Chapter 25 - Ninja Quest

Angel Grove, 2006

Kordec was a monster that seemed to be made of melted vinyl records was terrorizing the city. When his body vibrated he could create sound bombs that were devastating when launched. He'd been cocky when the Power Rangers had lost their Morphs. He just knew he would get them, but the lion and tiger the size of minivans had other ideas. They'd come out of nowhere and allowed the Rangers to escape.

Finally, blasting the creatures with sonic blasts, he scrambled to his feet. "What? What! Who did that?" he demanded, looking around.

Austin John Scott and his friend Damien Henderson both waved at him. They stood back to back. They wore traditional garb of the masters of a rare Kung Fu discipline known as Pai Zhua. "That would be us," AJ said.

"I came all this way for the shark kid and his friends, but what have you landed me in now?" Damien asked with a growl.

"Oh, you know," AJ shrugged "evil villains bent on world domination. Monsters. Grunts," he added as Kordec threw out several turtle-eggs that broke and formed a contingent of Bone Drones. "The usual."

"Yeah. The usual," Damien agreed drily. "Let's get it done," he said. AJ nodded. They separated and began to take on the Bone Drones.

"Hey, the ugly one is gettin' away," AJ said when he realized that Kordec was trying to slip away from the fight.

Two armored peopled in motifs reminiscent of police cruisers, one black and white, the other pink and white, appeared in front of Kordec. "You aren't going anywhere!" Black Senturion said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"This is your one warning, leave peacefully or you know, the other thing," Pink Senturion warned him.

AJ whistled under his breath. "We're going old school," he commented.

Damien snorted. "You have strange interests," he declared.

Before anymore could be said, giant Riti appeared in the middle of Angel Park and declared for the whole city to hear that she would crush their city, then the world.

"That's what she thinks," Pink said. "Senturion Synergizer!" A plate in her leg armor opened up and a large pistol shaped energy gun popped out. She drew it and began firing on Kordec between his sound bombs.

Black Senturion summoned his weapon as well. Eventually the foursome met up. "Thanks for the assist," AJ said.

"Thought you could use some help," Black said.

"Besides, your brother would kill us if something happened to you," Pink said.

Before AJ could process that, Kordec sent a massive sound bomb at them. They scrambled for cover. "Unleash the Tiger!"

"Unleash the Lion!"

Spirit cats and Synergy fire joined forces on Kordec. They only had to last until the Power Rangers made it back from wherever they went.

-x-

2003 Ocean Bluff

In a blink Win, Danny and Holly were in a different time and place. No muss no fuss. Though where exactly they were they weren't sure about. They appeared in a grassy field. In the distance Win could hear the engines of what he figured were ATVs or maybe dirt bikes. Further on he could hear the ocean. The scent was in air enough for even Holly and Danny to detect.

Win rubbed the back of his neck. "Where do you guys think we are?" he asked.

Danny pulled his PDA from his pocket with the hand that wasn't clutching the blue Morph Key. "I should be able to access local networks and assess that very thing," he said and began taping buttons with his thumb. "There we go. GPS has us in Ocean Bluff. It's 2003. According to the data I downloaded while Phantom was speechifyin', there are six Rangers operating locally. "Wind Rangers, Thunder Rangers, and a Samurai Ranger," he explained.

Win nodded.

Holly was griping her little Yellow Key and staring at it. "What's up, babe?" Danny asked.

"Just trying to figure out why I'm here. I'm not a Ranger nor have I ever thought to be one. I'm not even trained," she said.

"Things like this usually happen for a reason," Win assured her.

"And I wouldn't worry about the training. You're strong and agile. You do yoga with Lani, I've seen you scale a Zord in less than a minute, tote around wrenches that weigh as much as my sister and heft air guns that weigh as much as Jason," Danny assured her. She gave him a smile even though he was exaggerating.

