Chapter 13 – Different World
Previously - "But that's impossible", Aimi began, "Anna Dixon died four years ago".
"I got better", was the red heads response.
Frustrated by the woman's cryptic responses, Aimi aimed her sonic pistol at her, "Quit with the riddles and explain, you've got ten seconds".
"It's alright Anna, I think the game's up", they heard a male voice call out from the apartment. The voice sounded vaguely familiar but it wasn't until he joined Anna at the door that the two agents realised who it belonged to.
"Kris?" Xander stammered, "you've come back".
"I don't understand", Aimi stated as she lowered her weapon, "how is this possible?"
"Perhaps you should come inside and we'll explain everything", Kris replied and he beckoned his former subordinates inside the apartment. The main living room as sparsely furnished with just a small couch, an air mattress and a table. In the corner of the room was a desk with a laptop sitting on top, together with a strange looking contraption with a piece of glass attached to the top.
"Bit basic for my tastes", Xander commented as he looked around the room.
"Yeah well we didn't plan on being here long", Kris replied, "sorry we don't have much for you to sit on". Kris and Anna sat down on the couch, leaving Aimi and Xander to sit on the floor, "After the Command Center was destroyed, I waited for Harmon and his goons to come and collect me. They placed me under arrest and tried to get some secrets about the Power Rangers out of me". He lifted up his shirt and showed a number of scars criss-crossing his sides and back, "When it became apparent that I wasn't giving anything up, they left me to rot in a cell".
"And that's where I came in", Anna picked up the story, "firstly I'm not the Anna Dixon you've heard of. I'm from another version of Earth, designated as Earth Prime".
"Wait a sec, you're from a different dimension?" Xander asked and Anna nodded in confirmation, "this is awesome".
Anna laughed, "You're just like our Xander", she sighed deeply and a painful look came over her face, "he was a great loss".
"You mean in your reality I'm dead?" Xander said.
"All of you are", she replied, "about the same time as the events Kris described, we came under attack from Divatox. All four of us were at the forefront of repelling her forces. That was until the three of you were killed in a raid on one of her strongholds. I barely made it out myself". Kris squeezed her hand reassuringly and she smiled in appreciation, "The mission was to capture a piece of her technology and we succeeded".
Kris reached into his combat trousers and pulled out a small box, "This is one of Divatox's dimensional drives, it enables her to travel between realities".
He passed the device over to Xander who looked at it like all his Christmases had come at once, "Is this how you escaped from prison?"
Anna nodded, "I decided to try and find some help on another version of Earth. After examining the dimensional drive one of our scientists came up with a viewing screen to see into other dimensions". She pointed at the glass screen on the table, "That's it over there, it can show us what's happening on at this exact spot in another universe. Using the device I found the agency facility and thought I could get some help from there. I arrived in the prison complex where Kris was being held. It was a bit of a surprise for both of us, coming face to face with someone that we believed was dead. When I took him to Earth Prime he decided to stay and help us".
"And things kind of escalated from there", Kris added as he showed the two younger agents their interlocked hands.
"Don't you have Power Rangers in your dimension", Aimi asked.
"Sadly not", Kris replied as he stood up from the couch and moved over to the laptop, "all of the rangers in this dimension have a counterpart on Earth Prime but no spandex suits". He brought up an image on the laptop of six teenagers, to the amazement of the younger agents it was the six original Power Rangers, yet they all looked different. On Earth Prime it was Jason that had long hair, Tommy's was cropped much closer. Kimberly had long blonde hair and Trini had a pixie hair cut. Zack and Billy looked similar to the people they knew, except they were both much more muscular.
"Don't let the looks fool you", Anna began, "from what Kris has told me, their personalities are very similar to the rangers you know".
"When we explained the situation they didn't hesitate to help", Kris added, "we couldn't give them ranger suits but they were our first line of defence against Divatox". This statement hung in the air for a moment as Kris didn't continue immediately, "Jason was the first one we lost, killed by a blaster shot just after New Year's. Tommy and Kim were next, they saved a town from one of Divatox's bombs. Sadly they couldn't save themselves", Kris stopped as his words were causing tears to form in his eyes.
"A few months ago, Will had a breakthrough", Anna continued the story, "that's Billy's alternate by the way", she added. "He reverse engineered the dimensional drive and was able to find a way to force Divatox out of our dimension. We've been keeping track of her ever since".
