Hello lovelies, we are onto a new chapter and I am so happy to be making some steady progress. I know that these later chapters will have date ranges on the edits because I am steadily making the changes during the free time I have during my last semester as an undergrad student. It is getting towards the end of the semester so I am getting some more free time as the days go on. As for the summer, I am going to be working, then later in the summer I will be working and will be taking summer classes. So I may not have the free time like I would have for previous summers. I just wanted to give you guys a heads up so that you guys know why I am not making a lot of new or edited content. For most of my work, besides A Love That Can Fill A Galaxy, I am not giving up on. I am simply meeting a very rock solid writer's block that will not give way for anything. I plan to work on them when I can and to get the new content out for you as soon as I can. Now, that was all I had to say so I will get on with the quote then the story.
Edited: 4/5/21-4/13/21
"With a secret like that, at some point the secret itself becomes irrelevant. The fact that you kept it does not."
― Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants
ooo0 Ninja of the Stars 0ooo
The three Wind Rangers all talked over the other as they tried to ask Sensei Watanabe questions while Cam helped Belle put on some bruise paste after she downed a vial of pain reliever potion. Sensei Watanabe gave a sharp whistle that had the rangers quieting very quickly.
"One at a time," he said. "As Anna has said, they fight in the style of the Thunder Ninja Academy. That is all I know for certain."
"So there was another academy that escaped Lothor?" Dustin asked.
"Could he have turned them against us?" Tori voiced that had Belle tensing under Cam's hands as he wrapped up where Belle had put the bruise paste. Cam himself had an expressionless mask on so that he wouldn't give Belle's secret away.
"Tu devrais leur dire(You should tell them)," Cam whispered to the galaxy haired girl so that on one else could hear him.
"Je ne peux pas trahir sa confiance, Ron(I can't betray his trust Ron)," Belle told him.
"Ensuite, j'espère que vous savez ce que vous faites(Then I hope you know what you're doing)."
"Their fire comes from deep within," Sensei Watanabe mused. "Even Lothor cannot be driving them to attack with such passion."
Like revenge, Belle commented in her mind.
"I don't really care what their problem is," Dustin let out in his frustration. "But those dudes almost smoked us."
"Yeah, but they didn't," Shane remarked with a tick in his jaw. "And I wanna know why."
"It's to scare or unnerve us," Belle piped up while she finished up her last bandage around her middle.
"They want to show just how much more powerful they are. They bested us in hand to hand combat so they are probably going to bring out the zords next."
"How do you know that?" Shane demanded with narrowed eyes.
"It's one of the classic intimidation tactics Shane," Belle sighed. "I would use it too if I was in their shoes."
ooo0ooo
"I wish I could have seen their faces," the navy ranger laughed aboard Lothor's ship.
"I know," the maroon ranger agreed. "The Wind Rangers were so scared, but the White Gold Ranger is going to be trouble."
"I agree," the navy ranger scowled. "I didn't expect her to put up that much of a resistance. Though I'm glad we at least had one decent fight."
"You had a decent fight," the maroon ranger scoffed. "She barely tried to fight me. She just deflected all of my attacks."
"Interesting," the navy ranger thought out loud. "Now why would that be? The only person who knows you're the maroon ranger is your friend Anna."
"Anna is not the White Gold Ranger," the maroon ranger instantly defended her.
"But if she uses magic, who's to say she can't make copies of herself?" the navy ranger pointed out.
The maroon ranger grit his teeth under his helmet which was the only indication that he was fazed by the navy ranger's comments.
"We should try to capture the White Gold Ranger at any rate," the navy ranger said.
"If she ends up being this Anna, we can use her abilities. If she isn't, we can use her as a hostage which means we have her out of the way."
The maroon ranger said nothing to his partner's words as they continued walking down the hallway. He couldn't help the conflicting emotions and thoughts that flew between each other. Please don't let Anna be the White Gold ranger, the maroon ranger pleaded silently despite his earlier claim of denying the idea.
"Monster at the quarry again," Cam told the group from his spot at the computer.
"It's Zurgane," Shane said when looking at the computer screen.
"Doesn't he usually come equipped with an evil alien sidekick?" Tori questioned while watching the screen.
"Either way we should stay on our toes," Belle commented. "He may have a monster waiting on the sidelines to ambush us."
The others nodded in agreement while they moved to morph.
"Ninja Storm-,"
"Cosmic Storm-,"
"Ranger From!"
As soon as the group reached the quarry, they spread out a little bit.
"What, did Lothor run out of good looking monsters?" Shane taunted the general.
"If you want something done right, you do it yourself," Zurgane growled.
And like that the handles that usually were sticking out from his shoulder pads were pulled out to reveal swords.
"Rangers, meet your destiny!"
The rangers all reached behind them to grab their blades while Belle reached for the blade on her back as well as a tanto blade that she had resting on the small of her back. She held the large sword ahead of her while the shorter blade was held in front of her chest with the edge of the blade facing the enemy.
"Bring it on!" Zurgane challenged.
"You got it," Shane grinned under his helmet before the three Wind Rangers jumped forward as one his attack.
Belle on the other hand slipped around the skirmish so that she could get behind the general without him noticing. Just as he slashed the rangers across their chests, Belle stabbed Zurgane through his stomach while holding her tanto blade across his throat.
"You were saying Zurgane?" Belle smirked under her helmet.
"I'm sick of Power Rangers," Zurgane snarled in agitation, trying to shake Belle off of him.
"Ranger, Rangers, Rangers. That's all I ever hear."
"Aww, poor Zurgane," Belle mocked with a twist of her sword before she jumped back to dodge the revered sword that would have skewered her.
Another snarl left him at the blood that was dripping down his armor as he put his swords together.
"This will teach you to respect me!"
Belle cursed while she traded her swords for her fans to better protect her from the blast of energy from Zurgane's swords. The Wind Rangers were blasted off their feet but Belle was pushed a good few feet back with some damage to her legs.
"Now to finish what those two imbeciles could only start," Zurgane said while he readied himself for another attack.
