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�Yesterday was rough,� Madeline murmured as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and looked over at Maddox.

�Yeah, it was pretty bad. Do you think that there is any chance we can leave out some of the stuff that happened in the few weeks following that incident?� Maddox asked as Madeline shook her head no. She knew that she did not want to talk about what happened next, but she knew that they had to, in order to keep their mentors from becoming bigger targets. Things were starting to get to a very dangerous stage and although they knew that they needed to protect themselves, they were more worried about what might possibly come down on their mentors. There was just something in the air that made them that much more cautious.

�We have to save them, Maddox. I�m not exactly sure why we were brought here, but I can hazard a guess and that guess does not make me feel comfortable. I�m worried that they are going to go after them and I don�t want that to happen. They�ve done too much to be treated like that now,� Madeline said as Maddox walked over and wrapped his arms around her.

�Then we just have to make sure that it doesn�t happen,� Maddox said as Madeline nodded her head and she let out a long sigh. The days were starting to wear at her and she knew that she just couldn�t take this much longer. It was draining to recall her ranger experience and not know why they were having to do this. They had been told that they would be left alone once it was over with, but barely a year after the fact, they were being called in for this sort of mess. �I don�t like doing this anymore than you do.�

�I just wish that we could talk to them about what�s going on. They might be able to help us with what we should and shouldn�t say to the government. They know how to cover their asses much better than we do,� Madeline said as Maddox nodded his head in agreement, as he let her go and handed her, her purse.

�We better get going, the others will be waiting for us,� Maddox said as they walked out of their hotel room and went to start another day of recalling their life as rangers.

�I just need some aspirin,� BethAnn said as Garrett gave her a suspicious look. She rarely asked for any sort of medicine, but right now she was practically begging for it. �I just haven�t had such a great week, Garrett.�

�Sorry,� Garret said as he handed her the aspirin that she had requested and just shook his head. He had not had to deal with her being in a bad mood in a very long time and he hoped this soon would pass.

�Now that you have showed up, we can get going,� Sam said as Maddox and Madeline walked up to the other three. �You know, it would be nice to call when you are going to be late.�

�Don�t even start, Sam,� Madeline said as she walked out through the revolving door with Maddox right behind her.

�So, what�s next?� Fred asked, as he had learned that it was best to not try to coax them into saying anything. They would eventually get around to everything in their own time.

�The amped up training,� Madeline said as Fred merely nodded, thinking that they were going to surely have to learn more after the previous incident that they had explained. He was sure that the veteran rangers realized that they lacked a certain amount of expertise, but he didn�t know the amount of involvement that they were allowed to have in the training.

�They knew that we were not ready to directly face Halindon, but since Maddox was forced to jump into that position, they wanted to prepare the rest of us in case we had to do the same thing some day,� Sam said as Madeline and Maddox nodded. Although he had suffered nothing more than a mild concussion, it was still much more than anything that they wanted to face until the last battle that they would fight in, when everything might have to be sacrificed.

�So, let me guess that we are going into the endless depths of ranger training,� Fred said as Madeline nodded her head yes, that was the closest thing to the truth that they could find right now.

�I�ve never been happier to see you in a pink suit,� Tommy muttered as Kim smiled up at him. They had all known that their powers had not been completely diminished over the years of fighting, but they never expected them to pull a stunt like Kimberly�s had yesterday. The most that they thought would happen is that they would get a boost of energy, none of them ever thought that they would have a full conversion of their powers.

�I�ve never been happier for it to actually show up, but that still doesn�t explain why it happened. That was not supposed to happen Tommy. We both know that,� Kim said as she tried to stretch out and her right side pulled.

�Easy, Dr. Sealnon is not going to like to see that some more stitches have been added to his handy work,� Tommy said as Kim just shook her head. He was definitely right about that one. Dr. Sealnon had made it perfectly clear that she not do much more than walk around for the next few weeks and now she had gone and gotten herself captured. She was sure that that was much more than the amount of activity that he thought was safe for her to attempt right now.

�I still think that you should take her in. There may be more damage done than just an external cut,� Billy said as Kim smiled over at him. They had sent the younger rangers home, except for Maddox, who they decided needed to just stay overnight.

�Billy, if it was more than an external cut, I�d be passed out right now. We all know that, we�re not new to the game; we�ve been through it all before, we know better about all of this. There is no need to call more attention to what happened today,� Kim said as Tommy nodded his head in agreement.

