--

Oh, I thought that I’d, never see you again

Like all good things, it had to come to an end

But tonight out of nowhere, you appeared like a dream

It’s like no time apart, it’s a sweet feeling

Soul Violins

Performed by Hall & Oates

From Our Kind of Soul

--

Time stopped.

As far as Tommy was concerned, he felt like everything just completely froze around him and he was just moving in slow motion.

He had been fending off a few Tyrannodrones a few moments before when he had heard a woman’s scream. He then looked to his left and saw Elsa fire a laser blast at a blond-haired woman, knocking her to the ground. His face twisted in anger as he saw Elsa point her sword at the woman’s face. Seeing as how he was a good distance away Tommy quickly looked to see if anyone was close enough to stop Elsa, but Trent was busy trading blows with his evil clone, and Conner, Kira, and Ethan were still fighting Felectro. Tightening his grip on his Brachio staff and gritting his teeth underneath his helmet, Tommy broke into a run and headed straight for Elsa at top speed.

Not gonna make it, not gonna make it. He thought fearfully. Then as he saw Elsa raise her sword, he leaped into the air, did a somersault, and thrust out his Brachio staff to intercept the blow. As Elsa looked up in surprise he then knocked her sword off, then he side-kicked her in the stomach causing her to stagger back.

Time to finish this. He thought as he twisted the handle of his weapon. He continued to twist it until the arrow on the handle pointed to a tornado symbol. “Brachio staff, wind strike!” He commanded as he brought the staff down to the ground. Suddenly a gust of wind kicked up and sent Elsa flying through the air and right into the White Ranger clone. As he turned around he saw the woman struggling to get up. He quickly put his Brachio staff back in its holster and knelt down to help her to her feet.

“Are you all right?” He asked gently.

“Yeah. Just a little winded.” The woman replied as she raised her head to look at him. As she did Tommy’s eyes bulged and his jaw dropped open underneath his helmet. It was as if he had just grabbed a hold of a million-volt power line; every cell in his body was tingling.

It can’t be. He thought as he supported her. He then blinked his eyes a few times to see if he was just imagining her, but it quickly turned out that he was not. Even as she got up he still kept his eyes locked on her. Even though it had been nine years since he last saw her, she hadn’t changed much. She still had that long flowing hair that looked like a flame of pure gold, deep sapphire eyes that shone with a wisdom that many could only hope to attain, and a curvaceous figure that was beyond description…

Snap out of it, you idiot! Now’s not the time! His mind yelled. Even though he heard it in his mind, he still felt like he was rooted to the spot.

“Are you okay?” Kat asked, her Australian accent coming out slightly.

“Uh…yes.” Tommy replied, trying to mask his voice as best he could. “Are you?”

Kat’s eyes narrowed a little bit in curiosity. There was something…familiar about this Ranger, but she couldn’t quite place it. “I think you already asked me that.” She said teasingly.

“Oh, uh…right.” Tommy replied. He still couldn’t get his legs to move, but he was able to talk calmly though. “Y’ know, you could’ve gotten yourself hurt.”

“I know,” Kat admitted. “But…I couldn’t just-”

TSEEEWWW!

A laser blast hit the ground, temporarily blinding the Black Ranger and Kat and sending the two to the ground. Once the smoke cleared, they both looked up and saw a rather pissed-looking Elsa pointing her sword threateningly at them. Although it seemed that she was pointing the sword more at Kat than at Tommy.

“Y’ know, I don’t know what upsets me more, Black Ranger.” She said. “The fact that you always seem to get in my way or the fact that this nobody-of-a-bitch had the nerve to take me on. And who do you think you are anyway? A Power Ranger wannabe?” She asked Kat.

Kat didn’t say anything. Even though a leather-clad cyborg with a nasty-looking sword was staring her down, she didn’t show any fear.

Elsa saw this and smiled wickedly. “Well, well. Still going to keep the defiance up, even in the face of your own doom?” She then raised her sword. “Fine with me.”

Tommy then saw his chance and kicked Elsa in her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Kat then took advantage of this and knocked her sword off with her right leg. Tommy then kicked Elsa with both his feet and was able to use the momentum to propel himself back up on his feet again. He then drew his Brachio staff and gripped it with both hands.

“Looks like you’re the one who needs to drop the defiance, Elsa.” He said. “Brachio staff, energy orb!” He then raised his staff and rotated it clock-wise, creating a giant orb as he did so. When he was finished, he hurled the orb directly at Elsa, hitting her point-blank. Elsa shrieked, falling to the ground. When she got up she saw the Black Ranger and Kat staring her down.

“Don’t get too excited, Black Ranger.” She snarled. “This is only a mere setback, and as for you,” she said pointedly at Kat. “You only got lucky, so smile while you can, because the next time I see you, there won’t be enough of you left to bury.” She then gave the blond woman a final death glare, then disappeared through an invisiportal.

The Black Ranger then turned to Kat. “Are you hurt?”

Kat shook her head. “No.”

“Good.” Tommy said gently. “Look, me and the other Rangers still need to clean up here, think you could get some people to safety while we finish this?”

“Of course.” Kat replied as she rushed off to help.

“Miss,” The Black Ranger called out, causing Kat to turn around. “Thanks.”

Kat smiled her bright smile, then rushed off. As she did Tommy kept staring at her, a million emotions already beginning to spiral out of control in his mind. However, as he heard his students cry out he quickly buried those emotions down and rushed to help.

