Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers. Saban and Nickelodeon own them.
AN: During the events of Once a Ranger, an evil from the past rises to join Thrax, causing the Sentinel Knight to call upon more rangers from the past to join Adam, Tori, Kira, Xander, and Bridge. Can a team past rangers handle the additional threats and restore power to the morphing grid for Operation Overdrive?
Butterflies and Hurricanes
Sequel to Endangered Legacy and Secrets
A Once A Ranger AU
Pairings: Hunter/Tori, Adam/Tanya, Tommy/Kim, Billy/Kat, Rocky/Aisha, Jason/Trini Conner/Kira and more.
Once A Ranger
Part 1
"Looming Storm"
2004
Just after the defeat of Mesagog and the explosion of his island fortress.
Explosions rocked the island fortress of the humanoid dinosaur villain that the world knew as Mesagog, the latest threat to the Earth. Mesagog's lab trembled violently, as the Dino Thunder rangers successfully used their weapon to strike the base of their enemy, delivering a devastating blow. The glass cylinders containing monsters and various creatures that Mesagog had collected tumbled from their resting places on the shelves and shattered to pieces on the floor. In one final explosion, the island exploded, sinking into the ocean. Hours later, the Dino Thunder rangers sacrificed the power in their gems to neutralize Mesagog, finally destroying him for good. And just like that, all was well on Earth again and another chapter in the Ranger Legacy came to a close. But as it often happens, things are never what they seem.
The pacific ocean, near one of the Hawaiian islands
It was a normal warm, sunny day in Hawaii and the waters were alive with the activity of surfers, swimmers, boaters and scuba divers. On one of the more remote beaches of a small island, a few native to the area went about their day as normal, surfing and enjoying their surroundings.
"Waves are perfect today," a very tanned young man called to his friends, as they relaxed on the beach.
"Hey, what is that over there?" the girl asked, as they saw something washing up on the beach in the near distance. Cautiously the two males and one female approached the figure and instantly had to cover their mouths and noses, as the stench of burnt human flesh singed their nostrils.
"Oh my God," the girl cried, as they took in the gruesome sight. The being was as badly burned as any of them had ever seen and gingerly, one of the men knelt down to feel the neck for a pulse.
"What are you doing? There's no way whatever or whoever this was could still be alive," the other male refuted. His eyes widened, as he felt a faint pulse.
"He…or whatever is alive," he announced.
"How could anyone survive being burned alive like this?" she wondered. He shook his head.
"I don't know, but he won't be alive much longer so call an ambulance," the surfer said, as his friend pulled out a cell phone and dialed 9-1-1…
Present Day, September 2007
In the Woods Surrounding Blue Bay Harbor
The Wind Ninja Academy
The gardens of the secretive Wind Ninja Academy were lit with a beautiful, serene lightning that complimented the moonlight that shone down upon them. The students were still on summer break, but would return for fall lessons in just two weeks. They had planned that occasion for just this reason, since with the new fall term would bring the final joining of the two academies. But that was still causing enough upheaval that they decided that this event would be private so no unwanted interruptions occurred. Sensei Omino and some of his staff would remain at the old Thunder Academy most of the time and still conduct Academy business from there as a secondary facility. Hunter and Leann, crimson and navy, would pick up their posts as head Sensei's at the new Wind Thunder Ninja Academy in his behest. But for now, he was present to enjoy his daughter's joy, as she married the man she loved, the son of his long time ninja brother in arms. They ceremony had been simple and now the group of young people celebrated with each other well into the night while Sensei Omino and Sensei Watanabe looked on.
Cam and Leann danced slowly, their faces mere inches apart, glowing with happiness as they whispered to each other. Tori and Hunter, dressed in a beautiful baby blue gown and tux trimmed in crimson respectively, were in their own little world also, as they danced slowly as well. Even Blake had made it and he danced with Kapri. Their laughter filled the garden and it seemed that Blake was recovering fast from his break up with Allison. It had been a mutual split and Kapri was quite interested in the newly single motocross star. Dustin and Marah and Shane and Skyla made up the rest of their small group and it was the red wind ninja that brought their attention together by raising his wine glass.
"I know we're just about the most nontraditional bunch that there ever was, but I think it's time for Mr. Best Man to make his speech," Shane announced, eying Hunter, who rolled his eyes.
