Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait, everybody! I had a huge case of writer's block that lasted three months and a day (that's the exact date, no lying). But, now that I'm back on track, there should be no further delays. Anyway, this is one angsty chapter; you've been warned! Oh, and a thank you to everyone who's reviewed, you've inspired me. And a thanks to Manders1953 (go read her stuff; it's pretty awesome) for pushing me to keep up with this story, and for helping me work out a few plot kinks. Whoo-hoo! On to Chapter Five!
Disclaimer: See Chapter One.
The Trejo Explanation: I realize that this should've been here in Chapter One, but at least let me do it now to get it out of the way. For those of you who've noticed, Hunter's last name here is Trejo. This is because when I started writing this story, I didn't know just what his real last name was, so I used the one that I heard most commonly at that time, Trejo. I realize now that it's Bradley, but at the time I didn't have cable or an internet connection, so there was no way for me to tell (if you're telling me to watch ABC, my local station WJLA doesn't air PR for some strange, sick, twisted reason). I couldn't go back and change it, either, because to me it just didn't fit right. I've now admitted that that is his last name, so you all can leave me alone about it. And I also won't be changing his name in this story, for those who want to know.
Tall, Blonde, and Broody
by Froggie Lover
Chapter Five: "Setbacks"
Over the next few days, the Rangers' training was intensified. Sensei was taking no chances. He knew what Lothor was capable of, and now that he had a Ranger of his own filled with the darkest of energies, he was not about to leave anything up to fate. Since the encounter with Nikko, Sensei had noticed a distinct change in Hunter. No longer was there a listless or incomprehensible look in those eyes; now the ice blue orbs held a fire, a resolve that no force in this universe could shake. Something had given him a new mission. As to what, he could only speculate.
At the end of the day, even Cam (who normally stood for just about everything his father could dish out) was tired and ready to quit being a ninja. "Does this training regimen have to be so harsh?" he gasped after they'd finished.
Hunter took it in stride. He ignored the pleas of his teammates and seemed to ask Sensei for a tougher challenge. "It'll help us in the long run. We have to be prepared for whatever Lothor hands us. We can't let him win."
Dustin was taking in his breath in deep, abnormal breaths. Today had been endurance training, which definitely was no ninja's favorite. "Can't we worry about that when we actually have to fight him? I mean we don't even know what he might come up with. What if he rips us a new one, and all of this training would have been for nothing?"
Shane glanced between Dustin and Hunter. He couldn't understand Hunter's new resolve and toughness in training. He could, however, understand that something was amiss, and he knew how important this training was. "There's no way that the training would be for nothing. Even if Lothor does rip us a new one, it will somehow be connected to all that we've learned. Every ninja art is linked, even if we don't know it, it will at some point tie in to one we know. We just have to be able to hold for that long."
"A wise answer, Shane," Sensei replied. "That is where endurance comes in. Master it, and you will be able to withstand anything Lothor may have in mind. This you all must remember, my students."
They all nodded as he exited the room. Then, everyone turned to Hunter, staring blankly at him. "Since when did you root for harder training routines?" Tori asked.
Hunter sighed and sat down by the table. He definitely needed to mediate to clear his head. For some reason, training kept bringing up memories of Alexandra, and that usually threw off his focus. He didn't look at his teammates. "We have to be ready to face Nikko, Kutar, and Lothor. You know we're going to face all three."
Tori shook her head. "That line may work with Sensei, but I know there's a totally different reason why you're training harder. Something happened. Just tell us what."
"It doesn't matter," Hunter muttered before closing his eyes and attempting to zone out.
"Denial." Tori shook her head, staring at the mess of blond hair before going up the stairs, where the cold air hit her with a vengeance. Considering she was sweating from every pore, however, it felt good.
Blake watched his brother attempt to meditate. "Bro, she's right. There's something up. Have there been any developments with Alexandra?"
"You can tell us, dude," Dustin said, sitting down across the table from Hunter. "We promise we won't laugh or freak out or anything."
To no one's surprise, Hunter refused to answer. He just sat there, eyes closed and breathing deeply and evenly. Blake and Cam groaned in unison; Shane merely shook his head; Dustin didn't react, he just stared at the Crimson Thunder Ranger.
"I talked to her," Hunter replied quietly after a few tense moments. His eyes were still closed to the world, but he seemed to know exactly what his friends were doing. Perhaps it was some kind of ninja sense.
Cam blinked at his friend's response. "What?" he cried, his voice echoing through Ninja Ops. "What are you talking about? That's ridiculous! She's on Lothor's ship; you are on Earth. Communication is virtually impossible!"
"Virtually," Hunter reminded, his eyes finally opening. The world he saw was the clearest it had been since meeting Alexandra in the park that fateful day. With this new mission he'd set in his mind, nothing was obscure or indistinct to him. Even this looming battle with Lothor and Nikko seemed like something that was beatable.
