Case 43: Insane Space
The computer program booted and Chris was looking at himself. “Awesome, it works,” he exclaimed with a huge smile on his face. “Now to just….” He typed in a few commands and a ‘record’ icon appeared in the top left corner of the screen. “Alright then, let’s get started.” Chris cleared his throat. “So journal one of Chris Scott. Don’t know exactly why I’m doing this, but Trixie said it would be cathartic, so here I am. It’s been about a week since I woke up in the med hall. Since then, Nightmare and the personal teachers she picked out have been running me ragged to get me ready.
Sure enough, Shining has been my combat trainer, teaching me as much as he can about combat and tactics. He’s had my lessons split into three different sections; teaming with Sweetie, against Sweetie, and completely solo. Two days apiece for teaming and solo, and one for versus. Starlight is teaching me to control my magic. No idea how I managed to get magic, but apparently I’m a fire mage. She’s been kind and patient, giving me plenty of time to get my head around each technique before moving.And lastly, there’s Trixie. I don’t know why but Nightmare decided I needed to be a little more zen. Trixie’s perfect for the role, seeing as she’s learned to actually control the Alicorn Amulet. Pretty cool stuff if ask me.
“But now for the fun part. In my free time, I’ve been helping out in the engineering department. I’ve upgraded the computer systems, designed new communicators for field ops. We’ve pretty much jumped technology forward at least a few years. Speaking of tech, the Psycho Morpher has been… interesting to study. During training, I managed to summon the Psycho Rod and Bow. I got curious, so I started poking around in the Morpher’s code. What I found was a series of blocked data streams. Of course my first reaction was to hack in and find out exactly what was behind all the locks. I only managed to get through one before the morpher gave me a nice zap. I ended up with a nice long nap and the Psycho Axe for my troubles, but I think I’ll hold off on trying to hack through the security for now.
“And one more thing before I go. The morpher’s primary is a wave of static energy that increases the speed, strength, and defensive capabilities of the user by at least double. I discovered that the suit itself is covered in a condensed field of the stuff, doubling the suits body modifications as well. Overall, I believe that wearing the suit with the field increases my natural abilities by at least ten. I even figured out that I can transfer some of this energy to others. Me and Sweetie have been experimenting with it, and she seems to be getting the hang of handling the Psycho Rod and channeling her magic. I can only transfer through a one person link for now. We tried with Shining and it only managed to cover his arm. I’ve gone to calling this stuff Static, seeing as it manifests itself in an electrical form.
“That’s all for now. Me and Sweetie are scheduled for patrol this afternoon, so I better not keep her waiting. Until next time, Chris Scott, signing out!” He typed in a command and the recording stopped. He typed another command and the computer turned off with a blink.
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Chris and Sweetie traipsed as silently as they could through the foliage of the Everfree. Nightmare had sent them out on their first patrol together, saying it would be little more than a routine vigil That didn’t stop the two from being cautious, though. They’d been out there for almost two hours with no signs of activity or disturbance save for the lone timber wolf that had given them their space. All was pretty calm and both fighters had started to unwind a little.
“Well, this is boring,” Chris said, finally standing out of the semi-crouching position he’d been in for most of the time.
“I agree,” Sweetie replied, following suit. “Usually with my luck, something would have happened by now.”
“Same,” Chris concurred, putting his hands to hips and taking a good look around.
Suddenly, a loud blaring startled both pony and human, who immediately took up fighting stances, back-to-back with one another. It took Chris a few seconds to figure that the noise was coming from his communicator.
“Verdammt,” he said with a bit of a sigh. “I gotta change that ringtone.” He lifted the device on his wrist to his face pressing the crown down with his left hand before speaking. “Chris and Sweetie here. What’s up?”
Sunset’s voice came through from the other side. “What’s up is that we got a major disturbance in dimensional magic near your location. We need you guys to check it out.”
“Right,” Chris replied slowly. “Didn’t the last time you guys picked up a signal like that I came running out of the woodwork like a man on fire?”
“Yes!” Came the irritated reply. “Now get over there!”
“Roger!” Chris answered, ending the connection quickly. He looked to Sweetie, who nodded nervously. He nodded back with confidence, clicking the knobs on his communicator to move it to morpher mode. He flipped it open to reveal the screen inside and a radar appeared on it. It showed a yellow blip in the middle, him, a green dot to his side, Sweetie, and a blue dot Northwest of their position. He dropped his arm again, and turned to Sweetie. “Let’s go.”
“Right,” she replied.
They started sprinting towards the location, making good time. It took them a little while for them to find the exact location, but soon they arrived in clearing that seemed undisturbed.
“Okay,” Chris started, “I don’t see anything.”
“Me neither,” Sweetie answered, surveying the clearing. “Let’s just do a sweep of the place and get outta here. This is giving me the creeps.”
“Yeah,” Chris agreed as they moved to check their surroundings. They spent a few minutes looking around but didn’t find anything.
“This is weird,” Sweetie told Chris as they met back in the middle. “There’s nothing here.”
