Chapter Twenty-Nine: 9,840 Years Later...

**PENULTIMATE CHAPTER OF THIS STORY!**

1865 AD - Timeline B

Baytonin, an alien man from the planet Zoina, gripped his laser sword by the hilt with great fervor. I will not let this creature defeat me! My people will not fall here! Not here and not today!

Before him, with his arms folded across his chest, Kamdor laughed. "You're such a fool! You think you can withstand the might of the United Alliance of Evil!? Once Dark Specter ordered the extermination of this planet, it was just a formality to actually execute."

Baytonin grunted, flexing his muscles in a show of intimidation (a custom of his people). He was a creature of larger stature, standing at about six feet and looking to weight about two hundred and fifty pounds of solid muscle. His two pectoral muscles were brown in color, while the rest of his muscular body had a bit of an aqua blue color. The same brown, hard patches were found on his knees and in between his hands and elbows. He had large shoulder protrusions which looked like armor. He had two bright yellow eyes, a brown circular patch on his forehead, and another brown patch where a mouth would be on a Human, albeit long like a skinny oval. Whenever he spoke, it lit up due to some physiological function in his alien body. His head was long and wide all at once. He had two points coming off his head, looking a bit like horns over his eyes. In between these points his head was rounded and bald, his aqua skin shining from the intense heat beating down on him from his sun. The other prominent features to his body were two bone like projections naturally sprouting from his wrists (one per wrist), seeming to be able to serve as natural defenses.

"You will never take my planet," Baytonin informed Kamdor. "I will not allow it!"

"You may not allow it, but you definitely are not going to stop me." Kamdor replied simply, suddenly streaking forward. He struck at Baytonin with his blade and left a deep gash on his chest. As he rushed by, he kicked the Zoinaian in the back and sent him flying to his stomach. As he fell, his head hit a rock and knocked him out.

. . .

Jun, or 順, walked through the forest. He had an extremely challenging day and a walk through the forest was exactly what he felt like he needed. He was that generation's mentor to the Samurai Power Rangers and the team he was trying to mold had... difficulties. Outside of problems with training, one of the former Samurai Rangers was having a very difficult time not "butting in" every few moments with his own "advice" about how things should be run. His name was Ryuzaburo Ikenami, the former Blue Samurai Ranger. Ryuzaburo was intent on having a say in all of the training and discipline of the team, regardless of what Jun thought. The Council of Guardians, however, had in fact picked Jun as the most qualified candidate to train the new team, even though Ryuzaburo had applied as well. They had judged that they felt something "off" about Ryuzaburo and did not trust him with the new team of Samurai. Little did they know of what a blessing their wisdom was, for even forty-five years after the fact no one knew that Ryuzaburo had attacked and nearly destroyed Deker.

I need to be confident. Jun thought to himself. I just need to walk up to Master Ryuzaburo before practice tomorrow and look him in the eyes and say, "I'm the mentor here, Master Ryu, and in the end what I say goes". Yeah... easier said than done...

As he thought this, a burst of light like fire erupted in the sky above him. Looking up, he saw a massive object fall down and slam mere yards from his location on the trail. He was thrown off his feet as the object made contact, causing him to land on his back. Picking himself up quickly, he began to walk cautiously down the trail to find out what may have happened. Having had some contact with Zordon of Eltar, he feared it may have been the first of an invasion from Dark Specter.

As he walked, he was surprised as an odd alien looking being lumbered from the forest and onto the trail. Jun was shocked and reached for his samurai sword, which he wore on his belt. The being who stumbled onto the path from the crash site was none other than Baytonin. He seemed badly injured. As he made his way onto the path, oblivious to Jun's presence, he fell to his side.

Seeing Baytonin fall, Jun let go of his sword and rushed to the fallen warrior. Jun bent over Baytonin, seeing the gash on his chest he received from Kamdor smoking. He could tell it had been cauterized recently and deduced correctly that Baytonin had done this to himself to stop the bleeding.

"Who are you!?" Jun asked in Japanese.

"What? I do not understand..." Baytonin said in his own language of Zoinai.

Jun furrowed his brow as he thought. He then tried again, but in English. "Do you understand me now?"

As English (as it was known on Earth) was the universal language of the long defunct United Alliance, having still been used throughout the universe long after the fall of the Morphing Masters, Baytonin nodded since his people, too, knew the language. Or had...

