A/N: Okay guys, let's get started. And as promised; I'll be explaining Jack's brief change in personality in this chapter. And when I get to the third chapter, there's going to be a surprise. I don't want to say too much about it, or anything, really. But trust me, it's gonna be BOOMING! And I fully intend to get around to my other Power Ranger story. But right now, I just feel more confident about this one. It'll be great to write a Power Rangers Time Force story, without robbing Eric of his opportunity to be the Quantum Ranger. And hopefully, to make one where there's a new Ranger who can stand up to him, if need be.
And just wait till you see what I've got in store for the fourth chapter. It's going to be an original chapter, and it'll put quite an interesting twist on things. And I'd like to point out that the Black morpher will have a few limitations, until it's fixed completely, in the fourth chapter.
Also; I can't wait to get to the episodes "bodyguard in Blue" and "Love Struck Rangers." There'll be so many things in those episodes that I can play around with.
LET'S ZOOM THE COSMOS!
Ransik's headquarters
Ransik and his followers were still processing the concept of the new Ranger. At that moment, Ransik's daughter, Nadira, came into the room; ranting about their new predicament. "Daddy, there are seven Rangers now! What are we going to do?"
Ransik responded with. "The Rangers have the power of the Quantum Ranger. But I'm going to get the Quantasaurus Rex!"
Then his mutant underling, Gluto said. "Yeah, you'll get the Quantasaurus Rex, even better. Um, question, what's a Quantasaurus Rex?" This proved just how small-minded he was to all of them.
So Frax, Ransik's robot servant, went into further detail on what that was. By saying that the Quantasaurus Rex was the most powerful megazord ever created by Time Force. No criminal would have stood a chance against its incredible power. But fortunately for them, it was lost in a time travel experiment. So Ransik hatched a plan to use a mutant, to go back in time, and get it for him. But as he was preparing the mutant for reanimation; Nadira voiced another concern on the matter at hand. "By the way, Frax. I was taking a look at the battle footage between Brickneck, and those two new Rangers. And funny thing is, you seemed to have been there being held captive by the Black Ranger, just before the fighting started. Now, what was that about?!" This brought a look of shocking revelation to Ransik's face.
This caused Frax to worry. He didn't think he would get caught. "Oh, umm, nothing. Nothing at all." He said, trying to throw them off suspicion.
Ransik marched over to Frax, grabbing him, as he demanded answers. "Frax, I want the truth. What were you doing there? And how did you just so happen to encounter that Black Ranger before anyone else?"
"Uhh, well, I might have stumbled upon information regarding a new Ranger, as your forces were attempting to attain the Quantum morpher."
"You, What?! You mean to tell me that you knew there was another Ranger, and you didn't say anything?!" Ransik exclaimed.
"I was only trying to make things easier for you, master. I thought that if I brought you the morpher of this new Ranger without distracting you from the task at hand, you'd be pleased." Frax pleaded his case.
"You fool! The day I would trust you with such a task, is the day the humans would elect one of you buckets of bolts as president, in the future." Ransik shouted to him, believing that would be a day that would never come. "Now get out of my sight, you useless machine!" He yelled, as he threw him out into the hallway.
Frex rose to his feet and started walking away in frustration. "Unbelievable! I was so close to finally achieving power that would have helped me usurp Ransik. If only those pesky Autobots hadn't been there." Frax exclaimed with annoyance. This caused him to remember how things went down on his end.
(Flashback)
Frax was performing monitor duty, when a temporal anomaly appeared in the present, somewhere in Jasper, Nevada, by the looks of it. "Oh, what's this? Something has arrived from the future. Or more accurately, "a" future. Well normally; I probably should tell Ransik about this. But where's the fun in that? Besides; I think it's about time we've seen who the true superior being around here is." Frax said while releasing an evil laugh, as he did that thing where his red robot eyes pop out. He teleported away after that.
(End Flashback)
I swear; if I ever see that brat again, I'll dissect him and put him back together with machine parts, till he's nothing but the equivalent of a human jukebox!" Frax rambled to himself, as his robot eyes popped out again from getting too emotional.
Meanwhile, at the Clock Tower
"So let me get this straight. All you guys..." Jack didn't get to finish, because he got interrupted by Wes.
"Not all of us. I'm from the here and now, just like you and your friends." Wes corrected him, letting him know that he was from the present just like Jack and the others.
"Four of you guys... are from the future? The year 3000, to be exact? You're part of a futuristic police, called Time Force? Your mission is to capture Ransik, who's an evil mutant that escaped from your custody, killed your friend Alex, and now he's here in the present, wreaking havoc? And on top of that; there's a new Quantum Ranger, who's really Wes's prep school rival, and he and Ransik are trying to get control of the Quantasaurus, once it's been found? Did I leave anything out?" Jack asked them while he was sitting in a chair, as Trip and Circuit were running a diagnostic scan on his morpher, to determine the cause for his change in personality, while he was the Black Ranger.
"No. You pretty much summed it up, perfectly." Wes told him. "And I can't believe your friends are actually aliens." Wes said to Jack. He then directed his attention to Trip. "I didn't think I would meet another alien besides you, Trip. At least, not in this day and age." Wes already knew that his friend Trip, the Green Ranger, was an alien from the future. But meeting another group of aliens was mind-blowing. The moment they arrived at the clock tower, after Jack regained consciousness; the Rangers told him and his friends everything about them being from the future, and their mission. They didn't think they had much choice, considering they were trying to find out what was wrong with his morpher. But the explanations weren't one-sided. Earlier; Wes asked what Cybertronians were, so both Jack and his friends, as well as the other Rangers, told him. They told him about how they come from a distant planet called Cybertron, and that Jack's friends were the Autobots, who are the good guys, led by Optimus Prime. And about the team's medic, Ratchet, who was still back home at their base with Agent Fowler, their government liaison to the outside world. They also told them about how they were a government secret, which they probably shouldn't be telling them. But they had a feeling they could trust the Power Rangers, so they told them anyway. The last thing they told Wes; was that they were at war with the Decepticons, their mortal enemies from back on Cybertron, who were led by the evil Megatron, and that years and years of civil war have rendered their planet uninhabitable, so they left and brought their war to Earth. Jack even told them about some of the adventures that him and his fellow human friends had with them, including that one time when Optimus trusted him with the key to Vector Sigma, which basically made him an honorary Prime.
