Overall Roman's day hadn't been too bad. He'd woken up to a tug on his blankets and found that Virgil, who looked like they had just finished crying, was silently asking him for some comfort. Roman didn't hesitate to oblige. Not only did he enjoy holding Virgil in his arms for the sake of holding someone in his arms, but Roman specifically enjoyed that person being Virgil. Maybe it was because of how warm Virgil was or maybe it was because of the way Virgil ran their finger over Roman's arm, tracing a pattern Roman didn't recognize. Whatever the answer was Roman still enjoyed it greatly. After a little bit of silence Virgil had brought over their paradot and was watching the scenes on it play out. Roman wasn't entirely sure if he should watch as well, but when he pulled out his phone and Virgil didn't budge, Roman figured idly playing a game would work best.

When it was time to actually do something the group landed on eating food, shopping, and going to see a movie. While Roman certainly enjoyed his sandwich and took amusement in Patton and Logan's flirty dance around each other, he couldn't help but notice the giant dog that had been wandering around, following people until they shooed it off. When said dog started following Roman and Virgil, he pointed this out to his companion and Virgil wasted no time claiming the dog as their own and hurrying Roman to bring her along with them. Roman honestly couldn't say no. How anyone could was beyond him.

The movie was a spectacular success and getting Thomas to let Virgil keep the newly deemed Eddie was no issue. Roman and Virgil skipped over to their room and started going through items to buy for such a dog.

"Here Red, I think Eddie's a Newfoundland!" Virgil exclaimed showing Roman the photos of dogs that looked too similar to Eddie.

"Probably." Roman shrugged. "What do they eat?"

"Uhh," Virgil read on. "Dog food."

Roman laughed at that. "Okay, I guess when we get back we can ask Thomas to help with food and stuff. We can feed her some of Remus' snacks until then."

"Why would we feed a dog human food?" Virgil asked.

"Oh no, Remus eats dog food. Well, dog treats. Like little dog biscuits and stuff. He says they taste better than human ones." Roman told them. Virgil gave Roman a look of disgust and confusion, to which Roman just shrugged.

"Okay, well, I-I think Eddie is too short of a name. Look at her! She needs a sophisticated name." Virgil said.

"Alright, alright," Roman nodded. "Like a fancy name or?"

"I dunno, I guess not fancy. Just like a respectable one." Virgil explained. "Like her full name is Edwina."

"Edwina?" Roman pondered. "I like that. Edwina. But is it long enough to be respectable?"

"No." Virgil decided.

"Edwina Daveed." Roman tried.

"Hmm, now I like that but we can't just give her two names." Virgil pointed out, reasonably so. "How about, Edwina Avril Daveed."

Roman repeated it a few times to the dog. "Okay so I think she likes it, but you can't really end a name on Daveed."

"Yeah you're right. Daveed needs to flow into something, it can't be the end."

"Anglo." Virgil stated.

"Anglo? What's that from?" Roman asked.

"I'll tell you later." Virgil said. "So, Edwina Avril Daveed Anglo. Hmm, that still feels off."

"Probably because it's four names. Like who has four separate names? We should add one more."

"Right, cause five is basically an honorary even number." Virgil agreed.

"Sanders." Roman finished. "Edwina Avril Daveed Anglo Sanders. Or Eddie for short."

Virgil smiled goofily and turned to Eddie. "Whacha think Eddie, good name for you?"

The dog didn't give much of a response but a pant and a tilt of the head. Virgil took this as a yes and nodded happily, going back to the laptop Roman had let them borrow to search for collars and leashes.

Roman watched them, a suddenly familiar feeling pulsing in his chest. Roman was startled out of his staring-at-Virgil-stupor when he realized just what feeling it was. Oh-ho-ho we are not going there! Nope! We're gonna repress that for a bit!! Roman thought instantly.

When it came time for him to get ready for the New Years party Roman gathered himself and left to change into some more comfortable clothes. Virgil took this time to talk to Eddie in private and Roman went about getting his items packed to leave less work for himself the next day when they would be leaving.

Roman and Virgil were the first two downstairs to meet Renette and Thomas.

"Good you two are-" Renette stopped herself. "The hell is this?"

"Edwina Avril Daveed Anglo Sanders." Virgil said without hesitation.

"We call her Eddie." Roman explained.

"She's my new dog." Virgil stated. "Thomas said it was okay."

Renette gave Thomas a scathing look to which he simply shrugged and smiled. Renette gave a long sigh before mumbling 'yeah alright' and waiting for the others.

Roman had to collect himself before he could go on stage to meet Miley Cyrus and felt like he was spending most of the time with her on stage being incredibly awkward. The others told him he was fine but the whole time Roman felt rigid. He just didn't know how he was supposed to ask her to sign his Hannah Montana merch without it getting caught on microphones. When Roman and the others were finally let go to see their friends Roman begrudgingly went. Though, seeing Virgil's smiling face and Eddie's excited jumps made that not-autographed poster worth it.

Now, did Roman consider himself a romantic? Yes. Was he currently in a romantic relationship with anyone? No. Did he want to be? Not particularly. Did he know how truly fucked he would be when he pulled a certain alien into a spaceship with him back to Earth? Absolutely he did not.

Now however it was starting to dawn on him. As the jostling bodies of other tourists joined him in Times Square to watch as the large clock counted down from ten, Roman was realizing how absolutely fucked he was, and that it was all because of Virgil soon-to-be-Sanders. In front of him the clock had reached its final number on the countdown, and time almost went still. Remus and Janus were to Roman's right, lip-locked and not giving a shit. In front of Roman, Patton and Logan had grabbed each other's hands and were about to hug to celebrate the New Year, and beside Roman, to his left, stood possibly the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen.

