War of the Hidden

Disclaimer: Nothing that you can google belongs to me.

A/N: Please give me some kind of comment so I won't keep posting if no one likes it.

Ch. 4

Dawn was breaking when Nick and Maxi returned to the motorcycle. They stopped at a Shell for gas and some refreshments, coffee and doughnut for Nick, and a Coke and bagel for Maxi. The little girl begged the teen to allow her to drive so he could rest after a night without sleep but he refused. It's too suspicious in broad daylight, he told her. But when she continued to pester him, he begrudgingly promised her to drive that night.

Their next destination was Silver Hills. Only Wes and Eric live there as the co-Commanders of the Silver Guardians, but as Eric was in a relationship with Taylor, they were connected to the entire Wild Force team, which would really narrow their search down. And the Silver Guardians were also an easy target, because they too, act like police. In fact, the car Wes and Eric drive is a large black SUV with police lights on its roof. And that's how they found them.

"There!" Maxi yelled so suddenly, Nick nearly swerved into a pole.

"Don't do that!" he shouted back, breathing heavily.

"Sorry," Maxi rushed an apology, keeping her eyes on the distinctive SUV. "That's the one," she said, pointing to it. "We gotta catch up to it."

"All right," Nick said, revving the engine. "You better hold on tight then," he warned and the motorcycle shot forward. Maxi had to clench Nick's leather jacket with both hands to keep from flying off. When they made it next to the SUV, she carefully reached one hand up and tapped their window. The tinted glass rolled down automatically.

"Eric," the little girl greeted. The hard man stared at her for a moment. It was a good thing he wasn't the one driving.

"Lian," he finally recognized.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Hey Wes, how you doing?"

The driver in the red beret glanced at her when she spoke his name, returned his eyes to the road, and then whipped his head around a moment later when the scene sunk in. You could see shock and confusion written on both their faces.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" Wes cried.

"Look, as cool as it is to talk like this," Maxi said. "I think we should sit down…or at least not be driving 60 miles an hour on a car-flooded freeway."

"Right," Eric agreed. He looked forward and pointed. "Take that next exit and turn into the first parking lot you see. It's a Starbucks, I think."

"Okay, see you there," Maxi nodded and Nick stepped on the gas. Eric rolled up the window and Wes followed the motorcycle closely. They talked in the parking lot, leaning against the SUV. Maxi told them the same thing as she did Carter and Dana. They agreed to inform the Wild Force team and would be there within several hours. With that settled, Nick and Maxi headed for the next place: Blue Bay Harbor.

The Ninja Storm team was one that Tommy had worked with before, so Maxi was actually friends with them. They and every team after them were considered the younger group, they were called "teens" even though some of them were no longer in their teenage years. It was because they were several years younger than their predecessors. And to push that, they were more of Maxi's friends than Tommy's, who the rest of the Rangers were friends with, since they were the "adults". Coincidently, she knew that all six of the Wind, Thunder, and Samurai Rangers happened to be in their hometown (well, not exactly where the Thunder Ninjas originated from, but after a year of protecting a city from an evil space ninja, you kind of call it home, no matter where you were actually born in), with Blake taking a break from his professional motocross racing and Hunter visiting from the Thunder Ninja Academy up north. And she knew their local hangout, having been there herself many times before. She directed Nick to one her favorite places in Blue Bay Harbor: Storm Chargers.

"This place is pretty cool," Nick said, seeing the dirt bikes that went in and out of the extreme sports shop as they entered it.

"Dude, focus," Maxi replied, smacking his stomach with the back of her hand. "But it is an awesome place, huh?"

"Yep," Nick agreed, nodding.

