The characters and events aren't mine. (What, you're surprised by this?) They belong to Saban or BVE or whomever it is that actually owns the PR stuff now. Any relationship between the dialogue here and the dialogue from The Quantum Quest is purely coincidental and is thanks to sirSTACK and the PRSW website.
While this is an episode interpretation, I know I have some errors in location. Please forgive these -- I truly haven't yet seen anything beyond Something To Fight For (although I am working on that!)
Many, many, MANY thanks to Ekat for chewing this one back and forth with me and for prodding me when I got stuck. Huge thanks also to Ecolea and Leathie who've been incredibly helpful -- in spite of the computer chaos! You guys really are the best.
Please offer feedback -- it tells me how I'm doing; glad you're enjoying it so far!
~*~
Identity -- Measured Chaos
A week passed very slowly. Most of the time, Wes found himself being told -- usually by Jen and invariably in no uncertain terms -- to 'stay here and rest', regardless of whether the rest of the rangers were going out on a job or going to defend against Nadira and an entourage of cyclobots. It was beginning to get tedious. On thinking about it, the situation had long since gone beyond 'tedious', gone through 'irritating' and had reached truly aggravating proportions.
And at the same time, Wes couldn't argue.
He wasn't sure which was the more frustrating aspect - the constant mothering or the fact that most of it was more than justified.
Then, as if his own personal situation wasn't bad enough, there were the Silver Guardians, and more specifically, Eric Myers. After the temporary relapse of character during the Univolt fiasco, he was back to being the guy Wes remembered from their time at school together. Hard-nosed, arrogant, proud and self-absorbed. Or as Katie put it,
"If he inserted that rod any further up his butt it would come out the top of his skull."
If that had been the only problem, Wes suspected it wouldn't have mattered. But it wasn't. Eric and the Silver Guardians kept showing up, usually at the point when the Rangers had Nadira cornered. At the third time of this happening, even Lucas had been riled.
That was the reason Wes found himself quietly plotting a trip to the Silver Guardian's head quarters. Even if he couldn't participate in battles at the moment, he could at least try and smooth things.
"Wes you're not listening to me." Jen's voice broke across Wes' thoughts.
"I am," Wes answered.
"Then what have I just said?"
Wes rolled his eyes. "'And I don't want you trying to strain yourself in anyway'," he parroted. Jen's draw dropped open. "Jen, you've said more or less the same thing to me every day this week. I'm starting to bounce off the walls here 'not straining myself'."
She had the grace to look a little sheepish at this. "Sorry."
Wes waved the comment off. "I will be OK. I promise. I will take care of myself."
"Now you're being factious."
"Sue me."
Jen glared. "If you hadn't been so..."
"And as I've said at least five hundred times this week," Wes cut in, "what would you have done?"
"He's got you there," said Lucas, intervening.
For a few seconds, it looked as though Jen would bite Lucas' head off for the comment. Then finally, she subsided -- much to Wes' relief.
"C'mon," put in Katie, "we have a job to get to."
And that, Wes reflected, was that. Five minutes later and he was alone in the clock tower. He waited another five minutes, to make sure that they were clear, then he carefully crossed the attic to collect his bike helmet and jacket.
"Wes, where are you going?"
Circuit's voice made Wes jump. "Geez, Circuit -- give a guy a heart attack!" he grumbled.
"Sorry." Strangely the mechanical owl didn't sound the slightest bit apologetic. "You told Jen you'd stay here."
Wes grinned. "No -- I think I told her I'd be OK and that I'd look after myself. Didn't say anything about staying here."
"But, but, but..." Circuit spluttered.
Picking up the helmet and jacket, Wes turned back to face the owl. "Do you really want me bouncing off the walls again today?"
"She's going to deactivate me for this," Circuit warned.
"I won't let her," Wes promised. "In fact, she doesn't have to know." He offered the owl a wink. "I won't tell her if you don't!"
Circuit uttered something close to a sigh, and Wes knew he'd won this round. Slowly he made his way down to the alley where his bike was parked, only to find that it wasn't there. In its stead was a notice:
Knew you'd try this at some point, Wes -- and no dice. Have you any idea how many muscles it takes to hold a bike upright? --- Jen
For a brief second, Wes had the irrational urge to call Jen with his morpher and demand to know what the heck she thought she was playing at. Then the urge subsided. If he did that, she'd know for sure that he was not 'resting'. Besides, he had to admit that it had crossed his mind that riding his bike would be agony. OK -- he wasn't beaten yet. Granted walking would take a little longer but...
Determined, Wes stashed his helmet just inside the door of the clock tower and headed out for the Silver Guardians' headquarters.
