Roses and Thorns

Chapter Thirty-Two

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic

Hi, I apologise for the delay in updating. I was working on something, and then the other computer had to be taken for cleaning. Sorry!

Replies to reviews:

Jorgitosbabe: -Is deafened- o.o I'm updating now! Honestly -Nods-. Thanks for reviewing!

garnetred: Yeah, I wasn't really sure about that whole scene with Peter and Lila. And Lothor will retaliate... As to whether or not Hunter will forgive Lila, well... -Shrugs- You'll have to wait and see. Thanks for reviewing!

CamFan4Ever: Well, now you know . Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you feel better soon. Sometimes writing can help if you're feeling kind of depressed

jj-monster: Well, you'll find out now . Thanks for reviewing!

BlueAngel07: Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

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"This isn't going to work," Cally said dully once Peter had gone to carry out his part of the plan, leaving Cally, Faye, Lila, and Blake in Faye and Cally's house.

"Now why would you think that?" Faye asked.

The television was on, but none of the four were watching it. All of them were waiting for Peter to call and let them know that the plan had succeeded.

"Well, think of the plan," Cally responded. "We're relying on Peter to make the other Power Rangers believe that he's killed Blake, and convince my brother that he's on his side." She slowly shook her head. "There are so many things that could go wrong with it."

Lila glanced up at Cally. "My brother is very good at deceiving people," she told the violet light ranger.

Blake shifted slightly uncomfortably. "I don't know why I had to give my morpher to Peter," he complained. "I mean, I know that we couldn't find a way of deactivating it safely... But it still feels like a part of me is missing."

"Yeah, I get what you mean," Cally replied. She met Faye's gaze, and the two light rangers exchanged an unspoken message.

Cally had felt like a part of herself was missing for quite a while now.

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Cam looked up as the other Power Rangers entered NinjaOps, and then frowned. "Where's Blake?" he questioned, mainly addressing Hunter and Tori as they were the ones who were more likely to have seen Blake.

However, Hunter and Tori both looked confused, and shrugged, clearly indicating that they had no idea where the navy thunder ranger was.

"Didn't you manage to get hold of him via his communicator?" Shane asked, his expression worried.

Cam slowly shook his head. When the computer had shown their new problem, he had yelled for all of the Power Rangers to come to NinjaOps immediately. Blake hadn't answered, but Cam hadn't thought anything of that. The Power Rangers couldn't always respond if they were in a public place.

Hunter frowned. "That's not like him," the crimson thunder ranger commented.

"Maybe he's, like, doing something that he hasn't, like, told you about?" Dustin suggested.

Everyone just looked at the yellow wind ranger.

"Anyway, Cam, why did you call us here?" Shane asked the green samurai ranger, drawing attention away from Dustin.

"This is why," Cam answered, turning back to his computer. He pressed a couple of buttons, and the screen showed the image of the forest just outside town. "I'm getting some rather odd heat readings from that area," the green samurai ranger explained.

"You want us to check it out?" Tori guessed.

Cam nodded. "It's probably one of Lothor's monsters," he said. "I'll stay here and keep an eye on things."

"Let's morph," Shane said. He looked at the other Power Rangers. "Ready?"

"Ready!"

"Ninja Storm, Ranger Form!"

"Thunder Storm, Ranger Form!"

"Power of Air!"

"Power of Water!"

"Power of Earth!"

"Power of Thunder!"

Once morphed, the Power Rangers streaked off.

Once they were gone, Cam looked down at his communicator. He considered trying to contact Faye and Cally, but decided against it. There was no need to call them just yet.

If there was a need, then Cam would ask them to come and help.

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The four Power Rangers arrived in the forest, and looked around.

"I don't see anything," Dustin commented.

"Isn't this always how it starts?" Tori pointed out. "We turn up, wonder where the monster is for a few moments, and then it attacks us."

"Yeah, Tori, you're right," Shane replied. He looked around at the three of them. "Everyone keep a look out, ok?" he said. "If you see anything, yell."

High above them, in a tree, a white Power Ranger watched. As the four Power Rangers started to move away, the white ranger pulled a blaster from his belt, and fired at them. None of the blaster shots hit, but they certainly caught the Power Rangers' attention.

"Where did those come from?" Dustin demanded.

"Probably from him." Hunter pointed towards the white Power Ranger, who had leaped down from the tree.

