kim decided to start off her game with a few easy tricks. Two tyrannodrones grabbed her by her gi and a second later it was just a piece of clothing. The drones looked all around and couldn't find her. She popped her head out from a nearby tree.

"Hey lame brains, lose something?"

The drones turned to her and attacked. She popped back behind the tree and the drones hit the tree again and again. She popped her head back out once more and taunted them.

"I think you missed me," Kim said loudly.

She popped out from behind the tree fully and reached out with a roundhouse kick, flattening the whole lot. As more came at her from behind, she leapt into the tree and disappeared. The drones looked up immediately, searching for her whereabouts. The ground shook for a moment before Kim exploded out of the ground beneath them, sending them flying in all directions.

Kat was having a bit of fun of her own with the brainless minions. Five drones surrounded her and just as they were about to strike, she pointed to the ground and disappeared in a puff of pink smoke. The drones looked confused for a moment as their target vanished mysteriously.

Kat tapped one on the shoulder and asked a question, "Say, where did she go?"

She made a small giggle and then ran from the drones. True to form, the drones gave chase only to find her sitting on the ground a few yards away. They leapt to attack and landed on a large pink cushion. The cushion turned out to be Kat's hand as the had used her illusion powers to make herself the size of a megazord.

"Pick on someone your own size then!", Kat exclaimed.

Using her other hand, she then flicked the drones off of her hand one by one. The drones landed on the ground in a heap and didn't get back up. Kat and Kim fought them off one by one, using every trick they knew how to use. The tyrannodrones were stupid, but they had numbers on their side. Soon enough, they were fighting a losing battle and they knew it. Kim maneuvered herself closer to Kat as she fought to try and talk to her.

"Kat! At first this was kind of fun, now I don't think we are going to be able to finish it."

Kat nodded to her after dodging a punch, "Yeah, there's just too many of them. What can we do?"

Elsa smirked as she watched the tyrannodrones surround the two girls, "What you can do, is die."

"BRACHIO STAFF, FIRE STRIKE"

Balls of fire appeared out of nowhere and viciously struck the tyrannodrones. Kim and Kat reacted instantly and jumped out of the middle of the drones, leaving them in a tight pack. After the girls had gotten out of the middle of the group, a piercing scream came from another direction, causing all of the drones to cover their ears in excruciating pain.

"Dying is one thing they won't be doing today, Elsa. Go tell your master you've failed again, before you end up like every other monster we've faced", Tommy said while pointing his Brachio Staff at her.

Elsa roared in disgust and vanished into an invisiportal, along with the tyrannodrone corpses strewn about the area. Kim and Kat, seeing that the coast was clear, ran up to Tommy and Kira ready to thank them for the timely rescue, but got a different greeting.

Tommy stepped forward with a limp while holding his ribs. Kira watched him with concern on her face under the helmet but Tommy just ignored her.

"Just what in the hell were you two thinking? These things aren't exactly puttys!"

Kim shot back first, "Well we were thinking that Ryan could use the backup just in case, we didn't know were were gonna get jumped by those things afterward."

"Yes, speaking of Ryan where is he?", Tommy asked.

Kim looked back toward the beach and saw the fight. Octoslaughter and Ryan were nearly on the other side of the lake already and still going at it.

Ryan stood in front of Octoslaughter, the two gladiators were each a bit bloody and bruised, but still game for more.

"Are you ready for your surprise, Captain Jackass?", Ryan taunted.

Ryan concentrated and on the back of his armor vest appeared two sheaths criss-crossing his back. The handles were tightly wrapped in leather and on the end of each hilt was a raptor talon, curving toward his helmet. Slowly, he reached back behind his head and drew both swords. The swords he pulled out were twin ninja style katanas. The handles were a hand and a half long. The blade on both swords were straight and slightly shorter than a full size katana. On the base of the blade, just above the guard on both swords was the Dino Thunder emblem.

Octoslaughter chuckled, "You think that a pair of swords are going to stop me?"

Ryan smiled beneath his faceplate, "The swords are nothing special big guy, I am going to stop you."

