Power Rangers: Time Force Team-Up

by Zeus'sThunderbolt

Pursuing an enemy through time, Power Rangers Time Force must team up with Power Rangers teams of the past. Seventh chapter! On the eve of destruction, danger attacks from all sides as the past returns to haunt Time Force. Can the team depend on their old friends, the Turbo-turned-Space Rangers, for help when secrets and lies threaten to undo the very trust that unites them?

1. 1993

So I've had this story in the works for a little while but wasn't really making it a priority...until Hyper Force and Boom Comics started looking like they might do some of the stuff that I wanted to!

The story should fit in between episodes of the show without messing up continuity (that would be the plan, anyway) but I may take a few creative liberties where...well, where things in the show pretty much made no sense. Some enemies will also be slightly 'depowered' since all the bad guys in the show seem to be pretty much omnipotent!

The story will span across every season of the show (maybe not including Ninja Steel since that's in progress) and the chapters will be released in the order that the seasons aired, although, being a time travel story, that's not actually the order that events transpire for the Time Force team (Confusing? Not as confusing as it is to write it :/).

I will say that I'm not as familiar with some of the seasons as I am with others but I'm doing the research and hopefully I don't give anybody's favourite season too raw of a deal.

When the story is finished, the idea is to list the chapters in the order that events happened from Time Force's perspective and offer anybody (if they're interested) a chance to reread it in that order, although it will be possible to work out the main plot without having to read the story twice.

Anyway, without further ado, I now present my Time Force Team-Up series!

First stop: Angel Grove, 1993

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognisable characters, places, names etc. in this non profit fanfiction.

Rated T as chapters contain violence and occasional mild bad language.

---

Power Rangers: Time Force Team-Up

Chapter 1993: "The Mighty Era"

Part 1

Angel Grove, California

Ernie's Gym and Juice Bar

This had been a huge mistake.

He felt the bead of sweat slowly running down his forehead before it dripped off the end of his nose. His arms were twisted and contorted behind him, his legs trapped uncomfortably under him. He never should have come here. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes so tightly that everything around him was consumed by the sound of blood rushing in his ears. The uncontrollable tremble of his body served to confirm the realization that he couldn't last any longer. Then, beyond the roaring in his ears, a single word made it through...

"Namaste."

Billy Cranston opened his eyes. He had been completely oblivious to the fact that everybody else in the yoga class had returned to their feet several moments ago and were now bowing before the instructor. Rosanne? Roxanne? He couldn't quite remember her name but, right now, he hated her more than Rita.

Slowly, he untangled his arms and tipped over onto his side to free his legs. He closed his eyes again as he tried to figure out how many parts of his body were broken and when he reopened them, Kimberly Hart and Trini Kwan were standing over him. Trini's long black hair tickled his face as she leaned in closer.

"Billy? Are you ok?"

He thought about the question for a moment, hearing Kimberly try to hold in her laughter as the two girls helped him back to an upright position.

"Affirmative," he replied. "Remind me why I thought attending yoga with the two of you would be a good idea?"

"Because you said that yoga would give you the strength, flexibility and discipline to make you a better superhero," Kimberly answered sharply.

Billy grimaced, "Oh, right." Definitely not his best idea. He grabbed his glasses out of his backpack and put them on, glancing over at the bar to catch Jason Lee Scott and Zack Taylor trying to hide the grins on their faces. At the very least, his efforts had kept them entertained.

Zack was a juice bar regular at this time on a Saturday – primarily due to all the ladies on the mats wearing yoga pants. Having overheard Billy talking about taking part today, he had invited Jason to come along with the guarantee that it would be "worth it."

Thank God he hadn't invited Bulk and Skull!

"So what's the plan tonight, Trini?" Kimberly's bursting excitement gave away that she was less interested in what her friend had in store than she was about revealing her own Saturday night agenda but Trini was happy to play along.

"Just a quiet one, I think. Early to bed, early to rise and all that," she chuckled. "What about you?"

"Tommy and I are going to a movie!" She threw her hands up in the air as if in celebration and Trini couldn't help but smile.

Tommy and Kim had had a thing going on for quite a while now but, with their Power Rangers duties as well as Tommy being kind of shy, things had progressed pretty slowly. A Saturday night movie date was a big deal.

"That is fantastic!" Trini said with a little extra added on enthusiasm for her friend. "What are you guys going to see?"

"I do not know and I do not care," she replied, wiggling her finger in time with her words for comedic effect.

Kimberly knew that she was overly excited but she couldn't help it – this was long overdue!

Tommy had been so bummed out when he lost his Green Ranger powers that he'd found it far too difficult being in the company of the other Power Rangers. She had understood, of course, but a wedge had been driven between them and it seemed like whatever-it-was that they may have had together would be lost – but now that he had his powers back, it was almost as if they had been given a second chance to...

DEET-DEET DOOT-DOOT DEET-DOOT

The familiar sound interrupted her mid thought and she moaned quietly to herself as she saw her Saturday night plans go down the drain.

Following Jason and Zack out into the hallway, the teens made sure that nobody was around that could see or hear them before Jason held his wrist communicator to his face and pressed the button to open the transmission.

"We're here, Alpha, go ahead."

"Jason!" came the panicky robotic voice over the communicator. "All Power Rangers must report to the Command Centre immediately!"

The Command Centre alarms could be heard blaring in the background. "We'll be right there, Alpha," Jason replied.

Kimberly sighed as she and the others activated the teleportation application on their communicators and, in a shower of multi-coloured sparks, they were gone.

So much for date night.

---

Secret Location, California

The Command Centre

-Control Room-

This looks like trouble.

Jason looked into the viewing globe with his arms crossed and a grim look on his face.

"Man, he's ugly!" Zack commented, straight to the point as usual.

His statement referred to the being displayed in the footage before them. It was humanoid in shape, completely black in colour save some red accents symmetrically positioned across its body with a number of elongated spikes protruding from both forearms and several smaller ones decorating it's shoulders and head. None of these features, however, were as distinguishing as its cold dark eyes.

The monster had caused panic when it appeared in the park but, so far, it hadn't hurt anybody.

A flood of green light poured from the sky behind the Rangers as Tommy Oliver, answering Alpha's call, materialised in the control room.

"What's Rita up to this time?" Stepping up alongside his comrades, his and Kimberly's eyes met in a silent acknowledgment that this would have to substitute for date night.

"Actually, I'm not certain that this is one of Rita's," chimed Alpha 5. "Censors detected a temporal anomaly of unknown origin moments before the creature appeared in the park."

Billy's eyes widened. "Temporal? As in...time travel!?"

The others exchanges glances. Time travel?

"Look!" Trini pointed to the viewing globe. "What's it doing?"

They watched as some sort of object seemed to grow from the being's hand, similar in appearance to an hourglass filled with a radiant crystal-blue substance, which it then implanted into the ground. What it was and what purpose it fulfilled was anybody's guess at this time.

"Rita or not, we gotta find out what this thing is and what it's doing here," Jason said, his Power Morpher already in his hand.

"What about Zordon?" asked Kimberly, the question that all the other Rangers were thinking.

Jason looked up at their mentor's big empty energy tube. It had only been a few weeks ago that Zordon had sacrificed a large amount of his own energy in order to re-power the Green Ranger's power coin – almost dying in the process – and, although the Power Rangers had managed to restore him, the affects of that act were still evident and the wizard had taken the opportunity to go offline and re-energise while things were quiet.

"We deal with this ourselves." The others nodded, trusting his leadership. "Alpha, you keep an eye on things from here – only call Zordon if we don't have any other choice."

"Understood, Jason," the droid bowed it's saucer-like head as it answered. With Zordon offline, the Red Ranger was in command.

"Tommy..." Jason looked his best friend straight in the eyes, the dejected look across his face revealing he already knew how this sentence would end, "you're on standby, bro."

Unable to hide his disappointment, Tommy just gave a thumbs up in response.

Benching Tommy tore him up inside but this wasn't the time to process his personal feelings – it was up to him to make the tough calls right now.

Even though the Green Ranger's powers had been successfully restored, they were restored in what could only be described as in a limited capacity. Nobody knew how long they would last or what type of strain, if any, the diminishing power would put his body under. The power had to be preserved and that meant not joining the battle unless absolutely necessary.

Jason maintained his focus. His guilt was a battle he would fight himself after business had been taken care of. "Everybody else...it's Morphin Time!"

If this thing wants a fight, it's got one.

---

Angel Grove Park

They would be here soon.