Blake raised an eyebrow. "What the hell do you mean, 'virtually?' Bro, you better start giving some straight answers, or I swear I'm going to punch you."
"Mind if I second that motion?" Cam mumbled.
The eldest Trejo brother sighed and rolled his eyes. "She somehow established a telepathic connection with me, and we talked. Are you happy?"
Dustin, who always had been the comic book geek and considered himself an expert all that is either superhero or sci-fi, looked at Hunter with a new interest in his hazel eyes. "Telepathic connection? Wouldn't Lothor's ship have some kind of forcefield against that kind of thing?" he asked.
Everyone in the room was surprised, all raising an eyebrow at Dustin. If nothing else, they would've expected that question from Cam. Hunter could only shrug in reply. "You would think. But, there was a connection, and we talked until it was cut off."
The Yellow Ranger rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Which probably meant that a scanner picked up on the telepathic wavelengths and Lothor put up a forcefield to counter it."
Shane wasn't sure he'd heard Dustin (of all people) use so many big words in one sentence before. "Uh, so what did you guys talk about?"
Hunter took in a deep breath before answering that question, preparing himself for his own reaction to facing it head-on. "She basically told me what we already had figured out, and told me to not choose her over Earth. That was all she said before the connection was cut."
Cam leaned against a wall. "I wish she could've told you more. Maybe then I'd feel better about this whole upcoming battle with Lothor and Nikko."
Blake shrugged. "She probably knows just about as much as we do. It's not like she gets to hear all of Lothor's plans to the very last detail."
"Of course not," Shane said. "We wouldn't be that lucky."
"Oh no, never dude," Dustin laughed. He looked at Hunter. "She'd tell us if she knew anything though, wouldn't she?"
"Alexandra?" Hunter asked, simply wanting to hear her name out loud again. "Yeah, I'm sure she would. There's no reason for her not to do it. Us having the information could only help her situation."
Cam grimaced a bit. "Or, it could worsen her situation if Lothor found out that she was relaying important details to you." He quickly received a glare from the blonde.
Dustin checked his watch. "I'd better get over to Storm Chargers. Kelly's gonna freak if I'm late again. You guys wanna hang out?"
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to hang around here a little longer and train some more," Hunter answered.
"Well, you shouldn't train by yourself, so I guess I'll stay too," Blake said, sighing ever so slightly. His brother's new determination was getting just a little annoying.
"I'll go with you, D," Shane stated. "I don't think I could take any more training."
The two left and headed up to the surface. Hunter, Cam, and Blake went back to training, the latter two not as happy about it as the first.
The mood about Lothor's ship was a curious one. Everyone was preparing for a big battle against the Power Rangers, but something seemed…off. It was probably because Lothor was in a surprisingly good mood. That morning found the evil space ninja sitting on his throne on the bridge of the ship, watching some Earthen morning television on the large viewing screen on the opposite wall.
Nikko walked in to find this scene, and his eyebrows shot up in curiosity. "Earthen television? Isn't that just a little contradictory?"
"Why?" Lothor asked, not once looking away from the screen.
"Because you're enjoying entertainment of a planet that you intend to destroy," Nikko replied, grinning a bit.
Lothor shook his head. "I never said I would destroy it. I'm merely going to become the supreme ruler of it, which means I'll be keeping the entertainment, thank you very much. So, what of our prisoner?"
"She's under control," Nikko answered simply. "By the way, have you seen Kutar this today? I've been meaning to ask him something, as well as check on his progress."
The viewing screen shut off as Lothor looked up. "Come to think of it, he's been rather quiet this morning. I'll ask Zurgane if he checked in this morning."
It wasn't long before the general was called to the bridge of the ship. After being given an explanation of the situation, the black and gold pile of metal wouldn't look directly at Lothor. "Uh, sir, it would seem that I haven't heard from Kutar all day."
Lothor's upset yell resounded through the bridge and the nearby corridors.
Kutar stared at himself in the mirror, watching in horror as his eyes changed shades of blue in an instant. For a moment, they were a cold, piercing ice blue, and the next they were the same color, but the coldness had changed to a fiery passion. He felt the change within him as well. "This cannot be happening!" he yelled into his mind.
It's been years in the making, a voice inside his head replied.
The man on the outside blanched. It had been just over nineteen years since he'd last heard that voice. There was no fear within him about it, just dread. He was so close to his goal, and now everything was about to be jeopardized.
"Quiet you!" he said aloud, hoping the sound of his voice would get rid of the voice in his head. It was a hope beyond hope.
He won't allow you to kill the girl. He'll try to rescue her.
