Disclaimer: I don't think we really need to explain this…..The disclaimers are in the first 5 chapters already.

Authors' Comments: Thanks you guys! It turns out that this fic not only won Fanfic of the Month (December), but also Fanfic of the Year 2005 at It seems we are doing something right. ;) Anyway, on with the next chapter.

Impending Past

Chapter 6: Throwing Down the Gauntlet

1"Why can't you be more like your brother? He's well respected by his peers and makes six figures a year. You? We invested so much time and money into your studies and instead of doing something with your life you go off to practice martial arts and skateboarding. You've thrown away everything that we've given you. What happens when you really mess up and get yourself killed? Why would you want to put your mother through such an ordeal? You're just the same typical, selfish son that you always were."

Whenever Shane would go into battle, his father's words tried to hold him back.

"You've disappointed this entire family. When people ask me what you do, I have to lie because you're such an embarrassment. Do you know what mom tells people about her two sons? She says that Porter is her pride and joy and that she still loves Shane. The joy sinks out of her heart when she talks about you. Why do you refuse to make something of yourself Shane?"

Whenever Shane would enter a skating competition, his brother's words would eat at his gut.

The day that Zordon's forces began to stretch across Blue Bay Harbor was the last time Shane ever got on a skateboard and the last time he would ever have a chance to let his family down.

"Ki-yah!" Shane let out a deep throated, visceral scream as he lunged at the shaggy, fair-haired leader of the opposition. The dark crimson red contrasted the brighter one on his suit. In rapid succession they fired punch after punch and kick after kick at one another, the contrasting reds looking like blinking Christmas lights. His concentration was deep. Over the past few months he had quickly gained a new level of trust and respect for his teammates. As long as he kept Hunter occupied he knew that they would keep Zurgane and Blake busy on their own.

Tori was a strong girl and based on her ability to manipulate water she knew how to make her enemy's control over thunder and lightning work against him. Dustin was already a stand out among most ninjas when it came to his control over the sword. He trained harder and more fiercely since Zurgane had appeared and joined the fold. Their clashing sabers made beautiful music that to Shane was the soundtrack to their battles.

What ultimately perplexed him were the four with Blake that escalated the confrontation. In the months since the initial attack there had been no sign of life in the immediate area. So why would four teenagers suddenly appear with one of the enemy?

Kira's outstretched palms were buried in the dirty earth, her knees limp on the ground as she watched the boy that had recently befriend her thrust his kicks with lightning fast precision towards the blonde girl. Make no mistake, she was a match for him but it still terrified her. Must every man she met be predisposed to hitting women?

"Kira! Move!" The cry was a formality as by the time he said it she had already been thrust to her feet and pushed back into Conner's arms. A second later the female ninja's foot landed violently where Kira's hands had been resting.

With his attention momentarily diverted, Tori leaped over Blake's shoulder and aimed her attack at the closest foreigner. The water flowed out of her pours and began to harden on her hand. Her teeth gritted as even the beads of sweat on her forehead contributed to the weapon: water crystallized into a claw of ice.

Ethan cried in terror as he realized far too late that she was aiming at him. All he could do was hold up his arms in a vane attempt to block the pain. A dull thud followed. Was he dead? That didn't hurt so bad. Wait, who was screaming? He didn't sound that feminine, did he?

"What the hell are you?" Tori moaned as she held her wrist. Ethan examined his arms. They were glowing with a brilliant blue hue with a tiny, intricate pattern of lines. No. Those weren't lines. The way they curved was unmistakable. They were scales.

Ethan glanced at the gem on his bracelet. It too was glowing. "Trent has chameleon powers," he quickly put two and two together, "so that must mean I have the ability to create a sort of armor around my body."

"Ethan? Are you alright?" Trent ran over to Ethan's aid, scolding himself all the way for letting one of them get attacked.

"I'm fine," Ethan nodded reassuringly.

Regaining his balance Blake began to swing wildly at Tori who flipped backwards towards Dustin and Shane who had grouped up against Zurgane and Hunter. Once again it was a three on three standoff.

"Tori? Are you able to morph?" Shane stated, refusing to even look her over. The disappointment over her stung in his tone.

"Yes," her voiced dropped off.

"Ready!" Shane cried out, his voice doubled over by Hunter speaking the same word. In impressive synchronization the three Wind ninjas held their arms in the air while the Thunder ninjas shot theirs to the side. "Ninja Storm!"

"Thunder Storm!"

"Ranger Form, HA!" the last three words echoed from the five ninjas as gyros whirled and buttons were pressed. The four teenagers shielded their eyes, missing the light engulfing the forest that, when cleared, revealed two teams of Power Rangers. The dark leggings and gold trimmed shoulder pads distinguished the crimson and navy colored Thunder Rangers from the more lightly adorned Wind Rangers. But the overall stylistic helmets, arm weavings, and circular chest insignias showed that while these groups were rivals there still were cut from the same cloth.

