Diagonally Parked in a Parallel Dimension by Angel Negra, Wes/Eric
Title: Diagonally Parked in a Parallel Dimension
Author: Angel Negra
Rating: R - violence
Summary: Somehow, this isn't how Taylor pictured her retirement from Ranger-work going.
Author's Notes: Written for my Wes/Eric PRSW22, using the prompt 'Watermelon'.
Author's Notes 2: Firstly, thank you to Aoife, Dany, KK and Cmar for the betas. Secondly, for once, I don't blame this on Cmar. I totally blame this on the person who came up with the watermelon prompt (Marci). Instead of a nice fluff fic or food PWP, I got this beast. This is all your fault.
For those who missed it: Part 1 Part 2
Part 3/5
Eric gave her a strange look. Wait, no. She knew that look. Her Eric had given her the same look when Wild Force had saved him and Wes from the first Mutorg attack. It was still just as annoying.
"You knew who I was too," said Wes softly.
Taylor glanced at him in surprise, only to have her view blocked by Eric stepping in front of Wes. Her Eric did that to her all the time; it was annoying then too.
Eric looked at the guy in red. "Just one will do."
The guy in red nodded.
"I volunteer," said Cole, stepping forward.
Eric eyed him skeptically. "You don't even know what we're going to do."
"It doesn't matter," said Cole, nodding solemnly. "I know we're on the same side and I will do whatever I can to prove that to you."
Taylor suppressed a snort. Only Cole could say things that corny and mean them.
"Come here," said Wes. He moved to step around Eric, but was pulled up short by Eric grabbing his arm.
Eric said something that Taylor couldn't hear. Knowing Eric, he was being overprotective again.
Wes smiled at him, patting his arm. He said something back, then stepped out to meet Cole. The rest of his group tensed and Taylor had the impression that if anything went wrong, Wes' friends would tear them to pieces.
Wes held out his hand. "Give me your hand."
Cole held out his hand, an encouraging smile on his face.
Wes hesitated, then took a deep breath and grabbed Cole's hand, his body tense.
Everyone seemed to hold their breath, then Wes smiled warmly. He looked back at the guy in red. "He's a Power Ranger."
"Wait, so, like, I don't get it," said Dustin, scratching his head. "You touch him and you believe us?"
Eric and the guy in red shared a look.
Then the guy looked at Dustin and shrugged. "He has a way of knowing," he said.
Which didn't make sense to Taylor. Yeah, Wes was perceptive, but he wasn't psychic or anything. She glanced back at the rest of her team, and saw the considering look Merrick was giving Wes. Like he knew what was going on. Taylor was really starting to hate traveling to different dimensions.
"My name's Ryan," said the guy in red. He nodded his head at the girl in yellow. "That's Dana."
Dana nodded.
Mitchell. Now Taylor remembered. Ryan and Dana Mitchell. Lightspeed Titanium and Lightspeed Pink.
Ryan pointed to the girl in blue. "That's Kelsey."
Kelsey grinned, waving a bit.
That was it. Lightspeed Yellow, Kelsey Winslow. The perky one that scared Eric a bit.
Ryan looked pointedly at the Cam, Blake and Hunter who'd come with Wild Force. "I don't think I need to introduce Cam, Hunter or Blake," he said. Then he looked at Taylor. "And you seem to know Wes and Eric."
Taylor nodded. She was going to tell Ryan how she knew them, but she noticed how Eric was hovering over Wes. She hesitated.
"I'm Cole," said Cole, smiling brightly. He grabbed Ryan's hand and pumped it enthusiastically.
Taylor suppressed a snort. "Taylor," she said, crossing her arms.
"I'm Shane, and that's Dustin and Tori," said Shane, pointing to each of his teammates in turn.
"I'm Alyssa," said Alyssa, smiling. "And this is Max, Danny and Mer-"
"Merrick," said Princess Shayla, staring at him like she'd seen a ghost.
Merrick nodded, he took a step forward, staring at the Princess. "Yes. And..."
He glanced at Taylor, raising his eyebrows in question. She shook her head, she didn't think so either. He nodded, his look of hope fading to resignation. He met the Princess' eyes, and said, "And you're not our Princess Shayla."
Princess Shayla shared a confused look with her team. "No, I don't think so."
"That's why you're here?" asked Kelsey. "To find your Princess Shayla?"
"A member of Lothor's army kidnapped her, and our Sensei, and brought them here," said Shane.
"Sensei Omino?" asked the Other Hunter.
"Naw, dude, Sensei Watanabe from the Wind Academy," said Dustin. He waved at Cam. "Cam's dad."
The Other Hunter blinked, and gave his Cam a surprised look.
"That's strange," said Ryan, before the Other Hunter could say anything. "Lothor's been pretty quiet lately. But to start attacking other dimension's Rangers?"
Eric snorted. "Maybe he got sick of trying to share with everyone else."
Taylor bit her lip and shared worried look with Alyssa. That did not sound good.
"Everyone else?" asked Tori.
"Master Org, Queen Rita Repulsa, Lord Zedd, Ivan Ooze, Queen Bansheera, and there's rumours of something building down in Briarwood," said Wes.
"Shit," said Taylor softly. "And the other Ranger teams are?"
"We're it," said Dana, shrugging. "There was another team for a while, their powers were based in dinosaurs and mythical animals. But no one's seen them since Ivan Ooze was awakened."
"That still doesn't explain why Lothor's going after other Ranger teams," said the Other Blake.
