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�Kim...� Tommy murmured as he rolled over and felt for his wife, trying not to open his eyes. He desperately wanted a few more precious minutes of sleep, but he was never able to sleep when she moved away from him. �Kim...�
�I�m in the nursery, Tommy,� Kim said as she heard the bed creak and knew that Tommy would soon arrive in the nursery as well. �Someone couldn�t sleep any more.�
�Well, we did put him to sleep early last night, Kim,� Tommy said as Chris reached for Tommy, who quickly took him out of Kimberly�s arms. �How are you feeling?�
�I�m all right, I just can�t seem to shake this cold,� Kim said as she turned away from the two of them and coughed as he gave her a sympathetic look. She had been under the weather for the last few weeks, but he knew that this was just usually the time of year when Kim got sick.
�You want me to take him for the day so that you can rest?� Tommy asked as Kim shook her head no.
�You have school today Tommy and I can�t ask you to miss out on that. I�m up to running the dojo as long as you can promise me that you�ll be there in time for the babies this afternoon,� Kim said as she took Chris back from him and he gave her a hug.
�I�ll be there,� Tommy said with a smile as she let out a contented sigh and walked over to the dresser to pull out some clothes for Chris.
�Whoa,� Madeline said as she walked into the now familiar interrogation room and saw several new government officials lounging around, looking overly serious and out of place. She knew that she had now said something that had peaked their interest; she just hoped that they would be pacified to do the rest of this without having to bring the veterans in. �Did we miss something? Like a new monster?�
�We certainly hope that there are no new monsters,� an official stated as Madeline looked over at him and gave him a hard look. Something about the man made her insides squirm with disgust.
�You�d never know with this bunch of rangers,� another official stated as Maddox gave him a thorough look and shook his head.
�You are not going to get very far with us by talking bull shit about the rangers that trained us. We all know good and damn well why we were brought here to deal with this bull shit. Now, I�m sorry, but the rangers that I know didn�t do anything wrong, other than follow a plan that pissed you off and I�m so sorry about that. It really is a shame that they helped us save the earth,� Maddox said as Madeline nodded her head in agreement.
�The rangers spent government money that we can not account for,� the first official said as Madeline just shook her head.
�If you were worried about money you would be checking their finances, not hounding all of us about facts that have absolutely nothing to do with that,� Madeline pointed out as he looked up at her, surprised that she would say such a thing. It was obvious to her that they had forgotten that many of these rangers were military and had been around government practices enough to sense when there was an ulterior motive. �You learn a lot while you are a ranger, one of those things being to stand up for yourself and those that you care about. You are not going to hurt the rangers, if it�s the last thing I do, you won�t do a damn thing to them.�
�Funny you should say that,� the second official said as they turned on the video screen and it showed Kimberly playing with Chris in his nursery while Tommy was getting ready for work just a room away. �We could have them brought here, tomorrow and no one would question why.�
�They haven�t done a damn thing but save your sorry asses from evil for the past decade and this is how you want to repay them?� Sam asked as he rose from his chair and strode towards them. �You bring them here and I swear to you that the least you will have to worry about it what we�ll do to you. You ever wonder why your higher ups didn�t bring them here, instead of us?�
�It did cross my mind,� Fred said as Sam smiled over at him, glad that he was willing to help him with his ranting tirade. Truth be known, Fred had developed a soft spot for the rangers and he was not going to give his colleagues an easy time if they tried to abuse these rangers.
�Your bosses are scared shitless to face the original rangers, hell they are even scared to face us considering the fact that they sent you here to badger us about not giving up enough information on the rangers. Well, I�m sorry, but those rangers have done a hell of a lot and there is a hell of a lot for us to tell. We�ll get to whatever they think is the bloody point soon enough, but in the mean time get off our asses or we might just clam up and not say anything for a few weeks,� Sam said, rather calmly, as the officials stared at the five young adults standing in front of them, each with a different degree of hatred evident in their features. They did not appreciate what was being done to their mentors and they were sure to give them hell for it if they could manage.
�Carry on,� the first official said as he hurriedly left the room and Madeline had to suppress a laugh, along with the rest of them as they waited to hear the doors swing shut.
