Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Alice and Ink who I created myself.
Author Notes: Contains a very brief glimpse from 'Time for Lightspeed'. Hope u like, author shout-outs at the end. :- ) This chapter is dedicated to White Time Ranger, for the always constant reviews and wonderful writing. Thank you for your loyalty!
THE BOYS LEFT BEHIND
Eric couldn't remember how he'd gotten roped into this. The Time Force Rangers were preparing to fight Vypra and her warriors. He was waiting at the Silver Hills Bus Depo. When he'd gotten home after a nasty defeat at the hands of the demonic villainess, he'd found only Ink who'd told him she needed him to go to the Bus Depo to pick someone up. The missing Lightspeed Rescue Ranger. The others had joined the Time Force Rangers to stave off the combined forces of evil who were trying to decimate Silver Hills. Wes had beeped Eric on his Morpher to let him know the plans and had reinforced Ink's idea of collecting the missing Ranger. According to Carter the Lightspeed Rescue Red Ranger, he was going to be pretty essential to their ranks. Alice was nowhere to be seen and Ink was oddly vague about her whereabouts. It was extremely frustrating.
After he'd fielded a call from Guardian HQ about the mutant sightings with the Rangers and convinced them not to send any Silver Guardians in since the Rangers were already, he'd spent a lot of time arguing with Ink about where to go. She was adamant that he was going to meet the Ranger while he was itching to get into battle. As he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, he felt Ink smile.
Still angry, Eric? She sounded faintly amused
Why am I here Ink? I need to be at the battle. They can't win without me.
So sure of the strength of your Power? They do well in your absence with the back-up of the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers.
Yeah but for how long? They can't win without me, Ink. That demon annihilated my troops and I know she tore through the Rangers too. I've got a score to settle with her. Do you want to see them fail?
It is true that they need you, Quantum Ranger but the Lightspeed Rescue team is also incomplete until you retrieve its missing member. Your Lightspeed counterpart. The two of you will provide the extra power boost needed to attain victory and banish Vypra forever.
Telling me the future, Ink? Isn't that against regulations?
Vypra must be eliminated. The combined force of mutant and demon could decimate Earth and result in the Rangers destruction. It is time for the heavens to interfere and stop the darkest path from being taken. I vow that the combined power of yourself and the missing Ranger will be needed in his battle, lest it becomes a war.
Steely determination and utter righteousness flooded from Ink as she spoke. She was completely sure that the united Ranger teams needed the two extra Rangers, both of them. With the other Ranger, Eric could get his sought after revenge. Vypra had made fools out of his Silver Guardians by smashing through them so easily and Eric couldn't allow that to go without retribution. The Guardians kept the peace in Silver Hills and needed respect from its citizens.
If you're sure this other Ranger'll bring victory…..
Absolutely positive, Quantum Ranger. Both of you are the later additions to your teams and carry great Power which is needed in this battle.
"Eric Myers?" a voice broke through the mental conversation. "Commander Eric Myers of the Silver Guardians?"
Eric's head snapped up to see a man approaching. It was someone he didn't recognise.
"I'm Eric Myers," Eric said, his face blank and unfriendly. "What do you want?"
The men lifted a wrist to reveal a chunky metallic Morpher strapped to it. Eric tried not to stare. It was very different to the Chrono or Quantum Morpher.
"I'm Ryan Mitchell, the Titanium Ranger," the man supplied.
Eric nodded. The man was tall with broad shoulders in a tight black tee, fitted light silver pants and the sort of thick red jacket that rescue workers wore. With his blonde hair, blue eyes and obvious muscle, he could have been a Marine. An all-American boy observed Eric. There was a confidence to him when he smiled, as though there was nothing in life which could faze him anymore. The sort of person Eric loathed in Silver Guardian training, the type who had everything handed to them and was the best at everything. Just like Wes.
"I was told you'd be meeting me here, thanks," continued Ryan. "Sorry you got pulled from the battle."
"How'd you know about that?"
"A Ranger friend told me when they got in contact about Vypra returning."
The two men regarded each other for a quiet minute.
Are you going to bring him to the battle?
Are you sure this is the guy? He looks like he belongs in the Marines, not in a Ranger team. Why did you send me anyway? Couldn't you have sent Wes? He'd have got on with Captain America here.
Eric! Her voice was sharp and scolding, almost like a mother chastising a child. He is not all he seems. You think the same thing about Wes and he has proved to be an excellent Ranger. Be polite to him and please hurry to the battle. We need both of you here.
Eric turned back to Ryan who was leaning on the SUV expectantly. He didn't look the slightest bit confused or agitated by the silence that had ensued. When he felt Eric's eyes on him, he lifted his gaze with a smile.
"Shove your bag in the back, I'll gun the engine," Eric told him at last.
Ryan nodded and threw his holdall into the back of the van before joining Eric in the front seat. Eric snapped his headset mouthpiece down.
"HQ come in, this is Commander Myers."
"This is HQ, how can we help you, Commander?"
"I need the current co-ordinates of the demons spotted earlier today."
