Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers. I think Saban owns them again. It was Disney for a while, but whoever owns them, it's definitely not me. I also do not own any song lyrics used.

AN: Here's chapter 1. Please refer to the prologue for important author's notes. Please note the prologue was set in 1995, but the rest of the story takes place in 2007, beginning right after the Operation Overdrive episode, "Once a Ranger."

AN 2: As stated in the previous chapter, this story will focus on the NS, DT, MMPR/Zeo teams, but there will eventually be appearances from rangers of other teams as well. By the title, I'm sure you've concluded that Hunter will have a large role in the story and that this is a Hunter/Tori pairing. There's no Blake bashing, just some brotherly rivalry. Connor/Kira is the other main pairing and eventually we will have Tommy/Kim and Billy/Kat. Minor pairings include Dustin/Marah and Rocky/Aisha. Other pairings are to be decided and suggestions are welcome as long as they do not include changing any of the pairings stated above. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Crimson Rising

Chapter 1: You're the Reason

Hold me until sunrise, I can't wait for you to breathe

'Cause it's all I need

And I will always say

You're the reason I believe

They can't stop me if I breathe

They won't stop me if I bleed

Song: You're the Reason

Artist: Eyeshine

2007

Angel Grove, California

Red Frog Dojo

Adam Park walked into his dojo that he co-owned with his best friend. It was morning and he had just got back into town. Despite that, he had decided to come in and try to get caught up on a few things. Rocky had been holding down the fort while he was temporarily donning black armor once again. Thrax had been defeated though and thanks to Alpha, the Morphing Grid had been repaired.

"Did I just walk through a time portal or is that really Alpha cleaning the storage room?" Rocky Desantos asked, as he came trudging in from the back room. Adam grinned.

"No, that's really Alpha. He wants to feel useful again so I put him to work," Adam replied.

"So I guess Thrax is history then?" Rocky asked. Adam nodded.

"Yep, back to retirement. The new team has a handle on things again," Adam replied.

"Man, I can't believe Rita and Zedd had a kid," Rocky said, shaking his head.

"That creates all kinds of images that are just nasty," Rocky quipped, only half joking. Adam cringed.

"Yeah, Thrax definitely got hit by the ugly train, as Aisha would say," Adam replied.

"Speaking of my wife, she expects you for dinner tonight so you can tell us all about working with the other former rangers. And Olivia misses her uncle Adam," Rocky said. Adam grinned again.

"I'll be there. I've missed Liv too," he responded, as students started to file in. Adam smiled and went to greet his students, who seemed excited for his return. Life had once again returned to normal.

Blue Bay Harbor

Tori Hanson breathed in the familiar and beloved scent of salty ocean air. The sun was dipping below the horizon, creating a picture perfect scene at the mostly deserted Blue Bay Harbor beach. It was November, after all, and the water was only warm enough to enjoy during the day this time of year. She could feel a winter chill in the air, though she knew it was a very mild cold, compared to other parts of the country this time of year. She had just returned home from assisting the Overdrive rangers in defeating Thrax, son of Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd. Feeling the rush of the power had felt amazing once again, but meeting rangers of other teams had also been exciting. She knew Kira already, but meeting the others, especially one of the original twelve had been an honor. Adam Park was an amazing fighter and she had wished it was an experience she could have shared with the guys. She knew they would grill her for every detail of the battle though. At that thought, she grinned, as she felt a pair of strong arms slide around her waist. Warm, soft lips kissed her neck and a nose nuzzled her ear.

"I take it you got my text," she surmised.

"Of course. I think your "brothers" were a little miffed that you didn't text them though," he joked, his deep, tenor voice sending delicious chills down her spine.

"They'll get over it, especially when I spill all the gory details of battle to them. I wanted to see you first," she replied.