�You know, I think they rubbed off on you more than you thought,� Fred said as they looked over at him. �They were thinking about bringing them here, separating them from their families and seeing what they could possibly get out of them. Someone higher up told them that they had a snowball�s chance in hell of getting them to talk, so the next best thing they could do was bring all of you in.�
�Nice to know that we weren�t picked first,� Madeline said with a smile as Fred barely nodded.
�I can understand if you want to leave and just come back tomorrow,� Fred offered as they all shook their heads.
�You seem to forget that we have families back home too and although it is not nearly as bad as all of them, we know that the longer we stretch this out, the more likely it is that we won�t get out of there by Thanksgiving,� Maddox said as Fred nodded and then walked over to his recorder.
�It looks like it is Power rangers, take...� Fred said as he pressed record and the rangers looked at each other. They knew it was bad, considering the fact that he had lost count completely of what day they were on of being here.
�Hey guys, I�m glad that you could make it,� Tommy said as Maddox, Madeline, and Sam walked into the dojo, semi-surprised that they were meeting here instead of their normal hideout. They thought that it had to be written somewhere that rangers only associate with each other in private, but now they were being proved wrong. �We�ve got a lot of things to talk about.�
�What sort of things?� Sam asked as Maddox just shook his head as Madeline stared up at him. She had not thought that he was serious about what he had said last night.
�Your training, the new things you are going to be required to do, how much we really expect of you...� Tommy trailed off as he looked around and them and smiled when he saw that none of this was new to Maddox. �It looks like you�ve already learned to listen in when you can manage it.�
�I only did it because I really couldn�t rest,� Maddox said as Tommy shook his head as he laughed.
�You don�t have to lie to me. There are more times than I can count that I listened in to Zordon when I probably shouldn�t have and there were times that he knew that I did it as well, but we all learned from it, somehow,� Tommy said as Maddox just stared at him. He had expected to be scolded like a child with his hand caught in the cookie jar, but to hear from Tommy that he had expected it was definitely better than he ever imagined. �I wanted to do this in an open place, although my classes won�t be here for a couple more hours, I needed some time away from the Command Center and you all will need that eventually.�
�I think that living there would make me want to get away from it more,� Madeline said as Tommy barely nodded his head. �How is Kim taking that?�
�She doesn�t want to risk anything else happening, especially to Chris, so she�s adjusting,� Tommy said as Madeline nodded. She knew that it had been hard on the two of them to go through everything that they were going through and still manage to find time to work with them and keep their relationship afloat. �And I was going to drag her there if she didn�t consent to it on her own. I can�t risk them.�
�But that�s not what you wanted to talk to us about,� Sam said as Tommy nodded his head in agreement.
�I wanted to talk to you about the fact that you are not well enough prepared to deal with the vinons, much less Halindon himself,� Tommy said, bluntly as they looked at him. They could not believe that he was being so blunt about the situation, they thought that he might wish to sugar coat it some. �I�m not saying that you can�t get there, because that�s not the truth. The truth of the matter is that you need more time than I am afraid that we have right now.�
�Come on, he�s not going to go on capturing and hunting you, you�re just his current target,� Maddox said as Tommy shook his head. He wished that it was all that simple, but it really wasn�t. It seemed that once a being targeted him, they did not quit until they were defeated and the pattern of that activity just seemed to get worse and worse as the years went by.
�As much as I want to think that that is exactly what will happen, I don�t think that it will. You don�t know about a lot of things that we have gone through, you don�t know why Halindon holds such a grudge against all of us,� Tommy said as the three of them gave him a critical look and he let out a sigh. �I guess you want to know why, don�t you?�
�It�d be nice, considering that he seems to think that your family is the best people to take hostage,� Sam said as Tommy merely nodded his head in agreement.
�He�s not like Mesogogg, who was actually part human, he�s more like Zedd or Rita, actually he is one of their peons that we never knew about. He stayed in a different galaxy for the majority of their reign and only found out a few years ago that they had been destroyed. He directly blames the first rangers, which, of course, include myself and Kim. However the first time that he attacked, he thought that going after Jason and Trini would be a lot of fun, Kim and I were still rangers at the time, so we came to help them out. That day we set him back by a couple of years, he had to regroup and think what would be the best way to come at us after we gave him a pretty honest lashing. When he came back, Kim was pregnant and we were looking for all of you-he decided at that moment to take his life in his own hands and hope that he could take us on and so far he�s had it pretty easy,� Tommy said as Maddox and Madeline exchanged a glance. They all remembered what Tommy had done when he saw him last.
