Impending Past

[ZeoSaturn]

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Hee hee new banner made by Katie. ^_^


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Disclaimer: Power Rangers……all the seasons are not ours. Please don’t sue us. We are just doing this for fun and not for money. It is strictly for enjoyment.

Timeline: Oh God….is this going to be a joke throughout the entire fic. Anyway, the fic takes place just as the episode “House of Cards” in DinoThunder is ending. If you haven’t seen that episode, do so now. From there, well…..try sorting out the mess.

Authors’ notes: TM: I had an interesting idea for a fic and after trying to explain to TiC about it, we decided to go for it. This is fic is based off the PR universe, but as you read, well……you will see what happens. TiC: This fic was very hard to get a handle on to start with but once it was clearly explained to me I was totally on board. I couldn’t write at such a high level without TM’s careful planning and laying of the groundwork. I’m so proud of how much ground this fic is going to cover. It’s quite a ride.

Impending Past
By Tommy’s Mistress and TommyIsCancer

Chapter 1: Reverse Rift


Anton Mercer disappeared the invisa-portal that appeared above him leaving behind his adopted son Trent to look back at his fellow DinoThunder Rangers. He looked down, refusing to meet their cold and condemning gaze. Conner, the team leader whose trust he had betrayed, and Dr. Oliver, he teacher and mentor had lost their faith in him. Tommy shook his head in disappointment. Trent hung his head in shame.

“Guys,” Trent said, an empty feeling in his gut felt like his stomach was eating itself just to survive. “I can explain.”

“I have had it with you and secrets, Trent!” Conner yelled.

“I’ve had enough of this, I just... I gotta go...” Tommy said very sternly, trying to hold back his bottled up rage. Tommy grabbed his things and bumped Conner as he stormed out of the room. The other four Rangers stared in disbelief as their usually cool headed teacher left in a fit of frustration, the classroom door slamming behind him.

“Why did you hide this from us?” Ethan said as his eyes stared like daggers, turning his anger back at Trent.

“See what you did?!” Conner yelled accusingly at Trent.

“Oh god!” Ethan said. “I have never seen him so pissed off like that before.”

“Conner! Ethan! Stop!” Kira yelled. “This is getting us no where! We need to give Trent a chance to explain himself. We– YOU owe him that much”

Conner shook his head, not hearing any of it and hauled back, landing a shot with his fist clear on Trent’s jaw, buckling his knees and sending him to the floor.

“I knew we never should have trusted you. How many times do you think you can lie to us and get away with it? You’re no better than one of your daddy’s freakshow monsters.”

“Damnit Conner!” Kira stuck her arm out and moved Ethan to the side before letting loose one of her Ptera Screams. Conner covered his ears as the sound overtook him. “Now,” she regained her composure, “I think we all need to cool off for a while.”

“Fine, whatever,” Ethan said. “As long as I don’t see Trent for a while.” Conner regained his footing. He and Ethan walked angrily out of the room. Trent looked at Kira who in return shook her head at him.

“I’m sorry Trent. You know I care for you and will always give you the benefit of the doubt but right now even I can’t trust you.” She followed behind the other two out of the room, refusing to look back.

Trent sat alone on the floor for what seemed like an hour, contemplating the events of the last few months. Had he made the right decision in withholding his father’s identity? The rangers had no obligation to take him in as one of their own. Anton Mercer had given him the world though. Who did he owe more to? He slowly picked himself up and left the classroom, walking towards Hayley’s Cyberspace to try to make heads or tails of everything and find someone with a sound mind that would be willing to hear him out.

Conner instinctively wandered down to the soccer field and began to practice taking some penalty shots. Ethan and Kira halfheartedly watched from the sidelines. Ethan took out his computer and began to amerce himself into his latest game with frustrating results while Kira sat down and pulled out her guitar and strummed a bit, mumbling words as she went.

Tommy sat inside of his jeep, peering over his things. The stack of papers that had to be graded were inconsequential. He sighed, turned the key in the ignition and drove off. On the way home, he took deep breaths, trying to clear his head. At his house, Tommy climbed down the stairs into the basement, expecting Trent to be there sulking or trying to plead his case, but no one, not even Hayley, was there. He went to his chair, sank into it and put his hands to his temples in frustration.

“What is going on?” Tommy murmured to himself. “Anton is Mesogog? How is that possible? And Trent was harboring this information all along? God, why didn’t he at least come to me?” He threw himself back into the chair and stared blankly at the ceiling in deep contemplation. “Damn it! I know what it’s like not to have your real parents. I thought I had gotten through to him. Maybe I don’t really know him at all.” Tommy closed his eyes and thought about his experiences as an evil ranger and how his friends brought him back from the edge. "Maybe it’s us. Maybe it’s me. Are we really a team? The guys were friends before they became rangers. These kids on the other hand, were picked from all different walks of life and forced to be a team. But then again, what have I done to really teach them about being a team?” He opened his eyes and sat up in the chair and looked at his desk. “I am sick of this. Sick of the fighting!” He got up and walked over to his lab table. “Maybe if I…”

Trent collapsed into one of the stools at the bar of the Cybercafé. He looked around and as expected, Hayley came over to him.

“Trent? “Are you okay?”She noticed the dried blood from the corner of his mouth and a big red mark on the corner of his jaw.

“No,” Trent snapped. He had tears in his eyes. “Dr. Oliver and the others won’t trust me ever again!”

“What? What happened?” Trent looked around the café cautiously indicating to her that it was Ranger business. “Okay, in the back. Now.” She told one of the other workers to cover the front for her as the two went into the very cluttered backroom. They went to the back corner of the room “What happened?”

“Hayley, my dad….he…” Trent was choking on tears as he tried to get what he wanted to say out. “My father….is….Mesogog…”

“What!?” Hayley said in shock. “Are you sure? How did you find this…”

“Hayley.” Trent said as he interrupted her. “I knew…from the time…I regained control of the dino gem. My dad is the one that broke the evil hold it had on me. He told me to help the others and to stop Mesogog.”

“What!?” she said with a hint of anger. “Why didn’t you tell us before now?”

“How could I tell them? What? ‘My own father is Mesogog!’ Conner hit me, Ethan trusted me, even Kira walked out on me and Dr. O doesn’t trust me anymore. I couldn’t say anything! My father is good…it’s just…I was afraid they would…kill him…” She looked at him sternly, but with general concern in her eyes. She hugged Trent closely and whispered words of encouragement.

“Trent, it will be okay,” she said. “They are just mad and they have a right to be. You shouldn’t have kept this from them. Conner always had issues with trust and Ethan and Kira are just disappointed that you didn’t come to them. Tommy understands…but I think he is the most disappointed in you than anything.”

“I know,” Trent said as he looked at her. “You should have seen his face.”

“It’s understandable Trent,” Hayley said as she pushed him back and grabbed him by the shoulders. “Wait a little while. They need time to cool off. After that, go to the lab and speak to Tommy. He will listen. He just needs time to vent. Now, I have a café to run.”

“I hope so, Hayley,” Trent said as the two exited the backroom. “I hope so.” Trent left the café and started heading for his house. He tried desperately to think about what to do as he walked inside and down to the pond in the backyard. He sat on the bench there and remembered all the things that had happened since he became the White DinoThunder Ranger. The ups and downs, how horrible it felt to be controlled and how freeing it was to regain control and be able to make his own choice on what to do with the power that he had been given. Or was it a curse? Trent picked up his sketchbook and pencil and started drawing the scenery of the pond, trying to wash the pain away. He stopped when he realized that his mind was wandering and the sketch began to include his friends. The Rangers. The team he thought he could call his friends. “Maybe I should have never become a ranger in the first place. It has caused too much pain. I don’t deserve their trust,” Trent sighed heavily. “I have to do something. I have to make amends.”

An amalgamated mass of machinery and building ruins began to stir like an unruly child. Deep from inside a figure made his way through the rumble to get to the heart of it. He looked around to try to gain his bearings. An energy reader in his hand confirmed that he had reached his destination.

“Interesting place,” Zeltrax cued as he eyed the location. “I wonder what this trash heap use to be.” He kicked a piece of metal with his foot. He was surprised to find part of a console under it. Under the console, Zeltrax could see CDs spilling out from an ajar compartment. He grabbed them up greedily. “Hmmm... Amazing that they survived the blast.”

Zeltrax took out a data reader he had in his bag. He put one of the CDs in it and scanned it, revealing a video file. He watched in amazement as he saw the original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers on the screen of the scanner and then clenched his free hand in fury as it reminded him of his current problem with DinoThunder Rangers and their mentor, Dr. Oliver. He went on to another file and saw the evil Green Ranger destroying the Command Center.

“Interesting. Looks like the first rangers had their own problems with an unruly member among their ranks. These ruins, they must be the remains of their old headquarters.” He enjoyed watching the rangers suffer as the green one created chaos amongst the others. The cries of desperation made his ears perk up with glee. When the green one was revealed to be Tommy when Jason defeated him, Zeltrax was disgusted with the video and threw it to the ground, stepping on it. Seeing Tommy angered him immensely, not to mention the revelation of Dr. Oliver’s dark roots. “Damn you Oliver! Is there anything you can’t do or isn’t handed to you on a silver platter?! If I had my druthers, I would grind you out of existence! I’d save everyone from your insufferable interference!” He kicked the reader, creating a clanking noise as it hit a piece of metallic debris. The metal fell over, exposing machinery behind it. “What is this?” Zeltrax paced over, cautiously gaining a handle on exposed instruments. If he had a mouth, a sly grin would have formed on it. He said nothing in his acknowledgment of what it was. “Perhaps my goals are within closer reach than I could have dreamed.”

Anton Mercer was fighting a losing battle. No matter how hard he fought, Mesogog always won. His nails grew as his fingers compounded, the large fangs filled his mouth as the rage consumed him. Mercer clutched to the throne in Mesogog’s personal chambers, trying desperately to fight of the transformation. The battle was soon lost as Mesogog gained control, leaving Anton as a distant memory. Mesogog peered around, triumphant, taking his place calmly on his throne. He gave a low growl of anger.

“Elsssssa is going to pay dearly for thisssss! That traitorousssss wench!” Mesogog hissed in frustration and slammed his fist into the chair, cracking off the arm of it. He let out another bellow. “I’ve lossssst my leverage againssssst Mercer’s brat! Those infernal rangersssss are to blame! I mussssst remedy this sssssetback. I mussssst eliminate them now.” Mesogog’s mind began to work at a pace that proved Mercer was still very much a useful part of him. “Ssssspeaking of eliminating….”

The other three rangers were still toiling away at their respective hobbies, using those vices to work through frustration. They didn’t speak a word to each other. They all had the same thing on their minds: Trent. An hour had past since the incident although none of them were privy to it. Ethan grew tense watching Conner miss the goal time after time. After the fifth kick in a row feel to the side of the net, he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Stop!” Ethan said. “It physically hurts me now just to watch you miss.” Conner shot his head around, glaring at him. He picked up the ball, slamming it into his palm. He walked over and slumped down between Kira and Ethan. They hadn’t been this tense around each other since happenstance first brought them together.

Kira shook her head in frustration, stuck on the same line of the song she was righting that she had been for the passed twenty minutes. “So now what do we do?”

“There’s nothing to do Kira,” Conner snipped. “Let Dr. O have his hide. Feed him to the wolves for all I care.”

“You’re not being fair!” Kira yelled back, refusing to back down.

“We can’t trust him. That’s the bottom line Kira,” Conner abruptly added. “What’s next? Maybe he’s having an affair with Elsa.”

“Eww, Conner!” Kira yelled in disgust. “That’s so wrong. I don’t want that imagery in my head!”

“You know what he means, as bluntly as he put it,” Ethan interjected. “We don’t even know where we stand with that guy anymore. How many times does he have to screw you over for you to realize that he’s not trustworthy?”

“What’s wrong with you Kira?” Conner cried out. “I know you like him but be realistic. You can’t actually be defending him still!” He slammed the soccer ball to the ground. “I’m going home. I can’t deal with this right now. I always told you guys that we couldn’t trust him. But nobody listens to me. I’ve got the red suit but I guess being the dumb joke trumps that fact.” He packed up his book bag while shaking his head. Kira sighed. Conner was hard to talk to when he was mad but he was right. She glanced at Ethan who was putting away his computer.

