Fated Choices

Chapter One

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Power Rangers: Ninja Storm and I'm not making any money from this fic. Anything you don't recognise from the series, I probably own. Anything you recognise from a different fandom, I don't own

Summary: After Lothor's defeat, the former rangers find themselves faced with a new enemy which threatens the fabric of time and space

Warning(s): Spoilers for the whole series of Power Rangers: Ninja Storm; violence; original characters; some swearing

The ringing of his cell phone distracted Hunter from the moves he was showing the class. A ripple of laughter went through the students, but he couldn't tell where it had originated from. He checked the caller ID, and then held his hand up. "Talk among yourselves for a while. I have to take this call." He flipped open the phone, and spoke into it. "Hey, Blake. What's happening?"

"Sorry, did I interrupt your classes?" Blake asked, not sounding very repentant at all. "I thought I'd let you know I'm in town for a few days. Before I arrange to see Tori, I wanted to find out what you wanted to do."

Hunter blinked slowly. It took him a few moments to work out just what his brother was talking about. "Whoa, slow down there, bro," he said. "When did you get here? Where are you right now?" He stepped away from the students, a half-smile playing around his lips. Questions bubbled in his mind, but he held them back to give Blake a chance to reply to what he'd already asked.

"Hey... What happened to the dark and brooding Hunter I used to know?" Blake's laugh echoed down the phone. "Dare I assume you actually missed me? Well, I won't keep you, bro. Sensei won't be happy if you're talking to me rather than training a new generation of ninjas. Why don't you finish up there, and then give me a call when you're free?"

Hunter really wanted to keep his brother talking, but he realised Blake had a point. "Sure, I'll give you a call afterwards," he replied. "Catch you later." He hung up the phone and turned to the students. "Where were we?"

One of the female students raised her hand. A few wisps of black hair had escaped her hood, and were being blown about in the wind. Other than that, though, her features were hidden from view. When Hunter nodded to her, she spoke up. "I'm not sure, but... I think that lessons are over for today." She lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug. "I have to get to my job, anyway..."

Frowning slightly, Hunter cut her off before she could finish. "As one of the world's protectors, you have to be ready to act when you need to. Yes, your job's important – but if you want to do this, you have to be prepared to put it first, before everything else."

"Is that what you did? We all know that you were one of the Power Rangers who saved the galaxy from Lothor. Who says there's ever going to be another threat like that again?" The woman's words were getting a few nods of agreement from the students closest to her. The others, though, were looking at her as if they thought she was mad.

Hunter was almost inclined to share the latter view. Okay, he knew the Wind Rangers well enough to know that they hadn't been the most reliable whilst being trained as ninjas. Hell, he and Blake hadn't worked well with the other Power Rangers at all at first. Later, after they'd learned the truth, the Thunder Rangers had become powerful allies – but Hunter would never forget how close he and his brother had come to destroying the people who were really their friends.

He still didn't know how to make it up to them. But he definitely wasn't going to let anyone make light of what had happened. And the Power Rangers would be needed again; he was sure of it. "Where do you think the legend of the Power Rangers came from?" he asked the woman. "In every story, there's always a grain of truth. Lothor isn't the first threat the Earth has faced, and he probably won't be the last. Pray that you never have to go through what we did." He took a step towards her, and she took a slight step back. "If you're not prepared to protect the world, then you can leave right now. If not, come over here."

The woman hesitated for a few moments, but then stepped forward out of the crowd of students.

"Attack me," Hunter said without any preamble. "Come on. Try to hit me. If you can, I'll concede to you." He gave her a determined smile, but there wasn't any humour in it. "But if you can't..." He left the threat hanging.

The woman glanced back at the students and then at Hunter. After a moment, she stepped forward, feinted to the left, and then aimed a strike to the right. Before the punch could land, though, Hunter grabbed her wrist. When she would have hit him with her other hand, he twisted and threw her over his hip, pinning her with a hand on her chest.

The woman held up a hand in surrender. "Okay, I yield."

Hunter patted her shoulder, and helped her up. "Don't feel bad. Everyone has to start somewhere. But see me later to arrange extra lessons. That goes for the rest of you," he added, looking around at them. "You're going to be tested in two weeks. If any of you are having trouble, I'll give you private lessons. But not today, since I have other plans." He let go of the woman's arm, and nodded slightly to her. "And you're right. It is the end of class. I'll see you all tomorrow."

As the students began to disperse, Hunter made his way towards the exit of the Thunder Academy. As he did so, he took out his cell phone again and dialled Blake's number.

"So how long are you staying here for, bro?"

Blake and Hunter were in a cafe in town. It was a small building, but more cosy than claustrophobic. There weren't too many people around, and there were two women working behind the counter – one of them was about the same age as Hunter, while the other one was much older. They were also in the process of making the food for the brothers.

Blake shrugged slightly. "Well, you know, I figure I've been away for quite some time. I got the championship, and now I think I'll be hanging around – probably for good." He looked around and then leaned forward slightly, making sure to lower his voice. "I still have trouble believing that you actually decided to stick around as an instructor. That aside, though... How's it going?"

"Well, right after you called, I had a run-in with one of the students..." Hunter fell silent as the younger woman brought over the two meals, and nodded slightly as she set the plates in front of them. "Thanks."

Blake waited until the woman was out of earshot. "I'm not surprised you had a run-in with one of them. How many have ended up in the hospital?" He grinned.