�You�re the only one that can fight him,� Maddox said as Tommy shook his head no. �Then why can�t we handle him?�
�You still don�t know your powers and where they will take you. When we brought those powers back, we made sure that we had an idea of what they could do and it should be more than enough to give Halindon a good ass whooping, but that hasn�t happened. Every time, we�ve had to come to the rescue and although we�re thankful that we can, we know that we can�t keep doing that. It�s too dangerous for us to continue it without some sort of powers,� Tommy said as Maddox gave him a curious look, remembering another remark from the previous night.
�What about the powers that you are destined to get?� Maddox asked as Tommy looked over at him and let out a long, disgruntled sigh.
�That is just a legend, we�re not sure if it will actually happen and even if it does, there is no guarantee who will be on the ranger team,� Tommy said as they looked over at him.
�I thought that the government didn�t want you playing in the ranger sandbox anymore,� Madeline said as Tommy smiled over at her.
�They don�t want us playing in it, but with all the things that keep coming after us, we don�t have much of a choice about getting involved, now do we?� Tommy asked, pointedly, as they nodded their heads in agreement. �But this isn�t what I really need to work on with you, because speculating whether or not we will become rangers again does not help you in your current situation.�
�So, where do we begin?� Sam asked as Tommy gave him an appreciative nod and walked them over to the back corner of the wide open dojo.
�We begin with all of you...fighting me,� Tommy said as they looked over at him as he began pulling off his shirt and grabbed a wife beater and slipped it on instead, as they stared at him.
�Fighting you? Come on, you are no where near a match for Halindon,� Sam said as Tommy looked over at him and raised his eyebrows. He knew that Sam was forgetting the day that Tommy had fought Halindon into retreat, without any real powers to his name.
�If there is a match for Halindon, I�m it, but as you can see, I�m not the one with powers, so I have to teach you how to beat me, then you might have a chance to beat him,� Tommy said as he slung Sam into a wall and dropkicked Madeline before roundhouse kicking Maddox, which left all of them sprawled on the floor. �He�s not going to give you any warning.�
�You pack one hell of a punch,� Maddox said as he pushed himself to his feet, as the other two did the same as they surrounded Tommy, waiting for his next attack.
�Okay, the next thing, isn�t to wait for me,� Tommy said as he took Madeline�s feet out from under her and then jumped to avoid the blow that Maddox had headed for him and then flipped over their heads and reached for the nearest weapon he had on display. Maddox and Sam exchanged a glance before they reached for the nearest objects that they could find to defend themselves, but it did not do much good as Tommy rounded on them before they even had a chance to think about what they were doing. �You have to learn to do, not think.�
�Obviously you had this planned out,� Sam said as Tommy shook his head no as he continued to back them into a corner, while being aware that Madeline had gotten to her feet as well and he knew that she would not wait forever to give him some pay back.
�No, I just used the fact that you trust me to my advantage. I know that you don�t trust Halindon, but you have to remember that he will use the element of surprise, lure you into a trap...� Tommy said as he turned to block Madeline�s blow and gave her a smile as she was slung away yet again. �...then turn everything that you believe in on you. It wouldn�t be the first time that some being used our fears to get back at us.�
�But you don�t fight like this,� Maddox said as Tommy nodded his head that that was usually the case, but today it wasn�t.
�Do you honestly think that Halindon will give you an easy time, because if you do, then I�ve got a lot more to teach you than I thought,� Tommy said as Sam aimed a blow at his head, but he managed to block it at the last minute.
�Is it even possible to defeat you?� Sam asked as Tommy shrugged his shoulders. There had been times in the past when the monsters had a very hard time with him, but that was years ago, when he was a teenager.
�Fun!� Jason exclaimed as he walked in and saw the three rangers swarming Tommy, but not doing much good in actually trying to defeat him. �Can I give them some pointers?�
�If you want,� Tommy said as he rounded on them again and they all scattered as he walked over to Jason.
�You weren�t joking about picking up their training. Are you using your sixth degree stuff or the seventh degree that you are working on?� Jason asked as Tommy shrugged his shoulders, he was not sure what he was using, but it was obviously something that the rangers had never encountered before.
