“Wow.”

For some reason, those were the only words that could come out of Kat’s mouth the minute she stepped inside the gymnasium-sized building and looked around.

The main center of the building was all one giant room, with big mirrors lining the walls and a balance beam or two in some of the corners. The floor itself was so smooth; you could almost ice skate across one side of the building to the other in one stroke, and all without using ice skates. Kat then looked up and saw some banners with championship titles hanging from the ceiling. Needless to say, it was impressive.

“Can I help you?” asked a voice.

Kat turned around and saw a girl with auburn hair and a gym bag slung across her shoulder. She was dressed in a two-piece leotard with an Adidas jacket and was regarding Kat with an earnest look on her face.

“Yes. I was scheduled for an interview today and I’m trying to find the main office.” Kat replied kindly.

“Well, it’s over there on the right corner.” The girl said as she pointed to an area that had a door and a window facing the main room, but it was partly obscured by a soda machine.

“Cheers.” Kat said as she offered her hand.

The girl smiled and shook it. “You’re welcome.” She replied. “You’re Australian, aren’t you?”

“Yes. I’m Katherine.”

“I’m Krista, nice to meet you.” The girl said. “Are you gonna be teaching here?”

“Hopefully.” Kat replied.

“Well, good luck. I hope you get it.” Krista said as she hoisted her gym bag. “Well, I gotta get going. Hope to see you around.” She waved as she headed for the exit.

“Bye.” Kat said as she waved back and headed for the office door. After knocking three times she heard a voice say “It’s open, come in.”

Kat opened the door and saw herself in a small yet comfy office that had some posters on the walls and photos on the window ledge. Behind a desk that was placed in one corner was a brunette woman that looked like she was in her early thirties and was putting away some papers in a folder. As soon as she put it in a drawer she looked up and saw Kat standing by the doorway. “Oh, hello.”

“Hi.” Kat replied. “I didn’t mean to intrude-“

“No, don’t be ridiculous, come in, sit down.” The woman said kindly as she gestured to a seat in front of her desk. “By the way, I’m Linda Dawson.”

“Katherine Hillard, nice to meet you.”

“So, how can I help you?”

“Well, I’m here about getting the assistant teaching position.”

Linda’s eyes grew bright with recognition. “Oh yes. Now I remember, you had called a while back looking for available dance teaching jobs.” She said. “So, where had you been working before?”

“I’ve spent several years now at the Royal Academy in London, participating in many different productions.” Kat replied as she reached into her backpack and pulled out her makeshift portfolio with her resume in it.

“Ah, yes. I know that place pretty well.” Linda said nostalgically. “I had studied there for a while and after some years I came here and, well…the rest is history.” She then took Kat’s portfolio and began to look through it, smiling and nodding at times. Her eyebrows raised with interest when she came to the part where Kat’s resume said that she had been a choreographer for the Beauty and the Beast play at London. “Very impressive.” She said.

The rest of the interview went by as a typical job interview would go, with Kat answering questions and whatnot. When it was all over Linda handed Kat back her portfolio. “Well, Miss Katherine Hillard, what can I say, except…welcome to the Cosmos Dance Academy!”

“You mean…I got it? I’m in?” Kat asked, trying her best to keep her excitement bottled up for a little while longer.

“Of course.” Linda said nonchalantly. “Y’ know, you shouldn’t be so surprised. It’s people like you, with a deep kindness, limitless patience and a natural ability for teaching that make Cosmos what it is (or, what it should be).”

“So, when can I begin?” Kat asked.

“As quickly as you can.” Linda answered. “How’s tomorrow at 2 PM sound?”

“Great.” Kat said.

“Excellent.” Linda said as she rose from her chair and offered her hand. “So I’ll see you then?”

“Definitely.” Kat replied as she shook Linda’s hand and put her portfolio back in her backpack. “Cheers.”

“See you tomorrow.” Linda said cheerfully as Kat headed out the door.

No sooner did Kat walk out of the door to the building did she raise her elbows, draw them back and yell out, “YES!” Even though she was optimistic about the whole thing, she still had some doubt about whether she would really do well during her interview. But now that it was done, along with the fact that she had done very well, and to top it off, with her getting the job on the spot, she was elated.

This is definitely going to call for a late-night Tanya talk. She thought as she walked down a sidewalk to a park that was not too far from downtown Reefside. Out of all the Rangers, she and Tanya still kept in contact with each other over the years. The former Yellow Zeo/Turbo Ranger had gone on to college and went on to major as a music producer. As a result, she had ended up working alongside artists like Brian McKnight, Alicia Keys, Richard Marx, producer Walter Afanaseiff, and even Michael McDonald at one point. In spite of her at-times busy schedule, she still managed to find time to talk to her friend, even though it wasn’t cheap calling long-distance.

