The Magna Defender. The name rang through his mind, and once again he could swear he had heard Mike's voice through his dazed mind, calling his name and carrying him out of the cave just in time to save his life. ^It can't be him, though. Mike would never be like that. ..but he fights like Mike. ..and he saved me. ..^

The Red Galaxy Ranger shuddered, clenching his fists. He had never been so close to death as he had been in that moment. He knew once he had accepted the Quasar Saber and had morphed with it, that he was dedicating his life to the cause of good and evil. But it was just this first time that he had realized it could *cost* him his life.

And more than his life. He remembered how Kendrix had been looking at the strange armored warrior. Icy sparks of jealousy raged within him for a moment, then he calmed himself. ^She just thinks of me as a friend,^ he reminded himself. The sparks that had flown between the two at their first meeting had never caught fire, and he was beginning to think he had just imagined them.

He had seen how she looked at the Defender. ..how friendly and chummy she was with Kai. Heck, she even talked to Damon and Maya more than she did with him! Who was he fooling? She barely even knew he was alive! The few times they *had* spoken had been because of Ranger business. They were almost like exact opposites. ..she was organized, scientific, punctual, and filled with common sense. He was lazy, disorganized, couldn't be on time if his life depended on it, and wanted very few things more than to have Furio alive again, just so he could kill him all over again. ^Mike^. ..the word trailed down well worn grooves in his mind and he sighed.

Quietly he got up and went to one of the video reviewers; Alpha and DECA constantly taped their battles so they could go over them and learn what they did wrong and right. Unlike almost every other Ranger teams in the past, they had no experienced Rangers who could help them out in this. The Astro Rangers had left Earth soon after the ending of the last war, using a spacecraft that the people of Aquitar had provided them, and along with several other unidentified people, were never seen again. It was theorized that they had went into hiding after being overwhelmed by the press once they had returned to Earth the first time.

With fingers made skilled by practice, he brought up the taping of the Magna Defender, and stared at it. ^Those are Mike's moves,^ he remembered them thoroughly. His brother had trained him in those moves until he could do them in his sleep. This stranger was doing the exact same ones.

He sighed deeply. Then, for one moment, a harsh smile twisted his lips. ^At least Furio's done with. I got the revenge I've been looking for ever since you vanished. .or died. .or whatever, Mike. And if you're out there anywhere...somehow, I don't know how.. .I will find you, and I will bring you back to Terra Venture. I miss you, big brother. I miss you a lot.^

Leo and Mike had never been able to say some things out loud. Mike had found the courage in the end, to say how much he believed in his brother. Now, Leo whispered words he had always left unspoken until now. "I love you, Mike."

THE END