Disclaimer : Power Rangers and all related indicia belong to Saban. A few Rangers and family members hither and yon, as well as Bat Trap, belong to me. The Lusitania belongs to the Cunard Line. The planet Mars belongs to God.
Author's Note : Firstly, thanks be to Kari for proofing this. TJ finally gets his fair shake in Earth Crystals. And I feel I should also mention that Earth Crystals will be getting a slightly new format in future fics. Although there will continue to be an underlying subplot that runs through the entire series, each and every fic will also contain its own fully-formed plot. In other words, no more bridge fics. I'd also just like to mention that on Thanksgiving 1997, I spent the entire morning watching the parade and working on my Earth Crystals fic "Armageddon." A lot has changed since then. And since this is the season of Thanksgiving and this fic takes place on Thanksgiving, I'd like to give my thanks. I'd like to thank all who have read Earth Crystals, whether you've read every fic or this is your first one. Your support, even if we have never spoken, truly means a great deal to me. Thank you, and I will hold you and your loved ones in my warmest thoughts during the Holidays.

Thanksgivings
by Jeremy Ray Logsdon

"Greetings, residents of Angel Grove. This is the Blue Morphin Ranger. We have been working through the night and have finally succeeded in getting the telephone company and all of your private lines working again. We will be spending the next few hours working on your electricity. If you see any Rangers on the streets of Angel Grove, please do not approach us so that we may work. We will schedule a Power Rangers Day later with the media if the public desires. Please be patient and we will soon have your power back on again. After that, we will do what we can to fix your automobiles and machinery. We will be accomplishing this with the use of magic. Should any of you have a religious or moral objection to our use of magic on your personal belongings, please file a report with the AGPD and you may turn the damages in on your Monster Insurance. Thank you for your patience and support, and Happy Thanksgiving."

At the Power Station, the exhausted Morphin and Zeo teams of Rangers, and Aisha, were replaced by the Space Rangers, who were given prompts by Alpha and then sent off to work. It was going to be a busy day, but it was Thanksgiving, and all of the Rangers wanted to make sure that the homeless would have a warm place to spend the night and a good meal. To accomplish that, they had to go to the various Homeless Shelters around Angel Grove and get things working. It was going to take several hours at the minimum.

And as soon as the phones were officially working again, Heather St. John's phone rang immediately.

"Morning," Heather said sleepily. "If this is about the Power Rangers, go to hell, please."

"Heather Marie St. John, I will thank you to not speak to your mother like that," Carlene St. John said snappily.

"Mom!" Heather realized. "I'm sorry... That was rude, wasn't it?"

"You can apologize tonight when you come over for dinner," Carlene said. "How was your night?"

"I've got a Purple Senturion guarding my front door," Heather said, "after somebody tried to break in at midnight."

"Someone tried to break in? My God, Heather, this is scary!"

"Mom, I'm a Power Ranger," Heather said. "I could break off a guy's arm and beat him with it before knew it was missing."

"Dear, that's very graphic."

"Hi honey, are you okay?" the much warmer voice of Kelsey, her father, said from another extension.

"I'm fine, Dad," Heather assured him. "I'm going to have to find a new place to live, I'm sure of that much, but... I'm not going to be able to afford this place after I quit, anyhow." (There. Cat... dumped out of the bag.)

"You're what?!" Carlene cried.

"You're quitting?" Kelsey asked calmly at the same moment.

"I decided last night that I can't be in the public view," Heather said. "It just won't work out for me. I'd be promoted unfairly. ... And I'm sure there's a downside I'm just not seeing yet."

"What are you going to do?" Carlene asked.

"I don't know. I might try and get another internship under a different identity. Either of you have a problem with having a brunette daughter?"

"Promise us you'll think about it, okay?" Kelsey asked.

"I promise. Wait, guys, there's a knock at the door."

"It's probably somebody wanting your autograph," Carlene suggested.

"No, it must be someone I know, or else Purple Senturion wouldn't have let them get close enough to knock," Heather said. "I'll see you tonight, okay? Love you." Hanging up the phone, she got out of bed, straightened out her rumpled pink pajamas and trudged toward the front door.

"God, I look awful," Heather mumbled, catching her image in one of the many mirrors in her apartment. She tried rather unsuccessfully to smooth her hair as she walked to the front door.

"It's me," Emily said before Heather even had the chance to look through the peephole. "Let me in."

"Emily, what are you doing here?" Heather asked as she hurriedly unlocked the door. She extended a brief thank you to Purple Senturion, who continued to remain at guard beside the door, and escorted her sister into the apartment. "Wait, that was a stupid question. The Ranger thing, huh? Emily, no offense, but I'm really not in the mood to talk about it," Heather said.

"No, not that," Emily said. "Well, yes, exactly that, but not in the way you think." She walked to the living area, sitting down on her plush couch. "Last night, who was the first Power Ranger there to help you?"

"One of the Black Rangers, I think," she answered. "Why?"

Emily extended her right hand, a shining morpher across her knuckles. Then, silently, she morphed, transforming into the Black Turbo Ranger. "It was me," she answered simply.

"You're a Power Ranger, too?" Heather asked in shock, hurrying over to the couch to sit beside her.

"Since... Well, for a while now. I was the Phantom Ranger. Still am, technically. I just upgraded my armor and got a new name." She powered down and looked Heather in the eyes. "Seeing you last night, like that... It was quite a shock."

"I don't even know what to say," Heather admitted.

Emily kissed her older sister on the cheek and said, "You don't have to say anything. But... if you ever want to talk about it, we can."

"It might be kind of hard," Heather said. "I'd like to keep the rest of my teammate's identities a secret."

"That's understandable," Emily agreed. "But please don't hesitate to call us if you need help."

"You got it," Heather smiled back. The two sisters sat in silence for a bit longer before Heather said, "I'm quitting my job."

"Why?" Emily asked in genuine surprise.

