Number 20, double double digits baby!
Ninjas, mystics, nor dinos are mine! You hear me!
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AN: This is a wicked muse that came to me, so that's my explanation for this.
ANN: HIYA! So there's this poll on my profile, but it's special…why? It asks you to fill in the blank. Here it is, The Ninjas/Mystics are… Trust me when a say that there are many different options to choose from to answer that prompt, but just to see what ya'll think as a whole…it's a poll!
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Ahhhh…
Another day, of complete and utter dysfunctional chaos.
The daily fight of Vida v. Xander had already ended with the pink victorious as usual; the subject matter of the fight was unknown to him and the others, although they really hadn't needed to know when they had pulled the wind mystic off of the green ranger.
They had already fought, massacred, completely destroyed a legion of the Master's pitiful minions and the monster that had come with it, just in time for lunch. After a brief discussion, yelling match, they had decided what to get.
It was classic take out meal, pizza, but of course with a mystic twist. Two extra large pizzas divided with different toppings, of course by color. He had pepperoni, Chip with pineapple, Xander had green peppers, and the girls combined theirs to be a red onions, ham, and olives smorgasbord. There wasn't a blue item for Maddie to use, but she hadn't really minded; her twin's items suited her just fine.
Finally after Xander, who had drawn the short straw, had gotten back, lunch had begun.
Munching on third piece, he found it strange that the two females were huddled around the only computer in the shop. Excitement was in the air, whispers flowing in the air; it perked is curiosity.
"Whatcha guys looking at?" But the green ranger beat him to it, but he was going to get his answer. He joined Chip and the loudmouth at the main counter as they waited for a reply.
"Did you know that there are other ranger teams?" Maddie finally answers in her sweet shy voice that makes a faint smile come to his lips.
"Yeah, why?" His voice turns slightly husky, not that he cares; but for some reason it seemed to catch her attention.
"Well…" Their eyes lock for a moment, the blue's voice runs off
"…it turns out that some teams team-up with other teams to kick ass" Vida swoops in, big sister to the rescue, to save the sentence. Her dark eyes break their gaze, something he wished would never happen.
"Huh" Xander shrugs, not really interested in the new information
"I wonder if we'll ever meet another team" Chip says, before his eyes focus into space so he can muse the idea
"Who knows, it possible" He adds, although he doesn't really care what the others think. She's trying to push the blush from her cheeks, succeeding only minimally. The faint smile grows a small bit; he wishes she would look back this way.
"Nick would probably clash with the other rangers" The pink fairy points out, his eyes narrowed on him.
He gets along just fine with Vida and vice versa, but when she found out that he liked her little sister; she turned into the evil bitch from hell. Any time she could piss him off, she would, just to warn him that breaking anything, including her sister's heart, would result in an ass kicking of a lifetime. He knew that she could and definitely would; there was a reason that her being the pink ranger was the biggest oxymoron in the history of fuck ups. Pink was a girly color, one that usually involved the girl liking: shopping, makeup, and all the female crap like that. Vida one the other hand hated all of that, choosing jeans to skirts and actually liked good music instead of boy band crap.
So in essence, the anti-girly pink ranger was going to tattoo a warning to his forehead if given the chance and she was going to kick his ass if Maddie scrapped her knee when she was with him.
Other than that small detail, they got along just fine.
"I would not" His stated sentence led to her rolling her eyes.
Not unless they tried to order him around, he did not take orders well. Hell, he clashed with Daggeron more than once a week (more like once a day) and the only reason that he didn't do the same with the former white ranger was because he did not want to disrespect an elder lady. That and he didn't want to get turned into a toad.
And if they invaded his turf, they would have a problem. Maybe it was just the territorial nature that came with the red suit, but just the idea of other rangers on his turf pissed him off.
"Not to the females anyway, probably just the other red" Chip, back from his semi-daydream, commented
Another red, that would be interesting. He didn't really the idea of having to collaborate with another man; it would probably end with him yelling at the guy. He wasn't a hothead; it was just that other egomaniacs (like himself) pissed him off. That was one of the reasons he had fought with Xander before, the dude had an ego on him and they clashed because his was just as big, if not bigger.
"Probably be at each others throats" Xander confirmed his own suspicions of what might happen
"No he wouldn't…" The blue piped up before looking to him "Right?"
He faintly smiled; she was always sticking up for him, even if she didn't do the same for herself.