"Yeah...speech bro. We know you're so good at them," Blake joked. The crimson ninja gave him a playful glare in response, before he took his glass.
"Cam and Leann, you guys are going to be great together. You're both like my annoying older brother and sister that I always wanted," he joked, making them laugh and earning an eye roll from the green samurai.
"Cam, I know I speak for all of us when I say that we like seeing you smile more, the way you do when Leann is around. You're without a doubt the brains of this operation, but save the snarky comment for later," Hunter said, as Cam closed his mouth and forgot the comment they had all known was coming. Hunter chuckled.
"You're so predictable," he joked.
"Blake's right, your speeches are terrible," Cam retorted.
"Leann, you're a wonderful woman. Good luck with Captain Sarcastic Pants and his suitcase of snark," Hunter toasted.
"Suitcase of snark? Really?" Cam deadpanned, making them all chuckle. Hunter shrugged.
"It sounded better in my head," he replied.
"I'm sure," Cam retorted sarcastically.
"To Cam and Leann," they toasted, as the evening festivities continued.
Somewhere in Africa
The tribal elder coughed violently, as he held the wound in his belly.
"I will...never tell you...dark witch!" he hissed, as the beautiful woman sneered down at him.
"Then this village will burn to the ground and take everyone with it, you old fool. Then my team will sift through the ashes and find it anyway. Tell me now and spare you loved ones!" Tamara Shay hissed.
"You are not worthy to hold the earth prism!" he hissed back. She smirked and hauled him to his feet. He stumbled to his ceremonial alter and opened an ornate, golden chest from a secret compartment. The tent was momentarily bathed in a yellow glow, as the Earth prism shined with brilliance before his eyes. He turned sharply and held the prism, letting its golden power explode at the evil woman who held his village captive. She growled combated his attack with dark, purplish energy of her own. The elder gasped, as her pupils disappeared and her eyes became solid black. Her evil energy ate away at his attack. It was true that each prism was extremely powerful, but only in the hands of its chosen bearer and he was not that person. The golden light faded and he had no time to scream, as her attack hit him in the chest. She smirked and plucked the earth prism from his limp palm. Blood leaked from his open wounds and he glared up into evil.
"The ones...meant for the prisms will...stop you...demon..." he rasped. She reached down and wrapped her hand around his throat.
"No one can stop me, you old fool. Especially not a bunch of silly kids," she hissed, as she snapped his neck with a sharp twist. As she exited the tent, two masked ninjas waited, each bearing the dark ninja symbol.
"Wipe this village off the map," she ordered. Dozens more dark ninjas under her command swarmed in and the screams of innocents rang out momentarily, before they were forever silenced by the flames of their burning village...
A Few Days Later...
"Dad...what do you mean?" Mack asked in disbelief.
"I'm sorry, but this new threat, Thrax, has severed your connection to the universal morphing grid," Andrew stated.
"But you can fix it...right?" Dax asked.
"Yeah, you built the morphers, after all," Will added.
"I did, but my knowledge of the morphing grid itself is very limited. In fact, only a few people on Earth have a true grasp of how it works. I'm afraid without some kind of help, I don't know how to get past this," Andrew replied.
"So that's it...we're no longer rangers," Ronny said in disbelief.
"And the world is unprotected," Rose added.
"Not to mention that there is nothing to stop Flurious and Moltor from finding the remaining jewels," Tyzonn stated. Andrew nodded gravely. Unknown to them, the Sentinel Knight heard of their dilemma and quickly disappeared.
Blue Bay Harbor
"Where are you taking me?" Tori asked anxiously. Hunter grinned from his spot in the driver's seat and watched her fidget so as not to remove the blindfold that he had ordered her to wear.
"Relax babe, we're almost there," he assured her.
"Why can't you just tell me?" she questioned. He smirked.
"Because this is more fun," he replied. She huffed in annoyance.
"Maybe for you," she grumbled, as she crossed her arms over her chest. He stopped the van and parked, before getting out and opening her door. He helped her out and guided her along the boardwalk. Tori could smell the ocean strongly and hear the waves crashing on the beach.
"We're at the beach," she stated.
"Yes we are," Jack announced, as he and Alana met the young couple in front of a small, freshly painted shop.
"Daddy?" Tori asked, as Hunter took her blindfold off.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, as she looked around.
