The alien male moved as quickly as he could. He had felt the Ranger beginning to slip from his grasp and had to fight hard to attempt to bring him back under control. He'd nearly had him when he was suddenly cut off by another force. Though he retried to reach the ranger, he couldn't get anywhere. He kept bumping into a psychic wall.

Ever since that moment, he knew what had happened and how. He knew it would only be a matter of time before the Rangers and his new adversary came for him. He was desperately packing his stolen money to make a quick getaway when he heard the loud crash of a door being kicked open.

"S.P.D.! You're under arrest," a booming voice cried out.

He turned around slowly to see the five Rangers and their commanding officer standing just inside the room. They all had their weapons pointed at him. He glanced briefly at the Green Ranger. What a shame, he thought, all that hard work; lost. And he had such great potential too. Oh well, I'll find another someday.

"No; you won't," a familiar feminine voice rang out from behind the Sirian.

Cordova stepped around from behind Cruger and faced down the other Andiloran, "It's time you came back with me."

"I don't think so. You're never going to take me back." He signaled and four teenagers stepped out from the shadows. They still wore their black garb but had their masks off. Jack recognized the girl that he had tackled the night when they had busted in on the meeting.

Sky groaned slightly, "Here we go again."

"Not this time," Cordova spoke. She raised a hand and the four stopped. They seemed unable to advance any further. She lowered her hand and approached the male alien. "As I said, you're coming with me and your games are over."

"Why are you doing this?!" he practically shouted at her, "You know we're so much better than these people. Just look at us and the things we can do! We deserve to be in control of them, not hiding out from them!"

Cordova shook her head slightly at him, "Because it's wrong to force other people to do your bidding. They deserve free will."

He sneered at her, "You're such a goody-goody aren't you? When are you going to get it through your scaly head that we deserve to be free too?"

"We are; just because it doesn't fit with your idea of freedom, it doesn't give you the right to enslave others," she replied.

He suddenly lunged for her, but she deftly dodged out of the way. It was enough of a distraction that the four teenagers were able to break free from her grasp. They charged straight for the rangers.

"Oh no," Syd spoke up.

"Be careful, Rangers. Remember those are innocent people. Don't hurt them," Cruger stated.

They each went for a Ranger, the teenage girl going for Jack and Bridge at the same time.

Sky could be heard muttering under his breath, "Yah, right, and how are we supposed to do that and not get our butts kicked in the process?"

Jack expertly blocked a swing that girl aimed at his head. He then was able to successfully block a kick as well. Maybe this won't be so hard after all, he thought. He spied Bridge standing off to one side, looking lost in concentration. What is he doing? Jack wondered.

Jack turned his attention back to his opponent and continued to block punches and kicks, when suddenly she stopped cold. She stood completely still for a moment, blinked her eyes rapidly, then sank to sit on the floor, head hanging down.

What the…? Jack's thought was cut off as he saw Bridge standing behind the girl holding out his ungloved hand. He blinked at the Green Ranger, "Bridge? What did you just do?"

"No time to explain," the Green Ranger replied as he darted off towards Z and her opponent. Jack watched as he approached the boy from behind, quickly wrapped his hand around to the other's forehead and briefly closed his eyes. Z's opponent repeated the very same actions that Jack's had.

Bridge moved on to Sky's foe and began again as Z looked questioningly at Jack, who only shrugged in return.

By this time, Sky's rival was down and Bridge had moved onto Syd's. After a moment, that girl also fell to the floor.

Bridge shook his head and blinked, "Boy, that can sure make a person tired," he staggered slightly, Syd coming up from behind to lend him a hand.

The other Rangers gathered around him, looking confused and concerned.

"Bridge, what the heck did you just do?" Sky asked.

"I broke their bonds. Just like Cordova showed me how to," he turned and looked in her direction.

Cruger had the male alien's arms behind his back as Cordova had both her hands placed against the side of his head. He squirmed in the commander's grasp, but wasn't able to get loose.