“Hm,” Chris hummed, “Let me check something.” He lifted his morpher once more and opened the radar again. He put both his middle finger and thumb on the screen and pulled them apart, zooming in the screen until it showed a more realistic diagram. The blue dot appeared to be to their rear left. Chris turned and followed the radar until he was right on top of whatever was giving off the signal. He put the morpher away and kneeled down. He rubbed his around in the grass until he felt his fingers brush something metallic. “I found something,” he called over his shoulder.
“Don’t touch it,” Sweetie warned, coming closer.
“Okay.” Chris pulled his hand back and what he saw he almost couldn’t believe.
“What is it?” Sweetie asked over his shoulder, looking at the strange object.
“It’s a Power Rangers S.P.D. badge.” Chris moved to pick it up. Sweetie grabbed his arm and pulled it back.
“What are you doing?” She demanded in surprise, fearing this weird badge.
“Relax,” Chris said, gently pulling his arm back. “It’s just a piece of memorabilia.” He reached out and grabbed the badge, holding it up so he could get a better look. Suddenly, a voice went through his head: “I am Anubis Cruger, the Shadow Ranger. If you require my aid, or merely my counsel, call on me. But be warned, you, as well as your foes, shall face my Judgement.”
“What the hölle does that mean?” Chris asked out loud.
“What does what mean?” Sweetie asked, not having heard the voice.
“I think,” Chris paused, staring at the badge, “I think I can call on the Shadow Ranger for help.”
“Uh,” Sweetie mumbled, concern in her eyes. “Maybe we shouldn’t mess with that until Scootaloo and her team can get a look at it.”
Chris shook his head. “I’d rather test it here than around a whole bunch of others just in case it is dangerous,” he explained. He looked around until he found what he wanted and pointed to a large tree on the opposite side of the clearing. “Go stand over there just in case you need to get away.”
Sweetie frowned, but nodded and began jogging to the tree in question.
“And put up a force field, just in case,” he called after her. She waved him off and kept up her pace. Once she was safely behind both the tree and a magic field, Chris dropped his eyes back down to the token. He closed his eyes and breathed in and out slowly. Here goes nothing, he thought. He concentrated on the badge in his hand and sent out a simple message. Uh, hello? Anybody out there?
In response, a blue circle appeared on the front of the badge, before being replaced by a red X, and switching back and forth for a few seconds before stopping on the circle, which then floated off and enlarged. Once it became about as large as he was, a lighter blue energy field appeared within it, out of which stepped a figure Chris had only seen on TV.
“Holy scheisse,” he said in shock, because in front of him stood the great Anubis Cruger in the flesh.
“Morning,” Cruger said, “unless it’s the afternoon, kinda hard to tell when you just arrive in another Verse.”
Chris just stared dumbly for a time before babbling like an idiot. “You-how-why-just-and the-judgement-WHAT!?!” He finally got a hold of himself and began to step forward. “You’re Anubis Cruger, and you’re here…. How?”
“Take a breath, I can explain everything but I’d rather we get indoors fist,” Cruger said before turning to Sweetie, “speaking of which, mind leading the way Sweetie? I think fanboy here’s brain still needs to reset.”
“Um, uh,” Sweetie started, dropping her magic field. “I guess we shou-”
Suddenly, Chris’ morpher started blaring a warning, catching everyone’s attention.
“Scheisse,” Chris muttered under his breath as he static-stepped next to Sweetie. “Cruger, incoming!”
“Well, I don’t mind a bit of exercise,” Cruger said, cracking his knuckles.
Chris summoned the Psycho Sling as cogs began to pour into the clearing on all sides. “Sorry, Sweetie, I should have been paying attention.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said charging magic in her hands.
As the cogs made their way out of the tree line, Chris and Sweetie let loose with their respective weapons, felling quite a few in the first wave.
“Have to say, not bad,” Cruger said, standing in front of a large pile of Cog parts.
Now, that’s just no fair, Chris thought, glancing over to SPD commander. The cogs were starting get in too close, pressing the pair closer together. “Now or never,” Chris mumbled, “Sweetie, I need some breathing room!”
“On it!” She answered, raising her hands over her head before smashing a wave of magic through the ground sending the bots backwards.
Chris grinned. “Alright. It’s morphin’ time!” Chris slid into his stance and performed the actions he had grown accustomed to. “Go, Psycho!” His body was surrounded in black energy that erupted into the basic underarmor of the suit. Red energy from his limbs and chest brought forth the white and red armor for his arms, legs, and torso. He rotated his arms over his face, a red gid of energy staying behind and forming the helmet as his arms moved back into place. The black visor slid into place over his eyes, completing the transformation.
“I’ll ask why you’re an evil Ranger later, for now though,” Cruger pulled out his Morpher, “it’d be bad manners if I didn’t join in. SPD, Emergency!” A holographic field of a neon SPD sign appeared as he pulled off his trench coat, revealing a glowing bodysuit, before jumping down a tunnel. When he landed, the glow subsided revealing his armor as his helmet shot towards him, covering his head. “Shadow Ranger!”
“Oh, that was cool,” Chris said, before turning back to the cogs that were getting their second wind. “Shall we?”
