The Gathering (I) - Part 3

Mirinoi

The great storm had been raging on for the past two weeks now, and the natives could tell that it wasn't going to let up any time soon. Mirinoi's stormy season was often a violent one, and they usually had the time to prepare for the worst of it. But this was far worse than even the Elders had seen in their lifetimes; numerous close calls with their homes just able to avoid getting crushed by the ginormous trees, countless cattle swept away in flash floods that nearly consumed entire acres of land.

None of them could have prepared for this.

Not in the dry season.

The rain hammered down, thunder booming throughout the air. The lightning strikes lit up the darkened sky, startling the forest animals that hadn't already retreated to their burrows. It wasn't the predators they needed to be concerned about and hadn't been the main fear of every creature big and small for the past fortnight.

Something had seriously unbalanced the delicate eco-system.

The lightning lit up the forest in brief flashes, highlighting the trees onto the others around it. But it also highlighted something moving between the trees; swinging between the branches, vines whipping back and forth after they had served their purpose. Bare feet rushed along branches, leaping between sturdy supports and climbing with experienced speed.

The figure threw themselves off the last branch, sailing through the air before landing with an audible thud in the mud. She lifted her head, her eyes turned forward through the loose strands of hair that had swept out of place.

Before Maya, resided the stone that held the Quasar Sabers. The lightning seemed to somewhat avoid striking these, striking the treetops that surrounded the clearing, illuminating the area for brief moments here and there.

But it wasn't the Sabers she and the other Rangers of Mirioni wielded in the past.

It was the figure that lay beyond them.

"I see I got your attention."

Zeta stepped forward, a lightning strike illuminating the white-cloaked figure; how he got ominously grew closer to the Sabers in the stone. And Maya didn't like how close he was getting to her Saber…

"Like what I've done with the place?" Zeta asked, arms outstretched, the wind blowing particularly hard. The trees groaned and creaked, standing strong against the winds but didn't sound healthy. The dirt and leaves scattered across the ground rustled, whipping between Maya, the Quasar Sabers and Zeta.

"Why are you doing this?!" Maya demanded, unflinching as her hair and wind flailed around her eyes. She forced herself to keep from clenching her hands into fists, but found the urge gradually increasing. Something just felt…unnatural about the 'human' standing opposite her.

Zeta didn't respond immediately, taking his time to look around at their immediately surroundings; aside from him and Maya, the only other unmoving thing was the very stone that held the Sabers within.

"What better way to draw the attention of the Wolf of Mirinoi than to use her home as bait?"

Zeta slowly stepped out from behind the swords in the stone, Maya immediately shifting into a better fighting stance; the entire situation, naturally, had put her on an exceptionally fine edge. She didn't know just how much control this being had over the growing apocalyptic-level weather that was threatening her world; he could bring the very heavens down upon her at any second, for all she knew.

"Besides…I knew you'd come here."

Zeta stopped in front of the Quasar Sabers in the Stone, standing directly in front of the central blade. He threw a look over his shoulder, his eye falling on the blades to the far right.

"No matter where you are in the universe, you humans are so…predictable. Creatures of habit."

Maya's stance shifted constantly, finding a better footing against the growing pile of leaves being blown between and around her. She needed a solid stance if she had to move quickly. "What do you want? Those blades can only be wielded by those chosen by the bl-"

"I do remember the precedence I sent for something of my own craftsmanship."

It wasn't the sharpness of Zeta's words that froze Maya mid-sentence. But the implications…no, he had to be lying. 'It's impossible...impossible,' the former Ranger convinced herself.

"You really expect me to believe you crafted the Quasar Sabers?" Maya asked dubiously, narrowing her eyes a fraction, her fists raised as she shifted to a more offence stance. Though try as she might, Maya couldn't keep the slight hesitation from her movement as the potential of who she was facing dawned.

Could it be…?

While she was occupied with her own thoughts, she failed to notice Zeta paying close attention to her subtle giveaways. Nor did she notice the subtle smirk that tugged his previously scornful expression.

It was then Maya realized something else.

The howling wind that whipped around the area, the pouring rain that once threatened to flood the entire village, the thunderous rumbles that rattled the very sky…

Wasn't there.

She looked around, and her stance faltered when she realized they were now in a large bubble within the storm; it continued to rage violently beyond, but in an eerie silence that simply went to unnerve Maya more than the loudest she had heard it. It made her seem out of touch, and it was all the worse that it was her very home that she felt severed from.

