It was only because Kendall called Taylor's phone in a panic that they found out where Danny and Max were. So Wes and Jen left for Seaworld to try to bail out a great white shark and a huge bison. Eric did not envy them that job. He and Taylor and volunteered to get Cole and Alyssa, maybe track down Merrick as well. Not that anyone knew where the lone wolf was.
"Okay Taylor." Eric told the eagle that was perched next to him in the front seat of the SUV, "You tell Cole not to eat me, and we should be good."
Why would he eat you?
"He's a lion!" Eric took a deep breath, taking the exit to Cole's house, "He could have more animal instincts. I mean, you bit me when you were hungry, why wouldn't he?"
You were taking too long, and I hadn't eaten anything for hours. Eagle-Taylor seemed to grin at him. Plus it was fun.
"Insane physco-manaic bird-woman." Eric muttered.
You really think he'll fit in the horse-trailer?
"I don't know." Eric sighed, resisting the urge to pull over the grandma driving slowly in front of him, "Hopefully. We got the biggest one."
I still think we should've gotten the big semi.
"It was super expensive!"
So? This is an emergency!
"This will work fine!" Eric snapped back, pulling into Cole's driveway behind the red ranger's jeep, "Are you coming?" He pulled on the thick glove, and then held his hand out to her. She flapped up, taking a second to find her balance.
Of course I'm coming! I want to see Cole eat you!
"Very funny." Eric muttered, as he carefully exited the car. "Knock, Knock." He said, ringing the doorbell, "Cole? Are you in there?" there was a soft growl from behind the door, "I'll take that as a yes." Eric sighed, taking a step back and surveying the house, "Guess we'll have to break in."
Did you even try the door?
"Of course I did." Eric barked, yanking on the handle, and grimacing when he found it to be unlocked. "See?" he said weakly.
I see an idiot.
"Shut up bird-woman." Eric glared, opening the door. The shades were pulled, lights out, great sign. "Cole? Don't attack me or anything, it's just Eric and Taylor." Another soft growl. "I'm turning on the lights, okay?" he flicked the switch. He jumped, eyeing the huge lion lying next to the overturned couch with a wary eye, "Maybe you were right about the truck…"
Of course I was. Eagle-Taylor replied, exasperated, she flew over to the overturned couch next to Lion-Cole. Cole? Can you understand me? She cocked her head at Eric. Can you hear him?
"No. Just you."
He says he had come back for lunch when he got all dizzy. He sat down on the couch and in the change knocked it over. Pause. It's some sort of backlash from a spell. We're going to get you to the Animarium and then try to find Mystic Force.
"Who are currently MIA." Eric added.
We're going to get Alyssa next. Max and Danny are at Seaworld, Wes and Jen are picking them up. She flapped her wings in agitation. I don't know where Merrick is either.
"Would Alyssa know?" Eric asked, but the lion shook his great mane, standing up.
No, he says they lost touch. Her head snapped around to face the lion, which was growling at her imploringly. You're a lion, Cole. You can't exactly sneak around with us, people will probably notice and call animal control or something.
"Maybe he should come Taylor." Eric said softly, eyeing Lion-Cole carefully, "Then we wouldn't have to make a side trip to the Animarium and go straight to Briarwood. And maybe he could help us find Merrick." Eagle-Taylor squawked at him.
And maybe we'll just get arrested for having a dangerous animal around!
"We could keep him in the trailer until we got to Briarwood, let him out in the forest and no one would think twice." Eagle-Taylor considered this, and then she flapped over to his hand.
Fine. We still need to make a quick stop to Animarium though to check in with Wes and Jen. And we have to take Alyssa. Which means we'll need the truck.
---
Ryan glanced over at Cam, exchanging looks with the Green Ranger. They both recognized the same determination in the other's eyes. They wouldn't do it, and they would strap Carter down before letting him. It just wasn't going to happen.
"He needs to know!" Carter said again, "His team might have been turned into Dinosaurs for god's sake!"
"I doubt it. The original members have been cut off from the morphing grid for quite some time." Cam said, tapping the table in front of him.
"What about Dino Thunder?" Carter threw back, leaning towards him, "They may have lost their gems, but Ninja Storm lost their morphers too!"
"It is conceivable that they are now their guardian dinosaurs." Cam admitted, "But then Tommy would have been turned into a brachiosaurus anyway so the point is mute."
"And Kim would have called." Dana added, looking guiltily at Carter, "Sorry."
