Son of War
A/N: I changed the timeline up a little, but hey, if it's fanfiction, then its AU anyways.
Disclaimer: Anything you can google is not mine.
Chapter 2 – Rangers of the Past
Weeks past as Lori got to know the others better, becoming as close to them as she was to her old friends in Blue Bay Harbor and Angel Grove…well, almost as close, she still missed the others a lot and constantly wished she was able to see them. As the days went on, Lori also noticed weird things happening. Monsters appearing out of nowhere to attack the city, mysterious superheroes dressed in assorted colors fighting them off. That seemed to happen wherever she went. And wherever she went, whatever town she was in, her friends always seem to disappear at the strangest times…usually around when the monsters showed up. But Lori had a good sense in judging people and never even thought that her friends could be somehow connected to those monsters. However, there was one person who seemed to have disappeared for a long time.
"Hey you guys," Lori said one day as she and her friends walked her home. "Have you seen Tommy?"
"No, why?" Kira asked.
"He's been missing for a while now," Lori replied. "I'm getting worried about him. Hayley's been coming over to make sure I'm all right; she says Tommy's on a trip out of town, but I can't get any hold of him."
"Maybe he's in a remote place," Ethan suggested. "Like the Himalayas, where you can't get cell phone receptions."
"He's in the Himalayas?" Lori asked.
"We don't know where he is," Trent told her. "That was just an example," he added, glaring at Ethan, but Lori didn't notice.
"What if he doesn't come back?"
"He'll be back."
"How do you know?"
"I know."
"Hmmm…" Lori murmured, unsatisfied. "I'm scared."
"Don't worry," Connor said. "If you need anything, just call us and we'll be here."
"Thanks guys."
"No problem." The tall guy patted her on the shoulder before he and the other teens left the house.
"You think maybe we should tell her?" Kira asked quietly, looking back over her shoulder to see the little girl sadly close the front door.
"Are you crazy?" Connor replied. "What are we supposed to say? That we're all Power Rangers and her god-father got stuck being invisible and have been staying in a cave under the house the whole time? You'd think she'd believe us?"
"I dunno," Ethan shrugged. "She is a little kid after all."
"She's a 12-year-old high school senior, not your average little kid," Trent pointed out.
"So we just keep lying to her?" Kira asked.
"We lie to everybody else," Connor shrugged. "No one can know our secret. No one can know we're the Power Rangers!"
Ding Dong!
Who could that be? Lori wondered as she hurried to answer the door. She was too short to see through the peephole, even on her tip-toes, so she didn't bother to try. Lori made sure the small chain bolt was secure before opening the door just a crack.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
The people who had rung the doorbell, three men and two women in their thirties or so dressed in black leather, saw her at once. The way they glared down at Lori made her bite her bottom lip nervously.
"Yes," said the man standing in the front. He wore a small loop earring on his left ear and a plain red t-shirt under his unbuttoned leather jacket. His eyes were as black as his coal and piercing as a needle. He was obviously the leader of this group. "We're looking for someone that lives here, perhaps you know her?"
"Wh-who is it?" Lori asked nervously. She couldn't help from stuttering under this man's intimidating glower.
"Her name is Mallory. She about your age, and your size, jet black hair…" he leaned down to level with Lori "…and has deep red eyes."
Lori managed to suppress a sharp gasp. The man had just described her. But who were these people and why were they after her? Lori didn't intend to find out.
"Oh, yeah, you mean Mal. She's in the bathroom, let me go get her." Lori was a great liar. You kind of have to be when you've lived in the ghetto before. Gangsters were the ones that she feared more than even the alien monsters she seen attacking the city. Quickly, she closed the door and hastily tried to think of a place to hide.
Lori quickly glanced at her watch: 4:30. It would be at least three hours 'til Hayley would come to make her dinner. But if those guys were really gangsters after her, it would be less than three minutes before the ram down the door and hunt her down. She'll have to do this swiftly. Hastily, she scrambled up to her room, throwing open her window. Luckily, her room faced the backside of the house. As quietly as possible, she climbed out of the window, hooked her leg over the limb of the tree outside and slid down, landing softly in a pile of orange-brown leaves. Looking both ways she stealthily ran out into the woods, knowing that it would a lot easier to lose those people in there than run around the open city.
Lori wasn't at all familiar with the woods by her new home, she had never even been in there, Tommy had advised her against it, but she was desperate. She ran as hard as she could, deeper and deeper into the maze of leafless trees in hope to get as far away as possible from the people who were after her. Lori didn't even know who they could've been. Only her friends and the Social Services people knew about her move to Reefside, and those guys were definitely not from Social Services.
Lost in her thoughts, Lori barely had time to cry out when she found she had stepped into a sinkhole. She handed face down with a thud. She groaned and gradually opened her eyes. It took a while for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. When she could see properly, Lori slowly got up to her feet, wincing in pain as she dusted herself off. She looked around slowly, taking in her surroundings. She seemed to be in the middle of some kind of underground tunnel. Still breathing heavily, Lori decided to move on. She kept a hand on the rough wall as she walked deeper into the caverns, away from the little light that shone through the part of the ceiling she had broken when she fell through.
