Rated PG-13: language, sexual references in the last section, including slash elements.
A/N: For those not familiar with my 'Year of Time' series, it's a science-fiction AU of Time Force. In it, there were no zords or megazords besides the Q-Rex (which was simply a large robot); the mutants didn't grow; and there were only a few of them. Also there are no other Ranger teams, therefore the teamups with Lightspeed and Wild Force and 'Forever Red' never happened.
The Dino Thunder section takes place after 'The Passion of Conner' and before 'Strange Relations'.
The spelling of Conner's name is now corrected - my thanks to Etcetera Kit for pointing it out.
Reviews are always appreciated.
"If that isn't Silver Hills - then where are we?" Wes could feel the disappointment and renewed fear like a cold lump in his stomach. Had they been transported to another place as well as another time and another reality? Were they worse off than before?
Eric's voice was just as tense as Wes's gut. "My morpher says we're in California at least. Someplace called Reefside, farther north than Silver Hills."
Wes stared down at thick forest and grassy hills. "Strange. Doesn't really look like California. And - what time is it? What year?"
"Fall 2004. Back to our own time, anyway. Maybe we can just fly home."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Hang on while I try to get my bearings."
The small aircraft swept a low, long circle above the treetops, skirting the unfamiliar city. Reefside. Wes tried to remember if he had ever heard of it, and drew a blank. He looked curiously as they came near the downtown section, tall buildings, parks, a nice-looking place except for the occasional signs of recent destruction and repairs. "Looks like they've had some trouble here," he remarked.
"Uh-huh."
Now they were heading away from town, over a scattering of houses, then a stretch of forest. Eric must have decided which direction to go in. Wes tried to relax and get comfortable, lying on the Eagle's wing, watching the land beneath them as Eric picked up speed...
"Hey! What was that?"
"What was what?"
"Go back a minute! I saw something!"
"Geez..." But they slowed and turned as sharply as Eric could manage without throwing him off. In moments they approached the scene Wes had glimpsed.
It was a small group of people fighting in what appeared to be an abandoned quarry, that much was obvious. The one all the others seemed to be attacking was wearing a form-fitting black suit with a trim of gold diamond shapes up and down the sides of his arms and legs, complete with an opaque-visored helmet. It struck Wes that it looked very similar to his and Eric's Ranger suits.
Two of the people he was trying to defend himself from - were less easy to define. One was a man - or something - encased entirely in armor-like black leather and metal, his head also helmeted. One was a woman in tight black leather that left her head, shoulders, and upper arms bare, a ponytail of black hair streaming down her back. She might have been attractive if not for black lipstick, heavy makeup, and the expression of hatred on her face. The third - wore another Ranger-like suit similar to the first but with the colors reversed, white trimmed with jagged black, the visor of his helmet red.
"Who are they?"
"How should I know, Wes?"
"Three against one..."
"Don't start. We have no idea what's going on here. It's none of our business."
But he continued to circle as they watched the black and gold-suited man go down in a concentrated burst of energy blasts. The other three surrounded him, moving triumphantly closer. The man rolled onto his side, and made a pitiful attempt to get up, managing to climb onto his hands and knees. The black-armored one stepped in front of the others, gesturing them back, then lifting what appeared to be a sword. As he swung it down, a beam of glowing energy arced from it. Even in the air, Wes could hear the man on the ground cry out in pain when it struck.
As the flare of the energy blast faded, there was another, quick flash of glimmering light, one that seemed very familiar. The black and gold suit disappeared into it, leaving a pale and very vulnerable looking man dressed in ordinary clothes, weakly trying to push himself up and crawl away as the armored figure slowly raised the weapon above his head again and stepped closer, laughing softly...
"Hey!" Eric shouted.
The Eagle dived, almost unseating Wes, heading right for the combatants. After getting a firmer grip, Wes summoned his blaster and sent a beam sizzling down to hit at armor-man's feet. Four startled faces - or two faces and two helmets - turned to look up. As the flyer reached the lowest point of its descent and leveled out Wes leaped from the wing, landing almost between the demorphed man and his attackers. A thump and a glance showed Eric right beside him.
