Heart of Crimson

Summary: What if Hunter wasn't the first Ranger to wear Crimson. AU for MMPR Season 2. Dairanger powers, sorta. TommyKim, JasonOC slash.

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor do I intend/desire to make any money off the Power Rangers/Super Sentai concepts and characters presented in this story. They are fully the property of their respective owners and are used with loving respect. Furthermore, this story utilizes concepts borrowed/adapted from Chris Claremont's run on X-Men. Certain aspects of the story are also due to my current obsession: Jyuken Sentai Gekiranger.

Chapter 6: Shades of Red

"Don't pretend. You know who I am, and I know who you are . . . Crimson Ranger."

Jason looked at Brandon in shock, and found his boyfriend fixing the Shadowmancer with a hard glare.

"Oh, don't act all shocked." Dreaveus continued. "Or, have the lovebirds been keeping secrets from each other? You really didn't know who he was before now, did you . . . Red Ranger."

Now it was Brandon's turn to look at Jason in shock. However, as their eyes met there was a moment of understanding between the two young men. In that moment they both knew that later they would have to be the teenaged lovers dealing with the issues of trust that came from this revelation. However, they also both knew that in this moment they were warriors faced with their enemy, and all other issues could wait.

The two Rangers turned back to face Dreaveus, who was now the one with the shocked expression. He had expected the revelation that the two had been keeping their Ranger identities secret from each other would shock them enough to make them easy targets, but as he saw them assuming ready stances for a two-on-one fight, he realized that plan had failed. The Shadowmancer was loathe to admit it, but Zedd had been right about the difficulty in predicting the reactions of human teenagers. And now the children were taunting him.

"Gee Dreaveus, I guess we have to thank you," The Red Ranger started.

"Yeah," the Crimson Ranger picked up, "having to keep that secret probably would have caused problems eventually."

Dreaveus drew his sword and lunged. Jason and Brandon dived in opposite directions out of the line of the attack. As they did so, Jason pulled out his morpher and Brandon reached under his shirt and grabbed the pendent he, until now, had kept hidden. As the two Rangers regained their feet they morphed.

"It's Morphin Time! Red Dragon!"

"Phoenix Henshin!"

In twin flashes of red and crimson Jason and Brandon were replaced by the Red and Crimson Rangers, each taking a ready pose with their respective swords. A glance at each other, a mutual nod, and the two charged Dreaveus. The two Rangers fought as one against the Shadowmancer and immediately put him on the defensive

Dreaveus quickly realized several things about the fight. The first was that that the Red Ranger was not quite as good a swordsman as the White Ranger, but when paired with the Crimson Ranger his lack of skill was irrelevant. The second revelation, however, was much more useful to Dreaveus' goals . . . unlike the Crimson Ranger; the Red Ranger wasn't using lethal force.

Dreaveus was a master of the sword, and he had learned much from his first encounter with the Crimson Ranger, to the point that he believed he could take him, even with his paramour to back him up. But, the Shadowmancer had his overall plan to consider, and so he changed his tactics. In moments the two Rangers had the upper hand.

Dreaveus waited and then dropped his guard and he wasn't disappointed when two power charged blades came at him. As he expected, the force was enough to knock him a few feet away from the pair of Rangers, and he was bleeding from a new wound, but it wasn't anything that he couldn't cope with. However, he acted more injured and dazed than he really was and put on a performance of struggling back to his feet, leaving his opponents an opening. Now, all he had to do was hope he had read the two Rangers correctly.

In about five minutes, Jason knew he would likely freak out a bit. After weeks of questions and confusion he now knew who the Crimson Ranger was, but he wasn't sure what that would mean for his relationship with Brandon. However, for right now he was high from the rush of fighting alongside Brandon. However, that rush quickly faded as he heard a metallic click followed by the whine of a weapon charging. Jason looked away from Dreaveus towards Brandon to see the Crimson Ranger holding the Phoenix Avenger in its blaster mode . . . aimed directly at Dreaveus' head. Jason jumped between Dreaveus and Brandon, knocking the latter's arm towards the sky just as he pulled the trigger.

As the crimson and gold bolt tore into the night sky, Brandon yelled in surprise, "Jason? What the hell?!"

"You can't just kill him!" Jason yelled back.

They glared at each other through their visors. "You don't understand!" Brandon tried to reason.

Dreaveus took advantage of the Rangers' distraction and gathered his power. Shadows danced as his fingertips as he chuckled, "Foolish children." The Shadowmancer lashed out, a stream of shadow leaping the intervening space. Whatever Jason had been about to say was cut off as Dreaveus' blast struck him in the back and the Red Ranger screamed.