"We don't think he was," said Merrick, shaking his head. "His magic was helped by the Duke Org Toxica. We think he was trying to bring back an evil version of the Princess and Sensei Watanabe."
"The freak with the giant butterfly for a head?" said the Other Hunter, pointing at Merrick, who nodded. He turned to Ryan "That's the one that's been hiding the cliffs near Shady Mountain's ruins."
Blake wrinkled his forehead. "But, Shady Mountain doesn't have ruins... Oh." He swallowed hard, looking down. Tori took his hand, stepping closer.
"So we're heading for Shady Mountain, then?" asked Cam, staring at Hunter.
"If both Master Org and Lothor are in on this, then chances are that Rita is too," said the Other Hunter. "We should go with you."
Cole glanced around at everyone. "That's a lot of Rangers."
"I have a plan," said Wes.
*
A light breeze blew Taylor's hair from her face. Squinting against the sun's glare, she stared at the cave's entrance. There were about twenty Kelzaks and Putrids guarding it. She ducked back behind the dunes they were hiding behind.
Dustin's morpher chimed. "Yeah, dudes, what's up?" he said.
"We're ready up here," said Hunter.
Dustin nodded, "Right, hang on man." He looked at Taylor.
She flipped open her Growl Phone and pressed Max's button.
"Hey Taylor," said Max, sounding slightly nervous.
She smiled tightly. "You guys ready?"
"Yeah, we're cool."
"Okay." She looked to Eric.
He held up his morpher, which looked like a fancy gold walkie-talkie. "Cam, you read?"
There was a crackle from Eric's morpher. "Yeah, we're ready."
Eric nodded to Dustin, who smiled slightly and spoke into his morpher, "Go for it dude."
"On it," said Hunter.
The wind picked up. Dark, angry clouds raced across the sky, spitting lightning bolts.
Taylor stared at the growing storm for a few seconds before catching Cole's attention and raising her eyebrows.
Cole nodded. "Time to morph."
Taylor, Danny and Cole flipped out their Growl Phones; Eric, Kelsey, Dana and Wes held up their version of the Growl Phones; Dustin shifted his stance, thrusting his right hand into the air.
"Wild Access!"
"Ninja Storm! Ranger Form! Ha!"
Taylor glanced curiously at the Wild Force Rangers of this world. Eric's suit looked like a black version of Cole's. Dana's looked a lot like a yellow version of Alyssa's, except since Dana's animal was a Jaguar, she had silver spots where Alyssa had stripes, and her skirt was lined with silver. Kelsey's looked like a blue version of Taylor's own suit only her helmet had a yellow beak, not silver. And Wes. Taylor swallowed a snort, she still couldn't believe that of all the animals linked to the Wild Force, it was the Mouse that had chosen Wes. Wes' white suit looked kind of like Alyssa's - without the skirt - but instead of pink highlights, he had purple ones.
A clap of thunder made Taylor jump slightly. She looked towards the cave and gaped.
"Dude," said Dustin, sounding awestruck.
It looked like a tornado of Crimson and Navy Rangers had settled in front of the cave. The two Crimson Rangers seemed to be trying to 'out Crimson' each other, while the two Navy Rangers seemed to have resigned themselves to taking out the lackeys not stupid enough to charge the Crimsons.
A Putrid and a Kelzak pointed towards Taylor's group and then started to run off. Shit, they had too much of a head start. Unless - Taylor turned to Kelsey. "Can you fly?" she asked.
Kelsey nodded. "You bet."
"Let's go," said Taylor, grinning.
Taking a running start, Taylor spread her arms and called, "Soaring Eagle!"
As she took flight, she heard Kelsey behind her shouting, "Gliding Condor!"
And then Kelsey was sailing by. "Dibs on the Putrid," she called.
Taylor snorted and aimed for the Kelzak. "Golden Eagle Sword!" She slashed it across the chest as she landed, knocking it back. She kicked it in the chest. It swiped its blade at her face. Taylor ducked and slashed with her sword again. It fell and didn't get back up.
"Blue Condor Axe!"
Taylor turned in time to see Kelsey give a final slash to the Putrid. Nice.
Kelsey looked up. "Ready?"
"Let's go." Taylor nodded. And they ran towards the cave.
They got to the cave in time to see the two Crimson Rangers knocking out the last of the Kelzaks; the two Navy Rangers shared a look and shook their heads.
Kelsey nudged Taylor. "And I thought having Hunter and Eric on the same team was bad," she whispered.
Taylor snorted. There was the sound of running feet coming closer and she turned to see the rest of the Rangers coming up.
Cole clapped her on the shoulder once he was close enough. "Ready?"
"Let's go," said Taylor, nodding.
Cole and Wes lead the way into the cave. Taylor mentally crossed her fingers as she moved to follow. She really hoped Cole and Wes had enough psychic power between them to find the Princess and the Ninja Storm's Sensei.
Taylor felt herself tensing up as the darkness of the cave enveloped them. There was a faint shimmer of light far up ahead, and they were heading straight for it. Taylor suppressed a shiver, she had a bad feeling about this.
Apparently so did Wes and Cole, they slowed their steps, motioning the other Rangers back.
What the- Taylor leaned forward. She could hear a faint shuffling sound, getting nearer.
The cave exploded with light and electricity. The force of it knocked Taylor off her feet and she cried out in pain. It took a few precious seconds of blinking rapidly before her vision started to clear and Taylor immediately looked around. The rest of the Rangers had been knocked down too. No serious injuries that she could see, though there were burnt patches on everyone's suits.
