Warning: There is mention of, but no description of, same sex liasons. If you don't like any mention of those, then don't read this.

When the Black and White Rangers reached the music room, they were in for a shock. Tyler had her back to the boys, and was playing a flute, while her cousin Skull was playing on the piano. Both were playing with some considerable skill. Finally, the song ended, and Tyler lowered her flute. "Not bad. When do you have lessons?"

"Whenever I can at the Symposium building," Skull said, startling the rangers. He glanced over at them, and stiffened in surprise. Tyler looked at her cousin, and then turn around to face the rangers.

"Oh, hey, guys," she said softly, her face falling. She turned to Skull, and said, "Isn't it about time we got home?" The cousins began gathering their sheet music, and Jason held his hand out, palm facing the Gemborn.

"Wait," he said softly. "Tyler, can we talk?" The cousins froze, and then Tyler nodded Skull on. He left with both sets of sheet music, and as soon as he was out of sight, Tyler asked, "What do you want?" in a tired voice.

"When did Skull start playing the piano?" Jason asked, confused for a moment.

"He's always played the piano. He just didn't let anyone know," Tyler said. "Whenever he'd come over to visit, we'd play together." She sighed, and picked up her flute.

"What were you playing?" Zack asked.

"Just a song," Tyler said, shrugging. "I doubt that was what you wanted to talk to me about, though, so what's up?" The expression on her face did NOT invite chitchat.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked bluntly. "Is it us? I mean-"

Tyler cut him off. "It's not you..., and it is," she said in a puzzled tone. "It's the dreams the Gem has been giving me. It's like the Gem is taking all the rangers and Gemborns, and then putting them into the dreams. It's beyond irritating, it's getting down right confusing." Tyler shrugged. "Sometimes, I can't tell the difference between my dreams, and the real world." She sighed, and then glanced at her communicator as the watch alarm she had set on it went off. "I have to go. If I don't, Skull's mom's gonna freak."

As her last living relatives, Tyler's aunt and uncle had taken the Purple Gemborn in without any reservations on their part. The rangers had often wondered how Tyler had put up with the Skullovitches, but when Zack had asked, Tyler leveled a glare that made the rangers decide to keep quiet.

"I'll met you at the Command Center tomorrow after school and explain," Tyler said as she walked out of the music room. Jason and Zack exchanged glanced, and then called the others up.

* * *

The next day, the rangers, and Tanya, anxiously met up at Jason's locker after school. "I thought this day would never end," Kat said as they waited for Tyler.

Before anyone could reply, the Gemborn joined the group, and they found a secluded corner to teleport to the Command Center. Once there, Tyler requested chairs for everyone. Before anyone could accuse her of trying to put off the conversation, she said, "This is going to take a while, and we're going to need them." Her eyes roamed over the rangers and Tanya, and she closed her eyes. "Where to begin?" she asked, more to herself than anyone else.

"How about the beginning?" Tanya suggested.

Tyler sighed, and said, "That's a good point. Well..., the dreams actually began on the beach, when I had a new bond forged with it. It's about the original Gemborns, focusing mainly around Tyseria No'bel. She was a communication officer for a ship in the 'Space Corps,' an interplanetary military orginazation mostly run by humans. The other original Gemborns served on the same ship, and they were all good friends. The others' names were Tomias Olive, Kimra Art, Raden Santa, Adar Parque, Ashia Cabell, and Tria Quan, who were Tommy, Kim, Rocky, Adam, Aisha, and Trini repectively," she said, nodding to the second Yellow Ranger and her predecessor. "Tomias was the captain of the ship, and his uniform, which looks like a rip-off from 'Star Trek: Next Generation,' had red accents. Kimra had the ship's councilor, and her uniform was blue. Raden had weapons, and wore white, while Adar and Tria covered the sensors and navigation together. Adar had green, Tria was in yellow. Ashia was in orange, and she was the medical officer. There was one more, Jalna Scully, but I've never gotten a good look at her. Every time Tyseria looked at Jalna, all I get is an impression of black." She shrugged to indicate her confusion.

"They aren't the only ones in my dream," Tyler said. "The rest of you were a wing of scout ship pilots. Zack was in blue, Jason in red, Billy in green, Tanya in yellow, and Kat in orange...," Tyler grinned lopsidedly and added, "even though when she was off duty, she tended to wear pink. Jason, in my dreams, you were my cousin, Jacen S'cott, and leader of the best fighter wing in known space. Zack was your second in command, and as far as I, she, knew, his name was Zac Taylor as well, except that his first name was minus the 'k.' Billy was your science officer, and his name was Will Mitchell. Tanya was the weapon's expert, who was named Tatianya Stone, and Kat was the medical officer of the flight, and she was Katriana Hilliard." Tyler closed her eyes, and then let the dreams come back to her.

