Document Manager reports 50 days since the last update, which is kinda bad even on my scale. Did I mention that Ph.D. yet? Next semester i'll have only one course, but research is the big time-consuming thing and actually, class lectures used to be my top-fanfic-writing times.

Love and Gratitude to the Constellations Team: Mara and Camille (friends and beta readers) and Roie (who's made this possible).


38. Nor Iron Bars

It was a sport everyone discovered at some point: toss two wild predators in a single cage, sit back and watch the blood. Most cultures took this a step further and put a sentient against a beast or a few, or two sentients against each other. Having your caged predators be your neighbours from down the hall, though – Kapri was pretty sure that this was a new one. Vexacus wasn't stupid, and he hadn't gotten this far without being careful. Still, he wasn't used to close-quarters politicking. She'd made full use of her established ditzy image when she'd given him the introduction tour, feeding him everything he needed to know in order to stay out of Zurgane's booby-traps and, in all likelihood, convincing him that she'd be easy to manipulate should he have the need. Choobo reported that Vexacus lost no time in setting up alerts and filters around his quarters, and that Zurgane had run into them before returning to his own rooms.

Choobo. One of her brighter ideas, though she owed it to Lothor, who had insured that Choobo would survive in this dependant form. Months of being kept as a pet, locked in a cage and treated as a noisy, furry doll had made Choobo desperate for an out, and Kapri had made sure to drill into him that any freedom he had, that his being fed and watered, depended on his obedience to her.

She put defenses around her own room, of course: independent of the ship's integrated structural sensors so that Choobo wouldn't find them and would think her complacent. She had no illusions about Choobo being a traitorous little shit and she was pretty sure he'd try to threaten her into making him regrow one of those days. She soundproofed her room specifically so that nobody would hear his screams the night it would finally happen.

Allowing him into her room was out of the question if she didn't want to wake up with a noose around her neck, but keeping him in Marah's was becoming a burden. It was uncomfortable when all she did was walk in to look after Marah's abandoned pet, doing something that would've pleased her sister. Now that she was regularly letting him out –

She told herself that Marah was dead; that Marah didn't exist, anymore, and the room she used to sleep in was just a bit of useful space, now. Still, walking into what used to be Marah's haven with the satisfaction of owning someone in her chest almost sickened her whenever she wasn't careful. Still, sometimes she almost glanced at an apparition that wasn't there, so clearly did the voice of Marah's ghost sound.

How long had her life been revolving around Marah? Certainly since Lothor openly recruited them for his campaign; probably since he'd sent them to school on his account; so long that all her childhood memories bore the brand of it. So long that she never once thought to wish for this freedom: she had dreamed herself a life with her parents as distant memories and "Uncle" Lothor nothing more than a line in her résumé, but somehow she'd never imagined herself a life with no younger sister in it.

She'd grow out of it. She was a learner, she was an adapter and she was probably better off this way.

Still, being seen walking into her late sister's room to look after her old pet was bad for her image, so Kapri figured out a solution. It was going to be entertaining, even. All that was left was to break it to Choobo. Watching him eye the crate was already entertaining.

"Vexacus has been out most of this week," he was telling her. "I don't know what he's up to. All he does when he's in his office is stare at maps of Blue Bay Harbor."

"He's planning a trap for the Rangers," she said.

"What if he succeeds?"

"He won't. And Zurgane?"

"He's nearly always in the Zord Bay harassing the kelzacks." He was still staring at the crate and fidgeting.

"Oh, that?" asked Kapri flippantly. "You want to know about that? Well, it's for you. I decided it's time to find you somewhere else to live. I'm going to put a cage at the barracks level."

"I don't want…"

"Listen to me."

"I'm listening, I'm listening."

"There's going to be a cage at the barracks," she repeated. "It's going to be visible. As far as everyone will know, you've gone silly after the way Marah treated you and I want everyone to have a good laugh. In the back of the cage there'll be a closed area where you can sleep. That area will open into the vents. When we meet it'll be in my office, and you are to never set foot in the front of the cage." She opened the cage and brought it closer to the bars for Choobo to see.