~*~
By the time Wes reached his destination, he was seriously beginning to doubt his sanity. Funny how a chest injury seemed to make everything difficult, from breathing to walking. He waited for a few seconds, catching his breath. It would NOT be a good start if he passed out in the foyer of the Silver Guardians' headquarters. If nothing else, it would mean he'd have to explain to Jen just what he'd been doing.
I can see it now. It was like this...no, really -- I was trying to... Jen -- put the blaster down!
Wes shook his head. No way am I risking that.Finally recovered, he slowly headed into the building.
"May I help you?" enquired a bored looking receptionist.
"I'm looking for Eric Myers," Wes answered.
"In gym three. Down that hall, first left, second right, fourth door on your left -- just after the stairs," the woman replied.
"Thank you."
The receptionist grunted a response and returned her attention to her computer screen. Shesh. Whatever happened to service with a smile? Shrugging, Wes followed her directions and soon found himself standing outside gym number three. Pushing the door open, he entered.
It came as no surprise to Wes that he found Eric in the middle of a solo practice routine. As Wes recalled, when they had been at school, very few people had been willing to spar against Eric. He tended to push the limits of what was considered friendly sparring -- on a couple of occasions, even managing to break a few bones. So things had clearly not changed.
Quietly, Wes waited until Eric had finished before drawing attention to himself. But as Eric finally completed the kata, Wes cleared his throat.
"Hey Eric."
Eric didn't jump at the words, which meant he'd been well aware of his visitor and had chosen to ignore him. Wes shrugged inwardly.
"You're not dead then," Eric replied, not bothering with a greeting.
"Not last time I checked," Wes shot back.
"Did begin to wonder," Eric continued, "considering I haven't seen you with your multicoloured friends recently."
Wes knew Eric was just trying to get an easy rise out of him. The annoying thing was it was working. Swallowing the irritation with difficulty, he said, "Well, you know how it is."
"Can't say I do. Was there something you wanted?"
"Yes, actually."
"So?"
Wes forced his hands to unclench. "Look -- I know you have a job to do..."
Before Wes could finish his sentence a loud klaxon sounded.
"Speaking of which," Eric cut in, "time for me to go do it. See ya." And with that, he brushed past Wes and headed out of the gym.
"Well, that went well," Wes muttered softly. He did wonder what was up, but almost as he was wondering that, it dawned on him that he could comfortably guess. Nadira was attacking some piece of property that the Guardians were being paid to protect.
Which meant he really ought to start heading back to the clock tower -- the others were liable to return once the attack was done and Jen's mood would be bad enough without...
Suddenly his morpher bleeped.
"Wes..." Circuit sounded a little uncertain.
"What's going on?" Wes asked. "I didn't think I was supposed to know about this."
Circuit cleared his voice. "We've got a full scale mutant attack going on at an archaeological dig site in the hills. The mutant's name is Brickneck, and he's after the Quantum Controller."
"The what?"
"There isn't time to explain it, but you have to stop him from getting it!" Circuit answered.
"You got it, Circuit."
As Wes cut the connection, he was moved to wonder just what this was going to be like, given his injuries. But...
"Time for Time Force!"
Apart from the first occasion, when he hadn't known what was happening, morphing wasn't a painful process. Normally. This time... It was like acid against his nerves. It felt as though his chest was exploding. It was complete and utter agony. It was the longest three seconds of Wes' entire life.
When it finished, Wes found himself on his knees, driven there by the pain. As he crouched there, panting, he wondered if he was even going to be able to move after that, never mind fight. But after a few moments the pain died away completely, leaving him feeling energised. Frowning, he cautiously straightened and got back to his feet. Not one single twinge of pain.
I don't know what morphing has just done to me, but if it let's me do this I'm not complaining.
And with that thought, Wes headed out for the archaeological dig site.
~*~
He arrived at the site to find the battle in full swing. It had long since gone beyond the stage of knowing who was winning or losing, although a quick visual survey highlighted one person who was definitely in trouble. One of the Silver Guardians looked as though he was about to become mincemeat at the point of Brickneck's sabre.
Wes didn't even need to think about what to do. He just dived straight in, calling forth both chrono-sabres as he went. As he neared the downed Guardian, he realised it was Eric. Why am I not surprised? But that knowledge didn't slow his charge. I owe him this.
Brickneck lifted his sword in preparation of the fatal strike, just as Wes reached them. It was the work of barely a second to interpose a chrono-sabre to parry the downward swing.
"Huh?!" Brickneck exclaimed, finding the swing blocked.
"Huh?!" Eric exclaimed, finding his life unexpectedly prolonged.
