The winds blew faintly as the archeological dig pressed on, having found several numerous finds in fossils. The head of the team set down a sheet of the area map, setting a piece of wood on each side to weigh it down. "Alright..."

"Professor!"

The group at the table looked back as a woman ran out of a nearby cave. "What?"

"Professor Hammond, we found something! Quick, you've got to see this!"

The man smiled as he ran down to the cave, following the woman in to where several people were crowded around a single spot. The woman smiled as he bent in to look, the man seeing that the find was some kind of metallic object. "My god..."

"It looks like metal...but it felt soft like leather."

As the man brushed away the dirt covering the object, it was further revealed to be box-like. He raised his brows as his hands felt the object's surface, clearing a bit more of the dirt away. "Doesn't feel like any metal I know of..."

Nadira's sobs could be heard throughout the prison ship as she attempted weakly to 'dry' her eyes from her tears. "How sad..."

"Man, am I glad to see you!"

"We all are...here, take a seat, we saved you some dinner."

"Yeah, you must be famished..."

Nadira's sobs almost eased off when suddenly the show was interrupted by a news broadcast. "What?! My show!"

"We interrupt the regularly scheduled program to bring you this special news bulletin."

"Noooo!" the pink haired mutant screamed, flinging her tissue box over her head in a fit. The Reavers nearby wisely backed away to prevent their own injury from Nadira's tantrum.

Ransik, on the other hand, quickly took notice and walked over to get a better look at the holo-screen, ignoring the whining and crying of Nadira.

"Archeologists have discovered what seems to be a strange metallic object in the mountains near the Silver Hills area. Scientists have been unable to determine the object's age or origin, but can say that it was embedded in a layer of sediment that dates back to the Cretaceous period, over 65 million years ago."

"Hm...." Ransik mused, then found even he was getting annoyed with Nadira's whining. "Nadira, shut up!" he bellowed, the woman staring at Ransik in shock as she wisely silenced herself.

"Some theories put forth is that it may have been left by aliens in a ancient visit..."

"I know that box...that's from Time Force, it has to be...Frax!"

In the de-freezing chamber, Nadira snorted as a cryo-frozen alien was placed in the cryo chamber. Frax ignored her as he manned the controls. "Preparing subject Braq for reanimation...ready...begin."

Lasers shot through in the chamber, breaking down the ice layer around the alien and bringing the prisoner back to normal size. As the door swung back open, the alien inside waved away the cold vapors left behind. "Yes! Free again!"

Ransik frowned as he walked over, the alien recognizing him and bowing. "Ransik of Earth's mutants, it is you I owe my freedom! How may I serve you again?"

"I need you to capture something for me, before Time Force has a chance to retrieve it."

"Gladly, but...what would I be finding?"

At that, the mutant crime lord glanced away from the aliene. "The very thing that allowed the creation of Time Force, and the Time Ranger powers...the power of the TimeFire."

The Time Fire

As the lead member of the archeology team placed the strange object in a metal case, he shut the lid and fasten the locks, smiling to his team. "Thank you all...very well done."

The team joined his smile, then screamed as the tent behind them exploded, sending them looking for cover.

"How nice of you to gift wrap it for me!" Braq stated, holding up his rifle. "Now, be so kind as to panic!"

The Reavers with him ran down from their perch, chasing the scientists as Braq swatted the lead professor to the ground, picking up the case with his free hand. "All too easy," he mused, then looked up as he heard the sound of approaching engines, several jet black SUVs drive to a halt a few dozens meters away. The black suited Silver Guardians piled out, all taking aim at Braq and the Reavers. "What now?"

"Drop your weapons now, you're under arrest for trespassing and endangering the public!" the team commander stated.

Braq almost laughed at the demand. "You have got to be kidding me! Reavers, handle these twenty-first century idiots!"

"Fire!"

With the archeologists on the ground or behind cover, the Guardians had no problem letting loose and firing away en masse at the alien and his robot underlings. Braq managed to avoid a few shots, holstering his rifle and drawing his sword.

As the Guardians continued firing, several Reavers went down, the archeology team racing to get away as the Guardians gave them cover. Unfortunately, being careful with their fire allowed the Reavers to gain grounds on them, forcing some of the Guardians to fight hand to hand.

