Disclaimer: 'Power Rangers' (all incarnations) belong to BVE, who are related to Disney. No infringement is intended.

BOND ENFORCEMENT

By Etcetera Kit

Part Two: On the Money
Chapter Nine: Finally United

"So you know how to spell 'Jehovah', do you?"

Cam fought the urge to snicker as Eric whirled around and pinned Kira with a glare that would have disintegrated a lesser person. Kira had definitely been in a mood the entire time they were out here. Ordinarily Cam wouldn't have pinned her as someone who couldn't handle camping, but those long weeks on the road seemed to have spoiled her to the point that she would rather stay in a hotel than camp any day.

"You know, Kira," Eric said in a dangerously low voice. "I do watch movies. I know you don't like to think that, since you think I live in an old army barrack bench-pressing cars."

"Do you?" Kira sounded interested.

"Never mind," Eric snapped back as he walked up the steps to the temple.

"There are days I can see Eric taking an Uzi to someone and laughing maniacally as he pumps bullets into them," Kendrix commented, falling into step with Cam.

He smiled. "With a half-smoked cigar in the corner of his mouth."

"And sunglasses," she added.

"Saying something like 'merry Christmas, mother fuckers'," Cam finished.

"I heard that," Eric yelled. "And I don't have an Uzi or a cigar so it's not going to happen. If I did, Ford would be the first victim."

"He just gave me a death threat!" Kira sputtered to Mike.

Mike was studiously ignoring all of them.

Cam fell silent as they followed Eric up the steps to the temple, entering the large stone room that was impressive upon arrival. He didn't imagine that the thunder ninjas had used this temple for anything in a long time. They had a little temple on the school grounds that served purposes for anything of the religious nature. The thick cobwebs were a little ominous, but since Cam could think of several spider types that were indigenous to the area that would have nests in a place like this, they didn't surprise him.

The first challenge had been neutralized. Cam could still see the rope from where they had tied it off to stop the pendulums from swinging.

"You're sure about this?" Mike asked Eric.

The Quantum Ranger nodded. He stepped towards the steps leading to the section of the temple thick with cobwebs. They fell into line, following Eric through the hall that looked like something out of a haunted house. Cam nearly ran into Kira as they came to a stop.

He looked at the floor. It looked like large stone tiles had been laid out. Each of them had a letter on them, written like the old Latin script.

"Only in the name of God shall he pass," Eric said softly.

"I don't understand this," Kira muttered. "What is it with these ninjas and their obsession with Christian stuff?"

"They probably thought it was funny as hell," Cam replied.

Eric studied the floor for a moment longer before he stepped onto the tile with the letter 'I' on it. It held strong. That was right—this was based on the Latin alphabet. Cam was suddenly grateful that he had taken those elective courses on ancient languages in college. He continued on the rest of the letters that spelled 'Jehovah' in the Latin alphabet. He would have to sit down and watch the movie that Eric was getting all of this from.

Once Eric was on the other side, Kira carefully stepped on the tiles after Eric had. He reached out a hand and pulled her to the other side. Cam followed after her, getting across with no problems. Kendrix went next, but her heel slipped and the tile next to the one she was supposed to be standing on, crumbled, revealing a long fall to a pit below.

"Kendrix!" Eric yelled, grabbing her hand. She looked ready to panic, but Eric pulled her across, holding her close on the solid ground. Cam hadn't even realized that his heart had been pounding until she was safely on the other side.

Mike completed the crossing.

"What's next?" Kira asked as they filed down a narrow hall.

"A leap of faith," Eric replied.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

The narrow hall opened up into a small cliff… with nothing to get across the canyon. Eric looked at the small statue of a lion's head. "A leap from the lion's mouth."

"I don't care if you do think you're Rambo," Kira said. "There is no way in hell that you can jump this."

Eric ignored her and took a step seemingly off the cliff. "No!" several voices yelled at once. He turned around, standing on nothing seemingly and giving them all a bored look.

"What?" Cam asked.

"Come on," Eric said, holding out a hand to Kendrix. She took it and stepped off into thin air to join him.