The rangers readied themselves the best they could but the attack never came. Instead Zurgane was beamed back up into space leaving the rangers alone in the quarry.
"Looks like Zurgane went against orders," Belle commented, moving to stand next to her fellow rangers.
Shane went to say something, but was cut off when more blasts came at them.
"What the hell?" Belle growled as she turned to see the Thunder Rangers again.
Oh fuck, Belle cursed in her mind. I don't think they're here just to intimidate us like they did last time.
"Recognize these?" the maroon ranger asked while using his lightning powers to materialize Tsunami Cycles that were tailored to the Thunder Rangers' color scheme.
"Bushi's Tsunami Cycles!" Belle shouted in anger at Cam's hard work getting ripped from right under him.
"Ours comes with a few improvements," the maroon ranger informed the other while moving to straddle one of the bikes.
As in on instinct, Belle ran forward with her fans to try to block the blasts from the bikes, but that left herself open to getting shot in the chest. The Wind Rangers and Belle were propelled back at the attack that had the Wind Rangers landing alright with Belle in Dustin's arms.
"Lupa! Are you alright?!" Dustin questioned the softly groaning kunoichi in his arms.
"I'm fine Leo," she assured him with a hand to her chest.
The Thunder Rangers came in for another attack with the bikes so Belle threw herself back into Dustin so that the bikes missed them. Shane and Tori fired their guns at the advancing bikes, but they were plowed through easily.
"Hawke, Finn!"
Dustin and Belle ran over to their fallen teammates to help them stand back on their feet. They didn't get very far with helping when another energy blast was fired from the bikes that blasted the rangers back again.
"This is so easy, it's boring," the maroon ranger commented once he was off his bike.
"You know White Gold Ranger," the navy ranger said. "You almost put up a good fight back there, but you didn't try to fight my buddy here. Now why is that?"
Belle chose to stay silent as she forced herself back to her feet with her fans at the ready.
"Still so much fire in such a tiny body," the maroon ranger taunted.
"Well we'll see how well you fight this," the navy ranger told her while bringing out his morpher.
"Maroon Thunder Power!"
"Navy Thunder Power!"
"Sky of Wonder!"
"Power of Thunder!"
"That doesn't look good," Tori remarked at the lightning that struck the ground.
"Maroon Insectazord!"
"Navy Beetlezord!"
"Bushi, send the zords please," Belle said over the comms. "It looks like we'll need some serious firepower."
"You got it."
Without delay the Wind Rangers plus Belle were in their zords facing down the Thunder Rangers. Shane went with a flame attack on the Insectazord while Belle ran forward with a rollout attack on the Beetlezord. The Insectazord easily escaped the fire attack by covering itself in rock, but the Beetlezord barely managed to escape with some damage to its legs. Upon escaping the fire attack, the Insectazord started firing on Shane's Hawk zord.
"I'm hit! I'm hit!" Shane cried out while he tried to regain control of his zord. When the beetlezord recovered from Belle's attack, it launched itself at Dustin's Lion zord. To retaliate Dustin sent it flying with a Tornado Blast. Dustin then went to try to step on the downed Beetlezord but his cloaking device kicked in.
"I can't find him anywhere on my scanners!" Tori told her teammates only for the said zord to shoot its pincer at her and swing her zord around. Belle's zord let out a snarl as it slashed at the zord which let Tori fly back to land beside Shane and Dustin.
"Thanks Lupa," Tori sighed gratefully.
"Let's form the megazord!" Shane called out to the others.
The Storm Megazord formed while Belle's zord morphed into its own megazord. However, the Thunder Rangers were quick to form their own Thunder Megazord to fight back. The Storm Megazord tried to fight head on with the Thunder Megazord but they were quickly overpowered. Belle took this opportunity to rush forward and attack the Thunder Megazord to give her teammates some time to recover. They took this time to call upon the Serpent Sword and wasted no time slashing at the Thunder zord. This did nothing to deter them because there was not even a scratch on the zord after they were done. In the end, the Thunder zord caught the sword and swiped the Storm Megazord's feet from under itself. Belle rushed forward to try to attack while the Rangers called for Cam to send them another power sphere.
"Give, give, give," Cam grumbled. "That's all I do."
Belle's zord jumped back to give the Storm Megazord room to fight back but the power up never came. Or rather it never came to them. Instead the disk went to the Thunder zord who wielded the Spin Blade against them.
"Fuck," Belle cursed under her breath as a slash attack was launched at the Storm Megazord.
To try to save her teammates, Belle urged her zord to push them out of the way and take the hit instead. The Thunder zord took no time in tearing the Wolf Megazord apart then turning its eyes on the Storm Megazord. All the Wind Rangers and Belle shouted as their zords fell. Before Belle blacked out, she subconsciously teleported back to the Command Center in Ninja Ops.
"Anna!" Cam shouted in alarm when her unconscious body crumpled to the floor. Cam hopped up from his seat and just managed to catch Belle's head before it could hit the ground.
"Anna!"
Cam tried patting her face to get her to wake up, but that didn't work either. He cursed under his breath at the turn of events then his eyes lit up when he got an idea. He carefully picked her up and sat her on a cot that was pushed to the side of the Command Center so that he could rush to Belle's room. He remembered that Belle had a potion stocked up in her room that worked to force someone awake which he grabbed when he found it.
"C'mon Anna," Cam urged the unconscious teen, pouring the potion in her mouth. Her throat moved to swallow all of it and took a few minutes before she bolted up in panic.
"Shane! Tori! Dustin!"
She then winced when she felt all of her injuries come back with a vengeance as they throbbed and ached. Fuuuccckk this hurts, Belle groaned in her mind. I almost don't want to even breathe.
"Anna, where are the others?" Cam asked once Belle was fully conscious.
"They're still in their zords," Belle told him while she forced herself up from the cot.
"I have to teleport back and help them."
"You're not going anywhere like this," Cam argued with her when he saw how much her body was shaking with the strain she was putting it through.
"I have to," Belle insisted. "I'm the only one who can slip in and get them out without being noticed."