That explosion. It had come- "Princess!" shouted Taylor, struggling to get up. She peered into the cloud of smoke up ahead, trying to see something - anything.
At first she thought she was seeing spots, but the dark shadows grew more prominent, the sound of shuffling footsteps growing louder. Three figures stepped out of the smoke. Finally able to see them, Taylor felt her blood run cold. "Princess Shayla," she whispered.
The Princess was being held in the grasp of some - man. As far as Taylor could tell, he looked like someone had turned him completely inside out; with his bones layered on top of his muscles. And beside him was another man, dressed in dark purple robes that matched his purple face. The purple man was holding a white ball. Taylor wasn't sure but she thought she could see something moving in the ball, like a-
"Sensei!" cried Dustin, pulling his sword and struggling to his feet.
So that was Sensei. Taylor struggled to her feet, pulling out her Crystal Saber. "Let them go!"
The purple guy laughed. "Sorry! Finders, keepers!" He threw a blast of purple lightning at them, knocking everyone down again.
"Ooze, Zedd," said Eric with a snarl in his voice. He struggled to his feet and staggered towards them.
The inside out man laughed. "Hope you like our presents, Rangers!"
With another crackle of energy, all four of them vanished.
"No!" shouted Danny, staggering towards the empty space.
Dustin's communicator crackled. "Dude," said Dustin. "Bad tim-"
"We need help," snapped Hunter. "Now." The sound of an explosion filtered through the communicator, and a more muted version of it echoed from the cave entrance.
"Today keeps getting better and better," muttered Dana, running towards the cave entrance. "Yellow Jaguar Daggers!"
Taylor swore and forced her legs to move. "Golden Eagle Sword!"
"Blue Condor Axe!" Kelsey caught up to Taylor as they cleared the cave's entrance. A group of strange gray men with giant Z emblems on their chests charged towards them. "Z Putties!" said Kelsey, ducking a punch by one. "Do this!" She smashed the Z with her foot and the Putty exploded.
Taylor smirked. "I like them already!" She slashed one across the face then punched the Z.
Taylor saw something flicker to her left. She turned to see a weird purple thing jumped towards her.
"White Mouse Whip!" called Wes. The whip wrapped around the purple thing and Wes used its momentum to throw it into the cliff face. It splattered like a slimy water balloon.
"Ugh, gross!" said Danny, ducking a Putty kick and smashing his axe into its Z.
"Oozemen," said Eric. "Black Lion Fang!" He kicked a Putty towards Cole. Cole smashed its Z with his foot.
"Speaking of," said Dana, raising her daggers as a group of the Oozemen charged forward.
"Lion Hammer!" called Dustin. He smashed the hammer against the ground. The shock-wave knocked the Oozemen over like bowling pins.
Taylor glanced around quickly, seeing nothing but Oozemen and Putties. "Guys? Where are the Thunder Rangers?" She ducked a punch and sliced an Oozeman in half.
"Shit," snarled Eric, slashing an Oozeman with his Lion Fang.
Kelsey grabbed Taylor's arm, yanking her out of the way of a charging Putty. "Better question. Where's our back-up?"
There was a loud explosion and one Hunter and one Blake came flying out of the sky. They took out three Oozemen when they landed.
"Aw, man," said Blake, panting. "Not good."
Taylor kicked the Oozeman going for the two easy targets. "What the hell's going on?"
Dustin and Hunter's morphers crackled. "Guys?" came Tori's voice. "Brace yourselves!"
A faint rumbling roar started up.
"Brace for wh-Oh shit!" said Eric, staring at the ocean.
Taylor turned. And gaped. Tori was gliding on top of a giant wave. And Taylor could see Max and Ryan diving in and out of it. "Holy-!"
She pulled Blake to his feet. Glancing around for a safe spot. There! The ledge.
"Kelsey!" she said, pointed.
Kelsey nodded. "Right!" She grabbed Hunter. The others already running for it, slashing at the Putties and Oozemen.
"Soaring Eagle!"
"Gliding Condor!"
They dropped the Thunder Rangers onto the ledge and circled back for any of the others having trouble. Danny was the only one lagging behind. "I've got him!" said Taylor, swooping down.
She glided up and dropped Danny onto the ledge just as the wave crashed down.
She could see the faint streaks of blue and red that meant Ryan and Max were finishing off the Putty and Oozemen survivors. Tori stayed standing on top of the water, slashing any non-Ranger who broke above the wave.
The water ebbed, leaving Max, Ryan and Tori standing there, panting. Taylor was about to land beside them, when there was another explosion and the other Hunter and Blake came flying through the air.
"Kelsey!" Taylor shouted, swooped down. "I've got Hunter!"
Kelsey sailed towards Blake.
Taylor did her best to put Hunter on the ground gently. "Okay, what the hell did we miss?"
Hunter nodded his head towards the top of the cliff. There was another explosion. Taylor squinted up in time to see Alyssa, Merrick and both Cams come falling down off the edge of the cliff. Shane was right behind them.
Taylor tensed and looked to Kelsey. Catching five Rangers was going to be tough. Blake's communicator crackled. "I got it," said Shane, sounding tense. He angled his body and started falling faster; just before he hit the ground, he swooped up, running on empty air.
He spun, throwing an arm out. "Power of air!"