"That's precisely what I'm counting on," he answered, not sure why he was talking to himself. The outward manifestation was in hopes it make the voice leave him in peace. "If he does, I'll kill him too. "
I can't let you do that, the voice said with unbending resolve.
He breathed heavily in and out. Fighting with the voice was taxing on his body and mind. He hadn't counted on an inward battle. "What are you going to do about it? There is no way that you can possibly get rid of me! I am as much a part of you as that treacherous woman was, fool. You cannot stop me."
A pain ripped through his body. He groaned, but didn't back down. He had fought for too long, too hard to give up control now, just when his plan was in motion.
You are nothing but a leech that needs to be removed to me; I have all the reason I need now. Take a step near the boy with dangerous intentions, and no longer will you have control.
"Rubbish," he muttered, the pain still alive within him. "Nonsense! I will kill him and all that fight alongside him. This planet shall be mine, once I have used Lothor to his usefulness. You will have nothing to say about it!"
More pain hit him, and it all soon became a dull, never-ending ache. The strain the mental battle was putting on his body was beginning to manifest itself. He couldn't think straight; he couldn't even see straight.
I have more control than you think. Harm him, or even her, and I will return the favor. You have put yourself in a dangerous situation by being here.
The voice made its point by taking away all the pain quickly, then immediately adding more than ever before. The dull aching became a severe throbbing that went on forever, unending so long as the voice wasn't pleased.
The effect was that he could no longer stand. He fell back into his bed, clutching his body and moaning outright. Still, he refused to give in to the voice's demands. He had plans that he wouldn't give up on, that he couldn't give up on. He'd wagered far too much in this game to fold his hand and back away from the table.
I'm winning.
"Far from it, I'm afraid," he managed. It was a lie, but he wanted to believe that it was true. He tried to ignore the physical pain and focus on the internal struggle.
The doors to his chambers suddenly flew open to reveal an angry Lothor and a curious Nikko. "What are you doing still in bed?" Lothor asked.
At the appearance of the two evil ninjas, the pain in his body intensified, if that was possible, almost daring him to reply. So much restraint and control were put into his next words. "Just thinking. I was pondering over whether we have enough…resources to finish the operation. What do you think?"
Lothor's eyes narrowed underneath the mask. "I think the energy supply is fine. You could've at least checked in with Zurgane."
He drew in a few breaths before answering. "The matter was serious at the time."
The eye narrowing turned into a glare, and with that Lothor left the room. Nikko stayed behind, however, watching the king writhe on his bed for a moment. "You lied and Lothor bought it. How convenient. Do not cause any delays in the schedule. We are going to fight those Rangers, whether you like it or not."
The doors closed, leaving him alone again. The silence was unnerving; reminding him that he was alone in his struggle. "You haven't won yet."
That doesn't mean I won't.
The Trejo brothers arrived home later that night, both freezing from the still-strange weather. As Hunter ventured into the living room, Blake went into the kitchen and put the kettle on the stove. Searching around for the tea bags, he heard his brother doing something in the main room of the apartment. He peeked out to find Hunter pulling out a futon from the closet. "Um, bro, what are you doing?"
"I can't sleep in my room, so I'm going to sleep out here," Hunter replied rather frankly.
Blake raised an eyebrow. "Why can't you sleep in your room? Last time I checked it was just fine. What happened?"
Hunter sighed and laid out the futon. "I just…can't sleep in there. I keep thinking about that last conversation I had with Alexandra, and it drives me crazy." After sitting down on the couch, he scrubbed his face with his hands and looked up at his brother. "I just wish Lothor would get this battle over with already. I'm tired of waiting."
"We all are, dude." Blake sat down next to him. "But, obviously, Lothor intends to draw this out, either to make us antsy or to gather more strength to him. Either way, all we can do is just sit down and wait for something to happen. And you need to take a load off, dude. You've been training way too hard lately."
"I just want to be prepared," Hunter replied, looking away. He wasn't about to admit that Blake was at least partially right.
The younger brother shook his head. "Prepared? In training today, you were practically challenging Sensei to give us harder stuff. This is borderline insanity!"
"Look, I don't know if you recall that fight with Nikko or not, but he's powerful. We have to be ready for anything he dishes out."
"You handled him fine then."
"But, he'll be stronger the next time we face him. That means that we have to step up our game, unless you want to get your ass kicked?"
"Well, it's not exactly the first thing on my to-do list."
"See? That's why we have to keep training!"
Blake groaned. "Listen, bro, if you keep this up, I swear you're going to land yourself in the hospital. It's not healthy! Ever hear of the phrase, 'all things in moderation?'"
Hunter stood up and walked across the room, then spun around to look at his brother. "I doubt that's going to happen. Sensei has to be pushing us this hard for a reason."
