This fic covers PR:SPD episode “Wormhole”
and the Always a Ranger series
Down
the Rabbit Hole
-x-
Kira, Ethan and Trent were taking a break
at Reefside High School during their lunch hour; Kira with her guitar, Trent sketching and Ethan playing a
hand held video game. As a loud series of beeps and tones came from the game
boy in Ethan’s hands he grumbled audibly, turning the heads of his team mates
towards him.
“Great. I
was just about to defeat the dreaded Maxidrone when
his evil ship comes by and destroys all that I’ve done. Can you believe it?”
“It’s just
a game Ethan.” Kira said even as Trent continued to
sketch them from his spot on the grass.
“Yeah,
you’re acting as if it was real,” added Trent.
“What if
it is real? What if this game is really an ancient diary telling me about a
real event that happened in a distant galaxy far, far away?” he asked, becoming
increasingly animated, his eyes widening as he contemplated the idea.
“Ethan,
your mind is the only thing that is far, far away.”
Trent
acknowledged Kira’s low blow before Conner’s errant
soccer ball rolled over to the bench where they were at, Ethan stopping it with
a sneakered foot.
“Hey guys,
what’s up?” Conner asked as he followed his ball to the bench where Kira and Ethan sat.
“Well
Ethan’s giving us a history lesson on something he learned n his hand held game
boy,” Kira remarked with continued exasperation.
“All
right, you’re right, it’s not ancient intergalactic history,” Ethan admitted,
with bit of attitude behind his words.
“Finally,”
Kira said after rolling her eyes, thinking perhaps he
was finally over his insanity.
“But it could
be the future!”
“Remember,
it’s just a game,” Conner remarked just as a crack of loud thunder rolled
through the area.
Looking up
they saw the huge expanse of some kind of ship even as other kids began to
scream and run. They found themselves hit by a strong wind and a shadow as the
ship passed over them before a bright light followed it before the ship sped up
and quickly departed the area. They then looked at one another, mouths gaping
as they realized just what had happened.
“Call Dr.
O?” Conner asked, still a bit overwhelmed.
“Call Dr.
O,” replied Kira as Trent and Ethan nodded.
With
everyone running, the area around the bench was deserted except for them and
Conner didn’t hesitate to shove his shirt sleeve down to expose his gauntlet.
Pressing the gemstone he called into transmitter.
“Dr. O…”
Within the
empty space of his classroom, Tommy ate his lunch while reviewing his lesson
plans. When he unexpectedly heard the chime of his gauntlet he swiftly dropped
his sandwich to the desk as he swiftly moved to a corner of the room for
maximum privacy.
“What’s
up?”
“We just
saw… well, a huge ship. It appeared outta nowhere and
headed for the coast. Maybe we should check it out?”
“Okay, but
be careful. I’ll go back to the cave and see if I can learn anything. Keep me
informed,” stated Tommy.
With that
Conner disconnected the line and moved with Ethan, Trent and Kira to figure out just where the ship went even as Tommy
stopped by the front desk of the office to let them know he wasn’t feeling well
and going home for the rest of the day so his afternoon classes could be
cancelled or covered by another teacher. If the team was on its way wherever
they were going to track down the ship he needed to find out as much as he
could for them before things got… bad.
-x-
“Okay, the
next time you predict the future like this, could you at least make me a pop
star,” Kira remarked as the four of them trudged up a
hill looking for a vantage point to search for the ship from.
“I didn’t
know it was gonna come true,” shot back Ethan.
“We gotta find out what’s going on and report back to Dr. O,”
said Trent.
The teens
were all in agreement in that assessment. Dealing with Mesagog
and his continual parade of monsters was one thing; an alien spaceship was a
totally different kettle of fish. They were all in mid stride when they
suddenly found their path blocked by
“Well you
found me,” announced Zeltrax as he appeared out of
nowhere.
“A
familiar face,” Conner replied sarcastically.
They
looked up and saw the contingent of Tyranodrones and
knew that their excursion looking for the ship was about to be sidetracked.
“Yeah,
great,” breathed Ethan, as the four prepared for a fight.
“Rangers,
we fight again.”
A sudden
sound above them brought everyone’s attention to the sky. The ship they were
looking for was suddenly above them and Zeltrax and
his goons were engulfed in a red beam and whisked into the ship.