Virgil, their wild curly hair framing their face in a perfect way as it was dusted by falling snowflakes, the reflections of the fireworks danced in their eyes, and their expression completely full of shock and awe as they stared at the lights that exploded and shimmered above them. Virgil held Eddie under her front legs so she was off the ground and had a good view of the sky, and Roman almost couldn't handle it all. His mind was racing between thinking oh my god this isn't fair I can't be falling for Virgil I thought I told you to repress this shit I shouldn't have a crush on Virgil this is so rude what the hell stop it and simply going fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck over and over again.

"Whoa." Virgil rubbed their eyes and leaned forward. "This is. . . amazing."

Roman had to agree. They really were. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

"Roman," Virgil reached over, practically slapping Roman in the face. "We need some of those."

"What?"

"Those. Fireworks!" Virgil pointed. "We need some of those."

Roman thought about it. "We'll pick some up on our way back home."

"Awesome." Virgil grinned.

Fuuuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, f-

Then the lights went out. Every powered light around them in Times Square. All the billboards and street lamps went black. It was eerie as the crowd fell silent, looking around, the only sounds were the few fireworks that continued to go off dramatically. The final firework zipped into the sky, then sizzled away before the pop of white light went off and burst away, the delayed boom felt like it reverberated in Roman's chest. It was deathly silent now and Roman could barely see Virgil next to him.

uck.

"What the hell?" A random person in the crowd asked. Their voice echoing off of the buildings. Other people began stammering out their own confusion at the situation.

"Here Eddie." Roman heard Virgil whisper beside him.

The crowd's volume began increasing, then just as quickly quieted back down.

"Roman, I'm gonna take a guess and say this isn't normally how these things go." Virgil said.

"You'd be right." Roman nodded. He wondered if Virgil would be okay holding his hand. He'd seen Virgil grab Logan's sleeve so maybe they didn't like skin contact-Roman was perfectly fine with that too-but Roman really just wanted to hold their hand at this moment.

"What's going on then-"

Virgil's inquiry was interrupted when a loud tearing sound wrapped at Roman's eardrums. He and the thousands of people gathered in Times Square all looked up into the sky to see the largest breach any of them had ever seen. The orange-yellow rip in the sky expanded larger and larger, leaving the entire crowd paralyzed with fear. Then the masses of Witchlings began dropping from it and in once motion the crowd screamed and ran. The Power Rangers stood in terrified worry as the people around them scurried away. Roman felt his stomach drop hard as he watched the first of the witchlings land on the ground.

"Suit up let's go!!" Thomas shouted behind them.

Roman didn't hesitate. He activated his armor and turned around, waiting for more instructions.

"Blue, Green, you two are with me, we need to round them up, keep the witchlings as contained as possible!! Pink and Yellow I need you two to help everyone out!!" Thomas ordered.

"On it!" Patton nodded. Him and the others splitting off to carry out Thomas' plan.

"Red, you take Virge, Emile, and Remy and get them somewhere safe!!" Thomas yelled.

"Dad!" Emile tried to argue.

"Wait Thomas-" Virgil looked at him pleadingly.

"Get them out of here!!" Thomas ran past Roman, diving into the fray of witchlings and taking them out as quickly as he could. "Now!!"

Roman watched him go before turning back to the three. "Remy is it okay if I carry you?"

"You say that like I'd turn down the opportunity." Remy joked, but it was half-hearted.

Roman scooped him up, handing Emile the leash to his dog, then shouted at the other two to follow him while he ran, not really sure of where he would be taking them, but he figured he'd figure it out at some point. The point never came though, instead Virgil took the lead and started winding them through the crowd, Eddie bounding along by their feet. Before Roman knew it they had reached the hotel and Virgil was urging them inside.

"Virge, you're still too close to Times Square I think you should all run further!" Roman tried as he set Remy down.

"Emile." Virgil grabbed their hand and placed one of their hair clips in it. "Use this to pick the lock that goes to the roof. Renette had them lock it after uh-the other night, but I've seen you do more with less so. Here."

"Virge." Roman was starting to get a bad feeling about the way they were talking.

"Virge what are you-"

"I'm going back with Roman." Virgil said. "I can help them. I-I grew up with these things. And whatever general she's sent, I-I can reason with them."

"Then I'm coming too!" Emile argued.

"No." Virgil told them fimly. Closing their fingers around the hair clip. "Get to the roof, you can watch from there, but don't come help."

"But Virgil! I can help you!"

"You're not a Power Ranger!!" Virgil yelled. Then they softened. "You have no idea how much you'll be missed if-if you-"

"You don't know how much you'll be missed!! I'll miss you!! Please Virgil at least if I'm there-"

"No." Virgil gave Emile Eddie's leash and shoved both of the fourteen year olds toward the elevators. "Just go!"

Emile turned around like he had something more to say, but Remy was saying something to him that Roman couldn't hear, and Emile stopped. Then he gave Virgil a curt nod before helping Remy to the elevators.

Virgil whipped around to face Roman, making eye contact with him for only a moment before they started off to Time Square again. "C'mon Red. I got a plan."

Roman could only nod as Virgil grabbed his hand and began running. The people that were pushing past them gave the two strange looks, but said nothing. Finally they were back to the real action.

"Virgil, I-I don't wanna push you or anything, but what exactly is your plan?!" Roman asked as he summoned his sword and prepared himself for the fight to come.

"Well, basically I'm gonna help you guys kill these monsters and then tell my mo-tell the Dragon Witch to fuck off!!" Virgil yelled over the shouting around them.

"Uh-huh okay, and again I don't wanna step on your toes or anything here Virge, but you don't have a weapon! How are you gonna kill the Witchlings?!?"

"Witchlings huh? That's what you call them? Nice." Virgil, a little pointedly didn't answer Roman's question, but oh well, Roman figured he didn't have much of a choice other than to trust them.

