AN: I want to make it clear that my Psycho Rangers are not the same ones from PRiS. Those were created from monsters and their human forms were only a disguise. My Psychos are humans infused with power from the Gems of Power. It's not a big deal, but don't try to draw too many comparisons because other than the way the Psychos fight amongst themselves there's not much in common between the original Psychos and mine.
Also, I'm sorry I didn't mention this before, but there is going to be a light splash of slash. I think anyone who pays attention will figure out who between. If you're someone who is against it, rest assured that it won't be an important part of the story. I honestly didn't think it would pop up...but I guess I just can't avoid it these days. It will be addressed in a chapter coming up, but again romance is not a main theme of this story.
I'm in sore need of a beat-reader. I have a friend who reads all my stuff, but she's not a rangers fan and she can't tell me if I'm getting characters right. If anyone feels like they're up for the job I'd appreciate it. Review, email, or catch me on AIM (icestorm2598) and let me know. Thanks!
Last but not least I want to thank those that have reviewed so far. I hope you like where the story is going.
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Crimson ducked as Red swung at him and swept his leg out in an attempt to trip him. Red easily leapt over the leg and made to kick Crimson in the face, but the other Psycho fell onto his back to avoid it. Red dropped his foot in an attempt to stomp the other's chest, but Crimson rolled and swept out his foot again. This time Red wasn't quick enough to jump and hit the ground hard on his back. Crimson lunged at the fallen Psycho, but Red met him with a kick to the chest that sent him flying back. The Crimson Psycho Ranger did a little roll and landed in a crouch, ready for Red's attack.
"Is that the best you've got? No wonder you were afraid to-."
Psycho Red cut Crimson off angrily. "I'm not afraid of anything. Not the rangers and certainly not you"
"Well, one of those things I can change." Crimson retorted with deadly calm.
"You guys talk too much" Psycho Blue complained.
"It's easier for him than fighting." Crimson taunted.
Red growled and attacked with several quick kicks, but Crimson blocked them all and managed to get to his feet. They traded attacks almost quicker than the eye could see, both trying to gain an advantage. Red shoulder tackled Crimson against a wall leaing his back open for an attack. Crimson laced his fingers together and brought his gauntlets down hard on Red's back. Red collapsed to one knee and Crimson made as if to knee him in the face, but Red blocked it and quickly rolled backward away from the attack. Crimson swung a punch at Red's face, but Red caught his fist and held it while throwing a kick at Crimson's chest. Crimson grabbed Red's leg with his free hand and threw his weight forward and pinned Red to the ground with ease.
"Now I'm the leader." Crimson snarled.
Red growled. The metallic echo might have scared someone else, but Psycho Crimson wasn't budged. "You're not fit to be a leader."
"I beat you." Crimson sneered.
"There's more to being a leader than that." Red continued.
Crimson sent a charge of energy through Red's body, laughing as his fellow Psycho arched in pain. "You want to keep arguing"
"Oh let the fool lead Dariv. When he fails you can take over again." Psycho Blue spoke up.
"Or maybe I can." Psycho Yellow spoke up.
Navy growled at him. "I wouldn't follow you if my life depended on it."
"You may not follow Zadan, but you will follow me." Crimson said, the meaningful look he gave Navy not completely lost behind the helmet.
Navy shot a look at Psycho Red. Red was still pinned to the ground by Crimson. Crimson had his hand firmly gripping Red's neck and it was clear that the latter wasn't getting back up. Navy trusted Psycho Red only a little more than Crimson or Psycho Blue for that matter. They were all power hungry warmongers but Red had the best instincts as a leader. Navy knew Crimson didn't have a clue how to be a good leader. Hell, Navy had better leadership instincts than Crimson, but he was only a follower. He knew he wasn't cut out to be a leader so he would have to make sure he followed the right one. He used his somewhat limited telepathic abilities that he and the other Psychos shared to send a brief message to Red before speaking aloud.
"Of course." Navy said simply.
Crimson eyed suspiciously. He knew better than to actually trust Navy. He didn't trust any of the Psychos not to stab him in the back. But he would make sure they understood who was leader. He would deal with them one by one.