Maya turned back to look at Zeta, any attack plan crumbling at her feet. No matter what she had anticipated, she was dealing with someone who could, and would, use their power against her. Right now, whoever stood opposite her seemed to be…almost toying with her.

"What do you want?"

Zeta lifted his gaze to Maya, noting her lack of a fighting stance and giving a small nod, though whether it was noting or approving, who could tell.

"The Pack is being called to aid…I need you to answer."

Ocean Bluff

Jungle Karma Pizza was usually bustling with customers and voices, almost struggling to be heard over each other during the busy lunch rush. The brick oven would be blazing, cooking pizzas as the beating heart of the business kept its owner and the employees afloat in the modern world.

But that wasn't the case this time; the lower restaurant floor was quiet, every seat empty and set upside down on the tables. Menus and cutlery were neatly lined up next to the greeting podium, waiting for the moment they'd accompany customers to their table. A fine layer of dust covered everything.

After the mass power outage that had ripped across America nearly eight months prior, which the government had yet to give a definitive answer for, many had been forced out of business. While some put this down to the government not helping out as well as they could for the country's recovery, the majority still felt uneasy of returning to a normal life. Many still remembered, and even rewatched, the reports that had dominated the headlines six months ago, yet their presence still loomed large.

The Wolves of Pax Valley certainly left their mark, despite going silent nearly half a year ago.

One such newspaper, the headline 'RANGERS: FOE OR FRIEND?' sprawled across the front pages, lay scattered at the opposite side of the dojo.

RJ was sat in the middle of the training mat, legs crossed, eyes closed, in the middle of meditation. The only light came through the vents at the top of the walls, pouring in just above where RJ sat; the lowest beam barely grazed against the top of his head, leaving him with the slightest warm feeling atop his hair.

While he had been one of the lucky few who hadn't been forced to shut down, RJ felt it wrong to keep the Pizzeria open during these struggling times, where lots of people were having enough trouble as is. Though that wasn't the reason for his meditation. The scattered papers that lay in and around his chair in front of semi active surveillance screens, filled with various opinions-none of which good-on this group of Rangers.

RJ exhaled deeply.

His eyes slowly opened.

"You need to work on your footing."

An exasperated sigh came from behind his left. A smirk pulled at RJ's face.

"That's literally all I've been teaching for the past two weeks," Casey explained, slinging his rucksack against the wall as he stepped onto the dojo floor.

"And I'm sure you've trained them well," RJ responded, rolling his neck around his shoulders to elect a few cracks from his bones, as he spun on the spot and got to his feet to greet Casey properly. "But after all those sneak attacks Theo tried during your time here…your senses tend to spike whenever someone's trying to be stealthy."

Casey couldn't keep the smirk from forming across his face, chuckling softly as he was reminded of some of the many failed attempts by his fellow ranger and good friend. He had caught up with Theo and Lily just last year, but it felt like a lifetime ago.

But it had been even longer since he had caught up with RJ.

"How you doing RJ?" Casey asked, approaching and offered his hand to RJ, initially intent on a handshake. But that changed when, after RJ looked at the outstretched hand of his former student and fellow Power Ranger, he was instead pulled into a bear hug-or was it a wolf hug?

A few firm pats on the back knocked that question out of his head.

"All the better seeing you, old friend."

RJ grinned as he pulled out of the hug, giving a good-natured chuckle at Casey stretching to rub his back. Had he been a bit rougher than was probably necessary? Perhaps, but he needed a distraction from all other things going on.

"Saw the area's taken a pretty bad hit ever since, well…"

Aaand there it was again.

Casey trailed off as he saw the small smile drop from RJ's face in an instant, running his hand through his hair as he walked off to his seat in front of the multiple televisions. One of the newspapers lay across the arm rest, another blurry picture spread across the front.

"You could say that again-actually, I'd prefer it if you didn't," RJ replied, taking a seat in his chair and leaning back into the worn cushions, scratching the side of his head.

"Tell me about it," Casey mused, walking over to lean against the wall nearest RJ's spot. "We had a new set of students arrive at the Academy two weeks ago. Seems all they could talk about were the Pax Valley Rangers."

"You mean the Wolf Pack."

Casey lifted his head to look at RJ, holding the paper open and peering over it at his former student and teammate. His finger tapped the front page, right below the headline.

"Well, I didn't want to go on about it," Casey replied, giving a faint smirk that was meant to be assuring as he pushed off of the wall, running a hand through his hair as he walked around to look at the newspaper over RJ's shoulder.

