Roses and Thorns

Chapter Twenty-Six

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm or Power Rangers in Space, and I'm not making any money from this fic. I also don't own the original concept of vampires and wizards

Author's Note: Ok, I'm probably going to be updating two lots of fan fiction now... -Glares at her muses-

RedFox: -Innocently- What? You said you liked David Eddings, but you couldn't think of a fan fiction to write for any of the books

Apollo: She's annoyed because the plot bunny for Wolfsong won't leave her alone

DarkAngel: That's tough!

Replies to reviews:

garnetred: Well, it's not a huge power... Just a more unusual one. Actually, that could well push Cally into the Mary Sue category... Hm. Anyways, thanks for reviewing!

CamFan4Ever: I take it you liked it? Lol. Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you updated FYL II finally! Don't leave so long before updating it again, k?

BlueAngel07: Glad you liked it, and thanks for reviewing

Jorgitosbabe: -Is deafened... yet again- Thanks for reviewing... Here's the next chapter

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Faye took a slight step back, staring at the computer screen, which was now black. "Is Cally dead?"

The orange light ranger had leaped out of the chair as soon as it had become apparent that Cally was somehow being strangled. As though it would do a lot of good, she had ducked round behind Cam.

"Well, she might only be unconscious," Cam replied. "The screen's black, so that probably means that her eyes are closed."

"That still doesn't mean that she's not dead," Faye responded. She looked away from the computer screen. "If she is dead... Then that means that I'm basically the only light Power Ranger left."

Because the other one's been corrupted in some way, Cam knew. He turned to look at Faye. "Do you want me to check if Cally's breathing or not?" he asked.

Faye thought for a moment, and then slowly shook her head. "Not just yet," she answered. "I don't particularly want to have Cally's death confirmed right away."

"I can understand that," Cam said, his gaze flickering towards Cally's body. What else can we do? he wondered.

At just that moment, Faye's morpher went off. The orange light ranger jumped, then spoke into her morpher. "Yes?"

"Um, this is the silver silk ranger," a female voice replied hesitatingly. "Is that the orange light ranger?"

Cam saw Faye's eyes darken slightly, but she answered, "Yes. It is." There was a distinct tone of unfriendliness to her voice.

I wonder why the silk rangers are contacting Faye? Cam thought to himself. Could they be trying to trap her somehow? After all, they've pretty much gotten Cally out of the way. If they get Faye out of the way as well, then there will be no light Power Rangers left apart from Cally's brother David who has been turned evil somehow.

"I've just seen something that might interest you," the silver silk ranger was saying. "I scarcely believe it myself, so I see no reason for you too... But I've seen someone who was supposed to be dead alive again, so I'm keeping an open mind about these things."

Cam and Faye exchanged worried glances. Both had a good idea of what the silver silk ranger was talking about. The vampires.

Cam nodded for Faye to ask for more details.

"What do you mean?" the orange light ranger asked.

"I'm talking about vampires," the silver silk ranger replied after a moment's hesitation. "I know it sounds crazy... But I'm telling the truth."

"I know," Faye replied. Her hand clenched into a tight fist, and she closed her eyes briefly. "I already know about the vampires, I mean."

"They've come out into the open," the silver silk ranger told them. There was a pause, then, "Aren't vampires supposed to be destroyed by sunlight?"

"You can see some vampires at the moment?" Cam demanded.

"There's someone else with you?" the silver silk ranger questioned.

Faye shot Cam a questioning glance. The green samurai ranger nodded, and Faye spoke into her morpher. "I'm with the green samurai ranger."

"Oh," the silver silk ranger said slowly. "Yes, I can see the vampires," she added. "I'm just inside a shop, so I'm pretty sure that they don't know I'm around. They seem particularly keen to get me, for some reason. They've already gotten my brother."

"Lila Kenring?" Cam demanded.

There was a pause, then, "How did you know?" Lila asked.

"I saw S... The red wind ranger a little while ago," Cam answered. "He mentioned that Peter Kenring had been murdered. When you said that your brother had been got by the vampires, I simply worked out your identity."

"Who's Lila Kenring?" Faye asked Cam. "Cally mentioned that she knew who the silver silk ranger was, but she didn't know her name."

