Grinning curiously, his eyes scanned from branch to branch, his mouth watered for the sweet taste of the berries in front of him. But it was a hard choice for him. Should he choose the sweet red temptations, or the blue ones?

“Oh,” he groaned and stroked his chin with his long fingers. “Red or blue?” he asked himself. He sat down on a stump near by to this over his mind-numbing decision, pondering. “Red or blue,” he asked himself again. “Well, goblins eat red, normally,” but his eyes shifted. “Trolls like blue. What do troblins like?”

Phineas paced back and forth slowly, trying to come to a considerable conclusion to his dilemma. His eyes moved back and forth— red, blue, blue, red.

“Considering I am both goblin and troll, it makes sense I could have both,” Phineas said and stopped in front of the bush. “Yep, both.” He licked his lips as be took both a blue and red berry off the branch. Laughing, he hopped in excitement. “Come to papa,” he muttered and opened his mouth.

Suddenly he jumped as a loud band came from deeper within the forest, and his berries flew out of his hands. Curiously, he looked towards the area where the loud noise came from, about 100 yards away from where he stood. A small yellow object stood out in the distance. Cautiously, he approached towards it, and soon realized the object was not small at all.

Upon reaching the object, he crouched down slightly. The rounded object looked battered and broken. Green stains could be seen on the scratched metal surface, probably from where it landed in the trees. A strange smell came from the liquid that slowly leaked out of it.

“He-hello, is um . . . anyone, there?” Phineas muttered and crept up on the object. He craned his head further to see inside, but couldn’t. “Um, excuse me,” he said to the thing and knocked on a metal panel. “You can’t park here, this forest is off—” Suddenly the panel let out a shower of sparks, and make the troblin jump.

“UFO!” he screamed and ran back towards town. “There’s a UFO in the woods!” Running across the street he bolted in to the Rock Porium and jumped behind the counter.

“What in the world?” Xander Bly exclaimed as he placed a record back in the rack. “Phineas, what’s gotten into you?”

“Okay, it happened like this,” he spoke quickly. “I was in the woods trying to decide what kind of berries to eat. Considering I’m half troll, half goblin, I couldn’t decide which one to eat. See, the goblins eat the red ones, and the trolls eat the blue ones. But I’m a troblin- half troll, half goblin- so I didn’t know which ones to eat. So I decided to pace and thought to myself—”

“Phineas!” Chip and Xander exclaimed.

“Oh, sorry. Anyway, suddenly there was this loud BANG! So I decided to go investigate. That’s when the UFO tried to eat me,” he said and ducked behind the counter. The troblin’s eyes appeared by the edge of the counter as he whispered, “If you were smart, you’d hide, too.”

Chip grinned to Xander as he too put his record back. “Phineas, please. First Vida, then the town, now you. Everyone’s freaked out these days.”

“I’m not kidding, guys! Can you just come take a look? See for yourselves!” Phineas popped back down behind the counter.

Xander looked at Chip and sighed. “Come on, mate. Let’s go see what’s got ol’ Phineas spooked.” Chip grabbed Phineas from behind the counter and exited the store.

Suddenly the office door burst open as Toby came crashing out. “Aliens? You mean to tell me—” he stopped and threw his hands up to see that Chip, Xander and Phineas were gone. He opened his office door and went back in, shaking his head. “Why do I even bother?”

Phineas lead the way into the woods with Chip and Xander trailing behind him. “This is bogus, if you ask me. You know Phineas. He’s afraid of a little butterfly,” Xander said to Chip.

Chip’s eyes widened as they cleared a bush, “I don’t think that’s any type of butterfly I’ve ever come across, Xander,” the Yellow Ranger muttered as they came face to face with Phineas’ so-called UFO.

“What is it?” Xander said and curiously stepped towards the wreckage. Computer panels and binders all lay in jumbled messes across the floor. Burn marks from fires, he guessed, lines the floor and walls.

“It must have crashed last night, Xander, look,” Chip said and pointed towards a cracked digital clock that gave a time and date.

Xander looked around at the wreckage. “I say we—”

“Uh, guys,” Phineas called from the other side. He stood by a heavy yellow panel that rested on the floor. Glass covered the area where he stood. “There’s something over here!”

Chip climbed over the remnants of what looked like a table and gasped. “Xander, it’s— it’s a boy!” Chip slid as far down to the floor as he could and saw the small, blood covered hand of a child.

“I find it hard to believe that someone could survive a crash like this,” Xander said and slid down next to Chip. “Hey, hey kid, can you hear me?” Xander said. “Chip, call 911 right now!”