"And yet you keep bringing it up."

RJ's grip on the newspaper slackened at the new voice, immediately getting to his feet as Casey had already tensed into a familiar defensive stance. The two stood, backs together, as they scanned both ends of the room. An uneasy sense of the unknown settled over them.

"Did you…bring someone along with you, Casey?" RJ asked slowly, yet his hollow tone wouldn't believe it if Casey said he did.

"No…" Casey turned in time with RJ's movements, facing the stairs he had come up from. His gaze narrowed, fixing his stance. "I didn't."

"The door was opened, as see that as a good an invitation as any."

A gust of wind whooshed past, bringing both RJ and Casey's attention to the RJ's chair, half-expecting to find whoever was trying to act mysterious to be sat there. But they found the seat vacant, save for the scattered newspaper pages that lay strewn across the small area.

"Whatever game you think you're playing; it's getting really old really fast!" Casey called out, daring to take a step forward, looking all around the area in front of him. He eventually turned on the spot and looked to RJ. His mouth opened and his began to say something, but whatever words he had lined up quickly fell apart when his eyes darted behind RJ.

RJ felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

"Oh, but I've only just begun."

RJ whipped around, shifting into Wolf fighting stance; already he felt his inner Wolf on the defensive with him. But both faltered and hesitated when they found the cause of Casey's alarm.

Zeta looked expectantly between the pair of them.

"So…do introductions need to be made or are they actually teaching you accurate history at the Pai Zhuq Academy?"

Division 13 HQ

The soldier's body was flung across the training arena, padded out with extra matts to try and soften the blow. Judging by the way he cradled his elbow, however, it looked as though they made little difference.

As he was helped away from the training arena by another pair of soldiers, throwing back a few venomous curses back, all eyes returned to the individual at the centre of the training arena. Though he may have had a few bandages wrapped around his upper arms and a padded plaster across the bridge of his nose, Tyler seemed the least injured.

And that just pissed E off all the more.

"That's enough," he finally interrupted, jerking up from his seat and stopped just shy of the arena. He pointed to a pair of armed D-13 agents, gesturing to Tyler. "Get him out of here."

The soldiers nodded, approaching the captured Blue Ranger just as the unarmed trainees were ushered away-one of them having a notable hobble to his walk, caused by a suspected dislocated knee.

Tyler looked between the pair of armed soldiers, squaring them up; broad shoulders, built up in the short time he had joined the team prior to their captured, rolled back, like he was preparing to go another round. Even with the remote lock covering his Howler, as well as most of the forearm, his physic alone would've given the problems.

But no sooner had the soldiers started to raise their rifles, did E catch Tyler's eye and gave him a hard look.

"Alright, alright…pussies," Tyler grunted, as one of the guards shoved his shoulder to turn him to the right direction, escorting the captured Power Ranger back to his cell. Through a sliding door they walked, Tyler throwing one last dirty look over his shoulder at E, before he and the guards accompanying him vanished behind the door snapping shut.

Leaving E standing alone in the centre of the training arena, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Having problems?"

E lifted his gaze at the annoyingly familiar voice, turning to see Mallory hobbling over as a pair of grunts set about clearing the room of the training mats. E ran his hand through his hair, bringing it back down to stuff into his trouser pockets as he turned to face Mallory.

"Now where the fuck did you get that idea from?" E asked rhetorically, the slight edge to his words unavoidable as his anger seeped through. He briskly walked off after that simple exchange, approaching a lone computer set up by the wall, a scientist working at the keyboard.

"Please tell me we're getting somewhere with analysing their fight patterns?" E questioned, not waiting for an answer as he turned the monitor around, trying to make sense of the various windows and readings.

As Mallory approached E's side to look over the readings as well, the scientist quickly moved around the desk. Visibly annoyed at E's abrupt interruption of his work, the scientist kept whatever he really wanted to say to himself and instead started pointing to the numerous readouts.

"Ever since they've started to become more compliant with you, we've been recording these 'sparring' sessions to try and get a better understanding of their fighting style. In turn, we hope to apply a useable counter-attack fighting style to combat both these Rangers and any future threats to this country," the scientist informed, focusing more on the Director beside Agent E instead of the Agent himself.

"And has anything come of these little…spars?" Mallory asked, both hands coming to rest on the head of his can, leaning in towards the screen to get a better look; he'd be damned before admitting to needing glasses.