The Navy Thunder Ranger didn't meet Hunter's gaze. He searched around the room for answer, something to give him some sort of leverage with his brother's dead-set will. "Just answer me this: Would you rather be in the hospital, incapacitated, before or after the battle?"
"I'm not going to end up in the hospital!" Hunter exclaimed, practically drowning in his denial. He never was good at admitting he was wrong. "The training will do good, trust me."
"Hunter, remember what Sensei Amino use to tell us? You have to maintain a balance in life, and right now you definitely don't have that. If you keep this up, I promise you bro, you will be in the hospital before we even get the chance to fight!"
The elder of the two was quickly running out of reasons and comebacks. "You're paranoid, dude."
"If you just tone down your training, you'll be fine. Why can't you see that?"
Hunter clenched his fists, trying to control his anger. He wanted to be prepared, to be able to kick Nikko's sorry butt when the time came, to be able to save Alexandra. Why couldn't Blake see that? "If I 'tone down my training,' I know that I'll be in the hospital after the fight."
"At least after the fight Alexandra will be safe."
That one hit a nerve. Actually it hit more than nerve; it hit a deep chord in Hunter's heart. Not wanting to lash out at anyone besides the enemy, Hunter threw himself down into the futon and turned his back to his brother. He tried to sleep, though it was kind of hard to do that with someone staring at you.
Blake hadn't realized he said the words until they were out of his mouth and putting his foot up his ass. His mouth tried to form words that would attempt to mend the blow he knew he'd dealt Hunter, but nothing came. So, he turned around and, figuratively speaking, hobbled to kitchen on one leg (as the other was preoccupied with another part of his body) to search for the tea bags.
Lothor sat on his throne in the bridge, apparently in deep thought. Zurgane had brought him a bottle of wine, but it sat unopened next to him. Nikko came in and opened it, feeling that no form of alcohol should ever go to waste.
"What's going through that practically empty head of yours?" Nikko asked, knowing that Lothor wouldn't really be listening to what he said.
"What?" Lothor looked up and was surprised to find Nikko. "I, uh, was thinking just how to go about destroying the Rangers, whether to do it on the ground, in the Zords…"
Nikko resisted laughter. "You are lying to the expert liar."
The much older evil space ninja glared. "All right, I was wondering about Kutar. Earlier he seemed quite…"
"Strange? Odd? Out of touch with reality?" Nikko supplied.
"All of those work." Lothor rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "But, that's not what I mean. There seemed to be a struggle, like he was fighting for control of his body."
Nikko paused mid-sip. "Fighting for control of his body? With what?"
"That's what worries me," Lothor replied. "We don't know just what he's battling with. Regardless of what it is, he's unreliable."
Zurgane decided to put himself in the conversation. "But, he's the only one who knows how to finish the powers, sir. Even if he is unreliable, we're stuck with him."
Lothor groaned as he realized the general was right. "Activate that surveillance camera in his room, then, if you're such a genius, Zurgane. My trust with him has ended."
"Yes, sir," the general said and left to do the task.
As Lothor stood up and started pacing, Nikko stared at the morpher sitting on his left wrist. He knew that it wasn't all that different from the one the Rangers wore, and that concerned him. If they looked similar, did that mean the powers were based from the same source? Or did Kutar just emulate the Rangers' powers? Both were possible. He had to find out, because the possibilities made him quiver with excitement, and would make the three years of torment worth the while.
Hunter tossed and turned on the futon, lost in a tumultuous sleep. Images floated through his mind, but he couldn't hold on to any of them. Numerous voices played in the background, but he couldn't catch the words. Everything was a blur, until at last he firmly grasped one of the images. It was the only one solid and stable enough for him to reach.
His mind's eye stared at it for a long time, trying to discern it amongst the mass confusion that was his head. Finally the vague image cleared to form something real and distinct. It was of a thin, lithe figure curled up on a bed, arms tightly clutched around its midsection. It remained silent, staring blankly ahead. If Hunter couldn't figure out what or who it was, he was given an answer when he noticed the long, silky black hair covering the figure's face.
Alex, he thought. But it wasn't the same person he knew. Something was different about her. Something had changed since the last time he had seen that face. He couldn't quite but his finger on it, because there was no physical manifestation of it. He just felt something was wrong, that something had happened to her. He didn't like that feeling.
For the longest moments of time, it seemed, he watched her just lie there. She hardly moved or did anything, not even shuffle around on the bed. Until now, he hadn't thought it was possible for any human being to be that still for that long.
Then, she shifted. Her head moved ever so slightly, inclined just barely towards the entrance to the room. Hunter realized that he heard the sound of almost nonexistent footsteps coming down the hallway. The whisper of the steps made it evident that the person was a ninja, and a damned good one, too. This was no novice walking down the corridor of Lothor's ship. Being that, Hunter had a bad feeling of who it was.
