Disclaimer: yet again I own nothing except Ink and Alice. (I wish I owned Eric but hey my loss I guess). Updates may be few and far between because of uni work so apologies in advance.

Ranger References: This refers to all of the past Power Ranger seasons. I'm sorry if its going over things you guys already know but its needed for my story ok? It's my explanation of the different sources of power the Ranger were given. It makes sense to me and I hope it does to you too. Shout-outs at the end as always. Enjoy

TWO TYPES OF POWER

"Alex."

The word hung in the air as Jen stared at the empty space where Ink and Alice had just been standing. Now there was nothing, no evidence at all that they had been present in the clock tower at all. The other Rangers looked as shell shocked as Jen, unable to form words. Circuit, sat up on his perch, wisely chose not to voice an opinion. He let the Rangers take in all of Ink and Alice's words.

Wes was the most confused. He felt as though he was missing out on a lot of information that the other Rangers had from their Time Force training. According to Ink, he needed it and so he needed to break the silence. Cautiously he cleared his throat.

"Guys? Can you fill me on all this past Ranger stuff?" he asked quietly, "Ink seemed to think it was pretty important I know it all so........"

Trip seemed to shake himself clear of his stupor first.

"Um sure Wes! I think Circuit has some files on the past Rangers which can help visualise the whole thing for you," Trip got excitedly to his feet and beckoned Circuit down.

"On it already Trip," chirped the owl brightly. "I'll just locate the files and show them on the holoscreen."

Circuit landed beside the holoscreen and the lights in his belly flashed as he connected. Jen still stood staring at the space, her eyes wide and liquidy. Katie looked at her questioningly.

"Jen? Are you ok?" the Yellow Ranger asked tentatively.

Jen started slightly and turned back to the others. Wes looked at her worriedly. She looked shell shocked at the mention of her former fiancé. It had taken her so long to finally put his memory to rest. Now hearing it again from someone so unusual was like a punch in the gut to her. Quickly she collected her thoughts. Wes saw the hollow look in her eyes and it clenched his stomach. Every time he thought he was getting close to Jen, something always seemed to crop up and remind her of the future (or should that be the past?). It was making it harder and harder for him to admit his feelings to her. He wondered if Ink knew about that too.

"I'll be fine," Jen answered finally, managing a watery unconvincing smile. "lets tell Wes all we know before Ink and Alice return, it could help us all to go over it again."

"Yeah I haven't even thought about it since graduating," commented Lucas ruefully.

"Files located Rangers," spoke up Circuit. "And on display."

Translucent images appeared on the holoscreen. Different teams of teens appeared - fighting strange creatures, practising their self-defence, taking counsel from various assorted leaders, hanging out together in unmorphed but colour-coded groups. Wes looked with interest and curiosity at these new exciting images before him. The others crowded around the screen as Jen began the explanation.

"The power sources for the Ranger teams have always been divided into two groups; spiritual and technological. The teams of Rangers before us all fall into either one of these groups."

The holoscreen divided the images in two; clearly displaying the two sets of Ranger teams.

"The spiritual teams are sourced in the Earth and the planets that surround it, the very essences of what makes the universe so balanced. They're sourced in the spirits of the planets," Jen continued. "the teams which have been sourced in spiritual power so far are the Mighty Morphin, Ninjetti, Zeo and Lost Galaxy Rangers."

"The Mighty Morphin Rangers were the first ever Rangers; their power came from the spirits of ancient dinosaurs, the Ninjetti Rangers were given ninja powers from sacred animals by a being called Ninjor, the Zeo Rangers had powers formed from the Zeo Crystal and the Lost Galaxy Rangers drew power through mythical sabres on a planet called Minori which could only be drawn from the rock by the chosen ones - those predestined to be Rangers," added Trip, excitement colouring his voice as he explained Ranger history.

"So the spirits chose them?" asked Wes uncertainly. "what about the technological Rangers?"