The Yellow Ranger nodded and jumped out of the wreckage, grabbing his cell phone. Xander continued to shout at the boy, but to no avail. He reached for the boy’s hand. “Kid, if you can hear me, say something,” But nothing came.

“They’re sending someone over now,” Chip called and ran to meet the Police at the edge of the forest.

“C’mon kid, say something,” Xander muttered and shook his hand gently. Again, no response came. Suddenly Xander’s eyes lit up as the boy weakly squeezed his hand. “Don’t worry kid, I’m hear for you. Just hold on, we’re getting help now.”

From underneath the panel, Dave Scotts opened his eyes slightly at the sound of the man’s voice and squeezed his hand again as a small tear leaked out from his eye. The images of his last view of his mother came back again. The monster slashing her, and his mother falling to the ground as a fresh pool of blood formed around her.

“Mommy,” he whispered and slipped into a state of unconsciousness again with the faint sound of sirens echoed in the distance.

--

“I don’t know why we’re even here, Wes,” Eric muttered as he got out of the SUV. “I don’t see what good we could possibly do.”

“Quit your whining and let’s go. For all you know, we could recognize something here,” Wes said and closed his door.

Eric rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure.” Wes shook his head and sighed. As they headed towards the door of the house, a young woman was seen in the window, watching them as they walked up. She closed the blinds and headed back into the house.

Wes knocked on the door and turned to Eric. “Now, play nicely with the other kids, Eric,” Wes teased. “I’d hate to ground you again.”

The Quantum Ranger groaned. “Shove it up your—”

“Officers,” the door opened as a Detective answered the door, and Eric shut his mouth. “So good of you to come, thank you. My name is Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson,” she shook their hands and opened the door for them to come in.

“We’re happy to help, Chief,” Wes said as he stepped in.

“Anything we can do, let us know,” Eric said after him. The Deputy Chief nodded and turned, leading Wes and Eric towards the crime scene. Wes gave him a surprising look as Eric smacked his shoulder.

“Deputy Chief Johnson, Briarwood Police,” she told the standing officer, “Accompanied by Commanders Wes Collins and Eric Myers, Silver Guardians,” she handed each of them a pair of gloves.

Upon entering the room, Wes and Eric paused to see the destruction before them, and suddenly their defenses dropped. The heaviness of the air in the room fell upon them as the looked around the room. The picture held no justice for the actual scene. The bloody camera in the center of the room and the burn marks on the wall. An obvious struggle took place here.

Wes took the first step into the living room as he stared around it. Broken glass littered the floor. Blood was all over the walls. He stared at the burn marks curiously. They seemed familiar to him, like he had seen the marks somewhere before.

Eric watched over his shoulder. “What’s on your mind, Wes?”

The Red Ranger rubbed a finger over the charred residue. A very fine black power rubbed off on his finger, yet it gave no scent. As well it carved a neatly cut hole into the wall. No splinters, no broken wood, nothing, it just swept it clean.

“Chief, have you been able to identify what this substance is, or what weapon shot it?” Wes asked curiously.

Chief Johnson shook her head. “We have not. Not even the arsenal experts at the FBI could identify the source. Not to mention, we have no idea where the young woman is.”

The front door squeaked open as the sound of a backpack could be heard dropping to the floor. Chief Johnson smiled as she walked over to the young woman. “Ah, Ms. Rocca. Just the person who I wanted to see. I’d like to introduce you to two men who are assisting us on your sister’s case,” she said and Wes and Eric turned around. “This is Commander Wes Collins and Commander Eric Myers of the Silver Hills Guardians.”

“Vida,” she said and shook their hands. “Thanks for helping out, guys.”

Wes nodded. “It’s our pleasure, Ms. Rocca.” However, Wes too, wanted to talk with the young woman. “If we could go to another room, I have a few . . . private questions to ask you.” Vida nodded in agreement as she led them to the kitchen and closed the door.

Eric sighed as he leaned up against the door frame. “So, you’re a Power Ranger?”

“Was,” she corrected him. “Both Madison and me were Power Rangers.”

“Is it true,” Wes pondered, “that you two have . . . magical powers of some sort?” Vida nodded. “To what extent?”

Vida grabbed a soda can from the fridge. “Madison could control water, and me, wind. If you’re going to ask for an autograph, don’t bother.”

Wes threw his hands up in defense. “Oh, no, we don’t want an autograph, it’s just that . . .”