The door's slid open to reveal the exact person he was thinking of, much to his dismay: Nikko. He stalked into the room, looking quite the arrogant asshole that Hunter held him to be. His gaze passed over the room a few times, as if he was checking to make sure nothing was amiss. He stopped at the bed, and a scandalous grin crossed his face. If Hunter had thought it possible, he would've jumped through this invisible barrier and throttled Nikko on the spot. The look he was giving Alexandra was not one that pleased him.
"Good to see you haven't escaped," Nikko said, his eyes never once leaving Alexandra. "Not like you had anywhere to go, eh?" He sat down next to her and began softly stroking her cheek. It was sick watching him pretend to care for her. Maybe he did actually care, but the fact didn't lessen Hunter's hatred for him.
The most amazing thing was, Alexandra didn't move. She didn't shudder, flinch, or react in any way, shape, or form. It was almost as if she was immune to his touch. But Hunter knew that wasn't the case. She was probably just so far away from the world, so deeply embedded in her own mind, to notice what was going on. That fact hurt the most. Every last bit of him wanted to find a way into that room, stab Nikko just as he had stabbed him, and then make off with Alexandra. Too bad the world didn't work that way.
Suddenly, Nikko dropped any pretenses and pulled Alexandra out of her fetal position. Her head remained facing the wall, but that didn't seem to concern the dark ninja in the slightest. He straddled her hips, and his grin widened. As his hands began roving her body, the image went black.
Hunter's mental scream carried over into reality as he shot up from his futon. As his breathing slowly normalized, his mind was flying. So that was what making Alexandra put so much restraint in her voice when he had that telepathic conversation with her. She had been trying to hide the fact that Nikko was hurting her. His hands balled into fists, clenching and unclenching almost rhythmically as the many forms of cruel torture formed in his mind. One of them even ended with Nikko's head on a pole in the middle of his living room.
If his resolve had waned for any reason before, there was no chance that it would now. His drive to train harder, become stronger, and beat the living hell out of both Lothor and Nikko strengthened to a height he had never thought possible. That one scene had pushed him over the edge, and there was no turning back.
He stood up and kicked his futon out of the main walking area of the living room. He pushed the coffee table as far up against the couch as possible, and then returned to the center of the room. There was no way he was going back to sleep, so he did the only thing he could do that didn't involve teleporting onto Lothor's ship and attempt a rescue: run through some katas.
Blake woke up the next morning feeling extremely sore and definitely not ready to go through another day of Sensei's training regimen. He slowly sat up and winced as he felt his back pop in a few places. Getting out of bed was a challenge, because almost every part of his body was screaming with every move he made. By the grace of some sick, strange, sadistic god he made it to the kitchen. As he started up some tea, he realized that his brother hadn't been in the living room.
"Where could he be?" he asked the empty kitchen. He looked out to see the futon kicked aside, the coffee table pushed against the couch, and no sign of Hunter. He groaned, both from frustration and the fact that a pain in his lower back had just kicked up.
There was only one other possible place his brother could be, and that meant that Blake had to actually get dressed and teleport over there. He couldn't just lie in bed and pretend to be dead. Oh, no, never. He had to go stop his brother from going insane.
It was strange being at Ninja Ops at seven o'clock in the morning, Blake observed. It was quiet and almost serene, save for the heavy breathing and loud yells coming from the training area in the back. The Navy Thunder Ranger rolled his eyes. Did Hunter listen to anything he said last night?
Cam was walking out of a hallway that probably led off to the personal quarters. He looked at Blake suspiciously. "I'm trying to play dead. What are you doing here? And what's all this noise out here?"
Blake pointed towards the training area, and then recognition dawned across Cam's face. He sighed and headed in that direction, Blake not far behind him.
When they entered the room, Hunter was hard at work, having a little too much fun with a punching bag. He was probably imagining it as Nikko.
"Do you mind telling me what you're doing here this early? Do you want Dad to intensify our already extreme regimen?" Cam asked.
Hunter finished his routine with a nicely executed spin kick to the punching bag's midsection. He looked at his brother and fellow Ranger. "I'm just working out any kinks in my body yesterday's training might have left behind."
"Bull," Cam said pointedly. "If there any kinks, they're in your brain. Why aren't you sleeping like everybody else?" He could feel Blake glaring at him. "All right, like everybody else is supposed to be," he amended.
"All right. I'm getting a head start on training today. You know, prepping myself for whatever Sensei's going to dish out. I don't want to end up half-dead by the end of the day," Hunter answered, looking both Blake and Cam right in the eye.
Neither backed down.
Blake glared at his brother. "Dude, if I I've said it once--"
"Then you've only said it twice--"
"You've got to stop training so hard. You are going to land yourself in the hospital."
Hunter groaned. "Fine? You want me to rest? I'll rest!" He sat down on the floor against a wall and started to meditate.
