Category: TV Show » Power Rangers

Author: Twix3780

Language: English

Rated: Fiction T

Genre: Fantasy/Family

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers.

Author's Note: Welcome to the Dino Thunder/Ninja Storm team up.

RJ looked up from his workstation as Kali hurried down the stairs, setting her helmet down on the table and pulling her leather jacket up over her shoulders. "You sure this is a good idea?" he asked. "I mean, what if we need you?"

"I'll try not to be too long," said Kali, pulling on her jacket. "But this new assignment is important. If Lothor really is back, then he's going to be searching for me. It's best that I find him first and deal with him, then it is for him to come here. If he teams up with Dai Shi, we'd have hell of a battle on our hands."

RJ looked considerate. "That's a fair point," he agreed. "But what if he decides to team up with that guy Mesogog in Reefside?"

"Then me and the other Rangers will deal with it," said Kali. "Right now, I am more worried about Lothor and Dai Shi than I am some delusional renegade dinosaur. Just make sure the others are able to hold the fort until I get back."

"You got it," RJ said. "Good luck!"

Picking up her helmet, Kali waved her thanks as she headed out the door.

~X~

It was late afternoon when Kali arrived in Blue Bay Harbour. Cam had contacted her that morning stating that he believed Lothor was back and asking if she could meet him at the state line between Blue Bay and Reefside. At first, she was cautious about whether it really was Lothor, she was certain that sealing him away inside the abyss had been the end of him since only her should've been able to open it again.

But, has Cam lay out the evidence, Kali felt her cautiousness fade away and be replaced with fear and determination. Someone was playing with fire in reopening the abyss, after all, it was not an easy task to undo something that had been sealed shut by the Hellhound. But she had agreed, nonetheless, to meet him and put a stop to any wars that Lothor may create.

Appearing on the state line, Kali looked around.

"Kali, you made it!" Cam grinned, opening his arms to his old friend.

Kali smiled and accepted the hug. "Cam! It's great to see you again," she said.

"Briar," said Hunter, nodding.

Kali rolled her eyes. "Back to last name basis are we, Bradley?" she asked. She and Hunter had never had a solid relationship, not since she had found out that his father had been the Lightning Mystic before Chip and had given his life in the Great Battle that had occurred when she was only a few hours old.

It also didn't help that Hunter had kidnapped her and tried to force the Hellhound to bring back his parents, which had resulted in some serious magic bonding them to one another - or rather, bonding him to her. It had come to a head when Kali had been abducted by Lothor and held captive on his ship, and Hunter had put himself in harm's way to try and rescue her.

The Hellhound's Bond was what Eithne, and Rune had called it. It was a binding spell that the Hellhound used to fuse it's guardian with another mystic that it felt would do well in protecting it's protector. Naturally, the first symptoms were dislike and contempt, but after a while those dwindled into a more tolerable feeling for the other.

Once they had ceased being Rangers, however, the bond had seemingly broken, leaving her and Hunter at a sort of impasse on their friendship. They were tolerable to each other, but Kali wouldn't have called him a 'best friend' exactly. She knew he was there if she needed help, and vice versa, but they weren't each other's first point of contact.

"Thanks for coming," said Cam. "Sorry to call you away from Ocean Bluff. How is everything since I saw you last?"

Kali shrugged. "Same old, I guess," she said. "I have a feeling that things are starting to wind now, but I can't be sure. Just taking it one day at a time, at this point."

"Sounds logical," said Cam.

"Ocean Bluff?" Hunter asked. "Is that where the Pai Zhuq academy is?"

Kali nodded. "10,000 years ago, the Mystics fought an ancient warlord named Dai Shi. They won and sealed him away inside a tomb and built the Pai Zhuq academy around it. My ancestors then went on to become teachers of kung fu and fighting with animal spirits," she explained.

"Let me guess?" said Hunter. "He was released?"

"Does it happen any other way?" Kali asked. "He escaped shortly after Master Mao chose three new guardians to help protect the box, but something went wrong, and he's now released. Mesogog, the big bad in Reefside, is nothing in comparison to what Dai Shi is able to be if he collects enough human fear."

"Sounds like something for the Hellhound," said Cam. "Especially the whole spirit aspect."

"Exactly," said Kali.

"In that case, are you sure you should be here?" Hunter asked.