"Of course, I would only hit him…" His explanation was cut off by the angel's devil of a sister
"Or she" He snorted, as the other men did
"V, I highly doubt…" Chip began
"There could be now or there could be one in the near future" The black haired, with a strip of pink, ranger snapped
"You're right, it is possible" The yellow agreed, although he always did with the elder twin; there was a hunch that something was going on between the two, mum was the word on that though.
"As I was saying…" He looked back to finished his answer, two eyes looking nervously at him. "…I would only fight them if they were threatening the team"
"What?" She sputtered, which did not go unnoticed by the others.
Then there was snickering from the others, probably at the supposed 'lovey-dovey' act as they called them, act that he was putting on.
"Ow!" Cue Xander getting smacked by Vida
"V!" Chip got more of a love tap, although it more than likely still hurt.
"If, for example, the team was evil…" His answer was once again cut off
"It's usually one or two rangers, not usually a whole team" Vida added, her steady fingers on the keyboard telling them that she was investigating this as they spoke.
"…and they tried to hurt any of you…"
"The rest of us would kick their asses!" Xander proclaimed while he grumbled.
Stupid interrupting teammates.
"You would?" Maddie asked, seeming unconvinced
"Oh course!" Vida yelled, which the others echoed
"Especially if it was Vida or you, you're the sweetest things we have on the team; well you are anyway…" He smirked at Vida who looked like she was going to kill him.
The blue's cheeks flushed bright red; he could hear the snickers of the others, but he really didn't give a fuck.
"Besides, you're the baby of the team; it's my job to protect you" Appearing from behind the computer, the elder sister wrapped the blue in a hug that he envied. Being so close to the person who was his elemental opposite, and seemed to be attitude, opposite was something that he sometimes wondered would feel so good.
"I am not!" The smaller muttered
"Yes you are" Xander chuckled
"You calling my sister a baby?" A growled sentence puts the earthy color on edge
Rule one about the sisters: If Vida calls her sister something, that doesn't mean you can.
"Uh…yes?" Wrong answer, a snarling pink dashed after a green that was running for his life.
And so started round two of Vida v. Xander…
"Oh snap" Chip chuckled before realizing that he was the one that needed to make sure that his pink didn't completely maim the loud mouth. "Crap" Running after them, they watched the yellow disappear until they were the only ones in the store.
"SHIT!"
"YOU BASTARD!"
"Don't kill him V!"
Well you could still hear things being broken and punches being thrown, but the room was empty other than themselves.
"Nick?" A sweet, soft way of saying his name; he love it.
Turning from his place where he had been watching the others speed off, he came face to face with her. Something that he was fine with, he could feel the fading waves of heat coming off of her. "Yes?"
"I don't want you, or the others, to fight other rangers because of me" What was she saying, that she wanted them to stand by while something happened to her? Oh hell no. Over his dead, fucking stone cold, body.
"Maddie…" The name easily rolled off his tongue, something that he had been doing since he met her. He almost never raised his voice, unless something was going on with her. Smooth, soft, strict if needed; but he never yelled at her. He couldn't, would never be able, to bring himself to do so.
"Will you keep them, and yourself, in line if we do meet another team?" What a question…
He paused, wondering how he should answer before finally thinking of his answer. "No, because you'll be there to do that"
That brought a smile, soft and shy, just like everything else about her. "Well what if I'm not there?"
"Why wouldn't you be?" He shot back, although the idea of Maddie not being there frankly frightened him. He wasn't sure he could deal with any of his teammates being gone, especially her.
"Maybe I'll be looking for a magical scroll or something, I don't know, I'm just trying to plan" She rambled a bit, which he didn't mind at all.
"Wouldn't we all be magical scroll hunting together though?" He smirked
"Nick!" She rolled her eyes
"Yes?" She put up with her smartassyness pretty well, better than Vida did.
Sighing before focusing again on him "I'm serious…"
"So am I"
One thin eyebrow raised "Right"
"Can't you tell?"
A snort from her before it turned serious again"…will you hold back if another team arrives and I'm not here?"
"Of course" It was the truth; he would try his best not to punch another ranger; even if they pissed him off.
"Pinkie promise?" A slender finger was held out to him
"Really Maddie?" He eyed the offering
"Yes, really" he wondered if the skin was as soft as it looked
Looping his own smallest finger with hers, he found that it wasn't soft. Instead it was smooth, slightly cooler compared to his own dark skin. They stayed like that for a moment, which he loved every moment.
"Promise" He said, their eyes connected
Silence.
He wondered if her lips were soft or if they were just smooth like silk instead.
Were they?
The answer evaded him as other voices came through the quiet.