"Then prove it." Crimson said. "The Navy and Crimson Thunder Rangers are alone and unmorphed. Come with me to show them the error of their ways."
Navy looked toward Red again. Go.
At Red's mental command Navy agreed and left with Crimson. Psycho Yellow helped Red to his feet and patted his teammate on the shoulder.
"Cheer up. We all know he'll make a lousy leader. Let's just let him find that out himself."
Red smacked Yellow's hand away with a growl. "If you don't want to follow him why didn't you stand up to him"
"Because it was fun to watch you two fight."
"Get away from me." Red spat out angrily. He shoved Yellow away and stormed out of the conference room.
Yellow looked at Blue. "What'd I say"
"You're a moron." Blue sneered, then followed in Red's footsteps.
Yellow stood in the empty room, his helmet hiding his satisfied smirk. They all thought him to be a fool. They didn't expect anything out of him except brutality and bluntness. They had no clue how shrewd and calculating he was. He couldn't wait to shove that in their faces.
ZzZzZ
Hunter watched as Blake landed his bike after a satisfyingly high jump and waited as his brother stopped where he was already sitting. They both left their bikes and walked in silence through a natural path in the forest out to an outcrop looking over the beach. It was their peaceful place to go and think when things got too heavy. Blake thought the ocean was beautiful and Hunter enjoyed the sound of the rushing water. They meditated there often and it was their place for deep conversations. They had spent more than a few nights watching the sun go down and the stars come out. It was their place to share as brothers and they never mentioned it to the other rangers.
"Those Psychos...what are we going to do about them Hunter" Blake asked as he sat down.
Hunter looked out over the water. "Beat them if we can."
"If"
"Look at what they did to Dustin." Hunter replied. "We can hardly even touch them let alone defeat them."
"I trust Shane and Cam to figure something out."
Hunter shot his brother a look. "What about me"
"That's a given bro."
"Right." Hunter didn't seem fully satisfied with the answer, but decided not to start something with his brother. They needed each other. "Cam I trust, but I'm not so sure about Shane."
"Oh don't start that again." Blake groaned.
"C'mon Blake he let Dustin take that hit."
"Dustin popped up before any of us could have stopped him." Blake argued. "Shane never would have let Dustin take that hit if he could have stopped him."
"I didn't see him try very hard."
Blake sighed. "Just leave it alone bro. Shane's torn up about it enough without you adding to it."
Hunter snorted, but didn't say anything more. An uncomfortable silence fell between the two brothers as they both watched the tranquility of the ocean. Hunter knew in his mind that if Psycho Navy tried to do anything to Blake that he would be there to stop him. He would never let anything happen to his brother the way Shane let something happen to Dustin. What kind of leader watched a teammate take a potentially fatal hit? He hadn't said anything, but Hunter had watched Shane freeze up and just watch as Dustin took the hit. If Hunter could have moved he would have had time to push Dustin out of the way. Shane had frozen and it had cost Dustin.
"Bro, I know you care about Dustin, but being mad at Shane isn't going to fix anything." Blake reasoned. "Next time those Psychos attack we'll make things right."
"Oh yeah? Well here's your chance little ranger."
Hunter and Blake didn't even have time to get up before they were grabbed by the back of their necks and thrown backwards. Both boys used their ninja training to twist around land on their feet. They fell into fighting stances and weren't too surprised to see Psycho Navy and Psycho Crimson standing in front of them.
"Thunder Storm, Ran-." Hunter was cut off as Psycho Crimson slammed him backwards into a tree.
"-ger form. Ha" Blake finished his morphing sequence and immediately went to Hunter's aid.
Psycho Crimson was surprised as Blake struck him from behind. He had assumed Psycho Navy would attack at the same time and face off with the younger Bradley brother, but that was obviously not the case. With a growl of annoyance Crimson turned and backhanded Blake hard enough to send the Navy Thunder Ranger sprawling across the ground. He kept a hand firmly around Hunter's throat as he looked toward Psycho Navy still standing where he had started.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing you idiot" Crimson roared angrily.