"I talked to DE-... To our mentor this morning, and she's been screening some news reports from around the world. I can never be in the public eye again."

"Heather, that totally sucks."

"I know," she groused. "I really loved that job."

"Then don't quit."

"I have to. They are literally talking about me everywhere." She paused for a bit and said, "Y'know, if I was unscrupulous, I could profit off of this."

"Shame you're scrupulous."

"Yeah," Heather agreed. "Well... I- I don't know. I guess I'll just hide out, eating up my savings 'til this has blown over as much as it ever will... dye my hair, take a new identity, and work as a checkout clerk. I'm gonna go walk over to Andre's house right now," Heather said, quickly finding a baseball cap and pushing all of her hair up underneath it.

"Want a bodyguard?" Emily asked. "I can make Jason get his butt here in like... half a second."

As the three Rangers (Emily had elected to tag along as well) walked through the streets, they found they were attracting no undue attention. All of the Angel Grove-ians were having too much fun playing in the novel snow. No one, in the suburbs, anyhow, knew that three Rangers were in their midst.

"We're gonna go talk to Ernie," Emily said, pulling Jason aside. As Ernie lived just next door to the Fergusons, it was a very short trip. Heather nodded and promptly bounded up the snow covered walk.

She didn't even have a chance to knock on the door, as Adelle was there waiting for her. "Hi Adelle," Heather greeted.

"Mornin' hon," Adelle said. "You doing good?"

"As good as one who has no privacy can be doing," she admitted. "Is Andre home?"

"He's in the kitchen," she said. "He managed to brew some coffee this morning over a fire in a coffee tin, if you're interested."

"Oh, I'd love some," Heather agreed. Adelle escorted her into the kitchen, where Andre was sitting at the table, looking contemplative. "Nice robe, boss."

He chuckled and tugged at the collar of the navy blue robe. "I was expecting you."

"Then I bet you know what I'm going to say."

"Yep," he said.

"I have to quit."

"Are you sure? It will blow over eventually."

"Not if I'm on the news everyday," she told him. "The only way it will blow over is for me to disappear."

"I wish you'd change your mind, Heather," he said. "You could always work behind the scenes."

"The station would still play up to the fact that I'd be working there, and you know it."

"You're right," he said. He appeared to be in deep thought for a few moments and then said, "Don't say anything to the station just yet, okay? Give it a few days, alright?"

"Alright," she relented. "Few days won't hurt anything. I intend to lay low for a lot longer than that, anyway."

"Dude, nice p.j. bottoms," Emily said as Ernie answered the door, wearing an outrageous pair of yellow pajamas and a white t-shirt.

"Emily, Jason," he realized. He blushed a bit and said, "I wasn't really expecting any visitors this morning."

"Can we come in?" Jason asked.

"Uhh... Sure, I guess," Ernie stammered, letting them in. He turned toward the kitchen, but before he could say anything, Nancy, wearing the top-half of his pajamas and apparently nothing else, stepped into full view.

"Where do you keep the-?" And then she saw they had guests. "Oh... Hi."

"I so did not see that coming," Emily admitted. "Not even a little bit."

Nancy, totally unflappable, only attempted to pull the shirt further down her thighs.

"Turn around," Emily snapped at Jason. "Give the woman some privacy." Sighing, and most definitely red-faced, Jason did as he was told. "I wanted to talk to Ernie, but if this is a bad time..."

"I was just about to cut up some fruit for breakfast," Nancy said. "Let me... let us get dressed... Wait here. Okay?"

Emily nodded, and the perfectly poised Nancy and a red-faced Ernie retreated into his bedroom.

"Oh my God," was all Jason could manage to say as he turned back around.

"Oh, grow up," Emily whispered. "Is it so shocking to you that Ernie has a sex life?"

"Frankly? Yes, yes it is."

"That's right," Emily realized. "The media has taught us that fat, jolly people can't have sex or even a sexuality. They're both single, they're both very nice people, and they're both adults. What is it anyone else's business?"

"You're right," he consented. "It's just... fairly... surprising. Still, though... Nancy, she's hot."

"Ernie's the man," Emily agreed, sitting on the couch's arm. "You'll get no disagreement from me."

"So," Ernie said again as he stepped out of his bedroom, now fully dressed. Nancy appeared a few moments later in the outfit she had on the night before. "You wanted to see me?"

"You know that the Youth Center was destroyed, I suppose," Emily said, sincerely hoping that she wasn't the bearer of such horrible news.

"Yeah," he sighed, sitting down on the couch beside Jason. "I just... I'm still kind of numb about it."

"The Youth Center was an official Monster Shelter, right?" Nancy asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Just wondering," she answered. She furrowed her brow in thought but said nothing.

"You had insurance, right?" Emily asked.

"Of course," he said. "It's very tragic, but... no one was hurt, and it was just a building. It can be rebuilt."

"I'm going to go out for a minute," Nancy said, standing up. "I'll be back in a bit... A thought just came to me, and I want to check into it." Before the others could ask her to explain, she was already gone out the door.

"I just mainly wanted to let you know that I'm gonna stick with you, Ernie," Emily said. "I was just working for extra spending money, so it's not like I have to hurry out and get another job right away."

"Thank you, Emily. That means more to me than you might think," Ernie told her. Changing the subject, he asked, "So, how was the fight last night?"

"Billy, what are you still doing here?" Trini asked as she walked into the mammoth Zord Holding Bay. The large doors were open, looking out over the snow covered desert valley. Rita's spell would wear off soon enough, and when it did, the snow would melt very quickly, but until then, it was a beautiful sight.

"I'm just fine-tuning the Turbo Zords," he said. "I'm almost done."

She finally made her way to the section of the Bay dedicated to the six Turbo vehicles and leaned against Mountain Blaster. "Are you and your family going to join us for dinner tonight?"