Win looked at his red Morph Key. His wrists began to vibrate urgently. He twisted his wrists and his green cuffs appeared. The Morph Key glowed. The other Keys began glowing as well. Danny twisted his wrists and his blue cuffs appeared. Holly made her communicator appear but a second cuff appeared around her other wrist. The Morph Keys bonded with their Morphers. Win's cuffs and Power Coin turned red. The image of the Stygimoloch on the Coin was replaced with an embossed white emblem that looked like a pair of wings. Danny's Coin stayed blue but his triceratops was replaced with an embossed white emblem like a dolphin tail. Holly's newly formed cuffs turned yellow and a Coin appeared with a white embossed emblem like a lion's roaring mouth with a mane around it. They twisted their wrists again and the cuffs disappeared.

Holly rubbed her wrists, a surprised look on her face. "Wow," she murmured.

"Yeah, it's like that," Danny said with a grin. "So what now?" he asked, looking at Win.

Win was also rubbing his wrist but for a different reason. "Now, we get going and try not to get into any trouble," he said.

"Us? Trouble?" Danny scoffed. "Never," he added dryly.

Holly shook her head. "He jinxed us," she declared.

"Big time," Danny agreed.

Win grimaced but began walking to where he was being led by a subtle but insistent tugging in his wrists. He had a feeling they were right. He'd jinxed them. Danny and Holly took up a pace behind him, Danny showing Holly a few basic moves that could help if she needed them.

-x-

The field had seemed to last forever. They walked and walked and walked. "Jeeze Louise, ain't there supposed to be a city around here somewhere?" Danny remarked. They’d finally crossed out of the field and had tromped through a bit of a wooded area. "What I wouldn't give for a Cycle 'bout now," he said, especially now that he was able to hear the motors in not far away. "Maybe we could borrow or rent some wheels or something," he said.

"Or considering who I'm traveling with, finding some spare parts and building some," Win commented.

"Oh, you crack jokes, but it's true," Danny declared with a grin.

"My aunt's boyfriend gave me a Cinderella-style pumpkin carriage for Barbie when I was little. I turned it into a Zord. Cinderella was much happier with it than a carriage," Holly stated. She patted her tool belt. It probably weighed more than she did. She'd been wearing it and her coveralls at the time she was summoned to the Power Chamber. "Uh-oh," she said.

"What is it?" Win asked.

"Just the logo on my coveralls is for Nodroz Corp.," she said with a grimace. She unzipped it and pulled it down to her waist and tied the sleeves in front of her. "No need for people to make connections they shouldn't," she declared. Though she had to admit that in just her gray tank, she was a bit chilled.

Danny smiled slightly. "Ah, daylight," he declared when they popped out of the tree line. "You want me to carry your belt for a while?" he asked Holly.

"Force-field!" Win shouted just as he went intangible. A dirt bike spun through the air. It passed through Winter and crashed into Danny's force-field and smashed into pieces. Holly was scrunched against him, preparing for the worst, but Win's warning had been in time.

Three boys ran up to them. They all wore helmets, protective gear and jumpsuits of moto-cross riders. "My bike!" one of them gasped, looking at the ruin that was scattered in a semi-circle around Danny and Holly with Winter in the midst of the debris itself.

"I'm sure the people you... (almost?) hit are fine, too, Dustin," said another boy as he removed his helmet and revealed shaggy hair the color of wet sand.

The third guy removed his helmet to reveal a warm skinned face, dark eyes and short dark hair. He surveyed the wreckage with bemusement.

Dustin Brooks took off his helmet. He was tanned and dark haired and had an affable face. "Oh, man. I'm so sorry. I was trying to do a trick going up the hill, I hit a rock, I went flying one way and the bike went flying the other. Wow, how come you guys aren't like...my bike?" he asked, gesturing to the wreck helplessly.

Hunter Bradley cocked his head slightly. "That is a very good question," he agreed slowly.

Danny eased Holly behind him. She didn't argue with the move. "Just lucky, I guess. Bike must have hit something before it got here," he said, and strangely enough he dropped his usual New Yorker accent and spoke more like a native Californian.

