Author's Note: Sorry about the font problem in Chapter 2. It was caused by switching suddenly from Note Pad on the compouter at work to Word w/ smart quotes at home. Thank you for the positive reviews! Jeff.
Timespeed by Jeff Griffiths
Chapter 3
"Well, what do you think, Ms. Fairweather?" Jen asked. She looked on anxiously as the scientist opened panels and scribbled notes on a clipboard. Joel, Carter and Lucas stood watching.
"I think you guys could use some place to sit in here," kidded Joel.
Lucas responded seriously, "Seats haven't been standard in Megazords in 400 years."
Ms. Fairweather straitened up. "it's remarkable how little Megazord technology has changed in a thousand years. Especially when you consider the earliest Zords were built well over ten thousand years ago. But see this circuit loop? I designed that. To think its still being used a thousand years later." She sounded very proud.
"How about it, Angie? Can you fix it?" Joel crowded in close to her and she gently moved him out of her light.
"Given enough time and power I can fix anything. This doesn't seem to be too badly damaged. Not much more than a simple power overload. I can reset the power cells and have this baby up and running in less than two hours."
Jen frowned. "I hope we have two hours to spare."
"Well if you don't you can use these." Ms. Fairweather pointed to a large box she's brought with her.
"Energy swords? Cool!" said Wes who had just come in.
Carter asked, "where did you get these?"
"We've been working on them at the lab where I work now. I thought they might come in handy."
Meanwhile at a warehouse in the industrial district Ransig was gloating over the success of the latest battle He clapped Olympius on the shoulder. "Ah Prince Olympios, what a warrior you are! You came closer to destroying the Rangers than any of the mutants that fool Frax has chosen."
Diabolico looked up with a smug smile. "What a pity the "great warrior" prince had to depend on a lucky blow and a power line for his marginal success.
Olympios rounded on him. "My 'lucky blow' completely disabled their Megazord, Diabolico. I'd like to see you do any better."
Diabolico laughed. "Oh I could do better with a handful of these robot creatures against an entire army of Rangers than you could against one Megazord."
Ransik narrowed his eyes. "I would rather enjoy seeing that, Diabolico. Why don't you try it?"
"Oh he will!" declared the Queen. Diabolico, I order you to keep the Rnagers busy until our final attack."
He bowed. "I require no such order, my Queen. It's my pleasure to make a fool of your son. And if I have my way about it this will be the final battle," he said softly as he turned to leave.
At an outdoor table at a cafe nearby the downed Megazord, nine rangers were just finishing up lunch. Trip was still working feverishly to repair Circuit.
The two teams were having a good time getting to know each other. Kelsey loved the idea of living in a loft in a clock tower. "That way you could just get your climbing gear and climb up the outside if you felt like it," Dana teased her. Lucas smiled like he might be considering the suggestion.
Jen pursed her lips. "Personally from what I've heard about your aquabase I would prefer that. Crew quarters, equipment bays, places to monitor everythign. It reminds me of Time Force hq back home, only under the ocean. We don't even have a place to keep our Megazord without sending it into the future."
"Does sound like a little bit of a hassle," Carter agreed seriously.
Wes snorted. "Actually the clock tower is incredibly cool. I don't even mind doing odd jobs for a living. It's a lot more fun than Bio Lab."
Jen reached over and put a hand on his shoulder affectionately. "The classic story of the poor little rich boy who finds it much more romantic to earn a poor but honest living by the sweat of his brow," she teased. Wes mad a face at her but didn't seem to be taking it too hard.
"What is it like flying one of those primitive planes?" Lucas asked Joel.
"What are you calling primitive?" objected Joel.
There was some commotion going on inside the cafe. A woman came out to ask the group, "Excuse me. Are you the Power Rangers?"
"Yes?" said Carter.
"It was just on the television. An attack by Diabolico and some of those robot things."
Jen was the first to jump to her feet, but it was Carter who said, "Let's go, guys."
