Disclaimer: Power Rangers Time Force and all related logos are property of Disney and/or Saban Entertainment. I am using them without permission. KJ Sheldon, Lt. James Emery, Trinity Oliver, Camille Summers, Amanda "Mandy" Scott, Mr. & Mrs. Mathew Scott, Leo Claw and the "Omega Project" are property of yours truly.
A/N: This fic takes place about a week after the end of Future Shock II.
Please take a moment to review. I live for reviews!!
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"So it's settled then," Jen said eagerly, picking up her juice and taking a swallow. "Her name is Alexis,"
"We didn't settle on anything, I still think Carmen is a good name for a girl," he mentioned.
"Oh come on Tommy, stop conforming to destiny. So what, our daughter came back from the future and her name was Carmen, but that doesn't mean we have to name her Carmen," she said.
"Carmen was my adopted mother's name," he said.
"I had a cousin named Carmen, but that doesn't mean I want to name my child after her," she said. "Besides, we're not even sure it's a girl,"
"Of course it's a girl, what else could it be?"
"You know there is another kind of baby. It's called a boy," she giggled.
Tommy wrinkled up a napkin, throwing it across the table and hitting her. "Very funny Jen," he said.
"We've been arguing about this for weeks now, and now I think we need to come up with a name once and for all,"
"We certainly aren't naming her after your ex-boyfriend,"
"But Alexis is a pretty name,"
"So is Kim,"
"Kim is so… plain,"
"So is Jen, but no one is complaining,"
"I'm not suggesting we name her Jen Jr. either. I'll tell you what; if it's a boy, you can name him whatever you want. If it's a girl, I can name her whatever I want," she suggested.
"I'm tellin' you, it's a girl," he insisted.
"I already went in for my appointment with Dr. Young last week. He knows what the baby is, but I asked him not to tell us,"
"He doesn't have to tell us, I know it's a girl,"
"Damn you're stubborn Oliver," she sighed.
"And you're not Scotts?"
"Hey, that's Scotts-Oliver to you," she corrected.
She leaned over the table, moving in to kiss him, but they were interrupted…
'Katie to Tommy, come in,' a voice said.
Tommy reluctantly reached for his Morpher. "What is it Katie?"
'I know this is your first day back to work, and your duty shift doesn't start for another twenty minutes, but I think you should get down here,' she said.
"What is it?"
'There is an incursion in progress, I thought you'd want to check it out,' she told him.
He sighed. "I'm on my way Katie," he said.
"Duty calls," Jen sighed.
"Do you have class today?" he asked her.
"Yeah, but I'll be done by 1930 hours. Maybe if you save the world in time, I can cook dinner for us. Nothing too fancy, just me, you, a lasagna and some candles. And if you're lucky, some dessert," she said.
"Oooh, cake?"
"I was thinking about something else," she mentioned.
"Sounds good," he leaned over, kissing her warmly on the lips, then headed for the door. "I'll be home as soon as I can,"
"I love you Oliver!"
"I love you too Scotts-Oliver," he said, walking out the room.
*
Tommy walked into the science lab, where Katie and Trip were sitting in front of the controls going over coordinates. He made his way towards them, glancing over their shoulders and looking at the information on the screen.
"So what do we have?" he asked.
"As far as we can tell, there is an incursion taking place right now. We've cross checked the temporal coordinates, and its in the early 21st century," Katie said.
Trip turned around. "Have you noticed that the 21st century seems to be a focal point for inter-dimensional activity and temporal incursions? Its as if that century holds some type of cosmic significance, like that century is the junction point for the past, the present, the future and alternate planes of existence," he brought up.
"Or it could be a coincidence," Tommy added.
Trip shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, maybe,"
"I've localized the incursion to somewhere in Los Angeles, California. According to this, the year is 2004," Katie told him.
"Okay, I'll go check it off. If I need back up, I'll call it in," he said.
"Glory hound," Trip coughed under his breath, turning away from Tommy.
"What was that Lieutenant?"
"Nothing Commander Spotlight Hog," he said.
Giggling, Katie punched him.
"What are you trying to say Trip?"
"This is your first day back from your leave and you're ready to jump right in and steal all the glory again. I'll have you know you were saving the world while you were arguing with Jen about baby names," he said.
"What's really going on Trip?"
"He wants to go," Katie said.
"You can come with me if it's that important to you," Tommy said.
"Really?"
"Yeah, you never know when I might need a green haired nerd watching my back," he said.
Katie giggled. "Okay you two, temporal coordinates are set. I'll give you as much information as I can when you get there," she told him.
"Thank you Commander Curly hair," Tommy said.
Katie activated the slipstream, and the blue swirling vortex appeared, both Tommy and Trip stepped inside, disappearing…
~~
The two of them stepped through the portal, only to find themselves in the science lab again.
"What happened?" Trip asked, glancing around.
"I'm not sure," he turned to Katie. "Katie, is the slipstream malfunctioning?" he asked her.
Katie, who was sitting at the controls, turning around. "Geez, what's with you guys? They said take five, and I'm taking it," she mumbled as she lit a cigarette, then turned back around.
Trip and Tommy looked at one another, then back at Katie. "Since when do you smoke?" he asked.
She turned around again. "Save the Truth commercials for someone who cares. I like to smoke, deal with it," she stood up. "Damn, you two are as bad as my husband," she said, walking away.
"Husband?" they asked in unison, staring at one another.
"Okay, its safe to save the slipstream worked and this isn't our reality," Trip said.
"But this is suppose to be the 21st century, why are we in the science lab?" he asked.