"Yeah, that bike came out of nowhere and almost crushed my little brother and his girlfriend," Winter said with a frown. He hated doing that but there was no way to explain that he was able to become a ghost and Danny could generate force-fields with his hands.

Blake Bradley looked at the wreckage again. Then he surveyed the area. The trees were beyond the semi-circle of wreckage and the strange trio. "Yeah," he said slowly.

"Huh, you guys don't look like brothers," Dustin said. At that point the two Bradley's gave Dustin an exasperated look. "Ah, yeah that was a stupid observation, huh?" he said. Blake and Hunter Bradley were adopted brothers.

Danny nodded. "We get that a lot," he said with a shrug. "Actually we're a bit lost. We're new to the area. I ain't into it personally, but Brayden Myers is my girlfriend's cousin and he asked her to come work on his something with his bike--"

"I have to replace the piston in his clutch master cylinder and the O-ring on the piston in his slave cylinder," Holly said with a guiless expression and shook her head.

"He wasn't at the track when we got there so we decided to take a walk and got turned around," Winter finished up. At least Danny and Holly seemed to know what they were talking about.

"Brayden isn't riding here today," Hunter said, shooting them a suspicious look.

Holly sighed. "That's just great," she complained. "I come all this way to do him a favor. Do I charge for my mechanical expertise? No I don't. If he's not going to be here, he should tell someone," Holly began complaining and stomping away from the guys, keeping up a steady stream of complaints on Brayden Myers.

"Oh, now there's going to be trouble. Excuse us," Danny said and jogged off to catch up with Holly. Win shot the other guys an apologetic look and caught up with Danny, who trailed off behind Holly who still seemed to be in high dudgeon.

"So who's Brayden Myers," Winter asked quietly.

"He's my cousin. He's actually a factory rider but he'd pass through Ocean Bluff a few times a year," Danny answered.

"How many cousins do you have?" Win asked, remembering that not long ago they met Simon Creed, the Blue Guardian Ranger and a cousin of the Kennedy's.

Danny shrugged. "A few. Ma's one of seven sisters," he explained. "Is Holly throwing her fit the right way?" he asked.

Winter nodded. "Yeah, but once we go a few more yards, I think we make a run for it. Holly, I'll take your belt. We need to be quick and make for those trees at the foot of the mountains," he said.

Holly didn't stop her rampage. As if in a pique she took off her tool belt and threw it at Win's feet. "You carry this! I don't even want to look at it right now! I may have had other plans for today. I certainly didn't want to almost get killed because of some freestyler who can't even handle his bike!" she shouted back toward the direction they just came from.

Win kept a straight face and picked up the belt and drape it over his shoulder. Being part of whatever aliens made up Taran and Lammy, he had enhanced strength and it wouldn't weigh him down as much as it would her.

"Just a little more," Danny murmured. He gave a look over his shoulder. The riders were out of sight. "Go!" he said and they made a break for it.

-x-

"I can control my bike...usually," Dustin said with a frown.

Blake clapped him on the shoulder. "We know you can," he said with a slight smile.

"This is weird, right?" Hunter asked, gesturing to the wreckage.

"It's very weird. And Brayden Myers hasn't ridden here for ages. And we would know if there was a pretty redheaded mechanic around town, right?" Blake asked.

Hunter nodded. "We'd definitely know. Well, I'd know. Don't know if you'd see past Tori long enough," he added with a crooked grin.

"Don't know what you're talking about," Blake said.

"Maybe we should go after them and find out what they did to my bike," Dustin said.

"Blake and I will go. You get Shane, Tori and Cam. There may end up being some trouble," Hunter said.

Dustin nodded. He ran off, eventually leaving nothing behind but a streak of yellow.

Blake and Hunter pulled on their jumped suits and revealed black leather ninja uniforms. Blake's was shot through with navy blue and Hunter's with crimson. They ran toward where the trio had gone, but saw no sign of them. "They must have run for the trees! We never should have let them go," Hunter said, clenching his fist.

