It had been two weeks since the defeat of Atropheous and things had been suspiciously quiet in Aaronsdale. The Vyglass and their forces hadn't been seen in the city but sensors showed their ship was still in orbit. The unusual calm allowed the Rangers to focus on their civilian lives. After their morning training session, Major Earhardt allowed them time off for the rest of the day. A travelling fair was visiting the city for the week which Stevie was insistent the team visit.
Sitting on a couple of cheap plastic chair underneath a flimsy parasol, the blue ranger was aggressively tucking into a corndog, "I don't know how you can eat those things," Rachel shook her head.
"No worse than that bag of sugar you're eating," Stevie pointed at the bag of cotton candy in Rachel's hand, "the gym owner, setting a fine example," she added sarcastically.
"We all have our vices," Rachel said defensively, "do you think the boys are enjoying their ride?"
In the distance was a multi-armed contraption which spun around in the air. The passenger gondola's spun independently, just to add to the intensity, "I still can't believe they dragged Ricky on," Stevie laughed, "especially after he pointed out all the engineering faults."
Periodically, a loud squeal from the spinning ride reach their ears, "That could explain his childish scream," Rachel chuckled, "you'd never get me on a ride called Traumatizer in a million years."
"Totally," Stevie agreed, "I thought Jazz was coming tonight?" she asked, changing the subject.
"Yeah so did I," Rachel quickly checked her phone, "no messages from her, she was electrocuted on an alien spaceship a couple of weeks ago, probably going to take time to fully recover."
"Yeah I know," Stevie sighed, "she's been really quiet when we've spoken, she was supposed to help me with something for graduation."
"Aw, little Stevie's all grown up," Rachel teased, much to the blue ranger's annoyance, "you haven't spoken about your post High School plans."
"I haven't really got any," Stevie sighed, "between fighting monsters and questionable GPA, my choices are limited." She nibbled on her corndog before adding, "I think my parents are disappointed, they always wanted me to go to College."
"I never went," Rachel began, "never had time, the channel was at its peak so I devoted everything to that and now look at me."
"At least you had something," Stevie grumbled bitterly, "I have about three weeks to figure my life out."
Rachel sighed, "Oh Stevie, school and college aren't the be all and end all. You'll figure it out and we'll help any way we can," she gave the blue ranger a reassuring smile but Stevie didn't look convinced. The arrival of the male rangers interrupted their conversation, "How was it?" she asked them, "Traumatising like advertised?"
"Had worse in an F-16," Mark shrugged, Harley looked unfazed but Ricky was looking a little worse for wear, "I can't speak for the green ranger at the end though," he teased.
"That was designed by Satan himself," Ricky leaned over and took a few deep breathes, "just gimme a couple of minutes."
"If you puke on me, I'll make you feel much worse than that ride did," Stevie warned the yellow ranger.
Moments later their communicators chirped which immediately sobered Ricky up. The Rangers quickly found a discrete corner of the fair, "Go ahead Major," Mark answered.
"Sensors are picking up Vyglass activity in your vicinity," Major Earhardt replied, "no more than a couple of blocks away."
"So much for our spring break," Harley groaned.
"Be careful with this one, the sensor reading are showing something unusual about this monster," Taylor added.
"We're on our way," Mark looked around and indicated for the Rangers to move out.
They didn't have to go far to find the source of the reading. Stomping around an area near the fairgrounds was an elephant based monster except instead of the usual grey skin, it was golden coloured. At the end of its mechanical trunk was an hourglass and attached to the top of its head was an old fashioned stopwatch with a digital display which read 'AD 2018', "Something tells me this is the freak we've been looking for," Stevie said.
"Freak?" the monster snorted, "let me show you what this freak can do," it fired a beam of energy on its hands that fortunately sailed over the heads of the Rangers.
"Time to suit up," Mark called, "and remember what the Major said, be on your guard," the other rangers nodded and called of their morphers, "Jet Force, Take Flight." Once morphed, Mark immediately summoned his Jet Sword, "It's been a while, forgive us if we're a little rusty," he said to the monster.
"You makin' a joke?" Harley snorted, "really have seen it all now," the black ranger took a swing at the monster but it quickly and effortlessly swatted him away, "someone's been takin' their vitamins," he frowned beneath his helmet.
"You have no idea," the monster trumpted, "try this on for size," he threw an energy beam that knocked Stevie and Rachel to the ground. Ricky jumped in but the creature grabbed his hands, blocking any intended attack, "I'll get to you later," he taunted and tossed the yellow ranger away from their others.