She had just reached the corner when suddenly an invisiportal appeared and a creature that looked like a mish-mash between a cat and a falcon, with dinosaur-looking creatures flanking it popped out of it.

“People of Reefside, please don’t panic too much,” Felectro said, opening his arms in emphasis. “Me and my pals are just here to place a bet.” He then struck his claws into the ground, causing fissures to appear. Then all of a sudden, energy started to rise from the fissures and travel across them at breakneck speed. No sooner did they hit the far end of the cracks did they explode, causing the people nearby to panic, fall down, or just run like crazy. “And the bet is how many of you are gonna be walking out of here on both your legs.” He snarled.

Kat quickly ran over to a couple that had gotten knocked over by the blast and was trying to help them to their feet when a Tyrannodrone closed in on them.

“Look out!” She yelled as it raised it’s claw to strike, but Kat quickly got in the creature’s path and blocked it with her left arm, then she struck the drone in it’s side with a small right jab, then side-kicked it into the side of a fountain. She then turned back to the couple and helped them get to a safe distance away but as she looked back she saw more Tyrannodrones coming after them. She was about ready to tell the couple to go on ahead when colored lasers hit the drones. Kat then turned around and saw five Power Rangers rushing onto the scene. Smiling, she then quickly guided the couple to a small patio with a picnic table. “You should be safe here.” She said firmly, but gently. She then turned her head curiously to watch the action from a distance.

Conner looked around to see if Felectro was nearby, but all he saw were a bunch of Tyrannodrones surrounding him.

Guess they’ll just have to do. He thought.

“Hey, lizard-breaths. Allow me to welcome you to your class.” He quipped. “It’s Dino-Soccer 101, and your instructor’s yours truly.” He then took his fighting stance and charged towards them.

Meanwhile Ethan, Kira, Trent, and Tommy were fighting off their fair share of Tyrannodrones with very little effort. However, no sooner were they down to fighting a handful did Elsa and the White Ranger clone appear.

“I take it this means you’re gonna pick up your flunkies and go?” Tommy asked sarcastically.

Elsa smirked. “I believe the saying goes: Never send a drone to do a general’s job.” She and the clone drew their swords and let out a battle cry. Tommy drew out his Brachio staff and the others drew out their Thunder-Max sabers and charged.

Conner, on the other hand, was standing amid a pile of Tyrannodrones that looked completely dismantled.

“Class dismissed.” He said. “Looks like nobody made the cut.”

“Sure there’s no tryout for one more?”

Conner turned around and saw Felectro dash blindly fast at him, then the hybrid did a mini somersault and slide-tackled him soccer-style, causing Conner to fall face first into the ground.

“Conner!” Ethan yelled.

“You guys go help him.” Tommy said. “Trent and I can deal with these guys.”

“You sure?” Kira asked.

“Positive.” Trent replied.

“All right then. C’ mon, Kira.” Ethan said as he and Kira rushed over to help their teammate.

As Elsa saw the Blue and Yellow Rangers head off towards where the Red Ranger and Felectro were, she smiled wickedly and then as if on cue, an ivisiportal opened and more Tyrannodrones appeared. However, instead of flanking her and the clone, they started going after the few innocent bystanders that were watching from a distance and were either too scared or too captivated to move.

“I thought you said you didn’t want your drones doing your job.” Trent said.

“Who said they were?” Elsa asked.

“If there’s one thing they excel at, it’s creating panic.” the White clone sneered.

“So what’s it going to be? Us…or them?” Elsa taunted as she gestured towards the people trying to get away from the drones.

Tommy then quickly glanced at Trent, then both Rangers nodded and they leaped above Elsa and the White Ranger clone and landed right in front of some of the robotic slaves. Tommy took the ones on the left; Trent took the ones on the right.

From her position by the patio, Kat could see that even though the White and Black Rangers were holding their own, they were still outnumbered. Almost instinctively her fists began to clench and an urge to go help was starting to rise up inside her. She really wanted to help them, but at the same time she knew that with no Ranger powers, she could get herself severely hurt. Then as she saw a mother and her daughter get cornered by a Tyrannodrone, her crystal eyes narrowed and she clenched her fists tightly.

That’s it. She thought. Zeo Ranger power or not, I can’t just stand here and do nothing. So with that she took off her backpack, left it by the picnic table and broke into a run and headed towards the drone that had the mother and daughter trapped. “Excuse me.” She said as she tapped the Tyrannodrones’ shoulder. Just as it turned she roundhouse kicked it in its side. The drone countered with a swipe of its right claw, but Kat swerved to the side and tornado-kicked it to the ground. This surprised Katherine because she thought she had forgotten that move a long time ago.