“Don’t look at me, K,” Ethan said defensively. “I ain’t taking sides here.”

Kira rolled her eyes. “Show some backbone Ethan. And Conner? Calm down for once and give people a chance. What is wrong with you two?”

“Me?!,” Conner snapped, “We could have stopped Mesogog months ago! We could have gotten him time and time again while he was Anton but Trent was too concerned about his dad. He’s not concerned for us. What if Ethan, Dr. O or I got killed in battle? Would you give Trent the benefit of the doubt THEN?”

Kira recoiled. Usually she would never back down from Conner but his words were like a net, holding her down.

“We stick together! We are a team!” he continued. “Obviously, rich boy doesn’t get that because he has been babbling secrets to his dear old dad! I know you still have feelings for him Kira, but you have to face facts! He’s a liar!”

Kira slowly moved over to her bag, slung it over her shoulder and grabbed her guitar case. She had to get away from the scathing commentary.

“What? Where are you going? If you’re going to Trent, try not to let out anymore secrets. It could get us killed tomorrow!”

Kira spun around towards Conner, freezing him cold. Tears were streaming down her face, running her mascara, cascading it like a rain of bile. She fought the words out of her throat. “I don’t know what to believe anymore Conner. My feelings for Trent don’t matter. I care about you all. There’s no one I’d rather trust my life too then you four guys. To know that any of you would put the rest of us at risk? I’m scared, Conner. Damnit, I’m scared!”

She let out the last cry as her voice trailed off. Conner hung his head in shame. Both of them flinched and then feel in together as Ethan put his arms around both of them.

“Guys,” Ethan stammered, “We can’t turn on each other. Not now. We need to go to Dr. O’s house and talk to him about Trent and if he is there…”

“We’ll let him tell his side of the story,” Conner gave a sickening look, but then smiled at Kira. “After all,” he continued, “Dr. O was there for me when I wanted to quit being a ranger before. I still can’t trust Trent, Kira... but he’s saved us in the past. He deserves a chance to explain himself.”

Kira nodded and smiled, wiping back the tears.

KRA-KOOM!

The earth began to shake beneath the teens. Kira’s hands snapped out before her as she was thrown to ground. Conner leaned down to help her up. An explosion echoed around them. The sound came from the other side of town. The rangers looked up, noticing a huge white dome that was spreading over the city rapidly, creating what appeared to be a colossal snow globe.

“What the heck is that?” Kira cried out. The dome was approaching their location.

“Oh shit!” Conner screamed, knowing it was too late. They were powerless to stop it. The dome engulfed them. Darkness.

-------

The sound of his alarm clock buzzed in the back of Conner’s head. He groaned, rolling over in his bed, slamming the button with his fist. “6 a.m. Damn.” He crawled out of the messy sheets, leaving it for later as he stumbled downstairs, careful to avoid the broken out step, and made his way through the hallway in his worn boxers and into his family’s kitchen. He pulled up a seat at the table were his twin brother, Eric, was half asleep chomping on some stale cereal. Conner sighed and dragged himself to the cupboard, grabbing a cracked bowl from the broken down shelves and made his way back to the table.

“Mom and Dad go already?” Conner mumbled. He grabbed the cereal box that Eric had sat next to his glass of orange juice.

“Yeah,” Eric said. “Mesogog summoned them early for some sort of special project. You know how he has it when someone is late. I saw bruises on dad’s arms and back when he came home late the other night.”

“Seriously?” Conner choked our. “Dad didn’t tell me that.”

“He didn’t want either of us to see it and worry. Apparently he brought Mesogog the wrong purple liquid for something and he got thrown across the room.”

“Oh, God,” Conner winced. He carefully took another bite of his food.

“Yeah,” Eric said, getting worked up,. “And the bastard White Ranger has been running random patrols of the area, keeping all of us in line! I hate it. It’s like a damned prison.”

“Shhhh!” Conner whispered loudly with a horrified look on his face. “You can’t say stuff like that! Do you want the neighbors to hear?”

“Sorry,” Eric remembered. “I’m just so sick of it.”

“I know, me too,” Conner nodded. “Me too.”

Conner and Eric finished their breakfast, sitting their poor cracked dishes in the sink.

“Let’s go,” Eric sighed, “Dr. Payne is going to kill us for being late as it is.”


To Be Continued...

[TBF]

Weird... but cool.

[Impy]

Nice work, Katie.

[ZeoSaturn]

Jer did a lot too.

[Impy]

Jer did a lot too.
...but I hateses Jer, so i'm just going to compliment you.

[JDF'd]

Awww... Impy. Where's the love?

[VengeanceGOD]

This is a cool idea. Very reminiscent of "The Wish" from Buffy. I think I know what's going on, but I want to know how Zeltrax pulled it off.

[Wes Janson]

Hmm... Nice. Sorta makes me feel like trying my hand at this fanfic business.

Good job, you two!

[Morfan76]

Where's the lemony goodness (sex scene)? ;) No really, this was very well done. Can't wait to read Chapter 2! :023:

[GreenNinja]

Katie, Jer, I said this before and I'll say it again - this is a really good fic. Of course, you may have to act like the writers of "Legacy of Power" and ignore a few seasons here and there, but if all goes well, this may be one of the greatest fics ever written.

Looking forward to more.

[ZeoSaturn]

I can't wait to post the second chapter myself.............Jer! HURRY UP!


Hee hee....I am just joking.

[Izzy]

Nice job you two!

[izout]

Beautiful work you two.

[ZeoSaturn]

Disclaimer: Power Rangers is not ours and we are doing this for enjoyment not profit. The Power Rangers belong to Disney.

Authors’ Comments: Ok….Confused yet? Hee hee. You will be!

Impending Past

Chapter 2: Transmission

Twin brothers Conner and Eric McKnight quietly slumped into the seats of bus to Mesogog High School system’s Reefside, California division. They tried to sneak into their first period class, Identifying Fossils with their paleontologist teacher, Dr. Edward Payne. Payne brushed his hand through his dull blonde hair that he was cut neat and short in frustration as the boys walked in. He eyed them in exasperation over the top of his glasses through his piercing brown eyes.

“McKnights! Take your seats ” he bellowed with a voice that seemed far too commanding for his slender frame. “Everyone take out your equipment kits. We will be traveling to Mesogog’s latest excavation site today for field work.” The class groaned. Conner dreaded this class for reasons just like this. What was the point of identifying dinosaurs bones? The dead thing is still dead. “Class! It doesn’t matter if you don’t like field work, but when the Master demands our help, we can’t turn it down.”

Ethan James nervously pushed his books into his backpack and adjusted his black-framed glasses; disappointment filled his face. The thought of having to physically dig into the dirt and mud instead of staying in the calm confines of the classroom. He hung his head down and took a big gulp, nervously lagging back behind the rest of the class.

“Okay, let’s get going today people ” The class gathered in the front of the classroom as an invisa-portal appeared. Payne ushered them all though the portal while taking a head count, Ethan being the last person before he brought up the rear. The slow rush of air and green flash that always churned Conner’s stomach hit him again. He blinked and wobbled, being taken aback as the next image around him was the outskirts of Reefside at the edge of the Ranru Forest. Payne led the class along a trail that went deep into the trees. Edward winced as the figure of a woman running towards them became more visible.

“Edward Payne! You’re late!” the woman sternly cried. She was an attractive woman in her mid 20s with long dark red hair. She looked worried. “Master Mesogog is infuriated at you for being late Do you know what that means? When he’s angry at you, he’s angry at me, and when he’s angry at me, I am angry at YOU!”

“I know. I’m sorry Hayley. I was waiting on a couple of kids,” Edward was exasperated. “Come along class, quickly!” Sensing the desperate tone in their instructor’s voice, the class began to pick up pace as they got further into the woods until they came upon the reptilian beast himself.

Payne motioned for the children to stay back as he cautiously stepped forward, willing to take whatever punishment was meant for the class as a whole. “Lord Mesogog, I’m so sorry that we are late. I take full responsibility for... AUGH!” Mesogog’s claw quickly snatched up Dr. Payne by the neck with it’s vice like grip. He casually tossed Payne to the ground. He paced around Payne, like a vulture circling it’s prey.

“Do I look like a creature of patience, Payne? I do NOT tolerate lateness!” Mesogog got his face next to Dr. Payne’s, snorting hot, stinking breath out of his nostrils. “If you are late again, I will not be ssssso generousssss. You pathetic humansssss are not worth sssssuch benevolence!”

“Yee…yes sir ” Edward stammered.

“Now, Payne,” Mesogog continued while Edward slowly picked himself up and stood in front of his class, “You are your ssssstudents will ssssstart digging in the location that my assisssssstant Hayley has roped off. I expect that you have properly trained them in that ssssschool to identify dinosssssaur bones and other fosssssils. Put your pitiful human minds to ussssse and identity your findingsssss. Anything suspiciousssss getsssss reported directly to me.”

“Question!” came a yell from the back of the ground. Ethan slapped his hand over his mouth when everyone turned their attention towards him. Mesogog peered at the boy. Ethan felt trapped as he powered through the rest of his thought. “Um, why are we, um…digging them up…anyway?”

The reptile moved through the crowd of students that was all to willing to part like the Red Sea as he marched up to the teenager. He lent over Ethan, his razor fangs shining so brilliantly that Ethan would have seen his own reflection in them if he could have mustered the courage to look. “Sssssince when were quessssstions about my direct ordersssss allowed, child?” Ethan gulped. Mesogog turned around, sufficiently pleased with the fear he had imposed. “The specificsssss of my planssss to resssssurrect the dinosaursssss that rightfully ssssshould rule the Earth are none of your concern. You retrieve the bonesssss, and I shall harvessssst the DNA.”

“As if we needed anymore dinosaurs around here,” Eric mumbled under his breath.

A visceral help rang through Conner and Eric’s ears. They snapped their heads around to see Mesogog grabbed his arm. He cried in pain as the smoke dissipated from around the wound. “Who dares attack me? ” he snarled.

“That would be me, you scaly bastard ” a feminine voice sounded out confidently, revealing herself from the woods, a gun drawn and aimed at Mesogog’s head. Her short brown hair was lined with blonde highlights. A black hoodie with yellow pentagram hid her form. She flicked a cigarette with her free hand, managed a grin but never lost her bead on Mesogog.

“Since I don’t have a mayonnaise jar big enough to hold you... I guess I’ll just have to kill you instead.”

Mesogog looked more annoyed than actually frightened. “You actually plan to kill me?” Mesogog laughed. “Better people than you have tried over and over. What makesssss you think you’re any different?”

“Shut your mouth you sadistic bastard ” The girl walked in closer to Mesogog. She held the gun steady, still trained on his head. “You terrorize innocent people Life is not a game for you to play with as you see fit! Kylee was my best friend and you tortured her and stole her life! You and your damned White Ranger!”

“Sssssorry, I kill ssssso many humansssss. I can’t remember one insignificant one from all the other meatbagsssss. But ssssspeaking off the White Ranger…” Mesogog grinned slyly. The girl’s eyes bugged out, she knew it was already too late. A blinding streak of white light crashed into her back. The White Drago Ranger’s sword cut into her back, sending pain coursing through ever vein. She fought to stand up but dropped to her hands and knees. The tears from her eyes and blood from her back dripped onto the ground, congealing into a pool. The White Ranger quickly snatched her up by the hair, pinned her arms back in place, and maneuvered her next to his master. Mesogog leaned in. “Little girl, did you really think, that you could get this clossssse to me without me allowing it? You will be made an example of to all thossssse who dare to crossssss me.”

Eric bit his lip. He and Conner looked at the helpless girl. After taking the shot she did she was still struggling for all her worth. But what was the point? Conner was questioning the stupidity of the girl for attacking Mesogog like that in broad daylight. Conner’s eyes darted to the side. There was a noise in the bushes. By the looks on everyone else’s faces, their eyes still glued to the girl, they hadn’t noticed. He spotted two teenagers, a girl with blonde hair and a boy with brunette hair. The boy had a camera in his hand. Conner nodded slightly in recognition. They were runaways from school who got caught last month stealing supplies from the AV room. Cassidy Cornell and Devin DeValle. Cassidy’s face was etched in worriment. Conner concluded that the resistence never really had much of a chance if everyone that was part of it acted like them. They were carelessly attacking at inopportune times and the forces weren’t strongenough. Why bother when you can’t make so much as a dent? These two were probably following the girl, hoping to report back good news. Did they really think one attack on Mesogog by a lone girl would do the trick?