* * *

The ship had been exploring some planets, as well as tracking down some rumors of pirates in the unexplored sector we were in. The pirates attacked, and the ship was shot down. Tyseria was knocked out, and when she came to, the ship had already crashlanded on a nearby planet.

There should be more pain. That was all that Tyseria could think as she came back to consciousness. She opened her eyes, and instead of seeing the ceiling of Sick Bay like she expected, she was staring at a rock ceiling. She sat up, and as she did, she noticed that she was encased in purple crystalline armor. "Huh?" She swung her legs off of the rock slab that she had been laying on, and studied the armor covering her arms.

Tyseria looked around, and saw that she was in a roughly circular cavern. All around her, the other bridge crew lay on slabs of rock similar to hers, even spaced around the room. All of them were in various stages of waking up, from sitting up as Tyler was, to just beginning to stir. And they were all clad in armor the color of their uniform accents. Tyler looked for Adar, and found him on the slab next to hers. She hurried over to her love, and helped him sit up. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Fine," Adar said, surprised. Then he noticed the armor he was in. "Ty? What's going on?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," Tyseria answered. "Sir?" she asked as she sensed Tomias walking up. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Lieutenant. How are you?"

"I'm fine, as is Adar, sir. What happened?"

"I'm not sure," Tomais said. "The last thing I remember is crash landing on the planet. It's a miracle that we're all still alive."

"It's not a miracle, it's magic." Everyone whirled to face the speaker, and an old man was standing in the previously empty center of the room. The old man had long white hair and a long beard, and he was dressed in an unadorned robe of pure white. Tyseria was startled to see obsidian black eyes on the human seeming face, but knew of alien races that had similar eyes. It was just that it was the first time that Tyseria had seen it on a human face. While he gave off a peaceful aura, his sudden appearance caused the entire bridge crew either dropped into a fight stance, or climbed to their feet and then dropped into fighting stances. "No need to be frightened, children. I won't harm you," the old man said, and held his hands up to show he was unarmed.

"Who are you?" Tomias demanded. "And what did you mean by, 'magic'? It doesn't exsist."

The old man smiled, and said, "So cautious. That's good in a leader, Tomias, but you still haven't lost your trust in others." Tomias was startled, but the old man forestalled any questions by raising his hand. "My name is Merlin. My people lived a long time ago, in an era of magic, and I'm the last of my kind. When your ship crashed onto the planet, I felt your life forces slipping away. I managed to prevent that, but your original bodies were beyond repair. I had to give you new ones, through the Rainbow Gems." He motioned, and for the first time, the crew noticed the gems set in the armor, over the heart. As the Gem seemed melted from sight, the crystiline armor disappeared, leaving the crew in their ship uniforms. Each touched their arms, making sure that the uniforms were for real.

"That's impossible," Tria said. She was confused, because as real as the armor had been, so was their uniforms.

The old man smiled, and said, "No, it's not, Tria." The yellow clad girl was clearly startled at how the ancient man knew her name. "How many times has your science done or proven that something that everyone claimed was impossible WAS possible? Not two hundred years before, Tyseria's talent for reading minds was claimed as impossible, but now every one of your young are tested for the talent as soon as they enter school. Magic is just another ability, young one."

"Ty!" Tyseria looked behind the old man, and watched in shock as the rock seemed to melt back to admit the Third Wing. "Jacen!" Tyseria exclaimed, and ran to hug her cousin. She backed up a step, and noticed that her cousin was in red armor similiar to Tomias', but Jacen's had white crest over his shoulders, coming to a point in the center, and edged by a strip of black with gold circuitry across his chest, with white touches on the gloves and boots. Jacen studied his cousin, and asked, "Are you all right?"

Tyseria nodded. "Yeah. What about you?"

"We managed to land in one piece. We hadn't gotten to the hanger yet when the ship was hit. We're all fine. What about you?"

Tyseria opened her mouth, and then closed it. If what the old man had said was true, then she had died, and then was somehow resurected into a new body. There was no point in her cousin going balistic over it. "I'm fine, really," she said, then asked, "Where did you get the armor?"

"HE gave it to us," Jacen said, nodding towards the old man. "What about you?"