"You're not going anywhere Annabelle," Sensei Watanabe stated firmly, leaving no room to argue.
Belle wanted so badly to put up a fuss but honestly, she was just so tired and wanted to sleep.
"Anna, your morpher," Cam said when he saw the state her morpher was in.
To be honest it was toast. It looked almost beyond repair and it sparked if touched.
"I'm sorry Ron," Belle apologized weakly.
"It's alright Anna," he assured her. "Why don't we get you to your room and you can rest for a bit?"
Belle still felt compelled to go back and check on the other rangers, but she held it back when she remembered Sensei Watanabe's order. Maybe I should get some rest, Belle thought to herself as she let Cam lead her to her room. She leaned heavily against him so that he could support her, but Cam ended up scooping her up so that she wouldn't have to overexert herself. At first Belle was surprised that Cam was able to carry her so easily, but she eventually relaxed against his chest. When Cam reached Belle's bed, he pulled back her blankets and made sure to tuck her under the covers. Almost as soon as Belle's head touched her pillow, she was out like a light. Cam watched her for a few moments to make sure she was asleep before he rejoined his father in the command center.
"She should be on bedrest for a few days," Cam told his father when he regained his spot at the computer.
"I agree," Sensei Watanabe sighed. "Young Annabelle has done a lot to help her fellow rangers. However, the maroon ranger did bring up a valid point. Why did she not attack him when engaged in combat?"
"I'm not sure," Cam answered at once, typing in code to try to locate the other rangers. Sensei Watanabe did not believe Cam for a second yet he said nothing about the matter. Anna, I really hope you know what you're doing, Cam thought while he continued to work.
A half hour later found the Wind Rangers back at Ninja Ops offering their broken morphers to Cam.
"Even though I'm angry that you've reduced years of technological advancement to scrap metal in a single afternoon," Cam sighed.
"I'm also relieved you made it back alright."
"Where's Shorty?" Dustin asked when he didn't see any hide nor hair of the small galaxy haired girl.
"She's resting in her room," Cam answered. "She took some bad damage in the battle and needs to recuperate."
"That's a relief," Tori sighed. "We weren't sure where she went."
"What about the zords that those Thunder Ninjas had?" Shane voiced.
"They are powered with energy similar to our own," Sensei Watanabe offered.
"And they're working for Lothor," Tori added. "That doesn't make much sense."
"It seems that there is dissension within Lothor's ranks," Sensei Watanabe mused.
"We could use this to our advantage later on."
"I just feel totally helpless," Tori confessed. "I just wish there was something we could do."
"For now, return to your daily lives," Sensei Watanabe advised. "If Lothor suspects anything out of the ordinary, it will only give him more power."
"And be careful," Cam added. "They've already stolen the Tsunami Cycles. Whoever you talk to, make sure you trust them."
Even though Cam was giving the lecture to the other rangers, he couldn't help but feel bad for not giving Belle the same lecture. She was the one who really needed it, but Cam decided that he would trust that Belle would make the best decision when the time came. With that said the rangers went back to their hobbies or work in Dustin's case.
ooo0ooo
As for Tori, she managed to run into Hunter and Blake on the beach.
"What, no hello?" Blake said when Tori walked right passed him.
"Sorry, my mind's somewhere else," Tori supplied.
"Yeah, rough day?"
"Yeah."
While his brother was flirting with the blue ranger, Hunter stealthily scanned the beach for any sign of tanned skin or galaxy colored hair. He knew that he couldn't talk with her with his brother present, but he couldn't help but want to catch just a glimpse of her for even a second.
"Thanks again for helping me out out there," Tori offered after a moment of silence.
"Oh, yeah, hey. Don't mention it. Anytime."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Cool."
"I'll catch you later," Tori told him.
"Yeah. Sure thing."
"Wow, smooth," Hunter teased. "You'll have to show me your moves sometime."
"Like your moves with that purple haired girl?" Blake questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Don't get mad at me because I've made more progress than you," Hunter said.
Blake gave his brother a look before he walked off.
"C'mon! Don't be like that!" Hunter called after him with laughter in his voice.
ooo0ooo
Some time later found Belle awake and attempting to help Cam fix the morphers. Well, she didn't know anything close to try to fix the morphers. Instead Belle cast a spell on Cam's hands so that he wouldn't have to experience a shock while trying to fix the advanced technology.
"I'm sorry that I can't help you more," Belle said when she saw how much of a challenge that they were offering him.
"You're fine," Cam sighed to release some of his anger towards the morphers. Maybe Anna had a point about taking breaks and stretching out the tension in my shoulders and back, Cam thought to himself.
"Besides, they're almost all up and ready to go."
"That's such a relief," Belle smiled which boosted Cam's morale.
Even if it was just a little bit of comfort, Cam was happy that he was able to make Belle feel better.
"Cam! Anna! I need your help outside!" Tori shouted as she burst into Ninja Ops as if danger were close on her heels.
"Can't it wait?" Cam bit out in frustration. "I've almost got the morphers back online."
"It's an emergency," she insisted. "My friend, he's...hurt."
"And you brought him here?!" Cam shouted in equal parts shock and anger.
"Have you ever heard of a hospital?!"
"I just thought that Anna's potions would work better than a hospital," Tori frantically said.
"I'll go grab some replenishing potions," Belle sighed.
"Thank you Anna!" Tori called after her.
It didn't take long for Anna to grab a couple vials of replenishing potions and pass them on to Cam and Tori. As soon as Tori had the vials in hand, she booked it up the stairs outside.
"I'll go make sure nothing goes wrong," Cam told Belle before he followed Tori outside.
Before he actually left, he turned back to face Belle.
"Rest until I get back."
"Yes, Mom," Belle drawled out, leaning back in her chair and crossing her legs.
Cam raised his eyebrows to prove his seriousness before he followed Tori out of Ninja Ops.
"She'll probably be wanting her morpher," Belle muttered to herself, picking up Tori's morpher to hand over when she came back in.
It wasn't long before Tori came back down the steps to reclaim her morpher from Belle.