"It's an illusion!" she cried.

An illusion? Cam followed them out. Once one was out on the walkway, one could see that it was actually a walkway, disguised somehow. Kira and Mike followed and they made it to the other side of this canyon with no problems.

On the other side of the canyon, there was a tunnel that they had to crawl through that opened up into a large chamber. There was an altar in the center. Cam pushed through the people staring at it. The altar had a gold-plated relief of the five insects that the thunder ninjas had used for their powers. There was a dragonfly encrusted with rubies and each of the others—beetle, praying mantis, firefly and butterfly—each with precious stones of the color that corresponded to the bug.

"This is it?" Eric asked, sounding incredulous.

Cam gently traced the outline of the dragonfly.

"You seek the great power?" a loud voice asked.

He stepped back, falling into line with the others. "We seek the thunder powers."

"And you have made it through the challenges. You must be worthy."

The shape of an ancient ninja appeared before them, wearing the robes that the thunder ninja masters wore. The crest of the Thunder Ninja Academy was on his left breast. He nodded to the five of them. The ninja raised his hands and gold sparkles came forth. Those sparkles settled around each of their left wrists, leaving a morpher in its place. The basic body of these morphers was the same, but each was customized to the insects.

"Michael Corbett," the ancient ninja said. "Aspiring to the air, you are their leader. You will embody the powers of the Crimson Thunder Ranger. The dragonfly shall be your symbol."

Mike stared at the morpher for a second, before smiling.

"Kendrix Morgan," he continued. "A temper hot as the hottest flames yet control as practiced as a hearth fire, you will embody the powers of the Mauve Thunder Ranger. The butterfly will represent you."

Kendrix looked almost afraid as she glanced at her new morpher.

"Eric Myers, practical and staying close to the earth, you will become the Navy Thunder Ranger with the beetle as your symbol."

Eric's expression was unreadable, but Cam figured he wasn't happy about not being assigned the position of the leader.

"Kira Ford, fluid and graceful like the water, you will embody the powers of the Goldenrod Thunder Ranger. The firefly is your representation."

Kira grinned. So no drastic color changes for Kira or Kendrix.

"Cameron Wantanabe," the ancient ninja finally addressed him. "You are a samurai and, as such, will embody the powers of the Forest Green Thunder Ranger. The praying mantis is your symbol."

The ancient ninja floated upwards so that he was floating just above the altar. "Say 'thunder storm—ranger form' to call upon your powers. You have earned these powers. Use them well." He disappeared.

"That was weird," Kira commented.

"Come on," Mike said. "We have to get back to help the Time Force Rangers with their mutant problem."


Downtown Silver Hills was deserted when they got there. Destruction was all around… it looked like the mutant had some fun before going into hiding. This was like one of those movies that featured an epidemic raging through a town and then someone coming back and trying to piece together what had happened. Pieces of paper blew through the empty street like tumbleweeds. Cars were smoldering and the air was thick with smoke.

"What happened?" Cam asked.

Kendrix stopped and looked at the deserted street. "Where are the Time Force Rangers?" she whispered.

Eric brought his quantum morpher to his mouth. "Wes? Jen? Anyone?" He lowered the old morpher and looked at them.

"This is too weird," Kira muttered.

Kendrix shivered, even though it was warm outside. Were they too late? Had the delay until this morning been too long? Where was everyone? This didn't even make any sense.

"We stick together," Mike said. "Whatever caused this shouldn't be underestimated."

They nodded and stuck together as they walked down the street. The shops were surprisingly untouched. No one had looted them or gone on rampages because of this. Kendrix followed Mike as he led the way. What if this was a sign that the timeline was shifting beyond their control? She didn't want to think that she was partially responsible for changing the future from what it was.

A blast from a laser gun hit a street sign near them.

"Come on," Mike called, taking off towards the noise.

The group ran after him. Kendrix took in a deep breath, her heart pounding. For the first time since she had been a ranger, she was glad that all she had had to deal with was Scorpius' and Trakeena's alien outlaws. Something about mutants was just much more threatening.

