A/N: My usual site for Ranger info says Justin was 11 in the show, and that's what I'm basing my Justin off. Brought back Storm Blaster because I thought that the car wasn't played enough. Invented a word with this chapter 'uncarlike', to describe Storm Blaster...

Disclaimer: Sorry, no Rangers here.


Justin idly tossed the soccer ball up and down as he lay on his bed, he was bored. He snorted softly, he worked for the government, on the kind of projects most people never even guessed existed, and he was bored. Not even his hidden agenda, protecting the Ranger Identities, could excite him right now. Justin Stewart officially qualified as a burn-out at the age of 19. He'd graduated from high school at age 13, finished college last year, and a year into the government work, he was bored.

His phone rang. "Hello, Stewart residence," Justin said.

"Justin Stewart?" A male voice said.

"Yes it is; who is this?" Justin asked.

"My name is Cameron Watanabe. I'm looking for a pair of your old friends, TJ Johnson and Carlos Vargas. There's evidence to support the belief that they are in serious trouble and I was hoping you would be willing to talk."

"Cameron Watanabe," Justin mused, "from Blue Bay Harbor, and a friend of Tommy Oliver?"

"Yes," Cameron replied.

"Where do you need me?"

"In Blue Bay, if possible," Cameron said.

"I can be there in an hour," Justin replied, "How can I reach you?"

"Go to the Motel 8, there's only one. Carter Grayson from Lightspeed will meet you there. There will probably be several of his associates there as well."

"Will I need my Key?" Justin asked.

Cameron paused, "Yes, you might want to bring it. Be careful, Justin. I don't want to explain to Dr. Oliver about how I let his favorite protégé get hurt."

"No worries," Justin assured him. They hung up and he rolled off the bed and hurried to get dressed. Then he bounded down stairs and out side, where his car was waiting. The Jeep in the driveway looked like an average blue auto, until Justin leapt inside. "Blue Bay Harbor, Motel 8, Storm Blaster," Justin said, "as fast as possible; TJ and Carlos are in trouble."

Storm Blaster revved up and skillfully backed up and took off down the street. Justin didn't bother with much beyond a pretense of driving, the alien vehicle was often better than a GPS system for getting places all on it's own. He just checked his seatbelt and leaned back against the seat as Storm Blaster revved up into hyper mode. Soon, they were cruising down the streets of Blue Bay Harbor, and Justin shuddered when he saw the ocean. It would be a while before he could swim out there without worrying that a giant mechanical shark was going to snatch him and drag him away. Of course, he had to forgive Tommy, he'd not thought to let his friends know about his trip to Key West and he'd left his cell phone behind because he hadn't wanted work to drag him back early. The lecture delivered from Tommy had cured that habit, but he still wasn't ready to go swimming again. 'Sharky' was a Zord and all, but still, he'd always been afraid of Jaws, and Sharky grabbing him had not been a fun moment.

He was pulled out of his reverie by his seatbelt popping off and the door opening. He looked up and saw a man waiting near the hood of the car. He jumped out, "Carter Grayson?" He asked.

"I'm afraid not, Justin," the man replied. "My name is Blake Bradley. Tell my brother that the Night Stars must be found, and quickly. I'm ok, but I can't help right now, but when the time comes, so will I." A blue aura surrounded him, and then he was gone.

Justin shook his head, "Why does the weird stuff only happen to me," he muttered, heading for the doors to the motel.

A large group of people came out the doors just then, talking about breakfast. Justin checked his watch, it had automatically reset from one pm to nine am and he sighed. One of the men stopped and looked at him curiously, "Justin Stewart?" He asked.

"Who's asking?" Justin retorted.

"I'm Carter Grayson." The man said, "I didn't expect you for another hour, at least."

Justin shrugged, "I could leave and come back."

"Not necessary," Carter said. "Look, let me give you proof that I am who I say I am." He pulled out his wallet and flipped it open. When Justin stepped forward to look at it, he also saw Carter's morpher.

