The Rangers were enjoying one of their rare vacations. Due to the relative
positions of Earth and the moon, Lord Zedd was unable to send anything
to menace the planet for about a week. Jamie and Jason were making the
most of the lull, spending as much time together as possible. They were
walking along the beach together when their communicators toned.
"We read you, Zordon. What's the matter?" Jason inquired.
"Rangers, you must teleport to the command center immediately. Something
very odd has just appeared on my screens."
"We'll be right there. Jason out."
"Power Rangers, behold the viewing globe," Zordon intoned.
On the globe, Angel Grove Park was displayed. In its center was a large
glowing sphere.
"What on Earth is that?" Jamie exclaimed.
"I do not know, and according to my sensors, it does not exist. I
am able to receive visuals of it, but it does not register on the energy
detectors. I would like you to investigate."
"As Rangers, or normally?" Jason asked.
"Normally, please. The coordinates are in the computer, so you should
be able to teleport right to it. Go now, and may the power protect you."
The eight Power Rangers transported out.
"Well, still nothing on my energy monitor, but it radiates light.
There should be energy coming from it," Billy frowned.
"Billy, haven't you noticed? The light casts no shadows, and you can
look directly at it without blinding or afterimages. Maybe we aren't seeing
a thing, but a discontinuity in the space-time continuum. Our minds aren't
equipped to handle it, so we blot it out," Jamie theorized.
"It's as good an idea as any I've come up with. I think we should
teleport back to the command center and give Zordon our data."
"Right. Transporting now," Jason said.
As the Rangers dissolved into their component molecules, something strange
happened. They were pulled through the sphere and into another universe.
To their disembodied sight, stars formed and exploded, planets coalesced
and disintegrated, and life came and went. Then the panorama of galaxies
faded and they found themselves in a room very much like the command center,
with some major changes. The color scheme seemed more green than blue,
and Alpha Five stood in the corner, corroded. Also, there was no Zordon
in the column of light.
"Are we dead?" Jamie groaned.
"I don't think so," Jason replied, uncertain.
"I never wanna do that again," grumbled Kimberly. "I feel
like a week old tuna casserole."
The eight Rangers struggled to their feet, nursing headaches and upset
stomachs.
"Billy, where are we?" Christina asked.
"Judging by what I saw in transit, we are in a parallel universe much
like our own. From what little history I managed to absorb, this world
is practically identical to our own, right down to flower children in the
sixties," Billy replied.
"I say we need down time. Maybe we can find someone who can explain
what happened and help us get home," Kimberly said.
"Sounds good," Jason agreed. "All in favor?" Six hands
raised, not counting his and Kimberly's. "All right. Billy, is the
teleporter working, or do we have to walk?"
"Teleportation is still on-line, Jason."
"Then let's go." They teleported out.
The coordinates Billy gave them dropped them in the hall of the Juice
Bar. Suddenly, the door in front of them opened and two guys who looked
like Bulk and Skull came through, only these two had pleasant expressions
on their faces and were dressed in normal clothes. When the two caught
sight of the Rangers, their expressions turned to ones of utter terror.
"Um, JL, h-here's your science homework," the Bulk look-alike
stuttered.
"You two must have me confused with someone else. I'm new here, and
I've never seen you two before," Jason said.
"That's incredible," said the Skull look-alike, pushing his wire-rimmed
glasses back on his nose. "You look exactly like JL Scott. He's an...acquaintance
of ours, and your friends look just like the rest of his gang."
"Odd. My name is Jason Scott, and these are my friends Billy, Christina,
Tommy, Kimberly, Zack, Trini, and my girlfriend Jamie. Who are you?"
"My name is Farkus, and this is Gene, my best--and only--friend. Hey,
would you guys like to go get a smoothie?"
"Sure," Jason said, marveling at the spectacle of a polite Bulk
and Skull.
They sat at the juice bar and talked for a while. Both Farkus and Gene,
they discovered, were witty and entertaining. Gene especially was possessed
of a dry wit and intelligent sense of humor. Suddenly, Jason felt Jamie
stiffen.
