Timeline:About a month after Trip to Power Mountain.

"The new AI program is finished?" Danny asked. The trio nodded. "Awesome, let's plug it in." Justin handed Danny the floppy, and the Prophet Ranger slipped it into the computer. He typed furiously on the computer. "All right. Computer?"

"Yes, Danny?" the computer replied.

"Put your main intelligence program on secondary status," Danny said, "Because I'm about to load your new one."

"As you wish," the computer said, "Main intelligence program now on secondary."

"Good, because here comes the new AI," Danny said, hitting enter.

"It'll take several minutes to download it into the computer," Trini said, "That disk is a modified one Billy was allowed to keep from the Power Chamber. They're practically antiques now by Eltarian standards, although they're still the most powerful floppy disks on Earth."

"I know they'll be of use one day," Billy said, "They hold almost a hundred times as much as a regular floppy does. The AI program still almost filled it up."

"Download complete," the computer said, "Shall I start the new program?"

"Of course," Danny said.

"Wait," Billy said, "If you have both programs running, you'll get bad feedback."

"Oh, right," Danny said, smacking his head. "Good, I'll have to do it manually. Computer, disengage the secondary AI." No response was all he needed, as Danny started typing like a maniac.

Billy sat back and watched him. Now, he considered himself to be a fast typist on a computer, and he even clocked himself a few times, but none of the best times he could remember clocking compared to Danny's fast fingers.

"Computer, how are you feeling today?" Danny asked suddenly.

"I'm feeling fine, Danny."

Trini almost cheered when she heard the voice. It was her own. Billy and Justin agreed that hers was the best choice for the computer program.

"In fact, I'm feeling awesome," the computer said.

"That's great," Danny said, "All our hard work has paid off. Computer, run a diagnostic routine, and see if the program is compromising any other programs."

"Running diagnostic," the computer said. It took several minutes. "No programs have been compromised by the new AI program."

"Good," Danny said, "Well, we'd better get going. The guys might need us, at the Youth Center."

"Nah, they're still working with the contractor," Justin said, "For the outdoor Juice Bar and Grill."

"Oh, that's right," Billy said, "The construction is supposed to start next Monday. It shouldn't take more than maybe three months."

"Well, they might need help with the classes, if they're busy with contractor," Trini said.

"Yeah, and it's a bit boring around here," Danny said.

"Let's go," Billy said.

The three of them teleported to the guest room in Tommy and Kim's apartment, the place agreed upon for Ranger business inside the building.

They headed downstairs. Danny had started a class outside, where he showed some young students how to perfectly mix roller skating/blading with martial arts, so he went outside. Justin went with him.

Billy and Trini headed into the karate class, and finding no one there, they then went into the Juice Bar. There, they found a bunch of students. "Must be break time," Trini said.

Billy nodded, and they walked up to the bar, where Ernie and Ryan were busy taking orders. Ryan waved when he saw them, but his attention was quickly turned to some customers.

"Yeesh, this is the busiest I've seen this place so far," Trini said, "Well, since the days of the old Youth Center, at least."

"Affirmative," Billy said, "Should we lend assistance?"

"Yeah, we should," Trini said. Her and Billy grabbed up a couple of the extra order pads. They each took a table and took orders.

Ernie wasn't too surprised to see the two of them helping out. "Where's Danny?" he asked Ryan, "He's supposed to be helping out here."

"He's got a class," Ryan said, "He started up that roller skating/blading mix with martial arts class, remember?"

"Oh, that's right," Ernie said, "Danny said he felt guilty helping out with regular martial arts classes, when we've got so many people wanting to help teach it, so he started up his own class. That kid shows a lot of initiative."

Ryan smiled. `More than you'll ever know,' he mused.

Outside, Justin was helping Danny teach the class. Justin wasn't as good at it as his look alike cousin, but he was getting there slowly but surely.

"How did you get so good at this?" a student asked. The class technically hadn't started yet. This was just a meeting, where Danny told his students all that was going to be required of them.

"I was studying for years, before, during, and after I went to the Olympics," Danny replied, "A man that lived near me taught me. Before I left, I was better than he was, surprisingly. If you can believe it, he also had me learn under a few of the members of the gymnastics team, who were friends of his."

"Gymnastics? That's for girls," one boy said.

"No it's not," Danny said, "There are a lot of guys interested in gymnastics, and no matter what you hear and/or think, they're not gay. Well, maybe a few are, but not the group as a whole. You need to have gymnastics down to be good at this, because your body will sometimes need to have the flexibility gymnastics gives you. Has that changed your mind about this?" His students shook their heads. "Good. Kim will enjoy having a few more students."

The guys in the class groaned. "Class dismissed," Danny said, grinning. His students stood up and left.

Justin glanced at his watch. "Only 15 minutes," he said, "The parents are going to complain."