Several of the soldiers raced to handle Braq, getting flung around as a result. "You humans are pathetic!"

Eric, finishing off a Reaver, rushed at Braq and kicked his arm, only to get smacked in the chest and sent to the ground. "Ah! Damnit..."

"You are such a fool," the alien mused, raising his sword and swinging down, only to have it blocked by the Chrono Vector of the Pink Ranger! "What?!"

Yuuri quickly shoved the blade away and kicked Braq back, the rest of the team following her into action as Wes stopped and held his hand out to help Eric up. "You okay?"

"I don't need your help!" Eric snarled, running off to rejoin the fight, Wes chasing after him but getting caught up in a fight with a Reaver.

Braq chuckled as he watched the fight. "Amusing, but I have to be getting back to Ransik." He then ran off, catching Yuuri's notice.

"Hajisore!" she ordered, running over and leaping up, kicking Braq in the back and sending him into the ditch where the cave was. She quickly followed up with a rapid series of kicks as she jumped down into the ditch, sending the alien back again and making him drop the box. "In the name of Time Force, you're under arrest! Hand over the box!"

"Don't make me laugh, Ranger!" Braq snapped back. "You may want this box and what's inside, but you're not getting it!"

Eric made his way to the nearby corner, hiding behind it as he listened.

"Give me one good reason why not, baka!"

"Ransik is going to have the power of the TimeFire, and the V-Rex!" the alien stated. "That's good enough for me!"

"TimeFire?" Eric whispered as he kept behind the corner.

"How do you know about V-Rex?!

Braq chuckled as he backed away. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he taunted, Domon, Syon and Lucas jumping down from above to join Yuuri. "It'll take more than four Rangers to stop me!"

"Then let's make it five!" Wes called as he dropped down from behind Braq and swung his Chrono Vector, striking and causing Braq to drop the box again. The Red Ranger quickly grabbed the handle and backed away, nodding to his teammates. "Looks like we got the drop on you!"

Braq chuckled as he tossed his sword up a bit, grabbed it with the blade facing down, and flung it at Wes, quickly whipping out his rifle as the Ranger dodged the sword and firing. The blast hit the blade and caused an explosion that sent Wes flying, his Vector and the box flying to the ground as he went sailing through the air.

"Wes!"

"Kuso!"

He finally slammed to the ground a good twenty meters away, yelling in pain from the impact and blast. Eric looked to where the box had landed near him and grabbed it, running off as the Rangers ran to help their teammate, Syon stopping to grab Wes' Chrono Vector.

Braq laughed as he ran back, only to find the box was gone. "What?! Where is it?! I saw it land here!" He snarled as he failed to find the case, holstering his rifle. "Damn, I'll have to come back for it later!" he stated, vanishing as he activated the teleporter on his belt.

"Wes, are you alright?" Lucas questioned as the Rangers reached their fallen comrade.

"My side and leg..."

"He's hurt, bad," Syon stated. "We've got to get him back to the clock tower!"

Yuuri nodded to Domon as the Yellow Ranger picked up Wes and carried him as carefully as possible while racing away with the rest of the team.

"Eric!" one of the Guardians called as they gathered their injured. "Eric, where are you!"

Miles away, at an old storage depot, Eric raced up the stairwells, case in hand as he reached a good level and stopped to open the case, finding the strange box-like object inside. "The power of TimeFire," he mused, taking the object out and finding a neat cut hole on one end, big enough for a human hand to fit in.

Taking the bait, he slowly put his hand in, the object lighting up and flashing. Eric dropped it in shock, then looked around. "Have to come back later," he muttered, picking up the object and hiding it behind a large crate before heading off.

Hours later, at the headquarters of the Guardians, Mr. Collins walked down a hall, flanked by an aid on one side and one of the Guardians on the other. His face was neutral as the soldier spoke, not letting his emotions be seen.

"The Guardians have been getting great press, the phones have been off the hook with new clients."

"Excellent," Collins replied, the three turning a corner as they continued through the hall.

"But we still don't have the firepower to match the Rangers," the soldier continued. "If we could just figure out how their weapons work...sir, your son is a Ranger, maybe he could--"

"You leave my son out of this," Collins quickly stated before the man could finish, looking forward to see Eric approach. "Yes?"

