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Thunderstruck
Chapter 12: Rescue Mission, Pt 1
Tori's head was pounding and the light stung her eyes, as she slowly opened them. She found that she couldn't move her hands or feet. There was a warm body next to hers and she was relieved to discover that it was Hunter's. She turned her head and gasped, as she saw the damage they had done to him. Dried blood stained the side of his face from an angry cut on his left eyebrow and there were purpling bruises on his face where he had been violently struck.
"Well, well, awake already, Bonita. Thought you'd be out for the count," one of the thugs sneered, as his eyes roamed over her like she was something to eat. Her skin crawled under his gaze and she shrugged away in repulsion, as he touched her face.
"It is a long drive to Mexico. Let's have some fun," he leered, as he pulled her to him and started kissing her neck. Tori screamed and struggled, as he pushed her down and started getting on top of her. She bit him and thrust her knees into his groin. He doubled over in pain, before backhanding her hard across the face. He raised his hand to strike her again, but his boss stopped him.
"Miguel!" Palo screamed. He stopped and got up from the floor of the van.
"I want her untouched for now. I promise there will be plenty of time to play with her when we return to the compound where mommy and daddy can be made to watch," Palo said. Miguel smirked and pushed her away. She scooted her way back toward Hunter and turned away from her captors, burying her face in his shirt and soaking it with her tears.
"Not that we're not glad to see all of you…but what are you doing in Blue Bay Harbor?" Shane asked, as they met the group outside Storm Chargers.
"Well, it started yesterday when Rocky called me to ask me to probe some information out of an acquaintance I have at the DEA office regarding recent drug related murders in Angel Grove. As it turns out, two DEA agents went missing recently," Billy explained.
"What does that have to do with Tori and Hunter?" Cam asked.
"Those two DEA agents happen to be Tori's parents," Jason replied.
"What?" Shane asked in disbelief.
"Tori's parents are government agents?" Cam questioned. Billy nodded.
"And yesterday, this man, Palo Vasquez, leader of one of Mexico's most dangerous cartels, arrived in L.A. with his pack of thugs," Jason explained.
"We think they have Tori's parents and that they came here to kidnap her," Billy added.
"And Hunter was with her," Cam stated. Jason nodded.
"These guys are hardcore. Hunter is lucky they took him too and didn't just kill him, which shows they're trying not to leave a trail," Jason stated.
"What are we going to do? Shouldn't we call the police?" Dustin asked.
"We are the police, kid," Skull chimed in.
"We have ways of tracking Tori and Hunter that not even the FBI have. This is officially a ranger mission," Billy said, as he showed them a handheld computer device with a moving crimson dot and a moving aqua dot.
"Morphing grid energies allow me to track any of us anywhere," he explained.
"Whoa…he's smarter than you, Cam," Dustin said in awe. The former green Samurai ignored him.
"They're heading for the Mexican border," Cam said. Billy nodded.
"We want in," Shane stated.
"We figured you would, but you'll need another vehicle. Ours are full," Jason said.
"We can take Tori's van!" Dustin called.
"We don't know where it is," Shane replied.
"Yes we do. If it's not at her apartment, then it has to be parked near the beach. She surfs every morning and Hunter meets her there after his run. I'm willing to bet that's where they were taken. It's pretty deserted that time of morning," Cam said.
"All right, we'll follow you to the beach so you can get the van and then we have to get on the road. They've got a good head start on us," Billy decided, as Shane turned to Skyla.
"You and Marah go back to Ops and tell Sensei what's going on," he said. She nodded.
"Be careful," she said, as they shared a hug and a short kiss. Marah did the same with Dustin and the two watched them all leave, before they headed back toward the woods.
Hunter woke up feeling like someone was repeatedly slamming a meat tenderizer against his temples. The light was like knives to his eyes and he felt sick to his stomach. He was no stranger to injuries due to various ones during his years of ninja training and motocross over the years. He remembered Blake having similar symptoms as these one time after a particularly scary motocross accident a couple years before they became rangers and that made him pretty sure he had a concussion. Taking deep breaths of air, he tried to push through the dizziness and pain, his worry for Tori fueling his will to push his own pain aside. Only years of ninja training made this even remotely possible to do.
Fortunately, he found her curled against his chest and unfortunately, she was sobbing, so he immediately knew something was terribly wrong. Tori didn't cry easily and she was tough as nails.
"Babe…" he whispered. She lifted her head and relief instantly shined in her watery blue eyes.
"Hunter…" she sniffed, as she hugged him tightly.
"What happened?" he whispered, as he gazed ahead of them with slightly blurred vision. He noticed their captors weren't paying attention to them now, but had no idea what, if anything, they had done while he was unconscious.
"Did they hurt you?" he asked in a whisper. The thought of one of them touching her made him so angry that concussion or not, he would rip them apart.
"N…no, I thought one was going to…but I'm fine. I was just worried that you weren't going to wake up. They hit you so hard," she whimpered.
"I'm fine," he assured her. She shook her head.
