"Eric, can you watch the grill alone today," came Chase as he walked out of the room, Eric already working on two sets of burgers as he looked over to the man. He had planned to keep true to his word of working double, so he had gotten to the place early and had cleaned the area since he missed work because of his brother yesterday. "I have to go with Kendall to find something in the cavern systems over in the forest."

"No problem, we've already gotten past the lunch rush anyway," Eric spoke as he kept his gaze on the grill, his free hand moving almost fluently as it grabbed a dash of spices and sprinkled them on one of the sets of burgers, soon flipping them onto two sets of buns as he began putting the finishing touches on them. "You guys seemed pretty busy today, so I was guessing something important was found for the museum section of the zoo."

"Actually we don't even know if what we're looking for Is there," Chase responded, looking at the meal Eric was making with a confused look. "That isn't the usual Bronto Burger."

"Nope, it's my own recipe with ingredients I brought from home," Eric responded as he wrapped the two burgers up in a couple of boxes with some fries for each, soon handing both to Chase. "Like I said, I saw how busy you guys were, as well as how stressed Ms. Morgan seemed today over whatever you guys are heading over to, so I did what I do best and made you guys some food for the trip."

"I don't think we'll need food where we're going," Chase spoke as he looked at Eric while holding his hand out to refuse it.

"Nonsense, if you guys are searching those caverns then it will probably take some time anyway," Eric responded as he set the boxes down by a bag, making Chase notice two wrappers for ground beef as well as some others before he looked over to the boxes again. "Besides, I did promise you guys I was going to treat you both to my personal recipes, so this just gave me a reason to go all out with my usual stuff."

"Well if you went to this much trouble for us," Chase spoke as he put the boxes in the bag, picking it up as Eric went back to work on the other set of burgers, these ones treated as the usual Bronto Burger. "I'll be sure to tell Kendall that you made these for us."

"If you're going to tell her anything from me, tell her to watch herself," Eric responded as he flipped the other set of burgers to their side, his free hand moving to a plate with a bun already placed on it. "I've spent time in those caverns over there, and there are a lot of things that can go wrong if you're not prepared."

"I'll be sure to tell her the message," Chase spoke as Eric began working on the next set of burgers, his attention now fully invested in the matter as Chase left with the food. As he did, his thoughts went onto Eric's conversation.

'I guess we've all been pretty stressed over the information, but it's amazing that Eric even noticed Kendall seeming stressed,' Chase thought as he looked down at the boxes, his thoughts soon heading to what they learned at the base.

-Dino Lab two days ago, shortly after Keeper's arrival-

Kendall had just finished informing the others of the current situation when they each took their Energizers. After a moment of silence, Tyler was the first to speak up. "So these aliens are looking for a book," he spoke as he looked to Kendall, who simply nodded as he looked back to the Energizer in his hand. "I think I remember talk about Stingwingers from one of the Power Rangers in our communications to other dimensions when we were trading stories. Maybe they have some knowledge on this."

"That's a better start than we have at the moment," Kendall spoke as she looked back to the image in front of her of the fighter, her gaze overlooking the blade in his hand. "Either way, the second start we can go by is through entering the cave we saw that other monster at. With luck, we may find what they were looking for."

With that spoken, she started typing out the location of the area, setting a map of the cavern systems there as she marked where the alien was spotted. "Right, so the monster was first spotted here," Shelby spoke as Kendal zoomed In on the entrance, it's location intersecting with three different tunnel systems. "is there more stone on the other side of where they were mining?"

"That's the thing, it's a dead-end to another part of the cave system," Kendal spoke, moving the line away to another area directly beside it. "I tried checking more on it with our equipment, but it looks like it's barely within the magnetic field in the mountain range."

"So we just need to go look through there ourselves," Riley spoke, soon getting a confirmation from Kendall as she finished typing something.

"Riley, you go check the cavern system with James and Shelby and search for any clues, the coordinates are in your communicator," Kendall spoke as she shut the screen off. "The rest of us will stay here since there's still things we need to finish at the zoo, and I can try to pinpoint something that may be a cause for them to search the caverns."