The other Rangers even told Wes and the members of Team Prime, that in the future, humans and Cybertronians coexist peacefully, and that they're even allowed to join Time Force, themselves. After the history lessons of the past, and the yet to be written past were over, June decided to ask the important question. "Okay, now that we're done talking about things that have happened, and will happen. Can one of you please tell me why Jack was acting so different as the Black Ranger, and that you're any closer to getting that morpher off of him?"
"The morpher has been damaged, so Jack wasn't in control of his actions as the Black Ranger. The morpher brought his repressed urges to the surface. But his urges "both good, and bad", were amplified, simultaneously. So the Black Ranger did a mix of both, during the battle." Circuit explained.
"Well, I was raised to be responsible, and I always try to live up to that. I think that's why even though I was acting arrogant while wearing the suit, I still wanted to stop that mutant, so no one would get hurt." Spoke Jack.
"Exactly. The morpher didn't make you do anything you didn't already want to do." Circuit explained further.
"Well, can you get to the part on how you get it off, now?" Asked June.
"I'm sorry, Mrs Darby! But until I get it completely repaired, it's not coming off. There's a failsafe that prevents its removal, until repairs are complete." Trip informed her.
"All right, that's it! I can't take it anymore." June said as she walked over to Jack and made a grab for his wrist.
"No, don't!" Trip warned her. The moment she touched the morpher, it generated a small amount of electricity, forcing her hand away, as she said the word "Ouch", to emphasize on the pain. "I told you it needs to be repaired first. And what's worse is the equipment I need to repair it, doesn't exist yet. I'm going to have to contact the future, and ask them to deliver some special equipment for that. But right now, I think the most important question is, how did you acquire this morpher anyway, Jack?" He said while directing his attention to Jack.
He released a sigh, then spoke. "It all started like this." He then began telling how it all happened.
(Flashback)
Jack and his friends were in the desert outside of Jasper. They were just chillin', while they were still discussing the events of when he restored Optimus's memories with the key to Vector Sigma. "I still can't believe that Optimus trusted me with the Matrix, and all the responsibility that came with it. He really has a lot of faith in me, doesn't he?" Spoke Jack.
"Huh, you can't believe it?! That makes two of us." Miko said with boredom in her voice. She still felt jealous that Optimus chose him to go to Cybertron, over her.
"Miko, I'm sure Optimus would've chosen you to do something like that, eventually." Bulkhead said to her, in an attempt to cheer her up.
"I don't need pity right now, Bulk." She responded while walking just a few yards away.
"At least he chose one of us. It's thanks to his quick thinking, that Megatron didn't get the Matrix. There's no way he could've known that a human would have it instead. I think Optimus made the right call." Raf stated.
"Well, I think it was a risky move. But in the end, it paid off. He couldn't have made a better choice, Jack." Arcee said to her partner. Even bumblebee commented on that in his beeping.
At that moment, June decided to jump in on that conversation too. "Okay, okay, it's good that Optimus has his memories back. But let's hope the next time something like this happens, there's no risking the children."
"Relax, mom. I'm sure it will be quite a while before I have to risk my life for anything again." Jack spoke. But Jack had no idea how off he was with that statement; because coincidentally, at that moment a metal box materialized itself in the dirt right behind him, as he was walking backwards. "Whoa!" He said as he tripped over the box. His friends went to check on him to see if he was okay. Jack sat up, rubbing his head. After he regained his senses, that's when he noticed the box sticking out of the ground in the dirt. "Hey, what's that?" He asked as he began digging the rest of it out of the dirt. This metal box also had a black line going across both sides of it.
"Wow, that looks really old." Raf commented.
"I don't know, Raf. It looks kinda new, to me. Even if it is old, do you have any idea where it could be from?" Jack asked his friend.
"I don't know. It doesn't seem like any metal I've seen before. Hey, do you guys think it could be Cybertronian?" Raf asked the Autobots.
"I don't think so. Doesn't look like it." Arcee replied. Jack, on the other hand, was intrigued by it the most, for some reason. It had a hole in it, that looked like he could fit his whole hand inside of.
A part of him wanted to; but at that moment, Frax teleported a few yards away from them. As soon as he spotted them, he shot at them with his blaster hand. Sparks were flying off the ground near them, as they look to see where they came from, seeing Frax standing in the distance. "I think you'll find, that belongs to me, my little friends." He said to them.
"What the?" Jack said in reference to Frax.
The Autobots raised their blasters at him. "Who are you, and what do you want?" Arcee inquired.
Frax was surprised to see the Autobots. "Ahh, would you look at that? Cybertronians, Autobots by the look of it." This surprised them. How did he know about those things? When they asked him that very question, all he had to say was. "That's none of your concern. Simply give me that box, child. And you and your friends may live."
"Yeah, what do you want it so badly for?" Bulkhead asked him.
"That isn't any of your concern either. This is your last chance. Hand it over, brat." Frax demanded of Jack.