“Terrance Smith!” Mesogog snapped his jaw. Another slender man came running up. He looked to be about the same age as Dr. Payne. His good looks were concealed by his messy hair and dirt-smeared face. On top of that, Terrance had a metal arm and leg on one side of his body, possibly the result of some sort of explosion. He looked like he didn’t know the meaning of the word sleep.

“Yes,… my lord?” Terrance stammered with a hasty breath.

“Take this pathetic little female to my lab. Ssssshe looks like the ideal tessssst subject for the new lassssser drill prototype.” The girl’s eyes widened in fear as the White Ranger forced the gun out of her hand. She screamed and yelled as the Ranger took her away.

“Right away, sir.” Terrance regretted such an order as he shamefully agreed and turned around to walk with the Ranger and the overly zealous girl.

“Now, before I wasssss so rudely interrupted,” Mesogog hissed as he turned to the students. “Begin your dig, humansssss. Elsssssa will be watching your every move. I expect productivity.”

The woman that stepped forward was familiar to the class. She always accompanied Mesogog where ever he went. Rumors flew about that they were in some sort of disgusting romance. She looked like something straight out of gothika. A tight, black leather outfit covered most of her frame. Thick, dark markup lined her eyes and lips as her raven-colored hair was in rows and tied behind her head. The only color came from the red holster of her sword. Her hand was always on the hilt of it, ready to dole out punishment as she saw fit.

“Get to work!” she spit out. The students jumped and quickly spread out over the marked area and began to dig away at the rock with their standard issue dig kits and shovels that were given to them by tyrannodrones who surrounded the area. Hours wore by as Dr. Payne and his class continued the tedious work, only stopped to examine any possible finds. After three hours Elsa examined her watch and nodded to Payne.

“Okay guys,” Edward clapped his hands, getting everyone’s attention. “We’ve got a thirty minute break. Don’t leave the designated area.”

Conner wiped his brow as he slumped under a nearby shade tree next to his brother who collapsed on his back.

“MAN!” Eric said. “Why do we have to do this?”

“Because Mesogog commands it and I don’t want to cause trouble. You saw what happened to that girl,” Conner snapped in a hushed voice.

“That was a rhetorical question Conner. Geez, why are you acting like such a pansy?”

Ethan was looking around at all the students who had grouped off into their own little cliques. Alone, he casually took a seat a few feet away from the twins who seemed to be the least opposing and began to instant message some of his online friends.

Eric sighed, looking for anything to take his frustration out on. “And what are you up to, nerd?” Ethan peered up at Eric who was standing over Ethan’s shoulder. He quickly darted his attention back to the monitor, hoping he would go away. Conner shook his head. He didn’t understand why his brother was so confrontational. Ethan wasn’t exactly Conner’s best friend but he didn’t deserve to be treated like that just because Eric was mad. But there was something different about Ethan. Why did this one kid seem so important?

“Back to work ” a high-pitched, shrill scream rang through the kids’ ears. Elsa sneered as groans filled the site. Conner pulled Eric away from Ethan back to the site. Ethan quickly packed up his computer and followed a safe distance behind them. Dr. Payne motioned for the three boys to hurry up.

“McKnights, James!” he sternly stated while peering over his glasses, “Since you three don’t understand the value of being prompt, you have all volunteered for a special dig on the far side of the quarry. I expect you back her on schedule or you will be left behind.”

“What?” Eric protested. “Come on Dr. Payne. We don’t need that geek hanging around us. He’ll just slow us down.”

“Eric!” Conner let out a muffled yell while elbowing him in the side.

“Both of you stop it!” Payne snapped. “Next time you’ll learn how to be prompt. I don’t want to hear any complaining out of you. If you draw attention to us Elsa will not be as forgiving as I would. You saw what happened to that girl. This isn’t a game. Do I make myself clear?” Both brothers nodded. Ethan just starred at the ground. “Good! Now get to work. No more fighting.”

The three boys picked up their tools and followed the trail to the other edge of the dig site. There weren’t any tyrannodrones guarding it and Elsa was nowhere to be seen. “Great.” Eric dragged his shovel behind him. “Thanks a lot Ethan. This is just what I needed.”

“Shut up, Eric!” Conner snapped. “This was your fault. You didn’t have to pick on him and make us late. I don’t like this either but don’t take it out on other people.”

“Sorry…” Ethan murmured. “People just…don’t like me.”

Eric shook his head and let out a frustrated sign as he slammed the end of his shovel into the ground of the new dig area. A loud clang reverberated threw the handle and shook Eric’s hands.

“I hit something guys.”

“Careful!” Ethan cried out. “It could be a fossil!”

“I don’t think so...” Eric trailed off as he began to dig around the area with his bare hands. “It felt like metal. Help me.”

Conner and Ethan dropped to there knees and began to carefully dig around the object. As the dirt was moved away they slowly revealed a small, circular black dome with a silver border around it and engravings all around the outer edge. It wasn’t in English or at least any variation that they knew about. Next to device, which Eric could only describe as a black snow globe, was a small rectangular device. A small monitor flipped open to reveal a cascade of buttons. Ethan likened it to a miniature laptop but the design and layout was foreign to him.

“What is that?” Eric asked. “Hey, Ethan. You’re the computer expert. Any idea what is could be?”

Ethan snatched the two objects from Eric’s hands. “I really am not sure. I’ve never seen these designs before in any of my hardware catalogs.” As he was fidgeting with the black domed it popped open.

“Did you break it?” Conner was in a fever but he calmed down as the machine turned on by itself and a projection of a girl with long brown hair and a white jumpsuit appeared.

“Wow! A hologram!” exclaimed Ethan.

“Wow! ...she hot,” cooed Eric.

Before Eric could go on and Conner had a chance to yell at him again, the woman began to speak. “If you are viewing this, then something has gone wrong with history. It is up to you and the Infinital Sequencer to use this record of the history of the Power Ranger to restore order.”

“I like her. The strict ones always make for the most fun. You know that Elsa...”

“Shut up!” Ethan and Conner both yelled. Ethan looked back at the message, his mind was racing. “Something’s wrong with history...”

“Power Rangers,” Eric scoffed. “Every Power Ranger that I know of is a bastard. All the good ones died after the Lightspeed team fell to Emperor Zordon. Who cares about their history?”

“Eric! Did you not pay attention?” Conner snapped. “She said history is wrong. We have no idea what the real Power Rangers are supposed to be like.”

“Sorry Conner, why don’t you go tell that to the girl the White Ranger slashed in the back. I’m sure she’ll be very understan–”

“My name Jen Scotts,” the transmission continued, “I am the Pink Ranger and leader of the Time Force Rangers. This is coming to you from the year 3003. This is a record of the proper time stream that has led to my present day. From the year 1993 with the original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers to the DinoThunder Rangers of 2004. We believe that somewhere between these years a break in time has occurred. The exact source of it is unknown. I leave it in your hands to get the Infinital Sequencer to the Power Rangers or your time so that they can set the timeline straight.”

“Thank God she’s pretty,” Eric sneered, “Because she sure can talk.”

The others weren’t listening to him. “Ethan,” Conner questioned, “Can you show us the current year? I want to see what it says about Mesogog.”

“Yeah, I think so. This dial looks like I can set the year. He turned it to 2004. The hologram immediately clicked into play mode again.

“In the year 2004 a new team of Power Rangers was formed. Under the guidance of a veteran ranger...”

Ethan snapped the dome shut, closing the holographic program.

“Hey!” the twins protested. “What did you do that for?”

“I just realized, if anyone sees this here, they’re going to confiscate it from us and we won’t be able to do anything,” Ethan warned. Eric and Conner nodded in agreement.

“But what can we do with it?” Eric asked. “Like I said, the only Power Rangers that are still around are part of Zordon’s empire. Why would they want to change history? There’s no way we would get the devices back from them.”

“Right,” Conner agreed. “Ethan, can we meet you somewhere after class?”

“Why not our house?” suggested Eric. “Mom and dad won’t be home tonight.”

Conner wrote down their home address on a slip of paper and handed it to Ethan.

“And, Ethan,” Eric stammered. “Sorry about calling you a geek early.”

Ethan smiled as he put the two objects into his pockets and the three went back to work for the rest of the class period.

---

That evening there was a sharp knock at the door of the McKnights. Conner opened it quickly, having been pacing around for hours.

“Sorry I’m late guys. My mom wouldn’t let me leave. I told her I’d be back by curfew.” He pulled the devices out of his backpack and opened the holographic dome. The file began to play from where it have last left off.

“Under the guidance of a veteran ranger, a new five-person team was formed,” Jen’s voice began the monologue.

“Five? ” they all cried out simultaneously. “There’s supposed to be a full team?” Eric groaned.

“But,” Conner questioned while glaring at the image of the five rangers in the hologram. “If there are supposed to be five DinoThunders, then does this mean that our timeline is wrong like this Jen woman suggested?”

“I don’t know,” Ethan said. “But if it says that the White Ranger was the first one on this team then our timeline could still be the correct one.”

“Then let’s keep going.”

The video file cut to footage of a man dressed in black running through a forest while a group of tyrannodrones chased him. Jen’s voice talked as the video played.

“The villainous Mesogog had plans to revert the Earth to it’s prehistoric past. To do so, he first tried to acquire three powerful Dino Gems. Fortunately for the people of Earth, a paleontologist and former Power Ranger, Dr. Tommy Oliver already has possession of the gems. He barely managed to escape Mesogog’s initial attack.”

The scene cut to Reefside High School. The three boys didn’t say a word. They all were thinking that to this point, the history seemed to line up fine.

“Dr. Oliver, believing Mesogog to be lost in an island explosion tried to settle down as a high school science teacher in Reefside, California. It is here where the Dino Gems were born and Dr. Oliver wanted to maintain surveillance. Three teenagers, on an excursion with Dr. Oliver, found the gems. The gems bonded to them, empowering them with both civilian powers, and those of a Power Ranger.” The screen flashed images of Kira, Conner and Ethan.

“That’s us ” Ethan yelled, slapping Conner on the shoulder who was in wide-eyed disbelief.

“Guys,” Eric was pointing to the screen, “That girl... she’s the one the White Ranger attacked today, only with longer hair. It has to be her.”

The transmission continued as their reactions had no bearing to its programming. “Thanks to Dr. Oliver’s technology fused with the Dino Gem’s abilities, the three teenagers were able to morph into the DinoThunder Rangers. Conner McKnight: the Red Tyranno Ranger, Ethan James: the Blue Tricera Ranger and Kira Ford: the Yellow Ptera Ranger.”

“Whoa ” Ethan said as he paused the video file. “That’s not possible! How can that be the right timeline?”

“Ethan!” Conner was jumping up and down in excitement. “We are the Power Rangers! We’re supposed to fight against Mesogog!”

“The more important fact is that this means for sure that our time isn’t the correct one,” Ethan paced around the room. “This Dr. Oliver is the key. I’ve never even heard of him.”

“Dr. Oliver, after later bonding with a forth Dino Gem, become the Black Brachio Ranger. Together, the four rangers fought against Mesogog and his forces. Mesogog’s human form was that of Dr. Oliver’s former partner, Anton Mercer. Chief among his army were Elsa, a woman whose secret identity served as principal of Reefside High School and Zeltrax, who used to be known as the human Terrance Smith.”

“Wait, Zeltrax is Terrance Smith? Isn’t he that guy that Mesogog had taken Kira away today?” Ethan inquired.

“Don’t worry about it for now, let’s keep going,” implored Conner.

“Trent Fernandez, the adopted child of Anton Mercer happened upon a fifth Dino Gem that, when bonded to him against his will, gave him the powers of the White Drago Ranger. The gem’s inherent evil nature controlled Trent, making him an enemy to the other rangers.”

“Wait ” Eric yelled. “Trent Fernandez is the White Ranger? He’s in our class. Come to think of it, I never saw him in class but he was at the dig site.”

“Guys, let’s be fair,” reasoned Conner. “How do we know that Trent is the White Ranger in THIS timeline?”

