1989: The Dreamer

1989 AD - Universe M54331Z-B

"What's wrong, Wallace?" Leon, the Red Wild Zord asked.

The Eagle Wild Zord sighed. He looked at the expanse which was the Animarium. It was beautiful, but it was missing something. What it was... he knew not.

"I don't know, Leon..." Wallace replied. "I just feel..."

"Empty?" Leon asked, seeing Wallace couldn't find the necessary words to finish his thought.

"Yes... I believe that would be the word for it," Wallace said. "It's great that the five of us are here looking over the sleeping Princess Shayla, but after three thousand years... It gets a bit stale."

"Yeah, bro. I know what you mean..." Leon said, looking around. "You, me, Barry, Allison, and Chuck... After a while there're only so many conversations we can have. You know what you're feeling the lack of? Our Animal Crystals."

"You're right!" Wallace said, perking up. "Yes! What happened to them!?"

"They are supposed to be passed down to the ancestors of the Royal Guardians," Leon said. "So whoever is next in line from Brynja's family tree is whoever has your Animal Crystal. Should the time ever arise that we are needed again, Shayla will awaken and we will be paired with our new guardian."

"No!" Wallace said, sitting up and stretching out his wings. "I can't wait that long! I'm going to find out who it is now."

"How!?" Leon asked, laughing. "We can't abandon Princess Shayla!"

"Who said anything about abandoning her?" Wallace said, a sly tone to his voice. "I'm gonna link up to the Animal Crystal."

"You can't do that!" Leon demanded. "If you do, you'll be activating it. What if whoever has the Crystal right now isn't ready for that sort of link? Remember how long it took for Baskin, Brynja, Merrick, and the rest of them to get synched with their Crystals? That's irresponsible!"

"I'll just ping it, then!" Wallace said. "I... I just wanna feel it. One more time. That's not bad, right?"

Leon sighed. "Okay, fine. Ping it, okay? Just don't try to contact the owner of the Crystal. It could prove to be too much."

"I got it," Wallace said. He then closed his eyes and for the first time in almost three thousand years, he reached out to link up with his Animal Crystal.

. . .

"What do you mean we're moving to Turtle Cove!?" Douglas Earhardt demanded.

"I... I don't know!" Michelle said, shrugging. "This morning I just got an intense feeling that I should look into jobs in Turtle Cove. The military base there said they had a position with a branch of the government under someone named McKnight and that I fit the bill perfectly to be a secretary there."

"That doesn't even make sense!" Douglas protested. "You aren't military!"

"I know, I know... but they're offering me two hundred thousand a year!" Michelle blurted out, unable to contain the surprise any longer.

Douglas stared at her, dumbfounded. It was 1989. One simply did not make that much money wihtout having something special to offer. But, he wasn't going to look a gifthorse in the mouth.

"When do we start packing?" Douglas asked, a smile spreading across his face.

"Tomorrow! They're even paying for our flight!" Michelle stated happily. "This is an answer to our prayers, Doug! We're set for life!"

"What's happening?" A little girl asked, walking into the room with a coloring book in her hand.

"Well, Taylor..." Michelle began. "We are going to be moving!"

"Why!?" Taylor asked, shocked. She had a lot of friends at her elementary school and didn't want to lose them.

"Because I got a nice new job!" Michelle stated.

"No! But my school!" Taylor protested. "All of my friends!"

"Actually, that's another thing..." Michelle said, looking at both Douglas and Taylor. "They said they have a special school on base just for you, Taylor. They said it is an accelerated learning program! It's called Alphabet Soup, and you will be there with some other kids, too! It will be great! You'll see!"

"But Moooom..." Taylor whined.

"Just you wait and see! Really! It'll be great!" Michelle said, beaming as she looked from Taylor to Douglas.

"Okay, fine." Taylor said, pouting. "But this Alphabet Soup thing better be worth it!"

. . .

General McKnight stood in the office of the man who was overseeing Turtle Cove. He was a stern man who had a reputation for being hard and unmoving, which General of the Army Rex thought was very important. The man in question was Colonel Mason Truman of the US Air Force.