"It may also be that since dinosaurs are extinct that the spell had nothing to latch onto." Claire looked up from the book she was studying, "So to speak."
"And we would have to tell Tommy why we cast the spell." Ryan added, glancing at Dana.
"I still don't fully understand that." She muttered, looking at Carter darkly.
"Don't worry about it." Claire said hastily, "If you would all kindly be quiet for a minute, I need to see if Rootcore can find Dustin." She took a deep breath, walking over to the globe. "Rootcore?"
"The tree talks?" Ryan asked quietly.
"Not to me." Claire admitted, "But to the earth mage it would. Unfortunately, I think Xander is running around out in the forest somewhere in the form of a Minotaur."
"Wait." Cam held out his hand, "So if dinosaurs are extinct and the spell had nothing to 'latch onto', so to speak, then why did Mystic Force change into animals from legend?" Claire blinked at him, clearly shocked.
"You've never seen a Minotaur?" she frowned, "Well I suppose they are quite rare. Udonna took me to meet some in another dimension when I was younger, although I personal loved meeting the phoenix in the Mystic Mother's palace."
"Right." Carter intervened, as Cam frowned, "So should we find Xander?"
"That could prove difficult." Cam drawled out, "Considering he's now a Minotaur, and only one of us has actually seen a Minotaur before."
"Could you find him in the globe?" Ryan turned to Claire, ignoring the negative Green Ranger.
"Udonna and I were going to tune my powers to the globe this week." Claire blushed, "Otherwise it doesn't give a very clear picture."
"Maybe you should try anyway." Dana told her softly, getting up to stand next to her, "You can do it, we believe in you."
"Right." Claire closed her eyes, gathering her powers to her and pushing them at the globe. It was all about willpower, and luckily, she had enough.
"I see him!" Dana cried, as Claire opened her eyes to view the globe.
"He's in the forest." Cam said dryly, "So, where can we find trees that look like that? Oh yeah. Anywhere!"
"Cam, shut it." Ryan hissed, "Claire do you recognize anything?"
"No." Claire sighed, "Cam's right, it could be anywhere."
"Well, at least you tried." Dana said comfortingly, "Think you could try for the other's too?"
"If Madison's a mermaid you might be able to find the closest body of water." Carter added. Claire nodded, shifting her point of focus from Xander to Madison.
"It's just showing her underwater." Claire growled, frustrated, "Let me try the other's." But there weren't any distinguishing features for anyone. Chip was in a tree, Vida was flying around, Nick was up in the sky, Udonna was currently in a cloud, and Leanbow was sleeping somewhere on the forest floor.
"What about Daggeron?" Carter inquired as they watched the sleeping wolf. Claire shook her head.
"He's visiting the Snow Prince in another dimension right now, so the spell wouldn't have affected him."
"And you don't know which dimension?" Cam asked softly. Claire shook her head, close to tears.
"Hang on a sec." Ryan held out a hand as his phone started ringing, "Hello? Oh hey Wes. Yeah. Yeah. How close are they? That should work. Does Taylor remember the way? Okay. Yep, I'll call you when they get here." He snapped his phone shut, and then smiled grimly, "Eric and Taylor are coming over. They swung by the Animarium to pick up Wes and Jen, who are with Kendall, Max, and Danny. Oh, and they found Merrick there with the Princess so he opted to come with them."
"Did they find Cole and Alyssa?" Carter asked, frowning.
"Yeah, they also decided to come. And to remind you, Cole's a Lion, Alyssa's a White Tiger, and Merrick's a Wolf." Ryan lifted an eyebrow, waiting for one of them to get it. Cam didn't disappoint him.
"Trackers." The Green Ranger nodded, "Perfect."
---
Syd sprinted down the basement testing area. Kat would put the time machine, if there really was one, down there. She frowned as reached the elevator, frantically closing the doors and waiting impatiently for the elevator reach the bottom floor. How dare they try to leave without her! After everything they've been through and they try to travel back in time without her.
Ingrates.
The door opened, and she stormed through the doorway, jogging down to the most hidden part of the testing area. Yep, there was a funny looking ship-thing that screamed proto-type time machine, and there were two of her teammates, getting onboard.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Syd screamed, stopping the two of them in their tracks, "Sky, Z, you better have one hell of an explanation for trying to leave without me!"
"Uh…" her boyfriend looked to Z for help.
"Well…" Z started, "Um…"
"SYD!" Bridge leaped out of the strange ship, grabbing her arm and tugging her onto the ramp, "We were afraid you weren't going to make it! We have to leave in five minutes!"