“It’s possible that it’s not him,” Ethan said. “But the girl did say that the gems choose the owner. I’m thinking that they would still choose the same people, regardless of the timeline.”

“Do you think that Mesogog is still trying to find then in our time?” Conner asked.

“He might. Let’s finish the file.”

“Thanks to Anton Mercer, the White Ranger was freed from the gem’s control. Trent joined the other DinoThunder Rangers, helping them to defeat Mesogog. End transmission.”

“Mesogog gets defeated in that timeline!” Eric sang happily.

“But to do that we need to first find this Dr. Oliver,” Conner said, cutting down the jubilation. “Ethan, is there anything online about him?”

Ethan took his computer and started typing, shaking his head in frustration with every new dead lead.. “I can’t find anything on him. No files on him at Reefside or anywhere. It’s like he doesn’t even exist.”

“Then we need to figure this out on our own,” Conner said. “We looked so much happier in that timeline.”

“Where was I though?” Eric asked. “It didn’t show me.”

“I don’t think that it would,” Ethan said. “This is only information on the rangers.”

“Let’s go back to the dig site.” The other two boys reluctantly nodded at Conner. “At this point, it’s the only real lead we have. There shouldn’t be too many guards at night.”

---

From a distance the three boys could see spotlights peppering the dull, dark sky like fireflies. Conner motioned for the others to stay back and remain along the edge of the woods to safely see what was going on without being seen themselves. In front of them stood the regular line of command with Mesogog at the front and Elsa by his side. Terrance Smith was off to one area making tallies on a clipboard while tyrannodrones dug away at rock. One of the tyrannodrones began to groan as he picked something off the ground and rushed it over to Mesogog’s outstretched claw. A beautiful tingling noise echoed. Three distinct lights were shining as one.

“Excellent! The lassssst one!”

Conner, Eric and Ethan glanced to one another. There was no mistaking the red, blue, and yellow hues that permeated the surrounding area. Mesogog had found the Dino Gems.

To be continued...

[Impy]

...JESUS, Katie. Nice work.

[JDF'd]

Impy no love me. ;_;

[Impy]

Impy no love me. ;_;
...

I CANNOT IMAGINE WHY.

[MegaZeo]

Nice, Katie. Very nice. Can't wait to see what happens next.

[democable]

*hands out 8 gold stars four for each of the lovly ladies writing this so far great story*

[ZeoSaturn]

Hee hee hee. *gives Jer his stars anyway*

[izout]

This is great. I didn't think you put one of the Abarangers' name in the story.

[JDF'd]

*hands out 8 gold stars four for each of the lovly ladies writing this so far great story*

...

But... but... I'm a guy...

[TBF]

Teh sweet.

[democable]

...

But... but... I'm a guy...
oh, sorry TiC, didnt realise that part

[HurricaneNinja]

O.O This Fic is gold already.Eric..i dont like eric >.> and i hope kira is okay.I am really loving this fic.

[kalenabear]

Great job, you guys. It's quite a read! ^^ Well-written and imaginative. And..."KRA-KOOM"?? hahahaha...

[y3k]

...

But... but... I'm a guy...

Yes, well you think you exist too, but obviously that's a lie as well.

[ZeoSaturn]

Chapter 3: Insurrection

Eric McKnight had a twin brother. It’s usually said that twins are very similar and they always stick together, sharing every experience as a child. The problem is that later in life they tend to resent one another. If one gets something that the other doesn’t, you can bet their parents will never hear the end of it. Maybe one got more attention at times, an extra toy, the better color shirt. It’s not often that you can complain because your brother is supposed to be a super hero, defending the Earth while you don’t even get so much as a footnote.

The evil, reptilian cackle of the monstrous lizard brought Eric back to his senses. The primary colored gems glowed in his hands. Both Conner and Ethan appeared dejected.

“Those are the gems from the video, are they?” Eric whispered rhetorically, just looking for any communication from the others as a sign of comfort.

“With those, he can…” Ethan stammered.

“Do anything he pleases,” Conner finished. The holographic dome that was still in Ethan’s hand met Conner’s gaze. What good was it now? Getting those gems before Mesogog was the only trump card they could have played. All the crap Conner had been through, the pain of seeing his parents come home every night exhausted and beaten to a house that was always in shambles. Not to mention the misery that he and his friends had suffered at the hands of Mesogog and his minions. Conner looked determinedly at Mesogog and then at Ethan and Eric. “We need to get those gems.”

“What!?” Ethan and Eric began to cry out before calming their voices.

“There is no way we can get those gems from him! It’s suicide!” Eric was usually the more irrational of the two but even he couldn’t believe the sort of trigger happy, emotionally charged action was coming from his brother.

Conner snatched the holo-dome from Ethans’s hands. “If we want to fix this timeline,” Conner said as he pointed to it, “then we need to get those gems. We need to become Rangers.”

“Getting those gems won’t fix the timeline!” Ethan protested. “We would still have to go back in time to do that!”

“That’s why we are using this,” Conner said as he took the Infinital Sequencer out of Ethan’s jacket pocket. “The first device told us what to do. I’m willing to bet that this other one is what will allow us to time travel.”

“Well, it looks like it has the capacity for it and it makes sense,” Ethan concurred. “We still have to retrieve that Kira girl. If she is supposed to be a Ranger as well than we need her to come along with us. The three of us need to be together.”

“Then you guys will need help,” came the other voice from behind them. Ethan and Conner looked at Eric with sympathetic eyes. In the heat of their conversation, both had forgotten about him.

“What do you have in mind?” Conner was trying to lend a careful ear to his brother.

Eric signed as he eyed both of them. “I’m going to take you guys to the Resistance base. They – we, can help.”

“‘We?’ You’re part of the resistance?” Ethan questioned with a serious yet sincerely concerned expression. “What about what happened today? Do you know Kira?”

“Not specifically. Guys, I think we can help you get close enough to Mesogog to get those gems so we can at least try to fix this mess,” Eric began to walk away from the dig site, motioning for the others to follow. “Are you coming?” Ethan and Conner looked at each other and shrugged as they began to follow.

About fifty yards away from where the kids had been hiding and spying on Mesogog, two shadowy figures had been, unbeknownst to the kids, watching them. Dr. Edward Payne and Terrance Smith waited until they were out of sight before standing up following the shocking conversation they had overheard.

“Well, it looks like you were right to bring me over here from the dig,” Terrance grimaced.

Payne nodded with concern. “That device, they said it could help them travel through time. Free reign like that could really disturb Master Mesogog’s plans. He won’t be pleased. To think that there is a possibility that all of this isn’t even supposed to exist. We can’t let them disturb his plans.”

“I know,” Terrance murmured while the frustration was visible on his face, even in the dark the beads of sweat glimmered on the moonlight. “Mesogog must guard those gems better. They may just be kids but if they get a hold of them, who knows what position that will leave us in? Let’s keep an eye on them. If we can figure out how that device works and bring them in we can avert a problem and cur a lot of favor from the master.”

-----------

About an hour later, the teens arrived at a rock formation in a small open clearing at the edge of Ranru Forest on the north end of Reefside. At first glance this appeared to be like any other open space in the forest. Upon further examination there were subtle nuances about it. Swamp area was in just the right place so that it would require a lot of effort to get up close to the rock. Trees that were down seemed almost strategically placed in the paths of least resistance. You wouldn’t be able to notice easily, but if one didn’t know better, you could swear that someone was trying to keep onlookers away from the area.

Eric moved his hand quickly along certain parts of the rock, never stopping, knowing just what he was doing as if he was a blind man reading his favorite brail book for the hundredth time with a ting of excitement when he knew that he had hit his mark. Sliding a small boulder up and over was the last piece of the puzzle. Faint muffles could be heard from inside the rock. Eric’s brother along with their unlikely ally gave each other uneasy glances, trying to read if the other knew something that they didn’t. How can someone be inside the rock and how could they possibly hear them?

Their questions were answered as a wall of the sediment slide to the side. No opening had been detectable to the eye before. Eric motioned the others to follow who, bearing in mind the last couple of days, had become dead to the concept of surprise.

The inside of the bluff seemed like a well-stocked refuge camp for teenagers. A few adults mulled around as well but everyone seemed to be treating each other as equals. The technology in the place was decent, nothing nearly as impressive as the images from Mesogog’s lair, but comparable to anything Ethan had every seen. Holding himself back with a wide-eyed grin as if he had just woken up from a long slumber with a coat hanger in his mouth, he surveyed the area.

“Stand aside everyone,” a girl stated in an authoritative but oddly familiar voice. “Eric!” Her toned dropped for a second to a squeal. Ethan was familiar with Cassidy Cornell who was followed closely behind by Devin DeValle. “It’s great to see you.” She quickly regained her composure. “But what are you doing they doing here?” She pointed an accusatory finger towards the other two boys.

“Cassidy?” Conner questioned, not letting his brother voice a response. “I saw you in the bushes today. What is this place? Eric said he was taking us to the resistance base. Its just more kids? No offense, but what kind of offensive is this?”

Devin bowed his head, muttering something about being right that someone had spotted them. He blamed himself.

“Devin! Please be quiet,” Cassidy snapped. She winced for a second knowing that she was just taking out her disgust for Conner’s cutting comments on her friend, knowing that he wouldn’t fight back. “Eric!” she whipped back around to the twin she knew and could control. “Why are you bringing your brother and Ethan James here? I know he’s your family but that doesn’t mean you can trust him. They are Mesogog supporters.”

“Hey!” Conner butted in again, making Cassidy’s lip curl. “I have no desire to stay under the thumb of that scaly bastard. We’re just looking for a few gems that were unearthed today.”

“Gems?” Cassidy questioned. “I seem to recall seeing some gems. What about them is peeking your interest?”

“The powers,” Ethan stammered out loudly before he could contain himself. All whispers in the room died and dozens of eyes were suddenly locked on the third member of the party. Ethan didn’t have to look. He could feel them on him like leeches. “They have... ranger powers...” he finished, wishing he hadn’t.

“So let me get this straight Eric,” Cassidy fumed. “You’ve brought your brother and some squirrelly little busybody into the base all for the sake of running a suicide mission to get ranger powers? Do you honestly expect us to use out resources to create more evil troops for Mesogog? We need to contain all of you.” Cassidy narrowed her eyes and shook her head in disappointment at her one time comrade. “Take them away.”

Some of the larger teenagers and adults each grabbed one of the arms of the three kids. Eric struggled, yelling at his friend. “We can change time and put an end to Mesogog and Zordon’s terror! Stuff your pride and hard exterior for one second and LISTEN!”

Ethan wasn’t putting up much resistance and was being strong-armed. One of the men frisked him and pulled out the holo-dome. In a moment of brazen attitude, Ethan lunged forward and turned the device on before being shoved to the ground. The same recording the three teens had viewed before began to play again from the start. The men relaxed their grip on the teens as their guts began to tense up at the sights the globe showed. Jennifer Scotts’ report painted a picture of hope.

“Eric...” Cassidy called out quietly. “...what is this?”

Eric gulped and slowly paced over to Cassidy, placing his hands on her shoulders, letting her rest her head in his chest. “It’s what I said it was Cass. It’s another time. It’s a time where there is hope and were we’re allowed to dream and live in freedom.”

“It’s paradise,” she finished. Cassidy shuck her head, coming back from whatever blissful state she had fallen to. “I need to tell the boss about this.”

“You aren’t running this operation?” questioned Ethan, amazed that with her tone there could be someone higher than her.

“No, Ethan.” Cassidy turned to the others. “Our boss is in deep cover at Mesogog’s lab. He makes this whole thing possible, sending us surveillance and layouts so we can make our surgical strikes on Mesogog’s operations.”

“Ma’am! Something has happened!” A red-haired girl cried out as she worked her way through the crowd. Conner knew her well. Krista was a quaint girl from his class. He sat behind her everyday getting lost in the scent of her hair. She smelled like a combination of a fine morning dew and lavender. It was an intoxicating natural aroma. Seeing her so open and in such a technical structure seemed so out of character for this girl.

“We’ve gotten word from the boss. Mesogog has apparently finished building some sort of transmutation ray. If he’s right, then Mesogog will be able to harness those gems. Their powers levels are off the charts.”