Armed with Ms. Fairweather's energy swords all ten of the Rnagers faced off against Diabolico and an army of cyclobots. There were a lot more than there were earlier when the Lightspeed Rangers fought them alone.
"I thought you'd learned your lesson, Diabolico. Why go back to work with the Queen again?" asked Carter.
"And Ransig of all people," added Katie.
Diabolico gave a sour laugh. "I owe no allegiance to the Queen or to that fool Ransik. My plans for them are my own afair. But you should realize I owe you no allegience either.""
He ordered the cyclobots to attack and the battle was joined. Both the Red Rangers fought side by side against Diabolico while the others fought off the robots. The odds seemed overwhelming but the energy swords made all the difference. The swords the cyclobots carried were no match against the stronger ones, and when their bodies came in contact with the powerful energy field the robots were shorted out just like the Megazord had been earlier.
But the sheer numbers were starting to make a difference. For every two damaged cyclobots three more seemed to appear out of nowhere. If only Carter and Wes weren't busy fending off Diabolico. But help was on the way.
With one flick of a sword three robots went flying, knocking over another pair. "Can't a guy even go fishing without all his friends getting into trouble behind his back?"
"Ryan! What are you doing here?" Dana greeted her brother with surprise.
The Titanium Ranger continued to fight off Cyclobots as he answered her question. "Dad and I saw a big battle going on in the city so we came back in and got here as soon as we could. by the way, Ms. Fairweather says to tell the Time Force Rangers their Megazord is ready whenever they need it. Now she's working on little owl thing."
"Alright!" Trip said enthusiastically, responding to both pieces of news.
"Will you quit yakking and help us fight these things!" Joel said sharply. He was jealous because Ryan was destroying a few more than he was and still managing to hold a conversation.
The combined power of the two red Rangers was proving too much for Diabolico. He fell back in defeat, snarling threats about how the Power Rangers still hadn't seen the last of him. Jen dispatched two more of the ever decreasing number of cyclobots and stepped between Wes and Carter.
"You may not be exactly under my jurisdiction Diabolico and this may not be as precisely by the book as I like to do things, but I'll bet theres some sort of rule to cover it." She held out her Time Force badge and froze Diabolico into a tiny doll-like version of himself and put him into one of the containment canisters.
When the Rangers returned triumphantly to the Megazord's temporary location the Time Force Rangers were over joyed to see Circuit flying out to meet them, and the Lightspeed Rangers were glad to see Captain Mitchell smiling at them proudly. Ms. Fairweather was arguing with somebody on her cell phone.
"What's the matter Ms. F.?" Ryan asked her as she hung up with a snort of disgust.
"That was my boss at the lab where I work. He just fired me for taking experimental projects out of the lab without permission and putting them to unauthorized use. And he wants the swords returned immediately."
"That's too bad, Angie," Joel said sympathetically. She nodded.
Captain Mitchell looked annoyed. "I take it he doesn't understand the concept of saving the whole city?"
"Not without the appropriate paperwork."
Wes brightened as he had a sudden idea. "I just remembered something, Ms. Fairweather. There's a branch of my father's company in Mariner Bay. If you can do things like that I bet he'd love to have you work for him."
Before she could say anything circuit shouted a warning. "Queen Banshira and Olympius are attacking the city!"
"Get going!" the captain nodded.
Five minutes into the battle Queen Banshira realized to her horror that neither she or her son were exactly at full strength. Prince Olympios had still not completely recovered from his injuries from his earlier battle, and the monsters in hell had sapped more of the Queen's life force than she had ever realized.
However there being two of them still presented the rangers with quite a challenge. The Megazord was careful to stay away from all power lines this time, but Olympios still had a surplus of electricity running through his body. A blast or two from his hands made the Rangers fearful there was about to be a repeat of what happened earlier.
"Is the Megazord capable of storing the energy he's sending us?" Ryan asked urgently.
"Yes!" answered Lucas. "You mean store it up and use there own energy against them? Do you think it would work?"
Carter answered. "Its worth a shot. It's usually always worked before. Demons don't seem to learn much."
"We've got to try it!" said Jen.
