Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Power Rangers…this is for entertainment only!
Yahoo! My eighth story!
This one is separate from my others, a brand new story line!
I'm going to have Lightspeed show up briefly for this one…
STORY SUMMARY: There's a murderer going around Silver Hills. No one can find him, and no one can stop him. It's a different case for the Silver Guardians as Wes and Eric are put to the test. But when an old love is ignited again, it's a race against time for the Time Force Rangers... before this killer strikes again...
TIMELINE: About four years after the Rangers returned to the future. Crossover with Wild Force will be mentioned, hence it has occurred, and the clock tower never burnt down…
Chapter 1 is up! Enjoy!
The Time Code
In Cold Blood
Year 2005Rain pounded against the car roof. Eric Myers sat in the driver's seat and cruised down Silver Hills Boulevard. It was a cool 52 degrees and his breath fogged up the window.
"I hate traffic duty." The Quantum Ranger muttered.
"Hey, be happy it's not hot out." The man besides him responded. "Besides, it's not like anything is going to happen today anyway."
"Stop being so optimistic, Wes."
Wes Collins chuckled. The Red Ranger gazed out the window as an old building came into his view. Eric watched his face shrink, and his eyes fall. Eric pulled over to the curb and parked the car.
"Come on, Wes. We're going for a walk." said Eric. "You need to clear your head and get out for a bit."
Wes gave at his fellow ranger. They both walked into the old odd job shop, memories flooding Wes's mind. They trecked up the stairwell and soon came to a landing.
The large clock face looked at them, it's gears still winded.
He sat on the balcony, overlooking Silver Hills.
"Something on your mind?" a sweet voice asked.
Wes turned his head around to see Jen smiling at him. He merely shrugged.
"Na, just thinking." He gazed at the city again. "You know, it's funny how life can take such amazing turns."
"You mean like becoming a ranger?" she asked.
He smirked. "Yea."
Jen smiled. "Well, I'm glad life's so funny." Something sparkled in her eyes. "You're a great Red Ranger." Jen left Wes sitting in awe as she walked away.
Wes jumped up off of the ledge. "You…think I'm great?"
"Yea, I mean you're…" She rolled her head. "pretty good."
Wes pulled her arm around. "Whoa, you said great, not just pretty good."
"Well, I meant…above average." She raised her head as Wes's eyes lit up. "Barely!" She tapped his chest and walked away with an accomplished smile on her face.
"Barely?" he protested. "Wait a sec!"
"So many memories." Wes muttered sadly. He slowly walked over to the ledge as another memory flooded his mind. The moment that he realized he liked Jen, and when he discovered that Jen liked him.
Jen sat out on the ledge staring aimlessly out, her engagement still intact to her finger.
Wes had been watching her for hours, trying to think of something to say. Wes laughed silently at himself. At his prep school girls flocked to him, but they turned out to be no more then a date. He had never felt this way about a girl, and was never afraid to approach them.
That changed when Jen came into his life. He tried to charm her, but she stepped all over him. This was the first girl, a woman actually, that he was afraid to approach. He took a deep breath and walked over.
"I know I'm not Alex," he said. "Jen turned around slowly and looked at him. She reached for his hand as he helped her back inside.
"But I don't want you to be like him." She hopped down to eye level and felt him take her other hand. "In fact," she bit her lip. "I like you just the way you are."
Wes's eyes lit up. "You do?"
She shook her head. "Yea, I do."
The balcony had a perfect view of the beach where the love of his life left him not five minutes after confessing their true feelings.
I should have told you this a long time ago…I love you." Jen sobbed.
"I love you too. I wish I could live one-thousand years into the future so we could be together again." Wes stated.
With a tight hug, their love was sealed. She finally released him, her arms numb. Jen walked into the teleportation beam and disappeared in a flash.
Wes watched the ship take off, his heart gone with it.
He bowed his head as a tear fell to the ground and mixed with the rain.
But Jen came back a few months later to stop a gang of rogue mutants with the help of the Wild Force rangers over in Turtle Cove. The numbered days they spent together were happy, but she had to return to the future for the second time.
