Author's Note: Please see Chapter one for details.
Chapter 2
Joey looked around the portal. Bluish green electrical energy zapped in zig zags through out the portal. She grabbed her wrist as it throbbed in pain from holding on to that small pole for that amount of time she was hanging on for dear life, and started to rub it. The deeper they walked into the portal the more she really was unsure where it was taking them. She turned to look over at Alysson who was also looking around.
Alysson was quite lost on where they were going, "I don't think we should have done this," She yelled over the roaring sound the portal had made.
"I am not letting that creep get away," Joey said over the sound.
"I know, but I don't like this. It's scary," She said as she grabbed onto her sister's arm. She looked back and could see that the portal was closing behind them, "Um Joey, I think this would be the perfect time to…RUN!"
Joey looked back and saw the same thing Alysson had, "I think you're right," She said and the two girls took off running down the portal as it closed in on them quickly.
ººº
They reached the end of the portal quickly and both girls ran off the end and fell to the ground, just in time as the portal zapped loudly and closed behind them, leaving no evidence of its existence.
Joey did a rolled and landed on her feet, and as for her sister, she wasn't so lucky to land on her feet.
"Owe!" Alysson whined as she hit the ground hard, "That's gonna leave a mark."
Joey gave Al her hand and she took it and Joey pulled her to her feet, "No kidding," Joey said, "Let's find a place and morph out."
Alysson dusted the dirt off her uniform and looked around at her surroundings, "Where do you think we are?" She asked as they walked a little ways and hid behind some trees, thankful that there weren't many people around.
"Not sure. We are going to have to ask around. Maybe we will recognize some people here," Joey said as she moved behind the trees.
"Well, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore Toto," Alysson said as she brought her communication pad up and hit a few buttons and her Ranger uniform disappeared, leaving her in her work out clothing she had on from before and frowned, "I think we're gonna need new clothes too."
"Oh yea," Joey said as she morphed out of her Ranger uniform and looked down at her own clothing of a tank top and a pair of shorts.
"But first let's find out where we are at."
"Lets. This is giving me the creeps."
"You and me both," Alysson said, looking around at her surroundings and noticed that they were in the park.
Alysson and Joey walked out behind the trees and started walking down the hill to the pathway, like nothing ever happened.
"You know, when we get a chance, we should contact Sensei. Tell them that we are okay." Joey said as she walked next to her sister.
"Yeah we should, I bet they are worried about us," She told her sister, "We've never really done anything without thinking first."
Joey nodded. "That's true."
"What were we thinking?" Alysson asked, "Oh wait, don't answer that. I already know the answer to it. We did it because it was our destiny to stop Cragore even if it meant following him half way across the world."
Joey smiled, "That is our destiny. It will take both of us to take him down."
Alysson sighed, "Yeah I know and when the time comes, we'll squash him like a bug, but lets not talk about that right now," She said, "Lets ask the next person we see and find out where we are."
Joey nodded.
They continued to walk down the path of the bike trail in hopes of finding someone that could answer their question of where they were at, but the more that they walked, the tired they grew and no sign of anyone that could help them. Alysson and Joey walked over to one of the benches and sat down, "Okay it's a nice day out, where is everyone?" Alysson asked as she rested her head back and closed her eyes.
"Not sure. Probably out at the beach or something like that," Joey said sighing and started to look around for someone and noticed the sign on the tree, "Blue Bay Harbor Beach…2 miles." It said in big black bold letters.
"How far do you think it is to the beach?"
"About two miles."
"How do you know how far it is?" Alysson looked at her sister strangely and then turned to look at the sign Joey was looking at, "Oh."
Joey rolled her eyes, "Sometimes you can be really out there."
"I know," Alysson said quietly, "You feel up to walking the two miles to the beach?"
"I am up for anything, you know that," She told her, "Are you up for it?"
"Sure, what's 2 more miles gonna hurt," She said as she did not want to move, "We did worse, so why not."
"Are you sure? We can rest here for a moment."
"Nah, we can go. It's not gonna hurt me to walk a few more miles."
