‘Man, that’s the last time I ever use... What in the world.’ “Whoa,” Will said, “Where am I? Where’s Feril?”

“Careful.” Will jumped at a female voice being near him.

“Who are you?” he demanded. Will started to sit up, but was hit with a big wave of nausea. “Where am I?”

“You’re in Cabot,” the girl said, “A little town in Arkansas. As for me, my name is Beatrice Hightower, known to friends as Bea. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Cranston.”

“Wait a minute,” Will said, “How do you know my last name is Cranston?”

“Oh, I forgot,” Bea said, “You like to be called Billy, right?”

“That’s my grandfather,” Will said, “The name’s Will.”

“Will?” Her eyes went wide. “Let me guess. You and your friends were on a ship owned by the Machine Empire. One of your friends, a new one called Justin, used something for you to escape, but it sent you traveling through the timelines. Your other friends are Tom Oliver, Kat Hillard, Tanya Campbell, Shawn Morisette, Ashley Rogers, Adam Park, and Feril Grimwulf, who happens to be your girlfriend too.”

“Yes, you’re correct,” Will said, “But how do you know about all of that?”

“I know just about everything about you,” Bea said, “You’re the Blue Nightflood Ranger and your zord is the Poseidon Gzord. I would know about all of that better than anyone, except my boyfriend. But the explaining can wait until later. We need your help.”

“I’ll help all I can,” Will said, “What do you need me to do?”

“I guess you could call us this timeline’s defenders,” Bea said, “We’re called the Cybersquad, short for, just like the show, Superhuman Samurai Cybersquad. Our leader, and my boyfriend, Lucas, also known as Servo, was captured by this timeline’s form of El Dominos, GigaTron. We need your expertise in computers to get him back.”

“Right,” Will said, “Like I said, I’ll help.” He saw a computer over in one corner, and started to get up. Pain racked through his body.

“When you get better,” Bea said, “You’ve suffered some pretty extensive damage. What happened?”

“Oh, you don’t know?” Will asked, “You seem to know everything else.”

“Let’s just say that what I know hasn’t extended that far,” Bea said.

“I think I landed wrong when I got here,” Will said, “The wormhole was unstable, and that’s when we had all gotten split up. I knew that the wormhole wasn’t stable. Tried telling everyone else, but they wouldn’t listen. And my slider’s missing and I can’t go back home.”

“They’ll come for you when they can,” Bea said, “You’ll see.”

“You’re just trying to cheer me up,” Will teased. Bea laughed and turned towards the computer. Will took a long look at her. ‘Very pretty,’ Will thought, ‘Very nice person. Great body.’ Will shook his head. He felt like he was cheating on Feril just by thinking of another girl that way. ‘For all you know, she’s dead though. Either that, or you just won’t ever be with her again period. Besides, Bea’s already spoken for.’ A few minutes later, his brain registered that he was asleep.

“He’s probably worn out,” Bea said.

“True,” Samurai-1 said, “Are you sure he can help?”

“He’s a Cranston,” Bea said, “He won’t only help, he’ll be a big help. Look at the files in your memory banks called ‘Power Rangers: Generations.’ That’ll help you understand him and his problem.”

“Right,” Samurai-1 said, “Doing so now. He’ll need to wake up again soon. We only have three and a half more hours.

“Hopefully, he’ll be up by then,” Bea said, “We’ll distract GigaTron while he searches for Lucas.”

“We can only hope that he can find a way to get him,” Samurai-1 said, “And pray that GigaTron hasn’t done anything bad to him.”

GigaTron cracked the whip again, hitting my armor. I did not cry out, though I was in terrible pain.

“Scream for mercy,” GigaTron said, cracking the whip again. “Beg for you miserable life, human.”

‘Never,” I said stubbornly.

“Bah,” GigaTron said, throwing the whip away. "I’ll be back. Your friends’ time is almost up.”

“They’ll find a way to get me out of here,” I said, “Count on it.”

“Want to bet? Dark Servo.” A sinister looking duplicate came through the doorway.

“What in the world?”

