Disclaimer: Alas, these characters and the original works are not mine. I make no profit, I intend no disrespect. Property of Saban and whoever else. Disney? Concepts borrowed from LJ Smith's Nightworld and Dark Visions series, as well as White Wolf's Hunter: The Reckoning. This AU follows the events of the original PRNS episodes up through "Return of Thunder." Chances are, if you recognize it, it's not mine.
So there's a lot of action in this part, the conclusion, but don't worry-- The emotional fall out will be addressed in the next segment of this... behemoth-y AU series thing, "Careful, Boy, Careful."
Part Four
With a crackle of electric light, they transported out of the hotel bedroom. Lothor was probably watching them, probably even had tracking spells, and if he wanted to know what they were doing, well, Hunter would call it a rehearsal.
Appearing at the foot of a rocky mountain path, Hunter shrugged off his backpack. Next to him, Blake did the same. They hid their packs in a bush near the base of the mountain they'd be taking Watanabe up. His plan was to grab their gear on the way out and just keep going. He was going to regret leaving the bottles of blood behind in the fridge once they were gone, but he had finished the open one off before they left and it would tide him through the coming confrontations.
"Hunter…" Blake said quietly, and the blonde paused to show he was listening. "We should… We should probably go. They'll be patrolling now."
His hesitance didn't escape Hunter's notice, but Blake would do whatever his brother asked and they both knew it.
"All right. Let's do it." Tugging on his face mask, Hunter spared Blake one last glance before nodding. A crackle of black and crimson energy, the smell of ozone, and they were standing on a rooftop four blocks from the dojo. Streaking in, they stopped two buildings over from the business' roof. Earlier scouting indicated that Watanabe only had surveillance wards on the buildings closest to the dojo, but Hunter wanted to be sure. Neither the guinea pig Ninja Master nor Cam were to be underestimated.
Moving according to plan, Blake stepped to the edge of the building, took a fortifying breath, and streaked to the dojo's side door. When Hunter caught up to him, the first wards were down and Blake was standing in the darkened kitchen, a navy blue glow emanating from the basement door. Hunter frowned at the fierce concentration in Blake's eyes and his uneasiness returned. Maybe Watanabe had reinforced his wards? Energy shields were Blake's specialty, and Hunter had never seen one take him this long.
A green light ignited along the cracks of the door, flaring with a sharp tang of magick that set Hunter's teeth on edge.
Eyes narrowing further, Blake touched the amulet on his uniform and reached out with his other hand for the door. Hunter had to keep himself from stopping him, because now the entire place reeked of witch magick and it grated on his lamia-sensitive nerves like fingernails on chalkboard. But he refrained from saying anything, because there was no backing down now. Either way it turned out, they were going forward.
The door finally disintegrated with a sharp hiss and Hunter passed through the blackened doorway with inhuman speed before the spell had even dissipated. It wasn't ninja streaking. This was the predator's skill he had been born with and hadn't had to train for.
The basement was pitch black, perhaps in a futile attempt to conceal their targets. Hunter paused, scenting the air, and only had a split second to register the musky animal smell to his right mingling with the sharp herbal smell of Cam's shampoo before the room lit up with a white light far brighter than any human lamp could generate. It hurt.
An angry snarl was ripped from his throat as he launched himself at their last known position, senses overwhelmed by the pain in his blood-enhanced skin. When his hand came in contact with a warm body, he held on and let his momentum carry them through the computer consoles to the other side of the desk, into the concrete basement wall. He couldn't see the shower of sparks he caused, but felt the stinging bites along his skin, and it just enraged him further.
Flares of witch power behind him heralded Blake's arrival, and the bright lights were cut off as his brother focused his attack on Watanabe, leaving only the normal fluorescent lighting. Cam used the second of distraction the return of Hunter's vision caused him to twist away, fingers aimed at Hunter's throat in a sharp jab that could have crushed a normal human's windpipe. All it did was annoy Hunter, and as he captured the arm following through with an elbow to his face, he grappled the warlock's limbs behind his back. A strong back kick made his knee snap audibly with a sickening lurch, and he went down on one leg, dragging Cam with him.