The scene before them was not one that should have shocked them. The four Time Force officers along with Wes were battling a mutant. The mutant looked like it was oozing green and yellow pus from cracks in its hide. It was also having no problems keeping the Time Force Rangers from arresting him and taking him back to the future.

"Ready?" Mike called.

Almost on instinct, they fell into a line. "Ready," they echoed.

"Thunder storm—ranger form!"

Kendrix felt the familiar sensation of morphing, like one's nerve ending were being electrified for a second, before an incredible sensation of power flowed into one's veins. The torso of her suit was mauve—a dark pinkish purple color—along with her boots and gloves. The skirt on the outfit was black and she had gold knee pads and shoulder pieces. The sleeves and legs of the suit were gray and metallically.

"Whoa," she heard Kira mutter.

"This is amazing," Kendrix said to herself.

It was different from the galaxy powers. She could almost feel the limits of the power that came with the Quasar Sabers. Here, it seemed like the powers were limitless since they came from the earth and the earth provided more power than anything else could. The ancient ninja had described each of them in terms of the elements. It was almost like they were in harmony with the earth…

"Let's do this," Mike said.

"Thunder staff! Full power!" they called in unison, pulling the staffs from where they were on their backs.

As one, like in so many battles before, the five of them ran forward towards the battle that was already raging. Mike went forward with his thunder staff and managed to dislodge the mutant from where it had Trip and Lucas cornered.

"Thanks," Trip said.

They paired off by colors, reminiscent of the battle that the Galaxy Rangers had fought with the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers. Kendrix found herself fighting with Jen—the Pink Time Force Ranger and the one that Cam had kept describing as Xena, Warrior Princess. All right, so the leather outfit had been a bit much, but she was a decent fighter.

Kira was working with Katie, who was genetically enhanced for strength. Cam was working with Trip. Mike was paired off with Wes, while Eric was with Lucas. No one's facial expressions were visible, but Kendrix could almost imagine what all of them were thinking and feeling.

She leapt forward with her thunder staff. The weapon was similar enough to her saber that she had relatively no problems working with it. She managed to get a hit on the mutant, sparks flying before it threw out a tentacle and threw her back. Being morphed caused some of the impact to be absorbed, but it still hurt.

"Kendrix!"

There was a navy blue blur in front of her and a cry of "thunder shield!" She watched as one of the mutants tentacles came forward, but hit the transparent film of the shield and recoiled. "Eric?" she asked.

He leaned down and grabbed her arm, hauling her to her feet. "You all right?"

"Yeah," she replied with a nod.

Mike had pulled out a blaster and managed to land a shot on the mutant. They had individual weapons in addition to the arsenal they had already pulled out? Which weapon was hers? She had a feeling… "Hawk blaster!" she called. A smaller blaster appeared in her hand. It looked like it had been designed for another power source and had been repainted. Kira pulled out a large hammer and was pounding the ground, slowing down the mutant.

"Navy antler," Eric called. With a war cry to rival any cowboys and Indians movie, he ran forward, the antler grasping the mutant around the waist. He lifted the mutant into the air and threw him against the wall.

Kendrix aimed the hawk blaster and hit the mutant squarely in the chest. He gave out an ugly scream before falling to the ground and turning into a tiny and still version of himself. Not quite realizing it, her visor slid up. The other Thunder Rangers' visors did the same as they watched Jen put the mutant into a container.

"Mutant captured?" Mike asked.

Jen nodded. "Power down," she muttered and appeared in what she had been wearing. The other Time Force Rangers followed suit.

"You guys," Trip breathed. "That was awesome!"

"Yeah," Katie added. "Your powers are cool."

"The timeline is back to normal?" Eric asked.

Jen smiled. "Yeah. That mutant would have destroyed us if you hadn't showed up."

"Glad we're good for something," Cam muttered.

"Come on," Mike said to them. "We've still got a bunch of FTAs at large."

The groan of protest was loud enough to drown out any more of his orders.