"Uh..." Tyseria bit her lip, and then said, "I'm not sure. I woke up with it, same as the others."

Jacen nodded, accepting what Tyseria told him, and said, "The ship's a total loss. We've been outside to see it, and a good portion of it is in peices."

Tyseria held up a hand, and said, "Tell the captain. He'll need to know." Jacen nodded, and hurried off. Tyseria saw that Katriana was looking around, and Tyseria asked, "So, how was your first battle in the Third Wing?" Katriana laughed, and shook her head.

* * *

"You said 'crystilline armor'?" Bill asked as Tyler took a breath. She nodded.

"Just like mine. The Third Wing's armor looked more like some metal/plasic substance, but the others had armor just like mine after the new bond."

"What happened next?" Jason asked.

Tyler sighed, and said, "The dreams jumped forward by a few days. Will, Tria, and Adar had taking the remains of the shipand built... well, I guess you could call them versions of zords, but instead of being based on some sort of animal, like yours were, these were based on different types of ships.

"The pirates wanted to make sure that the ship's crew were actually dead, so they came down to the planet's surface. Somehow, the old man knew as soon as the pirates had had entered the planet's atmosphere, and he told the Power Rangers, as the two groups started calling themselves."

* * *

"Rangers, please report to the main chamber," Merlin sent out. To those that didn't have telepathy, it sounded as if he was talking out loud, but to Adar and Tyseria, it echoed through their minds. They sighed and backed off from their kiss, and found their way through the complex of tunnels to the room they had first woken up to.

"What's up, Merlyn?" Tomias asked.

"We have visitors," Merlyn said, and gestured. A column of light decended from the ceiling, and in it, the image of seven small scout ships landing around the remains of the Ranger's ship.

"It's the pirates," Tatianya said, recognizing the tailfin designs.

"They probably want to make sure we're dead," Raden said.

"We buried the bodies," Tyseria said. "They'll know that someone is here."

Tomias tilted his head, and then said, "If they get off the planet, they'll do it again to another freighter, or even the colony ships that are going to be going through here soon. We have to stop them. Now."

Tyseria watched as the others agreed, and then said, "But how? Those are just the scouts, and the sensors never picked up the mothership."

"I don't think there ever was an mother ship," Adar said.

"Or there was one, and the scanners just didn't recognize it," Tria suggested. Everyone turned to her, and she said, "I remember my scanners showing an asteriod that gave off odd readings. What if they had hollowed out an asteriod, and then put a drive on it?"

Will chewed on his bottom lip and said, "That's POSSIBLE. If they had enough time, and the resources..."

"Which they would have gotten from the ships they raided," Jalna said. "Graces know that they had enough time."

Tomias' jaw clenched, and he said, "We HAVE to stop them at their main base before they attack another ship. But how?"

Jacen spoke up. "The Fifth Wing's battle ships are mostly flight worthy. We can take care of the base while you take care of the pirates already down."

"But the other wings were destroyed easily," Tyseria argued. "How would you going up there, alone, be any different?"

"Because, my child, they ARE different," Merlyn said. Everyone turned to the ancient, and he said, "When you were reborn from the Gems, your bodies were created superior to your old ones. They are now faster, stronger, more able to take on damage."

"That's fine for us, but what about them?" Tyseria asked.

"They were not bonded as deeply as you were, Purple-born, but they do have some of the same abilities. The Zeo Rangers will have sharper, quicker reflexes, better able to deal with the pirates." Merlyn turned to the viewing collumn, and said, "I fear that you will need the advantages, my young students, for even from here, I can feel a change in the pirates, making them as far beyond humans as they are. I fear that my last student, Desdemona created her own group of morphalogical beings."

"There's another one out there from your race?" Adar asked. "I thought you said that you were the last of your kind."

"I am. Desdemona isn't of my race. I found her several millinea ago, and she hid the evil in her soul from me while I was teaching her magic. When I did, she grew even more twisted, and an urge to control everything grew deep within her, where I couldn't sense it. She has given the pirates similar advantages as you have, my children. That is why they managed to best your pilots."

Tomias looked up as Merlyn finished, a look of relief over his face. The captain had been punishing himself over the fact that his pilots, reputed to be the best in the quadrent, had been defeated so easily. As captain, he was responsible for his crew being in tip top shape. But if what Merlyn said was true, then that mean that it hadn't been his fault. How could someone plan against enhanced strength and reflexes?

"But how do we trigger the power, then?" Adar asked.

