"…..I don't understand why we can't be in on the meeting," complained Z, who was more than a little irritated that Cruger had ordered them to remain in the Command Center to stand watch. "…Now, knowing about Sky, it's not like there could be anything else big to hide."

"Well it could be that they're talking about future events, and us knowing the future could cause a total time paradox…."

"And you don't think that guy Drake taking Sky out of the future and bringing him here could create a time paradox?" said Z, as she gave Bridge an annoyed look.

Bridge then motioned over to Sydney who was standing alone in a corner, her face down and sighing heavily. She had been like that ever since Cruger had informed them about Sky's past. It had been a shock to them all, not surprisingly, but it seemed to have affected Syd the most.

Z followed Bridge's lead and turned to look at her friend. She sighed heavily, knowing she might have sounded a little inconsiderate, totally not thinking how this must be affecting Syd after finding out that her boyfriend was actually from the future, and finding out that may be the reason why he has been acting so irritable for the past couple of months. "Syd, I'm sorry." She walked over to her and gripped her shoulder. "…Are you okay?"

"Sure. Why wouldn't I be?" She sighed heavily, knowing very well that she and both her friends knew she was anything but okay. "…My boyfriend's lost in time …I may never see him again." She turned to Z. "….I had to hear from Cruger about what has been bothering him all this time, and not from him." She was hurt and angry at Sky for his not confiding in her. "…Why couldn't he have just told me? Why did he have to be such a stubborn ass about it? Did he think I wouldn't understand, that I wouldn't get it…." She wanted answers, but the only person who could give them to her wasn't here. "Why couldn't he trust me?"

"…Sky's a hard guy to read, Syd…." answered Z, not quite sure what to say in response. She glanced at Bridge, hoping that he might be a little bit better at this. "…Bridge?"

"…Maybe it wasn't that he didn't want to tell you, but maybe that he felt he couldn't." He wasn't sure what there was that he could say about this, even he with his ability had a difficult time trying to read Sky. "Sky's never been to good at being personable and sharing his feelings."

Syd sighed heavily as she smiled faintly at her friends, knowing they were trying to help, but it seemed to only draw her awareness to something she never wanted to even think about or admit. "Maybe everyone was right, maybe Sky and I aren't right for each other. How can we be in a relationship, if he feels he can't be honest with me about was going on in his life?"

Both Bridge and Z sighed heavily, both knowing how Syd had always felt about Sky. But even they couldn't deny the fact that there was a part of Sky that truly did care for Sydney, even if he did have the tendency not to share things about himself with others.

In a room behind closed doors, Commander Cruger, Dr. Manx, along with Eric, Drake, and Lucas all sat around a table, as Drake and Lucas began to explain to them just who Mirloc really was. It would be a story that would come to a shock to all of them; even Drake was shocked by it. Had he known this years ago, maybe things could have turned out differently.

"In the year 2800, Time Force scientists were trying to perfect DNA, to wipe out all chances of parents passing diseases on to their children. But there was another reason…." Drake briefly eyed Eric from across the table they were all sitting at. "Humans and aliens began getting married, wanting to have children together, but due to the great differences in their DNA there were complications. Nine times out of ten the child would die before it came full term." Drake paused for a moment wanting everything to sink in before he continued. "They eventually found a cure, but it came at a great cost.."

"So let me get this straight: your scientists decided to somehow find a solution to this DNA problem, but in doing so accidentally created something far worse…" exclaimed Eric, he would have hoped that over time mankind would have learned to stop playing God, but it seems that mankind is always doomed to repeat the mistake of those before them, a never ending cycle.

"Yes. There was an accident, a spill, the mixing of the different DNA's created the first mutant. They called him HARP, Human Alien Research Project, but you know him as Omni." A pin drop could have been heard throughout the room. "They began experimenting on him, using his blood. At first it worked as a cure for the problem, but over time both human and alien DNA began to mutate and more mutants began to be born, to humans, aliens and human/alien alike."