“You say that like you think I wouldn’t,” Cruger said, drawing his sword and energising it.
Chris let out a chuckle, before getting serious. “Ready, Sweetie?” He asked, putting his left hand on her shoulder and summoning the Psycho Rod in the other.
“Ready,” She stated standing firm and taking the Rod when Chris handed it to her.
“Static!” Chris cried, electricity moving from his hand and covering them both, red on Chris and green on Sweetie.
“Let’s go!” They shouted together, charging forward in tandem and building off one another as they fought.
Cruger slashed left and right almost without looking, every swing slicing completely through whatever got in it’s path, usually a cog. Meanwhile, Sweetie and Chris worked like a living tornado, Chris slashing and stabbing with the Psycho Sword and Sweetie using the Rod as either a club or to focus magical blasts through. Eventually, Sweetie’s Static wore off and she was forced to teleport out of the fray, firing off bolts from the rod at any cogs that either ranger passed over.
“Well, that was quite bracing,” Cruger said as the last cog fell, “oh dang it.”
“What’s ‘oh dang it’?” Chris asked, turning to the veteran ranger.
“Nothing really, I took down 76 cogs, hoping for a hundred, still haven’t managed to relive that scene.”
“Ah,” Chris said in understanding. “That’s a bummer.”
“Guys,” Sweetie called from behind them to get their attention. “Can we go home now?”
Chris looked to Cruger who simply shrugged, “Didn’t I already suggest it before we were interrupted?”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Chris replied shyly, rubbing the back of his head as he demorphed. The Psycho Rod disappeared from Sweetie’s hands as well and she started to topple forwards. “Wow, there,” Chris said, rushing to support her with a burst of static. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” she answered, sweat coming off her brow. “I guess actual combat is a lot harder than training.”
Chris chuckled, turning around and offering his back for a piggy back that she didn’t bother refusing. Once she was secure, Chris looked to Cruger and motioned further into the forest with his head. “Right this way. Commander.”
“If it’s all the same to you,” Cruger said as he opened a portal and pulled out his ATV, “I’ll drive. Room for you two if you don’t mind getting close.”
Chris threw a questioning glance to Sweetie, who nodded vigorously. “No offense, Chris, but you’re not exactly the most comfortable stead.”
Chris shrugged in agreement and let her down so they could walk to the ATV. They piled on the vehicle, Cruger driving as Chris sat between Sweetie and Cruger.
“Alrighty,” Chris said once they were situated. “To the Castle of the Two Sisters.”
“Hang on,” Cruger said as he gunned the throttle. Despite his speed, he was able to easily avoid crashing into anything. Within a few minutes, they arrived at the bridge, “Everybody off, I’m pretty sure the bridge isn’t rated for vehicles.”
“Sorry about that,” Sweetie said, snapping her fingers to dispel the illusion around the bridge. “We’re kind of careful around here.” The once rickety bridge was replaced by a solid cobblestone one.
“Definitely gonna have to remember that trick,” Cruger said as he crossed the bridge. It didn’t them long to get to the castle, guards rushing out to meet them as they dismounted the ATV, Sunset not far behind them.
“Uh, oh,” Chris muttered quietly, “think we’re in trouble?”
“I seriously hope not,” Sweetie whispered back with a shudder.
The guards lined up on either side of the trio as Sunset stomped forward. “What happened out there?!” She shouted in front of Sweetie and Chris. “And who the hay is that!?!” She shouted again, pointing at Cruger.
“Commander Anubis Cruger, Space Patrol Delta,” Cruger said, “a pleasure to make your acquaintance ma’am.”
Sunset’s eye twitched. She turned hauntingly back to Sweetie and Chris. “We’re going to talk about this later,” she warned, “but until then….” She let out a long, heated breath and stood up straight. “Can we trust him?”
“Not even a question,” Chris stated without hesitation.
Sunset sighed and rubbed her face. “In that case,” She turned to Cruger, a polite smile on her face and her hand outstretched. “Sunset Shimmer, leader of the Special Operations in the Equestrian Resistance Force. Welcome.”
As Cruger shook her hand, he leaned towards Chris, “We need to have a bit of a talk later.”
Chris let out a nervous chuckle. Great, he thought, I get to have TWO little chats.
Sunset released Cruger’s hand and stepped back a little. “Well, make yourself at home. Chris will be your guide if you need anything. In the meantime,” she turned her gaze on Sweetie, “me and Sweetie Belle are going to have a long conversation about this.” She turned and walked away hotly, Sweetie trotting after her, mouthing, “help me,” as she passed by Chris. Chris’ only response was a nervous smile and wave before turning to Cruger.
“So, about that talk,” he started, rubbing his hands together. “The most private place I can think of is my workspace in the engineering lab.”
“Lead the way, and don’t worry, you’re not in trouble,” Cruger said as he demorphed.
Chris let out a sigh. “That’s at least one worry off my back,” he nodded his head towards the castle. “Right this way.”