"I SAID I WAS SORRY!"
"YOU ARE DEAD GREENY!"
"VIDA!"
She sighed, as did he, their fingers detaching.
"Should we go assist Chip?" He asked
"Well we are a team…" She replied before they dashed off
He followed her lead as they followed the musical carnage to the main fight, but he didn't mind.
All he knew was that, she was here.
Which was all that mattered…
Coming to a sight of a yellow body desperately trying to hold the fiery pink one back brought a smile to his face.
Normal chaos, nothing more.
…nothing else, just her.
To ask or not to ask?
That was the question on Conner McKnight's mind.
A slight chill crept across skin, something that would have been an annoyance if he had been paying attention. But instead of doing his self assigned task, he just stared. The frosted glass fogged up with every breath, the contents vanishing from view as his eyes stared off into space.
It had been bothering him for a while, figures that his brain picked now to go into a brainstorm session. How he should ask was something that was in his way, although it wasn't the problem. The root of the reason of why he was staring through the glass at a half gallon of pet chocolate ice cream in the center of a Ingles aisle was that he wondered if he should ask the girls…
"Stupid, stupid" He muttered to himself, they would never go for it.
They were strong, independent females that did not need what he was thinking about offering. It would be awkward if he did ask…'Thanks for offering though!' That's what they would say, well perhaps except for Vida who might just be insulted. He didn't know the pink that well, although her sister seemed just fine with him at the moment.
But on the other hand, maybe with everything that had happened; it would take a great deal of stress off their shoulders. Knowing that they had people around them that would actually SUPPORT them and CARE about them. Not DESERT or FORGET about them and never ever HURT them.
Two fists tightened; how he wanted to hit the bastards…
Just five minutes with each, hell, bring them all on!
Pushing the anger from his veins, he focused on the question at hand.
To ask them or not to ask them?
Simple, it was.
But asking them if…
"Conner?"
For a moment he ignored the voice; or voices since there were two people in the glass reflection, instead bringing his head forward to hit the door to cold treats.
Oww…well that wasn't smart, he grumbled to himself.
But the cold was seeping into his skin, the ache faded.
"What are you doing?" Turning this time to actually face his teammates, more like piles of junk food, he answered even though his brain demanded that he answered the question imposed earlier.
"Thinking" Classic cop out on his part, but he really didn't care.
"Well that's not good sign" Trent chuckled, juggling two liters of soda in one hand and three giant bags of chips in the other, with salsa in each crook of the arm.
His eyebrows scrunched a bit, but only to show that he was fake pouting. So his IQ wasn't off the scale, but they loved to mess with him about it.
"May we ask what about fearless leader?" The black teen added, moving his own arm loads of salad, apples, pie crusts, Reeses, and other assorted items around to avoid arm ache and dropping the things.
"Can we get a buggy first?" It was a disaster in the making; they would drop something sooner or later. Grabbing two containers of iced cream and the cake from where he had set the plastic container on the floor, a deserted buggy came into view right on the next aisle.
Gently, but quickly piling their crap into it, he took the helm of the metal beast and started piloting it towards any random place so that they were not blocking traffic. Then he turned back to his first and second mates.
"What else did we need to get?" They had been sent to the store, their offer being revoked by the fury filled pink, to gather supplies for a celebration. The cause being that Kira, their yellow, had told off the assholes. It had been a wonderful moment and the mystic demanded that it deserved a party in result. They couldn't help but agree, so here they were.
"I think we got everything…Ethan did you get the cookie mix?" The white changed his mind half way through, snapping to get the right affect in his mind.
Maddie had suggested that they could make cookies in the shape of little men and then eat the heads off of them, evil smiles of approval had been the result and the three of them had promised to personally make sure they did not leave the store without it.
"Five packs" Was the quickly delivered answer, which was much more than they needed…although you could never have too many bastard cookies to smash.
"Frosting?" Trent further questioned
You needed to be able to draw the little faces of terror too, the ones they would have if their heads were about to be eaten. No icing would just ruin the idea all together.
"Which shade would ya like?" Ethan smirked while holding the frosting aisle spread out in both hands.
"Red food coloring?" You needed fake blood for the wounds that would come from ripping a limb off before decapitation.
"Yep" Cue there being three packs of the stuff, the massacre could begin.
"Nice" He couldn't help but comment, he let the two go get their stuff and boy did they deliver.
"Thank you, thank you very much" The blue faked a deep voice, which sent them into snickers.
Then they each ran over their mental check lists, while looking in the buggy.