"Good. Who are you?" Jun asked, quickly looking behind him to ensure he wasn't going to be attacked by hiding bandits. As he did, he saw Baytonin's massive ship plunged deep into the earth, smoke dancing off the crater.

"My name is Baytonin. I am from the planet Zoina. We were recently attacked by Dark Specter. I tried to... ugh... save my people, but... I could not. I am the last survivor of my planet. The fiend Kamdor destroyed everything using Dark Specter's massive empire. I... I failed. I... I was not strong enough."

Jun furrowed his brow as he helped Baytonin up. "I am so very sorry. I will do all I can to help you recover."

"Thank you kindly," Baytonin said, his English accent already adopting the heavy Japanese timber of Jun's speech pattern. "You are... a good man."

. . .

1865.5 AD - Timeline B

It had been six months since Baytonin had been brought in by Jun. He lived in Kyoto with Jun, out of the Shiba House. At first there was resistance from the Guardians and the Samurai Rangers about allowing an "alien" to live in such close proximity to the rangers. After a short time, though, everyone had grown to know Baytonin and appreciate him. They found out about his loyalty and dedication, and his tragic story of losing his homeworld. They felt badly for him, and after not too long he was basically adopted as a member of the ranger team, even helping the Samurai Rangers against a Nighlok incursion. They had also given him a nickname: Katana. There was only one person who did not like Baytonin: Ryuzaburo.

Ever since the first day Katana had been integrated with the team, even going as far as practicing with them, Ryuzaburo was adamant that it stop. He kept going on about tradition and keeping things "in family". After a month of such behavior, Jun had stood up and used his authority to banish Ryuzaburo from the Shiba House. From that point onward, Katana's bond with not only Jun, but the entire team, was forged. He vowed that, even though he had failed his own people, that he would not fail the people of Kyoto. He promised to be the city's defender until his final breath.

On one particular morning, Katana and Jun had just finished practicing and were meditating in the outer temple on the grounds of the Shiba House. As they did, a blast erupted in the temple and hit Katana in the chest, sending him sprawling back.

Jun leapt up, pulling out his sword. "What is the meaning of this!?" He was shocked as he looked and saw none other than the Blue Samurai Ranger.

"What are you doing!?" Jun cried out desperately, shocked one of his students would attack their friend.

"I'm cleansing the Samurai Legacy..." The voice of Ryuzaburo said as he stepped forward.

"Ryu!? You stole your son's morpher!? That's against the Code of the Samurai!" Jun accused.

Blue Ranger shook his head. "No. I am allowing my son to use my morpher. And I am doing this for the greater good."

Sprinting forward, the Blue Ranger slashed at Jun. Jun blocked the first few blows but was unsuccessful against the Power Ranger: He dropped his sword as he was stabbed through the gut.

"You have failed my family." Blue Ranger spat, driving the blade deeper. He then ripped out the sword and kicked Jun to the ground, just as he had with Deker nearly a half century earlier.

"Jun! No!" Katana yelled, leaping up and pulling out his sword. "You will pay for this, traitor!"

"I am no traitor!" Blue Ranger screamed. "I am the only one who respects tradition."

Breathing in deeply, Katana pulled out his sword and shook his head. "The tradition you hold onto is one of hate and bigotry. You are a fool, Ryuzaburo. Yours is a house built on a foundation of sand. I am the wind who will topple your house down, and with it your corruption of the Ikenami Family Line."

Suddenly, the Blue Ranger pulled out a Power Disc. It was jet black and gave Katana a bad feeling. "I have felt your power, Katana. I knew you would be a hard opponent. Unfortunately Zordon has yet to finish the Black Box, so I had to create something for myself to give me the edge over you..."

Katana watched in shock as the Blue Samurai Ranger placed the disc on his Spin Sword. Spinning it, a black mist erupted from the Power Disc and enveloped the Blue Samurai Ranger. As the mist faded, Katana beheld what looked like a black garb over the Blue Ranger's power suit.

"That energy..." Katana began. "It's... Nighlok."

The Nether Blue Ranger nodded. "It was the only power I could find that I knew would be able to destroy you..."

Katana gripped the handle of his blade tightly. "You are the one who dishonors our family traditions! I will destroy you!"

"Our family!? You are not even Human!" Nether Blue screamed. "How dare you!? At least when I destroyed Deker, he was Human!"