“Now
that’s something to don’t see every day,” said Conner, bewildered.
“Wonder
what they wanted with Zeltrax?” Trent wondered aloud.
“Does it
really matter? Hopefully they’ll take him into space and use him for scrap
metal,” Kira declared with a bit of an edge to her
voice that brought everyone’s attention to her briefly.
“Zeltrax is gone and so are they,” Ethan stated matter of factly.
“Yeah, but
they aren’t,” noted Conner suddenly as they came across a clearing where the
SPD ship had landed, it’s doors opened, letting Bridge, Jack and Z out onto the
grass.
“Conner, Kira, Ethan, Trent… nice to see you again,” said Jack as he
strode purposefully towards the Dino Thunder rangers who just happened to be
right where Jack and the SPD team needed them.
-x-
Trent, Kira, Conner and Ethan walked across the open area, Z
moving ahead of them, her scanner in hand. She wasn’t getting anything clear
yet and she hoped that Jack and Bridge would be there soon with better news.
Almost as if she’d called them they showed up from her left flank.
“Hey guys
wait up,” called Bridge as he and Jack hurried to catch up with Z and the Dino
Thunder rangers.
“Any
luck?” asked Jack as he and Bridge moved directly to Z.
“We just
ran into a couple krybots… we took care of them,”
said Bridge simply. “You?”
“No,
nothing, which doesn’t make any sense,” said Z disgustedly, “because the trubian energy here is off the chart.”
Suddenly
out of nowhere Zeltrax appeared, tumbling from
somewhere in a hail of sparks and noise, starting both teams who turned towards
his arrival, wondering what was going on and how Zeltrax
could have been sent… flying like that.
“Hey!”
yelled Jack as he saw Zeltrax land on his back then
quickly got to his feet to face them.
Then
before any of them could take a step Zeltrax turned
away from them and raised a hand, lighting flowing from his palm towards
something to his right. In a fiery explosion they saw a silhouette and it
leaped into the air swiftly, headed towards Zeltrax.
In that moment the
Dino Thunder team recognized the black ranger uniform.
“Black
Ranger,” commented Bridge, slightly stunned at the arrival of the Dino Thunder
team’s older ‘mentor’.
“Dr
O!”
“Sorry I’m
late,” called out Tommy as he faced off with Zeltrax,
his team watching in awe even as the SPD team instinctively took up battle
positions, “Time to take this to the next level.”
“Uh, guys…
I think we’ve got some more company,” announced Jack as he looked over Bridge’s
shoulder to see the approach of Grumm’s forces.
Instantly
the Dino Thunder team took up fighting stances as they recognized tyranodrones along with the other unidentified bed guys.
“Okay,
what are those?” Bridge asked as he noted the other ranger’s change in posture
at the arrival of Grumm’s soldiers as well as some
other unidentified creatures.
“Tyranodrones,” replied Conner simply, the steel in his
voice evident to everyone around him.
“Well,
let’s look on the bright side,” remarked Z as she swept her eyes around, “it
couldn’t get any worse.”
Almost
audibly the Dino Thunder team let out a series of quiet groans. If they’d
learned anything from Dr O, Kim, Jason and the other former rangers, it was
that it always *could* get worse…
Suddenly
three of Emperor Grumm’s monsters appeared on the
field.
“There’s our enemy comrades,” announced one of the three as
they sized up the two sets of ranger teams.
“Guys I
think it just got worse,” announced Jack as they soon found themselves virtually
surrounded by a small army of bad guys.
-x-
Once the
battle had ended the two ranger teams made their way back to the school, the
SPD team having their ship waiting for them there. As if pulled by gravity the
two teams split, leaving the Dino Thunder team staring across a few feet at the
SPD team.
“Well
guys, time to say goodbye,” Jack commented.
“So
soon?” Conner
questioned, looking to his team mates in disbelief.
“Yeah,
what’s the rush? I mean you’re time travelers right? No matter how long you
stay you can still get back at the same time,” Kira
added, wanting more time to visit with these future rangers.
They’d had
the chance to meet the past rangers, like Kim, Jason, Adam, Billy and Zack,
now…
“Not true.
The wormhole is closing. We gotta go,” said Z, regret
showing on her face.