"That's clay!"

"Yes," she agreed. "I'll fire it tonight, and then it'll look real. It'll be pretty dumb."

"And everyone will think that's me?"

"While you walk around free. Well, crawl around free, actually." Choobo still looked unconvinced, so she beamed at him. "Zurgane and Lothor will never see you coming!"

"Uh, okay then." A slow smile crept across Choobo's face. "This can be pretty cool."

Thankfully she was alone in her room when her morpher went off. "Go for Tori."

"You decent to teleport?" asked a familiar voice, the inflection and intonation suggesting it was CyberCam.

She looked down at her pajamas. "Give me a moment to change."

"I'm sending you a blocker."

Tori's eyebrows shot up. "What's going on?" she asked as she fastened the clumsy bracelet.

"Trouble," said CyberCam cryptically. "Call back when you're ready."

The only ones in when she arrived were Cam and Shane, the former at his usual station and the other pacing on the other side of the room. He raised his head at her entrance, frown deepening.

Just like that, she knew. Tori put down her bag, forcing herself to breathe regularly. "It's Blake, isn't it."

"Yes," said Shane simply.

She expected her heart to race, her pulse to rage in her ears, or at least her stomach to clench. Instead, she felt calm, preternaturally so. It felt a bit, she thought as she and Shane sat down by the table, like cutting the string of a balloon and watching it float away. It was the Way of the Wind: survival reaction, the way they were trained to react. It would bother her later, she knew. In the meantime, she asked: "What happened?"

"Let's wait until everyone gets here."

Dustin arrived next, and Hunter last. Adam and Marah joined them, bringing early breakfast which everyone ignored. Cam stayed by the terminal as Shane gave the briefing.

"Seven minutes ago," he said, "Vexacus teleported into Hunter's and Blake's place. Blake was alone at the time. There was a very short scuffle which did not get to elemental powers or energy bolts. Seconds later, Vexacus teleported out with Blake. Cam is still tracking the signal."

Vexacus, whom Shane was only able to defeat with the Battlizier. Now possibly working for Lothor. Tori concentrated on her breathing.

"They're on Earth," said Cam, not turning his head. "And in the same general area. I'm still working on the exact coordinates."

"Estimated time?"

Cam shook his head.

"All right," said Shane, drawing back their attention. "Let's start planning."

"There's something you should consider," said Adam quietly. "Why Blake?"

Like a deadbolt shutting close, simultaneously hearing and not hearing the question. Tori struggled through her non-reaction, trying to force herself to consider the question. Normally she'd be the one taking the problem apart, categorizing, churning out possible answers, but this time it felt like clawing at a smooth wall.

"He was alone," snapped Hunter.

"So were you," snapped Shane right back. He turned to Adam. "Why does it matter? Vexacus just picked one of us randomly."

"Or he picked the easiest target," said Dustin reasonably. "Alone and indoors."

"Except they don't usually work this way," said Marah hesitantly. "There's always a reason. There's always a plan. If you can't justify even a single step then Lothor will not authorize your plan."

"Does it matter for a rescue plan?" asked Hunter pointedly.

"It does if it's a trap."

"A trap for whom?" wondered Tori. She hadn't realized she'd spoken aloud until everyone turned to her.

"Dude, is that actually the first thing you've said?" asked Dustin after a few seconds.

"It's a good point," said Cam. "The removal of even one Ranger disrupts the team. What disruption did Vexacus want to achieve?"

"Or maybe he wanted something from Blake," countered Dustin.

"Lothor has a record of preferring Hunter over Blake when he can afford to chose," said Cam.

"That was before the Thunder Blade," said Hunter. His eyes found Shane's. "And a long time ago."

"You think Lothor has a Blade also?"

"Lothor doesn't care about skill," said Marah. "He was always going on about how fast Rangers learn. He just assumed you can all learn anything should you need to."