"Jet Blaster," Mark fired a stream of energy at the monster but the blaster bolts bounced harmlessly off his skin, "this isn't good," the red ranger commented.
"And its about to get a lot worse," the monster sent a wave of energy at the four standing Rangers, freezing them in place, "time to send you somewhere far away."
"The hell is goin' on?" Harley said to the others as the pulsing blue wave of energy intensified, "I can't move."
"Neither can we," Rachel cried in response, "we're frozen in place."
A short distance away from the monster, Ricky slowly got to his feet. He was far enough away that he avoided being captured in the monster's energy trap. He spotted the numbers on the monster's clock slowly counting backwards, "That can't be good," he muttered. He immediately activated the radio, "Any idea's Major?" he asked.
"The sensors are going crazy," Taylor replied, "can you get in position to stop that energy wave?"
"I can try," Ricky called on his Jet Gauntlet, "but everything we've thrown at him hasn't worked so far." He looked down at the weapon and activated the electrical tazer, "Maybe this will interrupt his energy flow."
He crept around the monster's blind side to avoid detection as best as he could. Once he was close enough, he took off running and leapt into the air. At the same time, Major Earhardt came over the radio again, "Ricky stop," she cried, "the monster's giving off extreme temporal readings." The rest of her sentence was cut off by a massive energy discharge when Ricky's Jet Gauntlet impacted the hourglass on the monster's trunk. When the blinding flash of light cleared, there was no sign of the monster or the Rangers.
Watching the unfolding battle on their ship, Prince Reise and Princess Lena frowned when everyone disappeared, "Was that supposed to happen?" Lena asked the young Prince.
"It wasn't part of my plan," Reise sighed, "but still effective." He tapped a few buttons on the console, allowing the computer to complete a few calculations, "I must commend your efforts with the Dimensional Bugs," he continued, "using animal DNA to boost their power was a stroke of genius."
"Clearly using inanimate objects wasn't working," Lena replied coolly, "our encounter with the Wild Force Power Rangers showed what power the beasts of this planet possess. It would be foolish not to use that in some way."
"Indeed," Reise replied, "we were also foolish not to delve into Power Ranger history, one of Trivium's many failings," Lena snorted with laughter, "did you know that time on the planet has been reversed before?" Lena shook her head, "One of these occasions used something called the Rock of Time, the Rangers at the time thought it was destroyed but I managed to find a small fragment remaining."
"Which you combined with the elephant DNA bug to create Time Skipper," Lena concluded, "I hate to give you praise but that is an inspired plan."
"I had intended on just sending the Rangers back in time, leaving Time Skipper to begin Earth's destruction but the yellow ranger's attack appears to have disrupted my plan." The computer chimed, interrupting the Prince, "I was half successful, the Rangers are no longer in this time period." He began to chuckle loudly and Lena quickly joined in, drinking in the success of his plan.
Many decades in the past, Ricky slowly opened his eyes, "Man, remind me not to do that again," he grumbled, rubbing his sore head. He rolled his shoulders, whatever he was laying on wasn't very comfortable. He was inside a rudimentary wooden hut with one window and a flimsy cloth doorway. Slowly, memories of the battle were coming back to him, "Temporal energy?" he muttered, remembering Major Earhardt's final words. His eyes widened and he stood up quickly, nearly cracking his head on a beam, "Oh no," he cried and ran to the door.
Stepping outside he found himself in a small village with the eyes of everyone focused on him, "Holy Back to the Future," he shook his head, "either I've been dragged into living village exhibition or back in time, either way this is very bad."
One of the villagers cried out something that Ricky didn't understand and moments later, a large man wearing elaborate animal furs and skins emerged. Ricky stepped back and instinctively reached for his morpher but to his horror, it was missing, "Perfect," he mumbled.
The large man, now flanked by two other men slowly stalked towards Ricky, "I guess you're in charge around here," the men looked at each other but didn't respond, "I'm also guessing you don't speak English," he sighed in resignation.
The two men flanking the chief pointed two sharpened implements at the yellow ranger. One of them shouted something at Ricky that he struggled to understand, "OK so I've been sent back in time but this still looks like the deserts of Arizona," Ricky said to himself, "if my history is correct before American settlement, this area was under Spanish or Mexican control.
The chief's guards shouted impatiently, the pointed weapons getting closer to Ricky, "Amigo?" he held up his hands in surrender. This silenced the guards immediately, "They haven't skewered me so I'm assuming this is a good thing." He cleared his throat and added in Spanish, "I'm just a traveller, I got lost in the desert. I mean you no harm, just return my things and I'll be on my way."