"What's going on?" she asked, as Hunter stepped aside so she could see the kiosk sized shop. Her mouth dropped open, as she read the sign.
"Tori's Custom Boards?" she asked in disbelief.
"Surprise sweetheart!" Alana exclaimed.
"How..." Tori started to say, but her words faded. She was speechless.
"We've seen your sketches and you're very talented. We know you birthday is still a month away, but we couldn't wait to spring this on you," Jack stated.
"You should thank Hunter though. It was his idea," Alana added. She looked at him and smiled warmly, as she hugged him tightly.
"Thank you," she said, as she hugged her parents.
"This is amazing," she gushed, as Hunter wrapped his arms around her waist. She kissed him tenderly.
"That's not all," Alana said, as Jack presented a dark blue box wrapped with a bright blue bow.
"The shop was amazing enough...you shouldn't have gotten more," Tori lamented. Jack smiled.
"Just open it," he prodded. She did and gasped at the contents. It was an aqua blue crystal-like pendant in the shape of icicle. It was fairly large, about 4 inches long and unlike any piece of jewelry Tori had ever seen. She had seen similar prismatic type pendants like this, but there was something very unique about it.
"Where...did you get this?" Tori asked, as she took it out of the box. It looked like it cost a small fortune.
"Well, when we were with our team in Angel Grove a couple weeks ago working that last case, Jason finally convinced us to go scuba diving with him and Trini," Alana said.
"And I found it lodged in a piece of coral when we were at our deepest point. I was careful not to damage the coral, but when I saw it, something about just told me that it should be yours," Jack replied. Alana nodded.
"It instantly reminded us of you and we let Billy examine it to tell us what kind of gem it was, but he said it didn't really match any gemstones. It was more like a prism he said, though he said he had never seen one quite like it and in such a unique color," Alana explained. Jack nodded.
"So we bought a silver chain for it and had a jeweler put it on for us. He actually had no idea exactly what it was either and said it might not be worth anything if it was just a prism, but we know things like that don't matter to you," Jack stated. Tori nodded.
"I love it, thank you," Tori said, enamored by the pendant. And Hunter could instantly see why, as blue ribbons of power coursed over her body in response to her contact with it.
"Will you put it on me?" she asked. He nodded and fastened the clasp, watching the blue ribbons of power immediately draw to the pendant and disappear. Hunter shared a meaningful look with her and kissed her forehead.
"These aren't quite as shiny, but I think you'll like them too," Hunter said, as he handed her another box. She looked at him and cocked her head to the side.
"You guys are spoiling me," Tori chided, as she opened it up and found hundreds of business cards. She pulled one out and read it.
"Tori Hanson, Custom Surfboards," she read, noticing the card had the location of her kiosk and her e-mail.
"Kelly has some on the check out desk at Storm Chargers too and Cam said we he could even build you a website," Hunter said. She looked at him in awe.
"This...is amazing," she said, as she looked at the blank boards in her shop, just waiting for her to design. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her hair.
"This is just the beginning for us," he whispered in her ear. Her eyes met his and she smiled, before he leaned in and kissed her tenderly. A few screams suddenly started them and they saw a large black and golden shiny figure appear, causing people to scatter in fear even though the being had made no violent attempts toward them. But from their ranger days, Tori and Hunter weren't going to take any chances. They sunk into fighting stance and prepared to take on the possible threat. The figure stopped before them.
"Tori Hanson," he stated.
"Who are you?" Hunter demanded. The last time someone had approached them with knowledge of Tori, they had been kidnapped and nearly killed.
"Do not fear me. I fight on your side...the side of good. I am the Sentinel Knight," he stated. Tori relaxed slightly, but Hunter still remained defensive.
"A great crisis has occurred and the power rangers known as Operation Overdrive have lost their powers. The world is defenseless and I have called on five former rangers to step in. You, Tori Hanson, are the final ranger on my new team," he stated.
"But I don't have my powers anymore," Tori replied.
"It is risky, but I have spared my energy to restore the powers for three rangers and two that still have their powers. Thrax, the son of Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd has attacked and joined with several other villains. The world is in great danger," the Knight stated.
"But why not Hunter too? He was a ranger and we could use him," she replied.
"For now, I'm only sparing the energy for three power sources. But if the situation becomes worse, then I will be forced to recruit more," he stated.