�How�s Kat?� Tommy asked as the last time that he had had a long conversation with Billy it had involved him saying several phrases that he would have sworn were not in Billy�s vocabulary until then.

�The morning sickness hasn�t gotten any better, but now it�s only in the morning, so I can be thankful for something,� Billy said as Tommy smiled and Kim reached over and placed her arm around Tommy.

�I can remember the day that you were thankful for that,� Kim said as Tommy nodded his head in agreement. The all day sickness had been almost more than he could take, considering everything else that they had going on, but he was somehow able to make it through those months.

�I can remember the day when it started back up,� Jason said as Kim looked over at him and then looked down. �Kim, none of us blame you for what happened. There was nothing that you could have done to stop Halindon then or now. He�s too powerful and unless we manage to train them quickly, he�s likely to be too much for them as well.�

�Yeah, we�ve got to figure out something, quickly,� Tommy said as Kim nodded as she looked around the room.

�Where�s Chris?� Kim asked looking up at Tommy as he looked down at the ground in deep thought.

�Trini took him to my parents,� Tommy said as Kim barely nodded. She was not sure that she felt good about leaving Chris with his parents, but she was almost certain that he was safer there than he was with the two of them right now.

�What are we going to do?� Kim asked as she covered her face and leaned forward and propped her elbows on her knees.

�About our situation or about the rangers?� Tommy asked, so that he would not say the incorrect answer and find himself back in the dog house after just getting out of it.

�Both,� Kim said as he looked around at the others. They had some of the answers, but there were some answers that he was only capable of at this point. �I can�t go through another day like today, I don�t think that my body will be able to take it until I am able to heal.�

�I don�t think that my heart will be able to take it,� Tommy said as he looked around and then let out a long sigh. What he was about to say was something that he knew the other rangers would not want to do, but they no longer had a choice. Many of their choices had just been taken out of their hands. �We�ve got to amp up their training; they don�t know nearly enough to face Halindon face on and it�s going to happen more now that it has happened the first time. That�s just the way that it is with him. He knows that the only ones that are going to even get close to his skill level are those of us that are not supposed to fight. He�s going to try to pull more morphing out of us and we can�t let that happen.�

�I know,� Kim said as Tommy looked down at her. �I didn�t even consciously think of morphing, my body just did it and I�m sure that the rest of you would do the same if you are put in the same situation. We have to be careful to not get backed into a corner, I don�t know what our powers would do if we had to use them for a prolonged period of time.�

�Sorry, but when are you going to find time to do all of this?� Billy asked as Tommy paced around for a few moments before turning to Billy with a smile.

�All the hours that they were spending here monitoring the hospital are no longer needed. I still want someone here at all times in case something happens, but I think we could work it out to where they were assigned specific days of the week to be here and the other two could actually come and spar. I know that BethAnn and Garrett have school, but when they are done, they are going to have to come in too. There is no telling who he might go after next,� Tommy said as Billy nodded.

�Well, if none of you mind, I think that I might need to be getting home to my wife. She�s not exactly thrilled with me right now,� Billy said as Tommy nodded that he could go and Kim looked back up at him. She was glad that he was at least doing everything he could to keep Billy from becoming a permanent party member of theirs.

�Do you think that is going to be enough?� Jason asked as Tommy just shook his head.

�It�s all we have, I�m going to talk with Hayley and see what sort of technology that she can help Billy come up with, but I don�t really know what else we can do. They just don�t have the fighting skills that they need right now to face someone that has been at this for years, hell we wouldn�t have them if we hadn�t faced so many different foes,� Tommy said as Jason nodded. There were many things that they realized about themselves now that they had not been able to realize earlier. �We�re just going to have to go with what we know has worked in the past and this was the only thing that I was able to do to help the Dino Rangers realize what they needed to do.�

�Yeah, but they were different Tommy, they didn�t have powers that belonged to someone else first, our powers are not as compatible with them as they were with us,� Kim pointed out as Tommy merely nodded.

�But we weren�t meant to keep those powers, we all know that there is a set out there that we will have to eventually take to propel us to where we can get rid of the power source that drives beings to find the earth, but until that day I don�t think we need to see powers again,� Tommy said as Kim nodded.

�Guys, why don�t you just head home?� Trini suggested as Kim looked over at her and gave her a grateful smile.