"Lucky me," he whispered huskily, as the breeze tousled his shaggy, dirty blonde locks. She turned her head, so she could capture those lips with her own. He responded just as eagerly, his mouth dueling with hers in a passionate rhythm. If you had told her four years ago that she would one day be in love with the brooding, aloof Hunter Bradley, she would have denied such a possibility with vehement. But she knew a different Hunter than most. True, he had loosened up a lot around the guys over the years and even trusted Shane, Dustin, and Cam now. They were his "bros" now, especially since Blake had been off touring the world with Factory Blue for almost four years. But no one had bonded like they had when Blake left. What started as the common interest of missing the navy wielder of thunder had grown into a friendship and confidence. Within two years, they knew just about everything there was to know about each other. Soon they began to realize that he knew things about her that not even Dustin knew and she about him that not even Blake knew. By that time, Blake had been gone for two and a half years and guilt still ate at them about their growing feelings. That is, until the tabloid photos of Blake with a female rider looking very cozy surfaced. He had called Tori and denied that anything was going on between them. She believed him, but they decided that because nothing had ever been established between them that seeing other people wouldn't be a crime. Their talk had finally allowed her to let go of her guilt over her growing feelings for the tall, handsome blonde that was now her boyfriend.

Hunter had struggled with his own guilt over the matter. He knew he was in love with Tori and felt like he was betraying his brother on one hand. On the other, he wanted to chide his younger sibling for even expecting a beautiful woman like Tori to wait years for him to return from touring the world. Blake's career was soaring and there had been no signs of him slowing down.

It had been a year and a half now since their feelings had come to a head and while, they were happy and in love with no regrets, they had yet to tell Blake that they were together. It wasn't that they were afraid to, but it wasn't something Hunter wanted to do in an e-mail and he hadn't seen his brother in person since they had helped the Dino Rangers in 2004.

Hunter didn't feel guilty anymore. Tori was his entire world now and what they had went beyond anything he had ever thought possible. He wasn't sure how the beautiful blonde in his arms had managed to tear down all his walls and take up permanent residence in his heart, but he wasn't complaining and he wouldn't change anything.

Tori's guilt had faded the moment Hunter confessed that he was in love with her. Hunter sometimes rubbed people the wrong way, because he usually bottled his feelings and was often standoffish. But she knew a different Hunter, a romantic, passionate Hunter that loved her with his entire being. For a long time, she had silently wondered why she hadn't been enough for Blake, though she didn't begrudge him for jumping on the opportunity he had been offered with Factory Blue. Still, her insecurities sometimes ate at her. But over time, her insecurity faded as Hunter made sure that she knew that she was more than enough for him, more than he believed he deserved, even though she in return chided him for thinking he didn't deserve to be happy. The past was the past. She was just a lot better at letting it go than he was sometimes. He still often was the quiet, brooding Hunter, but she would never let him go too long without coaxing him to talk about what he was feeling.

"I'm assuming that everything went well since you're back," he mentioned, as their lips finally parted. She smiled, as she looked into his ice blue eyes.

"Crisis averted and evil asses thoroughly kicked," she replied in amusement.

"Though I wish you could have been out there with me," she added.

"Me too," he said, as he kissed her hair.

"You would have loved a good spar with Adam. He has mad marital arts skills," she said.

"Adam?" he asked.

"Adam Park. He was a ranger with Dr. Oliver. Second black ranger," she clarified. Hunter smiled.

"You know Dustin is going to make you go over every single detail, right? He drools over anything related to ranger history," he joked.

"I know. I'm prepared for all the grilling," she replied.

"Well, you'll be happy to know that I convinced your bros that you'd be way too worked to talk tonight," he said proudly.

"Oh you did? So we have the whole night alone?" she replied, eyeing him slyly.

"Yep and I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a selfish motive for that," he said, squeezing her hip playfully. She smiled.

"Then I say we go home and you give me a proper welcome home," she suggested. He grinned wolfishly.

