Disclaimer: Power Rangers does not belong to me. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes only.

A/N: I've just changed the rating on this story to "M" to be on the safe side. Nothing's explicit is detailed at this point, but I just wanted to give y'all a heads up.


Chapter 4: A Lonely Destiny

"Hunter?" Shane heard Tori's voice ask through the former crimson Thunder Ranger's cell phone.

"Hunter's driving," replied Shane. "This is your best boy in red, but hold on. I'll put you on speaker so you can talk to Hunter, too."

"Hey Tor!" yelled Hunter toward the cell phone. "Hope you're keepin' it chill' out there on your motocross vacation. How's my bro doing?"

"I was just calling to let you know Blake won his race," said Tori excitedly. "It was his seventh consecutive win. The media out here are going crazy over him."

"How does it feel to be the girlfriend of a big extreme sports star?" teased Hunter.

"I'm not Blake's girlfriend," Tori answered almost a little too bitterly. "Especially not right now when he has 5 trophy girls all over him while he posing for the press."

"That's my bro!" said Hunter pleased, nodding his head in approval. Shane immediately shot him a "dude-shut-up" look. "What did I say something wrong?" asked Hunter confused. Shane shook his head. The way Hunter was oblivious sometimes; it surprised Shane that Kapri and the former crimson Thunder Ranger didn't get along better.

"You doing OK out there Tor?" asked Shane worriedly.

"Oh yeah!" responded Tor brightly, but sounding slightly fake to Shane who knew his best friend a little too well.

"You just take care alright?" said Shane concernedly.

"Blake's being interviewed for Maxim magazine now," said Tori quickly changing the subject. "I should go."

"Isn't that the men's soft porn magazine?' wondered Hunter out loud. Shane shoved him hard.

"Take care Tor," said Shane, blowing her kisses through the phone. He smiled hearing Tori laugh.

"Thanks Shane," replied Tori before hanging up. Shane ran his hands through his hair anxiously. He knew what type of lives these extreme athletes lived: the wild parties, the wilder girls, the wildest sex. Shane had seen it all when he joined up with the national skateboard tour for a month earlier in the fall after getting a sponsorship from Truth Trucks. He had decided that while he liked extreme sports, the extreme lifestyle wasn't for him. Knowing Tori's more conservative nature, Shane sent up a silent prayer that Blake wouldn't bring her around that scene. Or worse, that Blake wouldn't toy with Tori the same way he had probably been doing with the tour's trophy girls.

"Here's your stop," said Hunter pulling up in front of the Wind Ninja Academy.

"Thanks for the ride dude," said Shane gratefully as he got out of the car. "Cya later."

Hunter headed off back across town toward the Thunder Ninja Academy, Shane looked up to the evening sky where the first stars were just appearing and the Milky Way constellation was starting to twinkle. Stars made Shane think of only thing… or person. Shane thought her radiant smile, her milky white skin, her fiery eyes that burned brighter than any stars. Everything about her was out of this world. Shane felt that familiar forlorn feeling filling his heart and quickly pushed thoughts of sky from his mind.

It had been another bad date for Shane. This time it was Randi – a local saleswoman from the boutique next to Storm Chargers. She was pretty, but when Shane mentioned he loved the X-Games, Randi thought he was talking about x-rated activities. As Shane quickly explained the games were an extreme sports competition, Randi immediately went off about how much she hated skateboarders. "Remind me never to let Dustin set me up again," he had thought bitterly to himself.

Shane had dashed off to the bathroom and phoned Hunter with an S.O.S. dating emergency. Hunter had driven over immediately, and the two pulled off their usual stunt for whenever one of them needed to get rid of a girl: pretending they were gay. Randi had run out of the restaurant faster than Blake on his dirt bike.

Shane laughed as he settled in to his favorite spot on the Wind Ninja Academy property: a little hill overlooking the main building where he could see the students sparring by daylight and the lanterns glowing by nightlight. Shane's smile faded as he felt his eyes helplessly drawn toward the now star-filled sky.

"You said we'd be together forever," Shane thought to himself sadly. "But I can't see you, I can't talk to you. You're not even with me now that my red Ranger powers are gone."

Shane had been drawn to Skyla ever since she had first appeared on the planet when the bounty hunter Vexacus was trying to take her Carmanian powers. Although had seen many alien creatures during his ranger days fighting Lothor, Shane had never seen one like Skyla. Shane knew he liked her every since the moment she first peaked around the tree, her black curls bobbing as she walked up to him confidently. He knew he cared for her as they fought side by side against Vexacus; Shane defending her with his ninja skills and Skyla's powers saving him numerous times. He knew he loved Skyla as he held her in his arms during her last moments in her human state.

"We will be linked together forever by the power I pass on to you," Skyla had told him just before she moved on to her next Carmanian life form. "The responsibility is yours. Use it wisely."

After loosing his ranger powers – his last connection to Skyla – Shane in an attempt to forget the beautiful, alien creature had gone out on all sorts of random blind dates: Linda the lawyer, Wendy the waitress, Judy the juggler and even Gretta the garbage collector. None of them ever came close to the completion Shane felt when he was around Skyla. She challenged him with her outspoken attitude, intrigued him with her mysterious origins and impressed him with her bravery and driven determination. Deep in his heart, Shane realized that his search to find love again with any girl on earth was futile. His heart had been already abducted by the capricious Carmanian.

Skyla had once said Shane was her destiny, and he was hers. Shane had found it to be a very lonely destiny. "If only it were possible for me to use your powers to bring you back to me," Shane thought himself sadly. A tear rolling down his check, Shane's head sunk into his crossed arms. He didn't see at that moment the radiant ball of light that flashed across the sky, not realizing that his destiny had already been set in motion.

A/N: The events referenced in this chapter are from the two-part PRNS episode "Shane's Karma" in case anyone was wondering. Good episode, highly recommended.