Psycho Navy was caught in another memory. He saw flashes of rangers. He heard screaming and explosions in his ears and felt a phantom pain shoot through his chest. It wasn't until Crimson blasted him that he finally came back to reality, flat on his back and confused about what was going on. He was a Psycho Ranger why did he have memories of rangers? Of him fighting with rangers and not against them.
"Get your head out of your ass and attack" Crimson barked.
Hunter quickly took advantage of the distraction. He grabbed a branch above his head and kicked Crimson full on in the chest with both feet. As Crimson went tumbling away Hunter morphed quickly and pulled his Thunder Staff, prepared to fight for his life. For the first time since Lothor started his whole attack Hunter actually feared for his life. The Psycho Rangers had proven they weren't like Lothor's monsters that never were much of a threat. The Psychos meant business.
Psycho Navy quickly got to his feet and pulled his quarterstaff. He found Blake easily enough and charged the Thunder Ranger as Blake helped Hunter against Crimson. Blake sensed the attack and instinctively held his staff behind his head to block the blow. He swung around and blocked another shot at his head before trying to land one of his own. Psycho Navy was quicker and within the span of a second he struck Blake four times before they locked weapons. Psycho Navy pushed Blake back until the Navy Ranger was against a tree. There he easily kept him pinned.
"Why did you let me morph" Blake demanded.
"It doesn't make me a better warrior to attack you when you are in a weaker state." Psycho Navy replied. "A true warrior would not fear a challenge."
"Hey! If that's a jab aimed at me I'm going to have to teach you a lesson" Psycho Crimson yelled as he bashed Hunter's Crimson Blaster away. He swung around and hit Hunter with the edge of the shield making the ranger slam into a tree. "When we get back to the ship..."
Navy wasn't phased by Crimson's obvious threat. He continued his fight with Blake, easily thrashing the Thunder Ranger all around the cliff. He watched in surprise as Blake's suit fell empty to the ground, but quickly recognized it as one of his ninja tricks. He started to turn around, but was shocked when Blake's Navy Antler locked around him and an extreme blast of energy made his suit spark. Then he was lifted off his feet and tossed over the edge of the cliff. Blake rushed to the edge to watch his enemy fall, but was surprised not to see the Psycho Ranger falling.
"Blake look out" Hunter's warning came too late.
Blake spun just in time to see a boot flying at his face. He stumbled back, flailing desperately to keep his balance, and then slipped. He fell for a few feet before he managed to catch his Navy Antler around an outcropping of rock. With wide eyes he looked down at the swelling ocean beneath him and whimpered a little. It was a long drop. One he was sure that even his ranger suit wouldn't save him from.
"Blake" Hunter roared part in fury and part in disbelief. That was enough. Nothing could have set him off like that.
"Well, I never would have expected you to kill your ranger first." Crimson told Navy. He looked toward Hunter and laughed at the obvious fury surging through his nemesis. "What's the matter ranger? Your teammate take a nose dive"
"I'm gonna kill you" Hunter bellowed and threw himself at Crimson.
Unfortunately, Crimson was ready for everything Hunter threw at him. The Psycho Ranger laughed mockingly at his attempts while batting away his Thunder Staff. Crimson smashed Hunter in the face with his shield and shoved Hunter toward the cliff. He followed with a kick to Hunter's chest that took him just a little closer to the edge. Hunter saw what was going to happen and quickly streaked away from the edge and right at Psycho Navy. He seemed to catch the Psycho Ranger completely off guard and managed to get in a pretty good beating before he was grabbed from behind. He spun around, ducking as he did and listened to the satisfying sound of Crimson hitting Navy with his shield. As his nemesis tried to kick his head he caught the leg and shoved his whole body weight up and then over in a brutal tackle that ended with him on top of a startled Crimson punching him over and over again relentlessly.