Cassidy and Devin whipped around, eyeballing Ethan again. “You were right... Okay troops. I’m going to form a party to sneak into the base. We need to retrieve those gems now.”

“I’m going,” Conner snapped.

“You? I am sick and tired of you questioning me, Conner McKnight. You are not cut out for this. You have no training.”

“Cass,” Devin nudged her on the shoulder and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Can’t you see how passionate they are about this? It’s not fair to hold them back. Plus if that thing they have is the real deal, then they could actually help us win the war by setting things back to how they should be. You know how powerful the White Ranger is. Having three rangers of our own could turn the tide.” Cassidy was taken aback. Devin never spoke up to her unless he was truly concerned about something. She turned her eyes to Eric, Conner and Ethan. They had a fire in their eyes that hadn’t seen in anyone since Kira. She nodded at Devin and then the others.

“Okay, then follow me,” she eyed the boys. Conner and Ethan lit up, immediately stone facing as Eric slapped them on the shoulders and ushered them forward followed by, Devin, Krista and Cassidy. A set of winding stairs led upwards. The old, crusty paint on the railing reminded Conner of his house, instilling very little faith in him. As the group entered from an underground passage and into a filthy room with tattered boxes everywhere a tingling sense of familiarity hit Ethan.

“Conner!” he said. “Doesn’t this place look familiar to you?”

“Yeah, it feels like I’ve been here before.”

“Guys...” Eric began to trail off before snapping back, “It looks like the same cave and house from the recording. I think that in the other reality, this was supposed to be that Dr. Oliver’s house.” Conner and Ethan looked at each other and nodded. The six teens exited the house after Cassidy looked around and confirmed that everything was clear. They quickly paced a few dozen yards until they reached a secure clearing. Devin explained to the others that Mesogog’s security combed most lines of intel and as a result the safest form of contact was through a scrambled cell phone signal. Cassidy began to dial while Devin talked about the intricacies of their underground system.

“Boss?” Cassidy cautiously began. “We heard about the…uh…Yeah, they’re right here, but how did you…I see. Do you believe that thing?...Okay..” A few minutes passed by, aggravating Eric to no end.

“Who is your boss anyway?” Ethan questioned Krista, “Is it anyone we would actually know?”

Cassidy quickly hung up the phone and speed dialed another number. Conner groaned along with his brother. “NOW who are you calling?” Conner said aggravated. “We’re wasting time!”

Eric leaned in next to his brother. “She should be calling the base. I’ve never seen her make another call right after talking to the boss unless something big was going down.”

“Guys,” Cassidy interrupted them. Her cold blue eyes locked on both Devin and Krista. “It’s time. Initiate Operation: Extinct.”

“Huh? What does that mean?” Ethan sensed the serious tone.

“It means...” Eric nodded at Cassidy, “...that we’re going in. It’s time for a full frontal assault.”

“Are you joking?” Ethan gave a nervous laugh. “Your boss told us to attack Mesogog’s lab? With what forces? I thought we were going to sneak in. This is suicide.”

“I understand your concern Ethan,” Cassidy grinned. “I should rephrase myself. The six of us are sneaking in to get Kira and the gems with the rest of the forces are attacking from the front.”

“But the rest of the forces is only about thirty people in that cave,” implored Ethan.

“Those people are the generals of larger squads,” Devin tried to put the others at ease.. “We have many more members.”

“There’s something else,” Cassidy interrupted. “The boss said that one of Mesogog’s right hand men knows about those devices you have. That means that Mesogog will know soon enough.”

“Then we have to work fast,” Conner commanded. The others nodded.

“We have to rescue Kira too,” Krista spoke up. “All she wanted to do was fight for Kylee. She was her best friend. That bastard Mesogog turned Kylee into one of his – his, creatures,” she choked through the tears. “By the time we managed to finally take down the beast he turned her into, Kira had to finally strike her down. She didn’t even know... it devastated her to find out that the monster was Kylee.”

The cell rang, giving Cassidy the go signal she had been waiting for. “Got it,” she said with no more than a nod and snapped the phone shut. “That was the boss. He’s going to open up an invis-portal from the other side. We jump through together as quickly as possible. Understood?” The other five nodded. As if on cue, the invisa-portal appeared directly in front of them. “It’s now or never guys. See you on the other side.” With that ominous tone, the six teenagers simultaneously passed through the green hued portal.

One thought passed through all of their minds, sharing in the same doubts. No matter awaited them on the other side, failure was not an option.

To be continued…

[HurricaneNinja]

Ah Awesome i cant wait to see what happens next.It leaves my blood pumping for more

[Impy]

Very nice, Katers and nameless contributor.

[TBF]

Joe=liking.

[ZeoSaturn]

Impy....grow up.

[Adam]

This is really, really good. I'm really liking this.

[Morfan76]

I am enjoying this fic very much! Excellent job, Katie and Jer! :023: I also viewed "House of Cards," and realized how much more I enjoy Power Rangers when JDF is added to the mix. :)


However, I am still chuckling over this bit from Chapter 1: Reverse Rift:

Zeltrax was disgusted with the video and threw it to the ground, stepping on it. Seeing Tommy angered him immensely, not to mention the revelation of Dr. Oliver’s dark roots.

I can't help but read it as Zeltrax being upset that Tommy hasn't kept up with his hair coloring and is showing his "dark roots." :005:

[ZeoSaturn]

Kim, when you pointed this out, I reread that sentence and realized that you could take it that way. It is funny. :D

[KyrieEleison]

Wow - this is really nice. Jer, Katie, great work, both of you.

[ZeoSaturn]

Chapter 4: Double Disclosure

Growing up, Conner McKnight could remember his mother’s fascination with classic horror movies. Dracula and the werewolf were both very scary but the one that always frightened Conner the most was Frankenstein’s monster. The lab that he was created in was dark and dismal. The cold, rustic metal that surrounded everything, pulsating with electricity make the hair on the back of Conner’s neck stand up. All these years later, it still got to him once in a while. Mesogog’s laboratory got to him in such a way. The memories came flowing back like the levy of a dam breaking. A cool chill hit him, leaving his body covered in goosebumps in its wake.

The portal had teleported Conner, along with the other five teenagers into a long hallway that opened up in many rooms. From the hums and creeks of machinery on top of what he could swear were screams, nothing was going to jar Conner back to reality just yet. Cassidy pulled them all off to the side, getting her bearings based on the intel that was transferred to her.

“We need to find the Transmutation Ray before we do anything else,” Cassidy stated in a matter of fact tone that finally began to gain some of Conner’s attention. “The boss said that both Kira and the gems are being held with the ray. Apparently he plans to test it on her to make an example for the rest of us.”

Eric nodded in concern. “We have to get the gems and save Kira. Without them both, our plan won’t work.”

He cut himself off as the sound of approaching footsteps got louder and louder, reverberating off the metallic floors. Everyone prepared themselves to defend against the worst. A figure rounded the corner, leading everyone to let out a sigh of relief.

“Dr. Payne?” Conner quizzed. “What are you doing here?”

“Kids, I’m so glad to see you,” he sighed. “Thank God you’re here.” He hugged the twin brothers.

“Um, Dr. Payne. It’s great that you’re here but we kind of need to find the gems that Mesogog found today and destroy his Transmutation Ray,” Devin mused.

“Right, sorry kids. Follow me,” Dr. Payne said. “I know every nook and cranny of this place so I can take you straight to them.” Everyone eyed each other in anticipation. Cassidy covered their rear with a judging gaze. “They should be in here,” Edward gestured to doorway at the end of the hall. He pried the door open to reveal a large array of panels attached to large device that was aimed at a propped up examination table. Strapped and bound into the chair with leather belts was the same girl the boys had seen earlier. He hair was in a mess and her lower body was wrapped in bandages. Her eyes grew like saucers when they entered the room.

“Kira!” Krista yelled before the others could warn her to keep her voice down. She rushed across the room with the others quickly following. Kira tried to yell through the gag to no avail. Krista fought through her tears as she hurriedly removed the cloth from between the girl’s lips.

“No! Get out of here!” Kira yelled the moment she was freed. “It’s a trap!”

“What are you talking abo--?” Conner questioned. Before he could get a verbal answer he could feel his arms being restricted by a horde of tyrannodrones.

“Damnit! I knew something didn’t smell right...” Cassidy cursed herself. At the lab entrance the only member of the group that was not being held back let out a dim chuckle, looking very pleased with himself. Dr. Edward Payne brimmed with pride.

“Cassidy!” Eric protested, “I thought you said you could trust your boss.”

“I did,” she struggled fruitlessly, “But this is not my boss.”

“Well then who is?”

“I believe you are referring to thisssss fool...” Mesogog hissed as he entered the room, flanked by Elsa and White Ranger who was restraining Terrance Smith. “Payne informed me that Sssssmith was ssssspending a lot of time in ressssstricted areasssss. Naturally, I was curiousssss.”

Terrance looked as if he had been severely beaten. Welts peppered his face and his clothing was torn. With a sympathetic look from the one eye that wasn’t swelled shut he glanced over at the teens, knowing he had let them down.

“Now,” Mesogog paced over to the invaders. “One of you has sssssomething that belongsssss to me now. Elsssssa, search them.” He waved his claw, immediately sending the starkly dressed woman over who began to systematically pat Conner down. Ethan started to struggle, catching the reptile’s gaze. “You ssssseem rather antsssssy. Why isssss that?” He stalked over towards Ethan and began to search through his pockets, quickly coming upon his prize. His fangs gleemed with delight as he carefully held the holodome and Infinital Sequencer. “I assume thessssse are what we were looking for. And you’re quite ssssssure that we will be able to sssssee thisssss alternate reality, Payne?”

“Positive, my lord,” Payne grinned. “I saw it with my own eyes. This Dr. Thomas Oliver exists in that reality. I can find no records of him in out world but apparently he’s very important to their plans. Some things match with this timeline, but for the most part it is very different. In their time, Supreme Emperor Zordon sacrificed his life for the good of the universe.”

Mesogog’s eye’s brightened as he realized the power that he now wielded. “That fool Zordon has gotten complacent with hisssss power. His followersssss are blind. If I could get rid of him, this reality would be uncontested and mine for the taking.” Elsa seemed rather taken aback but pleased with her master’s plans. His ambitious words forced her lips to purse with excitement.

“You’re crazier than I ever thought you could be, Mesogog!” Cassidy mocked. “You couldn’t possibly take on Zordon. You must have a death wish. No wonder dinosaurs are extinct!”

“Silence!” the White Ranger grabbed Cassidy by the hair and yanked her back, delivering a stiff punch to her face. Mesogog approached her, his reptilian tongue slithering back and forth. It rested on her face, lapping up the thin trickle of blood that began to trickle down her cheek.

“Elsssssa!” Mesogog commanded, “You and the other ssssstrap Sssssmith and the other rebel foolsssss down. It looksssss like we have a few more volunteersssss to tessssst out the Transssssmutation Ray.” The tyrannodrones forced the struggling teenagers forward as Elsa manipulated a nearby control panel, sending out half a dozen other operating tables identical to Kira’s Elsa overpowered Terrance’s lanky frame. A metallic clang made the teens wince as his head slammed against the table. Mesogog leaned in at the White Ranger. “Keep an eye on the ssssspecimens while I examine these devicesssss for mysssssself. Elssssssa, you and Payne are ressssssponsible for making sure that the Bio-zordsssss are fully operational.”

“No! Damnit! How can they be ready?” Terrance cried out. Mesogog exited the room, paying Smith’s pleas no heed, flanked by Elsa and Payne. Soon only the White Ranger was left to watch over the teens. He leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. Smith continued to plead to no avail. “I’m sorry, kids. This is all my fault. I was careless and let Elsa catch me. All this time working so close to him and I was careless.”

“Smith, you’d do well to finish exercising your mouth now. After the experiments are done, whatever you turn into might not have one,” the White Ranger chuckled to himself as he moved from his perch towards the disheveled man. “You brought this upon yourself, old man. Going against Lord Mesogog is a fool’s errand.”

“Your parents were good people,” Smith whispered in a defiant tone. “They loved and adored you right up until the moment Mesogog killed them. They would be so disappointed to see you now, Trent!” The kids all tried to look at each other but couldn’t due to the restraints. It didn’t matter though, they were all thinking the same thing. The history was right. Even in this reality, the White Ranger’s name was Trent.

