Wild Thunder

Author: My first cross over WF and DT fic. I find I kinda like it. If anyone is out of character I'm sorry.
Haven't watched DT in a while and almost done watching WF. Pairing: Alyssa/OC (femslash), Eric/Taylor
and Merrick/Shayla. The last two pairs are cannon so if u don't like, go fuck yourself. Flamers can go do
the same. If u want to know Anima's story go read Wolf on the Wind. Not associated with What Happens
Late at Night or Beautiful Stranger. I don't own anyone but Anima, although several I wish I owned.

"Where are we going again?" Max asked, leaning over the seat.

"Reefside. There's another Ranger Team there led by a veteran Ranger." Wes said.

"Tommy?" Cole asked.

"The one and only. He's got a team of four, excluding himself, out there." Eric added.

"Who's Tommy?" Taylor asked.

"The Red Zeo Ranger." Cole, Wes and Eric said.

"Remember when Carter came to pick me up from Turtle Cove?" Cole asked.

"Yeah." Taylor, Danny, Max and Alyssa said.

"No." Merrick added from between Shayla and Anima.

Cole rolled his eyes at the Lunar Wolf Ranger and said, "I met him then. And the original Red Ranger."

"And you had fan boy moments." Wes teased.

"Did not." Cole protested. Wes and Eric both laughed as the other Wild Force Rangers shook their heads at their Red Ranger.

"Is he is always like that?" Anima asked, looking at her parents.

"Yes." Merrick said as Shayla giggled. The relationship between the trio was complicated and bizarre on it's best days and chaotic on it's worst. Merrick and Shayla were learning how to be parents to a daughter Merrick had never known he had.

"You three are quiet back there." Alyssa said, looking back at them between seats.

"We're fine." Shayla assured her. The princess had curled up next her protector with her head on his lap. Merrick's hand was absentmindedly running through her hair as he rested his head against the back of the seat.

"This is it." Wes said as he pulled the van into a parking lot.

"Where are we?" Danny asked.

"Hayley's Cybercafe. It's where we're supposed to be meeting this other team of Rangers." Eric said, opening the van doors to let everyone else.

"Luna it's bright out here." Anima said, pulling her shades from her jacket.

"I think that's Tommy's van. Come on." Wes told them. Unsure and a bit leery, they followed him into the building.

"Those the kids you were expecting?" Hayley asked, nodding towards the door. Tommy followed her gaze, got up and went to greet the group.

"Welcome to Reefside. How was the drive?" he asked, when he meet them just inside the door.

"Long and boring." Wes smirked.

"They slept the whole way." Eric added, nodding to the Wild Force Rangers.

"Not all of us." Danny objected.

"I'll take it from here guys, unless you want to stick around." Tommy offered.

"We need to get back to Silver Hills before dark. We've got to be up early to start training some new Silver Guardians." Wes admitted, rolling his eyes. Eric gave him a playful punch in the ribs. "I'm gonna kick your ass later." he growled.

"Have fun with that." Merrick muttered, rolling his eyes at the Silver Guardians as they walked out.

"Behave." Shayla told him. He immediately settled down and turned to look for Anima. She had walked over to the other end of the cafe where she had found a stage.

"Can I help you?"

Anima turned to see a pretty blonde haired girl in yellow. "Do people actually play here or is the stage for show?" she asked.

"I play on it a lot." the other girl told her.

"Who is she talking to?" Alyssa asked.

"Kira Ford, the Yellow Dino thunder Ranger. She's a regular performer here. Plays guitar and sings." Tommy told them.

"Then they will be inseparable for a while." Shayla laughed. Merrick sighed and steered Shayla towards the counter to sit down.

"Hayley, Conner, Ethan: meet the Wild Force Rangers. Cole Evans, Danny Delgado, Max Cooper, Taylor Earheart, Alyssa Enrile, Merrick Bailton and Prince Shayla." Tommy said, sliding onto his stool and motioning to each in turn. A few greetings and smiles were exchanged. "This is Hayley, an old friend of mine from college, Conner McKnight and Ethan James." he added.

"And it looks like Kira's made a friend." Hayley added, nodding to where Kira and Anima stood talking.

"Or girlfriend is she isn't careful." Max muttered. Alyssa gave him a cold look.