"Thanks again Anna," Tori repeated when she took the morpher from the younger ranger along with the others.
"Don't mention it," Belle dismissed. "He should be fine within the next half hour. You might want to get him back to where he was hurt if you don't want him asking any questions."
"Right."
When Tori left, Belle shuffled off towards the kitchen to make a simple lunch for her and Cam. She had just made two sandwiches each and was reaching for some chips when an arm reached up behind her to take the bag down from the cupboard.
"What did I tell you about resting?" Cam asked when he looked down into endless chocolate brown eyes.
"I was just making sandwiches Ron," Belle brushed off. "I wasn't straining myself."
"I'm just worried that you'll end up really hurting yourself," Cam admitted while taking the two plates from her to carry it out to the Command Center.
"I'll be fine Ron. What am I gonna do, spar?"
"You better not."
Belle rolled her eyes at him yet followed after him to sit at her seat beside him at the computer to eat her food. The two had just finished their lunch when the monster of the day showed up again and Cam told the other rangers to head to the riverbank. Belle sort of eyed her morpher to judge if she could swipe it, but Cam pulled it away from her and gave a soft glare.
"If you so much as reach for this morpher, I will hold you down until the fight is over."
That stopped Belle from trying to reach for the morpher that was sitting on the computer stand, but it did not stop her from eyeing it. While she knew that she would end up hurting herself if she went out and tried to help the rangers, she still felt that unless she was bedridden she could help. Both Belle and Cam watched as the rangers were tied up and Belle's body instinctively went to get up but a strong hand on her stomach stopped her from actually getting up off her seat.
"I'm serious about holding you down," Cam reminded her.
Belle's uneasiness grew when the three rangers levitated above the ground then were blasted into the water. Thankfully they were quick to get back on their feet and fight back. Everything seemed to be going downhill when the Thunder Rangers arrived on the scene. As soon as Belle saw the two thunder rangers, her body all but lurched from her chair. The Thunder brothers had almost killed all the rangers and they might actually succeed this time. When Cam saw that Belle was trying to get up out of her chair, he was quick to throw his arms around her to try to wrestle with her to keep her in her seat. Of course, that only made Belle's injuries hurt more even if she couldn't feel it at the moment.
"They can handle this Anna!" Cam insisted to try to calm her down.
"But they handed our asses to us earlier!" Belle argued. "They can't fight the monster and them at the same time."
Then to both of their astonishment, the Thunder Rangers turned on the monster to save the Wind Rangers' asses.
"No way," Belle breathed out in both relief and awe. Cam took this opportunity to send the rangers their zords while Belle was too busy processing what had just happened.
"Why did Hunter do that?" Belle whispered to herself. "I thought he hated the Wind Rangers?"
The rest of the battle went by without much more of a fuss much to the relief of both Cam and Belle.
"See Anna," Cam smiled at her. "They could have handled it."
"Because the Thunder rangers decided to help them," Belle argued. "But I feel like something bad is going to happen."
As if on cue, a crash was heard at the entrance of the Command Center. Cam froze while Belle jumped up at the ready with her magic at her fingertips. However, her magic all but died when the maroon and navy rangers stepped into the Command Center.
"How did you get here?" Cam demanded with narrowed eyes, looking to Belle to see if she had any idea why they were here.
"Hunter," Belle let out in a pained voice at the maroon ranger who was shaking slightly where he stood.
"Let me guess, the friend Tori helped earlier was you Blake."
"You would be right Little Miss Witch," Blake smirked while allowing his helmet to pull back the faceplates to reveal his face.
"How could you keep this from me?" Hunter ground out through grit teeth.
Even though one could mistake Hunter's face for anger at the situation, but Belle was able to see the hurt and betrayal in Hunter's eyes. The sight was enough for a lump to appear in Belle's throat and her heart to squeeze in sadness for him.
"Hunter….," she began to say only to be cut off.
"Blake, hold down the geek," Hunter ordered without taking his eyes off of Belle.
Blake made to step closer to Cam, but Belle was quick to have her wand in hand with the star on top glowing softly in response to the danger in front of her. Blake and Belle eyed each other to see who would give first, but Hunter had had enough and sent shuriken at Belle to take her attention off of Cam. In the split second it took for Belle to raise a barrier to protect herself, Blake was behind Cam only to force him to his knees with his arms pinned behind his back.
"Ron!" Belle shouted in worry over her friend only to have her attention brought back to Hunter.
He was now in front of her, staring down at her with intense blue eyes. He searched Belle's eyes for something that she couldn't quite place and asked a question that surprised her.
"Would you have killed me if you were ordered to?"
Belle's brown eyes widened in shock. She would never have killed him. Hell, just fighting him was hard enough.
"Hunter, I would never-,"
"Don't lie to me," Hunter demanded in a heated voice. "So what was it? Were you going to look for my weaknesses and strike when I was most vulnerable?"
As the questions flew off Hunter's tongue, Belle could hear the way his voice rose in volume and took on an almost hysterical tone.
"Hunter, stop. I could never-,"
It seemed that all of the emotions that were swirling up in Hunter took that opportunity to rear their heads when Hunter's hand snapped forward to punch Belle in the face. Cam could only watch on in shock and worry when Belle's head reared back with the punch while Belle was in shock and couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that Hunter had punched her. Blake on the other hand looked on with pride that his brother was cutting ties with a potential weakness and Hunter himself had lost himself to the rising emotions and continued to wail on Belle that seemed to soothe his emotions even a little bit. When the second punch hit Belle, Cam realized that Hunter was going to continue to hit Belle so he struggled with everything he had to try to get free from Blake. Blake scowled and grappled with the bespeckled male so that he wouldn't escape. It wasn't until a very loud, very sharp crack was heard that Cam tried just launching himself at Blake to let him go while Belle gave a short scream at the fact that Hunter had broken a rib. That also seemed to have shaken Hunter out of his stupor. When he blinked away his fog, he looked down in horror at the fact that Belle was laying on the ground with blood on her face from the force of his hits. His eyes then darted down to his hands to see blood on his knuckles that was most likely Belle's. His hands then started to shake when the reality of what he had done sank in.