"What?" she whipped around to face Z and Sky, as Bridge pulled her onto the ship.
"Yeah!" Z quickly latched onto the Pink Ranger's other arm, leading her aboard, "Didn't you get our message?"
Sky rolled his eyes, following his teammates onto the time ship.
"Time to give this baby a test run." Bridge chirped, sitting down in the pilot seat, "Get it? Time to give it a test run."
"You know how to work this Bridge?" Sky asked, sitting in the copilots seat, Z and Syd behind the two men.
"Sure." Bridge nodded, flipping seemingly random switches, "Er, this could get kinda loud…"
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea....
---
It was a good twelve hours* before Eric, Wes, and Jen showed up with Eagle, Lion, Tiger, and Wolf in tow. They had ditched the truck on the road next to the forest, and anyone could see that Eric was obviously exhausted from the drive, but he had a grim faced look about him that was all business, so no one asked if he wanted some rest.
"Okay." Eric sighed, sitting in the Red Mystic's chair in Rootcore, "Let's go over this again to make sure I got it. Dustin, Tori, Shane, Blake, and Hunter have all been turned into their respective elements. Nick, Madison, Chip, Vida, Xander, Udonna, and Leanbow have either been turned into their elements or their mythical, but real, namesakes, while Wild Force has been turned into their animal namesakes, and other people such as Jen and I, are experiencing the same form of backlash in the form of our own supposed-to-be-forever dormant magic powers leaking through." He let out another sigh, eyeing Taylor warily as she preened herself, "Is that right?"
"Essentially." Cam replied, "Do you think Cole, Alyssa, and Merrick can track their scents?" Erik looked at Taylor, who squawked at the three animals lying lazily on the ground around them.
Cole says he feels with his newly heightened senses he can, and Alyssa and Merrick agree. I will fly around and see if I can locate any of the boys. Eric narrowed his eyes at her.
"We've been over this Taylor, you're flying skills suck."
I just need some practice. I'm a born flyer!
"Whatever." Eric muttered, too tired to argue. He rubbed a hand over his face.
"Sooooooo was that a yes they could track them?" Claire asked, reminding the exhausted Quantum Ranger of the others inabilities to hear Taylor or the others speak. Eric gave her what could only be described as the patented Eric Meyers 'duh' look.
"Yes."
"So who's scent should we give them first?" Dana asked, as Taylor eagle-glared at her fiancé.
"I would suggest Xander's or Leanbow's." Cam shrugged, "Both would be ideal as they are still grounded, unlike the others who are flying or swimming, making them harder to find. Xander could also communicate with the earth to find Dustin, who can then use his skills to find another ranger etc."
"I vote we split up then. Cole and Alyssa go after Xander, and Merrick goes after Leanbow." Wes proposed. Taylor let out a squawk.
"NO." Eric snapped to her, wearily resting his head back against the chair. Dana cleared her throat.
"Soooo…" The Pink Ranger looked around, "Two questions. One; will the changed rangers recognize us, and second; how are we turning them back?" The rangers froze, looking at a very uncomfortable Claire.
"Hopefully I will have found a solution by then." She squeaked out, blushing under the scrutiny.
"But will they be dangerous?" Jen asked, leaning forward.
"Well…" Claire shrugged, "It could be since Wild Force remembered even in there animalistic forms that they remember. However since they haven't exactly come to find us or give any indication that they remember…"
"Hang on." Eric turned to Taylor, "What do you remember when you first turned?"
It… well I felt so trapped inside the house, and then I saw the sky outside the window and the next thing I knew I was out, flying high in the sky over the city. I was completely instinctive, like an animal. I… don't think I would've remembered that I wasn't truly an eagle if it wasn't for you.
"What about Cole, Alyssa and Merrick?" Eric asked, giving his eagle-fiancé a reassuring stroke on her back.
Cole says that the only time he felt his animal instincts rise up was when we let him outside, and after we came to the forest, but because we were there he remained in control. Alyssa agrees.
"And Merrick?"
He says he remembers changing, then how he had to get to his pack, in this case Princess Shayla, and since he was on Animarium at the time it was easy to get to her and protect her, and upon seeing her he regained his humanity as well.
"Okay. So here's the deal." Eric eyed the other rangers carefully, "In their natural environment, aka nature, it is extremely difficult for the transformed rangers to maintain control over their animalistic mind unless there is a presence of humanity to remind them."