Justin nodded, then reached up to scratch his arm, letting his sleeve pull back to show his own morpher, "So, breakfast, huh? Room for one more?" Storm Blaster revved softly, and Justin glanced back, "Actually, Storm Blaster and I can take a few." The others looked from him to the car he leaned against and back, confused, "Storm Blaster is an ally," he said, dropping his voice slightly, "We've been friends since I was a Ranger and he helps out sometimes, especially on the Ranger-related stuff."

A dark haired man in a light gray t-shirt, followed by a guy in a trench coat, stepped up, "We'll ride with you. I am Merric, and this is Zen Aku."

Justin took a second look at the trench coat guy and saw his wolf features for a bare moment before they shifted to look human. "Fine by me, but I get to sit behind the wheel."

"Follow us, ok?" Carter said, "We've been promised breakfast by a very good cook."

"Got it," Justin said, he strolled back around Storm Blaster and hopped in when the door opened for him. "You don't mind giving them a ride, do you?" He murmured to his friend. Storm Blaster popped open the passenger door and Justin grinned. "Thanks, man."

Merric and Zen Aku climbed in and Storm Blaster easily backed out after the others. Justin rested a single hand on the wheel and leaned back, "So what, exactly, is going on?" He asked, glancing at Merric.

"Should you not be watching the road?" Merric asked.

Justin grinned, "Nope, Storm Blaster drives himself. I mean, sometimes in battles, I get to take the wheel, but usually, he does the driving when we're doing stuff. I just pretend to drive."

"You make him nervous," Zen Aku observed.

"Just relax," Justin said, "Storm Blaster's fully sentient. Now, what the hell is wrong with TJ and Carlos? Where are Andros and the others? Who are all of you people and why isn't Tommy here?

"Tommy has chosen not to be present," Merric said, "with Mesogog's defeat, he wishes to enjoy peace and quiet. We are the teammates of the Rangers who went missing with TJ and Carlos. We have been unable to contact the Astro Rangers, although Tommy is most certainly trying for us. As for what is wrong with the Rangers," Merric sighed, "They have been seized by an evil force and turned. Who has them, and why, we do not know. We do know that Rangers such as me, who have served the Darkness, are in danger. We have five days to figure this out before our surrender is expected."

"Five days," Justin said, "no clues, and no ship, or cohesive powers? Damn. Sounds worse than when they went into space. At least then we had a destination and a ship." He tapped his fingers on Storm Blaster's wheel, "I don't know why the Megaship won't answer, but I do know that Karone and Ashley are on Mirinoi visiting the Galaxy Rangers, and Cassie's on Eltare with Re- uh, Phantom Ranger." His mind spun, "Phantom might know something, if it's space related, if not, we've got the Mystic Mother, Princess Shayla, and even Dimitria if we need her. Might even dig up a few other experts on old Earth enemies, or get Tommy to tap the Command Center computers for anything." He glanced behind him, "Look in the back, please, and tell me how many laptops are back there, and if there's a black one."

Zen Aku turned to look, "There are seven," he announced, "including a black one, five blues and a silver one."

"Good," Justin said, "I thought I left them there after the trip up to Serpenterra last month."

"Serpenterra," Merric repeated.

"Yeah, I'm salvaging it, since nobody else wants the remains. Even without the nutronic reactors and plasma core, there's some interesting machinery. The black laptop's built from the remains, and it's far more advanced than anything you'd see on Earth right now. The silver one is my up-link to the databanks in the lower Command Chamber. It'll come in handy too." Justin replied as they parked. Because the driveway of the house was full, they parked neatly at the curb. While Merric and Zen Aku climbed out, he scrambled over the seat and tucked the silver, black and a blue laptop into his backpack. Then he went over the side of Storm Blaster and patted the machine affectionately. "I'll be back as soon as I can," he told the vehicle softly, "Please try not to get caught acting uncarlike."

Mountain Blaster beeped at him softly and Justin grinned before turning to head inside and find out just what was going on. There had to be more than what Merric had said.