Roses and Thorns
Chapter Thirty-Three
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic
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Blake felt it like a kind of itching inside his mind. He looked down at himself, and saw that his whole body was flooding with a navy light. There was a long stream of it reaching out, and Blake realised that his energy was being pulled to the violet light ranger.
Blake fought the gradual weakening enough to look around. He could see the same thing that was happening to him was happening to Lila and Faye as well.
It's the catalyst ability that Cam was talking about, Blake realised. Cally obviously has that ability.
The navy thunder ranger could see the dark serpent-like thing inside the violet light ranger, and it seemed to be darker than the last time Blake had seen it. But he wasn't sure if that was because he was feeling extremely weak at that moment or not.
Dark spots started appearing in front of Blake's eyes. He was going to pass out soon. But he had to hold on long enough to see what was happening with the tentacled alien.
The alien hadn't moved much beyond throwing Faye into the wall. The orange light ranger still appeared to be somewhat dazed, though that could be because of the energy being drawn out of her rather than the after-effects of being thrown into a wall.
Blake finally felt the stream of energy being pulled out of him slow to a steady trickle and then stop. The navy thunder ranger nearly collapsed, but held onto the wall beside him as he watched to see what Cally was going to do next.
The violet light ranger now had a large, glowing ball of multicoloured light hovering between her hands. The light seemed to almost be hypnotising the alien as the colour slowly revolved so that the whole ball was violet.
Blake wasn't entirely sure of what happened next, as his body was trying to shut down. What he was sure about was that Cally threw the ball of light at the alien, and there was a huge explosion.
Blake's legs folded under him, and he fell to the ground. Just before he lost consciousness, he saw Cally collapse like a felled tree.
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Hunter jumped out of the way of a lash aimed with Peter's silk at him. The crimson thunder ranger frowned slightly beneath his helmet as the brown silk ranger appeared to stumble a little and almost fall.
This seems almost too easy, Hunter thought to himself. Peter's acting really... clumsy. Maybe fighting him isn't such a good idea after all? Then, Hunter remembered the cold way Peter had announced Blake's death, and pushed all other thoughts aside.
He was going to avenge his brother's death!
Hunter lunged at Peter, drawing his thunder staff and catching the startled brown silk ranger in the shoulder.
Dustin and Hunter were fighting Peter, and Shane and Tori were facing David. Hunter still hadn't managed to communicate the white light ranger's identity to the others. He was pretty sure that none of the others had made that connection. At least, they weren't acting like they knew who David was.
Should I tell him? Hunter wondered, shooting a quick glance at the yellow wind ranger. The crimson thunder ranger knew that Dustin would react strongly to the news in some way, but he didn't know if that would be a good thing or a bad thing.
Hunter took a slight step back as Dustin used his double team attack on Peter, the same attack he had used on Hunter once. The two Dustins somersaulted through the air and caught the brown silk ranger in the chest with their ninja swords before moving one in front and one behind to use their ninja swords to knock him down. Unlike Hunter, Peter didn't use his vanishing trick. But the brown silk ranger had other tricks up his sleeve.
While still on the ground, Peter flicked a glancing blow at Dustin with his piece of silk, sending the yellow wind ranger reeling backwards with a gasp.
Hunter grabbed Dustin and dragged him out of range of the silk. "Dustin, what's wrong?" he hissed.
The yellow wind ranger looked up. "It burns," he whimpered. "That silk burns."
Hunter flashed for a moment on an image of the violet light ranger dangling from a branch of a tree, her legs kicking at the air, clawing at the silk wrapped tightly around her neck.
How on earth had Cally managed to hide the marks which had to have been on her neck afterwards?
Hunter pushed that thought out of his mind. He couldn't think of that now. Revenge was the only thing he cared about at that moment.
"Stay here," Hunter told Dustin in a low voice. Then, he leaped at Peter again, planning to keep the brown silk ranger away from the yellow wind ranger while Dustin recovered.
Tori couldn't concentrate on her inner power of water. She had to be calm to be able to do that, and she wasn't calm. At all.
Blake was dead.
Tori and Shane were fighting with the white light ranger, but just that one thought pounded through the blue wind ranger's head.
She had lost Blake. Forever.
