The Ranger's Initiative

by Lawliet Veneziano

After many years of being protectors now the Rangers are being hunted, and the only ones who can save them are a mismatched and unlikely group. But with the public against them, the military after them, and even their own wanting them taken in, can a group of mismatched ex-Rangers really save the world and their friends? Or will they fail even to save themselves?

7. Causalities in War

Tommy felt horrible as they arrived in the forests near the Wind Ninja Academy and Tsuki started to cough up blood. There had been no time though; the green ranger watched as his girlfriend was doubled over, struggling to breathe and hacking into her hands, splotches of red appearing on her palms, and he tried to keep telling himself that, over and over and over again. The ship could not move very fast, or much at all at the moment, and the teleportation mechanism within it hadn't even begun to be fixed when the emergency message came in. Hayley was still aboard the ship and she promised to try to put as much as she could into getting that much up and running again, and it wasn't like he had forced Tsuki to do this. No, he'd tried to tell her not to, him and Billy and Andros all trying to convince her otherwise, but her argument had been sound.

The distress signal from the Wind Ninja Rangers could not be ignored.

No, rather Tommy had refused to ignore it. He cringed and looked away as Tsuki's coughs continued to echo through the otherwise quiet woods and he found his eyes fall upon his communicator, strapped still to his arm; there had been just enough time for Billy to connect the ones they had to the miraculous network, allowing communication to the ship as well as each other. They each had a way, the six of them who had come to investigate and help, whether it was Andros' wrist morpher or one of the actual communicators; Merrick murmured as he explained at Ileana how to use the one they had given to her. Kimmy's, Tommy had immediately thought when it had been gifted to the cheetah Ranger and it struck him again in that moment. She too had been too stubborn; the call for help had brought an important, if not short, discussion. What to do in this situation was, to them all, obviously something they could not just run into without thinking though there had been an accusation or two of that being exactly what they were doing. As of the moment Tommy had run from his house with Tsuki, Billy and Kira, from the moment Merrick had escaped capture before leaving Turtle Cove and from the moment they all stole back the Astro Megaship, the lot of them had become fugitives; as much as it meant their own imprisonment, harm or worse, they broke the law and went against those in power. To come back to Earth after so quickly running was dangerous, though of course they had always planned on coming back; was that not what they had come to the understanding of before Ileana had been awoken from her unconscious state. That it was their duty to continue doing what Rangers do best, to help, to protect; running and staying away was not an option then, it never could be for them. But even Tommy had to admit that this had been abrupt, too abrupt; he did not expect to be coming to the rescue of others so quick, and he was left uncertain of what to do.

Tsuki had been in the end the one to decide; after arguing of how to get there, of what even to do, and listening to vetoes of her own suggestion, the girl seemed to finally have it and grabbed Tommy and Billy's arms, yelling to Merrick to grab Andros and "get his wolfy ass in gear and grab onto my jacket". It was not planned that Ileana would grab hold as well, becoming part of the strange pile of human bodies that Tsuki then teleported into the woods. And promptly let go of to start coughing up her own lungs; the strain was too much, and Tommy wondered what would happen if they let her bring them back to the ship too, especially with whatever number of people they could manage to save from the school. He was hoping for many, it's what his heart wanted; his brain though, his brain knew it could likely be only so many.

"I told you," he said, trying so hard to sound stern but a gentleness seeped into his words and he placed a hand on her back, rubbing it slowly, "I told you not to be reckless, we can't have you doing anything dangerous and getting yourself-"

He cut himself off, unable to even voice it, and his fingers curled into his clothes, almost pulling at her. He did not like the thought that followed those words, of what might happen if she pushed herself too far, if she wasn't careful, if any one of them made even one mistake too many. Tommy did not want that, for anyone else to get hurt or die, whether Ranger or ally or honestly and truly even the people who now were trying to hard to capture them. It was hard to break the mentality of a protector, the mindset of a Power Ranger. But as Tsuki turned her gaze up at him, red meeting brown, seeing the expression on her face and the look in her eyes, he knew; they were far from the only ones who felt such.

"We should get going," Andros spoke, leaning against a tree with a frown; he kept looking at his morpher then at them, a look of concern and uncertainty etched into his face, "Where exactly is the school?"

"Not sure," Tsuki admitted hoarsely and took a deep breath, then another and another; she coughed some more but wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand, wincing in pain before speaking again, "But can't be very far."

"How do you know that?" the red Astro Ranger asked, tilting his head.

"Listen." At her instruction the group fell silent and at first neither Tommy nor Billy or Andros were sure what she meant. But Merrick and Ileana picked up on it quickly and the latter frowned, "Wait, that..."

Merrick's eyes narrowed and he ran off, leaving the group behind suddenly. His sister looked bothered for a moment before shaking her head and starting after him, just slightly slower; Billy caught her mumbling under her breath as she ran by him. "Damnit Merrick, wait for me."

"What are they-" Tommy was cut short again, this time by external forces; a gunshot, rattling through his bones, stopped him in his tracks and he turned his head towards where he thought it came from. And in the distance, finally, he caught it; the sound of yelling, voices and crashing. Something big was happening, something very big, and very bad.

"Quickly!" Billy exclaimed before rushing after the Baliton siblings; Andros frowned again and he pushed himself from his tree, wincing in pain before trying to follow suit. As his legs gave out under him he simply pushed himself up and got going again, managing after his second attempt to get enough strength to force himself onward.

Tommy watched him then turned to Tsuki, the girl pulling off the blue bag from her back; he spoke, "Why did you have Merrick bring him? Andros is in no condition to be here, and truth be told-"

"You don't like me being here either," she interrupted, getting a frown in response; she undid the knot on the tie string and sighed, "You know the answer to why; it's the same as if you had been hurt, Tommy, or Billy, or Merrick."

"But Kira-"

"We needed someone aboard the Megaship with a working communicator who was not badly injured in case something did happen."

"Not Merrick? Or Ileana?"

"I didn't ask Ileana to come," Tsuki responded and smiled, for more reason than one, "But I have to admit she's something; gets told her boyfriend murdered a fellow Ranger and still has the strength to push forward."

"Like you're much different," he said softly and he felt his heart lurch as the blue bag fell away, revealing the black lacquer sheath and carefully wrapped handle of a katana, Tsuki's sword.

She shook her head and swung the sword again onto her back, fastening tight across her chest the cloth band that held the sheathed blade to her body. "No, I am. I never had to deal with you or Billy being murderous; you never tied me up, knocked me out, hunted down my friends or put me in the kind of horrible position that Jason has her." Her coughing fit returned and Tommy stepped towards her but she raised an hand to stop him. "But I do understand a little of her; I understand the feeling of not wanting to give up even with everything going on. I understand the need to keep fighting, to keep trying, to do what I believe is right even while my world falls down around me. I understand that much of how she feels right now, and I understand that much in how Andros feels; that's why I don't see anything wrong with her coming and why I told Merrick to grab Andros. Because he would have likely done the same thing as Ileana if I hadn't."