Mirinoi was pretty nice. Eric followed Kendrix down the rough path through the woods that was leading to a small village of Mirinoi natives. The planet had an untouched sense that Earth didn't have. It was as though Earth had been used and wrung dry. In Mirinoi he could sense something pure. The repaired City Dome of Terra Venture was self-sufficient, using relatively few of the resources of the planet.

All of them were spending the weekend on Mirinoi. None of their skips were imminent and Mike had fabricated a story about suspecting one of them of having fled to Mirinoi. There were times that Mike surprised him. After the thunder power quest and the departure of the Time Force Rangers and the mad number of skips plaguing them, Mike must have decided that they needed a break.

Eric had given his quantum morpher to Wes before taking off. He had deactivated the voice identification, figuring that the guardians' needed it more than him. His glance went to his left wrist where his thunder morpher was. So he was the Blue Ranger—there would be time later to get therapy about that. Perhaps he wasn't the leader that he kept telling himself he was. First Collins reassigned him, but made him a squad member. Then the ancient thunder ninja made him the Blue Ranger. Nothing in his power could change what had already happened.

The others were doing various things on the planet. Kira had gone for a forest walk with the Galaxy Yellow Ranger—Maya. Cam was getting a grand tour of City Dome from Kai, the Blue Galaxy Ranger. Mike was visiting with his brother. So that left him to come with Kendrix to the village to replace her Quasar Saber in the stone. He didn't mind. He liked spending time with Kendrix and, if he hadn't still been feeling the sting of his last relationship, would have asked her on a date already. It wasn't fair to Kendrix to start a relationship when he was still sorting through the baggage he had with Taylor.

The village was sleepy. A few people roamed around, carrying baskets, but no one gave them a second glance. He supposed that the people were used to people from Terra Venture coming down here to visit.

The Quasar Saber stone was in the center of the village. Four of the sabers were already there. They had the same basic design, but the hilt of each one had a different animal symbol on it. The empty place was on the far left of the stone. Kendrix moved to it and glanced at her saber, before pushing it back into the stone.

"It's weird," she said softly. "I keep doing this."

"Doing what?"

"Putting my saber back," she replied, turning to him. Her blue eyes looked distant. "But I don't need it anymore." Just as he didn't need his quantum morpher. Her bug symbol was the butterfly—and it seemed to represent her better than her Wildcat Galactabeast had. She had spent so much time in a cocoon that she needed to blossom into the butterfly she was.

At first, he hadn't understood the thunder ninja's reasoning that Kendrix was fire. He could see all the others, even himself as Earth, but Kendrix as fire? A temper hot as the hottest flames yet control as practiced as a hearth fire… She did have a temper that came out once in a while. But she had control, which was the other element of the fire that the ancient thunder ninja had been talking about. She was used to controlling her temper and not allowing it to manifest itself. Consequently, no one knew that her tears were angry rather than sad.

"None of us do," he replied.

She smiled sadly, gazing at the stone with the sabers.

"Hey, guys!"

He turned to see Mike and his younger brother, Leo, coming down the path through the middle of the village. Leo had remembered him from the Red Ranger mission to the moon and had enthusiastically greeted him. He glanced to Kendrix. She looked a little uncomfortable with the presence of Leo.

"Kai invited us over for dinner," Mike supplied.

"He's a great cook," Leo added.

"When is it," Eric asked.

"Seven."

He glanced at his watch. It was getting close to seven. They would have to leave now in order to get to the City Dome in time. The brothers were giving them a searching look.

"We'll be there in a minute," he said.

Leo shrugged as if to say, 'suit yourself,' while Mike smiled conspiratorially. The brothers disappeared down the path in the setting sunlight. Eric glanced at Kendrix and gently took her hand. She smiled brilliantly. He didn't want to start a relationship with her, but he would settle for the close ease that they already seemed to share.

"Should we go?" he asked.

The exasperated expression on her face was answer enough. He gently tugged at her hand and they headed down the path towards the City Dome.

To Be Continued...


Author's Note: End of Part Two... intermission... Part Three - Mike gets the bright idea that they all need formal ninja training and ridiculous-ness ensues. More of a mini-part than anything else.