"You don't have to tell me twice," he retorted, as they made their way toward his crimson street bike. They put their helmets on and with Tori holding onto him tightly, he sped off toward their apartment complex a few miles away.

Los Angeles

Kira tiptoed into her posh loft style apartment and dropped her duffle bag to the floor. Looking around, she noticed that the place looked somewhat clean and considering that her boyfriend had been on his own for the last couple weeks, it was a miracle. The only clutter was his soccer gear in the living room and all her mail that had piled up on the coffee table. It was nearly one and she decided to head straight to the bedroom.

She entered as quietly as she could and smiled, as she watched him sleep, while changing into a pale yellow tank top and some white sleep shorts. She climbed into the king sized bed and lay beside him. She let out a breath, decompressing from the day, as her hair fanned out on her pillow.

"Kira?" Connor asked sleepily. She smiled and snuggled close to him, pressing a kiss to his bare chest.

"Yeah," she answered, as she brushed his chestnut colored bangs from his eyes.

"You're home…I missed you," he said, his voice groggy with sleep. She smiled.

"I missed you too," she replied, as their lips met in a passionate kiss. They had only been together about a year now. Their career aspirations had led them to Los Angeles after graduating two years ago. Kira had come first after Doctor Oliver had, unbeknownst to her, sent one of her demos to his friend and former ranger Tanya Sloan. Just about every musician and recording artist in the business knew Tanya Sloan, but Kira had only made the ranger connection after watching Dr. O's video diary. Tanya herself had recorded an album several years ago and became very successful, but she had found her passion in helping struggling young artists like she had once been. In 2003, she had opened her own recording company and began signing young talent that had been overlooked by bigger conglomerates. She signed Kira in 2005 and she began recording right away.

By the time she was booked for her first live performance, Connor had started college and his talent saw him starting for his team. How they had ended up in the same exact place and time in a huge city like L.A. did not go unnoticed by either. Kira remembered how nervous she had been that night. She had played in front of small crowds before, but the stadium in front of thousands was a whole new ballgame. Add to that, the game was being televised nationwide and she was opening for Kylee Styles, who proved that she had not really learned from her humbling experience in Reefside by snubbing her in a beforehand interview when asked about their friendship. Needless to say, she remembered that night for more reasons than one.

Fourteen months ago

Kira's hands shook, as she gripped her guitar and stepped out onto the stage to begin the halftime show. She couldn't believe she was there. She had dreamed of this and now she felt like she was going to pass out. She took a deep calming breath and her mind raced with all the things that could go wrong. At that moment, a moment that she would look back and realize was fate; something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. She looked in that direction and saw him, standing on the sidelines. He was supposed to be in the locker room with his team, but he was watching her instead. He flashed her one of his brilliant smiles and everyone except him suddenly disappeared. The music started and she sung her heart out, just to him, like she had many times at Haley's Cyberspace, and the song ended before she knew it. Thundering applause met her, as she finished, and it became apparent that she had wowed the crowd. But she still couldn't take her eyes off him and he seemed to be having a hard time letting her out of sight too. It had been no surprise later that he had managed to use his genetic gift of super speed from his dino gem to evade security and find his way to her dressing room back stage. When she heard the knock, she knew who it was, but called out anyway.

"Who is it?" she called.

"It's Connor," he called back.

"Come in," she called. He opened the door and closed it behind him.

"Do I want to even know how you got past security?" she teased. He shrugged.

"Dr. O would understand if he knew I did it for you," he replied simply. Kira felt her cheeks warm and quickly turned away.

"I thought maybe you'd like to go get coffee and catch up. I know a great café," he suggested. She smiled and nodded, as she grabbed her small purse.

"Sure, let's go," she said, as they walked out. But she was bombarded by reporters that suddenly wanted a scoop from the girl that would become an overnight sensation in the music world.

"What the heck?" she asked in confusion. Connor smirked.

"I guess I'm not the only one that liked your performance," he said, smiling at her.