He was seeing red, both literally and figuratively, and he just couldn't control himself. Seeing his little brother go over the cliff was just too much. He couldn't even tell how much time passed with him fiercely pounding away on Psycho Crimson before he was pulled away and Blake's reassuring voice cut through his thoughts. Hunter looked up in a daze and found his brother's familiar ranger mask looking down on him and could almost feel the anger drain out of him. The adrenaline rush left as well and he didn't even fight as Blake pulled him away from Crimson's demorphed and prone form. He barely even noticed as the Psychos were teleported away or the fact that Shane and Tori were there. All he knew was Blake was safe and that was all that mattered.
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The first thing Crimson became aware of was that he was in the med room on Kalix's ship. The next was that someone very familiar was laughing and it wasn't a humorous sound. It was a mocking, degrading sound that snapped him fully awake. That was when he realized he was demorphed. He could still feel the raw power running through his veins, but demorphed he didn't feel as connected with it. He felt vulnerable.
"You got your ass beaten into the ground by that Crimson Rangers! I may have missed my ranger, but I certainly didn't let him beat me around" Psycho Red was nearly rolling on the ground with laughter.
Crimson, or Terik as he was known when demorphed, glared fiercely at Red. His helmet no longer hid his piercing gold eyes or the fierce tribal tattoo over the left side of his face. He was muscular, but not enough to be bulky or even enough to slow him down. He was tall too, but not lanky, and his feet halfway hung off the cot he was laying on.
"Lay off Dariv. Have some manners and leave the boy alone." Psycho Blue said, though it was clear she didn't really mean it too much.
Crimson growled. It was obvious he was going to have to make up for his loss at the hands of the Crimson Thunder Ranger.
More laughter drew his attention to Psycho Yellow, who was leaning against a counter. "You were the last one I expected to see go down at the hands of a ranger."
"Keep rubbing it in my face and see what happens." Crimson snarled.
Navy stood near the doorway watching with a hidden frown. He remembered a time when they would have cared about one another. When they started training to be a team they hadn't known each other. But they had become friends as they fought together to get through many different hardships. Sure Psycho Blue, or Aurias as Navy used to know her as, could be a little crazy and did horrible things when pushed, but she had become his friend. Zadan had been his best friend and they had pranked Terik more times than was safe. And Terik...Terik had been a big brother to him. Only Dariv had kept himself at a distance. Maybe the Red Psycho Ranger knew what was coming.
Navy wondered what had happened to change all of that. Was it actually getting the Psycho Powers? Or was it when Kalix had made Dariv the official leader of the team thoroughly pissing off Terik who had been working hard to impress their master. No, he was sure it probably happened when-.
"Hey silent and brooding boy. Why the hell didn't you stop the Crimson Ranger from beating me into the ground"
Navy was startled to find Crimson was right in his face. Morphed and all. He started to reply, but a fist to his helmeted face rocked him backwards. He nearly fell into the wall, but had the presence of mind to duck and dodge away when Crimson came at him again. He blocked several kicks until Crimson faked a roundhouse and instead swept Navy's feet out from under him. Navy hit the ground flat on his back and tried to roll away, but Crimson planted a foot on his chest and leaned forward, pushing all his weight down. The armor kept any damage from being done, but he was effectively pinned.
"Next time you see your leader go down make sure to do something about it." Crimson snarled.
"I was down too or did you forget bashing me in the face with your damn shield." Navy hissed furiously.
"Besides, do you really need the runt saving your ass? Are you that weak Terik" Psycho Red taunted.
Navy felt offended and grateful at the same time as Crimson turned his attention away from him and toward his rival. Crimson kept his foot pinning Navy to the ground as he turned to look at Psycho Red. Their helmets hid their faces but Navy was sure they were glowering at each other. There was going to be another battle for leadership soon.
"Oh grow up. You two don't have to fight every five minutes." Psycho Blue said.
"Yeah, we're supposed to be teammates." Navy spoke up. He regretted it immediately as all eyes fell on him. He mentally kicked himself. That was a thought he should have kept to himself.
"So what" Yellow sneered. "Do you expect hugs and flowers? Should it be all sunshine and butterflies between us"
At that the other Psychos laughed and Navy found it bitterly ironic that they managed to unite in order to mock him. "Of course not, but we don't have to be hateful to each other."
"You naivete would be cute if the word existed in my vocabulary." Psycho Blue sneered.
