Disclaimer: I, Andrew Nelson, am in no way affiliated with Saban Entertainment or FOX, etc. Although Power Rangers and Sliders are both copyrighted, the story ideas and concepts are my own. Yakity-yak (don't come back).
"Ah!" Hitting the pavement was not the ordeal it used to be for the professor. Actually, he was becoming quite accustomed to it, considering the odds that he would ever land on soft ground were almost nil.
"Well, that wasn't so bad," the professor heard Quinn say.
"Ya, this has to be our first soft landing in weeks!" added Rembrant. The professor slowly raised his head. Quinn, Wade and Mr. Brown were all sitting comfortably on a large patch of grass. The professor groaned.
"Of all the rotten luck..." he said under his breath, beginning to heave himself to his feet.
"Professor," said Wade, getting to her feet, "are you okay?" She was trying hard to hold in her laughter. She came to his side, helping him up.
"I'm fine, thank-you," answered the professor. He had landed on a basketball court. "Now, if you will all stop snickering, I suggest that we find out where we are."
"Agreed," said Quinn, looking around. The Sliders were in a large park. It was a beautiful day, the sun shinning brightly.
"Well, it looks nice enough," commented Wade.
"Miss Wells, if there's one thing our journeys have taught us," the professor said, "it's that looks can be deceiving."
"Well, deceiving or not, I'm starved. I say we try and find some food," suggested Rembrant.
Billy perked his head. A small red light was flashing on one of the control panels on the opposite side of the Command Center. Billy had never seen that light go off.
He quickly traversed the room and began pressing buttons on the panel, trying to find out what had set off the light.
"What is it Billy?" a large head, located in a massive blue tube, asked.
"I'm not sure, Zordon," answered Billy. "Have you ever seen this alarm go off before?"
"I will try to determine why it has been activated." Billy continued examining the readings. They indicated some sort of rift. Not a rift in time, as they had previously encountered numerous times, but of a nature Billy was unfamiliar with.
"I'm going to run some scans," Billy said, beginning to punch buttons. "Maybe I can find out just what we're dealing with..."
The foursome where walking down the sidewalk in what seemed to be an area just outside the downtown. There were several small shops, and there looked to be a large school at the end of the street. But it wasn't Los Angeles, or San Francisco.
"It could be," began the Professor, "that we are in a world where there is another major metropolitan center in California, possibly instead of another."
It seemed like a nice enough place. It was clean, the sun shinning.
"So, Q-ball," said Rembrant, "how long 'til we slide?"
Quinn reached into his pants pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a cellular phone. It was what the Sliders knew as 'the timer'. "Looks like...three days, five hours, ten minutes. Wait a minute..." Quinn stopped.
"What is it?" asked Wade, wondering what had caused her friend to stop.
"I'm not sure," he answered. "It must've been nothing..."
"Nothing, Mr. Mallory?" asked Professor Arturo, perking an eyebrow.
"There was just a flux in the reading. Probably nothing."
"Well, we shall have to keep that in mind," the Professor replied. "Now, I suggest we go...this way." He motioned towards a road which lead to what looked like a large park.
"I'm with you, Professor," Rembrant agreed. "'Cause something sure smells good!"
"Hmm," said Billy, observing the readings he had received. "This is most interesting..."
"What have you found, Billy?" asked Zordon.
"I don't know for sure," he replied. "And my only theory is, well...far-fetched."
"Please proceed. If there is one thing being a ranger has taught you, it is that nothing is far-fetched."
Billy couldn't argue with Zordon's logic. "Well, the readings I received from my scans reminded me of something. You see, a few years back, me and my family went to San Francisco on vacation. We stayed with a friend of my dad's - a professor at one of the universities. I believe his name was...Arturo. I took a liking to him, and he and I would often stay up late nights discussing various scientific topics.
"Well, one evening we got into a topic I found very fascinating. Professor Arturo talked about a theory of his, a very...experimental one. He felt that there was a slim possibility that there were alternate dimensions. Not like the Dark Dimension, or the one you are trapped in now, but rather an alternate Earth, where anything, literally, was possible."
Billy paused, then continued, "We mused about this several times. But, we both realized how ludicrous the idea was. Or at least he did..."
"_He_ did?" inquired Zordon.
"Well, being a ranger at the time, I had to go along with him, while knowing that other dimensions actually did exist."
"Of course," Zordon replied. "Please continue."
"Well, as far as I know, the Professor never gave the idea another though. But I looked into it - did some research. The scanner ray I sent out reacted with something in Angle Grove. And the readings I received match those that would, theoretically, match a device capable of inter-dimensional travel. Uh...'Sliding', if you will." Billy realized immediately how he must have sounded.
Zordon was silent. He appeared to be thinking.
"Zordon?" asked Billy.
"Billy," said Zordon, "there's something I should tell you..."
"Hey, check out that place up ahead," said Rembrant. Just down the road from the four was a large building which looked to be partly a gym, and restaurant, with an outdoor patio.