The guards looked at the chief who frowned quizzically at Ricky, "You're trespassing on our lands," he boomed, also in Spanish, "you will remain under guard until we are sure you are not a threat."
Ricky breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness Abuela insisted on those Spanish lessons," he mumbled under his breath. "Trust me I'm not a threat, just ask my friends," Ricky replied, "by the way, where are my friends?"
"We found you alone," the Chief said firmly, after a pause he added, "there is very little shelter in this area, they will not last long in the desert."
"Then let me look for them," Ricky pleaded.
"No," the Chief snapped, "you could lead them to our village, we will keep watch but I will not spare any man to search for them." He turned to one of the guards and added, "Keep an eye on him." Ricky wanted to plead his case but he sensed the Chief wasn't in a mood for arguments. Sighing, his slowly retreated in the hut. He didn't spot a teenage girl spying on the exchange from around one of the houses.
Back in the present, Taylor was furiously trying to search for the missing Rangers. Her fingers jabbed the keyboard aggressively but her attempts were met with a dull, negative clunk from the computer's speakers. She slapped the side of the monitor a couple of times, "Stupid thing, why won't you work," she grunted.
"Did that make you feel better?" a familiar voice called from behind.
Taylor spun around in her chair to be greeted by the sight of her ex-husband, "Eric?" she asked, "what are you doing here?" He was wearing his standard Silver Guardians uniform, carrying an orange briefcase under his arm, "I guess this isn't a social call."
"Afraid not," the Quantum Ranger took off his red beret, "a few hours ago, we got a ping on the Time Force computer. A sharp spike in temporal energy coming from the city, immediately I thought of you and your team."
"They were blasted by a monster," Taylor replied, "the computer picked up time energy just before they disappeared," she let out a deep sigh, "so you think they've travelled through time?"
"Wouldn't be here if I didn't," Eric said bluntly before a small smirk crossed his face, "still causing trouble after all these years," he teased.
Taylor rolled her eyes, "You will not let that speeding ticket go will you?"
"You didn't," Eric chuckled dryly. As the Quantum Ranger placed his briefcase on an available workstation, he took a look around the empty command room, "Don't you have a minion to do the technical stuff for you?"
"I'd hardly call Jazz a minion," Taylor shook her head, "but she's on medical leave at the moment. Got hurt trying to rescue Jindrax and Toxica of all people," Eric raised an eyebrow, "long story, not important right now."
Eric slowly opened the case, pulling two thin metal poles out, "Been a while since we caught up," he said casually.
"I know your definition of catching up Eric," Taylor replied, trying to keep a straight face but her smirk gave her thoughts away, "how do you plan on finding my team then?"
"Firstly I need to report this in," Eric placed the poles on the desk, "they get pissy if I don't report these things properly," he snorted.
He pushed a button on the side and an invisible screen activated with a burst of static. Moments later, a brunette woman dressed in a white uniform appeared on the screen. Initially her expression was bright but that soon changed when she saw Eric, "Oh," she answered in a deflated tone, "what can I do for you Eric?"
"Sorry I'm not your boytoy Jen," Eric teased, "didn't you tell me this communicator was only to be used for official Time Force business."
"Wes and I do use it for official business," Jen replied defensively.
"Yeah sure," Eric snorted, "I'd love to tease you but this really is important." He indicated for Taylor to enter range of the camera, "You remember Taylor don't you?"
"I was at the wedding," Jen deadpanned in response, "and the divorce party too."
Eric glared at Taylor, "You had a party after our divorce was finalised?"
Taylor shifted uncomfortably on the spot, choosing to focus on the pink Time Force Ranger, "Jen, my team's gone missing. They were hit by a wave of time energy, Eric seems to be think they've time travelled." Taylor side eyed Eric uncomfortably as the Quantum Ranger continued to stare.
"That matches a hit we picked up from your time period," Jen answered, "I've asked Trip to investigate, hopefully he'll have some answers soon."
Taylor frowned, "You're in the future, can't you just look up what happened and tell me where they are?" Eric snorted with laughter, "Got something to add?"
"No because Jen loves giving the 'time travel isn't that simple' speech," Eric replied sarcastically, "had to sit through three presentations on that."
"Only because you failed the final Time Force exam twice," Jen shot back before turning back to Taylor, "put simply Taylor, time is always in flux. We try and avoid looking up too many events from the past, especially Ranger history. If we try and influence the natural flow of time, it could have terrible consequences for our time."