"Okay. Let's go." Joey said as she got up and waited for her sister.
"Alright," Alysson said as she dragged her body off the bench and the two girls continued again down the bike path in the direction that would lead them to the beach.
Joey looked around the path. She saw trees, trees and even more trees. Grass covered the ground as far as the eyes could see. Off in the distance a play ground for children and next to that a tennis court and a basketball court where a few people were playing and then her prayers were answered, she saw a few runners coming up the bike path, heading there way.
The runners came closer to Alysson and Joey, "Excuse me," Alysson said as she tried to get their attention but they just went past them, paying no attention to the two girls, "Excuse me," Alysson said again but that didn't help, "What rude people."
Joey sighed, "I know," She said. "We are almost there."
Alysson picked up a stick and started to peel off the bark, "This sucks. Remind me to never be rude to anyone if someone asks for our help."
"I know. It seems like they don't want to help us," Joey said.
"I could have told you that," Alysson said, tossing the stick to the side when it broke in two.
Alysson heard her sister sigh heavily and that only meant one thing. She was close to losing her marbles and biting her head off.
"Give me a break. I am frustrated," Joey said as she shot her younger sister an evil look.
"You're not the only one that's frustrated," Alysson said back, "So don't take your bitchiness out on me."
"I didn't do anything of the sort." Joey said as she saw the beach come into view.
Alysson laughed, "Admit it, you do too...ooh I feel like going for a swim," She said as she was side tracked from her discussion with her sister as the blue water came into view.
"I told you there were a lot of people here," Joey said, as the two walked out from the shaded comfort of the trees into the bright sunlight and saw the mass of people covering the sandy beach.
"Forget the people, let's go for a swim."
"Sure why not but we didn't bring our swimming suits."
"Who says anything about swimming suits," Alysson said as she started taking off her shoes and socks and dropped them in the sand and started walking to the water, "Go in your clothes, it's hot enough to dry off afterwards."
"Fine," Joey said as she took off her own shoes and socks and followed after her younger sister into the water.
The water was cold but in a comfortable sort of way. All the walking and fighting they had done made them hot and going for a quick swim was what they needed to cool off.
Alysson stuck her feet in, noticed how cold it was but did not care as she started walking out deeper and dove under the water.
Joey stayed near the edge of the water as she wasn't sure weather or not to go in her self. They had a villain to worry about and find. They should be out looking for him, not at the beach going swimming but the more she watched her sister have fun, the less she thought about finding Cragore…at least for now.
"You coming in or not?" Alysson called out as she began to float on her back.
"Going to hang out here. I will be in soon." Joey said and watched some of the other people come and go and two kids about the age of seven, trying to save their sand castle from the waves. Joey couldn't help but smile and laugh as she remembered that, that use to be her and Alysson doing the same thing as those two boys were when they were about their age.
"You're no fun," She said and dove under the water and swam under the water. She came up from under the water a little closer to the shore and she looked at her sister and grinned, 'If I can't get her to come in, I'll bring the water to her,' She said quietly to herself and laughed.
Joey turned her attention from the two boys after the last wave had come in and destroyed their castle and looked out and could see Alysson turned and started to float on her back again. She let her mind wonder to Cragore again and what had happened earlier. She ran her fingers through her hair and signed, 'We need to get Cragore before anything happens here.' She thought to herself and pushed that thought to the back of her mind and waded into the water a little more.
Alysson inched her way closer to Joey and then went back under water and swan the rest of the way to her. She jumped out of the water in front of her and yelled like a crazed lunatic and getting her wet.
"Hey that's not fair," Joey laughed and splashed her sister, "You're crazy.
Alysson laughed as she splashed her sister back, "I know that. I've only learned from the best my dear sister.
Joey laughed, "What? Are you saying that I'm crazy?" She asked as she continued to splash her sister.
"That's exactly what I'm saying." Alysson jumped on Joey's shoulders trying to dunk her under the water. After a few attempts, she managed to knock her sister off her feet and she went down and under the water, all the while laughing.
Joey held her breath as she went under water. As she came up for air, she pushed her sister off and gasped for breath.