“I really
wish I could stay. I was just born last week and I could meet myself and become
my own best friend,” commented Bridge, making the others look at him strangely.
“Wait, what if I met myself and I didn’t like me…”
“We
understand, you gotta go,” said Trent, glancing
around to his team mates. “Thanks guys. This is something I’ll always
remember.”
“Unfortunately
we can’t let you do that,” Sky said suddenly with a regretful tone of voice.
Memories
of what the SPD team had said before about wiping memories came back to them
and they all paled at the implications.
“You’re gonna erase our memories, aren’t you?” Kira
stated more than asked.
“Yeah, we
have to. Knowledge of the future would only change what’s meant to be. For
better or for worse, it’s gotta be like this,” Syd said with a sorrowful voice.
“Really? Don’t you think we can handle the
secret,” started Tommy before Commander Cruger moved
towards them, some kind of metal object in his hand.
“Say
Cheese!” he said, leveling the item towards the Dino Thunder team.
There was
a sudden brief flash
of light that hit the team… Eyes blinked and heads shook as the
Dino Thunder team tried to figure out what was going on… they looked up, still
confused and unable to focus their sight.
“School’s
over. Go home,” announced Cruger, his tone brooking
no argument as he spoke.
The
disorientation allowed for the group to not really comprehend the uniformed
group before them or anything other than the nearly direct command that
compelled them to obey. The immediately began moving away from them, intent
only on doing as they were told – going home.
“Did that
dog just talk?” Kira asked as she and Conner moved
away from the strange people, Trent shepherding Ethan and Trent behind them.
“Uh, I
think so,” Conner replied, still confused.
Bridge
noted the Dino Thunder team’s departure with his own disappointment, “it really
doesn’t seem fair that they’re not going to be able to remember any of this.”
“I agree.
It is not fair,” said Cruger before turning towards
his own people, the devise directed towards them, “say cheese.”
The flash
went off again, this time leaving the SPD team confused.
“Uh,
Commander excuse me, I don’t mean to sound confused but where are we?” asked
Jack as he looked around.
“We’re on
a mission Jack. Now get in the shuttle and buckle up. We have pre-set
coordinates to take us home.”
“Sounds
good,” announced Sky as he immediately turned to the shuttle in question,
causing the others to begin to move as well.
The team
walked along the high school grounds, eyes darting around in confusion, their
focus of getting to the transport paramount even as their questioning minds
sought out their location and what was going on.
“Now one
last detail,” Cruger said as he turned the device on
himself. “Cheese.”
One last
flash engulfed Cruger and he stood there in a stupor
for a long moment.
“Are coming
Commander?” called Z from near the ship, and Cruger
turned to regard her, his mind still reeling.
“Uh, yeah…
I think I better,” he said before he quickly moved to join the team.
-x-
Tommy
arrived home with the mother of all headaches.
Right
before he’d headed for home, he and the team had been on the school grounds and
some… thing had ordered him and the teens away from the school. It wasn’t clear
in his head what exactly he’d seen and as he’d driven home, the memory had
faded even more. As he’d tried to remember what had happened that afternoon the
headache had nearly become blinding.
But he
knew something had happened, he just didn’t know what or how.
Nothing
from the afternoon had stuck in his head and it was as if his memories were…
scrambled. He leaned his head into his hand and slowly moved to the bathroom to
change clothes and get some aspirin for his head. As he picked up the t-shirt
and sweats he’d worn earlier that morning for his daily workout he groaned
slightly at the movement. Confused he unbuttoned his dress shirt and found
bruises up and down his ribcage and along his left hip that he couldn’t recall
how he got. He was sure they weren’t there that morning and he hadn’t done
anything in his workout to cause them…
Now that
he had this physical evidence that something had happened during his missing
time he realized that it had to have something to do with the team and more
than likely was related to Mesagog or Zeltrax. The fact that he didn’t recall any of what had
happened to have caused the bruises on his body worried him more than a little.
His years as a ranger had given him more than a few experiences where losing
one’s memory didn’t bode well.
