2009

Doc could only stare at the screen, mouth agape as he replayed the Rangers' battle with Timestein in second-by-second detail. But it didn't matter how many times he watched it, he still couldn't comprehend it. In one frame they were there, and in the next, they were simply gone. Vanished.

"I… I don't believe it."

"Try being there," Kyle agreed. "None of this makes any sense."

But then, as Benson's eyes scanned the frame for the umpteenth time, he caught something. Something that didn't belong. Focus narrowing, his fingers dancing across the keyboard to make the monitor zoom in on Timestein's arm. At the weapon that Kyle had damaged in the fight. And suddenly his worst fear lunged from the dark recesses of his memory.

"No, it does make sense," he realized, face draining to white in horror. "And it's bad, really bad."

"What do you mean it makes sense?" Kyle demanded. "They just disappeared, where would they have even gone?"

Where to even begin? Benson spun around, hands grasping some invisible box as his mind strained to explain it. "You remember back at Project Digitizer?" he asked. "The Black Room?"

Kyle nodded. "Yeah, they were outside contractors, run by 'ABC', or something," he recalled. "Super top secret, even for us. Always gave me the creeps."

"Alphabet Soup," Doc corrected. "And you're not wrong. Did you ever find out what they were working on?"

Kyle stopped, gulping down. If even Project Digitizer had it classified, then he'd decided it was best he didn't know. "I'm scared that you're about to tell me."

"At Digitizer, we were focused on the physical," Doc contextualized. "Taking matter and deconstructing it for storage and then reconfiguring it in a different location. Well while we were busy figuring out ways to bend Space, the people running the Black Room were messing around with Time."

If Kyle had a mirror, he'd have been certain that he'd just gone white as a sheet. The disaster at Digitizer was bad enough without others messing around with even more dangerous elements of reality.

"Their security would have been tough for Gideon to get through when he trashed base," Doc conceded. "But it's definitely possible that he still could have made off with some of their work. Which have let them build that." Then he pointed to the cannon on Timestein's left arm.

"So, when I damaged his weapon and then the Rangers attacked it…" Kyle realized.

"The device would have malfunctioned and flung them to an unknown point in time," Doc finished.

"Wait," Kyle realized. "So, they could be anywhere? Any…when? We've got to help them!"

"I don't see how we can."

Both men sat there, paralyzed in the lingering, powerless silence in complete bewilderment at the situation that was unfolding in front of them.

"Wait a second," Kyle realized. "How did you find out what was going on in the Black Room?"

Benson looked away, face eyes looking sheepishly to the floor. "I might have… taken a peek at their central server one night?" Kyle raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I hacked in."

"So, you've got some of their files?"

Benson paused as he realized what Kyle was getting at. And there was no way it was happening

"No," he insisted, only for Kyle to even look more insistent. "No, it's too dangerous."

"We've already got Gideon messing around with space and time," Kyle pointed out. "Our Rangers are missing, and you're worried about this being dangerous?"

"This is more than that!" Benson retorted. "If I calculate something wrong with the Digitizer, at worse the item is destroyed. Maybe it'll blow a fuse as well. But if I make a mistake with this? I could cause all of reality to fall in on itself."

"Julian," Kyle pleaded. "Those kids risked their lives to free me from Cyrax's control. And somewhere out there, they're still doing the same to make sure that monster thing can't cause any more damage than it's already done. We have to bring them home. We owe it to them to try."

Benson looked up at his old friend, knowing full well he'd lost the argument. And already, the scientist part of him had ideas and theories swirling around. The overpowering curiosity of what exactly was possible. What was in his reach…

At that thought, he took a scheming look over to his Digitizer. Maybe there was a way…

"Okay," he said cautiously. "I think I have an idea."


The not-too-distant future...

They decided to split up and cover more ground. It was risky, and with no idea of what threats were lurking it would make them extra vulnerable. But they also knew it would eventually get dark, and their window to explore in the daylight was rapidly shrinking. By the time the sun was down, they wanted to be either well-fortified or long gone. Preferably both.

Hilary had managed at least get their communicators back online, jury-rigging a shared connection through her PDA. The line was weak and staticky, but it was better than nothing. Before breaking, Ray's instructions were clear. The first sign of trouble they were to call it in and run. Then they split into groups to begin sifting through the ruins of their home.

