Quest 25

Lila breathed loudly; her heart was beating painfully against her chest from all of the exertion from fighting against Time Red. She scowled at the tall male in front of her. She was doubled over after receiving a kick to the stomach but she held her gun in a tight grip while the red Timeranger held his two sword-like weapons out in front of him, ready to strike.

She kept her eyes fixed on the male in front of her, preparing herself for the next attack. She wasn't overly impressed with how the fight was going. The Orgettes appeared to be keeping the Gaorangers and other Timerangers busy, but she seemed to have her hands full in just dealing with the red Timeranger while Serperant still appeared to be fighting with Time Pink. Her scowl increased. What's taking him so long?! she snapped to herself, her frustration mounting. The girl was already wounded so it shouldn't take him too long to deal with her.

She needed to know what was going on, what was taking him so long. He was a master assassin. It shouldn't take him this long to deal with an injured girl. Making sure that she remained facing him, her eyes flittered in the direction of Serperant.

Her scowl was instantly replaced with a look of pure shock.

Serperant was hugging the girl!

Anger instantly overwhelmed her shock, building quickly within her. No! How is it possible? She had made him remember, she must have done. It was the only explanation for what was happening. She seethed angrily, her body beginning to shake. But how had the girl known? Her grip on her weapon intensified, the leather of her gloves straining with her grip. She was angry. More than angry. She had never felt this furious before. All the planning was now put to waste. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Tatsuya, who was stood a couple of meters away from Lila, tilted his head in confusion at her sudden distraction and the look of utter fury in her eyes. Slowly, feeling a deep sense of apprehension on his heart, he turned, following her gaze. He couldn't prevent the smile of relief from forming on his lips. She had done it. Yuuri had actually done it.

He turned back to look at Lila, preparing himself for her reaction. From the look on the villainess's face, he knew that her outburst was going to be violent and brutal.

Lila noticed him shift and instantly her attention snapped back to him. "What have you done?!" she shrieked, pointing her weapon back at him. "How could you have done this?"

Tatsuya shook her head, frowning. "We've just reminded Serperant of who he really is and of the life you took away from him." He pointed his Arrow Vector directly at her.

Lila snorted. "You people are all about saving others, aren't you?"

"It's our duty," Tatsuya replied. "People need to be protected from the likes of you, the Londarz family and the Orgs."

"I won't let you do this. You can't." The venom was evident in her tone. "Too much went into this for the likes of you and her to ruin all of that." She turned her attention back to Yuuri and Serperant and let out a laugh. "You really think that this will make any difference? You think you've won?" Her eyes snapped back to him. "Things are going to change."

Tatsuya looked at her in confusion, his grip on his Double Vector weapon tightening, wondering what she could mean. Do the Orgs have something planned?

Lila suddenly fired her gun at him, startling him and he quickly rolled out of the way, the shot hitting the ground just behind him, firing dust and gravel into the air, before leaping up. "Vector end, Beat Six!" he shouted, holding his Double Vector up, one of the Vectors pointing upwards as if in the twelve o'clock position on a clock while the other was pointing downwards in a six o'clock position. In one swift movement, he moved his arms, creating the attack which hit Lila, throwing her backwards onto the ground. She let out a shriek as her gun flew out of her hands and she clasped a hand to her arm as a thin red gash appeared.

She looked up at him, a look of shock on her face. Her hand clutched her wound tighter. She stumbled to her feet, her fury rising once more. But, instead of fighting him, she took a step backwards and disappeared into the tree line.

Tatsuya took a step forward as if to follow her but stopped and, picking up her discarded weapon, headed over to Yuuri and Serperant. As he approached, his Double Vector disappearing, he noticed that Serperant stiffened before turning around, his katana held out in front of him, keeping Yuuri behind him protectively. He instantly stopped where he was.

"It's alright." Yuuri placed her hand on her former bodyguard's arm, her voice calm. "He's a friend."

Serperant paused, taking in Yuuri's words. Through the ground and air, he could sense that he approaching man was one that he had encountered before, someone who had been by Yuuri's side. He slowly lowered his sword but kept a firm grip just in case of an attack.

From behind Serperant, Yuuri smiled, telling Tatsuya that it was okay to approach them. He took quick, cautious steps and was soon standing in front of her. She took a breath and gave him another smile, this time one of happiness that he knew was for him and he quickly pulled her into his arms.

"Are you alright," he whispered in her ear.

