Unnatural

A Danger Rangers fan-fiction

Author's notes: While Sully is referred to as a seal in the show and elsewhere for the most part, I refer to him as being a sea lion in my stories since he has ear flaps just like sea lions do (I have pictures of a sea lion and a seal posted for comparison in my blog). I don't know if the creators mistook a sea lion for a seal, or just didn't quite know what a real seal looked like.

Chapter One

Two sets of eyes, one large and almond-shaped, with crystal blue irises and long lashes, the other set of eyes a shade of blue that was the same color as the ocean and more rounded in their form, sized one another up unflinchingly, their owners sending out a wordless but a clear challenge to each other.

"You ready?"

A cocky smirk settled into place on the muzzle of the ocean blue-eyed individual. "Funny, I was about to ask you the same question. I mean if you're not up to the challenge, then I could be nice and let you win..." His tone became sing-song and teasing.

The first speaker snorted defiantly, her dander up. "Dream on, Sullivan!"

Inside the high-tech training room where the Danger Rangers would hone their skills, Sully and Kitty stood together on a platform overlooking an obstacle course, a recent addition to the Rangers' training regimen. Designed to test the Rangers physically as well as encourage teamwork among them (though today Sully and Kitty weren't using it for the latter purpose), the course consisted of such obstacles as spinning logs, hurdles, ropes, a cargo net for climbing, climbing bars, and pendulums that the participant had to try and avoid or risk being knocked into the water below. It wasn't easy to master. Even Sully and Kitty, who were the quickest and most agile members of the team, had never made it all the way through without fail.

From where the other Danger Rangers watched on the sidelines, Squeaky turned to Burble and Burt. "Do either of yous think they're actually ever gonna get through this thing?" The little mouse asked in his heavy Brooklyn accent.

"Statically, the chances aren't very high. Twenty out of one-hundred, to be more precise." Burt thoughtfully replied.

"Aww, come on guys, try to be a little more optimistic." Burble told them. "Who knows? Maybe this'll be a lucky day for one of them."

Gabriela, the Rangers' Chief of Operations, was literally perched inside the control booth which was situated over the training room. Giving the control panel before her one last look-over to make sure the settings were in working order and ready to go, the red-feathered hummingbird then activated the computer that controlled the obstacle course before giving her friends a thumb's (well, make that wing-tip) up. "All set guys! Ready whenever you are!"

Sully and Kitty were off like shots out of a gun, running down the ramp that twisted and turned through the first half of the course. The pendulums, which could basically be described as large punching bags, suddenly came flying at them. The sea lion and the cat successfully sidestepped them before coming to the end of the ramp. Sully's eyes narrowed as he saw the next obstacle. Two heavy-duty plastic logs hung suspended from the ceiling by chains. They were the only way to reach the next leg of the course. The height from which the logs hung could be adjusted to suit each participant depending on their height and level of athleticism. Right now, both were suspended five feet up in the air. This part always gave Sully trouble – it was difficult for him to jump high enough to get a good grip on a log. Sea lions weren't exactly known for their jumping skills, after all.

Undeterred, Kitty effortlessly sprang into the air and grabbed hold of the log on her side. Using the momentum from her jump, she swung over to the other side and landed on the platform there. Turning to look back at Sully, she grinned smugly and blew him a kiss. "Don't wait up!"

Sully grit his teeth as his face took on a determined expression. Stepping back, he ran forward and leaped, aiming for his log. 'Please let me make it please let me make it!...'

He made it by the skin of his teeth, nearly losing his grip on the log's smooth surface and sliding off. Bracing himself, he jumped off the swaying log to land on the platform. Now all he had to do was catch up with his rival. She had already made it to the climbing bars and was making her way across them. Putting on an extra burst of speed, Sully grabbed the first bar and started climbing hand over hand. As speedy as Kitty was, the bars were tough going for even someone like her, as they required a lot of upper body strength – something that Sully did have.

Sully managed to catch up to Kitty, and they arrived on the other side at roughly the same time. The duo tore towards the next leg of the course, the spinning logs. They were treacherous to cross, due to the fact that it was hard to get a good foothold on something that was constantly in motion.

"Danger alert, danger alert!" The dignified voice of SAVO, the Rangers' sophisticated computer, blared over the loudspeakers, demanding everyone's attention.

Sully and Kitty were in the middle of running across their respective spinning logs. With a yelp, a startled Sully lost his balance and fell into the water. Kitty too was momentarily taken off-guard by the sudden announcement, and slipped off of her log to receive a dunking.

"Guess I spoke too soon." Burble remarked as Sully and Kitty resurfaced, and went to go help Kitty climb out.

As Gabriele shut the course down, Sully swam over to the side of the pool, grinning to himself even though SAVO's alerts usually meant there was trouble. He was actually amused by the fact that he and Kitty both had been thwarted in their efforts to beat the obstacle course. 'Oh well, another time.' He thought, getting out of the water.

"What is it, SAVO?" He asked the A.I., instantly switching into "hero mode". The other Rangers waited intently to hear what SAVO had to say as well.

"Oh Rangers, it's just terrible! My scanners have picked up a level five safety infraction in a factory near Trenton, New Jersey. The conditions there are dreadfully deplorable! There is a total disregard for safety on the owners' behalf!"

Kitty nodded as she wrung her sopping wet tail out. "We'll be in the Debriefing Room ASAP."

When Sully and Kitty had dried themselves off and gotten ready, everyone gathered in the Debriefing Room to see SAVO's report. The footage that he had pulled up on one of the two large television screens showed the factory in question and what was going on there. One room contained what looked to be open metal drums of some unknown liquids. The next piece of footage showed workers busy on an assembly line and then a close-up of several frayed and worn-looking electrical cords.