"So you understand your assignment?" McKnight asked the man as he began to walk around the room, looking at the many awards and honors littered throughout the room recognizing Colonel Truman for his outstanding leadership and service.

"Yes," Truman answered. "I run things here and in return, GA Rex ensures I get the back up I need from the Army when I need it."

"We scratch your back as long as you scratch ours..." McKnight said. "I'm glad you were convinced by Rex's mission statement."

"He's a brilliant man," Truman replied. "And if he says these steps are what are needed to help prevent another invasion like Hydra or the League of Assassins back in the fifties, then I'm onboard. The only thing is this Alphabet Soup thing..."

"It's needed," McKnight answered simply. "Rex says this is the way to bring in and train tomorrow's future leaders. I've already seen miracles from this program. There is a baby we have who has showm amazing powers and-"

"Did you say powers?" Truman asked.

"Magic, Colonel Truman," McKnight replied.

"Hmph. That sort of thing makes me uneasy..." Truman said, shaking his head. "There won't be anything like that here, will there?"

"Only if we're lucky." Mcknight stated, smiling. "This new family in particular... Earhardt? We found a powerful signal coming from their house in another state. Come to find out the energy source matched what Dr. Viktor Adler's team had hypothesized would be the energy signature belonging to the Animarium. Further prodding helped us find out the girl in the house had strong... credentials."

Truman nodded. "So the Animarium was calling out to her?"

"Probably," McKnight answered, knowing not it was actually Wallace who had been trying to not link specifically to Taylor, but to the Animal Crystal in her mother's box of family keepsakes.

"So she's one of the... what was it Rex called them? Potentials?" Truman asked.

"No, no." McKnight answered. "It seems that her Animal Spirit is the Eagle, and she is greatly connected to only the Red portion of the Emotional Spectrum, that of Rage. But although she is not a Potential, she is still a good fit for Alphabet Soup. That girl that came in yesterday, for instance. Moira? She's not a Potential, but she seems to have immense Psychic Energy coming from her."

Truman frowned at the mention of Moira. "I... I don't like her. There's something... unsettling about her and that doll she's always carrying around. She calls it Susie Sunshine, but... That doll ain't no beam of sunshine, I'll tell you that."

McKnight smiled. "Well, she'll be a big help to Alphabet Soup. And Truman? My appreciation once again for hiring Michelle Earhardt. I know she wasn't your top choice, but when we found out she started calling different places here in Turtle Cove, and that one of the places was here... well, we were sure fate was smiling down upon us."

"It is rather odd she called right after you guys found out her daughter fit your parameters for Alphabet Soup..." Truman observed. Although he trusted GA Rex, there was still something bothering him about the whole situation. He just couldn't shake that feeling, even if the facts showed him Rex was a good man. It was a gut feeling he was trying to ignore, to be a good patriot.

"Not odd. Like I said: fate," McKnight said. "I'll be in again. Have a good day."

Truman sighed. "Yeah, you too."

Sitting down as McKnight left, Truman began the paperwork for Michelle Earhardt to begin working for him. What he didn't know about her was that it wasn't fate that had led her to Turtle Cove: She was the current rightful owner of the Eagle Animal Crystal. When Wallace had reached out to her Crystal, her mental link to it had driven her to get as close to the Animarium as she could (though she didn't know that was what was driving her). One thing led to another, and she had joined up with Rex's gang. She knew not that it wasn't for her, but for Taylor. She knew not what she was getting her family involved in...

. . .

In Taylor's pocket, as she sat in her seat on the plane, was the Eagle Animal Crystal. Taylor had been quite upset while packing for the trip and to help her feel better about the move, Michelle had given to Taylor the Animal Crystal, telling her that it ws time for her to be a big girl. A symbol of this sudden growth Michelle was needing from Taylor was the Animal Crystal. It worked: Taylor decided to fill the role that was given to her and was a "big girl", helping to make the transition from the house to the airport as smooth as possible.