"None of which matters unless this is a trap," said Hunter.

"All right," said Shane. "Let's assume it's a trap. It's either for you or for Tori, and you have a far worse record of stupid heroics."

"If you think I'm not going to be off-balance today," said Tori, "You're so wrong."

"You're not leading the discussion," replied Shane, "So I know you're off. But you're still poking holes in everybody else's ideas, so I figure you're going to be fine."

Adam, though, frowned. "Blue Rangers are traditionally a target," he said. "Not like green Rangers, who just seem to attract trouble, but because the enemy tends to view them as critical in some way."

"Except we have two."

"So why not Tori?"

"I don't have a brother on the team," she told Dustin.

"Dude, remember Globester?" protested Dustin. "Hunter was awesome, and that was Blake and Shane."

"We didn't suspect they were being targeted, though," said Cam. "It makes a difference."

"If the point was to disrupt the way we usually work," grumbled Shane, "Then Vexacus sure got it right. Now, we're going to prepare for different combat scenarios, and we're going to take into account that it may well be a trap, and we're not going to go all conspiracy theory. Okay?"

The computer beeped loudly.

"I know where Vexacus teleported himself and Blake earlier," said Cam before they could ask. "It's a cave by the beach. There haven't been any outgoing teleportation signals since. I can tell Blake's alive, but that's it."

"Morpher signature, or…"

"Psi," said Cam shortly. "Something's interfering with the morpher signal. I can tell Blake's alive and conscious, but that's it."

"I think it's some kind of an elemental block," said CyberCam. "If only because we have lousier coverage on that."

"The elemental sensors aren't registering any irregularities," argued Cam.

"My point," countered CyberCam. "Because if there weren't any, Blake's attempts to break free should show up like a supernova."

"I'll know," said Hunter. "I only need to get near there. The Sky Gems can serve as amplifiers, giving me better range."

"Potential trap number one," said Tori. It seemed obvious, but it didn't look like any of the others would say it.

"Leanne and I are both Thunder ninjas," said Adam.

"No," said Shane firmly.

"I'm not buying this theory until we explain how Vexacus sealed Blake off without creating anything we can detect," said Cam testily.

"Cam, what manner of approach will be easiest for us to hide?"

"Streak almost all the way, teleport to a spot out of direct line of sight, then alternately streak and teleport on the way out."

"Then I want you and Hunter to check it out," said Shane. "Take a Sky Gem with you. Do we need one from the Blade, or can we use a lesser-quality one?"

"Lesser quality will do," said Hunter.

"I'll go fetch one," said Adam.

"Weird," murmured Hunter. He and Cam were crouched among the rocks not far from the cave's opening. "You sure they're here?"

"As sure as I can be," answered Cam quietly. "Why?"

"There are no blocks or interference I can detect, and I can't get a return echo from Blake."

"No interdimensional pockets," said Cam. "But maybe some kind of a very localized block, or a unidirectional one?"

"Unidirectional, maybe," answered Hunter. "But I think – Cam, roll!"

They rolled in opposite directions, but Hunter's warning had come too late. The silver net landed on Cam, Vexacus jumping down after it.

Cam screamed.

Hunter didn't think twice. There was power – electricity – in the net, enough that he could work it. He didn't know what that net was, why it hurt Cam or why he couldn't shake it off, but it didn't matter, because Hunter could and did. He fired at Vexacus – just to get him to step back a second – and slammed shut the teleportation blocker he was carrying, trusting CyberCam to get them out unprompted.

Cam was dough-pale and wide-eyed when he demorphed. "Psi lock," he spat. "I hate those things."

"Vexacus is so trying to cut down on our brain power," said Tori.

"Yeah, and it's so a huge set-up," said Dustin. "Wanna bet he has a trap ready for each and every one of us?"

"No bet," said Shane darkly. "We'll just have to go in at full force and hope for the best."

"Maybe not," said Adam slowly. "Marah, you said that Vexacus is pretty well-known. Do you maybe have an idea if he ever had to properly research ninjas?"