Virgil and Roman kept running until finally they were past the lines of running pedestrians and now back to the other Power Rangers. Patton and Janus were off somewhere else likely still helping people vacate the area, while Logan and Remus were down on the ground taking out the witchlings as efficiently as ever. Thomas meanwhile wasn't in Roman's sight and he was a little worried by that.

"Roman!!" Remus shouted. "Help us!! Over here!!"

"I-I don't want to leave Virgil alone!!" Roman shouted back.

"What?!" Remus killed the witchling in front of him and whipped around. "Oh my god what is Virgil doing here!?!"

"They wouldn't stay put!!" Roman tried to explain.

"Fu-Virgil!! Stay put!!"

"No f-off!!" Virgil quickly flipped Remus off.

"They learned this from you." Logan pointed out.

"God I'm gonna be a terrible mom." Remus sighed.

"Alright I got the east perimeter pretty much clear of pedestrians and-" Patton dropped in from one of the buildings with his grappling hook arrow. "Virgil why can't you just stay put."

"I can help Pat." Virgil said. "I know her better than anyone, I know all of their plans and strategies and I can help you take them down!"

Patton made a motion like he wanted to protest but Janus had run up behind Roman and Virgil, yelled about how his side of the block was clear of pedestrians, handed Virgil a dagger and run off into the fray of Witchlings. Patton sighed, shrugged, and motioned for Roman to get going on an attack plan.

"Okay, P, take Virgil up to the top of one of those buildings and start doing what you usually do, Virgil can assess the situation from there and report back on what we should do." Roman shoved both of them off. "Green keep these monsters contained, Yellow cover his flank and help him out as best as you can. Blue you're with me, we need to make a b-line for the middle of the pack, I'm assuming that's where Thomas is."

Everyone jumped to follow orders. Janus and Remus went on doing what they do best, Logan and Roman charged side-by-side to the hoard of witchlings that had surrounded Thomas, and out of the corner of his eye Roman saw Patton pulling himself and Virgil up to the roof of a building just as planned. Logan skewered some witchlings in front of him while Roman cut down the others that went to attack. When they reached Thomas he seemed to be handling the situation well, but Roman and Logan had brought more attention to him so the extra support was frankly needed.

"Patton and Janus got pedestrians away safely!" Logan informed the oldest Ranger as he brought his lance down through a witchling's skull.

"Good!" Thomas replied. "Roman, are Emile, Remy, and Virgil safe?"

"Yep!!" Roman said, really not trying to get in trouble now.

"Emile and Remy are at least." Logan scoffed.

"What?!" Thomas wheeled around on Roman exacerbated, while also being able to take down a witchling that had come up behind him.

"Damn you're good at this." Roman told him.

"Uh-uh kid!! Where's Virgil?"

"On a roof with Patton." Roman confessed. "They didn't give me much of a choice!!"

"Gah!!" Thomas let out an irritated grunt and reeled back around on another witchling, taking it down with ease.

Roman gritted his teeth in regret but continued on fighting. He knew not to work too hard on these monsters, they were simply the first wave. The real battle begins when the general arrives.

"Guys!" Patton's voice came on over their intercoms. "Virgil thinks the general we're gonna see is Jemina!"

"What can they tell us about her?" Thomas asked.

"Virgil says she begins by swarming, she sends droves of witchlings to come after us, but they're mindless, they're just being dropped to die. Then she arrives, she'll probably go after Thomas, and to keep the rest of us distracted with some of the newer witchlings." Patton explained. "Wait."

"I knew they were called witchlings!" Remus laughed.

Roman rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.

"Virgil doesn't think that's all. There's gonna be something more up Jemina's sleeve but they aren't sure what." Patton continued. "I'll keep you guys posted."

"Thanks P." Janus said back.

Roman went back to putting his full focus on the fight. He cut through one of the witchlings in front of him and used that momentum to carry himself forward and push his sword through another. Behind him Logan was taking on a few witchlings at a time, but he didn't seem to be having too much trouble with it. Thomas was having a much better time than either of them it seemed.

"You ever fought Jemina?" Roman asked Thomas.

"Once." Thomas said. "And it wasn't really me fighting her. Valerie got to give Jemina a piece of her mind. She was really pissed that day. She had screwed up on her SAT's that morning so."

"Yeesh." Roman cringed.

"Yeah." Thomas sighed.

Roman sliced another witchling to dust and looked around, assuring Logan and Thomas didn't need any help. After a quick glance he knew the two were good and continued on.

"Green, Yellow!! West side, they're starting to break away!" Patton informed.

"I'm on it!" Janus responded.

After a few beats of quiet over the intercom Patton's voice came back.

"Wait no!" Patton shouted. "Don't go!"

"What?" Janus asked.

"Virgil says if you're gonna go to take someone with you. Usually that stuff is a trap. It's when Jemina will show up. She'll take one of us out to get Black's attention." Patton informed him.

"Should I go at all?!"

"Uhh-" Patton pondered that. "Yeah there's kind of a lot of them."

"Blue, go with Yellow!!" Thomas instructed. "You two take care of that as quickly as possible then get back here! Don't take the bait, just focus on keeping them contained."

"Got it." Logan nodded, and began heading off to meet Janus.

"Be there in a sec!!" Janus affirmed.

Roman and Thomas continued fighting back to back. Roman sliced through one and Thomas hacked at another, the crowd began thinning and Roman could see Remus' green armor glinting as his brother took down Witchling after Witchling.

"She's here!!!" Logan's voice shouted.

"Get back to the group!!" Thomas told him and Janus.

"There's still more-"

"Pink can get them for you from where he is! Blue and Yellow you two get back over here by Red and I!!" Thomas ordered.

"We're on our way." Janus said.