A whirlwind seems to generate from his fingertips, slowing the fall of the other four Rangers enough that they landed on the ground, on their feet.
The rest of the Ranger had made it down from the ledge, and they gathered together.
"Dude, what is going on?" said Dustin.
The Wild Force Cam answered, "Scorpitron."
Taylor glanced at the Rangers of this world, who were shifting nervously. Who? "Who?" asked Taylor.
Laser bolts blasted the ground around them, and they all fell back, crying out. There was a smashing, rumbling sound from the top of the cliff and something large and metallic leapt down. The force of its landing shook the ground and kicked up a large spray of wet sand.
It took a few seconds for Taylor's brain to willingly acknowledge what it was. A giant metal scorpion. With its curved tail, it was at least five stories high.
"That's Scorpitron?" said Taylor, gripping her sword tightly.
"Dude," said Dustin faintly.
It pointed its tail at them and shot another laser bolt. They scattered, getting flung by the blast concussion.
Taylor shook her head to try and stop the ringing.
"Aw, man. Come ON!" shouted Dustin, sounding pissed.
Taylor looked up and her stomach sank at the sight of the large number of charging Z Putties and Oozemen.
"I want a stunt double," grumbled Dana, staggering to her feet and holding her hand out to Taylor.
"Cam. We can't call our Zords, can we?" said Shane, leveling his sword at the charging lackeys.
The Ninja Storm Cam shook his head. "They won't make it through the portal."
"What about our Animals?" asked Max, looking to Cole and clutching his Shark Fins.
Cole looked down, hand over his Lion emblem, talking to his Lion. He flinched. "No."
Taylor nodded. "Okay, so I guess we know who gets the Scorpitron and who gets the lackeys."
In unison the other Wild Force pulled out their Crystal Sabers. "Wild Zords descend!"
Taylor smiled softly at the familiar tune floating through the air.
The Other Hunter and Blake held out two roundish devices.
"Crimson Thunder Power!"
"Navy Thunder Power!"
"Sky of Wonder!"
"Power of Thunder!"
"Crimson Insectizord!"
"Navy Beetlezord!"
There was a flash of purple to Taylor's left. She swore, lashing out with her sword. Teach her to lose focus. She cried out as the Oozeman kicked her in the stomach.
"Red Lion Fang!" Cole snarled as he slashed the Oozeman with his Lion Fang.
Taylor flipped over Cole and sliced the Z Putty charging him.
Two Oozemen spat purple slime at them.
"Thunder Shield!" shouted Hunter, stepping in front, then ducking as Tori leapt over him.
"Sonic Fin!" The Oozemen fell back and exploded.
Taylor eyed the two Putties charging her. "Soaring Darts!" She flung them hard and smirked when both Putties exploded. She ducked a kick from an Oozeman, thrust up with her sword and slashed it in half.
She spotted Dustin, surrounded by Putties. She moved to help, and blinked in shock as he literally dove into the ground. He leapt out behind the Putties, Lion Hammer over his head. As he landed, he smashed the Lion Hammer into the Zs of the two nearest Putties. Taylor spun another around, ramming her fist into the Z. She blocked a punch from another.
Dustin ducked a kick, punched the Putty's Z and slammed his Lion Hammer onto the ground. The last two Putties fell over and Taylor stomped on their Zs.
There was a large explosion overhead and Taylor looked up to see the Wild Force Megazord staggering back, its front sparking. The Thunder Ninja's Megazord charged forward. Scorpitron spun quickly, leaping onto the Megazord's front and blasting lasers directly onto the Megazord's head. The Megazord staggered back, Scorpitron still firing rapidly.
The Wild Force Megazord charged forward, using the Saw Shark blade on its right arm to knock Scorpitron off the other Megazord.
Alyssa cried out in pain, and Taylor spun, catching her. Dustin streaked past, slashing the Oozeman with his sword.
"My arms feel like they're going to fall off," Alyssa panted.
There was an Earth-shaking crash. Taylor looked to see that the Thunder Ninja's Megazord had fallen hard. And wasn't moving. Frantically, she scanned the battle field. Spotting him, she cried, "Shane!"
Shane slashed the Oozeman and in half and looked over. "Hunter! Blake! Get them out of there!"
There was a dark red and a dark blue streak and the Thunder Ninjas were gone.
"Look out!" shouted Danny, shoving Taylor and Alyssa out of the way. The Wild Force Megazord's staff slammed into where they'd been, throwing up a wave of sand. Taylor noted that it was made up of parts of the Mouse and Alligator Zords before she shook off the shock and sliced through a charging Oozeman.
Taylor kicked a Putty in the face. Then saw stars as an Oozeman punched her in the head. She stumbled back, and looked up in time to see the Wild Force Megazord start to fall. It was holding up a shield made of the Mouse, but the shield was blackened and sparking. The earth shook again when the Wild Force Megazord hit; Scorpitron leapt onto its chest and blasted a final time with its tail. The Megazord barely moved.
There was a crackling sound and the remaining Putties and Oozemen vanished. Scorpitron turned to face the Rangers on the ground. Taylor braced herself, not sure she could move in time to escape the laser blasts. There was a louder crackling sound and Scorpitron vanished.
Taylor held her breath for several endless seconds, and when it didn't come back, staggered towards the Wild Force Megazord, her team and the remaining Ninja Storm Rangers following.
"That went well," said Cam dryly as he helped Max along.
Taylor snorted. "We definitely need a better retirement plan."