"….So the mutant population, it was Time Force's doing?" questioned Eric, eyeing both Drake and Lucas. "..This just keeps on getting better."

"…Eric!" yelled Drake, not liking his tone.

"No, Alex." Lucas sighed heavily. '….He's right, they should have been more careful. Especially since there had been a similar issue hundreds of years prior, they thought they could get past it, but they were wrong…"

"…You're talking about the accident that happened in 2001, aren't you?" asked Kat.

"…Yes," Lucas answered very careful, as he watched Eric's eyes stare him down. He knew Eric might have toned down a little, but he was still the same old 'I'll kick your ass if I don't like it' Eric.

"Are you trying to tell me that Sky and the others are mutants?"

"….More like hybrid humans," Lucas answered. "Katie isn't classified as a mutant…"

"What does she have to do with this?"

Drake and Lucas shared a glance, wondering if they should say it. Knowing too much about one's future, even if it's not your own, could still be damaging, but seeing as it would clear somethings up... "Katie is a descendant of Jack Landers." Drake eyed Eric. "….Where do you think she got her super-strength from?"

"…They pass abilities on to their children?" exclaimed Kat. She had always wondered about that: if and when the six decided to have children how would it affect their offspring? Would their children develop abilities as well?

"Yes. …It does however have been known to skip a generation or two." Lucas licked his lips and sighed heavily. "…It also may explain the abilities that both Mirloc and Omni have, some of the blood that was involved in the testing came from descendants of the six." That had been the reason why Omni had become so powerful, he was a powerful mutant, maybe even the most powerful, which made him the most dangerous threat they have ever faced.

"…Getting back to HARP, how did he end up in our time?" asked Cruger, wanting to get back on track.

Lucas sighed heavily, it was a hard subject for him to discuss because he himself was married to a mutant, had three beautiful children who were half human and half mutant. And though times had changed, there were those who looked down on his marrying a mutant and having children with her, but that wasn't the concern right now. What was the concern was what had come before it and how that had changed everything. "…The very problem they were trying to erase came back, but with an even greater force. Some of the mutants were fine and adapted, but others were dangerous to society. They would later learn that it was because of Omni, he was doing it. He had become far too powerful, they were going to…" He bit his lips; though he hadn't even been born back then he knew the story all too well. It had gone down as the greatest failure in Time Force history.

Though Omni had his own room at the base, he was in all ways a prisoner, getting tested day in and day out, going through skills training, giving blood samples. But unbeknownst to anyone there, Omni had been working against them the whole time, growing stronger and smarter with each passing day. "…But he was ready for them. He escaped, killing over a hundred scientists and guards in the process…" He licked his lips. "And before he escaped in an experimental time transport, he cloned himself, creating an equal, who you know as Mirloc."

"What!" Eric rose in his seat, looking Drake hard in the eyes. "You mean to tell me you knew all along that-"

"No!" Drake snapped. "Look, over a hundred years had passed before I came into the picture, and nobody knew just how far in time they went. That was why they starting experimenting more and more with time travel. The Q-Rex and your morpher were part of that, but again there were complications." He might have done a lot of shit over the years, but he was not about to have this placed on him.

Knowing how frustrating this was for his old friend, Lucas stepped in. "…Eric, until today, Time Force believed that who you call Omni was dead. Nothing alarming had happened to ever lead them to believe that he wasn't, until today…"

"So you believe that Mirloc, the clone of Omni, traveled through time to prevent Time Force from ever existing?" asked Cruger.

"Not just Time Force …SPD." Lucas looked Cruger in the eyes. "Without SPD there will be no Time Force, and Mirloc knows that."

"All these years he has been waiting to make his move." He turned to Drake. "…But why Wes, why kill him?"

"Because Wes was a main source for SPD," answered Drake. "But he killed him too late, SPD was already up and running, that's why he wanted to travel to the past to prevent its creation. If he succeeds in killing key people, none of us will have a future."

"And what does Sky have to do with this? If he only wants to change the past, why go after Sky?" asked Cruger.