"We'll have to teleport there, since we can't exactly walk three miles with the snow still on," he answered, "but we'll be there."

"Good," Trini said. "Mom's trying to cook the turkey in our old wood stove. Oh, and Mom said you can bring the pets."

"The tiger, too?"

"That's why she wants them there," Trini answered, smiling her typical Trini smile that filled Billy with warmth. "She wants to see the blue Tiger Cub. And of course, Monroe and Samantha are welcome, too." She paused and watched him work for a bit before saying, "Come on, Billy, let the Zord droids do this."

"I enjoy working on the Zords," Billy told her.

"Well, I'm going to go build a snowman with Ash and Sydney," Trini told him. "Do you and Justin wanna come with?"

Billy rolled out from beneath Dune Star and looked up at her thoughtfully. Then, raising his wrist to his mouth, he asked, "Alpha, do you think you can handle the Zords on your own?"

"I can dispatch the Zord Droids, Billy."

"Then I'd love to," the Blue Ranger answered. He wrapped his arms around her securely and activated his teleporter.

"I was wondering if you'd ever come back," Ernie commented with a grin as he held the door open for Nancy, holding a small, eighty-page notebook. She had been gone for several hours.

"Ernie, you are like a kajillionaire now," Nancy said. "I was at the library, reading in the stacks with a candle, but..."

"Nancy, I'm already lost. What are you talking about?"

"The Youth Center was considered an official Monster Shelter," she said, "and I remembered hearing something on the news about how the insurance for Monster Shelters and surrounding buildings fit into some kind of weird clause. To prevent people from flat-out leaving Angel Grove, in the event of destruction or damage, you get paid on some weird scale. And it comes from the city, not even an insurance company."

She continued talking as she walked to the kitchen table, and Ernie was trying his best to keep up with her.

"If insurance was high because of the monster attacks, the city realized people would be leaving," Nancy said. She opened the notebook on the table and pointed to her near illegible scribbling. "But in the event of destruction of either monster shelter OR surrounding business or residence, provided the money is spent on the rebuilding of said shelter and business or residence, then MORE money will be given than if it was destroyed in a fire or flood, something natural."

"Go on," he said as she paused.

"You have eight hundred thousand dollars insurance on the Youth Center, right?"

"Right."

"Well, you get twice that just because it was a monster shelter, and because you were a nearby business, you'll get twelve times that."

"Twelve times?!" Ernie shouted.

"The city was never expecting to have to pay off!" she cried back happily. "I read all about it in some old clippings from 1994. The Rangers, by that point, had assured the city that the event of an attack taking place near a monster shelter was... well, monumental. So the city took the gamble that it would never happen. But it just did, and you can cash in."

"How much money am I going to get?" Ernie asked.

"Remember you have to spend it all on the rebuilding, but, if I figured correctly, then you've got ten point four million dollars coming in."

Marge was truly surprised to find that she had finally reached the very last page of the magical book DECA had given her. She had spent so many months reading the magical tome. Thousands of pages of magical information, and all of it preliminary, just getting her ready for the beginning of her Mancing Ability, and she was finally finished. Fin was written at the bottom of the last page in elegant script.

When she closed the book and reopened it, it was another book yet again. This time, though, it wasn't the continuing epic saga of generations of Mancers past. The fun stuff was finally going to begin for her.

Smiling and biting her bottom lip gently in anticipation, she began to read the first page. "How to Select Your Ability." She flipped through a few pages, finding that they were now lined with hand-drawn pictures of other Magic-Makers. Their name lay beneath their picture, and a brief description was given of how they had successfully determined their field of expertise was beneath that.

"This may be harder than I thought," she muttered. She flipped through the pages, finding that as she neared the end of the book, she realized something. The pages near the beginning were only reserved for the most famous of Mancers, and they were all dead. The majority of the book, though, contained pictures and descriptions of EVERY Mancer who was alive on Earth, a brief description, and even their mailing address. She quickly realized that the book was still seeped with magic, as no matter how fast she turned the pages, she wasn't moving any further ahead in the book. After all, the book didn't appear to be more than a few hundred pages thick, but she had already scanned through more pages of Mancers than that.

"I can't wait for my bio to be in here," she murmured. But then, she stopped in midthought as her thumb landed on a page with the picture of a VERY familiar person. The picture showed a nice looking, sixty-ish white man in jeans and a shirt. He looked very casual. Written beneath his picture :

Kolby Lubbock, Aquamancer, Aged 65 years, Current Residence 1992 Brady Street, Angel Grove, California.

"Papaw!" Marge cried.

To her surprise, his picture came to life, looking directly at her and smiling. "Well, Marjorie, it has certainly taken you long enough to uncover THIS family secret."

"You mean... I'm not the first Lubbock to train to be a Mancer?" she asked in disbelief. She didn't even acknowledge how bizarre it was that she was conversing with the image of her grandfather, who lived just down at the other end of the block.

"Being inclined toward magic skips generations and genders in our family," he said. "My grandmother was a Mancer, her grandfather was a Mancer... Now you'll carry on our tradition."

"Will I be an Aquamancer, too?"

"Oh, dear, that's for you to discover on your own," he said. "We'll talk more when I come over for dinner tonight. See you then, dear."

"Bye Papaw," she said in surprise as his image returned to its static, hand-drawn state. She closed the book and looked up at the ceiling in surprise. "Unbelievable. I have to tell DECA!"

"We're very glad we can help," Ashley said, standing up and gently shaking the woman's hand.

"And it's still early enough we can cook a real Thanksgiving dinner," she continued, her face beaming.

"You have a good Thanksgiving, ma'am," TJ said, a smile evident in his voice.

"If you need anything, contact the Police Department to get ahold of us," Ashley said. The woman continued her thanks, and the two Rangers had to literally walk out in mid-praise just to get away. Her gratitude did thoroughly warm them both.

