The three Rangers charged to attack.

Chamak snapped out with his spare arms. He swung wide knife-hand chops and ridge-hand blows.

Gao Yellow snapped open her wings and leapt into the air. The monster swung his fists towards her, swinging his extended arms upward.

Gao Blue took advantage of the opening. He jumped at Chamak and spun, clawing the monster with bursts of spark.

The Yellow Ranger dove and past the monster while clawing his body.

Gao Red pounced, used his claws to scale up the building and lunged at the monster. The Red Ranger swung his claws, slashing Chamak with bursts of spark that knocked him several steps backward.

Gao Red pressed forward, swiping his claws and swinging his elbows, bashing the monster before he could counter.

"We can still fight without weapons." Gao Red elbowed the monster, clawed his face, and hurled him off the ledge.

Chamak crashed and tumbled onto the street below.

Slowly, the monster climbed to his feet.

The three Rangers leapt at Chamak with claws and kicks, bashing the monster with bursts of spark that sent him staggering backward.

Chamak cursed beneath his breath. "You damn renegades...I will give you this round, but only after my parting gift!"

He slapped his palm to the pavement with a shockwave of chi energy, hurling the Rangers through the air. Secondary explosions tore across their armor as the blast scattered them across the streets.

Jarrod and his team pulled back the assault, and they brought along three prisoners: Tyler, Seth and Kira. He kept them bound with their hands tied behind their backs, and their ankles strapped.

He stared at them with growing suspicion as they stirred awake.

"What are you?" he asked.

Tyler sighed and rolled his shoulders. "Tired..." he said. "Bored."

"This is not a joke, little man," Jarrod said.

Tyler smirked. "The whole universe is something of a joke," he said. "You just don't know it."

Jarrod slapped the back of his hand across the ranger's face.

Gavin stepped behind his leader and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Jarrod..." he said. "Maybe we shouldn't. They helped us against...whatever that was."

"They interfered," Jarrod said. "And that interference cannot be tolerated. Especially when we are this close to our goals."

"Close to our goals? We almost died back there."

"You exaggerate."

"Do I?"

Jarrod said nothing, but seemed to growl lightly. "Perhaps you should go to Evan and leave me be."

"Fine..." Gavin said as he stepped back. "Just think before you do something stupid."

Jarrod glared at Gavin, but Gavin said nothing. Few Shaded could stand up to Jarrod the way Gavin did and get away with it.

Tyler kept his mocking smirk. "Nice friends you have."

Jarrod growled with annoyance. "I will ask again. What are you?"

"Renegades?" Tyler said.

"Rogues?" Seth said.

Kira arced her eyebrows. "Pirates."

"You are not as clever as you think. And yet...I have never seen power such as yours," Jarrod said. "Perhaps a dissection-"

"Jarrod, wait!" a voice called from behind.

Jarrod looked to see Evan hurry into the room, with Gavin not too far behind.

"Evan, just leave them be," Gavin said.

"No, Gavin. This isn't happening," he said. The boy stood up to Jarrod with a rare look of confidence and defiance. "You have to let them go."

"Do I?" Jarrod asked.

"Yes..." Evan said. "They're the ones I sensed earlier. They don't belong here."

"Smart kid," Tyler said.

Jarrod narrowed his eyes at Evan. "Have you already forgotten what happened with Decade?"

"This is different," Evan said. "They aren't the Destroyer. I can't explain it, but...they need something from us."

"And what is it, exactly, that they need?"

"Training," Evan said. "They need training."

Mat stirred awake. He found himself on a bed of white sheets, next to another bed, where Kym remained still.

He leaned towards her and whispered. "Kym...Kym, are you awake? Kym?"

She shuffled, rubbed her eyes, and breathed a deep sigh. "What...What happened?"

"Nothing fun," Mat said as he looked around the room, dimly lit and scarcely decorated. "Where the hell are we?"

"You tell me," Kym said. "You're the one who woke up first."

"Wow, you are not a morning person," Mat sat up and looked around the room. "This whole place seems a little too cozy for prison..."

Kym nodded. "It reminds me of home..."

"Home?" Mat asked. "You, uh...never talk about that much."

She shook her head. "None of us do."

"Fair enough," Mat said.

A knock sounded on the door, startling the two rangers.

Mat knitted his brow. "They're seriously knocking?" he whispered, then louder, he said, "come in, I guess."

The door opened, and Casey stepped into the room. He walked calmly with his hands behind his back. "Sorry to keep you..." he said. "We wanted to be here when you woke up."

"Where's here?" Mat asked.

"The True Cross Academy," Casey said. "We brought you back here after the fight with the Shaded." He shifted uncomfortably. "I mean...I brought you back here. My superiors don't know."

"Ah...thanks?" Mat said.

"Mat, be nice," Kym chided. She looked towards Casey. "We're grateful, thank you."