Felectro and the White Ranger clone had teamed up and were doing a barrage of attacks on Trent, Kira, Ethan, and Conner. The clone did his dash-attack, and then Felectro leaped into the air, raising his legs in front of him as he did so. He then brought his upper torso back so he was basically lying on his back in midair. His body then began to spin as he shot feet-first towards the four Rangers, hitting them with pinpoint accuracy. When Felectro landed on the ground he then looked at the Rangers and laughed.

“You definitely held your own this time, kiddies.” He scoffed. “But all the same, you still ended up with your backs to the wall, or in this case, to the ground. And while it probably wouldn’t take too much to finish you off now, I think I’ll recharge my batteries for next time. After all, as you humans would say, ‘Three times is the charm.’”

“Don’t count on it!” Tommy yelled as he leaped in front of his students to face Felectro and the White Ranger. He then drove his Brachio staff into the ground. “Wind strike!” He called out. A gust of wind then kicked up and began to knock both the Ranger clone and the hybrid off their feet. Felectro tried to flap his wings to counter it, but the chilling wind seemed to overpower him and he and the Ranger clone went toppling backwards.

Tommy then adjusted the handle on his Brachio staff. “Earthquake!” He then drove his staff into the ground, causing the earth to shake and fissures to form around Felectro and the clone. The Black Ranger then twisted the handle again until the arrow pointed to a flame symbol. “Flame strike!” He commanded as he drove it into the ground again. All of a sudden flames then traveled in a straight line and spread across the fissures towards the evil duo. Felectro and the White Ranger clone reeled from it and fell to the ground. Staggering to get up, Felectro locked eyes with Tommy.

“Next time, Rangers.” He hissed. “Remember that.” He then raised his claw and disappeared along with the Ranger clone into an invisiportal.

“Are you guys okay?” Tommy asked his protégés.

“A little.” Conner replied, still staring at the spot where Felectro had stood.

“Next time, dude.” Ethan assured him.

“And it looks like the ‘drones went with them, too.” Trent pointed out.

Tommy was about to say something when an applause erupted from the nearby onlookers and bystanders. He and the other Rangers then looked around and saw crowds of people just cheering: Men, women, and children, although the kids were the ones who were cheering the loudest.

Conner, who had been feeling despondent up until this point, felt his spirits rise up a little bit as he saw the jovial looks on so many people’s faces, namely on the little boys and girls as they looked at him and the others with awe. Finally a smile crept over his face as he continued to look at the makeshift audience. Then he felt Dr. Oliver’s hand on his shoulder.

“Come on, we better get back.”

“Right.” Conner replied. “Triassic power down.” He said as he grasped his Shield of Triumph in both hands. Almost instantly the gold plating on his helmet, shoulders, and morpher, along with the purple color patterns on his costume disappeared, with the shield fading last. He and the others then raised their morphers to their faces and spoke their respective commands.

“Raptor cycles, online.”

“Black ATV, online.”

“White ATV, online.”

People then began to turn in wonder as they saw the Ranger’s vehicles rolling onto the scene. A couple of kids’ eyes bulged as they saw them and one kid yelled out, “I want one!”

Conner couldn’t help but smirk a little at that comment as he and the others mounted their vehicles.

Personally, if I was his age and I saw a badass cycle, I’d probably be clamoring for one too. He thought.

Ethan, for his part was smiling brightly underneath his helmet as he waved at some of the people.

Kira’s eyes were wide and her mouth was partly open. While she was used to having people applaud whenever she was performing a song at the Cyberspace, that was still nothing compared to this.

Trent, on the other hand, was feeling slightly awkward and nervous. However, as he saw the gratitude on people’s faces, he smiled warmly and serenely and waved.

Tommy also had a serene smile on his face as he looked both at his protégés and the people. The way they reacted began to remind him of a time many years ago, during his White Ranger days when he and the others had to appear on TV once. Needless to say, he had been both excited and a little nervous at the same time. But once he saw the people’s faces and saw their admiration and respect for him and the other Rangers, any nervousness he had had vanished.

It was as Tommy glanced at some of the kids in the crowd that he sensed something. It might have been a sixth sense he had gotten over the years, but he couldn’t help but feel as if there were another pair of eyes looking at him. Not in a general, Ranger-fan way like the treatment his students were getting, but at him specifically. As he looked back in front of himself he saw her.

She was standing by a patio with a warm smile on her face. Her beautiful sapphire eyes were shining with a heavenly light as she gazed at him with curiosity. Once again Tommy felt a great deal of feelings begin to course out of control within him, but luckily though, he was able to keep them under restraint with ease. However, that didn’t stop his mind from being flooded with questions. One that kept nagging at him was whether she recognized him or not. The only other one was whether she knew he lived in Reefside.

Come on, Tommy. His mind snapped. Get a hold of yourself. Other than the day of the Countdown you haven’t seen or spoken to her in nine-years-going-on-ten, and she didn’t look like she recognized your voice…or at least I don’t think she did.

He then turned his head from the crowd and gunned the engine on his ATV and followed Conner’s lead along with the others. As soon as the team reached a safe distance they accessed the hyperdrive on their vehicles, causing them to go at a speed of Mach I. In no time they found themselves heading towards the secret entrance that lead to the Dino Ruins.

Still, Tommy thought as he entered the hangar bay doors. Could that really have been her? I mean, seeing as how I’ve been having strange dreams that seem to have her in them, I could have been just hallucinating.

No sooner did he think that did he quickly kick himself mentally.

Ughhh…what the hell am I talking about? If I was so sure I was hallucinating, then why did I keep seeing her face even after I blinked several times? Why is it that, try as I did, I still kept seeing those…lovely crystal eyes? Or hear that soft, sexy accent that only Katherine could have…and why is it that, even now, I still see that angelic face burned into my mind?