Djolnel knelt on the ground in an almost meditative state, the sounds of screams and sirens no longer being received. Normally, he would be on the move by now but he owed this particular team of Rangers a little bit of payback...whether they knew it or not.

"It begins," he whispered to himself as the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers emerged from a shower of rainbow light before him, offering them not so much as a flinch in response to their sudden arrival.

"What's the plan, Jase?" Zack asked, unsure of an approach regarding this unknown entity.

"First, we find out if we're here for a fight," the Red Ranger replied.

Djolnel's eyes lit up – he would gladly answer that question.

Jason soared through the air from the impact of the punch, crashing through a bench that overlooked the lake.

"Looks like we're here to fight!" cried Trini as she engaged their foe, receiving a kick to the jaw and a slash across the chest from his forearm spikes. Even through the protection of her suit, it didn't feel too good. The other Rangers fared no better, each one knocked to the side by the monster's attack.

Three quick laser blasts caught him off guard as Jason rejoined the battle, converting his weapon from blaster-mode to blade-mode as he lunged at his enemy.

Sensing a recipe for success, the others joined in the attack, creatively switching their weapons from blade to blaster and back again to confuse and overwhelm the monster.

"Time to bring out the big guns!" The Red Ranger threw his Blade-Blaster at Djolnel as his Power Sword formed in his other hand.

The Rangers attacked with their Power Weapons. Jason chopped down hard with his Power Sword, pressing their enemy back. Billy struck at range using the long reach of his Power Lance to allow Trini to get in close with her Power Daggers. Zack pressed his foot against Djolnel and pulled his Power Axe out of the monster's shoulder as Kimberly sunk two energy-arrows from her Power Bow into the monster's chest.

Changing his weapon to cannon-mode, Zack fired off the shot that finally took the creature off his feet – a victory lasting only seconds.

"Bring 'em together!" shouted Jason as their foe climbed back to a standing position. Without the need for joints or attachments, the Rangers' five separate weapons fitted together – combining the energies that each individual weapon drew from the Morphin Grid into one single weapon.

Jason gripped the newly formed Power Blaster in both hands – the others planting their feet behind him to help absorb the recoil – and pulled the trigger, pushing all five Rangers back by at least six inches as the powerful blast travelled on target to destroy their adversary and end the battle.

Or not.

At the last possible moment Djolnel leapt out of the way of the blast, flipping over the heads of the Rangers and landing behind them. Stunned, they turned around and scrambled frantically to get into position for another shot when, suddenly, a mass of black tentacle-like appendages sprouted from the monster's body and wrapped around their limbs and torsos. Jason dropped the Power Blaster as he was lifted into the air and then slammed ferociously off the ground. Over and over again, the Rangers were smashed into the Earth beneath them as the tightening tentacles squeezed so hard that they could barely breathe. Djolnel roared triumphantly as, slowly, he felt the life being crushed out of his enemies.

Kill them now...before the others arrive.

---

The Command Centre

-Control Room-

They can't hold out much longer.

"Teleport them out of there!" shouted Tommy, unbelieving on of what was unfolding in the viewing globe.

"Ai-ai-ai-ai-ai! I can't!" cried the robot, waving his arms in the air. "The monster has them gripped so tightly that I can't risk teleporting them back here without bringing it back with them!"

Tommy knew he had to act quickly but confronting the monster on his own would likely result in him ending up in the same situation as his friends.

Attacking with the Dragonzord offered his best chance at victory but summoning it meant potentially escalating the battle and that was something Zordon urged them never to do – plus, his friends were in such close proximity to the enemy that they would almost certainly get caught up in the Zord's attack.

"Screw it!" he shouted, snapping his Power Coin into his Power Morpher. He would die alongside his friends before he watched it happen from the sidelines.

The wailing sound of alarms stopped him in his tracks and he looked at Alpha expectantly as he wondered how this day could possibly get any worse.

"Ai-ai-ai! It's another temporal anomaly!" the robot remarked in a panic.

A brilliant flash from the viewing globe grabbed Tommy's attention and he spun back round towards it, watching in both awe and confusion at what was transpiring.

What the hell is going on today!?

---

Angel Grove Park

Looks like we got here just in time.

Jen reacted to the scene within seconds of exiting the timestream, effortlessly entering the intricate calculations into the Time Shuttle targeting computer.

Ten strategically placed shots from the new rail-gun mounted on the shuttle's hull severed the tentacles being used to restrain the Power Rangers and they all fell to the ground amidst a pile of lifeless black limbs, each of them convulsing as air refilled their lungs.

A screaming Djolnel cursed himself for letting his ego get in the way of his mission as ten more rail-gun rounds found their mark and brought him to his knees, his body smouldering from the projectiles embedded within. Retreat was his only option now, while their weapon reloaded.

Staggering back to his feet, he witnessed a cloaked figure drop down from the shuttle – a figure he immediately recognised.

Ransik touched down on the grass in a three-point stance and immediately burst into a sprint towards his one time ally, evading the swarm of black tendrils that raced to meet him with a speed and agility not possible for a man of his stature...but he wasn't just a man. Not anymore.

Crossing his arms around himself, he grasped at the handle-like protrusions that grew from his body, his mind wandering back to the first time he pulled a weapon from his bones when the Mut-Orgs granted him that power, so long ago. He groaned only slightly as he drew the two long blades from within himself.

Djolnel didn't see the attack coming. He folded to the ground, clutching at his stomach with both hands.

His enemy lying helpless at his feet, Ransik watched the streaks of blood race one another down his blades in silent admiration. The burning sensation he felt in his veins showed no sign of subsiding, instead working to reignite the burning hatred he had long since buried. How easy it would be to end him right now, he thought.

"You shouldn't have threatened my family," he said quietly as he drew back his weapon in preparation of delivering a finishing blow.

"Djolnel!" shouted Jen as she marched across the park with Wes, Katie and Trip in tow wearing matching Time Force uniforms. The Time Shuttle hovered in the sky above them with Lucas at the helm, weapon locked on.

Rage subsiding and clarity returning, Ransik lowered his weapon and took a step back, handing his prey over to the Time Force team.

"Djolnel, you are under arrest," Jen declared whilst preparing the energy-bracelets that would bind him and nullify his abilities until they arrived back in the year 3005, "for murder, for terrorism, for time-crime and for every other thing you've done that ever hurt another person!"

Djolnel coughed and spluttered as he choked on his own blood. The injury was a significant one. Ransik's reacquiring of his mutant abilities was something he hadn't anticipated and that lack of foresight had cost him gravely. Unable to fight in his current condition, he knew that he had only one chance. His entire body tensed as he dug deep for whatever power he had left – just enough to get away from here so that he could heal. His body crackled with electricity as he summoned the last of his power and, before any of his would-be-captors could respond, he was swallowed by a ball of light and disappeared.

"Dammit!" screamed Jen, throwing the energy bracelets off the ground in a fit of rage.

"He jumped?" Wes's eyebrows were crossed in confusion, "I didn't think he could jump without time to recharge!?"

"He can't – there's no way he got that much more powerful since the last time we fought him!" Katie responded, adamantly.

"A localised jump?" Trip theorized. "Not through time but just to another location!"

Feeling Jen's gaze descend upon him, Ransik knew that what had just transpired would be the subject of a hotly contested conversation between the two later. Just then, his ears were alerted to the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching from behind and he turned around to be met by his daughter's arms being thrown around him.

Nadira held her father tightly, slightly in shock at what she had seen from aboard the Time Shuttle. It had been a long time since she had witnessed his thirst for battle and that long forgotten look in his eyes that accompanied it.

"We need to put a plan together, quickly," ordered Jen.

"Ummm...excuse me?"

The Time Force officers turned their attention to the source of the voice, where stood five very confused Power Rangers still draped in dead tentacles.

"What the hell is going on!?" Zack asked loudly as he pulled his arm free of its binds.

"Zack! Jason! How are you, guys?" Trip shouted excitedly with a large smile on his face.

Stepping back as if creating distance would undo the revelation, the Rangers glanced at one another in disbelief. Their identities were their most closely guarded secret and yet this green haired man had addressed two of their number by name. How did he know? Did he know who the rest of them were, as well? Was his entire group privy to this information?

"Trip!" Jen screamed, throwing her arms in the air. "You idiot!"

Realising his error, the Xybrian Time Force officer grimaced and ducked his head, "Oops."

Their identities compromised, the Rangers faced a situation they had never been in before. At a loss, Jason opened a transmission to the Command Centre on his communicator, "Alpha, come in – we've got big problems out here."