"Understood." Ryan nodded, "What's the plan?"
"We split up." Carter turned, "Wes?"
"Right." Wes nodded, "Eric and I will go with Taylor, Jen and Dana will go with Cole and Alyssa, Ryan and Carter with Merrick, and Cam and Claire will work from here."
"You and I with Taylor?" Eric asked, frowning, "Why?"
"We need Taylor in the air." Wes said apologetically, "I agree with her."
"Wes!" Eric stood, as the other rangers slowly excused themselves, animal guides slinking ahead of them.
"Eric she can find Chip, Nick, and maybe some of the others."
"Yeah?" Eric stood, slamming his fists down on the table, "And what if she forgets who she is? Huh? What if she doesn't come back? Did you think about that?!"
Eric. Taylor flapped her wings, landing on Eric's shoulder and rubbing against his face lovingly, I can do this. I won't forget you. She pulled back. Who could forget someone as hardheaded and silly as you? Eric let out a bark of laughter.
"You're as bad as I am, you spoiled, bossy, eagle-woman." Eric sighed, too tired to fight, and knowing that they were right. They needed Taylor in the air. "Fine. Let's go."
"All right Cole." Claire was saying as they came outside. She held a small piece of green material in front of her, "Alyssa. You should be able to get Xander's scent from off of this." She kneeled down as the two great animals sniffed it. Alyssa seemed to wrinkle her nose, as Cole sneezed, clearly they had the scent. Claire handed the fabric to Dana, instructing them to start at the clearing where the spell had been cast. Then she repeated the procedure with Merrick, a purple cloth in her hand.
"Wow." Jen breathed when the reached the site of the spell, "You guys did some major damage. What exactly were you trying to do?"
"I still haven't figured that out yet." Dana said, glaring at Ryan and Carter. The Titanium and Red Ranger ignored her, intent of following the wolf in front of them. Alyssa let out a growl, signaling them to follow, as Cole took off ahead of them in the opposite way that the boys were going.
"Right." Jen replied running after the Lion, Dana and Alyssa following close behind. They didn't have too far to go before they heard deep growling noises coming from the forest in front of them. Cole stopped, growling softly.
"That's not good." Dana said softly, kneeling down to calm a tense Alyssa.
"Agreed." Jen nodded, surveying the dense forest around them, "From what we saw in the globe, and from what Claire said, "The Mystic's, minus Daggeron, Leanbow and Udonna, are in Titan form only smaller."
"Instead of Zord size lifesize." Dana agreed, standing, "So what's the plan?"
"I vote we-" Jen broke off, "Cole, what's wrong?" The lion let out a roar just as the foliage in front of them burst apart, revealing a eight-foot tall green and silver Minotaur. The two Pink Rangers were thrown back, as Cole and Alyssa scattered in front of them.
"Great." Jen muttered, picking herself up from off the ground. Cole and Alyssa ran around the Xander's feet, confusing the great beast as it couldn't track them with it's massive head. He let out a bellow and began swinging at the ground with his huge axe.
"Down!" Dana screamed, grabbing Jen and pulling her out of the way of the weapon.
"Xander!" Jen yelled, dodging another swing, "We're not here to hurt you!"
"He doesn't remember!" Dana shouted, rolling on the ground. Alyssa darted in letting out a roar of her own, but Xander ignored her, and went on swinging. Dana let out a deep breath, and morphed into her ranger outfit.
"What are you doing?" Jen bellowed, as the Pink Lightspeed Ranger stood and slowly walked over to the Minotaur, who was slowly calming down.
"He doesn't know who we are, but he recognizes the Ranger uniform." Dana didn't take her gaze from the great-supposed mini-titan, "Morph!"
"Crap." Jen muttered, willing her suit on, "Xander?" He was eyeing their uniforms, "Hello."
"Do you remember who you are?" Dana asked gently, Xander nodded, going down on one knee and resting his axe on the ground.
"And do you know who we are?" Jen put in, glancing at Dana. Xander shook his head, but pointed at his wrist, then at Jen.
"You know we're Rangers." Dana breathed; she demorphed just as Jen did. "I'm Dana, Pink Lightspeed Ranger. You met by boyfriend Carter, and my brother Ryan." Xander nodded.
"I'm Jen, Pink Time Force Ranger." She looked down at the two great Cats, "This is Alyssa and Cole from Wilde Force, the spell or whatever turned them into their respective animal guardians just as it did to you." Xander nodded again, pointing to himself. Then he pointed to a tree.