"It comes with your armor. You must use the triggering phrase, 'It's morphin' time' to activate their crystals, then call upon the power."

"How?" Jacen asked.

"Look within yourselves. The knowledge is there, it's just hiden until the powers are activated." Everyone turned to see that Tyseria had a distant expression on her face, and the Gemborn exchanged knowing looks.

Another presence was channeling in through her, and altough she felt like an observer in her own body, Tyseria didn't fear what was happening to her. She couldn't, for as it filled her mind, it sent calming thought through the Purple Gemborn. Similar occurrances had happened before with all of the Gemborn, until each were somewhat comfortable with 'The Presense' as they had started calling it. With the feeling of both the eternal youth of power, and ancient wisdom of rock that came with The Presense, the Gemborn thought that The Presense was their Gems speaking through their living half. Of all of them, Tyseria was the most comfortable, since her training as a telepath had brought about similar experiences when during mind mergings. Tyseria, in the detacted mood she was in, wondered if their ease in learning the tricks had anything to do with their psychic sensitivy.

Merlin let a smile settle on his face, and he nodded. "The Purple-born is correct, my rangers. You'll know what to do when you need it. Let the power protect you."

Everyone turned to Tomias, who nodded. "Let's stop those pirates," he said, "It's morphin' time!"

* * *

"I've always wondered where the phrase came from," Jason said. The group had taken a short break to get drinks and to stretch when Jason made this comment, and the other original rangers agreed.

"And that's where the Gemborn and Zeo Rangers came from?" Trini asked. Tyler nodded.

"Not just them either. They started ALL rangers. They are the original of all rangers. When they morphed, they created what eventually evolved into the Morphin Grid, and their children have the ability to become rangers. All of us are desended from those original rangers, even those from other planets." Tyler looked up and accepted a glass of ice tea from Tanya, waiting a moment before taking a sip. After swallowing, she licked her lips, and asked, "Any questions so far?"

"Haven't you had something like that happen?" Trini asked. "I mean with The Presense." Tyler nodded.

"Yeah, but my Gem has... how to put it?" She thought a minute, then said, "With each life, the Gem gets a little bit more intelligent, and after so many lives before me, The Presense can give opinions now. What the originals had was more along the lines of pure fact." Tyler paused to reorient her thoughts, then added, "Tyseria was the most adept at some of the more esortic tricks of the Power as well, with Adar and Kimra close behind. Adar could recieve from anyone at short ranges, and from her at almost any range, while Kimra was a major empath, able to pick up other people's emotions the same way Tyseria could pick up thoughts. All three of them had restrictions on fighting because they could sense others pain."

"What happened during the fight?" Jason asked, puzzled. "They DID fight, didn't they?"

Tyler motioned Jason down. "I'm getting to that." Tyler took another sip.

"The pirates weren't going to go without a fight, so the rangers were going to take it to them. The space fighters were ready, and Tyseria approached hers with surprise at her own eagerness...."

* * *

Tyseria looked up at her fighter, and shook her head. "What's wrong?" Kimra asked from behind the Purple Gemborn. Tyseria turned to the Blue Gemborn, and shrugged.

"I don't know." She paused, then said, "Scratch that, I DO know. You, me, Adar, we aren't supposed to be able to fight. You know that."

"But-" Kimra prompted the other girl.

"But..., I'm actually looking forward to taking care of those pirates. It's almost as if I'm about to squash a bug that just bit me. WHat's wrong with me, Kimra?"

"Nothing," Kimra said. "I've noticed changes in the others attitudes, and I think that it's an effect of the Power, making us see things differently than we ever have before. Tomias stopped being such a 'by the books' type of leader, Raden's looking out for people other than just us, Adar's more open than to just you..., Hell's legions, Ty, even I've changed. We have to stop these pirates before something like this happens to a colony ship. And if it means fighting, so be it."

Tyseria smiled. "Thanks, Kimra. I'll see you after the battle?"

"You betcha. Good luck," the Blue Gemborn said as the Pink Zeo Ranger came up to them.

"It's bad luck to say that, Kimra," Katriana said.

"Then what do you say?" Tyseria asked, standing on the bottom rung on her fighter.

"Crash and burn, Ty. Crash and burn."

"Crash and burn, Kat." Tyseria turned and climbed into the cockpit of her fighter pilot just as Tomias called in. "Gemborns, report in. How are all of you doing?" The Zeos were reporting in to thier leader, and Tyseria heard them underneath the Gemborns.

