In the lobby of the hotel, Jen and the other former Time Force Rangers were locked in a desperately one-sided battle. They didn't have their old powers. No one knew why, one day they simply stopped working. It was as though their powers simply didn't exist anymore. Since then, they had been forced to rely on standard-issue ordinance, something that in this case seemed to be woefully inadequate.

Argus deflected any blasts that came straight for him, but even those that hit him seemed to rebound off his armour with little effect. Lucas was forced to run and dive for cover as he threw a table at the couch he was hiding behind, sending both of them spinning away.

"God Dammit!" He snarled as he came to rest near Katie. "We might as well be throwing colourful language at him!"

"I'm on it!" Katie replied, racking out a steel baton from her jacket. She could see this guy was tough, but then again, her strength was genetically enhanced. She had once single-handedly lifted a car, and she had ripped the doors off a prison transport vehicle when it had crashed. She broke cover and ran for Argus as the others covered her, keeping him occupied. She ran straight behind him and brought the baton down, denting his head...but only by a small margin. She gulped as he turned around and looked at her like she had tried to hit her with a marshmallow. That blow should have been able to write off an armoured car, but he just stared at her like she had patted him on the head. It was the only attack that had done any visible damage, but it seemed his armour was too strong for even that to affect his systems.

"Oh shit." She muttered before he grabbed her around the throat with one hand.

"Katie!" Trip yelled as he broke cover and ran at them. Argus batted aside the grenade he threw, which blew up, wrecking the nearby restaurant area, before swiping his way with his sword. Even with his mind-reading abilities, Trip was barely able to avoid the attack, which sliced open his thigh, sending him tumbling across the debris-strewn floor, before choke-slamming Katie into the ground, rendering her unconscious. It was fortunate that the same genetic treatments that gave her superhuman strength had also increased her muscle, tissue and bone density by a significant margin. Jen and Lucas could see she was still breathing, but if it was anyone else, they were sure she would almost certainly have died.

"Anyone else?" Argus asked as he rounded on Jen and Lucas. Before they could do anything though, they heard a yell, at which Orion charged into the lobby, impaling Argus with his Silver Spear, ramming him through a pillar. Noah and Troy were right behind him. Argus grabbed the spear, using it for leverage and threw Orion through the air, flipping him over his head, smashing him through some furniture. Argus picked up his sword as he rounded on the others, before with a gesture, half a dozen Bruisers appeared in the lobby.

"Great, he called for back-up." Troy called out as he and Noah got to work. From where they were in cover, Jen sized up the situation.

"So much for dealing with this quietly." Lucas grumbled. "This is worse than Leningrad!"

"Not quite yet, but it looks like it could be." Jen agreed. "Only half the team showed up. If we're lucky the other half went to the Penthouse."

Jen thought for a moment, before breaking cover and running for reception. She vaulted over the counter, and immediately started searching. She imagined that a hotel like this probably had pretty strict security, especially at the Penthouse. Pulling the reception desk apart, scattering paperwork and stationery, she breathed a sigh of relief as she found what she was looking for, a keycard attached to a large bunch of keys. When the staff had run off, someone had left a set of master keys behind. She snatched up the keys and looked over the desk.

"Katie, you're with me!" She yelled. "Trip, Lucas, help out down here! Try to make sure the whole place doesn't come down!"

She and Katie got into one of the elevators, at which Jen activated the key card, bypassing the security and mashing the button for the top floor.

Trip and Lucas broke cover, running into battle. Noah saw Lucas kicking one of the bruisers back, before unloading at point blank into it with two blasters.

"Uh...OK, who are these guys?" Troy asked.

"I'm going out on a limb and suggesting they came through one of the time portals." Noah suggested, seeing Trip hit one of them with an energy grenade. These weapons were not exactly available in this time period, making him suspect that the strangers had to have brought them back with them.

"Well for now they're allies." Troy answered as they resumed their battle. "Noah, give Orion a hand. It looks like Argus is giving him a run for his money."

"On it!" Noah agreed, running over to help the Silver Ranger.