The youngest one sighed in frustration, and then stormed out of the room. "It's hopeless," he muttered as he brushed past Cam.
Cam shook his head. "You know that's not what he meant." He sat down across the room from the Crimson Thunder Ranger. "Go back home and get some more sleep. Your body will thank you for it, trust me."
"I'm fine," Hunter protested. "Besides, even if I went home, it's not like I could sleep. Feeling bruised and broken in reality is still a hell of a lot better than being inside my head."
"Whatever you say." Cam shifted into a meditating position. "Just don't pass out in the middle of training, all right? Then even Dad would send you home."
"I won't pass out." Then, Hunter closed his eyes and began meditating, hoping his thoughts wouldn't be filled with the visions from last night.
The other Rangers walked into the training area a couple hours later to find both Cam and Hunter still meditating on the floor. Neither had moved a muscle since they started. Dustin was convinced they were both asleep, until one of them started talking.
"Glad to see you finally showed up," Cam said. "You get a call from Blake?"
Shane jumped out of his skin. "Uh, yeah. I think all of us were planning on playing dead today. Too bad we didn't get to."
Cam opened his eyes and pointed to Hunter. "He was here at seven. I swear he's gone crazy. Well, crazier than usual."
"I resent that," Hunter said, not opening his eyes.
"Well at least he's sitting down, and not trying to kill himself," Blake muttered. Then, he raised his voice so everyone could hear him. "Come on guys, Sensei wants to run through a simulation today."
"Great, I love simulations," Dustin commented, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Whenever he heard the word he always remembered the atrocity that was their first assignment to try and grasp the true idea of teamwork.
Tori frowned. She too was reminded of their early days as Rangers. "Knowing Sensei, it's probably more endurance training."
Cam smirked. "Let's hope that this time Shane remembers to defeat the Kelzacks first, then go after the scroll."
"Hey!" Shane exclaimed, feigning hurt pride. "It almost worked."
"Yeah, sure."
"What?"
Hunter could only grin. Well, at least being a Ranger meant you never got bored, even if it did mean those you love the most are put within an inch of their lives and their sanity. "Come on guys, let's go in there before Sensei starts doing that thing with his nose again."
Shane spun around. "Hey! That's my line!"
"Not anymore, Hawk Boy," Hunter replied, his grin widening.
Blake shook his head and watched the scene. If there was something wrong with his brother, he sure knew how to hide it from everyone else.
"Man, you are so lucky you aren't dead right now."
Hunter shrugged off the comment. It seemed that all day he'd been receiving death threats from Blake. At first, he'd try to prove his brother wrong, but the younger one always seemed a step ahead of him. So, that made it clear that denouncing the threats was futile in the highest sense of the word. Instead he ignored. The strategy was working thus far.
"Damn it, bro, for once will you stop and listen to me? If you don't give yourself a break, it wouldn't surprise me if you end up in the ICU before this is over. You've got to stop. You're doing more harm than good."
He snapped. He wasn't sure why, but something inside him shifted. "You don't know what you're talking about! You haven't seen the stuff I've seen, or been through what I've had to deal with."
Blake narrowed his eyes. What was going on that he didn't know about? "Maybe if you would tell me--"
"You know what, man, just forget I said anything." Hunter took in a deep breath and then let it out, and with it went some of his anger and frustration. He glanced towards the kitchen. "Are you gonna make that tea or what?"
The younger one stared at his brother for a moment longer. He turned on his heel and walked into the kitchen. Well, at least this time he had both feet on the ground. He searched around the upper cabinets for some tea bags and found a box he hadn't realized was there before. He carefully pulled it out and examined the label. To his surprise, it was a box of sleeping pills. Why would they have sleeping pills in their kitchen cabinet? He didn't recall ever buying them or having the need to buy them.
He checked the expiration date on the bottom of the box, and apparently they were still good. So, he took out two cups (one with dark red designs, the other with navy blue ones; this of course was an unconscious decision) and put two pills at the bottom of the cup with dark red designs. If there was any time that Hunter needed an intervention, it was now. The only other time he could think of that was worse than this was when Hunter was under an alien mind warp and they were all trapped on Portico Island. But at least then Blake knew that the spell could be broken. Now…the hopes of that were very, very slim.
There was silence coming from the living room. Blake leaned back to see Hunter just sitting on the couch, staring idly at the floor. He would've killed to be able to see into his brother's head. It would make this whole ordeal easier, that's for sure. He shook his head and went back to making the tea.
Hunter could hear his brother in the kitchen. Why did he always have trouble finding the tea bags? If they were always in the same spot, what was hard about retrieving them? He shook off the pointless thoughts. Even during such a traumatic and strange time, his mind acted no different. Thoughts always went left and right, appearing and disappearing at will. He was starting to hate that.