Jack then looked to his friends. If this box was really so valuable to a guy like this, then him getting it would probably be the last thing they should let happen. It was about time Jack voiced this concern to his friends. "Guys, if this thing's really so valuable to a guy like that, then I don't think we should let him have it."
Unfortunately for him; Frax also heard him say that, and he didn't seem to like it. "Very well. I have given you your chance, and you have chosen poorly. Cyclobots!" He said as he tossed some bolts on the ground, which then materialized into the Cyclobots. The Autobots wondered what they were, as they charged for the attack. Both the Autobots, and the Cyclobots blasted at each other, while the humans ran for cover. But while Jack was hiding; Frax suddenly showed up behind him, and grabbed him by the shoulder, as he tossed him to the ground. "I told you, I want that box. So give it to me, now!" Frax picked Jack up again, and threw him a few yards away in the air this time, with him hitting the ground hard.
"JACK!" Arcee chanted with concern.
But when Frax set his sights on Jack again; he noticed that his left hand was sticking in the hole of the box, most likely due to Frax tossing him around. "NOOOO!" Frax shouted, knowing full well what that meant.
The box started glowing gold, as Jack's arm still rested inside the hole. Soon; the box disappeared, and a Chrono Morpher was resting on his wrist. Jack was shocked by the appearance of this new object, and rose to his feet. "What the?" He said with a feeling of bewilderment.
Then; red & green lights started flashing in a circle on the screen of the morpher. "D.N.A. confirmed." It's computer said. A flash of light was then released, scanning him up and down. The morpher then started flashing its lights in a vexing manner. "Error, malfunction detected. Switching to Autopilot Mode." The computer declared.
"Wait, autopilot? What does that mean?" Jack questioned. The next thing he knew; electrical energy was beginning to surge all over his body. "Ahhh! What's happening to me?!" Jack exclaimed. The electrical energy was going all over the place, causing sparks to go off, and an explosion to emerge.
"JACK!" June shouted this time.
After the explosion died down; in Jack's place stood a Power Ranger clad in Black. "Another Time Force Ranger?!" Frax said with shock.
"Oh, I'm not just another Time Force Ranger, tin head. I'm "The" Time Force Ranger. And now, you're all mine." Jack said with a newfound sense of confidence. Jack jumped in the air and delivered a kick to Frax's chest, knocking him on the ground. He then beat all the other Cyclobots without even having to use his weapons. He then walked over to Frax, who's still laid on the ground defeated.
"Jack? Is that you in there?" Arcee asked.
"Sorry, but Jack's not here right now. I'm the Black Ranger. And right now, I've got a job to do." The Black Ranger responded as he grabbed Frax, and stood him on his feet. At that moment, he received a transmission in his helmet, indicating there was a mutant attack in Silver Hills. "Huh, speak of Unicron. I just found out where the rest of it takes place. Computer; run diagnostic on all functions!" He ordered into his morpher.
"User manual control systems, offline. Transwarp Drive, offline." Responded the computer.
"Ugh, that's a bummer. I mean, the manual control I can do without, seeing as how the normal me wouldn't have been any help in a fight. But the Transwarp Drive. Well, that was one of my favorites. But, computer. Is the teleport system still operational?" The Black Ranger said.
"Affirmative. Teleport System, online." The computer responded.
"Well, good. That's something." Said the Black Ranger.
"Jack, what are you doing?" Bulkhead questioned.
"My job. Keep up if you can. But first..." Black Ranger said, as he teleported away.
K.O. Drive-In
The Black Ranger arrived at his work establishment, and used his Chrono Blaster to zap the building's sign, partially destroying it. "I've always hated working here anyway. Now just one more stop to make, before the main course." The Black Ranger said, then teleported away again.
Parking lot, in a random location
The Black Ranger appeared in front of Vince's car, and zapped the engine until it exploded. "That's for calling my motorcycle ugly, Vince. Well, and for insulting my friend bumblebee by calling him a pedal car, that too. Now, where was I? Oh, yeah, the crisis." Spoke the Black Ranger, he then teleported away with Frax still restrained in his hand, as he proceeded to Silver Hills.
(End of Flashback)
"And that's pretty much where I ended up in Silver Hills. But it's like, I was in my own body, aware of everything that was happening around me, but I couldn't stop myself. I did things I wouldn't normally do. But the one thing that kept buzzing in the back of my head, was this urge telling me to beat the mutant." Jack told them.
"That's because even though the morpher brought out both your good, and bad inner ambitions, it's still a Time Force morpher. So it compelled you to stop the mutant, guiding you so you wouldn't go over the top with your darker ambitions, making you think about nothing but accomplishing the mission." Circuit explained. Circuit then went on further, explaining that even though he did all those bad things as the Black Ranger before joining the fight, the morpher too terrible. And that the only reason he caused petty vandalism, was because those ambitions were so strong, and needed to be purged. But the morpher would've stopped him from being too excessive.
"And you're sure the computer said "D.N.A. confirmed?" And not "D.N.A. logged?" Trip asked Jack.
"Yeah, why?" Jack asked.
"Because the only reason it would say that, is if it belonged to a relative of yours with the same D.N.A." Trip told him. Trip then finished the repairs, to the best of his ability. "All right, Jack. I can't repair it completely without the proper equipment from Time Force. But I've done the next best thing. I disabled the autopilot function, so you'll be in control if you ever morph again. But in order to do that; I had to put a damper on its activation time. So now you can only stay morphed for an hour and a half. After that, you'll automatically de-morph, and need to wait an hour for it to recharge."
"90 minutes of power, and 60 minutes of recharging? Well, I guess that's better than the alternative. Wait, you said this would have to belong to another blood relative of mine for it to work for me too. Well the only relative I have is my mom, and my dad walked out on me, so I don't think it belonged to him." Jack said.
