Disclaimers: The things that are from Marvel Comics belong to them. The things that are from Power Rangers belong to Saban. Spectra, Spectrum Force and all related materials are the creations of Rachel Dawson. Thanks for letting me borrow them. I haven't been paid for this, so suing me for the royalties is a waste of time.

This takes place after the events in the stories "Of Swords, of Wolves and of Shadows Met" and "A Rock Feels No Pain". This takes place a year after "A Rock Feels No Pain". According to the Power Ranger gossip I have heard, this might place it in the Power Rangers in Space time. This also takes place after the Spectrum Force story, "Outcasts".

For those who care, by this time Billy, Rocky and Trini are 20 years old. If you haven't read the two stories of mine I mentioned above, then you are REALLY going to be confused. Having read a recent X-men or Excalibur comic book will be of great assistance as well. Having read Rachel Dawson's Spectrum Force stories won't hurt either, also they're pretty good, very good actually. The best out there. (OK Rachel, you can put the gun down now.)

Note: an * followed by an * indicates telepathic communication, a { followed by a } indicates sentences not spoken in English.

From the Ashes, Reborn
Part One
by: Don Berry

Langstrum Alps, California

My name is Piotr Nikoleivitch Rasputin. I am known as Colossus. I am a member of the mutant super-hero team known as Excalibur. This is a city in a world I do not exist in.

This started a few weeks ago. Somehow the heroes of this planet need assistance against an entity known as Phaedra. They called for help. They got my friends and I.

I was told this is how it began...

Somewhere in the Multiverse

The Guardian felt the psychic call for help. She analyzed it and found that the ones they wanted would not be of as great assistance as they might wish. She knew who would be able to help them more. She had used some of them in the past.

Now all Roma had to do was get Excalibur to Langstrum Alps. When you are the Guardian of the Multiverse, the possible was done instantly. The impossible just took a little longer.

The Danger Room, The Xavier Mansion

Samuel Guthrie was the youngest member of the X-men. That was not to say he was inexperienced. Far from it. He had been a co-leader of the New Mutants and leader of X-force (at least while Cable had been gone). He was the first and so far only member of the New Mutants and X-force to graduate and become a member of the X-men. His powers were simple. He emitted a thermo-chemical propulsion field that enveloped him and gave him the ability to fly, protected him in flight as a force-field which made him all but invulnerable and allowed him to project blasts of the energy. Which accounted for his code-name of "Cannonball".

He could empathize then with watching the newest members of Excalibur being put through the wringer. It was a team exercise. ShadowWolf and Redstone were supposed to evade the "hunters" and secure the objective without being "tagged" by the "hunters" or the automatic defenses. The "hunters" were the X-men Gambit, Wolverine, Bishop, Storm, Cyclops, Rogue and Archangel. Gambit and Bishop were on point. Followed by Cyclops. Storm, Rogue and Archangel were flying high cover for them. Wolverine was nowhere to be seen. The objective was to push a big red button that said, creatively enough, "Push Me".

Of course the "hunters" didn't have it easy. They could also be tagged. And none of them wanted to be the ones to lose to a couple of kids.

The sensors in the control room for the Danger Room were able to pick up where everyone was at. The computers had been given a random selection on the environment and they had chosen a war-torn city street at night. The Shi'ar provided holographic projectors made this look very authentic. Down to the smell.

So far, the X-men had been hunting them for the past twenty-five minutes. And had not seen them yet. "Sam, they are still in here, right?" Cyclops asked.

"Yes suh. Ah got them on the sensuhs now." Sam replied in his slow southern drawl.

"You want to give us a hint, sugah?" Rogue asked.

"Ah got Colossus standin' ovuh mah shoulder. What do ya'll think mah ansuh is goin' to be to that?" Sam told her. He looked over at Piotr Rasputin. Piotr just nodded his head at him. Jean smiled at Sam's answer. Professor Xavier kept his eyes on the Danger Room.

While all this was happening, Gambit was able to pick up the trail of the two they were looking for. "Stormy, Gambit foun' de trail. For a bunch of youngun's dey pretty good, oui?" Gambit informed.

"Gambit, don't call me `Stormy'. And yes, they are well trained. Logan, have you picked up the trail yet? Logan?" No answer. Storm sighed. "Cyclops, I can't raise Logan on the comm unit. Can you see him? Cyclops? Scott, are you there? Gambit, look for Cyclops."

"He be here, jus' a secon' ago, chere. Y'wan' Gambit go look?"

