This story is a collaboration between Cmar and MzDany. While it is action/adventure, it also contains slash, in the form of Wes/Eric and Cam/Hunter. It's based on background events in MzDany's C/H slash series and Cmar's 'Red Fire' slash series.
It was another beautiful day, the sky a clear blue laced with fleecy clouds, the sun bright and warm, the brisk sea breeze carrying a hint of the autumn to come. Eric leaned against his car hood and scanned the highway before looking out over the water. He was first, but Wes should be there soon, with Cam and Hunter. Hopefully before the other Time Force Rangers arrived; he really didn't want to be stuck making conversation with them alone. In fact, he wasn't all that crazy about seeing Jen again at all - the woman he had once been so jealous of, and who now had reason to be jealous of him, even if she was back with Alex again.
He sighed, shoulders slumping slightly, as his thoughts returned to Cam and Hunter. If only the two of them hadn't chosen to come knocking at his door at exactly the wrong time, telling that ridiculous story... Well, their story was true, but it was still ridiculous. He hadn't been fair to them, but still... Why was it that Wes never got mad about these things? Wes always found it so easy to get along with people, while Eric always somehow found it so hard.
With another sigh, he shrugged. He was what he was, and that was unlikely to change. Maybe that was one of the reasons Wes and he were somehow such a good match, because opposites attract... in which case he wouldn't want to change.
It was only another few minutes before Wes's car pulled in from the highway and parked. Eric watched as the three of them got out, and the four Rangers met where the ground began to slope down to the sand and the water's edge.
"Any sign of them yet?" Wes asked.
"Nope." Eric looked the two ninjas over. "Had a good night's sleep?" he asked, his voice half-heartedly friendly.
"Yeah," Cam nodded. "Biggest bed I ever slept in." Not to mention incredibly comfortable. At first, Cam hadn't believed he would be able to sleep, as tightly wound as he was from worrying about his father and friends, but only moments after Hunter had snuck into his bed from the other guest room, the two of them had drifted off to sleep – wiped out from the events of the day.
"And getting cheeseburgers and fries served from under a silver dome by a butler in a suit made dinner a lot more interesting," Hunter said with a grin, bringing a soft snicker from Wes.
"What are we waiting for, exactly?" Cam asked.
"A timehole," Wes told him. "It looks kind of like a hole in the sky. It's a tunnel through time, and they fly through it in a ship. There's this kind of beam they use to open it up-"
"You mean like that?" Hunter asked, pointing.
"Nice timing," Eric commented, looking up.
A black and purple splotch had appeared over the ocean, rotating slowly like a whirlpool. It expanded rapidly, its center seeming to deepen and open into a passageway shot with sparks of multicolored energy. As they watched, a ship, round except for a funnel-like tail, sped out and veered into a circle overhead, slowed, and finally swooped in for a landing. As Cam raised his eyes again, the timehole shrank and disappeared.
Wes was grinning and started forward to greet his friends and former teammates as they began to emerge. Eric hung back, watching. Cam and Hunter just stared, awestruck. A ship which had just traveled from a thousand years in the future sat before them on the sand, five people in white jumpsuit uniforms trimmed with black emerging, small blasters strapped to their hips. A tall, brown-skinned woman was first out, grabbing Wes in a powerful hug. They recognized Trip with his green hair, then saw another Asian man, very handsome and smiling in an easily confident way.
"That's Katie and Lucas," Eric said. "You remember Trip. And - that's Jen."
A pretty brunette with a hint of awkwardness in her smile had appeared, holding hands with a dark-haired man whose face made Cam blink in surprise.
"Who's that?"
"That's Alex, the first Time Force red Ranger. Now they've made him the black Ranger. Yeah, it's kinda weird the way he looks like Wes, isn't it?"
"I'll say," Hunter commented. He glanced at the slight frown on Eric's face, a smirk curving his lips. "Hey, these guys were your friends, weren't they?"
"Well, sort of. I guess."
"Aren't you glad to see them? Why don't you - you know, smile or something?"
Eric gave him a disdainful look. "I am smiling."
The Time Force Rangers were approaching now. Eric nodded to them, shook hands with Lucas, Trip, Alex, and Jen, and even accepted a hug from Katie. Then Wes introduced the two ninja Rangers. Finally, the amenities taken care of, they got down to business.
"Our main concern is Frax," Alex said. "He doesn't belong in this time. However, it seems likely that his interference is connected to Lothor becoming active again. We have to stop both of them and recover your friends and family."
"I brought the trizirium crystals," Trip announced. He knelt on the sand and set down a small case he had been carrying. A large, softly glowing golden crystal was revealed when he opened it. "This should work, I hope..." He looked up. "I need your morphers."