"That's true, Jack. But since the morpher's from the future, that means one of your descendants had it before you, and that's the only way you'd be able to use it. However; after completing my diagnostic scan of it, I've discovered it does come from the year 3000, just not the same 3000 we come from." Circuit stated.
"What? Circuit, what do you mean?" Jen asked.
"It's from the year 3000, in a timeline parallel to our own." Circuit explained.
"Circuit, how's that possible?" Katie asked him.
"You see, Rangers. All the changes both you and Ransik have done to history, have created an alternate timeline. That morpher was never meant to exist." Circuit elaborated.
Miko, on the other hand, was thinking about something else entirely. "I can't believe you get to be the Power Ranger, and not me. You already had the key to Vector Sigma, isn't that enough?" She felt jealous, thinking all the good stuff happens to him. Then suddenly; the morpher started glowing, then disappeared off Jack's wrist, and reappeared on hers. "Whoa, what just happened?" This surprised everyone in the room.
"D.N.A. confirmed." Said the computer, with the same flashing red and green lights as before, and the same scanning light to go with it.
"Okay, I don't know what's going on. But, awesome! Now I get to be the Black Ranger." Miko exclaimed with excitement. This lasted for about 2 seconds, till the morpher disappeared off her wrist, and reappeared on June's.
"D.N.A. confirmed." Said the computer again, with the same flashing lights and scans. After that, it disappeared off of her and went back to Jack.
"Aww!" Miko exclaimed with boredom in her voice.
"Okay, what just happened?" June inquired.
"I'm not sure. Probably something I'll have to repair, as well." Trip answered as he took another look at the morpher.
"Wait, Trip, you said the morpher could only be used by a blood relative. Now, my descendant in the future I get. My mom, sure. But Miko's not related to me. So then, how can she use it too?" Jack questioned.
"Best guess, it's a descendant you both share in the future." He answered.
"Wait. So you mean... That one day... Me and Jack... Will...?" Miko implied with a feeling of awkwardness, while pointing between herself and Jack.
"Not necessarily, Miko. As I've said, it's from an alternate timeline. That means one out of two scenarios. One; by the time you and Jack have families with other people, your children could end up together and have children of their own, until one day, those descendants are born. Or two; since it's an alternate timeline, it's quite possible that that's the only timeline in which they exist. But either one, is highly likely, and most definite." Circuit informed them.
"Well, gee. Thanks for the tip!" Miko replied with sarcasm.
"Well, it's not the worst theory." Raf commented.
After examining the morpher one last time; Trip came to a new conclusion. "Jack, I think I know why the morpher was bouncing from you, your mom and Miko. It can sense when the relatives of its host are nearby. And since you, June and Miko are all here at the same time, it was cataloging your D.N.A. So that way; either one of you can use it, if the other was unavailable. And the reason it came back in time to this point in history, specifically, was because besides the fact it was damaged, it knew there were Time Force and mutants here in 2001 when there weren't supposed to be. So the morpher found the closest genetic relative, to put an end to it. I got to say, this morpher's something else." He commented with amazement. (A/N: I know the morpher can't do that in the comics. But like I said; I'm taking a few minor liberties).
After all this new information was absorbed; Jen decided they should direct their attention to more pressing matters, like getting the Quantum Morpher back from Eric. Even though Jack and his friends weren't originally part of this; he told them that he wanted to help out. Both the Rangers, and Jack's mom voiced that they didn't think that was a good idea. But Jack was very insistent. After all; the Rangers helped them this far. The least they could do was return a favor. Besides; they were likely the only way he was ever going to get the morpher off. So what choice did they have? After enough discussing; they came to the agreement that after team Prime helps them, they would find a way to help them get the morpher off Jack. They then set out to find Eric. Not that that would be hard.
A little while later: the Rangers and the human members of Team Prime found Eric training with the other Silver Guardians. Eric finished his combat training and handed his training weapon to his fellow Silver Guardian. He then noticed Wes and the other Rangers arrive. Eric gave a smile followed by a small laugh, as a response. "I was wondering when you'd show up." He said as he left the training area, with them following. A few minutes later; they all went to a rooftop so they could talk in private. "You can forget it. The Quantum Morpher's mine." Eric said to them.
"It doesn't belong to you." Wes told him.
"Finders, keepers." Eric remarked.
"You don't understand the power it has." Jen tried warning him.
"Oh, I understand... Much more than you think I do." Eric retorted. This caused Wes & Jen to look at each other in confusion, before returning their attention to Eric. "That's right. Once I get control of the Q-Rex, the sky's the limit." Eric finished.
"It's not a toy, you know?!" A certain voice said, causing Eric to look in the direction it came from. It was Jack who said it.
"Yeah, dude. So just handed over!" Miko exclaimed.
Eric didn't seem to notice them until the last minute, now setting his sights upon a trio of kids, and an adult woman with them. "Oh, I'm sorry. You seem to have me at a disadvantage. Because I don't seem to know any of you. But neither of you know me, either. So who are you kiddies supposed to be?" Said Eric.
They were about to respond; until Jack held up his hands, telling them to hold that thought. Jack then took a few steps forward, taking it from here. "They're my friends; Miko Nakadai and Rafael Esquivel. And this is my mom, June Darby." Jack said, pointing to each of them respectively. "But who they are doesn't matter, right now. Who I am, does."
"Is that right?" Spoke Eric.
"Yeah, it is. And it's funny how you brought up the fact that you don't know us, and we don't know you. Because that's exactly what you said when you and I first met." Jack said, hoping to jog his memory.
Eric gave an amused laugh before speaking. "You must be mistaking, kid. Because I've never seen you in my life." Responded Eric.
"Actually, you have. You just don't know it yet." Jack replied.