The scientist spared a glance towards E, who was shooting daggers at the scientists-trying to keep him quiet-before quickly looking back to the Director.

Screw it, the pay wasn't this good.

"Well, aside from numerous broken bones and a couple of near fatalities, we've not gained much from them."

Scratch that-E was glaring full on great swords at the scientists.

"It's just too advanced for us to work with," the scientist continued, "whoever, or whatever, trained them has pushed them…well, for lack of a better word, beyond normal human capabilities."

Mallory gently tapped the end of his cane against E's boot, prompting E to turn to him before reluctantly stepping aside to allow Mallory closer to the scientist. "How so?" he inquired, raised a withered eyebrow in curiosity.

The scientist grabbed the mouse and flicked a few screens over, highlighting a set of five basic-human biological outlines; a coloured circle was set beneath each figure, assigned to each of the Rangers.

"For one, their strength is unlikely anything that is known for their sizes. All of them have shown, even unmorphed, that they are capable of lifting well over 5000 lbs; and judging by their…well, cocky attitude, their potential could be much greater," the scientist explained, tapping on a few recordings.

The time stamp placed it a few days ago, with Tanya under what appeared to be an extensively modified bench-press. There were weights stacked up to the limit, and even some additional hanging on what little was left of the bar. And yet, despite the incredible weight, Tanya wasn't shown breaking a sweat in the feed.

"My God…" Mallory uttered, throwing a look over his shoulder, eyes finding the door he had caught the Blue Ranger being escorted through minutes earlier. He then turned back to E. "And you seriously think they're not going to bust out any time they please?"

"I have the situation under control," E stated hotly, jerking his head at the scientist, mouthing 'piss off' as he turned Mallory around to talk to him and only him. Without giving the scientist the chance to think of a response to the rudeness on display, E walked the Director away, moving towards the opposite end of the room again. "The Rangers are contained, and they're not going anywhere without my say so. Everything is going according to schedule."

"Except everything isn't going to schedule, now is it?"

E paused, facing Mallory properly with a hard to decipher look.

"What are you getting at?"

Mallory firmly planted his cane in place, leaning heavily into it as he loomed towards his one-time protégé.

"Because, E, if things were going to schedule, then I wouldn't have been sent down from Washington to authorize the use of classified files, would I?"

It wasn't often that something surprised Mallory anymore. When you've been around the block as many times as he had, you think you've seen it all. So to see something that could only be described as 'a deer in headlights' look on E's face, well, it reminded him that no one person has seen everything.

He refocused when he caught E uttering 'shit' under his breath.

"So tell me," Mallory pulled back, assessing E over for any further reaction.

"Why would you need access to files relating to the Knights of Enfer?"

He could see E's mind processing, trying to find the right words to say. Knowing E for as long as he had, Mallory had an idea of what he really wanted to say.

A loud mix of swearing and creative insults. But E had grown since then, as had his words.

"Because they're my bargaining chip; the key reason why they haven't busted out and slaughtered everyone in this facility," E replied, his voice low as to keep the reason between him and his mentor. "Because they contain information that their Red Ranger very sorely…wants, to the point of getting the rest of those bastards to ease up the hostility."

Mallory slowly nodded, simply entertaining the idea for the moment. For any other reason, Mallory would've given E the benefit of the doubt and given him access to any file that would've helped. But in this scenario…he needed something more.

"And what kind of information could you possibly use to bargain with? Especially from those files? The Knights of Enfer are as old as he is, hardly think there's anything he'd want to know."

E smiled, but it wasn't cheery; it was dark. Sinister, even.

"His legacy."

Texas

A quick, three-knock pattern racked against the outside of an emerald-painted door.

Joel had barely set his coffee down on the kitchen table when the knock rang out from the front door, turning at the noise. His brow cocked, glancing at the clock that hung in the kitchen. Had the post guy forgotten something…? He certainly wasn't expecting anything today but knows what crap they delivered nowadays. And now, whatever was waiting for him on the other side was going to delay him getting to the hanger.

With a small shake of his head, Joel stepped around the table and approached the door, his eyes briefly found themselves drawn to the picture hanging from the frame-from his and Angela's wedding, he remembered fondly-before he flicked the eyehole cover out of the way. He leaned in, getting a preview of what was waiting for him on the other side.

And it made his eyes widened. "No way…"

The door opened barely a second later, Joel standing in the doorway to get a good look at the person on the other side. The initial look of shock quickly broke into a massive smile. "Carter?"