"It's like I told RJ, he's one of my teammates, Dai Shi and Lothor are my number one concerns when it comes to my Hellhound duties," said Kali. "Someone went to a lot of trouble to open the Abyss of Evil, and we have to find out who."

"It could've been an accident," said Hunter.

"There was no way an accident could open something that was sealed by the Hellhound," said Kali, shaking her head.

Cam and Hunter shared a look.

"Have you contacted the others?" Hunter asked Cam. The sound of Kali's voice was enough to convince him that what was currently happening was not good.

"I have," said Cam, nodding. "But they're not responding."

"That's not good," Kali muttered.

~X~

Kali folded her arms and leaned against the railing as she watched her former teammates make short work of the Dino Thunder rangers. She had seen first-hand what the Dino Rangers were capable of, but right now they were easily outmatched. They had fared well in all attempts at world domination from the one that called himself Mesogog, but this new threat was obviously something for which they weren't ready.

Tori easily cut down Kira, despite her trying her absolute best to talk sense back into the Water Sensei, and Dustin was able to floor the Ethan with a few choice moves. But it was Shane and Conner that Kali was more interested in; Conner was able to hold his own, for a short while, before Shane cut him down to size with his Ninja blade.

"Shouldn't we help them?" Hunter asked.

Kali shook her head. "We can't afford to let Tori, Shane, and Dustin know that we're here," she said. "They'll go straight to Lothor, and we'll never have a chance to produce a plan. Besides, just like we had to, the Dino Team need to lose every once in a while to figure out how to beat them next time."

"But what if -" Hunter started. He cut off as Blake appeared beside him, stepping out of a Ninja Streak. He turned and grinned at his brother. "Blake, am I glad to see you!"

"I got here as fast as I could," said Blake, embracing his brother and clasping hands with both Kali and Cam. "What's up?"

"We've got trouble," said Cam, nodding down into the valley. "Big trouble."

Blake gasped and pushed himself up onto the railing as he surveyed the scene. The Dino Rangers had taken one hell of a beating and were now in the process of regrouping before fleeing the scene.

Kali didn't blame them; the Ninja Rangers were far too powerful for them to fight alone.

"How do we help them?" Blake asked, looking around at the others.

Hunter turned to Kali and raised an eyebrow. Surely they weren't going to sit out of the whole battle.

"We need a plan," said Kali. "Something that is going to fight fire with fire. Or, in this case, Ninja with Ninja. I'd volunteer my new abilities, but Pai Zhuq training isn't going to be much against our skills as Ninjas, and dark magic isn't going to do anything but amplify the darkness already inside them. We need to break that hold before we can stop Lothor."

"What would suggest?" Blake asked.

Kali looked at Cam. "What's going on in that head of yours, Genius?" she asked.

Cam looked thoughtful. "Well, when we stopped Lothor two years ago, he stripped us of our powers, remember?" he asked. "Those powers hold tremendous amount of good energy, if we can get them, and then get the others to replace their dark ninja disks with the good ones, we could break Lothor's hold."

"Wait, hold up!" Hunter said. "You want to go back to the Abyss of Evil?"

"No," said Cam, shaking his head. "I want to go inside it."

Blake and Hunter shared a concerned look as Kali stared at Cam.

~X~

Kali sidestepped a recovering Kelzak as she followed Cam, Hunter, and Blake through the wreckage that had once been a normal, quiet street in Reefside. The valley was the breaking point between Reefside and Blue Bay Harbour, and it was obvious that the Dino Rangers had been sent to intercept any hostility from the invaders before they reached the city centre, a feat that was not easily stopped, as they had later found out.

"Are you nuts?" Blake exclaimed.

"I take back everything I ever said about you being smart," Hunter added.

Kali rolled her eyes. She'd be the first to admit that the plan wasn't the greatest, but it was the only one they had, and it was the best chance of getting the others their original power disks.

"Have a look at what they've done," said Cam, gesturing to the street. "We have to get to the Abyss. It's our only chance."

"You were there, right?" said Hunter. "You know what's inside that thing."

"Yeah, our powers," Cam replied. "And we have to get them back if we have any chance of helping the Dino Rangers deal with Tori, Shane, and Dustin."