"What?" Conner asked.

"Anima holds no grudges against men, she just prefers women." Shayla said. Ethan and Conner whistled.

"Minds out of the gutter boys." Tommy told them.

"But..." they protested. Merrick narrowed his eyes at them and a growl erupted from his throat. Both teens shrank away from him.

"Merrick." Shayla said, setting a hand on his arm. The growl faded but he kept his eyes locked on the two boys. "Merrick leave them be." she whispered.

"Sorry we didn't come over right away. We got caught up talking." Kira said, sliding into a vacant seat and Anima sat between her and Merrick. Introduction were remade as Merrick finally calmed down. In a short amount of time the story of Animaria was told and Anima's story was told as well.

"Wow, that's kinda weird." Conner said.

Tommy laughed and told him, "Not by Ranger standards."

"I'm gonna step out for some air, it's a little to crowded in here for me." Anima said, getting up. Kira followed her out the door after a nod of permission from Tommy, who had long since become the older brother she had never had.

"Look at we got here. Two Power Rangers."

"Jindrax, Toxica? What are you two doing here?" Anima asked.

"You know these freaks?" Kira asked.

"They're a couple of Orgs that had helped us in the past." she said.

"Foolish Ranger, Orgs can betray their own kind but they never leave the side of evil." Toxica laughed as she tossed a shell shaped container into the air.

"Putrids!" Anima shouted in warning as nearly a dozen ugly black figures appeared on the ground as the Putrids formed.

"Tyrannodrones." Kira explained.

Merrick flinched as a high pitched sound stung his ears. "Merrick?" Shayla asked, touching his shoulder gently.

"I'm fine..." he began as the pain faded as quickly as it had hit him. Then a strong wind tore open the front door of the cafe.

"Where'd that wind come from?" Hayley asked as she went to rescue the papers that had gotten blown behind the bar. The wind ripped through the cafe, pushing skirts, purses and papers out it's way. A split second later, it hit Merrick full force in the face. The wind had always spoken to him, ever since he was a child, but it had never been this insistent before. It forced his eyes shut, pushed his hair straight back from his forehead, tore his jacket from his shoulders and roared in his ears.

"Orgs, putrids, your daughter. Strange creatures. Strange ranger. Help them."

"I hear you." he growled as the wind pressed against his chest, making it difficult to breathe. Then it was gone, leaving him a bit out of breath. He didn't reach up to brush his bangs back down or bother to straighten his jacket. A heartbeat later, he was on his feet and peeling his jacket off. "Stay here." he told Shayla, dropping the blue and silver leather jacket in her hands. She nodded and he turned his attention to the other five Wild Force Rangers. "The rest of you come with me." he snapped.

Danny, Max, Taylor and Alyssa looked at Cole. The tone in Merrick's voice had plainly said it was not a request but a command. Even though the Wolf was 3000 years older, wiser and stronger than they were, they looked to the Lion for orders. "Come on." the Red Ranger said, hopping off his stool to follow. The other four quickly went after him, several feet behind Merrick.

Tommy watched them go, reminded of his own teen age years. Except it had usually been Jason or Rocky wanted to rush ahead and him needed to reign the Red Rangers in. Even as he remembered, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end just like it always had. "Come on." he told the last three Rangers. Conner, Ethan and Trent were used to his occasional sharp commands that left no questions to be asked and they followed him out the door into the parking lot.

"Let the girls go!" Merrick snapped. He stood front and center with the other Wild Force Rangers behind him. The four new scents in the air and four new sets of footsteps that belonged to Tommy, Trent, Ethan and Conner barely registered to him as he glared at the scene in front of him. Jindrax held Anima to his chest with a blade to her throat. The other male that had called itself Zeltrax held Kira to his chest with a short eerie green dagger to her throat. Toxica and the woman called Elsa stood close by. "Let them go!" he ordered them, a growl threatening to bubble up from his chest.

"I thought you two were on our side." Cole called to Toxica and Jindrax.

"Silly human boy." Toxica laughed.

"You any good in a fight?" Anima asked, glancing over Kira.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing." Kira smirked.

"Just don't scream again without giving some warning, I'd like to keep my hearing." the other laughed.

"Right." the yellow ranger agreed just before Anima sank her teeth into Jindrax's hand.