Zordon will know what to do.

---

The Command Centre

-Control Room-

It's so strange being back here again.

All of the lingering questions relating to the last time they were here were finally being answered. From within the energy-field that surrounded her, Jen looked around and reacquainted herself with her surroundings. It was exactly as she remembered it. Following the confusion regarding their appearance in the park, she had offered herself to the Rangers as both their 'prisoner' and as a representative of her people in order to quicker and easier reach an understanding.

Stood before her in the centre of the control room were the Power Rangers, alongside Alpha 5 and one other person who, despite being obscured by a towel draped over his head, she recognised as the sixth member of the Ranger team, Tommy Oliver.

"Identify yourself," boomed Zordon from his energy tube, his voice echoing around the big bare room. Had she not met the great sage before, Jen would almost certainly have been intimidated.

"My name is Jennifer Scotts" she started, "I'm a Time Force officer from the 31st century."

The Rangers all exhaled simultaneously, none of them even aware that they had been holding their breath in anticipation. All signs had indicated that the strangers were time travellers but hearing confirmation was another thing entirely.

Trini was the first to find her voice again, "Time...Time Officer?" she mustered.

The girl from the future nodded. Trip's earlier slip-up when he revealed his knowledge of the Rangers' identities by just blurting out their names had irritated Jen considerably (such a blatant disregard for the rules of time travel!) but, knowing how events would eventually play out, it probably didn't matter so much in this instance.

"Time Force: enhanced law-enforcement task unit specialising in the intervention and capture of enhanced-level dangers that threaten the way of life and, when necessary, the pursuit and apprehension of individuals indulging in, profiting from, orchestrating or conspiring in any and all acts of time-crime." She rattled off the words as if reading from an auto-cue. "Such as the fugitive you encountered today."

"Who is he? Like, what is he?" the Pink Ranger asked, not sure she fully understood the explanation they had just been given.

"What is this device?" the Blue Ranger inquired, the now empty hourglass that the monster left in the park gripped in his hands.

"And how do you know who we are?" added the Red Ranger, that question the foremost concern on his mind.

"Where I come from, he was known infamously as 'The Dire' but we know him by his true name: Djolnel," the Time Force officer explained. "He's wanted for murder, terrorism, time-crime, grand theft – everything, really. We don't know what he is or where he came from but he is extremely dangerous."

None of them could disagree. Never before had they encountered an enemy of such strength and if not for the intervention of the girl in front of them and her team, they wouldn't be standing here right now.

"That device, we think, is some kind of 'time-mapping' device that..."

"Time-mapping?" Billy interrupted, intrigued.

She opened her mouth as if to respond but paused, seemingly catching herself about to say something she shouldn't, and then bowed her head and smiled before continuing. "Yes, time-mapping, and he has activated one of those devices at every location in time that we have chased him to, mapping points in history for reasons we don't know. Every time Djolnel travels through time he risks changing the course of history and, every time we follow him, so do we. Each time we face him he is stronger than the time before and we haven't been able to stop him. Those 'tentacles' he attacked you with are just the latest addition in his ever-evolving abilities." She gathered herself as her emotions began to seep through into her voice, then continued, "I'm sorry, that's all I can tell you right now but please believe that he is as much of a threat as I've said. He can't be allowed to escape again. For the sake of everybody throughout all of time, he needs to be stopped. That's why I'm asking for your help."

She stopped for a moment to let them consider what she was saying, knowing that it was a lot to take in.

"Rangers. Zordon. We can't do this alone. Help us put an end to this and bring this monster to justice."

"I feel a strong sense of honour within you, Jennifer Scotts," Zordon's voice bellowed. "I detect no sign of deceit and our temporal scanners confirm that the passage of time has been breached. I believe you are true."

"Thank you, Zordon," she responded, humbly.

The wizard gave a nod of acknowledgement, overcome with the strangest notion that the girl who addressed him was somehow not doing so for the first time.

Exchanging glances between Zordon and one another, Jen's expectant look was answered when the Red Ranger stepped forward and removed his helmet. A grin formed across her face as, one by one, the rest of the legendary heroes followed suit.

"Looks like we're in, 31st century girl!" Zack said, smiling.

"All of us," Tommy added, removing the towel that obscured his features.

Billy pushed a button on the control console, deactivating the energy-field that surrounded Jen, "Affirmative."

"We couldn't let you guys do this alone," Trini said.

"We fight for the present AND the future," Kimberly contributed.

"Looks like you got a full house, Jennifer Scotts," added Jason.

"Please," she said, "call me Jen."

Now to find this son of a bitch.

---

Earth's Moon

Lunar Palace

He had the Rangers at his mercy.

Sitting atop her throne, Rita Repulsa admired her reflection in the blood-red orb that decorated the head of her wand-staff while she contemplated the events she had observed on the planet below.

Where this mysterious being came from and how he came to be so powerful she was unsure of but, almost certainly, he would have succeeded in killing five Power Rangers all at once if not for the appearance of these other strangers. It was a source of discomfort to consider someone other than herself being responsible for the destruction of her greatest enemies and she did not yet know this being's motives or his intentions for the Earth.

She banged the butt of her staff off the floor, the echo filling the throne room and reverberating throughout the palace corridors as she sat with her hands clasped and awaited her General to answer her call.

The terrifying red eyes of Goldar glowed in the dimly lit room as the armoured warrior approached the throne and bowed on one knee before her. "My queen?" he growled, awaiting her orders.

From her throne, Rita looked out over the balcony at the blue planet across space before speaking, "Ready my army."

'The enemy of my enemy', after all...

End of Part 1

---

Part 2

The Command Centre

-Control Room-

Why can't the scanners find anything?

Billy slammed his palms down on top of the control console, frustration finally beginning to set in after two hours of running continuous sweeps of the globe had turned up no trace of Djolnel.

Jen sighed, her hopes dashed. The Command Centre computers were of an alien design far more advanced than even the technology of Earth a thousand years in the future, yet its scanners were still unable to detect their enemy.

"Don't let it get to you, man," Wes patted Billy on the shoulder as he consoled him. "He's invisible to almost all types of tracking – his body doesn't even give off a heat signature."

"The only thing we've ever been able to detect are chronitons," Jen explained. "He gives off a definitive chroniton signature upon exit of the timestream."

"That's how we tracked him to 1993," Wes added.

"He travels in a way that we can't determine, moving completely exposed through the timestream without experiencing any of the detrimental effects associated in doing so unshielded," the Time Force leader continued. "By the time we gear up and come out after him, he's already activated the mapper and is looking for somewhere to hide out and recharge. Only once his body's chroniton level is fully replenished can he perform another jump into the timestream. That is the only other time our scanners can find him, leaving us only minutes to reach him and stop him before the whole damn cycle starts over again."

"How long does be need to recharge?" Jason asked, rubbing his tired eyes. Alongside Jen and Wes, he had remained in the control room to assist Billy and Alpha in monitoring the scanners and the last two hours had felt like MUCH longer. "I mean, what about that 'jump' earlier? Isn't it possible...?"

Shaking her head, Jen replied, "There was no chroniton signature. That had to be some kind of 'localised jump'."

"Just like teleporting..." Billy muttered, more thinking out loud than trying to contribute at the moment.

"Normally, we pick up his signal after about an hour – sometimes sooner – but the theory we're working with right now is that making this localised jump, combined with the injury he sustained, has taken its toll and his chroniton energy is charging at a much slower-than-normal rate," Jen explained, disappointment working its way across her face. "I'd hoped we could take advantage of that extra time – find him and actually have enough time to defeat him but it just seems like..."

"Hey, come on," Wes put his arm around her, "don't be like that. We're gonna get him. We'll find him, we'll stop him and we'll bring him in...together."

His soothing words and comforting embrace made Jen feel a way that nobody else could. She rested her head contently on his chest, allowing herself a few brief seconds of respite before she caught herself and pulled away quickly. "I'm...uh... just going to go check on the others," she said quietly before leaving the control room.

Wes grunted quietly as Jason walked over to his side, "You and Jen, huh?"

"Yeah. Something like that," he replied, staring at the ceiling.

Jason smirked, "She's pretty intense."

"You got no idea, bro."

Girl drives me crazy.

---

The Command Centre

-Zord BDR Hangar-

Is he meditating?

Tommy approached the green haired time traveller sitting cross-legged on the floor over by the Time Shuttle in the Command Centre's BDR hangar. Commonly used by Alpha and Billy to run battle-diagnostics and make repairs on the Zords, the shuttle and all its passengers had been teleported to the hangar, after Jen had pleaded her case in the control room, to await further instructions while the scanners searched for their enemy.