"I don't think so."

"Then he wouldn't know," muttered Adam, as if to himself. "The clan keeps pretty mum about it. And Leanne thinks so, too."

"What are you on about?" asked Shane.

Adam hesitated, as if trying to find the best words. "Not all Thunder ninjas are Thunder ninjas, exactly," he said finally, slowly.

Hunter straightened. "They come about one in a generation," he said sharply.

"Who?" demanded Shane.

"Lightning-chosen," said Hunter after a brief pause. "They're pretty damn rare. All of the Thunder clans together produce one every twenty years – maybe."

"They're indistinguishable from regular Thunder ninjas until the very late stages of their training, typically two years before graduation. My mom taught the Sky Classes, and she told me that Lightning chosen don't take those classes with the other Thunder students, because that's when the Thunder and Lightning disciplines separate. She also said that the Lightning powers take longer to mature, and thus those ninjas take longer to graduate."

Hunter was wearing an odd expression, which Tori did not know how to interpret: hungry or angry, scornful or hopeful. Dustin and Marah both seemed confused. Shane, though, pieced it together.

"You think Hunter's one," he said.

Tori inhaled sharply. The Sky Blade Hunter hadn't been taught to use; the classes only Blake had been allowed into; Hunter could've graduated years ago, Blake had told her, if Sensei Omino hadn't held him back. Of course.

"It would explain a number of things," said Adam. "I can't know for certain, but I know Leanne has the same idea."

"One in a generation, remember?" said Hunter. "You're out of your – "

"You're Rangers," said Adam quietly. "Weirder things have happened."

"Is there a way to know?" asked Shane.

"Short of a Manifestation, no."

"A Manifestation, like when a ninja first connects directly to their element?"

"Yeah."

"And this helps us because Vexacus wouldn't know to expect it – wouldn't know how to block Hunter."

"If Adam's right," said Hunter. "Which we have no way to know short of trying to force a manifestation. Which I'm not sure I want to try, and certainly I'm not going to bet Blake's life on it."

"Dude, there's no forcing a manifestation!" said Dustin.

"There is in this case," said Adam. He considered Hunter. "And you just as good as admitted that you figured it out yourself."

Hunter shrugged self-consciously. "I could've taken those classes three years ago," he muttered.

Shane shook his head. "I need to know more."

He had never liked the silence, and he had always thought it was odd. Blake was good with people, could appear at ease in a crowd, but he was never fond of too much company. Smaller crowds, no loud music, no cars – even the soft white noise of electrical appliances was something he'd rather avoid. And yet, he'd never liked the silence and he'd never known why. Crumpled in the corner of the white room Vexacus had thrown him into, the worst headache of his life splitting his skull, Blake was beginning to understand why.

It had all happened so damn fast. Hunter had gone out for his morning jog while Blake was still sleeping. Blake was barely awake for a minute when that alien – Vexacus, by Shane's description – had teleported in. It wasn't even a fight, just a grab and teleport – and from the moment the door closed, locking Blake inside the white, foam-coated room, he couldn't hear a thing.

He never knew how noisy breath was until he couldn't hear his own. Never knew how aware he actually was of his own heartbeat, until he had to check for a pulse to make sure it was still there.

Hadn't known what the absence of sound and vibration could do.

He tried working the lock, and couldn't get a grip. He'd thought, for the first startled moment, that the lock was perhaps made of some weird plastics or ceramics, and it had never been his best-developed skill anyway. Then he realized that the power just wasn't there for him to manipulate.

Thunder was sound, vibrations rolling through the air. In the room where Vexacus had locked him there was no sound, there were no vibrations. He couldn't generate the energy required to tune into his element. He couldn't even morph – he could feel that power lurking just out of reach, but the morpher wouldn't respond without the elemental push.

He tried ripping out the foam or somehow hitting the walls that had to be beneath it. All that had done was give him scraped knuckles on top of the migraine.