"Uh…I don't think I'm ready for this," Kira said uncertainly.

"Want to get out of here in a hurry?" he asked coyly.

"Desperately," she replied. He took her hand and they rounded the corner. When they were out of sight, Kira gasped, as she felt his arm go around her waist. He flashed her another smirk.

"Hang on," he told her, as they were gone in a red streak.

End Flashback

Kira smiled at the memory, as his lips slowly moved down her neck.

"I still think they should have picked me to be red for that mission," Connor said huskily, as he gave the nape of her neck his full attention. She giggled.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I wanted you out there with me. No offense to Bridge, of course," she said, smiling slyly.

"Really?" he asked. She nodded.

"Of course, it was strange being out there without you. Though I would have never admitted it when we were rangers, you really were a great leader," she replied. He didn't look so sure.

"I don't know, I was a selfish jerk at first and Dr. O did a lot of the leading," Connor said.

"But you're not that guy. That was just on the surface anyway. Being a ranger brought out the best in you…in all of us. We wouldn't be together if it wasn't for our experience as rangers," she reminded. He smiled and nodded.

"I guess you're right," he said, as he gazed at her beautiful face.

"We should probably get some sleep," she replied. He flashed one of his "Connor" smiles as she called them.

"Yeah right," he replied, playfully, as he claimed her lips in another searing kiss.

The sleek, large vessel streaked through hyperspace en route to the milky-way galaxy. Aboard, aliens of many worlds milled about, carrying on with their duties in servitude to their Mistress.

"Status report," the female voice commanded.

"We'll be in Earth's orbit in three days, my Mistress," an armored, green skinned man said. Her top general, from a powerful race of warriors, was a top caliber fighter, merciless and a brilliant strategist. He made other henchmen look like complete jokes. He was of course accompanied by many of his own kind, his warriors, who followed his every command to a fault. She remained the only person he took orders from.

"Thank you Xinshing. Have you been monitoring Earth?" she asked. He nodded.

"The Overdrive Rangers, with the help of several former rangers, defeated Thrax. The Morphing Grid has been repaired," Xin, as he was called for short, said.

"Thrax was as stupid as his parents. Still, he could be useful, in my servitude, of course. Have his remains collected once we reach Earth," she ordered, as she raised a glass of red liquid to her purple lips.

"What about the rangers, Mistress?" he asked. She shrugged.

"What about them? Even if they all somehow managed to get their powers back, you know that it won't matter. My father's new powers alone are more than enough to kill all who stand against him. I'm not pushover and my army, including you, have made a living slaughtering rangers on dozens of worlds. These rangers will be no different, especially when my father awakens and finds out he has the chance at revenge," she replied. He knew she was right. He and his people had long served Lord Ooze. He had cared for and raised the heir to Ooze's Empire when Ivan had been sealed away in the hyper lock chamber by the Council of Meledon. Twelve years ago, when they had heard that his hyper lock chamber had finally been unearthed, they had started to Earth to join him. But when they arrived, all that was left of him was remnants of him dispersed with the wandering debris of Ryan's Comet.

Lady Toxa, daughter of Ivan Ooze, had nearly launched an all-out assault on Earth right then and there. But he had convinced her that there was enough of her father's essence left that he could be brought back with the technology that existed in their home galaxy. He convinced her that revenge would be much sweeter this way. She had agreed and the debris was collected, before they returned to the Ooze Empire, many galaxies away. Now they had returned and the time to awaken Lord Ivan was at hand.

"Your Father will be proud of you, my Lady and he will finally resume his rule of all galaxies, starting with this one," Xin stated. A smirk appeared on her beautiful, yet purple skinned face. She put her glass down and toyed with a jet black lock of her long hair.

"I do hope the rangers have enjoyed their happy little lives, because every single one of them is about to die…but not before I make sure the ones who destroyed my father, and anyone allied to them, suffer," she said darkly, as she left the bridge…