"Joey, are you okay?" Alysson asked, concerned as she stopped the horseplay.
"Yeah," Joey said and couched, "Just scared me when you did that."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"Its okay," Joey said as she watched her sister look away. Grinning, Joey jumped on Alysson and the both of them went under water.
"Hey now, that's not fair," Alysson said as she came up for air, "I wasn't looking."
Joey laughed as she saw the look in Alysson's eyes and took off running out of the water, laughing all the while.
"I'm so gonna kill you Joey," Alysson said as she followed and she knew that their play time was over. She walked up the sand bank to her socks and shoes. She un-plastered her wet tank top from her chest and tried squeezing the water out of her work out pants. She then flipped her hand over and ran her fingers through her hair, getting the excess water and then flipped her head back over, "That felt good. We should do it again some time."
"Yeah, Next time I will get you." Joey said.
"What? You got me," Alysson said.
"No, that was payback," She told her, "Next time it won't be."
Alysson laughed, "You can try," She said as she picked up her socks and stuffed them in her shoes and picked up her shoes, "Lets go find like a lifeguard or someone that could tell us where we are."
"Lead the way," Joey said.
Alysson shielded her eyes with her hand and looked up down the beach. She spotted a lifeguard station a few feet away and then pointed, "This way."
Joey nodded and followed.
Joey and Alysson walked through the sand around the many people that came to enjoy the nice day. Watching a few people play with a football, kids building sand castles but what they didn't see where the group of teenagers playing volleyball, "Watch out!" One of the guys had yelled towards Alysson as their white volleyball was heading in their direction. Alysson looked up just in time to see the ball coming at her face and quickly moved out of the way as the ball came down and hit the spot where she was just in.
Joey looked over at the guys and picked up the volleyball and tossed it up in the air a little, "You okay Al?" She asked as she turned her attention from the two guys and looked over at her sister.
"Yeah, that was too close for comfort," Alysson said as she looked up as the two guys came running up to them to see if they were okay.
Joey nodded, "Didn't want to you to get clunked in the head."
"Yeah, didn't want that to happen."
"We're sorry about that," The blond hair guy said, "Our friend Dustin over there doesn't know how to serve the ball right. I hope no one was hurt."
Alysson looked up at him and smiled, "No, but I thought I saw my life flash before me."
Joey had to laugh, "Here's your ball back," She said and handed the ball to the guy next to him.
"Thanks," He said as he took the ball from her hands, "Are you guys new around here?"
"Yeah. We were wondering where we are." Joey said.
"We came…it's actually quite a funny story. We got on a bus for the heck of it and we ended up here, but we don't know where here is," Alysson said and laughed awkwardly as she lied through her teeth, "It's quite creepy not knowing where you are. So, do you think you can help us and tell us where we are?"
Joey smiled.
"Sure," The blond hair guy said, "You're in the city of Blue Bay Harbor."
Joey looked at Alysson and raised her eyebrow.
"Hmmm...Blue Bay Harbor? That's cool." Alysson looked at her sister and smiled strangely and then turned to the guys, "Thank you. You don't know how much this means to us."
"Yes thank you."
"You're welcome, by the way, my names Hunter and this is my brother Blake," Hunter said as he introduced himself and his brothers to the girls. Alysson looked at Hunter and then at Blake and raised her eyebrows as she did not see the resembles in them and then turned to her sister, "Brothers? They don't look like brothers."
Joey elbowed Alysson in the stomach, "Nice to meet you both. We really appreciate the help."
"Well they don't," Alysson said as she elbowed her sister back and then turned to the guys and smiled, "I'm Alysson and this is my sister Joey."
Joey bit her lip and smiled at Blake when their eyes met.
"It is nice to meet you girls," Blake said and smiled back at Joey, "Would you care to join us for some volleyball?"
Joey looked at Aly, "Come on. Please?" She asked her little sister.
"But what if I break a nail," Alysson said sarcastically.
'Who cares about your nail, two cute boys asked us to play," Joey said quietly so that only her sister could hear.