This only seemed to confuse Eric more. "Okay, I'll bite. Just who are you, kid?" Asked Eric.
"The name's Jack Darby. But you probably don't recognize me without the fancy black suit." Jack said with sarcasm, while showing him the Chrono Morpher on his left wrist.
Eric's eyes went wide was shock. The shock then faded, as it was replaced with an impressed smile. "So you were that Black Ranger?" Said Eric.
"That's right." Answered Jack.
Eric turned around and started walking to the side of the roof, as he began speaking. "You guys have really lowered the age requirement for becoming a Power Ranger, haven't you?" He said to the other Rangers.
"For your information, Eric. They didn't give me this morpher. I found it, just like you found the Quantum Morpher. But that's not the point. The point is, the Quantum Morpher's too dangerous for just anyone to have. You have to give it back." Jack said to him.
"I don't have to do anything I don't want to, kid. Besides; I don't see them trying to take yours away from you." Eric said while turning to face Jack.
"See, that's the difference between our situations. Apparently; I can't take this morpher off until it's fully repaired, and Trip doesn't have the proper equipment to do that yet. And normally I try to do my best at being responsible, but this thing's damaged, so it corrupted my mind during our first encounter. I wasn't in control of my actions at the time. And between you and me, it's scared me. But it's partially fixed now, so if I use it again, I'll be in control with limitations. But that doesn't change the fact that when I first morphed, I did a lot of bad things that I normally wouldn't. Even if it was just petty vandalism. And not to mention, I was acting more careless and arrogant than usual." Jack informed him.
"That's on you, not me." Remarked Eric, while pointing at Jack.
Suddenly; at that moment, they all witnessed a strange energy beam shooting into the sky. "What's that?" Jen wondered.
Meanwhile; somewhere in another part of town, a mutant by the name of Commandocon was the one generating that beam in the sky with his staff. He was opening a time vortex in the sky, so he could get the Q-Rex from the past. "Just a little more juice, and I can blast into the past." He said. Shortly after that, The vortex was open. "The Time hole's open." He said as he flew through.
"A Time hole? Ransik's going back for the Quantasaurus." Trip said to his friends.
They then saw Eric run to the center of the roof. "Eric, what are you doing?" Asked Wes.
"No one's getting the Q-Rex, but me." He answered. "QUANTUM-POWER!" He chanted, morphing into the Quantum Ranger. "I'll just beat Ransik to the punch. See ya!" He said to them. He then spoke into his morpher. "TF-Eagle!" Not long after that, some sort of futuristic mini-jet, landed right in front of them. Eric then jumped in the cockpit.
"Eric, wait!" Wes said as he ran towards the jet. Eric pulled back on the yoke of the jet, causing it to lift off. "You don't know what you're doing." Wes said as the jet lifted in the air. As the jet left the roof, Wes began running towards it, which Eric took notice of. Wes jumped off the roof. "TIME FOR TIME FORCE!" He said while morphing into the Red Ranger. His friends shouted his name, showing their concern for him as he landed on the right side of the jet.
"What are you doing, Wes?" Asked Eric.
"I'm coming with you." He responded.
At that moment; Jack started thinking about their plan. He thought it would take more than two of them to accomplish this task. Normally; Jack tries avoiding any unnecessary risks, especially of the dangerous variety. But the Power Rangers helped him. There's no way he wasn't going to return a favor somehow. "Ugh! Miko's rubbing off on me in all the wrong ways. Oh well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained." Jack said, taking a page from Miko's book as he ran to the edge of the roof and jumped off. "TIME FOR TIME FORCE!" He exclaimed as he morphed into the Black Ranger and teleported on the other side of the jet.
"JACK!" June shouted with concern.
"Now, what do you think you're doing?" Eric said to Jack.
"I'm here to help Wes." He answered.
"Ugh! You're just as crazy as Wes." Eric stated and just proceeded to fly. Soon enough, they made it through the time vortex.
The other side of the vortex
Wes and Jack were knocked unconscious; and as a result, they were also de-morphed. They both started waking up, seeing that they were now in some jungle, with what looked like to be a pterodactyl flying in the sky. "Where am I?" Wes asked.
"I think you mean, where are we?" Jack replied, as Wes looked over his shoulder to see Jack sitting not too far from him.
A second after that, Eric walked near them, tuning his Silver Guardian Blaster. "My guess is, we went back about 150 million years." He said to them, getting their attention. That could only mean one thing, they were in the Jurassic period.
Both Wes, and Jack got to their feet. "Jack, are you alright?" Wes asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Wes. Thanks!" He responded.
Eric walked back to the TF-Eagle, with the others following behind. Jack & Wes were looking around their surroundings, seeing a herd of triceratops to one side, and a herd of Stegosaurus to the other. Eric looked at them, shook his head in an annoyed manner and walked over to them. Eric shoved Wes in the shoulder, getting his attention. "That was stupid. You shouldn't have followed me here... Either of you." Eric said while pointing between the both of them.
"You are not the only one after the Q-Rex. Ransik's mutant here to get him too. And if he gets him, he will use the zord and destroy anything he wants." Wes sternly told Eric.
But everything he said seemed to go in one ear and out the other for Eric, as he fought back with his own argument. "That's not going to happen. Because I'm going to get the Q-Rex, not some mutant." Eric then grabbed Wes by the caller. "And I don't need your help." He then pushed him to the ground.
Jack knelt down to the ground, checking if Wes was okay. "You are so, not a nice guy, you know that?!" Jack remarked to Eric.
"And I don't need your help either, kid." Eric said, pointing at Jack.
Jack took a moment of pause, before getting to his feet and responding. "You sure about that?"
"Yeah, I'm sure I don't need help from either of you." Eric replied.