The damaged knee immediately started healing, but he wouldn't be able to support his own weight with it yet, so he concentrated on keeping Cam immobile, rolling over until the shorter man was pinned underneath him. A gasping wheeze and the crack of cartilage indicated that he was maybe putting too much pressure on Cam's ribs, but that kick had hurt, dammit. Cam continued to struggle through Hunter's application of force, which Hunter found himself admiring against his will, but Cam wasn't pulling out any witch tricks and that kept Hunter on his guard. It was always preferable to fight a witch in close quarters, because they were more dangerous the more maneuverability they had, and one with ninja training was an even larger threat.
After a few minutes of continuous pressure, Cam's struggles grew weaker, and Hunter realized he had probably used most of his magickal energy defending the door. It was almost as if they weren't expecting someone of Blake's power to try to break in, and maybe they had planned more for Marah or Kapri than a ranger. Either way, Cam's exhaustion was obviously working against him and in Hunter's favor.
Keeping most of his attention on Cam, he looked for Blake and found him sealing Watanabe in a glowing white sphere, which must have been the spell Lothor taught him. Hauling Cam to his feet when he was sure the knee would hold up, Hunter dragged the recalcitrant warlock around the ruined computer equipment. Cam resumed struggling, but it wasn't half as intense as before. Hunter swung him around in front, restraining both arms with one hand around the other man's wrists, and loosely encircled Cam's neck with his free arm.
He debated knocking him out. They weren't here for him, and no matter what Watanabe had done, no son should have to watch his father be condemned. Cam spoke before he could come to a decision.
"Who are you?" The shorter man ground out, voice still defiant even though his tired body had betrayed him. Hunter took a breath to answer, but found himself inhaling a heady scent of herbs and sweat that distracted him on a visceral level. Blake, cradling the luminescent sphere, answered in his stead after a moment.
"We're just here to see justice be done."
"Justice?" Cam scoffed, "How is this justice?"
"Your father killed our parents," Hunter growled in his ear, anger growing as he realized he'd been diverted by his own attraction to an enemy. He tightened his grip on Cam, and the man let out an involuntary grunt.
"If I have killed," Watanabe answered calmly from the sphere, "it was to protect the innocent and preserve the harmony of our people."
"They were innocent!" Blake exclaimed, shaking the sphere. "They were rangers, too, and you slaughtered them!"
If Watanabe had more to say, his voice was cut off by the arrival of the other rangers. Hunter hadn't expected them to return so fast, but they had probably felt the wards go down if they were familiar with them. Shane was in the lead and the three spread out at the foot of the stairs, weapons at the ready.
"Let them go," Shane demanded, raising his katanas menacingly. Hunter scoffed at the macho display.
"All right." A surge of lamia strength and he threw Cam at the three of them, smirking as they stumbled and quickly tried to regroup. "We've got what we came for, anyway."
"Wait!" Cam yelled, doggedly standing up straighter. "At least tell us who you are."
A glance at Blake and the brothers removed their hoods. The murderous glare in Cam's eyes as he recognized them made Hunter smirk even wider and they locked gazes, Cam's hands clenching into fists.
"We will have justice," Hunter said with quiet conviction before teleporting. Blake appeared next to him a moment later at the base of the mountain.
"The Cave is on the other side," was all Hunter said before he started streaking up the rocky path through the trees. Following closely behind with Watanabe, Blake didn't say a word. There was something oppressive about the mountain the further into the woods they got, and after getting halfway up, Hunter paused in a clearing.
"You feel it to?" Blake whispered hoarsely.
"Yeah."
"This mountain is protected by the angry spirits of rangers who had lost their way in life, trying to atone in death," Watanabe intoned. "Very few ninjas can traverse it unscathed."
"We'll get through," Hunter snarled and started streaking again.