"What would we have detained them for? Not getting killed by Dustin's bike?" Blake asked. Hunter shook his head.

"Come on, let's see if we can find their trail. They were just here. Unless they can ninja streak, too, they shouldn't be too far ahead of us," he said. Blake nodded and they looked around for signs of their passing. The two guys didn't really leave much of one, but the girl was a different story and they picked up on her easily and began following along.

-x-

Eventually, Winter, Danny and Holly came to the outskirts of the city. They could see the buildings in the distance. The area they popped into was a small, neat little neighborhood away from the main hustle and bustle. "We should get some water or something for the rest of the trip. I'm assumin' we ain't nowhere near where we're goin'," Danny declared.

Winter shook his head. "I don't think so. Seems like we still have a way to go," he said. "We'll grab some water and some snacks," he agreed. He actually hadn't had much to eat since that morning and he was starving, craving a much calorie intake these days than he had before Widow experimented on him.

"Great. We can stop and rest a minute. My feet are dying," Holly said. Sure, she was probably in better shape than the usual geek, but she still hadn't had the kind of training Danny put himself through on a daily basis and wasn't genetically altered like Winter.

"There's a coffee shop with a patio. We can get some muffins," Danny glanced at Win, "and whatever else you'll need. We'll get some tea and grab some water for the road," he said.

"I thought I was supposed to be the one in charge," Win declared with a slight smile.

"Who said you ain't?" Danny asked. "I'm strictly tech support," he said, holding up his hands. "Don't try to make me responsible for anything else," he said firmly.

Win snickered and headed toward the coffee shop.

"What's he laughing at?" Danny asked Holly.

She slipped one of her arms around his. "Well, it's probably just that he's noticed, that in the absence of Tai or Rex or Taran, you've occasionally stepped up and made sure things got done," she said.

"That's not leaderin'. That's just doin' what somebody had to do," Danny said. "'Sides, I like being tech support," he declared as they followed Win to the coffee shop.

Holly smiled. "Me, too," she agreed.

A few minutes later they sat around a little table. Danny and Holly each had some tea and a bran muffin, while Winter demolished about a dozen different types of coffee shop pastries in probably the same amount of time. "Yeah, maybe I'll see what me and Billie can do about makin' you, Taran and Lammy somethin' small but calorie loaded. Watchin' you eat is a bit disturbing," Danny said finally.

"Danny," Holly admonished, jostling his arm.

Win smiled sheepishly. "It's okay. I know it's not pretty. I'd really appreciate something like that. I feel like I'm literally eating the profits sometimes when I do the books," he admitted.

Danny nodded. He pulled out his PDA and jotted something down. He was mostly mechanical and Billie mostly computers, but maybe Dr. Bill could help them out.

Winter suddenly cocked his head, listening. "Those guys from earlier are nearby," he said.

Danny raised a brow. "That a bad thing?" he asked.

Winter held up a finger as he continued to listen.

Hunter and Blake had finally caught up to the visitors awhile back. The only reason that they weren't heard by Win's enhanced hearing was due to their Ninja training. They stayed a good distance behind, not close enough to get any significant information, but they could tell they were headed somewhere in particular.

They met up with Dustin and three others not far away from the coffee shop; a well-built Polynesian boy by the name of Shane Clarke, a pretty blond girl named Tori Hanson, and a tall thin Asian guy in glasses named Cam Watanabe. They were now all dressed casually. Cam crossed his arm over his chest and eyed the trio. "What exactly is suspicious here?" he asked.

"You mean besides the amount of food that one guy just put away?" Blake asked.

"Dustin eats more than on a regular basis," Tori declared. "Seriously, what's the big emergency?"

"You should have seen what they did to my bike," Dustin said.

Hunter shook his head. "You're the one at fault for that. There's just something. They're headed somewhere. They were in a strange place for no real reason. My instincts say something is happening," he said.