"Got it," Riley spoke as he left the area, James and Shelby following behind him as they placed their Energizer's in their pockets.

"So how bad is Scorpius," Chase asked as he looked over at Keeper as he pocketed his own Energizer. Keeper just sat down in a chair as he thought through the answer.

"From my memory of this timeline, he was a terror who's cruelty was only matched by his lust for power," Keeper spoke, his gaze at the case where the Energizers were before he looked up to them. "It didn't matter who got in his way, he destroyed all who resisted until he made it to the planet Magnus, home of the Magna Defender. They had actually been on the brink of retreating from his initial attack before the one who sealed him away appeared, with the Magna Defender of the time being the only one to actually hold their own against his army."

"It may be good to have someone contact them to see how we can deal with whoever's using his army," Shelby spoke, soon receiving a nod from Keeper as he stood up.

"Then I will do just that and head there myself, I may get a direct audience with them," Keeper spoke as a portal opened in front of him. Then, with one last look around at the rangers, he walked into the portal before it closed behind him.

-Present time, Kendall-

It had taken Riley two hours to find the cave that Kendal had found in line with the path the alien had been digging towards, and now Kendall saw better as to why he said she needed to see it. "This wasn't here before, was it," Chase asked as he looked over the massive door that stood in the way of the path they had walked, a large metal gate with writing encircling a green gem, a seal she couldn't recognize carved upon the gem. below them sat a slot that looked to be of a circular formation, it's ridges looking like that of a key as Kendall scanned the door.

"Not in our timeline, but we're still finding things that are different," Kendall responded as the scanner began listing off the components that made up the door itself. "What's interesting is that the door shows signs of materials that aren't on this planet."

"There's something we probably would've guessed from looking at it," Chase spoke as he looked over the door, tapping it only to hear a resounding ting that echoed through the cavern. "Something feels intimidating about it, though..."

"Probably because of the energy readings I'm getting off of it," Kendall spoke as she looked at the reader. "The amount of power coming off of it is massive. We wouldn't even be able to open it with the Energems power."

"Then the only way to open it is with the key, then," Chase spoke, making Kendall nod as she turned off the scanner. "So are we looking for the key now?"

"I don't think we should yet," Kendall responded, looking over the door as she placed her hand on it. "The door itself caused whoever was searching for a way through to go around, so who's to say that it's not the same with the walls surrounding whatever's in here?"

"So we're just going to wait," Chase asked, his gaze overlooking the hole in the door. "What if they've already found it?"

"Then they would be here," Kendall responded as she looked at the door. "But you have to remember that the gem here on the door matches what's on the Magna Defender's armor, as does the seal in the center of it."

"And the reason they gathered those civilians was to draw him out... Are they wanting to make sure he's out of the way first?"

"It's more than likely, given how he handled himself alone against those Stingwingers," Kendall responded as she looked into the gem. Then, she turned around and started walking away. "Either way, we won't be able to find the key anywhere around here, so we should focus on what we can do at the moment."

-Furio, above Earth-

"General Furio, we have Amber Beach on the viewing screen," came Starcog as Furio entered the throne room, walking over to the screen as they watched two humans get out of the caverns. "I'm pretty sure the girl is the same one who saw me the day Brunt attacked the city."

"So you think they could have some connection to the Defender of this world," Furio asked as they watched the two enter the car, Kendall pulling out one of the food boxes as Furio overlooked the logo on the car. "We have more important matters to deal with then some humans looking at a door, however. How have the searches been on locating the Magna Defender and the key gone?"

"We have yet to find either, though I don't think we want any of the monsters to face the Magna Defender alone," Starcog responded as he pressed several buttons on the monitor, replaying the scene where the Magna Defender destroyed the first monster to arrive. "He dealt with Brunt without even taking a scratch, and he was still pretty powerful despite being so new to the group."

"That's only because of his lack of understanding who he was dealing with," Furio responded as he pulled his blade out, pointing it at him. "Tell Radster to grab several monsters to go with him to capture the Magna Defender. If one monster can't do the job, then we'll see how multiple monsters can."