"Basically don't try and understand time travel, it'll give you a headache," Eric shrugged.
Taylor sighed, "Is there anything I can do to speed things up?" she asked, "surely having five people and possibly a monster running around the past can't be good for your sacred timeline either."
Jen bristled slightly, "We can try and track their morphers, send us as much data as possible it'll help the search."
"Now that I can do," Taylor nodded.
"Don't worry, we'll find them," Jen added, "we'll talk again when we know more," the screen displayed the Time Force logo before going blank.
Taylor plopped back down behind her desk, rubbing her face, "If Trip's on it, he'll find them in no time," Eric tried to reassure the Major.
"I know," Taylor sighed, "you know I hate sitting around and doing nothing."
"Always had to be busy," Eric took a seat opposite Taylor, "but having a divorce party though," he teased.
"Yeah not my brightest idea," Taylor shrugged, she reached into her desk pulling out two glasses and a bottle of whiskey, "will this earn your forgiveness?" she waved the bottle at the Quantum Ranger.
"Your vintage whiskey?" he asked, "I thought you were going to open that when you made General?"
"I'm no closer than I was five years ago," she poured two generous measures, "never liked being patient."
Eric grabbed his drink, "Unfortunately until we hear from Jen or Trip, that's all we can do," Taylor begrudgingly sighed in agreement.
Somewhere in the past, the sun was slowly descending over the horizon. Mark, Stevie, Harley and Rachel managed to find shelter in a cave. The red ranger was trying to start a fire with just the light of Rachel's phone illuminating the gloomy space. He banged a few sharp rocks together but they weren't generating a sufficient spark to light the fire.
After watching for several minutes, Harley sighed and pushed himself off the wall. He crouched down and ignited his lighter, quickly setting the kindling ablaze, "You couldn't have done that sooner?" Rachel scolded the black ranger.
"I wanted to see if he could actually do it," Harley shrugged, "then it became funny when the boy scout couldn't," he added with a chuckle.
"It wouldn't have been funny if we froze to death," Stevie shivered, "we're hardly dressed for a night in the desert," she indicated to her outfit of black denim shorts and light blue tank top. Harley shrugged his black chequer shirt off and draped it over Stevie's shoulders, leaving him in just a grey vest, "This smells of cigarettes and sweaty armpits," the blue ranger grumbled.
"Never satisfied are you," Harley shook his head before lighting a cigarette with their now raging fire, "do you think Ricky's still out there?"
"I hope not," Mark sighed, "when I was gathering firewood I spotted a small village in the distance, with any luck he's ended up there."
"Probably in a nice, comfy bed," Stevie pouted.
Mark shook his head, "There were barely any lights, maybe a fire or two. The buildings I could see were antiquated."
"So your theory was right then?" Rachel asked, "we've really travelled through time."
Mark nodded, "Looks like it, there's no major settlements as far as I can see. Best guess is that we're at least two hundred years in the past."
"Too early to buy shares in Google and Amazon then?" Harley joked, "question is, how do we get back to our time?"
The group were silent until Rachel said, "Find the monster, its our only hope to get back to the present."
"First we need to find Ricky," Mark added, "let's rest up as best as we can. We can start searching at first light." The others agreed and settled down for a restless night on the desert floor.
The following morning, Ricky woke up in the village. It took him a few moments to remember that he had been transported a couple of hundred years into the past. He was thinking of trying to find the village chief when he was awoken by a knock at the door, "Come in," he called in English before remembering where he was, "come in," he said in Spanish.
The door opened and a young woman with long black hair, possibly a few years younger than Ricky entered carrying a tray of food, "I thought you might be hungry," she said quietly.
Inside a bowl, Ricky spotted an oddly coloured food similar in consistency to oatmeal alongside a small plate of fruit. He tried to smile gratefully, despite the strange looking gruel, "Thank you," he began, "is this the standard prisoner food or can I put in a special request for lunch."
The girl looked slightly embarrassed, "My father only wishes to protect the village, surely you understand."
"Your father is the boss around here?" the girl nodded, "I completely understand, I'm part of a team that protects the city where I'm from." He paused to study the critical look from the young woman, "All I want to do is find my friends and get home," he pleaded.
The girl nodded slowly, "Eat your breakfast, I'll be waiting outside." She turned slowly towards the door, "My father is at the mine, I'll take you to him once you've eaten."