"Sir," Eric began as he saluted. "I understand that Commander Porter is still unable to resume his duties...I'd like to take his place as head commander of the Silver Guardians. No one is as loyal and dedicated as I, and I fight as well as your son, the Red Time Ranger...if not better."

Collins frowned at that last part, looking at Eric coldly. "I need someone I can trust...Davidson."

"Sir!"

"You're in charge for the time being," Collins continued, then looked back at Eric. "I don't know the first thing about you other than you know my son. Now, if you'll excuse me."

Eric moved aside and saluted as Collins and his companions went by. As soon as they couldn't see him anymore, however, he clenched his fist and glared at them in contempt. So, you're gonn'a make it hard...fine. I'll prove that I am the right person for command.

Yuuri sighed as she tended to Wes' wounds, gentle wiping a nasty cut with a damp cloth. "Kuso...that alien sure did a number on you."

"Is he gonn'a be okay?" Syon asked.

"He was hurt pretty badly, but he'll be fine," Yuuri replied. "Circuit, any information on that prisoner?"

"Judging from your description of him, my data indicates it's Braq. He's a Dridian from Xag'tai, and he was an expert tracker and bounty hunter before he went rogue and was apprehended."

"What about that...control box, what did you called it?"

"It's the V-Fire," Yuuri stated. "It's an ancient relic that was used to create the Time Ranger powers, it could control this dinosaurian battle machine we code named 'V-Rex'."

"How did it get here?" Syon asked.

"When Time Force first began their experiments in quantum rift travel," Circuit began. "They used the V-Rex as a test subject, sure that they could recall it based on tests that revealed as long as the V-Fire was attached to the V-Rex, it could be controlled without activating the V-Fire itself. Something went wrong though, and both were lost. It was theorized that somehow during transit, the V-Rex and the V-Fire were separated, and both lost somewhere in the space/time continuum."

"So, whoever gets control of the V-Fire..."

"Will command the V-Rex," Yuuri finished for Lucas. "Hence why we must get it before Ransik can."

Braq, leading a squad of Reavers, neared the depot with a tracker on his writer, the device's screen showing that the target was close. "Excellent...the TimeFire is nearby somewhere in this depot."

"Sensors detect non-terran lifeform at a storage depot at the edge of the city!" Circuit stated, everyone staring at him in shock.

"The V-Fire!" Yuuri gasped. "Move, now!"

As soon as the four were gone, Wes finally came to, looking around and wincing at the pain in his side. "Wha...where is everyone?"

"Braq is at a storage depot just outside the city, the others went to find out why, Yuuri thinks it's the V-Fire."

Wes frowned and painfully jumped out of bed, running off as Circuit stared in shock. "Wes, wait! You're not strong enough, don't go!"

Braq chuckled as he looked down at his tracker again. "Excellent, I've finally got the exact location of the..." He looked up as he heard a growing engine sound, seeing the Rangers on their hovercycles. "Time Rangers?!"

The four slowed to a halt, dismounting their vehicles and standing before Braq and his Reavers. "Hajisore, Braq!"

"What are you doing here?!" the alien snapped.

"I could ask you the same thing!" Yuuri replied.

"I'm here to reclaim some missing property," Braq stated, laughing a bit.

"It's not yours to claim!" Syon snapped back in anger.

"Well then," the alien mused, unhooking the tracker from his wrist. "We'll just have to see about that." He turned to a Reaver and handed it the tracker, then turned back to face the Rangers. "Keep looking, I'll handle Time Force!" He quickly drew his sword, the Rangers summoning their Chrono Vectors from their Changers and racing into battle against him, but the alien bounty hunter was too quick and agile for even Yuuri to handle.

As Braq held off the Rangers, the Reavers marched toward the depot, beginning up the stairwell just as Eric arrived. "Oh shit!" the Guardian swore, racing toward the robots. "Hey, bucket heads!"

His taunt caught their attention, several Reavers breaking from the group to handle the human only to be effortlessly beat away as Eric made it past them and ran up the stairwell, taking on several more at the next level up. "Damnit, this is holding me up!" he realized, drawing his handgun as he reached the next group and firing away, blowing out their heads with his weapon. "Easy pickin's..."