"Something like Kelzaks?" Shane asked as these grunts appeared in the area. Stitched together and given red blades on their arms, red centipedes were painted on the dark faceless creatures.

While other patrons of the coffee shop panicked, Winter, Danny and Holly jumped to their feet. "What do we do?" Danny asked Winter.

"We'll make a break for it," Winter said. "We shouldn't get invo--" he didn't even finish his sentence before the Kelzaks decided that the trio standing around might be easy pickings. Little did they know. Win went intangible just as a Kelzak grabbed for him. It went right through him and stumbled over the table.

Holly grabbed her wrench from her tool belt and cracked it over the top of its tufted head. It didn't get back up.

Danny jumped kicked another in the chest and sent him sprawling. "Nice goin', babe," he said to Holly appreciatively.

"Guess you were right about my wrench," she said. She hit another one in the middle with her improvised weapon.

Danny didn't have a weapon, but he'd been working on more precise control over his force-field generating. Whenever he threw a punch, he projected a field a couple of millimeters in front of it so that there was a little more force in it. The only drawback was that it was tiring after a while.

Winter didn't rely too much on intangibility. Another so-called perk of Widow's experiments was his ability to form a tough exoskeleton on his skin. His hands now coated in goldish-brown protection, and his enhanced strength behind it, he was making a mess of the Kelzaks who were foolish enough to attack him.

Holly was getting separated from the boys. There must have been some sort of predatory instinct that told them she was the weak link. "Danny!" she shouted when she realized what had happened. Danny was too far away to help, but a girl in black garb saved her with a swing of a sword. "Oh, thanks," she said with a surprised smile.

Danny cursed to himself when he realized how far away Holly was. Realizing he couldn't keep using his force-fields without totally wiping out, he grabbed the umbrella from his table and broke it over his knee until he just held the shaft. He tried to beat a path to Holly but kept getting jammed up. A tall-ish black clad figure appeared and helped him out. "Thanks, guy," he said and ran over to Holly to check on her.

Winter met up with them as well, only to see that the Kelzaks were gone and they were surrounded by the black clad figures. "Uh-oh. So much non-involvement," he said.

"That ship has sailed," Danny agreed.

"And was sank by the Kraken," Holly added.

A thick figure with dark red streaked throughout his black ninja uniform stepped forward. "Who are you? You're well trained. Well, mostly," Shane added with a quick glance at Holly.

"Yeah, but she throws a mean wrench in the works," Dustin in his yellow streaked suit said admiringly.

Danny scratched the back of his head, frowning. "So I wasn't just imaginin' they were after us, was I?" he asked.

Cam, in the green streaked suit, shook his head. "No, I don't believe that was the case," he stated, eying the trio, perplexed.

"Uh, what happened with your accent?" Blake asked.

Danny shrugged. "I was raised on Staten Island. How youse expect me to talk?" he asked. "Yeah, we ain't brothers. But, this is my girlfriend, quit lookin' at her," he added, cutting a glance at Dustin, who was still enamored with Holly's wrench wielding capabilities and perhaps her looks as well.

"I know you want answers, but we swear, we're not up to no good. We're on a mission," Winter said.

"We're gettin' the band back together," Danny quipped. So he couldn't resist the impulse.

"Wow, Cam, he's almost as sarcastic as you are," Hunter remarked quietly.

"Didn't think that was possible," Tori commented.

Holly cleared her throat. "Not that I'm an expert," she paused, "okay, I'm near enough, you guys probably don't have time to interrogate us because attacks by foot soldiers are usually soon thereafter followed by attacks from monsters," she pointed out.

Winter nodded. "That's true," he said and pointed. Though the others couldn't yet, he could hear the presence of a monster indeed.

Shane grimaced. "Come one. We'll deal with this later," he said. Though something told him the trio wasn't a threat to them. The six figures streaked off to face the newest threat from Lothor.