Octoslaughter grunted and the two combatants resumed their furious melee. By this time, Ryan had gotten a lot better at blocking the tentacle slaps his foe liked to throw, however now that he had swords, he had a way to inflict a bit more pain. He stopped blocking them with the flat of the blade and instead blocked with the edge, sending sparks flying and making Octoslaughter roar in anguish. The monster changed tactics and shot his tentacles straight at Ryan, but soon realized his mistake. As the tentacles approached, Ryan crouched crossing the swords around his body, then leapt into the air with a spin, turning himself into a giant blender. The tentacles hit nothing but blades and flew to pieces as Octoslaughter screamed in agony. Ryan landed in a crouching position and arose from it to see the once mighty foe, reduced to a creature writhing in agony, barely able to stand. He walked in close and grabbed the monster by the throat.

"When I said go away, I meant it."

Ryan took a step back, his arms started to blur with the speed at which he swung his swords. Sparks erupted from all parts of Octoslaughters body as he staggered back from the blows. The blows slowed as Ryan finished his combo with a flick of his wrist. The flat of his sword struck the minion of evil under his chin and Octoslaughter launched into the air. Ryan crossed his swords in front of him and aimed upward as the Dino Thunder emblems on the swords started to glow.

"CRESCENT STRIKE!"

Ryan swept the twin swords in front of him and a crescent of orange energy launched at the monster. Octoslaughter let loose an scream of desperation as the beam of energy struck him and caused him to explode. Ryan let his arms drop in relief. It was over. He sheathed his swords behind his back and turned to the approaching forms of Tommy, Kira, Kim and Kat.

"Hi, guys. We won't be seeing him anymore. He had to leave", Ryan smiled underneath his helmet.

Tommy clapped him on the shoulder, "I know you really didn't want to do that, but unfortunately thats what it takes to keep the world safe. The uniform looks good on you though, man."

Ryan nodded, "Thanks, but I don't think you'll be seeing me in it much."

"I saw part of the battle, at least we know one part of the job you already have mastered."

Ryan looked puzzled, "Whats that?"

Tommy beamed inside his helmet, "Trash talking."

Kim laughed along with the others and gave Ryan a hug, glad that he was alright, "Remember Ryan, we have done this before. Now that Mesogog knows about you and your Ranger powers, you might not get a choice not to fight."

"Yeah, I guess thats possible. That mean you are staying too Kat?" Ryan said as he looked at the pink ninja hugging him.

"I'm Kimberly, thanks."

"Oh, guess we might need name tags for the twin ninjas, too."

Tommy just shook his head as Ryan fended off blows from the smaller of the pink clad ninjas.

Elsa trudged back into her masters lair. She knew she would be severely punished for her failure. Opening the doors, she strode into the room where Mesogog had been watching the events unfold from.

"You failed me Elsssssa... You know what that means for you."

She kneeled and began to explain herself, hoping he would spare her.

"My apologies master, I underestimated the power of the Rangers newest addition. If I had another chance, I could..."

"Oh you'll get another chance indeed", He interrupted her.

Elsa gave her master a puzzled look.

"Why do you look so surprised Elsa? True your monster failed, but in that failure you brought to light the enormous potential of the Umbracite Crystal. You merely infused the power of the crystal into an object, and it nearly decimated the Rangers. With the same technology you used previously you can merge the crystal permanently with the object, and its power would be far greater."

An evil smile crept over her features, "I shall begin immediately my master."

Mesogog turned back to the video monitors with a calm demeanor, "Be sure that you do."

Afternoon turned to evening and the Rangers were all back at Tommy's house getting a well earned rest. Ethan was still asleep. Kira and Tommy were awake again, having taken a four hour nap after coming back from the downtown park where Octoslaughter and Ryan had duked it out. Conner's swelling around his eye had gone down and it wasn't quite as red as before. Trent seemed to be the best off out of them all. He still had some slight bruising around his neck, but otherwise seemed no worse for the wear, though Tommy surmised most of that was just putting on a strong front as he usually did. The five older people of the group sat on his back porch and enjoyed the night air with a few adult beverages.

"You know Kim, I didn't think I'd ever see you with a beer in your hand, not after seeing you so adamant about being against it in High School."