Eric quickly ran up the stairs and fired at the last of the Reavers, taking them out and running past their crackling bodies to where he had stuck the V-Fire box. "That was too close," he muttered as he ran out, only to find himself faced with a pair of armed Reavers, the machines taking aim at him. "Ah crap..."

The two sides circled each other, Eric with a worried look on his face just before find himself flying off the platform just as the robots fired, crashing to the ground. He shook his head and looked to see Wes in full Ranger armor across from him, Eric frowning. "Wes..."

The Red Ranger shook his head and looked at his companion. "Eric, give me the control box."

Eric didn't get a chance to object when the Reavers arrived, the two forced to fight against the machines together. Wes quickly shielded Eric behind him when he got the chance, trying to stay between the robots and the Silver Guardian. "Give me the box, Eric, you don't know what you're dealing with!"

"Hell no, the box is mine!" Eric snapped back, kicking away a Reaver as he and Wes were swarmed. Eric took a few blows but returned them in full, backing away and catching his breath before running.

Wes continued to fight the machines, knocking a few into a pile of crates then sending another pair to the ground. "Eric! Give me the box!"

Eric ignored the Ranger as he flipped over a pile of crates and whipped out his gun, firing away at a group of Reavers. A quick turn sent another volley of shots impacting on a Reaver in mid-jump and sent it through a gap in the flooring. As he turned back to fire again, one of the robots grabbed his arm and pulled up, knocking the gun from his hand.

Eric looked to see a trio of Reavers taking aim, quickly got control of the one holding his arm, and twisted the machine around, using its body to block the shots from the three gunners, then tossed it to the ground, dodging the next round only to be flung forward by the blast that result as the shots ignited a small crate.

Yelling from the pain as he hit the ground again, Eric looked up and saw a Reaver take aim at him. The man got back to his feet and instinctively raised the box as the machine fired. The shots absorbed by the control box, the energy was suddenly released back at the Reavers and knocked them down. "Whoa..."

"I don't believe it," Wes said in shock as he got up to his knees.

"Wes!" Circuit called as he floated down and landed on a barrel. "You've gott'a stop him before he activates the V-Fire!"

Wes nodded as he looked to Eric. "Eric, hand it over."

"No! No one is denying me my right and destiny!" Eric replied.

"Don't do this, you have no idea what you're doing!"

The man merely inserted his arm into the box, the object flaring with light then vanishing as it was replaced by a device strapped to Eric's wrist. "Incredible."

"Enter command code," came the computer voice from the device.

"Eric, no! You don't know what you're getting into!"

"I have every idea what I'm doing!" Eric replied as he brought the device close to his mouth. "Time Fire!"

Energy blazed out of the V-Fire, then exploded into bolts of lightning, crackling over Eric's body just before it blasted out into a massive fireball, rocking the depot and sending debris flying from the release of power.

Wes covered his head as debris from the blast rained onto him, lifting his head up as the blast subsided. "Eric?" he called, then saw the form as the smoke cleared. "Oh my...god..."

Standing in the debris, energy crackling about his body, was a dark maroon and black armored form, his visor design a jagged edged version of Wes', his chest design the same as his visor. The sections that would be white on Wes' suit were black while the red was a notable darker shade. A holster on his right side carried a blaster of some kind, and the buckle of his belt had a golden spire down the center. Unlike Wes' armor, the boots were entirely black, showing no signs of the red that, if it had been TimeRed, would have been there.

"Circuit, what can you tell me on this Ranger?"

"I'm sorry but...I have no data on the V-Fire..."

Meanwhile, Braq and the rest of the Rangers were still battling. He fired off a wide burst shot from his rifle, hitting all the Rangers as he laughed.

Yuuri quickly tapped in a sequence on her Chrono Changer, her V5 cannon warping out into her hands. "Laugh it up!" she growled just before firing, only for Braq to dodge the shot and return fire. "Ah!"

"This guy is insane!" Domon stated as he helped Yuuri back up. "He's too strong even for all four of us!"

"No one is too tough for the Time Rangers!" Lucas replied.

