Jason Lee Scott dashes his way through the steaming African jungle. 
He knows that if he doesn't get to the base, he's as good as dead. He hears 
the sound of gunfire to the west. Diving to the ground and rolling, he 
slowly removes his Blade Blaster from it's holster and snaps it into pistol 
form. Sweat rolls down his face. He notices Aisha about twenty yards from 
his own position, ducked behind a tree. He motions for her to stay down. She 
nods.
	He slowly raises up, to see the position of his enemy. A laser blast 
zips past his head, and he leaps up to retaliate. Unleashing a barrage of 
energy blasts from the Blade Blaster, he watches the bodies of the black 
uniformed men fall and disappear into the thickness of the jungle. Jason 
cautiously eyes the area, looking for any sign of movement. He motions for 
Aisha to make her way to him.
	He hears an ever so slight rustling behind him. "Kimber--" He's 
ambushed from behind by one of the dark soldiers. Jason kicks him away with 
a spin kick to the stomach. "Power Sword!" he shouts, summoning the chosen 
weapon of the Red Ranger. Jason looks down, almost waiting for his foe to 
stand, until he hears a 'thuk' sound from behind him. The body of a dark 
soldier lies on the ground, with Aisha standing above him, holding her Power 
Daggers.
	"Watch your back, Jas." She says.
	Jason shakes his head. "This is Cable's fault..."
	Another noise comes from behind him, that of a falling body, as the 
man Jason left behind him lies flat on the ground with an arrow in his back. 
"What the?"
	Kimberly comes running in Jason's direction. "Good thing I was 
nearby. That one was, like, about to blast you." She picks up the blaster 
that was in the soldier's hand.
	"Ok Cable," Jason shouts. "Enough of this!" With that, the entire 
scene dissipates, leaving behind nothing but four blank, metal walls, and a 
small booth near the exit of the room. 
	Tommy Oliver, leader of the Power Rangers, looks surprised, having 
been hidden in the holographic jungle. "What happened?"
	Standing inside the booth, which contains several controls and 
monitors, similar to the X-Men's danger room, are the man called Cable and 
Billy Cranston, the Blue Ranger.
	Cable scowls. "Is there a problem, Jason?"
	Jason throws his Power Sword to the floor. "This isn't right."
	"What isn't?" asks Cable.
	The Red Ranger steps forward as Tommy, Aisha, and Kimberly arrive 
behind him. "The Power Rangers don't kill. There's always another way."
	"It isn't a perfect world, Jason. It's kill or be killed. Or haven't 
you learned that yet with everything that's happened?" Cable's left eye 
flashes.
	"I think what Jason's trying to say," Aisha interjects, "is that 
Zordon would never have had us train to kill anyone."
	"Guys," Tommy voices, removing his sweatband, "This isn't the world 
we know anymore. We can't count on winning every battle. We need to trust 
Cable and let him prepare us for the worst."
	The White Ranger's voice of reason silences the room for thirty 
seconds or so. That silence is broken by Billy. "Well, the good news is that 
our interactive holographic training room is fully operative, thanks to the 
Beast and Cable."
	"What're we like, gonna do about our Zords? They were totally 
trashed, and you haven't said a thing about how we're gonna get 'em fixed."
	"I'm working on an alternative, Kim. In the meantime, learn to rely 
on yourselves instead of your Zords. The technology used in them are beyond 
even MY comprehension, but with the massive millennia old computer database 
here, and with Alpha and Billy's help, we should be able to compensate."
	Tommy puts his hand on Kimberly's shoulder. "This isn't the way we 
planned our lives to be, but we're gonna make the best of it... together." 
She turns around and holds him.

	Deep within the hangar which houses the two Blackbird jets of the X-
Men, something rather out of the ordinary sits among the usual occupants. 
	Scott Summers has been to the end of the universe and beyond. He's 
witnessed both the past and the future, and yet he still finds things that 
surprise him. "Well, Hank?"
	Henry McCoy, known as the Beast, has seen quite a bit himself. A lot 
of it was within the past week, after he first encountered the Power 
Rangers. "As far as I can determine, fearless leader, this construction is a 
complex assembly of shifting parts and circuitry of a nature not of this 
world. It's entirely possible that it's another of the anomalies manifested 
when the Realitator integrated our world with theirs. The technological 
differences are obvious, but it shouldn't be ruled out."
	Scott sighs. "I wish I had been here to help... Maybe things would 
have turned out differently. X-Force..."
	"It's also conceivable that your presence would have made the 
situation worse. In any case, we should deal with our present predicament." 
Beast flips and walks on his hands over toward Cyclops from the mass of 
machinery, and stands again on his rather large blue feet. "As it is, my 
best resolution is to wait for our young friend to regain consciousness."
	Scott nods. "Let's go see how he's doing."