Roman and Thomas continued their fight, waiting for Logan and Janus to meet them. When Roman saw a glint of yellow out of the corner of his eye he turned to see Logan and Janus had finally met with them, behind them however was a more curious sight. The witchlings were parting themselves, they'd stopped fighting and now stood at attention, as if awaiting instructions. It felt eerily similar to the fight they'd had with Poisandana. With Logan and Janus by his side Roman finally got a good in-person look at Jemina. He had seen her in Virgil's videos, when she'd cared for them as a baby, but now, this Jemina had lost that kind motherly smile. Replaced by something more pained, more haunted. Her eyes were full of anger. She looked over the Rangers, all of them ready to resume their fight. However her eyes glazed over them and she started talking to nowhere in particular.

"You can come out now dear!" She shouted. "We're done."

Roman took a glance over at his friends confused.

"C'mon! Virgilius they've been lying to you! Whatever they've been telling you they were lying!!" She shouted once again.

Now Roman understood, but he felt like he only had half the story. Why was she talking to Virgil?

"Whatever you're trying to do Jemina, you can stop." Thomas said.

"Dearest! She wants you home!" Jemina yelled. "She needs you back! Come with me now!"

"Virgil isn't going anywhere with you." Janus practically growled.

"Virgil trusts us. You're not taking them anywhere." Logan said firmly.

"Virgilius please this is getting tiresome. Reveal yourself!" She tried once again, her voice was getting just a little desperate. "She's going to be angry if we don't get back home soon!"

"Give it up!" Roman yelled at her. "Virgil isn't leaving us."

"Dear you don't need to keep up the act!" Jemina shouted louder. "She's beginning the final stage of colonization! You can stop pretending."

This made Roman's stomach drop. Janus looked over at him worriedly.

"Show them!!" Jemina demanded. "Show them that it was all a trick!! That you've been lying, pretending!! If we go to her now she won't be angry!! She'll understand why you did this!! It was for information!!"

"Logan what is she talking about?" Roman asked.

"I have no idea." Logan admitted.

"You can show them that this was all a lie! That it was a trick! You're safe to come home now! We can give her everything you've learned!" Jemina started again. "I'm so proud of you for doing this now please come with me so we can see the others again!!"

"Patton what's going on?" Thomas's voice came on over the intercoms.

"Virgil's talking but uh-not in english. I don't know what they're saying but they're pacing and-oh. Wait hang on." It was quiet for a bit.

"Virgilius please it's time to come home!!" Jemina's voice broke.

"Virgil says she's giving them an out." Patton said, there was a little edge to his voice that made Roman shiver. "She said that the Dragon Witch's final part of her plan is going to begin soon, and with that comes the mass extinction of useless life on this planet. Because of the trouble that humans have been giving her the Dragon Witch has given up on finding uses for us. Virgil says that Jemina is trying to give Virgil the chance to act like them being here wasn't by chance. It was planned. She wants Virgil to act like they were getting info out of us so the Dragon Witch doesn't punish them."

"Is Virgil okay?" Thomas asked.

"Yeah they're alright they're just trying to get their thoughts in order." Patton said.

"What's the final stage?" Logan asked.

"Virgil what's the final stage?" Patton implored softly.

Whatever Virgil was going to tell Patton got interrupted when a loud angry sound ripped through the air. Roman looked up to the breach in the sky as it glowed bright, out of the corner of his eye Roman saw as Jemina turned in fear before moving off to the side. The breach's light grew too bright and Roman had to look away, shielding himself from the sight. When it dimmed and he heard the terrified gasps of his friends Roman looked back. There for everyone to see was the falling form of the Dragon Witch. Her pale skin stark against the blackness of night. When she landed the ground shook and cracked beneath her. Her golden staff in hand and metallic black hair up. As she walked closer to the Power Rangers they all froze in fear. Her spiked black chest-plate reminded Roman of the armor Virgil used to wear. Of course the stark difference being that the rest of her armor was white and gold, her dark smile and clacking heels against the cement made Roman want to run. As she got closer it became more apparent that this woman was probably nine or ten feet tall, towering over everyone around her.

"Where are the other two?" She asked calmly.

"The P-Pink one is up on the rooftops," Jemina said, bowing. "And the Green one is in the back."

"Fetch them for me." She gave a flick of her fingers. Jemina nodded and retreated off, giving orders to a couple of the witchlings before she herself started off toward the rooves. "How long has it been Thomas?"

"Not long enough." Thomas told her. He seemed to be the only one unaffected.

"Hmm." She gave him a sickening smile. "Your new team isn't ready. They've only been Power Rangers for a few months. Even when you had been Power Rangers for a few decades you couldn't defeat me."

"They're good." Thomas said, no emotion in his voice.

"Oh I know. Already better than the last generation." She said. "Perhaps it's time for you to pass on the mantle."

"I've actually been thinking the same." Thomas told her. "I'm getting a little too tired for this. You must be as well. Those morphers are weighing you down, practically poisoning you at this point. You're getting weaker. More desperate."

"And you're getting boring." She said snidely.

Roman heard rustling behind him and turned, the witchlings parted as a few of them dragged Remus forward. His twin was having a one-sided argument with the monsters before promptly shutting up and staring at the Dragon Witch.

"Shit dude." Remus' voice rose by a few octaves.

To Roman's right Jemina appeared once again with a tense looking Patton in tow.

"Don't touch me." Patton snarled at the woman as she ushered him forward.

"You've arrived." The Dragon Witch said with a growing grin. "Lovely. Tell me, where's my son?"

No one spoke.

"General?" She turned to Jemina.

"Th-he's nowhere to be found sir." Jemina stated.

"Hmm. So you've hidden him?" She turned to the Power Rangers. Her face was somewhat obscured by the crown-like helmet that she wore. Yet another thing that connected to 'Virgilius'.