�We still need to hash some things out,� Tommy said as Kim looked over at him and he then gave her a weak smile. �Are we going to go back home or are we going to try to find a safe place to stay?�

�We have to stay here now...I don�t think that we have a choice about that,� Kim said as Tommy nodded, although he could see that it was killing her to concede that they could no longer live in their home. �But I do want to go home as soon as we can...�

�I know,� Tommy whispered as he leaned down and wrapped his arms around her. �I�ll do what I can about that as well.�

�Thank you,� Kim whispered as she reached up and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

�Come on Maddox, you�ve got to be kidding,� Madeline said as Maddox had explained everything that he had overheard.

�I�m not kidding, Maddie, we are going to be put through hell the next few weeks just to see if we are up to their standards,� Maddox said as Madeline let out a long sigh. It took all that she could muster to not scream at him in frustration. She did not need this sort of news, especially considering what had happened to him today.

�Have you ever really had to spar with Tommy?� Madeline asked as Maddox shook his head no and Madeline took a step away so that she could try to explain it all to him. She was not sure that she could to this without shocking him, but she had to try.

�Is it that bad?� Maddox asked, as he had actually been looking forward to seeing exactly what Tommy could do. The little bit that he had seen let him know that Tommy was a formidable fighter, but he didn�t think that he would face that kind of fighting under controlled circumstances.

�I just have a feeling that everything that Tommy has ever learned while fighting is about to be divulged on us. He is not someone that I would want to mess with if I met him out on the streets and I think that is something that Halindon expects. He expects us to be up to Tommy�s level of fighting, but we aren�t quite there yet and I don�t know if we will ever get there,� Madeline said as Maddox looked over at her.

�We�re not going to be there in a couple of weeks of hard practice either,� Maddox pointed out as Madeline nodded her head in agreement.

�I don�t think that is going to be Tommy�s point either. I think that he knows that we are all going to be tough people to have to go up against if he can just train us a little bit, I know that if they really work with us, we�ll get to where we need to be to be able to function like they did when they were rangers. You know that they actually cared about each other, so he is going to try to instill that in us, with a lot of other things,� Madeline said as Maddox barely nodded as she wrapped her arms around him. �Sorry, you still have a headache, don�t you?�

�Just a small one,� Maddox lied as Madeline slowly let him go.

�Get some rest and don�t worry about what you heard. They kept you here so that you would be able to rest and you haven�t done much of that,� Madeline said as she looked up at him. �I am sure that tomorrow everything will be fine and they�ll have calmed down some from their ranting.�

�You didn�t hear them, Maddie,� Maddox said as Madeline gave him a kiss on the forehead.

�You�re right, I didn�t and I�m sure that they didn�t want to bother you with everything that they were talking about, since you were supposed to be asleep,� Madeline pointed out as Maddox nodded. �Rest and we�ll see about everything in the morning.�

�Thanks for coming,� Maddox said as Madeline gave him a kiss on the cheek and then took a step away.

�It�s no problem, call me if you need anything else,� Madeline said as she teleported away and Maddox let out a long sigh. He had been unable to impress upon her exactly how serious he thought that all of this was and he was sure that she would find out everything in the morning when the others told her the truth. He just wanted to save her from the harsh reality of what was about to happen to them. He was sure that everything that Tommy had said had been said with the distinct purpose of making sure that the others knew just how serious all of this was to him. It was definitely going to be a huge problem just to find the time to do what they so desperately needed to do, but he knew that the older rangers would not let them down. They knew what was at stake better than anyone else and if people were skeptics of that fact, then they were going to have to take a good long look at their legacy. The rangers had done more than anyone else to protect the earth and sadly enough they were only teens when most of it was accomplished and now it was time to make the new rangers into one of them, one of the true rangers that would fight until the end and little did they know just how much they would need that in the weeks to come.

�So, we�ll get into the training regime after lunch?� Fred asked as Madeline nodded that that was their plan and he just grinned in return. He knew that he was going to have a hard time saying anything against the rangers, after everything that he had heard from Madeline and the others over the past several days and this was not even the part that they really wanted him to find out. They wanted to find out how they could guarantee that the earth would no longer need any sort of protection. They had not told the government how it had happened but they had told them that everything was over, they would never need rangers again and that was something that they definitely had to question. It seemed to be the most unrealistic thing in the world for them.

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