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 8: Face the Music

Tommy, Kim, Zack, Trini, and Billy had gone directly to the main chamber, Jason and Brandon had were taking another route that took them past Jason's quarters so he could fetch Brandon a shirt as the one he had been wearing was currently soaking in a concoction Kim assured him would get the blood out. Brandon had been quite weirded out that the wounds he suffered from the Shadow attacking Jason had manifested physically and had been paranoid about how he was going to explain his injury to his parents. However, the others assured him that if he really was a Ranger there would be no sign of the wounds within a couple of hours, by next morning at the latest. Brandon had peaked under the bandages and found that they were right, as the injury already looked days healed.

"You guys have rooms here?" Brandon asked as they walked through the hallway that just reinforced his mental Star Trek comparison.

"Yeah," Jason replied. "We mostly use them to get cleaned up after a battle or to grab a nap. They're really here in case something really bad happens and we have to bunker here for a while. One of the lower levels is all living quarters for an emergency."

"Wow."

"Well, Zordon believes in being prepared."

"Zordon? The voice over the speaker?"

"Yeah. He's the one who gave us our powers. You'll meet him in a few." Jason stopped in front of a Red door, "Here we are." Jason ducked in quickly and came back out with a red t-shirt and handed it to Brandon . . . although, much like he had ever since they left the infirmary, he didn't really look at him.

Brandon pulled the shirt on. It was a bit larger than he normally would have worn, as Jason wore a size larger to accommodate his chest, and so hung a bit baggy on Brandon's lean frame. He now looked at Jason, "Are we okay?"

Now Jason looked at him, "Yeah. Why?"

'Well, this is the first time you've looked at me since we left the infirmary."

Jason looked confused for a moment and then his eyes widened, "Oh! Oh, no, it's not that. It's . . . um," Jason blushed severely, "this was the first time I ever saw you without a shirt on. It was . . . um, kind of distracting."

Now Brandon blushed and he looked down, "Oh. Yeah. Well, that's not exactly how I wanted that moment to go." Realizing what he had just said, Brandon looked up and caught a glint of uncertainty in Jason's eyes, so he quickly changed the subject before they were both stuck with permanent blushes, "But are we okay about the whole secrets and lies thing?"

Jason relaxed, seeming to find this topic less dangerous, "Yeah. Not like I can hold any of that against you without being a massive hypocrite."

Brandon relaxed, "Yeah, ditto. Man, secret identities suck."

"Oh yeah," Jason smiled. "Just wait until you hear Zack's rant on the subject."

They began walking again until Jason stopped and added, "There is one thing that bothers me though."

Now it was Brandon who wouldn't look at Jason, "I was going to kill him."

"Yeah. Brandon, you can't just . . ."

"There's no other option," Brandon cut him off. "I wish there was, but there just isn't."

"Why?"

Now Brandon looked at him, and the expression on his face made Jason's heart break. Brandon had the look of someone who bore the entire weight of the world on his shoulders and that it was more than he could bear. In that moment Brandon looked so frail and vulnerable that Jason wanted to do nothing more than pull the other young man to him, hold him tightly, and tell him everything would be okay. "The others will want . . . need to know that too. Please, I think I can only explain this once. Please."

Now Jason did pull Brandon into his arms and whispered, "Okay." Brandon shuddered and then seemed to collect himself, pulling away, but Jason didn't let go of his hand.

They came to a set of massive interlocking doors. Jason smiled reassuringly at Brandon and addressed the doors, "Jason Scott, Red Dragon Ranger."

A computerized voice responded, "Identity confirmed. Access granted." The doors slid open, amazingly soundlessly given their size and thickness.

Jason led the way through the doors and Brandon stopped with a gasp. It was a massive domed chamber with silvery walls, split into three levels. The entry level featured three doors spaced evenly around the room, the large apparently main door Jason and Brandon entered through and two smaller doors. Set into the walls a few feet to either side of each door, and ultimately spaced evenly around the room, were tubes filled with multi-colored energy that arced towards a half-sphere set at the apex of the dome. On the floor inside each of the doors was a large lightning bolt symbol. Jason drew Brandon forward to a set of four steps up. As they moved forward Brandon looked to the side and saw that the lower level seemed to be filled with labeled panels, however the symbols on the panels were unlike anything he had ever seen. Hand in hand he followed Jason up the steps. The upper level featured three semi-circular banks of what appeared to be computers spaced between the sets of steps up from the entry level. This level was already occupied by the other Rangers and . . . a robot?