"Maybe, but I don't think so," Danny said, "My class is free for the preliminaries, meaning gymnastics class mostly. When the actual class begins, my fee for students isn't much. A lot of my students, and their parents, are wanting to work with me, because of my being an Olympic gold medalist. It's the same way with Kim, and her class."

"True, but it was still too quick a class," Justin pointed out.

Danny laughed. "Yeah, I guess it was, at that," he said, "What do you say we go out back, to the future site of the outdoor Juice Bar and Grill?"

"I say the first person there has to buy the next round," Justin challenged, before he took off.

"Hey, no fair," Danny called after him, as he raced to catch up with his cousin.

The Tyrant Ranger was watching the people in the Youth Center, especially Billy, Trini, and Ryan. Danny's powers kept him from attacking them there however, as well as their homes. He was cloaked, and since Danny wasn't there, nobody knew that he was in the building.

"Blast the force field around this place," the Tyrant Ranger said, "I can't even enter this place, unless I'm cloaked, and then I can't hit anybody." It wasn't just cloaking he did. In full cloaked mode, he was also intangible, and couldn't touch anything. "Well, if I can't attack them here, I'll just bait them out." With that, he teleported out.

Danny beat Justin to the construction site, where they found Adam, Tanya, and Jason talking with a man in a hard hat, who they assumed to be the foreman of the construction company.

The outdoor Juice Bar wasn't going to consist of much. Just a wall, for the bar, and the rest was going to be a bunch of tables. Concrete underneath all of it, of course. The classes were still going to be held inside, except for Danny's. There was going to be a spot for mats and stuff. Currently, he had a small, abandoned parking lot next to the building. It had a bunch of mats on it, though he never used them. They were there for his students, when the classes actually began.

All of a sudden, Danny felt the telepathic call to battle by the computer in the VRCC. "Guys," he hissed, getting the others attention. Adam, Tanya, and Jason quickly excused themselves, and headed over to the two of them. The five Rangers then headed up to the teleportation point, in the guest room of Tommy and Kim's apartment.

There, they found the others waiting for them. "It's morphin' time," Danny cried, "Prophet Ranger power."

"White VR power," Tommy cried.

"Pink VR power," Kim said.

"Blue VR power," Billy said.

"Yellow VR power," Trini said.

"Gold VR power," Jason said.

"Red VR power," Rocky said.

"Maroon VR power," Kat said.

"Black VR power," Adam said.

"Amber VR power," Tanya said.

"Silver VR power," Zack said.

"Orange VR power," Aisha said.

"Purple VR power," Justin said.

"Green VR power," Ryan said.

They morphed and teleported away. When they touched down, they found themselves in the VRCC. "What's going on?" Danny asked, as he sat down at the main monitor wall.

"A new virtuamonster calling itself Prionitai and some virtuasoldiers are attacking the city," the computer said. Most of the Rangers were surprised to hear the new voice, especially since it was Trini's, but quickly got over it.

"Computer, teleport Prionitai and the virtuasoldiers to the country side," Danny ordered.

"Done," the computer said. On the screen, the virtuamonster and virtuasoldiers all disappeared.

"Let's go, guys," Tommy said, and they all teleported out.

When they touched down on the battle field, they found themselves in a deserted field. Prionitai looked surprised. "What have you done, Rangers?" the virtuamonster demanded.

"Just taking this battle field to where it won't cause any damage," Danny said, "Scythe of Prophecy." His diamond bladed scythe appeared in his hands, and he dove towards Prionitai.

"Foolish Ranger," Prionitai said, "Don't you know anything? Just my breath is deadly." A foul gas emitted from what looked to be his mouth. It engulfed the battle field.

Danny took a whiff. "It's bad, I'll grant you that," he said, "But not deadly."

Prionitai growled, trying to be menacing, but it didn't work. "Maybe not deadly for you," he said, "But I'd check on your companions." With that, the virtuamonster disappeared, along with the virtuasoldiers.

Danny turned to the Virtuosity Rangers, to find them scattered about on the ground, writhing like they were in pain. He rushed over to Tommy, who was the closest one. "Computer, teleport the others to the VRCC now," he commanded, through his mental link to the computer.

The Virtuosity Rangers were teleported away, and Danny was right behind them. They landed in the newly finished medlab, where some robotic doctors were looking over the Rangers.

"This is bad, Danny," the computer said, "Medical scans of the Virtuosity Rangers indicate the presence of prions in their system."

"Which would explain the virtuamonsters name," Danny realized, "What are prions, exactly?"

"They're the most dangerous natural disease causing agent known," the computer said, "They're also known as paradox retroagents. They're simple by nature, yet complex in many ways."

"So, how do we cure the others?" Danny inquired.