Tori blinked back tears. She couldn't cry now. She couldn't afford any distractions. She had really wanted to fight Peter, the one who had actually killed the only man she had ever loved, but Hunter and Dustin were fighting him.
Tori hoped that they killed him. She hoped that he suffered. She was certain that Hunter felt the same way, and that he would make sure that Peter paid for Blake's murder.
Tori wanted nothing better than to curl up and cry. But she knew that she couldn't. The others were counting on her. She had to help them.
She could cry later.
Tori swung a punch at the white light ranger, and felt mildly surprised when it connected. He was definitely tiring. So far, he'd been able to block most of the blows, though hadn't been able to fight back himself. Tori guessed that he was waiting for her and Shane to tire.
But it looked like the white light ranger was tiring first.
Shane could have used his power over the element of air, but he really wanted to hit someone at that moment. Blake had been a good friend of his, despite the fact that he and Hunter had both tried to destroy the wind rangers a good number of times.
Shane didn't even doubt the fact that the navy thunder ranger was dead. Peter had Blake's morpher, and the only way he could have got that was to kill Blake. Not even the threat of death could have forced the navy thunder ranger to give his morpher up.
The white light ranger caught Shane in the chest with a kick. However, the red wind ranger recovered quickly, and knocked David back with a powerful punch. He would have used his air attack on the white light ranger, but that was a long-range attack, and he couldn't risk accidentally hitting Tori instead.
Peter was knocked flying by a punch from Hunter. He gritted his teeth beneath his helmet, and slowly straightened to his feet, shaking his head slightly, feeling dazed.
You're so lucky that my sister's in love with you, Peter thought to himself as he circled the crimson thunder ranger warily. I'd pay you back for hitting her... But I promised Lila that I wouldn't. Then again, even if Peter had been fighting at full strength, Hunter would probably have beaten him anyway. Quite simply, the crimson thunder ranger was that much stronger than the brown silk ranger.
To be honest, Peter wasn't entirely sure where his plan had originally come from. He just knew that he couldn't let Lothor know that both he and his sister had switched sides. What better way to do that than to let Lothor and the other Power Rangers believe that he had killed Blake?
Of course, the navy thunder ranger hadn't wanted to give up his morpher to Peter. Blake had pointed out the fact that it was probably a trick of Peter's to defeat the other Power Rangers. But Peter had made contact with his sister and the two light rangers, and, because Blake trusted Faye and Cally, at least a little, he had agreed to remain with them while Peter carried out his plan.
At some point, Peter would use his communicator to call Faye, Lila, Cally, and Blake. He would try to get Cally's communicator, simply because there was no way he could call his sister without Lothor, David, or Zurgane becoming suspicious. Peter was planning to call the others if it started to look like Hunter was going to kill him.
Dustin was about to attack Peter again when he happened to glance over in the direction of Shane, Tori, and the white light ranger.
The yellow wind ranger's eyes narrowed beneath his helmet. Something about the way the white light ranger fought seemed familiar to him...
A memory flashed through Dustin's mind. Of watching David, Cally's slightly older brother, take part in a martial arts tournament while Dustin had still been dating Cally.
Past and present collided as Dustin watched the white light ranger use the exact same trick David had used during the martial arts tournament.
The white light ranger took a kick from Shane in the chest. Then, he spun into the red wind ranger, rather than away from him. Before Shane could react, the white light ranger chopped at his shoulder with his gloved hand.
David was the white light ranger.
Shane buckled slightly under the blow, but he didn't fall. He darted back from the white light ranger. "Tor, get out of the way!" he yelled.
Startled, the blue wind ranger threw herself to the side just as Shane used his air attack, sending the white light ranger, no, David, heavily to the ground.
"David!" Dustin yelled. It didn't occur to him to wait until the white light ranger was relatively harmless before revealing his identity to the other Power Rangers.
Dustin's shout drew the other Power Rangers' attention towards him, and David seized his chance.
The white light ranger grabbed his blaster out of his belt, and leaped at Tori. He looped one arm around the blue wind ranger, and held his blaster against the side of her head.
"Tori!" Dustin yelled, horrified.
David was breathing hard, but the hand holding the blaster to Tori's head remained steady and didn't waver at all. His other arm was wrapped around Tori's body, effectively stopping her from being able to pull free from him at all.