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Chris gave one last glance around the engineering department as he closed the doors and flipped the switch that would kick in the sound proofing. “Alright, make yourself as comfortable as possible,” he said, offering the only chair in the cluttered space to Cruger as he leaned against his work table.
“Alright then,” Cruger said, “I noticed that a certain unicorn was in the wrong dimension, anything else I should know about?”
“Sunset and Twilight. The best I can tell they swapped that one part in their personalities that got Sunset banished and made Twilight the Element of Magic. Instead, they flip-flopped. Now Twilight is Midnight Sparkle. Other fun details of this world include, but are not limited to; Luna not getting transformed back from Nightmare Moon despite being on our side, Big Mac and Sweetie switching places with their sisters as the Elements of Honesty and Generosity, the changeling population being reduced to three, Tirek and Discord out of the picture, one dead, the other in stasis with serious injuries, Sombra joining forces with King Mondo and Midnight, and all with Celestia MIA.” Chris let out a sigh and crossed his arms. “Honestly, the Resistance is pretty gefickt.”
“Alright then, doesn’t explain the cannon fodder we dismantled 10 minutes ago.”
“King Mondo showed up almost nine years ago,” Chris explained. “Took Canterlot like that.” He snapped his fingers. “Happened right in the middle of the fight between the new Elements and Nightmare Moon.”
“Yeesh. By the way, which one was Mondo again? I didn’t really watch too many of the seasons.”
“Zeo,” Chris answered simply.
“Got it. Anyway, your turn for the questions I think, only fair.”
“Okay,” Chris said, shrugging. “How about, ‘how in the world are you here and not surprised by any of this’?”
“Ah, a first timer, glad to meet them in their home Verse for once. Anyway, I assume that last thing you did before arriving in Equestria was making a purchase, probably at a convention?”
“You assume correctly,” Chris replied. “Got a Psycho Yellow helmet from a guy that looked like the bounty hunter from Lost Galaxy that gave Deviot the Psycho Data Cards.”
“Um… then why are you Red, if you don’t mind me asking.”
“Asides from the, ‘why wouldn’t I be,’ there’s something weird about the code for my morpher. Come take a look.” He moved over to his computer and turned the screen on, plugging a cable into his Morpher as it went through it’s boot sequence. He typed in a few keys and multi colored lines of code started running across the screen. He stared for a while, occasionally typing in commands until he found what he wanted. “Look here,” he said moving over for Cruger to take a look.
“Looks like a series of control locks, preventing certain functions from being accessed unless certain criteria are met. Can’t tell what said criteria are though, need to decompile the entire thing to hunt ‘em down.”
“Precisely,” Chris said, getting fired up over the topic. “See, I got a good look at the code on about the fourth day of my training. I when I looked through it, a huge portion was locked. But as the days went on, I made a connection. Every time I used a new weapon, be it the Rod or Bow, a little bit more of the code unlocked. My theory is that the Morpher has access to all the Psycho’s powers, not just Red’s. I actually ended up hacking through it to unlock the Psycho Axe. I got a huge shock that had me passed out for several hours, but I did it.”
“That’s what happens when you don’t ground yourself. Anyway, back on topic. That guy was who we call the Merchant, and he turned you into what we call a Displaced. As you can guess, it means a person who gained the abilities of a fictional character and sent to Equestria.”
“So, there are others like us?” Chris asked, unplugging his morpher and turning off his computer. “Like other rangers?”
“Power Rangers, Kamen Riders, Pokemon Trainers, DBZ, Yugioh, you name it, odds are there’s a Displaced of it.”
“That’s really cool,” Chris said in awe, before his face screwed up into puzzlement. “Wait… something doesn’t feel right. That means that I’m probably not the only villain Displaced, and I’m going to assume they’re not all as friendly as I am.”
“You got that right,” Cruger said as he pulled out a wanted poster, “Basco here was Displaced as one of the main villains of Gokaiger, handed his Equestria to an alien invasion, and is currently enjoying his hobby of travelling to other Equestrias and killing their Displaced to absorb their power. You see him, you call me, then you run.”
Chris balled his hand into a fist. “I’ll call,” he growled out, “but I sure as hölle won’t run. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s a gott verdammt bully.” Static started shifting out of his Morpher in response to his emotion.
“Alright, but don’t blame me if I save you from otherwise certain death. By the way, you might want to cool off unless you like doing the electric two-step.”
Chris looked at his Morpher in surprise. “Sorry, about that,” he apologized, shaking his wrist, “Trixie keeps telling me that I need to keep my temper in check. Anyways,” he said focusing back on Cruger. “Anything else I should or you want to know?”
“Trixie being level headed, that I’ve gotta see. Anyway, one last piece of vital information before we wrap up, I assume you’d like to know exactly how I entered your Verse.”
“That has been a burning question,” Chris admitted.
“One with a simple answer. All Displaced are able to create a Token. It’s basically a calling card for us, and we can be summoned to other Verses with them.”
“Useful,” Chris commented. “Though a bit troublesome if your Token lands in the wrong hands, or you get summoned at the wrong time.” Chris paused for a moment before his eyes widened in realization. “Oh ,gott, I didn’t interrupt anything important, did I!?!”