"Never so grateful for a monster attack," Winter said. He glanced at Danny. "You get kind of nasty when you're cornered," he remarked.

Danny nodded, not even considering denying that. "Don't like bein' cornered," he stated. "Chloe's worse," he said almost proudly.

Holly smiled and gathered her tool belt. "It's one of the things I like about him. We ready to finish this quest and get home?" she asked.

Winter nodded. "Yeah. Let's grab some bottles of water and get going. The sooner we get out of here the better," he agreed. The trio set off again, the quest for the staff piece still to be completed.

-x-

"So, is the point of this to exhaust us before we even find the staff piece?" Holly asked awhile later. They'd been heading steadily deeper into the mountains.

"If it were easy, then it'd just be too easy," Winter said sagely.

Danny raised a brow at him. "Yeah," he agreed. "'Sides we're on a quest for a mystical artifact guarded by something only Power Rangers could get past. There's gotta be some forced tension," he declared.

"Still don't see why we couldn't have appeared nearer," Holly grumbled. She paused and looked around. They were standing near a mountain waterfall. "Do you hear something odd, Winter?" she asked.

"You can hear that, too?" Winter asked, surprised. He was used to hearing thing normal humans couldn't and filtering them to the back of his mind.

"Hear what?" Danny asked, looking around.

"A kind of pulsing hum. It sounds kind of like you're force-fields, or Beez's holographic form," Holly answered.

Winter nodded. "It's coming from the waterfall," he said.

Danny looked at the waterfall and cocked his head. "Huh. Must be a hologram then. Clever cover for a base of operations. Smarter than stickin' it out in the middle of the desert," he added. "But, Hols, how did youse hear it?" he asked.

"Trained myself to listen for similar sounds. Sometimes the only way you can tell there's a problem with a Zord is by an out of place sound," she answered.

Danny nodded. "That ain't the way we gotta go though, is it?" he asked Winter.

Winter shook his head. "Nope. We have to keep going, but I think we're finally getting close. Further up and further in," he declared. With a bracing sigh, he began the trek anew.

"Did Win just make a Narnia reference?" Holly asked quietly.

Danny nodded. "I think he did," he answered. "It's oddly motivating. Further up and further in it is," he declared and joined the trek with renewed vigor. Holly didn't quite agree but didn't lag behind. They were finally getting close and she couldn't wait for this to be over one way or another.

-x-

Ninja Rangers were returning to The Wind Academy when Dustin paused them. They'd just fought and barely won a battle against one of Lothor's space monsters. They had to report in with Sensei. Being an Earth Ninja, Dustin knew immediately something was different in front of the holographic waterfall that hid the entrance to the Wind Ninja Academy. "Someone's been here," he said.

Blake and Hunter immediately fanned out to look around.

"Did they head toward the Academy?" Tori asked.

Dustin shook his head. "Looks like they headed further into the mountains," he answered.

"Was it the same people from earlier?" Shane asked.

Hunter returned to them. "I got their trail. It's the same three. The guys barely leave a trace of their passing, but the girl just blunders on," he said.

"Should we follow them?" Blake asked.

"I don't think they're a threat," Tori said.

"Neither do I, but it would be a shame not to find out what they're up to," he stated.

Shane glanced around thoughtfully. "Let's go then. Lead the way," he said, to Hunter. The crimson ninja nodded and lead them off.

-x-

The trek ended abruptly for Winter when the insistent tugging in his wrist stopped completely. He rubbed it and looked around. "Well, we're here," he stated and gestured grandly to the abandoned mining operation that looked like it'd been kaput since the turn of the century except for the rusty, broken down excavator near some other old equipment.

"So there wasn't gold in them thar hills," Danny commented also surveying the mine site. There was a decrepit looking mine entrance carved into the side of the mountain.

"If there's a Balrog in there, I am so out," Holly stated. She pulled her wrench from her tool belt and clenched it tightly.

"Knowin' our luck, that's exactly what's in there," Danny declared. He took his glasses off and gave them a quick rub with the tail of his shirt.