"No. Follow the trail. Bishop keep in each other's sight. I'll go see if I can find them. Rogue, Warren. You're with me."

Bishop looked over at Gambit. "I do not like this. This feels like a trap. They've picked off Cyclops and Wolverine. We are not hunting them. They are hunting us."

"Mon ami, tha' be de way sometime. De hunter become de hunted. Of course, it would help if Gambit had been tol' wha' dey could do, non?" He then turned back to following the trail left by the two they were hunting. The most annoying thing about this, at least to Gambit, was that he couldn't sense them through his spatial awareness. It was as if they had dropped off the face of the planet.

Jean looked over at the Professor. The control room was set up to hear everything that was said by those in the Danger Room. "You didn't tell them what they were up against? ShadowWolf being a telepath and Redstone being a mage? Why didn't you tell them?"

"They won't always have advance information on an opponent, Jean." Professor Xavier calmly explained. "Sometimes, you have to throw someone to the wolves. Metaphorically speaking." He added the last after the amused grunt Piotr expressed over the "being thrown to the wolves" comment.

Rogue didn't like this. Ever since they had started this exercise against the two young men, she had the feeling that she was being watched. That feeling of someone else being in the house, when the lights go out and there's a storm. When you know that there's nothing there in the rational part of your mind. But the irrational part tells you to go find a baseball bat, get a flashlight and hide in a closet.

Archangel, also known as Warren Worthington the third, was finding this entire exercise frustrating. Even with the enhanced vision that he had, he couldn't see the targets from the air. He kept the objective in sight, in fact he resembled a vulture over a corpse they way he kept circling it, but still hadn't seen them. He had serious doubts they were even in the Danger Room.

Gambit looked over to where Bishop was. The only problem was that Bishop wasn't there. He looked for signs of a struggle and found none. He looked to see if Bishop had gone up to the rooftops and couldn't see him there either. "Stormy, this is Gambit."

"Go ahead, Gambit."

Before Gambit could reply, he felt an arm snake around his throat, another went to the side of his head and a voice whispered in his ear, "Bang. You dead. This counts as a tag. Do me a favor and press the send button on your comm unit."

Gambit was shocked. He had his back to a wall when he was grabbed. He hadn't even heard movement. I be taken down like `prentice t'ief on firs' job. Somethin' wrong heah.

After Gambit had activated the comm unit, the voice spoke into it. "Hi, this is ShadowWolf. Me and my buddy, Redstone, have taken out your ground unit. Would you like to surrender?"

"ShadowWolf, this is Storm. No, we won't surrender. You haven't won yet."

"True. However, you might find it a little bit harder to fly around in about 5 seconds. Now, Rocky."

Before Storm, Rogue or Warren could react, a large white ball floated up in front of them. Then it exploded, releasing a white flash of light more intense than the sun.

By the time they regained their sight, they saw the two targets standing near the button. They had already pushed it. Professor Xavier's voice came across the Danger Room. "Very good. Everyone please stand down, the exercise is over."

After he said that, the holographic city disappeared to reveal a large featureless room. Logan was standing off to the side looking disgusted. As were Cyclops, Bishop and Gambit. "Dey get y'first, mon ami?" Gambit asked Logan.

"Yeah." The word was more growled than spoken. "Chuck, why didn't you tell us the kid was a telepath?"

"Which ones the telepath?" Rogue asked. She didn't look very happy about finding out she had been up against one.

Billy and Rocky looked at her, then each other. They then pointed at the other and yelled, "He is!"

The Boathouse, The Xavier Mansion

Jean Summers was listening to her husband, Scott Summers, grumble about being taken out by two kids barely out of high school. She found this to be quite amusing. "Scott, what did you expect? They've been working with Excalibur for almost two years. At least Billy has been. Rocky was a Power Ranger during most of that time, so he's only been with them for a little over a year. They didn't exactly fall right off the turnip truck and into those uniforms. Don't you think there's a reason the Professor wanted just those two in the Danger Room?"

"What do you mean, Jean?"

"I think the Professor wants those two on the X-men. They evaded you, Logan, Ororo, Remy, Bishop, Rogue and Warren for almost half an hour. And they won."

"Kurt's going to hit the roof if the Professor tries to get them to switch teams."

"I doubt they'll go."

"Why not?"

"Billy likes Scotland. He's happy there. If Trini didn't like it he'd be gone in a heartbeat, but she likes it too. Rocky on the other hand won't leave because of Rahne, besides him being Amanda's apprentice."

