Author's note: The Parallels website has been updated (and has a new poll), so take a lot. Thanks to all of you who continue to give me feedback. Enjoy.
The two of them walked into a room with grids along the wall, the ceiling and the floor. When the door closed, it was impossible to ascertain where the room began or ended. "Computer, load program Trip Omega seven," he said.
'Working,' the computer announced.
Suddenly, the room changed. They appeared to be in field of some sort, with nothing but grass as far as the eye could see. The sun was shining down on them as they stood across from one another.
"You ready?" she asked him.
Trip reached for his morpher. 'TIME FOR, TIME FORCE,' he called out as his clothes were replaced by the white ranger uniform. Before she could make a move, Trip rushed towards her with a series of kicks, but Camille was able to block each one of them. Trip did a back flip, but Camille grabbed his ankles, forcing him to fall flat on his back, knocking the wind out of him.
'SILVER RANGER POWER,' Camille called out. There was a flash of light, and the silver ranger uniform replaced her clothes.
Trip was back to his feet, but Camille gave him a sweep, knocking him off his feet. Before he hit the ground, she kicked him in the ribs, sending him almost 10 feet in the air. Trip managed to flip in the air, kicking Camille in the side of the head before he landed on his feet.
'Chrono Saber,' he called out as his sword materialized in his hand.
He swung at her, but missed, and Camille countered with a roundhouse kick to the head, knocking him down. She grabbed his sword and cocked back, trying to stab him in the chest, but he rolled out the way just in time. As the sword sank into the ground, he spun around, tripping Camille. He quickly grabbed his sword and cocked back, ready to strike.
'Silver Chrono Armor,' she called out.
The armor materialized just as the sword connected with her chest, breaking the sword in half. Camille flipped back, wrapping her legs around Trip's ankle and knocking him over. Before he could stand up, she jumped on top of him, pinning him down.
"Ready to give up?"
"If I say yes, will you kiss me?" he asked.
"Maybe,"
Both of them powered down, finding themselves face to face. She moved in closer, pressing her lips gently against his.
"I see you two are working hard," they heard a voice say.
The two of them looked up, only to see Jen standing behind them with her arms folded. They quickly got back to their feet, dusting themselves off.
"Actually, we were," Trip said.
"Oh yeah, I'm sure the lip lock will be the formidable weapon ever created my Time Force," she said sarcastically, removing her deeply tinted sunglasses.
"The preliminary tests on the Silver Chrono morphers have proven that it can be adapted to our format, meaning we should be able to incorporate the battle armor into the other morphers, but there are drawbacks," Camille said.
"Why kind of drawbacks?"
"We won't be able to engage the cloak with the armor in place. Each take up way too much power for them to run together. Also, the armor only lasts for a limited time," she said.
"How limited?"
"No longer than five minutes, but it does seem to withstand even the most powerful attack," she said.
"It broke my Chrono saber like it was plastic," Trip mentioned.
"And what about the white morpher? Were you able to restore it?" Jen asked.
"After removing some of the critical components so we could adapt the cloak to our morphers, we believed that the morpher itself would only be able to work at half power. We've been able to give the morpher an alternate power source, and it has actually shown a 20% increase in power," he explained.
"Excellent work you two," she said.
"Thank you," they said in unison.
"Come on, we should head to the science lab. We have work to do," she told them.
The two of them nodded, following them out the room.
~
"Someone is going to have to stay here and dug up as much information as they can about the reality we're going to," Jen pointed out as the five of them prepared for the next mission.
"I'll stay, I'm not feeling too well," Tommy volunteered.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just haven't been sleeping well lately. I'm having these strange dreams, and I'm getting headaches a lot," he said.
"Maybe you should go down to the infirmary and get checked out," Katie suggested.
"I will if I have to, but I'm sure I'll be fine, really. You guys go ahead," he sat down in front of the control panel, going over the last of the calculations. "You've got two hours to get back to the transfer point," he told them, activating the portal.