At the next point the path widened, a blur of white and grey flashed across his vision before he felt a force knock him down to the ground. Rolling to his feet, he stood back to back with Blake as they were surrounded by the corporeal manifestations of the mountain guardians. Fighting on the defensive, they managed to deflect the first volley of attacks aimed at them, but the second wave was interrupted by three more ninja streaks appearing in a swirl of fallen leaves. The rogue rangers joined the fray, also targeting Blake in an attempt to reclaim Watanabe, but the younger Bradley threw the sphere to his brother like a football. Catching it, Hunter wasted no time streaking further up the mountain side.
The path opened onto a rocky plateau, but Hunter could hear the roar of the surf on the other side of the mountain and sped up. Blake streaked in behind him, followed quickly by Shane. Hunter felt the surge of wind gusting at him and dodged to the left, a furrow carved in the ground where he had been running.
"Your rangers are trying to kill you, too," he muttered to the sphere under his breath as he avoided another blow.
"Despite what you believe, Hunter, I did not kill your parents. I knew the Bradleys and held them in the highest respect."
"Then tell them that when you see them." Hunter stopped running long enough to direct a blast of energy at Shane that threw the other man off his feet.
"Hurting one who has done nothing to you makes you no better than the one who inflicted this pain on you in the first place," Watanabe tried to reason with him, but Hunter wanted to hear nothing more of the man's lies.
"You murdered our parents. I was there. You deserve everything you're about to get."
With that, he streaked faster, blood churning in his stomach as he pushed his body to its limits. Several explosions behind him felt like Blake's power, dominated by the crackle of burnt ozone, and Hunter found himself on the other side of the mountain, at a rocky beach where the cavern entrance loomed in the darkness, a void in the black rock face.
Gasping for breath, Blake caught up. He asked, "Is that it?"
Hunter merely nodded and kept going forward. When they passed the Cave's entrance, a shiver ran over his skin like a caress and he could have sworn something moaned in the distance. Blake stepped in closed to him and relied on Hunter's enhanced eyesight to find the way.
A light was flickering further down the cave, and Hunter found himself drawn to it. The magick of the place was pressing in on him, enveloping him with a steady pressure that gave him an idea of how Cam felt earlier. It almost felt like they were being herded towards the cavern in front of them.
"That's it," Blake whispered when they entered the lit pocket of space. "The Gem of Souls."
A crystal sat at the tip of a stalagmite, resting in a bed of glistening limestone. Hunter walked slowly up to it and hesitated, then plucked the green gem from its stand.
"So we place him here," he muttered, "and call on the spirits to judge him…"
"Right." Blake appeared at his side, gently positioning the white sphere in the gem's place. The luminescence of it increased, almost brighter than the glow of the gem itself.
"Leave him alone!" Tori cried out behind them, voice fierce. Turning, the brothers found themselves facing three very determined rangers. The ninjas surged forward, bereft now of weapons after battling the spirits, and Hunter and Blake responded in kind.
Dustin had just landed a heavy punch to his solar plexis when Hunter sensed another presence behind them. Cam was at the natural room's entrance, haggard but determined, and soon the Bradleys were outnumbered two to one. Focusing on his attacks on Hunter, Cam was obviously out for blood and the elder Bradley was staggered under his flurry of kicks. Circling behind him, Dustin connected with his left just as Cam slammed into the right, and Hunter went down with a growl. The two rangers didn't press their advantage, though, and Hunter started to climb suspiciously to his feet when the gem started glowing, gathering heat where he had tucked it into his uniform. With a hiss, he doubled over and frantically pulled it away from his skin, holding it with the fabric of his sleeve. Blake, Tori and Shane paused in their fighting as well, and the cavern was filled with a blindingly bright light.
"Hunter. Blake."
Voices he hadn't heard in three years, but knew by heart. Whipping his head around, Hunter stared at the apparitions standing behind the sphere.
"We know why you are here, boys," their father said kindly. "And we appreciate your loyalty, but Kanoi is not the one who murdered us."
Shock left Hunter frozen where he stood.
"No," a grating Southern voice announced from the cavern entrance. "I am."