Wes grinned behind the faceplate of his helmet. For good measure he kicked out at Brickneck and then slashed at it with both chrono-sabres. The attack sent the mutant reeling away, enabling Wes to offer Eric a hand up.
"Are you OK?"
Eric slapped the proffered hand away. "I don't need your help!"
Before Wes could do or say anything, Eric had rolled to his feet and chased off after Brickneck. Wes moved to follow, but Eric had already been swallowed up by the sea of Cyclobots. Wes cursed softly and turned his attentions to the Cyclobots.
As he took down a pair of the bronze coloured robots, movement at the side of the battlefield caught his eye: The other rangers had Brickneck cornered, but the mutant had his hands on a silver-and-black case. That has to be the Quantum Controller, Wes realised.
He dismembered another Cyclobot and vaulted over the remains, heading for the other rangers. As he went, he heard Brickneck say,
"It'll take more than four of you to stop me!"
"No problem!" Wes called, as he landed behind Brickneck. Before the mutant knew what had hit it, Wes had landed several harsh blows and forced it to drop the Quantum Controller box. Wes grabbed it. "I'll take that!"
"Wes?!" Jen exclaimed in a less than impressed tone of voice.
Not a good sign -- Jen's pissed.
"Figured you could use a little extra help," Wes answered."We'll talk later," Jen promised.
Definitely not a good sign.
"Oh I don't think you're going to get the chance," Brickneck put in. So saying, it flung its sabre in Wes' direction. The lethal blade missed Wes comfortably, but Wes felt the sinking sensation that it was supposed to miss him. That was confirmed a moment later as Brickneck fired his rifle, igniting the sabre.
Oh crap!
~*~
The first thing that hit Wes, as he slowly swam back to consciousness, was a sense of déjà vu. He could feel something soft beneath him -- which probably meant he was lying on the couch again. He could feel more strapping around his ribs -- had he actually broken a couple more, or had he further aggravated the already broken ones? The only difference between the aftermath of the Univolt battle and now was that someone was still patching him up.
That, Wes judged, had to be a good sign. It meant that whatever it was that Brickneck had done to him hadn't been as serious as the damage Univolt inflicted. It did cross his mind to wonder what had happened, but all he could remember was Brickneck firing at the sabre. Everything after that was a haze.
"Is he going to be OK?" Lucas' voice cut across Wes' thoughts.
"He was hit pretty hard but he'll be OK." The answer came from Jen and somehow it didn't surprise Wes to realise that her voice was coming from rather close to him.
"We've got to find that control box before it falls into the wrong hands." That was Katie, but her comment only alarmed Wes. What about that thing I took from Brickneck?
"Yeah," Lucas agreed. "We almost had it too until Brickneck attacked Wes."
Wes wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or guilty at this -- clearly it had been the controller and because of whatever Brickneck did to him they'd lost it again.
"How'd it get here anyway?" Trip asked.
"I can explain," said Circuit. Good to see Jen hasn't deactivated him, Wes idly mused. "When Time Force first started experimenting with time travel, they sent the Quantasaurus megazord and the Quantum Controller back in time. But something went wrong. The controller and the megazord got separated and both were lost."
"Presumably," mused Lucas, "whoever has the controller will be able to control the Quantasaurus?"
"Exactly," Jen agreed. "That's why we have to find it first."
"But..." began Katie.
Before she could finish, Circuit interrupted. "My sensors are detecting a mutant at the storage depot... It's Brickneck again."
"He must have found the controller!"
Wes heard the sounds of Jen moving away from the couch, presumably towards the door.
"Can we take Brickneck down without Wes?" Trip asked.
"We're going to have to," Jen answered, uncertainty ripe in her voice.
Wes listened to them leave the clock tower before opening his eyes and slowly rolling off the couch. Just that action alone caused starbursts of pain throughout his body.
"Wes?" queried Circuit. "What are you doing?"
Slowly getting to his feet, Wes glanced around the room and located his shirt and morpher -- the latter presumably having been removed by Jen at some stage. "They can't do this alone."
"But..." Circuit trailed off as Wes pulled the shirt on, wincing at the movements. "It doesn't matter what I tell you, does it?"
"Nope." Wes strapped on the morpher. "I have to do this."
Circuit made a soft sound of disapproval before reluctantly adding, "Good luck, Wes."
Wes nodded his thanks and started for the door. His legs felt rubbery, his body ached and his head was pounding, but he kept going, the uncertainty in Jen's voice a spur. Finally out of the clock tower, he stopped, long enough to morph.
As before it was three seconds of pure pain, and this time when it was finished, the pain took far longer to dissipate. Even when it had, there was no energized feeling this time. I must be really banged up, he decided, even as he called for his vector cycle and headed off towards the storage depot.