Casey smiled and nodded. "You're welcome."

"So why bring us here?" Mat asked. "And where are the others?"

"I couldn't get to them...but they're safe," Casey said. "As for why I brought you here...it's hard to explain. I'm not exactly sure."

Kym leaned forward and tugged on Mat's sleeve. "Mat, look at his shirt..."

Mat noticed the tiger symbol embroidered across the front of the teen's shirt. "You're the same guy from before. At the church..."

Casey nodded. "That's right."

"Those were some pretty sick moves," Mat said.

Casey knitted his brow. "Sick?"

"Oh, that means 'cool,' apparently," Mat said. "Not 'disgusting.'"

"OK..." Casey said. "Right...Anyway..."

"Yes, anyway," Mat said. "What are we doing here."

Casey crossed his arms over his chest and looked down, hesitantly. "I know this is going to sound...weird...but I think you were meant to be here."

"For what?" Kym asked.

Casey looked up and smiled. "Training."

"You are fighters," Jarrod said as he walked around Tyler, Seth and Kira. They stood on a rooftop as some of the Shaded, including Gavin and Evan, watched. "Of this, there is no doubt."

Tyler arced an eyebrow. "Point?"

"The point, is that your power is untapped," Jarrod said. "Your true natures are buried. You have yet to ignite your chakra and unleash your Ki."

Kira shook her head. "I don't have the patience for this. Do you have a Time Shard or not?"

"Kira, listen," Evan said. "You need to hear this..."

She sighed. "Fine...but we better be getting a Time Shard out of this."

"You will be getting so much more..." Jarrod said as he rolled his hands into fists.

Jarrod inclined his head towards his minions, a silent command.

A group of Shaded dragged a cage onto the rooftop and opened it. Within the dark cage, a pair of violet, wolf-like eyes glowed.

"Pet of yours?" Tyler asked.

"I am afraid not," Jarrod said.

Suddenly, the werewolf pounced at the rangers. An alternate version of R.J., he bared his fangs and swiped his claws, scattering the rangers across the rooftop.

Seth narrowed his eyes as claws tore the front of his shirt. "This is training?"

"Yes," Jarrod said. "Witness the strength of your attacker. The strength of the rampage. He does not need tools for battle. He relies on his own power. You too have such power."

Tyler sidestepped and kicked the wolf's gut, sending him staggering backward.

R.J. growled with annoyance and swiped his claws through streaks of violet energy, blasting the teens off their feet.

Jarrod lifted his hand and formed a sphere of purple-tinted, black light above his palm. "The Body, Mind and Soul work in conjunction to form spiritual energy: Ki. This energy can take many forms. At its purest: Kiryoku. From a heart of justice: Geki. From a heart of anger: Rinki..."

Tyler sidestepped and dodged the werewolf's claws, which ebbed with violent KaGeki. "Point?"

"Harness your Ki," Jarrod said.

R.J. kneed Seth's gut, swung him off his feet and hurled him into Tyler and Kira.

Casey led Mat and Kym into a wide plaza, paved with white so pure it practically glowed. Several ornate fountains dotted the area.

"I never did catch your names," Casey said.

"I'm Kym..." Kym said.

"Kym," Casey said with a nod.

"Do you really think you can train us?" Kym asked.

"Yeah," Casey said, and then hesitated. "Well, it depends on what you need to learn."

"We need to be stronger," Kym said.

Mat sighed. "This is ridiculous."

"Mat," Kym chided. "If we train like the others do-"

"Pretty sure they've trained their whole lives, OK?" Mat said. "We have a day. Probably less, actually, since every planet we step on unwinds into oblivion."

Casey ignored Mat and crossed his arms over his chest. "So you want to get stronger...?"

Kym nodded. "That's right."

Casey smirked. "OK. I've got just the thing."

Mat took a few steps back. "This is pointless..."

"Pointless?" Casey asked.

"I'm not..." Mat stammered. He wasn't Seth - and even if he trained every day of his life, he never could be. And he wasn't Tyler or Kira, with skill so natural, it defied logic. "I don't exactly...I have things to do, OK?"

Kenpo? It didn't fit him or Kym, and he knew it.

"Quit prancing around your foe and strike," Jarrod growled at the rangers. "You are too reliant on your morphers and weapons. They are like crutches. Toss the crutches away, and let your bodies become weapons!"

Tyler sighed with annoyance. "Time to move on."

He sprang to his feet, caught R.J.'s fist, and side-kicked the werewolf. The creature growled with annoyance and pounced.

Tyler slapped his right fist against his left palm, and then thrust his right hand forward. "Ki."

He fired a pulse of invisible chi energy that bashed R.J. off his feet. The werewolf crashed onto his back and tumbled across the rooftop.