"I'm not sure I approve of the relationship between Rahne and Rocky." Scott told her. "However, it's Kurt's place to look at these things in regards to his team. Not mine."

"Kurt is short handed right now with Meggan and Brian watching after their son. Another reason Billy wouldn't go is that Excalibur doesn't have a telepath since Rachel was immersed in the multi-verse." Rachel Summers was always a touchy point with them. Rachel Summers was a person from an alternate future who was the daughter of the two of them. They had met her when the two were having problems and Scott had been married to someone else. This had understandably put a strain on their relationship but they had weathered it.

"How powerful is he Jean? I hear stories from Kurt and Piotr but nothing >from Billy himself."

"He's on a level with Betsy. He may be more powerful. But he's not at my level as a telepath. It's his other abilities that make him more dangerous."

"What other abilities?"

"Have you ever heard of the Shadow?"

"Yes. 1930's crime-fighter. Friend of Logan's apparently. Captain America and Nick Fury mentioned him to me once."

"He was Billy's grandfather. The man had several tricks for getting into rooms and messing with people's minds. Billy got the man's experience. Add to that the knowledge and strength he received as a Power Ranger... He's also smarter than Hank and he can fight toe to toe with Kitty and win. This is no one to mess with."

"How strong is he? How much does the other guy have of the power he had as a Ranger?"

"Billy can at the least pick up a car. As for Rocky... he's not as strong. Apparently something called a Zeo crystal messed up the link that he had with the power that Billy received his strength from. However Rocky is stronger than he looks. He has some of the power left. Just not as much as Billy."

"What about the girl, Trini?"

"She's an empath and a healer. She was a Power Ranger as well. What she has left, they won't tell me. She also is a master of something called mantis kung fu. Betsy and Logan were both impressed when they heard that."

"You mentioned that Billy can beat Kitty in a fight. Shouldn't she be able to phase away from his attacks?"

"Actually no. The Ninjetti power that Billy has is magical in nature. That allows him to hit Kitty even when she is phased. As for skill, they're fairly well matched."

"How could he walk through the shadow like he does then?"

"Like Kurt, Billy has a link with the Darkforce dimension. While Kurt can teleport, hide in darkness and stick to walls with his, Billy can walk through shadows. I don't know if he can do anything else with it. He might be afraid to try."

"I can see why the Professor wants them on the team. But I think they would work better with Kurt's group."

"Then you don't want them on the team?"

"Jean, I'd love to have them on the team. However, they will do better with Kurt."

"I'm glad you think that way. Then you won't mind backing me up when I tell the Professor to back off."

Scott looked at Jean. "And if I say no?"

"You sleep on the couch until you say yes."

Scott sighed. "You fight dirty. All right. I'll help you convince the Professor."

When the X-Men and their affiliated team X-Force aren't out saving the world, training or sleeping, they can usually be found in the rec room. Tonight, with guests at the Mansion the room was even more crowded than usual.

Excalibur was exchanging stories with the members of X-Force and the X- Men. Several members of the other teams found it hard to believe that Billy, Rocky and Trini had been Power Rangers. It helped that Rahne backed them. Rahne had a reputation as someone who didn't tell stories.

Rocky had found out that certain members of X-Force and the X-Men were very protective of Rahne. Grave bodily harm had been promised to him if he hurt Rahne in any way, shape, form or fashion. They had finally started to accept him after Rahne had knocked some sense into her old friends. Right now he was in a discussion with Bobby Drake, known as Iceman, on the best ways to pull a joke on someone.

Trini was talking with Betsy Braddock, known as Psylocke, about the benefits of kung fu over karate. Billy was talking with the Beast, real name Hank McCoy, about physics. The entire time they were talking, they were playing each other in chess. There was no clear superior at the moment.

Kurt Wagner was talking with his friend's Logan and Ororo. Amanda was sitting beside him while he talked. Kitty and Pete Wisdom had left to go to town with Gambit and Rouge. And Piotr was painting those gathered.

"Kurt, when will you and the rest of Excalibur be returning to Muir Island?" Storm asked.

"We leave in the morning. The visit was pleasant but we should be returning soon. Moira has found some potential mutants for us to check. Besides, as fun as this has been, I really don't want the Professor to try and talk me into releasing William and Rocky so they may join the X-Men." Kurt told her.

"You think Chuck would do that?" Logan asked.

"If he felt it was the right thing to do, he would." Kurt said.