"Who are you?" the woman snarled. "How dare you interfere!"
"Three against one doesn't seem like fair odds to me!" Wes said.
"And hitting a guy when he's down looks even worse to me," Eric added.
"Then we'll just have to destroy you along with him," the white-suited man said in a strange, almost artificial-sounding voice.
"You're welcome to try," Eric said with deceptive softness.
"No one stands between me and my revenge!" Armor-man shouted, and swung his sword up and at Wes's head.
Reflexively Wes ducked, dropped to one knee, and swept the other foot out to kick at his attacker's ankles, unbalancing him enough to force him to stagger back a few steps. He leaped up and blocked the other man's sword arm as it came at him again, side-kicked, and summoned his blaster. The energy beam he shot at his opponent had little effect.
Eric was up against both the white-suited man and the woman, using all the speed and skill he possessed as a martial artist along with his Ranger powers, gracefully weaving between them. He spin-kicked at the woman, driving her back, then switched sides to land a boot solidly in the man's chest. In another instant the Quantum Defender was in his hand, a quick burst bringing White-suit down. Perhaps he didn't want to shoot the woman, or had underestimated her; she proved herself stronger than she looked by springing at him, driving an elbow into his stomach and doubling him up.
Wes spared a glance for the man they were trying to protect, but he seemed to have disappeared. As he dived to dodge a beam of energy from his own opponent, rolled back to his feet and fired in return, he saw the woman suddenly fly backwards away from Eric as if yanked by an invisible arm, but had no time to wonder about it as he was forced to twist away from another slash. Stumbling backwards, he lost his balance and fell, seeing the sword rise over him...
A brilliant flash made him blink. His attacker fell back as an energy beam struck him square in the chest and a voice shouted from behind Wes. "Leave him alone, Zeltrax!"
Wes twisted to face the new arrivals. There were four of them, in suits of the same general design as the man in black and gold. One of them, standing a little in front, was in red, one in blue, the only woman was in yellow - and the last man wore white, identical to one of their opponents. They advanced a few steps.
"Where's the black Ranger? What have you done to him?" the same voice asked, coming from the red-suited man.
"That's for you to find out," the woman in black growled. She straightened, and turned her head to her companion in white. "Let's get out of here."
"Elsa! You would leave me to fight them alone?" Zeltrax shouted at her angrily.
"We're no longer allies, in case you've forgotten," she answered coolly. "We made a truce only long enough to dispose of the black Ranger. At which you've failed, just like every other time." Her lips curled. "Good luck." In twin flashes of light, they disappeared.
Apparently Zeltrax didn't like the odds. "This isn't over, Rangers!" he snarled. "For any of you!" In a pillar of light springing from his body up into the air, he was gone as well.
There was silence for a second or two, as Eric stepped to Wes's side and they stared at the other four. Then the woman turned her head and asked anxiously, "Where's Dr. O? Hayley said he was in trouble!"
"I was in trouble. In fact I would have been toast if these two hadn't shown up when they did."
Wes jumped. The voice had come out of nowhere, only a few feet in front of him. As he blinked in disbelief, the air seemed to waver and distort into a blur, and a form - the same man they had rescued - stepped out of it, smiling at them. He seemed to be around thirty, an inch or two taller than himself and Eric, with an athletic build and short, spiky dark hair.
"Wes, Eric," he said. "Thanks, I owe you one."
"Hey, I remember them!" the man in red exclaimed. With a quick chopping gesture of his arms and a "Power down!" he demorphed, revealing a tall teenager with brown hair. "They're the Time Force Rangers!"
"Right, Conner. Wes Collins and Eric Myers, I'd like you to meet Conner McKnight, the red Dino Thunder Ranger. And..." The others had also shed their Ranger suits and were approaching. "Ethan James, the blue Ranger, Kira Ford, yellow, and Trent Fernandez, white." He pointed out a short black man - or boy, really - a blonde girl, and another boy, all appearing to be around seventeen.