"Jason," she hissed, "look. It's us." Jason looked
up in time to see himself enter the juice bar.
"That's JL. The guy behind him is Zak, followed by Tom with his girlfriend
Kimmy, then Reene, then Tina and her, uh, boyfriend Will. Bringing up the
rear is Teri, JL's girlfriend, the toughest of the lot, and in my opinion,
a psychopath. Don't cross her," Farkus said in a low voice.
JL and his gang seated themselves at a table and proceeded to bang on it
for service. The Rangers looked at their doubles in a mixture of fascination
and disgust. The doubles may have looked like them physically, but after
that, any similarities were lost, right down to style of clothing. JL was
dressed in tight red jeans and a dark red clinging vest. Tom had dark green
leather pants, a lighter green tank top, a dark green motorcycle jacket,
and mirrored sunglasses. Kimmy had her hair teased as high as humanly possible,
and was wearing a dark pink and black leather bustier and Daisy Duke shorts
ensemble. Zak had black jeans about three sizes too large, a huge gangsta'
style jacket, dark glasses, and a thick gold chain. Reene had a tight yellow
crop-top and yellow Daisy Dukes. Tina had a tiny white bikini top with
white Daisy Dukes cut as high as humanly possible and then some. Teri wore
dark violet cutoffs and a tight, low cut dark violet tank top. Only Will
looked slightly familiar, in oversized blue overalls and a blue sweatshirt.
The gang continued to bang on the table. Finally, a tired-looking waitress
in a hairnet came out to take their order. The Rangers watched in disgusted
silence as JL and his gang insulted anyone who went past. A mousy kid accidentally
bumped Teri's chair and she flew off the handle.
"Why you little shit! You nearly spilled my soda!"
"I'm so-so-sorry," the kid stuttered.
"I don't think sorry's enough. I think you're gonna have to pay."
"I...I don't have any money," the terrified teen whispered.
"Well, then, I guess I'm just gonna have to rearrange your face as
an example. It's nothing personal." Teri drew one fist back and aimed
it so it would smash the kid's nose, but when she tried to bring it forward,
she found it caught in an iron grip.
"Excuse me," Jamie said, "But who died and made you tax
collector?"
"Listen, nosy, unless you want a piece of this yourself, butt out.
So..." Teri broke off as she turned around and noticed the resemblance.
Jamie, unhampered by surprise, jerked her head toward the door.
"You, clear out," Jamie told the kid, who lost no time in doing
what he was told. Teri, meanwhile, had recovered from her surprise and
launched a punch at Jamie. Jamie caught Teri's fist in her hand and began
to apply pressure. Teri's lips pressed together and turned white from holding
back the cry of agony.
"A warning. Not everyone is as easily cowed as that defenseless wimp
you were hassling. Take care that you don't pick a fight you can't handle,"
Jamie said in a soft, dangerous voice. She released Teri's hand contemptuously
and turned back to the juice bar, only to find JL blocking her way.
"If you're looking for a fight, we'd be happy to give you one,"
he said, gesturing to his supporters. Jamie raised one eyebrow and smiled.
Jason, recognizing the symptoms of Jamie's battle rage, stood up and put
a hand on her shoulder. At the juice bar, Billy saw Jason's knuckles whiten
with the pressure but Jamie showed no discomfort. JL's eyebrows went up
as he absorbed Jason's countenance. Zack and Trini got up to stand behind
Jason and Jamie. They were joined by Billy, Christina, Tommy, and Kimberly.
JL's gang, not fond of the idea of a fair fight, backed down. Kimmy was
propelled out one door by Tom and Zak left by another door. Will stood
there staring, slightly admiring, at Billy and Christina who were still
holding hands.
"Will!" Tina called. "Hurry up! We're gonna be late!"
This was punctuated by a loud crack of gum.
"Coming, Tina!" Will quickly replied and hurried off after Tina.
As JL, Reene, and Teri left, Jamie heard him say, "I think those geeks
should have a run-in with the Power Rangers."
Trini turned to Farkus and asked him, "Farkus, what do you know about
the Power Rangers?"