Win cracked his fingers. "Well, there's only one way to find out for sure," he said and strode toward the mine entrance. Danny and Holly fell into step behind him.

There came a rumbling, clanking sound as the old excavator came to life, it's broken pieces becoming new and configuring itself in a large mechanical monster, gleaming yellow and silver, with shovel for one arm, scoops for feet and a red-eyed grill for a face. It hovered somewhere between the height of a one and two story house. Its four red eyes glowed fiercely, and a pipe from its chest rumbled menacingly.

"So, the staff piece is in the mine. We just have to get there," Holly surmised.

"Watch out!"

The Guardian held out a humanoid hand toward them. A barrel appeared out of his palm. The mine site erupted under a hail of bullets aimed at the questing trio.

-x-

The area was unfamiliar to the Ninja Rangers. Cam wasn't even as familiar with it as he should have been considering he grew up on this mountain. "Where are we?" Dustin asked.

Cam shook his head. "I don't know. I was never allowed to go so far into the mountain. I think there's some old abandoned mines or something," he said with a slight frown. Now that he thought about it, it seemed odd that he didn't know this area very well.

They heard the echo of automatic gunfire rip through the air. "What on Earth?" Tori gasped.

"Come on. We'd better hurry," Hunter said and began running. The other's followed. They skid to a stop just at the edge of the trees surrounding the old mine site. They couldn't really believe what they were seeing.

Danny stood in front of Holly with his force-field, the initial hail of bullets bouncing off. Win was intangible, but the bullets were ripping through the ground, kicking up debris and dust.

The behemoth stopped firing and swept forward with astonishing speed to swig his scoop arm at them. They scrambled and dove out of the way, but there wasn't much in the way of cover. "I don't think my wrench will be much help," she said to Danny when he pulled her behind a pile of pitted rocks.

Danny shook his head. "I don't guess, babe. Unless you think you can dismantle him," he added with a grim smile.

"He needs to stop shooting first," she muttered.

Winter rolled out of the way of the scoop. He barely managed another spring away as the Guardian also shot another round of bullets in the direction that Danny and Holly hid.

Dustin and Tori started to step out to help, but Shane and Cam reached for them. "Don't. I don't think we should interfere," Shane said warily.

"But they need our help," Tori protested.

"Do they?" Hunter asked, cocking his head at the scene.

"Yo, Win! You still alive?" Danny called out.

"Barely! I think it's time," Win shouted back.

"Time?" Holly asked.

Winter twisted his wrists and made his cuffs appear. "It's Morphin' Time! Ninja Storm! Ranger Form! Ha!" He brought his two cuffs together as usual.

Danny and Holly made their cuffs appear. "Ninja Storm! Ranger Form! Ha!" they repeated and brought their cuffs together as well.

Bright swirls of wind energy emanated from their Morphers rotated around them and formed their power suits, helmets and swords strapped to their backs.

Red energy swirled around Win forming a mostly red suit with the white wings on his chest and a gold trimmed helmet with a visor that popped open and closed rather like his own. Yellow energy swirled around Holly forming a mostly yellow, skirted power suit with the white leonine emblem on her chest and a gold trimmed helmet. Blue energy swirled around Danny creating a mostly light blue power suit with the delphine tail symbol on his chest and a gold trimmed helmet.

Shane, Tori and Dustin were startled to say the last. "Hey! That's so not right!" Dustin said and once again started forward.

Cam redoubled his efforts to hold everyone back. "Stop. All of you. I think I know what this is. Sort of," he said and pursed his lips behind his mask.

"Mind sharing?" Blake asked.

Cam shook his head. "Just something from old scrolls barely remembered. You're not the only trio written about," he said. "I should digitize those things one day," he added to himself thoughtfully.

"So we're just supposed to watch this play out?" Shane demanded.

Cam nodded. The others didn't like it but they relented.