For a minute or two the monsters thought they'd wone. The Megazord stood still and didn't respond to the energy blasts being leveled at it. Then suddenly it stood straight and tall and sent a tremendous shockwave of energy back at the duo. This was followed by a blast from it's big gun and a powerful swipe from the sword, and Queen Banshira and her son Prince Olympius exploded into pieces.
Captain Mitchell and Ms. Fairweather gave each other a quick hug as they watched from the rooftop of an apartment building. They had a perfect view as the two teams of Rangers appeared. Carter stopped on the corner and picked Dana up in his arms, swung her around triumphantly and then kissed her for a long time.
"They make a cute couple," Ms. Fairweather said fondly.
The captain nodded. "Yes. I hope thing work out for them. I wouldn't mind having Carter for a son-in-law, you know. By the way, are you and Joel still an item?"
"Oh no. That's been over for months. All we ever did was argue."
"That's about what I expected," he admitted.
"Me too, actally. But I had to give it a try. How come you never asked me out?"
Captain Mitchell stared at her in shock. "Figured you'd say no."
"Try it and see," she suggested.
They could hear the sound of eleven pairs of feet clanking up the stairs. "Will you go out with me?" the captain asked quickly.
"Yes," she answered just as the door to the roof swung open.
Jen stalked over to them and held out the two new canisters to Captain Mitchell. "Do you want these or shall we take them with us?"
"Your welcome to them. I have my doubts about the security of that tomb. Have you found Ransig now that the others have been captured?"
Jen frowned. "No. He took off like a coward as usual."
"He'll probably be waiting for us when we get back home, ready to stir up some new trouble," Wes added as he put his hand on Jen's shoulder.
She nodded. "Speaking of which, I guess we should all be heading back to Silver Hills now that all the exitement's over."
Dana smiled at her invitingly. "Oh come on, Jen. Surely you can stay a few more hours? We can show you the sights of Mariner Bay, the better sights I mean, and then we can all have dinner together. To celebrate our latest retirement, right Dad?"
Carter put his arm around her. "I don't know about you guys, but personally I'm ready to stay retired this time!"
The End
Timespeed by Jeff Griffiths
Chapter 3
"Well, what do you think, Ms. Fairweather?" Jen asked. She looked on anxiously as the scientist opened panels and scribbled notes on a clipboard. Joel, Carter and Lucas stood watching.
"I think you guys could use some place to sit in here," kidded Joel.
Lucas responded seriously, "Seats haven't been standard in Megazords in 400 years."
Ms. Fairweather straitened up. "it's remarkable how little Megazord technology has changed in a thousand years. Especially when you consider the earliest Zords were built well over ten thousand years ago. But see this circuit loop? I designed that. To think its still being used a thousand years later." She sounded very proud.
"How about it, Angie? Can you fix it?" Joel crowded in close to her and she gently moved him out of her light.
"Given enough time and power I can fix anything. This doesn't seem to be too badly damaged. Not much more than a simple power overload. I can reset the power cells and have this baby up and running in less than two hours."
Jen frowned. "I hope we have two hours to spare."
"Well if you don't you can use these." Ms. Fairweather pointed to a large box she's brought with her.
"Energy swords? Cool!" said Wes who had just come in.
Carter asked, "where did you get these?"
"We've been working on them at the lab where I work now. I thought they might come in handy."
Meanwhile at a warehouse in the industrial district Ransig was gloating over the success of the latest battle He clapped Olympius on the shoulder. "Ah Prince Olympios, what a warrior you are! You came closer to destroying the Rangers than any of the mutants that fool Frax has chosen."
Diabolico looked up with a smug smile. "What a pity the "great warrior" prince had to depend on a lucky blow and a power line for his marginal success.
Olympios rounded on him. "My 'lucky blow' completely disabled their Megazord, Diabolico. I'd like to see you do any better."
Diabolico laughed. "Oh I could do better with a handful of these robot creatures against an entire army of Rangers than you could against one Megazord."