Peter cursed inwardly at what had just happened. He should have realised that David would find a way to turn the fight in his favour. Cally had warned him of the ruthless streak that existed in her brother even before David had changed somehow. Peter knew that he should have listened to the violet light ranger.
The brown silk ranger's fingers edged towards his communicator, and he pressed the buttons on it which would let out the pitched sound that Cally's communicator alone would pick up.
"Put your weapons away, or I'll shoot her," David ordered, his tone frighteningly emotionless.
Shane hesitated. The others knew that he was trying to work out if he could get to the white light ranger before he had a chance to pull the trigger.
David turned his helmeted head towards the red wind ranger, and his grip on Tori tightened, causing a small squeak to escape from the blue wind ranger. "Don't try it," the white light ranger told Shane in a deadly quiet tone. "I could shoot her even before you started moving towards me."
Why aren't they coming? Peter thought, feeling scared. Being able to streak, they should be here by now!
But, for whatever reason, Faye, Lila, Cally, and Blake weren't coming.
Beneath his helmet, Peter narrowed his eyes slightly. Could something have happened to the other four Power Rangers? None of them had their full team with them, and Blake being unable to morph was a severe handicap.
Peter still kept on pressing the buttons on his communicator in the hope that the four were just being slow to respond for some reason. But it was a very faint hope.
At just that moment, Zurgane appeared. And he was carrying a strange device.
David shoved Tori away from him. But, before the other rangers could react, Zurgane froze them with a beam.
"I'll take it from here," Zurgane told Peter and David, his distaste for the two rangers clear in his tone.
"I think not," David responded in a flat tone. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Erase their memories, Zurgane. And don't take all day doing it.
"Insolent upstart," Zurgane muttered. But he had no choice but to do what Lothor had ordered him to.
This is more serious than I thought, Peter thought to himself.
Why weren't the others showing up?
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The incessant beeping intruded on Blake's awareness slowly. The navy thunder ranger groaned and tried to ignore the sound in favour of sleeping.
But the beeping didn't stop.
Very slowly, Blake came to. And then, he wished that he hadn't.
Every muscle screamed with pain. Even the slightest movement caused waves of pain and dizziness. The navy thunder ranger just wanted to curl up and go back to sleep again, but the beeping wasn't quieting.
With a tremendous effort, Blake lifted his head. He fought down the nausea that threatened to overwhelm him. Now was not the time to be sick.
Blake caught sight of the bodies of Faye, Lila, and Cally crumpled on the floor, and he groaned as memories of what had happened earlier came flooding back.
Surprisingly, the house was still standing. Apparently, the explosion that Cally had made with the combined energy of her, Blake, Lila, and Faye had only obliterated the tentacled monster. Well, it had to have been obliterated. Blake couldn't see any sign of it anywhere.
Now I know just how serious Cam was when he warned us about the dangers of the catalyst ability, Blake thought to himself. With every moment that passed, his mind grew clearer, though he was still extremely exhausted. But he knew that the beeping was actually coming from a communicator.
Blake reached for his morpher, but it wasn't there. Then, he remembered. He had lent it to Peter, hadn't he?
It was Cally's communicator which was going off.
Suddenly, it stopped.
Blake pulled himself into a crouching position, then put his head in his hands. It hurt.
After a few moments, when the pain faded somewhat, Blake crawled over to Cally. He reached out, and shook the violet light ranger, not very gently.
Cally's eyes flew open, and then she winced, a gasp escaping her lips.
Ignoring the violet light ranger's winces and gasps of pain, Blake pulled Cally to her feet, holding onto her for his support as much as her own. He knew that Hunter was in danger. He couldn't say how he knew, but he knew. And that meant that the others were in danger as well.
Tori.
Cally whimpered, and tried to pull away from Blake, clearly just wanting to collapse in a heap again.
"Stop it!" Blake snapped at Cally. "I need you to be awake." The navy thunder ranger shot a quick glance at Faye and Lila, but decided to just let them rest. He wasn't sure he was up to dealing with three reluctant females.
"I can't," Cally responded.
"Yes, you can!" Blake told her in a sharp tone. "The others are in danger. I need your help to save them."
The violet light ranger shook her head, then flinched at the pain that flooded her mind. "I can't," she repeated. "You don't understand... I can't even morph. I don't have enough energy."