"Raden, ready to go."

"Ashia here. Checks complete and I'm ready to fly."

"Adar here. All systems go."

"Tria here. Let's do it."

"Kimra, ready to hand those pirates their asses." Tyseria fought back a snicker, then said, "Tyseria here. How do you fly this thing again?" There were laughs from the others, some a bit nervous, but that was expected. "I'm ready to fly."

"Jalna reporting in. Let's fly, Captain!"

"Right. Gemborns, move out!"

The Gemborns took off, and Tyseria let out a whoop as she felt her ship lift off of the ground. "Damn! Wish I had one of these things before!" she said.

"Yeah. We never knew what we were missing out on!" Raden agreed.

"I told you," Zac replied as he eased in next to Tyseria's fighter. He gave her a thumbs up, and Adar, on the other side, noticed.

"Hey, Zac, quite flirting with my girlfriend," Adar said, grinning. "You know I'm the one she wants."

"Oh, please. I'm the better pilot."

Tyseria glanced between the two rangers, and said, "Actually, I am." With that, she barrel rolled sideways and down, looped, then pushed the throttle forward to take a place behind Tomias' and Jacen's.

"That's enough, Rangers," Tomias ordered. "My scanners have picked up the pirates' fighters approaching at twelve o'clock. Tria, what do you got?"

The science officers of both groups had been given the most powerful scanners on their fighters. "Same thing, Captain. Same fighters as before, no differences that I can detect."

"Okay, people. Prepare to engage."

"Missles, armed. Lasor cannons, prepped. Wings extended and locked. All systems, go!" Tyseria called as the others made sure their weapon systems were on line.

"Spread out. When you're ready, take a target, and take them out. Crash and burn, rangers."

May the Power protect you all, echoed through all of their minds as the pirates approached.

Tyseria moved away from the leaders, and found herself followed by three of the pirate fighters. "So, boys, you wanna play? Fine. Let's play," she said, a dangerous grin on her face. She took a firm grip on the joystick, then began a dive straight down, barrel rolling to avoid the pirates shots as they dove after her. She watched the numbers counting down to the ground closely, and at the last possible minute, pulled up. Only one managed to follow her out of the dive, and Tyseria slipped to the side as the remaining fighter let loose a rocket at her.

"Ooh, someone has a problem with thier self esteem," she cracked, before pulling up to loop to behind the pirate. "Nighty-night," she said as the targeting screen aligned with the fighter. Tyseria pulled her trigger, and pulled up as the enemy fighter exploded.

"Someone help me, I can't shake him!" Tatianya called. The Purple Gemborn saw on her radar that she was the only one close enough to save the Yellow Zeo Ranger, and said, "Hold on, Tatianya. I'm coming!"

"Where are you?" Tatianya called, looking around wildly as she avoided several close shots. The Yellow Zeo Ranger was answered by the trailing enemy fighter exploding.

"Right here," Tyseria said as she pulled even with Tatianya. "Know how to play 'Set 'em up'?"

"'And shoot 'em down'?" Tatiana finished. "Sure thing. Let's go!"

As they flew back to the battle, Tyseria took advantage of her break, and watched the battle. The two teams almost seemed paired in fighting styles. Kimra and Katriana seemed to prefer graceful loops and aerobatices, and at the other end of the scale, Zac and Raden prefered neckbreaking tricks. Adar and Tria were working together to create traps, having enemy fighters crash into each other or shoot their own down, while Will and Jalna were making economic use of their shots, taking out as many with one shot as possible. Jacen and Tomias were heading straight in to the heart of the melee.

Tyseria felt a faint buzz at the back of her mind, and said, "Tatianya, back hard left, now!" The girls split apart as an enemy fighter shot past them, and Tatianya took the pirate out with a missle.

"Where are all these fighters coming from?" Tatianya asked as she pulled aside Tyler again. "They seem to be coming out of the woodworks."

"Well..., look out!" The girls avoided a pirate at it straight for the girls, guns blazing, and the Purple Gemborn felt something jolt her fighter. "I'm hit!" she shouted as the controls stopped responding. "My controls are-" A second jolt rocked her ship, and Tyseria glanced to the sensor display. "I'm trapped in a tractor beam of some sort. Can anyone hear me? Hello? Hello?" It was no use. Her communication system was dead. Tyseria swore, then screamed as energy surged through her ship and body, knocking the Gemborn unconscious.

* * *

"What happened next?" Zack asked as Tyler took a break from the story telling.