She nodded against his shoulder. "Are you?"

"Yeah." Almost regretfully, he gently pushed her away. "It worked."

Her smile grew wider. "It worked."

He hadn't seen her smile like that in a very long time, a smile of utter happiness and he felt a sudden urge to kiss her but knew that now wasn't the right time, plus he still had his helmet on. She seemed to be thinking the same thing as her hand cupped where his chin would be and she continued to smile.

Next to them, Serperant shifted uneasily, unsure as to what to do. It appeared that the woman he was supposed to be protecting had someone else to protect her. Of course that made sense. He had been in the darkness for too long that of course she would find someone knew, but despite that, he knew that it was still his duty to protect her. He had failed to protect her mother so he deemed to continue to protect her daughter instead.

Tearing his sense away from her, he could feel violent vibrations through the ground. There was a fight going on. He turned in the direction of the battle, sensing the milling Orgs and the humans. He let out a rasp, alerting Tatsuya and Yuuri who both turned, instantly reminded that there was still a battle going on.

"I'd better go and help them out," Tatsuya said, pressing Lila's gun into Yuuri's hand. "Use this until Sion arrives."

She took it with a nod of her head. "Be careful," she told him and he nodded, running off in the direction of the fight. She then turned to Serperant. "Go with him," she ordered. "I'll be fine."

Serperant felt somewhat reluctant to leave but he had his orders and he inclined his head before slowly following after Tatsuya, making sure that he would still be able to sense her in case anything happened.

G|T

Ayase shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't understand where the continuous onslaught of Orgettes was coming from. It felt like they had been fighting for hours. Every time they appeared to defeat one group, another with twice as many Orgettes sprung up in their place.

He hated to think it, but he didn't know how much more he could take.

"Need a hand?"

The sound of Tatsuya's voice startled him and he turned to see the lead Timeranger running to join them, his Arrow Vectors ready in his hands. Ayase let out a breath of relief. "Took you long enough." He struck down an approaching Org minion before turning back to him. "Well?"

"She did it."

"Thank goodness." That meant that it hadn't been a waste, that one of the best assassins from the future was finally on their side. He looked behind his friend and saw the former Londarz member slowly approaching, his sword unsheathed. He noticed that Serperant's pace appeared to be increasing, going from a walk to a run. He grabbed Tatsuya's arm. "I think we'd better get out of the way."

"Wha–?" Before he had a chance to even think, Tatsuya was yanked to one side and a white-ish coloured blur swept past them.

"What the–?" Domon shouted in confusion as the Orgettes around him were destroyed and in a matter of seconds, the Timerangers and Gaorangers were alone on the battlefield, all of the Orgettes destroyed while Serperant, breathing heavily, stood a couple of feet away and calmly sheathed his sword.

"I take it she got him to remember then," Gaku noted, walking over to the red Timeranger.

"Yeah," Tatsuya replied, looking over his shoulder to see that now the minion had been destroyed (and none had risen in their place), Yuuri was walking over to them.

"About time too," Domon stated, stretching out his arms as his transformation disappeared. "I don't know how much longer I could go on for."

"Aww, was 'ickle Domon getting tired?" Ayase mocked with a laugh, also cancelling his transformation, Tatsuya and the Gaorangers copying the motion.

"Why you–!" Domon snarled and made to swipe at him but the blue Timeranger ducked out of the way and laughed once more.

"Do you think that's it?" Sae asked.

"I don't know," Kakeru replied. "But I don't think so. Serperant and Lila were already here waiting for us. That makes me think that they've got something planned. Something big."

"Speaking of the witch, where is she?" Domon asked, looking round.

"She ran off," Tatsuya replied. "But not before saying that things were going to change. I think that means they have something more planned."

"Why don't we just ask Serperant?" suggested Gaku. "He's been down with them. He must know what they have planned."

"That's a good idea," agreed Kakeru. "But who's going to ask him."

They all froze. None of them wanting to approach the former criminal.

"Why are you all scared of him?" Yuuri asked, suddenly appearing next to them, telling them that she had heard their discussion. "He's on our side now." When none of them replied, she let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine." She went over to Serperant, beckoning him to go with her back to her comrades. He followed behind her, the two conversing. Arriving back, she folded her arms against her chest and let out a heavy sigh. "He says that he doesn't know. Apparently he and Lila were just told to come up, but he does think that Ura has something planned he just doesn't know what."