Jason took in the scene. Zack and Trini were looking at Brandon with uncomfortable expressions. Kim gave him a weak smile when she saw Brandon's hand in his. Billy seemed to be studying the situation. And Tommy . . . Tommy's expression told Jason that he was the only thing keeping him from beating Brandon half to death.

The robot trundled forward, "Welcome to the Command Center, Crimson Ranger."

The look of betrayal Tommy shot at the back of the automaton's golden head should have melted the plating. However, Brandon missed this, looking directly at the robot and responding, "It talks?!"

Jason laughed, and even Kim, Billy, Trini, and Zack chuckled, their tension seeming to lift a little. Jason made the introductions, "This is Alpha 5. Alpha, this is Brandon."

A giant, floating bald head appeared above the computer bank directly behind Alpha and the others, "And I am Zordon."

"Whoa!" Brandon exclaimed and nearly jumped back. Only Jason's firm grip kept him from tumbling down the stairs. Tommy almost smirked. Kim caught the expression out of the corner of her eye and elbowed him. He looked down at her in a flash of anger, but her return glare stopped him cold.

Jason pulled Brandon closer and whispered, "Relax, it's okay."

Brandon's eyes were wide, "But he's . . . he's . . ."

Billy now jumped in, "Zordon's body is in transtemporal stasis. What you're seeing is a hologram designed to convert his telepathic transmissions into a visual form."

"Ooo-kay," Brandon responded nervously.

"We have been curious about your identity for some time. But it seems that the Power has a way of pulling those it touches together," Zordon spoke again.

Tommy snorted derisively. The others all looked sharply at him, and Jason's voice had an edge to it as he said, "Bro . . ."

Brandon put his hand on Jason's arm, "Jason, it's okay. Tommy's just being protective. After all, you did get hurt."

"While stopping you from killing someone," Tommy added, his voice full of accusation.

Jason sighed, Brandon looked down, and now Zordon interjected, "Admittedly Brandon, your seeming willingness to kill is cause for concern."

Now Brandon looked up again, this time with a determined expression, "It's not willingness, it's what has to be done. If there was another way I'd take it, but the only way to save Earth from the damage Dreaveus is doing is with his death."

Tommy was about to jump back in, but Trini stepping forward stopped him, "You said something similar earlier, about us not knowing what he is, what his powers do. What did you mean?"

"Okay, let's start with, what do you know?" Brandon answered with a question of his own.

"Very little," Billy answered. "When the Crimson . . . er, you first mentioned Shadows, we tried to find out what we were up against, but all we encountered were vague legends. They all agreed that the Shadows were dangerous, but did not give details to how, why, or how to fight them."

"Shadow is," Brandon paused and appeared to be searching for words. "Please, understand that I've never had to put this in words before. Shadow, the shadows are . . . I guess a byproduct would be the best thing to call it."

"Byproduct?" Kim whispered.

"Waste, leftover," Trini defined.

"Yeah," Brandon continued, "When the powers of Light or Dark are expended, what's left over is Shadow. Normally the Shadow breaks down into other forms of energy or returns to whichever source it started out as, but a Shadowmancer, like Dreaveus, is able to collect that energy and use it the same way that Rangers use Light or Zedd uses Darkness."

"So, then he's just like every other villain. We can work on a way of imprisoning him like Zordon did with Rita," Tommy interjected.

Brandon shook his head, "I wish it was that simple. Like any byproduct, Shadow is effectively toxic. Normally, it wouldn't be an issue, as the Universe has ways of recycling the Shadow, but Shadowmancers stop that process, causing Shadow to build up to dangerous levels, damaging the balance of energies around the buildup. Just by existing, Dreaveus is a threat. It would be manageable if not for two things, those being Zedd's constant attempts at conquest, and the fact that he actually uses the built up power. It's making everything worse. Can't you feel it?"

All the Rangers looked at each other blankly, but then Zordon responded, "He is correct Rangers. I apologize for not noticing it sooner, but I had allowed myself to focus too much on more obvious concerns. I can sense that energy patterns across the planet have been disrupted."

Brandon now nodded, "It's subtle now, but the disruption's exponential. Soon it will start affecting weather patterns and the Earth's EM field."