"They're going to kill us. They just haven't done it yet, because they want my parents to watch them do it. This is about me and you're going to die, because of me getting you mixed up in this," she whispered. He gently pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"There isn't anywhere else I want to be than by your side…no matter what that means. And we've been in worse situations. We faced a whack job that absorbed the demonic spirits of past psychotic villains that were bent on destroying us," he reminded.
"With the others and with our ninja powers," she reminded.
"It doesn't matter. They may be civilians, but if protecting us means that I have to use my ninja powers, then I'll do it. Damn the consequences," he replied. She gazed into his eyes and was about to speak again, when she was roughly pulled away from him, as the van stopped. Hunter moved to stop the thug, who was currently dragging her from the van, but two more were on him, dragging him out as well. With his hands and feet still tied, they threw him on the ground and one kicked him in the stomach.
"Hunter!" Tori screamed, as the leader grabbed her arms, which were still tied in front of her.
"Time to see mommy and daddy, Chica. Then they get to watch while you and I have some fun," he hissed, as he touched her face. She shrugged away in revulsion.
"Bring the boyfriend as well. He's going to love watching this too," Palo leered, as they dragged the two young people into the massive compound.
"Man…what is with our bad luck lately?" Dustin asked, as they rode in Tori's van behind the others.
"What do you mean?" Shane asked.
"First we had to find the girls in a creepy dark dimension and defeat a psycho bent on destroying all rangers. And now we're about to take on a bunch of armed drug dealers. So much for a normal life," Dustin quipped.
"We're ninjas and a samurai. Our lives were never going to be normal," Cam added, as his phone went off.
"Cam here," he answered.
"According to the tracking system, Tori and Hunter have stopped moving," Billy told him.
"How much further do we have?" Cam asked.
"We're still two hours out and we think that might be too late by then. We're pulling over at the next rest stop and I'm going to see if I can use my equipment to teleport us closer," Billy said.
"All right, we'll follow you," Cam replied, as motioned for Shane to pull off at the rest stop behind the others. They all got out, while Billy climbed up on top of the van, setting up a triangulating antenna. He had hard wired three of their old communicators together and honed in on all their power signatures.
"Okay…I can get us just about two miles away from the compound. Everyone ready?" he asked. They nodded and Billy initiated the sequence, as they all teleported away.
Kanoi smiled, as his old friend and fellow Sensei, Shin Omino, came into his office at the Wind Ninja Academy. Already, construction at the Wind Academy was underway, as they prepared to merge their schools into one, just as they prepared for the union between their children.
"It is good to see you, my friend," Kanoi said, as they shook hands.
"Is there any word from your students?" he asked. Kanoi frowned.
"I am afraid not, but they have enlisted the help of some very skilled veteran rangers. They will find Hunter and Tori," Kanoi assured him.
"I see you have been going over the ancient scrolls. Have you considered telling Hunter and Tori about the prophecy?" Omino asked. Kanoi sighed.
"I have hesitated, because I didn't believe it was fair to burden their young love with such responsibility. To know that their future is to stand on the front lines and face evil when many others are allowed to live peacefully may weigh heavily on them. I myself never wanted Cameron to fight in this war," Kanoi stated.
"But it was his destiny, as much as it is theirs, especially if they have a child someday. It is no coincidence that evil seems to be popping up in droves. Someday soon, there may again come a time where more than one ranger team is required to fight again. They must know," Shin replied. Kanoi nodded.
"You are right. They are strong and they have many standing with them. We soon must prepare them for what may come," Kanoi said.
Shane peeked around the corner, spying at least a dozen hired men patrolling the compound, armed to the teeth.
"That's a lot of guns," Shane mentioned.
"Ever handle one?" Jason asked, as he and Billy crouched beside a case they had brought along with them when they teleported. Jason opened it and Rocky rubbed his hands together.
"All right, the FBI has the goods. Give me that 9 Millimeter," he requested. Billy handed him the weapon and the seasoned cop loaded it and then holstered it on his belt. Jason put on his gun harness and holstered two handguns on both his sides. Billy did the same and Skull picked his weapon of choice.
"Does a blaster count?" Shane asked.
"Close enough," Jason replied, as he handed a gun to Shane, who looked very uncomfortable.
"I'm not a fan of guns either, but these guys are leaving us no choice," Trini told him, as both she and Kimberly chose their weapons. Tommy looked as unsure as Shane, for he had always been more comfortable relying on his martial arts skills. Ethan blew out a shaky breath.
"Let's hope all my years of shooting zombies in games helps me," he said.
"Just be careful. The only reason I'm even letting any of you near a gun is that we have no choice and we were all rangers, so fortunately that will help us," Jason warned sternly.
"We're not just going to go in there guns blazing, right?" Dustin asked.
"Of course not and you're going to be our decoy," Jason replied. Dustin's eyebrows were in his hair.
"Me?" he asked.
"Yeah, you're the one that can burrow underground and then pop up like a groundhog. If that doesn't freak them out and disorient them for us, then nothing will," Billy replied.
"Dude…I'm not a groundhog," Dustin complained.
"And we're not dudes," Kimberly retorted good naturedly, causing the others to snicker. Dustin smiled bashfully and stood up. He made his signature hand movements and disappeared beneath the dirt. The others waited for exactly the right moment to make a move and they knew they didn't have much time…