“Just a buttload of paperwork, thanks by the way. Anyway, there are ways to safeguard yourself. For example, I assume you noticed the Judgment that happened prior to my arrival?”
“Oh, yeah,” Chris said with a frown. “Thanks for the heartattack. Thought I was a goner there for a second. So,” Chris raised an eyebrow, dismissing his frown, “how do I create a Token?”
“Rather easy all things considered. Step one, select an item that represents you, preferably something that can be easily held in your hand.”
“Hm,” Chris said folding his arms. “I don’t have anything on me, but….” He walked over to what looked somewhat like an old projector. He plugged in his Morpher, opening its displays and making a few swipes. He looked at the table in front of him and typed a command into a console at the side. The arm of the “projector” started moving back and forth, shooting forth light that solidified into a medallion in the shape of the upside down M on his Morpher, surrounded by a circle. He turned back to Cruger, the medal in his right hand. “Okay, now what?”
“3D printer, nice. Anyway, step 2 is to put in a bit of your energy and add a message. It doesn’t have to be as fancy as mine, but it should say something about you.”
Chris thought for a moment. “I got it,” he said, snapping his left fingers. He cleared his throat and let out a breath, static form around his Morpher and hand. “I am the shadow the darkness fears, the malice that quails evil. Call my name if you fight for justice, but beware the wrath of darkness if you chose wrong, for it is you who will face the dark clone. I am Psycho Ranger.” The static died down, as Chris blinked his eyes open. “Did it work?”
“Looks good to me,” Cruger said before opening a portal, “just toss it into the void to propagate, and we’re done.”
“You know,” Chris started, tossing the medallion into the portal, “I never asked how you could do that. Pretty sure normal Cruger couldn’t open portals.”
“Oh yeah, probably should have mentioned. Sometimes Displaced can pick up additional abilities, for example I happen to be a master of Dimensional Magic, and am quite skilled in spell design. Probably has something to do with Equestrian magic interacting with our natural abilities.”
“So that’s how I can do this,” Chris stated curiously, setting his hand on fire. “Wonder what else will happen?”
“My guess, unlocking other colors might grant additional elemental abilities, based on your morpher’s penchant for shorting, electricity seems like a safe bet,” said Cruger.
“Oh, that,” Chris started, waving his hand and extinguishing the flames, “it’s just Static. It’s the most basic functions of the morpher, but the most versatile. It increases speed and strength while also acting as a light shield. The Psycho Armor is actually surrounded in a field of condensed Static. It also helps Sweetie keep up since I can transfer some of it to others.”
“Doesn’t mean I’m wrong, electrical powers are always badass.”
“True,” Chris agreed, shrugging. “It’ll make fighting basic cogs easier if I can just short circuit the little buggers.” Chris looked at a digital clock and was surprised to see the time. “Oh, crap, where’s my head been? It’s almost dinner time and I haven’t even asked if you’re hungry. Would you like to grab something?”
“Might as well,” Cruger said as he stood up, “by the way, your Equestria omnivorous?”
“Eh, the ponies aren’t,” Chris admitted. “Luckily, the Resistance is filled with other races that do enjoy a good steak.”
“Good enough,” Cruger replied.
“Right this way, sir,” Chris said jokingly, swinging the door open and pointing out of the room overdramatically.
“Not gonna say you’re evil, but you’re definitely at least a bit PSycho,” Cruger chuckled.
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Chris led Cruger to the mess hall. It didn’t take long, and Chris felt more chipper than usual. They got their trays and got into line.
“Good morrow, Miss Ladle,” Chris said light heartedly to the cream colored mare. “What’s on your spectacular menu today?”
“That’s ‘Miss Heavy Ladle’ to you, Mr. Scott,” she jokingly chastised. “And today is chicken fried steak, green beans, mashed potatoes, and an oats and barley salad for our vegetarians.” She shifted her gaze to Cruger. “Who’s your friend?”
“Anubis Cruger, and I’ll take the omnivore meal thank you.”
“Heavy Ladle, Mr. Cruger, it’s a pleasure,” she replied taking both trays a filling them with food. “Have a good one, you two,” she said with a smile, handing the food back to them. “And you stay out of trouble, Chris.”
“Will do, Heavy Ladle,” Chris replied with a smile as they walked away to find a seat. As he turned around to face forwards, he noticed how many of the ponies and other natives kept glancing his way.
He let out a sigh. “It’s gonna be one of those days,” he muttered.
“You’re a Displaced, it’s always one of those days,” Cruger said as they took a seat.
“I know,” Chris replied, “but I still think we should have waited for one of the Elements. That way this wouldn’t be happening.” He pointed to a dark blue earth pony that was getting out his seat, his eyes glued on the pair in what appeared to be anger or disgust. Chris let out one more sigh as the stallion approached.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got a few coping mechanisms,” Cruger said as he arrived.
“So, you finally come out of that lab of your’s,” the stallion began hotly, crossing his arms. “Finally want to join us ‘normal’ folk at lunch? Suddenly not so high and mighty.”