Meanwhile, up in the Penthouse, Blood Stalker was finding that his assignment wasn't as easy as he'd first suspected. Although these people seemed to be human, they were a lot stronger and more skilled than he had expected. He had Trent in a wrist-lock, and was keeping Tom pinned down with blaster fire. He only let go of Trent when Alex hit him with a blast, putting him through a wall into another room.

"OK, my dad's account is seriously taking a beating." Trent said as Tom helped him up, stroking his shoulder. "I'd hate to think of the bill he has coming."

"It'll be worth it, trust me." Alex assured him. He saw the elevator coming up, and smiled. "Alright guys, we all know what's coming."

"I just wish they were a bit quicker about it." Tom complained. "If the Separatists had waited this long for back-up, the Regulars would have overwhelmed them easily!"

"Guys, hit the deck!" Trent called out as he saw something through the large, panoramic window leading out onto the balcony. Gia, in her guise as the Wild Force Yellow Ranger carried Jake and Emma through the sky, crashing through the window. They all rolled to their feet as they arrived.

"I usually like dogs!" Emma called out as she saw Blood Stalker coming back through the wall. "If you want to leave these guys alone, we'll let you go home with your tail between your legs!"

"Seriously?" Gia asked.

"Sorry, I'm kind of relentless when I have a contract." Blood Stalker announced, pulling out two hand blasters. "You could say I'm like a dog with a bone!"

"More dog puns?" Gia asked, looking to Jake as they fanned out, dodging blasts as they went. She looked to Jake. "I thought that was your thing!"

"I guess I'm a bad influence." He replied, putting up a hand to gesture Trent and Tom to stay back. "Don't worry, we'll keep you..."

They just leapt over him, rushing towards Blood Stalker with swords drawn. They smashed the blasters from his hands, but he managed to grab both of them, and in an impressive show of strength, threw both of them clean across the room.

"...safe." Jake concluded. Alex threw his blaster rifle aside as he fired off the last rounds in the energy cell, before pulling out hand blasters. He brought Blood Stalker to his knees with blasts as he threw himself into the air, driving a hard knee into his face.

"OK, who the hell are these guys?" Emma asked. Just then, the elevator door opened and Jen arrived with Katie.

"Alright Alex, that's enough!" Jen called out, aiming a blaster at him. "You're under arrest!"

"Great, the other half is here." Trent complained.

"Alright guys, exactly like we talked about." Alex told them. "NOW!"

Trent and Tom both pulled out blasters, keeping Jen and Katie pinned down, while the Corsair Rangers were kept busy with Blood Stalker. Alex meanwhile ran and leapt out of the window, straight off the balcony. As soon as they saw him leap, Trent and Tom looked to each other and nodded, before throwing their blasters to the floor. They held up their hands in surrender.

"OK, that's enough." Trent announced. "We'll come quietly."

"Where is it?" Jen asked them, coming over with a set of handcuffs. Blood Stalker was still busy fighting the Rangers, but his hearing was such he could still hear them. Trent noticed him looking and fulfilled his part of the plan.

"Alex has it." He informed her. "He's got the control unit."

"That's all I needed to hear!" Blood Stalker snarled as he threw Gia to the floor aggressively. He ran and leapt off the balcony, activating a command on a control in his armour. An anti-gravity device slowed his descent, allowing him to survive the "OK, this isn't good." Gia muttered, looking to the others. She saw Jen and Katie handcuffing Trent and Tom, and started to approach them. "OK, what I think is clear is that you guys are our time travellers, now...who are you and what just happened here?"

"Wait, wasn't there a Ranger team from the future?" Emma asked. Jen just nodded, holding up her badge.

"I'm Katie, former Time Force Yellow Ranger." She introduced herself. "This is Jen, the former Pink Ranger. And these two are two of our most wanted."

"Trent Fernandez and Tom Oliver." Katie introduced them. "As for the other one...he's Time Force's most wanted fugitive."

"That sounds like our song." Emma sighed as she heard sirens. "Look, we don't have the best of relationships with law enforcement at the moment. We should continue this conversation somewhere a little more private."