"You destroyed Deker!?" A voice cried out suddenly.

Nether Blue jumped and spun around. Behind him stood the first Red Samurai Ranger: Takeru Shiba. "What!? You... you're...!?"

"My name is Takeru Shiba. After I was trained by the Oracle, I along with my team gained enough Magic to prolong our lives." He explained, causing an enhanced Samurai Sword to appear in his hand. "From the Magic Realm, I felt an unusual mix of Symbol Power and Anti-Lifestream coming from this realm. I am disgusted by what I'm seeing."

"No!" Nether Blue cried out. "You don't understand!"

"I don't need to. You're an abomination and a shame to the Samurai Legacy," Takeru said. "Fury of the Shogun! Power up! Ha!"

Nether Blue gripped his sword hilt tighter than ever. "Even the first Red Ranger has been corrupted!? No! No!"

"You're lying to yourself!" Red Shogun said as he began drawing a symbol before him. "Deep down, you know your hate and evil is what's driving you!"

Anti-Lifestream began swirling around Nether Blue. "I will destroy you and start a new Samurai Legacy, free of your impurities!"

As he did, he suddenly felt a jolt of pain in his back and his stomach. Then, a second. Looking down in confusion, he saw two blades erupting from his abdominal region. Looking behind him he saw not only Katana, but also Jun.

Blood dripping down Jun's mouth, he sneered at Nether Blue. "I never liked you."

"May the stain of your life be cleansed from the Ikenami House," Katana said simply.

"This is for Deker." Shogun Red said as he finished the symbol. "Samurai Symbol Power: Seal."

"Nooooo!" Nether Blue yelled as he was hit with the massive Samurai Symbol. Within moments, he vanished into the Netherworld.

"Will he return?" Katana asked.

"Most likely," Red Shogun said. "But we'll be ready for him when he returns."

Looking over to Jun as he supported him under his shoulder, Katana laughed. "And now it is my turn to help you get back to full health."

"Katana?" Shogun Red asked.

"Yes?"

"By the power of the Shogun, I officially declare you a Samurai."

As he said this, a massive Samurai Symbol landed on Katana. Samurai garb appeared over him. He could feel great Samurai power surging through him.

"From now on you are Katana, the official protector of Kyoto!"

. . .

Twenty Years After William Bell Time Traveled - Prime Universe

Prime sprinted forward to get to the Beacon. As he did, he dodged balls of flame being hurled at him by Link while catching bullets from Olivia the Freelancer. She was very different from her Temporal Twin in that regard: she was a crack shot whereas Agent Olivia had a hard time with her accuracy when it came to firearms. Although she was not talented, though, she pulled her gun out and began firing at Prime, who seemed to be the immediate threat.

As the two Freelancers slowed Prime down, Freelancer Charlie Francis rushed as fast as he could to the Beacon that was left sitting on the table. Seeing this happening, Peter reached over and grabbed it.

"Okay, fork it over kid," Freelancer Charlie demanded, impatience written on his face.

"Forget it." Peter said, backing up toward Walter and the Wall Machine he was feverishly trying to activate. "How is it going, Walter?"

Frowning, Walter shook his head. "This thing hasn't been turned on in many, many years. I don't know how long it still needs to warm up!"

Freelancer Charlie frowned as he sniffed. "You're not from here... What are you doing in this timeline? You need to go back with us."

Walter perked up as he stared at Peter's expression. Peter didn't seem to let it sink in, more occupied with the Beacon. He turned and set it down next to the Wall Machine.

Having wrapped up his hand, Agent Charlie Francis stepped in between Peter and Freelancer Charlie Francis. "I don't know who you are and why you look like me, but stay away from the boy."

Freelancer Charlie smirked. "I never thought I'd meet my Twin... Don't make me ghost you."

All the while, Prime performed many feats of acrobatics to avoid getting hit by the two Olivias and Link. As he leapt over a table, he picked up a scalpel and (doing a quick mental calculation) tossed it at Agent Olivia. The blade flew straight at her to hit her in the neck.

"No!" She screamed, a burst of purple light erupting from her. Not only did it cause the blade to fly out of its trajectory, but it hit Prime hard and sent him flying back.

"Did you see that!?" Link exclaimed, fear falling on his face. "That's not possible!"

Freelancer Olivia turned and pointed her gun at her Temporal Twin. "Freeze! How long have you been on Cortexiphan!?"