"I'll have to search the databanks the Phantom Ranger left," the computer said, "Hopefully, what he knew will help us here."

"I've got an even better idea," Danny said, "Can you get me online with the Phantom Ranger?"

"Yes, but it'll take me several minutes."

"Then do it, and call me when he's on the line," Danny said, "One more question, though. How come the filters in the masks didn't keep out the prions?"

"Prions are so basic, that they are hard to filter out," the computer said, "They're even more microscopic than viruses."

Causing the helmet to flow back and expose his face, Danny rubbed the bridge of his nose. All the technical talk was giving him a headache. "This is just too much for me to keep up with," he said, "Can you tone down the technobabble?"

"Sure thing, Danny," the computer said, "Prions are more basic than viruses, and are hard to filter out. Your powers protected you because they're so strong, but we didn't create the Virtuosity powers with prion filters in mind."

"Yeah, well, add them while the Virtuosity Rangers are powered down," Danny said.

"As you wish, Danny," the computer said, "By the way, I have been able to get the Phantom Ranger online."

"Bring him onscreen at my command," Danny said, "Back to action." His helmet melted back into place, and the Phantom Ranger appeared on the viewscreen. "Hi there. I've heard a lot about you."

"Funny, you're a Ranger, but I haven't heard a thing about you," the Phantom Ranger said, "What are you doing in my old headquarters?"

"Defending the Earth against the Tyrant Ranger, that's what," Danny replied, "Me and my team, that is. We're the universe's only line of defense against the greatest evil ever known."

"The Tyrant Ranger?" Danny could almost see the eyebrows raise on whoever was under the Phantom Ranger mask. "Then, you are the Prophet Ranger?"

Danny nodded. "That's right," he said, "Look, I need your help. How fast can you get here?"

"I'll be there in about ten minutes, Terran time," the Phantom Ranger said, "Phantom out." With that, the screen went blank.

Ten minutes later, the Phantom Ranger was flying into a hangar that seemed to be specially made for his ship. Danny was there waiting on him. "I guess we got off to a kind of bad start," Danny said. He extended his hand. "Let's start over. Hi, I'm Danny Kain. Who are you?"

"You can call me Phantom," the Phantom Ranger said, shaking Danny's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet the Prophet Ranger." Danny shrugged modestly. "Now, what seems to be the problem?"

"It's my team," Danny said, "They've been stricken by prions breathed on them by a monster named Prionitai. Can you help them?"

The Phantom Ranger seemed to hesitate, then nodded. "It's rather simple, really," he said, "Most diseases linked to a monster like that are wiped out of its victims when the monster is destroyed."

"Oh, great," Danny said, "Now I've got to destroy a particularly tough monster, all by myself."

"You won't be alone, Prophet Ranger," Phantom Ranger said, "I will be there with you, if you want."

"Thank you, Phantom," Danny said, "And please, call me Danny."

"All right, Danny," Phantom Ranger said, "So, what do you usually do when waiting for a monster and some of the Tyrant Rangers cannon fodder to attack?"

"They're called virtuasoldiers, Phantom," Danny said, "And we usually go to the new Youth Center, but that's off. I can't go without the others. That would look more than a bit strange." All of a sudden, an alarm went off.

"Well, it's a moot point now anyway, it would seem," Phantom Ranger said.

"Computer, identify problem," Danny said.

"Prionitai has returned, with some virtuasoldiers," the computer said, "Teleporting them to the country, as per usual."

"Thank you, computer," Danny replied. He glanced at the Phantom Ranger, who was watching him curiously. "Ready?" The Phantom Ranger nodded. Danny stood up, and the two of them teleported off.

When they got to the battle field, Prionitai and the virtuasoldiers were waiting on them, and attacked. Danny and the Phantom Ranger easily cut through the masses of virtuasoldiers.

When they got down to Prionitai, the virtuamonster growled. "You're going down, Rangers," it roared.

Without a spoken word, Danny and the Phantom Ranger called upon their weapons and then crossed them, issuing forth a blast that completely obliterated Prionitai.

"Let's get back to the VRCC," Danny said. Phantom nodded, and both of them teleported back to headquarters.

When they got there, they found the Virtuosity Rangers up and about.

"Virtuosity Rangers, I do believe that it is time to reveal my identity," the Phantom Ranger said, "Prepare yourselves." That got the teams undivided attention, and the Phantom Ranger reached up and undid the straps on his helmet, and pulled it off. The Rangers all gasped, as they saw the Phantom Ranger to be...

To be continued...

Note from the author: Sorry for leaving at such a bad time, but I wanted to build the suspense more, and this seemed like the best way. Believe me, when you see the Phantom Rangers identity, it'll be well worth the wait. Also, I have to admit, I got the idea about prions from both the fanfic Contagion in the Terran Rangers series and from Lost World (the book).