	The medlab in the X-Mansion has become rather crowded over the past 
two weeks. First Gambit, after he and Rogue shared a rather passionate kiss, 
thus putting him in the state of being most people call a coma. Juggernaut 
arrived when the X-Men found him beaten by the unknown villain he called 
Onslaught, just before going unconscious. Cain Marko is one of the few non-
mutant super-powered beings still in existence, which is a mystery in 
itself. Sabretooth, who, after suffering brain damage at the claws of 
Wolverine, was being kept in the Danger Room until he went into cardiac 
arrest, and was then brought here. Bishop, who sacrificed himself to defeat 
the cause of the universal merging, hasn't been able to think a coherent 
thought since the chronal energy exchange with the Realitator, which 
apparently destroyed it. Finally, a man whose name, up until a few minutes 
from now, is unknown. He was found by Cyclops and Phoenix when what appeared 
to have been his ship crashed into, and nearly destroyed, Avalon. When they 
found him, he was unconscious.
	Scott arrives with Hank in the medbay. "Professor? Jean? Skids? 
How's our guest?" This almost sounds stupid, as there're five people injured 
in the medbay, and three of them can be considered 'guests'.
	"He's finally starting to come to. You got here just in time." The 
Professor rubs his chin slightly.
	Beast leaps his way over to the table and peers down. "Wakey 
wakey..."
	The man looks up and tries to focus. "Ahhhhh!!!" he screams as he 
focuses.
	"Hank! Step back! You're frightening him."
	"I doubt Hank is going to scare him, Scott." Jean says, "If he's 
experienced even half of some of the scattered memories we've scanned."
	"Who are you? Where am I? And...." He looks around, noting the four 
other 'bodies' lying in the room. "If you think you're gonna perform 
experiments on me, people, you've got another thing coming!" He jumps to his 
feet, and immediately feels the after effects of being out cold for an 
extended period of time, and sits back down on the medtable and grasps his 
head lightly.
	"We saved your life," Scott replies. "You're in our medical 
facility."
	"Ok, then who are you?" he asks.
	"We're..." Scott starts. 
	"The X-Men." Jean finishes.
	"X-Men? Never heard of you. You some kind of government operatives?" 
The man asks.
	"Quite the opposite, actually." Beast utters from a few feet away, 
eyeing the monitors.
	Professor Xavier merely listens from his wheelchair next to Skids, 
who also has nothing important to say.
	"What happened..?" He tries to remember the circumstances that 
brought him here.
	Jean sits down next to him. "We don't know what happened. I've psi-
scanned you, but something's blocking a lot of things from me. We were 
hoping you'd be able to fill us in. For starters, who are you?"
	Psi-scan, he thinks. What kind of nutballs are these people? He 
decides to just answer. "Spike Witwicky..." He pauses and waits to get some 
names from the merry mutants.
	Jean bites her bottom lip. "Er, sorry. I'm Jean Summers, and this is 
Professor Charles Xavier, Dr. Henry McCoy, Sally Blevins, and my husband 
Scott."
	"Right..." Spike once again starts. "The last thing I remember is 
sacrificing myself to defeat Megatron once and for all."
	"Sacrifice?" Skids asks from where she's standing, thinking of 
Rusty. "Looks like you survived to me."
	Spike smiles weakly at the young blonde. "I guess so, but I don't 
know how I got here still."
	"Hmm..." The Professor continues to think about the information that 
Spike is giving them.
	"We found you inside fragments of some kind of space ship, but we 
didn't recognize it as any known alien design." Cyclops notes.
	"You found me in space? What were you people doing in space?" Spike 
asks.
	"It's a long story." Jean replies. "What were YOU doing in space on 
an alien starship?"
	Spike smiles. "It's... a long story."
	"Indeed." Xavier interjects. "Our young friend here should rest for 
the time being. He has been through a lot, and we shouldn't be bothering him 
during his recovery."
	Cyclops nods. "Good idea, Professor."
	"I think I'll stay here," Skids adds as the others start leaving. 
"To keep him company. Like you said, he's been through a lot and, well, 
so've I..."
	"No problem, Sally." Jean strides out of the medbay.
	Spike sighs. "What have I gotten myself into this time?"
	Skids sits on the bed next to him. "So... Where're you from?"
	"Portland, Oregon."
	"Ah... So, why were you really out in space?" she asks.
	"You really want to know?" Spike tries to maintain a level of trust.
	"Sure." So does Skids.
	"Not to sound cocky, but I was trying to save the world. I'm 
actually one of the Autobots." He pauses for a moment, waiting for her 
response.
	"What's an Autobot?" She asks, throwing him off.
	"You know... The giant robots that have been fighting on Earth for 
over a decade now? Well, contrary to popular belief, they're divided into 
two groups. Autobots, the good guys, and the Decepticons, who want to 
destroy everything in their path. Well, I work with the Autobots."
	"I... uh... think you need some more rest, Spike, because I have no 
idea what you're talking about."
	Spike looks genuinely surprised. How could she not know about the 
war that's been waging on Earth for all these years? Doesn't she watch the 
news? Read the newspaper? And what's the deal with these "X-Men", anyway? 
"Eh... Maybe you're right." He rests his head on the lumpy pillow.