"It's a good thing you stopped," Blake grunted while he tried to keep a strong grip on Cam.
"Lothor is going to be happy that we gave him a witch."
The witch, er...sorceress, herself was all but dead to the world due to the immense pain she was in due to the broken rib Hunter had given her. The poor girl couldn't even get her thoughts together due to the pain. Hunter's face hardened when he saw what he had done, but his eyes betrayed the guilt and sorrow he felt about hurting Belle. Why did I do this, he asked himself as he gingerly picked the girl up in his arms. One particular jolt made a shout leave Belle's lips, but otherwise she remained unresponsive. When he heard the shout, Hunter quickly readjusted her so that it wouldn't aggravate her injury. That was when the Wind Rangers came down the stairs only to see Cam being held down while a bruised and bloodied Belle was in Hunter's arms.
"Anna!" Dustin called out in worry at the state she was in.
When she didn't respond to Dustin's voice, all three wind rangers became worried. Is she even breathing, they all asked themselves.
"What are you doing here?" Shane demanded from the Thunder brothers while he eyed Belle's form with worry clear in his eyes. Instead of answering, the two Thunder Rangers simply demorphed to show Hunter and Blake Bradley underneath.
"What do you want?" Dustin tried to ask with an even voice but one could hear the wavering his voice had.
"How did you get in here?"
"Why don't you ask her?" Hunter told him, gesturing his head towards Tori.
"Blake?" Tori questioned with hurt clear in her voice.
"I'm sorry," Blake said, his voice holding real regret. "But we had to find Ninja Ops. I didn't mean to use you."
"Leave him," Hunter told Blake who tossed Cam to the side. Shane was quick to push Cam behind him so that Blake couldn't take him hostage again.
"We've got what we want. Goodbye Rangers and good luck in your future battles."
In a fashion similar to Belle's teleportation, the Thunder Rangers vanished.
"What happened to Anna?" Dustin asked Cam who had run over to his father's little space.
"Hunter decided that Anna looked like a punching bag," Cam spit out in anger.
"They also managed to take my father."
"Why was Hunter so brutal?" Tori questioned. "I thought he liked Anna."
"He probably thought she betrayed him," Cam sighed. "What we need to focus on now is getting her and my father back in one piece."
ooo0ooo
While the Thunder Rangers walked through the forest that led to the Cavern of Spirits, Anna was still passed out on Hunter's shoulder from how much pain her rib was giving her.
"I don't know about you bro," Black commented while eyeing the forest that was giving a low moaning sound.
"But I'm not digging this place."
"Don't be such a baby," Hunter scoffed while he discreetly glanced down at Belle to see how she was faring.
She wasn't getting worse than when they were in Ninja Ops, but she certainly wasn't good.
"You should be afraid Thunder Rangers," Sensei Watanabe warned them from inside his protective sphere.
"There are spirits here of the darkest warriors the world has ever known."
"Quiet!" Hunter snapped. "We know what we're doing."
"Have you not learned that taking revenge on one who has caused you no harm, makes you as guilty as the one who hurt you to begin with?" Sensei Watanabe tried to reason with them.
Both Thunder Rangers stopped at his words.
"You destroyed our parents," Hunter told him. "Parents who adopted us and gave us a life. You deserve everything that's coming to you."
The two continued on their way through the forest and had walked for a good hour or so before Blake spoke up.
"How much further," he asked while stepping through some shrubs.
"Nearly there," Hunter answered. They both stopped when they heard a particularly loud noise.
"Did you hear that?" Blake questioned nervously.
"Yeah…," Hunter trailed off in a strong voice while eyeing the forest around them. That was when the ghosts of the dead appeared and faced off the Thunder Ninjas. Both ninjas eyed their opponents warily while the sphere that Sensei Watanabe was sat down while Belle was placed down on the ground next to him. They didn't waste any time morphing to face off against the enemy.
"Thunder Storm! Ranger Form!"
Hunter picked up the orb with Sensei Watanabe but left Belle on the ground seeing as though she was unconscious. The brothers tried their best to fight off against the dead warriors, but the warriors ended up surrounding the Thunder Rangers.
"They just keep coming," Hunter groaned.
"Put me down, I say!" Sensei Watanabe shouted from inside his sphere.
When the Thunder Rangers thought that they were being overrun, the Wind Rangers came riding in on their Tsunami Cycles.
"Who do we fight?" Dustin asked when he looked around at the large mass of bodies.
"Anyone not wearing a primary color or white gold," Shane suggested.
"Sounds like a good plan," Tori agreed just before she was tackled off her bike. As the Wind Rangers started to fight the enemy, Belle started to regain some consciousness now that she had become accustomed to some of the pain. Is that the Wind Rangers, she asked herself when she heard the familiar voices. Or am I just hallucinating because I'm in so much pain? To check for the sake of her sanity, Belle forced her eyes open inch by inch until her eyes were adjusting to the sights in front of her. When everything became clear, Belle saw her teammates being overrun with the dead warriors.
"Leave them alone!" Belle managed to shout, a large wave of her white gold magic shooting out to disintegrate the ghosts. As soon as her magic left her, she sank back down into the realm of unconsciousness. The Wind Rangers were more than relieved to see that Belle was still alive but they didn't have long to celebrate when Blake knocked down Tori and Dustin while Hunter picked up Belle again.
"Let's go," Hunter said to Blake before the two ninja streaked away. The Wind Ninjas were quick to follow and engaged the Thunder Rangers at the quarry. Belle was sat down again as the rangers started fighting each other. However, the Thunder Rangers had the advantage and easily knocked back the Wind Rangers.
"Why are you doing this?" Dustin demanded, trying to get around the Thunder Rangers to get Belle back.
"Simple," Hunter smirked. "Revenge."
Before the Wind Rangers could try to retaliate, the ground shook when a zord appeared.
"That will keep them busy," Hunter said.
Blake nodded before the two took off running.
"They're getting away!" Cam called over the comms.