After the kettle had given an earsplitting whistle, and some bangs as Blake scrambled to stop the noise, the Navy Thunder Ranger walked out to the living room and handed Hunter his cup. He hoped the boiling water had dissolved the pills, and if not, that the dark color of the tea that was seeping into the water would cover them.
To his relief, Hunter didn't look at the cup as he stirred around the tea bag to get the flavor spread out. The tea was pretty sweet on its own, so it really didn't need any sugar. Blake had added some honey just in case.
"Ya know, I think Sensei has started to notice that you're going through some kind of psychotic episode," he said, continuing to watch his brother.
"It's not a psychotic episode," Hunter insisted. He checked his tea and dared to take a sip. He made a face as the hot liquid hit his tongue and the roof of his mouth. He definitely hadn't waited long enough for it to cool off. "I'm just working harder than usual."
Instead of retorting, Blake let him win. He figured it would be easier if he didn't do anything that would make Hunter suspicious.
Of course, this plan of "just taking it" immediately roused curiosity within Hunter. Since when did his brother so easily drop subjects or give up on his tirades? "All right, what's going on? What are you planning?"
Blake jumped. Damn, how did he do that? "I'm not planning anything." He tried not to look nervous, but he still had the feeling that Hunter could see through him anyway. As long as he didn't discover what was hidden in his teacup, everything would be fine.
Hunter raised an eyebrow. Denial meant something was up. If he was trying to pull some kind of reverse psychology or whatever, then he was failing miserably. "Seriously, dude, what are you up to?"
"Nothing." Blake shifted. He hated being on the other end of the interrogation. He avoided looking Hunter in the face, knowing those ice blue eyes did dangerous things, like make just about anyone tell the truth through intimidation.
"Nothing," Hunter repeated. He shook his head and downed the rest of his tea, not really caring that it burned his tongue. He stood up and stared at his brother from across the room. "You can stop lying right now. Something is up, just tell me what it is."
Blake's mind raced to come up with an answer that wouldn't give away his plan but would also be partly true. Hunter wouldn't buy another lie. "I'm just tired of fighting, all right? If you want to keep training this hard, I'm not going to stop you. I just hope you don't expect me to drag you to the hospital when this is over."
"Will you stop insisting that I'm going to end up in the hospital?" Hunter yelled. Suddenly, he felt strange. His eyelids felt heavy, and the futon behind him was inviting. He fought the urge to fall over. Why was he tired all of a sudden?
The younger brother shrugged and watched as Hunter swayed on his feet. A smirk crossed his face, but he tried to hide it. Those must have been some pretty powerful sleeping pills. He'd have to check the milligram count later.
Hunter was definitely not happy about this sudden change in events. And now Blake was smirking? He narrowed his eyes and struggled to keep his footing. So this is what had been going on. His brother had drugged his drink. Well, didn't that make him feel special?
Blake got up from the couch and walked over to Hunter. His smirk turned into a grin, mostly because he could tell that his brother was about to fall over at any minute. So, he helped the process along.
With one light but forceful poke, Hunter collapsed back onto the futon. Blake's grin widened. "Night, bro." He went into the kitchen and checked the box for the sleeping pills. The milligram content was pretty high. Hope it doesn't kill him, he thought. With another shrug, he went into the linen closet, grabbed out a blanket, and tossed it over Hunter. There was a slight spring in his step as he walked back to his bedroom. The little brother had won.
Hunter woke up the next morning feeling rather groggy. Last night was a blur. He remembered arguing with Blake about something, drinking some tea, and then…nothing. His brain was in a fog. He hated not being able to think straight, not being able to control his mind.
"Another reason to hate Lothor," he muttered, as he was reminded of the alien mind warp and Lothor's deception towards him all those months ago. He had a feeling, though, that his current mental ailment had nothing to do with Lothor. Well, almost nothing.
He looked around the living room. It was empty, and there were no sounds coming from anywhere else in the apartment. That meant that either he was alone, or Blake was too dead to the world to care that he was awake. With a groan he sat up, and he finally noticed the cup sitting on the coffee table. The fog in his mind cleared a little, and he began to remember the details of last night. He glared at the cup and began the arduous task of standing up.
The task turned out to be not quite as arduous as he had previously thought. Something about getting a full night's sleep and then some had loosened up his muscles, and he almost felt back to normal. All right, so maybe Blake had a point, but that didn't mean he had the right to go around slipping sleeping pills into his friends' drinks at will.
While contemplating what method to use when killing Blake, Hunter showered and got dressed. He decided to forego drinking or eating anything from the kitchen, just to be on the safe side. He teleported out to Ninja Ops to find everyone already there and hard at work.
Shane and Cam were sparring, Tori was practicing a new kata, and Blake was helping Dustin with some shadow battle techniques, which didn't change much between the two ninja arts. Hunter blinked. How long had he slept?