Tommy wanted to argue but in that moment there was an explosion, the trees shaking with the force of it. And he blinked just long enough for Tsuki to take off, leaving him as the only one left.

He did not hesitate though.

Tsuki wasn't sure what she was expecting to see when they entered the grounds of the school, but what greeted her was certainly beyond what she could fear. Pure chaos was not enough to describe; around the training grounds the trees were leveled and craters of various sizes littered to ground, as did the various bodies of students. She covered her mouth by instinct as her eyes fell on one, a child, no older than perhaps 13 or 14, their uniform torn to shreds, a puddle of blood pooling under them and she couldn't tell what had killed them first, whether it was one of the numerous bullet holes in their body or the piece of debris from the crumbling main building of the academy that had fallen on them.

It was that they were not the only one laying there that truly bothered her; among the dust and noise she could make out a few still fighting, older students using their learned skills to fight back as soldiers invaded their school, adults armed with guns advancing upon the young ninja. There was a loud boom and the earth shook under her feet, nearly dropping her to the ground; she blinked and looked overhead, watching as a cannonball went flying, over and straight into the remains of the main building of the Ninja Academy. Crackles and screams as it crumbled more, chunks falling out of the walls and her eyes widened as she saw some coming right at an injured student.

"Watch out!" she yelled and ran over, forcing her legs to move; she jumped and drew her sword in one smooth movement, watching as the modified metal of her blade sliced through the brick and stone. The pieces broke and fell off to the sides, pieces still flying at her as she tried to shield the younger person. Tsuki winced, her cheek and forehead ending up cut but a sense of relief bubbled within her, glad she could save at least one person. She turned to look at them and felt it die away as a bullet caught them in the head and the body fell to the floor, joining it's compatriots.

"It's the renegades!" shouted a voice and another bullet came flying, barely missing her. Her head was spinning though. Over and over she saw the student's face, a boy no older than their early twenties, young, relieved to be alive, and then...

She felt her heart speed up as the image got superimposed with another and she tried to breathe, finding it hard again. This was different, so much different this wasn't like when they had been attacked at the house, they had had the force field, it saved them, and they got away, no one got hurt, no one actually got shot. And in Angel Grove too; no one actually got shot there, beaten up yes, chased around, but no one was shot in front of her and no one died and everything had ended well. But not here and it set off something from the darkest recesses of her mind. She saw it again, a nightmare she had hoped she had gotten over but her hands gripping the sword tightened and shook as instead of the student she saw her mother's face, seconds before she had been killed; it had been nearly thirty years since the night Tsuki had lost her parents and nearly half that since last the images of what had happened that night had plagued her. But the gunshots, the ninja student's face, it all brought it back. Like the worst kind of recurring dream.

By the time Tommy did arrive she was having trouble controlling herself; the ex-green moved as carefully as he could over the corpses and saw Tsuki rush one of the soldiers, sword drawn and ready to strike. He frowned and ran after her, fearing what she might do. "Tsuki, no, stop!"

The soldier's eyes widened and he shot at her, Tsuki bringing up the sword to slice at the bullets, sending them flying around her. He took a step, one then again, over and over until he too started to run, away from her as she approached, screaming for her to stop. The swordswoman did not though and as he stumbled and fell, tripping over one of the already dead, she approached; he stared up at her in fear and lifted his gun once more, shaking badly as he tried to aim at her. "S-s-s-stop or I-I-I'll sh-shoot!"

She did not respond, she barely paid the other soldiers, realizing their comrade's predicament and now moving to try and shoot Tsuki as well, any mind as she lifted her sword. And with a set of quick movements did two things; the man's arms, cut swiftly, were forced to release the piece in his hands which as it hit the ground broke into two parts, rendered useless. Tsuki frowned, holding her blade with one hand at her side and turned her head as the others prepared to fire.

But did not get the chance; from one end came Tommy, blood pumping through his ears as he kicked down one soldier into another, knocking them both to the ground, the bullets they fired whizzing past Tsuki's head and off into the forest. From the other side came Merrick, followed by his sister, and the two Animarians proceeded to bring down more of the soldiers before turning to make their way further into the chaos, likely to try and help more people. Tsuki watched them and moved to follow.

"Stop!" Tommy yelled and she did, turning her gaze to him silently; he walked over to her and grabbed her arm, "Damnit, what did I say before?! Stop being so reckless!"

"Sorry." He expected an argument but what came out was less that and more apology; he froze up for a second and blinked, trying to think what to do. But he could feel it, the slight shaking of her body, see the way her white knuckled hand clenched the handle of her sword, so tight that there was blood started to drip. Her eyes were down, away from him, and he let go of her arm before wrapping both of his around her, pulling her close. She didn't stop shaking immediately but she did speak, her voice soft and small, "I lost control, I'm sorry, I just..."

She stopped and turned her head, back towards the young ninja, the one she had tried to save and her brow furrowed; his eyes followed hers and his heart fell some before she even continue, "I expected them to try to apprehend the Wind Rangers. Hell, I was prepared for some damage and maybe, just maybe, a repeat of what happened with Ethan but this..."

"Tsuki," he said gently.

"What the fuck is going on, Tommy?" she asked her tone getting frustrated and she pulled herself free of him, stepping back before turning her gaze to him once more, "Killing Rangers is one thing but this...they're...they're kids! What the fuck are these soldiers thinking, gunning down children?!"

"They perhaps see them as simply enemy combatants," said a voice, barely audible over the cacophony all around them and Billy approached, Andros' arm slung over his shoulders as he helped the boy walk over, "The students of the Wind Ninja Academy from what I have been capable of witnessing appear to have a rather obstinate stance when it comes to the apprehension of their teachers. That is to say they are completely unwilling to allow anyone to take them without a fight."

"And how's that been going for them so far?" Tommy asked with a frown.

"As far as we can tell the red and blue rangers are currently fighting near the northern entrance," Andros said and shifted, trying it seemed to get free of Billy and failing, "I believe I saw the yellow and a woman who did not strike me as a student fighting near the school building but that was before it collapsed more."

"So we have at least mostly located Shane, Tori, Dustin," Tsuki said quickly and paused, thinking for a moment; she breathed, in and out, trying to calm herself now before continuing, "That woman you saw might have been Dustin's sister, Laura. She's..." she paused again and a frown crept across her face before tapping at her communicator.

Tommy and Billy looked at each other then back at her; it ended up being Andros who asked. "She's what?"

She didn't answer him, talking into the device on her wrist. "Hayley, come in Hayley, I need to ask something!"