Ray and Hilary took the downtown section, immediately making B-line for the old warehouse district. But with every turn they took, they realized that their familiarity with the streets was not the asset they were hoping for. With every corner, they found more crumbled buildings, a landscape scorched and unrecognizable. The Cranston City they knew was long gone.

"What does this mean?" Hilary asked anxiously, "That Gideon won? That we were destroyed along with the rest of the world?"

"I don't know," Ray admitted. "But I think it would have taken more than what Gideon had to do this. It looks almost… military. Besides, from everything we've seen Gideon wants to control the world, not destroy it."

"Maybe he just decided to rule over the ashes," Hilary said bitterly.

"Yeah, maybe."

At last, they reached the spot they could no longer avoid, the place they'd desperately hoped, out of all the places, would still be fine and standing. But just like the rest of the city, the warehouse lay before them in ruins. Hilary gasped in horror before rushing forward, liquid metal coating her skin as she ripped aside the debris to uncover part of the collapsed building. It was empty.

No tables, chairs; no broken monitors, and scattered wires. Nothing.

"What?"

"It looks like Doc was long gone before any of this happened," Ray confirmed.

"But why would he do that? He'd be leaving the city wide open for Gideon to attack."

Ray looked at Hilary with a look of solemn realization. "I'm starting to think that this wasn't Gideon's doing."

"So, if it wasn't him, who was it?"

Ray looked away from the wreckage to see Hilary's terror worn plain on her face. She needed answers, anything to ground their crazy situation in reality. Whatever that even meant now.

"I don't know much about any of this stuff," Ray admitted. "Almost everything I know about time travel comes from movies. But I know this; whenever the heroes are thrown forward in time, to a nightmare future that no one could possibly want, it's because it gives them a chance to travel back and stop it."

"But how can we travel back if we even know how we got here?"

"I don't know," said Ray. "Honestly, this is so much more your wheelhouse than mine. But we're going to figure this out, and we're going to get home. Okay?"

Hilary nodded, embracing even the minor reassurance as they heard the crunch beep of their Morphers. Ray picked up his, clicking open the line to hear static on the other end. "What's up?"

"***Main street*** **** found something***"

Ray couldn't even tell which of the guys it was, but if they were calling it in then it had to be important. The two of them quickly doubled back, reaching the rendezvous to see the three boys sitting proudly on the hood of a car. Sleek in design, it looked well and truly out of a different decade, and definitely older than any of them.

"A car?" asked a stunned Hilary, "You called us over here, for a car?"

"This isn't just any car!" said Ben defensively, "This is a 1982 DMC Delorian. I always knew someone in town owned one, I'd just never seen it until now."

"So?"

"It's the Back to the Future car," Jake explained.

"Okay, so you found a cool memorabilia?" Hilary grumbled. "How exactly is this helpful?"

"Well for starters its stainless-steel frame has let it weather the elements better than any of these other rust buckets," Ben pointed out. "But more importantly, this baby's got an electric motor. Which means if the wires aren't too degraded, we can give it a jolt and get it moving." Then he smugly looked back up at his sister. "Or were you planning on walking across those dunes?"

"Key's still in the ignition," noted Jake, "Whoever left this behind must have been in a hurry."

While Hilary's eyes bulged, torn between berating her brother and actually acknowledging his brilliance, the rest turned to Ray for guidance.

"Let's get this car running," he decided. "Hilary, you said that you might be able to hack another satellite's signal, so I need you to get straight on that. I don't want to roll out of town and find nothing but dunes. The sooner we find out where we're heading, the better. Everyone else; Ben, you check the battery then go with Jake to find a power source. Johnny, you and I are going to go get some new tires."

"Right!"

Half an hour later, things were starting to look hopeful. For the few parts and tubes that needed replacing Ben had been able to pull from other vehicles, while Ray and Johnny had managed to locate four tires in reasonable condition to put on the wheels. The only problem left to solve was a power source with which to jump-start.

"How's the hacking going Hilary?" Ray asked.

"Hang on, I think I've found something," she muttered. "Done. There's a city fifteen miles east of here. I've latched onto their signal, so I'm piggybacking off of that to get an exact location."

No one could have possibly expected what came next. She pressed her stylus screen, and not only did she grab a signal, but the screens of their morphers also flashed.

"I don't believe it!" Hilary exclaimed. "That city must be running some sort of Digitizer technology."