A quick beep sounded from their private radio system, and Andros' voice came through loud and clear. "Ashley and TJ, the generator that Zhane and I installed over at the Chestnut shelter seems to be malfunctioning," Andros said. "The lights are apparently all blowing out. Could one of you please go check it out? You're closer than either of us are."

"I'll go," TJ volunteered. "I'll catch up with you as soon as I'm done, Ash."

"Good deal," Ashley said. "Thanks for telling us, Andros." The radio cut off quickly. "I'll be over on Winthorpe Boulevard."

"It shouldn't take me but a minute," TJ said. "I imagine I already know what's wrong."

"Klank, Orbus, Top Deck!" Astronema shouted, slamming the blunt end of her Wrath Staff into the floor.

In a cog-shaped teleportation circle, the two robots appeared at attention. "How can we serve ye, Astronema?" Klank asked eagerly.

She paused and took a deep breath. Jenga was gone, and this was it. Her first "real" assignment on the planet Earth. She had done fine on her own before, she knew that, but this time still seemed different. "Do you have any hand-fighters ready?"

"None yet, Astronema," Orbus answered quickly. "But we are continually working on our plans."

Astronema clucked her tongue and looked downward. It wasn't the answer she wanted. "Do you have any old monsters lying around?" she asked. "I'm not interested in a full-scale battle. I just had a fleeting thought that maybe the best way to destroy the Rangers would be one at a time."

"We have a few monsters remaining from our time in the Machine Empire," Klank told her.

Orbus spun to the left and a beam of light shone from the middle of his small body. A holographic display unit floated in the air before Astronema, and the monsters began to appear in the glowing cube of light as Klank briefly described them.

"That one," Astronema interrupted as a silver bat machine flashed before her. It wasn't a typical monster, as it looked exactly like a bat. It wasn't humanoid; it was just a skinny body with large, thin wings extending off each side. "Describe it fully."

"That beast is Bat Trap," Klank said. "He can create a force field around his body to trap the Rangers, giving him full advantage over the battlefield. He can hover, giving him the ability to fight on land, or he can fly for aerial battles. His weapon of choice is a laser system. Wingspan is twelve feet at Ranger size, one hundred and twenty at Zord size. Strength level, 4.9. Maneuverability, 9.3. Weapons system, 9.1."

"I'll take him. Send him after the Blue Space Ranger, immediately," Astronema ordered.

"Right away, yer majesty," Klank agreed.

Astronema turned and strolled away from the two robots. "That was very respectable, Astronema," Zedd remarked from the sitting lounge. "Mom would be proud."

"Is that sarcasm, Zedd?" Astronema asked, turning toward the much larger demon. She brushed her pink hair over her shoulders, fixing him with an icy glare.

"It was a compliment," he said sincerely.

"Then thank you," she said curtly, walking away from him. She paused, though, at the doorway and looked over her shoulder. "Zedd, I would advise you get off your metal-plated butt, do something worthwhile, and put this mopey-depression thing behind you. So you were defeated. Big, fat, hairy deal." And with that, she left.

Zedd stared at the doorway angrily, but then, he stopped his emotions cold. She was right. He did need to do something. He had to do something decent, just so he could get on with his life. Forget destruction. He wanted to create something.

Hoisting his golden Z-staff, he teleported himself into the bowels of the ship. In the original version of the Lusitania, the mammoth room he was currently standing in had been home to the engines and boilers. Now, it was an impressive laboratory, superior to anything found on Earth. He pointed his staff at an empty spot next to the wall and produced a drawing board. Then, sitting down, he picked up a pencil, rolled out a sheet of paper, and began to write.

Putties, Z-Putties, Tengu Warriors, Tengas, Cogs, Piranhatrons, Quantrons.

He growled low in his throat and tapped his fingers on the desk. Humanoids, fish, birds, robots, and organo-machines. There were surely some ideas remaining for their hand fighters. (Lizards... Maybe insects...) Then he shook his head. He didn't care for either. There was surely a perfect idea just waiting for him to think of it.

"Blue Ranger!" Bat Trap shouted as he swooped down from the sky.

TJ spun toward the direction of the shout, and as soon as he realized that he was about to be dive-bombed by a giant bat machine, he somersaulted to the ground. The bat flew over him, turning as soon as it had cleared his body. TJ jumped to his feet and raised his wrist to his mouth. "Alpha! Dimitria! Monster!"

Unfortunately, there wasn't even static to answer him. "You are in my field, Ranger!" Bat Trap shouted. A forty foot invisible force field surrounded them. TJ could only get forty feet away from Bat Trap, maximum, before he reached an invisible barrier. He found it quickly and punched it. Faint ripples of blue light diverged from the punch, but it didn't even attempt to give. He surmised that radio communication was blocked as well.

"Who are you?!"

"You can call me Bat Trap!" the beast snarled. It hovered effortlessly in the alley, about four feet off of the ground and perfectly parallel to it. From the eyes, two red lasers fired.

"Astro Axe!" TJ shouted. As soon as the weapon appeared in his hands, he turned the flat of the blade parallel to his body, blocking the two shots with it. Sparks flew, but before they even settled, he drew his AstroBlaster with his right hand and quickly switched the weapons. He preferred to fire with his left hand. He released a volley of three blue shots at Bat Trap. Each shot struck Bat Trap on its right wing as it brought the wing down defensively.

But then, to TJ's sudden surprise, he was yanked off of his feet. He glanced up and saw Bat Trap flying straight up into the air. There was essentially a forty foot leash between them, and TJ was unable to do anything but go along for the ride.

It was as though TJ was resting on a curved surface. He couldn't even manage to get to his feet. TJ attempted to fire at Bat Trap, but he couldn't stay still long enough to get a good shot in.