"You two go after them," Tori told her teammates. "I'll handle Zurgane."
"Right," Shane nodded.
Shane and Dustin then ran after the fleeing Thunder Rangers.
"Drop Anna and gimme that ball!" Dustin shouted at the Thunder Rangers as he leapt through the air.
"Don't even think about it," Blake told him.
Hunter quickly sat Belle on the ground that was more like dropping her when Hunter realized how close Shane was to fight back.
"Can you at least be a little gentle with her?" Shane growled.
Hunter said nothing but he did wince behind his helmet at how he had sat Belle down with her injuries.
Shane grit his teeth in anger at Hunter's dismissal of Belle's injuries but was kicked back by Blake. Hunter tried to run back to pick up Belle but was intercepted by Dustin who tripped him up. The orb with Sensei went flying and Blake was quick to catch it. Shane tried to kick Blake but instead kicked the orb.
"Sorry Sensei," Shane apologized when he realized what he did.
"I'm fine," Sensei Watanabe assured him only to be thrown again.
This time Dustin caught him but was quickly taken back by Blake. Another skirmish had the orb that Sensei Watanabe was in to fly to the side. Back with the zords, Tori was doing her best to fight while piloting the megazord by herself but she was having some trouble. Dustin and Shane watched the fight to see if Tori had it before they engaged the Thunder Rangers again. It was safe to say that they did not get any farther than they had before. The last attack was enough to knock them down when Dustin and Shane were distracted by Tori taking a major hit with the megazord.
"Your sensei destroyed our parents," Blake told the Wind Rangers while he picked up the orb.
"And now it's payback time," Hunter finished, scooping Belle up again in his arms.
Everything seemed to be going downhill for the Wind Rangers until Shane came flying forward to kick Hunter in the chest and Dustin managed to snag the orb from Blake. Belle dropped from Hunter's arms onto the ground but no one moved to pick her up. Shane and Dustin didn't get farther than a few steps before Tori joined them.
"We got him," Shane cheered only for Blake to rush forward and attack them. Hunter took this time to pick Belle back up and pull out the Thunder Blaster.
"Get out of the way!" Hunter called out to his brother who was busy fighting the rest of the rangers.
"I can't!" Blake shouted back. "Just fire the Blaster! I'll be fine!"
Hunter agonized over whether or not to fire the cannon, but ended up firing anyway that hit all of the rangers in its path. Under his helmet, Hunter grit his teeth then came to pick up the energy ball Sensei Watanabe was trapped in. Blake limped his way to his brother's side only for the two to disappear in a flash of lightning.
"Man I hate those guys," Shane seethed.
When they got close to the Cave of Souls, Hunter and Blake demorphed and continued walking.
"The ninja spirits sense our presence," Sensei Watanabe told the two as they glanced around uneasily.
"The Cavern," Blake pointed out towards the cave entrance that was on the beach across from them.
"Consider what you are about to do very carefully," Sensei Watanabe warned the Thunder Rangers when they started for the entrance.
"There are powerful forces here."
The two walked through the cave until they reached an open spot where a glowing green gem sat on a pedestal. Once Belle was placed in front of the gem, her whole body glowed white gold as the gem sucked the magic right from her being. Slowly the energy left her body and instead fueled the gem. As this happened, Belle continued to get more pale and her body shook with the force of her coughs. Within a few minutes, she was coughing so hard splatters of blood hit the stone underneath her. Hunter didn't notice at first what was happening to her, but his attention snapped over to her when her coughs got really bad and he was able to see the blood.
"That is enough!" Sensei Watanabe shouted in fear at his foster student.
"Any more and you will kill her!"
Hunter quickly moved Belle away from the stone as his heart all but stopped at the danger Belle was in. Once he was sure that Belle was far enough away, he picked up the Gem of Souls so that Blake could set the orb with Sensei Watanabe on the pedestal. Hunter was just about to touch the stone to the orb when the Wind Rangers came down the steps to the room.
"No!" Shane shouted in panic at what was unfolding in front of him.
"Sensei didn't do anything."
"Lothor told us everything!" Hunter argued.
"Your sensei destroyed our parents!" Blake added.
"Lothor saw the whole thing!"
It was then that the Wind Rangers saw the rough state Belle was in slumped against the wall of the cave. Instead of running to her side, the Wind Rangers kept their focus on the Thunder Rangers.
"And you believe him?" Tori questioned as if the Thunder Rangers were dense.
"Why shouldn't we?" Hunter challenged.
"Well dude," Dustin said. "He's not known for being one of the good guys."
"We're done talking," Hunter dismissed easily, going to hit the orb if it wasn't for a voice that spoke up.
"Put it down Hunter," a male's voice spoke as two spirits revealed themselves.
"Mom? Dad? How did you-," Hunter tried to say but was cut off.
"This is the Mountain of Lost Ninjas," his father explained. "We'll be here for all eternity."
"Because of him, right?" Blake asked while gesturing to Sensei Watanabe.
"No Blake," their mother denied with a shake of her head. "He's not responsible for what happened to us."
"Well then who is?" Hunter demanded.
"The one they call Lothor," their father revealed, which was a shock to no one but the Thunder Rangers.
"They're fading," Hunter realized with dread when the two spirits started to become transparent.
"Oh Hunter," their mother sighed with pain in her eyes.
"The girl you love is fading fast. You might want to get her to a hospital before she joins us down here."
Hunter was torn between calling out for his parents, the guilt of what he had done, and the realization that he might lose Belle. Blake simply called out for them not to leave.
"We'll always be looking after you," their mother promised while she raised her hood back over her face.
"Make us proud," their father smiled before both spirits vanished.
"What a sight," came Lothor's voice from the entrance of the room.
"The Thunder Rangers crying for their Mommy. My ears were burning. You've been talking about me, haven't you?"
"It was you all along!" Hunter seethed. "You lied to us!"
"Not the brightest bulbs on the tree, are you?" Lothor drawled. "Now give me that hamster. We have business to attend to."
"Actually, dude, he's a guinea pig," Dustin corrected him.