There was a crackling and no response at first then the red headed computer genius' voice came through. "What's wrong Tsuki?"

"The Thunder Ninja Academy," she said quickly and Tommy seemed to realize what she was on about, frowning as well before cursing under his breath, "Have we got any messages from them, through the network I mean?"

A pause. "No, nothing; the Wind Academy is the only one we have been getting. Why?"

"Laura's here," Tsuki said, "Hunter's wife. Last I checked she was over at the Thunder Ninja Academy."

"Her brother's here, no surprise she'd be here too," Tommy said though his frown didn't subside.

"Who is Hunter?" Andros asked confused.

"One of the Thunder Ninja Rangers," Billy answered, thinking back to what he had learned from the others in the short time before the attack on the house, "His brother Blake and he are the Navy and Crimson Thunder Rangers respectively, correct?"

Tsuki nodded. "Hunter's supposed to be sensei over at one of the other schools, the Thunder Academy. If Laura is here, then that means Hunter might be here too."

"I think it's more than a might," Tommy said and bit his lip, "The government somehow knew about this place, wouldn't be hard to make the assumption that they know about the other school. Maybe they attacked there first..."

"Laura could have come here to warn her brother then," Andros continued picking up on the problem, "Or the other school is still safe and she came here because the news of what is going on got her worried."

"I doubt Hunter just let her come here on her own considering how things have been going," Tsuki said and cursed as a cannonball came at them, moving quickly; she made her way closer to what remained of the main building, followed by Tommy and Billy still assisting Andros. The blast sent all four flying Tsuki struggled to keep hold of her sword, feeling someone grab her and she landed, with a harsh thump, in Tommy's arms. He barely winced but she was hardly fooled; frowning she spoke softly, "Tommy..."

"I'm fine," he said, "Or will be once you dislodge Okamitsuki from my leg."

Her eyes widened and she squeaked an apology before pulling her sword from his leg, a grunt of pain leaving him before she sheathed it again. "Put me down, I have to treat that."

He did so and frowned. "Just wrap it, we don't have time. We've dallied enough as it is; we need to find Laura and the Rangers and get them out of here."

"What about the students?" Tsuki asked.

"What students?" The words came out short and angry and Tsuki had no question of why. It was not that she had asked, it was not that he thought the students, the non-Rangers who were fighting and dying on this ground, were not important. But there was a heaviness in the air in the truth meaning of his words and he started off without a glance back; Billy looked to Tsuki, pulling himself up from the heap he and Andros had fallen into at the last explosion, and saw the sadness seep into her eyes. Still there was no words to say and he helped Andros back to his own feet, the red ranger muttering about Tommy being a jerk.

"It is worse that he is not wrong," Billy said and he looked over the battlefield that once had been the training grounds of the Wind Ninja Academy, now littered by as many bodies as it was rubble and leaves. His heart fell and he took a deep breath, trying to swallow back the pain that started to grow within him; he knew these sorts of things could be happening, but as many times as he had fought the Putties and monsters of his enemies, as much as he told himself he could be prepared, nothing could have prepared himself for what lay there before him. Tsuki had been right; these were kids, teenagers like they had once more but without the Ranger power. And soldiers of the government had plowed them down like nothing; it made him sick inside.

"Billy! Tsuki! Andros! Fucking hell, get over here and help!" Tommy's voice, hoarse and panicked, cut through his thoughts and the ex-blue hesitated for not even a second in running towards where it was come from, joined by the other two called for.

They found him again closer still to the building itself; the martial artist was trying to pick up a particularly large piece of debris, pushing at it with what seemed to be all his strength and then some. Still it barely budged, shifting slightly before pushing back again and he loudly and violently swore while still trying; seeing this the arriving trio tried to assist, adding their own weight into it, pushing with all their might.

"Tommy, what is going on?" Tsuki asked with a grunt, continuing to try to shove the debris away.

"Tyler" was his only response and she paused for a moment, staring at him until she felt the debris slip back towards them and in a panic she shoved harder, fearing it was her lax in effort that caused it.

Her communicator, still on and connected, let out a shriek. "Tyler? What do you mean by Tyler? Thomas Oliver, I swear to fucking god!"

"Tsuki, why is Hayley screaming at me?" Tommy groaned and threw her a glare.

"Sorry," she said quickly and tapped at the device for a moment, "Later Hayley."

"No, wait-" Before the other woman could finish her thought Tsuki turned off the communicator and the slab of building fell to the other side, successfully moved.

Under, along with a whole mess of more rubble and bits of broken building, lay a boy. He seemed to be unconscious and looked to be about the same age as most of the students, though he was certainly not dressed like one; his clothes were more causal, a now tattered red long sleeve jacket over a black shirt, rips and tears littering his clothing. His short dark hair was a mess and his skin was scratched and cut up. Upon seeing him Tsuki let out a cry and rushed to his side, trying to pull him free of the remaining rubble on him.

"Oh god, Tyler, what are you doing here?!" she said her voice frantic and worried.

"He looks familiar," Billy muttered, uncertain entirely how but feeling as if he had seen the boy before somewhere.

"He's Abby's son," Tommy responded and joined Tsuki in unearthing the young Tyler, pulling him free; Tsuki carefully looked him over, checking his visible wounds and looking for further injury.

"Abby," Billy repeated furrowing his brow then blinking, eyes widening, "Wait, Abby? As in Abby-Abby? Our Silver Ranger, Abby?"

"One and only," Tommy said and crossed his arms.

"There was a Silver Ranger for your team as well?" Andros questioned looking at Billy.

"She was a friend of Tommy's," Billy said and adjusted his broken glasses, "A smart and very capable young woman as I remember, she become the Silver Ranger by some point of coincidence; her Zord happened to Titanus, an important ally of ours. As I remember, Abby left for college around the same time Tommy did, did she not?"

"Yup," the ex-green said with a nod and Andros turned his head to regard him; the look on Tommy's face was a mixture of both happy nostalgia and concern, "Found herself a guy, James something or other; Tyler was born a few years before Kira and Conner and...Ethan became the first Dino Thunder Rangers and after some stuff Abby ended up picking up the pink Dino Gem. Tsuki used to watch Tyler while we would go out and fight Mesagog's monsters; she's always been rather fond of the boy."

Billy smiled weakly and looked over, seeing Tsuki placing a Red Power Ranger bandaid on a nasty looking cut on Tyler's forehead. "She always did like kids."

"So not only are there Wind Ninja Rangers running around the place but the child of another Ranger as well?" Andros asked, "Is he one too?"