Ransik narrowed his eyes. "I would rather enjoy seeing that, Diabolico. Why don't you try it?"
"Oh he will!" declared the Queen. Diabolico, I order you to keep the Rnagers busy until our final attack."
He bowed. "I require no such order, my Queen. It's my pleasure to make a fool of your son. And if I have my way about it this will be the final battle," he said softly as he turned to leave.
At an outdoor table at a cafe nearby the downed Megazord, nine rangers were just finishing up lunch. Trip was still working feverishly to repair Circuit.
The two teams were having a good time getting to know each other. Kelsey loved the idea of living in a loft in a clock tower. "That way you could just get your climbing gear and climb up the outside if you felt like it," Dana teased her. Lucas smiled like he might be considering the suggestion.
Jen pursed her lips. "Personally from what I've heard about your aquabase I would prefer that. Crew quarters, equipment bays, places to monitor everythign. It reminds me of Time Force hq back home, only under the ocean. We don't even have a place to keep our Megazord without sending it into the future."
"Does sound like a little bit of a hassle," Carter agreed seriously.
Wes snorted. "Actually the clock tower is incredibly cool. I don't even mind doing odd jobs for a living. It's a lot more fun than Bio Lab."
Jen reached over and put a hand on his shoulder affectionately. "The classic story of the poor little rich boy who finds it much more romantic to earn a poor but honest living by the sweat of his brow," she teased. Wes mad a face at her but didn't seem to be taking it too hard.
"What is it like flying one of those primitive planes?" Lucas asked Joel.
"What are you calling primitive?" objected Joel.
There was some commotion going on inside the cafe. A woman came out to ask the group, "Excuse me. Are you the Power Rangers?"
"Yes?" said Carter.
"It was just on the television. An attack by Diabolico and some of those robot things."
Jen was the first to jump to her feet, but it was Carter who said, "Let's go, guys."
Armed with Ms. Fairweather's energy swords all ten of the Rnagers faced off against Diabolico and an army of cyclobots. There were a lot more than there were earlier when the Lightspeed Rangers fought them alone.
"I thought you'd learned your lesson, Diabolico. Why go back to work with the Queen again?" asked Carter.
"And Ransig of all people," added Katie.
Diabolico gave a sour laugh. "I owe no allegiance to the Queen or to that fool Ransik. My plans for them are my own afair. But you should realize I owe you no allegience either.""
He ordered the cyclobots to attack and the battle was joined. Both the Red Rangers fought side by side against Diabolico while the others fought off the robots. The odds seemed overwhelming but the energy swords made all the difference. The swords the cyclobots carried were no match against the stronger ones, and when their bodies came in contact with the powerful energy field the robots were shorted out just like the Megazord had been earlier.
But the sheer numbers were starting to make a difference. For every two damaged cyclobots three more seemed to appear out of nowhere. If only Carter and Wes weren't busy fending off Diabolico. But help was on the way.
With one flick of a sword three robots went flying, knocking over another pair. "Can't a guy even go fishing without all his friends getting into trouble behind his back?"
"Ryan! What are you doing here?" Dana greeted her brother with surprise.
The Titanium Ranger continued to fight off Cyclobots as he answered her question. "Dad and I saw a big battle going on in the city so we came back in and got here as soon as we could. by the way, Ms. Fairweather says to tell the Time Force Rangers their Megazord is ready whenever they need it. Now she's working on little owl thing."
"Alright!" Trip said enthusiastically, responding to both pieces of news.
"Will you quit yakking and help us fight these things!" Joel said sharply. He was jealous because Ryan was destroying a few more than he was and still managing to hold a conversation.
The combined power of the two red Rangers was proving too much for Diabolico. He fell back in defeat, snarling threats about how the Power Rangers still hadn't seen the last of him. Jen dispatched two more of the ever decreasing number of cyclobots and stepped between Wes and Carter.
"You may not be exactly under my jurisdiction Diabolico and this may not be as precisely by the book as I like to do things, but I'll bet theres some sort of rule to cover it." She held out her Time Force badge and froze Diabolico into a tiny doll-like version of himself and put him into one of the containment canisters.