Aimi and Xander sat silently for a couple of minutes digesting the information. Their former boss was alive and living in an alternate dimension with an alternate version of his dead fiancée. The Earth they had come from had been devastated by Divatox and now they were here to help them, "So why now", Aimi began, "Divatox has been here for a few months, why wait until now to help".
"You didn't need it", Kris replied in his usual blunt manner, "we saw that the Power Rangers were able to hold Divatox at bay but it's not Divatox that's attacking the city today". He brought at a new image on the laptop, "This is Divatox's older brother, General Havoc. From all accounts he's much worse than his sister".
"Using the captured dimensional drive we can monitor other versions of Earth", Anna continued, "General Havoc has overrun three different versions of Earth in a matter of days".
"And now he's here", Aimi replied, "the rangers are out there facing him now".
"We've got something that can help", Anna stated, "I just hope it's not too late".
"Well what are we waiting for", Xander said as he leapt to his feet, "let's go". The group hurried after the young genius and out of the apartment.
Angel Grove Bridge
Back in the city, the rangers were having a tough time against Metallosaurus. The giant robot was faster, stronger and better armed than the Turbo Megazord. The robot raked a clawed arm down the chest of the megazord. Sparks flew of the zord and it staggered away from Metallosaurus. In the cockpit the rangers were trying desperately to keep control, "We can't take too many more hits like that", Carlos cried as he struggled with his steering wheel.
"Shields down to 36 percent", Cassie added.
"Alright I've got an idea but we need to be quick", TJ said to the other rangers. "Ashley on my mark activate the headlights. That should distract him long enough to call on the Turbo Saber to finish him off". The other rangers nodded in agreement and waited patiently for Metallosaurus to come closer. What the red ranger didn't expect from a blast of flame from the dragons mouth. The fire hit the megazord, sending it crashing to the ground.
"Shields now at 12 percent", Cassie cried, "we can't wait any longer".
The rangers dragged the megazord back to its feet and faced off against the giant robot once again, "Now Ash", TJ called out. The yellow ranger hit the headlights on the megazords chest and as predicted, it temporarily blinded General Havoc at the controls of the robot, "Turbo Megazord Saber", TJ added and the sword appeared in the megazord hands. Initiating its spin out attack, the megazord tore through Metallosaurus.
The Turbo Megazord skidded to a halt behind the robot and the rangers fully expected to see it falling to ground, however, it was still standing there, "I don't believe this", Charlotte cried as she lent forward in her seat, "that thing should be in pieces by now". Metallosaurus was still standing but the megazord had caused some visible damage. There was a huge hole in the side of the robot and there were a number of panels missing from its torso.
"You haven't won yet rangers", they heard General Havoc call out. The giant robot slowly made its way towards the megazord and wrapped its tail around the torso of the zord. With their power severely reduced the rangers had no way to escape. General Havoc sent several thousand volts of electricity through the megazord, shorting out all of its systems. In the cockpit the rangers console sparked and burst into flame, they were helpless to stop General Havoc.
Unfastening their seat belts and gathering at the back of the cockpit, the rangers didn't know what to do, "Billy, Miss Fairweather, some help would be appreciated right now", TJ anxiously called out over the radio.
"I'm activating the emergency protocols TJ", Angela replied, "I'll teleport you back to the Garage for a further debriefing". Miss Fairweather did exactly as she promised and the rangers were teleported out of the cockpit. The Turbo Megazord also vanished from the scene, leaving behind a very frustrated General Havoc behind. The General manoeuvred Metallosaurus back into the river so it could undergo some repairs.
Pegasus Garage
Up on the monitors Billy looked at a very sorry sight. The Turbo Megazord had been extensively damaged, to the point that they didn't even dare disassembling it. The zord had been teleported back whole into the zord hangar near the Power Chamber. The outer chassis had been badly damaged, panels missing, wiring exposed and severe fire and smoke damage near the head of the zord. Angela had teleported there immediately with her engineers to assess the damage.
Billy turned his head at the sound of an opening door and saw five helmetless and despondent rangers. He could tell from their body language that the defeat had dented their confidence. The way their shoulders were slumped, the way their helmets dangled loosely by their sides, he had seen it all before.