"Understood,"
"Good luck guys," Tommy said as he watched the four of them step into the blue swirling vortex, and then disappear.
(*)
The entire city was in ruins. For as far as the eye could see, there were buildings barely standing, some of them with walls missing. The sky was a deep shade of blue, almost navy, and the smell of burning flesh filled the air.
"What the hell happened here?" Camille asked, getting a good look around.
"This likes like New Silver Hills, but everything is destroyed," Katie added.
"Until we find out more about what's going on, I suggest we stick together. I'd hate to get lost in a place like this," Jen instructed.
They all nodded slightly, and then continued to look around. Trip walked over to one of the buildings, looking at the markings on the side. "This looks like disrupter fire. There was a battle here, a big one," he mentioned.
"Judging by the smell, the battle wasn't too long ago, and the loser didn't have time to worry about it either," Camille said, waving her hand in front of her face.
"Who could have done this?"
"I think I have a good idea who it might have been," Katie said, motioning for the others to turn around.
As soon as they did, they found themselves staring upwards staring at him. He was at least eight feet tall with long, jet black hair and covered most of his face. All they were able to see were his eyes, which were a sinister shade of red. He wore what appeared to be battle armor, and his arms were abnormally long. So long in fact that his hands seemed to drag on the ground as he took a step forward.
The four of them stood ready.
"Humans?" the creature mumbled. "How can this be?"
"We were going to ask you the same question handsome," Camille said.
"I mean you no harm," he took a step forward. "My name is Knuckles…" he held his hands up. "For obvious reasons," he introduced. "It isn't safe for you to be on the streets like this, the mutant resistance group will kill you on sight," he explained.
"What is going on here?" Jen asked.
"Come with me, I'll explain everything you need to know," he said, motioning for them to follow.
They followed him down a long, dark alley, coming to what looked like a dead end. Knuckles stood against the wall, pulling a small lever. Just then, the wall itself opened up, allowing them inside.
"This place is huge," Jen admired as she looked around.
"What is this place?" Trip asked.
"Its an old abandoned warehouse. Humans use to use it for storage during the cold war, but its been forgotten about over the years. This is the last place that the resistance would think to look for us," he explained to them.
"Who is the resistance?"
"Years ago, long before my time, mutants took over the city. Under the rule of their leader, Ransik, they were able to overthrow the entire planet, and there was no way to oppose him. Humans were rounded up and used as slaves; others were tortured and killed for pleasure. There were still humans that were free, doing what they could to take Ransik down, but he initiated the cold wars, eliminating the humans with a biological weapon. It took years for the chemicals to dissipate, and when they did mutants began to rise up against Ransik. Although humans were eliminated during the war, countless millions of mutants were killed as well, and the surviving mutants drew to despise Ransik. Many of his generals remained loyal to him, but others plotted to rid the world of Ransik once and for all," he explained.
"What did you do?"
"Our efforts to destroy him failed. It wasn't until his daughter turned against him that we were finally able to rid ourselves of Ransik," he told them.
"Let me guess, his generals weren't too happy with you getting rid of his leader, right?" Katie asked.
"Exactly. They began to round up mutants, killing them. There are only a few of us left now, but the generals and their armies are getting bigger and bigger," he said.
"How?"
"After the destruction of Ransik, a new leader was found. It is under the leadership of Frax that the mutant generals have been able to mass-produce their armies. They take the bodies of fallen mutants and infuse them with cybernetic components to create a new race of super mutants," Knuckles explained to them.
"How did this happen? Where was Time Force?" Jen asked.
"Ransik traveled back into the past to a point where there was no Time Force, erasing them from existence," he said.
"That means when Ransik went to the 21st century, we weren't able to stop him. He defeated us," Katie pointed out.
"And Frax waited for just the right time to strike. Now, the entire world belongs to the super mutants," Trip added.
"We always believed that one day, someone would come help us take down the resistance so that we could usher in a new era of peace. That day has arrived," Knuckles said.