"I never heard anything about Tyler becoming a Ranger," Tommy said, "Actually I haven't heard a lot from Abby, not for some time before all this stuff started happening and certainly not after; last I heard she and Tyler were living relatively happily in Amber Beach, though if I remember correctly her husband ended up disappearing a while back. But I don't imagine that she would have been bothered; I mean she's been a Ranger almost as many times as me but she was never that high profile like the rest of us. Outside of the actual teams no one would know about her being one so I don't imagine she would have been attacked."

"Abby was not the type to just sit back while Rangers are being hunted," Tsuki said looking up from the unconscious Tyler with a frown, "Nor is she the type to just let her son to get crushed by falling debris so I have to once more wonder what in the name of the Morphing Grid is going on around here because I don't remember seeing her out there."

Tommy had to admit to having the same questions; he turned to Billy and Andros. "You said Shane and the others were fighting elsewhere; did you happen to see anything that would point towards Abby being here too?"

"I am uncertain what that anything could be," Billy said biting his lip and adjusting his glasses again, "I did not happen to catch sight of her but it was hard to take a tally of any individuals present when the primary concern on my mind is the location of our comrades and the preservation of our lives on this mission."

"Maybe Merrick and Ileana have found her then," Tommy said mostly to himself then anything; something certainly didn't feel right about this but he was not entirely sure what that might be. Part of him was glad they had located Tyler but at the same time things were certainly not seeming to be getting better; there was another explosion near them and they ducked, quickly moving to try to find shelter as the building rocked with the force of it. At this point the science teacher was certain it was not about any real fighting out there; the attacks on the building were simply for the effect of destroying it. Destroying a Ranger hideout; the thought of it chilled his blood and he pulled himself under a unstable looking piece of wall that was wedged against another fragment.

Through the dust and smoke he could make out Tsuki with Tyler, hiding among the trees; he had a strong feeling he knew how she had gotten away so fast and he made a mental note to scold her about pushing herself again, a note he erased when he realized that it would probably end with her scolding him in return for doing the same. This whole mission was recklessness but Tommy had advocated for it and involved himself nevertheless.

Billy and Andros seemed to have gotten separated, Tommy able to make out Andros with his back against yet another portion of broken off building but saw no sign of Billy. His first thought was to be concerned but further inspection told him that it was rather that Billy had not actually moved as much as the rest of them. He was ducked down, still within a few steps of where they had found Tyler, laying on his belly on the floor with his hands over his head; Tommy had only barely noticed him though when the blue ranger got up and with wide eyes yelled out, "Everyone, get into the forest, now!"

Tommy wasn't sure what he meant but something told him that it was better to run and survive rather than question; he ran as fast as his legs would let him, grabbing Andros by the shirt to drag the injured man faster as they made their way towards where Tsuki and Tyler were. The ex-green's foot barely made contact with the ground behind the trees when he felt another explosion, louder and more forceful than before; he let go of Andros and ducked behind the trees with Tsuki. His hand found one of hers and he squeezed it tight, trying not to look back, not certain he wanted to. There was a heat and a wave of wind, shaking the trees and nearly toppling them; he tried to dig in as much as possible but there was a toughness to the ground that made it difficult. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a group of figures go flying, recognizing two of them almost immediately: two of the Wind Ranger trio, Blue Ranger Tori and Yellow Ranger Dustin.

Tsuki happened to glance over as well and her eyes made contact with Tori's, her hand shooting out to grab the blue's. Tommy tried to stop her but she ignored him, nearly getting thrown as well, save for the weight of Tyler and Tommy grabbing onto her other arm to pull her back before Tori could drag her off into being thrown violently up against the nearby trees. By force of this act the blue ranger was saved and fell to the ground, Dustin left the last to saved. One more familiar face, seeming to come out of the woods themselves, intervened before he could hit the trees himself and Merrick cried out in pain as he used his body to shield Dustin; the yellow seemed very confused. "Whoa..."

"Merrick!" Ileana descended as well from the trees and rushed to her brother's side.

"I am fine, sister," the wolf warrior groaned and picked himself carefully, helping Dustin to his feet as well, "Are you alright young man?"

"Me?" Dustin asked then rubbed his head, "Yeah like dude, you saved me, without you I probably would have been killed."

"I am pleased," Merrick said with a smile and a nod, "Though you do look like you were in quite the fight."

He was right; both Wind Rangers were in a bad state. Tori's left leg looked to be badly mangled and blood dripped down her face and over one eye; Dustin's arms were both coated in dark red blood and the stiffness with which he moved at least one of them, as well as the wobbliness of his legs before Merrick caught him and helped him up once again, implied that it was for the most part his own. Both of their clothes were in shambles and Tsuki spoke before she could stop herself, "What happened?"

"We were attacked," Tori said with a frown and shook her head, "I don't know, it was so ridiculous; one minute I was teaching the new class some basic drills and next thing I knew there's gunshots and explosions and people yelling."

"The soldiers," Tommy said and she nodded.

"We'd heard about what was going on," she continued, looking at him, "I mean how can we not hear about it? Rangers getting arrested, that asshat Morgan on the tv all the time, talking about his 'Protection for All Act' and how things will be more peaceful; we heard about Ethan," Tommy frowned and Ileana froze up, Tori looking apologetic, "I'm so sorry, Tommy, he really was a great kid; he didn't deserve that, no more than any person deserves to be hunted down and killed."

"How did they find you? The school's supposed to be secret right?" Tsuki asked.

"Obviously some dude told them about us," Dustin piped up, "I have no idea who but considering everyone in the schools know that there were Rangers among them and all not hard to assume that maybe it was actually one of the students or ex-students..."

"It's horrible to think that," Tori said, "But it's not impossible."

"How's the Thunder Nina Academy? I heard Laura's here," Tommy asked.

"Yeah, she and Hunter and Blake came by for a visit," Dustin answered then frowned, "Great time for it."

"Sorry," Tommy responded automatically and both Wind Rangers looked at him, "This whole thing is wrong on so many levels; this whole thing was supposed to be started over protecting people and now look. They've massacred most of your students, we're all bloody messes, Tyler's unconscious; where are the Thunder Rangers and Laura now? And your red and green Shane and Cam."

Neither responded at first and Tori looked at the ground silently; Dustin tried to rub his head again though the further movement seemed too difficult for him and he settled for flexing his fingers stiffly. There was a sudden heaviness that no one dared ask twice; the implication was clear and Tsuki wrapped her arms around Tori, pulling the other girl towards her and whispering apologies gently. Tori stiffened for a moment then relaxed into the gesture and in return began to cling before the tears started.

"Cam said he was gonna send some kind of message," Dustin said, shaking his head, "He was inside when the strikes started. And Shane...he got as many of the students as he could out; they got him while his back was turned," he clenched his fist, blood dripping to the floor of the forest and staining the dirt and earth, "Cowards..."

"Hunter and Blake were supposed to fighting in the training grounds, that's where I last saw them," Tori said softly, "That was before..."