Lothor posed haughtily, hands on his hips, smugly surveying the scene in front of him. "I drained them of their powers, and now, brother, I'll be taking yours, if you'd be so kind as to sit still and die for once."
Time slowed for Hunter. Lothor was raising his arm, Blake was still next to the pedestal where Watanabe was trapped, and his parents gazed on with sad eyes at the man who killed them. Without really thinking, Hunter felt the gem flare in his hands, felt its power, and rolled in front of the pedestal, holding the gem out in front of him like a talisman. Lothor's spell hit it dead on and the impact reverberated up Hunter's arms as the shot was turned back on the halfbreed, launching him back into the darkness of the cave's depths.
Before anyone could really react, the gem flared again, a brilliant burst of energy that shot out over the gathered rangers and knocked them to their knees. Gasping, Hunter watched the gem crack into four neat shards, each the size of his thumb. Then the energy faded.
"You have a long road to travel," their mother said softly, the first to speak. "All of you do. Please look after each other, Blake. Hunter. And continue to do what you feel is right."
They started to become even paler, and Hunter heard himself call out, "Wait. Don't leave us again."
"We're always with you," she said with a smile.
"Always," their father echoed. "You will never be alone."
They dissipated, and Hunter couldn't do more than glance at Blake's heartbroken expression, knowing it was probably mirrored on his own face. Instead, Hunter looked to the other rangers, who seemed stunned and confused by the events of the night. Cam was flat out on his back.
Hunter pulled himself to his feet, then helped Blake stand. The younger Bradley held out his hand and dispersed the spell around Watanabe. As one, the boys bowed stiffly from the waist.
"We owe you an apology, Sensei," Blake murmured. "Please accept our most humble regrets."
"You were deceived," Watanabe said gently. "It is difficult to know whom you should trust, especially when you are grieving. You have honored your parents' memory, and I do not begrudge you that."
"Thank you, Sensei," they both said.
The other rangers were rising to their feet now, and Hunter offered his hand to Cam while Blake helped Tori up. With a disdainful glare, Cam ignored the peace offering and rose with the assistance of a nearby stalagmite.
"We should leave this place. It is not for the living," Watanabe declared as he hopped down from the stand, almost the size the gem was.
Looking down at his left hand, Hunter realized he still had the gem shards gripped tightly in his palm. Tucking them away in his uniform, he followed as the tired group filed out again.
Epilogue
Retrieving their back packs in the dawning morning light, Hunter couldn't help pausing to stare up at the mountain. Were their parents' souls still there, wandering together? At least they had each other. That was reassuring to know.
Just like Blake's grumblings about missing breakfast were reassuring as well. His little bro had always recovered quickly from emotional stress.
"We'll stop in the next town," Hunter frowned at him. "You'll survive."
"But Tori was going to make me omelets!" Blake sighed. "We should have said goodbye, man."
"I'm sure they're glad to see us gone," Hunter muttered, thinking of the cold shoulder Cam had given him when they had returned with the rangers to the dojo and helped clean up the mess. Cam had stayed behind to destroy the hard drives when the others went after the Bradleys and Sensei, which was good thinking on his part because Lothor had trashed the place before going to the Cave. Needless to say, the young Watanabe was not pleased with them, especially Hunter in particular.
Rather than think on that morass of guilt and regret, Hunter started walking towards the coast line. They usually felt the most comfortable near the ocean, for some reason. Maybe because it was the closest they could get to a constant storm on the ground. Blake gave another sigh and trudged alongside him.
"We could stay, you know," Blake tried again. They'd had a similar conversation earlier. "We should help clean up the mess we made."
"I think they'd prefer it if we weren't around for a while," Hunter bit out. Again. It silenced Blake for a moment, but the reprieve was short.
"So how long do you think we'll be gone?" He asked casually, looking out over the trees of the coastline.
Stopping short, Hunter put his hands on his hips. "Why, we got a reason to come back?"
Blake gave him a look. "We both do."
Hunter shut up and kept walking.
End "All of This Past." To be continued in "Careful, Boy, Careful."