Taylor's favorite book was a fairytale written by Adler, Evans, and Landors (before Dr. Landors had married Dr. Evans). It was a children's book depicting a version of the story of how the Animarium was lifted up from Animaria. She had grown quite excited at the airport when her father, Douglas, had revealed to her that many scientists believed that where they were going (Turtle Cove) was the actual place where Animaria had once been. Taylor's mind began to wander, believing that one day she would be able to find the Animarium and meet the Ancient Warriors drawn in the book. Their design was invented by Dr. Landors, who also did the illustrations in the book. Future: Omega Ranger was surprised at the illustrations as he saw them: they looked nearly identical to who he knew were the Wild Force Power Rangers. He wasn't surprised when the Time Force Cameras' mental readings showed to him that Taylor felt a special connection to the Yellow Wild Force Ranger.

As the plane flew closer and closer to Turtle Cove, Wallace the Eagle Wild Zord on the Animarium shot his head up. He had been flying near a mountain when the signal came in strong: the Animal Crystal was near. Very near.

I... I shouldn't... Wallace thought. Leon will be so mad at me, but... I have to! It's no coincidence! The user of the Animal Crystal must have heard my link and is coming to reply to it!

He landed on a cliff. Closing his eyes, he began emitting his Animal Energy out to link to the Animal Crystal. The energy pulsed through the air and out to the airplane. It was close.

On the plane, Taylor noticed the lights begin to blink on and off. She slowly looked around to see if anyone else had noticed, but was disappointed to see everyone was fast asleep. It was weird in her mind that they were sleeping, since it was only a six hour flight. She knew not that the enchantment over the Animarium caused everyone but the pilots to fall asleep to help no one see it. For the pilots themselves, Animal Spirit Energy with Nathadian Magic swam from the Animarium to keep them continually looking past the Animarium, Magically causing them to not notice it although it was right there for them to see. Then, to Taylor's surprise, the shutter to her window began to clatter up and down.

She stared at it for a moment, then reached forward to open the shutter. She felt as if there was something calling out to her, which in fact there was. It was Wallace, synching himself to the Animal Crystal and unknowingly to its new owner: Taylor. The little girl grabbed the shutter tab and lifted it up. She slowly looked out the window and her jaw dropped in unbelief. She was not blinded by any Magic. Right there beside the plane was the Animarium in all its magnificence. She was elated.

I knew it! She thought. Daddy was right! The Animarium is in Turtle Cove!

"Mommy!" Taylor yelled, turning and shaking her mother awake. "Mommy, look!"

"What is it, Honey?" Michelle asked, waking up and leaning toward the window that Taylor was pulling her toward.

With all the happiness in her bubbling out in her countenance, little Taylor pointed out the window. "Look! It's the Animarium!"

Michelle tilted a bit and looked out the window. The moment Taylor had awoken her, Nathadian Magic had wrapped itself around her mind, blocking her from being able to perceive the Animarium. She looked and could not see a thing,

Chuckling, leaning back to fall asleep again, Michelle said, "I think someone's been reading that book too much."

Taylor frowned, still pointing. "But it was right there..."

Michelle, seeing how upset her daughter was, decided to close the shutter to get her mind to stop wandering with the shape the clouds were making outside. After she closed it, she leaned back once again, intent on returning to her Magically induced sleepiness.

"Get some rest, Honey." She said, smiling at her daughter.

Seeing her mother fall back asleep, Taylor decided to check again. She leaned her face as close as she could to the glass without touching it as she opened the shutter again. She peered into the clouds, trying hard to see the Animarium.

During this, Wallace smiled to himself. I'm connected. I... It's a little girl! But she has the spirit of a fighter! Yes... just like Brynja! The same blood boils in her veins! Well, whatever happens now I can feel her. I will be her private guardian, there for her if ever she needs it!

Back on the plane, Taylor squinted. Behind one Magically created cloud she could just barely make out the peak of one of the mountains of the Animarium.

I knew it! She thought happily. I knew it was real! And I'm gonna find it. I don't care what anyone else says. The Animarium is real, and I'm going to do everything I can to get back up here in the sky and find it!