"Hey," Tommy said, giving a little wave as he approached, "Trip, right?"

The look of frustration on Trip's face was replaced by a wide smile when he looked up. "Hey!" he said enthusiastically.

"What you doin', man?" Tommy asked with a hint of intrigue.

"I'm trying to locate Djolnel," came the reply. "I'm attempting to use meditation as a means of clearing my mind to increase my chances of receiving a vision, but I don't think I'm doing it right."

Tommy's eyes widened. "A vision? You...you can do that with..." Tommy pointed to his own forehead, in reference to the emerald-like gem Trip wore embedded in his own.

"Yes!" he said nodding, now realising that a full explanation was in order. "It's an ability shared by all of my people. I'm a Xybrian – from the planet Xybria!"

Tommy sat down on the floor, crossing his legs in the same way as the man in front of him. With the exception of Zordon and Alpha 5, all alien lifeforms that he and his teammates had so far encountered had been hell-bent on killing them so there was a certain amount of comfort in knowing that they didn't have the ENTIRE universe against them.

"What do you see?" Tommy asked, unsure of what exactly Trip meant. "What do your visions show you?"

Trip screwed up his face a little bit, "Glimpses," he replied. "Fragments. My abilities are very...arbitrary in nature. They often come unexpectedly and can be difficult to decipher amidst my own thoughts. That's the reason that I've been researching meditation techniques – to free my mind for a clearer vision. To be more useful to the team."

"Close your eyes," Tommy told him. If this man was even nearly as human on the inside as he was on the outside, then this was something he may be able to assist with. "Listen to how I breathe." He drew a long breath in threw his nose, followed by a longer exhale out his mouth. "Use your diaphragm. Breathe down into your belly." Trip did as instructed, feeling the expansion in his abdomen as opposed to in his chest.

Meditation had long been something of interest to Tommy and, over the last few months, had been invaluable to him.

Ever since the green candle burned out, Tommy had been fighting a battle within himself. Memories of his time under Rita's control had plagued his nightmares. Fighting against her forces as the Green Ranger had been the only thing that could satiate his guilt over his actions during that time and, with his connection to the Morphin Grid broken, he had come close to spiralling into a deep depression from which he may never have recovered.

Meditation had saved him – not only had it helped cleanse his mind, but also his soul. If Trip could attain a similar state, Tommy believed it was certainly possible that he could master his gift.

"Relax your muscles," he instructed. "You'll never find peace within your mind without first finding peace within your body. Start with your neck and shoulders. Let go of that tension."

---

Katie walked around the hangar, overcome with an extremely odd sense of deja-vu. She was just a rookie the last time she was here, yet, technically, this was the first time she had actually been here (or something?). There, over by the far wall sat the surgery pod, currently inactive but she knew that the next time she was here (or last time she was here?) it would be...

Her thoughts were interrupted as she noticed two figures shuffling gradually closer and she smiled.

"Hey!"

"Well, hey" she replied, greeting Kimberly and Trini, both girls wearing excited grins on their faces.

"Ok", Kimberly finally composed herself, "I know we're not really meant to ask you questions about the future and stuff but you just gotta tell me one thing...what are the malls like?"

Laughing, Katie tried to come up with an answer that wouldn't disappoint the girls too much – she hadn't even known what a mall was until their mission to 2001 almost five years prior!

"I'm sorry," Trini jokingly apologised for her friend, "you have to understand, visitors from the future are few and far between around these parts."

"Ha, yeah, I guess they are," she replied.

"So, It HAS to be pretty cool having a kick-ass chick like Jen in charge?" Kimberly enquired, having been left somewhat in awe of the Time Force leader.

"I'm not sure that 'cool' is exactly the word I'd use to describe Jen," Katie admitted about her no-nonsense leader, "but, yeah, she is pretty great." It had been quite some time since she considered just how good of a leader Jen actually was and how much she had evolved since their first mission together – the first time they were here.

"You know what is cool, though? Meeting the Power Rangers!" Katie chose her words carefully – refraining from calling them the "original" Power Rangers. They had no idea what they had started and the sort of legacy they would leave behind, although she had a feeling that would change pretty soon.

"There has to be something you can tell us – or show us!" Trini's excitement had finally gotten the better of her.

"Welllllll..." Katie motioned for the two girls to walk with her over to the surgery pod, big and bulky in size and capable of accommodating a large man. Crouching down next to it, she slid both hands in underneath the heavy piece of machinery and lifted it off the ground and up onto her shoulders.

As Trini and Kimberly looked on in astonishment, Katie took one arm away and pressed her finger to her lips, whispering quietly, "Don't tell Jen I showed you."

---

Zack took a deep breath and made his way across the hangar. "Alright, Zack-Man, you got this," he said quietly to himself. He glided across the floor, moving to a silent beat before twirling on the ball of his foot as he came to a stop. "Hi, there."

Nadira, leaning against the wall with nail-file in hand, smiled and felt herself blush slightly as she gave a small wave.

"So what brings a girl like you to a century like this?" he asked, charmingly.

Nadira's smile widened as she was suddenly fairly certain that Zack was hitting on her.

"I was just wondering," he gestured with his hands and clicked his fingers before 'magically' pulling a rose from nowhere in one of his more well known magic tricks, "are all the ladies in the 31st century as beautiful as you are?"

Her red face now clashing with her long pink hair, she took the rose between her fingers and held it to her face to take in its sweet fragrance. "You are adorable!" she squeaked, kissing him on the cheek before shuffling off towards the shuttle.

Passing by Lucas on her way, she took the opportunity to confront him – standing on her toes so as to be right in his face. "See?" she shrieked, her demeanour drastically changed from the blushing girl moments before, "He knows how to treat a lady!" She stormed up the steps into the shuttle, leaving Lucas wondering what she meant by that. He looked over to Zack who just walked the other way, hands in pockets and whistling, pretending he didn't have a damn clue what just happened.

---

Ransik had chosen to sit alone inside the shuttle rather than mingle with the others. He stared at the small vial in his hand – the purple fluid within once used to keep his body's mutation in check, now modified in order to reactivate those dormant mutant genes inside him.

However, it wasn't only his mutant abilities that had been returned to him but also his rage – a huge weight lifted years ago, now heavy on his soul once again.

"Daddy? Are you ok?"

Lost in thought, he hasn't heard his daughter board the shuttle. "Of course, my dear," he said, faux smiling as she approached him. Her presence aboard the shuttle had been a condition of his design.

Djolnel's threat, during their last encounter, to kill all of his loved ones made reference to a very exclusive list and he had made sure that she not be left without his protection. However, he now succumbed to the fear that, by bringing her along, he had instead exposed her to the very danger from which he sought to protect her.

"Did Lucas give you that?" he asked, in reference to the rose she carried in her hand. The recent tension between the two had been obvious and he thought that, perhaps, Lucas was making amends.

"Oh, no," she replied, putting the rose behind her as she sat next to her father. "It was one of the others, Zack. He's really sweet."

"Great," he grumbled, sarcastically, rolling his eyes, "now there's two of them to deal with."

Nadira laughed, uncertain exactly how serious he was and wondered if she should give Zack a heads up, just in case.

Placing her hand on her father's arm, her suspicions were confirmed as she slowly pulled away the cloak covering it. His flesh was twisted and disfigured, appearing almost to boil and burn right before her eyes.

Something else returned to him by the serum.

"I'd do anything to protect you, Nadira" he said softly as he wiped the tears from her face.

Even if it costs me everything else.

---

The Command Centre

-Access Corridor-

I have to stay focused.

Jen marched through the corridor alone, angry at herself for showing that kind of weakness in front of Zordon and his Rangers. She wasn't here to get cosy, she was here on a mission and nothing could get in the way of that – especially not her own feelings.

As she made her way down the hall, a metallic door to her left slid open almost invitingly. After a brief hesitation, she stepped inside to find a room full of consoles that rivalled that of the control room. The Command Centre certainly seemed to have been constructed with an entire crew of operators in mind as opposed to just Alpha 5 and the Rangers.

"You seem troubled, my dear."

Slightly startled, Jen looked round to see an energy tube, identical to the one in the control room, come down from the ceiling and dock into place as the image of Zordon appeared within it.

"Zordon?" Jen sounded surprised. "What are you doing?"

"I'm just out for a stroll." Zordon wasn't exactly known for his humour but he felt it was the best approach in this instance. The Time Force leader's stern face breaking into laughter told him he had been correct.

