Chapter 20
Future Clash With the Past

Katie, Lucas, and Trip were involved in a heated discussion as they tried to figure out what Bulk and Skull meant by humans falling out of the sky, and Jen who seemed to already know was no help at all. She was standing all alone with her back to the team, fooling with a ring in her hand.

Wes was standing alone, but he too was thinking about the story told by the park bullies and especially Jen's orders. He didn't really know who this Zordon was, he really didn't care, but he knew that they'd already altered time by time traveling to the year 1993 and Jen was always so cautious when it came to time traveling. She'd always brutally interrogated the team with the rules of time travel, which include having strong conversations with people from another time. Wasn't this included? Or did Jen know something about this Zordon that he didn't. Instead of questioning her in front of the team, which she hated, Wes decided to pull her to the side. He walked up to her hoping none of the others would notice.

"Jen, can we talk?" Wes whispered.

Jen straightened up and quickly concealed the ring in her right shirt pocket before turning to face Wes. "What's there to talk about Wes? We have a mission, did you not understand my orders.

Wes was taken aback by her negative tone. He shook his head and backed away. "I didn't mean to upset you, I'm sorry Jen," he apologized, although he wasn't sure what for.

Jen frowned. "I'm sorry too Wes. I know I've been harsh lately, I'm just so afraid of messing up again. Lucas, Trip, Katie, and I have already risked our badges once for failing to capture Ransik in the year 3000. Captain Logan is counting on us to do the job this time, and I don't know what's going to happen if we fail,"

"I understand your mission Jen," Wes responded. "I want to help you capture Ransik too, I know I'm not risking anything here but I feel like I'm apart of this team now,"

"You are Wes," Jen said compassionately. "You're apart of this team in more ways then one, and I'm happy that you're here,"

Wes had been feeling a lot of things for Jen, he couldn't explain them and inside he knew that he could never act upon his feelings. She was from the future, and even if he could tell her how he felt… she was too heart broken over the events that had occurred with Alex. She'd probably laugh at him anyway. "Thank you Jen," Wes responded. "That really means a lot coming from you."

Jen nodded at him. Wes reminded her so much of Alex, she often wondered if he was possibly Alex's ancestor, but their last names weren't the same. It wasn't uncommon for there to be people who looked alike in the year 3000, especially in the age where babies were made by special requests. Jen couldn't help it, but she was developing deep feelings for Wes and had been blaming it on his strong resemblance to her fiancée. "So what did you want to talk to me about?" she asked, remembering Wes' original intentions for coming to her.

Wes gulped, he didn't want to ruin Jen's seemingly good attitude with asking questions about her orders but he knew he couldn't get out of it now, and didn't want to lie to her. "Um, I was kind of wondering who Zordon was, and why we're going to see him as it might interfere with the flow of time.."

Jen sighed. "Wes, weren't you listening before? We've been talking about Zordon and his important history with the Power Rangers since we've arrived in the year 1993,"

Wes tried not to make any sudden movements, he'd managed to do what he was trying not to do. Sure he'd been pay attention to Jen, but not to her words, to her beauty. "No Jen, I must have forgotten what was said, I'm sorry,"

"It's all right," Jen answered, surprising Wes. "I'll explain again. Zordon is a sage trapped in a time warp through the magical means of a space witch called Rita Repulsa. Today Rita will be accidentally released from her space dumpster by two astronauts and will unleash terror upon the Earth. Zordon will call upon five teenagers to become the first group of Power Rangers Earth has seen in centuries. Zordon knows about Time Force, there have been incidents that we've had to fix due to evil means in the past,"

"You mean the future?" Wes joked.