"No, not that. The other thing you said?" Jack replied, getting Eric's attention. "You know, the part about you saying that you were going to get the Q-Rex, and not the mutant. How do you know he won't just beat you to the punch? For all you know, he's already found him. And you know something else? Depending on which side you fight for, and who you're up against, three against one are a lot better odds. You know, back home I've got a team of my own I'm apart of. But unfortunately; I'm not at liberty to talk about it. But one thing I can tell you for sure, Eric, is that in my team we depend on each other. It's the same with the Power Rangers. Everyone needs help once in a while, Eric... Even you. But if you keep going down this road, you're just going to end up proving the obvious. That you're nothing but a bully."
"A bully? Where do you think we are, high school?" Eric responded sarcastically.
"News flash. I am still in high school, Einstein! But that's not where you always have to go to meet a jerk. And stop calling me kid. I told you, my name's Jack." Jack remarked.
"Well, you know what, Jack? You don't know me. So stop pretending to." Eric retorted.
"Fine. But just so you know; even if I don't know you, I know a jerk when I see one." Jack shot back, then went back to Wes's side.
Wes came upon a nest full of hatching baby dinosaurs. He smiled at that. But then, the ground started to rumble; and a loud booming, could be heard. "Eric?" Wes asked. But Eric just shushed him. He was trying to get a sense of what that noise was. The noise was revealed to be the footsteps of a T-Rex.
Everyone was now on the run; as the T-Rex chased them through the jungle. Eventually, they all got separated. Jack was running for his life, while Wes and Eric were sent in a different direction. Eric and Wes ran until the T-Rex knocked Eric down. It was preparing to devour him. However, Wes managed to jump and get him out of the way; before the dinosaur could chomp either of them. They kept running. They managed to regroup with Jack, who continued running with them, until they came to the edge of a cliff. The T-Rex swung its tail at them. But Jack and Wes arrived just in time to push Eric out of the way.
The tail hit them, sending them over the cliff. "JACK! WES!" Eric shouted, as they went plummeting down the cliff. He felt bad for them; but the T-Rex wasn't going to stop. He saw a small cave, just behind the T-Rex. Maybe if he could get there; he would be safe. Eric ran underneath the T-Rex; and into the cave. He huddled up against the wall; with the T-Rex trying to bite at him. Thankfully, the cave was too narrow for the T-Rex to fit its head in to.
The dinosaur eventually gave up, and left him alone. Eric discovered an opening that further opened up the cave. He pulled out his flashlight and his Silver Guardian Blaster, then went deeper into the cave; and saw some primitive cave drawings. The drawings depicted the Q-Rex. This led Eric to believe, that he was now inside the same cave that the Quantum Morpher was found in; millions of years ago in the past. The pictures also showed, a massive volcano. This gave Eric an idea. "The Quantasaurus Rex. That's it, the volcano. So that's where he's at." Eric said.
At the bottom of the cliff, Wes was recovering. Thankfully, he wasn't too badly hurt.
Back in modern times, the Rangers had regrouped back at the clock tower along with the human members of Team Prime. They were currently scanning the timeline for any sign of their friends. So far, they weren't having much luck.
"We've scanned 4,000 millennia. Not a trace." Circuit informed the others.
"Keep looking!" Jen instructed. This made Trip get back to searching the database.
"What if we can't find them?" Katie asked, as she grabbed a hold of Lucas.
"Then we'd better hope that they can find a way back." Lucas responded.
"But this is my son we're talking about. Can't you Rangers just travel back in time and go get him, like how you came back from the future in the first place?" June asked with a panic.
"Mrs Darby, with all due respect, it wasn't just your son who went through a time vortex leading to the past. Our friend Wes is there too. So don't you think we'd want to get him back, just as much as your son? But unfortunately; our timeship was destroyed when it crashed. And Time Force isn't going to lend us one just because we ask them to, if we were to contact them. And to make matters worse; if the Transwarp Drive in Jack's morpher wasn't damaged, he could have just reappeared by now." Jen said to June in an attempt to calm her down. But the tone she used to do so, wasn't exactly helping, as she began to worry even more. Jen realized now was the time to be a little more gentle. She put her hands on June's shoulders and started speaking in a more gentle voice. "Look, June. Jack's going to be just fine. You know how I know that?" June only gave her a "no" nod as a response. "Because he's with Wes. And is unbelievable as it may sometimes sound, he's one of the best people I know to ever be a Power Ranger. Trust me, they'll come back to us." That really made June feel better. She then walked away, going somewhere else.
Raf was sitting at the top of the staircase, feeling bad about the current events. Something Miko took notice of. She walked over to Raf. "Hey Raf, what's up?" She asked him.
"I'm just... Worried about Jack." He responded with concern.
Miko developed her own look of concern for Raf. He really seemed to be hurting emotionally. So she decided to do something about it. She sat down with him, trying to make him feel better. "Yeah, me too. You know who else "besides his mom" is worried about him?" Raf just looked at her with a look of curiosity, and shrugged his shoulders in response. "Arcee. I talked to her a little while ago. Since he's her new partner, she tends to get all "over protective."
"Well, she should be, Miko. For all we know, Jack may never make it back. And then there's Wes and Eric. We may not know them very well, but it'd be bad for them too." Raf commented.
Miko then put her arm around Raf's shoulder before continuing. "Hey, they'll make it back, Raf. It's only a matter of time."
"How do you know?" He asked her.
"Because this is Jack we're talking about. If he can journey to Cybertron so he can restore Optimus's memories, and come back okay. Then he can definitely travel through history and come back." Miko spoke.
This brought a smile to Raf's face as he wrapped his arms around Miko, while they began hugging each other. "Thanks, Miko! I mean that." He said.