INTERLUDE

	Elsewhere, in a remote area of Canada, a frozen lake remains still, 
covered with snow. That lasts only for another ten seconds as it begins to 
crack and rupture, and eventually breaks open. A large metallic hand begins 
to pull itself out.

END INTERLUDE

	In Seattle, another confrontation begins. "That fleshing... she 
turned into a Autobot!" Storm Cloud shouts, totally caught off guard. "What 
in the name of Primus is goin' on?"
	"Leave this human settlement immediately." Windwhistler threatens. 
Being about twice the size of the four Micromaster Decepticons, she hopes 
that she can make good with her threat.
	Whisper frowns. "After waking up in a human warehouse and 
discovering that we've been out of the picture for a number of years, and 
following the only Transformer life signal our sensors can detect, which 
happened to be an Autobot, we come here and find you. Now you want us to 
leave?"
	Nightflight pushes his comrade out of the way. "No. Either surrender 
now or kiss these fleshlings goodbye!" He points his weapon at Duncan and 
Joe.
	Windwhistler's blue optics shimmer for a second as her complex 
central processor computes.
	"Joe, get back inside.." Duncan moves forward, looking up at the 
robot who was once a beautiful woman. His gaze moves down to Nightflight, a 
good foot or two taller than him. He swiftly reveals his katana. "Is there a 
problem here, gentlemen?" He asks mockingly. 
	Dawson stands at the entrance of his club. He looks down and notices 
that Vicki dropped her purse before transforming.
	"Ha ha ha! Look at the fleshing!" Storm Cloud nudges Tailwind. "I 
think it's trying to threaten us!"
	"Storm Cloud... Focus on the Autobot..."
	"Forget it, Whisper! No one threatens me!" Without time for neither 
Duncan nor Windwhistler to react, Storm Cloud produces a small laser pistol 
and sends a blast at Duncan, throwing him back and onto the cold street.
	Thinking faster than any super-computer on Earth, Windwhistler's 
body shifts and reconfigures into a technological jet fighter. She takes for 
the skies, hoping that the four Decepticons follow.
	"She's getting away!" Tailwind shouts. "Let's get her!" The four 
Decepticons simultaneously transform into jets and pursue the Autobot, whose 
plan worked.
	Joe has seen Duncan 'die' more times than he can count. He picks up 
Ms. Sharp's purse and moves over to MacLeod.
	Duncan's eyes suddenly open wide as he takes in a deep breath. 
"Joe?! Where'd they go?"
	"MacLeod, that... lady, for lack of a better word, just saved your 
life. Immortal or not, those guys meant business. But wait until you see 
this." He helps Duncan up and points to the logo on Vicki's purse.
	"Sharp Enterprises? Wait a minute, you mean she's..?"
	"Only the CEO of one of the top three industrial corporations in the 
world."
	A deep voice cuts through Duncan and Joe's conversation. "Are you 
all right?" A seven foot heavy set man in a trenchcoat stands above them. 
"That blast looked like it killed you."
	"I'm ok, thank you. It just knocked the wind out of me." MacLeod 
tries to cover up the situation.
	"What did those robots want with you?" The large man asks.
	"Listen pal," Joe butts in, "My friend here was just almost killed 
by... some kind of robots. The last thing he needs is to be pestered by a 
stranger."
	"I see. My apologies. My name is Alan. Alan Caldwell. And I have 
an... interest... in robots."