“First off,” Chris said taking a bite of his fried steak with gravy, chewing and swallowing in deliberate slowness. “I spend so much time in my lab trying to make this place better. That communicator on your wrist,” Chris pointed to the device, “you’re welcome.”
The stallion only glared and growled, snatching the gizmo off his wrist and throwing it to the floor. He slammed his hands down on the table, sending Chris and Cruger’s dinner into the air. “Look here, you son of-”
“If I may,” Cruger said, a plate of food in each hand, “there are a few things you seem to be unaware of.”
The stallion turned his head to the SPD Commander. “Butt out, Diamond Do-”
“First off, I’m a Sirian, not a Diamond Dog. Second, Chris here has the trust of no less than the Elements of Harmony and Nightmare Moon. Third, he’s also one of the few things standing between you, and a battalion of cogs ready to turn you into a smear on the floor. Last, and certainly not least, I could take you down in less than a 10th of the time it would take you to blink,” Cruger glared at the stallion, “savvy?”
The stallion only got angrier. “Oh, whooptie-FUCKIN’-do! He’s got the approval of a country bumpkin, a pegasus who can barely lift herself off the ground, another that’s to full of herself, a mare who should be in the dungeons for pure insanity, a little girl that can’t control her power, a legend that wasn’t true until a few years ago, and the student of the ‘oh-so-powerful’ Princess Celestia. And where is she? I’ll tell you where! She’s DEA-!”
Before anyone could even blink, Cruger had the stallion in a submission hold, “Oh yeah, 2 little things I forgot to mention. Where I come from, I helped raise the Diarchs, and I’m not one to exaggerate.” Cruger released him and sat back down, “Now, why don’t you let us eat in peace, before you find out what getting punched on every square millimeter of your body simultaneously feels like.”
The stallion gulped, but still didn’t back off. “Whatever,” he said turning back to Chris who had his head down, hair hiding his face. “You’re still nothing more than a worthless piece of shit!”
In a burst of static, Chris moved behind the stallion, grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and slammed his head into the table, breaking his nose. Chris threw the stallion away. He skidded across the floor, and came to a stop, blood gushing from his nostrils. He wiped his nose and looked wide-eyed between his hand and Chris. “I knew it, you are a monster.”
“Don’t ever call Chris ‘worthless’.” It was an extremely quiet statement but it still sent shivers down the spines of most present. “Chris” looked up at the earth pony with dark eyes. “If you ever say something like that to him again,” he cracked his knuckles by rolling his hand into a fist. “I’ll break you.”
The stallion gasped, got to his feet, and took off as fast as he could. “Chris” took a deep breath to steady himself and sat back down, head in his hands. What have I do-
It started slow, but eventually the cafeteria was in an uproar of applause and whistling. “Chris” simply looked around the room in shock before turning back to Cruger with a questioning look.
“It looks like we stood up to the local jerk,” Cruger said as he took a bite of his potatoes, “by the way, pleasure to make your acquaintance, Chris’ alternate personality. Um, you do have multiple personalities, right?”
“Chris” let out a mirthless chuckle. “You catch on quick. Name’s Samson Jaeger,” Samson answered putting his hand forth in greeting. His tone was darker than Chris’, not by much, but enough to be noticed, and his movements and attitude were overall more serious.
“Cruger, unless you already knew that,” Cruger said as he shook it.
Samson let out another chuckle. “I did. I share Chris’ memories, although he doesn’t share mine for whatever reason. He’ll probably come back to and wonder why everyone’s congratulating him.” Samson’s face got a little more serious. “Hey, Cruger, can I ask a favor of you?”
“Depends on the favor, but sure.”
Samson turned his gaze down for a moment before raising his head again, a look of pleading in his eyes. “Help Chris wherever you can. Please. I can’t be there for him like I used to back in our world. I have to use all of my focus to keep Psycho at bay, to keep him away from Chris.”
“So, you picked up an extra passenger in Chris’ head when you got Displaced huh?”
Samson nodded in agreement. “He came with the morpher, and the more Chris used it, the more control it had. It took me a while to find a solution. The only way to keep Psycho back is if I keep my entire focus on him. I can’t do anything like that. The only reason I’m here is because Psycho seems to be afraid of you.”
“Looks like he’s completely sane then despite being Psycho. I can help, but since this isn’t my home Verse, I can’t be here all the time. That said, I do have a plan.”
Sam raised an eyebrow. “What sort of plan?”
“Nothing personal, but I’d rather explain it once, so I should explain it to Chris. By the way, he know about you?”
“Oh, yeah, he knows. Thinks I’m the devil, but he knows. And as for explaining things once, I have an idea.”
“Which is?”
Sam grinned. “Chris installed a camera on his personal computer. It’ll be a good way for both of us to say what we need to say.”
“Sounds good, bring it out.”
“It’s in his room, so let’s finish dinner before I blow Chris’ mind with the whole, ‘I’m not actually trying to kill you’ speech.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Cruger said as he dug in, “mmm, good gravy.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sam opened the door to their room and moved out of the way to let Cruger in. “Make yourself at home,” he said, gesturing to the rooms meager furnishings.