“About eight years ago, we were Power Rangers as well.” Eric finished.

Vida’s ears perked up. “You— you two were part of the Time Force Rangers?” she asked and looked at them as they nodded. She started to say something, but stopped and turned around from them.

“What were you going to say?” Wes urged the Pink Ranger on, but she did not respond.

Vida shook her head and lowered her voice. “N-nothing. Don’t worry about it.” She opened the door and spoke quickly. “If you will excuse me, Commanders, I have work that I need to do. Thank you.” Once Eric and Wes were outside the kitchen, they thanked the Chief and left as more Police personnel came in to continue their investigation.

Once back in the jeep, Wes sighed as he slipped into the driver’s seat. He bit his lip in thought. It was a big puzzle, really. How did Vida know about the Time Force Rangers? Sure, she would have been around thirteen when they fought against Ransik in Silver Hills, but that was pretty far from here, and it was pretty contained news-wise If she was a Power Ranger, why hadn’t she gone out and find her sister’s kidnapper? All these questions didn’t fit together for the Red Ranger.

“The girl’s hiding something,” Eric spoke Wes’s thoughts. “She went white when we said we were the Power Rangers. Specifically when Time Force was mentioned, like she had heard the name somewhere before.”

“Maybe . . . this may sound weird, but do you think she had something to do with her sister’s disappearance?”

Eric shrugged. “I don’t know, but it’s too early to tell for sure. Come on, I’ll buy you lunch.”

Wes laughed. “Well, that’s very generous.”

“Don’t get used to it, Wes.”

Wes grinned at Eric as he turned on the car and drove off towards a diner they saw on the way to Madison’s house.

--

Chip stood eagerly by the edge of the forest waiting for the arrival of the boy they found in the wreckage. Minutes after he called the police, they arrived along with the fire department and paramedics, to help get the boy free.

Behind him, a black SUV pulled up and Wes and Eric exited the vehicle, both their minds pondering what all the commotion was about.

Eric walked over to where the boy wearing yellow was and asked, “Hey, what’s going on here?”

Chip turned to him. “We found a boy in large wreckage about 400 yards in the woods, and called for help. The kid was pretty beat up.”

Suddenly the surrounding crowd cheered as a stretcher carrying the battered boy’s body emerged from the bushes. Now, Chip and Xander got a good look at him. He was unconscious still, and had an oxygen mask over his face, as well as an IV the Paramedics administered. Chip winced as he saw how badly injured the boy actually was. He had a large cut running across his leg and chest, which is what probably caused most of the bleeding. Several bruises plagued his arms, legs and stomach. A deep cut ran across his forehead as well.

“That must have hurt,” Eric muttered to Wes. “Come on, we should be getting back to HQ.”

But Wes stood in silence as his eyes focused on the back pack the police carried out. The object was soaked in blood, but one red dyed patch stuck out in Wes’s mind all too clearly. Without thinking Wes made his way towards the Police tape and ran into the woods.

“Wes! Get back here!” Eric yelled and followed him. “Wes!”

But Wes did not slow down; his legs carried his quickly through the forest and to where the yellow object crashed. He panted as he was stopped by several officers, and held his breathe.

“What the hell was that all about?” demanded Eric.

Slowly, Wes moved closer to the wreck and dropped to his knees, his eyes wide with amazement at the small chipped piece of glass that rested at his knees. He picked up the object and closed his eyes, searching for a place in his memories where this word struck out. Suddenly he felt the soft ocean breeze on his face and her voice in his heart.

“Don’t ever forget me, Wes. Don’t ever forget me.”

“Wes, what’s wrong?” Eric’s voice cut through his memory. Wes stood up slowly with the piece in his hand.

“Autopilot,” he whispered and turned around. “That kid’s backpack had a Time Force patch on it, I’d recognize it anywhere.” Wes’s gaze turned to the wreckage. “Eric, this isn’t just some UFO,” he shook his head and showed his partner the glass chip. “It’s a time ship.”

Eric stared at the yellow wreckage in disbelief. “A time ship? And what about that kid, Wes?” Eric asked. “You think he’s from the future?”

Wes walked past Eric and headed back towards the car. “I don’t know, but I think we’ll get some information from kid when he wakes up. When he does, I want us to be the first ones there.” Quickly, they headed back to the SUV and drove away towards the hospital.

--

Across the street at the Rock Porium, Xander and Chip watched curiously as the two officers drove away in their car. Something was strange about their behavior to Xander, as if they knew something about the kid he and Chip found in the forest.