Cam raised his hands and slowly lifted the loop holding his amulet over his head, suddenly apprehensive. Hunter beat him to it, removing his morpher from his wrist and holding it out. "Try mine first. Just in case," he said with a glance at Cam.
Trip lifted the crystal out and placed it into a frame on the top of a small device which held it over a slot-like opening. Then he took the morpher and slid it inside. Muttering, "Here goes," he pressed a tiny button on the side. There was a low humming, and then a flare of light, bright enough to make them all blink.
"Is that it? Did it work?" Hunter asked.
"The morpher absorbed the crystal's energy." Trip looked up at him as he took it out, apparently undamaged. "Everything looks okay, according to the instruments."
It was Cam's turn. "This was my mother's," he said, holding his amulet out reluctantly. "Be careful with it."
Trip nodded, repeated the process, and silently gave it back. Cam put it on, and exchanged a look with Hunter, who had his morpher back on his wrist. Reaching an unspoken agreement, they both nodded and moved away a few steps.
"There's only one way to find out for sure if they work," Cam said.
"Right." Hunter took a deep breath and raised his arm. "Thunder Storm! Ranger Form!"
"Samurai Storm, Ranger Form!"
There was an echo of thunder as lightning seemed to envelope both of them in a brilliant flash of energy. Two suits materialized from thin air onto their bodies, leaving them transformed, Hunter in crimson and black, Cam in green. They both looked down at themselves and then at each other. Wes grinned and grabbed Eric's shoulder. Katie and Trip cheered. Cam and Hunter, Rangers again, took a step closer together to clasp hands, and then hugged in celebration.
"Didn't think I'd ever say this, but... it's good to be back in spandex!" Hunter exclaimed.
Eric's critical eye ran over the Thunderstaff strapped to Hunter's back. "No blaster? No sword?" he asked with the familiar sarcasm. "Just a stick?"
Hunter's helmeted head turned towards him. "Anytime you wanna take me on, I'll show you just what this stick can do."
Wes stepped in between them. "Guys, can we draw up some rescue plans for the others first, please? Then, after we've got them back, you can beat each other up all you want."
After the minor challenge of transporting nine people plus Trip's equipment in two cars, they reassembled in the comfort of Wes's living room with Philips, the butler, doing his usual flawless job of quietly making food and coffee appear while ignoring what he must have considered a strange conversation. Wes smiled as he glanced around the room. Alex and Jen were sitting side-by-side on one sofa, he and Eric on the other. Trip and Katie were on a loveseat in the corner nearby; Lucas was looking comfortably relaxed in a recliner. Cam and Hunter had taken a pair of armchairs and were saying something to each other, heads bent together with the familiarity of old friends. Or lovers.
And he had noticed something else. They hadn't said anything, but... Wes caught Jen's eye. "Nice ring," he said, with a glance at her left hand.
"Oh..." She held it up to gleam golden in the light, her expression a mixture of happiness, pride, and a touch of embarrassment. "Alex and I got married a month ago."
"Yeah? Congratulations! That's great!" Wes grinned, trying to ignore the small and illogical stab of envy and perhaps even jealousy that jabbed him.
"Thank you," Alex said, his face when he looked at Jen softening into an expression much warmer than Wes had ever seen from him. He took her hand in his and murmured, "I guess the third time was the charm for us."
"How about you two?" Katie asked, smiling at him and Eric. "You look like you're still making each other happy."
"Uh... Yeah, we're doing fine," Wes said. He could almost feel Eric's glare from beside him, and he could see the flash of curiosity in Cam's and Hunter's faces. The glance Katie gave him was apologetic; she must have remembered that in 2005, unlike her own time, being gay was still something many people had reason to keep quiet.
To his relief, Alex stepped in to change the subject. "Let's get down to business. Do any of you have any idea where Frax and Lothor could be hiding?"
They all shook their heads. "We destroyed Lothor's ship over a year ago," Hunter said. "And we already looked in the last place he used."
"You guys took Ransik's prison ship back to your time four years ago," Wes said. "I guess Frax could be using an empty warehouse or abandoned building, but it could take weeks to search them all. We don't even know what city they're in."
"And neither of them is a mutant," Lucas said thoughtfully. "Our detectors won't pick them up."
"I wonder what Frax is up to this time?" Jen asked.
Wes shook his head. "We don't know. I mean, he was really a man once, wasn't he?"
"Dr. Fericks," Katie said, nodding. "Nadira told us about that. He hated Ransik for destroying his human body."
"So he had a reason for wanting revenge on Ransik, and on mutants. But he attacked all of us, too, and the whole city of Silver Hills. That didn't make sense."
"So if he didn't make sense then," Eric said quietly, "he probably makes less now. We have no idea what he's after. He could be just working for Lothor for some reason."