Alysson laughed, "I'm just joking, sure we can play." Then she turned to Hunter and Blake, "That would be cool."
Joey smiled. She nodded at Blake and Hunter. "I would love too." Joey said. She started to bite her nails. A sign when she is nervous.
"Cool," Blake said, "We're over there." He pointed to where 4 other teenagers were waiting for them to return with the ball.
"Come on," Joey said to Aly.
"Right behind you," Alysson said as she walked in the middle of Blake and Hunter, "So, now I must ask you Hunter because I'm not seeing it. How are you and Blake brothers when you guys don't look anything alike?"
"I was wondering the same thing," Joey said. She looked over at the other teens that were with Blake and Hunter.
"Come on you guys, we're waiting." Tori said.
"Hunter and I are adopted by the same parents," Blake told the girls, "It doesn't have to take blood to be brothers."
"Right about that," Alysson agreed, as she knew of a brother and sister that considered themselves brother and sister but yet weren't related in any way.
Joey smiled, "You are both cute." She said quietly and then looked wide eyes as she couldn't believe she had just said that.
Hunter looked at Joey with a questionable look on his face as he didn't hear her, "Did you say something?" He asked.
"No, she's just a little crazy," Alysson said and smiled, "The sun does that to her if she's out in it for a long period of time."
Joey felt her cheeks turn pink. She looked at Aly and gave her the look, "Thanks a lot." She said under her breath.
"Sorry, but I had to say something," Alysson said as they walked up to the others, "And you are right, they're both kinda cute."
Joey rubbed her neck, "I am getting a little burnt," She said as she could feel the heat of the sun on the back of her neck.
"Who are your friends?" The boy with dark brown hair asked.
"This is Joey and her sister Alysson," Hunter told him.
"Hi, I'm Tori," The blond haired girl said and then pointed to each of the other guys, "And that's Dustin, Shane and Cam and I have some sun block if you would like to use it."
"Thanks, that would be nice," Joey said.
Tori ran to her blue book bag and grabbed the sun block and ran back and handed it to Joey, "It's one of the best on the shelves," She told her, "It's also waterproof if you go swimming."
Joey took the sun block from Tori and opened the cap and squeezed a little into the palm of her hand and then began to apply the coconut scented lotion to the back of her neck, "Really appreciate this."
"No problem, my mom makes me take it with me when I go to the beach, she doesn't want me to get sunburn and then complain about how much it hurts later."
Joey turned and looked at her sister.
"Nah, I'll be fine," Alysson told her, "I don't burn as easily as you do."
Joey smiled, "Well, I am ready to play."
"Me too," Alysson said.
Joey looked at Shane and Dustin and smiled, "So which team am I on?"
"Let's make it interesting," Alysson said as she got a crazy idea.
"What do you mean?"
"But only if Tori is up for it," Alysson started, "I've played Volleyball for a few years and Joey has too, but how about you 5 guys against us 3 girls?"
"You have to be crazy," Joey said, not believing her ears and looked at her sister like she was crazy.
"Why not?" She asked, "Come on Joey, it's an easy win."
"I will play but it won't be easy." Joey said.
"Sure it will," Alysson grinned and then turned to Tori, "What do you say?"
"I'm in," Tori said and then turned to the guys, "What about you guys?"
"Are you sure?" Shane asked, "Because we can give you Cam to even out the numbers."
"You're saying I can't play?" Cam asked from the sidelines.
"No Cam, not like that bro," Shane told his friend, "I just thought we would try and make it an even number."
"Nah, you keep the extra guy," Alysson said and took the ball from Blake and walked out on to the volleyball court that was set up in the sand, "You'll need him."
Joey smiled, "I am so ready."
"I'm sitting this one out," Cam said to no one in particular as he went to go sit down near the net.
"Aren't you playing?" Dustin asked as he got into position.
"You have 4 people already," Cam said and then laughed, "Anyways, I don't wanna get beat by 3 girls. I'll just sit and watch."
"Okay if you insist on sitting out," Dustin said.
"I don't mind it."
"Let's get this party started before I fall asleep over here," Alysson said as she got in the serving spot.