*
Part 4
End Note: For those who don't recognize him, Scorpitron comes from the original MMPR movie.
Author: Angel Negra
Rating: R - violence
Summary: Somehow, this isn't how Taylor pictured her retirement from Ranger-work going.
Author's Notes: Written for my Wes/Eric PRSW22, using the prompt 'Watermelon'.
Author's Notes 2: Firstly, thank you to Aoife, Dany, KK and Cmar for the betas. Secondly, for once, I don't blame this on Cmar. I totally blame this on the person who came up with the watermelon prompt (Marci). Instead of a nice fluff fic or food PWP, I got this beast. This is all your fault.
For those who missed it: Part 1 Part 2
Part 3/5
Eric gave her a strange look. Wait, no. She knew that look. Her Eric had given her the same look when Wild Force had saved him and Wes from the first Mutorg attack. It was still just as annoying.
"You knew who I was too," said Wes softly.
Taylor glanced at him in surprise, only to have her view blocked by Eric stepping in front of Wes. Her Eric did that to her all the time; it was annoying then too.
Eric looked at the guy in red. "Just one will do."
The guy in red nodded.
"I volunteer," said Cole, stepping forward.
Eric eyed him skeptically. "You don't even know what we're going to do."
"It doesn't matter," said Cole, nodding solemnly. "I know we're on the same side and I will do whatever I can to prove that to you."
Taylor suppressed a snort. Only Cole could say things that corny and mean them.
"Come here," said Wes. He moved to step around Eric, but was pulled up short by Eric grabbing his arm.
Eric said something that Taylor couldn't hear. Knowing Eric, he was being overprotective again.
Wes smiled at him, patting his arm. He said something back, then stepped out to meet Cole. The rest of his group tensed and Taylor had the impression that if anything went wrong, Wes' friends would tear them to pieces.
Wes held out his hand. "Give me your hand."
Cole held out his hand, an encouraging smile on his face.
Wes hesitated, then took a deep breath and grabbed Cole's hand, his body tense.
Everyone seemed to hold their breath, then Wes smiled warmly. He looked back at the guy in red. "He's a Power Ranger."
"Wait, so, like, I don't get it," said Dustin, scratching his head. "You touch him and you believe us?"
Eric and the guy in red shared a look.
Then the guy looked at Dustin and shrugged. "He has a way of knowing," he said.
Which didn't make sense to Taylor. Yeah, Wes was perceptive, but he wasn't psychic or anything. She glanced back at the rest of her team, and saw the considering look Merrick was giving Wes. Like he knew what was going on. Taylor was really starting to hate traveling to different dimensions.
"My name's Ryan," said the guy in red. He nodded his head at the girl in yellow. "That's Dana."
Dana nodded.
Mitchell. Now Taylor remembered. Ryan and Dana Mitchell. Lightspeed Titanium and Lightspeed Pink.
Ryan pointed to the girl in blue. "That's Kelsey."
Kelsey grinned, waving a bit.
That was it. Lightspeed Yellow, Kelsey Winslow. The perky one that scared Eric a bit.
Ryan looked pointedly at the Cam, Blake and Hunter who'd come with Wild Force. "I don't think I need to introduce Cam, Hunter or Blake," he said. Then he looked at Taylor. "And you seem to know Wes and Eric."
Taylor nodded. She was going to tell Ryan how she knew them, but she noticed how Eric was hovering over Wes. She hesitated.
"I'm Cole," said Cole, smiling brightly. He grabbed Ryan's hand and pumped it enthusiastically.
Taylor suppressed a snort. "Taylor," she said, crossing her arms.
"I'm Shane, and that's Dustin and Tori," said Shane, pointing to each of his teammates in turn.
"I'm Alyssa," said Alyssa, smiling. "And this is Max, Danny and Mer-"
"Merrick," said Princess Shayla, staring at him like she'd seen a ghost.
Merrick nodded, he took a step forward, staring at the Princess. "Yes. And..."
He glanced at Taylor, raising his eyebrows in question. She shook her head, she didn't think so either. He nodded, his look of hope fading to resignation. He met the Princess' eyes, and said, "And you're not our Princess Shayla."
Princess Shayla shared a confused look with her team. "No, I don't think so."
"That's why you're here?" asked Kelsey. "To find your Princess Shayla?"
"A member of Lothor's army kidnapped her, and our Sensei, and brought them here," said Shane.
"Sensei Omino?" asked the Other Hunter.
"Naw, dude, Sensei Watanabe from the Wind Academy," said Dustin. He waved at Cam. "Cam's dad."
The Other Hunter blinked, and gave his Cam a surprised look.
"That's strange," said Ryan, before the Other Hunter could say anything. "Lothor's been pretty quiet lately. But to start attacking other dimension's Rangers?"
Eric snorted. "Maybe he got sick of trying to share with everyone else."
Taylor bit her lip and shared worried look with Alyssa. That did not sound good.
"Everyone else?" asked Tori.
"Master Org, Queen Rita Repulsa, Lord Zedd, Ivan Ooze, Queen Bansheera, and there's rumours of something building down in Briarwood," said Wes.
"Shit," said Taylor softly. "And the other Ranger teams are?"
"We're it," said Dana, shrugging. "There was another team for a while, their powers were based in dinosaurs and mythical animals. But no one's seen them since Ivan Ooze was awakened."
"That still doesn't explain why Lothor's going after other Ranger teams," said the Other Blake.