"Oh come on," Kira's voice sank, "They morphed before us? This is so unfair."

"Not now!" Conner cried out as he grabbed Kira by the arm. The five rangers were each summoning out their individual weapons. Zurgane stood by the two brothers, his swords at the ready.

"Storm Striker!" the Wind Rangers combined their weapons while the Thunders quickly followed suit with their own Thunder Blaster.

"Ready..." commanded both Zurgane and Tori.

"Aim..." Blake and Dustin followed.

"Everybody duck!" Conner was too late with his plea to Ethan and Trent as he fell to the ground with Kira. Shane and Hunter had both given the order to fire over his cries, setting off an explosion that blanketed the landscape within a full mile radius with a dust cloud. As it settled the morphed rangers were on their knees, shuffling around to find their companions.

"Blake! Where are you?" Hunter and Zurgane had already managed to regroup on their side of the blast radius.

"I'm right here." A figure emerged from the debris, looking more like a set of scales than a human being. The silhouette clarified itself. The Navy Thunder Ranger had two unconscious figures slumped over his shoulders. Blake tossed Conner into Zurgane's outstretched arms and held onto Kira himself.

His brother smirked. "What about the other two and the Winds?"

"Leave them for now," Blake answered. "These two will be more than enough to figure out all we need to know." Hunter and Zurgane began to pace back into the woods with Blake trailing behind. He noticed the weight on his shoulder. This alluring girl was stuck in his head. What was it about it? Either way, he hoped that she wasn't actually a threat to the remains of the Thunder Ninja Clan. He'd had to have to kill her.

---

Ethan James almost drowned when he was five years old. As the cool water splashed through his every pore, his arms flailed around in desperation, clinging for life. His eyes shot open, pupils dilated as they focused on the figure before him. The girl's face was beautiful yet locked in a terrible grimace. He could feel the contempt she had for him. The reason why quickly returned to him as the splint on her hand caught his eyes.

Scanning the room, Ethan could tell that it had definitely not been utilized to its fullest extent. Although the screen-printed doors and low to the ground wooden table in the center made it look like a typical Japanese living area, it also was filled with state of the art technology. What bothered Ethan was how much of it had collected dust as if those who were trying to operate it were clearly out of their depth. So why install it at all?

He shifted around nervously as Tori kept her eye trained on him. His neck was tight and his arms were heavy. The gentle clinking noise alerted him to the fact that he was shackled to the wall. Dull groaning to his side made his body jump. Trent was next to him, slipping in and out of consciousness. He could remember the boy trying to shield him when the explosion went off.

"Where are Conner and Kira?" he regretting asking the girl that question.

"I assume you mean the other two," Tori shifted her weight and sat down on the table, facing him. "We lost track of both them and the Thunders during the battle. Maybe they're all together, maybe they're dead. Your guess is as good as mine."

The comment stung him deeply. Dead? No. They couldn't be. After all that the rebels had done to help them escape, after all the hope was placed on their shoulders, it couldn't be over so quickly.

"Damnit!" Shane slammed his fist against the keyboard in front of him. "How is any of this supposed to work anyway?"

Ethan looked at the from out of the corner of his eye. Just as he expected, this equipment was completely foreign to these ninjas. "Um, if you don't mind me asking..."

The third member of the team had been standing in the corner, observing the others. At Ethan's tone he paced over to the prisoner. "Yes? Something you wanted to say?"

Ethan recoiled slightly before continuing. "I just wanted to say. It seems like you're having trouble with your computers. I'm pretty good at them myself if you want some help. Why would you have such a sophisticated setup if none of you can work it anyway?"

Dustin, without a misstep, immediately gestured over towards a wooden box that was against the wall farthest away from them. It was a beautiful oak design and was covered in a ceremonial ninja schroud with fresh orchids lining it. On top there was burning incense that perfumed the room in lavender and cherry blossoms. In the center was a framed photograph. "That was Cameron Watanabe," the Yellow Ranger explained, his voice taking a low respectful volume, "Our powers, our weapons, this base, everything you see before you... it was his idea. He created it all. Thanks to those Thunder Rangers you were hanging out with earlier, he never got a chance to see them used."

Ethan held his gaze on the casket. What could he possibly say? "Um," he fumbled for words. "I'm sorry. But you said this was a ninja academy. Aren't there any other students?"