Trip walked over to the controls, trying to get a sensor reading. "What the hell? These aren't even computers, they're just a bunch of flashing lights," he said.
"What the hell is going on?"
Just then, he walked over to them with a cup of coffee in his hand. "Hey guys. I didn't know this was a dress rehearsal," he said.
It was Alex, but both of them quickly noticed that he was out of uniform, wearing simply a pair of jeans and a blue shirt.
"Alex, what's going on?"
He paused, staring at them for a minute. "Oh, I get it. We're in character. Sorry guys, I haven't read the script for this scene, so I can't rehearse with you, but I'm coming up in scene thirty six,"
"What?"
Just then, his pager went off. "I gotta run guys, that's my agent. I'll catch you later," he said, walking away.
"What the hell is going on?" Trip asked.
"Something is seriously wrong on this world," he said.
At that moment, Lucas walked over to them with a cup in his hand and a cigar behind his ear. "Hey David, Kevin, what's up?" he asked them. "Whoa Kev, you lost a lot of weight. Are you usin' that Subway diet or something?"
Tommy and Trip looked at one another, then back at Lucas.
"Lucas, what the hell is going on?" Tommy asked him.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean Katie smokes, there's something wrong with all the equipment in the lab, Alex has an agent and there are video cameras all over the place. What the hell happened here?" he replied.
"Come on JD, there's always cameras on the set, and Debbie has been smoking ever since her husband left her," he said.
"What?"
"Alright people, lets get into position. I wanna get this shot down right the first time," a man said as he rushed into the lab, sitting down in a chair next to the cameras.
"Oh my God, it's a TV show," Trip said.
"What?"
"Think about it: the cameras, the lab being a fake, everyone acting differently and calling us different names. This is a TV show," he said.
"A show about the Power Rangers?" Tommy asked.
"Hey, I told you never to call it that," the man in the chair said. "This it the Energy Troopers: Future Force, not Power Rangers," he yelled.
"I don't believe this," he sighed.
"Come on, this is hardly the strangest thing we've seen. Besides, its kinda flattering," Trip said.
Just then, he rushed onto the set. He was severely overweight and had on a green wig. "Hey, sorry I'm late guys. Did filming start yet?" he asked, stuffing a hamburger into his mouth.
"Still think it's flattering?"
"Wait a minute. You got this fat, sloppy guy to play me? Who's in charge of casting around here?" Trip snapped.
"Listen you two, I have a show to do. So get with the program or get out of here," the director snapped.
The two of them walked off the set, making their way completely out the building. They were both amazed to see they were on a studio lot of some kind, surrounded by various buildings. It was Tommy who reached for his Morpher. "Katie, please tell me what the hell is going on?"
'From what I can tell, someone from our time opened an illegal time hole and went to the 21st century, then sold the idea of Energy Troopers to a man named Haim Saban. According to this, Energy Troopers is a cult like hit for that world. Its been syndicated several times, and was later brought from Saban by a much bigger company… Walt Disney. Energy Troopers is now in its 12th year of filming and has inspired several other series, and even has fans writing their own versions of the show and posting it on the Internet. Its called fanfiction,' she explained.
"You're telling me there's a show molded after us called Energy Troopers and people write stories about us on the Internet?" Tommy asked.
"People in the 21st century don't have anything better to do than write stories about their favorite TV shows? Its amazing how the human race even made it to the year 3000," Trip sighed.
"You're just mad they got a fat guy to play you," he brought up.
'You'd be surprised how many fans there are of this show. There are different sites on the Internet based on Energy Troopers, all them dedicated to talking about their favorite characters on the show and upcoming episode information,'
"The people on this world have no life," Tommy sighed.
"I bet they got some fancy Hollywood actor to play Tommy, didn't they?" Trip asked.
'Actually, the mainframe says that the man who played Tommy was a guy named Jason David Frank. I managed to find some pictures of the current cast, and I gotta admit, this guy looks a lot like Tommy,' she said.
"So why is the guy who plays me fat?"
'Sorry Trip, there's nothing in the database about it. I've read ahead in the time line. The series itself continues for another fifteen years, and after three semi-successful motion pictures, the franchise dies out. From what I can tell, it has no real significant impact on the future,' she said.
"So what are you saying? We should just leave it alone?"
'I don't see why not. If you really wanted to catch whoever is responsible for it, you'd have to travel back to the year 1993 and try to find out when and where the incursion took place, then bring whoever it is into custody. The problem is, I can't track down exactly where it happened,' she told him.
"Our best bet is to just let it go. Besides, I'd like to see one of these shows. It might be interesting," Tommy said.
'I've taken the liberty of downloading the entire Energy Troopers series into our main frame here. I've got every episode from the Mighty Transforming Energy Troopers to Energy Troopers: Dinosaur Force. When you get back, we'll check it out,' Katie said.
"Dinosaur Force?" Trip groaned.
"Mighty Transforming Energy Troopers?" Tommy sighed.
'Hey, I don't make up the titles. I'm just reading from the history logs. According to this though, they sold billions of dollars worth of Energy Trooper merchandise over the years. There was even a spin off called Big Bad Beetle Bots, but it didn't last long,' she said.
"I've heard enough. Just open the vortex, we're coming home," he said.
A few moments later, the blue swirling vortex appeared, and the two of them stepped inside, disappearing…
~~
Preview: TriadNext time on Parallels II: Someone is altering the time line, effecting not only the past, but the present and the future. The rangers must travel back in time and prevent a deadly alliance and their own destruction.
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