“Something about those two is off,” Xander’s eyes followed the SUV out of sight. “Did you notice how fast the one ran into the forest? What was their rush to leave?”

Chip shrugged. “Maybe they had a call or something?”

“Or maybe they knew something about that kid.”

“So, was I right about that UFO?” Phineas asked as he popped his head in between Xander and Chip’s shoulders.

Chip smiled to the troblin. “Yes, Phineas, you also saved a little boy’s life. I’m sure his parents will be happy to know where he is. They’re probably worried sick by now.”

Xander bit his lip in thought, and then grabbed his car keys. “C’mon, Chip. Let’s get to the hospital before the kid wakes up. I want to be the first ones there when he does, so he’s not totally freaked out by all this.”

The Yellow Ranger smiled as he hopped in the passenger seat of Xander’s car and the two left to Saint Joseph’s Hospital, where this boy was taken to. How bad was this kid hurt? Neither Xander nor Chip could say for sure, but he was certainly going to be a bit scared from all of this.

Twenty minutes later they arrived and entered the hospital as a setting sun behind them slowly dipped below the horizon.

--

He sat in the waiting room of the hospital on the edge of his seat, his head in his palms. Bruises lined his chest and stomach, and a stabbing pain made him move gingerly as he breathed in and out. But nothing hurt as bad as knowing that Jen may not make it through to the end. And that it was his fault.

How could he have let this happen? He swore to his son he’d never anything happen to her again, and never let her get hurt. Alex swallowed hard as a single tear slipped from his serious eyes.

And where was Dave now? Had someone found the time ship he set Dave away in? Or was the boy somewhere, dying beneath the wreckage? He promised to protect Dave as well, and all he did was certainly send him off to his death.

“Commander Drake?”

Alex stood up as the Doctor stood in the waiting room doorway, a holographic clip board in his hand. “I have some news about Lieutenant Scotts’ condition. I . . . think you should have a seat, Commander.” The Doctor spoke slowly and took a seat next to Alex.

Alex took in a deep breathe. “How bad is it?”

The Doctor sighed as he hesitated. “Well, she will be in the Intensive Care Unit for a few days, once we are certain that her vitals will remain at normal, without us having to intervene. We’re pushing her heart to the maximum to keep it beating, but because of the heavy damage to her internal organs, we cannot guarantee that she can make a full recovery.”

Alex closed his eyes against the tears that threatened to run down his cheeks. “Please, you need to do everything you can. She has a son, and right now he’s . . .” he stopped. “I don’t know where he is, but when we do find him, and the worst news I can deliver to an eight year old is that his mother was killed in the fight that he saw.”

The Doctor nodded. “I understand, Commander, and believe me; we are doing everything in our power to keep her alive. To help the healing process, we’ve put her into an induced coma to help speed up the processes. Commander, to put it clearly, she’s in the same condition we put you in all those years ago after Ransik.”

“C-can I see her?” Alex whispered. The Doctor nodded and instructed Alex to follow him. Slowly, they walked down the hall and stopped as they came to the front of Room 316. Upon entering the room, he saw her lying there, her body was motionless. The only signs of life that arose from her were the slow beeping of the heart monitor and the puffs of the respirator.

Alex bit his lip as he pulled a chair next to her bed and sat down. The Doctor closed the door, leaving them alone. He lowered the side of the bed railing, and took her limp hand in his and interlaced his fingers with hers. He moved a stray piece of hair away from her face, his hand rested upon her cold cheek. A slow puff of air as let out, followed by a soft ping.

Beep-beep… beep-beep… beep-beep…

“I’m so sorry, Jen,” Alex cried buried his face in the bed sheet. “I’m sorry for everything. For leaving you and letting Ransik escape to the past, for not treating you better when I found you again, and for not being there when you and Dave needed me. I’m sorry I couldn’t capture Kane before. If I had done so,” he drew in a deep, quivering breathe, “Then you and Dave would still be here with me. I’m sorry, Jen.” He drew her hand to his lips and kissed it, his tears leaving small wet spots on her skin. In one small breathe, he confessed his heart to the darkness, “I have always loved you, baby.”

For the next few minutes, Alex kept his head by her side and her hand in his. He found comfort in her silent body, and at some point during the night, he fell asleep. His words still hung in his ears as his head filled with dreams of what he wanted, and what he had. He wanted her to say she was all right, and she forgave him, but the only response from her he received was the one word her heart could say . . .

Beep-beep… beep-beep… beep-beep…

--