He failed to see what purpose this was accomplishing. Bat Trap wasn't even attempting to attack him. He was just being yanked through the air. That's what he thought, anyhow, before red laserfire rained down on him.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and TJ was on his feet on the unsteady, phantom surface before he even realized it. He leapt forward, and ripples of blue energy on the invisible force field told him its boundaries. Since it was forty feet in every direction, it was like being trapped inside a gargantuan sphere, with Bat Trap at the center.

Then, he glanced down, and he saw that they were thousands of feet above the surface. He was able to look at all of Angel Grove at once.

"I hope this works," he muttered to himself. "Galaxy Glider, online!" As he waited impatiently for the Galaxy Glider to reach him, he hoped that the force field worked in only one direction and it could pass through the barrier.

Far below, inside the Zord Holding Bay, the Blue Galaxy Glider sprang to life and roared out of the building. It locked onto TJ's signal and flew toward him.

"Yes!" TJ shouted as the barrier flickered blue when his Galaxy Glider pushed through it. The field wobbled, but it didn't break. His suspicions were right. It was a one-way field. Things could get inside, but once there, they couldn't get out.

He stood on his Galaxy Glider and flew up the side of the spherical force field. As the Galaxy Glider began to tilt, he grabbed onto the side with his right hand to hold on and pointed his left hand with the AstroBlaster at Bat Trap. He pulled back on the trigger and let a continual barrage of energy loose at the machine. The shots bounced off of its metallic skin, causing minimal damage and maximum anger.

Screaming, Bat Trap turned its head at TJ and fired a hard, intense laser beam at TJ. It hit him in the midsection, causing him to lose his grip. His AstroBlaster clattered to the bottom of the sphere and the Galaxy Glider powered down, the bottom thumping against the sphere. TJ himself slammed into the opposite side, intense blue light shooting out from the hit.

Instantly, red hot fire exploded across his back, and he knew he had been hit. He folded his arms against his chest and somersaulted down the side of the sphere. As he tumbled down the force field, he realized that he was far out of the Earth's atmosphere. The sky was black and littered with stars, and as he rolled, he kept his eyes tightly shut. It was too unnerving to see the Earth roll in and out of his field of vision.

When he reached the bottom, he landed on his AstroBlaster and yanked it up in both hands. Falling on his back, he pointed up at Bat Trap and fired. Three clouds of blue and red sparks burst from the contact points on Bat Trap's belly. The cry of rage that followed gave TJ a brief surge of adrenaline, and he jumped to his feet and sailed up through the sphere, grabbing onto the edge of the wobbling Galaxy Glider.

With a literal whoosh, they flew past the moon. The sight of it simultaneously startled and amazed TJ. He also made the mistake of looking back at it. When he did, Bat Trap took advantage of his distraction and fired a single shot at his shoulder.

TJ shouted as sparks bounced off of his shiny, blue armor and clamped his right hand over the spot. This time, at least, he managed to stay on the Galaxy Glider, even if he was knocked to his knees.

"Where are you taking us?!" TJ shouted. He suddenly got alarmed. The Rangers didn't know where he was. They would be missing him soon enough, but a lot could happen, in outer space, essentially tied to a monster that had the upper hand, alone. He didn't like the scenario, and he quickly ordered himself to stop thinking about it.

A red star was looming toward them, and it quickly grew bigger. It was no star, he knew. It was either Jupiter or Mars. He didn't know which. (Think, TJ, think!) he ordered himself. (There has to be a way out of this!)

He suddenly remembered the various helmet accessories that Zhane had brought with him on the MegaShip. He ran through the list, finally deciding that a simple Scan Mode would be to his benefit. "Activating Power Scan!" he shouted.

There was a whoosh of light, and the black visor on his helmet was replaced with a silver sheet, split horizontally with a blue light that continually traveled from side to side. His field of vision was greatly enhanced, with information of all sorts appearing before him. A glance at the approaching planet revealed it to be Mars.

Knowing his whereabouts was a minor victory, seeing as he didn't really know what Bat Trap was planning to do. The machine was moving too fast for TJ to successfully scan and determine its trajectory.

Standing tall on his Galaxy Glider, he flew toward Bat Trap. With Astro Axe drawn, he moved beneath the belly of the machine and hit, hard. The sharp edge of his weapon temporarily split the skin of Bat Trap. The wound quickly healed, leaving a ragged, metallic scar. And then, as he turned around to sweep in for another hit, he realized that the Red Planet was much closer than it had been a few moments before. The planet seemed to loom high above TJ, filling the top half of his vision. He realized that Bat Trap wasn't planning to divert course like he had with the moon as Mars got larger and larger.

Due to their high speed, TJ wasn't even able to discern exactly when Mars' gravity grabbed them. The planet had been above them, but suddenly, it was below them, and they were falling fast. The blackness of space was replaced, and rather quickly, by the pink Martian atmosphere. But he didn't have much time to enjoy the beautiful sight. A red laser struck his stomach; it was a small hit, but it took him so by surprise it succeeded in knocking him off of his Galaxy Glider.

At first, he just felt himself land at the bottom of the spherical force field. Then, a moment later, intense pain wracked his body as he was slammed into the Martian landscape. Reddish-brown dust billowed up around him and he felt a few painful rocks scrape against his armor. He pulled his arms in against his body and rolled with the impact. It hurt horribly, but he knew the pain was temporary and he jumped to his feet, not wanting to give Bat Trap any advantage.

A split second later, his unmanned Galaxy Glider hit the ground. It hadn't been designed for collisions, and as such, it completely blew apart, making it unusable. He would have been scared by it, but instead, he just took it in stride. Bat Trap had to be destroyed now. Another jaunt through space without a surface to stand on would prove fatal.

Bat Trap slowly lowered to the surface. The machine obviously thought that it had the upper hand. As it lowered, TJ slowly walked backwards with one arm stretched out behind him. He soon found the barrier, and there was no further he could walk.