Hunter sighed. He knew Cam was right. But he was still hesitant. The Abyss of Evil was a battle like no other, they had come close to losing that day, and while they had succeeded they did lose something important to them - their Powers, as Cam had stated were at the bottom of the Abyss.

"No!" said Blake, seeing the resolve in his brother break. He turned quickly to Kali. "Back me up here, please. Tell them that this is a bad idea."

Cam and Hunter turned to Kali, too.

Kali blinked and shrugged. "It's a bad idea," she said.

"Thank you," said Blake with a sigh.

"But -"

Blake groaned.

"It's our only chance of stopping Lothor and saving our friends." Kali turned to Blake. "Sorry, three against one. Majority rules."

Blake threw up his hands in defeat. "Fine," he said. "When this blows up in our face, I get to say, 'I told you so'."

"Whatever," said Kali. "Let's just go."

The others nodded and took off, kicking into a Ninja Streak. Kali huffed and took out her Mystic Morpher, she tapped in three digits and disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

~X~

The Abyss of Evil was on the outskirts of Blue Bay Harbour, about three and a half miles away from the city of Reefside. Kali arrived there minutes before the boys and was already in the process of setting up her climbing gear when they stepped out of their streak.

"Took you long enough," Kali teased.

"I hate magic," Hunter grumbled.

Kali smirked. "In that case, maybe you want to go find Kelly and see if she has any climbing gear for you," she suggested. "Especially since this lot," she pointed at the gear near the side of the road, "was conjured with magic."

"Wouldn't that be cause of personal gain?" Blake asked.

"We're using it to save the world," Kali replied. "It's no less than how I used it when I was a Mystic Ranger. Besides, I use magic to teleport long distances, wouldn't that be more personal gain that anything?"

Blake looked considerate and then shrugged. She had a point.

"Just hurry up," said Kali, securing her rope around her waist and anchoring it to the equipment. "Before someone passes and wonders what we're doing. Technically this place is off limits to pedestrians."

"Can't you use a concealment charm or something?" Hunter asked.

"That's definitely pushing personal gain rules," said Kali. "As long as we're in and out as fast as possible, hopefully no one will see. Now come on!"

Once everyone was buckled in and ready, Blake looked to his three companions and sighed. "Uh… I just want to say one last time, this is a bad idea," he said.

"Noted," said Kali, nodding. "Everyone ready?"

They nodded.

"Alright, let's go," said Cam, glancing behind him. "Oh, and stick together. We split up, we're through."

The others nodded and carefully stepped over the side.

~X~

Reaching the bottom of the Abyss, Kali unbuckled her rope and turned to face the area. She had never seen the bottom of the abyss before, and only read about it in the many books that Root core had to offer. But, none of the text could have prepared her for what it was really like.

Huge, gaping holes lay between each stone platform and steam was rising from the bottom. Kali suspected it to be an endless, bottomless pit because she couldn't see the bottom; or maybe it was just like an in-between world. A netherworld, maybe?

"Man, it stinks down here," said Blake, waving his hand in front of his nose.

"Well, let's find our powers and get out of here," said Cam, looking around.

"Over there," said Hunter, pointing off to the left.

Kali turned and spotted her Ninja disk floating in mid-air. She took a step towards it but stopped as Hunter put his hand on her shoulder. "What?" she asked, looking back at him. For a moment she was stunned that it had been him to have stopped her, and the look on his face was enough to tell her that he was surprised too.

"Sorry," Hunter apologised, dropping his hand. "I'm just…"

"Just what?"

"I just can't believe there is no one guarding it," Hunter admitted.

The second the words left his lips a bright light expanded the whole abyss and General Zurgane appeared with a small army of Kelzaks, blocking their path.

Blake groaned and fell back. "You had to say it, didn't you?" he complained, shooting his brother a look of aggravation.

Hunter sighed and gave a one-armed shrug.

"Welcome to my home, Power Rangers," Zurgane said, crossing his swords and dragging one blade against the other. "Attack!"

The four split up. Kali jumped over to a second stone platform and ducked under the ball of sludge that was spat at her. "Hekatoid!" she yelled, rolling back to her feet, and aiming a kick for his large stomach. The toad monster rumbled with laughter as she merely bounced off him.

"We meet again, Ranger," Hekatoid said. "Did you miss me?"