"Well, you have to understand, the next part comes from Adar's memories. The Green Gemborn had seen the shot that disabled Ty's controls, and then the larger ship that appeared behind her fighter...."

* * *

"Ty!" the Green Gemborn shouted as the girl's fighter lurched, the tractor beam locking on. He tried to get to Tyseria's fighter, but by the time that he reached halfway between the battle and the ship that had captured the Purple Gemborn, he saw the stunner wave that knocked the fighter completely dead, and felt Tyseria's scream of pain echo through his mind as the fighter was pulled into the larger ship.

The newcomer to the battle left, taking the remaining fighters with it. "Everyone, call in!" Tomias ordered. Everyone check in, and when Adar called in, he said, "Adar here. Tyseria was captured by a larger ship after she had been shot. We have to-"

"We have to go back, Adar. We need to regroup."

"But, sir..! Ty-"

"That's an order, Lieutenant. Back to base!"

Adar looked back at where his love had been for a long moment, seriously contempating disobeying orders, then sighed, knowing the captain was right. "Yes, sir." Adar turned back to the launch cavern, then glanced back behind him where he had last seen Tyseria's ship. Ty...., he mentally called, feeling nothing.

"We'll get her back, Adar," Kimra said. "And then we'll make who ever captured her pay."

* * *

"So what happened next?" Billy asked after Tyler paused for a long, silent minute. She was just staring into the remains of her drink, and Tyler shook her head before looking at the former Blue Ranger.

"Tyseria's memories are a bit foggy at this point, and you'll understand why as I tell it," Tyler answered. "I'll try and tell you what happened as I saw it."

* * *

The sound of a door closing brought Tyseria around, and as she fought to open her eyes, she realized that she was sitting up, and restrained to the wall by her wrists. She lifted her head as someone approached, then a hand grabbed her hair, lifting her head up to an uncomfortable angle. "What's wrong with her?" a woman said.

"She's recovering from a stun pulse, Captain. The effects should be gone within an hour."

"Hmm." The hand released Tyseria's hair, and the Gemborn slumped against the wall again, groaning in pain. She managed to crack an eye open, but only saw a pair of black boots. "Have the medics seen to her?"

"No, Captain. We had her brought here immedi-" The sound of a slap cut off the words, then the woman spoke again.

"Take her there, instantly! I need to know what she does, now! I refuse to let Merlin's little pets get the better of me. I must know how he created this new bond!"

"Yes, Captain," the man said, sounding like he was moving close to the Gemborn, and quickly. Tyseria heard a forcefield shut down, and groaned as her hands dropped to the ground. Two pairs of hands pulled the young woman to her feet and held her there as another hand lifted Tyseria's head.

"Hmm..., not bad. Make sure the medics know that I want her to have the best possible treatment, then have her brought to my quarters. Understand?"

"Yes, Captain," the men holding the Gemborn said, and began dragging Tyseria away.

After what seemed to her to be a long, twisting route, Tyseria was dragged into a bright room, and someone said, "Put her on the examining table." Tyseria groaned as the men eased her onto a soft surface, and the new person asked, "Who's this?"

"A 'guest,'" one of Tyseria's 'escorts' said. "The Captain said to give her the best possible treatment, and when she's done to have her taken to the Captain's quarters."

The medic sighed, and said, "All right. Now you can leave."

"We can't leave her here, unrestrained!" the guard protested.

"Look at her! Does she look like she'll be running anywhere?" he asked sarcastically. There was a moment of silence, before the Gemborn heard a door open, then hiss shut, and the medic turned away to talk to someone else. "Remove her armor, while I get the supplies."

Tyseria heard a soft, "Yes, Doctor," as the medic stalked off. A pair of hands rolled the Gemborn onto her front, causing the girl to groan, then the assistant began undoing the armor. There was an exclimation of shock as the armor disappeared from around the Gemborn, leaving the lieutenant in her ship uniform, and then the assistant called, "Doctor!"

"What is i-" the doctor started to demand, then hurried over. "She's Space Corps?" he asked, almost as if he hated it. Tyseria was surprised.

Yes, Tyseria managed to send. There was a sqeak of surprise from the assistant, and the doctor spoke directly to the girl.

"A telepath? What ever you do, keep that hidden from Desdemona, Lieutenant. If she finds out who you are, she'll use you as she does everyone else on her crew. I'm sorry that we can't help you, but if we do, it'll be our friends and families that pay."