"And we're not giving him to you," Shane growled.
"Then I'll take him," Lothor decided as if it were the easiest thing in the world.
"Uh hello," Tori smirked. "Lots of us and one of you."
"Oh please," Lothor scoffed followed closely by a dark energy blast.
Hunter jumped in front of the Wind Rangers and held up the Gem that sent Lothor's attack back at him that made him disappear with a flash of light.
"Dude, you nailed Lothor," Dustin congratulated Hunter in shock at what he just did.
"It's broken," Hunter frowned at the pieces of shattered gem in his hands. "I used it to protect us, but it shattered."
"It should be kept away from Annabelle," Sensei Watanabe spoke up before turning to look at the broken gem.
"For better or worse, the power of the Gem cannot be destroyed."
"Speaking of power, what happened to Lothor?" Tori voiced.
"I suspect he is very much alive," Sensei Watanabe sighed. "And, I fear, more desperate than ever."
"We should really get Belle to a doctor," Dustin told the group as he picked up Belle.
"I can't tell if she's even breathing."
Hunter was the first to rush forward to check her pulse and her breathing, but Dustin was quick to jerk back to get Belle away from him.
"Dude, I think you've done enough."
"I just want to make sure she's breathing," Hunter defended himself.
"I'll check," Shane said instead while blocking Hunter from Belle.
Dustin was right in saying that her breaths were really shallow, but Shane was able to detect a heartbeat even if it was very weak.
"Cam might know what to do," Shane suggested. He let Dustin hurry out of the cave first then hurried after him to Cam who was waiting for them.
"What happened to her?" Cam gasped when he saw the nearly dead girl lying limp in Dustin's arms.
"The Gem of Souls sucked the magic out of her," Hunter offered along with the pieces of said Gem of Souls.
"You!" was the only warning Hunter got before he was decked across the face so hard he had to stumble back from the hit.
It turned out that Cam had been waiting to see Hunter again so that he could teach him a lesson for what he did to Belle via beating him until he was unconscious.
"Cameron!" Sensei Watanabe shouted to get his son's attention. "Now is not the time for fighting."
Even though Cam wanted so badly to continue, he knew his father was right. Belle needed medical attention and the only place he knew she could be treated was back at her home in Briarwood.
"Dustin, I need you to get back to Ninja Ops," Cam told the tall ninja.
"Take Anna to her room and put her hand on the circle next to her closet. When it glows, go through her closet and call for Mama Luna. She'll be able to save her."
"Got it," Dustin said before ninja streaking off with Tori not far behind him.
"Let's take care of the Gem shards so I can get back," Cam grumbled while taking the shard pieces in hand.
ooo0ooo
"Mama Luna!" Dustin called out in panic when he entered another room past Belle's closet that had to be Belle's other bedroom.
"Mama Luna!"
"What are you yelling for?!" Mama Luna shouted in irritation as she pushed open Belle's door.
"Anna's hurt," Tori explained when Mama Luna's eyes fell on the battered form of her daughter.
"Put her on the bed," Mama Luna ordered, not giving herself time to fall apart until her daughter was treated.
Just as Dustin lay her down on her bed, Xander peeked inside the doorway.
"Mama Luna, what is going-,"
Everyone in the room froze when the rest of Anna's friends filed in behind Xander.
"Belle!" Xander exclaimed at the sight of her lifeless body lying on her bed.
He rushed forward to her bedside to take one of her hands in his.
"Why is she so cold?" Xander whispered helplessly.
"Is she even breathing?!" Vida fretted when she didn't see Belle's chest rising or falling.
Mama Luna gave a sigh at the turn of events and in a flash of silver magic, all four of the Briarwood natives dropped to the floor.
"Get the four of them down to a couch downstairs," Mama Luna ordered Tori and Dustin.
"My sister should be here momentarily to work on some memory suppressing magic on them while I heal Annabelle. I want you two to watch over the four of them until she gets here."
"Right."
When the two rangers were gone from the room along with the unconscious teens, Mama Luna pulled out her wand with a crescent moon on the tip that glowed silver as she focused her magic. Her first action was to wash all of the blood that Belle had on her body off so she could see if there were any cuts that she should heal first. Upon washing off the blood, she could see that there were no cuts along her skin. Her magic then seeped into Belle's body to see if there was internal damage from the bottom up. Nothing came up when the scan passed through Belle's feet to her hips, but when the scan reached her chest, Mama Luna saw that her ribs were broken. The ribs above her heart had scratched the hell out of her ventricles while the ribs above her lungs had punctured both in numerous places. While Belle's natural reserve of magical energy should have halted the progression of the damage for a good chunk of time, Mama Luna found that Belle was almost into the state of magic deficiency sickness.
"What the hell were you doing Annabelle Lee?" Mama Luna grit through clenched teeth as she urged her magic to mend her ribs back together.
"Luna, I'm here," Udonna told her older sister. "How bad is the damage?"
"Her heart was scratched by pieces of her broken ribs and her lungs are punctured by said broken ribs. She is also very close to MDS."
"How has she survived long enough to get here?" Udonna questioned in shock.
"Probably sheer determination and dumb luck."
"What do you need me to do?"
"I need you to repair her heart and lungs while I try to mend her ribs."
Udonna nodded while pulling out her own wand that was more of a staff with a white snowflake on the top. Her white magic washed over her niece to seep into her body to flow to her heart and lungs. The procedure alone took two hours of intense concentration that put Belle in a more reasonable state with mended organs that weren't quite fully healed. Both sorceresses gasped in great breaths at the strain placed on their magic as they watched the slow but steady rise and fall of Belle's chest.
"We should give her a replenishing potion," Udonna suggested when she caught her breath.
"Then she should be fine for the night."
"I hope so," Mama Luna sighed.
A bottle of said potion was fed to Belle who had a little trouble swallowing before settling into an almost comatose state.
"How are the four downstairs?"
"Their memories have successfully been modified," Udonna assured her sister.
"What they are going to remember is that she was in an accident and she came back home to recuperate."