"Every so often, these people in costumes show up and start tearing
up the city in these huge robots. Then, Goldar and the putty patrol show
up and try to stop them, but they get wasted every time. Large portions
of Angel Grove are gone, turned into smoking piles of rubble and huge craters."
"Does anyone know who they are?"
"No, and we try to steer clear most of the time. Those are some dangerous
dudes!"
"One last question," Billy started. "Who would we talk to
in order to do research into quantum mechanics?"
"Only one person in Angel Grove, Will Cranston," Gene told them.
"Thanks, you two. We'd better get going," Jason said, motioning
for the others to follow him out. No sooner had the door swooshed shut
before they found themselves surrounded by eight Power Rangers in costumes
identical to their own. In their heads, most of the Rangers began to call
then the Dark Rangers.
"You jerks are going to be sorry you messed with us!" Dark Red
Ranger exclaimed.
"It's morphin time!" Jason called out as the team automatically
reached for their morphers. The eight Rangers confronted their doubles.
Trini and Jamie quickly gathered eight vinyl ribbon strips from a nearby
chain link fence, tying them around the arms of their friends to ensure
recognization. By this time, the eight Dark Rangers had recovered from
their surprise.
"Well, well, so things are even again. I don't like even. What do
you say we, oh, I don't know, up the stakes a bit? ThunderZord pow..."
Dark Red Ranger began.
"No!" cried Dark Blue Ranger. The other Darks looked at him.
"What do you mean, no?" Dark Purple Ranger asked in a soft, dangerous
voice.
"Well, if they have our costumes and morphing ability, at the very
least they have our Zords, too. In fact, they may even be able to control
*our* Zords. We have nothing to gain and way too much to lose by risking
calling the Zords."
"Fair enough, it's a stalemate. For now.
We'll see you again. losers," Dark Red Ranger stated. The Darks teleported
out.
"Jason, I think we ought to make their old command center our home
base," Blue Ranger suggested. "By the dust in there, they haven't
set foot in there in about a year. We can sleep there tonight, and perhaps
Christina, Trini, Jamie and I can get some information out of the old computer
banks or from what's left of Alpha."
"Good idea," Red Ranger concurred. The Rangers teleported out.
The next morning, Jason asked for results. "Well," Billy started,
"we've accessed the computer banks. I'm going to put what we found
on the viewing globe."
On the globe a scene came up that the original quintet found familiar,
the first time the Rangers met Zordon, but the details were skewed. Zordon
wanted help conquering the world and the Rangers were the key. Noticing
the expressions of shock mingled with pain, Billy shut the globe off and
continued the story himself.
"The Dark Rangers received the ThunderZord, not the original Dinozords
we received. The DragonZord was created by Lord Zedd to give Goldar backup
when he grew, but the Darks stole it and gave the power coin to Tom, who
had just moved to Angel Grove and joined up with JL's gang. Tina had been
a part of the gang since she was thirteen, but only became a Ranger when
Zordon became aware of her immense powers. Once she received her coin and
the White Tigerzord, the Darks double-crossed Zordon, sending him spinning
into the dimensions. When Teri moved to Angel Grove, her father welcomed
her arrival, but the Dark Rangers offered her much more power, so she joined
up with them. Will designed and built her zord himself. I have what's left
of the computers working on a way to get home, but it's going to take a
while. The computers have been stripped of all but the most essential operating
systems. It's going to be like running Windows 95 on a 286 processor--slower
than molasses. To kill time, I think we should return to Angel Grove and
try to keep the Dark Rangers from doing damage. If the balance of power
shifts too far towards evil, what remains of the portal we came through
could slam shut, trapping us here with no Ranger powers."
"Heavy stuff. Well, let's get back to the juice bar, then. It'd be
the best place to find out if the Power Rangers--our Power Rangers--are
needed," Jason decided.
Billy was sitting in the juice bar when he felt someone sit down next
to him. Turning, he found himself face to face with Tina. She smiled and
leaned forward, saying "I'd like to apologize for the way we acted
the other day. We've all had some problems, so we're a bit on edge."