"Whoa!" Lori gasped when she came to the end of the tunnel, "No way!" A whole dinosaur skeleton seemed to be glued on the wall. Hesitantly, she reached forward to touch it, hands shaking.
A collective gasp greeted Lori when she tumbled in. Four people whipped around to find her sprawled on the ground. Lori straightened up, managing not to fall this time (for the sake of her battered body from falling the ten feet through the sinkhole). She looked up to see Hayley, Kira, Ethan, and Connor, surrounding…
"Tommy!" Lori cried, running over to the table her god-father was lying on. He had a pillow and a gray blanket that covered his stomach, with two wires attached to his chest. He seemed to be breathing, barely, and his eyes were closed. Lori whirled around to confront the four, who had now assembled in a line behind her, waiting.
"What did you do to him?!" she yelled in anger, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Lori, listen to us--" Hayley began, but Lori cut her off.
"What is this place? Have you been keeping him down here this whole time? What--"
This time, Lori got interrupted.
"Calm down Lori, nothing's wrong with Dr. O," Connor said, grabbing the little girl by her shoulders.
"Are you sure about that?" Ethan asked.
Kira glared at him. "Not helping," she hissed.
"Ethan's right," Hayley said. "We're not sure if Tommy's okay. We better get him to a hospital."
"Not until you tell me what's going on!" Lori demanded.
"Lori, Tommy may be in risk," Hayley tried to persuade her. "His life may be in danger."
"His life may be in danger with you for all I know," Lori shot back hotly. "Tell me now."
"Lori…"
"Now!"
"Be reasonable! I understand you have tons of questions, and I promise you I'll answer as much of them as I can, but after we get Tommy the care he needs. Here, this is Tommy's video diary. Watch this and you'll know everything," Hayley added after Lori's hesitation, handing the glowering little girl a disk.
Lori was still heaving with this sudden unexplainable anger, but she heard Hayley's words. She took the disk, nodding. "Fine, go."
Lori went up to the main computer at the far end of the cave, slipping the disk into the hard drive. Tommy appeared on screen, sitting down. Lori recognized the background and realized this video diary had been filmed, right here in this underground lair.
"I'm Tommy Oliver," said the Tommy in the video. "If you're not me, then something is seriously wrong." And at once Lori was totally absorbed, not even noticing when and how the others had gotten the Tommy's body out of the cave. "This video diary is a confidential record, only to be viewed in the case of an emergency…"
When the video diary ended, Lori sank back in her seat. She didn't know how to respond as the screen went blank. Her god-father, her friends, from Angel Grove to Blue Bay Harbor, and even now in Reefside, all of them, they're all…Power Rangers! Even Justin, who was no older than she is now when he got his Turbo Powers! Now she knew why her friends were never around when monster were, because they were those superheroes in brightly-colored spandex battling to save the Earth. Lori shook her head, this was unbelievable.
Lori nearly fell off her seat when she heard the sudden beep. The alarm was ringing, she realized, when a battle scene filled the screen. She sat up, staring open-mouthed, shocked. Three Power Rangers were destroying the city! Eyes glued on the Red, Yellow, and Blue Rangers wreaking havoc downtown, Lori subconsciously reached for the small disk the size of a quarter that hung around her neck. She didn't notice it until it warmed, the little red light in the middle flashing as it beeped rapidly.
And suddenly, Lori remembered something. That guy, the one in the red shirt and black leather, she had seen him before. It was six years ago, when she still lived in Angel Grove, but she remembered him all right. Who could forget? He was with two others, another man who was a head taller than he was, dressed in all black, even the t-shirt under his black leather, with white-blonde hair that curled like an afro, one eye always closed as if it was missing, and a woman, her long blonde hair tied up in a bun, wearing yellow under her black. Lori would never forget that day because it had been the first time where she had gotten so beat up, she had to stay overnight in the hospital. She had seen those three first though, before she got beat up. Those people, their faces so dark and mean, that at the time, Lori wondered if they knew how to smile at all. But she didn't remember seeing the other two with them today, the man with the blue shirt and the woman in the pink. Lori is good at blending into the background, even if she was the only one there, she could make it look like she was nothing but a spider spinning her web in a corner. She had heard them talking as they trooped by her on her way back to the Little Angels Haven. They were looking for the Power Rangers. They were hunting the Power Rangers. But Lori wasn't a Power Ranger, so why did they show up here? Whatever the reason, one thing was for sure. They were definitely here for her.
Beep…beep…beep!
Silently, Lori slipped into the hospital room. Her god-father laid there in the bed, unmoving, almost dead. Tubes, wires, and machines were hooked up to him as he slept endlessly on. Lori almost smiled at his careful—and almost ironic—color choice of attire: his blanket was green; his gown was white, with a red collar. But the wave of sadness in seeing her friend and hero lying there like that would once again wash over her and that tiny grin was gone before it was fully stretched out.