Lucas sighed heavily as he licked his lips, knowing that what he would say next would have to be said very carefully. He glanced over at Drake, letting him know how serious this was. "…All I can tell you is that Sky is very important to SPD's future…Without him all could be lost."

"So what do we do?" asked Kat, wanting to know if there was anything she could do to help.

"Just be prepared for anything," sighed Drake, not knowing what he was to expect or what he'd find when and if he ever caught up to Sky and Chase. "….And keep the Rangers posted near the beach for my return."

"How long do you believe that it will take you to locate them?" asked Cruger.

"Honestly sir, I don't know." He didn't want to get their hopes up; this was a very dire situation. "I have an idea of where and when they may end up, if Mirloc is really after preventing Sky's existence, we may have our work cut out for us."

It felt strange being back in this room… It didn't even look familiar to him, filled with childish things from a past he has long put behind him. ….After the death of his father, this room would have a dramatic change; there would be no more superhero posters, no more action figures or toy cars. After his father's death, he had no longer wanted any of that stuff, all he wanted from seven on up was to train and become the very best he could be and even go beyond that.

"Is he okay?" asked the little boy, looking to Chase, finding the young man in the torn red shirt behaving oddly as he walked around the room, as if he owned it.

Chase glanced over at Sky, sensing that being back here at this time must be very difficult for his young friend. "Yeah. ….He's just admiring your room, is all…"

"Didn't he have a room like this when he was little?"

"….I don't know, I think he did…." He knew he would have to be careful, there was no way he could tell little Sky just who his partner really was. "….We haven't actually known each other that long." There was still so much about Sky that he didn't know.

"…..Schuyler, sweetie, I'm going to be heading to the store, you want to come with me?" called up a woman's voice.

"…That's Lisa, she's my stepmother…" He started to head towards his bedroom door. "…I'll just tell her I don't want to go."

"…No," Sky answered right away, causing both Chase and his younger self to look at him strangely. "….You should go with her. Don't worry, we'll be fine, thanks for your help."

"But…."

"No buts…. That's an order, solider." Sky looked at himself hard, knowing that would get through to him; it had always been a game he would play with his father and Eric back when he had been that age.

"Okay. Yes sir…" young Sky said a little reluctantly, because he didn't want to go. He looked to Chase and waved goodbye to him, feeling that he probably wouldn't see him when he got back. "Bye…"

"See you around, kid," smiled Chase, as he watched little Sky leave the room, closing the door behind him. He turned around to face Sky. "….Was that really necessary?"

"Look…" Sky's eyes widened. "I'm just trying to keep my life intact… I'm supposed to go with Lisa…"

"….Or maybe you just don't want to be around him, because then you'll have to take a good hard look at yourself." Chase looked Sky hard in the eyes, knowing that being around the younger version of himself was making Sky very uneasy. "…I know none of us are who we were when we were kids; shit happens, I get that….But you've got to admit you made one hell of a transformation…" How does a cute kid like that become the guy that's looking right back at him?

Sky got right into Chase's face, looking like he wanted to take a good slug at him, but he decided that given where they were now wouldn't be the best time for that. The noise would only alert his grandfather staff that they were up here and the last thing they needed was anyone finding two grown men in a child's bedroom."Don't talk to me about my childhood, my life, or how I turned out!" yelled Sky, feeling his anger burn inside of him. "You don't know me or anything about my life, so I'm sorry if you think I grew up to be such an ass."

"You're right, I don't what your life was like." Maybe he had been out of line, but a part of him knew that he was right. "….But that's not my fault…" He wanted to get through to Sky, he wanted to understand, but he couldn't do that if Sky wouldn't let him in. "Just talk to me, Sky …We are friends, aren't we?"