"Thank you, I'm Ricky by the way," the yellow ranger called.
The girl opened the door, "Gabriela," she replied with a small smile, "eat up, it's quite a walk to the mine."
The young woman was as good as her word, once breakfast was over she took him away from the village. The two guards from the previous day were suspicious but when Gabriela spoke up in his defence they quickly backed down, "Thank you," Ricky began, "being the chief's daughter must have some advantages," he joked.
"It would be the only one", Gabriela sighed, "we set up our village two years ago after travelling for many months. There were rumours of great treasures in the caves surrounding this area, the men dig from sunrise to sunset but have yet to find anything."
Ricky nodded, this was the pre-industrial era, with no machines to help all the digging would have to be done by hand. "We've lost many people since we left home," Gabriela continued, "illness, injury, wild animal attacks, the desert is a hostile place." She let out a sigh, "Father says if we don't find anything by the end of the season, we'll have to return."
The yellow ranger frowned, trying to recall the history of Aaronsdale. He wasn't a local, only living in the city because of College so the history of the city was lost on him. He only hoped that his presence wasn't affecting history, "Enough about us, where are you from Ricky?" Gabriela asked.
"A long way away," Ricky sighed, "I'm not sure you'd believe me if I told you"
"Try me," Gabriela challenged the yellow ranger.
Ricky paused before shrugging his shoulders, "What the hell, I'm from the future, probably about two hundred years at best guess."
Gabriela paused, looking Ricky up and down before bursting out laughing, "Yeah right, almost had me there future boy."
"Told you that you wouldn't believe me," Ricky shrugged, "it's the year 2018, where I'm from this entire area is one large village, easily housing around a million people."
"How long were you out in the desert for again?" Gabriela scoffed.
Ricky chuckled dryly, remembering that he had been stripped of his morpher and communicator but there was one thing still left on his person. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his cell phone, "This is a communication device, with it I can call anyone in the world whilst accessing all the information that has ever been documented." He lit the screen up, showing a picture of himself and Sabrina. He unlocked the phone and found a picture of the Rangers, "These are my friends, I need to find them and return to my time as quickly as possible."
The young woman looked hesitantly at the images, her gaze flicking between the phone and Ricky. Before she could respond, they heard a loud explosion followed by several cries for help, "That must be coming from the mine," Gabriela set off running in the direction of the commotion.
"Wait, it's not safe," Ricky cried before running after her, "do your miners use any explosives like dynamite?" he shouted at the youngster.
"What's dynamite?" she called over her shoulder.
"Right, it won't be invented for another eighty years or so," Ricky muttered in English. The pair quickly reached a ridge which overlooked the mine where the yellow ranger quickly spotted something familiar, "It's the monster who sent me back in time," he said in disbelief. He went for his morpher before realising he had woken up without it, "I arrived with a couple of things attached to my wrists," he said to Gabriela, "do you know where they are?"
The girl wasn't fully listening, looking down in horror as the monster attacked, "Father!" she cried. The village leader stopped, spotted his daughter on the ridge. Fortunately the monster stopped too, allowed a miner to strike it with a tool. He quickly paid for his act of courage though as Time Skipper grabbed him around the neck and threw him roughly against the nearest stony wall.
Ricky clenched his fist before crouching to meet Gabriela's eyes, "I can help your father and the others but I need my morpher, the bracelets that were taken from me," he rubbed his wrist to enforce his point. "Do you know where they are?" he asked, Gabriela nodded in response, "go grab them and bring them back as quickly as possible." The young villager nodded mutely, sparing once last glance as her father below before running back down the path.
The yellow ranger waited and when he was sure Gabriela was returning to the village, he jumped down towards Time Skipper. He landed a kick on the monster back, knocking the creature away from a pair of miners. Ricky landed in a crouch in front of Gabriela's father, "You've picked a fight with the wrong people," he called.
Behind him the villagers muttered, a mixture of relief, confusion and anger directed towards the yellow ranger, "Outsider," Gabriela's father spoke, "you've brought bad luck onto our village."
"Believe me I didn't mean to," Ricky replied, "but I'm going to do my best to protect you." He looked down and spotted two discarded long handled axes, one of which was missing the tip. He picked them up, twirling the broken one around his fingers, "Stay behind me," he said to the villagers.
Time Skipper shook his head, letting out a chuckle when he saw the yellow ranger, "Just one of you, I'm almost insulted." He paused and looked inquisitively at Ricky, "Why are you not morphing, don't tell me you lost your powers?" he added with a chuckled.