"She bit me!" He cried out, releasing her. She dropped to the ground and swept his feet from under him, just before she found herself face to face with Toxica's staff.

"You are a very foolish little girl." the org witch told her.

"You're an ugly old witch." she growled up at her.

"How dare you.." Toxica began before she found herself face to face with Anima. The young ranger had taken advantage of the distraction to jump and knock the Org to the ground.

"Bitch." she snarled before using Toxica as a spring board. She did a single flip in the air and landed in a crouch beside Merrick. It was a sight everyone knew well because when ever they morphed together, she would crouch at his side or in front of him. Slowly one of his hands touched her hair as if he needed to be reassured she was at his side again.

At the same time Kira drove her elbow into Zeltrax's ribcage. He lost his grip on her but make a grab for her hair. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to pull a girl's hair?" she demanded, spinning around to kick him in the face. He stumbled back and Else made a grab for her. Kira rolled her eyes and dodged past her. "Cover your ears!" the yellow ranger shouted. All of the Rangers obeyed instantly as she spun back around to let loose a Ptera Scream. She put as much force and breath behind it as she could.

"Let's get out of here!" Jindrax shouted.

"Right!" Toxica agreed and in a flash they were gone. Elsa and Zeltrax followed suite a moment later.

"Come here. You alright?" Tommy asked, as he pulled Kira back to the group of gathered Rangers.

"Fine, just over did it." she whispered hoarsely.

"Let's head back inside. Shayla and Hayley are probably worried." Tommy told them. Nobody protested and they all went back into the Cafe. "Hayley, will you fix Kira something for her voice?" the oldest Ranger asked.

"Sure, what happened?" she asked.

"Over did my Ptera Scream." the yellow ranger whispered.

"I see." Hayley said. Merrick gently stroked Anima's hair as Alyssa slid on the stool beside her. The Tiger gave her girlfriend a stern look that she understood.

"Excuse us." Anima said, sliding away from her father. The two girls stepped away from their team mates and sat at a table in the shadow of the stage. The conversation was whispered, quick and occasionally sharp. Shayla watched them with worried eyes.

"Don't worry, they'll be alright." Merrick assured her softly. She looked at him. There was a swirl of emotions in her Wolf's eyes: a slight bit of anger, confidence and love, always love. She squeezed his hand tightly and brushed a stray strand of hair from her face. She no longer wore that long white dress or flowers in her hair. She had however taken to wearing ankle length skirts and off the shoulder blouses. Occasionally Merrick would pick a flower and stick it in her hair, just to reminded of the sight he loved so much. Her long dark locks hung in a braid down her back, tied with a blue ribbon at the end.

Taylor watched as Anima brushed tears from Alyssa's face. "Have they been having a rough time?" Kira asked. She was still a bit hoarse.

"A bit of one. Anima's been really busy with her work and her music. I think Alyssa's been feeling neglected." the Wild Force ranger told her Dino Thunder counterpart.

"I guess Anima hanging around with me didn't help." Kira admitted.

"Anima gets so caught up in what she's doing sometimes that she loses track of what's going on around her." Taylor muttered.

"That sounds familiar don't you think?" a voice asked in her ear. She spun on the stool to face her boyfriend.

"Eric? What are you doing back here?" she asked.

"We got about a third of the way back to Silver Hills when we got the call about the change of plans. Those new Silver Guardians we were supposed to start training aren't coming in until next week. So we have free time until then." Eric told her.

"And he insisted we come back here so he could spend time with you." Wes teased, thumping his brother on the back.

"So that means we're stuck with you two for a bit longer I guess?" Anima said, as she and Alyssa came up to greet the pair.

"Be nice." the Tiger told her.

"I'm teasing them 'lyssa." she whispered, kissing her cheek.

"Did you get everything worked out?" Danny asked as Cole grabbed Wes and started convincing him to play some video game Hayley had set up against the wall.

"Yeah, we're fine." Alyssa smiled. Anima gave her a loving look which was mirrored by Merrick but directed at his daughter. They were wolves to the very core and they loved those closest to them unconventionally. Another breeze blew through the door, not as violent as the last, but just strong enough to ruffle everyone's hair. Both Wolves shut their eyes and listened to the message it carried.

"Love is at the center of every wolf's actions, never forget this."