"Angel Grove Youth Center," the Professor said, reading a large sign on the building.
"Ernie's Juice Bar and Patio," Rembrant read on. "Sounds good to me." Quinn was about to say something, but was interrupted by a deafening siren.
"What the devil?" yelled the Professor over the siren. All around the Sliders, people ran about in a state of panic, rushing indoors.
"Monster attack!" yelled someone as they rushed by.
"Monster attack?" asked Wade. "Oh ya. This place is normal enough!"
The siren stopped. They looked around. The streets were empty, and very silent.
"Do you guys hear that?" asked Quinn, slowly turning around, scoping the area.
"Hear what?" asked Rembrant.
THUMP!
"That."
"What's going on?" asked Wade frantically, fear evident in her voice.
THUMP!
"I'm not sure..." said the Professor. He felt a coldness creep up his back, taking away the warmth of the sun.
THUMP!
"Uh, guys," Rembrant said.
"Ya?" asked Quinn, not moving.
"Is it possible that an eclipse could happen now?"
"Not likely," replied Quinn.
"Then where'd the sun go?" The four slowly turned around, facing what had blocked the sun.
"Good heavens..." the Professor said under his breath. He had never been so terrified in his life.
"It's close to the device," Billy said, running his eyes over the monitor. "Those four must have it."
"Billy, you must contact the other rangers," Zordon said.
"There's no time," he replied, raising his head from the panel. "I'll go now. Tell the others to get there as quick as they can."
"Very well," Zordon agreed. Billy didn't like to undermine Zordon's authority, but it wasn't just the device he had to save, but those four civilians. But why didn't they run when they heard the alarm?
"May the power protect you," Zordon added.
"Right." Billy reached behind his back. "It's Morphin Time!" He swung out his morpher and called on his power.
"Triceratops!" His armor began to materialize over his clothes as he was transformed into crackling blue energy and teleported away.
"It's...it's...Godzilla!" Rembrant turned to run away. Quinn quickly grabbed him on the shoulder, restraining him.
"Stay cool. I don't think it's going to hurt us," Quinn said. His face barely moved as he spoke. He remained stiff, face forward. Show no fear.
"Right...right," Rembrant said, the fear evident in his voice. All he could think was 'I don't want to be lunch.'
Funny, thought Wade. It _did_ look like godzilla. Only it had a few feathers around it's neck. How tall is it? Thirty stories? Maybe larger. Why isn't it moving?
It moved.
"I read you, Zordon," Rocky said into his communicator. He had ducked into a deserted hallway so not to be seen.
"Rocky, Zedd has unleashed a monster on downtown Angel Grove. Billy has already left. You must meet him there," Zordon instructed.
"Uh, Zordon, the other rangers aren't here right now. They're on a picnic."
There was a pause, then Zordon said, "We will attempt to contact them. You must go now."
"Right, Rocky out." Rocky reached behind his back and pulled out his morpher. He held it before him and called on his power: "Tyrannosaurus!"
When she was a child, she would step on a bug without thinking. Even in her adult years. There were plenty of bugs, getting rid of one wouldn't make any difference. Would it? Some people seemed to think so - the ones who'd make comparisons between bugs and people. You know, "So I guess killing one human wouldn't matter either, then?" She never really gave that much thought. I mean, they were _bugs_. Icky, twitching creatures. The tables would never be turned. They couldn't. Only now, in this world, she was the bug.
The massive scaled foot was coming down quickly. There was no-where to run. No time to run. Wade raised her arms above her in an attempt to protect herself. A futile attempt, as the foot came down.
"Back off!" What sounded like a laser rang in Wade's ears. She opened her eyes.
"We're not dead," she exclaimed.
"Not now, Miss Wells." The Professor grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away. In the smoke, Wade tried to see what had happened. Who had saved them.
"Are _you_ gonna stop me?" a voice boomed out. Who was speaking? The Sliders looked up, seeing that it was the monster. That question answered, who was it (?) talking to?
The Sliders had ducked into a small cafe. They were all looking out the large front window. Wade squinted. It was someone...dressed completely in blue. She couldn't make out much more.
"I'm not..." replied the blue-clad figure.
"But I am!" From behind the monster, a large red robot, as large as the monster, swooped down from the sky and knocked the monster to the street with a large black staff it was holding.
"They're going to destroy the city!" exclaimed Quinn. He was right - there were buildings on all sides.
"I'm outta here! Catch me if you can!" a voice said from inside the red robot. The robot turned and flew off into the sky.
"It appears to be luring the creature away..." the Professor said. The Sliders, seeing that the cost was clear, came out of the cafe.
"Hey, where's that blue guy?" asked Rembrant.
"Beats me," replied Wade, looking around. In the distance, loud explosions could be heard, along with the clash of metal on metal. No one else had come out of hiding yet.
A few moments later, two men came running out of the Juice Bar. One was considerably larger, and seemed to drag the second, who seemed hesitant.
The Sliders watched the two from the front of the cafe. The two appeared to be in their late teens.