“A little something to keep your friends happy,” GigaTron said, “An exact duplicate. Though I don’t know the face behind the mask, even I respect your need to be anonymous, although my companion won’t be as forthright. They will think that this is you. Heck, he’ll even fight some of my virus monster, though he’ll let your friends destroy them.

“This isn’t going to work,” I said, “They’ll find your man out eventually. Bea will know its not me.”

“Ah yes, your girlfriend,” Dark Servo said, “Don’t you worry. I’ll take extra good care of her. Good care indeed.”

“STAY AWAY FROM HER!” I screamed at him. They both just laughed and walked off. I struggled against the chains. They almost seemed to weaken, but the exertion quickly wore me out. “Guys, be careful. Especially you, Bea.”

“All right,” Will said, “I’ve found him. He’s being held prisoner in a dampening patch on a far spot of cyberspace. One of you will have to go in and get him out. From what you told me of Gigatron’s message, you’ll be temporarily unable to call upon anything special tied to your powers. I can only punch one person through going in and two, whoever goes and your friend, coming back out.”

“I’ll go,” Bea said, “He’s my boyfriend.” Before anyone could argue, she hit the main key on her wrist computer. “Uplink: Spryte.” She digitized. “I’m ready, Will.”

“All right,” Will said, “S-1, open a tube, frequency six beta.”

“Right,” Samurai-1 said.

Spryte flew through a tube that opened up. In seconds, she was in a jail looking setup. She didn’t take the time to examine her surroundings. She went running through the cells. “Will,” she said, “Can you hear me?”

“Yes,” Will said, “This doesn’t sit right with me. You shouldn’t be able to communicate with us. If you could do that, Lucas would have a while back.”

“I know,” Spryte said, “I feel the same way. Which cell is he in, do you know?”

“Twenty one Q,” Will replied.

“Entering the Q sector,” Spryte said, “Twenty one. Door’s open. I definitely don’t like this.” She walks into the cell, to find a whole bunch of gigamites strewn around the room, and Servo standing in the center of the room.

“Spryte.” Spryte was in his arms in half a beat. “Let’s get out of here, shall we?”

“Definitely,” Spryte said. They went back out and was out of the computer in a few minutes. Bea was in his arms again, kissing him. “Are you all right?” she inquired between her kisses, “Did they do anything bad to you?”

“I’m fine,” he said when they come up for air. “They didn’t do anything the waiting in cyberspace didn’t cure.” He turned to Will. “Who are you?”

“That’s Will Cranston,” Bea said.

“Will Cranston?”

“Yep,” Will said, “And your girlfriend told me that you have a lot to tell me about. Like how does she know just about everything there is to know about me?”

“S-1, open files PR:G,” Lucas said.

“Doing so now,” Samurai-1 said, “Done.”

“Those files should explain all,” he said, “This is a lot easier way than simply telling you.” Will started reading. “Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m tired. Cheryl? T.J.? Bea?” They all shook their heads. “Well, I’m going to get some sleep.” Lucas laid down on the bed and went right to sleep.

“He’s different,” Cheryl said.

“I know,” Bea said, “His kissing is even different. Cold, almost completely devoid of emotion. That’s what I always liked about kissing him, the passion he usually puts behind his kisses. Now, its like kissing an uncle or something.” That sent shivers up the spines of all three listening.

“And I think that it’s just your imaginations,” T.J. said, “There’s no way that he can be anybody but Lucas.”

“I guess you’re right,” Bea said, “But be careful, guys. You never know. Hey, Will, do you have any place to stay the night?”

“Nope,” Will said.

“Well, knowing my parents,” Bea said, “They wouldn’t notice a freight train staying at their house, much less one more person. Would you care to stay at my house? Lucas gave me copies of each of those stories, too.”

“Sure,” Will said.

“Well, we need to go then,” Bea said, “It’s already getting late. Good night, everybody.”

“Good night Bea,” Cheryl and T.J. said, “Good night Will.” Will waved at them and him and Bea left. T.J. turned towards Cheryl.

“Want me to walk you home?” he asked.

“Sure,” Cheryl said. They left hand in hand.

Meanwhile, Lucas really was awake, with a sinister smile on his face.

Part II
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