"Go...they need you," he prodded. She nodded and hugged him tightly.
"I'll call you tonight," she said. He smirked.
"You better," he replied, as he kissed her quickly. She hugged her parents goodbye and disappeared with the Sentinel Knight. Hunter sighed and Alana patted his arm.
"She'll be okay," she assured.
"I know...I better let Sensei know what's going on. I'll see you both later," he said, as he waved to them and then disappeared into a crimson ninja streak.
"I really wish I could move that fast," Jack commented. Alana chuckled and they joined hands, retreating to their car parked nearby.
Ninja Ops
"Man...that's awesome!" Shane said, as Hunter told them the news.
"Yeah, but how come I didn't get chosen. I'm so jealous," Dustin added.
"Well if the choice is between you and Tori, then Tori is going to be chosen," Cam drawled.
"Dude that's harsh and why are you even here?" the earth ninja asked.
"Yeah, why aren't you and Leann on your honeymoon?" Hunter asked curiously.
"With new students coming in soon and the merging of the Academies only days away, we decided to postpone until winter break. We're taking a trip then," Cam replied, as he tapped away at his computer as usual. A picture of the battle appeared. They assumed that the six young people currently getting their butts kicked all around Stone Henge were the team known as Operation Overdrive.
"Hey, you found it," Dustin said, as he plopped down next to him.
"Was there ever any doubt?" Cam asked. Leann sat next to him and gently pinched his arm.
"Okay Mr. Snarky, just turn up the volume," she chided. He smirked and did, as Hunter and Shane, with his arm around Skyla, stood behind them.
"Hey! You guys are blocking my view!" Marah complained.
"Where's your other half?" Hunter teased. Marah smirked at him.
"Your brother is racing in Reefside today. She's visiting him," Marah replied. Hunter rolled his eyes, before turning his attention to the screen. They watched, impressed when vines suddenly appeared out of no where, disrupting the battle and saving the unmorphed team.
"Whoa...how come we never got capes on our suits?" Dustin asked.
"Because capes are dorky," Hunter quipped.
"Dude...they'd be perfect for Dustin then," Shane teased.
"Shut up dude," Dustin quipped.
"Hey...who's that guy?" Shane asked, as a red ranger strode forward after blasting one of the Fear Cats.
"No idea...I've never seen that suit design before," Cam replied, finding it weird that it matched nothing in his ranger history database. Next they saw a yellow blur fly by, striking several minions, before coming to rest atop a pillar.
"Hey...it's Kira," Marah said fondly, as they saw a familiar blue blur make quick work of several more minions. Hunter crossed his arms over his chest in pride, as he watched the woman he loved fight. There was a huge explosion that unearthed the ground beneath Kamdor and one of the Fear Cats. A black ax, emblazoned with the symbol of the Mastodon rested in the dirt, as the black Mighty Morphin power ranger picked it up.
"It's Adam," Shane said.
"Good...that Sentinel Knight picked a veteran to lead at least," Hunter replied. Shane clapped him on the shoulder.
"Dude...she'll be fine," he assured him. Hunter nodded.
"I know," he replied. He believed Tori could handle absolutely anything, but he just had a feeling that this new threat might be bigger than this Sentinel Knight guy even knew and he couldn't shake it. He wondered if Jason or Billy would agree when they found out that the son of Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd was attacking earth.
They saw the five not so new rangers demorph and greet the team that was now without powers.
"Hey...is that the necklace you told us about?" Shane asked, noticing the pendant around Tori's neck. Hunter nodded.
"Tori's parents found it scuba diving in Angel Cove. Billy said he's not even sure exactly what it is so it must be rare," Hunter replied, as the screen went dark.
"Looks like that's it for now. Thrax is probably pretty pissed off though, considering he hasn't gotten rid of the power rangers after all," Cam mentioned.
"Then you should all be ready to lend your powers if the situation becomes dire," Sensei advised. They agreed and left him alone. He too had seen the pendant around Tori's by chance and somehow knew it wasn't simply coincidence that the Hanson's had come across it, for he knew exactly what it was. If one of the storm prisms had surfaced, then he knew this was only the beginning. He picked up the phone and dialed a number
"Hello," Omino answered on the other end.
"We must tell them of the scroll's prophecy. We cannot delay any longer," Sensei Watanabe stated gravely...