He reached for his hip, but his AstroBlaster wasn't there. He enhanced vision saw it resting on the ground near the ruins of his Galaxy Glider, but unlike his weapons, it wasn't affected by his pocket dimension. He couldn't get to it. All he had was his Astro Axe.

Except... He remembered something Alpha had told him several months prior, around the same time that Zhane had given Zordon and Alpha the disk with all of the various Ranger functions he had found in the MegaShip's computer system. "All of our Rangers now have the ability to call on the Metallic Armor. This new version is more stable than the previous Metallic Armor. It can be used in any environment and for longer lengths of time." He had never used it, but from his talks with Tommy, it was apparently a pretty powerful tool.

"Metallic Armor!" he shouted, thrusting his fist against the sky. "Power up!"

A wave of blue light washed over him, and when it cleared, he found himself transformed. The normal, bright blue of his armor was now even more vibrant and underlain with what seemed to be glitter. The white areas of his suit was now a glittery silver, and from head to toe, he was literally shining. Thus far, though, the armor seemed to be purely decorative.

"That's a nice trick, Ranger," Bat Trap snarled, "but if you think it will save you, you're even more foolish than I had thought!" With eyes wide, two red laser beams were fired at TJ.

He dropped into a kneeling position to protect his torso, but the beams still struck him. There was an intense tingling sensation, but he realized, and quite happily, that it hadn't actually injured him. The red energy was crackling across his armor, giving him an eerie, purple hue.

"We'll see who the fool is!" TJ shouted. He discarded Astro Axe, pulled his fists against his torso, concentrated, and snapped his hands outward, channeling the red energy out of his hands. It streamed through the air and hit Bat Trap.

As soon as the red energy was gone from his body, he began to run toward Bat Trap. After a few steps, he shouted, "Metallic Armor! Fireball Mode!" Blue, sparkling flames lit up all over his body, giving him the appearance of a blue, human torch. He jumped off of the ground, was completely consumed by the flames, and a human-sized ball of the beautiful, blue fire rushed toward Bat Trap. It struck the beast in the center of the body and emerged from the other side. It traveled a great distance, tearing through the barrier as well, and only after traveling a few hundred yards did it coalesce back into the form of the Blue Space Ranger.

He landed in a kneeling position with arms outspread, and he quickly got to his feet and turned around. Bat Trap was wobbling uneasily, a hole bored through the center of its body. And then, it fell to the ground and exploded in a bright red fireball, utterly destroyed.

"YES!" TJ shouted, jumping into the air and pumping his fist triumphantly. And at that moment, he realized two things that filled him with a great deal of pride. One, he had just, for the first time, defeated a monster entirely on his own. And two, he was the first Earthling to ever stand on Mars. Sighing happily, he lifted his wrist to his mouth and said, "Alpha, TJ calling in. Do you read me?"

After a moment, he heard an answer. "TJ! Aye-yi-yi! Our computers are saying you're on Mars!"

"I am," he answered. "I'll explain when I get back. My Galaxy Glider is pretty well trashed. Can you teleport it home for me? For that matter, can I teleport home from here?"

"Certainly, TJ," Alpha said. His Galaxy Glider was consumed in a flash of blue light, a stark contrast to the pink atmosphere of Mars. TJ hurried over to the spot, picked up his Astro Blaster, as well as a small pebble nearby as a momento. Then, he touched his morpher and disappeared in a flash of light.

"Klank, you worthless hunk of metal!" Astronema shouted as she stormed down the rickety metal staircase leading into his lab. "Your monster was defeated by one, puny Ranger!"

"Dare I say duh?" Orbus chirped sarcastically.

Klank quickly swatted him with one hand. "But yer majesty, ordinary monsters just aren't capable of defeating the Power Rangers!"

Astronema paused, and Zedd, still bent over his workstation, raised his head to look at the robot. "What?" he asked.

"Statistics show that the average monster has almost no chance of defeating even one Ranger," Klank explained. "The only time Rangers are ever defeated is when a worldwide planetary attack. Of course, there are the exceptional powerful monsters, like Goldgoyle, Wolfbane, or Pirantishead. But such monsters are particularly difficult to create. They usually require months... even years or decades of work to complete! I thought you knew this."

"So what possible purpose do monsters like Bat Trap serve?" she asked, scowling.

"They give us an insight into the Power Rangers," Klank said. "From today's fight, we learned that TJ is a very enterprising individual and capable of strength in the face of danger. He also favors his left side, and an attack to his right shoulder can be temporarily debilitating. And of course, there is always the 1 in 50,000 chance that we'll catch the Rangers on an off day and successfully defeat them."

"It also instills the fear of the UAE in them," Zedd added. Klank nodded in agreement.

Astronema pondered this for a moment and then said, "Very well. But please warn me ahead of time if the monster we are sending into battle will not be returning."

"Certainly, Miss Astronema," Orbus promised.

She eyed them suspiciously for a few moments more before she turned and walked up the stairs. Besides, she didn't truthfully care if the Rangers were defeated. She and Jenga had their own plans for the Earth, and the Rangers had little to do with it. Their presence had no effect on the Quickening. Jenga's plan had been to just keep the Rangers occupied and unsuspecting until March 1999. Astronema would continue the tradition.

"Metallic Armor, Power Down!" TJ cried as soon as he appeared in the Power Station. The intense coloration and glitter quality of his armor vanished with a few sparkles of light, leaving him in his normal armor.

"TJ, can I assume that your use of the Metallic Armor proved successful?" Dimitria asked.

"It was incredible!" he shouted. "Man, I can't wait to try it out again."

"I'll get to work on your Galaxy Glider right away," Alpha volunteered, leaving promptly.

TJ walked over to the control panels, quickly opening a communications channel with Ashley. "Hey Ashley, sorry I'm late," TJ said. "I got... detained."

"That's okay, TJ," she returned. "You've already fixed the problem on Chestnut Street, right? I'm almost finished at Helping Hands, and this is my last stop. We're almost done."