"Before whatever just occurred," Billy finished for her and glanced towards where the school was.

"What the fuck?" Andros said in a low voice.

There was almost nothing left; what had happened wasn't a cannon or tank or anything so small scale. The best guess either boy, or any of them who by misfortune decided to look as well had was that it was a bomb and a question was brought forth: how did they survive? Billy wanted to guess the Morphing Grid but that left a bad taste in his mouth, horrific and bitter. Why did the life source of all things have to keep protecting them, even now, instead of the lives of those young students littering the grounds of what once had been a school for ninjas. Why a group of broken and washed up Rangers instead of those who should be protecting the future instead of covering the earth.

Tsuki squeezed Tori tighter and the blue ranger murmured a "no" before looking away again.

"Why? Why did this happen?" Tori asked and no one had any answers. There was no way to give one, for what was there to say, save that the hatred of the Rangers was palatable in this action.

The group of eight were silent and unmoving, the weight of what had happened, of the running and fighting and being thrown around as they were coming down on them hard. Even as noise seemed to return to the world and voices, dangerous and searching, started to echo from the direction of where the school had been, it took them a while to fully contemplate it, and longer to gain the will and strength to move once more. Merrick took up helping Tori, taking her from Tsuki and carrying her on his back as they started to run. It did not escape Tommy's notice the strangeness of this, of how within 24 hours or so he had ended up running from military types through a forest twice; if it was a better situation, if there weren't injured members among them and he wasn't trying to escape with his life, he almost might find this funny, a macabre sort of humor. As it was his mind barely could contemplate what it was that they had come to learn thusfar; the government were not simply willing to ruin the lives of the Rangers to get them, to uphold their twisted sort of idea of safety. Perhaps it was because the ninja school was secret, no one was supposed to know about anything of it and thus what happened might never have to come out, but this told Tommy, told them all something very grim and very important: their adversaries were willing to do anything and kill anyone to get what they wanted. And any who stood against them, whether Ranger or not, would suffer for doing so.

It took them too long to decide to split up, each team going in different directions; by the time Tsuki broke off with Dustin and Billy their pursuers seemed to have gotten a good visual on them and the gunshots began again. Her mind had not fully recovered from before and she instinctively placed her hands over her ears, trying to drown them out to no avail; she sped up and barely avoided the trees in her way. She felt someone grab her arm and her first thought was it was Tommy again but a glance told her no; Dustin looked back at him, a concerned sort of look in his eyes,

"You 'kay dudette?" His speech never seemed to change and it half made her want to smile but the gunshots continued and she couldn't muster one; what she could manage was a nod, short but it seemed adequate enough for now. The ex-yellow gave a smile, almost reassuring in it's way and it made her feel bad for him, for them all; her mind wondered if Laura was okay and whether that thought stuck to his mind too. She was certain it did, that even now as his attention pulled away and he jumped out of the way of a grenade thrown his way, causing her to have to make a quick second decision to teleport up into the treetops for a moment before coming back down to avoid it's explosion. It rocked the tree she was in and she jumped, fully prepared to land on her feet, whether steadily or not; not so ready for Billy to catch her and keep running, a serious expression etched into the scientist's face. She was thankful nevertheless and found her face reddening and her heart speeding up just a bit, old reactions of an old time, ones that didn't belong here and now. Yet she couldn't bring herself to scold her heart for the remainder of the past. Billy was still Billy it seemed, not a bad thing when so much was going bad.

He let her down again once they seemed to put some distance between them and their pursuers but even Dustin seemed unconvinced they had actually managed to get away. In the distance they could still hear noises, yelling and more gunfire, and footsteps getting ever closer to where they were; Billy glanced around in hopes of...something, he wasn't sure what. Another log like back in Reefside, where he and the others had hidden until the soldiers had gone by, missing them and giving them their chance to actually escape. It felt like it would be more than a longshot; what would the chances be that they end up that lucky again?

"Billy?" Tsuki said watching back the way they come and stepped back towards Billy.

"We're in trouble," Dustin muttered watching as officers started to appear through the foliage, guns drawn and ready, "We really should get going again, man, like, right now."

"I understand," Billy said quickly though he still did not move immediately; he still was trying to look for something he was uncertain of and ultimately it was Tsuki grabbing him and dragging him away that pulled him from wht he realized then was a bad thing. The stress of everything, the image of all of those killed here, the knowledge of exactly how far the government seemed willing to go to get the Rangers, it was all getting to him and he shook his head, trying to clear it best he could, to gain some sort of control over himself. His hands were shaking and he tied to focus to steady them but felt instead like it got worse.

"Billy!" Tsuki yelled and he kept trying, running alongside her as they took a sudden left, nearly losing Dustin in the process.

"I apologize," he responded, "I-"

"I know," she interrupted and tightened her grip "But you gotta pull yourself together."

"I know." He didn't know how else to respond, he didn't know if there was anything else he could say to her in that moment. He was right but he knew she ultimately was trying to tell herself too. This whole situation was far from free of stress for any of them and his head turned as he heard Dustin trip and fall to the ground. "Tsuki!"

The red eyed woman stopped and turned to look as well; she frowned and let go of Billy before rushing over to the fallen ninja, leaning down to help him back to his feet. Billy glanced around and felt his heart drop seeing their enemies catching up. He rushed over to try to help, to hopefully get Dustin back up and all three of them running again sooner rather than later; someone yelled and he squeezed his eyes tight, ducking down as more gunshots went off, flying over their heads. Tsuki and Dustin did the same and narrowly avoided getting shot. The trio were struck, crouched down as the soldiers approached and Tsuki tried to push at the boys, urging them to run; neither moved, staying close to her and Billy wondered if this was it, if this was were his life was going to end. There were worse ways to go he supposed than alongside a fellow Ranger and Tsuki, though he hoped it would be in a lab, at an old age, having done much good for the universe. Tsuki wandered if the others were okay and if she would have enough time and energy to teleport one more time, even if it just got Billy and Dustin to safety; one more group teleport might kill her, she knew it, but she wished to try at least. Dustin just wanted his friends to be okay and Laura and the others who had come to help them out when they most needed it, and that all the students found peace in their last moments.

"End of the line," said a voice and Tsuki grabbed both boy's arms, gripping them tight and prepared herself mentally to teleport, or try at least.

"I'm sorry," Dustin muttered and Billy shook his head, feeling it wasn't his fault; it was Billy's. If he hadn't hesitated, if he hadn't been so slow to move, if he hadn't let everything drag down on him...

There was the sound of multiple weapons cocking and the trio huddled together, ready whether it was to be shot there and then or Tsuki to try to give her life to save even just then, ready to do so. And there was silence, for a moment, frozen in time then...

"What the?" came a shout.