"Well, look who finally decided to show up," Cam said, grinning.
"What took you so long, dude? We thought you were dead or something," Dustin commented after casually evading a hit from Blake, successfully utilizing a shadow battle move.
Blake didn't say anything. He only smirked. This had to be a form of blackmail, Hunter mused. "Just overslept," was the reply the Crimson Thunder Ranger gave. He took a spot across the room from Tori and fell into a defensive position. He started through a kata he had learned when he first started attending the Thunder Ninja Academy. He wasn't sure why he chose it, or even why he used it so often. It always stuck out in his mind, which was probably due to the fact that he had fallen on his first attempt to do it, and the face of the person who had helped him stand was one he would never forget.
He remembered her long, silky jet-black hair fluttering in the gentle autumn wind, the smirk on her lips when she went to help him up. Sunlight had glinted off the onyx and silver amulet around her neck, the light color a dire contrast to the nondescript black of her ninja uniform. Each of these details, and many more, fueled every step, punch, and kick in the kata. At this point, memories were his lifeblood, memories of happiness, anger, regret, and sometimes hate. The latter usually involved Nikko and his senseless antics.
By the time he had come back to reality, he realized that he must've gone through the kata at least three times, because everyone else was doing something completely different. Hunter decided to start up another kata, figuring the change of pace would keep his concentration. Before he could, however, his vision faded for a moment. He shook his head. For some reason, he felt more tired than he should have.
His behavior caught Sensei's attention. "Are you all right, Hunter?" A look of concern crossed the guinea pig's face. His words, of course, called him to everyone else's interest.
If there was anything Hunter was known for outside of his ninja skills, it was being stubborn. He would eternally deny any charge against him that he didn't want to admit was true, most especially in cases where it was in his best interest to do so. "I'm fine," he answered. "Must have come off that last move funny."
Sensei furrowed his eyebrows. He could feel that something wasn't right here.
Hunter could feel everyone watching him, their eyes burning holes into his back and sides. He felt like he was under a microscope. He sat down for a few moments to appease his onlookers. He hated being stared at. He thought for a second. He was being seriously negative today. Then again, he didn't have a whole lot to be positive about, so why should he lie to himself about it?
With a deep breath, he stood up again and got into the ready position for the next kata. This one was one he'd learned from Sensei not long after he joined the team, but there were still a few kinks to work out. That's what training was for.
It started out fine. He was slightly off in the transition between a couple moves, but other than that it was good. Slowly things started to deteriorate from there. His punches began to veer off course by a couple inches (a definite danger sign), his blocks weren't quite meeting the mark before he moved on (something that, in battle, would've gotten him killed), and kicks lacked their normal power and height.
Blake noticed it first. He wasn't sure what was going on, but it didn't look good.
Most of the others weren't looking closely enough. Cam saw the inaccuracy of Hunter's punches and almost blind execution of his kicks. Normally he would've blamed it on poor technique, but he knew well that Hunter was better than that.
Hunter finally admitted the glitch when one of his steps faltered completely, and he almost fell. He hadn't fallen in the middle of kata since he first attended the Thunder Ninja Academy, so he knew that it wasn't his skill that was failing. There was something physically wrong with him. He felt dizzy and out of breath. His vision faded in and out again. He tried to steady himself on the nearby wall, but his hand slipped, and it almost cost him his footing. His stomach twisted into knots and what little vision he had spun.
A female voice called in his ears as his gaze started to fade out. The last thing he saw before the pitch black darkness was Blake's concerned face running closer as shouts erupted in Ninja Ops. He fell back and hit the floor with a thud.
Blake knelt by his brother's side. He shook Hunter violently, looking for some kind of reaction. "Bro, wake up!" He wasn't sure whether to start crying or be seriously angry. It was probably a little bit of both.
Tori was on the other side. She grabbed Hunter's wrist and was relieved to find that there was a pulse. "He's still alive."
"He merely passed out, it looks like," Cam said, shaking his head.
A form of denial entered Blake's head. He continued to shake Hunter in hopes that it would be enough to revive him. "Come on, bro, shake it off!" Those were the same words he'd said to Hunter on Portico Island when he was still under the alien mind warp. It hadn't worked then…and it still didn't, apparently.
Shane put a hand on Blake's shoulder. "We've got to get him to a hospital. He'll be all right, dude. Don't worry about it."
Reluctantly, the Navy Thunder Ranger stood up. Dustin and Cam hoisted Hunter up and carried him out of Ninja Ops on their shoulders. Shane followed them. The two blue Rangers stayed behind for a moment longer.
"He'll be all right," Tori repeated, taking Blake's hand into hers.
A small, but genuine, smile showed itself on his face. "I know he will."