Chips? Check.
Dip? Check.
Everything for bastard cookies? Check.
Cake? Check.
Ice-cream? Check.
Soda? Check.
The list went on and on.
Then they came to the same conclusion.
"We're good"
Maybe now he could figure out what the answer to his own question would be so that he would be prepared to ask them another. There were so many good things that could come from asking, but so many horrible things as well…
"So what were you thinking about?" Ethan asked as they started letting the checkout guy do his job. Slowly the bags started filling up so he started loading them into the buggy with the blue's help as Trent manned the place where he would pay.
Here goes nothing…
"Asking the girls if they wanted to join the team" His movements never faltered, although the others' slowed just a tad.
Stupid, he grumbled at himself, they didn't like the idea either.
"I know it's a stupid idea, but…" He was cut off
"It's not stupid" The blue ranger said forcefully
"It's brilliant" Trent explained "I've been thinking of offering them a place at my dad's for them to stay long term, but that would be much better"
"That's what I was thinking too, except that with them being part of the team then they would know what it was like to have actually teammates ya know?" He ground out the last part, hoping that he could have a rematch of him v. Shane very soon, he would smash the other's face in and that was a fact.
"I'm all for it" Ethan quipped with obvious excitement in his voice, the idea of having two blues joining the team bringing a smile to his face.
"Same here" The white on the other hand, was interested in the pink ranger. She seemed fierce, but he wondered if underneath she had a softer quality, kind of like Kira.
But to the two, it was clear that they would accept all three of the girls with open arms with no second thoughts.
"That's good, now how to ask them?" He mused aloud
"Do you want to become part of the team? That's all you have to say" The blue rolled his eyes at the thought that he was being a drama queen about the whole situation.
"Yeah I know, but…"
"But nothing" Trent swiped his dad's credit card, which he was allowed to use for specific purchases, important ones mainly. Not that any of them could think of a more important purchase, maybe except for shotguns to use for ranger target practice. "Besides we'll be there if you freeze up"
"I won't freeze up!" At least he hoped not.
Pushing the buggy towards the borrowed jeep, Dr. O had been in a good enough mood to let them borrow it which had never happened before, they were there before one of the two added to the statement.
"We know" They were both rolling their eyes at him; well they could go to hell.
"I'll ask them the moment we get back!" He declared, not to be thought of as a wimp.
"Okay then, we'll hold you to it"
Satisfied with his victory, he was soon seated in the driver's seat with everything loaded in. And as he backed out, he realized what he had said he was going to do…
It hit him.
"Oh shit"
Silence reigned supreme as one team stared at another.
Jaws on the floor, eyes wide, blank expressions.
"Wait, wait, wait…you're telling me that…" Xander blabbered before running off
"You too?" Chip finally said
"Us what?" Dustin asked, slightly confused
Interesting enough, the elder team had just finished explaining that the reason why they were hear was why their teammate was not to be seen at the moment. This caused the reaction of the three mystics to stare blankly at the others.
"You're female ranger ran away too?" Nick rephrased
Now it was the others' turns to be shocked as Shane ran off "You're female rangers…"
All three nodded sadly, which gained a small amount of sympathy from the elder team. They weren't sure what had happened, but it couldn't be worth the pain that they were going through.
"Dude, that's why, at that comment…" The yellow earth ranger pointed in understanding at the other red
"Yeah, sorry about that" The fire boy shifted awkwardly on his feet
"No dude, I am so sorry, I would have done the same!" Dustin felt the eyes of his fellow ninja on his person asking what the hell this was about, but he wasn't about to explain it to them at the moment.
"At least we got that out of the way" The green mystic smirked
Meeting the red's gaze, the ninja smiled, telling the other that they were squared away with no hard feelings, the other did the same.
"Do we even want to know what you guys did?" Hunter asked, slightly curious if it was worse than his own heartlessness
"Nope, same for you guys?" Nick replied
"Yep" Shane stated
"Good" A voice echoed as the person descended into the main area where they were, a smiling Clare right behind her "Now, is there any way we can help you?"
The elder team made eye contact with each other, silently deciding upon an idea. The strategy had been used only for battle, but they had grown so used to it that it came naturally after so much time as a team.
The red air ranger reached into his pocket, flipping open her cell phone a moment later. Scrolling through the pictures, he finally found a good one.
"Maybe you can, have you seen her?" Reluctantly he handed the phone to them, although he watched for any sign that they would drop it. Then he would slide to catch it, something that was hers. Something precious.