"What the hell are you doing?! Get up!" came another.

"Stop him!" came a third and shots were fired. Tsuki lifted her head, unable to resist the urge at the insistence of the second voice.

Someone else had arrived and she recognized at once who, smiling lightly before tugging on Billy and Dustin; the former was the second to look and though he was unfamiliar with the newcomer, Dustin was not and he yelled out, "Blake!"

The ex-Navy Power Ranger didn't spare them a look, busy as he was with their rescue; he landed a quick kick to one soldier's hand, sending their weapon flying before spinning around and dropping another enemy. The rest seemed far less willing to simply take the attack than some of the others Tsuki and Billy had dealt with thus far and seeing them move to try to grab and hurt the man, both made their move. Dustin got to his feet and blinked, watching as Tsuki once more drew her sword to strike at one soldier, taking off a few fingers in the process. The enemy male screamed and was dropped by Billy with an experted punch to the stomach, the ex-blue frowning a bit before pulling one of the others trying to tackle Blake away and throwing them aside. The Wind Academy teacher shook his head and jumped into the fray as well, his body still sore and not entirely obeying him. But when had that ever really stopped a Ranger?

It took them a grand total of five minutes, give or take, to knock out or chase off the ones who had once been chasing Tsuki, Billy and Dustin. Billy sighed, taking a deep breath both for the benefit of oxygen and for the relief of the action; he glanced over to get a look at the Thunder Ranger who had saved him.

Blake did not look as bad as many of them did; a bit dirty and a trickle of blood dripped from his mouth before he lifted a hand and wiped it away. He was disheveled but there was something sort of nice to see someone for once who didn't look like they had been beaten to a bloody pulp and could barely stand for it. Billy was jealous to tell the truth.

"Blake, how'd ya find us?" Dustin asked seeming less concerned about any of that; rather the appearance of an ally, a friend, that simply made him happy. Before remembering that by being here Blake was in serious danger.

"Wasn't too hard; I just followed the sound of assholes chasing something," the other ninja responded and looked at Tsuki and Billy; he blinked, "Hey you're Tommy's girl, right? Tsuki was it?"

"Long time no see BMX Boy," she said, "How goes being being a celebrity?"

"BMX Boy?" Billy inquired furrowing his brow.

"Could be better," Blake answered and sighed, "All this Protection for All Act stuff has been a real krink into the whole extreme sports business, as has being a Power Ranger; I mean no one else really knew but I sort of ruined that..."

"Dude, what happened?" Dustin asked.

"Long story," Blake said waving it off, "Let's just say I got a bit hotheaded over some of the stuff I heard, that's all. I'm here now, that's what matters; where are the others?"

"We split up," Tsuki answered, "The three of us went this way, I assume the others split up as well and ran somewhere else; there should be six others," she did a little mental math in her head before nodding, "Yeah six; Tommy, Andros, Merrick, Ileana, Tyler and Tori."

"Tori's safe then?" Blake asked quickly and as the trio looked to him he drew back some, turning red, "No Shane or Cam huh? What about my brother or Laura?"

"I haven't seen my sister or your brother since the fighting began," Dustin said before reaching out and placing a hand on Blake's shoulder, "But no worries; I'm sure they're both fine. I mean, they're both ninjas after all."

Blake looked at him then shrugged the other man off, though there was an obvious sort of insincerity in that action even as he did it. He nodded. "Yeah, you're right. We should find the rest of your group though; I saw lots more of these gun-toting fools on my way to help you guys and I'm sure that they're probably in trouble too."

Billy's first thought was of the unconscious Tyler and injured Andros; Tsuki thought of Merrick and Ileana who had been running all around the place since they arrived and Tori who was in as bad condition as Dustin. Dustin thought of his sister and he thought of his two lost teammates before shaking his head and trying to walk off. "Yeah we better help them out quick."

"Tommy should be capable of handling a good number of possible scenarios," Billy said, more to himself than to stop anyone, walking after the ex-yellow ranger.

"Merrick and Ileana too but you don't know; we should check in on them before at the very least Tommy does something that gets someone into trouble," Tsuki retorted sighing before sheathing her sword and following.

"Guy hasn't changed then?" Blake asked and followed after the trio quickly.

Tsuki was unnerved by how still and silent things suddenly seemed as they walked. Despite her best efforts and the straining of her hearing she couldn't hear anymore footsteps their own, there was no more gunshots, no yelling, no anything; Dustin had stumbled again and Blake was now partially acting a balance for the other Ranger to lean on and use to walk, holding onto him as Dustin's arm was flung over his shoulders. The young woman could practically hear every crunch of every stick and leaf underfoot and it felt the hair on the back of her neck on edge simply for the existence of it.

As they walked out into an open space, surrounded by a circle of trees but clear of any within, finding the ragged forms of their comrades sitting, and in at least the case of Tyler laying, in exhaustion and covered in what she greatly hoped was not their own blood, Tsuki still could not shake the unease creeping up and down her back. Seeing Tommy and Andros and everyone else safe and sound, along with the addition of another two forms, it was somewhat comforting but it didn't do nearly enough to break the feeling that things weren't entirely as safe as it seemed.

She was glad to see that Hunter and Laura seemed to be safe too though; the dark haired sister of Dustin was tending to her husband, the elder Thunder Ninja Ranger looking far worse than his brother but alive. They were all alive, that was what was most important here, or at the very least Tsuki wanted to keep telling herself this; the feeling was not gone, it persisted and gnawed at the back of her mind as she glanced around, listened, watched. Billy and Blake both rushed over to Laura and Hunter; the female ninja looked at Billy with some suspicion, something that was only to be expected under the circumstances and he smiled lightly, putting his hands up. "I come in peace."

"He's one of us, promise Laura," Tommy said and Tsuki turned her head instinctively; he glanced back at her and gave a weak wave, holding his side. She could see blood between his fingers and her heart fell before she forced her eyes away and towards the others.

Merrick and Ileana looked to have picked up a few more injuries themselves and the latter was scolding the former as she tended to his wounds, only to get what sounded like a similar tirade about responsibility and being careful from her injured brother. Andros didn't look to have gotten any worse, nor had Tori and Tsuki's eyes lingered on the female blue for a second. Tori herself was staring at Blake and immediately the older woman recognized the look in her eyes; it was the look of a concerned teammate, of course, but more. She struggled to stand, the ninja forcing herself to her feet with what was obviously great difficulty only for her legs to give out and to fall again.

She made a noise; she never reached the ground again. Blake was there in seconds and Tsuki tried her hardest to stiffle the giggle that bubbled up and threatened to come out as she watched the Navy Thunder Ranger catch the Blue Wind Ranger in his arms. Other heads turned to watch but none spoke, watching as the two ninjas looked at each other and subsequently went red in the face. Tsuki turned her head away, taking another look around their environment before making her way over to Tommy and giving him a light smack upside the head. "What did I say about being careful?"