It suddenly hit Roman that Jemina had lied. Either that or Patton had somehow hidden Virgil before she'd arrived on the roof. Roman eyes Jemina questioningly, what could she be playing at?

"You'll never get them back." Thomas told her, still he showed no indication of emotion. "They'll never be yours to control."

"Hmph." She sighed at that. "They were turning out to be useless anyway."

There was something in her voice that ticked Roman off. Not just the way she was talking about Virgil so rudely, but the fact that Roman felt like she was lying through her teeth made Roman seeth. Roman wanted to speak up, say anything really, but that daunting look in her eyes practically pinned him to the spot. Remus made a motion forward but Janus quickly put a stop to this.

"He isn't too far away though is he? I'd like him to see this. Surely you wouldn't let him too far off? Too dangerous to be left without supervision that one." She practically smirked. "Oh well. I can only hope he gets a good view of this little spectacle I've prepared."

"Sir are you not going to look for-"

"Did I permit you to speak General?" The Dragon Witch snapped. Even Logan flinched away from her voice.

Jemina bowed her head and didn't say anything more.

"Proceed as planned General Jemina. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir." Jemina responded curtly. She swallowed thickly and turned to the Power Rangers, pure anger flooding her face.

"Wonderful." The Dragon Witch brought up her staff with one hand holding it out in front of her. She brought her other hand out, grasped the staff low on its hand and with a flash of light pulled her hands away. Now in her right hand she gripped a golden short-staff, that same shattered crescent moon stood atop it. In her left a flail, white and spiked, the ball at the end probably the size of Roman's head. "Let's put on a show."

"Run!!" Thomas shouted.

Roman didn't wait a moment. The loud crackling of energy behind him buzzed in his ears as Roman ran. When he turned he saw a dark scathing mark in the cement where she had shot that blast. Beside Roman, Patton had tripped on his feet and fallen hard but picked himself up quickly and clumsily continued running. When a flash of white made Roman think twice he yelled for Patton's attention and drew his sword dashing in front of Patton to block him from the force of the flail. The result was a harsh metallic clang as his sword and the ball collided. Roman stumbled back, losing his footing. Patton barely caught him but by the time the two had collected themselves the Dragon Witch was firing another blast of energy at them.

In no time Thomas had jumped in front of the blast and deflected it with his axe. He looked back at the two to assure their safety before dashing forward, dodging the flail and throwing his axe at her side.

"Where's Virge?" Roman asked Patton hurriedly.

"They're still on the roof." Patton said. "She saw them. Jemina lied."

Roman nodded. Patton put a hand to Roman's chest plate, before nodding and summoning an arrow. Roman moved to the side as Patton fired at the Dragon Witch. It bounced off her armor. Roman brought his sword up and followed the others in their charge. Remus hit her flail with his morning star, directing it off to his left and continuing forward. Roman ran beside him both going for any weak spots. When the blast of energy cascaded over to them the twins jumped out of the way, losing their forward momentum. Thomas was trying to continue attacking her but the swarms of witchlings was making it difficult.

Patton and Janus stepped in then, keeping the witchlings at bay. Roman and Remus picked themselves up and the two continued forward. Thomas threw his axe, distracting her for long enough so Roman could get a clean hit in. The dragon witch didn't seem any bit fazed. Instead she brought her flail forward and smacked Roman in his chest sending him back far and hard into the ground. Remus, likely thinking she was focused on Roman and Thomas, jumped up to come down on an exposed juncture between her armor. The energy from her short staff hit him in the gut, sending him back far. Roman watched his brother stumble to get up before collapsing again.

Suddenly Logan ran into view, his lance drawn and raised just in time to block as Jemina came down over Remus with her double-bladed sword. She brought the other end of her sword up and knocked Logan back a little, but he recovered quickly and went back to his precise attacks.

Remus took that chance to get back on his feet and Roman did the same. Both of them hurriedly attempting to think of a plan. Thomas was on the defensive, dodging her attacks swiftly, but not exactly keeping her attention. Roman figured if they kept her distracted long enough. Wore her down until Patton and Janus had taken care of the witchlings, then the five of them could possibly over power her. Roman looked at Remus who was once again by his side. They split off from each other this time, attacking her from opposite sides. Roman dodged her flail by dropping down to slide on his knees and took a swing at her legs, his sword simply clanging against the armor. Thomas used this to his advantage and swung his axe high, aiming for the same spot Remus had earlier. Behind her Remus had brought his morningstar to her side.

The Dragon Witch only smiled. She threw her short-staff up high into the air, now using her free hand to grab Thomas' axe before it made contact, then brought her flail back and wrapped the chain around the handle of Remus' morningstar. She pulled both weapons away from their owners, scattering them elsewhere. As the ball of her flail came back she used one swift motion to hit Thomas in the side, catch her falling short-staff, smack Remus in the chest with its end, and fire a blast of energy at Roman.

His body writhed in pain as the burning heat coursed through Roman's veins. Roman heard the pavement smack against his armor and it rang in his ears. His senses were blown to hell and Roman felt hot tears streak down the sides of his face. Roman's heart pounded in his chest and when the pain began to dim he started pushing himself up. Just in time to see one of Janus' daggers clang off of the Dragon Witch's crown and an arrow just barely miss her neck.