"Certainly, hold while we scan," Eric drummed his fingers against the steering wheel as various clicks and low murmuring voices filled his ears. "The mutants have been located at the abandoned subway, Commander."
"Thanks. Request that no back-up be sent after me unless I specifically request it. Myers out," Eric ended the transmission and with a brief gun of the engine, peeled away from the curb with the sirens sounding loudly.
"Like making an exit?" Ryan asked lightly.
"It clears civilians out of the way," Eric replied shortly, eyes glued to the road.
Do not close yourself off, Quantum Ranger Ink touched his mind briefly The Titanium Ranger will not judge you.
It was an unusual unwieldy name for a Ranger Eric thought. Like his, it wasn't even a colour.
"Titanium Ranger," Eric muttered out-loud.
"That's me," Ryan replied, turning from where he'd been staring out of the window. "They ran out of colours when they came to my Powers."
Eric cracked a small smile. Titanium was an unusual name for Ranger Powers which were usually, as far as he could tell, named after specific colours. Colour seemed to be very important to Rangers. The Time Force Rangers wore their own personal colours every time he saw them out of uniform, he could never understand why. He wore whatever was clean that day. If he dressed to the same code the others did, he doubted any clothing line made items Quantum coloured anyway. Even Ink and Alice adhered to the colour code; Ink always wore purple and Alice was never seen in any colour other than navy blue.
"Do your team wear their colours off-duty too?" he asked suddenly.
"All the time," confirmed Ryan, unphased by Eric's sudden swerve of interest. "I don't think Dana owns much clothing that isn't pink."
"Dana?"
"The Pink Ranger on our team, my sister."
Eric looked at him in surprise. He didn't know that siblings were chosen for Ranger teams. He couldn't think of anything worse. Maria was a year younger than him with a smart mouth, trouble with authority and a lust for using dynamite in her plans. She claimed it solved all her problems. If nothing else it perfectly mirrored her unpredictable, frequently explosive personality. Eric knew he'd kill her in under an hour if forced to work with her. He hadn't seen her in years; she'd been the first one to get out and was currently working somewhere in Thailand but doing what Eric had no idea. Sometimes she sent him short evasive postcards which he used as wall decorations in his house.
"Must be tough to work with your sister," he voiced out-loud.
"It's not so bad. Our dad's the Commander, spearheaded the whole Lightspeed project," Ryan settled back into his seat as he began talking. "He's tough on all of us, treats me and Dana just like the rest. I think he still feels kind of guilty about not seeing me for all those years."
He is not so different to you Quantum Ranger. You both lacked a father figure in the formative years of your lives.
"How come you didn't see your dad?" asked Eric curiously, trying to ignore Ink's comment without much success and finding himself more relaxed now that Ryan wasn't as perfect as he seemed with admittable problems.
"My Dad didn't see me until a little more than a year ago," Ryan said calmly. "He gave me up when I was young."
"Social care?"
Ryan shook his head. "Demons. Diabolica, one of the ones I spent most of time trying to destroy when I properly became a Ranger."
Eric managed to resist slamming the brakes on as his mind spun. The normality with which Ryan spoke totally threw him. That was a problem that he couldn't even comprehend.
"You were brought up by demons?" he said slowly as though he hadn't heard him properly.
"Yes," Ryan cast him a rueful smile. "Sounds crazy right? But believe me, its completely real."
"And I thought I had a rough upbringing," murmured Eric, feeling Ink laugh in the back of his mind. "So what happened?"
"Dad's car crashed off a bridge when a truck ran into it; Dad got himself, me and Dana out before it crashed off. We were hanging off the edge of the cliff. Dad had a firm grip on Dana but I was slipping, clinging onto his foot. Then Diabolica appeared and made a bargain; he'd save me if he could take me with him. Dad refused but then I fell and as I was falling, Dad agreed to the deal. He was told he'd see me when I was twenty. The demons trained me, made me stronger than an ordinary guy would be. They told me that my father had abandoned me and that they saved me. They brought me up to hate my family."
"What did you do?"
Ryan laughed, it sounded bitter and angry to Eric. Looking at Ryan's suddenly hardened face; he didn't look like the golden boy anymore and Eric recognised the emotions brought on by being alone at a young age he'd felt himself for as long as he could remember.
He has been through more than you ever will, Quantum Ranger. Like so many Rangers before and after him, he turned from dark to light.
Can we trust him?
He deserves your trust, Eric. It took him a long time to finally accept he belonged with his team; he did not think he was worthy after he tried to kill them.
"I tried to kill them," Ryan unknowingly echoed. "I believed my father let me die that night, that he cared about Dana but not me so I was filled with hate and wanted vengeance. I wanted to destroy everything he'd worked for so I stole the Titanium Morpher on my twentieth birthday. The Power was immense, no one could handle it before me but for some reason I could and I used it to hurt the Rangers."
You are not so different at all
I didn't try to kill anyone!
But you tried to hurt your Ranger team because you believed they were in the wrong. Just like Ryan. You wanted to be the sole Ranger left, so did Ryan.
"She in your head?" Ryan asked sympathetically.
That got Eric's attention as he sharply turned a corner. They were almost at their destination now.