For a moment Sky looked as though he wanted to tell him everything about what had been going on, what had been bothering him, but a second later the look was gone and that distant look returned. "….Look, just forget about it. Let's just find what we need and get the hell out of here, so we can go track down Mirloc…"

"…Fine, if that's what you want," sighed Chase, knowing that wouldn't help things between him and Sky. He knew in order for them to work together they needed to trust each other. Not that he could blame Sky, because there had been a time when he had not been honest with Sky about his own past, and as bloody and terrifying as it was, perhaps he should have been honest with Sky from the start. Then maybe things would have gotten this bad between them. When the two first had met, things were fine between them, but after he froze up during the fight and Bridge got hurt, things took a turn for the worse.

Sky slowly opened the bedroom door and peered out, making sure the coast was clear. "Come on, this way…" He signaled to Chase, leading him straight to his father and Lisa's bedroom, where he knew he would find a clean shirt and his father's medical kit, so they could bandage up some of the cuts and bruises that they had received during the two battles they had faced.

Once inside the master bedroom Sky headed straight towards the bathroom to go look for the medical kit, while Chase walked around the bedroom for a brief moment before sitting on the bed next to the nightstand, where he saw a picture of little Sky, along with Wes Collins and a blonde haired woman who he assumed was Lisa, Sky's stepmother. He had to smile to himself looking at the family photo, they all looked so happy, so unlike how Sky seemed now. He set the photo down and opened up the nightstand to find another photo of Wes Collins, but this time a different woman was in the picture, a woman he recognized right away. She had shoulder length brown hair, deep brown eyes and a warm smile. …It was Jen, the young woman who had helped him and Sky fight Mirloc. …But why would there be a picture of Wes and Jen together? …And then it finally hit him, the reason why Sky had acted so strangely around Jen. …She was his…

"I found it…" Sky emerged back from the bathroom, just as Chase quickly closed the nightstand drawer.

"What were you doing?"

"Nothing…." Chase answered back as he closed the drawer, while in the back of his mind he knew now there might be more to Sky than he originally thought, but now even more questions were arising in his mind, like how was it possible that Wes and Jen had Sky if they didn't meet until 2001, a year after Sky would have been born.

"Right," answered Sky, not buying it, but at the moment he didn't care to know just what Chase had been doing, all he wanted to do was finish up here and get out before anyone else saw them. "….Look, just make it quick, I don't want to stay here any longer than we have to."

Back in the present….

"….Yeah. We're at Bio-Lab, Drake wants to have the old morpher just in case. After we're done here we'll be heading back to Newtech…" said Eric as he talked into his cellphone, as he put in the combination to his safe at the office.

"…Will he be able to find them…."

"Yeah. He's going to do everything he can. They're smart, Hayley, if anyone can get through this, Sky and Chase can…" But even as he said it, he was scared too. He knew the risks, the chances. Wes and he almost hadn't made it back from their little trip through time, due to how careless he used to be back then. All he hoped was that Sky wouldn't be as stubborn as he had been. "…Tell the kids not to worry."

"I will. Right now they're upstairs playing a game with Megan…"

"…Good. I'll call you later."

"Okay. I love you, and make sure to tell Drake that Tommy and I said to be careful…"

"I will. ….I love you, too." Eric put his cellphone away as he reached into the safe and took out Wes's old morpher and tossed it over to Drake. "Hope you remember how to use this."

"…Trust me, I remember," answered Drake as he put the morpher on. It felt strange having it back on his wrist after all these years, but at the same time so familiar, like having an old friend back.

"Alex, you sure you know what you're doing? I mean, it's been almost twenty years since you've used it." Lucas was a little unsure how Drake's body would react, given his age and how long it had been since his body had experienced the morphing process.

"Only one way to find out…." He wasn't the type to be scared by technical details like these. He was always do or die. And he knew if he was going to be going up against Mirloc he was going to need to be protected and his old morpher was just the thing to do that. "…Here goes nothing." He backed away a few feet from the two, as he got into his morphing stance, and just like years ago, he pressed the button to begin the morphing process….CLICK…

"…Okay, I'm no genius, but isn't this the part where you're supposed to morph?" exclaimed Lucas, knowing very well this was when the morpher should activate.