"We don't think he was," said Merrick, shaking his head. "His magic was helped by the Duke Org Toxica. We think he was trying to bring back an evil version of the Princess and Sensei Watanabe."
"The freak with the giant butterfly for a head?" said the Other Hunter, pointing at Merrick, who nodded. He turned to Ryan "That's the one that's been hiding the cliffs near Shady Mountain's ruins."
Blake wrinkled his forehead. "But, Shady Mountain doesn't have ruins... Oh." He swallowed hard, looking down. Tori took his hand, stepping closer.
"So we're heading for Shady Mountain, then?" asked Cam, staring at Hunter.
"If both Master Org and Lothor are in on this, then chances are that Rita is too," said the Other Hunter. "We should go with you."
Cole glanced around at everyone. "That's a lot of Rangers."
"I have a plan," said Wes.
*
A light breeze blew Taylor's hair from her face. Squinting against the sun's glare, she stared at the cave's entrance. There were about twenty Kelzaks and Putrids guarding it. She ducked back behind the dunes they were hiding behind.
Dustin's morpher chimed. "Yeah, dudes, what's up?" he said.
"We're ready up here," said Hunter.
Dustin nodded, "Right, hang on man." He looked at Taylor.
She flipped open her Growl Phone and pressed Max's button.
"Hey Taylor," said Max, sounding slightly nervous.
She smiled tightly. "You guys ready?"
"Yeah, we're cool."
"Okay." She looked to Eric.
He held up his morpher, which looked like a fancy gold walkie-talkie. "Cam, you read?"
There was a crackle from Eric's morpher. "Yeah, we're ready."
Eric nodded to Dustin, who smiled slightly and spoke into his morpher, "Go for it dude."
"On it," said Hunter.
The wind picked up. Dark, angry clouds raced across the sky, spitting lightning bolts.
Taylor stared at the growing storm for a few seconds before catching Cole's attention and raising her eyebrows.
Cole nodded. "Time to morph."
Taylor, Danny and Cole flipped out their Growl Phones; Eric, Kelsey, Dana and Wes held up their version of the Growl Phones; Dustin shifted his stance, thrusting his right hand into the air.
"Wild Access!"
"Ninja Storm! Ranger Form! Ha!"
Taylor glanced curiously at the Wild Force Rangers of this world. Eric's suit looked like a black version of Cole's. Dana's looked a lot like a yellow version of Alyssa's, except since Dana's animal was a Jaguar, she had silver spots where Alyssa had stripes, and her skirt was lined with silver. Kelsey's looked like a blue version of Taylor's own suit only her helmet had a yellow beak, not silver. And Wes. Taylor swallowed a snort, she still couldn't believe that of all the animals linked to the Wild Force, it was the Mouse that had chosen Wes. Wes' white suit looked kind of like Alyssa's - without the skirt - but instead of pink highlights, he had purple ones.
A clap of thunder made Taylor jump slightly. She looked towards the cave and gaped.
"Dude," said Dustin, sounding awestruck.
It looked like a tornado of Crimson and Navy Rangers had settled in front of the cave. The two Crimson Rangers seemed to be trying to 'out Crimson' each other, while the two Navy Rangers seemed to have resigned themselves to taking out the lackeys not stupid enough to charge the Crimsons.
A Putrid and a Kelzak pointed towards Taylor's group and then started to run off. Shit, they had too much of a head start. Unless - Taylor turned to Kelsey. "Can you fly?" she asked.
Kelsey nodded. "You bet."
"Let's go," said Taylor, grinning.
Taking a running start, Taylor spread her arms and called, "Soaring Eagle!"
As she took flight, she heard Kelsey behind her shouting, "Gliding Condor!"
And then Kelsey was sailing by. "Dibs on the Putrid," she called.
Taylor snorted and aimed for the Kelzak. "Golden Eagle Sword!" She slashed it across the chest as she landed, knocking it back. She kicked it in the chest. It swiped its blade at her face. Taylor ducked and slashed with her sword again. It fell and didn't get back up.
"Blue Condor Axe!"
Taylor turned in time to see Kelsey give a final slash to the Putrid. Nice.
Kelsey looked up. "Ready?"
"Let's go." Taylor nodded. And they ran towards the cave.
They got to the cave in time to see the two Crimson Rangers knocking out the last of the Kelzaks; the two Navy Rangers shared a look and shook their heads.
Kelsey nudged Taylor. "And I thought having Hunter and Eric on the same team was bad," she whispered.
Taylor snorted. There was the sound of running feet coming closer and she turned to see the rest of the Rangers coming up.
Cole clapped her on the shoulder once he was close enough. "Ready?"
"Let's go," said Taylor, nodding.
Cole and Wes lead the way into the cave. Taylor mentally crossed her fingers as she moved to follow. She really hoped Cole and Wes had enough psychic power between them to find the Princess and the Ninja Storm's Sensei.
Taylor felt herself tensing up as the darkness of the cave enveloped them. There was a faint shimmer of light far up ahead, and they were heading straight for it. Taylor suppressed a shiver, she had a bad feeling about this.
Apparently so did Wes and Cole, they slowed their steps, motioning the other Rangers back.
What the- Taylor leaned forward. She could hear a faint shuffling sound, getting nearer.
The cave exploded with light and electricity. The force of it knocked Taylor off her feet and she cried out in pain. It took a few precious seconds of blinking rapidly before her vision started to clear and Taylor immediately looked around. The rest of the Rangers had been knocked down too. No serious injuries that she could see, though there were burnt patches on everyone's suits.