Billy looked at the chessboard before him. Moving a bishop, he smiled then looked at the Beast. "That's checkmate. If you'll excuse me, I heard something I need to respond to."

"Of course. We will have to do this again. I must return to the lab anyway. Good night." Beast then walked out of the room.

Billy came over behind Kurt and the others. "I heard what you said about Professor Xavier possibly wanting me or Rocky for the X-Men. I won't speak for Rocky, but you can be assured I will stay with Excalibur."

"William, the Professor hasn't said anything either way about that. Besides, we leave in the morning. You might want to let Trini know. It's late and we leave early in the morning. Be sure to get some sleep." Kurt then helped Amanda up and left the room.

Logan looked at Billy. "You resemble your grandfather a little. Good man. How'd he die?"

"Mr. Sinister killed him. He mailed me my grandfather's guns with a note apologizing for having killed him. Kurt made me promise not to go after him until a better time presented itself. I'm still waiting."

"Sounds like you have something more than just him killing Lamont to make you want his head."

"He wanted me to join him. So he tried to kidnap Trini to ensure my cooperation. But I'm sure Jean and Betsy told you about that."

"Yeah, they did. You still carry the .45's?"

"Always. I don't use them very often, but I have become proficient in their use."

"Good. Lamont was a good man. It's late kid, you and your girl should get some sleep."

"You're right, sir. Good night."

"Good night, kid. And call me Logan."

"Thank you." Billy waited for Trini to finish talking then they went to their room.

The next morning was beautiful as the members of X-Men saw off Excalibur. Good byes were said, hugs were given and then Excalibur filed into the Midnight Runner. They soon left with Kitty Pryde at the controls.

The flight was fairly uneventful until the instrumentation of the aircraft suddenly failed. The majority of Excalibur woke up from the jolt and were instantly on edge. Those who weren't securely strapped in, proceeded to do so.

"Wisdom, I thought you said she could drive! She's worse than Meggan!" Rocky yelled.

"You tell her that when we land, boy! She'll have your guts for garters! And she needs more of those." Wisdom shot back.

"Kurt, get up here! I need help flying this thing! And Pete, shut up!" Kitty screamed back.

Kurt teleported to the cockpit and took the vacant seat next to Kitty. "What do we have, Kitty?"

"Nothing. Nothing is responding."

"Well, that leaves so much room for improvement. Did you check the fusebox?" Kurt asked.

"Very funny, fuzzy. You want me to throw you out of here?"

"Liebchen, you must relax. Panic never solved anything. Now, how much time until we hit the water?"

"Forty-five seconds."

"Well, that make things a little different. You may panic now."

Before Kitty could slap one of her oldest friends, a glowing portal of energy appeared in front of the Midnight Runner. Before they knew what happened they were through. The aircraft stabilized and then grew still.

All the members of Excalibur felt something powerful wash over them. It felt like psychic communication, but on a greater level.

"Hello, my friends. I am Roma. You have been brought here to help an old friend. She is in great danger."

"Who would that be, Roma?" Kurt asked.

"Rachel Summers. No more questions, there isn't the time. She does not have long. I will send you to where she is now. Good luck."

The next thing they knew, the Midnight Runner again started to move forwards and then they went through another glowing portal. They found themselves close to a city. Kitty quickly landed the Midnight Runner.

Excalibur got out of the plane. They all looked around. One hundred yards to their right, they saw a group of people in brightly colored uniforms surrounding a prone figure.

They started forward. When they came closer Kurt, Kitty, Amanda and Piotr saw that the prone figure was Rachel Summers. Kurt looked at the others. "Take them down, but don't kill them until I'm sure they are responsible for what happened to Rachel. For those who don't know, the red head on the ground is Rachel. Billy, Kitty use the ground attack. Take them down hard and quick. Go!"

After Kitty and Billy started moving through the earth, Kurt looked to Piotr. "Fastball special. Throw me towards the one in purple."

"Of course, tovarisch." Piotr picked up his friend and then hurled him towards the group around Rachel. Piotr then moved forward flanked by the remaining members of Excalibur. Trini stayed by the Midnight Runner.

Before the group of teens could react, Kurt had the one in purple on the ground with his sword at her neck. Billy and Kitty had both rocketed out of the earth, Billy catching one in red, Kitty one in blue. The standing teens looked at those surrounding them.

The one in orange stepped forward. "I don't know who you are, but we won't go down without a fight."

Billy looked at the one in orange. "Kim?"