"How's that even possible?" Jake asked. "The only people who know how the Digitizer works are Doc and Gideon."

"Maybe that's where Doc went when everything went down?" Ben suggested. "You guys said there was no sign of him at the warehouse."

"Honestly, I've got no idea what it means," Hilary admitted. "But it seems to be syncing up with our Morphers."

"Wait, are you saying our Ranger powers are back online?" Ray asked her.

"I don't know if the connection's good enough for any long engagement," she confirmed. "But at the very least it'll help us in a pinch."

"That's just as well," Ben decided. "Because up until now there was no way we'd have a power source strong enough to kickstart the battery on this thing. But if we've got our Ranger powers…"

He trailed off and looked over at Ray with a devilsh grin, and one by one the others did the same.

The Red Ranger sighed as he realized and resigned himself to the plan. "What do you need me to do?"

Five minutes later and they were all hooked up.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Ray asked nervously.

"If you've got a better one, then I'm all ears," Ben replied.

"Yeah, but broken jumper leads?"

"Hey," Hilary pointed out. "I'm the conductor here, if anyone should be nervous it's me."

Ben leaped into the driver's seat and gave the thumbs up. "All right Ray," he smiled, "It's show time."

Ray nodded and pulled out his Morpher, silently praying that it would work. Because if it didn't, they were truly dead in the water.

"Data Squad! Digitize!"

He pressed the button on his Morpher and was consumed by light, watching it flicker around him as it summoned his Red Ranger suit. But even standing there fully morphed, he could immediately feel the difference. The power was there, but it was weaker and intermittent. Hilary wasn't kidding when she'd said they didn't have much time. Which meant he needed to make the most of what they had.

"Battleizer! Engage!"

The armor formed around him, again the transformation taking longer. Even as it materialized, his movements were clunkier and more sluggish than normal.

"Okay, we need to move fast. Hilary, where's the Power outlet on this thing?"

"Should be in the chest, hang on." Moving behind him, Ray heard hinges squeak as Hilary cracked open the panel and connected the broken jumper lead.

"Okay Hilary, you're up."

"You can do this," she muttered under her breath, "You can do this."

Then the metal slunk across her skin as she slapped her hand to the exposed engine. Power surged from the lead, sparkly flying across Hilary's body as the current flowed between her arms and into the car battery. Her body lurched back, feet stamping to hold her upright as her grip on the car and battlizer tightened.

"It's working!" Jake called out.

Ben turned the key, the engine groaning as it lurched forward. Nothing. He tried again, hearing a cough from the engine before faltering again.

But the power was still flowing.

"Ben!" Hilary warned. "I can't hold it much longer!"

"Come on!"

All Ray could do was watch, helpless as Hilary struggled to hold her ground against the onslaught of the energy flowing through her. Smoke was rising off her, her face contorting as she clung for dear life.

"Just hold on Hilary," Ray encouraged. "You're doing great! Nearly there!"

Ben yanked the key one more time, hearing the whirr the of engine forcing itself on as he held the ignition in place. The sound looped, tired droning punctuated by spluttering as it struggled to pull the power into itself.

"COME! ON!" Ben roared, slamming his hand against the dashboard in an act of desperation.

Then the machine burst to life, a mighty roar filling the air as the pistons and belts began chugging all on their own. With the car moving and ready, Ray and Hilary collapsed, the armor and Ranger suit flashing away as smoke seethed off Hilary's body.

"Let's not do that again," she suggested weakly.

"Good idea."

"Everybody in!" Ben called out.

He leaned over, popping the front passenger seat to make room in the back as the two Rangers helped each other to their feet and moved toward the vehicle. But as Jake and Johnny climbed in, Ray's ears picked up an eerily family whirring of joints. Slowly he turned around, his heart seizing as he laid eyes upon the last thing he'd ever wanted to see.

Human-sized robots were crawling out of the buildings. Clad in rusted armor, these foot soldiers were baring own them, brandishing large weapons. And they definitely did not look friendly.

"Time to leave," he decided, leaping into the back as the seat slammed behind him and Hilary jumped into the front.

Ben slammed the car into gear, tires screeching against the concrete and kicking up sand from the wheels. The robots opened fire, and Ben hit the gas. The Delorian took off down the streets, the rounds exploded behind them, a burning column of fire.