"Lila is Hunter's girlfriend," Cam explained in a low voice so that the silver silk ranger couldn't hear him. "Well, was, I guess... Considering the fact that Hunter's now a vampire, I guess he and Lila are no longer dating."

Faye frowned slightly. "Lila doesn't know that Hunter is the crimson thunder ranger," she commented, also speaking softly, her hand over her morpher to further muffle what she was saying.

"I don't know if we should tell either of them," Cam responded. "Not just yet, anyway. We need to decide what to do about this, especially seeing as the silk rangers seem to want to destroy us Power Rangers."

Faye nodded slowly, and removed her hand from her morpher. "Lila, where are you?" she wanted to know.

"I'm in the clothes shop on the high street," the silver silk ranger answered. "You should know that the other Power Rangers are getting ready to fight the vampires. That little boy I saw before is there as well." There was a pause, and then the sound of something being knocked over. "Oops. I thought that he might have seen me, but he doesn't seem to be looking in my direction now. It must have been a false alarm."

"It figures that the others would go after the vampires without letting me know what they were doing," Cam muttered.

"Should we go?" Faye asked the green samurai ranger.

Cam slowly nodded. "I suppose we'd better," he responded. He looked over Faye's shoulder at Sensei. "Is that all right with you, dad?"

"You must do what you feel is the right thing," the guinea pig answered. "I cannot make that decision for you."

Cam looked at the orange light ranger. "It looks like we're going to be going after the vampires," he told her. "Unless, of course, you'd rather not?"

Faye hesitated for a long moment, and then shrugged. "I guess I'd better," she replied. "I'd never be able to live with myself if I didn't go."

Cam nodded slowly, and activated CyberCam. He then gestured towards the still-black screen. "Let us know if anything on that screen changes," he told his artificial self.

"With ya, bro," CyberCam responded. "You two go have fun now."

"I highly doubt that we will have fun chasing after vampires!" Faye muttered.

"Ready?" Cam asked the orange light ranger, ignoring her complaint.

Faye nodded slowly. "As ready as I'll ever be," she replied.

"Samurai Storm, Ranger Form!"

"Light Storm, Ranger Form!"

The two Power Rangers morphed, then streaked off.

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Andros stood over Cally's body, staring down at the limp form of the violet light ranger. It didn't seem fair that she should die like this, so far away from her own home and people who cared about her.

There's got to be a way to bring her back! Andros thought. There was a way last time, when she almost drowned!

Andros dropped to his knees beside Cally's body again, and pressed his fingers lightly against her neck, more for something to do while he thought than with any hope of finding a pulse.

Would CPR work? Andros wondered. Maybe there's something here in this hut that can help her...

Something fluttered slightly under Andros' fingertips.

The red space ranger jerked slightly, dragged away from his thoughts. He stared down at Cally, then sighed. Great. Now I'm imagining that she's still alive.

The flutter came again.

Andros stared in shock. Was it possible? Could the violet light ranger still be alive, even after being strangled?

Apparently, it was possible. Cally started coughing, and tried to sit up.

Andros immediately pushed her back down again. "You shouldn't try to move," he told her. "You need to regain your strength."

Cally shook her head vigorously. "No, I can't," she responded. "Didn't you hear what the wizard said? He wants ultimate power. If we don't stop him, then he will get what he wants... And everything and everyone we love will be destroyed."

Andros frowned slightly. "What can we do, though?" he asked. "We've already tried once, and we failed. I'm not giving up... But do you have any idea of how we can stop the wizard?"

Cally slowly shook her head. "No, but don't you remember what the unicorns said to us?" she questioned. "They said that we were both supposed to be here. That means that we can stop the wizard. Somehow."

"Our unicorns didn't even follow us into this hut," Andros reminded the violet light ranger. "They were too scared to."

"It's not that bad," Cally objected. "At least if we know that they're outside, then we know that they're not being hurt by the wizard or anything like that."

"Yeah, you're right," Andros sighed. "I just wish that they had told us more about what they expected us to do," he added.

"Yeah, that kind of sucks," Cally agreed. "Help me up?"

