Power Rangers: Off the Grid
Chapter 2: Ranger Power
"As Wes and Eric know," said Tommy, "Kimberly here is the first ranger to ever go back in time, and it was for similar reasons to this mission."
"Yeah," replied Wes, "as I remember it, your team's ancestors were under attack in the Old West. You saved Earth's first group of power rangers." Wes ran to shake her hand. Then Kira approached the veteran ranger.
"Ms. Hart," she said, "I just want to say that I saw you in the video archives that Dr. O made for us, and..." She paused, struggling for the right words. "Ms. Hart, you are a true inspiration to me." Kimberly smiled, charmed by Kira's almost excessive respect for her. "Pterodactyl power, right?"
"Pterodactyl power." They bumped fists.
"Alright, now that your entire team is together, Tommy, can we send them back to save the Grid?" asked Kaffacus.
"Yes, I'll get right on i-"
"Wait," interrupted Cam, "what do you mean 'they'?" The smiles on the other rangers' faces faded.
"Are you not coming with us?" asked Eric. Tommy sighed and looked terribly grim, as if he was about to tell his children there was no Santa Claus.
"Rangers, I would love to go back in time with you, but I'm needed here. As the time ripples grow strong, old, defeated monsters are beginning to return."
"Because, now that someone's destroyed the Morphing Grid in the past, those villains were never defeated by teams of Rangers?" asked Kira.
"Exactly. Someone has to stay behind to fight them off."
"Hang on, wait a minute," said Wes, "when we save the Morphing Grid in the past, won't you know as soon as you send us back from the absence of time ripples?"
"Not 'when', Wes. If. And, if this unknown threat proves to be too much to you and all 6 of our best rangers are stuck in the past, the Earth will be doomed. One of us needs to stay behind."
"And if any one ranger can fight off that many monsters solo..." said Cam,
"...it must be Doctor O." said Kira.
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," said Tommy. "I may be staying behind in the event that the mission fails, but I have faith in you. I believe that you will win. I believe that you will save the universe.
"Alright, then what are we waiting for?" asked Kimberly, standing up. Then Eric stood up.
"Nothing," he said. Then Cam stood up.
"World needs saving..." Then Wes stood up.
"...and it's up to us to save it." Then Kira stood up.
"Let's get to work."
"Alright then," said Tommy, "I need everybody to step onto that platform of Kaffacus's time machine." He waited for everyone to find a vacant pad, then asked "Ready?"
"Ready!" they all replied together.
"May the power protect you all." With that, Tommy pulled the switch.
Meanwhile, in the past, Kaffacus was hiding under a table with an ancient radio transmitter.
"Code Red! Code Red!" he was yelling into it, at the top of his lungs, "My name is Kaffacus, and I have URGENT information to report!" His lab and his work were crashing down all around him as it was bombarded by fists, laser blasts, and slashes. Fires were starting to sprout up at him everywhere. "I am an immortal wizard," he continued nonetheless, "currently working on a new project called the Morphing Grid, which will, for centuries to come, allow worthy entities across the universe to become colorful heroes known as Power Rangers!" The fires had evolved into explosions. Amidst the noise, the great wizard hardly noticed the five flashes of light in the air as five new players arrived in the playing field out of the blue. "And now," he said, "all that is danger! I AM UNDER ATTACK! REPEAT, I AM UNDER ATTACK! HELP IMMEDIATELY!" There was a laser headed right for him. "REPEAT, HELP IMME-" But his transmission was stopped dead something tackled him to the ground, destroying his radio transmitter in the process. "GET OFF ME, SCUM!" he screamed, throwing his assailant against the wall.
"KAFFACUS!" said a voice. The newcomer's voice stopped the wizard done. He turned to the one who had spoken. He was youthful looking and wore a red beret.
"Stranger," he said, "how could you possibly know my name?"
"Well, you're immortal, right?" asked another voice. Once again Kaffacus turned to the source of the voice. This one was taller but bespectacled.
"Yes..." he responded cautiously, still not quite trusting these strangers.
"Well," chimed in a third voice, this one female, "we're friends of yours in the future." Kaffacus began to calm down.
"Friends?" he asked. Then he noticed something these 5 newcomers all had in common; they were all wearing strange yet oddly familiar devices on their wrists. He couldn't put his finger on it for a while, but then it donned on him. "Those devices, on your wrists," he said, "they're morphers, aren't they?" The newcomers nodded. Kaffacus was stunned. "You're Power Rangers, aren't you?" They nodded again. Suddenly, Kaffacus was beaming. The rangers proceeded to introduce themselves.
"Kira," said the yellow-clad female.
"Eric," said the red-clad male.
"Wes," said the shorter red-clad male sporting the beret.
"Cam, said the bespectacled male.
"Kimberly," said the pink-clad female. Seemingly out of nowhere, he actually hugged Cam.
"Oh, joyous day!" he cried, giddy as a schoolgirl. "Do you know what this means?" he asked. Without waiting for an answer, he proceeded to say, "it means my Morphing Grid works!"
"Technically, yes," said Cam, "but we kinda have to save it first."
"Ah yes, the attack... Is that why you've come here from the future? You're gonna help me fight off these things?"
"It would be our honor, Ka-" but Wes was promptly interrupted by Kimberly.
"Wait, 'things'?" she asked, "plural?"
"Yes," said Kaffacus, "these little robot men have been relentlessly assaulting the Grid for hours now!" Kimberly grimaced.
"Cogs," she said. As if awaiting their cue, the rangers were suddenly surrounded on all sides by cogs. They immediately grouped up into a circle, arms at the ready for a fight.
"Cogs?" asked Kira.
"Minions of the Machine Empire," explained Kimberly.
"But this doesn't make any sense," said Eric.
"Yeah," agreed Wes, "we already defeated the Machine Empire on the moon years ago. Eric, me, and like 7 other red rangers were all there and this one guy, Cole, he blew up Serpenterra with the last general still inside! No damn way he survived that!"
"Well, clearly, they're here," said Kimberly, "and it doesn't matter how, or whether it's 'possible'. If they're here, no matter what the reason, our job is to fight them off. Who's with me?"
"YEAH!" they all replied in unison.
"IT'S MORPHIN' TIME!" she cried at the top of her lungs, removing her morpher from her wrist and opening it.
"PTERODACTYL!" With that, her body and even her clothes began to mutate, becoming those of the original Pink Power Ranger. "MIGHTY MORPHIN' POWER RANGER!"
"TIME FOR, TIME FORCE!" yelled Wes and Eric, opening their morphers, causing their bodies to mutate into those of the Red Time Force Ranger and the Quantum Ranger. "TIME FORCE, HYAH!"
"SAMURAI STORM, RANGER FORM!" yelled Cam, opening his unusually ball-shaped morpher. "GREEN SAMURAI RANGER, YA!"
"DINO THUNDER POWER, POWER UP! HAH!" yelled Kira, opening her morpher and pressing a button on it. "DINO THUNDER! HI-YAH!" And then the dream team of five time-travelling power rangers took a pose, and multi-colored explosions came into being at the center of their circle as they cried, in unison,
"RANGER POWER!"