Kim sighed, "Well, I didn't expect it either, but the training in Florida was just so damn stressful sometimes. I loved doing it for fun when I was in Angel Grove, but down in Florida, it became a job. A job with expectations to meet, and everyone hounding you to push harder. It even had shitty co-workers."

Ryan coughed on his sip of beer at that remark.

Kim rolled her eyes and continued, "I went bar hunting one night because I didn't want to go back to the apartment. I didn't do it every night, and I never drank heavily so you don't have to sign me up for AA meetings or anything like that. It was just nice to be alone with my own thoughts for a while and not to have to go home. Scott, however, had friends that would still frequent the bars late at night and it didn't take long for him to find out what I was doing when I would come home later than usual. So I would never go to the same bar. I mixed it up and found everything from holes in the wall, to hotel bars, sports bars, and even a couple gay bars. Those were the best by the way, no guys hit on me, and I still say the lesbians could sense I was straight."

All five of them burst out laughing and after it died she kept going, "One night after a particularly stressful practice and argument with Scott, I was determined to find a place I could call my own. My own personal "Cheers" if you will. I missed the company of people I could talk to and vent to, like I could with the other Rangers. So I found a nice little sports bar in the back corner of a shopping center. My first night there I apparently had a bit more than I had planned on. So the owner, being the good guy he was, asked this loser over here to make sure I got home okay."

Ryan gave her an indignant frown, "Loser? I'll have you know that I repeatedly beat your ass in Wii bowling."

She rolled her eyes, "Anyway, you all know the rest of the story and how it turned out. I'm just glad I met him. It saved my life."

"I'm rather glad you did too, Kim", Tommy said. "This guy just saved my life and four more inside, plus he brought you back to California where you belong."

"Okay, enough with this mushy crap, I defend good people thats all. Thats part of the reason I was in the Air Force."

"That's all well and good, but there are plenty of bad people who live in this country too", Hayley pointed out.

Ryan nodded, "True, but I choose to look at it this way. The military doesn't defend bad people in this country. It defends their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. As cliche as that sounds, it is the exact truth. What people choose to do with that freedom makes them good or bad, and the moment their indulgence of the right to freedom infringes on someone else's freedoms, they lose theirs. Sure there are people who get away with things and there are corrupt people who never get caught because of other corrupt people willing to protect them, but for the most part it rings true."

"Huh", Tommy thought out loud. "I would have never suspected you for an idealist."

Ryan smiled as he noticed grins on everyone else's faces, "Nah, just an optimist."

Tommy nodded, "So the glass is half full huh?"

Ryan laughed and looked at his bottle of now empty Strongbow, "Actually sir, its pretty empty at the moment. This looks like a good time for a beer run to the fridge."

Kim smiled at him, "Yeah, I'll have another."

Tommy raised his hand.

"Hayley?", Ryan asked.

Hayley shook her head while trying to take a sip as if to say "No I'm still nursing this one cause I'm a lightweight and I know it", which prompted a round of laughter.

Ryan turned to Kat while still smiling from the laugh he had just finished, "What about you, Kat?"

"I'm okay, thanks."

He looked at the bottle in her hands, "But you're empty too, and have been for the past ten minutes."

She had seen enough of Ryan's personality to sense when he was being a bit saucy, so she decided to fight fire with fire.

"Ryan, are you trying to get me drunk to take advantage of me?"

Knowing she had taken the bait, only increased the size of the grin he now wore. "I dunno, will it work?"

He heard a whisper of "oh damn" from Tommy behind him, which only made him grin wider.

"I'm not sure yet", She replied. "Guess the only way to know is to find out huh?"

Dammit, wasn't expecting him to take it farther,She thought. Guess round one is his.

"Back in a jiffy", Ryan said as he retreated inside to grab a few more cold beverages.

Kat turned to Kim, who was a lot more comfortable sitting next to Tommy than she had been when she had first shown up. "So let me get something straight on Ryan here."

"Okay", Kim said with a puzzled look on her face.

"He likes NASCAR, heavy metal music, sushi, Strongbow, and meteorology? You sure know how to pick the diverse ones don't you?"

Kim smiled at her friend as she finished off her beer with a long final sip, "You forgot karaoke on that list."