"That answers whether they were friendly," Johnny breathed as they left the robots in the smoke.

"Well, I hope that's all of them or this is going to be one bumpy ride." Jake realized. Then the air was filled with roaring engines, as the robots burst out of the smoke riding motorbikes. All but Ben turned to Jake, glaring with murder in their eyes. "I know! I know!"

"Hilary," Ben asked. "How far away is that city and where am I going?"

"You're going five clicks east."

"Ugh, English please," Ben hissed. "Left, or right?"

"Left!"

Ben yanked the wheel, the rear wheel screeching as the whole vehicle skidded across the sand. But as the car soared off the dune and took off down the desert, the Rangers had a brand-new problem.

A wall of machinery, rising high into the sky to cast a menacing shadow across the sands. Right in the way of where they wanted to go.

"I'm just going out on a limb here," Jake gulped. "The city's on the other side of that wall, isn't it?"

Hilary's only reply was a very nervous nod. From the driver's seat, Ben cast a look in the rear mirror before shooting his sister a look. "You guys might one to strap in."

Hilary had barely fumbled to belt into the clasp before Ben snapped the gear into overdrive and floored it. The engine roared as the Delorean surged forward, sand clouding behind him as it took off at top speed.

"Ray?" Ben called to the back. "Try and do something about the bikers!"

Careful as he could, Ray popped the window and tried to lean out. The wind ripped at his face as he squinted, trying to focus on the riders. The one directly in front raised their weapon.

Ray was faster.

The lasers burst from his eyes, exploding into the bike to send the rider flying. Then he turned his head, firing again and again at their pursuers. But that was as much as he could manage, pulling himself back inside the shield from dust kicked up from the tires.

"Are you okay?" Hilary asked him.

"Just sand," Ray groaned, covering his eyes. "It just gets everywhere."

By now the remaining bikers had caught them, riding parallel to the car as they closed in at the sides.

"Ben…" Johnny warned. "We've got company!"

"Hang on!"

The wall was fast approaching, looming so high they could no longer see the sky. As they grew closer, panels on the surface began shifting, huge cannons emerging from the structure to point directly at the vehicle.

"Big problem!" Jake exclaimed, "Big, big problem!"

The riders seared beside them, swinging with their weapon to smash at the windows. Ray spun around, firing a bolt right into the face, as the second one tried to climb in.

Johnny was on it, hand snapping back to block before cracking his fist into the faceplate. The robot flailed as it fell backward, slipping from the window and hitting the ground as the Delorean jolted over the sudden bump beneath the tires.

And still, there were still more on their tail!

The cannon opened fire, a booming ball of fire exploding behind them as at last, they reached the wall.

"Ben, pull up," Hilary warned.

Her brother didn't listen, eye intent on the path in front of them and picking up speed.

"Ben! PULL UP!"

The engine whirred as it reached its peak, the whole vehicle shaking as Ben urged it to its limit.

"BEN YOU'RE GOING TO CRASH!"

"Hold on to something," was the only reply.

"WHY DO YOU KEEP TELLING ME TO DO THA-?!"

Her question cut off as Ben yanked on the break, reefing the wheel as the car screamed the hard turn. The tired skidded in the sand, spraying dirt into the pursuing riders. Blinded by the cloud, the robots floundered wildly as their bikes slammed into barricades, vehicles exploding into burst blasts of shrapnel.

Shifting up again, Ben's foot hit the floor as the car took off.

"That won't stop them for long," he warned Hilary. "There's bound to be more on our tail. Please tell me that pocket computer of yours has found a way through this thing."

Hilary nodded and franticly scribbled with the stylus.

"There's a gap up ahead!" she told him.

The car darted forward, skidding through the turn as it came to some wreckage. Scorch marks littered the walls beside it, and debris littered the road in front. But there was no mistake that the gap in the wall lead to the other side.

"Ben," Hilary warned, "Please don't tell me you're thinking what I think you are."

"Jake?" said the Blue Ranger, ignoring his sister entirely. "When I give you the signal, I need to slam the ground as hard as you can."

Then he gunned forward, making straight for the blocking debris.

"I can't watch this!" Hilary shrieked.

"Almost there," Ben warned as Jake and Johnny shuffled awkwardly in the back seat to let the Green Ranger get to the window.

"Now!"