The crimson thunder ranger saw that the white ranger's suit looked quite similar to the suits that the orange and violet Power Rangers wore. But Hunter felt, for some reason, that he'd seen this Power Ranger before, but he couldn't remember where.

"Who are you?" Shane demanded, his hand inching towards his own blaster.

"Your worse nightmare," the white ranger replied, his voice cold.

"Oh, please," Tori said. Under her helmet, she rolled her eyes. "That sounds like a line from a cheap horror movie."

The white ranger didn't answer.

"What do you want?" Shane asked. Actually, he felt that it was probably a dumb question to ask. It was pretty obvious that the white ranger wasn't there to join their side. The fact that he had already fired on them put paid to that notion.

"To destroy you," the white ranger answered. He fired at Shane, but the red wind ranger leaped out of the way.

"There's four of us, and only one of you," Tori pointed out, though she, Hunter, and Dustin backed out of the range of the blaster anyway.

"Yeah, and my brother will be here soon," Hunter added, really hoping that that was true and that Cam would be able to get hold of the navy thunder ranger.

"Actually, he won't," a familiar voice said from behind them.

The four Power Rangers turned, and Hunter's eyes widened beneath his helmet. "Peter?" Actually, the crimson thunder ranger knew that he shouldn't have been that surprised. Lila had, after all, told him that she and her brother were the silk rangers.

Then again, why wasn't Lila with her brother?

"Who are you?" the white ranger asked in a flat voice, like he really couldn't care less.

"I'm the brown silk ranger," Peter explained. "My name's Peter. I'm on your side, David. My sister was as well, but she defected." The teenager shrugged a little, his eyes like ice. "Joined the other two light rangers. I have no use for traitors."

David. The brown silk ranger had slipped the name so casually into his little speech, Hunter realised. It didn't look like the others had registered that fact.

But that name stirred up the memories Hunter had forgotten.

Cally was the violet ranger, and Faye was the orange ranger.

Hunter opened his mouth to pass this information on to Dustin, as well as what else he had heard, but Peter interrupted him.

"Your brother's dead," the brown silk ranger told Hunter, as casually as if he were telling the crimson thunder ranger that the sky was blue.

"What?" Tori cried, her voice filled with shock.

Hunter went numb inside. No. I can't lose Blake as well. "You're lying," he said out loud. "Blake's not dead. He can't die!"

Peter's eyes flashed with amusement. "Oh, but he is dead," he responded, still sounding casual. "I strangled him with my scarf." The brown silk ranger held up something. "This is proof. It's your brother's morpher."

Ignoring Shane's restraining hand, Hunter lunged at Peter, murder in his mind.

The white ranger, David, lashed out with his foot, catching the crimson thunder ranger in the chest and sending him reeling backwards. Then, the white ranger slipped his blaster back into his belt, and drew what looked a little bit like a staff.

"Why don't we play a game?"

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Cally jerked a little as she suddenly heard a thump outside the house. "What was that?!" she cried.

"Probably just someone knocking at the door," Blake responded. He looked curiously at the violet light ranger. "Aren't you going to open it?"

"That didn't sound like a knock," Cally protested.

"Oh, you're just being silly," Faye sighed. "I'll go and open the door, if you're that bothered." Rolling her eyes, the orange light ranger made her way to the front door, and opened it.

Then, she screamed.

Lila and Blake immediately shot up off the sofa, and ran towards the front door, Cally just in front of them.

The tentacled monster that Faye, Cally, and Hunter had fought before was there, framed in the doorway. When Faye had opened the front door, it had wrapped one of its tentacles around her, and thrown her against the wall, leaving her dazed.

Blake started to say the words to trigger his morphing, and then cursed when he remembered that Peter had taken his morpher as proof that he was dead. Could Peter have planned this? Leaving the navy thunder ranger defenceless so that he would be easy picking for this monster?

No, Blake somehow didn't think so. He'd already seen that Peter didn't have it in him to be a cold-blooded murderer. Besides, Peter would never put his own sister in that much danger, although he was going to pretend that he saw her as a traitor.

Cally took a quick note of the situation. There was probably no way that they were going to be able to defeat the tentacled monster using their Power Ranger abilities. Blake didn't have his at the moment, and she, Faye, and Lila wouldn't be able to battle it on their own using their morphing powers.

Cally frowned slightly as a sudden thought occurred to her. In her mind's eye, she saw what looked like different colour pools of energy, each coming from the four people in the house. Without saying how she knew, she knew what she had to do.

Cally reached.

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