"He sings?"

"Oh yes", Kim giggled. "It's not the best singing you've ever heard before, but it isn't horrible. Just don't ever let him know I said that though, cause it'll all go to his head and..." Kim put her hands on either side of her head, made an expanding gesture with her hands and blew her cheeks out.

The visual prompted all four of them to erupt into laughter just as Ryan came back with four cold drinks.

"Why do I get the feeling that I was somehow involved in that laughter?"

Kat smiled up at him as she took a beer from his hands, "Kim was just telling us about your aspirations for American Idol."

This comment was followed by snickering all around as Ryan sat back down. "Oh I see, Kim told you about how I like to do karaoke occasionally. Firstly in my defense, its just karaoke, plenty of people do it far worse than I. Secondly, Kim has no room to talk."

This made Kim gulp hard on her freshly opened beer, "Oh no no no no"

Ignoring the interruption he pressed on, "She tried to do a duet with me one night, I wish we had taped it or made a video with my brother's phone. I admit not some of my best work, but at least I wasn't as tone deaf as the pink princess over here."

"Hey now", Kim protested. "The whole room cheered for me when I walked off stage!"

Ryan laughed at her "Kim, they were glad you left the stage and quit torturing them. Plus the fact that you are hot and half the guys in the room wanted to take you home with them. You could have sang it like Yoko!"

Kat slapped Ryan on the arm while Tommy and Hayley tried to hide their obvious amusement. "That's so cruel!"

"Hey, you've never heard her sing."

They all laughed while Kim tried hard to keep the indignant look on her face. After a moment or two though, she couldn't hide the fact that it rather amused her as well. "Okay, okay. So thats why you were playing bouncer the rest of the night against all the guys coming to congratulate me on my performance."

Ryan and Kim were now in sibling banter mode and didn't care that there were onlookers around. Ryan made a gesture with both hands simulating sex at her as if to insinuate all they were trying to do was get into her pants. She just sighed with a smile and flipped him off.

Ryan began to laugh hard and tried to stifle it as he remembered they were in mixed company. "Kim, maybe we shouldn't discuss this with an audience, they might think ill of us afterward."

Tommy watched the playful banter between Kim and Ryan with amusement and a bit of shock. Where had the sweet innocent girl from Angel Grove that he had known gone? Her time in Florida had changed her in so many ways. Of course, being nearly beaten to death probably had a lot to do with it. Mostly though, it seemed as if she had taken off the rose colored glasses and seen the world for what it really was. A rude awakening for sure, but one he had experienced for himself as well. She seemed infinitely more confident in her own skin, and something about that and her casual vulgarity made him even more interested in her than he had been in High School.

Kim waved a hand in front of Tommy's face, "Yoo hoo! Where did you go?"

Tommy grinned sheepishly, "Sorry about that, kinda got lost in my own thoughts for a moment."

"Well you seemed to be doing it while staring a hole through my head", Kim replied.

The sheepish grin got worse and Tommy tried to hide it by looking away. "I was just thinking about how glad I am to have both of you back in my life" The sheepishness of his grin fell away as he looked at Ryan. "and how glad I am that you brought a new friend into the fold."

Ryan raised his beer into the middle of the group, covering for Tommy and silently promising himself to have a talk with the man later.

"To friends, old and new."

Everyone smiled and raised their own drinks and echoed, "To friends."

Everyone withdrew their drinks and took a sip in honor of the toast. The sentiment echoed through the group as each one immersed themselves in their own thoughts for a moment. Ryan broke through after a moment with a revelation.

"Wow Hayley, half your beer disappeared after that toast."

She grinned, "Bottle has a hole in it."

Tommy decided now was as good a time as ever to do it. He got up from the group and excused himself to go inside, "I'll be right back. I'm going to go check to see how they are doing inside."

The four remaining on the back porch, nodded at him and watched him go through the door.

