Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers. Only my OCs.
Chapter 8:Return of Thunder - Part 1
"Bro, you have been ripping it, man." Dee cheered as she watch Dustin on the TV, showing his latest racing footage.
"Yeah, Dustin." Tori agreed, "You look really good out there."
"Now all I've gotta do is get some factory dudes to see the tape." He sighed, pausing the tape.
Just then, an older man wearing a cap walked over and smiled, "Hi there," he nodded, "I'm looking for Kelly Holloway."
"Oh, sorry," Dustin put the remote down, "she's out at the moment. Can I help you?" He finally look at the guy and gaped, "Dude…" he stuttered, as he got up to shake the guy's hand, "y-your…"
"Roger Hannah, nice to meet you." the man smiled in greeting.
"No way!" Dee stared in awe.
"Who's Roger Hannah?" Tori whispered.
"Five-time moto champ!" Dustin exclaimed. "More wins than anybody on the planet!"
"That might be a stretch," he chuckled, shrugging.
"You're team manager for Factory Blue," Dustin nodded as he added another impressive feat to the man's growing list. Then his eyes lit up. "Oh! Wait a minute!" Dustin dove for the videos on the table, searching frantically for his video. "Here, watch this tape, I've been busting some super fast lap times," he told the celebrity, who just laughed.
"Maybe another time. I'm looking for a couple of guys in particular. I hear they ride at the local track sometimes," he told them.
"Oh don't tell me," Dustin grinned, "One big guy, one not so big guy?"
"Both insanely fast?" Dee added in.
Roger Hannah nodded eagerly. "So you know them?"
"Blake and Hunter?" Tori spoke up with a smile. "You could say we know them."
"Then you can tell me where to find them?" he asked hopefully.
"I really wish I could." She spoke as she looked sad. Dustin grinned widely as he nodded at Roger Hannah.
"Yeah, she does, dude. Trust me, she's um, got this thing for-"
"Don't go there," Tori cut him off with a cold warning, as Dee punched her brother in the arm.
"Well, here's my card. If you run into them, have them call me," Roger Hannah handed Dustin his card, and Dee leaned over the counter to see it as Tori stalked off. "It's important," he added.
"Yeah, okay. Sure thing. Later," Dustin waved to him, before slipping the card into his pocket. "Wow, can you believe Roger Hannah-" Dustin stopped as he realized that Tori had walked off. Dee looked around and found her on the floor.
"Um, Dustin… you might want to see this." She nodded to Dustin, whose eyes widened. He darted over to where Tori was crouched beside his bike.
"Hey, hey. What are you doing?" Dustin asked, the worry clear in his voice as he hurried over to Tori.
"I'm borrowing your bike," Tori replied simply.
"Ha!" Dee laughed, "You can barely handle your Tsunami Cycle." She whispered.
"Okay, you see how that usually works is that you ask me first," Tori rolled her eyes. "And then I think about it for like...half a second, and then I tell you that the only way that I'd let you ride my race bike, is if you tied me down and tortured me!" Dustin exclaimed, completely truthful.
"You really want it to come to that?" she frowned in a challenge.
"Tori, I just did a prep! It's perfect!" Dustin argued, terrified that he was going to have to let her ride his bike.
"Why isn't she asking to borrow mine?" Dee whispered, curious.
"Look, I really miss Blake," Tori admitted softly, and Dustin's frown lightened. "And riding makes me feel like he's still around. And since Cam keeps the Tsunami Cycles under lock and key, this is as close as it gets." She turned to Dee. "And yours feels funny."
"That's because Dustin rides a 125 with 4-stokes. Same as our Tsunami Cycles. My freestyle bike is a 125 with 2-stokes. It's good for beginners and girls," she smirked, "because we're smaller than the guys and it's easier for us to handle."
"Whatever." Tori turned her puppy dogs eyes to Dustin as he struggled to say no, "Please!" He let out a groan as he stepped back.
"Alright! Fine!" he finally admitted defeat, making Tori's smile return. "But if you bend the bars, or break the shifter off, you have to-"
"Fix it," Tori finished with a nod. "I know," she told him seriously, and pushed the bike away from them.
"I can't believe you caved so easily." Dee stared.
"I was afraid she was going to hit me." He argued, "She hits harder than Shane."
She shrugged, "Yeah, you're right."
1-2-3-4-5
"Are you sure he said here?" Hunter asked his siblings as the Thunders stood in the middle of a desert.