Just then, the elevator arrived, bringing the rest of the Rangers with it.

"Argus bugged out." Noah informed them. "We saw that other one running off into the street after some guy."

"Guys, this is Time Force." Gia told them. "They're former Rangers..."

"We know, Trip and Lucas introduced themselves." Troy told them. "We need to get out of here before the authorities arrive. I've already called the Galleon."

"What do we do about them?" Gia asked, gesturing to Trent and Tom. Katie just sighed.

"I guess we have to take them with us." She replied. "We can't take them back to Time Force yet."

"Why not?" Jake asked. "There's only one of them left."

"Yeah, but he's the most dangerous one." Jen told them. "Even the four of us will have a hard time getting him back."

With that, the Red Galleon flew into view, hovering by the side of the building, a boarding plank extending out to the balcony. Troy just grabbed Tom, dragging him to his feet.

"Come on, we can straighten this out on the ship." He stated. "I don't fancy being around to explain all this damage."

With that, they all quickly boarded the ship, leaving the scene before the authorities could arrive.

Back on The Armada Command Ship, Argus was in Lavira's lab getting repaired after his battle. His armour had held up through most of it, and most of the damage was superficial. Damaras came into the room, looking to Lavira.

"How are the repairs coming?" He asked.

"He's almost back to a hundred percent." She informed him.

"The Silver Ranger is stronger than he looks. I underestimated him." Argus stated. "That toothpick of his is more powerful than it appears."

"Unfortunately we've lost Blood Stalker!" Damaras grumbled. "He's turned off his communicator. He doesn't show up on any of our scans."

"He always was troublesome that way." Lavira commented. "If he doesn't want to be found, then he won't be. He'll contact us when he wants back-up."

"Get Argus back online." Damaras told her. "I'll keep looking for Blood Stalker. If he's pursuing this time traveller so obsessively, he must believe as I do that he has something of value."

With that, he left the room, leaving Lavira to her work.

On the Red Galleon, Katie was just finishing up securing Trent and Tom to a couple of chairs as the team all awaited an explanation what was happening. After all, even among Power Rangers, it wasn't every day someone just decided to take a little trip through time. The Time Force Rangers had shown up twice now, once to take down the mutants plaguing Silver Hills, and once briefly the following year to help out the Wild Force team.

"I don't know where to start." Katie said dejectedly as she tried to figure out how to proceed. "It's...it's complicated."

"What's so complicated about it?" Troy asked.

"There's a lot we can't risk telling you." Lucas explained. "Time Force Regulations..."

"OK, who exactly cares about regulations?" Jake asked. "We're pirates!"

"The regulations are there for a reason." Trip told them. "Anything we do here, anything at all risks disrupting the time line. Even having this conversation could potentially cause huge disruptions to the way history panned out."

"I've seen just about every time travel story book, comic and movie ever made." Noah assured him.

"Well, it's a bit more complicated than that." Lucas told him. "You're the scientist right?"

"Yeah, kind of." Noah answered.

"Well, what if I told you that one day you'd win a Nobel prize?" Lucas explained. Noah just grinned.

"That would be great!" Noah said with excitement. "I always wanted to..."

"But you've not won it YET." Lucas reminded him. "What effect could just hearing you WOULD win one have on you? How would it change your work?"

"You could work hard and actually accomplish it." Katie told him. "Or, just because you've heard you will, it could make you presume it's your destiny, take away your motivation to work for it just because you presume you're going to. You don't make one discovery or you mess up one experiment because you're not giving it your all, and all of a sudden no more Nobel prize."

"And while I'm sure most people have thought about going back in time and taking a crack at Hitler or something, how do you know someone worse wouldn't take the reins...someone with the military know-how to actually succeed where he failed?" Trip asked. "His lack of military experience was a huge deciding factor in the war."

"OK, OK, we've got it." Troy sighed, looking to the fugitives. "Since you're from a significant way in the future, I doubt anything you can tell us about what you're doing here will affect much in the short-term. Why don't we start with them?"