"Well, we do know what Lothor wants," Cam said. "He wants revenge on all of us. On my father for finding out he was using dark magic years ago, on the Wind Ninja Academy for banishing him into space, and on all the Rangers who fought and defeated him."
"That's why he kidnapped your friends," Alex said.
"Yes. But he didn't get Hunter, and he didn't get me. Not yet." Cam's eyes turned up to them with a grim smile. "And I have an idea. I think we should give him what he wants."
After receiving a round of puzzled looks, Cam reached for the green backpack sitting next to his armchair, pulling his laptop computer from it. A moment later it was booting up on top of Wes's living room table. He had insisted on a quick pit-stop to retrieve a few things from Ninja Ops before returning to Silver Hills, one of those things being his laptop; the others were the rest of the powerless Wind and Thunder morphers, which he also took out.
He typed several commands into his keyboard and a moment later there was movement next to him, then a familiar, not to mention pouty, voice.
"Lemme guess: it's either Christmas, someone's birthday, or there's a major crisis. It's not like you ever activate me anymore otherwise, dude."
Cam grinned.
Mesogog's Island...
"Waiting. Years of waiting, during my exile in space. Years of planning, only to have it all destroyed by the Rangers and my accursed brother. Months trapped by that lizard, Mesogog, waiting to be released and restored to my normal size. I'm sick of waiting!" Lothor slammed what looked like a roll of paper down on a worktable in their underground 'factory', snarled, and turned to pace across the room.
Frax did not sigh, since he was not human, but perhaps some small part of him wanted to. He had begun to find Lothor's speeches tiresomely predictable. Worse, they had nothing to do with the destruction he craved.
"And now, waiting for my revenge, for the chance to make my brother wish he had never gotten me banished into space... but nooooo, the last two former Rangers still elude my grasp." Lothor reached out, fingers curling as if to crush his absent enemies. "And there's my numbskulled nieces, Marah and Kapri. They turned on me, too, and joined that inane ninja school. I think I'll leave them there; no doubt they'll destroy what's left of the Academy with their sheer stupidity, with no help from me." He paced back, picked up the cylinder of paper and waved it in Frax's direction. "I have waited too long to use this again!"
"What is that?"
"This is the Scroll of the Dark Ninja Powers." Lothor sighed reminiscently. "I once used those powers to turn my brother into a guinea pig."
"The brother who is now your prisoner? He looks quite human to me."
Lothor waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, well, the spell somehow got broken or wore off. How was I supposed to know these things come with expiration dates? Anyway, after refreshing my memory, I now think I can turn them all into any critter I choose. They could all be guinea pigs for a few weeks, and when I tire of that, I'll turn them into something else - maybe rats or hermit crabs..."
"There are more effective methods of revenge."
Lothor rolled his eyes. "Let me guess: Destroy! Don't you ever want to do anything more creative? I think keeping Sensei Guinea Pig and his multicolored minions around to torment will be much more entertaining than mere destruction. Maybe I can teach them to run mazes, or sit up and beg..."
Frax ignored his words. There were more important things to consider than Lothor's petty revenge. They had a city to destroy, and he had completed the tool to do it. "There is no need to wait. It is finished," he said.
"Uh? What's finished?"
"The zord. The robot we will use to destroy."
"Oh, that. Right, that's nice. As soon as I've captured my treacherous nephew and that other traitor, the crimson one-"
"We are ready to destroy."
"-They're bound to return to the Academy sooner or later. Hunter Bradley teaches at the Thunder Academy; he won't neglect his duties forever-"
"We must destroy."
"-And when they do, I'll be ready. Ha, yes, I'll be ready, and they won't have those two other Rangers to hide behind this time-"
"If you had brought the required materials from your previous hideout, I could have constructed a zord for you as well, but since you failed..."
"It was only because of the blasted Rangers! If they hadn't showed up, I'd have both my zord and the last two ninjas!"
"We could both have been ready to destroy."
"You have rather a one-track mind, don't you? Where was I? Right: I don't know where those two came from - this part of the world seems to have Rangers crawling out of every nook and cranny-"
"We must begin to destroy."
"-And these ones were just like the rest of them... Of course they had their own little battle cries, just like all those ridiculous do-gooders... 'Time for Time Force', indeed! 'Quantum Power!' What nonsense!"
"Time Force?"
"Yes, Time Force Rangers! What of it?"
"You battled the Time Force Rangers? Did you destroy them?"
"No, I didn't destroy them! Strictly because they took me by surprise and I didn't have enough kelzaks with me, you understand!"
"Time Force..."
Frax was only vaguely aware of Lothor as the evil ninja abruptly stopped his pacing, staring intently at one of the monitor screens they had set up to keep watch around the Wind and Thunder Academies, in the city of Blue Bay Harbor, and outside a sports shop that Lothor seemed to think the former Rangers might visit. He did not react as his new partner bent closer, hissing in triumph.