Andros helped her to her feet. "He went through that door," the red space ranger told the violet light ranger, nodding towards the door in question. "I'm assuming that it's a different room, as it clearly doesn't lead to the outside." The door leading outside was behind the two Power Rangers.

Cally nodded slowly. "I suppose we'd better go through," she commented, staring at the door like it was a live snake and making no move to actually enter.

Andros thought for a moment, and then grinned. "No, we don't," he told Cally. "The wizard doesn't know that you're still alive, remember?"

Cally blinked. "What do you have in mind?" she wanted to know.

Andros whispered in her ear.

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Cam and Faye arrived on the scene to find the three wind rangers sizing up, and being sized up by, the vampires. Neither side had made a move.

Cam sidled over to Shane. "What's the plan?" he asked the red wind ranger in a low voice.

"Wait for them to make the first move," Shane answered, not taking his eyes off the vampires in front of him.

"That's your plan?" Cam demanded, throwing his arms up into the air.

Shane turned his head, and Cam could imagine the glare that was under his helmet. "You got a better idea?" the red wind ranger demanded.

"Hey, guys, don't fight," Dustin told the two.

"Yeah," Tori agreed. "We have enough to deal with trying to fight Hunter and Blake, without fighting each other as well. It may help if we try to reason with them."

"How can you reason with a vampire?" Dustin wondered.

Tori smacked him upside the head. "I mean try to appeal to who they really are!" she hissed.

Shane flicked a glance towards the orange light ranger, who was standing silently to one side, then looked at Cam. "What's she doing here?" he wanted to know.

The green samurai ranger shrugged slightly. "She came along to help us out," he answered. "I figured that we might need all of the help we can get."

"You're right," Shane agreed.

"I think he's right, too," a soft voice said from behind them.

The Power Rangers whirled, and found themselves face-to-face with the silver silk ranger. She was morphed, of course.

"What do you want?" Shane demanded.

The silver silk ranger shrugged slightly. "I figured that the vampires are rather dangerous to all of us," she answered. "For now, it would be advantageous to call a temporary truce. Of course, once this threat has been removed, things will go back to how they were."

"Fine," Shane muttered.

Tori took a slight step forward, her eyes fastened on Blake. "Blake, it's me," she told the navy thunder ranger vampire.

Blake hissed, revealing sharp fangs. His eyes showed no glimmer of recognition. The little boy, who was standing next to him, smiled, also revealing incredibly sharp teeth.

"Blake, please," Tori whispered. She wanted Blake to recognise her. She wished for it with all of her being.

At a sudden, unspoken signal, the vampires attacked the Power Rangers.

It was an all-out brawl. The Power Rangers were outnumbered, and the vampires had super strength on their side. Plus, the Power Rangers were reluctant to seriously harm the vampires, who wore the faces of their friends.

Suddenly, Hunter, who had been in the middle of attacking Lila along with Peter, froze, a strange look on his face.

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Andros knocked on the door that the wizard had entered. "Um, excuse me, Mr. Wizard?" he called, trying to sound a little nervous.

"Go away!" the wizard replied, his tone annoyed. "I've spared you for the moment, but if you stay here, then your life will be forfeit!"

"But I want to learn how to do magic," Andros protested.

There was a moment's pause, then, "What about your friend?"

"She is of no consequence," Andros replied. "She is dead. I wish to know what magic you used. I wish to become your apprentice."

Both Cally and Andros had morphed. They figured that they would have to fight the wizard, and wanted to be ready to do so.

Finally, the door opened, and the wizard stepped out. He didn't see Andros at first, and the red space ranger used that to his advantage.

Andros leaped at the wizard, knocking him to the side while Cally slammed the door the wizard had just come through shut.

"How dare you!" the wizard snarled. He knocked Andros away from him, though the red space ranger wasn't seriously hurt, and then whirled on Cally. "You! How could you survive?!" he yelled.

"Oh, it was easy," Cally replied. Andros knew that she was probably smiling under her Power Ranger helmet.

The wizard knocked the violet light ranger to one side with his staff, and then swung at Andros.

The red space ranger hit one of the bottles, and felt it shatter. He also felt the mist, a crimson one, escape.

The wizard froze, a look of shock on his face. "No!" he breathed.

"Quick!" Andros yelled at Cally. "Smash the bottles!"

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