~*~
When Wes arrived at the storage depot, he could hear the sounds of battle coming from several places. He could hear the noise of blaster fire and judged that was where the other rangers were tackling Brickneck, and he started to head in that direction only to be stopped by the equally distinctive sound of Cyclosabre fire.
Following that noise, Wes found himself pursuing a trail of destroyed Cyclobots though the storage depot and up to the roof level of the building. What he was not expecting to find, however, was the situation he came upon. Two of the bronze robots had their weapons levelled at Eric, who was unable to go for his own weapon because of what he was holding in his hands: The Quantum Controller.
Neither the robots nor Eric had actually seen his arrival, which leant Wes an extra couple of seconds to size up the situation. There didn't seem to be a great deal he could do. Shoot one Cyclobot, the other would shoot Eric. Then there was the detail that Eric was all but backed up against a guard-rail, preventing him from falling the fifteen feet or so down to the level below.
Well I have to do something,
Wes decided. If in doubt, improvise."Hey, bolt-brains!" Wes called.
Both Cyclobots spun round at the yell, only to find themselves being flattened. One by a well-aimed kick to the head, while the other met its end thanks to a gut punch followed by a knee to the head.
"Wes?!" Eric sounded stunned.
The world swayed a little as Wes turned to face Eric. That is so not a good sign. "Eric..."
"You're going to say 'give me the box'," Eric cut in. "Ain't gonna happen, Wes."
"You don't know what you have. Please -- just give me the box and get to safety."
"Uh-uh. Not a chance."
Wes took a step towards Eric. "Please..."
But it was too late. Before Wes could reach him, Eric inserted his left hand into the Quantum Controller. There was a flash of blinding light that made Wes flinch away, shielding his eyes. When his vision cleared and he looked back, the Quantum Controller had vanished, and in its place was a morpher, securely strapped to Eric's left wrist.
"Nonono...Eric please. Don't..."
"Jealous?" Eric asked mildly.
Wes blinked. "What?! Eric this isn't about us...what you think I think about you...or what you think about me. You don't know what you're getting yourself into. Please don't do this."
"Who's going to stop me? You?" Eric asked, derision permeating every syllable. "You can't hardly stand, let alone stop me."
That, Wes realised, was all too true. His legs felt like so much overcooked linguini. "I can stop you."
Eric just looked smug. "Not this time, pal." The last word was spat as though it was some sort of curse. Then before Wes could do anything, Eric lifted the morpher to his mouth and called, "Quantum power!"
There was a moment, like the calm before the storm, when nothing happened, then the morpher flashed with a golden light and then there was an explosion of light and sound and energy. Wes was knocked backwards and blinded by it. By the time he'd recovered, everything seemed to have come to an end, leaving behind a strange looking figure, crouched down where Eric had previously been standing.
"Eric?"
The man silently and slowly rose to his feet and Wes got to see more of him. He was garbed in a similar uniform to that of the other Time Force Rangers and from a distance, he looked considerably like Wes' own uniform. The main difference, however, was the actual colour. It was red, but it was a darker colour, much closer to the colour of newly spilt blood.
"Eric...is that you?"
The new ranger continued to say nothing, but Wes got the impression that the man behind the helmet faceplate was sneering. Then suddenly, he turned and vaulted the guard-rail, vanishing. Wes slowly shook his head.
"Oh man..."
Slowly and painfully, Wes got to his feet and managed to stagger down from the roof of the storage depot in time to view the demise of Brickneck.
"Jen, who is that guy?" Lucas asked, as Wes finally reached them.
Jen could only shrug. "I have no idea."
"Guys," Wes began, "I think it's Eric."
"Eric?" Jen echoed.
Wes nodded. "He used the Quantum Controller to become..."
"The Quantum Ranger," finished Trip.
"As if he wasn't already a big enough pain in the ass!" muttered Lucas.
Wes could only agree with that comment.
Katie, who had been keeping an eye on the battle unfolding before them suddenly let out a long whistle. "Man -- the Quantum powers are unbelievable."
Glancing in that direction, Wes could only agree with her. Eric had dispatched the remaining Cyclobots with ease and was now finishing off Brickneck -- a mutant who had caused the rest of the rangers a serious problem.
"But how is Eric going to use those powers?" Lucas wondered.
As Brickneck's chrono-frozen form dropped to the ground, Eric stepped around the shrunken mutant and slowly swaggered across towards them, coming to a halt about twelve feet away.
"Eric?" Wes tried again. "Are you all right?"
There was a soft snicker. "Oh yeah," Eric drawled. "Never been better."
TO BE CONTINUED