"Yeah! Maybe he forgot, or got lost," Blake answered. "I mean he's not technically an intelligent life form!"
"It's Choobo." Lexi glared, "What do you expect?" She shook her head, "I can't believe we're doing this. This is such a bad idea."
"Relax." Hunter patted her shoulder, "It'll be okay."
"Famous last words."
"Oh! Ow! Hot sand! OW!" Choobo yelled as he came down from Lothor's spaceship and landed on the desert sand. They watched as fell down, belly first, and started sliding down the sand. The siblings exchanged grins before rushing down to meet him.
"Ow! I think I got sand in my nose!" The alien complain, flailing around.
"Come on," Blake yelled, "get up!" The boys help him up and dusted him off, "Alright, we're here, just like you said!" Blake said sternly.
"This had better be worth the hike." Hunter said.
"Oh it will be!" Choobo smiled. "You see, I've made a life-altering decision that will effect the entire balance of power in the universe!"
"Are you for real?" Blake asked.
"He's a joke." Lexi scoffed.
"Seriously. I decided to leave Lothor's army."
"Leave?" Blake questioned, exchanging a skeptical look with Lexi.
"Defect." Choobo explained, "Turn over a new leaf. Go to the light side!"
"Who said the light side would want you?" Hunter asked the green alien.
"Because bitter ex-employees have all sorts of information, classified files, secret passwords to get in places… get it."
"Like Lothor's ship!" Blake exclaimed.
"Possibly!" the alien replied.
"What's in it for you?" Hunter asked.
"Like I said, I'm bitter and I want payback for all the nasty things they said about me!" Choobo answered. "What do you say?"
Lexi watched as her brother's started to smile, a plan already forming. She shook her head in disgust. This was not going to be good. Not at all."
1-2-3-4-5
Shane walked into Storm Chargers, confused, "Dude, I just saw Tori out front..."
"Loading my pride and joy into her van, I know!" Dustin cut off the Red Ranger, laying his head down on the counter.
Liz, having come in behind her brother, stared, "How did that happen?"
"You never even let me ride that thing!" Shane said, jealous.
"You can barely ride the Tsunami Cycles." Dee said, rolling her eyes.
"Um, well, she hits harder that you do." Dustin answered.
"I hit harder than he does." Liz responded, hitting her brother on the shoulder.
"Ow!" He rubbed the new bruise, "Good point."
Dee just chuckled, "Baby." She turned to Liz, "Wanna go surf?"
"Oh, absolutely."
1-2-3-4-5
Cutting through the water, the two Spectre Ninjas rushed through the waves on their boards, ignoring all the idiots guys around them. Before they knew it, another figure rushed past, cutting through their boards with ease.
Once they got back to the beach, Liz turned to Dee, "Who was that?"
They look across the sand, trying to find the new surfer, "Wait, is that…"
"Yeah, it is." They watched as the blonde came over with a smile, "Hey, Lexi."
"Hey, girls." She put her surfboard down and sighed, "I come bearing news."
"We're not going to like this, are we?"
"I don't like this." The blonde huffed, "I don't approve of this. But, I'm trying to be more supportive of those boneheads after what happened before."
"What are your brothers planning now?"
"Let me tell you."
1-2-3-4-5
Shane, Dustin, Cam and Sensei all listened in silence and disbelief as Tori told them of Blake and Hunter's plan to get on Lothor's ship, with Choobo's help.
"I don't buy it," The moment Tori had finished explaining, Shane spoke up, shaking his head in disbelief. "Why would Choobo just all of a sudden decide to turn good?" he asked, looking to Dustin as Cam stood above them on the rails.
"I must agree with Shane," Sensei spoke up from his little house. "It sounds far too convenient," he shook his head, not liking the sound of it.
"Lexi said they were supposed to just check it out," Liz told them, walking in with Dee, "I take it you had the same conversations with Blake?" Tori nodded, "Right. Well, she doesn't like it either, but the boys are adamant to try this. To make up for their past mistakes. Even if they get onto the ship, they won't attack until they can bring us in for backup. She plans to stay on high alert."
"It makes me nervous." Dee frowned, "I mean, Lexi never helped them before and she's technically not a Thunder Ninja."
"She's not?" Shane frowned.
"No, she's a Lightning Ninja. They train at the same Academy. You know, like Earth and Water Ninjas training with Air Ninjas at a Wind Ninja's Academy."
"Oh, yeah."