He didn't have a watch or a cell phone with him, and the pain messed his sense of time. He hadn't eaten anything before Vexacus had grabbed him and he was hungry though not insanely starved, putting his estimated captivity time at about half an hour. He thought of the day Madtropolis had locked away their powers and of Hunter after Motodrone, and hoped the guys would break him out fast: between the power withdrawal and the lack of breakfast, he estimated that two hours would incapacitate him pretty thoroughly.

It wasn't exactly his usual attitude to problematic situations, but he had known his element since he was four, couldn't remember life before it and had never had it denied. That was bad enough: feeling the Ranger power just out of reach was even more maddening.

So he was crumpled in the corner with his head dropped down on his knees when the door opened, and the damn place must have had airlock-like double doors because he couldn't hear it slide open. He saw Hunter, morphed, and his heart leaped, but then Vexacus pushed him in and the door slid shut, morphed state dissolving, and Blake's heart sank again.

Hunter stood in place, blinking.

No sound, Blake mouthed at him.

Hunter nodded. Yeah, he mouthed back. He walked over and sat down next to Blake. He considered him for a few seconds and then reached out and pressed hard at the bottom of Blake's skull, fingers digging under the bone. Blake winced, but after a few seconds the headache went down a few notches.

Blake smiled in gratitude.

Hunter answered with a smile and a thumbs-up. He leaned back against the padded wall. We'll be okay, he mouthed.

He looked weirdly calm for the situation they were in, and Blake frowned. Plan? he asked.

Hunter shrugged.

Blake closed his eyes. No plan, then. Just Hunter acting confident as always. Not good, but – if any single person of the team had to be captured also, at least it was Hunter.

He sensed movement, and then Hunter poked his shoulder. When Blake opened his eyes, Hunter was offering him two granola bars – the dry ones with peanuts that Tori seemed to always carry.

Blake took one and opened the wrapper. He chewed slowly, careful to not lose so much as a single crumb, staring at Hunter the whole time. The food and Hunter's non-freaked out state suggested a plan, but Hunter wasn't so much as looking around at the room. Then again, if Blake looked as bad as he felt, that could explain it.

He was feeling lots better by the time he finished the second bar – still fuzzy but at least not like he was about to keel over – and yeah, okay, that seemed to calm Hunter down some, but if there was an escape plan, Blake was still not seeing it.

Hunter took a piece of paper out of his pocket, smoothed it out, and brought out a pen. He scribbled a few words and handed it over to Blake. It read, How much power did you burn?

Blake considered it, and wrote: Hard to tell with no feedback. I can probably take a few more hours if I don't try anything more. When do we expect the others?

Hunter wrote something – longer than his previous question, shorter than Blake's – pocketed the pen, gave the paper to Blake and got up.

Blake looked down at the note. It's not the others we're waiting on. I don't feel like waiting for hours.

When Blake looked up, Hunter was standing in the middle of the room, head bowed and arms spread to the sides. It didn't take a genius to figure out what he was doing – trying to call on power that just wasn't accessible in a perfectly soundproofed room. Blake pushed himself up, intent on stopping Hunter – he was only making it worse for himself – but then he glanced at the note again.

I don't feel like waiting for hours.

Hunter was doing this on purpose. He'd asked how Blake was doing so he'd know how fast the power drain progressed, and for some weird reason he wanted it to happen as fast as possible. Hunter had come in here with granola bars, pen and paper, and a plan – though what manner of a plan it could be, he had no idea. So instead he bent over, stretching his legs. Might as well do something other than feel miserable.

Hunter was calling on ridiculous amounts of power he couldn't get. Blake could feel it gathering, like some sort of vacuum, and he edged as far back from Hunter as he could because that hurt. He would've asked his brother to go to the other side of the room instead of stand in the middle, but Hunter's eyes were closed and Blake was not going into that sphere of absence Hunter had created.

What the hell was Hunter doing, other than try and get himself killed? How long could Hunter keep calling without a pause?

Blake curled down on the floor again, trying to keep track of the time.