Guess it is like jumping back into a pool. She thought inwardly. She then turned to the two who were cornered and walked towards them. “Are you all right?”

“A little shaken up, but we’re okay.” Replied the mother.

“Those moves were awesome! How’d you learn to do that?” The girl asked.

Kat smiled brightly. “Martial arts classes.”

“Thank you so much.” The mother said.

“You’re welcome.” Kat replied. “You two better get to safety quickly.”

“You got it!” Replied the girl and so she and her mom quickly rushed to a safe distance.

As soon as Kat saw they were safe she then saw some more people in trouble and rushed back to help them.

“So, what do we have here? More coaches for me?” Felectro asked tauntingly.

“In a manner of speaking, yeah.” Ethan shot back.

“Last time was just a practice round. This time it’s the real deal.” Conner said as he raised his Triassic shield. “You guys ready?”

“Ready.” Kira answered.

“You know it.” Ethan said.

“Triassic Power!” Conner commanded. Ethan and Kira then concentrated, causing blue and yellow balls of energy to respectively form on their gloves. They then raised their arms towards the shield and began energizing it, thus transforming Conner into the Triassic Power Ranger.

“What do you say we go a little more techno?” Conner asked Felectro as he raised his arm with his hand open. The shield began to glow and then the area around Conner and Felectro changed. When it was done Felectro looked around and saw lights zooming by him and other lights swirling around the area like giant fireflies.

“Nice place, Red Ranger.” Felectro snarled. “Though I don’t know if I could afford the rent here.”

“Oh, don’t worry.” Conner said as he twirled his shield, causing a blade to appear from its top center. “Its only a one-time deal.”

Felectro then drew back his arm, and flung an energy boomerang at Conner, but he batted it away with his shield-saber. He then came at Felectro and struck him full on the shoulder. Felectro grunted in pain, and clutched his left arm. As he stared at Conner his right claw began to glow.

“So, you actually decided to put away your toys and take out the big guns, eh?” He asked. “Well, I don’t suppose you’d mind if I ‘crackled’ things up a bit, would you?” He then drew his right arm back, and shot an energy ball at Conner. Conner tried again to bat the energy away, but this time as he struck it, the energy ball exploded, knocking Conner off balance and sending him and Felectro back to the real world.

“Conner, are you all right?” Ethan asked as he and Kira helped Conner, still in Triassic mode, to his feet.

“I’ve been better.” Conner answered.

“Well, I’ve gotta say, that was more of a challenge than the last time we tangoed.” Felectro sneered. “Got any more tricks kiddies, or do I have to pull some out of my claws?”

Kat felled another Tyrannodrone when she heard a scream. She turned around and saw a little boy clutching an action figure and was trembling against the side of a bench. He was staring up fearfully at a woman dressed in leather and was walking towards him with a sword in one arm.

“Ah, yes. The very epitome of a hostage candidate.” Elsa said nonchalantly as she approached him. However, she was so caught up in making this boy her hostage that she didn’t notice the movement coming from her left.

“Leave him alone!” Kat yelled as she jumped-kicked Elsa, catching the cyborg by surprise and causing her to fall back a few steps. Elsa then turned and locked eyes with the blond woman who had attacked her. She was surprisingly a few inches taller than she was, and was in a stance that was very similar to a Power Ranger stance. The blond then turned her face to the boy and said, “Go!” The boy nodded his head quickly and broke into a run towards the other people, where his mom was. As the blond turned her face back to Elsa the cyborg eyed her menacingly.

“I don’t know who you think you are, but you just made a serious mistake.” Elsa said as she did a backflip and pointed her sword at Kat, firing an energy stream at her. Kat screamed and fell to the ground. As she looked up she saw Elsa point her sword at her.

“Hopefully this will teach you not to interfere with things that don’t concern you.” She said calmly. “Well, not that you’ll live long enough, anyway.”

Elsa raised her sword, and Kat braced herself for the blow. But just as the blow was about to connect, something stopped it. Elsa and Kat both looked up and saw the Black Ranger thrust out his Brachio staff to stop the blow. He then knocked Elsa’s sword off and side-kicked her, but the Black Ranger wasn’t through. He then twisted the handle on his weapon and yelled out, “Brachio staff, wind strike!” As he struck the ground with his staff a gust of wind began to blow towards Elsa, sending her flying into the air and causing her to land right on top of the White Ranger clone who was busy fighting Trent. As he turned around he saw the woman trying to get up. He quickly put his staff back in his holster and bent down to help her.

“Are you all right?” He asked gently.

“Yeah. Just a little winded.” The woman replied as she raised her head to look at the Black Ranger. No sooner did she do that did he freeze completely.