"Huh!?" Agent Olivia asked, trying to sift through the confusion of not only what she had apparently just done, but also what her twin was asking of her.

"Answer the question now!" Freelancer Olivia demanded. "When did you start taking Cortexiphan!?"

"It must have been a while ago..." Link whispered to Freelancer Olivia. "She seems to be as strong as you..."

"Oh, Cortexiphan!" Walter said happily as he continued to try and get the Wall Machine operational. "Yes, yes... Olivia was one of my subjects. Oh, look! You are meeting your Temporal Twin, Olive. How nice. Makes sense since, if I recall correctly, you have the ability to create Time Portals."

"What!?" Peter and Agent Olivia demanded simultaneously.

"President!?" Freelancer Olivia asked, lowering her gun for a moment. As she did, Agent Olivia lifted up hers and shot her twin in the arm.

"Agh!" Freelancer Olivia screamed.

"Olivia!" Link shouted, running to her.

As Link looked after Freelancer Olivia, Agent Olivia ran over to Peter and Walter. "Any luck!? We have to get going!"

"Yes! It's almost on!" Walter said happily.

Prime laughed. "Wherever you go, I'll follow you. You can't hide!"

Freelancer Olivia frowned. She then closed her eyes and began shooting currents of the purple light out of her and at Prime.

"Agh!" Prime cried out. "So you can shoot Time Magic too, huh?"

Freelancer Olivia's nose began to bleed. "You! Other me! Focus! We need to work together!"

Although the blasts seemed to be slowing Prime down, it wasn't stopping him. This caused Agent Olivia to frown.

"I... I don't know how!"

"Just focus!" Freelancer Olivia cried out.

Meanwhile, Freelancer Charlie had his gun pointed at Agent Charlie, whose gun was also pointed at his own Temporal Twin.

"Back down, kid," The Freelancer said. "I've trained long and hard for these missions. Your people can't handle us. We're better than you. You can't win."

Agent Charlie smiled. "Well, you are as confident as me. Let's see if you can back that up..."

As they said that, Walter snapped his fingers. "Done! Transporting now!"

"Ahhh!" Prime screamed, trying to get close but being pushed back.

"No!" Link yelled. He tossed a fireball straight at the Wall Machine.

"Ah!" Agent Charlie screamed as he jumped in front of the fireball, taking the hit so the Wall Machine didn't break.

"Charlie!" Agent Olivia cried out.

"Go! I'll catch up!" Agent Charlie cried out. It took all he could to not shout in pain from the massive burn he had just received to his chest. He could feel his clothing seared onto his charred flesh.

"We have to go!" Peter said, looking on as Link stared at Agent Charlie in confusion.

"No! We can't leave him!" Agent Olivia screamed. She ran forward and dived at him, but broke her connection to her attack on Prime as she did. Agent Olivia bent over and picked Agent Charlie up. Taking two steps toward Walter and Peter, she suddenly found herself face to face with Freelancer Charlie. His gun was trained on her face.

"You're under arrest," Freelancer Charlie said.

As he said this, Agent Olivia and Agent Charlie were suddenly thrust forward. A blast from Prime broke himself free from Freelancer Olivia, sending the two FBI agents down. As they went down, Prime began sprinting toward the Beacon at Peter's feet.

"No!" Both Agent and Freelancer Charlie yelled. The Freelancer dived at Prime's trunk while the Agent grabbed at his feet.

"I have him pinned down!" Agent Charlie yelled. "I'll be fine! Go now before it's too late!"

"Nooo!" Agent Olivia screamed as Peter grabbed her.

"Now, Walter!" Peter screamed.

Before Link could stop them, the Wall Machine caused the trio and the Beacon to vanish.

"No!" Prime sneered. He tossed Freelancer Charlie off of him and at Freelancer Olivia. He then bent down and picked up Agent Charlie Francis by the throat.

"Vermin! You and your kind are only prolonging the inevitable!" Prime sneered as he brought Agent Charlie to stare at him face to face. "Soon I will have all power and you will be nothing."

As Prime uttered that final word, he twisted his wrist and snapped Charlie's neck. The crack echoed loudly throughout the lab. Prime then turned and ran as fast as he could out of the room. He was using all of his senses to perceive where the Beacon could have gone in the world, and he needed to move quickly before it vanished again.