They stood outside the same time ship, but this time it was different.
"Jen, I don't know what to say." He said.
She nodded in agreement. "I know. Words won't make everything sound okay this time."
The ship's engines were heard powering up. Jen looked at Wes. "I guess this is…god bye."
Both had tears in their eyes. "Good bye doesn't last forever, Jen." Wes took off his high school ring. "I want you to have this, Jen. I love you."
Jen jumped into his arms, not wanting to leave. His ring made an impression in her hand. "I love you too. I always will."
He gazed into her tear-streaked face. A longing overtook his and he leaned his head in closer.
Jen placed two fingers in his lips. "Please don't, Wes. It'll only make it harder."
Disappointed, Wes respected her wishes and receded.
With one last tight hug she walked out of his life.
Forever…
"You have to get over her, Wes." Eric took his friend out of the trance.
"I've tried to, bit it's like she's got this hold over me that I can't break." The Red Ranger said sadly.
"You have to, Wes. We all heard her. Once she returned to the future, the portal would be taken apart. She can't come back, Wes." Eric said.
Wes had no response. He knew deep down that she'd never come back. The portal was gone by now.
"Unit Bravo-Delta four, Command." A voice said. Eric grabbed his radio.
"Bravo-Delta, go ahead Command."
"Commanders, you better report to Fifth and Brandison, we've got a…problem."
Wes gave Eric a weird look as he grabbed his radio. "Copy that, we're on our way."
The two jumped down the stairs and into the car.
Fifth and Brandison
Wes and Eric pulled up to see Police Tape surrounding the area. An officer brought them up the stairs and into an apartment.
A young woman lay on the living room, her body surrounded in blood. A neck lacerating poured out blood and a knife was stuck in her stomach.
Wes looked at her eyes, they were staring aimlessly past him.
"Lillian Goldstein," Eric said. He picked up her wallet. "Nothing seems to be taken, and I have a sneaky suspicion that this wasn't just a robbery."
Lillian's frantic mother burst in with her father besides her and cried to her daughter's body. She buried her face into her husband's shoulder.
"Mrs. Goldstein, did you daughter have any enemies?" Wes asked.
She shook her head. "No…she was getting married in two weeks." Another flood of tears came over her.
"A jealous ex-boyfriend maybe?" Eric asked.
"She's been dating Zack for years at a time." Her father said.
Wes and Eric surveyed the scene. There were no other weapons except for the knife. With one last sweep of the room, they left. A murder wasn't something they had experience with, but it was something they would have to work on.
A few days later
"Commander Collins, Commander Myers, I have the autopsy reports for you." A doctor handed Eric the folder.
"Thanks, Mike. Anything else you find, tell us." The doctor nodded and left.
Eric opened the packet and took out the packet. "It's a murder all right. Her neck was cut with a kitchen knife then stabbed with it again." Eric took out the pictures from the knife wounds. "No wonder why they call it the Miracle Blade." He said.
One picture caught his attention. "Burns?" he asked. "Wes, come take a look at this."
Wes walked over and studied the picture. "Get a load of this, Wes. There were prints on the knife, but they couldn't find a match to the print."
Wes continued to stare at the picture. "The report doesn't say anything about powder burns or a residue on her clothes, does it?" Eric shook his head no. Wes turned the picture around and studied the wound itself. "Holy shit, that's a blaster burn."
"Blaster burn?" Eric asked curiously. "Wait…you mean from like gun?"
"Not just any gun, a chrono blaster. Jen had a scar on her arm from one of these, I'm sure of it."
"But the only people in this time who have weapons with that kind of power are you and me. You don't think…"
"Impossible. Like Jen said, the portal would be taken apart." Wes trailed off.
Another alarm went blasting as Wes and Eric hopped into the Jeep.
They arrived at another apartment, with the same sight. A young woman, her throat slashed and a knife in her stomach. A scar on her skin sizzled. It was exactly the same case as Lillian Goldstein. This woman was indeed murdered.
A murder in cold blood…
ch 2 up soon…