"Rootcore?" Dana guessed. Xander nodded again, holding out a hand, indicating that he would carry them.
"Oh." Jen smiled at her fellow Pink Ranger, "Why thank you Xander." He stood, making his way towards the home base, a lion and tiger following, and two women perched on his shoulders.
-
"I knew this was a bad idea!" Eric seethed, waiting for Taylor impatiently on the top of a rocky cliff. He was pacing in front of the Red Time Force Ranger, clearly a bit agitated.
"Eric she's barely been gone." Wes grimaced; it had been a little while, but still.
"I don't care!" Eric yelled, "This was a terrible idea to begin with!"
"She's looking for Chip or Nick. We have to give her time."
"Whatever." The Quantum Ranger said coldly, gazing at the sky in a fury. Wes closed his eyes, savoring the breeze across his face.
"But honestly, how long could it take?!"
Wes sighed, ignoring his best friend. "Just relax."
"Wes?"
"What?"
"When something is big and yellow, and chasing one's fiancé, what should one do?" Wes opened his eyes to stare at the Quantum Ranger.
"What are you talking about?" Wes cried finally completely exasperated with his co-captain. He looked up, Taylor was coming full speed towards them, screeching, and behind her was a giant yellow… bird. "Chip?" Wes guessed.
"Taylor says RUN!" Eric yelled, grabbing Wes's arm and dragging him back towards the woods.
"Whoa!" Wes cried as Taylor swooped over their heads.
"Run faster!" Eric screamed as Chip came in closer and closer, "get under the trees!"
"Right!" Wes replied, hopping over a log, he slapped his wrist, "Jen!"
"Wes? What's up?"
"We're being chased by a giant yellow bird!"
"Where are you?"
"Eric!" Wes yelled to his companion as he jumped over a stump.
"I don't know where we are!" Eric replied as they neared the trees, the yellow bird's breath hot on their necks, "But Chip says we're dinner!"
"You can hear him?" Wes screamed back, amazed.
"Hit the deck!" Eric threw himself to the ground, Wes right next to him. Chip swooped over, pulling up before he hit the trees.
"That thing's got legs that it can run on." Eric cried, as the bird landed. Vaguely he registered Taylor screaming something at him, but all he could really concentrate on was the bird's incredible hungry feeling.
Did you hear me?! Morph you idiot! Eric! You need to morph! He doesn't understand! MORPH!
"Wes you need to morph, it shows him you're a ranger." Jen's voice buzzed faintly from their morphers.
"Fine!" Eric yelled, standing, as the bird charged towards them. "Quantum Power!"
"Eric wait!" Wes yelled, "He's too close!" Dust flew as the bird tried to come to a halt in front of the morphed Quantum Ranger, Wes ducked down, careful of the flying debris caused by Chip's attempt to stop.
Eric!
The dust cleared, and both Eagle and Time Force Ranger were finally given a chance to see the damage. But the bird had displayed it's own Ranger reflexes, and was surveying the Quantum Ranger from where it stopped a mere two feet away from him.
You stupid-
"Wes," Eric demorphed deliberately interrupting his fiancé, "I think we found Chip." The Garuda nodded. Standing at a bit taller then Eric, Chip's titan form, however small it supposedly was, was super cool to look at, despite the fact that it was yellow. Wes and Eric both silently agreed that it would be a way cooler form in red.
"Do you remember what happened?" The bird nodded at Wes's question, looking questioningly at the Eagle perched carefully on Eric's gloved hand. Wes looked at his counterpart, "Can you understand him?"
"Kinda." Eric frowned, "It's more like the general feeling. I can hear Taylor's voice, but with Chip I can only get a… imprint of his emotions" he shrugged, "And right now he's still hungry." The Garuda nodded vehemently, letting out a squawk, and waddling off in the direction of Rootcore.
Brilliant.
"Well why didn't you talk to him?" Eric asked as they followed Chip.
Oh… I don't know, maybe because he was going to eat me?!
"I knew this was a bad idea." Eric muttered as his fiancé flew up to sit on Chip's larger shoulder, "Stupid bird."
------------
*Twelve hours is a complete guess on my part. I have no idea where Briarwood is relative to the Animarium, so I picked a nice number and will leave it at that.
A/N Sooooooooo didn't plan on posting anymore for a while as school has started, but I felt the need to post something! So as I get the time to write, I'll post. I hate it when writers never update, so I'll try my best! Of course I would be much more motivated with some reviews...... ;)