Joey took the position up at the net. Tori did the same.
The guys took up positions on the other side...Blake and Dustin in front and Shane and Hunter in the back.
"Let's go Aly," Joey said.
"Get ready to be toast," Alysson said as she tossed the ball up in the air and smacked it hard and it went flying over the net.
Joey watched as the ball was passed from player to player.
"Joey, it's comin to you," Alysson said as she set her sister up for a spike.
Joey got up and hit it hard.
The ball went over the net as Joey did the spike and landed in the sand between Dustin and Blake.
"Yes," Joey yelled. She hi-fived Tori and Alysson.
"One for the girls and zero for the boys," Alysson said and catch the ball from Tori who threwit to her.
"Dustin, pay attention up there," Shane said, "We can't lose to three girls."
"I am, I am, Blake should have been the one to get that one."
Joey laughed as she rubbed her neck where her amulet sat. She was just happy to be playing with people her own age.
"Cool necklace," Tori said as she saw the amulet flicker in the sunlight, "Where did you get it?"
"My mother. She gave it to me for my birthday," Joey lied.
"That's cool. It's pretty."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome," Tori said.
"Are we going to play or are we going to lollygag all day?" Alysson wanted to know.
"Was waiting for you," Joey said.
"Uh huh," Alysson said, "Here comes serve number two." With that she tossed the ball up in the air and instead of smacking it like the last time, she made a fist and punched it.
Joey saw it sail over the net.
Shane dove for the ball and just barely made it, but he hit it and the ball flew back over the net to the girl's side.
Joey got it and passed it to Tori and she set it up for Aly for the spike.
Alysson grinned as she ran and leaped into the air and with the palm of her hand; she spiked the ball over the net
Blake dove for the ball and hit it but it went out of bounce.
Joey smiled at him, "Nice try."
"Better next time," Alysson said as she went after the ball.
Joey helped Blake up.
"Thanks," He said, "Is your sister always that sassy?"
"Yeah. Even though she is younger, she has got a mouth that runs a mile a minute." She told him, "So what are you like?"
Blake laughed as he knew that Joey was right about her sister, "I'm the quieter one between Hunter and I. He's the more daredevil type and I'm the more laidback kind of guy."
"Really?" Joey said as she bit her lower lip.
"Yeah, we're two peas in a pod but if given the chance, Hunter would be the first one to jump out."
"Same with Aly. She is more outgoing than I am."
"I would have never guessed that she's the outgoing one," Blake said and laughed as he rested his hands on the net, "She's quite the talker."
"Come on guys, we've got a game to play. Joey would you stop hitting on the boy, you can do that another time, right now we have a game to win."
"Well back to the game." Joey said.
Blake smiled as he walked away and went back to his position.
Alysson positioned herself behind the line and tossed the ball up in the air and smack it again over the net.
ººº
The game went on for the next few minutes and still the boys had not gained a point. Cam watched from the sidelines as he watched the guys get their butts stomped by the three girls. Whoever the two mysterious girls were, they were very well at volleyball. "Dude calling dude, this is Cyber Cam at your service, we have a problem."
Cam looked at the others and then at his communication watch, "What is its?" He asked as he kept his voice low and his head down, so that no one would think that he was crazy for it looked like he was talking to himself.
"I'm picking up a reading at the coral reef," Cyber Cam said, "Lothor must have unleashed one of his crazy monsters again."
"On it" Cam told Cyber Cam and stood to his feet, "Hey guys, we have to go."
"Awwww, come on, we were just kicking some butt," Joey said.
"Why?" Alysson said as she let the ball fly past her, "Is something wrong?"
"Business that needs to be taken care of," Cam told her
Joey looked at Blake questionably.
"Oh, anything that we could help with?" Alysson asked.
"No, we got it covered," Tori said, "If you guys find your way to the Storm Chargers, look for us."
"Sure," Joey said as she watched the group of friends leave them.
"Okay," Alysson said as she said goodbye to their new friends, "That was weird." She sat down in the sand and placed the ball in her lap, "I think this would be a good time to contact our Sensei's and let them know what's been going on."