Back in the lab, Freelancer Olivia looked to Freelancer Charlie. He was knocked out, but seemed okay. She got up and looked over to see Link hovering over the lifeless body of FBI Agent Charlie Francis.

"He's... he's dead." Link said, shaking his head and putting his hands in his jacket pockets. "It's just so... weird."

"That's not our Charlie, Link," Freelancer Olivia said.

"Yeah, but he looks just like him. I mean... It's weird, you know. It reminds you how fragile life can be..." Link told Freelancer Olivia, speaking some of his thoughts outloud.

Nodding, Freelancer Olivia made her way to Link and rested her head on his shoulder. "Yeah, but we're trying to make sure that our lives can be maintained for as long as possible. We can't let these... freaks from this dimension corrupt our timeline."

"Yeah, you're right. Who knows what kind of damage they can do with a Beacon." Link said, frowning. "We need to get it back ASAP."

. . .

Walter looked around. He could see cages all around him with hairless animals. "Wow! My father's old lab! No one has been in here for decades!"

Peter frowned. "That's impossible, Walter. Look at the animals. They're all alive. Someone has to have been here to feed them."

Walter chuckled. "Oh, no, no! This is all apart of my father's research on the brain. The research that led to Cortexiphan."

"What is that!?" Agent Olivia demanded. "That... other me kept asking me about it. And you even said you tested me on it!? What's going on!?"

Walter looked at her oddly. "Did I say that? Hmm... I'm sorry, I don't recall... Well, Cortexiphan is a drug William Bell and I produced to imitate the research my father had made. He suggested that if someone were put in the right environment that they would be able to reach their cerebral potential! Instead of creating that environment, which would be near impossible, Belly and I created a drug and gave it to children! Oh, they were developing so well before the IRB shut us down..."

Peter furrowed his brow. "Why would you do that, Walter!? They were just kids!"

Walter sighed. "Because of my double: Walternate. He wanted revenge and was coming for us. We had to prepare for war and the only way to do it was to fight fire with fire."

"They have Cortexiphan kids, too? Whoever this 'Walternate' is?" Agent Olivia asked. "That other me is one of them?"

"Feuxlivia," Peter suggested.

"Huh?"

"She's the fake you. We can call her Feuxlivia."

Walter looked at Olivia and shrugged. "At the time, no. Walternate did not have Cortexiphan. I don't know how he has some now, though... I mean, he would've needed to synthesize it then let it sit in the blood for so long! So, so long. Those kids we just met must be a lot older than they look..."

Peter squinted as he began to think. "Older than they look? Is that how these animals survive without food, water, or light? Cortexiphan?"

"No, but close!" Walter said, clapping. "You are so brilliant. Sometimes it's like talking to Belly himself! Well, this lab belonged to my father. Although Belly and I figured out how to mimic his theories with drugs, my father was trying desperately to create the environment where such growth could be created naturally. These animals must be by-products of those tests..."

"And why are we here now?" Olivia asked.

"According to the instructions," Peter answered. "We need to place the Wall Machine up to... that wall and type in the password written here."

Walter and Peter pushed the machine against the wall like was intended. After Peter put in the code, the machine hummed before creating a hole in the wall. Peter, Olivia, and Walter peered in. The room they were looking at seemed to be empty, until they saw movement. Suddenly, a decently sized creature moved in the shadows toward them. All three jumped back in shock.

Walter quickly grabbed an old flashlight which had been discarded years prior to that date. As the light flickered on, it landed on the creature. They all gasped when they saw who it was standing in the shadows, staring at them calmly, yet eerily: a young looking pale skinned boy. He had dark circles under his eyes, but a... knowing look on his face. The boy, just like the animals in the cages in the room where the trio found themselves, had absolutely no hair anywhere on his body.

"Oh, my..." Walter said, sounding almost lucid, as he shook his head.

"What is it, Walter!?" Peter demanded.

"That boy, he... he must be the answer to my father's research. He... he did it..." Walter said, growing lost in thought.

"He did what, Dr. Bishop?" Olivia asked, worry etched into her voice.

"He created the next step in evolution..." Walter said. "He... he created the most optimal Human ever."

"But why would William Bell send us here? Why now?" Peter asked.

Walter looked at Peter seriously. "To fight fire with fire, my dear boy. That little boy in that room is the answer to our worries. He will be the one to fight off the invasion."