"You should see the other guy," Tommy responded, looking up at her with puppy dog eyes, "I promise it wasn't on purpose though."

"Damn better not be or I'm never leaving you without adult supervision again."

"Are you okay Tori?" Blake asked still holding her in his arms.

"Not really but I'm still alive so that's a plus," Tori told him still being held.

"That's certainly good," he said in response and smiled.

Tori did the same; there was a moment of silence before someone, namely Laura, yelled, "Kiss already you two, we know you want to."

The fact Blake did not drop Tori after that was in Tsuki's opinion a testament to his control and will, but both of them widened their eyes and he let go of her, stepping back; Tori managed for the moment to stay standing, though the red eyed swordsgirl kept an eye on her either way, and shook her head, putting on a serious face before speaking, "No it's fine. I'm just glad so many of us look to be okay, though..."

She cut herself off and no one responded or spoke, even Ileana and Merrick ceasing their mild argument. Dustin looked away and Blake took a deep breath but said nothing, looking away into the trees.

"Are we all that's left then?" Hunter's voice chimed into the silence, requesting an answer but again no one was willing to give one to it. It was a harsh question and Laura said his name, soft but almost chiding; he didn't speak again.

Someone grunted and Merrick stood up, carefully but firmly pushing his sister away in the process. The wolf warrior got to his feet and glanced at each of them, quiet for a moment before finally speaking. "I would say this is certainly a win for us."

"How so?" Dustin asked with genuine confusion, "Most of us can barely stand, I'm pretty sure I've lost like most of my blood, the Academy was leveled and I'm not certain but pretty sure we're still being hunted. How is this a win?"

There were a few nods of agreement but no one else spoke still and the others who came from the Megaship simply watched the elder Ranger, a smile crossing his face.

"There are multiple Ninja Rangers here with us," Merrick said, "I will not say that it is not ideal what occurred here, because I know well the pain of watching everything burning around you, watching everything you care about and everything you have be destroyed by those who would see it gone. I know it all too well," Ileana came up beside her brother and grabbed his hand in hers, squeezing it tight; he glanced at her then turned his gaze back to Dustin as well as Tori, Blake, Laura and Hunter, "But perhaps because I know such so well I cannot help but see the good in what we have now. You have survived, five of you; that is more than most of our teams, certainly more than my own or Tommy's. You are here with us and that means that this mission, horrific as it has been, has ultimately been a success; I regret not being able to get here in time to help your students or your fallen teammates but..."

"But you guys are alive and that's what's important," Tommy interjected, "And that's what we gotta focus on."

None of the ninjas responded, a sign in the mind of the paleontologist that perhaps they understood the point of Merrick's words. It was not to undercut the pain of what had happened, nor to make light of the deaths of all of the others from the Academy; rather there was no way any of them were likely to forget what had happened today, not any time soon, maybe not ever. He wondered what drove the soldiers, their higher ups, Jason, to think this was necessary; was the securing of the Rangers so important to them that the deaths of the students meant nothing, an ends to a means? He couldn't help but feel like something was dangerously wrong.

The silence following his comment continued on for a minute, two, three, and Tsuki took up trying to pry his hand from his side so she could better examine his injury; he smiled gently and opened his mouth to say something to her, tell her it was okay, to not worry. But the voice that sounded was not his.

"Merrick!" It wasn't Ileana this time; one minute the wolf warrior was standing up, the next he and his sister both were pushed to the ground and there was an explosion before the sound of something, or someone else, falling as well. A sharp ringing hit their ears and a blinding light, followed by a screen of dust and dirt, obscured Tsuki and Tommy's view from their spot; neither could hear very well but the latter could swear he heard a scream, from beyond the ringing, beyond the fog. He blinked and tried to stand, only to be pressed back down by Tsuki; he frowned and she shook her head, "No."

"Oh my god Dustin! Dustin!" Someone was definitely screaming and as the ringing started to subside, those were the words that they could make out. And as the dust settled they both looked.

Dustin lay on the floor of the forest or at least based on the yellow of what remained of the clothes, and a quick head count, it had to be Dustin. Whatever had hit him, whatever it was that he had saved Merrick from, had more than a little damage; bad burns, lacerations, a growing pool of blood mixing with the earth under him, the blood of the Earth Wind Ranger. Laura was struggling against Hunter's arms, the scream emitting from her mouth sounding little like a human's. One of his hands was outstretched still, pointed towards the wolf warrior and Merrick stared, silent, shaking, back at the form of what remained of the one who had perhaps just saved his life.

Billy and Tsuki both moved as quickly as they could, rushing over and leaning at the fallen yellow's side; Hunter tried to calm his wife, whispering gently into her ear, stroking her hair as she continued to scream herself hoarse. The blue ranger checked his wrist, the red eyed swordsgirl gently moved him onto his back, trying not to wince at the extent of the damage done to the front of his body; she pulled her messenger bag off and threw it to Billy. "Billy-"

"He's still alive," Billy said quickly, practically yelling it, "He has a pulse, he's still alive!"

"Dustin!" Laura cried out and turned to face Hunter, burying her face in his chest as she sobbed, saying her brother's name over and over.

"We have to get him back to the ship," Tsuki said firmly, turning to Andros, "Get Hayley on the communicator; if she and Kira haven't gotten the teleportation system back up and running then I'll take him up myself."

He nodded and moved to get his morpher open to begin transmission to the Megaship, his fingers barely touching the lid before a bullet buzzed by his head; his eyes widened and he looked up again, his hand frozen. Tommy frowned and turned to try and see where it had come from, pushing himself up best he could to prepare himself for a fight if need be.

A woman walked out from between the trees, alone and Tsuki heard a thud nearby; she turned her head to see Ileana, holding Merrick. There was murder in the man's eyes, an anger that frankly scared her; his eyes seemed almost to flash, and he growled as he glared at the newcomer, baring his teeth. There Tsuki saw why he was the chosen of his Wild Zords, why he had been their Warrior; she saw in him the very spirit of a wolf looking upon an enemy and he practically spat out her name. "Taylor."

"Stay down Merrick," the woman spoke, calm, collected, stiff and Tsuki found herself remembering what Merrick had told them when they had met, of how Danny of his team had been taken away. How it was his own teammate the ex-yellow ranger Taylor Earhardt who had helped the government to do so.

It was hard to imagine looking at her that she had been a Power Ranger; it was not so much the lack of injury to her, the cleanness to her form, dressed in what looked to be a military uniform, one Tsuki could only guess at being Air Force based on what little she really knew of her. More it was a sense around her, the aura that the woman gave off, and the look she had on her face as she looked down at them; her eyes fell upon Dustin and for a second there was sympathy, a sadness, but as quickly as it seemed to appear Taylor had pushed it back down, closing her eyes momentarily before turning her attention, and the gun in her hand, on Tommy.