Jen smiled. "Confusing, isn't it? Anyways, we're equipped with these nifty time erasers that will erase memories of any events conflicting with the flow of time. So the plan is to capture Ransik and plant these devices so no one remembers anything. Anyways… something else has happened if my instincts are right, those two humans who fell from the sky are also from the future and Zordon will know what to do,"

Wes nodded, finally understanding the plan. Jen really had a good head on her shoulders because those devices she spoke of could have gotten them out of any pickle if they would have wanted to alter time for their own gain. He decided to drop the subject. "Thank you for explaining it to me,"

"No problem, as the leader of the team I'm happy to answer questions when someone doesn't understand. Jen replied. "I'm glad you came to me, sometimes I get the feeling that the others are afraid to ask questions,"

"I don't blame them," Wes said to himself. He smiled at Jen and made his way back towards Lucas, Trip, and Katie. Trip was speaking with Circuit about the advancement of cellular technology in the year 1993, while Katie and Lucas were whispering gibberish to each other.

Jen finally walked up to the group and took on her usual leadership stance. "All right guys, enough chattering! Circuit, I need the coordinates for the location of the Command Center in the California desert. Team, as Circuit reads them program them into your morphers for teleportation sequence,"

The four other Rangers nodded at Jen and readied their morphers as Circuit searched his database. "All right, I've found them. The coordinates are a latitude of 36.63495, and a longitude of -117.364,"

"All right!" Jen said in a commanding voice, she looked around making sure the area was clear of Angel Grove civilians. "Let's go!"

Instantaneously, five streams of colored beams sprinted off into the sky at the speed of sound headed for the Command Center.

It felt like two hundred degrees in the Californian desert. Jason and Kimberly had been hiking the mountains for what seemed like hours searching for any familiar rock formations that would tell them they were close to the Command Center.

Sweat poured from Kimberly. The last time she'd felt like this was during the search for the Temple of Power in the Desert of Despair. She'd been looking at the ground trying to put her mind off of the dilemma she and Jason were stuck in. If Zordon couldn't help them, what could they do? Kimberly's legs were growing weak, she assumed it was because of the time traveling sensation.

Jason, who was feeling all right in the intense heat had noticed that Kimberly was slowing down. "Kim, are you all right?"

Kimberly shook her head. "Do you care if we rest for a minute?"

"Of course not," Jason replied. "You've been on the go since we've been captured by Zedd,"

"Yeah," Kimberly nodded, as the events that had happened to quickly flooded her mind. "A lot has happened since you rescued me from Vince, and we teleported behind that department store,"

Jason laughed. "That's true," he sighed. "A lot has happened between us too… and I'm glad it did,"

Kimberly remained silent searching her heart for the right response. "Jase… don't take this the wrong way. But… do you think we're taking things too fast?"

Jason's heart sunk. He wasn't sure what she wanted him to say so he figured he'd try to get more out of her. "I… don't know what you mean?"

"Never mind," she responded, and laid her head on his shoulder. "Maybe I'm just afraid of getting into a relationship again,"

Jason was relieved. He knew that she had to be afraid, heck, he was afraid too after loosing Emily. It felt so right with Kimberly though, she was his other half. She completed him, and he didn't know what he would do if he lost her. It was astounding how much she'd changed his life in the very little time that they'd been reunited. He literally loved her. "I love you Kimberly,"

Kimberly glanced at him. "Jason… I.." the appearance of five streams of colored light interrupted her response. "Jason! Did you see that?" she said excitedly pointing up towards a large mountain peak where the light source disappeared behind.

"Yeah I saw it all right," said Jason jumping up. "What in the heck was that? Have we all ready received our powers?"

Kimberly shook her head. "We haven't been hiking that long, we should still be in school besides that teleportation stream had the color green in it,"

"Maybe we were imagining it," said Jason, trying to make sense of the situation. "That has to be it, there were no other Power Rangers around back in this time,"

Kimberly shook her head. "Jase… call me crazy, but how in the world could both of us imagine the exact same thing at the same time?"

"You're right…" Jason nodded. "Come on, let's go check it out. I have a feeling that the Command Center is on the other side of that mountain peak,"

Jason and Kimberly started climbing up the various sized boulders as quickly as they could. Meanwhile at the top of the mountain base, the five Time Force Rangers landed. All of them seemed amazed at the large foreign structure that was the Command Center. Jen, Lucas, Trip, and Katie were used to this fashion of structures, but to Wes it was like something out of Star Trek.