Trent chuckled again. It was a deep, visceral noise that couldn’t possibly be elicited from one without the most twisted mind. It made Kira’s insides churn just thinking of it. The scene of him impeding his blade into her back flickered in her head over and over again, the laugh acting as a sickening soundtrack. Uncontrollable whimpers began to exit her lips. Hearing them, Krista whispered words of encouragement, begging Kira not to let the White Ranger see her cry.

He heard. He always heard. He was trained to notice everything. The whining peaked his interest like a child on Christmas morning. “Well, well, well, my little pincushion has something to say. Please speak up. I love to hear you crying. I really should make a recording of this to lull me to sleep at night.”

“Get away from her!” came a cry from over the White Ranger’s shoulder as a punch caught him in the back of the neck. It was staggering due only to its surprising nature. Devin DeValle, swung wildly, having slowly cut through his straps thanks to small blade he kept hidden in his pocket. The others both cheered him on and feared for his life. His brazen attack caught the enemy off guard. The White Ranger dodged Devin’s attacks, tripped against Kira’s exam table. Like a chain reaction of dominos, the table slammed into the transformation ray, erupting in a puff of smoke and a laser blast that began to ricochet around the room. The beam whizzed passed Kira. She could feel the warmth near her face. It was an ominous heat that left goosebumps up and down her arms. In it’s last approach, like a boomerang returning home, the shot careened into the White Ranger’s wrist. More specifically, it hit his morpher, triggering a wave of bright, golden energy to flow through Trent’s body, staggering him to his knees. The suit dissipated, revealing the human form of young Trent Fernandez. His was wearing clean white shoes, pants, and a long white jacket. The only dark article on his body was a deep, rich black undershirt. His shoulder length dark hair waved in his eyes, his breath was shallow from the sudden energy burst attacking his system. He shook his head, confused, trying to regain his senses.

Devin took a stance, trying to look like he was a capable fighter. He was shaking having never been trained like most of the resistance members. Trent peered around the room, trying to take in his surroundings like a great fog had just been lifted. “Hey, don’t mess with me man,” Devin stammered towards a confused Trent, “I watched all the Karate Kid movies.”

Lost in his own world, Trent examined his morpher. “I feel so strange, like some great burden has been lifted off of my shoulders. It’s so– Conner? Eric?” Trent finally noticed all of his former classmates tied down, like he was seeing them for the first time. Devin held his pose as Trent motioned over to Conner and undid his bindings. As soon as he was free, Conner lunged at Trent, slamming him against the wall.

“What the hell are you doing?” Conner spit in frustration. He peered at Trent with contempt. This kid had almost killed Kira and who knows how many others. Conner didn’t see the cold, calculated eyes of a killer. Instead he saw true fear and confusion of an innocent soul. He slowly released his grip on the boy’s coat. “Wait, were you telling the truth. That thing,” he gestured towards the Drago morpher, “it was controlling you?” Trent nodded, afraid to say anything. Conner’s lip curled before he sighed. “Help me free the others.

“Right,” Trent almost silently mouthed.

Conner shook Devin back to reality. “Hey man, you did good.”
“Really?” Devin brimmed with pride from ear to ear.

“Yeah, now let’s get out of here,” Conner finished as they freed the other.

“Wait, what just happened?” Krista apprehensively noted as she rubbed her sore wrists. “You tried to kill us and now you’re rescuing us?”

“The white dino gem is inherently evil,” Trent began, “while the other three gems possess positive energy, mine was created as a counteraction to them. That’s been must have reversed it’s polarity because for the first time I seem to be the master and the powers are serving me. I was searching through my dad’s office when one of Mesogog’s invisa-portals appeared. I went through it and landed in his lab. The gem was there and I just felt drawn to it and it jumped up and bonded to my arm. The rest is a haze but since then I’ve been under his control.”

“We need to grab the Infinital Sequencer!” Terrance interrupted. “If Mesogog manages to fully utilize that device he can alter the timeline and forge it into his own image.”

“What about the gems?” Conner inquired.

“What do you need the gems for?” Kira winced.

“No,” Ethan informed. “Those gems have their own ranger powers.”

Terrance nodded as he pointed at the transmutation ray that had become the center of most of the day’s activities. “They should be in that compartment on the side.” Conner went up to the side and fidgeted with it until the side slid open and the bright shine of the red, yellow, and blue gems was a familiar, relaxing sting to his eyes. But they were not alone as a violet-hue that gleamed from a cloudy, black gem joined them. He immediately knew what it was.

“Dr. Oliver’s gem...” Conner murmured as he reached out instinctively for the red gem. It’s shine grew brighter and brighter as his fingers got closer, enveloping his surrounded in a deep crimson glow like a rain of blood, taking everyone aback. When it had faded, a metal band was wrapped tightly around his wrist, centered in it was the red dino gem.

“How do you feel?” Trent inquired, wondering for comparison’s sake.

“Like I just stuck a fork in an electrical socket and can’t take it out,” Conner grinned. Trent smiled and nodded knowingly.

“The gem seems to have fully bonded with you,” Trent informed. “But luckily for you, thanks to its properties, you have control over it.”

“Ethan, Kira,” Conner tossed the blue and yellow dino gems to both of them respectively. Ethan’s faced was etched in apprehensive excitement while Kira was the portrait of confusion. Neither had a moment to question the situation for the second that they caught their gems the room was once again baptized in a sea of light, the blue and yellow intermingled to form an almost lime green glow.

“Wow,” Ethan muttered. He tried to hide his face from the others. Tears were forming in his eyes. The sense of importance and empowerment the gem instilled in his was overwhelming. Like his entire life of being the odd man out had led to this moment, the sensation of knowing what he now had at his disposal coupled with his desire to belong being fulfilled was enough to move him to tears.

“Um, I like the shiny new bracelet, but I’m not wearing yellow. Can I have the black one?” Kira inquired, “and what’s the point of them anyway? I am not going to be like HIM,” she defiantly gestured towards Trent, rage burning in her eyes.

Terrance Smith marveled at the entire situation. Sure they didn’t look the same. Conner lacked the same focus, Ethan seemed physically far unprepared, Kira had too much of an edge, and the level of psychological damage done to Trent was still untested, but with the four colors empowering them, this was the team that he had seen in history recording. The differences were there, but so was the newfound hope. “Oh, um, guys,” he rang his head back and forth a couple of times, “We can discuss this later. Now we need to find Mesogog before he can use that device!”

“I can get it myself,” Trent spoke up.

“You?” Krista scoffed, “What, are you going to pretend the gem still has control of you and waltz right in the room and take it from him? When you steal the device in front of his face, he’ll figure you out.”

“Actually,” Trent smirked, “I was thinking of doing this.” He began to back up towards the wall, the contours of his body started to fad and by the time he made contact with the surface his entire body was invisible to the naked eye.

“You can turn invisible?” Eric cried out, his voice almost hitting a note inaudible to even the highest feminine pitch.

“Not quit,” Trent voiced echoed from the wall, “I have to be touched a surface to blend into it like a chameleon. It’s a power given to me by the gem. I can only use it when I’m not morphed, but it has come in handy,” Trent reappeared in front of them. “Come to think of it, you three probably have your own powers as well. Anyway, I’ll be right back with the devices.” Before anyone could protest, Trent placed his hand against the wall and vanished from their sight.

“What do we do now?” Eric was a bit sore, noticing everything that was going on around him, feeling a bit left out.

“We wait, I suppose,” Terrance tried to maintain some sort of order, as the only adult there. Clearly, his mind was somewhere else. “I just hope Trent doesn’t rush in too quickly. He’s too damned impulsive sometimes.”

Ethan was fidgeting with his bracelet. “We should have asked him how we morph with these things. There aren’t any buttons and I don’t see a receiver of some kind.

“I am not becoming a ranger,” Kira cried out. “Maybe you all can find it so easy to trust that guy, but I can’t. He almost killed me. Do you want to see what he did to me? I’ll rip these bandages off and show you what that son of a bit–“

Krista began to hug Kira tightly, allowing her to bury her face into Krista’s shoulder, muffling her tears. She cooed her words softly. “Kira, no one is defending Trent’s actions. He has to shoulder a lot of blame and live with what he did to you and so many others. Did you see his eyes? I’ve never seen such tired eyes. He’s a teenager and it looks like he’s already lived one hundred years. That’s more punishment than any man deserves. He’s hiding that all right now to help us. Now you have to help us too. I know you’re hurting both inside and out. But you have to do your part to change this world so what happened to Kylee, will never happen to anyone else.”

Kira peered up at Krista. She knew she was right. Such wisdom from someone so young. Kira weakly nodded.

“Glad to have you on board,” Conner rested his hand on her shoulder. “But now what about this gem? There is no Dr. Oliver in this world to give it to.”

Instead of a thick silence was ready to break out across the room, a loud siren juxtaposed their intended reaction to Conner’s statement, causing everyone to instinctively slap their hands against their ears. Footsteps fast approached the room as Trent ran inside, closely followed behind by Elsa, Dr. Payne and a slue of tyrannodrones. He motioned for everyone to help him shut and barricade the door. Everyone rushed up to apply their collective force.

“Someone needs to get to that control panel,” Terrance gestured. “It can magnetically lock the doors!” Conner nodded and ran towards the aforementioned console. As he began to move he found his feet to be moving faster than he could control. He blurred in a red sheen and quickly slammed into his intended target, causing an eruption of smoke and electricity. A dull hum came from the doors as they clanged, trying to shut, but instead freezing in their position.

“Damn! It’s no good to us now kids,” Terrance cried with a terrified nod.

They all backed away from the door, Elsa and the others crossed over the threshold, triumphantly against the defiant resistance.

“Whatever the hell you did there,” Kira pointed at the console, “would you mind doing that again to these guys?”

“I wish I knew how that happened,” Conner muttered.

“It looks like you’re all out of options, White Ranger,” Elsa smirked. “I don’t know why you decided to join the resistance, nor do I care, but between you and me I’m ever so glad that you did. Master Mesogog puts you on a pedestal. The little White Ranger can do no wrong. Looks like daddy’s boy has a bit of a rebellious streak in him.”

“I’m sure his scaly ass has room for another set of lips, Elsa,” Trent replied like a flame, boiling Elsa’s hatred to a fever pitch. “You can tell my ADOPTIVE father that I’m officially emancipated.”

“Trent, your father only wants what’s best for you,” Dr. Payne tried to reason with the boy. “You are becoming a threat to your dad. He loves you but when you do this he has no other choice but to...”

“Dr. Payne!” Conner yelled, “Why would you turn your back on humanity to be Mesogog’s pawn?”

“I’m just doing my job. I’m not an idiot. Going against Master Mesogog is a fool’s ambition.”

A low thud filled the room as Elsa dropped to the ground. Dr. Payne shot his head around, searching for the cause only to be met by a shot across his face, sending him down on top of Elsa.

“Hayley?” Terrance said with a look of utter perplexity on his face. The tyrannodrones stood in silence as the firey red head paused in victory, brandishing a large metal pipe.

“Tyrannodrones! Destroy everything in the lab. Leave nothing operational,” she snapped her fingers, causing them to immediately rush around the room ripping and tearing at every device and panel they could find. “Sorry I was so late. It wasn’t hard to notice you guys. You’ve stirred up a lot of commotion. “Mesogog will be here any minute.”

“What did you do to him anyway, Trent?” Cassidy asked.

“My dad is a good person when he’s Anton Mercer, but he’s still just a regular person. He can’t normally control when he changes back and forth between that form and Mesogog. He’s developed a formula though that stimulates the area of his brain that controls the chemicals that affect the change so with one shot he can force the change to happen. I just got close enough to stick him with a needle so he reverted back to Mercer. From there, it doesn’t take much to knock him out,” he gave a nervous smile. The others looked at him dumbfounded.
“Yeah,” Hayley groaned. “But it worked. Mesogog was having me examine the time device when Trent comes in, steals the devices as he knocks out his father and the next thing I know these two,” she points as the collapsed Elsa and Payne, “are chasing after him.”

Trent flashes both the Infinital Sequencer and the holo-dome, handing them to Ethan.

