Disclaimer: Power Rangers does not belong to me.

Chapter 3: Red Romance

"Give up yet?" Shane Clarke asked he tackled his teammate Hunter Bradley to the sand.

"In your dreams!" retorted the crimson Thunder ranger, flipping up and sending Shane crashing backwards.

"That was some good sparing, bro," said the red Ninja Storm ranger as Hunter helped him up from the ground. "You really got me going."

"Thanks dude, but you're really not my type," joked Hunter.

"Oh yeah, very funny," said Shane, rolling his eyes. "But seriously bro, you're love life's been on the slow side. Any chicks around here that have caught your eye?"

"You'll know when one does," replied Hunter ruefully. "Besides, being Power Rangers doesn't leave much time for romance. Although Lothor's attacks have been less frequent lately, so maybe…"

"Oh you had to jinx it," groaned Shane as an alien suddenly appeared before him and Hunter on the beach.

"I'm the Samurai Smogger," announced the alien. "And I'm about to make it a lot harder for you boys to breath!"

"I've never seen one of Lothor's monsters with a horn like that," remarked Hunter in puzzlement.

"It makes the goon look like a unicorn!" laughed Shane loudly. "Only a lot uglier!"

"You both will pay for making fun of my horn!" taunted Samurai Smogger, adjusting his fumigation gun.

"Duck!" hollered Hunter as Samurai Smogger shot a cloud of dirty air in their direction.

"Ready?" Shane asked Hunter as they both bounced back up.

"Ready!" confirmed Hunter.

"Ninja Storm!" shouted Shane.

"Thunder Storm!" said Hunter.

"Ranger Form, ha!" the boys belted together as they morphed into action.

"Your shinny spandex doesn't scare me," laughed Samurai Smogger haughtily.

"You should be worried," retorted Hunter. "You're outnumbered two to one."

"I have friends, too," declared Samurai Smogger. "Kelzacks! And Putrids!"

"Putrids?" questioned Shane and Hunter simultaneously in confusion.

"Looks like you boys are in for double the trouble today!" taunted Samurai Smogger.

"What the heck are Putrids?" wondered Shane out loud, seeing the gray creatures with purple eyes and tiny horns that were mixed in along with the army of Kelzacks.

"Doesn't matter," replied Hunter firmly. "We'll finish them both off."

"Ninja Sword!" summoned Shane.

"Thunder Staff!" called Hunter likewise as the two boys raced into battle swatting at the evil foot soldiers with their sabers like chopping vines in a dense jungle.

"These Putrids smell like puke!" groaned Shane at their slimy smell as he was besieged by the horned-creatures clubs.

"There are too many of them!" cried Hunter in a panic, as he couldn't break free from the massing of Kelzacks and Putrids to even get close to attacking Samurai Smogger.

"The Ninja rangers are finished!" shouted Samurai Smogger triumphantly.

"Not if we can help it!" Shane and Hunter heard a male voice bellow. They turned around to see a boy with long brown hair and with a girl with coffee-skin standing on the rocks above. Hunter was stunned not only by the sight of two strangers suddenly appearing at the battle, but more so by the radiant beauty of the petite brunette. Her eyes shone with a determinedness to destroy the evil that Hunter found extraordinary…. and extremely attractive.

"Get away from here! It's dangerous!" yelled Hunter in alarm. Both Shane and Hunter were so worried about the civilians nearby that they didn't see Samurai Smogger readying for an attack.

"I'm finishing this now!" growled Samurai Smogger. "Smog Cloud!"

"I can't breath!" gasped Shane, doubling over from the cloud's direct hit.

"Need…air!" gasped Hunter as well. Sprawled on the beach and unable to get up, the both boys became de-morphed.

"No!" thought Hunter to himself worriedly. "Now the civilians will know our identities!" Yet surprisingly, Hunter realized that neither of the two strangers seemed fazed by seeing him and Shane suddenly removed from their power suits.

"Alyssa, the rangers need our help!" Hunter heard the long-haired boy shout.

"Let's go!" agreed the girl that Hunter assumed was Alyssa. As Hunter struggled to get up, he saw the pair jump off the cliffs and down toward Samurai Smogger. They each grabbed one side of him and threw him to the ground.

"Her fighting style is the best!" marveled Hunter to himself as he watched the girl called Alyssa move like a tiger through her martial arts moves. She was growing more and more striking to him by the second.

"Remember us?" Hunter heard Alyssa ask the monster in a voice he admired for its spiritedness.