"…It should have." Drake took the morpher off his wrist; everything looked to be intact, by rights it should have worked. He turned to Eric with questioning eyes. "…After Wes died, nothing was done with it, right?"

"As far as I know, after Wes died, Alec locked it in this safe and no one has seen it since," answered Eric, finding it odd as well, even though it had been a good number of years since it had been used. He himself was still able to use his own morpher with no problem, so it didn't make any sense that Drake wouldn't be able to use Wes's morpher, especially since the morpher had originally had been his to begin with.

"If nothing was done to it and it wasn't damaged, then why isn't it working?" asked Lucas.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Eric answered, he then turned to Drake. "What about my morpher, would you be able to use that?" His morpher wasn't locked by DNA recognition, it was voice activated, he would just have to deactivate it with a simple voice command and then anyone could use it.

"Unfortunately, your morpher holds too much power, my body wouldn't be able to handle it." He knew very well the Quantum Morpher was the most powerful morpher that Time Force had ever created, and since he had been out of action on the Ranger level for a good number of years, the Quantum Morpher wouldn't be the best option to start with. There were too many risks. "…I'll just do without."

"You sure that's a good idea, especially with Mirloc?" Lucas knew that Mirloc was just as powerful as Omni was, maybe even more powerful.

"I don't have much of a choice." Drake knew he still had to go, morpher or not he still had to go, the future depended upon it. All could be lost if Mirloc succeeded in ending Sky's life.

...2007

Sky and Lisa headed towards the parking lot and towards her car, pushing a grocery cart. She stopped the cart in front of her car and turned to Sky. "Schuyler, would you please open the trunk for me?"

"Sure..." he answered, as he lifted the hatch and pushed the trunk door up. "I can help you with the..." His young small voice was cut off by a much deeper and enchanting voice.

"...Allow me to help you with those groceries, Ma'am." Both Lisa and Sky turned to see a man wearing a long black cloak and dark sunglasses. "I would hate for you to break one of your beautiful nails..."

"Hey. I was going to help her," exclaimed Sky, not liking how the stranger was intervening. He promptly got in front of Lisa, staring up at the man, giving him a hard stern look, as if he was trying to protect his stepmother.

The stranger chuckled and grinned at Lisa. "...Quite the little protector, isn't he?"

Lisa placed her hands on Sky's shoulder, smiling back at the man. "Yes. He gets it from his father."

"Yeah. He's a Power Ranger..."

"Really?" The man continued to smile, as if trying to gain their trust, but was finding that the young boy wasn't so easily swayed by his charm. "That's truly amazing. You're one lucky little guy, having a Power Ranger as a daddy."

"Which is why we don't need your help." The young boy crossed his arms against his chest.

"Schuyler, ...don't be rude." Lisa smiled faintly at the stranger. "I'm sorry, I don't know what's gotten into him, he's usually not like this."

"Oh, it's all right, no harm done." The man started to reach towards the groceries. "Now, how 'bout we get these bags in your car." His eyes glared down at Sky, and for a spit second they glowed a yellow color. The man grinned when he saw the eyes of the little boy suddenly become even more alert than before.

"Lisa, something's not right." His heart began to pound against his chest. "We should call Dad."

Lisa could feel Sky backing up against her, now thinking that perhaps he was right and that this man should not be trusted. She pulled the bags away from the man. "Thank you, but we're fine."

"Oh, but I insist..." He flung his glasses off and transformed in front of them. He laughed when he saw the deep fear in Lisa's eyes and how she pulled Sky closer to her.

"...Wh..Who are you?" she stammered.

"That's right, you don't know about me yet." He shoved the cart away. "...But you will; my name is Mirloc, but you needn't be afraid, young lady." He grinned as his eyes loomed over the young Sky. "I didn't come here for you..."

One hand wrapped protectively around Sky, while the other started to reach towards her cellphone, fully intending to get a hold of her husband, but Mirloc saw what she was doing and zapped the phone out of her hands. "…Nice try, but it isn't the time for me and your unworthy husband to meet, that will come in due time."