After another long moment, he shook slightly and she released him. He passed out into the Sirian's arms. Cordova wobbled slightly.

The Rangers came up to them as Cruger laid the alien on the ground. Bridge placed a hand on Cordova, "You okay?"

She looked up at him, "Yes, thank you. You were able to free the others?"

Bridge nodded at her.

"Wait, am I the only one that's lost here?" Z spoke up.

Cruger chuckled lightly, "That's what you call psychic embattlement. It doesn't seem like there's very much going on to any bystanders, though those involved will certainly tell you otherwise."

"I'll say," Bridge piped up.

"What?" Sky asked, perplexed, "I've never heard of that."

Cordova looked at the Blue Ranger, "It's very rare now days. It's not often when you have two psychics together that are strong enough to do it."

"And from what I've heard about it, that's a good thing," Cruger added.

"What do you mean, sir?" Jack wondered.

Cordova gazed at him and the other Rangers, "Years ago in my planet's history, psychic wars raged all the time. People were taking sides against one another and factions began to emerge. My planet delved into a civil war that lasted for a hundred years. As more of my people died, the leaders of the factions decided they needed more troops, but didn't know where they were going to get them."

She sighed as she continued, "It was then when one of the leading scientists discovered that our psychic abilities could influence others. They were able to get only a modest control over those who didn't have any powers themselves, but were able to completely take over anyone who had the least amount of psychic potential."

She glanced briefly at Bridge, "People like your friend Bridge here were actively sought out and taken against their wills. Many suffered and died at the hands of my people. After the war was finally over, the leaders recognized the gravity of the ills they had pressed upon other worlds and vowed to never let that happen again."

She looked at them each in turn, "Ever since then, we have chosen to isolate ourselves from the rest of the galaxy. We haven't withdrawn completely, however. We still keep up on current events and as you've already seen, we do maintain contact with others outside of our planet. Every single one of us, down to our infants carries these powers. Some of us are able to contain it so that it doesn't accidentally affect others, but most are not capable of doing so."

"Hence, our self-imposed isolation. We don't want anyone else to ever come to harm because of our powers ever again. There are a few among us however, that feel differently," she gestured briefly at the alien still lying unconscious on the floor, "There are a few like him who think we should rule over everyone else and wouldn't mind if we caused another galactic war in the process."

She looked down at him briefly, "This one's been incarcerated before because he went off world and took over other people. He recently escaped and we had no idea of where he'd gone to. When I received Kat's message of what was happening here on Earth, I figured it had to be him behind it all."

"So, wait a second," Jack cut in, "If he's supposed to be some kind of demented rebel, why come here and steal a bunch of money? Wouldn't he be off trying to start a war, or collect troops or…" Jack stopped himself as he realized what he just said.

"Yes, exactly," she responded to Jack's unfinished statement, "He was attempting to do precisely that."

Sounds of shuffling footsteps could be heard as they all turned to see about a dozen or so kids emerge from a door at the back of the room. They blinked owlishly at the assembled adults.

"Why kids?" Z asked, "Not what I'd call ready troops."

Cordova turned towards the children and directed them to line along the wall, "Not as of this moment, no. But in time as they grew up, they would have been," she turned back to Cruger and the Rangers, "You see, during the long years of warfare, it was also discovered that those that are subverted at a young age easier to control. And it becomes nearly impossible to break them free once they're older."

"Well, that sounds unpleasant," Syd said.

"So now what?" Sky asked.

"We have a bunch of children to take care of and Cordova has a criminal to deliver," Cruger stated. He turned briefly to look at her, "Are you sure you can hold him for the entire trip back?"

"That won't be necessary; my shuttle has some technology that will do that once we get him inside," she replied.

"Holding him, what do you mean by that?" Jack asked.

"I've got him blocked for now. He's not going to be waking up or doing much of anything for a while," she responded.

"And how long can you hold that for?" Syd stated.

"As long as is necessary," she glanced briefly at Bridge, "I've also got a little bit of help."