Everyone looked at Billy who succinctly explained, "That's bad."

"Once Dreaveus is dead, the buildup will stop and things will balance themselves out." Brandon looked down, his voice a pained whisper, "It's the only way."

As Brandon spoke, Tommy thought he could hear a piece of the young man's soul dying . . . and that was enough to break through the hostility he had developed against the Crimson Ranger. As Jason wrapped Brandon in an embrace, Tommy stepped forward, followed by nervous looks from the other four Rangers and a threatening glance from Jason. His voice was soft, friendly as he spoke, "It may be your only option, but it's not our only option."

There was something in the way Tommy said our that made Brandon look up, and the compassionate look on the White Ranger's face made Brandon realize he had been included in that our. Brandon found he couldn't speak, but Jason did. "What do you mean, bro?" a slight edge still in his voice.

Tommy sighed, realizing he deserved that tone, "I mean that Brandon, on his own, has limited options. But now he has us, and we have a whole Command Center full of super advanced technology. And, we have Billy."

Everyone turned to the aforementioned young genius. He looked startled for a second but then he got that far off expression his friends knew meant his massive intellect had latched onto the problem. After a moment he spoke, "With the additional information provided by Brandon and the data we already have on the Shadow energy it may be possible to isolate a pocket dimension, much like Rita's Dark Dimension, with sufficiently unique physical properties that, by imprisoning Dreaveus within it, we could neutralize his threat."

Jason turned back to Brandon, "You said before that we fight monsters, you fight Shadows. Is there anything that specifically says you have to fight alone?"

"Well, no," Brandon replied, "just that I'm the only one who can defeat the Shadowmancer."

"Then you can be the one to kick his ass into whatever little pocket of hell Billy finds," Tommy commented.

"Yeah," Brandon replied, seeming uncertain.

"You okay," Jason whispered.

"Yeah," Brandon whispered back, "a little overwhelmed." He smiled weakly at Jason who gave him a big grin back.

"Brandon?" Trini broached. When he looked at her, she continued, "Not that I doubt you, but how do you know all of this?"

Brandon's hand went to his chest, and then he reached under his shirt and pulled out the amulet. "From this, the Phoenix amulet," he answered. "It's the source of my Ranger powers."

"Kinda like our Power Coins gave us the knowledge of how to use our weapons and the Zords," Zack observed.

"Um, I guess." Brandon replied.

"Brandon, how did you acquire your powers?" Zordon asked.

"The amulet's been passed down through the Kenshi, the Jyuken masters since the founding Kenshi, Bursa. According to tradition, he was given the amulet by a Shaolin monk. The amulet had been in the possession of his order for centuries. The monk told Master Bursa that the amulet would guide him in forging a new art, and from his line of students would come the one who would wield the amulet's power as the only one who could defeat the Shadowmancer. Master Kandou told me that each Kenshi to whom the amulet was passed knew when they met the next one in the chain and that the amulet reacted so strongly to me that he knew I was the one they had been waiting for. That's why he took me as his student and taught me the form that Master Bursa had designed, but forbidden to teach to anyone else, Phoenix-ken."

"I thought your form was Falcon," Tommy commented.

Brandon blushed a little, "Yeah, sorry. Secret identity?"

Tommy smiled in understanding, "Nothing to be sorry about, we know how it is."

"Actually, there is Tommy," Brandon countered, "because I was able to identify your Geki . . . it's Falcon. I didn't want to risk you asking me to teach you a form I don't know."

Conversation went on for about another hour as Brandon was fully welcomed into the team. Eventually his shirt was ready, good as new as promised. Brandon was greatly relieved, as he disliked lying to his parents as much as the other Rangers. As they were all preparing to leave, Billy presented him with a communicator of his very own.

As the white, pink, blue, yellow, black, red, and crimson teleport effects faded, Alpha turned to Zordon, "Oh no Zordon, what do we do now?"

"We can only hope, for all their sakes that the legends of the Phoenix turn out to be incorrect."

"Not quite the payoff I was hoping for," Dreaveus purred as he lovingly stroked the shadowy crystal, "but a profitable venture none the less. Join with the others, Crimson Ranger, it doesn't matter. Soon, I will have everything I need." The Shadowmancer turned and left the cavern, returning to the Palace above, leaving behind the strange machine, its readout showing 80 of capacity. From the darkness, pupil-less red eyes watched him go.