"No problem, Raf. No problem." She replied.
As Wes kept walking through the jungle, he fell into a hole. Upon further observation; it was determined that it wasn't a hole, but rather a footprint. The biggest footprint that Wes has ever seen. He was definitely getting closer to finding the Quantasaurus. Then the ground started to shake; and Wes fell down. When he looked up; he saw the Q-Rex. It almost stepped on him. Thankfully, he was able to avoid its massive foot. He followed the Q-Rex to its hiding spot; only to find that Commandocon was also there.
"Quantasaurus Rex! I've found it! You're all mine, now!" Commandocon said, before Wes attacked him from behind. The attack made the mutant fall down.
"Think again!" Wes challenged.
"Very funny! You can't stop me." The mutant said.
"Wanna bet! "TIME FOR TIME FORCE!" With that command being said, Wes morphed into The Red Ranger. Then he did battle with the mutant. Wes clashed his Chrono sabers against his enemy's staff. As the fight went on; Commandocon found an opening to grab Wes.
"You can't beat me. You might as well give up." Commandocon said.
"I'm a Power Ranger! I'll never give up!" Wes retorted.
"Suit yourself." Commandocon said as he struck Wes with his staff, sending sparks off his suit as he fell to the ground. Wes gave another glance at the mutant while still on the ground. Commandocon released a laugh before speaking. "As I was saying... The Quantasaurus Rex is mine... All mine." He then went inside the volcano after it. Wes kept telling him to stop as he tried to get up so he could stop him, only to still lay on the ground due to his injuries. Commandocon followed the Q-Rex into the cave, as it began roaring. "Hello, my gigantic friend. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Commandocon, your new master. Hold still for just one moment, and you'll be under my control." He said to the Q-Rex. He then pushed some buttons on his staff, until it shot a control device on the Q-Rex's head. "From now on, you'll obey me. And only me." He said while it started to fidget in pain. He was laughing as a result.
Outside the cave; Wes finally got to his feet. "Gotta... Stop him." He said while walking towards the cave. But before he made it any further; a laser blast hit the wall right next to him, stopping him in his tracks. He looked in the direction where it came from, seeing Eric pointing his Quantum Defender at him. "Huh, Eric?"
"Just hold it right there. Tell me, where do you think you're going?" Eric said while still holding his blaster firmly at him.
"That mutant's in there. I gotta stop him before he can get to the Quantasaurus Rex." Wes answered.
"You're not going anywhere. The Q-Rex is mine." Eric said with determination in his voice.
Wes started walking as he spoke. "Listen, he's going to be Ransik's if we don't get in there and..." Wes didn't get to finish his sentence, on account of Eric shooting the ground in front of him, stopping him in place. He then looked at Eric before speaking. "What are you doing?"
Eric charged at Wes with his Quantum Defender in Blade Mode. He swang his weapon at him, while also delivering other attacks, like kicks. Eric slashed his saber against Wes, causing some sparks to fly off his suit "That's enough, Eric!" Eric turned his head in surprise, looking in the direction of that voice. Jack ran and jumped in the air, doing a flip. "TIME FOR TIME FORCE!" He said, morphing into the Black Ranger. He then extended his leg while still in the air, kicking Eric to the ground. Jack then stood beside Wes. "I've got this, Wes. Go stop Commandocon. I'll handle Eric." Jack told him.
"But Jack, I'm not just gonna..." Wes didn't get a chance to finish, as he was interrupted by Jack.
"Wes, we don't have time to argue. Just go! I've got your back."
Wes gave a nod. "All right. Thanks!" He said while giving him a tap on the shoulder as a sign of gratitude, before going after Commandocon.
"Hey, get back here!" Eric shouted while attempting to run after him, only for a laser blast to hit the ground in front of him, this time stopping "him" in his tracks. Eric then set his sights on Jack.
Jack was holding his Chrono Blaster in his hand, pointing it at Eric. "I thought I made myself clear, Eric. To get to him, you'll have to go through me!" Jack said with ironclad pride.
"With pleasure." Replied Eric, charging at Jack with his saber.
"Chrono Sabers!" Jack exclaimed, materializing his sabers and running towards Eric, as they clashed their weapons together.
"Quantasaurus Rex, rise up!" Commandocon said as he worked the controls on his staff. The Q-Rex emerged from its lair after that.
"Commandocon!" The mutant turned his head to see Wes, with his Chrono Sabers at the ready. "Stop!" He said while charging at him.
"I don't have time for this." Commandocon said and shot lasers at him, knocking him to the ground. "You can't stop me, Red Ranger. I've come too far to let anyone get in the way of Ransik's plans." Commandocon spoke.
Back with Jack and Eric: They continued to clash swords. They locked their swords together, staying in that position for a moment, as Jack began to speak. "Wanna know something ironic, Eric? Neither of us became Power Rangers before the other. According to the others back home, you and I got our powers on the exact same day, almost at the exact same time."
"Yeah, so what?" Eric said as they separated, taking up a fighting stance.
"So, neither of us have been doing this longer than the other. The only real difference is, I didn't get to enjoy any of this last time, since I wasn't in control at the time. I may have control this time, but I can only be the Black Ranger for an hour and a half at a time. But I think that'll be more than enough time to deal with you. Especially with how powerful this morpher is. But even if you're more powerful than me, there's still something I am that you're not." Said Jack.
"Yeah, and what's that?" Eric questioned, not really caring that much.
"More responsible. Compliments of how I was raised." Jack answered.
"Oh, is that so? Well then, prove it." Eric exclaimed as he ran at him with his weapon in hand.