The silence that followed ate away at Ethan. Dustin was simply eyeing him up and down. Neither Tori nor Shane said anything or gave an indication of what they were thinking about this unknown outsider being so forward. "Come here." After an eternity, Dustin unlocked Ethan's chains and pushed him towards the main door. The duo made their way up a spiral staircase, the smell of fresh air momentarily permeated Ethan nostrils before they were quickly stung with the pungent aroma of death and decay. As Dustin opened a small trap doorway that led from their underground location to the surface, nothing could truly have prepared Ethan for what he saw. Before him lay a sea of human bodies, each indistinguishable from the next. They were all clad in the same black Wind Academy suits as the rangers. It was impossible to tell which belonged to the Air branch compared to the Earth and Water sectors as the crimson blood that stained the bodies covered up the colored markings.

"One hundred and thirty-seven Wind Ninja students." Dustin murmured. "All my friends. All dead thanks to the Thunder Ninja Academy."

Ethan vomited.

---

A few weeks ago the man formerly known as Kiya knew exactly what he was going to do. After spending countless years exiled in the outer reaches of space, painstakingly building up a perfect army he was ready to return to each to rid himself of his twin brother. From there he would gain control over all of the ninja schools and slowly conquer the entire planet. Now he instead sits besides this same brother whose very existence rots away at his soul. His body so frail, so weak, and so very close to death. He cares for him constantly along with his nieces and general Chuubo. Life for the man that now prefers to be known as Lothor seemed so much easier those weeks ago.

The young woman walked up to her uncle, handing him a fresh bowl of water. Her cute, shoulder-length brown hair framed her plain face well. She wore a bulky, cream-colored dress that brought very little attention to her. "Thank you Marah," the calm tone masked his regularly gravel-like voice.

Marah smiled as she rejoined her sister in the kitchen of the small house. Lothor soaked the wash cloth in his hand, ringing out the excess liquid before placing it on Kanoi's head.

Kapri was wearing a slightly darker, gray dress that very much resembled that of her sister as she carefully chopped the carrots in front of her. They didn't want to chance too much stress on the Wind Academy sensei's body by teleporting him to their ship so instead it was decided that they would make camp in most livable abandoned house in the surrounding area. Kapri liked to tell herself that most of these houses in Blue Bay Harbor had actually been abandoned and the people that used to live in them were able to make it to safety. The crimson stains and wake of debris told a different story.

"Hey," Kapri jumped as her sister rested her hand on her shoulder. "Are you chopping those at a straight ninety degree angle? You know Uncle doesn't like them when they aren't perfectly straight." Marah was putting on her best sing song voice to comfort her. When they were bickering with one another was when they truly were at their best. All the other crap was thrown out the window. This was how they let their minds wander.

"They're fine Marah."

"Are you sure? Because last time Uncle blamed me and I don't want to have to take the rap all the time for your mistakes..."

"My mistakes!" Kapri snapped back, placing the knife down on the counter top. "Who is the one that didn't take out the trash? It was your turn to take out the trash. I told you to take out the trash. You said you were going to take out the trash. But who had to take out the trash after you let it pile up in the corner for five days? Me, that's who."

The corner of Lothor's lip turned up slightly as the girls continued to argue back and forth in the background. He listened to it, dulling it to a degree as if it was music. The door creaked open. Chuubo was back from trying to gather up as much fresh food as he could from nearby grocery stores before it spoiled. The constant noises from them were the soundtrack to his life and by continuing to hear them he felt at some sort of peace.

"Oh brother," Lothor tenderly checked the bandages around Kanoi's ribs. "He did this to you, didn't he? And those damned students of yours along with the Thunder Ninjas have too much passion for their own good." Lothor chuckled to himself. "Don't think that I'm going soft of you. When this is all over and you're healed, I'm still going to kill you."

---

"Hey, wake up. We're all waiting on you."

Kira's eyes gently flickered like the end of a film reel. She struggled to focus on the familiar face. Blake. "You bastard!" She lunged for him, not noticed the ropes that bound her hands behind her back. He caught her a split second before her face collided with the cement ground.

"Wow brother," Hunter smirked. He was leaning up against the wall, one foot firmly on the ground, the other flat against the side with his arms crossed. "You sure know how to pick them."

Blake sat her upright and untied her bonds as he spoke to her in a calming voice. "Listen, we're sorry about what happened earlier. The ropes were just a precautionary measure. You shouldn't have gotten dragged into that mess. The Wind Rangers are dangerous. They might have your friends." Kira looked around as she wrung out her sore wrists. She saw Conner next to her with an empty tray to his side. His eyes were disheveled. She could read him right away. Ethan and Trent were not there. It was only the two of them and their captures. Blake smiled as he handed her a glass of water and a cool, steel tray of her own on which there was some crudely made bean soup and a few slices of bread.

"Sorry we don't have anything better," he muttered, somewhat ashamed. "Thanks to all the damage food is in short supply and we can't really make it too far out of the town's radius."