"We've come back from the year 3012." Jen began. "After our tenure as Rangers, after we finally brought the mutant fugitives to justice, things went pretty well. A lot of reforms took place that made things significantly better for human and mutant alike. Crime was all but eradicated."

"In one year, the most serious crime reported to Time Force was a dispute over ownership of a cat." Lucas said with a smile. "Law enforcement's become pretty boring to be honest."

"So what changed?" Noah asked.

"We don't know. One day there was a massive shift in temporal energy." Jen explained. "None of us knew why, but suddenly our morphers stopped working."

"We...uh...might know what happened there." Gia stammered out. "The Armada destroyed Eltar, the Morphing Grid...the original one your powers were connected to anyway was destroyed."

"But...how?" Katie asked. "That never happened in our timeline."

"I guess something altered about the past." Jen said in an accusatory tone, glaring at Trent and Tom.

"We're in the process of setting up a new Morphing Grid to support the powers." Troy told them, pulling out the Lost Galaxy Red Ranger key. "All the powers are contained in keys like this. We've been gathering them for a while now."

"Which reminds me, do you have your keys?" Noah asked. "The keys tend to be in the possession of the Rangers that used them..."

"We don't have them I'm afraid." Lucas replied.

"So, you didn't come back for the keys." Gia stated. "So what did you come back for?"

"Time Force keeps an archive record in a temporal field, disconnected from the time line. It's the only way we can know if anything's changed about the time line." Katie explained. "When something changes, the only people that know about it are the ones that were involved. Anyone else, by virtue of being part of the time stream, their memories change to accommodate the new knowledge. It's pretty dangerous knowledge to have, so it's only accessible to Time Force officers at the highest levels. One of those was my husband, Alex."

"Your husband?" Emma asked. "The guy you're chasing is your husband?"

"Wow, that..that's pretty messed up." Noah said sympathetically.

"Alex and I got back together a couple of years after we got back to 3000." Jen told them. "But after the morphers stopped working, he started spending more and more time in the archive. He became really distant. I tried to get him to talk about what he had seen, but he wouldn't tell me. He started spending a lot of time meeting with Time Force Command, trying to tell them what he had seen. He ended up being suspended after one of those meetings when he suggested going back in time to change something. They completely flipped out.

"I'm guessing he went ahead and did it anyway." Troy suggested.

"He did." Jen told them. "He broke into Time Force Command and stole some of our tech. He opened up a gateway and went back in time, aiming to change something. They tried sending agents after him, but no one was able to bring him in. I ended up having to take on the mission."

"He picked up the chuckle brothers here at some point." Lucas told them, gesturing to Tom and Trent. "This is Tom Oliver, a clone of Tommy Oliver that was made by Lord Zedd. He was sent to Colonial Angel Grove with the Green Ranger powers once they convinced him which was the right side.

"And this is Trent Fernandez, the former White Dino Ranger." Katie explained.

"Wait...THE Trent Fernandez?" Noah screamed, his excitement overcoming him. "Dude, your comic books are legendary! You're like...the next Todd McFarlane or something! You're amazing!"

"Noah, perspective?" Gia asked, shoving him a little. Trent just smiled.

"It's always nice to meet a fan though." Trent replied.

"The problem is, Alex is dangerous enough on his own." Jen told them. "But he stole some very dangerous weapons technology. He brought the Q-Rex with him."

"Great, he has a zord?" Emma asked. "That's all we need!"

"Come on, how dangerous could he be?" Jake asked. "He doesn't even have Ranger powers!"

"Guys, we can't risk underestimating him." Jen assured them. "Even without the Zord, he's the best Time Force has ever had."

"Yeah, but..."

"Guys, this isn't just because he's my husband." Jen interrupted them. "When we faced Ransik, he actually defeated the whole team. We were only able to bring him in because his daughter convinced him the error of his ways and he came in voluntarily."

"In his first Ranger mission, Alex brought Ransik in single-handed." Jen informed them.

"Oh." Emma said dejectedly. "And here I thought this was going to be easy."