"You need not feel ashamed for leaning on another," spoke the wizard. "A true leader does not collapse under the weight for there is no weight that cannot be carried by the team."

Jen swallowed hard, knowing what he said was true. "I know," she replied. "I am trying, Zordon. I'm still learning."

"As are we all," he responded.

The wizard had a way of making you feel like you could confide in him with anything. "Zordon," Jen started, "there's something I need to tell you. I didn't mention it before because..."

"I already know," he interrupted her, fully aware of what she was going to say. "I sensed your connection to the Morphin Grid as soon as you arrived in the Command Centre and I understand why you didn't tell them. All I ask is, should the need arise, you and your team do not hesitate to act."

"We won't, Zordon. I swear it," she replied, solemnly.

"Jen, come in!"

Wes yelling through the communicator on her Chrono Morpher put an end to the conversation. "I'm here", she spoke into the device as it projected the holographic image of her teammate. "What is it? What's..."

"We have him! We found Djolnel."

Her eyes widened, "I'm on my way." She looked up to Zordon, who merely nodded, and, with that, she headed back along the corridor to the control room.

It's time to end this once and for all.

---

The Command Centre

-Zord BDR Hangar-

I can't take anymore of this.

Lucas sat at the cockpit controls of the shuttle, drumming his fingers on his lap in agitation. His ego aside, he just couldn't stand another second of Nadira completely ignoring him – especially with this battle looming.

"I'm sorry, ok?" he said down into his chest. It wasn't quite the way he meant to say it. This wasn't going to be easy.

"What was that?" she snapped back, still only looking at him from the corner of her eye. Nadira sat at the weapon controls, defying her father's wishes that she stay at the Command Centre until their mission was complete – she wasn't letting him out of her sight.

Taking a deep breath, he tried again. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being an ass, and I'm sorry for taking so long to say I'm sorry." Saying sorry five times in less than a minute was more times than he could remember ever saying it before in his life.

Finally, she turned to face him but the look on her face said that that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

"Well, I'm glad it only took the attention of another man to make you sorry!" she growled through her teeth.

"It wasn't that!" he insisted, "I just needed time to think but that doesn't matter anymore because..."

She squinted her eyes at his hesitation. His next words would have to be chosen VERY carefully.

"...I want to do it. Let's do it."

Nadira stood up, looking down her nose at him, not entirely convinced.

"I want to do it – I want US to do it!" he said, becoming more and more convincing with every word. "I want us to be the ones to break the mold – more than that, I..."

Tears formed in Nadira's eyes as she watched the words form on his lips.

"Nadi, I want to marry you. I love you."

She lunged forward, grabbing his face with both hands and pulling him into a long, passionate kiss – one that reminded him of the first time they kissed like this, when he first realised how he REALLY felt about her.

The kiss broke and Nadira wondered if this was the happiest she had ever been. When she first suggested they get married a little over a week ago, she hadn't been completely serious. It was a politically charged notion in response to the ongoing hostilities between humans and mutants. A wedding between a human and a mutant – especially of their profile – would be a huge step towards ending hostilities. It had been Lucas's reaction to the idea that had angered her! He actually had to THINK about marrying her!? At the time, she had wanted to claw his eyes out!

Of course, she knew that it was more complicated than that and giving him the silent treatment the way that she had been had worked partially to avoid having to confront the issue.

"What about Time Force?" she asked.

Lucas looked down and gulped. His feelings for her had never been the question. The fact was this: Nadira was a criminal – a reformed criminal, sure, and one who had had her charges reduced to role of accomplice and had been shown even more leniency since she had been acting on the orders of her own father but, on paper, she was still a criminal...and a Time Force officer could never marry a criminal.

"When this is done – when THIS is all over..." he said. "When Djolnel is on ice, I'll hand in my badge. I'll hand in my badge and my morpher and your dad can walk you down that aisle."

She teared up again, moving in for another kiss when the sound of Wes' voice over the shuttle communications interrupted them.

"Lucas! Get ready, it's go time."

Lucas looked back to Nadira. The conversation would need to be finished another time. He leaned in again for one more kiss before preparing for battle...

"And if you pick Trip to be your best man, I'm shaving your eyebrows off the night before the wedding!" came Wes' voice over the com again.

Lucas rolled his eyes.

Asshole.

---

The Command Centre

-Access Corridor-

Just the man I want to see.

"Ransik!"

Jen's eyes widened as he turned his head towards her. The disfiguration of his body that he had been concealing was no longer so easy to hide. The scarring had worked its way across his face in such a manner that he now looked scarily reminiscent of the Ransik of old.

"The final dose," he said, turning around completely to reveal the empty vial and syringe in his hands.

"Are you good?" It was more of an accusation than a question. Jen had been finalising the plan with the Mighty Morphin team in the control room and spotting Ransik on his own out here gave her the opportunity to have this chat. "You didn't seem good, earlier. In fact, it looked a lot like you were getting ready to kill Djolnel instead of apprehend him."

"If I had then maybe we'd be finished here, already," he spat back in response.

"That's not the way we do it," Jen growled back. "We don't..."

"Ugh, you and your principles!" His veins were burning from the serum he had just injected, like a fire spreading through his entire body. "These...ancient Rangers don't take prisoners! They would..."

"My principles!?" Jen screamed back. "My principles? Like, following the chain of command? Five years ago, I defied my superiors and STOLE a Time Ship to chase a criminal into the past for revenge. Is that the kind of principles you're talking about? Or, how about, when I broke one of the fundamental Time Force rules and recruited somebody from the past to be a part of my mission? Or, maybe you mean when I called upon that same criminal from five years ago and I asked him for help?" She snatched the vial from his hand. "Then I let him get his mojo back and brought him with me into the same past that I chased him into to stop him from conquering!"

She stopped for second and took a deep breath to try and regain her composure. "I have broken every single principle that I once held dear. All except for one: justice. THAT is all I have left. So, if you can't do this – if you're compromised – then you stay here..." She paused to give him time to consider her words, "but if you're good? Then go gear up...because we need you."

And with that, she turned around and walked away.

Please, don't let me down.

End of Part 2

---

Part 3

Stone Canyon, California

'Leave no stone unturned.'

When Billy set the Command Centre computers to monitor local airwaves for reports of unusual sightings, he honestly never would have expected it to trump the multitude of scanners and tracking devices that the Command Centre had at its disposal but that's exactly what happened.

A news station had reported sightings of a creature in Stone Canyon, just outside of Angel Grove, matching the description of Djolnel. Since the scanners were still unable to detect his chroniton signature, it meant that he wasn't yet approaching peak capacity. This was the chance they were looking for.

A cold shiver made its way down Zack's spine as he surveyed the empty buildings all around them, the eerie silence made all the more menacing now that the daylight was fading – and, of course, knowing that HE was here. The entire complex was currently off limits to the public, citing a full investigation of structural damages after the Zord battle against Rita's bee monster had spilled over into Stone Canyon last week. The police cordon around the danger zone may have been able to keep people from entering but they weren't looking for five superheroes from the neighbouring town to drop in from the sky.

"Glad to see they're taking a potential monster sighting in this area so seriously," he said, sarcastically, noting the seeming lack of a search throughout the buildings.

"Nobody is going to risk walking around amongst a bunch of buildings that might fall on their head, looking for something they don't really want to find," Trini responded.

"Well, except for..." Kimberly put her arm in the air and then pointed down at herself. "We're not going to check all of these buildings, are we?"

"Billy?" Jason handed the situation over to the team genius.

Removing his glasses, Billy pressed behind his ear as a significantly more hi-tech pair formed over his eyes.

"Whoa!" Zack touched the shaded goggles that had appeared on Billy's face.

"Visual Scanner," Billy commented. "Time Force issue."

"So we scan for him?" Trini's eyebrows were crossed. "I thought scanning for him wasn't an option?"

"Yeah, not even for his body heat," added Kimberly.

Billy nodded as he cycled through the scanning modes on the display before his eyes, "True," he said, "our scanning methods have proven ineffective in locating Djolnel, but..." He paused as he adjusted the scanner again. "We now have a location narrowed down and, more importantly, we've seen him bleed."

On the scanner display appeared a visual representation of heartbeats, overlapping and integrated together, accompanied by the indefinable sound of them all pounding in his ear. Clicking on the scanner again, he zoned in on one of the heartbeats. It was Kimberly's.

He removed her heartbeat from the scanner's display. One by one, he isolated and eliminated each of their signals, until there were only two heartbeats left.