Wes glanced at Eric, who shrugged silently. He touched his morpher, and Eric muttered, "Power down."
"Glad we could help out," Wes said. "But I'm afraid we're not who you think we are. We've never seen any of you before."
The man's smile faltered and his forehead creased in confusion. "You don't remember me? Tommy Oliver? We teamed up with the other red Rangers to destroy Serpentera on the moon?"
"Sorry," Wes said, as he and Eric exchanged another look.
"What other red Rangers?" Eric asked skeptically, his eyes moving to Conner. "You mean there's more besides him?"
"There's a lot more," Tommy said. "Look, maybe we'd better get out of here. Obviously we have a lot to talk about, and we'll be more comfortable at my house."
Tommy hung up the phone, looking somber as well as perplexed. "I just talked to Eric Myers at Bio-Lab. He said Wes left a few minutes ago on a field assignment. Neither of them have been out of Silver Hills for weeks."
"Told you," Eric said.
"That just leaves the question of who you two are."
"We're Wes Collins and Eric Myers," Wes said, "but not the ones you know. We're from - a different dimension or something, I guess." He spent the next half-hour telling Tommy about their visit to an alternate version of their own past, finishing with, "We don't know if we're in a different reality now, or the same one and just back in our own time. And we don't know how to get home."
"So you never met me before, or Cole, or Carter. You've never even heard of any other Ranger teams before today."
"Nope. How many are there?" Eric asked.
Tommy sighed. "Quite a few. There was a lot of overlap in the first years, but I guess my current team is something like the twelfth."
"Twelve?" Wes exclaimed. "But how? Our morphers were built hundreds of years in the future. How could there be that kind of technology in the present?"
"It wasn't really technology, most of it. And I guess you've never heard of Zordon, either." Tommy stood up. "Kind of a long story. Let me get us something to drink, and find some food. You're probably hungry."
"Well - yeah, lunch sounds good."
"It's closer to dinner. Be right back."
With Tommy in the kitchen, Wes took his time looking around the comfortable if slightly cluttered living room. The other Rangers had gone, rather reluctantly, but Tommy had said they needed to get home to their parents.
"Even if this is a different dimension than the one we just left, it's just as lame," Eric muttered. "High school kids being Rangers. Shit."
"They did seem kind of young."
"And those guys we were fighting. Weird."
"At least none of them suddenly got sixty feet high."
"Yeah, thank God for small favors."
They stopped talking as Tommy returned with a tray holding bread, cold cuts, and glasses of soda. Wes hadn't fully realized how hungry he was; he dug in, at first eagerly, then gradually almost forgetting what he was eating as Tommy told his story. The history of the Power Rangers, at least in his world.
Ancient, mysterious alien beings. A floating head trapped in an interdimensional tube. A parade of superpowerful villains with various schemes to take over the world or sometimes the universe. Each time, a team of Rangers formed to meet the threat, each time succeeding after a terrible struggle. Now there was Mesogog, a reptilian creature who wanted to return the Earth to the age of the dinosaurs, helped by Elsa and an evil clone they had created of the current white Ranger; and Zeltrax, his former lieutenant, the armored man they had fought. It was exciting, colorful, enthralling. And completely incredible.
"Damn," Eric said emphatically when Tommy had finished talking. "You expect us to believe that load of bullshit?"
"You're Rangers yourselves, some similar things must have happened to you. You saw Zeltrax, Elsa, and the clone white Ranger for yourselves." He frowned. "And - you should watch what you're saying around here. Rangers don't use that kind of language."
"Christ. Not you, too. I've got to get out of this dimension."
"Well, we did run into a few giant robots," Wes said. "And the Q-Rex was a lot like that megazord Jen and the others used."
"The Q-Rex could have beat the pants off that thing," Eric muttered. "But I guess you're right. Except we didn't have any growing mutants."
"Every villain from Rita to Mesagog has been able to make their monsters grow some way or another," Tommy said.