He
finished changing as he tried to recall what he remembered last. He distinctly
remembered the morning, having classes until around noon… then there was a big
blank in his memories just past lunch before he recalled driving home from
school. Having been under the influence of evil spells that had caused him to
lose himself, he wondered if Mesagog might have
affected him like that again, but since he seemed himself now, just with some…
missing time he dismissed it. Still, there were other possible, yet equally
unappealing answers but with the headache pushing at his frontal lobe like a freight
train he decided that it was a mystery he wasn’t going to be able to answer on
his own.
Taking a
few aspirin from the medicine cabinet and swallowing them dry he slowly moved
to the couch and fumbled for the phone. Maybe calling Kim would help him calm
what was now starting to become panic in his chest as he hit the redial and
waited as the phone on the other end rang once then twice before it picked up.
“Hello…”
“Hey Kim,”
he began simply, the tension in his voice seeping through without his knowledge
or control…
“Tommy,”
she replied but then she recognized the distressed sound of his voice and then
asked concerned, “what’s going on? You sound… run down. The
kids working you too hard?”
He paused
for a moment, wondering how to start what was a confusing conversation for him
let alone trying to explain it to her 3,000 miles away.
“No, no,
nothing like that. The kids are fine… I was… I just…”
“Tommy,
are you okay?”
“I can’t
remember what I did this afternoon Kim.”
His stark
admission rattled her, and Kim sat up straighter on her own couch in her
apartment in Boston. She could hear the vulnerability and fear in his voice and
felt the spike of concern in her chest increase.
“What do
you mean Tommy? Please tell me you are joking about that horrible memory of
yours…”
“I wish
that was the case Kim,” he replied as he leaned his head into his free hand
even as he eased the phone from his ear a bit, wincing a little at the pain
still pounding in his head. “I can’t remember anything past lunch today. I’ve
got a splitting headache and bruises on my body I can’t account for and I’m…
I’m a bit anxious that maybe someone did something to me…”
Old
memories of the green ranger hit Kim again with a sudden sinister weight. When
Trent had been evil they’d talked about the same issues; how Tommy hated being
controlled and felt the guilt for everything he’d done when under Rita’s spell.
He’d also discussed with her for what probably was the first time how he’d been
brainwashed by Prince Gasket while she’d been… away from the team and how that
second incident had reinforced his fear of being used by their foes.
“Tommy,
you would know if you’d been hit by an evil spell or been forced to do
something you didn’t want to that there’s be some kind of… residue…” Kim
reminded him, thinking of the nightmares that had followed his evil green
ranger days. “Are you sure that maybe it wasn’t just a battle and you hit your
head? You could have a concussion based on the headache you say you have and
lost some short term memories… ”
“Do you
really think that with my luck that it would be something that simple?”
“You know
it’s not like that…”
“Really? I mean I’ve been controlled by Rita, and Prince Gasket…” Tommy stated, almost heatedly
before he trailed off.
“And I
seem to remember myself being turned evil too,” Kim reminded him, thoughts of Maligore swimming through her memory.
“I know...
but somehow I always seem to be the focus of the big bad Kim… maybe Mesogog was trying to turn me but failed. And if so, who’s
to say he couldn’t succeed if he tries again…”
“Don’t,”
stated Kim authoritatively, bringing him up short. “You have been forced to be
evil twice and both times the team found a way to save you. You have Trent on
your team now that was evil longer than you ever were and is going to be okay.
Even if Mesogog found *some* way to turn you, the
team, Hayley… *I* would get you back.”
At her
determined words Tommy felt his heart constrict painfully. She was right… if
something happened the team would find a way to help him; they had before when
he’d been encased in amber. And he didn’t put it past Kim to show up and do
everything in her power to bring him back to himself. And if he had to be
honest, she was doing that just now by talking to him like this. With a shaky
sigh he ran his hand over his face and up into his hairline. The way this woman
knew and cared for him would never stop amazing him.
“So I just
have to expect to…”
“Be who
you are… the greatest ranger of all time and know that you can take whatever
they throw at you with the knowledge that not only will you always win, but
that you have people who will always be here for you.”
“Thanks
Kim.”
“Anytime. Tommy, it’s a bit late here and I
have early practice… I need to crash for the night.”
“Okay, get
some sleep. I love you Beautiful.”
“Love you
too handsome. Be safe.”
With that
Tommy hung up his end of the line and stood, moving back to the kitchen to get
some ice for his bruised side and hoped that in the future he would always
remember where all his bruises came from.
-End-