"Temporarily misplaced," Ricky shrugged, "I'm surprised you stuck around here, couldn't you send yourself back to the present?" Time Skipper growled, "It seems we're both powerless then," Ricky smiled.
"I wouldn't call myself powerless," Time Skipper produced a metal baton and charged towards Ricky. The villagers behind him scattered but Ricky stood firm as Time Skipper swung the baton towards him. He crossed his wooden sticks together and intercepted the blow, pushing him back slightly on the dusty ground, "Not bad," the monster snorted.
Ricky smirked and kicked the creature in the knee, dropping its head low enough for Ricky to crack him around the back of the head, smashing the digital display on Time Skipper, "You idiot," the monster cried, "now I have no control over time."
"Like you really did anyway," Ricky said, "you couldn't even send yourself through time."
"That's because I haven't fully recharged," Time Skipper smirked. It opened its hand to reveal a handful of blue sapphires, "these foolish humans don't realise the power these hold."
"They're gemstones," Ricky frowned, "hardly a crate of plutonium or a bolt of lightning."
Time Skipper trumpeted, "Then consuming them shouldn't do any harm," the monster stuffed the sapphires into its mouth, chomping down very loudly.
"That's something I could've gone my entire life without witnessing," Ricky shook his head. Suddenly the monster began to crackle with energy, the yellow ranger immediately recognised what was about to happen, "Everyone run, now", he called to the villagers. They were just in time as Time Skipper grew to giant size, bring down the narrow sides on the small ravine.
Ricky stood protectively in front of the villages as he looked up at the giant monster, "This is not good," he muttered nervously.
At the Air Base in the present day, Taylor and Eric were finishing the last of their drink when the Time Force communicator went off, "Hopefully that's good news," the Quantum Ranger said to the Major. He wheeled his chair over to the communicator and switched it on, "Trip," he greeted the green Time Force Ranger, "you work quickly."
"Hey Eric," Trip beamed, "and Taylor, Jen said that you two were working together on this."
"More like Eric stuck his nose into my business," Taylor snorted, "sound familiar," he smiled sweetly at the Quantum Ranger.
"You wouldn't have found your team without my help," Eric smirked before turning back to Trip, "you have found them, right?"
"We think so," the Xybrian began, "when I was searching, I spotted an unnatural energy reading from the year 1827. It's not Morphing Grid energy but it's definitely something that shouldn't be in that time period. I'm just accessing a time window now, see if anything looks familiar."
Trip's image moved to one side as the picture changed, "That's definitely the monster that attacked them," Taylor said with a smile. She scanned the rapidly changing picture and spotted something else, "That's could be Ricky," she pointed at something small, fuzzy and yellow.
"If it is, why is he so small," Eric frowned, "unless the monster has already grown giant." The Quantum Ranger looked at Trip, "Can you send me and the Q-Rex back? It's probably got the best chance of making the journey."
"I'm sorry Eric but we can't," Trip sighed, "there's already too much temporal interference in that area. Sending something else back not associated with that time period could have disastrous consequences."
"But you came back," Taylor pointed at the green ranger, "that time you fought the Mut-Orgs with us and nothing happened to the future."
"That time it didn't," Trip began, "but Time Force's actions have changed our future. Command are very reluctant to sign off on rescue missions these days."
"Stupid bureaucracy," Eric snorted, "but I assume you do have a plan? You wouldn't call just to say Taylor's people are stranded two hundreds years in the past."
Trip nodded, "I do, I can open a temporary time hole to draw the monster back to your present. The Jet Force Rangers will have a limited period to follow, otherwise they'll be stuck."
Taylor nodded, "It's something at least, how do we do this?"
"I'm sending a download to the Quantum Defender," Trip said to Eric, "you'll need to be in a wide, open area to avoid any residual damage."
"Thanks Trip, knew you'd pull through," Eric smiled at the green ranger. As the transmission ended, he turned to Taylor, "Let's get your people back."
In the past, Ricky slowly pushed the villagers away, "We need to keep him away from your village,"
"And how do you propose we do that?" Gabriela's father snorted.
"Still working on that," Ricky muttered.
"Maybe we can help," the yellow ranger looked up and saw a morphed Harley swooping overhead, "hey ugly, lets play follow the Condor."
"Harley?" he frowned just as laser fire came from the other direction, "Guys, how did you find me?" he asked the other Rangers.
"We followed the giant monster and suspected you'd be nearby," Stevie chuckled, "care to join us, you look a little underdressed."