Tommy walked through the kitchen and into the living room where the kids were camped out on the couches. They were all fast asleep in various uncomfortable positions. He couldn't help but wonder how they got that way. Suddenly one of them started to snore. He immediately looked to Conner, no snoring there. He panned his gaze over to the sleeping form of Kira and couldn't help but try to stifle his amusement. There she was, hanging halfway off of one of the couches with one of Tommy's spare blankets kicked off onto the floor. Her head was kinked over the edge of the couch with a tiny line of drool coming out of her mouth. No wonder shes snoring, she is practically upside down. With a gigantic grin still on his face, he gently helped her still sleeping form back onto the couch. He couldn't help but feel a strong sense of pride for all of them. He trained them all from being ordinary teenagers, to being the planets first line of defense against evil. The courage they showed earlier against Octoslaughter reminded him of the original Ranger teams. He bent down to pick up the blanket that was laying on the floor, and gently draped it over Kira. He looked up to find Kim watching him from the doorway to the kitchen and smiled at her. Quietly, Tommy snuck his way out of the maze of teeenage bodies and walked up to where Kim was leaning against the doorway.

"You care about them a lot don't you?"

Tommy sighed and looked out upon the subject of her question, "Yeah, for all its worth, they are like my kids. Every time they go out to fight another of Mesogog's monsters I'm scared they may not all come back. The only good part is that I get to join them and try to make sure they do come back."

Kim wrapped her arms around Tommy and gave him a hug. He was startled at first but settled into it and wrapped his arms around her back. Oh, how he had missed the feel of her embrace. He rested his chin on the top of her head for a moment.

"I have you, Kat and Ryan to thank for saving their lives. Without you, I would have lost them all and probably myself along with them. But most importantly, Mesogog would have won and earth would now be his."

Kim leaned her head back and smiled up at him, "We are Power Rangers, we couldn't let evil win. And we are also your friends, so we couldn't let you be defeated either."

Tommy looked down at her and he got swept away in an overwhelming wave of nostalgia. He stared down into her beautiful big doe brown eyes and knew it was entirely possible for him to get lost in them again. She had changed so much over the years, but the core of her being, the things that he had fallen in love with were still there. Her beautiful personality had been hardened and sullied by the things she had been forced to endure. She had faint scars on her neck that through talking with Ryan, he knew were from what she had gone through in Florida. The thought that he hadn't been there to protect her from the vicious cruelty of one man tore him apart inside. Through it all however, she had endured, and now stood here in his arms, a completely different woman, yet exactly the same.

Kim wasn't entirely sure what she had been thinking when she put her arms around him. She just knew that she felt the need to hold him. For her, for him, she wasn't entirely sure, but she knew it felt right. He was far different than the boy she had known in high school. For one thing, his hair was shorter, but it was more than that. He carried himself more confidently than he ever had before. Perhaps it was that he had so much more life experience now that he was older. He sure hadn't had it in high school. Perhaps it was his years of leadership of the Ranger teams past and present. That train of thought always led to guilt about leaving the team to chase her dreams though. Whatever the case was, looking back into his gorgeous chocolate brown orbs still made her weak in the knees. After all these years, she could still so easily fall for this man.

Before they knew what was happening they were unconsciously leaning towards each others lips. It was if there was a gravitational pull between them which was impossible to resist. Just before their lips met however, they were broken from their moment by a loud snore. Tommy smiled as he knew the moment was lost and began to chuckle but at the cruel irony of fate, and also at the fact that Kira had slid halfway off the couch once again and was making enough of a racket to make a chainsaw seem quiet.

Tommy broke their embrace first, "I'll be right back, I'm going to move her to one of the guest beds so she doesn't wake the others or doesn't fall off the couch in the middle of the night."

"Doesn't that leave you with only two other guest rooms?"

"You and Kat spent the night at each others' houses before in High School right? You two can take one if you want and give Ryan the other."

"Yeah, that's fine. I'll go back outside and let them know."

As Kim turned to leave, Tommy let out a huge yawn. Kim looked at him as if he had been a five year old with his hand in the cookie jar. He tried to wave her off mid yawn but all that did was make her laugh.

"You're right Tommy, we could all probably use the rest. I'll tell them to wrap it up."

"Yeah that sounds like a good idea. Mesogog could have more trouble on the loose tomorrow and we need to be rested."