"You wish!" Kali said, jumping at him. She flipped over his head and landed on the very edge of the platform. Leaning forward, Kali rolled onto the platform and straightened up, just as a couple of Kelzaks rushed her. She blocked their little red swords and kicked each of them in the chest, knocking them back into the Abyss.

Turning from Hekatoid, Kali jumped back to the platform near her ninja disk and, balancing precariously on the edge, reached out her hand, her fingers barely brushing the forcefield that it was hidden behind.

Stepping back, Kali stared at power disk. She didn't want to risk using magic in the Abyss, unsure of how it would respond to dark energy and therefore decided that the only way she was going to retrieve her power was by taking a leap of faith.

Bouncing up and down, Kali took a deep breath. You can do this, you can do this, she thought, imaging herself taking a running leap off the side. She could see the power disk in her hand within her mind's eye, and just hoped that it would work out that way when she executed the plan.

One false move and she'd spend the rest of her life at the bottom of this place.

"Stop!" Zurgane's yelled.

Kali opened her eyes, she had closed them as she pushed off from the ledge, and instantly tucked her head inward towards her chest. She flipped over, her hand sailing through the forcefield and cupping the power disk against her palm. She grinned as she stretched out her legs, bending them slightly as she landed on the platform opposite.

"Got I -" Kali broke off as the ground shook underfoot. Her balance wasn't 100% accurate and she could already feel herself tilting backwards. Her eyes widened and her heart leapt into her mouth, as she slipped her scream echoing around the cavern.

"Kali!" Cam called.

Twisting in mid-air, Kali glimpsed Cam's face as he appeared at the edge of the adjoining platform. Her gaze had just passed the top of the stone slab he stood on when he reached over and wrapped his fingers around her wrist. She groaned as her body smashed into the edge of the platform.

"I got you," Cam said, looking down at her.

"I can't reach either of my morphers!" Kali said, her fingers digging into the stone, looking for leverage. Her mystic morpher was on her right side while her sunglasses were tucked into her left. Her right hand was caught in Cam's. Worst of all, she could feel Cam's grip on her slipping, and if he let go now she would surely plummet to the bottom of the Abyss.

Struggling to catch his breath, Cam glanced back over his shoulder to see where Hunter and Blake were. They were both still fighting their way through Zurgane's army, which now consisted of more monsters than Kelzaks.

"Now, it's your turn to feel what it's like to live at the bottom of the Abyss," Zurgane growled, stepping onto the platform between the two groups of rangers. He looked from Kali to Cam and then over to Hunter and Blake. "Goodbye, Rangers!"

Kali turned her head as the bright light appeared again, but this time instead of depositing more monsters for them to fight, when it cleared Zurgane, and the others were gone.

"Kali!" Hunter called, jumping from platform to platform and reaching Cam's side. He knelt, leaning over, and latching onto her upper arm.

Blake appeared on Cam's other side and reached down. "Kali, give me your hand," he called, reaching out.

Kali took a deep breath and let go of the side. Her heart beat a little faster until she felt Blake's hand grip her own, firmly. Then she was rising, she dug the tips of her boots into the platform, pushing up and helping them lift her to safety.

Panting, Kali rolled off Cam as she breached the top of the stone platform. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, allowing her heart to return to a normal pace. Once she was sure that she wasn't having a heart attack, Kali opened her eyes and looked around at the others. "Thanks, guys," she breathed.

"Are you okay?" Hunter asked, kneeling beside her.

Kali stared at him and then slowly nodded. It seemed a little of the Hellhound's Bond remained, or maybe it was just muscle memory? She wasn't sure, and she didn't have time to think or worry about it right now, they had more pressing issues to deal with.

Opening her palm, Kali held up her power disk.

"You got it!" said Blake.

"Yeah," Kali replied. "Hopefully getting yours won't risk in us almost losing you."

Blake nudged her shoulder. "We still have to find them first," he said, standing.

"You sure you're up for it?" Hunter asked, grabbing Kali's arm as she stood. She wobbled a little but managed to catch her footing.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," said Kali, nodding. "I just.. Haven't been that scared for a long time. I mean, if you guys hadn't have been here, I most definitely wouldn't have made it out."

"I told you this was a bad idea," said Blake.

Kali rolled her eyes at him. "No one likes a smart arse," she said.

Blake chuckled as Cam and Hunter smiled.