"Well, it gives us time anyway," Dustin stated seriously, and Tori frowned in confusion.
"For what?" she asked curiously.
"For you to fix my bike, Miss Freestyle, No-hand Landing," Dustin shot her a disgusted look, and Tori went red as the others laughed at her.
"You trashed his baby?" Dee stared in shock as Liz just fist bumped her brother.
"It wasn't that bad!" Tori defended as her blush grew. "I just took a little spill..." she mumbled, not meeting his gaze.
"The fender is facing backwards," Dustin told her flatly, and Shane nodded seriously. Tori went even redder.
"Alright!" she whined as they kept laughing at her.
1-2-3-4-5
The Bradley's Ninja Streaked onto Lothor's ship as quietly as possible. The stopped in a hallway and was immediately surprised by Choobo coming up behind them.
"Hi, guys!" The turned and did a quick jab into his stomach as Lexi stayed on the lookout, "Ow!"
"That's what you get for sneaking up on people." Hunter said as they helped him up.
"Sorry."
"Dude." Blake scoffed, "You seriously need to work on your entrances."
Choobo bounced, excited, "Follow me. He's taking a nap."
The two brothers frowned as they followed behind, but Lexi, knowing that something was wrong, went the other way. Tracking with her senses, she used her Ninja Lightning to make herself invisible. The further she went, the more alert she got. Finally, she came upon a massive room. She looked up with a gasp as she saw all the captured Ninjas in their pods. "Now, how to get you out." Before she could move, she was attacked from the side. "Ow!"
She looked over to see a group of Kelzacks come back at her. She fought them off, but she was outnumbered. She was then thrown to the side and hit one of the panels, accidently releasing one of the pods. As it disintegrated, the Ninja inside took off and took out all the remaining Kelzacks. Lexi, surprised, walked over with a smile.
"Nicely done." Holding out her hand, "I'm Lexi. Lightning Ninja." They glanced at the door as a sound of running feet rushed down the hall, "No time to figure out how I released you. We've gotta go."
"Agreed." They Ninja Streaked out and, stopping at the doorway to the main room, froze, "Are they with you?"
Lexi huffed as she saw her brothers frozen in some sort of beam, surrounded by a cheering Lothor, Choobo and the rest of the space freak goons. "My brothers."
"Okay, well, we're outnumbered. We can't take them on."
"You're right. We need to get out of here. Let's go." She looked back with a sigh, "I am never going to let those idiots live this down."
1-2-3-4-5
"Thanks for freeing me." The new Ninja said, walking through the woods, "Even if it was an accident."
"No problem."
"Sakura, by the way. Sakura Nakamura. You can call me Kura. Pronounced with an O."
"Like Kor-a. Gotcha. Well, pleased to meet you." Lexi took a look at her new friend, who was about her height. She was slim with dark brown hair and eyes and was of Asian descent. Her Ninja suite was black with pink accents and her badge was similar to the Spectre Academy. "Do you know Elizabeth Clark and Deanna Brooks?"
Kura looked up in surprise, "You knew Liz and Dee?"
"Yeah, I do." Lexi looked around for a moment and smiled, "Let's find a quiet spot to talk. Tell you about everything that's been going on."
"Sounds good."
1-2-3-4-5
Dustin walked into Storm Chargers and saw Blake and Hunter seal a deal with Roger Hannah. "So what? Did you guys sign with Factory Blue? That's amazing!" Dustin smiled.
Hunter gave the Yellow Ranger a strange look before blowing him off. "We'll catch you later."
"Don't you think we have some things we need to talk about?" he asked. Dee, who was working the counter, walked over.
"Don't bother. They completely ignored us." She looked over at Liz who was frowning at the retreating Thunder Ninjas, "Something's wrong."
"You think something happened to them?" Dustin asked.
"Maybe." She frowned, "Whatever it was, I bet Lothor's involved."
1-2-3-4-5
"Have they told you their plan?" Shane asked the Blue Ranger as the two were sparring in Ninja Ops.
"They said they'd let us know." Tori said, pushing Shane into the stairs as Dustin, Liz and Dee came in, "I trust them."
"If 'them' is Blake and Hunter, you might wanna rethink that!" Dustin said.
"We just saw them in the shop and they totally blew us off." Dee said, patting Liz on the arm as she brooded. "Something's not right with them."
"It's like déjà-vu all over again!" Dustin said.