"Of course Furio," Starcog spoke as he bowed, soon moving out of the throne room as he turned on an intercom on the armrest of the throne.

-Eric-

Season, grill, put together, serve. Eric's mind went through these thoughts as he focused on the task at hand, his mind and body flowing with the habit he had gained while working in the kitchen. Normally he wouldn't have this much focus on his work, but with no one else to talk to in the kitchen and Riley serving the food he had sent out, it allowed his mind to focus on the task at hand.

'Learning how to move with the flow of the situation is an important aspect, but you should also focus on the area around you as you do so,' Eric's mind remembered what he was told as his peripheral vision caught the areas around him, noticing Riley having set the food he had finished prior in front of the correct customers. 'You should always know the areas around you, and observe the situation to create the best outcome.'

Eric had just finished placing another set of patties on the grill when Tyler entered the kitchen from the back doorway, making him turn to look over to him as he pulled himself out of his zone. "Hey, is it already time for me to clock out," Eric asked as he placed the spatula he had been using for the pan down, soon looking back to the area he had been at.

"Yeah," Tyler spoke as he looked at the patties on the grill, then at the tables past the kitchen. "Looks like you were busy."

"Not any more than should be expected with surprise appearances," Eric responded as he looked over to the tables, his gaze resting on the group of people that were now eating in the area. While he had been correct in telling Chase that there were only three people that were left after the food rush, it wasn't shortly afterward that a sudden rush from a group of people who were on a trip to the zoo had appeared. "From what I saw, I thought I still needed to get two more orders done."

"You do, but I can finish the last two for you," Tyler responded as he walked up to Eric, making the auburn-haired man look over to Tyler as he picked up the spatula. "You've already worked really hard while being on your own, haven't you?"

"Just a tad," Eric responded as he turned to the back entrance, pulling off his apron as he finally felt the duress on his arms from his work at the time. As he moved his arms, now feeling how stiff they were after all the work, he turned back to Tyler. "I'll be going out for a walk to try and relieve this strain on my arms since you guys have it handled now."

"Sure," Tyler spoke as Eric left through the back, soon turning back to the grill as Riley walked up. As Eric moved to the clock-out station by the door, his mind wandered through the days he had been working here, and how much it had changed compared to his life traveling beforehand.

'It's a nice change though, all things considered,' Eric thought as he left and entered the storage area, his gaze falling on a large dinosaur mouth that never seemed to move from its area since day one. His hand then subconsciously moved to his pocket, feeling one of two objects he was given years back. 'Guess this was what they meant when they said I'd have a lot on my hands...'

His ears then caught the sounds of a car, making him turn towards the driveway entrance to see Chase and Kendall coming in on a jeep as he removed walked up to them, pulling his phone out of his pocket as the two parked. "Eric, aren't you supposed to be on the grill," Chase asked, making the other look to him confused.

"Tyler just took over for me since I was busy cooking for a large group that popped up for a trip till just now," Eric responded, looking over to the empty food boxes in the center of the front seats. "Glad to see you two liked the food, though."

"It was fantastic," Kendall responded as she walked over to Eric, the man noticing the device in her hands as he looked back to the jeep. "You said that there was a large group that arrived?"

"Just a random influx of roughly twenty to thirty people, went into a zone of cooking so can't really remember the exact number, though it apparently ended a few minutes after I was supposed to be done for today," Eric responded as he walked to the back of the jeep, looking around it for anything. "Did you guys find what you were looking for over in the caves?"

"Yes, though we couldn't take it with us," Kendall responded as she held up the scanner, Eric's gaze soon going up to the city, noticing several lights appearing above in a cloudy sky.

"Okay, either I've worked more than I thought I did, or there are stars on a cloudy day," Eric spoke as the lights seemed to be moving closer to them, Kendall and Chase both turning to look up at it as well as Eric turned and patted both on their shoulders as he walked past them. "I'll take this as my cue to go take a small nap. I'll be heading back home now if anyone needs me."