“A little spartan, but you haven’t been here for long so it’s understandable,” Cruger said as Sam booted up the computer, “so, you wanna start it, or should I?”
“I’ll give Chris the run down, then you can take over and explain your plan. Sound good?”
“Yup.”
“Alright then,” Sam typed in a few commands and opened the video program. “And here we go.” He hit a few keys on the keyboard and started the recording. “Yo, Chris, how’s it going? As you can see, you aren’t here right now. Let’s just say that we had a bit of a hard time at lunch today, and I stepped in. But enough about that for now, Cruger has something he needs to share with you.” He moved away from the cam and gave Cruger the floor.
“Hey Chris, if people start patting you on the back, trust me it’s well earned. Anyway, Sam told me about the extra voice in your head, and how he’s been keeping it at bay. While cases like these aren’t my speciality, Luna/Nightmare Moon has the ability to enter the dreams of others. If you talk to her about it, I’m reasonably sure she can help you lock it down, that goes double if Sam can help. And don’t worry, you can trust him, I’m a master judge of character.” After pressing stop, he turned to Sam, “Pretty good plan, don’t ya think?”
“Sounds great,” Sam replied. “Chris is just afraid of what other’s will think if they found out. He’s kept me a secret for just about out our entire life. This will be good for him.” Sam leaned against the closet. “Is there anything we’re forgetting to cover for him?”
“I don’t think so, can’t think of anything else I can do without a Wizard Driver.”
“What’s a Wizard Driver?”
“Thing from Kamen Rider Wizard, has a function that allows the user to enter the mind of another, you can see why I suggested it.”
“Yeah, definitely.” Their conversation was interrupted by the blaring sound of Sam’s morpher going off. Both parties winced, and Sam quickly answered the call. “We gotta change that,” he muttered quietly before answering. “This is Sa- er, Chris, what’s going on?”
Nightmare answered this time. “Chris, I heard you have a new friend. I hope he’s strong, because we’ve got an incoming Machine Captain on the way.”
Sam shared a look with Cruger. “That’s not good. We’ll be right there.” He let go of the communicator and turned to Cruger. “Ready to have some more fun?”
“You heard the music,” Cruger said as he pulled out his morpher, “time to dance.”
Sam grinned. “I completely agree.” He shifted his communicator to morpher mode. “It’s cliche but, it’s morphin’ time!”
“SPD, Emergency!”
“Go, Psycho!”
Both Rangers were surrounded by light and appeared in their respective armor. Sam flexed. “Oh, wow, this does feel good. Ready to go?”
“After you,” Cruger said, opening a portal.
“Why, thank you,” Sam said darting through the portal.
He appeared on the other side of the bridge, the illusion back in place. He waited for Cruger to come through. “This is weird,” Sam began, “most machines refuse to come this far into the Everfree. Wonder what makes this guy different.”
“Possibly standard escalation tactics,” Cruger said as he stretched his arms, “or this could be a dedicated scouting mission.”
“Sounds probable,” Sam agreed, opening his morpher and looking at his radar. “But we won’t have to wait long.” As he put his morpher away, a large machine that looked like a sentient missile silo landed in front of them. “Oh, goodie,” Sam said sarcastically, “the walking pop quiz.”
“Rangers,” the automaton cried out dramatically. “I have a message from the great King Mondo for your miserable Resistance.”
Sam threw a look at Cruger and turned back to Silo. “Alright, I’ll bite. What’s the message?”
“Surrender.”
Cruger started laughing, “That’s… ha. Sorry, it’s just, with the timing and, it just got me giggling.”
Silo took a step forward. “You dare mock me and my king?”
“That’s based on the assumption that you’re worth mocking,” Cruger said before turning to Sam, “mind if I take this? Got a new move I want to field test.”
“Go for it,” Sam said, stepping back and summoning the Psycho Bow. “I’ll cover you in case he tries anything dirty.”
“Thanks,” Cruger said as he drew his sword, “but this’ll be over before he gets a chance.” With that, he started walking towards Silo while humming.
“Fool.” Silo launched the missiles from his wrist towards the Shadow Ranger.
Just before the they hit him, he suddenly appeared behind Silo, “This fight’s over.”
“Wha-”
“I already cut you,” Cruger said as he returned his sword to its scabbard, “Silver Fang Style, Kagegiri!”
Sparks flew out from around Silo’s torso as the robot slid in two, ending its life with an explosion. Sam stared wide-eyed at the display, dispersing the energy arrow he had drawn. “Geez, Cruger, that’s just… wow.” He walked over to the robots remains. “Did you hit the Successor Core directly?”
“The what?”
Suddenly, Silo’s remains began to glow a bright green as they formed back together and grew larger.
“Oh, shit,” Sam said quietly, dodging out of the way of a giant foot.
Silo leaned over and let out a laugh. “Now what, Power Rejects?”
Sam Static Stepped next to Cruger. “Got a plan?”
“This is rather standard, just bring out the Megazord, you do have a Megazord right?”