"If you insist." Jack replied. He then disappeared, teleporting behind Eric. Eric turned towards him with surprise as a result. "Did you forget which one of us could actually do that?" Jack said, referencing to the teleporting trick. "But enough of this." He said, then ran his finger across the blade of his Chrono Saber, causing it to glow purple. "CHRONO SABER, FULL POWER!" He then extended his arm, shooting a blast of energy at Eric, bringing him to his knees.
Elsewhere. "I command you, Q-Rex... Into the time hole." Commandocon said as he opened another time vortex. The Q-Rex did as he told, running towards the vortex. "Let's see what destruction you can cause in the future." Commandocon said, as both of them flew through the vortex.
Jack and Eric saw the portal in the sky reappeared. "Oh no. It's the time hole." Eric said and started running in that direction, with Jack following behind.
"Eric, wait!" Spoke Jack, as they were still running. Along the way; Jack came across Wes, who was still lying on the ground. "Wes, are you alright?" Asked Jack, helping him to his feet.
"Yeah, I'm okay. But we've got to get out of here." Wes replied, as they resumed running. But while that was happening; the volcano started to erupt, spewing lava, as a few crevices opened up from the ground.
"TF-Eagle!" Eric spoke into his morpher, as it landed in front of him. "Time to get out of here." Eric said to himself.
Jack and Wes were still struggling to stand, as the ground beneath them continue to open up, due to the earthquakes. Eric jumped in the cockpit of his jet, then gave a glance at Jack & Wes. "Eric!" Wes exclaimed, while extending his arm in a reaching motion to him.
"See ya, guys!" Eric remarked with a sayonara gesture.
"No!" Wes made another reaching gesture for him. Eric and his jet took off after that. "Eric, wait!" Wes said further.
"You can't just leave us here." Jack shouted to Eric. They were still struggling to stand on the ground; but there was starting to be very little room, as more pieces fell into a crevice filled with lava. They then fell into the crevice. It looked like it was going to be the end of them. Until Eric came back at the last minute, and saved them. He grabbed ahold of Wes's arm, while Jack grabbed onto his leg.
Wes looked at Eric. "Hey Eric, thanks!" He said.
"I saved your necks." Eric said as he pulled them onto the jet. "Now we're even." Eric pulled back on the yoke, flying towards the portal.
"Hurry! We're not going to make it through." Wes voiced his concerns.
"Hang on tight! We're gonna make it." Eric reassured them as they flew through.
In the present, the Rangers found out that the time vortex was opening. So they, along with Team Prime, went to go greet their returning friends. What actually came through the portal, was the Q-Rex and Commandocon. At first, the Rangers were excited to see the Q-Rex. But to their surprise; it started destroying the city.
The one thing that the Rangers were actually glad to see; was the return of their friends. The TF-EAGLE was flying through the sky; carrying its many passengers. "Hey, Eric." Wes said tapping on the windshield, getting his attention.
"What?" Eric replied, looking at him.
"Thanks again! I knew you wouldn't let us down back there." Said Wes.
"Yeah, maybe you're not so bad after all." Jack commented on the other side of the jet.
"No. But I'll let you both down, right here. See ya!" He said as he gave them a goodbye salute and turned the yoke to the left.
"Wait, what?!" Jack asked, as they both fell off after the jet turned on its side.
"WES!" Trip said with concern.
"JACK!" Miko said with the same amount of concern.
"Oh, no." Said Katie.
"Come on!" Jen instructed, as they ran after their falling friends.
As they were still falling; Arcee was racing towards them in her motorcycle form. She then transformed, jumping in the air, catching them both in her hands. "You guys okay?" She asked.
"Yeah. We're okay, Arcee. Thanks for the save." Replied Jack.
"Yeah. It's good to have friends you can depend on." Wes commented, as they exited her hands when she put them down.
Meanwhile; as the Q-Rex continued causing destruction, Eric landed on the ground. "The Q-Rex." He said, jumping out of his jet. He then approached the Q-Rex. "Quantasaurus Rex, I order you to stop... Right now!" He spoke into his morpher. But it didn't work. It was still wreaking havoc.
"Voice identification, blocked." His morpher's computer spoke.
"What? Blocked? I don't understand." Eric said, then continued to look at the Quantasaurus.
The other Rangers ran to where Jack and Wes fell. "Wes, Jack. You guys made it." Jen said to them.
"Just barely." Wes said.
June ran to Jack, immediately hugging him. "Don't worry, mom. I'm okay. We're just lucky Arcee was here when we needed her." Said Jack.
Trip turned around to see the Q-Rex still destroying the city. "Guys! We have to do something right away." He said.
"Yeah, but what?" Wes responded, as they all began looking at it now.
Elsewhere on a rooftop; Ransik and his followers teleported to witness these events. "Finally... My rain begins." Exclaimed Ransik, while the Q-Rex continued its rampage.
A/N: I wasn't trying to make Jack sound arrogant, during his fight with Eric. But you know how it is, when you get your first taste of power. You feel good, like you can do anything. At least he took things more seriously than he did in the last chapter. Hopefully, the same will be said in the next one. And as promised; you'll find out why I chose both the name, and the picture for the story in the third chapter. I'm sorry that these updates have been slow.
But I'm currently dog sitting for my sister, so I'm a little preoccupied. And as you know, it's still kind of hard to think of original lines for a script. But hopefully, this'll get done sooner than expected. Hopefully, before the end of the month, so I can enjoy the festivities of Halloween.
I'm also looking forward to watching "Fear Fest" on AMC. Sorry; I don't mean to vent about my personal drama. It's just, I've got a lot of thoughts racing through my head, they're just all trying to get out at once. Hopefully; I'll get a handle on that soon.
This is Cloud Prince J'onzz, signing off.
STAY COSMIC!