Kim headed back outside through the kitchen while Tommy watched her leave. He then turned back to the living room and easily scooped up Kira's sleeping form. Quietly and carefully, he tip-toed around Ethan's prone form, trying not to step on him. As he cleared the blue Ranger's prone form, he sighed with relief and took Kira down the hall, into one of the spare bedrooms. He put her on the bed and the movement roused her from her peaceful, if noisy, slumber. Kira looked up at him with sleepy eyes and complained softly.

"Dr. O? What are you doing?"

Tommy just smiled at her, "You were about to slide off the couch. I'm putting you in one of my guest rooms so you don't hurt yourself."

She nodded and began to slip underneath the bed covers, "Okay, just tell Conner to stay off the table. My pterodactyl is not going to lay any metal eggs for him to saw in half."

Tommy barely held back a burst of laughter while nodding at her and pulling the covers up over her. He slipped out of the room quietly and went back in the direction of the kitchen.

Kim went back outside to the back porch. All three of the people she had left there were surprisingly quiet, seeing as how loud they were before. She looked at their faces and saw that they were relaxed, happy but obviously tired. It had been a long day.

Kim smiled as she looked at the three of them, "Looks like the day has finally caught up to all of us."

Hayley agreed, "Yeah, I don't know about Kat or Ryan, but I've been up a long time today."

Kat just shook her head with a smile, "No, I'm sure we are both right there with you. Remember, the ninjetti suits just give you access to abilities, you still have to rely on your own strength to do them. As far as Ryan goes, I can remember morphing and getting into a fight drains you a bit, win or lose. Even though I've never had these Ranger powers, I'm sure they are pretty similar to the ones we had, seeing as how you and Tommy designed them."

"Yeah I could go for about forty winks. What about Conner and the others though? They didn't morph today except for Kira and they still hit the sack early. I can remember in my teenage years staying up well past midnight every weekend", Ryan asked Hayley.

"Well just think about it. They are recovering from severe injuries. That alone would tire someone out. Add to it the fact that the accelerated healing uses more energy and raw materials to repair their bodies, and you have tired teenagers who eat like ravenous pigs and then go sleep it off for ten hours or more."

Kat chuckled and looked at Kim, "Yeah I know, Kim and I were both having Rocky flashbacks during dinner."

"So that would explain why Ethan drank that whole gallon of milk Tommy had in his fridge over the course of the day. He has a broken arm and he needs the calcium", Ryan mused out loud.

Hayley nodded, "Exactly. He is giving his body what it needs for repair. In fact, it reminds me of a friend of mine who was taking psychology back at the university Tommy and I went to. She was writing her thesis on the notion that our unconscious minds tell us what materials our bodies need for maintenance and repair through the craving of certain foods. So if you were low on nerve conduction materials, you start craving bananas, stuff like that."

Ryan laughed at her, "At least that explains why pregnant women love ice cream, fat and calcium all in one."

Hayley nodded vigorously, "Oh yeah, she went deep into that part of it. Pregnant women and their hormone imbalances making them even more susceptible to the influence of their unconscious minds."

Kim held her head, "Holy shit, now I'm getting Billy flashbacks."

Being the only one to get the joke, Kat laughed, "Oh yes, if he wasn't still on another planet we would have to play cupid with him and Hayley."

"Woah woah, back that up", Ryan interrupted. "Another planet? You're telling me that not only do other habitable planets exist, but that a friend of yours is living on one and you know about it?."

Kat just smiled at him, "Yeah, all three of us do, he's been there about seven years now if my memory serves me right."

Ryan still looked like a caveman that had just seen fire for the first time, "Holy crap. I hope someone is there with him and he isn't alone. Seven years alone I'd think would make someone go completely batty."

Kat filled in more details as she noticed Kim was enjoying the show of her blowing his mind, "Nah, he isn't there alone. In fact, he went there because he started to fall for an Aquitian woman named Cestria. The relationship didn't work out in the end, because of what he termed as "fundamental philosophical differences" and "physical incompatibilities.

Kim snorted, "Yeah thats how Billy would put it alright."