She slid her arm around the back of the chair and leaned a little closer,
pressing her meagerly covered chest against his bare arm. "Actually,
I find you rather intriguing..." she trailed off, waiting for him
to reveal his name.
"Billy," he complied. "Listen, Tina, right? Tina, I already
have a girlfriend. Besides, aren't you and Will..."
"Oh, him. He understands. I do what I have to so that I get what I
want."
"I'm afraid that this time, you're not going to get what you want.
I love my girlfriend and I'm very devoted to her. Nothing you could offer
would change my mind. Nothing," he said, stressing the last word.
He walked away from Tina to where Christina was stretching. Tina watched
him go with a mixture of confusion and anger.
"Nobody turns me down. One way or another, I'm going to get you,"
she whispered, her voice strained.
Over the next few days, Tina's attempts to get Billy became increasingly
obvious. Billy had to try his hardest to keep away from her. Meanwhile,
JL was making a determined attempt to seduce and subvert Jamie. To Jason's
chagrin, he seemed to be succeeding. Jamie seemed utterly charmed by his
actions. She didn't kiss Jason with as much passion as before and sometimes,
he caught her looking at JL with a speculative look in her eyes. Jason
had to admit, privately, that JL was exceedingly charming. At one point,
Jason walked into the juice bar to find Jamie and JL sitting at a table
talking, JL's hand on Jamie's knee. Jamie wasn't trying to move it. Jason
walked out again and found Tommy. Telling Tommy what he had seen, Tommy
agreed to talk to Jamie. As Jamie was leaving, Tommy caught her. Jamie
looked at Tommy, surprised to see him looking pretty ticked off at her.
"Jamie, what the hell was going on in there?" Tommy demanded.
"JL thinks he's pumping me for information, but I'm the one doing
the pumping."
"With his hand on your knee? Jamie, information isn't all that guy
wants." Jamie smiled elusively. "Jamie, the guy is slime. Even
I can see that. I mean, Jason is a great guy. JL may look like Jason, but
that's about it. What on earth can you see in the slime?"
"I like his style. That's all. Like you said, he only has Jason's
looks, but none of the qualities that caused me to fall in love with Jason."
"Then you'd better get back to the command center and let him know
that! I have a best friend who thinks his girlfriend is gonna leave him!"
"Did you say the command center?" Tommy nodded. "Is anyone
else there? No? Then, can you possibly keep them away for about two hours?
I have a boyfriend to, uh, reassure."
"Reassure, eh? Getting creative with your euphemisms, Jamie."
Tommy grinned at her and agreed to keep everyone away for the requested
time. They smiled and transported their separate ways.
After the command center was open to
all again, the others teleported in to hear the computer's results.
"Well, the computer has discovered a way to get us home, but first
we need the machine that brought us here in the first place. The computer
traced the energy pulse and the coordinates correspond to my lab. In this
universe, it'd be Will's lab."
"We need to talk to him, see if he'll be helpful. Billy, do you think
you could try to ask him to help us tomorrow?" Christina asked.
"I'll do my best."
The next day, Will approached Billy. "Um, I was wondering if you'd
like to see my lab. I've heard that you're a fellow science scholar,"
he asked.
"Actually, I would, if you don't mind. I was trying to find a way
to ask you without imposing," Billy replied.
"Oh, no imposition! I'm always glad to find a fellow science-minded
student. There are so few true scholars left in Angel Grove," Will
said with a sad sigh.
"Is three o'clock all right?"
"Fine! Perfect! Listen, I see JL coming, so I'm gonna run. See you
at three."
At three, Billy knocked on the door to Will's lab. Will answered, with
Tina right behind him. "You really should have cooperated earlier,
Billy. I didn't want to have to go about this the hard way. It takes a
lot out of me, but since you're so uncooperative..." she trailed off,
mind-blasting him.
"Is he going to be okay?" he heard Will ask dimly.
"He should be. It was only a light blast. I've used too much power
elsewhere this week to blast him stronger and still stay conscious myself.
JL wants his mind probed," Tina said.