"I don't care," Blake responded heartlessly. "I don't want my brother or my girlfriend to get hurt..." The navy thunder ranger's voice trailed off as he saw that Cally wasn't really listening to him. He searched his mind for something that would make the violet light ranger take notice of him. Then, he had it. "Do you want Dustin to end up dead?" he demanded.
Cally stared at him, as shocked as if he had just slapped her. "What?!"
"Dustin is the yellow wind ranger," Blake explained. "I can guess that you probably still love him... So you will help me because, by doing so, you will probably save Dustin."
Cally continued to stare at him. But then, her communicator went off. She half-turned away from Blake, and spoke into it. "Hello?"
"Cally, it's Cam," the green samurai ranger's voice said. "I thought that I'd better contact you. Zurgane's got the other Power Rangers, and David and Peter are with him. I think that they've just used a mind warp on them." Cam paused, then continued, "You should also know that Peter has killed Blake."
Blake and Cally exchanged glances. Then, Cally spoke into her communicator again. "I'll be on my way, Cam. Any idea of how we can save them?"
"You might want to try smashing the energy centre," Cam replied, his tone dubious.
"All right," Cally responded. "I'm on my way."
Blake and Cally streaked off.
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The navy thunder ranger and the violet light ranger appeared just inside the forest, where Zurgane, Peter, and David had taken the now-changed Power Rangers.
The first they knew of it was when they were attacked - Blake by Hunter and Tori and Cally by Shane and Dustin. The four Power Rangers were morphed.
The fact that Blake and Cally were still weak meant that they weren't fighting at their best. Then, of course, they didn't want to seriously harm the Power Rangers.
Blake attempted to weakly block a blow from Hunter's thunder staff, but the staff easily smashed through his block, and Blake got hit across his chest.
"Hunter, it's me," Blake pleaded, trying to get through to his brother. "You're my brother!"
"No, I am not," Hunter responded flatly.
"Tori, don't you remember me at all?" Blake asked the blue wind ranger desperately.
"I've never seen you before in my life," Tori responded, just as flatly as Hunter.
After a few more moments of attempting to fight Shane and Dustin, Cally half-turned. "David, I know you're there!" she yelled. "Come out and fight me!"
There was a moment's hesitation, and then, the white light ranger stepped out from between the trees, his face unmasked. He was closely followed by Peter.
David glared at his sister. "You deserve to die for what you did to Dustin!" he snarled.
Shane and Dustin had paused in attacking Cally, and now were standing to one side, apparently waiting for orders.
"That's Dustin!" Cally gestured towards the yellow wind ranger.
"You're lying!" David snapped.
"Blake, catch!" Peter threw something end over end at the navy thunder ranger.
It was Blake's morpher.
The navy thunder ranger grabbed his morpher out of the air, and strapped it onto his wrist. He paused a moment before triggering the morphing.
"Thunder Storm, Ranger Form!"
Blake morphed.
"Power of Thunder!"
Instantly, Blake felt a wave of intense weakness, and he almost fell.
Cally hesitated, then triggered her own morph.
"Light Storm, Ranger Form!"
Cally morphed.
"Power of Light!"
Almost instantly, the two light rangers leaped at each other, and started fighting.
As brother and sister, the two would have been practically evenly matched. But the fact that Cally was weakened greatly meant that she couldn't fight properly, and ended up letting a lot of blows through her guard that she wouldn't have ordinarily.
Blake suddenly spotted Zurgane and the energy centre a short distance away.
The navy thunder ranger hesitated, then grabbed for his brother's blaster. Before Hunter could react, the navy thunder ranger aimed the blaster at the energy centre, and fired.
The energy centre shattered.
Zurgane cursed, and then teleported away, presumably to Lothor's ship.
Blake demorphed, and grabbed onto a tree for support. He was horribly exhausted.
Cally felt herself weakening as she also demorphed, but more because she didn't have the energy to remain in her Power Ranger form than because she made a conscious decision to demorph.
Cally looked into her brother's shocked dark eyes, and then lost consciousness.
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Read and review, please!
I know... It wasn't very good, was it? -Cringes a little- The good news is that there's only one more chapter to go -Waits for the cheers that are bound to follow that statement-