Roman staggered up, his limbs still ached but his adrenaline stifled the pain. Roman went in. Drawing the attention of the Dragon Witch's energy blast yet again. This time Roman did his best to deflect it with his sword. Pushing forward with all his strength until it was drawn away again and he could continue on. Roman brought his sword up to her chin, she backed off for the first time this fight. Taking a harsh step back that cracked the pavement beneath her. Roman sensed movement behind him and dropped down, he felt a boot on his back and when that pressure released he rolled back. Seeing Remus jump high and swing for the back of her head while Thomas swung at her middle. Roman jumped over and brought his sword up to block the energy blast that aimed at Thomas while Remus hit her helmet hard, sending her forward just a bit. Roman's twin landed on the ground and quickly dodged the flail that was coming for him. Thomas and Roman both backed off as Janus raced past them and threw two daggers by her head, disorientating her for a moment so he could aim for her neck. Roman watched the dagger streak toward her pale, long neck, then get trapped between two gold-covered fingers as she caught it, short-staff pointed down in the same hand. She smiled too soon however. Patton sunk an arrow into the slice of armor that Thomas had cut. It beeped once, then exploded violently.

Thomas put his hands over where Roman's ears would be and shielded the boy from the blast. Pink smoke filled the square and Roman closed his eyes tight. He hoped Janus and Remus had gotten to each other before the blast went off.

When Thomas shifted and pulled his hands away Roman opened his eyes whipping around quickly to see what effect this had had on the Dragon Witch. The pink settled and there standing in the center of it all she was. A look of annoyance and frustration on her face. Behind her Remus and Janus were cowering against each other. She still held the dagger between her fingers. She dropped it and gave the Yellow and Green Rangers a once-over.

"Pathetic." The Dragon Witch sighed. "Sloppy. Barely planned. Useless. Naive. Crude."

She brought her hand up and down across her body, flail flinging by all of them, wrapping itself around Patton's midsection and pulling him forward in the blink of an eye. She grabbed Patton by the neck and held him high.

"This is what you call a team Thomas?!?" She shouted. "This is what you have to protect your planet!?! You're all so useless!!! Your so called leader is cowering behind you like the child he is!!! Your Blue Ranger can barely defeat one of my weakest generals!!! Your Green and Yellow Rangers are so untrained and uncoordinated!!! And you!!! You Pink!!! You were on my ship!!! You were tortured and almost killed and yet you never broke once!!! Never once giving in to what was being asked of you!!! I thought perhaps you were special, you were going to impress me even! Now!?! Ha!! You're a joke! A complete and utter joke! You're just as easy to crush as your pathetic parents were when I brought them to me and killed them with these very weapons."

Suddenly she dropped Patton on the ground, turning around swiftly and catching a yellow dagger by its handle. Janus and Remus scrambled over to Patton helping him up and running over to Thomas and Roman. Logan was beside them in a moment, holding Patton's arm and examining him quickly. Roman looked around, to see no Jemina in sight.

"Can you shut the fuck up!?!" Virgil's voice boomed through the air.

The Dragon Witch dropped the dagger, the metal clanking loudly against the sudden silence.

Roman looked up. Virgil stood on the edge of the roof, bright glowing purple orbs swirling around them. Their whole body seemed to light up dramatically. Roman honestly was terrified by how similar their disposition was to when they were Virgilius, but another part of him was so unbelievably caught in awe.

"Gods why do you always do that?!" Virgil shouted. "Stop, stop, stop it!!!"

"Virgilius!" She called, if Roman didn't know any better he'd honestly say she was happy to see them.

"Don't call me that!!!" They screamed. The orbs glowing bright, more aggressive.

She didn't say anything for a beat.

"Magnot, release them."

Immediately from the breach an unbelievably huge beast burst into existence, it's terrifying face snarling and screeching, it's gold metal plates clanging and scraping as it entered the space. Then another arrived, white and just as terrifying. Both beasts were covered in horns and had large sharp teeth that they bared at the Rangers.

"What the fuck are those?!" Remus asked Thomas.

"Janus call Maureen now!!!" Thomas ordered, his voice more panicked than Roman had ever heard it.

"Are those her fucking zords!?" Logan screamed.

"Roman, get to Virgil, and guard them! Pat, Lo, and Remus, you stay here and do your best against her." Thomas ordered. "Janus and I will try to take care of these two."

"Okay." Roman replied shakily.

Behind him the yellow and black zords had come to their owners' calls and were preparing for battle. Roman ran to the building Virgil stood atop, he raced up the many flights of stairs, tripping up every now and then as the ground shook beneath him. When he arrived on the roof Virgil whipped their head around and sighed in relief. The orbs that glowed around them dimming ever so slightly.

"Are you okay?!" Roman asked.

"Are you?!" Virgil countered.

Roman nodded and Virgil returned the gesture. He ran to Virgil's side and assessed the situation. Virgil themself was okay, shaky but okay. Down below Patton, Logan, and Remus were fighting the Dragon Witch, and though it was a little hard to make out, they didn't seem to be doing too badly. Above and in front of them the four zords were engaged in battle. Janus' snake had itself wrapped around the head of the white one and Thomas's turtle was on the defensive from the gold's teeth.

"Shit Virge are those really her zords?" Roman asked.

"I guess so yeah." Virgil nodded. "I've never seen them. She never summons them. It takes up so much of her power."

"What are they?" Roman stammered out.

"I-I-I don't, gods. They're monsters Roman. Hell demons that legends say could kill a god." Virgil tried to explain.

"That's really ominous." Roman told them.

"You have no idea." Virgil replied.

The door behind them burst open. Roman had been too distracted by the fight above him he hadn't noticed the new hoard of witchlings that were flooding the building to get to them.

"Virgil get behind me." Roman ordered.

Virgil did as they were told and Roman ran forward striking down monster after monster as best as he could. However they were beginning to overpower him quickly. He struck one in the chest and turned to slash at another, seeing that there were going to be too many for him to handle soon and he was pushed too far back.

"Roman they're climbing the side of the building!!" Virgil shouted.

"Shit." Roman cut down another one and moved on. "Virgil can those orbs do anything?"

"Like what?" Virgil asked.

"I don't know, kill a witchling?!" Roman yelled over.