"United Motors specializes in making automotive parts," SAVO began to explain. "As you all can see from this footage, there are numerous examples of workplace infractions and unsafe conditions: dangerous chemicals being improperly stored, inadequate strain relief and insulation for electrical cords, machinery in various states of disrepair, and unguarded floor openings!"

"Looks like someone's been paying the safety inspectors off." Kitty dryly remarked.

Glancing up from the computer in the special state-of-the-art booth where she often sat and monitored missions when not out in the field with her teammates, Gabriele spoke up. "Either that, or the owners manage to hide the problems before the inspectors show up. SAVO, can you see who owns United Motors?"

SAVO immediately complied, after a moment announcing, "That would be a Mr. Robert Collins."

"I think we need to go pay Mr. Collins a visit." Sully said, looking to his fellow Rangers.

Nodding resolutely, Gabriel hit a button on the control panel before calling out, "SAVO, initiate launch sequence!"

The main team ran to the Launch Room, where, in the center of the room, a section of floor flipped upwards to reveal their main source of transpiration, the Hovercraft. Boarding the VTOL aircraft, they buckled themselves in before Sully started the engines and the Hovercraft lifted off.


It was a quick flight from the Danger Rangers' Mount Rushmore base in South Dakota to Trenton. The Hovercraft was one of fastest aircraft currently in existence, so it wasn't long before the factory, which consisted of one massive light blue and white building flanked by three slightly smaller ones, came into view. Sully landed on the roof of the biggest building, and everyone disembarked from the Hovercraft. Rather than give the plant supervisors any time to try and hide the violations by announcing their visit, the Rangers had decided that a surprise visit would be the best course of action.

The five anthromorphs entered the factory through the rooftop entrance. At first glance the factory didn't look so bad, but the Rangers knew from past experience that appearances were deceiving.

"Check that out!" Running up to a guard railing, Squeaky pushed against it with all his might, causing it to shake in place. The nails that should've kept it in place were loose and rusty. "If someone leaned on this, they'd take a nasty fall!"

"Kitty, you and Burt go see if any of the supervisors are around. Burble, Squeaky, and I will go talk to the workers and document all these hazards." Sully instructed. Like his teammates, he did not like what he was seeing here. "Contact us if you need anything."

"Got it." Kitty and the young turtle headed off together in one direction. The remaining three Rangers made their way down a flight of stairs to the second level and stated walking down the hallway.

Catching sight of something from out of the corner of his eye, Sully turned his head to look back down the way they'd come. He had noticed a bright flash of yellow light shine through the frosted glass window of a closed door four doors from their position.

Intrigued, Sully turned his focus back to his friends. "You two go ahead, I'll catch up. I just noticed something funny over there." He pointed at the door where he had seen the light.

"Okay, but be careful." Burble said before continuing onwards, intending to go to the first level where most of the workers seemed to be.

"Need some backup?" Squeaky offered Sully, who smiled.

"The more the merrier."

To get there faster, Squeaky hitched a ride on Sully, sitting on the sea lion's shoulder. As he walked, Sully's flippers made a light slapping sound against the metal floor. When they were front of the door, Sully started to open it. The room appeared to be lit inside by fluorescent lights, but neither had seen the flash of light again.

"Now, let's see what's behind door number one…" Sully cracked under his breath.

As soon as the door was halfway open, everything exploded into chaos. A pair of strong arms grabbed Sully and drug inside before he could do anything. In the melee, Squeaky went flying and had a rough landing on the floor.

"'ey what the big idea? Who -" The angry mouse was abruptly cut off as a yellow-and-orange tabby quickly snatched him up and deposited him inside a large jar on a table.

Meanwhile, Sully found himself confronted by three assailants - a kangaroo, a cougar, and a coyote. Instinctively he lowered himself into a combat stance."Back off, guys. You're interfering with official Danger Ranger business!"

"That's the whole point, Mr. Danger Ranger." The cougar fired back, charging Sully. He threw a punch that Sully was able to dodge, but the kangaroo quite literally jumped in just then and aimed a kick that connected solidly with his side, knocking him to the floor. In spite of the pain he was in, Sully managed to roll out of way of another powerful kick. The coyote attacked next, but made the mistake of getting in too close. Reaching up, Sully grabbed him by his jacket collar and, throwing his weight backwards, spun the unbalanced canine around, sending him tumbling right into his cougar companion.

While he did have some combat training under his belt, both prior to joining the Rangers and after, mostly in the martial arts, three opponents were ultimately proving too difficult for Sully to deal with by himself. Squeaky's furious shouts and threats were audible even inside his glass prison as he watched the brawl, though it was just background noise to Sully as he was entirely focused on fending off his attackers. Finally though, he found himself firmly pinned underneath one of the kangaroo's large paws.

"Boys, are you playing nicely over there? Oooo, and what do we have here? Guests? You know, it really is quite rude that you didn't call me first before stopping by!"

Immediately, Sully and Squeaky recognized the new speaker. 'Oh no, not him!…' Out of all the criminals the Rangers had ever faced, he was the most memorable for his off-kilter, wild rambling in addition to his egomania. Also, the fact that he'd managed to abduct most of the Rangers thanks to his energy constraint gun was what potentially made him one of the biggest threats they had ever gone up against.

Sighing, Sully tried to mask his irritation, instead gazing stoically back at the white duck who was now standing before him, maniacally grinning at him. "Hello, Quentin."