"He can't speak so how can you understand him?" Sotaro asked. "Uh sorry! I didn't mean it like that," he quickly added as they all sent his chastising looks.

She looked up at her former protector before looking back at them. "I just can," she replied, though she honestly didn't know herself, but she seemed to recognise the sounds that he made. The last time she had had a conversation with him, he had been able to talk. It deeply saddened her as she realised that she couldn't remember what his voice sounded like.

"What could Ura be planning?" Sae wondered. She looked round at all of them. "He can't know we have Serperant on our side, right?"

"If I'm right, then it's more than likely that he will have a back-up plan," Shirogane replied. "And Tatsuya said that Lila's disappeared. I expect that she's more than likely already informed him of what has happened and he will have adjusted his plan. Remember, they were already here waiting for us."

Kakeru nodded in agreement. "This is also the place from our dreams. Something big is definitely going to happen, we all know that. It's just a question of what."

"And that's a big what," Gaku added. "We have no idea what they're planning."

"But at least we have Serperant," Domon voiced. "That's one objective out of the way and with him on our side, we have a better chance at kicking those guys down quicker." He punched his fist into his other hand in determination.

"Everyone!"

The voice of Sion alerted them all to his presence and they turned to see the blue-haired alien running towards them. He stopped once he reached them, panting for breath.

"About time you got here," Domon said. "You missed out on all the fun."

"Sorry," Sion apologised with a bow, "but I couldn't find you guys. I followed the co-ordinates Taku gave us which lead me through a tunnel but I couldn't leave."

"What do you mean you couldn't leave the tunnel?" Kakeru asked.

"I just couldn't get out," Sion replied. "I thought I was trapped but then there was this light and I was suddenly out here, wherever here is." He looked around at the landscape. As he turned, his eyes rested on Serperant and his face broke out into a smile, seeing that Yuuri had managed to get him to remember. He turned to Yuuri, holding out her Chrono Changer. "It's been upgraded," he told her. "Sorry I couldn't get it to you sooner."

She smiled in response as she took it, strapping it to her wrist. She had felt lost without it, useless almost and she was glad to have it back.

"What do we do now?" Kai wondered, looking round at them all. "Do we stay here or…?"

"There's nothing left for us here," Gaku replied. "The Orgs have gone, but…" he didn't finish his sentence, all of them knowing that something more was supposed to happen. He turned to Kakeru. "What do you think, Red?"

The lead Gaoranger paused. He had two choices: leave or stay. If they stayed, then there may not be another attack. They had no idea when they're dreams were supposed to become reality; it not might even be that day, but what if it was? They had no idea when the enemy would attack, but the fact that they had been lying in wait… that had to mean something. The Orgs obviously had something planned for them. But if they weren't attacking that day and they stayed then they would be wasting valuable time recuperating, something that couldn't be done properly out in the middle of nowhere and Yuuri was still injured. They couldn't risk her wound becoming infected since her bandages still needed to be changed. It made more sense to leave and gather their strength. Taku or Tetomu would be able to tell them if the Orgs had risen.

"I suggest we go back," he eventually informed them. "There isn't much more we can do here, except wait."

The Gaorangers nodded in agreement.

"But how do we get back?" Ayase wondered. "We just appeared here."

"He has a point," Tatsuya added. "There was just solid rock behind us."

"We're trapped here then," Sion said with a heavy heart.

"Not necessarily," Shirogane said, speaking up. "In our dreams we could hear our Power Animals and they were close by, so there must be another way out if they were able to get close to us." He looked up at the sky. "We have no idea where we are, but –"

"We might be able to fly out," Yuuri finished his sentence, her gaze following his and he nodded. She then looked around at the others. "We have no idea where we are or where the forest leads, but if we called upon the Time Flyer then we could fly out."

"It's our only option," Tatsuya added. He turned to Sion. "Would it be able to hold twelve of us?"

Sion thought for a moment before slowly shaking his head. "The Time Flyer was only designed for the use of five people. It couldn't carry all of us."

"But it's our only way out," Kakeru reminded them.

Tatsuya nodded. "We'd have to make a couple of trips then. Split into groups. Would it take six people?" he directed his question to Sion.

"I think so," the blue-haired youngster replied. "But I wouldn't recommend going too far."

"Okay. So we split into two groups, each with a Timeranger to fly it. Agreed?"

They all nodded unanimously in agreement. They had no other choice after all.

Tatsuya raised his wrist, speaking into his Chrono Changer. "Taku? Taku?"