"Wait a sec. You mean us?" Camille asked.
"You have the technology we lack. You're Power Rangers, you can do it," he said eagerly.
"How did you know we were…"
"I saw the morphers on your wrists, and the uniforms you wear. It was obvious you were from Time Force. We need your help, please," he said.
"Where is the rest of your group?" Jen asked.
"Most of them have been captured by the resistance. There are only a few of us left scattered through out the city," he told them.
"Of course we'll help," Katie said eagerly.
"Great. I'll lead you to the central complex and show you how to get in," he said, heading for the exit.
The others followed behind him, but Jen paused, grabbing Camille's arm to hold her back. Camille quickly noticed the look of distress on her face. "What's wrong Captain?" she inquired.
"There's something about this guy I don't trust," she whispered.
"If everything happened the way he says it did, it's our fault that this world is in such bad shape. We have to help him," she mentioned.
"I know, but…"
"Don't worry Cap, I'll keep my eyes on him," Camille assured her.
(*)
The five of them found themselves in front of a huge complex, but the first thing that Jen noticed was that there were no guards. 'An entire army in the mutant resistance and they're not even bothering to guard their central base of operations?' she wondered to herself.
Knuckles walked over to the main door, inputting a password that opened the door. "Once we get inside, we should free the other members of my group. We'll need help if we're going to take down the resistance once and for all," he told them.
Katie and Trip followed him inside without question, but Jen stepped back cautiously. "Awful strange that he knew the pass code to get us in," she mentioned.
Before Camille could respond, a group of mutants came from one of nowhere, attacking them. One of the mutants grabbed Jen, but she ducked, allowing Camille to give him a spin kick to the face. As the mutant fell over, Jen reached for her morpher.
"TIME FOR, TIME…" she was cut short.
"Oh no you don't," Knuckles said, snatching the morpher off her wrist, then gave her a backhand, knocking her up against the building. Two more mutants grabbed Camille, holding her arms behind her back.
"Trip, run!" she called out, but it was too late.
"Humans really are as dumb as they look," Knuckles said with a sinister laugh, grabbing Katie by the throat as he began to squeeze the life out of her. Trip fought away from the mutant captures and tried to help Katie, only to have Knuckles knock him aside. "Take them away," he snarled.
~
Jen opened her eyes slowly, only to find herself chained to a wall. The room itself was damp, with no windows as far as she could tell. Her first thought was to break through the chains, but no matter how hard she pulled, the chains wouldn't give.
"Don't bother trying, even I couldn't break them," Katie mentioned.
Jen glanced over where she was Katie chained to the wall as well. Across from them were Trip and Camille, also chained to the wall.
"I knew there was something strange about that guy," Jen snapped.
"Nothing we can do about it now. He took our morphers, and even if we did manage to get out of here, there's no telling how many of those super mutants are out there waiting for us," Trip said.
"That's the least of our problems. According to my calculations, the portal will open in about 30 minutes. If we don't get back to the transfer point, we'll be stuck here," Camille said.
"If he tries to teleport us out of here, all he'll get is our morphers. Looks like we should get comfortable," he sighed.
"There has to be a way out of here," Jen sighed.
"If we had our morphers, we could…"
"That's it!" Camille screamed.
"What?"
"Trip and I were running a simulation on deck four before we came on this mission. We were using the white and silver Chrono morphers," she said.
"So? They took our morphers,"
"Yeah, but I still have the blue Chrono morpher in my back pocket," she told them.
"Now if only one of us had hands," Trip said.
Camille planted her feet against the wall, and then pushed off, using the momentum to spin around. "Trip, see if you can kick the morpher out my pocket," she said.
"You want me to kick your ass?"
"Trust me, this is the only time you'll be able to," she told him.
Trip put his feet against the wall, then pushed off, trying to kick the morpher out. It took a few tries, but he managed to get it out her pocket, sending it to the ground.
"It'll do us a lot of good down there too," Katie sighed.