"Mine," he said quietly as he removed his own from the display. "And then there was one." Billy pointed to the building across from them where the signal was coming from and he prayed it didn't belong to a squatter. "Second floor."

The Rangers approached the building cautiously, knowing that it wouldn't take much to entice their enemy into battle.

"So, what? Throw a stone at the window?" Kimberly joked nervously. Just then, the building seemed to burst open as a mass of long black tentacles erupted through its walls.

"It's Morphin Time!" shouted Jason.

The Rangers grabbed their Power Morphers in both hands and held them out in front of them, the conduits opening their connection to the Morphin Grid and illuminating the area in a blast of multi-coloured light.

"You!" came the demonic growl as Djolnel the Dire descended down the self made stairway of rubble and broken glass. He didn't know how they had found him but he would not allow them to stop him – not when he was so close to being able to make the jump.

Ducking under a jumping spin-kick from Trini, he knocked Billy off his feet with a rising uppercut. Zack swung his Power Axe, missing his target as Djolnel leapt over him and slashed Jason with his forearm spikes.

Energy arrows raining from the sky, Djolnel evaded the Pink Ranger's fire and scaled the side of the building to confront her on her rooftop perch. Lunging at her in a fury of spikes and tentacles, he instead found himself amidst a shower of pink sparks that promptly shot off into the sky.

He looked down to the ground and scanned the surrounding area for his enemies. All gone. Had they really retreated so quickly? Or was it...

The humming of the Time Shuttle rail-gun readying to fire answered the question.

...a trap.

Exposed on the rooftop, the monster reacted by launching an array of tentacles which separated from his body – twisting into spear-like projectiles that sailed through the air and tore through the rail-gun before it could fire.

Nadira squirmed as sparks shot from the targeting controls into her face, more telling than the 'weapon malfunction' warning on the display.

"There goes our ace in the hole!" Lucas cursed.

"There's more than one ace in a deck," Wes shouted over the communications.

Lucas manoeuvred the shuttle around the building as Djolnel prepared for a follow up attack, when a drop kick from behind sent him flying from the rooftop to the ground. Five beams of light touched down as the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers teleported before him.

"Stand down," came Jen's order from behind. The monster looked over his shoulder towards her voice where she stood in a line amongst her fellow Time Force officers, Ransik included.

Surrounded by eleven opponents, Djolnel considered his options. It was still out with his ability to perform a time-jump and another localised-jump would surely strand him in this time period for even longer. The Power Rangers of this age were proving to be highly adaptable and, of course, Time Force themselves had another card yet to play – not to mention that Ransik's weapons had proven surprisingly effective against him in the earlier battle.

"Stand. Down." Jen repeated her demand.

Perhaps it all ends here, thought Djolnel, before he detected an odd garbling sound coming from all around them.

Everybody looked around as the noise became louder and louder – a sound recognisable to the Power Rangers, although never had they heard it quite so loud.

From nowhere, a small flame flickered between Djolnel and the Rangers before the air itself seemingly ignited, bursting into flames that took on the shape of a demon from hell. A shocking site to most, the Power Rangers knew exactly what they were witnessing.

From within the pattern of fire came forth Goldar, his fanged teeth clenched into something akin to an evil smile, swinging his golden sword in front of him and flames still clinging to his body even after the fire in the air had subsided.

"Great, looks like Rita decided to join the party!" chimed Kimberly right before a flash of lightning came from nowhere and struck her in the chest – ricocheting off of her and returning straight to the hand of Scorpina, who jumped from the rooftops and landed on the ground alongside Goldar and Djolnel.

"Dammit!" cursed Jen as, once again, she saw their plans crumble before her eyes. The garbling noise reached full penetration as, from the windows and doors and holes in the buildings around them, masses of Rita's putties flooded the street.

"Aw, man, there's gotta be hundreds of 'em!" Jason remarked as the clay soldiers formed a perimeter on the outskirts of the battlefield.

Djolnel eyed up his unexpected allies. He didn't know who the scorpion lady was but the golden one had proven an efficient warrior the last time they fought together. It would seem that his defeat was not the only possible outcome, after all.

The ring of putties surrounding them got smaller as they slowly moved inwards, threatening to swallow the battlefield and all of its combatants.

"Maybe it's time to show them our full hand, as well," suggested Katie, tossing away her sidearm.

The numbers game suddenly against them and their window of opportunity to stop Djolnel closing with every passing second, Jen was not going to argue, "Time for Time Force!"

Activating the Chrono Morphers mounted on their wrists, the five Time Force officers were enveloped in rainbow coloured electricity as the devices opened their connections to the Morphin Grid.

"We...we didn't know they could do that, right?" Zack asked as the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers watched in anticipation, the light on the other side of their enemies dissipating and from it emerging the Time Force Power Rangers.

"No," Jason grinned under his helmet, "but I think I'm really glad that they can."

Goldar couldn't believe his eyes as the number of Power Rangers on the field suddenly doubled. No matter, he thought, the numbers were still in his favour. Letting loose an almighty roar, he charged at his enemies as all hell broke loose.

Scorpina's stinger zigzagged among the furious combatants like a living lightning bolt as the forces of good and evil clashed.

Jason split kicked two putties as he ran towards Goldar, sparks flying as their swords scraped together. Although a warrior foremost, his years surrounded by the dark magiks had seen the golden-clad alien learn a trick or two himself and he used that knowledge to unleash bolts of energy from his glowing eyes. Jason leapt over the blasts, flying at his nemesis with a kick to the body as Trini came corkscrewing through the sky over the Red Ranger's head to land a dropkick that staggered their mighty foe.

Ransik disappeared within a sea of living clay as a swarm of putties descended upon him. His blood boiling, he erupted in a berserker-like fury – swinging wild hooks and uppercuts that filled the air with grey bodies. The sky raining putties, Kimberly hopped across their falling bodies like they were stepping stones, firing energy-arrows downwards into the clay soldiers below.

Scorpina screamed in frustration as her stinger failed to find a home amongst the Time Force Rangers. The Green, Blue and Yellow Rangers dodged and evaded with a pattern of movement she had never seen the likes of in a display of impossible reflex and reaction, as if the passage of time itself was a tool to them. Summoning her weapon back, she raised her hand in the air to reclaim it when Trip dived forward and connected with a heel to her jaw – snapping her head back and causing her to miss her catch, her own stinger impacting her in the shoulder.

"Arrrrrgggghhh!" she screamed again, "I'll kill you!" Picking up her stinger, she sprinted at her opponents with animalistic ferocity.

Feet suspended off the ground, the Red Time Force Ranger kicked his legs in futility as the black hand gripped tighter around his throat. Sharp spikes growing out of his enemy's chest towards him, Wes cursed himself for using the Battle Warrior upgrade so foolishly in their previous encounter. Djolnel's lip curled into a sadistic shape, impalement on his mind, when he saw something from the side of his eye. Dropping his prey, he crossed both of his arms in front of himself in a defensive position as Jen soared through the air and chopped down with a Chrono Sabre Time Strike.

Djolnel staggered backwards as multiple severed spikes landed at his feet.

"Don't fall to bits about it," the Pink Time Force Ranger quipped while she regrouped alongside Wes, the sarcastic remark serving to hide her dismay at how easily their foe had blocked such a powerful attack.

Djolnel flinched aggressively and the broken spikes on the ground shot towards Jen and Wes like explosive shrapnel, distracting them and leaving them unprepared for the onslaught of tendrils that raced towards them. Unable to move as their arms and legs were bound and outstretched, the two Rangers looked around for nearby allies who could aid them. Everybody was occupied. The sudden tugging of their binds forced screams from both of them as they felt themselves being pulled in all directions. A hideous smile covered the monster's face as he prepared to rip his enemies limb from limb.

"Hup-sik-ah!"

The two Rangers landed in a heap, the severed tentacles still hanging from their arms and legs. The darkness that had begun to consume her vision subsiding, Jen looked up to see their saviour standing before them.

"You guys are just full of surprises, huh?" the Green Mighty Morphin Power Ranger remarked as he quickly examined their Ranger attires.

"Tommy..." Jen muttered, quietly.

"Stay here just now," he ordered. The metallic plate that covered his mouth withdrew into his helmet and he held the Dragon Dagger to his face, blowing into the mouthpiece and moving his fingers with precision over the finger holes on the handle. The golden Dragon Shield that covered his upper body was bathed in a green glow as it became fortified from Dagger's song.