The teens perched on a nearby workbench and stared at the ground, "I can't believe General Havoc totalled the megazord", Cassie began, "what are we going to do when he returns".
"Well Angela's looking at the damage now", Billy replied, "hopefully she'll have some good news".
Almost on cue the screen behind Billy activated and Angela's face appeared, "Hey guys how are you feeling?"
"Sore but we'll live", TJ began, "so give it to us straight Miss Fairweather, how bad is it?"
Angela sighed, "Pretty bad. Apart from the visible damage you can see, the attack has damaged the power matrix. Until we can get that fixed, we can't even begin to repair the external damage to the megazord".
"So how long will that take?" Charlotte asked.
"The matrix is a sophisticated bit of equipment and expensive", she replied, "there's no good way to put this, I think it'll take several weeks to get the megazord operational again".
"Several weeks", Carlos exclaimed, "General Havoc could be back in several hours". In frustration he threw his helmet across the room, where it slammed into a metal cupboard. The green ranger ran his hands through his hair in frustration, "I'm sorry, that Havoc guy really pissed me off".
"You're not alone there Carlos", Angela replied, "he managed to reduced months of planning and engineering into scrap metal in a matter of minutes". She sighed before continuing, "if I'm honest it might be quicker if I disassembled the megazord and rebuilt it from scratch".
"Alright Angela keep us updated", Billy said and deactivated the communication system. "Look this isn't the first time we've lost a megazord", she said to the rangers, "in fact it happened to me twice".
"Was that when the Thunder and Ninja Megazord were introduced", Ashley asked, remembering when those zords had been seen for the first time.
"Correct, except that time we had a little outside help to give us upgraded or new zord", he replied, "I'm afraid I haven't got anything else to offer you".
"Good thing we're here then", they heard Aimi's voice called out. She stepped out of the elevator with Xander and an unknown red head. Behind these two, Billy caught sight of a face that he hadn't seen in nearly two years.
"Kris", he said to the man, "is that you?"
"Sure is Billy", he replied, "nice set up you've got here", he could see the inquisitive look he was getting from the former blue ranger but he decided to cut him off, "they'll be time of explanations later".
"Who's this?" Carlos asked with a suspicious tone, he vaguely recognised the man but couldn't remember from where.
"Oh right you've never met before", Aimi replied, "this is Kris Hightower, he was our former team leader when we first arrived in Angel Grove and this", she pointed at the woman, "is his partner Captain Anna Dixon from Earth Prime, the dimension that Divatox attacked last".
"I appreciate this is a lot to take in", Anna said to the rangers and Billy, "but we don't have time for questions". She reached into her military coat and pulled out a disk, "Play the video on here", she said to the former blue ranger, "Oh and Billy, don't freak out ok".
Billy was confused by her statement until he played the video. Up on the screen was a man who look exactly like him, except his hair was a very dark brown, "My name is Commander Will Cranston", the man began, "if you're watching this then Captains Dixon and Hightower have found the Power Rangers". Will Cranston paused briefly before continuing, "After arriving in my dimension, Captain Hightower and I spoke at great length about the Power Rangers from his world. Using some of the information he gave me, I was able to design and build something that could assist us as a last resort against Divatox. Fortunately we forced her back before we got a chance to use it".
"Ok this is just too weird", Ashley commented, drawing murmurs of agreement from the other rangers.
"Having been briefed about the latest team in your dimension, I'm guessing that someone just made a sarcastic comment, probably the yellow ranger", Commander Cranston said. Ashley jaw dropped open as soon as he said that, "This is a lot to take in", he continued, "but all I can ask you to do it to trust me. I will send you our creation as soon as the Captains give the word", he paused briefly before adding, "good luck". With that the video stopped playing.
"I've confirmed that we've made contact and the delivery will be made to the desert outside the Power Chamber", Anna stated, "it should be here any minute".
"Well we'd better go take delivery", TJ said to everyone. The ranger retrieved their helmets and took closely next to the non rangers. In a flash of light they all disappeared from the garage.
A/N – So who predicted that Kris would've been hiding out in another dimension all this time? His and Anna's relationship does raise a weird philosophical question. If you lost the love of your life but another version of them arrived from another dimension, would you fall in love with them? You probably know what Will Cranston is delivering, if you don't you'll find out next time.