"I'm working on it," she sighed, managing to pick the morpher up with her feet. "Alright Jen, catch," she said, lunging the morpher across the room.
The morpher hit Jen in the forehead, falling to the ground again. "Ouch!" she sighed.
"Sorry,"
Jen managed to pick the morpher up with her feet as well, lunging it towards Camille. This time, Camille caught it.
"You tried to hit me, didn't you?" Camille asked.
"Maybe,"
'TIME FOR, TIME FORCE,' she called out, morphing into the blue ranger. She was able to break free from her chains, falling to the ground and landing on her feet. "Why do we go through the motions every time we morph if all we have to do is press the button?" she asked.
"Just looks cool," Trip sighed.
Before Camille could free the others, the door to the holding cell opened and Knuckles walked in. "Where do you think you're going?" he snarled.
Camille responded with a spin kick to the face, knocking him up against the wall. She tried to follow up, but he reached out, grabbing her by the throat and lifted her up.
"Let her go!" Jen yelled.
"Fine," he said, throwing her through the wall, leaving her unconscious. "When are you rangers going to get it? You're nothing compared to an entire race of super mutants," he told them.
Just then, Knuckles fell to the ground, holding his face. "Who did that?" he snapped, looking around the room.
At that moment, someone appeared out of thin air. It looked like a ranger, but not like any of them had ever seen before. The entire uniform looked to be covered in black and gray armor, with gold symbols on the shoulders.
"Your times up mutant," the ranger said, extending his arms at his sides as golden blades came out of his forearms.
"I don't know who you think you are buddy, but you're in a world of trouble," Knuckles said as he got back to his feet, taking a swing at the mysterious ranger. The ranger managed to sidestep him, then spun around, slicing the back of his knee with one of the blades. Before Knuckles could hit the ground, the ranger struck again, slicing off Knuckle's right arm, forcing him to howl out in pain.
With Knuckles out the way, the mysterious ranger used his blades to cut through the chains holding the others. "Are you okay?" the ranger asked.
"We're fine, thanks to you," Jen said.
Trip picked Camille up, who had already powered down. "I think she just got the wind knocked out of her. She should be fine," he said.
"All of you should get back to the transport location immediately before its too late,"
"Who are you?" Katie asked.
"That isn't important right now. Here," he reached into what appeared to be a metal belt around his waist, pulling out their morphers and handed them to Jen. "Go before it's too late,"
"Thank you, whoever you are," Trip said.
"Anytime rangers,"
(*)
The four of them hurried back to the transport point, trying not to be seen by anyone on the street. They finally came to the transport point, setting Camille down gently. It was Jen who reached for her morpher.
"Jen to Tommy. Come in," she said.
'I read you loud and clear Jen. The portal will open in exactly two minutes. Standby,' he told them.
"So who was that guy?" Katie asked.
"Was he a ranger?"
"If he was, his technology was beyond anything I've ever seen before. The armor reminded me of what Camille and I were testing, but much more advanced. It seemed to cover his entire body, and those blades on his arms were awesome," Trip brought up.
"It's a good thing he's on our side,"
"He is really? We trusted Knuckles and look what that got us. Doesn't it seem convenient to you that some new ranger mysteriously shows up, saves the day and managed to get our morphers for us without breaking a sweat? If Time Force doesn't exist in this reality, where did he come from?" Jen asked them.
"There are a lot of possibilities. He could be from another reality, like we are. You also have to keep in mind that just because there's no Time Force here, that doesn't mean there can't be rangers. Who's to say that guy was even a ranger at all? Not all superheroes have to be Power Rangers," Trip pointed out.
"I suppose we'll never know," Katie sighed.
"I don't know about that. Something tells me we haven't seen the last of our new friend," Jen said.
The blue swirling vortex before to form. Trip quickly picked Camille up, and then walked through the portal. Katie was next, but Jen paused, turning around to see the mysterious ranger standing a few feet away. She nodded to acknowledge him, but he disappeared.