Sure enough, Carter Greyson was standing just beyond the welcome mat of Joel's home; and while his hair had an edge of grey to it now, and he was without his Lightspeed Rescue jacket, it was still very much the same man Joel fought alongside and formed a solid friendship with all those years ago.

"Joel; long time no see," Carter greeting, smiling widely, highlighting a few wrinkles in his skin, but it did nothing to take away from the man who once led the Lightspeed Rescue team.

"Hell yeah it has been!" Joel replied, offering a hand up and had it immediately greeted with Carter's own as the two shared a brief bro shake before Joel pulled away, gesturing for Carter to follow him. "Come on in; didn't know you were in the area. Since when did you visit Texas?"

Carter followed Joel in, stepping over the freehold. He stopped momentarily in the doorframe, glancing over his shoulder to up the street. "Just in the area, have some relatives in the next town over. Thought I'd drop in on the way."

He glanced over his other shoulder. A brief flash of black caught the corner of his eye and made him pause momentarily, but he didn't turn to look again. Instead, the former Ranger rolled his shoulders and crossed the doorway, closing the door behind him.

"We got an ID on that guy?"

Agent S stepped over to the technicians, looking over their shoulder to get a better look at the monitors. She readjusted the glasses, combing a loose strand of onyx hair behind her ear again as she watched the screens.

The tech sitting to her right was tapping away at his keyboard; the monitor, displaying the front-face of the house they were watching, zoomed in on a still image. The image enhanced, showing a man half-way through the open door of the house. Looking over his shoulder, as if knowing he was being watch.

"Any second now…" the tech replied under his breath, typing the final commands into the computer, a scan running over the visible part of the man's face: the angle worked against them, somewhat, but they had enough to work with.

"Um…Ma'am?"

"We got a match?" Agent S moved over to the other tech, leaning over the side of the chair to rest a palm on the desk beside the tech's computer, getting a good look at the profile flashing onto the screen. Her eyes widened, and her back straightened when a name flashed up on the screen; though her reaction would've been the same even without the red flashing text.

"Shit…what's Greyson doing here?"

"You caught me at a good time; was gonna head over to the airport a couple of miles west. Was gonna spend the afternoon taking care of the baby," Joel said over his shoulder, grabbing another mug from one of the lower cupboards, moving to the other side of the kitchen to the upper cabinet. "You take sugar?"

"Trying to cut back on sugar, doctor's telling me to keep away from milk as well. Good thing I'm a fan of black coffee," Carter replied, looking out of the window of the kitchen, peering through the blinders.

"Good thing too, needed to get some milk." Joel pulled himself from the fridge-freezer, settling instead on setting the mug-filled with only ground coffee-by the kettle and flicked it on. As he waited for the water to boil, Joel turned back around to face Carter, who had since turned away from the window and stood opposite the table.

"Saw in the papers; 'the Sky Cowboy Rides Again'."

Joel grinned widely as Carter brought up the general headline he had seen in circulating these past few months. "Yeah, getting the impressive the people have missed me. Even heard some claiming I retired. I mean, me? Retire? Pffft."

Carter let out a chuckle, stuffing one of his hands into the pocket of his old Lightspeed jacket-he never let go of it did he? Joel had thought in amusement-as his other reached over to a framed picture sitting on the windowsill.

"What's Angela doing these days?" Carter questioned, setting the framed picture-one from their old days in the Aquabase-back in its original place.

Joel, who had turned partially around to check on the kettle, turned back at Carter's question, forearms resting on the countertop as he responded.

"She's still doing her own things; sometimes helping out Ryan in some of the off-the-books stuff they need in that newer Aquabase, some blueprints or reference material to work from. She's actually gone across the country to Chicago to help a friend from a while back. Something about robotics."

"Well, so long as they're not trying to recreate McKnight's Cyborg Rangers," Carter mused, just as the kettle let out a long hiss with a column of steam rising.

Joel nodded in agreement as he turned around fully, pouring the boiling water into the cup. His back was to Carter, not seeing the former Red Ranger pull his pocketed hand out and placing a small object on the underside of the table. He could have sworn he heard a small beep-like something turning on-but brushed it aside.

He turned back around, offering the coffee to Carter.

"Honestly, nothing would surprise me anym-"

Carter's hand was out, like he was going to take the offered cup. Only, it wasn't empty.

It had a Morpher in it; his old Morpher.

"You're going to need this more than I need that caffeine," Carter stated.

To Be Continued...