"They draw their power from advanced technology, technology to enhance the powers already within Rangers as strong human beings," continued Jen. "those teams so far have been the Turbo, Space, Lightspeed Rescue Rangers and us."

"In fact the powers of each team can be seen in their Zords," piped by Katie. "the teams with spiritual powers usually have animal spirits leading them and take animal shaped Zords while the technological teams have um......cars, trains or space ships ......."

Wes nodded, it was all making sense in his head. He looked closely at the holoscreen as each Ranger team that had been so far as well as the Time Force Rangers appeared on the screen together unmorphed. He smiled. It sort of made him feel better to know that there had been people before him fighting to save the Earth and had been apparently successful.

"So they all fought to save Earth before letting others carry on," he said slowly.

"Not just the Earth Wes," interjected Trip excitedly, "sometimes more than that! The Space Rangers saved the whole universe and the Lost Galaxy Rangers fought to save a planet called Minori which their Yellow Ranger Maya came from."

"Being a Ranger means more than just protecting one planet Wes," said Katie with a smile. "its being part of a long distinguished line of ordinary human beings finding themselves given extraordinary powers and using them for the right reasons; to rid the universe of evil."

There was a silence as they all took it in. It made them all feel somewhat stronger to hear and be reminded once again of the gravity of their mission and the success of those before them.

"So, " Wes ventured into the silence, "have any of the teams ever met up before?"

"Sure! Sometimes villains try and come back so past Rangers who've defeated them before return to help the current Rangers win," said Trip. "its happened a lot before."

"I'd like that," decided Wes. "to meet other Rangers I mean and hear about all their adventures."

"Jen, I have a question," said Lucas suddenly. "there's something that's been bothering me; if we're a technological team with machine Zords, what power does Eric have? His Zord is a Q-Rex, it's a spirit Zord."

Jen frowned and the other Rangers looked confused. Lucas had made a good point. Before they could properly get their heads around it, there was a loud knock at the door below and Eric stormed up the staircase. The others looked at each other. It looked like he meant business.

"Eric! What are you doing here?" asked Katie, trying not to sound too surprised or unwelcoming.

"Believe me when I say it isn't for my enjoyment either," snapped Eric as he stepped further into the room. "I only came here to find out where that purple mutant is."

"She isn't a mutant Eric," corrected Trip.

"I felt her magic Trip, she isn't a human therefore as the Silver Guardians Commander my job is to bring her in," retorted Eric. "and I think you Rangers know where she and the blonde are hiding."

The other Rangers shared a quick significant look. Until they knew the full story, Eric wasn't going to be allowed to lock up Ink or Alice. He wasn't going to get anything out of them.

"She disappeared after you got knocked out cold Eric," replied Wes firmly. "we have no idea where she is."

Eric stared his former classmate in the eyes. Wes stared right back unsmiling. He was determined to give nothing away.

"You can hide her all you want Collins," Eric said at last. "but I'll find her and get some answers out of her.

As Wes was about to retort back, Eric's headset buzzed into life. With a small smirk at Wes, he snapped the mouthpiece down as more fuzzy words sounded in his ear.

"Commander Myers come in."

"This is Commander Myers."

"We have a call for protection through Commander, effective immediately."

"Put a call through to all available squadrons, I'll be with you shortly, out."

Eric lifted his head to take in the Rangers. They all stared back at him stonily. Their eyes were angry. This only caused Eric to smirk. When he got hold of that purple mutant and tapped more power, then they'd have something to get upset about. With a small nod at Wes, he spun on his heel and walked out.

AUTHOR SHOUT OUTS

White Time Ranger: aww my faithful reviewer. Thanks for continuing when no one else seems interested!! Thanks for the many compliments. I'm staggered at how often u update ur own stories! Uni work stops me from updating as often as I'd like. Thank you again

Silver Rider: Yeah a lot of planning went into this. It's a pain when I get details wrong. I hope all the planning pays off. Feel free to set Eric straight LOL. Hope u keep reading :- )