Hunter kept summoning power that wasn't there for maybe five, ten minutes straight. The vacuum had become as oppressive as the silence, and Blake was seriously considering walking over and snapping Hunter out of it. It wasn't doing any good.

Then Hunter moved, reaching into his pocket and turning towards Blake. Blake pushed himself up, ready to help Hunter if needed – but no. Hunter held out a small device, smiled, and then started calling again.

Blake stared at the tangle of wire in Hunter's hand. One of Cam's, definitely – a power core, if Blake was right. One this tiny wasn't even enough to power the mobile command centre, though.

At first he thought that the smell of ozone was just wishful thinking. Within seconds, though, it had gotten so strong that it had to be real – and the coil in Hunter's hand was glowing white. Blake stared at it, finally comprehending. The first sparkles could've been nothing more than an illusion or a trick of the light, beads of perspiration reflecting the colour from Hunter's shirt, but within seconds the answering power was unmistakable, glowing so red and dark that it could've been purple, and Blake could actually see how it coalesced into a morphed state.

Power was still flowing in, though, filling the vacuum Hunter had summoned, and he threw it all at the ceiling, blasting it through. Blake heard it all at once – the tail end of the explosion, his own raging heartbeat, a semi-distant roar he didn't automatically recognize –

Power not so much slamming into him but rushing from within him, Ranger power responding to a call so instinctive he did not need to put it into words, and he leaped up after Hunter.

Everyone present at the bridge jumped to their feet when the cliff above Vexacus's chosen cave blew up.

"What the – "

"How did they – "

"Well, well." Lothor sounded particularly smug. "Isn't this just interesting. Look at what Rangers can do, when pushed into a tight enough corner."

Kapri watched as a crimson blur streaked out of the smoking hole in the rock, closely followed by a navy one. "Does anything slow them down?" she complained. "Ever?"

"Doesn't seem so," said Lothor jovially.

They barely got out before Vexacus came at them, knocking straight into Hunter. Blake didn't think twice and didn't bother with his staff, just went straight for the antlers and pumped out as much amperage as he could.

Vexacus turned around even within the antlers' grasp and made as if to lunge at Blake. This meant that he made the mistake of turning his back on a thoroughly pissed off Crimson Ranger, and between them they managed to throw him down the bluff and onto the rocks.

Blake swore as Vexacus rose up almost immediately, although he didn't seem quite stable on his feet. The alien should've stayed down for at least half a minute after the power he and Hunter had just thrown at him. "He's tough!"

"So I heard," said Hunter grimly.

The water line receded.

"What the – "

"Did I mention that your girlfriend was worried and, like the rest of this team, she expresses worry by destroying things?"

"No," said Blake, staring as what should've been a tsunami compacted itself into a single punch and descended right on top of Vexacus, "But I really should've figured it out."

Hunter's morpher beeped. "Thanks for giving me ammo, man," said Shane.

"What?"

"Just don't move."

The last word was already swallowed by the roar of a line of miniature tornados passing right by them, carrying boulders – debris created by Hunter's explosion – and dumping them on top of the drenched alien below.

"You could've just asked!" said Dustin over the open comm.

"This landscaping party's out of control as it is," said Shane.

Blake was grinning like mad under his helmet. "Maybe this day won't be a wreck after all."

"Blake!" Tori's voice was unmistakably relieved. "You all right?"

"Better than could be expected," he told her. "Nothing like heavy-duty landscaping to make a guy feel loved."

"Shouldn't have said that, Tor," said Hunter. "Now he's going to go and get himself kidnapped again just for the special treatment."

Blake opened his mouth, trying to find a good retort for that, but Dustin got in first.

"Look, dudes, I think we made our point. You want to stay and fight or grab a first breakfast before half of us have to pretend to get up for school?"

"Breakfast," said Blake immediately. "I could eat a horse."

"Uh, we don't have a horse." That was Marah's voice. "And anyway, why would you wanna do that?"

They let Dustin explain the expression to her, and streaked over to Ops.