“Let’s go!” Terrance ushered everyone out of the room. A loud, deep growl almost shook the very walls around them. “He’s awake! Move!” Terrance continued to cry until everyone had exited. He began to follow but was unable to move, like his foot was caught in a trap. He fell to the floor as a concussed Dr. Payne grabbed him, taking Smith to the floor. He pounced on Smith, ready for the kill.

“You’re not getting away from me,” Dr. Payne snarled. “You ruining my life, Smitty! I gave everything to Mesogog and he still picked you over me as his right hand man. You sit up on your perch day after day with your cushy job while I toiled away as a high school science teacher and then you have the gall to betray him? I’ll never understand what he saw in you!” he continued to spew his venom, his hands throttled around Terrance’s neck.

Hayley paused, looking back at Terrance. “Leave!” he yelled through his desperate gasps for air. “Do not jeopardize the mission for me!” He threw Payne over his shoulder and began struggling with him for the dominate position. Hayley ushered the kids along.
“Trent, you have ssssseverely disssssappointed your father.” Everyone froze in their tracks. Before they could make much progress, they ran into a reptilian wall. Mesogog spat as he spoke. “I sssssuggest you return the gemssssss and those devicesssss to me now and we will dissssscuss your punissssshment later.”

“You...” Trent glared at the creature,. “You are not my father. My father is a good man trapped inside your twisted mind, Mesogog!” Trent held his right arm up to his face, whispered the word ‘ready’ almost as if it was a secret password, causing his bracelet to change into the same morphing device that was a familiar symbol to the others from his wrist while he was in his suit. “White Ranger, Dino Power!” Trent called out as he pressed a small red button, engulfing him in white light, sending him through the air in a tornado. When he landed on his feet again he once again was covered in the costume of the infamous White Ranger. For the first time in their lives, the other teens were glad to see him.

“Okay,” Ethan was ecstatic. “I want to do that.”

“You already can,” Hayley informed him. “You can access your morphers through those bracelets. I designed them with miniature teleportation devices. That’s why they appeared once you bonded with the gems and why they can be converted into morpher form. They’re powered by your morphing energy. As you live, so do they.”

As she was finishing her explanation, Mesogog preemptively attacked the four defenseless teens, bringing Eric, Krista, Cassidy and Devin to their knees with his psychic attacks. “Your newfound sssssensitivity towardsssss thossssse weaker than you will be your downfall, Trent,” Mesogog hissed.

Hayley rushed forward, trying desperately to hit the monster. Cassidy pleaded with the others. “Go! We’ll try to distract him.”

“I can’t leave you. Mom and dad would never forgive me,” Conner cried.

“You have to do it, bro,” Eric choked through the pain, “if not there won’t be a mom or dad to come back to.”

“That world you showed us,” Devin moaned, “It was a paradise. Make it a reality.”

Conner looked at them, one at a time down the line like they were being prepared for a firing squad. He stopped at Krista. The girl who barely knew his name in class was now willing to give her life just to give him a chance. “We won’t let you down.” Conner gave them one last sympathetic, determined glance and grabbed Kira by the arm. “Ethan! Trent! We’re out of here.”

Ethan followed close on Kira and Conner’s heels. Trent followed, always with his head over his shoulder, covering their flank. “You will not escape!” The voice came from the front. Trent spun around. Somehow, Elsa had recovered and was poised in front of the others, her sword drawn.

“I can’t hold her off for a minute,” Trent drew his Drago Sword and pushed to the front, meeting Elsa’s blade with his own. “Get that thing working.”

Ethan started to press random buttons, based on his assumptions from how he got the holo-dome to work. The hair on his arms stood up on end. The nervousness that consumed his body was not the only reason for it. He could feel a suction pulling him forward as a small, black void appeared before him, rapidly increasing in size. Kira screamed in fright, knocking Trent to the side and blowing Elsa off of her feet. The sound waves that were generated were visible in bright yellow rings. She slapped her hands to her mouth in shock.

“This is it guys,” Ethan looked back his team. “Now or never.”

“Where are we?” Trent questioned apprehensively.

“I’ll tell you when I know. These are the coordinates that were preprogrammed in the sequencer.”

“We’ll find out when we get there!” Conner yelled as he shoved Ethan and Trent into the wormhole. He clutched onto Kira’s wrist and pulled her in with him. The hole quickly closed up behind them leaving Elsa alone to report her failure.

Kira couldn’t feel Conner’s hand anymore. In fact, she couldn’t feel much of anything. Like a weightless free fall, she felt lightheaded. Unsure of what to do, Kira closed her eyes, held her breath, and hoped that wherever… or whenever, she landed it would be just in time.

To Be Continued...

[GreenNinja]

Great work, Katie and Jer. As you said, it's onto...or back to...Ninja Storm next. Should be exciting.

[Impy]

Virry nice, Katie.

[JDF'd]

After finishing writing this chapter I realized that I should make a note. Since Hayley worked for Mesogog and used his designs when making the morphers, all four of the ranger morphers are based on the Trent's. While Trent's looks the same way it does in real timeline, the others are all slightly different. Here's a look at Conner's for reference. The face plates are the same and Kira and Ethan's would look the same, just yellow and blue respectively where Conner's is red, of course:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d58/MattitudeV1oh/conner-morpher.jpg

[Tommy D. Oliver]

Great job, guys.

[Romanus]

I must know the rest of this story, you will continue. That is the law of Romanus, you will continue. I'm dying when not knowing the rest of this story.

[ZeoSaturn]

Romanus, this fic is going to be hecka long. Don't worry it will keep going. The update might be fewer now since Jer has school and I just moved, but we are going to continue it. Promise. I know now a lot of people are going "What the!?" right now but things will reveal itself over time. (sorry....didn't mean the pun... hee hee)

[Eternal]

I've gotten through the first installment thus far. The writing really stands out overall, dialogue, the direction, just everything. Really great work here. I'll be sure to catch up soon.

[Shikon Sentai]

K-chan!!! Haitte kudasai yo! totemo yondai dayo! shi honshou wa akkenai desu ga, machimasu. shikatta nai. kono hanasu wa stekki. ganbatte ne

(K-chan!!! Hurry please! I want to read a lot more! 4 chapters are not enough but, I will wait. It can't be helped. This story is great. Do your best, ok?)

Too many possibilities... and you just HAD to stop it on a cliffhanger DIDN'T YOU!

Mou... I can't take much more of this waiting.

:: eye twitches ::

:: head deflates ::

[ZeoSaturn]

I am not just the one doing this. Jeremy is also a partner in this with me. He has a life too. LOL

[Shikon Sentai]

hai hai... gomen ne. Jer, yatta yo! mattanai desu.

(oh yeah... sorry about that. Jer good job. I can't wait)

Happy now?

jyoudan (just kidding)

[ZeoSaturn]

Chapter 5: Winds of Change

There’s an old adage that debates what is worse: would you rather be to Eden and taste the sweet fruit or know of such delectable pleasure, but never experience it yourself? For most people in Reefside, California, the former seems to be the greater of the two evils. Kira Ford can fondly remember both of her parents. They divorced while she was young but neither stopped loving her. She would spend two weeks at a time with one of them before switching houses across town. She could still go to the same elementary and middle schools, she got two rooms, her mother and father had both found a loving and caring second start so she basically had two sets of parents. Two Christmases, two birthdays, everything in life that a child could cherish, she had a matching set.

In fact, the unique thing that she wished she had another one of was her best friend, Kylee Styles. Kylee met Kira at the start of the sixth grade. There were two elementary schools in town and as kids advanced, they were merged into one middle school. When everyone was asked to stand up in front of class and talk about their families, Kylee said that her father had died within the last year but she wasn’t sad because her mother loved her twice as much to make up for him. As the class was seated into groups of four based upon an alphabetical, first name system, the two girls were in the same group. Soon they discovered their mutual love for music. They formed a duo to be reckoned with in the school talent show, taking second prize overall.

But the girls, like everyone else, saw the events that led to the enslavement of Earth at the hands of Emperor Zordon unfold on national television. Depending on location, different areas were hit harder. Southern California was the nexus for this activity. Throughout the years, as Kira recalled, the Power Rangers always seemed to be centered there. What possessed these evil forces to target the start remained a mystery.

The day after the formal surrender of the federal government, everyone was in a state of panic. Should they go to school? Was there even a school to go to anymore? A fast, deliberate rasping at the door shocked Kira back into the cold reality that was beginning to envelope the planet. Kylee ran inside, her knees buckled as she collapsed as soon as she had crossed the threshold. The eyeliner that she had begged her mother to let her start wearing was smeared across her face.

“She’s gone,” Kylee choked past the pain. Kira ran over and hugged her best friend. What else could she do? She clenched her close, refusing to let go until there was some answer that would bring some sort of clarity. Kylee gasped through her story as Kira’s father handed her a glass of water. Apparently Zordon’s forces had been traveling house to house, striping them bare for valuables to help feed his army. When Kylee’s mother didn’t have as much as they were hoping for and she began to resist, one trigger happy soldier shot her. They had quickly filed out and went on to the next residence, leaving Kylee behind to fend for herself.

Kira eyed her father. He was usually so cool and calm and while he was silent as usual, it had her on edge. He didn’t have an easy answer for his daughter. Despite all the bullets the family had dodged, this was the first time that Kira couldn’t look to anyone else for a solution.

As the next few years went on, both girls got disenfranchised with the new dictatorship that had swept the country. Both of Kira’s parents had agreed that Kylee could go where Kira went, from house to house, two weeks at a time. Wanting two of everyone, Kira finally had a sister of sorts. But, while the parents were asleep at night, the girls would always sneak out and make their way to a secret location. Like clockwork, a black jeep would arrive and pick them up at 10:35 p.m to take them to their oasis. The resistance base that was run by one Terrance Smith and the first person to join the organization, Cassidy Cornell. It was there that the girls learned everything together. How to shoot a gun, how to defend themselves, how to finally feel like there was a place where they both belonged and had hope in a world where such a dream was impossible. One night, the girls just didn’t go home. The parents searched and searched but never found them again. The girls didn’t much care either. They had a higher calling. With each bombing raid on one of Zordon or Mesogog’s factories, life felt just a little more livable.

To this day Kira still kicks herself for the botched operation. It was her call on how much explosives to use and she overstuffed the damned bomb. When it went off she was blown clean to the side, knocking herself out on pipe. She came to back in the rebel camp. Cassidy informed her that based on surveillance it appeared that Kylee had either been killed in the explosion or some of his soldiers had found her and finished the job themselves. Due to her location, Kira was just flat out overlooked.

She buried herself in paperwork for weeks. While others went out on jobs, Kira refused to leave the resistance base. Terrance would visit her, day after day, only to get the same response that she just didn’t feel up to fieldwork. Smitty’s rational had always been that after the war was over he would make sure that Kira would return to her family. Until then, he tried to act as her surrogate father. Had he failed her? No, he refused to accept that.

A few months passed by, Kira refusing to heal. Smith came to her one day, explaining how important the next assignment was and how it was going to take her special marksmanship to land a perfect shot. Reluctantly, she decided to join him along with a new recruit. Krista reminded Kira so much of Kylee sometimes that it scared her. Physically they weren’t similar at all. Krista was much taller and her deep, red hair contrasted Kira’s towheaded band mate. But the youthful exuberance and gung ho spirit that drove Kylee was ever present in this new girl.

The assignment was actually fairly by the books. Smitty was just hoping that once Kira took that first step out the door, the others would come naturally. Mesogog had recently set up a testing facility on as isthmus in the northwest corner of Reefside. They were simply to get in and use the strategic cover of nightfall and tree canopies to sniper a few control panels hooked to some chambers of experimental devolution formula. Smitty had already painstakingly committed to memory the locations of these targets and the chance of guards expecting them was slim to none due to the relative recency of the compound’s erection.

To this day Smitty regrets ever having Kira go on the assignment. As he yelled at her and the other teenagers to run while he held of Edward Payne, in his heart he believed that she knew that and he hoped that one day she would forgive him.

Kira, on the other hand was quietly musing to herself as she floated in the air. Was it air? Not really. Surely Ethan would have a fancy, five-dollar-word for what was going on. In her gut if felt like a dagger was slowly twisting her organs. It was a painful, unfamiliar feeling that oddly put her at ease. That was the real money question. Why is it that at the time when she has the least amount of control over her life that she finally feels at ease with the world around her? If, in fact, you can call the temporal stream a world in of itself.

