Character belongs to Saban/BVE/Whoever; events technically belong to Saban/BVE/Whoever, although any relationship between The Quantum Quest and chapter seven of Identity (on which this outtake is based) is purely coincidental!

My grateful thanks go to Ekat, not only for beta'ing this, but inspiring this with her equally wonderful (but a little closer to the episode!) outtake and for allowing me to write this version.

For Ecolea and Leathie

~*~

A New Man -- Eric

I was standing up against a guard-rail, backed there by two Cyclobots, holding something called a Quantum Controller and wondering just how it was I came to be staring down the wrong end of two Cyclosabres. There was a sudden yell:

"Hey bolt-brains!"

I know that voice! I found myself thinking. And sure enough, as the Cyclobots turned to face the shouter, I spotted him. Wes Collins. Red Time Force Ranger.

Don't get me wrong -- I was pleased that he was there...who wouldn't be? His arrival meant I got to live a little longer. But just for once I wish it had been someone other than Wes.

And then I heard a voice. "It could be you." What could be me? "You could be a ranger."

As the two Cyclobots hit the floor the idea hit me with crystal clarity. If I could activate this box I'd be a ranger. I'd get respect...hell, even Wes would have to respect that.

Wes slowly turned to face me. "Eric..." he began.

"You're going to say 'give me the box'," I cut in. "Ain't gonna happen, Wes."

He begged me again but my mind was made up. As he stepped towards me, I put my hand in the slot of the Quantum Controller. There was a huge flash of light -- it blinded me...it probably blinded Wes too (not that I care). In the moment or two it took for my sight to clear, I heard the voice again. "Say the words 'Quantum Power' and the power is yours."

When I could see again, the Quantum Controller had vanished and in its place, strapped to my wrist, was a strange looking device. The word morpher drifted through my mind, although where the word had come from I didn't like to guess.

"Nonono...Eric please. Don't..." Wes began as he turned back to me.

"Jealous?" I replied.

" What?! Eric this isn't about us...what you think I think about you...or what you think about me. You don't know what you're getting yourself into. Please don't do this." He sounded pitiful, especially as I noticed his legs were starting to give out under him.

I just smiled a little and shook my head. "Who's going to stop me? You? You can't hardly stand, let alone stop me."

"I can stop you," he insisted.

"Not this time, pal," I retorted. What had that voice told me to do? Quantum Power The phrase drifted into my mind again, and I knew what I had to do. I lifted my wrist and called, "Quantum Power."

I can only describe what happened next as a rush. Energy poured through me like a torrent, filling empty places inside me that I didn't know were barren, changing me from what I had been into what I should be. The full force of it drove me to my knees, but when it was over, and I could see again, nothing hurt. Nothing ached -- not even the assorted bruises that the Cyclobots had given me earlier. I was energized and ready for anything, while floating at the back of my mind was all kinds of information about the powers and what they could do.

"Eric...is that you?" I heard Wes ask.

Oh yes, it was me all right -- more me than I've ever been...but I wasn't going to tell Wes that. And then the morpher reminded me that I had a job to do. I left Wes stunned on the concrete and vaulted down to deal with Brickneck, to start getting that respect I deserve.