When the Rangers returned triumphantly to the Megazord's temporary location the Time Force Rangers were over joyed to see Circuit flying out to meet them, and the Lightspeed Rangers were glad to see Captain Mitchell smiling at them proudly. Ms. Fairweather was arguing with somebody on her cell phone.
"What's the matter Ms. F.?" Ryan asked her as she hung up with a snort of disgust.
"That was my boss at the lab where I work. He just fired me for taking experimental projects out of the lab without permission and putting them to unauthorized use. And he wants the swords returned immediately."
"That's too bad, Angie," Joel said sympathetically. She nodded.
Captain Mitchell looked annoyed. "I take it he doesn't understand the concept of saving the whole city?"
"Not without the appropriate paperwork."
Wes brightened as he had a sudden idea. "I just remembered something, Ms. Fairweather. There's a branch of my father's company in Mariner Bay. If you can do things like that I bet he'd love to have you work for him."
Before she could say anything circuit shouted a warning. "Queen Banshira and Olympius are attacking the city!"
"Get going!" the captain nodded.
Five minutes into the battle Queen Banshira realized to her horror that neither she or her son were exactly at full strength. Prince Olympios had still not completely recovered from his injuries from his earlier battle, and the monsters in hell had sapped more of the Queen's life force than she had ever realized.
However there being two of them still presented the rangers with quite a challenge. The Megazord was careful to stay away from all power lines this time, but Olympios still had a surplus of electricity running through his body. A blast or two from his hands made the Rangers fearful there was about to be a repeat of what happened earlier.
"Is the Megazord capable of storing the energy he's sending us?" Ryan asked urgently.
"Yes!" answered Lucas. "You mean store it up and use there own energy against them? Do you think it would work?"
Carter answered. "Its worth a shot. It's usually always worked before. Demons don't seem to learn much."
"We've got to try it!" said Jen.
For a minute or two the monsters thought they'd wone. The Megazord stood still and didn't respond to the energy blasts being leveled at it. Then suddenly it stood straight and tall and sent a tremendous shockwave of energy back at the duo. This was followed by a blast from it's big gun and a powerful swipe from the sword, and Queen Banshira and her son Prince Olympius exploded into pieces.
Captain Mitchell and Ms. Fairweather gave each other a quick hug as they watched from the rooftop of an apartment building. They had a perfect view as the two teams of Rangers appeared. Carter stopped on the corner and picked Dana up in his arms, swung her around triumphantly and then kissed her for a long time.
"They make a cute couple," Ms. Fairweather said fondly.
The captain nodded. "Yes. I hope thing work out for them. I wouldn't mind having Carter for a son-in-law, you know. By the way, are you and Joel still an item?"
"Oh no. That's been over for months. All we ever did was argue."
"That's about what I expected," he admitted.
"Me too, actally. But I had to give it a try. How come you never asked me out?"
Captain Mitchell stared at her in shock. "Figured you'd say no."
"Try it and see," she suggested.
They could hear the sound of eleven pairs of feet clanking up the stairs. "Will you go out with me?" the captain asked quickly.
"Yes," she answered just as the door to the roof swung open.
Jen stalked over to them and held out the two new canisters to Captain Mitchell. "Do you want these or shall we take them with us?"
"Your welcome to them. I have my doubts about the security of that tomb. Have you found Ransig now that the others have been captured?"
Jen frowned. "No. He took off like a coward as usual."
"He'll probably be waiting for us when we get back home, ready to stir up some new trouble," Wes added as he put his hand on Jen's shoulder.
She nodded. "Speaking of which, I guess we should all be heading back to Silver Hills now that all the exitement's over."
Dana smiled at her invitingly. "Oh come on, Jen. Surely you can stay a few more hours? We can show you the sights of Mariner Bay, the better sights I mean, and then we can all have dinner together. To celebrate our latest retirement, right Dad?"
Carter put his arm around her. "I don't know about you guys, but personally I'm ready to stay retired this time!"
The End