She nodded as her lips were greedily placed around the bread. They hadn't fed her while she was a prisoner of Mesogog so by this point, she probably would have killed and eaten the first woodland creature that came within the proximity of her reach.

"So," Hunter stepped forward. His brother was always a little soft when it came to women. He fell apart at the seams leaving Hunter to pick up the pieces. "We were talking to your friend here and he says that you're looking for someone? A Doctor Oliver?"

"Yeah," she started to trail off, unsure of what she should say or how much Conner had already told them.

"We haven't heard of him. Zurgane searched through our database before he left for supplies an hour ago. We're sorry we couldn't be of any help..." Before Kira could thank him, Hunter continued his sentence, clearly having his own motivation. "...but that still leaves me wondering. Blue Bay Harbor is practically a war zone and to get anywhere near the Wind Ninja Academy you have to drudge fairly deep into the city. How did four teenagers manage to get this far without being spotted?"

"You see we're..."

Hunter cut her off being Kira could stammer out the best lie she could think of on such short notice. "Listen. As long as you're not actually affiliated with the enemy, the truth is what's going to help you more." He starred her down. Unwilling to flinch to yet another male trying to overpower her, Kira let her stubbornness rule her.

"Here's the truth." Conner pulled out the holo-dome from his pocket and held it aloft between Hunter and Kira. Hunter and Blake both perked up as Conner continued. "Kira and I along with the other two you met earlier are from approximately one year in the future. Like you, we're destined to be Power Rangers." Conner held up his right arm with the bracelet containing his dino gem. "Apparently the world as we know it is wrong. Something altered history to make it as bleak as it is now. We found this device that was left in our town by another ranger. According to her, if we follow its coordinates we'll find out causing the rift in time. Thanks to another machine that my friend Ethan has we were able to time travel. The first place it sent us to was right where Blake found us."

Hunter didn't skip a beat. "And why do you want to find this Oliver person?"

"He's supposed to be the fifth member of our team but he doesn't exist in our timeline. We were hoping that if we found him along the way he could give us a clue as to what we're supposed to be looking for and that's the whole truth."

Both thunders paused and exchanged glances with one another. Blake nodded. "We believe you," Hunter chimed in.

"You do?" Kira hesitated. "Why?"

"Maybe it's because he sounded so sincere," Hunter paced between the two time travelers. "Or maybe it's because you both have that honest look on your faces that a person can't really fake. Or truthfully, it's mostly because I noticed that Conner had that device on him when we captured you and we could have taken it at any time but I wanted to give you a chance to explain it yourselves first and you did."

Conner smiled nervously while Kira just rolled her eyes at him. She continued to eat her soup and sandwich while Hunter and Blake sat down next to them. "Well thanks for trusting us guys. You said that those other ninjas might have out friends. What should we do now to get them back?"

There was no reply. The two brothers were stone faced for at least a full agonizing minute. Kira gulped. Blake broke the silence. "If your friends are with the Wind Ninjas I wouldn't be surprised if they were already dead."

"What!" Conner jolted forward to his feet but Hunter was quick to restrain him. "Let me go! We need them to stay as a group! Ethan has the sequencer!"

"We can't let you leave now." Blake placed his arm on Kira's shoulder. "If the Wind Rangers were to capture you after you left they could torture you and as much as we like you guys, we will not put ourselves in jeopardy because of you."

"I don't care about your stupid feud with those other ninjas!" Every muscle in Conner's body began to flare up. He charged forward, breaking Hunter's grip on him. He was going to grab Kira and get out of there, ninjas or no ninjas. At least, he thought he was going to before he legs gave out and his eyes dimmed. With a beautiful, silent thrust kick, Blake had caught Conner on the square of the jaw, dropping him to the ground before he could even realize what was going on.

"You bastard!" Blake hadn't even needed to loosen his grip on Kira's arms. He held firm while Hunter picked up Conner's body and thanked his younger brother. Blake followed closely behind, dragging Kira the whole way as Hunter led the way to a holding cell in the next room. It looked very much like a jail cell, rustic with cool gray steel. It stood out starkly from the otherwise wood grained walls of the compound. Hunter tossed Conner inside while Blake forced Kira inside, kicking and screaming the whole way. She fell to her knees as Blake locked the door behind her. "Why are you doing this?" she protested through her tears.

"Why?" Blake pierced her with his gaze. "In the last few weeks I lost my fellow students and my sensei. Outside of Hunter, they were my family. Over one hundred family members that meant the world to me are now dead. The Wind Rangers are to blame for it. I know you cared for your two friends in the same way that I did my family but it's time that you forget them. They're gone Kira. I'm sorry."

As Blake walked away with his brother, Kira clutched the tear-strained cell bars. After all of the hell that Mesogog's army had put her through she still never lost hope. Today that lofty sense of belief came crashing down around her.

To be continued...