The other Rangers turned to look at him, astounded. He shrugged and looked slightly sheepish.

------------------------

The Rangers saw to it that Cordova's prisoner was secured aboard her shuttle. As they walked out, she turned and entered a set of commands into the controls. She stepped out and the door slid closed behind her. She sighed once it was completely closed.

"Finally," she commented.

"Are you okay?" Syd asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," she replied, "Thank you. Just a little tired."

"You'll be alright though?" Z asked.

She nodded briefly, "I'll be here for a few more minutes to speak with Dr. Manx. I will have recovered some strength in that time," she looked at Bridge, "Thank you."

He waved vaguely at her, blinking as if he was slightly disoriented, "No problem."

Syd stared at him curiously. "So wait just a second here. How come Bridge can do all these weird kinds of things all of a sudden?"

The other Rangers glanced at Bridge.

"Because I showed him," Cordova replied.

The Rangers looked back at her.

"And you did that exactly how?" Jack asked.

"Yah, we didn't see any…" Sky started.

She tapped her forehead lightly and winked at the Rangers.

Z shook her head slightly, "Never mind. I don't think I really want to know."

"Yah, the idea of being inside Bridge's head, is just…scary," Syd added.

"Hey!" Bridge protested, "I'm not that bad. Jack even told me so."

Jack shot him a confused look. "I don't ever remember saying anything like that."

"But you did," Bridge pointed a finger up in the air, "When you were down in the cell block; talking to me."

Jack looked surprised, "You remember all that? But you were being controlled at that time. I thought that…"

"I may have been under someone else's control, but I still heard everything you guys said. I also remember everything that happened. Oh wait…" he paused and looked slightly disturbed for a moment. He glanced over at Syd, "Syd, I…"

"Its okay, Bridge. It wasn't you. I don't hold you responsible," Syd replied, "Besides, it's not like you hurt me or anything."

"But I could have," Bridge continued, looking more distraught, "In fact, I was supposed to."

"Let it go, Bridge. Like Syd said, it wasn't you," Sky told him.

Bridge only nodded his head briefly and fell quiet.

"And unfortunately, I can't do anything about that," Cordova said quietly, "We may be able to influence others' actions, but we can't take away someone's memories. I'm so sorry, Bridge. I wish there was something I could for you."

He shrugged slightly, "It's okay. You've done enough already."

"So what is going to happen to those children?" Cordova asked the Rangers.

"They've been placed in safe homes across the city," Z replied, "In fact, I just heard that a couple of them have been adopted already."

"That's good news," Jack stated.

"Yes, it is. I'm so sorry about all of this," Cordova told them, "I wish there was something I could have done sooner…"

"Hey," Jack cut her off, "just like Sky told Bridge, let it go. It wasn't your fault."

She smiled slightly at the Rangers "Thank you."

"No problem. You should come back and visit us sometime," Syd said.

"Yah, you could give Bridge more pointers that way," Z added.

Bridge just shot her a look and waved an admonishing finger at her.

Cordova tilted her head slightly as she looked at Bridge's hand. "Bridge?"

He turned to look at her.

"Why did you put your gloves back on?" she asked.

Bridge gave her a curious look, "Because I need them?"

Cordova straightened her head back up, "Actually, you don't."

Bridge's eyebrows shot up, "Really?" he glanced down at his gloved hands.

The Andiloran took a step towards him. "That psychic block that I put there?" Bridge nodded slightly. "It's permanent. You won't ever have anyone else get inside your head unless you want them to. It also works in the opposite direction. You can stop your powers from getting out."

Bridge looked surprised, "Seriously?"

She nodded slightly at him.

Bridge brought his right hand up to stare at it for a moment before slipping off the glove. He glanced at the other Rangers, "Anyone want to give it a try?"

"Uh…" Jack started. The others began to mumble various noises of protest as Jack continued, "maybe some other time. Like when you haven't been keeping some guy locked up just by using your head."

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. No copyright infringement is intended