"I-I don't know seers don't really-they-I don't-I can't control them yet Red!! They just sort of appear!" Virgil exclaimed.

"Can you figure it out? Preferably now?!"

"Shit I can try." Virgil responded.

Roman heard some mumbling and movement behind him and then a little exclamation of pain.

"You okay?"

"I'm working on it Red!!" Virgil said back.

"Virge I can't keep this up forever!!" Roman said as he shoved his sword through the chest of one witchling and immediately pulled back to decapitate another.

"I'm trying, I'm trying!!" Virgil said. "Fuck why won't you work!! Ah!!"

Roman turned around swiftly to see a witchling tower over Virgil as it pushed itself over the roof's edge and grabbed at them. Roman ran forward and drove his sword through the witchling's skull. Unfortunately for him the witchling grabbed his shoulder hard and fell back, pulling Roman over the ledge with him.

"Red!!!" Virgil screamed.

Well shit this isn't how I wanted to die, Roman thought before he started screaming. Suddenly his back hit something, something that wasn't the concrete. He turned over to see a flat purple disk just the right size for him, had caught Roman in his fall and completely severed the witchling's hand from the rest of its arm. The disk started to rise and Roman wasted no time getting to his feet and hopping from there back onto the roof so he could skewer some more monsters.

"Virgil you did it!!" Roman shouted with glee.

"I did!!" Virgil cheered. The two stood side-by-side, Roman slashing the witchlings in front of him with his sword while Virgil summoned more disks and started turning the witchlings to dust just like Roman.

Roman and Virgil kept up a good pace, guarding each other and breaking apart the masses of witchlings They switched positions and Roman started taking care of the ones on the roof while Virgil shot discs down at the monsters that climbed the side of the building. The two worked in tandem for a while until the hoard thinned enough for Roman to finish them off.

"That won't be the last group." Virgil said, winded and a little dizzy looking. "Jemina is probably rallying some more now."

"Are you okay?" Roman asked again.

"Fuck Red, are you?" Virgil looked at Roman incredulously.

A loud crash and a shake of the Earth caused both Roman and Virgil to lose their footing. Roman scrambled to his feet and looked over to see the black turtle zord on its back, crushing several buildings. The gold metallic monster snarling on top of it. A shrill yell of 'Thomas!!!' reaped through the air as Patton screamed in pain. Roman watched, horrified, as Thomas' form exited the turtle and started attacking.

"Thomas!" Virgil yelled.

"What is he doing?!" Roman's voice felt strained in his throat.

"Teddy's down." Virgil said. "Shit this isn't good at all! Roman we have to get down there and help-"

A roar stopped whatever statement Virgil had been making and caused both teens to turn. There, looming over the Dragon Witch, a larger than life pink and black tiger bared its teeth. The tiger charged at the golden monster, drawing it away from Thomas and his zord, and sinking its teeth deep into the monster's neck. The tiger was thrown off the gold zord but it wasted no time centering itself back up and attacking again, claws slashing into the monster's stomach, using its force to try and over power the creature.

"Oh my god." Virgil breathed. "Patton-Patton did it!! Ha ha!! He did it!! He summoned his zord!!!"

Roman tore his eyes away from the sight to check on Thomas once again. He had slipped away from his zord and was taking over for Patton in the effort to fight the Dragon Witch. Logan and Remus kept her attention and Thomas got a good clean hit in. The Dragon Witch yelled in pain and shot at Thomas with her short-staff.

"Roman!" Virgil said suddenly. "Tell the others to go for her weapons. Try to get them away from her. She's using up so much of her energy to keep her zords here that her weapons will start failing her soon. She's getting sloppy."

"Got it." Roman nodded. He relayed this information to the others and started looking for ways he and Virgil could help.

"Red I'm getting tired." Virgil told him. "That-that disc stuff really took something out of me I think."

"It's okay, I-I don't expect you to be perfectly fine. Just stay here and try to rest." Roman said, hoping his caring tone came across to Virgil. "I'll protect you."

Suddenly the door behind them burst open. Roman turned, an arm already out to shield Virgil from anything that had arrived. Jemina had made her second appearance. Her weapon was drawn and she gave Roman an angry snarl, but softened greatly when she looked down to Virgil.

"I'm not going anywhere with you." Virgil said firmly, purple orbs began swirling around them and Roman.

She didn't respond. Roman pointed his sword forward, readying himself for an attack. He felt as Virgil wrapped their hand around his, interlocking their fingers and bringing his arm down to his side. Roman didn't look back, not wanting to take his eyes off the general for a second.

"I'm not leaving them Jemina." Virgil told her. "I've found my family and I'm never going back to that hell hole!"

She still had nothing to say.

"I have a life here that's worth protecting!!" Virgil yelled.

Her stoic expression broke. Sadness filled her eyes as she looked at Virgil's cold expression. Finally Jemina let her weapon fall by her side. She looked down, face hidden from the two. Roman looked over at Virgil, their firm stance hadn't changed, the purple orbs grew brighter around them, lighting up Virgil's face in a dangerously haunting way.

"I've found my Pallas!!" Virgil shouted. Jemina looked up, her eyes watery. "But I'm not running!! I'm not running away from this like she did!! I'm going to help take down the Dragon Witch if it's the last thing I do."

Jemina lifted her chin, eyes glazing over Roman, before she focused on something else Roman couldn't see. Jemina brought her hand up and wiped at the corner of her eye before looking at the two with a hard expression and charging. Virgil let go of Roman's hand and sent a few orbs her way. The general dodged them and continued forward. Roman held his sword out and ready. Jemina lifted one side of her blade and hit Roman's sword to the side, then grabbed Roman's helmet and pulled him forward, he stumbled and in one motion the general had stepped on his back and pushed herself up and off the roof. Roman turned to see as one of the sides of her double-bladed sword sank into the white metal of the passing zord. She didn't look back to Virgil, instead keeping her gaze forward, climbing the side of the monster and sashing across and out of sight.