Instead of hearing the voice of the robotic navigator owl, they were met with static. He looked up at the other Timerangers, confusion in his eyes.

Yuuri lifted her wrist and spoke into her Chrono Changer to try and communicate with Taku, but she too was met with static. The same thing happened when Sion, Ayase and Domon tried. None of them could get through to Taku.

"What the hell is going on?" Domon moaned after his unsuccessful attempt.

Kakeru took out his G-Phone, flipping it open and called Tetomu. If the Timerangers couldn't get through to their robotic owl, maybe they could contact Tetomu. His eyes widened in surprise as he too was met with static. He lowered his phone. "I can't get through," he told them.

Yuuri shook her head. "This isn't right."

"I agree," Shirogane added. "There must be something that is preventing us from communicating outside of wherever we are."

"Can't you call for the Time Flyer then?" Kai asked the Timerangers.

Sion shook his head. "We need Taku for that," he replied sadly. He looked down at his Chrono Changer. "There must be something blocking us."

"So we're trapped?" Sae nervously asked. She really didn't like the thought of being trapped in the middle of nowhere with no food. She involuntarily let out a shiver.

"Our only option is to go through the forest," Gaku replied, looking across at the tall trees.

"We'd better make a start then," Kakeru said, taking steps towards the line of trees, the others following closely behind.

As soon as they were barely a metre away from the closest tree, they were all suddenly thrown back by an invisible force. The twelve crashed to the ground, the eleven humanoids groaning in pain while Serperant let out a snarl of anger.

Tatsuya, who had been thrown onto his back, rolled over and looked at Yuuri who was inches away from him. She had landed on her front. "Are you alright?" he asked her, obviously concerned.

Flinging her hair out of her face, she nodded. "Yeah," she replied.

Tatsuya slowly got to his feet, holding out a hand to help her up. She did so and the two looked around to see their comrades also wearily getting to their feet. There was no sign of whatever had thrown them back away from the trees.

"It looks like we're stuck here," she commented.

"I take it someone doesn't want us to leave," Domon groaned angrily.

"This must be Ura's doing," Shirogane added. He looked around, almost as if he were expecting the Highness Org to be behind them. "He's keeping us here for a reason."

Sae, who had been near the edge of the group, carefully walked closer to the middle, nervously looking around her, half expecting the enemy to suddenly appear.

"If that's the case then why doesn't he bloody well show up?!" Domon snarled. He hated waiting. If there was a fight to be had, the sooner the better and both he and Sotaro flexed their muscles ready.

Shirogane shook his head. "He's playing with us."

The sky above them began to darken, turning from light blue to jet black in the blink of an eye. The sound of thunder rumbled overhead but there was no sign of rain or lightning. The air grew cold, chilling them all and they huddled closer together, knowing that at any moment the enemy could appear.

Tatsuya held up his Chrono Changer. Next to him, Kakeru mimicked the action, taking out his G-Phone, flipping it open. Around them, their teammates did the same, ready for the upcoming fight, while Serperant, sensing that his new found comrades were preparing for battle, unsheathed his sword, holding it out ready in front of him.

A high-pitched laughter filled the air. They couldn't tell from which direction the sound was coming from as the laughter reverberated around them, even Serperant couldn't tell. There were no vibrations in the ground signalling the presence of another being. He had no idea where the sound was coming from.

"Ura," Shirogane hissed. He could recognise that laughter anywhere.

The laughter increased in volume and became more focused. Serperant tilted his head, hearing the shift and his head snapped round to his left and he let out a hiss. Yuuri, who was next to him, turned to face the same direction. "Over there," she said in a low voice, telling the others that Serperant had located where the laughter was coming from and they all turned.

There was a loud crash of thunder which was instantly followed by a bright flash. Standing close to the tree line stood Ura, Tsue Tsue and Yabaiba, a tall, black cross standing in the ground behind them. The world then turned black once more and the thunder continued to rumble overhead.

Without another thought, Tatsuya shouted "Chrono Changer!" activating his transformtation along with the rest of the Timerangers while Kakeru and the Gaorangers yelled "Gao Access! Spirit of the Earth!" Together, the eleven transformed into the Timerangers and Gaorangers and were instantly ready for the battle.

Ura let out another high pitched laugh, covering his mouth with his fan. He looked across at Tsue Tsue and Yabaiba, a gleam of happiness in his small eyes. He was looking forward to this.