Tyseria knew that he believed that, and sent, My crewmates will rescue me, and free you and yours.

The doctor scoffed. "How? Her fighters aren't human any more, Lieutenant. They're more that that."

So are we, Tyseria thought, but didn't send. She didn't have the resources to. Her energy depleted, the Gemborn collapsed into unconsciousness as the Corps uniform was eased off of her.

* * *

When Tyseria awoke the second time, she was lying on a large four post bed covered gold syn-silk and black fur rugs. Her ship uniform was replaced by a syn-silk gown of light blue that seemed to show more than it hid. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, and looked around.

The room she was in was someone's private quarters, and whoever owned it had expensive tastes. Everything was done in gold and black, from the mirror's frame, to the dresser, to the bed, to the chairs set before the unlit fireplace. "Like it?" a familiar voice asked. Tyseria whirled to see a woman in a loose black gown standing in the door way. The newcomer stepped into the light to reveal long black hair and icy blue eyes, long graceful legs, and a slim physique. She was breath-takingly beautiful in the traditional sense, but there was a coldness in the eyes that almost canceled out the beauty.

"Captain, I presume?" Tyseria asked, climbing off of the bed and getting to her feet.

"Captain Desdemona," the woman introduced herself. She laughed at Tyseria's expression, and said, "I see that Merlyn's been talking about. Still taking in charity cases, is he?" Desdemona walked over to lean on a bedpost, and added, "Although, I can see why he took you in. He always was a sucker for a pretty face."

Tyseria narrowed her eyes, and backed up a step as Desdemona walked around the bed. "What do you want?" Tyseria asked, her eyes locking with Desdemona's.

"I have what I want... for now," Desdemona said. Her blue eyes flashed with a black light, and Tyseria's body froze. Desdemona walked over to the Gemborn and stroked the younger woman's face. "So beautiful. So young. You'll make an excellent consort." She laughed as Tyseria's eyes widened, and the Gemborn tossed off the faint tendrils of psychic seduction. "Go ahead and fight me. It'll just make your submission all the sweeter." The pirate captain drew the paralized girl in for a kiss, then laughed as Tyseria threw off the paralysis to jerk away from her.

"No," Tyseria snapped, strengthening her mind shields. But then she made the mistake of meeting Desdemona's eyes again. Her body froze as her resistance disappeared. Desdemona made sure of her command over the girl, then spoke.

"Yes," Desdemona hissed. Tyseria silently mouthed the word with the pirate captain, and Desdemona smiled. "You're mine, now and forever, Gemborn. Mine, always." Desdemona's smile turned lustful, and she pulled the girl over to the waiting bed. The pirate was almost worried about the small part of the girl's mind that she couldn't touch, but she shoved the worry away as she began teaching her new bedmate some new 'tricks.'

* * *

An unknown amount of time later, Desdemona came out of her private quarters dressed in a black syn-silk robe. She smiled at her second-in-command in lazy satifaction, and the pirate stood up. "How is our guest, my Captain?" he asked. Desdemona smirked, and padded over to one of her oversized chairs.

A noise at the door leading to Desdemona's inner quarters had the pirate turning, and he saw the Gemborn, dressed only in a robe matching Desdemona's. The Gemborm moved to kneel before the sorceress.

"Is there anything that would please you, my mistress?" Tyseria asked. Desdemona rested her hand on the girl's head, and smiled as Tyseria rubbed her face against the pirate captain's hand.

"She's all mine, O'vitch. No matter what those annoying Gemborn do, they'll never have their friend back. The only way to free her is to kill her.

* * *

"Oh, no," Kat said, horrified.

"You mean she..." Jason didn't finish, but Tyler understood and nodded. She closed her eyes, and shuddered as she recalled that particular part of the dreams.

"And Tyseria felt everything," she said. "That's what made what Desdemona did so... twisted. She didn't just subsume Tyseria's persona, like Rita did for Tommy, but rather..., muffled it. Tyseria knew everything that was happening." Tyler opened her eyes, and said, "Another difference is the fact that Desdemona tied the spell to Tyseria's life force. The only way to break the spell was to kill the Purple Gemborn."

Tyler closed her eyes again. "That's how far I've gotten in the dreams, but..." She looked up at the rangers. "I think that Dejanna is using a variation of that spell on the other Gemborns. But especially on Tommy."

"Why especially him?" Jason asked, and Tyler looked away. "Tyler?" he asked softly, having caught a flash of guilt in her eyes before she had turned away.