"Schuyler, get behind me!" Lisa started urging her stepson behind her back in order to prevent Mirloc from getting to him. "…I won't let you get anywhere near him."

Mirloc began to laugh. "You don't know who you're dealing with. I am your worst nightmare come true; it would be wise not to underestimate me. Now step aside, woman." He looked Lisa deep in the eyes, wanting to send chills down her spine. "You are no threat to me. I just want the boy…"

"He hasn't done anything to you!" Lisa stood her ground even though her heart was pounding rapidly against her chest; she would not step away. "…He's just a boy, he isn't a threat…"

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong…" He knew all too well that Lisa knew just how special the child was, what he was capable of and where he had come from. "…Come now, Mrs. Collins, we both know he is a very special young boy indeed."

Lisa's eyes widened. Though she didn't know everything, she knew enough to know that the creature before them had come from a far off place. "…You aren't from here are you?" She knew he had come from the future, how far she didn't know for sure, other than somehow it involved her young stepson. This being before her calling himself Mirloc knew things about Sky that know one should know about.

"My, we catch on fast…." He stared down at young Sky, who was peeking from behind Lisa's back. His face wasn't fearful; it was determined, much like the young man he would grow up to be. "He's caused me a great deal of trouble, you see, and I need to put a stop to it…"

A second later two flashes of blue and red loomed above Lisa and young Sky, as the two figures jumped over them and now stood in front of them, creating a barrier between them and Mirloc. "You'll have to go through us first, Mirloc," announced the blue SPD Ranger.

"It ends here, we're bringing you in," exclaimed the red Ranger.

"It seems I underestimated you two …but I'm afraid there will be no stopping me this time. I will have him and there's not a thing you can do about it…" Mirloc locked his eyes right on the red Ranger's, smiling an evil grin.

"Over my dead body…" the red Ranger promptly responded.

"Oh, I hope so…" Mirloc's eyes grew a bright yellow. "I hope so very much indeed…"

"Chase, get them somewhere safe, I'll hold him back."

"Right!" Chase, the blue Ranger, shouted, as he immediately turned to Lisa and the young Sky. He quickly picked up Sky and looked to Lisa. "Stay close, I'll get you somewhere safe…"

"Who are you? Did my husband send you?"

"I'm a friend. That's all you need to know…"

"You can trust him, Lisa, he's my friend Chase…." the young boy promptly stated, assuring his stepmother that they could trust the blue Ranger.

"All right…" she shakily answered, allowing Chase to lead them further behind more cars in the parking lot to distance themselves from Mirloc. She looked over her shoulder, watching the red Ranger fighting valiantly against the beast-like purple man. "…Your friend, will he be okay?"

"He'll be fine, just keep moving…." Chase used his free hand and gave her a light push, knowing that he needed to get both her and young Sky to safety. He knew Mirloc had some sort of vendetta against Sky. He killed Sky's father years ago, he targeted Sky's mother Jen and now he has come after the child version of Sky. It's like Mirloc is trying to erase any existence of Sky. Chase knew he couldn't let Mirloc get anywhere near the younger Sky who would be helpless against the murderous fugitive.

Sky's and Mirloc's swords clashed together as sparks flew around them; someone would have to be blind not to see how much the two despised each other. It was very clear in the way the two fought against each other, as if it were personal.

"If you want to fight me, then fight me, Mirloc," growled Sky. "…Leave him out of this, he's harmless to you…"

"…I'm afraid that's just not possible, my boy." Mirloc started to walk circles around Sky, flashing his sword around. "You see, my dear red Ranger, I need you not to exist…"

Sky could feel his heart pounding against his chest, it was becoming more and more clear to him that all along Mirloc had been after him, but why…?" That's why you went after her…. You knew who she was…"

"Oh, I know a lot more than you think I do." Mirloc's eyes widened, as he began to laugh. "A lot more..."