"Great," he said. "I'll be there in a sec, anyway." He gave a slight wave at Dimitria and teleported away, leaving her alone in the Power Station.

From inside her glowing tube of light, she accessed the computers, looking over Angel Grove. Her Rangers had done quite well. It wasn't quite one in the afternoon, and they had successfully restored power to all of the homeless shelters and soup kitchens in the area. They made her proud. She looked forward to giving them the rest of the afternoon off. There was a few hours of work left for her and Alpha, but the Rangers wouldn't be necessary for the magic weaving. Provided there was no interference, the Rangers would at least get the night off.

"No turkey?" Maggie asked, looking at the spread of cold-cut sandwiches and various chips on the table.

"No oven," Ruby answered. "We're lucky we could get this."

"I think it will be a fine meal, Mrs. Hammond," Martin remarked.

"Ruby," she corrected. Everyone took their seats, Samuel gave a short but grateful family prayer, and as they raised their heads, she said, "We have a tradition here, like most families. We tell what we're thankful for. And if it's okay, I'd like to begin. It's really more of a family announcement, but it's good news, so I'll tell it with everyone here."

"Oh God," Molly and Ashley groaned in unison.

"What's wrong?" Andros asked, looking at Ashley.

"Again?!" Maggie protested. "Mother!" She then reached out and slapped her father on the shoulder with the back of her hand.

Ruby frowned at her three oldest daughters just before she proudly announced, "I'm pregnant!"

"So this is like, what? Babies twelve through sixteen?" Ashley asked.

"Ashley, I'm not going to have quintuplets," Ruby said. "I like singletons better. Twins and triplets wear me out."

"Hey!" Maggie, Molly, Kandi, Sandi, and Randi all protested in unison. The two littlest twins just looked on with mild interest.

"Actually, Mom, I think babies are cool," Ashley said.

"So, are you going to get yourself spayed after this one?" Molly asked.

"Yeah, Mom," Maggie said. "Aren't you getting too old to have babies?"

"In the interest of family unity during the holidays, I'll ignore that, Maggie," Ruby said smartly. "And I'm just thirty-nine."

"Well," Samuel said, "I am thankful that I am the proud father to eleven wonderful children, with one to four more on the way. Oh, and I'm also grateful that Maggie finally stopped crying over Calvin and Hobbes."

"Because it ended?" Martin asked.

"Uh oh," Ashley muttered, catching sight of Maggie's slightly trembling lower lip.

"Didn't we agree to never bring that up again?" Ruby asked, giving her husband a stern look.

"I thought she was over it!" Samuel protested.

"Am I missing something?" Martin asked carefully. "Are you sad because the comic strip ended?"

"No," Maggie said in a soft, sad voice. "I'm sad because Hobbes isn't real. He's just a stuffed animal and Calvin was just a crazy little kid."

"Maggie, no!" Molly cried suddenly. "Remember that phone call from Bill Watterson!"

"Who's Bill Watterson?" Zhane asked.

"Creator of Calvin and Hobbes," Jesse James whispered to him. "Maggie just started freaking out after Dad got her a book of Calvin and Hobbes cartoons for her birthday. Mom managed to get ahold of Bill Watterson, and-"

"And he said that Hobbes WAS real, remember?" Molly goaded her sister. "He said-"

Finally smiling, Maggie wiped at her damp left eye and said, "He said that Hobbes was both a stuffed tiger and a real tiger, and it just depended on whether Calvin was alone with him or not that made the difference."

"Maggie, it's a really good thing that you're pretty," Ashley commented.

"Was that an insult?" Maggie asked, shifting moods rapidly and narrowing her eyes at her younger sister.

"Girls," Samuel said sternly. "C'mon, who's thankful for something?"

"I think we should be thankful that we survived the fight," Molly said, raising her Styrofoam cup into the air.

"Hear, hear," Samuel agreed.

"I'd like to extend my thanks for including me in your family meal," Martin commented, turning to Maggie and giving her a partial smile. At her returned smile, he began to grin all over himself.

"Us too," Zhane said.

"I think we should thank the Power Rangers, wherever they are," Samuel said.

Ashley cast a quick glance at the red communicator shining on Martin's wrist in the dim candlelight. "I think so, too," she agreed. She quirked her brow as Molly and Maggie both smiled very eagerly at that, but she quickly dismissed it along with all of the other eccentricities her older sisters exhibited. There were far too many to keep count.

"I think the snow is cool," Jesse James, one of the younger Hammond brothers, commented. "So I'm thankful for that."

"Me too," Zhane said with a boyish smile.

"I'm thankful me, Sandi, and Randi aren't as stupid as Maggie," Kandi commented.

"Girls!" Ruby shouted. "For heaven's sake, be nice to your big sister!"

"It was sad!" Maggie cried. "The kid was just nuts if Hobbes wasn't a real tiger!"

"I'm thankful that all of the people I love are here, safe and sound," Ruby interrupted. "Now let's eat before somebody starts crying."

"Is this what I missed by being an only child?" Martin asked of Maggie. At her nod, he said, "Man, you all are so lucky."

"Read it back to me," Tommy requested.

"Hold on," Katherine said as she signed her name elegantly at the bottom of the note. Then, she began to read it aloud.

"Dimitria and Alpha, we are giving you this note in the belief that you will respect our wishes and keep our decision in the utmost of secrecy until we have returned. We are officially requesting a brief vacation from the power, although we can and will serve in the event of an emergency. We will be keeping our morphers and communicators with us, just in case. We do not expect you to lie for us, but please also do not volunteer any information that is not absolutely necessary. Don't worry; we've taken measures so that our families will not note our absence until we have returned. Gratefully yours, Tommy and Katherine."

She paused and then said, "It's good enough."

"You really want to go through with this?" he asked.

She took a deep breath and said, "If you honestly believe you can support us, then..."