That explosion. It had come- "Princess!" shouted Taylor, struggling to get up. She peered into the cloud of smoke up ahead, trying to see something - anything.
At first she thought she was seeing spots, but the dark shadows grew more prominent, the sound of shuffling footsteps growing louder. Three figures stepped out of the smoke. Finally able to see them, Taylor felt her blood run cold. "Princess Shayla," she whispered.
The Princess was being held in the grasp of some - man. As far as Taylor could tell, he looked like someone had turned him completely inside out; with his bones layered on top of his muscles. And beside him was another man, dressed in dark purple robes that matched his purple face. The purple man was holding a white ball. Taylor wasn't sure but she thought she could see something moving in the ball, like a-
"Sensei!" cried Dustin, pulling his sword and struggling to his feet.
So that was Sensei. Taylor struggled to her feet, pulling out her Crystal Saber. "Let them go!"
The purple guy laughed. "Sorry! Finders, keepers!" He threw a blast of purple lightning at them, knocking everyone down again.
"Ooze, Zedd," said Eric with a snarl in his voice. He struggled to his feet and staggered towards them.
The inside out man laughed. "Hope you like our presents, Rangers!"
With another crackle of energy, all four of them vanished.
"No!" shouted Danny, staggering towards the empty space.
Dustin's communicator crackled. "Dude," said Dustin. "Bad tim-"
"We need help," snapped Hunter. "Now." The sound of an explosion filtered through the communicator, and a more muted version of it echoed from the cave entrance.
"Today keeps getting better and better," muttered Dana, running towards the cave entrance. "Yellow Jaguar Daggers!"
Taylor swore and forced her legs to move. "Golden Eagle Sword!"
"Blue Condor Axe!" Kelsey caught up to Taylor as they cleared the cave's entrance. A group of strange gray men with giant Z emblems on their chests charged towards them. "Z Putties!" said Kelsey, ducking a punch by one. "Do this!" She smashed the Z with her foot and the Putty exploded.
Taylor smirked. "I like them already!" She slashed one across the face then punched the Z.
Taylor saw something flicker to her left. She turned to see a weird purple thing jumped towards her.
"White Mouse Whip!" called Wes. The whip wrapped around the purple thing and Wes used its momentum to throw it into the cliff face. It splattered like a slimy water balloon.
"Ugh, gross!" said Danny, ducking a Putty kick and smashing his axe into its Z.
"Oozemen," said Eric. "Black Lion Fang!" He kicked a Putty towards Cole. Cole smashed its Z with his foot.
"Speaking of," said Dana, raising her daggers as a group of the Oozemen charged forward.
"Lion Hammer!" called Dustin. He smashed the hammer against the ground. The shock-wave knocked the Oozemen over like bowling pins.
Taylor glanced around quickly, seeing nothing but Oozemen and Putties. "Guys? Where are the Thunder Rangers?" She ducked a punch and sliced an Oozeman in half.
"Shit," snarled Eric, slashing an Oozeman with his Lion Fang.
Kelsey grabbed Taylor's arm, yanking her out of the way of a charging Putty. "Better question. Where's our back-up?"
There was a loud explosion and one Hunter and one Blake came flying out of the sky. They took out three Oozemen when they landed.
"Aw, man," said Blake, panting. "Not good."
Taylor kicked the Oozeman going for the two easy targets. "What the hell's going on?"
Dustin and Hunter's morphers crackled. "Guys?" came Tori's voice. "Brace yourselves!"
A faint rumbling roar started up.
"Brace for wh-Oh shit!" said Eric, staring at the ocean.
Taylor turned. And gaped. Tori was gliding on top of a giant wave. And Taylor could see Max and Ryan diving in and out of it. "Holy-!"
She pulled Blake to his feet. Glancing around for a safe spot. There! The ledge.
"Kelsey!" she said, pointed.
Kelsey nodded. "Right!" She grabbed Hunter. The others already running for it, slashing at the Putties and Oozemen.
"Soaring Eagle!"
"Gliding Condor!"
They dropped the Thunder Rangers onto the ledge and circled back for any of the others having trouble. Danny was the only one lagging behind. "I've got him!" said Taylor, swooping down.
She glided up and dropped Danny onto the ledge just as the wave crashed down.
She could see the faint streaks of blue and red that meant Ryan and Max were finishing off the Putty and Oozemen survivors. Tori stayed standing on top of the water, slashing any non-Ranger who broke above the wave.
The water ebbed, leaving Max, Ryan and Tori standing there, panting. Taylor was about to land beside them, when there was another explosion and the other Hunter and Blake came flying through the air.
"Kelsey!" Taylor shouted, swooped down. "I've got Hunter!"
Kelsey sailed towards Blake.
Taylor did her best to put Hunter on the ground gently. "Okay, what the hell did we miss?"
Hunter nodded his head towards the top of the cliff. There was another explosion. Taylor squinted up in time to see Alyssa, Merrick and both Cams come falling down off the edge of the cliff. Shane was right behind them.
Taylor tensed and looked to Kelsey. Catching five Rangers was going to be tough. Blake's communicator crackled. "I got it," said Shane, sounding tense. He angled his body and started falling faster; just before he hit the ground, he swooped up, running on empty air.
He spun, throwing an arm out. "Power of air!"
A whirlwind seems to generate from his fingertips, slowing the fall of the other four Rangers enough that they landed on the ground, on their feet.