"Amazing," said Wes. "And this has been here for thousands of years?"

Trip nodded. "Probably longer then that, Zordon is over ten-thousand years old,"

Jen walked around, she too was excited to be standing on such a fascinating Power Rangers landmark but she was trying to scale the building for its entrance. "Everyone search for an entrance, we have to get inside and explain our situation before Zordon suspects we're the enemy,"

The other four Time Force Rangers quickly followed their order and began surveying the building with Jen unaware that two more Rangers were scaling the mountains. Jason and Kimberly came to the top of the mountain peak, catching the first glimpse of the Command Center which sat upon another mound.

"We're almost there…" said Jason, panting. "Do you see anything suspicious Kim?"

Kimberly was trying to catch her breath, but managed to slur out a response. "No, I don't see anything, we need to get closer,"

"Do you think you have the strength to make a run for it?" Jason asked.

Kimberly nodded. "We're almost there, I think I could do anything if it meant we'd be getting home safely,"

"All right," Jason replied. "Let's do it,"

The two of them began running up towards the next mountain slope towards the Command Center, this task not as difficult as there were many pathways built into the rocks. The large sandstone building became larger and larger. The noises protruding from Kimberly and Jason's running startled Jen.

"Do you guys hear something?" Jen asked, looking behind her.

Wes stopped looking for an entrance and turned around. "Yeah it sounds like…"

"Look!" Katie screamed. "Pointing down towards the mountains. "There's two humans running towards this building,"

Lucas and Trip walked up towards the edge to get a closer look. "Who do you think it is Jen?" asked a dumbfounded Lucas.

Jen shook her head and shrugged her shoulder. "I don't know, but I'm ready to find out. Ready your morphers! Time for…"

"Stop!" called Wes. "Jen, if they are humans, we obviously can't attack them… and we can't let them see us morph,"

Jen was shocked the Wes was disobeying one of her orders, even if he was partially right. "Wes! You…"

Jen paused when Kimberly popped up over the bottom of the mountain and collapsed at her feet. Jason followed and bent down heaving for air. He hadn't noticed the Time Force Rangers standing yards away.

Kimberly looked up at Jen in her teenage 90's clothing. It was almost like she was staring at herself.

Jason didn't know what to think, they were obviously teenagers but why were they at the Command Center. Had something gone with in the time flow? Did Zordon choose different teenagers to become Power Rangers. His questions were about to be answered when Jen finally spoke.

"Kimberly Hart and Jason Scott," she spoke deeply. "I am Jennifer Scotts, leader of the Time Force Power Rangers,"

"You're the what of the what?" asked Kimberly, finally catching her breath. Kimberly pointed at Circuit finally noticing the flying robotic bird. "Um… Jase, am I dreaming?"

Lucas shook his head. "Jeez Jen, you didn't have to lay it on them like that. They don't have any idea what you're talking about,"

Jen nodded. "You're right Lucas," she paused. "I will explain better. Listen, we're from the future, we've come back in time because one of the mutants we've been fighting used a time device to stop the Power Rangers from receiving their power coins,"

"But that's us," Jason nodded. "And wait a second, Power Rangers from the future? How far in the future are you guys from?"

Trip stepped up to answer Jason's question. "Well, Wes is from the year 2001, but myself, Jen, Katie, and Lucas are from the year 3000,"

"3000?" Kimberly asked, she turned to Jason. "We have to be dreaming,"

Jen touched Kimberly's shoulder and turned her around. "You're not dreaming, I had a feeling that you two were the ones who fell from the sky in Angel Grove Park. Why are you back in time? What's happened?"

Jason shrugged. "We're not sure ourselves. Lord Zedd has invaded earth in the year 1998, the Astro Rangers were no where to be found so we took matters into our own hands. Without our powers we failed and was captured by Zedd. Kimberly here managed to escape and she went to Aquitar to seek help. However… Billy couldn't help us much and well, we somehow entered a time vortex in Zedd's throne room,"

"Wow, that's quite a story," Jen replied. "Are you two the only ones who entered that vortex?"