“The Psycho Rangers were monsters under their armor, so unfortunately not….”
“Well, what about the Astro Megaship? Think you might be able to use that?”
“It’d take too long to figure out how to pilot it,” Sam said, dodging another stomp. “The Delta Megaship would be a better choice, but we don’t have it.”
“Say that again in 10 seconds,” Cruger said as he pulled out a silver cylinder the size of a can of Red Bull with a keyhole in one end and a small figurine of the Red Space Ranger.
“Uh, okay,” Sam said puzzled. “We don’t-”
“Still got another 7 seconds,” Cruger said as he turned the figurine into a key with a flick of his wrist, “Delta Megaship, come on down.” Cruger inserted the key into the keyhole and turned it, causing it to glow. After a few seconds, the glow faded.
Sam looked around, expecting something to explode. When it didn’t, he turned to Cruger. “Well, that was a bit of a-”
“Wait for it.”
Suddenly, out of the cloud cover flew a black, slightly star-shaped ship, gatling guns blazing. The salvo hit Silo in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards.
“Is that what I think it is?” Sam asked in awe-struck wonder.
“Consider it a ‘Welcome to the Displaced’ present,” said Cruger.
Even under the helmet, Sam’s grin was obvious. “Oh, I’m going to enjoy this.” He leaped into the air, using Static to propel him into the cockpit. When he landed, he took the controls. “Oh, I am definitely going to get him a thank you present. You okay down there, Cruger?”
“Just missing some popcorn, show that oversized firework why Power Rangers are the masters of giant robot combat.”
Sam’s grin widened. “Gladly.” He flew the Delta around for another pass, firing the guns at the warheads on Silo’s shoulders. The explosives detonated, making Silo stumble and shout. “Now for the finale,” Sam said. “Delta Megaship, fighter mode!” The zord rolled in midair, folding out it’s and coming in to land in front of Silo, a panel on the lowering to reveal the Megazords face. “Delta Gyro Blasters, fire!” Shots of blue lasers sped from the Delta’s gatling hands and found their mark on Silo’s chest.
The robot sparked and stumbled for a bit before letting its arms fall. “King Mondo’ll get you for this, Rangers,” he threatened as he fell forwards. “I will be avenged!” The giant robot hit the ground and detonated.
“Hmph, not in this lifetime, scrap heap,” Sam replied to his fallen opponent. He had a sudden idea and hit a few keys on the zords console before a disk popped out. Sam grabbed it and leaped out of the cockpit in front of Cruger. “Now, that was something.”
“Yeah, I remember my first time piloting a Megazord.”
“We can’t thank you enough,” Sam stated, stepping a bit closer. “You’ve done us a great service. We may not ever be able to repay you, but maybe this will help.” He held the disk out to Cruger.
“Thanks, what is it?”
“A copy of the data for the Delta Battlizer. Something tells me you’re going to need it sooner than we will. Besides, we don’t even know if it’s compatible with the Psycho Armor.”
“I’ll keep it on file,” Cruger said as he scanned it with his morpher, “could come in handy.”
“I hope so,” Sam replied. “Last we checked, old Cruger couldn’t fly.”
“Anyway, I’d better get going. Which leads us to my last bit of advice, to send a Displaced you’ve summoned home, simply say, ‘Our contract is complete’, or some variation thereof.”
Sam chuckled and demorphed. “Well, if that’s the case.” Sam held out his hand one last time to the veteran Ranger. “Anubis Cruger, our contract is complete. It’s been a pleasure.”
“Likewise,” Cruger said as he shook it, a portal opening behind him, “keep in touch?”
“Definitely,” Sam affirmed, releasing Cruger’s hand. “Until next time.”
“Take care, and make sure Chris sees Moony,” Cruger said before stepping through the portal.
“I will and you, too” Sam said as the portal closed behind Cruger. Sam stood there for a moment, then let out a contented sigh. “That was fun,” he muttered to himself and turned to the still standing Delta Megaship. “Now what do we do about you?” Sam’s communicator went off and he answered it. “Hullo?”
“Hey, Chris,” came Sunset’s deceptively sweet voice. “Can I see in my office for a minute. It’s time for that chat.”
Sam gulped. “Y-yes, ma’am.” She hung up and Sam looked up to the giant robot. “Hey, Delta, do me a solid and step on me.”
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It's good to see this get updated again
Was that a Gokai Cylinder you use there? You know those are only about the size of a large Duracell Battery, right?
And another Ranger/Sentai Displaced? I'm starting to feel unoriginal here...
7570094 Oh, well you weren't clear, and a redbull can is more realistic if you think about it.
7570208
How else are they supposed fit inside a morpher?
They're the keyholes in the Mobirates and on the Gokaiger weapons.
7570250 Let's just say Cruger modified them and leave it at that.
7570256
sure.
Well this just got interesting....
7570442 yes,yes it did.
Bleedin' ... *sigh* An upside-down 'M'?
*sigh*
You set it to Wambo didn't you.
Seeing the title and the Psycho Red brought this song to mind:
7606122
*slaps duct tape on you*
NO SPOILERS!