"Taylor, why?" Ileana said, her voice breaking; she swallowed and tried to speak again, looking back at her teammate in search of something in her face, some sign this was a joke or a lie or that what was happening was just not happening, "Please what are you doing?"

"My job," Taylor responded calmly, her gaze still on Tommy, "We heard there was trouble here and I was deployed to assist in the arrest of the Wind and Thunder Power Rangers, as well as any other dissenters."

"So you blew up the school and Dustin?" Hunter asked his voice shaking with anger as he continued to hold his wife in his arms.

There was a flinch, just for a second. "The higher ups gave the order and we followed through; it was the only way to deal with the enemy combatants once and for all. As for the Earth Ranger he was the result of one of our soldiers getting overzealous; they will be dealt with accordingly but unfortunately there are always causalities in war."

"How fucking dare you," Blake said frowning darkly and stepped towards Taylor, Tori grabbing onto his arm; he paid it no mind, "Causalities in war? Enemy combatants? Overzealous? You massacre innocent kids and bomb a school and nearly murder our friend and you have the audacity to talk like this is nothing? You-"

"Blake, stop," Hunter said and the Navy Ranger turned to his brother.

"Dustin is bleeding out and this bitch is talking like it means nothing to her!" Blake yelled and there was pain in his face, not of the physical kind; Tommy's heart hurt looking at him, to see the anger and pain in his eyes. And he looked to Billy and Tsuki, both having returned their attention to Dustin, trying their hardest now in this situation to just keep the yellow alive. His eyes went to Ileana and she was still holding Merrick but her hands were shaking and she was looking away from Taylor, biting down so hard on her lower lip that Tommy could see blood trickle down her chin.

The ex-green forced himself up fully and Taylor straightened up; it occurred to him that she seemed more focused on him than the others and he wondered why that was. Maybe Cole had told her about him after their one mission together. More likely Jason had though; he took a deep breath and stepped towards her. "So you are going to arrest us."

"That is the plan," she answered him, eyes narrowed, "Now stop right there and put your hands up."

"And what's to stop us from just fighting you off?" he asked as calmly as he could, keeping his hands down, "We escaped the NASDA building after all and we got this far despite our injuries, and we're Rangers besides; we've survived lots of worse situations than this."

"We've never survived anything like this before," Taylor corrected, grip tightening on the gun, "Just give up and let us take you in," there was a rustle and Tommy tried to resist the urge to look to the side, to see what he might see out there; he had no doubt he would see soldiers and he did notice Tori stiffen suddenly as if in response to something.

"Or you'll shoot me?" he asked, "I'm not going to pretend to think they won't considering what's happened so far but will you really shoot, Taylor?" He wanted to think maybe this could work, deep down, that the Soaring Eagle was still in there, "You really think it's okay for kids to get killed, people who have done nothing wrong? Is this really what you believe in, hunting down people who are trying to live their lives?"

Her hand shook, just the smallest bit. "The Power Rangers are a danger to society, we always have been; Senator Morgan and the others, they just want to bring us under better control, to make sure that what happened to that boy, that it never happens again. How many kids have we killed, Tommy Oliver? How many have been injured because of our actions, the Megazord battles and the fights with all the enemies? The Wind Academy students were standing in the way of doing what's best for everyone-"

"We never hurt anyone on purpose! We are protectors, we have always been protectors and we have always taken responsibility for our actions!" Merrick interrupted, seeming unwilling to listen to more of Taylor's words, "This is all wrong and you know it, Taylor!"

"Merrick," she said and finally her gaze went elsewhere, looking down at her ex-teammate. Her attention was diverted and she lowered her gun, giving the sense of her guard being down.

Blake moved in quickly; it was over just as quick. Just as he ran at her, getting free of Tori's grip, Taylor snapped back to attention and pulled the trigger; he stopped, frozen in time suddenly before a red spot appeared on his back. It continued to grow as his body fell, joining Dustin's on the ground, his eyes wide.

"Blake?" Tori said softly and Hunter's arms loosened from around Laura, staring over at his younger brother.

"No," Tommy whispered as Tori tried to go to Blake, her legs giving out from under her before she could take a single step. Still she tried, forcing herself up, finding no strength to stand, continuing to attempt it over and over until finally she just dragged herself over.

Tsuki looked over, unable to do anything else as Tori sat up, struggled to pull Blake into her lap, spoke his name over and over, watching as he lay limp. The wind ranger's fingers clenched uselessly at the gaping hole in his chest, the dark impression nearly center, and her hands came back bloody; he didn't respond, he didn't move, lifeless eyes stared up at her as tears dripped onto his face. She tried though, at what was hard to tell; she kept saying his name and she kept grasping at nothing, crying as the Navy Ranger lay there.

"He came at me," Taylor said.

"Andros!" Ileana screamed.

Andros flipped his wrist morpher open and input commands frantically, hands shaking even as he felt a tingle, a shimmer that though weak gave him hope, jumping around the group of them.

"Murderer!" Merrick screamed as the weak signal from the Megaship took final hold, teleporting the eleven of them away.

(This was a very difficult chapter for a few reasons; for one despite my choice in fic here, I'm not always the best at action. But more over this chapter is supposed to be incredibly emotionally draining; I planned the barest skeleton of this chapter a long time ago and I knew there was going to be a lot of bad stuff but I'll admit I did not expect what did happen. I did not originally plan to have the entirety of the Ninja Academy exterminated; the idea became that because the ninja students stood up for their teachers, and did not want to let them just be taken away, they fought back. And because to the soldiers any who stand in their way are the enemy, that brought up a major hypocrisy here; do not think that I am just pulling this all out of my ass. I fully planned on having this sort of hypocrisy come out, and this is not going to be the last time we see people doing things like this. It's just I didn't expect it like this so quickly. The death of Blake though was planned, as was Dustin's near death, and while I feel I fell on the amount of angst I wanted to generate with them (in addition to the more important aspects of what what happened to them means ultimately for everyone) I still am somewhat okay with what I did end up writing involving that.

In other news again I only own Tsuki. Most of the characters are property of Haban and all that, though my friend Ash (theheartsofheroes on tumblr) does own Ileana and Abby as well, and Laura is actually the property of another friend, CodenameStardancer here on Archive. I probably butchered all three of their girls which I apologize for XD If you wanna see what Laura looks like, according to Star the faceclaim would be Crystal Reed so go look her up XD

Anywaaayyy until next time, where hopefully things will not be 20 pages on Word long and a little less stressful for the group, bye-bi~ Please do review, I love getting comments X3)