Kimberly nodded. "As far as we know. What are you guys doing at the Command Center?"

"We needed a base of operations to pin-point Ransik's location, we were hoping that we could find an entrance to speak with Zordon and Alpha 5 but our attempts have been unsuccessful,"

Jason thought for a second. He'd definitely used the Command Center door many times during his days as a Power Ranger when he'd come outside and think in the fresh mountain breeze. Suddenly it came to him. "You can't find an entrance because the entrance only appears to someone holding a power coin,"

Jen nodded. "I knew I was forgetting something. It's too bad your power coins were destroyed,"

Kimberly shrugged and wretched into her jeans pocket. "Well… I kind of have my old pterodactyl coin, but it's jammed inside of the power morpher which is completely destroyed,"

Jen nodded. "Hmm… do you mind letting me see it?"

Kimberly thought for a minute. Zordon always told them never to let anyone else have their power coins, could she really trust this girl from the future. "Um… well, I'm not supposed to. But you're a Power Ranger… I know I can trust you," she took out the small power morpher from her pocket which was cracked through the middle and handed it over to Jen.

"Wow," said an amazed Jen. "Do you guys know how old and important this is?"

The four Time Force Rangers stepped up for a closer look.

Trip couldn't believe his eyes, history museums in the future contained the very object, but he'd never seen it so close up before. It was their heritage as Power Rangers. "This should reveal the door, after all it is a power coin,"

"We can only try," Jen answered, handing the power morpher back to Kimberly. "Since you know where the door is, lead the way,"

Kimberly nodded. The whole thing was happening so fast and she still didn't fully take in that she was talking to Power Rangers from the future. She led the way to the side of the Command Center building.

Jason and Wes shook hands, Jason figured that Wes was the Red Ranger of the team. "Nice to meet you bro," said Jason.

"You too," Wes replied. "It's great getting to meet you, I read so much about you when I was younger… or well, about the Red Ranger,"

Jason smiled. "It's great to know that Zordon is still alive and kicking in the year 3000," Jason patted him on the back and went to shake hands with Lucas and Trip.

"Well uh.. Zor," Wes began a reply, but stopped when Katie elbowed him.

"You can't tell them anything about the future," Katie whispered. "It could cause a catastrophe,"

Wes nodded, trying to conceal the pain where Katie forcibly elbowed him. "Right Katie, I'll keep that in mind,"

The six Rangers followed behind Kimberly, a door instantly appeared. Kimberly was so familiar with this that she walked right through. The inside of the Command Center was dark, like it'd been the first time she, Jason, Zack, Billy, and Trini were teleported there. Turning through a couple of hallways Kimberly finally found the main room. Alpha 5 was standing at the control panel, his back to the seven Rangers talking away. It broke Kimberly's heart to see him standing there because she knew what would happen to him in the future.

"Ayi yi yi," Alpha chimed. "This is most disturbing Zordon! An un-identified planetoid has entered the Earth's atmosphere,"

"That is most disturbing Alpha," replied Zordon. "Send a tracking signal from the Command Center. I have a bad feeling about this. It must be the planetoid where Rita's dumpster is found."

Kimberly stepped forward, which set off the intruder alert. "Zordon! Alpha!"

The ringing noise set off Alpha 5"Intruder alert! Ayi yi yi! Intruder alert!"

"Calm down Alpha," Zordon spoke. "It's Kimberly,"

Alpha 5 paused for a minute thinking. "Oh no, it's a catastrophe. Rita Repulsa has been released from her dumpster early and we forgot to send for the five teenagers with attitude so they came already?"

"No Alpha," Kimberly responded. "Nothing is wrong, I came from the future again… except this time I've brought a few friends with me…"

Jason, and the Time Force Rangers stepped through. Jen walked up and looked at the plasma tube which held Zordon. "Zordon, it's a pleasure to meet you. I am Jennifer Scotts, a Time Force Officer. It's a long story, but we need your help. All of us do,"

To Be Continued