"C'mon, Skull!" the larger yelled. The second, Skull, was carrying a large bag. When the reached the spot where the Sliders and the mysterious blue figure had stood, they stopped and dropped to their knees.
"Let's check it for prints!" exclaimed the larger, not removing his eyes or face from the pavement. Skull eagerly got a plastic box out of the bag.
"Here ya go, Bulk," Skull said, handing it to Bulk.
"What the devil are those two doing?" asked the Professor.
"Maybe we should ask them," suggested Quinn. He started walking towards the two. The other three followed.
"This is it, Skull," Quinn heard Bulk say. "We're finally going to find out who they really are!" Bulk appeared to be dumping chalk onto the sidewalk.
"You said it, Bulky," replied Skull, who was now dusting the chalk with a small brush.
"Uh, what are you guys...doing?" asked Quinn.
Bulk slowly raised his head, and gave Quinn a 'What does it look like I'm doing, dummy?' look.
"Checking for prints, hair and fiber," replied Skull. Bulk whapped him on the head.
"Quite, numbskull," Bulk said, pulled Skull's face close to his and talking in a whisper.
"Prints of what?" asked Wade.
"If you must know, the Power Rangers. They were right here! Didn't you see them?" asked Bulk.
There was silence as the Sliders exchanged confused glances.
"Right, well, keep up to good work," the Professor said. He turned on his heel and began to walk away.
"That was _too_ weird," said Wade, glancing over he shoulder at the two.
"I'm with you Wade," Rembrant said.
"What do you make of this, Professor?" asked Quinn.
"I'm not sure," Professor Arturo replied. People had no begun to return to the streets. "I do have one theory, though..."
Five beams of colored light shot down through the roof of the Command Center: white, red, black, yellow and pink. They materialized into five teenagers : Tommy, Rocky, Adam, Aisha and Kimberly.
"And excellent job, rangers," complimented Zordon.
"Thanks, Zordon," replied Tommy. He turned to Rocky. "Sorry we couldn't get there sooner, man."
"Hey, no sweat," replied Rocky.
A small robot entered the Command Center - Alpha 5. "Good job, Rangers!" Alpha said. "But where is Billy?" Billy, the blue ranger, was not present.
"He said he had to go find something, and that you'd explain," answered Adam. The other rangers smiled.
"Rangers," Zordon began, "by now you are well aware of alternate dimensions."
"Sure," replied Kim, "like the Dark Dimension, right?"
"That, I am afraid, is only half true. You see, what we think we are dealing with are a group of four people who have a device which allows them to 'slide' between alternate earths," Zordon explained.
"Alternate earths?" asked Aisha.
"Yes, where anything is possible," Zordon said.
"Like, where..let's say...the Russians rule America," Tommy gave for an example. The others understood.
"And is that why Zedd sent down a monster?" asked Rocky.
"I am not certain," Zordon said, "but even if that was not his motive, the sliding device must not fall into his hands. There's no telling how many other worlds there are for him to conquer. Worlds with no Power Rangers to stand in his way."
"Superheroes?" exclaimed Wade.
"Yes, it appears so," replied Professor Arturo. "A superhuman fighting force known as the Power Rangers."
Quinn was reading a newspaper. The headline read "Power Rangers thwart alien attack." He tossed down the paper. The Sliders were in a library. "It appears so," he said.
"And," continued the professor, "it appears each of them control a colossal assault vehicle called a.." he looked down at one of the papers "...zord. And these 'zords' can combine to form more powerful fighting machines...a _Mega_-zord."
"You've got to kidding me," Quinn said, rolling his eyes.
"And they seem to protect the world from..." the Professor began to chuckle "...evil space aliens." The three shared a laugh.
Rembrant, who had gone to look for more about this world, returned. "Hey guys. Check this out." He held open a large book filled with color photos.
"You have to admit," Quinn said, "that armor looks pretty nice."
"Can believe this," Rembrant said. "They have to most advanced weapons I've ever seen."
"Now that I think about it, you're right," Wade said. "I mean, look at these things."
"And God knows where they get their power from," Quinn added. "It says here that no-one knows who they are. Secret identities!" Rembrant said. It was obvious he was enjoying this - the whole idea. And not in a silly way. Much more serious.
"Whoever they are, I'd sure like to thank that blue one that saved us," Wade said.
"Hey Ernie, have you seen four people I'm looking four. Um, one older gentlemen, am African American and two younger persons, and man and women?" asked Billy.
"Sorry, Billy," replied Ernie. He smirked, gestured behind Billy and said, "Maybe you should ask Watson and Sherlock." Bulk and Skull were seated at a nearby table, going over 'clues'.
Billy smiled. "Thanks anyway, Ernie." He seriously considered asking Bulk and Skull, but then decided he'd better not.
"Man," Rocky said after they had been teleported to his house where he and Adam were going to do some homework, "if that device fell into Zedd's hands.."
"I don't even want to think about it," replied Adam.
Up in outer space, in a palace on the moon, someone, someone evil, was thinking the same thought.
To be...you know ;)