"Figures. And I guess you and the Junior Rangers have one of those zords, too?"
Tommy smiled. "Actually, we each have one. Some of them combine."
"And what about that invisibility trick of yours?" Wes asked as Eric scowled in obvious disgust.
"The dino gems that make us Rangers also give us extra powers, even when we're not in the suits. Mine is invisibility. Very useful sometimes, like today."
"I'll bet. You seem to know a lot about all this. How long have you guys been Rangers?"
"The others - several months. I'm - sort of an exception, I guess. I've been a Ranger before. More than once. The first time was over ten years ago, when I wasn't any older than Conner, Ethan, Kira, and Trent. I lost my powers... got more... lost them again... I've been a green Ranger, white, red, and now black. Been so many colors, my friends used to call me Technicolor Tommy..." His eyes had moved beyond them, losing focus, and he suddenly looked - tired.
"You don't seem too happy about it," Eric said.
"No - it has to be done. I've got a great team. I know we'll win out in the end. But... sometimes I guess I wonder when it'll end." He blinked and smiled again. "It's getting late. Don't know about you, but I'm tired."
Wes glanced at the window. He hadn't even noticed when it got dark, hadn't realized before now that they had been sitting in this room, talking, for hours. Unexpectedly, he yawned. "Yeah, us too," he said. "Didn't get too much sleep last night, either."
"You're welcome to stay here. I have a guest room with two beds, if you don't mind sharing."
"After last night, I'm just glad to have a bed," Eric said. "Thanks."
"Yeah, thanks for everything," Wes added.
"Hey, you guys saved my life." Tommy stood up. "I have a partner who takes care of our technical stuff, the zords and weapons. Tomorrow, I'll ask her to come over and see if she can come up with a way to get you home."
"Home," Wes said wistfully. "I miss it. I miss Jen."
"Yeah, well, you're not my ideal sleeping companion either. No offense."
"None taken." Wes smiled despite the anxiety that seemed to grow stronger now that there were no distractions. He was lying in a comfortable bed in Tommy's guest room, staring at a darkened ceiling, trying to go to sleep and failing miserably. Jen... he hadn't realized how much he missed her until he felt her absence from his side, her warm body pressed against his, even just her weight on the mattress... "I guess you miss Gaby, too," he said, partly to distract himself.
"Yeah." It sounded abrupt. Eric, as always, not showing what he felt.
"I wonder what we're supposed to do here."
"What do you mean?"
"Well - last time the thunderstorm came for us right after Jen agreed to give the other Wes another chance. That's what we had to do there, put things back the way they're supposed to be. There must be something we're supposed to do here, but I don't see what."
"Jesus, Wes, this isn't Quantum Leap. Last time was just a coincidence. We're not 'supposed' to do anything except get out of here and go home."
"How do you know?"
"Okay, fine. We saved Tommy's butt. Maybe that was it."
"Then why are we still here?"
Eric's voice held exaggerated patience. "Maybe the Great Power or whatever wants us to get a good night's sleep first. So if you can manage to shut up for about eight hours, then we can go home."
Wes grinned. "Quit kidding around. I'm serious."
"So am I. I'm sleepy." The sound of a yawn reached across the room, then silence.
"Eric?"
"Yeah?"
"Maybe it's Tommy. I don't know, he seemed a little unhappy. Or those kids, maybe they don't really want to be Rangers. Or maybe we're supposed to help them take care of Mesogog."
"Yeah, maybe. Figure it out in the morning." There was another pause.
"Eric?"
"What now?"
"Think we'll ever get back?" It sounded sadder and more hopeless than Wes had really intended.
There was a pause, and Wes could hear the springs creak as Eric shifted position before the reply came. "Of course we will. We've always done it before, haven't we? Even if we have to find that Zordon weirdo, we'll get home."
"But Tommy said Zordon's gone..."
"Just get some sleep, Wes."
"Okay. Goodnight, Eric." But Wes continued to stare up at the ceiling.
TBC...