Psycho Yellow looked toward her, his mocking smirk hidden. "You just said it so obviously it's in your vocab."
"Shut up you before I show you that 'ass beating' is in my vocab too."
"Oh? Try it."
"Enough." Red barked.
Blue and Yellow paused and looked at their former leader. Crimson finally stepped away from Navy and approached Red. All humor was gone from his body language. He meant business. Navy scrambled to his feet just as Crimson rushed Red. Psycho Red didn't even have time to blink before he was slammed against the cabinets where medical supplies were kept.
"I'm the leader, got that? Do I have to beat that into you because I will."
The two glared at each other behind their helmets, but the heat and friction between them was obvious. Both were tense and ready to fight. It was clear violence could erupt at any moment and the other three Psychos watched with interest. Finally Red seemed to deflate a little and backed off.
"I got it, sir." Red spat a like it tasted bad in his mouth.
"Good. Everybody get some rest and be ready for a call to action. And no one is to go after a ranger without mine or Kalix's permission."
"Yes sir." The other Psychos intoned with varying degrees of respect.
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Shane settled himself beside Dustin's hospital bed and sighed deeply. Dustin hadn't so much as blinked since they brought him. A coma, that's what the doctor had said. Shane couldn't believe that Dustin was in a coma. One that the doctor said he might not come out of. Shane didn't believe that. There was no way Dustin wouldn't wake up. He had to. It just wasn't an option for him to stay in a coma.
Shane would never be able to live with himself it that happened. He already couldn't stand the thought that he had allowed Dustin to get hurt. What kind of leader, of friend, freezes up and lets his teammate, his best friend, get put in a coma? Tori obviously didn't think it was his fault. As far as he could tell she didn't even consider the possibility. Blake didn't seem to blame him either. The younger Bradley brother had flat out told him so and then given him a warning. Hunter did blame him. Shane wasn't surprised. Of all the rangers Hunter would have noticed him freeze up. Hunter noticed any mistakes Shane made when it came to being a leader and though things had started to lighten up between the two there were still times Hunter pointed things out.
Hunter had been giving him the cold shoulder accompanied by a death glare ever since the battle. Shane had tried to ignore it, but after Blake's warning he couldn't help but practically feel Hunter's glare burn his skin. It was so icy cold that Shane was reminded of the Crimson Thunder Ranger that had come after him, Dustin, and Tori in order to get to Sensei. Nothing could make Shane's skin crawl like Hunter's glare.
And that didn't help him feel any better. Hunter didn't have to say anything to make Shane feel worse. It was the fact that Hunter knew the truth and pointed it out with that look every time they were in the same room.
"I'm sorry Dustin." Shane said Dustin as if his friend could reply. He half expected Dustin to sit up in the bed with a big boyish grin and call him on falling for a prank. But Dustin didn't move. "I know I've said this already but it doesn't seem to be helping. I feel like it's eating me from the inside out. You're hurt because of me and I can't do anything to help you. Except this maybe. The doctor said you probably couldn't hear me, but I know that even if you can't hear my words you know I'm here. Maybe I can make up for what I've done by helping you now."
The monitors beeped and hummed. That was Shane's answer in the cold, sterile room. As expected he got no reaction from his comatose friend.
"At the risk of sounding like a complete sap and utter moron, please come back to us. We're falling apart without you." Shane said. "Tori is hardly sleeping or eating. She's in here more than I am as I'm sure you've noticed. Hunter and Blake seem to be split on whether to blame me or not and it's causing a lot of friction between them. And me? I don't know what I'll do if you don't wake up soon. I think even Cam misses you. He cares more than he wants to admit, y'know."
Shane looked up as he felt another presence enter the room. A nurse walked in with a clipboard, wrote a few things down, the regarded Shane with sympathy. "I'm sorry, but visiting hours are over."
Shane nodded and shot a brief look at Dustin. He wasn't sure how to say goodbye to someone who couldn't reply while the nurse watched on. He finally settled on a quick squeeze of the hand and then left. He knew he would be back tomorrow. He just hoped he wouldn't find the same thing.