"That's a good idea. They are probably worried right now," Joey said
"Yeah, we should go then."
"I saw someplace up the path a little ways. We can contact them there."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Alysson said as she stood up and dusted off the sand and the two sisters started leaving the beach, "Oh by the way, that Blake guy was so totally checking you out."
"Knock it off. He was just being friendly," Joey said.
"It's true...the way he smiled at you or how he watched you play, which I think he was distracted by you and is why he missed the first 2 times hitting the ball. I think someone has a crush on you."
Joey sighed as she knew that her sister was right because she had seen it too but that was the least of her problems right now if some boy had a crush on her, "Let's just call Sensei."
Alysson laughed and saw the light red rise in her cheeks as she blushed and laughed again, "If I'm not mistaken, I think someone has a crush on him too."
"Fine Yes, I do have a crush on him. There you happy that I said it," She said, "Is that what you wanted to hear?"
"Awe, my big sister is all grown up now," She faked a sniff and acted like she whipped a tear from her eye, "Well, I'm happy for you. It's about time you stopped being so shy around guys."
"I can't help it, it's who I am, remember I'm the shy one. I'm not as out spoken as you are when it comes to certain things…like boys."
"It's okay Joey; I get shy around guys that I like too, so you're not the only one," Alysson said as they made it to the spot that Joey had seen and after checking to see if there was any by standards standing around, Alysson flipped open her communication pad.
"Just wait till you have a guy that likes you," Joey said as she stood next to Alysson.
Alysson couldn't help but laugh, "That's funny," She said as she pushed a few buttons on her communication pad.
"Sensei Lee," Alysson said as the holographic image of him appeared before them, "We've reached our destination a few hours ago, a place called Blue Bay Harbor. We would have checked in a bit ago, but we were a little side tracked and it took us awhile to learn where we were at."
"I am glad to here from you girls, Master Chen and I were beginning to worry about you two. I hope everything is all right.
"Yes, everything is fine with us," Joey said.
"But we don't know where to find Cragore, he could be anywhere," Alysson said as she sighed frustrated, "He needs to be stopped before someone gets hurt."
"I know Aly and he will be stopped when the time comes," Lee told her, "But for now, you need a place to stay while you guys are there. I know the Sensei at the Wind Academy. I will contact him. If Cragore is at Blue Bay Harbor, he will probably make an alliance with Lothor," Lee said.
"Who's Lothor?" Joey asked.
"Lothor is a lot like Cragore, only worse," Chen said, "He was behind the disappearance of the Wind and Thunder Academies and all the students that were attending the school, only a few had escaped his attack. He is very dangerous girls. You must be careful if you fight him."
"Just what we need, more crazy nut cases to deal with," Alysson said, "What do we do?"
"Stay where you are. Do not give your identities as rangers away. I will talk to the sensei and let him know who you are," Sensei Lee said, "I agree with Master Chen, you have to be careful when it comes to Lothor and his monsters."
"You know us, we're always careful. Contact us after you've talked to the Sensei what's his name."
"Kanoi is his name. We will let him know and you can meet him by the end of the night," Lee told them.
"Anybody else we should worry about?" Joey asked.
"His two nieces Kapari and Marah. They're not very bright when it comes to being evil but don't let that fool you. They can be quite the villains," Sensei Chen said.
"Great, this is turning out to be one soar apple by the minute," Joey groaned.
"Just hang in there and we'll contact Sensei Kanoi and let him know and we will get back to you," Sensei Lee added.
"We'll be here," Alysson said as she looked around and saw nothing but trees, "I don't think we'll be going anywhere anytime soon."
"Keep in touch," Chen said.
"Will do," Alysson said as she closed her communication pad, "What do we do next until he contacts us back?"
"Let's go meet up with the others," Joey said.
"Sounds like a plan to me, but how do we find the Storm Chargers when we're not from around here."
"Look in the phone book silly," Joey said as she walked from their spot.
"Good, because I wasn't gonna ask anybody," She said as she followed her sister.
Joey laughed as the sisters started walking into town.