"Tommy," she whispered, stopping at his side, gently reaching out and setting her small hand on his muscular forearm. "Please wake up."
Lori gasped sharply and whipped around when she heard the door open. A tall man entered. He was middle-aged and had graying hair, dressed in a sky-blue shirt with khaki-colored slacks and a black belt with a shiny buckle that caught the gleam of the florescent light hanging from the ceiling. He also wore a blue tie and a white doctor's coat.
"I'm sorry, did I startle you?" he said to the surprised little girl.
"No," Lori replied politely. "I'm fine, but what about my uncle…Dr. Walsh?"
The doctor smiled, glancing at the golden nametag pinned to his breast pocket. "You are Lori then, I presume?"
Lori looked at him, but said nothing.
Dr. Walsh chuckled. "Hayley told me you would be visiting soon." Lori kept her silence and the man continued. "Your godfather's vital signs are normal," he told her, flipping through the pages on his clipboard, "but his brain waves are out of control."
"What does that mean? Is he okay?"
Dr. Walsh shrugged and left the room after checking his patient's readings, leaving Lori even more frustrated than before as she turned back to her god-father. "Please Tommy, you can't give up."
While Lori was in the hospital room fighting back tears, Tommy was in a dream-like state, fighting his past Ranger selves. Now, he had been knocked down by the Green Mighty Morphing Ranger.
"Why don't you just give up the fight?" the Green Ranger demanded.
"That's the one thing I'll never do," Tommy replied angrily.
"Then I guess this is over," said the Green Ranger, preparing the final strike with the Dragon Dagger.
Tommy held his head high, bracing himself for the attack, but it didn't come. Instead, the Green Ranger offered him his hand.
"You've passed the test."
"Test? What are you talking about?" Tommy asked as he was pulled to his feet.
"You haven't been fight us," said the Zeo Ranger V—Red, walking up from behind the Green Ranger to join them. "You've been fighting for your life."
"And you've proven your will to live is stronger than any Ranger Power," added the White Mighty Morphing Ranger, flanking the Green Ranger's other side.
The three Rangers reached forward and held out their hands. In the middle of each of their white gloves was a tiny fragment of the Black Dino Gem.
"This is yours," said the Rangers. Tommy picked up the pieces. "Good luck Black Ranger…Ranger…Ranger…" it echoed they faded away.
"Tommy…."
Tommy's eyes flew open. Lori was the first thing he saw. There she was, standing there, her chin barely above the side of the bed. He saw his reflection in her red eyes as they lit up like a burning flame.
"Tommy!" she exclaimed, a grin spreading across her face.
"You're okay!" added Hayley, stepping up from behind the little girl when she heard her shout.
Tommy smiled back at them. "Yeah, never felt better," he replied, and turning his head he saw that in his clenched fist was his restored Dino Gem, glowing from its center.
Meanwhile, Connor, Ethan, and Kira were fighting the three Evil Rangers downtown. Keyword: were. The Evil Rangers were too powerful and the Dino Rangers got their butts kicked. They decided to return to the base to regroup.
"Dr. O!" they exclaimed when they saw their mentor sitting in front of the main computer when they entered the cave. "You're awake!"
Tommy nodded. "Let's skip to the battle," he said. His students agreed and told him of their fight.
"Why can't we just destroy them with our Dinozords?" Connor asked at the end of their tale.
"No!" Lori cried in horror.
"They were heroes who once fought for good," Tommy said. "We have to find another way."
"What other way?" Ethan asked. "They're too strong for us."
"Those Rangers you fought today," Lori said, "They were the Wind Rangers, the three primary Rangers of the Ninja Storm team. Tori, the Blue Ranger, wields the power of water, Shane, the Red Ranger, controls the power of air, and Dustin, the Yellow Ranger, holds the power of earth. They may not have been the most reliable of people, but they were probably the goofiest…" Lori smiled at the memories. "Something's happened to them now; I know they would never do this on their own will. They're my friends, and I want to help them return to normal."
"Lori, there's nothing you can do," Hayley said.
Lori looked at her. "Wrong," she said, pulling off her necklace. "You remember Cam Watanabe?"
"Yes. He was the technical expert for the Ninja Storm Rangers," Hayley answered, nodding. "He was even better at this stuff than I am."
"He was also the Green Samurai Ranger," Lori added. "A motorbike wasn't the only thing I got when I moved to Reefside. Before I left, Cam came to me and gave me this." She held up the disk for them all to see. "If anything happens, he said, all I had to do was press this button in the middle, and they'll be there, no matter what."
"You're going to call for him?" Kira guessed.
Lori shook her head. "I don't need to. A few hours ago, it beeped. He's calling for me—for us."
"What do we do?" Trent asked.
Lori looked at him and a slow grin crept across her face.
"Nothing."
Thank you GinaStar for reviewing and encouraging me to post this. There's 31 hits, someone's bound to have something to say, right? Like maybe a new title? I want to change it, but can't think of anything.
Please review!