The three huddled around the small screen.
Wow, was the thought that went through the three's mind.
The small photo was of all of the guys in front of them, all sporting smiles. It was a bit blurry, but in the center of them all was a stunning blonde. She was grinning widely as the rest pressed closely around her. Some of them were cut out some, an ear here, part of a head there, but none of them cared as the moment was obviously a happy one.
"Is that the one that Sensei took?" Blake asked softly
"Yep, I still wonder why he didn't get his little paws in lenses" The skateboarder chuckled, which caused a few laughs from the others.
"Still a good picture though…SHIT!" Dustin jumped as a giant cat appeared; the yellow taking refuge behind Shane, who made a wall with Hunter to subconsciously protect the others.
"Hi?" The huge feline asked, confused to why he was being glared at
The two reds proceeded to drop into defensive positions out of habit.
"Easy, that's Jenji" Daggeron said, while glaring at his partner
This did little to loosen their protective shield.
"He wouldn't hurt a fly, he's actually really sweet" Clare added, seeing their hesitation.
With the testimony of a female on the cat's side, the two rose to their true height.
"Dude, you scared the crap out of me!" The yellow sighed, leaning on the air ranger
"Sorry, but I was curious about the new team" The nonhuman showed a toothy grin
"Well here we are" Cam stated
"Ta-da" Hunter said sarcastically
Then the light hearted mood was crushed by the results of the earlier question.
"No, we haven't" Nick said, the others' faces falling as he handed it back
Trying to avoid seeing the happy picture, the air boy quickly closed it before tucking back into his pocket.
"Then I apologize for the trouble we caused, is there anything we can do before we go?" The official leader of the team, although Hunter had frequently said otherwise, said quietly
Repeating the process that the other red just had, Nick handed his morpher over to the other team.
The two sisters were grinning madly while having a arm over the other's shoulder in front of the shop. A peace sign wielding Chip was in the background, as was a reading Xander, it was one of his favorites.
"No, I'm sorry" The crimson murmured, speaking as the other red handed the phone back over
"But you spoke to Vida?" Chip asked, eyes only for Shane
The air nodded, knowing that it was giving the other comfort. "She sounded well, but not exactly happy" Shane wondered if that made sense
Obviously it did, because the natives to Briarwood smiled, especially the yellow.
There was silence for a moment.
"We'll be leaving then, thank you for your understanding" In a sign of respect, the team bowed as they would to their fellow ninja.
"May I ask a question first?" The cat asked
"Sure" Dustin replied, what did they have to lose? They had already lost the most important thing, her.
The question was considered for a moment before being asked "Is it true that your headquarters is behind a waterfall?"
This floored them, while the mystics reacted…
"What kind of a question is that?" Xander was tempted to smack the cat upside the head, but the gold knight would be mad at him.
"A good one" The feline snapped back
"How do you know that?" Blake asked, knowing that one of them would have had to tell him that
"Vida and Maddie took me to meet these two girls, one told me that her teams HQ was behind a waterfall, I wondered if it was true" The very tall house pet replied
"Did she have blonde hair?" Dustin asked
"Blue eyes?" Shane added
"About ye tall?" Hunter held his hand inches below his height
"Loves the color blue?" Blake piped up
"Did she love water?" Cam finished the questions
"Yes, her name was Tori, she was really sweet talking about her team" This brought smiles to their faces, which soon fell, if only it was that was now.
"So Tori knows your rangers and they know her" The glasses wearing green started to connect the dots
"They are together, question is where" Uddonna pointed out
"Looks like we'll be working together, you good with that?" Shane held out a hand
" Yes I am" Nick shook it, whatever it took to find Maddie
"You said two girls…one was Tori…" Chip mused
"They could be with the other one" Xander stated the obvious
"But who is she?"
The question echoed a specific yellow's brain as did the somewhat familiar voice.
"Dear any ranger hearing this, this is a fellow ranger and I have one thing to say to you…"
A fellow ranger…female, who did they know?
"GO TO FUCKING HELL YOU BASTARDS AND THIS TIME, FUCKING STAY THERE!"
Then it all clicked.
"Her…" He said in a trance like state
The fierceness, who would Tori go too?
It made sense…
"Dustin?" Shane leaned closer in concern
The others expressed the same; his wide eyed look didn't go over well with them.
But it didn't matter, he had a name.
He knew who she was.
And he knew where Tori was.
"Kira…"
Reviews? Please!
What will happen next with the guys?
Will Conner actually ask them?
And will the girls accept?
FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER!