Chapter 7 – Thunder Road
Previously - The Crimson Ranger grabbed his arm and sent a jolt of electricity through his body. Rocky slammed into the side of his truck, his eyes fluttered a few times before he slumped into unconsciousness.
Blake kicked the cell phone out of Rocky's limp hand and chuckled at Cam's frantic shouting. The Navy Ranger stomped on the phone, smashing it into several pieces, "Great, how are we going to move him?" Blake groaned.
Hunter noticed a set of discarded keys on the floor, "How about we use his own truck?"
"That's devious", Blake smiled, "I love it". The renegade ninjas grabbed Rocky's body and tossed him onto the back seat. Hunter jumped into the driver's seat and truck sped away into the night.
March 10 2003 – Hexagon Headquarters
It was getting close to midnight and the car park at the headquarters of Hexagon was only illuminated by the dull streetlights dotted around the open space. Almost everyone had gone home and there were only a few cars dotted around the facility. A small flash of light briefly lit up the car park as three lone ninjas streaked across the ground. They came to a halt in one of the dark spots not covered by the streetlights, "I don't see his truck anywhere", Dustin craned his neck to get a better look.
"Did you deduce that all by yourself", Tori replied sarcastically, "the place is almost deserted".
"Keep it down", Shane hissed, "the thunder's could still be around somewhere". The red ranger spotted something discarded on the tarmac that looked a little out of place. He called on a gentle gust of wind to blow the object towards their hiding place. He bent down and examined the pile of broken plastic and glass, "It's a cell phone", he commented.
Tori knelt down next to him, "Looks like Rocky's but it's too damaged to say for certain". The blue ranger looked over to where the damaged phone had been found, "The light's poor but I can't see any blood in the area".
"Maybe he dropped it without noticing", Dustin stated, "he could've drove off without realising".
"Possible but it seems too much of a coincidence", Shane sighed. He looked up at the foreboding Hexagon building that dominated the skyline. They could've narrowed down their search if they knew where Rocky was staying. They tried his old home address but the place had been empty for a while. Cam had also asked them not to enter Hexagon Headquarters to ask them for assistance. Rocky had only just been made their official monitor, if they knew he had possibly been kidnapped that wouldn't have looked good. "The only other place I heard Rocky talk about was the old Youth Center", he continued, "but I don't think it's there anymore".
"It got replaced with a restaurant", Tori answered his question, "pretty fancy place but probably not open at this time of night".
Shane looked at his watch, it had just turned midnight, "We should head back, we've got school in the morning. It's a miracle that Sensei let us out at this time of night".
"Emergency dude", Dustin added, "he's one of the four remaining wind ninja's in the world that we know of, we've got to look out for our own". The others nodded at the yellow ranger's surprising insightful comment before streaking back towards Blue Bay Harbor.
Unknown Location
The first thing Rocky felt when he regained consciousness was a buzzing sensation in his head. For a few moments everything was a little foggy then memories of his kidnapping slowly came back to him. He couldn't believe that those two thunder ninja's had been able to sneak up on him, "Some ninja I am", he groaned to himself. Rocky noticed he was in a bedroom, probably a hotel room judging by the sparse decoration and cheap looking bedding. The curtains were closed by there was sunlight sneaking through the gaps so he had been unconscious for at least one night. He was sitting on a wooden chair with his arms behind his back. Based on the cool metal on his skin, his hands were handcuffed together.
"Ah good morning sleepy head", Blake said as he poked his head around the door. In his hands was a brown take away bag, "Or should I say good afternoon", he added once he had looked at his watch, "when my brother knocks someone out, they tend to stay knocked out".
"Damn it they forgot by extra cheeseburger", another voice said from outside the door. Moments later Hunter stepped inside with his own bag, "Oh you're awake", he groaned at Rocky, "thought you'd be out until after lunch at least".
"Just who are you", Rocky asked.
The pair didn't respond for a few moments, they were too interested in their lunch, "I'm sorry we'll be with you in a moment", Blake smiled and stuffed a few fries in his mouth, "Want one?" he asked Rocky and threw a French fry at the former red ranger.
Rocky couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. The two ruthless thunder rangers that had crushed the Wind Rangers were tucking into their burger and fries without a care in the world. If it wasn't for the fact that Rocky was tied to a chair, this scene would seem completely normal. "Now that's better", Hunter said when he had finished. He screwed up his bag and tossed it towards Rocky. The ball of trash bounced of his head and dropped to the floor, "Whoops, didn't see you there", he chuckled.
"Are you two actually insane", Rocky cried, "answer my damn question".
Hunter snorted and shook his head, "Typical of a wind ninja, so impatient", he pointed at his younger brother, "I'm Hunter and that's my brother Blake".
The Navy Ranger flashed his wrist where his morpher sat, "You'll probably recognise this".
"I know it's a morpher", Rocky said, trying to remain as calm as possible. He didn't want to aggravate the situation any more than necessary, "Never seen one that close before".
Hunter laughed louder and pulled some out of his pocket, "Really, so what are you doing with this". He dropped the silver octagonal shaped box on the floor near Rocky's feet, "Now correct me if I'm wrong but that looks like a morpher, which means we've found a mysterious fourth Wind Ranger".
"Little too old to be a ranger though", Blake added with a small smirk on his face.
"Keep your hands off that", Rocky spat at the pair, "I earned that from my first mentor, I worked hard for that unlike you pair of thieves".