"Sure," Kendal responded as she looked back over to Eric confused as he waved to them, leaving out through the driveway entrance. As soon as he left the area, Kendall's hand immediately went to her communicator before it turned on, showing three dots above the city as she looked it over. "Alien DNA detected over the city and descending."

"I'll go grab the others," Chase spoke as he ran into the main building as Kendall ran to the entrance to the base to get their gear ready. At the same time, however, a black form jumped from the area in front of the zoo, it's trajectory straight for the park.

-Amber Beach Park-

People ran through the park in a panic as Radster moved through the area, one other monster that seemed to have a Squid hat behind him as a large mass of Stingwingers swarmed through the area. "I don't see what the deal is causing this much panic while not destroying civilians, uh-uh," Radster spoke as he tapped his blaster on his shoulder, his claw raised in front of his face as he inspected it.

"The goal is simply to insight the Magna Defender to appear so we can capture him," responded the other, pulling out a card from his clothes as he looked at the people running away. "it will reach his ears much faster if we let more of the fodder to escape."

Just as he finished that statement, a barrage of green blasts tore through the Stingwingers, scattering them as a black form landed in between them and the running populace. "One that will do you no good," was all the Magna Defender spoke as he stood up, his blaster pointed towards them as he was surrounded by the remaining Stingwingers. "What, is whoever in charge of Scorpius' forces decide that one monster wasn't going to be enough to deal with me, Radster?"

"Furio has a big craving for your capture, uh-huh," Radster spoke as he pointed his weapon at the warrior. "More importantly, how do you go about knowin my name. Last I checked, I hadn't met you yet."

"You don't expect me to give away my secrets, do you," the Magna Defender spoke as he lifted his free hand, wagging his finger from side to side as he rested the blaster on his shoulder. Then in one fluid motion the weapon changed shape again, the sheath going to his side as he drew the blade from it, pointing it at the two. "So Furio is the one leading the quest for the book, then. Guess I may have some work cut out for me in defending it after I destroy you two."

Just as he was about to move to attack the two, however, two cloth tendrils appeared and wrapped around his arm and body, holding him in place as he struggled to free himself. "You mean the three of us," came a voice as the holder of the wrappings appeared, another monster that made the Magna Defender look over to him.

"Crumummy, Radster, and Wize Wizard huh," he spat as he struggled with the bonds. "I guess Furio really wants me captured, then, if there's three of you here."

"Well hows about this arrangement, uh-huh," Radster spoke, pointing his gun at the Magna Defender as they kept struggling with their binds. "You're gonna tell us where the key is, or we'll beat it out of ya."

"Well, I'm afraid you may just have to choose the latter," the Magna Defender spoke to himself as he struggled to free himself, his gaze soon moving back to the monsters as Crumummy moved to stand beside them. "The key's always been in the hands of a protector, and I refuse to let them be in jeopardy by any of you."

"Music to my ears," Radster responded almost giddily as his finger rested on his gun's trigger before a barrage of fire hit the monsters, The Magna Defender looking around in shock as he watched a group of five motorcycles drive into the park, blasters going off them as he noticed the five rangers that were riding them.

"Of course they finally show up," the Magna Defender spoke under his breath, his voice aggravated as he worked to free his weapon. As he did so, the riders got off of their motorcycles, moving in front of him as the monsters had made their own lineup towards the five. he didn't look at the people he already knew were there though, his gaze focused on his weapon as he pushed through the pain he was soon feeling from the wrappings as Radster pointed his gun at the new arrivals. His gaze then looked up for a moment to confirm his own suspicions. "Only five of you dino charge rangers, then? You're all really taking Scorpius' minions too lightly."

"What are Rangers doing out in this dust bowl," spoke Wise Wizard as he looked at the five, waving his staff around at the lot while he looked at each. This caused the Magna Defender to start moving harder though, his gaze on the hand holding Wise Wizards notepad, which was now opened. "First the Defender, then a group of technicolored heroes show up. Are you two working together?"