"Technically, that's impossible, Dustin." Cam called, standing at the bookcase.
"Yeah. You can have déjà-vu, but you can't have it again unless you've had it before. Then you can say that it's like déjà-vu all over again." Liz commented, confusing most of the room.
"Whatever, man. I'm telling you; these guys are suffering from a major brain fade. It's like our little adventure into the Cavern of Lost Souls never happened." Dustin said, looking depressed.
"But I thought we were all cool?" Tori asked.
"Yeah, and like those guys aren't very reliable." Shane stated.
"Speaking of reliable," Came walked between toward the computers, "looks like somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed."
On the screen was a new snail monster with spikes coming out of his shoulders, "Where does Lothor get these losers?" Shane asked.
"Do you wanna say it, or should I?" Tori asked their leader.
"NINJA STORM!"
"SPECTRE STORM!"
"RANGER FORM, HA!"
"Power of Water!"
"Air!"
"Earth!"
"Light!"
"Power of Shadows!"
They ran off, heading to the construction site to take on the strange snail.
1-2-3-4-5
They reached the construction site where Lothor's latest monster had been sighted, and were greeted by silence. Nobody was around, and there wasn't a sound being made.
"I don't see anything," Shane frowned as he looked around.
"I hate to bring it up, but that's always how it starts," Tori reminded him as the four stuck together. Smoke began to pour out of pipes nearby with a loud hissing noise, breaking the silence around them. It clouded around them, hindering their vision.
"Brutal smog alert!" Dustin complained as a powerful smell reached them. "Where is this dude?" he wondered, before a hand slammed into each of them, knocking them to the ground.
"I rest my case." Tori groaned.
"That hurt." Dee complained.
"Where the heck is he?" Liz squinted to try and see through the smoke.
"Yo, alien!" Shane yelled, ready for action.
"Well, if it isn't the world famous Power Rangers," finally the snail-like monster appeared through the smoke. "You know, you look taller on TV." he mocked.
"Anyone ever tell you that you look uglier in person?" Dustin growled.
"What is this?" Tori stood up, "Attack of the giant snail."
"Can we lay off the mocking?" Liz demanded, "It's bad enough coming from the bad guys. Don't need more of it."
"Sorry, guys." Dee shrugged, "This whole issue with Hunter has her really bugged."
"No problem, sis. Time for talk is over!" Shane called, and they got ready to fight him. However, as they went to attack, something hit them from behind, making them cry out and hit the ground hard.
"What?" Shane groaned, and they looked up at their attackers and were stunned to find Hunter and Blake.
"Hey, remember us?" Blake called down as they got to their feet.
"Damn it." Liz mumbled as the two laughed.
"I knew it." Dee sighed, helping her stand up, "Stupid Lothor."
"What are you doing?" Tori demanded in horror, but the two just nodded to each other and leapt down, running at them.
"Wait!" Shane yelled as he blocked a hit aimed at him. Shane and Liz took on Blake, while Dustin, Tori and Dee fought Hunter. He overwhelmed Dustin instantly and slammed him to the ground. Tori attempted to blast him with water, but Hunter created a shield that repelled it and sent Tori flying.
"Whatever brain drain that Lothor's put you under," Dee held out her hands. "we will stop it." She manifested two light daggers and threw them at his shield, which shattered on impact, "Your Thunder training doesn't prepare you for a fight with a Spectre Ninja."
"This isn't your fight, Deanna. This is between us and the Wind Rangers." Hunter growled as the ran at each other with their staffs.
"Well, that's a problem, isn't it?" Dee replied as she felt herself being pushed back. "That's my brother and my friends you're attacking!" she asked, and he hesitated for a moment before shoving her with even more force, it sent her flying to the others.
"You ok?" Tori asked as she helped Dee up.
"Yeah." She looked at Liz, "It's a complete mental wipe. It's not us they want."
"It's the Wind Rangers." She looked at the other three, who weren't listening, "It's like a reset. Only now, it has nothing to do with Sensei and everything to do with being Wind Rangers." They looked up as the two Thunder Ninjas walked towards them, and Hunter fired his Crimson Blaster, sending them flying back.
"Wait! Come back!" the Snail ran in front of Hunter and Blake before they could chase after the five. "I'm just getting gassed up!" he turned into smoke and chased after the Rangers as they ran off.
1-2-3-4-5
"Where are we going?" Dustin shouted to Shane as they ran through the empty building to escape Hunter, Blake and the Snail.
