Poison

Chapter Eight

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

Replies to reviews:

Jorgitosbabe: Well, here's the next chapter . Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked the last chapter

CamFan4Ever: Lol. Thanks for reviewing, and here's the next chapter

garnetred: You'll find out soon . I don't want to give too much away, but it's possible that there are some hints in this chapter. Anyways, thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

Author's Note: I'm currently listening to 'I Don't Like Mondays' by the Boomtown Rats, so be prepared for some possible bad moments in this fic

"Lia!" Cam ran after the neko, slightly surprised at how fast she could move. "Lia, wait! What's wrong? What's happened?"

"They're our enemies!" Lia called over her shoulder. Her foot suddenly caught on a tree root, and she stumbled and fell.

"Are you all right?" Cam hurried over to try and help her up, glancing behind him as he did so. He was mildly surprised that he couldn't see anyone, or anything.

"They haven't got here yet," Lia explained, almost as though she had just read the green samurai ranger's mind. "But most people can hear them, as long as they know just what they're listening for." She reached for Cam's hand to pull herself up, and then winced. "Ow… My ankle."

Cam looked worriedly at her. "You have to rest," he told her. "You can't run if your ankle's been hurt."

Lia shook her head. "I don't have a choice," she responded. "I have to warn my people." She reached for Cam's hand again.

Cam hesitated, and then his fingers touched hers, causing a sudden feeling that was almost like an electric shock.

Cam jerked, and snatched his hand back. It hadn't hurt. It had just felt quite strange, and Cam had no idea what it was.

Lia stared up at him. There was apparent confusion in her eyes, but whether it was because she had felt the shock as well, or whether she was surprised that Cam had pulled away from her, the green samurai ranger didn't know.

Cam took a deep breath, and grabbed for Lia's hand again. He was faintly relieved when there was no shock that time.

Cam pulled the neko to her feet, and slipped an arm around her shoulders in an attempt to support her.

"We have to go quickly," Lia told him, her voice shaking a bit.

"I know." Cam started moving towards the village as fast as he could while being hampered by a life-size neko.

After what seemed like an age, but was probably really only a few minutes, Cam and Lia got to the village. Lia's father came out of his hut, his expression concerned. He apparently suspected that something was up.

"They're here," Lia said, pulling herself from Cam and limping over to her father. She sounded scared, but also somewhat resigned.

"You probably brought them here somehow," Riana spoke up. Cam hadn't realised that she was there until she had said that.

Lia glared. "Why would I do that?" she demanded.

Before Riana could say anything to that, a group of lizard-like creatures started making their way into the village. They were carrying various weapons.

"Lia, Riana, get out of here," Lia's father said. He sounded calm, apparently not noticing the hostility between them. Or, more likely, noticing it and not really caring about it.

"No!" the two women exclaimed at the same time, and then glared at each other.

Cam's eyes narrowed slightly, something suddenly occurring to him. He looked closely at Riana and Lia, thinking that they seemed somehow alike, even though they disliked each other.

"No arguments," Lia's father ordered. He seemed about to say something else, but then jerked slightly as a loud bang was heard.

Cam felt a sudden pain in his chest, and looked down to see blood blossoming on his green shirt. He looked up in time to see one of the lizard-like creatures calmly lowering a weapon that looked like a gun.

Then, everything went black.

"What is it?" Hunter asked, speaking into his communicator.

"Bro, I'm being attacked." Blake sounded amazingly calm, though it could just as well have been that he was in shock. "I was being attacked by a black ranger… However, there's now a snake…" The navy thunder ranger was cut off from whatever he was about to say.

"Blake!" Hunter yelled into his communicator, really not caring if anyone else heard him at that moment.

Peter had come over as soon as he had heard Hunter's morpher go off, and he exchanged worried glances with Lila.

Hunter saw the glances. "What!" he demanded.

"Nothing," Lila replied immediately. She didn't particularly want to bring up the suggestion that maybe Blake had been poisoned. Hunter looked mad enough already and she was already on thin ice with him as it was.

"I'm going to go and check on him!" Hunter snapped. He looked hard at Lila. "Are you coming or not?"

"Um, I guess so…?" Lila answered. She didn't particularly want to go, though. Hunter looked mad enough that he might end up hitting her again if she said the wrong thing to him.

Hunter looked into the silver silk ranger's eyes, and made some attempt to calm himself down, seeing the slight flash of nervousness there. He turned his gaze onto Peter. "You can come too." It was a statement more than a suggestion.

"Sure," Peter replied, after shooting another quick glance at his sister. "You may need some help if the snake's still there."

"I really hope that it is," Hunter muttered, clenching his fists. He really wanted to fight. If nothing else, it would help to take his mind off everything that was going on.

"You're not taking off are you, Hunter?" Kelly asked, coming over with a frown. She gestured towards the customers in Storm Chargers. "I can't take care of all of these people by myself."

"Sorry, Kelly," Hunter responded. "Something's come up, and I have to go. I'll make it up to you, though. I promise."

Peter looked from Kelly to Lila and back again. "I'll stay to help," he volunteered.

Lila stared at her brother, but was prevented from saying anything as Hunter was storming out of the shop, and she had to follow him.

Cam was sitting on his chair at his computer, apparently having fallen asleep there again. He was slumped back with his mouth open, breathing only slightly.

Sensei, however, was worried. He had already tried to wake Cam up, and the green samurai ranger hadn't so much as stirred, which was very unlike him. The guinea pig thought that perhaps his son was sleeping too deeply. He had been looking tired quite lately, after all.

Still, Sensei was worried. If Cam was still asleep in a few hours, he knew that he would have to do something.

Dustin and Tori were rather surprised to see a third person appear near them – it was Blake.

"Blake, what are you doing here?" Tori demanded. "Not that I'm not happy to see you," she added quickly. "But still…"

The navy thunder ranger had a confused look on his face, and was looking around, appearing to be somewhat distracted. "I don't know," he answered Tori's question. "One moment, I was attacked by a strange black snake. The next…" Blake shrugged, and indicated his form.

Tori and Dustin exchanged glances. The same thing had happened to both of them, though they hadn't been thinking about it since they had given in to the change that had come over both of them.

"I hope Hunter's all right," Blake said, biting his lip worriedly. He looked at Dustin and Tori. "Are we dead?" He didn't sound angry or upset, just resigned to his fate, whatever that was.

"Actually, no," Tori replied. "We've… changed." The former blue wind ranger frowned slightly, trying to find the words to explain just what was happening, and then just shrugged. "Well, it's one of those things that you won't understand unless you've experienced it yourself."

Blake looked puzzled. "But… I don't feel any different," he protested. "I feel just like I've always felt… Apart from the fact that no one can see me, of course."

"Don't you feel like a part of your soul is trying to get free?" Dustin wanted to know. "Like it's tugging away from you?"

Blake frowned slightly. "Actually, now that you mention it, I do," he said slowly. He sounded a little scared.

"Let it go," Tori advised. "You don't need it anymore."

Blake hesitated for a long moment, looking from Tori to Dustin and back again. Then, with a slight shrug, he closed his eyes.

Cally suddenly realised that someone was following her back from the hospital. She frowned slightly, and then turned around.

Cally's eyes widened as she saw the black ranger who had attacked her earlier, and took a stumbling step back. "What do you want?" she demanded.

"You know." The voice sounded hollow, but also strangely familiar. The black ranger's gloved hands slowly raised to unclasp his helmet and remove it.

Cally stared as the black ranger's identity was revealed.

"Dustin?"

Read and review, please!

Sorry if this seems a little rushed…