Djolnel spat as he had once again been denied his kill. More frustrating, he couldn't believe that he had forgotten about HIM.

The Green Mighty Morphin Ranger charged forward as his opponent's projectiles bounced off of the temporary forcefield he had summoned, allowing him to quickly close distance on the monster.

Djolnel was caught off guard. The speed and strength of this Ranger far surpassed what he appeared to possess in their last battle as a blitz of punches, kicks and knees battered his head and body.

Tommy continued his furious assault, determined not to give the creature a moment's respite – and that was when he felt it. Confirmation of what they had all feared. He could already feel the strain on his body that this exertion of his powers produced. Each passing second that he drew energy through his power coin from the Morphin Grid was one second closer to being his last. If this was to be his final battle, he thought, then so be it. All in.

Bodies clashing everywhere, nobody noticed a small group of Putties breaking off and slipping away, guided by Rita's other henchmen, Squatt and Baboo, who had been watching the fighting from the sidelines.

"Come on! Come on!" urged Squatt, "We have to secure their ship!"

Five extra Power Rangers was an unexpected twist that changed the dynamics of the battle considerably, to say the least. In the event that things didn't turn out in the favour of their Empress, the ship that brought them here may prove to be a worthy consolation prize.

"It's unguarded," chimed Baboo as they moved in on the Time Shuttle, sitting conspicuously on the ground. The shuttle door opened suddenly and Nadira made her way down the descending stairway. Dismissing her as a threat, Baboo directed the clay soldiers in her direction, satisfied that they had secured the vehicle.

Nadira watched the monsters approach her and put her hands to the sides of her face, "Oh, no!" she squealed, "All of the heroes are gone – who's going to save little old me?" The putties closed in and, when they were close, Nadira flexed her hand as her fingernails elongated like long red blades. "There aren't any damsels in this story," she snorted and, after one fell swoop of her hand, four headless clay bodies crumpled to the ground.

Retreating, Squatt and Baboo decided that the sidelines had been the right place for them after all.

---

"We have to get in closer!" cried María Delgado from behind her pilot.

"Are you crazy?" came his response as he hovered the news helicopter in the sky above the battle that waged below. He didn't want to be this close to the monsters, never mind closer – and what if they decided to get big?

"You know I am!" she shouted in answer to his question. Having anticipated the police cordon around the area being widened once it was clear a battle was underway, the wily news reporter had immediately took to the skies to get a glimpse of the action. Even she couldn't have imagined she'd be watching not six but ELEVEN Power Rangers against hundreds of enemies. "This is gonna make me!"

---

Billy's Power Lance impaled two putties at the same time as its sharp end tore through the clay soldiers. Spinning like a human tornado, he used the two monsters skewered on the end of his outstretched weapon like a giant club that battered against all the other surrounding putties.

An energy blast obliterated several of their number as Zack fired his Power Axe's cannon-mode down into the crowd of enemies. Putties scaled the pile of rubble which he stood atop, climbing over and on top of one another like frenzied animals to reach their enemy. Clay sprayed all over the Black Ranger as the ones who reached his perch were dissected by the sharp end of his weapon.

He buried his axe down into the head of one such putty, the weapon destroying its cranium, as another reached the peak behind him. As it lunged for him, Zack pulled the trigger on his weapon, firing a blast behind him that vaporized the enemy. The creatures were starting to come apart easier now. In fact, several of them were burning up before they were even hit. They had been taken out of the oven too soon – prepared to ensure quantity over quality. The once seemingly endless horde was beginning to thin.

Scorpina stumbled forward as both Yellow Rangers kicked her in the back, setting her up for Jen and Kimberly to come springing off their hands and side kick her in the chest in a display of synchronised combat. Recoiling from the double team, she was met by a spinning hook-kick to the head from Nadira which sent her tumbling to the ground.

Propping herself up on her stinger weapon like a crutch, Scorpina looked at the five women marching towards her amidst the anarchy all around them. Their enemies were rallying. What had once looked like certain victory, now looked like a battle they could not win.

Even Goldar was taken aback by the raw unrelenting rage possessed by the being before him as, sword to sword, Ransik screamed into his face whilst pressing him backwards. Taking advantage of his over-aggressiveness, Goldar stepped off to the side and Ransik tumbled to the ground. A blast of energy racing towards him, Goldar reacted quickly by deflecting it to the side with his sword. A second blast was also successfully intercepted, but a third found its mark, impacting him in the chest and blowing him off his feet.

Their Vector Weapons smoking from the shots they had just unleashed, Lucas and Trip stepped towards their fallen enemy. "Want some more?" Lucas asked, holding the cannon in two hands. The tides had turned and Goldar knew it – and he didn't even want to find out if these other Rangers had Zords, as well!

Rushing to his side, Scorpina helped him back to his feet as he swore to himself that he would one day have vengeance on all of the Power Rangers who amassed against him this day but, right now, he resorted to the tactic that had kept him alive this long. Flames sprouted all across his body, quickly spreading across both he and Scorpina until only two burning silhouettes remained. When the flames dispersed into the air, both of the aliens were gone.

Djolnel ducked under Tommy's jumping spin kick and hopped over the low leg sweep immediately following but was hit in mid-jump by a flying side kick from Jason. Their teamwork was a difficult task to rise to, not made any easier by the other Red Ranger alongside them.

Barely deflecting Wes's Time Strike, Djolnel landed face down in the dirt. He needed a distraction – something to buy him the few moments he needed to reach maximum capacity and escape into the timestream.

Then, he heard it. The chopping noise of some kind of aircraft above them. Looking up, he fired a spider web of tendrils into the sky. Like grappling hooks, they latched onto the walls of the surrounding buildings while a few of them wrapped around the news copter. María screamed as the pilot lost control of the vehicle, the tentacles jamming the propeller and shattering the windows as they tightened around the airframe.

Using three tentacles to anchor himself to the ground, Djolnel pulled his appendages back into himself. Entire walls were pulled away, the resulting debris raining down amongst the combatants, as the news copter plummeted to the ground like it was being sucked down through a maelstrom of brick and steel.

"Somebody..." shouted Jason, unable to finish his sentence as he dodged the structure raining down on top of him.

"Oh, no!" Kimberly yelled. Knocked to the ground by the building fragments falling all around, she could only look away from the horror about to unfold and brace herself for the sickening sound of the impact...but it never came. She turned her head back towards what should have been a nightmarish scene but, instead, she bore witness to the incredible sight of the Yellow Time Force Ranger laying the huge aircraft down gently on the ground.

"Everyone ok in there?" Katie called into the helicopter as she slouched against it, exhausted from the overexertion required to perform the superhuman feat. Super strength or not, catching a free falling helicopter in her arms was going to take a toll.

"Oh, my god!" wailed María, choking back tears as Wes and Trini helped pull her and the pilot from the ruined aircraft. Both were naturally shaken and also a little bloody but, thankfully, neither seemed seriously harmed.

She clung to the Red Time Force Ranger as he put her feet down on the ground. "Who are you?" she asked him, the reporter in her unwavering even after the near death experience.

"Um, guys?" Trip said as he looked at the destruction all around them. "Where's Djolnel?"

---

Electricity popped at the tips of the spikes that lined his body. Having slipped away amidst the chaos of his own making, he was now far enough from his enemies that nobody could prevent him from making the jump into the timestream.

The popping became more aggressive as Djolnel raised his arms out to his sides like some kind of demonic messiah when, from behind him, a sound not unlike a sword being unsheathed made him quickly turn around. With no time to react, he screamed as he was forced down and nailed to the ground by the blade in his shoulder.

As he frantically tried to remove the weapon, he heard again that same unsheathing sound, foretelling yet another sword that was now pressed against his face.

When all of the Power Rangers had been distracted by the falling aircraft, Ransik had kept his eyes locked on Djolnel and had followed him – stealthily keeping at such a distance that his prey would not detect him, waiting for the right moment to make his move.

This monster had threatened his family – his daughter's life! He could not be allowed to live.

"Look at me," he demanded of his enemy – he wanted to watch the life fade from his eyes as he died. His blood felt like molten lava coursing throughout his body, a searing agony that could only be extinguished by eliminating the cause of his rage...a rage that would never be quenched.

His body shaking, he contemplated Jen's words from earlier in the day and pondered the long road ahead if he chose to act on his instinct right now. How many more enemies would have to fall to satiate the anger and the hatred that burned within?

His mouth foaming as the shaking grew more violent, he fought against the raw hatred that was clawing its way from inside him, threatening to consume his entire being just like it had all those years ago. He had barely escaped that path and, he knew, there would be no coming back this time. No, he decided. It wasn't going to be like that.