Tyler knitted his brow with surprise and stared at his hands. Where had that come from?

R.J. climbed to his feet and snarled. He pounced at the rangers and swiped his claws through streaks of violet energy.

Seth ducked and swung a punch. He felt his chest swell with power and tingle, running the length of his arm and tightening around his knuckles, reinforcing the punch with the strength of his Ki.

The punch bashed R.J.'s chest and sent him staggering several steps backward.

Kira moved in with a kick and thrust her palm, firing a wave of invisible chi that knocked R.J. off balance.

Tyler stepped closer to the werewolf. Suddenly, he remembered a phrase uttered by his father before the Shattering.

"Star Fire." He snapped, triggering a burst of flames that whipped R.J. off his feet.

He crashed onto the rooftop with enough force to knock him unconscious.  

Kira looked at Tyler and then at her own hands, stunned. "How'd we just do that?"

The strangest part: The techniques didn't feel like newly discovered talents or unleashed potential. They felt as natural as picking up a paint brush for the first time in decades, or remembering the lyrics to a favorite song.

Tyler rolled his hands into fists and stared at his knuckles. We've fought like this before...before the Shattering...

They just didn't remember how, why or when, or against who. Not yet, at least.

"Come on," Tyler said to his teammates. "We've done enough here. Let's get the next Time Shard and go home."

"Chamak!" Prince Vekar shouted on the bridge of his command ship. "How can you say your people were masters of the fighting arts?!"

"Prince Vekar..." Levira said.

"What?!"

"Chamak's technique is very...interesting," she said as she stepped closer to the monster. "Would you leave him to me? I have some...improvements...in mind."

Mat walked aimlessly through a plaza area. Kym had stayed behind to train with Casey, but he tried not to think about that.

What's the point? Why train? He could never be as good as Tyler and the others. He wasn't strong enough and didn't have enough power.

Suddenly, a slight pain stabbed through his mind, and he staggered. He remembered...a story. A story his father told him before the Shattering...

The year 2002, Angel Grove. Master Kaku led Rocky DeSantos further down the lair into a wide room with metallic spheres hanging from the ceiling. A small television screen was on a nearby table.

Kaku walked towards the television as Rocky leaned against the doorway, his shoulders slumped down low. "I'm no good," he said. "I couldn't even save Justin. If you wanted someone to fight for the world you should have picked Jackie Chan or Jet Li or something."

Rocky shook his head. "Justin's always thought of me like a big brother. I'm practically the only family he has. He lost his parents at about the same age I lost my father in a car accident. He's spent his whole life living at the shelter."

Kaku walked towards Rocky, placed a hand on his shoulder, and turned back towards the TV. Kaku used a small remote to turn on the television. It showed an image of Rocky as the Blue Tenma Ranger getting clobbered by the Gorma he had faced earlier.

"Is this supposed to cheer me up?" Rocky asked sarcastically.

"Rocky," Kaku said. He turned off the television, but kept his eyes on the screen. "Do you know why you were beaten?"

"No, but I bet you're gonna tell me," Rocky said.

"It is not always a matter of how strong or weak you are," Kaku said. He looked to Rocky. "It is not always a matter of power versus power, but sometimes a matter of learning ways around power."

Kaku turned and started to walk from the room, but before he left, he faced the metal spheres and extended his hand while using his Ki to start the balls swinging around Rocky.

"Whoa!" Rocky shouted as two spheres slammed against him. He tried to dodge the other spheres as each started swinging in different directions at different intervals.

Mat shook his head as the images cleared. Was that...my dad?

Tyler, Seth and Kira left Jarrod and the Shaded. They moved across the streets and resumed their mission to find the next Time Shard.

They didn't make it far before Chamak intercepted them.

"You damn renegades..." Chamak growled. "You humiliated me...and you will pay!"

Kira sighed. "Are you seriously getting in our way again?"

They armed their morphers and Ranger Keys.

"Let's finish this quick," Tyler said.

"It's morphin' time! Ultimate Transform!" They inserted their keys into their morphers: "POOOOOWER RANGERS!"

They morphed into their armor and armed their Power Sabers and Power Blasters.

Chamak slapped his right fist against his left palm, triggering a magnetic pulse. The pulse washed over the Rangers and grasped their weapons.

The monster reeled the weapons towards him, but the Rangers didn't let go. They crashed against Chamak, who staggered backward.

"You thought we'd fall for that same trick?" the Blue Ranger asked.

They kicked Chamak, hurling him backward. He crashed and tumbled across the ground, and then rose to his feet.

The three Rangers armed a set of Ranger Keys. "Dino Thunder! Power Up! Ha!" They inserted their keys into their morphers: "DIIIIIIIIINO THUNDER!"

Seth shifted into Dino Blue, Tyler shifted into Dino Red, and Kira shifted into Dino Yellow.