Billy could feel Tina's mind touch, similar to his Christina's but weaker,
less trained. She probed for what felt like hours but couldn't find any
chinks in his mental armor.
"Did you find anything?" he heard JL's voice say. In his semi-conscious
state he hadn't heard JL enter.
"No, JL. His shielding is too strong. He must be a latent telepath,
like Will," Tina replied.
"Sedate him, then. That should weaken his shielding."
"JL, no! The risks are too dangerous. You know what happened to Teri
when you used the sedative on her. What if Billy's just as unpredictable?"
Will asked.
"Do it anyways. If he gets dangerous, use this on him." JL handed
Will a stunner gleaned from the command center before they abandoned it.
"Shoot to kill." Will gulped but prepared the sedative as he
was told. Billy felt a hypospray press against his neck, then the coldness
as the drug entered his bloodstream. After that, darkness.
Billy woke up several hours later with a headache simple screaming for
a bottle of Excedrin. Will came up next to him and put another hypospray
of something into Billy's bloodstream. "That should counteract the
aftereffects of the sedative," he said.
Billy looked at the hypospray. "That is incredible. An actual hypospray!
Was this gleaned from the command center, too?"
"No, I designed it," Will smiled sheepishly, "I have a small
grant through the US Government to design and create prototypes of medical
equipment for the Armed Forces hospitals."
"Will, why do you hang around with those others. You're intelligent,
good-hearted..."
"And a nerd. I didn't want to be a Power Ranger at first. JL made
me a hard to refuse offer, though."
"What was it?" Billy asked, afraid it was money, power, or something
like that.
"It was me," Tina said coming into the room. "I was the
offer. JL had me come to Will's lab and tell him that if he became a Power
Ranger, I would be his. He didn't have the option to refuse."
"But it's been two years since the Power Rangers came into existence,
and a lot of things have changed since then. Tina originally stuck with
me as a favor to JL, but as time passed..."
"I fell in love with him," Tina finished. "Will has been
the first person to truly care about me since my parents died when I was
six. I thought JL cared, but I found out real fast that he only wanted one
thing."
"Why stick around, then?" Billy asked.
"He gave me the courage to leave my foster home. My foster father
was abusive. JL helped me out of a bad situation. I was grateful to him
for a while, but lately, I've been realizing that he's gotten me into an
even worse one."
"Billy, we're prepared to send you and your friends home as soon as
possible. By our calculations, there should be an open window for transport
tomorrow. If you can get all your friends here by four in the afternoon,
we can send you home."
"Thanks, Will. I really appreciate it, but what if JL finds out?"
Tina and Will gave each other a loving look. "We don't care. We're
defecting, going to join with Lord Zedd to oust the rest of the Power Ranger
team," Will told Billy. "Then, we're hanging up our spandex once
and for all."
"Especially me," Tina said. She gave Will a timid glance. "I
don't want to endanger our baby."
Both Will and Billy stood stunned. Finally, Will whooped in joy and held
Tina close. Not wanting to disturb their moment of happiness, Billy carefully
left the lab and teleported back to tell the others the news of their imminent
departure.
The next afternoon, Will and Tina fed the data into the machine. There
was a loud whirring and the dimensional portal reappeared. As they were
leaving, our Rangers congratulated Will and Tina, or Chris, as she preferred,
on their upcoming marriage. In transit, they saw the same spectacle as
before and landed heavily in their own command center.
"Rangers, you have returned. Do you have the data on the anomaly?"
Zordon asked.
"Zordon, we've been gone for three days! Weren't you worried?"
Zack asked.
"Three days?" Alpha asked. "You have only been at the park
for fifteen minutes!"
"Amazing," Billy said. "It would seem that the timelines
on either side of the dimensional portal are not completely parallel."
"Billy, you explain it to Zordon. Jamie and I are going back to our
walk," Jason said as he and Jamie transported out.
The others left until only Billy and Christina were left. Christina played
tic-tac-toe with Alpha while Billy explained. When he had finished, Christina
took his hand and asked him, "Do you think Will and Chris will be
happy?"
"I hope so. They've both had such difficult lives, they deserve to
be happy."
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