"Not you two again," groaned Samurai Smogger. "I'm going to get back up. Kelzacks! Putrids! Punish these intruders!"

"Don't run away from a fight!" Hunter heard the boy called Cole angrily demand, running toward Samurai Smogger as the monster vanished into thin air. "No, he got away!"

Hunter watched as Cole sunk to the sand and punched the ground in despair. "Well get him next time," said Shane, pulling the boy up from the ground. "Thanks for the help. We owe you one. I'm Shane, and this is Hunter. You two are?"

"I'm Cole," said the long-haired boy, officially introducing himself.

"And who are youuuu?" cooed Hunter to the petite girl in pink, pushing Cole out of the way and offering his hand to the cute chick.

"I'm Alyssa," replied the girl blushing. "It's very nice to meet you. So you both are rangers, too?"

"What do you mean rangers, too?" asked Shane quickly.

"Cole Evans –former Wild Force red ranger," said Cole seriously, offering his hand to Shane. "We gave up our powers after the evil Org empire was destroyed."

"Shane Clarke –Ninja Storm red ranger," replied Shane, grasping Cole's hand firmly. "I heard you were the red ranger that finally destroyed Serpentera. Very pleased to meet you, bro." The two red rangers exchanged looks mutual of understanding and respect that only the leaders of a ranger team could comprehend.

"But I want to hear more about youuuu," cooed Hunter again to Alyssa, pushing Cole out of the way and ruining the moment between the red rangers.

"Alyssa Enrile - former Wild Force white ranger," responded Alyssa, smiling shyly at Hunter. "You are the…"

"Hunter Bradley – Thunder Storm crimson ranger," responded Hunter with great bravado. "So you two are part of the Wild Force rangers from Turtle Cove. I've heard great things about that team, especially the white ranger."

Alyssa giggled at Hunter while Shane rolled his eyes at his friend's lame attempts to hit on the girl and Cole just found himself glaring at the crimson ranger. "Is Hunter actually flirting with Alyssa?" thought Cole to himself angrily, surprised by the feeling of jealousy that overwhelmed him.

At that moment, their ranger reunion was interrupted by a sword flying over their heads. "Guess we forgot about these guys," groaned Shane, switching his attention back the mass of Putrids and Kelzacks eager to demolish them.

"Let's finish this together," cried Cole. "Teamwork guys!"

Hunter watched as Cole and Shane ran toward Lothor's evil foot soldiers. "May I have this dance?" bowed Hunter, offering his hand to Alyssa as a pack of Putrids and Kelzacks moved toward them.

Alyssa smiled back happily at Hunter, taking his outstretched hand as he turned her under his arm. Both kicking out toward the Kelzacks, Hunter then pulled Alyssa back toward him and lifted her up in the air so that she could give the Putrid facing them the boot. Looking at each other determinedly, Hunter grabbed Alyssa's waist and sent her into an aerial cartwheel in front of him. Landing on the other side of Hunter, Alyssa switched the weight on feet before kicking sideways another Kelzack. Finally back-flipping away from her dance partner, Alyssa and Hunter quickly finished off the rest of the Kelzacks while Shane and Cole took care of the Putrids. Kicking a Kelzack into a nearby rock, Hunter looked around to make sure all of the evil scum had been destroyed before jogging back eagerly over to Alyssa.

"You are amazing," exuded Hunter, smiling dopily at Alyssa before he noticed her looking at him rather bemusedly. "I mean, you were amazing. Out there. Your fighting ability that is," sputtered Hunter, quickly correcting himself.

"Thank you!" grinned Alyssa pleased, liking Hunter more and more by the second. "You were great out there yourself."

"Well we make a great team," replied Hunter, putting his arm affectionately around Alyssa.

Walking over with Shane, Cole seeing Alyssa with Hunter felt that now all-too familiar feeling of resentment rise in his chest again. "I should be happy that she's bonding with the other rangers," Cole wondered to himself in confusion. "The closer we are with the Ninja Storm rangers, the better we'll all be in battle against Samurai Smogger. Besides, Alyssa is just my friend and my teammate."

So why did he feel so jealous seeing her clearly smitten by Hunter?

A/N: Shout-outs to Islandgurlie12, ja5684, Romanus and Mistress of Phoenix for reviewing the story so far! And a big high-five to my girl BiccaBoo for correctly guessing what was going to happen in this chapter. You're a smart cookie!

So more Tori/Blake romance coming up… stay tuned!