"Anywhere but here!" Dee yelled, keeping up with her ex as he ran ahead of her.
"Away from that stanky smell!" Shane called back as he turned a corner.
"Works for me!" Tori nodded as the smoke followed them.
"He's fast for a snail," Liz groaned as they kept running, looking for a way out.
"You can't run away from my furious fumes, Rangers!" the snail cackled and hit them as they reached a dead end. They cried out as they were hit over and over again and thrown over the ledge. "This gas is a total blast!" he laughed as they hit the ground.
"This guy's stinking up my whole day," Shane grumbled as he got to his feet.
"I think he needs to be smog-checked," Tori spoke, getting to her feet as well.
"You got that right," Dustin agreed.
"I thought we agreed no jokes?" Liz asked as they looked up at the snail.
"Force of habit for any Ranger." Dee reasoned.
"Alright, how about we put the 'wind' in Wind Rangers?" Shane called as he looked to the Yellow and Blue Rangers, who nodded in agreement.
Liz just rolled her eyes. "If it's not jokes, it's puns."
"Oh yeah, like I'm afraid of wind!" the monster yelled from above, having heard Shane's words.
"Then come on down!" Shane challenged.
"Unless you're too chicken!" Tori added mockingly.
"Don't be shellfish! Come on!" Dustin laughed as he taunted the monster, who growled in irritation.
"Oh, it is so on!" he yelled, and leapt down to face them. "Mega Morning Breath!" he fired more gas at them, which made them start coughing, choking on the foul stench.
"Whoa, try a mint!" Shane yelled. "Ready?" he called, and the other four stood behind him, all of them back-to-back. "Let's put him in the spin cycle!" they linked arms and started spinning, blowing away the gas.
"Hey, no fair! I'm supposed to gas you!" he yelled, and Shane called on his Ninja Sword, powering it up. He attacked the monster and threw him outside, and they followed him quickly.
"Storm Striker!" they called on their weapons and combined them, "Fire!" The attack slammed into the snail, destroying him. Before long, he was revived with a scroll.
"A giant alien. There's a surprise," Tori rolled her eyes.
"Cam, your thoughts?" Shane called into his morpher.
"I'm thinking Megazord," Cam replied, sending them their Zords. "Sorry girls. You need to get out of the way. I still haven't fixed your Zord's problem yet."
"No worries, Cam." Dee and Liz nodded to each other and streaked away. Once they got to a distance that they were safe but could still see, they demorphed and watched.
"Liz! Dee!" They turned at the sound of the voice behind them and braced. "Whoa! I'm on your side, remember?"
"Sorry, Lexi. But," Dee grumbled, and pointed to the fight as the Thunders joined in, "as you can see, we're having some trust issues."
"I knew something like that would happen to them."
"What happened on the ship?" Liz demanded.
"I didn't trust Choobo." The Lightning Ranger explained, "So, my idiot brothers followed him to the main control room, and I took off to find the captured Ninjas. I got to the room they were in, but I was attacked by Kelzacks before I could do anything." She looked at her companion, "I did accidently hit the console and released one of the Ninjas. She helped me out and we've been trying to find you guys since we left the ship. We saw that Lothor had my brother's captive, and we didn't want to be next."
"Kura?"
"Hey, my peeps!" The three reunited friends hugged, happy to see one another, "Oh, my gosh. Cam and Sensei are going to be so happy to see you."
"I can't wait. It's been so long."
They watched as lights hit the monster's shell, which exploded and hit the Zords. "No!"
Before they could say thing else… a bright light spread out, engulfing everyone in the fight zone. Kura grabbed Lexi and pulled her to the other three, just in time for everyone to disappear from the battlefield.
To be continued…
If you've ever watched Flash, Season 2, Episode 18; you know that Barry tested the tachyon device to increase his speed. He ran so fast that a wormhole opened up in front of him. He passed through that and emerged out of another wormhole seconds later about a mile apart. Within those seconds of the Flash, was his time spent on a different Earth with Supergirl in Season 1, Episode 18. I tell you this, so you know what's fixing to happen. Those four girls got caught in the blast but tried to protect themselves with their powers and got caught in a Time Vortex (Like Kimberly from MMPR, Season 2, Episode 50 & 51) which sends them to the past. A new story of shorts, similar to Angel Grove Angels will tell of the adventures and how they get back home. In the meantime, this story will continue as is, but the girls appear on Portico Island with everyone else.