Roman tore his eyes away from her and looked down to Remus and Logan. The two were charging forward at the Dragon Witch and she sent a blast of energy at them. Remus jumped out of the way, but Logan wasn't as lucky, getting hit in the side and effectively flung back on his back. Remus called out to him but in his haste to help Logan got hit in the head with the ball of the Dragon Witch's flail. Remus crumpled to the ground unmoving. Roman could only watch, unable to get down there fast enough to help.

Jemina arrived at the Dragon Witch's side, her sword pointed at Logan and Remus. The Dragon Witch stopped down and lifted Thomas up. Roman realized Thomas was unconscious and she easily slung his body over her shoulder. Logan stumbled to his feet and wobbled a little before going back on the attack. He was too disoriented however, and Jemina disarmed him and held him on the ground. The Dragon Witch started walking away, Flail and short-staff back as one.

"What is she doing with him?!" Virgil leaned over the ledge of the building.

The ground shook again and Roman looked over to see the yellow zord on the ground, severely injured and unable to move much. The monster on top of it snarled again and tore a chunk of metal off of her. Roman hoped that Janus had gotten to safety but couldn't be sure. The white zord gave one last threatening growl before getting off of Maureen and began running. As the white zord ran past the Dragon Witch she stuck her staff deep into its metal hide and let herself be pulled along. Roman watched the zord jump up and head toward the breach.

"Thomas no!!" Virgil yelled.

The purple orbs were back again, there were less of them but they were bright and angry and Roman couldn't think right with all the sounds and lights spinning around him. The Gold zord was thrown far in the air by Patton's zord, but it took this to its advantage and started flying toward the breach, disappearing with a flash of orange light. The white zord began disappearing through the breach and Roman's head spun as he tried to think of what he could do to get Thomas out of her grasp.

Virgil had their own plan in mind, running to the far back of the roof and dashing forward, hastily hopping up onto the ledge and pushing themself off the roof. A purple disk forming underneath them and flying forward.

"Virgil wait!!!" Roman called.

Roman watched helplessly as Virgil reached their arm out desperately trying to reach Thomas before he disappeared through the breach.

An orange flash of light filled the sky and Roman had to shut his eyes tightly once again. When he opened them all he saw was Virgil's form, alone in the sky, arm reaching out to nothing, purple orbs gone. Then they started falling. They showed no sign of slowing down.

"Shit, shit, shit!!!" Roman followed Virgil's earlier actions.

Running back and then forward again hopping up onto the roof's ledge and propelling himself into the air. Everything around him was dark and cold now that the breach's light was no longer lighting up Times Square. When Roman caught Virgil mid air the first thing he noticed was how warm Virgil was. Then it was the way their hair whipped around their face, then the tears in their eyes that streaked up and off their forehead into the sky, creating little stars right before Roman's very eyes. Roman wrapped himself around Virgil, holding them close and trying to think of anything, anything at all he could say. Roman felt his own tears create a pool of wetness on the bottom of his chin. Virgil rested their head against Roman's shoulder, not letting him see their face. Roman looked away from the alien to see pink and black surround him and Virgil in a protective metal shield.

They landed on the ground with a loud crash. The wind stopped rushing in his ears and Roman took a deep, gulping breath. He could hear Virgil's raspy breathing beside him and feel as they adjusted their hold on Roman, wrapping their arms around Roman's center.

The careful pink paws around them released the two, the night sky now being the only thing that covered them.

"Roman! Virgil!" Patton called.

Virgil released Roman and the two looked around for Patton's voice, awaiting their own hug from him. Roman saw Patton down on the ground and he shuffled away from Virgil and slid down the pink zord's side, holding his arms out once he reached the ground and catching Virgil as they too fell down the cool metal.

Patton rushed the two and wrapped his arms around them, his helmet was off and he was bleeding but Patton didn't seem to care.

"Patton?" Janus' voice asked.

The three turned to see Janus, he looked off but otherwise okay and he ran forward to them. The four embraced, all crying and aching.

"Ah!" Logan's pained gasp caused all of them to look over. Jemina was still there, her sword digging into Logan's side.

Patton was the first to react. He drew and arrow back and fired it through her back, the four of them running forward to the Blue Ranger and the General. Jemina stumbled forward, her sword pulled away from Logan and she rounded on the group. Patton threw his bow on the ground and punched her square in the jaw. The general fell on her back gasping and Patton put a knee to her chest.

"I'm done letting you people take the ones I love." He told her, anger and pain seething from his voice.

Patton yanked the arrow out of her chest and let her disintegrate into dust. His knee falling hard on the cement. Roman had helped Logan up and was trying to stall the bleeding from his side but Logan only scampered away from him tore his helmet off, wrapping himself around Patton. A ways away Remus shouted Janus' name and ran over to him, pulling his boyfriend in.

"I couldn't stop her Jan. I-I could-couldn't god I couldn't stop her and she-fuck Jan she-oh god!!" Remus choked and cried. Janus didn't say anything in response and Remus stifled his cries in Janus' shoulder.

"Roman." Virgil said quietly.

"Yeah." Roman turned around to face them.

He noticed they weren't looking up at him, instead looking down at their wrists. There, circling around the base of their hands were two bands, bands not unlike the red one that was indefinitely attached to Roman's right wrist. These however were very different, instead one black and one purple, and unlike when Roman had gotten his Virgil showed no indication of being happy. In fact they looked utterly and completely broken. Their eyes watered and mouth shook as they tried to hold in their sobs.

"Roman." Virgil's eyes shot up to him, almost pleadingly. "Fuck."