"We're more interested in what you're doing on our planet," Tyler spoke as he looked over at the three monsters. Now, however, the Stingwingers had gotten back up and surrounded the five, the Defender looking over each with his thoughts in mind.

'Red, pink, green, black, and purple,' Nathan thought as he continued working to loosen the bonds on his weapon, the cloth soon dragging him up into a nearby tree as Crumummy focused on him. However, the armor took a majority of the damage while leaving the shock for him to deal with, forcing him to tighten his grip on his weapon as he fell down under the tree. as he fell forward, however, his mind kept onto the current situation with the monsters as the rangers fought the Stingwingers. 'Crumummy and Wise Wizard both have abilities to paralyze their targets, so the fact that Wise Wizard hasn't used his yet is because he has to be saving it for when they don't expect it. To add to this, we have Radster who has his specialty in hunting and capturing, so they probably plan to use his notebook to seal them in. However, right now I need the element of surprise, and that requires me to lay here so Crumummy doesn't suspect I'm not dazed.'

His gaze then spotted the rangers from where he was laying, the group moving around him immediately as what was left of the stingwingers surrounded them, Wise Wizard at the front with his notepad, his staff moving towards the pages. Just as the rangers were about to move towards him, however, Wise Wizard immediately tapped his notebook and tossed out five different papers, each landing on the rangers as they took defensive stances to try to block them. As soon as they landed, however, all five were encompassed by stacks of paper that held them in place. "What is this stuff?!" Chase spoke as he struggled with the papers, the group doing the same as

"Just stay right there, our gig is with the Magna Defender, uh-huh," Radster spoke as he walked up to the group, His gaze now moving to Wise Wizard as he stopped beside the monster. "If you could be so kind as to keep our guests entertained, Wise Wizard."

"It would be my pleasure," Wise Wizard spoke, opening his notepad again as the Defender finally felt the bonds loosening as he kept himself still, Crumummy probably thinking he had been knocked out as the two monsters began moving towards the group.

Just as he had prepared his notebook for another attack on the rangers, however, the Magna defender's blade finally cut through his bindings, freeing him as he forced himself quickly up. Almost instantaneously he jumped over the rangers and landed, his blade cutting down into Wise Wizard's notebook. "It's foolish to jump in headfirst without knowing a single thing about your opponent," the Magna Defender spoke as the notepad's spell dissipated, freeing the rangers from where they were as he turned to them. "Especially when you leave yourselves wide open as your opponents have magic on their side."

As he finished speaking he moved his free hand up in a circular motion almost instantly, his hand catching another set of cloth sent out by Crumummy. "What the," was all Crumummy got out before the cloth was cut by the Defender, the aftershock rippling back into the monster as he was blown back.

"I'm in the middle of a conversation if you don't mind," the Defender spoke as he turned back to the rangers, the five looking at the warrior as he pointed his blade at each of the rangers. "If you want to actually not get in my way, then don't get caught and try to take out the one you started with."

With that spoken, his blade immediately swung behind him, knocking away a blast from Radster's gun as the monster looked at the group. "If you're done with your pep speech, we'll be getting back to the capture that you lot ruined," Radster spoke as he pointed his claw at the rangers, his blaster still remaining on the Defender as the warrior moved forward. "You have far better reflexes and defenses than any sole person should."

"To be fair, I'm not only a Defender," the warrior spoke, the symbol on his right pauldron seeming to glow with the remark as he continued walking forward. "But again, to say any more would be revealing too many secrets."

With that spoken, he ran forward at Radster and Crumummy, the Rangers getting up as Wise Wizard readied their staff to fight the five.

Right then, so this is finally done and I can finally start the stuff I have in my head, or at least the other parts of the jumpstart of this story that were giving me a hard time thinking over. Definitely reworking it at some point, though I'll be giving a massive warning over it when I get the chance.

In the meantime, sorry for the sloppy work on this one, I'll be taking more time on it since I have classes at a university atm, meaning I also have to work on stuff in that. Till I get the next chapter done, however, tell me what needs to be worked on better because I know damn well that there is a lot needed to be fixed atm.