Meanwhile, the Red Ranger was taking stock of himself momentarily. It felt really strange to be borrowing someone else's power, but if he didn't then there would be no more Power Rangers in the future. He ran forward, drawing the sword from his back and slashed at the Guardian.

Blue Ranger bounced on the balls of his feet and shook himself out. "Dang, this feels weird," he grumbled. When Red drew his sword and ran forward, he did the same. The two of them slashed several times at the monster, but the Guardian swept them aside with his scoop and shot at them with his other hand.

Yellow Ranger, for her part, was assimilating the fact of her new existence. She didn't attempt to help the boys slash the monster with swords. She was well aware of her own strengths and weaknesses and sword-fighting was not a strength. "Sorry about using you guys as a distraction," she said apologetically. "Lion Hammer!" She summoned. A long handled, yellow and silver hammer appeared in her hands. Hammers she knew. Hammers she could deal with. Sometimes taking a sledgehammer to a particularly stubborn set of a parts was the only way to deal with them.

She began running forward. She coiled all the strength in her legs and sprang upward, hefting the Hammer above her head. She crashed it into the ground near the feet of the Guardian. Yellow energy cracked the ground as it shook and rumbled toward the Guardian. The energy exploded around the beast.

Red and Blue scrambled out from where they took cover. "Wow. Holly, that was pretty amazing," Red declared.

"Yeah, she's amazin' a'ight," Blue agreed. "Sonic Fin!" he summoned a blue, somewhat dolphin tail shaped megaphone looking weapon.

"Hawk Blaster!" Red summoned a blaster with a small turbine and a definite bird of prey motif.

The two ran forward. They dodged around the monster throwing its scoop around trying to get them in retaliation for Yellow's attack. They jumped and fired at the same time. Blue sonic energy from the Sonic Fin as he shouted into it and red wind energy from the Hawk Blaster caused by the turbine exploded into the monster. The two Ranger sailed over its head as it sparked and smoked.

They landed in a crouch and Yellow ran up to them. "I think we all know what comes next," she declared.

"Yes. Let's put 'em together, guys," Red agreed and they joined their weapons together; Lion Hammer to Sonic Fin to Hawk Blaster. He held the weapon, and Blue and Yellow knelt to give him support.

"Storm Striker!" They declared.

"Ready!" Blue declared.

"Fire!" Red shouted and pulled the trigger. A ball of black energy with golden arcs of energy crackling around it shot toward the Guardian. It connected and the Guardian exploded.

They're morphs faded, they're weapons disappeared. "Dang, I wanted to study those a little longer," Danny complained.

"Me, too," Holly agreed.

Win gaped at them for a moment them turned toward the entrance of the mine. It had collapsed during the fight, but the rocks were rumbling. They suddenly exploded outward as a piece of intricately carved white staff piece about a foot long flew toward them. It floated before them. "Well, I guess we did it," he said and reached out and grabbed the staff piece.

Nothing happened.

"A bit anti-climactic. Are we stuck here for the next three years?" Danny asked.

Holly shook her head. "Maybe we all need to touch it. Like a port key," she suggested.

"Of course the mystical Staff of Zordon is a time travelling port key," Danny declared and grabbed hold. Holly grabbed the piece as well. They winked out of existence like they never were.

-x-

Dustin scratched his head. "I'm confused," he said and jogged toward the old mine site. It no longer looked like a battle had been fought and won there. It just look like an old mine site, except the old excavator was gone.

The others followed and looked around as well. "It’s very perplexing," Cam agreed.

"Perhaps none of our business," Blake suggested.

Shane nodded slowly. "Right. We'll pretend none of this happened and report in to Sensei," he declared. There was a moment of silence as the others looked around and considered this. "Right," they agreed and streaked away from the old mine site. Whatever had happened there was strange, to say the least, but they had other things to worry about. The invading forces of Lothor for one. Trying to explain to Sensei Kanoi Watanabe why they were late returning to Ninja Ops was another.

-xTo Be Continuedx-           

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