In a rapid succession, like the thud of sand bags being dropped as a stopgap, Kira heard Conner and Ethan drop to the ground followed by their groans of complain. She braced for impact, praying for her sore back. Instead of being met with a dull pain instead she dropped gently into someone’s arms. Tender arms, she mused to herself, caring arms. In a smooth, delayed gaze she beamed up at her savior, hoping to find a pair of baby blues eyes. What she saw was the bloody crimson visor that had forced her awake in a cold sweat so many nights before.

“Get away from me you son of a bitch!” Kira screamed as she punched Trent on his helmeted jaw line. She leaped out of his arms, taking a defensive stance.

“Kira, Kira, Kira! Calm down! That’s Trent,” Conner rest assuredly placed his hands on her shoulders. “He’s helping us now, remember?”

Kira brushed the much taller boy off as if any human contact would make her skin melt. “Maybe he’s helping you. I don’t trust him.”

“Power down,” Trent whispered, hoping that his human form would ease the tension.

“So just exactly where are we?” Conner voicing the concern that everyone was feeling. Ethan vigorously tinkered with the sequencer.

“Blue Bay Harbor... 2003...” he murmured, rather dejected.

“You mean to tell me that I had to abandon my best friends to travel back in time one year and only a few hundred miles after from home?” Kira was visibly frazzled, venting her frustration on the three guys. “No dinosaurs to slay, no world conquerors to stop, to wars to prevent? We went through all of that and this stupid machine basically has the same function as a car? Hell, before you answer that, what exactly are we doing here anyway? I must not have been informed of the situation. See, I was too busy almost becoming a science project and being carved for dinner by ‘Mr. Short, White, and Creepy’ over here,” she pointed an accusing finger at Trent.

Ethan pointed to the corresponding buttons and monitors on the sequencer as he tried to explain the situation. “The coordinates are preprogrammed. According to these devices the four of us, along with this Dr. Oliver are the DinoThunder Power Rangers. That’s why we rescued you and got the gems. We found these at the dig site where you attacked Mesogog and were subsequently yourself attacked by... um...”

Kira shot a glance at Trent who in turn glared at Ethan for bringing the topic up again.

“...anyway,” Ethan gulping, trying to regain his train of thought. “According to this device the Power Rangers are supposed to go back through time, year by year, to systematically find out what problem caused the much more desirable timeline that it displays into the one that we are familiar with. Basically, it’s trial by error.”

“What should we do with this in the mean time?” Conner pondered as he rolled the black dino gem back and forth across his knuckles.

Ethan snatched the gem off of Conner’s hand, eyeballing him. “THIS could be used to find this Dr. Oliver guy. It’s supposedly his so the closer we get to him, the more it should glow. In theory it will act as a tracking device.”

Trent gazed out across the land. He remembered the area fairly well from a briefing he had gotten from his so-called father. Apparently Zordon’s forces had effectively slashed and burned everything in an effort to wipe out groups that he deemed possible future threats. They had never actually presented any aggression against the emperor. It was a preemptive strike on his part. Total and complete brutality just because he was irrationally afraid. All of the beauty of the once lush forest, the fertile lands, and the teeming rivers was gone.

As the White Ranger peered at the landscape, another pair of eyes was examining him. The man steadied his breath and pulse rate. Just arriving to this section of his enemy’s territory on his daily surveillance run, the man pondered the group. The four teenagers seemed normal enough, but why would they possibly be here? Had other ninjas survived the attacks? Was it even possible? They didn’t have any uniforms or distinctive markings of Zordon or any of his underlings’ troops. Either way, he pressed a small red button on the side of his morpher. No matter who they were it was always good to have some back up.

“Hello!” he cried out with little more than a thought. It was best to play it casual until he knew more. He revealed himself from his spot. The four teens took a defensive stance for a moment. The tallest of the group and the black one appeared to be happy just to see any sign of life. Meanwhile, the other boy in the long coat was far too tense. What shook the man was how this boy was shaking not of fear, but of excitement. He was clearly a fighter. Better watch him.

The last one was the most out of place among the others and not just because she was the only female. He could feel an uneasy confidence radiating off her that was intoxicating. She was clearly a woman who had been through the ringer and come out stronger than ever. His desire to drink in her spirit was overwhelming.

“Hey man, good to see someone,” Conner extended his hand to which the man gave it a brief, firm shake.

“My name’s Blake. What are you doing out here? It’s not safe,” he inquired, eyeing them one by one, searching for any discernable body language that would reveal if what they said and their actual intentions rang true.

“That’s a good question,” Trent brushed Conner back, stepping forward to meet this unknown man head on, taking note of his black uniform. The way it reminded him of a ninja gi sent up a red flag in Trent’s mind. “We don’t really know where ‘here’ is and we’re basically stranded. You wouldn’t happen to be able to tell us where we are, would you?”

Blake painted the most sincere face he could for the travelers. “I can do you one better,” he pointed off to the west. “My brother and a friend of ours are located in a ninja academy a few miles that way. If you’d be willing, I’d take you over there and you could spent the night.”

Ethan and Kira looked at Conner for advice. He nodded towards them, ignoring Trent’s apprehensive gaze. “Sure,” he cautiously answered. “We’d love to.”

Blake led the way, followed at his side by Conner, who had tucked the black dino gem into his breast pocket for safekeeping. Kira was close behind, holding onto the holo-dome for Ethan who was lagging behind while he studied the sequencer.

“As I told you, my name is Blake Bradley,” the man began telling his story at Conner’s request to pass the time. “My older brother Hunter and I were adopted when we were young and brought up in the Thunder Ninja Academy...”

“Ninja Storm,” Conner muttered.

“What’s that?” Blake perked up.

“Oh, nothing,” he waved Blake off. “I have a twin brother who always wanted to try that ninja stuff. Too bad he’s not here. He’d kill to have you show him a few moves.”

Ethan momentarily stole himself away from the device. “Ninjas? Awesome. Ninjas are cool!”

“As I was saying.” Hitting his pace again, the man continued. “We were trained from a young age in all forms of discipline based on the teachings of thunder. There are approximately twenty different ninja schools, each based on an element. Among them, two reign as the most powerful, thunder being number one.”

What’s the other one?” Kira chimed in, almost running directly into the man as he stopped cold in his tracks. She gulped. A chill fell over her, almost as if the breeze around her was picking up speed. No, wait. She wasn’t just imagining it. Her hair began to violently flutter in her face, obstructing her vision. Blake gently placed his hand up, palm outstretched against her torso.

“Stay back,” he whispered in precaution. “They’re here.”

Ethan finally looked up from his work. “Who’s here?” he stuttered. He got his answer in the form of a cool blast of air, knocking him to his feet along with the others. They all struggled to regain their footing. As they stood up, before them three people, arms crossed, were looking them up and down in contempt. They wore clean, black uniforms; each accented by a primary color and matching ninja insignia medals. They were oddly similar to the old on Blake with only a few minor differing details.

“What are you doing here, Thunder?” the darker skinned man with short, black hair and a red highlighted uniform inquired of Blake.

“You’re in our territory,” the blonde woman accused. Her costume contrasted the blacks with a light, almost sky blue color.

Blake snarled in contempt at them. “I wasn’t doing anything, Winds. I was out on a scouting mission. Nothing more.”

“Who are they?” accused the yellow clad warrior, his dusty brown hair tossed in the remains of an air pocket wake. “Did you find some more stray ninjas? Are you trying to feed them your typical thunder lies?”

A sudden rumble in the sky sent the team of three into a state of apprehension, assuming defensive poses while a smile curled on Blake’s lips. In blinding flashes of dark red and black light, two other forms appeared on either side of the man. On his left there was another man, slightly taller than Blake with messy, sandy blond hair. His uniform matched Blake’s leading the rangers to believe that this was the same Hunter that he was talking about.

The other man, if you could call him that, was what struck them as odd. His form was rather large and hulking. His armor wheezed and clanked with every movement. The hilts of swords hung out from both of its shoulders. A red insect design covered the face of what was primarily a pitch dark outfit. He looked oddly out of place in what was already a surreal situation.

“Shane, Tori, Dustin,” the recently arrived man called out. “Leave my brother alone. He has not attacked you. If you had any honor, you’d follow the ninja code and let him pass.”

“Hunter,” Shane interjected. “First of all, I can’t believe you’d bring Zurgane with you,” he looked at the odd armored man. “I’d have hoped that you’d stop hiding behind outside forces by now. As far as your brother goes, he was in Wind Academy territory spying on us. That can be perceived as an act of aggression. If we choose to attack then it is a an honorable preemptive strike.”

“With that threat,” Hunter assumed an offensive stance, “you have left us with no other option.”

Ethan quickly tucked the sequencer into his pocket while the six fighters readied themselves. He looked down at his bracelet, wishing he had asked Trent how to make it work earlier. Trent himself was just as poised for battle as the others. As Shane and Hunter ran at each other, fist clenched, Ethan decided that it might be a good idea to reevaluate his stance. Maybe ninjas weren’t that cool after all.

To be continued...

[Lisa J]

Heh heh, didn't know there was a Chap. 4! But I do have some comments:

“Wait, what just happened?” Krista apprehensively noted as she rubbed her sore wrists. “You tried to kill us and now you’re rescuing us?”

“The white dino gem is inherently evil,” Trent began, “while the other three gems possess positive energy, mine was created as a counteraction to them. That’s been must have reversed it’s polarity because for the first time I seem to be the master and the powers are serving me. I was searching through my dad’s office when one of Mesogog’s invisa-portals appeared. I went through it and landed in his lab. The gem was there and I just felt drawn to it and it jumped up and bonded to my arm. The rest is a haze but since then I’ve been under his control.”
I dunno what kind of background that your Trent has in this story, but at the moment, he sounded a lot like Ethan in this quote. He just was talking in a daze and wasn't saying much to Conner, and all of a sudden he's talking about "reversed polarity." It doesn't sound like him.

“Tyrannodrones! Destroy everything in the lab. Leave nothing operational,” [Hayley] snapped her fingers, causing them to immediately rush around the room ripping and tearing at every device and panel they could find. “Sorry I was so late. It wasn’t hard to notice you guys. You’ve stirred up a lot of commotion. “Mesogog will be here any minute.”

“What did you do to him anyway, Trent?” Cassidy asked.

“My dad is a good person when he’s Anton Mercer, but he’s still just a regular person. He can’t normally control when he changes back and forth between that form and Mesogog. He’s developed a formula though that stimulates the area of his brain that controls the chemicals that affect the change so with one shot he can force the change to happen. I just got close enough to stick him with a needle so he reverted back to Mercer. From there, it doesn’t take much to knock him out,” he gave a nervous smile. The others looked at him dumbfounded.
Where did Trent come from? Did he come in with Hayley? Did he just walk through the wall?

Hayley paused, looking back at Terrance. “Leave!” he yelled through his desperate gasps for air. “Do not jeopardize the mission for me!” He threw Payne over his shoulder and began struggling with him for the dominate position. Hayley ushered the kids along...

“You already can,” Hayley informed him. “You can access your morphers through those bracelets. I designed them with miniature teleportation devices. That’s why they appeared once you bonded with the gems and why they can be converted into morpher form. They’re powered by your morphing energy. As you live, so do they.”
Are they still in the lab? When Trent morphed and jumped in the air, it sounded like they were outside. Maybe that's just me, but there wasn't any description as to where they were when they left Smitty and Payne.

Hayley rushed forward, trying desperately to hit the monster. Cassidy pleaded with the others. “Go! We’ll try to distract him.”

“I can’t leave you. Mom and dad would never forgive me,” Conner cried.

“You have to do it, bro,” Eric choked through the pain, “if not there won’t be a mom or dad to come back to.”
Here, it seems as if Conner was talking to Cassidy. Minor detail, but it is a but weird the way it was set up.

And there are also some spelling and grammatical errors throughout. Other than that, Chaps. 4 and 5 were very good! :D

[GreenNinja]

AU NS is very interesting...and, you were right, very much unlike Disney's version of it. The further back in the timeline you go, the deeper I'll be pulled in. This may be one of the best fanfics RB's ever seen, so Katie, Jer, keep up the good work.