The rest of the Ranger had made it down from the ledge, and they gathered together.
"Dude, what is going on?" said Dustin.
The Wild Force Cam answered, "Scorpitron."
Taylor glanced at the Rangers of this world, who were shifting nervously. Who? "Who?" asked Taylor.
Laser bolts blasted the ground around them, and they all fell back, crying out. There was a smashing, rumbling sound from the top of the cliff and something large and metallic leapt down. The force of its landing shook the ground and kicked up a large spray of wet sand.
It took a few seconds for Taylor's brain to willingly acknowledge what it was. A giant metal scorpion. With its curved tail, it was at least five stories high.
"That's Scorpitron?" said Taylor, gripping her sword tightly.
"Dude," said Dustin faintly.
It pointed its tail at them and shot another laser bolt. They scattered, getting flung by the blast concussion.
Taylor shook her head to try and stop the ringing.
"Aw, man. Come ON!" shouted Dustin, sounding pissed.
Taylor looked up and her stomach sank at the sight of the large number of charging Z Putties and Oozemen.
"I want a stunt double," grumbled Dana, staggering to her feet and holding her hand out to Taylor.
"Cam. We can't call our Zords, can we?" said Shane, leveling his sword at the charging lackeys.
The Ninja Storm Cam shook his head. "They won't make it through the portal."
"What about our Animals?" asked Max, looking to Cole and clutching his Shark Fins.
Cole looked down, hand over his Lion emblem, talking to his Lion. He flinched. "No."
Taylor nodded. "Okay, so I guess we know who gets the Scorpitron and who gets the lackeys."
In unison the other Wild Force pulled out their Crystal Sabers. "Wild Zords descend!"
Taylor smiled softly at the familiar tune floating through the air.
The Other Hunter and Blake held out two roundish devices.
"Crimson Thunder Power!"
"Navy Thunder Power!"
"Sky of Wonder!"
"Power of Thunder!"
"Crimson Insectizord!"
"Navy Beetlezord!"
There was a flash of purple to Taylor's left. She swore, lashing out with her sword. Teach her to lose focus. She cried out as the Oozeman kicked her in the stomach.
"Red Lion Fang!" Cole snarled as he slashed the Oozeman with his Lion Fang.
Taylor flipped over Cole and sliced the Z Putty charging him.
Two Oozemen spat purple slime at them.
"Thunder Shield!" shouted Hunter, stepping in front, then ducking as Tori leapt over him.
"Sonic Fin!" The Oozemen fell back and exploded.
Taylor eyed the two Putties charging her. "Soaring Darts!" She flung them hard and smirked when both Putties exploded. She ducked a kick from an Oozeman, thrust up with her sword and slashed it in half.
She spotted Dustin, surrounded by Putties. She moved to help, and blinked in shock as he literally dove into the ground. He leapt out behind the Putties, Lion Hammer over his head. As he landed, he smashed the Lion Hammer into the Zs of the two nearest Putties. Taylor spun another around, ramming her fist into the Z. She blocked a punch from another.
Dustin ducked a kick, punched the Putty's Z and slammed his Lion Hammer onto the ground. The last two Putties fell over and Taylor stomped on their Zs.
There was a large explosion overhead and Taylor looked up to see the Wild Force Megazord staggering back, its front sparking. The Thunder Ninja's Megazord charged forward. Scorpitron spun quickly, leaping onto the Megazord's front and blasting lasers directly onto the Megazord's head. The Megazord staggered back, Scorpitron still firing rapidly.
The Wild Force Megazord charged forward, using the Saw Shark blade on its right arm to knock Scorpitron off the other Megazord.
Alyssa cried out in pain, and Taylor spun, catching her. Dustin streaked past, slashing the Oozeman with his sword.
"My arms feel like they're going to fall off," Alyssa panted.
There was an Earth-shaking crash. Taylor looked to see that the Thunder Ninja's Megazord had fallen hard. And wasn't moving. Frantically, she scanned the battle field. Spotting him, she cried, "Shane!"
Shane slashed the Oozeman and in half and looked over. "Hunter! Blake! Get them out of there!"
There was a dark red and a dark blue streak and the Thunder Ninjas were gone.
"Look out!" shouted Danny, shoving Taylor and Alyssa out of the way. The Wild Force Megazord's staff slammed into where they'd been, throwing up a wave of sand. Taylor noted that it was made up of parts of the Mouse and Alligator Zords before she shook off the shock and sliced through a charging Oozeman.
Taylor kicked a Putty in the face. Then saw stars as an Oozeman punched her in the head. She stumbled back, and looked up in time to see the Wild Force Megazord start to fall. It was holding up a shield made of the Mouse, but the shield was blackened and sparking. The earth shook again when the Wild Force Megazord hit; Scorpitron leapt onto its chest and blasted a final time with its tail. The Megazord barely moved.
There was a crackling sound and the remaining Putties and Oozemen vanished. Scorpitron turned to face the Rangers on the ground. Taylor braced herself, not sure she could move in time to escape the laser blasts. There was a louder crackling sound and Scorpitron vanished.
Taylor held her breath for several endless seconds, and when it didn't come back, staggered towards the Wild Force Megazord, her team and the remaining Ninja Storm Rangers following.
"That went well," said Cam dryly as he helped Max along.
Taylor snorted. "We definitely need a better retirement plan."
*
Part 4
End Note: For those who don't recognize him, Scorpitron comes from the original MMPR movie.