Taking a deep breath, he stared down into the eyes of the enemy under his blade. "You will face justice, monster," he uttered, chin held high.

"Not...today," came the reply.

The ground behind Ransik erupted like a volcano as the mass of black tendrils that had wormed their way underfoot exploded out all at once, twisting together to create a sharp spire.

Ransik hung in the air for a moment as if frozen in time before the tentacles withdrew and he collapsed lifelessly to the ground like a puppet that's strings had just been cut.

Djolnel moaned as he pulled the sword from his shoulder and climbed back to his feet. Ransik's death was a satisfying conclusion to his time in 1993. His body crackled and popped once again before electricity poured from his being in all directions.

"No," muttered Jen as she and Billy sprinted towards the figure draped in light. The two had found themselves together when avoiding the raining building structure and, immediately upon seeing Katie's successful intervention in the helicopter incident, she had grabbed the Blue Ranger and ushered him in pursuit of Ransik, who she knew had to be tracking Djolnel.

Ignoring the grisly scene on the ground, Jen futilely fired off shots from her Chrono Blaster. Too late to stop him, Djolnel was engulfed in white light, Jen's hopeless last ditch attempt to tackle him for naught, as the light subsided and he was gone.

"Godammit!" she screamed, her hands on top of her helmet. Everything they had gone through had been for nothing – again...and this time, it was even worse. She turned around to face the reality of her failure, where Billy knelt on the ground cradling Ransik's body, his white gloves now stained red.

The Pink Time Force Ranger dropped to her knees next to the two and removed her helmet. How could everything have gone so wrong!?

Ransik's breaths were short and shallow. With his last breath, he looked into Jen's eyes before the last glimmer of life faded from his.

A piercing scream broke through the ringing in Jen's ears as she looked up to see Nadira sprinting towards them, everybody else in tow. She swallowed hard as Ransik's daughter dropped down beside her and grabbed her father's head in her hands.

"Dad!? Daddy!?" she squeaked, her eyes flooded with tears. Unwilling to believe what was right in front of her, she looked to Jen for some kind of confirmation that, miraculously, everything would be ok. Unable to form any words, Jen could only bow her head, an action that answered any and all of the questions she could ask. With no hope remaining, Nadira buried her head in her father's body and cried.

I'm sorry, Nadira.

---

The Command Centre

-Zord BDR Hangar-

How do we come back from this?

Jen led her team back into the BDR Hangar, heads held low. Zordon's words to her played on repeat in her head: "The stars do not illustrate our fates; we are received by our decisions at destiny's call." She was sure there was an important message to decipher from the words, but she wasn't in the right state of mind for that right now.

The Time Shuttle sat ominously before them, Ransik's body on board. Not only had this mission resulted in their greatest defeat but the consequences of what had happened this day would be felt in the 31st century.

Ransik was the most notable advocator of human/mutant cohabitation. In the last year alone, he had done more for that cause than had been achieved in all the years prior. Now, he was the lone casualty of a Time Force mission.

His political enemies would use this to flip things in the favour of conflict. He would be made a martyr for a cause that he opposed and all the good he had achieved would be undone...and it was all her fault.

The six Mighty Morphin Power Rangers waited by the shuttle, their civilian clothes stained in the sweat from the battle less than an hour before. Despite the short time they had been together, strong ties had been forged between the two teams. Goodbyes were not going to be easy.

Lucas and Zack measured one another up with their eyes briefly before embracing in a shake of hands, their earlier 'issue' a distant memory. "You're gonna have to be there for her, man. Look after her – she needs you," Zack told him. Lucas nodded, patting the Black Ranger on the shoulder before he walked up the steps into the Time Shuttle.

"Keep working that meditation, yeah?" said Tommy as he and Trip hugged out their farewell. Trip smiled for a moment, proud to be the one carrying on the legacy of the Green Ranger in the 31st century, before the smile faded and he boarded the shuttle.

"I'll miss you guys," Katie said, hugging both Kimberly and Trini.

"Not as much as we'll miss you," Trini replied, a tear forming in the corner of her eye.

"You are by far the coolest, kick-ass chick in this or ANY other century," Kimberly added, bringing tears to Katie's eyes, as well.

No words needed between two Red Rangers, Jason and Wes shook hands - both men feeling an utmost respect towards the other. Wes boarding the shuttle, only Jen was left.

Jason leaned towards the Time Force leader for a goodbye hug. "I'm sorry we couldn't..." he began, the words he needed to finish the sentence lost to him. A Power Rangers leader, like Jen, this defeat hung heavy over him.

"No," Jen replied, "you did more for us than I could have ever expected."

Jason nodded, unconvinced. Unbeknownst to the other Rangers, in the wake of Ransik's death and Djolnel's escape, Jason had secretly offered to leave with the Time Force team and help in their pursuit of the monster. Of course, Jen couldn't take him up on the offer – Jason's significance to the course of history was far too great and it would be wholly irresponsible for her to accept his proposition, no matter how tempting it was to bring a fighter like him on board.

Finally, she approached Billy, the Ranger who was with her at the moment of her greatest failure. Expecting a ritual similar to what she just experienced with Jason, he surprised her.

"I have something for you," he said, handing her his wrist communicator. She looked at the device in her hand and then looked back at Billy, confused. Did he really think that they could keep in touch across a thousand years with this?

"The Morphin Grid is all around us," he began to explain, noting the look on her face, "It's where we draw our energy from and, when we teleport, our bodies transform into that same Morphin energy."

Jen listened, intrigued by the prospect of where he was going with this.

"What you said, earlier, about not understanding how Djolnel moved through the timestream unafflicted, got me thinking and then, when I saw him escape, I knew that my theory was correct," he said, the suspense quickly becoming unbearable for Jen, anticipating the importance in what he had concluded.

"The timestream is built by chroniton particles. Djolnel doesn't just use chroniton energy – he becomes it."

It made perfect sense: Djolnel had somehow found a way to become the very energy that bridged the landscape of time. It's the reason they'd never been able to track him within the timestream and it's why he could travel through it unharmed.

"I tried to reconfigure the communicator to utilize chroniton energy rather than Morphin energy but I couldn't..." he said, almost ashamed. "If I had had more time..." he continued.

"No, Billy," she responded, wiping the tears from her eyes, "this is amazing. This...you have no idea what this means, right now."

She pulled him down into a hug. "Maybe we'll meet again one day, Billy," she said knowingly.

"I have a feeling we already have," he replied quietly, not ignorant to the many clues that had led him to the realisation.

Smiling briefly at his response, her demeanour changed drastically as she turned to face what waited for her in the shuttle.

The door closed behind her as she stepped aboard, where Nadira and the other Time Force officers sat quietly next to one another, a blanket draped over the body that lay on the weapons table only a few feet from them. Lucas stood up from his seat to make his way to the cockpit only to be stopped by Jen, who silently told him that she would take the reigns. She might not have been the pilot that he was but she didn't need to be right now, and he needed to be with Nadira.

Starting up the shuttle thrusters, Jen looked at the wrist communicator in her hand – the one beacon of hope that this entire mess had produced. As she readied the quantum field generator that would enable the quantum drivers, Wes sat down in the seat next to her. He placed his hand on her leg reassuringly, harkening back to what he had said to her earlier: they would do this together.

The Power Rangers of 1993 stood and watched as the Time Shuttle hovered above the ground before rocketing off in a brilliant flash of light and a roar like thunder that left no trace of the Power Rangers from the year 3005.

Standing there, the six teens from Angel Grove soaked in the events of today: their first meeting with real time travellers, their first meeting with another team of Power Rangers, and the first time they had lost a soldier.

A few more moments passed before Tommy put his arm around Kimberly and went home. One by one, the other Rangers followed suit until only Billy Cranston remained. Feeling that the moment called for wise words but unable to think of any of his own, he thought, instead, of what Zordon might have said as parting words to the Power Rangers of the future. Knowing exactly what those words would be, he smiled as he turned around and headed for home.

May the Power protect you, Rangers.

End of Chapter

---

Thanks for reading (if you didn't get bored half way through!) Sorry the chapter ended up so long, it kind of wrote itself at times. I did make some effort to edit it down but the character interactions are all really necessary going forward. Future chapters won't all be quite as long (I hope!)

The next chapter will be up as soon as possible and, hopefully, won't take as long to write as this one did.

Next Chapter – 1994: "The Sequel Prequel"