"But they are still friends and he stayed to help them out with a few key technologies they were developing to make space travel a bit easier for them. See they evolved to breathe water and not air, but they found it easier to work and live in air environments. So they wore breathing equipment on their heads and took them off at night when they went to sleep in shallow pools of water. Billy and I were fascinated by the whole thing and would pester Cestro and Delphine about it for hours."

Ryan held up the conversation again after trying to process all these incredible insights that were being thrown at him like candy at a parade, "Okay, one second here. So you mean to tell me that aliens exist and your friend dated one? Are you serious, or are you just weaving a hair-brained story to flip me out?"

Kim put a hand on his shoulder, "Actually its all true. Now, Billy being on another planet and all the stuff she just told you was news to me too, but aliens do exist and I knew too. Our first Ranger mentor was known as Zordon who was an inter-dimensional being caught in a time warp. His assistant was a sentient robot named Alpha 5. Hell, I even went to another planet called Phaedos to get the powers that let me have that nifty pink ninja suit that Kat and I can throw on."

"You said you got them at a secret ninja temple or something!"

Kim finished his sentence, "On another planet..."

"Yeah, thats it, I'm done. If everything you girls just told me was true, I've had enough weirdness for one night. I'm going to bed", Ryan announced as he threw up his hands and headed for the door.

The girls just sat there silently staring at each other waiting for someone to crack. When they heard the door close behind Ryan however, they couldn't hold in the laughter any longer. Peals of laughter rolled out of the three girls like water bursting forth from a dam. Kim and Kat were holding their sides and later confessed to each other that they might have peed a bit. Hayley was the first to recover though, being less familiar with the people and places involved in their story.

"Well I'm so glad you two have a great sense of humor. Most other women I know are so dull", She complimented them.

Kim replied while wiping tears from her eyes, "Oh yeah, I know what you mean. Speaking of being dull though, I think its time we ended this and headed for bed. Tommy wants a rested team for tomorrow just incase Mesogog isn't done with us yet."

Hayley nodded, "I agree. I'm sure he isn't but maybe he will let us have the day off tomorrow. I'll see you all in the morning sometime, I'm going to drive myself home for the night."

Kim called after her as Halyey strode toward her car around the corner of the house, "You okay to drive?"

Hayley turned around and shot her a smile, "I went to college Kim. Besides, two beers in five hours, doesn't take a genius to figure that math out."

Kim smiled back, "Just lookin out for ya."

"Thanks, I appreciate it", Hayley said with finality as she turned back toward her car and made her way around the side of the house.

Kim turned back to Kat who had a couple of empty bottles in her hands. She motioned towards the door with a smile.

"Shall we?"

"Sure, Kim. By the way, seeing as how there is only one spare bed left, and I don't know this town well, I was planning on crashing here. You sharing with me or with Ryan?"

Kim grinned evilly at her as she held the kitchen door open, "Why don't I take the other bed and YOU crawl in with Ryan."

Kat's eyes widened as she held up her hands after gently placing the bottles into the trash can beside the door, "What? Why would I do that?"

Kim eyed her, posing to her with her hands on her hips, "Oh please. You both have been making eyes at each other for the past couple days, not to mention the open flirting you did right in front of us on the back porch tonight. You might have been able to hide it from me before that, but Ryan's reactions I know as well as my own."

"I don't know if I should do that..."

"Besides", Kim interrupted her. "You wanna see him get all red in the face and embarassed? I guarantee he will think its me in the middle of the night, won't try anything with you, and still wake up all awkward and embarrassed in the morning. It'll be fun."

Kat stared at Kim with an incredulous stare while Kim just grinned from ear to ear. Maybe it couldn't hurt. I'd get to be close to him tonight, and it IS awful cute when he is red in the face.

"Okay okay, but just for laughs in the morning, no taking pictures and no making more out of it than it is. Got it?"

Kim nodded at her, "Agreed. This is all for the benefit of messing with him, not with you."

The girls shook hands and now both shared an evil grin. Kat then shook her head after thinking about it for a moment.

"We are horrible. Do you realize that?"

Kim just continued her grin, "I'm not the same Kimberly you knew in high school, Kat. Gone is the sweet, innocent, prissy gymnast. She got a wake up call in Florida, it was the real world calling. I did however keep my sense of humor and mischief."