"Remember that check Uncle Frank gave me just this past weekend," Tommy said. "You have a scholarship, I've already got us an apartment in Silver Falls, and I'm still working at the track."

Katherine smiled and took one last look at her basement apartment. She was suddenly struck with a beat of sadness, realizing she would never again be coming home to stay. Not for good. But then again, she was also going to be able to sleep next to the man she loved for the rest of her life. They were both young in age, but being a Ranger had made them so much older than numbers could express. And they were both ready to move on. Together.

"I'm ready, Tommy," Katherine said. She picked up her suitcase and blew out the candle, plunging the basement into total darkness.

"To you I belong, Katherine," he murmured. He kissed her free hand, and then, he activated his teleporter. The darkness of her basement was temporarily lit up with red and pink light, and then, it was empty.

"That was a wonderful dinner, Mai-Ly," Rebecca Cranston complimented. "Your family should come over to our house for Christmas dinner."

"That'd be lovely," Mai-Ly Kwan agreed. "Hopefully, we'll have power back by then."

"It's a shame we couldn't see your Christmas tree lit up," Rebecca agreed. The Kwans decorated early, as their house, inside and out, was lavishly decorated for the upcoming holidays. It was also dark and unlit, as power still hadn't been restored.

In the living room, the Cranstons' three pets were sleeping lazily in front of the fireplace, basking in the warmth of the roaring fire. Lex, the blue tiger cub, was continually getting larger. She was already far bigger than your average dog, and she still had a lot of growing to do. Fortunately, she was as friendly as a kitten.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, the tall Christmas tree in the corner lit up, casting tiny, multi-colored specks of light across the room. The angel at the top glowed to life, and the slow, steady hum of various appliances being turned on filled the house.

"The lights are back!" Ashley Kwan cried happily, jumping to her feet.

Trini got off of the couch and walked out to the front porch. The Christmas lights on the railing were on, and porch lights all up and down her street were glowing brightly. She glanced back at the door and smiled as Billy walked out to join her.

"Looks like things are back to normal," he commented, leaning on the railing next to her.

"As normal as they ever are," she said. Then, smiling impishly, she looked above them and observed, "Oh, look... Mistletoe. That's a Christmas law, y'know."

"Well, I'm not one to break the laws of Christmas," he said, pulling her into his arms.

"Dulcea, we are picking up a unique disturbance in the space surrounding Phaedos," Dimitria said.

"I'm leaving right now," Dulcea said, strapping her communicator to her wrist and quickly changing into her warrior outfit. As she stepped into her knee-high boots, she added, "Keep an eye on the planet in case assistance is needed."

Activating her communicator, she teleported away in a sweep of silver light.

The distance to Phaedos was great, and it took several long minutes for her to reach the distant planet. Eventually, however, she teleported onto the ruins of the Ninjetti Temple.

The light of her teleportation had barely lifted from her eyes before she was rushed. She didn't identify the creatures, but they appeared to be humanoid insects. Before they actually attacked, though, they backpedaled, realizing that she was not their target.

Unfortunately for them, it was too late. Dulcea used her baton to split the skull of the insect closest to her. It promptly dissolved into a column of green ichor and slime, collapsing with a splash under its own weight.

Realizing her to be a real threat, the insects began to fight back, but Dulcea was a far greater warrior than anything they had obviously faced before. There was only about a dozen in all, and she quickly dispatched of all of them. As the last was defeated and collapsed, the green puddles of slime composing them vanished, leaving no trace behind.

"I think this was an assassination attempt," she muttered to herself. Just as she was about to leave so she could at least have access to the computers in the Power Station, a whirling vortex of light opened behind her.

She calmly turned toward the light, facing into the strong wind blowing from it. Mostly white, it was suddenly smeared through with yellow. A burst of light issued from it, and a yellow Power Ranger rolled out of it, sliding across the loose gravel of the Training Grounds.

The Ranger stopped at Dulcea's feet. The Yellow Ranger, a female, was wearing armor unlike any Ranger she had ever seen. It was perfectly normal in form, but the design itself was completely foreign to her. The chest and back was white with a black zigzag across the abdomen. The gloves and boots, also white, possessed the same zigzag on their cuffs. And as the Ranger lifted her head toward Dulcea, she saw that it was emblazoned with the image of a wolf. Dulcea reached down and pulled the Ranger to her feet, seeing a glint of gold on the Ranger's belt. A gold coin lay nestled in the morpher there, so obviously, this Ranger or the culture she came from had come into contact with Ninjor at some point. She only caught a glimpse of the coin itself, but she did know that there wasn't a wolf there, so this person was likely a Ninja Ranger.

"Who are you?" the Ranger asked frantically. Her voice was filled with panic, and she looked behind herself nervously. The vortex continued to glow brightly. "Is this Phaedos? Are you Dulcea?"

"I am Dulcea, and this is Phaedos," she answered. "Who are YOU? Are you okay?"

"My name is Maya," she said. "The planet Mirinoi is under attack and I am the only Ranger we have! Please help us!"

"There are Rangers on Earth who can help," Dulcea told her. "I can return and-"

"There is NO time," Maya insisted. "We have five more Quasar Sabers, but there is no one else who is destined to receive the powers. We don't know what to do! I can't stop them on my own!"

Dulcea pressed her communicator and said, "Alpha, send Ninjor and the two Senturions to Phaedos, immediately. We have an emergency. Instruct them to enter the vortex here. It will take them to the planet Mirinoi."

"Dulcea, do you need Ranger assistance?" Dimitria asked.

"I can't explain, Dimitria," Dulcea said. "I'll have one of the Senturions send word when we know the rest of the story. Dulcea out." Looking at Maya, she asked, "Is this vortex stable?" As soon as Maya nodded, Dulcea took her by the arm and said, "Let's go."

The two powerful women ran at the vortex and leaped into it. The white light was stained yellow and silver briefly, and then, they were gone.

End