[ShinySephiroth]

Chapter Two: The Guardian of Time

As Sam walked into his room, his radio clicked on. "...nd it has been three days since famous singer/songwriter, Kira Ford, has gone missi-"

Sam turned off his radio and sighed. "I need to program that thing to not turn on every time I walk into the room. Anyway, that was an amazing meal! Boy, am I stuffed!" He looked and found he was speaking to only the walls, as Warren, his roommate, was not in the room.

"Never mind..." he muttered under his breath.

He plopped down onto his bed. Staring at the ceiling, he thought: Boom is awesome. He has always made me feel like I have a family here. He's a good father-figure. Hehe... Glad his neuron-enhancer got him into duty.

Sam looked over to his desk at the gift wrapped on it. It took forever to finish it!

He mused to himself how funny it would be when Boom would open the box to find a replica Sam had made of the "SPD Orange Ranger" suit. He had constructed the suit by watching archived footage in The Hall of Legends.

"The Hall..." Sam said to himself. He remembered the problems he had during his previous battle. He had never had a problem with his access to the Hall, and it was bothering him. He left his room and went to The Entry.

As Sam walked into The Entry room, he saw the portal's sentinel slowly turn to him. "Transwarp Mark VII: ONLINE. What is your request?"

Sam pulled out his badge and placed it in front of the robot's eye-scanner. "Hall of Legends."

The Machine's eyes turned green. "Access granted. Welcome, Future: Omega Ranger." He cranked a lever, tuning the door's frequency to the proper setting to allow Omega's entrance. "Reminder: you must stay morphed in The Hall or you will be lost in the crevices of time."

Sam winked. "I gotcha, big boy."

He backed up and thought, I love this part! He then ran past the eight foot tall guard, yelled, "SPD EMERGENCY!"

Sam transformed right as he hit the portal's shimmering, purple surface. Like Alice down the rabbit hole, he slowly descended to the Hall's main floor.

"Sam, what are you doing?" Future: Omega Ranger's commander's voice rang through his communicator in his helmet.

"Just doing some indexing, Commander Tate."

After a silence, Sky said, "Very well. Make sure to at least remember your point of departure so you don't show up a week from now, got it? Oh, never mind. Here you come right now. Make sure you have your report with the proper formatting when you hand it to me."

Omega sighed. That's not how time travel works, Sky... He thought. Sky was a bright guy, and a great commander, but certain things escaped his grasp of understanding.

"Understood, Commander. Anything in particular you need me to index?"

Commander Tate's voice came back online. "Why, yes, I would like - What!?"

Omega heard an explosion in the background, followed by Sky's demands. "Ranger- stand down! That is an order!" More explosions were heard.

"Commander!?" Future: Omega stood frozen in shock.

What's happening!? He thought. He then began to remember what Sky had just mentioned: "Here you come right now..." Realizing that Sky was talking about Sam himself, he focused in on what he could hear was going on through his helmet.

"SPD EMERGENCY! Shadow Ranger!"

He could make out battle noises through the communicator. He then heard a distinct, familiar voice saying, "If that is what you want, then fine: Legend Blade!"

After some more noise and what sounded like screams, Future: Omega heard Boom say, "Sam... I don't know what is happening, so please put the blade down... Sam, NO!"

At that instant, the communication dropped. Sneering behind his helmet, Future: Omega Ranger turned his attention to the Hall of Legends' main computer. "Hall: set the Future: Omega Ranger power tap to the Morphing Grid." He shook his head and sighed. "That should weaken my future self enough so the guys can apprehend... me? ... and we can get to the bottom of this."

He knew that with the properties of time travel, two people could not share the same "tap" to the Morphing Grid without being weakened. If this was another version of himself, who had created a new timeline by visiting from the future, he felt he could at least get B Squad a chance to take the new Omega Ranger down by weakening him.

"Unable to grant request: Entry log deleted. Unable to grant request: Hall entry point sealed." The computer responded coldly.

Omega's heart felt like it was in his throat. "What is happening!?" He cried out in frustration.

Suddenly, a hologram appeared before him. It was the head of SPD Earth, Anubis Cruger. "Sam, I am sorry to say things are bad. Very bad. I had to lock you in The Hall for your own safety. It will take too long to explain everything, and I don't have time... but you do. Sam, your ranger project has been to ensure the omega future... the last future that cannot be taken by evil forces. I have programmed The Hall to only let you out once you have completed the project I left for you. It is filed as Project: Future Ensured. Good luck."

And with that, the Future: Omega Ranger was alone. "Computer: Open the programmer mode."

"This mode has been deactivated."