"Then let me introduce myself," Braq stated smugly. "I'm no one, and I am too tough for the Time Rangers!"

"Kuso," Yuuri swore as Braq took aim at them.

Suddenly, just as the alien was about to fire, a shot slammed into his hand, knocking the rifle out of Braq's grip just before a series of additional blasts caused flames to erupt around him. "What?!" he bellowed, looking around as a resounding clang echoed through the air. "Who would dare?! Where are you?! Show yourself, now!"

The clanging sound continued as the two sides looked around for the source of the shots, then saw a figure high up on the stairwell of the depot. "Who is that?"

"I have no idea," Lucas replied.

"He's on our side," Domon added a bit optimistically.

"I hope he's on our side," Syon stated.

The figure ceased his tapping the pipe railing of the staircase and walked into full view to reveal his maroon and black armored form.

"Hey, it's Wes!"

"I don't think so, Domon," Syon whispered.

"Another Time Ranger?!" Braq said in disbelief.

"Listen and learn, freak!" the new arrival stated coldly. "I'm not any Ranger, not by a long shot. I am the TimeFire!"

"I don't care what you call yourself," Braq snapped back. "I'm calling you dead! Reavers!"

TimeFire looked to see more Reavers arrive and gave a disgusted snort. "Give me a break!" he stated, quickly taking aim and firing, the blast vaporizing its target on impact, another blast turning its target to dust as well.

"Yuuri, who is that guy?"

"I have no idea," Yuuri replied.

"Guys!" Wes called as he ran over to join the others. "It's Eric! He activated the control box and transformed into TimeFire!"

Even as the Rangers learned of what had happened, TimeFire leapt down to the ground from his perch. "V-Fire, assess situation!"

"Tactical assessment suggests use of V-Defender Rapid-fire mode."

"Noted and taken!" TimeFire stated. "V-Defender, Rapid-Fire!" he called as he tapped the keypad on the side of his weapon, swiftly taking aim and unleashing a volley of shots at the Reavers, vaporizing several of them within mere seconds, but the machines just kept coming. "Damn, these guys don't give up!"

"Recommend V-Defender Blade mode."

"Right! V-Defender, Blade mode!" Eric commanded, his gun converting into a sword weapon just before he ran into the swarm of robots and started slashing away, rending the Reavers to scrap and junk. "Now this is one hell of a gun!" he commented, then quickly spun around to deflect a blow from Braq, kicking the alien away. "Nice try, but no go!"

"You may have beaten the machines," Braq taunted as he backed away. "But you won't beat me!" He quickly aimed with his rifle and fired, only for Eric to drop down just as fast, V-Defender reverting to blaster mode and returning fire. "Ah!"

Eric chuckled smugly as he got back to his feet. "What a dumbass..."

"TimeFire, recommend use of FireBlaze mode to complete mission."

"Sounds good to me," Eric stated with a smile, tapping a sequence on the keypad. "FireBlaze mode, engage!"

The command transformed the V-Defender back to sword mode, blade blazing with fiery red energy. Eric raced at Braq as the alien readied his own sword, swinging to push away Braq's blade, then slashing through the alien's torso, quickly spinning back around and striking again in rapid succession, finishing the attack with an "X" strike and turning to face away from Braq as the alien crackled with red energy. "End of the line!"

Braq bellowed in pain as energy lashed out from his body, dropping his sword just before he himself collapse, then suddenly exploded in a brilliant fireball, the Rangers staring in utter shock and horror as one of Braq's hands landed near them.

"Arakami...he killed him..."

Syon looked at Yuuri, somehow hoping for an explanation. "I thought Time Force made the V-Fire and the TimeFire powers, why make them to kill?!"

"Time Force didn't create the TimeFire," Yuuri stated. "They found the V-Fire and the V-Rex on an asteroid out in deep space..."

Circuit flew over and landed before the Rangers, blinking his eyes with shock. "Time Force never activated the V-Fire to find out what it could do..."

"Just the sheer power of them is frightening," Domon added.

"Just how Eric is gonn'a to use that power is what we may have to worry about," Yuuri stated as the man walked toward them, Wes approaching him in return.

"Eric, are you okay?"

The newly empowered TimeFire nodded in response. "Never been better."