The shop was its usual busyness. There were plenty of people around, looking at surfboards, motocross gear, or the limited stock of snorkeling stuff. Some were already looking at swimwear, getting a late start for the summer or just keeping an eye out for a spare. Maxi could see Kelly, the red-head owner of Storm Chargers. She was a good friend to all six Rangers and often gave them comfort and advice (without ever finding out their identities, unlike Hayley). She had also given jobs to Blake and Hunter when they decided to stay and join the Rangers. Dustin also worked for her, as a mechanist while the Bradley brothers had been stock boys, and though the latter had left Blue Bay Harbor, the Earth-powered Wind Ninja still worked there. Maxi could see him in his usual place in the back, bent over a dirt bike with a greasy towel thrown over one shoulder. Of course, he was wearing yellow. Sitting on the counter, wearing a gray tank top with bright red shorts was another familiar face…or back, since he was actually facing the other way and was talking to Dustin. On the other side of the room were the others, sitting on the couch and watching the TV in the lounge, which Kelly only allows to play sport-related things. One Caucasian girl with long blonde hair, wearing light blue like Maddie, one big Caucasian guy, wearing crimson, and two Asian guys, one small and wearing navy while the other wore glasses and dressed in green.

"That them?" Nick asked, looking at the four chatting away on the couch.

"Most of them," Maxi replied. "The other two are over there." She pointed to the two guys in the opposite corner. "Why don't you go over them and introduce yourself while I get the boys?"

"All right, it's your call," Nick shrugged and walked away. Maxi headed over to her two friends. She leaned casually against the counter Shane was sitting on and rapped her knuckles on the countertop. The guy froze mid-sentence (no, mid-word) and slid off his seat, turning slowly to see who it was.

"Lian!" he sighed in relief. "Girl, don't you know you're not supposed to sneak up on people?"

"Sorry, couldn't resist," Maxi replied, clapping his hand. "You shouldn't turn your back on others, you should know better."

"She has a point," Dustin pointed out. He was about to clap her hand too, but they pulled back when he saw the black grease it was covered in.

"Shut up," Shane replied, shoving his best friend's shoulder playfully.

"Why don't you guys come over? I have something to talk to you guys about, all of you guys." Maxi turned and walked away. Shane and Dustin looked at each other, shrugged, and followed her.

"Lian!" the four others exclaimed upon seeing her.

"Hey guys," the little girl replied, nodding as Shane and Dustin fell into seat beside their teammates. "Sorry to cut the reunion short, but I'm here on business."

"This doesn't sound good," Cam said to his neighbor, who happened to be Hunter. The elder Bradley nodded in agreement.

"I take it you already met Nick?" Maxi asked, waving at the Red Wizard who was standing next to her. The four nodded. Shane and Dustin introduced themselves and the three of them shook hands.

"Long story short, something's gonna happen in Briarwood, Nick's city, and I want to gather all the Raners there."

"Is it that bad?" Dustin asked.

"I was teleported with no briefing on school grounds with only a 'You're needed in Briarwood' as an explanation, and I'm pretty sure they thought I was my dad."

"If they were aiming for your dad, then it must be something really bad," Cam said. Maxi nodded.

"My thoughts exactly. That's why I've been traveling, rounding up the rainbow to Briarwood, just in case."

"We'll be there," Hunter assured her. "Just tell us when."

"As soon as possible would be good."

"We can leave immediately," Shane said. Maxi nodded.

"I have one more stop to make, then we're heading back. Just go to Rock Porium, it's a record shop. The Mystic Force Rangers, Nick's teammates, should be working there--"

"If they're not, just ask the owner, Toby," Nick added. "Or any of the employees. They were purple shirts as uniforms. Our identities our out in our city, so just ask them to bring you to the Power Rangers."

"All right," Dustin said. "Let me just tell Kelly I have to go."

"And I'll have Cyber Cam watching the computer mainframe, just in case," Cam added.

"Good idea," Maxi agreed. "I have a feeling we're gonna need all the help we can get. See you as soon as we can."

"You would make a great Ranger someday, Lian," Tori said with a smile, putting a comforting hand on the little girl's shoulder.

"Thanks Tor," Maxi smiled back and left with Nick. There was only one more place for them to go and it was her turn to drive. She gripped the handlebar tightly and heaved a heavy sigh as she sped for Reefside.