�It�s good to see you here,� Tommy said as Jason greeted him with a handshake.
�It looks like they need someone to coach them on how to fight you,� Jason said as Tommy nodded and then motioned for the rangers to follow Jason. He knew that Jason was going to be their moral support in the very unstable world of fighting Tommy.
�Why weren�t we warned that he could fight like that?� Sam asked as he rubbed the back of his neck and Jason looked over at Tommy who was smiling over at them. He knew exactly what they were likely to be complaining about.
�Well, none of us know, except maybe him exactly how good Halindon is and if he is pulling out those kinds of moves on you, then I think that you need to learn how to react to them,� Jason said as they looked over at him. �Be glad that we�re not tag teaming. Halindon, unlike other evils, likes to work alone, so be thankful for that, even if you are not thankful for anything else. Rita and Zedd were worse than anything else that we ever faced and they liked to run off each other, but they rarely ever fought us, they liked to send their helpers to do all the dirty work.�
�Yeah, remember that we�ve had the history lesson, we don�t need anymore of that,� Sam said as Jason just looked over at him with a look of disgust and Sam couldn�t help but take a step away from him and he came within Tommy�s reach again.
�Enough teaching, Jase,� Tommy said as Jason looked over at him in shock and he just smiled. He knew that Jason was trying to prepare them, but they were no where near as prepared as they needed to be to face Halindon, much less Tommy, who all of the former rangers realized was a much better fighter, he just wouldn�t sink to the level of Halindon and play dirty.
�Come on, he was just getting to what we need to know,� Sam countered as Tommy smiled and then began backing him into a corner and Jason moved out of the way in order to avoid the tangle that he knew was coming.
�He should have talked to you quicker, before you were stupid enough to get back into my range,� Tommy said as Sam cringed as another strong blow was made to his side and he felt Maddox catch him, before Madeline turned on Tommy. The two of them might not like Sam, but they had to learn to work with him now or they would never be able to make any sort of headway on fighting Tommy.
�Let me help you,� Jason said as he jumped into the mix and watched as the younger rangers began to try to work as a group for the first time ever, afraid to have to go up against the two of them, when Jason was actually going to try to help them against Tommy.
�Good move,� Tommy muttered as they continued to work together to combat Tommy, but he noticed that they were not nearly as careful about watching each others back as they should be and took full advantage of it.
�You...are...impossible,� Madeline muttered as she looked up from her place at the bottom of the pile and Tommy smiled, as the other two rolled off so that they could just lie in peace.
�You aren�t as bad as you think that you are,� Tommy said as he reached down to pull Maddox up and he just shook his head.
�I need to just stay on the floor for a little while,� Maddox said as he closed his eyes and Madeline let out a long sigh as Maddox reached over and stroked down her hair.
�The two of you are heavy,� Madeline murmured as Tommy and Jason laughed, as Tommy pulled back on his top and walked over to the front desk.
�You�ve got to be kidding me that you are walking away,� Sam said as he looked over at Tommy, who merely nodded.
�I don�t want to kill the three of you today. You are going to be sore as hell from just that,� Tommy said as Madeline looked back at him and she grabbed the stick that they had disregarded and chunked it at Tommy, but missed him by a few inches.
�That is rough,� Fred said as Madeline nodded. He was sure that they had absolutely no idea what it was like, it had been harder than almost anything else that they had ever done.
�Tommy is a rough person to battle. None of them ever saw what he put us through and for every day that we did that, we were stronger in battle, we were so much more ready for something that we didn�t know would hit us...� Madeline trailed off as several people looked at her. There was something that she had been about to reveal, but she stopped herself. �That�s why they didn�t know...that�s why we�re...�
�Maddie, you aren�t making any sense, honey,� Maddox said as she looked over at him and he reached over and put his arm around her.
�I don�t think that I have to...I think that it�s time we call the rangers,� Madeline said as the other four looked at her as if she had lost her mind. �It�s time that they hear the real story that they want. They want to know how Halindon was defeated, by rangers that they had never seen before. We gave them a tidbit yesterday and they jumped, they came too soon thinking that they�d be able to pressure it out of us and we don�t know that answer, only they do.