	Back in the Command Center of the Power Rangers, Sam Guthrie, aka 
Cannonball, holds the woman he once loved in his arms... for she is an 
infant. Baby Tabitha Smith, formerly Boomer of X-Force... and a young 
adult... sucks greedily at her bottle. From the shadows, Sam is being 
watched.
	"How's it going, Sam?" Cable's voice makes itself known. He steps 
from the darkness and over to Sam. "I know this must be hard for you..."
	"Not as hard as it is every time I think about poor Bobby an' Jimmy 
an' Caliban an' 'Star." He clutches the baby closer to him. "Ah should have 
been there with them..."
	"Then you'd be dead too, Sam. Or worse." Cable's left eye flashes. 
"I've been talking to the Rangers, and, to avoid mincing words, they're 
scared. Frankly...so am I. Something strange is happening out there, and 
only by working together will we all make it through this."
	Sam looks up from his seated position. "This is leadin' somewhere, 
ah can tell."
	"Siryn has contacted me. She's done with her mission at the Weisman 
Institute, and is en route to the mansion. I'm going to rendezvous with her 
and bring her back here, as well as brief her on what's been happening. 
She's not going to take it well... Anyway," Cable clenches his right fist, 
"I'd like you to think about joining the Power Rangers." Nathan reaches over 
and places a golden coin in Sam's free hand. "The Green Ranger powers need 
someone responsible, and I think you would be the perfect candidate."
	"Sir, ah.."
	"Don't answer yet. Think about it. Think about the future. I'll be 
back in a couple hours with Theresa." Cable turns around and walks out of 
the room.
	Cannonball sighs. "Ah don't know what ah wanna do right now..." He 
closes his eyes and continues to hold Tabitha. "Ah don't know."

	The past twenty four hours have been difficult for most of the 
inhabitants of the space station Avalon. The few remaining members of 
Magneto's Acolytes work hard collecting and sorting all of the debris that 
was once the Autobot shuttle, The Ark, at the command of Shockwave, the 
Decepticon that was inadvertently discovered.
	Peter Rasputin, the mutant Colossus, has been keeping an eye on a 
certain large mass of metal and circuitry. Fortunately, Shockwave has been 
distracted with reconfiguring Avalon to his specifications. While sorting 
through the parts, Colossus noticed a large pod of some sort, and has been 
trying to keep it hidden from menacing view of Shockwave's optic.
	He looks over to Cargill and motions her over to assist him. 
Together, they open the hatch to the pod. A large red robot head, attached 
to a much larger white robot body looms before them. "Lenin's ghost!"
	Suddenly, the robot starts to emit a soft sound, almost like a moan. 
The other sides of the pod shift outward and open as the large robot stands. 
His red helmet bears a 'boomerang-like' part on its forehead. Soft blue 
optics on a white face look down at the Acolytes, who suddenly raise their 
guard. The robot's large white body, it's chest covered with a large glass 
pannel, looking almost like a windshield, twists a bit, as if he's 
stretching after a long nap. Twin medical crosses adorn his shoulders.
	"How long have I been IN there?" he asks the mutants. He looks at 
his surroundings and immediately recognizes the debris. "The Ark...? I 
crashed it into the Earth. I took the Decepticons with me. How could I be 
alive?" Ratchet looks at his red surgical hands. "The Nucleon must have kept 
me alive. Then that must mean..." He looks down at the Acolytes again. "My 
apologies, humans. My name is Ratchet, Chief Medical Officer of the 
Autobots. I mean you no harm. I must thank you for reviving me from--"
	"No offense, friend, but you are not the only robot aboard Avalon." 
Colossus decides to speak.
	"Another..?" Ratchet looks around again. "Describe this other 
robot."
	Scanner motions with her arms, indicating 'big'. "Big purple guy 
with one eye and a big gun on one of his arms. Call's himself Shockwave."
	"Shockwave... I don't stand a chance against him. He's one of the 
most powerful Decepticons in existence." Ratchet sighs.
	"Perhaps it would be in your best interest to hide yourself." Peter 
decides. "Shockwave should be making his rounds any moment now, and we could 
use time to formulate an escape plan."
	Ratchet nods. "Thanks." His body lowers, twists, and reconfigures 
into the form of a terran  ambulance. He drives underneath a raised pile of 
scrap from the Ark. "That should do it."
	All of the Acolytes, mouths gaping, look at each other. 
	"Amazing..." Voght takes a second glance. "Ok, let's get back to 
work before One-eye comes back."
	"You are too late, fleshlings. Your illogical efforts to conspire 
against me have failed. Step away from the Autobot, or be vaporized where 
you stand." Shockwave's cold, logical, synthetic voice echoes throughout the 
bay, instilling fear into the Acolytes, as well as the hidden Ratchet.

TO BE CONTINUED... 

BACK!