"Who?" he asked, deciding to play dumb.
"Your guardian. You've got one right?" Ryan asked with a grin. "I've got one too. They come with the territory."
"You've got a guardian?" Eric sounded totally confused.
"That would be me," a new voice joined the conversation.
Both Eric and Ryan turned back to see Alice sat in the back of the van, an expectant look on her face. She wore her usual navy blue with a thick jacket over the top in black. It was identical to the jacket Ryan wore. Ryan grinned.
"It's been a long time, Alice," he said. "Its good to have you back."
"It's good to have you back, Ryan, how's the travelling been?"
"Not so bad, I've been helping out with the rescue work in Cambodia after the floods for the past few months. Guess it has been a while since we communicated."
Eric's mind exploded with thoughts. He could feel Ink laughing.
Do not do that, Quantum Ranger! It is painful to receive so much from you in so many different directions. Are you really that surprised by my sister's other identity?
She's a spiritual guardian? Why the hell didn't you tell me?
It was not important for you to know about Alice's connection with Ryan Mitchell, I did not think we would need his aide. But since Vypra has returned then so has Ryan and so Alice's connection to him is reforged.
"Surprised, Eric?" asked Alice, a maddeningly teasing tone to her voice. "I'm not just a Protector."
"So you're the Titanium Ranger's Guardian," surmised Eric, gathering his thoughts frantically. "And you didn't tell me this because……?
"Because it's none of your business," snapped Alice. "Ink's your Guardian and as far as you're concerned, I'm her Protector. I'm also Ryan's Titantium Protector and my duty as that is no business of your's."
Eric cast an eye over to Ryan who was watching the exchange with huge amusement.
"You put with this for how long?" he asked.
"Longer than I wanna think about," Ryan replied promptly, earning a baneful glare from his guardian.
"You two could be brother," commented Alice with some affection. "You both like insulting me and you've got similar Powers. I don't know why I didn't get you two to meet sooner."
"I was halfway around the world until a few hours ago," replied Ryan with an easy smile. "But it is good to be back among Rangers again."
"Zordon, the being we regard as our father, created me to be the Titanium Protector and Ink to be the Quantum Keeper. He also decreed that she would need a Protector because he knew of the dangers she would face. Since I'd finish my work just as her's began, I was given the task of being her Protector. That's what I do now," Alice informed them. "But now it's back to action I guess."
"I don't think anyone's said that phrase since the Zeo Rangers shifted into turbo," commented Ryan idly.
"Care to explain that?" asked Eric confused. "To those of us who don't know Ranger history?"
"When the earlier groups of Rangers needed to return to a battle, their leader would yell 'Back to action!' to signal the resurge in Power," informed Alice. "It's a commonly used Ranger phrase. You've missed out on a lot of Ranger history Eric."
"I think I lucked out, I got the better sister," he shot back.
"You haven't met all of my sisters."
"There's more to come? Jesus Christ, how many?"
"I've lost count."
Eric raised an eyebrow at her as the Rangers came into view. There were two teams of them. The Time Force Rangers he easily recognised, the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers all wore red jackets identical to Ryan's. They stood in a long line and were glaring at the warriors who stood before them. Vypra, Ransik and Nadira stood triumphantly behind their demonic warriors, smirking. Eric could faintly hear Ransik mutter something about ten Rangers. Ryan grinned.
"Ready to join the party?" he asked.
"More than," confirmed Eric. "Joining us, Alice?"
"I'm here for Ryan but I've gotta protect Ink," She replied, pointing to a purple figure half-hidden. "I'll be there if any of you need us."
Before Eric could reply, a silver staff appeared in her hand and she disappeared in a swirl of silver energy. He looked up to see her materialise next to Ink.
Good to have you here, Quantum Ranger
Always a pleasure.
Ink smiled at him for the wry mocking in his voice. Despite his close bond with her, he still disliked working in a team.
What do you think of the Titanium Ranger?
Better than most.
A comrade in arms? A possible friend?
When we've finished destroying demons, I'll let you know.
"Ready to go?" Ryan asked him, seatbelt off and hand on the door.
Eric nodded at him.
"More than."
AUTHOR NOTES
White Time Ranger: Awww short but sweet review. I'm glad you enjoyed this. This isn't really a two-parter, merely a few chapters dedicated to the Time Force/Lightspeed Rescue team-up episode. Thanks for your wonderful continued support, I know I'll always get a review from you! Hope you liked this chapter :- )
TF Princess: I did enjoy 'Time For Lightspeed' the episode tho I do agree that it was really rushed, it should have been a two-parter as most PR team-ups now are. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and hope you enjoyed this one too!
Silver Rider: Eric always needs to be taught a lesson, its part of his character lol! There's no need to call the Asgrads tho! Glad you liked the chapter, hope you liked this one too :- )
MagCat: Thanks for saying you love this story, that made me smile a lot! Ink and Alice will be greatly involved in these Time Force/Lightspeed Rescue chapters. As for your other question concerning Alice, I believe I answered it in this chapter. U ask all the right questions! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks for reviewing:- )