"Ah yes, the legendary Zordon of Eltar", Blake began, much to the shock of Rocky, "you'll be surprised what we know about you". He picked up Rocky's old morpher and placed it carefully on the bed, "Let's see originally from Stone Canyon but moved to Angel Grove during your sophomore year of High School. Replaced the original red ranger until you totalled his old power source which is when you got this", he pointed at the Ape Power Coin, "lost your powers again".
"Careless", Hunter shook his head.
"Got another set of power until those almost killed you and that's when you enrolled fully at the Wind Ninja Academy", Blake continued, "did I miss anything".
Rocky was stunned into silence and inaction for a few moments, whoever had powered up these thunder ninjas had also given them a history lesson as well. Rocky looked at the brothers and a small plan formed in his mind. Sensei Watanabe had given him a few lessons in people reading, now it was time to put them to the test. "Not bad but two can played at that game", he began, "I'll start slow, clearly you two are adopted brothers".
"Congratulations Sherlock", Hunter deadpanned.
"Just warming up blondie", he chuckled, "where was I, both of you have the legendary arrogant streak that all thunder ninjas have but there's something else". He pondered for that for a moment, "Hunter here doesn't look like a teenager so either he's a teacher or a really bad student". The Crimson Ranger's eye twitched at that second comment, "Ooh that hit a nerve, what's the matter concerned that your brother will graduate before you".
Hunter looked ready to strike the former red ranger but Blake held him back, "Don't, he's just trying to get a rise out of us".
"Which leads me nicely onto the little brother and I mean literally, what are you five five, five six?" Rocky chuckled to himself. "Living in the shadow of big brother, again literally, but at the same time almost acting like his conscience", if he could tap his chin right now, he would've, "very big case of hero worship going on here, not an attractive quality".
Blake bit his lip and let go of his brother's arm. Hunter took a couple of paces and lunged at Rocky, grabbing his shoulders and tilting the chair backwards, "Clever", he snorted.
"Add anger issues to your profile", Rocky stated, "probably why you haven't graduated yet".
"Sensei Omino is holding me back", Hunter roared, "no respect for others, what a stupid old man. But he's not here and it's time to show the world that the Thunder Ninja Academy is the best and we've got just the thing to do that".
"And what would that be?" Rocky probed.
"Trust me, you won't miss something this big", Hunter practically spat in his face.
Rocky gave the Crimson Ranger a small smile, "So you've got your own Megazord", Hunter blinked a couple of times in shock, "you just fell for the oldest trick in the book". Hunter looked ready to throw Rocky to the ground but he resisted, "Now that I wasn't expecting, I've dealt with a few evil characters in my time but none of them had ever shown respect for human life".
"That's where we differ from creatures like Lothor", Blake began and beckoned his brother to pull Rocky upright. "Never underestimate the darkness inside the human psyche, that's probably scarier than any monster". The Navy Ranger took a couple of steps closer and looked Rocky directly in the eyes, "Our goal is to destroy Lothor but we're not going to play by your rules to do it".
"Then help us", Rocky pleaded, "there's no need for any of this, if we combined our forces then Lothor doesn't stand a chance".
For a glorious moment it looked like Blake was considering his offer but that was quickly shot down by his older brother, "We would never work with the Wind Ninja Academy", the Crimson Ranger spat out.
Rocky glared at the older Bradley, "Where does this anger come from Hunter, what has the Wind Academy done to personally harm you?"
The blonde haired man was caught unawares by that comment and there was silence in the room. The uncomfortable silence continued until Hunter abruptly said, "Time to go". Blake looked a little surprised but began to follow his older brother's commands.
The little cold reading session had given Rocky some interesting insights into the Thunder Rangers. It was clear that Hunter was the dominant member of the duo. There was a strong righteous streak in the man but there was also a lot of anger. Rocky wasn't sure if it was directed at one person in particular or whether he was just angry at the world.
Blake was slightly different and Rocky could sense conflict within the younger brother. The way he acted almost suggested that he was trying to be Hunter's conscience, like he was reigning in his older brother. That could be something that Rocky could exploit in the future.
Rocky had to put his internal musing aside when he noticed that the pair were almost out the door, "Wait, you're just going to leave me here?" Rocky called out.
"Why did you think we were going to kill you?" Blake turned around and chuckled, "you said it yourself, we're not killers".
The pair were almost out the door when Rocky added, "You can't leave me tied to this chair".
"Dude have you even tried to escape", Hunter laughed. Rocky thought about it for a moment and realised he hadn't even struggled against his bonds. He pulled his arms apart and to his shock, the handcuffs snapped apart, "Magician's handcuffs but keep it a secret", he smiled.
Rocky was stunned that he could've escaped at any moment as well as confused that the brother's would make it so easy for him. "We've seen a lot of teen movies", Blake answered his unasked question, "when one school wants to get back at another, they steal their mascot", he pointed at Rocky, "that's what he did here".
"Wha-" Rocky's spluttered out as the brother's ran out the door, "I'm not their mascot", he shouted. He grabbed his morpher off the bed and ran out after them but they had already ninja streaked away. He looked around and noticed that his truck was parked across the street. Rocky ran up the vehicle and found the keys still in the ignition. He fired up the truck and sped off down the highway, he had to get back to Blue Bay Harbor and warn the Wind Rangers what was coming for them.
TO BE CONTINUED
A/N - Last update before Christmas so I hope everyone had a good one and I'll see you on the other side.