"There he is! One of them, anyway. And alone." Lothor straightened. "When opportunity is offered, I take it. Kelzaks!" He looked around for the obedient drones, a few of which were always nearby, and pointed at the screen. "Bring my nephew to me!"
Frax started for the door, not turning back as Lothor's voice came from behind him.
"Where are you going? Don't you want to see this?"
"The zord is ready. I will use it now. I must destroy the Time Force Rangers. I must destroy Silver Hills."
"Oh. Well, have a nice time."
Frax was no longer listening, as another piece of code in his reprogrammed robot brain activated. There was no need for more delay. He would go now to fulfill the mission that had waited for the last four years. Ransik had given the order, and that order still stood. I must destroy.
The bespectacled Asian man in the black leather uniform with the green trim was walking solemnly by himself along the edge of the pond outside the holographic entrance of the Wind Academy. He seemed to be deep in thought, the frown on his face never lifting as he stopped every now and then to either throw a stone into the water absentmindedly or to just stare over the glistening surface. He let out a heavy sigh and was just about to plop down onto the mossy ground when abruptly, he was no longer alone.
Four kelzaks appeared around him out of thin air and the young man had no time to react before his arms were seized by eight gloved hands. An instant later, all five figures de-materialized in a flash of light, leaving behind nothing but the serene chirping of unseen birds in the trees.
The invisaportal opened right before Lothor's makeshift throne. The four kelzaks holding on to the young man pushed him down to his knees in front of their master's chair, bouncing up and down and hissing in triumph.
Lothor leaned forward, casting a long, gleeful look at the boy before him. "I told you you weren't safe anywhere, nephew," he said, victory dripping from his voice like honey.
The samurai slowly lifted his head until his gaze was locked with the masked man's, then gave an exasperated sigh. "You know, I really don't appreciate your bozos interrupting my walk, Uncle-dude. I mean, I had this groovy Zen-thing going there, the whole 'deep-thought' shebang, you know, and suddenly, wham, those guys snatch me right out of it." He pointed at the drones. "And what's with all the bouncing anyways? You really shouldn't let them have all this caffeine..."
Lothor was out of his throne in one leap. He grabbed the young man by the front of his uniform top and pulled him so close that their noses were nearly touching. "CyberCam?" he cried incredulously.
CyberCam shrugged casually. "In the flesh." He looked down on himself, then back up at the evil space ninja with a cheeky grin. "Well, maybe not exactly flesh..."
"ARGH!" Furious, Lothor gave his nephew's holographic twin a vicious shove that sent him stumbling backwards a few steps. "I can't believe he fooled me again!"
CyberCam tugged at his crumpled leather jacket with a look of hurt dignity. "Hey, where's the love, man? I'm family, too, you know."
Lothor pointed a finger at him. "What's going on here? What's my cursed nephew's plan with you?" he asked in a dangerously low voice.
CyberCam put his best indignant face on, shrugged and said, "I dunno, dude. Cam activated me, told me it was time to get in touch with my inner, holographic ninja and sent me out into the woods to do some...what did he call it?" The hologram scratched his head, looking bewildered for a moment, but then he snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah... introspection!"
Lothor glowered at him; the evil space ninja seemed to gauge whether CyberCam was telling the truth, only to make the apparent decision that it really didn't matter.
"You are a computer-generated nuisance and of no use to me," Lothor snarled, then motioned to his kelzaks to apprehend the ninja-twin again. "Take him to the dungeon to join the others; I'm going after Frax. If you-" he cast CyberCam a dark look, "-are here, perhaps that means the real Cam is in Silver Hills, undoubtedly joining up with those other Rangers and trying to stop that fool-robot's destruction spree. I'll get him there."
He turned and strode out of the room without looking back as the kelzaks wrestled CyberCam through another door and down a murky stone corridor. At the end of the tunnel, they unbolted a heavy steel door and unceremoniously shoved him inside.
Even while the door was still closing behind him, the five inhabitants of the small room had already scrambled to their feet. CyberCam gave them a crooked grin.
"Yo, whazzup, homies? I bear greetings from the Green and Crimson ones. Oh yeah, and a rescue plan."
Five faces contorted into various expressions of puzzlement and then everybody was talking at once.
"CyberCam?"
"What's going on...?"
"Where are Cam and Hunter?"
"Are they all right, what...?"
CyberCam held up his hands. "Whoa, tune it down, y'all. I got the lowdown for you, no worries."
Sensei Watanabe took the hologram's arm. "Yes, tell us what has been happening. We have been quite worried about Cam and Hunter."
Happy to be the center point of attention, CyberCam gladly complied. "All right. Cam didn't have a whole lot of time to brief me on all that's been going on, but here's what I know..."
To Be Continued...