Omega stopped and breathed in deeply. He had been hoping to access the programmer mode and deactivate whatever was impeding him from escaping the Hall of Legends. Focus...

"Computer: Open file search and locate Officer Boom's instruction manual."
"All of these functions are locked. Omega Ranger's only access is currently to the file 'Future Ensured'."

A holographic projection of a file folder appeared in front of Future: Omega. "Ranger: this project has special guidelines. You are to watch the Time Force files chronologically. The first folder is unlocked. Subsequent folders are locked and will be unlocked upon completion of the previous files in the folder subsequently preceding the locked files."

Frustrated, Future: Omega Ranger activated the Chrono Work Station via his morpher and sat. The keyboard appeared before him, directly under the holographic folder.

"Computer: Tell me the names of the folders and the files in them." Omega watched as the folders appeared before him. To keep calm, he reasoned to himself, Cruger is right: I have time. I can still pop in at the right time. I have to trust him. Somewhere in these files is the information I need to resolve... whatever is happening.

The computer's voice echoed in Omega's helmet: "There are twenty one folders. The name of folder one is 'Origins'. This folder has three files. Folder two has five files. Folder numbers three through six have two files each. Folder numbers seven through ten have one file. Folder eleven has two files. Folders twelve through twenty one have one file each."

Omega hurriedly typed all of the information into his second monitor for his index record. "Open Folder One: Origins. What are the files?"

The computer flipped the icon open to show three files. Two were dark with no title. "File one is 'The Reign of the Morphing Masters'. Would you like to begin?"

Omega stretched out his arms and legs. "May as well." The archived footage began to play.

. . .

In a beige building complex with ancient looking designs that the Future: Omega Ranger recognized as having the same architecture as the old Command Center for the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, many important figures gathered. Some entered the complex through the opening at the top of the teleportation cylinder attached to the building where they would be verified for access. These were the leaders from wealthy planets and alliances. Those without access to such technology entered by foot through the front entrance.

Once inside, the view showed gadgets and charts lining the conference room. The scene showed all in attendance wearing white robes, as a respect to the traditions of those who were sponsoring the convention. A chime echoed throughout the room, indicating the browsing portion of the convention was over. The main presentation was to begin.

Three chairs sat on a stage, with only one vacant. One of the chairs' occupants stood and approached the audio system. He placed the voice amplifier and language synchronizer to his throat. "Ladies and gentlemen, as the meeting conductor, I say on behalf of the United Alliance Research and Development Team that we are honored to have you. My name is Burai and I am Assistant Chief of Research. I invite all to stand now as we welcome the Morphing Masters."

Fourteen figures teleported onto the stage as their cue was given, while a section for them to sit and preside over the meeting appeared as well. They all wore different colored robes, indicative of their position within the group. The one in gold moved to sit with the researchers.

Burai continued, "I am now pleased to pass the time to the research chairman from the Morphing Masters: Master Orion." As Burai turned to head to his seat, Orion materialized at the audio station and adjusted the tech to his throat.

Orion looked over the audience and began his speech. "I have worked in Research and Development for... well, let's say a long time!" The audience laughed. "Although I love it, I had felt the title of Head of Research needed to be passed on to someone young, more in tune with the new technology of our modern age. Although I had many from whom to choose, through the whole process, there was but one young man on whom I had my sights focused. He is talented and focused. I assure you all, as members of The United Alliance, that our research is in the hands of the most capable person I know. He is methodic in his designs and implementations. Hehe... I swear at times he is thinking ten steps ahead of everyone in the development team!"

Laughter could be heard from the audience from the section of researchers in attendance. "You see? They know I am right! Now, although Burai is trying to follow his well mapped agenda, I will skip the pleasantries and get to the heart of why we are all here! I invite the Head of Research up now to start his demonstration!"

The young man looked up, sweeping his messy blue hair away from his eyes. Orion laughed, "Yes, you! Come on! Everyone, the man who needs no introduction! Come on up!"

The Head of Research slowly stood up, groaning to himself. And now for the song and dance. Anything to keep the investors interested. Here we go.
He slowly made his way to the audio station, placing the devices to his throat as Orion patted him on the back, then materialized back at his chair. Unnecessary eye candy. I guess I need to learn to be "showy" if I am to do this.

He looked out toward the audience. He slowly plastered a smile to his face. "I appreciate the vote of confidence. Although... I doubt I'm that well known." The audience laughed. He adjusted the collar of his robe, then continued in his deep, authoritative voice. "I am the Head of Research and Development for the United Alliance. I hale from Eltar. My name is Zordon."