Just as they were about to crash into the rubble Jake reached outside and slammed downwards. The force unfurled from his palm, flushing beneath the vehicle before rebounding with an upward thrust. The car lifted, forward momentum keeping it on track as it soared over the trash and hit the ground on the other side.

Finally on the other side of the barricade, a great dome stood before them.

"That must be the city!" Ray realized.

All of a sudden, the dome disappeared, vanishing to leave only a frame resembling its shape. And as they grew closer, a giant roller door along the outside wall began to open.

"There!" yelled Hilary.

"I see it!"

Ben floored it as the Delorian shot forward, making it through the gap in the wall. Behind them, they heard the familiar roar of the bikes.

"Not these guys again!" Jake groaned.

But now they had a new problem, clearly the roller had been open for far too long and was already starting to rumble down again

"Ben…" Hilary hissed, squeezing the edge of her seat for dear life.

"I've got it!

Engine at its absolute limit, the car rocketed forward, Ben pushing it for all the speed it could muster.

"You're not going make it!" Hilary shrieked.

But then, just as their hearts were about to sink, Ben shot through the opening. The car roof sheered again the bottom of the roller, buckling it as Ben slammed the break and reefed the wheel downwards.

The car skidded to a stop, tires smoking as it rocked still mere feet from a nearby wall. Then, as the car finally swayed to stationary, Ben took a look at his shaken teammates, their faces a mix of horror, relief, and disbelief.

They'd made it.

"And that," Ben announced proudly, "is how it's done."

"Uh, Ben," Johnny warned. "Might want to wait on that celebration."

Their last-second entry had damaged the door, buckling it off its tracks so badly that it no longer moved. And seizing the opportunity, the foot soldiers were surging right for it.

"Anyone else getting a feeling of deja va? Hilary asked them, watching the eerily familiar sight unfold in front of them.

"I don't know," Johnny replied. "Why don't you ask him?"

Ray looked to where the Black Ranger was pointing, his heart sinking as an even more daunting familiarity approached them. Another robot was among the mass, but this one was far more concerning. Larger and more heavily armored, it looked more like a giant, walking engine block than anything remotely resembling its comrades. Just the computer virus' that Gideon created.

"We've got to stop them," Ray realized. "We're the only reason they even got in."

They leaped from the car, raising the guard and readying to face them down as the robots marched onwards. But then they heard the roar of engines.

Their heads snapped around as a series of vehicles skidded into view. A red sports car, a blue Hummer, a yellow motorcycle, and a black muscle car, all skidded to a stop in front of the robot army. Four guys and one girl leaped from the vehicles, all in black-leather jackets and different colored T-shirts underneath.

Each one had a colored number on their back

The boy in red turned to face the monster, snapping up an oversized Cell Phone to place a small square cartridge into the top. Two others were doing the same with the phones, while the guys in green and black did the same with what looked like giant wristwatches.

Ray gasped, as the others stared with eyes glued as well. It couldn't be…

"Ready?" called the boy in red.

"Ready!" they replied.

"Guys?" Ben realized, "You don't think that they're…?"

But he was silenced by Ray who was still intently watching intently. Watching intently as all of them moved in fluid, synchronous motion.

"RPM!" They all yelled, "Get in Gear!"

There was a flash of light, bursting from the devices to completely consume the newcomers. And when it faded, in their place were helmed warriors dressed in brightly colored spandex. Ready to fight against the encroaching horde.

As they launched themselves into the fray, the teens could only watch in absolute astoundment.

"Ray, I don't believe," Hilary gasped. "This future… they have Power Rangers!"

POWER RANGERS

DATA SQUAD

NEXT TIME: The Rangers work with the RPM Rangers to find their way home, while Doc and Kyle race to find a way to reach them. But as Mileena, Kelgar, and Timestein make contact with the evil Lord Venjix, the Rangers may soon learn that time is the one thing they don't have. Will they be able to protect Corinth from the combined alliance of villains? Or will the very arrival threaten the fabric of time itself?

Find out Next Time on:

POWER RANGERS

DATA SQUAD

Get in Gear: Part 2

A/N: Power Rangers- Data Squad updates on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you like what you read, you can always drop a comment to let me know, and don't forget to subscribe/ follow to find out the second I update. Power Rangers: Data Squad is a fan-made team of Rangers, and not explicitly based on any other existing Rangers or Sentai property. Until next time, may the Power Protect You.