"Thank you Winter," Mama Luna told her sister, her hazel eyes showing how grateful she was for the help.
"I am happy to help Selene."
It was then that Cam finally came through Belle's closet to check on her.
"How is she doing?" he asked when he saw how she looked so serene without being covered in blood.
"We fixed every major injury," Mama Luna explained. "But she still has to take some time to rest and let her body catch up with the amount of healing we just put it through."
"How long will she be asleep?"
"We're not sure," Udonna answered this time. "It could be anywhere between three days and a week."
"A week?" Cam echoed in shock.
"We can't know for sure," Mama Luna continued. "We can only hope she gets better quickly."
"Where are the two that brought her here?"
"They are downstairs with Annabelle's friends. They walked in before I could treat her so we had to alter their memories a bit."
Cam nodded in understanding as he came to kneel next to Belle's bed.
"She's much warmer," Cam sighed in relief. "And her color has returned a bit."
"It appears she will make a full, if not long, recovery," Udonna smiled.
"I don't believe we have met. I am Annabelle's aunt Udonna."
"Cameron Watanabe," Cam greeted with a firm handshake.
After Udonna let his hand go, Cam ventured downstairs to grab Dustin and Tori. When he came back to Belle's room, he told the sorceresses that they all had to regroup with his father about further action.
"Tell you father that I wish to speak with him when you return," Mama Luna requested.
"I want to know exactly what happened for my daughter to end up like this."
"Of course, Mama Luna."
Cam and the two rangers were quick to pass back through the portal to get back to Ninja Ops.
True to Udonna's words, it took three days for Belle to even think about opening her eyes or waking up. For those three days, Cam, Shane, Tori, and Dustin would pop over when they could to check up on her. They would talk with her and tell her what was happening back at Blue Bay. Tori and Cam were the ones to talk with her the most out of the group. Tori because she would talk about the Thunder Brothers and how they both disappeared. Cam because he just found himself rambling on just so Belle would be able to hear his voice. When they weren't there, Belle's home friends were by her side. They would talk about fond memories they had together or read stories that Belle likes. Mama Luna allowed them to stay and be with Belle, but there were a few hours a day she made them go back to their homes and talk with their families. When Belle finally opened her eyes, Cam's face was the first thing she saw.
"R-Ron," she rasped, her chocolate brown eyes hazy while the blurred shapes and colors focused in front of her.
"Anna," Cam breathed out in relief as he reached forward to take one of her hands in both of his.
"I'm so glad you're awake. How are you feeling?"
"Like a horde of centaurs just ran over me," Belle chuckled weakly while giving his hands a little squeeze with what strength she had that turned into a groan at the pain laughing gave her.
"I'll take your word for it," Cam chuckled.
Belle tried her hardest to chuckle with him, but her body protested fiercely against it. Cam's eyebrows furrowed in worry at how she groaned in pain again along with closing her eyes to get through it.
"I'm fine," she assured him at once. "I just need to take it easy."
A few moments of silence passed by until Belle broke it.
"Was there anything else that happened while I was gone?" Belle asked.
"Not really," Cam dismissed. "Just the odd monster."
"Is it true that Hunter and Blake left Blue Bay?"
"Yeah," Cam answered softly. "Tori said they need to sort some things out."
"I bet," Belle remarked while Cam looked at his watch.
"I need to go," he groaned. "But I'll be back tomorrow to visit you."
"Don't worry about it Ron," Belle smiled. "I think I'll be back at Ninja Ops tomorrow."
"Are you crazy?" Cam asked in disbelief.
"Possibly," Belle quipped.
"You need to stay here and recuperate before you even think about coming back to Ninja Ops."
"I can rest there too," Belle pointed out. "And I have all the potions that I need in my room. As long as I don't spar, fight, or train, I'll be fine."
"I don't believe you."
"I promise I won't," Belle said with an eye roll. "In fact, I'll be glued to your side while you work at the computer."
"And as for cooking?"
"I'll even pass the cooking over to you," Belle sighed.
"Good. I don't need you overexerting yourself and getting hurt again."
"It's cooking Ron."
At the look that Cam was giving her, Belle didn't argue very much.
"Fine. Fine."
"I'll be here tomorrow to take you back," Cam promised, giving Belle's hand a squeeze.
Rather than argue that she could make it back on her own, Belle held her tongue.
"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow Ron."
"See you tomorrow Anna."
With a newfound boldness in him, Cam raised Belle's hand to his lips so he could press a kiss to her knuckles before he let her hand go. Cam then left through the portal thinking about what had gotten into him. Belle on the other hand was confused but also a little happy about the affection Cam had given her.
ooo0 Ninja of the Stars 0ooo
And there we have another edited chapter all ready to go. As I've said before, it might take me a few days to get chapters done, but I am steadily working through them. As for the content of this chapter, how do you guys feel about it? Are the events a little bit more realistic? I know with how Hunter acted in the original, I felt like I needed to change it. While I think that Hunter would lash out if he thought someone betrayed him, as evidenced when the rangers were stranded on that island and Choobo struck Hunter with that weird goo, I thought that he would be able to stop since he wasn't under the influence of the goo. I also wanted to make Hunter a little bit more remorseful after the fact to go along with how he feels about Belle as well as give Cam a bit more of a reaction towards what Hunter did to her. I also feel like Cam would want to take care of Belle more since she is still healing from her injuries even though it would irritate Belle a little since she doesn't like not being able to do things for herself. I'm thinking that I might make Shane be a little bit more understanding towards Belle since she is still recovering and I don't want to set the two back to how it was when Belle first came to Blue Bay. However, I want to make Belle's reactions a little bit more realistic going forward instead of her instantly forgiving Hunter when he comes back. Other than that, I don't have concrete ways I want to rewrite to story going forward. I also noticed that I unconsciously made this chapter a lot longer than the original, so there is a little bonus for you guys as you read it. That was all I had for this A/N, so I will get on with the outro so that I can move on to the next chapter. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to shoot me a pm or leave a review. Remember, reviews are magic!
-White Wolf