"Yeah small problem, they swiped my morpher," Ricky nodded towards the villagers.
"Ricky?" he recognised Gabriela's voice, "how did that monster grow so big?"
"Long story, did you find it?" he asked, Gabriela nodded and offered Ricky his morpher and communicator, "Thank you Gabriela, you should get somewhere safe," he then looked towards the other villagers, "you should all get somewhere safe," he added firmly.
Gabriela's father nodded solemnly, "You are a brave warrior, I wish you luck."
"What was that all about?" Mark asked the yellow ranger.
"They were wishing him luck," Harley said as he landed next to the others, "told him he was a brave warrior."
"You speak Portuguese?" Stevie frowned underneath her helmet.
"It was Spanish, don't you learn anything in school" Harley shook his head, "and it is so surprising that I can speak another language?"
"Yeah cause you can hardly speak English," Stevie chuckled at the black ranger.
"Alright, enough," Mark said firmly, "we need to figure out how to stop that giant monster without the Megazord, any ideas?" There were several blank shakes of the head from the other Rangers, "Nope, me neither," he sighed.
In the present, Taylor and Eric had left the base perimeter and were standing in the open desert, "This seems like a good spot," the Major said, "time to put Trip's plan into operation."
Eric nodded and raised his morpher to his mouth, "Quantum Power," he called and morphed into his Ranger suit. His visor display listed several unfamiliar calculations which were soon downloaded into the Quantum Defender. He pointed the weapon at some open space between two rocky pillars, "Fingers crossed," he muttered and fired.
For a few seconds nothing happened, then a small, rainbow colour portal began to open in the sky. Eric's arm began to shake, "Keep it steady," Taylor said to the Quantum Ranger.
"Tearing a hole in the space time continuum isn't easy," Eric spat back. The portal opened wider until it was comfortably several hundred feet across, "That's as big as it'll go," Eric stated, allowing his arm to drop, "I don't know how long it'll remain stable."
In the past, the Rangers spotted the portal opening in the sky above the mine. At the same time, Time Skipper began to drift towards the opening, "What's going on?" the monster exclaimed. His journey towards the portal accelerated, it tried to grab a nearby cliff face but the pull from the tear was too strong. It was pulled off its feet and disappeared into the abyss with a blinding flash.
On the ground, the Rangers looked on in surprise, "Well, that was easy," Harley snorted.
Their communicators chimed and Mark answered immediately, "Please tell me that's you Major," the red ranger asked.
"Mark, thank goodness," Major Earhardt began, "you haven't got much time, I need you to fly into that portal, it'll take you back to the correct time period."
"How did she manage to tear a hole in time?" Ricky asked the others.
"Explanations can wait," Taylor said firmly, "that portal could close any minute, this is your one and only chance to get home."
"In that case, I'm not hanging around," Harley immediately extended his wings and flew towards the portal, quickly followed by Stevie and Rachel.
Mark went to follow his team mates but spotted Ricky wasn't following, "Hurry up," he said to the yellow ranger, "you don't want to be stuck here."
"Just let me say goodbye," Ricky replied, "they saved me from the desert, I owe them that," Mark sighed and reluctantly nodded, taking to the skies and flying into the portal.
Ricky turned to face Gabriela and the other villagers, "I need to return home," he began, "thank you for your hospitality."
"No thank you," the village chief replied, "many lives were saved by the brave actions of you and your friends."
Ricky smiled shyly before casting his gaze at some exposed gems in the cliff face, "Something tells me you'll find what you've been looking for over there, don't' give up just yet." There was a crack of lightning from the sky and Ricky noticed the portal beginning to shrink, "Sorry but I really have to fly," he set off running and jumped into the air, morphing into his suit in the process.
"Good luck, yellow owl," Gabriela smiled as Ricky disappeared through the portal just as it closed.
In the present day, Time Skipper crashed into the dirt not too far from Taylor and Eric. The Quantum Ranger raised his morpher and began to summon the Q-Rex when Taylor stopped him, "Hold your horses cowboy," she smiled, "I can't let you have all the fun." She pushed down her uniform jacket to show off a communicator similar to the ones the Rangers wore, "Garuda Megazord, Launch," she called.
Seconds later the latest addition to the Jet Force arsenal flashed overhead, blasting Time Skipper with a beam from its beam, "Garuda Megazord, Warrior Formation," Taylor said into the device.
"Remote control, nice," Eric nodded, "still prefer the Q-Rex."