"Hey, I'm not that bad. She wanted to leave for work, and I pointed out that we weren't the first team of Power Rangers, and we wouldn't be the last." Hunter picked up his knife and fork and started eating. "I then challenged her to try and hit me. When she came at me, I pinned her."

Blake shook his head. "You really need to work on your people skills, bro."

Hunter raised his eyebrows. "You think you can do a better job? I'm supposed to be arranging extra lessons for some of the students. Why don't you give me a hand with the training? We can show the students some of our moves." He smiled, trying not to show how hopeful he was. Blake had already said he wanted to see Tori as well. Hunter would have to try and work around that.

"Well, you know, Dustin, Shane, Cam, and Tori are supposed to be coming down in the next two days," Blake said. "We can do an extra lesson tomorrow evening – or the late afternoon. Just let me know what time."

Hunter nodded slightly, and then tilted his head to one side. "It'll be nice to see the others again. We always seem to be too busy to get together." Not that they hadn't been busy while fighting Lothor and his goons – but at least they'd been in the same town. "So Kelly gave Dustin a few days off? I can't believe she didn't insist that he stay and work extra time, particularly given the run-around we all gave her while we were there."

"Yeah, well, you know Kelly. She's a pretty understanding boss." Finishing his food, Blake pushed the plate to one side. "You know, maybe your friend's right. Lothor won't be the last enemy the world faces – but maybe it really is all over for us. You could be training warriors the world won't need."

Hunter nodded, acknowledging that his brother was right. "Maybe, but not every problem comes from space. You should know as well as me, Blake, that we're not just teaching them to fight. These students are going to become people who won't just stand by and watch – not doing anything – while bad things happen. We need plenty of good people in the world to outweigh the bad."

"Yeah... Tip the scales of life. I like the plan, bro."

Somewhere far away – but closer than one might think – four Power Rangers battled against a tentacled monster. Originally, there had been five of them – but one of their number had been lost in an earlier fight. And now it looked like they were going to lose another member of the team.

One of the tentacles wrapped around the pink ranger's neck, and she fell to the ground, choking and grabbing at the slimy limb.

"Isabelle!" The red ranger ran to her side, striking at the tentacle with his sword. The creature let out a cry, and released Isabelle – but she still lay on her side, rubbing at her neck. The red ranger dropped to his knees and grabbed her arm. "Isabelle, you have to get up." Another tentacle knocked him to the side and into one of the trees with considerable force, and he slid to the ground and just lay there.

Isabelle pushed herself up and raced over to the monster, joining the yellow and green rangers in attacking the main body of the monster. Behind her, the red ranger didn't move from where he lay at the foot of the tree.

Finally, the monster stopped moving, and just lay still. Isabelle was the first to power down, and she ran towards the red ranger, who was out of his suit and just lying there, blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth.

"Mark!" Isabelle took his head in her lap, and looked up at the other two. "We need to get him to a doctor!" Even as she spoke those words, a beam of light suddenly hit her in the forehead. The force of it sent her flying backwards, and the last thing she heard was the voices of her friends.

As usual, Hunter arrived early at the training ground. As he made his way through the trees, he noticed that one of the other students had got there even earlier, and was practising a few moves. He paused a short distance away, and just watched the student practise punches and kicks.

After a moment, she turned in his direction, eyes widening a little. "How long have you been standing there for?"

Hunter could tell – from the tone of her voice – that she was the student who had challenged him yesterday. "Not long," he answered. "Do you normally get here early to train?" he asked, wondering what she looked like without her face covered. Most of them now seemed to delight in the anonymity that the masks gave them – or maybe it was just that they like being mysterious.

Slowly, the student lowered her arms, and relaxed her stance. "I have to. I'm not naturally gifted like most of the others here. I can't harness the powers of the elements; I don't even know how it's supposed to work. But I don't want to stop training here..."

"Sensei wouldn't have taken you on as a student if he didn't see something worth the time and effort in you," Hunter said. "I meant what I told you yesterday. My brother – who was the other Thunder Power Ranger – has arrived back in town, and he's agreed to help me out with giving extra lessons."

"Sounds good, I guess," the woman replied. "But I really do need to work, so... What time would these lessons be?"

Hunter tilted his head slightly. "Well, what time do you finish work?"

"Six."

"Then how does six-forty-five sound?" When she nodded, Hunter paused and then continued, "And... Sorry if I embarrassed you yesterday. I was just trying to prove a point." Personally, he didn't really think he needed to apologise to her – but Blake had told him that he needed to have his students like him, or whatever.

The woman quickly shook her head. "No, it's okay. Thinking back on it, I realise you were right. I'm sorry for speaking out of turn. It's just that I get kind of frustrated sometimes." She shrugged. "I don't know... everyone here seems so sure of themselves."

"Believe me, the others are probably nowhere near as sure of themselves as you might think." Hunter could speak from personal experience – though he wasn't about to tell her that. Looking around, he noticed that the rest of the students still hadn't arrived, and he turned back to her. "We don't have long – but do you want to practise a few moves before the rest get here?"

The woman hesitated briefly, but then nodded. "Sure. Just as long as you're patient with me. I feel really self-conscious if people stare."

Hunter gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Well, there's no one here right now, is there?" He pulled the cloth over his face and fastened it, then dropped into a fighting stance. "Come on. Show me your best move." And then he'd be able to see where she was going wrong.

End of Chapter One