"She... They..." Tyler closed her eyes, then swallowed. "She had him as her lover before I left. I'm not sure of the details, just the fact that they had.... But I'm pretty sure that it wasn't completely willingly on Tommy's behalf," she rushed to say as the others made exclimations of shock and disbelief. She still couldn't meet their eyes, so she kept hers closed.

"Is there any way to break the spell without killing them?" Jason demanded.

"I- I'm not sure," Tyler said, looking up, then back down. "It wasn't just... The spell was intertwined to Tyseria's Gembond, and to break the spell would mean breaking the bond."

"So?" Zack asked.

"The bond... even the limited one that Dejanna gave me, and the other Gemborns, was enough so that if you were to cut it, we'd die. The power we get from the Gem, it isn't like the Power Coins, it... flows through us, it's a part of us, it... I can't explain it, except that if you cut the power, we'd die. Moreso with me, now. I lose my Gembond, and I'm as good as dead."

"Doesn't make having the bond sound worth it," Zack said, half joking.

"There are advantages," Tyler said, smiling to herself, thinking about her one intimate encounter with Adam. She shook her head, saying, "At least now we know what to look for when we look for a way to break Dejanna's control. I just hope that the others can hold out..."

* * *

Deep within the remodeled Lunar Palace, Dejanna smirked at her lover as he entered her bedroom. "Come here," she commanded, her smile growning as the Red Gemborn moved to stand before her. He knelt down before the sorceress on one knee.

"Is there anything that would please you, my mistress?" Tommy asked. Dejanna simply smiled and let a handbegin to work his hair free from the tight pony tail he had taken to wearing.

When his hair was free, Dejanna opened her gown, letting the silk material pool around her feet. She pulled her lover to his feet, and drapped her hands behind his neck. "Everything," Dejanna said. She laughed as her lover scooped her up into his arms.

Within his own mind, Tommy shuddered and protested what his body was doing. But the magical bonds keeping him Dejanna's puppet never weakened. Tired of struggling for now, he fled deeper into the darkness within. Dejanna's triumphant laughter mocked him as he headed deeper in.

* * *

Tyler stared up at the night sky, laying back on the Skullovitches' rooftop. A slight scuffing sound had her turning to see her cousin climbing onto the roof. "Hey, Skull," she said, smiling at the teen.

"Hey, Tyler," Skull said, laying down next to the Gemborn. He studied the stars above, and said, "A lovely night, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

For a few minutes, they lay together in companionable silence, then Skull asked, "So, what did you and the other rangers talk about today?"

"WHAT!?" Tyler demanded, pushing herself up onto one elbow to look at her cousin. He grinned at her in his goofy way.

"Come on. Me and Bulkie aren't THAT oblivious. WE had our suspicions that Jason and the others were the Power Rangers when Tommy came back, and the White Ranger showed up, but we didn't have our suspicions confirmed until that kalidescope monster, when we saw the rangers teleport in and morph in front of us."

"Yeah, that would be a good clue, but why didn't you go tell anyone? I thought that you and Tiny wanted to be famous that way."

"C'mon. After all those times they've saved our butts? No thanks. And as to why we didn't tell them..., well, it was kinda fun to make people think we didn't know." He paused, then said, "We figured out that you're that new Purple one?"

"H- How?" Tyler asked, stunned by this revelation.

"Wearing the same color everyday is a pretty good hint, if you know to look for it," Skull said, plucking at Tyler's violet shirt. The cousins laughed for a few moments, then Skull asked, "What happened to Tommy and the others, Ty? What's really wrong?"

The Purple Gemborn met her cousin's eye, and in the light cast by the streetlamp, saw only concern and compassion. Before she knew it, Tyler was crying, the walls holding her tears back crumbled by Skull's worry. "It's all my fault!" she sobbed, then poured the entire story out to her cousin.

While he listened, Skull found himself in the position of comforter, and found that he liked it alot better than he ever had being a bully. "Don't worry, Ty," he said, rubbing his cousin's back with one hand. "I'll help make it right."

"Yeah, right," Tyler snorted through her tears. "You and what powers?"

"Don't you worry about that," Skull said, tapping Tyler's nose. "You just tell the rangers that Bulk and I are willing to help in any way we can."

Tyler sniffed, and said, "Thank you, Skull." She hugged her cousin, then started to head in.

Skull smiled in the dark after his cousin, then stood up. In an indignant tone, he asked, "What do you mean, 'you and what power'?" Tyler giggled as they swung off the roof and into the house.