"Whilst the Garuda can operate independently, we found it works better with some direction," Taylor continued as the Megazord transformed, "all you need is one of these," she flashed the communicator again, "and it'll follow your commands."
"Yeah and what if that gets stolen or copied," Eric frowned, "take it from me, its no fun trying to reclaim control of your own Zord."
"Biometrics," Taylor replied simply, "the communicators only recognize the biometrics of the Rangers, myself and Jazz."
"Still not fool proof if you ask me," Eric shook his head.
"We can disconnect the system at any time, plus the Garuda can recognise who its enemies are. Unlike the Q-Rex its technically alive and able to think for itself," Taylor countered. The Garuda Megazord slashed at Time Skipper with its sharp claws, knocking it into a rocky pillar, "I think your time travelling days are over," Taylor smirked, "finish it off Garuda Megazord."
A ball of blue energy formed between the Garuda Megazord's claws which it fired at Time Skipper. The monster stumbled before crashing to the ground in a fiery explosion, "Fine I'm impressed," Eric said whilst powering down. By now the time portal had fully closed and there were five distinct shaped into the sky, "Looks like your team made it back too," Taylor looked into the sky and smiled warmly.
Later that evening, the Rangers along with Taylor were gathered at Duality. It was still early and the bar was barely occupied, "Well if it isn't the hero of the nineteenth century," Mark smiled as Ricky entered, "fighting off a monster unmorphed and unarmed."
"I was armed," Ricky shrugged, "with a couple of sticks," the group chuckled, "you would've all done the same."
"Yeah but no offence, we didn't think you had it in you," Harley smirked and raised his glass, "you got balls kid."
"Harley, we're the same age," Ricky shook his head, "at least our presence in the past hasn't affected the timeline."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Taylor placed a piece of paper on the table, "apparently the chief's daughter turned out to be one of the founders of Aaronsdale."
"Yeah, she came back a few years later with another scouting party," Stevie continued, "used the money from the gems to start construction on the city."
"Take a look at her family emblem," Mark pointed at the image, "supposed her family has been protected by the fearsome yellow owl for generations."
"No way," Ricky smiled at the image, "I wonder if that qualifies me for free rent," another round of raucous laughter emanated from the table, "hey Major, how did you know where to find us."
"That would be thanks to me," Eric said as he walked down the stairs, storing his sunglasses in his pocket.
"Guys I'd like you to meet Eric Myers, Time Force Officer and leader of the Silver Guardians," Taylor introduced the Quantum Ranger, "he got some help locating you from his team."
"You're welcome by the way," Eric said dryly, "could I have a word in private," he said to Taylor. The Major frowned but agreed to Eric's request and followed him back up the stairs.
As they were leaving Harley said to Mark, "That guy look familiar to you?"
"Yeah he's Major Earhardt's ex-husband," the red ranger replied, "and the Quantum Ranger for the Time Force team. Probably seen his face around somewhere before," Harley frowned but didn't question it further.
Outside the bar Eric paused a few feet away from the entrance, "Trip left out something from his plan," the Quantum Ranger began, "apparently tearing a hole in time could have consequences."
Taylor frowned, "What kind of consequences?"
"He wasn't sure, something like this has never been attempted before," Eric replied, "I'd suggest keeping your eyes open for the next few days."
"Thanks for the warning," Taylor nodded, "but you didn't come all this way to tell me that."
"Thought I'd stick around for the night, meet the new team," Eric said, "Cole's been gushing about them in the red ranger chat, thought I'd see if he was talking crap or not."
"Ah huh," Taylor smirked, "is that the only reason," she added flirtatiously.
"Let's see how the night goes," Eric smirked back, "let's start with a drink and see what happens."
Taylor chewed her lip, "Make it two, preferably the most expensive whiskey this place sells."
"A dive like this," Eric snorted, "you have lowered your standards, Taylor Earhardt." Taylor laughed and the pair returned to the bar.
A bit further down the alley, there was a crackle of energy followed by a flash of light as two figures dressed in black appeared from nowhere. The larger of the two checked something on his wrist computer before pulling off his gas mask, "Air is breathable, I think we've found the right place."
The smaller individual pulled off their respirator and nodded, "Let's get to work." They walked deeper into the alley, disappearing into the shadows like they were never there.
A/N - Longest chapter ever I think! When I saw Jetman had an episode where the team get sent to the past, I knew I had to include Eric and Time Force somehow. Also I will freely admit I know nothing about the history of the South Western states beyond a quick Google search, call it artistic license if something doesn't add up.