Kim turned away and walked in the door, with a giggling and head shaking Kat behind her.

Mesogog paced his throne room with step after thunderous step. Never had he known such impatience as he was feeling at the moment. Zeltrax had finally recovered from his injuries enough to be of some use, however Elsa was the only one he trusted enough with his equipment. He was allowing Mercer to taint his decisions far too much lately. He had allowed Elsa to complete this latest task without him helping her or shouting at her that she was too slow. He knew she could complete the task, whether it would work or not was a different story. He also knew that to do it right would take time, so for now he would wait. Failure or not, the situation he was now in gave him enough concern that he knew... Something must be done about he and Mercer sharing a body, and soon.

Zeltrax entered the throne room and bowed to Mesogog. He immediately stopped his pacing and turned toward the door as his newly healed henchman strode through the doors.

Mesogog looked down at him, "Speak."

Zeltrax continued to look at the floor in front of him and obeyed his master, "I Zeltrax am healed by your power my lord. Thank you for sparing me so that I may continue to serve you. I will not fail you again."

"No Zeltrax, you won't. Because if you do, I'll kill you myself. Be warned, the next time you fail, one way or another, shall be your lassst", He hissed at him.

With that bit of information resonating through his thick skull, Zeltrax rose from the ground and stood in front of Mesogog, awaiting his orders.

"Be gone from my sight, Zeltrax. I will call for you when you are needed."

"Yes, my lord", Zeltrax said with a bow. He then turned toward the door sharply and exited the room in a militaristic fashion.

Satisfied with how he had handled his henchman, Mesogog felt a resurgence in his power over Mercer's body, and in his evil power. Enough waiting.

"ELSSSA!", He roared.

A few moments later Elsa burst into the room from closed doors across from the throne room. She positioned herself in front of him and bowed to him.

"I am here, my master. What do you require?"

Mesogog tried to look as perturbed as possible, "What I require is an update on your progress."

Elsa arose from her bow and smiled at her master, "No update is required, master. In fact I was just about to come inform you that the final preparations are almost complete. We will begin the procedure shortly."

"Good, Elsa", Mesogog grinned. "Then I shall accompany you back to the lab and I will witness the procedure for myself."

"I was hoping you would, my master", She beamed with pride.

As they walked down to the lab she couldn't help feeling proud of her accomplishment. Her previous experiment with the Umbracite Crystal had ended in failure. However, it being a failure showed her that just a bit more power would have ended in victory. Her previous experiment was infusing an inanimate object with the crystals power. This would be something entirely different.

They entered the lab and Mesogog was greeted with panels of electronics lit up like Christmas trees. Inside the infusion chamber was a small cage, inside of which he could not see at this distance. He grew bored with the lab shortly however, as he knew very well what was inside it.

"Explain, Elsa."

"With pleasure", She replied. "As you can see from the monitors, I am not doing a mere infusion as I had previously. As you so wisely suggested earlier, I chose a procedure that will fully integrate the power from the entire crystal into our subject. If you think Octoslaughter had been powerful, my latest creation will be tenfold stronger."

Mesogog practically purred with delight, "Exxcellent. So what have you chosen as a subject this time?"

"Well before, I had chosen an inanimate object. I realize now this was a mistake as some of the power had gone into animating the subject I had chosen. This time I chose a live subject, so that all the crystals energy will go to its powers. I think you'll be pleased."

"Are you ready to begin?", He asked her.

"Yes, my master."

"Then do so."

Without another word Elsa lowered a dimmed visor to her eyes, and threw a giant switch on the lefthand side of the labs control board. The room immediately filled with the same dark brown light as before. It was more intense than staring into the sun, yet it was also as black as night and felt twice as evil. Mesogog let the feeling of the light flow through him and reveled in the feeling of Mercer shrinking away from it. When the light subsided he was greeted by the sight of a six foot tall green lizard. Its tail was curled behind it in a peculiar way. It had bony ridge above each eye, two specks for a nose and a jaw about as big as his own. It moved like you would expect a six foot tall lizard to, but you could tell it dripped evil from every pore. It walked toward Mesogog and in an asexual yet dark voice it spoke.

"Greetings, master. You may call me Chameloron."